Riding in the BTC 2010
Eleven days from now, I’ll be in Central City, waiting for the BTC to begin. That means that this is a critical training week for me. I’m taking a different strategy. In the past I’ve set a mileage goal for each week and made sure that I ride a certain number of miles each day.
Aftermath - BTC 2010
The last two weeks I’ve been trying to toughen up my seat, so I’m riding a set time. I know, this doesn’t sound much different, but psychologically it is. This means that if I complete forty miles in 3.5 hours and my hour goal is 4 hours, that I have to find somewhere else to ride for thirty more minutes and stay on the saddle. The purpose of this is to get the seat time in so that hopefully, I’ll be more comfortable riding during the BTC.
So far it seems to be working. Three weeks ago when I rode five hours, I was pretty sore and last week when I rode five hours again, I felt much better.
My bike and bags for the BTC
Tomorrow is a five-hour day and I’m hoping for a good ride. I’ll push and ride hard through Sunday, then next week a daily hour or two.
Of course the garden never sleeps and it’s taking most of my time when I’m not riding. Dale has graciously offered for water for me while I’m touring. He does know what he’s in for, since he cared for my garden the last two years and did a terrific job.
He’s hoping for rain everyday – I’m not, but it can rain all it wants to in Penrose.
Arkansas River in Canon City
Every third of June since 1967 – I think about Billy Joe McAlister and the Bobbie Gentry song, “Ode to Billy Joe.” It had a catchy melody; the words were interesting and easy to understand. The lyrics contain all kinds of great southern names like Choctaw, Tupelo and Tallahatchie. This song tells a story, about a tragedy and about living together as a family, but not quite connecting. It is sad, but it seems very real. I really like the melody and the lyrics.
This song made it big, (number 3 hit of the year in 1967) the
Roses
summer before my senior year in high school. This was the summer when I drove across the country with my parents in their new Dodge, which had seat belts, a relatively new feature in cars. I got to drive quite a bit of the trip. This was the summer of race riots in many cities across the country; we heard about them as we changed radio stations driving from Colorado to New York. Some of the riots were in cities that we were driving quite near. (According to Wikipedia, there were 159 riots that summer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Hot_Summer_of_1967
After visiting relatives in New York, we headed south to North Carolina, doing a whirlwind tour of Washington DC on the way. The trip home added a couple of different states.
I probably related to this song even more after spending time in the south that summer. The large meals and the slower life-style was a marked contrast to what we experienced visiting farther north.
Not a Southern picture, but with this much water it looks like it could bd
Thinking about this song made we wonder what happened to Bobbie Gentry. According to my on-line research, she lived out of the spotlight in LA after a recording career that spanned a decade or so.
I’ve just always liked this song and today I’d like to do an ode to “The Ode to Billie Joe.”
For the complete lyrics to this song, see:
http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/gentry-bobbie/ode-to-billie-joe-13490.html
Very Young Colt
We have a new neighbor. He/she lives in the barn next door. We don’t know her/his name, nor do we know her/his Mom’s name either, but since we discovered them last week, we have visited nearly everyday.
Colts are so cute – all legs. They look so fragile and tiny but in the matter of a few weeks, they change quickly, from wobbly legs to sturdy and from awkward movements to grace and ease. In a few days he/she changed
One week later with Mom
from shy to curious. I can tell, he/she is going to be a beautiful horse. I especially love the star on his/her forehead.
This neighbor raises and sells quarter horses, so we don’t expect that this little guy/gal will stay around until he/she is grown, but we will enjoy visiting and watching him/her while he/she is around. I’m hoping that will be most of the summer. And
Such a Cutie!
maybe we will even learn his/her gender and name.
My Garden with Water Ditches
I’m planning to get the rest of my garden planted this week. I have sixteen water ditches with a garden row on each side. My hope is that once the seeds begin to grow, and get a little height, I can flood the ditches and that will provide water to the plants, leaving the garden paths dry. This should make for easier watering, water can trickle through the ditches all day without having to move hoses – just turn them on or off, as needed. Hopefully it will cut down on the weeds too since the pathways won’t be getting watered, so the weeds won’t be as apt to grow there.
Garden ditches full of water
I’m getting excited – the onions are up and so are the sugar peas. I put up fences for the peas but they are still so tiny.
The spinach is up too and so are the first potatoes that I planted. Some of the vine seeds are sprouting – I’m not sure if they are cucumbers, squash of pumpkins – probably all three. I’m toughening up my pepper and tomato plants, which I started from seed in February or March. I’m pleased with the way they grew this year. I’ll get them in the ground before the end of May.
