Wheels on fire

New site for my rants:

2005-02-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

please see the following website if you're still interested in reading my banter:

http://meriwether.typepad.com

repost of xmas 2001

2005-02-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

I thought i'd link an old post of mine from 2001. i love the pictures of this post of one of the annual Xmas day rides:

http://www.offcamber.com/Marin_space_Log.html

randoms

2005-02-11T12:23:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend recently had a cardiologist appointment to check out her heart for problems. He gave her the go-ahead and a week or two later her regular doctor left her an odd voicemail telling her she needs to call him, because there’s something "odd" about what the cardiologist wrote in her file. So she calls him and he says that "it all looks normal and great until you see the last line of the report: ‘Sue is at risk of sudden death’". They both, obviously, were a bit taken aback by this line and asked the cardiologist what was up…in the meantime my girlfriend was somewhat amused that she may just topple over and die suddenly. I was getting emails saying, "Guess what? I haven't suddenly died yet!". The cardiologist left her a voicemail a few days later and tells her he forgot to write a "NOT" in that sentence…so it should’ve said "Sue is NOT at risk of sudden death"….OOPS! Just a slight screwup, doctor!
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The Avengers "died for your sins" is a must have for the early punk collection. Good luck finding any other album by them (but wait! see the links!). I seem to have lost my LP of theirs that was severely scratched anyways. I can’t find it anywhere. They did a great "paint it black" cover, along with their own great tunes. Check this writeup if interested:
http://www.randysrodeo.com/punk/avengers.php
http://www.comnet.ca/~rina/avengers.html
and check out Penelope Houston’s own site where she will actually burn you a CDR if you really want the old Avenger’s stuff that is out of print:
http://www.penelope.net/allcds.html
how cool is that?
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While driving, I was spacing out and then realized a huge pothole was coming so I pulled up on the steering wheel as if I could bunny hop my car over it. Duh.

still alive!

2005-02-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

sometimes i have nothing to say. well...not really. I just don't have TIME to say it. But since my girlfriend is now working full time on her PhD dissertation...i have a bit more time at night to sit at my computer.

I left work quickly to go skate. The weather precluded me going "ice skating" at the Denver park, so I went to Xgames. DK nor Kev took the bait so I skated alone. For once Xgames had good ole 80's punk playing on and off, between new punk, which i call CRAP.

It's hard to explain skateboarding to the person who doesn't or has never gotten into it. When a kid, it was my life, my social group, what defined me in middle school and part of high school. I was good enough to get sponsored as a street skater back then (which isn't saying much compared to street skaters now!), but injuries took me out of skating street for the long term. In the early 80's there were no skateparks anymore in California...only cops telling us to get out of the local parking lot and to stop scraping off the paint on the curbs.

So tonight I had one of those sessions that made me feel very young again. But the weird thing is, that I never could do what i'm doing now back then. Of course i had no access to even ONE skatepark back then and now there are 7 within a half hour of eachother.

Tonight was Progression and FUN. A few new or completed tricks that just came together. I can't really explain the feeling you get lofting a backside air over the coping, or grinding the corner in the deep end of the bowl, or finding new lines that throw you perfectly into another line you haven't seen or tried before, or even just finding an endless line that allows you to carve around the bowl effortlessly...but hopefully you get the picture. I imagine surfing is like this.

It's like riding the same technical trail you've always ridden, and never could pull off a certain section. Then one day, for some reason you try a different line and what was so difficult is now so easy. All you had to do was NOT focus on the line you had been taking, but trying a new line. Or pointing it thru the trees on teles and not worrying if you'll have space to stop before hitting a tree...and you find out that you don't hit a tree. Somedays you just pull it off without much effort.

So there i stood on the deck, alone, listening to Stiff Little Fingers blasting thru the speakers, chills shooting down my spine...thinking that THIS is one of those things I've been waiting for after all these years. I dreamt about having a bowl, ramp, or anything with transition to skate for all my teenage years....and never got it. We got the occasional empty pool (2), and the bigtime bust of the Bolinas Reservoir ditch (imagine running thru the woods with your board away from the same ranger that later in life chased us on bikes for riding too fast), and Simborg's half-pipe that we created from construction site waste but got torn down after only 2 months of use..but that was basically it. We were forced to skate street, which is fun, but not the same, and not what I dreamt of skating. Vert was COOL...and still is. It's really good to get back to fulfilling my teenage goals, and do what I've always dreamt of doing.

Quote of the Day

2005-02-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

"Today is Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address. As Air America Radio pointed out, it is an ironic juxtaposition: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication and the other involves a groundhog."

Change of plans...praise upslopes!

2005-01-31T13:09:00.000-07:00

Upslopes mean lots of snow for the front range. The east side of the Divide gets southern moisture that barely any of the rest of the state sees except for the SW of Colorado. For example, the totals of the storm are over 20" for Eldora where Breckenridge only gets 2". We rarely get more snow then those big resorts, so it's just a treat when we do.

We got about 18" of snow at my house this weekend which meant powder at Eldora. The whole crew was there except one notable exception: King NIMBY. As the Rollinsville Redneck says: one of the crew has to take it for the team to get powder at Eldora. Whenever someone takes off for the weekend, it seems to inevitably snow. Sacrifice, so thanks to DK, we had 8" of new Sunday and Monday there was reportedly 13" of new on top of that. My legs need replacement quads.
I was fourth chair and got first (non-ski patrol) run down Muleshoe. Definitely 8" and the right side was just perfect (unheard of). They just opened Muleshoe after having blowed a ton of snow just previous to the storm. Then I met Marcus and Rollinsville Redneck at the bottom of Corona for a face shot, then over to Salto, followed by a Pipeline to the Gully with a ski patroller who showed us under the ropes (it's good to be locals), then a Chicken Glade, and then we met up with Hippie Stinx Danimal for a Bryan Glade, and over to Placer/Liftline and around to the front where we saw Dubba, Burhop, and Scott for a Powderhorn run. I had fallen face first in the deep on the way over (wet snow someplaces!), and when Megan and Dubba hit their faces on the snow (face shots?), we decided that was it, we were spent and headed home.

I was supposed to go meet Nate in Fernie, Alberta, Canada....but my flight got cancelled because of bad weather in Calgary. Not snow, but ice fog. I'm kinda glad it got cancelled now! The next flight out was Saturday, which would've only meant 1 full day instead of two full days...so I opted out. They didn't have as much snow as we just got...so in March I'll attempt round 2 to Fernie.
While at the airport, or because of stress at work (there's just TOO MUCH OF IT!), i'm feeling like the virus is starting to re-attack my body. After 3 weeks of health...it's back. It looks like it's another one of those years. I get sick for one entire winter, then don't get sick again for 4 years. Good and bad I guess....

DK

2005-01-24T20:25:00.001-07:00

(not you DK, but DEAD KENNEDYS. )

I've been into listening to albums of ole' lately. Not that old, but albums from my youth (early 80's). I've been going out and buying the CD's to burn onto the iPod, since all i have is the actual record and no record player.

I listened to Plastic Surgery Disasters from DK this night and had chills down my spine with the sheer timelessness of this album. Their other CLASSIC album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is equally amazing. Those two albums are two of my all time favorites and two of the most influential early US punk albums, if not THE two. (The Circle Jerks "Group Sex" and "Wild in the Streets" come close.) Unfortunately, not many bands could follow their lead: great politically inspired punk music that wasn't just 3 power-chords (3 chords on the guitar with lots of distortion). The brits did it better, and always have since then. I love Bad Religion, but DK's music is much better. Jello Biafra was/is an excellent songwriter that put into words what most people of that time couldn't elucidate. There are more classic lines from those two albums than ALL of the "punk" albums since 1985 put together. Seriously. Winnebago Warrior is a masterpiece - Jello had a way of making you laugh at the most serious and awful things! You laugh shaking your head amazed at what humans do (in a bad way)! History repeats itself every freakin decade and we don't even think about it.

Go get these albums if you don't know what I'm talking about...NOW! You won't be disappointed. Or if you haven't heard them in awhile, take a listen again and be surprised at how the band could be singing about this administration and what's going on in the world right now.

events to hit

2005-01-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

Cool events (part 1 – not a complete list…comment to send me links and I'll add 'em!):

Montezuma's Revenge (solo 24 hour race at high elevation…a bunch of DIFFERENT loops – what a concept!)
http://www.montezumasrevenge.com

Iron Cross Cyclocross race in PA…looks very cool…long distance cross!http://www.highspeedcycling.com/ironcross.html

100 miler in Breckenridge…haven't done it, but I've heard it's sweet.
http://www.warriorscycling.com/events/breck.php

Iron Bike, in Italy. 5 day gruelling endurance race with good reviews from Stefaan from Belgium.
www.ironbike.it
and check out: http://www.ironbike.it/news/prologo.htm

if you're reading Off Camber…you know this one:http://www.offcamber.com/intergalactic.htm
or newly: http://www.offcamber.typepad.com/

The best darned short-distance race (the clunker crit):
http://www.fruitamountainbike.com/

I don't know.

2005-01-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

Ozzy ruled too.

