The quality of the stream and the sound of the music was amazing. I thought for sure they’d have technical issues with so many people tuning in for a STREAMING broadcast. But it was flawless! I was witness to something special tonight. Now they’re rebroadcasting and I’m going to have to force myself to go to bed. Five o’clock comes too early!! So much for getting to bed early tonight. It was worth it! They better come to Salt Lake City on their second North American leg of the tour!

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We got off to a rocky start when at 2 a.m. Chan and I picked up our friend John at his house. We forgot the bike rack and left the trailer behind on purpose so we strapped his bike to the roof of Chan’s Suburban. When we got back to Chan’s house to load up the trailer we pulled into the garage and forgot about John’s bike! His bike (and Chan’s roof rack) were, needless to say, toast! Not a great way to start a biking adventure at all. We decided to make the best of it and take the broken bike along in the event we could make some repairs, but John would have to purchase new front shocks at the very least. His Boxxer shocks were a twisted mess and would no longer be useful.

Matt, the fourth and final participant of this great event, arrived at Chan’s house at 4:30 a.m. We packed up the trailer and left ON TIME at 5 a.m. That has NEVER happened before with this group. I was surprised and impressed.

My wife always teases me that I never tell her what we talk about on these long trips. I seriously always forget what we talk about! With that in mind I decided to keep a log of the conversation of the trip on day 1. It’s quite random, but here are some “highlights”.

John tells us about the power of magnesium.

Discussion: Are germs mobile?

Tyler and Matt discuss the merits of Windows Vista as well as the drawbacks. Both are happy about the release of Windows 7.

Driving up Spanish Fork Canyon. Chan mentions how much he hates this road. We could die on this trip if we fall asleep at the wheel. Other ways we could die: Spontaneous combustion – Matt explains, if you dove into a stream or pond that had been contaminated with potassium…upon drying you would auto ignite. It happened once to Matt’s lab coat.

Matt talks about an $8 tool that will straighten out your rear breaks.

Chan let’s us know that it’s only 44 degrees in Spanish Fork Canyon.

We reminisced about the time that John called in a fire that a train had started in Spanish Fork canyon.

John is surprised about how many entries Tyler is making in this log. The log is reviewed by Tyler. (laughter) Matt predicts the next entry will be four days from now and that it will read, “I’m so sick of this trip! John’s bike is broken and we can’t find a part to fix it!”

Chan suggests that Tyler get a buzz on this trip. He is the only one that doesn’t have one.

Tyler discusses the reason he goes to Sports Clips for his haircuts, despite the $25 cost (including tip).

John talks about his trip to California to replace stained glass windows in the NewPort Beach Temple.

Matt washes Chan’s window with his hat. It’s 33 degrees! Matt begins to wash Chan’s side of the window.

Chan is drowsy. We take turns telling stories about falling asleep at the wheel.

John says, “If I could choose a death I think I’d rather die instantly in a head-on car accident than drown.” John told a story about how he felt like he almost drowned, which is one of his worst fears. Chan related a story about how he felt close to death in Moab and Matt came to his rescue. It had something to do with falling off a rock while climbing or something.

Brother Matt believes his beard makes him a better driver. The skill level has risen. His beard resembles the beard of Mose, Dwight Schrute’s cousin on The Office.

John starts calling around to different bike shops to find himself a replacement shock for his broken bike. “Hi, I have an odd question for you. Do you have a pair of used boxer shorts?” (He meant to ask if they had a used pair of Boxxer Shocks. It was pretty funny, but maybe you had to be there.

Grass Roots Cycle hooks us up with a used shock and only charges us $20 for installation, including all the cabling that was needed after the garage incident.

John preaches to us about Magnesium some more. He reads from a pamphlet he picked up in Grand Junction while waiting for his bike to get fixed.

So, that’s a sampling of our meanderings in conversation. It’s usually quite interesting, although it’s probably not very evident. Anyhow, we got John a used front end shock ($200 cash), a new wheel and disc ($190 and $20 labor). What a freakin’ deal! $410 for a bike made new again. Crappy way to start a trip, though.

We drove to Vail, Colorado and walked around for a while. We decided to go drive South to Buena Vista, CO. We shopped at City Market and drove west of Buena Vista to find a campground to camp in. We found a campground called Collegiate Peaks Campground and pulled in at around 9pm. We set up the tent and ate dinner and got to bed at around 11:45pm. Matt, Chan and Tyler took Tylenol PM to aid in their sleep. It wasn’t the start we planned on, but we still had fun getting started.

This post describes the mundane, normal occurrences of our trip, which you may or may not find interesting. The following days are much more exciting, I promise! Enjoy the pictures.

• Gooseberry Memories Make Me Want Spring!  March 7, 2008
• Flying High in Moab, Utah!  April 1, 2006
• Commencing Epic Adventure!  August 10, 2009
• More Gooseberry Mesa Adventures  March 12, 2008
• Let the Yard Work Begin  April 8, 2006

Here’s the general plan for the trip, which is part of the reason I’m so excited about it. My friends and I love to mountain bike, rock climb and bag peaks. So that’s what we have planned, but in no particular order and with no particular location other than somewhere in Colorado. We’ve scouted out several spots that we’ve researched or that have been recommended to us and we know our general route. We’ll be heading East on I-70 and then south on a road to be determined but likely some scenic byway of sorts, and then back west towards Durango and finally back North on the Million Dollar Highway through Silverton and Ouray. Everything is subject to change and all events are subject to vote based on what we feel like doing that day. We’ll be camping, staying in hotels, driving all night. Who knows! It’s a true adventure where the possibilities are endless. I’m really, really looking forward to this trip!!

