Kim & Dan's Excellent Adventures

Finally Home!

2009-09-25T06:11:00.000-07:00

We're finally home and a little settled. We're still at our parents house but have our furniture moved into our friends house, who is letting us stay at her house while she's working out of state....she's absolutely amazing for letting us stay!

We've been riding everyday, I'm trying to get my legs back into singlespeed shape. Before we left 4 years ago I was running 1 below 2:1 and now I'm one above and struggling. I can't sustain fast speeds for long and I don't have strength on long climbs...but it'll come back, hopefully sooner than later!

Today we're headed out to Poto, which is a special trail for me....always has been. We may even stop in a little special section and carve our names into a tree :)

It's so good to be back.....I'm finally happy again. It feels so good to be back on the trails and I'm absolutely in love with riding again!

First race for Dan is in a coupe weeks and we've got a DH trip planned in October, I've secured an Iceman entry for Dan and I'm waiting for another one to come available so I can snatch it up! Last big race of the year and it's always a HUGE party!!

Winter Park

2009-09-08T04:50:00.000-07:00

We headed out to WP for some playtime with Jen & Jesper (who are ripping it up their first season on DH bikes), Carey & Craig (who rip it up everytime) and Josh (tri guy's very first time on a DH bike who kicked butt and had way too much fun).

Dan on ballucanb drop to gap.

Dan on ballucanb step up

Josh on Boot Camp wall ride

Only 2 weeks left here and hopefully we'll get back to WP at least once more before we leave. Dan's last day of work is Friday and he's going to start packing up the trailer....I'm hoping to get out a week early as well so we can get everything loaded, our place cleaned and our butts back to Michigan for some epic fall riding!

-Kim

Yowsa! It's been a while

2009-09-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

And A LOT has changed!

Our house in the mountains fell through, we actually found some stuff out about the well during inspection time that we didn't like and didn't really have the resources to fix it since the house was at the top of our budget so we walked away from it. This truly put things in perspective for us. As we went through the whole house buying process, our fears and yearning to be home really sunk in. I think, in hindsight, the whole house buying thing was our attempt to make Colorado feel like home and as we got closer and closer to the final decision on it we knew in our hearts that unfortunately Colorado will never be home to us.

How can we walk away from such a magical place to live? How can we walk away from some of the best riding in the world? Don't know...but something here just isn't right. I don't desire to be on my bike here and that's a seriously messed up thing and I just don't get it.

I do desire to be on the fast, tight and tree lined trails that the midwest and east coast has to offer. I do desire to hammer on my singlespeed well into the night and I desire to wake up every morning on a lake and sit around the bonfire with a beer and friends in the evening. I want to grow old on a lake......

So, come September 20th we'll be packed up and on our way back home....this time for good. I'm beside myself with excitement! I'm beside myself to be able to hang out with all our friends that we have missed so much! I can't wait to be on my singlespeed hammering out fast laps....I can't wait to ride the east coast DH trails, I can't wait to be riding wet roots and rocks again and I can't wait to ride the best DH trails in Canada again. Bring on the big stuff.

Which brings me to what we've been doing lately, riding our DH bikes as much as we can. My main goal this year was to get more comfortable in the air and going off drops. I know that a lot of the parks out east have lots and lots of stuff to hit and drop off of and I wanted to make sure I could do it before we left Colorado.

Last weekend, I accomplished my goal and hit my first 4 footer to transition and then immediately I hit my first 8 footer to transition! I was so happy and freaked out at how easy they both were. All these years of Dan and all the boys telling me that these drops are so easy...just do it and you'll find out...well I did it and I now know!

Here's my first go at the 4 footer. I followed Dan off of it so I could gauge my speed.

After hitting this twice and noticing where I was landing, I knew I could hit the big one. So again, I followed Dan off of it to gauge my speed.

My rear wheel hit a little shy of the transition but who the F cares! I did it!!! And the weird thing is you don't even notice how high up you are and you don't notice how long you're in the air for! We hit it again later in the afternoon, without hesitation.

Another one of my goals was to nail a couple tricky switchbacks that have been hounding me for a few years. And I can happily say...they've been nailed!

Here's Dan last year on the first tricky switchback, it's on Helter and it's right at the entrance of the trail and it's so STEEP that walking down it is actually way harder than riding it.

The other switchback was on Wild Thing and it was the tight left hand switchback with rock that you have to ride over. No pics but it's been dogging me ever since we started riding there and I finally nailed it.

So weird how my DH riding has progressed so much this year and we're leaving :( Oh well, we've got places to ride in Michigan....we just have to travel a little further. I'm actually thinking of racing some DH races next year!

Goal for next year, learning to jump better and conquer big doubles, small ones don't bother me but the big ones with feet in between them scare the heck out of me and the chance of 50/50ing the jump is too much for me to handle right now. But I WILL conquer my fear! And I'm sure I will eat a lot of dirt trying :(

Woot! Here's to change and whatever the future holds!!

First, here's a video of Dan and his brother Joe on Keystone's corkscrew. Joe is first and that's Dan's squeaky break protesting :)

Man, I really like these short little video's...way more fun than pictures!

-Kim

I can feel a change

2009-07-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

I don't desire being on my mountain bike as much anymore, this feeling started last year and hence the purchase of our dirt bikes. I made the sacrifice of selling mine for our house purchase but I know I'll get another one. I think Dan already has a bigger better bike in mind for me.

It's a weird feeling and I feel guilty a lot for the desire not being there. I love getting out on the weekends for a ride with friends but I don't feel the need to get out everyday to ride. I found other things I really enjoy like running and I've been enjoying hitting the pavement for a road ride and I'm really looking forward to a winter full of snowboarding.

I don't know what has happened, I don't know why I'm feeling this way. I've got a kickbutt new bike that I love to ride and I've got awesome friends to ride with. But I just don't desire to get out and ride EVERYDAY like I used to.

I'm getting more comfortable with slowing down, I don't feel like I've always got to be in motion or exercising as hard as I can anymore. I think the move up high is going to give me a new focus in life. I'll have a house to love and take of and I'll have the peace and quiet to let my body and desire and feelings lead me the way instead of the desire to be the fittest person I can be. Believe me, I still want to be fit but I want to be healthy inside more and I desire to be mentally healthy...just happy being and doing what my body tells me to do rather than what my schedule and routine tells me to do.

I guess I'm just feeling more comfortable in my own skin and I'm comfortable just doing what I want to do, whether it's being on my bike or taking a long hike or just sitting and reading. I don't feel I have to keep up with what everyone else is doing anymore....

-Kim

Screwed again

2009-07-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well, looks like Dan gets screwed again and is working his 3rd consecutive weekend in a row all because everyone wants to go race :( Um..what happened to fairness here??? Why does he get to pick up all the fucking slack and work all the weekends??? Why can't weekends be alternated??? Why the FUCK is that such a fucking goddamn hard concept to grasp?????

Hm..wonder if he'll even get our moving weekend off...probably NOT if there's a stupid fucking I've gotta prove myself for goddamn nothing race going on!

I think Dan needs to get 3 weeks of weekends off in a row soon.

Told you sweetie...nothing will EVER change!

At least I have friends that I can ride with because I sure as hell can't ride with my boyfriend anymore.

A little embarrassing to admit

2009-07-24T07:01:00.000-07:00

I've started wearing spandex shorts while riding my roadie bike. I've been having issues with the liners in my baggies and was just sick and tired of hurting so I pulled out the old spandex shorts. At first is was a really really weird feeling...I couldn't tell I was wearing anything and had to keep looking down to see if I was actually wearing anything :)

It's been about a week now and I'm feel really comfortable in them! My private parts are thanking me as well.

I think the discomfort stems from the fact that I've lost some weight and the baggies that I currently have are too big for me and the liners just get all bunched up and are causing more grief than anything else. I'm hoping to get a couple different pairs of baggies...maybe some Jett or Fox but until then...please don't hold it against me if I show up riding my XC bike in spandex shorts :) I promise I won't turn into a weenie and I most certainly promise not to start wearing some stupid "I race for this team" kit!!!

On to more positive notes! Our inspection's are happening on Monday. We're getting the house inspected, the well, the septic and the propane tank inspected...that should be close to or more than $1000 in inspection costs, but totally worth it!

Our stupid college kid neighbors are planning on having a HUGE bonfire next Thursday to celebrate their moving out. Joy!! I wonder if they know they're not allowed to have open fires in the City of Boulder. Guess they're going to find out, aren't they :) MWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Stressful but good turn of events

2009-07-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

We decided to buy a house in Colorado. We started looking in June, got really discouraged and then decided to rent again, then decided that once again throwing our money into someone else's pocket wasn't smart, found a new realtor and started the whole process again. Then we found our house....in the mountains.

I'm scared to move up there but I know that this is the right decision. I hate neighbors, I hate other people's noise....I love it being quiet when I'm at home.

So we took the plunge. Offer was accepted on Saturday and this is when the stress hit. Secure the mortgage, come up with the money, see how much we're going to actually spend a month on this place and basically sign stuff we don't really understand but trust the people who are making us do it. All to have our little slice of heaven....

Next week, we have all the inspections...house inspection, well inspection, septic inspection. After that I think some of the stress will subside but then the fear of commitment will probably sink in and the fear of us not being able to tolerate a mountain lifestyle...and the winter up there.

Oh well. The house is perfect for us. Not too big but big enough for all our stuff and we have 1 acre of property to do whatever we want with. And I can sit on my deck and hear nothing but the wind.

Carey & Craig's Epic Ride & BBQ

2009-07-12T11:18:00.001-07:00

We headed up early to Carey & Craig's house for an epic day on the bikes followed by a bbq pigout session. 6 hrs later we rolled back to their house ready for a beer and the bbq to start. Can't believe we were on the bikes for 6 hours!!!

Good times...good exhaustion!

Cerain St Vrain/Miller Rock

2009-07-03T16:51:00.001-07:00

Carey and I decided to ride out at Cerain St Vrain Friday morning before heading out to Fraser Valley for a weekend of camping. Awesome ride, perfect morning!

Session @ Bergen

2009-07-03T16:43:00.000-07:00

Girls session ride @ Bergen Peak trail with Cynthia, Tracy and Jeny. Can't wait to get back out there to see what the entire trail has to offer.

Sweet, long ride in BC today

2009-06-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

Weekend up high

2009-06-02T14:50:00.001-07:00

Carey and Craig graciously invited us on their weekend camping trip to Salida. I have never been to Salida, up until now and I can't wait to get back there. And I can't wait to get back camping.....anywhere!

