Lotsa easier climbing too! Highroller pulls down hard in the December sunshine.

You're invited! Spring (-ish) getaway to points south going down the last week of March. A night in Taos area will be followed by a couple days mtb around Silver City, NM and the Gila National Forest before we slide down the road to City of Rocks for some serious bouldering (see pic) and hot springs action! RSVP to Chainsaw if'n you're interested.

Bah! and they say "real" men don't eat quiche. If there had been any real men around I would have had to fight them off with a shovel but as it was just Chainsaw and myself we arm wrestled for it. Later she said it tasted as good as it looked.

Footsoldier takes a bullet!

Cheese-O apparently got the worst of a tussle with Vasquez Cirque, or perhaps more accurately, the catwalk back to WP, and put a dinger clear thru his base coat and down to the bare metal over the week-end and is in need of moral support, and a good buff wax! Till we hear it straight from the horse's ass I like to think of him as hovering at Death's door, like a pizza delivery boy 35 minutes into the guaranteed 30 minute delivery. Also send soothing sine waves to Chainsaw who is suffering from some bad juju courtesy of some malcontents in the Everest camp who don't believe marrying me is the wisest course of action. Ha! Bwa ha ha. BwaHA HA Ha I weeeell suck der blood!

What's in your wallet?

Following the excellent Juanita's throwdown for Senor Ash, Chainsaw and Highroller psyched up for the ABS nationals at the Spot on Saturday...and managed to pull some great performances outta the hat! Chainsaw pulled down on 3 Advanced problems and got bumped up while Highroller reeled in one of his best performances despite multiple decks from the very lip of the Hueco boulder. Nationals Sat night was a dramafest culminating with local hardman 15 year old Daniel Wood (La Sportive pro) dynoing for the winning hold with under a minute to go before a jam packed house...good fun good fun! Sunday the Chalet staffers hit the West Ridge at Eldora under bluebird skies and delved deep into the secrets of Salto and Muleshoe glades. Great snow conditions and vacant slopes led to a hard charging session full of survival turns, powder wheelies and big air. Now crippled beyond usefullness the CCC Contingent retreated to the (now) warm and windproof confines of the Chalet...and there was much rejoicing. Super mountain weekend into the (memory) bank.

As close to strippers as we came. TJ dumping our last remaining beer prior to the plane ride back. Why give them money when they are gonna buy beer with it anyway, so we decided to cut right to the chase. 

Sunset. Last night out in Gay Town USA, i.e. the Conch Republic, aka Key West. 

OK, we are missing a couple of things here, namely, the WATER. 

Troy signing autographs for the local chicks. 

Midway through our four day drinking binge and we are only 90 miles to Cuba. Sweet. 

Some fine Key West babes.  

What? No strippers?

I looked pretty closely and I don't think there is a stripper in even ONE of those photos Cheese-O. What? Didja get drawn into the Papa Hemingway House tour and end up playing with cats for the whole time? Nice piscine beasty though! And the sun/beers/shorts/ocean scene looks pretty tempting...

The Duece with dinner. 

TJ pulling in the "Big One". KW, FL. 

Pete Making Dash Look Good

Pete Making Dash Look Good
Originally uploaded by mchesaux.

Living up to Key West's other reputation or adjusting Dash's pose for yet another snapshot? You be the judge.

Sleek & Ready To Dive

Sleek & Ready To Dive
Originally uploaded by mchesaux.

Pete frequently stepped into a supporting role, ensuring that Dash had a fine time.

Waiting For Breakfast-Again

Waiting For Breakfast-Again
Originally uploaded by mchesaux.

Let's say that getting breakfast in Key West takes quite a bit more patience than eager fishermen/snorkelers/divers from points north typically posess. However, the light is really good.

Is That A Cannon?

Is That A Cannon?
Originally uploaded by mchesaux.

Whatever.

Sneaking Into The NAS

Sneaking Onto The NAS
Originally uploaded by mchesaux.

Not content with simple tourist pleasures at The Southernmost Point, Dash tries to sneak into the Naval Air Station. In the same vein, you should have seen him wreaking havoc at the hotel beach...

Marching Up Petronia Street

Marching Up Petronia Street
Originally uploaded by mchesaux.

By now some of you might be wondering "Where the hell are these guys?" (In Key West, walking up Petronia Street after breakfast at Blue Heaven during Dash's Bachelor Party blowout.) and "Where is Dash?" (I don't know.)

Like Herding Cats

Like Herding Cats
Originally uploaded by mchesaux.

This is what it's like trying to get 7 guys to do the same thing. This could have been a good place for a rock-star genre snapshot but the group was divided on the merits of taking a picture in this location. As a result, it perfectly sums up the nature of our incoherent wanderings from here to there.

Bud In Bed

Bud in Bed
Originally uploaded by mchesaux.

As you can see, even in exotic locales Pete sticks to the tried (tired) and true. In case you were wondering, yes, we did drink a lot.

