city spin

I managed to get in a few hours in Denver. weird how different city riding is. not the mountain view and valleys of the foothills but the raw urban parks and landscape of the city. Just riding along listening to the tires hum across the road, no rednecks, great riding. the coolest part was looping through the Cherry Creek Res Park and seeing all the people out on bikes and almost no cars rolling around. Cool winter afternoon why pay 6 bucks to drive through the park? Bikes free! Then a trip into town all the way through to REI on the creek path, wierd things goin' there, drug deals, shooting up, real bad stuff! happy to get in a good ride without trouble, friends were saying the goatheads are bad even on the roads a clean ride is always a victory.

commute

two rides in two days, one with a dog chasing me (a big rottweiler) and today a sheet of ice the whole way home. yesterday the dog almost got me, my sprinting legs aren't in yet. beautiful dog, crappy owner/keeper. today i was surprised i stayed upright. amazing lunch today, organic albacore mmmmm, good food, good bread, good choice.

i love people

great story today on velonews, maybe the way that these guys reacted isn't the best way to deal with conflict but i certainly agree with the actions on both accounts.whitey's revenge unfair but maybe our fellow road users are right and bikes shouldn't be allowed on the roads, we are such a nuisance.

a.m.

the color of the sky matched the color of the water, first time they were that close. oddly warm and nOt too windy, the clava was a bit more than i needed, extra insulation is nice. the cars didn't know what to make of a pre-dawn cyclist with lights, easing out into intersections before realizing that maybe they should slow for a second aNd let the guy on the bike through. i thought an elk was near me just before town, i felt something watching me as i rolled down the last hill, that presence of a bigger creature, the kind that has few worries beyond eating, odds are a mountain lion would eat a smaller weaker animal before going for an elk. maybe one of my cats? the evil one perhaps?

Livewrong

I know some of you out there will agree with and support the Arizona folks in a good cause. Please give, it's for the good of us all. This is a quote/mission statement off their website livewrong:

The creators of the LIVEWRONG armband want you to enjoy this armband however you choose. Let's be honest, we want you to buy them. I don't care if you use it as a beer coaster or a cat collar. Its all up to you. We're all cyclists, and we ride it all: Road, mountain, fixed, singlespeed, gay unicycles, whatever. And we punch cars if they cut us off in traffic. Sometimes. But it hurts our hands, so sometimes we just throw water bottles or kick them instead. Those who LIVEWRONG might... Live in the woods to save a few bucks on rent, or in a van, down by the river... Not chase the corporate dream... Not watch fox news... Slap a retired sticker on their truck at 30 and make a go at it selling veggie burritos at dead cover band concerts... Tune in, turn on, and drop out... Distrust people who wear dress slacks, unless they bought them at the thrift store for $2 bucks like you did... Believe Evil Knievel is the greatest living example of the American Dream, besides Jenna Jameson... Think EPO stands for "Entering Paris On-time", and it ain't no more dangerous than a of glass of orange juice... Think Danzig had it coming when Danny knocked him out on the Res last year... Consistently give soccer moms all safe and secure in their H2s the finger (please make sure to have the armband in corresponding hand)... Think America is a maelstrom of feel-good corruption that is devoid of any real truth (whatever that means)... Hate reading so much they never get this far down the page.

Support the little guy!

Lucky

It snowed a lot yesterday, probably a foot or more, weather reports are always so far off. Then today I needed the full mitts, but I was too lazy last night to put them on. The fingers were really cold coming in. I'm still listening to the Killers. Trying to give it a few full listens to see if it's as good as it seems. With all of the snow yesterday I didn't think nordic skiing would be so fun (today will be good) so I went off on the single to explore the dirt roads, well, snow roads. I can't wait to see more of them on the longer rides before mud season. I saw rabbit tracks and maybe fox but I wasn't sure what they were. On the downhills there were a few cars really dogging it around the corners, especially suvs! I just weighted the front end and used the studded tire to get through without going down. The sunset from up there was amazing, purples and pinks and indigo across the sky as the snow stopped and the sun went West.

Snow

Sometimes it's the ones you don't expect that are the best, whether it's music or snowstorms. Yesterday into today was both. I loaded the new Killers effort, Hot Fuss and got listen to most of it on my trip in. The snow began yesterday at 7 am and hasn't stopped, it let up about 6 pm yesterday but then fell easily all night to make for good riding today. The goblin just glided through the powder. Perfect am commute with good, new music in my head. The foot or so of snow and the bike gliding through it instantly woke and recharged me from the less than 8 hours of sleep. Good morning.

stuck

Sometimes I start something, a good project and can't stop cleaning, today I cleaned the fridge. It almost nothing in it except for condiments and a bottle of juice for B. It was wonderful, citrus cleaner and a clean sponge, it looks so cool! I know a clean fridge isn't the sort of thing I blog about, or much less you like to read about, but my fridge looks great! Is yours as clean as mine?

long day

I managed over 5 hours yesterday, in the wind. At one point it took me 15 minutes to go up a little 2k rise. Really stiff wind, all day. Somehow the last hour wasn't too bad, aside from being out of water and food it was a great finish. I was lucky enough to meet up John for a while, good coffee ride there and then oddly saw Scott and Evan on the road right after leaving John, so nice to ride with people on really long days. The redneck factor was pretty low all day, one or two close calls, not bad for a Sunday afternoon. I didn't have a problem with the new cables or new tires, my mechanic skills haven't totally left me!

