Puzzle time

Helen's sick and quarantined in the germ room (master), so Alina and I whipped out Dora's counting learning puzzle.

sent via Treo by AT&T

still under

had 101 this morning. going to the doc in a bit. prob just an achy cold thing with fever, but not sure if it's bacterial or viral, so I'm going to get it checked out. I typically get some cold once a winter, but nothing like this. Fever came around on Thurs, and now I am still pretty socked, even after lying around Fri-Sun.

snow storm is coming in today, they are calling for 6-10". wish it was April!

Sick, sun & powder

Thur night I came down with a high fever. I was bedridden until early this morning. No more fever, just some bad headaches. Tough to not play outside, one of the nicest days of the year...plenty of sun, 30s and fresh snow. And no riding in Pueblo tomorrow.

sent via Treo by AT&T

dry trails anyone?

this weekend Dennis and I hope to get down to Pueblo to ride the south shore trails that are there and DRY now! in this winter, that is a great thing! more details to come when I know more, but I couldn't be more excited.

ice skting

Alina takes ice skating lessons every Saturday. she seems to like it most of the time.

 
 
 

every year

every year about this time, Helen and I get the winter blues. sometimes it's the repeated below zero weather. other times it is the days and days of continual snow. sometimes it's a combination of the two. that time is now. we're tired of winter, and we're only about half through it. Despite what Puxatawney Phil might think on Groundhog Day, I like to think February will bring some optimism in the form of longer days and warmer weather, and hopefully some stretches of drier and warmer weather in the lower elevations out east and west, to give us a glimmer of hope of running and riding some dry trails again. Some of you might ask why we'd choose to live in a ski town if we're not crazy about winter. Well, Helen and I both arrived in Breck for different reasons several years ago. Now we are here, we got hitched, we bought a house and we're raising a child here too. And ultimately, I have a job that's lifeline is the ski industry and the millions of people who come and visit. And, perhaps most importantly, despite my complaints, we do love it here. And the 4-month summer is so damn perfect...that we'd sacrifice 2-3months of tough winter weather to get back to our wonderful summers.

Dave trying to ski powderr

Click to Play

sent via Treo by AT&T

Dave skiing

Click to Play

sent via Treo by AT&T

Another ski

Click to Play

sent via Treo by AT&T

Me ski

sent via Treo by AT&T

Lincoln Meadow

sent via Treo by AT&T

ski

sent via Treo by AT&T

sweet mtb vid

came across this one from my Blogger video feed on the right sidebar. this helmet cam perspective is awesome, and it really makes me want to get out and ride dry trails, something we don't really have around here now.

cold continues...part II

Helen said she was tired of the cold. I said "Me too."

here's the forecast for the next several days. many below zeros and even harsher wind chills.

Tonight: Snow likely, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -10. Wind chill values as low as -33. West wind between 16 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Saturday: A 20 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 26. Wind chill values as low as -33. Breezy, with a west northwest wind between 14 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.

Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -9. Wind chill values as low as -20. West wind between 6 and 8 mph.

Sunday: A 30 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 30. Wind chill values as low as -19. West southwest wind around 6 mph.

Sunday Night: A 50 percent chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around -11. South southwest wind around 5 mph.

M.L.King Day: A 40 percent chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 16.

Monday Night: A 40 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -12.

Tuesday: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 21.

Tuesday Night: A slight chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -5.

farewell my good friend

sold my truck today. i bought it in '98 with 14K miles on it, and I put almost 120K miles on it in the last 10 years. it has treated me very well. I will miss it some, but not much. Fun for bike camping trips, but it is a gas-guzzling PIG and takes up about 90% of the depth of my garage. Not to mention the PITA it is to park, esp. the few times I drive down to the city.

some memories with my truck, in chronological order.
- road trip to Jackson Hole with Dave and jibber Dave. slid through an intersection and almost get in an accident (only 3 years out of Nawlins, prob had Cajun snow-driving skills then). drive off the road in a whiteout and am driving on what I think is the road....nope, I drove off-road (parallel to it) for about 1/4mi thinking I was on the road.
- Dave and I four-wheel up Indiana Creek to Penn Creek roads. not a high-clearance 4WD experience, but the road was narrow and the willows and bushes scratched my truck up pretty good
- Helen and I camp out in the back of my truck up on Sand Flats Rd. in Moab, by Slickrock Trail. At night some bats come out and crawl around the underside of my truck, scaring me and making Helen laugh
- after a desert biking trip to Fruita and Moab, I spend a couple nights by myself in the truck atop the Colorado National Monument. Wake up to some teenagers drinking and doing donuts around my parking spot.
- racing the Chalk Creek Stampede MSC in Nathrop in May. Montana and I camp out in the back of my truck. Rainy weather, I wake up to fogged up interior of my topper, wet clothes and wet dog smell everywhere. yuck.

cold continues...

the sensor at my house showed a low of -12F this morning, and a high of 9F this afternoon some time. luckily we didn't have many winds today. not too motivating to get me outside. I do want to get out and ski from Reiling Dredge TH up to the summit of Mineral Hill. maybe this weekend. hopefully I make a deal for my truck tomorrow.

