Got back from my trip to IN all in one piece. Al's family get together every few years in a central part of the country and southern IN meets that criteria. Initially planned to take the mountainous bicycle, but the call for rain and above freezing temps changed that plan. Drug the cross bike along for some gravel road action in and around the Hoosier National Forest outside of French Lick, IN (no I am not kidding thats what its called). My brother in law, Brad Reed, is always game for some rambling rides.

He also likes to bike in his "shady man" sun glasses. I actually credit (or blame) Brad to getting me into cycling when I married into the family. We had to endure some soul crushingly steep climbs in that area.

Here we are as matching HEED guzzling Ninjas. Its great, every year we get matching gifts from Laura.

Ordered my new pack for TMHTE. I will report back later on how I like this design.
I also scored some new brakes for a song and a dance. Lots of folks say that they do not like Strokers, but I liken Hyd. brakes to high end suspension forks.....I have never used them so I probably would not appreciate (or respect) them (my lack of respect for nice things is a primary reason that I cannot have them). They can't be any worse than BB5's or so we will see. I am currently having the lines chopped down to fit so stay tuned for a review.

Yesterday me and Zach D went out for some into the north wind gravel suffering . 25 miles into the wind (avg speed 12mph) and 25 miles with it at our backs (avg speed 21 mph) .
I am reall looking forward to the end of next week as I will be heading to Idaho to see mi familia and cut some big lines at Sun Valley.
Happy New years

Shenanigans

Got a good bit of snow coupled with some brain freeze inducing cold so big Al took matters into her own hands and got the ok from my folk to give me my Christmas present early.
Pearl Izumi Barrier GTX winter boots.
This will make my winter adventures much more enjoyable.
Note: Gaiters are also really helpful in keeping fluffy snow out of your socks

Got the call from her Al-ness that there was gonna be ski biking in the afternoon so I left work early to meet Al, Brutus along with Tanner, Krispy, and their roommate for some snow bike action.

Since it has been really deep snow I busted out the bike with the fatties.

Never Doubt big Al's ability to make a sick snow angel

We rounded out the evening by playing maul the stuffed duck toy thingy with Brutus.

I manned up and signed up for the Ouachita 80 miler on the SS. There is gonna a huge KS and KC contingent down there this year.

CX nationals and the end of the semester

Been busy...real busy. Been modeling nitrification in soils with anhydrous ammonia as a source. not much fun. But We did make it out to Tiffany Springs park this past weekend to do the SS race, and be loud and proud. I was not dissapointed with my performance, but I was hopping for a top 20 finish. I came up a little short but had a good time nontheless. As I was looking at all the pictures from my race it was pretty hard to find any where I was not standing and grindin up a hill. My choice of gearing was subpar to say the least. I ran what I have always run for cross, a 42:18. I was very competative for the first few laps hanging in the top 20 and passing folks all the while.

I even managed to bridge up to Patterson (and his carbon fiber wheels) for a few minutes and then my irresponcible decision to turn a monsterous gear took its toll.
Below you can see me fending off the advances of that West Virginia woman Betsy Shogren Which I managed to do for about 5 laps.

Phot cred: Carolynne Locke
The problem was the race lasted 6 laps. Yes I got passed by a girl who proceded to ride the run up that I had to run. I was mocked unmercifully by the crowd and Roger Harrison will never let me live it down.

Photo cred: Roger Harrison
The one upside to my monsterous gearing was that I did dominate some guy from Spike Shooter in a sprint at the end to finish 24th. You can see Kyle Shour in the photo above, and he would also pass me towards the end of the race to finish 23rd. It was good to get out there and mix it up with some new faces and ride an awesome course.
Things are coming together for Team Bad Goat Racing. We will make our presence known at Ouachita. I also heard from a throughly unreliable source that Brandon Bundy will return to dominate Boss Cross 3.
More to followw tomorrow after I triumph over the trivial meddling of the Cropping Systems 640 Final.

I thought that this was great

These ol boys are actually speaking english.....or some form of it.



