Cat Crack House

So I returned from a nice ride with Beth this Saturday and feeling pretty good (and trashed)..I noticed Chirper (the name I gave the neighbors cat because it meows like a bird) hanging around the front porch. He was askin' if Jett (Mel and Mikey's cat on an extended vacation at my house in Seattle) could come out in play. So as I wandered in looking for Jett, I saw the cat nip. Ah....yeah, you guys need to feel some endorphines (I thought). So I grabbed a few pinches and rubbed it under Chirpers nose. OMG...he went crazy (no big surprise). Next thing you know....(I kid you not)...three other cats came from the hood came cruising by....sayin' (hey...here's the Crack House...let's get a hit). Here are some pictures of the kitty highs.
Here is Jett in his FULL EAGLE pose after a big hit (notice those spread legs).

Here is chirper with the rollies. You can't get near him because he has no bite etiquette for approximately 5 minutes post a big sniff.

Mission Probable

So, I'm on a mission to climb all the significant climbs within a couple hours drive of Seattle. So far I've conquered:

Washington Pass
Rainy Pass
Hurricane Ridge
Snoqualmie Pass

What's next:
Mount Baker
Mount Rainer: Sunrise/Chinook Pass
Blewett Pass

Hmmmm what to do this weekend? Baker anyone?

Today was an amazing day. I picked up PJ around 6am, darted to the Edmunds ferry dock and ran into Suze & Dave, Cindi and Cori in line. Bleary eyed we chatted a bit on the ferry then made the Trek to Port Angeles under sunny skies and a beginning temperature of 60 or so. The wind was brisk but as soon as we started the climb we ALL warmed up. Hurricane Ridge is a magical climb. Once you summit the 19 mile climb (from town) nearly 5500 feet of gain...you come upon a setting that looks like the French Alps. WOW. It was amazing. The ride down was fast for me as my Il Falco flight always seems to out pace the heaviest of daredevils to catch me. PJ nearly had me at the end, but couldn't keep his neck in the contorted position for more than a minute to maintain the super aero position. I held the position for more than 20 minutes. Love the race down...its scary, hairy, and fun.

Greenlake to the Falls!

It was a perfect 4th of July. I rode from Greenlake to Snoqualmie Falls (and back) starting at 7am. I arrived back home around 2pm (after a little stop at Starbucks for some carbos). Kris and I had an amazing time and we missed biking together (she just finished Ironman). It was over a 100 mile day as we chose to come back over Issaquah (oh and 6K feet of climbing). Once home, I fueled up (desiring a nap) showered, got on my bike (my Country Road Bob, single speed silly bike) as Colin and I headed down to Lake Union to hang out on a Seattle house boat with Rick Miner and his two floating homes located just across from Gasworks park. The fireworks were spectacular...the people amazing...and the grilled white salmon to die for! I think this is the way the patriots would have wanted us to celebrate our independence from tyranny.

Hurricane Ridge Ride!

This weekend (Saturday) the climbing ride of choice is one of my favorites. Hurricane Ridge. The ride to Hurricane Ridge takes you 5200 feet above sea level in 16 miles from the park headquarters. It is one of Washington's toughest climb with switchbacks reminiscent of the French Alps. If we do the warm up ride from Sequim the round trip ride is about 65-70 miles rounnd trip. Here is the route:

Come along!
:)

Sequim to Hurricane Ridge

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Island Touring

The Seattle area is pretty amazing for riding. The best part is that our summer has started so early (as opposed to it commencing after the 4th of July). So for the second day of my awesome weekend, under upper 70's weather, sunny, etc...I went for a ride. Shocker, I know. So I grabbed a couple of friends for a late afternoon ride on Vashon Island. This island is a 20 minute ferry ride from Seattle and another world away. There is a gnarly little climb from the ferry dock, and a spin through town...then you bike about 30 (or so) miles around this little island that is filled with amazing little coastal shots and views to Seattle and Tacoma, then inland riding full of little farms and forests. It is absolutely gorgeous.

Farm stands everywhere...
View of Maury Island
The day's ride was about 38 miles, 2700 feet of climbing and lots of little picture moments including a blooming lavender field that we could smell for days. I want to thank Beth for dropping the tool inside Cindi's frame adding the extra weight so I could finally hang with her on the big climb coming up from the east side of Vashon.

