Off to Europe

Well, an apology to all the faithful followers of my humble blog. I'm continually amazed at the number of people that are checking in on me and my travels. I had a stranger come up to me in a bar in Mt.Snow and tell me he enjoys my blog. Crazy. I'm just this guy, you know? Anyway, the internet apparently doesn't exist in Vermont, which explains why you haven't heard from me in a while. And I'm not taking my computer to Europe with me so it could be awhile before I post again. I'll try to find internet cafes, but there won't be any photos until I get back.

Well, the honeymoon is over. The novelty of my job has worn off. I'm still having a great time and enjoying what I'm doing and couldn't imagine doing anything else right now, but the newness of everything has worn off and the grind of life on the road is weighing down on me. For example, I slept through our drive in Vermont. This is some beautiful country, but it's sort of like "been here, done that" I sometimes feel like I'm in the movie Groundhog Day, without the annoying Sonny and Cher song.

I am really excited to be going to Italy and Scotland. I really don't know what to expect, but just being in Europe is going to be a blast. It's been over seven years since I was last over there, and I never imagined it would take me so long to get back.

Hang tight and hopefully I'll have exciting stories from Europe posted here real soon.

Waterloo

Hello from the land of Cheese. Wisconsin for the the lactose intollerant.

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. As I've said before, internet access from the road can be spotty. I've put up a bunch of new pictures, sort of in chronological order from the picture of the forest fire up to the Trek trail.

A quick recap: Clarke and I spent a few days in Wyoming in the Jackson area. His buddy Josh Wagner and Josh's fiance Paula live in Jackson and have a few dental practices in that area of Wyoming. We had so much fun enjoying the outdoors and meeting all kinds of friendly and interesting people.

After that we booked it to Wisconsin for the big Trek World dealer thing-a-ma-bob. Went on a fun bike ride on Trek's private trail. We're staying in Madison and I'm sure I'll be hitting State Street soon.

Our next stop is Mount Snow, Vermont, then I'm off to Europe. I hope to have a few more posts before I cross the pond.

Trek has the best lunch loop. Right across the highway from their Waterloo headquarters. Five miles of tight, twisty singletrack. Soon to be eight miles. Think Platte River with big rocks and North Shore stunts. And a jump park. And a dirt velodrome. Fun fun fun. Even if I fell off almost every stunt I tried. I suck, but don't care.

Cameron McCaul super-stoked on his Trek Jake and matching white Manitou fork.This kid is so nice and super goofy. Always good for a laugh.

Can't go to Jackson without going to Teton National Park. Pretty mountains.

This is right by the cabin near Dubois. This was as about as secluded as you can get. I really like all the signs warning you of Grizzly bears. Comforting. Here we see Clarke fly fishing. I fished for a bit too, but didn't catch a thing. Had a lot of fun taking pictures though.

This is the interior of the Rustic, the oldest bar in Dubois, Wyoming. Clarke's friends Josh and Paula have a dental practice here. The town is ecclectic mix of the rich and cowboys. Note the guy in the red shirt and 10-gallon hat. That isn't a costume folks.

You know it's a good bar when there's a bunch of dead animal heads on the wall.

Hailed a taxi in Dubois, Wyoming.

Pretty trees and sky.

Pretty leaves.

We stayed with Clarke's friend Josh Wagner in Jackson. Josh is a dentist, former Lincoln biking resident and an all-around swell guy. He took us to a ranch where his buddy worked and we had a great time shooting clay. Notice the determined look on my face. I look pissed. Clarke is intently watching me miss yet another rock. I think I hit a grand total of three. Still had a good time. Met a bunch of really friendly ranch hands and one poo-covered herding dog.

Here's a helpful hint, if you're driving a big truck into Jackson, DO NOT take the Teton pass. 10% grade for 5 miles. We had to pull over to let the brakes cool. About as close as I ever want to get to even thinking about having to use one of those emergency truck ramps. Clarke is trying to hear a rock hit the bottom of the ravine. We never heard it hit.

On the way to Jackson we passed a forest fire. Saw a helicopter hauling water buckets. This was about as close as I wanted to get.

South of the Great White North

Well, we made it out of Canada. It only took us 2 hours at the border. It's weird how we ask officials what we need to do to cross the border. We dot all our "i's" and cross all our "t's", and we still get people giving us flak. It's like they don't know what to do with a truck that isn't delivering or picking up freight.

"You have seven bikes in that trailer?"
"Yup."
"In that big trailer, only seven bikes?"
"Yes, sir."
"And you didn't have more or sell any up in Canada?"
"No, sir."
"I don't know about that..."

We then show all our paper work which proves what we are saying. Then the next guy at the giant X-ray machine makes a comment that shouldn't have to go through all that. ???? Oh well, we're done with Canada for the year.

I did get to ride Whistler on Monday. WOW!!! I never would've thought I could ride gnarly terrain like that. I kept wanting to faster and bigger. Hmm... I wonder what my next bike will be?

Curretly, I'm in Spokane, WA. Staying at Motel 8. Guess what? Free, reliable, wireless internet.

I'm posting a few photos from the Slope Style competition at Crankworx. Really crazy tricks. Sorry the photos aren't the greatest, but even at the base of the mountain I was still fairly far away from everything.

The best riders were throwing flips, 360's and tail-whips off of everything. Biggest trick? Barrecloth's 360 over the 30ft road gap.

If you're going to compete Slopestyle, you might as well wear a red, velour jumpsuit.

Sorry for the quality. No where was off limits for the riders, including riding the top of the wall.

Good morning from Whistler. Still having a good time. Sure wish I had time to ride my bike. Internet access still sucks.

A view of the base at Whistler. Guh-narly.

See that red semi trailer? Yeah, crazy people are riding their bikes off of it.

I'm in Whister...

Ok, I wrote a long post that was humorous and poignant. Then the crappy internet connection at our swanky and none-to-cheap hotel made me re-log in and I lost it all. Super 8 Motels give you free internet access that rips and never logs you off. Swanky hotels make you pay and it sucks. Does this make sense to anyone? I'm p.o'd. Well, DMB-CBDT. Drink More Beer, Could Be Dead Tomorrow. I had a nice explanation for that, but it will have to wait.

Oh yeah, Whistler rocks. Canadian Cuties everywhere! I think I have whip-lash.