Weekend Update #1

Friday - Worst. Day. Ever.

  Just kidding, it was sweet.  I took a look at the snow report Thursday afternoon and decided that Friday would be a good day to take a day off; the prospect of a couple feet of new snow coupled with the smaller weekday crowds was too good to pass up.  With everyone reporting great conditions I couldn't decide which resort to go to, so I went to 2.  Isn't Colorado grand?  I had a free pass for Copper Mountain and a season pass for the Vail resorts so I started the day at Copper and finished at Breckenridge.  The morning runs at Copper were ridiculous:  a couple feet of powder, and little-to-no lift lines.  I love the taste of powder in the morning (I should know, I ate a ton of it that day).  I hadn't originally planned on switching resorts halfway through the day, but I stopped at 11 for lunch and realized that I wouldn't be able to get any more runs in before a noon phone conference, so instead of sitting around I decided to drive over to Breck while I waited for my conference.  The snow at Breck was nowhere near as good as Copper.  I don't know where they were measuring their snowfall, but it wasn't on any of the runs I was on.  Plus they didn't have many lifts open, so the lines were longer.  I rode for a couple hours, but decided to get out of there before all the kids got out of school.

Saturday -
  I had planned on sitting around to recoup from a good day on the slopes, but my email inbox suggested otherwise.  My usual Sunday group bike ride was moved to Saturday morning due to nicer weather.  Before we even got my bike together I had problems.  When I attached the pump to the tire the rubber around the valve stem broke and I had to change my tire (using my one spare tube).  I had my fingers crossed that I wouldn't need to make another repair.  We started out with a group of 8 people, and I was a little worried that my previous day's activities would keep me from staying with the pack.  I managed to do alright though, and even managed to inadvertently whip up the pace a bit when I was in front.  Riding in front is a little more strenuous because you have to take most of the wind, and I have a tendency to overcompensate by pushing harder than I need to.  About 20 miles into the 45 mile ride 5 people turned back because they either had something to do (excuses, excuses), or were worn out.  The two remaining riders and myself forged on to our turnaround point in Lyons, after which my quick tire change bit me in the butt.  I suffered a nice loud flat shortly after leaving Lyons and I think it was because my tube was pinched by the rim.  Oops.  I borrowed a tube from someone and we were quickly on our merry way.  The ride back was mostly uneventful, except for some crazy temperature fluctuations and gusty side winds.