Crash, boom, bam...

You take the good, you take the bad... ~ Alan Thicke (Who knew?!?!)

This has been a pretty stellar week for some of us. Others, not so much. I'll start with the some and move on to the others...

After Sunday's long run, I thought I would be a little worked. However, Monday morning I felt awesome and hit the gym for some weight-training and just to get the blood flowing again. Did about 10 minutes on the rowing machine then circuits. The gym is not my very favorite place to be but if one is efficient, one can minimize the time spent. Plus, the Gilpin County Rec Center is very nice and rarely crowded. So it's all good.

Tuesday, someone decided to kick the blower into high gear and it was howling up here. So I headed back to the gym to run on the treadmill. Just put it in cruiser mode for about a half an hour warm-up (10:00 pace on an XC course that didn't ever really tax me) and then stepped it up for a whole boat-load of surges. Amazingly, these felt awesome. Yes, I was working pretty hard but was able to stay relaxed, even at a quick clip. 50 minutes total for somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 miles.

On Wednesday, I headed down to Boulder early to meet up with a group that does tempo runs every week. I parked a few miles from the start and got in a good warm up, did some short strides with the group then we split into 3 or 4 packs for the tempo work. I was in the last group that consisted of Tim, Rebecca and me and we chased the rest of the runners. I am guessing there were 10 people total including my running coach, Janet Runyan. Fun to finally get to actually run with her.

I pretty much just stuck with Tim for the first 4 miles (where he stopped) and we spun low 7s for most of that period. We would catch other runners then they would take a shortcut and meet us farther along the route so we all got to run together for at least a little while. After Tim dropped off, I kept going for a full 50 minutes of tempo. Ended up back at my car in sub 1:30 and a total of 11 miles. I did about 25 minutes warm up, 50 at tempo and about 10 cool-down. This was actually a really great run and I felt awesome throughout. Covered lots of miles in a short period of time. Good stuff.

Wednesday night was when things took a turn. First, we found out that Reggie, my buddy John's 13-year-old bulldog, had gone missing. He had been sick for quite awhile and was really old for a bulldog and his body was found the next day. He apparently had just wandered off to find a place to die. Very sad for John and the Reg-man will be sorely missed. He was awesome. Then Thursday, Luke, Pete and I went up to the Basin to get in some runs. On run #3, when we weren't even really skiing that fast, Luke caught an edge and went down like a sack of potatoes. Spiral fracture of his left clavicle. Super drag. He handled the whole thing like a champ, though. We look forward to his recovery so he can get back to the business of kicking our asses all over the ski area.

I hit the gym on the way home for a few circuits and decided that I could take the day off from running since I skied and lifted. Off again today then a short run tomorrow and long again on Sunday. Starting to really feel great and I'm looking forward to putting some races on the schedule soon.

Be sure to get your passes lined up for next week's Adventure Film Festival in Boulder. A lot of great movies to check out. Don't miss it!

~stubert.

Day 6 on the stix and a weekly summary...

Remain calm. All is well. ~ Chip Diller

Finally getting some snow up in the zone. We got a couple at my house but it pretty much hammered the whole time we were at Eldora today so that was refreshing. In typical Rock fashion it was blowing about 7 billion miles an hour too so that made it extra special. Fun day on the boards, though with Pete, Edy, and Caleb. Pete was feeling super sexy as he donned Edy's underthings for the day and borrowed my goggles because apparently his ski bag isn't big enough or something. Not sure what made him feel sexier, the goggles or the frilly undergarments. I am guessing the goggles.

Ok, so I have flailed on the weekly updates for a bit. My apologies. Things have been a little funky and I have been remiss about updates. Here are the last two weeks in summary:

• Sunday (11/16): Half a good road run in Boulder, 17 miles, 2:13ish. Well, I was awesome for about 13 miles then got stopped by a light and pretty much blew up. I did the first 13 at an 8-minute pace. Up the creek path to the end, back to 4th, over to Kalmia and down to the Foothills path. Good stuff as this isn't very hill-free. Really suffered for the last 4 but overall, I felt pretty good about the effort. Need to work on the "finish strong" thing a bit.
  
