Taste Of Home

For no real reason, I started collecting old soda bottles about a year ago. I don't buy every one I see, but I've rounded up about 15 of them so far. They only requirements is that they are glass, I guess. On Monday, I got the above two bottles from my Mom for Christmas. If you aren't from Detroit, you've probably not heard of either Faygo or Vernors as they are fairly localized soft drinks. I'm a fan of both, and was really happy to include these in the collection.
One of the coolest things is that each bottle has not only it's own screened on logo, but most of the bottles have a unique shape, and some have really small details. I'm actually to the point now where I have to find a new place to display them, as I've filled up the windowsill where I've been housing them.

Holiday

Sorry I've been below the radar for most of the month, been busy. Frank and I had another Christmas adventure, this time skiing in the White River Canyon on Mt Hood. Pretty much getting in over our heads, but learning and building lots of character. Good for the soul. Feels good to be back on skis.

Great Shots!

Djonn shot some real film at the Wisconsin State Championship race. WOW. Check out more here.

New Ski Wednesday

The Marquette Backcountry skis showed up, and I just mounted up the bindings. Also picked up a sweet pair of all black Asolo Extreme boots, to go with my all black ski set up. I aim to be the Johnny Cash of the slopes.

Yeah You Are.

Simmering Ideas

Speaking of playing in the snow, it has been really cool over the last couple of weeks to see what Dave Ollila has been up to. The Marquette Backcountry Ski is pretty much exactly what I've been looking for in a ski for years. I worked at a ski lodge at the pro shop back in my college days. Loved the other people that worked at the mountain (in the rental shop, lifties, bar tenders, groomers, etc.) but really disliked the people that came to ski. So much so that I never once even used my free season pass...however, if you take the resort out of the picture, and give me the powder, fun and friends well, I think you see where I'm going with this: Backcountry.
Dave describes the skis as "70% ski, 30% snowshoe, 100% fun." I'm not very good at math, but that is an equation that I can understand.
The above Voile bindings have been traveling around with me for years, just waiting for the right opportunity to carry me into the snow filled hills and woods for some earned turns! Pretty sure they came out of a box on non-sense back in my Surfer Publications days, not sure. Either way, I think I'm going to buy some of these fat skis from Dave and give them a try.
Dig it?

Snow

Got up to the snow on Mt. Hood Sunday with Jenny, Elsa and Frank. We just walked along a Forest Service road for an hour before turning around and walking back. Not super exciting, but what the doctor ordered after too much food on Thanksgiving. Certainly need to get back up there soon.

Good Design

I'd love to see more bikes with chain cases like the ones above. Such a simple, classy thing.

Nice!

I've had this poster in my office for a few years. I never get timed of it.

The Good Book(s)

I picked up a used copy of "Shelter" a few weeks back. Not sure if you've heard of it, but it is an incredible book with more than 1,000 photographs of people's homes from around the world. Mind blowing, awesome stuff. I had originally gone to Powell's to pick up a copy of Builders of the Pacific Coast, but it wasn't in stock that day. Little did I realize, they had been produced by the same man, Llyod Kahn, some 25 years apart. Do yourself a favor and buy them both from Shelter Publications!

It's Good To Be Me

There were lots of great pics from last weekend, but this one that Cory Grove snapped at the jump is by far my favorite!

Holeshot in Urban Velo

The article about Holeshot I wrote for Urban Velo is now online, check it out if you get a chance!

Good Design

I purchased this Optimus 8R camp stove at Phog Bounder in Astoria this weekend. Very stoked on it. Awesome 1960-70s hiking stove. Just a little restoration project. Really cool, super simple design!

Halloween 2010

Dave Roth Photo/ Cross Crusade #6 Astoria

Every pedal stroke hurt, but it sure was a fun race! Damn near every inch of the course was people urging ET to phone home, or "Go Elliot". The bike and my body are trashed, but once again: is there anything the Ahearne Cycle Truck cannot do?