There's a landowner that doesn't like people going thru his/her land from a certain access point near my house. He cut down a few trees to block an access route and put up several hay bales to try and stop people from accessing this trail. (Not like we can't walk around that to get to the forest service land.) Anyway, I saw an elk tonight chomping on the hay. She was psyched! The landowner's going to think people moved his hay bales, but it's just the elk getting a free meal! I had a good chuckle at that.

Best british punk (which pre-dates american punk most possibly):
Stiff Little Fingers, Buzzcocks, The Clash, Gang of Four, Wire.
(I'd include Chumbawamba...but they were only good for two albums and they also recently sold out BAD. If you vigilantly heckle big label music for homogonizing music, destroying creativity and basically just being being greedy bastards, and eventually sign with the label you heckled and become rich...well that's what I mean by selling out.)

I just ran a spell check of this blog to see how it worked and it came up with "Pussycat" for a replacement of "Psyched". interesting.

2005-01-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

Black Sabbath, Zepplin, the Who: three more favorites of my youth.

I almost pulled my back out jumping the Karate Monkey up a curb this morning.

"Everybody wants some!"
"Have you seen junior's grades...?"

If phD graduates get post-docs, why don't masters graduates get post-masters?

Why is Blink 182 considered "punk" and not pop music?
...i mean really...

Why aren't there any long-distance cyclocross races in the states? ...or in Colorado? I think i actually heard of one in the midwest somewhere...minnesota maybe?

Why do people put loud tailpipes on Honda civics?

lights, camera, aaaa'ction!

2005-01-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

Timmy knows that line in the title!

On my way home tonight i listened to Fair Warning by Van Halen.
i don't think i've listened to that album for over 10 years...and it rocked. No other word than ROCKED! It took me back to high school (or before that?)...just one of those classic albums where you find yourself drumming on your steering wheel and screaming along somehow remembering most the lyrics (and the ones you don't you make up lines too that just SOUND like what is being sung). I have always preferred what was called Heavy Metal and Punk to other types of music (old Jazz I have added to that list recently). Not all of those hair bands like Dokken or Quiet Riot (I hate them even if they're funny), but the quality bands...to name a few that I liked/like: Van Halen, Iron Maiden, & Rush. Somehow those bands made my cut, along with the more "traditional" punk bands like Dead Kennedy's, NoMeansNo, Victim's Family, Minutemen, Minor Threat. I even had a stint liking the grateful Dead (yes, you read that right). I'm drawn to a mix of stuff, but I absolutely can't stand hip-hop, and most rap (I'll accept Run DMC, Beasties, early NWA...but not much more). I guess I identified/identify more with the "way" of punk bands and what they sung about - their philosophy or ethic. The energy of the music caught me and pushed my shy introverted self into a place I hadn't seen before - where I saw that although there is a place for love songs, lyrics that had something "controversial" and interesting to say were my preference. Whether that be about "fucked up Ronnie" (by D.O.A) - a song with not so many lines that bashed Ronald Reagan and his politics in the early 80's - to "Humans" (by NoMeansNo) a song with satirical lyrics about how monkeys and humans aren't so far off behaviorally even though humans think we are so much higher evolutionarily.

Punk is funny and biting and at the same time. The lyrics heckled US politics, the downside of over-consumption, the indignities of big corporations, sell-outs, religions and their contradictions, the "needs" of the western world, etc. For the most part, punk lyrics were ABOUT something, and had meaning to learn and gain insight from. (The Descendents even had some songs that weren't about drinking too much coffee or farting!) The 80's were swimming with topics for bands to rise up against....and most bands did...creating a new type of music and energy never seen before. "This band could be your life" is an excellent book outlining some of the influential bands of this time and their stories.

The Minutemen, DK, and Minor Threat are three of my first all time favorites. They have a similarity with early Bob Dylan and other folk singers of the 60's. Punk was the folk music of the 80's. If you read that book, you'll see interviews with band members and they all say they were very influenced by early rock bands and folk singers. Folk gave rise to a more energetic form of political rebellion and commentary in the 80's and I've very grateful that I grew up in that time if only for that reason. The music I was surrounded by in the Bay Area of California was one of the starting places of punk in the US. San Francisco gave rise to Dead Kennedy's, the Avengers, Victim's Family, Social Unrest, the Dicks, Flipper, Vicious Circle, Code of Honor, among others, and in the 90's: Operation Ivy (later Rancid), Primus, Mr. Bungle, ETC.

Even though I hate the times when we have bad presidents and war and injustice on people and the environment, those times give rise to good music and a retreat of apathy and ignorance. People get pissed off, and start writing about what really matters in the world. As you probably can detect from my blog, I try to give a shit. (However, for the record, i haven't heard any good new music since GW was first elected...prove me wrong...?).

On the other hand, I'm not sure how I got to liking Van Halen or Iron Maiden, since they don't sing of very important things, but their music is quite good technically and rhythmically...and appeals to the teenage boy in all of us (and that boy is still inside me...Holding on pretty strong!).

my bike is heavier than yours!

2005-01-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

Being sick sucks…duh. I had the flu for almost two full weeks…and I finally feel human again. Did no physical activity for those two weeks except for a short hike. That sucks (duh). So Sunday I went up boarding and tele’ing at Lambeau Field with DK and Joey in the 2-4 inches of "powder" (it’s all relative). The conditions are great up there though, seriously,..especially in the woods. We’re over average snowfall this year in Colorado and it shows…MUCH different conditions than the last 6 years. A happy factor of 9 (10’s are reserved for those rare days where everything is alligned and theres a LOT of snow, or being in the backcountry). I saw snowshoe hare tracks in the woods, which was cool…which to me means lynx habitat!

I hung with a couple of friends last night at the Toad and had dinner an dbeers talking shop (bike geek stuff). We talked tires and frames and ideas for parts, something T and I like to do quite a bit. Total bike dorks, thinking about what COULD be made and created and morphed or changed or for me most importantly SIMPLIFIED.

A story was told about a very fast foreign racer (not european) that was on the same team of one person at the table. The racer, having received his new race clothing in the form of skinsuits, took the box up to his room and came downstairs with a gram scale. He proceeded to WEIGH his new skinsuits and wrote down the weights of each one in a notebook that he later transferred to his computer. He had a spreadsheet of the weights of his race clothing and proceeded to compare his new clothing with the clothing of his previous team’s skinsuits (which were maybe 20 grams lighter). He was shocked that his new clothing was "significantly heavier" than his previous skinsuit and truly believed this would effect his racing performance. He did, in fact, have a worse year than normal…so maybe he had a point? No way, man.

This kind of behavior is unacceptable for mountain bikers. I’d expect this from pure roadies, but not mountain bikers. He is most likely an anomaly, but there are lots of racers obsessed with weight. I care about weight…but to a point. For example, I don’t own a gram scale. If I did, I would not keep track of the weight of my clothing. I could see comparing bars, BB’s, frames, pedals and big items like those…but clothing? That’s just absurd! Does 10 grams matter? No. But what is the number of grams that starts to affect performance? That is a valid question. I doubt you could feel the difference between a stem that is 50 grams heavier than another stem. (50 grams is a tenth of a pound). The CUMULATIVE effect of all the parts on the bike can add up, yes, but it shouldn’t be something too focused on. There’s a very strong relation between what’s light and what breaks fast. Heavier things tend to be more durable. But there’s a balance that should be met: strength and durability and low weight. Not just low weight.

Back to the clothing thing…at the speeds that mountain bike racers go, I would wage that there is no significant difference between wearing baggy and lycra shorts in race time, speed, or result. Maybe in breathe-ability, but the new Nema Crown Jewels are pretty breathe-able.

Anyway, just a funny and scary story.
(I will not divulge the name of this rider as he’s a really nice guy and he’d probably not appreciate me heckling his type A personality.)

sixth sense

2004-12-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

It amazes me at how far removed most humans have become from nature. My friends – and the few that read this rant - are different than the general public, but in general humans are disconnected from the natural world. Most of us would die without prepackaged food and warm clothing if we were suddenly left out in the woods for more than a day or two. We are pretty fragile creatures compared to the wild animals out in the woods that have no need for clothing or money to go buy food with. Animals wear the same outfit every day of every year and find their food themselves. There are too many humans for us to “go back” to that type of hunting and gathering system. We’d quickly deplete the deer, elk, rabbits, antelope, etc. pretty fast with 6 billion of us.

I’m reading the journals of Lewis and Clark right now. The abundance of buffalo, antelope, elk, deer, wolves, grizzly bears, black bears, cougars, and every other life form that was present when they passed is astounding. They describe seeing buffalo herds for as far the eye can see. They certainly hunted a lot of these animals, but didn’t put a dent in the number that was present back in 1804. Truly amazing and saddening at how much the US has lost in that respect…the wildness lost. We may have more “wilderness” than some countries, but we’ve done a great job at reducing it to a relative zero. Alaska is the only US state that even comes close to what Lewis and Clark experienced.

