1. Monday, 07/24/06
Groups want Nolensville Road makeover
Neighbors aim to attract tourists, diversify businesses
By DESIREE BELMAREZ
Staff Writer
Anna Page remembers the time before 77 used-car lots filled a seven-mile stretch of Nolensville Road starting at the
Fairgrounds and rambling south.
"They just sort of snuck in," said Page, who lives in the area.
Today, many of those lots are filled with weeds and trash in addition to cars. They're the target of neighborhood
groups, a church and local politicians who want to improve the look of one of south Nashville's busiest commercial
corridors.
"If you live somewhere or have a business somewhere, you want to see it be the best it can be," said Patricia Paiva,
owner of Aurora Bakery at 3725 Nolensville Road and a member of the Nolensville Road Community Partnership.
The goal is not only to clean up Nolensville Road, which also has scores of title loan spots and payday advance
agencies, but to diversify the businesses on it and try to attract more tourists to the area. Advocates want to
capitalize on the area's ethnic and cultural diversity to build something akin to China Town or Little Italy.
Members of Christ Church, 15354 Old Hickory Blvd., also believe they can fix the "downward track Nolensville
Road is on" by focusing on the area's rich history and working with the existing businesses, pastor L.H. Hardwick Jr.
said
"We're not saying to business owners we want to change what you're doing or what you're doing is not good enough,
it's how do we encourage people to make it more attractive," Hardwick said.
Hardwick, a Nashville-area preacher for 55 years, operated his church off Nolensville Road before it moved. Even
though the church is now on Old Hickory Boulevard, Hardwick said, it has a responsibility to help clean up
Nolensville Road. The church has launched a monthly project in which members walk an 8.9-mile stretch from the
church to the Old Nashville Cemetery, meeting local business owners and praying with and for them.
Change could be ways off
But changing the landscape will take more than prayers, and some business owners are skeptical.
"This road is pretty much a commercial place. I don't think there are any tourist attractions here except for the zoo,"
said Reza Ahmadi, an owner of Ace Auto Sales, 2323 Nolensville Road.
Ahmadi said used-car lots such as his "don't make the area ugly" and blamed city codes for not allowing him to post
more signs, shiny material and balloons that he thinks would make his and other car lots look more attractive.
Tommy Sutton, district manager at Ace Cash Express, 4653 Nolensville Road, said he thinks the business group, the
church and concerned residents are targeting the wrong people because the building owners ultimately decide
whether to clean up their property.

2. Vandalism is a problem, and he believes it makes store and building owners reluctant to spend money on
improvements.
"To be honest with you, we aren't going to put a Taj Mahal on Nolensville Road because I had to paint (over) graffiti
on the back of the store last year," Sutton said.
A 36-year resident of Nashville, Sutton doesn't understand the group effort to salvage Nolensville Road. "It's not
exactly Belle Meade or Brentwood," he said. "Madison would be a better example of an area that went downhill, but
Nolensville Road has always looked like that."
Although he agrees that Nolensville Road could benefit from a good scrub, Mike Hodges said, he doesn't understand
why automotive and payday advance companies are targeted when many other businesses, such as Mexican
mercados, or supermarkets, are guilty of some of the same things.
"I have nothing against mercados or anyone. I am just saying that car lots and payday places are not the only ones
growing on Nolensville Road," said Hodge, 34, president of Advance Payday.
Still, local officials said there's already been some progress.
Metro Councilwoman Amanda McClendon in April got a bill passed that classified auto dealers under SP zoning, a
designation that makes the business plans more public and available for council and neighborhood evaluation, she
said.
At three months old, the bill has kept four used-car dealerships out of the area, McClendon said.
"In the old world, they could have just come in," McClendon said.
The measure also has made the existing car lots more valuable because it's restricted new competition.
That's fine with Ronnie Haislip, owner of the Nolensville Road Auto Mart, a family-run business since 1963.
He's waiting for approval to tear down the shop at 2624 Nolensville Road and expand his other lot nearby at 2721
Nolensville Road.
Although the new zoning has complicated his plans, he believes the regulation is necessary if only to cut down on
competition.
"It (competition) has been tough on us. How in the world does everyone else sell cars?" Haislip said.
Ethnic, economic diversity
Before the area encompassing Nolensville Road came to be, it was known as Flatrock when Native American tribes
gathered there.
In 1840, David Hughes purchased 150 acres of farmland, and after noticing an abundance of "Woodbine"
honeysuckles that grew on their property, his daughter referred to the land as Woodbine, giving it the name that
many use to describe parts of the area today.