In My Element

The weather was pretty awesome on Sunday at the Cross Crusade PIR race. The above picture is from Jose Sandoval. I think he caught me doing what I do best: yelling at people racing their bicycles and drinking canned domestic lagers. If you figure out what you are good at, why mess with it?

Cuter By The Minute!

Mount St. Helens

So Proud Of This One Here

Yes folks, that is my wife Jenny. She is getting into all kinds of fun stuff this fall, what with the Cross Racin and Wood Shoppin.
If you see her out there, give her a high five and tell her "Hell Yeah!"

Man In Black

There is cool, and then there is Johnny Cash. Totally different.

10 Years On

Came across this flyer from a race I put on 10 years ago. Where have you gone, Lightning Bolt Man and Brat Man? I miss those days. Reminds me of the Pink Floyd lyric from the song "Time"

And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

Small

Ever since the run up to Interbike last month, I feel like I've had my foot on the floor. Yesterday, I finally took a day for myself and headed to the mountains with Elsa. Jen ended up spending the day working on some projects, but found a great hike to Mcneil Point in one of our guide books. I got a bit of a late start, but was on the trail right at noon. The scenery is nothing short of breath taking for about half of the hike. The above shot is from the ridge traverse around Bald Mountain. In it you can see Sandy Glacier in the center and Mississippi Head to the right of it. The hike was somewhere around 9 miles round trip and took me a little under 5 hours. I ate lunch at 6,100 feet overlooking Mount St Helens, Mt Rainier and Mt. Adams with Hood behind me. There was someone camped in the old CCC stone shelter on the point, so I didn't spend too much time hanging around there.
All in all, one of the best hikes I've ever been on. Judging by how much Elsa has slept and eaten since we've gotten back, I'd say she had fun too.

Baggataway

I'll probably always be a history buff. I especially appreciate the history of sport. That being said, before I got really into cycling, my first love was North America's oldest sport: Lacrosse. Just yesterday my old man gave me an issue of Sports Illustrated from earlier this year that had this great article about the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team. The Iroquois team is unique in all of sports, as they remain a sovereign nation in international sports competition. This summer they were held out of the World Lacrosse Championships in the UK due to their passports. Very unfortunate for everyone involved, as I think not having the originators of the sport be there was terrible for the sport.
As an aside, my favorite lacrosse story took place in the state of Michigan. On June 2, 1763, a group of Ojibwe used a game of lacrosse to over run the British garrison of Fort Michilimackinac. The people in the Fort were fond of watching the game, and the natives of the area played several matches near the fort. During this particular match, as several men played, the women that were with them sat on the ground outside the fort. During the game, one of the Ojibwe hurled the ball over the wall of the fort. Not wanting to interrupt the match, one of the guards opened the gates of the fort to allow one of the players to run in and grab the ball, as the Ojibwe hoped would happen. With that the Ojibwe rushed to the women gathered outside the fort where they dropped their sticks, and traded them for weapons the women had hidden in their blankets. They rushed into the fort, and massacred the garrison.

RIP, Jure Robic

I heard some terrible news last night that has been with me all morning. Slovenian cyclist Jure Robic was hit by a car while on a training ride, and died of his injuries late last week. I didn't know Jure personally, but I've been familiar with him since the summer of 2006 when someone handed me this article from the New York Times about him. I was just about to leave on RAAM to crew a British team, and a friend thought I would enjoy the article. I did. Sadly, Jure dropped out of RAAM that year, but roared back to win the race 3 more times.
You don't hear about guys like him very often. Truly a tough son of a bitch, I wish I was 1/8 as tough as he was.
Tailwinds Jure, Rest In Peace.

Superfan Season Is Here

That is Jenny and Tonya, superfanning at StarCrossed this weekend. Weather was so hot you couldn't stand it during the day, but steadily deteriorated into the evening. Great racing. Trebon getting beat broke our hearts...