We finally got Brutus and he is adjusting to hobo life accordingly. He terrorizes vermin and takes a mighty steaming dump twice a day just to assert his dominance over the other males. It been good for me especially cuz it makes me have to get out of bed to take him on long runs in the morning. We have had a little trouble equalizing our paces. He kinda has 3 speeds, trot, canter, and chase squirrels (warp Speed). That mean I am gonna have to get faster....
Holiday Symposium Tonite with all the other AGSA members so it will be a gathering of dangerously overeducated farm kids. Should be amusing

Tell your maw, tell your paw, went down to Arkansas

Spent several days backpacking around the Buffalo River, and learned the perils of doing like a dozen creek crossings in the middle of winter. Lets just say that it was not exactly tropical





Got out of AR while the gitting was good, and made it up to KC for some boss cross shenanigans in the the mud and snow. Platte may not be the fields of Flanders but it was pretty wild nonetheless. I managed a 2nd in the cat 4 which is my best finish ever in a non-ss race. Every person that I passed, I passed on foot. Todays race was all about being the fastest person OFF the bike. Once again props to Jeremy, Joe Bob, Hersey and everybody else that makes this event happen
I will post up the rest of the story when I finish my lecture and get a better/faster connection
xoxo
Stamper

For Sale wavesport ACE

Need to start liquidating gear that does not get much use any more.
Wavesport Ace 4.7 probably about 4 seasons of use out it. Has been paddled on almost every major southeastern river. very slicey and has a very loose hull.
$200
I can include the paddle, skirt, and helmet for extra $.
The children are not included
I also have throw bags, extra flotation, a shorty dry top, that can be included to totally outfit a smaller paddler

He's a killer

Brutus the German Short hair

We may have to keep him........he has got big floppy ears and a winning personality, what else could you want in a dog?

we suck again

uh.....uh......(hanging head).....uh.....I generally stay out of the political arena, mostly cuz I think all politicians suck. For me choosing between McCain vs Obama was like picking between putting my hand in a garbage disposal and getting a grundle tattoo. Mike was interviewed on NPR this evening and managed not to sound like a geriatric moron. Needless to say, I liked Mike.
ignore the write up and listen to the interview.
Yes, he is conservative, but he is calling for honest dialogue, not the foaming of the mouth diatribe that the rest of the GOP flunkies spew at every chance they get.

Teh satelittes have aligned for the first time in amny moons and for some reason I have been able to pirate wifi.....I am also in the process of chowing some pork and kimchee so if this is painfully short bear with me. I have scanned the larger sections of the pisgah ranger district so you can start getting an idea of how horrible it was last year. I am sure that Trails illustrated will send one of their GIS thugs to rough me up for posting their stuff up so I gotta give them the props. get you own here



Starting to get a shopping list together. Thinking I might get some winter boots, lights, and some new chamois to match the colors of Bad Goat Racing.....whatever thats gonna be

Here how the really horrible things played out

Nightmares and lights

Last night I almost got smoked riding home. I was zipping down a long hill in the rain and it was dark, and I have yet to secure my commuting lights to the bike. anyhow this little sedan turns left directly in front of me.
I immediately lock up both brakes and quickly surmise that unless drastic actions are taken forthwith, my demise may be immanent. So rather than broadside this car, I try to outrun it into the turn. I knew that I was carrying too much speed to actually make the turn so I tried to straighten the angle a little and ended up having to bunny hop a rather imposing curb and ride it out through some bodies front yard.

I was really gonna yell at the woman and then I realized that I did not have any lights on, so I was really the one who was at fault. I just kind of waved at her sheepishly and rode home very defensively.
Then I had a horrible nightmare about how marko and jesse lalonde and 2 other pale white BKB flunkies were chasing me down a hill on a bike yelling about how the BKB is for haters. It was really weird. I am pretty sure that it was the turkey sausage I put in my marinara sause that caused this abomination of REM. uuuughgg..shiver...shiver.
On the upside things are looking bright for The Most Horrible Thing Ever

the recipes

Since I have been threatened with bodily harm, here are the recipes I have promised to give to several different people after breaking bread at races. Good food only becomes great when it is shared with others.
Note: all of these recipes are adaptations of recipes that I have found over the years I have tried to list the actual source where I adapted my recipe from.

