THE VILLAGE HUB

Here are just a few quick pictures of our new shop. Thanks to our willing patrons for allowing me to snap a few shots. It's a comfortable little place that hopefully invites you to stop in and stay a while!

More Celebrity Snowshoe Race Photos

The RMNP vs. Forest Service was a heated battle!

Some of the Park guys wore traditional garb. It was fun to see them try to complete the course with their huge old shoes.

2007 Grand Lake Snowshoe Festival

Tim, ready to go...
Tim, around the cones...
Wes, jumping through the hoop for the win!

Yay Mike Long!
Here are a few quick pics from the snowshoe festival celebrity race. It was a lot more fun to watch than these pictures can relay. Tim had to race a Crescent Moon Snowshoes rep, which, perhaps needless to say, didn't go too well for Tim. The opponent, Wes, who is a really cool guy, is tall and fit and had no problem getting through the course with ease. Basically what it entailed was getting through a hoola-hoop, bounding over hay bales, running through a bungee cord section, and weaving through cones while balancing a ball on a spoon. At the end, contestants had to stomp on a balloon and then do the whole obstacle course backwards. It was a riot!

Dogs and Skis

Today I got a chance to get out and enjoy the snow! The dogs and I strapped on our skis and skied right from our back door, across the street and into the big field. We did a few laps around and then Echo wouldn't stop barking (she gets a bit excited when we're playing outside) so we headed back toward the homestead. She mellowed out slightly so I decided to put in a loop around our yard. That was fun! Then after a few laps around the house Copper was stopping to chew the ice balls out of her feet so we decided to call it a day. Good times!

2007 Grand Lake Snowshoe Festival

That's right folks, you've been waiting, and Tim's been preparing. The 3rd annual "Catch the Spirit" Grand Lake Snowshoe Festival is upon us! This weekend, the 12th-15th, Grand Lake will play host to a busy weekend of snowshoeing craziness! Pick up a schedule of events at The Village Hub or the Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce to see what all is going on. The main event is the race starting at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, the 13th. Town Park is the place to be to participate. Register NOW at www.grandlakesnowshoefestival.com or at Town Park on the day of the race for $10 more. Do it! Tim and some other of G.L.'s finest will be participating in the celebrity race so come and cheer them on or... Sign up for either the fun run or the competitive 7K race (a USSSA qualifier!) and have a gay old time. See you out there! Also, on Sunday morning The Village Hub will be selling coffee at the Hospitality Haus and donating all proceeds to the Greening of Grand Lake, which is an effort to restore life to the Grand County forests that the pine beetles have wreaked havoc upon.

Road Trip Photos

Tim and I had a blast the last two days. We decided that it was time to get out of Grand County and take a little random road trip. We looked online for dog friendly hotels around Frisco or Steamboat or Breckenridge and found a great quaint little place about a block off of main street in Frisco. The Woods Inn http://www.woodsinn.biz. It's defenitely worth checking out if you'r in that area and need a cool place to stay. All of the rooms are decorated differently and we stayed in the European Winterhausen room. It was kinda funky with a bunch of different art work, really high ceilings, a fluffy down comforter, a nice outdoor covered hot tub, and really friendly staff. Unfortunately, we gorged ourselves on tasty margaritas and mexican food and didn't end up getting down to check out the hot tub for ourselves. Fun place. Our only complaint was that it wasn't very sound proof. Every time someone came or went in the rooms next door, we knew about it. We'd reccommend it anyway.

The next morning we got up (after getting up several times throughout the night to deal with the dogs, namely Copper), checked out and went to find coffee.

I had a huge breakfast veggie, cheese, and egg bagel sandwich with an Irish Cream Latte which was very good. Tim shared part of my huge bagel and had a latte himself. We hit the road and decided to check out Leadville since I'd never been there and Tim wanted to see Melanzana http://www.melanzana.com which is a place there that makes and sells fleece gear. We both bought really cool fleece tops and then took a walk down main street to an antique mall. This was a huge neat old building jam packed with stuff from bottles, to postcards, to skeleton keys, old jewelry, you name it, if it was old, it was there. I found a cool skirt that happened to fit, and that was our only purchase there.

We left Leadville and decided to go sledding on some random mountain on the way back towards home. We stopped at some resevoir in Summit county and sledded ourselves silly. The dogs were loving it and we couldn't believe that such a simple contraption could be so much fun!