In the loss of wildness over the last 200 years, wildness is also vanishing from within most of us. Our ancestors no doubt needed to read the signs that indicated what type of weather was coming. They had to in order to survive while out on a hunting/gathering trip away from shelter. You can still see what I’m talking about in wild animals today. When the weather channel tells me that rain or snow is coming I almost always see more wildlife outside during daylight hours…animals that are usually nocturnal. How many of us “read the weather” instead of reading it online or in the newspaper? Timmy not too long ago saw several coyotes on his morning ride in around 8am when they are usually away from roads and other places of human habitation. That afternoon or night it snowed. Those coyotes had to get enough food to allow them to survive the storm that night when they may not be able to hunt because of the weather and cold. It’s better to wait out the storm by bedding down and not hunt than take the risk of getting caught in it and expending too much energy and not finding any food. It’s a fierce energy expenditure battle for wild animals, especially in the winter. Deer and elk also bed down under trees in storms and wait it out…I see them out more during daylight hours the day before a storm. This is especially noticeable in cities where you’ll see more raccoons, and other urban wildlife out the day before a storm.

Why is this? They’re out in the wild every hour of every day so they need to know these things…or sense these upcoming events. It must be an evolutionary response….those that read nature better survive better…simple! Don’t believe me? Check out this article in CNN (from Reuters) yesterday about how no wild animals have been found killed by the tsunami in the Indian Ocean:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/12/30/quake.animals.reut/index.html

I hope to get out enough to earn this type of sixth sense myself…but it’s going to take a lot of work.

California

2004-12-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how many people that are stuffed into California. The number of cars is even more amazing. The result being astounding traffic. It's really incredible. If you have yet to experience the traffic in LA or the Bay Area (San Francisco/Marin/Oakland)...stay away and just take my word for it. There are times of the day when there's NO traffic and you can get from the City (SF) to San Rafael in 15 minutes...but those times are shrinking fast. Traffic starts at 2pm and lasts till 7pm. When I grew up there, there was literally no traffic, but I left about 13 years ago. There are a lot of Hybrids in California, moreso than Colorado (except Boulder), but there are also many large SUVs.

I spent the day before xmas in shopping center parking lots trying to find a parking space with my mom in a very large GMC SUV. My mom uses the big SUV for the two dogs they have, and she feels safer in them for some reason. I do what I can to convince them otherwise, but I give up. She mainly uses a PT Cruiser which is also a questionable vehicle (I just think it’s ugly and drives poorly).

The last thing I’ll say about cars for now is something that came from my wise friend Nate: (paraphrasing here…): “the distance between having a small car and a SUV is not even close to as large as the difference between having no car and a car.” Basically, the bicycle rules, create your own fumes. End of that thread.
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So while in California, I checked out the local skateparks that have been created since I left home for College in Colorado. San Rafael built a huge park designed by the editor of Thrasher Magazine in SF, and it has a large bowl. This park from the pictures looks insanely good. But it’s not. The trannies are too shallow (not steep enough)…it’s hard to grind many parts of the park because of this. It has an interesting layout, with the purpose of getting FLOW between the elements, but it doesn’t work as well as it could…it’s a shame that they spent THAT much money on this park and this is what they got. The big bowl is pretty sweet, but the shallow end is too shallow and not steep enough. The deep end is a almost perfect, except for the water seeping through the uphill side of the bowl and creating a puddle at the bottom of the bowl. Sketch! They used local cement contractors and it shows. Use the pros people! The skatepark builders know what they’re doing! There were kinked trannies all around, and a copy of the mickey mouse clover bowl at the Denver park…but MUCH less steep and basically un-rideable (seriously). The clover is a waste of cement.
The Novato park is a bit better but smaller. It’s similar to the Boulder skatepark in it’s flow and carve-ability but it lacks any bowls or a spine. It’s also all under 6 feet high (no vert).
The park that caught my eye the most was the new Scotts Valley park (where you ask?). On the way to Santa Cruz on the 17. It’s very large and has some very cool angles and walls. For example, a 10 foot tombstone with pool coping in the middle of a kinked HUGE bowl. Scary. It has some serious speed lines and looks dangerous to the little kid (which is a good thing, makes them learn faster). Of course it was raining that day though so I didn’t get to skate it.

It was sunny for the first three days and rained for the second three days I was in CA.
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I went for a Xmas Eve day ride with TK and the Kelly brothers. Nate was flying back too late to get this ride in…so I borrowed his Santa Cruz Blur. I’ve never ridden a dual suspension bike on an actual ride - only around the parking lot. It was an experience for sure. We rode China Camp trails out the back door of TK’s house and only saw ONE other person on these legal singletrack trails. China Camp is unique in that it’s one of two small places where singletrack is legal in Marin. There are lots of illegal trails by freeriders being built…but that’s another rant. Mike Kelly, the elder statesman, rode TK’s Ionic Steelhead Singlespeed (TK had it converted by Rick Hunter to a single years ago). Mike is usually the most out of shape because he lives in NYC, but he hammered like I’ve never seen before and really impressed me. Me, Matt and TK hung and talked at the back while Mike powered up the cement section of the climb…like the start of Magnolia in steepness.

The Blur is a trip. I can see how one would like to have this as their mountain bike, but it’s not for me. If my rides consisted of rocky downhills and uphills and no roads or smooth trails inbetween…I’d get one. But since I want to commute via trail, road, smooth singletrack and go uphill in the most efficient manner possible, a dualie is too squishy and unresponsive for my needs. Remember, I’m used to a rigid hardtail…so this was an eyeopener. But I can say with personal certainty, that the only place these things excel is on fast and straight rough downhills. Cornering sucks on these things due to fork dive, and so does going slow over the back of the seat on steep singletrack for the same reason. It may be smoother, but there’s less control of where you go. Uphill they lag, even though they are quite comfortable…but not much more comfortable than a Thudbuster seatpost that won’t add as much weight. Granted, the Blur has very LOW loss of energy compared to many dualies out there, but I could feel it for sure compared to a hard tail…especially when you stand up. Forget about it. I’m not going there until I’m too crippled to ride a rigid hardtail (if that day ever comes!).
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Marin riders each year (twice a year) have a solstice ride that is 100 miles of trails all over the Marin County watershed. Gravy is rumored to send out the route maps and “lead” it. It starts at 4:20am on December 21st and at the same time on the summer solstice. The ride is done when (and if) you finish it. TK finished the summer one but not the winter one this year. It sounds like an amazing experience, but you’ll get lost if you’re not local or following a local (or have a really good trails map…).
You won’t find the map or any info for this ride on the web though…you need to know a local…very low pro.

Over.

Loitering

2004-12-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

The sign on the wall said "No Skateboarding or Loitering."

This was put on the wall of the Department of Employment in Denver right on the way I walk to work. Think about that...the Department of Employment.

The sign really makes me laugh...so skateboarding and loitering are one in the same? If you're skating, you're also loitering, or vice versa? Dude! lets go do some loitering at the Denver skatepark today! Sweet!

comments!

2004-12-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

This is a great conversation.

There's a great comment under DV8's most recent post "Solstice"...click on the "Comment" link at the bottom of his post.

if any else has anything they want to say, please feel free to post a comment and let us know how you feel.

just in case you're only seeing this blog, the other side of the coin is on:
http://offcamber.typepad.com/

don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

2004-12-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Conservative republicans and the oil companies that they invest in want you to believe that driving your car doesn't contribute to global warming. They say there aren't enough studies to validate it. 99% of atmospheric scientists claim otherwise, but GW Bush says we need more "sound science" before anything is done about it. User groups, from the Blue Ribbon Coalition to BATCO, use the same argument when it comes to recreational trails. They say that there is not enough science to support the claims that making more trails or increasing the number and type of users on trails is bad for wildlife and the habitat they call home.

Increased human use of trails and the wild places that house those trails is bad for not only soil erosion but for wildlife. To me this is common sense. From direct experience to reading journal articles during my Master's education as a Conservation Biologist. The more you use something the more it gets degraded. With wildlife, this results in animals not using areas highly used by humans. Ecologists call areas where wildlife don’t reproduce or thrive: habitat sinks. Habitat sources on the other hand are productive areas where wildlife increase their numbers and migrate from once the area’s carrying capacity is reached. The IMBA rule of “Never spook animals” is pretty laughable considering that it’s inevitable if you’re riding into an animal’s habitat. What happens when you ride by a group of deer? They run away. Birds get spooked and fly away. This increases their stress response because they don’t know that we’re not trying to kill them (are we just riding by or are we their predator?). Constant increases in the release of stress hormones in animals, just as in humans, reduces the animal’s “fitness” or their likelihood of reproducing and passing on their genes to the next generation because they are expending too much energy flying or running away from bikers when they should be eating and finding mates. Disturbing wildlife in winter is especially dangerous when they are already stressed from reduced food resources and with the cold temperatures burning away at their fat reserves.

There are habituated species, like some colonies of prairie dogs with trails that run through them. They become so used to people that they don’t even run and hide when humans enter their habitat. Prairie dogs can become very habituated and end up endangering their lives when they don’t think twice about a dometic dog that chases it and kills it, or a biker that runs them over because they didn’t move out of the way in time (I know this to have happened in Boulder). Birds or mammals that are habituated are mostly non-native species that shouldn’t be there anyway and which habitat away from native species. Trails are also a source for the colonization and movement of non-native plant species (weeds) that also exclude native species and result in less food for the native animal species that rely on them.

