Jackie, Amelia, Katie, Meilei, and Rob

Henry Coe Backcountry Weekend

rpe — Tue, 01 May 2012 04:00:19 +0000

Five of us headed into the back side of Henry Coe State Park last Saturday, searching for the “secret” trail from Bear Mountain to Mississippi Lake. At least, that’s what Gary told us we were looking for. I’m starting to suspect it was all a clever plan hatched by Gary, to get us out doing Gary’s favorite activity: bushwhacking our bikes up and down extremely steep hillsides, dodging poison oak. I loved it. Pictures on flickr.

Hard Chargers

rpe — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:04:34 +0000

The Red Hawks U9 girls team played two games in Los Altos on Sunday. As always, they were super exciting to watch. Pictures are here.

Southern Pacific Tunnels

rpe — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 19:07:45 +0000

Thursday afternoon we explored one of the old railroad tunnels in the Santa Cruz mountains. A rail line ran from Alameda to Santa Cruz from the late 1800′s until 1940. The tunnels were dynamited in 1942, but the entrances remain, and they’re fun to explore.

Red Hawks U11 Game 1

rpe — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 23:11:30 +0000

Today was Amelia’s first league game. Pictures.

Red Hawks U9 Game 1

rpe — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 03:34:12 +0000

Today was Jackie’s first lacrosse game. She played great, and scored her team’s only goal! Here are the pictures.

Red Hawks 2012

rpe — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 22:05:00 +0000

The U11 Red Hawks had their first games yesterday at a tournament on Treasure Island. I’m stoked that the season has started. Both Jackie and Amelia are playing this year.

Carmel with Coco

rpe — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:57:19 +0000

We spent a few days at the beach near Carmel, CA. Coco liked it.

Valentines Day is a Comin’

rpe — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:08:06 +0000

Rob’s Bike Index 2011

rpe — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:50:22 +0000

2011 was 3062 miles on 152 rides. I was sidelined by the gall bladder incident in March and a bad back in November and December or I could have hit 3500+. Comparatively, 2010 was 2586 miles on 162 rides.

This year, the mileage was split almost 50/50 between road and mountain.

The Death Ride was the longest at 124 miles and had the most altitude gained (14,711 ft). I guess that’s why it’s called the Death Ride.

St. Joseph’s Hill was the king of 2011, again, with 42 rides. But I made a conscious effort to give St. Joe’s a rest and spend more time on Kennedy. As a result I rode Kennedy to the Tree 30 times, double last year’s count.

I rode 4 centuries: Death Ride, Tierra Bella, the Megamonster Enduro, and a 117 mile Kings Mountain-Pescadero-Tunitas training run.

I didn’t do enough rides in the absolute best local spots. Only one ride in each of Demo Forest and El Corte de Madera and only two in each of Henry Coe and Saratoga Gap. 2012 has to address this issue.

By total distance, the St. Joe’s and KT top the list, followed by a bunch or road rides. Early 2011 was dominated by road miles, mostly out and around the reservoirs to the south of San Jose.

Here’s to a great 2012!

Best New (to me) Music of 2011

rpe — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:53:36 +0000

Gillian Welch The Harrow & The Harvest
The first new music from Welch and her partner David Rawlings in eight long years. Luckily they stayed depressed the whole time. They’re so great.

Will Crum Wet Lips
I don’t know much about this guy, but he’s selling music from his web site and it is raw garage greatness. “School Is For Donkeys”? Damn skippy! You should buy it. You must buy it. The world needs more Will Crums.

Beady Eye Different Gear Still Speeding
Dumb-ass brother starts a new band that’s about 50% as good as the last one he was in with his other dumb-ass brother. But it’s still pretty good.

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears Scandalous
Greazy, funky, raucous, and loud. Sounds like dancing and the seventies. Won’t you take me to Booty City?

Teddy Thompson Bella
Count on the needy, lonely, twisted, and a little scary Teddy Thompson to stake out the weird outside ground in relationships. Glad he’s got that covered.

Clutch From Beale Street To Oblivion
Hard driving rock for hard driving action. Putting this in here because I’ve heard so little good hard rock lately. I suggest not putting this on your iPod during a bike ride, it could lead to unsafe speed!