Dead Dog - Day 1

The route doesn't look like much on a flat map, but the profile is a crusher with over 7700' of climbing, topping out at 10,900' at the summit. Add to it some really strong riders in the field and you have yourself a potentially difficult day in the saddle.



Plan A was to stay out of trouble and conserve energy early in the race. Unfortunately we kicked it over to Plan B pretty quickly. The unupdated Krughblog attacked early as he is getting a reputation for doing and quickly got a gap of over a minute on the field as there was little response. When Steve Forbes from Vitamin Cottage started out to bridge the gap, I got up to his wheel because I didn't think anything good was going to come of how slowly we were going, with nobody willing to keep the pace respectable. Brad Cole from Legacy Energy quickly (albeit awkwardly from what I hear) joined us and we started working smoothly to join Allen up the road.

We caught Allen just after Centennial (if you look at the profile on the map, that is the first bump at about 17 miles) and ditched Steve in the process which worked out quite nicely. That forced Jon Baker to the front of the group since VC was no longer represented in the move. After the chase ended back in the group our gap quickly got up to about five minutes. We kept our effort steady with Brad and I splitting most of the work, Allen still recovering from his early adventures.

About the time Baker got to the front, Kevin drifted back to find Blake Caldwell and Mike Creed. Timing can be everything in a bike race and Kevin hit it pretty much spot on. Blake attacked hard from about 15 riders back, Kevin, Creed and Ian Gray from Nebraska on his wheel. They got the gap and nobody else was able to respond. Meanwhile up the road, we were still keeping our steady pace heading towards the summit. The chase group caught up to us just before the summit so we were seven riders strong rolling down to the turnaround at Ryan Park. At the turn around the gap to the next group back seemed like it was only 2-3 minutes with Lachlan Morton of Real Aussie Kids trying to bridge the gap solo.

After the turn around, the pace remained civil and sustainable for me until Creed applied some pressure and the original three of us came unhitched. I spent forever in no mans land waiting for the chasers to catch me. That catch did not come until after about 10k of solo climbing. I stayed with Lachlan as long as possible before slipping off of his wheel and then watched the group with Baker, Andrew Barker, Porter and the Rio cadre, as well as the Legacy Energy bunch roll past. I unsuccessfully tried to hang onto Paul Esposti as he went by just before the summit of the second climb but spent some more time in the select company of my inner demons. I descended alone, rode the highway from Centennial back to Hwy 11 alone, died a thousand deaths, and finally tacked myself onto the back of the group Doug Manno was rolling in with.

I was done for the day, barely clinging on to this group, coming unhitched about 2k from the finish losing a minute and a half on the final climb to the finish. There's no shame in 20th place earned the hard way, especially when Kevin's group finished six minutes and change up the road, effectively ending the race for all but the top four. Tim cruised in at 34th, his work for the day done as well.

We vacated our trailer home faster than a tornado and headed into Laramie for some food and culture. We stopped off at the old train depot to verify results and TT start times.

Is it ok to put your kid in a harness with some sort of leash if the harness looks like a Curious George stuffed animal?

Dead Dog - The Road Trip

When it comes down to it, sunset in Wyoming looks a lot like sunrise in Colorado. Unfortunately despite impeccable planning for the trip, unforeseen obstacles had us rolling into Albany, WY a little behind schedule and without enough daylight to get in a quick ride before dining and sleeping.


We headed out from Kevin's house on time Friday afternoon, gassed up on the way out to I-25 and 2 minutes late, my A/C decided to die instantly. Instead of sweating for three hours on the way up to Laramie, we decided to turn it around and load up Tim's car instead. After that, the drive was uneventful, except for making a wrong turn on the way out to Albany. Highways 130 and 230 split . . . we wanted 130. We made it to Albany as it was getting dark, no worries, except . . .


I booked the Rose House at the Albany Lodge, thinking that was what we stayed in last year. Turns out we were in the Gregory Cabin last go round. I was a bit more charming and the Rose House was a bit more . . . doublewide.


