In the Flesh...

It's Phil Liggett...the greatest sports commentator ever to live! This guy is the coolest. I got to see him live tonight at Wheat Ridge Cyclery's remodeling ceremony (it's massive. I prefer the small, friendly bike shops like MOB), but it's better to see Ron Kiefel doing well versus some other massive shops in town under evil management. There were thousands of people there tonight, so no autograph from Phil.

Spring Cleaning

It doesn't quite feel like spring yet, but I've got the spring cleaning bug. A case of these sodas has been hogging valuable fridge space for quite some time now. They're heading to work tomorrow. ...and the carb-less beer that was taking up more fridge space is now in the queue for hair conditioning treatments.

Finally, Valley of the Sun Pictures

Looking down at snowy Colorado as we get on our way to Phoenix.

I'm not joking when I say we packed light.
We immediately went to Cactus bikes, a mountain/downhill bike shop. They were really cool to let us use their tools to get our bikes back together. Alright, I admit, I got a lot of help working on my bike (this was the most I've ever seen any of my bikes apart, it was a bit unnerving).

Back Home/Crit Report

Just a quick entry to say we made it back to Colorado. I tried to keep us in Arizona by locking the key to the car in the car. Tactic didn't work, though. Cari was a awesome to travel with, just like last time, but she didn't freak (or at least she didn't kill me) when I left the key in the car. Most people would have and it was so much more pleasant thanks to her. And she had a great race (taking 1st cat 3 in the crit and 2nd overall for the weekend). It was fun to live vicariously through her. The awards were so cool--license plates! I give them credit for doing something completely different. I was happy to live through the crit, got stuck behind a crash and didn't realize I was allowed to take a free lap (I'm only used to getting free laps when I have road rash to show that I was held up on the course). Honestly, I just wanted to stay safe yesterday. There was one bad crash and a slow-speed mass crash (that's the one I got stuck in). Lying on the car waiting for the locksmith to come yesterday evening was the best. It was finally a chance to soak in the evening, the open sky, think about the weekend and it was a chance to do absolutely nothing. I got home just before midnight. I think I'm ready to start the week. Today's a rest day. This served as great motivation and I know my body is ready to step up for the rest of the season.

Oh, I'm sorry if I promised to call you this weekend. There was so much less time than I expected out there (especially since we were in a rush from the moment the plane landed in Phoenix). Will try to return calls and get life back in order this weekend.

Pics

Scenery from the start of the road race. The entire course was similar, with a cactus here and there to decorate the landscape.

Arizona's Windy and Hot...it's PERFECT here

Wow, to get a long ride in today...oh, I mean race...but who cares? It was 3 1/2 hours in the saddle actually moving somewhere (vs the trainer). This is a great way to start the season. My results are not publishable (I don't know what place I got today), but that's not what this weekend is about. Today was a 57 mile road race. It was so hot out there and the wind made it kind of sketchy so the combination of the two made it difficult to drink anything for the full first hour (when I was with the pack). Then I got blown off the back and rode two laps alone. It's clear I'm stronger than last year, my fitness is much better so that's good. It's been a great weekend living-wise, it's like being with family with all of the comforts of home. After the race today, we hot tubbed (the jets did the trick on our sore bodies) and had a wonderful meal (salmon, cooked to perfection) with our host "parents." After this entry, it's time to catch some zzz's and see if it's possible to have race legs again for tomorrow's crit. So far, my body isn't complaining much and seems to be pretty happy to be working hard.

TT

Today was the TT, the very first race of the year. It was like summer here, perfect sky all day, strong sun, smiling people. The TT was fabulous. Oh, my time wasn't anything to write home about, but it felt good. I worked hard & my heart got to beat faster than it has in over 5 months. They had a ramp to start off on! That was a cool way to get it going. Sorry about no pics being posted yet, they'll be here eventually.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

This is sleep blogging. After not sleeping enough, you're going to get my stream-of-lack-of-consciousness post. today was one rough traveling day, draining emotionally as well as physically. honestly, the time spent at the airports (denver and albuqueque) was pretty nice. got some work done and hung out comfortably, but there was a fair amount of stress not knowing if our stuff would arrive & being really pressed for time this evening. cari and i, i'm happy to report, made it safely and had a wonderful dinner with our host family (amy's parents). they are so sweet and have made us feel at home. wow, there are desert plants (big cactus, palm-like trees) here and nothing white blanketing the ground. it's warm and the people are very friendly. we got to know the local bike shop really well--they cleared out a mechanics station for us and helped us put our bikes together. the bikes are together and are as good as new, too bad the motor on mine is shot.

on that note, it's time to make up for lack of quality sleep the past few nights.

Let Us Out!!!

Stuck in DIA...getting to AZ by 5 tonight...considering how early i woke up this morning, this seems like a bad dream.

