Early Christmas

Well, so much the the vow of weekly posts! Can't believe it has been a month.

Anyway, I have been off this week getting ready for Christmas and finishing up somethings around here. We have been on the northern end of the torrent of moisture coming from Southern California since last Friday night. Needless to saw there has been ALOT of snow in the mountains since then. I took advantage of that on Monday with one of my friends. The reports of 27" new on the site we enticing to say the least. However due to the avalanche danger some areas had not been opened for a couple of days. Still, the best area, Honeycomb canyon, did not open that day. However we made due by playing almost everywhere else in light, fluffy mid-thigh to waist deep powder all day. Storm totals are now over 60" since last friday night. It has finally stopped and we may actually see the sun for Christmas!! Call me crazy, but I'd rather be like you see me in the picture above!

Merry Christmas all.

Thanksgiving

Today...we gave thanks! Especially for the snow in the past week!! Got our first day of skiing for the year at Solitude. It was truly that, especially after noon, when everyone left. Was a good day to try out the telemark skis again. Just when I think I am getting the hang of it, I start falling all over the place. Oh yeah... AND MY LEGS ARE DEAD TIRED!!!!! Oh well, I'll keep working on it.

Anyway, we are going up to Yellowstone for the XC ski festival. Should be fun, as they have a good start on the snow for the year. May also shoot up to Big Sky and downhill for a day?

Post later.
rk

Double Cross

Cyclocross season is here!! I have had a couple races already, but this week was a double cross weekend. One saturday and one sunday. I am too old and out of racing shape for that. I have been racing in the Men's Masters A category, always have in the past and finished mid-pack, but this year, I am lucky to finish on the same lap. Usually last, or near the bottom. This week was 3rd to last. Sunday, I decided to race on my singlespeed because it is only 40 minutes, not an hour. Things didn't go much better. I was 2nd to last. Though, I was totally undergeared, compared to a number of the people. Live and learn. I did have fun though, in a tiring, brutal way. No Crashes!!

Saturday night we went to eat at Metropolitan, then to the Ballet. Carmina Berona was the first of the season. It was very nice. Great music, a little different ballet, as it mixed modern dance in, but good none the less. Ballet 2 is Nutcracker in December.

Lastly, speaking of old, give a shout out to Brian this week as he turns the big 40!!!

Weekend road trip

Whew, what a week"end". Karen had a few days off, so we packed up the van and headed south. Our plan was to go to Vermillion Cliffs area in Kanab, UT and try to get a permit to hike the wave. Unfortunately, 84 other folks had the same idea, and we were no one of the lucky 10. Soooo, we drove to wire pass and hiked in to the junction with Buckskin Gulch. Though we only hiked about 1/2 mile downwash and maybe 1 mile upwash, we got LOTS of cool sites. What an amazing area. Make us want to do the whole hike to the Paria river junction, though would have to wade some of the holes? Might be worth it.

We decided to stay around and try our luck on the next morning as well. Better odds (only 64 people), though same results. So we pulled out the map and headed for the north rim of the Grand Canyon. On the way to Glen Canyon dam, just out of Page, Az we saw this beautiful "site". Note the pollution ring above the stacks. Glad we need the energy!

Anyway, driving out of Page to the south was amazing. Desert and red cliffs. Until we started driving up to Jacob Lake, then from Pinyon pine to Ponderosa and high forest with COOL temps. The drive from Jacob Lake to the North Rim is one of the best in all the parks I have been to. Once we arrived we B-lined it to the campground to get a site. As luck would have it they had one, on the LAST night they are open for the season. Lodge, food, store, water, all was being shut the next day. We took the site and headed for a look at the edge in the Grand Lodge. Nice place, though can't imagine it would stay there with any earthquake above a 7.0. Anyway, pretty deep hole in the ground. Some smoke and hazy clouded the air, but could still see well. We got up the next morning and headed down the Kaibab trail with intentions of only going a short way. About 3 miles later, we decided to turn and head back up. This is where I learned, never let Karen lead. Took us 1.5hrs to walk down, but curiously, the same to walk back UP!! Maybe I should have stopped to "take more pictures". Actually, over the 3 day weekend, I took 184 pics, that I have whittled down to "only 66".

