Happy Trails
Day 1: On Wednesday, we drove from Manitou to Utah.
On the way, we passed through Vernal, UT, where they have miles and miles of beautiful flower baskets lining the town, and ...
a pink dinosaur.
That night we camped at Soldier Creek Reservoir.
Day 2: The next day, we drove to Boise, ID.
That night, we camped at Grayback Gulch.
Day 3: On Friday, we went and rode the bike course for the Xterra Les Bois on Saturday.
The course was on trails overlooking the Boise River.
Most nights we cooked dinner in the T@G (we won’t bore you with pictures of our pasta and couscous), but we made sure to eat out once in each town we visited. That night, we ate at Fork in downtown Boise.
We had Thai curry mussels,
and trout with mango salsa on a parsnip puree,
and a BAM (bacon, avocado, and mozzarella) sammy.
Day 4: Saturday was race day.
After the race, we headed up into the mountains and camped near Bogus Basin, the local ski area.
We had great views from our campsite.
And, a wicked awesome sunset.
Day 5: Sunday morning, we rode the amazing trails around Bogus Basin.
After the ride, we headed to Ketchum and Sun Valley, ID.
We camped along the Corral Creek with a view of the Sun Valley ski area.
Day 6: On Monday morning, we rode the Bald Mountain perimeter loop. The trails were great and the views were impressive.
Dinner was at the Ketchum Grill, where we had duck
and meatloaf.
Day 7: On Tuesday, we headed to the Sawtooth Mountains.
Where we went for a hike in the Sawtooth Wilderness Area.
We hiked up to Alpine Lake
and then on to Sawtooth Lake,
where we had lunch
and a very cold swim.
Day 8: The next morning, we went for another great Sun Valley ride in the Greenhorn Gulch area.
Along the ride, we saw a family of pterodactyls.
After the ride, we drove to Ogden, UT and camped at Magpie Campground.
Day 9: Thursday we rode from Pineview Reservoir up the Wheeler Creek Trail to trails at the Snowbasin ski area.
That night, we headed into Ogden for dinner.
Tempura calamari,
scallops with squid ink fettuccine,
and pork two ways that, as far as we could tell, only had pork one way - a pork chop.
Day 10: Friday morning we drove to Park City to ride the Mid-Mountain Trail.
That evening we camped along Co-op Creek.
We were quite sad to see it end, so we drowned our sorrows in the official trip drink - gin and juice (laid back - Chris you know).
Happy Jack
We went camping and biking in Wyoming this weekend.
We brought our ‘beer’ mugs.
The first day we went mountain biking in Medicine Bow National Forest in the Happy Jack area.
It rained and rained on us. The trails turned into streams and the mosquitos were relentless. We were worried we might spend many hours in the T@G, but it eventually cleared.
Despite the weather, the biking that day was great!
The second day we rode at Curt Gowdy State Park. It was hot and sunny and there were no mosquitos.
Greatest Mountain Bike Ride EVER
We headed to Steamboat this past weekend. Here is our campsite:
After a delicious breakfast of egg sandwiches, we rode a loop right near town.
It was so beautiful. There were tons of Mule’s Ear Daisy Plants.
We definitely earned our delicious dinner of couscous, veggies, and BACON cooked in our gourmet kitchen.
The next day we rode right from our campsite.
After a harrowing river crossing, we had a fantastic ride.
Birthday Trip
Kyle's birthday present from me was a bike/leaf peeping trip. Is it selfish to give someone a trip that you then get to tag along on? Pretty smart if you ask me! We went to Carbondale, which is located between Glenwood Springs and Aspen. We stayed at the Red Rooster Ranch.
When we woke up Saturday morning everything was covered in snow! Our ride was chilly when we started, but it warmed up nicely.
We rode up McClure Pass.
We replenished lost calories at Town, a restaurant in Carbondale. I had the butternut squash enchiladas.
Kyle had the teres major, horseradish tater tots, creamed kale, and crispy onions.
The next day, we rode up Independence Pass. A rainy late summer and early fall have delayed the leaves, so there wasn't much color to see. Bummer. Notice the snow. Snow in September, double bummer.
Riding High
We did some mountain biking, one day in Breckenridge and one day in Fairplay, this weekend.
