Where do People Find the Time to Watch TV?

I feel like I'm a pretty 'together' chick with decent time-management skills. I can get shit done in a timely manner and I feel like I don't squander my time or dilly dally. However, I am at a loss: Where do people find the time to watch TV?

I am challenged to find time to use my neti pot on a daily basis (which takes five minutes), let alone sit down and do NOTHING for 2-4 hours, as apparently the average American does each day. Heck, I don't even have kids, which are a HUGE time suck! Come with me as I analyze my day; maybe we can scrounge up some time for TV watching.

During the week, I wake up at 6:00 am to either run or work out pretty much every day except Wednesday, when I get to 'sleep in' until 6:45 am and then read all the personal email I have disregarded for days. After running/working out/'sleeping in', I shower and get ready for work. I suppose most people do the 'get ready for work' part, but maybe they are sleeping when I am running/working out. Or are they watching TV?

Every weekday morning I drive about 30 minutes to work. I think this is probably a pretty normal commute time, so I don't think my TV deficit comes from this. I work until 5:00 pm or later, sometimes doing yoga or going for a bike ride at lunch to be more efficient with my time. After work, I drive the 30 minutes home, sometimes stopping for groceries. Home around 5:30 or 6:00 pm.

Upon scrutiny, it is clear I have no time for TV from the 6:00 am to 6:00 pm slot during the day on weekdays. Maybe evenings are the ticket.

On Monday evenings, I make a quick change into my yoga clothes and go to a wonderful 90 minute class with Jesper at a studio near our house. We get home around 8:20 - 8:30 pm and eat a late dinner, usually of leftovers. After a quick dip in the hot tub (15 minutes is about our max), it's time for bed at 9:45 or 10:00 pm. Maybe people stay up later and watch TV, but that would cut into my eight hours of sleep, the minimum I like to get each night.

Tuesday evenings are flexible. Sometimes I do a big mountain bike ride right after work that lasts until 10:30 pm or so; on those nights I go straight to bed after cleaning up. Or I do a road ride after work and then make a nice dinner and go to bed early. One Tuesday each month, I go to the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance Board meeting, have a late dinner and then go to bed. No time for TV on Tuesdays.

On Wednesday's, I have been going for a long-ish trail run with some girlfriends. I leave straight from work and we run from about 6:00 until 7:15 pm. Jesper often cooks dinner on Wednesday nights since I am not home until after 7:30 pm. We use the time while he cooks to get reacquainted and talk about how work was that day, plans we have for yard work, house work, upcoming vacations, etc.; whatever it is that's going on or should be going on in our lives. Or, we both get out in the yard and work on whatever project is pending. Then we hot tub it and go to bed around 9:30 or 10:00 pm. Hmmm... still no time for TV.

On Thursdays I go to the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance Gurlz Ridez. After riding and a quick dinner with my girlfriends, I am usually not home until after 9:00 pm. Putting my bike and gear away, showering and hot tub take my evening to about 10:00 pm. Time for bed. Maybe we could put a TV out near the hot tub, but we'd only get about 15 minutes to watch it, so that is clearly not the time for me to squeeze in American Idol or some other useless show.

Friday nights are reserved for Date Night with Jesper. We usually head out to a restaurant as soon as I get home from work, hot tub it and get to bed around 10:00 pm. I don't know about all of you, but I am pretty tired come Friday and not about to stay up after Date Night to watch TV.

On the rare weekday evening I have a few spare minutes, I try to read personal emails or maybe even read a BOOK.

So, I have failed to find time during the week to watch TV (heck - I have barely found time to read and reply to my personal email). Maybe I need to find the time on the weekend. Yeah right.....

In my view, weekends are for:

1. Sleeping in (as much as my body will let me, which is usually no later than 7:30 am)
2. Riding, Running
3. Getting things done around the house and yard
4. Cooking nice meals
5. Getting reacquainted with my Honey

Clearly sleeping in takes away time from watching TV! That is not the solution.

I have been going for one really long trail run either on Saturday or Sunday, followed by an ice bath (brrrr...) When I say really long, I mean like 15 miles. The whole ordeal (getting ready, running first with the dog and then taking her home and heading back out to run the rest by myself, finally doing the gawdforesaken ice bath) takes over three hours. If Jesper and I don't have a big house or yard project going on, we try to get out on the day I don't do my big run for a bike ride. This can take up to four or five hours (or longer if we drive a ways to a cool biking trail). I realize many Americans do not dedicate this much time to exercise on their weekend days, although judging by how fat most are, maybe they should... Obviously, I am not able to watch TV while out trail running or riding my bike.