That just means more space to spread out and get comfortable. It was also very, um, brown in there, from the paneling to the carpet to the curtains.

Call it what you will, I call it ambiance.


Tim did not let that stop him from enjoying a sumptuous meal of pasta with meat sauce and some bread, perfect fuel for an 86 mile road race with thousands of feet of climbing, altitude, and guaranteed crosswinds on the drag to the finish.


We woke up to a beautiful, but chilly morning and headed out for a quick spin to shake the drive out of our legs. It was a nice calm morning with nothing but blue skies and the promise of nothing but pure suffering on the horizon.


We hung out in "downtown" Albany waiting for the start of the race, taking in the sights, talking to the natives. They get a lot of snow up there and the road beyond Albany quickly becomes impassable unless extreme measures are taken.


I'm not sure what shop you go to for a set of tracks for you vehicle.

Changes

Despite housing market woes and economic forecasts predicting pain, every corner you turn in my neighborhood bring you to another scrape off redevelopment project. I walk past the corner of Pennsylvania and Florida just about every day and managed to miss the early signs of this one coming down.


Although this demo/excavation/utilities/foundation/flatwork/other contractor does have a reputation for showing up on short notice and getting the job done in a hurry. Sometimes that's good, sometimes it's bad. For example, when the GC hasn't finished pulling permits, starting the job is a bad thing.


Speaking of scrape offs, I looked up the listing for the duplex across the street from me. Compare if you will the construction shot to the architect's rendering:

I can only hope and pray that they don't really go for baby vomit green as the stucco color. Most of the prep is complete and the scratch coat of stucco should be going up in the next week or so, shortly followed by the color coat. The realtor also put up the full listing on the internet. I am going to have to do some sleuthing because the property is listed as a single family residence, "your urban oasis" in fact, but I'm pretty sure it is a duplex.

While we are on the subject of unique and interesting, can somebody explain this one to me? So far as I can tell, it is a statue of a burro/donkey/mule made of manure (this is my guess because the gallery next door is responsible for dung bunnies).


Does the statue really need the extra head attached to the hind quarters of the animal? What size garden is this feature capable of fertilizing?


There is more change on the horizon for neighborhood businesses. Seems Like Old Times has moved out of their space on the corner of Pearl and Florida, Maxine's Market and Twelfth House up the street have vacated as well. I will have to do some digging and see what the word on the street is about new occupants.

Stormy Weather

I seem to complain quite a bit these days when it comes to the afternoon weather and riding. Tuesday, I got blasted by whatever sand, gravel, small animals the wind could blow my way and then the rain started to fall. I remember it being perfectly lovely all day while I was at work, until it was time to go home. It might be time for a schedule adjustment. I doubt I can pull the creatures of the night routine that Kevin and Nico have going, but if I could switch my work schedule to 8:30 to 5:00 or even 9:00 to 5:30 . . . I could roll out the door at 5:00 AM, ride for three hours which gets me up Lookout or Deer Creek . . . I might have to test that one out.

If you think I am being soft or exaggerating the afternoon/early evening storms, I have backup. A set of pictures must be worth a set of 1000 words or something like that.


The picture is lifted from Kitt's Blog (also known as Blogs in the Hood I), if you click on the image it will take you to the slide show she put together. That's some nice work. It reminds me of the pictures I have somewhere when Jonathan and I set up the camera on the cooler at the beach many years back and took pictures of lightning over the ocean. Using super slow shutter speed can provide some entertaining results.

Registration for Dead Dog is closed, but a few more fast riders got on the list before the deadline. It should make for an entertaining weekend. I want to get a closer view of the artwork on the Rock Racing kit Mike Creed will be sporting. I suspect the sleeves of the HART kits of old, designed by Jef at Th'ink Tank are way cooler.

Quotable

Quite possibly the best cycling quote ever to be taken out of context . . .

