Milk business. Best picks in the dairy industry!

Cow 1: "Moo?" Cow 2: "Moo!"

Wow, it has been a while since I have posted! I kind of fell off the P90X bandwagon. I've been snowboarding so much and going to the mountains to snowshoe and hike a lot (I got some Ice Trekkers for winter hiking, fun!) I just haven't had the time or inclination. But I have still been staying very active and going to the gym regularly for cardio, weights, and to sit in the hot tub :).

I have also been working at GNC, which is very interesting! There are so many products out there with so many uses, it is very fun to learn about all of the nutrition products available these days. I, myself, only take a multivitamin, extra vitamin C, fish oil, and protein shakes (and occasional protein bar), but the array of products and uses is truly astounding!

But on to our current topic: MILK! If you are a milk drinker you probably want to read this. I was just reading an article over on http://fitnessachievement.com/ talking about some of the nastiness found in factory farm milk (antibiotics, hormones, and other bodily fluids that should NOT be in milk). Many people have switched to soy, rice, and almond milks to avoid these issues. That is a great solution, but I just can't get over how weird soy tastes in my coffee!

If you must drink milk, there are some very good companies. Going organic is a good idea but it doesn't end there! The USDA grade of Organic does not mean the cows are well treated, happy cows. It just means they are not treated with hormones or antibiotics, and must be allowed some access to the outdoors (this can be only minutes a day!). Some of the big so called “organic” brands are almost as bad as factory farm milk (like Horizon). But if you go for a small, local, organic brand you can know just what you are getting.

I get Farmers All Natural milk whenever possible. http://www.farmersallnaturalcreamery.com/index.html. It is from the Midwest and not available everywhere. The cows are raised on small family farms, and free grazed during the growing season. It is non-homogenized (cream top), organic, and all natural! And you can go take a tour of one of their farms if you want to. They only keep a small number of cows on a farm. I only really use milk in my coffee and cereal, but it is nice to know you are using a quality product.

This is a great site where they rate all the dairy companies based on farm size, hormone and antibiotic use, grazing practices, if they get milk from outside sources (factory farms) etc. http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html. I try to stick with brands that get at least a 4.

And then there were cows!

Cows!!

This last weekend Erik (my boyfriend) and I decided it would be a lovely day to go on an easy mountain bike ride. I chose a trail that I thought would be pretty mellow based on distance and technical ability. The trail I wanted to ride is called Foothills trail, which goes in a big loop. It is a wide, level path with only a few easy uphills and one slightly technical downhill section, but there are gorgeous views of the plains and the mountains. This trail is located just East of Boulder, and winds through the open plains and around some picturesque ponds and reservoirs. But the coolest thing about this trail is that it cuts right through the center of a working ranch!

Now riding through a ranch is very interesting, as we discovered. There are a lot of cattle gates that you need to go through to connect with the bike-able portions of the trail. These gates are spring loaded, and if one isn't paying attention it would be easy to slam your bike frame in a metal gate (ouch!). I usually dismounted to go through these gates, but Erik became pretty skilled at balancing on his bike while opening and shutting the gate gently (he refuses to unclip from his pedals unless absolutely necessary. I ride with flats, so I don't have the clipped in obsession).

Erik during a rare dismount

But the thing I did not expect on this ride were the cows! We had to ride our bikes quietly and carefully through an entire herd of cattle! I was pretty crazy riding slowly next to a huge animal like that, hoping that the squeak of your brakes doesn't startle it into running you down (I am told cows are docile animals. I still think they are kind of scary)! There times when I was forced to get off and walk, or drag my bike off the trail to make room for a passing bovine. One gate presented a particular problem as there was a huge bull standing just on the other side (pictured above). We hung out at this gate for a while trying not to make eye-contact with the big bull, and eventually he decided we were not a threat and moseyed (or maybe it was more plodding) off. Plus the trails had a fair number of steaming cowpies deposited conveniently in your way.

Careful...careful...think calming thoughts....

All in all it was a great late morning/early afternoon ride in an area of Boulder we don't spend much time in. This weekend we are hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park to Chasm Lake. It should be awesome! I will definitely post about the trip. My goal is to hike Long's Peak at the end of the month. Chasm lake is only 8.4 miles round trip, but Long's Peak is a rugged 16 miles! Not bad for a day hike! Long's Peak is one of Colorado's 14ers, so named because it is over 14,000 feet in elevation.

Wish me luck this weekend, and on my journey to the top of Long's!