Outdoor Travel Geek

  • out of hibernation

    If I could choose to be any animal, I think I would be a bear. They have such a cool lifestyle. First of all, they live in the mountains and forests, which I love. In California many of them live in the Tahoe basin and the Yosemite valley, both places that I love to visit.…

  • cesar chavez day

    Today was Cesar Chavez Day. Apparently it’s only celebrated in a few western states, and only in California do state offices close for the day. And since I work for a California state office I was off today. It’s a good thing I found that out ahead of time this year. Last year I actually…

  • identity crisis

    It’s hard to believe that I’ve been at my job for six months already. To mark this momentous occasion I ordered business cards. It seems kind of wasteful because I have a box full of business cards from the previous person who had my position. The position is the same, as well as the phone…

  • the intro

    Hello. My name is Mike. Allow me to introduce myself. I am an introvert. What does it mean to be an introvert? Well, let me first get into what it does not mean. Introversion does not necessarily mean quiet and boring, although I do prefer to stay at home and read rather than go out to…

  • the assignment

    Today I randomly found an old essay that I wrote over five years ago. I was searching for “101” in my emails, looking for directions for this place off of highway 101. Instead I found this essay from my English 101 class. It’s about this idea called the “Symbolic Complex.” If I remember correctly, the…

  • snowy success

    I have a pretty terrible track record on snow camping trips. Before this weekend’s trip my record was 0 for 2. My first attempt was with a few friends at an area called Meiss Meadow. We dug out snow trenches to sleep in, which we covered with tarps and laid down a blanket of snow…

  • cyclotic commute

    This is crazy. That thought ran through my mind several times this morning. It’s 6:15 am. It’s cold. My high powered bike light barely cuts 15 feet through the thick fog. My glasses fog up almost instantaneously, reducing visibility to only a few feet. Even though I’m wearing all the cold weather gear I have–…

  • gold run

    Most people don’t know this about me, but I’m actually pretty cocky. I think the worst kind of cockiness is when you think you are better than you really are. That’s inviting all sorts of trouble. People that have ski’d or snowboarded with me know that I’m a decent skier. At smaller resorts like Sugar…

  • donner death ride

    I like works of art that evoke memories of the past– of places I’ve been or things I’ve done, or people I’ve met. I think that’s why I like the Crocker Museum a lot. There’s a room in the museum dedicated to California art, and in it there’s a lot of beautiful oil paintings of…

  • expensive hobbies

    Today I spent about 600 dollars on my hobbies. I spent a little over $200 to repair a camera lens that I had dropped about a month ago. And then I spent almost $400 to overhaul my single speed bike to get it ready for bike commuting. The funny thing is I originally got into…

  • the best laid plans

    But little Mouse, you are not alone, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes of mice and men Go often askew, And leave us nothing but grief and pain, For promised joy! -To a Mouse by Robert Burns This was supposed to be an easy ride. 60 miles of biking on flat…

  • zion narrows

    Last night I might have been the most exhausted I’ve ever been in my entire life. It all started on Wednesday evening. The drive to SF. I’ve done it so often I can almost make the drive in my sleep. In fact sometimes my mind sort of falls asleep and I make the drive on…

  • season finale

    5:45 am. Saturday morning. It’s raining. Buzz….. Buzz…. Dahhh…. Why did I set my alarm so early? Snooze twice. 18 minutes later. 6:03 am. Dahhh… Why did I sign up for this ride? This ride is called the Mercy Fall Classic. There’s a few reasons why I like it. It’s on the American River Parkway,…

  • rainy day

    I am not a fan of rainy days. It usually means that I’m forced to spend the day indoors. Actually, I wouldn’t mind rain so much if it weren’t so cold. If rainy season were in summer like in Asia, I think I’d be quite happy with it. But unfortunately in California rainy season is…

  • foxy’s

    Foxy’s Fall Century is Davis’s century ride. The course is pretty familiar to me, since I’ve ridden it a few times, and I spend a decent amount of time biking and motorcycling out on the country roads west of Davis. But for some reason I have yet to finish the 100 mile course. Usually it’s…