Cold up here.

Another burly cold day in Rico. At least the snow has stopped and it is beautiful blue skies. The high temperature on Saturday was 22 and the low was -13. Sunday should not be as cold. Went out for a 4 mile run. I think I counted around 30+ cars heading to Telluride, and every car had Arizona license plates. There may have been 2-3 yellow caution (New Mexico) plates as well. That time of year for the tourist to head out of the desert and visit their million dollar vacation homes they probably see once a year.

Out in it.

The snow finally started to lighten up and Laura and I decided we better get out and dig ourselves out. We spent nearly 4 hours shoveling and snow blowing the driveway. Close to 3 feet of snow in spots just from the two day storm. Mountain living at its best at 8827 feet. What a workout for sure. After that funfest I decided to hit the rollers for 45 minutes in the house and than went for a short run (15 degrees at 3pm) with my sidekick, Nacho. Santa Clause brought some neat studded gadgets for my running shoes. They work great out in the snow covered streets.

Xmas Day

Xmas day brought 2-3 feet of snow. A white Xmas. Rode the rollers for an hour in the morning and began drinking beer and hanging out with the wife, Mike and Sophia. A great holiday hunkered down in the mountains.

Winter Riding

The roads were in much better condition on Sunday for a nice 2+ hour road ride to Trout Lake and back. The temps were in the 25-30 degree range and maybe a bit colder on Lizard Head. I was prepared for the cold.

Changed my gear ratio to a 38x16 ( I incorrectly stated I had a 32 on the front but was incorrect) for the slow winter snow pack/slush, etc.) Still hurts the same as my 48x18 ratio I was running and is much slower downhill. Which is alright when it's 25 degrees out and blowing in your face. I think my lips were freezing on the descent on this ride.

Winter Time Riding

A beautiful day on the bike. the roads were a bit sketchy with the slush and hard packed snow/ice but I had a blast. I tallied 25 miles in two hours riding on highway 145 south of Rico and back North through Rico. I think most of the cars that encountered me along the road thought I was crazy being out there.

Not a good place to stop.

Telluride Ski Resort

Left work after two hours on Thursday morning to hit the Telluride Ski hill with my bro-in-law, Mike Guskea on our snowboards. Wow, was the snow deep. I havent been in much better pow that I can remember in recent memory.

Winter Is Here

After some good riding in Farmington I came back home to Rico to find lots of snow. It is Tuesday morning and I believe we have accumulated around 15" since yesterday. More to come I hear. With all of the new snow I decided it was time to bring out the tele-skis on Sunday and go skinning above my house for a a couple hours. My sister-in-law Sophia went along with me. Laura was sore from skinning on Saturday and opted out.

Riding

A pretty good weekend so far. Went down to Cortez to attempt to ride Phil's World on Friday but it was too muddy and was forced to ride the the road for 20 miles around Cortez.

Saturday was a great day for a ride in Farmington on the Road Apple Rally Race course. Shawn, Dean and me made the journey for some single track that wasn't snowed in. For those who have raced this course know what it is all about. It is filled with motocross whoops all around the 30 mile course. Some parts of the trail are wide enough to drive a car down. I assume ATVs poaching the trail system and poor handling abilities by some motocross folks have caused this. Nonetheless it was fun. We pushed a good pace throughout with a few stops to chit-chat.

Rides

Another great weekend of riding......Phil's World in Cortez. Saturdays ride included James Guest, Mike and Sophia Guskea, amongst others. Ran into Shawn McGregory and rode with him for a bit before stopping to wait for others in our group. James was first to present himself and we rode together for the duration of the 22 mile loop ( I tallied 34 miles myself doing multiple small loops waiting for the carney's to show up). Rode again on Sunday at Phil's with Matt Turgeon (Durango), Shawn and Dean; both of Dolores. Phil's World is becoming a well known destination around the 4-corners area. Many Durangotangs riding this trail system at this time of year. The crowds are much larger than just from a year ago. The single track is flawless.

As quoted by Brandon Mathis in an Outside Magazine article:
This is high-desert mountain biking. Gliding around bends, floating over ledges, skirting cliffs, the trail just keeps unwinding. Climbing and descending mesas, ducking branches, endless carving through ravines at exhilarating speeds: This is a different world. This is Phil's World.

I couldn't have said it any better.

WTF!!!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/05/atheists.christmas/index.html

I do not like to get into this kind of crap (religion) but would like to hear from anybody who wants to speak up.

Training

Another run tonight, 28 degrees at 5.30pm, 4 miles roughly; and than 30 minutes on the rollers. Definitely a great workout to maintain a good fitness level throughout the winter months. Before I know it the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo will be upon me. I am expecting to do well again this coming February. I squeaked out 15 laps and a 2nd place overall in the SS solo class this past year. The competition is fierce down there. Those desert dwellers have the advantage with year long training. But, soon I will be on the tele skis and cross country skis. The weather is looking great for the upcoming weekend and will most likely hit the local dirt down at Phil's World and do a long road ride. I hear Mesa Verde is a great ride.

Gooseberry

Here is a link to a short video Slater from California took on our Gooseberry trip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq8lJyHpmUE

Crosstraining

Decided to start some crosstraining this week; running. Up until a couple years ago I used to run a lot. Ran 3 miles last night after work and wow I forgot how running is such a great workout. Dependent on how much snow is on the ground I plan on running 2-3 times a week and increase the mileage slowly during the first weeks of December.