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The first few weeks of school are under my belt. Classes have been going pretty well, and I'm getting to ready for the first round of exams. I'm taking some hard classes this semester, including anatomy and the second semester of organic chemistry. I just had my first test in anatomy lab this past week, which I think went pretty well. This coming week is another anatomy test, as well as an organic chemistry test. Ouch. Lots of studying to do...
Well since school has started, I've been to 3 football games. The first one was the big rivalry game with CSU at Invesco Field in Denver. The roomates and I went down early and tailgated, and then got to watch a good game that resulted in a CU win. The following weekend I didn't get to go to the home game, but I did get to race my mountain bike at the first collegiate race of the year. I took 9th in the short track and 16th in the cross country. The weekend was fun because we also got to camp. It was kind of cold at night, but overall it was good racing weather.
Last weekend I got to go visit Mike in South Carolina. I flew in on Friday night and went to the USC-Georgia game on Saturday. It was blistering hot and much more humid than I was used to, but it was still a great game nonetheless. USC put up a good fight against the number 2 team in the country and the atmosphere was really cool. SEC football is pretty exciting. I flew back to Boulder on Sunday morning after a way-too-short visit, but it was a good trip despite the brevity. It was good to see Mike and his new apartment. He is definitely in a nice place.
This past Thursday was the big CU football game against West Virginia. It was nationally televised on ESPN and the fans decided to "blackout" the stadium. It was a really fun game to go to, especially since we beat WV in overtime! Maybe we'll make into the top 25 after the weekend is over... Tomorrow I'm off to Wyoming for another collegiate mountain bike race. I've never done this race, so we'll see how it goes. That's all for now. Until next time...
Sorry for the long time between updates. I have been pretty busy recently traveling and such. A couple weeks ago Mike came out to visit for a week. We had fun hanging out in Boulder, going to Water World in Denver, and going to the Mile High Music Festival and seeing John Mayer, the Roots, the Flobots, and of course, Dave Matthews. It was a really hot day for the festival, with temperatures pushing 100 degrees, but it was still a great atmosphere and the shows were really entertaining.
After Mike left, I had a week before I flew back home. I spent it doing a fair amount of riding. To end it, though, Jacob, Chris, and I decided to go climb two 14,000 foot peaks ("fourteeners") west of Denver. The two peaks we attempted to climb were Grays Peak and Torreys Peak, which happen to be right next to each other. This is nice because it makes it easy to climb both in the same day. We drove up to the trailhead on a Tuesday afternoon, and prepared to hike part-way up and then find a campsite for the night. Unfortunately when we got there, the trailhead was already at treeline, and it wouldn't have been safe to hike and camp higher than treeline, so we just camped in a nice grove of pine trees at the trailhead. We spent the afternoon exploring the area and soaking in the amazing scenery. We cooked dinner, then went to bed early in preparation for the next day. We woke up the next morning at 4:30 a.m. and ate a quick breakfast before setting out on the trail. The first part of the hike was still pitch black, so it was nice and cool. It was neat because we got to see the sun rise over the mountains, and the lighting of the early morning was beautiful. We climbed up Grays Peak first, which is 14,270 feet high. We had to stop multiple times on the way up to snap pictures of the amazing views. It seemed like every new angle just had to be captured. After about 3 hours, we finally summited Grays Peak, my first fourteener! It was probably between 45 and 50 degrees at the summit and it was kind of windy, which made for a cold wind chill. I was glad I brought layers. After taking some more pictures and signing the summit log, we descended to the saddle between Grays and Torreys, and continued our trek to Torreys Peak, 14,267 feet. The climb up Torreys was steeper and more challenging than Grays, and I became much more tired than I had anticipated. But it was worth it because the views from the summit were incredible and we got to summit our second fourteener of the day. On the descent, we saw an awesome mountain goat that seemed to just climb up over the cliff that dropped off the side of the trail. We made it back to our campsite by about 11:00, and then packed everything in my Jeep and 4-wheeled out on the same gnarly road we drove in on. It was a cool way to top off a great couple of days.
