Build a Gazebo?....Yeah I can do that.

I was once told a story by a friend's dad that started out "So I was a professional truck driver for 20 years one summer." It has gotten out that I know my way around power tools and therefore I became a professional carpenter for 20 years one year in August. This project was requested by my Grandmother who lives in a small town off I-80 named Marseilles (pronounced phonetically). The town is an hours drive from Chicago and has only one hardware store, closed on Sunday. The nearest big box, Menards, is 30min away clearly this is going to complicate things. A two weekend gig is now a month long job. However despite all the challenges a month worth of quality time with grandma was well worth it. This was the largest project I have completed and I am pretty darn proud of how it turned out.

Of course it had to be placed on the least level spot on the property. Nine holes to be dug and the same number of concrete bags to mix.

With no help on framing day I quickly realized I needed a third hand and with a quick look in the garage eureka! better than human hands to hold it level.

2x6's are heavy when they are 12' long and treated. The 16 year old Explorer was loaded down to the max and then some. Definitely the most I have ever hauled.
Put 'yer dancin' shoes on cause thats one fine platform. I should have taken a picture of the bubble level.
Gazebo time. This is the whole reason for the deck. Luckily it was kit and I just had to put the jigsaw puzzle together. Still it took some 12 hours.
I got some needed help from my Dad when it came time for the roof. I had help with the concrete stage at the beginning too from Dad and my Uncle Eddie.
I was told that the whole project was for a tea party, well any thing worth dooin' is worth dooin' right.It looks pretty good from the street too.
A special thanks to my sister for the pictures.

Jackson Falls

The Labor Day weekend has come and gone. My brother and I got out to Shawnee National Forest for some sport climbing at Jackson Falls. To get to Jackson Falls get ready for a 6 hour drive from Chicago and on a holiday weekend give yourself 2 hours just to get out of the city. With no camping permits or check-in times needed its not a big deal to arrive at midnight so your rested for a full day of climbing on Sat. We weren't the only ones that had that idea either. As we pulled up another car from Chicago was too. I really have to give it up to the climbing community every body down there was really nice and quick to offer their guide book in exchange for good conversation. We met some great people and even picked up a third person for a few routes that allowed us to take some wicked pictures.

Jackson Falls is certainly unique. The only place I know of that you have to climb down in order to scale up. It also caters to horse riders and ATVs in some areas. The camping is open and primitive, which makes for great setting when you need to leave the city behind. The forest canopy is so thick that you can't see stars which is a bummer but if you do like all of us you can turn on the head lamps and hike to the railroad tracks and look up .

Kenny on the Rappel

The climbing is mostly Sport and Trad however we did see some Top Rope. I have yet to venture into Trad climbing I am progressing though. I led my first 5.10a (below) on Spleef Peak. We hit this climb on Sunday and I have to thank my brother Kenny for some awesome pictures.

Kenny hit the shot perfect on this.

Trail Riding Frenzy, Aug 10

Nice Flowy Singletrack.

The trail runners were pulled off the storage hooks yet once again on Sunday. Its funny, my reintroduction to the bicycle as an adult came in the form of mountain biking yet I participate in this of the two wheeled activities the least these days. There is a lot of work that goes into trail riding. Getting to a trail for one requires getting out of the concrete jungle and into the 'burbs. Cook and Will County have a fairly large network of forest preserves that cater to nature hikes and horse trails. There are also some rider maintained single track in the south suburbs with an official network in the Palos Hills Forest area. It is also a social activity (at least it is with the crew I ride with) so getting everyone to the trail can really be the toughest part. Now that wedding season has died down and the major city fests are out of the way, time is ripe to enjoy what lies outside of the city limits. Within a 45min drive lies Sweetwoods trail network in Glenwood, Il and the Pulaski Woods network in Palos Hills, Il. These pics are from Sweetwoods and I consider this trail to be my local XC trail.

Sweet Woods Climb.

Climbing in early July

Devils Lake framed by the pines.

Right after Independence Day my brother and I got out for some top rope climbing in Devils Lake state park in Wisconsin. We drove about half way the day before and decided to stare at a campfire for a few hours before we made it to the park. This wasn't well planned on our part because the entire midwest had the same idea. Our regular spots at the park were already being climbed so we set up at a section called "The Pantry". Not a bad bit of climbing for our first time out however we were both glad we hadn't brought any newcomers out. We surly would have made them nervous. It took us a while to get the pre-climb protection perfect. We got three or four routes in apiece. The drive home was the pits. It was like ski traffic on I-70 all the way to Chicago.

Kenny getting prepped.

Kenny climbing.

Here I am getting ready for some quartzite awesomeness.

My climb photo by Kenny.

