Back on the rock

Very timely after my previous post, I was given the option to go climbing or biking. I went climbing. Bouldering to be precise. I picked up Chad's girlfriend in Charlottesville Friday night on my way to Chad's place. On Saturday we went over the boarder to WV to a new bouldering spot. It was really nice to get out again. It was cool out temp wise, but sunny and comfortable. Other than my skin being soft, I felt good, having not climbed in well over 6 months, and maybe as much as 10. I didn't do anything harder than a V3 and my endurance was pretty poor. But it was really nice to get back on the rock. I'm going to hit the climbing gym this weekend and work or my skin and strength. And as much as strength helps, it was interesting just moving on the rock again. The balance work and the stretching, reaching, and lunging in ways you don't do in other activities. It was fun.

On Sunday we went to Old Rag where the rocks are so grippy, you barely have to hold on. But your skin is very unhappy. The problems are fun and you can find something for everyone. I'm still loving my car, since it's super easy to cram 3 crash pads, 3 people, a dog, overnight bags and an assortment of other stuff, and cruise up the poorly maintained roads to have easy access to the top.

Falls into winter

I had an enjoyable Thanksgiving at my Aunts house in Norfolk, VA with a small group of family. The turkey was great and the veggies, root like and yummy. The dogs ran and ran and ran themselves ragged. I played disc golf Friday at the local course. Most courses seem short after playing Bryan park all the time and Seneca occasionally.  But it was nice to get out and walk around. Especially with the gorgeous weather we've been having. I hope everyone else had a good holiday as well.

I came home Sat. and unpacked and did laundry and relaxed some more. Sunday I went for a bike ride early in the morning. My old co-worker and his roommate rode with me and it was a good ride, like usual. With temps in the high 60's and the sun out, it was as good as it gets. At any time of the year. Really. It was great. I also took Maddog to the dog park in the afternoon so he didn't get too depressed not having his cousin to run around with.

I went to Walnut Creek last weekend with my old-coworker and met another guy there. Another crazy good weather day, and it was lots of fun. It almost seemed sorter than I remember. I don't think we went more than 12 miles, which is what the Richmond trails are. The hills are much more significant, but I felt good. Tired, but not exhausted.

I haven't been climbing in quite a long time now, and sometimes I get this strong urge to go back to the gym. Most of the time it subsides and I don't go and don't worry about it. I've been riding quite a bit and enjoying it now that the smallest hill doesn't wipe me out. My lungs and legs can push farther for longer and with practice comes a small skill set. I'm getting farther in the rock gardens and getting through turns with less braking. Kirk once asked me if I'd ever be more of a rider than a climber. If you go by how much someone does something, then I'd have to say I am more rider than climber now by a lot, and mentally I'm probably as close as I'll get.

Given the opportunity to go climbing, or go riding, at any point, I'd probably still say climbing though. That may be because I haven't been in so long and just want something different, but part of me really does like the problem solving aspect of bouldering, and the cold hard rock under my fingers. My crash pad and climbing shoes still live in the trunk of my car, "just in case."

Another part of me thinks I could actually be stronger now for a couple reasons. First, my legs are stronger from biking which would help no doubt. I've also lost a few pounds since the last time I climbed, and got a new personal best in pull ups the other week. Both the weight and pull ups I'd like to attribute to my food choices. Eating better and more sleep, I think have upped my potential. One of these days I'll get back out onto a rock and we'll see how it plays out. Hopefully this winter I'll spread my time a little more evenly on hobbies.

Deadskins vs 49ers

Oops, I mean Redskins. I guess it's all the same. My college roommates had some extra tickets for the 49er game and invited me to come along. I went to one game last year with them, where it was raining and cold. While still fun, this years weather was much more conducive to tailgating.

And the game, well it went just like the past 3 redskins games.

Winter is (t)here

Vernon, NJ was even more rude than expected. We drove north Saturday morning with an early rainy start. The closer we got the colder it became, while still raining. We called about an hour ahead of our ETA to make sure they were still open. As it started to snow where we were at that point in time, we asked if it was precipitating. They said no. We hoped they knew what "precipitating" meant because there was slush falling from the sky.

