Bike crashes and a marathon.

I was going for a "Day one", "Day two", etc. play-by-play for the week-end, but spotty internet, continuous activity, a serious lack of sleep boloxed up my plans.

But the highlight real goes something like this.

July 4:  The fun started at 6:00 am.  The Rocky Mountain Biological Lab (RMBL for short) hosts a point-to-point "marathon" from the town of Gothic to Crested Butte that starts at the garden hose at the drop of the butterfly net.  After a night of debauchery (including being the last female standing, or sitting depending on how you look at it, in the poker tournament), I was feeling less like a spring chicken than I had hoped, but I was able to put together a convincing win over the locals.  Not that winning matters in this race where the race categories range from "Most Patriotic Costume" to Youngest, Oldest, and Traveled the Furthest (I did not win this).

The race was followed by hearty brunch and a trip back down to Crested Butte from Mt. Crested Butte (where we were staying) to watch the 4th of July parade.  The CB parade is less parade (there are no marching bands) and more opportunity for the town to  celebrate it's uniqueness.  And celebrate it did.  From the "Red Ladies" who were dressed head-to-toe in red costume to protest mining at the Red Lady Mine, to the RMBL employees looking like Survivor contestants in costumes made out of leaves.  On a second pass through town, the parade becomes a giant water fight and the object becomes to steal a fire house from the firefighters and turn it on them.  Good fun.  Be ready to get wet if you are in the water-zone.  Our group successfully doused several look-i-loos and curious tourists.

July 5:  I found my new favorite sport.  Fly fishing.  We took to Spring Creek in an attempt to fish off our hang-overs from the glow-in-the-dark frisbee/ frozen margarita party that is our 4th of July tradition.  I had no luck actually hooking a fish, but I did tease a brown trout into jumping out of the water for my fly!

I did manage to go on three mountain bikes rides, each more better (hehe) than the one before.  Upper Deer Creek on Thursday, and Snodgrass on Friday and Sunday.  The wildflowers were out in full force all over the mountains and the trails were just the right amount of tacky for some awesome speed.  I even managed to crash once on each ride and I have the bruises to prove it.  But, I also have Amber to thank for letting me borrow her wickedly awesome mountain bike.  I'm not so afraid of the big rocks anymore now that I have gotten a taste for full suspension!

Thanks to everyone on the trip (friends and friends-of-friends, and f-o-f-o-fs, etc)  for an awesome time.  It would take me hours to thank everyone for good conversation, hot-tubbing, breakfasts, runs, rides, pictures, fishing, poker, costume contests, skits, Simon-says, naps, Tour de France, sunscreen, advil, Speed Scrabble, night frisbee, and on and on.  Happy Independence Day!