A little chapel at the resort.


A Mexican ground squirrel.


Just a random shot of part of the resort. Funny story. These pools and fountains are all over the resort. They are very shallow (maybe 6" and lined with smaller rounded stones). We met another couple from St. Louis of all places. After we established where they went to high school (a St. Louis thing) we all went to dinner and sat at a table right next to one of said pools. Another couple went to sit down at the table next to ours and the woman fell into this pool. This will sound terrible but it was perhaps one of the funniest things I've seen. Imagine the sound and then to look over and see a woman laying face down in this pool. If it would have been deeper it might not have hurt so much but.....6" doesn't cushion the fall much. I'm sure she was drunk and we speculated that her high heel probably slipped off the edge and then she lost it. I have no idea how I kept it together through the ensuing rescue effort that took place but I did it. It hurt but I did it. Sadly, the woman broke her wrist in the fall and the couple left after she was pulled from the depths. Picture the trail of water that followed her as she slowly limped away. Kinda like slime leading to a snail.


A shot of the beach. Notice the lack of people. This friendly staff member is about to bring me yet another beverage of my choice.

Really hard to get a shot that isn't ruined by people.

Tequila.



A chest that hasn't seen the light of day in eons. I got A LOT of looks and heard the phrase, "...looks like a damn fool" more than once.


Our bathroom. Perhaps the biggest disapppointment for me. Some of you know that I have long dreamed of utilizing a bidet to....clean house with. Apparently only the top of the line rooms have the bidet. This is not the way it was pitched to me at all. There was some words exchanged and I'm sad to report that I have no pics or even video of it's use. I did try buying someone that was staying in said upscale rooms some drinks in exchange for 15 minutes of time in their bathroom but they respectfully declined. I also managed to locate a garden hose but the bush wasn't quite as protective as I'd like and I do get stage fright.


The porch.

The bed. Let's keep this civilized shall we?

Viva la Mexico!!

We got back to Colorado last night after 7 magnificent days in Playa del Secreto. I don't even know where to begin to describe this vacation. Heather booked an all-inclusive that doubled as a late honeymoon and one year anniversary celebration. It was a great way to unwind after a really disappointing year for both of us at work and before we start to consider our options.

I've never left the USA so I was on high alert when we touched down in Mexico but no one was there. The Swine Flu saw most people cancelling their plans. I figured I'd just get really drunk and let the Swine and tequila battle it out. After a short trip to the resort, we were greeted with moist (TK used to cringe when he heard that word) towels and champagne. On an empty stomach, it didn't take long for the party to begin. Just like the airport, no one was at the resort so we got even more attention. Most of the time, they just bring you more of whatever it is you're drinking when the glass gets half full. If you say you don't need anymore then the tequila starts to arrive.

Our resort was at 30% capacity and for the last few days it got a bit more crowded but never went over 50%. I imagine a lot of people go there to party but I'm not much of a people person. Sometimes conversation takes a lot out of me and it was great for me to be able to just sit there and vegetate all day although I really enjoyed talking with the staff.

Breakfast and lunch were pretty much a buffet but they will cook you anything you want. I had fresh shrimp, snapper, grouper, cactus, fruit, beef, pork......whatever. Dinner was entirely different. You ordered from a menu and it was 5 star regardless of whether you dined French, Italian, Mexican, Japanese, or Indonesian.

We pretty much stayed at the resort the entire time as it's tough to walk away from. We did venture into Cancun one day for some snorkeling and a tour of the mangroves. We rode waverunners for about 45 minutes each way. Heather had the camera but I swam with a HUGE Grouper. When we came back to the runners to head back, there was a 5-6 foot Barracuda under our runner. I put on my mask and went under and got within feet of it. Amazing. We were out of pictures at that point and normally the rule when fishing is that if it aint on film, it didn't happen so you gotta take my word for it. We have quite a few pics and I may make an album later on with the Mac but for now I'll post some of the highlights here. If I put an album together I'll be sure to post a link.

Big thanks to Kayleen to looking after 2 crazy pitbulls for us. Our original plan was to have our friends Peggy and Henry watch Dharma and drop Bodhi off at the pound I mean kennel but I'm very leary of having my dogs somewhere like that. At the last minute, we found Kayleen who, strangely, said she'd be more than happy to stay at the house and watch them both. I threw her the keys and said, "See ya bye!!!". Peggy and Henry took over for the last few days and walked next door to let the monsters out several times and let Bodhi stretch his legs outside of his kennel. They same fine although it wouldn't be a trip if Bodhi didn't destroy something so he managed to pull a nice down comforter mostly into his crate and chew that up and pass the time with the feathers.

I now have 8 weeks to prep for the CTR and my plan is pretty well setup. I'm supposed to start today and it looks like I'll be spending about 2 hours out in the cold and rain. I think I'm in good shape though. I had a physical before leaving and all is good. I actually lost just under 10 pounds from my weight last year at this time. Height is the same. I behaved in Mexico and still got some workouts in and have come back weighing the same. Time to go get wet and cold.

I think today was the first nice day we've had up here that I've actually been able to take advantage of. A lot of the weekends have been colder and rainy or snowy. I didn't even have to wear a base layer today. Or a hat. I got in 65 miles that included 2 trips up and down the pass. I also set new personal power records for 5 second, 1 minute, 60 minute and 120 minute. Woot woot.

I also just got back from Wal-Mart where I scored some new black socks.

Concern$

I have been very worried about this years CTR for several weeks now but I haven't been able to even think about it because things are so stressful at work and I can't take on anymore. I just finished up 2 grad school classes and I am taking 1 this summer. Then I'm down to my final 3 hours before graduation. I need some gear for an attempt this year but I wasn't thinking that student loans wont be an option for me as I'll be less than part time. In a perfect world I'd run a new drivetrain, new wheels, rebuild the fork, and get new brakes. I also would like to do a new sleeping system. Heather is very worried about this year and I have to replace my SPOT so she has some piece of mind. Now I'm trying to prioritize things. The SPOT is non-negotiable. I might be able to get by with a new cassette and chain and run the same rear derailleur and chain rings. I worked on those breaks several times a day last year but I may have to run them again this year. The fork needs new seals but I may take a chance. Maybe the rear hub will hold up? I need to make a call but I think I can borrow a bivy this year. I know I'll probably get wet from condensation but I don't have many options. This race is just so darn hard on equipment but man.....is it pretty.

CTR 2009

There has been talk of changes to the course for the last several months and a decision was finally made. The first change is a good one in my mind. It avoids the Lost Creek Wilderness and last year we took the Taryall detour. It's 75ish or so miles of mostly fire roads and I really don't like it. I'm very happy with the fact that we will now be heading into the town of Bailey instead. There's plenty of options for food there and then we'll head up 285 to Kenosha Pass and then get back on the trail and start the climb up Georgia Pass. The second change will put us on some steep singletrack that I don't expect will be rideable for most of the way from Breckenridge (over the 10 Mile Range) and down into Copper Mountain. The last change and the one that will be the most difficult is that we will ride the high altitude sections of the trail through segments 22 and 23. Last year the detour was on fire roads and this year the vote was to keep us on as much trail as possible. This will add about 30 miles of singletrack and the majority of that will be above treeline. Most will be 12,ooo' with a substantial portion of it being above 13,000'. For those that know the area, this is Coney Summit and Cataract Ridge. It's a very dangerous place. Storms are completely unpredicatable. Lightning can be deadly and I know people that have had to deal with horizontal hail, rain, and snow throughout the summer. I know of 2 guys that hunkered down for 18 hours there just waiting for weather to clear. The other major concern is that it's going to make food much more of a strategy this year. If you time it right, you can catch a store at Mount Princeton hot springs and load up on some pretty decent stuff. It's definitely gonna be interesting if weather becomes a factor and riders have to hide out and eat valuable food that could mean a hungry ride into Silverton. I'm pretty sure that Lake City is not an option this year for food so getting to Silverton is a must.

COP

Citizen On Patrol.

Back when I used to work for Big Shark, Weiss was the COP supreme. Today I took action.

I was at Dicks looking for swim trunks for the Mexico trip. I considered a Speedo but that's another story. I left the store with nothing. I'm sitting in the van at an intersection and I see this guy backing out of his spot. He does not look like he knows what he's doing. He backs into a new Maxima and crunches it good. My mouth hit the floor. Then he put it in drive and started to leave and I began yelling. At least a dozen people saw this and no one took action. I got the plate number and wrote a note and put it on the car with my info. Wish someone would have helped me out last night. Not sure what will happen.

I do remember when my Audi got hit one night at Blockbuster and a witness got the plates of the other driver and the cops said they couldn't do a thing about it. Seemed suspect.