Getaway

Jenny and I needed some R&R so I surprised her with a trip to Chico Hot Springs. We took off early Friday morning and headed to the Paradise Valley and drove directly to Mill Creek. This is a beautiful east/west valley that sees a lot of logging so there is a great network of roads criss crossing the mountains. We skiied uphill for almost two hours before we took a break. We packed cookies and hot chocolate and enjoyed the views (with Mario of course). We had the entire drainage to ourselves and didn't see anyone until the last ten minutes of the trip, near the trailhead.

After the ski tour we checked into our cabin at Chico, donned our swim trunks and hit the hot spring pools. The air was very, very cold so the pool was very, very steamy. There were not many people around yet so it felt like we had the pools to ourselves. Very quiet and relaxed.

We ate dinner at the Chico Lodge. Jenny had a 4 oz fillet and a 4oz Mahi Mahi. I had the rack of Lamb. Both were amazing. I topped it off with a fresh baked apple crisp. Jenny had a flaming tower of maringue, set on an orange filled with chocolate and vanilla ice cream infused with orange stoli. We found it interesting that they serving a flaming tower of desert inside of a 120 year old lodge with ancient drapes and woodwork...

Jenny discovered that our cabin had a magic tub that shot water jets and bubbles out of its sides. I didn't see her the rest of the evening...

Saturday morning was another big ski tour day. We spent the late morning / early afternoon touring in Emmigrant Gulch. We again had the drainage completely to ourselves. This erea sees no logging and the mountains are much more rugged, despite being only 5 miles south of Mill Creek. We skied on a mine road that was cut in more than 100 years ago. There are three abandoned mines about 11 miles back, near the tops of three different peaks. We skied about 4 miles back to where the roads head straight up the mountain sides. We feasted on more cookies and hot chocolate and watched Mario fall asleep sitting up. It was his third day in a row of major ski trips and he was worn out.

After skiing was again dipped into the hot springs and at some bar food. We finished the trip off with dinner at the Rib and Chop House in Livingston. Great trip!!!!

Today I got out with Ryan for some faster paced training on the skis. We were out for 3.5 hours in the Bozeman Creek Drainage. I burned 2300 calories which meant a guilt free enchilada eating contest this evening.

6 months later...

Bozeman, we have a problem....

Not really. How can I complain about going on a 40 mile road ride on January 4th with a great friend and training partner? Ryan and I put in some time on the tarmac on Sunday. Quiet roads, blue sky and no mechanicals.

The last six months have been good. Design 5 has been gaining clients and we beat our first year goals and we still have two months to go! We are opening up our marketing campaign to MN so we can spend more time at home. Anyone in MN need landscape design, planning, graphic arts, presentation materials, or anything creative from two talented folks in Bozeman? Check on us at www.design5landscapes.blogspot.com or on Facebook at Design 5 Landscapes!!!! We have a website coming soon as well...

Bike racing in 2009 was almost non-existant. I did three cross races and absolutely sucked wind in all of them. Oh well. What's unfortunate is that the only weakness I can point to is my bike handling. I need to practice, practice, practice! I did make a breakthrough discovery with tire selection. I rode tubular clinchers this season which made a huge diference with handling and grip. "Discovery" isn't right. My brother has been beating me over the head, trying to get me to ride some good cross gear. He has been on tubulars for two seasons and can't believe I was rolling on clinchers. I am slow to change. So, I now have two sets of tubular wheels for 2010. One set of Ultegra tubulars and one set of Zipp 303s. Even so, these nice wheels won't do anything but lose fabulously if I don't seriously improve my handling skills. Timid McGee on the race course.

On the upside, this year was one of the most fun on the mountain bike! The Trek made it through the season without any mechanicals and I flatted only once. I felt like superman in August and was firing on all cylinders on the dirt. Ryan and John were great riding partners and I hope this coming season is as fun. I registered for Leadville 100 and have a couple of connections for getting in... Let's hope they work. I am very excited for it and have set the goal of sub 9 hours. Ryan and Drew are registered as well and everyone is in full training mode.

Christmas was fun and busy, despite having "no plans". Ben and I hit Theo Wirth on the Pugs. That was a real blast and wish we had more time to spend churning snow.