The results of human presence are just starting to be studied by scientists. It is definitely an emerging field of research that holds promise for upcoming biologists and ecologists. There is more known about the effects of roads (“road ecology”) from direct mortality of individual animals to the disturbance effect of roads (noise, pollution, habitat fragmentation, etc.).

I did a 5 minute Google Scholar search and found a few citations that I thought I’d pass on just in case you want to read more. There aren’t many studies but there are enough to realize recreationists are having a significant effect on wildlife. There aren’t that many studies because (1) it’s a new field of study, and (2) people don’t want to have to think about their negative effects when they are trying to have fun and recreating…so few studies are done.
One thing I believe is that the burden of proof shouldn’t fall on those trying to preserve wildlife and their habitat, but on the people trying to USE that habitat. Unfortunately this is opposite of how most people think. They think “innocent until proven guilty.” I would like the burden of proof to fall on the recreationalists (like it is on the developers making a housing development). Once a given user group can prove that there is no significant effect of that type of recreation on a given habitat or on a given species, then I’m all for opening up that area to recreation. Since that will never happen, I suggest we all exercise a bit of restraint and caution when doing whatever we want recreationally and going where ever we want simply because we have fun doing it. Obviously, since I ride and hike myself quite a bit, I'm fine with opening up certain areas, even if there is a significant effect, as long as it's regulated so to minimize the effect.

Here are some articles from scientific journals if you're interested:

From: “Effects of Urbanization and Habitat Fragmentation on Bobcats and Coyotes in Southern California,” in The Journal of the Society for Conservation BiologyVolume 17 Issue 2 Page 566 - April 2003.
“Human-dominated areas were less suitable than natural areas in some important ways. Animals more associated with non-natural areas had higher levels of night activity, and both bobcats and coyotes were more likely to be in developed areas at night than during the day.”

Nocturnal and Diurnal birds show reduced use of areas being used by humans for recreation and lower reproductive success with some birds. Owls are very sensitive to the presence of humans and are strictly nocturnal:
Title: Effects of recreation on Rocky Mountain Wildlife: A review for Montana. http://www.montanatws.org/PDF%20Files/3bird1.pdf

EFFECTS OF WINTER RECREATION ON WILDLIFE OF THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE AREA:
A LITERATURE REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT
http://www.nps.gov/yell/publications/pdfs/wildlifewint.pdf

Recreational trails, human activity, and nest predation in lowland riparian areas:
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jrmiller/trails.pdf

We do need people to experience the outdoors so that they want to preserve it. That is true. But with as many people as we have experiencing the outdoors we are loving many places to death. If we didn't have so many people that wanted to recreate as much as possible then I wouldn't be bringing this up because the study of the effects of recreation on wildlife wouldn't be a research field at all.
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as an aside:

nocturnal = active at night
crepuscular = active at dawn and dusk
diurnal = active during the day

Most mammals are crepuscular or diurnal, except cats like mountain lions which are crepuscular and nocturnal so to better hunt under the cloak of darkness. They have physiological differences that enable them to see better at night. Most small rodents are the same (mice, rabbits, voles). Foxes, coyotes, bobcats, deer, elk and bears are some of the many that used to be dirunal and crepuscular until humans took over the world. Now they have changed their behaviour to adapt the the changing landscape and forage when there is less human disturbance. We still see these animals in the early morning and at dusk but rarely do we see them during the daylight hours. We especially don't see them near human development too often because we are their predators - car and human alike.

If you don't ride that day and decide to ride that night...don't you think that there are others that rode that day but didn't ride that night? That means that the diurnal creatures are still getting it from the diurnal recreationists and you are also disturbing the nocturnal creatures. So you have just extended the amount of time that wildlife is getting disturbed and harassed, not lessened it by riding at night. I believe we need to give the wildlife a rest sometimes so that they don't leave us for good.

Volley

2004-12-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

I don't like night rides, especially group night rides – which is one reason I didn't go on the IGSSC this year. Same with night sking. Because what is aethetically pleasing and good for some people's souls is bad for wildlife. For example, the ONLY time animals get one ounce of peace and quiet in their world at ski resorts and around highly used trails is at night. Although ski areas are sacrifice areas during the day, you can see tons of tracks in the new snow of the animals that used the area at night: coyotes, foxes, snowshoe hare, cottontail, weasel, bobcat, and maybe an occasional lynx and wolverine (hopeful thinking on those last two!). I have chosen to abstain from night activities for this exact reason - as much as I can. I'll still ride the occasional trail on the way home while I’m commuting with one or two other people, but not on night group rides or especially at ski resorts. I don't skijor at night with my dogs at Eldora anymore because of the critter factor. Can you imagine the SPOOK the elk and deer and other animals get when seeing a line of lights and loud people coming through the woods and the resultant stress that occurs? It must be similar to being on your bike on a highway at night with large fast cars zooming by and not noticing you’re there. There’s direct mortality too…just look at the amount of trail-kill from bikes that occur during the night at the 24 hours of Moab…kangroo rats are squished all over the place.

I didn't take DV8 to task on that issue because I didn't want to attack him directly on something he likes to do. I also didn't take him to task on his car choice. I understand his rationale for owning an old truck.…I have owned them myself and I still own one (67 Dodge Powerwagon that’s my snowplow). I was merely using an example that is very present in my mind because of how much I need to drive now and be in the place I call hell (the road and the city).
I like to voice my opinion on my blog on the world at large's choices. Like i said in my first blog, don't take anything I say personally. I'm not attacking any my friends EVER whether you all take it that way or not.

Obviously, i couldn't agree more when DV8 says:"Overlooking beauty and flair for that which is simply practical is a mistake. A Target superstore is more practical and economically efficient than an eclectic blend of small, independent shops, but I can't imagine it's better for the soul or the environment."

But i would also argue that a Target superstore or a Walmart is NOT more economically efficient and practical in the long term or for the people that work there. These stores destroy communities and fuk over their workers, as you all have been hearing about recently with Walmart. And the environmental issues these large chains create are beyond belief and hugely non-sustainable and therefore not economically efficient except in the short term. But I agree the average american would think these stores are practical…and that’s unfortunate. I’d rather support the local economy & go to the local Coop and pay that extra dollar than shop at Walmart any day - even though I’m barely scraping by.

If not me, then who? Make your vote count.

All discourse is good. Ed Abbey definitely knew that. He was one of the greatest assholes of all time and didn'thave many friends…probably two of the only ways I am similar to him.
Finally, I was using DV8’s quote to address something that his quote reminded me of because I didn't see how the quote related to night sking. I realize that Eldora may have lost some money on night sking and therefore stopped doing it, but I don't see how night sking is very aesthetically pleasing (it’s dark out, but it is fun) and stopping it was a practical decision (albeit an economic one). That quote riled up me because the issue of cars was on my mind having to spend so much time behind large and rude SUVs while commuting to work on a bike and small car.

response to DV8

2004-12-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

I have to wonder what DV8 meant when he said this in his most recent post:
"Too often in our society, we trade that which is good for the soul and aesthetically pleasing for that which is practical and economically efficient. A darned shame."

I couldn't disagree more! (I don't want to attack DV8, and I know he was referring to the Eldora night-sking context...but taken by itself the above quote irks me, and I know DV8 will probably mostly agree with what I have to say.)

I'm quite sure the people that buy Ford Expeditions prefer the look and how driving it makes them feel over a small and sort of strange looking Toyota Hybrid Prius. They prefer being high off the ground and feel safer because of that. They like that it's versatile and can "go anywhere"..but does that make it the right car to choose? No one needs that big of a vehicle (ok, VERY few people do). Why wouldn't an all-wheel drive Subaru wagon do the same thing with just as much room - especially when you can have a cargo box? The Expedition has 110 cubic feet of cargo volume whereas the Subaru Legacy Outback wagon has 67 and Thule rocketbox is an extra 21 cubic feet. That's a difference of 22 cubic feet...so if you need that extra 22 cubic feet get a second rocket box.

We don't live in a black box, and there are too many of us humans to do whatever we want anymore. Every choice we make in this world effects everyone else in this world...along with all the wildlife we so often forget about.

Think about it.

From your car choice to what type of produce or coffee you drink. If you choose a Ford Expedition, you affect not only your own air quality but everyone else's air quality (as well as add considerably more to global warming) . For example, a Ford Expedition emits 12.3 tons of greenhouse gas a year compared to a Toyota Prius which only emits 3.5 tons a year...a four-fold difference. If you buy non-organic produce you are contributing to the increase in pesticide use and the list of repercussions that pesticide use has on the environment and the people that work in those environments. For example, in the central valley of California the resident migrant farm workers have a higher risk of cancer and birth deformities due to pesticide and herbicide use in the farms. This effect is much reduced if not omitted with growing organic produce. Moreover, who knows the long term effects of daily ingesting pesticides.

