Overview of the last week

June 20th - Hard training session at the gym, maybe too hard

Luke, AJ and I decided to climb all the problems in the gym. We got about half way when i got on a yellow and did a drop knee. I felt two clicks and then my knee hurt. I hope it has just my tendons/ligaments jumping over each other. If feels fine now, but i'm scared to drop knee. I've been stretching, so hopefully that will help both of my knees out.

June 21st - School Started

I'm taking Calculus II w/ a lab. I never did understand the point of the lab in calculus. Most other schools don't do that, but o well. As of right now, i don't remember anything from calculus I. I'm hoping i'll remember soon, and get a good grade in the classes.

June 22nd - Went swimming instead of climbing

My finger has been hurting, so i've decided to take it easy and not climb as much. So i went swimming. Trying to get better and faster at swimming. I only swam 10 laps because i had to be in class at 1:30pm and got to the pool at 11:45am. I was done within an hour. I need to get better!!

June 23rd - Starting to reset the gym for the comp

My day was busy today - not so much busy as full

9:30am - 1pm -> at the gym (w/ Josh) taking all the holds off the right traverse wall and the TBA wall. We went ahead and reset those two walls as well. Some sweet problems are up right now.

1:30pm - 3:15pm -> I was in my Calculus Lab Class

4pm - 10pm -> Working at the gym. AJ, Luke and I washed the holds that we (Josh and I) took down earlier. Around 9pm we started to take the wave wall down. Before I left I set a pretty sweet blue problem on the wave using our big orange feature.

June 23rd - Lu got into a bad motorcycle crash, here is what he has to say about it...

"Thx for all the well wishes. Please don't be too concerned. The prognosis is good thus far. This is not my first rodeo. Just to clarify, I'm not a superstitious man, but the coincidences in this story are truly uncanny.

Lu all wrapped up... ready to rest!

The following is from native American folklore:

"To see an owl in your dream, symbolizes wisdom, insight and virtue. The owl is also synonymous with death and darkness. To hear the hoot of an owl, denotes disappointments and forewarns that death creeps closely in the wake of joy and health. To see a dead owl, signifies a narrow escape from desperate illness and death. Death in this sense may also represent a symbolic death, as in an important transition in life."

Middle Finger

A couple of days ago I, along with a couple of friends, went down to Suck Creek to do some climbing and get a dip. There is a tall boulder there which I wanted to ascent (see my pics). Sure enough, there was a dead Great Horned Owl at the base of the boulder. It was a fresh kill, riga-mortis had not set in yet. There were no signs of blunt force trauma, so we had no clue as to the cause of death. Strange as it may seem, we did not notice the deceased owl until after we sent the rig. Once we notices, I decided to bury the owl in a cave below the boulder, simply out of respect, but also to avoid spoiling the area with a decomposing cadaver. So that is what we did, but before burying it I got the crazy idea that having owl talons would be spiritually empowering, as well would be a great addition to my arrow head collection. Afterwards, we gave the Great Horned Owl an honorable burial.

Lu's back

Fast forward to yesterday. I had plans to head to TBA to set problems for out upcoming charity competition (Climb-Up so Children can Grow-up). At the last minute I chose to take out my '73 Honda CB450 and make a short ride of it. Let me preface this with the fact that I've been riding for twenty years now, even did a few years stint on the racing circuit. So this is not my first rodeo, I've been thrown off the saddle before. Just the same, I took my usual route down Riverfront Pkwy to the Chestnut Street shortcut. As I turned onto Chestnut, I glanced at my side mirror to make sure no vehicles were following closely behind me. When I focused forward again, I realized I was heading full throttle towards some rough pavement and a hearty sinkhole on the road. I did not have time to react, the road jarred the handle bar from my hands, a tank-slapper ensued and I hit the pavement hard. I do not recall much else, as endorphins took over. I did manage to call my wife Theresa for a ride. Evidently I expressed little concern and that I was simply needing a ride, but I could not provide a location for her. Shortly thereafter, coincidentally Paul Gussack, a friend from TBA, was taking the same route and found me sitting on the curb. Paul called for an ambulance. The rest is in the pictures above.

Strange chain of events for sure. No worries though, I am scathed yet breathing. About the curse of the owl talons, as the wise ol' climber (Peter Henley) stated, "No reason to fear the Talons now. You have paid for them in blood. Make the Neckless. Were you not wearing THEM!?!"

Coming Up

June 25th - Charity Climbing Comp ($15 entry fee)

The comp is 6pm to 9pm. We will be having hot dogs ($1.50) and hamburgers ($3). The climbing team is doing a climb-a-thon. They will have to climb as many problems as they can. Earlier in the week they have been going around getting pledges for the climb-a-thon event. Our goal is to donate $500. We hope to reach that!!