• Tuesday (11/18): Sanitas adventure, 6.5 miles, 1:30. Hit the trails with my buddy, Stephen. He showed me a cool, back way to the Sanitas summit. Really steep in spots so I had to walk a little bit but it was nice to be on trails. We descended the west route and my right knee started feeling a bit bunk from the steep drops and lack of miniscus. We then headed back up the valley trail and I called it at the top and ran back down in near darkness down Dakota ridge. Overall a fun run.
• Wednesday (11/19): Abandoned Broomfield run, 6 miles, 00:55. Well, I had every intention to run about 12 miles but did not feel well at all so I bailed about half way through. Super sore from the day before and my knee was bugging me so I thought it would be best if I bailed instead of pushing it.
• Thursday (11/20): Swim, 00:30. Hit the pool to see if that would make my knee feel any better. It didn't really.
  
• Friday (11/21): Recovery run with strides, 4 miles, 00:31. Hit the track for a bit then swam. Felt okay during but not super afterwards.
• Saturday (11/22): Supposed to do a 6 mile race/run but wasn't feeling it so I skied again.
• Sunday (11/23): Was supposed to do a 17-miler but took the day off instead.
• Monday (11/24): Ski
• Tuesday (11/25): Track run, 7 miles with strides, 00:54. Fast track run. Felt a bit wonky but was able to spin some fast laps. Swam afterwards.
• Wednesday (11/26): Ski
• Thursday (11/27): Ski
• Friday (11/28): Track run, 5 miles, 00:38. Did some strides and kept a steady pace throughout. Actually felt pretty solid, which was nice.
• Saturday (11/29): Ski

Overall, I am feeling pretty beaten up right now but that is getting better. I am going into full taper mode at this point and am even going to bail on some of my scheduled training to see if I can get feeling injury free by next Sunday. The plan for this week is to do a short run tomorrow (probably about 5 miles), a short run with a serious effort on Tuesday (7 miles or so with 3 at super max effort), rest Wednesday-Friday (well, I will probably have to toss in a few laps at the local slopes but rest is relative). I fly to Vegas on Saturday and will probably try to get in a 3 miler then game on Sunday at 6:00 am.

As always, I'll keep you posted.

~stubert.

Fast. Furious. - Weekly summary...

Yo tengo un pato pedorro. ~ Pete Sabin

What a week. Way WAY too busy with work. Made me grumpy as hell but eager to get my runs in. Spent most of the week indoors but laid down some fast laps and felt pretty solid about it all by week's end.

• Sunday 11/9: Horrendous half, 13 miles, 1:53. This was not the workout I had in mind as I just pretty much suffered through most of it. Felt friggin GREAT on the downhill then things got windy, cold and ugly fast. I find it virtually impossible to run slow enough up hills at altitude to keep my heartrate down. By the end, I couldn't keep it under control on the downhills. Plus I got nipple chafe. How lame is that as the proverbial cherry on top of a miserable run?
• Monday 11/10: Recovery swim, 30 minutes. Good to get in the pool to wash away yesterday's tears.
• Tuesday 11/11: Wash Park runstravaganza, 7+ miles, 00:57. Now THAT's what I'm talking about. Was down in Denver for meetings so decided to head to Wash Park for some laps. Was feeling pretty solid so I decided to step it up and lay down some good times. I have come to the conclusion, however, that I am an ugly runner. Who's that lump plodding down the road over there? Oh THAT? That's stubert.
• Wednesday 11/12: Indoor half, 13.3ish, 1:44. Ok, I felt the need to really put the hammer down and had a 12-miler scheduled so I figured why not turn that into a half marathon and see if I can get my target pace for the full dialed in? So that is what I did. Painful? A bit... but I felt okay afterwards and am now feeling pretty confident about adjusting my raceday target to something below 3:30 since I won't be at altitude. I'll keep you posted on that.
  
