The Death Road

On Tuesday, December 24th (Christmas Eve) I started day 1 of The Strava Festive 500 strong.  It's an eight day challenge to ride a total of 500 kilometers.  Since we don't use the metric system in the US of A, it's 310 miles.  It equates to a solid 40 mile bicycle ride each day for eight days straight.



A 40 mile bike ride isn't that big of a deal on its own.  Even a couple of days in a row of 40 miles each day is OK with little to moderate training leading up to the event.  However, 40 miles a day for eight days straight with little to no prior riding is a lot.  So, I'm just shooting for four days, non-consecutive, of 40 miles total each day.

On day 1, I headed out on San Diego's Hwy 78 towards The San Diego Zoo Safari Park.  The road is fine in some spots and extremely scary in others.  The shoulder goes from a car-lane's width to nothing and back for miles at a time.  The entire climb up to the quaint little town of Ramona is beautiful, but I feared for my life the entire time.

My worst fear was that at the top I'd have to simply turn around and descend the same road.  It'd be a test of my mental ability to descend because I am sure that the bike is way more capable physically than I am mentally to do a fast descent.

Thankfully, at the top I found a route that looped me back to home without having to put on my big-boy pants and drop back down Hwy 78.  Whew!  The loop was almost a perfect circle (as close as mountain roads are concerned).  All said, my ride was 42 miles and 3100 feet of climbing.

Here's to a complete 160 miles for me!
Clayton

Saturday Surf Session

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

This past Saturday the 7^th, I was back at my usual haunt of Anderson Street.  I met a buddy of mine for a little dawn patrol session before the rain came.  Nature had other plans.  By the time I was in my truck and headed to the beach it had started to rain.  Thankfully, it hadn’t been raining overnight.  So, the water wasn’t a toxic waste dump yet.

The air temperate was hovering around the 45°F mark as I made my way to the parking lot.  I snapped a cool picture of the rain hitting my window as the sun peeked through the clouds while waiting for my buddy to park.

 The surf was just OK.  Every now and then there was a waist-high wave.  Otherwise, the waves were little ankle breakers.  It was still fun chatting with my friend as the rain turned on and off.
  

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

I surfed my new Infinity SUP Phoenix V4 Asym board.  I know that’s a mouth full.  It is an AWESOME board.  I didn’t do any actually stand-up paddling this time out though.  I surfed it prone.  The board is 30” wide, so paddling it was really funny.  I did stand up on it while waiting between sets.  Stand-up surfing the board isn’t going to be as big of a learning curve as I had feared.   

This is my first custom board of any kind and my first “short” SUP board.  The board’s dimensions are  7’7” long x 30” wide x 4” thick. The asymmetric tail shape is subtle, but the performance is noticeable.

I’m really stoked my new board and I had a blast surfing in the rain with my friend. 

Until next time,
Clayton

RIding in the rain

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

For the Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend my girlfriend and I traveled down to her parent’s house in the San Diego area.  They live on a pretty significant hill that is close to a fun trail system at Lake Hodges.  So, in the spirit of being active I went mountain biking both Thanksgiving Thursday and Black Friday.

On both days I suited up at the house and bombed down the hill to the trail head.  Thursday’s ride was fun and it felt good to be riding yet again after my hernia surgery, though I took it really easy on the technical stuff.  I didn’t feel like risking an emergency visit to the doctor’s on Thanksgiving Day.  I bounced around the trails for about an hour and then headed home.  All said and done the ride was a solid hour and a half in the saddle.

On Friday, the ride started before I ever got suited up.  I was looking out of the windows at the looming storm clouds.  I made comment on the possibility of rain only to be beguiled by both my girlfriend and her mother about how it wasn’t going to rain and that those weren’t rain clouds.

I was skeptical to say the least.  At the same time, even the weather reports I was looking at said that the rain wasn’t going to happen until later in the day.  So, I bet on the rain holding off and went for my ride. I hadn’t made it to the start of my decent to the trail before the drops started to hit me. It was really sparse, so I didn’t think it was anything to worry about.

Just as my front wheel hit the dirt trail, the rain came.  It proceeded to rain the entire hour and change that I rode.  It was actually a lot of fun to ride in the rain, even if it isn’t the best trail etiquette to cause trail erosion.

I made it back home safe and sound, dirty and wet with a big smile on my face and in my heart.

