Flying east, into the night. Left Salt Lake as the sun was setting and was treated to an incredible view of the mountains. White snow tinted fiery orange, red, and yellow, the lights of towns and cars begin to flicker on as we enter darkness over Wyoming. Looking over my should the sky is crimson and blue - fading to navy and black in front of the plane.
Spent the day in Park City, then explored Deer Valley, Provo Canyon, and Sundance. Next trip out I will include some time for skiing or snowshoeing. Sundance and the surrounding canyons rank as one of the most incredible places I've been. I have increased motivation to continue my training on the bike - riding up from Provo to Sundance would be spectacular.
Got in early, before hotel check-in. Drove west from the airport, checking out the Great Salt Lake and made it to the salt flats. Weird artwork along the way - professionally done sculpture as well as hundreds of messages and shapes laid out in the salty mud along I-80 in stones, highway debris, and broken bottles. This creature appeared on the horizon - at first I thought it was radio or cell phone hardware - that somehow was damaged, but as I approached I realized that it is art with a capital "A".
Working in Salt Lake City, Provo, and Park City, Utah this week. When I'm on the road I feel like a high tech nomad. I'm always searching for a hotel with high speed internet, preferably wireless, and taking time to scope out local cafes, bookstores, and most recently in Vermont, highway rest stops, for wi-fi access. I'm lugging a 17" Dell laptop - with enough horsepower to do my design work on the road - the digital camera, cell phone, chargers, and for meetings I carry the digital projector. While a newbie at the digital nomad lifestyle, this morning I had the smoothest airport screening yet. I prepared on the minibus from long term parking: shoes are comfy, easy to slip on and off, wallet in jacket pocket, loose cash in pants pocket, laptop ready to be removed from bag, car keys attached to clip in messenger bag, wearing my backpacking belt - all plastic, boarding pass in shirt pocket, checked duffel bag ready to go. I printed my own boarding pass via Delta's web site and was able to jostle through e-ticket check-in fairly quickly. Security was a snap - laptop in its own plastic tub, removed from all bags (I learned this the hard way last trip) messenger bag goes in its own tray, shoes come off, just to make Mr. Security happy, jacket with wallet drops into tray. Walk through, and away we go. To add to the day's pleasure, the flight was not full, and I had the whole row to myself.
55 mile ride from Putney to Northfield, MA. I followed the Connecticut on both sides south of Brattleboro. Crosswinds along the river - going up and downhill was work. I rode in three states today - Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
48 mile ride to Bellows Falls, VT; Westmoreland, NH; Brattleboro, VT; and back to Putney. Warm day, windy along the Connecticut.
New Brooks Swallow leather saddle for the LeMond. I've been enjoying the comfort of a Brooks Team Pro on the 520, and decided to replace my racing saddle with a classic.
Lots of snow with warm temps. Blue sky and dry roads. I've been on the bikes this winter more than the XC Skis.
December in Vermont. Dry roads and no snow. 32 mile ride through Saxtons River and Westminster.
It looks like I am well on my way to joining the thousands of unkept, un updated blogs out there...
It's been a hectic summer. I've moved on from my full time consulting work and have teamed up with my former employer New Energy Works and sister company Pioneer Millworks to create a designer + sales + consulting entity here in Vermont focusing on the Northeast. I'll be doing client development, sales presentations, and design work. As a bit of the independent type I'm also planning some NEW + PMW specific travel near and far to work with architects and engineers. Maine is hopeful for a late fall trip, and Salt Lake City is booked for early November.
My own design and consulting work will continue. I'm researching and focusing a bit more on naturally built small house design and timber framing right now - but also continuing to develop relationships with those folks who need help with timber specific design software. Winter Panel remains as one of my primary customers as I continue to work with them refining their use of 3D modeling software to aid in home design and panel production.
Redesign of this site has not really gotten off the ground as my energy has been put into new office space, setting up a small network, and reworking presentation and design materials. Cycling has virtually disappeared from my life - I occasionally get a ride in to the office. I did manage to volunteer as a course marshal for the Green Mountain Stage Race - watching the pros climb Appalachian Gap to the finish was impressive!
Change... seeds germinate, push through the surface, and force themselves out of the ground. Metaphorically I could speak about this site or my work, but I really feel that something inside is broken and needs to be fixed. Good compost can grow good flowers, and I feel fertile. bottom may disappear or remain static for awhile, so I apologize to the handful of people who consistently read, and the even fewer who email.
Friends and family - I'm doing fine... I just need to re-evaluate this adventure called life, get a compass bearing and decide how to press on.
Folks I read and things I like:
Jason is my hero.