Before and after running or biking, there are always things to do around the house or yard; clean (vacuum, dust, mop, clean bathrooms, wash/fold clothes, on and on), pick up dog poop, weed. Then of course there are the Big Projects. We are into one right now, building a new back deck/patio/retaining wall/garden. When we are doing a Big Project, we spend every waking weekend minute (except for my run and for eating) working on the project, usually until dark. This past weekend, we were so busy (no ride, only my 3 hour run) we did not even make it into the hot tub in the evenings. Clearly no time for TV.

Somewhere in each busy weekend day Jesper and I like to cook a nice meal. Cooking takes some time, and I suppose I could put a TV in my kitchen. However I prefer to chit chat with my honey while listening to nice music. Besides, I am sure I would lose track of my recipe if I tried to cook while watching TV.

This is my warm weather schedule, but the winter schedule is jam packed with skiing.

So there is it. No time for TV. Clearly I am doing something most Americans are not that is sucking away my time. Hmmm... maybe I could find that elusive TV time if I gave up exercising, cooking healthy meals, sleeping, interacting with my significant other, or doing home improvement projects. But then I would be stressed out, overweight and out of shape, sleep-deprived and I'd have a crappy house and a poor relationship. No thanks - I don't think I need TV that much!

Dirt!

Snow - Dirt - Snow - Dirt

That is the pattern in Colorado.

From November through March - we ski. From April through October - we ride our mountain bikes.

In April and November, we tend to do both, getting pretty exhausted trying to do it all.

For our last foray on the sticks, Jesper and I went to Winter Park/Mary Jane for some spring skiing. I love spring skiing - nice corn snow and no crowds. We managed to get back into the Vasquez Cirque one last time this season, taking Suze and Patrick back there for their first time. This area is barely lift served - the nearest chair gets you about a mile from where you can drop in, so you need to skate ski or hoof it along a gradual uphill mile slog. Fortunately, the views as you make your way are completely spectacular. The runs down the Cirque are XX Black - steep but wide open at first. It is one of the prettiest areas at any ski resort I have been to.

Jesper dipping in to the Vasquez Cirque

Suze and Patrick shusshing down the Cirque

Jesper showing awesome form in the Cirque

We had a feeling this might have been our last ski day in the resorts this year, as the dirt has been calling....

HELLO - this is DIRT calling for Jen and Jesper!

The next day, we answered the call of the dirt for my first real ride of the season. We opted to ride the single speeds at the Devil's Backbone out and back on the Blue Sky Trail. Almost 20 miles on the SS for the first ride out this season was good enough to poop me out! The 'Bone starts out with some super fun technical trail for about 3 or 4 miles. Then the trail smooths out for some fantastic rolling hills. You get to enjoy the techy stuff all over again at the end. The scenery at the 'Bone is straight out of a cowboy western and true to this there were several groups out on horses. The day was picture perfect - low 70s and sunny - and we ended it with a trail head adult beverage. YUM!

Post ride perfection! (photo cred Jesper Kristensen)

Jesper rockin' it at the Bone

The following weekend, we decided it was over for the snow, at least for this season. We packed up the Durango and headed out to sample the buff-smooth trails at Buffalo Creek, this time, bringing Patrick along for his first visit to this wonderful riding destination. Once again, we rode the single speeds. Now I don't have anything against gears, but the trails that have been dry just seem to have been well suited for the single speeds. We hit Gashouse, Charlies' Cutoff and more, logging in a nice 25 mile ride; sufficient to work up a big appetite for food and brews at Buck Snorts. I had ulterior motives for going to Buff Creek - I am running my first ultra marathon there this summer and I was anxious to refresh my memory of the trails. I will be back there soon to hit the trail on foot in preparation for my 'race'.

Jesper at Buff Creek

Patrick zooming around the cool rocks at Buff Creek

This past weekend it was once again just Jesper and me on the single speeds again. Although the Front Range had received another wallop of snow (after a few days straight of rain), we managed to find trails that were reported to be dry on Sunday. Bobcat Ridge up past Loveland. OK - I know, this is not really a trail most people would think of as single speed friendly, but there is something eff'ed up with the bottom bracket on my Safire, so I didn't want to ride it. Let's just say we got a good work out in riding the single speeds! We ascended the rocky and steep Ginny trail and then did an about face and ripped down it! We were both so happy to have been able to get out on dirt that day, as we were not optimistic the day before. I wish that trail was closer, as it is simply a blast!

Jesper in a brief spot of sunshine on Bobcat Ridge

Me coming down the Ginny Trail (photo cred Jesper Kristensen)

It's almost May now. The snow in the back country is a little iffy this year and I am focusing on running one day each weekend, leaving the other day for mountain biking. It looks like we have officially made the shift from SNOW to DIRT.

