The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

I've spent the last few years delighting in all the hilarious catastrophes that come with triathlon, as there seems to be at least one blooper in every race. Some bizarre unexpected obstacle, or more often than not, strange and silly predicaments I manage to bring upon myself.

I must admit that I am somewhat at a loss for what to say about IRONMAN Boulder. Everything -- and I mean everything -- went right.

A few times leading into IM Texas, I was struck with a sudden panic of "Oh my god what have I done?!" as I remembered I was about to do another Ironman. But leading into IM Boulder, all I felt was excitement, and a perverse thrill as I watched the forecast hurl us towards 90+ degree temps. "Bring it on!" I thought, "The hotter the better!"

I did a lot of preparation for this race, from my nerdy spreadsheet of 10 hours worth of nutrition to my specific goals about pacing, power, and even attitude. I split the race into five parts: the swim, the first lap of the bike, the second lap of the bike, miles 1-18 of the run, and miles 19-26 of the run. I was hoping for success in each of these, but would treat each as its own individual chapter.

I hadn't expected to do the majority of the swim alone, but once the fifteen of us fell into 4 or 5 distinct pace groups, I was lost in the middle, with no one. As the one hour group disappeared into the distance, I had to find a new goal to stay motivated. It didn't take long. "Don't get caught by the age group men!" I swam hard, imagining those fast guys behind closing in on me. I swam myself right into a swim PR at one hour and three minutes, and just as I headed into the T1 change tent I could hear the announcer, "And, here comes our first age group male, finishing up the swim ..."

Yes!!!

Chapter 1, success.

My goals on the bike were also focused less around catching, and more about not getting caught. I knew at least four women were close behind, so my first objective was to make it to mile 15 without getting passed. As a bonus, I promised myself a cookie for every mile past 15 that I could hold off my competition. Thirty three cookies later, I was still well above my pace targets, and feeling great. The course took us around all the farmland routes north of Boulder that I ride regularly, so I was right at home. The absolute consistency of my training with Coach Tim and QT2 Systems had me feeling confident and prepared, so this ride felt routine. By the end of the first lap I had advanced two positions in the field.

Chapter two, success.


Posted by Kimberly 09/20/2018

Nik completed his final race for the Cal Poly cycling team, the Wheelmen. The Western Collegiate Cycling Conference's final race of the 2011 Mountain Bike season was hosted by Cal-Berkeley at the Bailey Bike Park course.


Nik racing down the slalom course at Bailey Bike Park


Posted by Dan 11/14/2011

Almost everyday, I see an animal I've never seen before. I carry my camera almost everywhere with me in the event that I can catch one of these guys in digital format to share with all of you, but it's usually pretty hard to make them stay in one place while I dig through my bag to get my camera out.

The animals are so different and exotic looking to me that every time I see a new one, I feel like I'm seeing something that's near-extinct, something that nobody's seen in the wild for the last two decades, something that hasn't been caught on camera in over 45 years! I get so excited and start scrambling for my camera, because WHAT IF THIS IS THE LAST ONE OF THESE STRANGE-LOOKING THINGS THAT EXISTS??

And then passers-by smirk and tell me it's a common brushtail possum. Not just a brushtail possum, but a common brushtail possum... I looked it up - the "common" wasn't just to spite me, it's actually in the name. I did not find the last living wild Kirwaddledoopinger. Just a common brushtail possum that was trying to steal chocolate from a lunch bag at the base of a tree on campus.

Common brushtail possum on campus

Posted by Whitney 03/08/2008, revised 03/10/2008