Excerpts From the Jackass Notebook

Wear a Helmet

2009-04-10T19:59:00.001-07:00

Because its just a good idea.

These first two are the motorcycle helmet I was wearing the night that dumb bimbo mowed me down.

These are whats left of my Bell bicycle helmet after a foolish attempt on my part to finish a descent at Cheyenne Mountain State Park after breaking my chain. I was trying to conserve momentum. Needless to say my head served as a very effective breaking mechanism.

Neither of these helmets was inexpensive. I would argue that they both paid for themselves in spades.

My apologies to Robert Frost

2009-03-07T22:44:00.000-08:00

I heard on NPR today that it was the anniversary of this poem. It seemed very apropos. I'll let Mr Frost do the talking.

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Just so I can say I told you so, Part 3

2009-03-01T12:37:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of PBS/Frontline. Its an hour, so set aside some time.

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-14T10:39:00.000-08:00

Warning: Dark and potentially offensive.

Life is Grand, Part 3

2009-02-12T21:36:00.000-08:00

When ancient Greeks and Roman Mythology speaks of "Nectar of the Gods", this is what they mean:Fountain Pepsi Rules!

Life is Grand, Part 2

2009-02-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

A small sampling of all the great people in my life. What I've realized from this little exercise is I'm not taking nearly enough pictures, and I have not properly appreciated just how many people make up my life. So many people I owe so much to and I don't even have pictures. That is a damn shame.

Mi Familia:
esposa:
hija:
My Amazing In-laws: Cathy and ErnieExtended Family: The Hockers, Alpha and Filoli Extended Family: the Bartons

Jen:
Dan: (this might be the only picture I've ever taken of him where his ass is not exposed) Makayla and Katelynn, who will always have a very special place in my heart.Blake:
Conner: The Animal!
Assholes from Work:

WeTodd:
Mr Lawless:Brian:
Sasquatch:Don:Dan:
My Crack Dealers:

Patrick and Clay:

I'll have to update this later with more pictures for all the other people. Smitty, Jean and Paula, Old Man Ray, The Blickenstaff Clan, Troy, Jason, Rich and CoCo, Brad, Ian, Hard Kohr, The Swatzki's, etc, etc......

Life is Grand, Part 1

2009-02-12T11:58:00.000-08:00

So, without going into to much detail, its been a big week for introspection. And then I read this and the original inspiring piece I went into complete mental reverse. I have over the course of the last several weeks received what I can (and should) only call some perspective wake up calls. I should not be such a pessimist.

In five parts, because its just me and the kiddo right now, and time is short.

Part 1:

I'm still alive. Several different doctors have told me I'm not supposed to be. The lady who worked the desk in the surgery waiting room called me "the miracle man", and you know that's a woman who has probably seen some shit. I've had a doctor, who preformed surgery on me, walk into a room, shake my hand, and say in total disbelief, "Man you are one tough Son-of-a-Bitch."

My heart has stopped.

And the most amazing things in my life have all happened since then. I have not been sufficiently grateful. Life is indeed Grand.

Wine Review

2009-02-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

Once again, I find myself inspired by Filoli, but probably not in ways she intended. So this is my first Wine Review.

Root 1 Cabernet Sauvignon, from Chile:

It comes in a cool looking bottle, has alcohol, and is tasty.

Just so I can say I told you so. Part II

2009-01-30T01:58:00.000-08:00

Photo Stolen from the Planet Money Blog.

