Cord

I pulled the cord out of the bag to put some pictures to the words. Yes, it did snow in Denver, a lot.


It wasn't snowing in LA at all, shocker. Greg and I took advantage of our free time at the airport and stood in a sunny parking lot before heading to our terminal to wait some more.


We have some luxury accommodations in Invercargill and it turns out that one of the sponsors has a restaurant that is providing food on a daily basis. It really isn't too rough.


Everybody was on a bike today and we rode to Bluff to check out the hill at the end of stage two. The profile online really doesn't do the climb justice. I forgot that I had an 11-23 on the wheels I was riding which made the hill more of a crusher. I'm looking forward to doing it with the correct gearing instead. I will be losing time, I can guarantee that, but my teammates should be in good shape if we can get them to the bottom of the hill safely after the 2,000 intermediate sprints.


This morning was not very windy at all as we headed out of town and south towards the town of Bluff. Apparently the southernmost McDonalds in the world is in Bluff, we didn't go check it out though.


This is the view from the top of the hill in Bluff. We start at pretty much dead sea level and head up to a bunch of feet above sea level (I think it is approx. 970'). We rode back to Invercargill and did a quick lap of the TTT course before getting back to the hotel for lunch. I'll have a full report when we get to racing tomorrow.

Bike Location

The latest word is that our bikes got put on a plane to Dunedin. From there they are being trucked to Invercargill. Unfortunately the airport is closing for the day and the truck is dropping them there. Apparently the owner of our motel knows truck drivers and is trying to intercept . . .

In the meantime, we are trying on the new clothing. There is one clothing manufacturer in New Zealand, Ultimo. It seems to fit decently and the kit looks pretty sharp. There are tour sponsored shorts that we are supposed to wear unless they don't fit and we get a medical exemption. I'll start taking pictures at some point, but for right now, I am too lazy to get the cord for the phone to download them.

Whoa

News flash . . . it is Saturday in NZ. I'd wear my Halloween costume, but it is in my bike bag.

Another Country

I added a new stamp to the passport and I'm pretty sure the toilets flush backwards, but I haven't checked.

Everybody is in Invercargill but we don't have bikes because a) Stefan's bike didn't make the connection from Austin to LAX b) the plane from Christchurch was too small to fit all the bikes that were supposed to come along. Supposedly they will show up later this afternoon. We have today and tomorrow to get adjusted and stuff. Tonight, we are going out with the kind folks from Jackson Plumbing for some welcome to town drinks.

With one internet connection between six of us, I'll be able to get on every once in a while for updates if I have the energy. Now where is that bike . . .

Step 2

We actually made it out of Denver after an hour and change of sitting, de-icing, etc. LA is much warmer and sunnier. We are waiting on the rest of the teammates, but we aren't sure if Kevin made out or not. Once we get on the next flight, we are trapped for the next 13 hours. Thank goodness for exit row seating, hope for good in flight entertainment.

Step 1

We made away from the house and to the airport with minimal hassle despite the snow. The bikes were checked and we got gouged by United as expected, but there will be some protest on that one since their code share partner Air New Zealand doesn't charge. The ticket agent told us we couldn't walk the bags to the TSA, but the sky cap walked us down and the bag inspectors were quite friendly and scanned the bags without opening them ... bonanza! That's half the battle I reckon we'll see what the bags look like after a full day of travel.

Stupid Snow

The delays have started at DIA and the flight we were originally on just got canceled. Fortunately we moved to an earlier flight to give ourselves more options for getting out. Unfortunately we didn't go for the 8:00 option, giving us more outs.

Yup . . .

I'm pretty sure I am all packed and ready to go on the New Zealand adventure. Hopefully changing to an earlier flight will help us avoid any issues getting to LA and connecting to our Air New Zealand itinerary. With any luck, my over stuffed bike case won't be destroyed in the process of getting most of the way around the world, but it is airline service we are talking about. For sure, the weather at the bottom of the world is better than it is in Denver right now. I'm off, I might be able to blog from the airport and maybe even from NZ. If not, just remember I will be watching toilets flush backwards. Think about it . . .

