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

Today's Lesson: Not all trail runs are created equal.

When I signed up for Wildflower Long Course, Karin Langer advised, "Better trail run your ass off!" So I've been doing just that.

I broke the seal on trail races last month with the Woodside King's Mountain Half. It went alright, all things considered. I was just coming down with a cold, so my energy was low and my heart rate was running 10-20 bpm higher than usual (Just don't run when you're sick. It's dumb. I promise I paid the price for my presumptuousness in the week that followed ... ) This meant that I had to walk more than usual just to reign in my sky-rocketing heart rate. The course was a steady, gradual climb 1,880 feet up to the 6.5 mile turnaround point. After that, I just tucked my legs up underneath me and effortlessly careened back down the mountain like a winged unicorn until mile 12, where I rolled my ankle and limped the final mile on raw adrenaline, hoping to beat the onset of swelling.

I finished in a respectable 1:37, which was good enough for 4th female overall.

Today's race was the King Richard Annual Half Marathon, and I figured that now that I was in good health and had my mischievous ankle swaddled, there was no way I couldn't snag a PR!

As we crowded the starting line, the race director warned us that this course "Packs a punch" and once we got a taste of it, we would certainly wonder what we'd gotten ourselves into!

"Oh, and watch out for rattlesnakes," he casually added.


Posted by Kimberly 04/04/2015

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

When I first arrived in this new country, there were the things that I missed right away: family, friends, group dinners at the Corvallis house, Sienna/Simon/Lago (and even Mogli a little), free phone calls to people in the States... these were all things that were quite obvious and I could see coming before I left. Now that I've been here for several weeks, I have found a multitude of little things that I have only recently realized I miss (notice how much of it is food related!). Much of it is specific to Corvallis/Oregon, so I apologize to those of you who are not familiar with these many little treasures.

• PG Tips tea and Pomogranate Green Tea
• Grandma's cookies (that's my Grandma, not a brand called 'Grandma's')
• Marie Sharp's hot sauces that Dave brought back from Belize (thanks again Dave!)
• really any good hot sauce or salsa
• Tillamook mint chocolate chip ice cream
• Tillamook cheese
• Oregon tap water
• home-brewed beer
• any good darker beers (not many ambers, porters, or nut browns here)
• always having Springhill wine or Dave's wine on hand
• Sour Patch Kids
• Taylor Street Ovens' Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies
• Annie's Shells & Cheddar
• Amy's beans (again, roommate Amy, not a brand)
• Santa Cruz (brand) raspberry lemonade sodas
• The co-op in general and everything delicious held within its walls; buying local and sustainable groceries
• having 4 or 5 didjeridoos lying around the living room (ironic, no?)

However, I am already building a list of 'the little things' that I would miss about Australia... let me tell you, you're all missing out on Tim Tams!

Posted by Whitney 03/18/2008