We got up super duper early pn Saturday to meet them down there to set up camp and hit the Rainbow trail and then chill out with the dogs and maybe watch Craig do some fishing. We did just that :) and sat around the campfire trading stories, Carey made some yummy guacamole and passed around her bottle of tequila and we shared her yummy vegan cookies and gluten free birthday bars. Everything was super delicious, vegan and gluten free foodsjavascript:void(0) have come a long way for sure!

Sunday we got up, not so early and made breakfast and packed up camp. Carey had a few trails in mind but we decided on Mt. Shavano because we could do an out and back on the Colorado trail...unfortunately, when we got to the base of Mt. Shavano it was hailing and raining and cold and we really didn't want to ride in those conditions. Dan said he knew of a trail he rode the last time he was out there that was pretty darn cool....sans the 6 miles of dirt road and what seemed like endless amount of 2 track :( I wasn't prepared for that and was a little grumpy once we got to the actual trailhead. But he assured us the boring climb would be totally worth it. And it was...twisty singletrack in the tree's, rolling terrain, my sidewall puncture, a little hail and whole lot of fun. I just wish the singletrack section was a little longer because it was so darn fun...luckily after a few miles of 2 track descent we ended the trail on some more super fun singletrack. Enough to put a huge smile on my face and a very empty hunger in my stomach.

I'm so glad we got to finally get out and camp again...it's been way too long and I've missed it. And I'm even more happy that Patch loves camping as well, even the cold night...he slept under his blanket the whole time! We've now purchased some more supplies that will make the nights more comfortable and the mornings more enjoyable....like an inflatable mattress and a 12 cup percolator. Everything else we had....we just hadn't used it in so long :(

I can't wait for our next camping weekend and riding adventure...Carey did mention something about Carbondale ;) I know they both enjoy camping and riding just as much as we do so it won't be a hard weekend to sell!

Here are some pics of our weekend

-Kim

2 girls playing

2009-05-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

Cynthia graciously invited me on her solo jaunt out to Indian Creek Saturday, thank you Cynthia :) I had wanted to get back out there just to see if I could remember how to loop the trail like she showed us last year...this time I payed attention!

It was a glorious day on the bikes, cloudy and cool weather with just a few light sprinkles. The trail was tacky and the woods eerie and fun! I love riding with Cynthia because you don't have to worry about her, she doesn't mind if you ride off ahead (cause she'll do it to you too) and she doesn't mind stopping to session the techy stuff until it's nailed. What I love most is that she loves to just ride and there's no need to "prove" yourself with her, there's no competition going on. You're just riding with someone who loves to pedal just as much as you do, whether it be tight and twisty smooth single track or gnarly techy rocks.....she can do it all with ease.

Needless to say, we have a wonderful 26 mile....close to 4 hour ride. She nailed a bunch of things that gave her problems last year and I know the next time she rides out there, she'll nail them again without hesitation.

Even Mr. Hummingbird came out to play with us and drink some fresh and sweet nectar from all the blooming flowers.

My new bike handled amazingly well, except for the tires. The front washes out in any kind of loose terrain and the back tire doesn't hook up as well as I'd like it too. With new tires on and I'll be able the clean the one section that I just kept spinning out on!

Thanks Cynthia for a perfect day playing on the single track!

Bike be Nimble, Bike be Quick!

2009-05-21T14:23:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was the first ride on the EX 9.8 and wow, what an amazing bike it is! I've never ridden a carbon frame before and the difference it makes it quite noticeable. It's hard for me to explain, but it's a quieter and less abusive feeling...it feels super stiff but it seems to absorb the rough stuff. And I love the way it sounds!

The rear sticks to the ground while picking lines through rocks and the front end is so easy to pull up, getting up ledges and big round rocks is pretty effortless. The bike is so light that it climbs with way less effort than anything I've ever experienced and it's weird how it feels like a much burlier bike on the descents, it's way more agile than the 6.6 ever felt.

All I need to do is dial in my front fork (and let it break in a little) and I think I've got the perfect bike for me! Now I just need to trust all that she can do and stop being such a wuss with certain things....like step up rock faces at certain places like Hall and out in Fruita :) I'll get there....hopefully sooner than later!

And now the 3 day weekend is almost upon us! Hopefully I'll be able to ride ride ride ride and ride some more!

Thanks again Carey & Emma for another great ride :) One of these days I'll be able to keep up with you both on the descents!

-Kim

Recuperation

2009-05-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a lazy slow recuperation weekend for me and as luck would have it Dan had the weekend off and I couldn't really ride :(

Saturday we woke up after having an amazingly peaceful and long sleep, a little lazy. We decided to check out Carey's art show at the 29th street mall and run some errands on the fixie's. We took the long way around town and got in a good slow meandering ride, after that I didn't want to push my knee anymore so we just took the dog for a long lazy walk and enjoyed the rest of the day doing things around the house.

Sunday, Dan's ride plans fell through so we decided to test the knee out with a run and to my surprise after a few feet of feeling a little weird the knee loosened up and felt pretty darn good! We got home and walked down to the Boulder Crit and watched the roadies race in a circle for a few before heading back home to take pictures of stuff that we need to sell. After that, we tried to decide whether to be lazy the rest of the day or test my knee out on some singletrack.

We thought we were going to settle in to another lazy afternoon on the couch when we found out that the Red Wings were playing but we quickly found ourselves getting a little stir crazy after the first period...it was such a nice day out and I felt like we were wasting it. So I got on the bike and tooled around the yard just to see how the knee would feel and decided to get off our butts and do an easy ride @ Heil. All went well with the knee only feeling a little tender when I had to stand up and power move up rocks but nothing I couldn't push through and the pain never lasted long.

We've now gotten back into our normal routine of running in the morning and I've been riding @ lunch again.....now I'm just waiting for the new bikey to arrive and a long weekend to get to know my new two-wheeled partner :)

-Kim

This is the one

2009-05-15T11:52:00.001-07:00

The Trek Fuel EX 9.8

This will be my first carbon frame! And I'm beyond excited to get it...she'll be here hopefully Tuesday or Wednesday :)

Although, I got an offer from a friend of mine to ride his wife's bike for the rest of the year since she's on a new bike, I knew after contemplating it for a couple days, my heart was set on the Trek. I've never ever gotten on a bike before and immediately fell in love with it like I did with the EX 8 and I'm sure the EX 9.8 will be even better!

Hopefully my knee feels better by next week so I can show her around the front range trails ;)

-Kim

Happy Belated Bday Post Sweetie!

2009-05-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

Dan's birthday was 5/12 and the whole reason we went to Moab was for his birthday. Last year we spent 4 days in Fruita, and next year I think we'll stay in Fruita and drive to Moab for a day of riding, that way we'll get to enjoy Fruita, Grand Junction and Moab...we may even need to tack on another day or two ;)

Hope you had an awesome birthday weekend!

-Kim

Wait...did I forget something?

2009-05-13T15:05:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, we go to Moab for 4 days of sweet riding bliss and I forget the camera.....DOH!!!

**photo credit Aric Otzelberger**

Oh well, we did however have an amazing 3 days of riding...only 3 days because I busted my knee open on Sunday riding Amasa Back on a section called Rockstacker, I think. No rocks were stacked like the last time I rode it but there was a nice steep roller in the middle that didn't seem too bad. Dan rolled it and nailed it and I followed but apparently where I rolled, it wasn't a good spot and I endowed and smashed my knee into a rock. I've got about a dime size hole in my knee and it's so swollen that I can barely get my left leg into my pants :( Doesn't hurt much but I definitely can't run or ride until the swelling goes down. Oh well, we had an amazing weekend otherwise!

Friday we rolled into town around 1pm, too early to check in so we decided to head out to Sovereign to test out the EX8. Let me just say, angels sang while I was riding this bike! I cleaned ledges and switchbacks and everything I couldn't imagine I could ride....I can now ride! I think Dan got a little sick of me saying "no freakin' way" towards the end :) We ended the evening with a soak in the hot tub and some roasted chicken from City Market.

Saturday was the Porcupine Rim ride and we got news that the Hazard gates were open from our friend Chuck who was on his way out to meet us, but we couldn't really confirm that until the next day. When the shuttle van arrived, the driver confirmed that yes the gates were open and we're going all they way baby! Woot! All I got to say in Porcupine is such a blast and with only a few mechanicals (non being flats....if you can imagine that) the EX8 handled everything amazingly and it's so easy to get the front end up for drops and wheelie drops that my confidence was on fire and I was flying so high at the end of our ride. Finished the ride up with a soak in the hot tub, some mexican food, tequila shots and a huge chocolate malt that put some of us into food coma and rendered it a pretty early night.

Somewhere on Porky
**photo credit Aric Otzelberger**

Dan contemplating the Notch...his 8" rotors were "too good" and didn't give him any play so he wasn't comfortable riding it. Imagine that, brakes that are too good :) And it you've ever seen The Notch, you know that it's way steeper and sand covered than this picture shows!
**photo credit Aric Otzelberger**

Taking another break on Porky
**photo credit Aric Otzelberger**

Dan and Chuck playin'
**photo credit Aric Otzelberger**

Cheers!
**photo credit Aric Otzelberger**

Sunday...well, Sunday didn't turn out as I had planned. I felt good on the ride up from town but as soon as we got onto the trail, I realized that I was tired, lazy and not really all together there. I pushed through the falls and blood and we eventually got a nice ride in and I eventually got some mojo back on the descent but I was ready to be done by the time we hit Kane Creek Rd. This is after we helped some 4 wheeler out of the ravine when he didn't make it up the ledges at the beginning of Amasa back!

Monday, we just packed up and hit The Black Bear in Grand Junction for some yummy food before heading back to Boulder.....thank god for The Black Bear!

mmmmmmm The Black Bear! Best post full weekend of riding food EVER!!! Huge breakfast served anytime and the home of the Grizz :)
**photo credit Cynthia Ferrer**

Cynthia has some pics here and a good write up of her adventures in Fruita and Moab with us.

Next time, I really need to remember the camera!!!! What's the purpose of a good bloody knee when you can't show it off :)

-Kim

Singletrack after work

2009-05-07T15:30:00.000-07:00

Got to get out yesterday with Carey and Emma to ride Hall. Carey & Emma got out a little earlier than I could and rode up Antelope, down Bitterbrush to meet me, then we all rode up Bitterbrush, the upper loop and then back down Bitterbrush. The trail was dry and the temps were in the 70's which makes for a perfect evening riding dirt.

It was sooooo nice getting out and riding with them. Last weeks ride out at Hall left me a little disappointed in my performance so it was good to shake it off and get a good satisfying ride in.