"Cyclists are never truly happy whether they are professionals or amateurs."
- Francesco Zenere, Campagnolo Press Manager

This was part of the justification for going to an 11-speed setup for 2009, but it applies to just about any aspect of cycling. If you don't believe the above statement (especially out of context), just hang around a bike race sometime and ask loaded questions about prize payouts or results screw ups involving 34th place. For the truly jaded and disgruntled, go ahead and navigate here.

Since today is officially Bike to Work Day and the masses hit the bike paths and streets, I'm sure there will be plenty of complaining on the parts of seasoned bike path pros, drivers, occasional bicycle commuters, volunteers at the "aid" stations. Back in the day when there were bike paths involved on my way to work I used to avoid riding on Bike to Work Day at all costs. While I encourage people to get out and commute to work, it would be nice if people would do it more than once a year. This would not only improve general air quality and fitness, but also general skills when it comes to bike path riding.

I get yelled at on a regular basis for not calling out "on your left" when passing people on the bike path, but the last thing I want is for people to look left as I pass because many have the tendency to swerve the direction in which they look. The bike path can be a scary place on a regular day, Bike to Work day becomes horrifying. The same can be said when large packs of those who race (or "race") hit the path. I used to get very frustrated when team training rides would insist on heading out of town on the path. We can be just as frightening as the neo-commuter or the bikepath-a-lete.

If you don't work, you might consider volunteering on Bike to Work Day. It would probably be more rewarding than riding around to the day's "incentive" stops, poaching food from those it was intended for.

Madness and Galub Juman

Somebody cue "One Step Beyond" . . . I guess I can do that part.



Dempsey has no shortage of tennis balls to play with in the morning when we go to the courts for an old fashioned game of fetch. Sometimes we are lucky enough to find some spent tennis balls that somebody else left behind. Dempsey willingly and eagerly runs over to pick these up and get them in the game. On occasion, those balls are the very definition of "manky" at best. I give you the top ball in the image below as Exhibit A:


Knowing that Dempsey's mouth does not clean itself, I try to keep such munge out of his reach. He had other ideas and wasn't afraid to try to put them into action.


I eventually got him to play fetch with the balls he carefully selected from his bucket o' balls this morning. I'm sure his mouth will be thanking me all day.

I decided today would be the day to hit up the new spots in the neighborhood, so I left the house on the bike a little early and rode over to Pajama Baking Company for a loaf of bread. It did not disappoint! Between a few of us at work, the Ciabatta disappeared in a hurry. Since Deb was waiting around today for the moving truck to show up with her stuff from Atlanta, we hit newly opened India's Pearl for lunch. Their lunch special gave us a reasonable sampling of the menu, enough to tell that it is honest to goodness Indian food. For a mere $9.95 you get your choice of Tandoori Chicken or a veggie Samosa to start, the option of one (or more if you want small portions) of five entrees, Naan, and either Galub Juman or Kheer (I think that's what it was) for dessert. Next time I am there, I'll request that they spice the spicy dishes up a bit. Flavor was good but they were a touch mild for my wild and crazy palate.

Now that I am full of bread and Indian food, I think I am going to have to take an afternoon nap with Dempsey, I just hope his breath isn't too bad. By afternoon nap, I mean ride of course. That will be followed by a quick trip to Bistro One assuming I can get home from my ride in time for happy hour with some friends.

Riding with the Brenner

I decided that I didn't get enough climbing in on Saturday so I decided to head to the hills again Sunday morning for a long, leisurely cruiser of a ride with approximately 9300' of climbing over the course of 95 miles.

Fortunately, nobody was too motivated to get out too early so Matt and I rode west to meet Joey and Simon in the Morrison vicinity around 10:30 and kept heading up from there.



Simon had domestic duties and had to pick up the family unit at the airport later in the afternoon, so he turned down Witter Gulch to head back to his mountain home, but provided plenty of entertainment prior.


Matt turned back at this point having been suckered into going up Squaw Pass against his will. Despite the strange looking clouds hovering, Joey and I pressed on towards Echo Lake and the promise of snacks at the Safeway in Idaho Springs.


