Thursday, August 7th, 2008
Last summer, I decided that I wanted a fixed gear bike. For those unfamiliar with “fixies,” these are bikes where your pedals always move with the rear tire meaning that you cannot coast…you are always pedaling (even downhill!). You have a single gear and you can use the pedals to stop yourself — a lot of individuals ride fixies without any front or rear breaks. Fixies were made popular by bike messengers, but recently have been gaining popularity with a lot of urban commuters.
While you can buy a completely built fixed gear bike at many stores these days, I decided that I was going to build my own from the frame up. This is one of the draws to fixed gear bikes. They are relatively simple to build, so that you can use your creativity to build a unique bike that is your own. I went with an all black design with one distinct feature — a lime green back back wheel. I went with an IRO frame, and bought custom built Deep V rims (a black one for the front and the lime green one fom the back). I found the rest of the parts on the internet (e.g., Soma stem and bullhorn bars), and at local bike stores. The project took me many months due to running out of money at various points in the project — the actual building process was really simple.
The completed bike is in the below pics I think that it turned out better than I imagined. And it so damn fun to ride. It is a completely different experience than riding a regular bike. You are connected to all of the bike’s movements. And you simply ride the bike — no fiddling around with loud and clunky gears. I love my bike! And I am already thinking about the next fixie project…
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
Carrie and I just successfully completed another 14er hike. This one was a lot tougher than the previous (Mount Sherman). After camping out on the side of the road (in a quite pleasant camping spot), we hiked the road to the hike for about 2 miles (the little VW had no shot making it to the trail head).
The hike was switchbacks most of the way so we got worked. The toughest part was the final 0.25 mile or so, which required some tricky scrambling on loose rocks. However, the summit was quite amazing and worth the effort. The 360 degrees views were by far the best that I have seen thus far in Colorado (see below).
The hike down was quite a grind and took us about 3 more hours to get back to the car. We collapsed into the blazing hot VW and rejoiced our accomplishment.
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
New podcast featuring 12 epic hip-hop tracks is in the music section. Get it!
Saturday, June 28th, 2008
After camping out at our top secret camping spot near Silverthorn, Carrie, me, + friends set out on a descent of Mount Sherman (after a stop at the Cool River bakery in Breck for some bagel action). Mount Sherman is near Fairplay, CO and is one of the easiest 14ers (i.e., a mountain 14,000 feet+) to summit in Colorado.
The hike started above the treeline and soon we reached a ol’ mining community. A series of photogenic structures remained standing throughout (see below). After crossing some snow fields, and making it across one kind of scarry ridge, everyone successfully summited. After an epic meal of smoked salmon and bread on the summit, we descented in style — sliding on our arses down the snowfields. All in all, a great hike and nice to bag another 14er.
Sunday, May 25th, 2008
The 1st installment of the Shralp! podcasts has been uploaded to the music section. Now go listen, foo!
Friday, April 18th, 2008
New podcast posted in the music section of the site. Featuring hot tracks from Lupe Fiasco, Blue Scholars, K-OS, and others. Go listen now!
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
Resort skiing is getting ridiculous in Colorado. Crowds, traffic, gapers, insane ticket prices, power hungry ski patrolers, furs, brah-bros, etc. — the list of complaints is growing every day. As much as I love Breckenridge, Keystone, A-Basin, and other local resorts, I am moving increasingly to the backcountry. Now that I am avy certified, the backcountry is a less intimidating place where I can escape the crowds, traffic, and noise of Colorado Front Range resorts. Also, CU Boulder has a backcountry club that organizes 1-2 trips per week to local backcountry spots. Having a group of people around that know what they are doing and love powder turns as much as me definitely helps (although, most of them are skiers).
Below are pics from a couple of recent trips with the backcountry club to Berthoud Pass and Loveland Pass.
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
Pat and I recently took a 4 day Avy class — to make ourselves even more scared of the avalanche danger in Colorado. While making me more aware of the danger and giving me a toolbox to evaluate risk, the class just made me more afraid of the backcountry. I guess you first need the knowledge, then you need the experience. For those who are not aware of the snowpack in Colorado, we are the leading state in avalanche deaths year after year.
The highlight of the class was a tour of Rocky Mountain National Park. We caused some avalanches (on purpose!), dug snow pits, and even had a beacon rescue (without our prior knowledge). Below are some pics from our grueling day at the park:
Sunday, January 20th, 2008
2-3 feet of freshies + bluebird skies + good friends = Epic
Pat and I visited PIST Aspen (aka Jon and Dustin) for 3 days and were welcomed with mounds of fresh snow and clear skies. We dropped cliffs, made powdery goodness turns, and high 5ed after every run. It was probably the best snowboarding of the year and in my all time top 5.
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
Anybody looking to buy me a post-Christmas surprise? This Nixon watchie (”The Dork”) is uber sexy:
tom(asz) M.