Leaving Providence, RI
Choosing to leave Providence after living there for almost 6 years was a long and inevitable process. The city was building up and probably always will be. A great opportunity arose and we would have been fools to pass on it. So we put in transfers and started planning our route.
Jayme and I spent a couple weeks catching up with friends and saying our goodbyes before embarking on our trip. We had the difficult task of deciding what we were keeping, giving away and leaving behind for our friends moving in.
Our free stuff table proved to be quite successful and not much was left behind. (You can see the free stuff table in the left of the picture).
We packed up and headed to New Jersey to see my mom and friends. While there, I finalized packing clothes, bike stuff and repacking the car. Went to Sushi for my birthday and stopped by some friends places. Passed on a vintige bike and great red chair to some cats down in Jersey. Repacked the car and headed south.
Upcoming Las Vegas Road Trip
The plans are in place, soon we start our epic road trip across the country. Jayme and I, starting in Rhode Island and ending in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada.
The car has been in the shop for almost a week now to repair the head gaskets and the clutch. We are both in the hopes that we won't have any car problems, I really don't want to have to pay an arm and a leg for a backwoods mechanic to fix the Subaru while on the road.
After much deliberation, we have decided to take the southern route to Vegas. Firstly, we love New Orleans, it's always a great place to vacation and have fun. Second, we wanted to spend as little of the road trip driving through barren and repetitive landscapes as possible. However, we are still going to have to drive through Texas(16 hours of driving!) among other long boring states. We thought that if we take this route, we can at least visit some of Jayme's family along the way, hopefully i'll get to shoot a can off a fence.
So far our planned stops are: Bridgewater, NJ; Washington DC; Richmond, Charlotte, Augusta, Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Austin, El Paso, Phoenix, then our final destination, Las Vegas.
As hard as uprooting one's life is (both physically & emotionally), It makes you appreciate the things you are leaving behind. You don't realize how close you are to people and co-workers until you tell them that you are leaving for good. For now, I'm just glad the day-to-day work schedule is on hiatus for awhile.
Providence is always going to conjure up pleasant memories of college and good times, hell I'd like to come back one day. Maybe not to live, but to at least see what the highways looks like when it's finally completed. Also, I'm going to miss the Providence community, the hipsters, the dog-walkers, the cyclists, the welders and the drunks.
Hartge BMW 850 CSi 6.0
During a stay in Lyon, France, I spotted this amazing car parked near my hotel. This e31 8-series seems to have been tuned by Hartge. The guys who are responsible for transforming bmw's into beasts. This car deserved my attention, absolutely pristine. Enjoy my shots.
Shiny Subaru RS & Clavicle update
It's now been 3.5 weeks since I broke the clavicle. Went to Foundry Sports Medicine and I was told that my sling is necessary for another few weeks and that I can ride a bike again in 6 weeks. Bummer. Shaun was planning a bike Downhilling trip too.
I've been trying to go along with business as usual even if it means I have to clay bar my car with one arm. The entire reason behind clay baring a car is to get all the contaminants (including: glue, old layers of wax/polish) off your paint. I found that it is also great for getting the badging adhesive off my trunk.
It came out well. She's a sexy automobile. Maybe she'll be getting presents soon.
Clavical Crunch
Beautiful Sunday morning, First 4 runs of shuttling at Diablo Bike Park in the bank. Feeling great being back in the saddle on familiar trails again, gaining confidence from the bike's feedback. Fourth run, down the 2008 World Cup DH run. I'm not sure if it was the speed that I was carrying, but I completely didn't see a small sapling. I proceed to clip it with my right bar end, this caused the front wheel to turn and launch me down a 3ft rock decline. Ouch.
By the time my brother and I got down to the bottom, I knew something was broken, my left arm couldn't support any weight.
The video below depicts where I crashed. At 1.13 where the rider crashes, that's where I crashed as well. I don't think mine was as crazy looking however.
In this video you can see at 59 seconds where I crashed hard.
In this video, it's at the very end where I took a digger.
Now it's almost a week later. I've been reading up on how to get myself back on a bike as fast and as safely as possible. Seems like it's a common injury among downhill mountain bikers. From what I've read, it's a 6-8 week healing process and surgery probably won't be necessary. Currently, I'm wearing a sling and in a week or two, switching to a figure 8 harness. Also, I'm going to an orthopedic clinic as soon as my health insurance kicks in. Oh and no need to worry about the bottle rocket, it took the abuse better then my body did.
If anyone has any advice on what to do for a fracture of mid-clavicle with displaced fragments (non-opposition), please leave a comment.
Bottle Rocket Drivetrain Replacement
I've been trying to get the Transition Bottle Rocket ready for the shuttle downhill season. The BR was hurting after my trip to Whistler, BC. Broken pedal, loose headset, squishy brakes and a destroyed drivetrain.
Old drivetrain pictured above : Shimano XT Derailleur, FSA Gravity Gap Cranks, E-13 Bashguard and a Modified Commencal Chainguide.
The new drivetrain consists of: e13 lg-1 chainguide, shimano xt-shadow rear derailleur, Holzfeller OCT cranks, Shimano Dura Ace chain and an e13 guide ring. The new setup feels smoother and lighter. First time out this season was at Vietnam biketrails in mass. Biking again on trails felt good, but also realized how out of shape I am. Also, smacked the rear derailleur on a rock and now it's out of alignment. Gotta fix that, so I can test out the new knee/shins.
The Scott Voltage is still wating for an axle bolt at the local bike shop. Miss that bike, gotta get her out of the shop.
Riding Pictures soon to follow (if it ever stops raining).
Bonding with RS
Lately, my projects have been pushed onto the back burner. Not by choice, but with the inclusion of my 9 to 5 job, time is spread thin.
The Subaru went in for a checkup, apparently the head gasket is leaking and is a ticking time bomb of repair costs. Hopefully, I can finance swapping in a turbo wrx motor instead of repairing the aging 2.5l engine.
I took the subaru on a trip back to Jersey to see my mom and do the doctor/dentist catchup thing. I really began to bond with the RS, being back on those Jersey mountain roads made me realize how much fun AWD can be. For the first time, I could feel how the car corners and find it's limits. Limits in this case are defined by; rainy weather, favorite road/turn & scary understeer. Driving back home sure beats driving on the destroyed Providence streets.
I'm happy to report that I will no longer be cruising with the dull chatter of the radio in the background. The head unit's wiring comes in the mail today (hopefully) and that sucker is going in. Back to good ol' MP3 CDs again.
While back home, I grabbed my old wheels from the Jetta, which luckily have the same size tires as the Subaru stockers. The wheels are wrapped with Dunlop sport FM901's, they are some aggressive suckers. So, one of these days I have to go get the tires swapped and get the car aligned. Then I should be set till the headgasket bites the bullet.