Odds and Ends

This is a bike.

It's actually my roommate's, but that doesn't matter so much. It is what I use to commute from work about half the time, and it is a great alternative to running or swimming, two activities that I strongly dislike.

This bike also happens to double as a good ol' fashioned chick magnet. In the relatively short time I've been using it (about 3 months), I've received numerous compliments on it from females. After all, it is such a cool color, isn't it? So this past weekend, I was out riding on a bright and sunny Sunday with my co-worker for a 40-mile ride, and it happened again. It was the weekend of the Seattle Bike Expo, which I've been told is the third biggest of its kind in the country. As we were biking near Husky stadium, toward the Burke-Gilman trail (which leads to the expo), a couple of riders -- one male and one female -- passed us going in the opposite direction. She stopped to ask me something like this: "Do you know how to get to the bike expo...WOW WHAT A NICE BIKE!" When I asked her if she knew where the aforementioned trail was (literally about 200 feet away), she started running of at the tongue: "We're in town from Vancouver, eh, and can't WAIT to get to the bike expo -- what a HOOT!..." And she continued jabbering as I motioned her to follow me toward the trail. Before we got there -- all of about 30 seconds later -- she had managed to make it known to me that the guy that was with her was her "friend" and they were staying in the U-District and...then we went our opposite ways. Those friendly Canadians! David asked her if I got her number, and I swear I got everything BUT that, without so much as saying a word (other than to ask if she knew where the trail was). Oh, and the bike rides really nicely as well.

This upcoming weekend I'm going on a new type of adventure with my friend John. We're going to be summiting The Brothers, a substantial mountain of about 6,800 feet on the Olympic Peninsula. Here's a view of the peaks from Seattle:

I'm definitely going to be making some good use of my new snowshoes, and am counting on some friends for the rest of the equipment that I don't own (ice axe, crampons). I'm trusting John when he says this will be a "non-technical" climb (read: no ropes needed, no falling large distances, etc.). I'm expecting it to be a real hoot!