Crested Butte - Down, down, and down

We rode 38 miles with about 5000ft of climbing.

Crested Butte - Up, up and up

I rode the 403 and 401 trails in Crested Butte this weekend with some
old and new friends. The friends, trails and scenery were great but I
got my but kicked.

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ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:39.0148
Longitude:-107.0358
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:09/12/2009 13:54:50 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=39.0148,-107.0358&ll=39.0148,-107.0358&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

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ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:38.9705
Longitude:-107.0315
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:09/12/2009 12:05:58 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=38.9705,-107.0315&ll=38.9705,-107.0315&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

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ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:38.8467
Longitude:-107.0992
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:09/12/2009 07:42:26 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=38.8467,-107.0992&ll=38.8467,-107.0992&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Garage Day 2: Concrete Pour

Day two of construction was on Friday and involved pouring the concrete.  Again Riveria sent three guys over but they were different from the prep crew.  I spent the day watching and learning but they didn't feel like talking to me.  Either way, they worked hard and did a decent job with the concrete.

So far I would give Budget Garages and Riveria Flatwork a B rating.  The work is a decent price but I think the concrete guys could have done more like elevating the wire mesh and covering the slab for better hydration.

Garage Day 1: Concrete Prep

I met with five different contractors but only got estimates from two. The most responsive and best priced contractor was Merrill from Budget Garages so I chose him. Merrill had also built a neighbors garage and the neighbor was happy so that gave me some confidence in my choice.

Thursday morning before Labor Day weekend and only a week and a half after signing the contract construction began. On that first day three workers with Riveria concrete showed up before 7 and began prepping the sight with leveling and forms. Luckily I caught them before I went to work because they were doing a 10 foot alley set back and I needed 15 so I could turn into the garage. That same day I came home from at lunch hoping to see what they were doing but they were done and long gone.

Garage Day 0: Prototyping

I want a garage but how big and where should it be are just a couple of the questions I had.  To help me decide I made a rough frame that I could drag around the yard.  That helped me decide on a 30' deep by 24' wide garage with a 15' alley setback.

Fossil Trace Golf

Four blocks from my house is Fossil Trace golf course. I have walked
the course several times in the night but today I actually hit some
balls there. It's a beautiful course and another reason I like Golden and
where I live.

Mountain Biking Pikes Peak / Barr Trail

Ron from Colorado Springs has been wanting to ride Pikes Peak top to bottom for several years. I was not sure about it, but I finally gave in and joined in. It was a blast and included ~6000 vertical feet of downhill mountain biking.

Mark is having fun in the great outdoors.
ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:38.8402
Longitude:-105.0427
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:08/26/2009 09:32:07 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=38.8402,-105.0427&ll=38.8402,-105.0427&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

M2M 5km Run

This morning Shadow and I ran the Mountain to Mountain 5km race in
Breckenridge.

It was our first run and race of the year. I didn't know if I could
do it but we ran without stopping and finished in 26 minutes. It was
a ton of fun, a good fitness check and so much easier then high school
XC where you are racing to win.

Roller Dolls Blur

Next door to the Rocky Mountain Bike Show was a roller derby.

Roller Derby? you ask. That's how I felt before I went but now I get it.

The girls are fast, athletic and appear to have a lot of fun. Each team has 5 skaters on the track at time. There is 1 lead skater whose purpose I did not understand, then there are 3 blocking skaters and 1 rear skater. The rear skaters score points for their team by getting around the blocking an lead skaters of the opposing team.

Rocky Mountain Bike Show

The 2nd annual Rocky Mountain Bike Show occurred in Denver today. After a long day of working in the yard, I rushed over and caught the last hour. My favorite bikes there were made of machined wood by Renovo.

http://www.renovobikes.com/

While at the bike show I also saw Sonya Looney. Sonya is a professional mountain biker with Topeak Ergon whose blog I enjoy reading whenever Rickard sends me updates.

http://www.sonyalooney.missingsaddle.com/

Ultimate Bike Performance

Is it time for you to get some spandex and start shaving your legs?

Leadville 100 - From fun to pain

When does mountain biking 100 miles at 10,000 feet stop being fun and start becoming painful.  It would probably hit me at mile 50 but while helping a friend with water bottles who was racing, I must admit I saw more smiles then frowns.

I have to give Dave Weins props because he has won the race multiple times but he could not hold off Lance this year.  But it wasn't to big of a surprise that Lance set a new course record of 6:30...  After all he took 2nd in the Tour de France this year.  Either way, I wish I was racing this weekend so I could of said I raced with Lance.

Sturgis 69 - Motorcycle and Hail

Brian and I cruised to Sturgis in my truck this last weekend. In case you do not know, Sturgis is one of the worlds largest motorcycle rallies and this year was their 69th anniversary. The rally runs an entire week and we arrived Friday afternoon on the closing weekend. There were 100,000s of bikers in all directions and it was an awesome time. Unfortunately, golf ball plus size hail rolled through and destroyed all sorts of vehicles including my truck. (The black truck is like my truck but was messed up even worse)

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Mark is having fun in the great outdoors.
ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:44.4152
Longitude:-103.4177
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:08/08/2009 10:33:26 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=44.4152,-103.4177&ll=44.4152,-103.4177&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Colorado Wheat Harvest 09 - Better Then Ever

The wet spring and summer in Colorado this year resulted in a fantastic wheat harvest. I went out east near Arriba and helped my cousins with harvest. It was a great time and I was happy to help them. They work long hard hours but being outside and driving a combine was a fun change compared to my cubicle. Hopefully I will make it Oklahoma and Kansas some year for harvest where I also have family that farms.