KnPnCnC in Colorado

Going GaGa

2012-02-15T16:50:00.001-07:00

It took several weeks for me to get around to this one, but here's a video clip of Chloe's recent performance at her school's talent show.

What Did I Get Myself Into?

2012-02-15T00:15:00.001-07:00

Stepping out of my comfort zone, I just registered for a Tough Mudder event here in Colorado in June. Basically it's a 10-ish mile run through the woods that requires navigating several obstacles, designed by British Special Forces. The proceeds from the event benefits the Wounded Warriors Project, a nonprofit that provides programs and services to injured service members.

If you would like to donate, click on the picture below... thanks!

Girl. Friend.

2012-02-14T19:30:00.001-07:00

And Valentine.

The Face Looks Familiar...

2012-02-14T09:15:00.002-07:00

I recently received an email from a nonprofit that we help out on occasion. It's the one where Chloe and I get our hair cut short (Chloe) or shaved off completely (me) to raise funds for families in medical crises. In this email was a promotional flier for this year's event, and one of the photos caught my eye...

Unfortunately, it looks like Chloe and I won't be participating in this years event. But if you're still interested in making a donation, follow this link.

31" + 48 hours = Smiles

2012-02-04T11:17:00.001-07:00

Skiing at the local mountain today and there is gobs of snow... and many happy skiers (Peggy included)

9 Years Already?

2012-01-28T22:18:00.001-07:00

This little gem entered our world and changed our lives 9 years ago today.

Here she is fully enjoying cake at her first birthday party.

Yurting It

2012-01-22T22:44:00.000-07:00

We were supposed to do this overnight trip back in December, but a nasty head cold hit Peggy and we had to reschedule for this weekend. So we had a month to wonder what awaited us at the Tennessee Pass Cookhouse near Leadville, CO. Good friends of ours told us about it a while ago, and I happened to meet a co-owner last summer, so there were some preconceived notions and mental images about what awaited us. But we were absolutely blown away with what we experienced.

Stepping back a bit... The Tennessee Pass Cookhouse is actually a decent sized yurt on a remote plot at 10,800 feet in the middle of the Rockies. It's "off the grid" as they say: lighting is provided by candles and propane lamps, heat by a wood stove, and bathroom facilities by a nearby outhouse. During the winter, the more popular ways of getting to it are via cross country skis or snowshoes as it is about 1 mile back in the woods from the parking lot. (They do offer to shuttle guests to and fro via snowmobile, but, honestly, if one is able-bodied what's the fun in that?) Just this past summer the owners added two "sleep yurts" nearby so guests would not have to make the 1-mile trek back to the parking lot -- and then deal with some so-so lodging in the area -- and linger over dinner and enjoy the experience and area.

Now back to our experience... we made the approximate 3-hour drive out to the the check-in desk for the Cookhouse on Saturday, arriving around 2in the afternoon. We got the low-down on both the dining and sleep yurts, were handed some snowshoes, and began our slow, leisurely walk through the woods. To "get back" a little bit and stay off the groomed nordic ski trails, we opted for the snowshoe trail and gained the 300 feet in elevation to the Cookhouse in about 45 minutes. Along the way we enjoyed the silence of the woods (save for the snowmobile going by to ferry our overnight bags to our sleep yurt) and enjoyed the limited views (a snow storm was approaching for that night so it was quite overcast.)

When we made it to the cookhouse yurt, we happened to cross paths with the one owner I met over the summer. After chatting for a bit and using the adjacent outhouse, we continued on for the remaining three-tenths of a mile to our sleep yurt. And to our surprise and delight, it was not nearly as "primitive" as we had imagined. Inside there was a (very effective) wood stove, 2 low-wattage lights (powered by solar) and "running water" provided by a tiny submersible pump (with solar-rechargeable batteries) in a large reservoir under the sink. It can accommodate six, and has down comforter bedding. "Nature calls" were answered via a 30 foot walk out the door to the outhouse which is shared with the other sleep yurt. The first flakes of snow of the arriving storm began falling shortly after we arrived, putting a nice glaze on the trees. We, meanwhile, unpacked and relaxed inside our little piece of serenity in the Rockies before making our way back to the cookhouse for dinner.

As we left for dinner, outside looked slightly different then it had 90 minutes prior – about over an inch of snow had fallen since. We trudged along through the snowflakes to the cookhouse, and entered a wonderfully dim candle- and propane-lantern-lit dining room. Over the next 2-plus hours we dined and chatted, enjoying courses containing elk and rhubarb, and chats about future travels. It was well dark by the time we left dinner, and the snow was still falling, so our headlamp-guided walk back to our yurt was a nighttime spectacular. We got back to the yurt, filled the stove with as much wood as it could take, and climbed under the down comforters for (what we thought would be) a quiet night's sleep.

I say that because as we lay there in our beds, the snow piled up on the roof. Then every once in a while snow slid off the roof, making a sound as if it was ripping through the roof material. Obviously it wasn't, but it was startling enough to wake us up throughout the night. No complaints from us, though, as it meant there would be a winter wonderland awaiting us at daybreak.

Sure enough, as we and the sun rose, we noticed about 10 inches of fresh snow around the yurt, with more snurries falling. We would have loved to linger around the yurt and/or trekked around the trails for a while that morning, but we needed to pack up and head back to the car as Peggy had a flight out to the UK Sunday night. We were the first ones on the trial that morning so were breaking trail from the get-go. It snowed enough overnight that at one point we lost track of our footprints from the night before and went (using the skiing term) "off piste" slightly and had to trudge about 75 yards through a knee-deep snowed meadow to get back on the trail. We were eventually able to link up with the freshly-groomed nordic trails (our interest in breaking trail for the entire 1.3 miles was low) and had a nice, family walk on a quiet winter, Rocky Mountain morning back to the car.

Click on the photo below to see the online photo album of our visit.

TN Pass Cookhouse (Jan 2012)

On the 8th Day...

2012-01-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

... he looked back at Colorado and the Rocky Mountains, and thought, "Boy, I really outdid myself."


Breckenridge, CO

Out in Breckenridge for the weekend to do some nordic and alpine skiing, and spend some time with some friends of ours who love the mountains just as much as we do.

Tonight's Sunset over The Flatirons

2012-01-05T17:48:00.001-07:00

One for the cage, and one for the stable

2011-12-31T15:07:00.002-07:00

Chloe and I did some shopping today...

My New Ride

Chloe's New Hamster

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

2011-12-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving recap

2011-11-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

We went to our old stomping grounds of metro Boston for Thanksgiving this year, visiting some friends we haven't seen in quite some time.

Unfortunately, Peggy was befallen by a nasty, nasty head cold for a bit of it and missed out on some of the activities we had planned to show Chloe the sights, namely the aquarium, Duck Boat tour and a visit to the observation floor of the Prudential Center. But she rallied in time for Thanksgiving Day and beyond, and we spent a wonderfully fun Thanksgiving Day up in Manchester, MA, and the following day on Newbury Street, at Quincy Market and along the Waterfront, and in Lexington.

Thanksgiving Day in Manchester, MA

Duck Boat Chloe

A Weekend in Moab

2011-11-14T12:44:00.001-07:00

Because of the 3-day weekend, we planned an active weekend for ourselves in Moab, UT. We began the weekend, though, by picking Chloe up at school on Thursday afternoon and beginning the 6-hour drive across Colorado and into Utah.

Friday morning we got ourselves over to a local bike shop to rent some mountain bikes for Peggy and I (we brought Chloe's bike along), and then over to the trailhead for our ride. The plan was to do the 10 mile (approx.) out-and-back ride -- and the approximate 1-mile roundtrip hike into Arches National Park -- in the morning and early afternoon, and then head onto over to another trailhead to do an 8-mile ride there. But first things first... we had to get this first ride in the books first.

So we set off on our bikes, bundled up a bit due to the chilly temps, but excited to have this little adventure ahead of us. The first part of the ride was mostly jeep road... wide, relatively smooth and easy to navigate. After a couple of miles into it, we got on the slickrock that this ride (and Moab) is known for. This section was definitely wide like before, but more challenging in that it was a gradual ascent for a couple of miles, and required more bike-handling skills to negotiate the various idiosyncrasies of the rock surface. These "challenges" aside, this section was definitely a highlight of the trail for marked by circles of rocks were dinosaur footprints! There were probably about 15 or so footprints marked... though many required some "interpretation," there definitely were others were we found ourselves saying "Wow!"

We continued our way up and along the slickrock and eventually made our way back onto a 2-mile long jeep road that would take us to the border of Arches National Park. Once there, we had to lock our bikes up to a rack and walk the remaining half-mile or so into the park and our scenic lunch spot. And just like our reaction to some of the dinosaur prints, we once again found ourselves saying "Wow!" We were in the Klondike Bluffs area of the park, and the rock formations here seem other-world-ly. They are unlike anything else we've seen. We were exposed to the cool breeze of the day now, so while we enjoyed the view for a bit, we also felt it was a good idea to not stay too long and get too chilled. We walked back to our bikes to begin our descent along the roads and slickrock back to our car.

By this point, I could definitely see the increased confidence and bike handling by both Chloe and Peggy... I've done such riding just once before so am by far not an expert, but I knew some basics about riding mountain bikes and what they can handle. They haven't, so it was all pretty new to them. On the descent, they really impressed me – Chloe's bike doesn't have a rear suspension so she got jarred around a lot, and Peg's bike's front brake was acting up – and began to look comfortable riding their bikes in this environment.

We made it back to the car around 2:30p, quickly loaded up the bikes and headed over to the next trailhead. Once we got there, though, the brief rest from the car ride seems to have germinated some concerns about doing this next ride... Chloe's legs (and butt) were pretty tired, and after some feeble attempt to improve it, I couldn't do anything to improve Peg's bike's brake (and doing another 8 miles or so, while "active" wasn't "fun.") We gave it the ol' college try nonetheless but after a little over a mile, it became evident it wasn't worth going on... Chloe was lagging behind, and Peg's front wheel was making sounds akin to the communication groans of humpback whales.

I once again loaded them on the car, and we headed back into Moab to return the rental bikes and enjoy some post-ride nourishment at a local eatery. And of course, toast a great family bike ride.

The rest of the weekend, though, didn't pan out as active as we had hoped. The plans for Saturday was to do a 7.5 mile hike in Arches, on a trail that would take us by several of the rock formations that are the park's namesake. During Friday night/Saturday morning, though, Chloe got wicked sick and vomited over a fair portion of the upstairs of the house we were staying in. Peg and I were definitely "active" during this portion... she scrubbing carpets, and me driving into town at 1:00am to visit a laundromat. The rest of Saturday was spent just hanging out... I was able to watch the Pitt v Louisville football game online, and thanks to Hulu, we were able to catch up on episodes of "The Office" and watch several episodes of "Ugly Betty."

We hoped we would be able to do a little of Saturday's hiking on Sunday, but Mother Nature had other plans: As we entered the park, it began to drizzle... and it drizzled the entire time we drove through the park viewing the sights visible from the road. As irony would have it, the rain stopped as we were exiting the park and heading back to Boulder.

Oh well... we plan on heading back to Moab again some day, and who knows... maybe there are mountain bikes in our future!

Pictures from this trip can be found here.

Boo!

2011-10-31T19:55:00.000-06:00

Chloe, The Skeleton Bride

Just because it was sunny, calm and mid-60s in Boulder...

2011-10-20T22:08:00.002-06:00

... doesn't mean the same conditions exist just 40 minutes away (but 5,000 feet higher.)

A friend of mine and I snuck in a quick hike today up near Brainard Lake. We were expecting things to be a little cooler than here in Boulder, but we weren't expecting it to be over 20 degrees cooler (and much windier) and most of the trail to be snow covered. Thankfully, someone "broke trail" for us and packed down the snow some, for if they hadn't there easily would have been times where we would have been walking through 6 inches of snow.

Here are some pix.

Fall, "Fizz" and The Fonz.

2011-10-17T18:35:00.000-06:00

We used this weekend to visit our friends the Hankins in Illinois. They're a family we met in 2004 -- we were both taking our nearly-1.5-year-old daughters over to France to catch some stages of Le Tour. Anywho, we've kept in touch with them over the years and have had the occasional meet-ups too. They've been to Colorado a couple of times, so the time for us to visit them in Illinois was well past-due. There was a lot of general catching up, and hanging out and relaxing which I won't go into, but I did want to bring up 3 things that help with the alliteration of this post's title.

- One of the first things Peggy and I noticed is how much we don't have the Fall colors coming from the maples and oaks here in Colorado... don't get me wrong, the aspens here are pretty spectacular, but there is a something nice about seeing the browns and reds and oranges. And considering how many trees were on our around their lot, there was plenty of time for us to enjoy autumn's show.

- On Saturday, they took us up to New Glarus, WI to check out the similarly named brewery that resides there, as well as the Swiss-based town itself. Both were very enjoyable in their own right (and for their very different reasons.)

- On Sunday, because we were flying out of Milwaukee, they took us up several hours early to go explore that city. While there were many cool things we saw -- the "safe house" restaurant with its secret doors and codes, the Discovery Museum, and Miller Field -- I think the highlight (at least for Peggy and I) was getting to see The Bronze Fonz.

Some pix from the weekend are found here.

LOTS of Good Deeds

2011-10-13T15:56:00.000-06:00

Chloe and her classmates were rewarded with a "Crazy Hair Day" for filling up their "Good Deed Bead" jar. (The teacher lets them put a bead or two in a jar for doing something nice, and once that jar fills up, they get a reward of some kind... crazy hair day, pajama day, etc.)

Anywho, yours truly was responsible for helping put some craziness in Chloe's hair this morning. I had her lay on the bed on her back with her head hanging over the edge, and tried to hairspray the dickens out of her hair. Below is a picture of her with an admittedly unhealthy amount of hairspray applied, and below that is a picture of "the look" I was going for.

In a Rut

2011-10-01T22:52:00.000-06:00

Because we missed it last year due to our time in the UK, we made sure we made it up to the elk rut in Rocky Mountain National Park this year. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't as cooperative as two years ago, and some rain showers came along, darkened the skies and chased us into our car earlier than we had hoped and expected. We were able to get in a short hike with the friends that joined us, and did get to see – and hear – some of the male elk bugling, but Mother Nature did limit our time at the show.

The elk rut wasn't the only show in town, though, as this weekend was probably "peak" for some leaf peeping... there were many aspen groves turning a brilliant gold in color. Their color was muted somewhat by the overcast skies, but the colors were still quite striking when contrasted against the evergreens that often surrounded them.

Some photos from our little excursion can be found here.

A Rough Morning for the Old Boy

2011-09-27T16:59:00.002-06:00

During our nearly-daily post-getting-Chloe-on-the-bus-in-the-morning walk, I noticed Chamberlain take a step and then wobble for a brief moment, but then kept on chugging along. When we got back to the house, though, a light trail of blood made me wonder if there was something more to that wobble. It was then that I noticed that the dew claw on his front left leg was practically torn off. I blotted the area as best I could (and as much as he would allow) then had him lay on his bed to let him, literally, lick his wound.


