J e f f H i g h a m

THE Bike

2012-01-09T12:46:00.005-07:00

I bought my first (and possibly last) ever road bike in 2010. Prior to that I had only ridden mountain bikes and didn't see much need to have a bike that could only go on the road. After all, I could just ride my mountain bike on the road AND on the dirt right? When I started to take training and racing a little more seriously I quickly realized the advantage of having a road bike. It is a necessary tool for those group rides, hill intervals, and perhaps most used by me, the indoor trainer. So I acquired one at the next opportunity. Shortly after I put together my new Blue RC8, I realized what the hype was all about. Up to that point I had been riding an sporty SUV (mountain bike) but this new baby, this bad boy, this was a precision instrument of speed and aerodynamics, this was a sports car. It accelerated like a dream and hugged the road around corners and scared the beans out of me doing so. So I was converted, I had a road bike and liked it too. I spent a lot of time on it, I shaved my legs, and grew to love riding skinny tires. Then I started commuting to work a little more and wouldn't you know it, the best route to work had some single track, some double track, dirt bike paths, and some pavement. I didn't want to ride my mountain bike to work, that would be overkill and cause unnecessary wear. On the flip side, my road bike was taking a beating and getting too dirty for a sports car. If only there was a hybrid sort of bike that could go where my mountain bike did and not loose too much of the sports car feel. I needed the cycling equivalent of a rally car.

Enter the Cyclocross Bike.

When I was looking at my first road bike I contemplated a 'cross bike as an alternative option and almost pulled the trigger. I didn't have plans to do any Cyclocross racing so it didn't really seem like a good fit. The thought never occurred to me that I could have just put road tires on it. Later I met a few people that did just that and they were happy with that option but there was one thing that bothered me: brakes. I didn't like cantilever brakes or the idea I needed special wheels that would only work on a road / 'cross bike. I liked the disc brakes on my 29" MTB and my Stan's wheels are light enough to run on a 'cross bike but those darn canti brakes! If only there was a 'cross bike that I could run my MTB disc wheels on. Then I could use a wheel from my 'cross bike or mountain bike in a pinch if needed. Versatility, that's really what I wanted.

Enter the Specialized CruX Disc.

The second I saw this bike frame I was hooked. Problem solved. The perfect training, commuting, everything but mountain biking bike. I can run my Stan's ZTR Crest MTB wheels, disc brakes, and reuse the rest of the parts from my road bike. Best of all: I can race Cyclocross this fall.

I've never killed this many birds with one stone.

Now the question becomes what is THE bike for July 2012??

Chasing Rabbits - Moab Day Trip

2012-01-04T13:27:00.001-07:00

I had a great day trip to Moab on monday which provided the perfect ending to the year. Having some good southern Utah riding spots within a few hours drive makes a winter day trip well within the realm of possibilities any given weekend but it comes at a bit of a cost: SLEEP! It was early Monday when I pulled up to Adam's house. I was still shaking off the urge to to go back to bed and I think he was feeling the same way. It took us 5 min to figure out "righty-tighty" on the bike rack as we wrestled his bike on the car in the dark. We picked up Daren and Chris and pointed my Subaru south loaded down with four bikes and four dudes. We had to chase Chris and KC down before 9:45am (wich turned out to be the theme for the day). As I learned on my last trip to St George, they don't wait around, when it's time to ride they ride and they had a 45min head start on us. I did finally reel them in and what ensued afterward was a great day of riding along Dead Man's Ridge and Sovereign Trail just north of town. I rode pretty aggressively all day trying to hold the wheel of either Chris Holley or Josh Wolfe but spent most of the time on the extreme end of a long rubber band. I figure if I put enough time in chasing fast guys like this around some of their magic pro dust is bound to rub off on me. It was great to get out with a big group. The dynamic was great and I had a lot of fun. And that's what it's all about folks!

Adam, Chris, KC

Daren, Chris, Josh

Chris on Deadman's Ridge

Chris and KC

Adam, Chris, Chris, KC, Josh

Josh and Chris

Adam imparting some wisdom

Cool barn next to the gas station

Exploring Suncrest, Alpine, And Everything In Between

2011-12-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

This year has been uncharacteristically mild in terms of snowfall. The promise of snow, to those who wish for snow, is a fading hope. Years ago, I was among those that anxiously looked forward to the first snowfall and the day there would be enough to carve some new turns in fresh powder. Once the kids started to show up and our move to Colorado, where paradoxically, skiing isn't as convenient as it once was growing up in Utah, I put the skis aside. Now that I am here again, I may venture into some backcountry skiing in the coming years. But for now, the snow has not shown up for the winter party which leaves dirt ripe for riding and that's what I have been doing. There are two trail systems close to my house, so close in fact that I don't need to drive to either of them. This is a dream come true for a mountain biker. The first trail system, Corner Canyon is literally just down street and within 5 min of my front door. The trails are fast and flowing and cater to the desires of riders of all abilities. There is plenty of up, down, and spectacular views of the Salt Lake Valley. The only downside to Corner Canyon in the winter is the fact that all trails are on a north-facing slope and tend to hold snowpack during the winter.

A taste of Corner Canyon

The second trail system is Lambert Park on the east bench of Alpine Utah. Lambert is a labyrinth of windy trails that intersect at random tied together by a few dirt roads. While these trails are not as spectacular as those found in Corner Canyon, they do offer some good views of Utah Valley. Lambert has one major advantage over Corner Canyon in the winter: the trails face south-west and tollerate moisture very well. For the first few rides in Lambert, I took the pavement down the hill to Highland and then into Alpine following roughly the same path back up. Fortunately, Adam was around my first trip to show me around Lambert. We did a few laps around the park then set out to explore a possible route back to Corner Canyon on dirt roads. Oh yea, there are a number of 4wd / 4-wheeler roads carved into the landscape between Alpine and Suncrest, the question is, which road if any connects the two? Below was a pretty good recon mission but we ran out of daylight and legs to keep exploring.

Draper to Lambert with some bonus exploring.

A few days later I attacked the the problem from the top of the hill and found my way back to the loop we explored the day earlier. Although the road is washed out in probably only ridable on the downhill in places it is ridable. This opens up some great riding opportunities come this Spring. Riding Corner Canyon and Lambert will offer 30-50 miles of quality mountain biking all on dirt and all out my front door.

Connecting Corner Canyon to Lambert Park

An Update

2011-12-19T22:33:00.000-07:00

I've been traveling quite a bit for work since mid November. I'm growing more forgetful these days and have to resort to taking photos of things like my shuttle stop so I will remember where I got on and hopefully where I need to get off and find my car a week later when I return. While some may revel in the traveling-for-work lifestyle, the frequent flyer miles, the exclusive airport lounge, and first class seating, I don't care for it. While it is a short-term necessary evil for work purposes, it increases my chances of getting sick (yes, I am that guy that runs the air full-blast into my face on the airplane), throws off my daily routine, makes me eat unhealthy food, and brings havoc to any sort of structured training.

The pain cave has new meaning after two weeks of nothing but low-end stationary bikes and free weights to work with. I've been experimenting with new things this year during base training (base 1) for the times I have a real bike to ride. Last year I did a lot of hours on the trainer in HR zone 2 which boils down to low intensity and long duration. I watched a lot of movies and got to know my garage really well. I think this really set me up well for long miles (muscular endurance) but I was not really ready for the first few races. I had little in the power department as expected. This year I am planning to fix that to some extent with a little experiment building muscular force during base 1. During my travel, I used a combination of stationary bike and free weights. When home, I have been throwing a few sets of what Joe Friel calls Force Reps (which he describes in this blog post) along with my longer zone 2-3 rides and various interval sets. So far they have been working out well and I feel like I get a lot our of a 45-60min workout without having to do a straight up weight room workout.

Winter Cometh

2011-11-06T13:05:00.001-07:00

Utah snow making an appearance in undisclosed location.

There hasn't been much to write about on the old blog. I'm getting settled into my new surroundings here in Utah just in time for the winter storms to start pounding my Suncrest ecosystem. I've ridden the new backyard trails enough to have a good arsenal of MTB training routes lined up for the spring. I also pulled out the Strava iPhone app to log some elevation profiles of the road up both sides of the Draper hill. I'm told the Tour of Utah comes right up the hill by my house so It looks like I'll not only have some aggressive training terrain but also a front row seat to the race in 2012. For now, I plan to put the bike time on the back burner for most of November (but I'll keep the burner turned on) and focus on less exciting but more important things. Like always, I'll continue to obsess about riding and set up some sweet training and racing schedules. I may try to catch one of the last few UTCX Cyclocross races.

Here is a little sample of my new best friend for hill intervals next spring. I'm looking forward to the convenience of getting the LWCoaching workouts in without too much wasted travel time.

Riding Fruita Colorado

2011-10-24T20:24:00.002-06:00

South of Grand Junction riding the Lunch Loops

I've been back and forth between Colorado and Utah over the past few weeks and fortunately for me my route has taken me right through Grand Junction and Fruita. Not only is this a good half way stop between my destinations, I have the added bonus of having a friend living in Fruita who has been kind enough to let me stay for a night two weekends in a row. Doubling as a host and tour guide, he gave me a tour of some of the favorite trails in the area. Having ridden them now and knowing the goodness contained therein, it's a shame I've been driving by year after year missing out on these amazing trails literally in some cases right off the freeway. I've heard many times that Fruita is as good as Moab and after experiencing a sample, I'd have to agree.

Lunch Loops trail system.

Kokopelli's Trail Loops

Lunch Loops. You'll find chunky drops like this one around every turn. Moab has nothing on this place!

Checking Out My New Digs

2011-10-23T21:55:00.001-06:00

A quick break at Ghost Falls on my ride in Corner Canyon. I think I can get used to this.

The view around every corner.

Leaving

2011-10-21T23:01:00.000-06:00

I have just given up my residency in Colorado for the second time in the past 11 years. Last time the move was for a career-starting job in California. It was a hard move for many reasons but the biggest one was simply that I (we) love living here. Now years after my first farewell, I am again moving on for career advancement. It is hard to drive westbound past that familiar sign on I-70 for the last time with no certainty of return. Over the years I've driven by countless times with little fanfare always knowing that I will soon be passing the east-bound sign welcoming me back to Colorado, back home. Colorado has a way of placing a hold on it's residents that is hard... make that painful to break. The state is rich in everything that makes life worth living and has given me experiences that will last forever.

Lloyd was in fact mistaken... John Denver knew exactly what he was talking about.

Stay tuned for my new adventures of riding fun as I mingle with the Saints one state to the west.

Dawn Patrol

2011-10-04T20:32:00.000-06:00

Dawn Patrol cockpit with optional "critter bell"

I pulled myself out of bed at 4:30am this morning. Just like I have been doing regularly 3 times a week since late August. With rare exception (today being one of them) I have been riding the same route every morning on my single-speed. With the kids starting back to school the first of August I had to keep riding time on a tight leash. It also felt good to have the training pressure off and drop back into a holding pattern of sorts, almost mechanical in nature, and something I could repeat with timely accuracy to keep my spirits up, legs fresh, and family routine on schedule. I have grown to tolerate early mornings over the past 2 years. I say tolerate because I do not enjoy getting up anymore than the next guy but I do it out of necessity. Over time it has become mechanical and sometimes I don't remember the specifics of leaving the house, just that I'm on the trail riding. My body comes alive and faculties engage. There is a relaxing simplicity in riding without shifting gears, taking the same route, no need to think too hard, just pedal and drift off where the mind wonders. Indeed, I've had some of my best mind sessions cranking away with headlights showing just enough of the trail to keep going.

It's therapy for me, the sun yawning as the first light crests over the horizon, Deer eyes reflecting in my headlamp, Coyote howl, and the winding trail.

Binary Logic

2011-09-07T00:49:00.001-06:00

There is a common tactic in sales when a sales person want's to close a sale. To get the deal done they must maximize efficiency and remove unnecessary confusion for the buyer. That is to limit the number of choices for a buyer to choose from. Limiting to 2 or 3 rather than 10 makes it much easier for a buyer to narrow it down and make a decision. When there is only 1 choice it is all the better as the buyer is left to decide between buying and walking away, doing or not doing. I'm no salesman, far from it in fact, I'm an an ADD plagued computer geek. If there is a shiny object, I'll be the first one to drop what I'm doing and check it out. Give me 10 or 20 choices and I'll waste a lot of time getting to the bottom of the decision. Now to the photo above. Choices? One. Actually that's not true. Before setting out on the trail I had 3 options at my disposal: 17T, 18T, and 19T. Once on the trail, I was left with 2. In some cases those were "pedal" or "push" and other times "stand" or "sit". The whole riding experience was reduced to binary logic: On or off, do or dont, 1 or 0. Contrast that with the riding experience on a geared bike and you are now up to 20+ choices of gearing alone (2x10 drivetrain). My Superfly 100 has been torn apart in the Garage ever since my last STXC race in August and I've been riding the Niner shown above regularly since then. I can't say I miss my geared bike, in fact, I am seriously considering dropping gears all together for 2012. Why? I've been drawn in by the illusion or reality of simplistic bliss that comes with one gear. On a single-speed I don't have to think, just ride. If I can't ride, I walk. If I walk, it is probably too steep to ride anyway. Really those walking times are rare. There is one secret the geared-bike-riders-that-have-never-ridden-a-single-speed types don't know... but I'll give you the inside scoop now.

It's not as hard as everyone makes it look.