Tomorrow Dan and I are headed to Moab for 4 days of riding bliss!!! We didn't get the dirt bikes worked on so it's strictly a ride until you can't ride anymore type of weekend! I'm sooooo looking forward to it and I'm really looking forward to a little shuttle action and Porcupine Rim on the EX8...hope she rocks my world :)

-Kim

Cinco de Drinko

2009-05-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, our wonderful college kid neighbors decided to throw a rip roarin' party :( I got home to kids everywhere, loud music and even louder people. Dan got home close to 10 after a work meeting and said there's guys just peeing everywhere.

I thought, well....I've tolerated the noise and annoyance of the whole thing up until now and the noise level wasn't getting any softer, they still had the music blasting, and I needed to go to bed.....so, I called the cops :0

I've never called the cops on anyone before, well once in Chicago when 2 people were fighting right outside my house, the cops arrived SECONDS later....which I thought was pretty impressive.

Anyway, I called the cops and around 10:30 there was suddenly no noise, everyone left and everyone still there went inside!

Ahhhhh....the sweet sound of NOTHING!

I slept like a baby too :)

I think I'll call the cops more often on them.....maybe they'll move to the college side of Boulder and leave all us old people alone.

-Kim

Isn't she purdy

2009-05-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

This is what I'll be riding this weekend in Moab and I'm ready for her to rock my world!! And for some reason, I think the gold and chocolate colors are HOT!

Fuel EX 8 WSD

I'm ready for 5" again....6" was a little too much for me :0

-Kim

Pics from Dan's Fruita/GJ/Moab trip

2009-05-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

Next weekend can't come soon enough

2009-04-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

photo credit Jeny Meinerz

While Dan is off playing with some boys in Fruita...I'm sitting here at work just imaging how it feels to be riding in the warm desert sun :(

photo credit Tracy Phelps Emmanuel

Luckily, next weekend we're both headed out to Moab for a looooong weekend with some friends for some dirt bike riding and mtb riding.

photo credit Tracy Phelps Emmanuel

me in the sand

Dan showing off

I will NOT be getting my bike stuck like this...I absolutely LOVE this shot of Jason!

It just can't get here soon enough!

Tomorrow night is the BMA Gurlz Ride @ Hall Ranch! Woot! I can face THE rock again...gawd I HATE this rock!!!

I am getting better at hitting it and cleaning it my first time around, I've actually cleaned it every attempt lately but it still makes me sweat. I of course just jinxed myself :(

-Kim

I kicked my own butt

2009-04-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

We had another amazing week last week followed by yet another crappy weekend. We had 70 degree days all week long, I got to ride my fixie at lunch everyday and then Saturday hits and the weather turns rainy, crappy and cold. Totally sucks, I should have went to Fruita with Cynthia but opted to stay home instead and avoid the crowds of the FFTF. Bad decision on my part.

Saturday, I decided to go on a run in the misting rain. My iPod was picking up some great old songs that I haven't heard in a loooong time and it put me in such a good mood, 2 hrs later I was finishing up my run, which for me is a long time! Nothing too hilly or taxing, just a nice long run in the crappy Seattle like weather. I got home and after warming up and doing some chores, I was DEAD tired for some reason and decided to screw everything that needed to be done around the house. All I wanted to do was lie in bed with a book and eventually take a nap...4 hrs later I woke up! So not like me! I had plans to go out with a few girlfriends, but getting up and getting ready and putting on clothes other than my comfy yoga stuff was just not going to happen. I settled down to a nice relaxing evening at home.

Sunday came and the weather was nicer out but the temps were still a little chilly. I had planned on getting some errands done and then go for a quickie ride. Unfortunately, my errands took a little longer and I got home a little late for a ride so I decided to go for another long run. This time I detoured from what I had planned on running and ran up the super steep part of Mt. Sanitas. Man, that was HARD! I always forget how steep and how tall the ledges are, too tall for someone with short legs to really run up. I had to stop about 4 times just to stretch my calves out because they were cramping from the constant uphill rocks and ledges. I made it a loop by taking the East Ridge??? trail back down to the Sanitas Valley trail and then over to the Dakota Ridge trail where I thought my legs were going to give out on the ledges going down. YIKES! I packed a super hard run in about 45 minutes...and I'm still super sore today.

Here's some pics of a few of the tough, steep ledgey sections I found online of Mt Sanitas. OUCH!!!

Then Dan and I were off to a BBQ at Tracy & Jason's house with a bunch of other people. Which was a really really nice way to end a weekend...wish it was a weekend full of riding but eventually the weather will cooperate and let us have or trails back!

Unfortunately, Dan had to once again work the entire weekend. Which is quite frankly getting a little annoying and tiresome. I don't mind him working a weekend here and there or one weekend day but both days for 3 or 4 weeks in a row is just not acceptable. And he's got to do it again this weekend...this weekend I can understand because he gets to go to Fruita Tues/Fri with some people from work, which by the way I'm totally jealous about :( But dammit, he needs a weekend off here and there to ride with me!!!

-Kim

Girls Rides Have Started

2009-04-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

The Thursday night girls rides have started! Last night the weather was absolutely perfect! A handful of us rode up the connector from Canyon and got 2 laps in and still made it down into Boulder before the sun set! It was nice to see some familiar faces from last year too.

So glad summer is coming!

Here's the write up on the ride blog.

-kim

3 days of rain and 2" of slush later

2009-04-20T20:19:00.000-07:00

The snow and slush are all gone :) Yep! It was crappy for 3 days straight and I used up every single piece of waterproof clothing. It dumped so much in summit county that they closed I-70 from about Morrison to Vail pass...which meant no one could get up to the mountains to enjoy all the fresh snow :( Bummer!

Sunday, after brunch with the crew, Tracy and I decided to head up to Ned for some snowshoeing with the dogs. Ned got 4' of wet, heavy snow and it was absolutely beautiful up there! Patch had a little trouble staying above the snow in our tracks but he was a trooper.

Down in Boulder, temps got up into the 60's and most of the snow was gone....almost 100% of it was gone by Monday. Now with temps predicted to be in the 70's the rest of the week, getting a trail ride in this weekend looks pretty promising :)

Come on summer!!!

-Kim

WTF!!!!!!

2009-04-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

It's just not fair!!! Enough ALREADY!!!

Easter Weekend 2009

2009-04-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

We had planned to go to Grand Junction/Fruita Friday and Saturday but the weather looked really crappy in Fruita on Saturday so we decided to stay home and enjoy the nicer weather on the front Range. Friday we decided to hit up Dakota Ridge/Red Rocks/Matthews Winter and give Dan's new Trek Fuel EX9 a good dose of ledgy rocks. It passed with flying colors.

All purdy with XTR!

Friday night we met Cynthia & Dave for dinner at The Med, we ended up waiting over an hour for a table :( Cynthia decided to check Facebook during our wait and saw that Jesper posted up asking where Happy Hour was, Cyn told him it was at The Med. Then our friend Ryan (Megan's hubby) wanted in on the fun so they both met us up there for some food and drinks. Funny thing is once we upped our party up to 6 people instead of 4, we got seated in about 5 minutes.....go figure!

Saturday, we invited ourselves on Cynthia's ride out at Buffalo Creek. The weather forecast didn't look too promising with a 40% chance of rain/snow and wind gusts up to 28mph. Hardy as we are, we decided to chance it.

And to our surprise, the storm clouds chased us from all around but never ever caught us! We were in our riding bubble of blish and nothing could penetrate it!

Our ride was 25+ miles, 3200' of climbing and 3+ hours of riding on super tacky amazingly flowy trails.

Only action picture I took was Dan playing on a tricky step up section towards the end of our ride...legs cashed but we still gave it a go.

Sorry for the lack of pictures but sometimes stopping and taking pictures takes you out of the "moment" and I'm really feeling the flow these days!

Thanks Cyn, Jeny, Ann and of course my honey for a most awesome day playing in the dirt, chasing the singletrack!

Dan and I pigged out on jalapeno burgers and red velvet cake afterwards and I settled into the couch with a nice strong drinky in my hand, an utterly satisfied girl :)

-Kim

House exploring and snowshoeing

2009-04-05T16:03:00.001-07:00

Luckily we didn't get all the snow that was called for, we did however get a couple inches...preceded by lots of rain on Friday night which made the trails a mess on Saturday :( The rain was delightful!!! I haven't heard rain in so long and I thought how I missed it....Dan quickly pointed out how much rain we used to get in Michigan to snap me out of my wave of nostalgia.

Sunday, we drove past a super cute house about 20 min up 4 mile canyon that sat right on a stream. The deck of the house was right off the stream which would make for some fantastically awesome summer nights. The house itself was cute with 2 wood burning stoves, one in the living room and one in the master, hardwood floors and vaulted ceilings....all seen by us peering in through the windows. Unfortunately, we've got until the end of August on our lease so starting the house search is a little premature....regardless, I'd love to live there....don't know if Dan could.....

After that we headed up to Ned for our first snowshoe session of the year.

Made our own singletrack

And made the dog happy

I think we'd be happy up high....

One thing is for sure, I'm happier when I'm on my bike! Enough with the snow already!!! Bring on the dry weather so I can pedal my bike on some dirt!!!

-Kim

Yay for spring :(

2009-04-03T15:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight
Slight chance of thunderstorms early in the evening. Chance of rain and snow showers in the evening...then snow after midnight. Areas of blowing snow towards morning. Snow accumulation of 3 to 6 inches. Lows around 30. North winds 10 to 15 mph after midnight.

Saturday
Snow in the morning...then snow likely in the afternoon. Areas of blowing snow through the day. Snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches. Total snow accumulation of 5 to 10 inches. Highs in the lower 30s. North winds 15 to 25 mph.

Saturday Night
Cloudy. Chance of snow and areas of blowing snow in the evening...then a slight chance of snow after midnight. Lows around 16. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph. Gusts up to 35 mph in the evening. Chance of snow 40 percent.

Good thing some impromptu plans are in the works for a quickie trip to GJ/Fruita next Fri/Sat with Carey & Craig :) Let's just hope the weather is good!

Until then...I'll be shoveling :(

-Kim

Bah Humbug!

2009-04-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

I haven't been on my bike since we got back from Fruita 2 weeks ago :( Spring snows have been hitting us and hitting us hard! We got about 18" of snow last Thursday, we just about got to the point where it was all melted and it snowed again last night, but melted away today with the warm temps but now we're supposed to get another storm on Saturday. Luckily and unfortunately, we were pretty spoiled over the winter with mild temps and practically no snow and we were able to ride pretty much whenever, but that's why dealing with the spring weather is a major bummer right now.

