Kingsbury South to Kingsbury North Run.

In the interest of changing up my running schedule / difficulty / and just getting out.  Sunday morning included this little jaunt.  I had a friend that I was able to set up a shuttle with for the return trip but you could always drop a bike at one end and ride back via the surface streets (although there will be some serious hills).  The run itself is beautiful with views of the lake periodically, wonderful rolling terrain and winding turns.  That's not to say that there aren't some steep hills that will make you think your lungs are going to pop....but you can always just power hike these sections as you need.  Anyway, if you haven't been out to enjoy the fall weather this is a great little route to do it!

Pike´s Peak Run.

Yeah, not saying I ran it...Just that I had a beautiful view of it for a good share of my run this morning!

Bend Trip Report.

What can you say about Bend....well, I'd go with:  If you like good friends, bicycles, running, and beer, you're probably gonna have a good time!  And if a simple statement isn't enough, here is a picture or two for each of those topics.

Phil's Trail Network trail head.

Rolling out on Ben's Trail.

Evidence it's not wise to take pictures while riding single track.

Words to live by!

The trail system is so large it has roundabouts for bikes and central artwork....here's Bend's infamous flaming chicken (the trail version)

20 miles of riding wasn't enough for the girls....so on Sunday it was off to the Happy Girl 1/2 marathon....the start....

......and the finish!

Once riding and running were accomplished.....it was time for beer.  And if you're in Bend you must stop by Deschutes during your beer escapades!

Eventually we moved on for alternate beers serving locations..... In this case a bike shop that serves beer and decked out custom bikepacking rides!

 So there's a few pics from the trip.  If you enjoy bikes, running, beer, and fun, you might just want to take a trip in the near future!

Already planning for the long, tedious weekend.

What can I say...it's Tuesday morning and I'm starting to mentally dread the weekend.  Some weeks are like that, especially when work is the only thing you want to do.  For me the long weekend plan is to point the car towards Bend, Oregon.  I know, I know, why would anyone go to Bend? 


It's going to be just terrible....first off, wifey is "making" me go because there is a "Happy Girl" half marathon she wants to do.  Horrible to have to spectate at an event with 1500 (?) fit girls running around in spandex shorts and tank tops, but I'm sure I'll manage. 

If just this wasn't enough, I have this friend....the preacher, who lives there.  He'll probably want to drag me out to ride bicycles....maybe even mountain bikes, instead of hanging out at his really nice house where I'll be forced to stay (rather than a hotel).  To top it off they have this trail system called "Phil's trail" (map below) that he'll probably force me to ride.  What's even worse, he'll probably make me ride this lame trail (movie below) that is an easy climb followed by pine needle covered, flowing, single track, with perfectly sculpted jumps along it's entire length!  If you didn't know I hate trails that aren't one rock garden after another!  I mean if I'm not loosening a filling or two while riding it's just not worth it!

AllRide Edit of Whoops Trail in Bend, Or from Kirt Voreis on Vimeo.

After all this, I'll probably be forced to drink beer at one of the many craft breweries that are as common in Bend as casinos are in Reno.  They probably won't even serve warm Budweiser!  So, as you can see, it's pretty much going to be one trial or tribulation after another for 3 days straight.  I'm sure you can understand why I might already be dwelling on it!

So...what will you do with your long weekend?  Are you already planning?  If not you should get started or you'll wind up like me, headed somewhere you don't want to be, with people you just tolerate, doing things that set your teeth on edge.

.....and yeah, sarcasm!!!!

Cluttered and busy....

Yeah, I know nothing has been happening on the blog.  It's a combo of holiday travel and a busy schedule in the office.  Kinda like the bike room....just cluttered.  But hey, who complains about too many bikes in life!

Anyway, I'll get to a St. George post eventually.  Until then there has only been runnning.  Wifey is back in marathon training mode and the weekend contain miles and miles of fun.  Including a 13 miler for wifey!

Here's part of a hike/run up Peavine.....there might not be any snow this year, but the trails are in great shape!  Yeah, sorry....I have to figure out how to the the arm band/camera phone not to take pics of the arm band!

Are you hard core?

This is the result of wifey's morning run (in the dark) with a dying head lamp.  Notice that the dark, early morning, and cool temps ( and bleeding knees) did not stop her.

In comparison, riding in to work today as the sun peaks above the mountains in a luminous glow seems slightly less than ambitious!  So here's to those who make the early morning venture to get a little more out of life!  Run or ride on!

Rain!?....Run!?....Ride!?

What is this stuff falling from the sky?  Seems like something from an episode of Portlandia.  Although, now that I think about it, I remember this stuff from my years growing up in the Midwest as well....RAIN!

