Wed

Tues AM - Track.  4 x 800m, 2 x 200m.  3:14, :09, :04, 2:59.  3:10 is the new standard for me now, since going sub three takes way too much effort so early in the morning.



Tues PM - Easy five on the Garden trails.  Took this picture during the run.  Love my backyard.

Speaking of my backyard, here's a Bike Mag article on the Cheyenne Canon area.  The first pic is the turnaround point for my 1000 feet for breakfast workout.


Wed AM - Easy seven miles on the Garden roads.  They have recently repaved the entire park and it's even more awesome now.

whiskey #30

This was over ten times cheaper than my last whiskey.  Tasted like it too.

When I first moved to Colorado I picked up a part time gig at a liquor store to make ends meet.  The dudes who spent their day begging for change would always come in with a handful of coins, exact change, and slam it down on the counter for this size bottle of booze.  The top seller was Skol Vodka, but McCormick products were popular as well. 

Decent July.  185 miles of running and 298 miles on the bike.  Twice I got up Pikes via Elk Park.  But I definitely haven't been working as hard as years past, and I think I'm looking at a 3:30 Pikes as opposed to anything with a two in front of it. 

whiskey #29

On Wednesday we meandered over to Front Range BBQ for a special Left Hand Brewing tapping and Woodshed Red.

Really digging my latest t-shirt.

We decided to drop by Alchemy on the walk home for a night cap.  I ordered the bartender's favorite whiskey.  At $28, it was the most expensive drink I've ever had.  Very good, but I'd much rather drink a local(ish) whiskey like Deerhammer, P.T. Wood's, or Telluride, especially since those drinks typically run about $7.

whiskey #28

On Sunday evening I headed over to the Black Sheep to check out a Dead cover band, The Schwag.  They were good, and I enjoyed the evening, but I would rank our two local Dead cover bands (Blue Frog and Lost Junction) ahead of them.

After the show I was trying to flag down a taxi (I can't get uber on my blackberry) and I noticed there were lights on at the old Knob Hill Lounge.  Lo and behold the place is open once again!  It's now called the Angry Pirate, but not much other than the name has changed.

I wonder if the owner knows what an angry pirate is?

They had a special of a 16oz PRB and a shot of Jameson for $5, so I jumped on that.  First swig of regular Jamo all year.

Thursday

Spent a lot of time with the dog today.  Took her along this morning for an hour run in Red Rock Canyon.  Then got home from work and we hiked up Iron Mountain in Manitou.  She is currently sleeping like a log despite the thunderstorm going on outside.

A few pics from the Iron Mountain hike:

Monument

$100 rode her first 50 miler on Saturday.  We celebrated halfway through by stopping at Pikes Peak Brewing.

And then celebrated about 51% through by dropping by 300 Days of Shine.

Both of these places rock.  Riding a bike to Monument is such a blast!

After the ride we headed over to Front Range BBQ for some beers and bluegrass.  A band called The Wooks came all the way from Kentucky and they did not disappoint.

Fantastic way to spend a Saturday!  And we did it all without a car.

track

2 x 1600m, 2 x 400m.  6:18 and 6:08 on the miles, untimed on the quarters but I'd guess they were in the 88 range.  About the best workout I can squeeze into an hour from the house.

I have drifted into severe depression upon hearing the news that Salsa has discontinued the Mariachi.  The Timberjack looks pretty sweet though...

whiskey #27

$100 and I paid a visit to the Burrowing Owl on Saturday afternoon.  They had a special of a can of Rainier and a Pickled Whisker for $4.50.

It was a solid pour of the whiskey so I'll count it.  The Benchmark was good, I enjoyed it much more than the pickle juice.

I like this bar and I'll definitely go back, though it will always have tough competition being so close to Bristol and Smiling Toad.  It's a vegan place, but since alcohol is vegan I guess that's alright.  Great selection of cans here, including this Townie which was delicious:

They also have great pride in their weird bathrooms:

It wasn't all drinking yesterday.  Made another trip up Pikes via Elk Park:

And got the dogs out for a good walk at the local dog park:

Friday

Thursday: Got up early to run but the dog guilted me into a Garden hike instead.  Last of our alone time for a while since we'll have two dogs for the next few days.

Did get out Friday morning for a quick road 10K.

Hoping to run the Elk Park route on Saturday, depending on how many beers I drink tonight.  Then hoping for a 100K ride on Sunday, I need to make some progress on the Cup 'O Dirt Challenge.

Not quite Dead & Company, but I get to go see The Schwag on Sunday.

podcast

Wed AM - New neighborhood 10K loop, which I devised on the fly after finding the Garden roads closed once again for repaving.  Then I walked the dog and rode my bike to work.  Great morning, at least up until 8AM when I had to start working.