It's pretty much put me in the mood to not ride my bike. I've been spending a lot of time in my running shoes....which in turn has made me kinda not want to run anymore. I'm planning on doing a couple long hikes this weekend, Saturday being pretty much a bust since it's supposed to snow ALL DAY LONG :( But maybe I'll be able to bust out the snowshoes and do some snowshoeing.

In the meantime, I'm praying for warmer temps and dry trails.

Next year we'll be prepared with the winter because we're getting ski passes! Hopefully that will make the winter easier to deal with and we'll be more than happy when we get snow...especially spring snow!

-Kim

FU!

2009-03-22T19:25:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome weekend in Fruita! We rode our little hearts out...I just didn't want to stop! The 29er HT worked just fine and I was able to clean much much more than I ever have and I had such an wonderful perma smile time!

We were having such an awesome time riding that we barely stopped for pictures but I got a few...

-Kim

Next month....round 2 in GJ!! Maybe we'll bring the dirt bikes for a day of play :)

Playtime!!!

2009-03-19T16:35:00.000-07:00

We're going here this weekend!!

Yippee!!!!

I'm a little nervous about riding the HT...it'll either be good or a little rough ;)

-Kim

Spring seems to be here!

2009-03-17T05:36:00.000-07:00

I wore a tank top twice this weekend!! Pretty soon it'll be flip flop and tank top weather and we'll be able to sleep with the windows open again :)

This weekend was kinda a bust, I woke up Saturday feeling kinda icky and as the day progressed it got worse. I had planned on going on a long run but my body and legs just weren't into it, I felt dizzy and light headed my entire run and I could barely feel my legs running below me.

Oh well, the rest of the weekend was spent pretty much on the couch :( BORING!!!! Thank goodness for free really cheesy ONDemand movies.

I stayed home from work on Monday because I still felt icky, took the dogs for a walk and had to stay on the couch for like 4 hours after that. Dan suggested we go on a light spin around 2pm just to get me outside because it was so nice....short light spin turned into a 2 1/2 hr ride out to Marshall and back. But after that whatever was making me feel icky was gone as fast as it came! Woot!

A little bike ride cured my cold :)

-Kim

My dog likes dirt

2009-03-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

This is what he does ALL day long....

And he's filthy because of it :(

-Kim

Doggie sleep over

2009-03-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

Patch has a friend this weekend! And he's lovin' every minute of it, because she's such a pretty girl :)

They play like ultimate cage fighters!

-Kim

Ringing in DST with a ride!

2009-03-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

Daylight savings time is the time of the year every cyclist dreams of after a long cold winter! It's an absolutely joyous time of the year and it already feels like spring here in Colorado. No better way to celebrate than riding up high with a minimal amount of snow. Each of us went down on ice at one point or other today but it was all good....we're riding our bikes on trails that are usually covered in snow this time of year!

Woot!

-Kim

Breakfast of Champions

2009-03-07T07:33:00.001-08:00

mmmmmm....sugar

Could it get any better

2009-03-01T18:36:00.001-08:00

Could it get any better than riding trails on March 1st, without the warmest of clothes on and with amazingly incredible people???? I think not!

Thanks Carey and Craig for another awesome ride! So glad Chuck could make it too!

-Kim

Big Wheels

2009-03-01T08:15:00.000-08:00

Dan got the SS 29er built up yesterday and the perfect trail for testing it out was Centennial Cone. We started off Hwy 6 and rode up Mayhem Gulch to the ledges and then had to turn back around again because it was getting late. We got a late start and didn't get to the trailhead until 2pm and some guy needed his car jump started so we probably didn't get riding until around 2:30. Once we got to the ledges, it was about 4:30 so we decided to have a snack and head back to the car.

It was great, minimal people and nice dirt. I made 95% of the switchbacks and was pretty damn stoked about that! My goal this year are ledges and switchbacks...the big wheels make ledges easier and I think the geometry on the 29er make switchbacks easier than the 6.6.

-Kim

Dan's project this morning

2009-02-28T07:22:00.001-08:00

Oh yeah, he got one! The Superfly Singlespeed 29er!

I'm a little disappointed in the paint job, it's pretty obnoxious but it'll be a sweet bike!

Hopefully he can get it built up in time for our ride this afternoon!

-Kim

Boo Hansen's

2009-02-27T16:08:00.000-08:00

I just noticed that my favorite soda has sucralose in it :( Bummer! Now I've got to give that up.

I'll resort to only putting a splash of regular Hansen's soda into my cocktail. I drink water exclusively all day and in the evening but I do enjoy a nice cold soda when I get home, seems to quench my thirst. It's probably just the sugar :(

Diet Tangerine Lime Natural Soda

Hansen's Diet Tangerine Lime Soda splashes the natural flavor of Colima Limes with tangy California Tangerines. Our sodas contain all natural flavors and have no sodium, caffeine, aspartame, preservatives, or carbs.

Contains:
Pure triple filtered carbonated water, citric acid, natural potassium citrate, acesulfame potassium, sucralose (Splenda® brand), natural fruit flavors with extracts of California tangerines & Florida and/or Colima limes.

Nutritional Facts:
Serving Size 1 can Calories 0 Total Fat 0g 0%, Sodium 0mg 0%, Total Carb 0g 0%, Sugars 0g, Protein 0g 0%

Sometimes being healthy is a pain in the butt! But I have to admit I've never felt better since I've been trying to eat things that my body can actually use.

-Kim

Now it's time to unwind and relax and gear up for a great weekend of riding!!! Daylight savings time is near and that just means spring is around the corner and the awesome days of riding until you can't pedal anymore are upon us! YAY!!!

Winter riding....sans snow!

2009-02-24T16:01:00.001-08:00

Double click on the picture above.

Can't beat plans coming together on the spur of the moment and heading out for an awesome ride! Thanks Carey, Craig and it was awesome meeting you Scott! Can't wait to get out on the moto's with you and Emma!

-Kim

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T08:49:00.000-08:00

Playing in the snow!

2009-02-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

We finally dug the snowboards out for a day in the snow up at Winter Park....mine actually had dust on it :( Totally embarrassing!

It was Jen's birthday on the 6th so she invited people up for the weekend to come celebrate with her! I was so hoping that riding with them would spark our interest in boarding again....and it did! We are so buying passes next year! The hard part is going to be picking which pass to get....

I was worried about not being on the boards at all last year and thought we'd both be a little rusty but it seems as if we haven't missed a beat! So surprising! We hit tree runs, steep runs and even finished off the day tired and spent on some mogul runs! Yay!

Can't wait to spend a lot of time in the powder next year :)

Not many pics but here are some:

-Kim

Employment....Round 2!

2009-02-05T15:39:00.001-08:00

Dan decided to NOT take the job at Full Cycle. He got a better offer from his old shop, not the one in Boulder but the one in Louisville.

We move to Boulder to be closer to our jobs and now he's got to commute out to Louisville. The Louisville shop is about 2 miles away from our old house! Go figure....

Anyway, I hope he made the right decision. His old bosses are good people and hopefully the 2nd time around with them will be a little better than the first...not saying that the first go around was bad....but maybe this time will be a little sweeter.

Congrats again Dan!

In the meantime, Dan's been busy fixing stuff. His current passion is fixing the Jeep that he bought since it has come with lots of problems. Not big problems, just problems and he's been doing a great job at conquering the problems.

He took a huge tree root out yesterday so our concrete slabs in the driveway would lie flat...the axe broke and he almost killed the dog with a flying axe head. Intuition told him to sit on the couch and drink after that....good choice.

-Kim

1 week!

2009-02-03T05:23:00.000-08:00

It's been 1 week and I'm still alcohol free! Sunday was tough because we rode and watched the Superbowl but after a while I just forgot about it! Yay me!

-Kim

Happy Hour continues!

2009-02-01T09:35:00.000-08:00

This time Jen & Jesper had us over and we got to hang out in their new hot tub! Woot! I'm still amazed that Jesper did it all himself, the plans and everything else....Jen helped a ton but it was Jesper's baby.

Thank you Jen & Jesper for letting us invade your wonderful backyard oasis!

More of us soaking in the tub here:

javascript:void(0)
Saturday was going to be in the upper 50's again so we had plans to ride but after taking the dog for a walk we felt like going on a long run instead. It was a great day for a run and it allowed us more time to get some errands done. After we got back from the run, we hopped on the fixie's and did some errands around town. Dan's got the track stand nailed...me not so much. I just need to commit and just DO IT!

We had a nice cozy evening inside watching movies and hanging out!

-Kim

Picture Rock should be called Enough with the Rocks Already!

2009-01-25T10:55:00.000-08:00

We finally got to ride Picture Rock yesterday, we rode Heil to Wild Turkey to Picture Rock, turned around before the parking lot in Lyons and rode back up Picture Rock to Wild Turkey, finished the rest of Wild Turkey and headed back down.

My brain hurt from hitting the inside of my skull and my hands could barely hold onto my bars anymore. Heil is a bumpy ride and on the HT it's way worse. The first part of Picture Rock off of Wild Turkey is more of the same but once you pass the Silo's it's smooth singletrack. The climb back up Picture Rock is a nice climb consistent climb with small moves up and over rocks that got the heart pumping and by the end of the ride I was pretty much toast. We finished off the ride in the freezing rain.

So glad we got out before the weather turned sour later that night.

Sunday is going to be a lazy day with just a long hike with the dog and MAYBE a short run if we get completely bored out of our minds.

-Kim

Employment! Finally!

2009-01-21T11:32:00.000-08:00

Dan is now employed at this shop in Boulder, less than 2 miles away from where we live!

Congrats and I'm sure he's so excited to have something other than chores and errands to do with his day :)

Fingers crossed that he gets weekends off!!!

-Kim

Rockin' the Rocks

2009-01-19T16:40:00.000-08:00

Soooo...did I mention before that I love my new 29er?

My nemises conquered!!!

Absolutely and totally the best bike I've ridden in a long time...go figure. I still can't believe I actually like riding a hardtail!!! Granted, I can't descend the rocks as fast but I can still do it....actually better than on my 6.6!!!

I'm so excited about the riding season this year that I can barely contain myself!!!

Let the games begin!! Well, we still have some months of winter to get thru but I just can't wait!!!

More pics here
>

Jeny you were so right about a 29er hardtail being the best bike to ever ride!! I can't wait to get out there with you!!!

-Kim

January and riding in shorts!

2009-01-19T07:31:00.001-08:00

Yep! That's right, it's January and we were riding in shorts yesterday! We chose Devil's Backbone because it's usually the driest during the winter and it was. It was my 2nd ride on the 29er and she didn't disappoint me. We started at the Coyote Ridge trailhead and rode the Blue Sky/Coyote Ridge area, the Coyote Ridge trail starts with a loose rocky climb that dumps into a ledgy descent...the 29er handled the ledges with no problemo.