Until next time,
Clayton 

Saturday Surf Session

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

So, this Saturday the 23rd I didn't actually go surfing.

I don't think my surgery is ready for the twisting and stress on my abdomen that surfing requires.

Instead, I went for a bicycle ride.  I busted out my Specialized Allez and rode The Los Coyotes River Trail down to The PCH and bombed down to Huntington Beach and back.  It was a great ride and a beautiful day.

Just FYI to all the hard-core roadies, I didn't have my aerobars on.  This is an older picture from a triathlon called Race on the Base.

 I ended up doing 29 miles in about one hour and 45 minutes.  You can check out my Strava details here.



My whopping 381 feet of elevation gain!  That's the major thing I dislike about my immediate location.  All the riding around here is FLAT!!  I can go "north", which is really east of here and get into hills at about mile 15.  Then it really picks up, but the first 15 miles are SO BORING that it's tough to motivate that way sometimes.

It's good to be sort-of back to training!
Clayton

Inguinal Hernia Surgery

Original photo by mil8

This past Monday, the 11th, I went under the knife to have an inguinal hernia repaired.

My hernia was on my left side and not bad at all compared to some of the pictures and articles out on the internet.  Mine was more annoying than anything and with the start of my new business I felt the need to get it taken care of.

The surgery was over quickly. I was given general anesthesia, so it could have taken HOURS and it would have seemed quick.  It really was fast though; total time was maybe an hour.

A friend at work had the surgery done about a year ago and forewarned me that I would need to pee in front of the nurse before they released me from the hospital.  Thankfully, I had to GO when I woke up from the surgery, so that took no time at all.

The day of surgery I was OK as far as pain, it was day two that was no fun.  I took Advil and that seemed to do the trick for me.  Day three and day four have been measurably better.

I need to hoe the long row because for the next two to three weeks I cannot lift anything greater than 15lbs.  So, no surfing, no cycling, no going to the gym.  I can walk, thankfully, so I am not bed-ridden by any means.

Here's to recovery!
Clayton

The 8th Annual 24 and 6 Hours of Halloween

On Saturday the 26th, a friend of mine shanghaied me into racing a 6 hour mountain bike race.  It was the 2013 24-and-6-HOURS-of-HALLOWEEN presented by The Dirt Club in Los Olivos, CA.  I only did one lap, 10.5 miles, which took me just over an hour.

It was a TOUGH course, my one lap had 1400 feet of elevation gain.  The climbing itself was very technical, lots of switchbacks and pretty steep at some points.  The descents were equally technical and fun.  Some were switchbacks while other descents were just straight as she goes.  The straight ones were sweet! I could just let it fly, no brakes, tons of speed.  The total lap was nuts and I was more than happy to hit the start/finish line and call it a day.

Plenty of people that were in no better shape than I am soldiered on.  It was impressive to see both their mental and physical states change each lap as they came through the start/finish line.  It was immediately obvious when they were completely spent.  I think most average riders, both male and female, only completed three or four laps before calling it quits.



My one measly lap was fun though.  I haven't raced or ridden like that in a very long time.  I could feel it in my legs immediately on the steeper climbs.  All of my riding this year has been commuting to work and back.  Where I live in SoCal that equates to extremely flat riding.  There is a gradual climb to work and a gradual descent going home, but it is imperceptible.

I'm pretty sure my friend does this every year.  He was saying that they had changed the course for this year's race and that it was tougher than previous year's courses.

So, now I know what to expect in October and I will be able to actually train for this event next year.  The ultimate idea is to complete a lap in about an hour's time.  That way you get in six laps or 60 miles of riding.  What is crazy is the 8500 feet of elevation gain that would equate to.  That is a fair amount of climbing for any ride.

Even more incentive: my friend placed 2nd in the 6hr solo single speed race! He even won some cash. In other words, I have my work cut out for me.

Clayton

Grain Surfboards - The Steamer day 4

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

This past weekend I spent Friday through Monday working with eight other surfers and the guys from Grain Surfboards building one of their Steamer Kits in the back parking lot of Patagonia Cardiff.

--//--

Day 3 was a lot of work, but definitely not as much as the previous two days.  We did stay really late on Sunday getting everyone's boards set and ready for the final push on day 4.

We started our day with a fun little surf out at Cardiff Reef.  I was the only SUP guy which was really funny.  Everybody was really cool when we were in class and working together, but out in the line-up I got no love.

