IMBA Shenanigans

This is why I love my job so much. I get to do lots of fun stuff for work, but also, foolishness like this is permitted, if not encouraged.

Lou Dobbs is my hero of the day

Let's play a little game called "just the tip of what Lou Dobbs recently said:"

I couldn't help but wonder as I watched monitors bringing images of the marches and demonstrations from all across the country, who should really be protesting on May Day. What about the millions of legal residents who followed the long, drawn-out process to secure a visa to enter the United States lawfully? Maybe they should be protesting. What about the seven-figure backlog at the Citizenship and Immigration Services agency of people who are following the rules. Should they demonstrate?

What about all of our fellow Americans who are being marginalized by the massive importation of illegal, low-cost and mostly uneducated labor into this country? Perhaps those citizens should take to the streets. And what about the more than 250 million Americans who make up our middle class and those who aspire to it whose wages have stagnated and who are paying for the social, medical and economic costs of illegal immigration? That's a big march.

If yesterday's demonstrators and their supporters in Congress and corporate America are serious about their deep desire for American citizenship, why don't we hear any of them clearly say they're willing to give up dual citizenship? Or that they're willing to learn English and surrender demands of bilingual education? Or declare they embrace English as our official national language? Or demand that illegal employers of illegal aliens pay for the social, educational and medical costs now borne by the taxpayers?

Trip to Grand Jct

Well, Kevin, Kiel and I had a rather busy weekend. We headed down to Grand Junction for some riding and some racing. I was there mostly for the RMCCC Finals, but I got a nice long MTB ride in on Friday with Kevin. He has pretty impressive riding skills for a track dork, if you ask me. We camped out, I got up early and did the conference director thing at the race on Saturday. I also hopped into the USCF race, but that was unremarkable. Sunday was the crit, which was pretty fun to watch. Kiel just barely got nipped at the line in the sprint. Oh well, that'll motivate him even more for Nationals. I would have gone riding afterwards with Kevin and some of our other friends, but my body was telling me, "Noooo nooo, please just take me home to the TV!" So I did. Too bad. Maybe Kevin has some photos, but for now, I don't have any to post. Cheers.

New Shoes

Is there anything finer than a pair of new shoes? ... I didn't think so. Sounds like young Kiel has been up to his old tricks again, getting a win in the collegiate crit in Durango last night. Unfortunately, he got tangled up in a crash today and banged up his elbow. It doesn't sound like anything major, so he should be fine. Tietzel was sitting pretty at 8th place in the overall for his stage race in Nebraska, so hopefully he'll keep on keepin' on and bring home some more hardware for the CAF. Kevin is very tired from his trip to Mexico and currently sleeping. He was 8th overall, no thanks to his wanker partner.

Heinous Itchyness

Well, it serves me right. I brag a little about how nice the weather is going to be in Chattanooga, and sure enough, it ends up raining most of the weekend. To top it all off, I got into some poison ivy and now have a knarly rash on both of my forearms. Aside from that, it was a good trip. I had some fantastic barbecue, saw some live country music and bluegrass and did a little mountain biking. It'll be lonely at the Fort this weekend; Crinny's gone to Dallas, Kevin's in Mexico, Kiel's in Durango and Scott's in Nebraska, so stop by with cookies or something. It would really make my day.

Riding My First Pro Six

Got an invite to Augascalients, Mexico to ride the big show with some Euro Pros. Leaving on Sunday. Should be a complete trip! I am looking forward to seeing how high the real Six-day bar is. Much more info over at SuhrTheBlur.com

A Little Vacation

Well, folks, I'm off to Chattanooga Wednesday evening on "Business." I'll technically be on the clock, helping out with a Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew visit, but anyone in the know will tell you that it mainly involves riding, drinking and cold chillin' like a villain. Plus as a little bonus, I'll have some nice weather to enjoy. Hmm, let's compare forecasts:
Thursday & Friday
Boulder: Highs 38-40, snow
Chattanooga: Highs 69-77, mostly sunny.

I'll see you all Monday night!

p.s. Give Crinny a call or stop by the Fort... he's bored to tears with that broken back and would definitely appreciate the company.

my mommy visited me in the gunnison hospital today

Here's the conversation:

Me: "Think we can bee-line the moguls?"
Geoff: "Yeah."

And the thought process:

Me: Wahooo, Wahooo, Wahooeee. At the first catwalk, I'm thinking I'm going a little too fast. Oh God. Wahoo. At the second catwalk, I know I'm going too fast. Oh god, I'm gonna fly. I look to the left and see Geoff, look forward and my skis are almost over my head. Then, I can't breathe. I'm thinking my whole spine shrunk.

And the result: I fractured only one of my vertebrae after some earlier diagnoses and scares. But, I'm still in a back cast for 6-8 weeks.

Was it worth it? I'll avoid that question and say that I am lucky to survive the learning curve again.

I don't know when I'll be back at the CAF.

Holla,
Crinny

Wear Your Helmet.

I just found out today that a friend of mine, and former IMBA employee, was seriously injured when she fell while riding her bike last night. She wasn't wearing a helmet. She may not make it. So, regardless of whether you're on a 6-hour training ride or riding the bike path downtown, put on a helmet. No excuses. Do it for the CAF, or me, or whatever reason necessary. Just wear a helmet. It's not worth the risk.

Patagonia Toothfish

Chilean Sea Bass is one of my favorite things to order at a nice restaurant.

