The Interviews

Last Tuesday I headed out east for a week for the first of many medical school interviews. Below is a summary of the trip.

Tuesday: Flew to Hartford, CT. Drove down to New Haven, CT and met up with Steve, a fellow Williams grad. Steve is probably the nicest guy in the world. I can't imagine anyone better to stay with before my first med school interview.

Wednesday: Interview at Yale. Both interviews went well, though the pathologist wanted to talk about my breakup with my ex-girlfriend more than anything else. Yale itself was very nice, but I'm just not sure that it had that perfect feel for me. Clearly, the students are very self-motivated because their curriculum has very little accountability. New Haven is meh.

Thursday: Dartmouth interview. Stayed with Liz, a williams grad. Both interviews went very well. Hanover is the shit. Imagine a preppy Boulder and Williamstown mixed. Couldn't be better. The hospital there is the nicest I've ever seen. I actually like the every two week test thing. The curriculum itself seems pretty standard. Excellent rural health program.

Thursday night, I drove down to Gardner to Laura's house where her parents, Bill and Anne babied me to death. Anne made a fantastic dinner and sent me off with an entire coffee cake. It was definitely a major battery recharge after the interviews.

Friday: Drove back to Williamstown...craziness. I stayed with Bruce and Jodi, who were so great about the whole thing. Had lunch with Prof Lynch. Had dinner with all the cycling team kiddies. Saturday, I had my coffee shop muffin, and spent much of the day at Jack Miller's house, which was great. Saturday night, Jodi made a fantastic dinner for the three of us.

Sunday: Lazy morning, but interesting drive to Rochester. Freezing rain for much of the way, but roads weren't too bad. Made it to Glenn's house, where I met Lucy (see picture below), who insisted on sleeping in my bed.

Monday: Rochester interviews were great. People were great. Clearly the best medical education currriculum and the most serious program. Rochester is meh. Barely made it out of Rochester due to serious snow. Very, very nice American Airlines lady put me on United and saved me. Our plane skidded back and forth as we took off, but we did...then I was home free.

I'm happy to have a week with without travelling. Next interview is Monday...University of Colorado.

Snow on the Cone

I can't think of a better way to spend Thanksgiving than hitting the freshies with two great gals. Dry snow, blue skies, brisk air.

Happy Thanksgiving all.

Frozen Indian

Monday's high of 77 called for a killer ride. I decided some major climbing was in order. Parked in Morrison and battled insane headwinds down to Deer Creek Canyon. Climbed, climbed, passed people, and climbed. Climbed North Turkey Creek and bonked...hard. In evergreen I managed to purchase a single candy bar worth 650 calories...then had the fastest descent back to Morrison ever.

Monday's dinner was at the Americorps mansion where I met the rest of the crew, as well as Jean's parents and aunt and uncle. Excellent food, conversation, and vibes were had by all.

One of the MTBR responses to my request for a long dirt climb suggested West Jackson Creek Road near Sedalia. So, I drove out there yesterday afternoon to check it out. The climb was TOUGH, but very scenic and rural (note the sign below). No traffic except for attack dogs. I was chased for over 1/4 mile at 25 miles per hour by a big, mean dog. It is a good thing I didn't run into him on the way down because I was completely hypothermic. Not only would the descent have been bone chilling to begin with, but also the storm moved in right as I reached the turnaround spot. I sat in the car and cried for almost 10 minutes as my fingers, feet, and chest burned their way back to life. Would have had more shots of the insane upslope, but was fearing death.

Dinner last night was AMAZING. Kate and Anna spent hours preparing a Thanksgiver dinner. Fresh bread, chicken, curried squash soup, truffled mashers, on and on and on...and three pies and an apple crisp. You get the idea. The best part...the company and the costumes.

Hells Belles

What an amazing weekend!

On Saturday I met up with Kate and Anna to show them the magic of Buff Creek. Guess who was waiting in the parking lot when we arrived! Spike! We rode for almost 4 hours and had a total blast. Weather was a bit weird, and Anna took a spectacular crash, but it was a great day. The trails were in supurb condition. Kate was laying it down hardcore on the singlespeed and was extremely photogenic.

After riding, Kate, Anna, and I headed up to my Dad's house where we showered and had a great vegan dinner that Karyn had made. Kate was too smoked to go to the concert, so Anna and I headed down to Boulder by ourselves. Since there were two opening bands (one okay, one bad), Hells Belles didn't come on until almost 11. By that time, Kristen had met up with us to use Kate's extra ticket. For those of you who don't know, Hells Belles is an all-female AC/DC cover band. Also, you may not know that I am a huge AC/DC fan. The concert was absolutely amazing. The leader singer could sing/scream so well that she had a duel with the electric guitar. The lead guitarist was majorly "shredding." She played most of the show with just a bra on. My ears are still ringing, but it was totally worth it. Pure, hardcore rock.

Sunday was obviously a bit slower because of a late bedtime and early, jet-lag wake up. Still, I fit in a quick ride around the dots. I saw a gigantic heard of Elk with a huge buck standing in the middle of a lake. The divide is well dusted with snow, but even Eldora looked to be bare.

After a mexican dinner with Karyn and Dad, I met up with Jean, Rachel, and Leah for some ice cream. I hadn't seen Leah in over 4 years!!! It was great to see her. She is exactly the same, very warm a major talker. After ice cream I gave Jean a ride home to check out the amazing house that she shares with a bunch of other Americorps girls. There, Jean and I shot the shit with Casey and Marielle. A good time was had by all.

Anyway, enjoy the pics.

Douglas County 5

After much BS, I finally found DC5 and lower access to the Sharptail ridge...stupid Arrowhead housing development. Unfortunately, the ride through the housing development is more significant than a ride around Swallowtail...not doable/fun on a MTB. I'll never understand why the Swallowtail trails are so seldom used that grass is growing over them. It is almost magical there, and the riding is excellent.

The new cross wheels are the stiffest wheels I've yet owned and took some major abuse without flinching. Gotta love nipple lube and dust...