Seasons Greetings from Boulder

Yesterday was a good day... today was a good day... and tomorrow looks to be another good day.

Yesterday I couldn't help myself and had to take one extra day off work for this long Christmas weekend. You see the mountains had got dumped on Monday night and when I checked the snow report at work I was extremely frustrated I was sitting in an office. Therefore I figured I could still catch some of the good snow the next day and indeed I did. I headed up to Breckenridge and got up into the high cirque on some of the steep stuff where the snow was untouched in some spots mostly because the crazy wind had blown it all over. Anyway it was all good and I only took one double whipper rag doll style as some of the wind blown snow got a bit of a crust on it and grabbed the front of my board... game over. It was a soft landing though and I was right back at it.

Today Christmas day I woke up watched a movie and exchanged texts with good friends wishing each other a Merry Christmas. Then it was off for an afternoon mountain bike ride. I was greeted by high winds heading out to the trail which had me leaning the bike into the wind at pretty much a 45 degree angle. I was feeling worked before I got to the trail but I knew it would be a tail wind heading back home so it was all good. The ride turned out to be muddy which is always fun! Then I cooked a good dinner (thanks for the Amish noodles Mom they were DELICIOUS! and the jerky is already about half gone).

Muddy Shoes


Muddy Bike... MUDDY CHRISTMAS!


Changing lenses in anticipation of a cloudy day with new snow fingers crossed! with the most delicious beer Alaskan Amber


So tomorrow I head up to Vail to meet Jaimie Niblock aka Jamie Rowe a long time family friend. Her and her husband are down here from Spokane for the Holiday and it should be good fun. Jamie went to CU and her husband graduated from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. I haven't seen Jaime in a long time and it should be good times!

That's Cold

I have decided it's time to sit down and blog about the last month. I procrastinated long enough. Where to begin....

Well first off I went home for Thanksgiving as the whole family was going to be back in Michiana. I linked it up with a trip to Boston for training and all went swell though it was a long time to be away from the mountains with the snow starting to fall. I got in on Wednesday night and my sisters soon to be husband Ryan picked me up at Midway Airport in Chicago. We made the two hour ride home to surprise the parents only to find out that my Mom had already figured it out not only because of myself pretty much slipping but Lester (my sister) slipping as well. No biggy her and my Dad were still happy to see me.

We had a delicious family Thanksgiving dinner and hung out with old friends such as Graham and Bobby who most of you who read this know but the others you may not so I'll spare the writing. Just plain good ol friends in general and of course the family time. I also saw a few of my cousins who I hadn't seen in quite a long time and my Grandma Miller and Great Grandma Slabach.

Sunday I headed back to Chicago with Les and Ryan. We went out saw a movie and then went out to Tommy's Ryan's cousins bar and proceeded to "have a good time." Ryan and I stayed out late with his brother and Lester headed home since she had to be up at 5 for work.

The next day Ryan took be out to this killer burger place called "Kumas" I do believe. They specialize in unique burgers and they were quite tasty! After that it was off to O'Hare to sit and work for a while and then fly to Boston. The trip to Boston was way better than the last trip and I learned a lot more. Probably both because our instructor was an American who lives in France vs. a native French citizen and because I have become more familiar with the software vs. not knowing anything about it before. Anyway it was productive but I was ready to get back to the mountains either way.

My last night we stayed in downtown Boston. I was on the 23rd floor of the Radisson in the Theater District and here are a few shots from my balcony.

Beacon hill and Boston Commons... awesome old school area





By the white triangle bridge with the green lights is Boston Garden




Once back in Boulder I made it home just in time for the snow storm that was rolling through and I was stoked! Finally got to drive the Outback in the snow and I don't know how I ever got around without it. The Jetta was good to me but it is nice to be able to hit the gas at an uphill stoplight in the snow and actually go vs spinning out and holding up traffic.

Tim and I headed up to Breckenridge that weekend and got in some good turns on good snow even though not of lot of runs were open. Then this past weekend it got SUPER COLD! and the snow flew. Rob and I headed up to the slopes on Sunday and good times were had in the 6-12 inches of snow. However, I think my chin might fall off. The weather was prolly -3 temp and with the wind chill plus riding speed plus snow in the face made for possible frost bite with a feel like temp of about -20 degrees. I don't think I got it that bad I just think I got really bad wind burn which is taking a layer of skin off my chin. Oh well I will survive and the snow was worth it!

On a somber note. A week ago yesterday one of my bikes was stolen. Tim had been riding my old mountain bike because his is a little rugged and I had no problem with him riding mine. Tim came home one night with no bike and I just pointed and thought maybe he left it at his friends since it had been snowing hard that day. He looked at me and I was like it got jacked didn't it? Yup sure enough someone stole it off campus. Must have cut through the lock. I had a lot of good times with that bike. I took it well though and said shit happens. Good thing I have another one or it may have been a bit different story.

Mission Accomplished

Rob and I successfully wore the crap out of each other today. I met Rob down at White Ranch this morning for what is one of the most brutal climbs around due to the loose rock and steep grades. Not to mention Rob has joined the single speed mecca that has been established in recent years. He rides his mountain bike with 1 gear. Insane. I rode a bit heavier gear than what I normally would to try and feel some of his pain as well but that kid is a beast. I am really wanting my lungs and leg power back but I know it will take a bit. I just get frustrated when I can't ride to my capabilities.

Once we hit the downhill it was game on though. This trail has some absolutely nasty water bars on the trail. These are wood timbers that angle the water off the trail to prevent erosion. However it is super nasty to have them in the corners and makes you have to be super focused and on top of your bike handling when flying into them at high speed. I have had my fair share of ass over tea kettles on this freakin trail... which I guess is what brings me back to it :)... gotta have a challenge! They are even more of a challenge to climb up on the uphills. Anywho the downhill we took is called Long Horn and there are some sections that are straight up nasty with rocks. They are steep, technical, tight, and most likely have another obstacle after you make it through the rocks. We passed a guy who was climbing up on a single speed rigid 29er mountain bike and wasn't even breathing hard. This trails is hard to go down let alone freakin climb up. I aspire to be that guy. Just to explain his bike, it doesn't have any suspension just 29 inch wheels vs. 26 inch standard wheels which allow it to climb better, roll over things better, and the rigid frame allows for better power transfer from the pedals.

Here are some pictures from the ride. We didn't get any pictures of the nasty rocky sections because you have to hold your speed through them and Rob and I usually ride pretty close together and have to much fun so we don't stop very often haha... sorry...

Rob coming through a steep section... pictures just don't do justice sometimes


Rob flying down the steps... watch the dust fly.. love having this guy on the Front Range! (He just moved down from Steamboat)


Rob then me flying down over a drop with a great view of the snowless sunny November Front Range... too hazy in the picture but a good view of the city of Denver was in the distance..

Updates

So I went for my ride today. Climbed Look Out Mountain down in Golden. Mother this is the road we drove up to go to Buffalo Bill's Grave. We saw the mountain bike trail and I said I should ride it. I finally got around to it. After being sick... yeah it whooped my ass. There are some super steep climbs and switch backs at the bottom that sucked the life out of me. Will be a good training ride after work next spring. It was a fun trail and good to ride something new.

Went out to dinner with my buddy Rob, his girlfriend, and her sister tonight. Rob just moved down from Steamboat and I am stoked to have him around here. It was a good time and we will be heading out to ride tomorrow down at White Ranch near Golden. Greg and Jon might join us as well but I haven't heard for sure.

