"Winter" 2009/2010

Well, I made it through the holiday season again. Went over to Seattle, WA to hang out with Lily's folks for Turkey Day and Christmas. Even managed to sneak away to Steven's Pass w/ good friend Daron Huck the weekend before Thanksgiving for my first (and only) turns of the year thus far. It's certainly been a bitter sweet season for me so far. My truck started acting iffy in October when finishing up my 1 month stay in Nelson, BC while Lily was doing her yoga teacher training. It stalled a couple of times when cold and I started to dread the 10 hr drive back to Port Angeles, but she made it just fine. Then the battery died the day after I showed back up in WA (lucky!!). Then it got worse....not holding an idle, dying, and generally lacking power. I did a tune-up, changed the fuel filter, and checked other systems w/o any change in her symptoms. Finally I drove it at 25mph max to the mechanic and found out my auxiliary accelerator pump diaphragm was shot and my NAPA wires were not making good contact. A battery change and some more tinkering later she is back to running decent. That being said I have spent the last few weeks stuck in Port Angeles during some weekends I would have loved to have been enjoying the unseasonably dry weather ripping loam in Bham, or BC. It's certainly been a trying time figuring out why my recreational life has come to a screeching halt. This time last year Daron, Lily, and I were out boarding from bell to bell everyday, cavorting around Truckee, CA, and meeting a ton of cool cats in the area. My DH bike is all clapped out (bushings, bearings, rims, rotors, brakes, tires, shock, etc) and needs a ton of work. My XC bikes shock died and I was taken back by the 210$ price tag that I got after thinking I would be cool and let the LBS (local bike shop) replace what I thought was just going to be the seals (100>$). Hurricane Ridge is close enough to lay eyes on, but is only open on the weekends, weather permitting (meaning if the plows can handle the new snow)- ie. new dumps should equal pow riding, but usually means you have to go somewhere else (4-5 hrs min). SO I have been riding my DJ hardtail predominately (jumping onto/off of walls, riding skinnies, and hitting the skatepark). It's no where near what my heart wants/needs, but has kept me riding a bike. I feel SO FAR removed from Bellingham and all of my friends, Daron and the Truckee crew, Sterling and my BC buddies, and snowboarding (was <10 min from the slopes last winter). I've been saving my money thinking I have to buy a new truck and it's been stressing me out. Cars are soo much money and in my mind a big waste of time and money. BUT to get to all the badass places that I've discovered ya just gotta have a reliable rig. Life certainly is full of ups and downs and for some reason I feel like I've definitely been in a lull of sorts. I keep telling myself it's only temporary (living w/ 5 people- some of them rather type A, being removed from the outdoor scene, etc). I've been reading a lot of PT books, trying to improve my skills so that some day I can open my dream clinic to help others get healthy (especially the hard core athletes like myself). I would love to be accepted into a mountain town as a "go to" healer. Just have to find the right spot!! I've also been doing a lot of cross-training from a book called Core Performance by Mark Verstegen that is freaking gnarly!! I feel really limber and have balanced. Now if I could only get out of town and shred it up I'll be all set. Speaking of which....it's supposed to be rainy all weekend throughout the entire PNW. Maybe I'll wait for better conditions before heading 4-6 hrs out of town. Maybe I'll get some powder for my birthday here in a couple weeks!! I'm staying optimistic and actually taking it easy for once....it's harder than you'd think!!