Chamberlain and his new accessories

A couple of minutes later, I checked on him and noticed he completely removed his dew claw, and there were a couple decent-sized blotches of blood on his bed. I called the vet to give them the heads up we were heading down, secured some paper towels to his paw with rubber bands, got him in the car, and headed down to the vet. It was there he was outfitted with that ever-so-stylish cone and bandage for his paw, and given an antibiotic.

As if the dew claw incident wasn't enough, the vet also check Chamberlain's heart (he has a murmur) and based on that examination, the vet felt it was time to add a diuretic and venous dilator added to the Ol' Boy's daily cocktail of drugs.

A Quick Recap, and a Funny Incident Involving a "C"

2011-09-14T10:16:00.003-06:00

Yes, I know there's been another gap of substantive posts from me (not that I consider our wedding anniversary "unsubstantial") but when things get busy, the blog takes a seat on the back burner. But, because of a funny little incident this morning, I thought I'd bang out some words to give a quick update on things, and finish up with this morning's incident.


Finishing up the TT in Steamboat

- I'm still biking and racing, though my racing season comes to an end this month. I was in a stage race in Steamboat Springs over labor day weekend. It started out well (5th out of 43 in the TT) but the wheels came off on the following days... I had to avoid 2 crashes in the crit, and flatted going over some RR tracks in the road race. It clearly wasn't my weekend to complete the race, so I DNF-ed. Despite that disappointment, I'm very happy with my TT performance and place. I'm currently taking part in a 4-week TT race series, the first was last Thursday. Continuing the "luck" from Steamboat, I dropped a chain at the start and lost about 40"... I finished 12th out 23, but would have come in around 5th or 6th had I had a smooth start.

Chloe before her 1st
soccer match

- Chloe's been in school about a month already and really enjoys her teacher. Her fall soccer season started as well, and has played 2 games already. She's playing well (though still has some "picking daisies" lapses), and seems more comfortable in the "defense" positions.
- Peggy's work is going well, and, as anticipated during these first couple of months with her new company, has her traveling a lot lately. (I'm estimating that between July24th and today, we've been together as a family for 3 weeks.... some of it is her travel, some of that is my time in France.) But, we knew this would be the case so it's not a complete shock. She really enjoys her new colleagues and role, so that makes it a lot easier for her (and us) to deal with the separation.

- And finally, Chamberlain, the seldom-mentioned member of the family... he's doing well, and is the subject of this morning's "incident." I took him with me as I walked Chloe to the bus stop. Once she boarded and departed, I continued to walk with him around the neighborhood for a bit. We were walking on a sidewalk, when up ahead of us, I, and he, noticed a rabbit sitting along a fence. He kept an eye on it as we got closer, and when we got to about 15 feet of it, it took off in front of us and across the street.
I fully expected to have a tug-o-war on my hands. But instead, I watched Chamberlain watch the rabbit run, and then watched him walk over to the fence to where the rabbit was sitting and take a leak!

It was 14 years ago today, in a church in Clymer, PA...

2011-09-06T15:04:00.003-06:00

... that I married the love of my life.

Friday Night Double Feature

2011-08-19T20:56:00.004-06:00

On a strange weather evening – bands of weak-hurricane-like wind and rain, and alternating periods of calm – we were also treated to a double rainbow. This picture captures some of the brilliance of the inner arc, and the contrast in the sky's color between the inside of the inner arc and the area between the arcs. Click the photo to enlarge it.

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Pictures taken by Others

2011-08-18T14:40:00.007-06:00

It took a while, but I went through the 900+ photos that were taken by others in my group and put them up on Picasa. They're roughly in chronological order, and are captioned.

To view them, visit this link. (There is the ability to view them in "slideshow" style... just look for the "slideshow" button in the upper-left.)

Also, the Alpe d'Huez and Mont Ventoux climbs had prospecting photographers along the route... they'd take your picture and then run up along side you and give you a business card (of sorts) that would direct you to their website and tell you how to find your pictures. Anywho, here are links to those sites:

Alpe d'Huez
- http://griffe7.phot-online.fr/album/362/2011-08-aout-august#photo_237199 (Put "M46680" in the Search box, hit Search, and my pictures begin with M46661)
- http://www.photobreton.com/consulter/Images.asp?LangueID=2&AllVars=DossierID%A7185325%A4AlbumID%A7186058&NumPage=32&fichierHighlight=3768689&NbreParPage=40&test=0,75# (my pictures begin with LT1A5434)

Mont Ventoux
- http://www.ventouxphoto.fr/gallery.php?gid=1524&page_num=13&sort_by=title&sort_order=ascending (my pictures begin with the image labeled "10h54-09.08.2011-398.jpg" at the bottom.)
- http://griffe7.phot-online.fr/album/9/4-le-mont-ventoux-2011#photo_246282 (Put "J38900" in the Search box, hit Search, and my pictures begin with J38895)

1st Day... Again.

2011-08-15T08:27:00.003-06:00

Chloe stepped into the world of 3rd Grade this morning, wearing some new duds that she and Peggy picked out over the weekend.

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - The Pictures

2011-08-10T14:12:00.010-06:00

Below you will find a link to pictures from my trip. They're on Picasa, but you shouldn't need an account to view them... if you have the link (which is below) you should be OK.

The link will open automatically open up a slideshow... if the pictures are going by too fast/slow, you can adjust the speed with the controls at the bottom of the screen. (You may need to move your mouse pointer over the bottom of the screen to see the controls.)

So without further delay... follow this link to see my* pictures.

*The pictures at this link are just the pictures I took... me and my tour mates and guides all swapped photos, but I have yet to comb through all of theirs. Once I do, I will likely put them up as well. But for now, enjoy.

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part IX: In closing, Merci and Au Revoir

2011-08-10T10:13:00.002-06:00

Well, I’m sitting here on the TGV making my way from Avignon to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport, typing up this postscript and getting glimpses of the French countryside as it whizzes by.

Less there be any doubt, this was a week I will always remember. Though I fashion myself a cyclist, I never, ever thought I’d be pedaling my way up climbs with names like Alpe d’Huez, Lautaret, Galibier, Glandon, Croix de Fer and Ventoux. Never. And for that I must say Merci/Thank You to my lovely wife, Peggy… you are the best. It’s because of you (and your being tired of hearing me pine for a road bike and forcing me to go and get the damn thing!) that I became the cycling enthusiast that I am. And it is also because of you (and your GREAT knack for gift giving) that I did this tour. I know this wasn’t an easy time for you for me to be away, with a new job and all and keeping Chloe busy. So, Peggy, from the bottom of my heart, “Merci” for such a wonderful gift and experience.

And to my tour mates Dave, Fernando and Luis, guides Julien and Patrick, and the “epic climbs” with whom I spent a most enjoyable week, I say Au Revoir. If you are ever in Colorado…

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part VIII: Mont Ventoux

2011-08-09T21:55:00.003-06:00

Today was the last day of riding for the trip. With Alpe d’Huez as the first big climb of the trip, the trip organizers did a great job of bookending the week by making Mont Ventoux the last climb on the itinerary.

Whereas in the Alps, the high mountain peaks were both plentiful and beautiful. In Provence, though, there is but one high peak, and it is Mont Ventoux. For sure there are small mountain ranges and hills in this region, but this mountain is aptly referred to as Le Géant de Provence (The Giant of Provence)… it towers over everything in the area. It is striking not only for how it stands alone among other geological features in the area, but it also has a bald summit that, from a far, almost looks snow covered due to the sun hitting the light colored rocks. Basically, there is no mistaking it.

Prior to the start of the ride, the guides passed along some information about the day and the climb. The weather, while projected to be mostly sunny with a few clouds, was also going to be windy. We were told we’d be largely protected while going up through the forest on the side of the mountain, but to expect strong winds once above tree line. The other information was to not be fooled by the first couple of kilometers… they are gradual, but once we reach “The Turn” the gradient goes up considerably, and stays at a higher pitch the rest of the way, with maybe just 200-300 meters of “false flat” about 3.5 miles from the end.

My hotel was not too far away from the “official” beginning of the climb (i.e. the line the TdF organizers use as the start point for the climb), so rather than bike right over to it and begin the 13.5 mile ascent, we rode around the outskirts of town for about 20 minutes to warm-up the legs some. We stopped at the start line when we got there to take a group picture, and then began our climb.

As advertised, the incline for the first 3.5 miles averaged a relatively gentle 3.9%, and my heart rate average was 142 bpm. It was a completely different story beginning at “The Turn” and lasting for the next 5.5 miles… the average gradient increased to 9.2%, and my average HR adjusted accordingly to 162 bpm. As steep as it was though, I enjoyed it *immensely*… there were cyclists from all over on the road climbing this thing (one tour guide said that, on average, 1,200 cyclists climb it every day), I was able to get in a steady cadence, I was joined by tour guide Julien for a good portion of it, and it was through a pine forest that smelled wonderful.
The last 4.5 miles were, for the most part, less steep… the average was “only” 7.6%. But what was lost in gradient was more than made up for in wind speed. We popped out about tree line at Chalet Reynard and the aforementioned “false flat” section (an area of gradual incline that, often times due to the steepness of the preceding section, seems flat) and immediately noticed the strong, cool wind blowing. Now, to be honest, sometimes it *was* at my back and pushing me up the hills. But, other times – and this was the prevailing situation from this point onward – it was a brutal cross- or headwind. It was just a little over 6K (3.5 miles) from Chalet Reynard, and even with the wind, I felt like I was ticking off the “x kilometers to go” signs at a decent pace. That all changed in the vicinity of the “1Km to go” sign… oy, did it get steep! And windy! That last kilometer averaged over 10.5%, and the last quarter-mile was 12%. The steepness I could deal with OK (though my legs were definitely getting tired from not just today’s climb, but the culmination of the last several days of riding); the wind, though, nearly knocked me over as I came around the last switchback. Julien, who was in front of me, looked back and saw me riding towards a lower summit road and said “No, no, no!” I nodded my head to say “I know” but the wind was blowing me that way. I was able to make my way to the correct side of the barrier that divided the summit roads and pushed my way the last 50 meters to the finish line. It took me 1 hour, 42 minutes to do it, but I climbed The Giant.

After the requisite pictures and handshakes, and after the adrenaline and elation subsided some (it would take most of the rest of the day for both to subside considerably) my mind began to notice how cold it was. When we left the start line in Bedoin, it was a comfortable 75 degrees; at the summit, it was 53 degrees, but that strong, cool wind which was blowing made it feel much, much colder. We were thankful to see Patrick arrive in the van so that we could jump inside and put on some “cold weather” gear. Once my tour mates reached the top, it was time to celebrate a little with another group picture before descending. The wind made it a touchy descent for sure, but once in the trees, it was easier to let go of the brakes some.

Eleven miles below the summit we stopped along the side of the road and we’re treated to a lunch that had not just another great view, but also some celebratory food (mussels, fine chocolates) and drink (wine and champagne). We lingered there for a while, enjoying the sun and sustenance, before continuing our descent down. It was during this portion of the ride where the olfactory senses trumped anything my eyes were taking in. First, there was another pine forest, with fragrant white pines all around. And then immediately upon exiting this forest, I was greeted by lavender fields… hillside upon hillside of lavender fields. The aroma was *amazing* and fortunately we were able to ride in this lavender-rich area for several miles.

It wasn’t too long until my eyes regained control as we began riding alongside the Gorges de la Nesque, a canyon in the shadow of Mont Ventoux. I stopped at a viewing platform near the entrance to the canyon from which I could see not just the depth and breadth of the canyon, but another glimpse of Mont Ventoux as well as some of the 12 curving-and-gently-descending miles of road along this canyon that will take me back towards Bedoin. I arrived back at the hotel around 5:30p, having done nearly 62 miles of riding with over 6,400 feet of elevation gain for the day.

Here’s the link for the map and elevation profile.

Misc. Tidbits –
- On the climb up to Mont Ventoux, I noticed a man on the side of the road with a video camera who was apparently looking to film a family member or friend in the course of the ascent. A couple of minutes later I saw him again on the roadside with the video camera out and pointed downhill, so I blurted “Greetings from Colorado!” into the camera, which made him smile. Several minutes later, further up the hill, he saw me (he was back in the woods a bit and not as noticeable as before) and, with video camera pointed at me, got my attention by saying “Hey, Colorado!”
- The descent off the upper portions of Mont Ventoux weren’t fun, and I and the others wanted to get down into the trees as quickly and safely as possible. Even with that in mind, I did make one stop… at the memorial for Tom Simpson. He died while climbing Mont Ventoux in the 1967 edition of the TdF… the autopsy showed that he apparently thought using amphetamines and alcohol were good things for pre-race nutrition.
- End of week totals: 209 miles; 27,900 feet of elevation gain.

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part VII: Now in Provence

2011-08-08T14:23:00.006-06:00

Today’s the transfer day… we leave the Alps and head southwest to Provence, to the town of Bedoin. It’s about a 4 hour drive, so I’m actually typing the beginning portion of this post whilst in the van en route to our next hotel. A lot of the drive was on the motorway (interstate) along the Rhone valley. It was a nice ride to take in the fruit orchards and sunflower fields in this region.

[Now reflecting back on the day from the comforts of my hotel room]… I arrived in the Provence-region town of Bedoin at around 12:45p. We had a leisurely lunch, and then changed into our cycling clothes for what would be a 28-mile/2-hour ride around the area. There were no big climbs today (there’s a BIG one tomorrow… the final one of the trip) but a bunch of nice gentle rollers through the countryside and small villages (Malaucène, Suzette, Caromb.) The weather was perfect and allowed for great views across hillsides and shallow valleys filled with all sorts of flora: vineyards, olive trees, fruit orchards, plant nurseries, etc. It’s a COMPLETELY different area than where we were for the last several days… In Provence (as compared to the Alps) the landscape is less rugged and mountainous (but still very beautiful), the architecture is more “Mediterranean” looking (more terra-cotta style roofs, fewer exposed external wood beams), there's the occasional chateau and monastery.

Sorry for the short write-up, but I’m tired and need to get some rest for tomorrow. Today was a nice ride for sure, and I think the pictures I’ll eventually make available will do a better job capturing and describing the area in which I rode today. In the meantime, here's the map and elevation profile (follow prior day's instructions to see the latter.)

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part VI: The Bi-Col Ride

2011-08-07T23:15:00.004-06:00

Yesterday’s tomorrow came, and with it a lot of morning rain. Lots of it. I got up at 6:00, chatted with Peg a little bit online, and headed down to breakfast. The atrium where I ate has glass panels for walls and its ceiling, and the evidence was everywhere: any hope of riding at the usual time of 9:00 and doing the full ride of today’s planed route was falling as fast as the rain coming down. We went with “Plan B – 11:00 rendezvous”: If the weather looked decent come down to the lobby in biking gear, ready to ride; if not, come down to the lobby and work on Plan C.

I could see from my hotel room that the weather appeared to be improving as the morning progressed. At 10:30 it appeared good enough to sprout some optimism and I began to change into my cycling clothes. I then proceeded to the lobby and got the revised plan from the tour guides: we will “van it” down to the valley (it had begun to drizzle again) and then do the planned climbs of the day – the Col du Glandon and its sister peak the Col de la Croix de Fer. Factoring loading and travel time, we started riding from the revised start point shortly after 12 noon.