We then headed home, planning to go to Zion and camp to brake up the drive, however as luck would have it, all campgrounds were full. Decided to head home. Great trip! Van is key!!

More black and white

After last weeks post, I decided to put a few more B&W pics up. Some are from our CO trip and some more from Hawaii. If you want to see some cool infrared pics go to the Triathlete site from this past weekends Ironman in Kona. By the way, a way cool race for the men, in case you missed it. Dog fight to the end. Will be on NBC on Dec 18.

At left, a small flower begins to form on a plant in the lava fields. Great place, with the intersection of rain forest and lava fields. Next we see a small fern, that has grown across each other. We called it the butterfly fern.

Finally, the Great Sand Dunes National Park. These are from the day we hiked the sand dunes to the top. A long, tiring walk actually. Great going up, like walking in sand!!, but hot coming down!! We had gone up by 7am too. Can't believe all the yahoo's going up at 10am when the sand was that hot!!
Going down south to UT/AZ border soon. Hope to get some canyon shots. Stay tuned.

Hawaii in B&W

As promised, another blog entry within a week. Looking back at the Hawaii pics from our trip, I decided that it was time to post some of the B&W pics that I took. There is so much contrast and texture, that it makes taking B&W's pretty easy. Kinda like living in UT for outdoor landscapes. The horses are in a field up on the rim road outside of Waimea toward the north end of the island.
When we stopped at one of the black sand beaches (can't remember the name) to look for some turtles I spotted a small pond. Great light at that time of day. Nice lily pads and flowers.

Finally, while we hiked the trail to the Kilauea lake we happened on lots of ferns and fiddleheads along the rain forest section of the trail. Dark, lush, moist area, all on the way to the solidified lava lake at the mouth of the big eruption that was not too long ago. Pretty cool, if not eerie to walk over a solidified lake of lava.

Look, A New Post!!!

First- sorry for the delay. Can't believe the last post was August 1!!!
My "New Fall resolution" will be weekly blog updates.

SO much to tell. I added a new peak to my list of Wasatch Mtn peaks. I finally climbed Mt Timpanogos this weekend. Karen has done it a couple of times, but I seem to have always been somewhere, doing something. Finally, I decided to take the plunge and ignore all the talk about the "sketchy" spots at the top, that might bring out my subtle dislike of high edges/ledges. I must admit this is much worse on a bike, but even some hikes I get afflicted and really have to keep moving or I will be there for awhile (probably until someone gets me about 6 beers to let go of the wall!!). Anyway, I figured I could always turn around and wait at the lake level. Turns out it was not bad at all. Lots of scree, and fairly a wide path all the way to the summit at 11,749'. Not even any altitude problems! Since I haven't hiked in about 2 years, I was somewhat concerned about a 15mile walk with 5000' elevation gain (and then loss) and if it where possible. Mauna Kea in HI, was 13,300, but we had a ride to the top, and felt kinda crappy up there. Maybe because we went from sea level to 13,300'?

Had lots of company on this hike. A great group of 7 people that all hiked about the same pace, plus lots of the furry white things you see here. Amazing where these guys can walk!!( If you double click on the image it gets bigger.) So, another peak, more sore legs but 9hours of fun!! Why can't I seem to find fun exercise that lasts 2 hours instead of 9-10hrs?
I must be "broken".
rk

Aloha (Finally...)

It's only been two weeks since we have been back, but has taken that long to catch up. Hawaii was lots and lots of fun!! We spent a day in Maui, then flew to the Big Island for 8 days of fun and travel in our hotel on wheels- Holo Holo. Holo Holo was the name of our VW vanagon camper that we circled the big island with. Same year and model as ours. We went from Hilo to Volcano N.P. and spent 3 days there. Lots of hiking, relaxing, some driving around. The old lava flows are crazy! Just flows down and covers anything in it's path. Walked across the lava lake, hardened for 400 feet down, though lots of steam coming up trough the cracks, kinda freaky!
Next we continued south and west to Hookeena beach park for a night on the beach. Quiet, cozy place. Nice sunset.

