New happenings in the Lockwood household....

So we finally went out and took the plunge and bought a new vehicle!!! We bought a MINIVAN!!!! Yesterday we finally decided on a 2006 Kia Sedona LX minivan it is light blue with a light gray interior. It is a used 2006 with 22,660 miles and it is in immaculate condition. We get the remainder of the 5 year 60,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty and we purchased an extended 109 month (9year) 100,000 mile bumper to bumper (include wear and tear!!) warranty. The dealership threw in a factory installed 2 inch class 3 tow hitch as well! I am actually quite excited about owning a minivan and do not dread the stigma attached to owning a "minivan". We got our loan for 60 months at 4.94% and we are paying less than $400 a month!!!



On another note I worked my first shift at my new job with REI as a bicycle production specialist at the REI national distribution center!! I actually clocked in and out for a complete 8 hour shift!!! I get today off so I can take Abigael and Mason out about in the neighborhood to go Trick-or-Treating and experience our first Halloween holiday in eleven years of being married in a neighborhood where we might actually get kid knocking on the door asking for candy. We have two pumpkins that picked at a local pumpkin patch and we have carved on the front porch. As well as a few decorations ta boot! Abigael is dressing up as a "scary" witch for Halloween and I think I may go dressed as a "roadie" cyclist??? Pictures to come....

Puke part Deux

Group shot before the start of the ride.

I rode the Sick Puke again on Saturday. The weather was PHENOMENAL!!! I rode with about 10 other people including Daniel Meyers an old friend from my cross country racing days. I think I have my Garmin Edge 305 figured out now and I have a link to the data from the ride HERE. I took a few more pictures as well and posted them on my Flickr account HERE. After the ride we met at Jim's house for a feast of a meal prepare by him and his wife. I also rode Friday night out at Lake Sawyer on a BBTC ride led by Courtland call the Sawyer Full Moon ride for about 2 hours under a cloudless full moon night sky!! This week I have ridden almost 65 miles of singletrack alone AND I LOVE IT!!!!
I got the job working at REI as a Bicycle Assembly Technician at the Sumner distribution center. My first day at work other than last Thursday spent filling out paper work will be this Tuesday, wish me luck! Christie's mom and grandmother have been here this weekend for a visit and it has been very fun to watch Abigael play with them both as they pine after the new baby boy....

A view from one of the clearcuts, quite beautiful!

A bit more mud than last week!!!

A video from last weekends ride in the wet....
(this was taken while riding with one hand on the handlebars and the other holding the camera!)

Sick Puke 2007 Challenge

Yesterday I gathered with a dozen or so other mountain bikers to take on the 2007 Sick Puke Challenge in Capitol Forest. My friend Courtland picked me up a little after 8am and we carpooled down to Capitol Forest just south of Olympia, WA. When we got to the "Y" everyone was ready to go and waiting on us to get ready. I brought coffee and banana nut bread for the morning start but with not enough time before we left the ride organizer, Jim, took it with him to the mid way point. The rain was coming down in a steady drizzle as we set off down the road and onto the trail. Shortly after we started riding on the single track three of us took a wrong turn and quickly learned the lesson of waiting at trail intersections for others to come along. This was my first time riding in Capitol Forest as well and Ben, from Minnesota. Soon Courtland, Ben, and myself fell into a nice rhythm and started riding as a small group. At the Fall Creek trail head the Sun threated to poke it's head out and was a nice change! The trail had been, and would continue to be, full of 6 inch plus deep mud puddles and wet over growth that proceeded to soak us to the bone! We all took a nip off of my flask of Crown for "warmth" and headed back out onto the trail before we got cold. At the mid way point at Wedekind area we met up with a couple of the guy's girlfriends in their car. We replenished our water from the cache that Jim left on Friday for the group. As people started to get cold we all set out again. soon there after it started to HAIL on us!!! When we popped out onto the road somewhere?? Jim met us with the by-then lukewarm coffee and delicious banana nut bread!! What a godsend!!! We picked up the other Brandon into our group. Brandon C. had been suffering pretty bad from cramps in his quad and hamstring, OUCH!! He proceeded to man-up and push on, way to go!! We soon crested Capitol Peak and the radio towers where, with out shelter, it was horribly cold and windy. On the way up to the peak it started hailing on us again and we all heard a singular VERY LOUD thunder clap!!! On the back side of the peak we had to do so route finding and made and extra trip up to the top of Larch mountain before finding the route and continuing on the trail. The rest of the trail continued to be wet, muddy, slick, and full of rocks, roots and ruts left by the motos. We finished the Sick Puke in a total time of 8 hours 30 minutes around 37 miles +/- and few. I GPS'ed the route with my new Garmin Edge 305 but it is new technology to me and I think between heavy forest canopy, clouds and my inexperience I lost some of the route...? Back at the "Y" we met up with Jim and some of the rest of the riders that either did or did not finish and Jim gave us our coveted Sick Puke 2007 t-shirts!! Courtland and I toasted with a cold beer (Fat Tire ta boot!!) and soon after we got on the road home. The ride was one of THE best mountain bike rides I have ever ridden and will go down in infamy as I continue to try to push the limits of my mountain biking endurance and skill!! I was also told by Jim that I was the first 29er to complete a Sick Puke in it's six years runn'n!! I also tried to take as many pictures as I could although my camera took kind of a beating and some of the pictures didn't turn out very well due to the wet weather... Post on the MTBR.com 29er forum

Getting out to ride

Tiger Mnt Preston trail entrance

I have finally been able to get out to ride some mountain bike miles in the past few weeks. In the past three weeks I have put in about 20 to 30 miles a week on my mountain bike on single track! I rode with Bob on the Tolt pipline 25 miles, Tiger mountain before flatting and having to push out 6.5 miles, rode with the Sawyer Gut Buster weekly ride 9 miles, I got to ride at Banner Forest with the west side crew last night almost 12 miles, and I found a local place to ride that is only 6 miles form our house!! I forgot how much fun it is to just ride a mountain bike without being in some sort of race. I may try to take on the Capitol Forest "Sick Puke Challenge '07" ride?? I have been trying to sign up for as many BBTC rides as I can/the wife and family obligations will allow. I have not taken very many pictures but I plan to in the near future. I want to get as much riding in before I may have to have surgery number 7 to finalize the healing of my leg!?!?!