There was about a 5 mile warm-up before the climb to Glandon began, and it took us through the town of Allemond. There was still considerable cloudiness, and the occasional rain drop, but partially clearing skies in the direction we were headed gave me hope. The climb up to Glandon is about the same, distance wise, as Lautaret (13.5 miles) with a similar average gradient (5% for Glandon, 4.5% for Lautaret). But for the Glandon, the average gradient is impacted by two short descents (each about 2 miles long) so the actual average climbing gradient when climbing is higher… one stretch averaged 15%. The Glandon, while an enjoyable climb isn’t as scenic in its lower stretches as some of the other climbs I’ve done… except for passing through one village (Le Rivier d’Allemont) I was pretty much surrounded by trees for 1st half of the climb. Fortunately, I was joined by tour guide Patrick at this village and we rode together the rest of the day.

Some nice views, and switchbacks with steeper gradients, presented themselves as I approached the Grand Maison Dam. By the time I reached the dam, though, the weather had once again began to change and it appeared as if we were about to get wet. I was able to get some nice views (and pictures) of the valley up which I just climbed, and a quick glimpse of the climbing that I was about to do. But the quick moving clouds dispatched with those views in short order. It was also about 6 hours since I had last eaten anything so I was a bit hungry as well. Julien (the other guide) met Patrick and me at a parking area near the dam, and we got some nourishment and loaded our pockets with cold/wet weather gear. About ten minutes after stopping for lunch, we got on our bikes and commenced with the final 6 miles of riding. A couple of pedal strokes later, a steady rain began and I slipped on my rain jacket. Thankfully, the air temperature wasn’t so bad and riding in the rain was manageable (of course, if I had my druthers…). Another thing I was thankful for was that the wind accompanying the rain was largely a tail wind. These changing conditions, of course, meant a second day in a row where the descents down the climbs we went up were to be scrubbed.

The gradient beyond the dam was noticeably less – prior to the dam, the climbing sections were averaging around 7.5%; now, we were in the 5% range. The landscape was more open now, and I was able to see some nice waterfalls and meadows, but the peaks on either side of me were obscured by the clouds. It took just 23 minutes to reach the Col du Glandon from the dam, and there was just another 1.5 miles to go to reach the Croix de Fer, but with rain coming down and a restaurant with warm drink and food awaiting us at the Croix de Fer, there was little interest in staying longer than the time needed to take a couple of quick photos.

There was only a 200+ yard descent off the Glandon before the beginning of the final push to Croix de Fer. Once the ascent began, though, I began to push the pace a bit, realizing both this was last riding to be done for the day, and tomorrow is the transfer day to the Provence region and we’ll get in maybe a 30-mile ride on rolling terrain. Patrick and I reached the summit in just over 9 minutes, and were closely followed by Julien and the van. We ditched our bikes and some gear, took some requisite photos and headed inside the little café for some warmth and food. The rest of the group trickled in over the next 50 minutes, during which I enjoyed some hot chocolate and a waffle. Once everyone was there and similarly re-nourished, we “vanned it” down the road we just climbed. There was a brief stop in Bourg d’Oisans for some of the guys to do some souvenir shopping, and then it was back up to our hotel in Alpe d’Huez.

The entire ride for today came in at about 20 miles long, with around 5,000 feet of climbing. If you so desire, you can view the map (and elevation profile) by following this link.

Misc. Tidbits
- As some of you may know, I like the group U2. The fact is, I like many groups, and different kinds of music. Apparently, someone in the management of the hotel is fond of U2 as well… and the Cranberries, and Coldplay, and maybe another artist or two. But that’s about it. How do I know this? For the 3rd day in a row, I’ve heard the exact same *limited* playlist while in the restaurant. It hasn’t gone unnoticed by others in the group either… Julien actually asked if the music could be changed, and was told “No… the one manager likes this music.” Nice. It has gotten to the point where we know what the next song was going to be. It starts out with U2’s “Pride…” followed by The Cranberries’ “Linger”, and a couple of songs later is a song by Coldplay.
- I did enjoy a brief respite from the “broken record phenomenon” this morning during breakfast. It was actually a pretty nice moment… I was in the atrium with maybe one or two other hotel guests, eating my breakfast, watching the clouds and fog and rain move through the valley, all while listening to a block of songs by Ray Charles. Sadly, after the fourth or so Ray Charles song, I heard U2’s “Pride…” come on. Time to wrap-up breakfast.

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part V: The "Tri-Col" Ride

2011-08-06T22:12:00.007-06:00

Still grinning after yesterday’s ride, I woke up this morning to mostly cloudy skies and concerns that rain may alter our plans. On tap for today were 2 more “classic” climbs: Col du Lautaret and Col du Galibier. (The latter is just 5 miles beyond, and 1,800 feet above, the former.) To get to the base of Lautaret, though, required us to go over a smaller climb, Col de la Serenne.

We shoved off from the hotel shortly after 9, and worked our way up and over to Col de la Serenne. Had it not been for a rough road surface, it would have been a spectacular ride (it still comes in as pretty darn good) for the road was not busy at all, and it took us through some beautiful scenery and villages. It was cloudy most of the way, but no rain, so all was good. After reaching Col de la Serenne (a “short” 2 mile climb with an average grade of just over 7%), I descended through two “picture postcard” villages, Clavans and Mozien. When you imagine what traditional mountain villages look like, you essentially envision these two places… really quaint, quiet and charming, with hardly a hint of modern architecture, and the omnipresent church and its steeple in the center of town. I descended a little bit more after Mozien, and met up with the van at Lac du Chambon to ditch some “keep me warm” clothes, and begin the ascent to Col du Lautaret, about 15 miles away at the end of a climb averaging just over 4%. The skies cleared at this point and it was comfortably warm for the ascent.

The first half of the climb paralleled the Romanche River and took us to the village of La Grave, where we had lunch. For the second day in a row, our guides picked a very scenic place in which to get off our bikes for a bit and take in some food. Had it not been for the “business at hand” I could have easily have sat there the rest of the afternoon. But there *was* work to be done, so before my legs got too stiff, I got bike on the bike and began working my way to Col du Lautaret sitting 6.5 miles away.

I went through Villar d’Arene en route, and eventually away from the Romance River into a pair of switchbacks. The Col do Lautaret (6,752 feet above sea level) was just another 2.2 miles beyond them, and I got there, unfortunately, with the weather changing (for the worse) and views down the valley in from which I just came limited. I didn’t stay here long; just long enough to through my rain jacket and arm warmers in my back pockets, snap some photos, and take a nibble of some food – I wanted to reach Galibier before any rain came, and by that point, that looked like a near certainty.

The climb up to the Col du Galibier began at the Lautaret. It was 5 miles long, averaging 6-8% most of the way; the kicker is the last half mile or so, which averages 10%, and reaches 12% just before the summit. The climb, like Alpe d’Huez, was also part of this year’s Tour de France, and the road indicated as much… there were riders names painted *everywhere.* I could feel the weather continue changing for the worse as the climb progressed… the sun was nowhere to be seen by this point; the air was getting cooler, and not solely because I was going higher, either; and there was more of a breeze as well. I was comfortable riding in just the regular get-up of shorts and jersey, but I suspected I would need quite a bit more for the eventual descent. The weather definitely did a number on some amazing views, but I still kept on thinking… “You know what? You’re climbing the Col du Galibier… THAT’S amazing.” One “view” I did get was a little bit below the summit, with it being of a memorial to Henri Desgrange, the man credited with starting The Tour. After the memorial came the final half-mile push up the steepest part of the climb. I topped out at 8,678 feet.

By now it was noticeably cooler, well beyond “borderline cool,” so much like my stop at Lautaret, I stayed long enough to stretch the legs some, eat just a little, take some photos, and put on my arm warmers and windbreaker vest. I would have liked to stay to welcome my tour-mates, but I was getting too cold, and there was still a lot of riding and descending to do. I told the one tour guide where I’d be in the Lautaret rest area, and would wait for him and the others there.

Down I went, passing by my tour-mates on their way up, and stopping a couple of times to snap some quick photos… ones for which I didn’t want to stop on the way up. In short measure, I was back at the Col du Lautaret area, and got myself into a restaurant, sat next to a window to keep an eye on the weather (rain appeared to be moving up the valley) and ordered some hot chocolate. Some time passed and I was joined by two of my tour-mates, who were also keen on getting something warm in the stomach. And it wasn’t long after their arrival when we were joined by the remaining members in our group, and, unfortunately, the first drops of rain. We were all content being inside and getting some warm food and drink, but we all knew a decision had to be made soon about whether or not we descend by bike, or by van. The rain stopped for a little, so we paid our bill and got ready to get on our bikes. The rain began falling again in that short time, and our collective enthusiasm for descending in the cold and wet – on wet roads with cars, through switchbacks and tunnels – likewise descended. We flocked to the van, and loaded our bikes up top and ourselves inside.

Before beginning our four-wheeled descent, though, a cyclist, who obviously noticed we were about to leave and get off the Col, ran over and asked the guides if there was space for two more people and bikes. Luckily for them, there was, so he and his female companion loaded their bikes and climbed aboard for some warmth (the woman’s teeth were chattering) and the ride back down the valley. There happened to be a bar and restaurant at the drop off point and they treated us to a drink as of way of saying “Thanks.” As coincidence would have it, though, by this point the weather had cleared, but it was too late in the day to get back on the bikes and descend the rest of the way to the planned end to today’s ride. So for the day, I ended up doing about 40 miles, with 6,000 feet of elevation gain (had the day gone to plan, it would have been 62 miles and somewhere around 7,000 feet of elevation gain.)

We discussed tomorrow’s weather situation at dinner tonight… rain is practically certain in the morning, so the question is when it will taper off. Some forecasts say around noon; others not until 5:00p or so. We’ll rendezvous at 11:00a tomorrow morning and make a determination then… if it’s good, I think the plan is to do the Col du Glandon and Col de la Croix de Fer; it it’s not, we’ll hope for a 1:00p departure for some other lesser-known climbs; if it’s looking *real* bad, we may hoist the white flag for the day. But, as my friend Jamie says, “That’s tomorrow guy’s problem…” so, I’ll have to see what tomorrow brings and go from there.

The map for today’s route can be found here. Like before, if you want to see the elevation profile, go part way down the page (below the map) and click on the link called "Show" under Elevation Graph.

Misc. Tidbits
- The Col du Galibier is the most frequently climbed mountain in the Tour de France.
- Now that I’ve been on it, I’m amazed how fast the TdF riders take the descent off the Galibier. The road isn’t perfectly smooth; there were little undulations in it which made my bike move around just a little. And I was doing 35 mph or so; the Tour riders blast down it in the 50-60 mph range.
- I meant to mention this in yesterday’s Alpe d’Huez write-up, but fortunately, I was reminded to write about it by another sighting today. And what I mean by that is… Near the top of AdH yesterday, I was approaching a man riding his bike and something looked strange about it; there was something on the rack over the back wheel. As I got closer, I realized it was a dog! This man had a small, metal, open-topped crate on his back rack, and it that crate sat his dog, what appeared to a young border collier. He was chugging his way up the mountain, and the dog was just sitting there, looking around as if it were a normal day. And, perhaps for this duo, it was, for shortly after I began the ascent from Lautaret to Galibier today, I SAW THE SAME MAN COMING DOWN THE GALIBIER WITH HIS DOG ON THE BACK! Incroyable!
- The tour group I’m in is great, and quite a mixture. There’s Luis from Switzerland, who was born in Mexico, and has also lived in Canada and The Nederlands; Fernando, who was born in Puerto Rico and now lives in Florida; and Dave, from Minnesota, who was born in Mexico and is quite fluent in French and Spanish, so can converse with *anyone* in the group. Fernando let us in on amazing factoid the other day – Alpe d’Huez was his first climb… ever… anywhere! He said for his training he spent about 90% of the time on an indoor trainer (which can’t exactly simulate the needs of climbing.)

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part IV (Alpe d'Huez)

2011-08-05T09:54:00.006-06:00

End of August 4, 2011
I met up with the tour group and guides in the early afternoon, and made the approximate hour-long drive to Alpe d’Huez, where our hotel is for the next couple of nights. Of course, to get to it meant making our way up the famous climb with the similar name, which acted as a nice scouting mission for what lies ahead tomorrow when I get to climb it on two wheels, and not an internal-combustion-aided four. A little write-up on the mountain, it’s climb and other miscellany can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpe_d'Huez

An hour or so after arriving at the hotel and getting checked and settled in, we rendezvoused in the lobby in order to do a short ride to get the legs moving some and see how our REI-provided bikes were working for us. The route was to go down the mountain about 2K, across the hillside on a road to another village (Villard Reculas) and then back. All in all it took a little over an hour, after which I showered, met the group in the hotel lobby for a little orientation, and had dinner.

Thru mid-afternoon of August 5
I woke up at 6:45a after a so-so night’s sleep. I was tired last night at bedtime (10:30p), so fell asleep quickly. But for one reason or another, woke up at 12:30a and had difficulty falling back asleep. Whatever the case…

As mentioned above, the noted climb for today’s ride is Alpe d’Huez, a very storied one in the annals of Le Tour de France. But before we did that, there was some other riding to do, beginning with a descent down our later-in-the-day climb, and then following a river valley (uphill) for what I and others thought would be a gentle climb (say 3% average.) Well, it ended up being more than that… in 9.5 miles, we climbed 2530 feet, which comes in at 4.5%. But that figure masks a couple things… there were 2 short descents which keep the average grade number low, and there were some sections that were 12-15%. And this was just the warm-up climb. We stopped in the village of Saint Christoph en Oisan and had lunch. And once that was done, we all got to the business at hand, and headed back to the base of Alpe d’Huez for an hour-plus of climbing a hill that is 8.5 miles along with an average gradient about 8%.

I had two goals for the climb. The first was to *really* enjoy the moment, which I did… I mean really, this is a once-in-a-lifetime ride, and I’d be a fool to not appreciate my surroundings, the splendor of this climb, and the cycling legends who went up it. The second was to finish it in less than twice the time of the record time (which is 37 minutes, 35 seconds.) And I accomplished that, too, finishing it in 1h 9m 51s. But, as the adage goes, time flies when you’re having fun… hitting the start of the climb and then immediately dealing with 1.5 miles at 10-12%; rounding “Dutch corner” where tons of Dutch spectators gather during Le Tour and have orange painted all over the road; seeing the names of past Alpe d’Huez stage winners on signs at the 21 switchbacks; reading the hundreds (thousands?) of messages painted on the roads by spectators; reaching the village of Alpe d’Huez and hitting that “1K to go” sign and just going all out until the uphill finish. It may not have been a record, but that 1h 9m 51s flew by.

And now, it’s time to relax and enjoy the afternoon… I’m sitting on my hotel’s room balcony, typing this up, listening to a nearby waterfall, and watching rain showers pass through. And getting recovered for tomorrow… I’m going to climb Col du Lautaret and Col du Galibier. Pinch me…

Misc.
- Follow this link to see a map of today's ride: http://www.openrunner.com/index.php?id=1146420. Things are in metric so convert at will. Also, if you want to see the elevation profile, go part way down the page, under the map, and click on the link called "Show" under Elevation Graph.
- I know I said I'd post my trip pictures later (and I will), but I just couldn't resist...

