Day: November 17, 2008

Insty Review – Lake MX190s

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My Specialized Taho’s exploded. They started exploding from week 1, and though they lasted almost 18 months, they have never been all that. They do walk well, they are easy to put on, they are relatively comfortable with a decently durable toe that blocks a lot of chum flying at ya. $75 + shipping, almost impossible to find a discount cause Specialized sucka big ass. Oh, and they are easy to find and true to size. If I coulda gotten them on our CO trip for $55 its a no-brainer.

JB planted the seed for these.

I liked the vibram, a lot. I liked the leather upper for durability, a lot. I liked the look of that bullet-proof toe, a lot. Carmen and Lynette also were big fans, and they are smart, a lot. Fast forward to…no one’s got em…some retailers got em…pay 2x maybe for shipping to try em on? Anywho, $102 and the 42 fit nice and they are 1oz heavier than the Taho’s with much more durability but a slightly thinner and longer fit. Good enough says i. They look to be somewhat more efficient pedalers too. The buckle i dont like — too complex, one more thing to break, Lynette warned me to use locktight, and it takes some fussing to get it right. I found the 3-strap for $70, but with an extra round of shipping to send somebody back it would be more like $80, for a less durable upper and letss snug fit. Hmmm…its about a toss up. I hope i don’t regret the buckle its been fussy to get the hang of it, but I do quite enjoy the feel of the leather on my feet – reminds me of wearing cleats. Whatever, they should last 1.5 yrs and be better than the $75 (+ shipping) Taho’s.

Wrapping em up so Beckie can give em to me for Xmas. Hope i can make the duct tape on the Taho’s last til then. I wrapped about 6 feet around my pack pump, just in case my shoe blows up again.

Really.

Don’t fuck wit Christmas.

In Search of Coyotes

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I’ve been going to Boulder Mountain Park with Kila as often as possible the last few weeks to see the coyotes some more. They’ve been around every time – sometimes the same one comes out to play, other times we hear the pack howling close by.

The coolest stuff happens when I don’t have the camera. Two weeks ago it hung around the playground, darting in and out of the wash and the grassy area for about 30 minutes. Kila and G both got bored after a while, which seems just plain unappreciative. Last week, as I was pulling out of the driveway, I thought about the camera but said nah…won’t need it tonight. Sure enough, as we rolled into the parking lot Kila went nuts in the backseat; her buddy was waiting for her on the soccer field.

The next night, we went a’chumming, wandering lazily through the empty lot next to the park and the desert behind it, sending Kila out to shake her moneymaker. 30 minutes later, out of the corner of my eye, about 300 yards away across the park i caught a glimpse of a shape moving. I thought it might be wishful thinking, like trying to spot dolphins off the coast when you start seeing shapes in every whitecap. But then Kila gave me confirmation she had found the coyote, in the form of the tops of two tails circling and bouncing jerkily above the bushes. It mostly hung in the bushes, but Kila lured it into the shadows on the soccer field. Couldn’t get any good pics.

Today we found leftover pizza by the playground. I didn’t expect anything out of Dances With Wolves, but figured we’d leave the coyote a snack.

I Will Catch You

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I made much more of a deal out of this than G. It all happened very smoothly. G tried to climb a new monkeybar she has not made, got to a scary part and said “i cant make it”. I said to her clearly “if you fall, i will catch you!” She acknowledged, I spotted her, she moved on, and cleaned it.

An adult would take so much more dialog to accomplish this understanding; G just said ok and off she went. When she stumbled, even before i grabbed her, she really didn’t look afraid…just a little discomforted by the effort of hanging. She hasn’t had a good fall yet. She dropped a 10lb weight on her toe today after trying to lift it…but that only hurt about 5 minutes.

I am so relieved she has not fallen. I am so aware of the important lesson she needs to learn. It may have serious consequences, how can it not to properly impart in her a robust fear of gravity? She’s lucky to have a very empathetic   teacher, but i hope she does not lose faith in me along with some of her IQ when her first big digger finally happens.