Wanderings

Lory XC Timelapse

2011-08-24T20:14:00.000-06:00

Lory State Park XC Time Lapse from AMC on Vimeo.

Some of the most fun racing each year are the local races in Fort Collins and thanks to a dedicated crew of locals there are ~30 races in town each season. Last night was the second week of the Lory State Park XC races and I decided to nerd out, be "that guy" with a camera on my helmet and play around with a race time lapse. The result is roughly 60 minutes of racing reduced down to 90 seconds.

Rollin' Rocks

2011-08-23T10:04:00.000-06:00

Curt Gowdy Rock Rollin' from AMC on Vimeo.

Quickly recovering legs + Perfect weather + Sarah + Big rocks to play on = One hell of a day.

Colorado Trail Race - Words and Pictures

2011-08-12T19:40:00.003-06:00

My deep dreamless slumber is suddenly pierced by the eternally annoying sound of an alarm. Slowly my left eye opens as I wipe the crusties away to reveal a world just as I had left it a scant 90 minutes earlier; dark, cold, and wet. It smells horrible inside my bivy as 5 cumulative days of sweat and dirt make for one nasty body odor cocktail. It’s 1:30 AM and it’s time to move. I shove some food past my bloody and cracked lips as I sit up in the bumpy field of wildflowers at 11,500 feet that made up my bedroom. One last day, only 65 miles left, go time. As I quickly pack up, I start to shiver in the cold thin air, all the more reason to get moving. I start to slowly trudge and eventually work my way up to pedaling through the darkness upwards, always upwards.

Rewind a few days and a few hundred miles to the Indian Creek trailhead outside of Denver where something like 70 nervous souls are wandering around waiting for 6:30 AM to arrive so that days, weeks, or in some peoples case, months of planning can be put to use as we slowly make our way to Durango under our own power and with no outside support. Soon enough we’re off and the pre-race anxiety of what we remembered or should of packed fades away. All we have to do now is pedal, eat, and sleep when our bodies make us. Ah, the easy life.

On the first day the name of the game is SLOW and STEADY. Anticipation and fresh legs are hard to ignore but why torch yourself trying to clear a tricky switchback 5 miles into a 500 mile race? More than a few times I had people floor it past me as I dismounted early or hiked slowly over rocks. The XC run pass? Whatever floats your boat I guess? When your exertion level stays low and your mind is clear it’s quite amazing how fast the miles can disappear under steadily turning tires.

By mid afternoon I was nearing Kenosha Pass. Yeah, there was some rain, but that’s part of the game. In no time, I was descending down into Breckenridge on familiar terrain joined my Brother who I would ride back and forth with until the finish. He had gears and I only had one so we would often leap frog back and forth as the terrain suited our individual strengths.

We hit the Gold Hill Trailhead right before dusk and started the long hike up and over to Copper Mountain. Just after treeline, we stopped for a quick break to shovel some food down and also to cool off a bit as to not get too overheated up high. This section of trail is quite spectacular under the starts and even after ~18 hours on the move we were both feeling great. I however crashed 3 times on the descent to Copper as my lights were not quite powerful enough as my eyes thought they were. About 2 AM we found a flat spot of ground near Copper Mountain and laid down for a quick 3 hours of shut eye. Day 1 in the books.

5 AM came quickly and within 15 minutes we were starting the ride up to Searl Pass. In 2009, the second day was by far the hardest physically and mentally for me so I was expecting the same this time around. However, to my surprise, I felt great and made quick work of both Searl and Kokomo Passes.

The weather up high was textbook perfect and nearly dead calm, so by early afternoon we were in Leadville for a quick resupply. However, we both knew that if we pushed it we could make BV before the stores closed for the night, so we boogied right out of town. Miles under the tires. After Twin Lakes (which has to be the best descent of the whole CT) it started to rain on us.

Not a quick blast of a thunderstorm, but a constant leaky faucet kind of rain. Some clay briefly stopped our wheels from turning but just as it got dark we popped out on the detour into BV. After a brief stop under the awning of a dilapidated shanty to put on some more layers we started towards BV.

After an hour of spinning madly on my 32X22 I got to BV at 9:40 PM. 20 frantic minutes and $88 dollars later I had ~15,000 calories to my name. We found a picnic shelter in town to organize our food and hopefully hide from the rain. The sky looked as if it was going to rain steadily for a few hours so we made the conservative call to sleep under the shelter and hopefully get some gear dried as opposed to riding in the drizzle.

3 AM comes dang quickly when sleeping on a concrete slab and after a few unsuccessful attempts at shoving some food down my gullet I headed up towards Cottonwood Pass. As the darkness lifted we made our way through some damp singletrack and eventually into Princeton Hot Springs. 500 calories of ice cream later I started the hike-a-bike out of Princeton where I broke my granny ring with Scott 2 years prior. No issues this year as I stopped to check all my bolts out of suspicion.

As the afternoon rolled on we made our way past the slopes of Mt Princeton, Mt. Tabauache, and Mt. Shavano and eventually to the mouth of Fooses Creek. "Only 9 miles to the crest" I said. Well, 4 hours of pushing, dragging, and cursing later we finally made it there and quickly made our way down to Marshall Pass for a brief dinner stop. As darkness came we pushed on hoping to make it as far as we could before hitting the sack.

About 11:30 Stephen hit the wall hard and basically fell off his bike into a pile of rocks, instantly calling it home for the night. 20+ hours on the move ain’t easy. Not wanting to spend the night so high I pushed on as a thick fog rolled in, the wind picked up, and a light rain started to fall. Descending at night with minimal lights in dense fog that’s blowing sideways while trees all around are creaking and groaning in high winds is a pretty freaky mind trip. Despite all the stimuli, my eyes started to shut about 1:30 AM and I hit the hay at Tank 7 creek in the rain.

