Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
Please welcome to the Brazelton family, Landon Brooks Brazelton. I can already tell the boy was built to ride bikes. Jonathan Vaughters of Team Garmin/Chipotle and I have already been in talks about his contract for the 2022 Tour de France. It sounds like Rock Racing wants him really bad though so I’m working on a bidding war between the two teams.
The stats:
August 24, 2008
12:46 am
7 pounds 11 ounces
20 inches
Incredible VO2 Max and resting heart rate
*He comes from a lineage of elite athletes. Not me, my wife 
Click here to view the entire gallery.
To have Landon born on the 24th is a big deal for the Brazelton family. He is the 4th generation of Brazelton’s to be born in order.
Kim Brazelton (My Aunt) – August 21
Andy Brazelton (Me) – August 22
Grandpa Brazelton (Grandpa) – August 23
Landon Brazelton (My son) – August 24
Julie and I haven’t slept much and Carter already thinks Landon is one and wants to wrestle. Julie looks and feels incredible. She’s such a stud! Her first marathon is in June 2009 and I fully expect her to blow my first marathon’s time out of the water.
Thanks for everyone’s prayers and kind words,
Andy B
Monday, August 25th, 2008
Sale ends September 1. Save up to 50% on the best outdoor gear and supplies.
Click the banner above for more info on the sale.
Andy B
outsideallday.com
Friday, August 22nd, 2008
Got a great message from BM in OC asking for some more details as to how to go about a Sierra extended weekend hike. Here is my complete pack list to start off with. We make lots of subtractions at game time.
Share the weight with everyone. Bring less than I do. More posts to follow.
Backpack:
Lowe Alpine Kanga Himal 80+10L, Lowe day pack
Tent:
Sierra Designs Tiros Guide CD
Sleeping bag:
REI Kilo Plus
Sleeping pad:
Thermarest ProLite 3
Boots:
Ecco Xplorer Schreckhorn Mid GTX
Stove/fuel:
MSR Whisperlite, large and small bottle filled with white gas
Cooking gear:
small pot, metal insulated cup, titanium spork, scrub brush, folding knife
Water bottle:
Nalgene
Water filter:
SweetWater Purifier Water Filter
Toiletries:
roll of tp inside ziplock bag with hand sanitizer and orange shovel, advil, earplugs, cotton balls for ear aches when windy and wet, bio-soap, tooth-brush/paste, rei hand towel, mosquito repellant, vertra sunblock
Light:
Petzl Tikka Headlamp
Vices:
Cigars, Central Coast Cabernet (screwtop)
Documentation:
Moleskine squared notebook, Lamy pico, Canon Digital point-and-shoot
Wear:
Patagonia: capilene top, capilene bottoms, classic boxer, m’s synchilla vest, capilene top midweight, down jacket, standup shorts, beanie; Smartwool: mountaineering xhvy mid-calf, liners, prAna pants, hat, Polarized sunglasses, fleece gloves for sun protection
Food:
Bearbox, Muesli, Clif Bars, Beef Jerkey, Velveeta,
Other:
First aid kit, rope/line, repair kit with duct tape (tent), hiking poles (if rocky or wet)
Matt Smart
Outside All Day
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
That’s right friends. The scientists over at Fluid Recovery Products have formulated their next perfect concoction, Berry Treasure. I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Click here for more info on Berry Treasure.
I’ve been using the product for months. Its rare to find a recovery drink that tastes good, their’s does so I use it everyday.
Andy B
outsideallday.com
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
Our first lengthy break was at 10:35 when we encountered our first of many green, flowery meadows. We crossed a creek at 11:10 with crystal clear water and a fallen log bridge or a rock-to-rock alternative. At 12:05, we stopped for lunch just after another stream crossing. Beside the stream it was nicely shaded. Beef jerky, Odwalla bars, crackers, Velveeta “cheese”, peanut butter and trail mix. (We didn’t laugh at the cheese. It keeps well at high altitude and in the heat.) We lunched for about 45 minutes, then Mark said he wanted to take a nap since none of us really had slept on the six-hour drive. The nap was the best I ever had in the Sierra. We were on our way again, refreshed, after about an hour. We hiked another hour before a break at 1:45. Matt totally surprised us with a quarter each of a delicious fresh peach.
