Formula One on the water

As impressive as the Americas Cup boats were a few weeks ago, I am even more impressed by Moth sailors. The people who drive these boats must be some of the smartest athletes in the world. They understand lift in two directions (up and forward) and can make it all work at speeds approaching the sound barrier.

Here’s a short video of these guys in action. Even if your knowledge of sailing is minimal, the boats will blow you away. Engineering geeks, pay close attention to how the foils work.

Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor

Update: Here’s Adam Sadowski of Synn Labs talking about how they created this amazing machine:

It’s not an arms race, but…

I definitely did not have the appropriate mountain bike if I was truly going to follow through on my Ken Putney domination plan. As of Friday, I officially have more bike than I know what to do with. This will change, I promise.

Hog Loppet

Click on the image above to see all images from
today’s Hog Loppet ski traverse

Bloody, but unbowed

In case you don’t know this already, I’m not good at every outdoor sport. Shocking, I know. Take downhill skiing, for example. I just can’t seem to crack the mystery of snow, bumps, trees and gravity. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy my blue squares and black diamonds. I just don’t see myself getting much better than that in my lifetime. (To be fair, the sport is %$*! expensive. At $75/day, I just can’t afford to go often enough to improve my skills. That’s another rant for another time, though.)

I also happen to suck at mountain biking. I haven’t given it a fair shake yet, and I’m still confident that with more practice I could actually get pretty good at it. I mentioned in a previous post that Nick and I let Ken take us on a tour of Galbraith mountain last weekend. The 45-minute climb on the fire road lulled me into thinking that I might actually be making some progress. The sweet view of Bellingham from the top was the icing on my confidence. We dropped off the other side of the mountain, though, and double amnesia kicked in: I forgot how confident I was, and worse, I forgot how to ride a bike. The smallest rock or root on the trail caused instant, irrational fears that danger and catastrophe were around the next corner. 

At a rest break, Ken declared that it was great to finally be better than me at something.

Whoa...seriously? Was that a challenge?! Because, knowing you, it couldn’t have been an innocent statement of fact.

I never had the opportunity to straighten out this ambiguity, because Ken was off again, demonstrating just how much BETTER HE WAS THAN ME. Ghaaahhh!

By the time Nick and I were driving home, I was already plotting my Ken-domination plan. First step, hook up with the army of expert mountain bike coaches at the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance. Nick reminded me gleefully that I would need to be patient and practice a LOT. To that end, I adopted a new mountain biking motto:

Today, Joanne and I did a skill-building ride with the club at Saint Edwards State Park and Big Finn Hill Park. (Susannah, an old sailing acquaintance and wife of one of my law professors, also happened to be on the ride. Small world!) We practiced for two and a half hours in mud and rain, over slippery roots, around twisties, and over logs and drops. I learned that when you’re going uphill over bumpy terrain, it pays to get your boobs down, close to the handlebar, and cock your wrists a little. (Ken doesn’t have boobs, so I’m already one step ahead of him here.) I can now ride over bumps that I struggled with before. Victory! I also tried some drops that scared me a few weeks ago when Nick and I were there. My foot slipped off the pedal on one of the drops and drew blood when it knocked me in the shin. The blood mixed with mud definitely looked hardcore. Victory!

The whoopdy-do, skinny bridge, piles of logs, and tight switchbacks still elude me. I figure with more practice and a few more tips that I won’t be batting an eye at them either.

At the end of the ride, we were completely covered with mud, but still smiling