STUPIDBIKE

I'm a bit tired and sore.

2011-11-28T09:39:00.002-07:00

But not as sore as Mark.

I think I have ridden about 12 of the last 14 days, 2 of those days were CX races, the rest were MTB rides on the Shoreline up by the U and one MTB jaunt in Corner Canyon yesterday.

The CX race on the 19th at Wheeler was a bit rough on me, took 8th in a strong field. I just didn't have any pop in my legs. Feeling like the fumes of the MTB season had finally disappeared. I did get the debut the new super hero suit though. Plus it was muddy, which is always good fun. I remain 3rd in the SS standings, but expect that will disappear by the end of the season (2 races left)

Wednesday night we went to Pie Night at a Canadian friends, mmmm Pie, it was good. Thursday Lyna and I both got out on the shoreline, i rode with Erik H for a bit, then with Lyna, before I went home and started our small thanksgiving dinner. MMMMM turkey.

Saturday was Clammy Cross down Merkin Fark way. Team was kind enough to 'sponsor' the series in a small way. I headed down early to set up the team tent, and proceeded to snap 2 pieces of the frame. Yay me.

photo credit - Flahute

The course was a fun one, Parking lot start, short service road to woods, downed log crossing, steep pitch, up a cart path, high speed singletrack traverse, with hidden rocks, followed by a highspeed singletrack descent with more hidden rocks, multiple 180's in the grass, then back into the woods for the BMX section. Back onto the grass for a few straightaways the intermittent 5 barrier section (seriously Josh, WTF is up with your brutal barrier ideas. 5 in a row...... the 5th one being far enough away to make one wonder if getting back on the bike was worth it (it was) and at Friday night lights i had to dismount 33 times) Ok, other than that. I love d the course.

I lined up on the 2nd row. Cause I don't want to get in anyone's way. I proceed to be almost last going into the dirt. At the top of the climb, I am in about 5th or 6th, I stay in that spot till the end of lap one when i move up to 2nd. On the 2nd climb, Chris gets by me and Stewart, Rick and Rich are close behind me. I start gaining on Stewart on every section but the climb and he pulls away on the climb. On lap 4, I think, I get past him on the grass before the barriers, he comes by me again on the climb, next time in the grass before the barriers, I go past him and gap him, next thing I see him in the pit pumping up his tire. Chris is about a minute ahead the rest of the race, he was crushing the climb. Rich hovers between 20-40 seconds behind me, making up time on the climb, but, i gained time on the other sections. Ended up 2nd, which was unexpected, but damn it hurt, a lot. We did 9 laps, which took me about 66 minutes. Chris probably took 60. Lyna did not have much fun in the race, time for some time off the bike for her. Sunday E-Pow, Kathy, Chris, Mark, Alex, Ahmi, sally and I hit the CC trails, from the EQ to potato hill, out Annes, out to the air park and back, Awesome trail conditions, a bit of packed snow in sections on annes, no mud at all. Good times.

Golf Course CX

2011-11-14T10:01:00.005-07:00

The week post 24/5 Hour races are brutal, whether you raced or supported, you are blown and have about 8 tons of shit to unpack, wash and organize. Lyna and I got through that as best we could. Friday am was a meeting up PC way in regards to 2012 RaceUSCS races.

Friday afternoon I got in a short spin on the Shoreline, which I though might be the last of the season.

Saturdays forecast was looking a bit rough. Not only that, but racing SS on a CX course with a 175 foot climb with 8%+ grades makes one wonder whether or not they should change the rear cog out for a bigger one, well, that is too much like work and the 2010 version I was able to make the climbs, so up to Ogden I went.

When I arrived the wind was whipping and some rain was falling. I set up the team tent and went and spoke with Matt and Greyson, who informed me that contrary to their intent, the climb was routed straight up the fairway, which meant 10%+ grades.

I went out and rode a lap on my geared bike, the climb was ride-able on it. I expected it wouldn't be on the SS. Also, the course was getting sloppier and sloppier, mmmm, fun.

I ended up without much of a Warm up, too much socializing. Oh well, I got to the start right on time, got my call up and proceeded to flub getting into the pedals. I was off the back from the gun, luckily (for the time being) my gearing helped me get back to the front 5 before the climb.

The Climb, wow, talk about a selection maker. I was able to ride about halfway up the steep part, and then I ran/walked to where i would remount.

The thing was, I don't know if it would of been faster to dismount sooner, and then the remount area was confusing, as the grass was soaked and soft and getting back up to speed was difficult, and then there was one more short, steep section to ride over. Suffice it to say, that if you were geared in such a way that you could ride all of the climb, you won. Joe was, and Did.

The photo is me, doing it wrong up the BITCH somewhere in the middle of the race.

This section about 2.3rd's of the way into the course was tricky, muddy with potholes and ruts.

Here I am, with the winner, on lap 1.

Oddly enough, I stayed upright the whole race. I may have been to conservative, but on the bike is significantly faster than on your ass. I think maybe if I wouldn't of flubbed the start, I may have been able to be 4th or 5th, putting people on the ropes early can change things in the end. It did for me, I was on the ropes early and dug way too deep to come off, which hurt me on the last few laps.

By the Time Lyna raced it was snowing and sticking, making it a different type of slippery, she fell victim to the evil slip and slide on lap one, losing several places as a result. She rode her MTB, which was good on the climb, but maybe not so good everywhere else, 6's in the end.

We both finished 7th. And had fun.

Sunday, after some laziness and a costco trip, I headed out on the Hardtail for a recon mission on the shoreline. the Zoo climb, all the way up to roller coaster were firm, with 1 sloppy section.

So there is dry dirt available for a bit more. YAY!!!!!!

Hurkin, Laverkin

2011-11-07T09:45:00.002-07:00

This past weekend, I spent 4 days and 3 nights in the Desert southwest of Virgin, Utah. In the shadow of Gooseberry Mesa and Zion. I arrived early to set up the Team base camp for the 25 hours of Frog Hollow. The pups came down with me, along with a few thousand pounds of tents, tables, stoves, heaters and food. I got the camp partially complete and went off on a ride of the course. Same course as the 6 hour race giggly fun. The temps were in the high 60's and it was a bit windy, a front was moving in. After teh ride, I got some more of the camp put together and went ino hurkin for alame dinner, back to camp for bedtime.

Friday, I woke up, temps were a bit cooler, in the 50's, but the wind was whipping. Went back into hurkin for a great breakfast and then hung out with Quentin and DJ at Over the Edge for a bit. Went back and finished putting the camp together and went out for another ride on course. Ty, Brooke and Drew showed up, along with Chad and Stacey, so we went for yet another lap on the course. Too much fun. The wind was still blowing. Lyna and Sally and Ellen and Ste[phanie and Leslie and Whitney all showed up as well, several of us went into Hurkin for mexican, came back to camp (half of the teams stayed in motels or homes the night before the race) About 11pm it started raining and the wind was still howling.

BTW, i was not racing, I was supporting, 2 4 women teams and a Duo male team.

I woke up around 7:30, the rain stopped for about an hour, the temps dropped to the low 40's, the wind picked up and then around 9 it started snowing. The race started at 10 and it was looking bad. Miraculously at 9:30 the clouds started to break and at 9:45 the snow stopped falling and the race was on. Very little mud on the racers coming in from the first lap, the course was pure hero dirt.

the rest of the day was spent shepherding racers to and from transition, heckling racers, hanging out in the tent. The wind was brutal, even though the temps were in the low 50's the wind made it freezing out of the tent and the riders had to climb into the wind. Chad and I went out and did a lap with Ty in the afternoon, boy was it cold.

Ty and Drew gradually built a lead in the Duo male category. The 2 Revolution ladies teams were pretty close (they were the only womens teams) sometime in the afternoon, disaster struck for the Knobby Knymphs, Jennie double flatted and needed a teammate to come out to rescue her, losing 40 minutes in the process. So the Fast & Dirty girls had a large lead.

Finally as night fell, the wind died to nothing and even though the temps dropped, it seemed much warmer. I helped everyone with their lights and other needs, Lyna flatted on her first night lap, but still pulled a 1:30 time, even with going through 2 Co2s and having some light malfunctions.

Ty and Drew were stilling hammering it out and growing their lead. Chad did a night lap with Drew and I took 2 four hour naps, separated by an hour.

I got up Sunday am around 7, checked in to be sure everyone was ok and Drew was getting ready to go out on his last lap (23rd for the team) and asked if I wanted to ride it with him, I said sure, and thought I had an hour to get ready, had some pancakes and coffee, went to change and got back to the tent and Ty was back, So I went out to chase Drew down, I had to go XC pace to catch him on the dirt road leading to the Hurricane Rim bathroom. We rode the lap out and I decided to go out on Ty's last lap with him as well.

Meanwhile, the Fast & Dirty Girls had a 3 lap 'cushion' and after Sally went out on her 5th lap, no one really wanted to go out a gain, Leslie was filling sick, Whitney was blown and Lyna was sleepy, however, Lyna, being stubborn as she is went out for her 6th and the teams 20th lap. She went out 15 minutes before Ty and I and we saw her a few times in the distance a few times toward the middle of the lap, but she pulled away at the end and finished around 15 minutes before Ty did.

Ty made it in at a bout 1 minute to 10am, meaning, they could of gone out for a 25thlap, however, 24 was their goal and they had a 3 lap cushion, so they called it for the W, The Fast & Dirty Girls got the W as well.

We teamed up to break camp in record time, Hung out for the podium and headed home.

Great weekend in the Desert. Fun and inspiring. Awesome to see Dave Byers crush it for 20 laps and 2nd place. Always great to see the Southern Utah peeps, Kim and Danny, DJ and Quentin, Cim and Bryce, Lynda and Dave, Fixie and all others.

The Frog Hollow race had over 250 participants, which, I believe is as many as the 'National Championship' 24 hour race back in October. They also had more out of State participants than that 'Championship' race. USAC what's up with that?!?!?!?

oooh, photos found.

2011-11-01T13:54:00.003-06:00

Be thankful I didn't buy the high resolution versions.

Double CX in Utah

2011-10-31T14:34:00.003-06:00

Interesting Phenomena the Double CX weekend in Utah, almost 500 racers Saturday, about half as many Sunday. Commitment check everyone, come on.....

I dressed up for Saturdays SS race, luckily no one got good photo evidence of my hotness, so it will just have to be stuff of legend. I was still not feeling 100%, but i got a good start in 2nd wheel, Rico kept playing with us for half the race, stopping by the side of the trail, trying to pull me back to the group, etc.... I picked of someone halfway through the race and stayed in that position. 6th Place. One more lap I may have been able to move up a place.

Saturday night Lyna went a watched Real Salt Lake Dominate Seattle, good fun.

Sunday started with some good soreness. I set up the team camp with help and got in 1 lap of the course and then warmed up on the trainer. The Single Speed field was about the same size as the day before, with a slightly different cast of characters. Mikey got the hole shot, followed by Jay and I, into the sand, Jay dabs and Mikey gets a gap. Jay and I stick together for a bit, On lap 2 I go to the front of Mikey and we trade the lead a few times, later Chris comes around and puts in quite a gap, for the rest of the race, until the final lap (4) i was mostly alone, with glimpses of jay every now and then. On lap 4 he was closing on me. Coming up the hill by the bridge he was right with me, so i just went hard enough and then by the bathroom put the hammer down for the sprint. Ok, not so much a hammer. I barely held him off, maybe half a wheel, ouch, that hurt. He had a bit less gear inches than me which made it harder for him to get through that sand and harder for me to hold him off in our sprint. Dang that hurt, a lot. I like finishing with large gaps between me and others, so i can coast.

Lyna had a great weekend of racing again.

5th on Saturday after her normal anti aggressive start in the back of the pack.

3rd on Sunday after a bit more assertive a start (we discussed how important the start is at length Saturday on the way to the game) and stopping on the last lap to help Gigi get on her bike.

I'm a bit sore again, but it was too much fun.

I am quite ignorant, stupid, obsessive, etc......

2011-10-24T10:36:00.003-06:00

But I have fun.....

Last week was a quick 2 nighter to NYC for Executive project reviews. I didn't even get to go for a nice dinner in the village or to magnolias, cause the day I coulda, I felt like crap and slept from the time i left the office till 8, Had some soup and went back to sleep. I did watch how to train your dragon. Felt better on Thursday am, met with execs, headed to JFK and got to sit on a plane for 5 hours. Got home, not feeling great, decided to sleep in Friday, felt better.

this is getting familiar sounding.

Friday evening I headed to Wheeler Historic farm and helped the UTCX crew remove goatheads from large portions of the course. It was fun hanging out with Matt, Seth, Bryson and others. I then decided I should head down to Merkin Fark to support Josh and his fledgling CX series. I was coughing a bit, but not too bad and I figured a good hard effort would blow the lungs out for Saturdays UTCX race.

Well the turn out was a bit small, only 2 B racers so they combined with the A's and we had 12 at the start, which was 9:30 PM. I was riding my geared bike, which I had just set up as a 1x9. The course was short, @5 minute lap times. A set of 4 Barriers, A single barrier and a run up per lap. This was not a good thing for me in the long 'run'.

I got a mid pack start and just tried to keep it steady. The 4 pack barriers ate y lunch the whole time. The longer straight aways helped me keep my placing. Adam flatted, Rick Flatted and Mark faded. And the 3 or 4 ahead me, after @30 minutes never gapped me more or never came back, so I was mostly alone, 3 laps to go, Mark was on my wheel, so I musta faded a bit, so i punched it a bit and gapped him again. Not sure where I place, I think 5th, no matter, I blew my lungs out. Post race I finally met the Rabid clan, face to face, which is always fun/awkward, right :) I then went to the truck to change and had a painful coughing fit. Oh great......

Of note is the fact we did 11 laps, 3 dismounts per lap, ouch, my legs were fried.

Got home @11:45. showered, went to bed, up and at em early Saturday for a Cross out Cancer at Wheeler Farm.

This event is about more than Cyclocross, it raises money for Cancer research (It also raises money for Livestrong, but I have a serious problem with Livestrong, I know they do good, but I think they also confuse their For Profit arm with their non profit arm, on purpose) So The Huntsman Cancer Foundation is my go to charity.

Huge Turnout at Wheeler farm, I set up the Team tent and basecamp near the start finish. My legs were super sore form the 33 dismounts the night before, so I set up my trainer and get a good warm up in. I talk Steven into letting the Single Speed category start before the B's, since we usually pass all but the top 5 B's every race and there were 50+ of them and only 20 or so of us. I am 4th in the series so i get a good call up and a good start, running, um 4th. Jess comes around me and a nopther rider on lap one and we are 4-6. Jess gets a bit slower in the tech stuff, so other rider and I get around him quickly.

I love the wheeler course, fast, fun singletrack, a sand section, that some can't ride, this year there is a downed tree at the end of that section, mandatory dismount for most, and it hurt a lot.

We did only 4 laps, casue the course was pretty long, half way through the race, Daren and Boffeli (who was riding his MTB and clearing that damned log) get by me and i am barely hanging on. I end up 8th and hold onto my 4th overall.

Lyna had a great race for 6th in the B women riding her MTB on a course that contrary to popular belief does not play to a MTB well.

Spent the rest of the day heckling and helping the crew break camp.

I was super beat, but Lyna and I then went to the Real Salt Lake game, which was fun.

Sunday was a planned team ride on the Mill D loop of the Wasatch Crest. Lyna, Jen, Sally, Erika, Shannon, Ken, Jake and I. I felt like crap at the start, of course, but kept going, slowly. The ride was awesome. very little mud, some snow, giggly good times. Likely the last Crest ride till July of 2012.

Sunday evening Lyna and I went to her co-workers apt for some Sri Lankan food, mmmmmmmm good.

I am beat, still sick and really, I don't care, it 3was a fun, Very Full weekend.

Next weekend is a Double CX weekend at wheeler, I hope to feel better before then.....

Oh, it seems to be travel season again. And Cyclocross.

2011-10-17T10:12:00.004-06:00

Last week I started the annual Fall work travel season, with a trip to Norwood, Ma. Haven't been to Norwood in like 5 years, it hasn't changed. Chose to fly into PVD instead of BOS, brilliant planning, small easy interstate access airport. Yet, the travel from the gate to the rental car counter was a very........... long.............. trip............. alas, got my Ford Focus and headed north to Norwood, I stayed the last noight of the trip at a hotel right next to PVD, as I had a 6am flight. Luckily, my high school best friend lives in Providence with his wife and kids, and we ended up meeting for dinner. Ironies of ironies is that when we were figuring out where to meet, he asked if i drove under the sky bridge to find my hotel, I said, of course, that freaking long ass one?? He said, 'I designed that' (he is an architect) Of course he did :) It was great catching up with him, hadn't seen him in about 15 years.

So i got home around 1pm Friday, and went to sleep. Lyna got home from work, sick, so she was out for the Weber Fairgrounds CX race.

I skipped Weber Fairgrounds last year, I may have been out of town, but didn't lament it. Some people claim it to be their favorite. I don't hate it, but the long straights are not great for me in general, and then add that to racing single speed and i am usually suffering for back o pack there.

I got a good start into the first corners and settled into the top 8 or so, the first section is twisty with lot of wide 180's, braking is not required usually here, but in a tight group, well, they brake, you brake. 1st log is easy to clear without a dismoutn, quikcly followed by a triple log, that is a required dismount for 99.9% of us. Then ther is a bunch more twisty's followed by a log that is easy to think you can jump it. Ryan A cleared it on lap one, Bo P tried right in front of me and didn't (he went on to win) So, i had a log, Bo and Bo's bike to clear, which i did. The lap was short (Actually all but 2 of my laps were either 6:26 or 6:25)

Chris C., Nate D. and I then traded spots for a few laps, till I put a small gap on them, I then made my way through several B's until Cody H and Jay B were a few turns ahead. Never was able to catch them though and endd up 6th, which for me, on that course, is good.

Sunday was a Team ride up PC way. Up Armstrong, over Mid Mountain Down Ambush, Rob' sad Rosebud, it was prime colors and conditions.

Tomorrow Evening I fly back east for a few days, NYC this time, great.

Saturday is the 2nd annual CX out Cancer at wheeler farm. Rabid, they even have a 5k before the Bike racing begins. Go here to donate to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation.

Speaking of Rabid, she sent a care package to my office.

Fall Fitness?????

2011-10-10T23:07:00.004-06:00

So after last weeks MTB/CX race double I didn't ride a bike until a brief outing with Lyna on Friday evening. Inside ones head, one thinks, I must ride to race, but insides ones soul one realizes, rest+cookies+movies=faster. It does, honest.