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

So, as I do when I SUP anyway, I went off on my own and found my own peak to have fun with.  In the midst of the morning session I saw a little baby shark, cool but scary, as well as a baby ray.  The ray was awesome to watch fly through water.  So graceful, so fluid, so majestic.  It was a good surf.

My new Billabong Xero 302 wetsuit worked like a charm.  I really like it a lot.  Plenty warm, plenty of movement, and nobody could see my one arm nor my one leg because of the camo!  HA

But enough of my silly surfing.

Day 4 we flipped the boards over and attacked the bottom deck which remained untouched up to this point.  We used our spokeshaves and block planes to bevel the edges until they really started falling in-line with the rails.

Then it was time to think about the rail shapes and how we wanted our boards to ride in the water.  Mine was somewhat easy in that most of my rails are what they call 50-50 or round rails.  The tail section was the only tricky part where I needed a "down-rail" type contour to help the board carve and surf well in general.

Original photo by Clayton Plummer
It's only two letters, but I had
to practice that signature!

The other tough part was shaving the tail block.  This was difficult because you had to draw the tool towards the board, not away from the board.  If you drew the blade away from the board the block would chip.  The other issue with the tail block is that the grain is perpendicular to the rest of the board.  So, I had to shave it as close to the board as possible without nicking the top or bottom deck.

We finished the day by sanding the living heck out of the entire board.  Making sure all of the tool marks and and blemishes were missing from the wood itself.

As the sun set, we finished up.  It was a lot of fun with all the new tools and new skills I learned.  I met some cool people.  The Grain guys, Nolan and Mike, were awesome.  Very down to earth and friendly (though not out in the surf as much).  I was also introduced to Keith Malloy who worked with us the first couple of days before he was called away on another one of his awesome adventures.  I was also introduced to Jon Wegner of Wegner Surfboards.  He is a really cool California native that has been shaping boards, a lot of them wood, for over twenty years.  He helped everybody in the class as much as he could all the while working between two different boards himself.

I'm totally stoked on my new board.  Now I just need to get it glassed.  I have a fin, leash, board bag, and all of the other goodies ready to go.

Clayton

Grain Surfboards - The Steamer day 3

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

This past weekend I spent Friday through Monday working with eight other surfers and the guys from Grain Surfboards building one of their Steamer Kits in the back parking lot of Patagonia Cardiff.

--//--

Day 2 was more work and a longer day than day 1, but it was so much fun  I slept like a baby Saturday night as well.  Thankfully, Sunday was a late start so I was able to sleep in.

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

My girlfriend and I spent Sunday morning cruising down to Oceanside and more specifically Surf Ride Board Shop.  I ordered a new Billabong Xero 302 wetsuit to replace a wetsuit top that tore, finally, after seven years of service.  It is really cool, though I am a kook, with the camo arm and leg.  I didn't get to wear it that day, other than trying it on.

Day 3, we started mid-day to let all of the titebond glue as well as the 3M 5200 marine adhesive dry, cure, and set as much as possible.

This insured that the top deck was glued to the frame and rails as best it could be in such a short amount of time. It worked. We were given a quick lesson in how to use a draw knife and sent on our way.

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

The draw knife is used to cut a lot of wood off of the edges of the top deck as quickly as possible.  It works really well in the hands of a professional.  It is really dangerous in my hands, in that I ALMOST took too much wood in one spot.  I thought it was going to be an issue. Thankfully, it wasn't and that spot went away as soon as we started to use our spokeshaves and block planes to bring the top deck in line with our rails.

The wood shaving process really started to make sense on day 3 and I was able to get the hang of both the spokeshave and block plane (more or less).  The end result was really cool to see. The thing that started life looking more like a WWII airplane wing was beginning to really look like a surfboard.  Surfable? Still to be determined, but in all sense and purpose: a surfboard.

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

 In order to get the rails to really come together with the top deck a line of blue painter's tape was set all around the board at the deck-to-rail mating line.  It isn't an exact science, but the idea is to shave the top deck down to the point that you can just see the top edge of the tape.  Once there, you don't have to shave any more wood from that area.

Done right, the tape just pulls right back off of the board.  In my case that wasn't totally true.  I had blue tape still stuck under the wood of my top deck even at the end of day 3. I later addressed this issue on day 4.

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

The final thing for The Steamer on day 3 was to have the tail block installed.  I was given a box of light and dark colored wood block pieces to glue together and then glue to the tail of the board.   I chose three light sandwiched around two dark pieces.  I think it looks pretty good.  Once it was all glued up, it was taped into place and left to sit overnight.