I awoke to the faintest light permeating the trees. "Crap, I slept through my alarm" were my first thoughts. Up and packed in a blur as I filtered water for the day ahead. Riding through open range meadows at dawn in the fog was a treat and there are some amazing views up there. Sergeants Mesa took longer than I remembered but as just as the note taped to my handlebar constantly reminded me, “It WILL Pass”, and by late morning I was sitting with Apple at his tent drinking a cold Coke. Not wanting to waste too much time before the long road detour I took off and rode the next few miles dodging some more rain before hitting the detour proper.

About 10 miles in, I stopped to filter water and once again Stephen caught me. As we started to roll out, a storm blew in. Again, playing the conservative card, we hid under a trailer for a while before upgrading to a farm shed along the road.

After a couple hundred calories had been shoved down the gullet we were off and moving again. The detour came and went and we hit Slumgullion Pass just as our eyes were closing.

Again, 4 AM came all too soon and we headed off on the highest and most continuously exposed sections of the entire route. After some pre-dawn hike a bike we were up on Coneys and loving life. The scenery was definitely feeding us energy as we made quick work of the first section. Even on my SS I was able to ride most of the trail with the exception of some steeper hike-a-bikes up hear 13K. Thin air be damned, this was livin’ large!

As the afternoon wore on we did our best to get through Cataract semi-fast but hiking up one fall line, only to descend the same on the far side and then repeat got a tad old. Yeah, the views were amazing but at that point in time, a sandwich in Silverton sounded more amazing.

We pulled into Silverton a tad before 6 PM wondering where all the food we bought in BV had gone. A 30 min pit stop later and I was back on the road headed towards Molas Pass.

As darkness fell, Stephen caught up to me about halfway to Rolling Pass. We had thoughts of pushing through the night with no sleep but as we slogged on it became obvious that just was not possible. I’d like to say that night riding with a couple hundred miles in your legs is this beautiful flow filled ride up and over dark and silent passes and through quiet woods with only the stars to guide you, but it’s not. You walk a ton, you trip, you fall, you fall off your bike, and you ride like a 3 year old. It ain’t pretty and we schwacked our way up to a meadow around 12k before turning in for a 90 min nap.

This brings me back to where I started: 65 miles away from a shower and warm food. The last day took way longer that we both wanted but after 400+ miles my mind was the consistency of pudding so as slow as the hours seemed to tick by in the moment they actually passed fairly quickly.

At 8:08 PM we rolled into the Junction Creek Trailhead, 5 Days, 13 hours, and 28 minutes after we started. We had covered ~480 miles and ~70,000 feet of climbing and descending. Not a bad summer vacation in my book.

Sure I could talk about the hunger pains, shivering in the pre-dawn glow, being soaked to the bone, riding with one eye open, hallucinations, bears, trench foot, blisters, numb hands, numb feet, sunburn, bleeding gums, crashes, coughing fits, throwing up bad food, or falling asleep while walking, but they are all just part of the race. More importantly, the reality is that all those memories are quickly fading and are being replaced by stoke from 5.5 days of near constant movement through some beautiful country often with my brother. Selective memory at it’s best. Which is why, I’ll most likely be back for more. However, for now there‘s ice cream in my freezer that needs some attention.

A huge congratulations to anybody who finishes this monster, especially those I ran into on course: Ez and Chris, Shawn, Cat, John, other John, Jordan, and everybody else who I bumped into. Also, a huge conrgrats to Stephen for absolutely killing it on his first ultra. You sir are a first class badass.

Colorado Trail Race 2011

2011-07-30T21:40:00.001-06:00

Things on here have been quiet the last few weeks as all my time has been swallowed up with riding, packing, re-packing, eliminating, cutting, and tweaking the Colorado Trail Race bike. The big show starts at 6:30 AM Monday morning. Live race tracking can be found here:

http://trackleaders.com/ctr

It should be an interesting few days with a record shattering number of people planning on toeing the start line. My prep has been spot on this year as I took most of the guesswork out of planning by using the CTR plan from LW Coaching. Needless to say, it was an awesome way to prepare for the event and definitely ups the confidence going into something this big. Is everybody ready for the fun part? Cuz, this is most definitely the fun part!!

Breck 68

2011-07-20T14:00:00.001-06:00

Halfway through my Durango binge I decided to pull the trigger on racing the Breck 68 this past weekend. Sure, there are plenty of reasons why I shouldn't have, lots of built up fatigue, I'm need to move before the end of the month, but the 100 is one of my favorite races and I just couldn't bear to miss it, so I played the middle ground figuring that I could race the 68 and be fine. As it turns out, I was quite snappy for the first 2 hours and then, snap crackle pop go the legs. After that I just motored along and finished up the day with a 5th place finish in a pretty deep SS field. Looking at my splits, I rode how I was expecting considring the weeks prior. Now, it's just all downhill until CTR.

Digging holes

2011-07-14T10:30:00.001-06:00

Riding big requires first digging big fatigue holes and personally this has always been a slippery slope for me as my typical gauge of adequate training is when I'm too beat down to move. Of course, then when I try to recover I convince myself that just because after a few days of recovery and I can feel my legs again, I'm all of a sudden slacking off and simply not training enough because my legs and body are not throttled. Great recipe for over-training I know, and it's something I've always struggled with. The few coaches I've worked with provided their greatest help by telling me when not to ride and sit on the couch.I'm not too good at that.

Last week I spent 9 days in Durango with the sole plan of digging one final hole before resting up before CTR. Right now fitness, gear, and my head-space are all dialed and I'm counting down the days until the 1st. So if you see me between now and then tell me to go lay on the couch and get off the bike.

Here's a few of the better pictures that were taken and let me tell you, my lack luster photo skills do nothing to convey the terrain.

To start things off right, the first day Sarah and I were in town we did the Durango Dirty Century. It was a pretty awesome course that in on par with the likes of the Vapor Trail 125 the year it was shortened due to rain. Lots of hiking, snow scrambling and ridge running, but 14+ hours of views like this are hard to beat.

