schnauzers.ws

This is the story of a man, his bicycle, and his pursuit of happiness. Well, maybe that’s pushing it a bit but happy is a good thing. I usually try to avoid too much sappy self gratifying diatribes in my reports, but I feel the need to take some liberty here. It’s also a way to finally rid myself of some ill feelings.

Somehow I found myself after six months of residency in Colorado, on the mountain bike committee of Team Evergreen. This affords me the opportunity to be present with the board of directors and sort of have an in. Now, I never asked for this. I was happy enough to have some people to ride with and avoid riding alone. I would show up at the rides and assume my place in the middle of the pack. Yes, I still took my photos and an occasional video. Somehow along the line I guess I contributed enough to be considered as one who just does that much more for the group. Don’t get me wrong, I am honored to be thought of that way. I’ll explain why this is so important near then end of this report.

Because I have been an active part, I was invited to the annual party as a major contributor to the club. Just a great outting with many fellow cyclists. It’s amazing how many friends I have made out here in such a short time.

The event was held at Tennessee Pass in the high country of Colorado. Just north of Leadville, this is the location made famous by the 10th Mountain Division Army unit and is currently the home of Ski Cooper and the pine Tree Nordic Center. Check out my Camp Hale ride report for an actual MTB ride that took place here.

Since the dinner included use of the nordic center, I figured it was a good opportunity to try cross country skiing. After 10 minuted of fiddling around with the skis, I finally broke down and asked how to clip the boot in. Off I went. First thing I learned was that snow plowing didn’t slow me down. My ass played brake for the entire excursion. I also could figure how to turn.

I pretty much tried to do the skate ski thing by staying in the tracks.

But having no XC skiing ability what-so-ever, found myself using the snow drifts as my cushion.

as I’m making my way around the four miles I attempted, I took in the views and thought about how much fun it would have been to ride the SS on the groom trail.

Finally, I tried to find the easiest way back. Something should have told me that a trail named "Lung Burner" would not be easy. This was one nasty chicken foot climb!

Back at the center, I made the decision that XC skiing wasn’t for me. It was my first and last time.

Then it was on to dinner which required a 1.5 mile snowshoe walk to the yurt at about 10,700′.

I thought this snow dune was pretty cool.

At the top it’s photo op and views.

The Elk dinner in the yurt was fantastic!

So, what I really wanted to say was that it is great to be with a "real" club and not the "intellectual property" of Jay Jones. Yes, I am mentioning names here to get it off of my chest. When you see how a real organization functions and can provide such a good thing to the community (Team Evergreeen gives over $50,000 a year to charities), the ability to pass on being a part of the organization through elections, and how friendly everyone is, it is no wonder that I am happy to be a part of it.

So, I will leave with the following. It is the last time I will ever speak of these individuals and how they made me feel. Oh, and I know they read my Website (Google Analytics is a great application).

To Kurt W: I hope your chest is getting bigger from all that thumping you do. Good luck in your search for someone who will actually pay you some attention and laugh at you non sense of humor.

To Jay J: All that "intellectual property" going to waste. You have done nothing but take what was already done everywhere and use it to stoke your ego. I am very sorry that your dad was so hard on you as a child. Oh, and no one likes that crap you call music.