Greetings from the Western Slope!

[This is a cross-post from a trip journal that we kept while on a riding vacation in Colorado and Utah, September 25 - October 5, 2008...The original posts with comments can be found, here:

I didn't want to lose the journal, so I have decided to add it to my blog - which was my intention all along (to blog it in real time) but unfortunately the antiquated blog software made it difficult to post on location and our time was limited...So the ease of posting it on the Trailblazer's made that forum a better choice for us. I have included comments from Jim and Ivan, but left out the membership responses that can be found in the original posts]...

Saturday, September 27

Ivan, Jim and I landed in Grand Junction, CO on Friday night, picked up a few a staples (peanut butter, jelly, bread, and of course, some fine Fat Tire micro-brew), then it was off to our hotel and a hike around the Fruita Fall Festival. We were up early Saturday morning, thanks to Commander Konermann's 6:00 am revelry (hey, aren't we on vacation?). Oh well, if I just stay on East Coast time, that's still sleeping in to 8:00. Or so I'll just keep telling myself...

We hit the coffee shop in Fruita and I picked up my bike at Over The Edge Sports. (Side note: I shipped my bike via Fed Ex - special thanks to Mark at Cycle Path...btw Mark, the new Endura bearings in the bottom bracket are awesome! Jim and Ivan flew their bikes with them). We met up with Dirt Diva for Life, Rebecca Adler and her friends, and it was off the the Kokopelli Trail system.

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We did a warm up ride on Rustlers Loop, which offers tremendous views of the Colorado River. While it would be considered a beginner loop, it offered those that hadn't ridden Fruita in the past, a chance to see what it was all about. It was a great warm up before going off on the more challenging trails.

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Next up was the 1.5 mile climb up Mary's Loop to the portaged stairway of washing machine boulders that dropped us onto Horsethief Bench. It is truly amazing the kind of punishment that today's high tech mountain bike handle. Several times, with my skills somewhat maxed out, the bike (my Turner Flux) saved my hide. Jim, Ivan and I would scamper off for a little wide open adrenalin rush, then throttle back for Rebecca and Lese, who were never far behind. We completed Horesthief, then it was a return hike up those washing machine boulders and back to complete Mary's.

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As we headed back to the parking area, Jim suffered a pinch flat of his rear tire. A pinch flat to a tubless tire can spell disaster, so we installed a tube. While reinstalling the wheel, the rotor caught a brake pad and one thing leading to another, we eventually had to remove the rear brake caliper and Jim limped in on just a front brake. The upshot was that with only one brake, Jim got to work on some new skills. Fortunately, once back in Fruita, he was able to get it quickly repaired and were ready for Sunday's ride at the Bookcliffs.

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The desert heat was tough on all of us. The three of us went through 100 oz
Camelback bladders and an endurance drink on the bikes. Saturday night was spent re-hydrating and an excellent meal in Grand Junction.
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Sunday, September 28

Wow!

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A stupendous day of riding in the Bookcliffs! After a slightly later start than we were expecting, we hit the trail to warm up on Kessel Run, a 2.2 mile slalom run down a wash.

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Most trails require a 2 mile spin up 18 Road to many of the trailheads and the Kessel trail head is at the top of the road. The run is genuine fun and the fast turns, jumps and the drops into and out of the wash make the trail a blast to ride. The trail ends in the parking lot where the three of us re-grouped and hit 18 Road to the start of Joe's Ridge.

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Joe's runs the spine of a narrow f*!#ing ridge (thank Ivan for that quote) ending with a high consequence drop. No roller coaster could possibly offer the rush that running Joe's Ridge does.

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That is unless of course that roller coaster is Zippety-Do-Da the big brother of Joe's that we ran next. Zippety doesn't give you the one big drop that Joe's Ridge gives; no, there are 4 HUGE drops that include a pucker factor unequaled in our neck of the woods.

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We met up with Rebecca's gang from Denver, exchanged some laughs, said our goodbyes and after waiting for what seemed an eternity (Ivan finally fixed his flat rear tire) we took Prime Cut up to the Kessel Run trailhead and it was off on our final run of the afternoon.

