End of May

We've had some very nice weather this month in Western Montana and the family and I tried to get out as much as possible to enjoy it. The little one is doing well and we think we will probably keep him. The motorcycle is in full use and a new beefy knobby was installed this week. Lots of fun coming up in June and July.

Hope everyone out there is enjoying their spring as well. Here's a few pictures to enjoy. The album can be fewed here.

 

Yo bro, I'm done skiing

These xtranormal skits crack me up. This exact conversation is going on in every mountain town right now.

Fall weather and winter outlook - La Nina

JW tearing up on the Ravine Trail on a mild October day.

First off I'd like to say thank you to everyone that reads this blog, I always appreciate any comments or suggestions. Its not always apparent if you guys enjoy the content or not. So if you do, maybe make a crack or wiseass remark every once in a while eh? Thanks for looking!

What a fall we've been having in W. Montana, you couldn't ask for much better weather. The temps have been pretty mild and even on the warm side for most of September and October. This week saw nighttime temps dipping into the 20's but daytime temps still in the 60's. The leaves are beginning to peak in the valley and upper elevations, I think most leaves have dropped. Contrast that last year when had a the super cold snap the first week of October, with many trees leaves getting a "flash freeze" only to remain on the tree all winter. Our garden this year was decent, definitely not as many tomatoes as we've had like 2 summers ago. But the peppers (green, yellow and jalapeno's) did great. Garlic was weak but we had huge onions.

And now on to some hopefully good news, only time will tell but the 2010-2011 winter forecast sure seems to be shaping up for a deep winter in Montana.

AccuWeather.com - Meteo Madness | Henry's Winter Forecast for Dec. 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011



And from Lou Dawson's blog on La Nina:

"The meteorologist magician who made our Denali trip a total success, Joel Gratz, comes up with interesting answers. In a Boulder Daily Camera newspaper article, he says during La Niña the PNW and perhaps northern U.S. interior areas such as Montana will get pounded. Indeed, he points out, during the 98/99 Niña season was when Mount Baker got the most snow ever recorded in a single season in the United States. I remember that winter, and the stories of how they had to dig out the chairlift towers before they could start the ski lifts."

******ANTI-JINX*******

Crazy street riding - Danny Macaskill

A friend recently sent this video to me off of youtube. This guy makes me feel like an old lady on a tricycle. But seriously, this guy Danny Macaskill is flat out impressive and insanely skilled at what he does. Some of the clips that really impressed me are at 3:05 and 4:30. Enjoy.



Filmed over the period of a few months in and around Edinburgh by Dave Sowerby, this video of Inspired Bicycles team rider Danny MacAskill (more info at www.dannymacaskill.com) features probably the best collection of street/street trials riding ever seen. There's some huge riding, but also some of the most technically difficult and imaginative lines you will ever see. Without a doubt, this video pushes the envelope of what is perceived as possible on a trials bike.

Freedom Riders

While I'm not quite sure my brain is fully accepting the fact that winter is over, I can say that I am ready for some warm weather. The forecast is calling for near 70 temps in Missoula by Sunday. Lower elevation trails are drying out for riding. My first mtb ride was last week up the Sentinel trail. I'll need to get my biking muscles back before I can truly enjoy it.

Anyway, I ran across this over at the backcountry.com blog, The Goat. KGB Productions is premiering their new mountain bike film, Freedom Riders, tonight at Sea Otter. It’s a true story of a core group of riders who formed an against-all-odds relationship with the Forest Service and created the first freeride specific trails on public lands in the lower 48.


HD High Def Freeride Mountain Bike Movie DVD Trailer from Freedom Riders The Movie Freerid on Vimeo.

27 miles of pure fun

Well, okay it wasn't necessarily all fun but most of it was. Two buddies and I left the Rattlesnake trailhead at 10am on Saturday morning. Oh yeah, this was after I got a flat without even leaving the parking lot. How you might wonder? I'm not really sure but I think I might have reefed on the valve stem too hard while trying to pump up my rear tire.

The first section of this trail can be an ass kicker (for my candyass legs anyway). There are a feww really steep sections that just don't agree with my legs yet, so I ended up walking a bit. Finally, we gained the ridge and I caught up with K and J. The trail follows the ridge all the way up towards our destination. With many steep and rough sections, only a true animal could ride. We defintely had to push quite a few sections, but that was okay because it gave us time to stop and browse on the huckleberries.

Once you get to this point (at about 7 miles) you've gained about 3500 vertical feet. We took a long lunch, lounging in the bear grass and soaking up the rays. From there on, the grunt is lessened a bit and you have about 4 miles left to the top.

The views up top were unbelievable. We could see the Missions, the Bob, the Bitterroots and a lot in between. I would say you could easily see could easily see 50 miles in any direction, spectacular. After a few pics we dropped in on what would be a 16 mile downhill or 2.5 hours of fun. The trail off the top is very rough but totally rideable for 2-3 miles. The turn that takes you back down towards the Rattlesnake is one that you'll have to keep your eye out for, there's no sign so bring your map and good map skillz yo. This downhill is great, busting down though a jungle like rain forest (for Montana anyway), some buffed out section and some very rooty/rocky sections. And finally getting to the Rattlesnake dirt road, you have 8 miles of fast-get-back-to-the-car-to-have-a-beer-riding. Man that beer never tasted so good. A total of 8.5 hours and 27 miles later we kicked off our shoes and called it fun.

