Looking northeast from Trail 365A, just above Embudo Dam.
Things feel like they’re finally inching back to what passes for normal in these parts.
The Jones handles the local trails with style and grace.
I arose at 6 a.m., logged a few billable hours of work, then got out for a short ride on the Jones, which hasn’t been getting a lot of love lately.
The two of us pooted around unproductively and yet pleasantly on the trails southeast of El Rancho Pendejo, topping out at Trail 365A, where there was something of a traffic jam — a visitor from Alaska hiking up with his old ski coach and a couple dogs, a runner headed down with her own pooch in tow, and finally this old dog and his bike smack dab in the middle.
The hikers asked me to snap a phone pic for them, so I did, and then I dove down the trail ahead of the runner and headed for home, where I learned that the Force will be with the viewing audience during halftime of tomorrow’s Giants-Eagles matchup on ESPN.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see Han Solo piloting his mobility scooter around the galaxy while a cackling Luke Skywalker urges his grandson to pull his robotic finger. The Farts are strong with this one. …
Tags: Foothills Trail 365A, Jeff Jones Steel Diamond, Star Wars
Mad Blog Media 
October 18, 2015 at 5:55 pm |
PO’G: Glad to see you’re back on the trails and enjoying the outdoor life that the Duke City environs offers.
My guess is that the only buildup to an event that exceeds (by far) the next Star Wars release drama is the US Presidential nomination process we’re currently so privileged to endure.
I’m predicting my kids, when they’re my age, will learn who’s elected President and then the next day will begin the process again……hoping I’m wrong.
October 18, 2015 at 6:39 pm |
Oy. Drama indeed. Also, and too, comedy. Mostly of the low sort. Somewhere the Three Stooges, the Marx Brothers and half The Firesign Theatre are shaking their heads in disbelief.
October 18, 2015 at 6:27 pm |
May the hype be with you. They sure work the Tao in space bit for all it’s worth.
What brakes are on the Jones? I thought you mentioned TRP Spyke brakes in the review. I have been using them for a couple of months on the Niner, and I liked them well enough to put a set on Sandy’s Salsa. I think they are superior to the BB7s in every way.
By the way, the newest version of Pages will open documents created on the old Pages 06 and 08.
October 18, 2015 at 6:38 pm |
BB7 MTNs on the Jones, Pat. Grippy they are, as Master Yoda would say, especially with the XT levers. I’m used to the softer touch of road levers with disc brakes.
I liked the Spyres, too, and I’m thinking about adding them to one of the bikes in the fleet. I just haven’t decided which one.
Good news about the backwards compatibility of the new Pages. I’ve been getting notes about upgrading, and I believe I will.
Anyone made the move to El Capitan yet? I’m still half Mavericks, half Yosemite here … on the day-to-day devices, anyway.
October 18, 2015 at 7:16 pm |
Still Yosemite on the iMac. El Capitan? Tempted I am. Haven’t we had this conversation before?
October 18, 2015 at 7:31 pm |
Oh, yes. As I recall, those chats ended badly for me. The 2009 iMac now sits in a spare bedroom and mumbles to itself like a crazy uncle after the one-two knockout punch of Mavericks and Yosemite.
These days I work on a 2014 MacBook Pro 15-incher, with 16GB of memory, plugged into a 27-inch Dell monitor, with external keyboard and mouse. It seems to like Yosemite just fine.
Hey, maybe I should afflict the iMac with El Capitan as some hellish computer-science experiment. What the hell? It can’t get any worse. Or can it?
October 19, 2015 at 7:02 am |
My old 2008 iMac is probably in a dorm room at the U of A. At least I hope so. It was running slow with Mavericks, so I never tried Yosemite. So, I have the late 2013 iMac, bought with extra memory based on your advice, with Yosemite and the iPad and iTouch here. Add the Airport Extreme, an old one, Airport express used to extend the network in a dead spot and provide Airtunes in the studio, and the Apple TV, and our journey to the dark side is complete. Sandy is muttering about an iPad Mini after using one her sister just got. Oy.
October 19, 2015 at 7:11 am |
Y’know, Pat, those iPad Minis are pretty cool. I wasn’t so impressed with the original, but that little fella is a nice piece of hardware. I use mine every day.
October 19, 2015 at 2:26 pm |
Wait on the El Capitan update – not ready for prime time yet. Too many annoying bugs. There are some very nice changes – split screen viewing being one of nicest and very handy for what I’m doing right now – but wait for the next update before changing up.
October 19, 2015 at 2:55 pm |
Thanks David! I will take your advice.
October 19, 2015 at 3:40 pm |
As will I. Thank you, sir.
October 19, 2015 at 7:03 am |
Ah, the joys of computering (don’t know or care about Star Warts = science friction was Kurt Vonnegut for me) as my ancient Dell, bought refurbished for $300 croaked last week, the day AFTER I ordered up a new Dell ($700 including the Microcrp Orifice software) and while I wait for its arrival I hope the local computer shop can grab the contents off the old hard drive, saving me a fiar amount of work. From this point on the wife suggests I backup in the cloud instead of (now and then) remembering to copy files to a thumb drive. As to cycling, I’m on hiatus until this shingles crap finally fades into the sunset,,,maybe in a couple more weeks…just in time for cold and snow to arrive here in Iowa?
October 19, 2015 at 7:13 am |
It was a dark and stormy morning. …
Jeez, Larry, is this round two of the shingles? Here’s hoping you get past it quickly. Fall is my favorite time of year for cycling (so naturally, at the moment it’s pitch black and raining).
Bummer, too, about the croaked laptop. I back up to an external hard drive using software that automates the process for me. It’s the only way I remember to do it.
October 19, 2015 at 6:53 pm |
Not round 2 just round 1 dragging on…and on. I think I tried to get back into things too quickly though it seemed reasonable to me at the time. The computer shop claims they got everything off my old hard drive, saying the thumb drive I gave ’em was too small…a problem of the type one wants to have. The brown truck is supposed to show up here tomorrow afternoon with a new piece of hardware so I’m hoping to escape this episode with just a smallish dent to my wallet. I need to take a few last rides on my good road bike so I can wash and service the poor thing and put it away until we come back from Italy next August…I might be out there washing the thing in the snow at this rate…and putting off any outdoor cycling until we go out to SoCal for the holidays….AGGHHHH!