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While we are proud of our photos they can do absolutely no justice to the beauty of the desert. With the roll of thunder and clouds approaching, we beat feet back to our hotel in preparation for a pizza and beer (ok, so Ivan gets a coke) dinner.

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Tomorrow we depart Fruita for a day of sightseeing in Telluride, before we head to Durango and some more riding.

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Monday, September 29

Monday saw the Three Amigos up and heading out of town to Telluride. The ride was unbelievable. In sharp contrast to the beauty of the desert we were introduced to the golden aspens.

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According to the locals, we couldn’t have arrived at a better time. And the views confirmed just that.

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Arriving in Telluride after our three hour journey, we were greeted by a quaint, cool town. Quite obviously the ski town was in off-season, but that didn’t mean they rolled up the sidewalks. After a walking tour, we settled in for a taco lunch, before hitting the gondola for a ride to the top of the slopes.

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It was here that I felt the first affects of the elevation. Getting off the gondola was a sign, stating we were at 10,520 feet. Bending over to pick up a map sent this old boy spinning, and a few more incidents made me wonder if I would be able to make a run down the mountain on the bike. Jim felt a few weird sensations too, but we decided to gut it out and headed for the van to assemble our gear.

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While we were changing from mild mannered tourists to cycling gods we met up with Captain Kirk, a radiologist from Phoenix. Kirk was heading to the gondola for a ride of his own so we decided to join him.

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The gondola rides are a story in themselves, affording vistas of the box canyon that is home to Telluride. Once off the lift, we headed down a rocky, Pisgah-ish ride on the switchback laden rock strewn Ridge Trail.

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Rolling through the aspens is a sight to behold. Magazine photos don’t do the aspens justice. We intersected blacktop for a mile long, downhill, 40+ mph ride to Ivan’s favorite, the Jurassic Trail. A new cut trail, it offered rolling terrain along a peat moss type of soil. Ivan was in heaven.

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Then it was off to the Meadows Trail for the ride back into town. Captain Kirk gave us a grand tour, it’s always good to hook up with the locals, as piecing the route together may have been difficult.

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We packed up our gear and started our journey to Durango, zigging and zagging through Ouray CO, proclaimed as the Switzerland of America, yet another box canyon, this one (unlike Telluride) and offering a mountain pass. We arrived in Durango at 9:00 PM local time, eat some dinner and hit the hay…

Tuesday September 30

On Tuesday morning we met up with Charlotte rider and owner of Heartwood Tree Service, Patrick George, his brothers, and friends.

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We packed our bikes in two vehicles and shuttled to the flip side of the Purgatory ski resort to ride Hermosa Creek.

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On the way the lead vehicle that Patrick and company were in encountered a huge black bear attempting to cross Hwy 550. It probably looked closer than it was from our vantage point, but exciting none-the-less.

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Eight riders made for a fun filled 23 mile trip along the creek. Beautiful vistas would distract us at every turn, making the dusty, rock strewn trail more interesting to negotiate.

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We started at approximately 8,200 feet and descended to 6,200 feet over the course of the ride.

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On the ride, Michael (one of Patrick’s brothers) and Jim took spills, each landing on a hip, Jim possibly bruising his ribs. But they soldiered on without further incident.

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The trail petered out and we rolled onto a gravel road that gave way to blacktop and a 40 mph descent into the town of Hermosa.

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Cold Fat Tire Ale and pizza awaited us at the bottom, then it was off for a soak in a hot spring.

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Wednesday, October 1

(From Jim)

Not having any fun! Wish Tom would stop taking pictures ...it"s always "Let's stop and take a photo-op", Blah, Blah Blah! Weather stinks, and can't find any tasty beer. Scenery schmenery!

Damn, should be home working. Sure wish I could find a good trail to ride.