So what this post is really about. I just added Joel and Neil Kauffman's blog as a link on this page to the right. Some absolutely breath taking pictures of rock and ice climbing. Just have a look through and you will see some amazing things. These guys have turned into amazing climbers. I think they might be headed down to South America. Not sure though. Just have to keep checking back as they have not posted in a month.

Also I have added Graham Knapp's Blog. Graham is heading to India. He is going there for the first month with his friend Ryan who I had the pleasure to meet last year and then he is going to continue working there. If you read his first post you will find out more about Ryan and why she is going back and what Graham will be doing while he is there. Enjoy!

B

Back in the saddle

Tomorrow I plan to get back on the bike. I am starting to feel much better from the sickness that I have had for the last week. I feel bad for my body because I will probably over do it after not being on the bike for over a week. Not to mention I have some serious tension built up and I need to release it.

I guess I really don't have to much else to say. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Perhaps something interesting will come up to write about this weekend.

Sickness is a downer

Yeah I definitely picked up a full on cold as much as I didn't want to tell myself that is what was happening. Friday at work I felt crummy. Saturday I tried to ride it out of myself and today I finally listened to by body and didn't do anything except for clean up around the apartment and get groceries. I think my body appreciated it though I am still congested and have some drainage with a slight cough at the same time.

Anywho, the ride on Saturday was super fun. We pretty much took it really easy because the trail was super technical and we had some riders with us who were a little sketched out in the nasty rocky sections (and there were quite a few of them). Which was actually good because I didn't have the legs or the lungs to go constantly. Soooo we turned it into a picture day which was a great idea since I haven't done that much recently since we have just been flying around the trails.

Back to work tomorrow with still a busy week however I think the hours should be some what back to normal even though things will still be lively our French Internal Auditors here for the rest of the week and catch up on neglected duties along with further Concur Implementation.

Here are some pictures that most of you who read this have probably already seen either from Facebook or through the link I sent you.

The dude who will hopefully be my partner in the BC Bike Race Greg tearing through the nasty slanted jolting rocks.


The Group


Steep? Nut uh!

Done

I awoke to Boulder's first snow of the year this morning! Looks like that was about it though. Supposed to warm up again this weekend and into the first part of the week next week. Winter is coming though.

Patrick and I finally finished up and published the budget today. We decided to stay pretty late last night to try and get most of it done because we figured there would probably be something that didn't turn out right once we got the budget into Maggie aka Magnitude our new consolidation software. Boy were we right. We found out that our database wasn't properly distributing our facilities allocations like our accounting softwawre we have set up since moving to Maggie. We decided to call it quits last night around 10:30pm and wait till the morning to finish everything up. I came home and worked for another 2 hours trying to get our revenue all set up and worked out amongst intercompany and third party's. I was successful and headed to bed around 12:30am.

I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday with a sore throat and knew I probably wasn't going to feel so well today. I ended up drinking a ton of green tea and honey this morning at work and started to feel better but things seem to be moving to my sinuses now.

Anywho I screwed around with the expense input into Maggie today and struggled for a while trying to match up all the intercompany and third party expenses but by 2pm I was successful with NO ERRORS! Only bad thing was that I now had to input the changes to the allocations that Patrick had been working on. However, I now knew how to find the errors and after a bit fiddling by just after 5pm the 2009 Budget was ready to published! I peaced out immediately. It was good to get home tonight and be able to clean up the kitchen and get the bike ready for my ride tomorrow morning with Greg, possibly his wife, John, and his friend.

Hopefully a good ride in the chilly clear mountain morning air will help clear out this nastiness that is hanging in my body. It hasn't been too bad and hopefully I can work it out without it getting to bad. Off to bed for this guy. It should be a nice peaceful weekend around here.

Challenge to be set

The last two weeks have been some what of a whirl wind at work. Patrick and I have been going hard on new consolidation software as well as working on many iterations of the 2009 Budget. I have definitely put in some hours over the last two weeks and the days seem to keep getting longer not shorter but I won't complain too much because we are getting somewhere with it all and I have been learning a lot. We should be wrapping the budget up hopefully tomorrow night and a bit into Friday if some things don't flow right into the new consolidation package on the first try.

In family news Reagan, Matt, Brayden, and Camden came out to visit for a long weekend last weekend. We had a good time hanging out though the weather wasn't perfect with a lot of wind. We ate well and spent quality time together and that is all that matters.

In personal news it sounds like Greg might come into the office tomorrow and we could be signing up for the BC Bike Race! He told me he is down to do it we just have to sign up and hopefully there is still a spot open. I purchased a new mountain bike from a guy at the bike shop I always go to. It was a steal and the fact that Robert my buddy at work will likely buy my old mountain bike makes it even more of a steal (though I will miss it with all the work I put into it this summer and simply the sentimental value). I put some good miles on the new bike last weekend and I super pleased with it. I kept the wheels off my old bike which were the big investment this year and I love them! I also sent Greg an email today about another race that is starting this week. It is called the La Ruta and it is in Costa Rica. Supposedly it is one of the hardest mountain bike races out there. It is 4 days 235 miles and 45,000 ft of vertical gain. The race goes from coast to coast through some miserable but also amazing terrain. We will see how the BC Race goes and this could be another event sometime down the road I might find myself getting into. But first things first. I will be sure to let you all know when we are officially signed up for the BC Race and it is game on.

I am starting to feel a bit of an itch for snowboarding but the weather has still been pretty nice down here on the Front Range (though I have only seen about 25 minutes of day light each day) so I am not pushing getting up into the mountains just yet. Sounds like Greg, John, a lady friend of John's, and I are going to do some mountain biking on Saturday down towards Morrison so that should be a good time. I am really looking forward to this weekend and finally having the first round of the budget done.

All for now. Hope everyone is well.

Well Hello

Not to much going on out here besides work. Been busy and frustrating at times but I have had a much bigger part in the budget process this year which has been pretty interesting. Patrick has been leaving much of the input and collection of data to me and he provides me with helpful analysis and things to look for. I am also continuing with the implementation of a new expense system though it has been slow with Concur being busy as well as myself. However, we will be into testing and production before the end of the month or early December hopefully.

Jennifer Jean Galardi aka Jennifer White will be out here this weekend with her husband Andy staying down in Denver with Andy's brother. It will be good as always to hang out with her for a few nights and catch up.

The weather is supposed to be spectacular out here this weekend so I am sure I will be out on the bikes in the morning before hanging out with Jen and Andy during the afternoons and nights. There is also some cyclo-cross going on this weekend here in Boulder if I remember correctly and I am hoping to catch a race. I haven't been to one yet but I hear they can be quite a riot.

One week from tonight Reagan, Matt, Brayden, and Camden will be out here and I CAN'T WAIT!!! I am so excited they are coming out here to hang out! Not to much else to ramble about. I am still awaiting a decision from Greg on whether or not he wants to do the BC Bike Race. I have been sending him emails daily pestering him. He is headed to Moab this weekend to ride and climb so hopefully he will come back with a decision. I just hope it isn't to late as I am sure registration is filling up quickly.

All for now.

A New Challenge is in the Making

OHHHHH BUDDDYYY!!!!!



So I'll start by saying nothing is set in stone and it is still pretty up in the air. However, I have a new challenge in my sights. What is it you ask? Well hold your horses I'm about to tell you. It something called the BC Bike Race. What is this you ask? Well thank you for asking. It is a 7 day Mountain Bike Stage Race from Victoria, British Columbia to Whistler, British Columbia.

