Zermatt Day #5

Another day alone, went back up to the samer area as yesterday to begin. There was about 3-4 inches of cowboy powder covering alot of tracks. Not a dream, but enough to get fired up about. I headed over to a cable car that we road on the very first day to poke around a huge snow field and an open bowl. I decided for the bowl, as it looke a little more stable and less rocky. WOW. It was steep and up to the knees. I got totally gripped hitting the freshies and from the snow flying in my face. I did a few more runs in the same bowl, and then headed to Sunegga paridise to have some beers and fondu with my mom. There was a huge area that I did not even touch. I will ahve to leave that for next time.

Zermatt Day #4

Did a half day by myself for the day. I went to a new area that I had not explored yet. Riffelberg. Managed to find the Goods, off pist tracked up snow. Just a slight bit of crust on the top, but not enout to get jamed up about. There was a little snow from early in the morning, but not enough to cover the tracks. The snow was good enough to get some good turns in. It was good enough for spending the afternoon in. I had a Pic Nic that was uncontested on a rock at the top of a nice bowl. Here is a self portrits from the site.

It was pretty cold up high, so I stopped for an irish coffee. This place was unique in that it was an igloo with a bar and outdoor seating.

Zermatt day #3

Sorry for the delay, der internet is kind of sketchy here. Not much to report today. We skied over to Italy today on pretty much the same path as yesterday, but ended up in a different villiage. Valtourneche! The expresso was strong, and the weather sunny and warm. We banged out several runs on the IT side. Steep and fast groomed runs were the name of the game. Everyone here wants to be the next TOMBA da BOMBA. For Christmas Eve it was Lager Bier and Veal Sausage. Not many photos to report the case, but here is what I got!


One other thing! My dad and I did manage to get kicked out of one of the mountain Chaetu's, or whatever you call it in Italy. Evedently, you cannot buy a beer at one of these places and bring your own food. Here is my best try at Itialian. EHH FUCK EWWHHH!!(Itialian accent)

Zermatt Day #2

Today was a full day of skiing. We took three different lifts to the Klien Matterhorn, and crossed over to Italy. This is where the business started for the day. A 7 mile ski run dropped us into the villiage of Cervinia IT. This place was a quaint little ski villiage. I had an expresso to warm up, and relax in the sun.

Here are some Panoramas that I took of the mountains that are right up against the villiage.

After this we got a few runs in before having a Swiss lunch of dried meat, gruyer cheese, fresh bread, and a lager bier. Why not two?

It took the rest of the day to get back to the Chalet. The snow was ten times better than yesterday. All of the skiing around here seems to be groomers, and pists that are super long. The pro Tech over here is the super G style of skiing. Nobody is conserned with off pist or backcountry. But seriously, I have not seen a slow or bad skiier while I have been here. You can tell that these people have been skiing since they were super younge. We did some exploring around town for some biers, and found the tolken Irish pub that seems to be in every international city I have ever been. Lima, Cuzco, Geneve, Basle, Zermatt, none are in Ireland, but all have an Irish pub. Rock on, and drink up.

Zermatt Day #1

THIS PLACE ROCKS!!! A mountain town in its true form. We skied a half day, and only touched 10% of the area at best. There are three areas on the Swiss side, and another two areas on the other side of the mountain, which happens to be in Italy. I plan on hitting that up later this week. The snow was so-so, nothing new to report of. But the thing to report about is the view. It is pretty tough to not take a good picture here. The Matterhorn is in plane sight. It is the center piece of the whole town, and hard to miss. Here are some and night pics. The views are from the Chalet that we are staying in . A few lagers to finish up with made it a good day.

SWITZERLAND

I made it! 24 hours of straight travel, sitting in airports, sitting in trains, and a few plane rides was all it took to arrive to my destenation in Basel Ch. The gear looks like it made it in good shape. Tomorrow I head to Zermatt for a week straight of skiiing. I have not touched a bike since Hermann, only worked out twice in the gym, and got two days of skiing in, so needless to say, I am chomping at the bit to get some action. I managed to snap a pic on the way to Basle.

Grand Targhee

Over the weekend, I was able to get a few turns in at Grand Targhee, in WY. This ski hill is cradled on the western slop of the Tetons. On a good day, meaning sunny and no clouds, the view is like this.

