Lets start today talkin about who is Flat Tire Billi (FTB).  Everybody has an alter-ego and I have found Billi's.  It was this girl hidden inside her dormant for 29 years, but at last, two years ago it was unleashed.  What did FTB do when she got out?  Well she put holes in every type of bike tire you can think of.  Stock tires, pro tires, lined tires, all condition tires, layered kevlar, yep all of them flat.  Sometimes a tire will go for a week and then sometimes flat before we get them out of the box.  We have used Quick patches, glue patches, new tubes, tubes cut as a boot, and slime.  Once FTB and I were going for a ride to Guninison, CO and we were three miles out of town when FTB hit something.  Ruined the tire and the tube.  We had to put in a new tube, cut the old one, and fold it again and agian till we could layer it inside the tire so that the tube would stay in the one inch gap in the tire.  During the ride to Lake City---- same thing, well FTB came out to play and made it interesting.  Going on a ride anywere---- yep look about three feet behind Billi and there will be FTB chasing her, when she catches her........... pssssssssst flat tire.  We have bought and ruined, yes completly ruined many tires.  I think sometimes we must be trying to make tires go flat becuase that would make a lot more sense then trying not to.  I know we all have our fair share of flat tires.  I have fixed several myself but this year already Billi has had three flats and we had not even ridden the mountain bike yet.  Now her new tubeless tire is unrideable and we had to change it back to the ol tube--- all before we went anywhere.  I have seen more tires go flat in two years than ever before.  If you keep readin you will see that Billi listed our floor pump as a favorite.  Now you know why.  I also just bought a little air compressor so we could save our arms a little more this year.  I uploaded some photos on the side so go check it out.

 

 

On another note, we did go for our first mountain bike ride today.  We covered around 4 miles for the first run.  We did a powerline road through the BLM.  The wind blew and it was kinda cool but we had a good time. 

Yep bump.

Brad

Everybody has products or services that you really trust and rely on, the things that make your life easier or just more enjoyable.  I thought I would share a few items on my preferred list.

 

1.  Camelback Better Bottle.  I never leave home without it.

 

2.  Dove Dark Chocolate.  No explanation needed. 

 

3.  yellow tail Merlot.  My everyday wine--- one glass a day with dinner keeps the heart healthy.

 

4.  Paul Mitchell's The Conditioner.  If you have ever seen my hair first thing in the morning,.......now imagine that same hair at lunch time.

 

5.  ACT Restoring Mouthwash.  I can continue eating chocolate.

 

6.  OXO Salad Spinner.  Before you toss it, you have to spin it and this one does the job. 

 

7.  Smartwool Socks.  It's not your grandfather's wool, wicks moisture away well, and they make different kinds for different activities so I can wear them all of the time. 

 

8.  Nuetrogena Healthy Defense SPF 30 Daily Moisturizer.  I don't breakout, don't burn, and don't end up looking like what Brad calls "leather".

 

9.  Topeak Joe Blow Turbo Floor Pump.  Try saying that 3 times fast.  Works flawlessly every time.

 

10.  Oakley Half Jacket Sunglasses.  I have been wearing these same sunglasses for at least 6 years.  The frames have withstood mountain biking, road biking, running, backpacking, rockclimbing and just everyday abuse.  You can switch out the lenses easily and the prescirption lenses are wonderful.

 

What life be without the little things?  Until next time---

 

Peace out, cub scout

Billi

So here's our latest greatest idea as we enter into Spring of 08.  How about creating a list of things we want to do or accomplish and assign a time frame?  So we came up with 32 Things to do in 32 weeks.  We will start Monday, March 24 and end Monday, November 3.  Check out our list over to the right hand side of the page.  We will place an "X" in front of each thing after we complete it.  For every item we do not complete, we will send a $25 gift card to one of our family members-- through random selection.  If we complete them all, we will.......well we haven't decided what to do yet.  We usually reward ourselves anyways.

 

Until the next time---- happy Easter egg hunting.

Billi

The last time that I blogged I said that I would talk about the first road ride of the year.  Getting home after work one evening the temperature was warm or warmer, and the wind was mild.  I thought to myself, hey I should go out on my road bike.  I threw on some riding clothes and in adiition, a light coat, insulated gloves, wool socks, and a warm layer under my helmet.  My route would be a short ride we do in the summer when we only have a short amount of time.  It rides about 16 miles and is flat.  So I took off and thought hey this is going good.  I like to ride hard for the first three miles.  I did not turn around there today but I thought about it.  I did struggle a little but it reminded me that I had gotten further out of shape than I thought.  I know I said I would blog about my ride but it does not write as good as it sounded when I was all tired and sore telling Billi.  Anywho I found my Easter present.  That bunny was tricky this year--- he had hid my eggs in a bike shop 140 miles away, take a look here.

