I said I was going to...

do more mountain biking this year. Today I wanted to check out some of the Colorado Trail. I knew most of it would have snow but thought section 2 would be my best shot. I started and things looked pretty good although it was chilly.

On the right you can see what the north facing slopes look like and I was about to get into them.

I ended up doing this for a long time. This isn't even that bad yet. After rounding this little point, I pushed for miles. Disappointed, I thought I might be able to salvage the day by making it through this section and then taking the road back to Deckers and then another 10 miles back to the van. After almost 2 hours of post-holing in the snow, and 2 stops to take off both brake calipers, remove the pads, and then push the pistons back in and reinstall everything, I decided it might not be a good idea to push on any more since I didn't bring my emergency bivy. I did pass some snowshoers on the way out. Judging by their dropped jaws, I'm guessing they must have thought there was something wrong with me.

I need to know

Both of my dogs have paws that smell EXACTLY like corn chips. Heather and I have said this for years. Sometimes at night I'll wake up and smell a bag of chips in the bed but then I realize that there's a dog paw somewhere in close proximity. I'm always curious...do all dogs feet smell like this? Is it a Pitbull thing? I think my neighbors would find it odd if I crept into the yard to investigate this matter further. So...to keep me from looking weird I need as many people to smell their dogs paws and get back to me. Please include breed.

I've been spending some time on my singlespeed here lately. I like the idea of one gear but I'm not too fond of riding a 26er anymore. I'm giving some thought to converting my Orbea to a SS just to see how I like it. We'll see.

It was a gorgeous day to be out on the bike today. I did a favorite loop of mine. We have a paved road that climbs up to a gravel road just up from town and then you can take the singletrack back down. It's a fun loop. For some strange reason I was able to do the loop today in partial snow as fast as I do it geared with no snow. Not sure if I could do 2 more laps of it with similar times but I may try tomorrow if I get bored.

This is your token shot of Pikes Peak.

This is right at the start of the trail after turning off the gravel road (Rampart Range Road). The trail follows those power lines pretty much back down to town. The Continental Divide is looming in the distance.

In 1999 a female lynx was trapped and collared in Canada and released in Southwest Colorado to help re-introduce the species. The program has been very successful. By 2006, the number of Colorado lynx was right at 200 and the kittens of the relocated lynx were even successfully reproducing. That 13 year old female was taken (most likely by a poacher) last weekend in Summitt County. This particular lynx had roamed as far as Rocky Mountain National Park. The Department of Wildlife received a signal from the collar that indicated that the lynx was dead. When they arrived on the scene they were not able to find a carcas but did find plenty of evidence that the lynx was most likely dead. I really hope this was some kind of an accident. I hope that the lynx killed something sizeable and left a bloody mess and that the collar has simply malfunctioned. If I'm wrong I hope the poacher suffers horribly in some kind of accident.

Loooooong day

I met up with Scott at the Gill Trailhead at about 11 today. We took our time getting ready and drank some coffee before starting the hike down into the canyon. Not more than 20 minutes after I got in the water did I glance downstream to Scott to find 2 guys talking to him. I saw the handgun and then realized they were with the Division of Wildlife. I have NEVER been checked by DOW and to have them actually come down into the canyon was a surprise indeed. I'm an up and up guy but was actually a little stressed about where my license was so I thought I'd get out and find it while they checked Scott. One of them came over to me as I was looking and we small talked while I looked. I found Heathers license. I found my license from last year. I HAVE a current license. I told the officer it must be in my wallet. Right away he started in on me. I offered to hike out and come back down but he didn't like that idea. Now...each year you get the same number with the DOW so I asked him if he could just run the digits (even though I knew and understood what his response was gonna be). He chewed on me for a while and then told me he was gonna run it when he got back to his truck and if I didn't have a current one he'd come see me.

