ABBike Blog

First Ski Day for 2012 Season

2011-11-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

This year we got season passes at Alta. 28 F, but windy and snowing, it felt pretty cold. Took a while to get all the kids clothes straightened out so they were warm and comfortable - it is hard to be aggressive when cold. After we got that figured out, it was great.

Snow is still pretty thin on the big slopes, but fine on the groomers for the kids.

November Storm

2011-11-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

Started the morning with a final bike dawn-patrol on the Shoreline before the coming storm.

Racing Weight

2011-11-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

I don't know who wrote this, but it is funny enough:

The trick is to keep losing weight until your friends and family ask you if you've been sick. then you know you're within 10 pounds. if they start whispering to each other, wondering if you've got cancer or aids, you're within 5. when they actually do an intervention, you're at race weight.

Its Fall of 2011.

2011-11-06T18:19:00.000-07:00

Long time no see. Occasionally I look back at my old blog entries and think, "Wow, I need to get back to writing that." Not that I think anyone else is interested, but lots of good memories that I like to be reminded of.

This cycling season was a total bust for me. I never managed a good race. By good, what I mean is one where I felt good while riding, finished the race, and thought, "Wow, that was great!" In fact, I only had about 2 training rides like that during the season either.

There has been plenty going on though. First of all, we moved. Our other house is awesome, but not really enough rooms anymore. I could have finished the basement, but then this house came up, and the street is called, "Trailrider", and well, the rest is history.

More exciting, we are oh-so-close to having our 7th and planned-to-be-last baby. She should come any day. This one (photo by Katie) will soon be obsolete:

Occasionally (though not very often), someone will be bold enough to ask me why we have "so many kids." It was not really according to any plan, we have just taken it one at a time. Often the question carries with it some between the lines questions.

Our soon to be daughter will be approximately the 7 billionth person in the world at this time.

"How will we pay for their education?"

"What will happen to our over crowded world?"

"How we will we feed everyone?"

"What about the environment?"

I think I understand their concern, but I happen to believe that the real lesson of history is that people are net producers. What we (meaning both the world and the country) really need is more intelligent, hard working, producing people, not fewer. We need contributors.

Sometime maybe I'll write more about that.

Anyway, the fall weather has been fantastic. Lots of Corner Canyon riding, and a couple weeks ago I finally got up to the Crest/Mid-Mountain trail and took a few photos.

Watch out - the season is coming. Betterride.

2011-03-27T22:23:00.001-06:00

My blog has been falling victim to the same death as my training -- too much going on. I just haven't been able to make it fit very well so far this year.

There have been a few reasons. We switched to a 9-80 schedule last year, which means every other Friday off. This seems like it should be great, but so far it has meant longer days with less training time and more to get done on the off Fridays. As the kids get older I've been more busy with them too. Other things, but anyway...

I did get a new bike about a month ago, and finally got to ride it last weekend. My new Superfly 100 is awesome, and it was a blast to ride. I didn't get to really hammer on it yet, but that'll come. Thanks to Ian and BikeFix for setting me up! When I lived in Bountiful there really wasn't a good bike shop up there. Now there is.

So last weekend was also a weekend in Hurricane with the Gene Hamilton and BetterRide. My parents went down, and it was fun to spend some time with them.

Gene has been an effective advertiser (which I think it a good thing, BTW) and I've been impressed with how many people have heard of him or even taken his courses. I ran across him last summer and tried to set something up last fall, but the scheduling didn't work out.

So I guess a lot of people will be interested to hear my thoughts about the camp, and the first question is, "was it really worth the $600?" I almost laugh when people ask me this. The 24 hours of Moab cost me more than $600 last year by the time I paid entry, gas, supplies, mechanic, etc, etc, and all I got was a good time and a temporarily blind eye! Honestly, if any one thing I learned at the camp helps me get better, it will have been worth it.

So that is the real question - will anything I learned help? I expect so, but it remains to be demonstrated. His camp is all about breaking down the various components of riding a bike, and then practicing specific drills to work on each of those individual components. The goal isn't to push the limit in the drills, but just the opposite, to do them in a controlled manner that allows precisely correct form. The drills need to be repeated, over and over, until they become reflexive and no longer require distracting and conscious thought.

Josh Waitzkin, in the Art of Learning, talks about becoming an expert in chess, and proposes a concept he calls something like, studying the numbers until you see through the numbers. That concept has really stuck with me. He then recalls practicing a martial art called pushing hands where he did the motions slowly, exactly, over and over. Anyway, Gene is teaching the same method.

So I've been riding more or less the same way for 20 years now, and I've gotten a lot better at riding that way, but I haven't gotten any better for several years. So here comes Gene saying, "hey - I have found a better way." For now, I'm worse. Practicing, drilling, but still focused on the numbers and hoping that I can get a lot better by getting a little worse first.

Was it worth it? Ask me in a few months when I can see through the numbers.

Scotties

2011-02-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

Quick couple laps up Scotties this AM.

2011-02-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

As kind of a last minute thing, Bp called and said he would be in St. George Fri/Sat and would I like to join him?

It was a little iffy on whether I would be free since we had visitors from overseas, but it did and we drove down Thursday night.

Friday we rode Camp Lynda Day 2 again. Weather was great trails were perfect.

Friday night Bp's car was getting detailed, so we walked down to the Cafe Rio for some dinner, then tried to stay awake during a Rocky V marathon on TV. It wasn't entertaining enough - we went to sleep.

Saturday we rode the Hurricane Rim trail. A bit muddy at the top, but the rest was great.

Awesome trip.

Camp Lynda Ends with a Bang!

2011-02-13T10:52:00.001-07:00

I have obviously fallen behind on the blog lately. Too bad since it is really my only journal that I keep.

Anyhow, it has been a good backcountry ski season with several good trips. I have also managed a few days with the kids at the resorts.

Two weekends ago was Camp Lynda 2011. Three official days of fun in the sun, for me 2 days. Reed and I drove down Thursday night and rode Friday and Saturday, about 5 or 6 hours each day.

Temps in the 60s, blue sky, awesome trails and scenery. Who could ask for more?

I spent the last hour of Saturday following Lynda, MTB coach and route planner (along with Dave, I assume). I knew Lynda was fast, and I guess one expects a former Scottish MTB champion and recent 24 hour SS USA champ will be a great rider, but I must admit I was still impressed.

As for the rest of the riders, there was a great mix - lots of avid riders at various speeds, including a few fast ones to keep things interesting.

Many of the usual suspects showed up, although Revolution was under-represented. I spent the weekend with the pack of Mad Dogs

The dogs put us up in a very nice kennel that had immediate access to the local riding, a pool, hot tub, etc.

By the end, our riding appetites were satiated and we were ready for a rest.

I needed to drive home Saturday night, and despite some fog near Fillmore, it was a quiet drive back. I had my headset on, chatting with Kim near Mona, when all of the sudden a deer appeared in front of me on the road.

I should have plowed right over the thing, but I swerved around the deer and unfortunately kept right on swerving. My thoughts went something like, "Ha I missed it ... Huh? Oops, back end is coming loose, I did think I swerved that hard ... uh oh, I'm going around ... this is going to be a crash."

Next thing I knew, I was landing upside down on the highway at about 80 MPH. The flip happened so fast I wasn't really even aware of it. The guy behind me said it looked like the car flew straight up into the air.

Crash! The top of the car crushed in several inches and I hit my head on the roof. Now I was hanging upside down in my seat belt, glass and dirt flying in over my face. I closed my eyes and bowed my down towards my lap away from the roof and debris. Scraaaaaape! As the car slid down the road on the roof and hood, I wondered if the car would hit anything or just slide to a stop.

24 Hours of Moab (or at least 13)

2010-10-14T21:57:00.006-06:00

Last time I did 24 Hours of Moab, in 2002, I sort of told myself the next time I did it I would be riding solo.

Eight years later, I was getting interested in finally doing it, so this spring when Bp called me up and said he was going to "Conquer His Fears" and had signed up, I jumped in with my own solo bid.

By the noon-time start of the race Saturday, I was really excited about it. Carl (of Revolution fame), Reed, Kim, and the kids all came down to support. Scott dutifully tracked my food intake, Carl serviced the bike and provided push-starts, Reed handled bottles, food, lights, etc. Jet-lagged Bob popped in and handed out free brake pads from time to time.

Where's Waldo?

It was awesome except for one thing.

About 5 PM my right eye started hazing up. I thought my contact was goopy, but it quickly became apparent that it was not my contact. I pulled it out but it did not help - my right eye was so hazy I could not see anything out of it.

I think the hazing is due to swelling, so I took some Ibuprofen and hoped maybe it would take care of itself, but it didn't. It is surprisingly hard to ride the Moab course in the dark with one eye.

I rode blind till 1 AM, admitted it was not getting better, wondered if I could do permanent damage, and pulled off. I was prepared to suffer, to push through muscle cramps, stomach upset, fatigue, and soreness, but not permanent blindness. End of race.

I had not seen Bp since the start and I did not really know how he was doing. All night I had been hoping he'd catch me and we could ride together. So after I stopped, I sat in my chair and waited till he arrived. His knee was killing him and he was walking the climbs. End of race.

I was a little concerned the next morning when my eye was still fogged up, but by afternoon it had cleared up and is now back to normal. Maybe it was the dust and grit - I don't really know.

So now I am now stuck in limbo - the smaller half of me thinking 24 hours is probably longer than a person should ride a bike, the greater half thinking in the back of my mind all day every day of how to do it better next time.

Awesome Support

Serious Competition

Jumps provided by the kids

Next year I'm totally hitting the fire-pit jumps in solo alley.

New member of the Abbott clan

2010-10-13T21:10:00.000-06:00

PCPP

2010-09-06T21:33:00.003-06:00

I do not quite know what to call races in the 8-14 hour range. Ultras? I certainly don't think of an Ironman as an ultra. Enduro? Probably.

At any rate, the Park City Point to Point is a 75+ mile mountain bike race with a claimed 14k feet of climbing. That is pretty long, though the shortest of the 4 enduros I have now ridden. The organizers claimed a rider who finished under eight hours is "damn fast", a title which I definitely wanted to claim for myself.

The problem is, the enduro is almost the same sport as traditional cross country mountain bike racing, but not quite. It is close enough that a fast XC racer can be great, but is not necessarily great or even good.

My first enduro was the most suffering I have endured, ever. For a year after that race I literally felt sick to my stomach when I heard some of the songs that I was listening to in the second half of that race. In fact there is still one album that was a prerace favorite that I do not like much since the race.

Anyway, the second one was better, but still pretty tough for the last few hours.

The third one was done on a whim, and got pretty bleak, but then I came back at the end and started to feel like I might someday figure this out.

Well, for number four I still did not have everything figured out, but it was by far the best yet.

Friday afternoon I got my fork back for my Scalpel (which was out for a rebuild), and even though I knew it was a stupid thing to do, I could not stop myself, and starting putting the bike back together at about 9 PM. The whole time I thought, "Why am I doing this? I should race one of the other bikes." But I couldnt stop. I finished building and packing at about 12:30 and then lay in bed awake for the next hour thinking about how tired I would be at 5 next morning.

What have I signed up for?

(BTW, thanks to Kim and Lyna for the photos, sorry they are mostly of me)

Anyway, we started at 7 am. Kim woke up early and drove Reed and I to the race. It was pretty chilly standing on the start line, but for riding it was good and I was glad for the cool weather miles early on because I figured it would help me not get too dried out. It turned out the adrenaline of the race was plenty to make up for the late night and sleep was not an issue.

The first 4 hours went just fine, a weed that jammed up my cassette that I had to unwind right after the start, but no real problem. I started a little slower than the lead group, and as the time went on I was reeling people in one at a time.

Everything is A-OK

Fox was even handing out money. Unfortunately I lost mine somewhere along the course.

Fox and the funds

This continued until the four hour mark, when the cramps started coming on. I took some salt, drank some water, and things calmed down...for a few minutes. Then they came back. More salt, more water, so far so good. I quickly realized I did not have nearly enough salt to make it through the race. I was out by the next feed station, and they gave me about 1/2 a bottle of endurolytes, which I started chomping, but they do not have much salt and I continued this cycle for the next three hours, when I ran out of those. I was hoping for the last aid station, but they did not have any either. Duff gave me a packet of salt, which was the best thing all day, and that got me going for another 20 or 30 minutes.

As we dropped into the Canyons resort and what I assumed was the descent to the end of the race, I thought I was set for both the finish and the eight hour mark. I caught up with Aaron S, who was experiencing his own similar issues, and we rode together to what was for me a last, unexpected climb of about 500 vertical feet.

Arrrgh! So much for my 8 hour finish and wow, the legs were crampy. Anyhow, we rode to the finish and I crossed the line at 8:04. Just shy of my goal and a lesson learned that I think is going to help me a ton in the next one.

So the salt was my mistake and the bad part, but the really good thing about this race was how much fun it was. The descents were awesome. Several fast sections including a top speed of 52 mph dropping into the Park City aid zone. People talk about feeling at one with their bike, and that was exactly how I was feeling on most of the descents. Several twisty sections, etc. etc. All off road, essentially all single track, all fun. The climbs were great too with no walking sections and only one really hot sun-exposed climb. The race really highlights how great the trails are in Park City. Am I gushing? I should be as the course is fantastic.

Anyway, I was disappointed to not be right up at the front, or even make the 8 hour mark, but it was the first enduro I have really enjoyed and I am pretty happy with that.

It was fun hanging out after the race and listening to everyones stories about their race. Enduros are like that - everyone finishes with their own stories and experience. While I was getting my food after the race Josh Tostado (who finished second to Alex) walked up, asked how it went, etc. Super fast, great guy. Holly finished fourth (BTW, wow Chris).

Well, maybe by next year I will have this figured out. And maybe I will get in again, but as word gets out, this race is going to get hard to get into, even if no one makes a movie about it (smirk) .

The babes at the finish

The Canyons

2010-08-08T17:04:00.000-06:00

Another new race for me - the year end finale for the Intermountain Cup series at the Canyons ski resort.

The course was basic 20 minutes of climbing followed by 10 minutes of descending. Mostly single track the whole way. The descent on the top section was super fast through trees with rocks here and there , then followed by loose switchbacks down a sun exposed face, then back to the start.

The pros took off with several fast guys - Matt Shriver showed up from CO, Alex G, Mitchell P, I think someone said Robbie S was there (but I never saw him and he didn't finish). I saw Mitchell P part way down on the first lap as he had crashed. In this picture right after the the start, I'm right about where I finished.

I had started the race expecting about a 2:15 race, but it turned out to be 30 minute laps. Only three laps, so it was a short race. FWIW, my splits were 31:08, 30:25, and 30:14. I've often wondered if I could improve significantly at these short races if I trained for them. It would help my cyclocross too.

Second lap I started passing people, third lap passed several more, and made it up to 6th. I could see 5th and 4th by the end of the climb, but I was struggling with the descents and lost a lot of time by the bottom. Duff Johnson and another guy named Kevin Hulrick caught up as we descended, and they sprinted past me. A disappointing end to the race. I had felt really good before the race and was climbing well by the end, but you have to mix in the whole recipe to win a race.

I was happy to have Kim and the kids come and cheer us on, then after the race I took the kids for some riding on the trails, then around the base area at the resort. Evanston used to be the season ender, and I liked that race better, but on the upside the Canyons venue is a lot more convenient.

So the ICUP season is over. Seems like I missed most of it this year, but I really enjoyed several of the races. It was fun to race Snowbasin and The Canyons as new venues, and I still like some of the classics like Sherwood Hills and Deer Valley (which I missed this year). Sometimes it just doesn't seem worth the time and effort, but there is just something about MTB racing...

Snowbasin

2010-08-01T21:50:00.000-06:00

I was registered to do the Laramie Enduro yesterday and was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, Doing that race involved traveling all day Friday, which was going to be fun as well, driving with Bp, Greg, and Bob, but work issues prevented an early end of the week and I was stuck here in SLC.

As a backup I decided to go ahead and enter the Intermountain Cup Snowbasin race. I had never ridden this course, but it turned out to be a fun course. It is not as much of a climbers course as best suits me, but it is nearly all single track, yet mostly wide enough to pass, plenty of winding terrain, and a lot of rocks to keep the mind on something more than just pedaling.

As we sat on the starting line before the race, Jason Sager was answering the rider next to him as he asked questions about Jasons wheels, which were carbon tubulars. "What do you do if you get a flat?"

