Yeah, that has been pretty much it from around here.  We have been doing everything really in focus of trying to find some miles for the MB.  In order to do all that we have done some chillin things though.  Saturday we loaded up the bikes, picked up my cousin & his wife, and headed to Salida.  What did we find?  A new stylin Stumpjumper for him.  It looked really fast and had a nice build.  Havin some juicy five brakes, x-7 shifters, x-9 derailleur and Fox squishy parts,  it should ride smooth for a while.  Me, what did i get?  I found a sweet Chris King headset for my Yeti 575 and threw my Cane Creek on my SS.  After leavin my seatbag open last week, we rode some of the same ground scopin the terrain for lost goodies.  Found the pump and the tool.  That was the majority of the cash right there, so I was happy.  We headed up into the foothills lookin for some more road to chew up and found some.  The mud and cool weather turnin us around, we never looped it to anything else. 

 

I have enjoyed stressin out about gettin the list done.  We always have something to do.  It feels like we are always behind.  After watchin the dog whisperer that day Billi was sick, we are now experts on dog trainin.  Tucker disagrees though and still is a little runt who makes his own rules, but he does walk a lot better in the evenings than he did a month ago. 

 

I ate some tacos tonightthat Billi made that were really good.  Wood burning has slowed down around here so I can sleep a little longer with out gettin up so much.  Oh yeah, we got our GPS and took it out today.  I think we will be able to post some ride detail soon.  It is kinda simple to start learnin, but there is a lot to do with it though.   Pictures have been good, and we are learnin a lot about back light. 

 

Sorry I have been all over the map with ideas, but that is how I have been runnin lately.  Maybe I will smooth out going into this week.

 

 

 

"You can always taco a wheel but you can never wheel a taco"

 

Brad

This weekend was not at all what I thought it would be.  I got a stomach virus (the vomiting kind) from someone-- I am not sure who but I am not happy with that person.  So instead of enjoying my 1 1/2 days off of work mountain biking, I ended up spending most of my weekend kneeling in front of the toilet and sleeping on the couch.  To go along with that, I received my new cycling gloves in the mail, only to cut off two ends of the fingers when I cut open the package with the good scissors.  Not one of my smarter moments for sure. 

 

I wasn't the only one having a rough time this weekend.  Brad took out his Sok for the first time Sunday, left his seatbag open, and lost a tool and tire plump along the way.  I guess things didn't get that bad becuase he didn't get a flat tire.  No, that would have been reserved for me since I am the flat tire queen around here.  Then this weekend, Brad had this thing about turning on the wrong stove burner.  Luckily for us and Tucker, the house didn't burn down. 

 

So Brad and I were't the only ones.  I won't mention names but a certain Rue lost a mountain bike out of the back of his pick-up, minus the one wheel left in the pick-up.  If that wasn't bad enough, by the time he realized that he lost his bike and turned around to look for it, someone else had decided to pick up the bike for himself, minus the one wheel of course.  You noticed I write "himself"?  No female would have picked up a bike with only one wheel, even if it was in the middle of the highway.

 

So that's up to 3 different Rue's having a rough weekend.  There was yet another Rue that got in a fight with his pick-up spare tire.  Maybe it was the full moon.

 

On the flip side, Tucker had a fine weekend and has fully healed from surgery.  He is not near as grumpy and he seems to be enjoying being around us again.  The only thing is, he still scoots his butt across the floor, what the vet assistance calls the butt scooting boogey.  So, maybe he isn't quite right yet or maybe he picked up a habit he enjoys.  I've included a few post-surgery recovery photos.

 

On another topic, regarding mercaptan (refer to the April 10 blog entry about why your pee stinks after eating asparagus).  I learned from Uncle Lee that mercaptan is used to give a scent to natural gas.  So if you ever think you smell natural gas, be sure it's not your asparagus-stinking pee before you call the gas company.

 

Peace out, cub scout.