That's right, those big hills you see ss'ers mashing up at 10rpm hunched over the top tube? They aren't working much harder than you are, just slower. I constantly surprise myself with what I can climb using only one gear. I'm starting to think one is all you need... I'm (almost) sold.

Crazy Flying Dreams

2011-08-30T22:03:00.002-06:00

For as long as I can remember I have had at least one or two dreams a year about flying. Most of the time I am soaring over forests, through canyons, and over valleys but occasionally I'll be "flying" under water (isn't that called swimming?). They usually end with me loosing altitude and floating to a standstill. I always wake up a little disappointed that it was all a dream and I really don't have super-human flying / swimming powers. I'm not really sure what all of that means but this video pretty much captures the essence of those dreams. This one is pretty crazy as well.

Dropping A Few Gears

2011-08-12T09:27:00.002-06:00

Wednesday's short track race was probably my last competitive race this year. Reluctantly, I am going to have to pass by the Park City race in September due to my work schedule ( if you want in, please let me know!). Disappointed? of course I am because it is an awesome course and I've been racing pretty well this year. The singletrack is amazing and the organizers are top notch people. In fact, I remember seeing Jay Burke, the big man himself, out on course last year asking each racer how the course markings were as we rode on by. Clearly this is the mark of someone committed to providing the best race experience possible and I am sure that will hold true for this event. I'm also disappointed I won't have a chance to ride with Adam, Keith, and the rest of the Utah riders I've made friends with over the past year or two. This year has taken a lot out of me with training, racing, job changes, and a multitude of other things so I'd be lying if I didn't admit to some degree that I am ready to throw in the towel on structured training and competition this year. I'm satisfied with the Hundo, and Breck 100. Short Track is a new found addiction, and I get to do it all over again in one capacity or another in 2012. So just like that, my Superfly 100 is retired, hung up in the garage, and waiting a good overhaul. My Niner SS is enlisted back into service and on the bike stand getting a face lift. After throwing on some new Stans ZTR Crest wheels and swapping out a light seat, seat post, and bars I almost have it down to racing weight.

Racing weight? Ok I may have one more Winter Park race left in me... but it will be on my SS. I'm dropping a few gears for the rest of 2011.

CU Short Track and Strava

2011-08-03T22:55:00.003-06:00

I finally made it back to some high intensity racing/training Wednesday for the 2nd to last CU Short Track race series. The last two races I attempted were canceled due to rain so I was determined to race this week and talked the student organizers into letting me race the men's B and the men's A. Crazy I know but there was no way I was going home empty handed this week. I raced conservatively in the B race finishing up in 10th place. After a 25-min rest and a quick spin around the course again, I lined up at the back of the A race. I put in a strong effort but burned out on the last few laps failing to reach my one and only goal which was to avoid getting caught and lapped by Mike West, Bryan Alders, or Brady Kappius. Last time I succeeded, this time I didn't. In the end I pulled off 14th place.

In other news, I've been using connect.garmin.com for over a year now as a way to store, manage, display, and track the metrics from my Garmin Edge 705. I ride with this device and a HRM almost religiously and it has been a great tool to compare training and racing but there were a lot of things missing from the Garmin website. Enter Strava.com. I have had my eye on this site for a few months but I was initially turned off because you had to pay in order to upload more than 5 rides a month. Until now. They opened the site up and uncapped the upload limit so I uploaded some rides and took a closer look. Here are a few things I found that I love about it.

My Men's A race. Notice the 170w average power? I don't have a power tap! Strava calculates an estimated power output based on HR and other available data. Pretty cool.

Ever wonder how you stack up against other riders on the same trail? Here you go!

And if you want to watch yourself race the fastest guy on the course?

Or up Boreas Pass on the Breckenridge 100?

Reunion

2011-07-28T17:04:00.000-06:00

A few photos of my recent family reunion camping trip to Southern Utah. Lots of sitting around, fishing, and eating food... and rednecking (see below).

Reese with her 2 cousins.

Reese hiding behind a log railing.

My initials carved into Fish Lake Lodge.

Plenty of Aspen trees with stuff carved in them.

Photo of the family photo. 2 of 3 kids in view showing the "stinky eye".

Pulling Jaxon around the lake redneck style.

2011 Breckenridge 100

2011-07-17T23:58:00.007-06:00

My race bike taking a rest after a hard day of flawless service.

I had been looking forward to the Breckenridge 100 all year and the it did NOT disappoint. It was every bit as challenging and rewarding as I hoped it would be. For anyone that has ridden the Park City Point 2 Point and would consider that a 10 on the scale of difficulty, which I do, the Breck 100 turns the dial up a notch to 11. Both races share a common theme: climb, climb, climb, and when you are done with that... climb. They also share some of the best single-track I've ever ridden, not just a few miles, but in 20-30 min stretches. For me the dial goes up a notch in Breck for 2 reasons.

The climbing is intense and steep in places but the trail is much more chunky on those climbs / descent. There are huge root sections stretching 20-30 feet, "baby head" rock gardens on steep grades that can stretch for 1/4 mile, and small boulders thrown in for good measure. The trail was rarely smooth so it was a constant fight for each foot of altitude. There was no shame in using the little ring. This year there was even an added bonus hike-a-bike through 2 snow fields on Wheeler Pass.
The race *starts* at 9,600ft and reaches skyward to 12,320 feet on Wheeler Pass. The highest point in the Point 2 Point race is around 9,200 feet. The elevation was noticeable and forced me to dial it back a notch in order to survive the whole 100 miles.

With that said I still love the P2P and can't play favorites on the overall race experience. They both have earned a well deserved place in the NUE series. I rode a strong race, felt great, didn't cramp, and finished in 10 hours taking 6th in a stacked 30-39 group and 22nd overall. Take a look below for some specifics on the race and some photos of the day.

Elevation profile and HR data. Check out the full ride on Strava.com or connect.garmin.com

The climbs I remember really putting on the hurt. There were more but these are the major ones.

Peak Road climb up to Wheeler Pass. We had to traverse a number of snow fields (see below) towards the top of the climb. I pushed it a little hard on this one from the start to clear as many riders as possible. The descent off the back is very technical and I wanted to make sure I had a clear shot back down. Thankfully I did and rippin' that single-track was a welcome reward for the effort up the front side.

This little section of the Peaks Trail was one of the many chunky climbs rolling endlessly back to Breckenridge to complete loop1. There were rocks, roots, and some sweet single-track sections. I rode pretty conservatively on this section opting for a smaller gear over mashing the pedals up all of those punchy climbs.

Loop 2 starts off with more climbing right out of Carter Park. The first is up Barney Ford Hill to Sallie Barber, a short downhill section on the road then the trail unleashes Little French Flume shown above in blue. "Little French" as it's called is steep, rocky, and unmerciful but it is ridable and I managed to make it up without touching down. Again, the course hands out some sweet downhill after Little French to reward a hard effort.

This is the North Fork and Colorado Trail section of Loop 2. The climbing was rough, just like you'd expect from the Colorado Trail. Descending off of Kenosha Pass one would land just up trail from the green arrow shown above. I knew from a pre-ride last year that there is some really sweet downhill of the back side but it seemed to take forever to get there. Climb, climb, climb. I saw a few people starting to crack on this section. I tried to maintain a good pace but was still not hammering any of the climbs yet.

The blue line is Gold Run Road. It was an 18% grade in places and sucked. The hairpin section my Mineral Hill in the middle of the map unleashed an awesome single-track descent with swooping turns and a number of sweet little jumps. Almost fun enough to make me forget the road section I just suffered through. Again, the course dishes out pain followed by reward. A love-hate relationship at it's best!

Loop 3 starts off again with more climbing, big surprise. The line in blue is a steady climb that gradually increases in grade and rough terrain right before it drops riders off onto Boreas Pass Road for the first crossing of Boreas Pass.

After reaching Boreas Pass the course takes a right (your left) and starts the descent down into Como. There is still a fair amount of up and down climbing on the trail but to offset that is some of the most fun and interesting sections of single-track I've ever ridden (in the red on the left). You'll have to check it out! Once I reached Como I was ready to unleash all that I had for the second ascent of Boreas Pass. Looking at the elevation profile in preparation for the race I realized the race really ends at Boreas Pass because everything else, with a few short punchy climbs, was literally down hill. I was feeling good leaving Como and had just downed my 2nd bottle of CarboRocket 333 for the lap and swapped the 3rd onto the bike. That's 666 calories and the equivalent of 2 cans of Coke working it's way into my system. I was ready and my legs were willing so I put it in the big ring and started hammering out of the saddle. I managed, to my surprise, to reel in 2 or 3 riders up the pass and pushed over the top with empty bottles on fumes. I recovered just enough on the downhill to make it over the last little kicker, down the single-track and into Carter Park with a smile. Success!

Some Photos. I'll add more once they become available.

The trail working it's way up to Wheeler Pass. Photo: Les Handy

A very steep "cary-a-bike" section. One slip here and it's all the way back to Breck. Photo: Les Handy

Wheeler Pass looking north-west. The highest point of the race. Some steep and technical single-track just beyond the horizon. Photo: Les Handy

How much food does it take to fuel a 100-mile endurance race? About this much. Chris Baddick and I split this pizza the night before the race. It's called the "Gigantor".

Wheeler Pass on Loop #1

Colorado Trail on Loop #2

Boreas Pass Loop #3

More Photos: Loop1, Loop2, Loop3

2011 CU Short Track #9

2011-07-13T21:00:00.003-06:00

Post Race Team Photo

We raced 11 min today due to lightning... probably a good thing with a big race for me this weekend. Given most of the pros are out of town for the Mountain Bike XC National Championships the A race was very thin and they decided to run the men and women together. At least the course was fun. Plenty of turns with a really steep kicker (top left). I'm pretty sure Chris had something to do with this... and the rain.

On the way out of town I hit the trails on Marshall Mesa for an hour. I've never ridden there before so it was fun to check it out. Plenty of good views of Boulder and Eldorado canyon.

Eldorado Canyon in the background.

Hydration Pack or Bottles?

2011-07-11T21:24:00.003-06:00

I'm contemplating my hydration plan for the upcoming 100-miler this weekend and am faced with the choice of using a hydration pack or bottles or a combination of both. I have a bike with only 1 bottle cage available so regardless of which option I choose, I'll have a little water on my back. For The Bailey Hundo this year I opted for a pack swapping out a pre-filled bladder 1/2 way through the race. For last weekend's race I used bottles and had a teammate 1/2 way through each lap hand off a fresh bottle in addition to a stash at the start. So based on my experience here are some reasons for or against using a Hydration pack.

Hydration Pack Pros:
* Easy to grab that little hose and suck even when in technical terrain. This makes staying hydrated easier.
* You can cary a little more water and save time passing up aid stations.
* A little more room for an extra vest, tube, food, etc. You don't have to stuff that jersey to the limit.

Hydration Pack Cons:
* Weight, you have to cary more weight on your back rather than on the bike with bottles.
* High center of gravity, almost a guarantee the pack will slosh around and throw you off balance at some point.
* Hard to know how much water you have left.
* Takes a long time to refill. Bottles are much faster to swap out and / or refill.

I know each pro / con doesn't cary equal weight and the terrain of the course, frequency of aide stations, etc can swing the pendulum one way or the other. Still with that said, I'd love to hear your input on the topic.

2011 40 In The Fort

2011-07-10T14:55:00.003-06:00

It was a tough call to choose between the Winter Park Point-to-Point race and the 40 In The Fort put on by the Overland Mountain Bike Club in FT Collins, CO this weekend. Although I love the WP race series, I thought I'd give this new one a try. I had only ridden in the FT Collins area one time before back in October 2011 for the first annual Ergon Monster Ride. The race was on trails in both the Lory State Park and Horsetooth Mountain Park. We did two 20-mile loops which covered the gamut of conditions: smooth singletrack, chunky technical climbs / decents, hike-a-bike, and 20+% road climbs.

It felt something like this:

It was a true mountain bike race. If you don't have technical dirt skills, you'll be walking a lot up and down and probably will hate the race. If you like technical (rocks, roots, water bars) climbs and decents, you'll love the race course. I had a pretty good race unofficially finishing 10th in the open classification. I had one issue with my front shifter that prevented me from using the big ring the 2nd lap but as you can see from the elevation profile above, the big ring was used sparingly. Thanks again to all that helped out and put this event together. A big thanks to my teammate and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Jim Fu. He and his family put me up the night before and made me feel very welcome on and off the course. I'm looking forward to returning the favor sometime soon.

Rippin' Fast Downhill

One of the many big drops in Horsetooth.

Top of Bacon Hill or whatever that evil road is called.

Fu Dog making sure I make it back to a warm shower and awesome meal. That white sticker says "FU".

The lower trails were plagued with endless mud puddles. Glad I used the wet lube.

2011 CU Boulder Short Track #6

2011-07-06T22:31:00.004-06:00

Suffering. .. Photo: Kelly Feagans

I kicked it up a notch this week and took on the Men's A race at the CU Cycling Short Track Series. There weren't too many people so the race was pretty thin and went about how I expected it to go... with me straight off the back from the start riding solo most of the race. It was fun to mix it up with the top-level riders in the area and push limits though. The thing I like most about these races is the transparency. There is no where to hide. Unlike the longer endurance races where riders are seen at the start and then 4-10 hours later at the finish, with STXC, failures and successes are played over lap after lap. Everyone watching can mark your progress, see you suffer, and cheer you on even if you are one the the last guys to cross the line.

