Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Our version of a tree! Cheers and Happy Holidays!

Being Thankful

I have been keeping on the DL for the better part of the fall. Still riding a little but I am also dabbling in other activities that I find refreshing after a long season on the bike. Trail running and hiking seem to be the go to activities currently and it feels really good on the legs to work the muscles differently. Going on a long trail run or a solid hike forces you to take notice of how weak your ankles get from only cycling or how much of a workout you can get from an hr run. True that it helps with conditioning and keeps me sane but more importantly, it motivates me to get back on the bike.

Speaking of riding or intentions there of, we had to change Thanksgiving plans last minute due to poor weather so we ended up staying in CO and making our own T-day dinner. Jessica did a great job and made one of the best turkeys I have ever had! In fact, everything was excellent and it took the sting out of not getting to Moab. We had a great time eating and drinking the day away and talking about our upcoming move.

We begin moving into our new place on Wednesday which is exciting albeit an adjustment on many levels. I am just hoping that Sam can handle not having her own little wild kingdom just on the other side of the cat door. I am also hoping that amidst the chaos of the move, I can sneak in a ride or two. Enjoy your week!

breaking

break your routines once in a while, whatever they may be

riding tomorrow

9/26 is good to start with (if you like reggae that is)

time to move forward

Like an out of control descent, sometimes all you can do is just hold on through the rough spots and hope that you eventually pull out or at the very least, die trying.

I hope that the next president is good because our other wing snapped off a long time ago.

a little something

friday afternoon ride


saturday afternoon ride with jessica


i passed this couple as they were approaching a fairly technical downhill, much respect


peruvian purples from the garden


currently listening to my talented cousin, Mike Melito, ripping drums on his new CD In The Tradition. Hard Bop Jazz in the tradition of the greats!
Mike's myspace page
Website

cycling in the news

Great to see legend Davis Phinney riding again!

and i may be out of town for this one but it looks like a swell time

Oct.

The mystery ailment that sets in for a few weeks every autumn, is beginning to lift. Mired in the residual effects that come from a summer of riding and the weather change, I ease up on the consistent riding and take up other activities for a short while. It feels good around now to wait for the cycling fire to start back up on it's own. I have learned that this perennial change in motivation is best ridden like a wave rather than wrestled with. For this reason, riding has been a bit spotty and less than adventurous the past few weeks.

Like Ace Ventura pseudo birthing out of the mechanical rhino in pet detective 2, I have inevitably begun to push through this precipitous frame of mind and have started to savor the feeling of spinning into winter. I now find myself excited for the coming of cold snowy evenings that see me pulling on the layers and mounting my light before heading out into the quiet white nights. This will be the two wheeled meditation that helps fuel the soul during the winter.

Ironically, I had plans for a nice MTB ride this afternoon but the rain beat me to the trail so the mtb waits another day. This coming weekend looks nice for getting outside and Fruita is in the plans for this weekend or next. Another motivator for me, is the fact that our surf trip plans have been shored up and we will be ringing in the new year on the beach, Mexico this time around! I am really excited to hit the water for a couple weeks and the timing will be perfect.

A late congratulations out to Josh Tostado from the Bach team for scoring big at 24 hrs of Moab. Josh won the men's solo class and is making a name for himself on the endurance mtb scene. I am guessing we will not wearing the same jersey next year. After 2nd at the 24hr nationals and another crushing win at the brek 100 this year, Josh deserves something more substantial in terms of sponsorship and I am sure some bike company is thinking the same thing. We only met once at Firecracker 50 but he was super easygoing and rode up the trail and cheered us on even though he wasn't racing, nice guy for sure and clearly a devout endurance racer. We just ned to get him on an singlespeed!

Just one, is it not crazy that OPEC wants to cut crude production in order to drive, excuse me, "prop" oil prices back up?! Like we are going to stop burning oil.

in the spirit of others...in my audio player right now, Hint - portakabin fever (note, not THE hint, just hint)

peace

cross training

Just a couple of pics from an after work hike.