Billi

 

 

Yep I finally went and got out the Sok.  The Sok is the bike that I won in a bike give away that Dirt Rag Magazine does every month.  The bike is a Bianchi 29" single speed (SS) with a 32/18 gearing with horizontal drops and a Sram component setup.  I have always kinda wanted a SS but never could make sense of buying one.  Today however changed my mind.  I guess I still did not buy one, but I would if I had to now.  Somehow Billi is really sick with some kinda stomach bug, so I headed out the door solo.  I started to ride the Sok.  At first it was really weird trying to shift a bike with no gears.  Finally I started to fill it a little more and got a rythym down.  Climbin is a whole different animal, but it was fun, simple, and chillin.  With no gears ridin is all about ridin.  You have to go the speed of the terrain.  I have a pic and I know that my front bottle looks like I am carrying a screwdriver down the trail with me but its just a sport drink.  I rode what we call Wagon Wheel Loop that has some fun miles for a nice roll. 

 

 

Bob Knight "I may not be retired"

 

Brad

One of my favorite riddles of all time is this one here.  I hope you take a look and try it. 

 

                                                        1

                                                       11

                                                       21

                                                     1211

                                                    111221

                                                    312211

                                                  13112221

                                                1113213211

                                             31131211131221

                                        13211311123113112211

                                   11131221133112132113212221

                                   

What would the next line be?

 

Hint the sum of the next line would be 56.

 

Carefull with plastic!!!

Brad

Here we are going into week 4 of 32 weeks.  As you can tell from our list, we still have a lot of things to complete.  I thought I would give you an update on how things are going.

 

Biking- we are starting to add some miles on the mountain bikes and the commute but our legs have been sore and we have been tired.  1300 combined miles on a mountain bike?  We better start pedaling.

 

Oragnic coffees- so far we have tried four and have found one we really like.  We are keeping track of which ones we have tried and giving them a rating.  For you coffee drinkers-- we will share our opinions at the end but so far "Zen Blend" by the Oragnic Coffee Company is in the lead.

 

Tucker walks-  No matter how tired we are from biking, we seem to get out for our walk with Tucker.  Tucker now expects walks every night and whines at night if we try to take a night off. 

 

Stretching-  It has made us feel better but it seems really hard to remember to do.

 

Organic foods-  We have really increased the amount of oragnic foods we buy and consume-- pretty easy to do since we previuosly never purchased anything organic.  So far we purchase on a regular basis--- apples, lettuce, spinach, sandwich bread, mustard, milk, butter, tomatoes, fresh herbs, coffee, tortilla chips, salsa, canned tomatoes, orange juice, pasta, oatmeal, egss, and hot tea.  We have found that we are not able to purchase some things that are organic so we go with "natural" such as beef.  In other cases, neother organic or natural are available so we sticking with what we normally purchase. 

 

So the big question---  Does it cost more to go organic?  Our experience so far is no.  If you compare each individual item, organic versus regular, organic is always more expensive.  However, a strange phenomenom occurs.  When we know we are paying a premium price for something, we eat and waste less.  We also plan our weekly menu better and healthier and don't try to buy produce that are out of season.  So the net effect has been that going organic (or at least partially organic) has acutally reduced our grocery bill.

 

Not eating fast food and drnking soda- So far we have done well.  Of course it has only been three weeks.

 

Learning sign language- we have order a book and DVD but haven't learned anything yet.

 

Brake stand and teeter totter- Brad has built the teeter totter  (and a mountain bike skills park).  We are practicing!

 

GPS- We have been researching which one to buy and I think are about ready to order.  I am sure learning to use it will be the harder part.

 

Wanda's photos-  We have started but have a ways to go.  Wanda has a lot of photos.  Did I mention that this task actually was originally a gift?  I know.

 

That's all we have done so far-- well at least what is on our list. 