Next we continued on to Kona. Left the beach early in the a.m. to get to Kona in the morning for a run. We had to do a long run that day so we decided to run the second half of the Ironman course, from Kona to the energy lab and back. Man, does it get HOT in the energy lab. Took a cool shower at the beach shower to cool down then finished up. Very tough run. Definitely would be hard with 112 miles in the legs.

The next night we took a guided tour to the top of Mauna Kea for sunset. A nice bus to the 13,800 foot peak to watch the sun go down over Maui. Very pretty, very cold and little oxygen! After sunset we went down to 9000' for a star show. Got to see Saturn (with rings), a nebula, and some other stuff I think they made up!!
Next day we drove from Kona to Hawi (Ironman bike turn around), then continued on to The north side of the Island for 2 nights at another beach park, with the waves crashing on the shore only 20 feet from the van. Very soothing.

Then, I had to go to "work". Next up, the resort on Maui.
rk

Can I get a Woot Woot!??

My new toy!! YAY!!!!

Decided to return to a full suspension for comfort reasons and so that maybe I'd stay on the trail better, haha!! This is the newest member of the family - A Gary Fisher Superfly carbon 29'er.









Now anyone wanna buy this one?:

Tour de Colorado

I say Part 1 because we are already making plans to go back again... this trip just whet our appetites for more. A fall trip to Rocky Mountain National Park is in the planning stages as we didnt get there this time due to snow/rain/falling rock/zero visibility. And of course, we are totally committed to getting back for some multiple days of Rocky Mountain mountain biking!

The trip started out on a hot hot day as we headed toward Moab in 95+ degree heat... no air conditioning in the Vanagon makes for an interesting drive on such a hot day. We stopped in Moab as a half way point since we were leaving after Rich got off of work. Of course, we HAD to have dinner at our favorite place, Miquel's. http://www.miguelsbajagrill.com/ Miguel's is a little hole in the wall Mexican restaurant that is fantastic! The next morning we got up early, went for a run before the 105 degree temps kicked in and headed out of Dodge. On to Mesa Verde, our first stop.

Mesa Verde is seriously cool. Walking in the footsteps of people who occupied that space 800- 1000 years ago is quite an experience. The cliff dwellings, so full of history, resonates through you as you feel connected to something so grand and to a culture so old and forgotten. We took a couple of the tours so that we could get up close and personal to the history of the Anasazi people. The dwellings were remarkable, so perfect in every sense, from the plum walls and near perfect construction, to the utility of every building and room. It was humbling, to say the least.

The next day we got up early and headed out at 7:30 to ride a trail called Phil's World. http://www.spokejunkies.com/reviews/colorado/index.php?get_page=philsworld We had heard from three different people that this was a trail not to be missed. The trail did not disappoint. Desert singletrack at it's finest with the craziest, most fun section called The Rib Cage that literally felt like a roller coaster - huge 30 foot whoop-de-dos and tons of giggles. The heat chased us away and off we went to The Great Sand Dunes NP.

The sand dunes were also amazing. Such a fascination - reaching 750 feet out of nowhere, seemingly growing from the side of a mountain. Naturally, we did what anyone would do - climb to the top! Of course we did all that very early in the morning to beat the heat knowing that a high sun would be scorching on that sand. Afterward we hung out, and then hung out some more, then in the afternoon, we hiked to a hidden waterfall that took us up a freezing cold stream, into a cave to discover this most amazing sight. Well worth the painful frozen feet!

Afterward, a great little drive through the mountains, north to Denver. We drove through Salida - a really really great little town, that I would love to visit and spend some time in again. We arrived at our friends, Laura and Rich's (old friends from Michigan) in the late afternoon. After a quick run to stretch our legs, we hung out with Rich and Laura, ate some great bbq chicken that their cockatoo, Snuggles, helped cook and drank some great wine. So great to see old friends! The next morning, Rich and I went off to mountain bike with some other Michigan transplants and old friends, Kevin and Danielle. We decided we want to live down the street from them - they have the perfect spot! Off we went, trying to beat the rain, on a most stellar mountain bike ride! Quintessential mountain biking. Gradual ups, through the high altitude pine forests, over rocky ledges, and then down down down - swooping and fast and seriously fun! That night, dinner out with the six of us.