Jason responded, "Um, I am a pro, so I just get a new bike." We knew what he meant, but it sounded pretty funny.

It was fortunate that the course was fun because it turned out to be a long race. I took 2:45, and I was only 3 minutes behind Jason Sager who won.

Kelli Emmett showed up for the pro womens race. It is always fun to have a big name at the ICUP races.

My race was pretty typical, but I felt good, especially as the race went on and I caught the groove of the rocks and the course. Several people blew up due to the length of the race combined with the rocky, dry conditions.

In the end I took 4th place, but only after a last turn incident with a Frolfing (Frisbee Golf) disk that hit me in the face after someone failed to throw it OVER the course. It was not all that bad, but it left a mark.

Super Six

2010-06-13T16:19:00.002-06:00

All psyched to race and blame on the rain - no racing to be done. After standing around for about an hour, Deer Valley was a wet weather bust. Due to work commitments, I may not make it to the Wednesday night rendition.

So I came home and put my new road bike together - a Cannondale Super 6. Scott wants to know where the '6' comes from - honestly I don't know. Anyway, I put SRAM Red components on it with the wheels and cranks from my separated System 6.

When I got the System 6, it was a total 'wow' experience. I couldn't believe how much better it was than my old bike had been. I wasn't really expecting that out of this bike, but after a few cranks on the pedals and a couple high-speed corners I thought 'wow' and was in love with the Super 6. Granted all I have into it is a slightly rainy TT up Suncrest, but so far I think the handling suits me, the pedaling stiffness is really good, and the vertical compliance on potholes is awesome.

Oh, and the weight? With the powertap/clincher wheels, two bottle cages, run-of-the-mill egg beater pedals, and the Fizik Arionne saddle it is still under 16 lbs. Maybe you could put a motor in there and stay under the UCI limit. Awesome.

The season is coming ... the season is coming ...

2010-06-08T21:18:00.002-06:00

And oh, there it goes???

The first half of the Intermountain Cup is over, or at least it will be when half way point of the race Saturday passes. So far I've finished ... 1 race? Bust.

I haven't felt right since the deer last summer, but I'm getting close. The shoulder isn't the issue any more - just training.

Fortuntely this part of the season has been according to plan, and rather than discouraging like it would otherwise be, it has just been what it has been. I've been more focused on work and the kids, watching the twins go from newborn to baby. They grow week by week. I think if I grew like they do, I could recover from any training effort overnight.

I felt pretty good at the Corner Canyon race Saturday, but I made a piloting mistake coupled with a seatbolt that I had broken, then replaced with a scrounge and forgotten about, that resulted in a crash and a broken seatpost clamp. Race over. I got it fixed and did a fun lap only to break my chain. Day over and back to the BBQ.

This past Saturday I did a long ride in Corner Canyon with Reed and still felt good at the end. I came home and told Kim I was starting to feel like an athlete again.

Honestly, my legs are a little cooked today, but all in good training I hope.

When pressed for time, I often think of the interval craze that has taken over the internet. Fit in 6 hours a week or whatever. I guess that works for some people, but not me. When I'm feeling good, I've usually had several consecutive weeks of 10-15 hrs and a gradual build in intensity, plenty of sleep, and a decent diet. When I do nothing but intervals and low volume, unless it is part of a taper after the afore mentioned plan, I just end up fried, slow, and unhappy.

At this point I'm ready for the season to start - a few months late to the party and perhaps pretty far behind at this point, but ready to enjoy the racing again.

Oops

2010-04-04T20:57:00.004-06:00

Sometimes getting stuck in the snow is fun:

But for someone on Suncrest, maybe not:

Camp Lynda...Skiing...er...

2010-01-24T20:38:00.002-07:00

Winter training can be a challenge. I had planned to ride Camp Lynda this weekend, but the weather in St. George had other ideas.

Honestly, I've been too busy with work etc. anyway, and so haven't been skiing either, which is probably best since the hills are sketchy with avy hazard.

This has relegated me to the trainer. I have a computrainer, which Kim's bike is on right now, and a Tacx Fortius, which one of my bikes is kept on. I keep a bike on there so that I don't have to waste time setting it up and taking it down.

People often ask which is better - the Tacx or the Computrainer. Each seems to have its benefits. The Tacx software has more features, but I just end up riding in ergo mode all the time anyway, and its ergo mode works fine.

The computrainer ergo mode makes the wheel feel like it is stuck in goop, so I ride virtual courses that can be made up by the user. I really like that feature, which surprisingly Tacx doesn't have. My CT seems to have more consistent wattage than the Tacx, once it is warmed up, but it doesn't have the nice user-settable calibration constant that Tacx has, which allows matching to the power meter.

In the end, it doesn't matter much which one. Bart once said to me he finds riding indoors "is like burning a match" (cyclists all understand this). I almost agree. Both trainers are still boring and mentally taxing for anything over 90 minutes. This makes it hard to get a great workout, but better than conventional trainers, and worlds better than rollers.

As long as it isn't actually snowing (or raining), I ride outside unless it just won't fit in my schedule. I ride in the dark a lot in the winter. Maybe sometime I'll write about clothes for cold weather training. I've tried a bunch of things over the years.

Together

2010-01-11T09:03:00.001-07:00

Alone I can't make a friend
alone I can't play a game
alone I can't watch a movie
alone I can't drink champagne
alone

together we can make a friend
together we can play a game
together we can watch a movie
together we can drink champagne
together

Alone I can't climb a hill
alone I can't cross the sea
alone I can't have some fun
alone just me

Together we can climb a hill
together we can cross the sea
together we can have some fun
together you and me

- R. Scott Abbott

Chasing the rising sun

2010-01-08T09:34:00.001-07:00

The Meadows

2010-01-02T19:34:00.002-07:00

So long 2009

2009-12-31T22:43:00.003-07:00

A quick trip up to Days today with Reed. It was a beautiful day in the
neighborhood.

So long 2009.

Down Under

2009-12-30T20:36:00.001-07:00

Spent Monday and Tuesday riding in St. George with Greg and Brad, and hanging out with the family.

The weather was a bit 'fresh' as Bp would say (and overcast), but much better for riding than SLC right now. It was not particularly windy and no mud, so the riding really was pretty good. Greg knows the trails in that area quite well and we rode some great ones.

I've still yet to get a great picture out of this new camera, but I haven't looked at the instructions yet, either, so what can I expect?

It was really nice to have the kids and Kim along. We had fun swimming, and they did a little touring while we rode.

Cardiac Ridge

2009-12-26T17:27:00.003-07:00

Reed and I hit Cardiac this morning. We started walking shortly after daylight and walked for several hours before seeing anyone, despite the huge views. The planned route would have taken us almost to the peak of Superior and then down another canyon, but a combination of equipment, fatigue, and snow conditions got in the way and we ended up doing one nice run on Cardiac ridge and then heading for home.

As we hit the bottom of Cardiac, a guy on a snow machine motored up to us. "Hey! Did you see the no-trespassing signs?"

I had to admit that I did, but wasn't clear on what spots of property they were trying to protect, etc. After a few minutes conversation I gathered two things:

1) The guy had been involved in some confrontations with skiers in the past, which is unfortunately easy to imagine. Some back-country skiers can get a self-righteous attitude. Helicopters, snow machines, ski resorts, etc. etc. Even hilarious things like the path of a skin track, spacing your down-tracks too far apart, crossing other's down paths. A person on a machine would not have to be very aggressive to precipitate a fight with the wrong skier.

2) Pretty much the entire upper end of Mill D South is actually private property. This did surprise me. So many people ski there and it is so big and wild that it didn't really even occur to me someone might own it all.

I think it was a mistake for the government to sell all that land so long ago. I assume they sold it and didn't just give it away. Presumeably it was all for mining, maybe some ranching, and probably very few particuarly wanted it. Still, the fact is that someone did sell it, and we shouldn't just go and forcefully take it away now anymore than the government should be able to come and take away my house, my car, or anything else. The fact that it is a large group of people that wants something doesn't give them the right to just take it.

Corner Canyon has worked out well in this regard. The owners wanted to see it preserved, they knew approximately how much they could sell it for, and they sold it to Draper instead. It wasn't cheap, it would probably have been cheaper 20 years ago, but better late than never.

I also think that both the OHV and environmentalist crowds both need to be a bit more realistic.

On the one hand, OHV's really should have places to go, and in so far as they don't destroy where they are going, they should have some great places to go, not just the left-overs. There really should be some snow machines in the Wasatch. As far as I can tell, their environmental impact is small (except noise), and through permits limiting numbers on any given day and perhaps restrictions on riding in shallow snow, impact could be kept to a minimum.

OTOH, there are practical limits to how much acreage can be open to motors next door to a million person city. It would not be good for the mountains or the other users to have thousands of machines buzzing everywhere all the time. It is nice and I think proper to have areas that are quiet and peaceful most of the time. Some people claim the machines are quiet now days, but that is wishful thinking. Maybe someone makes quiet ones, but most of them that I see are not quiet. Salt Lake used to be a small town, and there were lots of dirt roads and areas to go off-road. It was nice, but not sustainable with more people. As the population increases many areas and roads will have to be closed.

Environmentalists need to back off or modify the wilderness efforts. The current interpretation of the 'wilderness' designation is so strict that it really amounts to a small group of users dictating the use of wild lands according to their own arbitrary desires. The policies are inconsistant, which is evidenced by the current stand on horses, grazing, row-boats, bicycles, skis, etc. It is not even based on environmental impact or preservation, which would be a fine standard. The policy of the government with respect to public lands should always be to allow as many activities and types of use as is environmentally tolerable. Some areas will get too crowded. In these cases lotteries and permits work fine, but they should be numbers based, not activity based.

It is too bad that both sides have become so radicalized and vicious. The unreasonably polarized positions have and will continue to lead to unnecessary user conflicts. More coherent policies would not elimate them, but it would help and at least then the policies could be justified.

Anyhow, here is a little video from today:

Lifestyle

2009-12-24T16:17:00.001-07:00

Willows

2009-12-19T15:01:00.004-07:00

A nice morning in the Wasatch with Dave, Dan, John and his dad, and (um, forgot his name). Reed was going to come, but was too tired after a big night on the town.

The trees look different than they did not so long ago.

Butler Bailout

2009-12-14T20:30:00.003-07:00

Reed and I went skiing this morning. The avy report yesterday sounded pessimistic, so we chose Butler Fork, knowing that it is generally pretty safe.

The first trip of the season always involves a little extra fussing around with gear, etc. and this was no exception.

The parking area had not been plowed, and the snow was deep enough that we had to shovel out a spot to park with our avy shovels. It did not take too long, and we finally started hiking about 6:20, but then had to return to the car a few minutes later when Reed realized he had forgotten his shovel handle after the dig.

From there things went smoothly for about 45 minutes of climbing through 3 foot deep unconsolidated snow, but then the snow pack started getting sketchy. Step, step, whoomph. Step, step, whoomph. I ignored it for a couple minutes because it was pretty low angle, but the whoomphs got bigger and I started hearing echos propagating through the snow.

Finally a big one, and I said, "Reed, I hate to say this, but I think we should turn around."

"You think it is that bad?" he asked.

"Yes."

Then he says, "After that last step I saw the whole slope below us move."

So we de-skinned and skied back to the car.

Ah well. A nice hike and finally a start to the ski season.

Anabolics anoymous

2009-12-03T20:34:00.001-07:00

People cheat to win the MTB world championships.
People cheat to win the world road championships, and Tour DeFrance.

OK. But this?

http://velonews.com/article/100236/williams-accepts-suspension

He cheated for a Masters race? Hope it was worth it.

Twofer

2009-11-14T18:56:00.002-07:00

Waddya Know?

Velodrome

2009-11-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

Another Reason Draper is Cool:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/utah-takes-a-step-closer-toward-a-velodrome

Cyclocross: Weber Fairgrounds

2009-11-08T17:16:00.004-07:00

Yep, two weeks of cyclocross under my belt now. I ran my tires too low yesterday, which is why my front wheel washed out as my tire rolled and I crashed. After that I kept it straighter on the landing and everything went fine. I felt better than last week.

I'm slow as a turtle, dangling off the back of the Master's A group, getting lapped by the front of the Elite A's, but at least I'm racing again. At this point my goal is to have fun, build a little punch into my legs, and heal up for next year's MTB races. So far so good.

The family likes watching the CX races too: more spectator friendly than most cycling races for sure.

Trail Work

2009-10-27T20:12:00.003-06:00

Finally got out for some trail work Saturday morning. The new Corner Canyon downhill trail is coming along. We spent most of the time opening up a corner that was quite sharp before, and adding a big berm.

I'd guess we spent about 10 man hours altering that one corner. Keeping in mind the entire descent from the top of Clarks down to the bottom of Clarks can take 10 to 15 minutes on the new trail, there are a lot of turns still to be worked on... I bet that trail will still be there 20 years from now.

After the trail work I watched some CX action and enjoyed the Revolution BBQ. The A groups 'warmed up' in some heavy rain, which is very CX'y, but still cold. I keep telling myself not to race until the shoulder is strong enough to sustain a crash, but it is pretty tempting...

Tonight was an 8 mile run in the snow. The clouds separated for a while and it was a beautiful evening.

Lanceville 100, the Fuel and the Flash

2009-10-23T20:50:00.006-06:00

Last night was the premier opening and final curtain for "Race Across the Sky", a documentary recounting the 2009 Leadville 100, (which I've mentioned before).

The movie was probably more 'exciting' than the actual race, what with the booming music and all, but I guarantee the movie was a lot less painful. Armstrong seemed to be racing the clock more than against Wiens, but Lance didn't get his 6 hour wish, instead hammering for closer to 6 1/2 hours. The slower riders were treated to rain, hail, a lot more time on the course, and all at above 10k feet in altitude.

Lance got a flat about 6 or 7 miles from the finish on his Trek Top Fuel, and rather than fix it rode in on the flat. I demo'ed the Top Fuel at Interbike. It was easily one of my favorite bikes...ever. I always figured the concentric pivot/rear axle thing was basically a gimmick, but it really works.

I rode the Fuel shortly after the Cannondale Flash, a full-carbon hardtail. It look like Tinker rode the Flash at Leadville. The lightest Flash is very very light, the one I rode was only very light, and still very quick. The handling was almost exactly the same as the Scalpel, but of course no rear suspension.

It was fun to ride these two back to back because it highlighted what I think is a philosophy difference between Trek and Cannondale. Cannondale likes their head-angles steep and steering almost twitchy (at least on the race bikes). Trek likes the angles a little mellower -- more work through quickly winding singletrack, but more stable.

I think there are some myths around MTBs and head angle. At lot of people think steeper head angles are better for switchbacks, but I have not found this to be the case. In fact, I don't even think a long-wheel base is a problem in switchbacks. Even my 29ers all do switchbacks fine. Most people assume steep head angle is important for racing. Again, at least in the west, I don't find this to matter at all. Instead, I think the steeper angles are nice for what in skiing would be edge-to-edge transitions.

Flick, flick, flick ... yep, that feels good on the Cannondale.

Turn down some steep, rocky terrain at high speed...ooooh where is that Trek? On the whole I'm kind of a masher downhiller and like the Trek - to each his own.

Anyway, I got diverted there. Lance's flat. Well, I had the 'opportunity' to change the rear tire on the Fuel, twice. It is kind of a hassle and took me a few minutes to figure out the first time. Because of the rear pivot system the rear skewer has to come all the way off and then the wheel slides out kind of funny. In the end I guess it works, but I can see why Lance was hesitating. I still think it would have been faster to just change the thing. Maybe he could have carried one of these.

The DVD of the movie is $20.00, and seems worth it for trainer-bound riders. Some might feel jipped, feeling like they payed $20.00 for a really long (but enjoyable) commercial for the Leadville 100. I'll buy it. The race will probably not be on my calendar next year either since after watching the movie there will certainly be like 30,000 people trying to sign up and only a few thousand get in. It is the new dirt LOTOJA.

The movie also featured Matt Shriver, who grew up in Idaho. He and his brother Zack were about the same ages as two of my younger brothers, so they all raced together as teenagers. The last time I'd seen him he was probably 13.

Alex posted 4th in the race and I wish they would have covered him more, but there were a few good shots.

Cameos by Ed Chauner, Chris Holley, a few other locals.

Fun night.