A Century of Progress

My two cycling buddies and I accomplished a major bicycling milestone on Sunday. The same crew that went to the Midwest Mountain Biking Festival took to the road for our first Century Ride. 100 miles of human power on two wheels in one day. It all began with a train ride on Amtrak from Homewood, Il to Champlain. Il. We picked up our third rider, carbed up and hit the road Sunday morning from Paxton, Il. The time was 6:30 am, just after a brief sunrise that immediately rose into a dark overcast sky. The scene was very quiet with nothing but the sound of rubber grabbing at the asphalt of Rt 9 while the three of us fully woke up on our bicycles. There was a nice tailwind that kindly pushed us to Hoopeston. We turned North at Hoopeston onto Rt 1, Dixie Hwy. Now with a constant crosswind a misty rain began to fall, 'look on the bright side its not hot'. The mist would come and go for the most of the morning, early risers would wave from their porches as we rode by. It all made for a nice start. We stopped every 20 miles or so to fill water bottles chow down some energy bars and of course field questions like "How far you goin'?" and "Where did ya start?" Conversations began to pop in and out, a lot of shop talk about our bikes and poking fun at rural Illinois. Corn on the right, soy on the left. Then a new theme began to appear. Full size trucks, SUV's and muscle cars along the side of the road all of them with "For Sale" written on them. A little surreal watching someone's way of life changing along a hundred mile stretch. The sun came out the wind never let up and little by little roads got closer together and traffic increased potholes became more frequent then one by one our bicycle computers turned 99-100, "I'm there, how far you got?", "Quarter mile", "7 tenths, 8-9, one hundred miles" We all hit the century mark 10 miles from the end point. At just under 7 hours we finished our trek and celebrated with gyros from our favorite fast food joint along with the women that humored us and said we were crazy. The three of us all read the same magazine article about century rides and the author's parting remarks said that it was a nice way to spend a day he was right.


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Shawnee National Forest Photos from May

At the end of May I went camping down in Southern Illinois. Its pretty amazing that after a six hour drive the country can change so dramatically. Southern Illinois is home to the only national forest in the state, Shawnee National Forest. Besides trees the forest is full of giant sandstone cliffs with water features and moss. Some of the best hiking and climbing is found in Shawnee. Most of our time was spent around Giant City State park which has a fantastic exhibit on the Civilian Conservation Corp that was part of President Roosevelt's New Deal. Giant City, with all of its sandstone cliffs and caverns was key during the Civil War as it was on the border of the North and South. The walls literally show their history. Generations have been carving their initials and dates into the sandstone since mid 1800's (earliest I saw). I have some mixed feelings on this. I like seeing the earliest accounts but the later and most recent etchings I could do without. Also the first etchings were certainly left for posterity, made with nice typography the graffiti I saw from this year was 5 min chicken scratch. Lets leave no trace out there and remember to tread lightly. Leave it to our imaginations as to who might have been here before.

This was the beginning of an extremely wet June.

Shawnee from a high point.

A damp foggy passage with my kid sister for scale.

Cave art or graffiti.

Andy in the cavern.

A dripping waterfall for serenity's sake.

Bikes Beer and Ballyhoo

Tour De Fat came to Chicago this past weekend and it was the kickoff for the tour. My history with Colorado gave me a strong affinity for New Belgium Brewing. So when they started distributing beer on this side of the Mississippi I was pretty psyked. The brand has taken off in the 2 years it has been in Chicago and it couldn't have been more evident than at Tour De Fat. I must say that I was a tad worried when I found out that the bicycle fest would come though my home town. I'm savvy as to the mentality they attract and it is opposite that of the PBR drinking hipsters the Critical Mass caterers to and I feared the overlap. I wanted my city to make a good impression on an old friend. Chicago did not let me down. It was slow going for a while though. No one in Chicago was willing trade their car for a bike. Finally with only 4 days left the tour got a taker. The parade was a blast the bands, Paperbird, from Denver and Chicago's very own Mucca Pazza were high energy and everyone was in an awesome mood. I'm glad that Colorado came to me this time.

Mucca Pazza Super Fan.

Mucca Pazza leading the Dirge.

Joe on the rode to bicycle enlightenment.

Rickshaw Guy is a staple at Chicago Critical Mass.

I read about the Bicycle SUV in Popular Science but this is the first time I've seen one. Check out the trailer hitch on the back of it, heavy duty.

Mad Max on a bicycle.

I dub this the 360 bike. Also a staple at CCM. It is pretty ingenious. It is a BMX style bike with gears and disk brakes, he straps himself to the saddle gets up to speed and mashes down on the front brake, momentum and a rubber coated pipe does the rest.

I was able to chat up Reverend Ballyhoo, the master of ceremonies for a spell. He just might have the best job ever, yes he is an ordained Reverend and a down right nice guy to boot.