Drop... in... the... bucket, following today's 3.5 hour hammerfest with Donna.

My favorite part of the morning commute to work... Darn kids!

Yep, the camera went off by accident

Despite being an accidental photo, it's the only one I have from a rare night ride with Donna. She's not enjoying jury duty but I'm thrilled to have her home in the evenings.

Two nights in a row now I left work early enough to see the sunset.

Donna has been on jury duty, which means she's home in the evening, unlike most evenings, so I've had some extra incentive to leave work at a reasonable hour.

I got out of the office early enough to catch a glimpse of the setting sun today.

OUR MONDAY ROAD RIDE

After Sunday's ride took a toll on Donna, she ended up riding Monday with a bit of a biking 'hangover.' We did what turned out to be an 8-mile climb up Yerba Buena Road off the Pacific Coast Highway then turned downhill for a nice 8-mile descent. After that we called it quits and went on to enjoy the day with lunch at Panera Bread, a quick trip to the DMV, saw It's Complicated at Muvico in Thousand Oaks then got some Chinese take-out for dinner and enjoyed a quiet evening at home.

Muddy Sunday ride

We ran into a little more mud than we expected on Sunday's ride. Wildwood Park was nowhere near dry so we hiked almost the entire way through the park to avoid damaging any trails. Donna bonked part way through the ride and really struggled to make it home. At one point she complained about how she felt like she was moving so slowly - I looked down at the cycle computer to see that we were doing 19mph, not bad for cyclocross bikes.

Vikings vs Saints on the big screen

Sunday Donna and I went to Bruce & Julie's to watch the Vikings/Saints game on their monster tv. Watching football games with other people always seems to make the experience all the more enjoyable... the video explains.

Sunny skies return to SoCal

The sun finally made an appearance Saturday and I couldn't help but enjoy the weather myself while shooting others enjoying it for a work video. It looks like Donna and I will be able to enjoy one nice day of weather before returning to a 80% chance of showers on Monday. Hopefully we can fry our legs on Sunday so we have no desire to ride on Monday.

Rain rain go away... the sun and blue sky did their best to make an appearance today. The gloomy weather is really wearing on me.

I'm a sucker for dark gloomy skies when it comes to still photography. Getting up at 5:30am to go out and shoot, knowing I'd still have to work til 6pm, was not the highlight of my day. I'm kind'a surprised it's even in focus. It's certainly not my favorite photo (a lot of things didn't come together the way I would have liked) but the effort that went into shooting it is what I think forces me into at least half liking it.

I got out to do a little shooting this morning in order to get some photos on The Star's web site first thing. While I was out shooting stills it made me realize how much of a video person I've become. There's just something about motion that I really enjoy.

The rainbow was much more spectacular prior to my seeing it of course but still, not a bad view from the office Wednesday afternoon.

My decaf latte has been melting the stress away night after night on my way home from work. If only they offered 'Irish' coffee I'd be set.

WEDNESDAY'S 'STORM'

The storm predicted for Wednesday didn't turn out to be much of anything. LA and Long Beach got hammered while occasional showers and wind gusts scattered across Ventura County.

MORE TIME-LAPSE MAGIC

It's a rare occasion that we have white fluffy clouds passing over Ventura County and I couldn't resist but shoot some more time-lapse video of the storm as it fizzled out. I shot the video primarily for work (hence the vcstar logo) but I love the effect of the time-lapse process. Plus, it's so easy to do on the phone. Donna, as usualy, was supportive and patient and waited in the car while I shot the different scenes. I think she just enjoys watching me do something that I enjoy. Sweet, isn't she.

DINNER AT THE LAZY DOG CAFE

Monday was a washout which made for a great excuse to watch some tv in the morning. Eventually we dragged ourselves off the sofa's and ventured out for a lunch special at the nearby Chinese restaurant then it was off to shoot some time-lapse video of the passing storm then we caught a showing of Book of Eli at Muvico at The Oaks. Of course after the movie we made the customary trip to the Apple store & then, dinner at the Lazy Dog Cafe. We got to eat dinner under the watchful eyes of an old-English bulldog. The photos ornamenting the restaurant are awesome but nowhere near as good as the food!

I EAT FASTER THAN I RIDE

Lots of sweat and a few rain drops kept me from shooting much video or many photos on Sunday's ride but here it is nevertheless. Donna has really been a trooper with her riding. I'm sooo looking forward to her April race in Monterey.

SMOOCHIN' ON THE TRAIL

Sunday we squeezed in a ride before the rain came to town. Even when Donna is all sweaty, she's still sweet! We got a little wet the last few minutes of the ride but nothing major. Imagine that... water falling from the sky.

Today's weather was perfect for some time-lapse video work. Enjoy the scenery & music!

As the video implies... we had a lot of fun on the trail Monday! Seems like lately one ride is event better than the last.

We had another great Sunday on the bikes. It's now Monday morning & we're trying to get motivated to go again today.

Well I took my first stab at shooting surfing... video that is. If nothing else it felt great to be out of the office for part of the day.

After almost three years of collecting dust, my singlespeed is once again ready to conquer the local mountains. The one gear, my legs can handle... whether or not the rest of my body can handle the rigid forks and frame remains to be seen. I sense a weekend biking video coming up.

Got out for a night ride Thursday with Bruce. It was my first attempt at shooting video at night.

My sister was kind enough to remind me why I don't live up north any more. Yuck!!!

This was the 2nd great ride of the weekend. Donna ROCKS! I can only imagine what she'll be like by the time the Sea Otter Classic gets here.

Donna and I got out for an awesome ride Sunday morning... seems like its been ages since we hit the dirt.

Donna had to work New Year's day, leaving me on my own for the day. I checked the tide schedule and discovered I could catch low-tide during sunset.