It's been awhile since I've written anything on here. I guess I've been busy. Dental school is going fine. I'm about to start the more intense half of the year. I'll be in classes until July 2nd before I finally get a break. I get about 2 and a half weeks off this Summer before 4th year starts. I get a week off in the middle of March for Spring Break. I'm planning on going to Montana to do some skiing with some classmates. Should be a fun time.

Went out to Colorado for Winter Break with my roommate Brian. Got 7 days of skiing in. I was definitely tired by the end of the trip. We hit up a lot of black diamonds at the ski hills. In other words, we skied a lot of moguls. We spent our time at Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, and Breckenridge. Arapahoe Basin definitely was my favorite. Fun skiing, short lift lines, and wide open slopes made for a fun time there. I got a lot better during the seven days. I'm ready to get back out west for some more skiing.

A photo from one of the runs at Keystone:
Another photo at Keystone:
Brian and I at the Loveland Pass. I want to ski the pass if I make it to Summit County again. There were a few people doing it that day:

Well my last few days of summer are upon me and I'm trying to savor every last moment that I have. Been on a few bike rides since I've been back home. Ridden a few gravel roads, done some road rides, and road my mountain bike out to Sugar Bottom to hit up the trails. Hopefully I'll be in good shape when cross season rolls around. 

Had a good weekend. Helped my grandpa move on Friday in Mt. Pleasant. They found a home near my Grandma Sammons. It will be easy for my mom and dad to see both of them. Saturday was my friend Dave's birthday. We went out downtown Iowa City. Got to see some high school friends that I don't see very much anymore.

Haven't updated the blog for my Door County trip yet. I went there with Ben and Stephanie. My mom met us up there with Jane, Gary, Judy and Julie. Later on Jane's husband Tom and two of his kids, Kristi and Jake, met us also. All in all it was a fun 8 days. Rode my bike a little. Did a lot of kayaking on Lake Michigan and the Green Bay side of Door County. Had a really fun night the last night of the trip:

Headed to an eye appointment today at 11. Hopefully I can get a few more rides in before school starts Thursday.

RAGBRAI was fun this year. We had a lot of young people on the Sprint Selzer Bicycle Club this year. Erik and Evan joined me this year along with my roommate Brian and a few friends. Didn't get a whole lot of photos this year. I never seem to take many. 

My dad made it again this year. He was joined by my uncle Jim. I think they had a great time. Overall, the ride was fairly hilly. A lot of rolling hills the entire route. 

Sorry for not updating the blog the rest of my trip. Didn't have an internet connection for the rest of my trip. So here I am trying to recall what happened the rest of the time.

We spent a few days in Seattle. Evan's friend Graham had a few road bikes laying around, so we took a road ride in the city:
The city was great. The views of Mt. Rainier were amazing. It was a nice place. We also hit up the Pike Place Fish Market and a little bit of downtown Seattle. It was the first big city that we visited on our trip. There was some amazing fish. It was the best I'd had since visiting Sweden a few years ago. On our last day in the city we found a mountain bike trail on the way out of town:Wasn't like the trail riding we were used to on the rest of the trip, but we did alright.

Headed south to Portland that day and got to hand out in another big city for awhile. Portland had an abundant amount of bike lanes, bike trails, bikers, and runners. It seemed like a really healthy city. Everyone was outside exercising everyday after work.

We visited a dental office one morning downtown Portland. It was a nice experience to see a group practice in action. Didn't get any biking in for a few days. Mostly just relaxed and enjoyed the city.

After we left Portland, we drove down the west coast and got to enjoy views of the ocean. We camped out that night in Florence, Oregon on the coast.
I had never seen the ocean before. It was a fun way to enjoy it.

The next day we drove through Eugene, Oregon on our way to Bend. Eugene was a great college town. Didn't get to spend a whole lot of time there, but maybe I will some other time.

