I'm a bit tired and sore.

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

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

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.

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

Double CX in Utah

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......

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.

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?????

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

(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.

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

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'

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

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

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

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

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?

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.

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

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

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

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

Now Go Sign up !!!!!

Perspective

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

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