• Friday 11/14: LT 9-miler with some barefoot then swim, 9 miles, 1:09. Hit the track again because work kept me busy until after dark. Spun the first three miles at a steady 8-minute pace then turned on the heat for 5. Tried to keep a 7-minute pace for these but was redlined after 2.5 and had to back off for a little bit then crank it back up. Ended up finishing the first 8 in 1:00, which for me, is awesome. Then I did 1/4 mile slowish jog then 3/4 mile barefoot. All in all, a great training session. I then swam for a bit to cool down.
• Saturday 11/15: Day two on the planks at the Basin, 1:30. Pete, Edy and I headed up early and made turns until it got crowded -- which didn't take long. The snow was decent and a morning of turns is better than a morning spent sitting in front of the computer.

Total mileage for the week: 42.5
Total time for the week: 8:15ish (including swims and skiing and whatnot)

All in all, a bad start with a solid finish. Starting to feel fast and definitely more able to manage the heartrate at higher speeds. Good stuff.

~stubert.

Good week...

Vanity is the enemy of funny. ~ Rach

Where were we? Oh yeah... back in business.

This week has been pretty solid on the activity side of things. After Sunday's ski with Luke and Pete, I went for a run on Monday. Just a short one, 5 miles in the woods near my house. I didn't feel awesome but did feel a lot better than I have in months. Great news. I followed up with a 6-miler yesterday (Thursday) and logged the best time ever on that particular route. My average pace was just over 10-minute miles and I was able to really put the hammer down for the last couple of miles. Just what I needed. I am not breaking any speed records but I am not really a speed record kind of runner. In case you hadn't noticed.

Luke and I went out this morning for a ski up Niwot Ridge. We left the trail head about 6:15 and were back at the cars by 10:15. Both the up and out were a bit of a slog (just the nature of the Isabelle drainage) but the ski was really a lot of fun. We were a bit concerned up top as the snow was quite firm but as soon as we dropped in, it softened up and was a blast. Big walls on either side; undulating terrain; nice, steep sections; and a sketchy mandatory over some rocks in a tight pinch at the bottom (you had to kindof scootch into the bottom of it and then leap over the rocks and straight-line through a 3-foot chute with a big wall on the right and a huge boulder on the left). Exciting and fun for sure.

Other than that, I have just been working a lot, watching some movies (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is hilarious, incidentally, and inspired Rach's quote above) and reading a ton (finished a second reading of the Potter series, Long Way Round, Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, etc. etc.).

More later.

~stubert.

Off the couch...

March 1. 60+ degrees. Stu out getting dumb.

Holy smokes, you need booze! ~ Dr. Nick Riviera

I think I overdid it a wee bit yesterday.

I decided at some point that I wanted to go for a run. Other than that, my options were fairly wide open seeing how it was about 60 degrees up here. Well, not so wide open but at least not excruciatingly cold or anything. Plan A (ride the motorcycle to Boulder, run Mesa) didn't go so well as my battery was dead so I opted for Plan B: Run a half marathon, at altitude, probably in snow off the couch. Note to self: have someone else make up the plans from now on.

I actually felt pretty great to start. Took it fairly easy (though my heart thought otherwise) at a leisurely 12 minute pace. I ran pretty much everything on the way up to Panorama Point via Gap Road (and a sojurn through Meadow Lake) and was just cruising. Once I made it up to the Racoon Trail cutoff, it was decision time and being a dork, I chose to do the loop.

After post-holling for a bit the trail finally packed up and was runnable down to the low-point. Actually a lot of fun just humming along downhill through the snowy woods. Once I reached the bottom, the fun began and I had to alternate run/walk cycles due to the steepness of the trail and the sloppy conditions. No biggie, I've been there before. I quickly made it up to the top then began the slippery, mushy descent back to the cutoff.

Once I made it back to Gap, I decided I only had to log a few more miles to get the half marathon. This is where I started to question my judgement as I had to walk on several occasions because stuff was starting to hurt. I made it back to my road feeling okay but then realized I needed to tack on another mile and a half or so to get the full distance. My options were: 1) head uphill now and get a nice downhill finish or 2) run downhill past my house and then back up for the bonus miles. I opted for number 1 and suffered up the hill. Not my best performance and really horrible on the scale of what constitutes a good 1/2 marathon time but whatchagonna do?