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part III

2011-08-04T03:34:00.002-06:00

Latter Parts of August 3
I am pleased to report that my favorable view of French cuisine has been resuscitated (with this being only my 4th trip to the country, I know enough to say it is usually quite good, and know my dinner on the first night here to be an aberration.) The restaurant I chose served a wonderful dish of chicken in a creamy morel mushroom sauce, with a side of au gratin potatoes. It was de-lish. And filling, so I decided to pass on their tempting handmade desserts in order to walk some, and find a creperie to satisfy my sweet tooth. I eventually came to regret this decision, as the only creperie I found was closed, and had to settle for what apparently a lot of other French people were doing that time of night… getting their dessert from McDonalds. I had a McFlurry with bits of Kit Kat… not nearly as satisfying as the crepe with Nutella and banana that I had hoped for.

After that it was a short stroll back to the hotel, and lights out.

Early Parts of August 4
Awaking at 7:00, I was still a little full from last night’s chicken-morel-McFlurry smorgasbord, so delayed going down to breakfast for a bit. I instead turned on the TV to catch up what’s going on in the world… from what I hear, don’t plan any vacations to Syria right now, Congress has screwed over some FAA employees, Tiger Woods is playing golf again, Al Shabaab is essentially torturing Somalis by disrupting aid, there’s a storm heading towards the Caribbean, and the US has its first African American president. All very compelling stories in their own right.

After some primping, I made it down to the hotel’s breakfast. Say or think what you want about the French people, but any people that make Nutella available as part of their breakfast offerings can’t be completely bad, I feel.

I know I usually do these write-ups later in the day, but the “organized tour” part of my trip begins today… in a little over 2 hours actually. I’m not sure precisely what my free time will be like later today once it begins, so I figured I would get you good folks caught up with things while I had some free time. And just in case you’re interested in what lays in store for me, cycling-wise, over the next several days, here’s a link to my itinerary: http://www.rei.com/adventures/trips/europe/ecf.html

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part Deux

2011-08-03T10:20:00.006-06:00

The Latter Parts of August 2
I did indeed stroll around old town and city centre Grenoble last night, to see what there is to see and grab a bite to eat. Quick impressions on the city: the city is nestled by two rivers, the Drac and Isere, and seemingly surrounded on all sides by mountains. My early and limited impressions are that it’s a decent city with some nice architecture here and there, but for the most part, uninspiring. As far as I can tell, the city doesn’t have that one cathedral or building in the heart of it that “anchors” the city. It does have a fort nestled high on a hillside across the one river that is imposing (and I plan to visit it tomorrow) but I haven’t seen one thing that makes me go “Wow!” One factor that is also keeping me from raving about the city is the graffiti… there’s a lot of it, and sadly on many nice looking sites and buildings. It is a very walkable city, though, with a couple of pedestrian only areas, and I found those tonight and enjoyed exploring them a bit.

As for dinner, while I’m sure there are many fine examples of both French and regional cuisine here in Grenoble, the place I chose isn’t one of them. Thankfully, I was seated outside on a beautiful evening, and they had Hoegaarden on tap. (I’ll do some research and ask at the hotel front desk for suggestions for tomorrow night.) After choking down dinner, I decided – and needed – to stroll around some more, and took a good 40 minute walk to get back to my hotel. Once there, the fatigue from the last couple of days hit me. I got ready for bed, nodded off some, and finally did lights-out at 11:30.

Up Through Late Afternoon of August 3
How fatigued was I? I got up just before 10:00 this morning! I didn’t even make it down for the hotel’s breakfast. (Not to harp on it, but I think I was still digesting that dinner from last night, so wasn’t very hungry anyway.) Once I got my itinerary for today put together, I headed out shortly after 11 and headed for the Bastille (the aforementioned fort.) It probably took me a little over an hour to walk to it… it’s not that far as the crow flies, but it is about 800 feet above the city. There is a cable car that connects it to town, but I thought the walk/climb would be more interesting and enjoyable. (If you’re interested in reading about the Bastille, follow this link and/or this link.)

After strolling around the Bastille for a while and taking in those displays that were in English, I made my way back down to town to grab some lunch at an outdoor café and decide on my next stop. And that next stop was The Museum of the Resistance and of the Deportation. (My other choice was one of the art museums, but this one seemed pretty unique in it that focused on both the region’s role in the French Resistance of World War II and commemorate those locals who took part in it, and memorialize those inhabitants deported to Nazi camps. Most informational panels had English translations, so it was very easy – at least physically – to read about this region in the 1930s-1940s era; emotionally, it wasn’t as easy a read.

After the museum, I headed back to the hotel to rest my legs a bit, type up this update, and shower before heading out for dinner. Tomorrow at 1:30p, I meet up with my group, head on down to Bourg d'Oisans at some point, and maybe go out for a short "get the legs moving again" ride.

In case you are wondering, yes, I am taking pictures over here, but will upload them when my trip is over.

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part I

2011-08-02T07:49:00.004-06:00

Days 1 and 2 (August 1 and 2)

With hopes of minimizing the impact of jet lag by getting a jump on the time change, I woke up at 4:30a Monday morning in Boulder (the equivalent time in France is 12:30p). My last 24 hours or so have gone swimmingly…
· The airport shuttle picked me up on time.
· I got to the airport, checked in and got through security quickly.
· The plane to Charlotte took off on time and it was a smooth flight
· The transfer in Charlotte was fine. The only “almost hiccup” was my own fault as I misread the boarding time and had to speed walk to the gate. Everything was fine, as the jetway door was just about to open when I got there.
· The overnight flight from Charlotte to Paris was smooth, and I was able to get a couple of hours of sleep (I think), with Ambien playing no small part in that.

It’s been a pretty uneventful morning, afternoon, evening and another morning thus far, which, when traveling, is perfect. [NOTE: I’m typing this part of the write-up at 9:30a in the train station at CDG, waiting to go to Grenoble. So the day isn’t over, but so far so good.] I have about a 2-hour train ride to Lyon ahead of me, where I’ll transfer to another train and spend another hour and a half getting to Grenoble. My hope is to remain active and alert until at least 8:00p.

Update: 11:40a local time. Well, my traveling luck may have come to an end. The train I’m on has come to a complete stop north of Lyon, and considering my train to Grenoble leaves in 5 minutes, my being on that train looks pretty unlikely. There was an announcement on the PA system about what is going on, but unfortunately, it was the only one this trip that they didn’t repeat en English. I thought I heard the word “animal” in the announcement, but don’t hold me to that. I do know there are trains running north – two have gone by since we’ve stopped – so perhaps they’re down to sharing one line. I’m hoping that either 1) the people who run the train system here account for such delays and hold the train or 2) my connecting train is also caught up in this delay somehow and will leave later than scheduled. If neither of these two “potentialities” transpire, I believe (and hope!) there are other trains to Grenoble and that they leave every 2 hours or so.

Update: 1:15p local time. While I did indeed get into Lyon later than scheduled – by about 50 minutes – there’s little disruption in my southerly trek. From what I can tell, trains to Grenoble leave about every 30 minutes or so. I just missed the 12:45p train, but wasn’t too upset for it allowed me a little time to grab a quick bite to eat (and get pestered by one of the local kids good at squeezing 50 euro cents out of travelers.) Next stop: Grenoble (hopefully)… my home for the next 2 nights.

Update: 3:40p local time. I arrived safe and sound at my hotel about 50 minutes ago. DEFINITELY a little weary… for nearly the last 24 hours, I’ve been in the seat of an airport shuttle van, an airplane or a train. I was able to catch a couple of winks on the train ride into Grenoble – I could feel myself fading a bit – so I do feel OK, all things considered. This’ll probably be my last update for the today… I’m going to take a shower to freshen (and wake) up some, and then perhaps stroll around Grenoble some and get some dinner.

Let "The Summer of Peggy" End

2011-07-25T21:32:00.003-06:00

As written in the 4/20 post here, Peg began her self-induced-AND-completely-appropriate unemployment from UBC in late-April. Even before the ink dried on the "don't the door hit you on the way out" papers, she had companies a-callin' to see if she would join their ranks.

One such company was Parexel, a pharmaceutical consulting company along the lines of her previous employers. It was this company's offer (role, compensation, etc.) that won out over the others she received. And as of today, she is now an employee of that company, visiting their Waltham, MA offices to do some internal meet-and-greets over the next several days, and plot out their plan for world domination. (Don't hold me to that last part... they are a big company, though.)

Awesome job, Peg... and you we're worried? Sheesh!

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2011-07-20T21:23:00.002-06:00

Well, after living in places other than 350 Laramie Blvd. for nearly the last 12 or so months -- and with distances from said address varying from 50 yards to 7 time zones away -- I am glad to post this: We. Are. Home.

Don't get me wrong, we are thankful to have spent the last 7+ months in a home in the same neighborhood as ours. But as the adage goes, there's no place like home.

And of course, Hi Kristin.

Doing -- not having -- the Triple Bypass

2011-07-10T19:42:00.004-06:00

There's a popular organized road ride out here called the Triple Bypass. It gets its play-on-words name due to the fact that the route riders take involves going over 3 heart-rate-elevating high mountain passes (the summit elevations are 11,140 ft., 11,990 ft., and 10, 560 ft.), has 10,990 feet of combined elevation gain, and is 120 miles in length. (A profile of the ride can be found here.) The ride is so popular that there's a lottery in place for entry, and the organizing club routinely receives more applications than the 3,500 available spaces.

I learned on Thursday that a friend who was signed up for it couldn't do it. After some last-minute phone calls and maneuvers to line up housing for us and Chamberlain, I was able to take his spot. I got up early yesterday morning and began pedaling my upward and westward with some friends at 6:50 am. I wouldn't reach the finish line, near Beaver Creek, until after putting in just under 8 hours of saddle time. While I was riding, though, Peggy and Chloe were checking out some hiking trails in the Vail area, and spending some time poolside at the Ritz sipping on Shirley Temples and the like. To be sure, all 3 of us had a great day.

Disney: Done.

2011-07-02T19:13:00.002-06:00

As mentioned in my last post, plans were for us to wrap up a very fun-busy June with a trip to California to visit Disneyland and Universal Studios. Well, we went. But it wasn't as fun as we had imagined or hoped.

On our first morning inside Disneyland, Chloe cried after 3 of the first 6 rides we did due to not liking one feature or another about them. Peggy and I were stunned, and sad... we were so hoping to have Chloe enjoy her time at the parks, and to be one of those kids who would want to go, go, go. But, as it turned out, we learned that amusement parks just aren't her thing.

For most of the rest of the week, we let her ride the rides she felt comfortable with (of which there were few) and eventually all 3 of us got kinda bored walking around the parks searching for something to do. Chloe was more excited about the prospect of spending a couple of hours at the hotel pool then going on some rides again, so that's what we did for an inordinate amount of time, considering we were 1 mile away from the happiest place on earth.

Latest Goings On

2011-06-21T06:48:00.018-06:00

Despite my intentions of keeping this thing more up to date, June was a bad month to have that happen. Bad only because we had (and have) such a fun-n-busy month that my little blurbs here had to take a back seat. But it's currently a little before 7:00 this morning and I have some time to jot down some details about what's been going on over the last couple of weeks.

- Birthday & camping: On the first weekend of the month, friends (some as far away as IL) joined us for a little camping outing in Rocky Mountain National Park to celebrate my 40th birthday. It was such a wonderful, relaxing and fun time just sitting around with snow covered peaks in the background, elk walking through the campsite and family and friends nearby... not a bad way to close out one's fourth decade. (Picture to the right: Sprague Lake and environs.)

- Railroads, running and rafting: A couple days after the camping, my parents came out to visit for several days. They've seen Boulder already, so we spent most of the time with them out in the mountains: we took a mine tour in Breckenridge, a scenic train ride out of Leadville, and the highlight (at least for me)... a whitewater rafting trip. If was the first time doing rafting for my parents (mid-70s) and Chloe (8) and it was a pretty good introduction to the activity. For one, the river we rode had some pretty good Class III rapids on it... nothing too nutsy, but definitely plenty enough bouncing around to get some walls of water splashing into the raft at times. As for the water, it was moving pretty good and was frigid... due to the high snowpack and therefore prolonged melt-off, the river water had a good pace going and was only about 34° F. Accordingly, wetsuits were donned by all. It was about a 70 minute float, and we all had a great time... my parents would consider doing it again (which is awesome!), though would want to try a longer trip on Class IIIs and in warmer water before considering some Class IVs.

Another reason we spent some time out in the mountains is that Peggy was signed up for a running race. For the months leading up to it, she had been training for the half-marathon option. During the last 2 weeks, though, she came down with some kind of cold or virus infection that left her really congested and she wasn't able to keep up with her training. All wasn't lost as the race organizers had a 10K option as well. Given she was still not 100% and not breathing the best, and over 4,000 feet higher in elevation that what she's used to, she opted to run that and was able to beat the time she set for herself (another "awesome!") (Pictures in this section, top to bottom: My Dad taking in the views during the train ride; KnPnC 900 feet underground in the Country Boy Mine; Peggy in the final steps of her 10K; and my Mom and Chloe prepping for some rafting.)

- Bike Racing and Fathers Day: And just this last weekend, we again found ourselves traveling to another part of the state so that I could take part in 3 days of bike racing. During this trip, we called Carbondale, CO home for a couple of nights so I could do a 12-mile time trial on Friday evening, a 45-minute criterium on Saturday, and 54-mile road race on Sunday. I won't go into details for each race; rather I finished near mid-pack for the TT and road race, and near last in the criterium (the reason being I had to avoid a crash on the closing laps and lost contact with the lead pack.) During our stay out there, we also visited the hot springs pool in Glenwood Springs and had a great time. The main pool is quite impressive: it's 405 feet long and 100 feet wide, contains 1,071,000 gallons of water, and is kept at about 90° F.

With Peggy still in "Summer of Peggy" mode and Chloe not having anything going on the following day, we decided to spend an extra night out there, but switched hotels, staying in Snowmass Village so we could relax from a busy weekend and have a Fathers Day dinner in nearby Aspen. The relaxing was great... we spend some time pool- and hottub-side by ourselves and enjoyed the quiet. Then we headed into Aspen for dinner at a restaurant that Peggy read about (and what she read about it was that Lance Armstrong frequents it, and has so recently.) As coincidence would have it, guess who was walking out as we were walking in? That brush with celebrity aside, it was a great night... the food was awesome, the service fantastic, and we spent a couple of hours together just laughing and having a great time. (Pictures in this section, top to bottom: Me before the start of the crit; Chloe and I at a wonderful Fathers Day dinner.)

Other Goings On...
- The Summer of Peggy now has an end date: July 24th. On the next day, she'll be an employee of Parexel, another pharmaceutical consulting company. She received an offer from them a couple of weeks ago. Not wanting to accept it as is (even though it was more than she expected) she counter-offered on three of the conditions and they were all approved! So, she has a little bit more than a month to work on her summer bucket list.
- Chloe completed a week of soccer camp that was led by the CU women's soccer team. It was fun to hear her talk about all of the skills her camp leaders had and she was SO excited to have the CU players sign her soccer ball.
- I know I've written a lot about the weather out here, but it still impresses us. After our stay in Snowmass Village, we were planning on doing some hiking at the nearby Maroon Bells. But a late-spring storm moved in, along with some fog and precipitation. The temperatures dropped quite a bit and we weren't prepared – or inclined – to walk around in such conditions so we drove home. The route we took took us over Independence Pass (12,095 ft), parts of which received a couple of inches of snow overnight, and some flurries were still coming down as we drove it. (Picture: some new-fallen snow on our way up and over Independence Pass.)

