Off the leash..

:)

A little vacation.

It has been a great 8 days of vacation. It has been filled with eating some great Austrian food, seeing great sights, being with some fun people and more importantly rest.




We started our adventure in Vienna where we spent 4 days seeing the city. We did tons of walking, and some swimming. I happen to be there in a record breaking heat wave but that didn't slow us down.

Here is Christian modeling a bottle of Armdoodler.. the famous Austrian soda. The picture next to him is from the top of St. Stephens cathedral and 747 stairs.

This is eating some good food at the Schweiser house and at the Goulosh meuseum. My two favorite Austrian dishes, Weinerschnitzel and Goulosh. This is the Hapsberg summer palace in Vienna. The gardens are beautiful and the palace is b.i.g.
Christian and I at a fountain at the Hapsbergs' place.
ANDY! We hung out and had some beers and laughs with Andy in the Vianna town square. (Come back to Colorado Andy!)

After leaving Vienna we went to Linz where I met the parents (who are fabulous) and doing a bike ride to a castle. Also, where for the first time in my life I ate a goosberry (not pictured).

The Austrian countryside would be the perfect place to bike all summer. (Let's all pack our bags and spend next summer biking there.)




Christian's father and brothers cooked a BBQ. It was some good eating of many different types of sausages and veggies.
We also went to the Czech Republic and did a little tour. Here is the anchient city of Czechy Kumlov. It is quite a beautiful city.

!
All in all it was a great time. I am not quite ready to be back here in Colorado, but on the bright side, I have some great friends here. If you would like to see all the photos of the adventure come over and let me buy you a cup of coffee or a burrito or something. :)

Done and done

So with the summer's goal of riding the Triple Bypass strong behind me, I am free to do whatever I want on the weekends. They will still be filled with bike rides and such but a lot less hard core. Maybe.

Thanks to everyone who has donated money to the bike teams I have been on, the two teams are really about helping children live better lives.

I am off to Austria. My legs are really sore and my bags are now packed all I gotta do is find my passport. See you all when I get back from the other side of the pond.

Ok.
I know I am one-dimensional. I know.
I know my past 8 posts have been about riding my bike. I know.
But seriously.. that is all I do. And I did it again this weekend.

This weekend I rode on Team Halliburton doing the MS 150 ride to Ft. Collins and back. It is a ride that is 100 miles each day if you don't get lost. But if you do get lost like me it is about a 111.48 mile ride the first day. Team Halliburton is great, they provided root beer floats at the finish line for their riders. YOY. That is super duper great.

Did I tell you I am going to Austria? I am. I am meeting the dude's parents. and brothers. Hopefully the last 5 months of learning German will pay off. I need to look for my passport.

National Parks.

okkkk..

NPR tip of the day:
When entering a national park which is paved by the state highway you don't have to pay the $4 if you are only going to be on the road and not use any of the facilities.

So.. with my waterbottles filled and pockets stuffed with bike stuff I decided I was going to ride my bike from Idaho Springs to the top of Mt. Evans. Mt. Evans at 14, 300 ft is the highest paved road in North America and is quite the 'hill'. So after about 4 hours of riding to the top of the mountain, one (me) would like to sit, have a granola bar and drink some water, naturally. After sitting for about one minute on a ROCK, being mindful not to use any facilities (because I opted not to pay the $4) here comes Mr. State Trooper asking for my parks pass. I gently tell him I didn't buy one because I wasn't going to use any of the facilities, and he says "that rock you are sitting on is part of the facility, I am going to have to write you a ticket". I GOT A TICKET FOR SITTING ON A ROCK!
dude. for the love.