Some like it hot. I however could use a break.

This has been a great summer but I'm glad the temperatures are finally coming down. A few brush fires in the neighborhood are keeping things exciting. It's still not as hot here as it is where most of my family lives.

We did the STP (Seattle to Portland) bike ride again this year, and it went even better than last year. We had one more person on the team too, so it was even more fun. I've been doing as much mountain unicycling as possible too. We went to the Bellingham Muni Weekend this year, as I was sorry I missed it last year, and I got to ride with Kris Holm himself! We have not got in nearly as much canoeing and fishing this year as last, but I can't say we have not been busy doing everything else.

Places in the Northwest we got to visit this year so far: Bellingham area (Salish lake, Mount Galbraith), Columbia river Gorge area, Spokane city, Portland, 8-bit Arcade in Renton, Port Townshend, Vashon Island, and some other places. I am also looking forward to a Canada trip we have planned before the end of the year. We also did some whale watching and got to spend hours with a pod (J-pod) of Orcas. It's amazing how the year is already almost over.

The new job is taxing my resources a little more than the last, but it's a fun and exciting experience, and my team is incredible.


Not Me

Maywhatnow?

Wow. It's May already. Well here's the latest report from the NorthWest frontier.

We're having an unseasonably warm winter. It's usually cloudy, rainy, and under 50 degrees until August, but we've had some really nice days last month and it looks like it might be a nice Zucchini Summer this year. The new home is shaping up nicely. I recently got a lot of practice with my cut-in as we did some inside house painting (I've never really done much other than touch-up before).

Saw Zappa Plays Zappa in Atlanta last month with my brothers. I have been not up for concert-going over the last 10 years, but last year's Devo and Kraftwerk concerts were great, and Dweezil's group's performance inspires transcendence.

Lot of yard work coming up. Had quite a workout detaching, aerating and seeding a patch last month. The moss really is quite a force to contend with.

HEY GUYS! CATCH ME!

Winter respite

Hey look, winter's already almost over! Looking forward to this new year. Looks like a few changes good and bad are in store for me and mine, but this early warm weather here is making it all a bit better. Nothing much new to mention here, except that I still love living in the Northwest US and the deer keep on munching the ivy.

Here's to 2014! A hell of a year!

Mudderdays

Well, I'm finished with the last of my events for the year. The Tough Mudder was pretty hard but also incredibly fun. My friend and I did this together and I am very proud of and impressed with myself and with him. We didn't get to train much but we made it through every obstacle and worked together really well. Most of the obstacles required everyone to work together to get through, and it was impressive how everyone worked as a 1600-person team. Mentally, the worst obstacle were the electrode-based ones, but the physically worst one was the ice bath. It was a FANTASTIC day for the event, and I'm very happy that we did it. I don't know if I'd do it again, but ask me next year.

Something the hype-man said at the start of the race resounded with us both. 'Every week, do something you've never done before. Make the most of life.'

Mike Check One Two One Two

STP 2014 went phenomenally! The whole team felt great at the halfway point in Centralia and the day after we finished in Portland too! All that training really paid off. Also, I realized it made a lot of difference in comfort having rest stops and food/water supplied to us. It was a well sponsored and supported ride. We also got to see a news making sunset on the ride back to Seattle that Sunday.

Looks like my first Century ride was also my second! Coming up next is a century ride for the Gigantic Bicycle Festival in Snoqualmie and then the local Tough Mudder and that's it for the big summer event plans. Now THAT'S some adult summer fun. Challenges!