The race is two or four man teams which must start and finish together each day. In my case I would be riding with my friend Greg from work. He brought up the idea a few weeks ago while we were riding Heil and Hall Ranch. He was in Whistler this past summer downhilling on vacation with his wife and got the itch for the race. He is a great mountain biker and a shit ton of fun to hang out with. I told him it would probably be a year or two till I could go because it is quite expensive but then yesterday I sent him an article about a 5 day mountain bike stage race that is being put together for this coming summer in Breckenridge and he sent me a link for the BC race. I read about it and immediately fell in love with the thought of it. I decided there is plenty of time for me to get the funds for it and it would be the experience of a life time. Not very often are you going to meet up with someone who wants to throw down big bucks for a 7 days suffer fest in beautiful scenery, with ferry rides, and some of the best singletrack around (at least from what I hear).

The race is all inclusive. You get breakfast, aid stations, and dinner every night as well as first class treatment. They move your bags and set up your tent every night so all you have to do is ride, eat, and sleep. There are massages each day for a small fee, showers, and of course hundreds of bikers to hang out with. I can only imagine there are some awesome conversations after a full day of riding on unbelievable trails with amazing scenery.

Anyway I think the tables have turned and now that it is a reality on my end it is going to take some coaxing to get Greg to actually sign up for it. I told him he needs to step up or shut his face and quit talking about it. So for now we'll see what happens!

Check it out here... http://www.bcbikerace.com

Still Bikin

So no boarding this weekend. People backed out as expected because of the crowds and well there really isn't much snow up there. People are just jonzin to go. People like me especially after seeing Teton Gravity Research's new film "Under the Influence." The opening line this guy names Sage skied was absolutely the most insane thing I have ever seen. How he even stayed on this pitch was mind boggling. Great Flick!

Tomorrow I'm back on the mountain bike and pretty freakin excited about it. It is supposed to be super nice so Greg, Tim, and possibly my boss Patrick and I are going to go down to Centennial Cone near Golden to rip about 14 miles of trail. Should be a killer time as always. I have a lot of pent up energy from work this week so I am ready to blow myself apart as I am sure I will. Other than that prolly a relaxing weekend and other bike ride on Sunday along with sitting down and filling out my mail in ballot at some point as well.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Only a few more weeks until Reagan, Matt, Brayden, and Camden come out to see me and hang out for a long weekend!!! I'm STOKED!

Boardin come early!

Just got news that A-Basin opens Wednesday and some friends are going on Saturday! Looks like I could hit the slopes sooner than I thought. Though there will probably be more beer than boarding considering it will be one run, HUGE lift lines, and completely packed!

Time's flyin

Well lets see folks. The trip to Portland was fantastic. I spent some great quality time with Jason and Shelly and they showed me a good time as always. My flight ended up being delayed for quite a while but Jason and Shelly were both there to greet me with smiling faces when I finally landed in Portland. We headed back downtown to their place parked the car and headed straight to Bridgeport Brewery for some delicious beer and pizza. We just hung out that night and played with Poncho (Sarah's cat Jason and Shelly are watching) and then headed to bed.

The next morning Jason and I dropped Shelly off at the Hotel downtown that Sarah and all of her ladies were getting ready at and Jason and I then headed out for some breakfast at the Stepping Stone. It was absolutely FANTASTIC! I had a chicken fried omelet covered in gravy and cheese! We had a nice little table outside and enjoyed some coffee and had some good conversation. We then headed back to the place and got ready for the wedding out on Saunie Island. The wedding took place at a farm out on the island under a big oak tree. The reception was held there as well and everything went perfectly. I got to see Sarah for a short bit wished her the best and then headed back downtown with Shelly and Jason for some dinner and then back to their place to hang out.

We got up in the morning had coffee and breakfast at their place and then they took me off to the airport to fly back. The weather was splendid and Portland is so much fun to visit especially when you have time with such great people.

It was then back to work all week keeping busy but getting on the bike for a few rides however the days are getting shorter and I am running out of time at night to ride. Looks like I will have to start putting the trainer to use during the weeks here before long.

It was a big week for mountain biking around Boulder as well as a new connector trail opened which connects Heil and Hall Ranch which are two big places to ride around here. The connector creates a 55 mile ride I can complete out the door of my apartment. It does include some time on the road but over half of it is on trail. My buddy Greg, his friend John, another guy Sean, and I all got out early Saturday morning to ride the the whole trek for the first time. We started at the parking lot of Heil Ranch so the total ride was about 33-34 miles. The weather was perfect. A bit over cast but we didn't mind as it kept the heat down. We all ended up pretty worked afterward but it was a blast and that ride is going to be my home training ground for my plans to do several endurance races next year. There isn't any horrible amount of climbing (although I don't consider any amount of climbing horrible :) ) but the power outputs on the ride are definitely difficult.

Left to right. Sean, Greg, John, and I at the top of Hall Ranch


Me, John, and Greg at the start of the connector Picture Rock Trail.


Retro Ride.


Work is pretty nasty busy and today already started out with a pretty long day with a few more to go. I am already looking forward to the weekend. Though the days may be long work is making the days go by quickly so I can't complain. Hope everyone is well.

Off to the Northwest!

I fly out tomorrow to head out to Portland to see one of my favorite people, Sarah, get hitched. I will be staying with two of my other favorite people Shellson aka Jason and Shelly. It should be a whale of a good time and the weather is supposed to be perfect so game on. Graham was supposed to be living out there but he headed back to Glacier this summer so he won't be around.

It's going to be a short trip but I look forward to seeing my hommies and hopefully hear Jason strum on the guitar as well. After this week and work and the week I will be coming back to I look forward to just having a good time.

Have a stellar weekend all!

P.S. Congrats again on your house Steph! It's SUPER nice!

Been a While

I guess it is about time I throw up a post as it has been over a month! Between a mixture of sheer laziness and then complete craziness I haven't gotten around to posting. I apologize.

Last week I went out to Boston for training for work which was interesting listening to a couple of French guys from our parent company. They were teaching us how to use a new consolidation software that is going to require a lot of work from our finance department at Spatial. Oh well gotta do what the big dog says. We also have quarter close coming up along with budgeting for next year, a sales and use tax audit that I need to complete work on, finish up the expense system I am implementing, and finally maintaining my usual daily task. Not to mention I am flying to Portland next week for my good friend Sarah's wedding. Looks like I am going to be busy for quite a while.

My Dad was in town this weekend and we had a great time eating good food and enjoying the Colorado sunshine. We went to Benehana's on Friday for a great Japanese grill dinner, Foolish Craig's for a delicious breakfast Saturday morning, cruised Pearl Street all day in the afternoon, Proto's Pizza for a delicious dinner, and then got up way early this morning to cheer on Leia Watkins who ran the Boulder Backroad's Marathon today! Great to have you out to visit Pop's!

Leia had awesome weather for the race today and she did great! She held a really great pace for quite a while but then at about the 19 mile mark she hit the wall and felt the true pain that many runners feel at about that time. She was able to push through though and never gave up. It was painful for both my Dad and I waiting at the finish line out at the reservoir because we knew she was going to be in pain when she got there. Though she said it was the hardest thing she had ever done and will never run again I know she will look back on it with a sense of great accomplishment! I admire her for taking the brutal challenge and making it through! It was a lot of fun chasing her around the course cheering her on!

Here's a couple of pics from the race. The course was rolling and offered up some brutal short steep climbs!



The look of pain... but IT'S ALL OVER! CONGRATS LEIA!

Fingers crossed for next year...

This would be the ultimate! This is a picture of the handcrafted gold and silver Leadville 100 mountain belt buckle you get if you finish the race in under 9 hours. I have not idea if I could do that but I know I could get it in under 12 hours which would mean that I would get a all silver handcrafted belt buckle.



