Here's the recap from last weekend. Friday a water main blew at work and we were told to go home. Sweet! So, I took Sarama to Chatfield for a big walk and some swimming. I think she's finally given up thinking she can walk on water.
After I got back the Sailor and I took off after work to go to Copper mountain for the bike tour I've been talking about forever. After picking up our race packets we frantically searched for a place to eat. We found an Italian place to carbo-load, but they wanted $18 a plate! After a few tries we found a place with the kitchen still open and I still ended up paying $18. Beggars can't be choosers. After a sleepless night we got up about 5am and were supposed to meet the rest of the Sailor's friends with we were riding. At the start line I finally realized that of all the Sailor's friends, I'm the only guy! I'm thinking to myself, "if these chicks are half as cool as the ones I've met already then I'm in for a good day!" At about 6:30 we were on the road and starting up the first pass. It was crazy! Thousands of riders huffing and puffing up this thing with all kinds of wild bikes! The first aid station was at the top and it was like a huge party with everybody milling about eating and drinking as many fruits, cookies, and muffins as they could. After this we rode down to Leadville on which I got up to 50 mph according to the GPS. There was some road construction after town and we all got a little dirt on our tires. It wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be and I didn't flat so I was pretty happy. At the top of my next pass I had my rear brake looked at because it had started making a horrible squeak whenever I tried to slow down. The mechanics couldn't figure it out so I just barreled down to Vail. Somepoint at the top of this pass I must've hit the Stop button on the GPS so I don't have a speed for the descent, but I was going as fast or faster! In Vail we had a nice big break at that aid station. I think I ate an entire bag of Chips a'hoy and Oreos. Then there was Vail pass. At one point the grade got really steep and lots of people were walking. When I got out of the saddle to attack the guy in front of me swerved over and I had to hammer the brake to avoid collision. Then my rear tire wouldn't move! I barely unclipped before falling over and then tried to figure out what had happened. I couldn't figure it out and in the end just unhooked the rear cable and finished the ascent without a rear brake. With the adrenaline of the near crash I was able to really motor up the final climb. At the top of the pass I hit the aid station mechanic tent and had them sort out the problem. I figured I was way too spent at this point to be messing with my breaks before the most dangerous downhill (apparently they were already cleaning up the mess of a wreck down the trail!) Turns out when I hit the brakes I knocked the rear wheel out of alignment! I'm not sure how one could do such a thing, but somehow I managed it. Well we finished the ride had a big meal, looked at some pictures, then took off back to Denver.
On Sunday Bobbo and I hit up the Renaissance festival. We got there by catching a ride with one of Bobbo's friends. Sometimes I'm amazed at who is allowed to have a driver's license, or even how some people have stayed alive so long driving the way they do. Even at 80 mph I don't think we were more than 10 ft behind the car in front of us! Usually I'm okay with this kind of stuff, but gradually depressing either the brake or the gas pedals was an unknown concept. Wham! I'm thrown forward with the brake pedal on the floor! Wham! I'm thrown backward as the gas pedal seeks the pavement! You only got 160,00 miles out of your old Accord? Drive like this and I don't wonder why. OH! to top it off she was sending text messages the entire time! Yeah, I don't need to hang out with her ever again. Anybody who cares that little about the other people in the world is not worth my time.
Okay, now that that's out of me: the festival. As you'd expect all the crazies from crazy town come out to these things. Easily the best people watching I've found. Between Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean there's tons of different folks at this thing. Last year we missed the Joust so figuring out those show times were the first priority. Luckily there was one starting right away so we grabbed a pint, a patch of grass, and settled in for the spectacle. The debacle? Be happy the video is grainy because it looks more realistic:
After this we made our way up to the Puke and Snot stage. These guys are friggin hilarious! Definitely the most intelligent, witty act I've ever seen. Because of the election year they went really after it. It would not have been good to be a Republican in that crowd! Once again they brought me tears and stomach cramps! Ahh, they're too funny. I got to see them once when I was like 8 years old and remember really laughing although I'm sure I understood only half the jokes.
By the time we got home I was spent. Monday was a tough one.