The tail block process was repeated for all of the longboard guys, which I think there were three of us total.  Everybody did their own pattern and it turned out really well on everybody's boards.

Grain Surfboards - The Steamer day 2

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

This past weekend I spent Friday through Monday working with eight other surfers and the guys from Grain Surfboards building one of their Steamer Kits in the back parking lot of Patagonia Cardiff.

--//--

Day 1 was a lot of work.  I felt great at the end of the day, slept like a baby that night, and woke up ready to charge head-on into day 2!

Some of the guys got up early enough to go for a surf before the start of day 2.  I wasn't one of those people.  It looked like fun watching them with my coffee in hand, though.

Saturday, day 2, dawned with the boards railed and ready for us to start using spokeshaves and block planes to get the pieces of wood fair (wood working term for smooth, round, and continuous).  Once we had shaved all of the wood down (very thin in some spots) we sanded everything with 80 grit sandpaper and prepared the surface for more titebond glue as well as some 3M 5200 marine adhesive.

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

The final step for day two was to get the top deck glued onto the planed and sanded rails.  Once the deck was set, we used a cool lattice work of boards, more spring clamps, and rope to squeeze everything together.  The bottom of the boards are contoured in this process using some cool CNC machined, unique, and individual piece of wood for each section of the board.  Each set of CNC pieces was unique to the type of board.  So, the pieces for my Steamer were different from The CI Biscuit pieces, The Seed pieces, and all of the other boards in our class.  One other guy had a Steamer in the class.  The remaining six boards were different.

The million dollar questions for every passer-by was either "Is that Balsa wood?" or "Is that thing solid?"  It was pretty interesting how many people came by that had wooden surfboards.

Grain Surfboards is headquartered in Portland, Maine.  Amazingly enough, there had to be a hundred transplants that now live in the Cardiff are; it was quite the reunion all day.  It made me laugh, only because I'm a transplant from Michigan.

The final highlight of the day was all of the dogs!  So many people in Cardiff have French Bulldogs.  They are so cute with their little satellite ears!!  Along with my hard work, I had plenty of dog therapy.

Clayton

Grain Surfboards - The Steamer day 1

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

This past weekend I spent Friday through Monday working with eight other surfers and the guys from Grain Surfboards building one of their Steamer Kits in the back parking lot of Patagonia Cardiff.

--//--

I was excited about the class, but man it was FUN!!

We started Friday morning, day 1, with our bottom decks glued to the internal frame.  The task for day 1 was to glue up all the tiny individual wood pieces that made the rails.  Using multiple spring clamps, titebond marine wood glue, and a cool hot-glue technique they recently developed we worked in pairs on each others boards to get all the pieces glued and set for day 2.

Original photos by Clayton Plummer

Some of the pieces required the wood to be steamed in order to make the curve of the nose or tail.  This was achieved by placing the piece of wood under a towel, soaking the towel in water, and then placing a common household iron on the wet towel.  This steamed the wood which made it very pliable.  More spring clamps were used to keep the wood bent in place as we worked and as it dried.

Before I signed up for this class, I played with the idea of buying one of Grain's kits and doing this whole process myself.  I'm handy and mechanically inclined.  I build and work on my own bicycles.  However, day 1 of this class was a HUGE eye opener.  I am so very glad that I paid for the class, because wow.  Using the spokeshave and block plane correctly would have been a very long process.  Just getting my tools sharpened would have been a long process.  Not to mention all the auxiliary tools, stands, clamps, and such that I would have had to purchase.  I would have equaled the price of the class to just have enough supporting equipment. All that on top of making mistakes that I wouldn't have been able to fix myself and ruining the board completely.

Clayton

Saturday Surf Session

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

Once again it was a Saturday surf session at Anderson Street.  I tried to coordinate meeting two different friends.  It didn't work really well.

I met up with one, but missed meeting up with the other.  I saw both of their vehicles parked, but couldn't pick both of them out of the line-up.  There were quite a few guys out since SoCal was experiencing some pretty decent surf.

Typical of Anderson Street the "bigger" sets, which weren't that big, for the record, would just close-out.  So, you had to sit and endure through the close-out sets and wait for the medium sized stuff Anderson Street can handle.

