A belated update.

So... about 30 days ago I was merrily ripping down my favorite ski slope when a (checks notes on how to be polite) rather clueless individual cut across the line of travel without looking. My buddy I was skiing with narrowly avoided the guy... I didn't luck out as much, had to slam on the brakes, hit ice that wouldn't have been an issue had I not needed to brake hard, and went down HARD. Big crash, slammed my head really bad, was out for around 30 seconds.

Next few hours were kinda a blur. Snowmobile ride down the mountain. ER for a few hours. Nurse saying I likely wouldn't be alive were it not for my fancy MIPS helmet (safety tech is good yo!) Extremely painful drive home. Lying on the couch for 48 hours.

Finally starting to resume normal life a few days later. Doctors visits. Tracers at night... which then went away! Being able to drive again. Finding out I can ride my bike again 4 weeks after the concussion, which was a big win.

Fast forward to now and I'm finally back at it! Definitely still have some lingering effects with paying attention and whatnot, but feeling a lot better and healing well.

Lessons learned here? I dunno. Probably will ski a little slower in the future but accidents happen and it was a genuine mistake on the part of the guy who caused me to crash so all good there. Very glad to have the right safety equipment and I'll never ski or ride without a helmet, that's for sure. But at the same time I'm mostly happy to have healed and be back at it!

Woke up really early to catch the lunar eclipse that was visible from the west coast today... Not bad!!

that is all.

@Photography ... with a lot of increased contrast I got a hint of northern lights last night here at 45 degrees latitude!

Here's some kittens in a potted plant.

I've heard of this, but never actually seen it today. With just the right conditions, big mountains can cast a big triangular shadow...

See this shot (absolutely not mine) from Mauna Kea for a more clear example, but I think the view from Hood today was doing the same thing on a lesser scale.

Also, pretty alpenglow shot from tonight as well.

@Photography

...with my new project bike build! Almost. Send support please the brakes don't work yet

Presented without comment cause I'm lazy Did my first proper adventure with friends in over a year yesterday... got some nice photos along the way. Alltrack did excellently with 250mi of hard roads, 16-35mm did great as well.

I now have 5 infinity bikes and reality can be whatever I want

More details later but the short version is I picked it up from a friend for a price I couldn't refuse. '19 Cannondale Habit, Fox Rhythm 34 and Float w/ lockouts, SX 1x12, dropper post that's a little too short but it'll do. It's a gorgeous bike and several tiers above anything I've owned before, and I'm quite excited to get some trail/downhill miles on it!

Hmm...

Enhance:

I said ENHANCE:

Ah yes, road bike good. This thing is an absolute rocket. 12-32t cassette and compact rings made it nice on a short ride with 1500' of climbing, but the thing that really sticks out vs my gravel bike is just how stupidly fast it is. Putting in the same effort just gives WAY more speed. And it's comfy too!

@ITA97 I'll probably jinx myself by saying this, but never once on today's ride did I get two downshifts when I asked for one. Apex 2x10 is a very different beast than the Apex 1x11 that I've ridden.

Oh also @Highlander
Pedals: Clipless
Mirror: Gone

@t0ast AMAZING. What a perfect car in the best color

@CarsOfFortLangley And looks so much better!

Seriously, I don't get how mazda thinks this is a good idea. They've cited (completely incorrect) data about how larger batteries offset the CO2 benefits of EVs (only true if you drive, like, 1-2k a year)... but I think it's just that they suck at packaging room.

@CarsOfFortLangley FWIW, my dad's 1999 RAV4 EV had considerably more range than this car

@CarsOfFortLangley Husky Market? Did @CB sammy get out again and start her own business?

One of the stations near me is $6.29 premium right now. Yes it's in the city but the gas tax in the city is the same as the gas tax in the suburbs where it's 4.99 for premium

@CB Always check the rocks before you build things into the rocks! Because sometimes the rocks are sand.

@StuckMTB My hot take is that while I want my gas engines to make all the good noises, EVs should celebrate their silence and deliberately be as quiet as possible. Unless it's something stupidly performance oriented then straight cut gears

@Italia I was uphill but it was a merge where downhill yields to uphill (there's even a sign).

@zipfuel Honestly my ski buddies were like 50/50 on "just hit him!" vs "you did the right thing trying to stop for someone who blatantly violated right of way" after the fact. Probably better that I was the only one in the hospital that day, imo...

@derp said in Opposite-concussion:

The worst part for me was how frustrating it was during recovery to remember what I was thinking or writing or even doing at the time. I'd start in on something then...just forget what I was doing, and I'd have to start over repeatedly. I'd have to read something 15 times to understand it.

Still fighting that a little bit. It SUCKS

One of my best friends played rugby in high school and had at least 4. Same thing with speech. Really truly zero fun

@facw said in Opposite-concussion:

@spacekraken said in Opposite-concussion:

Which helmet were you using?

Smith Signal MIPS ski helmet. Have another of their bike helmets for road and non-technical MTB and a Giro full face MTB for when things get sketchy on downhill riding.

@facw said in Opposite-concussion:

@spacekraken Glad you are doing okay! This fall I upgraded my cycling and skiing helmets (which were 7 and 8 years old respectively, possibly more, that's when I got them), and while the new ones were pricey, it seems like a good call. A previous cycling helmet definitely saved me from a nasty impact with pavement.

I've heard every 2-3 years and every single crash you wanna replace... which, ooof my wallet, but I'll take it if it means not dying.

People downhill have the right of way (except at merges), even when they make stupid-ass turns.

This was a merge