The Month of Fun isn't over.... in a few short days, we head to DisneyLand!

* New Feature *

2011-06-07T08:42:00.005-06:00

I'm not sure how many will find this feature useful, but because I post about once every 10 days, it might be useful for those who like to read my occasional posts but aren't always sure when to visit the blog to see if anything is new.

Anywho, on the right side of this page you'll see a place where you can enter your email address (it's under the "Follow by Email" text.) By doing so, you'll receive an email notice every time I post something new. It's a great way to stay up-to-date with the blog without having to have a Google account to be a "blog follower."

I hope you find this new feature useful.

Memorial Day Weekend Recap

2011-05-30T22:32:00.017-06:00

Even though we've been here a little under 3 years, it's been our experience that there aren't too many weekends in Boulder that are as fun as Memorial Day Weekend: bike racing, road running, street festivals and BBQs were all on the schedule over these last 3 days.

I had bike races on both Saturday and Sunday, a crit on the former and a road race on the latter. I came in 20th in the crit (out of 32 starters) which is a pretty pleasing result for me given that it was only my 1st crit in 2 years and that I was in the main pack up until the 2nd to last lap. As for the road race, I crossed the line in 35th place (out of 74 starters)... a so-so result as I was hoping for better.

We spent several hours on Sunday afternoon strolling through and enjoying both the Boulder Creek Festival and the BolderBoulder Fair, riding rides, checking out various booths, eating ice cream and enjoying the great weather.

Then on Monday morning, Chloe and I found ourselves among 54,000 or so others in the 33rd running of the BolderBoulder, a 10K race (for some) or run/walk (for many.) We were definitely in the second group, as were definitely more interested in the "fun" of the event versus the "fitness." Along the route there are bands (Blues Brothers and Elvis impersonators, for example), belly dancers and – Chloe's favorite – slip-n-slides. (You'll see in the picture below her hair looks wet; well, it isn't from sweat.) As we entered the CU Stadium together, Chloe began her sprint, I reacted and passed her, and she made a remarkable recovery to come back and tie me at the line (wink, wink). We both finished in 1:41:24.

(Pictures, from top to bottom: Chloe getting bungeed at the Boulder Creek Fest; me [red, white and blue kit] racing in the crit; another picture of Chloe on the bungee ride; Chloe at around 7K during the BolderBoulder.)

BolderBoulder pre launch

2011-05-30T09:05:00.001-06:00

2nd Grade Alpha and Omega

2011-05-26T08:58:00.005-06:00

Today is Chloe's last day of school, and it made me think back to where we were for Chloe's 1st day of school this school year, and what she had to wear for it. So below I've posted pictures from those two points in time. Compare and contrast at your leisure.

Spare Not A Hair

2011-05-22T11:51:00.005-06:00

This morning Chloe and I participated in the "Give Hair With Care" fundraiser. I went with the straight razor shave again [insert "balding joke" here], and Chloe was quite adventurous and opted for a "pixie cut," losing about 8 inches of hair off the back.

Like last year, it was a great time spending time with the family, helping this worthwhile cause. This year, though, had the extra benefit of sharing the experience with Chloe in the chair next to me. Peggy and I are SO proud of her, and thankful for those who donated on Chloe's behalf.

Below are some before, during and after pictures.

Making Paleo Pancakes

2011-05-19T18:33:00.001-06:00

It's Not Too Late to Help

2011-05-17T14:55:00.002-06:00

I know there hasn't been a lot of fresh news posted here lately, but I do hope to improve on that in the weeks and months ahead. If nothing else, I'll try to post pictures of different activities and events.

So with that stated, let me also remind you that it's not too late to donate on Chloe's behalf for a fundraiser she and I are participating in this Sunday. To read more about it and/or donate, please follow this link.

Stink

2011-05-08T19:20:00.001-06:00

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T07:22:00.004-06:00

Happy Easter!

~ Love, KnPnCnC

Author! Author!

2011-04-22T20:18:00.005-06:00

Peggy and I had the pleasure of attending Chloe's class's "Author Party" this afternoon. It was the culmination – and celebration – of several weeks of work for Chloe, in which she researched, wrote about and drew pictures of walking sticks, and compiled it all together in a low-tech bound book. The class was broken into small groups, allowing each student to read their book in turn to their small group of student and parent listeners.

Chloe did a great job reporting on the focus areas of the research... life cycle, appearance, needs, adaptations and "wow facts." And, looking at the book after her turn, Peggy and I noticed Chloe's spelling is progressing nicely as well.

The tour to promote and support the book begins next month, and includes a stop on Oprah.

Let "The Summer of Peggy" Begin

2011-04-20T20:59:00.003-06:00

Today was Peggy's last day of work at United BioSource Corp.

It had become clear to her over the last several months that it wasn't a good fit for her professionally, and that the only practical option for her was to submit her resignation and look for greener and happier pastures elsewhere. A lot of stock options and other incentives were there for the taking if she stayed, but other factors like day-to-day happiness and work/life balance won the day.

She doesn't have anything lined up right now, but the word has been spreading that Peggy is available and she's been getting calls and e-mails on a pretty regular basis from different companies, recruiters and former colleagues. Her not having a job lined up right away would be a scary thing in these economic times, but due to a clause in her initial contract with UBC, they have to pay her to "sit silently on the sidelines" for the next 3 months!

So, she'll have off for the next several months, and fully expects to have another job lined up by mid-June, and will get back to work in late-July.

A Fun Saturday

2011-04-16T14:17:00.002-06:00

Part I - Chloe and her Fire Pickle sisters had another go at it again on the soccer pitch this morning, and lo and behold, had another good outing. Chloe's games-with-a-goal streak skyrocketed to 2, and she's already talking about taking it to 3 next weekend. (We'll have to see if there is a game, of course, as this is Colorado and it is April... snow and/or rain could impact things.)

Part II - I kicked off another racing season today by lining up for a local time trial (TT). It was my first time racing on my new TT bike, and only my 6th time actually riding it. As the course is basically a rectangle, the west-to-east winds made things interesting... going north or south involved some leaning, heading east (with the wind and slightly downhill) produced speeds in the 40-45 mph range, meaning heading west (into the wind and slightly uphill) was an absolute slog.

Going into it I had no idea what to expect in terms of placing... I knew I just didn't want to finish last. About halfway into the 16.5 mile course, I passed the guy who started 20 seconds before me, so I knew I would not suffer that fate. It took me just under 41 minutes to finish the course (averaged about 24 mph), which was good enough for 18th place out of 38 contestants.

It IS still Winter...

2011-04-14T08:44:00.003-06:00

... so, I guess we shouldn't have been surprised to have found this outside this morning.

A Post of Posts

2011-04-11T09:30:00.014-06:00

I know it's been a while since I put anything up here, so rather than go back and create separate posts for events in the past, I'm using this post to highlight some of the recent goings on.

- I know writing about money is not the best way to lead off, but I wanted to make sure if one thing got read on this post, this item would. Next month, Chloe and I are participating in a fundraising event to benefit a local charity that provides services to families in medical crisis. (You may recall I did this last year, too, whereby I had my head shaved.) Chloe obviously won't be getting her head shaved (I will, though), but is looking to get it cut pretty short (for her) and, remembering this event from last year, wanted to tie her haircut to fundraising for this nonprofit. So, if you are so inclined to help her fundraising efforts, please visit https://shop.therewithcare.org/donate.asp to begin the donation process.

NOTE: On the final "check out" page (where billing information is entered), there's a section to personalize the transaction. To make sure your donation is attributed to Chloe, choose "On Behalf of" for the "Dedication" field, and enter "Chloe Schrammel - Give Hair with Care" for the "Name of person being honored" field.

And on behalf of Chloe, thanks your consideration and support.

- Chloe's Spring Soccer season kicked off a couple of weeks ago, and to date she and her teammates have played 3 games. The most notable change this season -- other than Chloe's marked improvement in skills due to her European training [hah!] -- is the renaming of the team. The now-former moniker of "Banana Bees" was in use for several seasons and there was a groundswell of support in the ranks to change it. So, after a round or two of voting, the girls voted to call themselves the "Fire Pickles."
Name change aside, Chloe's been playing well thus far and, to borrow an ice hockey phrase, put the biscuit in the basket at last week's game. She and her teammates have been lucky this spring season as all games thus far have been played in decent weather. In previous years, it was common for games to be either postponed due to snow or played in pretty cold conditions. With April upon us, everyone is hoping we've dodged that bullet and play the remainder of the season in decent weather. But, with Colorado weather being what it is, one can never fully tell.

- Chamberlain recently celebrated the completion of his 12th year on this earth. And by celebrated, I mean ate a huge chew stick and dined on a fair amount of cooked ground beef. And then proceeded to have an upset stomach for the next 36 hours. That short period of nastiness aside, he's in good health and trotting along just fine.

- Peg's work situation is about to change. It's been a struggle for a long time for her to come to some understanding with some powers-that-be about what precisely her role is, how much autonomy she has over the practice area she was hired to lead, and how much trust and respect she has from some supervisors. Long story short, some in organization treated her as if she had little autonomy, leaving her feeling disrespected and not trusted. It became a pretty big quality of life issue and as we're prone to say "Life's too short..." and she gave notice.
Not surprisingly, though -- especially to yours truly -- she's been approached by 2 companies already about possible senior management positions with them. And the kicker is she hasn't begun in earnest a search for a new job... these were unsolicited inquiries.

- As for me, well, I'm about to kick off yet another bike racing season this weekend with a time trial, so I get to use my new "horse." I'm also still dealing with some post-UK-bike-accident residuals. I unfortunately had to enlist the help of a lawyer to file a claim for damages resulting from my bike crash last September. Plus, the chap who knocked me over is being charged with "driving without due care" and I've been given notice that I might be asked to appear in court. Ugh. As much as I am a fan of justice, I must admit I am doing my best to not have to go... I have a feeling I'd spend more time waiting in line at airport security than I would in the witness stand.

That's it for now... I hope you enjoyed this quick recap.

A Weekend in the Mountains

2011-03-28T22:00:00.007-06:00

Ahhh.... a weekend in the mountains. That's what we just got back from, spending 4 days/3 nights in and around Frisco, CO with 4 other families.

After going out for breakfast, we left Friday morning and headed to Arapahoe Basin, a ski area near Frisco known for both being for one of the first ski areas to open up the ski season (usually in October) and being one of the last ski resorts to close (it's not uncommon for people to ski "A-Basin" in June.) It was our first time there, and despite some bad light conditions and only 1 high speed lift, we liked it a lot... it's a no frills place where people go to ski and not necessarily "be seen." A good portion of it is above treeline -- the base sits at 10,780 feet -- so there's a lot of open skiing to be had.

On Saturday, it was a mixture of activities for us. I gave skate skiing a try (follow the link for info. if needed), Peggy and Chloe did some sledding, and Peggy and a friend snuck in an afternoon of skiing at Breckenridge.

On Sunday, it was a day of family skiing at Breckenridge, enjoying some long runs, short lift lines and about 4 inches of new snow.

Monday was checkout, which was a total bummer for 12" of new snow had fallen overnight and we were itching to get to a ski area, but we needed to head back to Boulder to unpack, do laundry and allow Peggy get ready to leave tomorrow for a conference in Arizona.

Below are some pictures from the weekend.

The first 4 pictures are views of and from the sledding hill that Chloe and Peggy were on.

About this last picture... it was taken by our good friend Carole. Pretty spectacular, yes? Well, not only is the "air" that Chloe got spectacular, apparently, the crash that happened immediately afterward was similarly so. Just out of frame is another incline for a jump, and unfortunately for Chloe, she landed right on it. After regaining her "wind" and composure, Chloe ambled back up the hill and continued sledding.

A New Horse in the Stable

2011-03-15T12:14:00.005-06:00

I just got back from picking up my new "horse"... a time trial bike. Rather than detail the specs here, if any readers are interested in learning more about it, drop me a line. Otherwise, I suspect the pictures below will be sufficient for most.

Pix from Day Skiing at Keystone

2011-03-05T20:36:00.003-07:00

View of Breckenridge from Keystone

Self photo

Chloe and Peggy on the connector gondola

Chloe with peaks and pines

High Marks

2011-03-04T08:17:00.002-07:00

Chloe brought her 2nd trimester report card home today, and Peggy and I are quite proud of what was on it.

In the key academic areas (Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies) she is showing good progress and either proficient or advanced achievement. In the "Specials" classes (Music, Art and PE) her progress and achievement are the same.

Keep up the good work, kiddo!

A Fundraising Plea

2011-03-01T11:37:00.004-07:00

Hello KnPnCnCinCo Blog Readers~

Chloe is participating in the American Heart Association's "Jump Rope for Heart" event at her school in a couple of weeks, and has asked me to help spread the word that she is collecting donations. If you are interested in donating, you can do so online by visiting this link: http://honor.americanheart.org/site/TR/JumpforHeart/NAT-JumpNational?px=2687137&pg=personal&fr_id=1443

Thanks!
~ K

Happy Birthday Peggy!

2011-02-22T19:12:00.010-07:00

Peggy trips the odometer over to 40 years today.

And in anticipation of this milestone, we spent a celebratory weekend in Vail last weekend. I think I can speak for Peg on this one when I say we had a great time... great skiing, great snow, great weather, great dinners, etc.

To the right and below are some pictures from the weekend.

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

Stink

2011-02-09T20:35:00.001-07:00

I realized there haven't been many picture of The Boy recently, so here's one I took during our walk today.

New Rides

2011-02-06T12:19:00.004-07:00

I was hoping to post this sooner -- holding out for better weather -- but ever since I wanted to, it's been either crazy cold (as mentioned in previous posts) or snowing (as witnessed in the first picture below... we got about 6" last night). Anywho, the "New Rides" title is referring to a new car for Peggy and I, and a new bike for Chloe for her birthday.

The car story: Our 2002 Ford Explorer was having some pretty ugly transmission problems, so rather than sink money into it again (we already gave it a new motor and rebuilt transmission a couple of years ago) we decided to say farewell to the car that took us on some pretty important trips... it got us from MA to PA, it carried Chloe home from the hospital after she was born, it got us from PA to CO, etc. Rather than trade the Explorer in, we decided to donate it to the local public radio station for them to sell it whole, parts it out or do whatever it is they do with donated autos. The day the towing company came to get it happened to be the same day our new car was available for pick-up, with that new car being a 2011 Lexus Hybrid SUV.

The bike story: Below is Chloe's new ride... a Gary Fisher kid's mountain bike. We sold her other bike before we left for the UK, knowing that since it was kinda small for her before we left, it would surely be small for her upon our return. And we promised her that once we did return, we would get her a new bike. So, on her birthday, we picked her up after school and took her to a bike shop here in town and let her pick out her new set of wheels.

GO STEELERS!

(It's Super Bowl Sunday... did you REALLY think I wouldn't mention that?!?)