Boiled Chicken Salad: This recipe came from watching Brit Saylor make staff dinner at Roaring Gap. I always hated any type of “salad” growing up cuz it was mushy and had a sweet relish taste to it. This has lots texture to stand up to the flavor of the horseradish and lemon. Slap it on some whole wheat bread and you have the makings of a sandwich that will change your life.
2lbs Chicken Breast (I like the stuff that has not been boned, cuz its is a lot cheaper and you will be deboning it after it is cooked)
3 Stalks of Celery (chopped coarsely)
1 crisp apple, chopped finely (I like Pink lady, York, Honeycrisp, or Granny Smith apples)
½ a Vidalia onion (chopped finely)
Toss the whole breasts into a pot of boiling water. Boil for at least 10 minutes or until the internal temp is at least 160 degrees. (Note: I actually like to make this at the same time that I am making chicken stock so sometimes I end up overcooking it as part of the stock, but it makes no difference) then take it out of the water and let it cool. After the chicken has cooled, debone it and coarsely chop it with a sharp knife into ½ - ¾ inch cubes. Combine with your other chopped veggies in a large bowl and toss lightly.
The Dressing: This is what can make or break your salad.
½ cup sour cream
½ cup Mayo (I prefer Dukes mayonnaise, a North Carolina product), however other brands will suffice NEVER USE SALAD DRESSING
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish (more or less according to who is going to be joining you)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (pardon me, do you have any Grey poupon?)
The juice of at least ½ lemon
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.



Tortellini Asparagus salad: this is an adaptation of a Better Homes and Gardens recipe.
2 packages (9 oz each) of frozen tortellini
1 lb of asparagus chopped into 1 inch pieces, discarding the bottom pieces of the stalks that have a hard woody texture.
1 large yellow (or red) sweet bell pepper chopped coursely
Cook the tortellini according to directions, then drain and rinse. Combine with asparagus and chopped pepper in a large bowl.
In a screw top (or otherwise sealable) container combine the following ingredients
1 ½ teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
1/3 cup lemon juice
¼ cup EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 teaspoon sugar (honey would also make a good substitute)
Pinch of salt
2 cloves of garlic finely minced
Now take the aforementioned screw top container put the lid on and shake the crap out of it for about 30 seconds then pour it over the top of the pasta and veggies. Then refrigerate until you are ready to serve. Just before serving garnish with :
½ cup parmesan cheese finely grated (I prefer pecorino Romano though)
¼ cup chopped dry roasted almonds
Enjoy!

Its gonna be the best christmas ever....er...um...

Started shopping and what better place to get stocking stuffers than Paragon......who's on your list?

We are also gonna be meeting up with all the Caley clan outside of French Lick (insert joke here) and Paoli, IN for christmas. I have been scoping out some spots to ride and this looks to be very promising. Its not Pisgah, but it'll do.

genuflections

To all the race promoters out there.....you get nothing but crap from people for the job that you do, and no one see all the work that goes into a race. I respect you.
This past weekend I volunteered to help out with Boss Cross at Tiffany Springs Park. It was also my first ever experience with Jeremy, who strikes you as being more at home promoting punk rock shows than cycling events. He was frickin hilarious spinning vinyl on top of the "the dutchman", mocking peter every time he went by, spitting game at Hersheys' bonnie lass, and putting a dent in the Boulevard stockpiles all the while. Truly a gentleman of distinction.
I also learned that Hersey is really demented at least as far as designing CX courses go. We were standing there admiring his coup de etat, the uphill undulating washboard section. His observation was pretty much, a "ugh,I would not want to have to ride that" muttered through gritted teeth as we watched the masters grind away up the earthen cobbles.
It was a long day but it was good to get to meet some new folks and see the nationals course.
Joe Bob, Kathy, and the wee Fox met us at some pasta place a little later. The wee Fox was eyeballing my pumpkin ravioli (it was much better than it sounded) probably cuz the fillin looked like baby food.
I have got to say how beautiful western MO is in the fall. There are lots of hardwoods and colors as the trees change, not the monochrome brown that I have gotten used to in central KS. I miss home..........



Sigh......the land of the pine

whoa!