Alpine Odyssey
We went down to Crested Butte for the weekend. We stayed right in town. Here is the view from our balcony
On Saturday Kyle did the Alpine Odyssey - a 100 km mountain bike race with 9000 ft of climbing. His competition - LANCE ARMSTRONG...
Before the race:
During the race:
View from the race course:
After the race with the Schwinn Homegrown. The Homegrown was the subject of much discussion during the race - people could not believe someone was riding a bike from the 90's. I bet they were even more surprised to come in behind someone riding a bike from the 90's.
After the race we headed to our favorite restaurant, The Secret Stash, but first we took a few pics to document our 5th anniversary.
The "You're Driving Me Caprese" and the "Woodward". Yum.
Us after enjoying our pizzas:
On Sunday we went for a short ride. Kyle:
Leaves:
Becca:
View of Mt. Crested Butte:
The Slate River:
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HITS Tri
Day 1: Becca's race:
The first day Becca did an Olympic distance race (1500 m swim, 40 km bike, and 10 km run). The day started out cool with a swim in North Sterling Reservoir,
but by the time the run came around, it was hot - 100 F!
Happy to be done.
After the race we went to check out one of the many sculptures around Sterling. We like giraffes.
We also played with a stray cat in the park.
Day 2: Kyle's race
The second day, Kyle did a half-iron distance race (1.2 mile swim, 56 mi bike, 13.1 mile run). It started out warmer than the day before. The course was very beautiful, passing through rolling farmland.
By the time the run came around it was much hotter than the day before. This was a road race, how did he get so dirty?
Mountain Biking & Leaves
Last weekend we drove to Uncompahgre Plateau for a weekend of mountain biking and leaf peeping. The plateau is about 5 hours from Colorado Springs in an area of Colorado referred to as the Western Slope.
Day 1: Our campsite is one we've had before. It's a beautiful site on the edge of a canyon.
We were able to do a long bike loop right from our campsite. The first leg of the ride followed a forest road with some amazing colors:
We then took a trail to an overlook that had a view of the LaSalle mountain range in Utah at its end. Here are some pictures from along that trail.
It had started getting cloudy by the time we made it to the overlook, so we didn't get any great pictures of the view. There were some 4-wheelers there who took pictures of us instead of the mountains. I guess they found it hard to believe that people rode their bikes ALL THEY WAY to the view point. We took a combo of multi-use trails and forest roads back to camp. No matter where we were there were plenty of beautiful leaves.
After a 4.5 hour bike ride followed by a couple hours of grading quizzes, we had worked up quite a hunger. We concocted a rather delicious meal from rice, canned pozole, tapatio, and avocado.
Day 2: On the 2nd morning we packed up the car and drove to some trails that were on the way out. Again, the colors and views were amazing.
I had the bright idea that we should take a detour through Aspen to see the colors. Given the town's name, it seemed to me that should be the best place in the state to see aspen leaves. It did not disappoint, but it probably added 2 hours to our already long drive. Oops. This picture is looking down on Aspen from Independence Pass.
Mountain Biking & Firewood
It's fall, so it's time to cut firewood. A couple of weekends ago we got our firewood permits from the Forest Service - $10/cord - and headed out to cut some wood. We cut three truck loads - we would probably only need one load for us, but Chief Al really likes to read/nap in the chair by the woodstove when he's here, so we had to get and extra couple of loads to ensure his comfort. A pile of logs ready to be split:
It was a beautiful weekend, so we spent some time on our mountain bikes as well. Leaves are turning:
Harvest Moon
A few weeks ago Kyle and I went on a Denver vacation. Nominally it was for me to do the Harvest Moon triathlon, but we made it into a little mini-vacation. On Saturday we checked out Ikea, the highlight for me was the Swedish meatball platter, then we spent some time in downtown Denver. We had a great dinner and then went back to the hotel to get ready for the race.
Race day was gorgeous. It was a little cool at the start, I was happy to have my wetsuit.
The swim was slow:
The bike ride was slower. Kyle rode around on his bike taking pictures. This was a good plan with a fatal flaw. Every time he stopped to take pictures, someone from the race would stop to ask if he needed help!
And the run was slowest.
The race ended with a slip-n-slide. A fun ending to a fun day.