American Switz

If you've never been on highway 20, GO! The north cascades highway is a pure taste of Switzerland in America. Yesterday's bike ride was an epic + ride. The craggy rocks and glaciers of the north cascades ascend into the rich blue sky as the road winds through deep crevasses filled with evergreens, granite and ice with water falling everywhere. Now if you can take all that in for 6 hours from the seat of a bicycle, for me....you have pure heaven. Now that those 100 miles and 9500 feet of gain weren't enough in a weekend...I think its time for a little spin around Vashon Island.
A friend of mine on the ride had his heart rate monitor on for the climb. We stuck together much of the ride. Here are the visuals of the climb and effort recorded. Pretty cool, eh? The first is east bound (toward Mazama)
This is the west bound data image (back to Diablo lake):

Saturday's Ride

Out and back! Look at that climbing!

Diablo Lake to Mazama

Diablo Lake to Mazama - Highway 20

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

This is saturday's route. Its nearly 100 miles on the dot from Diablo Lake to Mazama and back on the North Cascade Highway (SR-20) over Washington Pass. Bikely says this route has 5,500 feet of climbing to Mazama and about 4,500 feet of climbing back to Diablo Lake...so call it an even 100 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing. Oh I can feel the endorpines now!

Let me know if you want to come!

Cutters?

Ever see the movie "Breaking Away?" Its where the Cutters (or the kids of the stone cutting/school dropout parents) in a small Indiana town go up against the "Preps" in a track race where a bike is shared between 4 (differently sized people). Well....Seattle has its own 100, called the Marymoor 100. Mostly local bike race teams dress up in costume for a race around the track. This year Byrne put together two teams; girls from Our Lady of Perpetual Motion Academy AND its flying nuns. The images are below....

We did manage to get 3rd place (our costumes limited our competitiveness) HOWEVER, we got 1st for the best costume. I think men mostly voted.

Here are the gals of OLPM academy. We were a bit naughty with hiked up skirts, overly endowed chests, hickies and low cut tops. Nice.


Okay...I had these overly/exaggerated vest (purchased from the intranet). Oddly, I got so much attention. Guys could not keep their eyes off me. It did make cycling a little challenging and now I know why us cyclists (successful ones that is) are not built in such a way. Notice the Hickie on the neck (which I forgot to wash off before dinner!).

hmmmmm

2nd National Park in 3 weeks!

So my job is pretty cool. In a two week time span I've been to two of probably the most amazing national parks in the system. First Yosemite and today...Glacier National Park. Wow, the last time I was here I was 12 years old. I feld like a kid again with these big craggy mountains. Gotta love a job that takes you to the places you love...well, I created it.

EcoFlood

The ecological conversation and language is expanding/growing. Its a good thing. Odd, as I sit back there are project surfacing with ideas I had developing. That's also a good thing. I just read an article about Las Vegas' new cultural attraction; its a museum of sorts. "The Preserve" as it is called is located a few miles off the strip and took nearly a decade to build. I just looked at its website; amazing. The Preserve explores in two main galleries a) living the the desert, and b) living ecologically. Just maybe after all the building of simulacra on a barren landscape, Las Vegas has finally built something real. Let's hope so.

Yo Sem Mighty!

What a day at the office, walking around a site (in the national park of Yosemite) for about 5 hours, taking a stroll on the valley floor staring at the amazing waterfall tumbling 3,000 feet from the heavens, gazing up at the giant granite half dome at sunset, THEN dining at the Awahanee Hotel. Gotta love my job, eh?

Crits are Crazy

Nearly 50 women line up for Stage 2 of the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race; the criterium in downtown Enumclaw, which was held just 4 hours after we went all out for the TT was my first ever crit and thank God it was dry. I knew I needed some eraser experiences for the crash I had in Sequim just 9 weeks ago. I decided to jump out in front and narrow the field. In just two pedal strokes, I was in front charging the group and thinning it to about 15 racers. Then on lap 3, my team mate Chris went down and it spooked me. She joined the race on the next lap with huge rips in her beautiful skin suit. She managed to finish at 6th, me at 8th. I was happy...as I was second in GC and she was 3rd. Here is a GREAT shot of me running the front during the Crit.

