RIDE LONG AND SMILE

These cranes are impressively big.  Their wingspans are about 6 feet and they make a very interesting sound.

We went out for nice ride last night to celebrate the Winter Solstice.  In true winter fashion is was snowing hard and it was cold.  But we were both feeling adventurous and needed some exercise.  The fresh snow was quite grippy and made it very quiet and peaceful.  The snow was coming down fast.  Within 20 minutes are tracks were completely filled in and by the time we woke up this morning there was about a foot of fresh powder.  Welcome winter!  And welcome longer days!

After leaving Pisa we went into the heart of Tuscany to a quaint little estate called Casa Cornacchi. Not too shabby! We were all really hungry from our travels. After lunch it was time for a ride up into the countryside.

With the second morning we awoke much more refreshed, after 14 hours of sleep, and to a beautiful view from our hotel.

Okay, time to start reliving our travels ... in picture form! After a long flight through the night we landed in Paris.  The airport in Paris is very disorganized and has a horrible flow to it ... so plan your layovers accordingly.  It does have some very interesting light though.  With another short flight from Paris to Pisa and a short cab ride to our hotel we were in a bit of a haze after being up for almost 24 hours straight.   Even though we had been up for a while we headed out on the town to see the sights.  There were random churches and beautiful carvings all over.  The streets were busy with people walking and riding scooters, so we were quite mindful of our surroundings.   History is everywhere!

The sunrises in Tuscany were quite spectacular!

We're back from Italy and I have well over 1000 images to go through and process to it may take a bit to start parsing them out to determine which are blog-worthy, so please hold yer horses ... and make sure they are well fed!  I think there will be some decent pictures making their way onto my blog in the coming days, weeks, and months.  I hope you enjoy!

 I'm finally getting around to a post for our weekend adventure from a couple weeks ago. After hunting for a campsite in the mountains we came across a wonderful spot with the Colorado Trail literally a stone's throw away. We set up camp and made a fire that was dubbed the "chipmunk fire" due to its small size.  We didn't want to stay up late watching it, but we wanted a fire.  The Colorado Trail where we were camped seemed to be made more for hikers than bikers so we went up to the Monarch Crest Trail because we had heard good things.  We started off at Monarch Pass at about 11,000 ft and quickly climbed up to tree line.  The views were amazing everywhere we looked.  The trail was fast and flowy.  One of my favorite shots from the weekend.  More riding above treeline. On the way back we stopped by a little cemetery hoping for some interesting history.  While we were there the sky became very interesting.

Continuing on the theme of yesterday here's another insect pic.  Pond Skimmer vs. Spider ... who will win? Answer:  The Skimmer just skimmed away.

All of this rain has made for a hearty batch of skeeders.

I think we've had enough rain here along the front range.  The bike paths have turned to waterways.  The weather has made for interesting skies though.

I spotted this fellow in the driveway one morning.  Then he was spotted by my wife in the evening going the other direction.  We think he was making the daily commute.

She's home!  My better half is finally home!  Time for the flower post. These were all shot at night in the wild using focused light - no flash. (No Columbines were hurt or killed in the making of these pictures) (I'm not sure why there is a line in the last picture.  Something with the export.  I'll have to fix it.)

Snowmass has taken her away for far too long.  She adds so much color and fun to everything.  I can't wait to see her again!

After finishing a 25-mile mountain bike race I asked myself, “What next?”  Well, luckily for me I brought my Fargo with me up to Winter Park fully loading will all the accessories to do my first overnight bikepacking trip.  I would ride from Winter Park north to Granby and then climb to the top of Willow Creek Pass on the Continental Divide.  It was a 40+ mile ride each day. On my way north I was pleasantly surprised to find the Frasier Granby Trail.  It’s a gravel route that nearly parallels Highway 40 from Frasier to Granby.  Perfect for the Fargo!  Eventually it turned to single track that was full of dried cow prints, so I got back on my planned route of smooth pavement. The valley from Granby up to Willow Creek Pass along 125 is beautiful.  This was one of the few shots I got due to the unbearable swarms of mosquitoes.  I had to rifle through my packs while riding to find my bug repellant because if I stopped I would get eaten. ...

  I tied my food stash about 10 ft up in a tree ½ mile from where I was sleeping (the small dark blob in the middle of the picture).   I didn’t want Yogi to steal my pic-a-nic basket! I woke up to a beautiful sky! The problem with there not being a cloud in the sky all night is that it was very cold in the morning, and I had a 20-mile decent ahead of me. I had to stop every now and then to warm up … and to take some pictures. This is one of my favorites.