200+

I have now done more than 200 miles on my mountain bike this month. Not bad for owning it less than a month and being new to the sport...

Yesterday I rode Vail Mountain and took a new route for the downhill called Liondown. It was fun.

Today my new roommate Megan arrived. She seems like a real cool girl. Right now she is out with a friend at Sandbar, but I am going to stay home and rest my weary legs. Jeff took me up Meadow Mountain. Sounds like it should be easy right... "Meadow" Mountain. Well, I am officially kicked. It was 20 miles return to my house. Not only was it steep uphill, but it was downhill too... The downhill wasn't too technical except in a few spots.

My legs were so hurting when I got home that I had trouble walking up the stairs. I think it is time for the hot tub then bed.

Here is a shot of Jeff on top of Meadow Mountain checking out the map:

Photofriday: Orange

Raglan during New Zealand's 2005 Summer:

Kickin weekend with Ryan

Ryan finally came up from Denver to hang out in the mountains, but I shouldn't rip on him because I haven't gone down there to see him either.

On Friday morning I rode up Davos Climb to the radio tower and had a sick view down-valley towards Avon:


I worked in the afternoon and evening and they Ryan and Elena showed up here late at night. We went out to a bar with Jeff and played some pool and foosball then came back to my house and crashed out.

Saturday we all went out to breakfast at DJ McCadam's then Jeff had to work and we rode up the gondola. It was free yesterday for some reason. At the top we walked around a bit and went out to the top of the Wildwood Express:


This is shot looking down the Sundown Bowl and over at Blue Sky Basin in the distance... all part of Vail Mountain!


In the evening we hit up La Cantina, then went to Altitude to play some pool.

This morning we did some shopping and Elena bought a whole new snowboard setup... 40% off! I love summer sales. We walked around the Farmer's Market a little bit and got some food, then in the afternoon we battled out some weather and went to Frisco for a game of disc golf. Jeff of course brought Tasha. Jeff threw the dog in Lake Dillon... she loved it! Ryan said, "The dog has more air than I get on my snowboard..."

my legs are hurting again

Current music: Mogwai - Moses, I Amn't

Last night I went to the Sandbar with Jeff and Sanja. Jeff and I shot some stick and didn't lose a game. We were unstoppable. We were so good that after we won about 7 or 8 games in a row nobody even was challenging us. I had riden my Bianchi down there, so I had to ride back in the wetness. It must have rained while we were killing people.

This morning I got on my mountain bike and headed up to Red Sandstone Road. Jeff (a guy I went rock climbing with a few days ago, not Hulsey) was just getting on his bike in the parking lot with his mate Mike. I was planning to do the road up to the Son of Middle Creek trail and so were they, so I ended up riding with them. The Son of Middle Creek trail has so many ups and downs. My legs are worked now. It was an excellent ride though!

Photofriday: Sport

I haven't entered a photofriday.com challenge in a while. Here is one... Jeff throwing disc up on top of Beaver Creek with the Gore Range in the background:

Rich hippy disc golf

Yesterday Jeff and I went to Beaver Creek to play some disc golf. It is crazy... you have to take a lift to the course. The course is nice though and the views are awesome. Here is a shot looking down over Beaver Creek Village:


Here is one of me throwing with the Gore Range as the backdrop:

Buffer Creek does me in

Current music: The Killers - Believe Me Natalie

Hulsey suggested I ride Buffer Creek trail today. It is a section of the North Trail System and it starts about a mile from my house. It was so damn steep and my legs are done for, but the view from the top is the best view I have seen yet of the Vail Valley!


This is looking towards Beaver Creek (you can see some runs) from the top with a little section of the trail in the corner of the photo:

Busy weekend

Current music: Moneen - Tonight I'm Gone

I did not relax all weekend, but that is ok. Yesterday I rode up Vail Mountain... I took this picture from a little more than half way up looking down on Vail Village:


Afterwards I did some shopping in Silverthorne and got some bike shorts, new Timberland trail runners, a small bike pump, and some tire tubes... Excellent outing.

In the evening I went with Jamie, Jeff, and this other guy named Jeff up to Homestake to do some rockclimbing. I really need to work on my grip strength. I sucked.

Today I took Tasha and we hiked up the Deluge Lake trail. There was about 3 feet of snow in the upper elevations so I couldn't make it to the lake. I will have to either wear snowshoes or wait a few weeks...

No photos, but still fun

Current music: Friends of Lizzy - 10:1

Yesterday Jeff and I rode our bikes up to Lost Lake. Unfortunately, this was attempt #2 and I still haven't seen this lake. We got within a few hundred feet of the lake (Jeff says), but the snow was nearly waist deep and we had bike shoes on so we couldn't even tramp through it. In a few weeks it will be ripe, but for now it sucks up there...

This morning I went down to Avon to get some stuff at Wal-Mart and do some grocery shopping. When I got back here I washed and waxed my car. The last time that was done was at Delta Sonic in Buffalo when I took it out of storage. It needed it badly, but looks so much better now. It is great having a garage to park it in as well. Now, when the afternoon t-storms roll through my car stays dry and clean!