This weekend was a different story. The timing was perfect. Flew into Salt lake on Friday, and was dissipointed with the amout of snow that was on the groud. The same observation on the drive into Idaho had me thinking it was going to be sub-par skiing at best. To my dismay, the next 24 hours brings a foot of snow. The downside was, that the high on Sat was about 20 degrees with a stout wind in the 20MPH range. I truly thought my hands were going to rot off at the end of the day. The wind died down Sunday, but the thermomitor only managed to rise to 6 degrees. The clouds and fog blocked the view for the whole trip. I was pulling some mad G's on the groomer sections, and paying the price with wind burn on my face. No big woop though, the snow was light and untracked. Most of the good stuff was off in the trees, so I spent most of my time there. My tech was a little rusty, but this was only ment as a tune up trip before I attach the ALP's next week. The camera was a little unrelaible due to the temps, but I managed to get a few pics.

Mo CX state champs

Wow!!! Running a little behind here, but I wanted to acknowledge the good times that were had in Herman. I did the race on Saturday, got worked, but also picked up some good intel on the course.

Sunday, was different. Super cold, but sunny. At one point, I questioned weather or not Knee Warmers were going to be the play. But, I stuck to my MANTRA: What would SVEN do? It ended up working well. The race started fast, and stayed that way. I registered late, so my starting position was pretty much last row, in a puddle of Mike Weiss's urine. Any who, I knew that I could not end the season with regret, and shame, so I laid everything that I had on the line for this race. I went down on the off camber turn section, but stayed in motion while putting the chain back on. I passed a few people, and desperately tried to stay on David Stroote's wheel. I knew he would bring the heat, so I did not want to miss that train. The stairs hurt, but there was some time to recover up top. The race ended with my butt cheeks clinched tight with a stelleto guy close behind. I had lost the war, but this battle would be mine!! Bell lap had me gripped beyond belief, but focused on no mistakes. Funny thing about that guy is we battled at the night race also. I took 8th for the day.

Sad to see the season slip away, now I have to find something constructive to do on Sundays. Off season will be super fun and rejuvenating. Congrats and thanks to all that made this a great season. My first full season of bike racing in the books has me fired up for more.

Laugh hard, its a long way to the ground

Sunday was a good race for all! By far the best weather of the year for cross. The conditions made it slick on the corners, but still let the course have some speed in it. As far as layout, the course was super fast, with two extended down hill secitons going into sweeping left handers. One lead into another drop that ended in a 180 turn. Early in the race, I lost my train of thought and grabbed the brakes way to hard going into the 180 and went down pretty hard. I lost some position straightening out my bars and shifter. I tried to focus on staying steady, but took a few more spills, 4 to be exact. I kept thinking that I can still keep the momentom going and have a good race. Still the grifos held up to the conditions well. The run up was a true grind this week. Muddy, steep,unridable, and a strong cheer section made it an instant classic. I felt really good at the end of the race, but was too far from Dan williams to catch up. Ended up 15th for the day, in a smaller than normal field. I am a bit sad to see the end of the season coming up this weekend. No NAT's for me again this year, though it is against my better judgment. I am going to miss the post race scene alot too. It has been a good year for bike racing, I am glad it is a part of my life.

SACK River Trail

Every time I visit my Grand parents, I take a trip to Sac (sock) River. I have been riding this are for about 8 years now. There is a great network of trails that have a little something for everyone. The trails are tight and twisty, some very technical rocky areas keep you on point. The hardest part about this trail network is the sudden transitions from smoking fast, flowy sections into tight, super rocky sections. It had probably been a year since I have ridden there, and not had mud bog conditions. The trail was in buff shape. I believe the 12 hour race happened with in the last 2 months, so there was a well worn circuit, and the leaves were beat down real well. I rolled up the hill to a new section. This was an extremely well don piece of single track that flowed like SIUE, but had more rocks and roots. I would say it was similar to Landalh. Any way, this stuff ROCKED!!! The main feature is corners that are perfectly set up for carving. Unfortunately, I did not find this part until yesterday, so my Turkey day ride did not include this seciton. It was good enough to ride twice both ways though. The gravy of the area is the front of the park. A slight down hill persuasion, with jumps, and two berms at the bottom.

It looks like this trail has made it onto the 2009 MTB calander. The only other race that has ever happened here is a 12 hour race in the fall. I am looking forward to see how they tie all of this trail together for a pure XC course.

