Did two bushwacking snowshoe trips last week not far from home. Here’s one pic…

Lots of great stuff on the NY-NJ border overlooking Greenwood Lake. Just a few hours each day in the woods clears the mind. Been warm outside ever since… Glad I got out when I did!  More pics on Flickr.

Right on the border of New Jersey and New York sits the NJ Highlands.  A plethora of mountains, valleys, lakes and rivers that provide water to much of the other 2/3 of the Garden State.

In West Milford NJ is the Baker’s Dozen. Thirteen peaks well worth climbing to get great views of the region and across the border to New York State.

Today I snowshoed up Horse Pond Mtn to see said views as well as the U-shaped Monksville Reservoir. A beautiful, sunny day with temps above 40 F.

Only wild life I saw were turkey vultures, a nuthatch, six buffleheads, a few Canada geese and two swans.

I’ve climbed Horse Pond before in the summer and snow covered is definitely worth the extra effort. The bare trees gave an even greater view – if that’s possible!

Yea, it’s possible! If you’re heading out this weekend expect thawing conditions = wet. Wear your woolies!!

Here are more pics on Flickr.

I have to move some stuff this weekend and will be renting a van to do so. Made me think about all the vehicles I’ve driven in the last year or so…

Saturn SL2 sedan – my everyday, 4 door car with roof rack and many miles on it. Tires are a little worn now so I got stuck in a snow bank the other day… Sips oil so I always have a few quarts in the trunk. She’s been with us for many good years – 177,000+ miles so far…

Saturn VUE – former family SUV. Great for loading up the snowboards and a few friends. Many family trips in this baby.

Mercury Marquis with all the bells & whistles – drove home from Columbus OH and now in our stable. A big soft cushion on wheels.

Honda Civic Si, five speed – fun little go cart! I could have gotten into trouble with this one! All weather tires on this made it a little squishy in the turns – now I see (feel) first hand why folks use the low profile tires. Stiff sidewalls.

Nissan Altima – this was a nice car. We rented it to drive to/from Columbus OH. Push button to start car (?), lots of power, nice ride and responsive.

Rusty ole Chevy Blazer – not driven too far because our 1976 Lightning sail boat and trailer were hitched to it, the trailer tires were shot (still are) and there’s no wiring for the lights. Oh, and it wasn’t registered….

Chevy Astro van OR GMC version of the same – drove my mom’s husband around north Jersey to help him out after he had broken his pelvis skiing (unfortunately, early in the season!).

As I think further back, the list (like many other folks, no doubt) grows even longer. Ford F350 dualie crew cab with 30ft goosneck trailer in tow while working with Team Jamis / NJ-Chicago & back a few times, LA to NYC. 4WD Pick Up with a snow plow. 1969 Chevy Nova (my first car!). Several different Toyota Tercels including my all time favorite car, my 1985 Tercel (245,000 miles – original clutch). Saab 95s and 96s (four speed on the column!). Volkswagen Beetle. Team Jamis box truck as well as several rentals for moving. Ford van as well as other rental vans for moving — which brings back to the start of this post.

What’s the point of listing all the different vehicles I’ve driven?

When I was a kid and my dad was teaching me how to drive he wanted me to learn stick shift. His reasoning was that if I was ever offered the opportunity to drive a Jeep or had to move someone’s car for some reason, that I’d be able to do it.

Simple logic. Like knowing how to focus your own camera and set the shutter speed before you grab a point and shoot = makes you a better photographer.

There are a million of people out there that have similar ideas – shifting your bicycle without indexing shifters comes to mind. Web project management people knowing basic code is another.  I’m sure there’s a musician’s version of this same reasoning.

Regardless, point is that knowing how things work fundamentally and how to work them makes you better at using them. You are able to extend that knowledge and apply it – here and elsewhere.

The simple way (automatic transmission, auto focus, etc.) may be easier and get you  similar results but I believe that you are a better driver, photographer, cyclist, musician, project manager IF you know more about how things are done and how to do them.

You don’t need to focus your own camera or code your own widgets but more understanding, more knowledge, more experience makes you more effective.

We had a few surf sessions but at our first, my mentee and I  had some difficulty arriving on time. We had to be at the beach by 9:30am which meant we had to meet around 8:00am and I had to leave home around 6:30am.

We met at a subway platform in Brooklyn. I waited a little bit before he showed up but not bad. I was early because I didn’t know how the bus / train schedule would work out.

Our train ride from Brooklyn to the beach had a bit of misunderstanding.  There was some construction somewhere on the line and it seemed to me that we needed to get off the train and onto a bus to cover this construction span.

Unfortunately, “seem” wasn’t correct.

We got off the subway and got on a bus. We rode for a while, maybe half an hour, then got to the end of the line. We tried to figure out what happened and the Transit Authority person told us to get back on the bus and go back to the train. We didn’t need to be on the bus in the first place!

