More Pics

A couple of my favorite pics of Natty out playing at Smith Rock over Christmas, one of myself with Lindsay and Mark near Benham Falls, and Wade before the Handmade Bike Show in Portland. I feel lucky to have such great friends.

Bloggin' Again

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Sorry for the long delay in Blog entries! I've been hiding out in Oakridge and Bend, with a short trip to Portland for the Oregon Handmade Bike Show with Wade sometime a while back.
I'm preparing to leave for Santiago, Chile via Portland, Oregon on the 30th of this month.

Since my last entry my friends Natty and Lindsay came home to Bend for Christmas break. Natty from Yonkers, New York where she is attending graduate school at Sarah Lawrence. Lindsay had been working with friends in Seattle and preparing for her mountaineering course in Patagonia. I have become a part of their family, and happily went to Bend to spend Christmas with them and their family.

Lindsay is now in Coyhaique, Chile where she is taking a NOLS mountaineering course. She and I plan to meet on the morning of the 13th, in the "plaza" in Coyhaique. I really excited for the newness and wonder of being in an unfamiliar place and traveling alone, and equally excited to meet up with Lindsay and begin traveling together.

Between now and then I have to go through everything I'm planning to take, and pair it down to the minimum. I have a pile of stuff in the Airstream destined for Chile, my backpack out and ready to get loaded, and a list of things to do before I leave in my journal. Not long ago it felt like this trip was a long ways off, and I had lots of time to prepare, but now it is only a few days away and there is still a lot to do.

The pictures are of me up on Tumalo Mtn at dawn (taken by Lindsay), and Mac last weekend at the Hoodoo Tele Fest, Mac (haulin' ass). Blogger won't let me post any more pic's on this entry, so I'll try again in a minute.

Ahhh, the last good high country ramble.

The ride around Waldo Lake is always a treat, but it is especially delightful when the snow has once visited, the campgrounds are closed, and everyone has thrown in the towel, thinking that the splendor of the high country is off limits to all but the wild cats and bears for the winter.
Such were the conditions earlier this month when Steve, Mac and I headed out of town to see for ourselves just what the trails were like up at Waldo. It turned out the dirt was perfectly moistened, just enough for excellent traction-but no mud, the snow that had fallen had almost all melted or sublimated, about 60 trees had fallen in what must have been one massive wind storm, and aside from one brief sasquach sighting, we had the place to ourselves. We all rode some great lines, found new lines, and carried our bikes over some big downed trees. I surprised myself when I rode over an old doug fir that had just fallen. At at least 28 inches in diameter it was the biggest log I can ever remember clearing.

Fall favorites

Aspens, Coconino's, Phil wheelset near the Carcass Pit, and one of my favorite pictures of my friends the Seidenverg's as Natty prepared to leave for New York.

Some recent highlights.

As promised, a few more pictures:
Win, Me and Mark in Flagstaff.
Crocket and Helen get down to studying some chemistry.
Dinner in the Airstream with Mac and Danielle.
Danielle shows off her belly.
Paul on his moto at Win and Mark's place.

It is October 28, 2007. This time of year Oakridge is often soggy and gray, but this week has been a nice departure from that type of weather. The sun continues to shine, burning away the early morning fog that forms behind our shop, down on the river. Its slow in the shop, so I am vacuuming, and tuning rentals and used bikes. Mac and his family painted the shop while I was away, I'll take a picture today and post it later. The shop is well stocked for winter, and more dialed in than ever before.

Keep on shredding.

Eug

Aaahhh... Back in Oakridge again. Life is peaceful here, especially this time of year. The shop has slowed down, leaving only the hard core riders, local characters, and the always unpredictable highway traffic to enliven my days at the Mercantile. I timed my trip to Flagstaff well, as it rained and rained in Oakridge while I was away, but the sun followed me back from Arizona, and it has been quite sunny and dry here since my return. I took the above picture last night in my back yard as the full, Hunter's Moon, rose across the sky and created a neat silhouette of the locust tree.

I do love the fall here, as the forests are so very vibrant and the weather is very tranquil. The reds and yellows of the vine maple contrast against the green moss and chocolaty brown soil that accompany the rain and the cool weather that the autumn brings. I enjoy getting out in my yard, raking the leaves, breathing in the air and taking in the change that comes as the sun drops lower and lower on the horizon. For me fall is a time of renewal as the leaves come down. It offers an opportunity to start anew, to leave behind that which we don't need, and to think about what it is that we want in our future.

For me this fall has provided a nice time to reflect upon my goals for the future. In no specific order some of my goals are as follows: dance, travel, simplify, learn to play the guitar, write to my friends more often, help Steve at Coconino Cycles in the shop, eat well, grow food, stretch, help my dad to make his life enjoyable, ride mountain bikes, unicycle.

Right now I'm thinking about an upcoming trip to Chile. I am going to go to Chile in February for about 6 weeks to explore the culture, explore the mountains, spend time with my friend Lindsay, and see what adventures I can find. I am interested in going to the lake region, and the Patagonia region, but I haven't narrowed down my objectives too much just yet. I'm going to buy tickets sometime in the next few days, but I first have to create an itinerary of just what it is that I'm going to do so that I can fly in and out of the most reasonable locations.
Steve at Coconino suggested flying to Quito, Ecuador and booking tickets within the continent from there, to make it more of an all encompassing South American journey. But, I'm feeling intimidated about the idea of getting to Chile via Ecuador... Maybe it would be worth it, so I could see more of the continent and have a grand adventure. Any ideas you have are welcome.

I have more pictures to post, but Blogger isn't letting me add them to this post for some reason. I'll try to add them to another post after I publish this one.

One, two, three wheels, and a homecoming.

A welcome, welcome home. A few days of riding, visiting friends, and enjoying the sunshine and mountain air here in Flagstaff have been healing and invigorating for my soul.

My friends Kristen and Gary are getting married tomorrow, and her wedding prompted this trip. She and I went out for a great ride on Tuesday, and I'm borrowing her sweet one speed bike for the week. Thanks for that Kristen!

Steve is back in the shop, handbiking, and fishing. Denise is getting back to doing more of what she loves to do too. I can't believe it has been two years since I was last here!

I've caught up with many friends on this trip, some unexpectedly, some I've sought out, but all have been a blessing.

Steve is encouraging me to get the blog going again, and keep it going again this time, so with this first entry I begin.

I'm going to try to post a few pictures every week, and write a short piece about what I'm up to.

Comments are welcome, let me know what you think.

Here's to "always beginning now" as my friend George would say.

Cheers

Eug