Meandering Velonauts

I am going to attempt to ride to and from work the full distance. That is a 28 miles in the morning, followed by 28 miles home. The last 7 miles being close to 1000 feet of elevation gain.

I’ll be taking my normal route, sticking to the Cherry Creek Trail, E-470 trail, and Willow Creek Trail. Should be fun to try to make it the full 28 miles home.

For more information about this event go to their website here

Today is my birthday. I’m turning 34 which makes me neither young nor old. I’m sticking to our diet, opting to go big on our cheat day (Friday). My wife did a spectacular job cooking up a nice healthy but new meal for my birthday. She prepared an awesome southwest chicken breast, from Weight Watchers cook book. All together my calories are right on track for tomorrows commute into work.

My wife and sister got me a very special present this year. Since 2000 I’ve watched, loved, and obsessed about Tour de France. Since then I’ve wanted one of those TDF Festina watches. My old watch had been broken for some time, and this was the year. My present from my wife and sister was a brand new Festina Road Warrior watch. I hadn’t looked at this model before but it has some cool bicycle accents. Can’t wait to start wearing it.

My parents send me a sports nutritian book for my birthday. I’ve been trying to perfect my food to workout ratio for the last few weeks. My sister, a registered dietitian, recommended reading Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook. Last night it arrived from Amazon.

Overall my birthday was fun. Worked out, dinner, watched movie, presents, and early to bed. Tomorrow is supposed to be great weather for cycling. Morning temp will be above 50 degrees which should be nice.

Cow Guarding Cherry Creek Trail

 I’ve been commuting this route for nearly 1 year now and I’ve never seen cows on these fields. The sign always made me wonder what would happen, but my rides were always cowless. This morning all that changed, when at the first gate I was confronted by a cow guarding the entrance. It had sharp horns and was staring right at me. I’ve never been around cows this close, so I really didn’t know what to do. Like anyone who has ever watched dumb comedy movies I knew the following:

* Bulls = bad

* Cows = ?

So, I checked for utters or balls. Lucky for me the cow had utters. Ok, this can’t be a bull so being gored like in the movies was out. Whew! But I still didn’t know if cows were aggressive. What if the cow didn’t like how close I got to the herd? I would have to find out.

I slowly openned the gate. The cow stayed still. I pushed my bike through and slowly walked by the cow. I let go of the fence, which started to close. I jumped on my bike and started pedaling. I looked back and the cows didn’t follow. Whew! Safe?

Well in my escape the gate slammed shut, and spooked the cows. The cows took off in all directions. They were running every direction. Oh shit! A stamped! Lucky for me the cows didn’t head in my direction opting to sprint for the far fence to my left. I dropped my head and sprinted for the next fence. Locked my tires and skid to a stop. I hoped off and nearly jumped the gate. Heart pounding I started laughing hysterically. I laughed for a good 4 miles thinking about how I was terrified by cows, avoided being trampled, and raced my escape.

For more information about dealing with cows check out these fine links:
Aggressive Cows
Why and how to read a cow or bull
NASD Cattle Safety