After we pulled ourselves away from the sledding hill we decided to head back homeward. We of course had to stop at the Dam Brewery in Dillon on our way back. After a few beers, we headed home. It was so nice to get away from work for a while. Colorado has so many neat places we want to see that we can't decide where next trip will take us.

1st XC Ski of the Season

My buddy Amy called the other day to see if I could sneak away from the shop for a while on Sunday to go try out our new skis that we both got for xmas from our boys. We headed up into RMNP to the Bowen-Baker trail head and skied for about an hour and a half. It was rediculously windy but other than that, we had a blast. First we had to cross a big meadow and then we got into the trees which was a lot more entertaining. We struggled on a few hills and laughed our butts off. I'm feeling it a little bit today. Thanks Amy! Anybody out there wanting to ski? Tim and I have Mondays and Tuesdays off now!! Hooray!

Latest and Greatest

I know, I know, it's been quite a while since I've posted last. That's because Tim and I have been busily putting together our new business: The Village Hub. It's a coffee shop/bike shop combo with comfy seating and wi-fi. We just opened last Saturday and it's going great! Thanks to everyone who supports us with their caffeine addiction. Pictures to follow. Who wants to ski?!

Omaha Rides

Well, we're back from our little trip to our home town of Omaha, Nebraska. When we left Grand Lake, we had about 6 inches of snow in our front yard and we rolled into 60 degree+ temps in O-town. Needless to say, we rode as much as we could! First we rode Branched Oak just outside of Lincoln, NE which is where my first off road race took place. I think this was the first trail that I got to introduce to Tim; he generally is the one showing me all sorts of new trails. It was pretty fun, and perfect weather. Then we rode teeter-totters and elevated trail features at Lake Manawa but neglected to take the camera. The other pics are from Lewis & Clark Monument in Council Bluffs. That is a beautiful place! Great single track that is Tim's favorite in the area. The pictures don't do it justice.

Now, back to reality and more snow here in the high country. I think we're finally ready for it so bring it on! Hopefully it will accumulate enough for us to play in since my new back country skis just arrived.

Snowdawgs

Copper and Echo love the snow. It seems to bring some crazinesss out of them that I can't explain, and they're not telling either. So after a good romp session out in the new snow, I let them in and Copper was covered with snowballs that were stuck in her fur! She was instantly busy trying to remove them by herself; I realized that this looked like it might be a lengthy process so decided to get out the scissors. Unbelievable!! She was covered! I'm pretty sure she's looking forward to our trip
back to O-town. This is only some of the hair/snowballs I removed! She was happy at the end of it all though.

Fun Monday Niter

This ride took place a while ago and now that it's snowing, I'm dreaming of dry trails. I suppose these pictures will have to tide us over for a while. We, meaning Tim, Matt, Joe, Dave, and myself, met up CR 4 and rode Spruce 'Em Up Jack , connected into the Bull Mtn. Loop, and then rode the road back to the parking area. It was a long ride for me but fun, nonetheless. I just got some sweet new shoes and my cleats weren't quite positioned comfortably (which probably added to the long feel of the ride) but was glad to have finished it with the boys.

A few special little riders.

Top o the loop. You can see the lake if you look close. We're up pretty high.

Bull Mtn. Ladies' Ride

Matt and I have been harassing his wife, Sarah, for quite some time now about getting on a mountain bike. Finally, we succeeded and she joined me two Tuesdays ago for a little spin on the Bull Mtn. Loop. This is the loop that I always take people on who are a little unsure of their off road skills. It's a nice short wide loop with not much climbing and very few technical sections. She rocked and I don't think I scared her out of trying again! Next time we'll check out Spruce 'Em Up Jack to test her abilities! Thanks for joining me Sarah! Now if only this snow would go away so we could get back out there.
Actually, Tim and I are thinking about doing a snow ride sometime soon. Who's with us?! Warm gear and fat tires are recommended!

The Adventures of Tim & Jim

Here are a few pictures from Tim & Jim's trip to Rabbit Valley for trail building. Lucky for them they snuck in a ride before they had to start working on hiking trails.


They had a blast and learned alot; now Tim can incorporate his knowledge into the trails we'll be building here.
Big Jim coming down the trail.

LADIES' RIDE TONIGHT!!

