Today I went on a nice and short 50 mile bike ride. While that's not even a metric century, I did that with almost 7000 feet of elevation pain gain. I'm a wee bit tired but at least it was an excellent day!

And naturally a nice meal to celebrate the summit. I have been making it a habit to eat a nice full meal somewhere towards the end of a ride. It's funny that it never ends up actually being post-ride but nonetheless it hit the spot.

The last 4 miles of the climb were absolute misery but at least the downhill was awesome! I was averaging sub 3mph for like the last 2 miles due to the final gain of nearly 2000 feet.

I'm not surprised going down the hill was faster than going up. But 90 minutes versus 9 minutes is nuts! The downhill was a bit hairy but at least I didn't have any cars chasing me down through the switchbacks. I had a big dumb grin the whole way down since I definitely earned it!

I pushed myself to complete an epic hike today that took nearly the entire day and all of my effort. 6000 feet of elevation gain. The miles don't even matter nearly as much as that figure. On top of that, the final climb was a rock scramble which was steep and loose. I had to go shale skiing most of the way back down and ride rock slides every once in a while. But oh man was it all worth it.

And on the final descent, A SNEK

Perfect weather with full sun and temps below 70 all but the final bottom areas. And even then it was probably at most 74. Considering tomorrow that same area will have a high of 86, I consider myself lucky. I went through 3L of water plus 0.75L of water with Liquid IV in it. Lunch was a tuna sandwich, protein bar, nuts, and an apple. Now I need to rest my feet and prepare for next weekend!

What is next weekend? Hiking Mt Langley in the Sierras to knock my first 14er off my bucket list. Camping at 4000ft on Thursday and 9000ft on Friday to acclimate. Some mild hiking at altitude Friday to prepare as well. Saturday will be the big day with 5000 feet of climb on a 23 mile hike. Some parallels to today's hike for sure!

Today I completed my first 100 mile ride ever! This has ascended me from the ranks of the pure mortals into a CYCLIST. The funny thing to me is though that this ride was relatively flat on a beautiful cool day with little wind except for a nice tail wind most of the way back. I've done wayyy harder rides in the ~60 mile range due to doubling the elevation gain and adding a good 30-40F to the temperatures. But passing the century mark is still a solid test of endurance and an even better test of cycling insanity. Road biking is definitely not for everybody and is quite honestly boring at times. At least in comparison to mountain biking for me, road biking without crazy hills seems kinda silly.

Also, those tacos and fries at mile marker 63 truly hit the damn spot! Completing the last 40 miles powered by carnitas, shrimp, fish, and all the fixings just felt great. I am incredibly tired and a bit hungry again now a few hours later but as to be expected after a day like this.

This is literally the only other photo I took, a random shot of the campus at UC Santa Barbara. I was a bit focused on not dying the whole time so I didn't do my usual take in the scenery and get some photos. Overall an awesome experience. Idk if those tacos would be as good without the sense of accomplishment in getting there but I think I've gotta go back again soon regardless.

Also, this video that YouTube suggested to me made me chuckle and is the inspiration for this post:

Witnessing some musical cars due to Oppo's favorite electrical car owner, @His_Stigness. While I was waiting for him to move some cars around I took some pictures.

I'm a fan of the color on this ID4 although I might also be partial to white as well thanks to my Subaru. And regardless with how clean every car is in this household, any color is gonna look nice! More important though is the DOG TAX.

Are electric cars the future? Probably. There's enough range in these for pretty much anybody now and charging seems reasonable enough. Having just paid $4.11 for 91 this week, I can see the value! Teslas are infinitely more popular but so many other options are now available at much better cost points (and much better build quality).

Outside of the glitzy Instagram posts and travel blogs trumpeting the #vanlife lifestyle, one might think that living out of a van is just homeless voyeurism. And while sometimes this holds true, it's honestly much more than that. As an avid outdoorsman and frequent tent camper, utilizing a campervan to simply enhance those experiences and make things easier is totally the right way to do it. Over this past extended weekend, I spent 5 nights sleeping, cooking all of my meals out of, and driving the rental van about 700 miles around Eastern California. But maybe the best part of it all is that the van part of the adventure blended into the background the majority of the time. So I'll start out this post with a photo montage from the trip

Overall I did over 50,000 feet of verticle over two days of skiing, biked about 100 miles with 10,000 feet of elevation gain over two days of biking, and camped in three different areas at elevations ranging from 4000-7000 feet. This is not totally abnormal for me but usually my camping trips are a bit less ambitious. In order to achieve this sort of activity over a short period of time, it would require some hotel stays for proper rest. But after the first day, I quickly settled into the routine of activity during the day and finding a spot to camp at night. I paid a total of $5 in camping fees so I embraced the off the grid lifestyle to the fullest.