The rest of the trail was smooth and fast and fun but we still had the ledges to get back up....and the 29er kicked butt on them! I was shocked and amazed that I actually was able to get the bike up and over them....absolutely shocked! Sorry, no pics...I think it would make Dan melt if he actually took some pictures ;)

Yeeehaaaw! It's going to be a good year!

A few more pics here

-Kim

Lazy Saturday with many activities thrown in

2009-01-18T08:46:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning found us lounging around, drinking coffee and eating breakfast burrito's. We didn't have a clue what we wanted to do that day and we didn't really feel like doing anything.

After a while, the boy started getting annoying so we decided to take him out for a hike. It was so nice outside that the short 1/2 hour hike turned into an over an hour hike with a very tired doggie dog!

While we were out walking we decided to go on a run and then get Dan's new fixie out for a spin. Yay! It's still in the "final touch" stage but it's going to be a pretty kick butt theme bike! While we were running, Dan mentioned how all he had to do to turn my bike into a fixie is switch the rear hub around...oh dear! I agreed but I really nervous!

Getting on the bike with moving cranks was pretty weird and then accidentally trying to coast when you can't is also a weird feeling but I was pretty amazed at how in control you are of your speed. I didn't once panic and use my brakes (we haven't taken them off yet but I'm sure they'll be off after a week or so of riding it). First lesson was skid stopping, at first I was clueless and thought I'd never get it but after trying it a few times and getting comfortable getting my weight totally over me bars and getting my legs completely up against the bars it was pretty easy to lock your legs and force the rear wheel to skid. I was so STOKED!!!!

Then we hit the hills and I found that it's really easy to control your speed by back pedaling....it was actually really cool being able to slow down that way!

Now I need to learn to track stand. Not there yet, as soon as I stop my first instinct is to put my foot down instead of trying to balance my pedals out. It's pretty tricky making sure your pedals are parallel to the ground and it's a weird feeling pushing back and forth on your pedals while trying to balance....it'll take a long time to get it.

I'm going to keep it a fixie this week and see how I like it. I'm fearing my legs being incredibly sore come next Friday!

Later that night we went to a little shin dig bday party for a friend :)

More pics of the bday event here:

Sunday Sunday Sunday......we're riding!!!! Yay! And them barbecuing some brats!!!! Gotta love the 60 degree weather we're having in January!!!

Friday Happy Hour

2009-01-18T08:39:00.000-08:00

We had happy hour at our friends Chuck & Niina's house...they actually cooked dinner! Pretty Fancy :)

And we tried a new to us stout from Oskar Blues....the Ten FIDY

It poured much like motor oil!

Here's the write up about it from the Oskar Blues website:
Ten FIDY Imperial Stout - Now (11-21-07) available in cans, our winter seasonal beer is immensely viscous and loaded with neck-deep flavors of chocolate, malt, coffee, cocoa and oats.

It's the beer equivalent of decadently rich milkshake made with malted-milk balls and Heaven’s best chocolate ice cream. Ten FIDY is about 10% ABV and is made with enormous amounts of two-row malts, chocolate malts, roasted barley, flaked oats and hops. Its huge-but-comforting flavors hide a whopping 98 IBUs that are deftly tucked underneath the beer’s mountains of malty goodness.

Ten FIDY is the ultimate Rocky Mountain winter warmer, and further proof of the creative muscle of our beloved brewing staff. Look for fourpacks of Ten FIDY in select beer stores in Colorado. Out of state? We hope to send a few cases to a few of our other states in early '08.

Here's a sampling of the mighty praise heaped on Ten FIDY:

* "The Beer of the Year" – The Denver Post
* "100 Rating" – Ratebeer.com
* "A-Rating" – Beeradvocate.com
* "This one puts the ‘A’ in ‘Holy Crap!’" -- Beer Advocate Magazine
* "The biggest, baddest, boldest beer in a can." -- Celebrator Beer News
* "A freaking gentle-giant masterpiece and the world's richest canned beer." - Us

-Kim

Another Jeep!

2009-01-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

Dan sold our '99 Volvo last Friday and we were going to only have 1 car for a while and see how it worked out. I still commute to work everyday and so will he once he starts working again and it would force me to ride in even when the weather sucks.

Dan showed up at my work on Wednesday with a surprise for me....

He bought a '95 Jeep Cherokee Unlimited. It's a pretty sweet car and he got an amazing deal on it. He bought it from some girl who just wanted to unload it, it didn't start but from what she told Dan, he knew it was the alternator. So, the day after looking at it the first time he went and bought an alternator and replaced it and the thing started right up! Kicker is he talked the girl down from $1200 to $800 and when the girls neighbor saw Dan working on it, he came outside and told him that he'd give him $50 if he bought it because he was so sick of having the thing sitting out in front of his house! So, he bought the Jeep for $800, put $100 into with the alternator and got $50 from the neighbor...total money spent on the Jeep was $850!

Not bad for a 2nd beater car with AWD!

Pretty good score if you ask me :)

Oh and the girl had 4 wheels sitting in her garage that he ex-boyfriend bought and never put on. She wanted them out of her garage too so she just gave them to us! Dan said they're probably worth about $350 each!

Happy Hour

2009-01-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to save some money, instead of going to the bar for Friday Happy Hour we started having HH at home. First happy hour was at Megan's house, after that it was at our house....after everyone got home from their Christmas vacations.

Mom, I made your cosmo recipe...albeit a little more on the strong side than you made it but that's my curse. I can't make a weak drink :(

We're all toasting to you, mom!

Dan got all the pizza's during the day and rushed out and got a set of martini glasses when I realized that we didn't have any! What a great guy :)

-Kim

**Note...judging from the pictures, it looks like I have DD's...I did not get a boob job! It's just the sweater rising up on me :)

Zoom Zoom!

2009-01-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

That's all I can say about the 29er! It's so fast and I can't believe how fast this bike accelerates! Absolutely amazing! What's weird is I test rode a Hi-Fi 29er over the summer and hated the way it rode, it was so bouncy I couldn't hold onto the bars. We didn't play with the suspension all too much so that could have been a factor. The Salsa is so smooth and I think the carbon seatstays help a ton. I just wish it had a Fox fork instead of the Reba fork...not that big of a fan of the Reba's.

I'll have to get used to the hardtail factor and train myself to get waaaaay back on the saddle on tricky descents but being able to go fast again is so much fun! Yippee!

I was even able to drop Dan :) But he promptly dropped me on the descent.

This is how how he felt when he finally caught up to me....

Unfortunately, after the ride I got a nasty tummy ache and was couch bound the rest of the evening :( Must have been the cosmo's from the night before...my stomach doesn't like cointreau and it always seems to rot the day after.

Fires in Boulder

2009-01-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

Photo credit: Mark Leffingwell
Fire engulfs a house near Foothills Parkway and Nebo Road north of Boulder, Colorado January 07, 2009. CAMERA/Mark Leffingwell

Photo Credit: Paul Aiken
A home in the path of Wednesday's grass fire burns north of the city of Boulder. Photo by Paul Aiken

The first story here

Pretty scary stuff! I got a text from Dan around 3pm yesterday asking if I'd heard about the fires just 3 miles north of our house and I hadn't. One of my co-workers busted out of the office an hour earlier, I had no clue at the time why. He lives up Lee Hill Road and his family was being evacuated! Fortunately, his house is fine and they were able to finally go home late this afternoon.

Luckily, Carey and Craig and their doggies and house are safe as well.

I rode home last night and could smell the fire in the air but couldn't see anything. You could hear and see all the helicopters flying above the fire from our house. This morning on Patch's walk, it smelled like one big campfire.

Luckily, most people have been able to go back home.

I can't imagine what the summer is going to be like if we're already having fires in January.

-Kim

Peanut Butter & Cake Frosting

2009-01-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

Dan and I were lying in bed last night trying to ignore the "all-night smoking binge party" our college neighbors were having right outside our bedroom window until 2am :( Nice!

Anyway, I was trying to think of things that I liked more than Dan and only 2 things popped into my head...doesn't really mean that I like them more than Dan, they are just what popped into my head.

The first one was peanut butter. Not the organic, you have to store in the refrigerator and stir before eating kind of peanut butter but Jiffy....Creamy Jiffy to be exact. I love Jiffy and I'm not afraid to admit it! I love a heaping spoonful of Jiffy.

The second one was cake frosting, Betty Crocker whipped butter cream cake frosting to be exact! Absolutely love this stuff and I'll eat it straight out of the tub with a spoon until my stomach hurts, which doesn't take much. I did sit on my parents couch over Christmas with a tub of leftover butter cream cake frosting and a spoon and ate a whole bunch of it! I even had homemade frosted cookies that my mom had made in my hand and was putting more frosting on them.

Maybe that's why I gained 5lbs over the holiday.....but totally worth it ;)

......why the heck can't I post pics rig now.....so frustrating!!!!!

-Kim

3000 miles, 38 hrs of driving and 5 lbs later

2009-01-06T08:25:00.001-08:00

We're back from Christmas time with our families. We hung out with our friends, hung out with our families, made some plans and ate way too much food! Every single part of the 10 days we spent at home was so enjoyable. We ran everyday and sat on the couch and rested and soaked in the down time.

I haven't had 10 days off like that in so long. Usually when we go home it's in the summertime and every ounce of free time is spent on the bikes. This time, every ounce was either spent on the couch or in bed....loved it!

Hopefully we've planted some seeds, some plans have been made and come August....we may be back there for good! Our dreams of owning a house on a lake may actually come true! The housing market is so low that we can get into a brand new 2500 sq ft house on a lake if we really wanted to, an opportunity like that is hard to pass up.

I know we're crazy for wanting to leave Colorado, the weather is fantastic, the riding is epic and we've made some great friends. But it's just not home and we are realizing that our families are the most important thing in our lives and they won't be with us forever and we need to soak up all the time we can get with them and buy our dream house and maybe start our own family...eventually.....maybe....maybe.

We need to look to the future and set our plans into motion and enjoy every ounce of Colorado that we can.

But for now, we're here and who knows, the small (I mean super teeny tiny) seed that we planted may not work out. After all, the economy is crap in Michigan and the jobs are hard to come by.

-Kim

Back in the swing

2008-12-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

Dan's parents had a small party on Saturday night so I packed up some of my stuff to stay the night over there instead of driving home later on in the night. We decided to head out to Pontiac Lake (my favorite local riding trail) to go on a hike with the dog....since it was 60 outside! It was dark and foggy but it still brought back good memories of riding on the fast singletrack.

Patch loved the trail!

