Sunday, January 29, 2006
Monday, January 16, 2006
Good Times
Well, I opted for mountain biking on Saturday. I told my friends I really didn't need to be out over 2 hours. Well, multiply that by 2 and that is how long I was actually. All and all it was fun. The Yeti was riding like a dream. I spent half of last season trying to get her dialed in, and on Saturday, I just guessed at air pressures for both shocks and it was smoooooth. I guess I had the rebound dampening set up pretty good. Here are some pics:
Saw this guy over at Green Mountain. He was gnawing on something.
Mattius, me, and Moonshine at the top of Lookout Mountain.
Yummmmm. Saw this in the middle of the trail on Enchanted Forest. I don't think it was what the above coyote was gnawing on.
A view of Denver from the hills of Lake Hood. If you look closely, you can see the location of Saturday night's beat down. Say what you want. 4 of those turnovers were forced, and Lynch was putting Brady on his ass all night.
So after the ride, I rushed home and cleaned up to get back to Moonshine's to watch the game on his freaking huge plasma. All day the guys were talking about watching it on his new projector. I walk into his house and see big TV and can't figure out why we needed the projector. Good game. A struggle like I thought it would be. Yes, Champ Bailey is an idiot. I don't care what he said in the post game interview. He wasn't just winded. Ben Watson has 50 lbs on him, ran 30 more yards, and nailed him with a full head of steam. Had some good beers too. I've really been into the super hoppy IPA's lately. Nothing else has really satisfied me except the Trappist ale taste fest I had on New Year's Eve. Full Sail's IPA is what I had Saturday night and is a pretty good one.
Sunday was a good ski day with friends. Gotta love Colorado. Mountain biking in 65 degree weather one day, and skate skiing the next. I've also heard Colorado brews more beer than any where else in the world. I bet Belgium and Germany would give them a run for their money, but we do have a lot of beer here. Biking, skiing, and beer. What more can you ask for?
Saw this guy over at Green Mountain. He was gnawing on something.
Mattius, me, and Moonshine at the top of Lookout Mountain.
Yummmmm. Saw this in the middle of the trail on Enchanted Forest. I don't think it was what the above coyote was gnawing on.
A view of Denver from the hills of Lake Hood. If you look closely, you can see the location of Saturday night's beat down. Say what you want. 4 of those turnovers were forced, and Lynch was putting Brady on his ass all night.So after the ride, I rushed home and cleaned up to get back to Moonshine's to watch the game on his freaking huge plasma. All day the guys were talking about watching it on his new projector. I walk into his house and see big TV and can't figure out why we needed the projector. Good game. A struggle like I thought it would be. Yes, Champ Bailey is an idiot. I don't care what he said in the post game interview. He wasn't just winded. Ben Watson has 50 lbs on him, ran 30 more yards, and nailed him with a full head of steam. Had some good beers too. I've really been into the super hoppy IPA's lately. Nothing else has really satisfied me except the Trappist ale taste fest I had on New Year's Eve. Full Sail's IPA is what I had Saturday night and is a pretty good one.
Sunday was a good ski day with friends. Gotta love Colorado. Mountain biking in 65 degree weather one day, and skate skiing the next. I've also heard Colorado brews more beer than any where else in the world. I bet Belgium and Germany would give them a run for their money, but we do have a lot of beer here. Biking, skiing, and beer. What more can you ask for?
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Espresso Fiend
Didn't Wilco have a song by that name? Espresso Fiend, my lord you're mean, I'll be dancin like a fiend, uh, ok. It wasn't Espresso Fiend.
Speaking of Wilco, I got my Jeff Tweedy tickets in the mail this week. Now all I have to do is make sure I don't lose them before the show in February.
Back to the title of this post. I've really been hitting the espresso lately and loving it. Not sure why. I've been drinking it for a long time, but I've really enjoyed it lately. I've even been scheduling espresso breaks in my longer road rides. It really makes a difference on a 4 or 5 hour ride when you have that to look forward to. Probably not the best idea, but hey the Euro Pros do it right?