 

I believe the snow was following us, because as we pulled into the parking lot, the slush turned to snow and we geared up as best we could. We were prepared for some "precipitation" but after about 2 hrs of riding, we couldn't see the trail anymore and had to finish early. The roads became treacherous at best and impassable at some points. Luckily, the impassible parts were headed in the other direction. Multi-car pile ups of people with 2 wheel drive cars getting stuck going up or coming down hills. It was a mess!

Thankfully, the Subaru Outback with all wheel drive was awesome! and got us safely to my old college friend Liz's place, just in time for the power to go out. All the leaves still on the trees made it impossible for the limbs to stay in place with all that snow. We cooked by gas stove, and ate by candle light and just hung out. It was a great time. All said and done, there was about a foot of snow where we stayed, and ~16 inches at the bike trails.

It did stop snowing and the sun came out on Sunday, so the roads were much better, but the biking was still canceled. Thinking we might be able to ride in northern VA by my friend Scott's house, we headed out in the morning. Unfortunately, all the trails were closed do to more precipitation, of the watery kind, that fell all day Saturday in NOVA too. We were just not meant to ride on Sunday.

It made for a good road trip and I got to use the all wheel drive, but it was a lot of driving for way too little riding. Next year, we won't wait until the last weekend of the season to go to Vernon, NJ.

Panoramas

Here's a couple pictures I put together after way too much work looking for a decent free stitching program. The first three are from Northern NM in August on vacation. The last is from mid October in the Shenandoah National Park.

 

 

Weekends

This past weekend my old friend Lamar from highschool came over from Kentucky for the day. We drove around town just to see a little bit of Richmond from the car. Then we went to my place. We went out Friday night and did some bar hopping, hitting about 6 different spots.

The highlight of the night probably being when we pranked one of the bartenters. There was a 52 year old white man sitting next to us, who suggested we use his ID for Lamar. When the bartender saw it, he was obviously confused and when he looked at me, Lamar jokingly got mad at him, then we quickly gave him the real ID and we all had a good laugh. Especially when he cursed the other guy.

 Lamar is a really good wing man, and if I'd been on my game, it would've been more fun, but I was not. And even though I really didn't know what places were good or where to go, we found plenty of stuff very easily, which gives credit to Richmond city and it's ease and quality.

He had a 6am flight, so we didn't stay out all too late. And I had planned on meeting a friend to go riding early in the morning Saturday, but wasn't up for it first thing after going out the night before. I did manage to get myself out riding later in the day. The weekend was finished off by going down to Norfolk to see my Grandma who was visiting my aunt and uncle. Another gorgeous weekend weather wise.


This next weekend might be a rude winter slap in the face. I'm headed to Vernon, NJ with Scott where right now they are predicting a high of 41 on Saturday with chance of rain. I'd rather it be a little colder and snow so it's not so soaking. Then Sunday should be a balmy 49. We'll stay at Liz's place Sat. which I'm looking forward to. It'll be nice catching up with her.

WOC/ Cedar Run trail

What a gorgeous weekend. Disc golf Friday; then a Saturday morning mountain bike ride on the Richmond trails capped off with backpacking Sunday and Monday. Camped out Sunday night under the nearly full moon. Here's a few pictures from the White Oak Canyon and Cedar run trails. For the full run down of pictures, click here: WOC/CRT

Isa textula

Three Ridges Loop

Updated: pictures added to Picasa.

Chris came over for the weekend. Friday we drove over to the Blue Ridge Pkway and did the Three Ridges Loop. It was a bit more difficult than I thought it was going to be. It being 14+ miles instead of the ~10 I was thinking, and I had read it was hilly, but it was HILLY! Constant up or down.

We hiked a few miles on Friday and then found a camp site. We set up the tent and hammock and then started gathering wood for a fire. We almost gave up on having a fire, but after a solid hour of trying with a combination of dryer lint, water proof matches, and propane stove, we finally got things dry enough to continue burning. Seeing how house fires start with dryer lint, I thought it'd be useful starting a camp fire, but I was wrong. It was a very poor fire starter. I think I'll go with some fire sticks or something a little more proven.

We cooked a sweet potato and some peppers and onions which was dinner in addition to an energy bar. The sweet potato turned out really nicely and I'll definitely do that again. I was actually surprised just how well and evenly it cooked just by being in the fire pit and being rolled around every once in a while.