3. In the 1900s, the area started showing signs of development when the Nashville Railroad established a freight yard
site in the area now known as the Radnor community.
The neighborhood, home to Radnor rail yards, was hit hard by railroads' switch to diesel engines in the 1950s,
resulting in a two-thirds job loss for the area.
Today, according to a 2005 report, Woodbine is one of the most diverse areas in Davidson County, with 14 percent
of its residents immigrants from other countries.
It also is one of the city's poorest.
In the study, Douglas D. Perkins reported that the Woodbine area had a median household income of $33,307,
which was $6,490 below the median income for Davidson County of $39,797.
He put together the study, called the South Nashville Community Needs and Assets Assessment Final Report, after
the Woodbine Community group requested help with a neighborhood needs assessment, which had not been done
since 1987.
Jose Gonzalez, adjunct entrepreneurship professor at Belmont University, said the proliferation of used-car lots,
check cashing agencies, title loans and payday advances is not that surprising. Such businesses capitalize on lower-
income families who don't have established credit and struggle to make ends meet, he said.
"The used-car lots are just going to where the market is," Gonzalez, co-founder of Conexion Americas, said.
And dreams of a tourist hotspot such as China Town or Little Italy may not be easy to achieve.
"The construction of such tourist attractions is more organic" than having a group dictate change because
immigrants tend to flock with other immigrants in areas that are traditionally lower priced, Perkins said.
Property crimes rampant
John Arriola, Davidson County clerk and a former state representative and congressional candidate, has climbed on
board, too, because voters have complained that auto-based industries on Nolensville have lowered property values.
"Folks see the fences, they see the cars being worked on, they see that the pendulum has swung more toward
automotive and less toward free-standing mom-and-pop businesses. Some people really don't like that," he said.
Nolensville reformers, though, have another challenge — crime.
Perkins' report, released in January 2005, found the crime in Woodbine exceeded the rate for Davidson County as a
whole by 3 percent.
Significantly, the area has more than its share of property crimes. According to the report, Woodbine's burglary rate
is 48 percent higher than throughout Davidson County and is the biggest problem.
But advocates are hopeful.
"In 10 to 20 years, you won't even be able to recognize Nolensville Road. That's how beautiful it will be," Paiva
said.