All in all it was a good ride, just what I needed heading into The Dead Dog Classic this coming weekend. The Brenner and I met up again Monday evening for some recovery laps around Wash Park. As per usual, he rolled up in a Porsche, but this time it was the 911 Carrera Cabriolet and yes you can fit a bike in the back seat, with the top down.


Recovery laps were followed with recovery food at Pasquini's. We stopped by India's Pearl which had the "now open" piece of paper on the door, picked up a menu, but opted for the sure thing since we were both pretty hungry post ride. I'll probably stop back in to do some tasting within the week.

Recovery food was followed by recovery ice cream at PBC. I put the Cinnamon-Caramel Swirl up there in the favorite flavors list. I did as much sampling as possible hitting the ice creams and the sorbets in the process of making an oh so difficult decision. Recovery ice cream was followed by recovery gluing a tubular, followed by recovery sleep. By the weekend, I should be fully recovered.

Racing

Racing bikes is hard . . . but the Rist Canyon Road Race went much better than I thought it would. I wasn't feeling so confident in my climbing after getting out last Wednesday and struggling up Deer Creek Canyon. With the added news that we'd be going over the dam out of the gate, I was pretty sure I would lose contact with the main group in the first five minutes of the race.

First we had to make it to the race on time. We cut down on the amount of morning travel required by taking Kevin up on his offer to spend the night at his place. We tricked Brian into coming over to build up Kevin's bike and hang out with us. We met up after work, got in a quick ride, ate some pasta, and watched Brian work his magic. The build went quickly because we just had to switch parts from the old bike to the new. All said and done, the bike weighed in at a whopping 14 lbs.

Even though we had a head start on driving up there, we still had to hit the road around 5:30 to leave ourselves enough time to get up there, get registered, and ready to race. Ah, nothing like sunrise viewed through a dirty window . . .


We were racing with most of the usual suspects. There were a few people out of town for Tour de Nez, but VC had three, Rio and Legacy had full squads since it was their "home" race, and there were a few guys from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory team. I made it over the dam, but it was a rude awakening since there really was no warm up to speak of prior. Shortly after the first of the climbs, Corey Carlson rolled of the front with nobody really giving chase. I figured it was a decent opportunity to go since there were so many Rio riders in the bunch. I knew they wouldn't be working so I might as well take any pressure off of Kevin. I bridged up and Dan Workman from Legacy Energy came with me, so now I was with riders from the two largest teams out there. We kept it pretty steady moving towards Rist Canyon, eventually building a gap of just over 1:30. I let Dan do most of the work knowing he is a stronger climber, I just tried to follow as long as possible in the hopes of getting over the climb before getting caught. He had a brief pause for mechanical issues so I kept riding, but eased up so he could get back to towing me up the hill.

He dropped me towards the top in the steeper sections and by that time, Kevin and the lead group had separated themselves. I hung on as long as possible but at the next switchbacks, our group split again and I found myself at the back of the second group going over the summit. Knowing the descent from last year's race, I knew not to touch the brakes even though you can't see all the way through the curves as you approach them. I hit 63.6 MPH on the way down, trading pulls with Saperstein despite our fierce competition in each race for "first Jew". By the time we got out of the canyon, there were about ten of us with a healthy contingent of Rio riders. Since they didn't have anybody in the first group, working was up to them meaning I had a free ride through the flats. As soon as we got back to Horsetooth and those guys had drifted back to the back of the group, the attack starting coming. I knew I wasn't likely to survive those and just kept my effort as steady as possible. Some got away from me and some came back. I reeled a couple guys back in on the approach to the finish for a solid 12th place finish.

Kevin took second on the day, finishing behind Lachlan Morton, but beating out Blake Caldwell from Slipstream-Garmin-Chipotle-H3O. He and Blake would duke it out again on Sunday in the hill climb. The two separated themselves from the bunch towards the top of the climb and Blake edged out Kevin at the line.

Lightweight

Got something new and exciting cooking up in the kitchen yesterday afternoon. With the right ingredients, temperatures, and a little luck you too can get your very own Ibis Silk SL . . . a credit card will help speed the process.