Interbike

2009-09-27T20:42:00.003-06:00

So, back in the day (something like 1990, so my memory may be a little fuzzy on the details), Don Myrah was one of the fastest guys in the neighborhood. He was riding a Ritchey P23 (I think 23 stood for 23 lbs, which was for a fully rigid, and people said it was a one-season frame because it was so light), but then signed on with Campy for their new MTB grouppo and Yeti to ride their new super-duper frameset. He rode a few races on the Yeti, but he didn't like it, wasn't finishing well, and couldn't get Yeti to build him a ride with the same geometry as the P23.

Soon he showed up at a national race on a disguised P23 he bought with his own money at a local shop, spray painted some plain color, and slapped on a bunch of Campy decals, then proceeded to win the race. All this around the time that Julie Furtado and John Tomac were coming to reign on the Yetis.

Moral of the story? Bikes can be a little like shoes -- they don't fit everyone the same. Which is part of what makes Demo Days at Interbike so much fun. Fantastically fun.

Bp, Greg, and I rode quite a few bikes in two days. I'll try to write about some of them over the next week or so, but keep in mind my opening story - your mileage may vary.

BTW, I rode a Yeti 575, and wow, it was a fun bike!

Friel's Five Requirements for Success

2009-09-26T21:29:00.002-06:00

Nothing new, really, but I thought these were worth thinking about. His full blog post is available here.

Friel's Five Predictors of Success:

Motiviation
Discipline
Confidence
Focus
Patience

Leaded Lance

2009-08-19T21:42:00.003-06:00

So Lance won Leadville this year. Everyone says it is "good for the sport", but I don't know. Now I've never ridden it, so take what I'm about to say with a huge grain of salt, but somehow the Leadville course just doesn't inspire me as an MTB rider the way some of the other courses do. Several years ago Lance did a Norba national after one of his TDF wins, and he did not win that race. In fact I think he crashed 3 times. And that is how it should be.

On some of the MTB courses this year, Burke Swindlehurst raced but did not just roll out and completely crush us, presumably because his off-roading skills were a little rusty and he didn't want to risk an injury. Throw Lance to the PCPP or some other single-track heavy course and then everyone can see mountain biking at its best -- adventure, skill, challenge, and like Leadville, endurance. More than just road racing on dirt roads. Don't get me wrong - I'm guessing Lance is fast pretty much everywhere. It is just that Leadville got a huge shot of performance enhancing something when guys like Lance and Landis started showing up. May as well pump the sport on terrain that will get people thinking "Cool."

I will admit it doesn't seem like many people who actually do the race think it is boring, so maybe I should just keep quiet till I try it.

Critical

2009-08-11T20:18:00.002-06:00

Ahhhhh...now motorists will respect us and want to be more careful around bikes. Maybe they could find some other cause to discredit.

Finally visited an orthopedic specialist today about my deer shoulder. Turned out the viewing angle of the instacare x-ray was not too good and new x-rays revealed an obvious separation: hence the big bump on my shoulder (as a side-note, the servo controlled, multi-axis x-ray machine was really cool).

She (the Doc) tells me the bump will never go away and the separation will always be there (the bad news), but the shoulder will return to full strength and functionality relatively quickly. Additionally, I'm good to ride as long as it does not hurt too much.

Couple of Red-Heads

2009-08-07T21:03:00.001-06:00

Another reason why

2009-08-03T20:57:00.000-06:00

"There's a feeling that you can only get from racing and finishing -- the feeling of pushing yourself beyond what you're capable of doing in training. It's about achieving the ultimate physical accomplishment -- and you can't feel that on the sidelines."

-- Ned Overend

2009-08-02T18:28:00.002-06:00

Oh what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?

Do you fish in the stream, or lazily dream on the banks as the clouds go by?

Is that what you do? So do I!

Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?

Do you swim in a pool, to keep yourself cool, or swing in a tree up high?

Is that what you do? So do I!

Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?

Do you march in parades, or drink lemonades, or count all the stars in the sky?

Is that what you do? So do I!

It was a fun vacation. I was not feeling strong at the Jackson race. Chad, Brandon, and I got off-course once, and then I crashed a few minutes later, but I finished the race and had fun.

We drove back from Jackson via Bear Lake and enjoyed the beautiful drive.

Apparently, the cycling demons did not want me at the canyons for the last ICUP race.

The kids got sick one at a time while we were on vacation. By last Sunday, was feeling the illness, and was sick Mon to Wed, but not too bad, hoping to mend by Sat.

By Thursday I was feeling pretty good and did an easy MTB ride. Friday AM I was feeling peppy and thought I would be primed for the last ICUP race, but the deer collision fixed that for me. I went in to the instacare doc after work Friday, and she suggested I have a separated shoulder and will need PT, but I need to set up with a specialist and find out for sure.

Some people have asked how the deer is...I did not chase it into the hills to find out. Sorry.

Congratulations to all the series champions and thanks to Ed for another well-run year on the Intermountain Cup.

Deer Me

2009-07-31T06:56:00.001-06:00

Deer Cannondale:

I was just Riding Along, when suddenly...lifetime warranty, right?

I think the Canyons race is off for me tomorrow :(

Solitude State Championship

2009-07-19T18:43:00.002-06:00

Solitude is officially the State Championship. In fact, it is officially the State Championship every year. Curiously, it also seems to conflict with the National Championship each year, which means some of the fast guys are usually not there (Alex).

Still, with lots of singletrack high in the mountains, it is an appealing course, and the 6400 feet of rocky, loose elevation change makes it a tough course that yields little recovery on the descents (which are some of my favorites of the year, BTW). Indeed, a few years ago, one of my brothers was reduced to feeding on dandelions in the middle of the race.

Occurring in July, the weather is usually hot, and yesterday was no exception. This has been a strange year considering this was our first hot weather ICUP race of the year and we only have 2 races left!

Anyhow, the race started with a mad dash for the singletrack. I'm not sure how the whole sprint thing worked out because I just let them go for it, and it did not matter at all. As we single-filed up the first half of the singletrack climb, whoever was leading the main group rode a pace that was pretty easy, so when we hit the paved climb the legs were charged and it was time to go. I passed the group (including Bart who was obviously sick or something) and moved in to 4th, some distance behind Holley, then Greg G, then David W.

I had nearly caught Holley as we crested the top for lap 1, but then he gapped me on the descent. Usually descending is a strength, but I had not pre-ridden the course, and I made several significant errors on the first lap that cost me some time. Then Chris broke his chain and I passed him well before he was done fixing it. That put me into 3rd place, and there I sat for the rest of the race. I never saw anyone behind me again, and although I saw them on the 2nd lap climb, I never caught DW or GG. My 4th lap was pretty tough as I was exhausted and cramping, loosing lots of time, but it turned out the gap was big enough.

Another nice day in the Wasatch.

Idaho Continental Divide

2009-07-15T18:43:00.000-06:00

Snowbird was one of those days that just doesn't go right. Busy with work, I have not been training much, and somehow that takes the mental edge off for me. I started fine, but just could not muster any real interest in the whole thing. Ned did not show up -- guess he was scared off by the rain, although, the rain actually made the riding pretty nice. The trail was good and, while cool, it was not cold.

End of the second lap I caught Reed Wycoff who had passed me along with almost everyone else late in the 1st lap, and we chatted a bit. I finally said, "Well, see ya." and pulled off. A minute later he came rolling back down, also calling it quits for the day.

Last week I spent the 4th in Island Park, ID. My grandad built a cabin there 30 years ago, and my parent now own it. I did an interesting ride from the cabin on the Continental Divide. Looking at the map (which would have benefited from more detail), I thought it would take 2-3 hours, but it actually took 6. I did get lost, which added over an hour, but most of the added time was due to bumpy, slow riding. The trail was well planned, but apparently sees almost no use. I saw absolutely no one for the middle five hours of the ride, and would guess I was the first bike and likely the first person to do the route this year.

People in Idaho have fond feelings for those of us who live to the south.

Where I grew up, Idaho is largely dry and flat. The blue sky wraps itself around you in a way that I just did not appreciate until I moved away. It is always nice going back.

My Lap with "The Man"

2009-07-10T19:10:00.000-06:00

OK, admit it, from the title, you think this is a post about Armstrong.

Well, it is not. I drove up to Snowbird tonight to ride the new course before racing tomorrow. Ran into Tim H and rode two laps with him, regularly stopping to let riders on Specialized bikes come by, who were riding the other way.

Apparently Specialized has a large employee gathering going on up there, and who should ride by, but Deadly Nedly himself. He was riding a 29er Epic, so I asked him about the bike, and we chatted about the SRAM XX and 29er stuff as we rode the rest of the lap. He was probably annoyed that he didn't just get to ride off in peace, but he pretended not to mind.

I asked him if he is racing tomorrow, and he said, "thinking about it", so anyone like me who still watches their 1990 World Championship video occationally might get a chance to get smoked by a 50 year old and wonder what racing against him was like 20 years ago.

Mr. Adam's Wild Ride

2009-07-08T21:23:00.002-06:00

I actually wrote the rest of this post over a week ago, but I've been very busy at work and have not had time to edit the photos, or even ride. At this point I'm giving up and that and just posting. Sorry...

Yesterday was the day for the 3rd annual Grizzly Adam Epic, aka the Wasatch Classic.

The route, layed out by Adam Lisonbee, is a tour of the Wasatch intended to link several of the best trails and views of the greatest scenery between Park City and Salt Lake City.

Like the real Grizzly Adams, EpicAdam has chosen a wild animal for his best friend, and no one successfully tamed this beast in 2007 or 2008. Personally, I became aware of the route last year when Reed started, but did not finish after several wrong turns and a long, tiring day.

So this year Reed was determined to finish, and he showed up 'loaded for bear', as they say.

Reed started committed, I did not. About last week Reed mentioned the epic was this week and we decided then to do it, but I've had a couple long, tiring weeks at work and by Wednesday I didn't think I'd be up to a huge ride. So I told Reed I wouldn't go, and figured if I felt like it I'd just show up. I have a history of doing these things after telling myself I won't, and sure enough Friday night at midnight I was scanning the GPS files Adam had posted and decided to get up at 4:30 and see how I felt: Thanks to Adam and his digital liahona files!

So at 6 AM I was in Midway and ready to go, enjoying the beautiful dawn light and a patchy mist that I somehow failed to capture with a camera.

The rain of the past day or two left things noticably damp as we climbed over to and then out of Cascade Springs, but it was nice because it kept the dust down.

As we climbed away from Cascade Springs, we passed a large group (probably more than 200 people) of 'trekkers' (not trekkies, though I guess they might be, but most of them were pretty young for that). For those who aren't familiar with this tradition, the LDS church sometimes takes youth groups to remote places where they participate in authenic reenactments of the pioneer treks of the Mormon pioneers, complete with handcarts, bonnets, hats, and goretex parkas. They experience some of the trials, tribulations, and rewards of walking from Iowa City to Salt Lake City. The original Mormons were walking to Zion to settle the west. The modern ones aren't really walking anywhere to do anything particular, but as I mentioned in a previous post, daily life is really more about process than destination. This tradition started after I had outgrown youth groups, but I guess anyone on a 14 hour bike ride that just goes in a big circle will find it easy to understand why someone would find camping and hiking with a focused spiritual purpose to be an inspirational experience.

Once past the soon to be hajji we proceeded up to the Ant Knolls trail. To this point the trails were moist, tacky and not muddy, but as we followed the ridge across things started getting muddy. The descent to Tibble Fork Reservoir would normally be a highlight downhill for the route, but this time it was a mud-bog. By the time we reached the reservoir the bikes were not working very well, so we stopped and washed them off at the lake.

The bike wash seemed like a good idea, but now I'm not so sure. As we climbed the road towards Catherine's the chains dried out and chain-suck became a real problem (should have brought lube!). For a few miles of the climb I was mostly walking because every couple strokes the chain would jam. It looked like I was going to have to bail out and go home, but we were close to where we would have to walk anyway, so I just kept walking. I really did want to reach Catherine's. Eventually, I sprayed my chain off with my water bottle, and the chainsuck mostly went away, but we were quickly into the snow at that point and the riding was done for a while.

To gain the pass at Catherines, we pushed the bikes up steep, wet snow for a long time. At least an hour, probably more like two. In one of life's small inconsistancies, The sticky wet snow would jam the rear wheel, which would skid along as we pushed, but the snow was slippery underfoot. The bikes weighed an extra 10 lbs. and the arms and back were burning as we pushed.

The upside to all this was the time we had to appreciate the Wasatch. With mountains so close to home, it is easy to forget the Wasatch are real, amazing mountains.

From the top of the pass we were still in snow, but descending through snow was pretty easy and other than a little route-wandering, that went fine. Soon we were riding again, quickly reaching the Brighton store at about hour 9.

The Brighton store didn't have any Triflow, 3 in 1, or even WD40, so we settled for a quart of Pennzoil 10W30 to desuckify the chains. Wow, it was like a new bike after that. It took about 20 minutes to get the bikes lubed, food purchased, and calls to home to let everyone know we were doing fine, and then were were off for puke hill. After cooling off at the store, puke hill took some warming into, but the single-track from there all the way around back to the bottom of the Thayne's climb in Park City Resort was 20 miles of wonder. The trails were perfect and I felt great.

Reed was getting pretty tired by this time, but a quick break for gummy worms half way up Thaynes brought the generator back on line and soon we had motored to the top, down to the road, and up to the top of Guardsman's pass, with nothing but a long downhill to go.

Usually riding down a dirt road would not sound like much fun, but Guardsmans was a blast. 4000 feet of high-speed vertical back to the car. Adam really finished the route off right.

Just a photo

2009-06-28T21:04:00.007-06:00

Yesterday was the Wasatch Classic. It was awesome, but it'll take a bit to put the post together. Hopefully sometime this week...

Deer Valley

2009-06-14T16:47:00.001-06:00

We stood around a long time waiting for the Deer Valley start that was delayed by a finishing 12 and under racer yesterday. When we started we were cold. In fact, I was shivering on the start line.

So maybe it was the cold, but I had a really slow first lap. I looked back from the top of the first climb and could see no one behind me as everyone was in front (there were about 20 pros, but perhaps a couple must have started super slow back there). My descending was bad too: timid partly because of ultra slick mud spots and one never knew if a spot was waiting right behind a blind corner. I was on my hardtail 29er, and the Stans Crow tires on it are very light in both mass and tread.

Anyhow, we hit the second lap and I started to warm up and the course had dryed a bit and the mud spots were gone. I had great second and third laps, catching and passing all the way up to KDay who was in 4th. Starting the last lap I thought I'd pass him too, but he was stronger by that point. Somewhere on the lap Welsh, who had been trying to drop Bart, started falling back and Holley and KDay passed him. I pushed hard, but never got him, so I finished in 5th, in sight of 3rd.

Some people felt it was crazy for Welsh to attack Bart and suggested he foolishly threw his race away. I think it is awesome, laying it all out there to see what he can do.

Front Wheels

2009-06-07T20:01:00.001-06:00

There are several bicycle parts that are very important on a bike, but the front wheel/tire is among the most important that are prone to failure.

I was reminded of this on Friday as I was riding in to work. It was early, enough light to ride without headlights but still dark enough to keep the safety lights on. As I headed up the hill on Wasatch that climbs from Draper onto the bench, I saw a rider in a full Canyon kit laying face down in the downhill lane of the road. There was a car stopped, and another rider on his cell phone calling 911.

The rider, about 55 or 60 years old, had been descending Wasatch (what would normally be right around 50 MPH for me on that hill) and crashed, going face down. He was unconscious, and remained so for probably 5 minutes. There was blood literally running down the road. It took about 10 minutes for the paramedics to arrive, and in the meantime he regained some consciousness, although he was wonky. Eventually he started responding to his name, but he could not understand why he was in pain or that he should not get up and move around.

When I first stopped, one of the two thought it was a speed wobble, which surprised me because I've never heard of anyone actually crashing from a wobble (although they are very scary). Then the other guy said he had heard a bang. I looked at his front tire and there were two shredded cuts in the sidewall right above the bead. One was right above where the rim had been scraped raw by the asphalt, obviously right after it went flat, and not what caused the blow out.

The other cut was what I guess caused the accident. At the time I thought it strange that a side wall would go like that since the tire did not look worn out, but in thinking about it since I believe his brake pad rubbed through the side wall: either the wheel was in crooked or the rim was out of round. He was probably braking as he coasted down, and when the side wall finally tore through of course the tube exploded. I wish I would have thought to check that when we were standing there.

