Yep I finally went and got out the Sok.  The Sok is the bike that I won in a bike give away that Dirt Rag Magazine does every month.  The bike is a Bianchi 29" single speed (SS) with a 32/18 gearing with horizontal drops and a Sram component setup.  I have always kinda wanted a SS but never could make sense of buying one.  Today however changed my mind.  I guess I still did not buy one, but I would if I had to now.  Somehow Billi is really sick with some kinda stomach bug, so I headed out the door solo.  I started to ride the Sok.  At first it was really weird trying to shift a bike with no gears.  Finally I started to fill it a little more and got a rythym down.  Climbin is a whole different animal, but it was fun, simple, and chillin.  With no gears ridin is all about ridin.  You have to go the speed of the terrain.  I have a pic and I know that my front bottle looks like I am carrying a screwdriver down the trail with me but its just a sport drink.  I rode what we call Wagon Wheel Loop that has some fun miles for a nice roll. 

 

 

Bob Knight "I may not be retired"

 

Brad

One of my favorite riddles of all time is this one here.  I hope you take a look and try it. 

 

                                                        1

                                                       11

                                                       21

                                                     1211

                                                    111221

                                                    312211

                                                  13112221

                                                1113213211

                                             31131211131221

                                        13211311123113112211

                                   11131221133112132113212221

                                   

What would the next line be?

 

Hint the sum of the next line would be 56.

 

Carefull with plastic!!!

Brad

Here we are going into week 4 of 32 weeks.  As you can tell from our list, we still have a lot of things to complete.  I thought I would give you an update on how things are going.

 

Biking- we are starting to add some miles on the mountain bikes and the commute but our legs have been sore and we have been tired.  1300 combined miles on a mountain bike?  We better start pedaling.

 

Oragnic coffees- so far we have tried four and have found one we really like.  We are keeping track of which ones we have tried and giving them a rating.  For you coffee drinkers-- we will share our opinions at the end but so far "Zen Blend" by the Oragnic Coffee Company is in the lead.

 

Tucker walks-  No matter how tired we are from biking, we seem to get out for our walk with Tucker.  Tucker now expects walks every night and whines at night if we try to take a night off. 

 

Stretching-  It has made us feel better but it seems really hard to remember to do.

 

Organic foods-  We have really increased the amount of oragnic foods we buy and consume-- pretty easy to do since we previuosly never purchased anything organic.  So far we purchase on a regular basis--- apples, lettuce, spinach, sandwich bread, mustard, milk, butter, tomatoes, fresh herbs, coffee, tortilla chips, salsa, canned tomatoes, orange juice, pasta, oatmeal, egss, and hot tea.  We have found that we are not able to purchase some things that are organic so we go with "natural" such as beef.  In other cases, neother organic or natural are available so we sticking with what we normally purchase. 

 

So the big question---  Does it cost more to go organic?  Our experience so far is no.  If you compare each individual item, organic versus regular, organic is always more expensive.  However, a strange phenomenom occurs.  When we know we are paying a premium price for something, we eat and waste less.  We also plan our weekly menu better and healthier and don't try to buy produce that are out of season.  So the net effect has been that going organic (or at least partially organic) has acutally reduced our grocery bill.

 

Not eating fast food and drnking soda- So far we have done well.  Of course it has only been three weeks.

 

Learning sign language- we have order a book and DVD but haven't learned anything yet.

 

Brake stand and teeter totter- Brad has built the teeter totter  (and a mountain bike skills park).  We are practicing!

 

GPS- We have been researching which one to buy and I think are about ready to order.  I am sure learning to use it will be the harder part.

 

Wanda's photos-  We have started but have a ways to go.  Wanda has a lot of photos.  Did I mention that this task actually was originally a gift?  I know.

 

That's all we have done so far-- well at least what is on our list. 

