Tree Drop 301

This past Sunday we went over to the in-laws house.  They needed me to take a down a dead pine tree in their front yard. So while my brother handles the camera and provides a blow by blow narration of the event, I get to work.  When the tree does go down, the sound of it was really cool.

Papa Got a New Pair of Shoes!

I had been looking for a pair of new cycling shoes for the past several months.  Last year I had just finished building up my sweet F. Moser Leader Ax and wanted something special.

 One main decision makers in the process was that I do not like the look of the modern shoe with the straps and clips.  I began to wonder if there were a nice leather cycle shoe out there.  After all my best hiking boots are leather (in good shape and more that 20 years old), my nicest and most comfortable dress shoe is leather (italian i might add) and my old rock climbing shoes have a leather upper. Why not my bike shoe too?

Like any modern aged asshole with an internet connection, I googled, 'leather cycling shoe'.  It didn't take too long before I found that Dromarti is making and selling just what I wanted.  Then this spring, Bicycling magazine features the shoe in a 'gear' issue.   Time to pull the trigger.

 After figuring out that my size 10 American foot needed a size 43 European shoe I ordered the 'Sportivo' in black.  Martin Scofield soon got back to me that the order would be delayed a month due to a back order issue and that payment would held until the shoes shipped.  I was not in a big hurry so I was not at all worried about this.

My shoes were shipped and arrived about 4 weeks later.  Much to my initial disappointment I received the shoe in brown, not the black I had ordered or was indicated on the enclosed order forms.  Although after looking at them for a while, I realized that it was a 'good' mistake.  I contacted Martin, told him of the error and my decision.  He promptly refunded me the cost difference. 

Brown does have more of a 'classic' look and ultimately that was I was going for.  The leather is soft right out of the box and has that sweet, sweet ' im gonna get high sniffing the leather' odor.  The contrasting light brown interior is beautiful.

I have only had a chance to use them for one ride so far.  It has been cold and these are not for cold weather.  The fit is tight laterally across my foot so extra socks are not an option.  I squoze my foot in there with the laces fully loose, adjusted the tongue and tightened them while weighting my foot.  If there is one thing I have learned about leather, and shoes in particular, is to set them up perfectly the first time, because you will never undo a bad crease or slanted tounge.  

I set out on the initial ride.  The fit reminds me of my rock climbing shoes or ice skates, tight enough to make your foot muscles tired but all  in the name of performance. Regardless of the tight fit I found them very comfortable and had no issues with hots spots.  The heel cup, a common problem area, was unnoticeable.  Im sure it wont take long for the leather to form to my foot,stretch a bit, and be super comfortable. Especially if they get wet and I ride until they dry.  After all I had the same experience with my hiking boots. 

Be warned, by purchasing these shoes you are importing them into the US and will be subject to duty import fees.  Mine were an extra 56$ that I was not planning on; fuck you very much.  Even still, the total cost is about the same as a similar high quality 'modern' sytle shoes like Sidi.

Here are some links to other reviews.  BIKE RUMOR, 

URBAN VELO,  PROLLY IS NOT PROBABLY.

RIDE ON.

Sunday funday

I woke @ 7am to whipping wind and pumeling rain. I take a look down the drive way and see the culvert is backed full of water and sheeting across the driveway. Knowing it was probably only a couple of sticks, I went down with the steel rake and cleared it out.
After a breakfast o eggs, pancakes, toast, juice and coffee Wife took the boy to Augusta for shopping. This gave me time to go fill tthe truck with gas (81$ for 21gals) and start some yard work.
I sharpened the chain saw and set to work. Cutting up everything that needed cutting. For over and hour I cut. Now that its all smaller the pile build can begin.
Lunch came @ 3pm.  Some thia leftovers.
At 4 the boy was napping so it wass the perfect time to head to the grocery store for some food.  The picture here is after the return, while I sit and type this post on my cellphone.
Good night.

Guitarin' with Mr. Atkins

A couple of weeks ago the boy saw a CD in the player.  

"'dis, dis, wana play 'dis" he says.

"Ok, you want to listen to Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel -The Day the Finger Pickers Took Over the World.?" I say.

"Yeah."

The second it started playing he wanted to play along with his guitar. That at this point he has no concept of how to really use it.  But it was after the first super-cute music session that I made up a strap out an old belt of Wifes and recorded the video below. It can't hurt to start early.

Now every time we listen to the CD, we get this show:

Plus I figure that Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel are a pretty damn good guitar role models.

Working waterfront

Portland, me.

April Snow Day -ok

Today is Friday and we are about to get covered with 12"inches of snow.  Im not wicked psyched about it, but it should melt fast, as the temperatures in coming week are supposed to reach the lower 50's.  Anyway, last week we went to food shopping at Hannaford.  Below is the video I made of our adventure of my son bringing his Melissa and Doug shopping cart to the store.  This was all his idea by the way.

There you go.

Band practice

Went and met a friend of mine durin his band practice and snapped this pic of some wall art. I love sketchy dive band rooms.

Tractors

LG, out playing this morning. He don't care that its only 15deg. Out, he's got tractors to run. Work won't do it self, dontchaknow?

Winter Wonderland

Winter has felt very strong this year.  Many snow storms, each requiring manual labor with my ol' snowblower. 10-horsepower mind you, not those wimpy 8hp deals. No sir, my machine is a real beast only to be wielded by men and trained oxen.  For a while there I was feeling pretty beat down by all the effort and not having any fun with it. At the time I just figured the funk was from either all the snow storms and labor to move it or some other rut, work maybe.

One evening I was in the basement having a party with myself.  Wife came down to see what I was up to and we started talking about our loss of Watson. It totally ruined my party.  But in hindsight that's when I started feeling better. No shit.  Only today did I realize that it was that issue keeping me depressed. Not the damn storms, not work. Nope, just straight up unacknowledged sorrow and mourning.

 So now the next storm comes. There I am battling with winter again. This time I actually went out while it was still snowing and blowing, before the plows even. And I'm workin' and 'blowin' and then I shout into the wind whipped snow 'IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?'  followed by a menicial laughter.

Then news of another storm approaching. Shit, well now would be a good day to shovel the roof.  So I did. 2.5 hours later I finished. Of course I was a nut and did a 1.25 hour snowshoe prior.  Which finally gets me to what I wanted to post originally.  

Fun pics, and a gratuitous kid photo.