Monday, June 05, 2006

Road Trip

I’m back. From four days in Colorado Springs.

Why go to Colorado Springs?
Because my parents wanted to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary there with my The Family and my sister’s family.
You rode your bikes to Colorado?
No. We drove. But we split a van rental with said parents saving one vehicle worth of emissions. And that also meant we got to spend more time together.
Did you “neutralize” your 1,700 miles worth of carbon emissions by giving money to NativeEnergy a project endeavoring to build a wind energy power plant on a reservation in your home state?
Yes.
What was the best cycling related part of the trip?
Walking into the 7-Eleven Velodrome and having a Carmichael Training Systems coach call my name. Then, while sitting with said coach, observing him chatting with a Discovery Team rider who will be leaving soon…for France.
What really happened at the velodrome?
dMac, a friend from college was there. He didn't know I was going to be there. I suspected he'd be there, but racing. We sat with him. We watched some track racing hosted by the Colorado Velodrome Association. I introduced The Family and The Dad to the joys of track racing.
What was the best vacation related part?
Following the clues and finding a Letterbox in Red Rock Canyon Park. My shoes got dusty. I wore the shoes to work today. I got to enjoy the park again. I like red dirt.
What else did you do that was cool?
We rode mass transit to the top of Pike’s Peak on the Pike’s Peak Cog Railway. It’s The Family's tradition that we ride a train when we go on vacation.
Did anything else happen?
Yes. The FatCyclist linked to The MinusCar Project from his Friday post. A lot of people read The FatCyclist. I think it’s because he’s entertaining. Being mentioned on the FatCyclist blog is about 11 times better than being on the local television news. Thanks Fatty!

2 comments:

Yokota Fritz said...

Fatty's a gem.

I'm not sure I would call the Pikes Peak Cog Railroad "mass transit." Yeah, there are a couple of households who use the Cog RR to get to and from their homes, but otherwise it's purely a tourist attraction to get from the parking lot in Manitou to the peak 5,000 up.

mytzpyk said...

Heh heh. Yeah. It was more fun to write "mass transit" than not too.

In the sense of 200 people not driving the 15 miles to the top though? That's mass transit.

(Hopefully you won't rejoin by pointing out the 1,700 miles I drove just to get to the cog railroad) :)0