Getting to MN and Nature Valley Stage 1-- St. Paul Crit

So here it goes...
Tuesday we made our pilgrimage to the bus station. $20 will get you a round trip bus ticket to Denver International Airport. The plan was to drop Missy off at the station and I went to drop my car off and walk to the station.
12:06 I drop her off
12:09 I drop my car off at Greg and Cari's, begin walking to the bus station
12:13 realize I left my phone somewhere, turn around ad RUN back to my car--
12:15 not in the car, but on Cari's counter top... As I got in the phone was ringing. Missy was stalling the bus driver. I thought the bus left at 12:30... but It actually was supposed to leave at 12:15. One thing we forgot to discuss before hand.
12:16 Bus is waiting for me. I start sprinting (with my heavy backpack & my helmet flopping about) back down towards Pearl Street, three blocks down, I realize that I still have the KEY to Greg and Cari's in my hand. Turn around. RUN BACK UP 16TH STREET. AND BACK DOWN.
12:20 After sprinting around downtown Boulder I found Missy @ the bus stop, on the curb, with no bus. Bummer. No worries though, the next bus would get us to the airport in time, but not with a lot of extra time.

Making a long story short, I flew Frontier- probably the worst flight ever. I sat in the last row (no reclining seats). Next to me was a Mom a 5 year old and a 1 year old sitting in 2 seats-- the row across from me, a mom and two kids. Screeching and screaming. Anyhow, I felt bad for the moms having to travel by themselves. But get this, 15 mins left for the flight the little girl starts yelling for her daddy... who was sitting across the aisle and two rows up. WTF. That is all I have to say!
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Nature Valley Stage #1: St. Paul Criterium

It was wet, the weather forecast was dismal. It was pouring for much of the day, and then let up around 3 when we pulled in to downtown St. Paul. I had made some sort of comment to someone about how it is nice that the volunteers don't have to set up the race course in the rain.... 20 mins later it poured.

My dad, Phyllis and Jen showed up to watch the race! It was great to see them and I wish there was more time to hang out with them. I got a good warm up in and all the ladies started the race in pouring rain. Right away the race strung out and people were slamming their breaks for the second corner (a decent going into an off-cambered left turn). The tight course was 1.1 km with 150 racers on it. Needless to say, it didn't take long for the front riders to begin lap the riders off the back. It was a cluster. I raced for about a half an hour and then was told that our group had 1 more lap. On my last lap, I went down on the 3rd corner. I slid out and slid across the pavement-- an easy crash really- except for my elbow and my 2-day-old bar tape! On the same corner people were crashing at least every other lap. It was carnage! crazy! Everyone is starting the road race tonight.

For some photos: http://www.minnbikefestival.com/Gallery/Photos/tabid/111/Default.aspx

The officials ended up cancelling the men's race after a moto ref went down in one of the corners.

Stay tuned for 5 more stages!

Friday + new apt video

Okay, so here it is. Friday. I woke up and "unpacked" for an hour. Went to work... doughnuts and coffee.... or just coffee for me. Anyhow, we had our specailized rep in town to tell us all about the FSR mtn bikes and HOW cool they are and all of the "kool-aid" to go with it. At u-bikes, we call most techy garbage Kool-aid. It is good to know, but most customers won't understand a lick once you start even mentioning the word "components." So mentioning the horst link, the brain, rebound, sag.... and others can make for once confusing conversation.

Anyhow after that I prepped to go on one epic solo voyage. I left at noon- rode from Boulder to Lyons, Raymond, Riverside, Ward, Nederland and back to Boulder. This ride took about 5.5 hours and was absolutely gorgeous. I wish I had my camera. I was going to pack it, but was out of space. For this ride, food was more important. Once I was up in Raymond (after about a 20 mile climb...) I was riding on the Peak to Peak hwy. This is a beautiful road. At one point, a car quickly pulled to the side of the road and the driver jumped out w/ thier camera.... I thought I had better smile, because they were taking a photo right of me coming up the hill. I looked over my shoulder, and there was longs peak. Absolutely beautiful. I can't wait until Gabe and I climb it later this summer/fall.

