Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Back from Camp

It's been a busy few weeks. Got back from the USAC Junior Development Camp and had a blast while I was there coaching. There are a lot of talented juniors coming up and it will be exciting to see them develop. Once I got back I tried to keep the bike practice going and ended up chasing singletrack up in Oregon. Now its triple digits at home and I was wishing home was in Squamish. Be up there soon enough. In the meantime I relinquished my spot on the Seven Devo Squad. Just no time to race and I'm not one of those folks that takes advantage of sponsors for my own personal gain and then turn around a disappear and not do what was promised. There are more deserving racers out there that need help. For now...here are some vids from the past couple weeks.


USAC Rocky Mountain Junior Development Camp from Ride Trails on Vimeo.


Singletrack from Ride Trails on Vimeo.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Life Inside a Box

Life inside an S-Works box to be exact but bike boxes are getting larger these days and you could live quite comfortably in one.


Quite roomy

C-Bar

Thanks again to my friends at Clif Bar for the goodies! Got me hooked on those Blueberry granola bars.


Thursday, June 2, 2011

Finally a Ride

Here are some pics from a ride a couple weeks ago. Since then I got a respiratory virus and am finally kicking it after a week and a half. Nothing like losing all fitness right before camp. I'm going to get worked by some 15 year old junior girls now!







Retiring a Friend

It wasn't easy but made the decision to retire a friend that has carried me through thick and thin. Nationals, Worlds, and lots of podiums along the way. We celebrated together, cried together, and bled together.

She was made for me when I weighed in at a hair under 150. Now that I'm carrying an extra 25 the extra load is a burden on her triple butted frame. It's the only frame that has lasted me over one season.

It's been a good ride. Seven years to be exact!

Sola 2004-2011

Here are some parting shots.














Sunday, March 27, 2011

Quick Update

Still haven't been in the mood for any bike practice. Tons of new snow has fallen so winter will thankfully be extended for a few more weeks. Have not made it up as much as I prefer since design work has been busy. Right brain just has not been functioning well. Still pondering that future and wondering where it will take me. Should be interesting. Well, back to dreaming of snow.



Sunday, March 13, 2011

Blast from the Past

Bear sent me a link and on it was an old school photo from back in the day.






Kind of funny to see it. Here is the link.

Also good luck to all the athlete's, that I coach, today. Should be some good racing going on!

Friday, March 11, 2011

West End Grand Opening

This N' That

First off, my heart, hopes, and prayers go out to all those in Japan. Devastating and mind boggling seeing the images and videos from the earthquakes and tsunamis. Tragedy like this makes all your problems seem insignificant.

Currently sitting here sick forging through some design issues. Has not been easy but it's most likely the most trivial thing happening around these parts of the office.

So how do you help a country in need? I don't know the answer so that is why I am asking. Money? Food? What is the best way?

Not sure but a lot of the products out there are designed in Japan such as electronics. So while the question and solutions are out to be discovered I will continue to support my Asian brothers and sisters any way I can.

The Man on Wheels

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Long Overdue

It's been a while since the last post and as usual busy things keep getting busier. Been here and there and logged lots of recent miles. Happy that I got to xc ski with the girls a lot so far this winter. It's been so much fun I barely have skate skied...can't say that I've missed it much. January turned out to be optimal riding weather but my mind was all about skiing. Of course it got really warm and decided to melt all the snow away after I picked up some Kendos (which super rip by the way) at the 5th.


I really didn't want to ride my bike but I did in the name of dropping some L-Bees. Slowly got into when some sponsors sent some goodies too. Not planning on racing much...or at all this season and continue working on coaching. Some good things are planned for that and some traveling will come in the later months. The team saw some rearranging and I demoted myself to ambassador instead of racer. Made some not so easy cuts as well so I could get back to streamlined core team as in the past.



Design is helping burn the midnight oil. Got lots of work in that department as the projects get tougher and more challenging.

Finally snowed again and got my first taste of skinning with AT gear. What a difference than the old BC days of yesteryear when I strapped the planks to the pack and boot packed or snowshoed up. Rando is way easier (relatively) and allows for more laps. After a 5 year hiatus of snow practice its nice to get back to it and carve on a different surface. Lately been selling off lots of bike parts to shuffle around the gear loads.





As winter remains for now, bike riding season is soon to come. Still not ready for it and I'm hoping to get the Coombacks out on some pow but who knows what the weather will be like. When its time for bike practice....I'll probably still be dreaming of some BC action or maybe the call of the singletrack will lure my brain back around.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Remembering

My heart goes out to the family of Russ Okawa and all the folks at Giant. I met Russ back in 2008 and he was such a friendly guy. During my stint working Sea Otter, Russ never would turn down a trip to go look for food. He was always happy and loved talking to anyone that stopped by the trailer. You will be missed by many Russ.

Monday, January 17, 2011

First Post of the New Year

Been fighting bronchitis and haven't posted since the end of last year. Finally getting around to it now. I'm not one of those that makes resolutions for the new year to start life off right. I believe that if it is something that is important to you, you'll do it all the time.

This past year has been a tough one and I'm glad to put it in the books. The high point was welcoming our newest daughter into the world and the low point was having to personally resuscitate her on two different occasions in the middle of the night (as well as on the way to the hospital in the car)....after she came home from being in the Neonatal ICU for over a month. Chalk up two extra overnight visits to the hospital. Bonus.

Trying times really bring out the best in family and friends. They band together and support you and help out any way they can. We are truly blessed and thankful for all of them. While we couldn't have visitors because of the youngster's health issues it didn't stop some great people from just dropping off a meal for us fully knowing we couldn't invite them inside to visit. Those meals made a world of difference especially when we were averaging 2 hours of sleep a night for months on end. Apologies to those that were offended in any way thinking we didn't want them to come over...MD's orders.....plus we just didn't want to end up back at the hospital again.

During this entire ordeal were some final design projects that were due. I remember after the emergency c-section (breach, cord wrapped around her neck, and add in a little placenta previa for good measure) and making sure the wife was okay late into the night I would come home, pick up the oldest from the grandparents, put her to bed and then work on designing until the sun came back up. Then I would shower and head back to the hospital. No sleep. I still turned all projects in prior to the due date and time. While I explained my situation to all those involved with my projects and they were all understanding. Except for one instructor who had zero sympathy or understanding. It troubled me to remember that not everyone believes that their family should come first.

2010 was another year where people would again take advantage of my kindness. I always try to help my friends out but sometime there are those that are out there for personal gain who pose as your friend. Even during my busiest times I helped out with various projects only to find that if it isn't on a contract, you're pretty much screwed. Lesson learned yet again. Oh well, I guess I just have to HTFU in other areas of life.

The whole Facebook, Twitter, online social networking will yet again dominate this year and change the way people interact. While I am on there every now and again, I still like to call my friends or talk to them face to face. Bear and I were contemplating the issue and we came to the conclusion that you would have nothing to talk about to a friend if you knew all their status updates.

Soon there will be some changes on the horizon. I'll be launching my coaching business soon and continue working on future design projects. Perhaps a little two planking and two wheeled action are in order as well. One thing is for sure...I don't need some milestone every year to motivate me to create change.

Checking out for now