On Tuesday night, I picked up my new Kuota KOM from the bike shop. I've been waiting and waiting for everything to come together, and for this bike to arrive.

Finally!!!

My bike is the same model that is being used by the Agritubel team as their main workhorse. I'll get you a photo of "my" bike, but here is the team bike photo:

I was going to unveil the new ride report of some kind, but I couldn't wait. I was able to ride it a little yesterday, today we got snow. The time that I did ride yesterday was really sweet. The short of it is that I rode it for hill repeats on Old Stage Road outside of Boulder for a photo shoot.

Weighing in under 15 pounds with pedals and water bottle cages attached makes it one light climbing machine.

I'm chomping at the bit to go for a longer ride, but I may have to wait for several days. More bad weather is coming in and I have to have my bike fit dialed in by Roy at Peloton Cycles.

My husband made me move it out of the living room. He told me he was fairly certain it would be fine in the garage. How can he be so sure?

More gory details later and photos as well...

Yesterday I had plans to go for a run on my favorite running trail. The trail is a bit of a drive out of town, but well worth it if you have a good buddy to share the run with.

A few years back, my best buddy Cathy (aka "Buffy #1 - but that's a different story) and I trained one year for a 30K trail run and a 50K run the following year. My best memories of running come out of these two years.

Unfortunately, Cathy got the flu and we had to reschedule the run.

The photo I've included is Cathy and our dogs Pete and Shelby. Pete is the Wirehair Pointer and Shelby is the Ridgeback. Cathy is explaining to them that we need to turn around at this point in the run. The sign says:

Backcountry

Permits Required

For Fires or Camping

Vehicles, Weapons, Pets

& Bicycles Prohibited

Pete and Shelby do not understand what the problem is, because they are not "pets" - rather, they consider themselves just one of the gang - of people.

This photo was taken about five years ago. I hope to get you new shots, or video, in the next month.

A great photograph of Bronze medalist Susan Williams and her daughter Sydney on the Athens podium was used for the column on the International Olympic Committee's Women's Conference.

Q: I have a niece that I think could cut the mustard as a triathlete for the next Olympic Games. I don't know how she does on the bike, but she seems to have a lot of horse power. In high school, she ran a 5:18 mile as a freshman and a 12:25 (indoor) 2 mile as a sophomore. She swims a 5:20, 500yd freestyle event.

I'm wondering if she should be involved in some athlete training program that can help her development?

A: Your niece definitely has potential. The time standards for Junior Elite Squad athletes associated with a program sponsored by USAT include a 12:30 for two miles and 5:35 for short course yards. She is within the time standards.

You can find the time standards on this link on the USA Triathlon website. Select the link titled, "Junior Elite Squad Criteria".

Know that a there are a couple of different classifications to help athletes get prepared to be an Elite Olympian. The first is a "Junior" and that is an athlete between the ages of 16 and 19. The second is called U23 (Under 23). There is some potential crossover between the Junior, U23 and Elite age ranges.

One example of crossover is Portugal's Vanessa Fernandes. Vanessa ended 2007 ranked number one in the World, at the age of 22. Her first World Cup win, racing as an Elite, came in Madrid in 2003 at age 18. She has won an incredible 19 World Cup races as an Elite, won World Championships and been on the podium numerous times. You can find a summary of her results here. Select "Athlete", then enter her last name.

Back to your niece and what can you do to help? If you can help her have some fun in short, local triathlons that is the first step. Help her fall in love with the joy of the sport. If she's having fun going fast, take it from there.

Today we took advantage of the predicted 70-degree weather and headed to Estes Park on our bikes. That 70-degrees was predicted for the front range; but nonetheless, it was the first glimpse of 70 since...well...I can't remember when.

The weather last week was also reasonably warm for several days, with a couple of days in the high 50s. The warm week made a trip to Estes via Glen Haven possible. We haven't ridden via Glen Haven since November of 2007.

Estes via Glen Haven is hands-down, my favorite ride. I don't know how steep the road is and at some point, I'm sure one of the techies on the ride will get a good measurement; but it is steep enough to have a truck on a triangle sign at the top of the climb.

Steve Douglas, Scott Ellis and Dave McClure can be seen next to the "truck on a triangle" sign, looking back east.

Ah, but looking west is another story. This, the photo below, is my favorite view in the world - yes, the world. Longs Peak (on the right) and Meeker are the two tallest peaks in the photo. Longs is one of the legendary 14ers in the state.

Happy riders are seen in the second photo.

Our traditional monthly ride goes to Estes and makes a stop at the Notchtop Café. Just on the hill to the north and west of the Café is the Stanley Hotel. The hotel has a deep history and was built by Stanley of Stanley Steamer fame. On the national register of historic places, the hotel was made famous by Stephen King visit. On a stay at the hotel King was inspired to write The Shining.

No old hotel that looks like this one is complete without resident ghosts and the hotel is said to house several ghosts.

After having a snack at the Notchtop, we headed back down to Loveland and even enjoyed some tailwinds, a rare treat.

Tomorrow...snow...