MS150 bike ride

Saturday and Sunday rode about 150 miles.

Both days were great.

Day 1:
The first day I woke to my alarm at 3:15am so I could pick up Jeff Elfeldt at 4:30am so we could be there at 5:AM! We made it there, and met Tony Schoenberger. Once we got all registered with our packets, clued in, slathered with Sunscreen we headed up the road.

I was pretty excited and took off shortly after we got started, passed up the first few rest stops and finally saw my team mates at the lunch stop.

I saw Dave Verdun who I worked with at Advance Geophysical and we sat for lunch and talked for quite a while about the oilfield. Lot's going on.

My team mates decided not to let me get ahead again so they apparently left without me. I wasn't without company though, and the rest of the ride was full of riding with different people up Horsetooth Reservoir and into Ft. Collins.

Once I got into Ft Collins, I hooked up with my team and we all hung out in the Comcast tent, took pictures, got a masage, and spent time in the beer garden.

I finally left about 4:30 and rode to my friends Brian and Stacy, where I had dinner and met their little boy Levi and Brian's parents who were visiting. I gave Levi a book and some Rocket Balloons, which were a big hit.

After dinner, I showered and slept like a rock.


Day 2:

I slept in and got a late start Sunday morning and didn't get on the road till about 7:45am, so I missed my teammates on there way out. I had to ride 4 miles in the opposite direction as everyone on my way from Brian and Stacy's house. I knew a few people who gave me funny looks as I rode by in the wrong direction.

It was another great day, and I took my time. I actually stopped at every rest stop to hang out. At lunch I talked to a guy about the triple bypass.

I finished the ride, ate dinner and headed home. All my teammates were already done, so no team hug.

It was a great couple of days and I hope to do it again next year.

Wednesday Morning Deer Creek mtb, afternoon Deer Creek road.

Wednesday morning I did the usual crazy early mt bike ride, again at Deer Creek. I got there about 5:45AM and Don Sims showed up a few minutes later. We were able to get on the trail by 6:05pm.

We rode up to Red Mesa, did one CW loop and then rode down and did a CC loop around Plymouth Mt.

I thought that since Don works at the CMC, and had a bike rack on his car, and I wanted to do a road ride up Deer Creek that evening, I'd just put my bike on his rack and ride to work with him. He was ok with that, and we rigged up and took off.

After work, I got on the road bike and biked the 30 miles back to Deer Creek and up the canyon to Highgrade. I decided not to climb to the top because my bike needed some mechanical work and I wanted to get it to the shop before they closed. I made it there and they fixed it.

Ready for the MS150

Saturday bike ride with kids to Cherry Creek Reservoir

Most of the morning the kids laz'd around the house, but at one point were invited over to the neighbors house to play. I went over to thank the neighbors and see what the kids were up to and they were happily drawing and Aidan was writing in his journal.

I stayed at home and put new tires on my road bike and re-taped the handlebars. It will probably need re-taping again soon though.

When I went over to see what the kids were up to next door, they were laz'ing there watching Sponge Bob so I decided we needed to go to the beach.

We rounded up all the stuff and snacks we needed and I put it into the bike trailer. I strapped the super cool folding beach chair onto the bike trailer, Aidan found his helmet, Luka climbed in the trailer and we headed out.

It was a kind of longish bike ride, but Aidan managed to climb up all the hills!! He wanted to stop to rest a few times and I was fine with that, and proud of how hard he tried to climb. Later I thought about how we weighs only a bit more than his bike weighs, so it's got to be a big effort.

When we stopped to rest we checked on Luka who was unusually quiet. He was asleep for most of the trip.

After the 5 mile bike ride we were at the beach. We found a good parking place for our bikes and the trailer and the kids went right for the water. I got out the cool beach chair I'd strapped to the trailer and set up right on the water.

I got out the sunscreen and called the kids to slather them up. Since each have recent buzz cut hairdo's, I was glad to find that I had two bandannas with me, and I tied one on each of the kid's heads, Aunt Jamima style. They looked so cute, especially Luka, with them and I was glad that they'd be protected from the sun.