So Fort Buenventura is by far my favorite UTCX course . I have always had good results there, partially due to the technical nature of the course, twisty, turny and rocky and usually muddy or icy. Good times. Good enough that when late Friday evening I found the 2nd pair of pedals that had not been sent back to Crank Brothers for a spa treatment, and discovered my geared CX bikes tires held air, i hatched a downright stupid scheme.

I shall race twice.

1st being my usual SS race at 11:15. Followed by the 35+A race at 1:45.

I planned on not warming up and taking it kinda easy in the SS race so I'd have something left to a. heckle the women's races. 2. Race in the A group

In the SS race I was about 10th going into the 3rd turn, and then proceeded to pick people off one by one on the first lap. Cody H and I traded back and forth for a bit with Chris C close as well. I rode the river of Sand section 3 of the 5 times through only running it on lap 2 when i took a bad line and lap 5 when i lost the ability to think. Riding it was probably slower than running, but conserved massive energy. I felt like i was cruising over the barriers and hammering out of the 35,000 corners. In the end I took 4th, behind 3 guys who regularly crush the field. I also caught all but the top 8 of the B's who started a minute up. All without much of a warmup. But I did bury myself a few times, which is foreshadowing....

I then proceeded to heckle the ladies, mostly Mama T, I don't heckle Lyna, cause that wouldn't go well. SPeaking of Lyna, she had a great race, taking 3rd in B women. The winner was way off the front, halfway through the A's and the 2nd place was a few seconds up.

So, I line up with the 35+a's, no points, means back of pack start, which means being delayed around corners, after the 1st lap shake out I pass a few people and settle in. 25 or so minutes in, I start to gain on a few groups (who ended up being 6th-10th place), Then at about 35 minutes in, My system shuts down, I was able to fake it for a few more laps, but by the end I was crawling, walking the barriers and ended up DFL.

A double CX day isn't a bad idea, however when the first race is 40 minutes and you bury yourself, the 2nd, 60 minute race, likely won't go as well. Actually 4 laps into the 35+ A race the announcers said '5 Laps to go' and all I could think was 'we only did 5 laps in the SS race!!!!!'

Oh well, it'll make me faster, or not.

Grizz made a video, I'm in it a few times. Check it here.

Sunday, Ty-Bo and I did a 55 mile MTB ride, 4.5 hours, Well 40 of it was the ride to and from the trail head, but still. We met up with Lyna, Sally, Jen, Shannon and E-Pow in Draper and ripped some trail. My legs are shot.

Whoaaaa, Heyyyy

2011-10-03T09:48:00.008-06:00

(photo stolen from MTBRacenews.com)

I actually raced my bicycle this past weekend. In fact, I did it twice, or 4 times, dependent on your perspective.

The last month or so have been full of giggle rides, Alpine fun, night rides, etc... Oh a trip to London thrown in between.

So my good friend Jen and her buddy Jo planned on doing the 6 hours of frog Hollow race, so we finally talked Shannon into doing it Duo with me.

Shannon and I drove down together after my Thursday night dead battery and his Friday am bike rack incidents.

We got to the base camp near Virgin at @ 6:30. Jen and Jo had just finished a pre -ride, we set up camp, talked a bit and went to bed. Slept pretty well in the back of the truck, which was nice.

Shannon went first, since he wanted to ride on the same lap as Jen, so Jo and I hung out for a bit, then went and warmed up, Shannon had a rough first lap, but recovered enough to come in with only 3 people in front of him, I took off and passed one of them (newby) on the climb, had a blast and pulled out a lap time that ended up being the fastest on the day, totally unexpected.

Shannon passe the other 2 people on his 2nd lap (1 duo team and 1 solo) and from there we just kept rolling and growing the gap, we ended up as the fastest team, the only team close was a Duo coed team who ended up @17 minutes behind us.

Even better as the fact that Jen and Jo crushed it for the W in Duo women, Jen had the fastest female lap and Jo recovered from a 1st lap mechanical which had her running the last 1/2 mile.

Super fun day.

Afterwards, we collected our winnings, packed up and headed north. 4 hours in the car post race made for sore bones and muscles when I arrived home.

Lyna worked the UTCX registration table all day and still managed to pull off 4th in a strong Women's B group.

Sunday Morning came too early, I packed back up and headed to UTCX #2. I raced the single speed race, had a bad start a not so bad middle and end, but had no power available. I did keep it upright and had 'fun' and got myself some season points. Now i am tired and ready to sleep.

The best part of the weekend, as always, was hanging out with the community, seeing people from near and far, heckling, laughing and suffering together.

rough life we lead.

No racing report.

2011-08-29T11:13:00.003-06:00

Sorry Rabid, racing, for me at least, is on hold until Cyclocross starts. Well, except for one last race at the Solitude.

Speaking of Solitude, last week, I lined up with the 'Pro's' proceeded to get popped off the back on lap one, almost, quit, decided just to ride for fun, had fun, dropped my HR to 130 for lap 2 and 3 and finished '6th' (out of 7 starters, with one DNF (the DNF'er is the guy with the steak)) I did win 3 pro bars and a pair of sexy black Cannondale gloves in the raffle, so Yay me!!. I will attempt to not come in last tomorrow night, but if I do, oh well. Every year I say I am downgrading to the Expert group in the midweek, then I remember that, um, yeah, I'd rather be at the back of the fast guys group than in the front of the almost fast guys group. Not everyone feels this way apparently.

Last week I got an email from a local sports association, it went out to their whole list, which i'm on, since at one time i did a few of their events, seems like they want to help another group of organizers out, which sounds great, except, um, nevermind, I then got into a back and forth email discussion with the leader of said association. I may not have come across clearly, but i was only trying to warn them that they would get a negative response due to how they messaged the announcement. I was then called close minded and other things. I gave up.

Grizzly would have a blast with this, but he is busy eating carbs and wearing compassion socks.

So, i actually road my dirt bicycle 3 times this weekend. Friday evening Mill creek up to Canyons overlook and back with Ty, Twitchie, Carl, Lucy and Drew. Lights needed on the way down giggly fun. Repeat the lights needed on the way down Saturday with Ty and Drew on the Mill D loop. Sunday was a solo flyer up PC way, hooking up The new armstrong climb with many well used trails in a counter clockwise loop of giggles.

I did not pre ride any of the Point To Point course cause;

1. I am not racing it this year

b. I have never pre ridden any endurance course.

I will, however, be filling bottles with piss and vinegar at the silver lake feed zone saturday.

Conflict

2011-08-08T21:38:00.003-06:00

I was dreading August 6th, the race was to be hard and Amanda made it sound even harder. I was feeling fit and ready though and Lyna returned from Kentucky Wednesday, so Friday we packed up and headed to Grand Targhee. Drew and Ty both bailed, for separate reasons, so it was Boffeli and I doing the 100, Lyna doing the 50 and Jen playing photographer and support.

Friday even the 4 of us rode the Ricks Basin section and had giggly fun. Ate, talked, prepped bikes and fuel, and went to bed.

We stayed at the Sioux Lodge, which was about 100 yards from the start line, which was nice, Lyna and I got the bunk beds, she was on top.

4:30 am came and Shannon and I awoke and ate and headed to the start. The race was 4 25 mile laps (23ish actually) and started with a few mile service road climb, (succesive laps skipped this for single track. I went medium up this and was in the top 2oish, The Mill Creek descent followed and was a blast, I got by a few people on this and hooked up with the eventual 40+ winner. HE put a little gap on me on the pavement climbs, but i would bring him back on the single track descents. Bustle Creek climb was a brute, @4 miles of 18-20% climbing. I came through lap 1 in 2:10, feeling fresh and ahead of pace. I was in the top 20 and excited.

The pavement climbs on lap 2 started the descent of left knee pain and bustle creek on lap 2 put the nail in the coffin. The pain was too great.

Leg muscles - Check

Fuel - Check

Will - Check

Left Knee - fail

I adjusted the saddle, it helped for a bit, but no bueno.

So I bagged it, i had enough time to watch Lyna start the 50, and then watched all those I was racing close to come in to start lap 3. Showered, ate, lay down for a bit, and then went back out to cheer, support others.

Lyna had a great race and finished strong.

Great results for Team Revolution - Peak Fasteners.

Jenelle, 2nd Pro Women. Ellen 6th

Ryan 13th Pro Men.

Brandon (evil) Banks and Gordon Rust both finished at @ 15 hours, we had a large group of fans out their cheering them on and hugging and the like. That made my day. They had the races of the day for the team. That is burley. I am so happy for them.

My knee, i need to see an ortho and get it figured out. Is it overuse or is there damage? I need to know. Under 3 hours and it is fine. XC racing, no problem. I like XC racing, but. I love endurance racing.

I am kinda in a funk about it, or maybe it is the fact that i have no more goal races for the year, except Cyclocross, which is well under 3 hours a race.

I expect i will also be jettig across oceans for work again soon too, so that's great.

Well, that was 'fun'

2011-08-01T10:09:00.004-06:00

I spent most of the week in NYC, which means, not much sleep, overeating and no exercise. Ooh, I also got to go to the MLS All Star Game vs. Manchester United, that was good fun. It also meant less sleep, since it was in Jersey.

It could have meant even less sleep, since I was invited to the after party at the Highline Ballroom by my adidas eyewear contact (they sponsor RaceUSCS) This party included all the players. I made it to teh WTC Path station at midnight and decided to go to the hotel instead of the party, cause I'm lame, and old, and tired)

I got back to SLC late Thursday night, ironically, Lyna left SLC for Kentucky, early Thursday morning.

Anywho, Saturday was the ICUP finals at Snowbasin. I have only ridden the trails there once, 3 years ago for the 50k and did not get a chance to pre-ride. Waking up at 6am to drive up was brutal as well, cause I like to sleep till noon.

I planned on riding a lap to warm up, but, alas, I rode the first 2 miles of the course and turned around. Did a few efforts on the pavement and lined up for the start. Luckily, S-Day was there and accepted my offer of being my bottle handler, otherwise I was going to carry 3 bottles.

There were only 6 of us in Expert old guys (40+). I was happy the Chris B. lined up with us, always enjoy racing with him. Jason, Mark, Mikey and Alex joined the fun as well. We took off, wit Chris and I doing a literal Parade wave, then Alex took off, so I had to go to the front. Built my normal, it is just the start Bob gap and made it into the one track first, i ramped it back a bit and about 1 - 2 miles in Jason and Chris were closing on me. Right before Jason got on my wheel and we got stuck for a bit behind one of his team mates, my seat twisted to the left and then down, I rode it for a while, but it was bothersome, so about halfway into lap one, I pull over, catch my breath and raise and tighten my seat, Jason, Chris and several other category racers who i had passed earlier, get around me. As far as I can tell, i was stopped for about 90 seconds.

Here is where the mental game starts in a race. Feeling good, not red lined, at the front, something goes wrong, get it fixed, get going, one can easily give up and accept their current position. Immediatley upon restarting, i told my self "I am still going to win." I had 22 miles left, on a course I hadn't pre-ridden. I calmed myself and kept it steady on the remainder of lap 1. The descent to the lap zone was a bit brutal on lap one for me, I felt like my front suspension was blown, it wasn't, that DH was just rough, full of braking bumps and rocks.

Heading into lap 2 I could see Chris and Jason ahead, likely 1 minute or so up, so i kept pushing. Lap 2 the descent was a bit better, as I knew it and I was flowing a bit better.

Starting lap 3 I was a bit under a minute behind Jason and Chris. So, I started burying myself on the climbs and flats. Not yet taking risks on the descents. Towards the top I was about 5 seconds behind Chris, So on the descent, I started taking some risks, a bit into the descent he let me by and I tried to get him to get on my wheel, he said later he was not feeling it on the descent, I was. Getting close to the bottom, I could see Jason, 2 switchbacks ahead, then one ahead, on the run out to the beginning of the finish climb he was just about 5 seconds ahead, I completely went into and above the red to close the distance and about halfway up the finish climb I passed him and kept going, my legs were on the verge of cramping and if he would have had any surge left I would of been let in the dust, alas, he didn't and I crossed the line for the win about 3 seconds up on him. I have never buried my self like that at the end of a race before, likely cause i don't try hard enough, on Saturday I did and it paid off. My Heart Rate spiked above 190 on the finish. Scary.

Anything can happen in a race, just keep pushing. I tell people this all the time, amazing what you can do when you don't check out mentally.

The picture below is between the time Chris let me by abnd the bottom of the descent, i look kinda determined. At this point I had a repeating mantra in my head, 'Ima catch him, I'm gonna win!!!"

Chris Allaire Memorial - Solitude 2011

2011-07-24T23:16:00.004-06:00

The 2011 course was a good one, Thursdays pre ride had me smiling. I have always loved this venue, mostly cause Solitude rocks.

Lyna's race started at 8:30, so we got up there early. Hung out with Ryan at the tent. ot to see Scottie and Subie.

Lyna took the win in Sport women by 9.5 minutes, crushed it. So happy for her! Her first Sport Class win ever.

I got in a 30 minute warm up, for what i guessed was going to be a sub 1:45 effort. Not many people a this race, must be the holiday weekend, their loss. I took off kind of hard, wanting to get the hole shot, surprised by the gap i built, ramped it down a bit once I knew i would hit the one track first. Jason came by me on the Honeycomb road. I stuck with him and passed him back on the short paved service road. I held the lead through the lap zone and back up to honeycomb, where John came by me, I stuck with him for a lot of lap 2, but he could go faster on the medum grade climbs and we were pretty equal everywhere else. I lost site of him about 1/2 way through lap 3 and then saw Mikey coming up on me, so I punched it on the remaining climbs to gap him. I then rode the DH to the finish a bit off my limit, for safety's sake really. And finished like 10 seconds up on him, but he took a spill a few feet from the finish, so it woulda been more like 2 seconds.

Super happy with my result, considering the previous weeks pain and the race promoter training plan, which has precluded doing many hard XC efforts this year. 2nd is my Solitude theme as well. John had a reat day for his first expert win.

Sunday, Ty-Bo bailed on me, so instead of the planned Mill creek to Canyons and back ride, i drove up to PC and did Sweeneys-Johns-Johns99-Kings Rd-Keystone-Apex-Puke Hill-Crest- COnnector- Mid Mountain-CMG. Ran into Lyna, Sally and Theresa above puke hill and lunched with them post ride as well.

Great Weekend on the bike. Raced teh Flash 29er at the 'Tude and rode the AnthemX 29'er up in PC. No knee pain either, hmmmm.

Knees

2011-07-18T10:26:00.006-06:00

In 2003, i hired a cycling coach, I blame Ty and his ex. Said coach helped me reach my potential, (as much potential as a mid 30's hack who worked 40+ hours a week could reach). In 2003, I weighed 135. With clothes on. By 2005 my ideal 'race weight' was 147. That extra weight came in the form of muscle, mostly in my legs. Mostly from doing 12 week strength building sessions of Leg Presses (along with weekly maintenance in season) .

In 2009, I decided, as a 40+ racer, a coach wasn't needed, so I moved on, and, quit going to the gym.

The 2009 Laramie Enduro was my first endurance race in several years. And at the end of it, I found myself walking any climb with knee pain.

2010, I did a few more endurance races, Laramie, 12 Hours in Ky and The P2P, all sans knee pain, but i did do a whole lot of really really big rides to prepare.

2011, i had a pretty aggressive schedule. 12 hours of Mesa Verde, Bailey 100, Breckenridge 100, Pierres Hole 100.

Mesa Verde went great, until a lack of push ups ended my day, but no knee pain. Bailey was grand, tinges of knee pain on the last climb near the finish, but nothing horrible.

The Breck 100 is altogether another story. The start climb up the service road to Wheeler Pass is like starting a 100 miler withe the Widowmaker at snowbird. @ 3k feet in 6 miles, except that you are over 12k feet at the top and due to a lingering snow field, we had to scramble up a very steep rough/ loose dirt slope, tri-podding with one hand holding on to your bike, A fall would have been catastrophic. (see below)

I got pretty freaked out here, but made it up, only to be greeted by the infamous wheeler descent. This DH drops close to 3000 feet in a bit over 1 mile, it is super tight, rocky, muddy, wet with high exposure consequences to the left. Already being rattled from the scramble, I flailed this descent. I made down to the Bike path Connecting Copper Mountain Ski Resort to Frisco in one piece and for once was grateful for pavement.

I then hit the Peaks trail that went along the 10 mile range back to Breckenridge. I had a blast in this section, a nice rolling, sometimes technical trail. I passed Garth Prosser post crash here, who was not having a stellar day. I came in to the hub of all 3 loops at 3 hours and 2 0 minutes, feeling good.

Loop 2 was reported to be the most fun and the most challenging. Boffeli talked on and on before the race about the evil Little French Flume climb, I was actually able to ride almost all of it. I then descended a bit of fun one track and a long dirt road to the first aid station on Loop 2. I swapped bottles and took off up some fun singletrack climbs, except..... My knees were screaming at me. Any time the trail pitched up, they felt like a knife was being driven into the knee caps. I kept riding, slowly, up any climb, but at about mile 16 of loop 2 i had to start walking the climbs. (I am guessing at the mileage, cause at the start of the race, when I turned on my GPS, its battery was dead) So, about 18-20 miles to go in loop 2, only about 46 miles into the race and it hurts too much to climb. Anytime the course flattened out or went Down I was able to go mach 3, having fun and passing many of those who passed me while I was walking, only to have to walk again when it went up.

I made myself finish lap 2, and called it a day. After lap 1 I was in somewhere around 45th over all, by the end of lap 2, I was close to 175th over all. I went, showered and came back and did some 'reporting' for MTBRacenews.

So, I can't blame 'race promotion' for this, I believe a combination of no gym and fewer big rides are the likely culprits.

Let's see what Pierre's Hole has in store......

More Lessons

2011-06-13T13:14:00.003-06:00

1. 30 seconds separating places 1-5 at the end of a race makes that race more fun.

2. All of us in that top 5 let each other pass easily on sections where we were slower than the other. Class.

3. Being slowed to parade pace on the first DH will possibly lead to your 3rd lap being your fastest.

4. I love the DV race course, except for;

5. Running a 2x10 on that steep ass climb right after the start is a bit painful.

9 Hours and 45 Minutes of Mesa Verde

2011-05-09T14:20:00.004-06:00

I'm a shit giver, I like giving people shit, stirring up trouble, er I mean mature discourse. I like getting people to look out side their world.