4. food
Race team's chef knows his fast food
By Desiree Belmarez Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 07/17/2007 09:19:55 PM MDT
With six minutes until lunch, Nicky Morse is in a race against time.
The chef for 16-member Team Jegs, whose members exceed speeds of 195 mph in a
quarter-mile strip on a racing day at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, still has four pork
loins seasoned with a dry rub of smoked Spanish paprika, bay leaf, cinnamon and onion
powder sizzling on the grill.
He also needs to spice the pine nuts, which he roasted earlier in the morning, with a
mixture of lemon, sugar and cinnamon for his salad topped with blue cheese and 10-year-
old Lucini balsamic vinegar.
"I have to hurry up and get this done," Morse says while stirring the nuts to the beat of an
Alan Jackson song that plays from a car radio. "They only have so much time to eat before
the race - it's like a freakin' traveling show."
He pulls the nuts from the six-burner stovetop and steps outside the 30-foot air-conditioned
trailer equipped with a fridge, freezer and sink with garbage disposal, to remove the loins so
they have time to sit and collect juices.
And it's just in time, because racers and mechanics start trailing in for fuel.
"Ooooh, turkey, turkey, turkey," says an excited Shane Tucker, a 22-year-old driver from
Australia, as he gazes at the loins with a fork in his left hand and a knife in his right.
"No, it's pork," Morse says with a lifted eyebrow.
Just as quickly as they arrived, the drivers leave. And that means it's time to prep for
dinner.
So Morse tosses the 20 or so paper plates and cups used for lunch, cleans the dishes and
pulls out the pizza dough he made days before. He carefully molds the sourdough into six
disks, four the size of a cereal bowl and two the size of a dinner plate.
As he allows the dough to rest and rise, the chef who prepared meals for such country
musicians as Randy Travis, Vince Gill and Faith Hill pulls out a string of kielbasa sausage,
some parmesan cheese and hot pickles, and eats his lunch at 2:48 p.m.
But his endeavor to finish dinner in time for the next race is delayed as team members,
including semi-truck driver Randy Bishop, track in and out for snacks.
Bishop comes through the sliding glass door looking for some food, but he doesn't know
what he wants.
"Do you want a reverse root beer float?" Morse offers a specialty drink with root beer ice
cream, which costs $8.99 per pint, and cream soda.

5. "Nah," says Bishop, as he reaches for some of the leftover sausage from Morse's lunch.
"It's like feeding the family," Morse says. "Everyone's always got to have their hands in
something."
But Morse reminds himself it's the kin-like relationship he developed with each crew
member that keeps him coming back to his job.
"Honestly, it feels like I haven't had a job in years," he says, describing what life was like
working 70 to 80 hours a week at Ziggy's Continental, a fast-paced restaurant in Columbus,
Ohio.
Work came to a screeching halt the day he found a lump underneath his chin that turned
out to be Hodgkin's disease. Morse quit his job and left his knives, determined never to cook
again.
"I was sure I was going to die," he said, explaining how he fell into a depression and
refused to open mail or pay bills because he thought he would be dead before bill collectors
could catch up with him.
After an epiphany that led him to stand up on his sofa and declare he was going to get
better, he started looking for jobs outside of the kitchen. He mentored aspiring chefs at
Ohio State University; freelanced for Country Music Television, cooking food for the
musicians the station profiled; and worked as a coordinator for a catering company.
He stumbled into his current position after his brother sold property to Gary Pearman, who
used to be a crew chief with Team Jegs. Pearman eventually hooked Morse up with Team
Jegs, and Morse, now cancer-free, started cooking for the team in 2003.
Morse pauses for a moment, looks at the time again, and starts rushing. Only a few more
minutes until dinner.
He pushes up the sleeves of his yellow-and-black Jegs chef coat, rolls out the pizza dough
and stretches it into a square pan. He carefully spreads the sauce, made with tomatoes,
peppers, bay leaves, garlic and meat broth that marinated for 8 hours. He layers sliced
banana peppers, a pound of pepperoni and about a pound of mozzarella and Locatelli
pecorino Romano cheese. He sticks it in the oven with four other pies for 35 minutes, pulls
it out and lets it cool.
Just as he finishes, Bishop walks in again, eager for some pizza. He helps himself to a few
slices and heads to his usual chair in the farthest corner of the trailer.
"If you leave here hungry, it's your own damn fault," Bishop says, stuffing his mouth with
pizza.
Staff writer Desiree Belmarez can be reached at 303-954-1211 or
dbelmarez@denverpost.com.
"1408" a room with a disturbing view

