A nice day.

The weather here has been all Colorado lately. Hot all day long, with scattered strong storms every evening as the cool air comes down off the mountains.
Yesterday was nice for me. It was around 100 degrees, so I decided to skip the gym which is still very hot despite the AC and go for a ride on my motorcycle. Fortunately the weather cooperated and I was able to make my commute to work about 3 times as long.
I rode to Lyons and took rt 7 from there. I recently started reading Twist of the Wrist 2 by Keith Code as some continuing education for motorcycling, something that I think is important in general and specifically since I am soon to get a more powerful bike. Alot of the book contradicts what they taught us in the msf basic riders class, but it all makes sense!
Yesterday was really the first day I was able to practice some of his ideas and suggestions and I feel as though I am a much better rider already, though I have yet to finish the book. Normally I would spend my time going up switching between fourth and fifth gear, but yesterday I was able to ride it all in fifth until I caught up to some traffic. I feel more confident and better in turns. Unfortunately I did find myself wishing I had the power of my new bike to be able to pass the traffic I caught, but soon enough.
From there I took 72 south to Nederland, and then 119 down Boulder Canyon to Boulder. I caught up to some Harley riders and found their cornering horrible. I would start in a turn maybe 50 feet behind the guy and end up right on his ass. It was kind of scary to see him braking in a turn, which is a big nono as it can cause skidding.
One of Mr. Codes theories is that alot of accidents are caused by rider fear- am I going too fast, is the bike tracking correctly, sliding, etc. A common reaction is to then tense up which can turn fear into actual problems and crashes. His advice is to relax and allow the bike to do what it is designed to do.
There was only once that I felt I might have been going too fast and freaked out a little- felt my heart race briefly, tensed up, tightened up on the grips. I had to tell myself to relax and put into practice the lessons that I read. And it worked of course.
It was a nice ride. Up in the mountains the temps were in the 70's rather than 100's. The only bad part is that I got stuck behind someone the whole way down Boulder Canyon. It is hard to pass because the road is so twisty, I don't have the power to accelerate that rapidly, and he kept braking though every turn, contrary to what you want to do on a motorcycle. So I would have to keep my distance before entering a turn.
A nice day in Colorado!

Time.

Time goes by so quickly. It seems like May just started and now it is gone. I keep meaning to write but I guess I don't really have all that much to say anyway.
May was strange weather wise. We were still pretty cold and getting snow and winter storm watches mid way through the month. Then the heat turned on and it has been pretty warm since. That is good for riding my motorcycle but bad for pretty much anything else.
This winter was strange. I have heard several people say it was the worst in recent memory. I think we ended up with somewhere around 140 inches of snow. The thing that was really bad was the cold. Last winter we also got a fair amount of pretty warm days, but not this year. It was March until the snow in our yard that had fallen since December fully melted. This really put a damper on outdoor activities.
I still have really yet to ride my bike this year. The idea of mountain biking sounds fun but it will be hot and I know it is going to hurt. I don't really feel motivated to ride at all. As far as climbing that is totally different.
I want to climb all the time! I guess this also accounts for my lack of riding motivation. I have been doing some exercises at the gym and I am feeling alot stronger after only a month or so. I feel like I am climbing harder and better. The Spot just got a new wall put in which is pretty cool and was definitely needed. I have been climbing 4-5 days a week, and doing weights on two of those days.
We have been outside a few times, with a trip to Boulder canyon last week and to Estes park/RMNP this week. Boulder canyon was ok. Estes park was kind of not fun. Every problem we tried felt super hard and that is saying something with how strong I have been feeling lately. So we basically hiked for 4 hours with heavy crash pads on our backs. Oh well. It is still fun to be out in the 'wilderness'. It is nice to take a rest and hear nothing besides the wind through the trees and maybe a bird or two.
I always find myself imagining what it must've been like 100 years ago or more when we are up there. Imagine the views without roads or houses or power lines. Must've looked pretty amazing because it is still beautiful now.
I took Gunner to the park twice today. I had nothing to do and he loves it and it also tires him out pretty good. I also feel like I have wasted a day off kind of. I sat inside most of the day and played video games. It's my choice to do so, though I now kind of feel bad for making that choice. It is a different story when I am brewing and essentially need to be around all day to monitor that.
Oh well... a tough cry to rally around...

Catching up.

