Never Stop Exploring

So I must give credit, that is the slogan for The North Face. They make clothing and gear that all of us wear and enjoy. I saw them on a commercial while watching the X-Games from my living room here in WV tonight.

I took some leave on my birthday this past weekand got a sweet bike ride in at the Frederick Watershed. I was joined with rider X with his new Superfly, and the Lantz brothers. Gregg actually had the same bike as my Singlespeed, he just had those funny noisy things called gears. I came to a realization during this ride, I don't need those things.... But when I go west I may need some. I might build a 1x9 and sell my Kona...  Hummmm

Work tomorrow, bike Monday, kayaking Tuesday(60 deg), snowboarding Wed, Colorado Thursday, boarding at Vail Friday! So my last couple weeks may have been a bit lame but I am totally ready to get back in gear.

I have attached a couple pictures for may last week or so... Obviously not everything I have been getting into. Come on now, you guys aren't getting all that! A single dude needs a little privacy already!

Still up

So, one of these days I'm going to get a good nights sleep.... And its going to be so awesome!

Couldn't sleep. Just getting to the firehouse, it's 2:30 am. It was a snowy, icy, 2hr drive in. Thankfully I got my 4 wheel drive fixed this week.  I'll be here till sunday night.
Peace!

Week 2

Not really an eventful week here in HF. I had a bike ride with Kerkstra up at the watershed, a day of OT, and a pretty cool hike in the Shenandoah NP. After procrastinating for nearly a month, I installed a cool blue chain on my old (07', lol) Kona. So, it went to the Shed with me. It felt really weird to have shifters and old tires. I was sliding all over the trail and forgetting to gear. I was way off balance when I first clipped in, ended up over the handlebars pretty hard within the first mile of the ride. Overall it was a good ride, found some new trails and had to road climb back up to the parking. Can't wait to get back on the Trek SS (single speed).

Yesterdays hike was up to Overall Run Falls. They are around 90ft tall and usually completely frozen this time of year. There was ice, but not what you would expect in January. Actually they are the tallest falls in the park. I had been here before, but my approach was from the east off Skyline Dr. This time we came in off of 340 which was pretty cool also. It was a clear cool day with great views of the Shenandoah Valley.

It's finally starting to feel like winter, which means everyone complains about the cold weather. It is a little hard to go from the 60's one day to the 20's the next, but I guess that just builds character, right? I just want to get on the snowboard more. Maybe I'll hit up Whitetail tomorrow.

O, I almost forgot about another new thing... I am dabbling with snowboard waxing. This really seems like it is completely doable, so I practiced with that old board I have lying around here (soon to be a bench). I had no idea how much of a mess the flaking wax is when you scrape it off. This back room was a complete disaster! The wax stuck to my shorts, legs, shirt, and feet then I spread it all over the house. I think it turned out ok so I'll do my loaner board this week just to master the skill before I touch my my new Antic. Skis are pretty similar so if anyone wants me to wax them, let me know.

2012 - week 1

Pretty good start to 12'. Bike, work, OT, Boarding, sleep, work, Boarding, type this.

Tuesdays conditions at Timberline, WV were the best in the country. Hands down, no one else can say they were on better snow that day. So soft light carving, just amazing... There were probably 100 people on the mtn at any give time. No lift lines really make me happy also. Of coarse what I don't really want to mention is the temperature reading on my little trusty Boy Scout thermometer I had attached to my pack. The mercury reading close to a single digit was not as brutal as the gusty 25mph wind that was blowing at us. I'm going to attempt a picture attachment to this entry to show a slight example of the conditions.

I took my bike and snowboard to work on Thursday in hopes that I would make a decision on my daily activity by sunrise on Friday. Well I didn't, but the day wasn't a wash.

Really warm weather usually isn't good for the snow, I think it was around 55 degrees yesterday. I ran into Garret after my county physical and he talked me in to going to Liberty for some slopes. The snow was surprisingly nice. It could probably be called a light slush but it was fluffed up and carvable. Of coarse, it was a Friday night so there were a lot of people around. Regardless, it was a pretty good time.  Made it home by midnight and got a good nights sleep.

What shall I do today? It's sunny and 60 in Harpers Ferry, maybe I'll get the Kayaks out of the shed and call a new friend? Maybe a trail run, or a bike ride... more to come.

2012 - Day 1

I took the first 12 off my shift today so I could start the year with a bike ride. Chris Gay and Chris Kerkstra joined me at Rocky Gap SP (MD)for a pretty sweet ride. None of us had been there before, we now all agree that we need to return. It wasn't a long ride, nor was it very challenging, it was just a good time. We'll be back Rocky Gap. Heading to work now,
adios!