6. *** RATING
By Desiree Belmarez
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 06/22/2007 12:33:51 AM MDT
Ghost debunker Mike Enslin (John Cusack) gets the cold shoulder from his New York hotel
room in "1408," based on a Stephen King story. (Dimension Films)
"1408" a room with a disturbing view|
Haunted hotels are just an advertising ploy to attract tourists to an otherwise dead part of
the country.
It's the attitude that ghost debunker and writer Mike Enslin (John Cusack) takes to every
haunted hotel room he visits. After all, other than second-rate paintings of fruit and
sailboats, what distinguishes one hotel room from another?
Enslin receives a postcard from the hotel's "staff," inviting him to explore what sets room
1408 in New York's fictional Dolphin Hotel apart from any of the other ghost-infested inns.
After Enslin has finagled his way into the room, manager Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson)
begs him not to stay, sweetening the deal with offers of free upgrades to a penthouse suite,
an $800 bottle of champagne and unrestricted access to the hotel's files of every one of the
56 deaths that happened in the room.
"I don't want you checking into room 1408 because I don't want to clean up the mess," Olin
says.
Although the movie "1408," directed by Mikael Hafstrom and based on a Stephen King short
story, follows a clichéd theme in its opening minutes, it eventually distinguishes itself from
slash-your- own-throat horror movies by illustrating how hotels can be creepy places. The
movie forces us to confront the supernatural while weighing it against everything we might
find unsettling about staying in a strange room.
Enslin can't say he wasn't warned. The manager tells him about one former occupant who
slit his throat and bled to death while trying to stitch it back together.
The argument is lost on Enslin. In fact, it merely whets his desire to stay in the room.
Because it just so happens that Enslin doesn't believe in ghosts. The jaded writer, whose
heartache is brought to life through the droopy-eyed Cusack, stopped believing in heaven,
hell and everything supernatural after his terminally ill daughter died.
Enslin soon realizes he is not alone when things start running amok with time-honored
paranormal activities: A radio blasts the Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun" and windows
slam on Enslin's hands as he takes in the view. Old home videos of his wife and their
daughter start playing on the television.
Oh, and the digital clock on the nightstand resets itself to a 60-minute countdown for his
life.

7. At this point, Enslin realizes he is dealing with more than he can handle and launches a
desperate attempt to escape. Hello, front desk, I'll be checking out early!
With some horror films, digital effects can be hit or miss. But "1408" nails them with its
portrayal of a melting telephone and the f0rmer occupants re-enacting their last few
moments before death, subtly combusting before hitting the ground. Only the overly
digitized scenes with a masked swordsman and a creepy-crawly being in a vent fall short.
The movie chronicles Enslin's battle with mind over matter and reality over make-believe.
The result: a psychologically thrilling movie that leaves you gasping in the end.
Staff writer Desiree Belmarez can be reached at 303-954-1211 or at
dbelmarez@denverpost.com.
colorado sunday
Colorado Flavor: Father knows best
And we can prove it
By The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 06/16/2007 04:54:50 PM MDT
Not every father is a domestic klutz. In keeping with the spirit of celebrating all things dad, we went looking for the
most fatherly restaurants around the state. These winners prove that Daddy really does know best when it comes to
creating a 6-inch burger big enough for a professional athlete, charring a piece of meat or making homemade pastas
and sauces that really satisfy customers. - Desiree Belmarez, Denver Post staff writer
BIG DADDY'S
41 County Road 27, Brighton 303-654-0532
A hearty helping of onion, pickles, lettuce and tomato fits nicely on the 6-inch bun that
houses the gigantic slab of hamburger famously named the Big Daddy Burger.
The restaurant is owned and operated by Horst Ditz, who acquired the shop 18 years ago.
Although he says he had nothing to do with naming the restaurant, Ditz couldn't bear to
part with the Big Daddy Burger tradition started by the previous owner.
But, if you're looking for a spot to take Dad today, don't make any special trips for the
famous burger - Big Daddy's is open only Monday through Friday.
The Big Daddy Burger rings up at $3.90.
PAPA J'S RESTAURANT
7850 Sheridan Blvd. 303-427-1391
Julius Giraldi opened the restaurant 31 years ago with nothing more than family recipes and
lots of help from his wife and kids. Even at 91, Giraldi occasionally finds himself entertaining