Only problem is that the race participants are selected on a lottery basis. That means you have to turn in your registration/fees by January 31, 2009 for the August 2009 race and just cross your fingers that your name is drawn. There are over a thousand participants each year for this race and normally quite a few big names that ride it. Last year was Floyd Landis and this year it was Lance Armstrong. From what I have heard that race is hard but the Breck 100 is harder. I would like to do both next year. I am also considering the Lumberjack 100 which is back in up state Michigan which would be completely different riding than out here and I think it would be super exciting. We'll see what happens. I know Curtis one of my roommates in college has been getting into riding as well and we might get together to do one of these races which would be AWESOME!

Bummer

Well B-RAD ended up missing his flight out of Chicago because of unusually long lines and won't be making it out for the weekend.... bummer

That's nice!

Well I don't know about the rest of you but I am officially addicted to the Olympics! This is no surprise though. I went off last night when the US won the 400m relay in swimming after the French had been talking smack! I LOVED IT! For the next few weeks my evenings will be spent cheering on the Americans!

Saturday after a rough bike ride up to Jamestown I went down to Denver to hang out with Leia and a few of her friends. It was a good time. We were going to go to this place called Boondocks that has mini golf, go karts, video games etc. However turns out someone had rented the whole freakin place out so we didn't get to. Instead we went to the driving range and killed some golf balls cause Leia was dying to hit something.

After that we went out for a delicious dinner and went out for some beers as well. The next morning I headed back up to Boulder and went up to Walker Ranch and had a solid tough ride up at Walker Ranch on the mountain bike. It has been nice lately to have a bit cooler weather and I have been feeling better about gettin on the bike.

Tonight I got out on the mountain bike again with perfect temperatures in the mid 70s and roasted it! I started out getting a good warm up riding out to the trail and then just GASSED IT. I saw this shirt the other day that had the picture of a turtle and a rabbit on it just like the throttle on a John Deer lawnmower and it said give it more rabbit and that is EXACTLY WHAT I DID!!! I absolutely throttled it around the trails! It has been the best that I have felt since the race in Breckenridge and I think it is because of the cooler temps for sure. I have to say I am back on the bikes again with regular rides and it feels good. I have been pretty lazy lately but I'm back at it.

The weekend before Stephanie came through on a flight home from Montana and we had a pretty good time hanging out though it was mellow. We went out for drinks with her sister and then the next day tried to go swimming at the Res but got there right in time for it to thunder and they kicked everyone off the beach and it never stopped so we headed down to Pearl Street to walk around. Here's a quick pic of Steph, Angela, and myself down on Pearl Street.



Brad Freshour gets into town on Thursday so I'll get some pics of us hanging out. It was a great time when he came out last year and I expect the same this year. I'm sure we'll go out, do some biking, and hiking. Until then!

First Show at Red Rocks...

So I apologize I have been extremely lazy lately. Actually in almost all aspects of everything except for work I have been doing pretty well.

So I haven't been riding to much lately kind of using the weather as an excuse which is ridiculous. But yesterday I did go out and kill it and it killed me. Ended up with a headache for a few hours. I didn't think the heat was taking a toll on me because I felt fine on the bike but turns out it did. Anywho the ride was good even though I suffered afterwards.

So Keith and Rob are in town this weekend. They are currently at the Yonder Mountain Stringband show at the Boulder Theater. I didn't want to pay for tonight and tomorrow night so I am just holding out to meet up with them later tonight. But tomorrow will be a killer show at Red Rocks for Yonder. This area is their stompin grounds and they are killer bluegrass band so it should be a good time. I can't wait.

Tomorrow morning we are going to get up and do a ride in Nederland and then were are going to head down to Red Rocks for the show. I won't be gettin crazy since Steph is flying in from Montana on her way home for the night catching a flight Sunday morning. So I will be back in Boulder to hang out with her for a bit. Leia Watkins was supposed to come to the show tomorrow but due to some unforeseen circumstances she will not be which makes me sad but we will hang out sometime soon.

Alright just a quick update. Hopefully some more posts more frequently if I get my act together and it freakin cools down out here!

I DID IT!!!!

Breckenridge 100 COMPLETED!!!


Well ya'll I completed the race after a 13.5 hour roller coaster of a ride on the bike! The day started at 6am as the race took off on a neutral rolling start through the town of Breckenridge to the base Peak 9 at Breckenridge Ski Resort. From there the race was on. All of the true maniac racers were gone within a few minutes flying up the fire road which would take the race up to Wheeler Trail and Wheeler Pass which would take us over the resort and down by Copper Mountain Resort. The climb went flawlessly and the views were amazing on a perfect July morning. It was amazing riding my bike where I had snowboarded this winter flying off of rock drops with Breckenridge down in the distance. As the race approached the pass we were above Imperial Chair Lift which is the highest ski lift in North America. On route I passed over a couple of snow fields as I made it to the pass and then the decent was on! I looked at my watch and it had taken about 1.5 hours to do the climb and I thought I was in good shape. I thought I would be able to make up some time descending but this proved to be otherwise. The decent down Wheeler Trail was muddy, wet, and narrow. I got thrown all over the place trying to stay in the rut and with people in your way it made it even more crazy. A couple of guys let me by and I turned it loose a bit more. Then I took my first spill of the day. I was able to get one foot out of the pedals and then the other but my momentum sent me summer saulting. The ground was very forgiving however and I immediately got to my feet and got right back on the bike.

Waiting for the 6am start... 29 miles 3,500ft of climbing...


After the first spill I decided I better tone it down a notch. As I did I was still making up time catching up to people. One dude (a Texan) fell into a creek right in front of me but I think he was more upset that he may of scratched his bike than that he fell. Everyone asked if he was alright and he said yeah so we all pushed on. I made it into an area where I was on my own and was content just focusing as the wet muddy obstacles came my way. I started to notice that my rear brake was acting funny and I thought oh here we go a mechanical is going to take me out of the race. I stopped and checked on it and everything seemed to be fine so I just kept at it. As I made it to the end of the decent (which was awesome even with the challenging conditions) I turned up the pace once we hit the Frisco bike path. It was cold as hell since we were riding along the creek and the sun hadn't made it over the mountains yet and that is always a bit of a shock to the muscles.

Then it was onto the Peaks Trail which would take the race back to Breckenridge. As the race started up another climb I began to wonder if my first loop was going to have me on pace to make the cut off time at Boreas Pass at 4:30pm. I knew I would have to keep my times between 3.5-4 hours per loop to do so. I started to catch up to another group of 3 riders and we all went along several miles together until we came out of the trail and hit the road to head back to the park where each of the loops ended. We all looked at each other and tried to figure out if we were going the right way and I said the directions said to go past the construction which there was a lot of so we took off and indeed it was the right way. As I came into the park at the end of the first loop I had made it just under 4 hours. My mom was waiting for me to help me out in anyway she could. She got me to calm down a bit and get some food in my body (which was not easy all day long) and then I took off for the second lap after about a 10 minute break.

Out for Loop 2, 32 miles 4,300ft of climbing...


I had been hearing all day long and even prior to the race that the second lap had some wicked climbing on it. And this it did. There were a couple of sections that were so loose everyone was walking them. I actually chatted a bit with a guy that would continually be with me for the rest of the race here and there and we both were doubting our chances at making the cut off time. As the loop progressed it turned out to be much different than the first lap because the terrain was drier and you could absolutely fly down the roads and single track descents to make up time you had lost on the climbs. Loop 2 was extremely fun with well taken care of single track on the Colorado Trail. We ran into lots of people who weren't in the race and they were kind enough to left everyone by and cheer us on as then did so.

