June Blues

Well it was a tough call this afternoon between vacuuming and mopping the floors at 1004 or writing a blog… fortunately for you the blog won out.  It always seems to surprise me/humble me how weather can really affect my mood, energy levels, general stoke on life, and subsequent productivity.  I was almost wishing to be at work so I had a good excuse for not just bucking up and doing something amidst this record rainfall we are swimming through.  Almost, but not quite.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted anything and I think that can be attributed to a few things.  First off, stoke to blog always lulls after the newness of it has worn off a bit.  Second off, it’s been a rad few weeks of weather and I have either been out playing, trying to get stuff done, at work, or too exhausted to want to write anything witty (not that said content ever really approaches wittiness).  Also, I kind of felt like I had nothing epic to share on.  That said, much has happened, here’s a brief synposis-

Highlights would definitely be multiple trips up the Going to the Sun on the road bike.  Jen and I shared a few awesome days up on the road chasing goats, herding bighorns, and tunneling through snow banks while gaping in awe of the beauty of the park at this time of the year.  I also traveled to Washington a couple weekends in a row for some bike racing.  The first was a 60 miler that felt more like a road race on knobby tires.  Needless to say a dismal 4th place and general grumpiness for spending 16 hours in the car over a 48 hour period to get a “good workout” left me feeling like I wasted two great days I could have played in the valley and the park.  Why not do it again the next week?  Bavarian Bike & Brew in Leavenworth, WA is always a great weekend amidst the race season.  I’ve had good results in the past, and just plain love the vibe of the weekend.  Unfortunately, the proverbial “wheels fell off” during my race and I found myself soft-pedaling backwards through the competitors to come in an all time low 9th!  Fortunately, there’s more IPA’s than you can shake a stick at in the Biergarten after and good company made up for a supremely disappointing race.  Unsure whether I just didn’t have the form of the past or if it was just a fluke, I considered long and hard the possibility of “retirement” (if you can retire from a hobby that is…) and cashing in the chips for fun-biking.  A.K.A- chairlift intervals and downhill sessions with #puglife Phil Grove, recently retired from all things uphill/competitive.  It was also slightly redeeming to have a killer ride up Devil’s Gulch with Matty B the following day and strangely my legs felt great.  The next Wednesday I dropped Jen off at the airport so she could join her family in Boston for the birth of her sisters first child- Danger Chobani as they have dubbed him.  Hope he’s not lactose intolerent, or even worse, a vegan!  I boogied down to Missoula that afternoon with Sir Joelsy for a little Kettlehouse Beer League XC race as a warmup for the legendary Missoula Pro XCT.  Finally I felt decent and put together a win despite nearly loosing it in a crash on the final descent.  Still seemed to be off pace from last year, but oh well, what’s a guy to do.  That brings us to Father’s day weekend.  I tore a page out of the ole Jen Curtis book and decided to call it Father’s Weekend and packed the bags for West Glacier where I spent some quality time with mom and dad and helped around the property.  We went for some hikes, played ping pong, shot hoops, watched movies, and soaked in the hot tub.  It was awesome, restful, and made me so thankful to have parents that feel more like best friends in the stage of life.  In a comical flashback to eons ago, I found myself dancing to some good live tunes Saturday night at the Stone Fly when I started to feel like a pumpkin at midnight.  Without even the slightest bit of resentment, mom woke up in, jumped in the car, and came and picked me up.  If that isn’t endearing I don’t know what is!  This week has been a bit of a let down as far as living the bachelor life goes.  Rain, rain, and more rain.  I suppose it is actually good as I don’t think I’ve taken one rest week since March, so perhaps I’ll come out of the gates flying this weekend.  More than likely though the legs will be shouting expletives at the brain stating they were completely content with hibernation mode.  The great news is that I have become an uncle (that’s right, Uncle Ben just like the rice, only I’m slightly lighter in complexion)!  Jess and Bryan had baby Schnittjer in the middle of the night and he is a super cute little guy who is doing great amidst some adversity in his development in the womb.  Jen has been super proud of Jess (her sister) and is thankful to be out there for the experience.  I kind of miss her though, so hopefully she comes home soon.

That brings us up to speed, now let’s hope this rain makes for some tacky fun trails and a green, smoke free summer!

Here’s a couple fun things I’ve been enjoying lately if you’re ever looking for good listens/reads

-Music: War on Drugs- man I can’t get enough of these guys!  Youtube the live KEXP performance
Dead Leaf Echo- kind of Phantagramesque, The Black Seeds- Reggae from New Zealand

-Reads- behind the curve here but Girl with a Dragon Tattoo series is a good read! Also reading Phil Gaimon’s Pro Cycling on 10$ a Day– he’s a great writer and has a unique story of how he got into cycling and what it’s like.