All in an evening's foraging

It's been a while

Due to changed work hours, occasional crappy weather, a parental visit and various other excuses, I haven't ridden anything to any place but my office since...well, let's just say it was a while ago. When the alarm went off this morning, I happily rolled over and cancelled any plans to get to the last WP Trestle race. I was in no shape for that and the idea of getting in the car after almost a week of playing chauffeur was hardly appealing.

But then I realized that summer had made a sudden and rather blustery reappearance. After days of drizzle and gloves, it was almost too warm, and I didn't make it out till after five, but the ride was well-worth the effort. The route was no more than the usual zig-zagging northeast of home.

The colors in the fields at this time of year, especially in the early evening, are quite stunning, even if the trees aren't doing their usual leaf-changing routine yet. Unfortunately, I've learned that what I see through the polarized lenses of my glasses is often prettier than what I see without. Still learning how to make up for the difference in PS.


There's not too much traffic of any kind on the roads at this time of day, but I did stop to move this guy to the slightly less hazardous side of the white line by IBM. I passed way too many of his kin squished into the pavement earlier in the ride. I'm hoping that the slight bulge in his middle and the general state of torpor I found him in was due to a postprandial nap and not a run in with a vehicle.

While it's somewhat sad to realize that late-day rides will be cut short or require the inevitable attachment of lights, getting to see a coyote creeping across the road in front of me (they really do look both ways), numerous bunnies hanging out in the grass, geese in V-formation overhead as the sun sets, or the silhouette of an owl in the pink/grey sky kind of makes up for it. Really have to get out more often while I still can.

Found him

I've been trying to see the blue bear in Denver for years. He's big.

Random photo post

Too busy lately to write, so here's a shot that captured the moment summer got pushed out by the next season in line. I have been snowed on and yesterday morning rode to work with heavy gloves.

Field Trip to the DBG

A trip to the Denver Botanic Gardens arose this weekend when a friend mentioned she wanted to get there with her son to see the visiting dinosaur exhibit. Add a few free-range monkeys and tree frogs and the renovated Conservatory would be perfect.

Any time I see how much plant effort goes into making bananas, I buy them a little less frequently.

The trailing vines on the fake "tree" that surrounds the elevator shaft were quite impressive.

When the outbreak occurs, I think we'll have an idea where it started...

One of the coolest plants was found down the street: a birdhouse gourd vine happily winding its way around a telephone pole. Urban gardening at its best.

Series' end

Berthoud Pass retention pond flamingos

It's always with more than a little regret that I pull into the parking lot for the last Winter Park race of the season. Some of the feeling may be regret from not having worked harder, but I think it's more the idea that I won't be doing this again till June next year. There's just something really nice about getting out of the car, looking around and finding people you know, going through your pre-race routines (mine usually involves at least one utterance of "where the heck is my...") and then heading over to the start line, even if you still feel like throwing up each time you get there. You make new friends while getting lost pre-riding, while riding up the lift in the freezing rain, and while trading places on the climbs with the descenders.

I think this is the perfect series for me: a reasonable drive, laid back atmosphere, organizers who are always on top of things, smiling course marshals and, most of all, cool people to ride with. Yeah, there are a few guys who will mess with me on the course, trying to get me to get out of their way when we're riding single file in a ditch, but fortunately that only lasts a few seconds, though it seems like forever to them.

King of the Rockies ended on a better note for me this year. Probably had to do with a lack of flatting and a rerouting of the course, but I was still happy enough. The new and improved Serenity was a much more satisfying finish than the slog up Cherokee and that's going to be a great route once it's broken in. No podiums for me, but sadly I still ended up fourth overall just for consistently showing up. If I ever end up on the podium again, I want to earn it.

I know I need to get a better grasp of that whole downhill thing, still, and basically get stronger, but I'm not even going spend any time right now thinking about the future on the bike. The tundra plants are starting to turn their cool fall colors and the late day light is fading earlier. It's time to take a break, get my house in order, literally, and spend a while on other things that were put aside for the summer. Thanks to everyone at Winter Park who made this another great season, especially Jon, the chief organizer who's leaving us for the US ski team, and I'll see everybody at the hill climb!

If only I'd had my camera...

Then I could post this really cool picture of my bike with its front tire wedged inbetween the two roots bordering a small gap and the rest of the bike up in the air leaning against a tree. I didn't even know that was possible. At least I didn't faceplant this time :)