The rainy weekend forced me to break out the running shoes. Not as bad as it sounds actually and the hike that Jessica and I did from the house this evening was rather nice. Looks like a pleasant week in store for us, happy trails!

tgif

It must be tough to be Sarah Palin. This election may be a layup for the dems if this keeps up. Didn't anyone do their homework before giving her the nod?
Maybe the red team wants to pull a fast one and handoff this train wreck to the blue team for a term. When you think about it, who on capital hill has not used their power for personal gain at some point?
here is a funny vp remix, worth watching

credit to curtis for sending me this one

Rides have been tight this week, mostly road and fixed gear riding. The garden is fading away into fall and the perennial chill is creeping in.
grow your food

just because bball season is upon us
edit:justin, turn the volume off before you watch this or your mother will be upset with me

woe is us(a)

We are trying to bail out the Titanic with a coffee can. Sorry no interesting bike post this time but our economic problems are going to change our way of life for a long time and it keeps me up at night. Listen to Peter Schiff nail this thing in 2006, a must see.


Art Laffer needs a follow up interview. I guess economic models from the 60's will not always translate.

Peter Schiff last week

When will we learn


And everyone thought I was crazy touting my support for Ron Paul when he first threw his name in. He made short work of many in the republican debates, yet he gets no credit. Dr.Paul tells it like it is but unfortunately, americans need to have everything sugar coated.

Listen to Ron Paul question federal reserve chairman Bernanke, this one is good

One of the last true patriots left in congress


here is what he said on the floor about the bailout plan

I am not saying he would have been perfect as president but he would have been better than McSame or Obama given our current situation. I promise cycling only next time!

fall

I'm sure this pamphlet is still blowing in the wind down by prl st if anyone is interested.

The riding has been mixed and almost infrequent as of late. My fixed gear commuter has been the bike I try to find an excuse to ride whenever possible, sometimes spinning around town running errands for a couple hrs at a time and always taking the longest way possible.

My designated driver. I got this frame in 87 while I was in high school. This was my first bike that was not a BMX bike.


The JV game is on tonight and what a great debate it will be!... I am wondering which will be more humorous, the debates or the The Office? I anticipate that listening to these two squawk like the Aflac duck, will be about as much fun as chewing glass but I will tune in and get involved. The reason we are here in the first place is because most americans never cared to get involved.


Did you know you can legally bet on the election? The odds on Palin dropping out before the race are now 8:1 compared to 20:1 when they first announced she was the gop vp nom. They actually have odds on her trying to marry her daughter off before the election as well. The real shocker was odds that I move out of the US, 2:1 now. We are living in strange times indeed.

bldr county

Riding front range trails on a beautiful Saturday afternoon is usually a test of patience for obvious reasons. That said, it is not often that a new trail of any significance opens in these parts so, despite the inevitable crowds that would surely be testing their skills out on the new trail from Heil Ranch to Lyons, CPM and I decided to utilize it to do a long ride from my place and combine a few different local trails..

Backing up a bit, I originally was hoping to get out of town this weekend to ride but Jessica has been very busy getting ready for open studios and nobody else seemed up for a journey. GITA was calling me but needless to say, I decided to stay up here and enjoy the incredible weather and leave the car parked.

I had no idea how long it would take and we knew we would be stopping quite a bit due to heavy rider traffic so I was hoping for 5hrs or so. A quick handlebar change and a noontime shot of espresso and we were off to see what the new trail was all about. After a short shot on the Wonderland trail, we climbed over Old Stage Rd to Lefthand Canyon and down to Heil. We rode under the fringe of a storm that was briefly concerning us but the thunder soon rolled off into the distance leaving beautiful Indian summer skies for us to ride beneath.


On the edge of the storm.

We took the long way up to the start of picture rock. This trail is in it's infancy and has only been open for 5 days. It was interesting to see the transformation that is already starting to take place as the trail gets worn in. Eager to make short work of inner tubes, copious amounts of healthy cactus lined the trail making veering off course something to think about.



heading into lyons



The trail flowed "fairly" well for that area and climbs slightly better than it descends. There was quite a bit of rock just as there is on Heil and Hall, making the whole ride a wrist numbing workout. Linking the whole thing to Hall is a solid ride if you are going out and back from town.

