Into Thick Air

It is really a treat to come home from Colorado, and 6,500 feet of elevation,

and find that the bay area is in fact a very humid, warm climate with an abundance

of oxygen. It makes me wonder why anyone would want to live at high elevation

anyway. Honestly, I think humans were meant to live at sea level. But then again,

there are the epic mountain ranges such as the rockies that are simply too good

not to explore. And there are other miscellaneous advantages that come along

with the thin air lifestyle, such as the fact that your gloves will dry overnight

after being soaked the day before and one can get away with virtually never

cleaning a jersey simply because all the nasty smells evaporate right off in moments

(I've only let my jersey go uncleaned for a week or two so far, however).

So when I got home, the first thing I did was...drum roll.....

Get my wisdom teeth removed! That was (and still is), simply put, not

a very fun experience. With chipmunk cheeks, pain killers, and a bad

attitude, bike rides sort of stink. There is an incessant throbbing

behind your molars and everyone stares at you... I mean me...

But, as you can see, that didn't really stop me. Within forty eight hours, I

was back riding. Bad Idea! Long story short, I got a few dry sockets

and my teeth still hurt. Oh well, it was worth it really.

These photos are on the good old Perth fire road in West

Marin on my way to some sweet singletracks winding off the

Inverness ridge in various locations. As you can see, still the

puffy cheeks. And, courtesy of the west coast fog, wet gloves

accompanied me after having NOT dried the night before.

When I go back to school in a week or so, it it back to thin air and headaches...

But the view of Pike's Peak makes up for most of the suffering

on too little oxygen.