Riding bikes through the forest is challenging and stimulating

Oakridge Mt Biking

Just got back from mountain biking in Gabe's hometown, Oakridge, OR. It was a ton of fun, and kicked my ass. I captioned the pictures in the album above, and will write more about it later.

The album picture comes from an area close to the trailhead for Moon Point (see map). We weren't able to find it, though. We were able to find and ride Larison Rock, Aubrey Mountain, and Flat Creek.

Thanks to Winnie and Flora for letting us bunk with them for the weekend.

Apples, Pears and Alpacas Oh My!

On Saturday Carley and drove to Hood River in search of goods, specifically apples & pears. We were able to procure those items, as well as some very good chardonnay. We also went to an alpaca farm to see the baby 'pacas. They were cute and soft. We had perfect weather--it was a nice day.




Carley and the alpaca farm dog Pete. He's a Great Pyrenees (links to disgusting puppy mills). He protects the alpacas from the coyotes.

Wearing things out

I've been wearing out bike parts lately--specifically, my rear tire and pedals. I put more than a 1000 miles on the rear tire before it lost its puncture resistant abilities. It's nice to wear things out that you only use for fun--a testament to having fun.

I bought new pedals because my old ones were ten years old and not releasing consistently. Upon closer inspection I saw that the oldies were thoroughly thrashed. I bought some new eggbeater-style pedals...Carley and I went on a short ride this afternoon, and so far I like these more than the SPD style...oh, right, I remember--no body cares about pedal comparisons.



Next weekend Gabe, Mike, Bryan, Aaron and I are heading down to Oakridge for some mountain biking...I am wicked excited. So excited. It's Gabe's old stomping ground, so he is going to show us around the trails. So excited.

Secret--Traveling Should be Interesting and not Soulsucking

I've always liked PostSecret. The idea is that people create postcards and send them in, and they are published on the internets. It has been around for several years now. I think many people use it as an art/micro fiction project. I don't care if they are truthful--it's the stories that are interesting.
Anyway, the person who started the site wrote a brief column in the NYT about the post cards he's received concerning travel and airports. I hadn't thought about the PostSecret site in awhile...

and in science news...

Today was a big science day in my world, and I heard it all on OPB coming in to work!

**The Nobel Prize for Medicine went to 3 independent researchers, Mario R. Capecchi, Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies, for their discoveries of "principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells". Basically, they invented knockout-mice, which are used ubiquitously in research these days.

My link to this story? My old boss Scott came from Mario Capecchi's lab in Utah, where he made the mice that I worked on during grad school. So I'm the scientific grand-child to a Nobel Prize winner!

**In local news, my current boss Kent and his colleague just published an epidemiological study linking breast cancer and a women's hip size. OPB's Oregon Considered will air a story about it this afternoon at 4:30. These types of studies have a lot of impact, but they just begin to open up areas for in-depth research to figure out the mechanisms and biology behind it all. Guess I have some work to do~

C**