Sorry I haven't written in a month. Katie kept saying that she was going to update and I kept waiting for her to do so, but she never did! So here I am.
Work has been going ok. April was busy here and there. This weekend should be crazy with both CU's graduation and mothers day happening at the same time. I am preparing myself mentally to be busy!
The weather has been kind of up and down lately. A few nice days here and there, but we have had accumulative snow (in may!) and rain and generally cooler days when compared to what temperatures we should have.
We've been climbing in the gym some, and I have started doing some weights and various exercise to help improve myself. I have been feeling pretty strong for the most part.
Two weeks ago we had a pretty warm day so we decided to get up to RMNP for a climbing day. It was alot of fun! Definitely cooler there than here, so much so that in the shade it was cold, but tshirts sufficed when in the sun. I really love it up there. I think it would be awesome to have a cabin somewhere up in the woods. Though I guess that is a pipe dream as we don't even own a house.
Anyway, the things that felt just out of reach last time we were there felt pretty easy this time, though I still did not finish the line I have been working on. So I guess that is a good sign that I am getting stronger.
In fact, I climbed in the garage the other day and sent two of my long time projects, both on my first tries of the day. So that is a good sign as well.
Katie's new job seems to be going very well. They are giving her a title and she will be salary, which will be good since she won't have to worry about being laid off or having severely reduced hours in the fall. She will be the service manager at the north shop and inventory control manager for both shops once the second location opens. That is good to hear. She should be getting the official offer from them at some point in the next week, so hopefully they are good to her. She is worth it.
I have given away the last of my malt extract beers. Though Katie and my coworkers both seemed to like all of them, I was never really 100% happy (or even 75% happy) with how they turned out. I think I have been getting much better results with all grain recipes. Some of my coworkers have even offered to buy beer from me. I keep responding to that with the obvious legality issues. One of them suggested that I look into getting a liquor license, which I did today, and it looks as though that will be way too expensive for me. Plus I imagine that I would have to undergo some sort of inspection and since my "brewery" is both on non commercial property, and really has no physical set up, I am sure that wouldn't go over well.
However I have been thinking of a possibility where people could donate money to grain purchases and be rewarded for their donation with a share of that or subsequent batches. Sort of a brewing coop in which I would be happy to do all the work since I like to do so. I am still not sure about the legality of this, but at the same time if I am dealing with friends or people I know directly, I don't think there would be much trouble.
We have been getting Gunner out the the dog park at least once a week for the past few weeks. It is great, because he obviously enjoys it and it really tires him out. It's pretty funny because he has little to no interest in the other dogs and people there, unlike most of the other dogs at the park. All he wants to do is play fetch. I am not sure how he got so good at it, but he will bring the ball right back to you every time and drop it at your feet. I remember working with and trying to train Calvin to do so and it never quite worked out. He would bring the ball back, but then run away from you so you would chase him.

Nicer days.

Boulder Canyon looking east.
Finally we are having some nicer days! Yesterday we set a record high. Katie and I both had off so we went to Boulder Canyon to climb.
We got a bit of a late start because I had to take my motorcycle in for the 10000 mile service (at 10700 miles - a little late). But we eventually made our way to Boulder and up the canyon. We had been at a spot a month or two ago and it was way too cold to climb. We went back to that spot and did a few routes.
I personally still feel quite scared when I am lead climbing outdoors. Strangely enough, I didn't feel this in SoIll. Maybe it's because here you feel so exposed. Literally climbing a cliff from a 10 foot wide section of flat rock overlooking a 100 ft drop and still several hundred feet down to the road after that. I guess that makes it a little scary and hard to concentrate and not have that fear.
One of the routes we did in Illinois was very run out - only 3 bolts in 50-60 feet and here they are every 8 feet or so. Yet in Illinois I felt perfectly calm. There you are in the canyon that is only 50-60 feet deep with big towers and trees all around you.
Anyway I did get a few good pictures..

Clouds above the ridge.

Katie cleaning our first route of the day.

Katie at the top of a scary 5.9.

Katie cleaning another route.
I heard from the motorcycle shop today and there are a few things they want to repair in addition to the service. Looks like this is going to cost me some money. Ugh. Oh well.
I have also started another blog to deal with my brewing adventures - rosebrewing.blogspot.com. I plan on also featuring reviews of commercially available beers that I drink. This one will be reserved for bikes and boulders and other goings on in our lives. I have added Katie as an author, so expect to see some posts from her as well.

and so on.