We had planned on hitting RMNP on the way home but the weather kept us from heading that way. Huge storms, hail, snow, etc. made the 12,000 foot pass impassable for us. Another time! A beautiful drive back on I70 and home to more rain! A GREAT trip all in all - super relaxing, super fun, saw lots of amazing sights and got to hang out with some really great people!

Vanna, I'd like to buy a vowel...

Riding my bike the other day, climbing a hill I got to thinking. What is the difference between the two pics here? Other than one a cat, one is not? A vowel, that's it. Feeling a like a rotund, slow decrepit individual wallowing up Clark's trail in what was clearly too big of a gear on the singlespeed, I began thinking about how ironic the difference is between the words FAT and FIT. Just a vowel!! As simple as a quick stroke of the pen or keyboard, yet requiring hours of workouts and exercise! All to make the difference from this cat to this man. After an annoying crash (boy I have crashing!!!), which has taken most of the skin from my hip, some of the knee, shoulder and elbow, I am now dedicated to asking Vanna for an "I"!!

48 Hrs in St. George & 36 Hrs in Moab

Rich and I have been out of town the last two weekends, enjoying the desert and some mountain biking. Last weekend, we headed to St. George, about 5 hours south. I was supposed to run the Red Mountain 50k but had to bail due to some plantars facitis in my foot. I couldnt run for a couple of weeks so thought better of running 30 miles! Because we had a room reserved already, at a discount rate, we decided to head down anyway to take advantage of some warm weather to bike and hike. The weather WAS beautiful... mid to upper 70s both days. We arrived on Friday, took an easy run after picking up my t-shirt from the race (hey, I earned it but doing all the training!) and then had dinner and went to a movie: Date Night - VERY funny movie! Saturday we hit the trails and rode 21 miles on a big loop that was ridiculously fun: Gould's/JEM/Hurrican Rim. Such flowy, fun, fast singletrack! That afternoon we headed to Snow Canyon for some hiking and photograpy. We enjoyed a VERY nice dinner out at the Painted Pony restaurant (a bit of a splurge, but well worth it!). Sunday we hiked to the top of a cinder cone that erupted 27,000 years ago spewing lava all throughout Snow Canyon. A great little mini vacation!

This weekend, we headed out for a short but very enjoyable weekend in Moab. We headed out after Rich got off of work, and got down there about 10:30 pm. After an hour of searching for a place to camp, we finally got settled and crashed. We met up with our group the next morning and headed out to Behind the Rocks to set up camp. Once settled we headed out to the Sovereign Singletrack trail to ride. After finally getting there, and an hour of lunch making, preparing and farting around (testing Rich's patience for sure, and mine as well) we finally got going. The trail is super fun, with some challenging climbing and descents. After a few hours, one bruised hip, and a sprained wrist (not ours!), we finished to settle back at the trailhead for a beer. Back to camp, a great dinner and comaraderie and home the next day!

Spring Has Finally Sprung!

April 16 and its 70some degrees, finally. Perhaps we're past the snowy cold weather, although the end of the week calls for three days of rain - April Showers bring May Flowers, right? Well, we have tons of flowers blooming already, daffodils are tulips are aplenty.

So, what have we been up to this spring? Riding our bikes, mostly, and doing some yard work. I have not been running for over a week and likely will not be doing my big race next weekend. My foot (planters faciaitis) is not healing and I'm nervous about running 30 miles on it and making it worse for future activities and races. I think patience and logic will rule this decision, not emotion and desire. We'll see, I'm not ruling it out completely, but with only 6 day until race day, it's not looking good. Either way we'll still go down and do some mountain biking and hiking in the area next weekend.

Rich tore out the bushes in the front of the house and so that has become our next "project". We're going to get a little professional help with this one, though, as harvesting and transporting and lifting big rocks is not something easily done. We're going to rockscape the area with sandstone boulders and flagstone the color of the brick on our house, including a little patio where we can sit in our rockers and watch the world go by. Should be completed mid-May.

We've been out on our bikes a bit... a few road rides and a couple of mountain bike rides. Yesterday an awesome 2.5 hour ride on the trail and today a road ride in gorgeous 75 degree weather.

That's it, enjoy spring in UT as it's amazingly beautiful with the snow covered peaks, the trees turning green, flowers coming out to enjoy the sunshine and blue skies.