I've had my little Mr. Coffee espresso machine for years. Probably a first generation for that type of machine. I got as a birthday present from a girlfriend in college, so it has got to be pushing 10 years now. I'm still only 23 though. Anyway, the little guy is still pumping out the good stuff. Man, now that I read that sentence, that sounds really sick. It's not the fanciest thing around, but it works and is much, much cheaper than one of the real deals.
At the moment, I'm trying to decided if I will go mountain biking with a couple of friends. It's been so nice around here lately, and it is supposed to get up into the mid 60s today. The mountains have been getting tons of snow, but down here it's been dry as a bone. We've even been having grass and forest fires like they are in OK. My point is, the trails should be pretty devoid of snow.
My dilemma is, however, that this is a low volume week before I hit my last phase/month of foundation/base, and I want to also go skate skiing with aforementioned friends tomorrow. I don't know if that is a good way to wrap up a low volume weekend or not. But man oh man the Yeti has been quietly whispering in my ear to take it out. It's starting to reach a yell.
The picture above is a shot of an espresso glass C-dawg got me for Christmas. Pretty nifty huh?
Sunday, January 08, 2006
MMJ and why do I read magazines backwards
MMJ aka My Morning Jacket. These guys have been around a while, but I've just recently gotten into them. My boy Tre has been listening to them for a few years now. I, let's say, borrowed one of his MMJ albums when I went to visit his family in Indy, and I just recently bought the new album, Z.
It's pretty good stuff. The only thing I don't really like about the band is their tendency to "jam." I've never been a big fan of bands that do "jam." Especially with this band. The leader singers voice is like another instrument. I know, I know, vocals ARE instruments, but this guys voice is like another non human instrument. Whenever I'm listening to one of their songs, I wait with anticipation for is singing. So needless to say, I don't like the long instrumentals or "jams." I don't usually like it anyway. Not with rock bands anyway.
So, if you get a chance, I would recommend picking up a copy of Z. It was on a lot of mainstream and not so mainstream "best of 05" lists.
I also picked up Wolf Parade's Apologies to The Queen Mary. Another quality album. Some people are talking about how great it is, but I don't know if I hear greatness in it. However, it is definitely a good, enjoyable album. They sound like a lot of the band coming out of Canada and more specifically Toronto these days. A little The Arcade Fire with a little Modest Mouse. I can't recall some of the other bands coming out that area right now. Oh, Broken Social Scene. They seem to have a certain kind of thing going on up there right now. I guess that happens in a lot of cities with a big music scene. Good stuff from those people right now.
Thank god for Google. I use Gmail, Blogger obviously, and I also use Google Alerts that are delivered to my Gmail. They are essentially news clippers. Well, as you can tell, Wilco is my favorite band. They have kind of been on the DL lately, so I haven't really been checking into their website with regularity. Actually, I visited last week, and there was no knew content. Well lo and behold, this morning there was my Wilco Google Alert in my inbox. It said my boy Jeff was heading out on a solo tour, and guess what. He is playing at a small venue about 5 minutes from my house. I picked up a couple of tickets for next months show. Should be good. I don't know if it is really a Jeff Tweedy solo tour considering that John Stirrat and Nels Cline are going to be accompanying the lead singer. It's more like a 1/2 Wilco tour. So Wilco minus sonic stuff. Should be fun. Maybe he will belt out some old Uncle Tupelo stuff. Probably not, but one can hope can't he? What is a life without dreams?
I need to get on the road before the weather gets a little unfriendly, but I need finish up the topic here. I was sitting around reading some of the same Rolling Stone article that I alluded to in the previous post. I noticed that I pretty much ALWAYS read magazines from back to front. Why is that? I don't think it's abnormal. It seems a lot of people do that.