In particular I enjoy taking on easy topics. Usually it is the cult like following certain fads seem to take on. Single Speeds, Cyclocross, 29ers - Pro or Con, The weird attack on Gluten (for those who are NOT allergic, which is 96.6% of the gluten free eaters out there), Cross Fit, Leadville, Road racing in Utah without mountains, my local amateur sporting team is better than yours mentalities, MLM magical fruit juices and pills, Utah County 'steep trails' And lets not forget Grizzlies delusional ideologies.

It is all truly absurd though, so if you are super passionate about something like a particular brand of bike frame over another, um, well, damn, i am so sorry for your loss.

So sometimes my criticisms come back to bite me in the ass. Enter the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde...

Low expectations turned into 4 laps in 6 hours and change of giggly fun with delusions of 8 laps in my head.

Lap 5 turned into sore upper back and arms, which led to lap 6 being the last one. 17th place, not shabby, 6 places different than if I would of gone out for my 7th lap.

The course was fun, the Revolution-Peak Fasteners compound was expansive and helpful, mega positive vibrations emanated from the atmosphere, like a freaking Grateful Dead show that had paxil piped in the HVAC system.

But there it was, a few push-ups separated me from 11th place and 116 miles, vs 17th place and 99.25 miles. Seems those Cross Fit junkies/cult members have something going for them. Maybe my 3 year old upper body physique could make use of such a thing....... nope, not going to do it.

All these things leads people to believe that I am grumpy, au contraire, I'm just an asshole.

CLARKS?

2011-05-04T22:30:00.002-06:00

I don't understand, it is @ a 1.5 mile section of trail, it's nice and all, but it ain't the holy grail. There is about 30 more miles of trail in Corner Canyon, throw in UC trails and The BST by the U, almost 100 miles of trail ridable, why is i some religious experience when Clarks opens?

Since I am contrarian, I actually have quit riding it.

12 hours solo Saturday, not prepared, except to have fun, the Anthem 29'er is fun, a bit heavy, but fun. The XtC 29er should be here in June for lightness.....

I shall not.

2011-04-04T13:03:00.004-06:00

These are my rules

1. I will never Link to my own blog posts via Facebook.

2. I will never make use of some utility that will post something I type in FB and Twitter.

3. I may occasionally (4 times a year?) link a blog post via twitter.

4. I will never re-tweet something someone I know tweets. Cause generally, everyone following me, follows them.

5. I won't post politics on FB, but may occasionally comment on them on Twitter, rarer still, if ever again on the blog.

Yeah, each tool has a purpose, and while I may be a tool, my purpose is confused. But consider this, do I really think anyone gives more than half a shit?

The historian in me thinks, hey this is a very interesting log of my life, but it is not my life, but others will interpret it as who I am, which could be good or could be bad.

The librarian in me thinks, more keywords!!!! lets build a controlled vocabulary and make it more search and retrieval friendly. Less=More!!!!!

Yeah, so there you social media jerks.

Cholla Weekend was fun.

Friday, pre ride with Kathy. Microwaved Sausage and pasta at the Chalet. Saturday, race day- very warm, hot even. 17 of us lined up, which meant I had overwhelming odds of placing higher than i did at the rampage. Daren and Reed took the lead from the start, then proceeded to mis a critical turn, which put me in the wind, so I slowed down. Somewhere around halfway through lap 1 I kind of settled in my anti heat exhaustion, make it at least seem like I'm racing pace and muddled through to the finish for 10th place (apologies, I took 9th). In keeping with annual, getting passed in the last mile form, I let Brian Jeppson pass me in the last mile, yep, I'm that nice.

Post race wind shut down the hanging out, so we broke camp I headed back to the motel. Then i watched UK forget how to hit baskets and free throws and still come close to winning, kitted up and went and did a night lap on Barrel Roll with Tolbert and K-day. I had some light malfunctions, which was nice, cause then I could stop and catch my breath.

Sunday ended up being a nice Goulds-Jem-Hurkin Rim loop from OTE with Kathy and DJ. DJ double flatted and had to bail, Kathy and I did the loop faster than ever, yeah, of course the day after the race I feel superhuman.

Sleepy.

and the desert shall bloom

2011-03-29T09:44:00.002-06:00

Grizzly got spit out by the big fish. Good on Gro - Promotions for getting it done. I expect they were working on that solution while the Monday morning quarterbacks were throwing interceptions.

I'm good at complaining about complainers, but i really like positivity in my life. It makes a difference.

As Bartman mentioned in his comment, 'Get Ready' cause nothing runs perfectly.

We at MTBRaceProductions are ready for that. Our biggest worry is timing. Weather contingencies are part of the planning. One being cancellation. I can tell you that land owners and insurance carriers take this stuff seriously and there are costs for moving a date. Significant costs. We also have a very clear policy on this. It's in the fine print :) We are kind of flexible though.

PERSPECTIVE

2011-03-28T15:09:00.003-06:00

The energy being expended today on the events that transpired over the weekend in St. George should be directed elsewhere. I may be Tilting Windmills, but seriously folks. It is just a bike race, and circumstances led the organization to shut it down to protect the racers, the trails and themselves.

I understand your frustration, but a public lashing out is, to me, childish. Everything happened quickly and I know that they did the best they could given the circumstances.

Everyone who expects perfection needs to look in the mirror.

PERSPECTIVE. My friend Jen would have loved to race, finishing or not. Garrett Smith's family would prefer he was still enjoying the mountains. The people of Japan would love to be able to have some fun. Soldiers in the far corners of the world, would love the opportunity to ride, free from worry.

Yet we complain about an arbitrary race placing on some website that only a few will ever read, for some sense of self satisfaction.

The journey is more important than the destination, in my opinion.

PERSPECTIVE

Desert Rampage

2011-03-07T09:29:00.002-07:00

Went as expected, for me, although I blew up later in lap 3 than normal and only lost 3 minutes, in a half a mile section. Lap times 29-30-33.5ish. Didn't come in last though. Glad all the upgraded sportos beat me. That was a goal of mine.

Lyna had a great race back in sport, likely lost 3 or 4 spots, because she stopped to help a competitor who had a flat. She is too nice.

The team flop house was good times, hanging out, going to bed early. Olive Garden in St. G on a Friday night with a part of 11, bad idea......

Noah T crushed in his first race in Revolution Colors, should be a good year for him. Other new Revo riders were out in force as well, Ellen (World Champ) Guthrie, Paz (2008 Nemesis) Ortiz, Sally Fairbairn and others....

Sundays group ride was a blast, Bear Claw to hidden Stucki wash Climb to Rim trails to Barrel Roll to connector wash followed by smash burger.

Not so happy to be home for 5 days and then onto Beijing for a week, should be great prep for True Grit.

Live

2011-02-24T16:53:00.002-07:00

Now Go Sign up !!!!!

Perspective

2011-02-01T07:13:00.003-07:00

I am a selfish person, to a certain degree selfishness is healthy. If i don't take care of myself, who will. If I don't go after my dreams, goals, etc... who will. At the same time, I open myself to others and give what I can, tangibly, spiritually and emotionally.

Cycling can be selfish, it takes a tremendous amount of time and resources to pursue this silly hobby, it takes a certain twisted mind to continue to do so with no concrete reward in site.

Outside of cycling selfishness permeates the air as well. There is an fuzzy line, that when crossed, selfishness becomes a detriment to me and others. Wants are confused with needs and somewhere in there we forget the truth of it all.

We are all in this together and need each other. Don't be a dick. Take care of each other and just be nice.

If

2011-01-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

I write about writing about writing, does it cancel itself out?

The year that was..... Bike racin....

2010-12-30T22:26:00.008-07:00

The defining characteristic of my 2010 race campaign was a red ribbon. Well, at least theoretically. I went into the season with different expectations and motivations, the ICup races were to be training opportunities to help prepare me for endurance races, I only finished 1 mid week race, with DNF's in a few others due to flat tires or legs. I did no prescribed intervals at all riding hard a few times a week and having fun the rest of the time. I did no road bike rides from early April until the day after Christmas. I did close to 10 rides of 4 hours + mostly from my front door to dirt. I completed my first 12 hour solo race. Most of all I had fun.

I won a single race in 2010 - Snowbird, it came 2 weeks post 12 hour race, my body was in prime fitness. I took 7 2nd places.

Draper - BK tried hard to push me to third on the last lap, but my practices of attacking on the silica pit helped give me a gap to the finish line. I need to win this race some day.

Deer Valley - I wanted this one bad, I led for 3/4th's of the race, halfway through the last lap, Kevin came by and I could not hold on. Good fun on cold evening in June. Plus I got to Stay up most of the night cleaning and boxing my bike for an early morning flight to Kentucky for....

12 hours of Capital View - SUnday racing, no expectations, fun 8 mile lap, high temps, high humidity, unknown to me till the end, I was in the lead for 6 hours, had a bit of a melt down at 9-10 hours, regrouped and pulled out a strong 2nd.

Jackson Hole - Chris Bingham decided to come out of retirement for the last TEton race, we had god fun beating up on each other for the first lap, then my legs remembered the beating they had take 6 days earlier.

The Park City Point To Point - I had the perfect race, less than 5 minutes off the bike, perfect fueling, a spot of bother from John's to Steps, but great otherwise. Only 50 minutes behind first, hah.

UTCX #9 - Got the hole shot, led for half a lap, Sager comes around then i work hard to keep it upright on the ice and snow, holding off Wasmund..

UTCX #10 - Bad start, Rico gets a gap, Christian and I have a nice battle for a few laps, then I gap him and finish in the old familiar spot.

Had a blast this year, with some personal records, shaved 20 minutes+ off my Laramie enduro time, hit my goal time for the Whiskey off road, proved I had the mental cahones to ride for 12+hours. Had fun, spent time with friends and made new friends.

Happy New Year everyone.

lets try that again

2010-11-29T21:01:00.005-07:00

i am not anti masters racing, Hell I am a masters racer, master racers are the bulk of the participants, they pay the bills, so to speak.

I am anti masters racing taking the sport in the wrong direction, I am anti masters racing taking away attention and funding for the future, I am anti masters racers complaining about entry fees and the like.

I am not a fan of USAC, for personal and professional reasons. I believe local does better and a loosely organized grassroots structure can strive and grow and keep the control in the local promoters/racers hands.

I am anti no qualifying to CX nationals (where fields reach 3 digits) and anti qualifying for MTB nationals (where fields are lucky to go above 20)

But in the end, I am a fan of dialogue, whether we agree or not, dialogue is good.

Adam, you are wrong, always, sorry.

I am a fan of snowy, icy cx races and hole shots and volunteers and people donating their time and resources for little to no recognition or reward.

thanks everyone, except you Adam. Sorry.

Masters Racers are Ruining the Future of Cycling

2010-11-11T11:03:00.004-07:00

This is not pretty, not only the topic, but my attempt to get the thoughts down on 'paper' but i wanted to get these thoughts out there.

1. What have I done to help grow the sport?

2. What have I done to deserve deals?

3. What have I done that helps those who have a future and need assistance?

4. If i receive something from a business or sponsor, do I honestly give something back in return (sorry gang, a logo on a kit doesn't mean shit, nor does a podium at a local race)

I believe we should be spending our time and effort on building the sport for the future and I see many things that cause me great concern.

We live in a selfish society, people generally want to know what is in it for them, they want the ‘bro’ deal at a shop, they want free kits and entry fees covered all because they had a few decent results in some local weekend warrior event. Most of the people I see asking for these freebies DON’T need them, let alone, deserve them.

I see 30+ racers asking for and sometimes getting free bikes (I got one myself in 2009) I see shops recruiting 30+ racers by promising to pay entry fees and give away kits. I see teams reimbursing riders entry fees at the end of seasons. I see riders taking advantage of local businesses.

Most of this makes me uncomfortable and sometimes downright sickens me. Most of the people asking for and/or receiving these deals and dollars do not need them or in some cases don’t even deserve them.

Every single one of those dollars should be channeled into a junior program, building the future of the sport. As adults, we can afford a 30 dollar entry fee and a couple hundred bucks for a team kit

----Every time I hear someone complain about entry fees, while they ride off on a several thousand dollar bike, I want to throw up. ----

With very few exceptions, any racer, over 30, does not have a pro contract in their future. if these racers pooled their energy and time, just a small amount into building a sustainable Junior/U23 program, imagine the possibilities.

People are selfish, everyone is a legend in their own mind, because they win a sport race, a B race or a cat3 race, meanwhile, the next potential National Champion is sitting at home, because some jackass 40 year old, who drives a $40k SUV and lives in a $500K house got a 'Bro' Deal on a bike and entry fees reimbursed, leaving a business or teams budget empty.

What are you going to do about it?

10 years gone.

2010-10-13T22:35:00.003-06:00

Somewhere in a jet-lagged, dusty, camp fire smokey, generator hum haze early Sunday morning I realized that almost exactly 10 years before I started this silly bike racin journey on that lame ass 14+ mile loop of the devil in Moab.

10 years countless races, probably 3-400. maybe 15 wins. 3 Series Championships. A few dabbles in road racin and crits, that lasted like 2 seasons. Team management, endurance racing, about 7 race bikes, Cyclocross starting 4 years in, and now race promotion.

Obsession? Of course.

Really, it is about the community, small circle of friends, to medium sized team to like minded others on other teams.

We are here for the same reasons, mostly, and as Jay Burke says. "Don't be a dick"

Heres to many more years, with maybe a few more wins, cause those are fun, and rare.

2010-09-19T13:55:00.002-06:00

Are you that guy?

When on a descent or a climb and someone comes up on your wheel, cause they are faster than you and kindly requests to get by you when convenient, are you that guy who when you see it is a female who chooses not to let her by? You then speed up and either blow up, wreck or put others at risk?

Are you that guy? I ask cause there seems to be a shit ton of those guys in Utah. Seriously, so sorry about your lack of manhood and low self esteem, let the effin rider by.

that is all....

A wee bit of info fer ya.

2010-09-12T19:43:00.002-06:00

Currently half way to Philly, for a Philly, Philly, Baltimore, NYC, NYC week. Followed soon thereafter by a SLC-DEN-EWR-Delhi-Bangalore-Manila-Dumaguete-Manila-NAR-SLC trip, Yay! Work travels somehow bookeneded thje MTB race season for me.

Meanwhile, if you have not already heard, there is a new game coming to town. S-Bo, Ty-Bo, Drew (born) Free and I will be promoting a 3-4 race XC series in 2011. We are meeting with land agencies and working out dates and venues and courses. More details to come, and we will not conflict with the I-Cup.

Cause we are not busy enough. And it is time. We are also looking for series/race sponsors, so if you have any contacts, let me know and i will get a sponsorship package out to them.

1 very important detail, 5 bucks per race entry will be donated to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, along with product raffle proceeds.

FB info here to keep up to date.

well, thats how you are supposed to feel

2010-09-05T20:11:00.006-06:00

A few weeks prior to the PCP2P, Team Revolution-Peak Fasteners had an endurance racing clinic. A few of the teams veterans were on hand to answer questions and discuss planning, feeding, pacing, etc... These types of session are always good for everyone to learn something new. One thing I try and always tell people about racing is that planning is great, goals are great, squiggly lines are 'ok' but once the tires hit the dirt all of that is thrown out the door and it is just you and the moment.

Bart mentioned at the clinic a few things that stuck with me.

1. If you are not hurting, you are not racing, you are riding. (simple, well known but brilliant and easy to forget)

2. For a race the the P2P you should attack the climbs, cause there is as much DH to follow

my 'prep' for the race was pretty good, long hard ride with Ty and Drew 2 weeks out. less volume as the race got closer, with a good hard effort Tuesday night on part of the course. Friday, I took off work and headed up with the dogs to check into our condo, this checkin got delayed and I was on my feet a whole lot more than i wanted to be, I finally got a short spin in on the bike when the sun was going down. Ate dinner, slept fitfully for 6 hours, had a small breakfast, some coffee and headed to the start.

I started with the Non open 7-8 hour group. I think this was the correct place for me, as I figured that if everything went perfect, I could hit it. At the start of the singletrack I got around Jenelle, Jen and a few other open racers, later Holmes and Sarah K let me by. I finished the round valley section in under 52 minutes, feeling good and hit skid row/Prospector with a small group, Stuart, me and a few others held a good pace here onto DV proper. I hit aide 1 and aide 2 at the expected times. Then I headed out onto mid mountain for the Big Bear, Moose Bones, T&G, Empire Link, John's 99, Johns, Steps pit of despair.

The climb up Big Bear/Moose Bones wasn't horrible, but it was foreboding. It only took me like 25 minutes, but I suffered. The Downhill on T&G, while one of my favorite rides, started to beat up my bird like upper body, I also tagged the same tree I tagged riding Tuesday, this time instead of just hitting my right shoulder, I decided to punch it with my right hand. Johns trail beat the hell out of me, had me thinking of quitting. Followed by climbing up the payday road and then steps, damn, i was in serious pain. But as mentioned by me and others at the clinic, if you push through the pain light is right there.

After the yurt, I soft middle ringed the road to the Apex climb, taking on some fuel, shaking out the arms and legs, then on Apex, up to above Shadow lake, I felt new again and fast. Finally saw EPOW and her cowbell on the sketch road down to the lake. The Crescent mine descent went well and here I was at mile 55 at the PCMR aide station. Brooke, Mike and Gigi loaded me up with fuel, Wedge got me some chips and Ryan lubed me up (it was THAT sexy).

Spiro went surprisingly well, I passed at least 3 riders and made it up to the mid mountain turn at 35 minutes. The mid mountain re route was painful and slow. It was nice to see Monique on the trail near the colony. Later I passed a few other riders and rode up on Kelly K Boniface on Rob's, got around her on the traverse after turning off of Rob's and then made my way to the 1.4 mile climb of sorrow and then down the short descent t the finish.

Numbers

8:33:54

2nd Men 40-49

@29th overall

5 minutes total stoppage time

Zone 4 - 63% of race

Zone 5 - 7% of race

9 Bottles of Carborocket with Elete

3 Gel flasks with Honeystinger

2 Cups of water and a few chips.

I hit my 8 hour split from the start to Aide 2 and from PCMR to finish. From Aide 2 to Aide 3 I lost those precious 33 minutes.

8 hours is just a number, I am super stoked with my finish. I suffered, but that is why my finish was what it was.

Lots of myths and misdirection in the endurance advice world. I would like to think, one of the best pieces of advice available, is one I have heard in relation to the race of life;

What works for me. may kill you, what worked or me today, may kill me next week. It is all about the moment.