I recently had the opportunity to make a guest appearance on a local podcast, The Little London Show.  My virgin podcast experience!  We discuss heart rate, MAF, low carb diets, zero drop shoes, and I take the final half hour to give a shout out to all my sponsors.  Just kidding, we talk about dive bars in the COS area.  You can listen to it here if you're bored.

Lost Creek

After completing the Jeep bed, we decided to head out to test it.  Got in a 2.5 hour run with some good hills on Saturday, then we loaded up and took off for Lost Creek Wilderness, a place close to home that I had never been to.

We found a good car camping location just off HWY 77 and then did a ton of hiking.  Including an eight miler up to Hankins Pass on Sunday morning.  Love Lost Creek and I will definitely be doing some more exploring out there.

Tuesday

Almost overslept this morning, but I ended up crawling out of bed with just enough time to make the five mile round trip up to Carson Pass and back.

Built a bed for the Jeep.  Allows the three of us to sleep relatively comfortably and gives us some storage.

D.B. Cooper

Tues PM - nice ride home after work.  Santa Fe, Bear Creek, Red Rock Canyon.  1:45.  Tried to end at Fossil but they are closed on Tuesday.

Wed AM - terrible night of sleep so I didn't answer the bell when the alarm went off.  Did get the dog out for an hour in the Garden.  Lots of coyotes today, including some that got so close I had to toss some rocks their way.

Looks like D.B. Cooper got away!


Todd Snider: D.B. Cooper from Justin Weihs on Vimeo.

Tuesday

Been getting outside as much as possible lately.

Incline #36 on Friday after work.  On Saturday I ran Elk Park/Pikes with Carson, 22 miles.  Then a very hungover Incline #37 on Sunday.  Great weekend.

No running on Monday.  Four mile hike with the dog in the morning, and did some hot yoga in the evening.  Then watched Tim Olsen take the overall lead in American Tarzan.

Back to the track today.  4 x 800m.  3:14, 3:06, 3:05, 2:58.  Meh.  Always good to get up early and sweat though.

whiskey #26

Enjoyed this around a campfire just outside Telluride.  So good.  The distillery is right next to Telluride Brewing and that combo itself is worth making the six hour drive down there.  Put a hurtin' on the bottle that night, which made sleeping in a wet tent in a wet sleeping bag with two wet dogs somewhat bearable.

whiskey 25

Not exactly what everyone thinks of when they think of whiskey, but Fireball does have the word on the label, which is the standard for me.  Amanda had been married for an hour when this pic was taken and she was already starting to hit the hard stuff.

track

Due to a combination of laziness and shitty weather, it had been a while since I had visited the Holmes Middle School oval.  8 x 400 meters, averaging right around 90.  Not great, but hopefully it helps get me back in the habit of breaking a sweat once in a while.

I'll try to start posting the pics from the weekend.  Here's a photograph of the most photographed waterfall in Colorado, just outside of Creede:

San Juan vacation

Back from a long road trip to the San Juan mountains.  Marc & Amanda got hitched, a bunch of us rode bikes all over the place, two dogs had the time of their life, and a lot of great beer was consumed.

Lake City, Engineer Pass, Mr. Grumpypants, Telluride Brewing, Telluride Distillery, Bolam Pass, Henson Creek, Phil's World.  Such an awesome weekend, even with two nights of sleeping in the rain with two wet dogs.

Near the end of my last ride I hit a rock with my pedal and broke the crank of the Mariachi.  Well over 2.5 years of very hard use and this is the first major repair to the bike.  $200 to fix everything.  Hope to get at least another 2.5 years out of the steed before forking down the cash for a new Mariachi.

queensryche

Tues PM - Four mile run up and down Bear Creek Canyon/666 with the dogs.  Holly and I kept having to wait up for Meesha, she is used to running with Amanda and hence is totally unprepared for the distance and pace.

Wed AM - Good seven miler on the Garden roads. 

Will hit my monthly goals of 200 miles running and 400 miles biking, with the highlights being the Dirty Kanza and San Juan Solstice.  Now it's time to concentrate on Pikes.

Halfway through the year and I've biked to work 74 times so far.  740 miles that are not on the Jeep.  That is $400 saved, according to the current IRS mileage rate.  I should probably go out and buy a new $4000 bike so I can continue saving so much money.

Anyone remember how big Queensryche was back in the 90s?  I think they used to play stadiums.  It was just announced they will be playing a show at the Black Sheep in December.  I'm gonna go party like it's 1995!

Tuesday

We are watching our other dog while Marc and Amanda are biking all around Colorado for their wedding trip.  Went to their house to pick up Meesha, which meant drinking a few too many beers, then didn't sleep very much.  So I bailed on my morning run and went to the dog park instead.  The dogs were totally cool with the decision.

Our super awesome downtown bus terminal got some new bike art:

Finally got back to the rock gym over lunch.  It had been quite a while.  Nice to have my two longest events of the summer behind me so I can find more time to do other stuff.