A Day at the Museum of Natural Hostory

Clare and I went into Washington DC today with grand visions of hitting several museums and monuments all around the national mall. However, our first stop was the National Museum of Natural History and it was so cool that we ended up spending the entire day there. What an awesome museum!! I have not been there since I was a kid, and I hardly remember any of it. Every room had something cool in it and I'd be hard pressed to decide on one particular exhibit or even subject that was the best. The bones section though was a lot of fun to take pictures in!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the day! What a great skeleton and Clare's expression is perfect.

The elephant in the rotunda as you enter the building is the most iconic image of the museum.

A Week in West Virginia at NCTC

I'm here in Sheperdstown West Virginia at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) attending a week-long course on how species get listed under the Endangered Species Act. NCTC is like a mini college campus, run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to hold classes and workshops for people in natural resource fields. The Center is located in rural West Virginia, right on the banks of the Potomac River.

Go Caps!

Well, I'm on the east coast for the start of a 12 day trip, and my buddy Ron and I decided to go check out a Washington Capitals game tonight. The Caps have been on fire all season, scoring goals at will and tonight was no exception. They easily beat the Phoenix Coyotes, and they did it seemingly at half speed. Ron and I walked around DC a little bit after the game and we grabbed a few drinks before heading back to his place in Arlington.

Sweet Bamboo Bike

I saw this super sweet bamboo bike on display in the Portland airport on my way to Washington DC today.

Go Blazers!

My buddy Stuart and I have been catching Blazers games together for several years now from the nosebleed section of the Rose Garden. This year however, Stuart has managed to score us some pretty sweet tickets to some of the marquee games. Over the last couple of weeks we caught the the Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks and the latest game was the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James. All the games were fun but we had center court tickets for the Bucks game, in a special section complete with reclining seats and our own valet bringing us beer and food. It was epic, especially since Clare and our friend Will were also able to join us. Next up, the Boston Celtics!

Snow in Portland

Well today started out cold and clear, but around 1 pm clouds rolled in from the west. By 2 pm we had a full on snowstorm happening. It is finally tapering off now at 5:30 but we have over and inch of snow on the ground. My bike ride home from work was a little slippery and I'm glad I made it without going down. Snow like this totally shuts down the city. Maybe we'll have a snow day tomorrow!

Santa Was Good To Me!

I got really lucky on the Christmas present front this year! Santa (i.e. Clare) gave me a beautiful vintage coffee grinder. I must have been very good this year! Unlike modern electric grinders that hack your beans into uneven chunks and bits of dust, an old-school grinder like mine crushes the beans into nice, uniform sized pieces that make a good clean brew. But the best part about my new grinder is that it looks really awesome and it makes for a nice morning ritual.

Cyclocross National Championships

Great video of the start of my race at the US Cyclocross National Championships in Bend Oregon this weekend.

USGP of Cyclocross

Well, the pros came to town this weekend to show us how it's done. The US Grand Prix of Cyclocross had it's season finale here with races on both Saturday and Sunday. I was scheduled to race both days but a nasty head cold sidelined me on Saturday and knocked me out of the race on the third lap on Sunday. Both days we're cold, but Sunday was cold and really windy; not great conditions to race in when you're sick!! Yes, that is a shot of me in the black kit above, minus the beard and my usual green and black kit. I got a big hole in the butt of my shorts when I crashed three weeks ago!

The elite race on Saturday was fun to watch though and I snapped some pretty good pictures of the pro men and women. The racing was fast and very entertaining, with the men's race coming down to the last lap to decide the winner. Next up, the National Championships in Bend this weekend. I race on Saturday in the morning. This morning it was -8 degrees in Bend!!!!

California Dreaming

I am soo stoked! Clare and I spent eight days in California, traveling through the Northcoast redwood country, camping, biking and staring at the big trees. We also got in some excellent friend and family visiting time with my buddy Dave and his wife Rosemary in Eureka and with Clare's family down in Mendocino County. We hit all of the main redwood parks, including Jed Smith Prairie Creek, Redwood National Park and Humboldt Redwoods. Riding our bikes among the giants was a big highlight of the trip. We also spent a night at Patrick's Point and fell asleep to the sound of the ocean crashing on the beach hundreds of feet below. Thanksgiving was spent with Clare's family on the amazing property that her grandma (also named Clare) and her (Roan) own in the hills above the Anderson Valley. Grandma Clare spoiled us with amazing food, wonderful company, and big warming fires in the kitchen hearth at every meal. Can't wait to get back there for another visit!

Clare barely escaped from this roadside Tyrannosaurus!

A big fat one in the Stout Grove - Jed Smith Redwoods State Park.

A beautiful old oak tree on Clare's grandmothers property. She owns 3,000 beautiful acres of steep forested hills that we're amazing to explore.