There is only one word, one emotion, to describe how I felt the days prior to my first mountain bike race.
Nervousness…
It was no surprise.
I was diving into something I had very little knowledge of.
I hadn’t even watched a XC mountain bike race before. In fact, the only thing I really knew about them, is that they took place on mountain bikes.
I’ve heard they were fun…
I have a mountain bike…
I want to have fun…
Well lookey here, a post! A new post on my blog.
It’s surprising to look back over the year, and realize I have not written a single thing since April. And even that was just a review.
I could use the typical excuse of “I just never could find the time” but then, I guess I could have tried to use a few minutes here and a few minutes there to write-up a post over the course of a week or so. The only problem I have doing that is that eventually by the time I start to get to the end, I forget what it was I was really trying to write about in the first place, which is why a majority of my posts are written in one sitting.
No, 2012 will go into the books as a good year though, regardless.
So what has “Mic” been doing? Well… Mic has actually been busy, and I haven’t really spoke about what I have been up to. Not because I wanted to keep anything a secret. No, I just am not comfortable talking about my physical self. I can go on and on and on talking about where I went, what I did, and who I spoke with, but seldom do you find me mention much about me. Read the rest of this entry »
Oct 12
I typically do not spend time writing about my personal life outside of the articles of where I am, where I am going when I am adventuring out and about.
I think a lot of that just has to do with how I view my own personal life. I don’t really take time to reflect much upon it. I kind of just do things when I can, never really paying any attention to how or why I get there.
The last several months I have had a lot of time to reflect this, not in the sense of time off not doing anything, but more looking forward.
As mentioned in earlier posts this year, I had a large project that tied me up 7 days a week for a few months. This ran into when I was originally planning to take my “summer” vacation up north to the Cassiar and around in Canada.
I’ve been trying to get out and about as much as possible over the last month that I have finally had my weekends back, and I have succeeded in this for the most part.
Weekends have been spent camping, crabbing, and other various activities.
Oddly enough, the 2 wheeled transportation has not been getting used as much this summer. We have had a very “mild” if you can call it that, summer here in the Pacific Northwest, especially in the Seattle area.
I’m one of those riders who will ride in pretty much any type of weather, hell, I’ve even ridden while it was snowing. So when a nice day comes along that I can wear shorts and a t-shirt, I take the opportunity to spend it outdoors. We’ve had very few really “nice” days so far this year, so I’ve spent most of my weekends that we do have that kind of weather, in shorts and a t-shirt and in my Frontier (or in someone’s rig).
Jul 4
I’ve kind of disappeared these last few months. I haven’t been active on this site (or my facebook page and twitter).
So why not?
Well, I had planned on taking another trek up North in mid June. Leaving about the same time I did last year, hit the Cassiar, and back around through the Icefields Parkway again. Just to finish up what I missed out on last year due to time and broken bits.
Well, 3 months ago, my team got slapped with a major project at work. This project, which was originally slated to take 9 months, had to be completed in 3.
So that meant many long days. Start with 12 hour days the first month, than on to 16, 20 and eventually at the end of it, working around the clock, taking very little time for sleep and breaks.
The project is now completed, we hit our deadline, and am now able to breathe a little.
I’ve decided to plan something, not sure what yet. I want to head down south later this year and hit Southern Utah, come up through parts of California, cross into Nevada, and up through Central Oregon.
As of yet, nothing is set in stone, and I need to figure out what exactly I want to do. I’m not entirely sure.
I also have a couple hiking trips planned. I’m going to need it. This project, the stress and the sitting around weeks on end without getting out and about, has caused me to gain a considerable amount of more weight. So the plan is to start getting some kind of a routine together. Hopefully with the new changes at work, I can adjust my hours a bit, so I can start later (I start work at 4:30) so that I can get in a morning bicycle ride.
I have a lot on my “to do” list as well. The KLR needs gone through bad. I had to have the rear shock rebuilt, so that is waiting to be put back in (I have the stock in it for now), needs valves done, needs a new chain and sprockets, need to lube the swing arm pivot points as well as the steering head. Need to change out the tires, oil, filter and clean the air filter. Probably toss a new Spark Plug in when doing valves as well.
The XT’s little leaks have decided to grow. So it is definitely time to pull that engine apart and put the gasket kit in, that I have lying around. I should also toss a new chain and sprockets on it as well.
Anyways, the KLR is on my list of “things to get done today” so I should probably get to it.