Shannon and Jay did a masterful job, but, they could not have done it without the help of friends and family. Volunteers made the day, and I believe they were all taken care with awesome swag. Slyfox Moonwillow, you are my Shaman.

Lyna was there sun up to past sundown doing food transport, aide station management and Jay Burke focus assistance post race.

Lucy, Anna, Alison, Lolly, Karen, Hillary and many others did excellent work to.

Lucy, thanks for the hug at the finish, I'm sure I smelled great.

Thanks to everyone for all the cheers and smiles. Good job to all the racers who lined up, regardless of whether or not you finished. The journey is critical and you won!

Last Icup for 2010 a review of the season

2010-08-09T21:32:00.004-06:00

Was very disappointed with Ed's Saturday am tweet stating that the 2 way of the devil was removed from the race and that laps would remain the same, in my estimation this changed it from a 2:15+ race to below 1:45. Plus, 2 evil climbs per lap, play to my odd abilities.

So, I went hard on lap one, got passed by Wunder Master Kevin in the feed zone (as he almost took out his feed handler). Later on the service road Sam got by me, and stopped for several seconds t let the other mad dg 40+ expert past me on the one track climb.

Lap 2, as people know was a dark place, where I almost trhew in the towel, luckily, Adam and Aaron caught back up to me at the end of lap 2, so I had new found motivation.

Ended up 4th, first Tweety chair of the year and 3rd overall in the series.

I madea decision in the winter that results didn't matter, having fun did, Then I spent about 1/2 of December-March traveling for work, so not as much ride time in South Utah was had. THe Rampage was a Debacle, Cholla and 5 mile slightly better, Then Lyna and I decided to go to Hawaii in May with Gigi and Ty, unheard of. Missed Sundance (1 day post return) Ended up having an exceptional race the follwing week at Soldier Hollow. Then 2nd places at Stan Crane and Deer Valley, missed Sherwood, 2nd at Jackson (soley due to Chris B's lining up).

Snowbird was an unexpected win, enjoyed it, Solitude was a mistake of preparation, zero stans in front tire leads to flat, bad tube leads to inability to fix flat, DNF, I feel I was on my way to the win. Missed Snowbasin and faked The Canyons.

This year my focus has been on endurance races and my results at them have shown that my preparation has been dialed.

Whiskey Off Road in April, uncharacteristic early season positive result.
12 Hours of Capital View in June, my engine and will proved resilient for 12.5 hours in high heat and humidity.
Laramie Enduro - Even with a few strategy mishaps, improved my time by 18 minutes.
THE PCP2P - TBD

The ICUP is a good training stimulus for endurance, but the same Icup has, with few exceptions, been the only hard efforts I have done in 2010. I have only lind up for 2 Mid week races, DNF'ing one of those. I have had several Saturdays and Sundays that included 5+ hour epics (not conducive to Tuesday night worlds fastness).

Still, with all that lack of speed work, I end up 3rd overall in the series.

The moral of the story is, Years of riding makes a difference, the pian needs less tuning, but specificity, for me, chooses the path I excel in.

I'll likely do even less Icups in 2011, searching for more endurance fixes, they are for more satisfying and trying.

2010 Laramie Enduro

2010-08-02T15:42:00.005-06:00

The 2nd time at a given race is usually a dangerous attempt. The lasting memory of the 2009 Laramie Enduro was my aching knees. Well, that and cow shit.

Only 6 of the 'team' got into Laramie this year. I say 'team' since Shannon, Brad and I are not officially on Team Revolution-Peak Fasteners and don't wear the same kit, my schizophrenic team tendencies are stuff for another long, revealing post......

There were several differences leading up to this years version.

1. I have done several Endurance races since the last version

1/2 of3the 2009 PCP2P

Whiskey Off Road

12 Hours of Capital View

2. My knee has not hurt

3. I have done several 4+ hour rides

4. I have done less mid week races

5. I have eaten less vanilla wafers

6. I weigh more

All have relevance, I'm sure.

So onto the race.

We line up at like 6:45, somehow Boffeli gets me to line up on the front row, next to the guys who end up being the top 3. Not that is matters, at least I stayed upright at the start. On the start up the short FS road to the one track, Kris Arnott was in3 the lead, I was hoping he would get the hole shot, but alas, he didn't. The first 6-7 miles were uneventful, and fun on some single track and some fire road. The promised Hawk attack at mile 6.25 never surfaced, sadly. And at about mile 7, on the legendary, shirt, loose dh of Doom, I realized I was in trouble, no I made it down alright, with no idiots around me to take me out. Therein lies the problem, I had no one around me, which meant........

The next 10-12 miles of open, fast FS road riding were going to be done alone, or spent waiting for a slower group. So, I chased, hard, like XC pace hard, never gaining, but never really losing much ground, the group behind me disappeared quickly, and an hour after that fun, I started passing others who were shelled out of the front groups.

I only stopped at aid station 3 this time to switch out hydration packs, but i got there 3 minutes faster than 2009 when I was in a pace line on the FS road section, strange. So began to wonder how much that chase was going to effect my overall time, plus the temperatures were rising.

Knowing the course can be damaging for a long race, cause sections seemed to be in different places during my race stupor, I was trying to do the math in my head of whether or not I was going to beat my 2009 time or meet my lofty goal. In the last 25 miles this year instead of being passed by a lot of riders like 2009, I passed several, including 5 on the last climb aka, Headquarters, which I cleared this year, and walked most of last year, due to sore knees.

I will say that at mile 45-55 i was figuring out how to transfer my PCP2P entry. Alas, I'll keep it.

In the end, I beat my 2009 time by almost 20 minutes, missed my lofty goal by 00:4:27 and only stopped to pee twice. There was less cow poop bogs and lots of FS bridges over mud and streams to help keep the giardia and e-coli at bay. The race was excellently organized, the volunteers awesome and the post race buffet, spectacular.

I'll likely be back in 2011.

Unfinished Business.

2010-07-13T10:05:00.004-06:00

Solitude is one of my favorite venues, that and it is hard, really hard, relentless climbs and punishing descents.

Lyna and I arrived early for her race, like 4 hours prior to my race. Lyna had a good race, coming in 2nd. She is well on her way to recovery.

Last years race, while I took 2nd, was a debacle for me, I wanted to be sure that I did not implode. So I took off, from the start, but once we came around off the gravel to the short pavement section, I let off a bit and Sam came around me. I stayed on his wheel until just a bit into the honeycomb climb. I Kept a steady pace over the top and made it to the round house service road in front. I then put in a little effort at the top of the pavement.

On the initial descent, I worked mt way around a lot of SS/19-29 and 30-39ers. Came into the lap zone with a decent gap. By the feed zone on honeycomb, the gap had opened a bit, about 2/3rds up that service road, I felt my front tire very soft, so I stopped put some air in it and Sam and Kevin passed me. I got back on, and made it maybe half way up the single track before the tire went dead again, So I started working on getting a tube in it. No dice, in hindsight, I'm certain the Big Air Froze and then broke the tube valve stem, Ken C threw me his big air too, no bueno, so I hoofed back to the base.

Unfinished Business. I won at Solitude as a beginner in 2001, since then it has been a series of close calls, Paz, Sly, Chris B. and Sam all taking me to the cleaner. I felt comfortable and strong before the flat, later in the race, while leading, Sam had a race ending flat as well. It is a part of racing and the worst part of it was the lethargic, too many calories in my system feeling I had the rest of the day.

All cylinders see to be firing for Laramie however, 18 days away.

Unexpected

2010-07-06T11:40:00.003-06:00

Saturday morning temps were nice, in the 60's in the valley when I woke up. I like that. Earlier in the week, I had pre ridden the SnowTurd, erm, Snowbird course. The Felt Team Nine worked much better on the new Singletrack climb than the Zaskar last year. The DH of Sketch, well it was extra sketch this year, looser, baby head rocks and wash out ruts everywhere.

Friday evening, i waited to do a spin post dinner, got home at 9:30 after an hour, nice a cool by then.

Sam has always done well on this course and Kevin has been super strong this year, almost untouchable even.

We had about 10 at the start, Sam took off and I got on his wheel, once into the onetrack he let up a bit. But 4 of us, Kevin and Dennis included were building a gap. Sam and I had a bout 3-5 seconds on Kevin and Dennis halfway through the first one track. Just a bit before the drop down Dick bass, I got a thick stick stuck between my frame and rear tire, I had to stop to remove it, almost taking Kevin and Dennis out when they came around me. So i tried to calm myself and slowly came back to Kevin and Dennis' wheel by the top of the climb. I lost a bit ground on the DH of Sketch but was back with them on the bottom traverse. I went around them right before the start/finish and had Sam in my sites.

By the top of the Lap 2 climb, I had come around Sam and had a small gap. Halfway down the DH of Sketch, he came blowing by. I caught back on to him on the service road below the gad lifts. By the top of the 3rd lap climb, i had a bit larger gap on Sam, but again, he caught and passed me right at the bottom of the DH of sketch, Again, I passed him on the service road below the gad lifts.

On the lap 4 climb I just pushed it as much as I could, trying to build a sticking gap for the DH of sketch, which I did, I'm pretty sure on some of the switchbacks that lap, I was almost sitting still, I just wanted to stay upright.

Ended up with the win, about 50 seconds in front of Sam, Kevin was running 3rd when he flatted with a mile or so left, which dropped him to 5th, Dennis ended up 3rd about 6.5 minutes back. Had to bring the bike on the podium, I mean, wouldn't you?

Felt great the whole race, lap times;

@26:10

@26:40

@27:20

@27:40

Fairly consistent.

I had the 2nd fastest expert time on the day (First fastest actually woulda won pro, dang 15 year olds)

Hope the form holds for Solitude.

Jackson

2010-06-30T10:48:00.007-06:00

I love the Jackson Hole Icup weekend, sadly it will never be again, at least most likely it will never be again. Sad, really.

This being the case led mr Chris B to come out of retirement for one last race there, we had a blast riding together on lap one. Lap 2, he just rode away from me. I'm thinking i was not too well recovered from the 12.5 hour race. Lap one was 32:30 lap 2 and 3 were around 34:30 each.

2nd place is good, and consistent. The Hostel was interesting. The ride on Sunday was awesome. Arrow to Phillips Canyon to Phillips Ridge. Good fun trail, with some amazing engineering on switch backs. The New 'MLC' Vehicle traveled well, good gas mileage too.

Meanwhile, i have a complaint about complainers. Seriously, Bruce over at UTMTB.com has had to write a revisionist trail description of the new Rush rail in Draper. Seems as if some out there feel it is not a downhill trail at all, because there are sections that go up and you can't carry speed through some of them.

To me this is a microcosm of all that is wrong in society. The whole I don't want to work for anything and if it does not meet my requirements, I'm not going to like it.

What people need to realize is that this is exactly what the initial vision of the trail was, to go downhill, but with twists/turns/climbs in the middle, Um, different is good, and fun, and extending your ride time is even better.

My hope is that Bruce (who is awesome btw) will edit out his disclaimers, don't kowtow to the wet blankets.......

or maybe 'm just sensitive...

Getting Lucky in Kentucky

2010-06-22T16:17:00.004-06:00

Way back when in April or so I went ahead and registered for the 12 Hours of Capital view, promoted by Troy Hearn (whom I worked with at Applebees in Lexington, Ky in the early 90's) Troy owns Capital City Cycles in Frankfort as well. Lyna and I planned on making it to Ky to visit family around that time anyways. I really didn't do too much specific training for a race of this length, although 2 weeks prior I had close to 18 hours on the bike, including 10 hours in 3 days.

So We made it to Kentucky on Thursday night, Friday, I put the bike together and went to Troys shop to seat my tires and get a trail map, the course was not marked, so I just rode around the trails for an hour, I got dizzy with all the twists and turns.

Saturday AM included a huge thunderstorm, lasting till around noon, the rest of the day was clear though.

Sunday, race day, not Utah. Woke up at 4:30 am to eat and pack and drive to the race course, race start was delayed for 30 minutes, not a problem though.

The lemans run was longish, for me, so I jogged to my bike and took off at the back of the pack, the first lap had several corners not marked, and at least the people in front of me figured it out, by the end of Lap one I had made my way past a lot of riders. I had no idea where I was, but I just kept a steady sub xc pace. there were several mud holes, in corners, I watched several rides go down in them, as they were trying to go too fast. There were 3 or 4 steep, sudden climbs, that i was able to climb all but one every lap. There was one root/tree section that ate my lunch for the first half of the race, till i found the line. Great course though.

At the end of lap 3 I came to my pit area and saw 2 riders I knew were racing solo at theirs, I chomped down half a pb&j and took off, Lap 4 I did at an XC pace, to get in front of them. I had a blast, one of them got around me on the next lap.

Lyna showed up about 7 hours in and found out I was in the top 3 and that we were separated by 5 minutes max, I kept my pace, cause anything can happen. I started to memorize the 8ish mile course and all its tight fun onetrack, and had a lot of fun each lap. Lap 10 and 11, I hit a dark spot and lost 15 minutes and was ready to stop, but then I came around again for 12 and 13. At the end of 13 it was just before 7pm and the cut off was 7:29. I asked how close the rider behind me was, to be sure I held onto 3rd, I was informed that the guy in 2nd, left after completing 13 laps, upset for some reason, Lyna tried to get him back on his bike, bu the packed up and went home, so if I went out for 14, I would jump to 2nd. I debated for a few minutes, and took off, the lap was fun, and faster than the previous 2. The guy ahead of me, finished 14 before 7:30 and thought he was in 2nd, so he took off for a 15th lap, which he didn't need to do.

In the end, I ended up 2nd, which is more than I expected. I had fun, and was not overly worked. I spent 30 minutes in the pit zone total, but that was worth it, as I stayed fueled, hydrated and cool as a result. The 90 degree heat and super high humidity did not hurt me too bad and the long time on the bike, while I was sore, did not hurt my knee, which after last years knee issues, was a blessing.

Again, the race was great, low key, great volunteers, 25 dollar entry (I won 30) although the delta bike fees crushed me. The course was great, reminded me a lot of the Jackson Hole course, without as much climbing, but the same tight one track, much buffer trail though.

Troy did a great job and if the stars align, we will be back in 2011, oh and I made the news.

Stan Crane Memorial 2010

2010-06-01T13:31:00.002-06:00

*First off, let me apologize to the Expert 30-39 racer that i bumped into about 6 minutes into my race, I was leading and was on the first BST section above the bridge, I thought I had enough room, a split second before my handle bar clipped his, BK say's something along the lines of 'Bob? you're gonna pass here?!?!' I am terribly sorry, n i thought i had enough room.

Ok, so, onto the day. Since it's inception, at the ever so lovely Thanksgiving Point location. Map courtesy of K-Day. Team Revolution/Peak fasteners has joined with the shops race sponsorship to have a Team BBQ post race, every year the weather has not cooperated, rain, wind etc... Postponed races to mid week night time and delayed starts. Add to that, every CX race BBQ we planned at the Equestrian Center ended the same, with rain. This year we were blessed with great weather.

Lyna and I got there early to help set up the team base camp, Doug set his camper up the night before, thanks a million. I went and warmed up with Ty and Drew, the three of us beat each other up on the course several times in the week before the race.

I lined up at the start line and turned around to see a mass of humanity. close to 400 racers. Ed put us off at 3 second intervals to help with congestion when lapping, this was a great idea and it paid off for those of us in the front groups and those in the back groups, in the long run. In the short run, the front runners in each category, caught up with the tail-enders in previous categories very quickly. (hence my apology above).

Sam got the hole shot, with Trent W in 2nd, me in 3rd. Just a bit past the tunnel, I came around Trent. Once we hit the short double track climb, a few of us went back and forth on the front, I put in an effort to go into the one track first, then I knocked some one over (see above). On the 1 mile double track downhill, Kevin surged ahead with an Infinite rider, I latched onto them. I surged ahead on the first part of the 1 mile climb, a bit up it, Kevin came around me and i held on to him as best as I could, he put a few 19-29'rs and 30-39'rs between us before hitting the singletrack. I was still within 10 seconds of him down steps and up lower ghost. On the Canyon Hollow descent, I was behind Dan H. who kept apologizing about being a roadie, I did a spectacular nose wheelie, sitting on my top tube around the switchback before heading down to silica. Kevin was putting good time on me on the descents. First lap was done and I headed out for lap 2. I could see Kevin on the road, but just used other category racers as rabbits. And couldn't see anyone in my category behind me. BK was gaining on me though. He motored up the long double track climb on lap 3 to pass me right at the top, I jumped on his wheel and stayed there. There was a 19-29 contender rider setting a descent pace for us, not too fast, nor too slow.

On many of the rides I did with Drew and Ty early in the week, we ''practiced' attacking each other on the Silica Pit climb. This proved useful.

So Contender, BK and I head into the Silica Pit climb, Halfway up the lower approach to the first slot, I get outta the saddle and hammer up the left, passing both of them, with inches to spare before the trail cut me off. I had a clumsy dismount n the chewed up section up top, but the damage was done. I rolled in for 2nd place, BK was about 20 seconds behind for 3rd. My HR hit 189 on that surge, my legs barely made up the last short climbs to the finish. Good race, good fun, consistent lap times again.

Lap 1 with start loop 40:05 ish

Lap 2 39:45 ish

Lap 3 with finish 40:50 ish

Lyna made a return to racing and came away with her first ever win. She started conservatively, surged in the early phase and kept pushing till the end, where she ha to sprint for the win. Congratulations out to her!!!!

Post race was a stuporful BBQ.

Hammerfest at the Hollow

2010-05-22T20:34:00.005-06:00

Once again the ICUP dodged a bullet, the heavy rain/snow let up a few hours prior to the race and with a few reroutes the race went off, not so much reroutes but sections cut out. Prior to the race I told BK and BP that is wasn't gonna be the one to go off the front hard. I really meant it.

We had at least 12 at the start. I went off the front and by the top of the pavement I had quite a gap, I wasn't going really hard, just pushing a bit. BP caught and passed me a mile or so in and I stayed with him for a bit. We had a gap on, I think Kevin, BK and Sam. We started catching the 19-29 and 30-39 groups halfway in the 1st lap. Towards the end of lap 1, I got around BP again and he and I went back and forth for a bit till the lap zone. Lap 2 went on with BP growing his gap and me picking off more other cat riders, I also dropped my Gel flask. Lap 3 started wih Kevin closing on me, about halfway through he passed me and i could not stay with him. I ended in 3rd about 25 seconds behind Kevin and a bit over 2 minutes behind BP.