(From Ivan)

I've been waiting to take a trip like this for years.....I still have the pictures from bike magazines of guys riding through the golden aspens. Those pages were torn out of magazines 10 years ago and have fueled my desire to take a journey like this. This trip is the best thing I have ever done on a bicycle, and one of the best trips of my life. Jim and Tom are great to travel with, the trails are excellent, the views are amazing. I think that a multi-day bike trip just became part of my plan for every year from now on. We all know that we work too much and don't take the time to play enough.....hopefully the pictures and stories about our rides will help people make the leap and get away with their bikes and some friends.

Back to Tom

And on the 5th day, they rested. We cleaned and tuned the bikes, then set off to wander the town…Durango is a happenin’ place, with something for everyone…

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There was lunch at the Irish Embassy Pub…

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Of course, your club president was enjoying his favorite beverages, double fisted…

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Our duck enthusiast was diggin’ the outfitters…

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And me, I was tipped off about a killer show at the Henry Strater Theatre (lovingly referred to as “The Hank”) where we saw Sonny Landreth, “World’s Greatest Slide Guitarist, 2008” and he didn’t disappoint…

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Thursday, October 2

Thursday morning we were at the trailhead at 7:45 for a local ride, hitting some of the Rim trail around Fort Lewis College, then connected to Powerline Trail before catching Telegraph.

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Historic telegraph poles from the days of Morse Code are still standing.

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These are the same trails that John Tomac, Ned Overend, Julie Furtado and company raced on in the early days of mountain biking. The local race scene continues to this day.

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The early morning vistas of Durango were spectacular to say the least…

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Fort Lewis keeps the memories alive with a race series of their own, Neal Boyd would be proud...

Then it was off in the direction of Moab…We stopped in Cortez, CO to ride “Phil’s World" a local trail in the town of Johnny T…We bumped into Patrick George and company this morning (Durango ain’t that big), and he flashed us a quick battle scar from his ride on Phil’s, so we were looking forward to a fun ride…

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Phil’s was a 15-mile, IMBA perfect roller coaster of buff singletrack, swooping through desert brush, as we were lead by birthday boy, Jim (can you say double nickel?)…

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What a fun time, with interesting rock outcroppings, dips and switchbacks…

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We trundled on down to Moab, an interesting ride through miles and miles of farm land, featuring hundreds of acres of sun flowers.

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Friday we catch the Coyote Shuttle to Porcupine Rim and our last big ride of the trip…

Friday, October 3

(From Ivan)

Today, I’ll write the report and give Tom a break……he deserves one after keeping the log for so many days.

(But before he does, just let me show you a pic of our esteemed club president following birthday dinner at Buck’s, where he celebrated with a Ribeye, a Dewers on the rocks and a few of Moab’s finest micro-brews…Everyone knows that Jim enjoys a nice after dinner toothpick…Well folks, he’s met his match – tom)

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(now, back to Ivan…)

We got an early start at a local place called the Jailhouse Café. After a killer breakfast, we packed up and met our shuttle to the trailhead. The shuttle was a 1962 Army 2 ½ ton truck that had part of a schoolbus welded on to hold passengers.

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Tom and Jim remembered why they were putting up with my cranky self when I volunteered to pass bikes up to the loadmaster on top. Luckily, most of the other 22 passengers already had loaded their rides.

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After about an hour’s ride though some amazing canyons, we reached the Hazard Country trailhead just below 9,500 feet.

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The wind was blowing and everyone was reaching for cold weather gear. After a short uphill, we were rolling through Aspens...

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...and past grazing cows and horses.

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The shuttle bus driver had warned the group that a fire had recently burned through 4,500 acres, and that part of Kokopelli Trail has been turned into a firebreak.

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We kept riding down and once we got below 7500 feet, the light rain that had hit us just below the top finally stopped.

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We got on the Upper Porcupine Rim and enjoyed the rolling ridgeline trail. There were several places where the trail passed within a few feet of a huge cliff. Luckily, we had no issues there. The views were amazing….

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After some short breaks to eat, take pictures and fix minor technical issues, we ran into a new section of the trail that required a pretty serious hike-a-bike.

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The trail plunged down through a cut in the ridgeline, and we carefully picked our way down and across. Here we started hitting the rockier sections of the Lower Porcupine Rim. We all worked on keeping the speed up, our weight back, and picking the best line through the loose rock and sand on the ridge. Luckily, we all only had a few minor crashes and no major issues.

