I don't get that excited about most concerts I go to but this guy does all the right things on a guitar. I am going to check him out tonight in Vancouver and I hope he gives performances like these. Also check out then teen sensation Tal Wilkenfeld on bass.
A Day in the Life
Cause We've Ended As Lover
He changed the world and he inspired all of us to think different.
This is a very cool project started by big wave surfer Shane Dorian, Billabong Wetsuits and local Vancouver company Mustang Survival. Collectively they have created the first wetsuit with a built-in instantly inflatable bladder. Just pull the ripcord and the wetsuit quickly lifts the surfer to the surface. I am not sure this could coax me into the water at Jaws but it would definitely give me a bit more confidence that if something went wrong this could potentially save my life.
The answer is simple...because I can!
After my six hour slog out to Hana a few days earlier I decided that my last day on Maui would be a summit day. Climbing from Paia up to the top of Haleakala is another "must do" ride for a cyclist visiting Maui. I am not sure which one is harder as they are quite different both physically and psychologically. I prefer going uphill when riding solo simply because the benefit of the draft just isn't there so I am going to rank the ride up to Haleakala slightly more enjoyable and rewarding.
The climb is just under 60km from Paia (sea level) to the summit (3058 meters / 10023 feet) with a relatively shallow grade that averages out around 6%. After all of my years of competitive cycling I don't think I have ever ridden uphill in one long sustained effort like that. It took me about 1.5 hours to get from Paia to the base of the main Haleakala climb which is another 3 hours of riding (35 km) to the summit. The main climb is a series of switch backs that zig zags to the top of the volcano on a smooth cycling friendly road. I started the climb surrounded by lush, green vegetation and 30 degree C and finished surrounded by barren lava rock, gale force winds and sub-10 degree C temperatures. At the half way point of the climb I entered a relatively thin layer of cloud and went from full VFR to IFR but it didn't last long. I broke out of the clouds after 10 or 15 minutes of riding and I was on top of the clouds for the rest of the ride. My product marketing team at Indicee would have a field day with all the cheesy cloud metaphors they could draw from this ride. The best part is that when I "broke out of the clouds" and arrived at the top I got an email saying that our new Indicee cloud business intelligence platform and website went live. So I guess that I officially went to the cloud and beyond to launch our new platform. :-)
I arrived at the visitor center *near* the top only to find out that there is a very steep final 1.5 km climb up to a small viewing hut which takes you to the very top at 10023 feet. After 4+ hours of grinding that last pitch was very painful and the tunnel vision had fully set in. I hit the top, grabbed the first tourist I could find to take the obligatory picture and on went the wind breaker. It was friggin' cold up there. I downed a few Clif bars, banged out a few emails and text messages and set my sights on the descent. The best part of doing summit rides is the ride down. Mentally you know that no matter how hard you go to the top you get to cruise all the way down. A 4.5 hour ride to the top only took 1 hour of descending.
Elevation curve...the perfectly symmetrical ride!
Performance data for the geeks.
By the time I got home it was about a 5.5 hour ride and well worth the effort. If you are a cyclist...go do it!
Here are a few pics (ipad friendly this time! Flickr needs to get their act together.)
Here is my ride data on Strava
I am visiting Maui for a week for a kiteboarding event (Maitai Kite Camp) but I can't seem to decide if I like the kiting or the road cycling better. I rented a bike from Maui Cyclery in Paia and have been riding almost every morning before I head to the beach for some kiting. This past Sunday morning I started down the Hana Highway for what was supposed to be a 2 hour ride. I only had 1 water bottle, 10 bucks and 1 Clif Bar. Three hours later I made it to Hana and I was pretty damn tired. The highway is nothing short of spectacular and thus my shift in mission. It twists along the northern coast line of Maui and follows the natural contours of the terrain. That is code for saying that it goes up and down non stop. You rip down hill for 2-3km, hit a switch back at the bottom and then you climb back up 2-3km. Do that for 150 km! The road is so twisty that I was able to ride faster than the cars...even on many of the uphill portions. Weather wise I hit it all....super strong winds, torrential rain storms, 30 degree sunshine. The most entertaining part of the ride was watching the tour buses pull over on the side of the road to eject a puking passenger. I think I saw at least 10 people throwing up on my way out to Hana. I also played 4-5 cameo roles in various tourist's home movies. I had people hanging out of their cars interviewing me, catching me as I rode by the look outs and then a full interview at the Hana General Store. Apparently I was some sort of freak show. I tried to explain that cyclists do this stuff all the time. The Hana General Store was a sight for sore eyes and after stocking up on 2 bars and a bottle of water my 10 bucks was spent. I had no choice but to retrace my steps back to Paia. Six hours later I had completed my mission and I was pretty tired. It was 145km with 7000 feet of climbing. The strangest part is that I didn't see one other rider out on that highway. If you are a cyclist you must do this ride at some point but I would recommend you do it with someone else. It is a long day in the saddle doing it solo.
To cap off my day I grabbed a 2pm lunch and got in a 3 hour kiting session on the surf board. Was this the ultimate day or what?
Here are a few pics I grabbed with my Blackberry along the way:
Here is my ride data on Strava:
Gary Moore, former guitar player of Thin Lizzy, passed away recently. What many non-guitar people don't know about Gary is that he was an amazing blues guitar player. I ran across these three videos today that really demonstrate his immense blues talent. If you are at all interested in the blues this will be a well spent 20 minutes listening to the following videos. Trust me.
The first video is Gary playing Empty Rooms back in 1987. Some say this was his greatest guitar solo ever. It is a pretty damn good but I have heard him play many others like it. This is a great example of impecable phrasing and timing. It isn't about how many notes you play, it is about how you play them. Sometimes one note is all you need...if you hit it right.
The second video is Gary playing one of the more amazing covers of Red House written by Jimi Hendrix
The last video is an incredible jam with BB King and Gary Moore playing The Thrill is Gone. Watch BB King's face as Moore nails many of Kings classic licks note for note.
I love the spinning tugboats in this one:
And here is a follow-up
I am not endorsing this resort nor the choice of song. Well I like the song but the Canadian tenors singing it?...not my cup of tea. The scenery in this video is amazing and this is something I get to see regularly flying the back country in my airplane. I try to explain to people what it is like but I can never quite describe it. Still photos never seem to tell the story either. This video makes me feel like I am there and you can interact with it by dragging your mouse around in the video frame. Pretty neat stuff.
