I'm sure glad I'm employed and don't have the stress of another year of school weighing on my shoulders at this time of year ; )
Police: 4 Arrested, 10 Taken To Hospital
By Lance Hernandez, 7NEWS Reporter
POSTED: 10:53 am MDT August 29, 2011
UPDATED: 9:40 am MDT August 30, 2011
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- A 20-year veteran of the Fort Collins Police Department said a weekend party that ended with 10 people being hospitalized and four arrests was one of the largest parties he’s ever seen.
“It was an invite by residents and then of course the social networking, Facebook and texting, turned it into an extra-large party,” said Lt. Russell Reed.
YouTube videos of what is being called a "megaparty" near the Colorado State University campus shows a large crowd around a pool.
7NEWS discovered additional videos of the party were posted to YouTube throughout Monday evening.
Police estimated 2,000 to 4,000 attended Saturday afternoon's back-to-school party at an off-campus apartment complex called Campus Crossings at Ram's Pointe. The party's Facebook page registered nearly 3,000 attendees.
“I knew it was going to be big,” said Ram’s Pointe resident Allison Stanfield, “but it was definitely like 2,000 people bigger than I expected.”
“When I got in there it was total chaos,” said a CSU sophomore who identified himself as Garth Algar. “One woman was hit in the face with a bottle and she was gushing blood.”
Police said ambulance crews called them after they were inundated with calls about people getting sick or passing out from drinking too much alcohol.
When officers arrived, the organizers agreed to shut the party down, police said.
“The biggest concern we have is the over-intoxication,” Reed said, “especially of young women in an environment of that nature, and whether or not they can be victimized because of that alcohol intake.”
Reed said police focused on helping paramedics get through the big crowd to aid those who were injured and those overcome by alcohol.
He said they didn’t have time to concentrate on revelers, who may have been drinking underage.
A spokeswoman for the apartment complex e-mailed a statement to 7NEWS that said the party was a long standing charity initiative intended to encourage new students to socialize.
The statement said that "no alcohol was provided and consumption of alcohol is strictly prohibited in the pool area."
Laura Van De Pette said property management took measures to proactively manage the security of the event, but that the larger than expected crowd raised concerns and required us to shut down early.
"We regret the outcomes of this event and wish to express our concern for the individuals whose safey was put at risk by those who violated the rules of our welcoming event," Van De Pette said.
Four people were cited and released. Two people were cited on assault charges, one person for disorderly conduct and one person for interference with a peace officer, investigators said. All were under 21.
Among those cited by police were 21-year-old Colorado State University linebacker James Skelton and 19-year-old defensive end Dillon Lawrence.
"We are looking into it and will comment further when we know more," said CSU head football coach Steve Fairchild.
CSU’s Dean of Students, Jody Donovan, told 7NEWS that any student accused of breaking the law or violating school policy could face disciplinary measures.
“Any student accused will have a hearing with an officer where they can share their perspective of what happened,” Donovan said. “They are entitled to due process.”
Donovan said the hearing officer will determine responsibility.
“The hearing officer’s decision can range from being found not responsible all the way up to expulsion,” Donovan said.
Donovan said she couldn’t talk about specific cases, but did say that the Athletic Department has additional standards.
She said athletic officials can make decisions that are separate from possible state criminal charges and University code of conduct violations.
“We are concerned about the level of alcohol use,” Donovan said, when asked about the size of the party. “Student safety is a priority and we support the Fort Collins Police Department in helping students be safe.”
7NEWS asked the football players involved for their side of the story, at Monday’s practice, but they chose not to comment.
The annual party usually takes place on the first weekend of the school year, according to the Rocky Mountain Collegian college newspaper.
Reed said 10 officers on the day shift responded to calls for help at the apartment complex, as did 10 to 15 night-shift officers.
The party even made international headlines, and was reported by the British media, including the Daily Mail.
Tuesday 30 August 2011
Saturday 27 August 2011
Beautiful August Weekend
Last weekend was two beautiful 5 hour days of riding in the foothills south of the city, folllwed by 5 days of 7:30am to 10pm work with maybe 15 minutes a day total riding time as my direct commute route is pretty short. Ugh.