In an effort to save my legs for a full 9 days of riding I took the event pretty easy just spending the entire day and a super relaxed pace - what I called "La De Da speed".

After CTR in '09, Sarah and I were lucky enough to randomly meet a friend of a friend who let us stay in his remodeled one room schoolhouse up in the heart of the LaPlatas. This time around he lets us stay there the entire week. Perfect basecamp.

Oh, and the views aren't too shabby either.

But, we came to ride, and that we did.

There are some amazing trails down there and we tried to get as high as we could each day in search of good terrain.

The Aspen groves down south make everything in Summit look like puny little toothpicks.

We hooked up with Matt for a ride one day and rode/hiked some great terrain up near Engineer Mountain.

Fields and fields of skunk cabbage.

Monsoon season is in full effect and we had to wait out rain and hail more than a few times towards the end of the week.

Plenty of snow left equals plenty of cold clean water to drink up high.

We had so much fun riding with Matt we went back the next day and did a bigger loop on the CT.

Flowers as far as the eye can see

CT above Molas Pass

The smile says it all

Segment 23 outside of Slverton still has some big drifts but they are melting fast.

Summer vacation number one is in the books and now it's time to sleep for 3 weeks to get ready for summer vacation number two. Stoke is sky high.

Digging back out

2011-06-24T09:50:00.000-06:00

Recovery after the Bailey Hundo last week has been a tad slow. Apparently the added muscular stress of racing a SS versus a gear bike equates to some additional recovery time. That's alright though as it just means more recovery spins in the back yard.

Bailey Hundo

2011-06-20T16:43:00.001-06:00

On Saturday I headed down to Bailey for the Bailey Hundo which is a second year 100 mile event in Bailey, CO that is pretty rad as it supports three youth cycling initiatives in Colorado. The course itself has ~12,000 feet of climbing and some amazing singletrack riding in the Buffalo Creek area including some portions of the Colorado Trail.

Photo Credit J. Elsasser.

Once the gun went off at 6 am sharp with twin shotgun blasts on main street Bailey, it was on and stayed a super close race all the way to the finish almost 8 hours later. For the first ~55 miles myself and several other single speeders basically tried to beat each other into the ground. If I remember correctly the group consisted of myself, Jeff Carter, Shawn Gregory, and Brian Stevenson. However, towards the end of the last singletrack section (the last ~45 miles were on roads) I played the smart card and backed off the pace, let a gap of about a minute form, and let the other single speeders work each other over while keeping them in sight. When they stopped to access their drop bags at the 60 mile mark, I spun on past. My fueling strategy was simple, start with everything on board, grab bottles when needed from the aids, but always keep the wheels turning. The K.I.S.S (keep it simple stupid) strategy in action!!

Photo Credit J. Elsasser.

The second half of the race may be on roads (both dirt and some pavement), but the miles were far from easy. Several big climbs lurked in the final 20 miles including a ~2,000 foot climb up and over Stony Pass. I stayed on the gas and tried to hold my gap over the chasers. I also passed a bunch of geared riders on the final climbs, which is actually quite amazing since on a geared bike I'm anything but a climber but when on a SS you don't have a choice but to keep givin' er up the steep pitches!

Photo Credit J. Elsasser.

As I neared the final climb of the day which was maybe ~10 minutes long I saw another rider ahead of me and figured I might as well empty what I had left in the tank and give chase. About halfway up the climb I noticed that the rider wasn't sitting down which can mean only one thing on a climb like that....single speeder! Crap, that means this is really going to hurt. Basically I threw everything I had left into the last climb and caught the rider, who turned out to be Mark Thompson and fellow BWR rider, only about 10 yards from the top. I made the pass, eeked out a "Hey Mark" which isn't easy with a HR around 190, and held on for dear life down the final half mile descent to the finish. I crossed the line as the first official single speeder (23rd overall) in 7:54:18, a scant 54 seconds ahead of 2nd place (Mark Thompson) and only 4 minutes ahead of 3rd place (Jeff Carter). All in all, it was an amazing day to race, the trails were top notch, and the close competition made it all the more memorable. Days like that are what we chase year round!

Thanks to Heath Garvey for the picture!

Now if I could only figure out how to not look like a goober on the podium!

Full results HERE

Squeezing it all in

2011-06-15T10:58:00.000-06:00

This past Saturday, I joined up with JK for some riding up high west of Town. After a liberal application of coffee, we rode/hiked some new to me trails off of Old Flowers and had a solid day with lots of vertical. The big races of the summer are creeping up fast and the stuff up high is just starting to dry out which equates to lots of work to do in the next few months! I'll let the pictures tell the story.

We rode over some rocks

Hiked over other rocks

Hiked around/over plenty of water

We even raced some cattle for bragging rights on the road.

Oh yeah, did I mention we hiked alot?

All in all, it was a good day out and right as we finished up some sprinkles started to fall. Good timing in my book.

Sunday, I headed down to Castle Rock to race the Ridgeline Rampage 60 miler. The plan was to have it be the final nail in the coffin of a big training block that started with the Growler and finished Sunday. I certainly didn't have a whole lot of snap but surprisingly, that proved to be a good governor and kept me in check.

I finished up 4th in the SS class with a time of ~ 4:40 (20 seconds off of the podium, and ~2:30 off of 2nd place). All things considered I'm happy with the result considering who the other cats in the race were and the level of fatigue in my legs at the start line. Sure wish I had known it was that close towards the end however.

The bother raced as well and had a good day taking the win in the 19-29 class, beating out 2nd by 37 seconds.

Now that's a good weekend in my book!

