This weekend has absolutely flown by since it was been jam packed with several different events. I woke up early Saturday to help Corey Hart and ICPH with a skills clinic in Denver, while Ben went off to Boulder to race the North Boulder Criterium. Down in Denver we spent some time in the “classroom” covering a few basics, and then took the group out on the roads to practice some skills, like pacelines and cornering. All went smooth, we had some fun, and the skills progressed nicely. Before I knew it it was time for me to head north to pick up Ben so we could get back to the Fort in time to primp for our big night out.

Every year the Poudre Valley Hospital hosts a fundraiser to raise money for its foundation, each year the event has a different dress theme, and each year Ben’s boss invites different people to attend (we were the lucky ones this year, obviously). This year the event was held at the Equine Center and we had to dress up in cocktail attire (last year was Pirates), which for Ben and I meant we (or I) had to do a bit of shopping since our wardrobes consist of A LOT of spandex and the occasional dress shirt or skirt. For me, it was a good excuse to go shopping for a little black dress. Yeah baby! Anyway, I had my doubts about how a classy event like this was going to be held in what I could only imagine would be a dirt floor, horse arena. My suspicions were right in that it was indeed inside a large horse arena but the floor was covered (a lot of heels would have been broken walking through dirt for sure!) and the decorations were very tastefully done. A silent auction began the night’s festivities. We bid on a few things that we thought would be nice for the new house but kept getting outbid, dammit. An old black and white poster size portrait of Old Town Ft Collins circa 1880’s would have looked perfect in our living room but last we checked the bidding had reached $800…way beyond the depth of our pockets. After bidding closed we sat down for a scumptous dinner and listened to several stories from cancer survivors – the goal of the foundation this year was to raise 1 million dollars for a new, all-inclusive cancer center here in Ft Collins. The highlight of the evening was the live auction during which many items went up for bid, including a watch valued at $15,000, a beautiful black and white paint horse with blue eyes, diamond jewelry, trips to exotic locations…but the two items that went fastest? A chocolate lab puppy and a black lab puppy. These little creatures were adorable, absolutely the cutest things ever!! I couldn’t stay away from them as they were carried around among the guests as a teaser before the live auction began. As much as I would have loved to have taken one of these little puppies home with me, I didn’t stand a chance against the highest bidder for the chocolate lab – $3000!! Incredible. After the auctioneer had closed down the bidding, the CEO of PVH came to the stage to ask for more donations – for some reason the auction didn’t go so well as hoped as most items were sold way below their value. It seemed that few people were willing to pay for these material items but when the CEO began a little auction of his own, asking the guests to match 1 doctor’s donation of $10,000, people started throwing down $10,000, $5000, $1000, $500 and $100 like it was chump change. It was pretty special to feel the energy of the human spirit come alive to promote such a wonderful cause. As a treat to all the guests, free wine and cocktails, gambling and photographs topped off the evening.

Go figure, Ben and I raced our bikes again today so we ended our lovely evening early so that we would be fresh as daisies for our early morning wake up call (his race started early). Today was the Coal Miners race in Louisville – good stuff today, although I wish that the women’s races would be scheduled a little earlier in the day, mostly because of the inevitable storms that brew up in the late afternoons around here. Man, you can see these things coming from miles away – the wind kicks up something fierce and the ominous black clouds loom over the horizon – and it just becomes a waiting game for whether it’s going to actually hit in the spot where you are standing. Really, it is anyone’s guess if the rain will pound down on your poor noggin or your neighbor’s – it honestly does seem that hit or miss. And then 2 hours later the storm clouds roll on, shedding only a drop or 2 of rain (as was the case today), and the wind dies down leaving a shredded peloton in its wake.

So yeah, after a full weekend I am ready to hit the sack…and it’s only 9:45!

Buenos noches amigos!
-MM

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 20th, 2007 at 8:44 pm and is filed under daily life.