Two memories I won’t soon forget…  the first one was on Christmas Day.  My wife Nicole and I took our two boys out for a hike/snowshoe.   We went on a fairly tough hike called Cougar Crest, that climbs from around 6500′ up to around 8000′.  The boys got new snowshoes and hiking staffs for Christmas and were eager to use them.  They’d hiked up ahead a bit and as I followed my family up the trail I couldn’t imagine anywhere else I’d rather be.  My kids weren’t home playing Xbox or arguing about who gets to use the computer.  Rather they were both out of breath, working hard and loving every minute of it.  There are a few pictures in my gallery above.

The second memory…  I know everyone rings in the New Year in their own fashion, but for us it was a new way, and one we won’t soon forget.  Our home in Big Bear is about 1 mile from the Pacific Crest Trail (a well known trail that runs from Mexico to Canada).  The 2 mile section that is closest crosses the back of the mountains and from the path you can view the desert off the backside.  It’s an incredible view (images below).  Well as it turns out, on New Year’s Eve there was a Blue Moon.  You’ve probably heard that expression “once in a Blue Moon”.  Well a Blue Moon is when there are 2 full moons in one month -and it’s not a common occurance – hence the saying.  In fact the next one won’t be for 19 years I believe. 

Well we hiked out early around 4:00 to get out to the best viewing location to watch that big beautiful moon rise up over the desert.  There were some low lying clouds which made the event even more colorful and awesome.  I took lots of pictures – a few of which are above in the gallery.  Then we waited an hour or two for the moon to get high enough to light our path home in the dark. 

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the ringing in of a New Year!  Happy New Year to everyone – wishing you a great one!

Friday was cool and nice out, went for a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail and did some visiting with friends in town.  Then got my bike out for an early mountain bike ride early Saturday morning.  Much to our surprise we woke to around an inch of snow and it was starting to pick up.  It snowed all day off and on and again on Sunday for a total of around 8″.

This video shows Dylan sporting his new Innes clothing that Matt/Adam so graciously hooked him up with.

So I didn’t get to go mtn. biking, but we had a great time in the snow and can’t wait to get back up to the house for Christmas!

Rage Films iTunes Trailer Hi Res from Rage Films on Vimeo.

I posted a picture of the beginnings of snowmaking a few weeks ago, and then the first snowfall of 1/8th of an inch early this last week.  So here’s an updated view of the ski slopes as the base slowly starts to build.  With any luck they’ll be able to open for Thanksgiving.  I know I’ll be up the mountain then!  Happy Thanksgiving – here I come!

Now if they could finish my dang garage at the house in Big Bear!  Can’t wait to head back up the hill for the weekend and do some mtn. biking.  The snow will likely be melted, but there’s always more to come.

What else is new…well it’s colder than…well, it’s freaking cold!  I got up this morning to go mtn. biking and at 7am it was 25 degrees out, and crystal clear.     Had a fantastic ride, absolutely gorgeous!  I rode the PCT down to an overlook where you can see the whole Desert down below.  It was crisp, sunny, warm on my face…man I can’t wait to have this in my backyard EVERYDAY! 

So what else happens when it’s cold?  Well in Big Bear they make SNOW!  Yup, they’re blowing snow on Snow Summit, Bear Mountain and the snowplay areas.  Of course it’s still getting in the high 60’s in the daytime, but they’re still building a base, getting ready for that first dusting of natural stuff.

That’s it for now – I had DirectTV turned on, have the garage going in…have been going up almost weekly now while they’re constructing the garage.  It’s such a tease….summer 2010 baby!  Big Bear here I come….

I know where the time went – into my busy life. I help coach my youngest son’s travel baseball team which practices 3 times per week, and my older son’s team too – which practices once a week and has a game once a week. Throw in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and poof the days just fly by. And that’s without the all consuming work…and my own adventure race training and exercise regime.

But I wouldn’t have it any other way. And let’s be honest – by exercise regime, I mean mountain biking mostly, which I absolutely love to do, so it’s not that rough.

