I Don't Even Know Where To Begin

All I have to say is that I'm psyched Novemeber is here. The Sunday after Halloween always seems to be one of the most relaxed days of the whole year, and that just sets the tone for the whole month of November. A lot has gone in the last few weeks. I truly do not know where to begin. I do know, I took a lot of really classic photos.

Second to Matt McNamera and Meg Parker moving to town, these dirt jumps are the best thing to ever happen to the town of Wilmington. The 4 sets of jump are perfectly built, the pump track is fun for everyone, and thelocal kids are getting really good at all of it.

I almot forgot...On October 24th Justin McGiver, Bill Frazer, Jake Whitcomb, Justin Beckwith, Eli Cooper, Kenny Unser, and myself circumnavigated in Manhattan in support of the 350.org campaign. I think it was a tougher day than any one of us thought it would be, and the night at the Hotel Carter was even tougher.





We made a whole week out of Halloween. There was a bike ride, a darn good celebration at our house, and a 2nd place finish in a very special constume contest.

I need to rest...ski season is less than a month away.

Ok...Ok...So...I Swam

Kayaking takes focus. When you're running a rapid like crystal in a long boat, you've gotta be paying attention. Clearly I wasn't. I am thankful that it was during the Moose River Festival so there were plenty of people around to capture my patened back boof, to beat-down, swim move.

Exploring new Downhill runs just like Columbus would have wanted

Adrienne, Bill, and I took advantage of Columbus and explored some good downhilling in New England. Saturday we rode at Highland, Sunday we rode at Sugarbush, and in the evebing took in a little reggae music at High Ground on the way home. We made sure to get back home Monday to finish off a great season of riding at Whiteface.

There's something about this time of year

Early fall in the Adirondacks absolutely rules. For some the reason we always seem to experience a string of beautiful weather, the colors begin to come out, and our need to explore is heightened. Probably because we know that winter is coming soon, and we better fit in all those things we said we were going to do back in April.

Scoots tried his hand at the 90-miler canoe classic. Scotty and his team of three other eager participants ran and paddled all 90 miles of the Adriondack's most classic canoe race. With a time of 16:26:30 they set the record for a boat carrying a 278 Old Military Rd. resident.

Bill, Mel, Aspen, Adrienne, Kyle, Tim, Keegan, Bill P, and I'm sure a few other people I forgot cruised over to Vermont for some mlountain biking. From the sounds of it they enjoyed some of the finest East Burke, VT hospitality you could ask for, and had a good time riding too. On Sunday they traveled back to the west to explore some new territory in Stowe.

As for me, I ushered in the beginning of a new Jewish New Year by making my parents happy and joining them for for a very special dinner on Friday night. While I was down there I got to ride at a new place called Blue Mountain with my brother. Blue Mountain Preserve turned out to be really cool. I don't think I'll go to my folks house again without stopping there. On Sunday I took advantage of the incredible weather, and went for a jaunt up Vanderwhacker Mountain. The views were incredible, the fire tower was really cool, and I enjoyed the company immensely.

Another week in the bag...who knows what's up for next week. Maybe trail buidling, hopefully some downhilling, maybe a mission to Gore. This Wednesday could be the most interesting yet.

A Busy Week

"the car is a long way down there"

September is turning out to be all about mountain biking. It's been really, really, dry, and with so many fun things to do on two wheels...why not?

For me, the most fun night of the week is definitely Wednesday. Once again we had a huge posse of riders getting after it in the dark, and enjoying life. I'm so glad we started the Wednesday night cruise.

"hanging out on the rock"

I am also extremely grateful to have friends that continue to think up new and different ways to experience an adventure without leaving the town we live in. On Thursday, Bill, Adrienne, Mike, and Myself got a ride up the Whiteface Toll Road from our good friend Dave Mcahill (thanks Dave... and Kenny for letting us use the PP van).

Thanks for the shuttle Dave

Bill making sure everyone is where they're supposed to be

The plan was to ride our DH bikes down the hiking trail. And into the Flume trails.



There was a bunch of walking, a bunch of completely unridable terrain, but the stuff that was rideable was fantastic, and in the end the loss of elevation in total was around 3500 feet.

another successful mission

More riding this weekend, a rest on Monday, and then bam...it's almost Wednesday again.

Home

The view from the top of trail 27 at Whiteface

I had a lot to look forward to on my way home from Norway. I was even looking forward to getting back to work less than 24 hours after my return to Lake Placid. Since I've been back, there's been a ton of people out riding all the time, and I thouroughly enjoyed my Beaver weekend despite a still tender back.

Bill Boofing on the Eagle Section

Me Clearing the last hole on the Moshier

Bill Getting by the big hole at the bottom of Colston Falls

My last days in Norway

After a short night at the bar on Saturday I hopped on a bus at 2:00 AM, and just like that, I was on my way home. I tried to cram as much as I could into my last few days in Norway. A lot of raft guiding, and a bunch of kayaking. The highlight was definitely an afternoon run of the Rauma. Big rapids, big fun.








































I payed the price for not getting far left enough on the big slide. Took the boof at the end of the big slide right on to rock. Ouch!!!I ended up losing my paddle but scrambling, and getting it back to finish out the rapid. Almost five days later my back is still killing me.

















The Sjoa was an excellent rafting river. Lots of fun waves, and one awesome surf hole at the end when the levels were right.





























After work Amot runs were a regularity. Just when you thought you might get a day off of kayaking. Someone say "Hey, who wants to go for an Amot run?" 10 minutes later we'd be in the car.



















So...I am back in the states now, trying to piece things back together after being away for a month. I sat through a number of 1st day of school meetings today, which thankfully offered me plenty of time to reflect on the past month, and think about the months to come.

Labor Day, Beaver River circus this weekend. Fun Fun Fun...!!!