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The sun started to peek through the clouds and the trail became a gradually descending contour trail, with plenty of small rock ledges and technical turns. The group really was getting into the groove and was having a great time as we paralleled Negro Bill Canyon on our way towards the Colorado River. We had a few exposed sections of trail that carried a high penalty for straying too far to the right. Tom was clearly feeling great and was riding really well, often leaving Jim and I on some really fast and technical descents.

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On one of those sections, Jim was riding in the middle and was attempting a narrow section on a small rock ledge when our luck ran out. I was riding up behind him and saw him slide off the right slide of the ridge.

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Tom watched from ahead, as he had stopped to grab some pictures of us, but instead had a first row seat to a crash test party for one. I jumped off my bike and crawled down to Jim as Tom ran up the trail to help. Jim was quickly back on his feet and saying that he had hurt one of his fingers (he had….it was pointing sideways). We got him and his gear back up to the rock ledge as some other riders approached. Tom asked if they were doctors and one replied “yes – in fact I’m an emergency room doctor”……our luck was running deep.

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Doctor Dave set Jim’s finger and helped us get a grip on the situation. We still had about 2 miles to the trailhead and Jim was feeling much better since the swelling was going down. He continued to ride most of the trail, but we all had a renewed respect for gravity and pain.

Once at the bottom the good doctor gave Jim and I a ride into town, while Tom continued his mojo and rode back to the hotel. After a good shower, some medicinal beer and dinner, we hit the beds early.

Saturday, October 4

This will be our last report from the Western Slope, as we start our journey home (and back to reality) in the next few hours…

On Friday night we patched Jim up and helped him to start his search for a new ride…

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Moab is a great spot to check out all the latest rides. We looked at several new models and whittled it down to these two:

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Saturday morning arrived with overcast skies and a forecast for rain. We bagged riding and headed over the Arches National Park. The threatening skies did indeed open and we were relegated to short hikes and less that perfect lighting for our photos…

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This last photo is that of the remains of historic Dewey Bridge, a beautiful suspension bridge along Scenic Highway 128 from Moab to Fruita. We crossed it on our Kokopelli ride in 2006. A 7 year old from Grand Junction, playing with matches destroyed it in April. What a shame….

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We hope that you enjoyed our little travel log, it was nice to have y'all along for the ride!

See you on a trail, soon!

-Jim, Ivan and Tom

Wednesday, October 15

It seems that Doctor Dave likes to follow up with his patients...Jim was contacted by Dave yesterday to see how how finger was progressing...He also was good enough to send along these trail side first aid photos...Don't try this at home folks!

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Before - the carnage...Note the offset at the middle finger joint...

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During - Jim bites the bullet as Dr. Dave "pulls his finger"...

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Ahhhh, success! Good as new!

(actions photos by Tom)

Greetings from the Western Slope!

Ivan, Jim and I landed in Grand Junction, CO on Friday night, picked up a few a staples (peanut butter, jelly, bread, and of course, some fine Fat Tire microbrew), then it was off to our hotel and a hike around the Fruita Fall Festival. We were up early Saturday morning, thanks to Comander Konermann's 6:00 am revelry (hey, aren't we on vacation?). Oh well, if I just stay on East Coast time, that's still sleeping in to 8:00. Or so I'll just keep telling myself.

We hit the coffee shop in Fruita and I picked up my bike at Over The Edge Sports. (Side note: I shipped my bike via Fed Ex - special thanks to Mark at Cycle Path...btw Mark, the new Endura bearings in the bottom bracket are awesome! Jim and Ivan flew their bikes with them). We met up with Dirt Diva for Life, Rebecca Adler and her friends, and it was off the the Kokopelli Trail System.

We did a warm up ride on Rustlers Loop, which offers tremendous views of the Colorado River. While it would be considered a

beginner loop, it offered those that hadn't ridden Fruita in the past, a chance to see what it was all about. It was a great warm up before going off on the more challenging trails.