 

Until next  time,

Billi

 

 

So you think you have what it takes to be All Mountain Baby?  Well let me run a little test by you to see if you and we qualify.  You will need a little lingo before we begin.  "All Mountain" means anytime, anywhere, all day, who's not keepin up, rip it and stick it.  "Huckin"--- this word describes just total freestyle, throwin it down the hill with sick style and slashin everything.  "Endo Gear"--  this is the gear your slamin your bike in when you decide to endo.  I know it sounds simple but crazy.  "Hammer Gear"-- yep, the gear you grap on that sick runner going down and huckin it all the way.  "Arm Pump"-- from holdin on too tight and too long.  "Epic"-- All Mountain is always epic. 

 

Okay, so now you need to be able to do a couple things to help you on your way.  "Air Guitar"-- yeah if you are in the parkin lot you have to blast AC/DC and play some sick air guitar so all can see.  "Unloadin da bikes"-- I know your momma used to put the front tire on the bike while on the ground but not no more.  You either climb on your hood and do it on top of the car then ride off, or strap it on in the pick-up bed and blast out the back.  "Brake stands"-- are absolutely a must when you are waitin on your slow turtle friends who just can't bomb anything.  "Claimin All Mountain Baby"-- when huckin and bombin anything that is runnin down hill, you must scream "I'm "All Mountain Baby" and then when you come to a stop, you must you must say "Thats was epic baby".

 

What about the Tuna?

Brad

Ruth Wakefield owned (along with her husband) the Toll House Inn.  One of her favorite recipes was for Butter Drop Do cookies. The recipe called for the use of baker's chocolate and one day Ruth found herself without the needed ingredient. She substituted a semi-sweet chocolate bar cut up into bits. However, unlike the baker's chocolate the chopped up chocolate bar did not melt completely, the small pieces only softened.  As it so happened the chocolate bar had been a gift from Andrew Nestle of the Nestle Chocolate Company. As the Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe became popular, sales of Nestle's semi-sweet chocolate bar increased. Andrew Nestle and Ruth Wakefield struck a deal. Nestle would print the Toll House Cookie recipe on its packaging and Ruth Wakefield would have a lifetime supply of Nestle chocolate.

 

Probably more than what you wanted to know but at least you are no longer wondering.

 

Billi

Snowboarding season has come to an end for us.  We still could go maybe a time or two more but with the snow conditions being so icy and the weather warming up for biking I think it has ended.  Looking back on the season, we had a really good time.  It started last October when we bought are season passes.  We had been talking for several years of going but this year we finally did it.  After getting the passes the real work began.  Since we had nothing for winter sports we had to go shopping for everything.  We shopped locally first but after coming up short we headed to the city.  Finding some boards, bindings, boots, and clothing we turned around and came home.  Then we waited, and waited, and started to get impaitent.  We knew the snow did not come in early October but how about late Ocotber?  Nope no snow.  Then it turned into November and the ski area always opens by the first.  Nope, still no snow but they did open one run with man-made snow.  That was good enough for Billi and I because we haeaded out and went up and down the one run alot.  In the begining however, Billi never of been ridin was not sure about the chair so for the first day, we walked up to the top of the run every time.  Slowly she learned and slowly I was her coach.  We had bought a video and that helped us learn.   Then right around Thanksgiving it snowed and the pow came.  We learned to ride bigger runs and in some pow.  Then it snowed again and agian.  Every time we went, the snow flew hard.  I think there was 99" in two weeks.  Still after that it, it snowed--- we hit 120" really fast.  Every weekend you could get in some fresh lines.  We got better and rode faster and harder.  There at 7:30am and rode till 4:00pm.  We had some good times and made some good memories.  Billi hurt her ribs, wrists, tailbone, and her head.  I did get a sore knee and smashed my head hard a couple times.  We walked away and laugh about it now.  I think that all in all, we learned alot and really had a good time.  So next year, anyone looking for a ride-- look us up. 

 

Remember keep real maple syrup in the fridge.

 

Brad

Today I commuted to work on my bike for the first time this year.  It was a little cold this AM and a little windy this PM but it was just nice to get back on the road bike.  No motorists crossed the white line and this is always a good thing.  Which reminds me about a video Brad found on the internet.  It is well worth checking out and playing along-----

 

 

Until the next time......

