Florida

I hopped down to Florida for just more than 48hrs of fun in the sun. I actually went down to spend a couple of days with my mother for Xmas, and to help her with some stuff around the house. It was a quick trip: arriving late on a Tuesday morning and leaving early afternoon on Thursday. But it was good to get down there, visit, see a buddy, and of course, ride.

The Art Critic

I know it is far easier to be a critic than one who creates. And I know that I don't understand some of the subtleties of art, but sometimes, a description or explanation of a hidden meaning just seems to much to bear.

Case in point, these doors. Jean and I went to the MFA recently (see more of the pics here), and I just couldn't get past this...

Look at the doors. Look at them closely. Think about them. Think about what they mean. And now, ponder the description.

Rachel Whiteread
English, born in 1963
Lives in London

Double--Doors II (A+B), 2006-07
Plasticized plaster with interior aluminum framework

Look carefully--this work is more complicated than it seems. These are not doors; instead, they capture the space created by doors. Whiteread made plaster casts of both sides of two doors, then assembled the casts back to back. The finished work combines the spaces on either side of a threshold--fusing entrance and exit into one solid form. The pale doors suggest the ambiguous emotion attached to coming and going and, in the way they resemble funerary slabs, maybe even the fleeting passage of life. (copyright MFA)

Ambiguous emotion?
The fleeting passage of life?

How much pot would I need to smoke to come up with that?

I guess I'm just an ignoramus... but expect some "deep" explanations from my photography henceforth.

More Old BMX Footage (1999 or 2000?)

View from Mt. Hoffman

As a follow-up to my photos from Yosemite National Park, here is a quick video shot from the top of Mt. Hoffman. Hopefully this will begin to show how awesome this view was...

Yosemite!

It doesn't seem like I do much "local" travel. Most of my trips require a flight of several hours duration, and then, upon arrival, usually several more hours of driving. My trip to Yosemite National Park was no different. Although, our flight departed at a civilized hour of 8am; I typically fly out much earlier…

So, up at 5am, out the door by 5:30am, drop the car off at the parking lot and in the terminal just a bit after 6am. Board the plane by 7:30am, and away we went…

The Cape of Cod

I'll be honest. I've never seen a cod in a cape. I even did a quick Google image search for a cod in a cape, and came up with nada. Maybe I'll make a cape out of cod, but I suspect that it would be heavy and smelly. With that, I'm left to only talk about the place, Cape Cod. I like to just call the area, "the Cape," but apparently people out on Cape Ann think that THEY are on "THE" Cape. Silly people.

So, Cape Cod, in summer can be a mad-house, filled with people, people, and more people. I have a love-hate relationship with people. I'll let you figure out which people I love and which I hate, but needless to say, if I can go to the Cape when there are less people, I'm happy. So it works out well that Jean and I went down off-season. The tourists were gone, the traffic was light, the weather was still warm, and the beaches were empty.

It's not a "kid's bike".

I ride bikes; many different types of bikes in fact. I ride mountain bikes, BMX bikes, road bikes, cyclocross bikes and commuter bikes, sometimes all on the same day. Right now, my BMX bike holds the spot as "favorite" bike, and that includes riding flatland (mostly) and the rare street or skatepark jaunt.

What I don't understand, is why the BMX bike is largely considered "a kid's bike." Sure, kids ride BMX bikes, but kids do lots of things. Kids also play baseball, play basketball, play soccer, and play hockey. Despite this, I don't think any of my age-peers who may participate in adult leagues of any of these sports have to endure people asking why they are still involved in kids' activities.

More Todd's Farm..

I know I've posted some pics from Todd's Farm before... but I just love the place. It's a strange assortment of interesting "stuff" and interesting people.  Follow along with my strange assortment of pics of some of the stuff and people... 

Some Manodnock Pics

King of Flatland Reunion!

Twenty five years ago, one of my favorite events was the King of Flatland contest series held in New Hampshire. It was an excellent series, many of my memories from that era are still vivid, and some of the riders back then are still friends today.

Now, it appears I'm having my mid-life crisis, manifested as a renewed obsession with my BMX bike. Apparently I'm not the only one, as old-school and reunion style BMX events are becoming more and more popular. I consider them my generations "classic car shows."

Getting Caught Up

Where have you been? Me? Where have I been? Oh, well, let me tell you...

