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Trek Travel invited a pro photographer to take pics of the cross country group 3 days before our final ride. Of course he choose to take pictures at the top of a massive climb. The view in the background is great but it meant trying to smile when oxygen deprived.

Just for fun, I compared a picture from my first 1/2 Iron distance triathlon in 2008 to this picture in 2022. I have a few more wrinkles, but I think I've held up pretty well.

I never watched the Macgyver TV show but I enjoyed the SNL Macgruber parodies.

I felt like Macgruber as I engineered a hardware solution to attach a Garmin Varia rear radar unit to our bikes while keeping our X-Lab rear bottles.

I'm sure a bike designer would cringe that we attach accessories like these to beautifully designed aero bikes, but Beth and I frequently go on >3 hour training rides where access to water is limited.

I was skeptical of the Garmin bike radar but Beth tried it and liked it. I like that it also has a camera that records good quality video. I always ride the shoulder but it is good to know when cars are coming. My hearing is so bad that I don't hear the cars until they are very close and I can't hear the radar's audible warning but I can see the car approaching on my Garmin head unit.

The rear hydration 2 bottle holders are from x-lab and attach to the rails of the saddle. The Garmin radar comes with a rubber band style mount to the seat tube, but this mount leaves the radar obscured by the bottles and in my wife's case, her saddle is too low and doesn't leave enough room on the seat tube. I cobbled together a few different parts and I think it looks reasonable. Of course all of this comes off when racing as the aid stations provide plenty of hydration.

Today's pet peeve is restaurants bringing a bottle of room temperature water to the table. I expect this in the Europe as Europeans are allergic to ice and air conditioning, but in the States I have no use for this; I want ice cold water.

I would like to get this shirt but it would have to say FASTER instead of FAST. I was never fast relative to my peers.

The resort we call home has about 1,700 homes, including a lodge/hotel. Only 20% the properties are occupied full time, the rest are weekend homes for rich Seattle people or short term rentals. There are several upscale restaurants on the property but nothing like a deli or casual place get an affordable sandwich or salad. The resort has two golf courses and hosts a lot of corporate events so the restaurants tend to cater to that 'expense account' crowd.

The resort is bordered by two charming small towns, Roslyn and Cle Elum. Cle Elum is a 10 minute drive from the resort and is the largest of the two and has a Safeway, McDonalds, Wendy's, a bakery, several bars and casual restaurants etc. The Safeway is the first grocery east of the pass and does huge business during tourist season - we've heard it has the highest revenue/sq ft of any Safeway in WA and during busy weekends it is mayhem. Despite this, we are always amazed at how most guests of the resort stay within the confines of the resort and rarely get to know the neighboring towns.

For many years the resort developer has been promising to add a small grocery and some retail. Last year they started building and engaged the owner of a small grocery in Roslyn to own/operate the resort grocery.

This weekend it is opening and we walked through the soft launch yesterday. It is very cute and has all the staples you'd expect if you needed to stock your weekend home.

The store is just 10 minutes closer than the Safeway, but walkable for kids that are getting are your nerves. Guess how much that convenience will cost shoppers? Guess how much this regular size box of Honey Nut Cheerios costs?

Crazy right? But despite the ridiculous prices Beth and I are convinced this place will make a fortune, at least during high season. I don't expect we'll go there often, but at least it will make the Safeway a little less busy.

Ready to be a mama?

This mule deer is looking very round and she's been solo the last few days when visiting us. Normally deer like to be in small groups of 3-4 but when a deer is about to give birth, she separates herself in order to present a lower profile to predators. She will keep the fawns hidden for a few weeks but hopefully we will see them in July.

Today's home maintenance project.

Place your bets - is the birdfeeder, suspended from a steel cable 9' above the ground safe from bears?

Despite a nagging cold/cough I caught while traveling last weekend I completed my long run on Saturday. This weekend kicks off the busy season at the resort - I love seeing all the families with kids having fun here. Some of the tourists can be a bit too nosy though - we surprised a couple who were peaking in the window by our front door. Admiring the house from the street is OK, but looking in the window is too much.

