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

It's been a rough season this year, beginning with a minor fracture in my foot, which caused me to back out of the South Bay Duathlon. By the time Wildflower rolled around, I was running again, but at a greatly reduced volume, which turned out not to matter when I found out our apartment lease terminated on race day. Instead of toughing out the hot dry hills of the Long Course, I spent my day heaving boxes and furniture; nearly as brutal, but with no finisher's medal at the end. Morgan Hill Sprint in May ended up being the official opener of my race season, pretty late by California standards.

And then 6 days before the race, I had a bike crash ... on the Morgan Hill course.

I've had my share of topples, but this was my first high speed wipeout, and it felt like the ultimate betrayal to have my bike suddenly misbehave and cast me off so swiftly. I was fortunate that both my bike and I survived intact, if a little banged up, but our relationship suffered a major blow.

Stubborn as I am, I decided to race Morgan Hill anyways, and I quickly found that I had a new monkey on my back. I was now mistrustful of my bike, despite all our wonderful years and miles together. I wobbled uncertainly through each turn and when I returned to THE dreaded corner, which happened to be on a nice downgrade, my brakes screamed out in terror well in advance of the intersection. Since I don't typically use my brakes, the sound was unfamiliar to me, and sent me into a panic.

I took the corner wide and slow, wobbling and screeching the whole way, nearly coming to a complete stop at the shoulder on the wrong side of the road, beyond the cones marking the course. I gave a sheepish nod to the police officers guarding the course, "It's my first time."

Mercifully, my bike did not dump me off at any point in the 16 mile ride, and I still managed to come away with a podium finish and a strengthened resolve to search for my lost cycling confidence.

The following weekend I headed out to the east coast for Jerseyman. The 2 loop bike course featured a series of climbs affectionately termed Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear. And where there are climbs, there are descents. I was warned ahead of time about one particular sharp turn at the bottom of one of the steepest hills. The race director had placed a wall of hay bales at the corner to cushion the blow for anyone who failed to make the turn. I went out to practice this section of the course the day before the race, and on my first attempt, I not only missed the turn, I rocketed past it at over 30mph, brakes squealing all the while, until I finally managed to come to a stop a quarter mile down the road. I practiced again and again until I had the timing and speed just right.
Posted by Kimberly 06/28/2016

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

Lately, every day seems to go exactly the way it should, and that goes especially for the weekends. The last couple weekends have been great, and this past one was no exception.

Friday night, our volleyball team (who is trying to hold our 4th place spot so we can go to the playoffs in a few weeks) played an awesome game against the 1st place team. We ended up losing 65-60 (high scores, I know! It's just one 40 minute game with rally score), but it was one of the most satisfying, enjoyable games yet. We're really coming together, and it was just a quality game of volleyball.

Saturday morning started off with an awesome picnic breakfast above the town with a few of my friends. We went and sat up on top of Castle Hill, which is the one high point in town - a beautiful jutting piece of rock coming out of the flat land. It looks out over all of Townsville and Maggie Island and the ocean and the coast... it's awesome. We sat on top of an old bunker and enjoyed the view and the morning with food and coffee, just lazing about for a few hours.

Me with friend Ben on Castle Hill, starting the weekend off with coffee and a view.

Then I spent my entire Sunday rock climbing on Mt. Stuart, which is part of the Great Dividing Range, just behind Townsville. As great as the view was from Castle Hill, it was no comparison to Mt. Stuart. My roommate Scott and 2 other friends and I climbed all day, surrounded by the beauty of the ocean and the land down below. It was really great to do some actual outdoor climbing, as well. I had an incredible time, climbing until my muscles could no longer hold me on the wall. I'm hoping I'll get some more chances to go climbing in the next couple weeks, because I really had a great time.

Hanging out on Mt. Stuart on Sunday for a great day of climbing and views.

Check out my Mt. Stuart photo album to see the view I got to enjoy all day yesterday!

Posted by Whitney 06/02/2008, revised 06/02/2008