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

Almost Spring Break

The Seattle expo ended up on a positive note as Celia and I enjoyed a couple of beers over a good dinner at Mc Menamins pub in Troutdale on Sunday evening.

We both agreed that we had met a lot of interesting and interested people at the expo and felt that we had generated a lot of interest in Wild Heart Cycling at the event. It was fun traveling with Celia as she always likes to have a good time, and we hadn't caught up in many months.

I'm looking forward to some good tours this summer, and I'm hopeful for a busy season with Wild Heart.

I took some great pictures of the BMX demo on Sunday which I will post soon.

Natty and I are both trying to end our semesters on a positive note. Natty has a lot of writing to do in the next few days for her graduate level literature classes, and I know she is going to be working on it all the time. I hope she can keep from getting too stressed out.

I'm struggling to keep up with my Spanish class, but I am enjoying it none the less. I also took Newswriting and WebDesign which both went well and I feel good about. I built a website, and I hope to post it to the web soon.

First ride of the year out in Oakridge today. Shuman and I rode Larison Creek, it was beautiful as always. It is one of the only trails that is always plenty technical for me, and right now it is so screwed up that I almost want to make it easier in places.. But I love it for the challenge, and being forced to get off to walk is what makes mountain biking different and challenging for me.

Seattle Bike Expo

DeSalvo, Mountain Bike Oregon, Ibex, Wild Heart Cycling, Rivendell, and much more.

It's been a full day for Celia and me; telling lots of people about awesome bike rides in Oregon, meeting new folks, seeing some neat stuff, and taking some pictures.

I took some pictures today, but I'm having trouble posting them right now. Check back later.

Ridin'

The sun shone through the clouds illuminating the vibrant green grasses. Brilliant pinks and yellows of the flowers popped out against the black lava and granite, and the trail exuded a sensual mocha. The mighty river flowed forever on splitting states apart while uniting the country. Hundreds of millions of tons of goods flowed along in the Matchbox trucks and boats below. Our tires caressed silky corners and tiptoed across poky rocks periodically lifting skyward finding a temporary solace from the rugged terrain.

Todd was loving it shredding it as only he does and Laurie was analyzing and dissecting the gnarly technical sections confidently. It was a perfect day on the Syncline.