Evan's Golf in the Mountains

September 6, 2010

Occasionally, the Aviano Golf Course organizes trips to local golf courses. On my first trip, we drove up the mountain above Aviano to some sort of National Forest and the town of Cansiglio. On the mountain plain, there is a beautiful golf course open only during the summer.

This is the drive up the mountain...looking down on Sacile and Polcenigo. It was a beautiful drive through the mountain and forest.
The golf course sits on sort of a mountain plateau. This is the obligatory cow photo. They were not on the golf course.
Pictures of the golf course amongst the mountains. You can still see snow in the middle of the summer.
The golf course becomes a ski slope in the winter. The ski lifts play right through the 2nd fairway. In case you were wondering, if you found yourself with this in your way, it would be declared a man made obstruction and you would receive a free drop at the nearest point of relief, no closer to the hole.The course was full of dramatic elevation changes. This picture does not do the hole justice.
Some of my playing partners. They are much more accustomed to measuring golf in meters instead of yards. This was a 150 meter hole with about 60 ft of drop. The man on the left hit his ball to about 5 feet and birdied. I didn't fare so well.
Overall it was a great day. The scenery at Cansiglio was spectacular and I will definitely return.

Pordenone Pedala 2010

September 5, 2010

Evan participated in the Pordenone Pedala with some friends from the legal office. I met up with them 1/3 of the way through to snap photos, take some video, and get Porter and Eli out of the house. The rest is from Evan's point of view since I was merely a spectator.

This is the beginning of the "race". Mass confusion and multiple barriers that other riders removed so that we could get near the start. Under the arch was a reviewing stand of sorts where multiple city officials were offering their words of wisdom for our Tour de Pordenone. What can I say, it inspired me for about 25 seconds.
Here is the spot where Courtney and the boys posted up to cheer us on. She took more or less 45 minutes of video and captured just about every bike rider who came through. At this point, I decided to relinquish my lead over the pelaton, and spend some time with the family who came to support me. My dreams of qualifying for the Tour de France ended. Oh well.
This was the most scenic part of the bike ride. We rode up near the base of the mountains. It was also uphill, so I didn't mind when it was over.
Erin, Sean, and Cayden Henning, some friends who work at the base. Cayden had the works for entertainment in his little bubble. He agreed to peddle for me next year and was happy to win a trophy at the end of the ride.
Halftime=more speeches, a sandwich and some air acrobatics.
We passed this guy multiple times on the ride. I am still curious as to how he got up and down off the bike.
Josh and Denise from the office. Josh takes this really seriously, while Denise and I took it easy.
Apparently this F-16 shows up every year and breaks along the way. It made it pretty far this year.
This is Morrison's "annual glass of milk." I will have to admit, it tasted pretty good.