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David Guido is a user experience designer from Southern California, specializing in information architecture and usability. With over 14 years of web and application design experience, David's passion is to analyze, design and implement innovative user-centered solutions. He is a critical thinker with a good design sense, a strong technical background, and an eye for making things better.
On a personal note, David is a family man, an avid mountain biker, his glass is half-full and he's proud of owning Superman Underoos as a kid.
Dave's Daily Dump
Zion & Gooseberry, Utah Trip 2009
by David Guido
I couldn't swing going to Moab with the gang like last year, but I did manage to tag along for a long weekend on the Gooseberry Mesa for mountain biking and in the Zion National Forest for an awesome hike to the "Subway". Here's a picture taken with my cell phone.Day 1 & 2 Gooseberry
The first two days were filled with some epic mountain bike riding on the Gooseberry Mesa. This is now my favorite place to ride. It was my third time there, so I'm getting really used to the trails.
I blew my back out earlier in the week, so I wasn't able to ride, at all, the entire week. It was still a little stiff on this ride, so I took it easy in the beginning. Before you know it, my back was feeling great and I was shredding like nobody's business. I cleared a couple of very difficult climbs I've never cleared before and found a really cool 6 foot drop that Bob and I rolled.
At night, the wind picked up and was blowing our tents all over the place, and blowing our chairs into the fire. The highlight of the night was when the guys found a huge stump to burn. Everyone pretty much just backed up, stomping on the embers burning everything.
The wind continued through the second day, but that didn't stop us. We powered through an awesome sandy breakfast and headed out. We just didn't get as close to the 1,000 foot cliffs like we usually do. Strangely enough, the wind stopped as soon as we got to "The Point", where it's usually very windy.
Day 3 Zion
We were supposed to hike down from the top, repelling down water falls into pools of water. But with the continued wind and the drastic drop in temperature, we decided to hike from the bottom and stay mostly dry.
The hike was a strenuous 3 miles each way. The entire 3 miles was incredibly beautiful, especially when we got to the Subway. Seriously... words can't even describe it. You HAVE to go check it out your self. But for now, here are a few more pictures.
Labels: hike, mountain bike, trips
Continue reading...Moab & Gooseberry, Utah Trip 2008
by David GuidoDay 1 Gooseberry
7.93 miles, 1h 59m
Bumps and bruises - I bumped my left shoulder on a tree pretty hard, which left a scratch. I also caught my right knee on a sharp twig, so it was bleeding a little.
The ride was fun, of course, but I was so friggen full from a huge lunch and dinner that the whole ride was completely uncomfortable.
Day 2 Gooseberry
14.1 miles, 4h 41m
Bumps and bruises - banged my inner right ankle on my pedal, left a scratch. My palms are starting to form calluses.
We woke up super early, before the sun was up. Over a 6 hour period, I got about 2 hours of sleep. I ate a light breakfast so I wasn't as full as yesterday... And I felt great, felt strong and had an incredible ride. By around the 4th hour, it was getting hot, we were starting to get sloppy and it got a little dangerous, so we called it a day. When we did this ride last year, I had a slight cold and it was still my favorite ride of the year. So today's ride has to be considered my favorite ride of all time... let's see how it goes in Moab.
Day 3 Slick Rock
9.9 miles, 3h 27m
Bumps and bruises - none, but extremely sore legs from very steep climbs.
We did the loop the "hard" way, thinking it would be more technical (i.e. fun), but it was _really_ hard, especially the climbs. So much so that it sucked all the fun out. We might try it again the "easy" way later in the week. I can't leave Moab with sour taste in my mouth about Slick Rock.
After dinner, we drove out to see "the arches" in Arches National Park. The sun was just setting, so we didn't get to see everything. But it was still cool.
Day 4 The Electric Toilet Ride (UPS & MPS)
7 miles, 1h 30m
Bumps and bruises - ran into a tree that took a gouge out of my helmet and right middle knuckle.
We met up with a friend of a friend, Jesse, the owner/operator of Coyote Shuttle, just to say "hi" and ask about some trails. We wanted to ride Amasa Back, but Jesse offered to take us up to his cabin and ride a secret loop instead AND ride Amasa Back with us on Thursday. So we said "what the heck." His cabin was amazing... the first thing anyone would notice is the 13 ft wide windmill, whistling in the 40 mph wind. Turns out he made it out of mostly recycled parts (this is his 9th prototype in about 10 months). The rear triangle used to be a Yield sign and the front dome was his dog's bowl. That, along with a set of solar panels, gives him way more than enough energy to run the house. Very impressive, indeed, but the most impressive thing was the electric toilet! Yes, electric... no water. You basically put a large coffee filter in the bowl and it incinerates your stuff. We hung out at the cabin for about an hour while a storm blew over. Oh yeah, the ride... We quickly climbed what seemed to be a few hundred feet, met up with a couple who were about to be "nighted", and rode down UPS and MPS, which were really fun along the rim with a 3000 foot drop.