I've been here, doing nothing too exciting. With my last blog entry, I had just come back from the Old School BMX Reunion in California. I had an AWESOME time, but I came back to an intense work schedule, and to time to heal. I had picked up a broken rib while out in CA (who knew they were contagious?), and it took a few weeks to really be back to some level of normalcy.

I took a couple of weeks off from the BMX bike, but I could still ride on the road and trails, although, for a while, climbing, on the mountain bike, was still pretty painful and I'd sometimes just climb with only one hand on the handlebar just to avoid the stress on the left side of my body. One thing that definitely helped get me back to riding quicker than normal was the Smith & Nephew EXOGEN bone growth stimulator. I love technology. MORE>>>

OSBMXR Video

As I'm sure you'll figure out... I'm no videographer, nor do I have the patience for video editing. Enjoy!

Old School BMX Reunion, 2012

I've had a long relationship with BMX, and like most relationships, it's had some ups and downs. However, the fact remains that for 30 years, I have loved 20-inch bikes. As a star-struck kid, I was in awe of the early pro riders like Bob Haro, RL Osborn, Martin Aparijo, Woody Itson, Dennis Langlais, Ron Wilkerson, Eddie Fiola, Dennis McCoy, and SO many more. I was fortunate to eventually ride for a living and call some of these legends friends.

BMX isn't the main focus of my life like it once was, but over the past year, I HAVE rekindled my love for the sport. The riders of this generation are completely amazing, but the riders of the 80's, the pioneers, will always be my favorites. Read More

Costa Rica: Friday (Viernes)

We loved staying at Mystica. The view, the food, the people, the vibe--everything was awesome, but it was time to move on to La Fortuna, and meet up with our friends, James (La Tigre) and Jes.

Before leaving, Jean and I went out for one more good ride on the local roads and dirt roads, which of course, meant more climbing! On our way back to Mystica, we were fortunate to cross paths with Francesco and Laurie, as they were heading out of town.

He was on his way to Tiliran and then San Jose, for his bike tour. We said our "so long,"s I made promises to speak Spanish by the time we came back, and then Jean and I had to pack up to leave town ourselves. Once again, it was a miracle I was able to get everything into the back of the BeGo, but soon enough, we were on our way to La Fortuna. Read & See More...

Costa Rica: Thursday (Jueves)

Jean joined in on a yoga class, which she said was great. Instead of yoga classes at home, which are often packed with sweaty people in a dark rooms, this was on a huge wooden platform just above a bubbling brook. With a gentle breeze, running water and plenty of birds chirping, she says it was very relaxing.

I did not partake in the yoga class because, well, I'm a guy, and real men don't do yoga, and Francesco and I went out for a ride. He's a super nice guy and quite an avid rider. Despite the fact that he's still recovering from ruptured achilles tendons--in both legs (about 6 months apart from each other and about 10 months ago for the most recent one), he was getting ready to lead a two-week bike tour across the country. He says it's a pretty mellow pace, but the roads in Costa Rica can make even a relatively short ride quite brutal. READ MORE>>>

Some Video

I mentioned in my previous post that the riding was a bit... well... windy... see (and hear) for yourself.

Costa Rica: Wednesday (Miercoles)

Time to ride. The two business partners that own Mystica are bikers, Francesco more so than Barbara, and we were able to get some tips and directions on where to go. One of the local things to see was a limestone cliff wall with petroglyphs from about 300BC to about 800AD. This wall was about 45 minutes away on jeep roads, by 4x4, so it sounded like a great riding opportunity...

Jean and I had been riding in this area one time before, and a small error in navigation resulted in us stopping at the bottom of a looooooong, steep, rough downhill, only to find a closed and locked gate. Meaning, we simply had to turn around and ride back up. When I say that this was a long, steep, rough trail, multiply your visualization by Pi. Anyway, we got some directions and set off. Initially when we were getting the directions, Barbara (and maybe Francesco too), suggested that we may want to take a shuttle back up from the petroglyphs. When I said that that wouldn't be necessary,  they each had that look of "okay, crazy people..." and let us go. We did take a phone number just in case we wanted to hitch a ride. READ MORE...