Oh well, there was some more funny stuff in the Worst Year Ever section. Fine, I'm going to type a piece in now whether or not in hindsight it doesn't seem that funny. "That dog they cloned in South Korea? Kind of creepy. But not nearly the blow the gene pool as the news that Britney Spears would now be eating for two with the full sanction of the medical community. Son Sean Preston was born in September; eleven weeks later, baby-daddy Kevin Federline had reportedly been given the boot. An actual K-Fed rap lyric: 'My prediction is that y'all gonna hate on the style we create.' Thanks, Nostradamus." There was some more to that section that I'm not going to plug in because you need to see the accompanying picture. I will tell you that the picture has a rather large and in charge Britney exposing most of her breasts as usual. This picture will probably keep me from ever looking at another picture of her again and saying, "daaaymmmn." anyway ol "K-Fed" is in the rear with a WT wife beater on (seems to fit him well, not the actual fit on him) carrying one of the stupid little purses to carry a squeaky little annoying dog along with you. Hey! You can't make Britney carry a 1lb dog around while she is pregnant.
It's pretty good stuff. The only thing I don't really like about the band is their tendency to "jam." I've never been a big fan of bands that do "jam." Especially with this band. The leader singers voice is like another instrument. I know, I know, vocals ARE instruments, but this guys voice is like another non human instrument. Whenever I'm listening to one of their songs, I wait with anticipation for is singing. So needless to say, I don't like the long instrumentals or "jams." I don't usually like it anyway. Not with rock bands anyway.
So, if you get a chance, I would recommend picking up a copy of Z. It was on a lot of mainstream and not so mainstream "best of 05" lists.
I also picked up Wolf Parade's Apologies to The Queen Mary. Another quality album. Some people are talking about how great it is, but I don't know if I hear greatness in it. However, it is definitely a good, enjoyable album. They sound like a lot of the band coming out of Canada and more specifically Toronto these days. A little The Arcade Fire with a little Modest Mouse. I can't recall some of the other bands coming out that area right now. Oh, Broken Social Scene. They seem to have a certain kind of thing going on up there right now. I guess that happens in a lot of cities with a big music scene. Good stuff from those people right now.
Thank god for Google. I use Gmail, Blogger obviously, and I also use Google Alerts that are delivered to my Gmail. They are essentially news clippers. Well, as you can tell, Wilco is my favorite band. They have kind of been on the DL lately, so I haven't really been checking into their website with regularity. Actually, I visited last week, and there was no knew content. Well lo and behold, this morning there was my Wilco Google Alert in my inbox. It said my boy Jeff was heading out on a solo tour, and guess what. He is playing at a small venue about 5 minutes from my house. I picked up a couple of tickets for next months show. Should be good. I don't know if it is really a Jeff Tweedy solo tour considering that John Stirrat and Nels Cline are going to be accompanying the lead singer. It's more like a 1/2 Wilco tour. So Wilco minus sonic stuff. Should be fun. Maybe he will belt out some old Uncle Tupelo stuff. Probably not, but one can hope can't he? What is a life without dreams?
I need to get on the road before the weather gets a little unfriendly, but I need finish up the topic here. I was sitting around reading some of the same Rolling Stone article that I alluded to in the previous post. I noticed that I pretty much ALWAYS read magazines from back to front. Why is that? I don't think it's abnormal. It seems a lot of people do that.
Oh well, there was some more funny stuff in the Worst Year Ever section. Fine, I'm going to type a piece in now whether or not in hindsight it doesn't seem that funny. "That dog they cloned in South Korea? Kind of creepy. But not nearly the blow the gene pool as the news that Britney Spears would now be eating for two with the full sanction of the medical community. Son Sean Preston was born in September; eleven weeks later, baby-daddy Kevin Federline had reportedly been given the boot. An actual K-Fed rap lyric: 'My prediction is that y'all gonna hate on the style we create.' Thanks, Nostradamus." There was some more to that section that I'm not going to plug in because you need to see the accompanying picture. I will tell you that the picture has a rather large and in charge Britney exposing most of her breasts as usual. This picture will probably keep me from ever looking at another picture of her again and saying, "daaaymmmn." anyway ol "K-Fed" is in the rear with a WT wife beater on (seems to fit him well, not the actual fit on him) carrying one of the stupid little purses to carry a squeaky little annoying dog along with you. Hey! You can't make Britney carry a 1lb dog around while she is pregnant.