Day 5 The Whole Enchilada (Burro Pass -> Hazzard -> Kokopelli's -> UPS -> MPS -> LPS -> Porcupine Rim)
29.9 miles, 6h 45m
Bumps and bruises - none
Only two steep climbs (at high elevation) and the rest very technical downhill. We were dropped off at 10,600 feet and climbed to 11,400 feet. We started our descend basically through a forest of Aspen trees and crossing the creek 4-5 times. At the top of Hazzard, we took a curvaceous single track through a bunch of cows while hitting a few of the jumps that were set up. Hazzard felt like a roller coaster video game. Kokopelli's was mainly a jeep trail which went through the remains of a forest fire that occurred the week before. UPS (Upper Porcupine Singletrack) through LPS (Lower...) was my absolute favorite. Over boulders, through trees, with small patches of sand. Porculpine rim was harsh. We were already tired but faced with a series of 3-5 foot dropoffs and sharp rocks to maneuver through. Good times.
The only mechanical was Steve's pinch flat. Bob had a minor fall towards the end. Other than that, it was definitely my favorite ride of all time.
Day 6 Amasa Back
12.5 miles, 4h 50m
Bumps and bruises - none
What a great ride, not because of the incredible terrain, or beautiful scenery... it was because Jesse took us to a few secret spots that aren't on the typical trail maps. Plus, each section had it's own name, such as the Bowling Alley, the Mccoy, the REAL Mccoy, The Moon, and The Fat Lady (which kicked all of our asses and left Jesse with a goose egg on his ankle). Getting to the PotHole was cool because of a totally off-camber slope. I'm talking around 45 degrees, but with slick rock under your tires, it really wasn't that hard. Then, the Top of the World was truly amazing. I'd hate to say it, but this was definitely my favorite ride of the week, hands down.
Day 7 Thunder Mountain
14.8 miles, 2h 59m
Bumps and bruises - bumped left thigh during a tight switchback.
We parked at the Visitor's Center and started verrrry sloooowly up the bike path. After the dirt road and the beginning of the single track, I was wondering why everyone said it was such a great trail. We were tired from the previous six days of riding and we weren't really expecting all of this climbing. Then... oh man... we ended up smack dab in the middle of Red Canyon. Just absolutely amazing scenery AND a really fun downhill roller coaster ride. Mental note: do this ride _first_ next time!
After the ride, we scooted over the Bryce Canyon National Park, then drove through Zion National Park. Truly amazing stuff to see at both parks.
Totals (for me): 97 miles, 26 hours, over 15000 calories.
Bike parts (for all): 4 flats, 1 wheel, and a set of rear derailleur cogs.
My photos at Flickr | Brian's photos at Flickr
Video (high bandwidth required)...
Labels: mountain bike, trips
Continue reading...Mammoth / Yosemite Trip 2008
by David GuidoDay 1 - Traveled from Home to Mammoth, CA - Set up campsite, hung out with family.
Day 2 - Mammoth - Full day of downhill mountain biking at Mammoth Mountain ski resort. Had a blast on my new DH bike. Swam with the kids at the condo pool.
Day 3 - Mammoth - Kayaked Twin Lakes, turned out to be too windy.
Day 4 - Mammoth - Kayaked Twin Lakes again. It was perfect today! Paddled out to the waterfalls.
Day 5 - Mammoth - Another full day of DH riding at Mammoth Mountain. Rode some closed trails that were supposed to open this weekend. Annual fish fry at night.
Day 6 - Mammoth - Kayak'd Twin Lakes with Mitchell's family... too windy.
Day 7 - Mammoth to Lee Vining (Mono Lake) - Hung out at campsite, played games with the kids.
Day 8 - Lee Vining - Found out that Mono Lake was too salty and full of flies, so we visited the Bodie ghost town and drove to June Lake to kayak.
Day 9 - Lee Vining to Yosemite - Drove the Tioga Pass, while stopping at Tenaya Lake to kayak, and many other places to appreciate the scenery. It was about 110 degrees at our campsite in Midpines, so we swam at the pool and decided for the rest of the week to only be there at night when it was cool.
Day 10 - Yosemite - Found Briceburg point, a very cool spot on the Merced River with an 8-foot and 14-foot bolder jump. You have to drive over a suspension bridge to get there, which was pretty sketchy in my truck. Jumping off the rocks with Ryann was a blast.
Day 11 - Yosemite - Drove into the valley, walked up to the bottom of Bridelvail and Lower Yosemite Falls (climbed the rocks with Ryann and Ethan). Checked out some camp sites for next year and swam in the Merced River at a local spot.
