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

As a tribute to that grey area between optimism and denial, I continued to maintain a regular triathlon training schedule throughout 2020, even after the flood of race cancellations in March, and the disappointing dribble of event cancellations and postponements that continued all spring and summer.

Deep down I hoped that one of these days, there would be news of a Covid-ready race, and only the blindly faithful, those still clinging to discipline in the fog of the unknown, would be ready to respond at a moment's notice.

That day came in early September.

The recently formed Professional Triathletes Organization (PTO) threw their support behind a small, locally produced triathlon at the border of Utah and Idaho, and invited the U.S. based pros to join the fun. We had two weeks to prepare for the Bear Lake Brawl 70.3.

Physically I was ready to tackle this challenge, but mentally? I wasn't so sure. Months of pervasive uncertainty had softened the hard edges of my typical training regime, and I had become much less willing to fight through discomfort in the absence of any significant purpose. I was also dismayed to learn that my equipment was no longer race-ready, when the bike shop informed me I needed new brakes, new wheels, a new drive-train, new cables and housing... Apparently 5,000 miles had slipped by in the blink of a pandemic, and - with the curious exception of my aero-pads - nearly everything on the bike had aged significantly without my notice. By my fifth trip back to the bike shop, and just days before the race, it became clear that despite a healthy accumulation of bike parts, nothing I owned was compatible with anything else, and I was suddenly staring down the prospect of finally having a race to do, but no bike to do it on.


Posted by Kimberly 10/10/2020

After only two days in Indonesia I am in love.

Shanks ponies into the jungle

Indonesia was apparently a very popular destination for tourists before Thailand took over and began drawing people to Southeast Asia. Because of this the tourist infrastructure is there but the islands are blissfully devoid of other tourists. From Malaysia we took a local ferry and made our way overnight by bus to Bukittinggi. For whatever reason it was decided that everyone on the bus should feel like it would be a white Christmas after all and the AC was on full blast all night. Quite ironically we crossed the equator on this stretch making the equator officially the coldest part of my trip. At one point Bukittinggi may have been overrun with tourists using it as a jump off for various treks and tours or just visiting the scenic town, but these days it has settled back into its own quiet existence.

Posted by nik 12/27/2008, revised 02/08/2009

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