Hmm, Mountain Biking

Even though I've lived in Colorado for almost 20 years I've never been mountain biking. It's simply never appealed to me.  But I think that might be changing.  My 10 year old went on a mountain biking trip for his best friends birthday party yesterday.  It was the first time for all the boys and evidently much fun was had.  They even rode the black diamond paths and made it without too many wipe outs.

So I have a feeling this might be a thing.  Here comes another bike!

Viva Streets - Denver's First Cyclovia! August 14

Viva Streets is a one-day celebration that’s made possible when a major Denver street is returned to the people. On August 14, LiveWell Colorado and BikeDenver will transform 23rd Avenue between City Park and Stapleton into a car-free parkway for all Denverites to enjoy. The streets will be closed to cars and will come alive with walkers, bikers, runners, strollers, hoola-hoopers, dancers, paraders, musicians, healthy food purveyors and anyone wanting to play in the streets for the day. It’s a tribute to the power of our city’s streets--to get people moving, to bring neighbors together, and to strengthen Colorado’s healthy, active culture.

There will be lots of fun, healthy activities along the route, see below:

• Dexter St.: Yoga, Zumba, B-Cycles, Facepainter, Restrooms
• Hudson St.: Denver Water station, Garden Demos, Restrooms
• Kearney St: Parade 10am, Kids Bike Rodeo, Weigh & Win, Classic Bike Display, Restrooms, Volunteer HQ
• Onieda St: Nuggest Fun Zone, LiveWell Get Movin’ Mobile, Cooking Demos, Facepainter, Jump rope Demos, Restrooms
• Fred Thomas Park: Health screenings, cooking and exercise demos, FBI interactive truck
• Along the route: Food trucks, bike mechanics, helpful volunteers
  

What is a “Ciclovia”?
This type of event is traditionally called a “ciclovia,” a Spanish term meaning “bike parkway,” but which has been adopted recently by cities across the world to describe one-day street closure events to foster physical activity and civic pride. Portland, San Francisco, Madison, New York, Los Angeles and others all hold several ciclovias each summer, attracting upwards of 25,000 people to each event. The original ciclovia was conceived in Bogata in the 1980’s as a response to traffic congestion‚ Bogota still holds a 70-mile route ciclovia each Sunday.

How I spent my summer vacation.

The only thing, I mean the ONLY thing I dislike about Colorado is the lack of proper lakes.  So we took leave to the Midwest for some good old small town July 4th'in at a proper lake.

I spent many long hours doing this....

And eating these.....

And walking here...

And biking to here....

And around here...

And let's not forget here...

Paid homage to my daddy....

And woke each morning to this....

The Best Part of Bike to Work Day

Park Hill BTWD Station

DINNER!  G's all-day smoked ribs with his super secret rub, my amazingly awesome and remarkable potato salad over greens from the garden and a gin and tonic.

Perfection.

In Praise of the Sunroof

We had to buy a new car last week.  As much as I despised the minivan, I was sincerely hoping we could get three to five more years out of it.  But alas, the transmission was on its last leg, a common issue for minivans once they get on in years, and I refused to put another dime into it since the value was near to nothing and fading fast.  So, off we went to buy a new Honda CR-V, the car I was originally shopping for when we got the minivan.

Practically every one we found and liked had a sunroof and I was adamant that I wanted no part of any sunroof, a completely unnecessary luxury.  However, after a few weeks of car shopping (I hate car shopping!) I relented and got the sunroof.

I had to drive to work twice this week and I'll be gawd derned if opening that sunroof after a long day in the depths of museumland didn't give me a second wind just as strong as hopping on my bike does!

I may never drive a car withOUT a sunroof again. 

We'll call it a metric century, m'kay.

5am

Rest Stop #2 and a few of the Depot crew.

And, my finish.

I think I could have done the full 100 had my knee not started acting up. I felt like I had plenty of energy to make it, but the hills were killing my legs. It was actually not the usual knee issue, instead something that has plagued me only occassionally on the outside of the right knee.  A sharp pain with motion which eventually radiates down my leg and into my ankle.  The one other time it's happened, on the Elephant Rock metric century a couple of years ago, I adjusted my cleat and all was well.   But this time, no adjustments helped.  I believe it was the all the climbing that did it.

I'm happy with 71 miles though, considering the lack of training I've done.

One More Week

I've got one more week to get ready for my first century of 2011.....and I am not even close.