Dillon

Dillon is nestled right in the heart of Summit County resorts cluster along I-70 in Western Colorado, and on a nice day it's very easy to see why people like it here. I like it here. The pace is 1/8 of that of Denver, but you have much of the same amenity base here and four times the scenery (see above photos, which I took today). You're a free bus ride away from 8 of the biggest name resorts in the country, and while many of these resorts are still open for skiing up in the hills (I use "up in the hills" relatively - Dillon is at 9,100 feet), I can easily ride my bike for miles in every direction in 50+ degree weather. Not a bad deal.

All is going well with the bootcamp I'm running here - the participants are excited to learn some new tricks and give their own fitness regimens a booster shot, and I'm expounding upon my experience in the fitness industry every day. It hurts a bit to wake up at 5:30 every morning and lead a spin class within an hour, but I feel like a million dollars by 8 AM.

A note on my experience here: I'm currently living in the back room of a gym, sleeping on a couch and operating day-to-day out of my backpacks. For those of you who have a shred of normalcy in your own lives, this may sound weird and unappealing. But for me it couldn't be better: I have a shower, a coffeepot, a place to sleep that isn't in my car, I'm 10 seconds from my office when I wake up in the morning, and I'm enjoying every minute of it. Vagabonding on your own presents a very interesting phenomenon: I have the time to do exactly what I want. Today I woke up, taught spin, enjoyed breakfast, listened to some jazz while working on some necessary client programming, went out for a ride, enjoyed a nutritious lunch, read every last page of Lance Armstrong's "It's Not The Bike", and now am updated this blog and recovering. I have a class to lead in an hour, then I get to enjoy my own strength workout and unwind with some tea afterwards. This is exactly how I wanted to spend my day. No obligations outside of what I committed to by my own volition, and no petty "real world" errands. Think: you don't have to mow your lawn when you don't have a lawn, and you don't have pay your cable bill when you don't have a TV. It's liberating.

Living in a gym is also terribly conducive to managing a 25 hour-a-week training program into your schedule. Again, it might not work for you, but spending 3+ hours a day working on my cycling or functional fitness in the gym is incredibly satisfying for me. Perhaps that's why I find myself currently residing in a gym....

This weekend I'm getting in some snowboarding at Copper on their closing weekend, riding my bike a bit, and sleeping in (think: 8 AM). I'll try and keep you all updated and be sure to take some photos.

Go have fun this weekend, will you?