Weekend Tour

2011-06-08T11:54:00.001-06:00

Slowly the higher elevation trails are emerging from under the deep winter snowpack. So this past weekend, I loaded up the Moots with some overnight gear and headed out for a ~24 hour stint complete with some sleep thrown in. The main goals were to test out some new bike bags that I had sewn, see how a SS rides under load (and how my legs feel about that combo), and get onto some trails I hadn't seen all winter. Once I toddled my tank up and over Rist I dropped down into Buckhorn Canyon and then quickly turned onto the always rough Moody Hill "road". It had been ~2 years since this trail had seen my tread and man o man has it gotten rough. Oh well, time to shift into first gear (walking). After all, this outing was intended to be a crash course SS bikepacking and not too many sections of the CT are on smooth flat roads.

Once on Moody Hill, the first ~800 vertical feet look like this.

Then it flattens out a tad and the next ~500 vertical feet turn into this.

Riding a loaded bike forces changes in riding style but make that bike a SS and it changes the game all over again. At times it feels excruciatingly slow, however looking at what my exertion level was and the distance covered, I'm convinced it's not too far off of what I would of covered on a geared bike. Sure, there may be more walking involved but I'm under the impression that it's better to walk at 140 bpm than grunt along at the same speed and 170 bpm.

As the sun dipped below the horizon I was treated to one of the more colorful sunsets in recent memory thanks to all the smoke in the air from the fires in AZ. The miles wore on and I got into a nice little groove as I hooked up with the Donner Pass Trail and found my camp site for the night near a little stream that provided plenty of cool clean water.

Since I was planning on a good nights sleep this go around I took along a few amenities such as a alcohol stove, a nice big sleeping pad, a down jacket, and even a book I've been meaning to finish. So, I set up home for the night, made a little fire, cooked some fine noodles, heated up some tea, read until the fire died, turned in for the night and stared at a sky full of stars until I fell asleep.

I was up at first light and watched the sun rise as I ate some oatmeal and drank some warmish coffee. I then retraced some of my route and headed back up Donner Pass for awhile just for fun before flipping a 180 and setting out in search of some new roads I've had a hankering to ride.

The rest of the day consisted of finding the end of quite a few roads and trails. Typically they either withered away into nothing, ran into private property (and usually a big gate), or ran into the Comanche Peak Wilderness Area.

Some miles were hard earned.

Yet others floated by under the tires. With a nice little breeze and temps in the 70's it was hard to complain about a few rough spots.

By the time I rolled home in the late afternoon I had accomplished everything I set out to do and even learned a few lessons in the process. One thing is for certain, a SS sure isn't the limiter I was anticipating even when loaded up. Once a groove is found between pedaling and walking, the miles sure do disappear fast.

Flow

2011-06-02T12:12:00.001-06:00

Flow comes in many forms, sometimes it's nailing a chunky section of trail, sometimes it's the effortless execution of a race, yet other times, it just means the ease of living for a weekend in the presence good friends and bicycles.

Saturday morning, Sarah and I put the Front Range firmly in the rearview and headed to Salida for a quick ride. It was a nice way to break up the drive before heading over the hill to Gunnison and the weekends objective of racing the Growler. Once at casa de Eszter we chilled for the night and talked with both old and new friends about the many facets of riding a bike on dirt.

Sunday morning came soon enough and it was time to ride 64 miles of prime Hartman Rocks dirt. Temps were the warmest I can remember at this event (meaning above 40 at the 7 am start) and it was only going to get hotter and windier as the day wore on. My race was pretty alright, nothing to write home about, but solid considering how much I've ridden this year compared to past years and that it was really my first race on a SS which has a different learning curve than a geared bike. All in all, I'm fairly happy with it. Results say I got 9th overall in the SS class which is a tad disappointing but it was a tight race and only 20 min separated 4th place from 9th with about 4 of us within 3 minutes of each other. On the 2nd lap there was 5 or so of us SS nerds turning the screws on each other and unfortunately I faded in the last 5 miles and finished 4th out of those 5. Also, if I was to do it over again I would run a slightly different (lighter) gear. After all, bad gear choices and lack of saddle time are what the single speeders complain about right? Any disappointment I had quickly faded as the afternoon wore on, the beer flowed into and out of my cup, and I hung out with good friends, both old and new, all afternoon. All in all, the Growler is one of the best run and most enjoyable events on the calendar year in and year out.

After breakfast in CB with Eszter on Monday morning Sarah and I headed back towards home. However as we stopped for gas outside of Salida, we ran into a group from CTS. Sarah knew one of them from her prior racing life and I had raced against closely against another the day before. 10 minutes of gas station parking lot talking later and we were all headed to Buffalo Creek for some riding, 3 hours later and we were all hurting and ready to part ways. Good times with new friends indeed.

And as the cherry on top of the weekends cake, once home we cooked up some burgers and corn on the cob in the fire ring in our back yard.

Good flow indeed.

Donate to Race

2011-05-27T11:06:00.000-06:00

This year I snagged a entry into the Bailey 100 (June 18th for all you calendar minded people) and it's run a tad different than most events. First off, it's a second year event. Secondly, it's run by a non-profit so the funds raised go to 3 separate cycling initiatives in Colorado (Trips for Kids Denver/Boulder, Colorado High School Cycling League, and Kids on Bikes) as well as, the Colorado Mountain Bike Association. Pretty cool eh?

Each racer is required to donate to the event in order to gain entry which is where this post comes in. I'm personally donating so that I can race and support some cool initiatives, however I figured I would open it up to the blog-o-world as well. So if you would like to donate and support youth cycling in CO, click HERE to donate and your donation will go towards my fundraiser effort as well as the great initiatives mentioned above. There needs to be more events like this, cycling supporting cycling!

Click here to donate!!

New Belgium Short Track

2011-05-26T10:19:00.000-06:00

The last race of the Series was last week and I forgot a camera so no pics from me. However check out the video below...