Sunday we got up and headed out to Indian Springs Metro Park which is close to Dan's place. They've got a nice 8.2 mile loop paved path there so we put the running shoes on and I got outside to run for the first time being back home. I have to remember that winter activities involve driving to some State or Metro Park and running on the roads or paved paths or being gym bound for most of the afternoon. Which I don't mind at all....at least there's places to go and things to do. If we move back we HAVE to get snowmobiles :)

Today it'll be more of the same but I'm at my parents place so it'll have to be a run around their neighborhood. We're going shopping today! And hopefully Dan and I will be able to get together with some people tonight for dinner.

First Born Dead Show

2008-12-27T07:41:00.000-08:00

Last night I got to see my brother in a show! They were actually pretty good, even though their other guitarist was doing vocals instead because the singer quit the band. I was very very impressed.

Unfortunately Jimmy rarely stood straight up so it was tough to get a good picture of him :(

More pics here...

I'm now going to start calling him Jimmith....

Christmas Day

2008-12-25T18:48:00.000-08:00

Nothing much happened...woke up, had pancakes, opened presents, went to the neighbors house, saw a bunch of people I haven't seen in years, ran, lifted weights, went over Dan's house, opened up more presents, played on the lake, came back to my parents house and ate WAY too much food!

A perfect day!

Tomorrow we get to see Jimmy's band play and hopefully watch the Red Wings on my parents super duper huge (I think it's a 58") tv.

It's great to be home and able to watch the Wings again! Dan actually met one of the new young Slovak players at his church this morning!

More non-bike related pics here

19hrs later

2008-12-25T18:37:00.000-08:00

We actually made it straight thru from Boulder to Michigan in 19hrs, even with all the crappy weather! It really wasn't that bad, icy and cold thru Iowa and Illinois but pretty uneventful. There were cars everywhere on the side of the highway thru Iowa, some rolled over, some smashed, some just stuck in the snow...must have been a horrible scene a few hours earlier. We kept drinking Monster & Amp and eating bagels to help with the stomach rot and those things got us thru the early morning hours.

After a few hours of decompressing once I got home, I got a run in (on the treadmill since it was raining outside)and went to a family party.

My little brother Jimmy grew up a ton! Filled out pretty good and grew out his hair, which is absolutely gorgeous!

I was in bed by 10pm and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out cold!

It's great to be home :)

More pics here

A good start to the holiday weeks

2008-12-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

On Friday, we had an impromptu happy hour gathering at Megan's house...Tracy and I turned it into dinner & drinks before Megan even got home from work :) It was all good. Many many glasses of wine were drank and 3 pizza's were consumed!

Saturday, we went on a 6mile hour long run in preparation for Carrie's White Elephant Party later on in the evening. We also had a lot to do for the trip home, we got the car all set, cleaned the house and wrapped the presents. Hopefully I'll be able to get Tuesday off so we don't have to leave for Michigan at 6pm when I get off of work...that will suck big time if I can't.

The Boulder girls thought it was a boot & skirt night :)

Tracy got back at me for always making bunny ears behind someone

Dan showed off his new haircut....he was still steaming in this pic after his cool flask got taken in the white elephant gift exchange.

More pics here

Sunday, we were going to go snowboarding up at Eldora but the temps were going to be in the single digits and that didn't sound to appealing to us. Instead, we slept in and went on a 1 1/2 hr run...we had planned on a 2hr run but the loop we did just wasn't long enough. We capped off the run with some hot cocoa and some super duper spiked egg nog!

Later we made mint vanilla chip cookies.

Then some shrimp & sausage jambalaya.

I have to work Monday...boooooooo! But hopefully I can get Tuesday off....finger crossed!

Unfortunately we won't be bringing our bikes with us to Michigan, just the running shoes and maybe the snowshoes. Lucky for us, there's plenty of trails to run on paved or dirt so we won't be missing out there. I'm so looking forward to hanging out with my family and friends and FINALLY getting to eat some good middle eastern food! The one thing I've missed living out here (besides missing everything else back home) is really really really good middle eastern food!

Happy Holidays and be safe!

-Kim

I think we clean up pretty good!

2008-12-18T18:52:00.000-08:00

This is before my work holiday party last night

Time off

2008-12-16T15:09:00.000-08:00

I've been driving into work so far this week. Sunday night we got blasted with about another 5" of snow and then got blasted with zero degree temps on Monday so I drove in...it was absolutely miserable outside. On Tuesday, we had our Christmas picture taken and I wanted to look more presentable than last year. Wednesday, was our holiday party after work so I wanted to get home in plenty of time to get ready. And Thursday and Friday I guess I'll drive in as well....just because :) At least we live close, my drive in is less than 4 miles.

I've been feeling like a grown up driving in and I feel calm and happy, I could really get used to this :)

-Kim

Merry Christmas from my work!

2008-12-16T15:05:00.000-08:00

We took our 2008 Christmas picture today.

It's cold out

2008-12-14T17:01:00.000-08:00

I think it only got to about 9 degree's today :(

We hiked for an hour with the dog, went for a 40 minute run by ourselves, came home and made cookies.

Then we sat around in our sweats and under the blankets for the rest of the day.

Now we're trying to get motivated to go to a hockey game....in a cold ice rink...it's not going so well.

Proof

2008-12-09T19:17:00.000-08:00

That I actually commute in the snow!

-Kim

Cynthia's Bday Ride

2008-12-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

We had to postpone Cynthia's birthday ride from last Sunday to this Sunday because the trails we were going to ride had gotten a lot of snow last week. Unfortunately, Boulder got hammered with snow on Wednesday & Thursday so most of the trails were either too muddy to ride or covered in snow. Luckily the last 3 days were warm and super windy so the open space trails dried up and were rideable, so we decided to head out to the North Boulder trails and ride. Not the super duper techy ride we were supposed to do but fun none the less...and it was an amazingly warm December day and it was just great to get out.

Dan and I did a 8.15 mile run the day before so this was just the kind of ride we needed to work the legs out.

Afterwards, we all headed to the Rio for yummy drinks and yummy food!

I wonder how long Cynthia can draw out her birthday rides :) I'm hoping we can do it all again next weekend!

More pics here:

-Kim

My new bike!

2008-12-07T19:18:00.000-08:00

Dan's a really really good listener and can usually read my mind or know what direction I'm thinking of moving towards....especially when it comes to my riding.

Lately I've been complaining about the 6.6 and how it really hasn't been the bike I thought it would be. I thought I wanted a longer travel, more plush bike to ride but what I really gave up was my speed and climbing ability. In the beginning, I was okay with it but slowly over the course of the year it really started bothering me. I couldn't climb stuff I used to climb and I lost my motivation to ride....I think that was one of the main reasons I wanted to get a dirt bike. I was looking for another passion, and I love it but I missed the bliss and joy and exhilaration I used to get riding.

I found new hope when I got a hold of one of Jason's demo bikes, the Safire. I love the bike and I was totally amazed at how great it climbed and how great the brain rear shock works....absolutely brought excitement back into my riding! I was smiling once again!

In the meantime, Dan built up one of my all time favorite bikes that I WILL NEVER give up. My Litespeed Ocoee that used to be my singlespeed but now has gears on it. I rode it today and found the bliss and excitement and pure exhilaration that I have been searching for! I was able to climb and ride fast and I completely and utterly enjoyed pedaling it and it awakened all the reasons why I started riding a bike!

I couldn't stop talking about it! I told him that I wanted to try a hardtail 29er and have the best of both worlds...I think this is what I NEED to ride to awaken my passion for riding again!

Later in the evening, he showed me a picture of a Salsa 29er that a friend of his has and is interested in getting rid of and said I could ride it whenever. I loved the way it looked...it was sexy! I went to take a shower and when I got done, I walked into the kitchen and there was the bike that he just showed me a picture of....I was floored! He said he got a killer....super killer deal on it a few months ago and slowly built it up with parts off the 29er he used to have and was just hoping and praying that I would want to one day ride it....or he would sell it, no big deal either way.

I couldn't be happier and I'm DYING to hammer on this thing!

Carbon rear triangle is going to make the rear ride nice and plush!

The big wheels are going to handle the rocks like nothing I've ever ridden before! I'm giddy!

-Kim

Tagged

2008-12-07T08:44:00.000-08:00

Thanks Jeny.....

6 Things about myself...and since this is Dan's blog as well, I'm going to make him tell 6 things.

1) I once dared a kid in elementary school to crack his head open on the bleachers for 5 pennies. He did it and to this day I can still see the blood dripping out of his head in huge round balls as one of the lunch ladies carried him inside. He never told on me and I never got into trouble for it, I can't believe he did it...I wish I remember what his name was, Scott something.

2) My only claim to biking fame was winning the Lumberjack 100 in Michigan on my singlespeed. Won it in under 9hrs and I beat ALL the geared girls :) I couldn't ride my bike for a month after that...I had really bad back and shoulder issues after that. I got one of the coolest trophies in the world and it sits on my mantle so I can look at it everyday.

(photo credit Tom Lining)

3) I'm the biggest chicken you'll ever know. I get butterflies every time I ride my bike! My palms are sweating right now just thinking about it!

4) I have a 15 year old brother....I'm 38

5) I can't keep peanut butter in the house because I'd eat the whole entire jar in one sitting. I have absolutely no control when it comes to peanut butter.

6) I once beat Dan in a local XC race in Michigan. I was racing in the singlespeed class and at the time there weren't enough girls that raced singlespeed so I had to race with the boys. It was a time trial so we had to do 2 laps on a 9 mile trail/course. On the last lap I knew I was either 2nd or 3rd in a field of like 10-15 guys, I came upon Dan off the side of the trail fixing a broken chain...I just looked at him in shock and said "oh it's on now!" and sprinted all the way to the finish line. I had no idea that he was the leader! People started coming up to me saying that I had won!

Enlightening stuff here!

Now it's Dan's turn....

1) I'm color blind. (not black, white, gray but red and green)

2) I've always wanted to race cars or trucks.

3) When I was 12 I broke my ankle crashing on my BMX bike trying to jump a stack of car tires. The only reason I tried it was because there was a girl there.

4) I am the shyest person you will ever meet! I have no trouble talking to people when I'm at work but when it comes to anyone out on the street I would rather keep walking.

5) I LOVE roller skating! And no not roller blading!

6) I almost lost a few fingers to a snapping turtle in the lake I grew up on but I moved quick and instead of losing some digits I caught the giant turtle and too every one's dismay I killed it and buried it in the yard. Only because it came back after I drove it to another lake a few miles away and because the snapping turtles would eat all swan eggs. After I killed that one turtle there were a lot more baby swans on the lake that year.

We now tag Carey, Paula, Eddie, and Jen.