Jenny and I ate a ton of food, enjoyed some time in St. Cloud, went to museums, saw the Bodies exhibit at the MOA, had a sushi blowout at Origami, gorged at Cafe 128, ate Blucys at the Blue Door, swallowed House of Pizza with recklous abandon, sipped on some great Belgian White ales, at approx. 40 peanutbutter / hershey kiss cookies, ate one pan of my moms nut roll bars, hung out with Tomas and my sis, helped Jim and Nancy with a landscape plan, signed wills, visited Granny Franny, saw Mike "The Godfather", watched South Park, went to Avatar, visited the MN Zoo, got my sisters car sideways doing only 20mph, hung with the Hawkins, drove my dads tractor, set up my parents new TV and hardly slept at all.

Hope this finds you all well!

What's tha haps

I don't remember a lot of what has happened since the last time I blogged. So, I will just start where I am now...

Heading to MN tomorrow. The BRO is getting married on the 18th. My lovely wife left this morning to drive home with her dad. They are shuttling my road bike home with spare wheels. A friend of mine called for pointers on how to get his wife to drive his bikes around the country while he flies...

This coming week is sure to fly by. Saturday AM road ride with brohonzzle then an evening full of grilling and beer swilling. I have received notice that several people are concerned by the idea of overindulging in barley pop and then riding bikes through the cities. I agree. Outcome to be determined...

Sunday I am accompanying my wife and Liz to the cabin to two days in the north woods. Think I will leave the road bike behind and focus my energy on catching fish and grilling hot dogs.

Back Tuesday for the Tuff Ride. I am scared...

Wednesday is Donut Ride. This is a ride from Highland Park through dowtown Minneapolis, to the Lakes, to Minnehaha Parkway. Stop at Mellow Glaze Donuts for a time-out. This is where I proposed to Jenny so she is really looking forward to the ride.

Thursday Mtn Bike race at Buck. Last mtn race I did was in St. Cloud two years ago. Mike knows how well I did there...

Friday is party night at Gasthous (sp?).

Saturday. Wedding!

Sunday. Recovery ride and grilling.

Monday back to Bozeman.

In biking news:

Managed to shave a full minute off my best time up Hyalite Canyon.

New Zipp 303's are f***ing awesome.

Scored second place at the Beartooth Pass TT. 22 miles, 3,700 ft of climbing.

Strong is building me a new ti cross frame as I am not too psyched with the one I have now. I love the 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Garmin-Slipstream pint glasses showed up today. There are going to make me much faster.

Ben checked out a BMC Pro Machine from Quality for Jenny to ride. Full Super Record and Easton tubulars. 13 pound super bike. Will I be able to get jenny back on her Salsa???

Do you ever get tired of...

hearing about this economy...these troubling times...due to the economic slowdown...the meltdown....the crisis...the bad credit...the liquidity problems...the golden parachutes...the capital needed...the stress tests...recession proofing...the recession...profit taking...deal seeking...these economic times...

I am ready to vomit. If everyone would just turn off their stupid TVs and stop listening to inflamatory pricks like Savage, Ingrahm and Limbaugh we might all be better off. No one knows what to do, so deal with it. Stop bitching, it doesn't help anything. It's so easy to be critical. We are all professionals at that.

If you are going to argue about the realities of global warming at least know the basic tennants of the argument. I work around a bunch of people who shit on every Democrat / liberal / independants name every time it snows. So much for global warming, huh? Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle... I don't consider myself a crusader, an eco-nazi, a peacenik, a granola, a greenie or even much of a liberal; but I do consider logic and reasoning to be the building blocks of discussion. At least have a clue before you open your mouth and spout off. And racist jokes aren't funny; grow up. Everyone is different, deal with it.

Went around town today and handed out flyers for my new company to architects around town. Some people were genuinely interested and some people just politely smiled through their teeth and showed me the door. I hate being that guy...

On the upside the new team kits arrived a couple of days ago. I like the new design (since I created it) and the gear fits really well. I liked the process of working with Hincapie. The are easy to work with, the design process was easy, you can do any number of colors you like for one price. The downside is that one price is steep. Jersey and shorts for $176.