I finished up my evening w/ a well deserved shower and a crappy dinner. The best part of the night was Missy, Kris and Craig coming over for adult beverages! oh! and my phone conversation with Gabe. It is so nice to be able to host people now!

"Happy Thursday"

Even though it is Friday, I need to tell about some adventures yesterday. I had the alarm set for 6 so I could get my ride and efforts in before going to work. Unfortunately, I awoke to more RAIN! So needless to say, it was easy to hit the snooze... or actually just turn the alarm off. I worked from 10-7 at the bike shop.

Here's something that tends to be common in Boulder (the bubble that is 20sq. miles surrounded by reality). A gentleman and his wife came in the shop yesterday at about 5:45. I began talking to the wife as Catherine was showing the guy some sweet carbon road bikes. Turns out he was planning on going on a ride the next day (which happens to be today) to Jamestown, so he 'needed' a new, light bike.

So, I stood to the side and cracked jokes with his wife, while he test rode some bikes, both $4000, both sweet. I left Cathererine with the couple to go dust some bikes (or something to that effect). Next think I notice.... she has him test riding a specialized s-works... which retails for about $5200. The guy is going on a 30 mile ride. He isn't winning the Giro! He bought the S-Works. Crazy! Most importantly, the guy is super happy and loving his bike! I'm sure it will help him beat his friends to Jamestown.

So after work, I busted home, changed and ran out of the house to get my workout in. All things were successful, only thing is that I was coming home in the dark. I brought my back light so I was safe (don't worry Mom). I took the Boulder Creek path all the way home when it was almost completely dark. I have to say, I was smiling the entire time. This multi use path winds along Boulder creek under all major roads and past numerous parks. I happened to meet up with some people who were on the Thursday Night cruiser ride. They dress up their bikes, turn on their boomboxes, and cruise the town shouting "Happppppy Thursday!"! It was great. So the last crazy cruiser I saw was a guy in costume riding a 3-wheel bike. he had something in the back basket (stereo?), tiki torches (lit) on either side of the basket, and a green light underneath his bike... throwing out some sweet ground effects. Mind you it was completely dark, so all I saw was green ground effects and tiki torches. I passed him and told him that his bike was the best bike I had ever seen. He laughed.

New PL-ACE

We got back from Tulsa, OK on Monday and I was able to get all of our stuff moved into our new place! The new place is beautiful- in an excellent neighborhood with cool people and a Trail that takes you down to Pearl Street-- in 3 mins. And I'm happy to report that the ride back up doesn't' take that long either.

It is considered a studio apartment because it doesn't have a door on the bedroom, but it is definitely big enough-- plenty of storage, a nice secluded patio, newly remodeled, bamboo floors, and a sweet bathroom. I am already enjoying it! My things are still in boxes in the middle of the floor, but I figured I'd take my time unpacking!

As for Tulsa, it was a good weekend for the team. Overall , we didn't take home any wins, but for us I feel like we worked well together and learned a lot AND had fun! The community of Tulsa really pulled through to run the race on Sunday. They had a crazy storm come through-- knocking down power lines, trees that closed roads-- all in the middle of the day on Sunday. They cancelled the races before ours and worked together to get the pro races going! How awesome. Thanks Tulsa!!!! Tulsa update Coming soon w/ photos!

8 day hiatus from the internet...

What began as a 3 night 2 day visit with Gabe, turned into a week long escapade through the Colroado Plateau! Since Gabe was/is a faculty member on 'The Western Field Trip' from UWP, we planned on meeting up to hang out for a few nights while he was in my neck of the woods. It just made sense! I requested the days off of work when he was slated to be near Boulder and then was planning on heading to Moab with the class (20 students and 3 faculty). Turned out that I wasn't scheduled to work the entire week. I made one last call to be sure that I wasn't scheduled to work and the plans were set. With some logistical support and ideas from Cari, my week was set perfectly... Moab Monday-Wednesday, travel to Zion National Park, stay until Saturday morning, travel back to CO-- Durango-- just in time for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic Crit on Sunday.



