Late late-season conditions

It was 40 and pouring in the Valley Thursday; meanwhile, it dumped about two feet on Big Mountain. Alissa, Cody, and I went up to hike ... and shred. It was my 21st time up since January 15, just under 50,000 vertical feet hiked!


Dusting off the "winter" equipment.


It's really cold.


Green valley, white mountain.


Cody's flyin'!



In other news, I raced the Herron Hammer ... a mountain bike race. A lot of climbing, a lot of single track, a lot of fun. I need training wheels for the descents. I finished third in the "Cat. 2" about two minutes back. I've ridden my road bike twice in the last two weeks. Cow Country is two weeks away, 90 miles long. Our stage race is a week later. Then, June 19, back to Pittsburgh until the end of July. And then there's that girl in the pictures above ...

Recently ...

Me and Ben went to shred the Whitefish skate park. I shredded the 10-foot-deep bowl ... with running shoes on Crank Brother's pedals ... and no helmet. Maybe I'm not really shredding ...

Sunday we -- me, Ben, Chris, Josh, Dale, Terra, and Alissa -- shredded the Middle Fork in a raft. The water was cold; we got wet, we got drunk, we had an awesome time. The night ended at Blue Moon karaoke with my "USA! USA!" rendition of "Born in the USA." At least five people left during the performance. My "screamo" version of "Okie from Muskogee" preceded this. It was pretty much the best day in a long, long time.

Pig Trails, Bear Mouth

Ben and I have been shredding the Pig Trails. Cody comes sometimes, too. Best trails.

Bear Mouth was really hard. The group of 30 split about 30 miles in. The group of 15 dwindled to eight by the time we topped-out the five-mile climb. I was there. Then I struggled to take my pulls for the next 35 miles, trying to manage the worst runner's stitch I've ever experienced on the bike (that's called an excuse). Someone put in a half-assed attack with about 10 miles to go, the group cracked, I imploded, and I soloed in for 8th overall, 3rd Cat 3. I was ready for a 65-mile race -- but Bear Mouth was 75. This was my longest day in the saddle this year. Lesson learned ...

Next road race isn't until the first week of June, the Cow Country Classic. It's 87 miles ... I'll be ready. Between then and now, though, there is one race ... a mountain bike race. My first. Pretty psyched about it ...

Also: Ben and I are moving in with Brewery Katie on June 1. This will be my fifth residence this calendar year (4500 Farm to Market, Hatfield St., 6775 Farm to Market, West 8th St., West 2nd St.). By October, there will probably be two more ...