So we took the bus back. We climbed the stairs to the platform and rushed to get on train – the doors were closing!

In the rush, we didn’t realize the train was headed in the wrong direction – back to Brooklyn – and since neither of us had been on the train in this area before we didn’t realize we were headed back to Brooklyn. We ended up almost back where we had met over an hour ago this morning.

He just laughed. At me? At the situation? I don’t know. Doesn’t really matter. We could have just gone back to Brooklyn and gotten pizza. We could have gone home and given up on the day. We could have thrown up our arms in frustration.

Instead, we persevered. We made the best of a unfavorable situation. We got on the right train and tried again. And, we made it to surf.

And what a GREAT day it was!!

I pasted this together a few years ago. Now I need to update to 2010 — so much done in the last 5 years!  Stoked Mentoring, Scout leader, surfing….

And, as I read through this, I realize how much has been left out – 24 Hr Mtn bike races, traveling, backpacking, sailing…

It appears that my question for 2010 tourism, at least for mountain states of USA, has been answered.

According to a report today in SportsOneSource.com,  ”overall occupancy for the next six months is down 5.4 percent compared to one year ago.”

The article says, ““Last year at this time many resorts got a late bump in reservations by targeting local and regional markets with compelling rates and packages to draw visitors with pricing incentives and the excellent snow conditions. But this year, neither element is as prominent and local skiers and riders who filled in the resorts last season aren’t as motivated to hit the slopes as last year.”

Local, regional visitors drawn by deals and good conditions – sound right to me (as well as my wallet).

What do you think?

The Salt Lake Tribune reported recently that tourism spending in Utah declined 10%, or by $700 million to $6.2 billion in 2009 and visitation declined 4.5% to 19.4 milllion.

It’s not news that across the globe tourism is down.  Airline “passenger demand is….6% below the peak levels seen in early 2008,” according to IATA.).   So, it’s not surprising that Utah’s tourism numbers have dropped.

The Tribune said, “Skiers and snowboarders are important to the state economy because they tend to stay longer and spend more per day than other travelers.” They are, ”also one of the groups that’s most likely to want to experience the area’s nightlife.” Unfortunately, “the number of skier visits to the state dropped by 300,000.”

My guess is that the vast majority of Utah visitors originate from the United States. I imagine that European skiers and snowboarders would likely visit mountains on their own continent (except for those traveling to watch or compete in specific snow events).

 Utah (and other mountain states) dosen’t appear in the list of top 20 airports for international traveler arrivals. “International visitors to the U.S. (were) down 7 percent in the first 10 months of the year (2009) compared to the same period the year before,” according an AP article. 

Everyone believes in something. In honor of the season, I share this with you…Devo sings “merry something to you.”

We’ll be having a Merry Christmas at our house but what I believe may be different than what you believe.

Hope you have a wonderful something at yours!!

When things get busy at the local bike shop in the summer or when someone needs a day off  I usually jump in to help out and keep my fingernails dirty. It’s always a good time there. Friends work there, friends drop by, friends call.

Repairing or building a bike is gratifying in a different way than my “day job” is satisfying. At the bike shop, you start with a project and (most of the time) you finish it up in an hour or less. Getting your hands on something that you move from “broken” to “working” in an hour is an immediate reward. Working with wrenches, screwdrivers and especially hammers is satisfying in a different way than working in the office.

Bike shops usually also usually have a wide variety of “characters” that visit and an interesting array of bikes always seem to find their way through the doors. Here are a few I’ve seen (bikes, not characters. You can find characters here…) in the last 365 days…

Bling! Bling! This beauty was totally spray painted in GOLD! If only it was worth it’s weight in precious metal this department store anchor would really be something. Though, the kid who owns it no doubt feels it is priceless.

Next are some really shady pics but for a really good cause…

The bike owner had her Trek mixte ride stripped down and the frame sent out to be repainted in honor a loved one. Paint scheme, I’m told, was copy of what was on the loved one’s motorcycle and was done by same artist.  It was built back up, tested and taken immediately to a Livestrong ride. I’ve had some emotional bike rides but I can’t even begin to imagine that ride on that bike…

Here’s a sweet ride from happier times; a cromo GT with a #1 New Jersey NBL plate.

Someone pedaled this puppy hard to earn that top spot BMX plate.

And they did it with Bear Traps. You know it’s solid when it has Suntour Bear Trap pedals on cromo one piece cranks. Can you say nasty shin scars? I’ve got mine, how ’bout you?

If you have any interesting bike photos, point them out for me and anyone else interested…. Bike Hugger posts some good stuff quite often and you might find gems from fatcogtom on Flickr.

Regardless, bike shops are always interesting and rewarding places. If you haven’t been to one recently, stop by for a visit. Winter is usually a great time to spend some quality time with the bike shop people before the spring season kicks back in.