OR Trade Show Trip

Well I've been back from the trade show for a week now. Had a chance to rest up and get used to being back at home and not understanding half of what Dylan says. Linda's mom tok care of him while I was gone and so he learned quite a bit of Cantonees that I have not had the chance to pick up, not to mention how quick a child learns words.

I met up with the gyms climbing team in Maple Canyon on my way out to Salt Lake City. We climbed up at the Pipe Dream Cave on my first day there and their last day. I then ran into Betty and Eric who I thought were in the Sierras in CA climbing but they had started on their way back to ABQ early. So I climbed with them the next day and one of the kids from the team, Richard who I was taking to the OR Show with me. The next morning Richard and I hung out and taked with Dave Pegg of Wolverine Publishing, some of the best guide books out there come from his company, and waited for Chris Grijavla to show up. Richard and I then headed to the Pipeline and did a few routes and headed to SLC.

The show did not seem as busy as in previous years. Not as many people milling about and there were several empty booths as well. There were also no show stoppers this year, there really was no real buzz about any one thing in climbing. I don't know if suppliers are holding back on things or just hae not been putting the money towards R and D, but in the past years when I've gone to the show there is always a got to have item and there just was not this year. I ate at 3 different breweries in three night, they all had pretty good for, I have no idea about the beer though. Rode my bike once with Sam Krieg who makes chalk bags and saddle bags along with coaching cyclists and racing, probably better than he leads on. He and one of his athleats hammered me on the ride up Big Cottonwood Canyon which is according to them 14 miles and 4000 feet of climbing a good portion of which comes in the first 6.5 miles.

I then headed home after the show closed on Friday, leaving at about 3:45pm after collecting some stuff for the gym, holds and a crash pad and picking up a sweet Flashed Air pad from Trango, Thanks to Scott. I drove straight through and got home about 1:30am and colapsed.

A Look Back at the Triple By-Pass

So as I said in the last post, the Triple By-Pass was a success for the family. Linda, my mom and dad all finished and seemed to be feeling pretty good at the end. They did all get rained on, but luckily for them it happened when they were riding up Vail pass towards the end which allowed them to stay warm. Joanna was not as lucky, she was ahead and was on her way down Vail pass when the skies opened up causing her to freeze. Joanna eventually bailed about 15 miles from the end when she could not stop shivering. Chris on the other hand was way out infront of everyone else and did not get rained on at all until he headed up with me to the top of Vail pass to meet up with everyone as they rode through.

The goal for Joanna and Chris is to do the Death Ride next year. I don't know if my mom will use the Triple as a stepping stone to completing the Death Ride or not. Linda had been saying if she finished the Triple she would never do it again, but after the ride she was open to doing it again. It really is bueatifull, mountains, rivers, amazing bike paths, closed roads and round-abouts through the finishing straight, about the only bad thing is the 6 miles on the interstate, but the shoulder is wide and the big rigs give you a turbo boost when they go by.

Crystal Cave Last Week, New Toy

Dylan and I headed up to the Crystal Cave on Wednesday of last week with Matt, Doug and Richard. Doug kept working on the short version of the Lepor 5.12a, Matt tried Dope 5.13b, Richard was just getting on whatever and I managed to send Faith 5.13c.

Here are some shots of Matt on Dope, passing the first bolt,
and entering the 3rd and final crux, which is shared with Faith.I got Dylan a new toy. Every little kid needs a TONKA truck. Dylan really likes the Dump Truck.

Not only can he load and dump it,

but it can also function as a high chair at the crag for feeding him.

As soon as we got home in the afternoon I started to pack the truck and we headed to Intel to pick Linda up and it was off to CO for the Triple By Pass with my parents and Chris and Joanna. More on that later.

Happy 4th

So, naturally it has been awhile since I last posted.

On Wednesday the 24th Dylan and I went back to the Sandias to climb with John Kear and Carolyn. We all had a good time and miraculously the weather held out and we did not get rained on, just a little spit. I made the probable second ascent of John's route, Insane Clown Posse 5.12+ and John and Carolyn did two routes for the first time, that I bolted with the help of Rip and Pletta a few years ago.

Then over the weekend Linda and I rode to the crest from town and back while Chris and Joanna watched Dylan who had a blast in their yard playing with Triny (Trinity) their 5 year old daughter.

Last week Dylan and I made it out to Big Block on Monday with Richard of Team Mojo and Jeff Leads of Prana and had a good time. On Wednesday we headed out to the Crystal Cave with Doug and 3 kids from Team Mojo, Richard, Liam and Rachel. Richard managed to send Dope 5.13b, not bad for a 14 year old, maybe he's 13. I came very close to doing the full version of Faith 5.13c but will have to live with the short version a couple of times as a workout.

Dylan, seeing all the climbing is starting to trian his open hand strength on the edge of the table as well as his core by holding L-sits. Well at least he is having fun swinging around.

The flowers have been out in force lately at the higher elevations. We saw some great ones up in the Sandias the past couple of weeks and blooming cactus at the Crystal Cave in the Jemez foothills.

On the 3rd we went up to Chris and Joanna's to hang out and celebrate the 4th and Chris' Bday a little early for both. Dylan again had fun with Triny and would follow her everywhere even when she went to brush her teeth.