Next up was the 1.5 mile climb up Mary's Loop to the portaged stairway of washing machine boulders that dropped us onto Horsethief Bench. It is truly amazing the kind of punishment that today's high tech mountain bike handle. Several times, with my skills somewhat maxed out, the bike (my Turner Flux) saved my hide. Jim, Ivan and I would scamper off for a little wide open adrenalin rush, then throttle back for Rebecca and Lese, who were never far behind. We completed Horesthief, then it was a return hike up those washing machine boulders and back to complete Mary's.

As we headed back to the parking area, Jim suffered a pinch flat of his rear tire. A pinch flat to a tubless tire can spell disaster, so we installed a tube. While reinstalling the wheel, the rotor caught a brake pad and one thing leading to another, we eventually had to remove the rear brake caliper and Jim limped in on just a front brake. The upshot was that with only one brake, Jim got to work on some new skills. Fortunately, once back in Fruita, he was able to get it quickly repaired and were ready for Sunday's ride at the Bookcliffs.

The desert heat was tough on all of us. The three of us went through 100 oz Camelback bladders and an endurance drink on the bikes. Saturday night was spent re-hydrating and an excellent meal in Grand Junction.

Stupidity Rears it's Ugly Head

Many of you know what I do for a living: Investigate part failures of race cars. It's an interesting profession to say the least. I sometimes scratch my head an say to myself, "What were they thinking?". Maybe I should heed some of that advice...

As you know, I love to mountain bike. It's the full body workout and the thrills that it gives helps to keep me young.

18 months or so ago, I gave a Santa Cruz Superlight frame to a friend of mine. Cathie was a great little rider and she was starting to participate in more and more mountain bike races. The thing that was holding her back was marginal equipment. I wasn't riding my Superlight (due to my Cathy presenting me with a Turner Flux), so I figured, "What the heck" and gave the Superlight frame to Cathie to race. And race she did.

I don't know all of the particulars, but one day her car was rear ended and unfortunately the meat in the sandwich was the Superlight that was hanging off her rear car rack. The car and bike were both toast, and she was fortunate enough that her insurance company purchase her a Specialized Epic (and a new car). She returned the frame to me, it was sent back to Santa Cruz and in no time, I had a crash replacement frame.

So what to do? I had plenty of parts and pieces laying around, so I set about the task of piecing it back together. Begging, borrowing and scraping, I was able to reassemble the new bike. A good friend of mine in the race industry was good enough to sell me a really clean Fox Float RL fork for the front end. The caveat was the fact that the the steerer tube was going to be really short. Carl is a talented fabricator and he sleeved the steerer tube, welded it together and I was on my way, much to the chagrin of Mark, my local wrench.

The maiden voyage was Friday evening at LNSP. The bike currently has a 5th Element rear shock, so I did a quick Google search and came up with the recommended pressures. With a shock pump in my pack, I set off to "dial 'er in". I made it 0.12 miles when I heard/felt a snap and some immediate loss of control. I quickly unclipped from the left side as the front wheel turned lazily full left and I was left standing over three pieces of what was once my new steed.

It seems that the torsional, tensile and compressive stresses were too great and the aforementioned weld had let go. I was fortunate to have escaped with a only scrape on my right shin. Laying in bed this morning, I thought of how bad it could have been, especially if it had let go on one of the high speed sections of the Monbo. What was I thinking?

Excitement, a Scare, and More of the Same…

Church bells will be ringing in the not too distant future as Jonathan, my daughter Lyndsay’s boyfriend of 3 years has asked for her hand in marriage! Jonathan popped the question while the couple was taking a long deserved, end of summer trip to the beach. Lyndsay, an English major graduate of UNCC and Jonathan currently live in Greensboro. Jonathan is finishing his graduate degree in biology at UNCG and Lyndsay is employed by SunTrust Bank. Jonathan has applied to several medical schools and the future looks bright for acceptance and the long road toward his dream of becoming a doctor. Wherever he lands, Lyndsay is talking of continuing her education in a graduate program.