Well, I said I would get back to this issue to clarify some points and to add all the links I'm so fond of inserting into my blogs (like footnotes on steroids!). Lets begin with the basics. There are two major schools of economic thought. Keynesian and Austrian. The short version is, Keynesian economists believe government spending = good economy, Austrian economists believe a g00d economy = the government staying the hell out of the way. Of course, just like politics, the truth most likely lies somewhere in between.
TARP, or Troubled Asset Relief Program (I prefer "toxic asset relief program") was part of the EESA (Emergency Economic Stabilization Act). The original intent of TARP was to buy the so called Mortgage Backed Securities which led to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Sterns and Washington Mutual. Pretty quickly someone realized, "Holy Shit!! We have no fucking clue what these Mortgage Backed Securities are worth because the housing markets in the shitter! We could be getting totally hosed if we buy these!" So instead of buying what is now very conservatively estimated to be two trillion dollars worth of poop, the government just decided to buy the banks holding all the poop, this lead to things like the nationalization (some would say socaliastion, as in Capital "S" commie stuff) of AIG among others. This has up to now been the model for all the Instituions that have recived bailout money.
All of this was supposed to free up credit markets and get the economy rolling again. Instead, quite the opposite has happened. Unemployment is way up, and Governments are collapsing. In fact things are so damn bad a normal person can almost afford a Super Bowl Ticket (if you still have a job).
All this leads to the point of my original post. I've decided I oppose the bailout. Why you might ask? Simply because I don't trust those assholes. Or these assholes, this asshole (not Adam Davidson), or these assholes, who apparently didn't need the 210million dollars they were asking for bad enough to put the government in charge. So I guess you didn't need the money in the first place, further driving home the point that the whole damn things just turned into another mark for the greedy, sociopath types that deregulated all the related markets and got us into all this trouble to begin with. The governments not any better. In what was supposedly the worst economic crisis of modern time, Congress still had to bribe themselves with an extra 100 billion dollars to pass the first stimulus bill. Democrats, whom I hear are the majority now, continue to demonstrate a complete lack of a spine by capitulating to the handful of Republicans who were not up for reelection this year by inserting tax cuts into the new stimulus plan. Thanks for guaranteeing that my grandchildren, in addition to still paying for the Iraq invasion, (another asshole!) will have either an unbearable tax burden or will be speaking Mandarin.

Surely there must be a better way?

ProPublica's Bailout Watchgreat free widgetsWidgetbox

Just So I can say I told you so.

2009-01-28T07:07:00.000-08:00

I'm going to say right now, before it goes to a vote today, I oppose the Economic Stimulus plan, on a very fundamental level. Because I just got off work, and I am tired, I will not go to deeply into Keynesian vs Austrian vs we-dont-have-a-f***ing-clue schools of economic thought. But I will say, history has already shown that the first half of TARP was pretty much hoarded by the major economic institutions it was given to, which in turn, used it to pay CEO bonuses and/or acquire rival banks and that was about it, which did the everyman absolutly no f-ing good. So in brief, I submit this, and postulate, that the government will give away our tax dollars, use it to shore up a bunch of major financial institutions which are "too big to fail", and leave all of us suckers holding the bag.

And just because I know someone will call me on it, I vote Democrat on social issues, not political issues. I'm not a big tent guy and would point out that it is the Republicans that got this ball rolling in the first place.

I will edit this later to beef up my stance.

Woot!

2009-01-20T18:51:00.000-08:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

And I know I should be humble and just "let things go", but that's really just not me. I should be a better person, but since I can't , I also offer this.

Blog update.

2009-01-10T20:39:00.001-08:00

I know its been I while. What can I say. There is a baby in this house now. Free time is precious. I will try to update. I have a couple rides I'd like to put up. Our trip to Oregon and many other things. One very special ride, (for me) is already up. Stay tuned.

El Bastardo Real

2009-01-10T19:35:00.001-08:00

Filoli, I will see you your wine blog and raise you this:

El Bastardo Real!

For over Four years now I've been trying to ride this one particular feature at Palmer Park. And you have always defeated me. Other obstacles have come and gone, but not you, no. You've always been the one insurmountable climb. (and horrifying descent when I ride clockwise.) Some where in your grainy Colorado granite is a titanic will to crush all those who come against you! Time after time I have fallen, tipped, or been stopped with such force as to do mild OTB's and partial endo's, stopped only by the fact that your so damn steep that if I stick my arm strait out I can arrest my forward momentum without completely landing on my face. Or the even more horrifying and climatic act of only making it part way up, then going over backwards. Yard sale! I can count one one hand the number of people I've seen climb you. And its always been ugly, unclean riding. Riders, good riders, pitting their will against the combined forces of geology, inertia and gravity, and more oft than not, losing in the most spectacular fashion. Much blood has been shed to the old, vengeful gods that built your Colorado, sandpaper like Geology, and used it for your foundation.