Mt. Rainer from Orangegate park only 6 miles form the house!!

Speaking of sacks....

My good friend and fellow blogger/mountain biker extraordinare, Rich Dillen, just recently had a new messenger bag made for himself. It is in true Dicky fashion and looks like a sweet sack! I had to make a post about custom bags because I don't think I ever made mention of my new bag... While I am no longer a working messenger I still ride my bike around town and need a bag to carry all of my sh!t. Last year I was lucky enough to have the owner, and good friend, of RE Load Messenger bags, Ellie Lum, in my algebra class. We talked about doing a two strap, backpack style, bag to help me carry my school books. I submitted my design in the fall 06 quarter and in the middle of winter quarter 07 I was presented with my new messenger/book bag! It was absolutely amazing turning out even better than I anticipated, Thanks Ellie & crew!




I used a picture taken by Amara Boursaw, of Wheels in Focus fame, at the 2005 Elite National Qualifier at Alpenrose Velodrome in Portland, OR. I was racing in the match sprints and did not finish last!


To custom made bags, salute!

The month of September "lost"....

I realize I have not made a post since after Mason was just born. That means I did not make a single post in the month of September, WOW! I have been busy with taking care of Mason, Christie, and of course Abigael. I finally decided to try to put some words down and try to get back in the swing of blogging.

Life has been chaotic around our household. Christie's folks were in town staying with us for two weeks after Mason was born. It was a lovely visit and I look forward to Pat and Myrtle coming out at the end of October to visit and see the new young'n. We finally emptied our house and had a few weeks to ourselves as a family. Currently my mom is in town fawning over her new grandson for a week. It has been really fun having Christie home on maternity leave. We have been able to goto the park, go to Dr.s appt., and just hang out around the house. Mason is adjusting to his new environment and so is the rest of the family to him. Abigael has completely embraced her brother! She just loves and adores him. She likes to pick him up and carry him around, under the watchful eyes of the parental units, of course. Christie has completely switched off her work brain and is loving it!! I hope she will be able to turn it back on when she needs to... I was offered a position working for REI in their Sumner warehouse as a bicycle assembler on swing shift from 2:30 till 11pm. Unfortunately due to my EMT class obligation on Tuesday nights from 7-10pm (until Nov. 20th) they could not work around my schedule and I did not get the job, OH WELL next time.

Speaking of EMT class I am almost half way through with our mid-term practical finals this weekend. I will be a patient for the morning student and I will test in the afternoon. I am also waiting to hear back from Seattle Fire Dept. I had an awesome interview on September 7th and passed my CPAT with flying colors 8 mins 12 secs no faults!! I should know if I move on in the hiring process by October 15th.

I have been getting my ASS handed to me in all of the cyclocross races I have raced in last month. I raced in the Labor Day race, Copper Cross (where I lost my clothes before crossing the finish line, opps!), and the Steilacoom GP. I have been racing in the singlespeed class with a bunch of ringers. But mostly it is due to me being completely out of shape! I vow to lose the added pounds and get back into fighting shape again. I have put on almost 10 or 15 pounds since the beginning of summer, OUCH!! I have also made the decision to go back to my old cycling team AVA/Counterbalance. I have "kissed" and made up with the few people I had issues with and I look forward to having good friends to ride and race with this coming year. I will continue to race cyclocross season with Viking Sport and Erik totally understands my reasoning for wanting to go back to AVA/CBB. I have also stated that when I come back to the AVA/CBB team it will only be as a racer as I want nothing to do with team politics or leadership. I will help out when needed but I have my hands full with family and now live 35 minutes away from most of the team.

I have been trying to get out and ride my mountain bike as much as possible lately.
I recently picked up, by selling some of my parts and a bike, a new full suspension mountain bike frame. I realized after the Cascade CreamPuff 100 that I needed some squish in the rear as I get older and more brittle. The frame I got for a steal off of eBay is a Lenz Sport Leviathan 3.0 29er!! I used all of the "geared" part from my Black Sheep to build it up. It weighs in right around 27 pounds ready to rip! It has 3 inches of rear wheel travel and due to the Fox RP3 ProPedal shock it doesn't bob a bit when pedaling uphill or out of the saddle! I had the travel in my RS Reba fork changed from 80mm to 100mm so I now have 4 inches in the front and 3 in the rear. I really enjoy riding it unfortunately we have now entered the crazy rainy season here in the great Pacific Northwest so I try to get out when and where I can... I am going to try to find a local group of mnt bikers to start riding with down here in the "south end" on a regular basis, so far my two options are both on Thursdays at either Lake Swayer (Sawyer Gut Buster ride) or Banner Forest (B.F. night ride). I made my Black Sheep into a fully rigid singlespeed mtb and it weighs in right around 19 or 20 pounds!!