what a difference a couple days makes...

my last post was trailside on Zippety Do Dah out in Fruita, home of some of the best singletrack in the world. It was pushing 60 degrees and the sun was trying to come out. Today, back in Breck, it is puking snow out now, on top of the 6" or so we had last night. I hope April brings us a prolonged warm or dry spell. We haven't had one yet, and the trails around here are buried deep. Local singletrack is about as close as Hawaii right now.

Lucky for us, Mary endured another white knuckle drive up to Breck this morning to watch Alina. She is so awesome, I can not thank her enough. If only we had the money, I'd be so happy to buy her a nice new road bike. She needs one badly. There was a dry slot between storms mid-morning, and the roads dried up some. Now it is snowing again, tomorrow could be another powder day! I hope Mary has a safe drive home.

fruita

Zippety do dah

sent via Treo by AT&T

Happy B-day Steve!

29 today. I remember 29 as being the ultimage age, as anything 30 and beyond seemed old or middle-agish. Well now that I am on my way to 36, that age now seems to be 31. Oh well. I have everything to be happy for and nothing to be unhappy about. Some exciting things on the horizon hopefully with my photography business.

Easter pie

Alina enjoying some pie, or whip cream really, at Easter brunch at Spencer's.

ride

sent via Treo by AT&T

feeling a bit like a cyclist

No I haven't been putting in huge time on the bike, but I have been trying to keep fairly active. Problem is that I prefer fun over training discipline. But yesterday I did almost 3 hours at mostly a tempo pace. So the work was there. I am about 15min away from being out again on a short ride. This time of year, you have to get out when the roads are dry, regardless of temperature, cloud condition or wind. Today it is mid 30s and bit breezy, but the sun is shining and the roads are mostly dry.

Tiger Road

Ride on the cross bike. No shortage of views.

sent via Treo by AT&T

Easter egg hunt

I know there's an egg down here somewhere!

sent via Treo by AT&T

Alina's view

looking out her window, moments before sunset. 6MB file, click on it to see the large version. Except for the reflection in the lower right portion from the window, I like this image. Alina does too.

HDR interior

now I know the composure isn't good. the chairs aren't straight, Alina's stuff is visible behind the table, etc. But this is just another quick 3 exposure test. I definitely need a better tripod down the road. But I am digging the nice dynamic range of light here, the view through the window isn't washed out, the color balance looks okay. I am going to take one exposure with flash, freeze that aperture, then take one for the view, and another for the shadows. and see how those 3 (or 5 or 7) would combine with Photomatix. I will have a better test coming soon using 5 or 7 exposures at mid-day with clear sunny blue skies.

HDR landscape

yeah I know it looks processed. I was trying to make it look a little surreal, but I oversaturated the underexposed frame. oh well, the composite iamge with the 3 exposures is pretty neat.

the finer things in life...

For some reason, she wanted to wear her ski helmet while riding her bike.


Dry streets and bluebird sunny skies after work are awesome!


Alina & Logan with their galoshes on, playing in the water


Alina eating snow. We need to have her try a real snowcone/snoball this summer!


Alina gets a nice line through the puddle!

playing with Kylee and Luca

We had dinner a while back at the Kellerman's house. Alina had a great time playing with Kylee and baby Luca.

 
 

winter perch

the old house had a volcano in winter due to the snow. the new house has a 12' tall stack of snow in the back yard due to my snowblower throwing all of the parking pad snow into the backyard. This perch is favored by Tanny. She hangs out there, and has a great view!

shoot

I had to re-shoot a very UNinspiring condo yesterday. But those are often the ones that are the most challenging, yet most rewarding. The trophy homes with contemporary furnishings and million dollar views pose some challenges, but on their own they shine. The older more moderate properties...therein lies the challenge. And it's seeing good results that drives my motivation.

town view

looking north east from the 4th floor of one of our buildings. A partly cloudy day has turned into a beautiful sunny afternoon. You can see some of the major streets in town are dry now. Time to start squeezing in some short rides at lunch, weather permitting between storms.