 

Billi

 

 

Lets start today talkin about who is Flat Tire Billi (FTB).  Everybody has an alter-ego and I have found Billi's.  It was this girl hidden inside her dormant for 29 years, but at last, two years ago it was unleashed.  What did FTB do when she got out?  Well she put holes in every type of bike tire you can think of.  Stock tires, pro tires, lined tires, all condition tires, layered kevlar, yep all of them flat.  Sometimes a tire will go for a week and then sometimes flat before we get them out of the box.  We have used Quick patches, glue patches, new tubes, tubes cut as a boot, and slime.  Once FTB and I were going for a ride to Guninison, CO and we were three miles out of town when FTB hit something.  Ruined the tire and the tube.  We had to put in a new tube, cut the old one, and fold it again and agian till we could layer it inside the tire so that the tube would stay in the one inch gap in the tire.  During the ride to Lake City---- same thing, well FTB came out to play and made it interesting.  Going on a ride anywere---- yep look about three feet behind Billi and there will be FTB chasing her, when she catches her........... pssssssssst flat tire.  We have bought and ruined, yes completly ruined many tires.  I think sometimes we must be trying to make tires go flat becuase that would make a lot more sense then trying not to.  I know we all have our fair share of flat tires.  I have fixed several myself but this year already Billi has had three flats and we had not even ridden the mountain bike yet.  Now her new tubeless tire is unrideable and we had to change it back to the ol tube--- all before we went anywhere.  I have seen more tires go flat in two years than ever before.  If you keep readin you will see that Billi listed our floor pump as a favorite.  Now you know why.  I also just bought a little air compressor so we could save our arms a little more this year.  I uploaded some photos on the side so go check it out.

 

 

On another note, we did go for our first mountain bike ride today.  We covered around 4 miles for the first run.  We did a powerline road through the BLM.  The wind blew and it was kinda cool but we had a good time. 

Yep bump.

Brad

Everybody has products or services that you really trust and rely on, the things that make your life easier or just more enjoyable.  I thought I would share a few items on my preferred list.

 

1.  Camelback Better Bottle.  I never leave home without it.

 

2.  Dove Dark Chocolate.  No explanation needed. 

 

3.  yellow tail Merlot.  My everyday wine--- one glass a day with dinner keeps the heart healthy.

 

4.  Paul Mitchell's The Conditioner.  If you have ever seen my hair first thing in the morning,.......now imagine that same hair at lunch time.

 

5.  ACT Restoring Mouthwash.  I can continue eating chocolate.

 

6.  OXO Salad Spinner.  Before you toss it, you have to spin it and this one does the job. 

 

7.  Smartwool Socks.  It's not your grandfather's wool, wicks moisture away well, and they make different kinds for different activities so I can wear them all of the time. 

 

8.  Nuetrogena Healthy Defense SPF 30 Daily Moisturizer.  I don't breakout, don't burn, and don't end up looking like what Brad calls "leather".

 

9.  Topeak Joe Blow Turbo Floor Pump.  Try saying that 3 times fast.  Works flawlessly every time.

 

10.  Oakley Half Jacket Sunglasses.  I have been wearing these same sunglasses for at least 6 years.  The frames have withstood mountain biking, road biking, running, backpacking, rockclimbing and just everyday abuse.  You can switch out the lenses easily and the prescirption lenses are wonderful.

 

What life be without the little things?  Until next time---

 

Peace out, cub scout

Billi

So here's our latest greatest idea as we enter into Spring of 08.  How about creating a list of things we want to do or accomplish and assign a time frame?  So we came up with 32 Things to do in 32 weeks.  We will start Monday, March 24 and end Monday, November 3.  Check out our list over to the right hand side of the page.  We will place an "X" in front of each thing after we complete it.  For every item we do not complete, we will send a $25 gift card to one of our family members-- through random selection.  If we complete them all, we will.......well we haven't decided what to do yet.  We usually reward ourselves anyways.

 

Until the next time---- happy Easter egg hunting.