This is Kevin's frame for 2008, fresh out of the box from Ibis. I figured why not get it up on the scale now while I have the chance. There are a couple extra bits on the bike (seat post clamp, cable ferrules, etc) that bump up the weight a hair, but as you can see this is one light frame.


Weighing in at a whopping 936 grams, the Ibis is among the lightest of the lightweights, yet it is stiff where it should be and very responsive. My bike has stood up to the tests of Colorado races on dirt roads and the daily abuse my 180 lbs can dish out.

I will take any weight savings I can get for the next couple weekends. Tomorrow is the Rist Canyon Road Race which has some lovely climbs when enjoyed at a leisurely pace. Something tells me race pace won't provide the same amount of pleasure. This year we get to ride over the dam right out of the gate. That climb only shows up as a blip on the elevation profile, but I remember it causing significant damage in past races.



Full race report to follow, after I wake up from my nap tomorrow afternoon, why do we start at 7:30 in the morning . . .

Cookies!

I decided to get on my bakin' horse last night and bake some cookies in the brief bit of time after riding, but before sleeping. I'm a sucker for the Ginger Spice cookie at Whole Foods (side note, the worthless Wild Oats recently gone Whole Foods by my house is still using their own bakehouse and does not have these cookies yet) and decide to give it a whirl at home. I found a Ginger Spice Cookie recipe on Epicurious and fired up the oven. Since I didn't feel like making a trip to the store, I left out the chopped, crystallized ginger, plus the version at Whole Foods doesn't have any.


The dough was a little bit softer than I had anticipated, next batch, I will add a little more flour and refrigerate for more than an hour. I still struggle with "structure" in my cookies, they get some good loft in the baking process, but tend to flatten out significantly when they cool.


I'm not very good with my cookie spacing, fortunately it doesn't hurt the cookies too much. If one breaks in the separation process, I know how to take care of it.

Dempsey and I took a new route this morning on our walk. Looks like somebody in the neighborhood is solving multiple problems with a smart. What to do about that carport that is only big enough for 1.5 cars . . .


At an estimated 33/41 MPG in the city and on the highway, any little bit (really will the puns ever stop?) helps. Becca told me a few years back the smart cars in Switzerland had problems in the snow. The were so torquey and the wheelbase so short that they'd flip over backwards. I'll keep my eye out for that this winter with more of the vehicles on the roads in town as gas gets more expensive.

A couple quick footnotes on yesterday's post; I've never actually been to Allen & Son, field trip anyone? Thanks to The Virginian for the correction on Gordonsville. It just goes to show you can't trust everything you hear from professors at UVa.

More Food

Having a sign up only makes things more official. Details are still few and far between but I can only hope the place opens soon. There are some good Indian options in town (Little India's, India's, India House), but it never hurts having something in walking distance.


I still like the gold leaf paint accenting the building. It is a very different look than the deep red from Lola's tenure and hopefully they painted away the culinary stink of BB's.

Speaking of eats, Scott and I hit up Coleman's Soul Food up in Five Points yesterday at lunch time. This shot was lifted from back in the day when it was Ethel's House of Soul. The interior could be described as spartan if one were to be generous. Despite the favorable writeup in the Westword, I have to say I prefer Tom's Home Cookin' around the corner. I guess to be fair the two places are in different categories, Tom's is Southern food and Coleman's is Detroit Soul . . .


I am somewhat spoiled when it comes to Southern Food and fried chicken. Between having Catherine cook it at home when I was growing up, annual stops at Wilber's BBQ on the way to the beach, Mama Dip's in Chapel Hill, and the Toliver House Restaurant in historic Gordonsville, VA. Gordonsville is the self-proclaimed Fried Chicken Capitol of the Universe, but unfortunately a little digging tells me that the Toliver House changed ownership and no longer has the Sunday evening fried chicken special, in fact they no longer have fried chicken on the menu.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . . there are windows in the house across the street.


I predict a facade of 75% stucco, minimum.

