Colorado Veldrijden Crusade is sponsoring the Carbon Cross Epic Ride tomorrow at Bear Creek Lake Park near Morrison, CO. This is a new format for a cross race – it is an epic 10 mile loop with groups doing 1, 2, or 3 laps depending on which group they race in. The Beginners race 1 lap.
It is one of the few cyclocross races that has a "Beginner" category, so I've had it on my calendar since late August.
Wednesday night I put Mr Tuffy strips and Slime tubes in my cyclocross bike's tires, remembering that Bear Creek is thick with goathead thorns.
Of course, our Canadian friends have decided to send a miserable weather system our way – which is slated to arrive in the Denver area tonight.
No self-respecting cyclocross racer would avoid an event due to weather. In fact, it seems that the nastier the weather, the more they enjoy the race.
It is apparent that I'm not a cyclocross racer. Right now I'm having a wimp attack.
Here is the weather forecast . . .
Tonight: A chance of snow before midnight, then snow likely, possibly mixed with freezing drizzle. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22. Calm wind becoming northeast between 11 and 14 mph. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Saturday: A chance of snow and freezing drizzle, mainly before noon. Patchy fog. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 33. East wind between 3 and 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
The beginner race starts at 830 am – and the forecast is not optimal:
Time 8 am
Condition 23°F Snow Shower
Feels Like 13°F
Chance Precip 50%
Humidity 81%
Wind From NNE 10 mph
My bike is ready; I just don't know if I am! I plan to make a "game day" decision on whether to ride . . . stay tuned.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Dancing With the Stars
Except for the Tour de France - and the last quarter of most Broncos games - I rarely watch television. I don't have anything against TV, I just don't find anything entertaining when I flip through the channels.
But I do have my one guilty pleasure – Dancing With the Stars. I started watching it the year Emmitt Smith was competing.
Some seasons the show has a more engaging cast than others; some seasons the level of competition is quite high.
This season, I'm disappointed. First, look at the remaining line-up:
Aaron Carter
Chuck Liddell
Debi Mazar
Donny Osmond
Joanne Krupa
Kelly Osbourne
Louie Vito
Mark Dacascos
Melissa Joan hart
Michael Irvin
Mya
Natalie Coughlin
Tom DeLay
Other than Donny Osmond, I can't say that any of the other contestants rise to the level of "celebrity," much less "Star". My first reaction to most of the names on the list is "who?"
All the contestants seem engaged and they appear to be working hard, but I am just not interested. No one has caught my attention and made me want to root for them. Oh, Kelly Osbourne was a nice surprise, but I don't really care whether or not she makes it to next week.
So, I think I'm over it for this season. Monday evenings just opened up on my calendar.
Now I have time to fit in that yoga class I keep saying I want to attend . . .
But I do have my one guilty pleasure – Dancing With the Stars. I started watching it the year Emmitt Smith was competing.
Some seasons the show has a more engaging cast than others; some seasons the level of competition is quite high.
This season, I'm disappointed. First, look at the remaining line-up:
Aaron Carter
Chuck Liddell
Debi Mazar
Donny Osmond
Joanne Krupa
Kelly Osbourne
Louie Vito
Mark Dacascos
Melissa Joan hart
Michael Irvin
Mya
Natalie Coughlin
Tom DeLay
Other than Donny Osmond, I can't say that any of the other contestants rise to the level of "celebrity," much less "Star". My first reaction to most of the names on the list is "who?"
All the contestants seem engaged and they appear to be working hard, but I am just not interested. No one has caught my attention and made me want to root for them. Oh, Kelly Osbourne was a nice surprise, but I don't really care whether or not she makes it to next week.
So, I think I'm over it for this season. Monday evenings just opened up on my calendar.
Now I have time to fit in that yoga class I keep saying I want to attend . . .
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Dinner and a Movie
Back on-line & mostly dust-free; the floors look good, but kind of a miserable process . . .
I am not a fish eater, unless we go to someone’s house and that is what they are serving. So Phil compensates by ordering salmon almost every time he eats out. I had friends over a while ago who don’t eat much red meat, so I decided to be the good host and serve salmon. I bought the freshest fish I could at Whole Foods and used this recipe.
It was great! I’m still not ever going to become a regular at the sushi bars, but a little grilled fish once in a while is okay.
Serve with steamed brown rice and broccoli.
Dinner
Grilled Orange-and-Bourbon Salmon
1/4 cup bourbon (buy a little airline-sized bottle – it is the perfect amount)
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
Cooking spray
Combine first 8 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag, and add salmon to bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 1-1/2 hours, turning bag occasionally.
Prepare grill or broiler.
Remove salmon from bag, reserving marinade. Place salmon on a grill rack or broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Cook 6 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork, basting frequently with reserved marinade. Yield: 4 servings
Movie
Seven Pounds (2008) (run time 118 minutes)
The director of Seven Pounds constructs the story so that a major secret stays hidden from the audience until the very end, making a spoiler-free synopsis of the movie sound either mysterious or incoherent.
With that caveat in mind, Seven Pounds stars Will Smith as Ben Thomas, a mysterious IRS agent whose quest for redemption is unexpectedly complicated after he inadvertently falls in love.
We watched it (not on the bikes!) September 6. We both really like Will Smith, so we were willing to gamble on this even though it got mixed reviews.
I enjoyed it – I wasn’t checking my watch to see if it was almost over or anything – but it wasn’t Will’s best movie. I saw what was coming for quite awhile before it was acknowledged in the film, and I know that in real life the process doesn’t work that way.
3.5 Stars. Suspend your disbelief, pop some Orville Redenbacher’s Natural Buttery Salt & Cracked Pepper popcorn, and go with the flow.
I am not a fish eater, unless we go to someone’s house and that is what they are serving. So Phil compensates by ordering salmon almost every time he eats out. I had friends over a while ago who don’t eat much red meat, so I decided to be the good host and serve salmon. I bought the freshest fish I could at Whole Foods and used this recipe.
It was great! I’m still not ever going to become a regular at the sushi bars, but a little grilled fish once in a while is okay.
Serve with steamed brown rice and broccoli.
Dinner
Grilled Orange-and-Bourbon Salmon
1/4 cup bourbon (buy a little airline-sized bottle – it is the perfect amount)
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
Cooking spray
Combine first 8 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag, and add salmon to bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 1-1/2 hours, turning bag occasionally.
Prepare grill or broiler.
Remove salmon from bag, reserving marinade. Place salmon on a grill rack or broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Cook 6 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork, basting frequently with reserved marinade. Yield: 4 servings
Movie
Seven Pounds (2008) (run time 118 minutes)
The director of Seven Pounds constructs the story so that a major secret stays hidden from the audience until the very end, making a spoiler-free synopsis of the movie sound either mysterious or incoherent.
With that caveat in mind, Seven Pounds stars Will Smith as Ben Thomas, a mysterious IRS agent whose quest for redemption is unexpectedly complicated after he inadvertently falls in love.
We watched it (not on the bikes!) September 6. We both really like Will Smith, so we were willing to gamble on this even though it got mixed reviews.
I enjoyed it – I wasn’t checking my watch to see if it was almost over or anything – but it wasn’t Will’s best movie. I saw what was coming for quite awhile before it was acknowledged in the film, and I know that in real life the process doesn’t work that way.
3.5 Stars. Suspend your disbelief, pop some Orville Redenbacher’s Natural Buttery Salt & Cracked Pepper popcorn, and go with the flow.
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