E.F. wrote a book that changed my life.
I always question Grist.
Mr. Zeldman speaks with a clear head.
Reading Tom gets me in the mood.
Cathy works tirelessly promoting green mountain bloggers.
Bill and Company are VT geeks. (and I love em!)
Frank has been working on his weblog redesign forever.
The big city right downtown in Brattleboro. (single malt...mmmm.)
A movie that made me angry.
Vermont News.
Hope.
Timber truss design for a high end auto service center and showroom. Bow string trusses with douglas fir and stainless steel. Someday I'll finish the "workbook" section of this site and get my design work organized...
Leisurely 36 mile ride from Putney to Saxtons River, through Westminster and back home with an acquaintance who hasn't been out on his bike yet this year. Rode the 520 and kept the pace down taking in the scenery. We stopped for a photo and some exploration at "The People's Car Company" which has a hundred bugs and busses on the lot in varying states of repair.
Long ride from Brattleboro to Jamaica this morning - then spent the afternoon in the glorious sunshine cleaning and detailing my trusty steeds. Missing is the Trek XO-1 I lent Greg to try. He's complaining about getting old and doesn't like the drop bars - so he is returning it to me and is going to put slicks on his mountain bike. I'll put cross tires on it again and use it as an all rounder - for fast sloppy weather commutes and for the days I'd like to explore some of Vermont's plentiful dirt and logging roads. Stopped by the West Hill Shop - finally picked up some new cycling shorts and had the steering tube on the LeMond trimmed down.
The central core of a timber frame design for one of my repeat clients. Four of these bents frame a kitchen and great room. In "timberspeak" I'd call it a "modified scissors truss with principle purlins and ridge". Paired common rafters echo the size of the double bottom chords and complete the structure.
I often find myself wondering how it took me so long to find a way to live and work in this great state. This morning I rode from the Dummerston covered bridge to Jamaica. At the mid point I sat outside the Jamaica Coffeehouse sipping tea and watching the Sunday morning traffic roll by - amazed that folks with out of state plates and car tops full of skis and boards are still streaming along to get in a few more runs before spring takes permanent hold. The ride was work - the round trip was 40 miles. The weather was ideal, a chill in the morning air turning into a fair afternoon. I shared the last 4 miles of the day with a cyclist from Bolton, Massachusetts who has been training for Boston-Montreal-Boston. He was riding through Vermont with some very light baggage pedaling between bed and breakfasts and country stores. Most of my riding is solo - my voice trapped in my head listening to my heart and rolling my thoughts over life - riding and chatting with someone for even a short while was such a pleasure.
I ended the day lying on my favorite rock atop Putney Mountain watching the clouds float along. The US Geological Survey marker was visible, as the snow has retreated and the mud has emerged.
Despite my earlier complaints I managed to finish the first of the freelance and get on the bike twice today. An early morning 18 mile ride into Brattleboro and back and a 13 mile late evening ride to explore some back roads in Putney. The LeMond continues to be a pleasure - the carbon and steel frame make for a smooth and dreamy ride.
Life is supposed to be getting simpler. I should be eating my granola and pedaling to work, loitering at the co-op, and learning to play the guitar (again). Not so these past few weeks. The proportion of freelance work to the amount of sunlight available are directly inverse. The more options I have for funding this adventure of life the less daylight I seem to have to enjoy it all. Yes - I'm complaining. Where was all the work when it was cold and wet and bordering on miserable outside?
Long weekend at home sitting in front of the computer. I'm trying to rework this site (and another in the works) to be XHTML and CSS compliant. I'm coding primarily by hand, using a web and styles specific text editor. I started the weekend overwhelmed, and end with at least one page reworked to post for Monday. There's still more re-work to do. This first page of the blog is where I want to take the design - but after fighting a bit to get the styles and the HTML to work I realized an easier way to handle the structure of the site.
Early morning snowshoe up Bald Mountain. Along the trail I found a pine cleanly snapped in two - still remaining somewhat vertical with the help of its neighbors. I sat on the summit for a long while on a warm rock watching a hawk soar on the thermals. The incessant howl of snowmobiles echoed up through the valley.
The hawk eventually passed overhead - gliding along in majestic silence.
Driving back to Vermont 30 I explored the Scott Bridge. The covered bridge is now closed to vehicular traffic and crosses the West River in two spans, one being the longest wooden span in Vermont. The short span is comprised up of two king post trusses and the long span is a 166' Town lattice truss. The lattice truss has been reinforced with a now failed laminated arch, and the bridge, like the pine, is somehow still standing as the whole of its parts.