Punchy course either kept you on the brakes or the gas.

pain-o-meter. 15 min longer than my past B races.

When I arrived in Boulder and found out all of the races were about 15-min behind, I decided to take a quick spin up to the Valmont Bike Park about 3 miles away from CU. This place is pretty sweet and has terrain for just about every rider. I went ahead and pulled a 360 of the XL on my way back to the race.

Valmont Bike Park, Boulder

July 4th

2011-07-04T22:11:00.005-06:00

I hope your 4th was as good as mine. I love this country!

Riding Mt Evans from Idaho Springs

2011-07-02T13:51:00.005-06:00

Top of Mt Evans

I took a spin to the top of Mt Evans today with my neighbor Roger Stones. I've had this ride in mind for a while but haven't made time for it. One of the things about Colorado that made me fall in love with it are the big mountains. We have a bunch of peaks over 14,000 feet (50+) and all of them are accessible by hiking trail. Mt Evans and Pikes Peak are the only two that have roads to the top as far as I know. These roads are handy if one were to be training for say the Breckenridge 100 in July or the Colorado Trail Race in August as both of these races jump over 12,000 feet. With Colorado still under lingering snow pack on many of the high trails, paved roads to the top of 14ers are a good alternative for elevation riding.

Chillin' with a PB&J checking out the wildlife and the route from whence we came.

The route looking north. Idaho Springs is at the top and Evans at the bottom.

Distance: 55.55mi, Elevation Gain: 7,202ft, Round-trip time: 4:16

As is the norm for me, we started pre-dawn.

Cockpit view: Ergon Grips & Gloves and Radical Lights on board.

Roger around 13,000 feet

2011 CU Boulder Short Track #5

2011-06-29T21:02:00.003-06:00

Back at it again after missing a week for the Hundo. I think I took 4th or 5th this week. I may try to move up to the big boy race next week.

Front wheelie on the last lap.

Skyward Push

2011-06-28T10:14:00.000-06:00

Distance: 35mi, Time: 3:42:00, Elevation: 6713ft

It is time to start getting serious about my biggest challenge this year the Breckenridge 100 taking place July 16th. The Bailey Hundo was a good start. And last weekend I did the old out N' back shown above. This weekend I hope to get up into some elevation with a possible Mt Evans ride following up with either Winter Park Valley Point-to-Point or Forty In The Fort to top off the training the following weekend. It's clear that the local trails by my house, although they have served me well thus far, will be wholly inadequate in my preparations for the task that awaits next month.

2011 Bailey Hundo Recap

2011-06-18T20:19:00.148-06:00

6:00 AM lineup with fellow teammates. Both Bryan and I took 2nd although Bryan did it in 7 hours and I did it in 8.

I took part in the 2nd annual Bailey HUNDO today which makes my attendance for this event 100%. To hear how last year went for me check out my 2010 race report HERE. I tried to follow the same approach this year as I did last year. The plan was to ride slightly over my head in the lead group for the first 5 miles in order to get good placement in the singletrack. Like the hole shot at the start of short track races I've been taking part in lately, the hole shot onto the Colorado Trail five miles into the Hundo is important. There aren't a lot of places to pass in the first few miles of singletrack so it's a good idea to make sure to be with people that ride at or above your pace. Once safely on singletrack ( unlike Jeff Kerkove ) my plan was to ride consistent, pushing on the flats and fast singletrack sections, and holding back on the many steep singletrack climbs. I did punch it on a few of them but dialed it back if the climbs were more than 30-60 seconds long.

On one of the countless punchy Colorado Trail climbs around mile 40-50.

This approach worked and paid dividends on the back half of the race (mile 70-100+) where we all had to face a relentless 40-mile climb from the river back up to the finish line. This climb is relentless for many reasons. It's steep in many places, there is dust from vehicle trafic, washboards galore making it hard to find a smooth line, water crossings, and endless rolling hills. Mile 55-70 is dirt and paved road. Although it is mild in terms of elevation gain, it was the worst part of the race for me. I mean what's worse than riding a mountainbike on pavement with cars passing every few min after having enjoyed 55 miles of riding some sweet Colorado Trail singletrack?

My 2010 Elevation profile. Mile 70-100 are pure Evil.

The crown jewel of this race are the sections of Colorado Trail and Buffalo Creek single track. The trail winds for miles eastward towards the South Platte river taking racers through dense forest, exposed slickrock, and vast open burnout areas along the way. The predominant trail condition is loose kitty litter (think extra-large sand) that can be 6 inches deep in places. For many racers this made finding the right flow a little difficult. It was hard to know what one would find around each corner and I had to catch myself on multiple occasions as my front tire dug a little too deep into the loose stuff. The trail rode like a hiking trail rather than a pure mountainbike trail. I found the natural line into some turns would lead me right into a log or a trail drainage forcing an adjustment mid-turn. On the flip side when the trail was wide open it was lightning fast and smooth. I rode a few of these sweet sections with Andrew Carney who went on to take 1st in the Single-Speed class. It was awesome riding Carney's wheel through this section as he was rippin' it up and picking some sweet lines for me to follow.

Somewhere in the Buffalo Creek area.

The end of a 15-mile paved road section around mile 70 near Deckers. You can see the disgust on my face.

Top of the first huge dirt road climb around mile 80.

The last big push of he race is more of a mental game than anything. Gone are the swooping turns, punchy climbs, and bumpy decents leaving only dirt road and ones mental daemons. This is where mental toughness will make or brake this race. I was fortunate to break up the monotony of riding for miles alone as I caught up to my pal Ben Welnak. He had been riding well ahead of me most of the race but was suffering from something that had him on the ropes. We chatted for a few min and then I put the pedal down again and caught up to another friend, Curt Wilhelm for the 3rd time of the day. Each time he managed to ride away from me again and this time was no exception. I did keep him within eyesight through through the end. Had I know I was just 2 min over my goal of beating 8 hours I may have turned myself inside out to stick with Curt and beat the 8 hour mark. I'm completely happy with my race and ended 2nd place in my age group and 13 min faster than last year.

Chasing Curt on the last 1/4 mile climb to the finish.

Race Lineup. Photo Shawn Lortie

2011 Bailey Hundo Prep

2011-06-17T11:14:00.000-06:00

Race number? Check.

Pre-race safety meeting? Check.

Sram XX MatchMakers installed? Check.

Cable length adjusted? Check.

CarboRocket? Check.

2011 CU Boulder Short Track #3

2011-06-15T21:33:00.001-06:00

It was a quick trip up and back for me this week so no photos or video of the race. The CU Short Track course was even better than the last 2 weeks with more tight turns, banked turns, jumps, and plenty of passing opps. I landed 7th in the hole shot and worked my way up to 3rd only to loose 2 places again on the last lap. I need to fix this last lap issue. I tried to get my friend Ben to join me this week but he was saying something about a big important race Saturday he didn't feel quite rested for.

Race #3 Results Men's B

Overall Standings after 3 races.

2011 CU Boulder Short Track #2

2011-06-08T21:23:00.027-06:00

Men's Pro Lineup

The second CU short track was a lot of fun. The course was much tighter and offered only a few places to pass which made it interesting and challenging. Like last week I went as hard as possible putting forth as much effort as I could to pass. I started out in 11th or 12th but moved up and for most of the race hung tight in 5th place. I lost steam and 2 places battling out the last lap but was able to capture a 7th place finish putting me in 8th place overall. I left completely satisfied as this event continues to be an awesome mid-week throttle. Video to come...

Looking forward to the next one and to The Bailey Hundo next weekend.

2011 CU Boulder Short Track #1

2011-06-02T18:21:00.001-06:00

Feeling the hurt.

I'm taking a step out of my comfort zone (endurance racing) a little this year and a step into the world of short track (STXC) taking on the CU Cycling Short Track series. This series is well attended and takes place on Wednesday evenings weather permitting which lines up perfectly with my training, family, work, life schedule. Given the location of uber cycling-centric Boulder, it also brings top competition and some names in the world of mountain bike racing. All of that aside, the CU organizers put on a well run event and lay out a really fun course.

Men's B Race from my perspective.

I wasn't exactly fresh for the race having done some tempo intervals before work but honestly I don't know that I would have done much better well rested.

Here is what 90 min of those looked like.

I had 3 good laps in the B race shown above before I blew and coasted to an 11th place finish.

Here is what 25 min of that looked (felt) like.

I can't wait to do it all over again next week.

Happy Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-30T10:22:00.001-06:00

Daniel's Park looking west.

I happened upon this scene around 6am this morning riding out to do some intervals. I guess Mother Nature finds some sort of intrinsic joy in putting these works of art together regardless of who is around to see them. I was lucky enough to be there today bright and early.

Cannondale Lefty PBR Service and Needle Bearing Reset

2011-05-28T18:53:00.003-06:00

Cannondale Lefty PBR carbon converted to 29er

I swapped out my stock Fox fork that came on my 2011 Superfly 100 Elite with a Cannondale Lefty PBR earlier this year. It is an amazing ride even when converted to a reduced travel (90mm) for my circus wheels. I have thoroughly enjoyed riding the rough Colorado trails with this amazing headshock. It rides smooth even in very rough terrain - a huge improvement over the Fox forks I have been riding over the years. As with all new love affairs, there can be some rough spots in the relationship. Mine came a few weeks ago when my PBR started to make some noise at the top of travel. I tried a few air pressure adjustments, made sure everything was tightened up good and had limited success fixing this issue. I even solicited the opinion of a few people who race Cannondale bikes (Bryan and Alex) for some insight into what might be going on. It turns out Leftys need a little TLC in the form of a needle bearing realignment on occasion. Thankfully I was pointed to the equivalent of a how to for dummies on the process from Mountain Bike Action. So I will pay it forward to everyone interested as it is pretty easy to do.

How To Service Cannondale's Lefty Fork

Return to Indian Creek

2011-05-27T23:35:00.001-06:00

Made it out to one of my favorite places to ride this week.

Daniel's Park

2011-05-22T21:54:00.001-06:00

An iPhone shot of Daniel's Park near the golf course. I take the kids up here often usually on Sunday Afternoons. A fire scorched the area in June 2007. A few black trees are still visible. It's amazing to me how fast things get put back together.

Daniel's Park Panorama (click to enlarge).

Wet SS Reunion

2011-05-19T07:12:00.000-06:00

Reunited and it feels so good. I've missed having my bike curse at me.

It's been a wet one here in Colorado for the better part of two weeks. After my plans to race STXC in Boulder yesterday fell through, due to rain, I had enough and decided to see how the local trails were holding up in the weather. I put my Niner One9 back together early in the morning with the plan to race but it turned out to be a perfect tool for the weather. The trails around Highlands Ranch continue to get better and yesterday they were tacky, fast, and holding up well.

The plan to ride for 30-40 min turned into 1:45. I was just having too much fun. There is something about riding a SS for me that is liberating. It might just be the simplicity of it all, or perhaps the tooling around "should I run a 32x19 or a 42x11?". Whatever it is, I was drinking heartily riding around in the rain... on a 32x18.

So I took a Kerkovian-style (or Handian-style) photo of myself.

One more glamour shot of the reincarnated SS.

Crash

2011-05-14T22:53:00.002-06:00

I'll spare you the bloody photos of rashed and brused skin. Today was the first time in over a year I hit the dirt, and did I ever. Just like events in the past, there was that moment of slow motion between the time my bike mysteriously vanished from underneath me and when I hit trail. I'm amazed at how everything just stops in those milliseconds giving what seems like minutes to reflect on the situation while flying through the air.

"What? I'm going down!?!? I was riding smooth!"
"I don't remember seeing anything..."
"What did I hit? The trail was clear?!?!"
"Bracing!!!!" .... BOOM!

The trail was fast with a lot of hero dirt, and a little slick in places from the rain over the past few days. I hit a small 2-3" rut that had just enough bite to pull my front wheel out from under me. I went down hard at 20mph and the trail was unforgiving. The dirt was so hard that later It was difficult to see where I had landed. My body ground to a stop leaving skin on rocks, roots, and dirt. I'm not sure who took the worst fall me or my trusty steed. The bike that was tuned and adjusted with precision at the trailhead lay in a mangled lump. The bars were cranked around in an awkward position, grips and seat twisted off kilter, and sporting new scrapes into carbon. My first thought was to get up and walk it off but I was in pain, it hurt, and things were still numb so I stayed down. I honestly couldn't tell if I had broken something yet. I laid there for what seemed like 2-3 min until my riding companion showed up (I later asked and he was 2-3 seconds behind me). After 5 min or grunting and wincing I saddled back up and finished the ride.... much slower.

The route. If you run this in "Player" mode you can see where I crashed.

A bloody photo. Couldn't resist.

Painful Bliss

2011-05-10T21:22:00.005-06:00

I don't know when I started to enjoy early morning intervals but I do, at least for now. I am back into the groove again making painfully blissful graphs like this one. I found a sweet spot in my schedule somewhere between sunrise and when the kids start crackalackin for school. This sweet spot is growing now that the days are getting longer. I think I enjoy these workouts because somewhere in the recesses of my subconsciousness I know they are making me a little faster and a little more relevant in the growing pack of competitive 30-39 racers. I also like them because time is really at a premium for me this year and no-nonsense training like this can deliver a huge return for the time spent. They also add contrast for the 1 or 2 times a week I get out to ride trails.

