Author: admin

Lack of motivation…

Ride ’em. ~ Aho Joe

Yesterday has to be chalked up to wussdom. I really wasn’t feeling it so I blew off any training to hang with my special lady and watch The Illusionist. Not so great. The Illusionist, not hanging with my special lady. I intended to go for a ride after work but postponed that endeavor until I got home. Then it started raining and my motivation quickly dissipated. I know I need to get out in that stuff but yesterday just wasn’t the day. But today we ride. Luke and I are planning to do some bike-related activity post work. Anyone interested, give me a shout.

~stubert

Squirm…

To congratulate oneself on one’s warm commitment to the environment, or to peace, or to the oppressed, and think no more is a profound moral fault. ~ Robert Conquest

Ever wonder how you can make a difference in this world? I sometimes get overwhelmed with the thought of making a significant impact on the human race and go back to my standard ways of doing things. Well today I would like to recommend that we all go out and try to make a small difference. Sacrifice something small that would otherwise tax the environment. Help someone out you would normally just pass in the street. Plant a tree. Refuse both paper AND plastic. Did you know that scientists estimate that it requires 1000 years for a plastic grocery bag to biodegrade and there are something like 50 million distributed yearly. That is just gross. San Fransisco may actually ban plastic grocery bags for larger stores. Go San Fran! Buy re-usable bags here. </soapbox>

So today I got Shirlified again. Shirley Plaatjes is a massage therapist here in Boulder who is not afraid to whale on a person. After this weekend’s madness, I needed/feared the session. I thought I was going to squirm off the table when she went to town on my hamstrings but afterwards, I always feel much better. Today was not exception.

Yesterday, I just chilled out at home and did a bunch of freelance work that needed my attention. No activities were planned and none were accomplished. A good, solid rest day for once. Today I plan to get out on the bike for a bit after work. Let me know if you would like to join me in the fun and/or games.

And now, a product review: I love these socks. Seriously, they are tall, comfy and since starting to wear them exclusively, I haven’t gotten a single blister. I’m tellin’ ya… the Wrightsock is the bomb. I just picked up 8 more pair so that I have enough for every aid station at Leadville if I am feeling the need. Great stuff.

Movies: Last night, we watched Factotum which was okay, I suppose. Based on several Bukowski stories, it starred Matt Dillon and Lili Taylor who both did an admirable job of portraying pathetic drunks. So not a particularly uplifting film nor one that made me too interested in slugging down copious amounts of booze anytime soon. I wouldn’t necessarily avoid it but I wouldn’t encourage you to rush out and rent it either.

Enjoy the day, this is the last May 30, 2007 ever. Might as well make something of it.

~stubert

The front side of fifty…

We chased our pleasures here, dug our treasures there. ~ The Doors

Days 48 and 49 were spectacular. Yesterday Luke and I started early and we were riding in to the trailhead by 6:15. It was a bit cooler with hellacious winds buffeting us from the west. We made quick time to the trail and quickly found ourselves bushwhacking through the forest. The Audubon Trail is heavily traveled in the Summer but gets less frequent activity in the early Spring. Once we made treeline, however, we were able to move more quickly across the tundra.

The wind howled all around us, coming in bursts that threatened to topple us with virtually every step. We got some respite while trudging through a patch of high-altitude willows and managed to make it through this somewhat soggy terrain relatively unscathed. If we were a few minutes later, I am sure things would have been different as the islands of tundra were still a bit firm. Which was nice.

Our goal was to ski this skinny box canyon but once we reached the top, we determined this was not the best option as we would have had to downclimb into the pitch and the run-out was grim. The consequences of a fall would have been pretty high so we opted to ski an exposed snowfield from which we could traverse over into another very cool coulior. We booted out of the bottom of this to the top of the second pitch we skied yesterday for a sweet link-up. Then we dropped back to the bikes for a quick spin back to the cars for a total of about 4:45 hours. A great day of Spring skiing.

Today was more of the same: Up at 4:45, on the bikes by 6:15, hiking by 6:45 and skiing by 9ish. We didn’t get a hard freeze last night so we spend a good portion of the approach postholing. If you have never experienced this phenomenon, I recommend avoiding it. Not a ton of fun. It is amazing how quickly conditions can change in the high-country.

