and…we’re back

It’s been a while. A long while. Going through photos, it would appear that we were riding on dirt in March and still doing so in November. A very long riding season in the high country. Yesterday marked the 73rd Annual Steel*Wool Turkey Day Massacre. bobB has been on every one! This was the largest turnout for any of our massacres, with most of the regulars and new-girl. If memory serves me correctly, the following were there – toop, the Brit, MT, bobB, heyride, tiller, new girl, the guide, liz, the olympian, the genius, the pilot, and a guest appearance of hiking Powers. After caffeinating at the double-a ranch, we rolled out for a 3-hour tour of the neighborhood. We misplaced Liz for a bit but Donny managed to find her. Toop flatted, allowing us our first opportunity for refreshments. The coffee hot chocolate spiced rum blend brought back memories of Iraq. Some more riding on the local singlewide brought us to the HC climb of the day. As we approached the summit we caught the hiker.

At one point, all of these people were in my kitchen…if you’ve seen my kitchen you’d know the scene was reminiscent of a clown car.

Refreshments ensued followed by a mostly downhill return to the compound. It was fun.

whatinthe…

hell have we been up to lately? a lot of stuff…that’s what.
thursday night activities have been ongoing with some mountain bicycling on snow-packed trails, some skate skiing and the occasional skin-up/ski-down alternative. unfortunately our staff photographer has been unable to attend, so you’ll have to use your imagination.

we’re pondering a run of short-sleeved jerseys for the summer bicycle riding season. anyone interested? color suggestions?

that is all for now. maybe the next update will come sooner rather then later.

race prep

it would appear that team steel*wool’s racing season is starting in earnest with tomorrow nights copper mountain winter mountain bike race. to prepare, most of the team met up last night at the west magnolia recreation area for a bit of a test run. heyride, bobB, mt and toop were joined by newcomers, trailmaster and the genius. meriwether had gone out earlier but would eventually join us for gluten-fest. after some intervals (or boBervals as we’ll refer to them in the future) intermixed with hiking we were treated to a downhill. upon regrouping at the bottom the trailmaster acquired a flat, forcing she and the genius to make an early return to the vehicle. the rest of the crew marched on mixing boBervals with hiking, up to the “bench” for some refreshments followed by the final downhill to the road. did i mention that the trail was covered with a few inches of fresh snow and some 2-3′ drifts? yeah, it was fun in a steel*wool sorta way. i believe we’re ready to own the race. especially the section that crosses the ice skating rink. we’ll definitely be busting out the full-face headgear for this event.

some of this, a little of that

winter is giving colorado the heisman, so instead of spending weekends on two planks, sliding around on snow, we’ve been pedaling the two-wheeled contraptions on roads and trails. let’s hope the weather takes a turn for the better (or worse – depending on your outlook) soon, lest we all despise our bikes come spring time.

we’ve been busy lately

what has the steel*wool crew been up to lately? a lot of fun and exciting adventures. for a few weeks we replaced the weekly ride with just drinking, and then we started doing some nordic skiing/drinking and last night we did some mountain bicycling on snow-packed singlewide trails paired with some drinking (nogne sunturnbrew – quite appropriate for the solstice). we’ve also done some weekend snow riding and a few of us have managed to get out for some cyclocross racing. if you’re looking to join in on the fun, you can email steelwoolcross at gmail dot com to get on the “list”. now some photos…

freshies

between the day of the turkey (thursday) and saturday, a freak snowstorm dropped 2″ in the ‘hood. another group of 3 headed out to enjoy some singlewide without having to stop for trees every 3.6 minutes. “let’s try lost world”…famous last words. i think it took us over an hour to go about 3 miles. it was fun, but definitely work. we bailed about 1/2 way and headed back to blue dot. it was more funner. and the ‘cross course was so fun we had to do a few laps. there is still riding to be had before transitioning to skis. soon though…very soon.

whiskey*wood

the day of the turkey ride has been going on for somewhere in the neighborhood of 9 years. some years it has been a snow ride, others totally dry. yesterday was a mix of both. the snow was nicely-packed by hikers making it 100% rideable. thanks to a recent wind event there was some work to do along the way. we rode, we cut and moved trees, we drank whiskey…it was good.

 

extra jerseys

hey kids. we have a few extra, long-sleeve jerseys. if you are totally bummed that you missed out, there is still hope. the only catch…you are either a small or medium. currently we have the following available
small – 2
medium – 3
they are $120 plus $10 shipping/handling
if you’re interested, email steelwoolcross (at) gmail (dot) com

 

happenings

the receiving end of fun being taken too seriously

needed to break the radio silence. since the time changed and the snow began to fall and the winds returned, the steel*wool crew has turned to the bottle. there is rumor of a solo mission the thursday prior to daylight saving – something about carrying a frosty beverage but never stopping to consume it. i’m going to write this off as hearsay. we’ve settled in nicely to a thursday at 630pm at backcountry routine. drink, eat and drink some more. we like it, spencer likes us…life is good. if you find yourself in the neighborhood on a thursday evening, you now know where to find us. there is talk of the formation of a steel*wool curling team. once the ice opens in nederland, this talk may transition to reality. if you are into hanging out in the dark, on ice, with beers and brooms and stones. let us know. hopefully the curling will transition into cricket next summer. we’d look dashing in our white linen kits. speaking of kits – word on the streets is the 2011 s*w jerseys are enroute to the greater nederland metropolitan area and will then be shipped to all who ordered one (or two). once the dust settles in the shipping warehouse, we’ll let you know if we have any extras as i’m sure several of you are kicking yourself for failing to place your order in a timely manner. stay tuned. until next week…

update – the jerseys have arrived and will begin shipping (to all of you who paid) tomorrow. if you’re on the list for pickup, i’ll be contacting you to make arrangements.

sneak peek

 

 

 

 

 

 

and remember kids – fun is not something to be taken seriously

S*W in the ‘Ho!

View of Lake Tahoe from the Tahoe Rim Trail