So, I've been riding quite a bit, and STILL suffering broken chain issues. The latest one lasted longer at least. I'm getting a new cassette, so hopefully that will solve it. The chain on the cross bike was skipping like a mofo too, so it's getting a new drivetrain as well. Also in bike news, I got a new one. Sorta. Many months ago, I accidentally acquired a 29er frame off ebay (I was the only bidder, woops). I'd been delaying putting it together since I wanted to have the 26er and the 29er to ride side by side and compare. Well, I couldn't afford that, and I got tired of waiting, so I went ahead and built it. 29ers (which have road-sized wheels [700c] with mountain bike sized tires) are supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Being a bit of a retro-grouch that I am, I didn't believe the hype. However, having ridden this thing quite a bit by now, I gotta say, some of it's true. Traction is better (though that could be just the tires) and it does roll a little smoother. Rocks and roots still feel like rocks and roots, but they're not quite as harsh anymore. Also, this bike handles beautifully, partly due to the long top tube and steep head tube. I don't know if it's just a better bike than the Salsa, or the 29" wheels deserve all the credit, but I'm sold. I'm not going to bother building the Salsa up again. Right now it looks nice on my wall. Without further ado, I give you... the Willits:
Some info about the frame... Wesley Willits was pretty much the first guy to experiment with 29" mountain bikes. This frame was custom made for someone 6'4", so it fits me like a glove. It's steel of course. It's heavy (that fork weighs 7lbs!), but I don't care. With any luck, it'll be the last hardtail I own. For a while at least.
I spent a 10-day shift down in Binghamton, NY the past couple weeks. Pretty uneventful work, but one of the nicer jobs I've been on. The site was in the woods, uphill from a golf course. Much nicer than a parking lot on Long Island. Also, we were nowhere near the drill rig, so we didn't have to listen to the noise all day. Lots of time for frisbee too. I finally got the hang of the forehand throw.
Since I've been back from that, I've climbed the Camel's Hump (2nd or 3rd highest peak in Vermont, and by far the coolest looking from a distance) twice. I did it last Friday, and it rained and was foggy the whole way up. I only saw a couple other people. Here's a shot at the summit.
Not too much to see. Those white blazes mark the Long Trail, which is actually older than the Appalachian Trail. This is a bit north of where the AT joins it, and follows it to the southern border of Vermont. That intersection is just north of Killington. Anywho, I decided I'd give it another go today, even though it looked cloudy in Montpelier. My old pal Rachel was going to come with me, but she had car troubles, so she couldn't make it. By the way, the trailhead is only about half an hour from where I live, so it's very close. The parking lot was already packed when I got there. Lots of 4th of July hikers I guess. One interesting thing I noticed was that everyone I passed smelled like clean laundry or something. I'm not used to hikers smelling like they just walked out of the shower. Oh well. I, for whatever reason, was going to try to make it up as fast as possible, so I was sweating like a pig and probably smelled like crap. I made it to the top (about 3.5 miles) in 1 hour 15 minutes. It's nowhere near as hard a climb as Katahdin, but that's still a pretty good pace. I passed 27 people on the way up! Once up on top, I was treated to 360 views of the Green Mountains, Lake Champlain, the distant Adirondacks, and the even more distant White Mountains. After 20 minutes of lunch and soaking up the sun and views, I headed down. Made it down in an hour. It's really nice that such a nice peak is so close to where I am, and it's a relatively easy hike to some awesome views. I'm sure I'll do it many more times, though I'll have to try a new route so I don't get bored with that one. Here's some pictures:
Looking west toward Burlington, Lake Champlain, and the Adirondacks.
Looking north to Mt. Mansfield, highest peak in Vermont.
Looking NE toward Mt. Hunger. Montpelier is south (to the right) and just beyond that range.
Looking east toward the distant White Mountains.
A 180 degree panorama from the summit. West is the left, east is the right.
Other than that, not a lot going on. Finally finished a draft of my paper on sea caves, which (hopefully) will eventually be published in a journal. I'm sure I've got lots of revisions to go through before that happens, but it's a start! Off to New Jersey for the next two weeks for work, then a bit of a break (which includes Teal's wedding!), then supposedly California for work in mid August. Still rumors about that Australia gig as well. I'll let you know more when I know more...
Oh, and the Tour de France starts tomorrow. I'm rooting for Cadel Evans (I always go for the former mountain-bikers like Floyd was), but Valverde will be up there too. We'll see!
Happy Independence Day!
Oh, and another thing, Kristen's dad and older sister Erica are currently riding across the country. I'm quite jealous since that's a trip I've wanted to do for a while. My time will come! If you're interested in following their trip, you can go to http://thesummerride.blogspot.com