Well then I felt like shit so I told Scott I was gonna hike out, find it, and then hike back in so I could show him before he hiked out. I hauled ass out and the license was in my wallet. The DOW truck was no where in the lot. So when I got back down to the river Scott said they had just left but I hadn't passed them. Then I realized they had probably parked in the private camp just downstream and hopped the fence. So I went down there to see if I could find them. I wasn't able to find them and didn't feel like getting a ticket for trespassing so I just decided to leave it alone. The private club has a helo pad and it's rumored that Dick Cheney once fished there. They have a chain link fence going all the way across the river blocking it which I think is BS but oh well. They do stock some big ass Kamloops Rainbows in there though. I fished just on the legal side of the fence and got into a bow on the second drift.

After that the temps dropped probably 10 degrees and it was frigid. We fished for several more hours in the difficult conditions and then decided to hike out. Once in the lot, I started the van, changed and then we were gonna drink a beer. One turned into 2 and then I was outta there. However...6 miles outside of town, the van ran out of gas. Shoulda left after beer #1. No cell service left hoofing it until I could call Heather. What a day.

This is probably my favorite section of the river. There's always fish in this area.

The Fabled Unicorn??

So today I heard what I believed to be a very long tale. It involved rainbow trout in the 22" range living in some seriously skinny water in a creek down in Manitou Springs (Fountain Creek). Immediately I bent an ear. Anytime you can hook into something that big in ribbon water, its guaranteed fun. I was more than skeptical. I do know that the city and Trout Unlimited have talked about trying to restore that particular watershed. However, there are so many homeless people living along that creek and I know that defecation, and pollution are a huge concern. I can't imagine investing the dough for trout when keeping it clean would be impossible. But...I know both of these guys and their respectable guides. It was kinda like overhearing someone talk about a sure thing at the track. You don't ask questions. You just grab money and get to the OTB. So...I had an errand to run down the mountain after school anyways so I decided to check it out. I knew precisely where they were talking about. I went there, parked and started walking the creek. I didn't see anything and spotting even an 18" sucker in a small creek can be done at midnight. Granted, there was some shelves of ice along both banks but I also banged around on them a lot to try and see if anything came out. Notta.

Personally, that area doesn't hold a candle to the water I usually target but something new is always cool. I'm calling BS.

Holy strong wind...

The wind was unreal last night. It woke us all up and the dogs (especially Bodhi) were on high alert. The chairs on the deck were piled up. The bird feeders fell down. When we got up this morning we saw this:

The wind blew down this big pine. It's about 2 feet in diameter.

Pretty impressive really and I'm happy it didn't land on my van.

This is Bear Creek as it runs right past the deck of a cabin we stayed at in Evergreen when we got married. Excellent hopper fishing all day long (damn near caused me to be late to the ceremony) and the sound at night while we sat around enjoying the company of old friends couldn't be beat. My buddy Scott and I are gonna head out on Saturday to hit some bigger water somewhere as places like this are frozen over. Can't wait.

Mountain Lions

I just got back from scouting for the elusive yet elegant mountain lion. There have been numerous sightings of the fabled creature just down the hill from us. In fact, on the news last night was a tragic story of a family that lost their dog to a cub. Apparently, the family heard the dog barking and looked out to see it running along the fence line. Minutes later it yelped loudly and when they looked out again, it was being carried off in the mouth of a cub as momma proudly watched. Now....more sympathetic for the dog I can't be but perhaps worse is the fact that the kids watched the entire thing. However, I would love to see a mountain lion. Tonight I drove around slowly on the western side of Green Mountain Falls and Cascade and got nothin' to show for the effort except less gas. Perhaps I should have tied on a T-Bone to the bumper?

Again...my thoughts drift back to 4 things: Bodhi, a large bottle of Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ Sauce, a sturdy rope, and a camera. Wait add 2 more things. I need a chair to sit in and I might as well have a cold beer while I'm waiting.

I keeeeed.

Today....