Ryan is coming up tomorrow. That should be sweet to hang out with him...

If you check this and you are not on MySpace, first you need to get on MySpace, and secondly I have an offer... I will be at my parents house in Rochester, NY during the first week of July and then leaving to drive back out here (renting a car) to Vail, Colorado. If you are along the way and want to do the drive with me that would be great. I am supplying the gasoline, but you will need to figure out your own way home. Get in touch if you are interested.

Red Mountain... conquered

Jeff and decided to do Red Mountain Ridge in Hoosier Pass today instead of the Sky Chutes hike because we didn't know where the trailhead for Sky Chutes is...

Red Mountain is pretty sick, Continental Divide baby. Easy hike since you start at 11,542 ft at the top of Hoosier Pass. The mountain is about 13,000 ft. Here is a shot of Jeff, Tasha, and me on top:

Attempted and got lost

So, I tried to ride my bike up to Lost Lake today. I got to a place where the trail split and I didn't know which way to go so I decided to go up. I ended up going up another 3 miles almost to the tree line. I didn't find Lost Lake... I was lost. Jeff told me later that I needed to take the other way... Oh well.

Here is a shot from the start of Red Sandstone Road where it turns to dirt looking down valley. My house is in the photo:


This is near where I finally decided to turn around... great views of the Gore Range:


Tomorrow I think Jeff and I are going to go hiking in the morning. Maybe in Hooser Pass...

Booth Falls baby

Current music: Elliott Smith - Amity

Last night I watched Rawanda Hotel with Maura and Sean, then Jeff and I went with them to Sato for sushi.

This morning I took Tasha and hiked Booth Falls:

Today is so not exciting

Current music: Belle & Sebastian - Judy is a Dick Slap

I went to the record store this morning and picked up the new albums from Belle & Sebastian and The Decemberists, Push Barman to Open Old Wounds and Picturesque, respectively. After that I hit up La Cantina and did some grocery shopping. Since then I have been working on unpacking. It is coming along...

Stupid computer

Current music: Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra - Who is this America dem speakof Today

I hate computers, but I like high altitude payout for the D O Double:

Back in Vail and tired

After Jeff got out of work, he and I went to Frisco to play disc golf. The rains came in so we had to leave before we even started. We went up Hooser Pass near Breckenridge to have a look around. The weather up there was much better. Tasha ran around a bit and got really tired in the high altitude.

We went back to Frisco and played since the weather had cleared up. On the way down there Maura called. She was in Vail and had seen the state of the house. I had left it a bit of a mess since I was just moving in and I didn't realize anybody else would be here. She was kind of upset about it. I told her that I would take care of it when I got back and that wasn't a big deal because she isn's showing the room to anyone until tomorrow.

After disc golf, Jeff and I went to A-Train. It is a new pizza place in Frisco. Excellent!

I got home and cleaned everything up. What a pain. My room is a mess and I need to clean that up soon. I will work on it slowly I guess... Right now it is time for bed! I have had a long day.

New buzznet account

Current music: Loveline

Just created a Vail account on Buzznet... http://vail.buzznet.com. I know I slack on posting on the other Buzznet accounts, but I will try to keep up on this one.

Feeling good

Current music: Loveline

After taking yesterday off from biking I was charged to go today. I rode up Vail Mountain to the Eagle Bahn gondola. I don't feel nearly as wasted this time as when I did it with Dan... I must be getting in better shape. I should be nearly completely acclimated by now. It was quite muddy on the way down which made the ride more technical. I was covered in the mud by the time I got home. Fun times!

View of the Gore Range from Mid-Vail:


Snow in the trees on the upper slopes from yesterday's storm:


Me at the Eagle Bahn gondola:

this will be the end of me

Current music: Sigur Ros - Vaka

Last night after I finished working Jeff and I went for a ride up Davos Climb to the radio tower. The views from up there were really good down valley. There was a race going on, so we had to be courteous to the racers. The first group was way faster than me, but the later ones were no big thang...

This morning I got up and went for a ride up Red Sandstone Road again. My legs were pretty beat up from last night so I only went up to the junction. On the way down I crashed pretty hard. I am not sure what happened. I was coming into a turn and braking a bit and I must have stopped paying attention to where I was going because a truck came and I hit something. I went right over the handle bars. Both my hands are a little bruised, and my left pinky is all cut up and swollen, but it's no bit thang.

Tomorrow will be my day off. Must let the legs rest for a day!

feeling lazy

Current music: Death Cab for Cutie - A Movie Script Ending

I haven't done anything active today and it is kinda getting to me. This morning I went to Wal-Mart and spent a lot more money on things I needed for the new place. The coffee machine sucked, so I got a new one, stuff like that. Since then I have been working. I am going to work until about 7pm tonight, then Jeff and I are gonna hang out. Probably play some pool, then hit up the hot tub!

