the return of the coal cracker!

howdy to all blog readers, trail riders, earth lovers and whoever else made it here. i am helping to promote the return of a mountain bike event that lost it's wings, but is in resurgence with the momentum of some young guns on the trail scene. the event is the Coal Cracker Classic. in the past, the event was being run, i think, by a local tamaqua, pa bike shop. since, the shop has dissipated and the event was lost in the pages of coal cracker history. enter 2010, and a group of ambitious local riders are dusting off those pages and ressurecting one of the coal regions premier mountain biking events. check out the promo video, register, and help bring mountain biking back to the mountains! it's more fun their anyway...

la familia

i haven't posted anything on this site for a while, and with all that is going on in the world right now, it could be easy to get all environmental on some asses. instead, i have chosen to highlight a great person who has recently left us in order to be with his sweetheart once again. this man is named tom hart. even though he was not an actual part of my immediate family, he was family. i remember as a child, growing up with tom and his with dot at family functions, summer outings in the poconos, jersey, and at the shore. they were staples in the family. dot left us some time ago, and then it was good'ol tom with his thick "jersey" accent. one of my favorite words he used was "bakels." the word was really bagels, but who cares, that's what we loved. even with his thick jersey lingo, tom would mingle with the best of the coal region, saying that everybody else talked funny. he once said that i was the only person he had ever met from northeastern pa that did not have the coal region way of communication, and that he enjoyed our conversations. tom stood strong and lived young until last week when he moved onto the next life, and he will be missed, but never forgotten.

vonnegut

requiem

The crucified planet Earth,
should it find a voice
and a sense of irony,
might now well say
of our abuse of it,
"Forgive them, Father,
They know not what they do."

The irony would be
that we know what
we are doing.

When the last living thing
has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be
if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,
"It is done."
People did not like it here.

celebrate the earth

looking for great music, good vibes and awareness for a healthy planet, then look no further than the Jim Thorpe Earth Day Festival. The festival has been hosted for more than 10 years with the beautiful lehigh gorge as it's backdrop. check out the various events at the festival website and don't forget to check out local rastaman George Wesley in concert on saturday night!

show your support

if you were, are, or aspiring to be the next grom to gleam the cube, swing on over and cast your vote for the Bethlehem Skateplaza. this project is long over due for the lehigh valley skate scene and is trying to get the final phase of the plaza funded by pepsi's good idea campaign. cast your vote here as many times as you can!

also, if anyone is looking for an EWR OWB 29 frame, i have a size medium for sale. it was used for about 3-4 months. leave a comment with your email address if interested.

Lack of a Better Post

My potential energy is building as I sit and watch the paint dry. I have so much to give and aspire to be just a tad further down the road, but my wheels are stuck in this continuously growing puddle mud on this bumpy path. I must have made a wrong turn somewhere when I stopped to get directions. Damn! I knew I should have relied on a more prominent individual for information, instead I put my faith into a stranger along the way. Not a perfect stranger, just someone I confided in for a few moments before getting started on this voyage. I have also found that my vessel is now being piloted by some unexplainable force that is distinguishing itself as a burden.

I thought I'd be settled in by now, with my loves. Acquiring some new loves from old curiosities, bringing more enrichment into my life that is my choice. On the contrary, I am leaving my loves behind with no hope of replacing them with fresh ones. Convincing myself that it is soulful and will be worth it in the long run. Soulful it is not, but worth it in the long run, I'm sure it will be. All for the sake of saying, "Hey look, I am finished. Can I have my totally environmentally taxing certificate of entitlement please."

Some say it's always darkest before the dawn and in some cases, I am finding this to be true. I am grateful for the light I do have in my life right now and I assure you that I want that light to shine forever.

the most wonderful time of the year

when taking pictures under a waterfall is probably not the best idea,

but the pictures from on top of the falls are just as sweet!

when the fridge is stocked with plenty of nourishing delights,

and smiling faces greet you in the morning light!

happy new year to you and yours

enjoy the tune!

my world...current

inspiration
rigid soul
feel the good
the SS will always set you free!

smart shopper

in this day and age when people are losing their careers and the students in our elementary schools can not recognize why the United States celebrates the 4th of July, we have man. adapting to this downfall of society, utilizing the ways and means to continue to put food on the table of his family.

until next...

...summertime

let's go dancing...

...came across the ipod as i cruised on my mountain bike for one of the first times in the past week. it feels good to be back in the woods! i have spend the last six weeks pounding the pavement on the road bike, cyclocross riding (not in the euro sense, but in the nepa sense), and riding my retro schwinn to and fro various parties, destinations, and work. yay! work. it is here for now as i finish my dreams of graduate school to become an educator and to have summers off. i have solidified the fact that teaching comes natural to me and when you discover your talents, you should embrace and scurry away to enjoy life. besides, who wants to work all-year-round anyway. life is for living, not working. let's go dancing is a drivin' n cryin' song, but in this case it was a solo acoustic performance by kevin kinney. until next time...

healing, breathing, searching

after a disheartening start to the summer, losing my job, i have been relegated to deciphering my future career options. continue on my current path of education or start something new. i am still working through this. looking forward to more positive aspects of my current situation, i was totally stoked for some racing this season, until i broke/fractured/cracked some of my ribs while cruising around the marsh creek trails one afternoon. i new i had done some damage that day, but tried to race the fair hill endurance race anyway in a somewhat compromised position. feeling good and pushing the pace i rounded a corner and twisted my bod a little funny. that was all it took to roll out to the road and search out i much needed ice pack, chair and beer, and come to the conclusion that my racing season is now on a major break if not ended for the season.

that was a few weeks back and now i am at the point where i can breathe deep without pain, and i can sleep through the night without a mandatory mid-afternoon nap to catch up on some z's. my summer has manifested into something that i had not expected, but as always, i keep a positive outlook on the future, and continue to focus on the present in order to enjoy what i love. living and experiencing the world around me. with mountian biking out of the picture for a while, i have brought some of my other hobbies to the forefront of my days: road riding, guitars and concert going. hopefully some folks have checked out some of the road loops i have mapped out on probably one of the smoothest running websites in the world, map my ride, just kidding. that website takes forever to map a ride, but it gets the job done. i have several other rides mapped. most are more than 50 miles in length and rock out on some of the best roads, climbs and descents in the region. if anyone wants hook up for a road loop, feel free to get in touch.

in between tornados!

map my fun!

down, not out

things to do with busted ribs in the pennsylvania hills:
le tour, saddle time,
pickin' and grinnin', live music, yummy

a day without a buzz...is a day that never was

open your eyes and see!

warrior

just when you think all is good in your universe, situations present themselves that are so unexpected, they will force you to new beginnings. this is my present. breathe...

enjoy today!