2011 Front Range 60

2011-05-09T21:23:00.005-06:00

2011 Front Range 60 1/2 Marathon 30-39 Start. I'm in there by that dude without a shirt on.

This was the race that almost didn't happen for me. Up until a few weeks ago I was planning on doing the full 60-mile (6 laps), then I was completely out with my bike collecting dust in the garage, then the day before things lined up and I was back in. I haven't been riding much aside from a few hour-long high intensity sessions so I decided to ease back into racing and just do the 30-mile (1/2 marathon) race. I hadn't even gone 30 miles since April 9th the last long ride being my favorite Mt Falcon to LOTB and back. Needless to say my fitness was a big unknown so I lined up conservatively towards the back of the pack. Once the race started a testosterone-induced fit kicked in and I couldn't help myself. After a long 10 seconds of rolling out slow I hammered it and bridged back up to the tail end of the lead group just prior to hitting the singletrack.

"Go big or go home!"... right?

I knew this was kind of a bone-head move. I was going to clog up the fast guys in 2-3 min when we started hitting the hills and there was no way I was going to hang but it was warm out and the sun was shining and I did it anyway. A month prior for the True Grit I had set up a few HR alarms on my Garmin 705 to remind me when I slid below zone 3 or above zone 5. These reminders were indended to help me push the pace if I started loosing focus and to hold back if I was in over my head. Sliding down the HR scale, has been a problem for me in past races most often when I get out in no man's land riding solo without a wheel to stick to or a rabbit to chase down. I had sense turned off the zone 3 alarm because it was just annoying for everyday riding or interval work. I had completely forgotten about the zone 5 alarm until this race when I was standing up hammering about 30 yards into the singletrack. I looked down and I was at 165 BPM. For anyone that has ridden with me you know that 160 is well into my redline. It seems I'm usually 20+ BPM below other people. I don't know why my HR is consistently low but it is what it is. I dialed back just a bit, alarm still going off, and started to accept the fact that I wasn't going to turn in any kind of spectacular performance and this was going to be a fun 30-mile ride in the sunshine... and I was good with that. I rode strong for most of the first lap and fell apart after the one big climb. I recovered on lap 2 and felt good through the end of the race. I focused on riding at a solid pace on the flats, pushing at times, and hitting the hills with everything I had. My goal was to keep my lap times consistent and try to come in under 2 hours. I made the first goal and missed my second goal buy just under 2 min. One thing that is really cool about racing mountainbikes are the friends you make. At the drop of a hat, I had support from John and Kathy Davis (ok just Kathy). These are just two of many others I have met that would gladly offer to hand up bottles or do just about anything for a fellow rider. The scene here in Colorado is just that cool. Thanks again guys!

It was hot! Headed back down the big hill climb on lap 1 trying to recover. This was pretty much the end of my "race" and the start of my "ride". I managed to hang on for 11th in my group and 25th overall.

FamDamlyRegroup

2011-05-06T10:20:00.001-06:00

As much as I like to write about training and racing (and I really, really like those things) there is one part of my life that takes up much more time and pays back 100 fold in reward v.s. time spent over any other activity. This one thing is actually made up of five individuals: my wife and four kids. Yes I said four... the number 4... 1, 2, 3, 4 and they are a handfull. The oldest will be 9 in July and the youngest is in her 2nd year. We were thrown for a loop the past few weeks going through a job transition and putting our house on the market. Both events were conceived independently but seemed to collide on us during the same timeframe. To get it all taken care of quickly, I put everything that didn't have to do with those two priorities on hold including to a large extent family time. When the dust finally settled, my brilliant wife came up with a plan to correct the neglect of our offspring in the form of some quality time away from the casa. The one thing I really love about my kids is how forgiving they can be even when they have every right to hold us accountable for our poorly executed parenting. Weeks of less than enough quality time spent are quickly forgotten after a good day like this one - a lesson to be learned here for we adults eh?

Rockin' the Glenwood Alpine slide with Jaxon

Kade only made it 1/2 way the first attempt convinced that was as high as he could go. Then I put a $5 on the table the next time. He made it all the way without looking back. I guess making his old man proud isn't motivation enough.

Some people need everything explicitly stated?

Glenwood Springs

"Okay. Squirt here will now give you a rundown of proper exiting technique. Rip it, roll it, and punch it!"

May The 4th Be With You

2011-05-04T21:11:00.002-06:00

Evidence of Spring

I'm not a big Star Wars fan but apparently today is Star Wars Day and what better way to get the hit count up on a blog than to pick a popular phrase and make that the title. In any case, it is May 4th and in my neck of the woods it is starting to look like Spring (now that we are a little more than a month away from from Summer). I rolled out of bed early again this am to get some interval work in and for the first time this year I didn't have to throw on leg warmers. It was also nice to not start riding in the dark. Spring, I am ready... bring it!

Happy Monday

2011-05-02T11:44:00.001-06:00

It has been a few weeks but my chores are done and I am officially ungrounded.

Looking north west from Bluffs Regional Park in Lone Tree.

Team Twin Six Metal Kit

2011-04-24T18:44:00.002-06:00

My Team Twin Six kit arrived yesterday. Check out the rest of the gear at http://twinsix.com. All of the stuff is pretty cool but I am partial to the socks.

Seven Days And No Voodoo

2011-04-23T21:51:00.000-06:00

I haven't sat on a bike since last Saturday and even then it was only for an hour. Training has taken a back seat (more like the back of the truck) to stuff like the photo above. I thought I was going to have some time to slip away for a while each day this week but it was clear after Monday it wasn't going to happen. A few more days and I should be back in the swing of things albeit set back a few weeks on the training. Although I swear I can feel my fitness fading with each minute I am encouraged by how great the house is looking.

I made up for the lack of training by drinking CarboRocket, and wearing cycling socks.

Twin Six!

Oh, and I also had to miss out on a the Voodoo Fire in Pueblo, CO today. This one will have to wait for me until next year.

Mancave

2011-04-19T10:28:00.000-06:00

Man Cave

Every man needs a man cave. Ladies, it is a primal instinct for a man to create one of these. Please don't resist or otherwise try to persuade in another direction when your man retires to the garage to spend hours upon hours building shelving, organizing tools, carpeting, reorganizing tools, leveling the organized tools, adding hooks for hanging, moving hooks for hanging previously installed, nostalgically rearranging race numbers from years past, or just standing back and taking in the awesomeness of his creation. Like I said, there is little you can do to thwart this activity, it is built into our DNA.

Weekend Update

2011-04-17T21:49:00.000-06:00

They closed my favorite section of the East West trail apparently for some Eagle or Hawk breeding.

I spent all day Saturday cleaning out the garage. I found an old map of Utah with one of my favorite backpacking spots. It was a secret place when I was a kid but now pretty much well known.

Fell victim to more of Ben's trash talk on Twitter and was forced to produce race numbers from the only 4 running races I have done to prove a point. He still kept it up though and I was forced to retreat into silence.

I finally took the time to install hooks to hang my bikes up in the garage. This will probably be short lived.

I found this Stan's monster in one of my tires

April Snow In Colorado

2011-04-15T10:56:00.003-06:00

The view out my back window yesterday morning.

Colorado weather is unpredictable. This time of year one has to pack a a rain coat, flip flops, and a down jacket if they plan to be out for more than 3 hours. Yesterday some reported 18" of show. Today it is sunny with a high in the upper 50s. This weekend people will be riding mountain bikes again in most places.

Today is also the deadline to get your taxes in...

Recovery, Gut Check, And Rocky

2011-04-13T17:09:00.003-06:00

I just finished the first 3 weeks of (mostly) following a 100-miler LWCoaching plan.

Over this time I've been subject to hill intervals, one-leg-at-a-time pedaling, core workouts, 110 rpm spinups, long endurance rides, short-track racing practice, and mellow recovery rides. The structured training has been interesting, fun, and a welcome change from the usual non-stop pedal hammering rides that always seem to develop shortly after a group of 2 or more push rubber past the trailhead. Rather than just riding to ride, the last 3 weeks have resembled scenes pulled from the 5 (or are there 6?) Rocky movies.

Now that you have that song in your head...

If you remember, Rock didn't just get in the ring every day and trade shots in a testosterone-induced 4-hour sparring match to prepare for the big title fight. The Italian Stallion spent the majority of his time hammering out rep after rep of push-ups, sit-ups, snow sprints, wood chopping, log tossing, frozen beef punching, short-short belly shirt wearing beach sprint (followed by awkward oceanic hugging) running, workouts. And when that was done, he took some time to do a cool down lap through the streets with neighborhood kids just in time to kick it in over drive and throw that last rep in up to the top of the stairs and explode into an impromptu jumping and screaming session. Yea, Rock had a real passion for training and for competing. In the end he was ripped and ready to take on Apollo, Apollo again, Mr T, that 8-foot-tall Russian, That young guy with a sweet mullet, and post-retirement, as his own computer-simulated avatar, some other champion with nobody left to fight. Anyway, you get the idea... Just like Mr. Balboa, it's best to mix it up when it comes to training, no matter what the sport, and that is exactly what LW's training plan has been doing for me.

This week is a recovery week so there is not a whole lot of intensity in the workouts. It's a hard thing to dial it back when I've been used to hard efforts but it's the right thing to do. After reading the training books/bibles it all makes a lot more sense to me. Even if it didn't, I decided at the onset to follow my training plan explicitly, take notes, and watch the magic happen.

I also found a scale again this week. The last time I weighed myself was in December and as of yesterday I'm about 10lbs lighter. That's almost 1/2 a mountain bike!

12/02/2010

03/11/2011

For what it's worth, I actually liked that last Rocky movie better than the other 5.

Favorite Ride

2011-04-09T12:06:00.002-06:00

Mount Falcon -> Lair O' The Bear -> Mount Falcon

What's your favorite ride? If you are like me the answer to that question changes weekly. There are so many good trails within 60 min of my house that it is hard to choose favorites. This week, my favorite ride is shown above. I have ridden Falcon to LOTB out and back so many times that I should be sick of it but I keep coming back again and agan to bask in the awesomeness. In the weeks leading up to the 2010 Point 2 Point, I rode the complete out-and-back twice a week as part of my training and it proved to be a good prep for that awesome madness. The trails offer the whole gamut of riding conditions: rocky-sustained climbs, 22%-grades, swooping fast singletrack, punchy hills, technical rock gardens, and some amazing views of city and mountains.

Why not 23% grades you ask? There might be, but speculation based on last weeks discussion with some EECT teammates, we are pretty sure Garmin devices don't go above 22% so that is all I can report. Who would ride something steeper than 22% anyway?

Moving on. One of the best things about the ride is that you can easily climb over 5,000ft in less than 30 miles without realizing you just climbed over 5,000ft in less than 30 miles. I attribute this to the constant changing trail that always keep you guessing, whooping, and grunting not to mention the 1,500ft gained within the first 3 miles of the lower Mt Falcon parking lot. If you have time to ride the whole Falcon trail system in reverse on the way back you'll go over 6k.

Now that I have spilled the beans on some sweet but really not so secret riding, I will warn you that this trail is really popular on the weekends. Some days I've ran into herds of trail runners, hikers, horses, and people just not really paying attention. So if you want the trail all to yourself it would be best to do what I do and start at 5:30am on a weekday. You can then relax in your cubicle the rest of the day knowing you hammered out some seriously sweet riding before most of your co-workers were even out of bed.

Ergon GS2 Grips

2011-04-02T20:34:00.000-06:00

Ergon GS2 Grips

Just got my Ergon GS2 grips in today and they look pretty sick on my bike if you don't mind me saying so. This is the first time I've had barends since 1999 and I have secretly been missing them for the past 12 years.

Trekondale

2011-03-31T16:24:00.000-06:00

Lefty PBR Carbon

I know... it looks a little funny but it most definitely does NOT ride funny. I won't be putting a Fox back on this bike anytime soon.

Race Report: 2011 Grit 50 Mile Epic (True Grit)

2011-03-27T23:14:00.005-06:00

Course map and elevation profile

I took part in the inaugural True Grit race in St. George, Utah over the weekend and it did indeed dish out plenty of grit (see photos below). It was an awesome and technically challenging course (see video below) and I will be there again next year if there is a repeat for this event. I only say *if* because of the way this one went down. In short only around 12 participants actually crossed the finish line while the rest of us were told, in my case a few miles before the finish, the race was cut short due to bad weather and deteriorating trail conditions.

A quote from Dave Harris sums it up:

"I was on the sidelines as a volunteer for this one and saw it all evolve. At about 9:15 the radar I saw told the story of what was coming. Intel was fast from BLM that Bear Claw was a no-go, beyond that it was safety concerns AFAIK that drove decision making. Hindsight is always 20-20, but I can say that the cove wash descent back to the ranch had nightmare all over it. Once it had a lot of riders through it would have deteriorated into a 90 lb bike drag contest. It's a bitter pill to have ridden 90% no doubt, but that last 10% would have become an epic evac operation."

I had a great race despite the conditions. This was a long 50-miler in my opinion due to the rough terrain of which there was plenty. I had a blast on the technical sections particularly in the Zen Loop which served up some Moab-like slick rock and plenty of big drops. It definitely helps to know the Zen trail. This was my first time seeing it so I made plenty of mistakes. If I had any doubts about 29" wheels in a race situation before this they are gone. I felt like an agile monster truck hammering over the rough terrain. In short the new ride passed the first test with flying colors.