52 miles with an elevation gain of 7632ft. Moving time was 5hrs10mins some of which was due to being new to the trail and the abundance of riders we shared the it with. I was actually pretty impressed that the BMA had the resources and fortitude to get through all the red tape involved with building a new trail in boulder county. I know this was in the works for several years and appreciate a 50+mile mtb possibility from my house with minimal road. It may not be epic trail we are talking about but it's right in the backyard and will be a good option for early and late season.

monopoly

Where are we heading?

and so it goes

"I am a patient boy..."

While Paulson and Bernanke are chomping at the bit to fire up the presses, I am still waiting on the IF to come home so I can ride some trails. The rest of the parts arrived Saturday from Formula so the brake rebuild will commence Monday and my wheels can once again glide through the hills of CO. I am a bit bored with road riding this time of year but you gotta do what you gotta do. The fixed commuter has been a welcome reprieve to formal road riding and I think I will be spinning to the garden this afternoon then head around town the long way. This is always a fun spin in the early spring or after a few Southern Sun pints.


If you didn't get the post title, sorry. I was lucky to be part of the crowd who saw Fugazi's first live show outside of DC which was played in our very own Charm City, it was killer! I have many fond memories from my teen years of seeing punk shows in b'more! Sure you can find a clip with better sound on youtube but this one captures the moment.

I may get one of these setups for when my 29er is down in the future.

I figure I can use the training wheel with the handle as a walker when I get old and need assistance.

Or, I could further simplify things by keeping one of these in the closet for bikeless times. Hard to believe you could dumb down the unicycle but there you have it.

Trying to solidify plans for next weekend. The snow is coming to the high country so we need to take advantage of everyday we can before the trails are covered for the year. We have been discussing possible NM rides, as well as a few others. See we shall.

ps:a new boulder county trail opens tomorrow. Picture Rock connects Heil and Hall Ranch which are not spectacular rides in themselves but it does give a nice option to create a long ride from town. I am hoping to ride from the house one day next week and complete the whole thing. Should be a great time!

lament for DBT

Literally and sometimes in reverse order. That pretty much sums up the last two weeks.

Time is not on my side to make the DBT in Taos this Saturday. After last Sunday's crash, my brake was left inoperable when the handle ripped out of the actual handle body during the tumble. Still no parts from Formula and it's Thursday night. This pretty much means that DBT is going to be a no go for Saturday unless parts hit tomorrow morning. I am super bummed thinking about missing it but things happen and I suppose there is always the following weekend. The weather does look nice so hopefully everyone has a great time down there.


Today's harvest from the garden.

I am excited to see the bursting carrots, beets, arugula, and lettuce growing quickly from my late summer plantings. The broccoli has been interesting with the two varieties I planted being extremely different. One was more of a Rapini type variety that actually grew on one huge stalk and took up more room than it was worth. The quality was rather pleasant but the room it took compared to the yield has me thinking I may pass on it next season and stick to more traditional varieties, like the one pictured, and a more traditional rapini. Those Wink's New Mexican hot peppers (yellow ones) were quite a surprise and highly recommended. Pretty hot up front but the burn does not linger on the taste buds making them quite useful in many dishes. What does a half ass bike blog have to do with gardening you ask? Exactly

keep on truckin!

funday

A few days behind on posting and finally getting finishing this post I started Monday. Big ride plans were trimmed short as we awoke to the sounds of light rain falling Sunday morning. We let things warm up and begin to clear before heading out for a mid day ride and although it was not the ride we were planing to do, is was huge on fun and great trails. I rocked my SSO longsleeve for the first time and it was perfect for a fall ride. It even passed my durability test which included a shoulder skid on the trail for several feet.


We ended up seeing one of Jessica's friends and her partner at the beginning of the ride and they ended up spinning with us for a good part of our journey.


Jessica concentrating on the trail.




Christopher enjoying the trail


Someone is having fun


Not a bad background

Yet another enjoyable ride in the books. The first trail we hit was a seldom ridden gem that would not stay open if discovered by the masses so we wanted to lay down some unspoiled memories of it before it ends up closed like many of the trails we loved. It was hard to follow at times but well worth the time spent navigating. I was having an outstanding ride that unfortunately ended with a crash and broken brake handle. I was unable to get it back together and rode out with one brake. The parts have not arrived yet...NMES DBT ride may be out of the picture.

several beers later

Politics, ride plans, and pics

Thomas Jefferson believed that “all power is inherent in the people . . . it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.” Personally, I believe this includes being armed with information to make proper choices as well as being literally armed. Politics feeds heavily off the ignorance of our population and it is sad. I will not post about politics often, I promise.