Best Birthday EVER!

This past weekend was my birthday. I turned 46 on Saturday, February 6th. It turned out to be one of the best birthdays ever (if not THE best). Why was it the best? Here's why:

After months of searching, I found a fantastic company with the perfect job opening. I interviewed in late January and was offered and accepted the position the evening of February 5th, the eve of my birthday. In addition to really needing a job due to my consulting practice dwindling away to almost nothing, I was really excited about this particular job and would have been crushed if I did not get it. I can't imagine a better birthday present than this job!

For my birthday itself, we slept in and I went for a LONG run. Later that day, Jesper set out a beautiful bouquet of flowers and then, over the course of five hours or so while I sat at the kitchen bar and chit-chatted with him, he prepared the most fabulous four course dinner:

• First course - crisp bread with sushi grade salmon, spring onions, creme fraiche and caviar, accompanied by an inorganic Bonny Doon Albarino! Simply delish! Sorry - no pic.

• Second course - shrimp and sea scallops sauteed in butter, white wine and saffron, served with a creamy curry soup and accompanied by the Albarino. WOW!!
  

• Third course - veal roast stuffed with sage, prosciutto and mozzarella cheese, served with tiny potatoes, tomatoes, gigantic capers, cream and butter, green garlic olive cream purée, and artichoke salad. Accompanied by a Bonny Doon Cuvee Splendide Syrah. Dang my guy can cook!
  

• Fourth course - homemade lemon eclairs with coffee (decaf). The yummy conclusion to a wonderful birthday dinner.
  

Although the new job was a fantastic present, Jesper continued to spoil me with a book my sister told him I would love (she knows what I like in the way of reading) and a Patagonia scarf. But that was not all - new wheels for my single speed!!! Hand built NoStans rims with Hope hubs!! I had no idea!! I had been wanting new wheels - mine were rather wonked and heavy - but could not afford them on my dwindling consulting pay. These babies are beautiful and svelte! Thanks Jesper (and Dave Chase at Redstone for making them)! I can't wait to put them on the Snow Queen and go for a ride!!!

To work off the amazing dinner, we then we skied for two days. We always take our birthdays off and since mine was on a Saturday, we took off Monday. Our friend Suze joined us for Superbowl Sunday with almost no lift lines and practically empty slopes. Then Jesper and I skied just the two of us to even fewer crowds on Monday.

Jesper in the POW we managed to find (we are good at that!)

Suze skiing with great form!

The long birthday weekend ended with me tired but excited to start the new job a couple days later. I cannot imagine a better birthday!

Good Bye 2009, Hello 2010!!!

2009 was a mixed bag for me. OK, OK - it kinda had some pretty sucky parts. But I'm the type of person who sees the glass half full and looks forward to the future. Despite some bad juju, 2009 was filled with many good things and I ended the year with a lot of family, fun and fluffy white stuff.

Just a few days after my Grand Targhee Cat Skiing early Christmas gift, Jesper and I packed up the Subaru, made all Santa-like with the Yakima Christmas Box loaded to the gills with gifts. This time Strelka came along for her longest road trip yet - Ohio; never thought that dog would ever set paw in Ohio, but I couldn't bear to board her again and I love to have her around for Christmas. Jesper and I drove the 1,300 miles straight through, opting not to stop in Kansas as tentatively planned. A massive winter storm was on our tails and we were fearful that an overnight rest stop might turn into Christmas in Kansas! We made it to Ohio in good time despite a rimey fog through most of Kansas. Dang - that's a long drive!

We had planned for all of my siblings to be together this Christmas, our first since my Dad died. But my younger brother Jeff was ill and did not make it. It was very disappointing not to have him there, but we decided to make sure each of us enjoyed the holiday regardless. Jesper, Strelka and I stayed with my younger sister Chris and her family (husband Steve, daughter Emma and son Ben). My older brother Vince, his wife Nanako and their two boys (Kyle and Eric) stayed with my older sister Vicki and her family (husband Doug, son Tyler who is grown up and moved out and daughters Tasha and Tara).

On Christmas Eve at Chris' house, we all symbolically donned one of the dozens of silly/trashy/ethnic T-Shirts my Dad had been fond of 'collecting' for a family photo. Jeff even put one on at his apartment in Saint Paul and we included him in the photo in effigy. Digging through the piles and piles of joke T-shirts reminded us all of Dad's raunchy sense of humor!

The family in Dad's T-Shirts with Jeff in effigy (photo cred Steve Webster)

Christmas morning came early in a house with a 9 year old! There were many, many presents for my sister's family and quite a lot for me, Jesper and Strelka. As usual, Jesper spoiled me! The 'best' gift was the warming, washing toilet seat my sister Chris received from her husband. Not only was it a most unusual gift, but my sister was absolutely thrilled that her beloved husband bought her a toilet seat!