At this point I was taking on fluids just fine but I was beginning to struggle with eating which always seems to be my down fall. I finished the Colorado Trail section and hit the road to climb back towards the park. This climb led us on a dirt road back to the switchbacks we had climbed out of the park. I raced back into the park completing the second lap in just over 4 hours. My down fall was that I had gone through the aid station at the end of the Colorado trail thinking I had enough water to make it back. Turned out I didn't. I had climbed for about 25 minutes with no water in the sunshine. However I did have some electrolyte drink to get me through though I was really wanting some water.

Final Loop 3, 37 miles 4,200ft of climbing


As I tried to take on more food talking with my Mom I was still wondering whether or not I would make the time cut off. I did know that if I didn't try and eat first there was no way I was going to make it through the whole final loop. So I relaxed ate what I could and then took off with 2-2.5 hours to climb Boreas Pass and make the cut off. I had no clue how long it was going to take me so I decided to put quite a bit of effort in to make sure I did. On the climb I ended up catching up to a guy that lives in my apartment complex that I had met only a week before. He told me that the climb was pretty easy on the road and that it was 9 miles to the summit. At that point it looked like I WAS GOING TO MAKE THE CUTOFF! That I did with an hour to spare. The only problem was I had used quite a bit of energy and my lungs were starting to hurt and go into coughing fits.

After I made it through the Pass and down through the single track decent to Como I started to slow down as the terrain became super hard. It was like a rock garden that you had to walk through and it completely broke my rhythm. Matt the guy from my apartment complex caught up to me and I let him go by. I told him I was reaching my limit and was going to be taking it slow so go ahead and pass me (he had only signed up for the 68 mile ride so he was still pretty fresh). As I made it out of the single track and into Como I knew it was going to be a long 10 mile climb back to the summit of Boreas Pass on the road. I just put it into survival mode and climbed at about 5.2 mph as that is all my lungs could handle. The legs were actually doing alright and didn't have any pain in them but my lungs just couldn't handle a faster pace. I stuck with it though as people passed offering encouragement and as I fought off the mental battle of my body wanting to quit and my mind wanting to finish all 100 miles. On the final single track after I had made it over the pass I caught Matt yet again. He got a flat for the third time. The first time he put a tube in his tire and the second time he patched and but it wasn't holding. I gave him the two tubes I had since he would then be behind me and if anything happened to me he would then be able to help me out. Turns out though no need as I flew down the final sketchy loose single track and raced down to the park 13.5 hours after starting and completing the whole Breckenridge 100.

I was lucky enough to not have a single mechanical issue (probably thanks to all of the issues I have had earlier this summer and getting the parts replaced before the race). The only problem I had was with 25 miles left I bonked and just went into survival mode to make it home! This was an awesome experience with a great group of people out on the trail. After the race you wonder if you would do it again... at first... not so much... as you reflect on it... yup I would and I would like to go under 12 hours for the ride! I think that is totally reasonable as I learn how to keep myself fed on the bike.

I have to send out thanks to my Mom first and foremost for coming out and being a part of this with me and to the rest of my family for making sure everything went well and believing in me. Also all of the friends that knew I could do it I thank you!

P.S. Now that I finished the race the Stash is coming off! I know how much all of you loved it! HAHA!

Two days to go...

and the suffering will begin. Saturday morning at 6am I will be starting the Breckenridge 100 with my Mom on looking. She flies in tomorrow and Friday we will head up to Breckenridge to go to the pre-race meeting and check into our Condo.

I took yesterday off and tonight I headed out on the same climb that I did when the seat post broke on the road bike on Monday except this time I was on the mountain bike. The climb was freakin hard as usual and the legs were screaming. But then I hit the down hill and ragged time trial style all the way down to Heil Ranch where I then climbed the rocky single track the best I have in quite a while. It was about 8pm so I turned it around and flew back down the singletrack to head home just before dark. I then once again ragged all the way back to the house and had another big dinner loading up on the calories.

Tomorrow night I will head out on a little ride to spin the legs out and then out to dinner with the Mom. Friday I might get a little ride in up in Breckenridge but tonight was the last night of hard work.

My head and my heart tell me I can do this whole race but altitude, 100 miles, and 14,000 ft of climbing could say otherwise. We'll see how it goes and hopefully get the results to all of you this weekend!

The Boat

I had a great time in Steamboat this weekend and had a great host. Keith took off out of town to go to a Festival so I ended up staying with his old roommate and now a good friend of mine as well Rob's. Rob actually lives right next door now since he moved out and went off to a NOLS course for 3 months and then came back. Rob is super into biking much like myself and it was fun to ride and hang out with him even though we didn't get to ride to much since he had to work most of the weekend.

Friday I got up and went to breakfast at The Shack and chowed down on a stack of pancakes and drank a few cups of Jo to get me going. I went and did a couple of laps up on Emerald where the singletrack is fast, tight and windy. SO MUCH FUN! It is about an hour climb or so up the 6 miles to the top then about 20-25 minutes of fun freakin downhill. I did a couple laps up there and then decided it was hot as hell and I had lost enough fluids for the day. That night I met up with my old roommate Dave and he, Rob and I went out for a few drinks and Julianne met up with us later.

Saturday I once again went to The Shack for another delicious breakfast and some Jo and then I went and rode this little ridden trail that Rob pointed me in the direction of off the back of Emerald. I then waited for Rob to get off work and we went and rode the Spring Creek trail where not two weeks ago Rob's fork broke on his bike and set him flying into the woods ripping up his elbow and even worse cracked two ribs. He is on the mend and it didn't seem to bother him to much as we both ripped the downhill after the climb to the top. Spring Creek is an awesome trail where you ride deep in the ferns and cross the creek something like 10 times. That night Rob and I got some Salmon, rice, and veggies and made a terrific dinner. I had been talking with the Fam in Florida how I wanted to give Salmon another shot since it is loaded with all kinds of good nutrition and well it turned out to be AWESOME! Rob grilled it up right and we had a great dinner. We took it easy that night just hanging out on the deck at his place.

Sunday I finally got Julianne to ride with us on her kick ass bike the Santa Cruz Julianna. She and I met up and had breakfast at Creekside which was awesome. We sat outside right along the creek and hung out for a bit over breakfast. Then it was up Emerald again. Rob rode with us on his lunch break and we had a good lap up there. Julianne was hesitant to ride with us but she did awesome and I can't wait to get up there and ride with those two again.

Here's some photos of the weekend.

MGM through the Meadows over looking Steamboat


The Ridge Trail with the Flat Tops in the background


Looking back on some downhill (30 mph down it!!)


Julianne crossing the planks! So proud!


Today I went out for a ride as I wanted to get a few more days of decent climbing in before the big weekend. I took off up Lee Hill in north Boulder which is a short climb but pretty freakin steep. I ended up some what cracking turning over the big road bike gears compared to the mountain bike. But after a quick stop to shake the legs out and adjust the seat height the legs came back a bit. It's always hard to climb after sitting in the office all day and starting a climb so quick is always rough on the legs anyway. Usually takes me about 30 minutes of pain to get going. I could feel some fatigue in the legs as well from the weekend but that is good. I crossed the top and went down the backside of Lee Hill. Once at the bottom I had to make another seat adjustment because I moved it a bit to high and my freakin seat post clamp broke. That meant 10 miles home with out sitting down aka not fun! So I climbed back up Lee Hill standing the whole time which was a good work out on the legs. The only sketchy part is going 40 mph downhill on the road without a seat to control the back of your bike is not fun and pretty nerve wrecking. I made it back safely though and everything worked out.