As parents, Alison and I couldn’t be more proud of the kids and our support is firmly behind them. They are intelligent, firmly planted and complement each other very nicely. Initial indications place the wedding in May or June, fitting into Jonathan’s school schedule.

We received quite a scare from ASU, when I was contacted by Travis suitemate, Kyle on Tuesday afternoon. For the second time since last January, Travis was in the infirmary with a highly elevated heart rate. I took off for Boone in the late afternoon and we moved him from the campus medical facility to the emergency room at Watauga Medical Center. There, he was given intravenous fluids and nausea medication. They pumped the 100 mL bag of fluids into him in less than an hour and the medication did wonders to bring his resting heart rate down from 110 – 120 bpm to 55 – 60 bpm. We were able to finally leave the hospital and get to our hotel room (thanks Alison and Mark) around 12:30 am. He was feeling much better, but as of this morning he was still a bit woozy, probably more from a lack food than anything. I got him up around 8:00 this morning and talked him into going to his 3 morning classes. (edit: At least I thought he was going to class…He made it as far as his dorm room and hit the bed for several hours). We visited a cardiologist this afternoon where he had an echo cardiogram (the same basic system to view unborn children). He will wear a heart monitor for the next 24 hours.

Travis’ weekend began with a 13 hour drive to Baton Rouge, LA for the ASU/LSU football game. With little sleep, they were on their way to the stadium at 8:00 Saturday morning. With Gustav threatening the Gulf coast, the 7:30 PM game was moved to a 10:00 AM start. The weather conditions were brutal (80’s with high humidity) and he soon ran out of cash. Not able to purchase water with his ATM card, he was forced to do without until they left the 41 – 10 trashing by LSU. Following a BBQ lunch, they set off for Boone, to return at 6:30 am Sunday morning.

My boy isn’t the best traveler and he experienced motion sickness for much of the trip. Being run down, dizzy and dehydrated, his heart rate skyrocketed and he became listless and nauseated around noon on Monday. I have to keep on him to pound the fluids, listen to his body and chill out just a little bit. His intention of straight A’s for the semester hangs in the balance and I am hopeful that this little episode will slow him down, even a little bit. The home opener for ASU is this coming Saturday and I’m certain that he doesn’t want/need a repeat performance.

Speaking of repeat performances, I was back at the dermatologist this past Friday to have a basil cell cancer removed from my left collarbone. I have immense confidence in Dr. Wolf, who enjoys his art as much as he enjoys hacking on me. He removed a rather large (2-in. diameter) patch of skin and stitched me back together as Cathy was on hand for moral support. The surgery went well and I was pressure washing the driveway in a matter of hours. While I have a difficult time wearing a seatbelt or my Camelback while riding, I seem to be healing well. I will know the results of the biopsy soon and if additional measures are required, I will be waiting until I return from my trip to the southwest, later this month.

Falling Behind

I never dreamed that when I started this blog that it would be so difficult to actually sit and write. But the reality of it is that I write so much on my job, and that the job has been so consuming, it’s difficult to find time or desire to sit at the keyboard and update my many readers (well, OK, so I probably don’t have any readers, but can’t a guy dream?).

This past Saturday my mother celebrated her 79^th birthday. It was a fun evening as my sister Barb, her son Danny (and a buddy, Collin) drove in from Philadelphia (OK, New Jersey, but don’t hold that against them) to join in the festivities. My brother Jim, his wife Cindy, daughters Caitlyn and Carissa, joined my daughter Lyndsay, her boyfriend Jonathan, and Cathy and I for dinner on the south side at Trios.

My mom was born to John and Minnie Leister on August 23, 1929 in Pittsburgh, PA, merely two months prior to Black Tuesday, the great stock market crash that signaled the start of the Great Depression. Like any other kid raised by depression era parents, I was taught to be cognizant of turning off the light when I left the room (“When not in use, turn off the juice!”), getting in and out of the refrigerator in minimal time (“Don’t let the cold air out!”) and just learning to care for your possessions, as once they were broken, there was little chance of repair or replacement. We currently live in a disposable society. There are no more Emmett’s Fix-it Shops. When the toaster goes kaput, you just throw it away and purchase a new one. So I guess that this answers some of the questions as to why I am like I am.