Anyway, I left when the paramedics arrived and do not know what the final prognosis for him was. Hopefully he will be OK, but I think the recovery is going to be arduous.

A few minutes later I happened upon another rider who had a flat and he could not get it fixed. I have a policy of always giving a tube and/or C02 to anyone who needs it because years ago I double flatted above Squaw Peak and was walking the long walk home when a guy gave me a tube. He told me his name (it was Willy Holdeman or something like that) and I was supposed to send him a new one, but I forgot until much later, and then I could not find his address or phone number.

So anyway, now I soothe my conscience and we threw my extra tube and C02 at it, and he was up and running again in no time (he actually insisted on paying for my stuff there on the spot, so my conscience is no longer soothed). Then a few minutes later, another guy with a flat! Fortunately, he did not need my help, which was lucky because I could not help if he did (since I was now riding without a tube or gas).

Most rides to work are not this eventful!

Seriously though, I hope the guy that crashed is OK and all that blood was just a split forehead or something. It is a solemn reminder to pay attention to the front wheel, tire, QR, etc. because a failure up front almost never has a happy ending.

Sundazed

2009-05-30T21:29:00.001-06:00

Today was the Intermountain Cup Sundance race. I never wrote about the Corner Canyon race held on Memorial Day (Monday) because I did not race it, but in some ways I guess it sets the setting for today.

So I was pretty sick last weekend and Sunday I was convinced I would not race on Monday, but the kids wanted to race, so we went over to watch the kids race. Hanging out with everyone made me feel like racing, so I registered, but then I warmed up and realized I still was not better.

Since it had been raining all night, Ed shortened the course to skip all the upper sections which had more mud, and then postponed the start till 12:30 to let things dry out. Kim took advantage of the delay to see if they would let me use my race entry at Sundance, which they did, so I rode home.

As I rode home, the conditions were perfect so every downhill I would start thinking, "hey, I should be racing", but then as soon as I hit a climb it was back to reality.

The rest of week has been kind of like that. Going easy feels OK, but as soon as I accelerate, "Um, where is my acceleration? Oh, I feel tired." Still, it has been a little better every day and I managed a not too bad 5 minute interval yesterday.

With that long introduction, today just did not go right. The kids race was at 8 am, which meant leaving the house about 6:30. It did not seem worth waking the kids at 6, so we decided to skip it. This meant when we did finally leave, we had about the right amount of time to get there and get ready.

As we passed Lehi, I realized I did not have my bike! Dumb. I had loaded all the kids bikes up and forgotten mine. So we turned around, got my bike, and back south again.

We did hit the race on time, and I felt pretty good warming up. The fastest guys were all racing in Ohio, so I felt I had a good opportunity for a top five, maybe even top three.

Most of us climbed in a big group up the bulk of the first climb. The pace was pretty easy and I felt good, but then we got past the leader of our group and accelerated. At that point it became clear I was not going to be fast. Hollow stomach, empty legs, and oh there everyone goes. It never got any better.

At the end of the first lap I was still in this group, led by Burke Swindlehurst.

After that I lost contact and raced by myself in between the front and back halves of the field, never feeling very good.

Remnant of the illness? Not enough breakfast? Poor training? Hard to tell what the problem was today. I thought I was over the virus, so rather than claiming any particular excuse, I am just writing today off as a bad day for whatever reason and working for better speed next time.

So today ended with a disappointing ride, but the weather and the course were great and it was fun to hang out with everyone.

Tooele Tri

2009-05-24T15:09:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I rode the trails as the sun came up and then took the family out to Stansbury Park near Tooele for a Triathlon. Kim competed while I and the kids did a little fishing (unsuccessfully), spectating, and the kids did some riding.

Kim ran the Olympic distance, and felt like about a 5 out of 10, not lousy, but not great, either.

Some of the ICup MTB racers would have recognized one of the young women in the race: Erin Collins (and she did quite well, finishing 3rd overall). Apparently She has been out of state racing on scholarship for Lindsey Wilson College recently.

Erin is sponsored by Fezzari Bicycles, a new direct to consumer bike company operating out of Utah Valley. She had her HT MTB, her boyfriend's six inch bike, and of course her tri bike on display under a Fezzari tent. The bike models are all named after local landmarks like Nebo, Solitude, etc. Her XTR hardtail is all carbon and looks great, but it still weighs more than my Scalpel, which is a bit uninspiring. Must be the wheels, tires, etc. I notice the HT doesn't seem to be on their website, but they do not appear to be targeting the race MTB crowd anyway, instead offering good value bikes.

On a personal note, I've been coping with more allergy problems recently and it hasn't been a good training week, other than a solid 4.5 hour MTB ride Wednesday night. The congestion has led to a respiratory virus with a sore throat, achy muscles, and an ear ache. I'm looking forward to a decrease in the pollens!

The Draper race in scheduled for tomorrow. If it isn't raining we'll be there, at least for the kids race, and I'll race if I'm feeling significantly better. Here's hoping...

The Battle In Soldier Hollow

2009-05-17T22:42:00.002-06:00

I guess after 5 mile, Mother Nature felt sorry for us, because as with last week, yesterday's racers at Soldier Hollow enjoyed great course conditions and perfect weather. The pros did 3 full laps plus a 12 and under lap that I'll just call a half lap. The profile of the course is basically a short climb, shorter descent, short climb, shorter descent, long climb, long descent, then some rollers at the bottom with a steep grunter right before the finish. When riding the course, it pretty much feels like a long climb, long descent followed by the rolling bottom section.

Scott, Ian and I drove over and did the race while Kim did a triathlon.

We wanted to pick up some sodas for the team to drink after the race, so we rushed through Harmons and made it just in time for the kids to race. Scott and Ian both had fine races, Scott pushing himself hard enough to feel sick afterwards.

There was not much time to get ready and warm up after the kids' race, but it worked out fine. I felt good in the warmup and was excited to get started.

I think I started better this week than last week. BZ, Chad and I had a good race for the first lap. Holly was also right in there on his fully rigid singlespeed, but he was going faster than us and we all steadily lost time on him.

At the top of the first lap I was close behind BZ with a small gap on Chad, but then I crashed on the descent. Chad caught up and BZ pulled on ahead. We caught BZ back and then passed him early in the climb of the second lap, and then Chad and I pushed each other all the way up the second lap climb. At the top Chad was gracious enough to let me by so I could lead the descent. This time I didn't crash, and again had a gap on Chad by the end of the second lap. His pushing on the climb brought us a second lap time that was as fast as our first lap.

On the third and then the last 1/2 lap I was quite tired and riding alone, and my fading lap time was a little disappointing. At the bottom of the DH, I realized I had been day dreaming down the entire descent. I think my energy was a bit low. Anyhow, I rode the final half lap without a clear indication of where all the other pro riders were because the half lap dropped us back into the expert groups and it was hard to tell who was expert and who was pro if the riders were more than a few seconds away. So this meant I just had to keep pushing and hope for the best. As I hit the steep grunt before the finish I was behind someone that turned out to have not done his half lap yet, but I didn't know that yet, so I tried to race him over it and OUCH that hurt, but then it was over and I'd had a great race, finishing in 7th and really tired.

Same placing as last week, but I felt like I rode better most of the race. Alex won again, followed by Burke, then Bart. David Welsh finished 4th, ahead of Mitchell P, then Chris, with Chad next behind me.

After the race I called Kim and got the scoop on her Tri. Unfortunately, she flatted during the bike. She did get it changed and finished the race, but I think she lost over 10 minutes doing the change, and that is a lot of time in a sprint. In fact, a lot of people just drop out if they flat in a sprint, but Kim finished it out and had a great time.

After our races, we treated about 12 little girls to a birthday party for Heidi at the GymCats gymnastics gym.

Really a fun day.

Joy Riding

2009-05-12T20:31:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was nearly perfect weather and ideal course conditions for riding the Joyride at Sherwood Hills. Temperatures were low to mid 60s and the course was neither muddy nor dusty.

We had a good pro line, with 17 or 18 riders, including full time road pro Burke Swindlehurst. I was not sure what would happen there. Would he destroy us all? As it turned out, he had some derailleur trouble a couple minutes in that cost him a few seconds. After that, I did not see him again, but he was not riding off the front. Instead, it was Alex who was OTF, followed by Bart and then Burke. The narrow, windy single-track was probably a tough course for someone who does so little MTB racing, but I think Alex and Bart are significantly stronger than in past years. Anyway, fun to line up against guys like Bishop and Swindlehurst this year, even if I don't have a chance of actually beating them.

I felt pretty good but got passed by several guys in the first two laps. A bit of a slow starter as always, I negative split my first 3 laps.

Ty was the last guy to pass me, and I followed him nearly the entire 3rd lap, which turned out to be my fastest and most enjoyable of the day. Ty and I were fast in different sections of the course, so the back and forth racing was fun.

After lap 3, people started tiring and I started passing. I don't remember the exact order, but Ty, Reed Wycoff, Jonny Hintze, Cary Smith.

As I started onto the fifth and last lap I could see Chad Harris perhaps 20 seconds ahead. I caught him and it took a few minutes to get by, but after passing I was able to open a little time. I caught Brandon Firth about a minute from the finish. He was cramping and going slow, but when I caught him he took off and sprinted away, leaving me about 5 or 10 seconds behind him. BZ had a great race and, finishing 30 seconds ahead of Brandon and I, he came in 5th. I felt good about my race and finished happy.

Before the race, Scott did a "Mathathlon". He got a perfect score and won a IPod for his efforts. I've never won anything that cool in a bike race!

Wooden and Success

2009-05-08T21:10:00.002-06:00

John Wooden was a UCLA basketball coach. I don't follow BB, but I understand he was very successful as a coach (he must of been since even I've heard of him).

At one point he quotes Cervantes as saying "The Journey is Better than the End". I don't know if this is from Don Quixote, but it would fit.

I've been reminded of this in cycling a few times over the years. The first time was years ago when I hired a coach for a few months, rode a lot of aggressive intervals, and quickly found myself completely fried. I didn't fare well in St. George where the weather was bad, flatted at Five Mile, and then proceeded to get whooped on at Soldier Hollow. After the Hollow I was pretty upset, feeling like I'd wasted months of effort and money. I vowed that day if I wasn't enjoying both the training and the racing, it wasn't worth it and I'd change my ways or quit. So I changed my attitude.

The second time was after I'd won my first expert race, which was at Joyride. When it was over, it was just over. It was kind of like in "Downhill Racer" when David wins the gold medal and someone asks him, "What will you do now?" and his response is, "I don't know". At Joyride I had won and I realized no one else cared much, and I was surprised to find I didn't care that much either.

Which brings me to my second quote from Wooden, which is "Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

During a ski trip in February in the Sawtooths (that I never got around to blogging about), one of the guys and I had a conversation that I have thought about many times since. He described how he and his wife were growing apart from each other, both busy chasing their individual dreams. He and his wife finally decided to slow their lives down, he quit bike racing and "re-learned that his personal value didn't depend on how quickly he could ride up Little Cottonwood", and they spent more time together. It was clear that they had rediscovered life in the summer that followed.

I've learned over the years is that nothing is worth sacrificing your family for, especially not bike racing. To have a family of 4 kids (in my case) and race, and take my career seriously, I've had to learn to balance the competing demands, and find ways to include my family in all areas of my life. Bp is, in my view, especially good at this. For me, our tandem bike was a small example of this, but the reality is that every day in the minutes between work, training, and church is when I do or don't make 'things' work, and so far I've been fortunate to find it all working most of the time, largely owing to the largess of others.

The last lesson I've learned is that when things are bad at work, things are bad on the bike. There are days when I resent every minute on the bike because I have things I need to get done at work. It isn't fair to my company or my employees when I'm not giving a full effort, which for me means full-engagement when I'm working.

I could write more about exactly how I've personally balanced these things in my life, but perhaps it is unique to every person and circumstance. My real point is, coming back to Wooden's definition of success, becoming the best you can become means bringing all the areas of life along together and integrating them so that sport, family, spirituality, personal development and business all complement each other day by day, or at least week by week, in a synergistic way.

As an End, this balance is ever elusive: as soon as I find it, it slips away. As a Journey, it's been a great and rewarding one.

Five Mile: Not

2009-05-06T21:57:00.001-06:00

I know racing in the mud is supposed to be mountain bikey and all, but in Utah we are spoiled with sunshine most of the year. I am not fast enough to care about the series, and not all that excited about spending a bunch of time cleaning and rebuilding the bike after a muddy race.

So I drove out to 5 mile, hung out for a while, and then came home and rode the trainer.

Some of the others did race, but less than half the usual time or distance. I am glad those who wanted to race in the rain had fun, but I am also glad I did not race.

Non-cycling Advice Part II

2009-04-30T21:52:00.001-06:00

For those who, like me, "would not have guessed this to be non-obvious" when reading yesterday's entry, I have new important words of advice.

Should your vehicle randomly find itself in a similar predicament, do not under any circumstances allow your story to find its way into your blog and leave the #$%! camera behind.

Take my word on this one - it will be better this way.

Non-cycling Advice

2009-04-29T19:58:00.002-06:00

As far as I know, pretty much everyone who reads my blog has the same last name as I do.

Should anyone else chance upon it and read this post, let me just say that I grew up in a technical family. My sister is somewhat less interested in machines, but unfortunately she was very little when I left home, and otherwise, my Dad has an MS in Mechanical Engineering (as do I), my mom earned her degree in Business Programming (basically Computer Science), two of my brothers have a PhD and an MS respectively in Computer Science, and my other brother is a dentist who thinks Linux is a hobby.

Anyhow, with this as a background, I would just like to pass on a little advice that may apparently serve as a useful pointer to some people. I would not previously have guessed this to be non-obvious, owing to my deficient background as explained in paragraph prior.

It is this: if you are driving down the road and feel the steering getting all sloppy and wobbly, this is a clue - it is time to pull over and STOP DRIVING. I'm not talking about driving home and pulling over, I mean right away. Should you fail to do so, you will still not make it home. If you are unlucky, you may crash (as we all remember, especially if you are in a Ford Explorer). Even if you are lucky, this will happen:

A patch will likely not fix this.

White Rim

2009-04-27T07:11:00.003-06:00

I've been planning to ride the White Rim trail for about 16 years. In 1993, shortly after returning from Japan, a friend of mine mentioned she had ridden it over a 3 day period as part of an outdoors leadership class. When she described it at the time, I thought it sounded barely possible as a one-day trip, and I had never heard of anyone doing it. The web was just taking off and there were very few cycling related sites, and I was not in the cycling community at all, so I did not know what was popular, etc.

For the uninitiated, the White Rim is a jeep road in Canyonlands National Park that winds around the Island in the Sky. The round-trip loop is just over 100 miles, with a few miles of pavement outside the park entrance.

Since that time in 1993, I have come to realize that White Rim In A Day for mountain bikers is kind of like LOTOJA for casual roadies - people seem to think that if you are serious you must have done it, as if it is some kind of holy grail of the sport, but somehow I have managed to miss out on doing it for all these years. Finally this year Reed decided he really wanted to do it, and Adam planned an unorganized, unsupported ride (people are calling it the RAWROD, why you can guess for yourself), and I guess my chance had come.

Reed and I drove down Friday night and camped right above a big set of switch-backs on Mineral Road (which was the Horsethief trail). This led to some confusion because there was a campground named Horsethief or Mineral Bottom (do not remember which) right about 100 yards before the road we wanted, so we pulled into it and drove through the campground, then onto a dirt road, which we assumed to be the road. We were looking at this map that the park service provides, but it is a bit old and sparse. The road had been traveled enough and seemed to be going in the right direction, so we thought we were in good shape for quite a while, but it got more and more rugged and it was slow-going in the Chevy Astro. Reed tried to check his GPS, but couldn't find the course he thought he had loaded onto it. Finally we reached a dead-end where the only path forward required more vehicle capability than we had. We got lightly high-centered on a rock ledge and I couldn't back up off it. It was dark and now I know why off-roaders like those light way up high on the roof.

So I drove down the down, maneuvered a 3 point turn, and fortunately made it back up. By now we figured we absolutely must be on the wrong road and started back for the highway. While picking our way back, Reed figured out the GPS, and it confirmed we were running parallel to, but about two miles away from the correct road. When we found the correct road it was obvious because it was huge, smooth, and graded (easily traversable in any car). We parked the van and went to sleep in the back.