But today was different. I woke early. 3:30 to be exact. I didn't want to be awake, but I felt compelled. I got up, made tea, had granola, read the news online, and when the S.O. and child awoke, I grabbed my stuff and headed out the door. I went to Ravens Nest for Chai and a burrito. It was 14 damn degrees. There was half an inch of snow on everything. I was freezing my ding-ding off. By the time I rode from downtown to Palmer and made it to you, I was already pushing 25 miles. I was cold and tired but things were clicking. I cleaned your little brother of an obstacle just down the hill like it was a speed bump. I charged you feeling good, things were going my way. And you denied me! I made it only part way, lost momentum and had to unclip to put down my foot. I cursed your cold unyielding heart assuming that today would be just another repeat of previous rides. Three tries, then, the walk of shame.

A second time, this time ending most horrifically, in the going over backwards, turtle like fashion, that had there been onlookers, would surely have produced many a laugh. I lie at the base, under the bike, checking to see what, if any clothes I've torn, or what skin. Because of the cold I'm well protected, no blood is shed this time, and my pants have lived to see another day. Others have not been so fortunate.

The third attempt, my cardinal rule last, is half hearted. But strangely, inexplicably, I find myself at the top looking over my right shoulder, atop my bike to see something I have previously seen only through the eyes of defeat. The cold bottom of the narrow slab of dirt that is the approach. I call my wife.

I know that in Geologic time, the 5 minutes I spent attempting you today is not even the merest twinkling of a moment. However for me, that moment is timeless. And no matter how minute that moment might be to you, somewhere it will remain, in the tiniest deepest crag of your stony memory, it will remain there, long after I am gone, for that is your nature, just as you existed long before me.

Today, I made you my bitch.

Thank you Jeebus!

2008-11-05T06:01:00.000-08:00

Thank God that I can believe again in this country. Thank you for hope.

Keep Your FIngers Crossed.

2008-11-02T01:01:00.000-07:00

After I read this article in the Colorado Springs Independent I've started developing heartburn worrying that the Mccain campaign might do anything to win this election. Its happened before, in 2000 (and maybe 2004) Florida, I'm looking at you, no more more shady shit!
Bill Maher has a fabulous segment on "Real Time" called exit strategy that I'm starting to take a lot more seriously.

Someone please reassure me I'm being paranoid.

Please?

Into the Wild Blue Yonder!

2008-11-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

Since I did not get out for a ride this weekend, and never got around to posting my ride from last weekend, I'll put my Air Force Academy ride up now to fill in.

Since the whole trail is contained within the boundaries of the Academy, it is referred to as the
after the school Mascot. Incidentally I ran into this little guy on a flight between the Springs and Denver a couple years ago. Apparently this falcon did not make the team and was on his way homeThe Stadium from the freeway.

And from the backside where I parked. No game today.
This is the first stretch of down. Pretty short. I almost rear ended a deer here. Big one too, 6 points or more on his head. Fortunately I think it was as surprised as me and it took off.
This little cabin is way off in the boonies. No roads or anything near by. I don't know if anyone who doesn't ride the trail here even knows it exists.
A rough section! Pretty rare at the Academy. I don't know if the cadets who goof off get sentenced to trail maintenance or what, but the trail is always freeway smooth and as soon as a bermed corner starts to develop their leveled off. I think this is to keep bikers slower since so many cadets run on the Falcon Trail.

Nice day for a ride.

New England?
The only two technical sections, on short up...

....and one short, steep down. I have yet to clean the up, and I'm not willing to try the down, even when I rode here with the guys from Ascent. The down section is a "high price of failure" spot, especially with my broken ass body.

This is a neat spot, in a creek bottom right up against a cliff.
Wear your helmet. This could come loose any time.
Real narrow squeeze right at the end. I'm not even sure this is "rideable" I always scrape something here, pedal, bar end, knee, elbow etc.
This is the start of "The Climb" the only really challenging part of the trail. You can see it on the profile. Its unrelenting. Not technical, but it just gets steeper and steeper, and the switch backs are all loose powdery dirt that makes climbing them a bitch.

Some A-hole practically blew me off the trail here while he was descending. Up-hill has the right of way ass. But revenge would be mine!
Obligatory view shot. Not much to see here actually, the trail is behind or at the bottom of mountains most of the time.
Communication towers at the top.
The Top!
Now we go down hill fast for a bit. Snow is already forming in the shady spots so there were some muddy places.
Set your suspensions to "fun".

