Yes it has been a while since I wrote anything. I took a trip, then have gotten bogged down with work related activities since. Hard to say that work is getting in my way, when it is summer and I have responsibility for two summer classes with a total of 3 students. Don't worry, I do not get paid for any of that. I was suppose to have a class the second 4 weeks summer session, but it was canceled because of budget constraints. I offered to teach it for free, and was told that I was already teaching two classes for free, so could not teach any other conference classes. Still I have a lot of things to do, most related to organizing for the fall semester and getting my stuff ready for the promotion/tenure process.
I did take a nice trip to western Colorado. I had not been to Colorado since 2000, when the whole family went to the YMCA to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary. This trip was fun because my daughter and I were signed up to the same meeting in Glenwood Springs, so she, my wife and her not boy friend all took ten days to drive out and back. At first I packed a bike, but then realized that there was not going to be enough room in the van, so took it out. I should have left my helmet gloves and bike clothes in the car, but they went out with the bike.
A year ago we went to Portland Oregon. I was told the weather is usually cool and wet. We were there for ten days and it was sunny and 70's into the low 80's the whole time. Here I was in the mountains for ten days and it was sunny and in the 80's even the low 90's. So I contended with heat as well as altitude. The altitude was more of a problem than I wanted it to be, though I am sure most was in my mind rather than physiological. We did walk a lot, and I really lost breath only when I tried to go up the side of the mountains too quickly. My wife and I rented bikes in Glenwood Springs. We rode for about an hour and a half and it was all I really wanted.
I can't say that I enjoyed riding the bike, partly the frequent changes in the path up or down, partly that the altitude made effort more difficult, and I was out of breath quickly when the path turned up. It is so strange to ride a rental bike, partly that it was not well adjusted and the front hub was too tight, and the rear too loose. Mostly it was that I did not have my shoes, helmet, gloves and most of all mirror. The little things that make riding a continuous experience.
The trails and paths were very well maintained, and we saw a lot of people riding bikes. I think there is a concrete path running near I70 from beyond Glenwood Springs east to Denver, but at least Aspen and Vale. The mountains are a weird place for me. There are times when I am going down hill that I feel like I am going up hill, and times when I am going uphill that I feel like I was on the level or even going downhill. When I drove west, I seemed to be driving downhill much of the time after we went through the tunnel near the continental divide. When I drove back east I realized that there were considerable variations up and down. When on the bike it was the same way.
I did find some very good BBQ in a little town outside of Denver called Idaho Springs. We stopped there after we got through Denver on our way out, and found a nice hotel. We ended up staying there for several nights and using it as a staging point for forays back into Denver and into the surrounding area. We really liked the town a great deal.
Smokin Yard's BBQ was near the hotel, and we stopped into try it. I had the usual brisket and fries.
The brisket was wonderful, thinly sliced and a nice flavor. They had a nice menu, with a wide variety of offerings....including cream corn!
It was a nice atmosphere....clean, nice but not fancy.
It is to bad that it is so far away.....
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