Can someone please tell me what all those Sunoco stickers are doing on the back of cars? I can't go outside without seeing one-in-three cars tattooed with these gasoline ads. I don't know if it's just an East Coast thing or what. Weird.

I went home to New Hampshire last week. I had a blast. Ever since the end of school last February, I've been trying to see all sorts of friends and family around New England and this trip allowed me to see a whole bunch of them. Here's a nice list of people I saw. I hope I get them all:

Robbie, Mom, Dad, Eliza, Lauren, Chris, Meade, Jeff, Ben, David, Maury, Amy, Paul, Ethan, Craig, Holly, Katie, Andrew, Liz, Larry (all three of whom I haven't seen since 8th grade!), Colin, Destiny, Ashley, Amy, Lauren, John, Tom, Ruth, Decia, Janet, David, Dana, Ruth (senior), Sue, Artie, Nate, Dan, Dan, Dan, Johnny, and probably some more. Not bad for only being home 7 days.

During the week at home Robbie, Tom, and I hiked up the ferociously steep Pawtuckaway Mountain in Raymond, NH. It rises an epic 906 feet... I don't know if that's 906 feet above sea level or just 906 feet of vertical elevation. Either way, you get the idea that this is no slouch of a hill. We decided on the South Mountain, mostly because there's an observation tower, which is excellent for observing stuff. As pictured here, you can tell it's a tough climb because Tom has a backpack on. Tough climbs and backpacks go hand in hand. Here's a sweet shot of the heroic mountain climbers atop the observation tower. I'm the only smart one in the bunch, as seen by my hat and long sleeves. We got plenty warm on the ascent, but up once you're above ground in the tower, the wind starts to howl. We're talking Mt. Washington weather (well, not really, but we're all frigid in this picture.)
Having now summitted Pawtuckaway twice, Tom is an avid climber. When it comes to climbing, he pretty much knows his stuff inside-and-out. He therefore knows that the correct tools are a necessity to a successful climb. This picture illustrates that; Tom brought a kick-ass COFFEE MAKER to the summit. It's called a Jet-Boil and despite the lack of cream, we had a deliciously caffeinated pick-me-up miles from civilization. "Jet Boil" is no lie either; it got up to a roaring boil in what seemed like seconds! Yup.The folliage was quite pretty at the top. It was still relatively green, but starting to turn the reds, oranges, and yellows. I don't think Pawtuckaway classifies as part of the White Mountains, but it was beautiful all surrounding the mountain just the same. Here's a picture looking towards Middle Mountain. Ooooooooh the serenity. (That one is for you, Tommy.)After a 2 week stretch of NO riding, I am back at it training in full force for 2007. I'm currently working on a new style of training that uses unorthodox methods, but I'm hoping for some solid results. Here's a shot of me about half way into a 4 hour ride up and down the driveway. Notice the calf definition... I think this training is really paying off already!Throughout the week I poured some serious hours into building a bike. I'm quite proud of it, since I've never built a bike up enitely from scratch before. It's the Ridely Supercross and I'm super excited to start racing it this weekend. I think most New England cross racers will be heading northeast to New Gloucester, ME chasing the Verge Cross Series. However, those in the know will be heading to Liverpool, NY for the Syracuse Grand Prix. BOOYA! Come watch me struggle through my first ever cross race on Sunday, if you're bored and in the area.