Saturday we woke up with the sun and leisurely packed up and cooked breakfast. I was hoping to try cooking bacon in the fire pit, but after having so much trouble getting the fire started the night before, and since there wasn't even a warm ember left in the morning, we cooked bacon in my camping pot on the little stove. It worked okay. I still want to try cooking it in the fire this fall.

We started hiking around 9:15am, and finally got back to the car just before 5pm. As I said, the hike was hilly, as in we hiked uphill for what seemed like the entire day. Needless to say the three of us (Me, Chris and Maddog) were exhausted. Completely beaten and nearly broken, we went out to dinner and tried to watch a movie, but called it a night early. On Sunday we sat around and gorged ourselves stupid. I made a big breakfast, then we actually got up and went to Chipotle for lunch, had chips and salsa and cookies ALL afternoon, finished off by a flank steak and veggies and more cookies and hot cocoa with Rumple Minze. 

Congrats to all of us for surviving the weekend, and a bigger congrats to Dr. Chris Lasher for finishing his PhD!

Rain, rain, go away...

Maddog and I went down to visit my cousin in Kill Devil Hills a couple weeks ago. That's always fun and the dogs get to hang out. We went to the beach of course and went out to a couple places to enjoy the night life.

Last weekend, Scott and I drove to Snowshoe, WV for some more downhill mountain biking. We got up ridiculously early, (aka 4:45am) and met in Staunton, VA, where we left his car in the Walmart parking lot and loaded up my new car.  With bikes on top, gear in back and tunes plugged in we cruised through WV to the mountain. It was quite chilly at 43 degrees when we started out but we warmed up pretty quick once we got to riding.
The maintenance crew had made several changes to the trails since last year and they were awesome. Our favorite trail "Powerline" had been extended a little with more berms and jumps as well as "Bull Run" and a new favorite "Lucid." We also did a bunch of the black runs that have "north shore" style obstacles on them. Like in this picture and video. The video is more of a bloopers reel, but don't worry nobody got hurt on this trip.

Since Tuesday it's been threatening to rain or outright raining. Not so much as a day without some sort of precipitation which cuts out my riding to work and most other outdoor activities. I was hoping to get some disc golf in some this weekend, but the forecast looks like more of the same. Hopefully it'll quit before next weekend when Chris is supposed to come visit.

Memorial Day weekend

My weekend started Thursday evening. I drove up to NOVA to a buddy's house. We got some dinner and packed up my new car to get ready for friday. Friday morning we got up early and headed for Seven Springs, PA for some downhill mountain biking. The staff were very helpful and one was quite attractive. But once we went to get on the lift we realized this wasn't going to be as good as some of the other places we've been.

We had to hold onto our own bikes as we rode up the lift. You had to sit on the lift while your bike was literally in your lap. Tires were on either side of you while you essentially sat under the bike. Annoying if not dangerous.

The trails were okay. The green (beginner) trail had absolutely no features and was almost hard to follow since it just went through the grass and almost nobody used it. There was basically one blue (intermediate) trail that was fun but obviously had been heavily used as the berms were chattery and lots of washed out areas, especially towards the bottom.

Some of the black trails (expert) were unridable. Insanely steep or huge (8+ feet) drops. At the top there were a couple fun obstacles. A ramp to a bridge and a big rainbow. So we mainly rode the few black trails that weren't totally nuts and the blue trail.

There was a 24hr cross country race going on the next day, but the trail had already been marked and set up, so we decided to try that out too. It was 11 miles and after about 5 we decided we'd had enough and went back to the downhilling. While the race course was fun, we did the majority of the part that went mostly down and then bailed out on a fire road as the course headed back up the mountain.

We went to dinner at a place called the Pine Grill, which was recommended to us by the attractive staff at the bike park. The food was actually quite good, and I'm not just saying that because we were starving. We also had some entertainment from the table next to us. A group of girl friends were out for their Friday night, having a good time. We ended up sharing a huge dessert with them.

After dinner and dessert we camped out under the clouds in our hammocks. Scott had a rain fly, but seeing how I didn't, I set up a back-up-plan-bed in the back of the Subaru. Luckily I didn't need it, but I slept a little better knowing I could run for cover if the sky opened up.

