Recap Time

Used SuperPhoto on a photo to make this awesome watercolor.

I'd thought about possibly trying to do a monthly recap here but just going back a few days of my G+ posts makes that kind of unfeasible. So I think maybe I'll do a recap of the best posts from the last week or so, give or take.

In honor of Alan Rickman's untimely death the other day, I watched Dogma (full movie on YouTube) last night for the first time in years and it was still very funny (though, as noted by a friend, a little too clever for its own good).

Politics
Netflix Founder Drops $100 million to Join Billionaire Crusade to Privatize Our Public Schools 

I went to a Donald Trump rally and saw a man wearing a plastic bag as a shirt. (with images, tweets) - this is both fascinating and really pretty disturbing and doesn't even include the newest addition to the Chucklehead Sideshow that is Trump 2016, the Freedom Girls (warning, link is to a YouTube video I can't help but believe is performance art but is apparently real)!

MMA/UFC Links
Nik Lentz issues "non-negotiable" demands to BJ Penn

The Conor Ultra Super Mega Hype Train Rolls On - Coach: After 'warm-up fight' against Rafael Dos Anjos, Conor McGregor could make a run at the UFC welterweight belt. Conor will get destroyed by RDA and any dreams he has of multiple titles will be pounded out of him. And, for the record, Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar both have fully legitimate beefs with the UFC capitulating to McGregor's bullshit demands. Defend your new strap or give it up.

And, lastly in mma news, Chris Weidman is 'really happy' he lost to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194

IKEA Kura double decker playhouse - epic makeover time!

Ned Overend is the Champion Cyclist Who Never Grows Old - a great article about a guy who was kicking butt on the trails when I was a kid and is STILL kicking butt on the trails today! The article includes some good training tips (HIIT yo!).

New Word:
Testimoney - paid for testimony, duh!

New Recent Videos:
Heavy Surf Pounds Its Beach
Washed Out Stairs to Its Beach
SUP Surfing Fall and a Not Fall
Some of the Big Swell Hitting Santa Cruz
A Coupla Waves in Cowells

Videos I've watched:
Santa Cruz Tsunami Up Close 2011
Ice Cube, Kevin Hart and Conan Help a Student Driver
AK-47 Underwater at 27,450 fps
Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue
Carp Attack [Carpe Diem]
Lego Mindstorms Bridge Layer

See ya in around a month or so!

Looking Forward and Up

The SCMTB Fest is coming!

What do the next ten months of 2012 hold? For myself and my little family, we are stuffing as much good stuff in among the work. I count myself pretty lucky that I work in education and have some summer break time to do more family stuff. I usually end up working over the summer and this one will be no different. But I have a boss who wants me to write up my schedule and give him an idea of what I will do.

What does the rest of the year hold for us? Several group camping trips with friends to Big Sur, Mt. Madonna, Arroyo Seco, the Sea Otter Classic, Spicer up north and New Brighton Beach locally. I've got my first and likely only triathlon of the year scheduled and on the books at the Avia Wildflower, we may camp for it but not in with the other triathletes as it is just too darned pricey to do it right now. Maybe next year when my pay returns to its normal levels (long story but the short of it is my checks are about $350 light right now).

A Kiss from the Trail

A Kiss from the Trail
Originally uploaded by fenriq.

John and I got out for a morning ride today with the dogs. Before it got too hot and before the trail got too populated with walkers. I had my camera mounted on my handlebars, shot some good dog-chasing video, missed John's arse over handlebars get-off and suffered this little gash on our way up and out of the park.

All in all, it was a great way to start the day. If only everyday could begin with some pedal mashing, gear grinding, dog chasing fun like this.

There Is No Such Thing As Too Fast

Not when you are waiting for a package to be delivered, not when you're bombing back down some redwood forest single track trying to keep from wiping out or causing one of the two dogs to go tumbling down the steep hill below.

Well, there is too fast in that second instance but most of the time its alright to let 'er rip. I've been quite successful at not getting shredded by the overgrown pricker groves we pass through on the way in and out. Just a few when I could look like I lost a fight with a gang of cats.

We had another good ride this afternoon, no diggers for either of us but I did get to give some whippersnappers a little comeuppance. They thought they'd smoked us and stopped to catch their breath when I came ripping up behind them. HA!

But when a package is en route (according to UPS and their departure scans) and there's no update for a few days, you might start to get antsy too. As in, that camera had better get here before we fly out on Friday.

Luckily, Staples is having a Dads and Grads Sale right now and camera memory is on special. I will eventually need a bunch of memory cards but just a couple should work for now. And a spare battery, of course. And I wouldn't mind one of these lenses. In case anyone wants to make my day.

Nothing Like a Monday Ride

I hate to add more rain to the parade of the east coasters who happen to read this blog on occasion but Nande and I got back from a beautiful little bike ride along the lower flanks of Nisene Marks. My buddy's wife was off with his big hound dog so it was just me, Nande and my buddy who's still recovering from ankle surgery.

We've been having these gorgeous days with nice warm sun and it was perfect in the woods. There were places where the earth was still damp and wet from the night's fog and other places where we could just soak in the sun for a few moments.

The trailhead is a little sketchy as we park in private lot and drop in near some private houses. But we're respectful, quick and keep the dogs close so it hasn't been a problem yet.

But once you're in, the trail descends quickly and it feels really land-speederish like in Star Wars. The galloping hound at my heels doesn't really work for the imagery but it's alright. It is a ton of fun to burn hills with Nande sprinting alongside. And she was built for trail riding. Have I said that before? She is. She's tall and has long legs which let her float over the trail at good speed.

Unlike her usual companion, a stout black lab who I've caused to tumble off the trail because he insists on trying to run about three inches off my front wheel. And that works very poorly in tight single track.

Anyway, not too far in there's a car that got there a number of years ago. It is on its roof and the forest is swiftly dismantling it and turning it back into its elemental states. Kind of neat and a great object to sit and snap photos of for hours on end. The fact that its right near a cool little cliff above a four or five foot deep pool to toss sticks in for the dogs is just bonus.

This trail isn't especially long but you can ride multiple loops to just keep adding miles to your ride. The trail also leads into Nisene so you have to be careful of walkers and folks on horseback. We ran into one lady on horseback today who wanted to make sure Nande wasn't going to freak out around her horse. I truly didn't know what she'd do but she was, more or less, respectful. And we were able to cruise on to where we could either take another good fun descent that we'd have to pedal back up out of or we could turn around and head back.

We opted to heading back and retraced our path back towards the trucks. We didn't run into the horse again, which was nice, but we also didn't have enough time to stop and play in the water for too long. Unlike this video I took from a previous trip.

A really nice way to enjoy a beautiful Monday. Especially since my job training this morning was so quick. I'll write a short post about that later.