8. customers by singing and playing the violin. With its famous red sauce anchoring the menu
and celebrity sketches drawn by Giraldi himself (some are autographed) anchoring the
walls, Papa J's is an Italian institution.
The down-home food doesn't come at a steep price, either, with a spaghetti dinner, soup or
salad and bread at about $8.50.
BIG DADDY'S BAGELS
4800 Baseline Road, Boulder 303-554-0193
A family-friendly eatery owned and operated by Rebecca and Reed Beaupre, this place
features toddler tables supplied with crayons and paper, along with plenty of indoor and
patio seating.
The 11-year-old shop, located in the Meadows Shopping Center, specializes in traditional
New York-style bagels, which are prepared over three days. The shop offers a variety of
bagels. The cranberry bagel, generously sprinkled with granola, cranberries, cinnamon
sugar, oats, sunflower and poppy seeds, is among the most popular.
With more than 17 flavors of cream cheese to choose from, and fruit and vegetable
toppings, Big Daddy's Bagels has something to satisfy even the most picky eater.
A solo bagel without cream cheese will set you back 75 cents, or pay $7.50 for a baker's
dozen. Big Daddy also has shops off Colorado 93 on the north side of Golden and at U.S.
287 and Baseline Road in Lafayette.
DAD'S SMOKEWAGON, PIT BARBEQUE AND CATERING
On U.S. 85 and U.S. 87, Fountain 719-229-3965
Fire. Meat. Grill.
Those are the only things a man needs to barbecue, said Larry Neuhalfen, owner of the
roadside trailer in Fountain.
And that's just about all you'll find in the trailer operated by the former Monfort's truck
driver who refuses to decorate with any linen, silver or fine china. He says that would dilute
the rough-and-rugged cowboy spirit of his stand.
Famous for his brisket and ribs, Neuhalfen prepares his sauces the same way his father
used to by ditching the fancy ingredients and grabbing bottles of barbecue sauces and base
ingredients like ketchup and teriyaki sauces, which he blends until he gets something
satisfying.
Neuhalfen won't be operating out of a trailer for long. He plans to move to an actual
building in August.

9. PAPA FRANKS-PETES PLACE
201 Fifth Street, Frederick 303-833-2818
A pinch of this and a pinch of that.
It's the way Tom Rizzi prefers to cook, a method he learned from his Italian grandmother.
The restaurant opened in 1989 and is named after his grandfather Frank Rizzi, who died a
year later.
A former butcher, Rizzi is a stickler for freshness. He prepares everything, from the noodles
and meatballs in his signature spaghetti to the sauces and sausage, from scratch.
If you visit during the right time of the month, you can catch a seafood feast filled with
mussels, calamari crab legs, shrimp, salmon steaks and all the trimmings for $30 a person.
On an average night, however, a dinner entree will cost you about $8.
THE PADRE
8035 South Quebec St., Centennial 303-770-1155
When the Rev. Frederick D. McCallin first opened the doors to the restaurant, which
operates out of St. Thomas More Catholic Church, it was to build a relationship with the
community.
And up until the 1980s, it did just that with very little effort.
But as Centennial started to grow and competition among restaurants stiffened, the church
was forced to cut back its offerings, including its liquor license and the biblically themed
menu that offered dishes such as the Prodigal Son for a hamburger and Satan's Temptation
for dessert.
The catered buffet-style restaurant is open to the public and hungry parishioners for
breakfast from 8 a.m.-10:30 a.m. every Sunday.
The Padre will host a Father's Day brunch.
Staff writer Desiree Belmarez can be reached at 303-954-1211 or at
dbelmarez@denverpost.com