Hunting on the brain already??

In the past couple of weeks we have a had few days that definitely felt "fallish". Last week it rained for a day and half, something you don't see very often in August. There were even reports of snow falling in the higher elevations. The clouds were heavy and clung to the mountains surrounding the valleys. I got out for a bike ride up to the Snowbowl Overlook and even had to put on a long sleeve shirt. The shrubs on the way up were definitely starting to show signs of changing colors.

Today is much of the same, 50 degrees with a light rain. The weather shift has forced me into another mode. I dug out all my hunting gear from the garage yesterday and started to get things ready. All the camo is in a pile, ready to be washed in the no-scent. The backpack has been emptied and inventoried. Stopped by Sportsmans Warehouse today and checked out some new binoculars.

It really is too early to be getting worked up about hunting, as there is still 6 weeks until Antelope season opener Oct 12th and Deer/Elk 8 weeks away. But hey it doesn't hurt to start getting ready. I'll be on Google Earth doing some scouting if you need me........

I didn't even know this guy was following me?

I was just ripping down the trail and when I finally looked back there was a guy following me. Turns out he had a helmet cam and captured all my radness on video. Nah, just kidding. I think this is somewhere over in Europe (judging by the ultimate rudeness of both riders). Impressive none the less.

Mondial Du VTT Descente de Venosc caméra embarquée
Uploaded by 103TuRtLe

This looks fun, but I don't have the skillz or the balls

I think this place is just on the outskirts of Missoula. Wow, these kids got mad building skills and biking balls. I'd like to go check it out, but I think I'll just bring my camera. Check out the video, Elk Trail

Starting to feel somewhat normal

Since I got my mountain bike a few weeks ago I've been able to go on a few rides a week. It has done wonders for my mental state. I actually feel like I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and turning the corner on this rehab. Most of the rides are 5-7 miles but I've been on a few 10-12 milers and the knee feels pretty good. My buddy's have asked me while riding, hows the leg feel.....it feels tired like the other one is my response.

I haven't had any pain in the knee after or on these rides, it just a matter of restoring and building up the muscle in that left quad. Plus I am lacking some endurance, but those will come with time.

The rides around Missoula are impressive. The Rattlesnake, although I've only done 3 up there, never ceases to amaze me. Smooth ass single track that makes ya feel like a hero. Pattee Canyon serves up a little more road action than single track (at least in my limited explorations so far), but is still pretty damn sweet. And Blue Mountain is close to my house, so it's convienent but really lacks the great single track that the other places offer.

I am digging how much more country you can see on a bike vs hiking. And then the downhill? Forgetaboutitfool, it is badass. I'm gettting a great work out on the way up and then having a ball on the way down. I hope biking doesn't jade me too much on hiking.

We're going to be headed for Florida here in a few days to visit T's family. I can't wait for some sun and beach action. The 4 hour flight from SLC to Fort Lauderdale with the kiddies should be a blast, I'll keep ya post. For now, enjoy some pics from recent rides around Missoula.






And this is pretty cool. Click here to see a panoramic view that I created from taking 4 pictures from the top of Mount Sentinel last week

One more year

I turned 34 this week, so we celebrated with a bbq. We had a good turn out and lot of fun. We even had a fire in the backyard in the new fire pit that I bought for my birthday, good times. Got out on a good mountain bike ride up Mt Sentinel too.

3 Month update on the ole' wheel

I really can't believe how much better my knee has started to feel in the last 2 weeks. I literally have found myself saying, wow my knee feels normal. Albeit, there are still certain motions where I can feel a difference. But the biggest thing is that I can finally see my muscle tone returning to almost normal. I would say that it is 90%.

I have increased riding the bike to 1 hour/4 times a week (~12-15 miles). Three days a week I hit the gym and do my weights and jumps. I've worked up to 210 lb squats 3 x 20 (which isn't much, but its a great improvement). My leg presses are steadily increasing, at about 210 lb 3 x 20 and single leg at 120lb. I continue to increase weights on the rest of the exercises as well.

Two weeks ago the PT introduced jumps into my workouts. So I try to do 100 jumps 3 times a week. I do straight up jumps holding at the bottom for 2 seconds, side to side (kinda like skiing), 180 degree jump arounds. He also recommended that I skip but I'll be honest I have been slacking on that.


The thing I most excited about is my new mountain bike. I shopped around for 2 months and then finally found a deal and half on Ebay. I found a Kona Dawg Deluxe for over half what it normally retails for. I have a feeling that my kayak may be a bit lonely this summer.

And lastly, I had a my 3 month check up with the doctor today and he was impressed. He gave me an emphatic "you are doing great!" We talked about continue to train hard and continuing to push myself. Range of motion is full, at 130 degrees. No pain anywhere. All test showed tight ligaments. So we left it at another check up at 3 weeks, which at the point it looks like I will be able return to regular work duty. FKNA, they had told me 6 months and I'm a looking like 3.5 months, yes.