Happy Halloween!

OMG!

After replenishing the empty wood shed at my parents house last week in lovely Central Wisconsin (running chain saws, hauling from woods and loading the wood splitter) my back needed a break. We (dad & myself) found ourself taking this break fishing for Steelhead and lake-run Brown Trout on the Oconto River just North of Green Bay.

Me thinks I might have to do that again. The Steelie measured 32" and the Brown 25". Steelhead is the biggest fish I've landed on a rod and reel.

Salud!

Here's a virtual toast from Allison in Mazatlan where hordes of leetle chihuahua dogs roam the beach and a colorful poncha is never more than 6 steps away!

Here's to YOU Footsoldier!

Brad, Sean... Matt made me do it!

Partypalooza 2004 video by Matthieu Chesaux

"just a quick spin up Sunshine"

You know how you feel when Highroller has perhaps, understated, the severity, accuracy or enjoyability of the endeavor you've embarked upon and slowly (or perhaps not so slowly) it dawns on you that despite the sideways sleet, daunting hill, scorching sun, lack of maps, lack of water, and/or lack of any idea where he's at it's ALL SYSTEMS GO! ? Yeah, that feeling. That's Trout's life. But remember that other feeling, the discoveries, that sense of giddiness at the pure ridiculousness of whatever you've gotten into, the fun on the other side of the sleet, the ridiculous slogs, the short to medium period(s) of complete lostness? Hopefully that will be Trout's life too! Come on!

In-cube sabbatical

Once we knew we were going solo to Vernal we downshifted the departure to Sat morning and took Friday as a busman's holiday, popping the Weasel back into daycare so Chainsaw and Highroller could actually ride together, at the same time, at once. Mt. Werner was going OFF with the fall colors so we moseyed up above the gondi, got lost, dropped down the fall line on a closed ski run, found our way, found some awesome aspen stands and finally ripped it to the base, to the car, to the Strawberry Park Hotsprings and promptly into a heat-soak coma...good times, good times. Plus we had Brooklynn's pizza for dinner (this is the highlife for Das Alfords folks).

You want more of that Vernally goodness?

Absafreakin'lutely perfect weekend!

Found a super campspot when we pulled into McCoy Flats, free and oh, maybe 20 mile views, also it was right on the singletrack of "Retail Sale". Highroller got out on a singletrack explore-o before beers, beans-n-franks and camp fire under a completely silent Milky Way. Honestly the best campout I've ever had. Next day the Weasel had us up at 5am for a morning camp fire, coffee and warm milk before Chainsaw headed out for her own ride. Trout and I chewed up the local trail and hiked a nearby hill for the sunrise thence to JB's for the $7.99 All You Can Eat breakfast buffet. I had Queso Biscuits 'n Gravy...mmm mmmm! The small sample of trails we rode were great and the whole experience was very Fruita, circa 1996. BLM free for all land, no rules, shotgun shells everywhere, narrow singletrack and no one there. Wish you'd been there! What wonders a can of beans, a pack of franks, some firewood and a billion stars can conjure up!

Somewhere, under that rainbow...

FARVAs await like slobbering lions to gobble up any remaining vestiges of your basic human dignity! And yet, sadly, many awards remain un-nominated for, like shelter dogs, piteously whimpering...

Won't YOU help them out with a nomination today? 100% of proceeds go directly into helping feed the (temporarily) homeless who will be camping in Vernal, UT, this weekend. That's right! THIS weekend, not next weekend, not last weekend but this very weekend right hee-are! Nominate away, and RSVP while you're at it howsabout. I know I'll be there with the Champ and the Weasel in tow, and several other Footsoldiers have threatened to attend as well. The more the merrier and Das Alfords will head out early on Friday to scout so plan on giving a ring when you're en route and we'll guide you into port.

Fahk! Be seeing you, friend.

Good times, we've had so many good times together. Here's to remembering all of those special moments, and to creating some new ones!

Providence Cross Festival

Ahh, the beautiful sounds of cowbells clanking, leaves crunching underfoot and cantis squealing! Tim Johnson crushed 'em in the Men's Open while Moots own Jon Cariveau grabbed third in the 35+. Spent the night in downtown Providence (don't worry I still have my kidneys and other internal organs) watching "Waterfire", floating bonfires in the Providence River with boats, gondolas, firejugglers, etc. Pretty cool, sorta viking-funeral meets burning the Salem witches...

Five Year Old Pictures

Okay, I don't have any baby pictures, and don't really have any adventures of my own, so never post here. But, I do have pictures of a 5 year old, which is as close to a baby as I can get.


"Sugar" + "the color purple" - optimizing two of the most important things in her life.



Big wave surfing in Oregon.

Steve

Way too much!

There have been too many posts regarding bikes, beers and balloons. Too many fish as well. We need more babies!

So here are a few baby pictures to freshen up this blog.

10/06/09 - SEA Stats
Weight: 11 lbs 8 oz. = 75th percentile
Height: 23.5 inches = 90th percentile
Head Circumference: 15.5 inches = 75th percentile

I WANT MORE BABIES ON THIS DAMN BLOG!!! ANYONE ELSE??

Bikes in the Bershires

Well if you've ever wondered just what in the hell is wrong with Highroller, you need look no further than the cackling fool coasting along behind him. Pop refuses to shift his front derailleur from the big ring no matter what (yeah!), eats apple cores and shrimp tails (ask Chainsaw all about it) and is the class secretary of his 1960 college class. Whacko! He does throw a pretty mean bocci ball though, complete with Euro/women's tennis grunting..."ehhhhUH!" and would frequently travel long distances from his NYC home to see me play away hockey games when I was a wee goalie, often being the only fan in the rink. Great ride with the Old Fella through awesome leaf displays, corn fields and twisty backroads.

Bikes and beer!

This weekend, I met 3 incredible women--Tracy, Caroline and Sara (above)--in the middle of a 9 week bike tour of breweries from Brooklyn to Seattle. I happened to be at the Avery Tap Room for a private party when they rode in so we invited them to our buffet and poured them plenty of IPA and they told us about their journey. Two of the girls are home brewers and, when this adventure is over, one of them wants to get a job in the brewing industry.

You should definitely check out their blog and tweets: bikeandbrewtour.com. This weekend they were at Avery, Twisted Pine and Southern Sun. Today they're on their way to Left Hand, New Belgium and Oskar Blues before riding through the Rockies and on to Seattle.

I might try to join them on Wed when they ride over Trail Ridge Rd to Granby.

Up, up and away!

Thanks to all who came last night to remember Matt and thank you to all of you who couldn't make it but I know that you were with us in spirit...
xoxo