But at least I woke up feeling decent this Saturday morning and was out the door by 7am for another 5 hours down south. So nice – no wind, a few less bugs, warm with just jersey and shorts. Like, heavenly riding I’d say. Too bad we didn’t have that type of weather from about March onward on the weekends.
I’m trying to google map scope out a few more routes, we’ll see if I have time to hit them on the long weekend coming up. I’m not riding very fast these days, plus it’s hilly, so 5 hours gets me maybe 120-140k depending on rounding the time up or down a bit.
Saturday 20 August 2011
Road ride!
Finished off my bike hanging storage finally too. Should have been easier but I'm happy with the way it turned out.
Friday 19 August 2011
Global Capital Markets
Music has many interpretations based on who's listening. This kid's experience in the world is like the last few weeks journey through the capital markets.
Thursday 18 August 2011
Wednesday 17 August 2011
Summer over?
Holy cow. Days shorter by a touch but workdays hitting marathon stage again mean I'm riding home in the dark this week with a chill in the air and generally freaking out the "less established" members of society down by the river with my LED light on my bike. It's busy for end of August for this guy. Feels fun this week, but if its like this from now until Christmas I'll be in trouble.
Wednesday 10 August 2011
TransRockies pic
I remember this spot. Shortly after registering the presence of the photographer, my Cannondale head tube multitool disassembled itself in the head tube for the first time ever, then two pieces bounced out on the trail. The last piece stayed in the head tube and made an awful racket until I stopped on the gravel road.
Tuesday 9 August 2011
TransRockies Day 3
Super climbing intervals today, all steep and long. No real option other than to expend energy in the heat, as most of them are steep enough for granny, then high sustained effort, just to ride them. About as hard a course as you can have for that number of kilometers. Fun course though, real mountain biking.
I paced off Trish on the second climb, then she let me by for the descent. Somewhere in there I could see either Pat or Devin or Geoff's kit at the top of a climb but never got close after that. Felt decent, then caught up to Jon Gould, who eventually crushed me as I faded. Stopped into the aid station when we were near it when the course crossed itself for bottle refills, I wouldn't have made it had I waited for the official pass through it. Worked through some weakness in the shade in the woods and just tried to keep moving.
Felt good on Verboten descent as I stuffed my face right before, which pretty much solved my energy for the rest of the day. Long climb up from cp2 was hard, then the climb up the logging grade to Island Lake was killer, I haven't sweated so much since La Ruta.
Didn't cramp which was my big worry for the day, if one did it'd be game over as the hills were so steep that soft pedalling wasn't an option.
Hooper had a few mechanicals, John and Eric finished strong, as did all the deadgoats. Really enjoyed the convenience of the three days in Fernie and the quality of the trails. Breakfasts were adequate but not spectacular, dinners were good, course was great and weather cooperated. Can't go wrong with that.
I paced off Trish on the second climb, then she let me by for the descent. Somewhere in there I could see either Pat or Devin or Geoff's kit at the top of a climb but never got close after that. Felt decent, then caught up to Jon Gould, who eventually crushed me as I faded. Stopped into the aid station when we were near it when the course crossed itself for bottle refills, I wouldn't have made it had I waited for the official pass through it. Worked through some weakness in the shade in the woods and just tried to keep moving.
Felt good on Verboten descent as I stuffed my face right before, which pretty much solved my energy for the rest of the day. Long climb up from cp2 was hard, then the climb up the logging grade to Island Lake was killer, I haven't sweated so much since La Ruta.
Didn't cramp which was my big worry for the day, if one did it'd be game over as the hills were so steep that soft pedalling wasn't an option.
Hooper had a few mechanicals, John and Eric finished strong, as did all the deadgoats. Really enjoyed the convenience of the three days in Fernie and the quality of the trails. Breakfasts were adequate but not spectacular, dinners were good, course was great and weather cooperated. Can't go wrong with that.