Rain throughout the day left the course sloppy in a few spots but that just adds to the fun right? Personally, I doubled up again and started at the back of the Advanced race and worked my way up. In the Open race I once again had a sprint finish which turns into a spin fest when you're up against somebody with gears. Until next spring.

Sunday Tour

2011-05-23T10:33:00.001-06:00

Fairly consistent precipitation over the last week forced Sarah and I onto our road bikes and even triggered the use of fenders and rain jackets more than once. So when the sun poked through this weekend, we were antsy to trade the skinny tires for some fatties and hit the trails. The moisture made for some quality hero dirt and we spent the better part of Sunday riding some trails behind the house that haven't seen our tread since last fall.

Even after not riding a semi-technical trail for ~6 months, it's amazing how certain lines remain fresh in the memory.

However, not physically riding the trail is the same amount of time means that even though the mind remembers where the wheels should go, the body can't always put it there.

Fortunately, we never take ourselves too seriously and a botched line just means a bigger smile.

However, as much fun as 5k of climbing is, 5k of descending is even better.

Short Track Carnage

2011-05-12T09:43:00.000-06:00

It's crazy how popular the local Short Track races have gotten in the past few years. When I first moved to town I think there was maybe 3 categories, and maybe 20 people in each at the most. This year, there are full juniors races, a high school race, a packed womens field and 4 different mens races with over 60 people in some categories. I heard that this past Tuesday there were something like 360 people racing total. Add in a sweet course, tasty beer, and some great food from Backcountry Provisions and it's a party. It's nearly impossible not to be excited about bikes with that kind of a local scene every week!

This week the open field got a bit over zealous at the start and not 15 feet into the race we had some major carnage. With an entry fee of $5 some people were a bit too agro in my opinion but hey that's just me. I managed to stay clear of the carnage and held Greg's (Eriksen kit) bike down for him by stopping firmly on his rear wheel. I was actually laughing at this point because we hadn't even gone 20 feet and we were supposed to be the "pros"! I saw 2 other crashes after this one to boot. One more week of short track left - come out and get it!

Photo Credit: Yann Ropars

18 Hours of Fruita

2011-05-10T09:54:00.000-06:00

Some interesting things happen to your perception of time when riding a bike all night. Weekends seemingly melt into weeks, hours into days. It has always amazed me how the brain will remember so many vivid details while riding through the witching hours and at the same time completely turn to mush and blur other details together into a hazy fog. Earlier this spring, when the opportunity came up to race the 18 Hours of Fruita as a duo with Sarah, I had to take it. I have never done a long race as part of part of a team, and Sarah has never ridden a bike all night so it was a bit of uncharted territory for both of us.

Our plan was to keep things as simple as possible, have fun, and empty the tanks. As the midnight start rolled around Sarah got prepped for the start and put on her "game face". Her game face is still a smile, but don't let it fool you, she will rip your legs off. We decided to do 3 lap pulls so after the start I wandered around in the dark, took some pictures, and waited for Sarah to finish her first laps. The course if pretty short, pretty flat, but never straight. It was darn fun on a SS and I had entirely too much fun railing my night laps, sand surfing, and dodging shrubs. We kept alternating laps and kept remarkably steady. Truth be told, as the hours rolled by we never actually got any slower. For having never done any long races, Sarah's laps were like clockwork. If she ever decides to do a solo race, watch out!!

In the morning as the sun crawled over the horizon, the top 3 mixed duo teams were all within 1 minute of each other. The race was on, Sarah and I twisted the throttle a bit more and began to put time into the others. Still there was no time to slack off or relax but again, Sarah's laps were like clockwork and actually getting faster even after ~90 miles in the saddle. Around midday, the heat started to get to us and the end of our pulls got a bit rough but in the end we were able to put a lap into the 2nd place team and finish with a total of 32 laps and about 10 minutes to spare on the clock. We each did exactly half of the total laps, and were each incredibly giddy about our efforts.

Those time warped 18 hours of synchronized yet relaxed teamwork is something I wont soon forget.

New Belgium Short Track

2011-05-04T14:31:00.000-06:00

For 4 weeks each spring, New Belgium and Your Group Ride host what may well be the most enjoyable races I do each year: Short track races behind the Brewery. This year, the course is tight, twisty, and crazy fun. Entry fees are $5 a pop, so last night I figured I might as well sign up for 2 races and race the Advanced category as a warm up to the Pro/Open category. Double races equal double fun right?

I started at the absolute back of the advanced mens field and mainly wanted to see how far up I could get. Sarah started with the advanced men as well, so we put bets on who could hold off who. After the first lap (~6 min laps) I had passed maybe 30 people and made my way up to Sarah, I tried to think of something witty to say as I passed her but I had a brain fart and didn't say a thing. The ole noggin' isn't too quick when the HR is over 180. With 1.5 laps to go I had made my way up to the top 5 and was gaining ground fast when I slammed my front wheel into a rocky ledge. I had a rigid fork on and as a result of still riding like I had a suspension fork I slammed it into everything with zero grace. I punctured the tire and popped a spoke out of the hub. I fiddled with it for a minute or two but ultimately, just gave up, walked back to the pit and took DNF numero uno for the night.

I had about 5 minutes between races so I waited for Sarah to finish, flagged her down, stole her front wheel, put in on my bike and rolled to the start of the Open race. I actually felt better for the 2nd race and felt as if I was riding well. After things sorted out I made a few passes, closed a few gaps, and got into as much of a groove as is possible in a 30 min race. My gearing was spot on and I felt made me a bit faster than a few of the geared riders as they were searching for the right gear in a few spots. Half way through the last lap I once again hit something with a tad too much gusto and flatted Sarah's wheel. So, just like that I had DNF numero dos for the evening. I walked back to the start/finish and called it a day. Afterall, with an entry fee of $5 who can complain anyway. Two partial races equal a full race right?

When racing bikes behind a brewery, post ride recovery drinks are key.

Luck

2011-05-02T08:27:00.002-06:00

Some days luck means finding some change under your tire.