Mom is in great health. She had a tune up a few years back (Oct 2001 - bypass surgery and replacement of a leaky valve) and until recently, she has been very active. A bad ankle has slowed her mobility but hasn’t seemed to have daunted her spirit. Surgery has been discussed as a possibility, but for now she’s going to try and continue to work through it, have an occasional cortisone cocktail and move on.

Travis is back at school, starting his sophomore year at Appalachian State University. His dorm room is a palatial suite compared to last years cramped conditions. He’s the perfect ASU student and he’s very excited about his classes which started Tuesday (Aug 26). The three time National Champions have their work cut out for them as they play LSU in their season opener this weekend. I wouldn’t be looking for miracles like last year at Michigan, but who knows?

Lyndsay continues to excel at her job at Suntrust Bank and she’s developing a good friend base in Greensboro. Jonathan is still pursuing his dream of medical school and from all indications he is receiving positive feedback from several medical schools. Jonathan’s sister Elisha married her boyfriend Jason on August 9^th and they spent their honeymoon together in Hawaii (reportedly with the Obama family). Their dad Steve continues to make progress from his stroke and he was a proud father as he gave the bride away.

Cathy’s oldest son, Brian, moved in with me at the end of July. He is a rising senior at NC State (chemical engineering) and he has taken a position as an intern with National Gypsum. He has been the perfect room mate, he cleans up after himself, enjoys a good beer and we share the Daily Show together. Unfortunately for his mom, we seems to share the same warped sense of humor.

Speaking of warped, Cathy’s middle son, Brad is back at NC State, where he is studying the “Philosophy of Law”. Now that’s what everyone needs when the law tightens it’s grip on you – a philosopher. He’ll make something out of it, as he’s clever and creative. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Brent, Cathy’s 16 year old has started his junior year at TC Roberts in Asheville. Brent is a good kid that just has a few problems making the right choices. Maybe he’s a little bit like me at that age. You're just too young to fit into the adult scene, but too old to hang with the kid crowd. It has to be difficult for him but time will help him get over this hump and make something of himself. College looms in the not too distant future, we’re all hoping that a positive experience there will pay dividends down the road.

Cathy and I visited Athens, GA and the Reynolds Plantation (outside of Augusta) a few weeks back when her employer (Michelle) took her office to a seminar at a Ritz Carlton. Let me tell you, this has got to be the hottest place on the face of the earth! Hell has nothing on this place! I felt like as if I was melting the entire weekend. As a matter of fact, a young lady (an exchange student from Germany) that accompanied one of Cathy’s fellow employees passed out while we were waiting to be seated at dinner. I made a new friend that weekend, as Michelle’s significant other (Robin) and I hung out while the gals were in the seminar. We jumped on the mountain bikes and got in two face paced rides in the sweltering heat of Georgia. I was bummed to find that Robin broke her ankle a week or so after our return (motorcycle) and is currently on the mend.

I just finished reading Big Russ & Me by the late Tim Russert. It was an exceptional read discussing the relationship between father and son. Big Russ was also a depression era kid and his influence on his son was played put continuously in the story. One of my favorite parts of the book concerned Father John Sturm, a Catholic Priest that was the Prefect of Discipline in young Tim’s high school. His motto was “Mercy is for God. I deliver justice”. Somewhere along the line I think that we as a country have lost sight of teaching our children respect for their elders and for the world around them. “Spare the rod, spoil the child” seemed to be my dad’s motto when I was growing up. And to a certain point, my kids were raised the same way. Maybe I was a little hard on my kids, but they have both grown to be exceptional young adults and I feel that they are well on their way to a successful life. Maybe kids need a little more of Father Sturm and a little less coddling from their parents.

Finally, Finishing the Vacation

(Well, it took some time, but I've FINALLY added photos to this post)...
“The man that needs a vacation is the man that is just getting off a vacation”. A truer statement has never been muttered. Here it is, the 22nd of July and I’m finally getting around to updating the end of what proved to be one really fun visit to the Philly area.