CX: on the grind all the time

CX two banger

Bubba in the dark was COLD! I was in the back for the start. THe start was typical STL drag race style. The long paved strait away into the sweeping left hander was superb for a start. The finish was also a paved seciton with a fast corner. I thought the course was great! The corners were set up for speed. I moved up quick and played defense for most of the night. I was running scared from a few people behind me that had formed a nice group, and trying to catch David. I never caught David, but was able to hold on to 20th place for the night. The flyover was rad. I tried to do the super pro cool down spin after the race, but only made it about 3 minuites before I got cold, and turned around. It took me two hours to warm back up again.

Sunday seemd very bumpy compaired to Saturday. Maybe the back was tight from the night before, but it really wore me down. There was a good race going on in the back of the field today. I made my move early, too early, and lost it all plus some in the end. The last 2 laps were pure survival mode for me. Not sure how I ended up, but it was close to last. There are some fast dudes moving up to the A race, which makes it fun in the back. Better than riding solo for an hour.

Suson Park CX

Man, that was a hard race. The legs were thrown into the fire after a solid week off the bike. The rest was good for the legs, but it has taken a week to get them back. Saturday I rode over to Jeffco for a low intensity ride, and felt really good. Sunday came, and the legs felt good. My anxiety level was high as I went through the pre race routine. I was pretty unprepared for the beat down I was getting served. There was a large pack for the A race, and everyone brought the heat for the start. I found myself in the back going through the first barrier. This course put it to me in the worst way.

I ended up 26th out of about 30.

CX Weekend

Raced at Mizzou on Sat. Not much of a turn out, especially compared to last year. With Friday being Holloween, it was tough to not enjoy some refreshments, but I held off for the prospects of better performance over the weekend. The course was 100% grass with a barrier into a short run up, and another set of barriers on the flat section at the back of the course. The course gave an advantage to those who could carve the corners efficiently. I hung with David stroote for most of the race, trading pulls with him. I took 4th out of 6 for the day, eathen Frose took the W in a great display of fitness.

Sunday was the Faust park race. I did absolutely terrible at this race last year. All I remember was a bowl area, and alot of bumps. Super awesome weather both days. We had a hooligan crew for the C and B race. I jumped in the A race and it was on. I tried my best to hang with Wes B. but he came around me super fast on the last lap. At the same time Nate lapped me. I had nothing left to respond to his move. I was able to get some rythem toward the end of the race by focusing on spinning rather than laying down big power. The course stuck pretty close to my idea of a CX course. The run up section really had me concerned about blowing up. I did not try to ride the W section. There were several high speed corners that you could dial in and barley touch the brakes on. I ended up 17th out of 31. That was a huge field for the A race. The CX fire is burning strong inside. I cannot wait until the next double header weekend.

Check out these pics of the Koppenberg race from this weekend. Agony!

Picture fest

Bubba #2 at Spanish Lake

Summit!!

This is a pic of the agulle de midi from the air. The main formaion is the tallest point in the middle with the radio tower in it.

My dad summited the aguille de midi, a formation on the Mt. Blanc masiff, over the weekend. This route is accessed from Chamonix by cable car. This formation has some significance in the region as a test piece for climbers that are new to the area. It sounded like it was mostly snow and ice, with some technical rock work.

Here are some CX pics of yous truly. The first pic is of my nice start on Sunday. You can see the deep gravel in the middle of the road. CX is where its at

The second pic was taken by Lizz James at the Ronde race in Carbondale. Dig the suitcase tech...mad skill off the bike.

Bubba #2 at spanish lake.

It is already the second bubba race. Spanish lake is tucked into North county. This park packs a punch for CX and MTB. The course this year was vary different from last years, but was still very difficult to get that rhythm going. The back ball field section was same condition, boggy, and energy sucking. The field was windy, and had a cork-screw that kept turning you back into the wind. This was a great CX course by definition, with its varying terrain, and surfaces. Some of the gravel was packed in and fast, and other sections were deep, and slowed you down like deep sand. I found it very hard to recover because the transitions between sections were quick. There were two grass sections that turned to loose gravel on corners. One corner was a 180, and had me riding very cautiously as to not go down at the start finish line. I heard this described as a power course, and I would have to agree. The corners were awesome at this course, allowing you to carve hard and pedal at the same time.

I had a good start, on the extreme right side, riding the grass ledge to the corner. Big thanks to Boz for the premium starting position, too bad I could not capitalize on the front row start. Most of the others were in the deep gravel sections. I grabbed Yieldings wheel, and held on tight. We did not have a huge gap from the others, and within two laps Dennis and Matt rolled by. At this point, I was still feeling really good, and I was trying to play some defence while recovering. This continued until about half way through the race, several others had passed, and were out of range for me to reel in. For the rest of the race, I was just trying not to loose positions, and the legs felt super heavy. I was totally spent by the end, and could not put up much of a fight. Kent and Jim Klages came around me at the end on the last lap, they had been on my wheel, and trading punches with me for a lap or so. I had no response to their final push. I did better than last year at this race, but still struggle with spanish lake courses like this.

