Congratulations Paasch’s!

Well today I need to live vicariously through two good friends. I haven’t had many climbing adventures in awhile myself, but Saturday night I was pumped to get a call from Kelly and Julie. Kelly was pleased to tell me that they were eating dinner at the illustrious (to us outdoor folk) Moab Diner, after the two of them had spent the day successfully topping out on Casselton Tower, in Castle Valley, UT. Sweeeeet! Congratulations you two. You’re going to have to go back sometime…with me! :) That is if I ever manage to move from the prairie out west. I’ve been having a hard time managing to want to stay climbing when all that’s available is a 20 foot plastic/wood climbing gym full of 15-year-olds. That’s North Dakota climbing at it’s finest. I do very much want to ascend actual rock to actual heights again soon.

A Recommendation and a Confession

I have both a recommendation and a confession for today’s bloggin’. First off is my recommendation. I’m speaking of a book that I’m currently spending quite a bit of time in. Alison and I received it for a wedding present (it was on our REI gift registry, which was a sweet idea). As you all know I’m very involved in the outdoor world, and I now have the best book I’ve ever laid hands on regarding backpacking. It’s The Complete Hiker IV, by Collin Fletcher and Chip Rawlings. Wow. Colin, as I understand is in his 80’s, and has he ever done some hiking/camping/gear testing (or gear obsessing)! And Chip is younger, but equally suited to write with authority on trail speak. This book has know-how on pretty much any camping/hiking topic you can request, as well as very detailed reviews on tons of specific gear. I don’t know how they managed to put this whole thing together, but if you dig camping, you should spend $23 and buy this book. Do it. On the same note, we received another satisfying outdoor book, of which I’ve owned/read previous issues. Mountainneering, Freedom of the Hills, Ed. 7, is the climbing version of The Complete Walker IV. It doesn’t get as detailed into specific products, although it does delve into the subject of gear quite extensively. If you climb, it’s also a book you should buy. Do it.

On to my confession. Reading these books, as well as many others and magazines, I’ve found that I am always getting excited about some new (or very old) piece of equipment, or facet of the outdoors, that I need to involve myself with, in order to “complete my outdoor gear closet”. I think that then I will finally be able to just pay for gas as the trip’s only cost. I’ll be totally geared up in preparation for the adventure. I’m finally coming to the conclusion, by reading from other outdoor geeks, and through several years now into the obsessions, that I will never ever be done buying gear. Ever. Any fool could have told me this from the beginning, but what one has to understand about a gearhead is that they rationalize like crazy. Part of spending money on gear (and how it’s so easy to do it) is that you always think that whatever you are buying is bringing your arsenal to perfection, or at least bringing it way closer. And it does for a while (or a really long while depending on the piece of equipment) do a very good job at bringing success and a great deal of fun to a series of outdoor adventures. But myself, the gearhead, has to realize that I’ve essentially brought myself into a life-long commitment of buying new gear. It’s part of the sport. For many of us the gear is just as much part of the fun as the sport itself. I’m going on and on, but my basic confession is that I am coming to grips with myself, in that I will never be done with this. I am a gearhead, and I admit it. And I like it. Anybody want to go to REI?

P.S. (If one can P.S. on a blog in proper etiquette) One could worry by reading this entry, that I will be getting myself in trouble with my beautiful new wife by spending all our money on outdoor pursuits. Not so. Part of owning gear is that it must be owned. If you owe, it’s no fun. Saving up for something and paying cash makes it all the more tasty. The last thing you want on the trail is to be thinking of when some payment is due. Gearheads, after some lessens, can be responsible. :)

This week is a little sad. It’s the first time in the past five years that I am not spending the week in Moab, UT. I could technically take a Spring Break, even though I’m not in school, because my students are all away, but since Alison and I just went to CA, and plan on making a trip to CO for Casey and Sarah’s (two good friends of ours) wedding in May, we decided to save the money it would cost to make it down to the red rock goodness of UT. My bikes are sitting in my apartment (with only the Surly being fully functional; I’ve had lots of maintenance issues as of late), wondering why they are not ascending the steep grades of the La Sal Mountains, or speeding down Porcupine Rim. My cams are in my closet, wondering why I still have never led any desert crack with them. My boots are also in the closet, wondering why they aren’t spending the nights sitting under a tent vestibule being entirely smelly and covered in red sand. And my taste buds are wondering why they won’t be getting any Scorpion Pale Ale from the Moab Brewery on St. Patrick’s Day, (of course after chowing on the best green chili in UT, from the Moab Diner). It’s a little sad. But Moab will be on the travel list in the future I’m sure. Maybe someday we’ll live closer, and it can be a regular playground.
On a perkier note, I have pictures from last week’s winter camping. No Moab, but fun nonetheless. Some people think winter campers are crazy. These people haven’t figured it out yet. We’re not crazy, we just have fun differently. We see the experience in a way that others do not. Edward wrote some words that made sense in an email to me the other day. I can’t remember his words exactly, but he stated that winter camping is not just “a cold experience” as most people would see it. But rather, it is a challenge to be overcome and adapted too. It’s amazing to see what situations you can enjoy. There is more to the outdoors than going to the lake during the calm warm summer. When you see and experience all that nature has to offer you can truly enjoy it (even if it scares you a little). Just be equipped, including gear and a calm attitude. Anyhow, here are a couple shots from our little snow-camp.