Day 12 - Yosemite - Today we did the parental thing and dragged the kids along to the typical tourist hot spots, including Tuolumne Grove (with the giant Sequoia trees) and Glacier Point.
Day 13 - Yosemite - Spent the day at Briceburg again and had an absolute blast! Ethan jumped off the 8-foot rock twice. We also saw two snakes and a duck running on top of the water very quickly up stream.
Day 14 - Yosemite to Home - Drove home, up and down many steep hills, later to find out that my lovely wife didn't properly flush the toilet before we dumped, so we lugged about 100 pounds of our sewage back home with us. Fun stuff.
Continue reading...
Unfortunate Trip
by David GuidoLabels: trips
Continue reading...Long Lost Cousin
by David Guidogot married there yesterday, so Cathi, Tricia, Ethan and I decided to go up for the day. I haven't seen these cousins (Johnny & David) in almost 15 years, so it was really great to hang out for a day and catch up. I also haven't seen my Aunt Denise in while. And it's always great to see my second mom, Aunt Mary.
We stayed the night at Cathi's both nights because it's on the way. So Cathi babysat for us while we took Jordan to see The Matrix Reloaded. I definitely have to see it again to completely understand the story, but generally, I agree with the critics in that the story was a little weak while the action was kick ass.
Continue reading...
Trip to Maui
by David GuidoAny ways, the first day we arrived we stopped at the Maui Mall to get ice cream from Guri Guri (thanks for the tip Audra). Next we checked in and took a long nap. Anyone who knows us knows that we're big on sleep. A vacation with a lot of sleep is a good vacation. We then went down to Front Street to watch all the people dressed up for
Halloween. First we ate diner at Maui Tacos... Yum. Halloween is like Mardi Gras on Front Street. Very crazy! But around 8 or 8:30 it started to get a little too crowded, so we took off.
On Friday, we took a nice long drive to the Grand Wailea Hotel. Holy crap, now that's a nice hotel. We had lunch at the cafe that set us back about 30 bucks, but it was nice. On the way back along the coast we stopped off at a beach that was empty. We hung out there for a couple of hours, then headed back to town. Later, we met everyone for Sushi at Sansei's.
Saturday morning I took off for a little jog along the beach. That's always nice. We then went over to the Westin where Jeni was getting her hair done. Tricia went to take pictures of her while I did a little snorkling. That was the clearest water I've ever seen... simply amazing. Later that day was Jeni and Ryan's wedding at the Westin. It took place above the water falls and swimming pools in the gazebo. They had a guitar player, a drum player, doves and a hula dancer with a big ass torch. After the ceremony we took a limo ride over to the Hyatt for dinner. Overall it was a very classy and fun wedding.
On Sunday we met everyone for breakfast at the Westin. We spent a little bit of time back on Front Street to pick up any last minute souvenirs, then took off to the airport for our 2:00 flight.
I have to say that Tricia was a trooper, being 7 months pregnant she was able to do a lot more than I thought. We were a little concerned about flying, but everything turned out just fine.
Labels: trips
Continue reading...Mammoth Trip 2002
by David GuidoThursday I rode my dirtbike all the way up to Laurel Lake. When I did this trail in May, it was blocked off with snow. This time I was able to make it all the way. It was so nice and peaceful up there.
Friday I rode my mountain bike down Mammoth Mountain Bike Park about 4 times. And later that day I rode my dirtbike at the track for a little while.
Saturday I took a nice little mountain bike ride from the condo up to the village. I then caught a shuttle up to Ski area, rode about 1 mile up to Minaret Lookout, then about 2.5 miles up Hard Core to Deadman's Pass. The view from up there was incredible! I could see June Mountain and a large portion of the Sierra's including the Ansel Adam's Wilderness, which we are supposed to hike this fall. I rode back down Hard Core, down the Mountain View Trail including a kick ass single track, over to the Earthquake Fault. I then crossed over the 203 and jumped on the Downtown Trail back to the village. It took me about 3 hours to ride 12-15 miles climbing about 2500 feet. It was a great ride!
July 10-14, Wednesday-Sunday, 2002
Labels: family, moto, mountain bike, trips
Continue reading...Mammoth With the Wives
by David GuidoSunday morning I took off by myself to ride up the Laurel Lakes trail (everyone else was snowboarding). It was basically a rough fireroad for 4-wheel drive trucks, but it was pretty fun on my dirt bike. I had to take it easy because I was by myself.
I also brought my mountain bike and got to ride the Lower Rock Creek Trail. Man, that is the best trail I've ever been on. This is my third time going down it, but the first time on my new mountain bike. It's full suspension, so it was a completely different ride this time.
May 24-26, Friday-Sunday, 2002
Labels: mountain bike, trips
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