Sunset over Barn and Garden
What a fast month May has been. I guess all those hours of toil in the garden made the days fly.
Sunrise from Owl Ridge Rd, Snowmass Village, CO 6/26/05
Recently I heard about an unexpected discovery in Colorado. Mastodon bones were discovered in Snowmass Village, Colorado in the fall of 2010. While excavating for an expansion of Ziegler Reservoir, the bulldozer operator noticed large bones protruding from the water.
Snowmass Village is a relatively new settlement; started in the 1950’s as a commercially zoned ski village. It was the starting point for the 2005 BTC. We spent the night there in the back of our VW Eurovan. Snowmass looks and feels like a resort town. This is a place for serious skiers to work out hard on the slopes and crash in comfortable quarters. It has its share of very nice homes with natural lush vegetation in the yards and a couple of restaurants and stores to meet the needs of those who don’t want to travel to Aspen or Carbondale.
On May 13, 2011 the digging resumed. According to the Denver News Channel,” Since then, the crews with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science have uncovered two Mastodon skulls, two Mastodon pelvises, three Mammoth tusks along with bones from an Ice Age camel, a sloth, a bison and a deer.”
Snowmass Village - BTC 2005 finish line
This has brought a different type of notoriety to this mountain town. I giggled to myself about the possibility of them changing the town’s name to SnowMastodon, now that it is famous for more than snow.
The project has a website where you can get more information and follow the process.
http://www.dmns.org/science/the-snowmastodon-project
This site has a video that provides more details and shows many of the bones which have been found.
http://www.tosv.com/snowmastodon_project.html
BTC Tent City - Leadville 2005
A month from today, I’ll probably be sitting in my tent on a high school athletic field in Granby, Colorado reading while the last rays of sun disappear behind the mountains. I’ll have finished day two of the BTC (Bicycle Tour of Colorado). This year will be my sixth.
The first year that I rode on the tour, I had no idea if I’d be able to complete it. I did and discovered that riding on a bicycle is the absolute best way to see the Colorado mountains. It’s like you absorb the essence of the mountains when you ride through them on a bike. Everything is up close and personal. And when you ride with 1500 others, there is a camaraderie that urges you along.
Ouray, Colorado - BTC 2008
Each year the route is different and this year we’ll be visiting Steamboat Springs, a place that I’ve never even seen. We’ll be staying in a different mountain town each night. Here is the website for the complete route and more information: http://www.bicycletourcolorado.com/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=41
Rest Stop - BTC 2009
Since January, I’ve been gradually uping my weekly miles to 150 and extending my daily rides from one hour to three. During the next three weeks, I plan to ride several five or six hour rides and push my weekly miles to 200 or greater. The week before the ride is a rest week, not completely, but just fun rides.
So between riding and gardening, my next month is full.
Me at finish of BTC 2005
Monument Valley Park Pond - the environment where one would expect to see a Killdeer
Today I was taking a break, hanging out in our garden level family room when Dale said, “I keep hearing a new bird call.” I looked out the window and saw a stripy bird standing on the sidewalk beside our flower garden. “It’s a killdeer,” Dale said. “They are water birds – I wonder why it is here.”
Then another one landed a few feet away and as we watched, we realized that three baby killdeer chicks were walking on the sidewalk too. We had no idea where they came from – it was like they materialized there next to the flower garden. The babies were adorable. They looked exactly like the parents but were only about two inches tall. One came right up to the window where we were watching. I tried in vain to get pictures as they darted here and there. These birds have stick legs (I know most birds do, but theirs seemed even skinnier).
When Maggie, our border collie walked out front to see what was going on, one of the adult killdeers went into the ‘I’m an injured bird act’, which killdeers are famous for. He (or she) fell down, made a plaintive sound and flapped one wing. This is how these birds protect their young, by acting injured in hopes of luring the ‘enemy’ away from the babies.
Arkansas River - we've seen Killdeer here
After a few minutes, the birds wandered around to the back of the house and then to the garden. Cute and entertaining as they were, I needed to finish weeding my garden and do some planting, so I went to the garden to work and for the next hour, was entertained by the killdeers call and by their ‘I’m an injured bird antics’. Every few minutes, one of them would flop down and flap around. We never did see the chicks again, but assumed they were around, based on the large bird’s actions. Eventually we heard them in our hayfield and then they moved on.
Here is a link for some Killdeer pictures since my photographic efforts were unsuccessful.