If I had to pick a low point in the race, it had to be the Barrel Rolls section. Under normal conditions this would be a fun section of singletrack. This was the last section of the race before the drop back into town and the finish line. By this time, I had been riding around 4 hours, 3 of which in some steady cold rain and at least 1.5 hours pretty much by myself in no man's land. I had fallen (guessing 30-40 min) off the lead pack of riders, as expected, and from what I could tell, in the top 5 in the 35+ class (again, without having any result it is hard to know exactly although my Garmin info shows me finishing the 2nd lap at around 4:25:41 ). I had just finished miles of muddy rolling jeep road on the Stucki Springs trail and started in on 2 laps of semi-technical singletrack. My main problem here wasn't gogo power, but rather a complete loss of dexterity in my hands. I was unable to feel my brakes or shifters and found it difficult to do either effectively. Although I couldn't feel it, every time I had to brake with my right hand I could hear my thumb shifting my rear derailleur down a few gears. I had to laugh a few times as there was pretty much nothing I could do about it. What I didn't realize at the time is that I was starting into early stages of Hypothermia and I wasn't the only one that fell victim to the cold it turns out.

After the 2nd lap on Barrel Rolls I was amped again and ready to hit it hard down Cove Wash to the finish. Like many others, I was told at the last aide station that they were not allowing riders to continue on the course and we would have to either take a shuttle back or ride down on the road. I made a quick swipe of every kind of Honey Stinger bar I could see, stuffed a few of them into my jersey, the rest in my mouth, and headed back down the road to the park. About 5 min into what turned out to be a 20-min ride, I started to shake uncontrollably. I couldn't hold my bars straight so I sat up and rode with my arms folded up trying to keep myself warm. I was soaked from head to toe and was pretty much out of it when I pulled up to the team trailer. I put my bike up on the stand and sat down apparently not responding well. Brian Sells and other teammates helped me take off my wet stuff and then threw me into the truck with the heater running (thanks Brian). He had some good cookies in there and I ate about 10 of them.

Alex Grant's Video.

Some photos (most of which are from Dave Harris).

Race lineup with teammate Chris Baddick

Race Start I'm there in the middle #123 (Photo via Dave Byers )

Bryan and Chris leading off the front. I was tucked away behind Chris. Jonathan Davis (left of Chris) rode a good race to capture 4th place.

pretty much sums up what it looked like out there.

Somewhere on the Barrel Rolls section.

Snow off and on out and back.

Fancy bikes get the team trailer for the ride home. Not sure how Davis' bike made it in there over mine...

My bike, post-race out in the cold.

Brian Sells' Niner post-race

Not a lick of chain lube left.

Brake pads long gone.

Visible wear on a 2-month-old SRAM X0.

Only 3 of us had the joy of cleaning out the trailer.

Another Thursday Night

2011-03-18T12:18:00.001-06:00

I don't have a lot to write about this one so I'll let the photos do most of the talking. Long story short, we started out in good weather, rode some good singletrack, and had to cut it short due to near blizzard conditions. Luckily we made it back down from Mt Falcon before the white stuff came in. Thanks to Ben and Tim for joining me.

The route

Some good climbing and milage. The Ken Caryl section has a really good road climb. I'll have to return again for that one soon. The second climb is Mt Falcon.

Goathead... I was riding with tubes in the tires still and probably brought this on by stating that fact when we were starting out on the ride. I can't get set up tubess on my fancy Stans wheels until my fancy Lefty PBR shows up.

Taken the day after by Ben. Apparently these little buggers are all over the trail.

South-facing shot near Roxborough. Sweet little section of trail here.

After 5.5 hours 1.5 of which in the snow. My fork is black normally. I had dreams of a hot shower which were soon realized. Ben's wife was nice enough to fill our bellies with banana bread upon our return.

The Rabbit Hole To Structured Training

2011-03-14T10:38:00.007-06:00

2009 Tipperary Creek Point to Point (me, Bill Petry)

Anyone that has followed my ramblings here for any length of time has probably figured out that I am in many respects pretty new to the world of MTB racing. This is not to say I am new to riding knobby tires on dirt or even a little friendly competition. I started doing this in the early 1990s but took a very long break for school, family, etc. I took up the sport of mountainbiking again recreationally in 2006 after meeting my good friend Bill Petry by chance at White Ranch after work. It was my first time on a bike in years but I had just raced the Bolder Boulder the week before so I thought I was in pretty good shape. Bill proved me wrong after the 13-mile loop and 3-4k of climbing. He gave me a good whoopin' that day but it was exactly what I needed. I started riding consistently from that day forward. What follow was a string of casual testosterone-induced hammerfests that have somehow led me to where I am today.

My first official race was the last Winter Park race of 2009. I had my baggy biking shorts on and an old jersey. I don't think I had any gloves and my shoes were the Specialized Comp shoes I bought with my 1998 Rockhopper Comp (it was a sweet bike at the time). I did ok considering the 2-weeks I spent training. I think I had some water bottles (full of water) and a gel shot handed to me by my friend Mike Mequi before the race. He said to duct tape it to my stem and suck it down when I got tired. Seemed like a good idea to me so I went with it. After some internal debate and a good pep talk, I decided to race in the Sport class rather than Beginner. I remember sucking wind big time up the first major climb but managed to hang with the same group of guys which boosted confidence a little. Every 2 or 3 min my baggy shorts would catch on my seat-post clamp and drop my seat out from under me which deflated confidence a little. On the first downhill section someone tried to pass me around an outside corner, burning out in the loose stuff. I remember thinking he was nuts for trying that but it was my first race and for all I knew he could pull it off. After all he was riding a sweet bike and had an official looking race kit on. He didn't recover and ended up laying it down right in front of me. It was one of those slow-motion moments where the mind seemed to have ample time to assess the situation and the mouth, plenty of time to emit some verbal expressions. I pulled up just enough to ride over his back wheel, off the trail, and into the branches of a pinion juniper tree still rubber-side down. I looked over and saw him sitting up dazed on the side of the trail. I didn't know if I was supposed to stop and help him out or just head off. After a quick "are you ok?" he motioned me to ride on. The rest of the race seemed to drag on forever (all 28 miles) but at last the finish line and my first real race in the books. I was hooked.

That brings me back to what I was thinking this morning. I was doing some intervals on my road bike. How did I go from some friendly recreational / social competition to early morning intervals in the garage with Techno music blasting on my iPod? The only answer I can come up to that question was that first race. I don't think I have really looked back since. I have been trying to find the end of the rabbit hole - It's been a great journey but no end in sight! Up until last year I really didn't know much about training and I am still just learning many of the fundamentals. With only one year behind me, I am still exploring what works for me training-wise. The thought of hiring a coach has crossed my mind many times. Doing so would cost some $$ and with the right coach I would most likely meet my potential much faster. I think this might also come across as getting "too serious". After all, I am not going Pro anytime soon. Another downside of a coach in my mind is missing out on the excitement / frustration of exploring various training techniques for myself - kind of like some crazy lab experiment. In the short term, I know there will be more flops (stuff exploding in beakers, small fires, implosions, etc) but long-term I think I will be better off (Note: If you want to get really fast, really quick, hire a coach!). I am in no big hurry to solve the training puzzle having family, work, and life to balance along with this small obsession, and I think learning on my own keeps me motivated. Yes, learning is good (LIG). I will have a little help in the form of some books and a static training plan from LW Coaching this year but I'll be flying solo for the most part.

Here are some of the latest structured interval "experiments" from the past few weeks. I have done both of these a few times on the trainer and have never had a more productive 60+ min riding indoors.

Pyramid Intervals (1 set): Info found HERE. This one hurts.

1x2 Intervals (4 sets): Info HERE.

Golden Loop

2011-03-11T13:10:00.003-07:00

I put in a good 89 miles of paved road, dirt road, bike path, and singletrack last night with Ben, Brandon, and Eric one of Ben's friends. In short it was a lot of good sustained effort endurance training pushing a steady pace for 5-6 hours. It went something like this:

Myself, Ben, Brando

Bike paths. Better than anticipated.

Found some rippin' singletrack down south.

Gatoraide != Endurance fuel.

I threw all 8 rods the last hour with stomach cramps from drinking something I hope to never see again. I was in a pinch for time and had to grab this stuff from the roadside store after work. I soft-pedaled for the last 5 miles into Golden completely blown, and on empty, dreaming of everything from Redvines and Snickers, to burgers and fries. In short my nutrition plan (or complete lack of one) was absurdly inadequate for this adventure. I have only blown this bad once before that I can remember. It was last year while riding the Breckenridge 100 loops (pre-ride) and like last night, I was having fantastic dreams of junk food. In stark contrast, Brandon was drinking CarboRocket 333 and rode my legs off the last hour. Ben was drinking jet fuel or something and rode my legs off the last 6 hours.

* Brando is credited for the photos, except for the first one.

First Long Ride

2011-03-06T22:05:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was the first time this year where I have ventured beyond the 3-hour mark in any ride. I've had a few two-a-days that have pushed me into that range but nothing all at once. Yesterday was a good test of where my fitness is and for this time of year I am satisfied enough. I start my official LW Coaching 100-miler training plan March 21st with a target date in June for The Bailey Hundo, I've pretty much been winging the training up to this point. I will have a few shorter 50 and 60 mile races between now and then that I plan to train through and measure progress. As for yesterday's ride, It all started Friday evening around 9:45pm with a txt from Ben (a.k.a "The Midwest Wonder" ) that went something like this:

Ben drove up at 4:30am and bummed a bottle of CarboRocket off me before we got under way, lights a blazin'. He also brought along a shiny new Trek Top Fuel 9.8 and proceeded to pound me into the dirt with it over the course of the next few hours. All said and done, we put in a good 3.5 hours and then some. Although there aren't a lot of large hills in my backyard we managed to hammer out 3600ft in elevation gain over 41 miles. Looking back at the stats my HR averaged out in zone 4 which means pretty much race-pace for the duration. Like I said, I'm happy with the ride and where my fitness is. It was a little depressing to watch my riding partner hammer up climbs, and bunny hop over stuff the last 30 min when I was just hanging on to get home. We had a discussion on 29" v.s. 26" on our ride a few days before and I think he was trying to prove a point.

I'll be back again for more.

Addicted To Darkness

2011-03-02T21:34:00.001-07:00

Radical Lights RADXL, 985 Lumens

I rode off into the dark early again this morning just like I have a few times already this week but this time I had company. Ben Welnak, another member of the team joined me dark and early. The 4:30am start didn't seem to phase Ben so it sounds like I found someone as messed up as I am when it comes to early mornings and exercise. The following sent from Ben via Twitter, apparently already in route, describes the looming 2 hours and 45 min of riding in the dark "fun". He was right, I had a blast and fun did hurt just a little, but that is kind of the point isn't it?

We rode for just under 30 miles and just shy of 3k climbing all before 7:30am. On the last climb, Ben motioned to stop to check out some funkiness going on with his bike. And funky it was. I found out later this was the 5th frame to suffer the same fate.

Take home message: don't loan Ben your bike because he will send it home in a pine box.

Getting Serious

2011-02-28T17:13:00.003-07:00

CarboRocket 333 + Elete Electrolyte Add-in

I turned in a semi-repeat of Saturday's ride again early this morning. I started before sunrise and headed out into the dark with riding light. The weather was perfect, no wind, dark, the moon was out, and the stars. It was well worth getting up at (too early to mention) to take it all in. The ride was a repeat of Saturday in the sense that I took on some of the same trails in the same general direction. It was different because I dialed back the intensity and increase the ride time by about an hour. Some good advice I am trying to follow this year is to define a purpose to every ride in advance (Annual Training Plan) focused on the goal of having fitness (peak) at the right time (race day). My goals for the day were 4-fold.

Test out some demo riding lights - didn't go as planned.
Spend some quality time on my new ride working on speed / handling skills. My backyard trails are filled with tight turns, small hills, ice patches, climbs, everything I need to get to know the bike.
Work on muscular endurance by riding steady in HR Z3, staying seated up the hills, etc.
Start to test various mixes of endurance fuel. Today was CarboRocket 333 mixed with Elete Electrolyte Add-in

As for goal #1 hopefully I will have more to add after I take on another morning ride Wednesday AM but for now that plan failed due to cockpit error (me). #2 was even more fun than it was on Saturday. With the calm of the darkness and lack of wind I could really feel how the bike performs on the trail. SRAM has something going on with the 2x10 setup and the X0 shifting is smooth and precise. #3 and #4 worked together. I didn't eat anything before I headed out so my stomach was on the secret brew cold turkey. After 3 hours I was riding strong and felt like I could have done another 3 at that pace. I've put 333 through the ringer for the past 2 months and I can say (all sponsorship aside) that is is the best I have used. Elete I am still testing out but so far it passes with two thumbs up.

My first race of 2011 will True Grit in late March.

Backyard Riding

2011-02-26T22:00:00.002-07:00

Old Man In Singletrack Bliss

There are some amazing trails here in Highlands Ranch (a.k.a the other Boulder). This wasn't always true of course but things have slowly started to take shape and as it stands, I think there are 30+ miles of singletrack to enjoy. Today I took in around 20 miles of it as most of the good stuff is closed until things warm up and dry out (no complaints here). The terrain is part fast winding single track, part climbing singletrack, and part pump track style singletrack. Regardless, it is awesome and it is in my backyard. The trails are enough to get you worked, and that's what I did today. I took my new ride out for the maiden voyage. The last time I was on a mountainbike with more than 1 gear was the Ergon Monster Ride back in October 2010. That was the fair well ride for my trusty 2006 Specialized Epic Marathon. It was a little old but still an amazingly fast ride.