Billi

The last time that I blogged I said that I would talk about the first road ride of the year.  Getting home after work one evening the temperature was warm or warmer, and the wind was mild.  I thought to myself, hey I should go out on my road bike.  I threw on some riding clothes and in adiition, a light coat, insulated gloves, wool socks, and a warm layer under my helmet.  My route would be a short ride we do in the summer when we only have a short amount of time.  It rides about 16 miles and is flat.  So I took off and thought hey this is going good.  I like to ride hard for the first three miles.  I did not turn around there today but I thought about it.  I did struggle a little but it reminded me that I had gotten further out of shape than I thought.  I know I said I would blog about my ride but it does not write as good as it sounded when I was all tired and sore telling Billi.  Anywho I found my Easter present.  That bunny was tricky this year--- he had hid my eggs in a bike shop 140 miles away, take a look here.

.

What was inside the eggs?  They are XTR wheels with an XT cassette and tubeless tire set for my 575.  I had been on a DT Swiss and a 2.4 tire.  It saved about 2.7 pounds and the rotational weight  is really cool.  I think this will be a good upgrade for my bike this year.  At the time they had one set , but Billi will be getting hers soon.  She went with a differnt tire that is even a little lighter.  I put some pics of my bikes in the photos so take a look.

All for now.

Brad

Here's some interesting Easter facts I found on the net-----

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox, putting Easter on March 23 this year.
(the Spring Equinox occurs March 20).  This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar. Easter can actually be one day earlier, March 22.

This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see.  The last time it was this early was 1913 so if you are 95 or older, you have been around to see two Easters this early.

The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now).

The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.

So enjoy the early Easter with some extra chocolate!!!!

Billi

Not this last Saturday but the one before.  It went the wrong way before it even got going.  We were getting ready to go snowboarding when it all started.  I had made me a breakfast sandwich and was moving the snowboards outside so they would not ice over.  I came back inside and Tucker had decided that he could help himself to my breakfast.  He did not get it all the way, but he was licking it while it was on the counter.  So I had to throw it away and eat cereal.  Oh yeah earlier in the morning I had realized I did not plug in the pickup so we had to wait just a little longer before we tried to start it to leave.  When it gets cold, the diesel engine has a hard time startin if it is not plugged in.  Then we went to get some fuel in the pickup when the pump would not pump very fast and after five minutes we had three dollars worth of fuel.  We finally got fuel at another station and was heading out of Monte.  We were talkin and listening to music when a state trooper went by and then flipped on us.  Yep, came runnin us down.  Luckily we just got a warning and were told to back it off a little and sent on our way.  Finally we got to Wolf Creek,  first run--- solid ice.  We headed over to another area, same thing--- ice.  It had been a little warm so the snow was crusty.  After a couple hours we left and came home.  When we got home we had realized we only packed a portion of lunch and left the rest at the house. 

 

Since then we have pulled out the bikes and are getting into the again.  Next time, the story of my first ride of the season.

 

gotta bounce

 

Brad

Last night, Brad and I were checking out what Sara Bareilles looked like on VH1. com, when we started chceking some of the VH1 unplugged performances.  I hadn't really heard or watched much of Amy Winehouse so we checked out her unplugged performances and thought they were pretty interesting.  But the unplugged perfromance that impressed me the most and impressed me so much that I had to blog and share the link to the video is KT Tunstall's Black Horse and a Cherry Tree.  Not only does she play the guitar and sing the lyrics, she also provides her own back-up vocals and plays the tambourine-- a must see in my opinion.  So here's the link.  Hope it brightens your evening like it did mine.

 

 

Billi

 

 

