Biggest Looser fifth weigh in - plus other stuff

Biggest looser fifth weigh in

Weighed in at 216.4 once again. Hate to make excuses but there was the big banquet last night for the festival of kites.

Total weight loss still at 5.8 lbs.

---

All things Hawaiian

Hawaiian MTB rides

In honor of our Hawaiian friends, here is a post of Some old Hawaiian photos and our Hawaiian rides.
awaii

Trail	area	Puck	Description	Distance	TimeToRide	Effort	skill	PrimoTrail	FindRoute
Munro trail	Lanai	3	double track mountain roads	40	days	tough	intermediate		moderate
Secret Trails	Maui	8	isolated single track through various type forrest such a guava	3 to 100	1 to 5	moderate	Intermediate		moderate
Mt Haleakala	Maui - Kula Forrest preserve	5	All single track. Some fog. Redwood forrest Volcanic rock. A little of everything.	12	1 to 3	Tough	Expert		moderate
Kaaawa Valley	Oahu	1	Lush beauty. majestic Koolau Mountain cliffs and stunning ocean views are the backdrop for this epic mountain biking experience. scenic dirt roads; double track and single track. explore this sacred and historic Hawaiian valley.	6	2 to 3	Moderate	Beginner		Easy
Aiea Loop	Oahu	8	nice trail that provided some very different flora than I normally get to see.	5	1	Moderate	Intermediate		moderate

Been reading Mountain Bike Bills blog as he is currently in Hawaii. Also been reading the flat tire blog and he

resides in Hawaii as well. 
Nice redwood forest to hike and bike.

This was a nice feast.

You have to
love a place where fruit trees grow wild.

Just any excuse to post some old photos of my time there.

For such a small place, they have every ecosystem anyone would want. Desert, tropical jungle, pine forest all within a short distance of the other. Elevation and which side of the island is the key to what is going on ecosystem wise.

If there are any Hawaiian's out there that want me to include some of their favorite trails on Fat Tire please leave a comment.

---

The Limbaugh Monster and the Presidents Daughter

I am thinking about writing some of my own children's stories for the child my wife and I are having next month.

I remember stories of monsters and princesses when I was a child. Why not tell a true story instead? How Rush Limbaugh attacked Chelsie Clinton when she was a child on a daily basis comes to mind. Moral of the story is words alone can never hurt you.

---

Vikings and Saints

Both teams won by 31 points. Should be a good match.Too bad cardinals and cowboys. Retool and try harder next year.

---

New Header

I changed my header. I write computer code, which is probably why I have had a fondness for the photo. The term loop has a double meaning for me.

---

California woman drowns while snow skiing

This is another wtf news story. A california woman drowned in a creek while snow skiing in Colorado. Apparently it was a guided helicopter trip. Her helmet got caught in some stones in a creek and she drowned. WTF!!!??
Where was her guide! Why couldn't she just get out of her helmet!!?? Just doesn't sound right.

WAR

Just wanted to share some things I dug up. Too important to just keep to myslef. Of course, I took none of the photos myself.

WWII

To tie this post to mountain biking somehow, I posted this video a friend told me about on youtube. Never knew Hitler had so much in common with us.

Funny thing is, I can imagine this scenario actually playing out when W. Bush was pres as I know he mountain bikes and spent a lot of time on vacation.

Vietnam

pleasant day at the world trade center

It is difficult to believe that eight years have passed since that Tuesday morning that changed the world. The Tuesday that wouldn't end. In many ways has never ended.

What made the day even more

difficult, more bitter for me was a pleasant day spent at the world trade center a few years earlier.

It was a summer day in 1998. Security at the towers was much like it was at any airport. Guards in the lobby, metal detectors, etc. We all had to line up just as at the airport.

This type of security was not the norm for buildings in New York City or anywhere else that I've been. It was hightened for these buildings because of an attack five years before.

After passing security, we were escorted to one of the longest and fastest elevators rides on the planet. Zoom up 103 or 104 floors up. I don't really recall the exact number but it was high.

The weather was even different up there. Below was warm and pleasant but up there; sleet was pelting the windows. The roof was closed do to high winds. As I looked out at our towers twin, I imagined that crazy frenchman who walked between these towers years before. The thought makes me shutter.

A pleasant diversion is the virtual reality ride of New York City they had on the top floor. I take the tour. Sort of a wild virtual reality helicopter ride zooming under bridges, between buildings just the same kind of fun one experiences at Universal Studios in Hollywood. They have a model of the city, I take a photo.

The views from the tower were incredible. I take more photos. Brooklyn bridge, The Empire state building, then the Statue of Liberty.

As I look out toward Lady Liberty a vision runs into my imagination. A thought of a jumbo jet flying low, flying towards the tower. This time I spook myself so badly, I have to leave. I have to get out of there. Away from this place.

The people I met who worked there were wonderful, pleasant, friendly people and I prayed that nothing like I envisioned ever happened to them.

So, years later when W. Bush asked 'Who could have imagined this type of attack', I wondered who couldn't have imagined it.