Ooo, This Looks Like Fun!

Now I just need to find a partner.

Quote of the Day

Overheard at this mornings production meeting:
"Monday canceled due to lack of interest."

A Quick Weekend Getaway

Michele and I needed to get away from the city, if only for just the night. We loaded up early and headed toward Sequim. After a ferry ride and a short drive we found the Miller Peninsula trails and set out exploring.

My choice of wheels.

And my riding partner. Michele was not feeling in tip top shape, does it show?

Sweet, sweet, El Mariachi. The trail was a little muddy in places and the Weirwolf LTs again reared their ugly, not meant for mud head, but I pressed on in the face of adversity and ultimately persevered.

After a few miles Michele was no longer feeling it so we turned around. Notice the elusive smile as we return to the parking lot.

Post ride we checked into our craptastic hotel, took showers, and headed back out again. We killed the rest of the afternoon at Dungeness Spit. Michele found a nice place to sit.

And the place where the sidewalk ends.

Michele again, this time at a the overlook.

Having killed enough time we went to dinner at Cedar Creek Restaurant. I had a very well prepared piece of salmon and Michele had some truffle pasta. It made for a very good meal and I highly recommend it.

This morning we went to breakfast before busting ass back towards Seattle by way of Port Townsend and Whidbey Island.

Goodbye, Port Townsend.

Big Big Announcement

New addition to the blog roll!!

linky

Looking Forward

Some things happened this weekend. There was eating, riding, sleeping, bike maintenance, car maintenance, laundry, and Futurama, but that's not what's on my mind right now.

I've been thinking about the future a lot the last couple of weeks. Some things have come to light recently with regards to Michele's potential earnings, and even though she doesn't like me talking about it, I'm thinking more and more about doing my own thing 27 months from now. I'm not exactly sure what that thing is going to be, but I'd really like to stop working for others. Now don't get the wrong idea, I really enjoy the job I have right now, good company, good people, good clients. Also, it's important to note that I'm not talking about retirement at 33 either(as much as I like to joke about it). The problem is that I'm still working for the man and that doesn't allow for the kind of flexibility that I want in my life. What I do depends on where we end up of course, but this is where my mind is currently at. It's also worth mentioning that Tim and Lucy are building on Anderson Island in the summer of 2010 and since I'm one of the few people that can handle Tim in construction setting, they really want me to build the house. If we're living in the South Sound I'll do it for sure, otherwise we'll just have to take things as they come.

I really want to take a vacation, and that's really what brings this whole rant about. I haven't had a full week of vacation(that didn't center around moving or Michele's education) in nearly four years. As those in the know will tell you, the S & M Crested Butte vacation of '04 was a complete and total disaster. We've only taken a few solid vacations in the eleven years we've been together and it's about time we started making things right. Mark my words, this summer, it's on.

About damn time

I'm sorry Salsa, but your grips suck. I bought a set ~15 years ago and hated them, I quickly replaced them with something just as bad. I've been putting this off long enough, so today I finally got around to cutting off the offending grips and tossed them in the trash.

I've got a set of clear Ourys that have been sitting on the bench since last years Whiskey Off Road. I planned to put them on the El M. long before I had it, but what can I say, I'm a lazy shit. As of today the whole fleet runs Ourys.

Clear for El M.

Green for Michele's Jamis

Black lock-ons for The Bike Formerly Known as Unit

And regular old black ones on Michele's commuter.

Damn good grips if I do say so myself.

Back to St. Ed's

Michele and I went out to St. Ed's for a little ride. I think it was sometime around Thanksgiving the last time we rode on dirt together. She's actually got the weekend off for a change so that's nice. I loaded the singlespeed expecting the trails to be a little muddy, turned out to be quite dry and would have been a perfect opportunity to ride the El M. We tooled around together for a little while until I peeled off toward Big Finn Hill. I spent a little time exploring before heading back to find Michele waiting for me in the car. I rode around seven miles or so, not a lot but it was nice to spin the legs. I'm thinking I'll load the El M. in the morning on Tuesday and head back out there after work(if the weather's still nice, otherwise it'll be the SS again).

Also, my dad just got done with the ride I never got around to doing. Respectable time too, slow OFS or not.

This is only a test.

Finally, Ft. Ebey!

It's been quite a while since wheels have hit dirt, Christmas Eve to be exact. I've tooled around the hood some and circled the big hamster wheel but that hardly counts. So after dropping Michele off at the hospital I went home and loaded up for the trip North.

After a quick stop at the shop to do some actual work I headed to the ferry and onto Whidbey Island. Ft. Ebey is about halfway up the island and pretty easy to find. The trails are pretty nice right off the bat, very smooth and low tech, but some good climbing.

Bike du Jour

Bad ass view


If I go up it'll hurt, down and it'll hurt more later, I went down



More of that sweet singletrack


Look what I found back at the lot

I was a beautiful day and a fantastic ride, I'm looking forward to next time. I think I'll put it down as a maybe for future riding with Michele.