The course started muddy and by lap 2 was firming up for some fast fun descents. I was happily surprised with my results and I rode very consistent lap times (could be related to improving course conditions, but the HR average was good at 174)

Lap 1 - 31:42

Lap 2 - 32:05

Lap 3 - 32:03

5 mile ass, 12 Hours of Mesa Verde, Sundance

2010-05-15T22:38:00.003-06:00

Really, I was gonna update weekly, I swear.

5 Mile was interesting this year, snow squalls and torrential rain the whole drive there, yet a few miles from the start area, the weather cleared. We had a bit over 10 at the start, and had a relaxed start. Fred and I were together with Daren up until the flume DH, where Fred flatted, Daren and I leap frogged until the end of Lap 2, when I dropped off of him and Adam. I made it to the finish, in 6th place. With a decent time compared to years past, even though I lost 4 minutes each lap.

Next up was 12 hours of Mesa Verde with Lyna as team 'Try Harder' and Sundance. Well Team 'Shoulda Gone to Hawaii' actually ended up going to Hawaii and we joined them, we hiked, body boarded, rented MTB's and rode Kauai single track and Kayaked. Witnessed a wedding on the beach near Tunnels and relaxed and over indulged in Skinny Cows and Tacos. Made it home about 24 hours before Sundance started, Therefore I rode the Shoreline trail instead of racing. Still taking donations for the Saffell Kauai homestead.....

Whiskey Off-Road, lessons

2010-04-26T10:17:00.004-06:00

Early in January, Jen Hanks sentout an email to team revolution peak fasteners, informing us of registration for the Whiskey Off-Road race in Prescott (pronounced, Preskitt, for the locals) Az. Having just registered for the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde, which is 2 weeks later (Duo with Lyna) i was wary, but a 70 dollar entry fee would be easy to walk away from if stars did not align. Well Ty helped with aligning stars, as he convinced (ok, it wasn't that hard) Lyna and I to join him and She who likes Cake and Waffles, on at 8 day jaunt to Kauai, which will place us on some beach while the 12 hour race was occurring, (they signed up to, under the name, 'Shoulda Gone to Hawaii,' well, we are)

So, more stars aligned and Thursday Afternoon We loaded up the Boffeli-Hanks VW and headed South. We stopped at Grandma Tina's in Kanab for Dinner, it was good, and they like butter there. alot, which is a good thing. We then proceeded to Page, Az for the night. The Best Western was new, comfortable and they had an awesome free breakfast, I proceeded to eatEggs, sausage (which became a theme for the weekend, for me, not Jen and Shannon, which was their DOOM). We then drove the rest of the way to Presskit. We got there around Noon local time, and went and had lunch, I had a turkey sammy, Then we went and picked up our packets (While dropping off 2 canned goods per person for the local food bank, take note leadville) We ran into Sarah K, setting up her Elete tent (my new secret race sauce is a bottle of Carbo Rocket, with 1 serving of elete added in). Sarah was kind enough to volunteer to show us how we could shuttle to the last 12 miles or so of the course, which also included driving much of the first 10 miles of the race. That 12 mile ride was a blast, but chilly, actual snow on the trail. That evening we went to a local Italian restaurant, right next to our hotel, I had Sketti with Italian sausage. MMMM good.

Early wake up call on race day. 5:15, ate a bit of Oatmeal, a bit of poptarts and a bit of apple sauce. At 6:45 we rode the 1.25 miles to the start line (7:30 start). And rode a bit more until start line up, At 7:15, there was no one lined up, at 7:20 there was 12 rows lined up, crazy. They had some sort of wild west shoot out show that created a mass of anxiety as everyone thought it was the start, then about 20 seconds later, we did start, I was almost take out y riders on either side of me, but made it out ok. I then made my way further to the front, well closer to the front. The first 9.5 miles climbs, oh about 2000 feet, half of it on pavement, i kept my pace mine, passing some, being passed by others, every time the terrain flattened a bit, I was able to turn on the gas. About 6 or 7 miles in we hit single track, that went mostly up, with some rocks and water bars to ride over. HOLY CRAP, I was amazed at the amount technically challenged, tunnel visioned riders out there, it was a conga line of riders dismounting due to the smallest obstacle in the trail which created a domino effect of dismounts and grumbles. I did a few cyclocross dismounts and sprints around others, not good for keeping HR down. Finally we topoed out for a ripping 3 mile DH, including a steep loose descent with several water bar drops, which upon the guy in front kept putting afoot down, I stayed on the bike, doing ski turns to slow down and finally got around him towards the bottom of the steep section. I then DH'd for a bit more on some atv DH, which allowed me to get around others easily. At this point I started my back and forth battle with 2 Vassago racers, which made me feel like I was chasing Brad (which is crazy, since he is a roadie now). At the bottom of the DH We were at 12.5 miles, which I though was where the first feed zone was, which demarcated the beginning of the out and back road, I was wrong (i carried all my food and drink with me, so didn't need the aid station, plus my hydration pack had a malfunctioning nozzle, which was difficult to open and close, awesome), there was a painful 2 mile climb first. So, feed zone hit (1.5 hours gone, this is how long Sarah K said it would take) Next, 9 mile downhill, yay, except it wasn't all downhill, and it was into a headwind and I was on my own. Still, 26 minutes later I was at the turn around, right under 2 hours, after seeing all the leaders heading up. It took me an hour to climb what took me 26 minutes to descend, plus there was more climbing after the feed zone, on the first 9 miles of the climb I got to see, encourage, be encouraged by all those behind me in the race, At one point I was at mile 32 in my race and a large group of people were descending the opposite direction, at that point I realized they were 20 miles behind me, crap, they are gonna be out there a while. SO, the climb had me going through all types of emotions;

Thank god there are some Downhills to break tis up
Ooh, I feel strong
Ooh I feel weak
Ooh I feel overheated
Holy Crap look at the size of that house, on that mountain, in the middle of nowhere
that person almost head on'd me.
There is no way in hell I am riding
I won't walk
I won't make the whole race under 4.5
Ooh, feed zone
Ooh, I may just make sub 4 hours.

Ok, there were more, but 1 hour 20 minutes can't really be condensed here.

I made it to the top and was ready to shred the Final 12.5 miles, Which I did, super fun sections, I knew there was that last 1 mile climb before the final 7.5 miles, so I spun up half of it and pushed a harder gear up the rest, passing 3 people. Then in the technical rock sections I passed several more, popped out on the pavement for the 4 miles to the finish, just Making it in at 4 hours 1 minute and 11 seconds. I felt strong in that last 12.5 miles, which is awesome. Finished 40th in Open men 19-44. I like that category structure. My ave HR was 166, I was able to maintain 170+ on all the climbs. Crazy for me, for this time of year.

Sarah came in 3 or so minutes behind me for 2nd in Open women, Jen was 5th, Shannon had a great race, 3 hours 37 minutes for 17th.

Later that day, since we finished by noon, we had Cheeseburgers, and Ice cream, Then we went to a pizza joint for dinner, I had Chicken wings and a personal Sausage and Pepperoni pizza, Jen and Shannon had a chicken veggie pizza DOOOOOOOMMMMMMM. Short story, Jen was up all night, sick, Shannon was sick all the next day on the way home, I drove most of the way. Sausage is gooooooooood.

repetitive

2010-04-19T22:07:00.004-06:00

Check out MTBRacenews.com, new look website, sweet.

I have ridden my MTB for 6 straight days (plus 1 day on the road bike, it gets lonely), pure blissieness, yep, that is a WORD. Split between corner canyon and SLC Shoreline. I love the Corner Canyon trails, I love riding from my house to the SLC Shoreline. It's rough in the SLC. See people you know every ride, saw Dugs new Orange ride, Cavey got a hall pass, Gigi was giggling, Indohran went to dinner, Hooptedoodles seat post was holding up, Rich was resplendent in his plaid skinsuit. And on and on and on...... Spring has sprung. For now.

This weekend I head to Prescott, Az with the Boffeli-Hanks for the Whiskey Off-Road. Should be fun.

The below path is one I do so many times, I lose count, small variations make it a 19-25 mile ride, right around 2-2.5 hours depending on pace, lots o climbing and giggly descending. Rough I tell ya.

Thoughts of the day

2010-04-10T22:42:00.002-06:00

Nice warm one track day on the shoreline. A few trips up Dry Creek with a side trip up south Dry Creek. THAT WAS CREEPY. Not doing that again alone. Kept hearing things off the side, then a about 1/4 mile up there were two Deer rib cages + hair all over.

Rode with the Potentate and COsta for a bit.

Went and stopped in JV's son's 1 year celebration.

Use your power and energy for good.

(I have remind myself of this at times)

2010-04-08T21:29:00.000-06:00

Cholla 2010

2010-04-05T14:39:00.004-06:00

Thanks to Karl for the photo

First race for the new scooter. Cholla is a great course for big wheels, sandy, lots of flat sections and no real technical stuff.

I maybe should have switched out to the race king tires instead I went with the Mountain Kings, including the monster 2.4 up front, the weight is not a problem at Cholla, but the rolling resistance probably didn't help.

I lined up on the right side of the start, thinking it would help me avoid the pinch on the hard left not 10 yards from the start, of course it put me right into a boulder strewn rut on that short DH, which shot me to the back of the pack immediately. This made for some interesting riding/passing in the first 1/4 mile, due to the Dust cloud/ zero visibility, I was riding in. Onto the slickrock I was in about 10th or so, and just kept a steady pace, had fun and opened it up a bit on the DH sections.

Into the rock of doom section I saw 4 people already on the side of the trail with flats, then over the next rise a few more, including Trent W. Later, Bobby Lincoln was off the side of the double track with some mechanical. I think I was then in 7th. Lynda W. passed me a bit later, she was motoring. I came through the lap zone alone and went out for lap 2. about halfway into lap 2 Kathy was closing on me, I just kept steady again and a few miles from the lap zone caught up with Ken, pulled him for a bit and Kathy came around me, we came into the feed at the same time and Dusty flawlessly got us both bottles. Then Kathy proceeded to pull away as the 3rd lap went on.

At almost exactly the same spot he went by me it 2009, I passed Tim W, but he had an exploded seat instead of exploded legs. He held on for a while, but I built a gap, Trent W was a bit behind him, I had one speed left, I knew if I tried an attack, to widen the gap, that I would blow, so I just kept it steady, I also knew that when the short steep rise came, I would not be able to do anything but spin up it, Trent got by me here, I then soft peddled into the finish, 7th place.

Happy with the result, because I raced smart and consistent, Laps 1 and 2 were both right at 32.5minutes and lap 3 was just over 34.

Right on track.....

Post race I meandered over to Over the Edge for Coffee, then dinner with E-Pow, Dusty, Shannifer, Kathy, Lucy, Quentin, DJ and Dave.

Sunday we did the Goulds, Jem, Hurricane Rim loop, Kathy crushed me.

I'm goin for a weekly update.

2010-03-28T21:57:00.004-06:00

Happy to see that my March time on bike has gone above Jan and Feb combined. Time on airplane/hotel has gone down a bit, that helps.

I got 6 hours in on lots of dirt today and yesterday total, Today was 4 hours, 33 miles, 23 on dirt, lots of climbing, lots of hiker/doggie dodging (Lyna had an OTB on her ride due to a dog, her hip hurts pretty bad)

I met E-Pow at the zoo and we headed to city creek, 4 very short wet sections the whole way, we then climbed up west City Creek and ran into BZ who rode up to the Antenna road with us, I turned around solo there and climbed back up east City Creek to past bobsled and took my new secret DH down to the mouth of Dry Creek and bailed to the road there, cause I was blown.

Thanks to all who came and squeezed in our little house for Lyna's b-day celebration, we had fun, hope you did too.

Longest Ride of the year

2010-03-20T21:05:00.004-06:00

3 Felt Nine Teams and a Tomac (Rider awaiting Felt Nine Team build) Set out from Team Shannifers house.

@53 miles in 4 hours, 10 or so miles on dirt in corner canyon. EQ up to shoreline, Steps trail-Creek View loop a few times. Awesome shape.

Sun burned and fried legs.

Small Bike

2010-03-13T20:54:00.003-07:00

My new bike looks kinda small.

29ers are stupid.......

Rockin the Hotel bike

2010-03-01T09:33:00.004-07:00

This pre season training plan has rocked. The high temp/humidity week was a success, 5 hours of sweet excercise bike work outs,3followed by fitful 4 hour block sleep, pool time and site visits.

On either end of this training block was some imposed rest periods, luckily i got an upgrade on this rest plan.

This week, pre first 'Race' of the year will include a final short Hotel Exercise block, NYC version. This will include a required rest of 5+ hours Thursday Night.

I should really be ready to rock in St George.

Don't you get bored????

2010-02-18T18:21:00.002-07:00

I have probably ridden from my house, to the zoo, on the shoreline, to Red Butte, To Dry creek and beyond close to a 1000 times. No exaggeration either. It is just that convenient, There are countless different options to ride in multiple places on the trail, I can get in 2-5k of climbing in 2 hours and 20 miles if I choose to, I have the trails so dialed in I can fly on them and not break a sweat. I do tend to get bored with it in say May, when other trails start to open, but they are too convenient.

Today, due to an early start, I got off work early, I was kitted up and out the door by 4:30 (Head to toe in SaltCycling gear I might add, MASHer Jersey, New bibs and Fly socks) Didn't notice that till I was on the trail.

I headed towards the Zoo and Emmigration, hoping to have at least a few minutes on the trail before I had to turn around due to mud, riding up the canyon was the plan, Well I never had to turn around. Total HERO DIRT from the Zoo to Dry Creek (Which, of course is a slushy mess) I had a shit eating grin on my face the whole time, even as the SUn went behind the clouds and the temps dropped. Exhilarating, really.

Nope, I don't get bored.

Dirt-Afternoon-Salt Lake County

2010-02-09T21:20:00.002-07:00

Made my way down to Draper to find some dry dirt riding, Mission Accomplished, retraced my route a few times, lapped on the double track with some one-track thrown in. Nice evening ride, the sun was behind the Oquirrh's by the time I got back to the car, a bit chilly.

Better than a 4 hour drive.

Pickin Up the Trash Talk

2010-02-05T18:10:00.002-07:00

So, Not his real name has already tried to get me to wear his shorts on the podium, well I gotta get on the podium first, and since I am once again returning from a week on the east coast for work, followed by, in 2 weeks heading to Asia for 7 days, and then being home for 5 before the first "Race".

On top of that, I ran into She, who is being most affected by 'The Mistress" aka Rush at JFK as we were getting ready to board this flight home, seems her and Daughter 1 spent the week in NYC for some birthday fun. Well, she decided to give me a cupcake, and I can only imagine it is part of her husbands, and Ricks, and BK's and hell others evil plan to make this season more 'interesting'

Tweety Chair, here I come!!!!

Winter's not so bad

2010-01-29T22:56:00.004-07:00

While oth ers were doing the BK 'stimulus' plan, I was playing desk jockey, lamenting a future of hotel excercise bikes on the east coast and Asia. So I bailed from work a bit early, kitted up and headed to the Zoo trail head, the steep sections were rough early, needed to be a bit colder. Actually road some moist dirt. Good fun ride overall.

Tomorrow (1/30) at 11 at the Glenwild trailhead, 3 hours of riding, a bit of pavement, a bit of snowy onetrack and who knows what else. MTB's a must...

There, I said it...

2010-01-24T18:45:00.003-07:00

I just don't like snowsports. not really. Oh, I'll go snowboard a few times a year, I'll even try skate skiing occasionally, but I don't really like it. It is partially about economics of time and cash. I get bored on the lifts, after 2 runs, I get bored on the runs. Skate skiing, well it is like learning to walk everytime I do it, I want to go fast and just can't, until I do, then I fall.

Oh, then people tell me to go AT/Split Board. Cash, like 2k to get into it, add that to a busy work schedule, travel for work, weekend trips to Southern Utah for dirt and the like, well, just not economic enough. Plus you know, death. Yeah death, yeah so I'm scared of dying, so what. I'm sure it is fun, I know it is a good work out, but really, I don't want to, for all the reasons above and more. The most recent reason to top it off is that it has turned into a ME TOO sort of thing, That in and of itself could be enough to keep me away.

I'm like that, contrarian, I can't help it.

CONGRATS

2010-01-21T19:36:00.002-07:00

Are due for Bumpin Bahrke, on yet another Olympic berth, get the gold this time.

For those who don't know, she used to race for Revolution and is the S.O. of the former shop owner.

Oh yeah, help her out by getting your coffee here.

New place to ride in the Sun

2010-01-16T18:27:00.003-07:00

Headed up to Jeremy ranch around 11am and took the road to east canyon, headed up east canyon for about a mile past the gate, snow was firm enough to ride. Probably coulda made it to the top, but was getting rather sweaty and decided to turn around, only icy in spots and fun to do power slides at slow speeds.

lots of funny looks from cars and hikers.

I tried to ride up the 24-7 trail, made it about 1/2 mile, the climbing was easy on the firm packed snow, but any downhill became sketchy, but fun. Need to hit that ride up more, @ 2 hours and 18 miles total.

Our bikes are covered with a fine reddish dust,

2010-01-10T20:52:00.005-07:00

Lyna and I just got back from 3 days in St. George. Our first trip there together in a few years, her injuries and jobs have kept her away. We had a blast. Friday was a quick hour on prospector after a leisurely SLC departure. We rode a small section of the Church Rocks loop as well before heading back to the car. Saturday we did Barrel Roll, Sidewinder out and back and much of the Rim trail systems, 2 hours of fun. Sunday we rode with the Hypio's doing a never before done by me Bear Claw/Stucki/Wash/Bear Claw lollipop. Good fun and smiles all around.

The sun was shining, temps were in the mid 50's, trails were in great shape and EMPTY. We Saw Chuck and Greggy G Sat and Sun, but very few others, Rico was down there, but never saw him, he blew us off on Sunday.

This winter/spring should be interesting for training. Travel for work is ramped up again, Philly in a week, Phillipines in Feb. Hotel exercise bikes here I come!!.

Signed up for the Whiskey 50 and the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde (Duo with Lyna) spreading our race experience wings this year, grass roots, out of state is where it is at.

2009 Recap

2009-12-29T17:26:00.006-07:00

I have been remiss in posting for sometime, busy getting Team Revolution Peak Fasteners 2010 stuff in order, Helping build the MTBRacenews.com team and traveling for work. Lots of FF Miles recently.

2009 ended up being a better than expected year. The local 40+ expert group just got faster. I actually had a few wins (5-Mile, Jackson) and returned to Endurance racing again. Below is the best of list.

