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Written by Daniel Hienzsch
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Tuesday, 05 January 2010 |
2009 boiled down to the list of challenges. Very few days went by that I wasn't at least thinking about the challenges, if not directly planning, executing or recovering from them. But while the challenges may have defined the year and shaped a lot of the efforts I took, it wasn't the only thing that happened. The 2009 challenges have their own entire section of this site, so with this article, I'll try to show some of the other things that went on, although in some months, the challenges just dominated the landscape entirely.
January
 Catalytic Converter Stolen
I had just bought the truck from my father about 10 days earlier, and was revelling in not having the extra costs of regular motorcycle ownership anymore. And then this happened. The dealership quoted about $1200 to get a replacement, but I found a forgiving wrecking yard that sold one to me from a salvage Tacoma for $300. So I borrowed a friend's car, drove out to some place half way to Arizona, picked it up and installed it myself. Great way to celebrate ownership of your first car in five years.
This picture shows how I had to use my new found rock climbing knot tying skills to manufacture a pair of bowline knots to hold up the exhaust pipe, where it usually mounts to the catalytic converter. The replacement, which was nearly stolen as well, is now hard-welded on.
February
 Svein Tuft at Tour of California
The event was well attended, and I finally got to put some faces to people I'd only had the opportunity to get to know in the comment section of the live threads. A good time was had by all, particularly by Chris, Sui and myself. I have fond memories of that first evening: the Chinese Hot Pot, the bottle of sake the size of a human thigh, and the pear the size of a toddler's head.
March
 Emilia Fahlin at Redlands Cycling Classic
As luck would have it, the morning of the women's criterium, I woke up with a nasty flu. Not wanting to infect the entirety of the peloton, I had to keep my distance from the riders. I never got to meet Emilia.
Rumor has it, she was heartbroken when she was told I had to go home sick.
April
 Opa Colors Eggs
That's my grandfather, 94 years old and still going strong. He works in the garden in all seasons, helps to take care of my grandmother, practices with and sings in the church choir, and lives a life that should be seen as an example to all. He and my grandmother are great people and I'm happy I get to spend so much time with them.
May
 School of Rock
What a fantastic experience this was. The two day class really provided a solid base, starting with bouldering and basic technique, and building up over the days to top roped ascents of pitches rated up to (realistically) 5.5 to 5.6. The private day, Don Reid, my instructor, went in depth on anchoring techniques and covered a lot of material related to what my experience would be like on The Grand. He tailored the teaching toward mountaineering rather than exclusively rock climbing and all that experience really paid off a little more than a month later. I also completed my first ever multipitch ascent, on a route called "Fotog". There's something to be said for being on a rock face more than a rope's length above the ground.
June
 The Teton Range
I hiked over 40 miles on that trip. My guide and I made it to the upper saddle on the face of The Grand before having to turn around. I was physically tested to a greater extent than ever before. I experienced some incredible weather, and saw astonishing vistas. I swung an ice axe for it's intended purpose and strapped crampons to my shoes to gain purchase on ice. I did things that 366 days before that, I never would have considered.
July
 Eureka Oil Platform
One of the members of our group had the lanyard on a piece of equipment come loose and the knife fell from his wrist. I watched it go glittering down and come to a rest at 122' on a cross member of the super structure. I zipped down from 95' to go retrieve it and bring it back to Brother John. Two more inches to either the left or the right, and that little bit of plastic and metal was headed straight down the bottomless pit.
The rig dive was a fine example of how advanced training allows you to explore advanced locations. We had to use natural navigation, since compasses don't work in all the metal of the structure, we had to deal with 5' visiblity on the Olympic wreck we dove on afterwards, we had to deal with a strong current on the south side of the superstructure. Training made all of that manageable.
August Music Notes
I didn't do much in August. It was very warm, and I was exhausted from Grand Teton, Mount San Gorgonio and all the training. So I gave myself some down time: spent time with friends, listened to music from those lists, relaxed and ate good food.
September The Office
I have electronics components up there, A/V cables, paperwork, photography gear, motorcycle parts, tools, wood working equipment, a remote control boat, etc, etc. I look at it and realize I haven't touched 99% of it in 12 months time. Some of it because I have no need for it immediately, some of it because I can't get to it because of all the rest of the crap up there.
It's time is up though. By January 31st, Egg Shen will bring order out of chaos!
October Loyola Marymount
I have to say, I'm happy to be living above the fog belt now, instead of down in it, as I did when I had an apartment down in Playa Del Rey. It was miserable riding through that stuff on the way to work on the Triumph. I'd rather ride in a cloudburst downpour any day than through fog.
November Chris' Birthday
Funny thing... I spent nearly a week in Bellevue at training, in the shadow of large Microsoft office towers. The entire time I was there, Google Maps refused to work on my Blackberry. Now, I'm not a big fan of conspiracy theories, but...
December Challenge Done
Much more diving to come in 2010. Much more of everything to come...
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 05 January 2010 )
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