We’re still open to suggestions. Check out some of our tentative spots and let us know if we’re missing anything, especially if you know first-hand. As I mentioned, I hope to update the blog daily and you can keep track of where we are by keeping an eye on our location via Google Latitude which is posted at the bottom of my profile page.

• Colorado Adventures – Day 1  August 14, 2009
• New Blog Emerges in Blogosphere  April 26, 2007
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• The New Site Design (WordPress 2.0)  January 26, 2006
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I was banking on the weather clearing, but when I paid my $9 entrance fee to enter Antelope Island State Park and heard the two rangers tell me that there was no hope of the weather clearing up today, my heart sank.  Nothing to do but hike the peak, no matter what the conditions.  It rained on me the entire way up the mountain.  The winds got pretty strong and the rain stung my face.  Despite the weather, it was one of the easiest peaks I’ve ever climbed.  The trail was great all the way up, despite the muddiness, and there were only a couple of exposed areas.

Upon reaching the top I took some pictures (not too much to look at when you’re in a cloud) and was about to head back down after only 15 minutes, but as I reached for my pack I noticed a flash of sky and a mountain off in the west.  As quickly as I saw it it disappeared.  But it gave me a glimmer of hope that the storm was about to clear.  Another flash, and another!  Sure enough, the clouds started to clear out.

I ended up staying on top for an hour and a half and by the time I headed down I had a clear view all the way to the Wasatch mountains to the east. It was awesome! I can’t wait for the next peak!

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First we were able to get out in a Mustang on closed course track with cones.  We took three rounds through the course to get a feel for it, but their advise to us was to drive the car like we stole it.  I’ve never in my life driven something with that much power!  It was pretty dang sweet!  After we warmed up we took three laps around as they timed us.  I wasn’t the best, but I wasn’t the worst either.  And I never hit any cones, so that was good.

After driving the Mustangs you wouldn’t think that it could get much cooler, but it actually did.  The coolest part of the experience is when we rode shotgun with professional drivers around the actual race track!  Their were three cars out there jockeying for position on the track, just like they would in a real race.  The only thing they held back on was actual tapping.  That’s what they do in a real race that so often ends with a car off the track, so I’m glad they held back a little.  I had my little camera so i pulled it out and flipped it into video mode and took some low-quality video of the experience.  This video doesn’t do it justice, but you’ll still get the idea.  It was a lot of fun!

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Brett is a very outspoken and charismatic athlete and he loves everyone he meets.  He told Kat he loved her on the show, but he told me that before, too.  He represented Special Olympics and people with disabilities so well tonight; we can all be proud.  I’ll upload his highlights and post it soon so you can all enjoy his performance and words of inspiration if you missed tonight’s episode.  His personality is addictive!

Way to go, Brett!

UPDATE: You can also see him in an interview on Fox 13 News.

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The Gooseberry Mesa Adventure – Part I

The Gooseberry Mesa Adventure – Part II

The Gooseberry Mesa Adventure – Part III

The Gooseberry Mesa Adventure – Part IV

Another wonderful spring day makes me want it to be spring for real, all the more! Good news is that Matt called me today and told me we’re going biking this Saturday. Bad news is, the weather forecast for this weekend is predicting rain! Dang it! At least it’s not snow.Similar Posts:

• Gooseberry Memories Make Me Want Spring!  March 7, 2008
• Colorado Adventures – Day 1  August 14, 2009
• Biking Video Among Google's “Now Free” Vids  June 26, 2006
• Flying High in Moab, Utah!  April 1, 2006
• Ryan Leech Rides Like No Other  April 26, 2006

• More Gooseberry Mesa Adventures  March 12, 2008
• Colorado Adventures – Day 1  August 14, 2009
• Flying High in Moab, Utah!  April 1, 2006
• Tracking Flights Live with Google Earth  March 17, 2006
• New Features on Google Video  January 12, 2006

I’ve ascertained that they were here on September 11, 2007. If you were in downtown Salt Lake City on that day (or within a day or two of 9/11 because who knows how long it might take to drive up and down every street in Salt Lake) then check out the maps and see if you can find yourself!

I looked at the places I work first to see if I could find myself walking to lunch and that’s where I found my clue as to when the google truck was in town. I work at the Energy Solutions Arena and the marque says “September” and the flags are at half-staff. That narrows it down to 9/11 and a quick google search confirmed that the Governor had ordered that all flags be at half-staff on 9/11/2007.

People have noted all sorts of interesting pictures that were captured in other cities when people in public places didn’t possibly realize that they were in fact in a public place. I wonder what we’ll find happening in Salt Lake City. If you find something interesting, please be sure to let us know! Here is a YouTube video that shows just how detailed these street views can get.

UPDATE:

In my excitement to post this story I just assumed it was downtown metropolitan Salt Lake City. BOY was I wrong. Tooele even made the cut!! They drove by our house and I didn’t even know it. And my kids weren’t out playing that day, darn it.

Besides Tooele they pretty much got everything as far south as Santaquin, as far north as North Ogden and from the Dugway exit on I-80 all the way Kamas in the east.

 UPDATE: As I’m looking around I thought it would be cool to link to some of the things I’m finding:

• The house I grew up in
• The house Heather grew up in
  
• My High School (that place is OLD)

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