Now find out what you didn't know about them here: Sea Bass Info

And also read some exciting bloggage about SPIKE'S new energy drink here: BioTest Laboratories

CAF Race Report

Well, ol' Kiel is at it again, throwing down a 49th place in the prologue TT at Redlands. Check it out: http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2007/mar07/redlands07/redlands070
Out of 190 starters!! I'll continue my stalking to keep you all abreast of his latest athletic conquests. Until then, check out my facebook profile for some pretty pictures from my trip to Italy, like this one...

Yeah, Kiel!

Our youngest Fort member, Kiel, aka "CC," has been owning and boning already on the bike this spring. Not only did he win both the ITT and the Crit at last weekend's collegiate race in New Mexico, he came out swinging on the pro circuit this weekend with a top-20 in California: Central Valley Classic Results on Cyclingnews.com
This little bastard is fast!

Top 5 Fort Dinner Parties Moments

Over the past two years, the dinner party has become a favorite of all the Fort members. This is the case since the dinner party usually becomes a crazy drunk fest, but in a way only the Fort can maintain.

So in honor of our upcoming party on March 16th here is a little recap, as best as our memory serves.

The Top 5 Moments are...

5. Marly wearing "Bomby Beats Birthday Bash" T-Shirt, looking oddly out of place, after unsuccesfully playing catch the grapefruit with a wine glass in hand.

Before:

After:


4. The Lion prancing around the Fort in his costume consisting of knee warmers, arm warmers and a cowboy hat.

Yes, he dressed himself. We can only post a pic in the process...


3. Grandpa Becker Running Laps Around the CAF I Nude, after being plesantly depantsed by fellow Forties. This makes the list because this was quit an odd reaction for Grandpa, as he pretty much blew open his shell.

2. Grandpa Becker Getting Delivered on the Neighbors Doorstep Hogtied
Not quite sure how he got to this point but he was definately conscious for the entire event.



1. Salad Queen Dancing on the Table After Desert
There really is only one thing to do after a dinner with a couple bottles of wine an a nice Gold Schlager Shot with dessert.

Brief Race Report

Hey all...
It was a very rainy and nasty week here in Italy. It was so bad that they plowed the bike and run course so we were running and riding on mud and ice. The ski was slushy, sometimes over the tops of my boots. You can see some photos of the nastyness on triathlon.org. I had a good race in the individual, very consistent overall. My relay seemed good, but I had the slowest leg of any of the elite men. Hard to say what the story was with that. I think I ran strong, but I tried to keep up with a really strong Swiss guy on the bike and cracked.
Anyways, it was a really good trip, and I'm psyched on how it all went. I'll be back really late tonight, but we'll catch up soon.

Salad Queen has a "nice discipline"

Results for the winter tri world championships:

www.triathlon.org

then click on 'elite men' in the middle of the page.

And ahh at Spencer Powlison kicking arse.

Peace Out!

See ya later, gangstas. I'm leaving this afternoon for Italy. I'll be back next Monday, and I'll make sure to take some nice, pretty pictures.

Kellogg's Corn Pops

So I bought a box of them and inside was a present, for me. It was a pedometer. I'd never played with one so I jumped around with it; I even let Jung take it in for extra shower time and he gave it back with 26574 steps, pretty impressive. So the point of this blog is the disclaimer that came with the pedometer:

8. Participants take part in exercise at their own risk.
9. Kellogg's will not be held responsible for any illness or injury that is incurred while using the pedometer

It's pretty damn funny that in our society, companies feel it necessary to protect themselves against people getting hurt if they offer a tool to encourage exercising (such as my new pedometer).

Holla at the tour of california. And Holla at Kiel and Kevin at the Valley of the Sun Stage Race.

Dorkfest 2007

So, if any of you are curious about this goofy winter triathlon thing I've been doing, here's a bit of info to educate and amuse you. I suggest you check out the official website for the race I'm doing in Italy: trigransanbernardo.it. Since you're all fluent in Italian, it should be very informative. At the very least, you can check out the web cam, which is nice. If you're totally bored out of your mind, you can watch a video from the race I did up at Winter Park a couple weekends ago: insidetri.com. It's under the recent videos tab. Looks just splendid doesn't it? I'm afraid that if you're one of those latte-sipping hipsters who's too cool for a PC, this video won't work. So sorry. I suppose you'll just have to satisfy yourself with this photo of me going head-to-head with Nat Ross. I'll be leaving on the 27th, and who knows, maybe I'll find a saucy little Italian gal and settle down in a Roman villa, wiling away the days with wine and bocce. Either way, I'll be sure to write.

Two Forties On Top In NM

As the Front Range of Colorado continues with the deep freeze winter, the Blur and 80's Freak Tietzel were on the top of the Sandia Peak hovering over Albuquerque, NM letting the world know that the Fort will dominate overall!



The Blur is now in AZ getting ready to throw down at the Valley of the Sun Race, while 80's Freak continues to log the base down in NM. The rest of the Fort is busy keeping up the presence at the local raging parties around Boulder.

Three Greats

First and foremost, Spencer, the salad queen, represented the Chamois Army Fort by qualifying today to go to the 2007 Winter Triathlon World Championship on March 3 in Flassen, Italy. Fyeah! He walloped all except two competitors to take third in the 8K run, 15K bike ride and 10K ski loop.

Second, I'd like to introduce to the Chamois Army Fort, Lauren. Lauren is a nubile aloe vera plant and will join Pat and the other plants on the microwave and toaster getting the sunrise every morning.

Thirdly, some hooligans (of whom I am jealous) skied a gully on the third flatiron in Boulder. Check out an article from the local paper: http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/feb/02/boulder-pair-pioneer-ridiculous-flatirons-ski/

Now let the chamois army fort keep representing.....