Minor Randomness

 Kian sporting the hoodie sweather that Grammy knitted him. 

 Kian sporting the football uniform his daddy bought him (almost never takes it off).  

Wearing real cleats too.

 Oh my god, look at that gaping hole in my RV roof, oh no!

 Holy cow, thats a huge tear!

 Wawhat, mercy me that looks like a wooden frame...?

Ah yeah, its a skylight!  

You thank that looks sweet, wait until you see the next Tortuga pics

that have yet to be released into the internets.  Can you say "double bubble"?

Kikicross

Kian has been having a great CX season so far and there hasn't been race that he hasn't worn his trusty Stars and Bars skinsuit.  Pappy bought him that suit when he was 4 or 5 months old and it just goes to show the beauty of lycra-- the stuff is really stretchy and its takes a licking and keeps on ticking.  He's raced that thing for 3 hard seasons now and I'm hoping we get can get another 2 out of it.

This is the first year he's really started to enjoy the racing.  The past few years he's been so overwhelmed by the spectacle that he really didn't ride much and sometimes he felt the stress of competition was too heavy and he just pulled out altogther.  But this year he's loving it and he's biggest complaint is that there hasn't been any mud so far!  Seriously, one race he started crying when he learned that there wasn't any mud on the course.  Didn't last long. 

To start the gallery, here's a great one posted at the MFG site: http://www.mfgcyclocross.com/photos/detail/8065930315/ from two weeks ago.

 Pre-ridin.

 Post-race at Fort Steilacoom.

 The following shots were just last weekend at Silverlake.

My picture above, CX magazines picture below... snapped at nearly the same instant but from a different angle (mine is way better).   http://www.cxmagazine.com/owen-studley-grind-wins-silver-lake-seattle-cyclocross-series

At about this same time I was trying to instruct Kian to grab his bike and lift it over the barrier and his reply: "Me first, dad, then the bike".  

Chiwawa in Fall

I haven't been spending much time on the Chiwawa in Fall during the past few years because of the busy cyclocross season, but its one of my favorite seasons to be up there and this weekend we skipped a race to make it happen. 

I'd succumbed to the bugs that have been going around last weekend and decided that racing was not a good idea on such short order, and because the cabin really needed a good winterizing Kian and I headed over Saturday morning for a quick recon.  Did our share of cleaning and organizing and packing away of the summer outdoor furnishings and reorging of winters firewood, but we had some time to bonfire it up with drinks and gars and get in a hike.  I'd hoped to do some raking because I hate that in spring when the snow melts away to find a rotten layer of leaves, but it was hopeless as the leaves were still raining down non-stop. 

 First stop, Reptile Zoo!  Been by that place a million times, never stopped.

 Snow at the pass!  Snowballs fun!  Brrrrr.

 Scary skeleton man, bwwwaaaahhhhh.

One Summer Ride

 

This first one began at home in Seattle and culminated on the Chiwawa via "the long way", approximately 270-miles in two days.  Normally I could give you exact data but my GPS died just 112 miles in on Cayuse Pass.  I took a couple days off of work, had to do it.  Brought along arm-warmers, a wind jacket, a head lamp, and a credit card, and each of these items came in extremely handy.  The warm wear and light were instrumental in saving my ass when I ran out of light on Chinook Pass and descended 20-30 miles in the dark, and the credit card on numerous occasions.  Cheap hotel, cheap food. 

 Salmon run. Or, salmon kill. 

 Nice to ride away from traffic, and dirt was even better.

 Second or third of many junkfood stops.  Top Pot in Seattle was #1.

 Last of the pics before I ran out of light on day 1.

 Next day there was plenty of light and heat.  90+ in September. 

And when I hit the smoke from the big central WA fires, I hitch-hiked.  Thumbed from 

Ellensburg cut-off to the Big-Y, but rode all but 6-miles of the rest.  Made it to the cabin just before dark!  Showered and cooked up a quick meal before bringing the Suzuki back home.

Wedding In The Juanies

Cyclocross season starts in early September these days and so Kian already has 3 or 4 races in the books.  Its been a super dry season so far, nary a drop of rain let alone a course full of mud, and this past weekend while Kian and I were out "pre-riding" the course he started crying when I told him that there wasn't going to be any mud.  "Where's the mud" he cried.  Then he cried.

I think I always dread the muddy races not because I don't like racing in the mud, but because what it signifies: rain.  But this dry spell we are having of late is providing a new set of challenges: dust.  The past two Seattle races that I've done huge dust clouds spring up due to the twister-like action of cyclocross racers going incessantly around and around, and my lungs been working overtime to process the muck.  You should see all the boogers and eye junk.

Here are some pics!  Huh, you know what?  I'm not finding any down-loaded bike race pics just yet so I will talk more about some pictures that I do have: In late September some great friends of ours were married and we were invited to the party out on Orcas Island in the San Juans.  To minimize the ferry costs and the wait time in the long weekend ferry lines, as well as to maximize the fun, we rode our bikes across the "big island" and set up camp.  The weekend was blast and the weather was exceptional.  Here are some pics!  

Ah, the adventure and rigors of family travel.

 Are we going to make the ferry?

 

Wooohoooo!

 Guess who we bumped into out there on the roads?  

I guess this wedding isn't all that exclusive and refined after all.

 

Finally, our beautiful camp and the comforts of Doe Bay.

 Let's do this thing!

 And so it was, is, and ever shall be.

And the party commenced with bubbles and hoola-hoops.