This character always good for a smile or three.

Speaking of politics, we are choosing between two not so great choices in this election but it is extremely clear that I could never get behind McCain and Palin is a joke. People who only vote party from election to election are the reason our country is a mess. We need to weed through the lies and BS and pick who we feel will best represent ourselves and the general American public when voting. I admit it is rarely a Republican for me even though I always give them a chance. That said, it is not always a Democrat either. This year however, it will be a Democrat. Obama's poise and class are making the desperate and trivial attacks of the gop look infantile. Who would you rather have in Iran, Russia, or Venezuela rebuilding foreign relations? It is a no brainer for me at this point. If by some wacky fixed off chance, McSame slips into office, we will move to Nicaragua and trade our bikes for surfboards, actually that may happen either way.

The whole energy issue is just frustrating. Republicans want the sheeple of america to find some pseudo solace in their words that all our fuel worries will soon be a thing of the past as we punch holes in every virgin piece of ground this country has to offer. McSame. Gas is never really going down in price, we need to face that fact. The supply was never endless. Why is McCain in favor of keeping tax breaks for oil companies and avoiding regulation of the entire industry as they rape the citizens of earth and votes against tax breaks for companies who employ solar and wind power? I suppose the fossil himself just likes fossil fuels. The formaldehyde will drain out of McCain soon and if he were to somehow get into office, would anyone really want the most unqualified and inexperienced person in the entire election on the puppet strings if/when he did pass away? Think about it.

Enough of that crap, time to live in the moment. It is going to clear up this weekend and we will be riding. There are suggestions ranging from Kenosha Pass to the mythical yet real Woolly Mammoth ride which is close to impossible with newer forest regulations, but is it impossible? Maybe we should just go to Fruita. Either way, I will have a new toy this afternoon to take with us. I am really excited to get my garmin and I am very grateful to Jay at Geoman Gear for the great customer service. I highly recommend them for all of your GPS gear and will slap a link up on the blog. Thanks for the Geoman referral Timmy!


Sam really wanted to head out on our ride last weekend as we packed Chris's car but she soon changed her mind when she realized she would actually hate it.





She did miss the homemade pizza fest at yankee Doodle lake though. Sorry, we were too tired to walk around the clump of trees to get a clear shot. All photos by Jessica.

For someone who studied fine art photography for several years, I sure seem to post some average pics here. I am trying to get back to shooting on a more serious but more importantly, more personal level, print and digital. I may set up a separate place down the road where they can be viewed and I would love to find a quality darkroom to work in. I have worked in a few in bldr and denver but never for more than a handful of times at each as most were pretty shabby. True printing can only be learned in a darkroom and I miss printing tremendously. I do own a nice digital SLR that I suppose I should be utilizing a bit more. I think I will stop there for now.

Enjoy the weekend!

god is dead and lance is coming back

While contemplating the selection and mass quantity purchases at value stores like Costco, there are many who most certainly have missed this story. Scientists hope to recreate the big bang in a 17 mile long underground tunnel. Now,at the risk of being perceived Socratic, I will be the first to raise my hand when asked who in the room is not at all a scientist. That said, should we really be trying to create black holes? Switzerland may end up getting a one way ticket back to future. The findings will most likely be interesting if all goes as planned but I can not help but imagine what we could have done by investing $10 billion into energy solutions?

Most have heard Lance is rumored to come back for the 09' season to compete in a handful of races. Is he riding the coat tails of the excitement he experienced prepping for the leadville hundo or is he hungry like the wolf? I guess we will see if cycling is still "in his blood"or not. Wait, is that the name of Tyler's post cycling career autobiography?

We did a couple rides this past weekend. Saturday was a nice little singletrack excursion up in the mtns. We took Jessica's camera but I forgot to upload the shots so I have no pics at this time. We had a good time and we ended it on an old technical favorite. Sunday was a big 6hr day in the saddle up up up and down down down . I banged my knee and pedaled on some dirt road, it was sweet.

