Autumn on Mt Tam

After many weeks off from photo blogin', I decided to spend a Sunday shooting on the trails rather than running them. It's hard to find, but there is fall folliage in the Bay Area, and Mt Tam has its share. And with a couple early season rains last week, the waterfalls have come alive and added to the spectacle. These shots are on Catarack Trail accessed from Rock Springs parking lot.// T

Maui

Just back from 5 days in Maui. My first visit to Hawaii..and it was love at first site. The impetus was a wedding of one of my best buds, Mark Freeland, who couldnt have picked a more romantic/beautiful place to tie the knot. We were on the southwest side of the island, with full views of sunsets, great access to a marine reserve for diving/snorkeling (Ahihi-Kinau Marine Reserve), a nice little learning break for surfing, and good restaurants. Something about swimming with giant turtles, standing up on a surfboard for the first time, sipping mai tais with long-time close friends (my UNC boys & their wives)...tends to bring a perma-smile to the face. The beach pics here are from "Big Beach" at Makena State Park. And the sunrise shots on the mountain were taken at 5:55AM on the top of Haleakala National Park, a magical moment despite the throng of people that like me were shivering in their short-sleeve shirts. Next trip back I will definitely bring the bike to climb one of the highest single ascents in the world (the asphalt looked amazingly good for fast ascents too). On that point, my bike is getting rebuilt this weekend and my virgin post-injury bike ride is coming soon. Huge fan of Maui....and cant wait to get back. T

Fireworks

Pics from my friends Christian & Amy's rooftop. They look better big, so click on the image and it will enlarge. I was the geek who brought the tripod to the party. This was the first fogless fireworks San Fran had seen in a long while. Just four hours before taking these shots in the 55 degree night, wearing down parkas, I was driving through Sacramento with the car thermometer reading 105! A 50 degree swing, only in California. Added pics at the bottom too: the church at Washington Sq and Chrissy Field July 4th revelry in the perfect weather. Tom

Tahoe

It's been a while since the last update, and alas the blog is getting a little stale? I did just spent two days in Tahoe though, and have a couple pics, so why not drop them in and write a couple words...blog CPR.

As most Bay Area folks know, you are pretty much guaranteed sunshine and deep blue skies in this amazing place. This weekend was no exception. We had a couple great trail runs, one up to the Rim Trail behind Tahoe XC, on the north shore, and another in the Ward Creek area on the backside of Alpine Meadows. My buddy Mike brought a little Canon on the latter run and these are some of the scenes from the trail. One piece of unfortunate news from the weekend was the spreading of a major wildfire in South Lake Tahoe. The last 2 shots at the bottom were taken a mere 3 hours after the blaze started, seen accross the lake from the north shore.

On other news, I hit the 3 months mark since elbow surgery. There is progress but the snail pace tests my resolve (I am stuck on 15-20 degrees from straight). But the mind is sane, as I have re-discovered my old love of trail running, and am even dragging my sleepy carcass into the pool 2-3x a week at 7 in the AM.

I am also knee deep into a new job that I started in May with a company called Sana Security in San Mateo. Its a lot of fun, a little manic as you would expect from a small company, but the anti-virus software is making some good noise in the marketplace, and it is exciting to feel the daily buzz as we are keeping pace with our aggressive plans. http://www.sanasecurity.com/corporate.php. T

Sweden May 07

With the elbow getting stronger and before starting a new job next week, I took advantage of an open ticket and headed up to the SW coast of Sweden...stumbling upon an excellent spa right on the rocky coast 1.5 hrs north of Gothenburg, in a little town called Smogen. An old bathhouse turned hip hotel, Smogens Havsbad is an excellent place to just chill. http://www.smogenshavsbad.se/

This section of coast is stunning even in the winter - farmland meets the rocks which meets the sea...and classic, rustic swedish cottages somehow built into the rocks. Now that I can actually reach the camera viewfinder to my face, and with some of the best weather imaginable for May, the conditions were right for some decent photos for this post. T

the elbow incident

Just when I was starting to realize that it's tough to get interesting & consistent material for a blog... should I take a day trip to the mountains for some cool pics? ..profile my favorite ski tracks? Something more riveting needed to just 'happen'....which I proceeded to find when my Colnago wheel got caught in San Fran's finest trolley tracks, launching 195 lbs over the handlebars and making a smashing introduction of my elbow to the pavement. My first view was of two German tourists staring straight over me, not saying anything. An ER visit, trip to Palo Alto Medical Foundation, and scramble to check COBRA coverage later, I am in the fine hands of Dr Frank Chen tomorrow for my first surgery. Plate and pins and attempt to but the loose fragments back together (you can even see the fragments in the pic). Its the 'Olecranon' Process' that took the hit and separated from the Ulna. Huge bummer for this rare period of free time and reintroduction to biking, and a great outlet to blow off steam...but the mood is fine. Will approach the months of therapy with gusto. Big thanks to Mike and the Maser family for making the last couple days so smooth / T

Updated photo from April 9th. I went in today to get the cast removed and had a peak at the photos taken during the surgery. MUCH more metal than I expected, but grateful for having something holding it all together. Frankenstein lives! Bring on the physical therapy...