Sooo...I'm pretty sure this is Mother Nature's revenge for me deciding to sit on the couch yesterday evening (and convincing wifey to do the same), rather than going for the scheduled run.  I had seen the weather forecast for some rain, but we all know how bad the local weathermen are at getting that call right in Reno.  Anyhow, at sometime in the 6ish am hour wifey, myself, and dog headed out the door for a few miles of fun.  The sprinkle started by the time we hit the end of the block and 2/3 of a mile later at the start of the singletrack it was a "refreshing" (a.k.a. cold and stinging) rain.  Surprisingly, we actually saw at least 3 other runners and one walker out on the trail! 

After returning home, it was hot showers for all (well, ok a towel down for dog), a quick round of smoothies, and digging out the rain gear for the ride in.  Another lovely bicycle commute in the morning!  Thankfully, the Xtracycle has fenders so it really was a pleasant ride.  The colors are popping all over with the recent cooler weather so I tried to stop and take a few photos.

A little rain always seems to bring the color out!

Sorry this one is fuzzy....those bright red maples still make it worth it.

So don't let a little water and cooler temperatures dim your riding prospects, sometime these off beat rides are more fun than the multitude of "perfect" commuting days we get here in Reno!

Long weekend.....Tahoe, Wings, Running, Riding, Food, Hiking.....I'm beat!

Ok, we all just had a nice long weekend.  Wifey and I decided to seize the time and wring out ever single thing we could!  We started out "camping" up at Tahoe....it's "camping" because while we were in the truck camper, we were parked in our friends driveway.  Technically, it's still camping.

I neglected to take the camera on this portion of the trip so you'll have to take my word for it.  We were also just down the street from Sugar Pine campground, so we took advantage of their trail system to get in a nice little run on some of the single track out to Lost Lake.

We came back to Reno Friday night and did absolutely nothing.....So Saturday the marathon of fun was re-kicked off at the Wing Festival!

The plaza a Harah's that you can't even walk a bike across to get to the bike racks...stupid!

At least Harah's has bike racks.....

Wing Fest was well attended and there were some good wings!

On to Craft Beer and Wine....Wing fest definitely needs to work on the beer they served!

For the record, both beers aren't mine.....one is wifey's and is just a prop for the picture!

Brilliant placement of construction signs, causing you to ride straight into a narrow lane of traffic.

More brilliant use of bike lanes for construction warnings.

Party at the friends house.

Their sick new grill that provided much food!

Desert!  Which you can eat tons of if you ride your bike to the party!

Hiking on the Tahoe rim Trail.

Views!

More views with flowers!

Blitzing Bend, OR (1/2 Marathon, mtn bike, road bike)!

Hope everybody had a great extended weekend.  Wifey and I squeezed every ounce of fun out of ours.  A mid-day departure Friday got us to Bend, OR by around 8pm to meet up with some friends from Olympia, WA.  In classic Bend style we began the evening at local brew pub.  There were a gaggle of people from Reno also in town and some friends who live in Bend so it was quite the organizational nightmare....and in the end Wifey and I just ended up having a relaxing beer with just the two of us.  Perfect way to ease into the weekend.  Growlers were purchased and festivities continued with friends back at the hotel.

The next morning the girls registered for their 1/2 marathon and an we visited McMenamins for some breakfast....with beer!  A good belgian in the morning to start things out right.  The girls then headed out for shopping and my friend and I met up with the Reno / Bend crew to hit some fabled mountain bike trails.  This isn't us but you'll get the idea!  Of course, good beer rounded out the evening (10 Barrels "pray for snow" and there "CDA" were the evening favorites)!




The rest of the trail network might not be quite as flowing and jumping...but the trails were some of the best I've ridden (and remember I was just in Moab).  I think we may have a new spring break destination (if it's not under snow).

The following morning we dropped the girls of for their race and grabbed the road bikes.  This time it was out West Century Drive towards Mt. Bachelor.  Notice the "Mount" in front of the name.  Yep, 2000 ft of climbing in 20 miles.  No warm up and no rest.  My dad would have been proud cause I definitely "built some character" on this one.  So did the poor guys we took with us who had never road biked in his life!  To his credit he rode it well, smiled the whole time, and thanked us for the intro.  Another rider he spoke with told him he might want to get better friends!  I sort of agree!

Once we completed the 40mph+ downhill return we meet up with the girls (who had already found a brewery...shocking) and had another great round of beers and some well deserved dinner.  Some additional shopping occurred because the girls needed jewelry (that involved more $$ than they could carry while running)!  The evening ended way to quickly and Monday morning after a bite to eat it was time to say farewell and head back to Reno.  Unfortunately, I wasn't too good at bringing out the camera, but I'll see if I can't come up with a pic tor two later.