Georgetown ice racing & snowshoeing Naylor Lake

Every other weekend in the winter months, there is a group of dedicated motorheads who race their 4x4's on the thick ice of Georgetown Reservoir along I-70 at about 8500ft. I'd heard of these events but finally made it up to spectate. What what a crazy event it is! We made it just in time for the "Cheater" Class of racing, which is basically the all-out customized purebred element of these guys. Most of them use old Jeep chassis retrofitted with incredibly suped-up V-8 engines powering tires sporting 1.5 inch spikes for traction as they race around a course of roughly eight turns. It's loud, it's powerful, it's excessive, and it's American for better or worse. I loved it, naturally.

 
After getting our fill of guttural powersports, we drove (in my stock 95 Civic) a ways up Guanella Pass and strapped on the snowshoes for a late afternoon hike up to the solitude of Naylor Lake.

I like the dichotomy of this trip to the mountains: the gluttonous excess of horsepower and pollution from the racers and then the utter quiet isolation of watching the sun set from ice at 11,000ft. We were literally the last people on the trail; didn't encounter another soul on the way up or down, and did the last half of the hike out to the trailhead with our headlamps guiding the way. It was sublime.

back to the gym routine

Before I broke my elbow I was working out at the Denver Rec Center city gym 3-5 days a week. During my recovery process I tried to keep going at least a little, but then I got busy with the City O City construction project, my membership expired, and I took a voluntary period of laziness. It was nice to be lazy, to come straight home from work for a full evening of relaxing and making a leisurely dinner.

But I got sick of being lazy, so I've been back at the gym again for the past few weeks. It feels great to be doing some healthy training after work each day. On the one hand, it's depressing to see where I'm at in my physical condition and strength now versus where I was at before my elbow. On the other hand, after just a few weeks, I'm seeing a lot of progress each day and know I'll be back to my old levels soon enough. And eventually will surpass that too!

A typical week looks something like this:
Monday:  rest day (from my weekend excursions)
Tuesday: weight lifting, 2 to 2.5 hours. (full body weight regimen, mostly freeweights and core strength)
Wednesday: swimming, 36-44 laps (~1mi) of freestyle and a few 'rest' laps of backstroke when I need a breather
Thursday: running, ~5.5miles on the S. Platte River bike path
Friday: circuit strength workout, ~1hr high intensity program of "CrossFit" style strength/cardio routine
Sat / Sun: a good day of adventure and training in the mountains!

Deer Creek Canyon > Parmalee Gulch > Golden: 57mi, 4600ft gained

Another nice weekend, another nice long rode ride to explore some Front Range canyon roads. Today I headed up Deer Creek Canyon, a well loved road climb among cyclists around here. From there it was across HW 285 to continue up Parmalee Gulch / Meyers Canyon.

nice view north from Pence Park Open Space

Then it was a fun descent into the little mountain town of Kittridge...

outside the old Kittridge Mercantile (the website it also painted on the side, very vintage indeed)

And then further down Bear Creek Canyon, which I'd ridden up last week. I always particularly enjoy the experience of riding down a road/trail after having ridden up it. I always notice different things and get a different perspective. It's more fun to slowly ascend first, then quickly float down later.

Bear Creek Canyon

And then it was up and over north towards US40 to get to Golden. I took a nifty road called Grapevine-- very narrow, very steep in spots, with a very European Alps feel. The pavement eventually ended, but the hardpack dirt was actually a smoother ride than the old and decaying asphalt.

looking south over the Grapevine Rd switchbacks

Another great day seeing new places. 57 miles and 4600 ft of climbing

National Western Stock Show festivities

For the past 107 years, Denver has been host to the National Western Stock Show. I've attended it the past couple of years, but after that the event gets a little old for a non-rancher like myself. The elusive goal, though, has been viewing the 'best in show' cow while he's on display in the lobby of the uber-fancy Brown Palace Hotel downtown. (It's another bizarre tradition of the Stock Show.) Finally, I realized my dream this year! As I pedaled up 17th St to drop some deliveries during work I spied the stock trailer outside of the hotel, so I waited around until they carted the steer into the lobby of the fancy hotel. Then I watched while the beast pissed all over the carpet inside his pen. Fantastic.

Bear Creek Canyon > Evergreen > Golden: 67mi, 3700ft gained

With the unusually warm weather, it's a good time to get in a road ride in January. I headed out via the South Platte River bike path, to the town of Morrison (home of Red Rocks) before inclining uphill towards the mountains. It was a pleasant day, total of 67mi and 3700ft of climbing. Gorgeous, temperate January day....

Evergreen Lake, with patriotic ice fishmen

I-70 and our beloved buffalo herd (property of Denver, CO)

on the outskirts of Golden, CO

Glenwood Springs road trip

Grandpa gave me some money for a Christmas gift, so we hit the road for a weekend of (cheap) relaxation at Glenwood Hot Springs. I found a motel for $50 and we drove through a gnarly snow squall over Vail Pass, then got in a beautiful 2hr hike in Glenwood Canyon before settling in for the night. And eating pizza while laying in the hotel bed is always a treat!

Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon

scree field in Grizzly Gulch, north of Glenwood Canyon

misty crags above Grizzly Gulch

nice view from a $49/night motel, yes??

On Sunday, we soaked all day in the hot springs in town. No photos, but it was a fantastic day!

Christmas V.2.0

My family is awesome, and awesomely flexible. We've gotten into the habit of celebrating Xmas a week late; this saves mucho $$$ on the airplane tickets, as well as the hassle of travelling during the holiday crunch. So we have Christmas together each year, but a week late. We dig it.

This year was extra great because my Grandpa Elliott was in our company for my entire visit. He is an amazing, highly accomplished man--- it's not often that one has a conversation with a person who's 89 years old and is more spry, engaged and thoughtful than most people my own age. (Including myself!)

Mom, Grandpa, Dad, me

my childhood homestead. Mowed this lawn how many times???!?

 Had a day to mill about in Chicago, so I wandered around the Loop before taking the L train to Midway. I stumbled across a neat art installation at Columbia College. I'm sorry I can't remember the artist's name but I loved this oil painting of a tired cyclist....

an amazing sight above our earth, on my trek home