Monday 8 August 2011
TransRockies Day 2 / global markets bloodbath day whatever
The biking was the highlight of the day. Felt good, but couldn't hold a good place on first climb, probably something related to training down and weight up... Went into singletrack behind handfulls of people, and there was a bottleneck lady at the front who was getting pushed up the gravel. I used to be able to hold a bit more pace and get into a slightly more forward group which was conducive to making up more time on the down, but it's different passing one person than a group of a dozen when I'm back in the crowd. Found a couple corners to take oddball/unfavourable lines around to pass and got free of the logjam, then rolled happily onward.
Was doing some of the grass doubletrack and shoulder checking, nobody behind and nobody ahead. No mans land... until Max Plaxton and the front dozen guys came by. Odd. A TR person told them to go the wrong way earlier apparently. Doh!
Trish dropped me on the climbing once I saw her (she actually dropped me several times), then had some derailleur issues. I think chain shifted to spokes but wasn't sure.
From there I was alone for most of the gravel climb, but caught onto a pair of the Tinhorn Creek wine guys team. Chatted a bit and kept going. Skipping forward a bit, one of them had a rough day with what sounds like two off bike incidents, one "trail sharing that didn't work in his favour" incident, and when all was said and done, a pretty notable ankle injury that's being diagnosed. Saw Tara at the top of the climb, who was looking for Marty. I had assumed he had gone by with the leaders, but apparently not. Mystery.
Rode the flat-ish puddle road by myself other than seeing David Dyck, then caught Luke Way and Troy near the descent. Also saw yellow jersey guys go by on a bike that looked just like... Marty's. Odd. Turns out they didn't mug him in the woods, he did a Mother Theresa act and gave his up trailside and was going to continue riding theirs after doing the involved fix, but the actual fix never materialized. That's tough. Thought I saw Lonn ahead in a green Schmoe jersey, but it was Geoff Clarke in green jersey suffering. Devin was at top of Porky Blue and I rolled in and prepared to let gravity do its work.
Felt good on the down and didn't cook the brakes, and despite a poor start to the last section before the aid 2 (just got jostled with my buddy Jon Gould and his partner and almost did an awkward full stop fall) , rode maybe just over half of it. Fun.
Spun on the road, but started cramping a bit. Jon Gould and teammate, Devin and Geoff caught up. I couldn't keep on Devin and Geoff in the final singletrack cause Geoff was flying and I burped air earlier on my front tire, so it wasn't doing the quick changes of direction very well, and I didn't want to push it till I found myself in a tree.
Rolled in feeling decent overall. Fun day on bike, sunny but not baking (part of climb was in great shade). Pretty decent output all day, so I can't complain about how I felt at all. Just good all around. Fun stories and smiling faces after.
Even after a morning where he felt "not good" post breakfast, Hooper liked today's course more, the climbing was more his style, and the descent, although the GPS said a max -33.6% grade on our sheets, was smoother and less rocky/rooty, so he felt better on it.
Less fun was tuning in to years of my life savings kapoofed. Hmm. I'm not very political (I'm also not very thankful for this), but if America ran a budget with the sense that I, as an American kid grown up in Canada do, this wouldn't have happened as such. Budget by committee is probably worse than budget by me. Just sayin'. I'm reading a lot of budget too and fro, and programs, and special interests, etc. Maybe just cut every expenditure by x% and it's an ugly but fair start. Too bad it isn't that simple. Anyway, I'm 33, so those years that vaporized into the ether can probably be remade somehow. I suspect that isn't the same for all the folk living in their underwater houses with their underwater portfolios who are also possibly unemployed or on the record amount of food stamps. How does this latest budget forecast capital gains taxes on their revenue projections? Might want to re-check that math.
Was doing some of the grass doubletrack and shoulder checking, nobody behind and nobody ahead. No mans land... until Max Plaxton and the front dozen guys came by. Odd. A TR person told them to go the wrong way earlier apparently. Doh!
Trish dropped me on the climbing once I saw her (she actually dropped me several times), then had some derailleur issues. I think chain shifted to spokes but wasn't sure.