Since I was only planning on being gone for 2 days, I didn't bring my computer. Weird for me. No e-mail for 9 days. crazy... and honestly, I didn't have too much to catch up on when I got back.



The week was great. I packed my bike, a bouldering pad (from Missy's sis Kris), and a couple changes of clothes. I got my workouts in and Gabe and I were able to spend some excellent time together driving through CO and UT AND gallivanting through some of the most beautiful scenery in the US. Here are some photos to document the weekend...

Golden Gate Canyon State Park-- Beautiful, yes... but it took me about 3 hours to get figure out where they were camping! When in doubt... jump the locked gate and walk back to the campsites... just to make sure that your party isn't there. In my case they were and it took me an extra 2 hours to get back to the correct place!
Gabe lecturing in Professor Valley outside of Moab- he was actually doing a talk about climbing Castleton Tower and also about the rock that is found in the Moab area.

We were taking a break from bouldering. I actually worked (climbed) two problems... attempted about 5. Then I was tired. You can tell that he is absolutely as thrilled as I was about the prickly pear flowers. Believe it or not, they opened while we were bouldering at Big Bend.
Zion National Park. We hoofed it across this stream (the Virgin River) that is running at full capacity to get to the other side so we could hike the approach to a climbing route. The stream was cold. very cold.

My head is covering the 'mittens' of Monument Valley in northern Arizona. When i busted across Southern Utah and Northern AZ to get to Durango-- I saw the Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell, Monument Valley, some really seedy gas stations and many roads with no services for miles.

The race in Durango was tough! It started fast from the gun. What I have been learning is that I do only have a book of matches to burn... not a box. I'm learning my limits and when and how hard and how long I can go. Tough lessons, but good ones. Watch for more photos.

Check out this collection...

Just think of what happens over the years if you tell someone you like "frogs" or "giraffes" of "snowmen." Don't be a hector collector. At least I can put my entire spoon collection into a shoebox.... if you need to know more about the frog collection, feel free to e-mail me.

The Hurley-- where everyone should go... or not.

So I made it back from Gila. I have much to report from that week, but that will come in a post following this one! It is much too late to provoke such thoughts about the Tour de Gila this evening... But I need to let you all in on a couple sweet photos.

First of all, when we were in NM we didn't stay in Silver City, we stayed in Hurley. Now for all those wisconsinites, who are reading... we all know that Hurley is where hwy 51 ends and the fun begins. It just so happens that Hurley, WI is on the border of Da U.P. (the upper peninsula of Michigan)-- AND the reason why it is where fun begins is because the last establishment in Wisconsin on Hwy 51 happens to be Shooters Strip Club... So wouldn't you know that I had a few chuckles when I saw the Hurley Bar.

Missy and I did some investigation one night to see what this place was like-- we had no idea of what to expect. I may have built this story up to be some crazy story-- but it wasn't. We met a friendly bartender who insisted on "frying me up beans" she kept asking me what kind of beans I wanted... of course, I didn't understand- and asked a few questions. Come to find out she just wanted to know what to pour me. It was a short lived escapade and we found no prospects in the Hurley Bar for Missy.

What we did find for Missy was this guy-- unfortunately he had just left an hour before we arrived-- he had stopped by the pub in Silver City to drop off his photo. Missy says she likes the photo of his bike the best... right... sure you do Missy!!**

My cool bike shop job is paying me for 2 hours tomorrow to GO mountain biking on demo bikes this week! I'll be testing a Specialized Stumpjumper tomorrow and two different treks this coming Thursday and Friday.

As far as racing goes, the Cowgirls will make an appearance at a couple local crits this weekend in Denver and in Longmont.

FYI This is actually a photo of a photo at a local brewery in Silver City.
We just thought it was hilariously gross! Sorry if you're offended... I know its risque...