Back in The Saddle

Saturday morning I woke feeling fast. I told Chris..."I'm so frickin' fast today, I'm going to win." And win I did. With over 30 entrants in the race, I rocketed my TT bike over the 6.5 mile race in 16 minutes. Okay...so its not Dave Z, but it was enough to put me in 1st place and hold the Golden Jersey before the Crit that evening. Here is an awesome shot of me in pain during the last 1000M in the race. Thanks Colin!

Race this Weekend

Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race. Road Race Course.

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Ooops!

Funny thing...
I've been posting random muses on my dead blog post and just realized it. Oh well...here is my post from two days ago. I'll try to be more careful.

--------
The body's healing process has been something of a wonder and pure amazement. The mind dabbles in a space that grows accustomed to pain and immobility or various restriction; it wonders if it will experience freedom again or what it once had. Then each passing day unravels change and grand leaps of improvements. Joy and pleasure filled me as I am astounded at the "new" things I do. Its odd that we need such rainy days to love the sun even more. I now respect having a collar bone, being able to embrace others, lift things above my head, etc.

This morning I felt the open sky emerging at precisely 4:30am, no cloud to obstruct the pink hues emerging from the horizon. Wanting to feel those warm tones and the stillness of the morning, I mounted my bike at 5:20am and rode for 3 glorious hours starring at Mount Rainer and the stillness of lake Washington. So...YES, time to celebrate...in fact we should celebrate each day. Still feeling those endorphines from this morning (can you tell?).

Manifesting

Today I played hookie for a GRAND spin on the bike. Oh yes, it was 3.5 hours of bliss in the fine Seattle spring sunshine with bike shorts and a thin long sleeve (yes it was nearly 70 out there). As I made my way back to Greenlake, I caught the glimpses of an elderly couple looking at me as I stopped at the stoplight. With his window open and his wife in the passenger seat gleaming with utter innocence...he smiles and he says, "how much do you weight." I thought, wow...isn't that considered a taboo question even for their generation. Not caring at all...

I responded "145."
He said, "my wife swore you were 105, but then I said you've got to be over 6 foot."
"nah" I said, "I'm 5-10."
"okay...still tall, and beautiful." he says.
"you look fantastic" as a smile came from he and his wife.
"Thank you." I said. "enjoy the beautiful day."

Affirmations of self concepts are a wonderful thing. We need to offer this honesty whenever we see it. Yet I do believe we attract these very things if we believe it ourselves. Its about manifesting our own destiny. We create our realities. If we believe we are beautiful (inside and out) we are beautiful! What do you believe?

SeaOtter Mingles

I just returned from Northern California and watching the classic bike races of Sea Otter down near Monterey. It was rather unique as I brought two non bike racing spectators to the spectacle. Because Sea Otter has intense road cycling events combined with gravity clownhillin' or a mix of mountain bikers and roadies, it was an odd mix to witness (never do you really see them both in the same venue).

I tried to communicate this to Mikey and Mel. "ya see..." I said, "It's like having a nascar race loop around the masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia...really the two never, rarely ever mingle at the same event." Don't you agree?

Drop of a Hat

I landed in SF yesterday. I love this city; its food, its energy, the plethora of whippy-cool single speeds cruisin the blacktop. I passed about a dozen panhandlers. I noticed the intense creativity of these people compared to my fair city. For example, the sign of one gentleman with a dropped hat was simply "conducting an experiment on human generosity, please give." I also noticed that there was less aggression in the approach. Then I searched my embedded intelligence for why such creative marketing tactics exists within San Francisco. I looked to basic economics and the concept of supply and demand.

SUPPLY
There is an over supply of panhandlers in SF; weather is nice year round and city officials are tolerant to their presence. Further it costs a but-load of cash to live in SF, so it throws more people on the street who are at a different psychographic level. With an increase in panhandler supply (and maybe even better educated supply) and no corresponding change in demand (people desiring to give) requires unique marketing and positioning tactics.

DEMAND
The population in San Francisco is well educated and very sophisticated. Although Seattle can boast it is smarter than SF, clearly SF is up a few notches on the sophistication scale. Just looking at the single speeds here affirmed it for me. So with a sophisticated pop, ONLY new and rather avant-garde marketing tactics are effective. Therefore, tactics that shout at or confront the consumer don't work. Only those tactics that allow the consumers to speak about your product (or unique positioning) are MOST effective.

I told several people about this gentleman and his sign. Heck I'm blogging about it right here. Clearly the most effective marketing is the one people do for you.