I'll take economics and praticality over aesthetics any day because i believe that the soul will be nourished when we start making choices realizing that this is a small planet.

follow up

2004-12-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

to find out how "good" your car is (it's all relative obviously) find and compare car emissions at:
www.fueleconomy.gov
and remember: i don't try to attack people on my blogs...so take nothing personally please!
just ranting, like i said in my first blog. Read that again if needed.
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DK and I went for one of the most fun and energetic skates at Xgames that I/we've had in awhile on Tuesday night. NO body was there. I actually ventured into the street area and pulled a few boardslides on the flat rail. It was a "backside-air, frontside-Smith" day...that means i couldn't pull frontside airs and backside Smiths if someone put a gun to my head. It must be a left/right brain thing...sometimes it's the exact opposite. DK was tearing it up on the mid and mini and pulling everything he tried in the bowl.

randoms:

Riding a bike near Colorado Mills mall is scary at night.

my new-to-me car has Arizona tinted windows (you can't tint the front windows in Colorado, but you can in Arizona--where the car was first bought).

Putting a roof rack on a coupe without rain gutters sucks...thanks Bobby (Rocky Mounts rule!) for the help!

I'm becoming more bike-biased than before amazingly...thanks Rivendell!
I'm not going to take the chromoly brazing frame building class instead of the Titanium class because LUGS ARE COOL! and so is fillet brazing.

If i were a bike, i'd be a lugged steel frame and be able to go anywhere. I'd be ok with being a tiny bit heavier, because i'd last forever, and look timeless doing it while others fell away to the dump.

...and again...

2004-12-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

My friends know that I have a fancy for warm gloves that are good for winter cycling. It's amazing how difficult it is to find gloves that keep your hands warm! I have yet to have warm fingers on days between 0-20 degrees (F) on the 3,000ft. descent into Boulder from my house - unless I use the snowmobile mits. Therefore, I have yet to find the perfect glove. I think I may have found it (how many times have you heard that?), but I already bought my one pair of gloves allotment this year but they aren’t working too well (Swix’s warmest gloves). So someone else go check out the Ibex Climawool gloves and let me know how they work…they’re expensive but they’re the most warm feeling and comfortable glove I’ve ever tried on (albeit, in the store).

I also have a problem with buying bike and ski backpacks. I love lots of compartments and pratical utilitarian designs. Each year or two a company seems to come out with a better design that I HAVE (need?) to replace my old pack with. That, or I need one since I blow the zippers or sides off the pack quite frequently.

The worst of all these habits I have is the one I have with cars. I run cars into the ground pretty quick for some reason. That, and I tend to buy either too expensive cars (for me that’s over 14K) or too cheap cars (under $2,000). With the too expensive cars, I end up realizing that after about 6 months I can’t afford the car payments (or don’t want to afford it) because of rising credit card bills and student loan payments, among other things such as house emergencies (SEPTIC! Yuck.) So the cars that can last in Mongolia I end up selling to get rid of their monetary burden. So then I fluctuate to the really cheap cars like a 1988 Toyota Corolla All-Trac, an old Subaru GL, an old Toyota pickup truck, or an older Audi coupe. These cars only run $500-$2000 but the amount of money that goes into them gets incredibly large - quite fast sometimes - and they are not the greatest for air quality (older cars pollute much more than newer cars do if you didn’t know). Basically, as the Pluto Pilot puts it, CARS SUCK! But actually, Cars BLOW - fumes, and your money. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to get rid of my car. Long ago I sold a truck to afford racing (while in pro class, ironically) for ONE summer. I hitched rides to all the races with friends, rode my bike with a Wheelie (a trailer) to the store to get groceries, and had a pretty sweet summer being free of the dinosaur. But since moving up to the Netherlands from the Rock it’s not all that easy to live without the coffin-on-wheels. So alas, I finally come to the point of my story.

I’ve done it again...I got another car. As me and my girl are trying to get rid of a more expensive good car for the mountains. I didn’t want to afford the payments of the Subaru Outback I currently have (and the timing belt just went too…bastard!), so I went with SMRP (my girl) to the Honda dealership looking for a Hybrid civic - the most reliable, best gas mileage, most economical car that currently exists (in my opinion). I am driving lots more these days and wanted to see if I could afford the payments on a Hybrid. I truly believe that if you drive, you should try to drive the best possible gas mileage and least polluting car as possible. I haven’t done this of yet, as I have a penchant for trucks and older cars, but alas, it was my time. We drove the Hybrid and it was sweet, not extremely powerful, but what do you expect if you’re getting 46-51 miles per gallon!? My 2000 Subaru only gets 28 mpg at the most..and that's not bad! But with a hybrid, it would be a huge savings on money and more importantly on all of our lungs. But as life is, making $31,200 a year in this area, I could not afford the payments even with my stellar credit. So I opted for the next best thing: a regular Honda Civic coupe that gets between 32 and 39 mpg and has much lower emissions than the Subaru (less than half)…and it was cheap…I manged to get a car in that middle price range. Hopefully I will hang onto this one for a bit longer than I usually do. This is not a typical mountain vehicle, but with the right tires it’ll do fine, just like the Audi Coupe w/Blizzaks. The civic is a full commuter car…the "Silver Bullet"…the new name of the Civic since it’s so sporty (untypical of me) yet efficient…and that was the name of my first real mountain bike that I had for a long time (an-painted 1987 Klein Pinnacle…polished aluminum color).

So friends, start shaking your head and chuckling...because it’s happened again.

Thumbies friction bike drabble

2004-12-10T15:29:00.000-07:00

I changed from Index shifting to friction today on my ride in. I was amazed at how smooth and QUIET it was. I never realized, until today, how much I hate that CLICK shifters make when you shift. I especially hate how loud it is with Grip Shift. I didn’t even know I shifted unless I paid attention to my effort and not the sound. It was a very enlightening experience really. The last time I used friction on my shifters was by necessity over 10 years ago since that is all that was available! I can see that indexing is better for racing when you want to think less about shifting and get it into gear as fast as possible, but for most use, like a rigid fork, friction shifting is sufficient if not better than indexing (you’ll never mis-shift, and it can’t break!). I must plug Paul’s Thumbies. I’ve been using them for over 6 months now with bar-end shifters and they rule. They are so light, so simple and clean, perfect. One of my first racing sponsors was Pauls Components when I rode for Moots and I loved him then and now. One of the only guys who has stayed true to the roots and kept plugging along making aftermarket components without going under due to the Man (Shimano).
I like my new bike (Karate Monkey). It’s taller and shorter than my preferences (I like genesis type geometry) but I’ll make it conform. The fork has to go though…I can’t believe how hard riding the stock fork is. The 29er wheels BARELY fit in the bus bike rack, but with a toe clip strap on the rear wheel, I feel confident the bike will stay in, and it did this morning on the way into Denver from Boulder. What a test, "I hope this stays on the front!" Webber flung his Surly off a 4 story parking garage during an IGSSC a few years back…so if Surly’s can handle that…I guess getting flung off the front of a bus is the next test, eh?

1st ride thwarted

2004-12-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

I never sleep in past my alarm, but there's always a first time I guess.
I spent an hour last night working on the Monkey in my garage, putting in the star nut, checking and adjusting the brakes, seat and bars...all finalized last night and I totally biffed it this morning. So instead of riding in, i had to get in a car and drive an hour into the brown cloud. Since i was late, and driving is the fastest way, i had no choice...and it was rude. I feel sedentary. Having only exercised or done stuff ONE out of the last 10 days makes Meriwether a sad pup. I've noticed I get angry, anxious, stressed, and depressed when I don't get to DO STUFF. Doing fun stuff is an addictive drug and taking it away is very hard, especially when you replace it with sitting on a bus for over 3 hours a day, or driving a car for over 2 hours a day. The two day weekend is definitely not enough to stay sane. But what to do? I need a job, and i can't find one in Boulder, so here i am in Denver.

So anyway, my new KM is looking nice. I got the 22" (the largest size) and it still feels small compared to my previous geared bike (big 26" bike that has Genesis Geometry basically). It's a strange bike that way - short but tall. The big wheels are so sweet, but you also need the longer wheelbase to smooth those bumps out and get that cadillac ride. I'm getting a Ti Spicer fork for the KM to replace the jackhammer on the front which will drop the front end's weight by a good pound or so....but more importantly offer a much more pleasant ride. Weight is definitely an issue for me, but I prefer a bike that is Utilitarian and practical (which includes being inexpensive), sturdy and durable, and rides well. The parts you put on a bike are usually what make the weight so low or average. The frame's weight isn't that much different between a Surly steel frame and a Spot...it's mostly in the components you put on it. Sometimes a heavier bike rides nicer too. Such is the case with Aluminum frames, light but a sucky ride. The Surly's just are so stable and steady, eating up the bumps and sticking to the ground.
But I do wish I could afford a Rivendell...like this one:
http://rivendellbicycles.com/images/catpics/50-038.jpg

When friction on bikes was good

2004-12-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

I got a pair of $10 wool gloves yesterday to try and keep my fingers warm for once this winter. They worked. I've tried nearly every type and make of glove out there (Swix, Yoko, Pearl Izumi, Lake, Burton, etc.) and they all have failed in one way or another. These $10 gloves kept my hands warm.

It's amazing how so many times I keep coming back to the simplest solution to a problem. Most people, including me, would have bought more expensive gloves to try and thwart the cold finger syndrome. I tried the opposite and got some good ole cheapo wool gloves that did the trick. For me, the same goes for other bike stuff. My first two mountain bikes had friction shifting...a Schwinn High Sierra and then a Specialized Hard Rock. Friction shifters work. Index shifting wears out over time and doesn't shift perfectly everytime. Friction shifting takes thought, and has a learning curve, but it will always work.