My first wave of the day was the best for me.  I was surfing my Dead Kooks Hell Hound.  I rode a nice long left staying right in the pocket the whole time.  I probably rode a total of six waves in the two hours I sat out there.  Not a high production day, for sure.  It was fun though.

My buddy and I talked about everything and nothing in particular the whole time we sat out there.

Until next time,
Clayton

Saturday Surf Session

Original photo by Cyron

Last Saturday, the 28th of September, I surfed at Anderson Street.  I rode my Meyerhoffer Lemondrop because I thought a buddy of mine might join me.  He isn't a surfer by any means, not that I'm good, but I can out-surf him.  So, I thought I'd even the odds a bit by riding something that I needed to really paddle compared to his long board.

It was a perfect long board day at Anderson Street.  Thankfully, the Lemondrop is a full-foam board.  There is a lot of meat in the board and most of it is right under your chest.  Which makes it really easy to paddle.

As a result, I was still surfing lots of waves.  Granted, it was only one bottom turn and then the wave was done, but still I was catching a lot of waves and making that bottom turn.

I ended up surfing with three random guys and one girl.  It was fun.  Two of the guys were really good on their long boards.  It was fun to watch them put on a clinic.  They were doing head-dips, hang-five, hang-ten, you name it.  It was really cool to watch them do their thing and make it look SO easy.

Also, to no ones surprise, I'm sure, I saw the dolphins.  This time they had the little ones with them.  They were stirring up the bait-ball and teaching the little ones how to hunt.  It was really cool.  The babies were so tiny with their little dorsal fins.

The spooky part of that experience were all the birds.  They were chasing the bait-ball too.  Pelicans, which are huge in person, would dive-bomb into the bait-ball not two feet from where I was sitting on my board.  It's unnerving because you don't hear anything until the giant splash happens on impact.

It was a great day.  I spent a total of two hours in the water that morning.

Until next time!!
Clayton

Saturday Surf Session

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

Well, actually, it was a Sunday Surf Session, but you get the idea.  I was back home at Anderson Street this weekend.  It felt good to be in a familiar break. 

Tamarack is sweet and I've had quite a few fun sessions there;  I just wasn't ready last Saturday for the size.  My SUP is a nice board, but I'm not good at surfing it in heavy waves.  I psyched myself out as I drove to Tamarack and before I ever suited up it was too late for me mentally.

I should have surfed my 6'8" Meyerhoffer Lemondrop.  It would have been fun, especially since I haven't ridden it in a while.  That board is better suited for the waves we were getting here in SoCal last weekend.

I didn't psych myself out this Sunday.  As a result, I had a blast.  It was fun and I didn't put any pressure on myself to perform.

The dolphins were out playing in the surf as well this morning.  I really enjoy watching them play in their element.

The surf was OK.  No where near as big and powerful as last Saturday.  The period (time between waves) was a little short, but manageable.  I caught a handful of waves at least.  They were all redemption waves for last week's shut out.

I called it good and rode my last wave all the way in because I noticed that the lens of my GoPro was fogging up like there was water in the waterproof case.  DOH!  So, rather than risk a $400 piece of equipment, I retired on a high note.

Thankfully, after getting back to my truck and drying off, I took the GoPro out of it's case and had a look.  There wasn't any standing water.  I think there had been JUST enough moisture in the case from when I cleaned it last week that it caused the lens to fog.  The camera itself is fine and so is the case.

Until next time, keep it rubber side down!
Clayton

Saturday Surf Session

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

This Saturday I surfed somewhere else!  I know, WHAT?!  Yes, I surfed down in northern San Diego County at a break called Tamarack.  It is in Carlsbad, CA.

It was a big day for the surf.  I have not been surfing enough, nor am I skilled enough for the power that was out there Saturday.

So, I paddled out and just watched.

There was an old man out there, like 70 years old and surfing a SUP, no less.  He was just chillin' in the line-up, no problem.  He paddled into waves like it was no big deal.  He was definitely an old salt.  TONS of years surfing and the paddle thing was just another wave vehicle.  He was definitely from the era when you had to be a true waterman to surf.  No leashes (kook cords) and the boards weighed over 50lbs.  He made it look easy.