Costa Rica: Tuesday (Martes)

We woke to more rain. Tuesday was a planned drive day, so that wasn't too bad. We grabbed another great breakfast, again with jim and Cathy, before loading up the car. Yep, it was 67 stairs up from the front door of our room to the parking lot where the car was. I felt every ounce that we had packed while carrying the bags up. Damn. I didn't want to subject the staff at the resort to that kind of torture, so I did it myself. And besides, it was a good little work-out. Once everything was up to the car, it was an interesting puzzle to get it all in. The bikes, no longer completely disassembled, and now in addition to their boxes, were tight, but we made it work. 
Up and down over twisting mountain "roads" and a couple of hours later we were near the Arenal volcano. Along the way, we stopped a German bakery that we had eaten at before for authentic schnitzel, goulash, and a heif weizen. We also had our first official wild monkey sighting, which was VERY cool. Read More...

Costa Rica: Monday (Lunes)

Poas Volcano

Our morning started with another excellent breakfast and some great conversation with another couple, Jim and Cathy. Both retired and Jim his early 80's, they exuded a certain vibrance and youth that was amazing. We all loved to travel and had shared some funny stories. More on them later.

Properly fueled, we got in our little rental and made the pilgrimage to Poas Volcano National Park. This park allows you to hike up to the lip of an active volcano. That's pretty cool! Because of the elevation, the views are often obscured by clouds, but the wind moves things along pretty well, and it's apparently just a matter of a few minutes between no visibility and good visibility. We got some great shots, but to be honest, the crater really looked to me like a man-made quarry, although with a sulphuric smell. There is also a lake at the top of the volcano; that was totally socked in with fog. No views of Botos Lagoon for us.

Costa Rica: Sunday (Domingo)

We woke up a reasonable hour, made coffee, and vacation began. I finished up the bikes, we had an excellent breakfast but then, unfortunately, the clouds, and with them the rain, rolled in. Bummer.

But, not all was lost. As I mentioned, the resort is located in a natural park, with lots of things to photograph. They have an aviary with toucans and macaws, a butterfly hall, sloths, and jungle cats. We walked around the property admiring the amazing colors in nature, and then after lunch we made a break for it. There was a coffee plantation that offered tours not to far from where we were so took a chance on the weather and went on the tour. READ MORE...

Costa Rica: Saturday (Sabado)

Early flight...

Our pre-flight chaos was much less than normal. It really helped that I had the day before our trip off... I was able to get the bikes all boxed up and get all of my electronic gadgets charged and ready for travel. Actually putting "clothes" in a bag is the easy part. Jean, unfortunately, was working the day before our trip, but she had done some preparation. All in all, we got to bed at a decent time... usually we're up until the wee hours of the morning looking for language translation books or maps or I'm trying to upload GPS maps. I would have been even MORE prepared had I not also been required to spend a significant amount of time restoring my beloved Macbook Pro after a hard drive suicide, but that's another story for another time. Read More...

Adopt, or Kidnap, a Trail

I'm sure you've all seen the "Adopt A Highway" signs. This program allows companies, corporations, or even regular citizens to "adopt" a section of roadway to subsidize the costs of keeping it clean. It's a way for business to do a little "feel good" spending, and I guess it helps keep the roads free of trash. Similar programs are out there for trails too.

But, from what I understand, just like adopting a real live human, there's paperwork and applications involved. Rather than going through all that, I've kidnapped a trail. Essentially, I've taken it upon myself to groom and cultivate the trails out at Norwood Pond. (READ MORE)

A Blast From The Past

I came across this OLD video from a show we (Diamondback/Perfection On Wheels) did at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA, sometime in the early 90's... fun times!

2012!

Jeez, I guess it's about time for another update... Time does seem to fly, regardless of whether you're having fun or not. But I HAVE been having fun... that's what life is all about, right?

I've been busy, but it's all pretty much with stuff that I've chosen to do. I like my job, and I like the extra projects I take on. Sure, I get stressed at times, but I like the challenges. You're not going to get anywhere in life as a spectator, right?

Aside from work and all that stuff, the lovely wife and I were able to escape up to North Conway for a fun and relaxing weekend. As a life-long snow hater (yes, haters be hating), I've got NO problem heading up to "ski-country" to go hiking. I do empathize with the businesses that rely on that "white powder economy" (not the one from Columbia), but I'm all about the mild winter. READ MORE...