Until Next Time,
Mic
Jan 8
I’ve went ahead and removed the “Motorcycle” from my original tag line of “The Motorcycle Adventures and Projects of Mic”.
I came to the conclusion late last year, that there are so many other things to write about that I do, and it all relates.
There are many things I do, and have prepared for, that people use in other hobbies, such as hiking and backpacking. I also like to hike and backpack, so I decided this would all work well together.
Moving forward, I’ve been working on the new “Review” layout. I’m moving away from my “Need to read all of Mic’s ramblings to get an idea of what he thought of it” to a simple rating system with a quick comment at the very top of the review. This way, those who just like to see what exactly my overall impression of it is, can just figure it out with less than an minutes worth of viewing, instead of trying to read through the entire review.
Passing this along.
My stove is one of the ones effected, and from what I can gather by the recall, it is most likely an o-ring issue, as it seems to effect both the stove as well as the parts kit. Also on the web form, it said they would send you the parts when available.
Guess we’ll see!
Katadyn Products Inc. today announced a voluntary recall of the Optimus Nova and Optimus Nova+ Multifuel Expedition Stoves sold between January 2009 and September 2010 are affected by this recall. Consumers should stop using these recalled products immediately.
Name of Product: Optimus Nova and Optimus Nova+ Multifuel Expedition Stoves
Units: About 11,500
Manufacturer: Katadyn Products Inc., Wallisellen-Zurich, Switzerland
You can view the rest of the information of the recall as well as multiple ways to contact Katadyn if your stove is part of the recall at the following URL: http://www.optimusstoves.com/seen/service/newsroom/detail/article/2010/09/20/katadyn-products-inc-recalls-optimus-multifuel-expedition-stoves-due-to-fire-hazard/
UPDATE:
I received the following email from Katadyn this morning
Please accept our most sincere apologies for the trouble caused with your Optimus stove.
We just recently learned about a problem related to your stove model. The hazard is a very fine edge left over from tooling of the quick coupling and of the ON/OFF valve of the pump that may cause the o-rings to wear out faster and tear after only a few uses. In addition, the o-rings used on the ON/OFF valve and on the fuel hose on some of the stoves can swell in certain kinds of fuel. Some Nova stoves of the latest production lots may have fuel hoses which are not completely crimped and could detach. One of these failures can cause fuel leakage posing a fire hazard to consumers. Katadyn Products Inc. will therefore replace your defective pump, o-rings and fuel line.
We will be contacting you within the next two weeks with an action plan for the replacement. Your stove has been assigned the case # XXXXXX. Please refer to this for any further communication.
The Nova is built for a lifetime of use. With this pump and fuel line replacement, your stove will perform at the high level that you can expect from Optimus. Thanks in advance for your support.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
Bret Whitnah
How to visually check if your stove is part of the recall
Update: 12/21/10
I’m happy to say that once the return authorization was issued, the process went very quickly.
I received my return authorization on November 24th, and I shipped it out on November 30th.
On December 9th it was shipped back to me, in which I received it a week later.
I am happy to have my stove back. I fired it up to make sure everything worked, and I double checked all the contents I shipped them to make sure everything was there in the extra parts kits that were also part of the recall.
I’m glad Katadyn jumped on getting this recall taken care of, and the promptness to it, once they had the go ahead to provide it.
So some of you probably have noticed the lack of updates recently on the blog. My apologies to this.
I received an email a couple days ago from a concerned reader asking if everything was OK, due to the lack of updates as he is subscribed to my RSS, and does not care to check things out on Facebook or Twitter.
So I decided I should probably update anyone who does not follow the Facebook page or twitter page, as the bulk of my updates (Small tidbits here and there) have trickled through those outlets most recently.
I am alive, I am well, and I am busy.
I now have over a dozen drafts saved in various states I have plugged out recently, but just haven’t found the time to sit down and finish them. The bulk of them are my recipes, a couple on my recent backpacking trips, and a couple reviews. One of them on the BMG Ezeon Pants, and one on my SPOT locator/communicator.
After returning from my trip, work became increasingly busy. Taking nearly a month off from work puts me nearly a month behind. I’ve been catching up over the last several weeks, finally starting to get to the point where I can breath a little.
A couple weeks have now passed since I returned from my trip.
I’ve had to reacquaint myself with my day to day mundane life, which has been an experience to get back into the groove of things.
