Look mom, we bought some grown up furniture!

Sunday was the day that Dan was going to clean out the cellar so we were could unpack the trailer and I was going to scrub the walls so I'd stop looking at them and staying "gross" but first we had some errands to run and some storage stuff to buy.

On one of our stops we picked up some stuff we needed to get and I went off to look at the furniture to see if I could find a nice wood storage cabinet to put in our living room to hide all of Dan's clutter :) I noticed a nice comfy sofa and oversized chair and decided to see how comfy it actually was....OMG....it was sooooo comfy. I promptly went over and got Dan to try it out and he was equally impressed by it. I could not believe the deal we were going to get on the sofa, oversized chair, coffee table and matching end table...we couldn't pass it up!

So we spent the rest of Sunday afternoon making room for our new grown up stuff! I would have really like to have had a chance to scrub the place down but just couldn't pass up the opportunity to get rid of our craiglist college furniture.




Okay, hopefully next week we'll actually get back on the bikes. I unpacked the boxes that had all the lights and charges so hopefully we'll be able to take advantage to Dan new schedule of getting out at 6pm. Some night rides are already planned!

-Kim

Endurocross

Saturday night we headed off to Denver with Tracy & Jason to watch an Endurocross event.

As soon as we got there, Tracy made a bee line for the bike she liked!

And she made Jason hold all her stuff :)


The lights started getting dark and the announcers came out so we decided to head to our seats and settle in. OMG! This was my first time at one of these events and I was giddy like a schoolgirl! The first couple events were the Open Class and it was really really hard to see everything, there was carnage everywhere! The stuff these people were riding was TOUGH! I can't imagine how tired they would be after just one lap and to top it off by doing what they were doing in front of soooo many people, my hat's off to them!

After the Open Class came the Expert Classes and the Trials Riders and the riding got noticibly better. Although getting thru a lap clean was still a hard feat to make happen just because the obstacles were so tough and exhausting. After all the heats and the Last Chance Heat came the Dash for Cash Heat and the winner took home a bunch of cash, $500 bucks I thing. One of the trials riders actually won the Dash For Cash event and got a place in the Main Event! Unfortunately, he had to ride a regular bike and not a trials bike but he still did it and had to line up immediately after the Dash For Cash event...pretty hardcore it you ask me!

There were only 2 women in the Open Class, one I don't remember seeing race but the other girl struggled with the huge obstacles but she didn't finish last :)

Here's one of the girls making her way thru the loose log pile section


I loved the trials riders....I think I'd like to have one of those bikes to play with. They're lighter and more agile and they seem like they could make their way up some pretty steep rocks and have an easier time getting through tough technical sections, only problem is you're standing up while riding the entire time :(

Today I thought we were totally going to go look at dirt bikes to buy but other things came up and we ended up buying some grown up living room furniture instead! While dirt bikes are more fun, our new furniture looks so purdy and we got an amazingly good deal on everything!

More pics here, they kinda suck....it was so dirty and dusty in there my camera kept picking up all the dust. And there was sooooooo much going on I had to whip out my camera really fast and most of them turned out blurry because of it....that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it :)


-Kim

Today's sunrise

Catching the sunrise

Okay, I really need to start bringing the camera with me on my morning walk with the dog at Mt. Sanitas.

This morning, the sun wasn't quite up yet but the rays were extending up in the sky like I've never seen before. I looked over my shoulder to see where the boy went and I was struck by what I saw and just stared for about 5 minutes. *sigh*

We are truely blessed to live where we live.

Now if we can just get moved I can get on my damn bike...soon....soon. I'm unpacking the lights this weekend so Dan and I can start our night adventures on dirt.

-Kim

My new morning commute

Only took me 15 minutes :)

It didn't even wake me up :( I still feel half asleep.

I did wake up early and walk the boy over to Mt. Sanitas! That was totally cool! We have access to some trails about a block away. Patch was totally happy running around off leash early in the morning, I think he's going to like living there.

Tracy, I see doggie walking dates in our future :)

-Kim

Oh, on the bummer side....our wash machine has a broken pipe and I flooded our kitchen yesterday :( The sink is now clogged up and it's leaking underneath. Gotta love old houses!