From there I was alone for most of the gravel climb, but caught onto a pair of the Tinhorn Creek wine guys team. Chatted a bit and kept going. Skipping forward a bit, one of them had a rough day with what sounds like two off bike incidents, one "trail sharing that didn't work in his favour" incident, and when all was said and done, a pretty notable ankle injury that's being diagnosed. Saw Tara at the top of the climb, who was looking for Marty. I had assumed he had gone by with the leaders, but apparently not. Mystery.
Rode the flat-ish puddle road by myself other than seeing David Dyck, then caught Luke Way and Troy near the descent. Also saw yellow jersey guys go by on a bike that looked just like... Marty's. Odd. Turns out they didn't mug him in the woods, he did a Mother Theresa act and gave his up trailside and was going to continue riding theirs after doing the involved fix, but the actual fix never materialized. That's tough. Thought I saw Lonn ahead in a green Schmoe jersey, but it was Geoff Clarke in green jersey suffering. Devin was at top of Porky Blue and I rolled in and prepared to let gravity do its work.
Felt good on the down and didn't cook the brakes, and despite a poor start to the last section before the aid 2 (just got jostled with my buddy Jon Gould and his partner and almost did an awkward full stop fall) , rode maybe just over half of it. Fun.
Spun on the road, but started cramping a bit. Jon Gould and teammate, Devin and Geoff caught up. I couldn't keep on Devin and Geoff in the final singletrack cause Geoff was flying and I burped air earlier on my front tire, so it wasn't doing the quick changes of direction very well, and I didn't want to push it till I found myself in a tree.
Rolled in feeling decent overall. Fun day on bike, sunny but not baking (part of climb was in great shade). Pretty decent output all day, so I can't complain about how I felt at all. Just good all around. Fun stories and smiling faces after.
Even after a morning where he felt "not good" post breakfast, Hooper liked today's course more, the climbing was more his style, and the descent, although the GPS said a max -33.6% grade on our sheets, was smoother and less rocky/rooty, so he felt better on it.
Less fun was tuning in to years of my life savings kapoofed. Hmm. I'm not very political (I'm also not very thankful for this), but if America ran a budget with the sense that I, as an American kid grown up in Canada do, this wouldn't have happened as such. Budget by committee is probably worse than budget by me. Just sayin'. I'm reading a lot of budget too and fro, and programs, and special interests, etc. Maybe just cut every expenditure by x% and it's an ugly but fair start. Too bad it isn't that simple. Anyway, I'm 33, so those years that vaporized into the ether can probably be remade somehow. I suspect that isn't the same for all the folk living in their underwater houses with their underwater portfolios who are also possibly unemployed or on the record amount of food stamps. How does this latest budget forecast capital gains taxes on their revenue projections? Might want to re-check that math.
Sunday 7 August 2011
TransRockies day 1
Hooper and I had a good pre-ride yesterday, I actually felt pretty good. About 1:20 of mixed trail conditions, stuff we'll ride on day 3. BP's provided the dinner fuel. Cindy and little Gabby came for a hot tub. All good. Didn't sleep super well, it was warmer than my air conditioned house, and my caffeine and sugar taper from the workweek left me with a headache through the night and up to race start.
We went to Smitty's for breakfast - they were open only at 7 rather than 6:30 which turned out ok. Hooper's waffles with an indulgent amount of whipped cream and strawberries made my short stack of pancakes and a scrambled egg look like trucker fare.
Napped a bit more upon return to the condo. Spun down to start line, said some hello's, then called up to start.
Rubber hits the road so to speak, and I remember that having another half hour for breakfast to settle would be nice when the day is a time trial and the profile starts with a massive climb. First 10 minutes everything hurts, burns, feels unathletic and gross. Then I'm sort of back to tolerating intensity. Ryan Draper passed me fairly quick - then Chris was my 2 minute back guy.
I want Chris to have a great time here... But I also don't want him to hand me my ass, because it'll raise too many philosophical questions about work/life balance, jobs, etc. You know how it is. So I'm climbing away, and on a switchback I look down and clearly he's less than 2 min behind if I can see him from a switchback - gaining big on the climb. No surprise, as the last time I checked, the BMI index ranked him as near "ethereal".
