What did we ever do before Google starting creating 'street view' on their maps?

When I need directions the TomTom app works best but Google's street view still floors me. Just one of those 'wow' moments I guess.

I'm contemplating one of everything, drowning my iPadless sorrows.

Well maybe not. I'd have to ride race pace for about 12 hours tomorrow to compensate.

A fully rigid 29er is making me realize what a softie I've turned into after a year of 5" of full suspension.

I decided to mix things up a bit and rolled out on the Karate Monkey tonight. I've been riding a full-suspension bike for at least the past year and the Karate Monkey spent 90 minutes jarring my bones into aching submission. Ouch!

The skies above Newbury Park were beautiful tonight. I could have gone for some warmer temps but they'll be here soon enough.

Tonight was one of those take-time-to-smell-the-flowers kind'a rides.

Mostly it was just a great excuse to give my body a rest but for whatever reason I felt like I was slacking every time I stopped.

Feeling blue above Westlake Village...

As soon as the sun dropped over the horizon a blue cast quickly saturated the landscape.

Great trails, great scenery, great bike, great sunset. Still something is missing - Donna.

Tonight's ride had all the right features, except that Donna wasn't there. Solo rides really just aren't the same.

Driving home from work and the sun has sunk. So much for that mtn bike ride.

7:30am to 7:45pm never makes for a fun work day but i think it was worth it for sake of putting this audio slideshow together: http://www.vcstar.com/videos/detail/new-american-citizens/

Sitting at lunch, wishing I was out on the trails with Donna.

I can't really complain considering we now have trails so close to home, but I was reading about the folks at Moots Cycles who hit the singletrack over their lunch hour. How sweet would that be!

Soaking up some late-day sun near Sycamore Canyon was an unusual treat for Donna and I.

Since Donna works in the evening she's always sitting at her desk around sunset. Then, on weekends, about the time the sun is setting, we're resting on the sofa following a near-epic mtn bike ride. Since we kept the mileage down on today's ride, we were both feeling energetic enough to get out for a bit, so after a stop at Starbucks, we headed for Sycamore Canyon to watch the setting sun cast long sweeping shadows across the hillsides.

I'm getting much taller and skinnier. Woohoo! This is the 'after' photo.

Awww, isn't that sweet? Walking hand-in-hand into (well, away from) the setting sun. Yes... that's Donna with me.

Singletrack! Where's my bike! Turns out this trail is closed to bicycles anyway.

We took a short 'hike' (it was only .3 miles) and found this great scene as the sun set over Sycamore Canyon. I would not recommend walking dirt trails in Crocs or flip-flops. We were ill prepared to say the least but it was a spur-of-the-moment sorta' thing.

Donna is a bad #@$... don't mess with her! This drop was considerably trickier than it appears.

Every now and then I'll drop down through a technical area then turn around to let Donna know if she can clear it or not - I'm quite in tune with her technical skills. Today I was turning around to give her the go-ahead and I barely had time to get my camera out. She blew right by me.

Another shot from our smokin' ride today - Donna whipping by with little regard for...

the dummy standing in the middle of the trail trying to take her picture. I dove out of the way right after snapping this photo.

Donna lives for close encounters with rattle snakes - making today's ride an A+ in her book.

Nope, I don't have a photo of the fellow... how crazy do you think I am? We crossed paths with a monster rattle snake today. I used my bike to coerce him off the trail though as he parted the scene he shook his rattle to make sure I knew he wasn't happy with me.

China Flats singletrack always makes my day - twisty, smooth and ever so flowing.

After some painful hours of steep climbs and what seemed to be blistering heat (85 deg maybe) we ended up at China Flats, a section of trails that spend more time going left and right than up and down. 25mph... 30mph... 35 mph... makes it all the more interesting when a patch of sand sneaks up on you in the middle of a tight turn.

Shade, even in Simi Valley. Imagine that!

The relief from today's hot sun didn't last for long but we managed to find about 150 yards of shaded trail between Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley today. I suggested we just ride that stretch back and forth until we had our mileage in for the day.

Every now and then you come upon a view that requires a panoramic photo to really capture the landscape.

The fire road along the ridge of today's ride was less than stimulating in terms of technical riding, but the views off to either side were amazing. Plus, given the lack of technical demands, I actually had the time to look left and right while riding.