The Past 24 Hours Have Been a Bit Chilly

2011-02-02T08:13:00.004-07:00

This graph depicts temperature readings at NCAR here in Boulder (National Center for Atmospheric Research.) The high over the previous 24 hour period? -1.3 Fahrenheit

Below the graph is a table showing some other fun facts about the weather during the last 24 hours.

	Most Recent	Previous 24 hours
	(Feb 2 2011, 07:56)	Minimum	Maximum
Temperature	-9.9°F	-13.7°F @ 07:00	-1.3°F @ 12:10
Dewpoint	-17.3°F	-20.0°F @ 07:00	-8.6°F @ 12:10
Humidity	68%	68% @ 07:55	78% @ 02:05
Pressure	24.08 in Hg	24.02 in Hg @ 13:35	24.11 in Hg @ 20:50
Aeronautical	30.24 in Hg	30.18 in Hg @ 13:35	30.28 in Hg @ 20:50
Wind Speed	5.1 mph	3.4 mph @ 08:10	15.7 mph @ 14:45
Peak Gust	11.0 mph	7.4 mph @ 08:10	26.6 mph @ 17:45
Wind Chill	-13.7°F	-46.4°F @ 18:25	-6.8°F @ 12:10
Wind Dir	15° (from the NNE)
Rain	0.00 in

But it's a DRY cold...

2011-02-01T11:36:00.001-07:00

Remember My Temperature Picture From Last Friday?

2011-01-31T13:06:00.001-07:00

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

2011-01-31T07:28:00.002-07:00

... and going to get colder.

I Wonder if an Artic Blast is Coming

2011-01-29T08:32:00.004-07:00

The forecast for the next couple of days (click the image to enlarge it.)

Where Has the Time Gone?

2011-01-28T17:22:00.005-07:00

These last 8 years have FLOWN by... Happy Birthday Chloe!

Lovin' this Colorado weather

2011-01-28T10:58:00.001-07:00

Not a bad temperature for late January, eh?

Chloe is Dynamite!

2011-01-13T22:41:00.005-07:00

Chloe's school's talent show is fast approaching, and tonight was one of the rehearsals. Because it might be tough to get a clear shot of her performance during the actual show, I took this video clip. NOTE: It's about a 7.5 MB clip, so it may take a while to load.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Parting Thoughts

2010-12-20T10:00:00.020-07:00

On the eve of our departure from the UK, we reflect on our time here by listing some of the things we won't miss, and some of the things we will. Some items are representative of the family; others an individual or two. Some are in jest; others, not so much.

And so, in no particular order...

What We Won't Miss
- The weather... it's cloudy enough over here that weather forecasts differentiate between white cloud days and gray cloud days.
- Urban congestion
- CCTV
- The three conventions in which phone numbers are written... is it 123 4567 8901, or 1234 567 8901 or 12345 678901?
- Being blocked from using Pandora
- Transit strikes
- The lack of competency and professionalism displayed by the agents and managers at Foxtons Richmond
- Trying to use "fortnight" properly in conversation
- The food selection in grocery stores, dry bread, and fatty cuts of meat
- The Wedding hoop-la... well, I [Kurt] won't be upset about not being around for that.
- Lack of good hiking, cycling and skiing
- High Street stores that leave their doors open during cold weather
- Single pane windows and drafts, combined with an antiquated heating system
- Hard water, for it makes rinsing shampoo out of hair difficult [clearly not a "Kurt" entry]
- Having to buy a license to watch TV
- The jingling and weight of coins, and the size of the paper money

- The "It's not my job" mentality

- Cricket... tried to understand it, but failed.
- Netball... understand it, but don't get it.
- Unnecessary bureaucracy
- Having to withdraw pounds at my UK bank's ATM using my US ATM card, just to deposit those pounds in my UK account

- $12 glasses of sub-par wine in pubs

- The rudeness of the Swiss
- Converting temperature from C to F

- Cookbook recipes in metric... AGH!
- Skype phone call quality

- UK customs and their holding of packages as hostages for money

- Cell phone plan shopping
- Washing machine drums the size of a thimble

What We Will Miss
- Meat pies
- Green vegetation in the summer
- Pub culture and the Sunday roast
- Friends
- More oxygen-rich air
- The lack of stop signs and the use of roundabouts
- Hearing/reading different perspectives of US policy and people
- Racing at Ascot
- Cathedrals and castles
- Being able to walk to a lot of places, including school
- Borough Market and those grilled cheese sandwiches
- Opportunities to visit other parts of the UK and Europe
- School uniforms
- Saying and hearing "brilliant" and "cheers" and "whilst" and "anticlockwise"
- Richmond Park
- Fan assisted ovens
- English mustard
- Warnings by newscasters that an upcoming clip contains flash photography
- Going out for high tea
- Watching Rugby Union... though we've been here for less than a year, I have seen enough to know that I do favor it over Rugby League.
- Rhubarb yogurt
- Rapid-boil tea kettles... seriously, you should see the thing we had and how fast it got water bubbling.
- Paddleboating on the Serpentine in Hyde Park
- Brouge Bistro... there's something to be said for a good pot of mussels, a nice Belgian beer and banoffee pie for dessert.

- Taking the Eurostar train to Paris or Brussels
- "SatNav Sally"... she guided us safely for many trips, and probably prevented a few speeding tickets, too.

- Caffe Nero skinny lattes... those things put Starbucks to shame!

- Being able to buy anything at Harrod's... it's like the McGuckins of London.
- Hamley's toy store
- "Mock the Week," "An Idiot Abroad," "QI" and being able to catch a football (soccer) match on TV at almost any time of day.
- The frantic search that takes places by retail staff not for a pen, but for the pen -- as if there is only one in the entire store -- when we need to sign our credit card receipt

- Early morning runs along the Thames
- Driving on the motorways... pass and get over, it really is that simple.
- The politeness of the English people

Cheers.

And, of course, Hi Kristin.

Weekend in Brussels

2010-12-12T14:32:00.016-07:00

Little did we know that when we booked a weekend in Brussels several weeks ago to check out the city and it's Christmas Markets, it would be out last "big trip" during our UK stay. So it became a pretty special trip for us, and we were treated to a nice send-off, of sorts.

Friday was Chloe's last day at her school, and because it was the end of the term, her school had a planned half-day, which allowed us to get an later-afternoon Eurostar train from London to Brussels. And like our trip to Paris in summer, we thoroughly enjoyed the direct, non-stop high-speed train trip... smooth, quiet, 2 hours and it drops you off in the center of the city.

After arriving and getting to our hotel, we dropped off our bags and headed out into the city to get our first glimpse of the markets and get some dinner. It was then we realized that our hotel was in a great spot to do both... the closest part of the markets was just a couple minutes' walks away, and there were restaurants aplenty around. Prior to dipping into one of the restaurants, we did get to see the one light and music show that was put on in the Grand Plaza... here's a grainy video clip of it.

On Saturday, we took our good ol' time getting ready, but eventually headed off to take a hop-on/hop-off sightseeing bus tour of the city. It's a beautiful city, with gorgeous plazas, parks and gardens, and a lot of European charm to it... grand cathedrals, cobblestone streets, etc. We hopped-off at the "Atomium" stop, a preserved structure and exhibit from the 1958 Worlds Fair. In its current form, the Atomium structure is a museum of sorts with part dedicated to its own history, and part dedicated to general science. The most interesting part, for us at least, was the structure itself, for how many times does get to roam around inside something that replicates a 165-billion-times magnified iron crystal? (More on Atomium can be found here.) Afterward, it was back on the bus and back to the area of our hotel for some lunch, and a nice little afternoon nap before heading out to the Christmas Markets at night.

Feeling refreshed after our naps, we headed out to take in the markets and other various attractions... and, of course, a stroll of the market wouldn't be complete without some gluhwein. According to the brochure, there are over 240 stalls for visitors to stop at. Being it was a weekend evening, there were a fair number of people strolling along like us, so it wasn't possible to see every one of the stalls, but we did get to see a lion's share. At the end of the main market plaza were the ice skating rink and ferris wheel. It seemed only right and festive, so Chloe and I laced up some skates and made our way around the ice for about 30 minutes (Peg wasn't too keen on the idea, so watched our stuff) and then made our way to the wheel to get an aerial view of the market plaza. It was then off to find a proper Belgian dinner - mussels and beer - followed by a visit or two to some chocolatiers, before calling it a night.

We had hoped to visit Bruges on Sunday, but given that we didn't get to bed until midnight, we thought the better of trying to get Chloe to a 9:15 am train and decided to stay in Brussels to do a little shopping and finish off our weekend. The one thing we were on the look-out for the entire weekend was a Brussels Christmas Tree ornament. Given the number of stalls, and that it was a Christmas Market in Brussels, Peggy and I thought this would be a slam dunk. To our surprise, it wasn't easy at all... we found ornaments, and things with Brussels on them, but not a combination of the two. We decided to get creative and buy two identical Brussels magnets, with hopes of making them into an ornament by removing and discarding the magnets and then gluing the backs of the remaining pieces together!

Our weekend excursion eventually wound down, and it was time to get back to the train station, and the Eurostar, and London and our flat where a final week of UK living awaited us.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

A slideshow of pictures from the weekend can be found here.

Below is a brief video clip of some street musicians we walked by... you might be able to hear the tail-end of "Flight of the Bumblebee" at the beginning of it.

Heading Home

2010-11-30T12:16:00.006-07:00

Our time here in the UK is coming to an earlier-than-anticipated end. The backstory:

Peggy was asked to come over here and "stabilize" the UK office as it had been foundering and losing key personnel, which she did in June. She did such a good job and was asked to stay on longer to now run the UK office and eventually hire her replacement. She accomplished both in relatively short order, leaving her to transition back to the job she was doing in Boulder. Then the buyout came.

Her (now previous) company UBC was acquired by a company called Medco Health Solutions, and accompanying the buyout was the obligatory restructuring. One of the results of this restructuring was a redefined role for Peggy, one that was largely US-based and requiring time to be spent in meetings with US colleagues and clients (which would then require a lot of US travel.)

So rather than try to keep up with the transatlantic travel and try to work US hours while on UK time, we decided to explore the possibility of returning early to address both professional and personal concerns. A few exploratory emails and phone calls later and it was settled... we'd returning to the US in late-December.

To be sure, there will be things we'll miss by leaving early (that's a post for another day.) But when you start looking at what day-to-day life would be like for all of us here and Peggy working (in some manner) there, the choice was pretty simple.

The countdown is on... liftoff is in T-minus 21 days.

Chloe Goes to Bollywood

2010-11-29T11:56:00.004-07:00

Chloe's "Bollywood Hip Hop" dance recital took place last night in the school gym, and she was awesome. Given the genre, I couldn't tell you what the songs were that she danced to, but I can tell you that girl danced her Taj Mahal off.

I did take video of the performance but I don't have the right gear here to upload any clips. I do have so-so pictures from the performance that you can view. [They're not the greatest, admittedly, as I was trying to take them while at the same time hold the video camera still.]

Netball Anyone?

2010-11-23T09:55:00.002-07:00

Chloe participated in her first Netball game today. It's a game we Schrammels never heard of prior to Chloe joining her school, but apparently it's a popular game for females in many of the Commonwealth nations.

"What is netball?" you may be asking. It's often described as being similar to basketball. However, after researching it online, watching clips of netball games online, seeing it a bit on TV and watching Chloe's game, I think that is over reaching. My impression -- and Peggy shares this with me -- is that besides there being a ball, a thing with a net and players wearing footwear, there are few similarities with the sport we know as basketball. In fact, we would consider netball to be more of an activity, like scrapbooking or gardening. Here is a link to a game played by "advanced" players... by way of comparison, though, let me say that the game played by Chloe and her 7- to 8-year old teammates wasn't disproportionately worse in terms of skill, athleticism or general "sporty-ness," even given this was their first game. But back to Chloe's game...

For her first kick at this can (read: playing a game she wasn't so familiar with and only practiced once a week for a couple of weeks,) Chloe played well in her position of Goalkeeper. She prevented several passes from reaching the other team's Goalscorer and made some timely passes to try and get the ball up court. Unfortunately, her teammates were keen on passing the ball "east-west" and not "north-south" and inevitably the action came back into Chloe's area of action. Final score: 10-ish to 1.

The Craze is Spreading

2010-11-21T03:31:00.000-07:00

Some Mighty Fine Music Has Come from Vienna

2010-11-19T07:24:00.001-07:00

[photo courtesy of Peggy during her business trip there.]

Raclette

2010-11-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

Potatoes, gherkins and pearl onions covered in melted cheese

What do "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and English Rugby Have in Common?

2010-11-13T13:52:00.002-07:00

Apparently something, for the chorus of it was sung quite a bit this afternoon during the match, er "fixture", against Australia.

[I did do some digging around, and there is an explanation why that verse is sung at the matches... read here.]

Anywho, me and just over 80,000 people attended the game and, had Australia's kicker made more of his penalty kicks, would have witnessed a close contest. Alas, he did not, and England came out the victor, 35-18.

Even though I didn't grasp everything that was going on, I did gain a better understanding of the rules and actions of the players, like why it's perfectly legal to blast into a guy who is on top of the "ruck" (the mound of players that forms once someone is tackled.) Here are a couple other tidbits for you:
- the game is played in two 40-minute halves, and only in rare instances does the clock stop. Even if someone gets hurt, play continues and the medical staff come out on the field with the game still going on to attend to the player. If the player plays a position that is involved in formations like a scrum or a line out (that "throw in" play in rugby), the clock will stop.
- One might think that given it's rough nature, rugby (the "rugby union" variety) is traditionally a "blue-collar man's sport," but it's not so. (Football/soccer and "rugby league" are historically considered the sports for that cohort. Granted, things have changed as footballers make money hand over fist. Pro rugby players do OK, but make nowhere near what a footballer makes.) Rugby is a "gentleman's game," a "proper game." So much so that certain expectations extend to the fans in attendance as well... expectations that one just wouldn't see at any event put on by any of the 4 major professional sports in the US. For example, during this match, England was called for a penalty and Australia decided to go for a penalty kick. Someone from the Australian team brings out the tee, hands it to the kicker, he sets it up however he wants, and then steps back a la an NFL placekicker. And he stands there probably for a good 30 seconds before making his approach to kick the ball. During this 30 seconds, a decent-sized chorus of whistles (euro for "boo") rain down on him. After the attempt (he missed), the PA announcer comes on and basically mildly admonishes the crowd for not extending a courtesy to the Australian kicker they would have extended to the English one. And his message his accompanied by a similarly worded message on the large screens as well. These messages didn't have immediate effect as the whistles happened again at the next penalty kick (he missed that one too.) The same PA announcement and big screen messages were played. Eventually, towards the end of the match, there were few if any whistles aimed at the Australian kicker.

A Not-So-Mean Time in Greenwich

2010-11-10T10:24:00.013-07:00

Mark (another AHD who has daughters at the same school as Chloe) and I made our way over to Greenwich this morning to check out the Royal Observatory and see the Prime Meridian, where East meets West (longitudinally speaking.)

"Why a midweek visit?" one may ask. I had an interest in seeing it, and am the only one in this family with such an interest. So it was just better for everyone this way. There's nothing concrete planned, but I suspect there will be more of such excursions and blog posts over the next 8+ months. Anywho...