Today, I was pretty sore despite having stretched a bunch last night. We cleaned bunny cages at the COHRS and then I headed home. Turns out the high today was about 30 up here and we got about a foot of snow. I considered going to the Rock for a few turns but decided that I had work to accomplish and that my legs needed some rest. Tomorrow, though...

Here are a couple of shots from last week's adventure. Hope to get out more and not ski like a total Fred.

Luke ripping it up. | Me trying to make it look mean. Shots courtesy of Jonny Copp.

That's about it for now. I did see Persipolis last week, which was good. And watched Big Fish yesterday while stretching. I also checked out Into Great Silence and Frank Zappa: Baby Snakes. Extras is also quite amusing if you haven't checked it out. Quite the mish-mash if I do say so myself.

Take your vitamin I.

~stubert.

Quickie - Day 44...

Oh-man-I'm-really-wired. This-was-a-bad-idea. ~ Homer Simpson

Just a quick update...

Wednesday, I headed up to Eldora early to get some turns in with Luke and Jonny Copp and to shoot some stills. Jonny, in addition to being a world-class climber, is a great photographer. We have been wanting to hook up to get some shots for a long time and finally made it happen.

We went out the gate at the top of Corona to hit the chutes above Lost Lake and ended up skiing Right Chute. I was skiing like a chump so am not sure what Jonny was able to salvage out of the deal but Luke was skiing, as usual, like a champ. Shooting is tough... you get out to something pretty steep and have to perform on your first turns. Tough to get a groove going for sure when you haven't even given yourself any time to warm up. Oh well. I did ski the last pitch really well which made up for my turdy skiing up top. Well, maybe not completely...

Yesterday was spent in meetings and working and whacking down more coffee in a single sitting than in the past 6 years combined. So that was interesting. Good meeting though. And I did manage to get some work done.

I also buried our bunny, Yoda, who died last week. What a great little guy. He will be missed but I found him a great spot up the hill near his buddies, Rockshot and Schmoodini. R.I.P. Yoda-butt.

Today is going to be an action-packed day of work and play. Luke and I are heading up to the Basin to get some Enduro training in. I'll let you know how that goes.

Wear your helmet.

~stubert.

Getting back out there...

Look at me, I'm Peter Pantsless! ~ Homer Simpson

Let's see... where to start? I suppose I'll lead off with Sunday's run -- the infamous Double Mesa. '

Bob decided it was time to get out there and grind out a half marathon on some of Boulder's finest terrain. The Mesa Trail (for those unfamiliar with the more popular area runs) rolls along the foot of the Flatirons and spans about 7 miles from central Boulder to Eldorado Springs (almost). This is a great run and often times one can take on a large chunk of the course without seeing any other runners or hikers. The middle section is particularly devoid of the crowds that can plague other Boulder-area trails. Good stuff.

Bob put together a great group of guys for this outing and a total of six of us headed out from the Ranger Station at shortly after 10 in the morning. The group was fairly well balanced with everyone from seasoned marathon runners to "longest evers". We maintained a solid pace throughout and it was good to be back on Mesa. Still one of my favorites. This was my longest run since the event and we finished in about 2:40. Not blazing, by any stretch of the imagination, but not too shabby (actually on par with the last time I ran the Double Mesa). (Check out the full album.)

I was pretty sore the following day. Given my activity levels of late (or lack thereof), I wasn't surprised but recovered quickly. All in all, this was a good run for me and it reminded me why I do this stuff. I need to set aside time to get out in the wilderness more often. Put that on my list.

So I took it easy the next couple of days. Back to the grind. Today I waffled about whether or not to go up to A-Basin for some more early season turns and finally decided to give it a shot about 9:00. I needed to get to the bank anyway and this was a good excuse to get out. We got about 3 inches of snow last night which also helped to motivate me for the drive. I was hoping to drag Luke or Pete into the fray but neither was able to make it up so I headed out solo.

