Five Little Specks

I stepped outside of my office this afternoon to look at the sky; I had been feeling a little bit down because I was stuck inside instead of being out at some flying site setting up my glider.. The clouds overhead looked like they were working and there was some overdevelopment over the Snohomish Valley..
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A brief flash of black caught my attention and I knew right away that the eagles were out.. A midsized eagle was circling a couple hundred feet up; his white head and tail gave him away with every turn.. He wasn't climbing that well and the drift was taking him south of me.. So I whistled my best shrill eagle chirp to get his attention..
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I learned the chirp by soaring countless times with eagles.. They chirp at each other when they find good lift.. Most of the time they just look at me like I don't know what I'm talking about.. Sometimes I get their attention and they'll move over to check it out..
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This time my eagle buddy adjusted his circle and drifted right over my head.. He craned around trying to figure out where the chirp was coming from.. Eventually he drifted away and found a good core that took him up to join a gaggle of five eagles who had made their way to a decent cloud that had developed over Paine Field..
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I stood there and watched them climb and dive on each other.. They didn't appear to have any purpose but to play in the air.. Five little black and white specks darting and spinning a few thousand feet up in the sky.. Eventually I lost track of them..
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I've been thinking a lot about things lately.. I've been wondering why I get so serious about everything.. I've been thinking about purpose and play.. Maybe there should be no purpose except to play..
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Funny how five little specks can really make you think..
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I guess I've lost track of a lot of things..
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Taco Truck Time Trial

I rode the Taco Truck Time Trial today..
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Showed up early to check out the scene.. It was obvious right away that I was way out of my element; I was the dork with the wool jersey and a shiny Surly.. No problem though; everyone was really friendly..
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The relaxed atmosphere was punctuated with free beer, a really cool motorized bike, and an actual taco disguised as a tandem team..
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After the manditory conference bike ride, I was in the first group of riders to get on course.. Except for having no idea where I was and having no idea where I was going, it was a blast..

I did learn one important concept today; eating taco truck tacos will not kill you..
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Blanchard Hill - Early Spring Flight

Left work early today.. Blanchard Hill was the place to be.. Launched at 2:10 and spent 40 minutes in unorganized thermal lift.. Sank back down to launch altitude just in time to hook up with the goods.. Climbed to cloudbase with a gaggle of curious but friendly locals..

Good clouds to 5'000 feet around Blanchard.. Overdevelopment and soft hail squalls in the surrounding hills..

Got really cold and chose to land after 2hr 30min..
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Surly SteamRoller Fixed Gear

Over the last few weeks I've been riding a fixed gear.. My new Surly makes me smile every time i ride it.. Riding fixed adds some risk to the cycling equation.. But riding fixed has changed the way that I ride.. There is an increased sense of awareness and I find myself looking much further ahead at all times..

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I'll post pictures of my SteamRoller on FixedGearGallery.com.. Here are some practice images..

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Surly SteamRoller 56cm..

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Soma Urban Pursuit..

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Soma Cross Lever..

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Interloc Racing Design..

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White Industries Chainring 46T..

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Surly Cog 16T, Surly Tugnut..

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White Industries Eno Crankset..

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This Endless and Illegal War..

I grew up with Black Sabbath.. Their music was a powerful diversion during my teenage years.. Tony's guitar is still in my head..

One of my all time favorite Sabbath tunes is War Pigs.. War Pigs has taken a more significant place in my head since a spoiled little jerk decided to seal his infamous place in history..





We've got to end this war.. We cannot allow the old guard to remain in control.. The human race cannot survive a hundred years of this..

This must change..