I read issue 30 if the Rivendell Reader this morning on the bus. I've gotten back into the Reader after about two years off. I love this publication. It's the most practical and utilitarian view of bicycling of any bike publication. I find myself of the same mind as Grant, the main writer and founder of Rivendell, on most occasions. His retro-grouch philosophy is refreshing, and he's stayed true to the roots of cycling his entire life...and since I picked up the first reader many years ago I have always enjoyed this. The title of Reader #29 was "The cycling publication for the disenchanted." How perfect is that? He also outlined what would NOT be in this Reader: no surface interviews on people you don't care about, no bike reviews that don't say what we really think about the bike because we can't really say what we think...and such things like that.

It is a huge relief to read interviews with Charlie Cunningham or Richard Sachs that take an hour to read and digest with pictures of all their old rigs and devices and STYLE. I really got to know the people being interviewed, unlike when I read the 2 page long interview with Floyd Landis in Dirt Rag. There were many more pictures of Floyd than text and it was a very bad interview...surface and bland. From now on I'm replacing my future Dirt Rag subscription with a Reader subscription.

I've have always prefered more "casual" clothing to the racing attire of bicycle racing/riding. Casual clothing is more comfortable, less gaudy and pretentious (to the public), and overall more practical if you're carring keys, glasses, a wallet, since regular shorts have pockets. I have been riding Nema stuff for a long time which i love, but even Nema is somewhat too "cool" for the average person. I agree with Grant (Reader #30) that clothing is a large part of why many non-cyclists don't get into cycling. First there is the bike which is costly, but then the public is made to think they "need" all that ugly clothing to wear while riding the bike! If everyone wore more normal clothing and showed how fun it is to ride a bike without looking so racey, maybe more of the general public wouldn't feel so intimidated and get into cycling.

I also have read that aerodynamics isn't decreased by wearing baggy clothing at the speeds that most recreational cyclists and especially mountain bikers go (<20mph)...especially while expending the most amount of energy (the uphills) where speeds rarely go over 10mph. Who gives a crap anyway if you have to work a little harder?
Tight, racing garb may breath well, but i would bet not any better than a Nema shirt that looks like a regular shirt!
Who wants to be a walking billboard anyway with their sausage showing to the world?? Let's help bring cycling back to the people - the everyday person - that wants to commute, tour to see the world, or just ride around their neighborhood with their dog or kids.

These yearly updates on the number of gears you NEED, or the newest cool clothing you NEED, or the coolest frame material you NEED....are just plain market bullshit.

Interior Frost

2004-12-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

Two nights in a row the INSIDE of my car window was frosted. It’s hard using a scraper inside your car…if you don’t know. I’m still trying to figure out the reason this happened two nights in a row…I guess there was more moisture trapped inside the car than outside as the outside warmed up? Hmm. Very interesting. This is the first time I’ve ever had this happen, other than with Clifford the big red plow truck…but that happens while I’m plowing on cold mornings. Anyway, no matter.

The car looked how I felt at the 2000 cyclocross nationals in Kansas City. Everyone was completely frosted from the inside out. The coldest I’ve ever been and care to be ever again. Many people’s fingers turned black after the race, blisters ensued from the mild frostbite. It was really ugly, but strangely fun at the same time. Kind of like getting lost in the woods, running out of water or food, and then somehow finding your way back in time for the Daily Show. The party afterwards, like always, made the experience. The orange coverall dudes were great also.
I haven't raced cross at all since 2000…until this year. I didn’t train, and the only real riding I did was commuting. I did ride 5 days of the Colorado Trail trip though which is a totally different type of fitness than ‘cross…but I thought I’d give cross a go this fall. I prep’d my IF cross bike into a single (39x16) and put back on my Tufo tubular wheelset which still was in great shape after not being used for 4 years. Micah and the Rollinsville rednecks convinced me to race, with some help from T.

The first race I did I was mid to back of the pack and suffered like hell. I enjoyed it though. Cross is quite difficult when you have no high end…no lactate tolerance from training. Lungs feel like they’re bleeding, spewing up lactate, coughing, burning legs and body, finally collapsing at the finish line dizzy from pushing so hard for just an hour. I still think solo 24-hour racing is harder than cross, but in a different way. I can suffer for an hour doing anything, but for 24 hours straight…that’s a whole different ballpark. Still, suffering in cross sucks. The next race I did was in Littleton on a flatter course. It was fun, but I think I got dead last. I dropped out when I got lapped by Jon Baker with 2 laps to go. I’ve never been lapped…until that day. I guess it happens to us all eventually (maybe?). My pilot suit did me no good, no pilot power that unfortunately.

Only 4 years ago I was at the top of my game in racing, but this fall I was sucking it up bigtime. I can’t say I had all that much fun in the race. I like racing cross, but I like it much better if I am fitter. I don’t need to be in the top 10 or top 5, but I need to feel good while racing...and the only way I could do that is by going so slow that I got lapped. I’d rather ride my cross bike with friends on trails than suffer the way I did that day. Josh and I went for a sweet singlespeed cross ride last saturday on Habid in the snow and it was sweet.

I can see racing cross again in the future, but next time I’ll train a bit beforehand to make sure I don’t explode in the first lap and get lapped. Racing is more fun if you’re racing and not just trying to survive.

With that…I need to go work on my frontside airs. I've bruised my right knee twice by falling on it hard in the last two months bailing from FS airs. Skating has been my racing the last two years…the progression of tricks and speed and fun…I’m a kid getting hurt all over again.

Snot

2004-11-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

Quote of the week (Nate Blomgren):
"Why is snot the only thing that becomes LESS viscous in the cold?"

He's right, although I never would've thought that on my own. Diesel, oil, water (turns to ice), blood (?), muscles, all gel or become more vicscous in the cold...yet SNOT is the opposite. Odd.

Nate is the purveyor of great quotes. I've started a list of the things he comes up with...they're just classic. His mind works on a different plane than most people i know. I'll have to find that document and reproduce it here someday.

Two weekends ago, Nate came out to Denver and we hung out for the weekend. I grew up with Nate in Marin. I first knew him from little league. We went to Redwood high school where we got into mountain bikes and then snowboards. He's one of the only people i still keep in contact with from High School. We celebrated his arrival by going to the Sundowner Saloon before heading to Warren Miller's new film at the Boulder Theater. The first things we see at the Sundowner are our old neighbors and good friends that I haven't seen since the last time Nate was in town three years ago...at the same place we left them EXACTLY at the bar. We drank some beers, talked about old times, saw Forest's beautiful new tatoo of his dog Moab (Mo mo!) that recently passed away. Nate and I were both there when he got Moab as a puppy and the tattoo looked exactly like her..and what a cool memorial to an amazing dog! We eventually left for the movie and got SO psyched for winter and POWDER. Typical Warren Miller movie, but still fun and lots of beers and energy at the Theater.

We walk back to the Sundowner before heading home and the boys are STILL there at the exact same spot at the bar, more drunk and rowdy now with Josh starting to get belligerent and picking fights. Forest is a huge stocky dude that is very mellow and never fights unless he's doing his JuJitsu, and Josh is a tall wiry punk that is always picking fights like a barfly. A Classic combo and two of the few Boulder locals (born & raised) I know.

We hit up old terrain and went to Berthoud Pass on our boards with Dubba on Sunday...and on November 14th got some sweet powder amazingly. Up to 2 feet in places of fresh intermixed with hardpack but rarely a rock showing. We did the 80's and 90's, and Hell's Half Acre to the 7 mile toboggan run and found rides almost immediately each run. Pretty perfect day.

Bummer of the day was that Dairy King in Empire was CLOSED. No grilled cheese and onion rings today.

cars NEED to be coffins

2004-11-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

I drive to work more than i'd like to these days...whether it's to boulder to get on the bus, to Ned to get on the bus, or the entire way to denver. If i drive the whole way it's an 80 mile round trip...yes, you read that right...and takes one hour each way. To boulder it's a 34 mile roung trip and takes 1 hour and 30 minutes each way. To Ned, it's a 14 mile round trip and takes 2 hours each way. Those are some crazy ass numbers. I've been riding maybe 3 days a week to Boulder and hopping on the bus...but those other two days can be hell. At least I skate Slick City...that's my rationalization at least. Today I drove to do field work at Cherry Creek State Park and walked with a GPS around prairie dog colonies ALL day, and it was sweet. Cherry Creek is the most isolated piece of nature that i've ever seen (I've never been to NYC's Central Park though). Amazingly, there are many species of wildlife that inhabit that place: white-tailed and mule deer, golden and bald eagle, prairie dogs, burrowing owl, red tailed hawks, kestrels, canadian geese, great blue heron, coooper's hawk, sharpshinned hawk, coyote, fox, possibly a bobcat, and of course the more common species like magpies, racoons, crows, and humans. LOTS of humans in fact. All in all though, it was a good day at work...better than sitting behind the desk like I usually do...all except for the 100 mile round trip in the car.