After my mountaineering experience, I flew back home for two weeks. While I was there, I seemed to be continuously doing things. I got to go visit Lesley and Jim and the boys a couple times, see some friends, go to Gettysburg to visit family, go to VA Beach to see a Dave Matthews concert, go to Wintergreen multiple times to play golf, and I got to go on a great hike up Old Rag Mountain with Dad and Mom and Mike. All-in-all, it was a pretty packed trip. I didn't really want to leave, but Boulder was calling. Now I'm back in the 303 and school starts soon. I guess I'm excited for it, but I'm also not really ready for my wonderful summer to end. I did get to do a lot of cool stuff this summer, so I guess I can't really complain. That's all for now. Enjoy the pictures.
It's been a while since I've last updated, so here's what's been going on. Last week was really hot. I didn't get to ride much in the beginning of the week, and then I got sick later in the week. I think it was food poisoning of some sort, but I'm not sure. That lasted for a few days. Then on Saturday John, James, and I decided to go ride some trails in the southwestern part of the state. We drove to Kenosha Pass and stopped there to ride the Colorado Trail. We did about 16 miles on that, which was pretty cool. It was a nice day for a ride, but that meant that everyone else was out also. It was pretty busy for a trail, so we kept the ride to 2 hours. Then we hopped in the car and drove the rest of the way to our final destination, Salida. We found a good camp site and set up camp, then went back into town for dinner. After dinner, we pretty much just went right to bed because we were planning on waking up early the next morning to catch the shuttle to the Monarch Crest Trail.
Sunday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn and ate breakfast and took down the tents and stuff. Then we drove into town to the place where you catch the shuttle, and caught the 8 o'clock up to the top of Monarch Pass. From here we planned to do an epic 40 mile ride back down to Salida. The first part of the trail was awesome. Actually the entire trail was awesome. The first part is just rolling singletrack above treeline, which seemed like another world. The elevation was about 11,500 feet for the first part of the trail. And oh yeah, there were still massive snowbanks. Check out the video.
Then we hit some cool descents and some more climbs, and then it was time for a lunch break. After lunch, we had another really fun descent, but this is where the trouble started. John had one flat not too long into the descent. Fairly routine. Then he and I both flatted about ten minutes later. At this point we were kinda pissed because the loose rocky descent was destroying our tires. And to make matters worse, John realized that he had broken his rear skewer. This rendered his bike unridable, and we were still a good 6 miles or so from the dirt road that would take us back to town. This meant it was walking time. So we took the next cutoff trail and walked/pushed John along for a good 4 or 5 miles, then I took John's keys to his car and went ahead to get it.
After another 6 miles or so, I reached the car and drove it back up to meet John and James. It was kind of disappointing to have to cut our ride short, but we still got a good 4 hours of riding in, and the trail was probably the best I've ever ridden. I'll have to go back for sure.
Yesterday was another sweet ride. This time it was just John and me, and we decided to go to Buffalo Creek. I had never been here either, but now I sure want to go back. This area has a bunch of cool trails that you can connect into pretty much as big a loop as you want. John had a general idea of where we were going, and with the help of the map we came up with a super cool loop that incorporated more of the Colorado Trail. The whole trail was pretty much a sandy consistency with very few rocks, which made it smooth and fast and it had a good flow to it. The scenery was pretty too. All in all it made for another excellent ride.
Today John and I planned out a course for the short track race tomorrow, and this weekend I have the Mt. Evans hill climb (which is probably the hardest thing ever) and then Mike comes out to visit! I can't wait.
