As I reported in January, it was time for me to get new shoes since my Puma H. Streets and Salohs both had around 1000 miles on them, and the former suffered a two-inch tear in Oaxaca. I also wanted a shoe that had the same “barefoot” feel but had better traction in mud and snow, was less expensive than (for example) an iPod Nano, and would be available for an eternity — unlike the Puma H. Streets and Salohs which have been both discontinued. Continue reading »

The pasta dinner speaker’s jokes may have fell flat with an audience that was probably more concerned about “will I freeze my butt off at tomorrow’s morning 29-degree marathon start,” and I was most doubtful that his much-hyped “Six Secrets Guaranteed to Make You Run a Faster Marathon” were anything but secrets.

However, the speaker’s presentation did indeed inspire me to settle on a more conventional strategy than “just run your guts out from the start and try to hang on at the end.” These were his six suggestions:
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One year and seven months after the event, I’ve finished transcribing notes from the ‘08 Tour Divide, the epic self-supported MTB race from Canada to Mexico I finished sixth place in. This includes notes I scribbled daily inside a notebook inside my ultra-light one-person tent under the glow of a blue pen-light, usually at night after at least 15 hours of riding. They also include cleaned-up versions of the transcripts that Sherry (wife of one of the racers) took from my race call-ins. Continue reading »

From what I heard, ski conditions for most of the winter in Colorado had been as mediocre as the San Francisco 49ers had been for the last seven football seasons. So when Raquel gave me a first-hand account that after a recent snowstorm the snow at Copper Mountain was really good, Rob and I decided to hit the slopes. After all, back in November I had purchased a relatively inexpensive ($129) Four Pass for Copper, and it was time to start using it. Continue reading »

Having recently been able to look at (and sit in!) a friend’s red 1967 MGB roadster in Fort Collins, I wondered about how Goldie, the pale primrose yellow 1969 British roadster I enjoyed for 12 years, was faring. Happily, Steve (the MG’s new owner) just sent me an update.

As it turns out, the vintage sports car is hibernating during Montreal’s long winter. It also appears that she is in need of a bit of work to be roadworthy again, which is in contrast to last August when Steve reported she was running great. Her oil pressure relief valve may be sticking and the brake master cylinder is leaking now. Fortunately, Steve has a whole school bus of spare parts and the time and energy to tackle these issues. Continue reading »

I guess you can call my friend Shantel and her boyfriend Dave “foodies.” They really know how to savor the flavors of a well-cooked meal, especially if it is ethnic or exotic. In fact, Shantel and I have become lunch buddies who search for and taste Fort Collins’ hidden culinary treasures weekly.

So of course I was delighted when she and Dave invited me over one night for a dinner party. Make that a Chinese dinner party. The next day, after all, was the start of Chinese New Year. Continue reading »