There were quite a few cars in the campground when we awoke:

We had planned to get up and five in ride in the dark for an hour, but our night had gone later than hoped and when I awoke it was light and I knew we had over-slept. We quickly prepared, I downed 4 pouches of instant oatmeal, and we were off.

Three minutes later Reed asked if I had my five dollars to get in the park. I did not, so it was back to the car and then off again.

Here is the profile of the ride:

As you can see, we started with the biggest climb of the day, but it was all on smooth dirt road and pavement. Additionally, the mileage is so high that even when a climb looks big on the profile map, the grades were generally low. In fact, during the long climb in the middle, we were half way up it and I was wondering when we were going to start climbing. It wasn't until I switched the GPS to the elevation profile screen that I realized we had been climbing for some time.

Anyway, starting on the smooth climb was nice because we were carrying all our water for the day at that point, and I had a lot of water. I do not think there is potable water anywhere in the area (the Green might be pumpable), so in my camelbak I had the 70 oz reservoir plus another 70 oz water bag and a 24 oz bottle. On my bike I had two 24 oz bottles and one 20 oz bottle, for a total of 208 oz (13 lbs). Part of the reason we wanted to start early was to ride in the cool morning and lessen the riding in the late day heat, but we were lucky and clouds partially hid the sun for much of the day. If it was a normal, hot day, water would have been tight, but as it was I finished with about 50 oz left over. We especially enjoyed the beautiful morning with lots of blue sky between the scattered clouds.

The first big climb ends at the entrance to the park. We payed our five dollars each and descended the Shafer switchbacks.

The problem with all of the pictures I'll post is they totally miss the grandeur of the area. The sky wraps around you in a way photos cannot capture. The vividness of the colors, the depth of the horizon, and scale of the rocks is totally lost in a photo, especially those taken with a cheap walmart digital camera. I'll post a few anyway, but the only way to understand it to go there yourself.

We hit the half-way mark in four hours. We were making good time and I was starting to get into the groove.

We stopped at an out house half way around. They have out houses equipped with TP every 20 miles or so, which is nice since technically you would be required to pack it all out with you if they did not. So that is what you get for your five-dollars entry...

Much of Utah is 'owned' by the federal government - I've heard 70 percent. When you tour around it is easy to understand why. It isn't because we have lots of oil, coal, uranium, etc. It is because the beauty is so amazing and unique.

The Uintas, the Wasatch, Canyonlands, Bryce, Zions, etc. etc. All amazing.

By about mile 65 or 70, Reeds stomach was starting to rebell, and our pace started slowing significantly. I ride on an all liquid diet, and admit I was jealous of Reed's chocolate covered granola bars early on, but I felt good all day and the envy passed when I could still drink at hour eight.

The afternoon brought more heat for a while, but then it cooled again and started threatening to rain.

We never did get more than a few drops, and the cooler air was nice, especially for Reed who had less water than I did, and didn't feel up to drinking much anyway.

At this point we thought we were starting up the final climb, and I was looking for Jawas, sand people, and R2, but we were wrong on all counts.

We were surprised to see almost no one for the last 30 or 40 miles. Nearer the mid-point we had seen several groups that looked to be on supported, multi-day excursions, and at the beginning we passed several people, but then that was it. We never saw the Epic-Riding group all day, probably saw 4 or 5 motorcycles all day, and about 3 or 4 jeeps that were not supporting bicycles.

On the whole, the riding was less interesting than the scenery, but on nice thing about the direction we rode was the riding was most interesting near the end of the loop because the trail went was right against the mesa rather than out in the middle of the desert. We rolled along parallel to the Green river, and at last the final set of switchbacks arrived:

They were a fun way to end a great ride.

Spring

2009-04-12T08:15:00.001-06:00

When I think of a mechanical spring, I sometimes think of Wile E Coyote bouncing up and down, one minute in ecstacy, next crashing down.

Spring can be like that with the weather. Rain, snow, and perfect weather, we've had it all in just this week!

For those who try to follow a carefully periodized, every workout day planned training schedule, it is the worst time of year because planning in impossible. Inside? Well, looks like it might be better weather outside this afternoon...or tomorrow. Maybe easy today and hard tomorrow instead. MTB? Oh, it is snowing, now what?

I don't follow that kind of plan anyway, so it is fine for me except on the days when I put off riding in the AM, hoping for better weather in the PM, and then get busy and can't get to my training that day.

Friday was nice because I got up and rode to work early. I enjoy rolling into work, feeling good with 3 hrs into my legs, and watching most of the others drive into work, bags still under their eyes. Half are toting a coffee to try and wake up, the other half toting their refillable 64oz diet coke, for the same purpose (no, the Latter doesn't quite make sense to me on this).

Yesterday the weather was perfect, and I got out for shorter than I would have liked, but rode hard for 2 hrs behind the house. PB by almost 20 seconds on my 'now just over 9 minute' downhill back there (score for the new Scalpel!) Didn't do as well on the 'soon to be 5 minute' climb, but still just 15 seconds off my PB.

Cholla Challenge

2009-04-05T17:11:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was the second Intermountain Cup race, and my first since I was sick for St. George. My training was really going well before St. George, so I'd been looking forward to racing. The last month has been more difficult between bad weather, sickness, and work, but I've still gotten some fine riding in and figured I would do all right.

Then along came Friday and the weather was looking...bad.

After some waffling we decided to skip camping and get a hotel, and take our chances on whether the weather would be nice for racing on Saturday. With that resolved, my other issue was getting my bike together. I've been trying to get to it for a week but hadn't been able to find the time. As a result, we arrived in Hurricane too late for a Friday pre-ride, but I did get the bike together.

We passed through several snow storms on the way down. The roads at the race course were muddy and the weather didn't look particularly encouraging when we arrived.

Happily, Saturday morning was a bluebird day and by the time the kids lined up it was warm and nice. The soil there is sandy and usually very dry. The rains made it perfect.

We parked next to Dave and Lynda. It was nice hanging with them and the kids had a great time playing together. Lynda's son Wes won the 9 and under class handily.

Scott and Ian also raced.

As for my race, it was all about Mona Vie-Cannondale. With Bart, Alex, Brian Alders, and Jeremiah Bishop, it was a stacked field. They were probably all tired from their training camp spanning this past week since last week's national, but it didn't make any difference - they were fast and dropped everyone else first lap.

Bishop flatted and I passed him while he was fixing it. Later in the lap I heard someone behind me making audible loud 'pushing' noises, and he came flying by. I briefly thought to jump on his wheel and it was too late before I even made the attempt. One problem with Stan's it is takes a long time to repair a flat, and Bishop never quite caught back up to the lead group.

I had a fine race and enjoyed the new bike. The rear tire went flat in the warm-up. I knew this might happen because I hadn't done any rides on the new Stans job yet, so I'd come prepared. I put in a tube and it was fine.

I've never like the Cholla course, but this year was different. The laps were shorter so more of the time was spent in the hills on single-track rather than just riding around in the flats. The rain packed all the sandy sections down, so they were fast and fun.

My only real complaint had nothing to do with the course...I spent the whole time by myself. About 15 minutes into the race I'd been passed by all the faster guys, and I only caught one of them. Except Bishop with his flat, no one passed me either. It was basically a 2 hr time-trial. We were lapping people by the end of lap 1, so we did have people to pass most of the race. I ended up about 10th, although I didn't bother counting out the tags on the results board. Honestly, I was a bit discouraged to feel pretty good and still end up 10 minutes behind the lead group. Dave pointed out the guys in the front group were working together pretty well, while we were all strung out by ourselves, fighting the wind in the flats. It was a good point - maybe that would have helped us loose less time in the flats.

In the women's pro field, Lynda killed them.

After the race, Kim went for a run. It was a beautiful day, and nice to be outside.

Austin Texas

2009-03-01T16:53:00.003-07:00

Since I am way behind on the blog, I figured I'd start with our Texas trip, which was actually a few weeks ago.

The Pillings and Kim and I spent a week in Austin riding. We rode several hours a day on various loops we snooped off the internet.

The house we stayed in was nice. It belongs to relatives of Toni who are leaving to serve on a mission for the LDS church, so they were not home. It is for sale if you are interested.

The first day we just rode out into the country, not sure if there is a name for that loop. It was nice rolling highways.

The gas station we stopped at had an interesting bend on "No shoes, no service". We went in with no shoes and were thanked by the owner for it.

The second day we rode out to a state park with a waterfall, but one had to hike to the falls and we didn't. The girls turned around there, and Bp and I rode some awesome country roads with absolutely no traffic and a nice pace. I have no pics of this, but Bp flexed for the camera instead:;

The Dam Loop seems to be one of the more popular loops in Austin. We rode it three times. The first time was with the girls, everyone on road bikes. We stopped at this gas station for snacks. I enjoyed Hostess cupcakes while some homeless guy threw his bag of stuff at Kim for no obvious reason.

The pace was slow, but a nice day with the girls.

The second time was Bp and I, again on the road bikes, but this time with the 'Volente Kicker' thrown in. The Kicker was a loop along a lake shore, but one can't actually see the lake from the road.

The third time was on tandems and we did the 'Kicker' twice. The skys were not friendly for about 10 minutes and we got a mid-ride wash during our only on-bike rain for the week!

Had we wanted, we could have easily found a church. Now I know how President Bush found religion.

Due to the rental bikes available, the Pillings were on 26" wheels and a frame that was too small. Kim and I were on 700c, and the frame fit us well. I really like the Co-motion tandem.

By the time we hit the kicker everyone was in the zone and the time just flew by.

Kim found the joys of Slurpee at the second gas station break.

This bridge coming into Austin marked the 'almost there' point.

We hit two bike shops and a couple tri shops. "Mellow Johnnie's" is owned by Lance Armstrong, and has a few memorable items sitting around.

The Bicycle Sport Shop is where we rented the tandems and the Pillings rented their road bikes. They have a nice selection of rental bikes, and the the guy that wrenched the rentals was great (I think his name was Scott).

Other than riding, we didn't do a lot. Ate, rested, and got ready for the next day.

For me it was a perfect holiday. It was great to spend time with the Pillings, great riding in warm weather, and a week together with Kim.

Camp Lynda

2009-01-25T17:10:00.003-07:00

I went down to St. George for "Camp Lynda" -- intended to be 3 days of epic riding and a break from the cold and inversion in Salt Lake. It didn't really work out that way.

It was raining all day Friday. I rode for about 3 hours and my bike broke because I had failed to check that my pivots were all tight on my bike. I took a shortcut to I-15 and rode back on the road. Not a disaster, but a disappointment because it was a good time riding in the dirt till then.

I then drove up to Zion's and back to get the part to fix my bike. Returned back to St. George just in time for dinner. I sat with Bart, his wife, Dave Harris, and Lynda, amongst others, and we had a nice meal at Bajio.

Saturday was supposed to be the second day, but I bailed because it was still raining and I had work to get done at home if the riding was not going to be great.

I snagged this photo from Dave and Lynda's blog (hopefully they don't mind) since I forgot to take any of my own:

It was too bad about the rain, but I think everyone had a great time (especially those who stayed!). I really appreciate them organizing it.

Butler Fork

2008-12-28T18:22:00.001-07:00

The avalanche danger has remained high, in fact gotten higher, so the backcountry skiers have mostly fled to the lower-angle slopes. We did Butler fork yesterday morning and had some excellent skiing and a beautiful morning.

Alta Report

2008-12-20T17:08:00.003-07:00

Today:

Photo pretty much sums it up.

-2 degrees at the top (F not C), strong winds, steady snow. The blowing snow made it hard to stay warm, but the skiing was fun. The wind buffed all the chutes smooth with wind-pack.

Snow pack is definitely low and the high-traverse is a mess with rocks everywhere, but I don't worry about that so much as some people seem to.

Dawn Patrol!

2008-12-18T21:38:00.002-07:00

Finally got out for the first dawn patrol of the year. I guess we started hiking about 6:30. Maybe it is just because a woman was killed at Snowbird last week, but people seem to be very aware that the avalanche danger is pretty high right now. Several people asked about it at work. We chose a safe slope through the trees and felt reasonably safe.

Met a guy named Rob Sunderlage in the parking lot and climbed with him for a few minutes, but he decided to take a little slower pace so we did not get to ski down with him. His brother Rick is an avid MTBer whom I've met a few times over the last couple years. I found their names amusing since my name is Rich and my next brother is Rob.

Apparently Rob (Sunderlage) turned around before we did because we did not see him on our way down. I don't like to leave people behind like that in the snow, but owing the to safe slope and the number of people we saw today, we were not too worried about him.

The skiing was pretty good. Snow was surprisingly heavy and slow, but this helped keep us off the bottom, which I felt maybe twice the whole descent. It is always great to get out in the mountains and the snow.

Good timing?

2008-12-08T20:40:00.001-07:00

I got up this morning and rode the trails for a little over an hour. It was a little cool, nice weather, a great ride.

After a quick shower I jumped in the car, and the flakes were starting to fall. By the time I got to work it was a full-on snow storm.

Might this have been the last SLC MTB day for the year?

Snow?

2008-12-07T14:26:00.001-07:00

It is disappointing not to be skiing by this time of the
year. There is some skiing, apparently, but it cannot be very good.

Anyhow, it does soothe the pain a little to do 25 miles of singletrack, almost
5000 feet of climbing, nearly no back-tracking or repeat trails, and all in
35-45 degree weather :) Feels like snow on the way to me...

California Cup

2008-12-06T22:13:00.002-07:00

Meet the new "national" series - the Kenda National Cup: http://www.mtb-uscup.com/

I respect what they are trying to do and am excited to see a change. NMBS honestly tried, but it hasn't worked out.

I think we have to be honest and admit this isn't really a national cup. This is a state cup and an east-coast cup with a self-proclaimed national championship at the end (not that anyone else is vying to put on the National Championship race). Colorado? Utah? New Mexico? Texas?

Hopefully this year will lead to good things in the future. Pro mountain bike racing needs to be rebuilt or abandoned. Amateur racing is doing pretty well.

I've read the US Cup guys have some new ideas to try. We should try them and then keep the good ones, dump the bad ones, and keep iterating. Maybe they'll find a magic combination.

Tires

2008-11-16T07:36:00.002-07:00

I always find it hard to tell when I need a new tire on my bikes.

On my road bikes, I usually just run them till I start getting flats (punctures), at which point I give in. If I did more criterium racing, the flatting out of the tread would probably bother me more, but for training it doesn't matter much.

For mountain bikes, I usually get sidewall slashes before the tread really goes (light-tires + stan's = side wall failure, I guess). OK, sidewall cuts make the decision easy. Assuming the casing holds up (tubeless designed tires hold up better), I've found tire shape makes more difference than the tread on most terrain, and they can be run pretty low. If trails are muddy or sandy-over-hardpack, the tread seems to matter a little more.

On the motorcycle, this one was easy.
I came to an interesting discovery the other day. I loose money when I ride my Bandit 1200s motorcycle to work instead of my Honda Element!

My calcs went something along the lines of, I figure my car to be fully depreciated at 150k miles, my motorcycle at 45k miles. I replace tires on the Honda about every 40k miles, on the Suzuki every 8k miles (I got 9 out of this one). Oil every 10k in the Honda (yep, that's their recommendation), every 5k on the Suzuki. Chain and sprockets every 15k on the Bandit. I should probably include 1 alignment at 80k on the Honda, but I didn't.

Oh, the gas mileage: 26 mpg in the Honda, 40 mpg on the Suzuki. I think I used $3/gallon, which is oh-so-last-week, now that it is < $2.00 again, but anyhow higher gas price helps the looser in this case.

It would be interesting to include some cost-correction for carbon-footprint. I don't know what would come out better. My guess is the bike. Gas would be in the bike's corner. Also, at 500lbs (even with 1/3 the life) there is much less processed metal in the bike. Tires would go to the Honda. Right now all that is "free", so I don't know how to include that.

I guess I forgot to mention the purchase prices. I think I stuck in 20k for the Honda (which is what I payed), and 6K for the Bandit, although, that is perhaps unfair since I payed less for a slightly used one. Anyway, it wouldn't have mattered. One last thing, insurance. It is cheap on the Suzuki, but since I have to have the car either way, it is an add-on cost as opposed to a replacement.

Moral of the story? 1200's are fun to ride, but a little 650 would be cheaper for commuting. A 250 would be much cheaper, but perhaps not really up to the interstate commute to work. I once saw a You-Tube video of a Rebel on the interstate, and it was barely able to keep up on the flats.