I tried to scratch my way into smaller warm-up waves, but it wasn't happening.  I was too far outside (with the rest of the line-up) for the small stuff.  The big sets were BIG, but had a very long period (time between sets).  I made the mistake of being teased to the inside stuff, catching nothing, just as a big set came through.  I always seem to be RIGHT where the wave breaks when I get caught this way.  Thankfully, I was just inside enough for the wave to break before it got to me.  I turned towards shore and got way back on the tail of my board to let the wall of white-wash propel me zero-to-sixty back to the sand.

I sucked it up and paddled back out.  I paddled around for an hour and a half before calling it good.  I couldn't even catch a ripple to ride in as I paddled back to shore.  I tried, I promise.

So, once back on land, I sat and watched the masters do their work.  It is always amazing to watch guys catch big waves like it's no big deal.  Longboards, short boards, SUPs; whatever they're riding it doesn't seem to matter to the guys that know what to do.

Hopefully, I'll be that guy some day.  In the mean time, it was a day to watch mother nature doing her thing while the real surfers rode the waves and had a blast.

Until next time, keep it rubber side down.
Clayton

Saturday Surf Session

Saturday I surfed at, wait for it, dramatic pause, Anderson Street!  YAY!  I know blah blah boring.  Ha.

I did have fun.  The waves were tiny, but they were there.  I uploaded a video because I actually used my GoPro this time.  I also used the WiFi remote for it too.

The remote made a huge difference in how much data I recorded.  With the help of my girlfriend, who is super awesome at the whole editing thing, I've got my first video.  It's simple, but came out really cool.

While I was out there I got to see a seal.  Which is kind of cool, but kind of scary too.  Sharks eat seals, so in my head seal = shark.

Thankfully, not much time passed before the dolphins came swimming into the area.  That was reassuring.  They didn't swim very close to shore, but they were close enough to see.  I know it isn't completely true, but again in my head the dolphins scare the sharks away from the area.

The sun was hot, the surf was not, but overall it was a fun morning at Anderson Street.

Until next time,
Keep it rubber side down!
Clayton

Saturday Surf Session

Original Photo by Wonderlane

These past couple of weekends have been FLAT.  I mean Lake Pacific versus The Pacific Ocean flat.  Rather than fighting the good fight for non-existent waves, I've been doing other things.

My girlfriend and I have hiked out at Shady Canyon two Saturdays in a row.  Last week Saturday the place was packed.  I've been there quite a few times and I don't know if I've ever seen that many cars in the parking lot.

We are no longer training for a trip to Montana.  That trip's time slot has come and gone.  We were never able to find adequate lodging.  That isn't to say that there weren't places to stay, but nothing that we were looking to rent.  Hopefully, that trip will materialize before the glaciers all melt completely in Glacier National Park.

A couple of Sundays ago I went mountain biking for the first time in a very long time.  I did The Fullerton Loop Trail out and back for a total of almost 20 miles.  The distance struck me as odd because I've done the out and back quite a few times and it was always over 20 before.  This time it was shy of 20 and I didn't do anything different in the route.  Like I said, kind of weird.  It was still a good ride and it felt great to get on the bike again.

Original Photo by Clayton Plummer

This weekend was Labor Day.  My girlfriend and I took the short trip down to her parent's place in The San Diego Area.  Her dad and I went fishing off of his Tayana 37 sail boat.  We sailed out of The Coronado Bay just out to Point Loma and stuck to the kelp beds out there.  We didn't have any luck until we moved away from the kelp and over to the other side of the sunken jetty.  There I hooked into a nice 20+ inch long Pacific Halibut.  I was using 40lb test braided line, a Warbait Slayer Head jig, and a plastic grub tail.  My set-up was more than powerful enough for the halibut.  I man-handled him to the boat no problem.  To give you an idea of size, the black thing (cleat) is about 6 to 8 inches long.  The fish is about 3 to 4 of those cleats long.

Pretty fun, great weekend.

Hopefully, the surf picks up a bit between now and when I pic up some new gear here in the next two months.  More on that in another blog!!

Until next time,
Clayton

ISSA Personal Trainer Certificate

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

I am officially official as well as certifiably certified.  I passed my ISSA Personal Trainer final exam on July 25th with a score of 88%.  Not graded on a curve, mind you.  As well, I just recently took and passed a CPR/AED course from The Red Cross.

Both of those things submitted to ISSA to get my actual certificate and now I'm onto the next phase; creating a website and business cards.

It's kind of scary to think that I've completed this thing.  I have been studying and taking tests through the ISSA website since mid-March.  I've been actively studying since the second week in January.

