Catching Up

As I'm textualizing (is that a word?) my thoughts to you, my wife is listening to some alt-rock cover of The Beatles' "I Am The Walrus"...what a travesty.  Please change the song.

OK - let's get caught up.  Spent all day getting my car "maintained" - 55k mile service (that's right...Audi can't wait until 60k, they make you come in at 55k), new tires, and an alignment.  I can think of a number of things I'd rather spend $1500 on (down payment on a Kona Hei Hei 29, maybe?), but whatever.  Gotta keep the ride in good shape.  It's the best car I've ever had, so I'll treat it as such.

So I park at Mountain Sports Outlet in Glenwood Springs to pick up a thermal skullcap for cold-weather cycling, and apparently got the front of my driver's side door hammered by the truck next to me.  While I'm eating lunch later that morning, Erin sees a mark on the door and asks "Is that a dent?".  Fugh me.  It's a small dent, but it's deep, and lots of white paint (my car is navy blue).  It wasn't there this morning when I left the Audi dealer, so that's the only place it could have happened.  Oh well, the entire thing is due for a refinish/paint/3M clear bra next spring.

Oh, yeah - went to Denver for the Graybar Showcase - a telecom infrastructure trade show and seminar program.  4 inches of snow at the top of Vail Pass on my way down that morning, and it was still snowing.  The 'seal' was 'broken' last week, though, so it didn't have the shock value of the first snowstorm we saw a little while ago.  Took some pictures on the way back home that afternoon...snowy peaks with the aspens still in their fall plumage - very scenic.  Too bad the iPhone has a crappy camera.  Cool picture of the Ten Mile Range from Copper Mountain:

Went on the Mountain Pedaler shop ride on Wednesday...nothing too eventful.  Went up Rose Garden to Hardscrabble Road, and climbed to Firebox Park.  About 1h15m of steady but not stressful climbing.  We could tell that the aforementioned snowstorm was brewing, as the cloud silhouettes were very ominous over Hardscrabble Mountain and out over the Flat Tops to the north.  And it was starting to get damn cold.  35 degrees, nighttime, and Lycra doesn't exactly mix.  I already put on all the clothes I had with me, and was starting to get cold again.  Even put on the winter gloves, which didn't help much; my hands were already past the point of no return.  Everybody was pretty much in the same boat, so we bailed on the Wolverton Spring loop and went down Pipeline.

Now Pipeline, for those of you that haven't been on it, is absolutely my favorite ride during the fall.  It's a relatively moderate pitch, so it can be ridden as a 1h45m out-n-back, or like we did this night for less technical climbing, more mileage (about 15 miles roundtrip), and ride it just as a downhill.  Regardless, it's one of those trails that is lined with aspens on both sides, has a couple of rocks to watch out for, two creek crossings (one bridge, one ford), and lots of fun.  This time of year, the trail is covered with the yellow aspen leaves...just beautiful.  But we did it at night in the cold, so it just kinda sucked, to be honest with you.  Between my fingers getting so cold I couldn't tell if I was braking or not, to Hank's crankarm falling off at 25mph at night, to the 40mph winds we encountered when we got back to Eagle Ranch, I was over it.  But it was a mountain bike ride with friends, so it wasn't all bad.


Finally got my ACA license in the mail today.  Whoo hoo, I guess.  Sure would be nice if I could have my BCR points from Brecktobercross - I'd be in 7th instead of tied for 20th in the standings if they would count them.

I also found out that, amidst the supposed "economic recovery" over the past month or so, my 401(k) has actually righted the ship, and I've had a 1.97% GROWTH over the past 12 months.  Which is pretty sweet.  My retirement fund is ahead of where I was 12 months ago?  Whodathunkit?

Frisco Cross this weekend - two-day event.  More cowbell.