Jesper helping Strelka open one of her presents

After a Christmas day run with my younger sister, we cleaned up and headed to our big sister's house. Big is relative. Although she sometimes seemed gigantic to me when I was young, Vicki is 5'2" and svelte. Funny how things change like that. It was good to hang out with the whole family (minus Jeff). My family is loud and fun and I thoroughly enjoy the chaos of our conversations.

Chris and Vicki had a few surprises up their sleeves. First off was a sweet and sentimental slide show Chris put together with some of the photographs my Dad took of us kids growing up. My parents had all five of us within just over 7 years, something I can't even imagine. We all grew up very close and affectionate. We also seem to have grown up half dressed and filthy, based on the pictures! But under the mud and dirt we played in, we were a happy lot. Might have been all the cake we ate - seems like there was always a birthday party for one of us! The slide show also featured numerous pictures of my parents before they started their family. I am very happy my Dad was a bit of a shutterbug.

One of the many cake-filled birthday parties of my childhood, my fourth - I'm in the chair with my back toward the camera (photo cred Victor Kwasniewski)

All five of us with Mom, from l to r in front - Vince, Chris and Vicki; in back - me, Jeff and Mom (photo cred Victor Kwasniewski)

After the slide show, we had our sibling gift exchange. We played the exchange game in a manner that allows and encourages stealing gifts from each other. It was a hoot! Especially funny was the gift I gave, which Jesper chose much to my chagrin. Earlier Christmas morning, I had opened a wonderful gift from Jesper - a kitchen mandolin. I have wanted one of these for years! I also purchased the very same mandolin as my sibling exchange gift. Hey, you often buy gifts you would like to receive yourself! Great - now we had two identical mandolins! Fortunately, my brother-in-law Doug stole the mandolin from Jesper, who ended up with a dutch oven (we needed one!) and the book/DVD "Julie and Julia", which I can't wait to read and watch! I ended up with some ear buds that actually fit my small ears and some body glide - perfect for the training I will be doing to run some long distance races this year.

Vince implementing the Eenie-Meanie-Minie Mo procedure in selecting his sibling gift (photo cred Tasha Carnes)

Box 'o catalogs! (photo cred Tasha Carnes)

Later that evening, Vicki's in-laws and family showed up for a dinner of various kinds of lasagna. Before long, it was time to go back to Chris' house; another Christmas had passed.

The next day, Vince and his family left early to fly to Colorado of all places for a week of skiing (Jesper and I would join them early the next week). I had a nice day visiting with some friends and former colleagues I had not seen in awhile - good to get caught up! On Sunday morning, Jesper and I packed up Rubie the Subie again for the long drive back to Colorado. I must confess, I was completely useless on this drive. Once it began to get dark (not that late this time of winter), I could not keep my eyes open! Jesper, rock star that he is, essentially drove straight through the whole way.

We arrived back at our house at 5:00 am Monday morning and tried to sleep until about 10:00 am; I had more luck than Jesper, whose head was still in DRIVE mode. That day, we did laundry and unpacked from one trip, only to pack again for another one; this time a week of skiing up in Summit County. Jesper and I rented a 2 bedroom, pet-friendly condo with our friends Suze and Patrick through January 4th. We headed up mid-day on Tuesday the 29th of December with plans to ski for four days straight with friends and my brother Vince and his family, who were staying at Copper.

We had a nice NYE dinner in Frisco to ring in the new year. It was wonderful to spend more time with Vince on the slopes and apres ski. I had to laugh when my girlfriend Sue proclaimed him "adorable", but upon reflection, he is pretty adorable; funny, always smiling and self-effacing. Not a bad skier either! I discovered that three days of hard tele skiing is just about right for me. I was completely cooked on day four!

Vince following Jesper down a steep slope

Me coming down under the S Chair (photo cred Jesper Kristensen)

NYE dinner - Vince, Nanako, Sue Bushman, Suze Bragg, Patrick Bragg, me and Jesper (from l to r)

On Sunday January 4th, we had a leisurely morning at the condo. Vince and his family had departed the day prior and made it home safely. Jesper and I had only been home 5 out of the previous 23 days; I was ready to be home again too. Good Bye 2009, Hello 2010!

See more pics here!

Cat Skiing the Ghee

In February of 2009, Jesper went to Grand Targhee in Wyoming with his Stick-it-to-the-Little-Man group of skiing buddies. The highlight of his trip was a day of Cat Skiiing the Ghee. Grand Targhee (the Ghee) is located west of Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons. They get a shitload of snow - over 500 inches - and the resort is off the beaten path, thus not crowded or skied out. The Cat Skiing operation is the gem of the Ghee.