After the first big descent is another brief/easy climb to this.
Followed by another steep switchbacky descent.
This might actually be the scariest part of the trail. Its super fast double track maintained by 4 wheelers with plows that tend to leave these deep wheel sucking spots of loose gravel randomly placed about. A high speed OTB (over the bars) is a real possibility here.
The last climb. A couple of steep loose switchbacks. Short and steep.
The view looking back.
The ridge line. This is the best part. Almost 3 miles of down hill with water bar/roller/jumps. Tight single track with switch backs follow ending with single track skirting the Golf Course. During my descent in the switchback area I saw the guy that ran me off the trail during my climb and totally edged him off the trail. Sucks don't it Jackass!

No trip to the AFA is complete without stopping to view the planes-on-a-stick. Or in the case of the b52, a plane-on-a-bunch-of-sticks (its big!).
A10 "warthog", it has the same engines that the CRJ700 that I work on has.
Big gun, something like 5000 rounds per minute. Turns tanks to Swiss Cheese.
As an interesting side note (i think), the A10 shoots 30MM depleted uranium slugs that some believe are responsible for Gulf War Syndrome.

The Last Season.

2008-11-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

I just finished "The Last Season" by Eric Blehm. I realize that most people who read this book probably won't read it the same way I did. I mean, there are several people in this book who lived on the same street I grew up on, I was a Park Service Brat, I back packed in a lot of the area that's in this book and have a pretty good idea about how unforgiving the High Sierra can be. Randy was a guy who seemed to be pretty sure what his purpose in life was and yet when he died he was full of doubt about himself. This book was completely compelling and totally heart breaking.

Just writing this depresses me. Who wants to hike John Muir next summer?

The Supposed Golden Path?

2008-10-20T06:41:00.000-07:00

My drive home this morning was slowed dramatically this morning as I attempted to drive by the baseball stadium, and now helicopters circle over head. Why you might ask?
As the song says, I've found myself in some kind of Hell. I must have died the night I got hit and nobodies gotten around to telling me about it yet. Isn't it enough for me to suffer living in this backwards ass town surrounded by mouth breathers?
Apparently not, for their queen has arrived in town! And not just in town, but two blocks down the street in my beloved Skysox stadium. Which at this very moment is being filled with dumb Republicans (redundant?) who will hang gleefully on Sarah Palins every word, despite the weird mix of pep rally/cross burning that her speeches seem to have become. The good news is is that with any luck she'll say something colossaly stupid again and I'll have some more ammo to put in my quiver to shoot at people at work.

How am I going to sleep today with so much energy from the dark side of the force radiating into my house?

Finally, a Mountain Bike Ride!

2008-10-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

Its been awhile since I posted a ride, which is what this blog is supposed to be about, so I present:
Cheyenne Mountain State Park, I think perhaps the most under rated trail systems on the Front Range. Its only been open for about 2 years so I think a lot of people don't even know it exists.Although, A race, sponsored by my good friends at Ascent Cycling, is being held there tomorrow so I think the secret is getting out.

The Riding here is easy to moderate, with only a few technical sections (that kicked my ass today, since its been so long since I rode the Niner). My map and profile are incomplete as the batteries in the GPS crapped out. Cheap ass "industrial" batteries.

On the way into the park you pass this....

....which goes up here where...
...this is, which is where........the end of the world comes from....
....at least NORAD moves it all here. (saving money you know!)
All of this is right across the street from the Park, so when the bomb drops Cheyenne Mountain State Park will be a super bad place to be. But anywho...

The lower portions are all really wide, fairly easy climbs. Packed well and so far holding up to the weather. Medicine Wheel did a fantastic job building all these trails from scratch.

Feel the flow.
At least till you get up higher and you get to places like here. I watched some guy try blaze by me here all pimped out on his carbon hard tail and spandex. I assume he was pre riding for tomorrows race. He did have to do this section twice to clean it. Made me not feel so bad for finally giving up and walking.
While I was waiting I just happened to notice this. Wonder if you can eat it?Just up the trail is this fun little feature. Wish I'd been here to see if lycra-boy cleaned it.
this is my 3rd and finall pathetic attempt. I have a 3 try obstacle rule. If you haven't made it in three your not going to, I just wind up mad, hurt, or both if I keep trying.