Shiny

The coffee equipment is all starting to come together nicely. Nothing like a giant stack of pizza boxes to dwarf some sizable equipment. I can't wait to get back to town after racing and start getting things all set up, but having the ability to brew 22 1.5 gallon batches of coffee an hour is astounding.


I got the panels back from the powder coater yesterday as well and got a chance to finish cleaning the Rancilio before putting it all back together.


This picture really doesn't do any justice, but the red came out very nice and the machine looks sharp and ready for work. There are a couple parts and pieces I will need to track down eventually and it will be important to have a parts kit ready just in case once I am open for business.


I have gotten used to the electronic dosing controls on the machine and I have to say it makes it easier to dial in the grind when changing beans or adjusting for weather conditions (it has to be done, I swear). I am heading over to the shop tomorrow to meet with the roaster I selected for my coffee. They have plenty of experience setting up and operating coffee shops so I want to get their input on equipment placement before getting an electrician in to wire everything. That just about puts a wrap on the business side of things for now. I get to focus on racing for the next week and change, followed by some time on the beach doing nothing. Then it is back to work for real.

Delivered

I got a call this morning from Midwest Motor Express at about 8:00 saying my freight would be delivered between 10:00 and 11:30 so I headed over to the location. I spent a little while taking more measurements and figuring out what fittings I would need for the water filtration system. When the clock turned 10:01, I heard a truck out front. I was shocked that the freight company hit the first part of the delivery window as opposed to the last five minutes.

The used coffee brewer seems to have arrived without damage. There are some signs of wear and tear from it's previous life, but nothing too terrible. There are plenty of ways to cover up some of the superficial stuff and brand the machine with the Rise & Shine logo when it is done. I put in a call to a graphic designer I worked with ages and careers ago to see if she would be interested in helping me out. Melissa at Studio Harris does great work and I have no problem giving her bits of guidance and thoughts before stepping back and letting her do her thing. I have a few other business related items I want to take care of before getting out of town, but for the next few days, I will be putting things on hold to focus on the next task at hand.

I stopped by Mike's house for a fitness test prior to heading to Tour of Southland. It will be interesting to see where my fitness is when I get done racing for six days in a row (followed by a few days sitting on the beach). I will likely be much more fit than any Novembers past. I am definitely ready to race now and I will likely be adjusting and racing into form over the first couple stages. Maybe I should start packing or something.

Estimated Schmestimated

I was diligently watching the delivery schedule on my freight shipment coming from Milwaukee. The website said the estimated delivery was Friday, October 23 and I knew my window was 7:00 - 11:00, but what I did not know was that estimated delivery doesn't mean squat in the freight world unless you pay for a guarantee on it. My waiting on Friday morning was for naught, although Mike and I did manage to move things around the shop and create some more space/openness in the cafe.

Friday was also supposed to be the delivery date on the powder coated panels, but there was an issue with one of the trim pieces so they wanted to strip and re-coat it. I suppose that's better than delivering a crappy product. I can't wait to get it back and get some pictures taken. I will likely list the Astoria for sale to see if I get any nibbles.

The time to get ready to leave town has snuck up on me somewhat. I leave for New Zealand in less than a week now and I still have to pack and pull together some last items. I think I figured how to get all of the bike stuff into a case, including two wheelsets . . . we'll see if that works out tomorrow.

Yesterday, Deb and I had the low country boil party at her house. The totals for food were relatively astounding. We had 16 lbs of shrimp, 15 lbs of potato, 18 ears of corn, and 7 lbs of sausage. It would not have been a problem if we had a few more pounds of sausage or some more corn since those disappeared pretty damn quickly. The weather held out for the party and it wasn't too windy to make use of the fire pit out back at Deb's house. In the wake of the carnage, we were only left with a couple pounds of shrimp and a good quantity of beer and good beer at that. I made use of the leftover shrimp tonight, making a shrimp and grits concoction. The grits were pretty standard cheddar grits, but the shrimp had red onion, green chili, garlic, wilted spinach and a white wine sauce. When I stop riding after Tour of Southland, it will be trouble.