Today we went to Datil for the day and met up with Carolyn and Anna B. along with Mick and Kari Shien. Mick being the author of the Sandia Rock guide book. It seemed as though everyone had a good time. Linda did The Raven 5.11d on her first try on TR and proptly lead it, which is quite good for her. Carolyn also managed The Raven on TR and plans to try leading it tomorrow, so hopefully all goes well for her.

Well Happy 4th.

Weekend in Datil

W headed to Datil this past weekend to try camping with Dylan again. Last time was a disaster with Dylan crying for several hours at night and keeping both of us up. He did not fall asleep untill I left the tent and slept in the front seat of the car so he had more space in the sleeping bags.

This time went a bit better. We brought the Pack and Play and set it up in the tent which made it easier for Dylan to fall asleep sinnce it is something he is used to sleeping in. However he then woke up at about 1:30am and started to cry, probably because he was cold. Linda was in the tent with him and tried to sooth him and have him sleep in the sleeping bag with her but he would not have it. So eventually I took him and calmed him in the back of the truck where I was sleeping. I took quite a while but after moving about a bit and sitting up a few times he finally fell asleep again which was a relief. He was probably awake for an hour or a little more so at least he got a good amount of sleep.
Here is Dylan looking pretty excited to be in the tent with his Pack and Play.

Here is a shot of Dylan drinking Auntie Betty's water in the evening.Linda and I had a good time climbing. Linda finally lead Once upon a Time 5.11D with the direct start, clean. I just ran laps on stuff at one point doing 3 routes in a row on the tower. We ran into the Austin TX climbing team who were out on a road trip with their coach, Johnny Myrick who is from Albuquerque. They were out there with some kids from our climbing team and a couple of the kids from the Huston climbing team as well.

Here is some video of what Dylan did to occupy himself in the camp site. He was cleaning it up so there was nothing to trip over...or not.

Climbing, Riding and Critters

So on Thursday Dylan and I made it out to the Crystal Cave in the Jemez in the afternoon with a couple of guys that work at the gym. Dylan had fun playing in the dirt and sitting in Jeff's chair. While I played on the short but very steep routes with Jeff and Doug. Maybe I'll get some shots of it next time I'm there, it's hard to explain, but the lip of the cave is only about 20 feet high and the routes are up to 60 feet long or so, really steep and pretty hard.

Over the weekend I did the Bill McClain Memorial Crest Race, and naturally got killed since most of the guys riding have put in probably 4 times the miles on the bike this year as I have. Though I was only about 2 minutes slower than I was 5 years ago, the last time I did the race and actually trained for it.

On Sunday we headed to Datil with a bunch of folks from the gym. In a true rarity for climbing, women out numbered men in the group, even if you counted Dylan. We all had fun climbing on the tower and walls to the left.

This morning Dylan and I headed to the Bio Park and spent some time wandering through the aquarium. After our trip to Hawaii he is totally fascinated with fish and turtles. Then we checked out the butterfly pavilion which I'd never been to before. I was a little disappointed as I thought there would be more or larger butterflies, maybe they will grow, but there was enough for Dylan to have a good time trying to chase them around. On our way out there was a booth set up with some critters, a small tarantula, a small scorpion, a couple of squeaking roaches, then these guys....

These are the small ones that you can find in NM apparently.

Then the big ones that are from Africa....
They also had a centipede, which have a pretty bad bite and are nearly impossible to kill, think hammer repeatedly though they are already flat to begin with. I though I'd killed one once at the gym only to find it crawling back out of the garbage can a few minutes later.

On our way out the model trains were up and running so Dylan watched the big train then spent some time "push"ing the "button" to make the "small" "train" go in circles, it was fitted with a car that spewed "bubbles" as it went, needless to say he was thrilled.

For folks that say that the newspaper industry is going to die, I beg to differ. I posted my truck on-line and in a couple of locations and received not a single call. We put it in the paper and on the first day I got about 10-12 calls and sold it. The classifieds are the way to go.

Hawaii

It's been awhile.
Here are some shots from our trip to Hawaii
The wedding chaple
Dylan testing Uncle Chris' nose to make sure it's attached wellDylan working the tables at the reception following the wedding

There were 24 tables to check in with and Dylan was exausted after he finished his rounds.

Dylan's first trip to a beach where you would get in the water
For more photos of him at the beach check out my Dad's photo website at:

http://www.pbase.com/duckb_ll/dylan_water_may09

Dylan driving, he is obsessed with wheels, he spent nearly an hour in this and another little car, we did not even put any money in them and he was thrilled.

Dylan spending time with my cousins children, so I don't know what that would make them to him.

Some video of Dylan playing in the rain. He's not such a fan of the rain in NM since it is cold, but in Hawaii it's like a bath falling from the sky. Sorry it is sideways.

We also made it out to Palomas to climb last weekend with Jerrad and Lisa. We all had a good time doing all the routes around Green Eggs and Ham.

I did the ABQ century with Chris, Joanna and Dani. Joanna had a terrible crash about 30 miles in and ended up with 7 stiches in her temple but seemed to be doing OK when I stopped by their house towards the end of the ride.

I think vacations need more down time and less traveling, we flew on 6 separate days over a 10 and a half day vacation. All the flights on separate days served a purpose but it would be nice to travel on fewer days.

OK enough for now