Death Metal

2008-12-06T08:22:00.000-08:00

My little brother Jimmy has been playing bass guitar for quite some time now...he's actually really really good. One of the many reasons I miss being back home :(

Not music for everyone, but his band is First Born Dead

He's also a total hottie :)

-Kim

This is what Dan does with his time

2008-12-05T13:32:00.001-08:00

(photo credit megan)

He builds kickbutt snowmen! We'll probably have a whole family by next week ;)

-Kim

The first big snow of the season

2008-12-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

Dan swears we got about 10 inches of snow yesterday....I never went in the backyard last night to measure the snow piled up on the table but I'll believe him. It snowed all day and was freakin' cold, just all of a sudden like that :( Blech...although, when there's snow on the ground I like it, I like running in it, I like snowshoeing in it, maybe I'll even get some skate ski's and ski in it. We can't afford to spend $80 bucks on lift tickets right now or we'd be snowboarding this weekend for sure.

Unfortunately, we woke up to single digits temps today....too cold for me to ride in and with it going to be in the 40's today....too sloppy for me to ride in as well. I'll admit it, I don't like riding when there's snow, ice and gross stuff on the streets. I'll ride in the single digits temps, but only when the streets are clear.

Oh well, at least we got up and ran this morning....I think it was 9 degree's outside!

Here's a pic of Dan and his frozen beard after our run :)

TGIF!

-Kim

Happy Birthday Cynthia

2008-12-03T20:20:00.001-08:00

Cynthia's birthday was December 1st, we were supposed to have a huge ride on Sunday with tons of people but the weather turned bad and it was snowing where we were supposed to ride so Cynthia decided to postpone the ride for a week :( Big bummer!

On Tuesday the 2nd, a bunch of us gathered at Zolo's Grill in Boulder to celebrate Cynthia's birthday! Cynthia made reservations for 17 people but I think that 20 or 21 people showed up! Doesn't that make you feel loved Cynthia! I'm so glad I met you and all your friends and their friends! You've finally made me feel at home in Colorado!

Catching up

2008-12-03T19:58:00.000-08:00

It was a great 4 day weekend for both of us. We didn't have any plans (expect for Thanksgiving dinner) which meant we didn't have to get up early, be anywhere early or do anything we didn't want to do!

It was awesome and relaxing!

We ran some small errands on Friday and then decided to hit up Betasso for a quickie ride. It was a bit chilly and Boulder Creek was starting to ice up but it was a good ride and a good test to see how the Safire could climb up the connector trail. Let me tell you it climbed great! I made it to about 10' to the top of the climb and messed up....I was actually shocked at how far I made it, lost my concentration and spun out on some loose rocks. I was so impressed though!

Dan of course made it all the way up with ease.

After the ride we came home, showered and hung out watching movies and drinking wine the rest of the night! Yay!

On Saturday we slept in, ate a huge breakfast burrito and I cleaned the house. It was kinda yucky out and we were feeling a tab bit lazy so we decided to take the dog for a long walk and then went for an easy hour long run. And that my friends is about all we did...we sat on the couch and watched movies the rest of the evening...it was heaven!

On Sunday, the weather was even more yucky than it was on Saturday so I decided to stay inside all day in my pj's watch some more movies and do some online Christmas shopping. I did that for the most part but Dan came home earlier than expected from work with some bad news...needless to say he's looking for a new job :( Oh well, onto bigger and better things! We went for a long walk, came home and made some strong drinks and hung out inside the rest of the day.

-Kim

Thanksgiving Day 2008

2008-11-28T08:15:00.000-08:00

We started the day with a chilly ride out at Hall. I was riding a Safire demo which I've been dying to ride since Tuesday. I quickly found out that the bike's rear wheel loves to be on the ground, mainly because of the brain shock. It was pretty amazing! I also noticed how small the cockpit was compared to the 6.6, this helped with turning and tight switchbacks and just steering in general. I was able to ride through nasty rock gardens in my granny and still steer and not get bounced around the rocks like I've been experiencing on the 6.6. I haven't been able to use my granny gear in technical rock sections because the front end became so unstable mainly because the rear end was bouncing around so much! And climbing on the Safire was a breeze compared to the 30lb 6.6!

I cleaned everything except for the rock face....but I wasn't really trying. I was so impressed with the way the bike steered and kept it's rear tire on the ground! I even had better lines on the descent through the rock garden on this bike....granted it's not as plush as the 6.6 but I had way more control on the Safire.

After the ride, we cleaned up and headed over the Dan's brothers house for some turkey dinner. MMMMMM MMMMMMM good! And we didn't stuff ourselves into food coma like we usually do :)

-Kim

Looking for a new bike

2008-11-25T08:43:00.000-08:00

So I finally admitted to Dan this weekend that the 6.6 is a little too much bike for me :( I'm still having problems climbing with the 30lb bike, problems that I've never had before and it's starting to make me sad. I love the way the bike handles the descents but the climbs are another story, it's really hard for me to get my front end up and over ledges and I'm totally sick of bashing my knee's on the top tube! Living where we do, the bike you ride MUST climb and I admit that I do not like having to walk up stuff I KNOW I can clean....so the search is on.

I'm going to demo a medium Specialized Safire (hopefully this weekend) and maybe a Trek and maybe a Yeti and maybe a Titus. I want to try something that doesn't use the VPP system.

Suggestions are welcome!

The bike must have 5" of travel and be under 30lbs and climb and descend effortlessly :)

No XC racer bikes....no spandex will EVER touch this bike!

-Kim

Moab Day 3 - Sovereign Valley

2008-11-24T20:19:00.000-08:00

Our last day in Moab :( I had to rent a rear wheel because I broke my freehub body on Saturday and I quickly realized that I had almost no rear brake for this ride.

Oh well!

Thank you so much for inviting us Megan! We had an absolute blast!

-Kim

Moab Day 2 - Amasa Back

2008-11-23T07:50:00.001-08:00

-Kim

Moab Day 1 - Moto's

2008-11-23T07:40:00.000-08:00

-Kim

I'm such a dork

2008-11-19T13:36:00.000-08:00

So, I run up to the grocery store at lunch to pick up a few things for home, including a 12 pack of pop.

I self checkout and pay for everything and get outside and put the pop on my rack. I put bungee cords around the 12 pack and tighten them down when all of a sudden pop is spewing everywhere! I punctured one of the cans with the bungee cord hook :0

All I could do was get on my bike with pop spewing out behind me....how embarrassing.

Worse yet, I know have sticky coke all over my rear wheel & chain...good thing it's a singlespeed :)

-Kim

Riding my singlespeed

2008-11-17T08:48:00.000-08:00

Makes me homesick....all the fast, flowy trails in the woods....all the backwards night rides....all the short steep climbs....all the long widowmaker hills....all the hot humid days....

**sigh**

-Kim

The SSss Ride

2008-11-16T18:52:00.000-08:00

The singlespeed striped socks ride :)

The girls hit up Centennial Cone for a easy going ride on Sunday, it was crowded and super windy....hurricane force windy. We had to either ride a singlespeed, wear striped socks or both.

(from left: me, Cynthia, Tracy, Megan & Carrie)

I dusted of the pretty girl for the first time this year.

Megan got bloody....sssshhhh....don't tell her doctor she's riding her bike yet ;)

Tracy battled the wind and being sore from Crossfit

Cynthia rocked the green shirt & matching striped socks

Carrie was too far ahead of me to get any pictures of her :) And she nailed all the switchbacks, including the ones with waterbars!

More pics here

This week we're getting ready to head out to Moab for a 3 day weekend for some fun in the desert on our moto's and mountain bikes! And to celebrate Megan's 30th bday!

-Kim

Saturday Night Out

2008-11-16T18:46:00.000-08:00

With friends......

We hit up Tahona's and spent way too much money on food and drinks :)

(from left: Carey, Cynthia, Megan, Tracy, me & Dan)

(from left: Ryan & Craig)

-Kim

1st Snowy Commute

2008-11-14T08:51:00.000-08:00

Today we got a dusting of snow in the am, nothing that stuck to the roads but it did stick to the grass and dirt and WOOD BRIDGES.

I have 4 wood bridges that I have to cross on the bike path, there's one that super short but on a turn and that usually gets me sliding when it's wet or slick. This morning all the bridges were covered in a layer of snow and on the first one I was sliding totally sideways down it...almost got my bars caught up in the side rails. That'll get your heart pumping!

I've been riding the old commuter in, only until Dan puts a flat bar (instead of the bull horns) and some hardcased treaded tires on the new commuter. I have slicks on the old commuter so that's part of the sliding problem...hopefully with the new treaded tires I won't be slipin' and slidin' my way across the bridges anymore....that is until it gets really cold and they're icy. Luckily the city plows the paths before they plow the streets...weird but they do!

TGIF!

-Kim

Screaming at me

2008-11-12T08:25:00.000-08:00

My legs were screaming at me to STOP running this morning :( We ran up some steep stuff this morning and my legs wanted to be back in bed resting.

Guess I'm going to have to have a nice big steak tonight with a tall glass of beer to appease my legs....oh the sacrifices.

-Kim

Surprise!

2008-11-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

Dan told me he had a surprise for us when I got home last night and that I would enjoy...I was hoping for food or wine or a new windshield on the truck (which we need!)

I walked in the door and saw a new bike in the corner of the room, thought it was Dan's new fixie but he said no....and I got mad. I don't need anymore bikes, I'm trying to get rid of the bikes I don't ride anymore and I just got rid of my CX bike that I NEVER rode. He said it'll be a good winter commuter because we can put tires with tread on it, I said I could just ride my mountain bike to work on snowy days or my singlespeed for that matter....the bike paths are cleared before the roads. I love my Bianchi flat bar commuter, it's comfortable and ugly and I don't have to care about it. I HATE people spending money on me and surprising me with things like that, I don't deserve any of it....give me a bottle of wine or a cookie or a cute pair of socks and I'm the happiest girl in the world!

But as it sat there in the corner staring at me...I wanted to ride it, the color is so cool! So we put my pedals on it this morning and I rode it to work......and I love it! I was so excited to ride it this morning that I walked out the door without my helmet :(

It's a Redline 925 CX singlespeed commuter...maybe eventually we'll turn it into a fixie but for now I'll be switching over to this bike for my daily commute to work. The rack & panniers will fit nicely on it and the full wrap fenders will keep my behind clean and my teeth free of grit. I'm going to swap out the bull horn bars and put a flat bar on it and put some hardcased tires on it but that's probably it.

