augustiner brew house

this brewhouse cracks open the wooden cask right in front off you and hand pulls the beer with a hand pump no Co2.

it was fresh and smooth.

We rinsed the beer steins, bought a token and had the guy filler up many times.

This place was in salzburg and we road our bikes to the back door down a very dark alley to get in and out... very cool.

Tea at the Spa Hotel Ausburg, in Salzburg Austria

Myself , Elizabeth, and Scott drove from salt lake to Moab to ride the slickrock trail.
the most famous trail was as hot as hell but well worth it.

we mountain biked on 21 miles of the 300 mile trail network in park city Utah

the video is the end of a morning ride back the condo.

nice brew from the International Tap Room in Chesterfield MO.
this place only serves beer..

Elizabeth and i have a nice weekend at the lake.

We ate well, the above picuture is 1 lb of Tuna.
We added two lobster tails and a few other sides, it was a great meal.
The weather was great for boating and a sunburn.

I took a trip to Newport RI May26Th.

I flew into Providence and went over the bridge to Newport.

This town is famous for the mansions and a small college.

The Church JFK was married in, also resides in the town.

The lobster fishing and Americas Cup sailing club along with the international tennis hall of fame.

The best and only Lobster Ruben i have ever had.

We walked the Cliff walk and toured the mansions.

If you are looking for a very unique tourist town with a beautiful ocean breeze this is a great place to stop.

porch morning

my pals and i on the porch of our rental cabin in the Nantahala Forest overlooking the smoky mountains of NC.

the trip was a mountain bike and fly fishing trip to the Tsali trail..one of the best MTB rides in America
this was a great time for mike to bring down great food and great wine.
we drank the patron and aerated the wine until Scott could not feel his face anymore.
when i look at this picture i makes me realize that i have made some great Friends over my lifetime and really do appreciate them, i hope we can all spend more time together in the future

The Indy 500 experience.
above is the pit of the Panther racing Patron sponsored car during the race.

I went to the Indy 500 for the first time May 24Th 2009.
I started this quest last year and received the tickets the day of the race and could not attend.

This year was different, i sent and email out on Wednesday the week of the raced and my tickets arrived on Saturday morning the day before the race.

I didn't have a hotel or any idea of how to enjoy the event, were to park, what to do or how to do it but i quickly began learning. I created a plan: wake up the day of the race at midnight and drive 4.5 hours to Indianapolis motor speed way for the greatest spectacle in sports.

There is a one hour time change so i arrived around 6 AM,
paid $20.00 to park in some guys yard and hit the ground.
My mission was to find the local dive for breakfast and drink more coffee than normal.

i found Charlie Browns and it hit the spot.

Next make a call to the National Guard Car / Panther Racing Team and get into their hospitality tent and Pick up my VIP passes so i could enjoy the garage area, see the drivers, and get away from the other 400,000 people who are in attendance.

It could have not worked any better, i picked up the passes and off we go to garage and PIT road.

Next find my seat: nice seats on the main stretch catching the action from turn 4, the main stretch, start finish line and entering turn one. Turn One is were all the action happens.

These guys and girls are going 223-224 MPH side by side into turn one: it is scary...loud!!! and blink of an eye fast...


The number one reason to go to this event is the start of the race. It will take your breatha away
and rock your world. The sound of 33 cars coming at you at 220 plus MPH is crazy load and it will blow your shirt up....

check out the video below!!!

bumper cars

Dam to Dam barefoot race 2007

http://www.mastercraft.com/company/news/94/

Team MasterCraft Wins 2007 Dam 2 Dam!November 06, 2007
The 20th Annual Dam 2 Dam Barefoot Ski Race was held this past weekend in Austin Texas. Considered to be the “Grand Daddy” of Barefoot Racing, this exciting event had over 100 barefoot water ski athletes – comprising of 20 teams – all competing in thrilling barefoot racing to determine who was the top team in the world.
Team MasterCraft, comprised of athletes Doug Winters, Chad Mietz and the legend Paul Stokes, won the Open Finals barefoot race. Against all odds, this marvelous team rose to the top of the 9 boat open class by taking first place in their qualifying heat on Saturday. Riding behind a stock-yellow, 2008 MasterCraft X7 and with no falls during the entire finals race on Sunday, Team MasterCraft dominated the class in beating the second place Team Canada by a whopping 1 minute 54 seconds. They beat teams loaded with top footers like Paul McDonald from Malibu and the veteran “JIMMY” from Sanger boats.
Team MC practiced behind the tournament team boat of Bob Mahnke from Madison WI. Leading up to this event, they were supported at the factory level by Matt McDevitt (MasterCraft) and at the dealership level by Steve Present (Texas Ski Ranch). The odds were against this team on all sides of the water. They had a stock boat, no designated driver, no pick up boom and a team that had never been on the water together…yet, still managed to win the race!
Team captain Doug Winters said, “We are proud to be a part of the MasterCraft Family and we believe this is a victory for all MasterCraft Owners”. The win on Sunday was Paul Stokes 6th Dam 2 Dam victory. Paul Stokes started the 20 mile race on both days and out skied the crowd to put his team in the lead. The first four miles of the race were wind chopped all the way to the 360 bridge. Stokes took control of the race behind the powerful X-7 that provided protection and beat down the rough conditions. When the “Stoker” pulled himself into the boat, Chad Mietz (Dam 2 Dam rookie) further supported the team with an outstanding run through the boat rollers of Lake Austin’s die hard wake boarders. The anchor man Doug Winters then took the reins as the conditions became like clear glass. “It was a dream ride”, Winters said. He was still footing when the X-7 passed the 17 mile mark where the Texas Ski Ranch family was cheering the team on to victory.
When the Dam 2 Dam organizers asked at registration, “What is your team name?” They laughed at us when we said TEAM MASTERCRAFT. Now the barefootaustin.org headline news article reads “Team MasterCraft Wins The Open Division”. We all had the last laugh-
To learn more, click on the link below:
www.barefootaustin.org/index.htm

MVS barefoot racing

The Tsali trail with the lake Foantana in the background. This is the Mouse Loop after a huge rain storm. Elizabeth and i road the mouse on thursday before the group arrived. It was hot and muddy but the ride is great.

Tsali Trail May 2009

Tsali MTB trail