The lamb stew bread pudding and beer was a great end to the weekend.

I am sucking bad in the fantacy CX league. Looks like after this weekend I am holding down second to last. NICE http://cxmagazine.com/fantasy-cyclocross-2008-2009-standings

Weather is getting colder, and the days shorter. Time to break out the bike lights for some night riding. I took the 26in out last night to LV. I havnt ridden the stumpie since before the Greensfelder race. I forgot how nimble that platform is. Kind of makes on think about getitng a light carbon hard....nevermind. Great ride in the dark. Probably will do a couple of these per week as long as the weather holds out. There were a lot of people out there doing the same. Good times.

Bubba #1 JB

The excitement has been contained for long enough. I have gotten a taste of CX already, but this weekend was the beginning of BUBBACROSS!! For me this race began the night before, by going to bed at 9:30. I got up early, and had the bike humming. A pre ride of the course gave me an idea of what I would be up against. Very similar to last year, with a few tweeks. The main difference was the barriers on the up hill section. The short pop of a hill after that was there last year. This was a fast course, with open straight aways leading into high speed corners. It was balanced with some tight turns, a long climb that you could spin out, and some rolling sections. Mostly grass course this week, with a section of gravel road leading into the last corner before the finish line.

I had a third row start, and was able to work my way up to top 6 in the first few laps. We had a nice group going for a lap or so, and were pulling away from the main group. I felt pushed, but was able to keep it going without much digging. The 44 tooth seemed to be perfectly suited for this course, I did not take it down the whole day. I am not sure when, maybe about 30 min into the race, I moved to the front after the long climb. I was not trying to create a large gap, but put pressure on the others. Looking back, I might want to consider a different strategy for the future. At this point it was Dennis and Matt price riding with me. They passed with 2 or 3 to go, and I was starting to get tired. Matt put on a huge attack starting at line, and again at the hill. He was laying down some mad power. I could tell from across the field that he was ready to run and had some fight in him. I never caught his wheel, but stayed on Dennis. On the last lap, I almost rolled past Dennis, he saw me coming around and put up a fight from the top of the hill to the barrier. I thought he had me purely on the reserves he had, but gave it one last shot at the barriers. We were even going in, but I got around him. At that point I was able to see Alex from the Hub gaining fast. I made sure the mount was clean, then hauled off on the two hills in front of me. The long sweeping right hander into the ball field had me hanging it all out, pedaling through the corners, and pushing the big meat. I was lucky to take second for the day. My winnings were spent having refreshments, and debating the finer points of seatposts. Cross is here, and the fire is raging.

On the way home, I grabbed some bags of ICE and took an ice bath to refresh the legs. The tech definatly is waiting to dump the ice in AFTER you get in the water. WOW the legs are like new, and ready for some more. It is worth the price of admission.

CX mods

On Friday, I made some mods to the CX bike. First off was a 44 tooth large chainring. I swapped the 48 for a 44, in the hopes I could push the big meat longer in a race. It is paired with a 26-12 cassette, so I have a nice range to work with. Next up was a set of tubular wheels. This allows me to run the challenge grifo tubular tire. 34c gives you a tone of air to ride on, and really smooths out the ride on grass, and gravel. Both performed flawlessly yesterday. It is good when the machine performs to your expectations. Stay tuned for a race report.

Burning 6 Hour

Finally feeling the postive energy of recovery today. Burning was high on my list at the beginning of the year, but after a long season, the motivation was not all there. Still, I packed up and trugged forward. My goal for the weekend was fun and four laps. I have never done 4 laps in one day before, and only done 3 laps consecutivley one other time. I was a bit nervous about my preperation when lining up. I have not faired well on the long MTB rides this summer, so the name of the game is disapline for me. This was my second burning, last year being my first racing the fast class with tim and tony.

