Le French Toast

After a late night ride and pleasure cruise to Darrio's, Eric and I decided to make a New Years Eve breakfast. He arrived at 8 and we got to cutting, dicing, mixing, and shooting.

Yep, those are egg yolks. The French (like the deserve a Capital letter) Toast called for one egg and two egg whites. Be damned to waste the things. It was probably the smoothest shot I ever did. It felt like swallowing cube of jello, or a really soft bouncy ball. Along with about 12 potatoes, we made a meal out of it. We didn't finish all of them, but we were ready for naps once finished (plus Richie Rich was the only thing on the boob tube). Oh, I must mention that Eric ate before he came over too. He is fat. Sinner.

It was a good way to spend the last morning of the year. Now it's evening, and I am feeling lame. I don't know what to do. I am torn between partying, doing nothing, and just riding all night. We'll see what she brings -- the night that is.

I did a quick logo for P&C for a Worst in Gear award. Andrew and I correlated an idea and then I finished it up. You have to see the winner too. Jank. I can't take much credit, it was Andrew's design, pretty sweet, I just put the butter on it. mmmmm butter.

Yay gluttony!

Iowa: The New Frontier.

So I ran into Iowa across the ped bridge this evening. It's a great way to get some milage in when you want to avoid hills and take it easy. The 11 mile trip hit just the right spot for me and the 12 degree windchill rating only felt cold for the last 2 miles or so. I am pretty sure I am in need of a new pair of shoes and because of the time, I think I may break the mold and get a pair of trail runners. I don't need them for the ice and snow, but it might be nice for the actual trails of the Rocky Raccoon. I dunno tho, I've never felt the need for them before. Maybe it's all of that nimble tasting gazelle blood I drink. Ugg. That also might be why I am feeling so sick. 

I have to be running further than 5 miles for the trip into IA to even be worth it. So it's not exactly worth it to get that groove on. 

Guide Down

Christmas Day: What a wonderful day to do laundry! Unfortunately, as in all activities there are casualties. This Christmas, my Patagonia Guide took a heavy blow. It got mixed into a load of sheets out of the wash and the majority of the glued seams busted out during a trip through the dryer. Now I should have taken pictures, but I wanted to get it in for repairs as quick as possible. 

After checking it's care instructions online, I found that I had really done no wrong. You can dry it, and even iron it as long as the heat setting is not gonna make a baby cry. The dryer was set at normal, which should have been fine for the garment. Total bummer. 

After taking the wounded jacket in to BWs for shipping to Patagonia, I found out that return time would be 6 to 8 weeks or basically the end of winter. Since this is my prime soft shell for climbing and more importantly, riding, I am at a loss on what to do. A few things do come to mind: Survive, adapt and not dry any more stuff with seams that are not stitched. 

Protect your loved ones (soft shells)!

The Eve of Christmas

It's finally time to get back to the chopping block here... or wait, no, I am gonna go make coffee.

FYI, I think coffee should always come in beer mugs. They are still a good insulator, and you can see how dark your coffee is!

Stepping back a few weeks, designed 3 wedding books (One, TWO, THREE!) in about 3 days (not recommended) before I jumped ship and headed to Kansas City for the weekend. The main reason for heading there was because of Jer's book signing and gallery opening on Friday night. Jarod Sickler, Andy Chasteen, Jason Roy, Good times were had, but I didn't get a chance to steal a book from him. I did drink plenty, take plenty of pictures of pointless stuff, and drink more margaritas post show. Drunk or not, Jer's talent never ceases to amaze me to the point of being pissed off.

Oh, and since Andy was in the mix, I get more pictures of myself acting a fool. Did you see those socks? Yep, they matched my belt and shoes and shirt. What a tool!

Saturday brought the surprise of Mr. Eric Brunt to the front doorstep of Jer's house in KC. He was in town for a race and needed somewhere to stay for they day so he hung with us. That day we toured The Plaza (I had no idea that it even existed) ate pizza twice (It was like a dream come true), and went to Dick Dower's for some bouldering fun (No wonder this guy is so strong!)

Sunday rose early for the KCCX (Kansas City Cyclocross Nationals). If you don't know what cyclocross is, look it up. I am super psyched on Cross racing, and can't wait for the chance to do it next year. I went with Eric, and Andy showed up to. After a disappointing mechanical failure for Eric, we hung out and watched and took photos of the other races. -- One thing of note, which still amazes me, was right at the beginning of the Woman's Collegiate race, a storm front came in and within a matter of minutes (no lie) the temperature dropped 30 degrees. It was so insanely crazy, I think only one of my nipples got hard because the other one was so confused about the temperature change. -- The event was great, and after about 6 hours of being outside, we called it quits and went back into the city, where we then decided to get back on our bikes and go riding (enter stupid here) for food. We ended up staying late and waking up at 3 am to drive back to Omaha.

Here's the images from KCCX.

Last week saw a serious drop in temperature and an increase in exposure. I have began to put in cumulative miles in training for the Rocky Raccoon, a 50 mile ultra-marathon that Chasteen convinced me to do. With windchill putting temps as low as -30, running cannot be a morning endeavor and freezing is unavoidable. I've also had some enjoyable (but short) rides outside in the snow and ice. Since I have been running outside year round for so many years, I have learned how to dress to stay warm, and how to run on all surfaces covered with ice. I did get hit by a car while running down town last week with Eric. Some lady didn't think it was necessary to look both ways while pulling out of a parking garage. She briefly stopped, then kept rolling, right into me. I am pretty sure I dented her hood with my fist when I hit her hood after she bumped into me. And yeah, that was the firs time she saw me. I think she pooped her pants as well judging by her facial expression. Come on. Get a brain. Why would you not look both ways while crossing an 8 foot side walk in a busy down town area?

On Sunday, many of us helped get Ron the hell out of Omaha. He chose a god-awful day to move with temps so cold, everyone was forced to wear the same color coats.

We'll miss you now, Ron, but look forward to seeing you even more in the future world of climbing adventures!

I have been working backwards on photo projects with some oddities here and there. I am finally back to getting to the Wichita climbing photos and I am looking forward to it.

Stay tuned and of course...

Wichita Turkey Trip

After a wonderful and sweet Thanksgiving with brother Eric, I jettisoned to KC to Jer's place to crash for the night before leaving in the morning with John to drive down to the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma. 

Simply put, the Ta's are supremely amazing. I had good times, such good times with everyone, that the fact that I barely climbed made up for it all. Oh, and I got some pretty swell photos. It was cold, it was windy, it rocked.

I have not had a chance to go thru all the pictures from TDay or from Oklahoma, but I will leave you with a small group of images that Andy helped coin the idea for. 

Aberclimbie & Crimp

Expect rocking photos in the near future. (That's photos with rocks, not awesome photos) My apologies for the lack of descriptives. More will follow when time allots.