We left the national forest, entered the Golden Trout Wilderness Area, and after a while the John Muir Wilderness. We all seemed to be tiring, and Marvin seemed to know exactly when to stop, rest, and often to take in the beauty. We inspected the topo map many times to check our progress and where we had to go. Cirque Lake lost out as our destination when we heard there were three parties already camping there. Muir Lake was considered, but it was over 1,000 feet higher than we were. Finally we settled on South Fork Lake. We saw light at the top of a ridge which indicated a possible lake. It was indeed a lake at the head of a large meadow which eventually will replace the lake. We got there at 5:30 and we were at 10,300 feet, ready to crash. A small steam led out of the lake about 75 feet from our selected campsite. Water was filtered to refill our bottles and we began heating water for dinner.
Marvin’s menu included sweet and sour shrimp casserole, navy bean soup, dark chocolate, and trail mix, accompanied by another of Matt’s surprises, a nice Cabernet. Delicious!
After dinner, there was a cleaning-up period, more visiting, and appreciation of a moonless sky which made stargazing much more rewarding. It was a mild night, windless, and mostly free of mosquitoes. The forecast was for a minimum temperature of 50 degrees. We thought that was accurate. Marvin produced a bottle of brandy to induce or assist sleep.
Doug Buckmaster
Outside All Day Contributor
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
As I was packing tonight for the longest race of my life, I am getting more and more excited for this race. Tomorrow I will be leaving for Portland, Oregon for the longest relay race in the United States. The Nike Hood-to Coast stretches 197 miles near the top of Oregon’s majestic Mt. Hood down to the beautiful Pacific Ocean beach in Seaside, Oregon. Our start time is Friday, August 22nd at 4:00pm. Wish us luck! I will post race results and pictures on Sunday. This is going to be so awesome!!!
Alex Omel
outsideallday.com Contributor
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
Rummaging through my MTB gear bag at the trail head Thursday night my phone buzzed with a text message. I had awaken at 5:30 AM for an hour swim with the Slugs and Diane Graner-Gallas’ training program was leaving me tired. I was struggling to ready myself for my evening ride with Rob up Del Cerro. The text was from James and now I was going to run along the strand in Manhattan after the ride. By 9 PM Thursday I had put in 3 hours of workouts all before 9 and after 5. I’m glad that the day before Andy B had handed me Fluid Recovery – Tropical Escape. Before Wednesday I had used Endurox as a recovery drink in a number of exertions over the three hour mark. Being familiar with the protein/carbo replacement/recovery drink concept I was excited to try Fluid. Having grown up on Champion Nutrition’s Cytomax and moved on to GU20 I had already replaced them with MotorTabs. This week I replaced Endurox with Fluid. Fluid has a great taste and tastes good even after the water bottle warms up….unlike its Endurox friend. And being a Cal Poly alum makes it even easier to love Fluid.
With forty-six days until Scott Tinley’s Extreme Tri I got fitted on Monday to my Bianchi road bike (training bike) and Trek mountain bike (racing bike). Outside All Day loves Rock N’ Road Cyclery. I just happen to live almost an hour and a half from the closest one. So I met up with Brian, owner of Beach Cities Cycle in Hermosa Beach, and he fitted me up to the bikes. I worked for Brian back in high school and it was great to hang and get his help. I haven’t been comfortable on either bike and he made a bunch of changes. Both pairs of shoes were adjusted, seat post height went up, seat distance changed, MTB stem changed and he coached me on knee position. We would all be wise to get ourselves fitted to our bikes. Go see your bike shop and then head to Lake Lopez to race the Eternal Timing System.