A moment of silence...

Today it was a bigwheel'd Gary Fisher Superfly 100 and I had a blast. One thing I noticed right up front in the singletrack was how well this bike handles. It felt very nimble around the turns and seemed to stick them at any speed. It felt solid. I was in love... until the wind. 29" wheels do not like crosswinds very much and I was taking a beating with some of the 25 MPH gusts. I can live with that but it was a noticeable downside of riding circus wheels today. With a few adjustments planned I think this new ride will rock the race course this year.

Hopefully I can say the same for all 36 years of me.

Google Earth View: Looking SW

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo

2011-02-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

This is just a shout out to my teammates competing at Old Pueblo last weekend. They did an awesome job taking 2nd and 10th in the 4 man open division.

Crunching Race Registration Numbers

2011-02-19T11:12:00.013-07:00

I had a little downtime working today waiting for stuff like this:

Mind Numbing Computer Stuff

While I was waiting around, I went to my goto time wasting fallback and started surfing the web. Somehow I made it back to the P2P roster again and took a closer look at who will be riding in September. After a few seconds of looking, I noticed most of the entrants are from Utah, not a really big surprise. My inter-geek prodded me to take a quick sensus of how many from each state made it in.

Drum roll.........

   # STATE
   1 GA
   1 ME
   1 MO
   1 MT
   1 VT
   1 WI
   2 WA
   3 AZ
   3 MN
   3 NV
   10 WY
   14 CA
   18 ID
   29 CO
   233 UT

I'm not sure if this means everyone in Utah had faster computers or if most of the race interest is still centered in Utah and neighboring states. Geographically speaking it makes sense. It is clear that few from the mid west or east coast want to travel out west for the event (fine with me), or did they just have slow computers and fingers?

For comparison, here is the breakdown from the 2010 Leadville Trail 100:

# LOCATION

   1 AUS
   1 AUT
   1 CHL
   1 DEU
   1 DNK
   1 ESP
   1 HKG
   1 ITA
   1 ND
   1 NOR
   1 POL
   1 Ramon
   1 RI
   1 the
   2 BEL
   2 NLD
   2 NZL
   3 CHE
   3 COL
   3 ME
   3 SD
   3 VT
   3 ZAF
   4 AK
   4 DC
   4 KY
   4 MS
   6 BRA
   6 CRI
   6 HI
   6 MT
   6 NH
   7 MEX
   7 WY
   9 SC
   10 KS
   10 OK
   11 GBR
   11 LA
   11 NJ
   12 AR
   12 IN
   13 CT
   13 IA
   14 MO
   14 OR
   15 AL
   15 WI
   17 TN
   18 ID
   18 MI
   19 MD
   19 NE
   19 NV
   19 OH
   20 PA
   23 GA
   26 VA
   27 MA
   27 WA
   28 CAN
   28 NY
   30 NC
   32 NM
   33 IL
   36 FL
   52 AZ
   59 MN
   78 TX
   92 UT
   136 CA
   434 CO

Again it looks like the home state takes the majority of the race slots.

Conclusion? *Most* people don't like to drive long distance to race. This research should no doubt put me in the running for the next Nobel Peace Prize.

Race Registration Madness

2011-02-16T09:28:00.005-07:00

2010 P2P

Last night's Park City Point 2 Point registration sold out in just over 6 min. The previous week the The Original Growler sold out in 8 min. Both had over 300 slots. Soon new chapters will need to be added to those training bibles to cover tactics for completing online registrations within 120 seconds. I am still hearing reports of shaking hands, insomnia, delirium, and anxiety 14 hours after last night's registration.

A good ride in the 70F temps this afternoon should calm the nerves a bit.

Five Ps of Training

2011-02-12T16:10:00.005-07:00

I found this in The Mountain Biker's Training Bible today.

Yea, I think those are pretty sweet bar ends too.

"No, there are no secrets when it comes to training. There always have been, and always will be, five ingredients for success in sport (as in any other endeavor in life). They are the five Ps:

Purpose - Know exactly what your goal is.
Passion - Have a burning desire to achieve the goal.
Planning - Determine precisely how to go about achieving the goal.
Perspiration - Work hard (and smart) following your plan.
Perseverance - Willingly make sacrifices to achieve the goal."

Easer said than done...

Happy training!

2011 Park City Point 2 Point Countdown

2011-02-07T22:17:00.002-07:00

Registration Countdown -

Once again I hope to toe the line for the 2011 P2P. Last year was my first year and the course was both demanding and awesome. Check out the video above from Jay Burke outlining some changes for this year. It should be a fun and challenging event again in 2011. Don't forget registration starts February 15th at 7pm.

Surviving Indoors

2011-02-06T00:46:00.001-07:00

2011 Team Clothing

I've been riding indoors for the better part of 2 weeks. It has been warm enough to ride on a few days recently but my work and family schedule hasn't allowed for it. It's been so long since I've actually ridden outside (and even longer on dirt) that I am starting to forget what it feels like. I guess in a way the longer my exclusive indoor training binge lasts the less I realize what I am missing out on - except for stuff like this, this, and this serving a reminder of my pathetic situation. Sure riding a trainer sucks but it is part of what it takes, for me anyway, to have fitness when the weather turns and it's time to mix it up on the dirt. I am in base period now which means a lot of long rides at moderate and consistent intensity, perfect for a trainer if you can muster the willpower, but still boring as heck. I did get my hands on my new rags for 2011 today so that should lift the spirits a little, and add a few days to the time when I need to wash clothes again.

A few things that help get me through 2+ hours on the trainer early in the morning.

1. Deadmau5 (Strobe). I start every session with this song. It lasts 10 min and builds over time which translates to the perfect song for me to warm up to. I doubt I'll ever get tired of it.

2. CarboRocket 333. This stuff just does it for me at 4am. I'm ready to go after 1 24oz bottle.

3. Some POV camera footage of past season races and training rides. These really help take my mind off of the monotony. Some good sources are easy to find on the web. I like to watch some of the following: Jeff Kerkove's vides on Vimeo, World Cup reruns on Freecaster.tv , and Alex Grant's videos on Cycling Dirt just to name a few.

4. Beats. I usually find some good techno mixes via Pandora. There are some good podcasts as well with fresh beats to consume. Check out Dada Life, DJ Dan Morrell (Formerly DJ Smurf), DJ Scene, Remix Production Mashups. The bottom line for me is to keep the music new and interesting. Follow Jeff Kerkove on Twitter if you are too lazy to find new training music. He has a talent for digging it up.

5. A Movie. If all else fails, throw in a good action movie (not a boring drama).

6. Video games. Although I haven't tried this myself, others will play a Wii or something else while riding. I'm not sure if this is for me but it may work for you.

It helps with my motivation at least to get everything set up the night before: bike, computer, clothes, water bottles. This preparation gives me fewer excuses to fight through when the alarm goes off and I am grasping for reasons to stay in bed.

Happy suffering.

Wheat Ridge Cyclery

2011-01-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

I spent some time with my team last Wednesday taking a tour of Wheat Ridge Cyclery. Needless to say I was completely BLOWN AWAY by the experience. If you are looking for a shop to really take care of you from a sales and service perspective, this is the place. If you want to visit a bike shop that actually has high-end bikes on the floor to test ride, this is the place. Check out some of the photos below.

Nuff said.

The Lunch Ride

2011-01-27T22:09:00.001-07:00

Like many of you I am a pretty busy guy with family, and work and stuff. Sometimes it is a jigsaw puzzle to get the most amount of "living" worked into each day. A big part of my living is spent on the bike. Over the past 6 months I've started to harness new small windows of opportunity for training. The morning and evening hours are a given but daylight and temperature make those times a little less appealing during the winter. The sweet spot I've started to really enjoy lately is the mid-day nooner on the road bike. This time of year most of my riding is in HR zone 2 or 3 (base) but on these days, I like to throw a few short (1-2 min max) 85%-95% efforts in during my 60-min ride. After reading this article a while back about a cyclist using a GPS to prove he was not at fault for getting hit in traffic, I thought I would take it one step further and start bringing a camera along with me, mostly just to have something to tinker with.

I decided to ride the TRON bike today.

2011 Stallion

2011-01-23T18:20:00.001-07:00

Gary Fisher Superfly 100

I'm taking the plunge into the "circus wheel" world this year (as Bryan calls them). My two weapons will be a Niner One9 single speed and a 2011 Gary Fisher Superfly 100 (thank you Wheat Ridge Cyclery!) Both of these bikes roll on big 29" wheels. Both are worthy stallions to ride into battle. Both will make my 6 foot 3 inch frame look a little more proportional to the bike (not that it will help my racing all that much but still). For comfort I will again be riding with Ergon grips. This year in addition to the Ergon GS2 grips, I will also be sporting the Ergon HX2 gloves. These bad boys are designed to work seamlessly with Ergon grips to make up a complete system. I'll be posting a review once these hit the market and I have some riding time in on them.

As anyone that has participated in this sport knows, it takes quite a bit of $$ just to have the necessities to train and compete. For this reason I am happy to have such a great support system in my racing team and our fine sponsors. Without them my 2011 racing season wouldn't be possible.

Chilly Cheeks Duathlon #2

2011-01-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

Me and "Bug Man" Leslie Handy

I took a shot at the Chilly Cheeks Duathlon today with other members of my team. This is the first time I've done any kind of multi-sport event and my transition times tell it all. The event was a "run, bike, run, bike" setup and I was on my Niner One9 single-speed rig competing in the Fat Tire division. It was fun to get out and mix it up for an hour but I am sure glad that is over. Next time I'll put those fancy fast-tie plastic things on my shoe laces.

Video:

Stats:

Team Twin Six for 2011

2011-01-14T00:13:00.000-07:00

Excited to be sporting and representing this fine cycling apparel for 2011. A little more about the company from the manifesto: http://twinsix.com/manifesto

THE WEAR-TO-GO MANIFESTO

First and foremost we are two designers who love to ride and believe that the time is overdue for better cycling jersey graphics. We are Twin Six, the graphic revolution in cycling apparel. It is our goal to be the alternative to everything else.

The gear we pull on is a statement of our style, identity and self. The industry’s slow uphill grind to better graphics has turned riders into unwilling billboards, moving color explosions and unfortunate cartoon characterizations. Twin Six has seen enough.

Twin Six jerseys carry graphics with a fashion DNA. Styles that spring from real graphic trends, not the predictable regurgitation of last year’s predictable regurgitation. Twin Six is two determined graphic designers doing what we do best, so we can finally ride with pride.

2011 Race Ambitions

2011-01-13T14:39:00.005-07:00

Epic Endurance Cycling Team: 2011 Jersey

As mentioned previously, I am riding on a new team this year and the jersey above is what we will be sporting so keep your eye out for us. Here are some of the events I hope to toe the line for this year.

See you there!

Type	Date	Name	Location	Placement
Duathlon	01/15/2011	Chilly Cheeks Duathlon #2	Cherry Creek State Park, CO	2nd, Fat Tire
Rocky Mountain Endurance Series	04/23/2011	Inaugural Voodoo Fire	Pueblo, CO
Rocky Mountain Endurance Series	05/07/2011	Front Range 60	Lakewood, CO
Endurance 100-mile	06/18/2011	The Bailey Hundo	Bailey, CO
Rocky Mountain Endurance Series	07/15/2011	B-68	Breckenridge, CO
Endurance 100-mile	08/13/2011	Leadville Trail 100 MTB Race	Leadville, CO
NUE series	09/03/2011	Park City Point 2 Point	Park City, UT
24-hour Endurance	10/01/2011	24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championships	Colorado Springs, CO

Core Strength

2011-01-09T23:09:00.001-07:00

I've added a new routine to my training in 2011 in an effort to improve on last year's results: The Core Performance (recommended to me by Jeff). A core workout is a staple in the training regimen of any serious athlete and admittedly I neglected this important part of training for most of 2010. As a result I suffered directly from distracting back and neck pain which forced brief stopps multiple times during some of my longer races and indirectly in the form of power loss due to all around inefficiencies. So as I said, I am trying to correct that. So far the workouts are going really well and take less time than I thought they would. Most of the workouts complete within 30min using minimal equipment. Here are some links on the subject from people that know what they are talking about.

Core Performance
Core Strength for Mountain Bikers (Lynda Wallenfels)
Core Strength (Joe Friel)

Ski Day

2010-12-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

Ergon sticker on Adam's helmet.

It has been almost 2 years since I have been on my tele skis and today I was more than a little rusty. I hit the Park City Mountain Resort with a few longtime friends and some new ones. It was my first time back since the Park City Point 2 Point so much of the lift time involved reflecting on the race fun and pain as we hovered over the snow covered course. It was also pretty freaking cold.

Check out my face plant mid way through the video.