On Saturday morning, Cathy and I stumbl out of bed and wolf down a quick breakfast, then join Barb and Les on our journey to Wicahession Park. A few weeks before our departure, I started investigating mountain bike trails in the Philly area. It just so happens that the latest IMBA Singletrack News had a brief article on the formation of the Philadelphia Mountain Bike Club and I visited their website and was met with a warm greeting.

Our ride started with an agonizing 1/3 mile climb up a fall line trail to a ridge above the park. I remembered making this climb with Travis and Matt a few years back and once on the top, we found some nice rolling singletrack. There were plenty of TTF’s (technical trail features) to roll over and test our skills. We were fortunate to meet many helpful locals as we got turned around a few times. All in all, a fun 12 mile ride, hopefully proving to Cathy that she does indeed have the skills to ride just about anywhere.

We returned to the park area, met Les and Barb, retuned to the house, wolfed down some lunch then hit the road to Citizens Bank Part to catch a Phillies game. We were lucky enough to pick the steamiest day of the year, which also just happened to be Italian Heritage Day at the park.

As a formerly HUGE baseball fan, it was really fun to slip back into the game and to see Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks take the mound in search of his 291st career victory. The Phils ultimately made it easy on him as they gave up a club record (Arizona) 8 runs in the top of the 4th inning, highlighted by Johnson’s two run double and a monsterous 3 run shot by another Diamondback. His homer is still circling the earth looking for re-entry.

Having enough of the blow-out (and the heat and the cost of beverages) we packed it in and headed back to the Xponential Music Festival, arriving just in time for one of our favorite bands, Railroad Earth. A mix of bluegrass, folk, rock and jamband, RRE didn’t disappoint, the highlight was seeing their multi-instrumentalist play two saxophones at the same time.

Amos Lee was next up and Cathy and I took a break and cruised the festival grounds in anticipation of Michael Franti and Spearhead, the evening’s headliner. We had seen Franti and his band a year ago in Asheville and the man can really put on a show, his enormous height (well over six feet) is an imposing figure on the stage. His talent as a songwriter, especially his passionate pleas for a much need peace, Franti commands your attention. His dancing and twirling from such a tall man is fun to see.

After what was a really long day, we left a few songs early and headed to the house to prepare for our return voyage home on Sunday morning. A great, albeit packed vacation had come to an end and Monday morning was looming for all three of us.

More Jam!

Friday started off a little slow, I’ve been having a few issues with my right hip, not certain if it’s related to my back (nerves) or I’ve overdone it riding the big ring on my bike. Regardless, I sipped some coffee, too a shower, read a little, then we packed up and headed into trendy Collingswood for lunch at a Cuban restaurant. The food was good, although we need to stop ordering appetizers, as we get so loaded up we can’t see to stuff in the entrée.

Friday night was a return to the waterfront for what I thought would be my most enjoyable evening. And I wasn’t disappointed. Reminding me a lot of Jonatha Brooke, Dar Williams opened the show with some nice acoustic folk. A gifted storyteller, she held the crowd (mostly female) in her grasp.

We ventured over to the side stage for Jim Bianco and his unique brand of Brooklyn Americana. His set was a unexpected treat. I’d like to see him again.

The showstopper for me, was Chuck Profit . Chuck is a gruff, in your face kind of singer songwriter, and his work is always just a little left of politically correct. His groveled voice reminds me a little of Leonard Cohen. The crowd went wild for Profit and his tight band and David Dye nominated them for the set of the festival ranking. Catch his show, you won’t be disappointed.

Next up was Alejandro Escovedo. His six piece band included violin and cello. His latest album Real Animal was co-written with Chuck Profit who joined his band onstage for a tune or two. Alejandro has made quite a comeback from hepatitis C that he contracted some time back. And the world is better for his return to health. His band really rocked the place and for all intents and purposes, the show should have come to an end there. But headlining was Beth Orton. I love her work, but whoever put Beth on following these two hot rods should have had their head examined.