Jeff came down to say goodbye since I am leaving on Saturday, and he brought some sort of weird styrofoam snow/sleet with him. I am not quite sure what this stuff is….

Thoughts?

and for your viewing pleasure… I am winded b/c I ran up 3 flights of stairs to get my camera. I was overstimulated from my “Cherry Choc-obama latte” I had at Brewing Market just moments before.

and might I add, the coffee shop was HOPPING. I couldn’t find a parking spot for several minutes, and it took 10 minutes for my latte to come out b/c so many people were stuffed in there. Typical Boulder….. and might I add, they were selling $2000 espresso machines too.

I wonder if he was wearing a helmet? LOL. Entertaining..and ouch! That’s gotta hurt!

WYH = wear your helmet.  I saw multiple people today out riding on the bike path and ICE with no helmet.  When I was 8, I refused to ride my bike because my dad would make me wear a helmet, but now I am older and hopefully wiser, and I wear my helmet everywhere. Even to the grocery store.   Ok, maybe not that crazy, but I wear it commuting or to ride down the road.  I understand it’s cold, but you can fit your beanie under your helmet… I do.  My helmet has literally saved my life more than once, so come on people, it doesn’t make you look pro or cool to ride around like that…. especially on ice.

Winter, as I have been complaining, is here in full force.  I thought this was a pretty scene on my ride today…

Some days I double chami (you know, the padded bike shorts for those of you not down with the lingo) it.  My cycling shorts are all too big… my friends make fun of me for it, but that is what I have right now.  I’ll have new kits in a couple months, so I just gotta deal for now.  I noticed that when I double chami, it holds the pair underneath in place and my crotch won’t die.  I figured out that is why my crotch died that day we rode 9 hours to Winter Park.   Then I thought…I need Chami-spenders with wicked flames on them.   Like I need these …. or maybe ones with skull and crossbones!

I have felt pretty exhausted this week, so I am thankful for the recovery rides and tomorrow, I get a rest day.  YEEEEEHAAA!  I am heading to the Querque on Saturday for the holidays.  Looking forward to some new routes.  I have a 30 hour training week coming up and am debating going back home for that week.  There are not enough flat winter rides around here, and if i do the same ride every day, I may go crazy (notice I didn’t say Looney)… especially if it’s 20 degrees out every day, or shudder, I have to ride the flippin trainer.

Yesterday’s ride was in the 20 degree temp range, so I headed outside. All the snow has not melted yet, so I took the mountain bike. The main roads are wet, side roads are snow covered, and bike paths are pretty icy. Who says you can’t work on your technical skills on the road?

My legs definitely need the recovery week, so I am excited to be stronger after this training block. Today will be another 1.5 hr recovery ride.

I registered for the Sea Otter last night – XC and Short track. There is a holiday discount off entry fees – 15% off, so take advantage of that now!!!

The temps have broken double digits for the first time in a few days. Granted, it still will stay below freezing all day, but it feels so much warmer than 1 degree. Although this is my rest week, I still will be riding about 11 hours. Today is a 1.5 hour ride and I will take my Rotwild since the roads are still a little slick and slushy. My legs aren’t sore anymore, so my body has recovered from my 21 hours of training last week.

I am also done with Xmas shopping. yaaaaay! I am spending Dec. 20-30 in New Mexico for the holidays and am looking forward to it. I can’t wait to see my family, my friends, and get some solid training on NM pavement and singletrack. My Scott carbon hardtail is still in ABQ, so I will be riding that bike, and then I must sell that bike and my Cannondale. Sniff. Any takers?

It was more of a snow white actually. The high ended up being 8F today.

I woke up to 1F this morning, and it had warmed up to a balmy 2F when Snowkove and I headed out to go hike.

I was not about to hop on the bike and turn into an ice sculpture, so we headed to the Chautauqua Park area to hike.

The Flat Irons were wearing their winter coat…

Jeff was wearing his smile and hiking gear….

The mountains were cold and quiet.

After about 3000′ of climbing and 2 hours, we made it up to the top of Green Mountain at 8,144′. It was so cold that the condensation from my breath was frozen on the ends of my hair!  You couldn’t even see the 13 and 14,000′ peaks.

It was nice to do a little cross training and to enjoy the snow for once.

Other than that, I have been Betty frickin Crocker this weekend and made 2 loaves of bread with my bread machine, peanut butter bars, and chocolate chip cookie bars.  Don’t be surprised if I start sounding like this.

Next week, I am turning the volume down and spending some time recovering.

Brrrrr! My taint can rest today. hee hee Time to go hike! Taint you very much!

Yes. I have been working for the last few hours getting everything changed over for 2009. Any feedback is greatly appreciated since this blog is for you!

Yesterday was another zone 2, 3 hour day in the saddle. My legs are and were sore from the back to back 3h days in the saddle, but I was able to push through the ride.

It was crazy windy both yesterday and today in the Front Range. Yesterday, I headed up towards Estes Park and back.

Today was a 5 hour ride up to Ward, peak to peak, and down through Lyons. It always surprises me that the ride up to Ward is around 4000′ of climbing b/c it’s so gentle. One of my best buds – Anne – rode with me today, so the time went by fast.

Anne. She races on the road bikes and XC skiing.

Clouds were building in the mountains, and once we hit about 8500′, the snow came for a little bit.

…and Xmas Caroling at 9000′

It was definitely chilly in the mountains, but nothing too bad.

It’s the freaking Rockies man! I would rather ride up high and freeze than ride flats day after day after day on the same roads. When the roads are snow packed and intensity has to stay low, flats are sometimes the only option. And yeah, still loving my compact cranks.

Tomorrow will be another story….
14 degrees? WTF

Saddle time so far this week? 17 hours. Tomorrow will be a hiking day.

Are the grips on your mountain bike old, haggard, and probably look more like a piece of moldy, rotten cheese than a bike grip? …or maybe your hands hurt and your grips just plain stink. …or maybe you have road handlebar tape for grips that is coming off? (that used to be me) If that’s the case, you need to enter this contest. Send a close up picture of your abused bike grips and if yours are the worst, you win a FREE pair of Ergons. Easy, right?