Objects In The Mirror: A look back on 2010

2010-12-28T00:24:00.006-07:00

This year is going to be one I'll remember for a long time not so much for the events that took place but rather the people I have met in the past 12 months. I have many to thank for the memories of 2010 - people that have inspired, motivated, and mentored me as I took on my first real season of mountain bike racing at the young age of 35. At the forefront of these individuals is Mark Zuckerberg. Not far behind Mark is Jack Dorsey. Not really... but sort of. These are the Facebook and Twitter guys and really have nothing to do with cycling or mountain bike racing. They are billionaire geeks not hard-core athletes. But they did create the vehicle(s) that have made the most difference to me as I stepped my way through the months of training and racing in 2010. In the process of making their billions, they also made it possible for me to meet so many inspiring, motivating, and down right cool people. I'm not talking about an online relationship but rather real people with whom I have ridden trails, raced, laughed, and enjoyed a common love for the outdoors and cycling with. If I were to list names of people I first met on Twitbook then in person this year, it would total close to 50. Some of you have offered a couch or a room to me before a big race. Others have answered 1000 nubie questions on topics ranging from race nutrition to tire pressure. Others have given me opportunities that I wouldn't have otherwise had. Many have captured my attention for hours on end reading about adventure and everyday life. Some of you are veteran superstars on the race course that still took the time to talk to an agegrouper like me after pulling off a podium finish. Some of you I still need to meet in person and will make that a goal of 2011. So without listing names I want to offer a big Thank You for taking me in and letting me share in this awesome sport with you this year. I look forward to riding with all of you and the challenge of trying to kick your collective arses on the race course in 2011!

CarboRocket Half Evil Endurance Fuel

2010-12-18T16:25:00.003-07:00

Each CR333 Serving Contains:

84g Complex and Simple Carbohydrates
1,600mg Electrolytes
5 mg Caffeine (oh yea)
2,500mg Amino Acids
333 Calories

I'm looking forward to trying this as my primary endurance fuel for 2011!

Available at the CarboRocket website.

Mental Toughness: Dealing with "It"

2010-12-16T21:54:00.007-07:00

A torture device designed to develop mental toughness. Yes, those are MTB pedals.

A thought (yes just one) occurred to me today as I was riding nowhere on my fluid trainer in the garage with headphones on, watching a puddle of my own sweat pooling slowly on the concrete floor below. It is not uncommon for me to be in this position as of late especially with the 2011 season looming, limited warm weather riding time, and in this case, a wife who is out of town accompanied by only one of our four kids.

To me, everything on a trainer seems magnified: time moves slowly, I feel like I am working harder than my gadgets say I am, I sweat like mad, there is never any downhill, and the scenery just plain stinks. In my book, the worst of it all is that I am ALWAYS at the finish line with the option to bail at every pedal stroke. Few people I know enjoy riding like this (myself included) but in the absence of an option for non-simulated riding, simulated riding is better than not riding at all.

To add some context, I should say that I have been spending some quality time lately reflecting on the 2010 race season and getting some training-specific book learning under my belt in hopes of making 2011 easer on me and especially my family. With only one season in the books, there is little personal experience to draw from. To bridge the gap, I have been absorbing what I can from other more experienced riders (of which Colorado has no shortage. A big thank you to all who share your secrets so freely with a nubie). When I say riders, I should really say racers. I am not new to riding a mountain bike. I've been riding one since the late 1980s when *everything* had a rigid fork and weighed 30 lbs. I am new to racing a mountain bike which is a lot different than riding one for fun. In terms of reading, it is no secret that there is a book commonly referred to by cyclists as "The Bible" and this has been my primary book of study for the past month. I race mountain bikes exclusively but most if not all principles in this cycling book apply to mountain biking. I recommend this book to anyone just starting out especially if you are interested in the science of training (and if you want to do well, you will need to be interested). Within a few hours of reading, I identified some common rookie mistakes I made during the course of the year. While I think it is important to understand things for myself, if you don't want to do it all yourself, you don't have to. There are a number of very qualified coaches that can create personalized training plans to fit your needs or general event-specific training plans for you to use.

Back to the trainer and my deep thoughts.

I was riding, still watching sweat drip on the floor, music cranking, trying to push away the voice telling me that 40 min is just as good as the 90 min I was planning on riding. I was thinking of what aspects of my riding game need the most work: endurance, force, speed skills, muscular endurance, anaerobic endurance, power? All of these are listed on the racing abilities triangle on page 90 of that "Bible" I have been reading (page 94 talks about some specific types of training one could consider doing to improve each). While deep in thought on this I realized the one "ability" I wasn't taking into consideration was staring me in the face at that very moment.

Mental Toughness.

What is mental toughness? I'm sure there is some academic / technical definition out there but the simplest one I have heard is the ability to just "turn it off". What is "It"? That answer might be different for each of us. For me "It" is that voice trying to convince me that 40 min is as good as 90 min on the trainer. "It" also comes in the form of pain in all parts of my body as the miles pile up during a race or long training ride. "It" clearly defined itself for me multiple times in 2010 perhaps most prominently at the Park City Point 2 Point. I'm sure if someone would have prepared a shallow grave somewhere along the trail between mile 60 and 80, I might have succumbed to "It" and laid down using what little energy I had left to cover myself with loose dirt. But there was nothing of the sort and I pushed forward to the end. Over the course of the season, I had unintentionally added some "mental toughness" training into the long rides, hill repeats, 20-40s, and yes hours on the trainer. I had been learning to deal with "It" and when "It" showed up on race day, I was able to defend.

So ride your trainer. Stare at your bike computer the whole time as it slowly clicks away second by second. Sweat on the floor and love the hours of torture. They are productive. You are training your mind to deal with "It". And "It" will be there with each pedal stroke next season.

* More on Mental Toughness from Joe Friel (PDF). I came across this while doing a little Googling after drafting this post.

Saturday

2010-12-13T09:01:00.002-07:00

It started off bad but ended good.

The Bad.

The 2nd oldest boy came running up the stairs with a stitch-worthy gash in his head. The same thing happened almost 2 years ago to the day. This time they were able to glue the cut back together.

Quick trip to the urgent care.

The Good.

I took the injured boy along with his older brother to Wheat Ridge Cyclery for the Ergon MTB KLINIK. Why was this good? Aside from getting out to support some team sponsors and gawk around the bike shop, I also won a training plan from LW Coaching in the raffle. This will come in very handy for 2011. Thanks again to Lynda Wallenfels for throwing this into the hat.

Claiming my prize! We'll keep secret the fact that I had 3 tickets (me + 2 boys) to increase the odds.

Epic Endurance Cycling Team

2010-12-01T16:45:00.000-07:00

I am looking forward to 2011 for many reasons. Among them is the chance to rub shoulders with my new teammates & friends on the Epic Endurance Cycling Team. Check out our website and follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up-to-date with what we are up to. Lastly, please be sure to visit our sponsors. Without them the team wouldn't be possible.

2011 Team Members

2011 Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race - Take 3

2010-11-30T13:03:00.016-07:00

My 2011 $15.00 donation slip - If only it were tax-deductible.

After last year's rejection (100% 2 for 2 rejection status now) to the Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race I vowed to forget this race placing it on the list of things I have no interest in doing. After all, it isn't a *real* 100-mile mountain bike race right? The race consists of 95% dirt road with terrain that might hit a 2 on the 1-10 technical scale. Sure it is all at high elevation with some sustained climbs but many agree it is a mountain bike race geared towards roadies (not that there is anything wrong with roadies. I'm a roadie too... chill). Contrast the LT100 with the singletrack terrain found in the Breckenridge 100 or the Park City Point 2 Point and you might agree that the LT100 is a mediocre course over-hyped by big names and fancy promotional videos.

Can I get an amen?

Seriously now... My real thoughts on the event: First off, I have no place to criticize or even comment on how tough the race is having never participated. Having watched the last Race Across The Sky movie it is apparent the LT100 isn't an exclusive race for the elete. While there is a general focus on the big names in the front of the pack, hundreds of first-timers and novice riders spanning the age spectrum fill the bulk of the race each with a story to tell. Even with the public criticisms of the course, inflated registration fees, unfair lottery, non-transfer policies, etc, one can't escape the fact that the LT100 IS an iconic race. It takes place in the Colorado high country which alone should make it iconic. And like all iconic races, it will continue to motivate and draw flocks of ordinary people to fork over the $$, train, toe the line, conquer, and add their name to the list of finishers.

Which is what I plan to do in 2011... under 9 hours... I hope.

Now I just need to win a stage in the 2011 Tour de France to guarantee my entrance into Leadville.

Grinding Metal

2010-11-20T20:54:00.004-07:00

I've been waiting for about a year to turn a set of Shimano XTR FC-M960 cranks into a Jeff Jones style single-speed crank. A quick search of the interwebs will reveal many others who have done this. While I don't claim to be proficient at working with metal, I thought it would be fun to try, or at least spend some quality time in my mancave destroying a perfectly good set of cranks.

The Process...

1. Take a perfectly good set of cranks.

2. Remove the chainrings and apply a hacksaw. The good part about this is it goes fast and accuracy isn't all that important.

3. Apply a 250mm file for 20-30 min. I also used the smaller file to smooth things out a bit.

4. Stop well short of finished job but enough to have a workable set of SS cranks.

So now you are shouting at the computer screen because 1 - My cranks are a disgrace to all of those that have put a week or two into the same job (I spent at most 45min) and 2 - I still have the original 32T chainring on the thing. Before you slam your laptop shut in disgust, be assured that 1 - I will most likely pull these off once or twice over the winter and tool on them and 2 - The M960s take a non-standard 102bcd 4 bolt chainring and I only had a 104 on hand. Hopefully one of these from HBC will take care of that little problem.

Here is how things could look if one were to spend much more time than I did. If you look close you can see your reflection in the crankarm.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/subliminalshiver/5152795795/

Long Live POV!

2010-11-08T21:26:00.003-07:00

2010 seems to be the year of the POV camera in cycling. Recently there has been some talk about limiting the use of these cameras at cycling events. I join the masses in saying booo! Personally I love to watch footage of others hammering it out on the pedals and will enjoy even more this winter when I am trapped in the basement riding a trainer. The following are some of my favorite POV clips from 2010 (well those I could scrape together in 15 min anyway).

Enjoy.

Iceman

Leadville Trail 100

Red Bull Rampage Highlights

Park City Point 2 Point

Breck Epic Stage Race: Stage 1

Breck Epic Stage Race: Stage 2

Breck Epic Stage Race: Stage 3

Breck Epic Stage Race: Stage 4

Breck Epic Stage Race: Stage 5

Breck Epic Stage Race: Stage 6

Ergon Monster Ride

Epic Riding "Joy"

Epic Riding "Ski Days"

Some Guy Blowing Chunks Post-Cyclocross Race

One Year

2010-11-05T09:39:00.000-06:00

Don Bartow - 2009 Leadville Trail 100

It's amazing how fast a year can go by...

One year ago today arrived at work only to be greeted by bad news. A good friend and fellow co-worker, Don Bartow, had been in a serious accident riding into work and was in the hospital. My first thought was a car / bike collision but that was not the case. Don was riding on a quiet residential street no doubt enjoying a beautiful morning when one of the two bolds holding his handlebars snapped causing him to loose control of his bicycle and collide with the curb at high speed. He was rushed to the hospital where he remained in critical condition until he passed away surrounded by family and friends on November 7th 2009.

November 7th was also Don's birthday.

Although I didn't know Don for very long I have thought about him a lot over the past 12 months mostly during my morning commutes to work. It has caused some reflection on many occasions how fragile it all is and a renewed appreciation for life, family, and friends. It was apparent from the comments of hundreds of Don's friends that he was "that kind of guy". The kind of guy that would do anything for you, a rare gem in the world today.

We miss you Don!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/donbartow

Lapse

2010-11-01T21:45:00.002-06:00

Monster Ride Peloton - Photo: Jim Fu

I've been plenty busy lately working on some new things. Needless to say I am stoked for 2011 and happy to report that the lapse in meaningless blog updates hasn't translated into a lapse in fun on the trails. Colorado has enjoyed a excellent Indian Summer as of late and I have taken full advantage of it with multiple lunch rides around Cherry Creek State Park and after work hammer fests at Mt Falcon and Lair O' The Bear. The riding has been some of the best I've had all year. I'm not sure if it is because the trails are all that much better or if there is less purpose to the rides and more relaxation and fun. It might simply be the company. I'll take it any way I can. The pinnacle to October for me took place last Saturday on the 2010 Ergon Monster Ride hosted by Jeff Kerkove and Yuki Saito.

Some video of Saturday's ride (below). 00:16 below is as close as I came to Yuki all day and I think he was still riding in neutral.

2010 24 Hours of Moab

2010-10-13T22:58:00.000-06:00

Some fast bikes waiting on another lap

I wasn't going to write anything on this year's race given I didn't end up racing. I did a glamour lap with Adam Saturday evening and it was fun mixing it up. Mostly I just hung around with my two boys and watched the action and drama unfold. As I said, I wasn't going to post anything but I was told by someone all things "Moab" should be in the public domain and I agree. I didn't capture much from this year's race and for what it's worth, here is my contribution to the interwebs.

Late Saturday night I did an impromptu interview with Aaron Smith where he (apparently drunk on RockStar) explains how his race is going. Aaron is a new friend of mine... I'm pretty sure he is joking... pretty sure. As always my interview skills were off the charts awesome.

Driving home Sunday morning I pulled out the POV cam and hung it out the window.

Hopefully I'll have more to add next year.

Firsts

2010-10-11T16:23:00.001-06:00

Higham Boys - Arches National Park

Life is filled with them. Firsts. As I get older, I'm not sure which I enjoy more my firsts or watching others experience theirs. This weekend it was definitely the latter. I took my two oldest boys to Moab for an introduction to a number of firsts. Among them the first 24 hour mountainbike race experience and first time on Slickrock Trail. Neither of them had ridden Slickrock so I was excited to see what they could do. I tried to boost up their confidence on the way explaining the physical properties of sandstone and the amazing "gription" they would get riding:

Me: "It's like they took sidewalk and poured it all over the mountains and let it dry. You will have amazing gription!"

