My roommate Kyle got a new road bike a few weeks ago. While we were checking it out on the day of arrival, his boss came over to join him on his inaugural ride. We began to chat about cycling and I let out a statement that I still consider to be a fact but that let his boss a little unsettled.
“Yeah, I can beat most people in Boulder up a mountain”, I said.
Bob, Kyle’s boss, took that as a challenge — but he didn’t say anything immediately. A few days later Kyle came home and stated that Bob wanted to race me. Long story short, I tagged along on one of their rides to better gauge his skills as a cyclist. After a jaunt up Flagstaff, I walked away feeling like I had the upper hand should a race ever materialize.
Later that week, Alex and I met Kyle over at Avery Brewing company for a little cerveza and Bob just so happened to be there. We got to talking about athletics and he admitted that I had him beat on a bike ride up a mountain. But…. Then he had the audacity to say “I could kick your ass any time in a trail running race”.
Those of you who know me can imagine any number of things that were running through my head at that point — they are all probably accurate. I replied with a few sly comments to which each time he came back way over the top.
RACE ON.
I called him a few nights later and challenged him to a mountain duathalon of sorts. First would be a road cycling race up the Flagstaff Mountain road: from the base of the mountain (by the brick wall turn) to where the amphitheater trailhead hits the road. Then we’d cruise down, catch our breath, and change into running gear. Second, we’d race up the amphitheater trail, running.
Well compared to the race against the twelve year old where I lost handily - this was a friggin’ blowout.
Bike Race - Ryan = 19:16, Bob = 25:00ish
Trail Race - Ryan = 20:02, Bob = 25:00ish
Above: At the base of flagstaff I had just made the pass. That’s Kyle back around the corner.
Above: nearing the top - no one in sight.
Bob is planning the re-match on a less mountainous course. We’ll see how that goes.
In other news - I just launched v1 of www.FrontRangeEndo.com, my site for my fathers business. He goes by such names as Dr. William Roth, Papa, and Williberto. But I think he’d answer to things like Endodontics maestro or Root Canal Master. Just some thoughts. If you have any feedback on the visual aspects of www.FrontRangeEndo.com I’d really appreciate it. I’m certainly no design wiz. And oh yeah - I’m colorblind - so if you see some colors that aren’t mixing well, please please let me know!
My new favorite animal is the otter. Well actually, I’m not sure I had a favorite animal until now. You see, a few weeks ago I went to the Denver Aquarium and two little sea otters kept doing back flips in their little cage. Water, air, water, air, water air. Over and over and over again. Perhaps to impress us, perhaps just for fun. Personally I think it was the latter.
Then, tonight, there was a show on the Discovery channel about Yellowstone. A pack (right word?) of otters submarined through a field of snow on their way to the river. Quite clearly they were hungry and seeking their most favorite of traditional otter meals; the spanish call it pescado. Elegant to say the least.
Then I saw this photo as a I was perusing the internets:
I decided to make them my favorites. And that’s that.
Something strange happened to me the other day. Kyle, Kristen, and I biked down to 13th & Spruce to see our friend, ‘the leprechaun’ (Kristen #2) run the Bolder Boulder. Sure enough Kristen #2 started the race an hour late but we decided to wait around for some serious people watching. As I was standing on the curb looking for costumes to take photos of - out of the corner of my eye I saw a blur of motion that I thought nothing of.
As I turned to my right a few seconds later to follow some costumed creature down the street, I realized what that blur had been. An older man had collapsed while running - he was perhaps 15 feet from me, but hundreds of runners separated us. Bystanders on the other side of the street had already rushed to the man’s side. I was one week off of my CPR refresher course and wondering if the lady that was pumping his chest was doing it correctly. Hell, had she even checked to see if the man was breathing? It was pretty unclear with hoards of runners traveling between us. In fact the whole scene was pretty chaotic as several people stopped to try to help. There were spurts of what resembled CPR and other spurts that just seemed like pure confusion. The band stopped perhaps two minutes after the collapse and called for help on their loudspeakers. A bike medic rolled up and took control one minute later and an ambulance a minute after that. The race volunteers actually blocked the runners bringing them to a standstill (which I’m sure caught some runners off guard) as the ambulance screamed to our location.
Just before the ambulance arrived, Kristen #2 came running by in her costume oblivious to the events just across the street. She was having so much fun, laughing and tossing out reeses pieces to anyone and everyone, screaming about a leprechaun that was chasing her (a guy named Chris). The situation was startling and I was held aback by the stark dichotomy of life that I was witnessing. Just before me was my vibrant young friend full of laughter and life and a few feet beyond her a man was struggling to hold onto his life.
Eventually, while the medics were still performing CPR, they loaded the man in the ambulance, blocked the race again, and sent him to the hospital just down the road. The race went on, but the fun was over for us. We hopped back on our bikes - still thunderstruck by the events that had just transpired.
Following are a few pictures I snapped prior to the debacle, the rest are located over here.
Anyhow, today is the day I am supposed to get my scores. Per the pre-med circles I’ve experienced, asking someone for their MCAT score is like trying to befriend the angry elephant in the room: people don’t do it. I’m not going to blog the result. But if you’re interested, give me a call. It could be good, it could be be bad - but I’ll probably tell you regardless.
Long story short, I’m virtually out of money and need to get back on my feet financially. So if you’re mom or dad needs help setting up a gMail account. Or if they can’t figure out why Firefox disappeared. Or if they just need some computer lessons…. You get the idea. I’m happy to help them out, for a very reasonable fee.
I’ve laid out the details over at help.ryanroth.net. Please pass the address around if you’re sick of helping your friend/mom/grandpa/neighbor with their computer problems. And of course, I make both virtual and house calls.
I’m about to take the last final of my post-baccalaureate career. Should be a doozy. Some exciting announcements will be coming on this here blog very soon including a new business venture and a bad ass summer adventure.
I told him to give me a call if he needs someone to develop standards for a national information technology network. Looking at the recent proposals in the house, it seems like they could use some help.
I’ve been straight up brain dead since school relinquished its icy grip on my life. Have no fear, new year, new Ryan. With my spirits are up and my brain almost back — tomorrow I begin to plan plan the delicate balance that I call my future. If all goes well over the next five months, somehow I’ll have figured out how to apply to school, train for doozy of a summer bike ride, read a few books, learn a few things, and hold on to my sanity. I don’t think I’m expecting too much though. But seriously in preparation, I bought some pre-made chai latte mix to get me through the rough parts. Party on.
In other news… this is how 2008 ended up:
And here is a little gem from my father during a card game a few days ago:
It’s been a lazy mazy week. For the most part I’ve been sleeping or watching movies trying to recuperate my neurons from their typical frantic state. Outside of couch laying I’ve performed a few technical feats around the house. I tutored my father on bluetooth and podcasts. I fixed the garage door openers, twice. I sped up the internet (read: qwest -> comcast), upgraded the router, and taught mum to use GPS. I programmed some thermostats and did a few loads of laundry. Today I finally got around to homework. This is what I looked like:
That’s not the look of a healthy person. I think I’ll keep resting until there’s a little spice in that blank face.
