Weekend in Summit County

Keagan's new scooter

Dead Dog Classic

The bike ready to go

A tree from my past

Driving to the Road Race start

Raced on this road

Keagan turned 4

North Fork Bluegrass Fest

Headed to Hotchkiss for a Bluegrass fest, the music was great, the kids had an area to play at the back, and the beer was cold. We did attend a contra dance on Sat nite which was a lot of fun.

Flowers in the Garden

End of School Awards

Stone Soup Musical

Hard to say Good-bye

We had to say good-bye to the last of our first family this week. Aldo was a Texas dog who had his moments, from the rogue puppy to the vigilant guard and running partner. He will be missed.

Trans Iowa Version III

A quick update on my latest adventure in cycling.

The race started with 64 riders as many bailed at the last minute, that left only the real freaks. Amongst these riders two were running fixed geared, one of which is from Denver. A neutral lead-out lead these 64 fearless riders into the dark country side of Iowa. White light drenched the us from behind whilst a sea of blinking red lights guided our way. The race started out fast as we climbed out of the first of many Mississippi tributaries with the eventual leaders going off the front. I held a good position in the top twenty not wanting to expend to much to soon. Soon settled in for the long haul on some of the hilliest gravel I have ever ridden, at times I could barely turn the pedals over without falling over ~ I did change up my gearing to a 32x15 which made all the difference. Rolled into the checkpoint at 3:15 pm with 137 miles in 11h15m and with an on bike pace of about 14 mph. I hooked up with two other fellows for the long push to the finish. We rode into the night stopping in towns to seek food and warmth. A 2am we had put another 100 miles in our legs and were feeling fresh. About 5am the reality that we had 60plus miles to go as the sun was just visible on the horizon was when we had to dig really deep! I just kept eating and drinking and turning over the pedals. Once the sun was up in full, the bodies started to react as we made the final push in. The last 9 miles were in full sun with two of the steepest hills in the area, I had to switchback them or I would have fallen over. Climbed up the last climb to a cemetary and made it to the finish.

Another life goal checked off the list!

Totals:

342 miles in 32h48m

24 finishers with half of those on Singlespeeds (one fixed)

8 packages of Perpetuem

8 packages of Heed

5 gel flasks with Espresso Hammer gel

20 homemade energy biscuits

3 Redbulls

3 bananas

1 package crackers

1 brownie

1 Powerbar

1 Lara bar

4 Oatmeal creme cookies

3 bottles of Gatorade

5 refills of Camelbak

plus other assorted junk calories

Fallon aka Anne Frank

Last week the First Grade class presented their Notable People to Family and friends. It was quite a site to see 40+ kids reciting a report on their person.

Green Mountain Hike

Time in Breck

A new Stoker

The new Colnago C50 will have to wait awhile. Looks as if we might be looking at trail-a-bikes or even a triple. With spring break next week, the tandem will be getting some miles riding the bike trails of Denver.

Our new Condo

We have enter the world of LANDLORDS, we recently purchased a condo in Summit County for the sole purpose of long term rental.

Before

After

Running of the Green

Rene and the kids took part in the annual Running of the Green in downtown Denver. Fallon walked about half of it - she is in training for Marathon Kids thru the Colfax Marathon.

The Floam Experience

MS150

The bicycle team (JDS Factory Team) I am riding with this year, is working with the MS Society to raise money for the fight against MS. The JDSFT has committed to participating in the Colorado MS150 ride which means I need to raise some money for the cause. I must remind you that a good friend of mine from College is inflicted with the disease and what Fallon had is eerily similiar to MS.

Please visit my page at the MS Society and throw a couple of bucks into the till.

Thanks,
Mike

Last Day!

Rene's last day of work for Emerson Process Management. She will start with her new company on March 19th, so two weeks of hanging out with the kids.

Fallon Racin'

Fallon finished up with bombers last weekend with a race. She did really well! She enjoyed Bombers this year but did not have as much fun as last year. Fallon did qualify to go to Nastar Nationals with one of the top 3 fastest times posted for her age and gender at Breckenridge. We have no plans on attending but it is cool that she got invited.

More Eye stuff

I had some minor surgery to remove a cyst from around my eye. It swelled up pretty good.

All else is fine here.

Mas-o-Menos

Made to and from Texas unscathed! I competed in the Single Speed race which had 14 of us. The race went well until the last climb where I cramped badly because of the heat and lack of proper nutrition. I ended up with 4th but I kept the top 3 in sight all the way until the climb.