Marble

Good trip in the van last weekend as we traveled out for $100 to run the Lead King Loop.  First night was spent just outside Buena Vista, then we went up and over Independence Pass into Aspen.  After grabbing lunch with Wooten at the Woody Creek Tavern, we went and found a spot to park the van for the night.  We would get in night 20 on this trip.

Lead King is a fantastic race, 15ish miles, and I imagine we will go back.  Very low key, great course (per $100, I only hiked the last five miles of the course), typical unbelievable Colorado scenery.  We likened it to an affordable Telluride.

After the race started, the dog and I hiked out to the Crystal Mill, supposidly one of the most photographed spots in Colorado.  A few runners were very happy to have some beer there, which was roughly mile ten for the race.  Eleven miles total for the dog and I.

Hit three new Colorado breweries (Capitol Creek, Carbondale Beer Works, and Roaring Fork Brewing), bringing my total to 149.  Also visited the Marble Distillery.

bike commute 65/accolade 15

Four miles to work, 12 miles home via Red Rock Canyon.  Also hit the gym in the evening.

On my way home, in Bear Creek Park, I saw a foot long snake carrying a dead six inch snake.  I'm not a snake expert, but I'm pretty sure the big snake was going to have the small snake for dinner.  Weird.  My phone was in my backpack and by the time I got it out the chance for a good pic had passed.  The original pic:

The pic, blown up as best I can on my phone.  You can kinda clearly see two snakes here.

After some extensive interweb research it turns out this meal isn't unheard of in the snake family.

bike commute 64/CityRock 51

14 miles total on the bike, and a good trip to CityRock.

My office has moved back downtown, which I'm very happy about.  Taking this week pretty easy on the running front, both because I'm having minor issues with the cankles I want to put an end to, and to figure out what my new routine will be with the new office.

Awesome weekend I'll post about soon, until then here is a pic Nacheaux got of Stella (our van) headed up Independence Pass.

Elk Park

$100 is running the Lead King Loop this weekend.  She is in pretty good shape for it, having recently done the Ascent, plus all the loaded hiking at Rito Alto and Rampart.  But we got in one last decent long run up at Elk Park on Sunday.  As a bonus, not only did we have our dog, but we had Amanda's two dogs as well since she is physically unable to get them enough exercise.

Three hours down to Barr Camp and back, just shy of twelve miles.  Great day on the mountain.

DeadPhish Orchestra

I had heard about DPO many many years ago while hanging out at Sancho's, but I had never seen them as they usually stick to the Denver/Boulder area.  But lo and behold last Friday they made their virgin trip to the Springs.  I got a ticket for $100 but she just kept rolling her eyes so I took Nacheaux instead.  Great show, loved the band, hope they come back often.  Yes, they play a mix of the Grateful Dead and Phish.  Do you really need anything else?

Despite starting our night at the Angry Pirate (formerly the Knob Hill Lounge) and visiting the Skybox, we had somewhat behaved ourselves.  But then we made the unwise decision to have the lyft driver drop us off at Shae's instead of the house.  We proceeded to drink a lot of cheap, shitty gin.

We even stopped at Alchemy after this.  Getting my liver in primo shape for the upcoming Vegas trip.

bike commute 61/run commute 45

Wednesday - Quick ride to work.  Then met $100 at Goat Patch Brewing before taking an awesome 14.5 mile route home through Bear Creek Park and Red Rock Canyon.

Thursday - Eleven miles on the day, both runs through Sonderman Park.

Ring The Peak

This trail has been sitting in my backyard since I moved here and for some reason I was never very motivated to try it.  But I saw Ring The Peak listed on the Colorado Endurance Series website and as the date got closer I was for some reason drawn to it.  So a few days before the start I cleared things with $100, and the night before I decided to give it a go.

Really glad I did it, but holy hell I was not prepared for a ten hour bike ride.

Beautiful loop, but it's definitely a grind on the bike.  Lots of climbing, lots of technical sections.  Very slow going.

Due to some trail closures we had to pedal to Manitou and head up highway 24.  Here I am just about to leave Mantiou for the highway.

I was pretty focused on riding, or at least pushing my bike, the whole time, so not many pictures.  I did stop at the weird but delicious spring water stop in Gillette, just outside of Victor to refill my osprey.

I finally allowed myself a break just after mile 50, when I realized the rest of the ride was downhill.

But shit, that downhill was technical and/or washed out gravel, so even that was hard.

Incredible scenery the entire way.  But I would have been better off, in my current state of fitness, doing this as a two day bikepack trip.  Or a credit card tour with a stay in Cripple Creek.  The last climb, on Gold Camp up and over the backside of Almagre/Baldy, really had me questioning my life choices over the past four decades.  I would have quit but at that point it's just easier to finish than to bail.  But as miserable as I was, now that the fatigue has worn off, I'll probably do this loop again sometime.  Such an awesome ride and I can start and finish at my house.

run commute 44/CityRock 46

Ten easy miles on the day to and from work via Sonderman Park.

CityRock is closed this week for construction, so I got to check out Springs Climbing Center this evening.  Nice evening of bouldering.

Rampart Res

Awesome hike with $100, Amanda, and the dogs on Labor Day.  Headed up the pass to Rampart Reservoir and hiked the whole thing.  14.7 miles, with a 35 pound pack, in 5:41.  The dogs crushed the hike and loved every minute of it.  Rampart Res is one of my favorite trails in the area and I don't get up there enough.

Didn't take very many pictures but here is one of Amanda with her three favorite dogs:

Accolade 13

Been a while since I hit Accolade.  If fact, the last visit was April 25.  Will be heading to the gym a bit more now that Pikes is over.