But then the descent begins.This will be THE place to be at for the race. The berm is super high, and the chicane below it only encourages speed.
plus the outside of this corner just below (where my bike is laying) is very open, great place to sit.
I'll bet these guys will be scarce tomorrow. I only saw three today, every other time I've been there I've seen at minimum 5.
There is also a bunch of turkey's running around. I tried to get a picture but I didn't get the camera out fast enough and the pics came out like crap.

Views of Ft. Carson and Fountian (the water tower way out yonder).

Then there is this fun little climb. There are a couple like this, including an up hill off camber one at the exit of a 90 degree corner. Didn't make it to that one today.

More views on the way up Talon, the highest point in the park.

This is the Very tip-top. The terrain is kind of sketchy up here, hence the carin on the left to assure you, yes, you are on an actual trail.

Coming down is a full tilt roller coaster. How fast you say? I had gnats pasted all over me. Ferrari fast.
I usually do at least two laps here. I usually wuss out and do all my consecutive south side climbs up this road to save as much energy for the technical climbs as I can.
I always end my trips here on Bobcat Way, which has lots of big water bars for jumps and is butter smooth. And pretty today with fall on the way.
Cheers!

Digging Out of the Hole

2008-10-10T23:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, instead of heading out into the hills for a ride despite the immanent arrival of winter,
I decided to take care of some thing that's been bugging me for a long time. I refer of course to the steering wheel in my Jeep, which has been 90 degrees off since the day I bought it.

Some time ago (2 years or more) I decided to tear into it and see If I could fix the thing figuring it would be as simple as pulling something apart, reorienting the steering wheel and putting it back together. Wrong! And to top it off I managed to ruin the horn and the airbag quit working.

So I borrowed a puller (2 actually, thank you Joe and Steve) and ripped the Jeep apart to discover...

...that I had broken this thingy, according to Jeep, the "Clock Spring" $266.30 A rather expensive goof on my part. If you read the label on the clock spring it says to not do exactly what I had done. Which would have been helpful if the stupid thing wasn't buried underneath a bunch of shit.
I did all this only to discover, that there is only one way the steering wheel will go on, just like the rest of the system, everything is "keyed" to only fit a certain way,

so, 300 bucks and several hours later I'm back where I started.

"Fuck!"

So, after some research, (thank you Google) which I probably should have done, oh, lets say seven years ago, I discover this fancy do-dad underneath the front end.

Basically, you just loosen the two clamps, turn the piece they hold a bunch of times, and viola! The steering wheel now faces the way the Jeep is actually traveling!

Good Times!

An Open Letter to my Republican Friends

2008-10-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

Well let me start by saying I know I said I'd keep politics to a minimum, but fuck it, tiss the season right? This came in my e-mail from a Republican,
whom despite that, I consider a friend, and it pissed me right the hell off. Its factually inaccurate in several ways, is backed up in no way by anything credible, and to top it off is down right insulting to any one capable of a free thought outside the Fox News studio.

*********************************************

This is a matter of opinion and opinions are like (well you know) everybody has one.
My personal opinion? I agree. If after reading this email you disagree, Please, no need to reply back to me. Your opinion is yours and that's fine, just delete it.