I've done something like this before.  I was a USA Cycling certified cycling coach for a brief moment.  I was a Level 3 (beginner) and took the Level 2 class, but I waited too long after the class to take the Level 2 test and forgot too much of the specific information to pass.

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

I plan on getting certified in Standup Paddle Training next year down in San Diego.  It's called Paddle Fit Pro and I'm looking forward to it.

In the mean time, it's time to think up a proper name for my new business.

Until next time, thanks, and talk to you later!

Clayton

My 35th Birthday

Original photo by ricardodiaz11

I turned 35 this past July.  It wasn't anything special, but it was a fun birthday.  My girlfriend and I went to Disneyland on the Saturday after my birthday and had a blast.  It actually rained while we were there, which worked out in our favor because all of the local season pass-holders took off.

The park was blissfully empty after the rain let up (a relative term for Disney on a Saturday in the summer) and ride lines were extremely short.  I think the longest line we waited in was for The Matterhorn which took us 45 minutes and never stopped moving.

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

Disneyland is currently working on Thunder Canyon, so we didn't get to ride that one.   We also stayed away from Indiana Jones as well as Star Tours.  I don't do well with the shaky-go-puky rides.

Fun fact - The two US parks vary in their upkeep maintenance schedules in that Disneyland will keep a ride closed for as long as it takes.  This is owing to the fact that the majority of Disneyland visitors are Californians.  Disney World on the other hand turns-around their maintenance as quickly as possible because of it being more of an international destination.  People come from all over the world expecting the Disney experience.

 Well, Happy Birthday to me.  It was a good one.

Saturday Surf Session

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

So, sorry to everybody that actually reads my blog.  I've been busy finishing up my ISSA Personal Trainer Certificate (more on this topic in another blog post), celebrating my 35th birthday, getting CPR/AED certified by my local Red Cross, and a myriad of other little things.  One of which is playing video games.

My girlfriend, who is a hardcore gamer, has gotten me into it for sure.  I am not at her level, but I have fun with it.  The most recent game that I finished was Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year for the PS3.

That's not why we're here though.  SURFING!  More specifically, SUP surfing.

I know the photos are old.  I need to use my GoPro more.  I have been staying up on the updates.  The latest is really sweet with more features on the GoPro App control.

I finally got back into the water after about three week's time this past Saturday.  I went down to my usual haunt of Anderson Street.  It was perfect conditions and the water was super clear.  Funny enough, it was high tide went I hit the water, which is usually bad for Anderson Street.  The waves were coming up from the south at 200+ degrees, so they made a nice angle to the beach.  Plus, the period (time between individual waves in a set of waves) was long enough to keep them apart.

The dolphins were out there doing there thing, fairly close to shore.  It was cool.  They came cruising by a couple of times while I was out there.

I surfed for about an hour and that was good for me.  My shoulders, legs, and abs were starting to fatigue.  Plus, the water and air temps are warm and I was sweating like mad.  I only had on my 2.0mm top and a pair of boardshorts.  I wasn't wearing my full wetsuit like in my picture.

I had a blast.  It felt good to get back in the water.
Until next time,
Clayton

Saturday Surf Session

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

This past Saturday I went down to Cardiff with my SUP.  Cardiff is quickly becoming a favorite spot for me when my girlfriend and I are down at her parents’ place.

I was up early (for a Saturday) and made my way to the surf by 8:50-ish.  This worked out great since low tide was at 8:30 or so this past Saturday. Cardiff is cool because there is a rock-reef for the wave to form against.  There’s one spot in particular that is close to the surface, especially at low tide.  It makes this really cool and weird water boil every time a wave passes over it. In general, the reef makes the wave ultra predictable.  It breaks in a very specific spot every time.  So, that makes it easy to paddle out, line up, and catch waves.

I surfed for about an hour and a half.  It felt like much longer because my wave count was high.  There was a pretty good crowd, and quite a few SUP’pers out there.  Thankfully, there were plenty of waves for everybody.

It was a good day of surf, waves were fun, crowd was mellow, and the marine layer burned off early so the sun was shining. One of these days, I’m going to bring some fishing gear and check out the reef out past the breakers.  I think there are some fun fish to be hand out there.

Gotta Go Hiking

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

This past Sunday, Father’s Day, my girlfriend and I went hiking at Daley Ranch in Escondido, CA.  This hiking trip was training for Montana later on this summer.

