Greg came out an over the July 4th holiday and we decided to head up to Winter Park ski resort for some good ol' fashioned mountain biking.  Well, as it turns out, it was pretty hardcore.  They rent full body armor with the bikes now.  That got me a little worried.  Although I came out unscathed, my Dad didn't fair so well.  He took a pretty hard fall and got some bruised ribs.  They rate mountain bike trails similar to ski trails, with greens, blues, and black diamonds.  Winter park only has blues and blacks for mountain biking.  I will leave you with a few photos, check out the gallery for more.  Oh yeah, on a side note, I played soccer last night for the first time since the infamous ankle injury.  Marisa was not too elated by my decision to play, but I am glad to report that everything went smoothly, and my ankle felt great.  We won 5-1 and I scored 3 goals, so I was pretty happy with the outcome.  I may join a league, as long as Marisa doesn't kick me to the curb for doing it.  Oh yeah, mountain biking pictures......

Body Armor!

Nice view Thane!

One of the easy parts

Now that I am resident in a state where awesome skiing is very close, I decided to buy a season pass.  I bought the colorado pass which gives me unlimited access to Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, and 10 days at Vail and Beaver Creek.  I figure I will be skiing and snowboarding a lot next season (especially since winter golf is out).  All of those resorts are less than 2 hours away, making day trips possible.  Plus, I will be able to go whenever, so if we have a huge snow-fall, I can head up the next day for tons of fresh powder.  Another cool factor of the season pass is, that I have the option of gettting up to four $50 tickets for friends.  Since lift tickets are $80 at breckenridge, keystone and arapahoe, and $90 at Vail and Beaver Creek, that is pretty good savings for incoming friends.  I also get 6 ski with a friend discount tickets, the discount varying depending on the season and busyness of the resort.  In a couple years, i will introduce Inara to skiing.  Kids under 5 are free.  That will be a fun day!

On another note, I tuned up my Mountain Bike this weekend and took it out.  I left my house on bike and found some good trails.  I am looking forward to heading up to the mountains to bike down the ski resorts.  We did that at mammoth for my bachelor party and it was a blast.

So, I invented a new sport over the weekend.  It is called extreme strollering.  Here is the concept, I take Inara with me to crazy places, get her in the stroller, and go out for an adventure.  This last weekend, I took her up to lookout mountain.  She went mountain strollering and skiing in her stroller as well.  Here are some pics.  Videos available in photo gallery. Next up is taking her to the top of Longs Peak (14,000 ft), and summer white water rafting with Baby Inara. ;)

I went to the doctor today to get a cast for my ankle, and after un-wrapping the splint they discovered it is too swollen to cast.  In addition, the foot is very black and blue, and it looks pretty bad. I saw concerned looks on the doctor's face, which doesn't give me a lot of confidence.  The doctor said I will need physical therapy for 8 weeks to nurse it back to 100%.  They may not cast it after all and they may just put a walking boot on it.

I keep wondering if it will ever be the same.  I am going to do my best to make it fully functional.  Maybe I will call T.O and see if i can use his hyperbaric chamber.  He seems to recover from busted up ankles quickly.  I may post pictures of the ankle soon.

Well, I decided to end the soccer season in style.  In this case, it means breaking my ankle.  Real convenient considering I have to move next week, which includes loading trucks, driving to Colorado.  Two things which will not be very easy for me.  It sounds like I will be pretty much worthless for the next 4 to 6 weeks.

This is how it went down. We had no subs and and were down 4-0 after the 1st half.  The ref must have been friends with the other team because he never called anything our way.  In the 2nd half I was mad and went on a 4 goal rampage and tied the game 4-4.  They decided they didn't like that too much and their 230 pound fullback decided to take me out.  I am not sure exactly what happened, but he hit me and I got caught up and my ankle rolled.  It hurt pretty bad.  We ended up losing the game in overtime as we were playing a man down at that time.

Last night after the game I was in a lot of pain and couldn't sleep all night.  I stayed awake pretty much all night and watched crappy movies to keep me entertained.  I was hoping for the best when I went to the doctor, but after x-rays, it was confirmed to be a broken ankle.   I will be getting a cast on Wednesday.  I am hoping I will be able to walk on it.  We'll see.  I am now officially considering retirement.  The only problem with that is Marco wants me to join his indoor team in Colorado.