Oh well

2008-10-25T19:05:00.007-06:00

Today was cyclocross racing in Fort Buenaventura in Ogden.

Not really a great day for me personally, but a super day for riding. Beautiful weather and a fun course.

The last couple days stretched long and today I paid for it and didn't have much go. Ended up following Mike K for quite a while and not really doing my share, which probably got on his nerves, but I just didn't have much. My nose was running as fast as I was, and I flipped over once in a rut -- just a silly mistake. Bob enjoyed several mechanical issues and probably wished for his MTB by the sixth chain-drop.

Finally near the end I started to feel a little better and caught a pair of guys next ahead of me. I was hoping Mike would follow me after I'd followed him for so long, but I guess it had been too long. Anyway, when the second 'A' guy lapped me, I jumped in with him not sure which class he was in. After a few minutes I figured he wasn't our group because he kept going fast, but I was OK so I stayed with him to the finish. Don't know where I finished -- but not well.

Best Revolution finish was Justin Wilson, who gets faster all the time and had a good race.

Sometimes one just has to enjoy the fall weather, which was easy today.

Ogden Fair?

2008-10-22T20:54:00.005-06:00

This week's cyclocross race was at the Ogden fair grounds. I thought it would be fun to put the powertap wheel on and see what the power would look like. It was all over the map.

Honestly, I expected the power to look about like this, but I was surprised how low the average power was, especially considering how high my HR was. I have noticed in the past that on the MTB the HR/power ratio is higher than on the road, and apparently it is even more true for CX. What some people call it the "VI for variability index" would have been very high.

Scott and Ian raced. I sort of regret letting them sign up. They came in last and second to last. That doesn't bother me, but it seemed to bother them. They've both commented on it since. I think Ian was the youngest in the race, and they are both pretty small. It was really hard for them to get their bikes over the barriers. On the big one in the picture (stolen from GCConnection, BTW), Ian lifted his bike up, and then sort of dropped it over the other side. He then climbed over and picked it up. This was after he had fallen on one of the other barriers and scraped his chin on his handlebars, which hurt enough that he wanted to quit until someone convinced him he was the only Jr. single-speed rider so he was actually winning. We'll see. I was happy to see them out riding hard, and I hope they do another one, but they may have decided they're done with CX racing for this year.

I felt pretty good for my race. Drafting was a significant factor in this race, and you can see the line that formed at the start in the picture. This did thin out a bit pretty quickly, but you can see Art in the back and we raced in a group of 3-5 people the whole race. Art came by near the end when Bart lapped us. At this point I was initially not sure he was in our group.

At that point I was following Ohran, and thought he'd chase, but he didn't (they're teammates, so he shouldn't have, but I wasn't thinking of that). After a lap or two of that I realized I could either follow Ohran try to beat him at the end and maybe get 4th, or I could try to close the gap to Art and look for 3rd, but risk falling back.

So I went for 3rd, but couldn't close the gap to Art, and Ohran and Darren (I think was his name) were in my draft. When I tired, Ohran countered and dropped me, with Darren also going by. I also failed to realize when Bart lapped us that we suddenly had one less lap to complete. Maybe I could have gotten one or both back, probably not both, but I didn't really try thinking we had one more.

So I don't know if I got out-powered, but I surely got out raced and they deserved to beat me. I learned a few lessons to remembe, and it really was great weather, a nice course, and super-fun racing.

Heebee-geebies

2008-10-12T18:42:00.002-06:00

Heber fairgrounds cyclo-cross yesterday. Rumors had been predicting 10 inches of snow, etc, and the snow storm at the house suggested the fear-mongers might be right, but as usual they were not.

Weather in Heber was dry, if cold and windy. The cold wasn't an issue after the racing started.

I raced in the Master A group this week, and it was a lot more fun than the B's. This picture shows the start. I started in the back row again since I didn't expect to be battling for victory. It took about 10 minutes to reel in Bob and a few other guys. Spent about 30-40 minutes riding with a guy named Gary who is racing for Ski Utah. I was faster than him on the runs and the twisties, but he had more speed in the fast flats, especially the back straight headed into the stiff wind. Seemed to me like I was a little faster overall, but we were pretty evenly matched and it was tough racing.

With a few laps to go we caught and passed Mike Kracht and one other guy, putting us in about 6th and 7th. We were all riding in a group of 4 when I caught the marking ribbon with my handlebars (the wind was blowing it into a big arc across the course). I went down and took out the guy behind me, his bike flipping up and landing on me. Damp grass is a pretty soft landing pad and I don't think either of us was hurt, but Gary and Mike rode on and I had to chase to catch back up. I did get back up to them early in the last lap, but I was too tired at that point to get by and make it stick. Fun racing.

Friday night we went to the Pillings deportation party (my name for it). The party was well attended -- the Pillings have many close friends here. I'm a big believer in the "American Dream", but there is something seriously wrong when a family like this is forced to quit their job and leave the country. Americans should be disgusted by a congress that continuously fails to solve the big problems they are responsible for. For how many years do we allow problems like medicare, health-care, social security, immigration, financial reform and global warming continue to get worse, all regulated, asphyxiated or exacerbated by out-dated legislation, while we battle for control using ridiculous proxy issues like flag burning, abortion, sex in the white-house, spies who get "outed", lobbiest gifts and executive compensation? I don't mind if we are all discussing the important issues and have a hard time agreeing on what to do or not do, but the campaigns are focused on the garbage. Even our local State Representative race has been infused with tricks over substance.

I know, none of this is new. Sorry for the rant. I generally try to keep politics out of my cycling blogging. For me personally, Bp's ouster is a real blow. I'm not one that maintains a lot of close relationships and I'm not particularly expressive about personal issues, but I feel like I've lost my best friend.

Cyclocross

2008-10-05T06:08:00.008-06:00

My mountain bike racing season ended quite early this year. This means two things for me:
1) I'm not very fit
2) I'm not tired of racing
In past years, I've often hit fall feeling like I've dragged the family too many places too many weeks in a row and everyone is tired and ready to move on to soccer and football. Meanwhile, my body has been worn out and ready to sit and watch the afore-mentioned soccer and football.

But not this year, so I decided I try something new: Cyclocross.

For the uninitiated, cyclocross is basically a mixed-surface criterium held in a park, typically on grass, pavement, and/or dirt. It is raced in the fall, so bad weather is supposed to add to the fun, and since everyone is tired of riding, barriers are added to the course so that competitors must hop off, carry their bikes, then get back on (see video below):

Having never actually seen a cyclocross race before, I wasn't entirely sure how it was all going to go, but the race was 5 minutes from the house and the weather was, well, cyclocrossy, so lacking any excusses to find something warmer to do, I drove down and signed up.

After one race, I'm a fan for several reasons. First of all, watching the races was actually fun. Kim and the kids showed up just before the start of the race, and there was so much more to watch than at most bike races. On this particular course, the riders passed one spot three times on every lap, and the laps were only 5 minutes or so. Spectators could actually follow the race. Of course the kids also had fun this time because they played in the mud.

Second, the riding was fun. Although the weather was chilly and very wet, the mixed-terrain riding is pretty slow compared to normal road riding and there were no real downhills so it wasn't like MTB where you cook on the climbs and freeze on the descents. The course was twisty and interesting, and the the run (if you call it that) definitely breaks things up. Additionally, it was not like a criterium where everyone coasts around afraid to attack for an hour, sprints 45 seconds, and the race is over. Instead people pushed the whole time ... hard. Drafting was not much of a factor (and very unpleasant anyway because of the water-roost coming off the tires), and technical riding ability did matter. Like I said - fun.

Third, it didn't take all day. I like the backcountry venues for cross-country racing, but it is time-consuming. This made for a nice fall mid-day activity.

The new bike worked great and I felt at home on it pretty quickly. I wasn't so sure how it would go since I built it Friday and hadn't even ridden around the block yet, but the sand and rain broke the brake pads in quickly.

One non-ideal issue was I had no idea where I was in the race. I'm usually not so good on fast starts (or short races for that matter), and since I didn't know what I was doing, I just started in the back. They started the 'A' women 90 seconds and the single-speeders 30 seconds ahead of us, and between passing everyone in my group and the other two groups I just had no idea. By the end I thought I must be near the front because I was passing fewer riders. They had a little sign that showed how many laps you had left at the start/finish line, but I didn't realize what that was until the race was over, so I wasn't really sure if the race was indeed over when I finished. I would have busted a little harder on the last had I known, but I was tired anyway.

In hindsight I probably should have raced the 'A' group rather than 'B', but with my lack of experience or training, I didn't want to get in everyone's way. I still don't know where I finished, but I didn't kill them or anything. Kim thinks I got second behind Chris Sherwin (whom I didn't know was even racing). Anyway, I wasn't that worried about it. I admit it was a little hard to watch the 'A' race and cheer on all the guys I race with all summer and not be up there with them, instead riding slower in the Bs, but this race was an experiment and maybe I'll get more training in through the fall and race faster. Maybe not. Don't have time for everything.

Sold!

2008-09-20T17:05:00.002-06:00

Some people get a real thrill out of shopping. Not me. I don't even get excited about new bikes. It worked out that I bought two bikes in the last two weeks -- an Intense Spider 29er and a Cannondale cross bike. I didn't feel "excitement" about either...just tools to get a job done.

Selling, on the other hand, is something different. I usually feel a sense of regret when I box up my bikes to ship them away. I don't know why we humans get attached to inantimate objects like a bicycle, but I think for me it isn't the bike so much as the memories they bring back. Today I sold my Niner Air 9. I had some great races and moved up to Pro on it. I haven't ridden it since last November, but I'll miss it.

I'll also be selling my Spider 26 inch bike soon, which I've been riding for about 4 or 5 years. Most of the my "epic" mountain bike rides have been on that Spider.

Thinking back, I've only had a couple bikes I was excited to get rid of. Ask me in person and I'll tell you which ones.

Sundance Dozen

2008-09-14T11:10:00.007-06:00

Sometimes you plan, strategize, prepare, and then execute on that plan. Sometimes, you just do it.

I built a new bike this week - a Spider 29er. Yup, pretty similar to the one I borrowed from Revolution two years ago. Friday I Stans'd the tires and rode it for 5 minutes.

Bp and I talked a bit Friday night about his plans to race the Sundance 12 Hour race the next day. I assured him I had no plans to ride up and down a 45 minute loop all day. Somewhere Kim heard Reed had decided last minute that he was planning to do it, and had registered on Friday.

I woke up at 5:30 on Saturday, looked at my watch, and decided I'd regret skipping it and thought I might make it, so I threw my stuff in the car and took off for Sundance and the 7am start.

Bp looked to me like was going to take the race seriously. I figured I'd break the new bike in and see how things would progress, not feeling very committed to even finishing.

The first few laps, it seemed like lots of little things were going wrong.

I hadn't looked at start/finish area ahead of time, and had some problems getting my bottles, etc. at first. Carl from Revolution was there and volunteered to help, and that really smoothed that out in future laps.

There was a swarm of angry wasps at a point on the climb, and every lap they were stinging everyone that rode through. I wondered how much stamina those wasps had. I was fortunate and sustained only one ankle-sting, but Reed was stung at least five or six times. Some poor guy from Sundance finally cleared out the nest and was stung 10 or 20 times as he did it.

On the second lap I took a wrong turn on the pavement and did a little detour, and then the next lap some guy parked his truck and trailer on the road and removed the tape marking the turn so that I rode past it. Neither of these cost much time, but they were frustrating.

On the next lap my chain jammed between my middle and small chainrings, and it took a minute to pull it out.

My freshly Stans'd tires were both loosing air, and when I stopped to have Carl air them up they were down to about 12 psi. They held pretty well after he pushed them back up to 35, only adding air to the rear again near the end.

Each time something would happen, I'd fall behind Reed and then catch back up so we could keep riding together. I wanted to ride with him as long as possible.

By hour 4 I was starting to feel sick of the whole thing. My legs didn't feel bad, but I wasn't enjoying it and definitely didn't relish the idea of another 8 hours on the bike. I told Reed I thought I was done, but figured I'd finish that lap, call Kim and tell her not to come, then ride a few more laps and see. I did rest after that lap, put on my mp3 player, called Kim, and started off again, thinking about at least finishing six hours.

When six hours hit, I started thinking about eight since that would be longer than I'd done last week. About this time I noticed I was starting to get pretty dry. I tried drinking a little extra in the feed zone, but I was still emptying my one bottle every lap (a problem I plan to fix on the new bike -- one bottle cage). I felt reasonably good at this point.

I felt pretty OK about the time Kim and the kids showed up:

Kim and the kids didn't get my message and did come, and I was glad to see them. By the eight hour point I knew if I continued to hour 10 I'd never quit, so I kept going. By then I was really dry and starting to get sick. I was having a lot of trouble breathing and was falling apart. Kim had brought a scale and I weighed myself, and had clearly lost a lot of water weight. Reed had slowly turned all red from the wasp stings, and decided to drop out. His legs had started slow, but he had been speeding up each lap for several laps, so it was disappointing he had to stop.

Reed contemplates his stinging loss (look at his blotchy, red face from the stings):

The only highlight of this part of the race was watching Bp lap me. Kenny had gone by much earlier, but he was fading so badly that we were going about the same speed until my breathing problem, and it was immediately clear the Bp was headed for the win. Pete McMullin also lapped me and looked to be finishing strong (which he was -- he finished 3rd).

Someone loaned me their asthma inhaler and I got out my Camelbak (should have done this much earlier) and doubled my drinking rate, along with more salt. By the end of the race I would gain back 5 lbs of that water I had lost.

All of the sudden, at about hour 10.5, the system came online again and I was feeling good. The weather had cooled and they hydration had come back to me. Up to this point I had been desperately hoping to come in just after the cutoff point so I wouldn't have to do another lap, but I cut 10 minutes off from my previous lap time and came in before the cut-off. Not only that, but I was actually glad to be doing another lap because I was enjoying the riding.

After two minutes of filling my Camelbak and changing to clear glasses, my last lap was my fastest lap all day, cutting off another 6 minutes.

Honestly, my position at the finish was pretty disappointing, but I've only done 3 long races and seem to be learning. In the other races, I never recovered once dehydration set in. For whatever reason, I sweat a lot when riding (though curiously, not when just hanging out), and I haven't quite got this nailed. It was great to finish with a couple good laps see Bp win before his deportation back to Canada.

This time of year, it gets cold quickly up there after the race:

Wasps

2008-09-09T11:12:00.001-06:00

Has anyone else noticed all the wasps out? I've been stung 4 times in the last two weeks. I can't even remember how long it had been before that.

Little Cottonwood-AF Canyon

2008-09-06T20:50:00.006-06:00

Like last week, today's ride started with a climb up Little Cottonwood, but I started at the house and didn't ride the Quarry Trail (I figured the ride was going to be long enough without the extra dirt climb). I stopped at Snowbird and filled my 100oz Camelbak and both of my bottles (I'd started with just the bottles).

The first climb is pretty long :)

After riding to the top of Catherine's Pass, I turned right and instead of dropping into Big Cottonwood, the trail led up over Alta and down into American Fork canyon. I had intended to traverse to Pole-Line pass, but missed the turn and descended down a dirt road much too far. I knew I had missed it, but there was another dirt road that led back up to Pole-Line, so I climbed that and rejoined the trail. I'm now pretty sure the map has the wrong trail number on it.

The drop into American Fork was pretty steep, but rideable and fun. I think it would be less fun going the other way. Unfortunately motorcycles, which probably made the trail in the first place, have really torn it up. Motorcycles are kind of a problem -- they are fun and it seems like there should be places for them to have fun in the single-track, but it doesn't seem sustainable when you see trails like this one. There are other areas lower in the Canyon where they ride regularly and everything seems fine, so maybe it is just a terrain issue.

Anyway, I followed this single-track, which is part of the Great Western Trail, for several miles. Much of it is part of the Wasatch 100 (underway today but they wouldn't get there till late tonight).

This trail traverses all the way to the Alpine Loop pass. As I was descending towards the pass, I encountered another Revolution kit climbing up towards me -- Greg Larson. We chatted a minute and decided to descend together to his car. We had a fun descent, all the while listening to his Mavic freehub make all kinds of grinding noises.

By this time I was nearly out of water, so I refilled at Timp Cave, and then rode out the canyon, over Suncrest, and back to the house.