Everything was splendid until about 5 miles from Eisenhower Tunnel when traffic came to a standstill. Unfortunately there is a dead zone right there so I was unable to get a signal to check to see what the hell was going on up the road. After about 30 minutes of sitting at a virtual standstill punctuated with periodic 1-2 mile and hour surges up the hill, I got a signal and discovered that the tunnel was closed due to wrecks on the West side. Super. I stuck with things until the next exit then bailed back to Golden, a quick jaunt to the bank and grocery store then back home. Took the skis for a drive. Always a joy. Oh well.... Can't win every day.

Oh yeah. I also lost a toenail. Two more are looking suspicious. My feet are still just hammered from Leadville.

Movie time:
We have been spending a lot of time with Robot Chicken of late. Great show if you have never seen it. Seth Green cracks me up. Essentially, this is stop-action animation with action figures and dolls and whatnot. Very funny.

We also watched Spiderman 3 and Harsh Times. Neither is worth the effort, really. S3 had some great special effects but for some reason Sam Raimi decided it would be a good idea to show the softer side of Spidey in the third installment. Um... no one wants to watch a super-hero bawl all the time. Trust me. Plus, it just wasn't that great. There was this space goo that was never really explained and just seemed like an afterthought. "Well, we have to get Spiderman to get infected by this gunk to show his alter-ego. Ah hell, I'm lazy, let's just send it in on a meteor and call it good." In any event, I wasn't particularly impressed.

Harsh Times was a Christian Bale/Freddy Rodriguez vehicle that just didn't draw me in at all. Both characters were just not sympathetic. Being what I like to call a "Steve" (Straight To Video), I am not sure what I expected. Don't rush out to put this one on you list.

Okay... that's all I have for now.

~stubert.

Laggin'...

So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it. ~ Willy Wonka

Yesterday: Ski - A Basin, 2 hours (day 2)
Today: Hike
Tomorrow: ???

So I guess I just haven't been in the blogging mood of late. Lots to talk about, not a lot of time or energy available to put it out there. My apologies.

In the past few weeks I have been staying busy working (which is good). We settled down a bit from September and have launched several sites including Weekends and Lion Equity. Good stuff. Still cranking with Quintess as well. This month has flown by.

I was all set to tell you about my first day on the slopes but then we had some bad news. Our beloved bunny, Rockshot, passed away. He was a very special little guy and will be greatly missed. Here is his story...

Rockshot (expertly demonstrating "top-bunny" posture in the above photo) came to us through the shelter where he was delivered with his partner, Houdini, in a terrible state. They had been rescued from some horrible conditions and were both malnourished and filthy but happy to be in a loving home. After some initial tests, it was determined that Rockshot had some serious health problems that would probably take him from us in just a few short months. Apparently he didn't get the memo and was quickly racing around the house being a goofy, splendid bunny. Both Rocker and Houdini (actually discovered to be Mrs. Houdini) put on weight and quickly became part of the crew. Rockshot was with us for over a year and was awesome to the very end. He will be sorely missed.

On a lighter note, I have gotten up to the slopes twice now. The first day was cold and snowy. The second, um... not. Yesterday, it was 55 degrees at the base and the Basin was in full springtime mode. T-shirts and bikinis were in full effect (I opted for my hoodie, which was a bit of a mistake). Not a cloud to be seen. Normally, that would be a good thing but damn... we need some cold weather and snow.

Lots more to tell you but I'll have to catch up later.

~stubert.

The Big Five-Oh...

Is that your blood? ~ Richard Chesler

Day 50 - pretty good for a working stiff, huh?

Today started early. Very early. The alarm rousted me at 4:15 and Luke and I were on the bikes by 5:45 for a fast and furious ascent of Pawnee Ridge. Luke had to be back in Boulder by 9:30 so we jammed up the Mitchell Lake trailhead and were at the top of the couloir in less than two hours.

The conditions were a little punchy on the trail up - several hip-deep postholes were masterfully created and decorated by Luke's bloody knees - but the tough going on the way up was rewarded with amazing snow for the ski down. Really fun Spring conditions. Check out the shots.