I forgot to wander around with the camera during the party, but here's the shrimp waiting for their bath.


Potatoes a' plenty . . .


Seven pounds of sausage, minus a couple pieces that Dempsey safety tested for me . . .


Corn season is pretty much over, but we managed to scrounge up a few good ears . . .


I made two kinds of cornbread, cheddar and cheddar/green chili. We had to do some safety testing on those too.


What's a party without rice krispie type cereal treats?


Today the snow was back so I was relegated to other activities like couch surfing and some gutter cleaning for Melisa. I hope it is warmer in NZ, but there is a good chance it won't be.

Still Busy

I haven't slowed down much at all lately to have enough time to put together a good post. On Friday, I mastered interstate Craigslist commerce, taking it to a new level. I think I have a problem . . .

I knew I needed equipment for brewed coffee and kicked a variety of ideas back and forth, weighing the pros and cons, debating capacity and demand, glitz and frugality. There are a number of schools of thought on coffee brewing equipment. One school says Bunn makes fine airpot brewers, they aren't pretty, but they get the job done. One school says that Fetco is the way to go. Their brewers are more high tech, more adjustable, better to look at, and more expensive. The third school says, don't get Bloomfield unless you want your cafe to burn down in the middle of the night, even if the equipment is unplugged. I decided to go the Fetco route and got to shopping. My discovery of CraigLook and CrazedList was a bad, bad thing. Both allow you to search the entire craigslist network with ease.

I found a Fetco GR-2.2 grinder in North Chicago for a song and a dance. They retail for about $1600 new and are supposed to grind quickly and efficiently for coffee brewing with two separate hoppers with two dose settings each, small batch and full batch. My interstate transaction is being completed by Melisa who moved to Evanston a little while back. How convenient . . . otherwise, I'd have to come up with a way to do the money transfer/shipping that would work for both buyer and seller, not an easy task. In exchange for her services (which may net her a new hairstylist), I will be cleaning the gutters at her rental house in Denver.

I also tracked down a Fetco CBS-2052 which includes two Luxus LD-15 thermal dispensers, in Milwaukee, WI. Fortunately the seller was an office furniture dealership that no only takes credit card, but was also willing to ship to me, with me covering the freight charges obviously. I now have a freight account if I ever need it for business purposes of course.


This pallet is on a truck and on the way to Denver. It was another bargain and there is no way I would have been able to purchase the equipment new to get the business started. Give the price I paid, I anticipate there will be some work to clean the brewer, dispensers, and grinder before I can put them to use in the shop.


I have been meeting with my team of high powered consultants on a regular basis. On Tuesday, I met with friends with both design and restaurant experience over at the new space and got their input which was very helpful. I had no real concepts yet of how throughput would work and how the kitchen and coffee area would flow. I also had no idea of some of the requirements and process for getting food from raw state to cooked. One of the items that got added to the list was an ice maker to keep the in-counter refrigerator well extra cold and presentable and to keep "dangerous" foods like raw egg at the proper temperature until they hit the pan. Craigslist netted this one:


It isn't the fanciest or the best rated, but for $60 for an under counter unit that has never been used, as long as it works, I win. I found a great way to finance all of this without having to take out major loans. While visiting Joey at Stevinson Imports today, I was treated to a ride in a Bentley Flying Spur (or Sperm if you are Izzie). Question of the day is, how much change is there in the average Bentley's ash tray?


Joey's guess of $7 was pretty good based on his sideways glance from the driver seat, it was $7.06. Through all of this, I have still found time to get my rides in. I made the mistake of going out West on Sunday to check out the cross race.


The picture doesn't accurately capture the white caps on the pond along the Ralston Creek path. Our best guess at wind speed was approximately 43 MPH sustained. Riding west was bad, sailing east was easy.

Busy Day

Yesterday was a lovely day to get out on the bike and let Kevin throttle me. We did the standard ride from his house out to Boulder and up Flagstaff, he doing his intervals, me doing mine. Despite the early hour of departure, it was surprisingly warm thanks to the 90 degree/90 MPH wind coming from the north. As usual, there is no question about Kevin's state of fitness and preparedness for Southland. I am looking forward to being teammates with him again for the six days of racing.