Lap 1 and 2 were pretty consistant. I was about mid pack for the Lemans start, and going down the hill. There was a pile up at the drop in, and the switch back onto the lake loop was a choke point. The first lap was crowded and bunched up a bit. The most frustrating part is when I would pass people, and then mess up a tech section. I really did enjoy the company though, and for me this made the time pass quickly. It was nice to ride with friends new and old. Lap two was cleaner, and had me feeling great. I took a 20 min break after lap 2 and had a sandwich. Probably not the best idea, but the hunger was intence, and I really wanted to rest up for the second half. Lap 3 was on a full stomoch, so it took a while to get the blood flowing again. I was definatly feeling it on the last hill, and ended up walking a portion of it with Scott P. The fatigue was setting in on my legs, but I still felt good. A short break, and some gels had me feeling good enough to tackle the last lap. I felt the best on this lap until I hit the beach, then the cramps set in. It is hard to keep those negitive thoughts from coming in, but I tried my best. I was covering the doors and windows like in that move "Birds", trying to keep the darkness out. I had been feeling the twitching coming on since about half way around the last lap, so I was standing alot on the inclines, and spinning the flatter stuff. The last hill had me walking again, cramps came on strong right at the end. I really wanted to ride across the line, but had to limp like a stray mutt into the finish area. I didnt care at that point. I ended up in 6th place for my first real endurance race. I was ear to ear about that.

The rest of the day is kind of a blur. We ate, drank and cheered until Zach B. came across that line with hands in the air. What a sight to see.

This was a test of will for me. I had a ton of fun with the trail, conditions, and all of the great people that made this event happen, and participated.

No complaints about the trail condiitons. It was super fast, no dust, and perfect temps for the whole day. C-bluff is an epic trail, at 13 miles, it never really lets up. The legs were super spent and warrented an Ice Bath. Man this is the ticket to a fresh pair of legs. Maybe could have used a little more ice, but the feeling is great. This was a nice end to the MTB season.

Short Track

Got up on Sunday, and felt pretty good about my self. So I loaded up and headed to C-wood for some short track/dirt crit. I only did one other short track race over the summer, same course, but opposite direction. Fair consideration was given to using the cross bike for this, but at the end of the day, the creek crossing helped make up my mind. I scoped the creek on Friday night. The recent heavy rains had made it wider. There was a small muddy puddle as you dropped in, then a long gravel bar, with a deeper creek section. The trail leading out had been paritaly washed away, and was wet from everyone crossing in the same general area. It made for some great fun. The race was set for 45min and 2 laps. I gave it little thought as I lined up. I started second row, not getting in a big hurry. The start was side open and quickly funneled into narrow switchback sections just like cross racing. We get on the single track, and I make some moves. As we roll into the field, I make a few more, and try to get some distance from those around me for the creek crossing. I made most of my moves in the first 2-3 laps, kind of hard to remember at this point. I do know that I moved around Ralph and Robert in the field, and Russel the Mussel at the creek during a bunch up. I had my sights set on a guy rolling a cross bike. He was flossing big time on the roots, and the drainage wash. I was able to pull up to about 10 sec. gap, but could not close the deal. Greg from Segul came around me super fast in the field. That sent me reeling and scrambling for power. Also around that time, Robert came around me, and slowly pulled away. At this point I was deep in the red, and asking buddy if there was only one lap left. In reality there were 4. I put in some hard efforts to bridge up to metz, but every time I would see him, I biffed the creek crossing, or exploded my form. I was able to finished in good shape, 9th overall in the A race. I feel pretty good about the effort, and my discipline. I tried to keep it in check for the first half. I did that pretty well, still need some work on staying smooth.

For me, the main goal for the day was to not get lapped. While this almost happened, I crossed the line before CP was able to pass me on the final lap. It was close though.

The race promoter, Ralph Pfremmer did a bang up job for the race and the series. It was nothing but good people and good times. The 2 man really was awesome to watch. People were turning some hot laps.

Getting stoked for burning. I could feel the effort last night, even after a nap yesterday. Some quality recovery is in order, so I can be fresh for c-bluff, and an epic race.