I am 37. The day was pretty uneventful really. I had to work but we didn't have any students at school. Just meetings. Anyways...my email was blowing up today from all of the notifications of people that had left messages on my Facebook. Yes...I have a Facebook. But...as some of you now know...there's not much there. In fact, there's not even a picture of me. There's even less information about me. Facebook scares me. I originally registered there just to look at a friends page. I don't go there at all, although I may have to so I can say thank you for those old friends that took the time to wish me a good day. Hope you are all well. Thanks everyone. It seems like a neat concept but I don't have enough time right now to do that and this thing.

Regardless of it being my birthday, my grad school classes started again today. Pretty happy about that. I have only 1 hour this semester and that's writing my thesis paper. This should be the last course I take but I kinda had a little mishap (I totally forgot about a class I was registered in for last summer until it was 4 weeks into it) so I'll be taking that course this summer.

#1

Only some of you will appreciate this and that's totally cool. If the Ross Evolution reel isn't the best selling reel in the USA, it's damn close. Those bastards at Ross have re-engineered the reel for 2010. This is it. It is sexy but I think I like mine better. The drag on these reels are a thing of beauty and it truly makes a difference. I'll never forget the first fish I got into with this reel. It was a Snake River Cutt and the difference was night and day. Ross uses Delrin in their drag systems (just in case you were wondering).

One of the things that make the mountains so interesting to me is the old mining relics that can be found up in the hills. Today it was supposed to be 50 here in town so for some strange reason, I decided to start my ride over near the old towns of Victor and Cripple Creek. Both of these were mining towns and there's some cool stuff to see over there (the casinos are not one of them). I started my ride just past Horsethief Park and rode to Gold Camp Road. I guess everyone was in a big hurry to get their drink/gamble on because some folks were driving insane. Exactly 2 miles after getting on Gold Camp, you come to this nice little fixxer upper. I don't think it's all that old. It wouldn't take much to get this baby polished up. I could easily live here although I would be single.

It already has the most important part inside. A small fridge. Unfortunately, someone decided to shoot it. Someone wrote this message on the front of it and for a second I thought I was gonna get a free beer. But...it was empty. TK....you always say you hate the cold but....now we know the truth (ya gotta look closely at the signature).

I could sit here all day long and drink coffee (or beer) and be quite content.

This is what I rode on for 4 hours.

It is so nice to get butt naked in a warm van with comfy seats. Obviously I was not quite naked here.

Arizona Trail Race

Scott Morris has put together what looks to be a really exciting route from the border of Mexico to Utah. The route will run in to the south rim of the Grand Canyon and then require the rider to portage through to the north rim of the canyon (about 20ish miles) and then on to Utah. It's about 750 miles and 80,000' of gain.

Unfortunately, I still have some unfinished business here in Colorado. This looks really interesting and it's getting a lot of attention.

http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,607.0.html

Homecoming

As I opened the door to my humble home after work, I was greeted with what could very well be described as the most offensive odor in the world. Right away I knew it could only be one thing. I took off my coat as I ran up the stairs. I put my bag down and hustled up to the spare bedroom where Bodhi spends his day in the kennel. Oh yeah. This is where the description will stop and you're welcome. After a bath and mopping the bathroom floor, cleaning the tub, and hosing out his kennel (thankfully it's above freezing right now) the house is finally getting back to a normal smell. He has been asleep since then. He's had more intestinal issues than any other pup I've had. So far he's put down a little bit of Propel and hopefully he'll be better off tomorrow morning after a bit of rice tonight.

Needless to say......there will be no photos in this entry

Finally

The weather was decent enough today to get out. I was out for about 2.5 hours on my mountain bike. My Reba fork has been giving me issues lately and now it's entirely blown and the lockout isn't working. The ride was still good and I think tomorrow is supposed to be nice again so I'm hoping to get out for about 3 hours on my road bike.