In my car i have lots of time to think. I like to think about how car manufacturers should make cars LESS safe and MORE tippy instead of the opposite so that people drive slower. Headlights should not be so bright (they've gotten brighter each decade) so that you drive slower at night too and hopefully hit fewer animals. Knowing humans though, making cars less safe and headlights dimmer would backfire as people would probably drive just as fast and tip over more and also hit more deer, rabbits, moose, dogs, cats, coyotes, foxes, etc.

The entire problem lies in this fast food society. I haven't read that book, but i'm sure the author would agree that this country is in too damned much of a hurry! We NEED our food NOW, we NEED to drive as fast as possibly to get home NOW so we can sit on our asses in front of the TV screen and not think. We NEED to live and do things as fast as possible, because it's more productive and it makes us more money. Ah, yes, money.

In the words of the immortal Keith Morris of the Circle Jerks: LIVE FAST DIE YOUNG! I know he meant it another way, but it just is so fitting! You see....living fast, eating fast, working fast, and driving fast are all large inducers of stress which has been shown to decrease life span and quality. Why not ENJOY the road drive into work...there's lots to see, listen to on the radio, or just kick back in silence. Or, better yet, get up a little earlier and take the bus into work! Start reading a book or magazine on the bus. I've finished three books in two months (a record for me!) from just reading on the bus. Bussing it is the largest stress reducer I can think of for commuters. Best yet, ride to work. That's a bit tough for me, so I combine it with the bus, but cycling is by far the funnest and most healthy way to work.

Denver has had a "red air quality day" each day this week...and does so most every winter day until the Chinook winds come and blow that shite away. I can feel the difference in air from my house at 8,200 ft. to the city streets 4,000ft below. While in Denver I sneeze more, I cough more, I have stuffed up sinus' more, I get short of breath more when exercising....all because of the shitty air. I wish I could live in the city, reduce my driving to zero, but I just can't. I hate cities (except for their skateparks!). IF I could live in them, i would not have to drive, but i'd die early from the air and water quality if not getting doored or cut off while riding my bike first. Choices.

I used to ride my bike fast...race, and hurry through singletrack. Now all i can do is stop all along the trail to enjoy the views or look down for tracks in the dirt or snow, or just listen to silence. You see much more going slowly...in every facet of life.

So everyone please buy crappier cars or trucks (but with good mpgs!) and enjoy the ride.

Urban assault

2004-10-07T16:08:00.000-07:00

The one semi-fun thing about commuting to and in Denver is the urban assault after I get off the bus at Union Station. I'm so used to commuting down mag on trails and dirt roads seeing less than 10 cars on the dirt. When I hit the pavement in the big city, i'm surrounded, one of the few on a bike, it's pretty much survivial just to get to work. It's only a 10 minute ride, but I treat it like a race...it's just funner that way. I dodge the busses who could give a shit about bikes, swerve around them and curb hop to get the WALK signal and pretend I'm a Ped. Then out onto the road again trying not to get DOOR'ed by the parking citizens. Down the right way (and wrong way) of one-way streets (depending on my mood and whether I'm lost or not), I get to the state capitol and am only blocks away from work. This area of the city is actually pretty. Old traditional-like buildings with clock towers and plazas and gardens. New funky development and the library and museum of modern art are cool as well. Up a short hill to the bike rack and i'm there. I can see why bike messengers become the way they are. It feels like a war against the chugalugers, and it's just a lot of fun to be sprinting here and there...so many obstacles all around. I take the stairs up the 6 flights (the elevator is for the lazy) and change into some "business casual" clothes in the large stall in the men's room. Out and onto work with that buzz only the bike can give you...but in for a day of sitting in front of a computer screen wiping those good feelings away. At least I can repeat after work in reverse.

WHA HAPPEND?

2004-10-06T08:03:00.000-07:00

I have no idea who wrote that last blog. It was NOT me! I remember leaving the Pawnderosa in full Pilot gear and I was on my way to the IGSSC in Ned via cycle...and participated! I woke up the next day not remembering anything, but that's how it USUALLY is after the IGSSC!! I thought I must've had one too many PBRs or knocked me head on a wooden limb or something... Having read DV8's log on the event, it appears as I didn't show up, and that somewhere along the way I was intercepted by those DAMNED DIRTY APES, I mean aliens, and taken to their pod for testing. Well, I'm returned and better now...the virus they infected me with is not that strong, or they also tested a viral vaccine with me and it works. No matter. i hope the IGSSC and TDD were a blast this year for everyone (duh).

We have abducted Meriwether

2004-10-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

The Conspiracy Of Extraterrestrial Galaxies (COG) has abducted Meriwether. We are running tests of his response to viral infection and different types of pain threshold. He will not be present at this year's IGSSC because our DAMNED DIRTY Alien/human hybrids came to his room last night and took him away...but don't try and come after him as we will just capture you too.

Intergalactic pilots are a dying breed and by capturing Meriwether (and maybe you next!) we will take and harvest Pilot's DNA and cells for research and development in order to create a hybrid lifeform that will be able to push a 42x11 up 505 in 15 minutes. He will not remember any of this because we will use our mind erasing beverage on him and return him at our leisure. No Pilot is safe...you may be next...

Grizzly Years

2004-09-29T08:18:00.000-07:00

Since September 25th, I've driven each day for a grand total of over 2000 miles. First it was out to California with my girlfriend and 4 dogs to help her visit her brother who was in the hospital, then I hopped on a plane as soon as we got there and flew back to Denver. The following week I drove to work each day for my new job from Ned to Denver--an hour each way in a car. Sue's brother is doing good, but has a long way to go to being "fine". I'll leave the details out, but it was a scary week for the family.

I've been getting road rage lately, having been in the car SO much...it does strange things to a person. Especially someone like me who relies on being outside a LOT for staying sane. I feel like I've been having "nature" withdrawls, where i get antsy and irritable from not riding my bike or skating (or getting any exercise) for 10 days in a row. That is not a long time in the whole scheme of things, but when it comes along with a large life change (new job in a big city)...it feels like giving up heroin.

Today, I was able to ride from my house to Boulder (1 hour direct) and hop on the bus to Denver to try out my new commute on a bike (1:45 total commute time). I have created a commuter bike that is as follows for this journey: Surly 1x1 frame (the largest one they make), 34x15, full fenders, Nitto bag rack, toe clips on Suntour XC pro pedals, Tbrown MTB mustache bars, and big fat tires. It feels like i'm back on my 1985 Specialized Hard Rock with the diacompe brake levers where you used your outside fingers to brake instead of your index fingers and every bike at that time had a heavy straight gauge steel frame with a rear pannier rack.

I took the direct route from home and enjoyed the turning leaves at a slower speed. I made it to Lolitas for a burrito, then got to the bus station right on time for the 7:50 Denver/Boulder express bus. Bike on the front, I sat up front and started reading "the Grizzly Years" by Doug Peacock. This is the guy Ed Abbey got the idea of Hayduke from for the Monkey Wrench Gang. Staring down into his descriptions of tracking grizzly bears in Yellowstone had a big impression on me today. I felt disgust as I looked up only to see miles and miles of pavement and thousands of cars as I was carted father away from the mountains in a diesel spewing people-mover. I wondered how long I could stay sane doing this commute...how long I could "afford" it psychologically. I'm sure i'll "get used to it" but is that really a good thing?

Kill Everyone Now!

2004-09-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

I went to the Boulder skatepark on Tuesday at lunchtime when as I was getting my semi-dry skatepads out of the rocketbox on my car and onto my knees, elbows, and head I noticed a relatively heavy-set woman in the car next to me just sitting there with her eyes closed. The car was running and the woman was apparently napping during her lunchtime with the AC going. It was a pleasant 80 degrees outside, and we were both parked in the Scott Carpenter parking lot adjacent to the Boulder Creek Bike Path, a public swimming pool, ball fields, and a skatepark. I went to go skate with Dave for an hour and when I came back she was still there, now with her head down totally passed out with the car running. Now, I don't know the woman's reasoning for this, but what the fuck is wrong with her? What about a nice stroll on the bike path and dipping your feet in the creek? What about going for a swim on a moderately hot day? NO, I think i'll keep my car running for 2 hours just so i can keep cool and nap while I pollute this stupid planet's air and waste more un-renewable resources because i'm a lazy sack of shite.

I honked to wake her up as I left.

my singlespeed

2004-09-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

Each fall it seems to be singlespeed season for me. I love it in the spring, and in the fall, but have trouble riding it all thru the summer for some reason. Especially this year with the Colorado Trail trip (http://themongoliachronicles.typepad.com/the_mongolia_chronicles/2004/08/nice_ride.html#more)
Each spring is the Fruita Fat Tire Festival, and each fall comes the IGSSC and Tour de Dewey. Those events have something to do with it, but mostly it's my favorite bike that i like to ride in my favorite seasons...it's the best bike for winter too in my mind. Anyway, here's the specs of the sweet ride that is riding perfectly now (34x18 gearing):
Spot 21" white SS frame, disc only; Avid mechanical disc brakes; Wily rigid steel fork disc only with 29" wheel (Salsa Delgado rim, XT hub, and WTB Nanoraptor tire); 26" rear wheel with WTB Mutanoraptor 2.4" tire; Jones Ti H-Bar with road bar tape; Thudbuster seatpost with Bontrager FS-10 race seat (the best seat ever made); and finally a bell. yes, it's very gucci for a single, but wow, does it ride well. The 29/26 wheel combo makes it corner like never before and is smoother over rough stuff. The perfect fall cruiser.