The original plan was to ride Seven Springs both days, but after the trails were just okay, and talking to some other trail riders, we decided we try out Wisp in McHenry, MD, which was just about an hour south of where we were. Wisp is very close to Deep Creek Park, MD. We could see the lake from the chair lift.

Wisp was considerably better than Seven Springs. First, someone else took your bike at the bottom and hung it from the chair lift, so we could just sit and rest. The trails were longer and a little better maintained and more our style. Some fun jumps and more flowy trails. We rode from 10am until 5pm with a lunch break and another distraction. They had a "Mountain Coaster" ride as well as other entertainment like a ropes course with zip lines and such. We took a ride on the coaster which was a single person roller coaster that you could control the speed. It was spectacular.

By 5pm our hands were toast. Blisters, a couple cuts and scrapes, and totally exhausted, we headed back to Scott's house. We got some Indian food and watched the new Tron. Sunday I came home and did a thorough bike cleaning and maintenance and got some new brakes. The brakes should be much more effective with less effort and less noisy. The squealing on the old ones was getting very irritating.  We're off to ride again in two weeks at Snowshoe, WV.

P.S. Here's a couple more pictures and videos from Scotts camera. Who needs a helmet cam? We need a helmet cam. 

Ancestral Health Symposium

There was a "Ancestral Health Symposium" described as the "Woodstock of evolutionary medicine" in CA a couple weeks ago. A bunch of "Primal" and "Paleo" people as well as PhD's MD's and a vast variety medical practitioners got together to talk about health.

Thankfully, someone brought a camera and recorded the lectures. The quality isn't the best, and they only have the slides for some of the lectures, but it's better than nothing. There's a lot of really good information from some very well respected people in their fields. The lectures vary from food, to movement, to gut health and anything health related. Most defies conventional wisdom and how most of us think about health.

Check it out: http://ancestryfoundation.org/  Click on the vimeo link, or one of the videos at the bottom right.

Vacation!

Everyone loves a good vacation! And so do I. I was fortunate enough to spend a week in Eagle Nest, NM at a cabin with good friends. We did some hiking over 12k feet and got to go downhill mountain biking at Angle Fire ski resort. Lots of soda cans were destroyed from hours of b-b-gun fun.

We visited Toas for some shopping and a little emergency room visit after the downhilling. Oops! He ended up okay, just a little bruised and sore. I then spent a few days in CO springs with my parents where we went to the new Ikea, indoor skydiving, and eating. Ikea can only be defined as an iota away from total chaos. Indoor skydiving was awesome and I'd totally recommend it if you're in Denver, CO. Dinner was eaten at Texas de Brazil where we stuffed ourselves silly.

Now it's back to the grind. But there's more adventures on the near horizon. Here's a video of the indoor skydiving and some pictures of the view from the cabin. Picture Link

Thanks to all those that made it such a great vacation!

night life

This weekend was pretty fun filled. Of course Maddog and I played disc golf friday morning. No surprise there. Didn't score quite as well as last week, but that's okay. Friday night I went with a few people to a place called gallery5 which used to be an old firestation, turned night life hang out. They had a few local bands play, beer tasting, which I did not partake in, and a good crowd of people you had to shuffle through to get anywhere.

We then headed to a restaurant called CousCous which has music and dancing after 10 or so. On our way to CousCous, we were overwhelmed by a giant mob of mostly highschool or early college age kids. When I say giant mob, I mean there must've been a couple thousand people on the sidewalks and streets. We had no idea what was going on, but there were cops everywhere, in cars, on bikes, and on horses. It really was utter chaos. It was ripe for bad things to happen, so we got off that street and headed a different way. After scanning the online Richmond paper today, I guess there were some fights going on, or about to happen, so I'm glad we got out of there.

There was a German exchange student at CousCous that I ended up talking to, which only fueled the memories of highschool that were coming back to me as the dancing and music went on. It was still going strong when we left a little before 2am. I got up far too early following a late night and went bike riding with Carter and 3 other guys. Unfortunately, this ride was also quite long since the 3 other guys liked to stop and rest and chit-chat for 10 minutes every mile or so. Then Carter busted his back wheel so we had to walk the last mile back to the car.

On Sunday, there was a "watermelon" festival I was taken to. It was really hot out so we didn't stay long, but it was your standard fair of clothing vendors and food. To wrap up the night, I played a card game called Spades with some of my neighbors while our dogs wrestled around. All in all, it was a good weekend. I'll try and ride the trails one more time this week and ride to work, so I'll be ready to hit NM well prepared. Can't wait for vacation!