Them: "Sidewalk? Gription?"

Me: "Yea, except it's orange. It's really grippy on your tires not like the dirt in Colorado. I bet both of you could ride straight up a cliff if you wanted to."

Them: "Why do they call it slickrock if it is so grippy?"

Me: "Um..."

Here is how it went.

We also made it out to Dead Horse Point, another first for them. The last time I visited was when I was 10 year old. I will let the video below speak for me. I will add that it is worth the extra hour of driving and the $10.00 entrance fee.

Socialize

2010-10-05T22:40:00.008-06:00

Jason Hansen and Brandon Hodges on Georgia Pass. Jason wants to make sure everyone can see his new Santa Cruz Tallboy prominently displayed in front of him.

I found out over the weekend that my 24 Hours of Moab team was not going to happen. I was slated to ride on one of the MDC 4-man expert teams. Despite the best efforts put forth by Keith, Adam, and myself we couldn't talk anyone else into filling the last spot on the team I was riding with. Really? It's like trying to recruit a 10-year-old to go to ~~Disneyland~~ Disney World. One would expect a flock of eager volunteers. There were a few hopeful prospects but they all ended up falling through. At one point Adam might have had Jeremiah Bishop on the hook but that too was short lived (ha ha). Heck, I even floundered for a good 30 min. It was clear it wasn't going to happen. As a token of optimism, I suggested we register the team as "Jell-O nailed to a wall" if we did pull it off because that's what the process was turning into. I realize everyone may be burned out or have a myriad of other reasons for not racing in Moab which I can definitely understand. It is kind of disappointing not to bring it all together though. As an alternative, I did consider for about 20 min registering solo but my last serious ride a few days before reminded me that I have been tapering since the Park City Point 2 Point almost a month ago. If I am going to shell out that kind of money for a race I want to be in top form. With the death of my 24HOM team came the end of my 2010 race season and hopefully the start of some good casual Fall riding.

It is time to start socializing again.

It's not that I haven't been trying all summer. I tried many times but I couldn't get any of my riding buddies to show up at 5:30am for a grueling 3-hour ride before work. I don't blame them, I wouldn't want to show up that early to ride with me either. I found it especially hard to get a 35-year-old body firing on all cylinders that early. No matter how much I hurt at the start, I always ended feeling completely alive at the end - something I had to keep reminding myself each morning during the first few pedal strokes.

So now that the off season is here and the reasons for early morning madness are gone, I am starting to see some of my riding pals again and I have to say, it is a welcome change. The first kickoff of this casual season was an early morning (ironic I know) ride from Kenosha Pass to Georgia Pass. As you can see the Fall transition is well under way in the Colorado high country. In fact I think this time last year the Georgia Pass was covered with snow.

Here is the route we took.

The View From The Office

2010-09-30T14:40:00.002-06:00

Anonymous person's view from his or her office.

Here is a little time filler for you when you have nothing else to do. Yes that's right, when you are completely out of anything productive to do whatsoever. I'm talking stare at the floor boredom. Search for "view from the office" on Twitter. Over the past year I've noticed a lot of these "tweets" fly by my Twitter feed. Each time I eagerly rush to click on the link following the aforementioned text. After a hasty click, my curiosity is immediately gratified by a photo showing an amazing view... of something completely foreign to what I think of as "the office". Perhaps someday my perception of this phrase will fall more inline with the office view shown above.

Until then, and in the spirit of giving back I eagerly present today's "view from the office".

Enjoy!

The amazing view from Jeff's office.

Unwinding at White Ranch

2010-09-24T00:21:00.002-06:00

Jason Hansen - White Ranch Shorthorn Trail

I made the late afternoon drive from my office today to an area called White Ranch near Golden, Colorado to unwind from another stressful day. This collection of trails have been a staple in my riding diet for over 4 years now but it has been months since I've made it up that way. With so many great riding areas closer, and the pressing need to get good ride time in for training this summer, White Ranch has repeatedly drawn the short straw. Today I threw productivity aside and gave my old friend a visit.

As always, the trails did not disappoint.

I brought along the Niner SS as my trusty stead for the evening. I also brought a riding light just in case but managed to make it back before darkness fell. After loaning my pump to a few needy riders in the parking lot, I pointed my tire down the trail. I rode straight up belcher, a route I usually avoid in favor of other singletrack options a few turns into the ride. While riding on the SS up the steep, loose doubletrack road I came close to reaffirming the reason for the trail name a few times. I'm still getting used to riding with one gear. It seems like it takes a good 30 min to convince my legs there are no other gear options and it's time to cowboy up. By the end of the ride I was feeling really good. One thing is for certain, I need some better grips on my SS rig. Some Ergon grips to be exact. I have been riding with the GX1 grips on my race bike all year and can really feel a lack in both control and comfort when I ride something without them.

Here is a little summary of the ride taken from my Garmin.

What's Next?

2010-09-16T01:11:00.006-06:00

Autumn Aspens - Squaw Pass

As the 2010 MTB race season comes to a close I find myself getting restless. The sun is rising later and setting sooner snuffing out what have been golden riding times for me for the past 4 or 5 months. Fading fast are the opportunities to sneak in a 2-3 hour ride before or after work along with some of the motivation to do so. My last big endurance race of 2010 has come and gone. Remnants of that last event have been tossed aside in a few plastic bins in the garage. Park City dust still covers my race bike which has taken a back seat to the road bike and SS in recent days. My P2P race number, with the elevation profile still attached, is tacked in place on the garage wall next to the others that have one by one found their way there over the course of the Summer. The trees will soon start to fade from green to red, orange, and yellow and then at last will be lifeless covering the trails that guided me through an intense spring and summer of pedaling.

So with the fall transition in full swing I am left thinking: what's next?

For most of my racing comrades the answer is Cyclocross. Many of them are busy tooling on new bikes or going through the learning curve of a first season. For me cross is not the answer, not this year. Perhaps 2011 will be the year for me to dive headlong into that crazy sport (literally). I do see the wisdom in the timing of the cross season. Those of us hopelessly engulfed in the world of cycling and mountainbike racing are indeed addicts if only in denial. We have been fed a steady stream of training, group rides, and races for the majority of the year. Wholeheartedly neglecting yard work, garage cleaning, and other things that take up a normal Saturday afternoon. Now, just as the high is starting to wear off, along comes the cross season to provide yet another fix that will keep us at bay well into December.

I don't know If there is such a thing as rehab for the hopelessly addicted to racing but I am about to find out. Even if the winter does prove to be successful rehab, I will most certainly relapse once the first group rides start up early 2011. Fortunately I won't have to go out cold turkey. I have a few more months to wean myself from the high of the summer racing season. There are still trails to ride although the rides will be shorter, less intense, and less purpose driven. And yes, there is that one last big race in the works - one more event to send 2010 out with a bang taking place in that mountain bike "Holy Land" known as Moab.

The 24 Hours of Moab starts October 9th.

Cyclocross Related:

CYCLOCROSS: In 10 Muddy, Beer Stained Steps

Recovery

2010-09-10T00:50:00.001-06:00

Devils Head Fire Lookout

Post Point 2 Point recovery activities for the week:

Monday: Family hike to Devil's Head Fire Lookout. 4 miles
Tuesday: Drive to work and drink a lot of Diet Coke. 0 miles
Wednesday: Soft pedal to and from work. 16 miles.
Thursday: Singlespeed ride with my 5-year-old on the trails behind our house. 4 miles.
Friday: See Tuesday or possibly Wednesday if I feel spunky.

A few links on the topic of recovery from people that actually know what they are talking about.

Recovery time required for ultra-endurance racing (LW Coaching)

How to Recover (Joe Friel)

2010: Park City Point 2 Point

2010-09-06T22:40:00.019-06:00

Finish Line! 8:25:14.1 (chip time). I thought I would never make it.

Race Plate

I lined up with over 200 people last Saturday morning in Park City to race the Park City Point 2 Point endurance mountainbike race. The course consisted of roughly 75 miles on 98% singletrack with around 14,000 feet of elevation gain.

It was a demanding race.

My course profile cheat sheet. Red=climbs, Orange=aide stations, Green = pain

I felt good riding off the lead 8-9 hour group from the start with a consistent pace that lasted well through Round Valley and to the first aide station at Deer valley roughly 29 miles into the race. From there the course pointed skyward and took us up what looked like a downhill course.

Yes I said "up" the downhill course.

This climb topped out around 9,200 feet before circling back down to the Deer Valley aide station again (I received great support from the Mad Dog Race Team out of Orem, Utah during the whole race). From here the course launched into another 30 miles of solitude and another climb back up to the 9,200 foot range again before dropping back down to the bottom of the Park City Ski area. I think it was on that last hill down to the ski area I let off the brakes and hit my max speed on the course of 41 mph. I think I was way too tired to hold the brakes so I just let the bike go.

41 feels pretty fast on a mountainbike.

After the Park City aide station at roughly mile 57 most of the hard climbing was over but by this point in the race any climbing was hard climbing. The climb from mile 58-63 introduced cramps to the equation for me - something I had dealt with in the past but not this bad. It was a clear sign I was low on electrolytes and possibly water and possibly training. I thought I was drinking enough but honestly wasn't really paying much attention other than making sure I finished my bottles off before each the next station. I climbed alone in misery trying to ride hard but not hard enough to push my legs into cramps. When they would come on I would stand up on the climbs and ride in a slightly larger gear with fewer revolutions. This is opposite advice from what I have heard others say to push through cramps. Based on some follow-up reading, the most common advice is to stay in the saddle and spin a very easy gear. In any case my approach seemed to work best for me ... until it didn't. I stopped quickly at the last mini aide station around mile 70 for a couple of shots of Coke and cold water, then pushed on up the last little climb before the drop into The Canyons. It was here I rode past Jonathan Davis of the Trek Store team here in Colorado. He mumbled something, obviously feeling about the same as I was just as we both pushed over the crest of the last climb. We rode together bombing the downhill all the way until the very last climb (yes the climbs just wouldn't go away) prior to turning towards the finish. We climbed for the first 1/2 mile or so into the last uphill effort before my cramps surfaced again and I motioned Jonathan to pass as I stopped for a quick stretch. I rode to the top and started down the hill to the finish line only to be delayed yet again by a flat. The Stans sealant stopped the leak but the tire was too low to ride on. Even though I could smell the food grilling at the finish line, I had to break out my Co2 and put some PSI into my rear tire.

My final result was 8:25:14.1 (5th 30-39 and 25th overall).

Some race coverage from Park City TV. Look for me at 24-25 seconds and 55-57 seconds (yes that's 3 whole seconds of fame).

POV from the Pro leaders Alex Grant and Josh Tostado.

POV from Miles Pitcher on the 8-9 hour wave. This is what it looked like for those of us that lack the super human powers of Alex Grant, JoshTostado, Kelly Magelky, and Chris Holley.

Dave Harris footage.

My trusty steed: 2006 Specialized Epic Marathon. Yes, I do need the seat that high.

Drool. Miles pitcher's 2010 Niner Air 9 Carbon. I could have shaved at least 30 seconds off my time with this rig.

Pre-stage of the 8-9 hour group. I'm in the upper left with a glowing oval on my head. I moved up to the front just prior to starting the race. My buddy Bill Wheeler is on my right (your left).

Swag! Yes I raced my guts out to get a pair of XL socks. Only the finishers will be sporting these on next week's lunch rides.

The last 1/4 mile of the race (taken the day before). Yes it was here I had to stop and add air to my tire.

Dirty legs post-race. I am flexing really hard here to make them look tough.

I sucked down 4 gel flasks and about 10 bottles of CarboRocket. It was clear I didn't drink enough. Pee breaks = 0.

¿Cómo estás?

2010-08-25T20:43:00.092-06:00

Short answer? Cocido (cooked).

I started and ended the first leg of my day today in Como, Colorado. A small high elevation town on US-285 south of Breckenridge, Colorado (over an 11,200ft pass). Como is also the half way mark of the 3rd loop in the Breckenridge 100 mountain bike race that took place last month. I was slated to do this race but had to log a DNS at the last min. Given the Park City Point 2 Point is just under 2 weeks away I took the day to get in some high elevation riding. It seemed like a good time to get a look at loop 3 before next year when I try again on the B100. I started in Como because it is a closer drive than Breck. I rode the loop 3 course backwards.

The following pictures pretty much sum up the town of Como.

"First Catholic Church" - I looked around but couldn't find the second one.

Yes this is where the action is.

Given the above. I decided to drive a good distance from town and park before heading out on the Loop 3 course.

Parking north of Como, Colorado

Breckenridge 100 Loop 3 - Starting from Como, Colorado

Breckenridge 100 Loop 3 Elevation Profile

As always, the riding and trails near Breckenridge were amazing. I didn't stop to take many photos today but here are a few to noodle on.

Aspens Galore

A big section of the south side singletrack is like riding down a huge ditch. Smooth and FAST!

Looking south from the pass. Not sure the name.

Parking spot looking south to Como. I finished the loop riding back up this section to my car.

My Second leg was on the SS to Kenosha Pass. I was in the pain cave the whole time so no photos. I barely made it out alive in fact. I am still trying to sort out this SS madness.

SS

2010-08-23T21:19:00.000-06:00

Niner One 9: "Pedal Damn It!"

I joined the ranks of the SS'ers this week with the addition of a used Niner One 9 to the quiver. I love having a bike that encourages me to pedal my guts out every time I look down at the top tube.

Nuff said.