This is what some of the riding out here is like, for those of you back on the East Coast (sorry, the first one is sideways):
This past weekend I was in Laramie, WY for the Dead Dog Classic stage race. I did this race last year in the 4's and did pretty well, so I was pretty excited to go back. I drove up Friday night and stayed with a few guys from my team in the classy Ramada. Saturday was the road race, and the day started out with an early wake up time. Fortunately, the forecast was for sunny skies, calm breezes, and a high of only 75- basically perfect weather for a race. The road race was 87 miles, with close to 7,000 feet of climbing. It was definitely a daunting stage. The race started out pretty calm, but about 25 miles in we hit the first of two big climbs, and the race immediately splintered. I was caught almost immediately in between the lead group that was quickly pulling away on the climb and the stragglers behind that couldn't hold the pace. I got into a good rhythm, though, and climbed pretty well. Two of my teammates caught up to me close to the top of the climb, and we worked together the rest of the race. The second climb was just as long and hard as the first, and my legs were really starting to hurt. It was a welcome sight to see the summit, and long descent helped me to recover slightly. The flat road back towards the finish was plagued by a strong crosswind, so we had to roll a sweet ecehlon which actually worked pretty well. The last 11 miles were rolling climbs, and that is where I really hit the wall. I was so spent from the climbs and the crosswind stretch that I could barely turn the pedals over. The last K was absolutely brutal, and my body was screaming at me to stop. I finished, but it wasn't pretty. I crossed the line in 18th out of about 50 riders in my category, so overall I did pretty well. It was probably one of the hardest road races I've ever done, and I was glad when it was finally over. The rest of the day on Saturday was spent sleeping, eating, and just recovering. I had to get ready for the crit and time trial on Sunday.
The crit was the first stage on Sunday. My legs were still brutally sore from the race the day before, but after a good warm-up session they felt a lot better. Early in the race, a break got away and nobody seemed willing to chase. So I went to the front and put in two really long efforts to try to close down the gap. But both times people weren't willing to continue the chase, so my effort was all for naught. Oh well. The rest of the race I just kind of sat in and tried to stay near the front. It came down to a bunch sprint for 3rd place, and I ended up coming in 12th. I was still happy with my race because of the amount of work I did and how I was still able to be in the mix at the end, which I hadn't been able to do in the last few crits I've done.
Immediately after the crit was the time trial. It was a little over 10 miles and started out downhill, then turned around and came back uphill. It's a hard course for sure, and my sore legs made it even harder. During it I just felt like I had zero power left in my legs. Oh well... I guess that's to be expected for not having done many really long rides this year and then trying to go out and do a brutal road race followed by a crit and a time trial. I finished pretty far down in the time trial, but ended up taking 22nd overall, which I felt wasn't too shabby. Overall, I was pretty happy with how the weekend went.
Now I'm back in Boulder and starting my last week of summer school! I can't wait until that's done. I don't have any races planned for this weekend, so hopefully I can get in some good long rides. I'm also really pumped for the 4th of July. I think a few of Jacob's friends might be coming up from New Mexico, so maybe we'll have a small party or something. Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for reading.
The CU Short Track Series has a blog! Check it out:
This past weekend the whole Boulder gang went down to Crested Butte for the fourth stop in the Mountain States Cup mountain bike series. I had never been to CB before, so I was pretty stoked. Plus, it was my first real mountain bike race ever. The drive down was scenic, and pretty entertaining. John, Bryan, Sarah, Wayne and I headed down first, and Katie, Kate, Caitlin and Phil came down later in the evening. When we got into Crested Butte, the scenery was breathtaking. After registering, we went on an adventure to find a campsite for the weekend. After a couple no-go's, we finally found an amazing campsite about 8 miles up a dirt road, near the aptly-named Paradise Divide. The pictures say it all.
Our race was at 9 the next morning so we went to bed early on Friday night, but not before going back into town and eating at the Brick Oven, and amazing pizza place on the main strip. On the way back to camp, we took Bryan's car off-roading through a river that was much deeper than we thought, but it all turned out alright. It was pretty cool.