Matt Smart
Outside All Day
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
August 1-3, 2008
Participants: Mark Bair, Doug Buckmaster, Matt Smart, and Marvin Sosna
Friday, 8/1 — Expecting to be picked up at 12:45, my alarm sounded at 12:20, so I was dressed when I went to the front door to turn on the porchlight. I was met by a powerful flashlight, held by Mark. We loaded my gear in Marvin’s 1997 Honda Prelude. His and Mark’s packs and gear were jammed into the “trunk”. Mark curled up in the back seat with my pack frame, I sat in the passenger seat, and we took off at 12:45 a.m., odometer reading 30.0. (Yes that was 45 minutes past midnight. Great way to see month’s end.)
Marvin encountered deer on Cambria’s streets in both directions.
Saturday, 8/2 — Back on Hwy 1, we headed south to Hwy 46 in moonless darkness and almost no traffic.
Mark tried to sleep as Marvin and I got more acquainted, discovering he knew my father-in-law, Vern Gilbert, when both worked at the Ventura County Star-Free-Press, Marvin as Editor; Vern, in the pressroom, in 1964. We reminisced about the county in the Fifties and Sixties. Our first stop this morning was 2:30 a.m. at a huge gas station in Lost Hills where premium gas was $4.45 (4.524 gal and 27.4 mpg. – Marvin had been driving a little like Mario Andretti). He turned the driving over to Mark, assuming the “sleeping” position in the back seat in deference to my long legs. It was very warm in Lost Hills.
We continued east on Hwy 46, then south on Hwy 99 to Bakersfield, and east again on Hwy 58 to Tehachapi.
We met very few cars, but a lot of 18-wheelers. The next stop was east of Tehachapi when I needed a pit stop and took over the driving from Mark. We bypassed Mojave, merged with Hwy 14, then 50 miles or so later, merged with Hwy 395. We stopped at Coso Hot Springs (it used to be called Oasis) at the rest stop, then drove on to Lone Pine.
We reached the Sierra Visitor Center at 7:00 AM, about five minutes after Matt arrived from his 3:00 a.m. departure in El Segundo. Marvin picked up his reservation from the locked box. It covered him and Mark. Matt and I had to take a chance on a permit from the first come, first served category, but that had to wait for the Center to open at 8:00. We decided to drive into Lone Pine to find a place to eat. None of the restaurants is an all-nighter, so we drove into Jack in the Box or Carl’s Jr. (Does it make a difference?)
We got a breakfast burrito or breakfast croissant and a beverage. Back to the Visitor Center, we had to wait only 15 minutes for the gates to open. A ranger announced to the 25 or 30 people there that he would hold a lottery. He needed a driver’s license from each selected hiking leader.
Matt told me to draw a number. I drew #10 out of 25. That was scary because so many people were there and so few permits available. It turned out there was no #3, 5, 7, or 9, so #10 was not too bad. Matt and I got a permit. The next party in line was turned away.
We took both cars back down the highway to Lubken Rd, parallel to the entrance to Owens Dry Lake. (It is now being re-watered by the L.A.’s Dept. of Water and Power (DWP) by court order in order to reduce the windblown toxic dust caused by DWP’s taking all the water out of the lake since the early 1900s.)
We went up Lubken Rd., past Tuttle Creek Rd., to a frontage road from the Alabama Hills. We turned left and began climbing the prominent switchbacks leading to the Cottonwood Lakes trailhead, 9,580 feet; odometer 369.3. We hoped the relatively high start would make the hiking easier. (It didn’t.) We gathered our gear and started up the trail at 9:50 in an area of a lot of sand, rock steps, and scattered pine trees. Our initial choice for a destination perhaps was Cirque Lake. Marvin took the lead on a dry and dusty trail which was used by hikers, pack animals, and horses as the morning was starting to heat up.
Doug Buckmaster
OutsideAllDay Contributor
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
MooseJaw.com is doing 20% off any one item.
Use promo code “200” during check out. The promo is good through August 24th. Click here to go to their site.
Happy shopping. Get some Patagonia gear for me.
Andy B
outsideallday.com