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Beautiful Day
Tried to get up somewhat early to get a jump on whatever training I decided to do. I set the clock for about a quarter til 7, but I forgot one important step. I didn't turn the damn thing on. I ended up waking myself up around 7:15.
C-Dawg and myself decided it would be a good day for skate skiing. After 5+ hours on the trainer this week, I was ready for something a little different because my ass was starting to get numb. The only thing is we our timing was a little off to get up into the hills. We hit the 70 (we don't really say that around here) around 8:30, which, is pretty much the most popular time to go to the mountains. One reason I like skate skiing so much, is one can usually time it where one misses most of the traffic. I guess we weren't thinking this morning.
Despite the traffic, I don't know how you could have asked for a better day. Sunny day, not much wind, felt good, and snow conditions were good. Of course this means, you go out and hit some of the hardest trails at The Thumb. Not the hardest, but a damn close competitor for that title. They call it Lactic Grande, so I'll let you draw your own conclusion about the profile of that trail. When we hit the highest point of the trail system, there was a great view of the valley to one direction and a great view of The Divide on the other side. Can't ask for much more than that. Of course, I didn't have my camera, but if I would have, it would have been cloudy.
We made the long, fast, and sketchy drop back into the valley and on to the lodge. Had a little americano break, which, gave us the boost we needed to finish up our adventure. We ended getting in 3 hours. Pretty solid day on the skis especially considering the vertical. Nothing like Christmas weekend though. Big Sky has a nordic center called Lone Mountain. Lone Mountain=straight up. Short summary: 1.5 hours up (1800 ft), 45 minutes down. And when I say up I mean it. There wasn't one slight decent the whole time to the top.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try to finish up the week with nice 4 hour road ride. Hopefully the weather will hold. I've really been craving some dirt time, but I just can't seem to make myself drive to the trails.
Well, I was going to type in a little blur I saw in Rolling Stone. It cracked me up this morning, but now as I am reading it, doesn't quite get me like it did 14 hours ago. I must have been high on the espresso.
C-Dawg and myself decided it would be a good day for skate skiing. After 5+ hours on the trainer this week, I was ready for something a little different because my ass was starting to get numb. The only thing is we our timing was a little off to get up into the hills. We hit the 70 (we don't really say that around here) around 8:30, which, is pretty much the most popular time to go to the mountains. One reason I like skate skiing so much, is one can usually time it where one misses most of the traffic. I guess we weren't thinking this morning.
Despite the traffic, I don't know how you could have asked for a better day. Sunny day, not much wind, felt good, and snow conditions were good. Of course this means, you go out and hit some of the hardest trails at The Thumb. Not the hardest, but a damn close competitor for that title. They call it Lactic Grande, so I'll let you draw your own conclusion about the profile of that trail. When we hit the highest point of the trail system, there was a great view of the valley to one direction and a great view of The Divide on the other side. Can't ask for much more than that. Of course, I didn't have my camera, but if I would have, it would have been cloudy.
We made the long, fast, and sketchy drop back into the valley and on to the lodge. Had a little americano break, which, gave us the boost we needed to finish up our adventure. We ended getting in 3 hours. Pretty solid day on the skis especially considering the vertical. Nothing like Christmas weekend though. Big Sky has a nordic center called Lone Mountain. Lone Mountain=straight up. Short summary: 1.5 hours up (1800 ft), 45 minutes down. And when I say up I mean it. There wasn't one slight decent the whole time to the top.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try to finish up the week with nice 4 hour road ride. Hopefully the weather will hold. I've really been craving some dirt time, but I just can't seem to make myself drive to the trails.
Well, I was going to type in a little blur I saw in Rolling Stone. It cracked me up this morning, but now as I am reading it, doesn't quite get me like it did 14 hours ago. I must have been high on the espresso.
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