Holiday Round-up

Well, it's been a while since a meaningful post, but, the holidays will do that to ya. I'm not going to delve too much into details about the trip back to Cackalacka Del Norte for Xmas, but, it was a blast! I always enjoy flying back there just because it's a total flip of scenery, and, it feels like a 100% TRUE vacation...no bike, no computer...just the farm & the fam! The weather was exceptionally warm, and we were able to do a lot of fun stuff outside with our niece Luca. This year, for presents, we decided to limit it to 2 per person...from each couple...rather than 1 person buys a gift for everyone. It made the current economic reality a bit more lax, and, it was nice to have to really focus in and give the right gift(s). I got a sweet Craft windproof baselayer, some fleece-y items for the slopes, and some funny stocking stuffers like the LOLCats book. It was great because everything I got I have already put to use, and, will continue to use. I'm pumped! When we returned, we got in pretty late, but, seemed to be unfazed by the time change back in Denver.

New Years was a nice quiet evening in the house with Amy. Originally we were going to hit La Fondue with Jordo & the Winks, but, the lack of vegetarian options kinda kept us at bay. I went for a short ride to Golden with the boys, but, damn...did I ever freeze! Check out my feet! When I got back to the house I wore my winter hat and heavy coat everywhere, even as the temp rose to 60 degrees! I was chilled to the core. That night, I cooked a delicious vegetarian meal for us from the new Candle Cafe Cookbook I got for xmas. The menu was such:


1. Cornmeal Crusted Tempeh
2. Barbecued Beans
3. Fried Greens
4. Sweet Potato Smash




It came out pretty damn good, and, the beans were awesome with the fake hot dogs cut up! Afterwards, we watched The Bicycle Thief, long hailed as an amazing movie. I fell asleep for a few minutes during the flick simply because I was kinda trashed on the 1-1.5 glasses of wine I had. Essentially, we had an east coast new years, in which we watched the ball drop in Times Square, kissed each other, and went to bed. Hey, we're both from the east coast, so, we figured this was sufficient!

Today I rode with the boys again, this time, up to Deer Creek. I was so flipping tired it wasn't even funny. After 5 days off the bike in Carolina, I, like a dumbass, decided to come back and slam it on the fixie on Monday, some Tempo Intervals on Tuesday, and hoped to get some good group rides in on Wed & thurs..the two work days I had off. Bad idea. My legs were so heavy today, and, I bailed at the beginning of the climb and headed home. I sent a text message to the guys, but, I don't know what the coverage is like in the canyon. Hopefully they got it. (Sorry if you didn't! Hopefully that guy on the Hampsten found you). I struggled to get home in a nasty headwind, and eventually, passed out on the couch. I was so worked. My new rule is no fixie during the week, only 1x per week, and, AFTER a good bunch of workouts before. So...essentially saving it for Sunday's with Mike, when I don't feel like MOB or something. For dinner we hit up Little India's. It was an off night for them because the food is ALWAYS memorable there. Tonight, meh, it was kinda so-so. We tried to do some shopping after, but, everything was closed.

This weekend is exciting because we're going to go alpine skiing with the Cobles! I'm also going to demo some new ski gear. My boards are 7 years old right now, and, have a super yucky core shot. Luckily PPC fixed it (yes...they're now doing ski tunes!), but, Jason commented that my edges are pretty gone no matter how hard they try. So, hopefully I can make it through the season on these bad boys, then, upgrade for next year (or something!).

I also finally finished my best of 2008 CD compilation. If you want one, hit me up and I'll burn it. Here's the tracklist (not in the order I'll burn, but) Something is jacked up with blogger & it's formatting, so, the ARTIST name is in bold. Word:



Name Artist
High Lonesome The Gaslight Anthem
Queen Bee Neil Halstead
Lump Sum Bon Iver
Warning Wye Oak
Leaves in the River Sea Wolf
One Red Thread Blind Pilot
Soldier's Grin Wolf Parade
Perfect Games The Broken West
Dead Sound The Raveonettes
My Cabal School Of Seven Bells
Sex On Fire Kings of Leon
Sweet Darlin' She & Him
Duties of a Lighthouse Keeper Human Highway
California Girls The Magnetic Fields
Halfway Home TV on the Radio
Catherine The Waitress Teitur
Good Day (Remix) Jukebox The Ghost
On the Water The Walkmen
Ragged Wood Fleet Foxes
Fuller Moon The Sea and Cake

All in all, a great 2008 for life, music, and everything else.

Happy new year to everyone!