It's All About Yuengling

It's All About Yuengling
Originally uploaded by mchesaux.

Kdub, this is for you. I detected a note of impatience in your question about the blog...maybe you should chill out and have a beer like these fine young(!) gentlemen.

Senor Ash pulls up short up at Bethoud. That's not snow on his pants, er, his kilo is leaking. See you there tomorrow!

Hump it up that hill Birthday Boy! 7:30pm Friday night at Juanita's...derka derka derka!

Who's getting married? In the rush, I seem to have forgotten

Whoo Hoo! Highroller about to throw down a wicked front cart-wheel in the pike position!

Chainsaw jumps for joy as the Chalet windows are finally installed...and no one even got stuck in the driveway! Amazing. Pulled down some good turns on Muleshoe and in the Jug glades at Eldora while Tony and the crew popped in our fresh (glass!) portals. Who even knew there was a nice meadow across the way? Lots of cloudy plexiglass is available for any who want to build there own riot gear sheilds...

Brown, Odd, and Slightly Stupid

I don't think that really competes with "Chocolate Thunder Pussy," though. No, I am not talking about Sean or his truck, but MOA's new steed. At any rate, I am going to blame the cold that I woke up with Monday morning on grovelling about in the snow under the Deuce. Enough said.

Tomorrow we depart for sunny Key West to carry on the bIKE cLUB tradition of debauchery in the pursuit of the ultimate "Dash's Bachelor Party," safely across (multiple) state lines. Expect a full/partial/censored report on these very pages sometime in the future...

Strangely enough I already have a bike nicknamed "The Bus", namely my yellow and black crossbike with the widest bars known to man. Since I'm fond of nicknames (no, really?) I'm taking suggestions for the successor to my previous three singlespeeds, "Faster", "The Crippler" (now known as The Enabler) and "Hakuna Matata". Right now the leading candidate is the stage name of a chunky transvestite diva rumoured to be the son of Wellington Webb that I had the pleasure to see perform at the SnakePit..."Chocolate Thunder Pussy!"

Before noting that Sean is a moron I will state in his defense that the above pic is of current snow conditions at the Chalet, which for the unprepared Boulder sun-bather could, potentially, offer up some sort of driving challenge, if one were particularily foolhardy or dense mayhaps. The density theory was proven beyond a doubt Saturday when the second Home Depot workman buried his "truck" mere yards from the handily provided parking space we cleared for him...while attempting to tow HD worker #1 from an even worse position half off our driveway snugged up against a telephone pole. Many informed Cyclonauts will note that in addition to being perfectly straight, the Chalet driveway is also completely level but let me assure you we had one Dodge ass-hat work truck and a GMC Jimmy chained together and synchronized-ly spinning tires until finally our neighbor Jackson disgustedly deigned to winch the offenders out of the way so he could go to work. Long story short finds our other neighbor Wayne wallowing under Sean's "truck" putting on chains as we dug out the wheels and laid down some planks Sunday evening in a pre-Super Bowl workout. A mere 45 minutes later and viola! Another case of beer for the neighbors...Doh! Somehow Cheese-O drove his Accord in and out no problemo. Sales-monkeys!

"Why hello there my lusty lusciousness! All pimpin' in your golden bling bling. What? Come down this dark alley with you?....sure why nEERGK! Gah! HORK!"

the skiing is fine but I miss my bike

That about sums up how I'm feeling on this bluebird mid winter day here in Breckenridge. My giant office window view of Peak 8 and Horseshoe Bowl teases me all day long. Occasionally I make it out for some lunchtime laps or a sloppy run on the trails around Carter Park. But that just gets me thinking about the Firecracker 50 and longing for some mid-summer miles on the Colorado Trail. Enjoy the day and come visit me soon!!!

Stars come out in SLC!

Yo OPP, Yeah you know me! Nothing quite like bouldering at The Front in SLC, UT over the weekend when Chainsaw and Highroller took to the field against mere fumblers of the likes of Tommy Caldwell, Nick Sagar, Katie Brown, Obe Carrion, Mike Auldridge and other denizens of climbing movies from the last few years. Needless to say we threw down hard! The show itself was choked full of other climbing legends, adventure racers and explorers though relatively sparce in cyclists, excepting Jon Brown? of Montezuma's Revenge fame and that chick who got to climb Everest a few years ago for the reality tv show. SLC itself is weird brethren, and not because of the Mormons and 3.2 beer. SLC, at least downtown, closely resembles Raccoon City after Milla Jovanovich wakes up and has to go kill some undead...deserted! It's as if every other person has been body-snatched into another dimension, leaving wide open streets, vacant buildings, and scrub covered lots right next to the tallest buildings in the state. Olympic letdown? I don't know but it's a little creepy. Kudos to Cheese-O and Furious for the 2nd Creek outing AND excellent reporting. This site is for you Footsoldiers so even if you don't have pics or the ability to post them you can always write in a report anytime!