Rode the fixie mtb of river trails last night, and it was a lot of fun. My previous fixed gear experience left me with a new affirmation of faith. I thought that my life was going to end.
I had previously read peoples fixie mtb experiences and heard the claim of being "one" with the bike and all that zen like crap. I attributed that sense of oneness that they were feeling to the sphincter tightening experience I had when I forgot to pedal. But no, once you get going, and are riding something with lots of flow, it was a blast. Changed how I approached logs and obstacles. anyhow it was great fun for big cheif, I even learned how to skid...... even the hobos were impressed

Getting owned

I got destroyed this sunday in my first ever attempt to race geared cross. I also logged my first ever DNF.....at anything.
I just did not want to be on my bike. It was not one of my finer moments. I also managed to get owned in the SS class. was a fun course though. the wind was brutal though. Gonna go to Boss cross this weekend, though I will not be racing. I am gonna volunteer and cheer, but I need to start saving money and throwing money at these races is a losing proposition in my mind. Especially when I have to drive from Manhattan.
Enough complaining


On the upside I got my tomicog yesterday and managed not to die riding to work this morning. I am gonna try to sneak away and ride the river trail tomorrow afternoon. Considering my lack of fixed gear prowess it should be amusing, at least to the crusty hobos that hang out on the river trails. I am also gonna try to replace a bearing on a TIME ATAC pedal that has a plastic on plastic squeak when turned...... very weird. If anyone has ever replaced a bearing on a Time pedal I am all ears to any tips or suggestions.
Big Al is also home from the Northern Hinterlands of MN, so its time to straighten up or else......

Smitheville Cross Festival is this weekend, and since Big Al is away I will go play. I would still go even if she was here, but that rhymed and I was feeling poetic. Wasn't feeling so poetic this morning. I have something up my sleeve this weekend and I will let ya know how it works out later. It will be a first for me!
Big Al is up in the northern hinterlands of Minnesota and Wisconsin probably punchin some hippy right in the mouth as we speak (cuz that how she rolls).
Bought tickets to fly into Twin Falls Idaho in January. Gonna go skiing at Sun Valley and visit with Joel and Mandy.
Ok for now

Working out west

Its almost like you can see the curvature of the earth


Big Al likes straight lines so she does the marking


My little Canola plants busting out.


As usual... on the cutting edge of fashion and soil fertility research.




Doing work on Wards whole plant sampling. nothing excites me quite like whole plant nutrient uptake.

How I got like this......

The easy explanation would be that I have had a few too many head injuries. After haggling with insurance companies, the Mayo Clinic, a helicopter and ambulance company for the past year we finally have gotten the total out of pocket owed from about $32,000 USD to less than $4,300.
I sustained a minor stroke following a bike wreck at last years Conference finals Mtb bike race in Red Wing, MN. I got to ride in a ambulance, a helicopter, have a catheter inserted, and get put in one of those tube things that cost about $4 thousand to take a picture of your brain. (Later asked the doc what he saw, and he mumbled, "not much". had I not been restrained his life would have been in great peril)
This experience has left me bitter and thankful to alot of different people, and has changed my perspective on health care, insurance, USA Cycling, and Brandon Bundy. I have health care through the State of KS as a GRA at KSU. There is a specific clause that states if you are training for or participating in a athletic event they will not cover you if you are injured: See below

So After my state heath insurance denied me coverage I appealed to USA cycling and thankfully they covered my ambulance, some of the mayo bills, and most of the helicopter bills. All creditors involved learned a very valuable lesson from this....If Big Al does not want to give you her money there is a good chance that you will not be getting her money (important principle here:whats mine is hers and whats hers is hers) or at least not as much as you initially asked for.
What was left over after USA cycling insurance (the max is $25,000) we applied for low income reductions, and that helped. the economic stimulus package? yeah that went to the helicopter people.