Cool?

These blokes were defining cool when I was defining dirty diapers.

Surveyors Ridge

Hammered out another quality Sunday ride today up at Surveyors Ridge. Great crew, awesome weather, stunning views of the mountain. All in all, win.

The Right To Bare Arms

Jason Barnes Photo circa Y2K

Yeah, I spelled that right. I think if a guy doesn't want to have sleeves, he shouldn't have to have them.

Things Got Weird

Last week, my old pal Ian Broughton came out to Portland for a visit. We did nothing but have a great time for 4 days, and it was really great to see him. On Friday, we headed for the Gorge to hike and hit Double Mountain. On the way out, we saw the above lenticular cloud hovering over Mt. Hood. I've never seen anything like it in real life, and I gotta say that mountain continues to impress me all the time.

The Lost Coast Trip

JB snapped the amazing picture Sunday at the end of our ride at Paradise Royale. For those of you who haven't heard of it, I'm here to tell you: Some of the best mountain biking anywhere. Boom, I said it.
Crazy single track, a world class pump track, excellent camping ($8 sites, water, etc). And the best part is, there is no one there...

Holeshot

Matt Battjes Image
What remains to be said about Holeshot? You can see some great pictures from Jose Sandoval here. There is a great video that Erik put together on Vimeo here. It was a blast, best bike event I've been a part of to date. It will be tough to top.

Remains Of The Day

3 am Sunday morning...empty kegs on the track, just me and a big empty space where lots of people had lots of fun.

DIY

It always amazes me what we can do with our hands and some good old fashioned gumption...Holeshot today. It's been a long last few days. I'm beat, full report soon.

Cycle Truck Signage

Shelter Research

I just spent $12 on these books at Powells Books. Man I love Powells books.

Nice Shot!

Brenton Salo captured this great pic of Jen and the Cycle Truck a couple of weeks ago. Pretty nice shot, eh?

One For The Weekend

We're off to camp and ride at McKenzie River Trail!

Irony

Using the Cycle Truck to pick up a new car battery, and drop off and old one. There is some pretty sweet irony there. As I was riding to the battery store, I recalled this isn't the first time I've fetched a car battery by bike. Last time was for my 1979 Chevy Nova, Green Tony. It was probably 2000, summer time in Marquette. Put the battery in the basket of a bike named "Pedro". Pedro was a great bike, until it tried to kill my friend Pipp....

Sometimes...

CT Pictures

Boom. Check this monster out! I'm pretty stoked with the build so far. It'll have full fenders, and there will be a sign on the frame, and a deck on the rack. Otherwise, pretty much set. The fit is getting close, trying to stretch out on it as it is probably going to become my daily rider when our office moves to NE Portland and I've got to commute about 5 miles each way, instead of the 1 mile commute I have now.
I sold three bikes and a variety of other stuff to finance this sucker. And it was worth it!

Ahearne Cycle Truck

I've got the CT pretty much built up. Doing some fit dialing. Pictures later today for serious.

The Bear

JB shot this picture of Elsa Bear at the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend last weekend. I'm a fan. Beautiful shot.

The Powell Farm

We don't claim to know too much about gardening, but we've done some stuff right this year. We picked lots of berries, and made some tasty treats with them. The lettuce did well, but it was a bit bitter for my liking. We just had some pesto pizza, so we know the basil did well. Above you can see how our tomato plants are doing. The top picture was taken last night, and the one below less than two months ago. Last night, Jenny had to lash one of the plants upright as it is getting so heavy it is threatening to take over the whole planter. On the four plants, she stopped counting at about 60 tomatoes! Incredible!

Sandy Ridge

Rode some sweet trails. Shot a bb-gun. Drank some tall boys. Ate a steak.
Pretty solid summer Sunday.

Known Associates

Circulus Maximus

Lisa Anne Auerbach Photo
An offer has been made...now the waiting game begins...