I'm a giraffe

sent via Treo by AT&T

tanny

sent via Treo by AT&T

winter continues

As is usually the case, just when I had a nice hint of spring with trips out to the desert and brief warm spells here in town, winter has returned. Another 7" this morning, after the 16" Thursday through Friday night. I think the ski report shows an 86" mid-mountain base. Pretty healthy for Breck. Snowboarding Friday was great, as was Saturday. Yesterday afternoon I did a nice xc tour up X10U8 and down the B&B trail. Snow was perfect, and the blue kick wax was working super well. The only biking I've done lately has been on the rollers, and even just 45min is hard for me now. I am SOFT.
Alina mostly hung out this wknd. We went to a bday/going away party Saturday, and yesterday we didn't do too much. For some odd reason, Alina didn't want to go outside. Think she was just tired. Work is busy, maybe the 2nd (to Xmas/New Years) busiest week of the entire ski season. The good news is that we have 3 more weeks, and then the season starts to fade away. That is good, it means we will be going out to the desert much more often. And hopefully some of the local roads will start to melt out some so I can ride more outside without having to drive to Denver.

sizzle

Click to Play

sent via Treo by AT&T

Reiling dredge

Ski tour is nice.

sent via Treo by AT&T

Stretching the suit

Click to Play

sent via Treo by AT&T

another

sent via Treo by AT&T

Swim training float suit

Courtesy of her grandparents in Nawlins. She might test the bouyancy tomorrow night in the bath.

sent via Treo by AT&T

Peek-A-Boo toy store

Click to Play

She loves it here, naturally sent via Treo by AT&T

go Helen

cool picture of Helen running the Way Too Cool 50K out in the verdant foothills of the Sierra last weekend. Her next race will prob also be my 3rd trip out the high desert this year, going to Fruita for the Spring Desert Ultra 4/19. Can't wait to ride the epic singletrack of 18 Road and the Kokopelli area that weekend.

Moab, Way Too Cool 50K

had a great time in the desert. 58 and sunny on Friday evening, and we arrived at 5:30 and were lucky enough to bust out a quick 2 laps on the Slickrock practice loop. saturday we awoke to 39 degrees and overcast, but it burned off by 11, and it was sunny and in the mid 50s. Sunday was clear out the gate, and approaching 60. With the heavy winter the West has had this year, it is amazing to think we can still drive 4hrs west, and ride singletrack trails in March at over 4,000'. As always, I'm already looking forward to my next trip to the desert. Since I've hit Moab twice already, I really am eager to ride Fruita.

Helen had a great race in California's Way Too Cool 50K. 7th overall female, 2nd in the under-34 age group, 65th out of 443 finishers! Results here. She said it was beautiful and very green over there already. Looking forward to seeing some pictures!

moab

sent via Treo by AT&T

Way Too Cool, and desert

Helen flying to Sacramento tonight to drive up to Cool, CA, with Mary and Alina to race the Way Too Cool 50K. She is feeling better, finally, after her multi-week cold. I think she's in great shape and is hoping for a good result, esp. after a great 50K in Moab a few weeks back when she was definitely under the weather some. The top ultrarunners in CA should be there, so the field will be tough.

I, on the other hand, thanks to Mary flying with Helen and Alina, am granted a weekend hall pass. So I'm headed out to the desert of Utah with some friends for some mountain biking. As I was walking Montana this morning and it was -5F, I was imagining being in the desert Saturday afternoon, 60 degrees and sunny, sweat beading off my head! Can't wait!

Skiing on Saturday

sent via Treo by AT&T

trifecta

- cross country powder skiing on the BC skis Friday night up above Sallie Barber Rd. on some nice north-facing terrain.
- a nice 2hr spin on the cross bike Saturday afternoon, sunshine and 50 degrees. Felt like April in Summit County.
- and a few hours of snowboarding in fresh snow yesterday up at Breck.

3 sports, 3 days. not bad for this washed up wannabe. Helen and I took Alina skiing on Saturday morning. She had as much or more fun on the bus rides over than the actual 45 minutes of skiing. I think she gets it, just has a short attention span for now. I am guessing the 08-09 winter will be her breakthrough for alpine, lift-assisted skiing. She is, after all, not quite 2.5 years old. Until then, we can go alpine skiing a couple times a month. I think Helen is caught up in getting Alina skiing soon, since several of our neighbors and friends have 3 year olds who are skiing quite well. My kid does this, my kid does that. Would you rather have a kid that skis like Herman Maier, but isn't potty trained? Or a kid that is fairly potty trained, but doesn't quite downhill ski much? No hurry, Alina will enjoy the speed and control when she's just a little bit older.

Going skiing

On the bus there...

sent via Treo by AT&T