10. Jodi Picoult wields a poignant pen
By Desiree Marie Belmarez, Special to the Rocky
Published March 28, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Photo by Gasper Tringale
Best-selling author Jodi Picoult says, "It's usually the things that make us most
uncomfortable that are the most rewarding to address."
More stories »
Jodi Picoult has gained a reputation for writing thought-provoking novels that are literary as
well as commercial - a juggling act few writers manage. Her books consistently hit best-
seller lists, and in the process, examine some of today's most controversial issues, including
euthanasia (Mercy), school shootings (Nineteen Minutes) and genetic engineering (My
Sister's Keeper).
Her latest, Change of Heart, is no different. In a novel that is enjoying an initial print-run of
1 million, Picoult tackles difficult issues surrounding the death penalty and religion.
She recently spoke to the Rocky from her home in Hanover, N.H.
Of all the issues presented in your new novel, I was most intrigued by that of a death-
row inmate being able to donate his heart after his death. How did you come up with this
idea?
Most of my books come from questions I can't answer. This one grew out of something I've
been watching - how we can break our country apart on the fault line of religion. I don't
understand how organized religion has become so divisive. Why do we believe the things
we do and does that make us right? I wanted to tie that in, too, to the death penalty.
Something legally we have on our books (that) we haven't examined in full.
What interesting things did you learn along the way?
For me, the real eye-openers had to do with religion and the death penalty in America.
What really surprised me the most was how so many people who call themselves religious
people or good Christians - how much they don't know about the history of their own

11. religion. They go to church, say their prayer and that's their daily shot of religion.
I flew out to Arizona and met with the warden at the time in the men's prison in Florence.
Most of the details I got there were stunning. There is a 400- or 500-page document that
tells how to go about killing someone. It explains all the details, such as the "dry run," how
the victim and convict's families don't cross paths, and how the medical doctor never shows
up on the death certificate. It's interesting to see how everyone working in that prison didn't
support capital punishment. One of the people I spoke with at the prison said, "For
something that's supposed to be fair, this justice system isn't fair."
You've written so many different scenarios so well. How do you tap into such a myriad
of feelings so effectively?
I don't know, I'm just glad I can. It's being brave enough to tell a story that (other) people are
afraid to. It's usually the things that make us most uncomfortable that are the most rewarding
to address. . . . That bravery, that willingness to talk about things people would prefer not to
happen in the world is what drives me to write.
A quick Facebook search pulled up 31 Jodi Picoult groups. How do you attract such a
diverse audience?
I think it comes from the way I choose to write my books. Most of them are (based on people
I know, which is why they) can sweep into the heads of so many people. A lot of my books
have young people as the focal point, too.
This week alone I had a letter from an 11-year- old girl and a 98-year-old woman. Forty-
eight percent of my readers are male. If you read my book, whether you're a soccer mom or
whatever, you will take something differently from my book. I love hearing from my teenage
fans. They are all doing their papers on me. It's wonderful to know that you've gotten kids
reading - it is one of the highest compliments an author can receive.
What is your writing routine?
I usually get up at about 5 a.m. and I go for a 3-mile walk with a friend of mine. We gossip
the whole way. I come home and get the kids ready for school. Then I go to my office and

12. go through fan mail, and I respond to all e-mails personally. Then I start writing and editing.
It takes me 9 months to write a novel. If it took more than that I wouldn't be able to put out a
novel a year, since I spend about 3 months on book tours.
How has life changed for you since your books have become so popular?
Well, not that much.The truth is you meet a lot of authors who get really big in their own
heads. When I am in my hometown, I am mom to my kids. They find it humorous when
people treat me like a rock star.
There are perks. Once my son was having a surgery on his ears. All of a sudden we are
upgraded to this VIP suite, which I thought was because we had been in there so much,
kind of like a buy-10-get-one-free deal. Anyway, when we got to the room, which had like
three TVs, I learned that all of the nurses had just finished reading My Sister's Keeper. It was
really funny. Little things like that are just really fun.
But it's not like I go around when I go out to eat or something saying, "Do you know who I
am?" We don't live in a mansion. We live in this beautiful area that we loved from the
beginning, when we were still scraping pennies. I think the one thing that has changed is
that I can sleep better at night knowing I don't have to worry about getting my kids through
college. That's it.
Is there anything I haven't asked that you'd like to add ?
When I was in Colorado last year for Nineteen Minutes , I had one of the most moving
experiences of my life. I had people in the audience who were friends or family of people
who survived Columbine. It meant so much to me to hear about that demographic,
particularly from those who had personal experience with it. I want to thank them because it
was an amazing moment for me as a writer.
Desiree Marie Belmarez is a freelance writer living in Fort Collins.