That was great experience (sarcasm). they would not even let me look out the window. I was still stammering away trying to get them to tilt the backboard on its side so I could see out the window. It was not $8K well spent.
I can't argue that I received the best health care available in North America, but the cost of heath care is out of control. I lived in NZ and worked for a university farm, and lost part of my finger in a farm accident. Yeah I had to bleed on a hospital floor for a little while, but it did not cost me a dime out of pocket. I loath Hillary Clinton, but if she came up with a decent nationalized health care system, I might...might.....consider voting for her...but only after she had done it....i feel dirty now.
Insurance is not the answer to our nations health care issues. Insurance is great for the wealthy, but what about the largest portion of Americans that work too hard and make too much for programs like Medicaid, but cannot afford the $600-1000 dollars a month to cover a family of 4 with Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance.
Anyway enough with my babbling the thing you need to know is this- If you have insurance through the above company and you get hurt tell them you fell down the stairs.....nothing else.

Gravel adventures and old pics

I am kinda pissed at blogger right now. I wrote a quick entry on Sunday, hit publish and walked away from my circa 2003 laptop.......not wise decision. That post is forever gone, and I have no idea what I wrote about.......such is life as the poster child for attention deficit disorder.
Any how Last weekend saw Dave McLeod, Warren Weibe, Chriss Berger and myself travel to Nebraska for Cornbreads Good Life gravel adventure. A great time was had, even with my attempt to see everything that was 5 miles east of Cortland, NE. I cant follow directions.
Got to meet some awesome people and make some great new friends. We even got to travel in the Weibe Wagon! Anyhow I am up to my eyeballs in work, and will be traveling out west this weekend to put in our fall canola crop in Sterling and Larned. I will bring back lots of pics so maybe some of my family will finally figure out what I do. Anyhow here are the pics courtesy of John Waller


We can safely assume that this picture was from early in the race.


Caption: Hind sight is always 20:20 and that last lap was a poor decision.


Patterson gets a chuckle as big al shares my sentiments.

Big Al is getting Paid.
PS She now has a new ride.....stay tuned.

Getting our bake on

So sunday saw the rise and fall of many a caraway seed pretzel

Big al made cookies for the upcoming week as we are gonna be having alot of company. Sara Reed is gonna get here, as will the mighty Alaskan fish mongers Pap and Pesc. Joel and Mandy Lou-Who are also gonna roll in on their way to ID. Joel got the job!


The recipe that I used can be found in one of Jeff Smiths Immigrant food cookbooks.

The finished products. These are best served warm with some softened limberger cheese (no kidding...yes it does smell funny but its incredible). And you all thought that she married me for my money.............

Burning the Candle......

...at both ends. Today I found out that a good friend of mine passed away. Richard was born and raised in Sylva, NC. I first met Richard in 2004 on a trip to Slyva with the the twins, Mike and Jake Scott. I walked into his house and was immediately hit with the a blast double (a wrestling take down), and knocked into the screen door and down the steps of the trailer house with a little dog barking and chasing after us. The twins just stood there and laughed. I thought to myself as I rolled out the door, "this kid is nuts", and he was. Through the twins I I would keep up with Richard over the years. For his senior project in high school he trained to be a mixed martial artist and did a sanctioned cage fight up in Ohio. Richard was chiseled from Stone.
Richard was also extremely well read, and was a stunning conversationalist, something that is rarely found in this day and age. He could swear like a sailor in one breath, and be incredibly articulate and well spoken in the next. Such was the duality of Richard.
After school he did what a lot of poor southern kids do, he joined the Army. In hind sight it probably saved his life initially. During his first tour in Iraq in late 05 he collapsed, and was flown back to Walter Reed to be diagnosed with Brain Cancer. He went through treatment (surgery and chemo), and we were told that his cancer was in remission. The last time I saw him was when Mikey was getting back from Alaska, and as soon as I walked in the door he tried to ankle pick me. He was bald and pale looking but he still wanted to wrestle. He was always positive, and was the kind of chap that you wanted in your corner when things were hairy.
I do not attend funerals, or usually talk about death and dying but i think it is important to remember friend as they were and celebrate the impact that they had on the world. He was a lot of things in life, but no one can dispute that he was a great friend to all those around him.
Heres to Richard.....