Some days luck means perfect dirt.

Some days luck means making a last minute (meaning while already out riding) call to recruit an old friend to ride because the day is just too good to waste.

Some days luck means watching thunderstorms hover around the horizon all afternoon while clear sky seems to hover over whatever trail you're riding.

Some days luck means riding until the last sliver of daylight, racing a thunderstorm home, and actually winning.

On a few rare occasions, all of these things fall on the same day making for an incredible day out and one very lucky day of pedaling.

New Whip

2011-04-26T14:05:00.001-06:00

I've had my hands on a new bike for about a month now but to be honest I've been too busy riding it to put anything here. I'm super stoked to be flying the Moots colors this year as part of their Grassroots (GrassMoots) team. Last fall I had the pleasure of meeting a few of fine folks at Moots at the Steamboat Springs cycling summit, take tour of the factory, and learn a bit about the company. Seeing the care they take to create each bike is pretty amazing. They are a top notch operation and I'm happy to be flying the Moots colors. Feel free to ask me about them or better yet head on up to Steamboat and take a tour!

Yes, I've dropped the gears this year. I was looking for something different to do this season and SS is just pure fun. However, should I feel the need I can also slap gears on pretty easily.Overall, it's a super reliable setup. Nothing too bling, but with my track history of destroying bike parts I tend to lean more towards the durability and functionality end of the spectrum.

Specs are as follows for all the bike nerds out there:
Frame: Moots X Rigor - (18in w/ 3rd H2O mount and Sliders)
Seatpost: Moots Cinch Post
Wheelset: American Classic
Fork: Rock Shox Reba w/ remote lockout
Headset: Chris King
H2O Cages: King Cage
Brakes: Shimano XT
Stem: Thompson 90mm, Zero rise
Grips: Ergon GS2
Saddle: Fizik Gobi
Cranks: Truvativ Noir w/ ceramic BB
Drivetrain: Niner rings/cogs

Flexibility

2011-04-25T10:12:00.001-06:00

With the weather being rather fickle as of late around home, we've had to roll with the punches a bit. In years past, I would cursed the rain and cold, drank more coffee and eventually, put on layer after layer of warmers and ridden anyway. However, I'm learning to change that and not just suffer or coast through workouts but rather look for different ways to ~~workout~~ play that are better suited to the conditions at hand. Too crappy to ride in town? Okay, so lets go foot sticking for the day up at the pass. All of a sudden 6 hours of exertion equals huge life stoke and ear to ear grins, not frozen fingers on the same old roads.

The early bird does get the worm, or in this case the first few laps.

Skin, slide, skin, slide, repeat until hungry, eat a banana and PB in tortillas, and resume the fun.

Sunday, the weather turned around a bit and we got out while the getting was good. Hero dirt anybody?

Flexibility has its benefits!

Big Views

2011-04-12T09:57:00.000-06:00

I love the trails West of town, however I also spend a lot of time riding them. Living a whopping 0.5 miles from the trailhead has it's perks, but it's also nice to change the scenery from time to time. Saturday, the Brother, Dave, and I headed up North to the Wyoming border and spent a few hours riding around Soapstone and Red Mountain Open Space. The trails are pretty mellow, but the change in scenery was a good one.

Muscle Memory

2011-04-08T13:06:00.000-06:00

It's a bit strange and unfamiliar riding trails for the first time in the spring. All the rocks, roots, bumps, and drops seem bigger and rougher. However after a few hours they seem to shrink to how the mind remembers them and your muscle memory takes over. Tis a good feeling!

~5 hours out with the brother on a Thrusday afternoon equals some serious fun. Guess we'll just have to do it all over again today.

Metrics

2011-03-31T21:08:00.000-06:00

70 degrees

40 mph wind gusts

3 hours

~3k vert.

35 miles

~2 miles not on singletrack

32X19

1 giant grin

2011-03-30T19:36:00.000-06:00

Keepin' the pedals turning.

Building

2011-03-29T16:30:00.001-06:00

Sarah on Blue Sky last Thursday

Every spring it feels like somebody flips the motivation switch back on when the time change takes effect and the days are suddenly longer. As I've said before, this winter I took a completely different approach to that whole "training" thing and even though it was damn frustrating and difficult at times, it has resulted in some pretty big gains that I can't deny. I think it's safe to say that "excited" is scratching the surface.

Roughing it

2011-03-18T20:34:00.002-06:00

What's better than a good long day of skiing out the front door of a backcountry yurt?

Returning after said day of skiing to a pony keg of Blue Paddle!

Why go light when you can haul a sled full of crap?

Easing back in

2011-03-12T21:36:00.001-07:00

Sarah's attempt at flight number 63,487(ish) on Thursday afternoon

It's no secret that I haven't been spending as much time on a bike saddle this winter as I have the past several seasons. I made myself a promise last fall that I wouldn't ride either the rollers or a trainer all winter and so far I've kept true to that promise. Granted, I've still been busy with loads of Yoga working to address some weaknesses/imbalances that have surfaced the last several years, a good helping of trail running, and as much skiing as I can muster both on skinny and fat skis. I honestly didn't have the desire to put on layer after layer to go and ride in the cold, or even worse, spend hours trying to chase down my basement wall while watching crappy movies. I knew the desire to ride would return and I tried my best to honor the process and not force it.

However, it's been getting warmer lately and I've been sneaking out here and there to ride. Surprisingly, I actually feel amazingly strong considering the time of year and my lack of pedaling hours the past few months. Spring is just around the corner, I've got a new snazzy bike on the way, a few new goals in my head, and a renewed desire to get out and pedal.

Short Cut?

