AtomJohnson Blog

I’ve been driving the Knight Rider now for 12 years.  The Knight Rider is the name of my 1997 Honda Civic hatchback.  It got its name because every time my grandmother would see it, she would exclaim, “Adam, that there is the Knight Rider”.  It is a bit of a stretch as it doesn’t even have power steering and has never spoken a single word to me from its dash.  It was even silent when I drove all the way across the country without an oil cap.  You would think it might have at least mentioned it.

It is with great sadness the I finally retire the Knight Rider.  I don’t have a name for the new vehicle, but I guess for the purposes of conversation, we can call it the Red Rider.

In July of last year, I went onto eBay in an attempt to acquire the only car I would ever want to replace the Knight Rider with…the ever practical and utilitarian Honda Element.  As I placed my final bid, I had visions of road trips dancing in my head.  I was outbid at the last second by $100.  This time I was bound and determined not to lose another Element by this meager amount.

I’m happy to say that last week, I “won” myself an Element.  It is a 2005 red Honda Element EX, with only one owner and 45,000.  I got it for $2K under blue book value.  This time next weekend I will be somewhere in California driving it home from Santa Monica.  I’ll surely be blogging the building of a platform camping bed over the next few weeks.

This is what it will look like when I’m through with it.  In your mind, replace the surfboard with a couple mountain bikes…

As I was purchasing my new mountain bike last Thursday, I noticed a flyer for the 2008 Crest Crank.  This is an organized ride along the Monarch Crest Trail to raise money against domestic abuse.  I have been dying to ride this legendary trail composed of 23 miles of single track at 12,000 feet along the Continental Divide.

So, at 4:30am on Sunday, my buddy Hersch and I departed Boulder in the Civic and headed 3 hours south to Salida.  The trail itself in indescribably beautiful.  The pictures below might sum it up better.  Most mountain bike trails are at a lower elevation, so you’re weaving in and out of trees in the woods.  Biking above treeline promises majestic views that you can normally only get while hiking.

I am completely in love with my new bike.  The last time I got a mountain bike was about 7 years ago.  Its a great bike, but since then they have introduced full suspension, disc brakes, better geometries.  If you haven’t barreled down a mountain over dirt, rocks, bumps and logs at full speed on a bike, you should try it one day…its quite exhilarating!

I know its dangerous to bike with one hand and shoot video with the other, but I could not stop myself.  As you’ll see in the video below, it was a bad idea.  Unforunately, this will be the last video that my camera ever takes.

I am proud to be part of Boulder’s oldest soccer club, West End FC.  The club has been in existence for over 30 years.  In that time, there have been many upsets, many triumphs, many injuries, and way more hangovers than any of us would be able to account for.

On Thursday, we added another triumph to the list as well as another injury.  This was certainly the worst looking knee injury I’ve ever had, but probably the least serious.  In an attempt to get to the ball first, I crossed the path of the man with the boniest knees in the West.  This full speed collision with the inside of my knee resulted in what some doctors call a hematoma.

Rocky Mountain Oysters….I tried to try the last summer.  I went as far as to order them as an appetizer.  The moment I thought of putting them in my mouth, I gagged.  I quickly canceled the order and opted instead for the burger.

A few weeks ago, we met Jess’s folks at Jerry D’s bar and I was somehow convinced to try them again.  You can only order them by the pound, so there is no trying just one…you have to eat at least two…after all, they do come in pairs.
I am happy that I have eaten the “oysters” and I am still alive.  They weren’t that bad.  As you can probably guess, they taste alot like chicken.

The goal was to see if I could go an entire month without blogging.  I’m happy to say that I’ve accomplished the goal and everything is fine.  It was incredibly difficult to resist sitting back down in front of the computer on evening and weekends after sitting in front of it all day during the week, but will power is an amazing thing.  I’ll be posting updates from the incredibly exciting blog-free month in the upcoming days.  Thanks for your patience while this incredibly important online social experiment played out.  Now back to our irregularly scheduled blog.