Back on the horse

The proverbial horse of course. I've never fallen off a real horse thank goodness. I went to play disc golf Friday morning and I shot 1 under par at Bryan Park from the long tees.  That was the best score I've gotten, ever, really. I was 3 under until the second to last hole where I botched a couple puts since I was pleasantly mentally distracted. I'll just say it was a good day that ended with dinner and ice cream and drinks. 

Sunday I went to Busch Gardens with my dad and a couple he knows. It rained a little bit in the morning which was great for the waiting lines to rides. I think we waited 5 min in the longest line.  The Griffon is probably my favorite, for the thrill factor, but the Apollo's Chariot ride is right up there with it's long smooth drops and turns. 

Went for a ride after work last night with what turned into 5 people. One of my new neighbors wanted to try out the trails, so he borrowed a bike and came along. Unfortunately, the bike was a pretty poor fit for him and as the trails are really rough.  It was difficult and slow going. We didn't make it back until after dark unfortunately which made things even more difficult. Next time I will definitely throw the headlamp in my backpack.

Tonight, the Richmond Squirrels are playing and I will be one of the spectators if the weather holds out. My fingers are crossed. Back up plans will be made just in case though.

Double header

Carter and I went for a ride this morning. Two rides actually. On what could very well be the hottest day of the.... well, ever. My new wheels worked just  like wheels should. The bike is definitely a little lighter, and my lungs are a lot better conditioned since I started riding to work, so I felt pretty good on the trails today.  We did over 10 miles total, and I was super tired by the end. 

The first ride was at Quarter Park which was about a 6 mile loop. It was only about 90 degrees when we started that around 9:30 in the morning. After a short break we drove down the road to Freedom Park and did another 4+ miles. It just kept getting hotter as the day went on and I'm glad we were done around 1pm. I think I'm ready for a good nap now. Hopefully it'll rain tonight or sometime soon and dump this humidity and bring the temperature down. 

The return of the King

I guess it's really more like the King's first appearance, but "the return" sounds cooler in a nerdy sort of way. I got my new wheels from the bike shop today. I had the new spokes and rims put on the old hubs as the hubs were fine after the accident. All the insurance stuff has now been processed and finished which is great news. The dent in the frame was accounted for and I was able to get a different kind of wheel that allows tubeless tires. Check it out.

All in all, other than being a pain in the butt, and not having the bike for a couple weeks, it turned out okay. A little extra cash in my pocket from the damaged frame and new wheels. The bike shop cleaned the cassette too, so with a new crankset, clean cassette and cleaned chain, it should be dirt free for about 5 minutes. Carter, a buddy who used to work at UNOS with me, and I are going riding tomorrow in Williamsburg and another park a little farther south as well. It's gonna be a hot one, but oh well. It's mid July on the East coast. It's never really pretty. 

Kill Devil Hills

The beach. The sun, sand, and water just have a way of relaxing me. Considering I'd been preoccupied with the insurance companies and dealing with my bike damage issues, I was ready for a little relaxation. The beach is always a vacation in my mind. I went down to Kill Devil Hills, NC to visit my cousin who lives a few blocks up from the beach. I consider it my own free beach house.

We watched the re-enactment of "The Lost Colony" Friday night, which was really quite good. It's the longest running outdoor re-enactment show in the US. And Andy Griffith was an actor there in the late 40's and early 50's.

Saturday and Sunday were full of beach going and eating. The dogs kept each other company most of time.  Sunday evening on my way home I stopped by my dad's place in Hampton and had dinner. It's nice having family close enough for weekend pop-ins.

Rear end (updated)

My mom brought Maddog back to Richmond today at lunch time. I left work and met my mom at my new place so she could see it and drop the dog off. We had lunch and walked around the block before I started back to work and she headed back to Hampton.

I figured, while I was out, I'd take my bike over to the shop to get my new cranks installed. I figured I'd drop it off and get it back tomorrow (friday) in time for an early afternoon ride. On the way to the shop, with my bike on the bike rack hanging off the trunk, I got rear ended.  