1. best off season trip - January in St George with Fitty Watt and Boffeli has a Posse. Didn't think I would ever see someone get cut off at Olive Garden in St. George, brilliant!!!!
2. best race trip - Laramie Enduro - Team Rev Peak Fasteners was full on in effect, plus got to see BP and actually raced with him for about 1/3 of the course.
3. The 2009 Paz Ortiz Nemesis Award goes to Sam Moore who discovered his climbing legs in 2009, this along with his madness on the downhill makes him a threat to win every race.
4. Perfect Race of 2009 - My favorite Icup venue - Jackson Hole, led from the beginning, kept it smart and easily won, very nice day on the bike, full of Zing and joy.
5. Best Race of 2009 - The Park City Point to Point. The crew did an amazing job, I only did the Duo category as my knee was acting up post Laramie and Mt. Ogden 50k
6. Best training ride of the year - the Flying dog to Deer Valley to PCMR epic done with Shannifer, Hypio, Ken, Pasternak and others.
7. Worst Training ride of the year - Meeting Bart, Alex et al and gorgoza and riding straight up for an hour 2 days after returning from Asia, ouch.
8. CX season - I fully planned NOT to race any CX, but I can't stay away, I ended up racing Single Speed of all things, had a few good results, beat Boffeli more often than not and had a blast, seems I do better at CX when I don't plan on it or train for it.
9. Most exciting part of the year - Being chosen to be on the GT Dirt Coalition, I applied at literally the last minute (a few hours to spare) was picked, got a sweet carbon Zaskar and I hope I was a good ambassador for them.

As always the best part of the season was the community, old and new friends, laughter, grumbles, suffering, smiling = FUN, looking forward to what 2010 brings.

Peace

2009-12-24T13:55:00.003-07:00

Excellent Message

2009-12-18T16:21:00.003-07:00

The State of MTB Racing in America.

a response to This

UTCX #4

2009-10-28T19:16:00.001-06:00

Lots of pics of SInglespeed and Men'sB and a few Men's & 35+ A HERE

Courtesy of Lyna, I didn't come in last

To or not

2009-10-21T13:06:00.002-06:00

CX that is, leaning towards not, as not much bike time in 1.5 months, lots of travel and low motivation, Who knows, maybe I'll be ready to rip it in a few weeks, probably not.

Kauai was great, as always, still wanted to stay, of course, I may even ride the shoreline this evening after work, should be fun.

My legs are hairy even. Crazy.

The Season, She is dun

2009-10-05T10:14:00.003-06:00

Well, except maybe for a chance at the 24(5) hours of Frog Hollow Halloween weekend. I have been busy with work and life.

Seen a lot of this view for 2 weeks.

Siberia

China

So, they are all cartoon like there.

Phillipines

I have chosen to not race Cyclocross this year, needing a rest. Saturday I rode about 3 hours of Shoreline with Kathy and Shannon while everyone else was suffering, i didn't miss it.

Starting to make Team/Sponsorship plans for 2010. Never too early, always too late.

Have you done trail work yet? Let me know and I will get you on Jamie's list.

4 more days

PC Point2Point race 2009

2009-09-06T18:42:00.007-06:00

Nothing but rave reviews of super organization, sweet one track and pain, glorious pain.

Post Laramie I had doubts of being able to make it the complete 75 miles without severe knee problems. The Mt Ogden 50k sealed the deal. So when Ty asked if I wanted to do it Duo, I said, yes. I did waffle back and forth on whether I wanted to do the first or second leg, I settled on teh second, so I could sleep in.

Lyna was the volunteer extraordinaire, giving up most of 2 days to help the registration/race/awards went off without a hitch. To her and all the other volunteers, THANK YOU!!!

Bart and Alex got to Silver Lake in like 2:15, which ramped up my prep timeline, after I helped set up part of the Feed Zone I got dressed, waffled on thermal or regular jersey, as it was raining off and on and cheered on racers and helped feed a few, Chad, who was out checking course markings ahead of the race convinced me to go with just a jersey which was the right move.

Ty and Tanner came in to the transition together and Keegan took off while I was putting the number plate on my bike (It was the 'baton'). I said at that point that there was no way I was catching him, as i am almost 3 times his age.

I caught a Solo guy on the first section of one track and as we crossed the service road I went around him and washed out, oops. No problem, kept going and started up Tour De Suds, this went faster than expected and then on the Guardsman road I came upon Kenny Paper Boying up the road on his belt drive one speed. TG was a blast, Mid Mtn then the brief portion of John's 99 was a blast, Johns trail was hard, but I survived. Up Steps hurt a lot and I tried to conserve for APex and Keystone up above Jupiter, I thought this was going to be the hardest part of my race, alas, it was tame, I was surprised and happy to be to the top so soon, where Erika heckled me. The 6+ Mile downhill was ahead of me, that 6 miles, while fun and fast and only taking 23 or so minutes was the hardest part of the race, my upper body was taking a beating. Fox shoved a dollar at me at the feed station, Ryan and Ty helped me switch bottles and I took off up Spiro, it went pretty well, had one bathroom break and then hit mid mountain 35 minutes later, The gradual rise to the look out went by in about 10 minutes and the next 5 miles went by in 23 minutes, that 23 minutes, I think, was the most fun I had all day, I was flying and grinning and hoping that none of those rocks split a tire, it didn't.

At the Colony aid station, I thought I was going to have to do the whole bibs take down to dissipate discomfort, but it passed, whew, thanks to Hillary for cheering me on.

The climb from Red Pine to Rob's descent was painful, I knew there was one more climb to do, so while Rob's was fun, my mind was reeling for how far down I was going to ride before I had to climb back up. Alas it was 'only' 1.5 miles up and then Holly's down.

I finished my leg just a bit over 4.5 hours. Our total time was 8:01 good for second place, 32 minutes behind the kids.

6 bottles of CarboRocket, 5 Roctanes and a few chomps fueled the day, that a Lyna's waffles.

I won a ton of stuff in the raffles, 2 Canyon's passes, One PCMR pass, 2 fleeces, Winter bib tights, sunglasses, Skullcandy headphones and more.

Shannon, Jay, Brian etc.. did a great job. Free food post race, great prizes for all categories and the Lantern Rouge prize to AL was awesome.

I am tired and sore and do not think I would of finished if I would of gone solo.
P.S. I think TC has some sort of weird obsession with my calves, Dr. X, you need to work this out with her.

The Robbie Project

2009-08-26T22:30:00.007-06:00

CLICKY THE SCROLLING IMAGE ABOVE TO GET TO PURCHASE PAGE

Robbie Squire is one of the top U23 Mountain Bike Racers in the USA, he is the former Junior National Champion and took 2nd in this years U23 championship, he is a nice kid and the future of the sport in the USA. As a result of his excellent results, USA Cycling has Named him the the World Championship team. This year the world championships are in Canberra, Australia September 1-6.

However, USA Cycling does not pay his way, as a result, this makes it difficult for a 19 year old to afford.

The Tour De Park City has generously donated some nice swag to raffle off to get Robbie to Australia without gong into debt.

Reynolds Solitude Wheelset
Garmin 605
Rudy Project Helmet/glasses combo
3 energy packages including hammer heed, pro bars, sportslegs, and gels

5 dollars a ticket and the raffle will be held in 2 weeks

Mt. Ogden 50k weekend

2009-08-24T14:06:00.005-06:00

Lyna and I took the puppies up to Huntsville for the weekend, I was signed up for the Mt. Ogden 50k race and wanted to have a relaxing weekend as well. The condo was comfy and clean and about 15 minutes from Snowbasin.

I headed up early Saturday morning to pick up my packet and set up the Dirt Coalition Pop Up tent. Went back to the condo to get Lyna and the pups and headed back up, Discovered soon after arrival tha my GPS had no battery charge, oh well, no problem, I warmed up with BZ and headed to the start. I originally signed up as Pro, but then was going to downgrade to amateur, but then realized that with 2 categories, I should race the upper one, only fair.

I think there were around 25 'Pro' men at the start, I was in the top ten at first, and surrendered a few spots on the first DH, as I had not pre-ridden the course. There were several spots on the DH that I had "OH $hit!" moments, but all in all i did well enough, Nate Stowers got around me towards the bottom of the first long DH and I stayed with him as much as I could till the long pavement climb to the lap area. I motored up this climb, putting distance on several riders and grabbed my bottles from Lyna. On the exposed start area climbs I was feeling a bit dizzy, luckily that went away, about 5 minutes later on the rough climb my left knee started to ache, drat, I maybe should have thrown in the towel there, but I kept pushing.

I did better on the DH and then any climb would come and I wanted to go hard, as my legs had it in them, but the knees did not. I was getting passed left and right and was very hot and frustrated, still I pushed on. Finally I made it to the long paved climb to the finish, KC, Adam and a few others passed me here and I was wanting to go with them, the legs said yes, but the knees said no. So I finished, 3 hours 3 minutes 34 seconds. 19th 'Pro' men 24th Male over all, 27th over all male and female.

1st lap 1:25:20

2nd lap 1:38:14

I believe I may have Patellar Tendonitis, need to go see a PT to be sure. The legs, lungs and heart wanna go, but the knees say no.

The rest of the weekend was grand, post race BBQ and awards were fun, I am sure I was one of the few that did not win a raffle prize:). Lyna and I ate dinner on 25th street in Ogden and then hot tubbed it, woke up Sunday and had breakfast at the Jackson Fork Inn, then drove home and hung out at the Tour of Utah crit with the Day's.

Back

2009-08-20T10:25:00.002-06:00

Been out having fun, not riding much to speak of, Lyna is back on the bike and hitting dirt regular like, which is awesome. We hit up the Tour of Utah Prologue Tuesday, that was a scary DH finish and corner, missed the Pie feed as a result, which I am bummed about. Wednesday I was gonna attempt the Clarks TT but decided racing in PC would be more fun, we started at Silver Lake down Mid Mountain, up Team Big Bear, Counter Clockwise on Flagstaff, up Deer Camp and Down Nail Driver. 6.5 miles of fun in the cool mountain temps. I took the W in a small field and got a 12 pack of Pro-Bars, mmmmmmm good. Several people took wrong turns, but fun was had by all.

Lyna finished spray painting all the PCPP arrow signs yesterday, even though Ellie chewed up the stencil.

This weekend I head up to Snowbasin to race the Mt. Ogden 50k, which seems to be only slightly longer than a XC race, so should be fun, I have heard great things bout the trails up there.

2009-08-06T08:38:00.004-06:00

2009 Laramie Enduro

2009-08-02T18:56:00.002-06:00

I have not done anything but XC races since 2005, and that was the Brian Head 50, taking less than 4 hours, I registered for Laramie in February, since it was only 60 bucks and would be easy to walk away from if I decided to pass on it. Well Team Revolution had about 25 register, then we got a block of rooms at the Fairfield, so I became more committed. Having done that, I was convinced that I would have no chance of an overall Expert series win, however, circumstances proved other wise.

Friday morning after breakfast at Eggs in the CIy with Lyna, We loaded up the Wedge mobile with Jim, Steve, Alison and my self and headed to Laramie. We registered and as we were getting ready to go spin on the wild roads of town, the storm started, so we went to feed on pasta with 15 of us, The rain kept up and we hit the sack early.

We woke up at 5:00, headed down for the free breakfast fixins and headed out to the race site. I think I got about a 10 minute warm up in, not that it mattered. My goal was to stick with Brad Pilling as long as possible, We lined up on the 2nd row and when he start went, I took off at a sub XC start pace, there was less than 1/2 mile of service road to one track and I wanted to avoid as much craziness as possible, Brad says 'That was unnecessary!' A quote that would bug me for a while. So for the first 10 miles or so I was in the first chase group, I think about 5 or so were off the front. Brad catches me at about mile 8 and I ask him if I cut him off, he says no, whew. I then get on his wheel, he motors ahead on some flats and I catch back on on the rises. Then he gets a 20 second gap and we hit the Mile 10-20ish headwind fire road section, I get in with a group of 15 or so, Brad is 20 seconds up in a group of 4, In my group it is me and 2 Chipotle Titus riders doing all the work, finally I Jump across to Brads group and we get more people doing work. I felt like I was going a bit too hard, but knew being in this group was pushing me down the road a whole lot faster and would pay off in the end. We broke up as we hit the Singletrack when we looped back to the start singletrack area, I still had Brad about 10-20 seconds up and we were keeping a steady pace. Right before aid station 2 I saw SHannon on the side finishing up a flat fix, I stopped at the aid station to fill up a bottle and Got back on as Shannon went by, I held onto his wheel on doubletrack, rough cow trail and one track for about 4 miles or so, Miles 36-47 or so were the hardest part of my day. I dropped off of Shannon, and started feeding, I wanted to back down because I knew the last 20-25 miles were the hardest. I passed Ryan Ashbridge right before Aid 3 fixing a flat and he blew by me a bit later, as I came into aid 3 he was still there, Aid 3 was where our drop bags were, so I swapped bottles, grabbed my food, grabbed a handful of animal crackers and headed out, Ryan came up on me and I said I was in recovery mode and to get around me, he did, and took off (for a top 10 overall finish). I got passed by probably 15 people in this 11 mile section. I just let them go. Finally, hitting a doubletrack climb at mile 48, my legs came around and I stepped it up, my HR track shows about a 10 BPM drop in those 11 miles, the rest off the race, before and after was right around the same average. Of course, this started the last 20 miles of the race, which was the hardest. The doubletrack climbing was great, I was able to sustain power and go steady, not getting passed by anyone, but, my knees were aching, quads, fine, knees burning, so single track climbing was bad, technical singletrack climbing, worse. Aid stations 4 and 5 included me grabbing boiled potatoes and chips, filled up with water and heading out, at aid 5 I asked when the next downhill was, there was nervous laughter, well there was like 2 screaming fast downhills on service roads, about a miles worth, top speed 40mph, followed by, oh 800 feet of technical, rocky, rooty one track climbing in 2.5 miles, My legs felt great, but my knees were not feeling great, I walked a lot of this section, The decent off the top was a blast and took less than 9 minutes, done, race time 6:02:59. 34th place in the overall Open-Pro. Only 20 minutes behind Ryan who finished 10th, Brad finished 12th and Shannon 15th. The Mile 35-48 lull likely cost me a top 20, but that is how endurance racing goes, good spots and bad spots. My actual moving time was 5:52. I stopped for 4 pee breaks and stopped at 4 aid stations for a total of 11 minutes. But, I never bonked, was well fed and hydrated and had no issues, the Carbo Rocket made the day, 6 bottles of it plus 2 of water. My Fly socks kept me warm in the early am temps and kept my feet happy regardless of mud, water and cowpie. The Zaskar was fast, smooth and flawless.

The course was fun and challenging, countless un-rideable mud (cow poo) bogs, flowy one track, fast fire road, cow trails, waist deep creek crossings. The course was very well marked, if you kept eyes forward, volunteers were awesome, filling my bottles for me, cheering me on. Fellow riders were kind and encouraging, even if they wheel sucked :) The Registration took seconds, the food post race was awesome and they even had industrial strength action wipes for post race cleaning. Jen took second in her group and won 200 bucks, Brad took 2nd Open 40-49 and also won 200. I guess my name was called for a sweet raffle prize, but we had already left.

Everyone on Team Revolution finished and we only had a few flats, the weather was good, sunny skies and the post race dinner at the Chop house successfully put us in a Coma. I'll be back next year.

Now to decide whether or not my knees are willing to do the PCPP race.

2009 I-Cup 40+ Overalll Champ

2009-08-01T22:06:00.003-06:00

2009 Icup Expert 40+ Series podium

Thanks Erika!

Meanwhile, I was sufferin with 400 others in the Laramie Enduro, hung with Brad Pilling and recently flat tire sufferers Shannon B and Ryan A till mile 40, when I remembered the last 25 miles of the 67 mile race were the hardest. Ended up finishing at 6:03 34th overall.

More later.....

Jackson Zing

2009-07-26T19:53:00.007-06:00

E-Pow picked me up Friday am and we headed out to Teton Village via Evanston-Cokesville-Afton etc... When we arrived, the condo was empty and the skies were opening up rain. I took a nap, it felt good, The rain let up and E-Pow went out for a pre-ride around 3:30, I waited for Ty and Ted and we went out around 4:30 or so, the course was not muddy, actually dusty for the most part, it seemed they had smothed out some of the tech sections while leaving others in place. Friday evening the gang was all there and we fed our faces and settled in for a restless night of sleep (except for Ron, Chad and the other Bobby who stumbled in around midnight or so).

This may very well be my favorite XC course

Woke up around 6:30, ate, embrocated (it was 55 degrees) and headed out to register. I then had 45 minutes to warm up, I did about 1/4 of a lap, came back to the feed zone, took off my jacket and arm warmers and then went and rode up this super steep-loose hill which put me on the final DH of the course, came down and we were staging-perfect. Ed held the start for 10 or so minutes as a pro had to cut the cable lock to get his bike off his rack, no one i know of complained about it.
We had over 10 at the start, including several locals. The start went off and I went to the front and hit the one track first, i then backed off a little, to not go to far into the red and just steadily moved forward. The good Dr. was in second at this point and I knew he could climb away from me, so on the short steep stuff in the first mile or so I put in hard bursts. Then when we broke out to the short Down on the double track to the short double track rise, I put in a hard effort and kept it steady in the first long single track, after that I just alternated between pushing hard and conserving, usually pushing hard on the flats and low grade rises and conserving on the steep stuff, including the dreaded steep service road of the devil. Starting the DH on lap one, I saw Tim heading off course down a service road, he yelled that his drive train was shot(later to be a twisted chain) a bit later I spied the single speeder in our cat about a minute or so behind, so I tured up the speed a slight bit more on the DH and out of the saddled the start finish climb, slowing to get my bottle from Kim Abbott(Thanks) and then proceeded to do it all over again.

I was worried about Arantix Doc surging so I kept pushing after anyone in front of me. a bit into lap 2 we started coming up on the 12 and unders, in the far north woods section I came up on one and warned 'rider' and she proceeded to fall over, I did a combo cross dismount, are you ok? and through the brush and back on the bike, the rest of the passes went well. Then on the steep climb of the devil my rear tire popped off a rock and felt flat all of a sudden, about 1/3 a way up the steep part, I jumped off, dumb, grabbed it, not flat, re-mounted and somehow kept going up the hill.

Lap 3 was uneventful, just kept pushing and trying to catch the guy with the most base miles of anyone I know, who started 2 minutes ahead. Didn't catch him though.

