I Think I'm Ready...

  I haven't raced much the past couple of years. Reasons being burn out, too lazy to train, injury, and so on. I think i am ready to race a whole season again. It's all thanks to Fatmarc introducing me to Strava. Strava has turned out to be a great  training tool. It's basically like the old video game days, when you were always trying to beat the other guy's high score, only now you are racing on sections of trail or road against other people.

  So, my first race will be Fair Hill spring race. I'm not quite where I want to be just yet, but it will be good training. After that Marc and I are doing the Michaux Maximus 20 miler. In the past it was all about suffering through the 40, but I feel it is time for something different, I'm even racing a geared bike for the first time in years. It is still Michaux after all.

  Now I have to mention the race that everybody should be signing up for. Granogue is a 12 Hour race this year, not to mention the trail run and time trial and the Iron Monkey comp. There will be camping on the estate and lots of good riding. We are making a few tweaks to the course this year. Nothing drastic, just trying to take a little of the sting out of it. I will be riding solo this year.

 Also a big part of our race is Sam's big bike gear raffle for HERA. Make sure you buy lots of tickets to increase your chances of winning some great prizes.

Cheers,
Buddy

Change of Plans...

 This was my third trip to the White Mountains with the intention of climbing Mt. Washington. This year we added Sean to the mix which required a second guide from the EMS Climbing School. The plan was to take a technical route to the summit. Unfortunately, the technical routes all had avalanche danger. The only option was Lions Head Trail, which we could do without a guide, so plan B was ice climbing in Crawford Notch. I was stoked for this, I have always wanted to try ice climbing.

This is Willey's Slide. The picture doesn't show just how steep it is. We were doing a Multi Pitch Climb. We split into 2 groups, Sean and Craig went with Keith, while Bob and I went with Paul.

 This is an Anchor Point that Paul set. The system was, Paul was tied to a rope, I was tied to the other end. I also had a second rope tied to me with Bob tied to other end. Paul would climb with me belaying him, he would set ice screws along the way. When he got towards the end of the rope he would set an anchor point. Now it was my turn to climb. It was really awkward for me at first, but by the second pitch I was getting comfortable and more confident.

Bob on his way up to Paul and I.

Once we topped out it was an awesome feeling. Now, this wasn't the most difficult climb, but it wasn't a stroll through the park either. The hike down was fun, we even did some glissading. Once we got most of the way down we got into setting anchors, making anchor points, and practicing self arrest.  At the end of the day we learned a lot, and had a great time. We are already looking for more options for next year. I think we are going to add a day and climb one day, then do Mt. Washington the next.

Cheers,

Buddy



ADK 2012

 When Bob invited me on his, now annual, winter trip to the Adirondacks, I was in. We started from the Garden in Keene Valley and hiked into Grace camp. We had a nice large group, Bob, Chris, Scott, Jamie, Topher, Craig, Sean, and myself.

Our Home for 3 days.

We settled in and tried to prepare for a long day on Wdenesday.

There was no shortage of beverages for the trip.

We started nice and early for a planned 3 summit day. First up was Gothics, this was the hardest ascent of the day. 

Scott using the cable on the rock face, which was covered in ice.

The weather was very mild for this time of year, temps in the 30's in the woods and 20's above treeline with very little wind.

 Topher did great for his first trip.

We did have a couple of minor mishaps. We stopped at a trail junction to fuel up and get ready for the summit. Jamie went off first, only problem was he took the wrong trail. We didn't reallize it until we were half way up. He was across the valley on the wrong mountain. Luckilly Bob made sure we all had whistles and knew how to signal each other.

 We re-grouped and started towards Armstrong. A couple of guys took the lead and broke trail. Here was our second issue. We were hiking along, then the next thing we noticed is, we were ended up back at the same spot. We missed the trail marker and did a balloon string. After some searching and map checking we found the trail and were off again.

 

 Next up was Upper Wolf Jaw. This would be our last summit, before a long descent back to Grace Camp.



 I was happy to head back. My ankles were killing me, not sure why, but I think it was my boots. Even though they never bothered me before.

 Jamie decided to take what he called a snow shower.

There was no scimping on the food. I think Craig carried in half of a cow.

After a successful trip, we spent much of the night celebrating and playing cards. the fact that we did our planned loop, and no one got hurt, was all the reason we needed.

 The next morning we polished off the last of our food, and packed up for the hike out. After a stop at the Noon Mark Diner we headed home.

Thanks to Bob for putting this trip together, and thanks to Steve for letting me borrow his sled, without which I couldn't have carried in the amount beer I did.

Cheers,

Buddy



Climbing...

 Rachael and I started climbing about 4 or 5 years ago and fell in love with it. We were members at PRG and climbed there 2-3 days a week. When we moved to Delaware we quit that gym and tried Delaware rock gym, which we didn't really like. Then we both managed to dislocate our shoulders and stopped climbing completely. A year and a half later we went back to PRG with Marc and Diane. None of us climbed well, but we realized how much we all missed it, so we went back again tonight and even signed up for memberships. I am excited to be climbing again, I just hope it doesn't take a long time to get back to where I was.

Cheers,
Buddy

Been A Long Time...

 So, here is the long and the short of it. I haven't updated in forever. So, first off, I got my Ventana fixed and I am loving this bike. To make it sweeter, I threw a SRAM 2x10 drive train on it. After several months, I have to say, it is the most awesome drive train I have ever used.

 I also have a review on my Osprey hydration pack. It is everything that a Camelbak isn't. I would recommend one of these to everybody.

 On the home front, we have had our share of issues. I had to replace our water heater. We found termites and had to have a termite treatment done. Way more expensive than I thought.

  My friend Al and his wife Teri, took Rachael and I to the Symphony as well. I have to say it was awesome. I just hope we have the opportunity to go again.

 Well, I hope to stay updated a bit more in the future.

Cheers,
Buddy

Dolly Sods...

This past weekend Bob and I made our way to Dolly Sods for a few days of backpacking. We hit the trail head around 3:30 PM Friday. Bob had a campsite in mind, which we would have to make good time to get there before dark.

We made good progress and were even able to take in a nice lookout.





It was  a great view of Canaan Valley. A short while later we hit our first campsite. Bob had stayed there before, so we knew it would work.

After we got a fire going it was time to lighten our packs a bit.



We were back on the trail early the next morning. We had an area we wanted to camp near but no real plan, so we just hiked and enjoyed the awesome scenery.

 we hit a trail called Rocky Point, and it was aptly named.

 The trail went on like this for a while, it was hard going, but some of the views were well worth it.

 After a while we found our next campsite. A nice spot well off the trail right next to a stream.

 

The next day we were set up for, what I thought would be an easy hike back to the car. It wasn't too bad until we hit the Beaver Dam trail, which was flooded, by, you guessed it, a beaver damn. The only way through was across the top of the damn. It was wet, but not awful, that part came when we hit the bog. This was really wet and muddy, plus it went on for ever. By the time we finally got through it, we were both pretty wet.  I was actually praying for the rock trail again.

 It was a couple of little climbs later and we were back at the car. It was a great weekend. the weather was perfect, and the hiking was awesome.

You can see more pics here. 

Cheers,

Buddy



Quick Peak...

Awesome  long weekend of backpacking with Bob.  More to come soon...

Cheers,
Buddy