Back Home

I think there is some sort of giant target on my front yard, calling to the public, begging for some form of abuse. Paving is complete, the road is smooth, a nice job all the way around . . . including taking out some branches of my street trees.


I got the dangling limbs off the tree and out of the way before leaving town on Friday. They were some big ones as you can see.


The front side of the tree looks a little bare now . . . I guess if I really cared, I'd file a claim with the City Forrester, have an arborist come out, and make sure the tree was healthy, happy, and ready to move on from the experience. I'll use the opportunity to practice my summer pruning (vs. dormant) to see if the information I have is correct. In theory, summer pruning should control the growth of the tree somewhat whereas dormant pruning will lead to an increase in new foliage come next spring.

Meanwhile, inside the house, in Dempsey's absence Lou decided to get a little taste of dog water.


I figured he'd be needy without human presense over the weekend, but I didn't think he'd get destructive. I came home to plants knocked off the window sill, pots broken and soil everywhere. The basil took a beating and I'm afraid one of the plants is a goner.

I mentioned something about cows cutting our road race short on Saturday, here's the proof.


A game of bike vs. bovine probably would not have worked in our favor.

Glenwoooooood . . . and New Castle

Another weekend down, another couple races in the bag. As expected, it was nice getting out of town for a little bit and looking at some new scenery. Glenwood Canyon was greener than I have ever seen it which made for a lovely drive down on Friday afternoon/evening. That stretch of I-70 really is one of the finer pieces of highway engineering out there with the tunnels, grade separation, and the way the highway was placed in the canyon.


The tunnels frame the views nicely as you pass through a rock outcropping, from one side to the other. I prefer the "low" road headed east because you are closer to the river and the other half of the highway is usually out of sight.


It reminds me of the show Top Gear and the episode where the hosts drove super-cars through the scenic passes in Europe, picking the Stelvio as their favorite.



Glenwood Canyon is not as winding and there aren't any severe drop offs, but you get the idea. Substitute a 2002 Passat for the vehicle and there you have it . . . We actually stayed in New Castle, about 10 miles past Glenwood Springs. Thanks to Kevin's in-laws, we had some great host housing, much better than trying to cram into a hotel. The town of New Castle is a bedroom community with most of the residents working either in Glenwood Springs or out on the Western Slope where natural gas deposits have created a plethora of new jobs. Here's a view of the main drag in New Castle, but the majority of new housing is on the south side of the ridge where there are a couple of new neighborhoods, a new golf course, and a couple of schools.


Walking down Main St. was pretty amusing as the town has a lot of diversity. Brian's friend Harry is a 10 year resident and has plenty of stories to tell from his time in town. Unfortunately I didn't catch a picture of it, but the VW Cabriolet on an old Bronco chassis summed things up pretty well.

Racing went reasonably well and again, it was nice having some new scenery with a course that none of us had seen before. The course was rolling with only one significant climb just before the turn around. It followed the river which probably kept it from being absurdly hot out there and made for some nice views when you had the chance to look around. Once we got done with the neutral roll out, the attacks came fast and furious. The early break got off just before the first turn around at Gypsum and the three biggest team were represented with a VC, Rio, and Legacy Energy rider in the mix. That meant there were a lot of guys sitting around with no reason to work to keep the break in check. I didn't really want to put in the effort knowing there was a 10% hill somewhere out there and a lot of miles still to be covered, but sometimes it has to be done. I spent a good portion of the first half of the race on or near the front keeping tempo so the break wouldn't get too far up the road.

We actually caught them just before the climb where the race started to come apart. Some gaps opened on the climb, but thanks to some cows roaming in free range territory on the course, the turn around was shortly after the climb. I was in a group with a few riders trying to claw our way back to the front after the turn around and thanks to gravity caught back on midway down the hill we had just come up. Nobody was very interested in keeping the pace high and despite a few attacks here and there, within about 10k or so just about everybody was back together. At that point Kevin and a few others separated themselves from the group and again most of the larger teams were represented with Vitamin Cottage being the exception. They got to the front and started rotating, but didn't have much success at pulling the break back. For the rest of the race, Tim and I took turns covering anybody who tried to scoot up the road, trying to take advantage of the fact that we had a teammate in the break and had zero obligation to do any work. Having been on the wrong side of the mix in the past with VC, it was somewhat satisfying watching them try to get others to pull through with no real luck. Kevin took 3rd on the day, I was 16th and Tim was 24th. I was satisfied with my result and the amount of work I was able to put in early on in the race to keep it under control and enable one of us to get up the road when it mattered.