The weather is hard in exterior decking - the hot tub surround gets power washed and restained every year. I couldn't help but think of @havekidslaughmore as I did this job. She wouldn't need the masking tape, but stain splatters easily and after all, this is my art.

Last weekend we traveled to Evansville, IN to celebrate my youngest nephew's HS graduation. He is a smart kid and as the valedictorian he gave a speech at the graduation ceremony.

On the way to the airport my sister revealed that my mother (RIP) always believed that someday I'd move back to Evansville. My mother was a wishful thinker to say the least as Evansville is very very low on my list of desirable places to live.

ropeandcoffee

Tagged by My beautiful friend @pandoranora to name something I’m looking forward to. As of this moment, it’s getting the full feeling back in my hand because it feels worse than the surgical pain in my shoulder. And the other thing I’m looking forward to is seeing both my kids walk in their college graduation ceremonies next week. ♥️

Im tagging @cleansefoldmanipulate

@kickthecanrevolution @trinilikesalt @soulsistrin @that-boy-aint-rite @exitrowiron @branssparklydancepants @shutyourfaceparts

exitrowiron

I'm looking forward to a Trek Travel bike trip to Norway in June!

Spring training is in full swing and I finally feel like my running is back on track after a 3 month hiatus last winter. When the temp is cool, the wind is at your back, the asphalt is smooth and your legs are fresh ... running feels almost like floating. It is like a super power. Yesterday's run was 90 minutes. I look forward to anything under two hours. There is a 4 mile loop in the resort that is mostly undeveloped, mostly flat and with little traffic. I'm going to wear a groove in the pavement with all miles I run there.

When this year's training schedule started to ramp up my HRV cratered and I was pretty tired. My body is adapting to the increased volume and my stats are back to normal.

Today was busy - 5 hours of activity but the tennis wasn't very strenuous.

Beth and I are the primary sponsors of an 800 student elementary school in Kovie, Togo. In 2018 we built 3 new classrooms and unfortunately the floors haven't stood up to the pounding of 1,600 energetic feet. We are fixing the floors and adding tile in hopes that the tile will be a more permanent solution. As you can see, the school also needs a new coat of paint and we're hoping to get that done too. With any luck the school will be in good condition when we lead a small delegation of donors to visit in August.

My first outdoor ride of 2026 was wonderful, reminding me why I love living here so much. The reservoir is full and that's reassuring.

Spring!

Our resort promotes a natural, mountain aesthetic, so lawn mowing is only permitted 2x per year so landscape maintenance is minimal compared to other houses I've owned. But Spring brings a list of to-do items. First up, installing a pop-up drain for the gutter drain I uncovered last fall.

Next, I needed to get the sprinkler system going. I discovered a few broken drip fixtures which were easier to fix, but a main line had also been fractured by an errant pick ax when the buried concrete was removed last summer. This was harder to fix.

I have a low success rate at buying the correct plumbing fixture the first time. I keep the errors in hopes I'll be able to use them in the future.

Next I had to replace a few dead perennials and freshen the top few inches of mulch.

I had 3 yards delivered and will have to get one more yard. I had been done less than 5 minutes when a deer decided to bed down.

I've misplaced my 20 year old Bose noise cancelling headphones and decided to buy a replacement. I hated losing them because they work just fine, even after I've replaced the ear cups twice over the years.

My hearing is so poor that if I want to listen to anything in the car I have to stream it to my hearing aids and then use the headphones to cancel the road noise.

When I walked into Best Buy I went straight to the open box table and found a great pair - because the original outer packaging was missing they were discounted from $345 to $105! They are in perfect condition and work well.

Random stuff

Now that spring break is over the resort is quiet and I have the club pool all to myself in the afternoon.

This clip from The Office of Michael talking about goals resonated with me because I have a wife who runs (and it shows 😃).

Free race pic from the half two weeks ago.

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