I almost came home with another puppy today. While I was riding along on a gradual climb, I thought I heard something behind me. I looked and thought I caught something out of the corner of my eye but it went to the other side. I kept looking back and forth for probably 5 times until I turned all the way around and saw a yellow lab running along with me. It followed me for about a quarter of a mile. Then took off down into the ditch and popped back up with a 3 foot long branch that was about 3" in diameter and ran along side of me again. Obviously I was worried about her getting hit so I stopped. She dropped the stick and then ran 10 yards away and just stared at me. I went over and started petting her and noticed she had a tag but it was just a rabies vaccination tag so there was no address. It really bothers me when people aren't more responsible with their dogs. I know that sometimes dogs are crafty and can get out of the yard but isn't making sure that the area is secure part of being a responsible owner? Heather and I went looking for her a while ago but didn't find her. Hopefully she's sleeping on a couch in someone's warm home. Surprisingly, I don't think Heather would have been all that upset with me. We could have had 3 puppies!!!!!!!!

New Team

Not me silly.....Ken Block. He's decided to leave Subaru and he's now in a Ford. He will be stepping up to do some WRC stuff with the big boys. He's going to be driving the same car that Kenny Brack and Brian Deegan have been in. It's a Fiesta with a 2 liter motor that's putting down 800hp on 50lbs of turbo boost!!!! This thing does 0-60 in about 2 seconds. I hope he makes it out for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb this year.

Whoa....

I stumbled across this while browsing another VW/Audi site I frequent. This is a B5 RS4 with a lot of really cool goodies. I don't know much about this car. The guy that built it is somewhere overseas. I'd love to see more pics of the suspension, brakes, and interior. I can't even find any video of dyno runs but I bet they're violent.


Sorting through the nightmare of a wiring harness.


Yes that's a V8 and 2 turbo's.


So just below the turbo's you can see the frame rails. These now also serve as the air runners. There's a hole in each rail on the inside and towards the bellhousing. More plumbing is attached to these and the air goes up and into the filters.

That's a Subie WRX scoop. A huge hole was cut in the Audi hood and this was grafted in.

At the risk of sounding like a Nancy boy...

So yesterday Heather and I were going to head down and run some errands and I grabbed a pair of pants to put on because it's always nice to do that. I got them buttoned but it was not comfortable. I looked down and saw what appeared to be some extra baggage. So I stripped down and stood on the bathroom scale (which I haven't done in eons). 174.6lbs!!!!

When we were in Mexico, there was a guy there that was skinny everywhere but the belly. It looked like that dude was in his 8th month and ready to pop at any moment. I had a dream last night that I was going to be lugging that up all the passes this year. Let me just say that the image of THAT trying to be kept in and giggle free by a medium sized bib was enough to cause me to wake up in a state of utter panic. I actually considered bangign out some extra crunches right there in bed. So that's it. I'm a strict plan that actually started the 1st. No more beers for this guy. I gotta get back to fighting weight.

Yes!!!!!

Yesterday afternoon I got a call from Rick up at JDB Imports about the fate of my van. He said he had successfully exorcised the demons from it. He also said he had been driving it around for about 45 minutes and was impressed with it. "It's got power," were his exact words. I said, "Dude...we're talking about the maroon 88 right?" The biggest culprit turned out to be the relay that controls the ECU. It was sending intermittent power to the computer and this was freaking out everything. Rick also installed one of his patent pending kits that takes care of the dreaded "Vanagon syndrome" (slight loss of power and bucking that can show up every other day or every 6 months). Years ago VW offered a pigtail harness that was supposed to cure this issue but it doesn't. If you know what I'm talking about...I no longer even have that harness that goes to the air meter. I drove Ron home last and fell in love all over again.

I am also very proud to say that for the first time since I've known Heather...I pulled off the New Year's eve thing. I must say that it was all worth it. The fireworks reflecting off the Peak were beautiful. I did have one of Woodland Parks finest pull up my street while I was taking in the fireworks. He stopped and started in on what I was doing and where I lived. I told him there was nothing to see here officer. We only have half a dozen or so officers in this town but I never saw him before so they musta brought in the big guns last night.

Off to the gym and then I'll squeeze in a ride later.