(Another) New Blog

Hey guys. Thought you might be interested in a new blog of mine, located over at brianlburns.blogspot.com. It's relatively simple - a dynamic, web-based resume for for my writing... but it should be lots of fun too. Check it out.

Noah Revisited

Ok... I've gotten a lot of crap (mostly from my mother) for being unfair to Noah. She said it was mean to post this picture of him a couple days ago:


As someone who wears my Speedo with pride, I meant nothing but admiration with the picture. But to clean up the record for all, Noah is a good-looking dude with a fine sense of style. This is a picture of him (and half of paul) earlier that evening, loaded up in my Jeep to go swimming. Pretty studly, eh?

Feature (part 3) - West River

Two times I written features about the training in Vermont, and twice, I've featured pools. It's winter, so I figure that's where my mind was... but really, anyone who's spent a summer in Vermont knows the best swimming comes far from chlorinated water, lane lines, and the black-tiles-of-death-by-boredom. It comes under the late-afternoon sun, past trees that hang out over the water, and through schools of fish darting around the bottom-rocks. It comes, of course, in the open water. Vermont holds almost unlimited open-water adventure; every town it seems, has it's own favorite rivers and lakes. Each one is worthy of an afternoon’s-worth of exploration, but I'll try and narrow it down to a few to feature here.

The first is a spot pretty near to my former home, and only 2 or 3 miles outside of Brattleboro: the West River. The water there, depending on rain and draught, can be as shallow as 3-4 feet in some points. Deep enough to swim easily, but shallow enough to bring the fish right under your nose, and shallow enough to give the swim a safe feel – absent of loud and threatening motor boats. A steep, tree-green hill rises up immediately to the east of the water, which not only beautiful, gives the river a closed-in feel, and makes the swimming seem even more safe. It’s the perfect spot to enjoy the calm, worry-free Vermont evenings.

We usually swim from the launch (a 1/4 mile hike from rte. 30) downstream to the 91 bridge that goes over the water. There’s always cool stuff that’s dropped off the bridge to explore there (I’ve found a fork, a pair of women’s sunglasses, and a couple hubcaps), and then, we swim more slowly back up. It’s a great time, and being only 2 or 3 miles out of town, is a great option for people in Brattleboro.

Pictures... Two of Bad-ass Steve T. and I goofing around, and then an afternoon series of Friends Noah, Paul and Hilary.

Steve and I:



Noah in the outfit he got unrelentless shit for:


Noah, Paul and Hilary Wading in:


Actually swimming:


And afterward, Hilary performing in the parking lot:

My Kind of Workday

I've been working pretty hard lately - Multisport Maps is starting to kick back up, and I'm running a couple new businesses... all while life (and relationships) run on. I've put in more than a few long days recently, and worked right through this past weekend. Come today then, I was pretty tired. I woke up, and was working at 8am, when Roommate Randy started to dress for a ride. It was a great, sunny February day, so, heck… I decided to go with him. I could head out for a quick spin, and be back at my computer before lunchtime.

Well, we rode 110k... took us a bit over 4 hours, 42 minutes. I haven't ridden for more than 90 minutes since last October, so I can't say it was pretty, but it sure was a blast. It started at with a free espresso shot at Moto's coffee shop (a buddy of Randy's), then rolled out north of town, toward a reservoir called Carter Lake. We climbed up to the lake, descended off, and going through a headwind 2 hours, 30 minutes in, the predictable happened: I cracked… completely. I was way gone.

I stuffed down a caffeinated gel and a chocolate Powerbar, then sat behind Randy (at 10mph) for the next 20 minutes. I got out of "that place," but the legs just weren’t there again. I basically dragged my ass home... but only barely. We ate near a full box of spaghetti, we watched a movie, and I'm only writing this after a quick nap. Tough ride, but a great ride. And really, a great day. Exactly the break I needed.

A few pictures:

Moto’s:

Rolling out:

About halfway (check the mountains at 11 o’clock):


Our second (and last) coffee stop, about 80k in:

Breckenridge Retreat

A new feature is coming along soon, but I figured it’d be fun to show you all where I am this week – a sweet mountain home in Breckenridge, CO. I’m staying at an entrepreneurs' retreat, as a guest of my good buddy Andrew. I’m getting some work done, sure, but there’s also been plenty of eating, hot tubing, and general relaxing. It's been a real nice time.

Here are some pictures. One of the house, then a series of Andrew. Partly because he’s an important pal, but mostly just because he likes posing:

Features (part 2) - Bennington Rec Center

In part one of the series, I wrote about Stowe’s pool, ‘The Swiming Hole’ – named and designed to capture the quaint, easy feel of Vermont. And while it’s certainly a nice place to swim, I think the Rec Center in Bennington actually does a better job representing the states’ culture; the straight-forward, no-nonsense side. It’s set into one of the town’s run-down, old mill neighborhoods, and the facility itself is pretty dreary. But the pool is fine, and it works great if you just want a workout.

Best of all, access only costs you $3, so if you go in the morning (they usually open for adult swim around 6am), you can get in a couple thousand yards, then head down to Sonny’s Blue Ben Diner for a great railroad-car breakfast. All this for less than a single access pass to The Swimming Hole.

New Project

Though Multisport Maps remains my main focus, I've been working on a new tri-related project recently: www.tribiz.blogspot.com.... a simple networking site for triathletes making their living away from the sport. Check it out, and by all means, I hope the athlete readers here will add themselves to the list.