Biking is not going well this year. I have been too tired to bike most nights and when I do get out and ride I go hard. Right now I really only have a two hour tank and when I hit that mark I am empty. But I guess being able to maintain 170 bpm for 1.5 hours is still ok. Last weekend the GAS boys put the leather to me and made me suffer. Doing 2000 ft of climbing at 18-20mph is NOT easy. At the start of the third climb I waved the group past and limped home. This weekend should be good for riding. The goal this year is to be good middle of July...I have time.

I am going to try to get some office time at the home theater job. I want to set up a complete Autocad library and start to make our drawings look pro. We need to distinguish ourselves from the competition and I think this is one way to do it. I think we should show that we are on the same playing field as architects. Architects convey their thoughts and ideas through drawings and we can do the same. Hopefully less wire pulling for me and more time on the computer.

Well, I am out of finger strength. Little bit of rant in there. Hope all is well !

Shripping the Gnar

Sunday was an epic day at Big Sky. Knee deep for four hours straight on the back side of Lone Peak. For some reason people don't ski the Shedhorn lift. You can do 16 minute laps and hit fresh turns every run. Hit a few spots that were wind loaded and thigh deep. Most of the turns were shin deep and plenty of face shots. Probably my best day in the last three years. I don't think anything will beat the winter of 05/06 when we skied knee deep on 9 weekends.

Spent all night tonight working on Design 5. We are learning a lot about the professional printing process. Been a bit more of a struggle than I anticipated getting our business cards done. I have a lot to learn...

I have been a little frustrated that things haven't been moving more quickly on the new business front. I was venting to Jenny about this yesterday and she assured me that we are making progress. She reminded me that I am working more than 50 hours a week right now and that I can't expect to have energy all of the time. It's also a coincidence that my father in law just sent me some articles about starting a small business while still working full time. Funny how these things work and how peoples timing is sometimes uncanny.

Peace out...

Stuff

Long week of work. Boring.

Rode the trainer for 1.5 hours last night. Played Elder Scrolls the entire time. Makes the time go really fast.

Out on the road for 4 hours today. Ryan, Randall and I took it easy most of the time and did two intervals at red line pace. After splitting off from those guys I hooked up with the Bozeman Masters Velo crew for another ride to the west. They were feeling fresh and headed west into the wind. I rode with them for 45 mins before returning home. By the time I got home I was almost in the complete Bonk zone. I looked at my watch and it said I had a 155 heart rate average. So... I worked way too hard today and am feeling it now.

Tomorrow is Design 5 day so just a couple hours on the trainer in the morning and then it's computer time for the rest of the day. We are heading to Borders to get a book on Adobe Illustrator so we can nail our marketing layouts...

Mr. Anderson and Kyia are in town so I am going to try and hook up with them on Monday or Tuesday evening if they are free. Big snow on the way and they are hoping to take advantage.

Another slow week of work coming up. Not much on the radar so I feel that my time is either limited there...or... I will be doing crappy busy work until things pick up. I volunteered to take some time off but that hasn't worked out so far. I could really use some time to focus on my new company but Avitel seems content to pay me for busy work...

Headbangers Ball

Lots O Riding this weekend. 2.5 on Friday with JT. Conversation speed for two hours then a couple of seriously difficult intervals before a 20 minute cool down.

Saturday JT and I met up with the Bozeman Velo Masters squad. JT and I both figured it would be a nice rolling day at an easy pace. It ended up being 3.5 hours of smashing heads against brick walls over and over and over... This squad of guys in the 50+ age group can F***ing hammer. I have no idea why I was surprised but I ended the day with a lot more respect for this crew. Of course my own ego got the best of me and I spent the entire ride proving I was the strongest and ended up with two cramping calves at mile 68. I know these guys are over 50 but it was some of the most difficult interval riding I have done in years... At least I am riding well. Really looking forward to getting in some racing. Next week is the first official race in Missoula. Just a 45 mile training race but the big boys will all be there.

Today I got out with John for a little over two hours. Today was the perfect recovery ride. Good conversation and no hammering.

Jenny has also been out on the bike the last three days and is ready for the end of winter. The last few days have been awesome. The sun has shone each day with highs in the upper 50s. Tomorrow it's back to the grind but this weekend should help smooth the transition.