A beautiful day for a Triple Bypass

We did it! John, my mom, dad and I completed the Triple Bypass. The alarm woke us up at 4:15 am Saturday morning and after a quick breakfast it was off to Evergreen. It wasn't hard to figure out where to go, there were cars carrying road bikes everywhere. With 3500 riders registered, it was a sea of bikes as we arrived in Evergreen. Just before 6:00 am we were on our bikes and ready to go. The bike tour starts out serious with a long climb up Juniper (Squaw) Pass (Mile Post: 15). We had gorgeous views from the top of the pass.

The top of Juniper Pass 11,140 ft

After a speedy decent down Juniper Pass, we rode through Idaho Springs. As we approached town, there were people lining the streets ringing bells and cheering. This was something we had not expected, but there were groups of cheering people all along the tour. It was really nice to have the support and encouragement.

The high point, Loveland Pass 11,990 ft. This was a very long climb so we were all very happy to be at the top (Mile Post: 60).

[[Husband Log 0001: We had fun and everyone rode with great enthusiasm and endurance. With Lindsay's knee still giving her minor issues (though thankfully not as bad as before the addition of reinforced insoles in her shoes) and Rick not being back to full strength from his not being well, everyone was smart about their pace and saved energy for the last 26 miles (down from Vail Pass). I have been proud of Linds for her endurance through frustration and physical pain as we trained for this ride and am hopeful that some rest will do her knee well. BTW, going 40mph down Loveland pass on newly paved asphalt was really fun! End Husband Log 0001]]

The top of Vail Pass 10,560 ft. All four of us felt a huge sense of accomplishment to be at the top of the last pass. It's downhill from here (Mile Post: 94)!

It was surprising how much fun we had on such a challenging ride.

Sharing the days stories and stuffing our faces (Mile Post: 120).

If you would like to read more about the Triple Bypass, here are some good links.
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070716/SPORTS/70716004
http://teamevergreen.org/

One more week!

Saturday was our last long ride before the Triple Bypass. We had hoped to do one hundred miles, but the rain changed our plans. We did end up riding eighty-four miles and we both felt pretty good afterwards. I guess all that training has made a difference. I hope we do this well on July 14th.

Here we are at the top of Pinewood reservoir.



Team "E"!



Going down!

Pagosa Springs

John and I spent this past weekend in Pagosa Springs with my side of the family. We stayed in a great cabin at the base of Wolf Creek Pass. Its always fun when this group of family gets together. We are blessed that my grandparents make these gatherings possible by providing a place to stay. Everyone had such a great time there are already plans in place to do it again next year.

The Faris House

With the Triple Bypass just one month away, we couldn't give up too much training time. We were able to get in a couple of rides, one of which was up Wolf Creek Pass. We rode with my parents since they will also be riding the Triple next month. My Aunt joined us, we had to be careful that she didn't show us up on her mountain bike! The rest of the trip was spent hiking, relaxing and enjoying the hot springs. The boys did quite a bit of fishing.

Pagosa hot springs



Drinking Mojitos while the boys fished



Mountain Sunsets

Count down: Triple Bypass

The Triple Bypass is only forty days away! Our training schedule has been getting more and more serious. We ride five days a week and we're increasing the distances of our routes. The longest ride so far has been about fifty-two miles. We both have noticed that we feel a lot stronger, twenty mile rides seem very easy. Its great to see the training paying off. We are looking forward to this fun challenge.

The big ride

Training hard

Why we do it. Above all else, it's God's beautiful creation that motivates us to get out and ride.

Memorial weekend desert trip

Memorial weekend 2007, once again we drove to the middle of nowhere and attempted to stuff numerous people down a canyon. It has become a tradition, these last few years to hike slot canyons over memorial weekend. Last year, we hiked Upper Chute Canyon and Bluejohn Canyon. This year, we hiked Moonshine Canyon and returned to Bluejohn Canyon to hike a different branch. We entered Bluejohn through the east wing again, and then we hiked the west branch instead of doing the main branch. The west branch of Bluejohn wasn't quite as impressive and it was a little less technical. We had a very large group, so a shorter less technical route was a good choice.

Climbing out of Moonshine.

A sheep bridge across Moonshine Canyon. I don't think I would want to cross it!

Hiking through Bluejohn. This was a small obstacle, a down climb with some water. Other parts of the canyon required class three and four scrambling, repelling and hand lines.

Robber's Roost, UT just outside of Canyonlands National Park.

Common Globe Mallow, one of the many blooming desert flowers.

Fun in the Park

Last Saturday, most of Team Junk Show got together for a fun day of biking and skiing in Rocky Mountain National Park. Part of Trailridge road is still closed, so we brought bikes and trailers. We managed to haul ourselves, our gear, BBQ and beer to Upper Hidden Valley. Some of our genius friends even rigged up a trailer with ski racks! After our short ride, we skinned up to the ridge of Upper Hidden Valley and had a nice slushy run back down to the road. Such a great day for some spring skiing. The rest of the day was spent eating hamburgers and brats, basking in the sun and taking turns attempting to kill ourselves on a jump we found. It was a beautiful day in the Park with wonderful friends. (Go to the photo album to see more pictures)

Do we have enough gear?

The jump



A beautiful day and a beautiful view.

Rocky Mountain Raptor Program

I have recently begun volunteering with the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program here in Fort Collins. Volunteering with RMRP is an amazing experience. The program specializes in rehabilitating injured birds and releasing them back to the wild. I am learning to feed and care for birds of prey. I am now learning to handle the birds, educate the public and tend to minor medical needs. Here are some pictures of birds, hope you enjoy! I am sure there will be many more pictures to share in the future.

Rough-legged Hawk

Peregrine Falcon

Great Horned Owl