13. Jodi Picoult
* What: Appears at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch, 9315
Dorchester St.
* Cost: Tickets are free with the purchase of Change of Heart at any Tattered Cover.
Seating on a first-come, first-served basis to ticketed customers only.
* Information: 303-470-7050
Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News
FITNESS | WE TRIED
For the fittest of the fit
By Desiree Belmarez
Special to The Denver Post
POSTED: 11/19/2007 01:00:00 AM MST
UPDATED: 11/19/2007 04:08:21 PM MST
The Greenwood Athletic Club PowerFit class begins with a treadmill warm-up, then
moves to the weight room, where 15 stations will challenge even the fittest.
(Greenwood Athletic Club)
When Oyvind Gulbrandsen and Josef Talbert from the Greenwood Athletic and Tennis Club
dared us to last 60 minutes in their PowerFit class, we gladly accepted the challenge,
thinking it was just another exercise class promising a semi-difficult workout. But after 15
minutes of rotating through the first set of 15 exercises with two more rotations to go, not
only were our muscles taxed and heart pumped, we were ready to raise the flag of defeat
and go home.
Who it's for: "The class was designed to give the most fit people a challenge in their
exercise routine," Gulbrandsen said. It accommodates up to about 15 people per session
and is perfect for those who want a group fitness environment with the one-on-one attention
you get from a personal trainer.
What it's like: We warmed up on treadmills set to an incline of 10 and speed of 3 miles per
hour. From there, we went to the weight room, where Talbert had set up 15 stations. We
started on bikes and were told to keep our rotations per minute above 50 for 45 seconds.

14. Sounds easy, but there was a catch: The pedals had a tendency to jerk, and the bike seats
had been removed, so we couldn't sit when we needed that extra push.
After a 15-second break, we moved to the next station, where we placed our hands on a
platform, our feet on a medicine ball, and did dips for 45 seconds.
"When you are doing the exercises, try to take it easy on the first set," Gulbrandsen said
while demonstrating how to modify the intensity of one of the step exercises. "If you give
your best effort on everything, you won't make it through the class."
And on we went through a dozen more stations. By the end of the first rotation, when we
had to pick up a set of 5-pound weights and punch a mat held by Talbert, we were ready to
admit the class was tougher than we expected.
But we muscled our way through the class to the "cool down" when Talbert forced us to
work the abdominals with a series of old-fashioned crunches and bicycles.
What was worked: No muscle will go untested if Gulbrandsen and Talbert have anything
to say about it. Everything from our shoulders down to our calves was fatigued.
The next morning: We weren't as sore as we thought we were going to be, considering the
intensity of the workout. Sure, our arms, legs and abs were tight, but it wasn't painful.
Advice: Don't forget your water bottle as you get only a 15-second break between exercises,
not enough time to visit the fountain outside the door.
DETAILS: PowerFit classes are at 7 and 11 a.m. on Tuesdays; 11 a.m. on Thursdays; and 7
and 11 a.m. on Fridays at 5801 S. Quebec St. in Greenwood Village. The first class is free
to gym members and $30 per session for additional classes. For nonmembers, there is a $50
charge. More information at 303-770-2582 or greenwoodathleticclub.com.