Boy I haven't done this in a while. Biggest news: Cecilia the Wonder Pup!

Mid-summer day's update

Trying to run and ride and work out: it's a lot to do. I've done Mount Evans from Echo Lake, an elevation climb of some 3300 over 14 1/2 miles. In the past few weeks, I've been adding running back into the mix.

Spring / Winter

We're now into Spring: I started living it a little, last Sunday March 17, when I went and rode 40 miles, along the Cherry Creek Trail and the South Platte Trail. Saturday it's supposed to snow. Like everyone here says, "It's Colorado."

Glorious pre-Spring days

Yesterday we had some awesome weather here in Denver: clear skies, and temps near 70. I started up my sputtering running, and got 4.3 miles in: three laps on the wonderful crushed gravel trail that goes around Cheesman Park. My time was not bad considering how little running I've done lately.

Moving along

On December 31, I joined a new gym, the Colorado Athletic Club. Great gym, located downtown, at the Tabor Center. It's about 2.7 miles from home - I ride my bike to get there. I also started up running again. It's going okay too, except we've had some really cold weather. One day when I ran it was 7F! I ran yesterday and it was a wonderful day: high maybe near 52. I ran 4.2 miles ...

New Years 2013 Update

Well Christmas and New Years have come and gone. Things are going well. Fannie the Supadog loves the cold weather here.

New chapter: new life

So much has happened in the past few months. First off, RAGBRAI was a complete success, even though it was one of the hottest on record. Four days of the seven, it got over 100 F. Dick and I did very well, with the worst thing being a flat tire.

There are so many other things that have gone on. I retired from USDA back in July; it's been the best decision I've made in years. Since my retirement, I made the decision to get serious about my relationship with Bob, and move to Denver where he lives. This is another great decision.

These decisions bring in other decisions to be made, that have been made. First big one: what do I do with the condo I live in? Do I sell it or rent it? I went for both, and it turned out that I ended up renting the place.

In the middle of all that, I made two other decisions: to take a 20-day vacation to Spain, and then also to pace my friend Jose for 13 miles in the Marine Corps Marathon. I had not run seriously in quite a while, and was focusing on bicycling for RAGBRAI the whole year. Both decisions were great. Spain was awesome - you can see pix about it here - and the MCM results were good. Jose did very well, far better than his goal of 4 hours, and I kept him on pace for the nine miles that we were together. I did not do 13, but the nine we did together was such a wonderful thing. It made me want to do a marathon again.

So after the wonderfulness of an amazing vacation and spiritual run, back to those pesky real world decisions. How do I move out? How do I get there? I ended up paying movers to move my stuff, and I bought a truck to drive Fannie and me from DC to Denver. It was a great drive. Along the way, I stopped by to see or stay with four sets of family: my sister Alice, my niece Michelle, my cousin Diane, and my brother Daniel. It took four days, and the weather was dry the whole time. This was important as my truck had no cover.

We left on Election Day, November 6. I went to vote at around 7 AM, and waited in line about one hour. I had voted at the same station 4 years ago, and this year's election did not have the same excitement, but it still felt like a positive thing, despite the slowness of the movement in the line.

I wanted to take off right after voting, but it took many hours to pack the truck and get the bike packed and shipped and all. I left around 2 in the afternoon, many hours late. By the time I got to the first night's stop in Columbus Ohio, and checked in to the hotel it was about 11. After getting settled in the room, I turned the tv on. Within a few minutes, they announced that Obama had won the reelection and that Ohio's win was what brought him over the 270 he needed. It was an auspicious start of the trip.

We made it to our new home about 5:20 in the afternoon on Friday November 9. The weather held out the whole time, and the next day it started to rain and then snow. By the following morning, there were maybe 2 inches of snow and it was 18 degrees. Fannie and I were both happy as clams.

The new home is right next to Cheesman Park, a wonderful city park in Denver. We walk in the park several times every day. By the time I write this, it's been just over two weeks. I still have much unpacking to do, but the place is starting to look like home.

I even have a new job! I start at UPS on Monday!