A pretty big ride at 7.5 hrs with 10,000 feet of climbing. Fun day.

PS: Good Luck to the Wasatch 100 runners!

Where'd the summer go?

2008-08-29T15:27:00.003-06:00

I haven't raced since the state championships, and busy with work, etc. haven't trained much either. I've been riding pretty much every day, but just short jaunts behind the house, which is why so little blogging (that and time).

This has left me feeling like it should still be mid-summer, but the kids are in school, the mountains are cool, and the bow-hunters were out as I rode up Catherine's area today. The signs are all out ... summer is coming to a close.

Guess it is time for the big fall rides. Today I rode from the mouth of Big Cottonwood over to and then up the Quarry Trail in Little Cottonwood for the first time. The lower section was pretty much a dirt road. The upper section has several big drops and rocky areas that I couldn't ride up. Someone told me the trail goes all the way to Snowbird, but I must have missed river crossing or something.

Anyway, I rode from Tanner's Flat up to Alta and then over Catherine's, then down into Brighton. From Brighton I continued up the Wasatch Crest and would have gone over to Mill Creek, but it is an odd-numbered day and the Mill Creek trails are closed to bikes, so I just rode down past Dog Lake, Mill D, and back to the mouth of Big Cottonwood. Water is available at Tanner's, Snowbird, and Brighton, so that wasn't a problem at all.

It is always fun to see Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Superior, Scott's, USA, Flagstaff, etc., and think of the good times skiing, but this time of year there is an added sense of anticipation that makes it even nicer.

Chicken...Ha Ha.

2008-08-22T05:49:00.001-06:00

Rocky Mountain High

2008-07-13T17:13:00.007-06:00

I spent this week in Colorado with my parents and 3 of my 4 siblings, camping near Thunder Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park (the 4th is an army dentist and was not able to get away).

I had never been to RMNP. It is a neat place. We took the long route to drive there -- through Steamboat, Granby, and then through the center of the park over one of the most spectacular roads ever built. The drive alone was worth the trip. My brother Rob fit the trip into a multi-week motorcycle tour, coming from Albuquerque, NM, riding lots of dirt roads and doing some hiking along the way.

A backpacking excursion of this sort was a first for my sister, and with a 2500' climb to a 10,574' campsite, it was a challenging first, but she rose to the occasion. The weather didn't really cooperate for the hike in -- heavy rain and water flowing down the trail. Our first evening there I was wondering if we were going to be cold and wet the entire trip.

Happily, the weather cooperated nicely and we were not rained on again for the rest of the week.

Thunder Lake proved to be a high lake nestled within a range of huge mountains. We tried our hand at fishing from the lake, starting with lures. Although the fish liked the lures, the bottom did too and I lost 3 of them in about an hour. Fishing with a fly and a bubble was just as effective and much less costly! We caught a lot of 9-13" trout.

Mount Alice

Certainly for me Mount Alice was the highlight of the trip. At 13200', it is a tall peak for the lower 48.
We didn't pick the campsite for its proximity to the peak, but since the mountain was close to our camp, it was a reasonable one to climb. It has some imposing faces on the front and back of the peak, but the approach from both sides is quite reasonable. There is also a long sweeping gully up the front that is apparently the most common route. Anyway, looking at the photo, we went up the 'right' ridge and came down the 'left' ridge, then continued to follow the ridge up the next peak over, and then down and back to camp, thus doing a big circle around the lake at which we were camped. It was a fun hike. We didn't have ropes, and never wished we did. For the mountain runner-types, this would be a great choice, and would even be reasonable from the trail head for adequately fit runners.

The drive home was pretty long and we had planned to just hike out Friday, stay in a hotel, and then return Saturday, but the hike out was short enough that Reed and I just decided to return to Salt Lake that day. This turned out to be a really nice decision because Kim and I were able to meet up with the Pillings for a tour of the canyons aboard the tandems.

Their plan (successfully, BTW) was to ride from the house, up Mill Creek Canyon, then Big Cottonwood, then Little Cottonwood, then home. Due to kid-related time constraints, Kim and I rode perhaps half of Mill Creek, then Big Cottonwood, then home, missing out on the last climb. Still, this made for a respectable five hour ride including 6500' of climbing.

Solitude State Championship 2008

2008-07-06T22:17:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was the Utah State Championships at Solitude, UT.

Honestly, it's never been my favorite place to ski, and its never been my favorite for bike racing either. We stayed up late watching fireworks at Sugarhouse Park and I wasn't positive I'd even race.

So having said that, I went and had a great day yesterday. I beat my 2007 time and took 4th place, with a near-miss on 3rd.

For the first five minutes Shannon B led us the climb, and I wondered why the race was starting slowly (but being a slow-starter I wasn't complaining), and then as the grade picked up, the pace didn't slow down and by 10 minutes I was falling back, happily not by much (except from Alex, who was by far the strongest). Bz may have stayed with Alex longer -- he seemed strong and I lost them. I fell back behind Hooptedoodle and about two other guys, but was fairly confident I'd catch him back on the downhill, which I did. At the bottom of the dh, I heard someone coming back on and assumed it was Shannon, but when I looked back it was Chris H, who must have passed Shannon in there somewhere.

So Ch, I, and Chris rode the second lap single-track climb together till we got to the road. I think it was on the road that Chris and I passed both Chad and the other two, moving us up to 4th and 5th. Chris disappeared at the top of the dh, and it turned out he'd crashed. He pretty much caught back up and then crashed again at the bottom of the dh in a rocky section that dumps out onto the pavement. He got back on and followed most of the 3rd climb, but I had a little daylight by the end of the climb and he didn't seem to be catching. By this time I could see Dave Welsh ahead and though I might get him. At the bottom of the steep climbs, top half of the fourth lap, I was within 2 seconds, but pulled he away again up the steep climbs and I couldn't close the gap -- he was still a little stronger.

I still had hopes of catching him on the dh, but didn't quite do it and he beat me by about 5 or 10 seconds. Bz was about 45 seconds ahead, and Alex was several minutes up.

I did try a few experiments yesterday. The first was my fueling -- I used Hammer Heed, but it barely has any salt so I boosted it with sodium and potassium. I know they say you don't need it, but I think they're wrong. There is a sodium salt substitute available in the grocery store that uses potassium, so I put a 1/4 teaspoon of that and 1/2 teaspoon of table salt into 1 cup of water and then put 1/4 of that into each of my four bottles. I've had problems in the past with cramping when using Heed, and didn't yesterday, so maybe the salt helped. I notice that Carborocket has about that much sodium (but no potassium), so maybe I should try that again. I liked it fine in pre-season, but haven't tried racing with it.

The second experiment was my rear tire -- I ran a Stan's Crow. It is super light at 450g (I weighed it), and it is pretty low volume. I did ride it twice behind the house, the first time at about 20 psi and I bottomed it out a few times. The second time I ran 25 and it seemed good, but it isn't very rocky out there, and the Solitude race is rocky. The other thing about the Crow is the lack of knobs. It rolled great on the pavement and seemed generally good on the climbs, if a little loose on the steepest spots. Coming down it was OK, not great, just as expected. The course was pretty loose and dusty, and it did wash out a bit easily, but I don't think it cost me much time there, and the light weight was probably faster climbing.

One last thing was I didn't wear a heart rate monitor or computer -- except my watch. I never look at them during a race anyway. I do enjoy looking at the data afterwards, but with so much climbing on a hot day, I just figured it didn't make sense.

Reed also raced, in the expert 19-29 class. I don't know how much he's really been training, although I know he's been doing some bike commuting. At any rate, he put in a super ride and won his race.

Bob Saffell put in a great ride and would have won, but the recent re-arrival of Chris Bingham into the Expert 40+ category thwarted him with the fastest expert time of the day -- at any age. Justin Wilson, another teammate, won the Expert 30-39 race.

Politics? Not so much.

2008-06-24T19:57:00.005-06:00

In polls, voters in Utah claim education is their #1 or #2 priority, depending on which year it is you ask them. It is interesting to me that, although people claim to care, 94% of the population in Jordan school district does not actually care enough to even bother voting to choose a school board member. Kinda sad.

Father's Day

2008-06-15T17:36:00.005-06:00

Yesterday started on the single-speed in Corner Canyon. The new Ghost Falls trail is in -- a little bumpy and soft, but ready to go.

Compared to the old one, the new GF trail should hold up better in the rain, but it isn't as fun coming down and since it isn't as steep I expect regular uphill traffic, which the the old trail saw very little of. It is now easily climbed on a single-speed with typical gearing.

After the CC ride, Kim and I took my Father's Day present for its maiden voyage. Great fun, and with a little more practice standing we'll be ready for some big rides on it.

(PS No, I don't get internet with that helmet on in the picture...)

Alpine Loop

2008-06-09T22:56:00.002-06:00

Oh ye mountains high,
where the clear blue sky
Arches over the vales of the free,
Where the pure breezes blow
and the clear streamlets flow,
how I've longed to your bosom to flee.

This is one of my favorite songs in the LDS hymnal, and it was on my mind as I rode this evening.

I ditched work a little early and left my house at about 4:45 for a trip over the Alpine Loop. I've mentioned this before, but where else but Utah can you work in a high-tech business all day and then take a ride like this from the house? (OK, there are a few places, but not many).

First over Suncrest with the view of Lone Peak and the big cirque below it, the Wasatch stretching in both directions, with Utah lake below and Mount Nebo off in the distance.

Then up the Provo River trail, along the Provo River and past Bridal Veil Falls.

Then up the back side of Timp, climbing the canyon past Sundance and the giant wall of Timpanogos. As you crest the pass you are surrounded by a 360 view that words cannot express and photos cannot capture. Timp peak rising another 3700' immediately to the west, Provo Peak and the Cascades to the South, and half a dozen peaks to the North, all snow-capped with crystal blue sky behind. Tonight the sun was dropping in horizontal rays across the mountains, it was spectacular.

Then the descent -- 3500 continuous vertical feet along the river, down AF Canyon, past Timpanogos cave, then out into the valley and around point of the mountain through some of the few remaining farm fields in the valley, Oquirrh mountains to the west, with the unnatural, bizarre, but strangely beautiful (at certain times of the day) Kennecott Copper hole.

Then back up to the house to watch the sun go down and the lights come on across the city.

Brigham Young said it -- "This is the right place".

Deer Valley

2008-06-07T22:48:00.002-06:00

Weather this morning looked bad, but we all drove up to DV just the same. When I got there it was still raining and COLD (fresh snow a couple hundred feet up). Neither Reed nor I thought we'd race, so we went for a walk up the first climb and conditions seemed OK. By the end of our walk we had changed our minds, so we both registered and quickly warmed up.

Turned out the trails were great, the weather not too cold (although I did wear a jacket), and no rain or snow. I felt quite good at the start, but had decided to start at the back since I hadn't really warmed up, but this turned out to be a mistake. I felt better than I expected. So I never got an open-throttle downhill during the race as I'd always catch and follow someone, but that's just how it goes if you are not a fast starter. Gotta work on that.

I was again out-sprinted at the line. I thought I was far enough ahead and didn't see him coming. Gotta work on that, too.

Reed took 3rd in Expert -- awesome.

Sorry, boring entry, fun race.

Sunstroke

2008-06-01T09:28:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was the Sundance race. 17 pros, which isn't a bad turnout, and the race deserved it as trail and weather conditions were both perfect.

For me and my team, several people were missing. My family missed because Scott has the flu. Reed and Bz both missed recovering from Wednesday. Bp is exiled back to Canada for another month, thanks to an immigrations typo.

Turned out my speed was missing too, and I didn't fare very well. No excuses really, just didn't feel well and couldn't keep up. I rode the 3.5 laps. First lap everyone was bunched up behind a bikeman guy who must have started too fast because he was going really slow, but he didn't really finish all that far behind me. We all got past him and things spread out. The third lap I caught up to Brandon Firth, and he accelerated when I caught him. We had fun racing together for about 10 minutes, but he got tired of it, let me by, and dropped off.

A nice ride, a bust as far as racing goes.

It did allow me to get home pretty early and I mowed the lawn, worked several hours, played chess with Heidi, and spent time with Scott as he convalesced. It was the first day this year that has really felt like summer, which is funny because I rode the Suzuki up to Alta early this morning and there is so much snow up there I'm thinking about a ski trip sometime this week if I can find the time.

Coroner Canyon

2008-05-29T21:11:00.002-06:00

As I mentioned before, the race this week was rained out Monday and postponed to a Wednesday night race. Everyone knows Wednesday nights are for short training races, and it was hard to escape this mentality even after lining up with about 15 other pros.

Racing right after work is a hard transition, and we all felt it. Bart spends all day on his feet, working with patients. I spend all day on my, well, anyway, talking with people, in meetings, etc. Sounds restful, but it isn't. Additionally, I hadn't slept well Tuesday night so I felt unusually drained.

The race started fast, as any short race does, and I didn't have the top-end to keep up. I was off the back in about 5 minutes. Or, I thought I was, but then Bp came up behind me. "OH NO!" I said. "Did you drop your chain or something?" "No. My helmet is loose. What is your excuse?" I had no excuse either.

So Bp went by and I followed him up the climb for the next 20 minutes. We did catch and pass one or two riders higher up on that first climb. At one point I think Bp was about 15s ahead, but I caught back up by the top of Clarks and he let me lead the DH.

Mysteriously, I didn't ride the DH very well. I just wasn't "on". I expected the trail to be very fast and tacky, but it was kinda wet-hard with tiny BB's on the surface and it was a bit sketchy. Looking back at some training times, my race DH was not better than a typical recreational ride.

At the bottom of the DH several things happened, not all of which were clear to me. We caught Alex G, who had flatted, just as he was getting going again. He promptly rode away. I caught someone in red whom would I follow through the rollers, and we also passed another guy at the bottom of Clarks. Meanwhile, Bp gave up the ghost in the rollers and decided he'd had his fun for the night.

I passed red guy crossing Mike Weir, and promptly gave the position back when I superman'd at the top of the Golf course. I wasn't seriously hurt, mostly road rash and some hand pain.

So I caught back up to red guy, and we caught some other guy on the traverse at the bottom.

I passed both of them at the end of lap one, and as I finished the first half of the race at the 50 minutes mark I was reminded that this was not going to be a super-short race. 1:40 isn't long, but it isn't short either.

Lap 2 I felt a bit better and actually did the climb about 40 seconds faster than lap one. I passed Shannon, at least one other guy, and caught up to Blake. My second lap DH was even slower than lap 1, and I lost a little time to BZ, but the lapping traffic got thick and I was feeling pretty good and Blake let me go by after I'd followed him a minute. I crashed lapping someone, but BZ didn't go by and we basically rode together to the finish, hoping to catch Quin B, but he was about 45 seconds up and we never got him. I and everyone else lost quite a bit of time behind slow traffic on lap 2.

Near the end I was far enough ahead of BZ that I didn't think he'd come by, but he sprinted past on the line and pushed me back one spot, into 8th. Interestingly, my lap times for both 1 and 2 were exactly the same, to the second.

Reed raced expert and had a good race, finishing 4th. Scott and Ian both raced. Scott had a good race, and Ian rode well despite a completely flat front tire that we aired up near the end of his two laps.

In a way, my 8th place was better than 7th anyway. This year Ed has been choosing a lucky number and if you finish in that position you get a prize, and the lucky number was 8, for which I scored a nice Kuhl beenie hat that will be great in the winter.

Memorial Day: Rain, Rain, Go Away.

2008-05-26T08:49:00.006-06:00

Had a nice ride Friday on a demo Titus Carbon Racer-X in Corner Canyon with Bp. Being more of a racer type, I'd build the bike differently (bars, tires, wheels, etc.), but I loved the stiff chassis and it would build up pretty light with racing components on it.

Saturday was a little colder in the AM when I rode, but I wasn't going long anyway because I was tired from Friday. PM Kim went riding and the kids did a little racing
(looks like Tanner is getting to the start a little late).

So today was the big day in Corner Canyon. I prepared yesterday by drinking lots of water, eating plenty of carbs, and loading up the car. I skipped the pre-day warmup ride with with intentions of doing a longish 45 minutes warm-up before the race. In the morning my fingers were a little swollen and legs felt "packed", which I think is a sign of good hydration and primed to go ... but it was raining.