Bend, Oregon was one of my favorite stops on the trip. It ranked up there with Bozeman and Missoula. It had an plethora of mountain bike trails right outside of town. There is great cross country skiing in the winter and Mt. Bachelor is about a half hour away for downhill skiing. The mountain bike trails are becoming known throughout the country. The trail network called Phil's trail is amazing. Banked turns and great riding surfaces made it some of the best trails I've ever ridden:
We hit another trail called Tumalo Falls had 8 waterfalls along the way:
It was sad to leave Bend. I wish I could have spent more time there. All in all, I really liked Oregon. One of my favorite states on the entire trip.

We started our trip back east by heading to Afton, Wyoming. We stayed with our classmate Jaxon for a night. He showed us around town. We saw some mountains that were literally in his back yard. He said that he skis them in the winter after he does about an hour long hike to the top. Awesome!

We headed to Jackson Hole, Wyoming after Afton. The Tetons were absolutely amazing. I don't think I have ever seen anything as rugged as the Tetons. We hit the edge of Yellowstone National Park and headed towards Fort Collins, Colorado. Got to eat dinner in Fort Collins and spent the night in Johnstown, Colorado with Evan's brother Clay.

Evan and I made it home the next day. The trip lasted one day short of 3 weeks. The first week went by really slow. The rest seemed to fly by. Overall, it was a great time. I want to move out west. Hopefully, no one minds too much that I move away. At least for a little while. Just remember: you would have a great place to go visit if you made your way out that way!

Made it to Seattle today! We left Whitefish yesterday and drove through Sandpoint and Coeur D'Alene. They were nice places. I think Coeur D'Alene was the richest town I've ever been in. Too many nice cars and rich people everywhere. We spent the night in Spokane, Washington. Evan's brother is going to school there this summer, so we stayed with him. Here is a photo from our rides in Whitefish: This was the Reid Divide trail outside of Whitefish near Tally Lake. You can see the Whitfish Mountain Resort on the left in the distance. In the center of the photo is Glacier National Park. I guess they just opened the roads up there because there is still a lot of snow.This is the top of Beacon Hill in Spokane. It was a little trail system inside Spokane. There were some pretty intricate trails with some pretty nasty downhill trails. I stayed away from the "skills parks" because those guys are crazyThis is Evan's friend Graham's house in Seattle. We will be staying here till Wednesday. He lives fairly near campus right off of I-5. You can see Mt. Rainier out of the second floor window! Haven't been in Seattle long, but it's a pretty cool place. Will probably do some riding tomorrow morning and then maybe see the town a little. Maybe see the fish market.

Hey everyone! Quick update. I'm in Whitefish right now. It's a beautiful mountain time with a lot of really nice places. I guess it is a hotspot for a lot of people from California. Some of the real estate is worth a lot of money. Anyways, Evan and I did two rides the last two days. Both were a lot of fun. Watched the fireworks over the lake last night for the fourth and went out downtown last night to a bar with Evan's sisters and cousin.

We are off to Sandpoint, Coeur D'Alene, and Spokane tomorrow. Should be a great time. I have some photos from the rides. I will post them later.

It's about 8 p.m. here in Missoula. Evan and I just got back from floating down the Blackfoot River. It was a blast. I think it took about 2 and a half hours to make it. The views were amazing. The entire trip we had mountains surrounding us. We went with Evan's sister's old roommate and some of her friends. We had a group of 9 total.

Earlier today Evan and I went back to Rattlesnake National Recreation Area and found another trail to take. We took the route called Spring Gulch that was recommended in the Montana Singletrack book that we picked up in Bozeman. There are way too many trails in the area, so you have to pay attention to where you are going. The trail was a lot of fun. We had some decent climbing to begin the ride and when we got near the top it got a lot steeper. It was definitely rough. The view was definitely worth the climb:
In the distance you can see Montana Snowbowl. A ski hill that is about 15 miles outside Missoula
This is me standing at the top of the overlook.

The ride continued down the mountain. The descent was fun like usual. It is a really cool trail system.

Not sure what is going on tonight. We are planning on leaving early tomorrow for Whitefish. Should be a fun time. There are some fireworks over the lake. Should be a nice relaxing evening.