Escape

I'd been working for a week and a half straight with the promise of a four day weekend to finish it off. The weather had started to take a turn towards winter, severely limiting the amount of trails that I can ride. I needed an escape and having not been to Fruita in May as I had planned, I new just where.

Never a cloud in the sky until I decided to pack up on Sunday afternoon and perfect temperatures - eighty during mid-day and forties at night. The coyotes howled all night and the wheels spun all day, doing just shy of one hundred miles in the weekend. I rode everything from Zippity Do Dah to Andy's Trail, but I never did take advantage of Free Lunch.

Steve's & Handcuffs

Try to get a recap up tonight...ish.

Fruita Preview

More to come...

Indeed

It was a very blustery day, indeed. The wind started sometime on Friday and wouldn't quit, hopefully a massive storm is a brewing and with it snow. Only three more days of work and it is off to Fruita on Thursday morning. Free Lunch, Chutes and Ladders, Book Cliffs, Kokopelli, Zippety Do Da, and the Holy Grail. I will touch rubber to all of these and then return to work next Monday with sore legs and a stuck-on-smile.

The Ranch with Peaks 8, 9, and 10.

Snowy trails disappear into the unknown.

Red Trail looking up the valley.

Shots from the Week

The weather played with Summit County this weekend. Starting with 6" of snow from Monday morning to Tuesday, sunny in the middle, and finally back to the snow and clouds for Friday. It seems as of late I am overly concerned about weather. While this makes me ponder the why, I will attribute it to the fact that everything I do is affected by it. I work outside and projects depend on the day's weather; when the weekend roles around, my adventures are based around the forecast. This all seems odd because the weather is only half right part of the time.

Just off work from the coffee shop and now off to seed the backyard and ride some bikes.

Back on It

I have found that this cold weather has made me sleep in longer. Though I have succumbed and turned the heat on, I have no motivation to get up so early to ride. I can't turn the heat on out of doors and at 9 it is still below 30 degrees on this October morning.

Back to the heat in the house. Radiant floor heat has become quite popular, especially in all of he newer condos here. Though I have yet to hear of radiant heat in the ceiling - until now. Our bedrooms are located on the top floor with the living area entirely on the first floor. Since heat tends to rise, one needs to only turn on the heat in the first floor to eat both. Quite interesting setup but it seems to work.

Weekend mornings are now spent playing with Dakota. The snow is appearing but not plentiful enough to enjoy wintertime sports. So for now I have shortened the rides in the afternoon, gone on more hikes, put away the climbing gear, and am now tempted to bust out all of the skis for a good base wax.

Baker's Tank from Andy Lueck on Vimeo.

Burns and Snow

Last week saw lots of snow falling in Summit County but most has melted at the lower elevations. The snow still remains on the peaks though. This made perfect burn weather for our crew.

Looks like night but this was take about 9 am.

I have gotten rid of whatever decided to reside in my sinuses for the past week and have decided to celebrate with some riding - only touched my bike once last weekend. Friday has become my day to sleep in and enjoy the morning during the summer. This provides a nice break from early mornings and long days of the work week and time for a big breakfast.

Steak, eggs, potatoes, toast, coffee, V8, and Dakota wants some.

Breakfast consumed, dishes done, and now it is time to take a quick hike with dog. Waiting for the sun to warm up a bit before I swing a leg over.