Tomorrow Rage and I head to the Colorado House Rabbit Society to clean bunny cages. Right now, our bunnies are tearing ass around our living room and totally trenching our living room. We should shave some bitchin' fire or racing stripes or something into their fur. I'll see if I can talk Rage into that. Photo documentation will occur, I assure you.

See you out there.

~stubert

Edit: I have very little tolerance for bad film at this point. My schedule is way too tight to spend 2+ hours watching a crummy excuse for a movie. I got through roughly 20 minutes of Blood Diamond before deeming it too poorly written to warrant my attention. Perhaps I missed out on really solid 2nd and 3rd acts but I'll never know. Good luck with that one.

The front side of fifty...

We chased our pleasures here, dug our treasures there. ~ The Doors

Days 48 and 49 were spectacular. Yesterday Luke and I started early and we were riding in to the trailhead by 6:15. It was a bit cooler with hellacious winds buffeting us from the west. We made quick time to the trail and quickly found ourselves bushwhacking through the forest. The Audubon Trail is heavily traveled in the Summer but gets less frequent activity in the early Spring. Once we made treeline, however, we were able to move more quickly across the tundra.

The wind howled all around us, coming in bursts that threatened to topple us with virtually every step. We got some respite while trudging through a patch of high-altitude willows and managed to make it through this somewhat soggy terrain relatively unscathed. If we were a few minutes later, I am sure things would have been different as the islands of tundra were still a bit firm. Which was nice.

Our goal was to ski this skinny box canyon but once we reached the top, we determined this was not the best option as we would have had to downclimb into the pitch and the run-out was grim. The consequences of a fall would have been pretty high so we opted to ski an exposed snowfield from which we could traverse over into another very cool coulior. We booted out of the bottom of this to the top of the second pitch we skied yesterday for a sweet link-up. Then we dropped back to the bikes for a quick spin back to the cars for a total of about 4:45 hours. A great day of Spring skiing.

Today was more of the same: Up at 4:45, on the bikes by 6:15, hiking by 6:45 and skiing by 9ish. We didn't get a hard freeze last night so we spend a good portion of the approach postholing. If you have never experienced this phenomenon, I recommend avoiding it. Not a ton of fun. It is amazing how quickly conditions can change in the high-country.

On the way up we came across two ptarmigans foraging for food way above treeline. (See if you can find them in the image to the right.) The male was molting, shedding his winter white for his summer camouflage. He stayed very close to his special lady who was already sporting plumage and was difficult to spot, even when you knew where to look. They softly cooed at one another as they picked around the tundra for seeds and other goodies.

We skied a very spicey line on the North side of Pawnee Ridge that was a real challenge. Very tight entry to some fairly scrappy, tight and steep terrain. It opened up at the bottom where I was finally able to make some decent turns. Luke and Pete were great company once again and we met up with Ben and Dan for some tasty post-ski food at Nederland's Kathmandu Restaurant. Dan raced the Bolder Boulder this morning and has been helping me with Leadville strategy with his brother Ben. Both have run (and completed) the event and are a lot faster than I ever hope to be. It was good to get some much-needed advice for the race and training.

Tomorrow, I actually plan to take the day off. My ankle is still bugging me a bit and so I will probably take it easy for a few days to give it some much-needed rest.

Check out Luke's photos of Audobon and Pawnee Ridge.

~stubert

Edit: And here are some more shots from Pawnee Ridge.

Day 47...

The important thing is not to live but to live well. ~Socrates

Day 47 was a helluva day. Though I seem to recall saying the same thing about days 45, 44, 43, 42... not 46 though. That day was jacked.

Luke, Pete and I jumped on the bikes shortly after 6 this morning and rode in to the Mitchell Lake Trailhead west of Brainard. The Brainard Lake road was relatively clear with only a few major drifts to negotiate. There were quite a few people at the trailhead with a similar plan to our own but we seemed to be the only ones heading up toward Mitchell. After about 30 minutes made it to the Mitchell Lake trailheadh and hit the trail (which is currently not much of a trail, being that it is still covered with several feet of snow) and fairly quickly found ourselves at the base of Audubon on a glorious Spring day in the Rockies.