2011-03-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

Temps today hit the low 50's and apart from the wind gusts it was a nice day to be out pedaling around behind the house. Since last summer, I've had an idea for a short cut that would eliminate the ~1.5 miles of road that I need to ride to get into some nice trails once over the big rocky hill directly behind the house. So, I tested it out. Needless to say, it is "possible" to get from point A to point B, but it involves some hiking, some scrambling, and some minor traversing a bit off the deck with a bike in one hand. Would I take it again? Heck yeah!

Sarah's Beet Beer

2011-02-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

Check it - after months of waiting, Sarah's beer is finally on tap. Check out the story behind it HERE!!

Warp speed

2011-02-26T18:38:00.002-07:00

I think I'm up to roughly 10 weekends that I've completely stayed at home in almost the past year. So, this weekend, Sarah and I vowed that we would stay local, no matter how hard it was. Well, actually we busted a trip up to the Pass yesterday after work for a afternoon ski but technically it wasn't the weekend yet. Right? Anyway, today was the first lazy day we've had around home in a long time and since Sarah has an upcoming art showing she spent the day working on the finishing touches. Here's roughly 90 min of her throwing paint at some wood compressed down to a neat minute thirty.

As always, click over here to view in high def.

Get it while it's good

2011-02-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

The local dirt over the past few days has been darn perfect for February, however snowflakes started to fall as I rolled home tonight.

Par for the course in my book.

Playgrounds

2011-02-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

Growing up, my brother and I were pretty dang lucky, we had a river in our backyard, lots of space and trees to play in, and a thirst for being outside long past dark. Granted, lashing platforms together high up in trees probably gave our parents more than a few headaches, however we had lots of room to roam and we made the most of it. Now-a-days we have slightly larger playgrounds and use different mechanisms to explore, but the need to see what's over that next ridge or what's behind that next bend is as strong as ever.

Over the weekend we were at it again outside of Breckenridge in an area we both know pretty well on singletrack during the summer months. However winter has a way of drastically altering the landscape and travel paths. That change opens up new perspectives of the area and it's potential for fun.

What we both knew as a steep rocky slope is all of a sudden the perfect playground for the afternoon.

We spent our time poking around areas both above and below treeline and just when we thought we found a new area we would stumble upon a familiar landmark or abandoned mining shack we knew from the summer and put two more mental puzzle pieces of the landscape together.

Get out and play.

Headlamp Ski

2011-02-19T10:51:00.004-07:00

Thursday afternoon I headed up to the brothers neck of the woods for a few days of skiing and upon pulling into the driveway had approximately 10 minutes to change clothes before we rolled out for a night ski behind his house. It was a full moon night, however some cloud cover kept the big orb mostly hidden. Skiing in the trees at night by headlamp is pretty dang fun!

Back and forth

2011-02-16T19:33:00.002-07:00

Part of me feels a bit strange for going riding in 70 degree temps with just a jersey and shorts and then promptly coming home and packing skis for 4 days of sliding down mountains with the brother, but I'll take it.

And on a completely random note, this is awesome!

Commute

2011-02-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard yet, rust spots are all the rage this season.

Sacred Trees

2011-02-14T08:26:00.002-07:00

Yesterday, a few of us headed up to the pass to check out a little spot called Sacred Trees. It requires a bit of a haul (~5 mi each way) to get back to the good stuff, but the skiing was worth it. The snow up high above treeline was pretty choppy so we stayed in the trees and in the fluffy stuff. First car in the parking lot, last car out, 8.5 hours, and 4 very satisfied people.

Sacred Trees from AMC on Vimeo.

As always, click on over to Vimeo for the HD version.

5 Months, 18 Days

2011-02-12T18:01:00.001-07:00

That's the number of days since I've last ridden my road bike (I actually looked it up this morning). I've been busy with other pursuits and to be honest have had no ambition to suit up and ride in the cold. Rollers? Yeah, I'd rather go running. Needless to say, the temps today hit the mid 60's so I dusted off the cobwebs (literally) and hit up the Oval. Yup - it's still the same old cat 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Womens, Junior ride we all know and love. I also still have my same old luck when it comes to location in the group when the group blows up. I will always be in the back and be forced to chase on my own bettween the fast homies and the slow peeps until my legs explode. Considering the time of year and my saddle time as of late, I felt pretty good. Not good enough to keep me from skiing tomorrow, but with exciting news on the sponsorship front for next year, I'll be getting after it soon.

Finished with an extra credit lap over the dams

Yup.

Cameron Weekend

2011-01-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

As of late, I've been spending a decent amount of time on skis. Well, decent for living in Fort Collins where snow can be hard to find. This past weekend, I headed up to the Pass twice and had a grand ole time dodging trees. Saturday it was windy, cold, and good visibility ment seeing over 50 feet. However the snow was deep and because of the avi danger we stuck to mellow slopes which ment speed was mostly absent. Still it was a great day out poking around. Sunday was nearly bluebird, calmer, the snow was faster, and it was one of the better days I've had on skis.

Saturday slog

Dave enjoying the goods on Sunday

Rock hopping

2011-01-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

Apparently knee deep powder hides boulders quite well.

Atleast nobody can accuse me of letting gear collect dust.

Sliding through Christmas

2010-12-29T10:14:00.004-07:00

Spent the long Christmas weekend with family up in my Brothers neck of the woods. I recently picked up some new skis, and seized the opportunity of being up in Summit to get in 4 long days of sliding around trying to figure out how to turn with free heels. The brother is a bona fied ski bum this winter so keeping up with him kept me on my toes and my legs screaming for mercy. I spent 3 days at A Basin remembering how steep some runs are (I haven't been on skis wider than skate skis in 2 years). However, on Christmas day, we took advantage of having a shuttle (parents) and skied some laps on Loveland Pass under a perfect blue bird sky. Great way to spend Christmas I'd say.

I have a feeling that my bikes will be collecting a some dust.

Randomness

2010-12-23T10:17:00.001-07:00

Just found some pics from my old roomies wedding back in October. Slackline contests and cruiser bikes as a pre-game? Yeah you know it.

