typical Tuesday morning

  

solid food

alina's first try at rice cereal was tonight. she seemed to like bringing the spoon to her mouth each time, but we're not sure how much ended up in her tummy!

 
 
  

alina's first swim lesson

she did great and loved the water. my turn in the water with her is Wednesday.

 
  

photos from the hood

shot these sometime last week while we were walking around the neighborhood. one shows a snow-covered ridge on the lower flanks of Baldy, taken between two homes. the ridge closest to the camera is much lower, and the snow from the previous day has metled. the next ridge back is ab out 11,000'm and the trees up there were still holding snow, even with the strong spring sun. the other shot is a jet trail highlighted by the setting sun over the Ten Mile Range.

 
  

more from Easter

 
  

montezuma

had a great late afternoon ride to Montezuma. winds were pretty calm, and it was in the mid 50s. not too bad. as I was climbing up Montezuma Rd., I had a Beatles podcast on, and that kept me chugging. pretty amazing how Capital records would firstnmake their own Beatles albums comprised of various songs, without the Beatles' permission. soon, I think beginning with "Help!", the Beatles entered into a contract with Capital during which Capital could no longer compile their own mixes on album without the Beatles permission. back over Swan Mtn and on the path, I started another podcast, not sure if it was NPR Story of the Day or Discovery, about the beginnings of choppers, aftermarket motorcycles, chopping up Harleys, etc.. not even being a motorcycle fan, the story was pretty cool. talked about the culture behind the movement in the late 60s and into the 70s. pretty amazing that Sugarbear didn't even get credit for most of his unique front ends...because he was black. EZ Rider, the mag, woldn't publish Sugarbear's bike pics because he was black. but the early days of aftermarket custom cycle solutions sounded like a lot of fun.

Happy Easter!

went to brunch this morning with Mary, Bill, Josh, Diana, Doug, Susan and Izaac. Spencer's did a great job as usual. Alina's dress (thanks Tanya & Paul?) looks great. after 4" of snow yesterday and some cooler temps, today is right back to spring with tons of sun and low 50s. gonna get out and spin for a bit and come back to enjoy more sun.

  

again

the weather was amazing for yesterday's lake loop. just shorts and a jersey, no booties. pretty nice to enjoy June temps in mid-April. we've lost a ton of snow, and yard poop duty is imminent now. montana isn't as disappointed as she used to be having no snow to lay in or use for potty. maybe in her old age she's less picky. a little disturbance passing through this evening and tomorrow, so I'd better get out and ride today for sure. i love the spring, so much hope and excitement to get outside, and to get out of town for a bit.

still spring...

today it is beautiful and sunny, once again. I think they're calling for maybe a few inches Friday night and into Saturday, but back into the 50s by Easter Sunday. pretty much the last week we will be busy here at work. We're about 70% occ now, and that will drop down to 35% by Easter Sunday. Next week things really mellow down some, and it'll give us more time to organize our off-season projects. Before you know it, it'll be May and half our office will be out of town somewhere.

Helen had the big 29 yesterday. We had Caroline come over and babysit Alina while we went out to Cafe Alpine. Delicious food for sure. Helen had sole, and I had soft shell crab. We'll have to go back again soon if they do 2-for-1s in May. Alina was in bed by 8:30, so it was kind of weird to not have to put her to bed for once.

spring has sprung

the weather the last few days has been amazing. friday morning we had 3" of snow. it was snowing hard when I left for work, and I needed 4WD for the way into work as the roads were not great. by late afternoon, the roads melted out and were already dry. i snuck in a ride after work. saturday was clear and and dry. got another 2 rides in that day. an hour spin through the highlands was nice inthe afternoon sun. rode some wtih james phelps. then after work I did a quick hour on my mtb around town and up French Gulch. i saw a good-sized fox cross Main Street (aka CO Hwy 9), right in front of the Brewery and Main St Station. it being one of the last busy weekends of the ski season, there were lots of people on the street and in cars that saw the fox. who knows where it went, but luckily it had a safe crossing. yesterday I did a 3.4hr ride down at Red Rocks, Apex area. felt good to go pretty hard in the sun with Josh, Jacob and Chritian. it was abotu 75, and i have some nice lobster arms now.

funny words

i've been doing some stuff with Excel lately, in reagrds to setting next year's rates during spring break. so I've been looking at the word "March" several hundred times. Kinda weird, but the longer I look at certain words, the weirder their spelling looks to me. maybe I am zoning out and I need some more coffee to focus. mmmmm. coffee.

coyotes...

are back out again. I hadn't heard them much since earlier in the winter, before the Holidays. i wonder if the recent warm temps have tricked them into thinking it is already May. the coyotes seem pretty harmless, but I think I feel that way only because I haven't seen them yet walking around the neighborhood; they're just about 100 yards off out in the woods. as soon as they cross French Gulch and start cruising around our place...then I will give them some more respect I suppose. Montana doesn't seem bothered or scared by them. From what I've read, this is probably because she is big enough to not seem like an easy targetm, like say, Milo would be if he were outside. Well, as nice as it is outside now, we have about 6" on the way tonight and tomorrow. long range forecast, for what it's worth, is calling for a cool, wet April followed by a warm, dry May (great for riding). we'll see. the rivers will be swelling indeed. I am looking forward to this weekend coming and going, as it will be the last busy weekend here until probably the Fourth of July.

Koppenberg

pretty fun race the other day. typical spring Sunday this year....pleasant temp, but vicious winds once again. oh well, it's gotta make us stronger. held on to the 2nd group for about 4.5 of the 5 laps. last time up the dirt approaching the climb I lost contact and was on my own in the winds. the Koppenberg itself wasn't as long as I thought it would be, fairly easy to grind up each time in my 25, though a big ring/25 was out of the question (WTF Tim?). even 6 trips up didn't seem rough. if it were a bit longer it may have divided up the race a bit more. still a very cool course. as much as I knew I had to be closer to the front, I had a shit start, lined up 2nd row from the back. next time I need to risk cooling down too much, and sit on the first or 2nd row for a great feel. oh well. lots of fitness needed still, but a fun way to open the season. i don't think I have another race on tap until May, but I'll have plenty of miles in the legs by then. I am also looking forward to some desert riding later on this month. gotta good spin in today when Helen got back from work. I am really liking the loops up in the Highlands and Summit Estates. I can look at $1M+ homes (some are incredible, others are excruciatingly ugly), enjoy some music, and ride with no worry of traffic. I am sure in a few weeks it will get old too, but by then I hope the bike path to Frisco will be plowed.

so nice to beat the weather

today I got out for a nice spin before lunch time. and before the convective spring snow showers turned the roads wet. The legs feel okay, not great, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. I am putting in the time though, and that's what's more important. Listnening to some good podcats made the ride that much more enjoyable. It is so nice to ride through the Highlands and Summit Estates. Pretty cool that I can ride back there, with maybe 2 or 3 cars, and still get in some good time.

stuffed...

  

steve has a nice camera...

Alina enjoyed seeing her uncle last night.

 
 
  

warm spell

has been great. a little snow here and there, but nothing substantial yet. the roads dry out every day, which makes for good riding around town now. montana's yard is looking grosser and grosser.