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What was inside the eggs?  They are XTR wheels with an XT cassette and tubeless tire set for my 575.  I had been on a DT Swiss and a 2.4 tire.  It saved about 2.7 pounds and the rotational weight  is really cool.  I think this will be a good upgrade for my bike this year.  At the time they had one set , but Billi will be getting hers soon.  She went with a differnt tire that is even a little lighter.  I put some pics of my bikes in the photos so take a look.

All for now.

Brad

Here's some interesting Easter facts I found on the net-----

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox, putting Easter on March 23 this year.
(the Spring Equinox occurs March 20).  This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar. Easter can actually be one day earlier, March 22.

This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see.  The last time it was this early was 1913 so if you are 95 or older, you have been around to see two Easters this early.

The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now).

The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.

So enjoy the early Easter with some extra chocolate!!!!

Billi

Not this last Saturday but the one before.  It went the wrong way before it even got going.  We were getting ready to go snowboarding when it all started.  I had made me a breakfast sandwich and was moving the snowboards outside so they would not ice over.  I came back inside and Tucker had decided that he could help himself to my breakfast.  He did not get it all the way, but he was licking it while it was on the counter.  So I had to throw it away and eat cereal.  Oh yeah earlier in the morning I had realized I did not plug in the pickup so we had to wait just a little longer before we tried to start it to leave.  When it gets cold, the diesel engine has a hard time startin if it is not plugged in.  Then we went to get some fuel in the pickup when the pump would not pump very fast and after five minutes we had three dollars worth of fuel.  We finally got fuel at another station and was heading out of Monte.  We were talkin and listening to music when a state trooper went by and then flipped on us.  Yep, came runnin us down.  Luckily we just got a warning and were told to back it off a little and sent on our way.  Finally we got to Wolf Creek,  first run--- solid ice.  We headed over to another area, same thing--- ice.  It had been a little warm so the snow was crusty.  After a couple hours we left and came home.  When we got home we had realized we only packed a portion of lunch and left the rest at the house. 

 

Since then we have pulled out the bikes and are getting into the again.  Next time, the story of my first ride of the season.

 

gotta bounce

 

Brad

Last night, Brad and I were checking out what Sara Bareilles looked like on VH1. com, when we started chceking some of the VH1 unplugged performances.  I hadn't really heard or watched much of Amy Winehouse so we checked out her unplugged performances and thought they were pretty interesting.  But the unplugged perfromance that impressed me the most and impressed me so much that I had to blog and share the link to the video is KT Tunstall's Black Horse and a Cherry Tree.  Not only does she play the guitar and sing the lyrics, she also provides her own back-up vocals and plays the tambourine-- a must see in my opinion.  So here's the link.  Hope it brightens your evening like it did mine.

 

 

Billi

 

 

I started learning to snowboard in November and prior to I had never been on a lift much less on a board.  Since December, I have been hit by three skiers.  I am not sure if this is a high amount of hits but it is more than Brad has been hit.  Twice the hits didn't amount to much and both skiers apologized.  The third was a little more painful and was a hit and run.  The guy even came flying clear across the run to hit me.  He didn't crash and I didn't even have a chance to cuss him out or be able to indentify him later for a later cursing.  Regardless of the hit, I started to think about why I have been hit three times and Brad hasn't been hit at all.  Here's my theory.  Brad travels usually at a faster speed than me on a board.  I am not a turtle, well since the beginning stages of learning, but I am not a hare yet.  I am somwhere in the middle.  And somewhere in the middle, is a perfect target.  If I were a turtle, these skiers would quickly pass me by and I would be easy to manuever around without hitting me.  If I were a hare, like Brad, I would not be able to be caught by theses skiers and they would never have a chance of honing in on me.  However, at somewhere in the middle, I am able to be caught and continue to be a moving target for these out-of-control skiers.  As a side note, I have not  purposely singled-out skiers but the truth is, I have not been hit by any boarders, at least not yet.  So, if my theory is true, if I speed up or slow down, I might not get hit as often.  Since slowing down is not an option, especially with Brad, I had better start speeding up.  I'll see how things go in the next two months left of the season.  Until then---

 

Peace out, cub scout.

 

Billi