A good bit of the exhibition space at the Royal Observatory was devoted to -- in both terms of the need for, and the instruments used to determine -- the Prime Meridian (or that imaginary yet arbitrary line that runs between the poles and separates East from West.) In a nutshell, it came about largely due to maritime concerns... ship captains had ways to determine their North/South latitude (e.g. by measuring the angle above the horizon of the sun at 12 noon) but were stumped about how to determine their East/West location.

Solving the "longitude problem" became the quest for many over many decades. One "solution" that was offered involved the Powder of Sympathy, and the theory goes like this: this Powder was to have amazing healing powers. Those who believed in felt it could cure wounds from afar by being applied to the knife which had caused the wound or to bandages which had been used to dress it, rather than to the wound itself. With that as the foundation, believers in this powder thought all ships should carry on board a dog, and all dogs should be wounded by the same knife. Everyday, someone back in London was to dip this knife in the Powder of Sympathy at 12 noon, causing the dogs aboard the ships -- wherever they may be -- to instantaneously yelp. This time market would let the captains know it was 12 noon in London and, when compared to their local time, allow the captains to calculate their longitude.

Eventually (and obviously), a solution to the longitude problem was found (and surprisingly, it didn't involve maiming dogs), and it came about largely due to a £20,000 prize Parliament dangled out there in the early 1700s.

(Pictures, top to bottom: Left foot in the West, right foot in the East; view of London from the Royal Observatory with Central London highrises on the far left, the highrises of the Docklands in the center back, and the National Maritime Museum in the center foreground.)

Guy Fawkes night in Barnes

2010-11-06T13:20:00.000-06:00

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

2010-11-05T08:01:00.002-06:00

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
gunpowder, treason and plot,
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, 'twas his intent
to blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below,
Poor old England to overthrow:

By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

Hip hip hoorah!

Perhaps because of my American bias, but when I first heard that Guy Fawkes Day was a day about a guy who tried to blow up Parliament, my initial suspicion was that it was a day of honor, celebrating the attempt by and of life of Mr. Fawkes.

Well, I have quickly come to learn that is not at all true. In fact, the day is widely (and reportedly wildly) celebrated by throwing an effigy of the chap on a bonfire. Bonfires aren't easy to construct in metro London any more, so recent developments in the celebration include fireworks.

We'll be heading to a bonfire and fireworks event tomorrow night to see the spectacle up close.

For more reading on Guy Fawkes and bonfires and whatnot, click here.

Winter Kit

2010-11-01T02:46:00.004-06:00

Today is the first day after midterm break, so it is also the first day on which the Old Vicarage girls are required to wear their winter uniforms. Here's Chloe in hers:

Not in Kansas Anymore...

2010-10-31T15:54:00.004-06:00

Halloween isn't as popular here as it is back in the Colonies, er, States. But, it is known and celebrated. Some friends from Chloe's school organized a gathering at a local restaurant for some food and hi-jinks, and then we took the girls trick or treating around the neighborhood for a bit.

I wouldn't expect anything less from the land of kings and queens...

2010-10-30T08:38:00.000-06:00

A Taste of Kenya

2010-10-27T09:23:00.036-06:00

Well, we're back.

The 9 days we spent in Kenya can be summed up in one word: Amazing.

The people we met, the landscape and animals we saw, the contrast to our everyday lives... it was a trip that summoned all senses and produced a range of emotions and thoughts (e.g. don't take clean drinking water for granted.)

What follows is a bulleted synopsis of our trip filled with miscellaneous observations and trivia, with links to some pictures as well. I suppose a more flowing narrative might be in order, but the mountain of laundry taking over the hallway begs to differ.

October 17-18
- Overnight flight from Heathrow to Nairobi goes well. We all must have slept longer than we thought for the nearly 9 hour flight seemed to go by quickly.
- The location of the airport in Nairobi reminded Peggy and I, strangely enough, of Denver International: it's in the middle of nowhere, there's flat terrain all around and it's about a mile above sea level.
- The chance for any future similarities between Nairobi and Denver diminished rapidly as we left the airport and made our way to our hotel: there were heavily armed guards at the airport exit, the pollution from cars was intense, and the driving habits were pretty chaotic (even by UK standards.) Peggy and I joked that we doubt that there are emissions test done on cars; but if there were, it would be to see who had the most CO spewing out the tailpipe.
- Another thing that became evident quickly were the sheer numbers of people walking in the rural/suburban band of the city. You would see people walk-commuting everywhere... along the busy highway, coming through vacant lots to get to the path along the highway, hundreds of meters away heading somewhere. (We observed later in the week, when we were solidly in the rural areas, the same held true: there may have been fewer people, but you could still see plenty of people traveling on foot.)
- Our hotel in Nairobi was OK. There wasn't much to do in the immediate vicinity, so we hung out by the pool most of the afternoon. Which was fine by us, since we had a 7 AM departure the next day (or 5 AM GMT.)
- Not only was there not much to do, we learned in the welcoming remarks at the hotel that it wasn't always a great idea to go strolling around any part Nairobi willy-nilly. If we did go out, we were advised to removed all jewelry, not take cameras or purses, and take only the minimum amount of cash. That said, we did take a short walk around the hotel, just to stretch our legs and visit a couple of stores.
- The lunch we had at the hotel quickly reminded us not to get "Kenyan shilling sticker shock" when we buy something. It cost us 4,250 Kenyan Shillings, or about $50.

October 19
- We headed south in the morning, with the destination being about 4 hours away at lodge near Amboseli National Park.
- Within the first 45 minutes of leaving the hotel, we saw our first wildlife... some giraffes. A short while later, we spotted some ostriches, too.
- A railroad line paralleled the road most of the way. It stretches from Mombasa, Kenya to Uganda. During its construction at the turn of the 20th century, a lot of Indian slaves were killed by lions.
- During the drive, we stopped for a nature break at a curio shop. It was here we learned, rather quickly I might add, that" haggle-ese" was the third language of Kenya, with the other two being English and Swahili. And we weren't even interested in buying anything! (i.e. the hawkers are pretty relentless.)
- In the parking lot of this curio shop, the hawker that assigned himself to us came up, made some friendly chatter, and then asked if we had any pens or magazines. He wanted them for his daughter at the school across the street. I obliged and gave him my copy of the less-than-kid-friendly "The Economist." He seemed appreciative nonetheless.
- Our lodge for the next 2 nights was the Amboseli Sopa, and its close to Africa's highest peak Mount Kilimanjaro (19,298 ft.) And though it is situated about 10 miles outside the park, has its own little slice of wildlife... vervet monkeys were all over the place, and banded mongoose were also readily seen.
- The lodge is pretty remote. Consider: all electricity is provided by generators, so there are limited times when guests can charge their various batteries or take a hot shower.
- In regards to those monkeys, apparently a row had broken out between two of them near our room, and before we knew it we had monkeys running all over our patio and nearly into our room. All within an arm's reach.
- In the afternoon, we had our first game drive, and so I'll let the pictures and their captions provide the words for that. The only thing I will mention (tangentially) is that the aforementioned 10 miles between the lodge and park was 10 miles of teeth-chattering, kidney-damaging "washboard" dirt road. An aside: Toyota Land Cruisers are near bomb-proof.
- At night, warriors of the local Masai tribe performed some ritual dances and songs, and exhibited their (vertical) jumping competition, which is used as part of a courting ritual.
- On the grounds of this lodge is a house that Ernest Hemingway built. It's currently in use as a bar and viewing platform.

October 20
- We were given the opportunity of visiting the local Masai village this morning, and took it. And are SO glad we did. On the 15 minute walk to their village, I was able to spend a good bit of time talking to the one Masai gentleman, the chief's son. He was very welcoming and forthcoming out Masai life, culture and traditions. And quite inquisitive about where we were from. Thankfully, I had a pictures of our home area on my camera's memory card and could show him a snow-capped picture of the mountains behind Boulder. He was also quite fond of using our point and shoot camera... he took most of the pictures you'll see of our time amongst the village members.
- In this particular village, we participated in one of their dances and prayers, were told about their herbal medicines, and visited a home and their nursery school. We learned that the men take care of the livestock, and the women take care of the home (including building it) and provide water for it, which for this village meant a 9-mile roundtrip trek.
- Some quick tidbits about the Masai (for a more complete picture, I'd encourage you to follow the link above): they're polygamous; men first marry around age 20, and women around age 17; as the brides come from a different village, a marriage is arranged between the two fathers and involves a "bride price" (opposite of a dowry) of usually between 10-20 cattle; they're nomadic, moving as needed to keep their livestock of cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys well fed; their diet consists largely of meat, milk and blood, but no fruits or vegetables; they don't hunt for their food, relying on their own livestock for sustenance.
- After visiting the Masai village, we went to the park for late mornings and afternoon game drives and saw one or some of the following: Thomson's gazelles and Grant's gazelles, elephants, giraffes, baboons, hippos, zebras, wildebeests, cape buffalo, waterbuck, hyenas, elands, herons, lions, jackals and ostriches, to name a few.
- Some of the animal trivia we learned:

you'll often see zebras and wildebeests migrating and milling about together, for the latter rely on the formers ability to locate water.
giraffes have special valves in their neck to control blood flow to the brain while it is bent over drinking.
elephants often bury a dead herd member under leaves, dirt and branches, and will not return for several years to the area where the member died.

Pictures from our time in the Amboseli area.

October 21
- Lots of driving today... 4 hours back to Nairobi to have lunch at the Carnivore restaurant (where the tag line might as well be "if it had a mother, we put it on a grill"), and then 2.5 hours along the Rift Valley to our lodge at Lake Naivasha, which lies northeast of Nairobi.
- The Carnivore restaurant is a Nairobi landmark, known for grilling up some (very) meaty fare. (Follow the link in the "Miscellaneous" section at the bottom of this post to see a picture of the menu du jour.) Of the things I tried: my favorite was ostrich (asked for seconds!), my least favorite was crocodile, and yes, I did try the last one listed in the left column above the Exotic Meats section.
- There were no game drives today, but that didn't mean we didn't see any animals. While strolling the grounds of the Naivasha Sopa lodge, we saw dik dik, colobus monkeys, giraffes, and waterbuck. Another animal related tidbit regarding this lodge is that guests are encouraged to use "security" personnel while walking to and from dinner in the main lodge, as hippos are known to walk around the grounds at night.

October 22
- The first excursion today was to Lake Nakuru, about 1.5 hours away and know for its flamingos. The salty waters promote algae growth, which attracts the flamingos, sometimes as many as 1.5 million of them.
- The lake area is also know for its black and white rhinos. One way to tell the difference between a black and white rhino is to look at the mouth area: if it's flat/square, you're looking at a white rhino; if it's more pointed, a black rhino. (Despite the "color" adjective, these rhinos are essentially the same color. A write-up on how these animals got their names can be found here.) But let's say you a rhino and its baby are walking away from you and you can't see their faces, there is still away to discern which variety of rhino you are looking at: if the baby is walking in front of its mother, you're looking at white rhinos; if the baby is walking behind the mother, their black rhinos.
- Animal trivia from this excursion: male lions eat up to (approx.) 75 pounds of meat per day; rhinos have a 17 month gestation period.
- After touring the Lake Nakuru area, it was back to our lodge where we took a 1.5 hour boat tour of Lake Naivasha, know for it's hippo population (estimated at 2,000.) Unfortunately, the weather turned on us a little bit as it became quite windy with passing rain, and these conditions had the hippos at the surface for just short periods before submerging again. I was able to get some so-so pix, though.
- Also on this lake were pelicans and kingfishers.

Pictures from our time at Lakes Nakuru and Naivasha.

October 23
- This morning we traveled to our last lodge of the trip, the Mara Sopa lodge which abuts the Masai Mara National Preserve. A "feature" of the drive there were the roads for the last 2 hours: for one of the hours, it was on a potholed-beyond-belief stretch that had us ranging from road shoulder to road shoulder just to get passed some real tire swallowers, and the final hour to the lodge was on a washboarded dirt road that made our time getting into the Amboseli park seem like a blink of an eye.
- As on other lodge-to-lodge trips, we did stop by a curio shop to use the restrooms and browse their wares. We've noticed some beautiful carved ebony pieces at prior ones, and because it was near the end of the trip and we wouldn't have to lug them around a lot, we decided to try our hand at haggle-ese. Peggy wanted some ebony bookends, I found an ebony sculpture of a lion that I liked, and Chloe found a small malachite sculpture of an elephant. The combined initial offer from the hawkers for these 3 items totaled 24,000 Kenyan shillings; we got them 10,000.
- The Mara Sopa lodge was also frequented by vervet monkeys... while taking a quick rest poolside, I had one sitting 4 feet away from me, and observed them strolling over to the pool to get some water.
- We did a game drive in the Masai Mara after lunch and were absolutely blown away – by the animals, by the scenery, and by one particular incident, which I'll "bullet" at the end of this day's write-up. For one reason or another, I started taking better notes at this park about what we saw and what our driver-guide told us, and so following are some trivia bits and observances.

The cheetah is the only cat that can't retract its claws. (This has led some to believe, including our driver-guide, apparently, that it is a member of the dog family.) It hunts only in the day, unlike the leopard which hunts at night.
A cape buffalo can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and have very poor eyesight.
We can only guess that it's due to the frequency with which people visit the park, but we were amazed about how nonplussed the lions were both here and at other parks when there were humans and vehicles partially surrounding them.
Approximately 1 million wildebeest migrate to this park from the Serengeti in Tanzania, and a lot give birth in Kenya – there are about 1.5 million migrating back. A newborn wildebeest doesn't waste time getting ready for survival mode: 10 minutes after it is born it is standing, 10 minutes later it is walking, and 10 minutes later it can run at its top speed. (You may have seen video clips of "The Great Migration" on nature shows, where wildebeest attempt to safely cross a swiftly moving river laced with crocodiles. If so, what you saw was them going to/from Masai Mara.)
The secretary bird got its name from the feathers protruding out from its head, as they are said to resemble the quill pens that (human) secretaries from days of yore used to store behind their ears.
We came upon one male lion resting who quite apparently got into a serious scrape with another animal as there were several nice sized gashes on his face and limbs.
Females lions are known for nursing other females' cubs, and can nurse 10 at a time.
The Masai people use the pods from the sausage tree to make beer.

- The "blown away" incident referenced above took place right as we were heading back to the lodge. We were parked, along with a couple other vehicles, alongside 4 lions resting in the grass, the nearest of which was about 30 feet away from our open-window, open-top vehicle. Something caught the attention of the one lion, as it got up and walked between the vehicles and sat down on the other, sensing the air and looking around. A few short moments later, the other 3 decided to join it and the one of these 3 decided to take a path directly alongside our Toyota. How "alongside"? Had I put my hand out the open window, I could have pet it on top of its head. Probably the best animal experience of the trip right there.

