Life Just Keeps Fucking Up

So here I was ready to be all coy about my next race and just make hints about what it was going to be and then just throw up a whole bunch of pictures. So I throw in my second memory card with all the pictures from the Powderhorn 24, Glacier National Park, and Seattle, ready to relive the moments by going through the photos, then the folder doesn't load. No pictures. Empty. I throw it back in the camera, the camera agrees, fuck you, you didn't take any pictures.

Well, what dumb fucking luck. This was also a day I blew three flats. This is on top of a broken smartphone and broken laptop. Does everyone's shit break as much as mine does?

Besides that minor tragedy, the good news is that come October 11th I will be participating in the first Trans Northern California from the Reno area to the Mendocino Coast. 400 miles, 40,000 ft, lots of dirt. Hoping to build an actual mountain bike for this shindig, but if that doesn't fall together in time, monster crossing it is.

Not an Instagram Filter: The Adirondacks, NY

After I returned to Long Island, my brother, who had returned from Europe  a few months before told me he still had to update his blog. I was polite and didn't say "What's the point if the time is so far gone?" Now here I am being back in Oakland for nearly a month and I've only updated once. Oh well, this isn't a full time job, so I gotta squeeze it in between working 60 hour weeks and moving across town.

Besides the now, here's what happened all those months ago. After visiting friends in Boston, Hartford, and Glens Falls, NY I stepped into the Adirondacks of NY. A place I've been very few times in my life but have always dreamed about. It's the little bit of West that NY has clung on to. It isn't as wild, or sparsely populated, but I still happened to find some pockets that were completely to myself.

This was like a portal into the hills. After crossing this bridge I entered the mountains and got out of the Hudson Valley.

Backwoods camp in the Moose River Wilderness.

This road is part of the Black Fly Challenge. It was extremely sandy.

Riding along these bumpy dirt roads didn't fair well for my camera. After it died I bought a disposable, so no, these are not some fancy filter, just shots with a disposable camera.

Whiteface Mountain

Loose Gravel, my favorite sign.

Whiteface from afar.

My final campsite was right along this idyllic lake.

I hopped off the bike and hiked up Mt. St. Regis. On top was this fire tower and quite the view.

I think I have more photos hiding on my broken phone (hopefully I can get them). Maybe I'll dump those when I'm all done with the rest of the updates.

East Coast Image Dump

Finally, a real update. Unfortunately, the organization is still a little bit lacking on my part (someone who is organized wouldn't have done the enormously stupid things I did at the end of this trip, but that's for later). For now, here is some image dumps from before I hit the Adirondacks. Covering from Long Island to Boston then out to the Hudson Valley before hitting Lake George where I'll pick up once my photos are developed.

For a while now I've been wanting to camp out on Orient Point and see the sun come up. Unfortunately, I was met with these clouds, so I grabbed the ferry and pushed north.

Usually I try to brave any storm, but when my mom called and told me about gale force winds and viscous lightning, even a tornado touching down, I opted for a room for the night. I grabbed this shot, but the rain never came. Oh well.

It would then continue to dump rain on me all the next day. At least a wet lens gave this eery effect on this ancient cemetery. 

Sunset over Quincy Bay.

Quincy Quarries.

Boston Skyline

Bog in the Quincy Quarries.

Fenway Park.

Putnam, CT

Fantastic coffee nestled in Putnam, Ct.

Covered Bridge, Berkshires, NY.