Diggin' for the mornings coffee...














I can't tell if Chris is at Turtle River or on Mt. Shasta again...















Not the face of a cold uncomfortable man...

Warming up and getting antsy...

Well our internet service finally works at the apartment. Only took three weeks delay. Good job UND. They still charged us of course. Anyhow, it works. The weather is getting significantly better around Grand Forks. Not flying-wise, of course, but moral wise. It’s not bitterly cold anymore, and Spring, or at least fake-out Spring (North Dakotans can tell you all about fake-out Spring) seems to be easing into place. I’m working on the Lemond (on our sweet new Park workstand- thanks Edward and Chris!) to get it ready for action once the roads dry. It needed a new freehub bad after the past 3,800 miles; it had the stock cheapo freehub that comes on the old Rolf Vectors (not a very nice wheel- flexy as ever, and scary on fast corners- good thing I’m not a racer). Someday the wheelset will be replaced, but for now, just the freehub. I’m getting quite excited for the change in seasons. Every Spring is like coming out of a hibernation cave for the locals of my town. Winter is just so very nasty here, and you spend most of your time inside, which obviously gets stuffy and causes much outdoor itchiness. Yes, a few winter adventures happen, but the frequent fresh air starts soon when the sun decides to make it all the way up into the sky, rather than follow it’s half-hearted arc across the southern horizon during winter. My friend Chris seems to be getting the outdoor impulses as well, and if I’m still around the area in a couple months, we’ll have to scheme up some trips to the North Shore of Lake Superior. I know Alison would like to use her pack and road bike more frequently too. The Lake Itasca trips should get somewhat regular as well, being as it’s good backpacking only two hours away, and of course the road bike laps on the park Wilderness Dr are always quality. Mmmm. I shouldn’t get myself too riled up though, there will still be a bit of waiting. But not as much, Summer is closer.

Two tall ones on ice...

Haven't been writing much lately. I still don't have an internet connection in our new apartment. The University is proving to be less than helpful despite our calls. It might get fixed someday. Anyhow, thanks for the 4 season tent parents! My buddy Chris and I spent last night in the wintery mix out at Turtle River State Park in the new Jensen family winter sleeper (an REI Mountain 2 tent). Good times. Another buddy of mine happens to be the assistant manager of the park now, so he came out and greeted us after we hiked in through the foot and a half of snow (the campground is closed except for crazies like us). So we stayed up 'till the wee hours chattin' in the snow, than took the tent for a test night. It was nice and toasty for the first half of the night, then I somehow slid my way off my ground pad, and with no more insulation from the ground I woke up a bit chilly. But all in all the system works fantastic, and winter wont stop the campin'. I'll have some pix if Chris emails then to me. If not, you'll have to use your imagination 'till next time.

CA

So it’s been awhile for the bloggin’. This has been the busiest month I can ever remember. Moving. Surgery. Wedding. Honeymoon. More moving. Little bit of work. Wow. I could post a ton of pix and stories of it all, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to find the time to catch up with everything. I’ll try to leave a taste though. To recap the wedding, it was wonderful. Despite the surgery the week prior, I was feeling pretty well, and things went great. I even managed to keep it together and not cry during the ceremony. I didn’t think I had a chance. J The honeymoon to San Francisco and Yosemite fueled the fire of us wanted to move, and we’re now researching places to live and jobs available. West is best. Obviously. It was in the 60’s for the majority of the trip, and we had a blast riding the cable cars around (you totally don’t need a car between walking, biking, and public transit their), eating mounds of seafood everyday, riding the Golden Gate Bridge on a Burley tandem, checking out Chinatown, visiting Edward in Livermore, checking out the Pacific Ocean, taking a Bay cruise and seeing Alcatraz, shoppin’ and other city stuff, and spending a day in one of the most famous rock climbing areas of the world- Yosemite. I want rock. It was warm enough to climb their, despite it being February. I’m totally going back with cams. Anyhow, there will be more stories and pix later, but this is your taste for now. Back to working a little.

