Here It Is

As promised, more on the ride for tomorrow. The map below shows part of it as well as elevation gain. I will tack on the ride out to Golden and the ride home which adds another 36 miles from my house. I can already taste the post ride food.


So far the riding partners are Hutchison, Pinkerton, and probably Kendall. If you do not see any blog updates from any of them after Tuesday of next week, send out the search party. The camera battery is charging now so I will try to take plenty of pictures along the way. I am not sure if there are any good donut stops on this route since Daylight Donuts in Idaho Springs is no more.

My estimates on the construction schedule across the street have been pretty accurate so far. Of course the early parts of the job are easy, it isn't until you get into framing and roughs that you find out what a hack the architect is and whether or not your mechanical and electrical contractors are worth anything.

This week they, stripped the forms off the foundation, installed the perimeter drain and sump pit, and applied the damp proofing to the concrete.


Based on the window wells on site, it looks like there should be some backfilling action today. Also based on the window wells, it looks like the final product will be a mid-range duplex. The higher end ones go for precast window wells so you don't look out on corrugated steel that usually gets all sorts of beat up in the construction process.


I'm hoping marketing materials will come out soon so I can see a rendering of the place. I hope it doesn't block my view of the mountains . . . funny story, ask me sometime.

Preparation and Planning

Rumor has it we'll be going on a nice, long death march of a ride on Saturday given the forecast for warmer weather. By "we" I mean Hutchison and I, so far at least. More about the ride to come. There's great potential for wind when it is this unseasonably warm . . . cue the YouTube . . . I told you wind power was dangerous!

Despite the speed of the internet and its ability to circulate video, I actually read the news article first and then had to find the video. There are links to some more fodder here.

While were talking about Denmark, I stumbled onto a site yesterday and I can't remember how, but this guy does stuff (ie work) during the day that is a lot cooler than what I do.


Peter Callesen has been around for a while, take a look at some more of his work. The detail is pretty incredible. Looks like he has a gallery showing in NYC this year or if you end up in Denmark for some reason you can find his work and find shelter from the dynamic forces of wind power.

Coming Soon

I decided to carry around the camera more often. In the day and age of digital information and instant gratification, why bother trying to describe what you can easily cut and past. Nothing too impressive out there this morning, but . . .


An average sunrise, who else was up to see it and actually saw it?

I have described some of the changes going on in the old neighborhood, but here's an example of one in the works. Finally the stupid doll store is gone and will be replaced with something worthwhile.


According to the word on the street, the Pajama Baking Company will be an upscale ice cream shop, bakery, Euro-style sandwich shop, as well as seasonally and locally inspired produce market.

Add this one to the list of links for useful information. While I don't always trust somebody else's opinion when it comes to food, it is nice to get a heads up prior to throwing yourself headlong into a mediocre dining experience. The February 23, 2008 post was quite informative and I can't wait for Urban Pantry to open.

Another Day, Another Blogger

I went to the well of inspiration and came up with a bucket full of boring this morning. Usually my walk with Dempsey gets the old creative thought process going, but today I got sidetracked when I noticed how much quieter it is outside with a layer of snow on everything. At that point I stopped thinking and just focused on drinking my coffee one sip at a time.

Ponder this one. Why do you read the blogs of others? I came up with three basic categories:

1) to keep current with the lives and thoughts of friends and acquaintances.
2) to read something written by somebody else about something I find humorous.
3) to see what utter stupidity the usual suspects are spewing forth.

It is really category 3 that concerns me the most. What is it about a train wreck that repeatedly draws our fascination and attention? I know some of these blogs have a track record of posts that are nothing but ill conceived, half-baked drivel, but I still eagerly await updates, knowing full well that I will leave shaking my head. Don't get me wrong, I love making fun of people, myself included, but what the hell am I thinking?

I picked up a couple new books at the library yesterday. One of them is Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy which was recently written up in the Wall Street Journal. So far it is an interesting read. I have found many of my views on "the grand scheme of things" reflected in the kernel of this book. My very own book report will probably never be written so go read the book yourself and then we can discuss.

Foundations

The duplex across the street from me progresses . . . we now have foundation walls. If I get bored enough I might put together a construction schedule for kicks and see if I remember anything about my old job.


In the next week they will strip the forms, backfill around the foundation, put in water and sewer lines, do the plumbing underground work, and if weather permits they should pour the basement slab by the middle of next week.

Here's a picture of the car as promised. All in all it ended up being a nice $500 "spa" visit for the car. It got to relax off the road and ended its stay with a full detailing.


I usually try not to pick on my friends too much, but go over to Kendall's Blog and give him a verbal kick in the junk for his post on cubicle life. Come on now! Everybody and I mean everybody knows that cubicle life is like this:

You work the system to your advantage until your office building burns down, duh.

Riding and Stuff

First and foremost, I have my car back, finally. Unfortunately as I suspected my battery was in the process of dying. The test at Autozone or wherever I was confirmed one of the cells was bad, new battery for me! Because of all the housing, shrouds, and decorative bits hiding the inner workings of the Passat, the sales people aren't allowed to touch anything. I reconfirmed my membership status as a card carrying male by replacing the battery which is tucked back well behind the engine and under a lot of plastic. Pictures to follow.

Saturday ended up being the big ride day. We started out nice and early at my house, heading down to the Chatfield Worlds after a healthy breakfast of eggs and homemade biscuits. The group ride was well attended this weekend, with a little more horsepower in the group making it harder to get away. I spent a good bit of time hammering at the front for fitness sake. After the group ride a few of us headed up High Grade. I was feeling pretty good so I picked a pace that felt "right" and tried to focus on form, rhythm, and all that crap. By the time we got to the Schoolhouse it was nice and cold and the snow started falling, nothing serious but it would have been nice to have brought the thermal vest. The remainder of us headed down to Conifer, over Blue Creek and down to Evergreen for the customary apple fritter at the Tin Star. I can't sing the praises loudly enough for this place. A giant apple fritter and two cups of hot chocolate for $6, what a deal!

The remainder of the ride back up to I-70, down Lookout, and home was a bit of a struggle, but all in all, it was a good time, 5+ hour and almost 100 miles later. It was good to see the masters guys out in full force. Alex was sporting the new, fashionable wheels that are to be my race wheels for the season, a nice new set of Dura-ace 50mm carbon wheels . . . sweeeeeeeeeet. Pictures to follow.

I took it easy today as per the program and rode for 2.5 hours, nothing crazy. I decided to invite some people over for an impromptu pizza party tonight, standard format, you bring the toppings, I provide the setups. Doug, Trina, Ivy, Matt, Megan, Deb and I feasted on such gourmet offerings as BBQ chicken pizza, pizza with ricotta and arugula, and whatever other toppings we could throw together. The real stroke of genius was the "pizza" with peanut butter, Nutella, and marshmellow. No pictures to follow.

Coming this week . . . more quality time on the trainer!

Gluin' On Up

The first coat of contact cement is on the rims. Tonight I will put another coat on the rims and one of the tires. Saturday or Sunday I will be all ready to stretch the tires back onto the rims. I ordered a 55t/42t combo for the time trial bike and the goal is to have everything fitted and ready sometime this coming week.

It looks like the first race of the season will be a time trial, weather permitting. The Stazio series has been canceled already due to higher permit fees and "loss of use" charges from the City of Boulder. There's high demand for softball fields in mid-March.

One note on gluing . . . it scares me, not just the fear of doing a terrible job and having a tire roll off mid-race, but because it actually says "bad for the environment" on the tube of glue.