After leaving Kevin's, it was off to Boulder for a variety of errands and social visits. I kidnapped Brian from work for a little while and then dumped him on a street corner to find his way back. Brian was kine enough to fix one of my front wheels that blew a spoke a while back. Too bad I forgot to remind him to remind me about the bar tape I had for him in my bag. I'm never going up to Boulder again, so tough luck for Brian. I visited with the Coyle family and talked racing and such with Chuck. I picked up one of his sealant kits to take with me to NZ since I plan on riding tubies. Hopefully we don't get raided by WADA, I don't want to have to explain that I'm not shooting sealant into my veins, just my tires. I got the needle option on the kit since I have the crappy valve extenders that leave the valve core inaccessible which is a general pain in the arse. I also broke into the Davies flop pad to pick up his blown out wheels from a few months back so we can see if Shimano will warranty them. A nipple pulled through the carbon rim leading to the self destruction of the wheel.

I also paid a visit to the former site of Buzz Cafe in Louisville to pick up the remaining parts of the Rancilio Z11, portafilters, legs, drip trays, etc. They came with a bonus:


An Astoria Argenta AEP-2 in Winchester Gray . . . probably all scaled to hell and short a few parts, but it is a parts goldmine for the soon to be International Red Argenta AEP-2 I have at home.


If you put together a few parts costs, for example anything salvaged from the exchanger/group head pays for the cost of the machine which was $0.00.


The machine is pretty beat down, but if I were to get very bored, I could strip it, clean all the lines, boiler, valves, etc. and have a great set of spare parts. I could even go so far as to have the frame powder coated and switch parts from the working machine over. I have problems . . .

Scale

Given that the new espresso machine was bought on the cheap, I expected to have to put a little work into it. I planned on flushing the boiler and taking a look see to find out why the hot water spout was putting out funk.


That might have had something to do with it. What you see in the shot above is scale build up within the boiler. Fortunately it wasn't large chunks which I have seen pictures of, so bad that it looked like somebody mixed cement in the boiler. I mixed up a big batch of citric acid solution at 2 Tbsp/L and let the pump draw the solution into the boiler. From that point, I ran water through every path possible and then get things up to temperature to help the citric acid do its thing.


That has to be some sort of tasty, mineral rich, koolade, but I didn't get a chance to taste any. The citric acid solution was clear when it went in the machine.


There was quite a bit of mineral sludge from the first drain of the boiler, post soak. It took about three more times, filling and flushing to get the water to the clear and free of any sign of citric acid. I did a quick back flush on both groups and will pull my morning shots on the new machine to test it out. I have a little more bench testing and trouble shooting to do, but as soon as the panels come back from the powder coater, it will be ready to go to the shop.

The Good and The Bad

Sometimes Mike gives me workouts that seem cruel and unusual. This afternoon was one of those workouts that I was thankful to have somebody to ride with, otherwise I would have turned around and gone home before finishing the interval . . . the hour long interval . . . at a cadence of 40 RPM, going up High Grade Road in the big ring . . . 53x14 to be exact (until I cracked and dropped to the 17). I followed Greg up the hill, churning away, following the instructions which included riding out of the saddle the entire time. As soon as I hit the hour mark, I turned around and froze my butt off going back down the hill and had to call in the rescue. Fortunately Sarah was kind enough to pick me up so I cut my ride short at 2:24 instead of making it an even 3:00 to ride back home in the dark, that's a bad thing.

I wanted to get out earlier but had some business to take care of for the new venture. I met with a few local roasters to find out what they were all about and see whose coffee I might want to have in my shop. I was very impressed with Novo Coffee and everything they have been doing with their own business as well as the coffee shops and restaurants they support. I took a tour of their roasting facility with one of the owners and then headed to their retail outlet at the Denver Art Museum followed by a shop they work with in the Uptown neighborhood. It is very clear that they value personal relationships with those they work with from the farmers they buy beans from to the people they know in the local coffee community. I have some decisions to make given that there are so many choices in town for quality coffee suppliers, but that's a good thing.

