The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

Scott Tinley's Long Course was my final, final season finale. Yes, I know I'm supposed to be done racing for the year, but this one was non-negotiable because I had a specific agenda:

To win the Goodwell Fitness Tri Club Championship Series.

The contest is in its inaugural year, and the two main objectives are to score club points and to score individual points. With one event left to go, the Silicon Valley Tri Club was in a tight race with Triathlon Club San Diego and Golden Gate Triathlon Club, and we needed as many racers as possible to show up in San Luis Obispo to secure the win. I took this assignment very seriously.

Additionally, in the competition for individual points, I was in the top three, and the stakes were high: the first place prize was a Fitness Adventure sponsored by Goodwell Fitness and Alaska Airlines. This included round-trip airline tickets for two, a two night hotel stay, and a race entry fee at the destination of your choice (U.S. & Mexico). Holy crap! A dream come true!

This was a no brainer. Injured or not, I needed to be at this final race in the series. Scott Tinley's offers Sprint, Olympic and Long, with higher TCCS point values assigned to the longer distances. Long Course it is!

I combined forces with fellow SVTC racer (and club president) Carin, and last minute accommodations were hastily booked at a "budget level" motel in Arroyo Grande, just 20 minutes from the race venue at Lopez Lake.

The decor wasn't really my style, but at least the lampshades were still in the package. Nothing worse than a stale lampshade.


Posted by Kimberly 10/21/2015

Yup, I'm taking over my page now! Since 2003 i haven't done anything except a trip on my bike last summer. Well, I guess that about brings us up to date. Moving on.

My summer was spent in the wonderful little village of San Luis Obispo, nestled against the California coastal range, where i participated in an internship at the 'we're too good for Nik' Cal Poly University. Let me just say, SLO rocks! As do all the wonderful people i met there this summer, and I can't wait to return next year.

We'll cut into this little reminiscion with a recount of my last mini-backpacking trip near Sequoia National Park, so i can put in some cool pictures.

A friend from the internship and I headed out after work on friday for a weekend backpacking trip in the Sierra's. We got in late and stayed at a little walk in camp that was tucked waaay up a small winding backroad near the trailhead. This was also the only bear sighting on our trip. We awoke early to find a black bear not more than 50 yards off in the camp area. He wasn't interested in our food though, just beating up the trees around there.

Backpacking in the High Sierras

Posted by nik 08/22/2008, revised 08/22/2008

Written Sept 11, 2008

A week in Thailand. Time for a blog.

Nik and I had no problems meeting up at the Bangkok airport, try as I might to miss my plane... we found eachother at 8am Bangkok time, I think 2am my time (coming from France), and 6pm Nik's time (coming from California). Despite coming from opposite time zones, neither of us had any problem adjusting to our new time. One night of early sleep, and we were settled. Sweet.

So anyway, our trip started off at full pace. Thursday morning, we went from the airport to our Couchsurfer's place, dropped our stuff, and hopped on a river boat. We were off to the Grand Palace, a ridiculously intricate and ornate conglomeration of jeweled buildings. It was the sparkliest place I think I've ever been. We also saw the reclining Buddha, which is a ginormous gold rendition of a Buddha that they put it a temple that juuust big enough for the Big Buddha (heh) and a little walkway for visitors to squeeze around. Makes it difficult to take any pictures of the thing - he just doesn't fit in the frame.

The Grand Palace - talk about bling!

Posted by Whitney 09/13/2008, revised 09/14/2008