So in the end I came away with W #2 of 2009, about 4 minutes up on 2nd. I spoke of zing last year. Saturday at Teton Village, I had Zing. It was so diametrically apposed to my 2nd place at Solitude the week before, which was the furthest from Zing I have been ever.

Some race stats.
3rd best expert time
Passed all other experts but 1st 19-29 and 1st and 2nd 30-39
Lap 1 - 35:20
Lap 2 - 35:57
Lap 3 - 37:02

Sad part, got a 25 dollar gift cert to Fitzgeralds Bikes, which closed before we got there and was not open Sunday, sold it to the Other Bobby for 15 bucks.

Post race we took a tram ride to the top, hiked around, came back, went to mexican for Ty, went to mangy moose for a bit and crashed out.

Got up and headed home pretty early.

I guess the final race is NOT double points, which I did not know till Saturday, which means I sealed up the series with my win. E-Pow will be my stand in on the Podium next week, as I will be in Laramie racing the Enduro. Can't believe another Icup season is done.

Seriously, I think that was the hardest XC race I have ever done.

2009-07-19T19:38:00.011-06:00

Late Edit--Lotsa Race Photos here, courtesy of Lyna

I rode the course quite a bit during the week, including Friday with Newby, afterward I soaked in the creek for 30 minutes (I hear that is a no no though).
Lyna and I got there early enough so I could meander my way to getting kitted up for the warm up. Before the race Chris B said he was retired. I hope that isn't true, I like chasing him. Ty and I headed out up the pavement for a small lap warm up, plus some other openers. I got a good warm up, well it was warm too.

Sam and I had a gap going up the short dirt road/paved road section, I let off the gas as he came around me into the singletrack, not wanting to blow up. Honeycomb and Quenn Bess are painful and I did not want to blow up with the upper service road climbs ahead. BK got around me on Queen Bess. I just setted in, it was gonna be a long day. I made it over the top and headed down Kruzr, BK was on the side of the trail with a flat tire, I told him to get moving and kept going.

I never saw Sam again and never saw anyone behind me either, I just kept trying to pass people in other categories to keep motivated. The curse was brutal, about 4400 feet of climbing in under 22 miles. The DH was rough and my arms were pretty pumped halfway through the race, then my quads got pumped on the DH, on the last 1/2 (really 3/4's) lap I was actually DH'ing alot in teh saddle, The Zaskar absored it well, my quads needed the rest. We had over 10 at the start and only 5 finishers, rough day at the office.

I ended up in 2nd, 3rd year in a row, this time though I was 9 minutes out of 1st, crazy, Sam is on fire right now. The new course is a Brute, not going up the road on the first lap changes the race strategy, the road, while painful, exposed and not fun, did play into my strengths, oh well, it will make me stronger.

Sunday met up with Shannifer, Ryan, Jenelle, Carl and Ty for an extended Mill D loop (3400 feet of climb in 17.7 miles), new Onetrack off the top of Guardsman was a blast, then up Puke hill. Part way up, Ty passes me and grabs my rear brake HARD, well I did it to him earlier on the road. Shannons front wheel then plows into my Rear D and my chain pops behind the cassette, we get it out, adjust the shifting and keep going, then on the last little up before the Spine I shift behind the cassette again, By that time Ty had left us 'to go work on a school paper' whatever, he was scared. Payback is gonna be hell.

Good Weekend

2009-07-12T21:48:00.007-06:00

Snowbird is always under appreciated, due to it being hard and the DH f Sketch (BTW, Brad Newby has the copyright to that name) Well for 2009, SNowbird added some new one track, rumor has it it was a requirement for Specialized to do its 2010 roll out to the Press Corps 2 weeks ago and to dealerss this week, so new One track on the climb to replace the steep, head down and suffer climb. Sadly, that climb was good for me, cause I like to suffer, well, not really.

We had about 12 at the start, including a guy in a Specialized kit who ended up being the SPecialized Rep from China, he was all smiles and taking picures while we were staged, There is a mere 400 yards before teh single track and I wanted to get in early, I knew Sam would go first, so I had to gas it a bit to get around BK. The new onetrack started with a big ring speed section, and I didn't want to be 'held' up by his single gear, you know, small victories matter, to me.

Here I am thinking, I gotta get around this luddite NOW!!!!

BK then got around me halfway or so up the new one track, Chris B came around towards the topthe DH was the DH, didn't lose a spot and mostly held onto Chris B. When I had passed the Gad base and was headed up teh steep road before the onetrack traverse to the finish, I could saee Karl and Tim about 30 or so seconds back. I went through the Start/finish line for lap one of 4 at 26:18, Uh Oh.

Lap 2, it rained, luckily I had embracted during the prerace rain, so my legs were warm. Karl was not too far behind once we hit the one track climb to the top, and again at the same place I saw him on Lap one at the bottom, he was still 30 seconds or so back, on the one track traverse, Chris B had a mechanical, his day was over. I WAS NOT IN THE TWETY CHAIR, for the time being. Lap 2 was 27:52, more reasonable.

LAp 3, still raining, Karl was still right there, I could catch glimpses of Sam and BK way up on the climb, nd again at the same place I saw him on Lap one at the bottom, he was now about 45 seconds back. Lap 3 was 28:43, please don't blow up.

Lap 4, rain stopped, legs on fire from embrocation now. I rode the 4th lap as smart as I could, passing people as much as I could and 'attacking' steep climbs, where prior laps I spun them, I then spun the rough one track climb sections and DH'd the DH of sketch carefully, at the appointed bottom, Karl was nowhere in sight, part of me said, whew, but another part hoped he was ok, cause that DH takes victims regulary. I atttacked the One track traverse like someone was on my wheel, for training purposes as well as knowing that anything can happen, I had lost my C02 and quick stick earlier in the race, so a flat would of had me running (walking) my bike. Came across in 3rd. Last lap 28:39. whew. Sam is right next to certifiably nuts in the way he hits the DH and BK, well, mutant.

No tweety chair, Karl didn't even show to the awards to claim the tweety chair, I hope he is ok. The Cross Doc had a few meetings with the dirt as well, one pre-race. Hope he is ok.

Lyna took some phots of the 2nd wave races, but was also passing bottles. Check em here. Search by name or number.

Saturday evening I met Mark at Rio Tinto to watch Real Salt Lake play Club America, 1st half we sat in the sun, and my legs were quite post embrocation hot, 0-0 at the half, e head to the other side where a co-workers of Mark's sits and had 2 empty seats next to him, end of game RSL1- CA0, totally unexpected, chippy game, lots of fouls and the like. Thanks Mark, that was fun.

Sunday, E-Pow and Ken Costavich go ride without me, early (I like sleeping in post race, sue me, I'm old). SO Lyna and I head to Eggs in the City for Brunch, I come home, take a nap, mm nap, then at 4 I get motivated and mount up the Zaskar and head towards Mill Creek, I kept climbing, hit the pipeline up at Church Fork, dang I forgot how steep that was, I have to bail to the road at the next access point to re fll water bottles, then head back up the Piepline to elbow fork, then up the road to the Big Water parking area, I decided that if I was already there I may as well go up to dog lake, so I did, at this point I was 2.5 in and was tired, but the DH made that all go away, until Rattlesnake Gulch, which is not friendly 3+ hours into a post race day ride, with losse rocks, and dust, but I made it down without any falls or blood. Ran into the Oilcan walking his pups on my way down from dog lake.

Nice ride profile.
I may slee well tonight.

chain mail, but you will actually get something

2009-07-09T11:18:00.004-06:00

First, check this out.

Second,

Raced the new Mid Week course at Solitude last night, came in 5th, due to
attrition mostly, but that is part of it. Felt good, maybe like even my fast is back.

Third, I like this idea, plus i like free stuff.

Here’s how it works. The first five people to leave a comment on this post will get something handmade from me. But in return, you have to make this same offer on your blog and make something for five other people.

If you want to play, copy the text below onto your blog and leave me a post:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. Whatcha get is whatcha get.
2. What I create will be just for you, with love.
3. It’ll be done this year (2009).
4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. Or it may be monstrous and annoying. Heck, I might bake something for you and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something strange.
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.
7. Send your mailing address - after I contact you.

I reserve the right to make you whatever I want. It will not be virtual, it will be an actual object.

No racin' No Bloggin'

2009-07-05T17:19:00.004-06:00

Been a while since the DV Icup. Took a trip to the mother land, nice 5 days, relaxing off the bike with the family.

Raced a few Wednesday nighters at Solitude, 1 not last place and one DNF in the 'Pro' group.

Last Saturday was a nice 3 hour tour of DV with Kathy, a few road rides thrown in between.

On Jul 4 I hit 2 laps of the new Snowbird Course, the new climb and the new 1/2 mile mini loop at the bottom will change the race dynamics completely, GO pre-ride, maybe more people will sack up and race it now:)

Today Kathy, E-Pow and I did about 3.5 in DV again, meeting at the Jordanelle exit, climbing village-heinous hill- Deer Crest- 4 points to SIlver Lake lodge, Mid Mtn to Team Big Bear, Flagstaff loop with a short Homeward bound spur, down Team Big Bear, across Mid Mtn to PCMR and bak to silver lake, down Deer crest out outlook and down spin cycle to the cars. Great day on the bike. Fun and cool at the top, about 5k of climbing and around 27 miles.

DV PEDALFEST 2009

2009-06-14T14:39:00.003-06:00

Deer Valley is always a good course for me, lots of climbing, broken up in 2 pieces per lap. I had 2 W's here in 2008, the ICUP and the National. Again, like last year, everyone was worried about the weathers effect on the course. Like last year, I kept telling them, the course holds up well in the rain. Like last yea, it did and it was in great, fast shape. As Dana H said post race, we did little or no damage to the trails, in the dry, moondust years, the switchbacks became canyons.
We had a good group of close to 20 at the start, I had no intentions of blowing up on the first climb. At the top, I was in 4th, the first DH had some greasy wide corners, which wanted to take the front wheel out from you, by the time all the expert groups went through it, they dried a bit and were fast on laps 2 and 3. Chris, BK and Sam were not to far ahead of me climbing up little stick on lap 2, Dr X mentioned Sam seemed to be fading. So i just kept it steady, passing 19-29ers and 30-39's often. I also wanted to be sure Todd H didn't catch me on the DH, so i get myself loose and smooth and maybe a bit fast.

Heading into lap 3 I see Chris and BK halfway up the climb and Sam halfway between them and I. At the top portion of the climb I get out of the saddle and ramp it up a bit. Going up the gravel road part of Heinous Hill I see Sam about 50 yards ahead with A Lis and another 30-39 in between. We hit the top of Heinous and Sam was about 15 yards ahead, I yell to A Lis 'I gotta Catch that Guy. On the North heading false flat traverse we were pretty much all together, Sam, A Lis, other 30-39, me, goin about 15 mph, on a wide right turn the other 30-39 racer passes A Lis on the inside, taking A Lis out. I pretty much have to stop and creep aroun A Lis, the other rider slows and apologizes to A Lis, and lets me around him, Sam is gone, a few DH switchbalcs then the long south heading traverse. My plan, was to be on Sam's wheel going into this and accelerating when it pitched up for about 1/3 mile. I would likely be able to get a big enough gap to hold him off for the last podium spot. Alas, he had about 15 seconds on me, so once the incline started I ramped it up, got on his wheel about 20 yards from the top and sprinted around him, I got a small lead, then on the steep rutty DH he comes flying past me in the grass, I tried to latch back on, but couldn't. He blew a spoke in the rough stuff too, I'm just glad, for his sake, that the wheel held up, that coulda been ugly.

4th again, tweety chair and pink ribbon. I blame A Lis. Ok, not really, It is much more fun to race till the end than be out in no mans land.

(here i am pointing out where my plan SHOULD of come into fruition)

Lap times look good.

36:25

36:52

37:53

Now it is almost a month till Snowbird.

Lots and lots of Lyna's photos are here seriously, if you raced, there has to be at least 1 photo of you there.

Opportunity

2009-06-11T22:11:00.004-06:00

Life is all about seizing the moment.

The ride this evening was amazing and beautiful.

This Evening your host will be ridin a CX bike

2009-06-10T16:56:00.001-06:00

HTFU

Late Edit:

For full disclosure, by the time I found a set of CX wheels that would hold air, embrocated, and dressed, the rain had ceased, so I got to berate my fellow riders, act hard and stay dry, WIN WIN WIN.

Rico, PC is better than Mill Creek

2009-06-06T17:37:00.003-06:00

MMMMMMM Dirt.

Wow

2009-06-04T09:11:00.002-06:00

The Wasatch has 2, count em, 2 Weekly Wednesday Night MTB series. I was worried about one or both being adversely affected by this. Word is though that each one, last night had close to 100 participants. Awesome. MTB racing is alive and well in the Wasatch.

My race went as expected in the expert A's (Pro as the promoter called it, ha) DFL. Consistent lap times, and Chris Peters assured my low self esteem, by dropping out when I was hoping for 2nd to last. I did win the 'stay in the big ring for the whole race' battle, so there is that. I also won another water bottle, which is good. Oh and I didn't crash, although I hit the downhill very conservatively.

Park City Point2Point

2009-06-02T09:44:00.002-06:00

I'm guessing it is official now.

Sundance Spinners

2009-05-31T18:22:00.004-06:00

Was not sure how my hand was going to hold up race day. Took a 45 minute spin with a few 10 second efforts on Friday night, no problem, pavement is different.

I picked Caveman up around 7:30 and we headed south. We were engrossed in conversation and missed the exit, so we had to backtrack a bit. Registered about oh, 9 am, parked it and got a sweet 10 minute warm up in.

We had about 20 at the start, close to 350 overall racers, so much for participation flagging when we hit the ski resort courses.

Ed started us after the single speeders, drat. Chris B took off from the start, I got on his wheel, hoping to get past as many SSers as possible before we hit single track, alas we did not get past many, I think Jack was in 3rd at this point. We had little trouble getting around a bunch of SSers on one track and we crested the top, Chris 1, me 2, Jack 3, I think. I was descending poorly, due to my crash Wednesday and halfway down Brad and Sam were on my wheel, Sam got around me and Brad stayed back there till we started climbing the Pavement, I settled in a bit on lap 2, Jack got around me towards the top and put a gap on me, Halfway down the descent on lap 2 I let Henneman around me and I tried to follow his wheel, this seemed to snap me out of my bad descending for the day. When we hit pavement I motored past him. Halfway up the climb, I could see I was pulling Jack back, we were dealing with lapped traffic though. On the double track towards the top, I went around him and tried a small acceleration, small was right. The last descent we had some traffic issues, mostly no problem, but one guy would not let us past, Racer, me,Jack and Paz were piled up behind him, all having a gap between us until we came upon him, finally he let us by, I was glad Jack made it by as well, cause I did not want that to be our race.

I motored on up the pavement and came in with a 14 second advantage over Jack, for 4th, again, 3 weeks in a row on the tweety chair and a pink ribbon.

Lap times

34:27

36:18

35:27

consistency is good, I wish I woulda got a decent warm up in though.

Sunday was 2 hours on Flying Dog with Fred P and Brian H, who I ran into in the parking lot, we got hammered in a cold lighting full down pour in the last 15 minutes of our ride, other than that it was awesome, wait, that was awesome as well.

Rewind to yesterday

2009-05-28T09:31:00.002-06:00

Break Room Dialogue

Alisa (co worker) : So Bob, how often do you crash?
Bob: Rarely, I try not to over do the downhills, most of my crashes are stupid and slow speed, like last Tuesday pre-riding the Draper race course.
Alisa: Hmm

Fast Forward to about 6:45'ish, Round Valley, Top of the race loop, in about 2nd to last place in expert A group, first lap, starting the DH, Right Hand sweeping, rocky loose turn.

Front wheel disappears, left hand crunches on something, handlebar jabs into my hip, right leg grinds up on rocks, bike goes into brush. I jump up, to get outta anyone's way, start trying to relax and check tio see if hand is broken, i hang out about 5-10 minutes, then ride down and DNF and clean up.

Today my hand is sore, I feel like someone punched me in the hip and i got some good trail rash.

I blame Alisa.

Stan Crane Memorial 2009

2009-05-26T09:53:00.005-06:00

I spent a lot of time in the 2 weeks prior to the race riding the course, mostly to dial in the Ghost Falls DH. Also because the trails are so dang fun. I actually almost went 3 weeks off the road bike. Boffeli said something like, welcome to the right way.

So first I want to thank Ed, Sue all the volunteers for their long day of smiles and good attitude. Then I want to thank Ken Murdoch, he is one of the reasons the trail system in Draper is what it is and will be what it is for years to come, He was out there at 4am checking conditions and rallying his troops to remark and man the course when it needed to be changed to protect the trails.

So Lyna and I show up to the venue at 6:45, Keating tells us 1 hour delay, I'm like, well, ok, no problem, then I send out a team email and a txt message for as many as I could. Then the course changed once and then twice and I was glad, cause we gotta protect the trails. Then the new course was all sandy soil and would hold up even if it rained again. Ed also decided to do 2 waves, which was a great thing, but meant Experts and Pro's would not go off till after 1, 5 hours after the planned start. Of well Whitney Pogue made some awesome oatmeal rasberry snacks, which helped keep me Carbed up. I got in a 2nd warm up 2 hours after the first and we started a bit after 1. 3 seven mile laps were on tap.

Ribonucleic got the hole shot with me on his wheel under the tunnel, I then went the front and got passed by Chris B and BK on the first short double track. I got to the rolling single track and let up a bit to recover from the start effort and Sam got by me, the 1 mile double track down hill seemed to take and eternity, into a head wind, Tim W got by me here, the 1 mile double track climb with a tail wind was a god send, and my best race section all 3 laps. Ribonucleic was on my wheel a bit up the first time, but I kicked in a small attack and separated myself. Tim was still close ahead but we were already catching other categories, making it difficult to close the gap n singletrack.

On lap 2 up the double track climb I was right on Tim's wheel going into the singletrack and we got separated a bit here. Finally on lap 3, on the first doubletrack section, I was passing utmtb.com Mikey and he said Go Bob!! This foiled my evil, sit on Tim's wheel unannounced plan' and I had to attack, I put in a bout a 30 second big ring effort and passed as many other categories as I could, hoping to pull back the top 3, alas, I came in 4th. Good news was that I charged on the last lap, instead of fading.

The course was fun, although I want to race the planned course. The post race BBQ was good and fellowship as always was good.

Congrats to cavey on his second win.

Everytime I was climbing, I ws thinking of Stan. I wish the Pillings coulda been there, stupid immigration laws.

