Baaarrr in them hills!

May 29, 2013

Greetings = Shalom = Namaste = Feliz Cabeza.

I hope your Memorial Day weekend was a fulfilling and enjoyable one.  Mine was good.  I went to Colorado where marijuana was recently legalized.  Although I expected vendors to be hawking various varieties of bud, I instead encountered throngs of youngish fittish people with an average of 1.5 tattoos and 0.3 babies/individual.  There were also quite a few bicyclers.  And a rusty old Schwinn cruiser for sale for $299.  I found myself in the pleasant hamlet of Manitou Springs, where I walked around the shopping area for a while with a recently hatted Baby Snot in a Baby Bjorn.  I astutely noted some mountainous terrain in the nearbyness and thusly proposed a family expedition for which I was banished to the steepness by my humble self.  

As I have stated previously, I apologize for the increased cutesy baby-oriented lingo that will henceforth be unavoidable in these postings.  Baby Snot inflicts his influence, much like a tornado, with no regard to consequences for me or anyone else.

I gathered half of my wits together and ambled amiably towards the mountains.  It was at the base of the steep terrain that I found a sign with a map which illustrated the path of a trail called Barr Trail that I intended to explore for approximately 2 hours. I found that the path extended all the way up to the summit of Pike’s Peak!  

Pretty cool!  I realized that I didn’t have time to get there (13 miles from the trailhead), but I was wearing my “active” flip-flops so I gamely embarked upon some switchbacks to make up for the 20 hours or so of car time involved in getting out to the happy little trees and jolly mountains. 

Here are some of the fun things I viewed upon my walk.

I also met a couple with some hefty packs who were returning.  “Did you go all the way to the peak?” I inquired, jaw agape.  “Almost.  Snow was too deep.”  “Wow!  Musta been fun!” I exclaimed enthusiastically.  My enthusiasm was not returned.

I also met a couple of guys who were headed up to tackle the standard route, a snow route called Y Couloir which can apparently be seen from the highway. 

Here was a steep trail that headed in the same general direction as the switchbacks.

I think they are like those flagellants performing penance, or those prostrating circumambulating monks or something.

Crowded place, but I enjoyed experiencing some good naturely ambling before returning back to the family.

I returned home to find that I had received another one of the persistent advertisements from the Bike Rack informing me that the BR now has a advocacy guy who will keep us all informed about the state of bicycle advocacy-type issues here in the O-ha.  That is pretty great.  Especially since our current pro-bicycle mayor, one Jimothy Suttle, will soon be replaced by a different mayor whose attitude towards the plight of the humble bicycle and its tenders (i.e., bicyclers) is (like most things) not clear to me. 

As you were probably already aware, Here is an interview with Sarah Johnson of Omaha Bicycle Company on a blog called The Crux.

Hey did you realize the 33rd annual Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska (BRAN) starts this weekend!?  Well it does!  The theme for this year’s ride may be the Historic Highway Tour and begins out at Kimball, Nebraska.  Best wishes BRANiacs!  Please send me a postcard or something.  

Toodles.