Cruise the Blues 08

Ok kids, its has been a long weekend and its a good thing that its a three day holiday cuz we are in shambles. This friday saw a surly flock of Jayhawks descend into Manhappenin. Andrew Slater, John Waller, and Josh Patterson, big Al and Myself wandered around the ville for a little while, musing over how aggieville is different than Mass St in Lawrence. I will be real honest. I do not think much of the Aggieville business district, just because the businesses do not keep things clean. I mean they could at least spray off the sidewalk in the mornings and clean up the image a little bit. Especially if they are gonna try to charge me a $6 dollar cover just too get into a place that is nonsmoking. Anyhow we wandered about for a bit and then went to the house so we could be up and on the road to Glen Elder early.
Upon arriving at the Palen Proving Grounds (Cruise the Blues Race course) we quickly asserted our dominance by finding a shady spot and rallying all the other past and present Manhattanites (which included Brady Irwin, Casey Stoddard, "T-Daddy" Whetstone, Aaron Apel, and James Stamper (No relation)). James, being the only real responsible adult brought a canopy so we could be shaded. Many thanks!
The race started prompty at 11 am, and quickly proved to be a race of attrition. Several mens solo favorites had mechanical problems early, and flat tires were a major concern. I passed Brady on the second lap as he was changing the first of his three flat tires on his cross bike on lap 2. It has been previously true that the CtB course is a prime area to race a cross bike, but that was not the case this year. Last Saturday NC KS got 4 inches of rainfall(see previous post to see storm building), which left the couse extremely rough and eroded. This contributed to a large number of pinch flats and fatigue throughout the race. After three laps on the 13+ mile course I realized that I had failed to hydrate enough early, as I was trying to do without a camelback at just rely on bottles. This proved to be a costly mistake, as I would lose two places during the last two laps rolling around on the ground screaming with debilitating leg cramps.
At this point I think I really had some folks worried cuz the EMS guy kept following me on the fourwheeler (kind of like how a buzzard circles a dying animal). Like I said, it was a race of attrition. I finished my 4th lap with 25 minutes before the cutoff, and thought to myself,
"Self, your gonna have to do another lap........"
Self responding back (in Star Trek Scotty accent) "Ah cant dooo it Captn ah need mohr powah"
Me to self "pull your self together! You have got another lap in you"
Self "Ok but your gonna regret this"
So I went back out for a last lap that probably took over an hour and a half. I am pretty sure that I was the last person out on the course. I did not regret it.

I still managed to finish 5th out of about 30, and even won a little money!
Big Al though, fought through cramps on her way to 2nd place with 4 laps in, and only finished 4 minutes behind Team 360 powerhouse Kathy Reidy. I think Al really blew some minds when she was passing folks on her singlespeed in the later laps. I was stoked and especially proud when I heard this. She was really in the money with a 2nd place finish!


Below you can see the devious duo of Patterson and Waller finishing 2nd in the Mens Team division. Cameron Chambers and dad Doug, were the champions. Big thanks to Doug and Golden Belt Cycles in Great Bend for being such a huge supporter of this event.

I also have to say a what a great event this is. Doug and Tracy Palen, Bud and all the volunteers that put this race together are the most passionate friendly people you will ever meet. This event rivals anything that is done in KC or MO. Once again, Many Thanks!

After a night of camping and blues music we headed south to Lucas, KS for some sustenance, and a little dose of weirdness. We went and toured the Garden of Eden and its pretty strange. I am talking like the Frank Zappa kinda strange.

After leaving lucas we continued our southerly trek to Wilson Lake to ride the trails there. We had a blast, but were were all still hurting from the grind the day before. If you think that things are flat in all of KS, you should go here. It definitely changed my perspective. After riding we headed over to meet up with our other compatriots (Melanie, Aaron, Tyler and Hillary) who were camping by the lake. We spent the rest of the afternoon basking in the sun, swimming, eating potato salad out of cardboard boxes, and just generally livin the dream. We had a spectacular time, and it was a great way to finish our trip.