The new view

These were taken at around 7am this morning just as the cable guy was showing up. We had coffee on the front porch and watched all the joggers and dog walkers stroll by. It's so peaceful, no cars racing by blaring the bass and it's so dark at night with no street lights shining in our bedroom window.

I spend Friday boxing the majority of our stuff up and then met Dan at the new place to steam clean the carpets. The former tenant didn't leave the place very clean so getting the cat pee smell and old dog stench out of the carpets was the first step....it'll take a little bit more work but I bought a bunch of Fabreeze and it already smells 100% better :)

Saturday we spent moving the big stuff and I'd say about 80% of the house over and we were able to set up the living room, kitchen and bedroom in the new place before passing out for the night.

Sunday we had to get up early for the cable guy so we sat around and drank coffee and just relaxed while he did his thing. After the cable guy left we headed back over to the old place so Dan could clear out the garage and start boxing up his basement work area and I could clean. We got a major amount of work done today and I'm so happy I got the place clean before next weekend. Next weekend the carpet cleaners are coming and while they're doing their thing we'll clean up the basement and move the remainder of Dan's workshop.

Tomorrow I'm going to clean the new place really really good and unpack some more. Maybe take the dog for a walk over at Mt. Sanitas...or maybe I'll stroll down to UBikes and meet Dan for lunch...cause I can do that now :)

Life just got better for us! Even though the place is old and needs some lovin' it's way better than living in Lafayette.

-Kim

Dan's Salida Trip

Dan got back from Salida last night after riding Monday & Tuesday, they rode a section of the Rainbow Trail on Monday and Monarch Crest on Tuesday and he got home about midnight on Tuesday. He said the trails out there are super cool and that I would absolutely love them, needless to say, he'll have to show me around next year.





Double click on the picture below to see the entire album


He said there were no injuries, just a couple of flats. One guy crashed in a rockgarden and put a huge dent in a new Fisher Roscoe that the Trek demo driver is taking to the outdoor dirt demo at Interbike....doh!

I'm just glad Dan's home and I can sleep now :)

-Kim

Testing Sobriety

I'm giving up drinking! I've been feeling icky lately just by drinking one beer and Tequila and wine make me angry if I drink too much so I've decided to not drink, well actually not buy alcohol or liquor for the house. I'll have a glass of wine or something when I go out but I'm not going to sit on the couch and drink anymore.

My first test was last night, Tracy had a dinner party for the Girls Tuesday Night Mtn Bike and I brought some water and drank that all night, wasn't even tempted to drink! I'm very proud of myself.

I'm also changing my diet a little and trying to eat more fruits & veggies and trying to cut out processed foods. I've noticed lately that what I put into my body really effects me the next day.

-Kim

Weird night alone

Dan's in Salida riding with the UBikes crew Monday & Tuesday. I haven't slept alone in about 4 years and I could not get to sleep last night :( It's amazing how quiet the house gets and how alone you can feel with no one beside you.

He'll be back tonight! Thank goodness because I need some sleep :)

-Kim

Riding in Pinewood

We went to bed on Saturday as it was just starting to rain....didn't think much about it until we woke up to wet, cold and overcast weather. Carey assured us that it was supposed to burn off in the afternoon so we got up, made some coffee and breakfast. We met Carey, Craig and their friend Jim in Lyons before heading up towards Estes.

After a quick climb up a fire road we hit the singletrack. What an amazing tight and twisty trail, we even got to ride a freshly cut trail that we could barely follow. It was such a strange area with slickrock type out croppings to sand to pine needle covered ground and after the rain the dirt was nice and tacky.






We rode for about 4 hours with stops to eat and either put on more clothes or take them off. It was one of those chilly days that once you stopped you got cold but once you started riding you started sweating.

We only saw one other group of people that Jim knew from work (one of the guys actually had a Kowa fork!) and we saw Dave & his dog Dorji on our way back to the car. Other than that, we had the entire area for ourselves :)

Can't wait to go back there! Thanks to Jim for showing us around the newly cut trail and thanks to Carey & Craig for inviting us!

