What a difference a day makes

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

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

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

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

5:30 at the Zoo trail head.

View Untitled in a larger map
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

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

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)

View Larger Map