Coming home to a web server that was down did not help matters either.
It took a few days to get a new hard drive in, a couple of days trying to salvage and restore my backups, and a week and a half to actually go through and post up my journal entries.
I was hoping to have everything done within a few days of actually getting my server up, but after starting to post them up, and wanting to go through my photo’s as well, I kind of ran out of time.
Going through over 3000 photo’s, and trying to pick a few during each day of travel to represent the day the best really became much tougher than I had expected.
Starting out with just getting up to day 9, then up to day 18, and then looking for my lost day 19 (which I eventually found), and posting that along with day 20.
Jun 20
Crossing the Border into Canada: Day 1
Day 1
What a mess of a day.
I woke up late from my alarm, forgetting to set the right one.
I got dressed, got coffee, and threw the rest of what was needed in my tank bag for the trip.
Out I got, around 6am, instead of before 5 like I had planned.
The ride up north was great. Still no traffic to deal with, and it wasn’t long before I was headed on my way on the North Cascade Highway.
I’ve been on this road before… On my R6… Needless to say, I saw it for the first time today.
So much is missed when you are paying attention to corner after corner of blissfull knee dragging.
No, for once, I made my way down the highway proper. I took in the sites, but stopped only once in Winthorp for fuel.
There, I met 2 couples on BMW Touring bikes, heading back to Vancouver from a trip down to California. Both were very excited to hear about my trip, and both wanted to take pictures of me and the bike to show their friends when they returned.
I got a kick out of it. It’s the first time anyone has every really come up to me to see where I am headed. It kinda made me feel warm and tingly inside, and made me want to push on.
Once fueled up, I pushed on up to the Canadian Border on highway 97. What a mess.
Construction after construction caused delay. Eventually I made it to the border about an hour behind my new schedule.
At the border, the wait time said 15 minutes. Great, I’m going to get a break.
WRONG….
An hour later, I finally make my way up to the checkpoint. It was a quick question and answer session with the very nice Canadian lady, and I was finally in Canada!
First Stop, an ATM!
I pull up to an ATM, insert my card, go to draw cash, and DECLINED.
WTF?
I try again… Declined… I try it as a VISA, Declined…
I’m getting a bit miffed.
I try another check card of mine from Chase.
It worked, and I was able to pull a small amount, knowing I only have a small amount in this account. As I use it for rent, and paying my insurance bill each month. Yah, I keep separate accounts for those items… Strange, I know…
I then make my way to a shaded parking area, and call my bank. They say nothing is wrong, but they are glad I called to at least inform them I’m going to Canada…
Dang, I knew I forgot to do something, inform my bank of my trip!
With that, they transfer me to the fraud department, double check my account and said everything is fine, and the card should work in any machine that takes VISA.
I try again later on for gas in Kelowna, with a Declined State once more.
Completely miffed over the whole deal, I find a bank. I go into the bank and use the ATM, and it works, allowing me to withdraw more cash.
I don’t care for caring large amounts of cash, so I kept the amount low, enough to sustain me for a few days.
I then push on North.
This is where things get tricky.
I realized I left my map at home, but remembered the route I needed. Highway 97 to Canada 1, and then on to Golden.
Simple Enough, right?
Again, wrong.
I came upon a sign that said “Highway 97 North” With an arrow, so I took it.
I was expecting to go, well, north.
Apparently that is not the case… It goes more Northwest than North.
I eventually find out my mistake, but much too late. The first town I stopped in to find a map, they did not have any at the gas station. The next one did.
There are 2 Highway 97′s. Actually, there are more than that, but the one I took is actually a split from the one I was on.
So I wanted 97A.
So here I end up finally getting on Canada 1, about 100 miles from where the other 97 meets up with highway 1.
I push on East. I eventually end up in Salmon Arm, and decide on what to do. At this point I am broken.
I have no access to funds, with limited cash on me, I am way off from my destination by over 200 clicks, and I am tired.
I find a campground, pay the twelve dollars fifty, and setup camp.
I call my mother at home, tell her of how the day has went, and just wondering if it was worth pushing on.
I sit here, wondering what to do.
I have no idea if I’ll be able to access my accounts, I’m now 2 days behind schedule, and, to top it all off, a VHOLDR Camera that my friend Kevin let me borrow for this trip, fell off of my bike somewhere between Kelowna and here.
So much for video on this trip. Which really bums me out.
