Finito!

finally finished that bitch off! Had my first shower in there yesterday. Everything looks great. It cost a lot but it was money well spent. I will be in there every day for the rest of my sweet young life.


Custom-built solid cherry vanity by my friend David Linke:





Dovetail joinery with hidden Soft-Close drawer glides:




The new tub that killed my back. All tile by yours truly.





Marble countertop and backsplash, vessel-style sink, and bamboo motif deck-mounted faucet:




Custom toilet paper holder:





Thanks for looking!

Almost there....

he bathroom remodel is at 99.5% completion. I promise pictures by the end of the week.

There was an unexpected delay of a couple of weeks. I let you figure it out....

White Mesa

inter forces us mountain bikers to seek out lower-elevation rides that are free of snow. Time for a trip to White Mesa, also known as the Ojitos Wilderness.



I rolled up to CDaddy's house, he was ready to go so off we went under blue skies.




One water crossing. Kinda scenic.




White Mesa is a huge gypsum deposit with some crazy geology. There are these crazy sinkholes out there. I did a pretty good web search but could not figure out the technical term for them. They are quite round, deep, and have water in them. Falling in would mean a slow death.




Here is CDaddy grinding up the hill:




And yours truly with Cabezon in the background:




There are numerous mineral springs in the area that form these really cool travertine terraces:




I tried to get a good shot of the grand-daddy sinkhole:





Here is CDaddy rolling the last steep line off of the Dragon's Back:




I guess that's it. Thanks for looking!

During....

Alright, so New Years Day has come and gone, and I have no "after" pictures of my bathroom remodel project to show the six faithful readers of my blog. Perhaps I was a bit optimistic about my projected completion date, but I might have made it if my tile saw hadn't frozen solid when the cold snap hit. As it stands now, I am 90% complete with the remodel and 100% sick of being in that bathroom.

So to tide my faithful readers over until I can post the "after" pics, here are some photos taken during a much-needed hike through Diablo Canyon today. My hiking companions were Todd Glatz and his spawn, the Master of Awesomeness, Conner.


We hiked through the slot canyon and headed down the wash towards the Rio Grande. We saw some icicles under a seep in the cliff wall:





Bored with the wash, we decided to scramble up to the top of the mesa.




It was tough going for Todd and I, but Conner scooted up like a monkey....





The summit was attained and the striking views were enjoyed....








Thanks for looking!

Before.....

Very little to share lately in the way of riding or any other outdoor activities. I've been spending my weekends on a wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling remodel of my master bathroom. It was the world's second-ugliest bathroom ever (the first-ugliest was my guest bathroom that I remodeled about 5 years ago). The guy who built my house was a complete idiot when it came to finish and trim work.

I've ripped everything out down to the studs, moved the plumbing and electric, and now I'm hanging drywall and cement board. Which is a painful challenge when you've ruined your back moving a 300-lb cast-iron bathtub up a flight of stairs. As I've said before, getting old sucks.

Here are a few "before" pics, I hope that the "after" pics will be up by New Years.







I'm sorry you had to see that....

Cabezon

inally climbed this thing after 14 years of thinking I should.





Drove out with some new friends and got right to it.





Getting closer....






Starting up "the crack"....





I made it past the crux move without too much trouble.





Lot's of scrambling up big boulders....






Marcia taking a break....





Up on top....





The views were nice....





Thanks for looking!

the Zuni Mountains

hen you're driving along Interstate 40 between Albuquerque and Flagstaff, the scenery ranges from beautiful to boring, but mostly it all seems like different variations on high desert. There are stretches of cliffs and mesas, expanses of nothing but dunes and scrub, and miles of crusty black volcanic cinders. So it may come as a surprise that a few miles east of Gallup and a dozen miles south of the freeway, there are huge meadows and forests of aspen and ponderosa pines. And killer singletrack.

I ventured that way for a long weekend recently. The weather was unsettled when I arrived, the mountains socked in with threatening clouds, so I played it safe on Day 1 and rode the always-fun High Desert Trail north of Gallup.

The scenery is classic New Mexico:




I only saw one other rider all day:





And just one hiker, moving slowly but with determination:



On Saturday I headed up into the Zunis and met up with the enigmatic Bill Siebersma, consumate mountain biker, trail builder, and the driving force behind Gallup Trails 2010. His son Mike, also a mountain biker, was visiting.

It was 45 degrees and threatening rain, but no one asked whether we were riding or not. Bill drove us out to Twin Springs and we began enjoying the abundant singletrack.



The trail cruised along a long exposed shelf of Navajo sandstone, the southernmost expression of the Colorado Plateau.





We also rolled through some stands of aspens in full glory:





Iris the trail dog had a great day.




Sunday the weather turned nice and we hit the trails again. Lower Sawmill to Quaking Aspen to Plush Trail to Torreon to a beer at Bill's cabin. Life is Good!






An exceptionally huge alligator juniper:






You can thank this guy for these buff trails and the signage. If we all did one-tenth of the trail work that he does, New Mexico would be a true mountain biking Mecca.



Thanks for looking!