11 Mile Canyon Meh 21Oct21

I thought I'd try 11 Mile Canyon section of the So Platte today. Brrr... it was 37° when I turned the corner at Lake George. I bundled up and rolled onto the river with the repaired RF Cutty. It threw great - yesterday I greased and repaired all my lines from summer use. Fishing was not great though. Only twenty cars on the way to the upper section but no one was doing anything. The river flows are excellent at ~100cfs but it is choked with veg and one must constantly clean flies. Plus, the fish are hiding in the veg for the most part and hard to see or target. I was fortunate to hook up with a nice brown but unfortunate to lose him as he darted under a downed tree and broke off - he must've taken the Awesome Midge as it was gone when I retrieved my rig. Grrr.

Repairing The Rodfather Cutthroat 20Oct21

New Zealand rod manufacturer CTS is finally back at work full time and fulfilled my need for a new tip section for the RF Cutthroat (9ft 4wt 4pc). Initially I had to measure the diameter of the male piece at full insertion to get the right mating of the new blank tip.

I then cut off all the guides through the epoxy and on top of the feet of the guide metal and cleaned and stored the parts till receipt of the new tip ($45).

While it took 3 months to receive a new custom tip, I finally got it yesterday (it fits like a glove and matches my golden plum custom color perfectly) and laid out the parts to wrap up the new piece with the 5 original removed titanium snake guides. All done and ready to fire.

This is one of my favorite rods so it'll be very nice to have it back in rotation.

Out There Colorado 14Oct21-17Oct21

The fall weather on the Front Range persists and Its beautiful - probably 10° warmer than normal for mid-Oct. Kala and I took off into the Pike National Forest for a hike.

And we rode downtown on our Foundry bikes...

And I revised the Aeotec temp/wet sensor on the Blodgett spa to run off of a wall wart; 5v DC out is the ticket. The battery was supposed to last a couple years but only really lasted a couple of months. While doing the modification I discovered an leak from prior freeze-out which had not been noticed or repaired prior. Sheesh. Had to replace and reinstall a filter.

And Kala worked the gardens for winter and trimmed the bushes and I took some pics of Blodgett with trees ablaze in color.

And I fished the Arkansas freestone @ Pinnacle Rock & Valle Bridge. Lame. Day was gorgeous, flows were wadable, and water wasn't too crowded... but I only managed one 5" brown. Sheesh. I didn't turn up anything at Pinnacle Rock so reasoned I needed to go above Coaldale - still slim pickin's and no sightings in the gin clear cooler water... hmmm, do I just suck now on the freestones?

Fixin' The Fridge 15Oct21

My ARB travel fridge went down. Initially I thought it was power but ultimately it would not cool and went to ambient temperatures. It's almost 3 years old, but that's also the warranty period. I conversed with ARB US and they ultimately assessed it might be the main electronics and not the compressor (phew...). They over-nighted a new board to me and I installed it today. Ryan (ARB tech) was correct... the new board (not a completely easy install) fixed the fridge and I am back to chillin' the brews. Good response from a good company.

The Conflict Is Over ~ Orbea Rise M-LTD With Enve 15Oct21

The debate I was having with myself is over. I was conflicted as to which eMTB to buy but there's now an Orbea Rise M LTD with Enve carbon hoops bound to COS for me. The Rise edged out the new Yeti 160e primarily on anticipated feel. I still like mountain bike riding and the Rise is more like that while the Yeti is designed closer to a full power eMTB. The Orbea is 35# with 360wH battery and a rider synergy (RS) tuned EP-8 motor. The Yeti is 50# with a 630wH battery and a "full power" EP-8. Rider Synergy means you gotta spin it like you mean it to get the power. So... while I may need the extra juice in several years, since I am not young, the Orbea should suit well now. I like the idea of it more anyway. Good biking friends tend to roll tech fairly often and I thought, so can I, if needed. We'll soon see if there is enough power to let me keep pace with the youngsters. Even if not, I'll be able to climb stuff I no longer can under my own human power, at least not readily or even often. Woohoo.