I’m broken down. This last week has torn me apart, from getting parts late, getting a late start, and all of these delays. I wonder if I didn’t plan enough, or maybe, I am looking at it to hard, and I planned to much. Maybe I planned that things should go too well.
Whatever that may be, in the morning I’ll make my final decision. Right now, I’m just thinking maybe it isn’t meant to be.
Day 1
What a mess of a day.
I woke up late from my alarm, forgetting to set the right one.
I got dressed, got coffee, and threw the rest of what was needed in my tank bag for the trip.
Out I got, around 6am, instead of before 5 like I had planned.
The ride up north was great. Still no traffic to deal with, and it wasn’t long before I was headed on my way on the North Cascade Highway.
I’ve been on this road before… On my R6… Needless to say, I saw it for the first time today.
So much is missed when you are paying attention to corner after corner of blissfull knee dragging.
No, for once, I made my way down the highway proper. I took in the sites, but stopped only once in Winthorp for fuel.
There, I met 2 couples on BMW Touring bikes, heading back to Vancouver from a trip down to California. Both were very excited to hear about my trip, and both wanted to take pictures of me and the bike to show their friends when they returned.
I got a kick out of it. It’s the first time anyone has every really come up to me to see where I am headed. It kinda made me feel warm and tingly inside, and made me want to push on.
Once fueled up, I pushed on up to the Canadian Border on highway 97. What a mess.
Construction after construction caused delay. Eventually I made it to the border about an hour behind my new schedule.
At the border, the wait time said 15 minutes. Great, I’m going to get a break.
WRONG….
An hour later, I finally make my way up to the checkpoint. It was a quick question and answer session with the very nice Canadian lady, and I was finally in Canada!
First Stop, an ATM!
I pull up to an ATM, insert my card, go to draw cash, and DECLINED.
WTF?
I try again… Declined… I try it as a VISA, Declined…
I’m getting a bit miffed.
I try another check card of mine from Chase.
It worked, and I was able to pull a small amount, knowing I only have a small amount in this account. As I use it for rent, and paying my insurance bill each month. Yah, I keep separate accounts for those items… Strange, I know…
I then make my way to a shaded parking area, and call my bank. They say nothing is wrong, but they are glad I called to at least inform them I’m going to Canada…
Dang, I knew I forgot to do something, inform my bank of my trip!
With that, they transfer me to the fraud department, double check my account and said everything is fine, and the card should work in any machine that takes VISA.
I try again later on for gas in Kelowna, with a Declined State once more.
Completely miffed over the whole deal, I find a bank. I go into the bank and use the ATM, and it works, allowing me to withdraw more cash.
I don’t care for caring large amounts of cash, so I kept the amount low, enough to sustain me for a few days.
I then push on North.
This is where things get tricky.
I realized I left my map at home, but remembered the route I needed. Highway 97 to Canada 1, and then on to Golden.
Simple Enough, right?
Again, wrong.
I came upon a sign that said “Highway 97 North” With an arrow, so I took it.
I was expecting to go, well, north.
Apparently that is not the case… It goes more Northwest than North.
I eventually find out my mistake, but much too late. The first town I stopped in to find a map, they did not have any at the gas station. The next one did.
There are 2 Highway 97′s. Actually, there are more than that, but the one I took is actually a split from the one I was on.
So I wanted 97A.
My Frown Face at the end of Day 1
So here I end up finally getting on Canada 1, about 100 miles from where the other 97 meets up with highway 1.
I push on East. I eventually end up in Salmon Arm, and decide on what to do. At this point I am broken.
I have no access to funds, with limited cash on me, I am way off from my destination by over 200 clicks, and I am tired.
I find a campground, pay the twelve dollars fifty, and setup camp.
I call my mother at home, tell her of how the day has went, and just wondering if it was worth pushing on.
I sit here, wondering what to do.
I have no idea if I’ll be able to access my accounts, I’m now 2 days behind schedule, and, to top it all off, a VHOLDR Camera that my friend Kevin let me borrow for this trip, fell off of my bike somewhere between Kelowna and here.
So much for video on this trip. Which really bums me out.
I’m broken down. This last week has torn me apart, from getting parts late, getting a late start, and all of these delays. I wonder if I didn’t plan enough, or maybe, I am looking at it to hard, and I planned to much. Maybe I planned that things should go too well.
Whatever that may be, in the morning I’ll make my final decision. Right now, I’m just thinking maybe it isn’t meant to be.