Running Into Things

Ever have one of those days where paths cross unexpectedly? I seem to have had a few of those occurrences which indicate the world is either getting too small or off chance encounters aren't all that off chance.


A few of us braved the cold Sunday to get in a nice four and a half hour ride down south. Given that there was a football game at 2:00, the roads were nice and quiet, especially a little further off the beaten path. We hit a few out and back stretches on dirt roads including Waterton Canyon where we came across these guys. It has been a while since I had seen the bighorn sheep and I've never been this close.


They didn't seem too bothered by us or they were distracted as they are just entering the rut season where males try to show dominance and establish their position in the hierarchy before mating begins. We waited and watched before moving on when the road was clear.

In the random encounters with people, I heard from a friend today that there was a long, lost friend spotting . . . in Japan. While innocently walking down the street, Jonathan heard, "Hey! Jonathan!" The greeter was none other than Peter Kurtz who we hung out with for most of high school and the first few years of college. I didn't check the calendar, but it must have been random, unofficial high school reunion day because I got an email from another friend who was passing through town with her boyfriend and staying at another classmate's house in Denver. We all met up for drinks and caught up on the last 17 years or so. It was fun finding out who was where and adding an old classmate to the group of Denver friends. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Signs of Trouble

You might have a small caffeine problem when you have more equipment than many a small coffee shop in the back room of your house.


This is the new machine, at least a bad photo of it, purchased off of craigslist for $450. Given that they retailed for $7400 when new, I'd say I got a pretty good deal, especially since it does function.


On initial inspection and fire up, I'd say it is in better shape overall than the Astoria when I picked it up back at the first of the year. This being a semi-automatic machine, dosing is controlled electronically, meaning it has a ton of electronics and parts to break (brain box, flow meter, control panel, etc.). After a quick search online, I found the manual and figured out how to program the buttons. Good news is that it works . . .


The Astoria has none of this stuff and the only reason it is exposed on the Rancilio is because the side panels are going to the powdercoater this week. Any color suggestions will be taken into consideration.

I will be doing a thorough flush of the boiler and the lines. Right now the brew heads run clean, but the hot water line (the one on the right works, the one on the left does not) is a little cloudy and funky. Given that I bought the machine on the cheap, I expected there would be some work needed. Hopefully it remains the case that it is less than I expected. Gotta go drink more coffee now . . .

Double Days

Today was one of my first "two-a-day" workouts in a while, but since I get to do that a couple times for Southland I need to get the body used to such efforts. My schedule was looking pretty chopped up for the afternoon and it was too cold to get out for an effective workout in the morning, so it was trainer time for me. Amazing how busy you can make yourself as an unemployed person when you start plotting and scheming.

I have been fulfilling my job search requirement for unemployment and have discovered that I am merely looking for a job/paycheck. None of the potential opportunities really got me excited and the though of working for somebody else, doing something I may or may not (98% probability of "not") enjoy/care about wasn't making me feel any better about it all. I have kicked around the idea of making a dramatic change of direction in my career path, but I have never been willing to take the risk or make the sacrifice to head another direction. This week, I got a good but unexpected nudge in the right direction. Having talked about a possible biscuit joint in the past, I wanted to get advice from people who have experience in the food service industry. I ran into Mike, the owner of Basil Docs, on my way west for a training ride and mentioned to him that I was looking to have him talk some sense into me and talk me out of such a venture. The conversation went the opposite direction in a hurry since Mike has space over in the Crestmoor location in which he has been considering a morning coffee operation for a while now. To make a very long story short, I am working on becoming said operation.

I started setting up meetings with some of the local coffee roasters/wholesalers to find out what support is available for independent shops as well as what my costs will look like for the beans and sundries side of the business. From the first meeting, I have a variety of samples to test and a million more questions to ask. Yesterday afternoon, I followed up on an ad in craigslist for an espresso machine since I really don't want to take down the home setup. I now have the highest espresso production capability per square foot in the neighborhood for sure. I bought the second grinder a while back with the intent of getting to to Steve, but now it will be going to the shop. I put new burrs in and will break it in over the next few weeks.