P.S. Christian Vande Velde aka VdV from Chicago of Garmin Chipotle Pro Cycling based out of Boulder had an amazing day in the Tour de France. He climbed with the 10 best riders in the world today and solidified his #3 position in the overall on the hardest stage thus far! Hopefully he can hold strong over the next 9 stages or move up even more!

Pic of VdV from Velonews.com

Sorry Ya'll

So I apologize for not having any posts lately. I have been kind of frustrated with things including not being able to get my biking legs back to where they were before vacation so I haven't been up to writing any posts. I mean I am doing alright for small periods of time but I can't seem to keep them for very long. I had a horrific but fun ride last Friday up in Nederland and actually ran into Tyler Hamilton. For those of you who don't know who he is, he is a professional cyclist who now rides for Rock Racing. He lives out here in the hills west of Boulder. Anywho most people know him because he was supposed to be the next Lance Armstrong. He won an Olympic Gold in Athens but was then served a 2 year suspension for blood doping. He has always denied it but who knows still pretty cool to run into him though. Anyway back to the ride. I rode for about 4.5 hours in all but it didn't seem like I was riding that hard or even could ride that hard. I ended up with a bad headache a little while after I got home and a sick stomach so I was in bed by 9pm. I still didn't feel that great on Saturday so I decided not to push my luck. Then Sunday I went for a ride up Left Hand Canyon on the mountain bike and ran into a co-worker and rode with her for a little bit before she turned off to head up a climb back into Boulder and I continued on to a road called Lickskillet which is a mile long steep ass dirt road that climbs about 800ft vertically up to Gold Hill. I grabbed some water in Gold Hill and was going to continue onto the Switzerland Trail but the clouds were rolling in and I didn't think I had the legs to rush it as I had just pretty much climbed for 20 miles.

Then Monday rolled around and I ended up being at work until 9pm and had rode the bus in so I didn't get home till about 10pm. I thought I gave up those auditing hours haha... Q2 reporting to our parent company kept us there late. Nothing seems to be going right with our close due to accounting software errors and our customer services folks are being worthless at getting us the fixes we need.

Today I was able to ride home from work with a wicked tail wind to aid me but I still throttled it the whole way. Tomorrow I am going to try and ride in if I can get my ass out of bed.

I plan to head out to Steamboat this weekend to get some good riding in out there. I might take Friday off to give myself one last hard weekend of riding before the big race a week from Saturday. I am getting nervous because I don't know how the legs are going to hold up at 12,000ft. Oh well I guess I can only push myself till I can't go anymore.

Here are some pics of the mountain bike ride in Nederland on Friday.

Deserted School Bus


Deserted Shack next to the School Bus


Fun hard packed single track through the Aspens


Last single track before headin onto the road out of the mountains and back down into Boulder


P.S. I have my apartment to myself till mid August when Tim gets back. That makes me happy!

Florida Bound

I'm checking out for the week to go hang out with the Family in Florida. Back next week with some pics, perhaps funny stories, and hopefully not a horrible sunburn.

Worked...

It seems to be a requiring theme that I consistently don't get out on the bike until the hottest part of the day. It's not that I sleep in super late or anything but once I am up I eat a good breakfast then I let it digest and watch some tube and then what do you know it is 11am and the sun is blazin. Anywho I deal with it and head out anyway.

Today I ran some errands before I got on the bike which included going to the bike shop to get the rear mountain bike tire set up tubeless again. Joey the guy who always works on my bike for the most part was struggling with getting the tire to bead and once he did it turns out when I got the flat in the race last weekend I actually put a hole in the sidewall. The tire started to shoot the sealant out the side and guess what.... time for a new tire. I am realizing what happens when you really start to ride a lot. Good thing I have a new car and don't drive much cause my mountain bike is requiring more maintenance than a car haha! The good part though is I have worked my way into getting discounts everytime I buy something and get some free maintenance. They are good at taking care of there customers and I give them my loyal business. Win Win if you ask me and they understand that as well as I.

Anyway once I got back it was time to head out on the road bike for a few hours. I decided it was time to start climbing the canyons again. So I did non other than head to one of the steepest climbs around. Magnolia Road is stupid steep up off of Boulder Canyon. It is a calm uphill all the way to the start of the road and then it just goes up and up with gnarly switchbacks and steep straight aways for a couple miles. Then it chills out for a minute before it decides it wants to kick your ass again. So after I worked my way to "where the sidewalk ends" aka the road goes to dirt I turned and headed down. Did I stop with just that climb... no that's to easy even though I put some serious energy into the pedals. I got to the bottom of the road took a left heading west up the road about 500 yards and made a right to head up to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain.

Sugar Loaf starts out pretty mild but then towards the top completely works you. I made it to the summit dropped over the other side and was going to head down to "where the sidewalk ends" however, when I made it around a corner I remembered there was a steep downhill which I would have to come back up and decided better of it because I was almost out of water and would have probably been pushing the outer limits to make it back without completely working myself. So I turned her around and headed back to the apt. It was a killer hot day on the bike but the workout was great.

I was using the phrase "where the sidewalk ends" because that is the name of one of the rides around here that the pros do. It inlcudes riding Magnolia Road until the road turns to dirt... Sugar Loaf till the road turns to dirt, and lastly Super Flagstaff until the road turns to dirt. I forget the total mileage but the climbing adds up to about 8000ft. I was pretty happy that I virtually completed 2/3 of the ride. However, there was a lot left in reality because Super Flagstaff is a brutal final climb. I have done all of them seperately but just starting to piece all of them together.

Alright time to relax hydrate more and probably have a tasty beverage in the sun to reverse the hydration haha!

Happy Father Day again Dad since I talked to you earlier! Only a week till the Fam is together in Florida!

Gunnison Original Growler

Alright so I spose it is time I write about the race I rode on Sunday down in Gunnison Colorado. I took off Saturday afternoon and made the 4.5 hour drive down past the Collegiate Peaks, over Monarch Pass, and into Gunnison. I got into town signed up for the race and headed out to Hartman Rocks where the race was to camp on BLM land. It was quite windy but I got the tent set up and braced down with rocks and settled in.

I had to be up at 5 and get things around so I could get warmed up and ready for the race which started at 7am sharp. I awoke to cloudy skies and some wind. It was pretty cold in the low 40s and the threat of rain that came out of no where. As I was getting the bike ready it started to sprinkle and I thought oh hell what did I get myself into now. However, as we started the sprinkles subsided and the sun burned through about 30 minutes to a hour into the race.

The course stared with a steep uphill on one of the dirt roads for about 2-3 miles then we hit some awesome single track. After that it was back onto a ridiculous climb called Top of the World. More downhill single track after that and then more climbing. This repeated itself quite a bit and I was just concentrating on pacing myself and not getting carried away. The big dawgs were long gone and I was settling in nicely. I let quite a few people by and ended up catching most of them later in the race and most of them were actually only signed up for 1 lap. As I reached the half way point on the first lap I was feeling a bit tight but the legs were starting to loosin up. The later part of the first lap took a toll on me as there were some steep loose sections where you had to push the bike up, though I am sure there were some people who were able to make it up without a problem.

After coming down the last downhill and back to the parking lot I was pretty wasted. However, I was set on going out for my second lap no matter what because I signed up for it and I was going to finish it if I had to crawl back. I talked to a kid from Telluride who was kind enough to ask me if I needed anything and we chatted a bit. He said he thought about taking another lap but thought better of it. Tons of people were talking about how hard the first lap was and they couldn't imagine doing another. I didn't let that discourage me though and the kind fellow from Telluride wished me luck and I was off.

