Wednesday, March 09, 2005

What Crazy Weather

man, yesterday was nuts. A huge morning dust storm followed by a crazy snow storm, followed by mid-50 degree temperatures. I just wish we would get like 4 feet of snow... Seriously. Just get it over with so it doesn't start cancelling races later in the season. So, right now, it's approaching 60 degrees, and we might see more snow after the almost 70s this weekend.
NORBA season opener was this weekend in Texas. It looked more like West Virginia with all the mud. That stuff sucks. Or state cross championships. I quiver thinking about that. Gosh, mud racing sucks. My fork on my mountain bike is jacked up. It probably has need to be rebuilt 3 times since it was last, but I keep neglecting it. That's always a good ideal, right? I am jonesing for some new bikes. Our team road bikes are starting to arrive. Man, do they look good. I decided to hold out for the cross bike this fall, so I'll still have to ride the good ole Cannondale this season. Not that it isn't a sub-16 lb sweet bike, but new stuff is always nice. Infact, I decided to 86 the Cinelli Ram, cause I know it will shatter if it ever hits the ground. I went with an Easton setup that eneded up being lighter and significantly cheaper. EA70 bar and stem. I was ready to go the Deda route, but the 215 shallows don't suite me and Newton bars are outrageous. So, I ended up paying the same as I would have for a Newton stem for the bar and stem, plus it weights the same. Plus, the big deciding factor is that Easton is a sponsor for us this year...

I have been getting a lot of emails from Jo-Jo from Belgium. She is currently studying in Peru and man does that place look cool. She is tall and complains that the shower head hits her about shoulder height. I also emailed Kate today. She is in Spain and actually is planning a trip to Belgium for her spring break. Man, I am glad I have moountain here, cause I would go nuts in the midwest with everyone else in cool places...

Ok, enough rambling. I'll save some for later.

Monday, March 07, 2005

Warm and Windy...

Man, what a great weekend. 85 miles on Saturday. Rode to the Fed Center race yesterday. It hit 64 degrees, with a mighty wind and some hot beating sun. I put in a mountain bike ride this week that was nuts. It was supposed to be in the 50's. So I calculated in the mountain effect and dropped it 10 degrees. Then, when I added in that none of my clothes were clean with the exception of a long sleeve skinsuit, I figured I was golden. Grabbed an undershirt and I was off. I knew I was flirting with daylight from the start. I had about an hour and a half to ride. The weather was still moderately warm. The trail conditions were minimally icy from the spots the sun don't shine. The first 30 minutes were uneventful. Hard -rip you cold legs off- short jeep road climb, some fantastic techincal decending, rocks, the whole nine yards. I get on the back side and it starts to look like snow. It's still in the 40's, I am confortable, and I climb. And climb. And the snow begins. It was spotty, so I wouldn'd call it white out conditions, but it was snowing hard. The climb started to get a bit remote and the wildlife around me increased. At one point, I was approaching a herd (I swear it was atleast 30) of mule dear. As I climbed the rocky, switchback-ridden trail to them, they showed no fear. Perhaps it was my cunning tailless-sloth swiftness as I climbed up the technical terrain which by this time had a nice layer of mud building up in the dust from the snow...

In other news, every cyclist in the world needs an iPod Shuffle. It's small. It's perfect. And I officially think that Apple has most of the population convinced that they in fact NEED an iPod simple for their own survival. What a brilliant company. Back to the Shuffle. It's cool. I highly recommend it. Just don't lose it. It's that small.

In even better news, next weekend is calling for almost-70 degree temperatures. Time for some big miles, as I'll be refreshed coming off my recovery week!

Cheers!

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

i love colorado

Forecast for Denver, CO (80227)

10-Day Forecast
High /Low (°F) Precip. %
Today
Mar 01 Mostly Cloudy 54°/30° 20 %
Wed Mar 02 Mostly Sunny 52°/29° 0 %
Thu Mar 03 Partly Cloudy 54°/32° 20 %
Fri Mar 04 Partly Cloudy 56°/36° 20 %
Sat Mar 05 Mostly Sunny 58°/37° 20 %
Sun Mar 06 Mostly Sunny 59°/40° 10 %
Mon Mar 07 Partly Cloudy 59°/36° 0 %
Tue Mar 08 Partly Cloudy 59°/35° 20 %
Wed Mar 09 Partly Cloudy 58°/34° 10 %
Thu Mar 10 Partly Cloudy 56°/37° 10 %

Man, can't complain about that!