For the uninitiated, Cat Skiing, or Snowcat Skiing, is like back county skiing without a chair lift and without the strenuous effort of skinning (not that we mind strenuous effort or skinning in particular - we love that stuff). The beauty of Cat Skiing is that you get to do run after run after run of unblemished powder all day long; many more than you could do skinning. The Cat is a special vehicle that rides on snow using tracks kind of like those on a bull dozer. Snow Cats are used for grooming ski runs; modified versions are also used for carrying passengers up to the good stuff. Grand Targhee resort dedicates an entire mountain - 600 acres - exclusively for guided Cat Skiing. No one else can go there and no lifts serve the area, although the resort blasts the area for avalanche control. The guides milk the powder so each group that is taken out is guaranteed fresh POW. Jesper had such an awesome day Cat Skiing with his buddies, he decided then and there he would take me one day.

Fast forward to the end of 2009. As an early Christmas gift, Jesper booked us a four day trip to the Ghee with 2 days of on-mountain skiing and one day of Cat Skiing. What a great present! However, as my Christmas gift trip approached, Jesper began to worry. Despite an early season jump, the Ghee received much less snow from October through early December than normal; they only had about a 4 foot base and much terrain was not open. In fact, the Cat was not running yet, a major disappointment to those folks who booked a day for early season Cat Skiing and a possible problem for us. A friend of ours who lives near Jackson, WY even called us to say we should try to reschedule. Unfortunately, we would only be credited with lodging or on-mountain skiing. Jesper looked at the forecast, which was predicting a massive snow storm right before we were scheduled to arrive. Banking on that forecast, we decided to go for it.

I think Jesper and I may be the luckiest people alive. We drove up through Colorado and then into and and west over Wyoming, with reports that the Ghee was finally getting dumped on. We arrived in a snowstorm that had already brought almost a foot of snow. It then proceeded to snow the entire night, dropping 9 more inches. Come Monday morning, our first day on the mountain at the Ghee, there was almost 2 feet of fresh powder!! We lucked out - the resort opened up the Cat Skiing that day.

We tried really hard our first day skiing to take it easy and save our legs for the next day when we would be Cat Skiing. We were not completely successful - it was just too much fun. It was also impossible to see anything! The entire mountain was engulfed in a cold snowy cloud. It was a complete whiteout up top until about midway down. You could barely see the chair ahead on the lift.

On the Dreamcatcher chair lift in a snowy fog

I could not see Jesper skiing down if he got more than 30 feet away. The fog was so thick, you couldn't tell if you were pointed up or down sometimes, creating a nauseous sensation of vertigo. We have since learned another nick name for the Ghee - Grand Foggy!

Jesper skiing fantastic powder in a whiteout

We skied some great powder, most of which we couldn't see, but the fog probably kept us from overdoing it more than anything else.

The fog dissipated lower on the mountain - Jesper floating through the trees

Me coming down in deep pow!

After a nice dinner in Driggs, ID, we hit the hay early to rest up, hoping the visibility would be improved for our day on the Cat. Jesper and I are lucky people! Tuesday dawned with better weather - perfect weather in fact. The clouds were much higher, well above anywhere we'd be skiing. We could see!

The Cat holds 12 customers, but ours was not fully booked and a couple people didn't show up (we have heard this is highly unusual). It was great only having 8 people, all of whom where good skiers/snow boarders. We were able to do a ton of runs, only limited by the speed of the Cat to come and get us.

Jesper and I posing in front of the Cat

The powder on each run was beyond incredible. As promised, we had freshies each time. The guides take care of everyone and also manage to make each person feel special, all the while keeping track of where to take us to guarantee fresh snow. I don't recall how many runs we did, but we started at 9, took a small snack break and then a short lunch break up in a patroller cabin and then skied until just after 4:00. It was a day I will not forget soon -I've never skied so many runs of pure powder! We didn't take many pictures, preferring to enjoy the experience without the distraction of taking the camera out. Jesper and I made it an early night, tired to the bone in a good way. But neither of us could sleep - we continued to have visions in our heads of skiing down deep, bottomless powder snow.

Jesper in the pow on a Cat run

Wednesday I woke up sore! I didn't realize the night before how hard I had worked the last two days. I guess we skied harder than I recalled through all that fun! Never-the-less, we hit the slopes almost as soon as the lifts opened to give our last day our best shot. Once again, thick clouds had rolled in, settling low on the mountain. We couldn't see shit. Then the temperatures rose and the snow turned to a fine misty rainish sort of thing. Rime began forming on our goggles, a double whammy with the fog! We were so glad we had had good visibility for our Cat Skiing the day before! We skied a couple runs, scrapping the rime off our lenses every few hundred feet, and decided to take an early lunch in hopes the conditions would improve. After lunch, it got a little colder and the rime turned to real snow, but the fog remained. The conditions after the rainy precip were challenging to say the least; a bit of crunch on top of everything. By 2:30, my legs were completely toast and Jesper was dizzy from the whiteout conditions. We decided to stop before we hurt ourselves, knowing that we had gotten plenty of great skiing in.