Once a race like this has started, you can't rewind and do more training intervals, improve your diet, etc. What you can do is eat and drink well, use less brakes, and let brain turn to drill sergeant and don't let those legs ever miss pushing a pedal stroke no matter how much they, or your innards, are begging for respite.
We ground away, and I was repeatedly surprised that yes, this was my easiest gear. Nearing the top I dug in as Chris was 15 seconds back cresting the hill, but he never new our relative position as looking up them is way harder than down. I was determined to put back at least the two minutes on the remainder of the course.
Turns out the descent just felt awesome today. I played tag with one guy who left me on the climb after CP1, but rode the rest solo. Just rolled, momentum'd and had a blast on the trails. So fun not having the torrential rains of last year.
I did end up putting back the two minutes, results will calculate whatever it actually was.
Mical started way behind me but finished very near, so she had a great day. Devin and Geoff same, so had a fast day. Craig and Pat too. I have no idea on times though.
Massage, river leg dunk, and relax for tomorrow!
We went to Smitty's for breakfast - they were open only at 7 rather than 6:30 which turned out ok. Hooper's waffles with an indulgent amount of whipped cream and strawberries made my short stack of pancakes and a scrambled egg look like trucker fare.
Napped a bit more upon return to the condo. Spun down to start line, said some hello's, then called up to start.
Rubber hits the road so to speak, and I remember that having another half hour for breakfast to settle would be nice when the day is a time trial and the profile starts with a massive climb. First 10 minutes everything hurts, burns, feels unathletic and gross. Then I'm sort of back to tolerating intensity. Ryan Draper passed me fairly quick - then Chris was my 2 minute back guy.
I want Chris to have a great time here... But I also don't want him to hand me my ass, because it'll raise too many philosophical questions about work/life balance, jobs, etc. You know how it is. So I'm climbing away, and on a switchback I look down and clearly he's less than 2 min behind if I can see him from a switchback - gaining big on the climb. No surprise, as the last time I checked, the BMI index ranked him as near "ethereal".
Once a race like this has started, you can't rewind and do more training intervals, improve your diet, etc. What you can do is eat and drink well, use less brakes, and let brain turn to drill sergeant and don't let those legs ever miss pushing a pedal stroke no matter how much they, or your innards, are begging for respite.
We ground away, and I was repeatedly surprised that yes, this was my easiest gear. Nearing the top I dug in as Chris was 15 seconds back cresting the hill, but he never new our relative position as looking up them is way harder than down. I was determined to put back at least the two minutes on the remainder of the course.
Turns out the descent just felt awesome today. I played tag with one guy who left me on the climb after CP1, but rode the rest solo. Just rolled, momentum'd and had a blast on the trails. So fun not having the torrential rains of last year.
I did end up putting back the two minutes, results will calculate whatever it actually was.
Mical started way behind me but finished very near, so she had a great day. Devin and Geoff same, so had a fast day. Craig and Pat too. I have no idea on times though.
Massage, river leg dunk, and relax for tomorrow!
Saturday 6 August 2011
TransRockies time!
Friday 5 August 2011
Good times in Cowtown
Monday 1 August 2011
Long Weekend
Friday was a well attendend BBQ hosted by Claire and Shawn - so fun to see everyone.
We started Saturday early with a ride up highway 93 from Lake Louise to view Peyto Lake and met up with a bunch of the downtown crowd for the ride back and some chit chatting. About 80km all in. Saw some bear jams but no bears.
Sunday was another 80km out on highway 40 from Mt. Kidd campground to Highwood Pass. Beauty day, warm all day. Nice climb of course. Saw some sheep and goats licking the road.
Monday was a Springbank ride with some hill efforts, plus taking in the Tour de Bowness crits (made me miss doing road racing more), plus Eau Claire music in the park and a little jaunt by accident down to Fort Calgary.
BBQ'd each day then sat on the roof patio - more or less a weekend of the good life.
Little bit of packing and prep and off to TransRockies next weekend.
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