I had the insurance inspector take a couple official pictures before moving the bike as they were too busy to do the full inspection, but after that was done, I went to the bike shop, but instead of crank installation, I had them look the bike over for damage. The wheels took basically all the damage as far as they could tell. The front worse than the back. But both need replacing. Luckily it seems like the fork and frame are okay.

The majority of the damage was to the guy who did the rear ending; cosmetically at least. His hood was all kinds of crumpled and lights busted. The inspector will be able to take a look at my car tomorrow morning and make a better assessment than my uneducated guessing. I was pushed into the guy in front of me so there's a bit of minor damage to the front and to the back of the third guys car too. Good thing there's a little something called insurance. 

My biggest concern at the moment, since my car is still drivable, is how and when I'm going to get the bike wheels fixed.  I hope to know more tomorrow after talking to the inspector and calling my insurance company with the bike estimate. What a pain. 

I ended up not going back to work. The accident happened just before 1pm and I then after waiting for the cops to come, do their report, call my insurance, take my car to the inspector for the bike pics and then going to the bike shop, it was well after 4pm. If you look closely at this last picture you can tell what type of car hit me. 

UPDATE: Looks like my frame was dented a bit under the top tube. Didn't notice at first but it's definitely damaged. Still waiting on the bike shop to give me an estimate on damages and repairs.  Hopefully they can give me an idea of the value lost by the dent as it's not fixable. It may be still ridable, but it's definitely worth less in monetary value if I were to try and sell the frame. Should be fun dealing with the insurance company. :rolleyes:

Happy 4th

Happy Birthday America. 235 years and still going. I went to Freedom Park in Williamsburg to ride the trails after spending the weekend with my parents and family in Hampton, VA. I put together this short video of my ride. It's a shame everything looks so small and slow. I promise that when you're riding, it feels like you're riding really fast and going off big jumps. Here's a link: Freedom Park.

I hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday weekend. In Richmond, we had some nasty thunderstorms roll through just before dark so the fireworks show was canceled. I'm not sure if they'll reschedule, but you'd think so, otherwise that's a lot of wasted explosives.

I left Madison in Hampton with my parents for a few days. He'll hang out until my mom brings him back later this week. We figured they could keep each other company while me and my dad are at work. Speaking of work, I should get to it. Back to the grind. At least it's a 3 day week. I love having Fridays off. :-)

Bikes

Some of you might already know, I was building up my old mountain bike frame to be my commuter. I had made it into a single speed since I used my derailleurs for my new mountain bike frame. I got some used parts cheap on craigslist and from a shop cleverly called "Re-cycle" which buys and sells used parts. I had a old set of handlebars from a friend.

With this mish-mash of parts and pieces, I made my franken-bike, and it worked, but it was far from nice. Granted, "nice" wasn't really high on my list of priorities, I just wanted it to ride to work and back in the city. But the system just wasn't cooperating. The chain was too fat, the tensioner was mediocre, the bottom bracket was rough, the fork was heavy, and I could go on.

All together it just left me wanting more. There's loads of bikes to choose from nowadays. More than I had ever imagined. But I didn't want to spend any more money on top of the parts I had already bought. So I sold some wheels and other parts and ended up buying The Hounder from Nashbar on a deep discount for a great price.

I stayed with a single speed because in my opinion, the city is pretty flat. I think I may have an elevation change of 80 ft over 3 miles. I don't feel like gears are necessary. Plus it's simpler and less prone to breaking or needing adjustment. I do enough of that with the mountain bike.

I replaced the pedals with some big flat ones I had from the previous build and the bike in general has been really good so far. Bigger tires make for faster riding, as well as a better gear ratio with the front chainring being bigger.

I've ridden it for a week now and things are great. A little grease on the bottom bracket and minor brake adjustments is all that was needed. Now I just need to get back on the mountain bike since the Buttermilk trails are so close. Here's a couple more pictures for Peter and Kirk and anyone else interested. But probably just Peter and Kirk. Ha!

And one which I thought was kind of funny, as the minimalist commuter bike makes my burly mountain bike look small...

Moving day

June 4th was moving day. It started with U-haul calling me the day before saying they weren't going to have my truck ready. But they gave me their 50 dollar truck reservation guarantee, so instead of having a truck at 8am, we got it at 10:30 along with 50 bucks. Not too bad a deal. It gave us a chance to get some breakfast at IHOP.