I didn't take any good photos from inside the van but it was a pretty small but useful space. I was able to store my bike and my skis along with all of my clothing and cooking gear. Everything just kinda worked. Between the solar and alternator charging, I was able to use the lights, run the fridge, use the water pump for the sink, and charge devices all I wanted. There was a voltage meter that never dropped below 12.6V come morning and was told I could run it down to 11 before needing a charge. I'm not sure how much the solar did but I certainly drove enough to easily charge it up.

So, what downsides of this campervan were there? Driving the thing was definitely a different experience from my own cars. This van was heavy and being a former work van,its not exactly a modern cruiser. Not sure what year the van was but it had manual mirrors, no cruise control, no Bluetooth, and got 14-15mpg. Everything was loud at all times and depending on how dedicated I was to packing stuff away, things were always falling about when starting out a drive. I was impressed by the panic braking and swerving performance during the one instance where an idiot local tried to kill me in a pickup truck. But otherwise it generally required lots of foresight to predict corners and hills to make sure I gave plenty of braking distance. Driving uphill was never a rush and maintaining a 65mph speed limit was at times hard if I didn't want the thing screaming along in 3rd gear. But taking a different mindset and enjoying the scenery instead made for perfectly acceptable driving. I was impressed that with nearly 170,000 miles on the van that it started and ran perfectly throughout the trip. The campervan portions of the van were well constructed and actually didn't contribute much to the sound annoyance. The base van was probably my biggest complaint.

More stories to tell about this trip for sure. But let me know if you want to know anything else about the van. I rented it from Travellers Autobarn for a total cost of $373.89 ($330 plus tax, no other fees). Other than the exorbitant amount of money spent on gasoline, the only other costs were $5 to refill the propane, $5 to wash and vacuum the van, $5 for one night of camping in Angeles National Forest, and about $50 worth of groceries including stuff I had brought from home. Gas was around $4.40 per gallon of 87 on average so that was by far the biggest expense. But with paying $4.80 per gallon of 91 and getting 20-24 mpg in my Subaru, it's not like it's a whole lot more expensive (probably around $80 extra total; $200 vs $120 roughly).

Ever go on a vacation and wonder what you are doing wrong with your life by going back home? That is certainly what I am pondering as I sit here the last night of the trip in the Airbnb. Every Tahoe trip we have done has been lovely but they've primarily been ski trips where the main activity is being out and about in the winter time. This trip was 100% enjoying the summer time and taking it easy. Our place of lodging is just perfect as well so I quite honestly could not wish for more than this to be home.

Staying in an A-frame cabin that is well appointed and modern inside. Full kitchen, upstairs and downstairs living rooms, 1.5 baths, 2BR, and a great outdoor back patio. With views for days!

The only downsides being that we aren't super close to the lake (about 35 minutes) and the highway noise takes away from the serene quiet you might think youd get out here. The distance isn't so bad since Donner lake is very nice and far quieter too and is sub 15 minutes away. Plus the only restaurants we've actually eaten from are in Truckee anyways so its ideal. And the house has modern windows and insulation so the highway noise is only an issue when sitting outside.

Speaking of that insulation, I'm absolutely astounded how cool the house keeps without any AC. It has been a high of about 80-85 every day here and much hotter elsewhere around the area. Car has reported 90+ every time I get in during the afternoon. But it has not once gotten above 70 indoors. I've seen 48 outside in the morning and I've left windows open overnight, closing them in the morning and it has started at 60F indoors at 0700 and reached 70 by about 1700 before cooling off again. I honestly assumed the house had AC when we first arrived and was surprised when I discovered that wasn't true.

And of course in addition to the enjoying the house, we've gone out and enjoyed nature some too. I brought my bike and did a lovely 28 mile ride to the lake and back to town. And we did a an awesome easy hike at Emerald Bay. Everywhere has been absolutely mobbed with people so it's been nice to come back to the house and be away from it all.

Back to enjoying what is left of this trip before the long drive home. We will get in late tomorrow but I don't care, gonna stay right up till check out just to keep it going as long as possible.

Oh but the one thing I could definitely do without here would be the gas prices. I thought the $4.20 I paid at home was a lot but it's a whole dollar more here! Officially the most I've ever paid for gas (in the US) in my life.

High on altitude! Not really since 7k is not really that much but with all of the ups and downs along the way and the relatively low elevation start, it added up to nearly 8500 feet in gain total. My legs are a bit of jello even though it was "only" a 70 mile ride. At the least the grade was pretty mild most of the way with never requiring my first gear at any point.

