Memorial Weekend in Durango

We just got back from a long weekend in Durango, CO. We went down for the IronHorse Classic Bike Race. It was a great weekend, there is Red Mtn Pass outside Ouray that is about the coolest drive in CO. I guess if you can't beat mother nature, outsmart her! They can't keep the avalanched under control in the winter, so they said hell with it, we will just build and avalanche tunnel. Remember Lights on for Safety everyone! My mom is going to love my nascar skills on this pass this summer when they come out, should be fun, that will definitely be blog worthy, stay tuned...... Your right, I don't notice a guard rail either. I guess those are a lost cause as well?!?!The Goal of the IronHorse bike race is to beat the old coal fed train to Silverton. 52 Miles and over 6000 vertical feet later to roll (hopefully!) into town. There is over 3000 riders that partake, and a couple of stray horses. The horses have gotten too excited to run up a couple mtn passes to Silverton as well, so they escaped and started setting a killer pace for us up the first pass!!! I wanted to grab on to their tail and let them pull me, but they were REALLY big horses!I didn't think they were being serious about the Iron horse part, I thought that was the name of the old train!!! After we piled into a friends truck on the way back over the passes (yep thats 8 bikes and 7 people in one truck!). Dave and I were cozy in the back, stretched out with the cooler of cerveza's.

Joanna and I are still smiling after the long haul, it was definitely tough. Joanna started the early start @ 7:00am with Kathy, and the rest of us started @ 8:15. Joanna and Kathy were feeling a little left out of the hoopla at the start, so Dave and I staged an impromptu start for them in front of their house.

On your MARK, get SET, GOOOOOO!!!!!!

More of the Aftermath~~~~~~~~
Keep Pouring Ed!!!!!!! You Earned it!!!!!! Gotta Luv the Captain/Coke & Pizza!

Ah, this is the life. Dave and Kathy our Great hosts, have a hot tub, sauna, and v-ball net in there huge backyard. I think this is one of the main reasons I kept turning the pedals over, I knew the party after was going to be awesome!

8 people, 5 dogs, Cooler of Beer, 3 lg pizzas, Showing off your awesome battle wounds in your bikini....... PRICELESS~!!!! Thanks Kathy!!!

Sunday Joanna and I went to Mesa Verde National park http://www.nps.gov/meve/ in the SW corner of Colorado. Mesa Verde was home to all the cliff dwellers of year past. It was neat to see how they constructed their dwellings and the architecture that they used. It was pretty cool, but it was the busiest day of the year for the national park, and it was packed. All the tours were booked solid, so we did a short self guided one, and went and hit a great mtn. bike trail about 7 miles down the road instead.

A Quick Thanks to our great hosts Dave and Kathy Croll for a great weekend, and great hospitality!! We really appreciated all that they did for us, and the dogs. It really made for an enjoyable and relaxing weekend!!! You guys are the BEST!!! Thanks Again. Can't wait to get together again SOON! They were great tour guides to the areas best mtn biking, we'll definitely be back.