Pooks Canyon

It all started with iPhone alarms going off at 6am. Yes, we're on vacation in Mexico... Jon Baker style! We sleepily pulled on our cycling finest and wandered, spandex-clad, toward the main drag in search of a taxi. In the dark. The full crew was Jon, my brother-in-law Richard, my nephew Robert, my dad and myself; we were on the first leg of a bike ride that was to include taxis, buses and even a boat. We arrived at BikeMex on Guerrero where Oscar, the proprietor, set us up with the necessities. Guide, check. Sandwiches, check. Helmet and Gloves, check. Several bikes in varying states of repair, check. In the dawn light we rode through the cobbled streets of Puerto Vallarta to a bus stop where Oscar attempted to deposit us on the next bus to El Tuito. After much exchange with the driver it was determined we would wait for the next bus. The wait was nearly an hour. Standing at a Mexican bus stop wearing spandex - when the working people are all getting on the bus to go t...

Here's what we've been doing instead of blogging... Leah started Middle School. Here she is annoyed to have her picture taken while waiting in line to have her picture taken. I guess that is kind of annoying, but as it turns out, this is a more "natural Leah" photo than the school portrait. The school portrait has the forced smile that is de rigueur for middle school students. Axel started Big Boy school at the local Montessori Elementary (Pre-K to Fifth grade). Here he is dwarfed by the gym/stage/cafeteria. Axel turned 3 and rode this horse to Steamboat Springs for a mini-vacay. Leah absconded with Axel's cow poke vest and rubber band rifle (BD gifts from Dad). The hat is her own. Grandma gave Axel a lovely wooden US puzzle and a beading toy. All very Montessori-esque. Grandma also came to Steamboat... here she is looking cute and treating us to a Gondola ride. Axel and I at the Gondola Summit. Leah and Axel enjoyed the ride. The next day we babysat Sam wh...

Axel left the dinner table early tonight to burn off some calories on the push bike. Jon and I watched Axel put on one of Jon's medals from Salida and proceed to circle around shouting, "I'm in the Tour de France" and "I'm winning." I figured that, come 2029, the press will want this footage so I busted out the camera and here you go. Then Jon decided to fashion him an outfit from an old kit:

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Posted by Mr. Pooks: Hanging out at the Fiskingtons place here in Salida after the road race. Not a bad spot!

Axel took a brief moment to relax this morning.

The new car has arrived and is in the driveway. The haggling was fun; we got a great APR, a phat 100k bumper to bumper warranty and were nicely below MSRP. It's the biggest little car ever! I think the Cube made me spell fat like that.

Last summer, after our 2005 Subaru Outback had an $8,000 engine problem a few miles over the warranty expiration (of course) we have been a one car household. Making the one car thing work is actually not very difficult here in Boulder, especially when you're a 20 bike household! The only real problem has been that the one car is a decade old, 115 k miles, 4-seater, 2-door Ford coupe with no A/C. While overseas we have noticed the "boxy" cars are somewhat popular, they offer lots of space without the poor fuel economy of an SUV. Enter the Nissan cube. It is this quirky Japanese box on wheels- very popular in Japan for 10 years now but just introduced to the US market for 2009. Jon says it is like an SUV, but with twice the fuel economy at half the price. As much as I know this shape of car will produce ire in "curvy car" lovers, I actually love the design. I think the shape is just too functional to disregard and I love the asymmetrical rear window and oth...

Today is mountainbike monday and my usual partner in crime had planned a 5 hour road ride instead (dangit Jon). So I'm going it alone up at Betasso Preserve. I was stopped to take a picture of the pretty flowers when another biker started down the hill. I went to pull my bike out of the way so as not to be rude when the other rider says,"Hi Cyndi!" It was Lester, my friend Laura's hubby (and GM at University Bikes). He said he had to get back to work or he would've done another loop with me. So, oh well, still going it alone. I took a pic of Lester, too, since I had my camera out and all.

It all started in an epic hail storm just west of Golden. The battery light came on and as the miles ticked away the digital clock started to dim and the speedometer stopped working. When Jon announced that the battery light had turned off I was briefly encouraged until I realized that the battery was too dead to illuminate the light anymore. We were heading to Breckenridge for a mountain bike race and by this point we were still 40 miles from our destination. The last thing to go was the engine; it died on Interstate 70 just past the exit for Silver Plume. So Jon, clever boy, turns the still-rolling vehicle hard right down the “on” ramp. Yes, we went the wrong way down an I-70 on-ramp without turn signals and brake lights- which were dead, of course. Would you believe it if I told you we coasted right into the driveway of an auto repair garage? We see that the garage looks closed up but attached is a bar called Grumpy’s and it looks open. As we step through the thre...