BICYCLE COLORADO...Click on this and Sign petition to stop the insanity!

**ACTION ALERT**
The Colorado State Patrol has added an alarming new policy banning the biggest bicycle events in Colorado! Their new policy limits bicycle and triathlon events to 2,500 riders, but this limit can be lowered at any time putting every event at risk. Bicycle tours, races, charity rides, group rides, and triathlons are all affected.

went on a COOOOOLD ride today up fourmile canyon in boulder (which by the way is not 4 miles, don't be fooled)

I remember when i first moved to boulder and decided to climb up fourmile canyon and kept waiting for those four miles to be over. it should be called 7 mile canyon. i think i will start a petition to rename it.

this is boulder creek, notice that there is ice along the rocks and up above it was frozen over! danm it was cold today.

the view from poorman rd. (above fourmile) i guess a poorman named this road, wonder if he/she named fourmile too.

The Biggest Loser

NBC.com > The Biggest Loser > Contestants > Matt
Biggest Loser season finale is on tonight and Jon and I want Matt to win.

Jon was our chauffeur back to boulder from beaver creek. The weather was not something any of us like to drive in. We are warm weather folk, and Jon is an expert snow driver.

griffin captures gracen in the laundry basket. good times in beaver creek.

we get home tomorrow and we are going to miss the kid's antics.

we watched rudolph the red nosed reindeer again for the third time today, and fifteenth time this week.


my favorite character: the abominable snowman.


griffin's reaction to the abominable snowman. griffin seemed to have inherited the fisk gene of being able to make people laugh with funny faces.

Sam and Jane Tarkington had us over for a great thanksgiving dinner in Denver tonight.


Here is the clan enjoying the festivities.


There was one major mishap during the Thanksgiving baking process. Jane failed at an attempt to warm the rolls that she made, instead of turning the burners on low she turned them on high (and had this, still burning while i took the picture, dishtowel down in between the burner and the dish full of rolls). Funny thing is, she did the exact same thing last year.

The result was...


a lot of us standing outside while the house aired out.

which way to the topless skiing?

opening day at beaver creek.


Jon on his retro telemarking rossingnol slalom skis from 1975 with low all leather boots and some crappy bindings. He gets stopped by random people on the slope to check out his gear. Jon knows how to take telemarking to the extreme.

griffin and jon all dolled up and ready to hit the snow


gracen and mimi posing for a photo before our adventure up to the skating rink.


on our way up to the rink griffin and gracen stopped to make some snow angels. it was hard for griffin to move in his michelin man suit, you can kinda get that feel from the photo.


me skating with gracen, this is a shot of when i would skate with her really fast and she would just hang on for the ride.


oh, and here is the picture of when there was a bear prancing around us on our walk home from the rink. my dad was getting all big, waving his arms up in the air, and saying "git" (with a texan accent, like you are supposed to do), but it still wasn't scared of us. my adrenaline was running fast, and my quick thinking to grab the trusty ol' camera and scare the bear with the flash worked. he ran after i took this pic. (not that the bear is actually in the picture, but believe me, he is out there in the darkness somewhere)

You may think the above phone is extinct, but it isn't. This suitcase cell phone (yes, it has service when turned on) has been riding around in his trunk of Sam Tarkington's car for the past decade.

Congrats to the Tarkingtons, they are moving on to the modern era with new cell phones today!

SyRae came over tonight for some pizza and to check out my ebay stuff for sale. Click here for current cycling and skiing goods for sale...

went for a ride with the VC girls yesterday and they are climbing like animals in november. i was sucking wind up lookout mountain while they were all very "chatty". oh well, i'll get my fitness back sometime in the next month or two. hopefully with the upcoming three santa barbara camps jon's teton cycling is hosting in feb. we will get some serious climbing and miles under our belts.

jon and i exploring south texas on four wheelers

jill, griffin and gracen going for an ATD (so griffin calls it) ride.

There are so many things to do in south texas.

For instance:



shoot clay birds



sleep



dress up like helicopter traffic news personnel



roast marshmallows and throw flames out of your mouth with a shot of everclear. (joke, i had the camera on a weird setting)



pull your chair really close to the television so no one else can see



go fishing with the croc hunter



and the most fun thing to do in south texas is to pretend like you are the deer you shot earlier that morning.



remember the alamo??? pee wee herman's got nothing on our big adventures.

okay kids, we are back from our TX trip. blogging with photos to start up within the day. i have to get every one caught up on the trip, which may be a bit long so bare with me. jon had a couple posts from there, and one really funny one that happened last night as we tried to get exit row seating on the flight home. i was rolling all over the frontier counter. i think people may think i am a cradle robber, or he is my 17 year old son. who knows...

Postings will stop for a week.

I am taking a much needed blog break.

Bridget came over for a little wild oats take out food and found out that the container that they pack stuff in is not microwave safe. I thought I would pass on that important note to some of my health conscious readers...

the not so much microwave safe quart sized bowl turned into a plastic plate.

after the fun, "baking with Bridget" episode we watched trading spouses on the fox network (that station always has quality t.v.) anyway, a lady freaked out on the show about God and the devil and made us all very uneasy.

Take a look for yourself and follow this link... click on the video. A must for everyone's TiVo!

so many of you wanted a pic, this is the best i can do... update on my bee sting is that my lip isn't big anymore, but when it was i looked like this.



(i want to give a shout out to the magical programmers at adobe)

today on my bike ride i was riding along in some horrible boulder wind (check link here) when i felt something fly into my mouth. knowing it was some kind of flying object i was quick to spit it out. it tasted like chemicals, very strange, anyway, i guess while spitting out the bug it decided to sting me and take "bee stung" lips to another level. i was fine for about ten minutes and then i realized that my lower lip was swelling pretty badly. (like bubba on forrest gump) right when i realized that another flying object (due to the crazy wind) hit me hard on the cheek, i swear it was a bird, but think i would have more damage. who knows what that was...

then i decide since my lip is so damn swollen i should get home. on my way home, a woman on the wrong side of the bike path in boulder pops out of an underpass and i go screeching while losing my back tire to the right to avoid her and end up in the ditch. luckily i have no damage, except the ego.

let's just say it was a really bad day of riding, this is on the top 3 worst days of riding on my list.

griffin takes after his uncle jon when it comes to consuming frosting.

KITTY...

photo in lyons on our group ride today. (sharon on her tip toes, no she is not 10 feet tall) this is the first ride both anne and i have done in over four months that was just over three hours. it will make our normal coffee shop rides seem like nothing next time we go out.

jon at the louisville cyclocross race today. in this photo he just attacked his bunch and was sitting in fifth place. i was very impressed with his effort. i guess his lighter tires, and cyclocross races have really paid off!

jon and i after the race, he is looking pretty tired.

the perfect coffee at amante, where the cool kids hang out.

renee shows us how to STAND on the fit ball. she could even do squats on it.

i try and fail to stand on the fitball.

sharon and anne playing with anne's sweet elvis doo.

had a good night with the valenti kids. ate some mongolian beef with rice and then played some ready 2 rumble II. chris was really good at it, i think it was his lucky hat.

jon hates playstation 2 fighting games, here he is not too thrilled that we are playing it.

had a lucky ladybug ride today! can you see it?