That'll probably be it for us and riding until after the move :( but it's so worth it, luckily in a couple weeks we'll be heading out to Moab with Carey & Craig for a camping/riding weekend....we'll be hitting up Hazard County before the snow hits. Yeehaw! Dan will be leaving for Salida tomorrow morning to hit up Monarch Crest with the UBikes crew, lucky him!


More pics here (double click on the picture)



-Kim

Colorado Sunset

From Saturday

A day spent with the boy

Dan had to work today (boo!) but he'll be spending Mon & Tues in Salida riding with the UBikes crew. The shop is hosting a ride out there for any of their employee's that want to go....how cool is that!

We had dinner at The Med last night with Jen & Jesper, Cynthia & Dave and Carey & Craig and despite having some wine and eating way too much I got up early with Dan and had the itch to go run after he left. Good thing I did because I felt awesome! So awesome that I went further than I usually go and did some hill running....early/mid morning runs are the best! I can't wait to be able to run before work without having to get up at 5am in order to make it to work on time.

I decided to take Patch on a long hike up in Ned today, mainly because I didn't feel like cleaning the house or packing and I really haven't taken Patch on any hikes this year other than walks around the house and I've been feeling a little guilty lately, so off we went.

It's so beautiful up here


Patch says this is going to be so cool!


Patch loves this trail!


Um, why are we just standing here?


I'm not a hardcore hiker, 3 hrs is about the max I can walk for before getting completely bored and Patch is lazy and can't walk for more than an hour before he starts whining. So, after about an hour of climbing up the trail...he started whining.

This is Patch not wanting to go any further but down


OMG! Are we done yet? I'm soooo tired....


Thank you mom!


Patch is now sprawled out on the floor completely out of it. My work is done!

Hopefully I didn't overdo it on my run today, Carey & Craig are taking us on a ride out in Pinewood tomorrow! Should be awesome :)

-Kim

The C Word

Cancer has hit my family :( I got an email from my mom last Friday asking me to call her when I got a chance, something had come up. Now, I get nervous when I get a phone call from her since I always think it's something bad....this email made me nervous. So I called her. She told me that my step dad had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Holy shit!

She didn't know too many details last week, just that his check up tests had been coming back with some abnormal readings for a while and his doctors decided to do some other tests and finally found a tumor, had a biopsy done and the test came back positive for cancer. Good thing is, they caught it early and it's only at stage 2.

Yesterday they met with the surgeon and Jim was given a bunch of options and he opted for surgery to remove the entire prostate gland, he's having a prostatectomy. They now have to wait 6 weeks after he had the biopsy in order for every to heal up to avoid infections and then he'll have the surgery, it's already been 2 weeks so he only has 4 weeks to wait.

Everyone is taking it pretty well, it's not a death sentence since it was caught early and Jim has a few friends that have had this procedure done and have made a 100% cancer free recovery. I have read that removing the prostate gland may have some side effects but it's better than having cancer.

I'm just glad he's really good about getting his yearly check ups, most men aren't and his doctor was able to find the cancer before it spread to other organs. Early detection IS the key!

-Kim

To all Craigslist/Ebay users

If you say you're going to come over and look at something and you can't make it CALL AND LET THE PERSON KNOW! Simple as that, no harm done....don't say you're going to be there first thing in the morning so we get up early and wait around for you. Thanks for the kindness and thanks for making us get up early and wait around for you :( Oh AND when we try to call you and you're phone goes straight to voicemail, that really sucks.

Bad karma for you! I hope you don't get what you want and you have a crappy day.

This rant is for Dan and the women who told him yesterday that she was going to come over from Colorado Springs to look at the Madone he's trying to sell. YOU SUCK HONEY!!!

-Kim

The decision has been made

We're selling the Jeep. It's pretty much in the same state as the above picture and it's been that way for about a year. We quickly found out that we don't have the time nor desire to work on it and we just don't have the money to fork out for a bigger truck that can tow a Jeep. So out the door it's going, think our friend Cory is going to take the whole enchilada including axles and engine. Fingers crossed :)

And this is what we're going to get instead

Not this particular model but we're getting a couple of dirt bikes! That way, we'll be able to get a small trailer put the dirt bikes on it and load up the regular bikes as well and take off for the weekend and the Frontier is fully capable of towing a small trailer loaded with a couple dirt bikes on it. I'm so excited!

