Random 10

Random 10. Here's another random of my own, strictly for my own entertainment since I think I'm the only one that reads my own blog.

1. Throwing Muses - Marriage Tree - House Tornado
2. The Versatiles - The Thanks we Get - The Complete UK Upsetter
3. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Restless Sinner - Howl
4. Blockhead - Cherry Picker - Downtown Science
5. Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be - Singles 93-03
6. Ibrahim Ferrer - Viene de la Tierra Caliente - Tierra Caliente
7. Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Rosasolis - Preludes, Airs and Yodels
8. Sleater-Kinney - Entertain - The Woods
9. The Residents - The Adventures of a Troubled Heart - What Ever Happened to Viness Fats?
10. The Black Angels - The Prodigal Sun - Passover

T.I.T.S (trail in the spotlight) Perimeter Trail

This months' TITS is the Permimeter Trail in Los Alamos, New Mexico. It's the end of the summer so I'm trying to squeeze in a few more rides before the snow starts falling. There were still a few wildflowers out for this ride

The perimeter trial is located in an area that was pretty much torched during the Cerro Grande Fire and circumnavigates the town on the west and south sides. Althought his trail is the closest to town, it is probably the most difficult to find.




Starting from Richards Rd and Diamomond Dr head west for a half mile of so until you see a brown carsonite trial marker on your left next to a green house. Hike-a-bike down and up the canyon a few hundred yards and you're there - it's technical but all ridable. The trail heads south for a bit but gradually makes it's way north - fun shit. About 1/3 of the way you'll cross Pipeline Road (dirt - closed to vehicles) - it's the second road crossing. From there it's mostly downhill all the way to Rendija Canyon - lot's of of options to make this a huge ride. The last picture (in the woods) is an off-shoot of Perimeter that I call Trail of Tears - because you ride up this thing thinking it's gonna be bad ass and then it ends in a mess of downed trees in a box canyon - dead end - and then you start to cry. The actual trail ends on the north end of town at the cemetary. You can then hook up with Rendija or Bayo canyons. TITS baby.

A Trip Up to the South

Jen and I took a short trip down south..., um or back east, whatever. Not really sure what region North Carolina is considered "the south", "southeast" - might as well be Mars to me because there's some crazy shit going down in that part of the country and I just can't figure it out. Although I was really expecting to see armys of white men sporting the latest mullet styles and wearing NASCAR wife-beaters...there was more....soooo much more. Such as:






Historic buildings (sweet)










Homemade biscuits (made with the creamiest cream I have ever seen)















Broken down Gremlins (sure sign that you car has been sitting in your yard too long is when trees start growing through it)











Random street art (people in the south have a lot of time on their hands)












General Lee replicas (to be expected)













A visit to the local market revealed some strangeness:











......like, what the hell is this?














....and this?











...and this?

...and this

Random 10

OK - I'm stealing this idea from Loomis' Blog www.alterdestiny.blogspot.com - What comes spinning up on somebody's ipod tells a lot about a person - ok, well not A LOT but maybe a little. I have a few really gay albums on mine, so thankfully none of them came up today. If you have a random 10 send it to me so I can post it and we all can make fun of your lame-ass taste in music.

1. Minutemen - The Big Blast for Youth - Post Mersh Vol. 3
2. Sara Dougherty - Hold the Bar - Album unknown (pirated)
3. MilesDavis - Mask - Live at the Fillmore
4. U.N.K.L.E - Rabbit in your Headlights - Psyence Fiction
5. Yo La Tengo - Outsmartener - Today is the Day EP
6. Mike West - Corps of Engineers - Home
7. Jad Fair and Yo La Tengo - Texas Man Abducted by Aliens for Outerspace Joyride - Strange but True
8. Jack o' Fire - Ain't Superstitious - Beware the Souless Cool
9. Radiohead - Life in a Glass House - Amesiac
10.Velvet Underground - Waiting for the Man - The Best of VU

Raton Dirt - More Bears and Beers in the Nuevo Mexico

Sugarite Canyon State Park in the Norte de Nuevo MayHeeCoe is the place. Only about 10 minutes east of I-25 at Raton - worth a stop to ride this sweetness. Check in at the entrance to get a map since you could ride for hours and could actually get really lost if you head out onto some of the backcountry trails - which are all (well almost all) open to bikes. There are a couple of close-in loops that will keep you busy for a couple of hours while still keeping you close to your beer cooler. It's a good mix of roots, rock (not much reggae) and there's even an awesome lake to take a swim in (a rare thing in this state). While I was there a few weeks ago, I ran into two riders from Raton and they were actually surprised to see somebody on "their" trails - they told me that they rarely see another mountain bike out there. That
right there makes it worth checking out. Another trail encounter was a big black bear - even though I would have rather run into a big black BEER, it was cool except he watched me for a good 5 minutes through the bushes only about 20 feet away. The picture below that looks like a bunch of bushes is actually a bear peering through the branches - zoom in on it and you can see fuzzy wuzzy right in the middle of the pic.