A lot of Americans have become so insulated from reality that they imagine that America can suffer defeat without any inconvenience to themselves.
Pause a moment, reflect back.
These events are actual events from history.
They really happened!!!
Do you remember?
1. 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by a Muslim male extremist.
2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by Muslim male extremists.
3. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by Muslim male extremists.
4. During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by Muslim male extremists.
5. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by Muslim male extremists.
6. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was
murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by Muslim male extremists.
7. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens , and a US Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by Muslim male extremists. ( remember the pilot of this flight was from Richmond , MO )
8. In 1988 , Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by Muslim male extremists.
9. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by Muslim male extremists.
10. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by Muslim male extremists.
11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to take down the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by Muslim male extremists.
12. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against Muslim male extremists.
13. In 2002 reporter Dan iel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by-- you guessed it-- Muslim male extremists.
No, I really don't see a pattern
here to justify profiling, do you? So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be allowed to profile certain people... Absolutely No Profiling!
They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, secret agents who are members of the President's security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winner and former Governor Joe Foss, but leave Muslim Males alone lest they be guilty of profiling.
According to The Book of Revelations:
The Anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40's, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal....the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, he will destroy everything.
And Now:
For the award winning Act of Stupidity Of all times the People of America want to elect, to the most Powerful position on the face of the Planet -- The Presidency of the United states of America .. A Male of Muslim descent who is the most extremely liberal Senator in Congress (in other words an extremist) and in his 40's.
Have the American People completely lost their Minds, or just their Power of Reason ???
I'm sorry but I refuse to take a chance on the 'unknown' candidate Obama...
Let's send this to as many people as we can so that the Gloria Aldreds and other stupid attorneys along with Federal Justices that want to thwart common sense, feel ashamed of themselves -- if they have any such sense.
As the writer of the award winning story 'Forest Gump' so aptly put it,
'Stupid Is As Stupid Does'
Each opportunity that you have to send it to a friend or media outlet..do it!
or again. . . just delete if you disagree.
**************************************************
And this was how I responded:

If I may:
The author of this piece of "opinion", and it is a piece, is correct. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. But your opinion doesn't mean sh*t if it is premised on completely false information. According to the author, Supposedly from the Bible, and I quote "The Anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40's, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal....the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, he will destroy everything." except that the book of Revelation says no such thing. I'm not Thomas Aquinas or Martin Luther but I'm pretty sure that Islam wasn't even a religion for a couple hundred years until after John wrote that portion of the Bible. What the Bible does say, is that Gossip, i.e. outright slander in this case, IS a sin. (Romans 1:28-32)
Whats even more important is that McCain's conscience recently got the best of him, to the point where he told supporters that Obama is "a decent, family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with (him) on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign is all about." Which is good, because recently McCain rallies have started looking a lot like KKK rallies.

I mean really, there are still people out their who actually believe that Obama is a Muslim? Where do these people hide? We shut the satellite off in our house 3 months ago and I'm more in touch than that, or maybe because of it. Not that most Republicans are interested in "facts" any more. In fact I'm guessing I lost some of you by the end of the first sentence. Your not interested in "facts" like McCain led the Charge on a lot of the bank deregulation that got us in the financial mess were in now. (the collapse of the DOW average isn't what you need to worry about BTW). Or the fact that McCain wants to deregulate health insurance the same way. What could possibly go wrong?

What I'm asking, is if you vote Republican, understand why. Its not that hard to do a little research. I found all the links for this piece with our good friend Google. If you still want to vote for McCain, that's fine, I understand that different people have different value systems. But the vitriolic slander pieces floating around don't change any ones mind. In fact you might just wind up pissing someone off enough for them to spend 2 hours on a Friday night looking for ways to shut you down.

But that's just my opinion, feel free to delete this if you disagree.
Cheers!
Shane

P.S. RFK's assassin was Sirhan Sirhan, who was disturbed for sure, but not a Muslim. And Pan Am 103 was destroyed by "rouge" Libyan Government officials. Although I suppose you could make the argument on that one.

All eyes to the front of the class please.

2008-09-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight I got to stand in front of a class of future EMT's and tell them about the night I died. Shanna, the wife of my friend from work, Chris is taking her EMT basic. All the students have to take turns giving presentations on the sorts of injuries they might expect to deal with at an accident.
Basically, I went for show and tell. Which is great actually, these people will probably be scraping fools like me off the street in the future and just might save someones life, the way the EMT's who picked me up saved mine.I got to give some brief background, or as brief as it could be, and Shanna had the unenviable task of picking just one thing (my many pelvis fractures) and talking about how an EMT should respond to it.

I'd like to think they got something from it and can use it in the future, and I hope Shanna gets a good grade. The life you save might be mine!

Coincidence?

2008-09-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

I apologize in advance:

All right, so I know I said no politics, but this shit was so crazy I couldn't pass it up. I found this on Filoli's blog, just hours after hearing this on NPR. Two huge newspaper gaffes by printing stuff ahead of time on the same day? Is China behind the Mccain campaign? It would certainly explain allot.