They played and splashed, and Aidan seems to have overcome his fear of getting his face wet. He was actually swimming underwater and having fun grabbing my leg when I went out to cool off in the water.

We played frisbee a bit but there were too many people and we didn't want to hit anyone. Aidan is getting pretty good at his aim now so we'll have to have some disc sessions soon.

We stayed a long time and then when I saw it was 5:PM decided we needed to pack up and head back home. Aidan was pretty un-psyched about the ride home, but he toughed it out.

I decided to take a detour and head to some friends house near ours who were having a bbq. They have a trampoline and a backyard pool so once we got there, the kids were psyched again. They jumped in the tramp, and played in the pool, and we ate hot dogs. I rode the bikes home and got the car to drive us all home.

We all fell asleep together on the couch watching Tom and Jerry.

Friday evening Solstice bike ride with the kids

Happy Solstice!

After bike commuting to the Village (kids daycare) from work, I put both kids in the bicycle trailer home via Cherry Creek Reservoir. (11 miles. see pic) Aidan wanted to stop at the res beach so we did. What a great idea!! he and Luka and I all played in the water.

They really wanted to swim in the water but neither had swim suits. It was already 6:30pm and there weren't many people on the beach so I let them take off their pants and get into the water. Eventually they took off their shirts too, but were in the water up to their necks the whole time. They liked playing in the waves when a boat would go by. Luka had a great time doing everything his big brother did.

It started getting windy and kinda stormy so we rode home. Windy! Rode into the wind for quite a while, but then turned with the wind and hauled a__!

Got home and we made pizza and all fell asleep on the couch watching Tom and Jerry. Tomorrow we want to go hiking and then come back to the beach!

Friday Morning Summer Solstice Bike Commute 6-20-2008

Happy Solstice!
Pulled both kids in the trailer from our house to the Village: 5.45 miles 10.4 mph avg 31:31 mins 289 cal
Rode Village to CMC via new route (see map)
6.67 miles 30:31mins 13.1avg 416cal

Beautiful morning. Got the kids up and ready before 7:AM and we were on the road at 7:01am.

Got to work before 8:30am and did a short worked out in the gym before showering for work.
Situps 100
Pushups 35
Dumbell full body thang
Lat pulldowns

Wednesday Morning Mt Falcon ride report

Nice, warm, no wind in the parking lot. I got tires on trail by about 6:15am. There was only one other guy there with his dog (who I nearly accidentally ran over at one point)

I rode (grunted) to the Gazebo, took in the view and did a few pushups and situps. Then I did a fast CCW loop around Parmalee Trail.




Mt Falcon isn't really technically tricky, but I still managed to spin out the rear tire and wash out the front one a couple times early on. I also had to stop to rest and catch my breath a few times, which tells me about the kind of shape I'm in.

Parmalee Trail





Overall, the trail is in good shape, which is more than I can say for the biker.

Wednesday Morning Deer Creek Ride Report

Awesome morning. Perfect temperature, no traffic on the road or the trail. I managed to get to the Deer Creek trailhead just before 6:AM and had tires on trails by about 6:05. There were a couple cars on the lot, but I saw only a couple other people on the trail (actually already coming down at 6:05am!)

I rode up the main trail all the way and did two fast CW loops around the Red Mesa loop. Before going all the way down I did a CCW loop on Plymouth Mt. trail. The view from Plymouth Mt was unbelievable.


The lower part main trail is as gnarly as ever and has some really tricky sections. The "Deer Creek Wall" is as demoralizing as ever and I spun out early, which is a good thing since my chest probably would have exploded otherwise.



Since Deer Creek is so close to the CMC, and since it's such a great ride, I may do it again next week.


Vitals: TOT 6:09am
Miles: 11.46 miles
Vert: 1400 vert gain
Time: 1:50
Miles from home to parking lot: 26
Miles from parking lot to work: 15
course link:
http://coach.summitbid.com/course/show/37


Rode up to Red Mesa loop and did two CW laps. Rode Plymouth Mt CCW and down.

Made it to work by 8:50am