Working at the pub 40-50 hours a week, and doing freelance web design work another 10-20 hours a week. But all that has brought me a step closer to ‘the dream’. The dream for me, if you’re not familiar with ‘it’ – is living in Big Bear, California.

This past June we bought our home in Big Bear after working on that goal for almost 5 years. Now we’re breaking ground on building our garage next to the house, and furnishing it. The home is just outside of Big Bear, in an area called Baldwin Lake. It’s less than 1/2 mile to the Pacific Crest Trail and less than that to National Forest where I can hike, climb and mountain bike to my hearts content. Not to mention Kayaking and playing on the lake with Jet Skiis. “All in good time” my wife constantly reminds me when I become impatient. A wise woman for sure.

Here’s a picture of the view from my front porch:

What else – my daughter is a Junior in High School – doing great. My oldest son Cole is in his first semester at Mira Costa College taking Web Design, Photoshop, Sound Engineering and The History of Rock ‘n Roll. He loves it and is doing super. He was accepting to the Art Institute in San Diego next year for their Production program (sound, web, video – all things electronic and cool).

Nic is doing super, working and working out. She’s the glue of course, keeping it all going, on track and on time. Love her so much!

If you’re looking for more me (can’t imagine), I’m on facebook at:  Facebook  and there’s lots of pictures of what we’ve been up to!

It was an amazing experience – riding 500 miles a week.  Lifting weights every other day, massage daily, riding like a mad-man and loving every minute of it.  Unfortunately I had a nasty crash, blew out a knee along the way and although I continued to race, lost that caliber of racing forever.

While I was working at the shop, and racing I was introduced to this stuff called Kool ‘N Fit.  I always thought of it as this massage stuff that smelled like Eucalyptus, but it made me feel incredible.  I used it regularly but eventually I left the shop and couldn’t find it at my LBS, and moved on.

Recently I had found out the manufacturer is actually in San Diego, and I met the owner’s of the company.  What a fantastic couple!  They seem to have a true passion for their products as well as still going to races – whether a marathon or a criterium nearly every weekend. 

Turns out they wanted to have a few web-design things done, and I had the wonderful opportunity to do the work for them.  Of course I got some Kool’nFit and man – it was like old times!  You can literally feel the muscles warming up, feeling flush and loose…and my knee that’s been reconstructed twice feels better than ever. 

As I searched the internet I read many times that people had a hard time finding Kool’nFit, but you can get it online from Kool ‘N Fit themselves  HERE .  They also have a whole site full of testimonials you can check out at http://www.KoolnFitBlog.com. 

Do yourself a favor and go check it out!

Just a few days ago I took a trip up to Big Bear, California to take care of some business, and of course couldn’t pass on the opportunity to put in some miles in those beautiful mountains.

View from Bertha Peak, Big Bear, Californa

It was an incredible morning, about 72 degrees and sunny with a cool wind blowing.  My buddy Pete and I headed out from his house on the Southwest corner of Baldwin Lake.  We headed up Van Busen which turns into fire road fairly quickly and the climbing started.  We climbed about 3 miles before hitting the Pacific Crest Trail.   We left the road and hit the single-track for another 2 miles of climbing before we summited at Big Bertha peak at just over 8000 feet. 

The altitude and climbing were taking their toll on me, but the next 45 minutes would be well worth it.  We started our decent down Cougar Crest Trail, stopping briefly to chat with some local hikers we knew.  It’s a technical single-track, with large jutting rocks spewn everywhere, with a steep drop off one side or the other for the top 1/2 of the decent. 

I took my obligitory spill somewhere around the middle, remounted and we continued to fly down the mountain.  We came just West of the Discovery Center and flew back on the Alpine Pedal Path, and then headed back to Pete’s house.

The ride lasted about 2 to 2 1/2 hours total, but I’ve been dreaming about it since.  I was exhausted, dirty, scraped up a bit and I couldn’t wait to get back up there to ride again soon.