We're also going to sell the Volvo since we won't need 2 cars living in Boulder. There is absolutely NO reason for us to not ride to work or take the bus, Dan can walk to work if he feels like it and I could run to work since it's about 3 miles away. 1 more week!

-Kim

And just like that.....

It's summer again! Supposed to be in the upper 70's/80's today but it was chilly this morning, my hands are still thawing out. Strange how these temps seem cold now but in a few months when it's in the 20's and 30's they'll seem tropical.

This time of year, you have to dress for winter in the morning and summer for the evening ride home....the packs sure get heavy with all the clothes!

-Kim

Suddenly it's fall

Woke up to low 40 degree temps, rain and fog. When did summer go away?

I do love this time of year, the commuters dwindle, the air is crisp and it's a new battle to keep the fingers and toes warm. Good thing my commute is about to get about 9 miles shorter so the battle won't be a hard one to conquer.

-Kim

Exploring South Mag

We decided early this morning to not get up early to head out to Sol Vista, instead we slept in....until some guy started calling Dan at 7am and continued to call every half hour until Dan got up and called him back :( Apparently this guy really really wanted a set of Jeep wheels that Dan posted up on Craigslist, no biggee since it put $100 in his pocket and got some stuff out of our garage before the move.

Fortunately, it got us up early enough to hang out and have breakfast and decide where we wanted to ride. I knew Carey was planning a ride up in Ned and Tracy was also planning on riding somewhere so I shot them both emails. Dan and I had tentatively decided on Golden Gate, but after getting a call from Carey she convinced us to ride with her. Funny thing is I got a call from Tracy right after hanging up with Carey and she said they had changed their plans from riding DBB to riding Golden Gate! Aw geez.....

After the guy left with the wheels, we hopped in the car and headed to Boulder and up Canyon, along the way we picked up a follower. When we pulled up in the parking area, a car pulled in just as we did and out got Bryan and Zana, Bryan planning a ride up there and Zana was taking their little girl on a hike. Pretty funny! He asked if he could join us and we of course said no :)



We all headed out on some awesome singletrack for a perfect 60 degree day on our bikes. We eventually ended up on a part of the West Mag trail system that I recognized but we quickly ducked into some pretty obscure singletrack on stuff I've never ridden before. I don't think I'd be able to find my way around there again if you paid me but isn't that the beauty of it!



Eventually, Bryan split off from us to head down to meet up with Zana and the rest of us started making our way back to the cars. After about 3 1/2 hrs of riding and a sweet descent of twisty turny singletrack, we finally made it back to the cars and treated ourselves to some tasty Michigan beers!



Good times! I think Carey and Craig are going to take us on another tour next weekend. After this week, I'll go anywhere with the 2 of them! Thanks for an awesome afternoon guys!

Not too many pics were taken but double click on the album to see them all.


-Kim

My DH idol

The one person I've always looked up to (besides Dan) just had a baby. She doesn't know who the hell I am but I've been following her blog for a while, she's an amazing rider and I wish I could ride like her. I hope she's back up and riding soon :)

Barb Haley

Here are some pics I stole from her blogsite:




-Kim

Solo ride @ Heil

I headed out to Heil today for a solo ride, Dan had to work....boo hiss!

Anyway, I got up when he got up and got my stuff together and headed out. It was kinda crowded but not too bad. I couldn't fully enjoy the downhill because there were a lot of hikers and other riders coming up but it was still good. I was riding a trail on a weekday with a smile on my face, not worrying about having to be at work!

Soon my friend...soon :)


Here are some more pics of the Picture Rock entrance off of Wild Turkey....can't wait until it's open!






UBikes had a BBQ after they closed today so I headed down with the dog to hang out. It was cool, we got to sit on the roof of UBikes and just relax, eat and drink some beers. This is just a taste of how our life will be once we move down there :)

-Kim