this week's goal...

...hit triple digits on the bike (at least 150 miles).

• To and from work 5x = 110 miles
• To and from gym 4x from work = 12 miles
• Trail ride in Humboldt this weekend = ~15 miles (min)

The biggest reason for the mileage drop is my reliance on the bus to get me up and down Hwy 9. This started at the end of winter with the short days, early nights, dark mornings, and cold weather. Add to the mix the way Hwy 9 is designed - super-twisty road, two-lanes that you get to share with (sometimes) crazy mountain-folk, and a climb most of the way from Santa Cruz. Not a grinding climb in and of itself, but doing it on a single-speed with panniers gets kinda old after a while.

I can handle riding bikes in short days, early nights, dark mornings, cold weather, on twisty roads with crazy drivers...but you stack all those on top of each other, day after day, and it really wore me down this winter. The bike commute got so tough for me at the end of winter that I considered buying a car. But after thinking it through, I realized that my mentality would change with the new season and with new equipment.

Well, spring's here, and the geared bike is, too, but I'm still in winter mode.

So I'm going to put an end to that starting today...with a trip across town then a single-speed commute up Hwy 9 to Felton - about 16 miles with a nice climb and loaded panniers.

spring at the mountain house

In a recent three-day span...I got to play in the mud on some long trail rides after heavy rains... ..."Flo", Adria's classic Bianchi, got tuned up for a spin around Pleasure Point...
...a storm ripped through Felton and tore a branch from a huge tree in Adria's front yard. Luckily, the winds dropped it on the road, and not on the roof of her house...
...but before it landed on the road, the branch snapped the electrical line and started three small fires on Adria's property. Luckily, neighbors saw it happen and Adria stayed up all night on fire watch until PG&E came out to fix it.

(the branch) (life hazard!) (one of the fire spots)




Luckily, the storm and resulting damage wasn't enough to keep spring from popping and Justin the painter from finishing some projects around the house.

Easter Sunday mountain bike ride

Went for a great mountain bike ride on Sunday with the guys.

I took off from my home and rode a few miles to the starting point with Tall Dark Tim - he was heading in the same direction for a short road ride. We made it to Steamer's Lane on the West Side and then he flatted, and I was already late for the ride, so we parted ways.

I was late, and worried that they would leave without me, as the invite said "if you show up late, we will leave you." But in true mountain biker form, there were five guys on mountain bikes hanging out in the driveway.

We did a big loop - climbed Wilder Ranch (I blew up on the first big climb - I kinda forgot what it's like to ride a SS after being on a geared bike for 15 days in NZ), explored the wonderful singletrack on UCSC, and descended one of the most technical trails in the county.

Here's the profile of the ride:

Here's the route we took. My starting/ending point is the far right corner

And, of course, lot's of one-liners thrown out:

"Hey, Clay, watch out for the poison oak." Chris to me, ankle-deep in poison oak.

"The cost-benefit just isn't there for me..." Rich to the group as we all walked our bikes over a super-technical section.

"What's that sound...oh, it's your chain." Me to Jason on a fast, bumpy descent, giving him sh*t for the slapping sound that chains make on geared bikes.

"WE LIVE HERE!" Me to Rich at the top of UCSC, looking across Monterey Bay, redwoods, clear, blue skies

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

See "Spring in Santa Cruz" post and this will make sense. I smile when I watch this.

Spring in Santa Cruz

These are blooming on my street...

Boards on the beach (lots of storms over the winter have filled in the beaches with sand...that reef outcropping in front of the boards is usually exposed by at least two feet at low tide).

Action shots of a mom playing with her kid on the beach:

She throws...

...it sails over his head (I like the way he has his hands held up)...

...he scampers after it...

...he gets picks it up, carefully...

...he swings it around as he runs back to his mom...

...lather, rinse, repeat...

My neighbors Tim and Glen, using my Indo Board as a template to make Tim his own balance trainer. We're going to have Indo Board contests in the neighborhood soon!

Burning Uke

Another interesting bus ride today.

The lady across from me - caucasian, mid-40's, conservatively dressed with makeup and hair done up, huge square earrings with pastel blocks on them - had a plastic grocery bag filled with something colorful at her feet, and a small instrument case in the empty seat next to her. Also at her feet was a plastic Trader Joe's re-usable grocery bag. Sticking out of it was a fresh-cut flower in cellophane. I asked her "What kind of instrument is that?"

"It's a ukelele," she said.
"Cool." I said.

She went on to tell me a lot about ukeleles. They are inexpensive. They are easy to play. People have pretty low expectations of ukeleles - you don't have to sound good when you play.

And then she mentioned this yearly gathering of ukelele players in the desert where they burn a huge wooden ukelele. It's called Burning Uke.

She also mentioned that she was on her way to the beach to meet up with the group she plays with ("None of us are very good, really."). She said they play every Saturday at 10am through summer. "Do you practice a lot?" I asked? "No," she replied. "I'm one of those people who doesn't sound good when she plays. But I have fun and that's what it's about. I only know two chords."

I don't think I'll make it to Burning Uke, but I was intrigued enough to check out the concert on the way home - the beach they were playing at was between the bus depot and my home. I rolled around the corner and was surprised - there was a group of about 30 muscians in the sand - mostly ukeleles, three tambourines, a couple of guitars, one stand-up bass, and this old guy on the bongos. Watching this guy made my face hurt from smiling so much:

New Zealand pack job - 2 days 'til I leave!

Today I finalized my pack list for the NZ trip.

Before she left, Adria put together a pack list, and for the last two weeks she's been there, we've been tweaking the list.

Here is everything I'm taking.


Here is the second phase of the pack - everything in stuff sacks.

Each stuff sack holds certain gear - the orange dry bag at top has my sleeping bag and ThermaRest sleeping pad, the black bag is bike hardware (lock, extra tube, 10 extra spokes, tools), the blue bag is off-bike clothing (only 2 pair of underwear, 1 pair of jeans), the red bag is riding clothes (chamois, shorts, gloves, socks, etc.), the gold bag is warm-weather gear (Icebreaker thermals, North Face fleece, GoreTex gloves and liners, wool hat), the grey bag is wet-weather gear (Marmot rain pants, Marmot waterproof shell). Icebreaker stuff is going to serve me well, I think. I am a huge fan of this product, and it is saving me a lot of space on this trip. When I get to ChristChurch on the south island, I will buy two short-sleeved Icebreaker tops to supplement my off-bike clothing.

The third phase - the grey, gold, and red stuff sacks are tucked into the blue bag.

Phase four - everything fits perfectly into my panniers. There is a little extra room in each pannier. The orange dry bag will be strapped on the rear of the bike, across the top of the panniers. When we're touring it will hold, in addition to my sleeping bag and ThermaRest, our tent and food.

Phase five - everything in one duffel bag for the plane ride to New Zealand.