On the way up we came across two ptarmigans foraging for food way above treeline. (See if you can find them in the image to the right.) The male was molting, shedding his winter white for his summer camouflage. He stayed very close to his special lady who was already sporting plumage and was difficult to spot, even when you knew where to look. They softly cooed at one another as they picked around the tundra for seeds and other goodies.

We skied a very spicey line on the North side of Pawnee Ridge that was a real challenge. Very tight entry to some fairly scrappy, tight and steep terrain. It opened up at the bottom where I was finally able to make some decent turns. Luke and Pete were great company once again and we met up with Ben and Dan for some tasty post-ski food at Nederland’s Kathmandu Restaurant. Dan raced the Bolder Boulder this morning and has been helping me with Leadville strategy with his brother Ben. Both have run (and completed) the event and are a lot faster than I ever hope to be. It was good to get some much-needed advice for the race and training.

Tomorrow, I actually plan to take the day off. My ankle is still bugging me a bit and so I will probably take it easy for a few days to give it some much-needed rest.

Check out Luke’s photos of Audobon and Pawnee Ridge.

~stubert

Edit: And here are some more shots from Pawnee Ridge.

Day 47…

The important thing is not to live but to live well. ~Socrates

Day 47 was a helluva day. Though I seem to recall saying the same thing about days 45, 44, 43, 42… not 46 though. That day was jacked.

Luke, Pete and I jumped on the bikes shortly after 6 this morning and rode in to the Mitchell Lake Trailhead west of Brainard. The Brainard Lake road was relatively clear with only a few major drifts to negotiate. There were quite a few people at the trailhead with a similar plan to our own but we seemed to be the only ones heading up toward Mitchell. After about 30 minutes made it to the Mitchell Lake trailheadh and hit the trail (which is currently not much of a trail, being that it is still covered with several feet of snow) and fairly quickly found ourselves at the base of Audubon on a glorious Spring day in the Rockies.

We started to “sneaker pack” up the main bowl and, after several minutes extolling the virtues of The Big Lebowski opted for the more secure and skier-preferred “boot pack” technique. Seems running shoes don’t a) kick steps very well and b) aren’t super stable in steep snowfields. Go figure. We selected a couple of nice couloirs to tackle and headed up the southern-most first as it was the most sun-exposed. After following Luke up his killer staircase (thanks for kicking steps all day, Luke!) for who knows how long, we made it to the top of the pitch, put on our gear and started the fun part of today’s adventure. The top was still in the shade, so pretty scrappy but conditions quickly opened up to hero conditions and great turns.

We repeated the effort on the more northerly pitch and were treated to more of the same with a gorgeous “summit”. There were some fox or coyote tracks at the top and the marmot and pika were out in full-force. We dropped back down and headed back out to the bikes for a quick cruise back to the cars in a total of just over 6 hours round trip.

A beautiful day with more of the same planned for tomorrow.

In keeping with my promise to share the movies I have been watching, here is my list for last night:

  • Delicatessen: I have seen this one before and was a bit distracted last night preparing for today’s adventure so I’ll have to watch it in full later this weekend. This is a very dark film by the makers of Amelie.
  • Jesus Camp: Scary as hell. Makes The Exorcist look like The Apple Dumpling Gang.

Thanks to Luke for the shots. Check out the full gallery. Hope you are having an awesome weekend.

See you out there.

~stubert

And some brightness…

Too many people miss the silver lining because they are expecting gold. ~ Maurice Setter

In an effort to counteract my last post. I ran across the story of an 18-year-old who recently summited Mt. Everest. Hopefully without the use of banned substances. She has climbed to the top of the each continent’s highest peak and her little sister (age 10) is following in her footsteps. Good stuff.

And in my EPO-fueled rage (others use, not my own), I forgot to mention yesterday’s Singlespeed ride with Luke. We did a quick spin around Heil Ranch, north of Boulder. Afterwards, I was ready to get back on my Dual Sus as this full-rigid stuff will shake the fillings out of your teeth. Or teeth out of your head. Fun stuff though. Heil is a blast.

Tomorrow, I am hoping to get in a long backcountry trek to log some Spring turns near Brainard and may do a run or ride near my house in the afternoon. More of the same Sunday and Monday. Comment if you are interested in joining in the fun and/or games.

~stubert