The scenery was beautiful (I had plenty of time to enjoy it) and I had a great time. I have to say, it was really nice to have my own personal photographer/cheering squad. Don't the sailboats in the background seem out of place given the fact the race was in Denver?
Ironman Canada
We went to Penticton, BC at the end of August for Ironman Canada. Penticton is a nice town in the Okanagan Valley, which has several large lakes, all surrounded by mountains, and seemingly endless vineyards and fruit orchards.
Here's Becca at the Japanese garden on the edge of Lake Okanagan:
On Saturday, the day before the race, we drove the bike course, got some fresh peaches from a farm stand along the route, and took some pictures:
We stayed at the Plaza Motel - very classy.
The race was on Sunday, starting with a 2.4 mile swim in Okanagan Lake. Here's the start:
The bike was next. It's a great bike course - very hilly. Here I am on my way out of town:
And again, after a hot and windy 112 miles:
It was a really hot day - mid 80's for the run. Here I am near the beginning of the run. This guy thought Bec was taking his picture.
Highlights from the run: Australian guy saying to me, "You've got a duck in you pocket mate. Could've used that one going up this hill." and the person sitting on ths side of the course with a sign that said, "Worst parade ever!"
I finished in 10:19, which was about as good as I could have hoped for. Here I am at the finish with an Orange Crush:
Penticton seems to be mostly Greeks and Sihks. There were a ton of Greek restaurants, and Sihk temples. Just about everyone working in the orchards was wearing a turban. We went to a really good Greek restaurant after the race. We had Spanikopita
and dolmades
and rabbit stew made from local rabbits
East Coast Bike Rides
As our loyal readers know, we did some bike riding while back east. The rides were beautiful and hilly. We saw a LOT of farms and cows...
It was a little early for a tasting at Jonathan Edwards, but I couldn't resist a picture of their grounds.
Jonathan Edwards Winery
Connecticut ride - Barn 1.
Connecticut ride - Barn 2.
NY ride - Barn 1.
NY ride - happy chickens.
RI ride - happy cows.
CT ride - happy Kyle.
NY ride - happy Kyle.
RI ride - happy Becca
Memorial Day Bike Ride
Every year around this time we pack up the bikes and head to Fruita and/or Moab. This year we decided against the 5+ hour drive and stayed home. We headed about an hour south to Pueblo to check out their mountain bike trails instead. It was a good decision! The trails were just as good as Fruita and way closer. The trails:
We saw a lot of cacti, a lizard or two, and jet skis:
It's amazing how much plants want to live and will grow just about anywhere, but die in our garden!
And some people pictures. Kyle reading the map that was NOT to scale and a two hour ride ended up lasting 4 or so!
Lake City to Creede - Leaf Peeping
This past weekend we headed to southwestern Colorado for some biking, hiking, and leaves. We drove down to Lake City Friday night and camped just outside the town. Saturday morning started with coffee at Mean Jean's Coffee House in Lake City.
When it finally warmed up, it probably dropped into the 30's overnight, we headed out on a bike ride. First we passed Lake San Cristobal, formed by a massive mudslide many years before.
The top of Slumgullion Pass was anticlimatic after the views on the way up.
But, the views on the way down were amazing.
It wasn't all downhill, we had another pass to climb. This one was a little lower.
A friendly Texan called out to Kyle at the top of this pass "Are you waiting for her? She's having some trouble getting up the hill, but she's not that far behind." He found this hysterical.
After some 'recovery' ice cream...
we headed to Creede.
We had tacos and margaritas at Kip's Grill...it was just like the Kip's in Pagosa. Delicious!
We camped in Creede.
And then headed out for a hike.
Fruita
We went to Fruita, CO last weekend to ride our bikes for a few days. A couple of people we know from the pool, Jamie and Kerri, came along. Fruita is just west of Grand Junction, about fifteen miles from Utah. We camped in Rabbit Valley:
The first day there, we rode our mountain bikes on the Rabbit Valley trails. Some pictures from the West Rim Trail:
The next day we rode our road bikes through the Colorado National Monument.
Sunday, we mountain biked on the Kokopelli Trails.
Not sure why they're walking - I rode up it just fine.
Some nice desert flowers:
