Slummin'

Headed to Leadville for the weekend for the 1st race in their winter mtb series. Headed out friday with my bike and ski's with the notion to make some turns on the drive up. Stopped at Copper Mountain and hacked it up. Haven't been on the tele's in about two years and even then I was pretty atrocious. Needless to say I got worked. Made turns for about 3 hours before I realized I was absolutely beat. I actually made a few runs without busting my ass, but it was NOT pretty at all.

So rolled on to the 'Ville to hang out with my friend Molly and her family. They have a camper in their yard that they use as their guest house. Right down town and it was perfect. Went hiking on the cross country ski trails at the college with b&w. Then all of a sudden I hear an explosion and see the sky full of black smoke. The old coca-cola plant went up in flames. It burned all the way down. Crazy.


Woke up saturday and pedaled to town for the race. It was about 15 degrees when I rolled through town. The snow would come and go and the conditions were solid. It was all about the adventure. The race course got re-routed due to the previous night's snow. I thought I may have little bit of 'go' in my legs, but I was wrong. Between two weeks of high intensity work outs combined with the previous day on the tele's, my legs were shot. The course ended up being about 8 miles and it took me almost an hour, ridiculous. I ended up jogging for over half the course which was on the mineral belt trail, groomed cross country ski trails, which was loose and deep snow that was over my ankles. Slogfest! All I know is that by April-ish I plan on being pretty flippin' strong on the bicycle. 'Til then I just have to push through the slumfest.



Just kicked it on Sunday then headed out of town this am. Stopped at Copper and made some more turns. Today was probably the best I have ever felt on a set of ski's. Made mostly alpine turns but they felt good. It was the first time I have ever been on ski's for fresh tracks, it was sweet. Another couple days and I'll be linking my turns in a more efficient matter. Looking forward to it.

Sooooooooooooooooooo,

there's been a lot of pedaling going on since arriving back in CO. For those that say there isn't anything to ride, open your eyes. Lots of spinning miles and few running miles to go along with my daily workout. Nothing to complain about when all you do is ride. Had my buddy Jason in town for the week, it sure is nice to have a training partner in the same house. Would be stoked for a little snow fall to make some turns but whatever. Gonna pull out the tele's this weekend then hit up the first race in the leadville winter mtb series. Maybe I'll find some work while I'm there. peace

Home Sweet Home!!

Rolled into Denver this am and glad to be home. Just wanted to give a heads up that I no longer have a phone so if you need to get in touch, send me an e-mail or something. 50ish miler tomorrow and maybe some snowboarding action as well. A good week of playing in CO then I guess I should work for a bit.

Had been working on a wool quilt while in WV. My 90 year old grandma has been collecting old wool garments for me for a bit. So I cut it all into 5" squares and then sewed it all together with the help from my momma. She had to fix the corners I messed up. Here she is temporarily attaching the 'e' to the main quilt. Looking forward to the finished product.
You always need to be learning something new. No matter what it is or what it is going to be used for. Just trying is all that it takes to succeed!

Snowy Day

in WV again. It's snowed every day for a week with highs hovering around 22 degrees. Needed a good somewhat long ride for the soul. Pedaling by 11 am for some dirt road stoke.
Sweet views


and even sweeter conditions. Most roads had one set of tracks that made the going pretty good, but it was still quite slippery with a good pucker factor involved on the descents. And the climbs worked me!

When the wheels are frozen solid and you have to dig out the ice, you know it's brisk. Lots of creek crossing which made for no sitting around time or your bike would turn into a big block of ice.

Pedaled for 5 hours but at the last turn off my folks came by in the truck. We were trying to thaw out a water bottle for the last 6 miles to the car. It was gonna be the biggest and sketchiest descent of the day. We bailed, threw the bikes in the back and got dropped off at the car. An absolutely great day on the bike. Plan on being back in CO on Monday. Just have to wait and see. peace!

oh yeah, finally got this set up.

Spinning

along in the New Year. Still in WV, so headed to Snowshoe for 5 days in a cabin with some good folks. It's always enjoyable to see people's expressions when you roll up to a ski area in sub 20 degree weather wearing shorts and riding a road bike. Some waves, but lots of blank stares.

Got to the cabin wed. eve. and went for a spin. Up 66 to the backside of snowshoe (in the dark) and down the front side of the mountain. Nice little spin. Just had Lasik done the previous Monday so a mellow few days was in order.

Headed out the next morning with J-bird for a 30-ish mile spin. Had big plans but stopped short due to working harder than I wanted. We split directions and met up later. Started with a little snow but turned into a sloppy rain. Then the third day's ride (New Year's day) was stellar. 40 plus miles, snowed all day, sketchiness was all around. Up 66 then down into Cass and here and there for a bit. Eventually found a side road that brought us back up 66. Such a nice little climb, especially when paired with the climb to the top of Snowshoe.

Not too cold, but a little brisk when we arrived back to the cabin. I'm not gonna lie a 39x16 on back-to-back-to-back days in Pocohontas County is no joke, esp. brakeless and in the snow! Only had to push 1 car out of the ditch on these rides, so not too bad.

Got home and realized a sledding session was in order. Here's the drop in for the chute into the golf course. Silliness.

Loaded the bikes up this morning and headed down the road. It was 1 degree when we loaded up. Another excellent little side trip on my extended vacation of sorts. Looking forward to getting back to CO and getting into some silliness.