Scott and Ian were going to race no matter the weather, but they wisely spared the trails and cancelled (or at least postponed till Wednesday) the race. Expensive decision for Ed, but maybe Wednesday will work out. People here have put a lot of work into and are pretty sensitive about beating up the trails, so I commend his decision, but it had to be tough. Personally, I felt a bit let down not to race, but didn't really want to do 2.5-3 hours in the 42 degree rain anyway.

VR aint R

2008-05-20T20:25:00.004-06:00

My ride this morning wasn't interesting to talk about - 2x20 threshold off road climbing in the backyard after 1 hr warm-up. It was, however, a great ride. It was a nice morning with perfect temps and fun music on the MP3 player.

Maybe the experience would be captured by a better author, but I doubt it. I could take a picture, but it'd just look like another picture of the valley.

Many times while biking or skiing the tumblers fall into place and jackpot. Maybe its the view, maybe the weather, maybe all the above. Occasionally the search for these moments can be taken too far (a guy crashed his paraglider behind the house yesterday) but it needn't be so.

My
dad spent the past weekend at the Larry Miller Sports Park watching the LeMans races, looking at the cars, etc. He came back here in the evening on Saturday and, while looking at some race info on the internet, commented, "You know, you can look at the pictures on the internet, but without the speed, the noise, and the atmosphere, it just doesn't capture it."

Jim Rogers mentioned in his book that he felt the Taj Mahal and the Ayers Rock (in Australia) should never be photographed because the pictures don't do the real items any justice.
Of course they have been photographed. I looked them up on the internet and I guess looked cool, but I wouldn't call my internet search a memorable experience. Sometime I'll just have to go see them, I guess.

Soldier Hollow

2008-05-17T18:04:00.004-06:00

I think it was two years ago that I showed up at Hurricane and got killed by Holley and Bp. I resolved then and there to fix things.

I laminated the race-results (times) onto a little card and I carried it everywhere with me in my pocket. The (successful) intent was to remind/inspire me to train more. I trained so much that at 5 mile I finished a dismal 9th (expert) and continued to suffer, not posting a good race till mid-July at Snowbird.

I learned two things that year. The first was that motivation just isn't one of my problems -- and never really has been. Just one of those things, I guess. The second was that it is easy to grasp at fitness with such force that you just strangle and kill it.

At 5 mile this year, my average HR for the single lap I did was about 158. It has been crazy low for a couple months. I also was feeling terrible whenever I'd step up the intensity, so I was trying to build base hoping the good feelings would come back, but there were not.

I thought about 2006, and concluded that my problem was probably a combination of:
1) My fitness was really good in December
2) In January and February I was really busy with work and the weather was lousy, so my training was both sporadic and poor quality
3) I came out of February ready to train hard
4) Ramped the volume back up too fast and killed my legs
5) Tried to cut a little weight at the same time as 4, and double-killed my legs

With this in mind, I cut ALL of my big rides, and have been doing short rides with intervals several days a week. I planned to keep the rides short until my HR has returned to my normal ranges. Seems like it has worked.

The first couple rides were not much fun because the intensity was uncomfortable and short rides just don't provide the satisfaction of the big ones, but I've been feeling better and better. My power is still not back to January 1 levels (sad), but today at the race I felt fine and started OK.

I raced with KDay on my tail for a while. He eventually caught me and moved on up pretty quickly. At the end of the second lap I Bp and KDay were not far in front of me, and I was feeling fine, but my arms(?) were getting quite tired and I was getting distracted.

On the third lap things didn't go so well. I dropped my bottle on an early downhill and had to stop and run back up the hill to get it. I also dropped my chain and had to put it back on. Then, near the end of the lap, I started cramping big time and that was really it. I slowed down and got rid of the cramps, but I lost another position or 2, falling back to 9th/15. A lot of people talk about salt and dehydration, etc. relative to cramps, and I did lose about 5-6 lbs during the race so I don't think I drank enough, but my experience has been that cramps are primarily correlated to fitness (or lack thereof). I hardly had any cramping issues last year when I was stronger.

Ah well. I'm really satisfied with today's race because I felt pretty good for most of the race and it seems like for now I'm on the right track again.

Besides, I had a heavier rear tire on today, and if I'd had a light one, I'm sure I'd have taken Bart for the win (uh huh).

Live long and prosper

2008-05-09T09:19:00.000-06:00

Coincidentally, I've recently listened to a book and a radio talk show that both consider how to avoid the inevitable...getting old.

In Orson Scott Card's The Worthing Saga, man discovers a means to live in near perpetuity by sleeping for long periods of time. During these times, the sleeper's memory is removed and stored, and the body is kept in a hibernating state by means of "soma". When the person is waked, their memory is re-inserted and they are not a day older than when they went to sleep.

Everyone wants to become a sleeper and live forever. A social hierarchy develops as soma is handed out as a privilage for the social elite. Although years on soma does indeed enable a few to escape time's fingerprints, they find themselves disconnected from society as everything they find comfortable and everyone they know and care about passes away while the sleeper lives on. In finding eternal life, they find they aren't living.

The second of these was a radio-west program in which the host interviewed Dr. Harry Lodge (I can send you a download link if you email me). Dr. Lodge discusses what scientific research has been telling us about "getting old" and retirement.

According to Lodge, our bodies evolved to support two basic modes -- times of vigor in which we hunt, eat, get stronger, and repeat (historically summer), and times of regression when food is scarce, activity is moderated to very low levels, and our bodies slowly degrade, trying to extend our life (through winter) until the next opportunity for a time of vigor.

The interesting part is his conclusion that our bodies interpret periods of inactivity as a regression period. Hence, our bodies conserve calories (we gain weight), and we slowly metabolize away our muscles because lean body mass requires more metabolic energy than fat. Additionally, we feel tired and depressed as our bodies warn us not to do anything as that would waste energy.

On the other hand, our bodies read periods of exercise and activity as a time of bounty. We feel energized , happy, and alive as our mind and body is prepped for "the hunt." Our muscles grow stronger, our bones grow denser, and our mood improves.

Dr. Lodge then contends that what we typically associate with retirement, ie. rest and inactivity, is the worst thing we could possibly do as we age. Most of the symptoms that we associate with old age such as weight gain, diabetes, fatigue, memory loss, depression, etc. are significantly exacerbated by inactivity.

With modern medicine, we don't die much earlier if we aren't healthy...we just live on for years and years in a state of corporal decline. His mission, then, is to encourage people to live fuller, healthier lives until shortly before we die, with the end coming in a matter of months rather than years when our time has come.

What's the point? It is tempting to think rest will make us feel better when we don't feel well and retirement will be our rest from the cares and worries of the world. Our bodies push us to rest whenever we can, and this system worked when food was scarce and staying alive meant conservation in all but the most bounteous times, but in our modern world food isn't scarce and we don't have predators hunting us down. We just aren't forced into the physical activity, but it is absolutely required by our bodies to live happy, healthy, lives.

In other words, if you want to live life, don't just sleep through it. Go ride (and go faster than I did at 5 Mile).

The rest of the story

2008-04-15T17:17:00.007-06:00

I had to wait a few days for pictures (Kim had the camera in Vegas) and times to be published before I posted a real report on Hurricane.

Thomas Monson likes to quote the old saying, "When the time for action has come, the time for preparation is passed."

And so it has.

About a week ago I decided to sell my motorcycle and get a different one. So Friday morning some guys from Brazil (who live in Park City) came over to have a look. They came first thing and I figured I'd drive down to Hurricane after they left. Well, they bought the bike, but didn't have the money in hand. So I waited while they went to the bank. They returned, payed, I signed the title, and they wanted it in the back of their truck. 500 lbs of bike is a lot to lift, so they decided to back the truck up to the grassy slope by the house to get the bike up closer to the tailgate. Additionally, they weren't very comfortable riding the bike, so I said I ride it up the grassy slope and down into the truck. Well, it had snowed a bit Thursday night and, to make a long story short, I slid out of the ice-slicked grassy hill and busted up the fairing, windshield, etc. Dumb.

I took them down to the shop and we ordered the parts for them, but then they decided it was a bad omen and they didn't want it anymore, and I felt bad for them (especially since I actually crashed it), and I gave them their money and now I have a broken-up bike and parts on order.

I was pretty upset with myself for doing something so dumb, and by now it was too late to leave for a pre-ride. So I went for a ride here in Draper, and did a climb that normally took me about 5:15 last summer, and it took me 5:45, so I knew I wasn't going very fast. I'd pretty much given up the idea of racing, but I had already packed so after waiting for the kids to get home from their various Friday activities and dinner, we left for Hurricane.

We arrived in Hurricane at about 2 am. Kim drove most of the way while I slept, so even after setting up the tents and making it a really late night (especially for an early sleeper like me), I felt quite good in the morning. We had a great time camping and apparently our late arrival had some benefits.

Friday evening had been a near-hurricane in Hurricane, and everyone I talked with who had pre-ridden the course hated it. Additionally, they couldn't sleep in the gale. We missed all that, had a great time camping, and the weather Saturday AM was great.

Based on previous years, I really didn't have high expectations for the course, especially after talking with the pre-riders, and it turned out fine. For pre-riding in gale-force winds, the course would have been miserable. Near the end there was about 8 minutes worth of riding near the end that was sandy, gravel, or super-rough downhill. That is probably all anyone could remember after Friday, but after the first lap I knew how short the gravel was and it became a "who cares?" sort of thing. The first half was actually kind of fun for racing, and the rough stuff is kinda...mountain biking.

I actually felt quite good and enjoyed the race a lot except that I was by myself the whole time. There was a rider behind me for a bit at the start of the 2nd lap that I thought was my class, but he must have been an expert. I passed one guy near the end of the same lap, as he started to explode. Apparently he DNF'd. I thought I was sort of mid-pack, and expected I might even catch a few riders on the last lap.

It wasn't even close.

The only time I saw on the board was the winning time of Chris Holley at about 15 minutes ahead of me. Considering I rode less than 2:30, that isn't just a loss, it's a slaughter. I was so disgusted I just went for a ride with Ian, then packed and left. It would be one thing to say, "well, I had a bad day, I'm really much faster than that" but, really, I felt fine...good even.

From Hurricane, Kim took most of the kids to visit family in Vegas, and Scott and I rode back with Reed.

Now that the times have been published, I see that my time was still better than any of the experts, so I really shouldn't feel too bad about it (I knew none had caught me, but wondered about the staging gap). It is rare that the last pro finisher beats the first expert.

Frankly, I knew my pre-season preparation wasn't great leading into this race, but it showed more than I expected. It is easy to talk relaxed, "Ah, training not going well, don't expect much, don't care about results, blah, blah, blah," but we always line up hoping to win, or at least ride a great race. Competition is motivating, and even if you know there are some good reasons, it is disappointing to not finish well.

Hurrijoke

2008-04-12T20:57:00.001-06:00

All I have to say after this one...

Hot-Wired

2008-03-15T21:25:00.003-06:00

We're all wired this way.

Usually it is good, filtering out the clutter, but occasionally it catches us. A few years ago I was hit broadside by a young woman who was turning left into a parking lot. There was nothing unusual about the situation except that I wasn't a car.

Late last fall an older woman passed me from behind and then turned right immediately in front of me. I don't know if she signaled because she wasn't even past me when she turned. I swerved and missed her. I asked (a bit louder than usual) what she was doing. "I didn't see you," she lamented. I was right there, but again, I wasn't a car.

We tune our habits to our most common experiences. I nearly hit a motorcycle as I changed lanes about 1 year ago. He was riding in my blind spot, I looked back, but I didn't see/notice him. It bothered me so I added a wide-view mirror to my side mirror. Honestly, I'm not sure it would have helped.

Since then I've tried to be more aware of it. I think this would have helped.

Gearing up

2008-03-08T15:39:00.005-07:00

My training was back in gear this week. Not overly-aggressive, but a solid week according to plan, despite some sub-freezing rides.

The kids and I went to Brighton yesterday evening. Night skiing takes on a whole new meaning this time of year -- especially this year after tomorrow with the daylight savings switch. Everyone stayed warm and happy. We had a ball skiing and then enjoyed hot cocoa sitting on the tailgate of the car after everyone had tired out.

Today I rode up American Fork canyon to the snow-machine parking lot. It was lightly snowing off and on in the canyon, and I had to go around rather than over Suncrest on the way home to avoid a squall, but I successfully avoided any kind of drenching. AF canyon was quiet with almost no traffic, and the road is barely two lanes. I wondered how long it has been since Little and Big Cottonwood canyons have felt like that.

Salt City Circle

2008-03-01T20:56:00.003-07:00

I was supposed to race St. George today. I love that race. In the expert class I was had a long lead in '05 and '06 when I lost to mechanicals, and I won it last year. With anticipation I took yesterday off work to drive down, but by Thursday night no one was going with me and I was doubting whether it was really worth the 10 hours of driving. Normally I'd get a good camping trip with the family out of the deal, or at least camping with friends, but not so this year.

Added to these thoughts was the fact that I haven't felt very good on the bike this year. I just haven't had much zip (or enthusiasm). I was looking at 2+ hours of wishing I could keep up with the other pros.

The clincher was my wheels (get it?) -- I didn't really have a bike ready. Friday morning I pulled the front tire off to No-Tubes it, and it took a couple hours to get it to inflate. When I finally got it inflated, it was leaking around the spoke holes because the rim tape wasn't sealing.

Additionally, the back wheel had a broken spoke. The I-9 wheels use their own spokes, and although I had a couple, the rear hub is asymmetric, and I don't have anymore for the drive side.

Anyway, 1+1+1+1=0 and I didn't go, instead fixing some things around the house and then riding for 3 hours. Then today, I rode for 5 more hours. I rode around the city.

House-Kennicot. Kennicot-Airport. Airport-U of U. U of U back to house. The weather was very windy but warm and I enjoyed the ride. I thought about and slightly envied the guys in St. George, but I made the right choice. I wasn't ready to race, and I needed some solid training efforts. Funny how one can feel a bit tired and slow, do eight hours of exercise, and feel rejuvenated.

I also got to spend last night with Kim on a date and spend this afternoon on a daddy-daughter date with Heidi.

So it turned out great.

Avalanche

2008-02-26T17:10:00.004-07:00

One of my close friends was caught today. He didn't lose his life, but just as easily could have, and he did lose his gear.

He had a beacon and shovel, and was in a group, three of whom took a long ride. He has an avalung, but couldn't get it in, and he stopped with enough snow packed into his mouth that he was wretching and has a sore throat.

If you look closely you can see where they were traversing when it slid.

They recognized the danger, but didn't act on it -- ignored the data. The bad thing is we all do it sometimes. Usually we get away with it, but occasionally not.

Lip Puffer

2008-02-23T21:55:00.003-07:00

Revolution had a two-hour no-drop group ride this morning. I met everyone at the shop, but opted out of the wet-road ride. By 1, when I actually rode, it was sunny and dry -- nice riding.

I rode out past Harriman, and passed a ramp park. There were easily 50 kids there, lots on bikes, and others on boards. It was fun to see everyone out enjoying the day.

Turns out lip-puffer works on more than just lips:

Cycling Winter 2008

2008-02-22T15:21:00.002-07:00

Pretty much how it goes:

Nice view

2008-02-19T20:05:00.003-07:00

Here is a picture of my tracks, taken from our living room...

Going Down

2008-02-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

I like back-country skiing. Many of my back-country friends have all but sworn off ski resorts. A few think one should earn every turn. Some self-label themselves as "snow-snobs".

Yup, I like back-country, but I like resorts, too. Today at Alta I did just under 21,000 ft. of vertical in 3:20. 98% off-trail, 95% soft, loamy snow. No one can do that hiking.

Ski at Home

2008-01-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I couldn't bear the thought of another movie in front of the trainer, so I decided to try something different -- I skied up the mountain behind our house.

I literally put my skis on in the driveway and started climbing. One might suppose the skiing would be terrible, and it was, but not because the hill is bad or even due to the sage-brush poking through everywhere. In fact, the hill is just over 1000 feet of vert, and the slope is consistent (though I haven't measured the grade yet).

Actually, the problem was the 45 degree weather, which formed up a serious 2 inch crust over softer but super heavy junk snow. Tough skiing but the climb was really fun and I'm hoping the forecasted Sunday snow storm will yield a few genuinely good turns.

Today was sunny and warm enough that Bp, Toni, and I got out for a few hours on the bike. They were on the tandem, which is a fast setup as long as the grade isn't much above 2%. I spent most of the time wandering left and right, in and out of the edge of their draft, regulating the drag so that their pace would put me at my desired effort.