I started learning to snowboard in November and prior to I had never been on a lift much less on a board.  Since December, I have been hit by three skiers.  I am not sure if this is a high amount of hits but it is more than Brad has been hit.  Twice the hits didn't amount to much and both skiers apologized.  The third was a little more painful and was a hit and run.  The guy even came flying clear across the run to hit me.  He didn't crash and I didn't even have a chance to cuss him out or be able to indentify him later for a later cursing.  Regardless of the hit, I started to think about why I have been hit three times and Brad hasn't been hit at all.  Here's my theory.  Brad travels usually at a faster speed than me on a board.  I am not a turtle, well since the beginning stages of learning, but I am not a hare yet.  I am somwhere in the middle.  And somewhere in the middle, is a perfect target.  If I were a turtle, these skiers would quickly pass me by and I would be easy to manuever around without hitting me.  If I were a hare, like Brad, I would not be able to be caught by theses skiers and they would never have a chance of honing in on me.  However, at somewhere in the middle, I am able to be caught and continue to be a moving target for these out-of-control skiers.  As a side note, I have not  purposely singled-out skiers but the truth is, I have not been hit by any boarders, at least not yet.  So, if my theory is true, if I speed up or slow down, I might not get hit as often.  Since slowing down is not an option, especially with Brad, I had better start speeding up.  I'll see how things go in the next two months left of the season.  Until then---

 

Peace out, cub scout.

 

Billi

 

Brad: So how long have you been waxin snowboards?

Billi: Since November 2007.

Brad: What got you into waxin?

Billi: Um, I just wanted to go faster.

Brad: So in order to go faster, what did you learn about waxin?

Billi: First you need to use the right type of wax.

Brad: Second?

Billi: You need a big glass of wine.

Brad: So what is your poison?

Billi: Merlot.

Brad: Okay, wax and wine. Anything else you need?

Billi: A hot iron

Brad:  How long does it usually take?

Billi: 15 min.

Brad: To do it all?

Billi: Just the waxin part, not the scrapin.

Brad: Do you really do it all yourself?

Billi: No, Brad usually instructs while I provide the labor.

Brad: If somebody wanted to learn to wax their own board, where do they start?

Billi: Go check out some vids on youtube.

 

 

 

 

Well thats all for now.  Check back for updates on our 24 Hours of Moab fun race.  You have to like our team name, Billy Goats! Not my idea but I can dig it.

 

Take it cheesy

Brad

 

Tucker went into surgery last week Monday to be neutered and have his anal sacks and front dew claws removed, all of which have been chronic problems.  So Tucker comes home Tuesday afternoon after a successful surgery, without complications, except that his whole backside looks like it was blown up.  It looked nasty and painful.  I thought about taking a picture so that you would not have to create the image in your head but it seemed mean.  The dog was already suffering enough.  To add to his misery, he had to take antibiotics and a laxative.  The laxative obviously is to help with the elimination discomfort but it also increases the frequency as well.  I swear Tucker was pooping every five minutes.  So much for easing the discomfort.

 

So after a week of antibitiotics and laxatives and 3 pounds lighter, Tucker went to the vet today for his post-op check-up and all is healing up well.  Here is a photo of Tucker, pre-op, barrel racing through the snow tunnels in his yard.  He isn't quit ready for his post-op photo yet.  So if you are having a bad day, just think about Tucker and his surgery, and life won't seem that bad.

 

--Billi

 

 

Friday night was here and we were getting ready to go ridin the next day.  When I (Brad) heard some change rattlin in the dryer from my pants.  So I went over to take the change out of the dryer and ruined the night.  While getting the change, I spun the dryer by hand and knocked off the drive belt.  At the time however, I had no idea what I had done.  Time was about 8:00p.m.  Finally after three hours, a dead drill battery, four bandaids between me and billi, and carrying the dryer into the gear room to work on it, we finally figured out what was going on.  Anyhow we showed up to the hill a little late saturday a.m. Trying to ride hard we just zapped out.  Stayed saturday, very short sunday.  Billi did find some air for the first time!!!!  Third time though, she rolled pretty good on packed snow, great laughs, sore ribs, abs, legs, and knees.   

 

Brad

OK, I was just joking about the tracking thing---- feel free to fire away, anonymously.

 

-Billi

This is the beginning of our blog.  I guess we decided we needed to take on another hobby to share our llives/hobbies, so here we are.  Winters can be very long.  Anyhow. we will plan to keep adding happenings as we go, but will also add a few events/photos from the recent past.  So, hope you enjoy or at least have a few chuckles.  Feel free to partipate and comment as we go, just remember we can track who makes what comments.

 

Brad & Billi