Jesper and I stayed one more night and then made the long drive home. We were so lucky to have just squeaked in on the start of the Ghee's Cat Skiing season and to have had the only day with any real visibility!

I can still feel the sensation of all that powder under my skis. I can't wait to go Cat Skiing again!

End of Summer

Summer has departed, letting both Autumn and Winter in at the same time. The so called "shoulder seasons" are highly variable here in Boulder. It seems that the Jet Stream bounces up and down high above us, resulting in an alternating weather pattern of warm days and snow storms. We have already had two such snow storms; nestled in between, we had balmy days with warm temps.

I like the variation. The weather forecasters usually know when a change is coming, so you can usually prepare. Although freezing temps followed by warm weather can make for mucky trails, most of our trails dry pretty quick (I do not condone riding muddy trails). Due to the fast-changing weather, you can often get out and do a "summer" sport one day, followed by a "winter" sport the next.

After the first snow storm in October that dropped over a foot of the fluffy stuff (within which we snow shoed and snow hiked), sunshine, wind and warm temps melted the snow away in a couple days and dried out the trails. We put the snow shoes away and got out the mountain bikes again for some fun with good friends from North Carolina who just moved to Colorado. We wore shorts and short sleeves (OK - except for Suze, who didn't realize how much warmer it can get from night to day here!). Nothing beats riding dirt in November wearing summer riding clothes!!

The boyz (Jesper and Patrick) hanging out at the Nelson Loop

Patrick at Hall Ranch on his first mountain bike ride as a Colorado resident!

Suze over dressed a bit.....

... but she clearly still had FUN!

During this warm phase, I ran in shorts and Jesper and I got out on the single speeds. On Thursday, I was able to ride my road bike in 74 degrees, wearing shorts and a short sleeved jersey. The afternoon was sunny and the air, while breezy, felt comforting on my exposed skin. Nothing beats a warm sunny road ride in November!

Crappy iPhone pic of my road ride up Left Hand Canyon

The next day, as predicted by the weather forecasters, everything changed. We awoke Friday morning to clouds; gone were the sunny skies. The temperature dropped steadily during the day. By 3:00 when I was ready for my afternoon run, it was 35 degrees and a full-on snow storm! I ran decked in winter running clothes in a near white out. Nothing beats a trail run in a snow storm! (sorry - no pics!)

The snow kept coming, so Jesper and I decided to head up to the mountains on Saturday to get in our first day of skiing. This is the earliest we have hit the slopes of any season since we moved out here; we are anxious to get in ski shape early so we can maximize an upcoming cat skiing trip to Grand Targhee in mid-December. We knew the snow would not be great, very little terrain would be open and it would get crowded. However, we also knew we would not be skiing yet at our peak, possibly only having the legs for half a day anyway; might as well get our first day over with before the good snow comes!

Copper reported 5 inches of freshie, so that's where we headed. We arrived right about when the lifts were starting up. The snow was surprisingly good and at first, the slopes were not crowded. Other than Jesper's new boots causing him some foot pain, I thought we both skied really well especially for our first day! I had imagined that my legs would be quivering and shaking after a few runs, but they felt solid! We managed to ski until 2:00, when the combination of Jesper's painful feet and the increasing crowds rendered it, in actuality, beer-thirty. Nothing beats a 1554 after a day on the slopes!

Jesper making one of the first turns of the 2009/2010 season!

Jesper looking good!

We opted not to ski again on Sunday, deciding instead to take advantage of the snow to take Strelka out for a snow hike before it all melted. Hoping for some majestic views of the Flatirons, we planned a hike from Eldorado Canyon (South Mesa TH) up the Homestead Trail, across the Shadow Canyon Trail and back down the Mesa Trail. Although we only saw a few other people, the trail had been packed in enough that Gore-tex shoes were adequate. Jesper wanted to play around taking some video, so high mileage was not our goal; I think we only hiked about 3 miles. We started out under low lying clouds and diffuse snow fall - so much for the views - but the clouds began to lift toward the end of our hike. Sometimes the mountains are even more stunning when they are partially obscured by clouds. Nothing beats the beauty of the Rockies cloaked in snow and cloud!