On Saturday morning, I got to the race feeling pretty nervous. I didn't really know what to expect in the race, and not being able to pre-ride the course didn't really help much. I raced the sport category, so there really wasn't too much to be worried about, but I still wanted to do well. The race was 20 miles, and started out on a long climb. Without a very good warm-up, my legs and lungs were really feeling it on that climb. But about halfway through the first lap, I started to feel good. I held my position in my category and only had to deal with catching and being caught by riders in other categories. The course was awesome, with some sweet single track through aspen groves and a pretty fun descent, which all made for a great first mountain bike race. When it was all said and done, I took fourth in the sport category and got to stand on the podium! Not too bad for my first race! The rest of Saturday was spent playing some cornhole (its' the beanbag tossing game) with Dave from Mafia Racing and a bunch of other people. We also got to watch Wayne own the clunker crit... a three lap race that involves chugging a beer both before and after the three laps (I don't think I've ever seen anyone chug a beer as fast as Wayne). Then we went back to the campsite and hung out around the campfire. It was a pretty awesome day.
Sunday we woke up and packed up the campsite. Then we went and got coffee at a really cool coffee shop in town. After the coffee, we were all wired and ready to go for a mountain bike ride on one of the many trails around CB. The trail we rode was probably the coolest trail I've ever ridden, with awesome flowing single track and amazing views. Plus, there was a really cool creek crossing that was as deep as my tires and I was surprisingly able to ride it. It was a perfect way to end our time in CB.
The beginning of this week was spent with class and studying for a test. Pretty lame. But tonight was the Wednesday night short track, and it was a lot of fun as usual. I helped set up, then raced in the B race, then got to watch a battle of the big guns in the men's A race, with Bryan Alders and Brian Fuentes going up against JHK of the Gary Fisher team. It was pretty cool to see some of the best riders in the country at our local short track race. After the race, I went to Katie, Kate, and Caitlin's house for the traditional post-race dinner and now I'm headed to bed. Another good day.
Today wasn't anything special. In fact, it was actually pretty routine. But for some reason, it just felt like a really good day. I got up early and went to class, then came back and grabbed some lunch at Half Fast with John. We watched the playoff in the US Open between Tiger and Rocco. Pretty sweet that Tiger pulled it out. Then John and I went up to Walker to go mountain biking. It was a gorgeous day for it, and I didn't crash like I did yesterday, so that was a plus. I hate crashing, and hopefully it's out of my system now for a while with 2 hard crashes in just as many weeks. After the race, I took a wonderful nap. Now I'm refreshed and ready to take on the world tomorrow. It's tough, but somebody's got to do it...
Also, congrats to Kiel for getting 10th overall at the Nature Valley Grand Prix and winning the Best Amateur Rider Jersey in the process! Way to go Kiel!
So it's been a while since my last post. I didn't get to post anything while I was in Italy, and I've been really busy since I got back in Boulder. I guess that's a good thing, though. Here's the abridged version of what's taken place the past few weeks.
Italy was an awesome time. We went to Venice, Cinque Terre on the coast, Montepulciano in Tuscany, and finally Rome. Each place was unique, but the common thread was wine- really good wine. It was great to be able to take another trip as a family, and I think we all really enjoyed our time together. But all good things have to end, and I had to come back from vacation so that I could make it back in time for summer school, which started on June 2. I'm taking a stats class, and so far it's going ok. My professor is cool, and the class is only an hour and a half each day. My first test was this morning, so we'll see how that turns out.
Other things that have happened since I got back in Boulder: rock climbing a few times, cycling, and stitches. Yes, stitches. I had a pretty routine crash mountain biking at Walker Ranch- nothing fancy or cool, but somehow I managed to gash open my calf and I had to make a prompt trip to the ER for 4 stitches. It wasn't too bad except for the 5 shots they had to give me to numb up the wound so that they could clean it. I'm not too fond of needles, so I wasn't really stoked about that part. The good news is, my injury has not hindered my ability to be mobile and do my normal activities. I'm still able to ride, and I've played volleyball and gone climbing since my stitches have been in. I even did the first Boulder Short Track race last Wednesday, and I raced the Mike Horgan Hill Climb up Sugarloaf Road this past weekend. Both races were fun in their own way. The short track got cut short by torrential downpours and hail, which made it quite wet and muddy. The hill climb was good because I came in 17th in the 3's after 2 1/2 weeks of not riding, so it was a better result than I expected and my legs actually felt pretty good.
So that's about all I have for now. Enjoy the pictures.