I will have a Garmin soon.

slacking

I have been a little slow to post lately but back on track. The foot has been much better and the rides are happening again. I am only experiencing discomfort out of the bike shoes now which is a good sign, depending on how you look at it. As we head into fall, I am excited to get in as many trips to the mountains as possible before the snow starts to fly. We skipped King of the Rockies last weekend due to my foot issues and decided that it is just too nice out to pay $45 each + gas and drive time to Breckenridge to do the last MSC event this Sunday, even though the masochist in me likes the long nasty climb in the first half of the course. There is just too much great riding here right now and this is the perfect time of year. Plus, homie CPM is heading out Oct 1st for 3 months so we need to get some rides in before he heads down to Costa for waves, Imperials, and tan euros.



A big thank you to Bob and Marilyn for an extra something on top of the already generous gift they gave me for watching the boys (pitbulls+1 kitty) while they were away. I have wanted a pair of UV arm protectors for a while and the Assos version is just top notch. I feel the spf 30 does little to protect the skin here in CO after many miles but my arms are now that much safer when the sun is beating down, thanks MK, BK, Duc, Toro, and Francis!



Hopefully we will be out exploring a few new trails I have been eyeing up and just putting down a big day in the mountains this weekend. There are those who will be in Salida to test the limits of their mental fortitude at the VP125. This event is really starting to pique my interest. I would need to break into my saving account to get the lights and extra batteries worthy of the 10pm start time, but maybe by next year I will be ready to attempt to complete this course. Best of luck and much respect to all who are heading out Saturday night at 10pm! I will raise my beer in your honor.


tree photo by jes

As all of you have heard, the SSWC will be in Durango next year. I don't care if I have to pretend I am the Turkish singlespeed champion to get an entry or finally apply for Italian citizenship, I am getting into this one. The 08 event in Napa looked like it was a fun time but I didn't get in due to my citizenship, location, and gender so I never even thought about making the trip after that. I understand it is impossible to make everyone happy but the way they handled the entry process last January was just rot, hopefully next year is better. All I know is I am in 09 like a whirling dervish, true dat.

cheers

breakin in CB

We headed to Crested Butte last weekend to celebrate Jessica's birthday. Looking for a loop that would satisfy, we put together a nice ride from town starting on some local singletrack. We dropped down and did a series of climbs up to the 403, over to gothic and up to schofield pass, to 401 and back to town. I liked this ride quite a bit and thought it was pleasant to end with the 401 even though you still have to climb a chunk of Gothic prior to starting the trail. It took a bit longer than I thought but it was a fun day in the saddle.


The climb up had us seeing funny things.


a lookout on 403


401

We were excited to eat at our favorite CB establishment, the Ginger Cafe. The food was good and the chocolate covered pretzels from the RMCF were a perfect desert.

We decided to take another local trail out of town on Sunday and work your way out to Teocalli ridge since Reno/Bear/Flag/Deadman's was destroyed this year by motos and it was recommended we not suffer through it. Well, Teocalli Ridge was fairly destroyed as well unfortunately.


We did find a couple nice sections that day including this section in the beginning of the ride. Tight rocky twisty trail through the aspens, what could be better?

Then it was ruts, ruts, and more ruts. It's a shame because Teocalli is so beautiful. Parts of the trial were gouged pretty deep and you find yourself just trying to hang on in a steep flume of loose rock in places.



The pain started on the way down. I came around a corner on a very steep section after a few motos had gone by us and there was a fresh sapling across the trail. No time to do anything but try to hold on as I knew this thing was going to spring back once I hit it. Needless to say, I ended up in a group of small trees upside down. Seems the trail was so steep here, moto riders jump off and throttle their bikes up along the trail and someone knocked the tree over in the process, thanks fellas! We were most of the way down so I jumped back on before the egg forming on my shin hatched.

10 mins later, I eat shit again through another rutted section but this time the rocks were a bit nastier. I could feel some damage to my foot but the plethora of bruises had spread my mental reception of pain throughout various places on my body so the foot was not so bad in the moment. Once we got back to town and I got my shoe off though, I realized it was worse than I thought.



yeah my feet are ugly and those blue spots don't help. Getting an xray tomorrow. I have some other pics to post as well from Jessica's camera so stay tuned and happy trails. Maybe I will clean and tune bikes for beer until my foot feels better, any takers?