Adventure

There is one weekend each year when downtown Fort Collins turns into a virtual movie set for American Graffiti — the second Saturday of June when the Old Town Car Show takes place. Notwithstanding the economic recession and recent Seattle-like weather, hundreds of glimmering cars and trucks from decades past stood proud with chrome and lacquer seemingly a foot deep, eager to be admired and, in one or two cases where permissible, touched. Continue reading »

It seemed like my last few races were full of missed opportunities. First, there was the Houska Houska 5k in which I was in third or fourth place for most of the race, yet had to settle for sixth after being outsprinted in the last half-mile by others including a high school sophomore. Then, in the Vail Pass Hill Climb in the Teva Mountain Games, I lost what would have been a sure second place when I got off course after the first half-mile and lost three minutes. So if I had any goals for the Run for a Child’s Sake 5k, it was to Simply Not Blow It. Continue reading »

“The Teva Mountain Games take place the first week in June,” wrote Eddie. “I’ve done the 10k last year (awesome stuff) and the road bike TT the year before. I am planning on doing the 10k and MTB race this year. Also, if there are a ton of other comps going on like wall climbing, kayaking, etc.”

Cycling, running, climbing and more? My eyes lit up when I read Eddie’s e-mail much in the same way a lawyer’s does when he hears the word “lawsuit.” Plus, I had never been down in Vail — the Rocky Mountain town famous for its world-class skiing but also is a haven for almost every other individual sport in the summer. Hence, it did not take long for me to decide I would participate. I even managed to rope Lisa, Jeremiah, and Tori in coming along and sharing a lodge overnight so we could hang out in Vail the entire weekend. Continue reading »

Up to this point, my run mileage for the year exceeded my bicycling mileage — something that is particularly remarkable because I had been running fewer times per week than a toddler gets up to run around the living room within 10 minutes. This is to say that I had been cycling very, very infrequently this year. This was not good considering that a 9.8-mile time trial up Vail Pass I already registered for was coming up soon. As in the following week. Continue reading »

I was driving over to the Sunflower Market the day before Memorial Day when I passed by a sign next to Houska Automotive proclaiming “Houska 5K tomorrow.” At first I thought it was advertising for a 5,000-mile oil change, but when I went home and looked it up, I discovered it was actually Mr. Houska’s and Fort Collins’ “answer to the Bolder Boulder.” Continue reading »