As promised an image of the tattoo that I got to remind myself that being sick was a part of the journey. Motivation "I will rise again" is what it says and I plan to do just that. I will return but even stronger than before. I have been getting more and more miles in, and feeling better. This is positive. The order of the day is to have fun. No fun is no fun. A little redundant if I do say so myself. There is a larger story to the tattoo, my best friend in high school is now a tattoo artist, this is some of his work. He was involved in a major accident 5 or 6 years ago that left him very damaged. He has since recovered, but to help him get through it all he got a sparrow crashing with the phrase " I will fly again" he restructured his life after his incident and became a tattoo artist, a dream of his. I am currently trying to find my way back, and have, while not job wise, but emotionally and spiritually reached a different level of understanding and being in the world because of my illness. I will soon have some more ink to show off as Brady is coming back to town for the Seattle Tattoo Convention in mid august. I am tossing around many ideas, but have not settled on one yet. www.inkademic.com

The parts for the monster cross bike are taking longer to acquire than I would like. It will happen when it happens.

On Saturday I went and rode the Sun Top loop near Crystal Mtn. Super steep climb followed by a ripping descent. I had been having brake problems for awhile, and the day before the ride thought I had it fixed so that I would at least have a back brake for the descent. The problem was it had leak some fluid and air was in the line, probably near the caliper, so you can imagine what happened by just adding some fluid it seemed to hold. I am on old Deore disc brakes that I have used for the last 3 seasons, they have seen better days. I just got some Avid juicy carbon brakes that will be on the Vulture tomorrow. I can not wait to use them. Power awaits me. Isn't it funny how new parts make you ride harder and faster than before, even if it is just a mental thing. I have some rides planned within the next couple of weeks, more on that later. Now just commuting longer distances to work and trying to stay ahead of it all. As always, keep pedaling.