It’s been another packed one to be capped with another run at Leadville in just over a week.

New Job
In the middle of May I began a new role at a local company working to usher in the future of mass transit and urban mobility. I was brought on as a kind of jack of all trades, spent the first month interviewing people and reading documentation, identified where I was needed most, and began work on mobile automated testing.

Things have been good, the culture is great, the office is outstanding (free food, drink, workspaces), and I’m plenty busy. Couldn’t be happier.

Reach the Beach
For the second year in a row I rode from home to the beach with my team. We had a decent tailwind, which is rare when heading to the coast. Was a great time.

Trail Series
Against my better judgement, I signed up for the Portland Trail Series. I ran this a few years back and sprained the heck out of my ankle. The hope was that this would maintain my running fitness following the 5k focus, but the races interfered too much with my biking so I only made it out to two of them. I placed relatively well and set PRs on pretty much every segment that was shared with previous courses, but I certainly didn’t give it the effort it deserved.

Moved
After a year of living at her place, we decided we needed something a touch bigger. With her good friend taking a job out of town and not wanting to sell her place immediately, we ended up back in my old neighborhood and shopping for what was next. We’ve found it a few times, had some incredible [in a bad way] inspections, but think we may be wrapping something up here in the next few weeks… So moving again. Will be my 6th move in 5 years.

Deschutes Rafting
Chris wrote a whole bunch about this so check his post out. It was a nice, lazy weekend with the boys. Not sure I need to run that river ever again (Zzz).

Gravel Bike
Added a Norco Search XR Steel to the stable. The original intent was that this would replace my commuter, but it’s too sweet a gravel rig for racks and fenders. Yes, that means I still need to replace the commuter (maybe simply upgrade the frame, brakes, and wheels to disc?). It’s truly a lovely bike, but I’m not sure I can warrant it long-term since it’s only marginally different from my cyclocross bike.

Mount St. Helens
I can’t say I really led a group up this year, but I can say I coordinated a group this year. Everyone had been up previously or was the responsibility of someone who had been so I got to go my own way and not worry about anyone. That was pleasant, but the weather was not. It was a tough one and we were afforded no views. The whole day looked kind of like the following picture. This was my fourth ascent.

Seattle Weekend
Rode the train up to visit Chris and fam for a long weekend. Attended a car show, played with his kiddo, had a few beers, and generally relaxed. Amtrak was a great option for traveling solo with a bike (only $5 fee each way). Was able to get a goodbye in with his cat who passed the following week :/

Six Hours of Hood
What better way to force yourself into mountain biking shape than ride a six hour race solo? This went pretty well. I managed to stay hydrated unlike last year, but also went quite a bit slower. I then threw my exhausted back out the following day plugging a cable into the TV. Ugh…. age. My back or neck would be more or less jacked up the entirety of July.

Heybrook Lookout
I read about this lookout a few years ago and was finally able to get a reservation FOR HER BIRTHDAY! It was a pretty awesome experience. We did a ton of hiking around the (the previous five words were separate links to separate hikes) Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest as well. An amazing place only a few hours from home that is basically the Alps of the US. Stunning landscape. They even have a German town! We hope to get into some more lookouts in the future and will definitely be visiting this area more often.