I'm sorry I got mad for the nice surprise. Next time, just pick me up a cheap bottle of wine ;)

-Kim

The play it by ear weekend

2008-11-09T17:40:00.000-08:00

I didn't feel like making plans for anything this weekend so we just played it by ear. Friday we me up with Jen & Jesper, Dave & Cynthia and Tracy for dinner and drinks at the Rio before Tracy met Jason for a showing of Seasons...needless to say Dan & I drank a little too much and stumbled and fumbled our way home and promptly passed out (I love the Agave Martini's and had 3 :0 and I think Dan had the maximum marg limit at 3 as well!)

We were able to sleep in a little on Saturday before heading out to do some long overdue errands. Tracy texted me while we were out that her and Jason were going to ride and wanted to know if we were able to go but there was no way we'd be able to make it...bummer:(

We were planning on riding Heil after our errands but by the time we got home, we really didn't feel like driving anywhere for a ride so we decided to go out for a long run. We left from our house, ran up the Sanitas Valley trail to the East Ridge trail that goes to the summit of the Sanitas Trail and ran down the Sanitas trail...awesome technical trail run that took us just under an hour! It's so amazing being able to run technical trails like this right from our doorstep.

After we cleaned up a bit we decided to go out to dinner rather than cooking because we were lazy...we walked down to the Hungry Toad for some steaks and meatloaf.....yummy! I got a call from Jen while we were eating inviting me on a ride they were doing tomorrow at Devil's Backbone, which was perfect because Dan had to work! Yay for friends that invite you on their rides :)

So Sunday morning I got up early to walk the dog and then headed out to meet Jen & Jesper for a day of riding. What an incredible day to be out! The weather was perfect, the riding partners were perfect and all in all it was an absolutely perfect day! Jen & Jesper were on their singlespeeds but I decided in morning that I wanted to be lazy and ride my geared bike....I'm glad I did because my legs were feeling it!

Jen & Jesper were killin' it on their singlespeeds!

We all even cleaned this ledge.

Jen cleaning it (photo credit Jesper)

Me cleaning it (photo credit Jesper)

Check out my cheeks (photo credit Jen)

Thanks guys for an awesome day on the bikes!

More pics here

-Kim

West Mag Lazy Sunday Ride

2008-11-02T20:06:00.000-08:00

Cynthia, Jason, Tracy & myself met at 10am to go ride this morning but upon everyone's arrival it was very clear that we were lacking motivation. We were supposed to drive out to Indian Creek (which is an hour away) and then ride for a few hours but no one wanted to commit to the drive or the ride and we wanted to watch the Pro men at the Boulder Cup CX race. So with a little debate and almost a coin toss we packed up Jason's truck with all of our gear and headed out to West Mag.

It was a good choice, the climbs weren't that tough and we didn't have to ride for very long to feel satisfied with at least getting out.

More pics here

We also made it down to the CX race just after the Pro men went off.

After that we hit the Southern Sun for some beers and food. A good cap off to an another great weekend spent with friends!

Next week we may even get the singlespeeds out for a ride :)

-Kim

Lefthand Canyon Moto Ride

2008-11-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

OMG! We rode some really really tough stuff today!

We hit up Lefthand Canyon today first with my co-worker Allen and then with Tracy & Jason. Unfortunately, Allen found out that his dog had gotten out and tried to follow him down from his house up Lee Hill Road and his wife Miranda was desperately trying to find her. She was waiting for us when we came back to the trailhead to meet Tracy & Jason. Needless to say, he left to go try and find his dog...hopefully they found her!

Back on the trail with Tracy & Jason, we made our way back to point where we turned around with Allen. It was a tough ride with steeps, loose rocks, ledges and tricky descents. I'm exhausted and sore and I ended up with my bike on top of me at one point and took many many crashes on the descents but I still had so much fun! I learned a lot and can't wait to get back there to try again and put what I learned into play. I'm so happy that I found my rear brake and was able to practice using it! Dan saw a bunch of singletrack that was open to dirt bikes and he can't wait to ride it....I think I may need a little more time before trying any tight singletrack :)

Here are the pics

-Kim

Avoiding the kiddies

2008-11-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

(photo credit Tracy) (from left: Cynthia, Tracy, myself & Megan)

We spent Halloween at our friend's Tracy & Jason's house avoiding the Boulder kiddies. Luckily she didn't have that many kids so we got to eat a lot of candy and drink lots 'o wine. The boys worked on Dan's moto and the girls gabbed....we ended the evening around the fire pit :)

(photo credit Tracy) (from left: Dave, Dan, Jason & Ryan)

What a wonderful evening!

-Kim

What's the best way to spend the day?

2008-10-26T22:14:00.000-07:00

With a bunch of girls riding a super techy trail in Colorado.

6 of us rode Golden Gate today and had an absolute blast, gabbing, whoopin' and hollerin'.

This was Megan's 1st ride back from a broken shoulder blade and she was on a new bike! She did amazingly awesome and she had a perma grin on her face the entire time :)

As usual, Jeny showing us all that's she's an absolutely amazing rider!

Me looking silly in my pink striped socks

Jen starting the fun descent

Tracy making the switchback look easy

A great end to an awesome day...beers & food & great conversation at the Southern Sun

Thanks Cynthia for organizing another awesome ride!

Many more pics here (I'm too tired to post anymore)

-Kim

Another fun day on the moto's

2008-10-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

Jason, Tracy & myself headed out to Camp Dick again while Dan went to Veloswap to sell all his stuff. It was super cold and windy when we started but after about a half an hour the blood started circulating again.

We just explored the area, taking one marked road until the end and then trying another one. Most of the roads in this area were pretty easy and it was good to just work on shifting. I wanted to try getting into 1st gear a little smoother than I did last weekend and I also wanted to work the rear brake and get the feel for where my foot needed to be to use it without looking.

We did find a pretty techy loop, 216 I think it was...and it was techy immediately with big rocks, steep climbs, large exposed tree roots...fun fun!

Tomorrow it's a girls ride! We're headed out to Golden Gate to play on the rocks with our mtn bikes.

More pics here

-Kim

Say Yay! To Old Pipes!

2008-10-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

Say YAY! to coming home from walking the dog to the entire house smelling like poop, say YAY! to using your nose to find the source and say YAY! to almost barfing when you find the source!

Our pipes got backed up again last night, this time it was the sewage pipes and our shower filled up with sewage and poop! Wonderful! We called our landlord around 6:30 and the plumber finally showed up around 8:45!

Wonderful! We had to sit on the couch waiting until then...no run, no ride, just sitting on the couch smelling poop!

Great way to spend the evening. I used an entire bottle of bleach to clean the shower last night.....

I would have taken pictures but I couldn't get that close to all that grossness....plumbers have the worst job! Guess that's why they make big bucks.

-Kim

2nd Day on the moto's - Middle St Vrain

2008-10-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, I could BARELY walk this morning my quads hurt so bad but I decided to head out for a quick run while Dan nursed his migrane, I'm glad I did because it loosened my legs up quite a bit. Dan was still hurting when I got home but decided to get up and move around to see if it made him feel better...good thing he did because we had to go to McGuckin's to see if they had a bolt that would fit my kick start, which I lost yesterday out on the trail somewhere. It was kinda funny because the bolt that we needed had a fine thread on it and the stuff out on the floor at McGuckin's just wasn't small enough, the lady told us to wait a minute while she checked a drawer in back and amazingly they had the bolt we needed....guess she had to look in their "junk drawer" to find it :) McGuckin's is amazing!

Anyway, Tracy & Jason met us at our house and we headed up. We got our gear on and headed out to the trail, which consisted of a rock garden at the beginning that we had to get thru...great! After a mellow twisty section we were hit with HUGE water crossings, huge rocks, small loose rocks, log crossings, snow and more water crossings! I had a minor melt down after I crashed off into the woods and I thought the trail was a little over my head but Tracy said that Jason told her to keep it in 1st and grip the bike with her legs while standing up. I agreed to go on further and took their advice...it totally worked! I was able to control the bike way better in 1st and gripping the bike with my legs while I was standing allowed me to control the bike better! Oh man, what a great feeling!

We got to the end of the road and rested a little bit, turned around and went back down. I was a little nervous because of the rock sections and huge water crossings at the end but it really wasn't all that bad and I found that on the descent, keeping the bike in 2nd gave me the speed Ineeded to get through the rocks a little better.

Me going thru a small water crossing on the descent

Dan going thru the big, deep water crossing at the end

Tracy going thru the same huge water crossing at the end

Jason making his was thru the same water crossing

Another amazing day on the dirt bikes! I'm super sore and I can barely walk but I can not wait to get back out there! Too bad we have VeloSwap to go to on Saturday and Dan has to work on Sunday :( Maybe I can get Tracy & Jason to go back out with me on Sunday ;)

More pics here

-Kim

First day on the moto's

2008-10-18T20:32:00.001-07:00

Today Tracy, Jason, Dan and myself FINALLY got to ride our new moto's and headed up to Caribou.

After some short instruction in the parking lot, we hit jeep roads. Now, I thought we'd just be riding up and down a dirt road but we actually rode jeep trails with rocks, roots, water crossing, descents and uphills! And we handled it no problem at all. We had our "oh shit" moments and we had our OMG we made it moments...it was the most fun I had in a long time.

We even got dirt and mud on the bikes ;)

We were resting before the final trek back, eating some bars and out of the blue, Dan said he was really really impressed with the way we were both riding, he was absolutely amazed that we picked it up so quickly. That was probably the best thing I could have heard and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. After our break and getting all cocky, I crashed into a tree :0

We finished up our ride and headed out to this place for some food and beers....and brought home a growler of their tasty IPA.

I'm sore and I can barely walk but we're headed back out again tomorrow...if I can walk in the morning I'm going to try and get a run in beforehand.

Almost forgot, when we were almost to the parking lot, Tracy saw 2 moose heading into the woods! We saw them just hanging out in the woods as were were riding by! Pretty darn cool....

More pics here

-Kim

Friday Hookey Ride

2008-10-18T08:42:00.001-07:00

Tracy was taking a half day off on Friday and put the word out to everyone that she wanted to do a ride in the afternoon, I've turned down a few offers in the past to do so with Cynthia but today I thought why the heck not...if I don't use the few days I have by the end of the year I'm gonna lose them.

We decided to ride Hall. I felt good but I haven't really been on the mountain bike in a few weeks and I was rusty.

Tracy on the rock face

Tracy on the tight switchback

Some friends also enjoying the perfect day

As usual, I left some skin on the rocks. For some reason, Hall is the place where I fall and leave my mark in blood.

After that, I cleaned up and Dan and I went down to The Foundry where Cynthia was shooting some pool. We watched her play a game and then convinced her to come get some food with us over at Juanita's. Yummy!

-Kim