New Blood Knot Magazine issue!

As always I am proud to be a part of the Blood Knot team. We just released our 3rd issue. Check it our here. My gear review is inside. Page 36 and 37 for anyone shopping for a chest pack!

Colorado Cross Classic

Compostable?

We went to ModMarket for lunch yesterday. Their cups are compostable, but I don't know exactly how that works. So I took a cup home and put it in our worm bin. We moved the worm bin into the greenhouse. The greenhouse is being used mostly as a storage facility.

The bin in the greenhouse.

Lots of fruits and veggies, and a cup.

Let's see what happens!

I like ModMarket because it is affordable, delicious, and somewhat healthy. They also use FourSquare and Twitter for marketing. I got a free pizza for having 10 FourSquare checkins.
Now there is another fire that is closer to Boulder than the last one. For now it is smaller, but the winds are howling. Is it bad that I worry how it will affect the fish in Boulder Creek more than anything else?

Canucks, Aussies, and footie.

This is from last week. Life is still this good, just colder!

We have friends in town. They are Canadian emergency room doctors. I sat down with the winner of the Boulder Marathon, Andrew Letherby for coffee today. He is a really nice Aussie. He is getting into triathlons so as soon as he gets his swim in order, look out! I finished my physical therapy today. A couple more massages and I might be "made whole" soon. Winter is indoor soccer and cyclocross season. I am stoked for them to start.

PV part 2.

Rooster! 

Very cool to see in person. 

My National Geographic moment. 

The boys. 

The malecon.

Lots of casting practice.

So we didn't have any luck from the boat, but I did catch my first Roosterfish from shore. After watching a turtle lay eggs on the beach nearby. How awesome is that?

We also saw the Pan American Championship triathlon race. Collins did well and I was stoked to see him race!

Puerto Vallarta.

Hanapa'a!

So we arrived yesterday and immediately, we got in some fishing. There are baitfish close to shore we we could see larger fish were chasing the small ones. I caught this baby Ahi looking fish and was thrilled. Then I saw more fish on a sandbar at the mouth of a river. I sprinted across the river not worrying about the diseases that were surely swirling round my legs as I splashed my way to the sand bar. There were hundreds of fish showing me their shiny sides like quarters that had been squished and elongated on railroad tracks. I was amazed to be in the middle of the baitball as I felt the fish hitting my shins. I clumsily through my fly anywhere I could and when I would hook up a fish they would jump and shake out the fly like I would imagine a Tarpon would.

It was frustrating when the schools of fish would be just out of range of my casts. I would be waist to chest deep hucking flies very ungracefully at water that looked like it was boiling until a sleek football shaped fish would jump out and I wished I could get out further.

Pelicans having a feast just out of range!

So today we borrowed the kayaks (resorts have perks) and paddled around looking for the fish. The diving seabirds were sure signs, but as we approached, the birds would fly away and the fish would swim down and stop eating. I was trolling along, rod wedged between when I had my first hit. The reel let out a short yelp and before I could get a hold of it, the line broke and the fish disappeared. I was left staring at some foam and ripples. In my mind it was a monster!

Smaller than he felt!

A while later, I was casting into nothingness when some small baitfish began jumping away from my fly. The closest thing I got to catching a fish was seeing a fish follow my fly. Not quite what I was hoping for from the kayak.

(Jason I owe you a fly!)

SATURDAY

Today we went to a timeshare deal where they tried to sell us stuff. We walked away with no timeshare, but a big bottle of tequila! The taxi ride there and back was fun as we got to go through the non touristy part of the area. Our impatient taxi driver hated being stuck behind anybody, so he nearly had a coronary when we  got behind a tractor and a tow truck. Once we were on the freeway and we passed the tractor (why wouldn't the tractor drive down the freeway?) he loosened up a bit.

Then we attended the pro athlete briefing for Ben's race tomorrow. It was pretty funny because as of today, the athletes don't know the race course. There are two options because the road that that the race occurs on is currently being paved. If it is paved today, option A will occur, if it is not paved by 7 am tomorrow, option B will be put into place. There were a lot of astounded faces as some prima donna triathletes don't know their exact course now.

This evening I caught my first (and second) Roosterfish. A turtle was laying eggs on the beach near where I was fishing. It wa s good evening.

Mexican bus ride.

On the malecon.

Don't beat people up.

I suppose I should have taken a little more warning with the odd text message I received yesterday. It was from Ben's number, but his name didn't show up. I guess being in Mexico and not wanting to incur huge roaming charges made him send messages via the web. It said "I'll see you both tomorrow!! Email me if you got my messages! Don't beat anyone up tonight!!"

That sounds fairly normal, except why would we be beating anyone up? Perhaps he knew about what would happen early this morning. After 4 hours of sleep, we walked to the bus stop near our house. (Nothing like taking public transportation to get on a first class flight!) While waiting bleary eyed with the rest of the passengers a bus headed towards Denver dropped off a passenger that was hesitant to get off the bus. Now understandably, it was about 40 degrees and this person was seated on a nice comfy until the driver kicked them off.

The man (?) stumbled off the bus and looked like a person that just got off a boat after a rough time at sea. (S)He decided to stand in the road and challenge all of us bus stop attendees to a rock throwing contest. Surprisingly, nobody accepted. So the next logical thing to do is come back and ask us all of some money. Again, nobody decided to hand over their cash. He then asked for money because he was a woman. He did have long hair, but I thought that it took more than that to be a woman. Maybe this person was more intoxicated than I have ever been.

The vagrant angered a woman at the bus stop long enough that it was told to "Go fuck yourself". Enraged, the transient exclaimed to everyone within 4 blocks that s/he had NEVER done that! It got a few chuckles out of us which further enraged the long haired, drunk (wo)man. S/he pushed over a newspaper container which made some people jump. We were informed that she called himself Madonna, Rhianna, and/or Coco.

I was thoroughly amused until s/he stood too close to Mojdeh with a hand too close to her purse than I would have liked. As my mind raced with the possibility of punching this person if they made a move to rob us I realized that everyone at the bus stop was looking out for our well being also. I considered calling the police, but a cell would be warm and sobering. 

We boarded our bus and I slept well on the way to the airport knowing that we were "nearly" robbed half a block from our house, not in Mexico. It would be a bummer if I weren't writing this post from my comfortable first class seat.

Hasta luego. Remember, with drugs you will end up dead, in jail, or worse!

Boulder Marathon.

Putting on a marathon is no easy task. A lot of people really came together to make it all possible. I worked for what feels like 4 days straight. It was the night before the race that was the most brutal. Building the finish line at 2 am so that we could put out mile markers at 4 am. I had to make sure that all of the aid stations were fully stocked by the time that the runners got there. I hate being on the course when the race begins, but it was necessary this year. I have a lot of changes that I want to implement for the Spring Half Marathon that we will put on in March. Most of the changes will make my life easier, but the runners probably won't notice.
I drove a lot of different vehicles over the weekend. We had cargo vans, pickup trucks, 17' trucks, and 26' trucks. U-Haul execs must be bored. They put fun facts on the side of every big truck, but they also play the U-Haul version of "Where's Waldo?" All the big 26' trucks with the pictures have a hidden U-Haul guy somewhere in the picture. Here are a couple that I found.