21005#2

Some days at work just aren't as bad as others, sort of like the Smith's song; some girls are bigger than others I had the new issue of bicycling to sit down with, not a very busy morning and it was a blue water day. Nothing like sitting down to a fresh bowl.

21005

OK, today I cave, I'm going to buy a balaclava, mine isn't going to turn up before I get frost bite on the commute. I'll get a lighter weight one so maybe I can breathe through it. The mitts are going back on the bike too, way too cold today to skip them.

Linger

I keep looking for the light at the end of tunnel, the cold lingers, we took B to the doctor yesterday for his cough. My cold/cough sounds the same so by the logic of Kramer the doc didn't prescribe him anything so I shouldn't worry right? The same thing as when Kramer went to the vet with the dog who had the same cough he did. I love Seinfeld logic. I want to ski and ride my bike outside, explore the hard pack hiking trails on the single and get out to the nordic center to skate but no, it just lingers, pretty shitty stuff. The good thing is instead of working out I get to think, lately I've been thinking a lot about work and how much I just need to suck it up and not complain, it's a good job, but, well, it is work. Maybe if it was more challenging I could get more into it but it just isn't. So instead I have decided to embrace my situation and look for ways around the boredom, maybe I will try harder but there isn't much motivation to do that because the promotions aren't any better than the current spot. Amazing how bad it is, but that's corporate America, tons of bullshit. I get to help out with insurance and a bit of money, the best thing is getting three days off a week, lots of time with Beckham!

coffee & groceries

A lot of talk the past few weeks about starbux (javasport, gwadzilla and kottke.org) and how many are in your area. I guess I'm lucky in that I have one within 15 miles and three if you count all of summit county. Not that I am against their coffee, I think their coffee is just fine, if you like that style of roast. My issue is with the predatory practices that they apply. I know the company is routinely rated as a good employer but what of the practice of running the little guys out of business? I feel torn, if I travel I seek out the little coffee shop, but what resource is there to find independent coffee shops? I avoid Walmart and try to avoid the other big box stores, but I shop at City Market and when I'm lucky spout of entirely too much how I love Whole Foods and all of their wonderful wares. I know I come off as a hypocrite, but I like to eat and sometimes get lazy and go to the easy spot for my food. On the upside I haven't frequented a fast food place in 8 years. I know this has been an odd post, the train of thought ran away a bit.

sun265

Whatever I had didn't want to leave my system, maybe four hours on thursday wasn't a great idea but I needed the work. I couldn't have felt better on the bike, weird how crappy i felt friday and saturday. Today my first real day off and I plan on getting better, lots of good food, fruit and juice. I'll cavE at somepoint and get out on the skis, thanks to Shaubie I don't have to poach after hours, I'm good at all the nordic centers in the county, she got me a pass through work. Pretty nice to know I'm legAl, and I don't need to bullsHit an excuse. I'll spend some of the day rebuilding the Orbea and get it set up with the new bars, photos to follow.

road

No doctor visit for B yesterday, his cough was too deep for anesthesia. So instead he went to school and I got to go to Denver and ride four hours. Not that the weather was great but it was warm enough to enjoy the time. The legs were great but not today. I feel it now, plenty of lactic acid lingering in there. We rode a pretty hilly route, lots of rollers and some pretty sharp at that. Almost no wind, which was strange. It felt so good to roll without all the clothes and mittens and biting chill, this morining I relished the cold coming in but yesterday it was nice to be out of it for a few hours. I was so warm last night and into this morning that I needed that cold air to lower my thermostat. Playing pseudo hookie made me feel like I'm training again. I know it's just the early steps but steps are being made.

Today winter temps were back for a bit, minus 10, I really need that balaclava for the early trip in to work. I keep forgetting to buy one or hoping my mine will appear. My chin was so cold after I got to work it took 20 minutes to get the feeling back. The ride home was as sweaty as the hour I did on the rollers after I got home. Lars gave me the 2004 Giro to watch, it couldn't have been more motivating, good scenery, great riders and the best grand tour of them all.

Post-ski snack

After getting off the snow yesterday I got in the car and found a little container with ginger snaps in it, from a week ago. Reading javasport (Jeff's blog) another if the skiers far better than I that help out with my ignorance in regards to nordic skiing. I remembered just how much skiing makes me hungry, especially in the falling snow when it's cold and dark. With Jeff's input and various other good skiers I get to benefit from their experience and knowledge. The cookies had been in the car about 10 days and they weren't even that stale, hmmmmm? When you're that hungry old food lingering in the car is just as good as a fresh basket of fries and a tofu burrito with extra chili oil. Check out javasport in the margin links.