You know your dog is spoiled when…

1. You don’t know when your next paycheck will be, but yet you go ahead and buy your dog a new toy.

2. You consider permenantly cutting a hole in the side of your house to make it easier for your dog to go in and out of the house.

3. It’s over 100 degrees outside and you go down to the basement where it’s cooler to lay down on the couch where the fan is pointed only to find your dog already there and decide to suck it up and go sleep where it’s hot upstairs.

4. You change your daily schedule to come home and check on your dog.

Feel free to add your own by adding a comment.

Cycling in the Rain

So yesterday, after being inspired by watching the Tour de France on TV and hearing from Shannon that she is going to get to ride with Lance, I decided that even though it was lightly sprinkling to go out and go for a ride.

A few days ago, I had purposely driven around up here to try and find roads that would work out and eventually I found a way that roads would connect and give me a distance that would be quick enough to do on a moments notice, but long enough to make a good workout. I was trying to find something in the 35-40 mile range, and eventually after finding roads, and then grading them on how smooth they looked, how busy they were, how big of a shoulder they had, I eventually came up with this giant Sudoku puzzle to deal with. I solved it though, and as a bonus, at the end of the route was a giant hill. I immediately named it the Col de Quail Run.

I left the house and was in an okay mood until I realized that the sidewalk that I thought went all the way through wasn’t completed in two spots so I had to hop onto a busy road for two short sections at the beginning, and then the crossover over I-76 was busy, but at least traffic was slow.

I was pushing it and made it up and over some of the smaller hills and finally got to the large hill at the end that I named the Col de Quail Run. Why did I name it that? I don’t know, because any good hill needs a name, and 152nd Ave sidestreet doesn’t sound threatening enough.

I cranked it up the hill without changing to the small ring (granny gear) but I was about to pass out at the top when a guy who owned the property at the top of the hill said, “You’re the first biker I’ve seen come up this hill.” I responded, “Oh really? Well, I bet it’s a lot more fun going down.”

I turned around at the top and realized I averaged 16.7 mph for the 17 miles going out. That’s a little faster than I wanted to average. And that’s when the rain started hitting me in the face. I went down the giant hill but instead of pushing it, I just let gravity guide me down.

Then the rain picked up.

I thought about calling Colleen to come get me but she was busy doing other things. I never called but the rain got to the point where I couldn’t see where I was going, my shoes were soaked, my jersey was dirty and my hands were starting to prune up. I had over an hour left in my ride. But I persevered.

Upon arriving back at the ranch, I immediately got out some ice cream and had an appropriate post-ride snack.

Next time I’m going to take Ryan.

Rockies Game and Fireworks

Not much happened for Colleen and I over the 4th. Normally we would be hiking but due to unforseen circumstances we stayed at home. On July 3rd we went to the Rockies game thanks to Colleen’s dad for awesome tickets behind home plate. I know I haven’t had seats that close to the action…EVER. It was interesting to watch the pitchers face as he threw the ball..which is slightly faster than in church league slow-pitch softball.

The fireworks were entertaining and it didn’t rain on us at all, which was nice.

On the 4th itself I went on a bike ride with Ryan to the flagship REI and back. It was about 24 miles round trip. We had a great time and enjoyed having a frapp halfway through the ride. Although, something tells me there’s a reason the riders in the Tour don’t drink that much sugar while riding…bleh!

Finally I worked on the basement arranging the office and running electricity the the newly installed recessed lighting by yours truly. Obviously I didn’t electricute myself, so I have that going for me. Which is nice.