I'm riding as much as possible this week, as I am forseeing not being able to commute in on my favorite trails for very much longer...and because I am starting my new job Monday. I will be able to catch the bus to Denver at 7:50 and get to work on time, but that means to do a 2 hour ride in the morning...i have to leave at 5:50...and i'm not so good at getting up THAT early. Sacrifices, yes, but alas, i've been pretty spoiled the last three years. Time to make up for it I guess...?

over.

fashion

2004-09-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

OK...
I want to know why all college girls have started to wear the HUGE Jackie-O sunglasses...? These things are seriously ugly. Big huge blocky frames, and lenses that cover eyebrow to lower cheek. it's silly! Should I start a new trend by starting to wear HUGE Raybans like you see Tom Cruise wearing in the 80's movie "Risky Business"...?

I also would like to know who told every guy to buy a longboard and wear flip-flops while skating to campus. They inevitable have to jump off their boards to stop because they suck. I cannot think of a more impractical foot garment for skateboarding then flip-flops (especially when none of these dudes can skate!). Go bare feet if you want to look "cool" dudes. that's really old-school.

My Bike History (if you care...)

2004-09-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

I grew up in Marin County, CA...the so-called "birthplace" of mountain biking (i don't believe it was the first place, but that's how it's known). The view from my house(and anyones view in Marin) is of Mt. Tam where the historic Repack races were held. You can definitely feel the vibe on Tam. Even though you can't legally ride the singletrack on most of the mountain, the place is amazing and very extensive for how close to SF it is. There is a huge amount of land up there covered in Redwoods, oaks, and mosses. There is something amazing about that place that has helped define me and my ethics in a large way. The culture is so deep in biking that many kids grow into mountain bikers. For example, I went to middle school for awhile with Miles Rockwell, who got kicked out of his last middle school (he eventually got kicked out of mine too). We skated a bit and took some wacky tobaccy from his dad. There are many other cyclists that had their start on "Team Tam" and the like, mountain biking was for many the after school sport instead of soccer or baseball.

Specifically, I am from Kentfield and later Larkspur. I moved to CO for college in 1991...and been in the area ever since. I started skateboarding around 1980 but stopped around 1990 from ankle injuries (streetskating is deadly) and a newfound love of mountain biking. I first started MTB'ing on Mt. Tam around 1985 and eventually tried my hand at racing once I moved to Colorado and a friend told me how he raced and how much fun it was. My first beginner race was at Lory State Park in Ft. Collins in 1993 and I won the fast 8 mile lap in baggys and a DRI t-shirt. At the time I didn't know what lycra was or why anyone would want to wear anything tight on a bike (I'm serious). I grew up on Tam riding with friends wearing what we wore to school: cotton shorts and shirts. I won my next beginner race in San Jose, CA while visiting parents, and I then learned how to get my ass kicked in the Colorado Off-Road Points Series (CORPS) the following summer of 1994. This race series was by far the best series of races I've ever done. Each race was at a great place in Colorado (Crested Butte, Durango, Winter Park, Breckenridge, etc.) and consisted of a two day race (basically a shorter loop many times the first day, then a long out-and-back the next day). The courses and events were spectacular, even if there were pitiful prize lists (except for Riders Del Norte!).

I raced up through the ranks to turn Pro in 1997 (or was it 96?) after a short stint in the newly formed "Semi-Pro" class of 1996.
I first was "sponsored" by Chrome clothing (baggy shorts!) in 1994, and then Moots Cycles in 1995-1996 (or was it 96-97?). In 1997, my most memorable race was getting 3rd at the CO State Cyclocross Championships behind Mark Howe and Pete Webber and in front of Brian Miller and Travis Brown still recovering from breaking my wrist on the Tipperary Creek CORPS race in Winter Park that summer.
I started to become disillusioned with MTB racing in 1997, after paying for all races and travel with my credit cards and working as a delivery driver at nights in order to ride train during the day. I had to sell my truck to pay off debt, and then hitch rides to the races in 1997. In 1998, I was part of the Ionic/Nema MTB team but was most passionate about racing cyclocross locally. My cyclocross sponsors were ProPeloton and Rocky Mounts, but I can't remember when!. I basically quit MTB racing after 1998 and just cross-raced for fun. In 2000 I raced for Boulder/Denver Couriers when my best result was a 5th at the Boulder Supercup.

Since 2000, I've competed in a few solo 24 hour race events: Montezuma's Revenge (www.montezumasrevenge.com) twice, the 12 hours of Humbolt on my singlespeed, and another really great event: the 24 Hours of Light in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. That race, and the trip to Alaska and Yukon, was one of the coolest trips I've done. Spot Brand helped me out in 2003 with bikes for these events.

Nowadays, I just like to ride, explore for trails (get lost), and occasionally do a fun race. The first and best event of the year is usually the Fruita Fat Tire Festival where the singlespeed race is a yearly attraction but the Clunker Crit is the most prestigious event of the weekend. Other events include the Intergalactic SingleSpeed Championships (IGSSC) and the Tour de Dewey, both around Boulder.

First MTB ride with my girl

2004-09-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon marked a historical moment in my relationship with my girlfriend. We've been together for several years but have always hiked trails together with sets of our 9 dogs (yes, 9!). I've been a loser and never tried to get her to ride mountain bikes with me, even though she's expressed interest and we have trails pretty close to the house. So, we drove Zippy (a Toyota Alltrac wagon w/184K miles) into Ned and put up "For Sale" signs on it ($1400obo. if you know anyone interested!), and rode back on Big Springs and Lost World. She did very good, especially considering she was using clipless pedals for the first time! She was a bit tentative on the downhills--partly due to not wanting to click-in on downhills and partly because you can see more of the surroundings when you're going slower. I love that attitude. That is one main reason I've come to love hiking: you see more of what you pass than when on a MTB. (It reminds me of this:
http://www.bhutanmtb.com/speed.html from the Bhutan Mountain Biking Club.)
Anyway, we got back home after having a great time on one of the most perfect fall days I've ever witnessed, blue skies and 80 degrees...just perfect. When we got back, we hiked three of the dogs out back. Gotta take advantage of these types of days...the leaves changing color fast and winter is coming quickly. I can feel it too...this is going to be a big winter.

KROW

2004-09-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

(work in a mirror)

I start a new job a week from Monday. Right now I'm a "professional research assistant" for an ecological research study looking at disease (plague) in prairie dogs. I basically have tried to find out where plague has occurred in the prairie dog's 11 state range, and where it will occur next. Also, what are the mechanisms that influence plague epizootics in prairie dogs. It's very interesting work but it is time for change. I've been at my current position since I graduated with my master's degree in May of 2001 from CU Boulder. My Masters looked at urbanization and its effect on prairie dog density and how rodent communities are different on and off of prairie dog colonies...basically giving more evidence that prairie dogs are keystone species and ecosystem engineers (they have a disproportionate effect on grassland communities relative to their numbers). I like prairie dogs, unlike most native westerners. They are cute, have a complex social structure with many similarities to humans, and they are very important sources of food for many predators along with providing shelter (their burrows) for a large number of organisms. So root for the prairie dogs, they are declining in the west due to ranching activities (poisoning and shooting), agricultural conversion of grassland (plowing over), and more recently: urbanization of the west.

My new job is titled "Ecologist/GIS Analyst" for the Colorado Natural Heritage Program and Colorado State Parks. I'll be commuting now to Denver instead of Boulder which will add a good half-hour plus each way. However, the job is very cool. In this job I will be helping with the management of T&E (Threatened and Endangered) species in the State Park system of Colorado. There are 40 state parks in which these species need protecting. I will be helping in managing where campgrounds, trails, new roads, and forest thinning projects will be located in relation to the T&E species and make sure the T&E species will not be significantly affected by such developments. It will be mostly office work using GIS but will also involve some field work using GPS. Right now, I am at the computer all day so any potential outside work is welcomed.

Another plus is that my office is blocks away from one of the best skateparks in the nation: Slick City (the Denver skatepark). As the name suggests, it's quite slick (they put an anti-graffiti fiberglass coating on the cement) but it has a few sick bowls and a large street area (that i have yet to place wheel in). I'm excited to get better in the 7/10 foot peanut bowl there...learn some vert tricks other than a backside air and 50/50 grind.

now, off to the weekend.

Welcome

2004-09-09T14:57:00.000-07:00

This is the new digs.

Wheels on fire.
I'm continuing on this new blog from my old one at: http://www.offcamber.com/MeriwethersRants.htm

This will not be only about the things I do....riding bikes, skateboards, snowboards, or teleskis...it will be about it all and how it all relates to my very biased and opinionated version of the world. It will be about how I go through life and how I think YOU should go through life. Mostly these blogs are an extroverted personal diary or journal...so if I piss you off, realize that writing in this blog is more for me than for anyone who may read it. It's a way to expose ideas I have, but basically just keep a journal for me and possibly others to look at in the future. Now, enough rationalizing, lets go.