We started to "sneaker pack" up the main bowl and, after several minutes extolling the virtues of The Big Lebowski opted for the more secure and skier-preferred "boot pack" technique. Seems running shoes don't a) kick steps very well and b) aren't super stable in steep snowfields. Go figure. We selected a couple of nice couloirs to tackle and headed up the southern-most first as it was the most sun-exposed. After following Luke up his killer staircase (thanks for kicking steps all day, Luke!) for who knows how long, we made it to the top of the pitch, put on our gear and started the fun part of today's adventure. The top was still in the shade, so pretty scrappy but conditions quickly opened up to hero conditions and great turns.

We repeated the effort on the more northerly pitch and were treated to more of the same with a gorgeous "summit". There were some fox or coyote tracks at the top and the marmot and pika were out in full-force. We dropped back down and headed back out to the bikes for a quick cruise back to the cars in a total of just over 6 hours round trip.

A beautiful day with more of the same planned for tomorrow.

In keeping with my promise to share the movies I have been watching, here is my list for last night:

• Delicatessen: I have seen this one before and was a bit distracted last night preparing for today's adventure so I'll have to watch it in full later this weekend. This is a very dark film by the makers of Amelie.
• Jesus Camp: Scary as hell. Makes The Exorcist look like The Apple Dumpling Gang.

Thanks to Luke for the shots. Check out the full gallery. Hope you are having an awesome weekend.

See you out there.

~stubert

And some brightness...

Too many people miss the silver lining because they are expecting gold. ~ Maurice Setter

In an effort to counteract my last post. I ran across the story of an 18-year-old who recently summited Mt. Everest. Hopefully without the use of banned substances. She has climbed to the top of the each continent's highest peak and her little sister (age 10) is following in her footsteps. Good stuff.

And in my EPO-fueled rage (others use, not my own), I forgot to mention yesterday's Singlespeed ride with Luke. We did a quick spin around Heil Ranch, north of Boulder. Afterwards, I was ready to get back on my Dual Sus as this full-rigid stuff will shake the fillings out of your teeth. Or teeth out of your head. Fun stuff though. Heil is a blast.

Tomorrow, I am hoping to get in a long backcountry trek to log some Spring turns near Brainard and may do a run or ride near my house in the afternoon. More of the same Sunday and Monday. Comment if you are interested in joining in the fun and/or games.

~stubert

Ex-STREAM skiing...

Idiots rule. ~ Jane's Addiction

Today's adventure began with a trip to the Vet. Sam, our wonderful Siamese kitty is sick. This is really horrible news after the loss of Oliver just a couple of weeks ago. We have pretty much ruled out the pet food problems that have been seen around the country but Sam is having the same problems as Oliver and this is not good news. She is back home now and resting.

Post Vet, I hooked up with Luke and Pete for some backcountry skiing. We opted out of another Chihuahua/Margories loop for a sojourn into the National Forest around Eldora. We were promptly kicked out of the Eldora lot and headed down to the Hessie Trailhead to try our luck skinning up the back way. After several false starts, we were on our way.

The skin took WAY longer than we hoped as we did a bunch of poking around to see if there was an easy way to ford South Boulder Creek which, being May 7, is roaring. No luck. So after bushwhacking back up to the main trail and getting a ton of practice donning and removing our skis, we finally made it to Lost Lake.

Conditions were a little sketchy so we opted out of starting our ski from the top of Left/Right Chutes and just launched out descent from the roll. Not a lot of vert but still good lines were lain. Lain? Sure, lain.

On the way out, Pete jacked his knee up which made for some interesting navigating. We decided to traverse over to Corona and jam straight back down to the car. Pete handled it all with good humor and Luke showed off his stream skiing and tree skiing skills on the way out when we crossed back over the creek - sans bridge. Needless to say, I am putting my boot drier to very good use.

I may still go out for a run later this evening but am looking forward to seeing Shirley at In Motion Rehabilitation (Luke, this may be the worst site I have ever seen. Think they'd trade us some bench time for a little help?) tomorrow and then going for a bike ride. Singlespeeders, start your engines for a 4:30 launch. Be there or be elsewhere.

~stubert