I live in a zoo

Current music: Cave In - Rubber and Glue

I am loving my new place. Unfortunately, I can't find my camera at the moment. When I went downstairs to get a drink of water, I looked out the window and I saw a fox in the side yard. I stood there for a moment watching it, then a deer came along. The deer was really cautious around the fox. It is like living in a zoo, except I am caged and the animals are wild.

Damn

I think I screwed up some of the pictures I have posted by uploading some over eachother... Doh! I am too tired and lazy right now to fix the problem.

I just want my body to forgive me

Today was the last day of the Teva Mountain Games in Vail. It was pretty rad. We got so much shwag... I even got a Go-Lite hydration pack from VW!

Jeff tried doing the slack line:


Then one of his friends showed him up:


Jeff put a Plum sticker on Tasha's ass:


I went mountain biking after the games were over up Red Sandstone Road with two girls I met at the games:


Mary Beth riding down Red Sandstone Road:


Here is a view of Vail Mountain from a little ways up Red Sandstone Road:

Roller derbies are awesome

Me and some beautiful roller derby chicks:


Jeff and the hottest one of all:

more teva

Current music: The Appleseed Cast - Mile Marker

The mountain bike trials riding was this afternoon in the village:


Then the super hot climber chicks had a speed bouldering competition:


Tonight we are going out for dinner then checking out the Teva Mountain Ball and the Women's Roller Derby. I love the Teva Mountain Games!

new living situation

Current music: Splashdown - A Charming Spell

So... I found a place to live and I think I am going to move in there tonight. It's pretty damn sweet, in Sandstone. It is a 3 bedroom townhouse and there is one other person living there right now, Maura. Her parents own the place. I guess she is going to try to keep looking for another roommate. I was trying to get a hold of Lori for almost 2 weeks now to see if she was interested in the place. I finally got her today and she is apparently not moving out here. SHHHHOOOOCKING! I sort of knew it wasn't gonna happen all along.

Anways, here are some pics of the place...
Kitchen with an island:


Living room:


Dining room:


Hot tub with mountain views:


My berdroom:


Outside:


My own bathroom:

Snow in June?

Current music: Snapcase - Killing Yourself to Live

That's right... It is June 4th and it is snowing like crazy in Vail...

Teva Teva Teva

Current music: The Flaming Lips - Are You a Hypnotist??

The Teva games started yesterday in Vail and I went down to check them out today. The "Big Trick Kayak Competition" was going on in Wave Park in the Gore Creek:


Afterwards we went to the Red Lion for dinner with Elena:

Kicked my ass again

Current music: Queen - Innuendo

This morning Jeff, Temlock, and I rode up Red Sandstone Road to the junction of the road to Piney Lake. Jeff had told us it was easier and not as steep as Vail Mountain which I needed because my legs were paid out already from yesterday's ride. Turns out... it is steeper. Not as long, but it is steady uphill, no breaks from the steepness. It probably wouldn't have been very hard if I wasn't wasted from yesterday, but it was nasty.

Jeff got mad at me because I told him I was upset that it was steep. He said he is never gonna ride with me again because I am a complainer... Haha... I bet the next time I go for a ride he goes with me.

My rear brakes are making a bad sound and they are not evenly braking. I will have to take my bike back to Jeff at CBS tomorrow. After that I am heading down to Boulder to meet Mara and probably do a little shopping. I might be moving into her parents' house in Sandstone...

Here are some pictures from today's ride:

CVS and hard linking

Current music: Pedro the Lion - Simple Economics

Geek talk... go!

Don't try creating hardlinked files which you are going to use with CVS.

Here is a little background. On *nix file systems you can create one file and be able to access the file from two locations. There are two ways of doing this... One is a symbolic link, and the other is a hardlink.

A symlink is a new file which actually just refers to the file you want. A hardlink is different. It creates a new entry in the filesystem inode table so that there are two entries which refer to the same inode. Therefore, when you change one of the files, they both change... This is because really, they are the same inode (where the data is stored on the harddrive is the same physical location).

I had a great idea. I have a CVS playpen and I wanted the files in that playpen to build under a different directory. I symlinked the directory and tried to do a make from the new symlink. This did not work. When the linker tried to find the libraries in a directory above it, it failed because it looked in a directory above the real file, not the symlink. Doh!

So a new great idea was to create hardlinked files where I wanted to build. Now it built, but when I checked in the playpen in CVS it did something strange. The files were now not hardlinked anymore. It appeared that the files had been deleted and recreated, but this causes the files to be in a different inode. This makes it weird... CVS gets the updates, but then the next time you change the files which are in the build directory, the files in the playpen don't get altered.

Solution: Create the entire directory structure you want in the build directory, then only symlink the files, not the directory structure.

Vail Mtn has been conquered

Current music: Explosions in the Sky - Snow and Lights

Jeff and Dan's friend John is here for a few days and so Dan, John, and I went out for a bike ride this morning. We rode up Vail Mountain. That's right... All the way to the top. I was so paid out, but it was rewarding and Riding down on my full suspension was fun as.

Unfortunately, I brought my camera, but not my memory card. I never do that. Damn. Anyways, John took photos and I will get them from him later to post...