The elevation dips were brutal on the way back. And with where I was riding, I was very glad I packed an extra 20 oz bottle and two packets of liquid IV as the only water source was at mile marker 14 and again at 56 on the way back. I had hoped to rehydrate at a campground at the top at 35 but it was dry. Overall a wonderful day and an excellent ride down. Here's a video of someone riding it better:

And the few photos I actually stopped to take. I started way too late (10am) since it's a solid hour fifteen drive from home and I hate waking up early on a day off. So I was chasing daylight by the end of the ride.

I gotta do some better route planning to have alternative water sources in mind plus start earlier next time. This is definitely a good place to achieve a 10k century some day. Traffic was light enough to make this worth revisiting for sure. And I'm most certainly getting Thai food from the place I stopped at again on the way home!

I still look back with nostalgia at my trip four years ago when I moved from NJ to CA. While I've been on plenty of interesting trips since then and it isnt even my longest drive, it still holds a special place in my memory. Over the course of 10 days I saw so many different things, drove some really great roads, planned a bit serendipitously, and really grew an appreciation for the vast expanses of this country. I don't think I'd want to do the trip again, but it truly was an experience.

Roughly the route I had taken, although I avoided the interstate as much as possible and took a lot of detours for twisty roads. I didn't feel rushed thankfully but I absolutely could have taken twice as long and still missed so much. The Miata leaked/burned 6 quarts of oil over the roughly 5000 miles and my seat made me hate my life choices many times. I had the top down all but one day even though it was November. It thankfully never snowed since I was on summer tires and aside from the one rain day, was rather comfortable.

Oh and I camped for 7 of the nights. Some of the BEST campfire meals I've ever had.

This weekend I set out with a goal of hiking to the top of Mount Langley, a 14,100 foot peak near Lone Pine, CA. Living and working at an altitude of 0 most of my days, I am thoroughly prepared for high altitude trekking right? The goal was to acclimate for a day at 10,000 feet and then just go for it. Well the day at 10k messed me up enough that I knew the hike was not going to go that great. But at the end of the day I am very much a proponent of "shoot for the stars but make it to the moon".

We arrived to the campground at 0930 on Friday morning after leaving sea level at 0500. Camp was set up at 10,000 feet and then a "short" 7 mile acclimation hike to 11,300 feet was accomplished over the next few hours.

Back at camp, it was nice and warm in the upper 50s with mostly full sun. That hike though was a bit much considering my complete lack of elevation preparation. I was fully out of it the rest of the day and the headache never quite went away no matter how much water I drank. Full on altitude sickness set in by bed time, short of any of the dangerous symptoms. Just brain fog, headache, tiredness, and general discomfort. But at least it was a pretty afternoon!

I went to bed at 2000 assuming that the real hike was going to get scrapped. Considering how I felt about doing strenuous activity at 10-11k, adding another 3-4000 feet to that was bound to be dangerous. I was straight up depressed and didn't sleep well, but I still managed enough sleep to wake up rested.

Woke up at 0400, made some tea and oatmeal, packed the car, and got on the trail super late at 0600. With a 23 mile hike with almost 5000 feet in gain in total, you really gotta start by 430 or so to make it back to the car before sunset. But I was just happy to be moving at all as how I felt the night before meant even a 5 mile hike sounded dubious at best. I knew if any of those symptoms came back, I was going to stop and head home for safety sake.

We made it to the first lake though before 9am about 6 miles into the trail and were feeling pretty damn good. This was the first sighting of the peak off in the distance and man were the views amazing the whole way. Cottonwood Lakes is just a spectacular place to be under any conditions. I was still a little bit loopy but feeling high spirited and not in pain so onward we went.

The next task was to make it up to the top of New Army Pass which is at 12,300 feet and involved an innumerable amount of switch backs from the final water refill spot at around 11,000 feet just below the pass. I had set the goal for the day to make it to the bottom of the pass without dying so goal was achieved. But I was able to push myself through the hard work and struggle bus my way up to the top! Goal exceeded and dizziness setting in, it was the end of progress for me on this hike for sure. Some people may push forward and I suppose I could have too, but my self preservation and risk aversion definitely said NOPE.

I was so happy just to have made it there. 9 miles in and lots of effort to make it to the top of that grueling pass sure felt like success to me. Just getting a closer view of the peak and seeing the trail to the top was good enough to me. My friend continued on and bagged the peak but he was a mess afterwards for sure. He's got better altitude conditioning than me but he's also the guy who broke his back when I skiied with him in the past so risk taking is certainly his thing.