I've had enough of this...

Just when we thought it would be spring, we got another 6-8" of snow yesterday/today. Cruel April 1st joke! We are on vacation this week and had planned to get rid of some bushes and tree limbs, but now have a bunch of new snow!! The Gnome is ready for Florida!

Doesn't look like we will get much training in this weekend, as it is now looking like a blizzard out there, tomorrow should be possible, then rain/snow saturday. Sunday is supposed to be nice at least!

Looks like we will look for some indoor projects.

At least were not camping!!

Summer trail Challenge

It has finally been getting nice around here that going outside for a ride or run is comfortable! In the spirit of hoping for good weather and planning the summer, we have both entered the Triple Trail Challenge! This consists of three different trail running events in the Park City area. The first and most fun sounding is the Jupiter peak steeplechase. I think about 16ish miles from the base of PC mountain resort to the top of Jupiter peak and back down. Sounds doable. I've ridden all those trails and none are too hard. I seem to run uphill faster than I ride, so should be a good challenge. Two weeks later comes the PC half marathon (for us). No idea where this goes. Then 2 weeks later and the mid-mountain marathon from Deer Valley to Canyons resort. Karen ran this last year and RAVED about it. I met her in the woods at mile 16 and she was like " I'm at 16 miles already?". I don't ever remember saying that in a race!! Since Karen wanted to take the plunge and do all three this year, I thought it would be fun to train and run together on the trails to get ready. Otherwise, I don't seem to run at all anymore?! Feels kinda good though!

So, our summer will be trail running and camping in the vanagon wandering on the Big Island of Hawaii. Maybe I'll try a jog thru the energy lab, without the 112m bike and 20someting mile run warm-up?

Double Black Day

Solitude!!
Exactly as it sounds. From the lift lines, to the lunch line and on the slopes...Solitude is it.
Nary a wait all day. No lines of skiers on the back country or ridge line hikes, finding a table at the outdoor grill.
Had a great day of skiing on the groomers, bumps and powder in Honeycomb Canyon with Karen and a few friends. Even took Karen on a Double black in Honeycomb.... and then she wanted to do it again!! Amazing, since she ran 20 miles yesterday!! I think she is starting to get strong at the right time. her 50k race is only 6 weeks away.

Anyway, we'll hope the powder builds this week and maybe ski again in 2 weeks, since I have to work next week. Seems strange, since it was 50 here in the valley and our flowers are starting to bloom!! Bike season is almost here!!

Where has the time gone?

Wow! Has it been that long? Seems like just a few days ago we were finishing the Kitchen and having a Wine and Dessert party? Guess I missed a week or two?

Have been busy, I guess. Getting re-acquainted with working out has been fun. No more skipped heart beats with running, biking, alpine skiing or XC skiing!! Now if i can just rid myself of the Jan Ulrich look, things will be good. I saw a massage therapist today, whom I have not seen since a week before Ironman last year, and he was amazed. Mostly that I actually don't look like a skeleton all the time, but do have fat. At 175lbs now, 164lbs then, it feels like hauling a backpack uphill all the time. Easier now than 2 weeks ago, but I still breathe to heavy.

Well, workout plan is getting organized, (No Ironman's!!) for the summer and fall. Will definately include weight lifting this year. More singlespeed riding this summer, so need to work on the guns!! Perhaps, I'll be able to fit into Karen's arm warmers by my birthday!!

RK

Final Kitchen

The kitchen is done!! (kinda of). We do need to finish the floor, but otherwise the main things are done and in place. Just in time for the annual Wine and Dessert party this weekend!! We have some friends from CO coming in, plus I think 48 people RSVP'd for the party. Should be fun!! No Snow predicted to foil the night.

As you can see we have changed the cabinets, now a mission style, in a copper glaze. There are all stainless appliances, except the old trash compactor is

still harvest gold for now, and new concrete countertops in "Kendall charcoal".

It has been a process for sure, but a good one. I am now ready to start playing more and spending less time in the kitchen. Since the heart seems to be doing well a week after my procedure (I can workout tomorrow for the first time), it should be easier to pull myself away from the house to ski, skate, run, bike etc... Enjoy the pics.