The first climb killed me but I maintained a steady pace and got it done. The first part of the second lap was going pretty well as I was riding with another guy and we were working together quite well until about 14 miles in when I got a flat tire and lost pace. This is where the bad news set in. I was getting the tire changed without to many problems and a guy by the name of Brad stopped and asked me if everything was good and I said yup no worries. He continued on and I was left there to change my tire. Turns out my CO2 pump broke and I had no way to get enough air in my tire so that I could ride it. This led me to start the 3 mile trek to the half way point aide station where I hoped I could get some help with air for my tire. About 2 miles into the walk completely exhausted Dave the event coordinator caught up to me as he was sweeping the course and asked what was up since he saw my foot prints and new I had been walking for a while. I told him what had gone on and he hooked me up with some air and asked me if I wanted to finish. I said "Hell yes" but if I get another flat I am screwed. He said no problem cause I will be behind you a ways picking up markers so keep on trucking. I gladly did cause quiting just isn't in my blood.

I ended up catching up to Brad about another 5 miles down trail as he got a flat as well. We rode the last 14 miles together completely exhausted. By the time we got to the line between 9 and 9.5 hours after the start Brad's two friends were there to cheer us to the finish. I was completely happy even in last position that I had finished the race. I would have finished in about 8 hours if I didn't have the mechanical issues but that's alright. I saw quite a few people out there who didn't get to finish because of things like broken derailleurs and even broke swingarms on frames. One of Brad's friends was one of the unlucky ones who broke their rear derailleur.

Even though I was trashed I made the drive home. After a shower my head hit the pillow and I was out for the night. I woke up yesterday with not much soreness but quite a bit of fatigue. It's a good sign to not have any soreness so I just need to keep riding. After two days of and getting all my stuff down around here I will be back on the bike tomorrow.

Off to Florida in a week and half so I need to get some good riding in and then take some good recovery during the vacation with the family and maybe a few runs just to maintain muscle strength.

We are going to have two reasons to celebrate in Florida. It is my parent's 30th Anniversary and I got news that my sister Leslie is getting married to her boyfriend now fiance Ryan. Congratulations to them and can't wait to see everyone in Florida!

Cheers!

B

Destroyed...

Well the Growler lived up to it's name, many people spoke of how hard it was. I got destroyed and finished last due to some mechanicals however I was able to finish the race which was my ultimate goal. I'll post more tomorrow.. right now I need a shower and sleep... and sorry but I didn't get any pictures... I was there to ride and that was all I could concentrate on.

Decision made...

To ride the Gunnison Original Growler 64 mile mountain bike race this weekend (www.gunnisontrails.com/joomla) for those of you who want to read a bit about it. I talked with Greg tonight and though he won't be going to the race with me as of now because he has his daughter this weekend I have made the decision to ride it. He was saying he wished he didn't tell me about it so then he wouldn't have to be jealous of me hahaha! However, he gave me some wise words of wisdom from his experience in training for rides and told me not to blow it up this weekend and just continue to slow and steady get ready for the Breckenridge 100. I will definitely just be riding the race for a good training ride and enjoying a new area of riding.

Work has been busy with getting the month closed and walking our Senior Accountant through the process again. In the morning Patrick and I will be going over the monthly variances getting ready for a meeting with our CFO mid morning. Then I get to start learning some more new tasks with our Forecast 2 being due next week to our parent company Dassault Systemes. As Vesa is getting settled in Patrick is getting ready to pass more duties onto me which I am excited about. I still struggle with passing things on to Vesa but when I am forced to it makes it easier as more things come my way.

The rain is supposed to subside tomorrow so I will probably get a small ride in depending on what time I get out of the office. I am also planning on going to my local bike shop (The Trek Store) since Bob Roll and Gary Fisher will be there for a talk after hours from 7-10pm. Bob Roll is one of the announcers for VS. on Cyclism Sundays and also during coverage of the Tour De France. He has also ridden the Tour. As for Gary Fisher, he is one of the mountain bike pioneers and has his own line of bikes called Gary Fisher. Should be a good time.

Saturday I might go for a short ride here in the morning but then I plan to head down to Gunnison and get registered and set up camp. I will also check out where the course starts at 7am on Sunday. Probably take it easy for the rest of the afternoon hanging out either in town or at the campsite. I'll hopefully get some pictures and have a good report on Monday or Tuesday about how things week.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Youngans

I was at work yesterday when I received a call. The name didn't come up so it wasn't a number that I had. It turned out to be little Neil Kauffman. He and his buddies are on a rock climbing trip and Neil is headed out to California to work for the summer in the High Serrias next Monday. They have been climbing in Wyoming and are now in the Boulder area to continue doing some climbing. Looks like rain for the next couple of days so they might be out of luck at least for a day or two.

I met up with Neil and 3 of his friends for dinner and some beers on Pearl Street and we caught up on old times. It's good to see him and he gave me some further updates on Joel as well. I offered them a place to shack up so I have 4 guys in my living room 2 on the couch and 2 on the floor, makes it pretty tight around here but glad I could do it.

Alright I have to get to work... kinda busy this week and next. Perhaps some updates on Neil's stay later.

Decisions

Today I had a great ride into work with a beautiful sunny morning in the 60s. The ride on the trails was peaceful and couldn't have been much better. I know the legs are improving because I had fatigue in them but was still able to ride on.

I was about to head out of the office for the ride home when I got an email from Greg the guy from work I occasionally ride with. He sent me a link to a 64 mile race this weekend in Gunnison down by Crested Butte in south central Colorado. The race is two laps on a course with about 4,000 ft of climbing each lap. It would be a great chance to see how the legs are doing and do some great training. I was going to head to Steamboat to get some big days in on Emerald Mountain with friends but I am contemplating the race for sure. I think I will wait to hear back from Greg to see if he wants to do it or not. It's only $25 to enter and all the money goes to the trails in that area where they have proposed to build a trail from Gunnison to Crested Butte which would be awesome! Anywho hopefully I'll get an answer from Greg tomorrow. I'll keep you updated.

Washed the bike when I got home tonight and it is ready for another ride into work tomorrow. Time to head to bed though. I have to leave at 6am to get to work and get a shower and what not and I am dog tired from staying up to late last night and riding in. Tonight I'll get some good rest though.

Critters

I keep forgetting to post something my Mom will be glad to know about. In the 2 years I have lived out here I have yet to see any critters (snakes) on the trails. This year I have seen 3 already. I saw one about 2 weeks ago and then on my ride on last Thursday I saw 2 of them on the same ride. I would rather do without!

Anywho I had another great weekend. I was going to go up to Ft. Collins with Leia to see Justin Sindelar however he didn't get ahold of me until Saturday afternoon when I was out on my long mountain bike ride and by then I had bought tickets to a concert here in Boulder for that night. So on Friday Leia went up to Ft. Collins anyway since she works half days on Fridays and then she stopped by here on her way back and we went out for some Pizza down on Pearl Street. It has been great to hang out with her more often lately.