And then I found this article (posted by someone else on Filoli's blog) in the National Review, The Fox News equivalent if you will, to Newsweek. When the National Review says Sarah Palin is out of her league, it only means one thing, that bitch is dumb.

An Introduction

2008-09-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

Alright, So this is my blog. Welcome! I will use this place mostly to share with my friends, vent for myself, and maybe, through the magic of Google, reach out to a stranger in a meaningful way. But probably not.

I plan on mostly posting ride reports, some family stuff, and the occasional Op-Ed piece. I am going to make an effort to keep politics to a minimum. That stuff is going to be best left to people better educated and more eloquent than myself. If you want to know where I stand on most issues go here, here, and here. I may differ on some finer points but for the most part they will speak for me. Anyway, I view this as more of an opportunity to work on my creative side. A chance, if you will to actually distance myself from politics.

So, I'm glad your here, and hope you enjoy the random drivel I'm laying down.

Cheers!
Shane

Pipeline

2008-09-25T02:21:00.000-07:00

Here's my ride from last weekend. This was a variation of a ride I've done many times, most definitely my favorite within reasonable driving distance. Only 25 minutes from the house. Buffalo Creek Wilderness being the best on the front range but its a 2 hour drive.

This was the first time I've gone up Gold Camp and Old Stage Roads, Lots and lots of climbing, but its all pretty mellow, as opposed to the Climb up St. Marys, which is a unrelenting steep, but short, Hike-a-bike Bitch.

Gold Camp Profile: (the big dip I think is the GPS losing signal in the big tunnel.)

Heading up from the high drive parking lot.

The First tunnel, closed after in collapsed years back

Tunnel detour, climbable but steep, the rains this year have not been kind.

On My way.

Then it started to rain, just briefly. It got very cool after this. Fall is here for sure dude, that sucks because I'm not ready after missing one month of the summer, and its short enough here top begin with.

The big tunnel that resulted in the elevation drop on the profile. (I think anyway)
View of Colorado Springs. From up here you can almost forget its full of religious nut jobs and republicans.
End of Gold Camp Road.

After connecting to Old Stage, made the rest of the climb up to the Jones (trail 701) trail head.

Please, I'm allergic to Lead.

The Captain Jacks Trail Head. Whats weird is the actual Captain Jacks trail is way down the road. The Trail that starts here is Jones/Frosty Park 701

"Technically Difficult." No Shit. I'd always laughed at that because Jones is a pretty easy trail. I guess I'd never paid close enough attention before to realize they were talking about.........This trail, which was my destination for the day. Trail 668 "pipeline trail".It was supper steep, and where it wasn't a washed out trench filled mess, it was loose Colorado Scree several inches deep, absolutely unrideable. This old mining cabin was near the top.
It did eventually turn into this but only after a fair amount of walking.
About 15 miles in you hit this marker although I don't know why, its the only trail...
....but you do find the Namesake "pipe".
The Pipe goes on for several miles sometimes like this where it looks like your riding on the bones of some ancient monster. Other times dissapering completely, or apperantly just sitting on the ground.
The Junction with Seven Bridges trail. I had previously contemplated coming up Seven Bridges to conect with Pipeline, but no way, too steep.
More rollers/rythm section. These are created by MotoX riders and ther a lot of fun. Its almost enough.....
....To forgive them for creating features like this scale model of the Death Star Trench. (standing on my bike the walls were sholder high)
.....and this unrideable feature destined to be the next Grand Canyon.
Followed up by what are refered to in the mountain bike community as "baby heads". i.e. fist sized (and bigger) loose rocks strewn all over the trail.
Trail 666! It has a name but I forget it. Ian and I rode down it once and we paid for it in a big way by having to come up the back side of high drive to get back to the parking lot. It was Hell.
Looking back down old Gold Camp Road. This ridgeline conects to the actual "Captain Jacks" and eventually the "Chutes". Both of which are wild swooping down hills that I was having way too much fun on to stop and take Pictures. The summer rains have been very kind to both trails this year. Pics in future posts maybe.

After this ride, about a total 6 hours, 29 miles, I stopped by my friend Brians house, had a beer, got a ride back up to the jeep, then went home. Slept like a baby.