Montana

Hanging out waiting for a cookie, after a walk outside in the 2F air.

sent via Treo by AT&T

going to write some

for a change. I was getting lazy with the pics and crummy videos from my phone, but the ease and spontaneity of auto-posting via a quick email from the Treo was too hard to pass up. so now I am back to tried and true blogging. Just spent some time with Alina in her room. She has an ear infection and a cold now, hasn't been to school in a couple of days, and won't be going tomorrow. Helen stayed home with her a lot recently, and Mary is nice enough to come up tomorrow to watch Alina. I had heard her banging a baby doll stroller against the inside of her door. I was hoping she would stop, so I tried to let it go on, hoping Helen wouldn't wake up. Finally I caved in and went in to see what was going on. I took Alina and we sat down for a bit and now she's in bed. It was a good moment though.

Super cold weather snap now. -9 as i write this, and it's not midnight yet. i suspect it'll drop down to -15 or -20. Not much new snow either when the air is this dry and cold. It is so dry that the new snow is nice and squeaky under feet, and with little water content it's light, fluffy and easy to shovel. Hopefully it warms up some this weekend, as town will be packed for the MLK holiday.

I have had a small cold since Sunday, I should prob be in bed resting now. I haven't exercised since Sunday, and I am dying to do something, but rest is king now. i want to ski up to the top of 10,500' Mineral Hill. The skin up that packed trail is only about 1mi up French Gulch Rd from our house here. I also want to play some more tennis & racquetball. As soon as we hire one more person in our office, this should be able to happen more often during the work week, at least that's what I hope. I am really missing my mountain bike riding now that we're in the dark days of winter. Most trails around Colorado are covered in a little or a lot of snow now. About 4.5hrs west, in the high desert of Moab, there are a few rides open, and even those have some snowy spots from what I read. Even if I have to wait a month (hopefully not), I can't wait for my first ride on dry singletrack!

I am sick

sent via Treo by AT&T

alina

Click to Play

My 2GB memory card will allow plenty more videos sent via Treo by AT&T

Swinging at mom's race

sent via Treo by AT&T

blah

Click to Play

sent via Treo by AT&T

Luge 2

Click to Play

sent via Treo by AT&T

luge

Click to Play

sent via Treo by AT&T

coffee maker

our grinder/coffee maker is a little clogged now...needs some major cleaning due to all of the oils in coffee beans. Alina picked up on this quickly and this morning was saying "uh-oh, it's broken." She also wants to go with Helen to the bookstore to buy a new coffee maker. She seems to remember Helen getting some coffee at a bookstore, and perhaps thinks we need to buy a new coffee maker there. Funny!

Night ski

Skis on by my garage, on powdery singletrack 150yds later!

sent via Treo by AT&T

Alina

Click to Play

Playing in the living room. Hopefully she'll be in bed before 9 tonight. sent via Treo by AT&T

LSU - 2007 NCAA fball champs

after all the controversy and all the hype, my LSU Tigers are on top after the smoke has settled, and after they whipped Ohio St. 38-24 in a game that wasn't even as close as it sounds. What a great and memorable season it has been. I almost had a hear attack about 4 times over the season, and last night was a nice easy win to watch. Next year they will probably start out the season ranked in the top 5.

Afternoon xc ski

Returning to my truck at the trailhead. Another big storm rolling in now.

sent via Treo by AT&T

January, one month closer to dry desert trails out west

I've had a fantastic time snowboarding this December. The paper said December '07 was the 7th snowiest on record (records go back over 100 years). Breck reported 43" in town, over 70" in Dec up on the ski area. The big Holiday crowds are gone, which is awesome. -15 and 60mph winds are gone, which is awesome. Now we settle into your basic ski season groove. This entails when not to be on I-70, when not be in the supermarket, when not to be on Main St or Park Ave, etc.. I do still get excited about the snow, just not quite as much as in the past! Tomorrow should be fun, we're going to take Alina xc skiing out at the golf course's Gold Run Nordic Center. pics this weekend.

And with respect to the title of the blog, often times in the mid-winter months of December and January, I can still ride my mountainbike on dry trails down in Denver or out west in the high desert of Fruita. Both areas are snow-covered now. Typically by late Jan/early Feb they open up for the next 8-9 months. I am hoping that happens, as I am dying to ride my bike now!

giraffe

She loves to dress up. In this case, like a giraffe.

sent via Treo by AT&T

sun

Good to see the sun again. The downside to the clear skies is the -9F it is now.

sent via Treo by AT&T