Hello! It is a beautiful day in Colorado and I wanted to update you all on the last few days!
2 days ago Jenny, Catie, their Mom Kim, their Uncle Jim and I all got together for breakfast. We went to the same place Matt and I went when he was out. It was good again however we probably waited an hour for a table after being told a half hour. Worse things have happened. The food was good and we were in good company. Also one of the managers, who I met with Matt came over and said next time I come in just tell him and he would call me when my table was ready! Very nice!
After breakfast Jim and I went mountain biking in Buffalo Creek, usually shortened to Buff Creek. The ride was amazing. It had been a long time since I had ridden hard for an extended period of time so it was a tough day for me. We ended up riding 26 miles. The trails were amazing. It started off with a 6.5 mile climb of about 2000 feet, which I was not thrilled about, (refer your inquiry to anyone who has ever ridden with me.) A lot of the ascent was through part of the forest which had been burned in some forest fires many years ago. The middle miles were mostly comprised of amazing flowing singletrack. Fast downhills with roots and rocks and drops, but not enough to impede your ability to cruise! However, for sure enough to make you very sure of each inch your bike moves. 30 miles an hour down a trail 3 feet wide with roots and rocks covering part of it calls for impeccable decision making. Amazing riding. Fast downhill is my kind of riding. So nice. 1 more climb in the middle just about put me in the bitter barn but I put it into an easy gear and kept spinning. The final 20 to 30 min, 4-5 or so miles, were all downhill, and fast mixed up with some slickrock and some drops. So sweet. We got done and headed back to Denver for dinner with the rest of the fam. Sorry no pics! I forgot my camera : ( Here are some I found online.
(NOT MINE)
Buff Creek Area
Some of the area still very affected by the fire
Yesterday Sharma and I went up to Morrison to check out the South Side. A separate bouldering area than the one I usually go to. I've been told the South Side is hard with sketchy landing, but no one climbs there. That wasn't really the case! The climbing there was great! I found several things to work on and can't wait to go back! Here are some pics! PS Sharma did a really good job!
Looking at Morrison North from atop Morrison South
Red Rocks amphitheater in the background
Next 2 pics are of a difficult sequence of moves where your feet come off the wall
Today I got up at 5:30 in order to drive to CO Springs (and found out we have a beautiful view of the sunrise, see above) at the same time I will be for my program to get an idea of actual driving time with traffic. The highways were busy but not stopped. I made it in an hour and 5 minutes which I was really excited about! Now it was best case scenario but still! Good to know! I knew Sharma had to go to the bathroom once we got there so I took him out into a nice grassy field to do his business.
Now this is kind of a sidebar. The most frustrating/confusing thing in the world is waiting for a dog to poop. I have so many questions I want to ask him throughout this process. I have spent so much damn time waiting for that dog to poop. It really is mind numbing and boggling at the same time. He walks one direction, then the other, then back to where he was. Then he gets distracted and looks at me long and hard. Then he smells a little flower. Then he goes back to where he started. Then my sense of sight allows me to see he is about to go, and he doesn't and he runs to a different area. Then he comes back and smells the little flower again. He makes me frickin crazy. What in gods name are you looking for? Clearly you have to go, just let it happen. These spots you keep walking past, and through and back to and across seem fine to me and are not going to change! Just do it!
Anyway, once we got done, (it took 2 different sessions of walking through the grassy area for it to finally happen. I get fed up and punish him by making him hold it longer and walking him around places he isn't aloud to poop) I walked over to the health center to turn in my insurance card, then to the Education building to give them my money order for my background check. Finally back to the car and out to Garden of the Gods. We walked around the park proper for a little bit and then went in search of a bouldering which I found in my guidebook. The guidebook, like many others, is very frustrating. It shows a road, and 1 trail coming from it. It tells you to turn onto the trail from the road. Well there are 40 trails coming from the frickin road, which all seem like they could be the one "described" in the book. Finally we find the bouldering area, and I'm glad we did! Really good boulder problems ranging from a great warm up boulder to a sick V8 on another! I climbed while Sharma wandered. He was a great dog again, and he's wicked cute. After a couple hours we packed it up and headed back home, which is Denver! Which is very weird still! Anyway here I am. Jenny and I are having dinner with a friend of mine from high school tonight and probably calling it quits early. Here are some pics from the Garden. Until next time...live beautifully
Garden of the Gods
Sharma posing in front of Pikes Peak
Pikes Peak looming behind the Garden
The Mongoose Boulder, and Sharma
Crux move of a problem on the Trail Blob Boulder
