The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

A mountain bike race??!

Why on earth would I do that?

Other than just morbid curiosity, perhaps I felt compelled to kick off my 2016 season with the XTERRA Granite Bay Off Road Triathlon because I figured if my little brother can mountain bike, then probably I can too. Over the years, my younger siblings have displayed natural cycling and running athleticism and I've come to think of them basically as optimized versions of myself. My brother has won various mountain bike awards and based on his limited updates, I get the idea he and his bike pretty much spend all their time in Moab.

What's so great about mountain biking? I had to know.

I started renting a demo bike from Trailhead Cyclery, attempting to teach myself how to bunny hop and shred. Next, I checked in with my resident MTB guru to find out his secrets. What skills defined an excellent mountain biker? Little brother cited his "total disregard for personal safety," as one of his best assets.

Crap. That one is nowhere near the top of my list of personal traits. I don't think it's even on the list anymore. My youthful invincibility ended abruptly on the softball field one summer day ten years ago when an ill-conceived slide left me captive inside a plaster leg cast for 8 long weeks. NEVER AGAIN.

The popular refrain embedded in all mountain biking advice I received was, "When you go down -- and you will go down ... "

Ugh.

No way I could perhaps negotiate around that requirement?

I had very little familiarity with the course in Granite Bay. I read about "swoopy trails" and a variety of conditions including sand, dirt, rock, etc. It was two 8 mile loops for the bike, with less than 400′ of climbing on each, and that sounded pretty reasonable.

Honestly, I was most concerned about the swim. I had heard rumors that Folsom Lake was snow runoff, and therefore extremely cold this time of year. At just a half mile, the swim would be quick, but very unpleasant.

It turns out, I had nothing to worry about.

... At least as far as the swim was concerned.

The water temperature was just fine, almost comfortable, even. The short swim was complete in just over ten minutes, and transition was smooth, my new XTERRA wetsuit melted right off my legs like hot butter.


Posted by Kimberly 04/11/2016

Went to watch Nik in his final road race with the Cal Poly team. Since he'll graduate in the Fall, he'll be able to race the Fall Mountain Bike season but won't be around for next year's Spring RoadRace season.

This one was a criterium--a fast, multi-lap race around a short, flat course on paved city streets. Although hosted by Stanford University, the course was a five-cornered, half-mile loop in Morgan Hill, adjacent to the headquarters of Specialized Bicycle Components (who just happen to be one of the most popular makers of racing bicycles in the world).


Posted by Dan 04/25/2011

Wow. What an incredible weekend. I don't even know where to begin... this entry cannot suffice!

I'll start out by saying that the Byron Bay area is by far my favorite part of Australia so far. My first time there will definitely not be my last... I'm going back someday soon, that's for sure. What an incredibly beautiful place! And the culture is so... Australian! At least how I pictured Australia to be: laid back, friendly, beachy, sunny... it's hard to describe really, but I knew from the first 30 seconds driving into town on the bus that this was exactly what I've been looking for!

As for the Blues Fest itself, what else can I say but INCREDIBLE. Music, bands, food, merchants, sun, happy people, music, music, music!

Happy! Ocean! Sun!

Here's some highlights of my weekend:

• G. Love; the highlight performance of the weekend for me. Just incredible.
• John Butler (Trio and solo); talk about pure TALENT on the guitar!
• dancing to Maceo Parker; everybody can get down to some funk!
• listening to all the tribal bands and feeling the beat in my chest
• playing in the ocean on the sand bar at low tide
• picnicing at the lake at Lennox Head with Brian Kelly and his family (great food! great company!)
• daily ice cream cones from Pink (great ice cream shop in downtown); double scoop of Coffee Crunch and M.C. Chip
• the amazing (while maybe not entirely legal) camping spot in the dunes on the beach; falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the ocean 100m away is not a bad way to go!
• hiking through beautiful subtropical rainforests of Nightcap National Park to Minyon Falls with the Kelly family and friends
• "hitchhiking" for a place to stay Sunday night when the tent and sleeping bags were locked away and inaccessible
• my new skirt that I bought in town; it's pretty and flowy and it makes me happy
• did I mention G. Love?? That was THE highlight of my weekend, Saturday night with G. Love.

Posted by Whitney 03/26/2008, revised 03/26/2008