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=killdeer+bird+pictures&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&oi=image_result_group&sa=X
Peacock in pen
Last week one morning while riding my bike down 7th Street, I encountered a peacock patrol. Four peacocks were walking purposefully down the middle of the street. Sometimes I see peacocks on this corner, but usually just one. The noise they make sounds like a high-pitched cross between a cat’s meow and someone hollering help. They are usually quite skittish so I wasn’t surprised that as I rode by the peacocks, they hurried into the closest yard. I seldom try to get pictures of them because they dart away so quickly.
Guinea Hens surrounding Cat
Further up the street I heard guinea hens making a racket. I can’t describe the sound they make, but when several of them get together it is very loud. Six Guinea hens were marching down a driveway chattering away. As I looked closer, I saw what the fuss was all about – a yellow cat was sitting next to a tree. He had his ears flat and was motionless. I snapped a couple of pictures as the hens marched around the yard, seemingly fussing at the cat.
Dale always says “you never know what you are going to see in Penrose” and he is right. There is always something interesting going on here, especially if you are easily amused.
Closer shot of Guinea Hens
The Lower Tunnel
Yesterday, I rode my bike to Phantom Canyon Road, which is an hour’s ride from my house. I transition from pavement to gravel, following the curvy, twisty road through towering rock walls. I only rode as far as the first rest area.
There are two tunnels on the road. They aren’t too bad and I’m a person who really doesn’t like riding through tunnels.
I like to ride this road on weekdays because on the weekends the
Free Range Cow in dry streambed
traffic can be heavy and being a dirt road, that means lots of dust. The road was bumpy, as dirt roads frequently are. The downhill side was the worst, forcing me to ride on the uphill side when possible, which worked out fine since I only saw three cars on the whole trip. When I stopped to take pictures – it was so quiet – all I could hear was a couple of birds. I suppose the birds aren’t hanging out there because there isn’t any water.
I keep saying that one of these days I’m going to ride the entire road, but so far, I’ve only done the bottom half.
Now called CR 67, initially this was the rail route from Florence to Victor, used for getting supplies to the gold fields. When the train ceased, the track was removed. For more history and pictures, check out this blog
http://redlegsrides.blogspot.com/2009/06/ride-through-phantom-canyon.html
Phantom Canyon May 2010 - with water
The nice thing about old railroad roads is that the hills are gradual. Often I’m not aware that I’m climbing until I turn around and head home. Then I’m surprised about the slant of the road. I hadn’t ridden up this road since last May and then I was treated to a bubbling stream flowing beside the road. However there was no water and this was shocking to me.. If there isn’t any water in
Dry stream bed
May, that is a bad sign for all the trees and plants and I don’t even want to think about the possibilities of a forest fire.
Gardener Statue at Monument Valley Park
All my cool weather vegetable seeds have been planted and it’s a week too early to plant those seed which cannot endure a frost, but with gardening, there’s always plenty to do, especially when there is over an acre of yard to maintain. Now I’m watering and waiting. I’m also confused about what I planted in which row – they all look the same. Good thing I made a diagram. I’ve seen several onion tops breaking through the soil. I have onions growing where I planted them last year and that doesn’t make sense. I roto-tilled the garden four times. Several sweet peas (the flowers, not the vegetable, but I hope to see the edible peas soon too) are making an appearance too.
Lilacs
My two-year old burr oak trees still haven’t budded out. I can’t believe that they all died. I think they are the last of the trees to leaf out and since the nights are still getting down into the low 30’s, it may not be warm enough for them. The poor sumac sprouts that I transplanted from my dad’s house have leafed out at least twice and then either the leaves were eaten by deer, or the cold nights got them. I hope they come back, but am not sure they will. I’ll leave them in place though, because sometimes the roots stay alive and send up new shoots, especially with plants like sumac, that create a cluster by sending up suckers.
Pretty Clouds over Penrose
Last year I decided to move a lilac bush and was successful, but I accidentally left enough roots at the original site that they sent up more shoots, so now I have an additional lilac and this year they were both preparing to bloom when the bitter cold night hit last weekend. At least all of my lilacs didn’t get frozen.
My iris are sending up buds. I’m glad that they are later in developing. I’ve seen several places in Penrose where the irises are already blooming and that doesn’t seem right. I always think of iris as blooming in June, but here in Penrose many plants are a couple of weeks earlier than Colorado Springs.
Petunia
I feel like I’m almost caught up and it is a nice feeling even thought I know that it is only for a few days.