The Rancilio MD-50 grinder will match my brand new, used Rancilio Z11 Omicron, 2-group espresso machine very nicely. The stock photo looks like this:


The machine has some wear, but I plan on taking off the side panels and taking them to the powder coater prior to getting the shop open.


Given the stripped state of the Astoria at home, the Rancilio will be much better presentation wise for a business. You can see how the grinders compare, the Mazzer Super Jolly on the left and the Rancilio on the right. They are both beasts, the MD-50 can grind 20 lbs/hour.

So along with getting ready to race in NZ, I have added many elements of excitement to my life. I am happy with the notion of taking the career bull by the horns and having a great deal of control of my own destiny. There is always truth in the fact that work will always be . . . well, work. In this instance I look forward to the challenges, knowing that it is work that I will enjoy and feel satisfied with my investments of time and emotion. Plenty more to come . . .

October 8th Snowfall

We didn't get a lot of the white stuff, but it was coming down at a slow rate throughout the morning and afternoon hours, making it cold, wet and ugly out. I had grand plans to get out on the bike, but also had no desire to get the chill that deep in the bones for the sake of "practice" alone. I ended up on the trainer for a wonderful, magical hour and fifteen minutes, revisiting the joy that is "Indoor Workout #3". Good thing I fueled up prior.


The freezer is pretty well stocked with breakfast burritos right now which isn't a bad thing at all. This batch came out really well and smothered with a little extra chili and cheese said burrito hit the spot.

I burned off some extra energy thanks to United Airlines, I have to remember to avoid booking flights on United in the future when I have to travel with my bicycle. They now charge $175 per leg as the excess baggage fee for a bicycle. That's skyway robbery! [note: a quick google search confirmed that I did not come up with an original term on that one.] Fortunately on the return trip, I will have time to UPS the bike back to Denver between trips to the beach and hanging out with Pinkerton in his new environment of SoCal.

Despite the current weather woes, training continues and I have a pretty big block of it leading up to my departure for Tour of Southland. With any luck, the weather will improve slightly for a long ride this weekend. Though I am intrigued by tomorrow's forecast for "ice pellets" I am not sure I want to spend 4.5 hours riding through it. Sunday, I am planning on riding with some of my teammates for the NZ trip, Greg Krause and Kevin Nicol. That which does not kill you, blah, blah, blah . . .

Fat Burning

I had a three hour "fat burner" on the schedule today so I opted for some new scenery, talking a trip down the scenic and challenging Highline Canal. It was nice having the trail all to myself and the non-paved surface combined with the wind made it easy to get the heart rate up a bit. Good thing I was able to turn my brain off, I forgot how boring the fat burning pace can be since you really don't have to focus on putting effort in to it.

In order to fulfill my unemployment obligation, I have to make three job contacts a week. I clicked the "apply" button for a job with some company in Denver that manufactures and sells steel building ranging in size from utility shed to multi-million dollar, custom jobber. I didn't think they would actually get back to me, but I guess they need sales people. I went in for the interview for good practice and to see what the scoop was. It wasn't a hardcore sales job since it was working with their existing dealers, assisting in the sales process, but it was sales nonetheless. I am pretty sure I can count this as all three job contacts for the week though, the application (1), the call to set up the interview (2), and the interview itself (3) . . . not bad for a week's work. I should pace myself and make sure I don't get worn out too quickly.

I had fun this morning tormenting Brian while he was sitting at work and I was sitting at home . . . eating biscuits. What's better than a big, fluffy, buttery biscuit?


. . . uh, one with egg and cheese of course. What could be better than that?


Add some turkey bacon, some coffee, and a cinnamon roll made from the extra biscuit dough. Maybe this fat burning ride wasn't such a bad idea after all.

