point n’ shoot bike adventures

Last night we biked about 3.5 miles to our friends’ [Peter + Michelle] apartment, for dinner.  Then we were going to head out to Bike-In-Cinema, which is held at the New Belgium brewery in Ft. Collins.  It’s a cool event they run for a few weeks in the summer.  For $2 you can come in and watch whatever movie that was preplanned to show that night.  I’m pretty sure the money goes to charity, as well as the proceeds from beer sales.  The Last night was, The Hangover.  The previous movie was Caddyshack.  The Aug 12th movie was the original Willy Wonka, WHICH I LOVE.

We packed our bags…

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and headed out!

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Helmets sit SO high on my head.  Not sure what the deal is.  Same with my snowboard helmet.

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This is Peter!  He is a character and then some.  He also makes AMAZING food.  That night, he made vegetarian tamales and vegetarian refried beans.

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Words cannot describe this meal.

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The beans were beyond perfection.  They were SO flavorful and had a great texture.  He explained the process to me, which started with dry beans in the crock pot.  I’ll have to get all the details and make them.  WOW.  How cute are those tamales?  Have you ever had tamales?  It’s basically a dough made up of corn and a few other ingredients.  Typically veggies + cheese are mixed in or meat + cheese.

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This was one of the best meals I’ve had in months.  The texture of the tamales were beyond perfection.  It’s kind of like a thick, cakey dough.  It’s somewhat bland, but in an amazing type of way.  The cheese was spot on.  Not too much, not too little and I think green chiles were mixed in as well.

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You can sort of see the dough sticking out here.  Simply outstanding.  Remember Chris bday dinner, where I raved about the gnocci??  This was right up there with that!  Simple, but out of control delicious.  I think I talked about them all night long.  I savored every bite and made multiple comments about wishing I snuck some home in my pockets.

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Okay, so after dinner we headed to the movie!!  Blinking light and all.  Gotta be safe!  We also wore headlamps.

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I love this photo!!  We were still walking forward when I took it. We are so happy + love Ft. Collins.  <3 

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The brewery was PACKED.  We quickly realized the whole lawn was covered with people.  There was not a spot in sight and still a long line of people waiting to get in.  We were bummed, but decided to just head to a bar in Old Town Square. 

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The bar was very casual and had $2.50 drafts.  Score!  Beer selection in CO is pretty amazing.  Awesome beers on draft anywhere you go!  This bar also had in-shell peanuts.  I literally ate my weight in peanuts.  No joke.  So so so very addictive.

After the bar, Chris and I biked 4 miles home.  It was my first ride in the dark, and I wasn’t overly excited about it.  I didn’t mind where the streets were lit, but some spots were pretty dark, even with our lights.  I kept thinking I was going to hit a pot hole!  We made it back though, safe + sound.

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We’re really enjoying Ft. Collins so far.  In general, my overall happiness, has gone WAY up.  I’ll talk about this more soon, but overall, things are good.  :)

Today, I did tried doing a brick workout..you know, just for fun!

  • 3 mile bike ride to the pool
  • 40min swim [freestyle with some breaststroke]
  • 3 mile bike home
  • refuel – water + cold sweet tater pancakes
  • 12 mile hilly bike ride along the mountains

On my way back from the pool, my quads were a bit tired.  We had biked about 10+ miles the night before and I’ve been doing a lot of lifting + moving boxes around.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get through my planned ride.  After the first mile or two though, I felt great.  It was a gorgeous day out and I just couldn’t help but think how lucky I am.  For so many reasons. 

things.are.good.

<3 ash