October 24
- Early morning game drive today in hopes of seeing some activity from our quasi-nocturnal friend the leopard, the only one of the Big 5 we had yet to see. How early? Up and on the road by 6:15 AM.
- We came across some more lions, of which there are approximately 750 in the park, 2 cheetahs, a tawny eagle feasting on a dead wildebeest, a jackal waiting to feast on said wildebeest, a bohor reedbuck (an animal I never heard of before), zebras, wildebeests, various gazelles, topi antelope, kongoni (another "new one" for me), ostriches, warthogs and cape buffaloes. But, alas, no leopard. So back to the lodge we went for breakfast and a several hour rest before heading out again in the afternoon.
- In the afternoon game drive, the quest for the elusive leopard continued, and our driver-guide was working the CB radio hard with other drivers seeing if the spotted any. During our drive, we spotted a pride of 13 lions, 2 of which were brothers to the one we saw last night (the scarred-up one.) Our driver learned from other guides that these 3 lions are brothers, and the one challenged for dominance of the pride and lost, and subsequently got kicked out.
- Shortly after visiting this pride, the call came in that a leopard had been spotted. When asked where it was, our driver said, "Far." He wasn't kidding: it took about an hour to get there.
- En route to the leopard, we saw some dikdik, and went through a large herd of cape buffalo, several of which had young calves by their side. At this point, with the park's closing in mind, our driver didn't really stop for us to observe animals we've already seen... he was in full-on leopard mode.
- After several "corrective turns" (necessary when directions to "the tree by the grassy area next to the marshy area" has several interpretations) we arrived to see a leopard lying in the grass. It eventually got up and began walking, and like the lions seemed absolutely unperturbed by the jostling of vehicles around it.
- Our driver told us some things about the leopard:

there are a good number of leopards in the park, but they are very elusive.
when found, they are usually resting up in a tree.
the spots on the leopard have a "rosette" look to them, whereas the spots on the cheetah are solid.
they are solitary by nature, have a black ring "necklace" on them, and can carry an animal twice its own weight up a tree to feast on it.

- After observing the leopard, it was time to make our way back to the entrance/exit to the park before it closed. Along the way, we saw a steppe eagle and a small heard of elephants.

Pictures from our time at Masai Mara.

October 25 and 26
- We headed back to Nairobi the morning of the 25th, enduring 2 hours of brutal road conditions again before reaching some smooth pavement, and saw a group of giraffes numbering 32 along the way.
- Shortly after leaving the lodge, the driver stopped at a local school. Peggy and I had some things we no longer needed and wanted to give it away. This wasn't the only thing, but somewhere in western Kenya is a kid wearing a Steelers baseball hat.
- We arrived in Nairobi around noon time, grabbed some lunch at a nearby restaurant, then read and napped poolside before an early dinner... we had a 6:30 AM departure for the airport the next morning.
- The morning of the 26th we woke up, grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to the airport, successfully closing what could have been the best family we've taken.

Miscellaneous tidbits, some items our driver-guide told us and final wrap-up
- Random pictures from our trip can be found here.
- This was our first time in the southern hemisphere. So I learned something about the Coriolis Effect and saw some new constellations (or rather, didn't see the Big Dipper; I honestly didn't know what I was looking at in the night sky.)
- Amboseli National Park is 151 sq.mi. in size and averages just 14 inches of rainfall per year. Its name is a derivative of some Masai words meaning "salty and dusty land", a description which makes sense if you see a satellite image of the area.
- Masai Mara means "spotted land," a description applied to the park when viewed from the air. It is 583 sq.mi. in size, and known for being home for all of the "Big 5" of Africa: rhinos, lions, leopards, buffaloes and elephants.
- There are 42 tribes in Kenya.
- We're not sure why, but 2 of the 3 lodges we stayed at were fond of playing Dolly Parton songs during dinner. One even threw in John Denver's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" at one point.
- Most people in Nairobi live on less than $1/day.
- One more than one occasion Kenyan people said "Obama!" when they learned we were Americans.
- On several occasions, I saw where people used cut up motorcycle tires and some strapping to fashion a pair of sandals.
- Even though we felt by and large safe, there were little reminders that life in Nairobi wasn't always rosey. For instance, it appears as if many businesses, including the hotel we stayed at and the Carnivore restaurant, employed a fair amount of security personnel. At the Carnivore, there was a guard booth one had to go through to get there, and guards had at their disposal mirrors on wands that allows them to look at the underside of cars for bombs. And their were armed guards on the tarmac at the airport surrounding planes at their gates.
- Some of the "Western Wear" we saw on locals include a medical center shirt mentioning Steamboat Springs, an Air Products jacket on a driver, and a Steelers jersey on a man in a town we drove through.
- A donkey-pulled cart impeding traffic in the left lane of a very busy road was not a cause for anger or the beeping of one's car horn. It was simply a man with his cart and donkey going down the road.
- Apparently, car theft is a big problem in Kenya. Most cars had their license plate numbers etched into all mirrors and pieces of glass; some cars had the license plate numbers painted right on the doors.

* * * * *

Like I wrote at the beginning, this was an amazing trip. There are some experiences and images we hope to carry with us for the rest of our lives. Perhaps the ones that leave the greatest impression are those from our time amongst the Masai villagers. Here we were, Westerners in our new safari clothes, fancy camera equipment, and college degrees being taught a good lesson about being happy with what you have, and freely sharing it with those with whom you come in contact.

Liberated!

2010-10-27T03:18:00.000-06:00

The Un-Ascot

2010-10-16T14:18:00.005-06:00

You may recall that a couple of weeks ago we donned some finer threads and headed out in (some) style to catch some horse racing at Ascot. Well, this afternoon, we again had another sport adventure, but this time it was in sweats, jeans and fleeces, and it wasn't to watch some horses run around; instead, it was to watch some rather large men slobber-knock one another during attempts of getting an oblong-shaped ball across a line and down to the ground.

That's right... we went to our first rugby match. (And just in case there are any rugby aficionados reading this, it was a rugby union game.)

Luckily for us, there's a top-tier professional rugby team right here in Twickenham, so catching today's match was pretty easy. It just so happened that today's game was not a traditional league game between the local team (the Harlequins) and one of its league rivals; instead, it was against a team from Italy as part of an international "cup" competition. (Because of the lack of rival team and fans, I wonder if the "energy" in the stadium was a little less than normal for a "Quins" home game. The stadium seats about 14,800 and there were just over 9,000 in attendance.)

I've been watching some rugby on TV since I've been here, and enough of a grasp of the rules to go and see a game live and kinda understand what's going on (unlike cricket... I've seen that a couple times on TV and have no idea what that game's about.) And gaining a basic grasp is pretty easy: the guy with the ball gets tackled, sometimes hard. Sometimes he passed the ball before being tackled; and if he does pass it, it should be a lateral. (I've come to learn that there's more to it than that -- like there are rules that apply to the tackler and tacklee once the tackle is complete -- but honestly, not much more.)

I won't regale you with game highlights 'cause frankly I don't know enough about the players to do so (that, and I can't suspect there actually is a rugby aficionado reading this.) I can report that one of the Quins had a hat trick, and that the Quins put an absolute thumping on their Italian counterparts, winning 55-17. I can also report that it was fun enough for the 3 of us to consider going see another match sometime, which I think is a great outcome, too.

(Pictures: The Twickenham Stoop (stadium); some rugby fans.)

More Pix from My Day in the Big City...

2010-10-15T13:33:00.003-06:00

Follow this link for a couple more pictures and captions on my day out.

Soloing it in London

2010-10-15T05:58:00.000-06:00

I can't ride, can't even exercise. And the walls of the flat have been creeping in a bit.

So I took the train into London to explore some on foot, visiting some new places (the Monument) and revisiting a favorite (Borough Market and an amazing grilled cheese stand.)

... If you don't mind some tidal flooding

2010-10-10T10:35:00.000-06:00

A Gift of a Day Here in Richmond

2010-10-10T08:28:00.000-06:00

From the "No, of course not. Why would I? [heavy on the sarcasm]" files

2010-10-06T03:01:00.000-06:00

A sign on the water bubbler that greets people in a patient waiting area at the hospital I visit for follow-up appointments...

Strolling around London's Borough Market...

2010-10-02T05:43:00.000-06:00

... And saw this sign next to some meat pies.

We're not prepared to buy some today, but we're already planning on coming back next weekend.

Post "Incident" Update

2010-09-29T05:35:00.003-06:00

Just got back from my just-under-2-week follow-up appointment with the orthopedist and here's the latest (I'm still typing with 1 hand so this'll be brief):
- in the shoulder area, I have a Grade 2 acromioclavicular dislocation... not much one can do for it other than let it heal. I wear a sling occasionally to give my neck and back a rest.
- the 2 broken bones in my right hand are healing nicely. I was fitted with a new cast which gives my fingers are lot more range of motion. I should expect to be in this cast for another 4 weeks.

I head back again next week for another appointment and another set of x-rays.

And, of course, Hi Kristin!

A Day of La-De-Da

2010-09-25T14:43:00.010-06:00

[I'm still typing with one hand, so the next several posts might be of the short & sweet variety.]

We're doing another "keep it local" weekend... we enjoy traveling, but also know there's a lot to do closer to home where we can mix it up with the locals. So this morning, we got dressed up considerably more than we usually do for a Saturday, and headed to the tiny town of Ascot for some perry, cider, champagne and horse racing (and perhaps a little wagering, too.)

Why did we get dressed up? Well, for this particular day of racing and for the level of ticket we bought, both ladies and gentlemen are asked to dress in a manner appropriate to a smart occasion. Many gentlemen wear a shirt and tie with a jacket or suit.

There were 7 races in all today, with the first one going off just before 2:00 pm and subsequent ones starting every 35 minutes. Racing-wise, the highlight of the day came in the 7 furlong long 4th race which had 28 entrants. Even with betting "each way" (which means we win something if the horse we pick wins or places) Peggy and I were 0-for-2 wagering up to this point. So, we let Chloe pick and again we placed an "each way" wager. And wouldn't you know it, the horse won! (If only we had done a straight "win" bet!)

The other highlight of the day took place as we were leaving after the final race. There was a band playing on the one lawn and we, apparently like many other racegoers, weren't interested in leaving quite yet. For the next 45 minutes or so, we joined in on the revelry, dancing and the occasional conga line.

(Pictures: top 3 are general; bottom one is of the Parade Ring.)

Oops, I Did It Again

2010-09-20T06:07:00.008-06:00

Well, if my quoting Britney Spears isn't an indication I took a good shot to the head recently, then nothing is.

Unfortunately, I had another incident whilst riding my bike... no squirrel this time; rather an inattentive motorist in a roundabout put me on the tarmac. It happened on Friday on my way back from Windsor (it's Windsor Castle you see in the previous post.)

I am, by and large, OK... no surgery is expected this go-round. The damage report is: A partial ligament tear in my right shoulder, two broken bones in my right hand, and some obligatory road rash. I'm able to get around just fine and can get myself and Chloe ready for the day. I should be back to "normal" in a couple of weeks. I think the bike is OK except for the handle bar tape getting chewed up. I'll get a better look at it on Wednesday after I pick it up from the police station it was taken to after the accident. Also on Wednesday is a follow-up appointment for the doctor to have a look-see at my hand and get it re-cast.

I'm sure there is a lot more I could type, like how I might take up running. But because I am typing with one hand, I'm not going to, except for this one bit of irony: my nice wheels, ones I mailed to myself a month ago from Boulder and for which I made several calls to and filled out several forms for Customs officials to discern there whereabouts, finally arrived at our flat this morning!

Our Flat

2010-09-17T03:35:00.000-06:00

School update

2010-09-10T16:43:00.002-06:00

Chloe completed her first full week of school today (there is no Labor Day Monday over here.) Following is a list of miscellaneous facts and observations:
- The school she is going to is an all-girls school. Class size is intentionally kept small at 14 students, and for Chloe's grade, Year 3 (2nd grade equivalent) there are just 2 "homerooms."
- Lasting from 8:30a until 4:00p, her school day is a bit longer than the one she had in Boulder.
- The school year consists of 3 terms, and the last day of the 3rd term is July 7, 2011.
- As far as Chloe knows, she is the only girl from the States at the school.
- The main building for the school was once the home of the first Governor of the Bank of England. As far as I know there, is only one other building for the school.
- One of the after school activities available to Chloe is fencing.
- Chloe's year (i.e. grade) has an overnight field trip in February, and one of things they'll be doing during their time at their off-campus site is trapping small mammals. It's unclear right now what they'll be doing with their quarry.
- All girls at the school take French class. The school emphasizes the importance of French and will continue to do so in recognition of Britain’s role within Europe. (The school's words, not mine. Personally, I find that reasoning striking since the two countries, historically, have had more than a few skirmishes.)
- Apparently, having Chloe say "tomato" is quite a novelty for the girls. She's been asked to say it several times already. And they like to hear her accent when she talks.

The Blazes near Boulder

2010-09-08T15:21:00.003-06:00

Though we're overseas, we are keeping a check on the wildfire that is burning just West of Boulder. The latest figures I've heard are that 92 structures have been lost, over 7,100 acres have burned and there is 0% containment.

While those numbers are staggering, everything I've read (from websites, emails from friends, etc.) indicates the fire is still in the hills/canyons just West of the city limits, and that presently there are no evacuations for our neighborhood (or for any part of Boulder city proper, for that matter.)

The local paper, the Daily Camera, is doing frequent updates, as is the local emergency operations department.

KnPnCnC in Colorado

Going GaGa

What Did I Get Myself Into?

Girl. Friend.

The Face Looks Familiar...

31" + 48 hours = Smiles

9 Years Already?

Yurting It

On the 8th Day...

Tonight's Sunset over The Flatirons

One for the cage, and one for the stable

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Thanksgiving recap

A Weekend in Moab

Boo!

Just because it was sunny, calm and mid-60s in Boulder...

Fall, "Fizz" and The Fonz.

LOTS of Good Deeds

In a Rut

A Rough Morning for the Old Boy

A Quick Recap, and a Funny Incident Involving a "C"

It was 14 years ago today, in a church in Clymer, PA...

Friday Night Double Feature

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Pictures taken by Others

1st Day... Again.

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - The Pictures

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part IX: In closing, Merci and Au Revoir

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part VIII: Mont Ventoux

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part VII: Now in Provence

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part VI: The Bi-Col Ride

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part V: The "Tri-Col" Ride

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part IV (Alpe d'Huez)

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part III

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part Deux

Kurt's Bike Trip in France - Part I

Let "The Summer of Peggy" End

Home

Doing -- not having -- the Triple Bypass

Disney: Done.

Latest Goings On

*** New Feature ***

Memorial Day Weekend Recap

BolderBoulder pre launch

2nd Grade Alpha and Omega

Spare Not A Hair

Making Paleo Pancakes

It's Not Too Late to Help

Stink

Happy Easter!

Author! Author!

Let "The Summer of Peggy" Begin

A Fun Saturday

It IS still Winter...

A Post of Posts

A Weekend in the Mountains

A New Horse in the Stable

Pix from Day Skiing at Keystone

High Marks

A Fundraising Plea

Happy Birthday Peggy!

Stink

New Rides

The Past 24 Hours Have Been a Bit Chilly

But it's a DRY cold...

Remember My Temperature Picture From Last Friday?

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

I Wonder if an Artic Blast is Coming

Where Has the Time Gone?

Lovin' this Colorado weather

Chloe is Dynamite!

Merry Christmas

Parting Thoughts

Weekend in Brussels

Heading Home

Chloe Goes to Bollywood

Netball Anyone?

The Craze is Spreading

Some Mighty Fine Music Has Come from Vienna

Raclette

What do "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and English Rugby Have in Common?

* New Feature *