Saturday Alexis and I got up and went to the farmers market and then I put in a great day on the bike. I climbed Flagstaff up to the Walker Ranch Trail. The Climb is about 10 miles and 2,000 ft on the road and then 8 miles on single track with one section that you have to hike a bike up steps for I don't know maybe 200ft up.... BRUTAL... especially since I wanted to stay in front these two hikers that I had passed right before it, which meant no stopping... I bonked for a bit after that but was able to recover after climbing the trail on the bike a ways to get ahead and eat some food and drink some fluids. It was pretty hot out but ended up being a great ride. In the evening I got cleaned up and Alexis and I went to see what turned out to be a PHENOMENAL show at the Boulder Theater. We went to see Paper Bird a local Americana/Folk/Ragtime/Jazz type sextet with 3 amazing women singers and 3 guys who play Banjo, Trombone, and Guitar. THEY WERE AMAZING! All of which are between the ages of 19-24. You all should check out their myspace page and give a listen. The link won't work so copy this into the address bar http://www.myspace.com/paperthebird On top of that their opening act Laura Goldhamer was amazing as well. She has some super creative animation slide shows that go with her songs and she was so into it! Definitely a good show!

Today I went to Hall Ranch and did 3 laps up on the loop of the trail. It was a bit cooler but I was still feeling the fatigue of yesterday and I desperately need to go to the grocery store so I can load myself up on all the calories possible. I did do that tonight as well. I am going to start riding into work on the mountain bike as long as the weather stays nice which the forecast looks freakin amazing with 80s early in the week and 70s later in the week with nothing but sunshine though there is always a chance for rain in the after noons around here. Although that is what the bus pass is for if it does rain. I should be able to put in about 40 miles a day on the bike by doing so, so that should continue to progress my legs.

Alright everyone have a great week!

Ouch

It has been a pretty good week since we got past the rain. Yesterday I rode the bus into work and then rode the mountain bike home. I was thinking to myself how awesome it is that I can ride my bike home on a route that is half road and half single track mountain biking through nothing but open space to and from work! It's pretty badass I won't lie.

So tonight I headed out to White Ranch after work which is down towards Golden. This place is packed with gnarly downhill and some ridiculously steep and tough climbs with obstacles. The main climb I did is called Belcher Hill and it is brutal! Steep grades and in some spots there is loose rock which makes it horrible to climb. I made it through the climb and took some serious punishment but it is time that I turn up the heat on training. I am already behind so I will be going hard to make up for lost time. Anywho I took a route after Belcher Hill that requires some hike a bike unless you are a freak of nature and can climb some ridiculous stuff(which the freaks do exsist out here and it is awesome to watch). I made it through all the hike a bike and it was time for a route called Longhorn. This is definitely a steep and technical downhill with little jumps lots of rocks, logs, tight single track, and 90 degree turns. As I was coming down one of these 90 degree turns I didn't get myself squared up and just below there was a 3 to 4 ft steep drop which was super tight between two rocks. I went into the groove fine but then as my rear tire came down I was almost vertical and my handle bars got wrenched and I went ass over tea kettle into a superman belly flop face first onto the trail where a rock was awaiting my chest to slamp into it. It was quite pleasant let me tell you. Oh well just another battle wound.

Alright I am exhausted and its about time to head to bed. Glad its Friday tomorrow.

Now that's OLD SCHOOL

I had a fabulous weekend! My good friend Jennifer White (now Galardi) came out to Denver with her husband for a visit. Andy's brothers both live out here so Jen was able to kill to birds with one stone visiting Andy's family and seeming some old friends. I thought I was just going to meet her in Denver but turns out they all came up to hike in Boulder a couple of days. So I met up with them on Friday after they hiked and hung out in Boulder for a while. Later that night we planned to meet up in Denver as well where Leia Watkins was going to meet up with us. I know both Jen and Leia from high school and it is always great to see both of them.

Friday night I took the bus down to Denver where Leia picked me up since she lives super close and we went back to her place. She has a killer studio apartment right near Coors Field where the Rockies play not to mention it is super close to Market Street where a lot of the bars are. A couple of Leia's friend met us at her apartment as well and we headed out to meet up with Jen, Andy, and his brothers. We all met up and had a great time at a couple of different bars. I paced myself because I wanted to head home on Saturday for a bit and get a ride in since I got my mountain bike back on Friday night before I headed down to Denver. We had a great time and everyone had a lot of fun. Jen, Andy and his brothers all took off before the bar closed but I shut down the bar with Leia and her friends and then we headed out to go back to Leia's place. Leia got pretty loaded and was absolutely comical! She is way fun to be around. Our cab ride was freakin hilarious as well. The cab driver looked like Milton from Office Space and he had bongos in his cab. Not only did he allow us to play them he had one between his legs that he beat on every time we came to a stoplight, pretty freakin funny!

Anywho we stayed up till about 4am and then woke up at 8:30am and Leia, Riley, and I had to go get Riley's car since he parked it on the streets downtown and had to get it before he got ticketed. Leia, Riley, and I all then got breakfast before Leia dropped me off at the bus stop to head back and get a ride in. I ended up getting a 30 mile mountain bike ride in. It was awesome since the bike is now in tip top shape with the new shocks all dialed in! So glad I spent the money. Now it is time to recover from it and put some good miles in.

Leia had planned a barbecue Saturday evening at her place so after the ride I hopped the bus again and she willingly picked me up again. We had a great time at her place with some of her friends and also another long lost high school pal who was in town. Brock Delinski had flown in from Arizona to hang out with the lady he is seeing and he came over and hung out with us. It was great to see him and he is doing really well. We all continued to stuff our faces with great food and Leia once again got pretty tipsy. Turned out she didn't eat as much as the rest of us and also got in the hot tub with some of her friends and one of her friend's little boy to play around. This ended up back firing on her and by the time we went out at 11:30 Riley and I were not so up to it. Anywho Leia's friends Clay and Emily picked us up and we headed out. Leia was starting to not feel so hot and was on the verge of getting sick (mix of not enough food, no sleep, and too much alcohol accelerated by the hot tub). But she was the one who wanted to go out so we gave it a shot. THEN turns out we get to the bar and Leia forgot her ID. We ended up having to leave and head back. Some of us were not so disappointed. When we got back in the car to head to Leia's place, turns out she couldn't handle the 3 minute car ride so Riley and I walked her home. It was a good walk home and kind of funny. Leia was apologizing over and over while Riley and I just tried to keep her upright. We made it back successfully got Leia in bed and Riley and I had another beer and ordered Dominos. Then we went to bed as well.

Sunday was a relaxing day for all of us... well kind of. We decided to hang out at Leia's apartment pool. This was where it got interesting. Turns out two minutes after Leia and I got out to the pool to bake in the sun a whole crew of good ol boys... and yes I mean HAPPY BOYS! showed up with their mixed drinks and techno music. It was pretty crazy to see! There was a whole side of the pool just watching like WTF and the other side was all of them partying without a worry in the world. This went on for several hours. Leia, a few of her friends, and I just sat out and enjoyed the sun even though the craziness was going on in the corner. Her leasing agents actually had to come out and tell the wild ones to tone it down a couple of time. Once I got fried like a lobster and the clouds rolled in Leia, Riley, and I went into the complex and rented out the theater to watch a couple movies. After all was said and done Leia dropped me off at the bus stop and I headed back to my own bed after two nights of sleeping on a therma rest on Leia's hardwood floors. Not complaining though I actually slept really well and it was great of her to have me down there. She showed me a great time and she has some great friends.

Today I woke up after a great nights rest hoping to get some good riding in staying away from the 54,000 people running the Bolder Boulder 10K. Turns out it rained most of the day so I just cleaned up the bikes and stayed inside. I did get some slicks for my old rims so that I can ride the mountain bike on the trainer as well as the road bike. I got in an hour ride tonight and felt pretty good. I also made some homemade noodles for dinner this week. Other than that it was a relaxing day.

I had an awesome weekend seeing old friends! I hope everyone else had a great weekend as well. To the three ladies who were hanging out in North Carolina this weekend I got your calls and texts. Glad you were having fun and I miss you girls too!