God's Country

I still can't get over just how gorgeous the Pacific Northwest is.  True, Colorado has it's domineering mountains, Nevada it's deep blood-red canyons and Louisiana it's bayous (...right).  Still, after riding yesterday I came around the bend and this was laid out before me.  How do you beat that?

I still have no clue what I'm doing with my life post-graduation but how could I possibly leave a place like this?

Update

So, it's been a while and I've neglected this again--here's the shortest, most complete update I can come up with.

Since returning from Colorado I broke the Scott yet again.  You know how something bad is going to happen even though you really don't want it to?  Yeah.  That's my relationship with that bike.  I was tired of messing around with it so I dropped it off with the guys at Veloce Bikes in Hawthorne and let them work their magic.  And magic they did work.  2 weeks and $30 later I had a bike with a replaceable hanger!!  Let's just say this has been a huge relief knowing that if/when I break that sucker again I can fix it in 15 minutes, not 15 weeks.

If you're gonna bonk, do it right.

I would like to start with noting that I've never really bonked before, I've had rides where I've gotten tired or just haven't been feeling it and been on the edges of a bonk but never really bonked hard.  Take for example the last time I rode Pumpkin Ridge (65 miles or so) near the start of base miles.  It was one of my first rides back and I probably should have started with something a little shorter/easier but it seemed like a good idea at the time.  The last 10 miles up Thompson were rough; gear-grinding, teeth-clenched and then I got passed by a couple of 60-year olds...  Regardless, at the top I caught my second wind and made it back just fine.  Not today.

broken bike. Again.

So remember back in July when I broke my bike?  Well it happened again.  Same thing, Shimano chain failed, wound up in the spokes and took the derailleur and  non replaceable hanger with it.  Rather than fix it with the same part that could fail (again) I looked into other options.  Long story short:  no other options.

The dilemma:  I need a rain bike.  My rain bike is broken.
Possible solutions:
1)  buy a new frame
2)  have Ruckus Components fix the dropout again and hope I don't break another chain

Nope, not spending money this time.  Going to try and fix it myself.  Below is a short photo diary of the fixing process.

road trip: Spokane, WA to Fort Collins, CO

December 17th:

-wake up at 3:30am and head to Shari's with CB

-get on a plane at some ungodly hour for the flight to Spokane.  Side note:  I really like flying, especially in the morning.  I witnessed one of the greatest sunrises in my memory:  the sun rising over a set of altostratus clouds and I got to watch it seemingly ripple away from the plane.  Think about this image but only seeing it from the air.  Pretty rad.

cleanliness

Eh, while I'm up, why not another one.

back on the bike

I just came to the realization that almost all of these posts are written/posted after midnight/1am; looks like this one will be no different.

So after a solid 2-3 weeks off the bike I'm back on it, this time cranking out the boring winter miles.  When I got back on I know I'd want to immediately jump back to the fitness I was in August but alas, it wasn't too be.