For some reason every year when Thanksgiving rolls around I do not get overly excited.  It is a good holiday and all but I am stubborn and do not like the fact that on this day we are “suppose” to eat a lot of food and socialize with others!

Therefore, this year I took Thanksgiving into my own hands and went for a rather lovely solo trail run from home here in Boulder up to Nederland.  The totals on the day were: 26.8 miles covered, 5 hours 15 minutes moving time, 7 hours 25 minutes total time, approximately 5000 feet of elevation gained, one stagnant pond drank out of, one number two bathroom stop in the woods (not sure if there was any correlation with the  consumption of stangnant pond water?), one bus ride home from Nederland, two tired legs, and definitely one great way to spend Thanksgiving!

 I departed the house at around 8:30 AM on a cold snowy morning.

 The view of Boulder heading up the mountain.

 Farther up the mountain on Gregory Canyon Trail.

 Still looking pretty fresh.

 There were not too many people out on the trails…especially as I got higher up the mountain.  There were miles of wonderful snow angel making opportunities!

 The view by Walker Ranch as the sun came out.

 My artistic lone footprints shot in the snow.

 Eventually, I made it to Barker Resevoir which was near my final destination of Nederland.

 The plan was to make it to Nederland and then hitch hike down. However to my surprise the bus was running on Thanksgiving so for $2.75 I got a ride back to Boulder!

 After getting off the bus I arrived to Thanksgiving at the house.

 Thanks to Rory I was not a total grinch on Thanksgiving.  He made the dinner and I supplied the place to have the dinner…worked out pretty good.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

later, g. 

After a quick trip to California for Ann’s birthday (happy birthday Ann) I am back in Boulder.

 A few days ago I was running in shorts and sitting by the pool in California.

 This is what I awoke to this morning…good thing I like snow!  Plus, I can run without getting yelled at by other fellow cyclists!

Anyway, I flew out to California and Ann and I drove a truck back to Colorado so that we would have two vehicles out here instead of one. Drive was long and good but my camera broke thus the lack of pictures.

Therefore today is buy a new camera and new computer day….spending money is AWESOME!

Time to go make some snow angels.

later, g. 

It was cold today!  After yesterday’s seventy-five degree temperatures it was a bit of a shock to wake up to some fresh snow on the ground.

Needless to say I still drug “i-phone” Moninger out for a run and then got in a miserable mountain bike ride where I got yelled at some red-neck in Lyons for trespassing.

To finish off the day Frank and I did a little tailgating…actually we just grilled out in the cold.

 Frank made me cut the onions for him becasue they hurt his eyes

 As much as I rip on Frank he does do a pretty good job with the grill.

 Aside from cutting the onions my job was to stand in the corner and look pretty…which believe me is really hard to do when it is cold.

Alright, I suppose I should stop procrastinating and pack for my trip tomorrow…or maybe I should watch a little tv first!

later, g.

Today was wonderful…nice weather, good run in the a.m., excellent mountain bike ride in the p.m., tastey dinner, and some relaxing channel surfing!  The only downside of the day was the fact that Frank ditched me to go to Denver and hang out with some girlfriend…who does this chick think she is anyway?

Needless to say I was only suppose to ride for about two hours today but got in an extra hour and a half.  Nothing wrong with that though since more is ALWAYS better!

 Today’s mountain bike ride took me to Hall Ranch just outside of Lyons, CO.  Hall Ranch has some awesome trails with some fun technical section like this.

 My future homestead…Jones, I made sure there is enough room for your RV in my backyard you just have to help me renovate the place!  Actually, this is the Nelson house (who eventually sold it to the Hall’s which the trails were named after).  The Nelson’s were among the many whom took advantage of the Homestead Act of 1862.  The Act was a way of developing the west by giving settlers up to 160 acres of undeveloped land as long as they were over the age of 21, built a house, and farmed the land for five years (Wikipedia, 07).  Too bad for me it ended in 1976  

 I love the area by Lyons because there are Mesas!  Not sure why I like them but I do.

 Even got to catch a nice sunset on the way home as the clouds started to roll in.

 Lastly, with deer hunting season just around the corner back in Wiscosin I thought those back at home might enjoy this. 

Okay, time to go watch some more tv….”Everest: Beyond the Limits” best show on at the moment.  Maybe I will go to Everest and become a pro Sherpa?

later, g.

Bibliography

Wikipedia, Encyclopedia. “The Homestead Act.” 13 Nov. 2007. 13 Nov. 2007.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Act

The first week back on the bike has gone pretty well…I actually rode for seven consecutive days despite having a sore ass, legs, arms, shoulders, back, feet, and last but not least left hand going to sleep syndrome!

Since I sold my road bike a few weeks back my mountain bike is the the only thing I have to train on.  I am definitely an instant gratification sort of guy and did not realize that a road bike might come in handy while we wait for our next years team bikes! 

Oh well, I have been enjoying riding the trails but after a handful of days it gets a bit lonely riding alone (Hey Cannondale…send Frank his mountain bike already!).  Therefore, yesterday I decided to ride with Phil, Frank, and Matt on the road.

By that I mean they rode their road bikes while I was on the mountain bike…ouch!  Think my easy base training went out the window as I don’t believe my heart rate dropped below 185 bpm…it was awesome!  Now I just have to get a visor, some full finger gloves, and some hairy legs!

 Phil, Frank, and Matt on Hwy 36 heading out of town.

 Phil, Frank, and I on Hwy 36 going out of town…if you look closely you can almost see the “dump truckish” noise coming from my knobby tires on the asphalt!

Rest day today…yay…then back to training tomorrow before heading off to the Bay Area on Thursday!

later, g.