Both my dad and my friend Chris came over Friday night and watched The Fighter. We then got a good night's sleep in preparation for the next day. I don't think we knew how much we'd need it.

We were under a bit of a time constraint since Comcast was supposed to come over between 2 and 5pm . We got all the big stuff and boxes and bikes and important things in the truck. With more time and patience we could've fit more, but we headed over to the new place without much trouble just before 2pm. As we pulled up to the apt, the Comcast guy was getting ready to leave, but I flagged him down and luckily got internet set up first thing.

The unloading went pretty quickly up until we tried to move the couch. I had parked the truck in the rear parking lot because the stairs up to the back door were wider and less turning involved to get inside. I didn't really think getting inside would be an issue. Little did I know the door frames in older places are smaller than I had realized. We physically couldn't fit the couch through the doorway.

We had to carry the couch back down the stairs, put in back in the truck, drive the truck around the block to the front of the building, take the couch out and carry it up the sidewalk. Then we had to get it up a narrow flight of stairs (but it was wider than the door frame so it fit) and through my front door which was like solving a logic puzzle. After finally getting into the apartment, we realized it still wasn't going to fit into the room I wanted it in, because that doorway is just as narrow as the back door. Such a shame.

It was left in the common room, which is how most people set up their apartments when they have a roommate who occupies the second bedroom. Since I don't have a roommate, I wanted my "living room" to be in the larger bedroom. The plan at the moment is to give the couch to my parents and get a new couch. Possibly a futon so guests can have a proper place to sleep, as well as being able to take it apart which would help getting it into the proper room, and moving next time. For the time being though, the TV and couch are in the wrong room, and there's a bunch of random furniture in the big room.


On a better note, I rode my bike to work on Monday which was awesome. It took about 20 minutes and I think I can get there faster once I don't have to stop and make sure I'm going the right way and am a little more comfortable riding on the road. Madison seems to be getting used to the new place. I'm sure he's missing the woods to go to the bathroom in, but he'll get over it.

Memorial Day weekend

This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend, as you might have heard. A time for long weekend vacations and car trips. I had a couple options and I chose neither of them. I could've gone to the New River Gorge in WV for some awesome climbing, or I could've gone down to my aunt and uncles new beach house with my cousin in Rodanthe, NC. Instead I stayed home and packed.

I did get out for a ride and finally figured out how to get my phone to track my ride, which I've attached there as a picture.  Maddog and I played some disc golf and I went to the pool a couple times for some vitamin D, but for the most part I hung out and got stuff ready to move.

I got the keys to my new place today. I really had forgotten the floor was all tile minus the bedrooms. Real tile, not vinyl or linoleum, so I think Maddog will like their cool-to-lay-on feature. Tomorrow I'll put most of the rest of my stuff in boxes so when my moving help arrives, they won't be too worried about all the work that still needs to be done.

This weekend in Richmond, there's several food festivals so I think that'll be a good thing to check out once we're done moving stuff in. I just hope it's more likely a late lunch than a dinner time event. The weather should be nice, and not as oppressively hot like the last few days. Wish us luck and a speedy move. I'll be downtown close to some interesting things, so you should come visit.

Summer is here

Graduation, moving, and heat all come with the end of May and beginning of June. The past weekend was Kirk's tunr. He graduated from Darden with his MBA and I went to Charlottesville, to help him and Lisa move their stuff into trailers to be pulled cross country. Well, to Colorado at least. One big trailer with most of the heaviest stuff was put behind their truck, and a slightly smaller trailer with large but light(er) furniture was to be towed behind the Honda civic. Last I heard they had made it to WV which means the biggest hills of the trip were behind them.

Kirk and I got in one last ride Satureday morning around Charlottesville, which was awesome. We had some great rides over the past two years and I look fondly back at the time we spent hanging out. Lots of things have changed and I think of one that wasn't for the better. Good times! I look forward to the next two years. I imagine things might change just as much. I move into the city in two weeks adn I look forward to riding my bike to work. I've started my preliminary packing of books and DVD's, along with winter clothes in suitcases. Luckily Kirk and Lisa didn't use all their boxes, so I took a few of from their place to my odds and ends in.

Here's my salute to old friends and good times. We'll hang out again soon. Thanks for the adventures.