The crit was a different story and it is back to the drawing board yet again for me. I need to work on my riding in the more technical crits so I don't just ride myself off the back by being overly tentative in the corners. Tim put in some big efforts to try and pull the break back about midway through the race, but as the numbers got smaller and smaller, the race shattered and it got hard to keep track of who was where. Kevin got clear of the remains of the race and spent the majority of his day towing around a Legacy Energy rider who had two teammates up the road. Results have not been posted yet, but we had a pretty good showing for the weekend.

The trip back was uneventful, traffic minimal, and the house was still standing when I got back . . . can't ask for much more.

Hard Times

The news is full of economic doom and gloom, even more so than usual, but when it hits you in the pint glass, it's really time to start worrying. The WSJ ran an article about a week ago highlighting the growing trend in restaurants shrinking beverage size. I can only hope we will someday go to the European system where all glassware has standard measurements and has to be government approved. When I order a pint, I want a pint!

In other alcohol news, it looks like Anheuser-Busch is possibly looking to pick up an even greater share of Mexican Grupo Modelo in efforts to make acquisition by InBev impossible due to cost. InBev proffered an unsolicited $46 billion bid for one of the largest producers of watery swill in the US. Hmmm . . . a beer company with Belgian roots and Brazilian flair, I'll keep my fingers crossed. If the end result could even remotely possibly be Stella Artois at Budweiser prices I think everybody wins!

The team is headed up to Glenwood Springs for the weekend for some racing. We are graciously being hosted by Kevin's in-laws. Staying in a real house is much better than a hotel room. Being able to keep bikes outside of the same room as three to four cyclists is a huge advantage as gear has an amazing ability to rapidly take over all available space.

Dempsey is going to Camp Kendall for the weekend to hang out and live it up suburban style. I think both he and Brian will enjoy each other's company as they have in the past. How can you not love this adorable, little furball, hound of hell?


Just for reference, here's what Dempsey likes to do best in the morning and evening before meal time.


He has actually be getting a little more focused for his games of fetch in the morning as opposed to chasing the ball and then wandering around for five minutes. I'd say he's only a few weeks from being tennis ball obsessed.

Asphalt

Let the repaving begin! Yesterday morning I saw the paving "train" heading north on Lincoln Street from a few blocks down. Quite the operation they have with multiple dump trucks cycling through to dump asphalt piles for the machine to heat and spread before the roller makes it all flat and smooth.


The operation spans about a quarter of the length of the block, the part in the picture is the heating element I think and it sits somewhere in the middle.


Evidently this part spreads and flattens the heated asphalt.


The final product is pretty sweet looking for all sorts of playing in the street . . . street hockey anyone? If you want to get a game going you will be able to find me riding in endless circles on new asphalt, that is if they get done with the two remaining passes to complete the surface.


Evidently I (or somebody) has angered the wind gods, take your pick of mythologies. Just to be safe, there will be a ritual sacrifice of some sort every day of the week from here on out until the winds cooperate! Who doesn't love a burnt offering of toast, beef, lamb, chicken, grilled vegetables?


I guess for simplicity sake, I'll just go with the Greek Mythology and hit up Astraeus and his four sons. Astraeus took the easy way out, had some kids and pimped out his responsibilities to his four sons, a different wind direction for each. I think as of late there has been some serious collusion between the four of them as the wind has been coming from everywhere.