Anyways, an absolutely amazing day and while I didn't make it to the peak, I sure did get some good altitude training for the next time I attempt it. It was a perfect day for it with temps in the 40s the whole time, partly cloudy morning, mostly sunny afternoon, and not too much wind. Mentally and physically exhausting but that always describes an excellent sort of adventure to me!

Sea level at home feels so nice now too. My heart rate is actually at a normal level while resting and eating food is totally not difficult. I don't recommend altitude if you're not used to it but it sure is an experience. And now I can just rest and enjoy this long holiday weekend, maybe getting some biking in tomorrow after I recover a bit. I'm sure I'll be able to bike harder at sea level now considering all that extra oxygen there is.

As per usual I went on another long bike ride this past weekend. And as per usual I accomplished a ridiculous feat of elevation climbing. However, this soon became a ride defined not by the difficulty nor scenic views but instead as a tale of preparation, adversity, and how I managed to overcome it.

Let's wind it back to the night before since I remembered to take a picture of my packed gear. Not pictured are some additional tools kept in my trunk bag. This was gonna be a long, arduous ride so I pulled out all the stops on good snacks, energy chews/powder, a full lunch, extra layer, and my 1.5L water bladder.

Also, a very carb heavy dinner that night and a good 8 hours of sleep followed by a quality oatmeal breakfast with plenty of tea and water.

So with all of that said, I was about as prepared as I could have possibly been for the ride ahead. We had no idea if the planned route would match the actual route but given that plan, the preparation was clearly necessary.

And off the day started without a hitch! The road is about an hour drive from home and neither of us are early risers so we began the ride around 0900 with the intent of finishing just after sunset. Our first ascent went to Mt Wilson in a 18 mile ride with about 4000 feet of elevation gain. That climb represented 1/3 of the way for the whole day according to the plan. So already the wheels of time we're turning in our heads and daylight was running thin. The absolute goal being to hit 10k elevation still but distance and anything extra was seeming doubtful.

Anyways at the top of Mt Wilson was an amazing view above the clouds. We also were able to get food at the observatory for a surprise injection of calories. I had a bowl of chili and half of an apple pie slice. That really fueled the amazing descent and into the next climb for sure.

Eventually (after a lot of damn pedaling and another 4000 feet of elevation gain) we made it to Cloudburst Summit at around 1500. With about 3 hours and change until sunset, it was a quick lunch followed by the quick ride back to the watering hole at Mt Wilson. Here we decided that we had to climb Wilson again to ensure we hit 10k since the "back of the napkin" math wasn't too reassuring. It being 1645 when we made that decision left us certainly in danger of getting stuck out after dark. At this point we were fully aware of having no real lights but plenty of energy and adrenaline left to go for it anyways. From there it was 14 miles of all downhill to the car so not exactly a physical challenge regardless.

Why is this the next picture? Because remember that adversity I was talking about? Yeah that showed up at 1730 right on time. Here I was just concerned if I did the math right and would I hit 10k. But after turning around to ensure I'd make it to the car around sunset given average speed calculations, BAM went my tire. And at first it was thought to be a minor delay, ive had plenty of flats so no biggie I'd just ride faster down the hill afterwards. But then upon inspection my situation worsened since the tire sidewall had been obliterated. Apparently I learned later from my friend who was ahead of me that he dodged a big ol rock (totally by chance) that was in the apex of the turn where I got my flat. Since I was struggling to figure out what to do for a while, my friend biked back up the hill after being concerned I fell off a cliff or was otherwise in trouble. Thanks to having a second mind to think about the problem he mentioned that I should try the patch kit I had and to use it on the inside of the tire and see how it goes. As a backup option, I sent him ahead to make it to the car before dark since he could just rescue me later on. I had plenty of clothing, food, and water so I could at worst just wait it out rather than try to walk.

Well after much struggling I finally cobbled my shit together and was back on the road in "working" order. The sidewall breach was bad enough that one patch on the inside was not gonna cut it so I plopped one on the outside as well. But I was able to put a good 50psi into the tube and ride without using the front brake at all and kept it slow the whole way down. I made it to the car at around 1830, 20 minutes after sunset.

At the end I did not make the 10,000 foot gain goal. But in reality the goal of "make it back to the car" became a far better reward for my efforts anyways. I didn't have to walk, I didn't have to wait, and I actually finished the ride as planned. Due to my friend's rescue effort plus some extra climbing, he managed to get to 10k. But since I still finished the ride, I get the "10k in spirit" award. I was glad he prioritized the right thing, making the goal, rather than picking me up sooner.