Stay tuned for the next race report when we will hear Me say "Hey big man, lemme hold a dollar"

Living off the land

So now that school has started up the constraints on my time and wallet are great. Its hard for me to ride my bike back across town to eat lunch at home, and I lack the planning to actually make a lunch and take it with me. So I have been trying to survive with only skills honed by years of bush craft and and dirt baggery.
Lunch: 3 hotdogs and a bag of chips pilfered under the guise of jobs searching at a career fair. I then made small talk with a military recruiter to get at her bottled water. the taste of success is quite sweet.
around three oclock I was feeling like some call hall ice cream so I ghosted across campus to crash president Wefalds speech and ensuing ice cream social.
Tomorrow there will be a reception at the international center......I love ethnic food! And I am getting ready to roll out to the New alumni center for a reception for young alumni (of which I am neither). word on the street is there will be finger sandwiches and ice cream. I love sandwiches made with fingers.
Football season starts too.......that means its tailgate season......and we are all K-State fans....so how bout you hand me some of those wings over there.....
The Allman brothers may have been familiar with the high cost of low living, but I am perfecting the low cost of high living......I may start working the wedding scene too!

Your mom goes to college!.......er right. Big Al is back to school pounding out the prereq's for her to get a 2nd BS degree, this time in Nursing!

Saturday morning we drove to Glen Elder, KS to preride the cruise the blues course. It seems like every time we visit out there its sunny and 75 degrees. We stopped and talked to Doug and Tracy Palen, and they are looking forward to everybody showing up next weekend! Should be a blast. We were really surprised that no one else was there for the preride. I mean its only twice a year that they open things up to the public.


After leaving the Palen farm we drove up to Waconda lake and I had a quick swim to rinse off the funk from riding. You can see that there was a pretty big storm building behind us. We also went over to Cawker city to see the giant ball of twine, and have our pictures taken by a couple of extremely intoxicated individuals that were arguing over whether you could set the ball on fire. I suggested using kerosene. Alison quickly suggested that we leave.

As you can see in the picture above the previous sealant recipe that I used did a poor job of sealing punctures. So when we got home I let the old sealant drain out through the numerous puncture holes and mixed up a new batch using Slime in addition to latex mold builder and also scrapped the glitter....that was a pretty dumb idea to start with. The new stuff definitely sealed the punctures up much better than the previous recipe. Anyhow School starts tomorrow so I have to start getting my A+ game together. On a side note, I also found out that my brother and his bonny lass are getting flown out to Twin Falls, ID as the prospective youth minister for the FBC there. If that all comes together I may have to think about ID a lot harder as a possible relocation spot. hhhmmmmhhh.

So after our swim fest at redfish Lake and a restful night of sleep on decker Flats We decided to try our hand on the infamous slopes of Casino Creek. Casino Creek loop os described as "truly hardcore mountain biking" in the trail descriptions. and they were not kidding. We hiked a bike for about 4 miles of the 9 mile climb to the top of little Casino, and planned to descend down Big Casino. Well about 300 yards before we would have crested and made the turn to start descending it really started to thunder and lightning. We had not brought any rain gear and the temp dropped to 50 degrees in about 25 minutes. So we made the decision to turn around and start descending. Well big Al opened it up on the descent, and her front wheel washed out in some scree and took a big spill, cracking her helmet and sustaining some nasty abrasions.
So we ended up huddled on the low side of a brush pile waiting for the storm to blow over.
It was really "hard core".

This was the parking lot an hour after the storm. Sunny and 75 degrees. The weather is really crazy our there. Alison was not smiling a few minuts later when I took the soapy water to her abrasions.

Later that night after I ate 20 dollars worth of cheeseburgers at the Bridge St. Tavern in Stanley it started to rain again and continued to rain for 18 hours. I really like the aspect the that I can attach a tarp to the back of the truck rack and cook B-fast when its raining. We decided to pack it up and head to Driggs, ID to meet with Kaylan and Courtney Sisco.

Kaylan (the one that looks like Jesus) and I worked as guides for the adveture tripping company Cheerio Adventures. Kaylans wife now works for NOLS at the Teton Valley branch. We visit them every year when we travel to points west. Last year it was in Buelah, CO on our way back from CB, CO. Kaylan is the worlds biggest dirtbag, but he is a phenomenal climber.

Al and I were quite enchanted with the idea of having a yurt (staff housing at NOLS)

We were in the weststern side of the grand tetons (you can see the ta-ta's in the background) in driggs.