The drive up to the trail head is pretty cool all on its own.  It isn’t very long, but it is STEEP.  I think it kicks up around 15-20% at one point.  I had to down shift my Tacoma into 2^nd gear to have the proper torque.

There is plenty of parking at the top for free, but if you want, there is also a Forest Service booth at the start of the park that you can pay to park inside the gate.  We opted to park for free since there were plenty of spaces available.

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

Dixon Lake - Original photo by Clayton Plummer

Once we were on our way, the trail starts off dirt, but switches to paved road for a short while.  We split from the paved road at the Middle Pond Trail fork.  As we approached the pond, I could hear a bull frog doing his thing.  My girlfriend had not ever heard it before, so she got a kick out of the drumming bass note the bull frog produces.

We hiked for a short while and as the trail wound its way around, we came to a spot where we could hike up to The Dixon Lake Reservoir.  So, that’s what we did.  Dixon Lake is a small reservoir but is actually a real body of water made bigger.  The water reminded me more of what lakes are like back where I’m from in Michigan versus any of the reservoirs I’ve been on.  The water was clean, healthy, and clear.  So, it had that black appearance out where the water is deep.

We hiked all the way around the north side of the reservoir until we had to go up into a parking lot, through that parking lot, up another trail to a nice grassy park where families were setting up birthday parties and such.  Once through that park we hiked around the bend in the road, through the paid entry gate, and back to the car.

Of course, I forgot my Garmin.  So, I don’t have any data to share, sorry.

I did bring my phone and snapped a couple of pictures, though.  Enjoy.

Until next time, keep it rubber side down!

Clayton

Rest Week - Bike Building Time

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

This week was an off week for me, well, off weekend anyway.  I did workout all five days of the work week.  I just wasn't into surfing despite there being actual surf to be had.  I also didn't feel like hiking.  So, I spent my energy on building two of the three bicycles I have in various pieces in my garage.

I started with my Santa Cruz Stigmata 'cross frame.  I used my local bike shop, Richard's Cyclery, to help me with the Chris King Pretty and Strong headset installation.  Thankfully, the Easton EC90X fork I used for this build already had the Chris King crown installed on it.  For the handlebars, stem, and seat post I used Ritchey Logic WCS pieces all in black.  The drive train is all of the Shimano Ultegra stuff I had except the cranks are FSA Energy with 53/39 chainrings.  It's not geared for actual cyclocross at the moment.  The wheelset is a Chris King Pretty and Strong hubset with Mavic Reflex tubular rims that I bought from my friend at Built To Last Wheels.  It is a light bike and it looks good.  I think I might race it a few times before I actually ship it off to my mom's house for good.

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

The second bike I built this weekend is my Specialized Allez frameset from 2011.  It's a nice frame, made out of E5 aluminum, which was the state of the art stuff back at the beginning of the millennium.  It has a carbon fork with a tapered aluminum steer tube.  A Cane Creek tapered headset keeps the fork in line.  I added a couple of Specialized Rib Cage bottle cages in blue to match the frame.  Like the Stigmata, I used a Ritchey Logic WCS stem, handle bar, and seat post.  This time I used Ritchey's wet white color.  Even though you only see a tiny bit of the handle bars once taped it makes my OCD happy to know they all match.  For the drive train I used a SRAM Force groupo that I pieced together this winter/spring.  It's not the new SRAM 22 stuff, but still cool looking.  The wheels are a Powertap Pro hub in the rear and a Chris King R45 hub in silver in the front mated to DT Swiss RR465 rims that I bought from my friend at Built To Last Wheels.  I am looking forward to riding it and getting used to the whole SRAM double tap shifting thing.

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

I have one more bike to build, but that's another blog for another time.

Happy Riding and keep it rubber side down!!
Clayton

Gotta Go Hiking

Original photo by Clayton Plummer

Wednesday the 29th of May was a fun day for me and my girlfriend.  We'd been surfing in the mornings starting Saturday the 25th through Tuesday the 28th.  The surf looked awful, so we went hiking in the afternoon instead.  This hiking trip was training for Montana later on this summer.

We went down to Irvine, Ca and hit the Shady Canyon Trail by starting at The Quail Hill Loop Trail parking lot.  We went off to the left, instead of following the usual path.  It was a good hike, really steep at the beginning.  We don't do this side of Quail Hill often, so it was a good change.

We hiked a total of 3.6 miles in just over 1 hour's time.  You can view the Training Peaks file here.