Simplify

Friday afternoon! The office rats will soon be let out of our cages.  Here's a little video I'm loving right now.  It's low-fi but it just screams adventure.  Skiing with big packs, hooting with the boys, reminds me of winter and the simple joy of exploring new places with the crew.  Solid, simple, good old fashion fun.  Happy weekend y'all!

Baa!

I've been on the bike over the last few days keeping up with Pablo (who finally got a flat on that cyclocross).  Today I went up for a solo ride from the base of Joaquin Miller through Redwood Regional and back to the rig for a nice mix of single track and fire roads.

I like fixing flats at sunset and long walks on the beach.

When I rounded the corner on my way of I saw an interesting sight.

A group of goats doing some landscaping for wild fire season.

Summer of the Bike

After a fun filled weekend on two wheels I knew I wanted a set of knobbies to call my own.  So I started to search the internet and bike shops and put the word out.  I was looking for a mountain bike.  After countless rides and one potential Craigslist scammer I found something rad.  A 2010 Specialized Stumpjumper on craigslist.  Last Friday afterwork I motored down to San Jose to check it out.  The owner was meticulous, from his car to his haircut to the color of the Stumpy (He said it's "Root Beer" not brown) he was selling.  On top of that he worked at Specialized HQ here in Northern California.  He had the bike tastefully tricked out with with components he probably got for a song, a favor, or a 6-pack.  I rode it.  I loved it.  I bought it.

Root Beer Float

And for the last week I've had a mountain bike.  Six of the last seven days I've ridden, heading up to either the Oakland or Berkeley hills for a trail ride afterwork.  It has been great dipping my toe in the waters of a new sport.  So much to learn and every ride feels like a completely new experience.

Joaquin Miller, nicknamed the "Poet of the Sierras".

Last night I joined Pablo and Yu for what will hopefully become a weekly Thursday night ride.  We headed to Joaquin Miller Park in the Oakland hills.  If you were dropped into the middle of this place you would have no idea you were in Oakland.  500-acres of hilly redwood groves and a web of fun single track don't scream stereotypical Oakland.  But that's why this town is so great.

It's tough to keep up with these dudes.  Just off a mega road ride, Yu led the charge with lungs and heart of steel.  Paul poked around roots and ridges like a ballerina on his fully rigid cross bike.  I took up third spot huffing air like it was broken glass.  Good times and a great way to celebrate the Summer Solstice.  Looking forward to more.

Pablo and his fully rigid machine.  We don't need no stinking shocks!

Find Some Stoke This Weekend

Happy weekend everyone.  I hope you all can find a little slice of stoke no matter where you are.  Let this video be your inspiration!

Dirt, Mud and Blood

Last October when Sara and I moved from San Francisco to Oakland we said the same thing everyone else does when they make that move, "We will keep going into the city."  The truth is you don't.  I miss the burritos, silly hipsters, and most of all surfing afterwork.  When we moved I told myself I would keep surfing, it's just an extra 20 minutes in the car.  But the reality is I just don't want to deal.

It's time to find a new sport.  The boys and I were doing some talking and decided to give mountain biking a try.  Paul and I headed over to a cool little bike shop in North Berkeley and started chatting with the guys there.  I knew this sport might be for me when I told one of the shop guys that I really didn't need another expensive hobby but wanted to give mountain biking a try.  He asked me what other sports I'm into and I told him surfing and skiing.  He looked me square in the eye and with a straight face said THIS is way better than both of those sports combined.  Now we're talking!  Nothing like a sport with an almost religious cult following to spark my interest.  You just don't see tennis players telling strangers a sunset session on a clay court will change your life.  But a skier, surfer and apparently mountain biker is happy to tell you you're wasting your life if you're not SHREDDING!

Anywho, the guys at the shop were great and suggested we demo two full suspension bikes for the weekend and see if we actually like it before we start making terrible financial decisions.  And like crack to a junky the weekend began.

First stop was Redwood Regional Park for a sunset session just ten minutes from home.  Once on the dusty fireroads we soon realized a lot has changed in the mountain bike game since Rock Shox Judy forks were king.  The bikes were amazing and really made you better than you actually were (This is a good time to point out Paul was on Berkeley's road bike team in college, so he's no slouch on two wheels.  Actually he is a machine).  Floating over rocks and sending it down hills it was good old fashion fun.  Saturday we did a morning session at China Camp, a great spot with some challenging terrain.  Spent the day drinking beer with the homies for Chris' birthday and decided to hit Redwood for sunset again before the bikes went back on Monday.

Monday afternoon we dropped the bikes off.  Paul and I were tired, beat up, and altogether stoked.  I think it's time to pull the trigger on one of these alien lifeforms formally known as mountain bikes.  Anybody want to buy a surfboard?  Just kidding, I'm keeping my toys.

Check this out if you haven't seen what they did to the mountain bike while you weren't looking:

Volcano Skiing

Headed up north to Lassen Volcanic National Park for a fun day of Volcano skiing with Patrick.  We drove up Friday afterwork and got our first view of Lassen in the full moonlight.  Because Lassen is an active volcano you can actually smell the sulphur before you get a good view.  She blew her top in 1914 and gave the surrounding area a moonscape makeover.  In the bright moonlight it was a pretty awesome sight.

Not sure if all volcanos are like this but Lassen had a similar energy to Shasta.  She's alive, and like many hippies, I too believe there is some cosmic stuff going down up there.  But I digress.

After a nice nap under the stars we woke up at 5AM and geared up for the climb.  The first 1500 feet were spent bushwhacking through the pines until we found a tongue of snow to start skiing up.  We dropped skis for the last 2000 feet, taking turns kicking steps up the face.  It was a nice climb and the snow was just soft enough to kick big stable steps but not too soft that you were post-holing.  The last 500 feet gets pretty steep and on an icy or firm day I would definitely recommend crampons, although I'm sure most people do it without them.

Up top you find an oddly phallic communications cone that I'm sure got some chuckles from the engineers that designed it.

Before you get skiing there is the fun task of putting on your skis on a tiny little ledge.  The first few turns are the steepest and I quickly realized I needed to pay attention to the sluff that was coming down behind me.  It was fast and heavy enough to knock you off your feet and send you sliding down the mountain.  I soon realized if I just skied slightly to the right the sluff would run like a river to my left and I'd be all good.  Patrick cruised down and we traded turns down the volcano.  Overall, really fun skiing from top to bottom.  My only advice is get to the summit by 11 at the latest, maybe earlier or else you'll be dealing with some heavy snow.




We ended up skiing and climbing 4026 feet over 7 miles.  Good fun!