Update 27Oct21 - Kitsuma delivered the Orbea today! I need to put the armor on before I venture onto the trails but I did ride it... holy F$c4 power assist is very cool. And, how often does your bike talk to your phone to allow tuning. So cool. I gotta set it up a bit and I didn't expect the tires F&R they installed... I expected the Rekons but got DHFs all around. The ENVE AM30 rims are almost a weight wash with alloy (known) but the big tire in the rear is a surprise. My bike weighs 39# with pedals ~ a little heavier than I expected. I don't know if that's work to do or just fine; I'll see.

Update 30Oct21 - A custom fit (to the Rise) protection film set arrived from Ride Wrap and I spent about a day all up affixing it to the bike. The instructions and videos are all very good, as are the film sheet and fit. However, this is a bear of a task and getting the tricky spaces to adhere is tough and time consuming. I am pretty technically adept and it gave me fits ~ perhaps I should've outsourced it. That said, in the end, it's good enough and the Rise is covered.

Katie Toupin - Check Astronaut, And I Love Audiotree Again 13Oct21

Katie Toupin recently dropped her 2nd solo album after departing Houndmouth in 2016. She's awesome and wrote and co-wrote plenty for Houndmouth, including their superhit Sedona. Soulful voice, good backing band, fine songs. Listen live... very good.

• Mostly the latest EP, Little Heart - Katie Toupin Live @ AudioTree 16Sep21
• Mostly the original solo EP, Magnetic Moves - Katie Toupin Live @ ODEON Louisville 29Dec18

Jade Brid @ The Bluebird 07Oct21

Just wow. I caught Jade Bird @ The Bluebird in Denver yesterday after hearing her first at the Bluebird Music Fest @ Macky on CU Boulder campus a week ago. Jade Bird was very good though some full band arrangements delivered through the Bluebird's system and mix challenged me to hear her stellar vocals clearly enough. I cupped my ears like an elephant for a number of tunes ~ in order to focus on the vocals. Sound was better on solo acoustic stuff but all songs were very tightly performed, even executed in a smidge too business-like form for my taste; it was not mechanical, just seemingly nothing ad hoc. Jade is a spectacular vocalist, musician and songwriter, and has honed her performance schtick considerably for the latest LP of material. She's an absolute rock star and a blast to see & hear. Here, late in the concert, she's rapping Americana on "Now Is The Time" ~ completely excellent.

I am a bit ahead of myself. I arrived near the Bluebird after a brutal drive up University Ave and took out walking to the excellent Q House for duck lo mein. I then headed to a favorite brewery, Cerebral, for some tasty DDH IPAs. Especially notable was the DDH DIPA collaboration with Equilibrium... "Y'all Motherfuckers Need Science." Cerebral has turned their prior parking area entirely into a keen outside party spot ~ I took an Adirondack and did some drinking and people watching as I awaited "doors open" @ 7pm.

I arrived at the Bluebird just 10th in line with only 30min to opening. I met some true Jade Bird fans in line as well as folks who were just there for a show, any show seemingly. Once inside I secured a class A position in front of sound guys. As mentioned earlier, it didn't completely work but I was in the best spot. I think Bluebird should do a deep review of their sound system and cant the hanging towers in a bit... recently the Aggie, about the same size, sounded better.

First up, unexpectedly, was Lucky Kilmartin, Jade Bird's guitarist and partner. He has a nice voice and sang four good songs but never went to full voice. Before and during sets I chatted up my neighbors and came to find Suzanne was a classmate with my cousin Jennifer in Summit, NJ ~ small world! The marquee opening act Diana DeMuth was on after Lucky - she was accompanied by a cool percussionist and by her own acoustic guitar. Her voice was excellent and songwriting strong ~ also offering a kind of modern Americana. Excellent five song set.

The best was Jade Bird; no question. I'd done my homework and knew all the tunes and Jade delivered a strong ~70min show. Wailing as she does impeccably, with Lucky leading and sometimes singing backup. They do a nice duet on "To Love Somebody." As mentioned, it was sometimes even too tight a performance, if that even makes sense. I loved it nonetheless and the room was comfortable but a little boomy. The last link is video for a new release "Dressin' Up?" that she offered solo with acoustic ~ new is always notable at concerts.

I would definitely see Jade Bird again ~ I can't believe I missed her last week or so at the Vail Performing Arts Center. She'll be back and likely at Red Rocks, maybe even headlining.