Sunday, May 14, 2006

Enchanted Rock













Bunch of dumped pics from my bachelor party. Untraditional bachelor party. 4 dudes camping, climbing, drinking and not doing much of it till the last night, and no whores or strippers. Pretty fun though.

One of the most laid back climbing trips I've been on. Even more laid back than trips it rained cause your always itching when rain is keeping you off the rock. Start drinking and getting all sentimental about those long days, high up off the valley, on the rock. A majority of this was spent chilling on our asses, drinking a warm beer, shootin' the shit, and puffin' courage.

A picture of a problem not sent, but there was only one half harted try. A fall from it would actually mean a long roll down the dome or at least till you could stop yourself via friction.

Cave Crack, 5.6 splitter, old school 5.6, super esthetic line that even a hardman would enjoy, but probably sans rope, classic.

the everest guide scraping his way up a 5.8 crack.

petron and cubans. developed quite a taste for tequila since moving to tejas. big fan of the dirty mexican martini. that sounds real un pc but i mean dirty in that i like a bit of olive juice in there with the lime.

spent to much time hiking and getting lost in the dark. pretty funny since we had an everest guide with us. 4 guys including a professional mountain climbing guide are lost overnight on a trail frequented by overweight, bluejean and cowboy boot wearing, SUV driving, supersizing, Texans. Found dehydrated, disoriented, and hungry. One headlamp with dead batteries to blame. Moon not as dark as they thought.

What would Backpacker subscibers think?

Nothing like the frontcountry epic!

Saw Clinton and H.W. Bush speak at Tulane graduation this weekend. Pretty damn cool. But the jazz band was better. Somber music to celebration, classic. As a person who can begin to understand hydrogeologic situation New Orleans is in, all I can say is, "REBUILD!" Rebuild smart and make some tough decisions, decisions that mean ignoring politics and taking some holistic measures to manage the movement of the nations water through the delta. The cultural loss would be too great.

If any of you people who might read this have eaten at Crabby Jacks, rub that ole gut. There are places I've lived that I never though I would and never had the desire too live there. Those are the places I hold dearest in my experiences. My fondnest for New Oleans has grown fonder with every visit. The food, the flowers, the oak trees, the music, the people, is all wonderful and to be a part of New Oleans rebirth would be something unforgetable.

Peace, ya'll.

ljm

Thursday, May 11, 2006

CVO, finally some more pics for you to check out










Got a great ride in yesterday. Rode with Tara, or should I say Mrs. Mason down to her improvisational dance class and headed out to the Greenbelt to get a little mtn biking in with my GB, rEy. Sweet riding. Especially since we've had so much rain since last Thursday. Tara and I went without power from Thursday through Sunday. Nice at first living by candle light, but by Friday evening we were like, "WTF!"

Riding was sweet. Nice having a trail that dries out so fast. Just a few puddles in low areas by the creek. Its cool though cause there is so little soil out there your not going to make ruts. Just as much dirt gets deposited during a rain in 'em that there's no net damage riding through. Problem is people ride around the puddles to the trail is wider in those parts.

Loving the two tubeless tires I bought. Ti Jones bar and the low pressure I can run with the tires are all the suspension I need. Felt the rocks on the rims in a few spots. Never could run 30 psi with tubes. I would've had more pinch flats than I could count, but these bad boys kept the air. Such good traction running the low psi. Unusually, rEy and I took the time to snap some photos. Both feeling tired from life, or at least for me, and him probably too much riding lately. Law of diminishing returns. Need to take some time off the bike, dude. But shit, what can you do. Ride it when you can.

Picked Tara up and rode home in a huge headwind. Tried teaching Tara the benefit of a draft. She was getting it but felt it was cheating. In fact she pulled me most of the way up Guadalupe. Thanks wifey, it ain't cheating to me, its the way forward.

Riding has been sparce since the wedding, but that's okay. Been having a blast when I've been getting out which is the imporant thing. Plus it feels like the skills are as good as they've been in a while. Just flying through the technical sections as fast as the gear on the bike will take me. Hell yeah, biatch!

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Wedding Pics






Couple pics taken by my Uncle Chuck at the wedding and rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner shot is of my dad pulling out the old hockey coach skills and giving a inspirational speech. It was an emotional weekend and the ceromony brought most to tears.

oh the party was pretty good too. A dj was spinning till about 5 in the morning out at the lake.