Overgrown

The view out the kitchen window has changed dramatically over the past few years. Back in the day, I had an unwanted view of the neighbor's bathroom window. That changed when I did the landscaping in the front and side yards and planted what was a non fruit bearing plum tree. As you can see in the picture, there is fruit on that there tree. The weight of the fruit accentuates the need to prune the tree, or at least pluck some of the fruit, as the upper branches are drooping dangerously close to the window. Any pruning or thinning experts out there want to help?


Fortunately the wind seems to have died down a little bit today, but I'm getting tired of riding around in what seems to be a constant headwind regardless of which direction I ride . . . even if I flip a U-turn in my route, the wind follow suit. Yeah, yeah, it is good training riding in a head and/or crosswind, more resistance and whatnot, but it wears on me mentally.

We are headed up to Glenwood Springs for a new race this weekend. The Western Slope Omnium features a never before seen road race and a crit in downtown Glenwood Springs. It will be nice to have a change of scenery and get out of town for the weekend.

Commuting

After my second ride into work on the new commuter, I have been able to compile some statistics. The trip one way is 1.3 miles and takes 5-6 minutes by bicycle depending on traffic. This means that over the course of a year (assume 200 working days) I save $104 that I would have been spending on gas. I don't even know what the figures are these days for vehicle wear and tear, but I save on that too.

The cost to get the commuter up and running was pretty minimal. The only things it really needed were a new bottom bracket (not the easiest finding a square taper spindle, cartridge style, with Italian threading) and a chain. I put on new bar tape, the cushy gel stuff and have created quite the wish list for future commuting needs. If you want to buy me a gift, you can select from the following . . .

Riding around on the old Look pedals isn't really the best way to go. The potential for having a foot slip off would be greatly minimized by these pedals from Crank Brothers.


When the weather gets ugly, I'll still probably ride the 1.3 miles back and forth to work, but keeping the water and road grime from spraying in my face and up my back would be ideal. Some sweet fenders like these would do the trick.


Eventually, I'd like to build a front wheel with an internal dynamo in the front hub so I could have some light for safety at night. Sure there are battery operated options, but I'm trying to keep my carbon footprint to a minimum.


If you need to know where to send any of this stuff, let me know. I'll make sure it is as easy as possible for you to get these items in my hands and on the bike. For the time being, I'll keep riding the bike as is. I might have a line on a replacement freewheel already which is somewhat incredible. One of my teammates said he has an old, new 7-speed freewheel at home. If the spacing is right and the threading is English . . . it might just work.

Biscuit Brunch

I had the opportunity to race the Mike Horgan Hill Climb yesterday, the Sugarloaf edition which I have never done. I still have not . . . I decided it would be better to sleep in a little and have a biscuit brunch with Cory, Dana, Matt, Sara, Marla, Mike, and Deb instead.

I started the morning off with my morning cup of coffee a half batch of standard buttermilk biscuits which rise oh so nicely in the oven. People started to show up right as biscuits were coming out of the oven, good timing!


In the spirit of experimentation, I made whatever we could come up with and whatever we had ingredients for. Below are the blueberry biscuits that were attempted. Flavor was good, but the moisture of the blueberries and the weight of the sugar wrecked havoc on the structure of the biscuits. In the future, I'll try smaller blueberries, more flour, and more of a lump shape instead of trying to cut out the usual biscuit round. These got glazed with a basic milk and confectioner sugar glaze which made them a little extra gooey and sweet. In the future, I'd consider topping them with some turbinado sugar prior to baking.


There was a batch of cheddar, jalapeño, and cilantro that went over quite well. The addition of cilantro was Cory's genius idea and I have to say it was a good one.


We tried a sour cream and chive biscuit which came out pretty well, but I could have been a lot heavier with the chive. There was also a garlic and parmesan biscuit that came out of the oven towards the end of the brunch. It smelled incredible while baking and tasted even better. Very few of the biscuits required toppings, but the jam, butter and Nutella were on hand just in case.

As the afternoon winds picked up, Cory and I hit the road for a quick spin out to and up Lookout. My legs felt nice and crispy from the day before. On the return trip, we cut through downtown, taking advantage of people watching opportunity at the Peoples' Fair . . . wow is all I can say.