DO IT!! Sarah A, possibly Mandi, and myself are riding tonight up CR 4. The more the merrier. We're thinking Spruce 'Em Up Jack would be a good one for all ability levels. Soooo, meet us at the Idleglen parking area at 5:20ish. Call me if you're running late, otherwise, we'll see you there!!!

Pictures From Below

I think that I wrote too much below because it wouldn't let me put any pictures with my verbiage. Anyway, here are the accompanying visuals. Enjoy!

Lost Lake Hike

Last Thursday Tim, the dogs, and I went on a little excursion up CR 4 and ended up on an amazing hike! Neither of us had checked out the trail to Lost Lake so we decided to see how it was. BEAUTIFUL! We are definitely going to do some camping up there, either in the next week or two or next year.
The trail began with a steep descent towards a creek that was so clear you almost didn't know there was water in it (until Copper discovered it for us). All along the way I kept thinking about how much different the trail would have appeared if we were on our bikes. I wouldn't have probably enjoyed as many details of the trail that I was able to take in at this slower pace. I realized that hiking is more enjoyable than I had previously thought; usually while hiking I'm always wishing that I was on my bike so I could cover more ground more quickly. The dogs were running around like crazy, having a wonderful time. We trudged through snow and ice and mud and over bridges and through creeks: it was what a hike should consist of. We couldn't believe how much fun we were having. Finally we reached a sign that said Lost Lake pointing right. We walked another 20 yards and saw what I was afraid was Lost Lake. It was a marshy, swampy, not too beautiful pond (at best). Copper loved it and didn't hesitate to wade right in, covering herself with mud. Yuck.
We sat down on some rocks for a moment and watched the dogs enjoy themselves before we headed on. "That's not Lost Lake, right?" I asked Tim, beginning to understand why it is still 'Lost'. "Nope, it can't be." We hiked on. More and more snow began to surround us as we climbed up a rocky ice trail.
Quickly we reached the top and were blown away by the view of the crystal clear lake that confronted us. We decided to explore the psuedo trail that lead us around the lake. We followed it until it would disappear and we'd climb over huge rocks right next to the water. It was kind of sad at one point when Tim and Echo and I easily bounded from rock to rock and Copper froze with one hind leg on a rock and one on solid ground. She stood there whimpering and didn't move until I climbed back down and had to physically pick her up off of the rock. We tried to show her that she could swim around the parts that involved rocks and she finally figured it out. Then everyone was happy. The hike around the lake was challenging at parts and we had to climb over snow covered boulders and trust that the ice wouldn't break through to water.
About half way around the lake, I became aware that I was getting a blister on my right heel. It was ignorable at first but then became a nagging issue; I stopped a time or two to try to loosen or tighten my boot but nothing really seemed to work. Blisters are funny because they are such a small thing but they can really slow you down! As I walked, I realized that with a blister every step is either up-hill or down-hill. I loved the downhill sections.
We began the hike back towards the truck and couldn't stop talking about how cool and scenic that area was. We can't wait to go back! The dogs were tired, we were happy, and we all ate well that night. I'd highly recommend this trail to anyone who's looking for a secluded picture perfect trip.

Views From The Top

This ride was just about a week ago but I'm a slacker so there hasn't been a post yet. Anyhoo, we (Tim, Brent, Pat, Jim and I) met at our house and CLIMBED up the back of Green Ridge. Just when we thought we were at the top, we weren't; we continued to climb and climb and climb. It was worth it for the views of Lake Granby at the top. Then we bombed down the back into a sage field where the trail seemed to kind of disappear. Tim swore the trail started up again, "just around that sweep," no such luck. We trudged through an entire field of plants that didn't think we belonged there and all ended up with scratched up legs.
Miraculously, no one broke anything (bike parts or otherwise) which was surprising since it was a challenge just to stay on your bike without getting tangled in tall plants. Tim kept reminding Patrick to slow down and be aware of his derailleur. Half of the group was walking; the entire group was cursing and laughing. Finally, after crossing a swampy creek, we saw a little strip of steep single-track climbing straight up a hill. *I guess I'm used to saying hills because I'm from Omaha but I think we climbed up the back of a freaking mountain*. No matter; we did it and ended up climbing as much as we did at the beginning of the ride.
I must confess: there was a point there when I was less than happy with our group leader because it was getting dark pretty dang quick and we still didn't know where exactly we were. It turned out fine though and we got back to the road just at dark. Thanks for riding!