Jesper and Strelka heading up the trail

Jesper is the teeny - tiny figure heading down the trail

The clouds began to lift, but still obscured the Flatirons

Jesper and Strelka on the snowy trail

The clouds dispersed to reveal the Flatirons sprinkled in snow

By the time we hopped in the hot tub Sunday night, the clouds had been replaced by clear skies. Monday morning dawned sunny and bright. According to the weather forecast, we will be back up in the mid 50s by tomorrow. Time to get the bikes out again, and maybe the skis too, this weekend. Nothing beats the variable weather of the Front Range!

BFR4!!!

This past Sunday, September 27th, was the long awaited Redstone Cyclery Big Fall Ride 4. This annual event began four years ago (duh!) and Jesper and I were fortunate enough to make the very first one. We had just moved out to Colorado and found out about the ride through mtbr. The Big Fall Ride (no numbers at that point) was billed as an all day epic ride in the national forest near Lyons. We didn't know a soul going on the ride, but it certainly sounded like our cup of tea! Although the ride organizer, Redstone owner Dave Chase, joked about making the participants use his name in vain before the ride was over, what Dave really likes is for people to be happy and smiling, even when they are tired, hurt, cold and hungry; no complainers! We smiled the whole day, even after I fell off an 8 foot scree field and jacked out my rear brake (had to ride Buchanan Pass with only a front brake)! We became huge fans of Redstone and good friends with Dave Chase.

Since that first ride, we have been on many a Dave's Death March Ride and numerous Tuesday Night Redstone Rides. We have also been regulars on the BFRs, although I ended up missing BFR2 when I lacerated my shin in 2007. For 2008, Dave made BFR3 even longer than the previous years. The weather was cold, with a little rain. Maybe I didn't eat enough (tough to eat when you are too cold to stop), maybe I wasn't in as good of shape as I should have been, I don't know, but BFR3 was hard on me. The ride ended with a climb up Heil and down Picture Rock. Those last 10 miles in 2008 were brutal - I was worn out. I was still smiling, but I was worn out, completely. I've been riding a lot this summer and also running, so I felt I was going into BFR4 in good shape. I was hoping that this year I would have more energy, even though the ride was going to be even longer, with more climbing.

Although the weather forecast for BFR4 was stellar (temps in the 60 and 70s with ZERO chance of rain), fewer riders showed up at the shop for this year's ride. This was probably due to Dave's cautionary disclaimer about the ride:

This is a BIG ASS RIDE. Seriously, it will be hard. Mileage will be 40-50, over 4,000' of climbing and around 7500' of descending. This is not a novice ride. Heck, this isn't really an intermediate/advanced ride either. We'll call this an experts only ride. Be prepared for anything and everything. There are NO BAILOUTS. Well, you can bail, but it means a long, long ride on the road back to anywhere important. If you're in doubt if this ride is for you or not, it probably is not.

After serving the ride up this way, 14 brave souls turned up Sunday morning ready to ride; me and 13 guys, some Redstone regulars and some new faces.

Bikes loaded up and ready for a BIG day! (photo cred Matt Saunders)

We started the ride off Peak-to-Peak Highway, ascending Bunce School Road, a gradual mostly uphill jeep road that served to get us warmed up. After about 5 miles, we arrived at Peaceful Valley, home to some of the best technical trails in the Front Range. That's when the real climbing began. Up, up, up we went on Sourdough, a rocky trail with baby heads galore that weaves through the pine forest.

Me on a bridge on Sourdough (photo cred Jesper Kristensen)

We topped out at just shy of 10,000 feet in the meadow at the intersection of Sourdough and South Saint Vrain (SSV).

The group at the high point of the day, taking a food break (photo cred Jesper Kristensen)

Me and my honey (photo cred Matt Saunders - with my camera before I broke it!)

After a picturesque lunch break overlooking the Indian peaks and golden aspens, we headed off on SSV. This is one technical trail! We were about 11 miles in and I was feeling really good at this point. I was looking forward to a very technical downhill segment on SSV I had been trying to clean all year; the part that dumps onto the short dirt road section. I had been able to ride all of it, just not all of it at one time. I wasn't even wearing my armor, but I felt in the groove. I hit the section and the bike just flowed under me all the way down. When I got to the bottom I couldn't believe I rolled through that section like it was easy peasey! Maybe all the downhilling has helped me on the super technical descents! Needless to say, I was spaztically excited for quite awhile. That is until I kissed a tree.