This angle shows better how sketch my tire was looking after the 14 miles of riding back to the car. I thought at any moment my tube would go and then I'd be waiting for rescue. I had a second tube because I like to prepare but I didn't think it would be worth wasting if the first one didn't make it very far. Nonetheless I made it though! It was a bit dark and my tail light had died long ago so I definitely took on some risk. But that is just lessons learned for next time!

Overall an amazing day regardless. It was an insane achievement of riding on top of the clutch roadside repair. I've done some shopping and bought better lights that arrive later this week. I've got a nifty cheap bike computer that showed up today. And I've gotta start carrying a park tools tire boot in addition to the patch kit as that would have worked better. Thankfully I've already got a spare new tire so once all the upgrades are installed, it's time for another ride!

Also, AMAZING cool fall weather (40-60F) and #pumpkinspice

@saracen said in Salmon dinners at home are so much better than restaurants:

We'd much rather pick up some quality ribeyes and lobster tails for date night, rather than spend $200+ on the same meal at a fancy steakhouse that doesn't make the steak nearly as well as I do every single time (or so I'm told by the wifey!)

My biggest gripe with restaurants in general is having to decide what I want when I get there. And having to pick a place in the first place. It's stressful and Id rather just open the fridge and have a meal without driving anywhere. I quite love Uber eats and how that can bridge that gap sometimes. But their fees and waiting for delivery pisses me off as well.

@davesaddiction yeah, the quality of salmon is usually pretty high. I've never been strictly unhappy with a salmon dish from a taste perspective. I'm just usually annoyed that I have to eat mostly potato to get filled on the meal. Much of the time I'm eating just salmon and vegetables for a dish. I was "indulging" myself with some rice since I just happened to have a yellow rice craving.

Well except one time the damn thing was way overcooked and I was too lazy/hungry to send it back. It was a place frequented by old people though so maybe someone complained about undercooked salmon? I just love the thing basically raw in the middle just like steaks and burgers.

And eggs are definitely my other thing to be highly suspect of at restaurants. If the eggs need cheese to be edible then they are done horribly wrong.

@chariotoflove said in Salmon dinners at home are so much better than restaurants:

@wrong-wheel-drive
LOL! You aren’t by chance the kind of mechanic that finishes up with a couple “extra” screws?

Clearly if it works without them, they must be bonus parts! I'm actually more likely to end up with not enough screws because I decided that something needed extra in order to be properly over designed. No kill like OVERKILL.

@chariotoflove as an engineer, I enjoy pretending I know better and winging it while doing any sort of baking. It sometimes yields hilarious results. My personal favorite thing is to attempt to make things with fewer ingredients that somehow come out normal. Three ingredient cookies have been my specialty because who needs flour and butter and baking soda anyways!

@chariotoflove I could not imagine being able to cook something that I didn't eat. I mean maybe I could do it, but I really doubt it would taste very good! I very much just cook based on how I like to eat. And following instructions or recipes is really difficult for me. It's fascinating to me how people can do that.

@e90m3 it's more of a preference thing about how it's generally prepared or what the price to quantity ratio is that bothers me. Like sure I've had some good salmon plates at restaurants but it was like $40 or more for less food.

But then other things like a chili, it's probably gonna be some watery thing that either isn't spicy enough or is so spicy that it's not fun to eat. I really like my chili to be thick and full of things like beans and bacon and every vegetable in the fridge. It's often just like a brown soup at a restaurant.

This applies to most meats but it seems like salmon is one of the worst offenders. Ive always found that when ordering a plate of salmon at a restaurant, you might get a tiny 1/4 pound chunk of fish along with a massive supply of potato or other starch. But instead when I make it at home, I always go with a full 1 pound slab o meat. Little bit of rice and a veggie to pair it with , and perfection! Not to mention cooking it to perfection versus the sometimes burnt that you get. Salmon is perfect with a luke warm at most center and a nice crispy outside.

Any other foods y'all always prefer to have at home instead of out at a shop?

@mr-ontop said in Me deciding to listen to Christmas music.:

@just-jeepin Its tricky, they were all about the music, so if you weren't into playing an instrument I can see how it would have been more boring, than say...Ramstein, where they are burning everything down on stage.

Anything in the progressive rock genre is definitely an acquired taste as well. It's like not supposed to be exciting generally lol. I am definitely enthralled by Rush but that's because prog rock and prog metal are my favorite things on this planet. The proggier the better! Depending on the album focused on, it could be pretty damn boring as well. If all they played was Roll the Bones, I'd be like who the hell are these jokers.

@just-jeepin sounds absolutely like a bad ground somewhere

@chariotoflove

I enjoyed this one recently:

But these are still my favorites: