All's quiet...

Not Axel.

I got a head full of evil thoughts... ~ 50 Cent

...aside from the demons in my head of course. I am not a proponent of cold-turkey in any of its forms (particularly, well... the turkey one) but I must say that running practically daily for 4 months straight then stopping on a dime may not be the best plan for everybody. And by "everybody", I mean "me" since I am so awesome, I might as well be everybody (except for that Megan Fox rose kid, he's got way more game than me).

Anyway, I think that immediate cessation of virtually any activity, Dungeons and Dragons aside, is bad for one's mental state and mine has definitely suffered of late. Pretty much everything either bums me out or pisses me off these days resulting in several soggy, dented ponies and one seriously f'd up Care Bear display. But I am augmenting my lack of running with copious amounts of research on how to be even more awesome once I get back out there. So it's all good.

In any event, lot's of good stuff going on including a two-peat at Western States by Hal Koerner and a very impressive domination of the women's field by Colorado's own Anita Ortiz who came in 9th OVERALL. There was some ass, and she apparently felt obliged to kick it. Congratulations are in order to all finishers and participants who endured Stu-melting heat on a bad-ass course. Not sure if the WS100 will ever be on my agenda but they put on a helluva race and provide some cool site features to let couch-surfers everywhere join in the fun. Where the WS100 site fell short, near constant tweets picked up the slack. Gotta love technology. Except for this laptop which is currently searing my thighs.

So in the meantime, I have been riding my bike, watching movies (Up is good. Doubt was as well. Paranoid Park, not so much.), and chasing down new business leads. I also need to give a special shout out to Dr. Stephen Paul of Boulder Orthopedics. He has helped me out numerous times and is well-acquainted with the inside of my right knee. I had an appointment scheduled with him next Monday and he called me today to let me know that I would be better served seeing one of his partners for my injury vs. seeing him and then followed up by distributing my MRI results for her review and having her nurse call to set up an appointment for me. Gotta love that patient care. If you don't have an orthopedic injury in need of treatment, I recommend jumping off a roof or something in order to have a reason to go see him.

Now leave me alone, I have to go glare at a kitten.

~stubert.

Flyin' solo...

You get your ass out there and you find that fucking dog. ~ Billy Madison

Rach is covering the House Rabbit Society this week while her co-manager, Nancy, is visiting Maine so I am flying solo for the week. Just me and the critters up here at the casa - and quite a few less critters than normal. Rach took down all the critical care guys so the house feels a little empty. I have moved my motorcycle, ski and bike collection in to fill the void and get a little Spring tune-up action going so that is filling the now-empty space. (I kid, I kid.)

On the running front, I am still at it though with ill-definined goals currently. I took Tuesday off to rest and went to see Star Trek, which was entertaining. JJ needs to relax a bit on the lens flairs but it featured an entertaining story, capable acting and good action with just a fine schmear of cheese. And what would Trek be without some cheese?

I ran short on Wednesday and did some surges which got me a couple of thumbs up from passing motorists on the Beav'. I felt great, actually and was able to keep my form solid throughout my run, which is precisely what we are after. So mission accomplished. Short, meet sweet.

Thursday got away from me a little bit with some work wackiness then a quest to find Rach a new headset so that she can actually get some work done while fielding calls at the shelter. I then went to see Sandy to get a little work done on my never-en ading ab problem and by the time I got home, my desire to run had wained quite a bit. I finally levered myself off the couch and just said, "Man, get your ass in gear and go run." And I listened! Go figure. Usually I buck authority.

The first half of the run was decidedly unpleasant. My poor attitude was coupled with really not feeling well at all. It was late (I didn't start until after 7p) and I had wacked down some ill-advised snacks just prior to the run. Plus I was feeling a bit exhausted in general. So I ran/walked up a trail near my house with the ultimate goal of reaching Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Clunkiness continued for about 2.5 miles until I started to feel it. The second half of the run went really well and I turned on the heat to finish up with a total time of 1:04 and 6.5 miles - all on dirt and technical trails. I think this is actually as fast as I have ever done this loop so all's well that end's well. The lesson learned is "get off your couch, jackass... you might be missing your best run ever!" (Not that this was my best run ever per se, but it could have been and I could have missed it, jeez.)

So I am off again today and have to roll down to Boulder for a meeting. I may try to catch another movie... not sure. Tomorrow is the big race that I am not doing (ugh). I am going to volunteer at Aid Station 3 so say "hi" as you run by or just come out to watch everyone else running the Dirty 30. Sunday I volunteer at the shelter and then am shooting some video for the shelter then am going to figure out how to work in an 11-miler. May turn into my first night run of the season. We'll see.

On a less awesome note, I ask everyone to employ their good juju and point it toward the mountains of China for a bit. My buddy, Jonny Copp and two climbing partners are past due returning from a first ascent attempt of Dojitsenga, a 5,700-meter peak in the Kangri Garpo range. They are currently at least two days late. This is not really something new for J to the C but any good thoughts you might send his way couldn't hurt. Read more about it.

As always, I'll keep you posted.

~stubert.

Where'd the last week go?

Caleb and me at the Basin.

Slipped my mind... ~ Dean

[Ed. ~ So I forgot to post this yesterday or whenever I actually managed to get it written. How much does that rule?]

Apparently, I have been busy as the last week has flown by. I know I have been working a ton and did manage to check out a movie (Milk) on Sunday after cleaning bunny cages at the House Rabbit Society with Rach in the morning. It was quite good. Go see it immediately. I haven't skied since last Friday though, which is a bit of a drag and today the wind is working overtime up here so I am not sure Eldora will even have the upper mountain open. Plus it will probably be scoured. I'll keep you posted on that though.

I did break out the trainers on Saturday and hit the dreadmill at the gym. Felt pretty awful after way too much time away from regular running. I did do 5 miles at a moderate (joggy) sort of pace of 9-10-minute miles. A far cry from my standard pacing. But that's okay. I probably shouldn't have taken so much time off but I was hoping some of the nagging injuries I have been experiencing would go away in the interim (they haven't). Still having problems with my psoas muscles and toes. But if these are my biggest problems in life then I have it pretty good, really.

I did get in day 20 up at A-Basin on the 2nd with Caleb. Pete and Edy came up for a few runs too. I was feeling pretty tired and beaten up at the start but got way better as the day went on and by the time we had to leave, I was skiing really pretty well. Dropping the cornice, then top rocks and even flowing a tricky little rock feature mid-way down the mountain. All in all, I am skiing pretty well.

So given today's conditions, I may hit the gym for my lunchtime adventure instead of braving the wind at the Rock. We'll see how things go.

~stubert.

Let it snow (repeat x3)...

Don't mess with the fantasy, okay? ~ Gary Wallace

Yesterday: Beer Festival
Today: Run - Towards Ned, 1.5 hours
Tomorrow: Off

Ever have a hot chick drive by and ask you if you want a ride? Normally I don't just hop into cars with strangers, no matter how smokin' they may be but today it just felt right. Plus she wasn't a stranger. Rach had come to rescue me. But I thought I'd string you along for a little while there.

So I left my car in Ned yesterday so I could take the bus down to Denver. Today's mission... run to Ned to pick the bad boy up. One minor complication -- it snowed about 6 inches overnight. This makes for good times.

I headed out about noon towards Ned. Mostly sticking to main roads, I slogged through the slush fairly quickly though I still can't seem to keep my heartrate down to normal levels. I am guessing this is a double-whammy combo special of still being fatigued from the race and sitting on my butt for the past 6 weeks. In any event, I actually felt okay today. Not great but okay.

Shortly after passing through Rollinsville, I headed west along a fairly well-established trail. This eventually hooks up with the WestMag trail system from which I can just head down to Nederland. Not today, however.

After following the trail for about a half a mile, it cuts into the woods. This is the point at which Senor Trail and I parted ways as it was impossible to find it with the fresh snow and tight trees. So I stumbled around for about 45 minutes -- crossing several fences, dodging cattle and generally not knowing where the hell I was. Eventually I jogged into a clearing just west of Kelly Dahl park and jumped back on the Peak to Peak roughly 1/2 mile from where I left the pavement. Awesome. At least I knew where I was finally.

I jogged along the highway for another mile or so until I was propositioned by the aforementioned hottie and jumped in Rach's warm Subaru for a ride on in to Nederland. All in all a good day in the woods. Or close to the woods as the case may be.

Once home, I got some work done and should be able to launch the Lion Equity site on Tuesday.

All in all we got at least 6 inches of snow and it continued to fall all day. The temperature is dropping now so we should see some additional accumulation overnight if this keeps up. I am sensing an A-Basin outing in my near future. Wednesday, anyone?

Rach spent the day in a significantly more productive (and charitable) manner wrangling critters at Bleating Heart Animal Sanctuary. This is a yearly event (that always seems to coincide with the first major snowstorm of the year) during which volunteers catch sanctuary bunnies, goats, turkeys and other assorted critters; make certain they are in good health; and release them back to the sanctuary grounds. Good stuff. This is the second or third year Rach has participated in the round-up. She has mad critter catching skills.

Movies:

Last night, we took a trip down memory lane and watched Do the Right Thing. Still a decent flick. I had forgotten that Martin Lawrence was in it. There are some classic lines in this one. Good stuff.

Your homework for the next few days: Go play in the snow.

~stubert.

Vrooooom...

Corporations don't deserve free speech, people deserve free speech. ~ Ron English

Yesterday: Bunny Cages - COHRS, 3 hours
Today: Hike - Raccoon Trail, 1 hour
Tomorrow: Swim/Hike - Gilpin County Community Center/Coyote Trail, ~2 hours

So today was spent getting a little work done, tinkering on the dirt bike and dodging rainstorms. I got up at a relatively decent hour and put in some time organizing items for the coming three months' worth of work (that needs to be completed in the next 24 days). Then I took my chainsaw in to the shop as I need to drop some trees. We have a pending shitstorm of beetle problems headed our way and I am going to thin out a bunch of our trees in an effort to minimize the overall impact on our property. We'll see how that works. I did speak at length with a forest service guy today who steered me in the right direction. Now the fun part begins.

After dropping off the chainsaw, I messed around on the dirtbike for a bit to see if I could get it running. No dice. So I ran it back over to the shop to let the pros take a stab at it. I am sure it is something dumb but is also has a leaky fork seal with which I simply don't want to deal. I am debating whether or not to sell it and maybe even all my other bikes to get a single ride that will cover my bases adequately. We'll see about that. I am kindof jonezing for a snowmobile for this winter but frankly all of this goes a bit against my nature. I tend to prefer non-motorized means of travel. Hmmmm.

On the way home from the shop, I stopped to pick up two motorcyclists who were hitching a ride. They had started the day near Blackhawk and ended up near Rollinsville. Since their bikes were not street legal, they didn't want to risk getting stopped on their way back and didn't know how to get there on trails. We tossed their bikes on the trailer and I drove them back to their truck. They were amazed how far away they had managed to get. The system of trails and mining roads is pretty expansive in Gilpin County and it is actually fairly easy to find yourself a great distance from your point of origin without realizing it. I have been lost on these trails many times. Fortunately, most dump back out to the Peak-to-Peak eventually so you can usually find your way home (even if you have to go a helluva long way to get there).

So with two of my maintenance-impaired items in the shop, I think that should cover the major repairs for awhile. I did do some more research on garages and now just need to either pull the trigger or keep looking for property to purchase. We really like where we live, our chief complaint being that we don't have as much southern exposure as we would like, that we would like a little extra room and a larger garage in which we can keep our cars out of the elements. We'll see which way that goes.

Rach made me super yummy vegan pizza for dinner. She is the best cook. I wolfed it down and then we went on a nice little hike in Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Now it is time for a little more work and then off to bed.

Movies:
Last night, we watched two films: POPaganda: The Art and Crimes of Ron English and Unknown.

POPaganda was actually not the greatest film ever but Ron English is an amazing artist so it was pretty cool to see his work and to be able to watch him work. If you haven't seen any of his stuff, you should definitely check it out. He is primarily a New York artist who specialized originally in doing "takeover" billboard art. He would find billboards and paste his art (often times satirical advertising) up over the regular advertising. He then moved to more traditional forms of art and is really an incredibly talented fine artist who does most of his work in oils on canvas. Even if you don't watch this film, check out his work here.

Unknown was pretty much crap. Don't bother with this one.

Ok kiddies, don't do anything I wouldn't do.

~stubert.

Rain run...

What are you... made of sugar? ~ Rachel

Yesterday: Singlespeed Ride - Caribou/Mud Lake Trails, 1 hour 45 minutes
Today: Run - Neighborhood trails, 1 hour
Tomorrow: Off

Headed out today with rain threatening and then was quickly greeted with a steady downpour. No biggie, I usually dry out eventually. I ran at a leisurely pace for about an hour and felt okay. Not great but just fine for such a short effort. The rain subsided a bit mid-run and then came back in the last 15 minutes or so. With temperatures in the upper 60s, this was no big deal.

Getting organized for the big day. Rach has been helping to get things sorted out and I have a pretty solid pace schedule and crew plan at this juncture. Everything is falling into place and now I am just waiting for Friday when I head up the hill and the countdown really starts. I have some final checks this week, have to buy supplies and food, pack up the rig and get my run on.

Movie review: Last night, I watched Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. This film is set in France in the 1700s and paints a really scary picture of people living in that period. This is a fine adaptation from an equally fine novel. It features some seriously grotesque scenes but is a movie I would recommend if you are into that sort of thing. Really well done.

~stubert.

One week...

...so as the rat's milk is returned to the sewers, the circle of life is complete. ~ Kent Brockman

Yesterday: Run - Casa del Critters, 45 minutes
Today: Ride - Ned area, 1.5 hours
Tomorrow: Ride - Casa del Critters, 1.5 hours

In one week, I should be somewhere in-between Fish Hatchery and Half Moon. Good stuff.

I can't believe this thing is only a week away. I started getting my stuff together last night and will continue gathering and organizing over the course of the next five days or so. I think I have everything I need (aside from food) and feel fit and fairly rested. I have been a little sleepy of late and hope to relieve that over the next few days.

Last night I went for a fun little run in the woods around my house. I didn't feel super snappy until later in the run but that is to be expected. It takes me awhile to warm up, as you might imagine. When I raced bikes, I put on some serious miles one summer and it would take me a couple of hours to start feeling good. I once had a crit in Copper mountain (about an hour-long event) for which I rode to the top of Fremont Pass to warm up. Kinda silly.

Today, I am hoping to go for a bike ride. Trying to cajole some of the Crüe to come up to join me. I also hope to get some things cleaned up and organized around the house so that I can focus on work in the coming weeks. I also need a new chair as my exercise ball on which I normally sit blew up. But I digress.

Movie review: The Black Dahlia is a train wreck. This film - based on the amazing novel of the same name by James Elroy - was simply a mess. Elroy has the ability to weave about 19 seemingly divergent plot-lines together into a coherent narrative that somehow works out in the end. (Not necessarily true for all his books but The Black Dahlia is a fine example of his talent. Also read L.A. Confidential.) It takes an equally skilled craftsperson to massage his work into a film that makes any sense whatsoever. When this is done well, the results are amazing (again, see L.A. Confidential). When not, it gets ugly - fast.

Couple this with inane casting (Hillary Swank as the femme fatale???) and pretty dismal directing by Brian De Palma and you have the recipe for disaster. Avoid this one. Trust me. There are plenty of less painful opportunities to see Mia Kirshner's boobs.

Get your countdown on.

~stubert.

Twofer...

Oh, why does everything I whip leave me? ~ Homer Simpson

Friday: Night Run - Neighborhood, 30 minutes
Yesterday: Singlespeed Ride - Casa del Critters, 1 hour 30 mintues
Today: Ride - Ned area?, 2 hours
Tomorrow: Off

Ladies and gentlemen... we have broken the 2-week barrier. Despite my recent setbacks, I am feeling strong. Tested the shin on Friday night and it felt great (though, a 30-minute run is really not a hardcore test). I'll take anything I can get at this point.

I am feeling strong. Tonight's singlespeed ride was a blast and I hammered up hills that previously I had to push. I went to the chiropractor on Friday and he gave me the thumbs up to start testing out the leg so away I go.

It is pouring down rain here right now (Saturday night post... delayed push due to internet outage) and in two weeks I'll be approaching Half Moon, roughly 70 miles into the race. Hoping the weather is different then but I plan to move forward whatever gets thrown at me. That is how this past year has been. Roll with the punches and come back swingin'.

I'll be staying fairly active over the next couple of weeks but with shorter durations and levels of intensity. I had planned to do one more super-long effort but this week was a bitch work-wise. Brad, my first pacer, would like to go up and do Hope Pass so I may go do that one day this week but that would be the toughest effort I would toss in the mix for the remainder of the time until the race. Have to consult my experts on that one.

Movies: We went to see The Simpsons on Friday and it was a lot of fun. Very funny. I wouldn't necessarily say it was the best movie I have seen but it was certainly a great adaptation from the TV show and it kept things fresh after 20-years of laughs. The team that puts that show together is incredibly talented and I was happy to hear earlier this year that they are planning to bring back Futurama. Great news.

I also watched Lucky Number Slevin. This film started out a bit slowly but then actually became fairly interesting. I had pretty low expectations and, though no masterpiece, was entertained. It had a bit of a Boondock Saints kind of vibe - some decent writing and an ok idea but just not quite as polished as it might have been. Probably worth the watch though.

Ok. My shoes are getting soaked so I guess I'll be back on the singlespeed tomorrow. Give a shout if you want to join in the fun and/or games.

~stubert.

Electric...

Ka-CHOW! ~ Lightning McQueen

Yesterday: Nuttin'
Today: Ride - Peak to Peak, ~30 minutes
Tomorow: Ride - Big Ned, ~4 hours?

Time was short today so I made due. And felt like crap. Got up fairly early and headed out on the 'Cross bike. Just had time for a short lap. It was glorious out, so that made the way I felt less gruesome. I have come to understand that not only are some days better than others, but that it takes me forever to warm up these days. So no biggie.

The leg was a little tight but not too shabby. No stabbing shards of glass embedded in my shin. I'll count this as progress.

I rode down to a meeting today on the motorbike. On the way back up I headed directly into a pretty solid thunderstorm. Typical this time of year. Lightning was striking all around as I wound up the canyon and shortly thereafter it started pouring. I was wearing my trusty Aerostich so no soaked Stus. These suits are awesome.

Tomorrow I am planning a nice, long ride. Probably will head out to the dots and down to Ned. Then I'll explore around to see what fun can be had out there. I was planning to log some road miles but just can't seem to muster up the desire to toss on the slicks and hit the pavement. Probably has something to do with the debacle that calls itself professional cycling. Bunch of cheaters, those guys are. Makes me ill.

Movie stuff: Last night we watched Tideland, a Terry Gilliam vehicle. Gilliam is the master of the beautiful/horrible but this one was more horrible than beautiful. Kind of an Alice in Wonderland inspired tale but for me, it just didn't work. Not on my recommended list.

~stubert.

Long and strong...

Nothing good ever happens after midnight. ~ John D. Roach
(Particularly if you are breaking more than one law at a time.) ~ Rachel Bellamy

Yesterday: Nada
Today: Run - King's Lake to High Lonesome to Diamond Lake to home, 8 hours
Tomorrow: Nada

Today's adventure was awesome. Luke picked me up at 6:30 and we headed to Hessee to start our big run. The weather was pretty much perfect and, with the wildflowers in full effect, we were treated to a wonderful run up King's Lake trail to High Lonesome and back around to Diamond Lake trail.

We started off slowly and maintained a steady pace most of the day. The moon was setting over Rollins Pass as we headed up from the valley floor. Everything was lush and green and we ascended up above treeline (topping out at 12,200 feet). The views from the summit were amazing. We were able to look down on Winter Park/Mary Jane ski areas from our vantage point atop the ridge and there is a remarkable amount of beetle kill on the back range. This seems to be slowly creeping over the divide too which is not good news. I think the best we can hope for is an extreme winter to help cull the beetle numbers as the last few winters have been relatively mild temperature-wise.

We headed north along the ridge line to Diamond Lake trail and dropped down into this great little basin. There are a bunch of fun-looking ski lines up here but, as Luke pointed out, getting to them with all your gear would be a bit of a slog. We continued down the trail, making it back to the truck in about 4 and a half hours. Luke had to jam back to Boulder so I refueled and started my trek back home from Eldora.

Running back down the main road toward Ned I felt great. I was taking it easy, run/walk cycles along the pavement back to the Shelf Road. From here, I took a cut off that deposited me at the far west end of Magnolia and then the fun began.

I jammed up some singletrack and quickly linked into the Habitrail - a fun singletrack mountain bike trail. This trail got its name because it loops around the forest like those cages one can but for their hamster. I took a peek at the map and noticed they have it listed as the Hobbit trail which is just lame but pretty funny. Gotta love it when the forest service is out of the loop.

I intended to follow my old standard back to Rollinsville but then got a wild hair and decided to hook up with 105 which should have dumped me at the top of a gnarly descent to Rollins Pass. Unfortunately, I got a little lost and ended up on some new singletrack that didn't go where I expected and probably burned about an hour dinking around trying to get back to familiar territory. I finally made it back to my standard route and made it to the Rollinsville store prior to running out of water (barely). I refilled and headed back up the Peak to Peak highway. A storm seemed to be moving in behind me and I made it my goal to reach home in less than 8 hours or at least before getting hammered by the rain. I was able to run when the road wasn't too steep and made it home in front of the storm but 5 minutes shy of my 8-hour goal. Pretty awesome.

I was able to run, eat and drink the whole run today, which was very good news. I did have some issues with my left shin in the final hour or so which I will need to address but overall, this was a great run. I am feeling more and more prepared every week.

View full album here.

Movie time: Yesterday, Rage and I went to see the new Pixar joint, Ratatouille. I believe this is the best to date and given that it is from Pixar, says a lot. Just a fun movie. Amazing CGI. Go see it on the big screen immediately. Rage has indicated that she has a nice, crisp $5 bill for anyone who can go the whole movie without wanting to tweak the nose of the main character.
(Offer not valid in Wisconsin, Tennessee or Washington D.C.. Offer only good for first person who successfully completes the challenge and reports findings via a certified letter of non-tweakage and passes a lie-detector test (test must be paid for by contestant).)

We also watched Neil Young: Heart of Gold which was a cool concert film. Rage and I got to see Mr. Young play at Fiddler's green several years ago and this concert film is considered by many to be a great example of how to shoot and edit this type of movie. I can't say that I necessarily disagree. Good flick.

Tomorrow I plan to do a whole lot of nuthin' and may hit that up again on Friday. Planning to do Hope Pass Saturday if my leg feels better. I am icing it now so hopefully I'll recover quickly.

See you out there.

~stubert.

Rabbit cages...

Men will never rest until they've spoiled the earth. ~ Fiver

Yesterday: Run - Leadville course, 6 hours ~29 miles
Today: Bunny cages - COHRS, ~2.5 hours
Tomorrow: Run - Boulder?, 1.5 hours

Today was our day to clean the bunny runs at the Colorado House Rabbit Society. We (by "we" I mean "Rach") got up early so we could beat the heat a bit. I somehow managed to sleepwalk my alarm off, which is pretty awesome. Fortunately, Rach didn't leave me behind but roused me from my slumber in time to whack down a pb&j and head down to the shelter.

We made good time at the shelter and were done just before A Prairie Home Companion came on. Which is nice, because I can't stand that friggin' show. People seriously like that stuff? Anyway... I have included some shots taken after we completed our day's effort. Doesn't Terri look adorable with her little bow?


Clean bunny runs. A joyous occasion.


Still life with ball and Meredith.


Extreme close-up.


Turbo nap. Elijah demonstrates excellent sleeping form.


Molly likes to sleep on Rach's head. Rach is not quite as fond of this arrangement.


B.Z. is the newest member of our crew...


She may be vain and evil but we love her.

Movietime: Last night we watched Shortbus, a James Cameron Mitchell film (writer/director/lead actor in Hedwig and the Angry Inch). I rather enjoyed Shortbus but this is not a film for the feint of heart. It features quite a lot of nudity, adult themes and graphic sexuality so if you aren't prepared for that type of film, this is NOT the one to rent.

Thursday (I think)...

Your prayers stink. ~ Michael Roach

Yesterday: Night Run - The Beav, 1 hour
Today: Hike, Coyote Trail, 1.5 hours
Tomorrow: Ride, Casa del Critters, 1.5 hours

Man, talk about busy. I have been swamped this week with more to come. Better too busy than not.

Last night I did a solo run down my street. I didn't feel so hot but it was nice to get out for a bit... even in the dark. I definitely need to do this a bit more to get used to keeping a steady pace. I felt great on the way down but once I turned around, felt worse and worse. They say there is no such thing as a bad run and this, I have come to believe is true. You learn something every time out.

Today, Rach and I went for a hike in Golden Gate Canyon State Park. It was a beautiful night to be out: birds singing, cool temperatures. We hiked up to the old homestead and then back the same way. This is definitely a favorite trail... not great for running but an awesome hike.

Tomorrow, I have work stuff to do in the morning and then plan to go for a ride. Saturday, however is another story as I plan to either run High Lonesome or head to Leadville and run the route over Sugarloaf. Any takers?

Movie moment: Last night, we watched Hoot. Not so good. Carl Hiaasen is one of my favorites and the book was fun in a kid's book kind of way but the movie left much to be desired. I'd skip it.

~stubert

Edit: Ooh! I totally forgot to mention this. Rach and I had to head to Boulder on Wednesday to pick up her car and we saw three moose cavorting in a pond near our house. I had heard that moose had been spotted in the area but had not seen any to date. There were a bunch of people pulled over to watch the trio swim and splash in the small pond just off the Peak to Peak (Kelly Dahl, I believe). Rach loves to watch animals drink and was treated to some serious guzzling action as the moose dunked their heads completely under water to drink. Pretty cool!