Freezing fog!

In case you're curious (and thinking that all of the bad weather is behind us), it just keeps getting weirder. I've never heard of "freezing fog" but apparently, that's what the forecasters are calling what we have right now.

Survived the Fast

Nothing like a slice of chocolate cake from the Watercourse (wheat/gluten-free and dairy free) to break the fast in style. It was truly wonderful. I was threatening the people in the doctor's office that I might pass out if they waited too long to do the blood test. Sheesh, they did it last...but at least they were nice and didn't poke and prod too much.

The blueberry Clif Bar rocks! It tastes like it's packed with blueberries, they scored with this one. The next Clif product to try is their margarita Clif blocks...I'll be saving them to eat in style on the bike in paradise in just a few days.

Food...Must Have FOOD!!!

I haven't missed breakfast since July of 2001. It's one of the main reasons I get out of bed in the morning. Today is a fasting blood test and that involves not eating from midnight this morning until 10 am. So here I am, listening to my stomach growl at me, trying to get work done to keep my mind off of food and gulping down water.Look what I found at Whole Foods last night! A new flavor of Clif Bar. One of the many things I'll consume later this morning.

Where Old Snow Goes to Die

Riding on the road today was fantastic. The roads were relatively clean (though badly potholed), the sun was shining and everyone with a bike or a dog was outside and all smiles. I stopped during the ride to check my tires, there were 8-12 shards of glass embedded in the back tire alone (no, I'm not complaining). Apparently the road crews brought the snow here, near Sloans Lake, creating mountains of the grossest snow that may not melt until August.

Prep for V-Day

Today at work, people came up from the bookstore to give us a nice book talk--their recommendations as to good books to give as gifts or read for Valentine's Day. The most interesting book of the day: Carmasutra. It has crash-test dummies doing all kinds of interesting things in a variety of vehicles. So this is why people own mini-vans. And why people with mini-vans have lots of kids. The mystery is solved.

The Process of Losing the View & My Privacy

Here's an update with progress on the art museum:

It's hard to tell from this picture (taken last Saturday morning), but there are men working just outside my window. Felt a bit self-consious while spinning on the trainer. It'll be the same story tomorrow morning, too. Pounding and crashing will begin at the crack of dawn.

That was nothing, however, compared to this meeting with the window washer at work today.Okay, I would have felt really bad if my enthusiastic opening of the blinds had made this poor man lose the rope. I think I scared him. Then he was mortified by having his picture taken.

Reading this Blog

It has been brought to my attention that some people who visit this blog are not using an Aggregator. An aggregator will notify you when the blogs that you subscribe to have been updated or have had content added, saving you the time of visiting the site and trying to figure out what's new.

Here's a list of Aggregators: List

Here is one that I recommend (because everything Google does is cool):

Google Reader

Arizona

Check out the forecast for Arizona next week. *Big Grin* Colorado has thawed, but this weekend will be more snow.

On the Road Again

Finally, yesterday was the first day I could be on the road since mid-December. The sun was shining, and temps were mild. All main roads are clear of snow and ice...side streets are still solid ice in many places. After being on the trainer all winter, I thought I'd feel fast. Like faster than fast. No luck. It was sloooow going. The strong, artic wind didn't help matters, either. Just being able to get out brings hope. There's no way, though, that I'm going to be ready to race in less than two weeks.Hey, Mon-- Read this entry--it's about a guy who moved back to Jamaica. Apparently, he rides his bike on the roads there. It's shocking to me because I thought Jamaica only had a couple of main roads and those are quite narrow and in poor condition. Hmmm...well, it is warm there, maybe that's a place to relocate to! I happen to like the dreads and Bob Marley never goes out of style (at least the Jamaicans don't think so).

Alaska

Watching tv last night, I saw an ad for vacationing to Alaska. The ad had all sorts of nice pictures of the frozen landscape. Granted, it's probably warmer there, however, who would go vacation there after this winter?

Cross-Training is Over

Welcome to February. It's always an accomplishment to get through January. Last weekend was spent off the bike, eating good food and skate skiing Devil's Thumb. So far, it was the mildest one yet, but road riding was still not an option. We're now at something like 7 weeks straight of too-cold/snowy/icy-to-ride weather. Here are some mole-drenched enchilladas at Tamayo's. Yummy! 5280 gave their mole a thumb's up, so do I (not that I know what bad mole is, this was my first taste of it).
The restaurant at Devil's Thumb is a very cool place to go. This picture doesn't do it justice. Sit by the fire after a long day of skate skiing...oh, and their scotch beer (I forget the exact name) is quite pleasing, too.
And it wouldn't have been the weekend it was without Eric!

Racing is only a few weeks away, woooohooooo!!! Can't wait to be in toasty Arizona.

Read it and Weep