Like I mentioned, SSV is one technical trail. I was rocking through droppy, rooty, switchbacky section after section. Then I arrived at tough part and as my front tire went over a rooty, droppy switchback, I went over the bars. Smack dab, teeth first into an aspen. After I figured out that my chompers were intact, I was surprised to hear the back log of guys behind me go, "ooooohhh that doesn't look so good." What didn't look so good?!!?! I couldn't tell! I was then informed that my chin was scratched up a little. Come to think of it, my chin did hurt, as did my arms and my legs (bruises surely to come). Feeling that nothing was hurt too bad, I hopped on my bike and continued all the way down SSV to the trailhead off of Peak-to-Peak Highway. I arrived to see this:

My scraped up chinny-chin-chin (photo cred Jesper Kristensen)

It was just a scrape, but it looked rather bass ass, I must say (now it just looks like a scabbed over, oozing goatee). My close encounter with the aspen somewhat dimmed my enthusiasm for aggressively attacking the downhills that day, but I still rode everything, just a tad slower than usual. Worse than my scrapes, bruises and diminished mojo was that I broke my camera : (

After SSV, our group headed across Peak-to-Peak and began climbing again on gravel roads toward Gold Lake. Atop a rocky outcropping overlooking the lake, we dined on lunch number 2 and enjoyed the spectacular views. I recalled that at this spot last year, we were surrounded by black, nasty clouds, but this year it was crystal clear as far as the eye could see. We were about 20 miles in, almost halfway, and I still felt energized and fairly fresh.

Another beautiful place to dine! (photo cred Jesper Kristensen)

I knew the remainder of the ride would be predominantly downhill, although there were a couple of climbs toward the end that could suck the life out of me. I vowed to continue eating on a regular basis at every regrouping. We made our way from Gold Lake to Jamestown on some fun trails and jeep roads.

View from the trails near Jamestown (photo cred Matt Saunders)

I hit the ground again a few times and felt like my technical skills were out the window, probably due to too much caution post tree-kissing, but my energy remained high. I ate again in Jamestown while we hung out by the Merc for awhile. Then the group headed down Left Hand Canyon Drive, one of the few sections of the day that we would ride pavement. After a few miles on the road, we tucked onto the Left Hand OHV trails, first on a bluff above the road and then getting in deeper.

We ascended up FR 286, one of the last big climbs of the day, and decided to come down Carnage Canyon. I had never been on this trail, which had recently been closed to motorized vehicles. Since we had just climbed a fair bit and we needed to get back down to Left Hand Canyon Drive, a descent down Carnage Canyon sounded like it had potential to be some ripping fun. NOT! The Forest Service had been out in force with what must have been some honking big machinery. They dug up the entire canyon, rendering it soft and rocky in a decidedly unrideable way, apparently intending for this area to be restored to a creek bed. We pushed our bikes down for almost 2 miles, trying hard not to twist an ankle. We got the message loud and clear from the Forest Service - this is no longer a trail! We won't be back.

Despite the bust that Carnage Canyon was, no one complained. I for one was grateful for the opportunity to stretch out my back and use different muscles for a bit. Carnage Canyon dumped us back on the road, which we took for about 2.5 miles to the entrance to Heil Valley Ranch. We were about 38 miles in, with 10 more still to go, but it felt like we were almost done because we were back on very familiar territory.

This is were I started feeling really wonked last year. Not so this year; my legs still felt remarkably fresh. I ascended up Wapiti at a good clip, passing a couple guys in our group and chit chatting with Dave for awhile. Then Dave pulled away, everyone seemed to find their own pace and I was left to myself. Once the Wapiti climb terminated into the Wild Turkey Trail, I dialed it back a bit. Wild Turkey is super chunky and rocky and after over 40 miles in the tank, in my head I knew I should be just a bit cautious, lest I end up a casualty on the rocks. I focused on riding clean and smooth, and I maintained this tactic when I got on the top, techy part of the Picture Rock Trail. I had so much fun as I ascended in the golden, waning sunlight. Once past the silo and on the swooppy flat part of the trail, I increased the speed again, enjoying the flow of the trail. I arrived back at Dave's shop after being out on the bike for about 9 and a half hours. That's a long day in the saddle, but I finished feeling like I had the energy to keep going for more!

BFR4 ended up being one of the BEST rides ever; impressive among a long list of pretty awesome rides I have done! The group of riders was great; we stuck together well, everyone was super cool and there were no whiners! This was the longest ride for a few of the guys and it was so fun to see them crank it out! We hit some fantastic trails and saw some beautiful scenery. Most importantly, there were no serious injuries (my face plant aside), somewhat amazing considering the technical nature of some of the trails we rode!

Final stats:

• 48 miles of riding
  
• 5,400 feet of climbing and something like 7,000 feet of descending
• Highest point about 9,900 feet
  
• Out there about 9 1/2 hours, in the saddle for about 6 of them
• 3,200 calories burned
• Endless smiles
• Zero complaining!

Thanks Dave - I'll be back for BFR5!