Hammerfest at the Holler

2009-05-17T18:47:00.005-06:00

I love this race course, it is hard, real hard, dizzy hypoxia inducing hard.

Ooh, I am sure that everyone knows my race strategy now that they will all start beating me. (kidding)

We had about 15+ at the start, I went hard, uh, yeah, really, and went into the short singletrack first.

Chris B passed me and Jack D was on my wheel. We started opening up a gap on the group with Chris about 10 seconds up and Tim WHite about 10 secs behind Jack and I, Chris had a skipped gear and Jack and I went around him, soon after he caught us again. Jack and I dropped off the top together and I saw Tim W go down on a hi speed corner while he was trying to catch us, at the lap Chris was 20 seconds up and Jack was 5 or so up on me. We had a very large gap at this point on the group. Chris and Jack started extending their gap on me, so I settled in and hped for the best. I started passing lots of 19-29'ers and 30-39'ers and just kept chugging, the course makes it easy to see well behind you and I saw no one in my group coming. I held it together on the 3rd lap with very little let down compared to previous races, I was cathcing Ryan K from Kuhll and used that as a carrot, he was using it as a rabbit. A bit before the single track climb at the top a Kuhl rider on a single speed motored past me and I noticed his tag showed he was in my category, crazy, I could not hold his wheel and in the end I finished 4th, still happy, the corner has been turned as expected.

I hit the Draper course again today, met up with team Shannifer and Brian in the middle of their 5.5 hour ride to show them around, that course is a blast!

'Group RIde'

2009-05-13T13:21:00.002-06:00

We handed out Team Revolution Peak Fastener Kits at the shop last night, plan was to then do a jaunt up to the Temple Quarry trail and back. Ty and Ryan were planning on riding corner canyon and no one besides BZ and I showed up to ride so BZ and I decide to go with the corner canyon option. Ryan was going to meet us at the EQ center at 7, Ty went home to get changed and get his Scalpel. He shows back up at the shop at 6:35. I estimated around 45 minutes easy pace to teh EQ, well Ty had other plans, it took us about 21 minutes to get to the eq. Ty led from the shop to 123000 south on 700 east, we averaged about 29mph in that stretch. Then we climbed clarks (heckled some teamates building the beginings of a new trail) Then climbed halfway up Jacobs ladder and descened that and ghost falls, checking out, but not riding the wall (part of the Icup course) We then made it back to the EQ and BZ< Ty and I had to ride back to the shop, BZ started the attacks on 1300 east, and Ty followed, I just tried to hang on, then I made an attack on Pioneer road and just prayed to get caught soon. Ty and BZ then just pulled my old ass in the rest of the way.

I was gonna hit the mid week race tonight, but not now, got a good enough workout in last night.

stealing from the rich

2009-05-10T18:38:00.002-06:00

Sherwood Hills was on the old course, as the snow had melted away, good times. I showed up at 9 am to support Revolutions lone beginner and to hang out with Ryan et al.

Ty, Kelly, Greg, Jeremy, Justin and I went out and did a lap of the course for a warmup. It was in good shape. And the weather was in the mid 50's to 60's perfect for racing.

I think there were around 12 or so expert 40+ at the start line, we hit the start loop at a good clip and I am on the front, Tim comes around me a bit later then halfway through the first lap BK is with us, we have a gap on the group, at least I think we did. BK comes around me on the last short up before the single track DH, Tim comes around me on the dirt road dh and we put a gap on BK, he then just motors past us on the start of the climb, I try to keep Tim in site. On lap 2 I let off the gas a bit as I wanted to hold some reserves (ha) Tim was about 30-45 seconds ahead of me here. Halfway through lap 3 I see the under armor wearing guy, but I gap him in the single track, He motors past me on the climb to the lap spot, I am now in survival mode. Halfway through lap 4 DC catches and passes me pretty much exactly where he did last year, I am in the 22-32 and suffering. Several of the 30-39 racers I passed passed me back like I was standing still.

Lap times (main lap not including start loop or finish twisties)

24:30

28+

The lap has no place to hide or recover. Around 500 feet of climbing in less than 2 miles, then most of the descending is broken up between short hi speed double track and pedally twisty single track and the false flat down hill. I was good until about 1:10 into the race, that is when my HR and speed took a dive and I was in survival mode.

Right on track.

BK is a mutant, I won't even mention what he ate not 45 minutes before our start.

I did a 3 hour ride from home to shoreline from zoo to city creek, up to the antennas and home, got a real good sunburn, worked in the yard and now I am blown, oh and 1-800flowers failed, my mom did not get her flowers, crap.

In other news the Solitude Mid week series will be back, Wednesdays this year, first 4 races at Round Valley area starting May 27th, last 6 at the 'Tude. The website will be updated soon.

I still don't have any more news on the Labor Day weekend endurance race, as soon as I do, I'll let ya know.

Ouch

2009-05-06T20:52:00.002-06:00

Intervals, the doctor says they are boring and dumb, he may be right, did two 10 minute pushes tonight and tasted blood, got dizzy and overheated, ran into Mikey as he was heading down from Big Mt.

Tailgated a group of Ski/Utah and Visit Salt Lake riders up most of EMi before I hit the first effort.

My power tap hub is loose, way to loose to be riding for 2+ hours.

All the while Lyna and Nathan were building a fence in my backyard, guess I should go make dinner.

And Go.........

2009-05-02T17:04:00.004-06:00

Woke up this am, checked the doppler and saw the big green blob covering most of Utah. Told my self, it will be ok and laid down for another 30 minutes. @ 7:45 BZ calls and asks if i am still in, I say of course, he asks what I am doing, I say making waffles, he asks where, I say at home, he asks when I plan on leaving, I say oh @ 8:30. He says, um the race is at 10, I say I know..... oh shit. 50 minute drive and not quite ready, well Lyna helps me rally and I am out the door by 8:05.

It was raining, driving past Draper on I-15 was dry, Keating texts me to say Wet and Sloppy, heading west of Lehi it is dumping rain, like tropical island down pour, The car in front of me is close to hydroplaning, I see Ty headed the other direction, he calls and said they may delay, shorten or postpone till Sunday(unlikely). I keep going, about a mile from the venue the clouds are higher, and lighter, but still raining. About 9:30 word comes down that we will do one lap on a 5ish mile course starting at 11, then it stops raining, at 10:30 it changes to same lap counts as regular race but on the 4-5 mile course. I warm up a bit on the trainer and just chill a bit, cause who knows what will happen in these conditions.

We start ON time, heck half the expert 30-39 group misses their start. There are about 10 of us 40+ experts. I line up on the second row, to stay on a good line, off the start the guy in front can't get in his pedal and then spins out in mud, so i am in last, I find a line on the right side and motor to the front halfway up the first short climb. A bit later I understand Sam and Dr X are on my wheel and we have a large gap on the field. Sam gets past me around halfway through the first lap, I just keep going at my pace, The first 2/3rds of the course were fine, climb@ 300 feet in 1.5 miles then descend. Most of the descent was fast, flowy and tacky, but there were 2 sections at the end that were bad, a flat 1/8 mile bog down and a puddle ridden slick 1/4 mile. I cleaned all of it though. first lap 3.16 miles, @14 minutes. Rich C was about 20-30 seconds back from me, Sam was about 20-30 ahead. Halfway through lap 2 we are already catching beginners, sam is on the side of the trail with a flat. I have caught all but the top 3 30-39'rs. Second time through the bog was brutal, lappers walking in the middle, but I cleaned it again. Lap 3 may have been my fastest, i burned all my matches on the climb and cleaned the bog easily (it had firmed some) the puddly section was rough, Blaney was taking lappers out in front of me and I was laughing so hard I almost ate it.

Came through with my first 2009 win in about 45:30. I need more 45 minute races this time of year.

Lots of flat tires today, weird, then post race, the sun came out, and it warmed up, figures. Lots of regulars where scared away by the weather. Don't really blame em, except for all the CX'ers, chickens.

Pictures when I get em, they should be good.

What a difference a day makes

2009-04-20T15:01:00.003-06:00

About 20 of us lined up for the XC race Sunday. As KC and Karl say, Ed spoils us with his organization, entry fees and customer service. From the start I had nothing to give, just stayed towards the back and hoped that I would surge towards the end if the race. Yeah, that did not happen. Rot gut and in turn rot legs made for a long day. I thought that I would just have fun, but that did not happen. I finished 19th, pretty sure that was dead last, packed up and headed home. I had to stop in Price and take a nap, then when I got home I went straight to bed and stayed there for about 16 hours. Not sure if it was something I ate or a touch of a flu.

Oh well, next time.

Wabbitt Vallweee Time Twial

2009-04-18T15:20:00.005-06:00

18 minutes and some change of fun. Was trying to go sub 18 but too short of a warm-up, bad line on a ledge step up and, oh, yeah, my legs and lungs kept me from it. Good enough for 2nd. I am amazed at how hard it is for my mind to get itself wrapped around that short of a solo effort. Am I going too hard? too easy?? Crazy. We went off in 1 minute intervals and I caught my minute man about 1/3 of the way in, then no one, cause there were 3 ghosts between him and the next guy, who won. It should be said that all the ghosts were likely due to the fact that many front rangers got stuck on the wrong side of the I-70 closure. Fun 4.11 miles.

Tomorrow is a one big loop 30 mile XC race, I have ridden about 3 miles of it, so yeah, I'm ready.

This is what I know

2009-04-16T21:18:00.003-06:00

1. Zoo to Red Butte was sweet this evening, damp and tacky and empty. I am sure it is the same all the way to Dry Creek.

2. There will be Pain in Fruita Saturday and Sunday, I will get to meet a few of my GT Dirt Coalition teammates there.

I will be chasing wabbit's in the valley Saturday and sunday

3. For all the endurance junkies, more info

a. Race date is planned for September 5th.

b. Point to Point race in Park City

c. 70-100 miles TBD

d. All of this is 99% for sure, will be 100 in a week or so

JZ, that should work for ya.

5:30 ride was good

2009-04-13T21:24:00.002-06:00

Had to get in a few hours pre storm, ended up going medium hard since it was 50 watt, Fred and I. Fred was bringing the heat. We rode to the top of Bobsled and reversed course back to the zoo, for about 15 miles of dirt. Lots of people out there, the ride had its share of carnage, Iwas trying to grind up the mini spine above red butte and bounced out of my pedal or on a rock or something. at a dead stop my left leg collapsed under me and the bike with a 45%+ slope dropping 100 feet next in my day, luckily Fred helped me right my self before i did any damage. I did get some nice Crank Bro's scrapes on my calf, no worry.

Then on teh top of Bobsled some guy was running up the banned bikes trail, Fred asked him how it was, he said Bikes are banned, Fred said, ok, so did you come over from the other trail, he said yes, bikes are banned, Fred said, ok, so how is it? The guy goes into some tirade and runs off?????? So much for small talk.

We then decided maybe we should of called him an a-hole or something. Then we burned it back to the zoo. Good Times,

Monday Evening Dirt

2009-04-13T15:17:00.002-06:00

5:30 at the Zoo trail head.

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Fitty Watt may grace us with his presence. GO as far as we can before hitting mud. Hopefully all the way to City Creek.

Broke Down Automobile

2009-04-07T13:27:00.004-06:00

So on Sunday Erika, Ken, Billy, Ryan K, Doug, Erich and I met in Bloomington on the bottom of Bearclaw Poppy. We headed out to Stucki Springs, Doug spent the day on Bear Paw. At the Top of Stucki we turned Erich around to go find his dad. The rest of us made our way via double track over to Barrell Roll. We then turned around and made it back to the cars in 3 hours of good, fun riding. The Bottom of Beaclaw is choppy from impatient mud riders, a bit rough on the descent.

We headed to In & Out for Lunch and while leaving saw Mr. Hales going in who told us he rode Gooseberry and the road was dry. Oh well.

Somewhere around mile marker 35 heading up towards Cedar City the engine just gave out, came back, gave out, So Erika and I were burning up the breakdown lane at 45mph till the Ranch Exit and MM36.

I called Steve Hales to see if he could pick Erika up, he did. I then called Danny, good friend, rider, racer, and boarding house for pro's who also happens to be a mechanic. He told me to try and make it back to St G and otherwise he would come get me. I made it to right before the Leeds exit before it started acting up again, so I took the frontage road to Quail Creek and then Telegraph to Danny and Kim's house. We went for a drive to show Danny what was up and then rode our bikes to a neighbors house for dinner.

We woke up early on Monday and headed over to Danny's work and hooked the computer up to the car and figured out the problem. VTEC has a screen, that was clogged and when the cam was trying to switch, the oil pressure didn't change so the computer shut the engine down.
So he cleaned it out, changed the oil and put in a good oil filter and new air filter, we tested it all again and it was all good to go (Element and other VTEC engine owners, use good Oil Filters)

So I went to get some lunch and headed over to Prospector and Church Rocks for a bonus desert ride.

The Zaskar on Church Rocks

Bad self portrait

I then drove home, this view in Utah county about 45 miles from home always seems unreal to me.
So, really, the whole experience further illustrates what Bike racing REALLY means to me. Community. The Community that is there for each other, has fun and helps each other when needed. Yes, we all want to go faster and win, but the question I have for you is whether or not the community is more important?

Cholla Challenge

2009-04-04T20:50:00.002-06:00

This years version of the Cholla Challenge was built to bit a bit shorter than years past. 7.1 mile laps instead of 11-12 mile laps. The promoter linked up familiar trails and double track to make a very fun course. I must say, I have never considered this race fun. Today I did. The all day rainstorm on Friday made the course firm and fast, all the sandy sections were rideable and not energy sucking. The course still required pedaling 95% of the time, very little recovery available

We had around 15 people in the Expert 40+ group and it was going to be fast. I took off in 3rd position and made it to the initial slick rock climb still in 3rd. BK got around me here and Tim and Karl were with me. Chris B got by me a bit later. I rode the rough baby head double track smooth and Was sure I flatted in the dip the claimed many a rider today. I caught a Red Rock rider soon and Tim, Karl and I rode to gether to the lap zone, I put in a little gap on them and Tim crawled his way back to me. Tim and I were never more than 30 feet apart, surging and slowing on different sections we where stronger on. I had a plan to hold him off in the end.

3rd lap started and I was still feeling good, Tolbert, racing 19-29 gave me a pull for a bit and Tim was still right there. About 2 iles left in the race I was feeling a bit worked, but still able to turn the pedals well. Tim joked about holding hands over the finish line. About a mile left in the race and my legs were done, immediatley Lynda came blowing by me, she was flying, as the race was about 8 hours shorter than she is used to. I tried to hold her wheel, couldn't. Another 40+ rider passed me and I ended up in 6th. Only about 5 minutes down on the winner though, better than the 10 minutes at the Rampage. The heart rate track dives in the last mile of the race, better than the last 5 miles though.

Still look to be on track for the season fitness wise, the course does not play to my strengths, with it's short climbs and no recovery. Very happy with the result regardless of the last mile melt down.

Congrats to BK for the win on his rigid single speed no less.

The Zaskar ran flawlessly, fast and zippy and the carbon smoothed out the rough stuff. Very please with the machine. Having run a full squishy for the last year I was worried about the affect in the rough stuff, barely noticeable really, and so responsive when accelerating.

(photos coming)

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Dis whether, she maka me no happie

2009-03-31T17:55:00.003-06:00

Well at least it should be sunny and warm all weekend in hurricane for the race and ridin.

Did 3 minute intervals up emigration today, got a rear flat on the roadie after the first, made the final 2 lessons in low motivation, at least the first one was good,

I keep trying to do intervals up emi, I keep remembering why I don't after the first try, too many flat and downhills on the way up makes it hard to keep the power up. Mill Creek is next.

Dr. X and Cavey (holy crap he actually updated his site) are bailing on the MTB race so they can race in circles, at least it should be entertaining, cold and wet this year.

Daren and Rico (cause he is afraid to get cold) are at least trying to make it to the MTB race.

Kathy had a good race at the Pro XCT opener. She will be drinking the blood of her rivals within a month, guaranteed, I'm calling a Sea Otter podium for sure.

Everyone, repeat after me

'CRITS ARE STUPID'

Thank You.

Zaskar in

2009-03-27T19:06:00.005-06:00

I got the bike built up with some lighter-personal preference parts. Had a rear de issue yesterday, today got her out for the maiden voyage. 2+ hours on Pavement, The ride was good, the remote lockout for the fork is sweet, the frame is zippy out of the saddle. Me likey.

I did a 20 minute effort up millcreek and froze my behind off on the way down. Saw Samurai, Jz, Tayler, Dave and many others out there (apparantley I saw S-BO as well, he said so when he came by to borrow the official MTBRACENEWS camera for the Fontana Pro XCT). Also check out MTBRACENEWS brand new, sweet race calendar. If you don't see your race or series on there, contact shannon at shannon@mtbracenews.com

A week away is the next entry in the intermountaincup, the ever lovely Cholla Challenge, supposed to be a bit shorter thi year, so maybe I won't have to pee 5 miles from the finish like last year. I just want to laugh at Brad.

Come hang out with me at the Dirt Coalition Tent post race. Please, I need friends.

(that's not me in the photo)

I'm selling stuff

2009-03-25T22:31:00.002-06:00

Go here to read up, more stuff may be added.

The page has an e-mail link if interested in anything.

New bike is built swapped out some stuff to make it lighter, have a saddle on the way and will swap stems once I get the fit right. Comes in about 21.5 with UST rear tire. That'sa nice.

Weekend of dry dirt and wind

2009-03-22T22:49:00.003-06:00

I made it home from NYC a bit before midnight Thursday night, worked Friday and then got a nice 2 hour shoreline loop in. Legs felt fine and the cold was gone and the elevation change had no effect.

Friday night watched the series finale of BSG, good stuff.

Saturday met up with Shannon, Jen, E-Pow, Kathy and Brian for 3- 4 hours of dirt action. We all agreed we were going easy, yeah right.... We saw Train and Rachel above Research Park, Cavey above the U, ran into BZ on Big Bertha, he turned around and joined us . Saw Superfly and Rhonda above Bobsled. We climbed up above ensign peak then dropped down to Bountiful, realizing that we then had to climb back, into the head wind, BZ bailed and went home. The DH into City creek was a blast, I then bailed onto home for a nice even 3 hour ride, while the rest climbed back towards the zoo.

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Sunday woke up and decided to hit the shoreline again before the storm, I almost got blown over several times in the cross wind, but made it home after 2 hours in one piece.

A few days of moisture and the trail will be ready come Saturday to put the Zaskar on dirt.