The Rest of It

I have been up to plenty but have failed to keep track of it all. In the time since I got back from Europe, I have left town a couple times, once to NC to visit friends and family. I spent some time in the backyard getting ready to do something with it. Moving dirt around is amusing for a little while but hopefully I will get to the more exciting phase of putting stuff in the yard soon. I have done some baking, a lot of eating, and surprisingly a lot of riding. This is usually the time of year when I start riding for the fun of it, just trying to control the gradual loss of fitness heading into the winter. I went and rode with Chuck and Brian because I had time in the middle of the day to get to Boulder and Chuck asked what I was up to for the first part of November.

November 2nd - November 7th now looks like this:
I'll be headed to New Zealand with Kevin Nicol, Mike Olheiser, Greg Krause, and Stefan Rothe to ride for Bicycles of Ojai/Jackson Plumbing in the Tour of Southland. From the sounds of it, there will be wind, there will be rain, there might be sun, we'll have summer, we'll have winter and everything in between. I've never raced this late in the season, with the exception being that one cross race last year, but that doesn't really count. I have been getting out and training exactly like I was leading up to the trip to Austria. The competition will be pretty stout in NZ and it will be my first time racing in a full on stage race with a caravan, race radios, support staff, etc. On top of it all, I am officially "elite" now according to the UCI . . .

I mentioned bread before and now I hear the oven beeping. Here's a before and after photo study, before:


And after:


The loaf exploded from the middle out, probably because I did a lot of kneading to get the chili and cheese in there and didn't let the loaf rest enough after. The crust is nice and crisp and the inside is surprisingly light despite the chunks of chili pepper and cheese. It has a nice zip to it since I didn't bother taking the seeds out of the peppers, I just mixed it all in. I see a turkey sandwich on this bread in my future.

Over the past few weeks, I have seen and read things that were truly blog worthy, but have been too lazy to update anything. The cover of this morning's WSJ gave me the nudge I needed to get back to it. A picture is worth a thousand words, but with this one, you could make up as many things as you wanted to.


Our farmers would never protest in such a creative way, shooting milk at riot police, launching hay with tractors, jamming traffic circles with said tractors . . . good stuff. You can read the article here if you want, but at the very least, take a look at the picture gallery.

Welcome to October

I came across this really great blog the other day, there were really well written, interesting posts with some great photos and stories. Then I realized it was my blog, my life and I hadn't updated it since September, what the hell?!?

So the end of the Steamboat trip in photos is as follows:


This was the view from the saddle when we went to the ranch for a horsey ride.


The hike up in the hills wherever it was in the land of the scenic and the falling leaves.


Dempsey is really good at jumping over stuff, but he's very hard to catch in the act.


Grommit went foraging for food somewhere after mile seven of the hike. Little dogs can move, but it takes a lot of energy.


We were a hair early for the leaves to be in their full glory but we were able to catch some colors as well as the first snowflakes. After the hike we headed back to the house to get ready for dusk at the hotsprings.


Strawberry Hot Springs are tucked away on the hillside outside of town and it is a pretty cool set up. The spring is up the hill and "natural" pools were built into the creek and depending on how far downstream you go, the water is either hot or not so hot. After a few hours of soaking we were nice and pruney and it was time to head back to town. We went for a mountain bike ride on Friday before heading back to Denver. Howelson Hill on the other side of Highway 40 has some pretty incredible singletrack. It had been forever since I had been on a mountain bike with the exception being a single cross race last year.


This was one of the more technical sections with lots of rock and junk to ride over. For the most part it was smooth singletrack with the occasional root or stump.


We hit the playgound at the end of the ride . . . shenanigans!


I did mountain bike though, I swear! Once back in Denver, on temporary permanent vacation, the fun and games continued. Sarah and I bought a bushel of roasted Hatch chilies for kicks. We were motivated by the fact that they were there and we had made a batch of chicken green chili once using peppers from Whole Foods. At $20 a bushel, this batch was much cheaper and I still have six pounds of peppers stashed away in the freezer. The chili was followed up by chili-cheddar cornbread, chili stuffed burgers, egg/cheese/potato/turkey bacon/chili breakfast burritos . . . and I have a loaf of chili-cheddar bread going into the oven in moments. So yeah, welcome to October and the blur that is unemployed life.