Ronde Von Evergreen

Yesterday had me headed to Evergreen park in Carbondale IL. I was stoked to ride this course. I remember it being fast and mostly grass. The course was the opposite direction of last year, with some added features. It was slightly more technical in the parts of the course that changed terrain conditions from tarmac to gravel. These were slick, and need some attention when passing through. The rest of the course was tight turns, a short steep ramp, and a gravel pile that was a momentum sucker. The corners were dragging on me toward the end, I think a smaller chainring will do the trick, something like a 44 o 46. The start of the race was fast and aggressive, with MJ, Russ and Christopher off in the front pack. I found my self separated from it, and chasing to catch the train. There were others in that group, Mark Shae and Casy. It took me two laps to get into a nice rhythm, I was feeling strong, and my HR had come back from the stratosphere. I made a quick stop at the pit for a rear wheel change. I lost many positions before this as I soft pedaled back to the pit. HUGE THANKS to Boz for loaning me a sweet pro mavic cosmic wheel. That was the difference between a DNF and a finish. I buried myself trying to catch back up to the pack, but could not get back in the groove. I was taxed pretty bad with one to go, and could only see Boz several turns infront of me. I had no gas to try and attack, so cruised in. Not sure where I ended up, 15th or so I am guessing. A finish is always better for the ego and confidence than a DNF. Mesa had a good showing for the day. Christopher and Matt took 3/4 respectively, I wish I could have been up front for the party. Ill have to wait two weeks for another chance.

This was a well promoted event. The A race was super fast, with some drama, and mechanicals. Scott P stepped up and did the first series race in the A's. I had a total blast cheering the A race on.

Herman Cross Race

Cross is Back!!!

First cross race of the season has come and gone. What a great time that was. The course was shortened, but packed a punch. There was some smoking fast grass sections with zig-zags, and switch backs. Most could be carved at high speed, or pedaled through. There was a bog section to give you the winter feel of cross, but with out the coldness, or sport balm smell. The stairs were also there in a shortened fashion. I had a bad start, losing me about 20 positions before we started down the pavement hill. I tied too hard, too soon to regain, sending me into the red. I focused on staying smooth. I really wanted to keep the strokes smooth, and constant. If you can do that in the big ring, the speed comes along. I was able to keep some consistency toward the end, and really turn up the heat. On the last lap, I heard the bell, and saw the group of 5 ahead of me that I needed to pass to get in the money. They were grouped tight, and moving. I believe Jason Watkins was pulling the train. I was able to pull up to them, but ran out of course to pass. The stairs came, and I was not able to move around, but managed a 10th place finish. I am stoked for that, since it is the first race of the year. I have alot of time to build on those results. Should be a sweet season.

The new bike ran flawlessly. No complaints what so ever with the bike. The gearing up front is dialed for some smooth operating, and the fit is perfect. I have finally dialed in the Sram shifters. They took a few rides to get used to, but now I have mastered them. I am not sure about the bottle cage I put on. I like to drink in the race, got 4 chances to do so in this one, but it gets in the way when soldering.

We got to rock the new black CX kits. When I put it on and looked in the window of the car, the song This is why Im hot from Lil wayne ran through my head. They are pro. It was nice to enjoy the party atmosphere of the race, and see some friends.

Now I need to clean up and get ready for carbondale. I hope the grass is dry, so I can run the Grifo sx tires. Those things are true speed. The Grifo performed well at Hermann. I did not have any issues with grip, braking or spinning in the mud. I was really impressed with the handeling in the corners as they sofend up. I did unseat the rear, which rubbed up against the brake, and wore down the bead, but that was probably piolot error. Overall I felt good with my form and my fitness. A few more races should hone in both to a higher level.

Tony "yanagi" Rocca

Spoke with my friend Tony today. He is in Skagway AK working as a raft guide. He has been up there since April, and is working on his first year as a guide. Tony has guts and that is what counts. These are a couple of pics of us on the Grand. His first trip out there and we rip off a single day ascent in a shade over 18...hours. That was including an hour nap I took while sitting/leaning up against a rock at 11k. On the way down we run into a griz coming up the trail, and torrential rain in the last mile. All this did was fire us up more for the icing on the cake. A pitcher of Moose Drool Brown Ale, and a pizza... EACH! Ohh, thats not your call, then lets have a Bitch Creek ESB. The second pic is us with my dad in Teton Canyon for some "Moderate" trad climbing. While we were ther we met Jimmy Chin http://www.jimmychinphotography.com/, I got my balls kicked by a super hard sport rout, climbed some moderate rock, got the rope tangled, discussed the finer points of henson clutches with the locals, and as depicted, threw down on some more local Micro.

A true friend, that knows how to live the good life, a pint at a time.

ToM Stage 7

We had kickass seats for this. I was in the grass area on Forest park Parkway in between Compton and Grand. We got to see them from both directions, and had awesome photo opportunity. Here are a few pics. The weather turned out great, the beer was good, and spirits were high. Afterward we went down to the south grand neighborhood and ate at Pho Grand. That place is sweet. A new favorite in my book, I am stoked to try the Afghanie place next door also.

Pictures from stage six are at home, so I will have to get those tomorrow.