So, back to Friday. Before the BMA Banquet, a friend who just moved to Colorado from Ontario, Canada came over to our house. I met Tina Lewis at the Raid the North Extreme race this past summer. I distinctly remember meeting her on the side of a mountain as her team was awaiting an airlift for an injured team mate. Tina was not happy to have a team mate quitting on day one but she and the rest of her team finished the 6-day race. Anyway, Tina and I had been emailing and phone calling back and forth this summer and fall while she considered, and then decided to move to the Front Range. In the month she's been here, we had not yet gotten together. Our plan was to go for a run together on Friday, watch the RTNX DVD she got from her Canuck friends and then get ready for the Banquet, which Tina was attending as well. I had not seen the DVD, since the show was only aired in Canada (coming soon to the US!). Watching that show brought back memories and made me want to race again.
The banquet was very nice. It's not ofte
n that I get a chance to get dressed up here in Boulder, so I was excited to put on a little black dress. Jesper looked very smart in his tux. Don't we look glam?!?! It was nice to see friends who are usually dressed in helmets and riding gear all gussied up. Boulder's mountain bikers clean up nice! We don't need any bike stuff, so Jesper and I didn't bid on any of the auctioned items, but there were some good deals. The food was yummy, as the affair was held at the Julien, which has a very good chef who happens to be a mountain biker too!More pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/COIttyBittyBetty/BoulderMountainBikeAlliancePics
Due to the late night out at the banquet, we opted to sleep in on Saturday. Jesper and I took Strelka for a ru
n up near Chautauqua. The temps were in the mid-50's and it was sunny. We ran up Gregory Canyon up to Rangeview and then back down Flagstaff and Crown Rock. It was mostly dry with some patches of snow and ice. It was about an hour run, the longest Jesper has done in awhile. He's working on getting his miles up too! Strelka is getting better at these longer runs. I'll be increasing her mileage as well. I came away from the run knowing that I need to get out of the flats in Gunbarrel once a week or so and do more steep mountain running. It'll help my running and it's so pretty that it doesn't seem like a workout.After staying up late on Friday and running in the afternoon on Saturday, I was wonked Saturday night and went to bed at 8:30 pm so I would be fresh for the next busy day. Jesper and I woke up at 5:45 am on Sunday to go skiing at WinterPark/Mary Jane. Our early start got us on the runs at Mary Jane around 9:00 am. In the morning, my legs felt heavy from the previous day's run (see, I need to run hills more), but they got springy again for the afternoon. We finally made it up to the top of the Parsenn Bowl to try out some of the new terrain accessed by the new Panaramic 6-Pack. We also headed over to the Eagle Wind lift area and did some nice runs over there. The last time we skied over there, I thought the runs were steep. Funny, they didn't seem so steep anymore... I guess I'm getting more comfortable with steeper terrain! The snow, although skied out, was still nice and the day was sunny and warm compared to the sub-zero temps we saw most of January.
Jesper and I finished up early at 1:30 pm so we could get back to Boulder in time to eat and shower before the evening's plans; an E-Town show with Big Head Todd and the Monsters and Kathleen Edwards. We've both been BHTM fans since way before we moved to Boulder. We got turned onto Kathleen Edwards at a previous E-Town show and really like her voice and lyrics. The show lived up to our expectations. Todd Park Mohr was fantastic! His voice is so unique and powerful and he can sure rock that guitar! He was also super interesting and articulate in the interview.
WOW - Banquet, Run, Ski, Concert. What a busy weekend. I slept well last night.