surgery

Ouch. Well now I know what it feels like when your apendix gets angry. If I didn't have enough going on lately, this topped things off. Thursday night I got a terrible stomach ache, which kept me up all but two hours of the night. Friday I cancelled all my flights to stay home and sleep, which still didn't happen for the most part. I called Alison to drive me to the doctor when she got done working, which was around four, but at two in the afternoon, I jumped in the truck and drove myself to the emergency room, cuz my stomach was super grumpy. The doctor only took a short look at me before sending me into surgery, because my symptoms were textbook for apendicytis. I'm back home now, and recovering. Pain killers are wonderful. Doctors are too. If these weren't modern times, that little apendix of mine could've meant the end of me. Crazy to think of that. Medicine does a lot for people. I'm sure glad it happened this weekend and not next, and also that my apendix hadn't ruptured, otherwise I would've missed my own wedding. Yikes. Anyways, these painkillers are putting me to sleep, so I'm gonna continue the lazy healing proccess so I have some energy this weekend. Thanks doc.

Steel is real

Thought I'd post a couple shots of the new drivetrain on the Surly. It's pretty sweet, minus my cheaptastic cranks, which need to be replaced soon. I feel a little stupid with the fierce bashguard considering there isn't a rock to hit anywhere near my home here in the prarie, but I plan on using it during mountainous trips this summer. I've ridden Porcupine Rim enough now in Moab that I'd like to do it on the ss instead of my geared suspesion equipped rig. A challenge for sure, but tons of fun all the same.

You can see that the new apartment is still getting organized. That's our spare bedroom, which is currently box and bike central. Hopefully soon it will be an office/workout room. Anyhow, I'm a sleepy man right now so I'm gonna sleep...

Yikes!

Yikes, scary blog comin' from the folks at Surly today...
Keep your eyes open out there...

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

My butt hurts.Yesterday, while I was riding in to work I had a little run-in with a little car. Now, there have been many occasions in my riding life where I've witnessed a dumb-ass behind the wheel pulling idiot moves, but yesterday was a new one for me.Suffice it to say that a car passed me too close. I raised up a finger (in mittens I might add.) The driver stopped in the middle of the road. I rode by his window and gave him a small piece of my mind. That bit's happened many times to me.The new part was that this evolutionary mishap made the mental leap to attempted murder. He gunned the motor after I was back on the right side of the street... and hit me. Full-on ran me down. Wow.Despite my immediate reaction to get his plate number, I couldn't focus on it and away he went. I was pissed.I was pissed, but now I'm sad. I'm sad that I don't trust people to have their fellow humans' lives in mind. I'm sad that this particular guy is so full of rage that he stooped to a first degree felony because I was on a bike.But mostly I'm just kind of generally sad. Sure, I'll get over it. All I got was a bruise on my butt that looks like Marlon Brando (the later years, not the svelt Wild Bunch Brando) and a tacoed rear wheel (I think the Nice Rack may have saved my life) on my CrossCheck, so that's cool.But I'm sad that people do this to each other. I'm sad that we can't all just wave at each other and smile like idiots when we pass. I'm sad cars can't just give me a little more room. And I'm sad that this particular dude won't ever get it.
posted by Skip Bernet

Catchin' up..

Busy busy. I have done more lifting of other people’s stuff this past weekend than I’ve ever cared to do. I finished moving out of the duplex and into the apartment Alison and I will be in after the wedding. Being as my roommate Chris and I were the last dudes out of the place after several other people have come and gone, we had a lot of abandoned junk from the other dudes. Good thing I have a pickup now, cuz we had to make quite a few trips to the thrift store and random dumpsters around town. So I had moving in addition to wedding planning, and a new semester of flight student keeping my crazy this week. But things slowed down a bit, and I was able to throw on the new drivetrain for my Surly. Man it’s sweet. I’m riding the 34x20 for snow riding right now, which is kinda slow in the clear, but we’ll see how it goes in time. I also got a 17tooth freewheel on the other side of my flip/flop hub that equates to my old 32x16. I upped the chainring in front to a 34 to increase overall chainwrap so things will last longer. But long story short, I’m ready to ride when I can manage to get away from all my business.
In other news, I think I’m going to be doing some bike building at Scheels, one of the local bike shops on the side of my “full time” flight instruction gig. Gotta eat, and the weather’s been trashy. We’ll see how that goes. As long as they understand I need to make my own hours things should be ok. Anyhow, bloggin’s turning to ramblin’, so I’m gonna run…