Day 2

3 hours were on tap for today. Were to meet Newby at the race course, we get there he calls and says he did a Zen loop before meeting us but he blew up his rear derailleur and has to go to the shop to see what they can do, so Kathy and I head to Race course. Which btw, has BLM fences blocking off a few sections on the top of both road climbs, to keep ATV's out of the Stucki area, race course will have a few ne twists. We end up meeting up with Newby halfway through Zen, he was on his 29er single sppeed. Almost all the way off of Zen, he blows his rear tire, luckily a 26 inch tube works on a 29er cause he had no tube. That's 3 out of 4 rides on with a mechanical for him.

Kathy and I then went and did another race loop and went up the dirt road and dropped one of the 3 fingers of death, at the bottom of the finger, my fork was feeling odd, we rode the wash and stopped too turn around and my fork was feeling funnier. Ends up the needle bearings took a little trip out of their normal home.

Luckily Newby helped get me set up with a demo stumpjumper from Red Rock, whew.

2009 So. Ut Trip 2 Day 1

Easy one hour ride, Kathy claims I rode too hard for her recovery day, sure. Just an out and back on Prospector.

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Saint George Day 3 and random thoughts

1. Fitty Watt should be starting a blog pretty soon.
2. Technical tricks are easier the second time around, except some are harder because you are tired.
3. Rob was called a good boy by our server for finishing his plate at breakfast Sunday
4. Fitty Watt was cut off after 2 beers at the Olive Garden Sunday night (he did partake in some dales and chimay at the motel beforehand but really)
5. XC bikes and rims are not made for jumps on Zen trail.
6. Newby has a new baby.

Southern Ut in January

60 degrees, sunny, clear, calm. Ride.

Saturday was a large group of us, Jen, Shannon, Ty, Rob, Ken, Kelly, Mark, Alex, Greg, Jeremy and I. Race Course, Barrel Trail, Zen. good fun.

Today was a Tour of St G single track, mostly, Pioneer rim to Paradise Canyon trails to Barrel Roll. What a day, not many photos though.

Just in case you were wondering

Parley's Crossing is only about 60% ride-able and that is slow going, with mad balance skills.

Really

The last post makes sense to me, of course, I rarely get out of my head, either out of my mouth or via a keyboard, exactly what I mean, but, pffft such is life.

Contrary to anything you may believe the below post was not directed at any person, any situation, any series, any racer, any official, any promoter, any fan etc.... It was an observation and an opinion.

A good one, i might add.

A rant, of sorts

None of us have anything critical riding on racing our bikes, well, 99.9% of us don’t . The desire to win is not a critical need in our lifes (if it is for you, well then maybe you should check the counselors covered by your health insurance). Food, Shelter, Love, that is all critical.

We are all pretty passionate about our sport, yet sometimes this passion gets ugly. Elbows, Curses, Thrown bikes, Personal attacks, etc..

Another thing we seem to have a hard time with, collectively, is being excited for someone else’s success, especially if it messes with our desires for success.

Bike racing has category systems, which is a great thing, because it allows participation by large numbers of people in categories they can feel competitive in related to their DNA and ability to ride or train.

The risk in every race or series of races, regardless of whether or not there is a governing body, is that some people will not move up to the next category when it is appropriate that they do.

Some governing bodies have set forth ‘rules’ that direct people to move up based off of result and/or experience. Some series have one or 2 people who just tell racers when they nee to move up. Still other series don’t care.

As in any system it will only work if someone actually takes the time and energy to regulate it. Yep, that’s all we need is some forced upgrade committee, sitting around, deciding who goes and who stays, In reality it would end up as arbitrary as it currently is.

For bike racing to grow and sustain itself it needs to be inclusive and allow for the enjoyment of the masses. Some argue that forcing upgrades is one main way that this happens. I do not disagree that people upgrading when appropriate is critical to the sport. I do argue that the reverse is true as well. Forcing riders up, when done arbitrarily and without consistency risks losing that rider and others as well. Both sides need to be looked at before a decision is made.

We as riders should do our part.

1. Upgrade when appropriate.
2. Don’t jump to conclusions about your competition, do not assume you know how hard they are trying
3. Be nice to each other, celebrate each others successes.
4. Don’t bother the promoters with complaints; it puts them in an uncomfortable position that they have no way out that will have a positive outcome.

USA Cycling does not force upgrades either on the Mountain or on the MTB. Actually after the easy Beginner to Sport (now 3 to 2) mtb upgrade and the 5 to 4 road upgrade, all other upgrades have to be petitioned for.

We do not need more rules and regulations. We need to be adults and be happy for success of others.

Winning a race or 2 or 3 does not and should not require a rider to move up, If every rider who won more than one race would be forced up there would be few people racing. (Play the tape all the way through)

1 person wins each race, I personally have won 1 CX race in my life, a B race. This year I was close to last in every CX race, even though I was faster than the year before, with the mob forced upgrade philosophy, that should mean that I should be able to downgrade.

But, even if Ohran would let me, I won’t.

For the good Dr.