Drained

The first step in a long and painful process has begun. Two of the three drains in Crank's Tank - our beloved skatepark - have been dug out and are syphoning H2O from the bowls. Hearing the sucking sound slurping from the rusted and dirty drain is music to my ears. Every drop of water that goes out the bottom of the bowl is less weight that needs to be either shovelled or snowblowered out. Check the April 2005 archive for a bigger shot of the Tank.

I have been disconcerted about the softness of my hands. No calouses. Usually I hang on to somewhat tough skin through the gym, but I have not hefted weights in months. I'm gonna suffer, no doubt.

Yesterday Justin Hawkins got me out for a road bike ride. It was a beautiful evening, cool but not cold, with clouds lingering in the south with tendrils of rain or snow whisping from their underbellies. Justin flatted after about seven miles and we were sidelined for a while as he realised the seals on his pump were fried and he could get only minimal air into his tube. I was glad to be out of town and standing below Round Mountain pondering spring. There was green grass poking up through the road dirt melting snow banks had deposited on the ground. Soaking in life on the side of highway 135 through my persimon lenses. We spun around and rode gently back to CB South and Christian Robertson's house. Hawkins has been pushing me to ride my road bike off-road and this was the first time I have taken him up on it - the dirt road to C.R.'s. Christian and I walked his property while Justin snapped off the stem to his replacement tube and began again filling my spare. Christian has a BMX track looping through his yard and he was showing me his ideas for improvements. There is minimal snow in his yard just five miles south of here. It is cool that an adult, and a serious one like C.R., is building a playful existence.

Justin led the charge north towards home. The first ride of the season is always an eye opener. I stay active all winter, but the nature of driving into a headwind, uphill, is always challenging. Justin went easy on me as I pushed to stay with him.

Switching gears from winter to spring. On a sad note, there is a rumor floating around that Hartman Rocks in Gunnison may not open for biking until May 15 - almost a month later than usual. This is the loss of a great, and close, getaway. Hartman's offers some super-sweet mountain biking, moto-xing, and rock climbing for those of us in the north end of the valley who have at least two more months until the trails start opening up in the high country. D'oh!