 

Until next  time,

Billi

 

 

So you think you have what it takes to be All Mountain Baby?  Well let me run a little test by you to see if you and we qualify.  You will need a little lingo before we begin.  "All Mountain" means anytime, anywhere, all day, who's not keepin up, rip it and stick it.  "Huckin"--- this word describes just total freestyle, throwin it down the hill with sick style and slashin everything.  "Endo Gear"--  this is the gear your slamin your bike in when you decide to endo.  I know it sounds simple but crazy.  "Hammer Gear"-- yep, the gear you grap on that sick runner going down and huckin it all the way.  "Arm Pump"-- from holdin on too tight and too long.  "Epic"-- All Mountain is always epic. 

 

Okay, so now you need to be able to do a couple things to help you on your way.  "Air Guitar"-- yeah if you are in the parkin lot you have to blast AC/DC and play some sick air guitar so all can see.  "Unloadin da bikes"-- I know your momma used to put the front tire on the bike while on the ground but not no more.  You either climb on your hood and do it on top of the car then ride off, or strap it on in the pick-up bed and blast out the back.  "Brake stands"-- are absolutely a must when you are waitin on your slow turtle friends who just can't bomb anything.  "Claimin All Mountain Baby"-- when huckin and bombin anything that is runnin down hill, you must scream "I'm "All Mountain Baby" and then when you come to a stop, you must you must say "Thats was epic baby".

 

What about the Tuna?

Brad

Ruth Wakefield owned (along with her husband) the Toll House Inn.  One of her favorite recipes was for Butter Drop Do cookies. The recipe called for the use of baker's chocolate and one day Ruth found herself without the needed ingredient. She substituted a semi-sweet chocolate bar cut up into bits. However, unlike the baker's chocolate the chopped up chocolate bar did not melt completely, the small pieces only softened.  As it so happened the chocolate bar had been a gift from Andrew Nestle of the Nestle Chocolate Company. As the Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe became popular, sales of Nestle's semi-sweet chocolate bar increased. Andrew Nestle and Ruth Wakefield struck a deal. Nestle would print the Toll House Cookie recipe on its packaging and Ruth Wakefield would have a lifetime supply of Nestle chocolate.

 

Probably more than what you wanted to know but at least you are no longer wondering.

 

Billi

Snowboarding season has come to an end for us.  We still could go maybe a time or two more but with the snow conditions being so icy and the weather warming up for biking I think it has ended.  Looking back on the season, we had a really good time.  It started last October when we bought are season passes.  We had been talking for several years of going but this year we finally did it.  After getting the passes the real work began.  Since we had nothing for winter sports we had to go shopping for everything.  We shopped locally first but after coming up short we headed to the city.  Finding some boards, bindings, boots, and clothing we turned around and came home.  Then we waited, and waited, and started to get impaitent.  We knew the snow did not come in early October but how about late Ocotber?  Nope no snow.  Then it turned into November and the ski area always opens by the first.  Nope, still no snow but they did open one run with man-made snow.  That was good enough for Billi and I because we haeaded out and went up and down the one run alot.  In the begining however, Billi never of been ridin was not sure about the chair so for the first day, we walked up to the top of the run every time.  Slowly she learned and slowly I was her coach.  We had bought a video and that helped us learn.   Then right around Thanksgiving it snowed and the pow came.  We learned to ride bigger runs and in some pow.  Then it snowed again and agian.  Every time we went, the snow flew hard.  I think there was 99" in two weeks.  Still after that it, it snowed--- we hit 120" really fast.  Every weekend you could get in some fresh lines.  We got better and rode faster and harder.  There at 7:30am and rode till 4:00pm.  We had some good times and made some good memories.  Billi hurt her ribs, wrists, tailbone, and her head.  I did get a sore knee and smashed my head hard a couple times.  We walked away and laugh about it now.  I think that all in all, we learned alot and really had a good time.  So next year, anyone looking for a ride-- look us up. 

 

Remember keep real maple syrup in the fridge.

 

Brad

Today I commuted to work on my bike for the first time this year.  It was a little cold this AM and a little windy this PM but it was just nice to get back on the road bike.  No motorists crossed the white line and this is always a good thing.  Which reminds me about a video Brad found on the internet.  It is well worth checking out and playing along-----

 

 

Until the next time......

 

Billi