It's Alive!

Well, it's been a long time coming but at least I know the engine starts now! That's one big step I don't have to worry about anymore. I can't believe it started up so easily after 5 1/2 years of sitting!

Next up on the work order is painting the front fenders, installing them, finishing up the steering links, building the exhaust system, and finally getting the custom rear driveshaft built :-)

Last long ride of '09

A few weeks ago my friend suggested doing one more long ride for the season. We planned it for the 16th and with the weather being as good as it was on Friday and me being on Fall Break from school, I couldn't resist. I rode down to American Fork Canyon and we rode the Alpine Loop and Cascade Springs before heading home. It couldn't have been a better day, temps were in the high 60's for most of the ride and I was taking my birthday present out for their maiden voyage. Boy were they good! Thanks G

Stats:
Distance: 191.77 km (119.2 mi)
Elevation Gain: 2,136 m (7,008 ft)
Link to interactive map

Taylor - welcome to the joys of road riding :-) You sure know how to fly on those downhills!

Birthday Surprise

Gina surprised me good for my birthday this year. I had really been wanting a set of carbon wheels for some time but I'd written them off thinking that I would just get a pair of nice all-around wheels instead. Gina totally faked me out and, with a bit of help from my family, surprised me with these! I took them out for their first ride on Friday and boy were they good. Thanks for a great birthday Gina and fam, you guys are the best.

Mmm, tubulars

Just a few shots

I haven't been taking too many pictures lately but Gina has been a bit busy.


Red vs. Blue Hill Climb (might have some pics at some point, results here)

Lotoja 2009 (results)

Harvest Moon Criterium (results aren't published yet but I got 8th in that too)

Guess 8th place is my lucky number this year no matter the race.

PS, I do not like how Google handles pictures on blogs and I don't want to take the time to fix it, sorry for the graininess.

Tour of Park City

A few of us from the U of U Cycling Team volunteered to be mobile course marshals for the "Felt Tour de Park City" back on August 1. We had a great time riding the course after all the other groups had passed through (essentially sweeping the course). The idea was that we could help patch tires, tend to crashes (if any), and help riders with mechanical problems... the irony of it all is that we didn't fix anybody's tires except our own. To be more specific, between just two of us (out of 4 of us total), we ended up with 7 flats during the 170 mile ride! I normally average 1 flat per year, go figure.

We still had a great time throughout the whole thing and I was super-impressed with how well the race/ride was organized. The organizers and sponsors did a great job with great aid station food, good support staff and vehicles, and a well-organized start/finish area. Looking forward to next year... maybe I'll race it next year :-)

Stats:
7 flat tires (4 for me, or was it 3...? hmm)
277 km (172 miles)
2,344 m (7,690 ft) elevation gain

Park City > Coalville > Evanston > Mirror Lake Highway > Kamas > Park City

(Click for larger map)

Gearing Up

For some reason back in May I had a funny urge to go to some website called www.lotojaclassic.com and register. Knowing full well that I'd, of course, never get in via the lottery as a category 4 racer in America's longest single-day road race, I was signed up within minutes of going to the website. The reality sank in while sitting at a friend's house idly checking my email on my phone and low and behold an email from Lotoja Classic came in telling me I was in. So here I am just a bit more than a month away from the race and I'm just trying to squeeze in as many miles in the saddle as I can.

Luckily, a friend from high school said that he and some other friends were going on a good solid ride on Saturday wondering if I wanted to come. Having been only 1 week away from lounging on a sailboat for 10 days, I gladly said YES! (was I thinking?) At the end of the ride I ended up with the following...

Stats:
Distance: 138 km (85 mi)
Vertical feet gained: 1,813 m (5948 ft)
# of riders: 6

Map:
Elevation Profile:

Belizean Adventure

To find out why I've been MIA, check out Gina Bina's blog

Here, Here, and Here

Here's a preview...

Tour of Park City Route added!

See my bike routes post by clicking the link or look over to the left at the top of the column to access it. Each link on that page will take you to an interactive map of the route.

The Tour of Park City route is linked under the "Summit County" section on that page.

Mmm, Big Mountain

First time up Big Mountain (in Emigration Canyon) for the year. This has to be one of the best rides in the SLC area.

View from the top (sorry for the crappy iPhone pic, I need a new Point and Shoot camera):

Elevation profile:

Map:

Getting excited about the ToU this August

Referring to that last post...

Apparently the video in my last post did not come through for those of you using Google Reader. If you're using Reader and you want to watch that video, please visit the blog outside of Reader.

B-Cycle

Another company has finally gotten together what looks to be the right amount of money to do what I've wanted to do for quite some time. This one looks like one of the best implementations of this style system outside of some of the ones deployed in Europe. Very well-done B-cycle! Now let's just get it to come to SLC, ask for it here: http://bcycle.com/who_wants_it_more/

Portfolio Pics - Part 5

Hawaiian Sunset

As always, comments welcome!

**Update** I almost forgot to post the EXIF data. Some people have asked for it.
ISO: 200
Exposure time: 1/160 sec
Aperture: f/18
Focal length: 24mm
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority

Portfolio Pics - Part 4

Another one... comments/critique welcome!

This was another one from film so I don't remember the camera settings. Lens was probably 50mm f/1.8 at about f/11 and about 15 sec exposure.

Do not reproduce without permission

Healthiest US City? Salt Lake City

Couldn't help but pass this one along. Salt Lake City deserves a big pat on the back for being nominated and chosen as the U.S.'s healthiest city! Ahh, such pride :-)

Men's Healthiest Cities
Women's Healthiest Cities

Published!

I just have to do a bit of bragging about my wife and her new publication! Well, OK, it's not a full book, but it is a photo in a book. We have a few photos on iStockphoto.com to help us earn credits so that we'll buy other images there. (I know, it's a vicious cycle) We've sold a handful here and there to non-descript downloaders and maybe one day I'll spot one somewhere, but the photo below drew a bit more of a personalized crowd. We received a message saying that Greg Witt was including it in his book "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Salt Lake City". We were pretty excited. Way to go GinaBina!

Do not reproduce without permission

Wife

My wife is awesome.

Portfolio Pics - Part 3

"Lake Mendota a la Mode"

Portfolio Pics - Part 2

Ahhh, the good ol' days of film

"Library Station"

And in black and white, as it appears on the wall of our house.

Comments welcome

Ringing in the New Year!

Besides the party that we had for New Year's (I'm sure GinaBina will post about that...), we celebrated the new year and the new snow with snowshoeing up by Mountain Dell Reservoir.

Here's the view we woke up to yesterday...

"Flocked"

Me and the Mrs.

This is what we saw all day long