Finally got out for a ride this past week. We had three beautiful days in the 60's and then got snow yesterday. It looks like we only got 4 inches or so here, but I read parts of Boulder got 25+! Crazy.
I have been able to ride my motorcycle more often lately. I am still not able to ride every day since due to the weather, but at least I am off the bus sometimes. It started right up when I got it out of storage (the garage), so that is good. Hopefully within the next month I will be able to sell it and get a new ride.
Work has been alright. Things have slowed down a bit after a busy February. It is nice to have some slower nights, but I made really good money last month.
It has now been a year since we adopted Gunner! I am really happy about that and I think he is too. He has really come along way from the scared dog we got on day one. I think alot of his fear issues have been resolved, though he still has some odd tendencies here and there. Katie got him a new toy and I gave him his Kong with PB and food for dinner. I am very glad we got him and I can't imagine life without him!


Chef's fourth birthday was also the other day. He is such a sweet cat with tons of personality. I was looking at the little kitten pictures we have of him. Such a cutie. He got big so quick.
I am still working on my application for cu. It looks like I won't be done in time for fall. At this point I have yet to even look at the Fasfa, still have to get transcripts and so on. Starting in the spring would also give me more time to save up some money.
I currently have three batches of beer fermenting. The wild beer has been aging in the garage for a bit over three weeks now and I will bottle it this week. Two weeks ago I made a Grisette, which is a Belgian style similar to Saison, but of lower alcohol. This one should end up in the 3.5-4% abv range. It was made to be a light, refreshing summer beer. It will have the fruity and spicy yeast character of a stronger ale(along with refreshing hops), but you'll be able to have a few without getting wrecked. It is currently in the secondary fermenter with some oak cubes and chips.
This past week I brewed a now more traditional strength Saison, that should end up around 6+ percent alcohol. Unfortunately I knocked my hydrometer on the ground by accident so I didn't get an initial gravity reading. I used a different kind of mashing procedure called decoction mashing. It worked very well, however I made one mistake in my calculations and that was to use 212 as the boiling point of water. Here that number is around 203. Oh well, now I know for next time.
Anyway, I wanted to make both of these now so they will have some time to age before the summer comes around. I used the same yeast for both, so all I had to do was empty the primary fermenter and dump the new batch in.
I am going to transfer the Saison to the secondary in which I have the wild beer, adding some oak as well as a wild yeast and bacteria blend, in addition to not cleaning the fermenter out. This should give me a very complex and somewhat sour end product, which is how Saison once was according to my research. I also got some whole hops to dry hop with. Should be pretty amazing.

5 years!

Well, today marks five years since the last day of my cancer treatment and at this point i am considered 'cured'. It feels good to be alive. So many good things have happened in my life since then.
I decided to celebrate with a special beer. This is a bottle of Unibroue 10, a belgian style strong ale brewed by Unibroue to celebrate their tenth anniversary in 2002. I must have bought it sometime shortly after. I remember reading their information and them saying it could stand up to ten years or more of aging. While I did try a bottle back then, I made a promise with myself that I would hold onto this bottle for as long as possible. It is marked 3-3-2002 so I made it 8 years. It tastes great. It is a good occasion to have it and celebrate, but sad because I know I will never have another.

Pasta d'oh!

Since I know my sister just got her pasta maker, I figured I would post the dough recipe I use.
1.5 c semolina flour
1.5 c all purpose flour
1 t salt
1.25 c warm water
Mix all the dry in a bowl, add the wet, and mix until it starts to come together (there will still be loose, dry flour). Dump this out onto the counter and knead 3-5 minutes until the mixture is smooth. You may not incorporate all the loose flour, that is ok. At this point, you can cut the ball into four pieces, wrap each tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until needed (if used in the next week or so) or freeze. If you are going to use it immediately, let it rest about ten minutes.
I start by rolling it on number one for about ten passes, folding the dough over on itself after each pass. From there on, I will send it through 3 times per number setting up until five. You will probably have to add some semolina flour to the outsides of the dough to keep it from sticking to itself. When you get to five, let it rest uncovered for about ten minutes. I have been using the fettucini or thicker cutter to cut into pasta.
To cook it, have some boiling salted water ready to go. It'll take only 20-30 seconds to cook. Add your favorite sauce, meatballs, sausage, etc. YUM!