Sourdough, cream cheese, closed passes, and somebody forgot the rope

2010-12-20T15:33:00.002-07:00

This weekend was the yearly Pennock Pass Pow Wow ride. What is that you ask? Well, it's rather secretive as to when and where exactly, so lets just say you have to be in the know. Or know somebody who is in the know. The moral of the story is that a bunch of peeps get together early in the morning in December and ride ~90 miles over the closed and usually snowed in Pennock Pass. Wool and flannel are perfectly normal and lycra is frowned upon. Also, creativity with food is a must. Why eat gels when you can bake a loaf of sourdough the night before and then slice it and cram it full of an entire block of cream cheese or bake sweet potato pancakes? Gells are for racing. Extra points are given for creative uses of bacon or bacon grease.

Bread, coffee, tallboy, and a flask. Those were the food groups for the day.

We headed out west where the locals are nice and friendly.

Closed roads and snow only make the route more enjoyable.

Once atop the pass (~5,000 feet higher than our house) we enjoyed mashed potatoes compliments of my little stove. Again, who brings gells and bars on a ride like this anyway?

We rolled out of the canyon just as the sun set and all met at the country bar down the street from home. Beers were drank, entire pizzas were eaten, and stories were told. Great day out playing on bikes for sure!

Sunday, I had plans to go climbing, however Dave came down with some good old fashion food poisoning. So, being a few pitches away from anything resembling a bathroom didn't sound too appealing. I tried but couldn't rustle up another partner for the day. So I did the next best thing, trail ran into Greyrock, soloed another line on the SW side, gained the top, switched back into running shoes and ran back out. I wanted to do another chimney line on the east side for a second lap but I ran out of daylight so I boogied back to the car.

This time I took a camera and managed to get some really bad pictures of myself. I look like an idiot but the smile plastered on my face and the air under my shoes don't lie.

This is about 3/4 the way up working back and forth in some crack systems.

View from (almost) the top.

Good times!

Makin' Juice

2010-12-12T17:13:00.003-07:00

Today the juice was most definitely worth the squeeze.

Numb legs below the knees was the price of admission for a sunny day of clipping bolts in December and I gladly paid up.

Chasing darkness

2010-12-03T10:23:00.001-07:00

All the kids come out to play after dark.

10 peeps, a few beers, and 5 hours out all add up to make a grand evening playing in the dirt.

Theories

2010-11-25T15:50:00.000-07:00

More time spent on mother natures stair-master in the morning = More Thanksgiving food you can eat in the afternoon!

Change of shoes

2010-11-24T16:15:00.001-07:00

To be honest, I haven't been on a bike (other than commuting) since the big Ergon group ride a few weeks back, and other than that I've only had one other ride since Moab. However, I haven't taken hardly any time off and have kept moving via other methods. I've been getting out on the sharp end of the rope regularly again although since it's been a few years it's more like the somewhat dull end of the rope. Also, I've been running the most I have since my exit from Triathlon a few years ago. Nothing huge, but around 20+ miles a week. However, considering that I can't stand to run on the road or on trails so all of my miles are on the dirt and since even a mellow hour run behind the house can easily stack up 2k in vert I'm happy with it. It's pretty interesting to explore all the trails around here that are closed to bikes and get in tons of new scenery.

Last weekend, I ran the Greyrock Loop on Sunday and felt like a jedi railing the downhills. Then to up the stakes on Sunday I ran in with my climbing shoes in one hand, got the base on the SW side, switched shoes and soloed a somewhat easy route to the top. Granted I had never been on that side of the rock so route finding the best way to the top was a tad interesting but once I got to the summit I switched shoes and boogied back to the car via the longer meadow trail. All told it was 2:17 car to car with just over 2.5k vertical and about a 350-ish foot solo. Good day out for sure. However since I don't carry a camera while running I don't have any pictures (check out the post below for pics of Stephen and I climbing greyrock in the snow the week before). Never fear though, I was so stoked about the solo/run last Sunday night that I settled in while it was snowing, drank a few beers, and sketched the south side of greyrock just as it comes into view from the main access trail. Enjoy.

Art Time Lapse from AMC on Vimeo.

Weekend shenanigans

2010-11-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

Winter showed up last week, but not being the type to let numb fingers stop a trip into the woods, the brother and I got out for some good local climbing on Saturday. 15 minutes in the car, a 45 min hike, and 4 pitches of cracks, slabs, and gullies brought us to the top with just enough time to spare to get down before the wind picked up and a storm blew in. Another good Saturday.

The arrival of winter also means the arrival of prime cross weather and it just so happens that the USGP was in town for the weekend which made for some great spectating. I slacked off and didn't race. However, Sarah organized a cruiser race on Sunday which was flat out mayhem....

Visit cyclingdirt.org for more Videos

Mixing it up

2010-11-04T10:06:00.000-06:00

Since fall just can't seem to die around here this year I've been making the most of it by getting out and doing whatever I can as much as I can. This past weekend was no exception. On Saturday, I joined up with a good group of guys lead by the Ergon crew for a good day of crushing the backyard singletrack.

Who wants a ~2,000 foot 30% grade climb 4 hours in on a 32x19? Yeah, bring it.

On Sunday, Sarah and I joined up Stacy for some climbing action. A beautiful 4 pitches up Greyrock was the perfect solution for another 70 degree day and watching the sunset over Rocky Mountain National Park was the cherry on top. However, forgetting headlamps for the 90 minute hike out wasn't so bright, but we lived to tell the tale and finished with grins all around.

It started like this.

Turned into this.

And finished like this.

Good times!

David Cross

2010-10-29T21:47:00.001-06:00

David has been hosting some good ole fashion cross practice down by the river over the past few weeks and between Moab and traveling I haven't been able to make it. However, I cruised on down last night and whipped out a few laps. Unfortunately, I messed the video up and only recorded when I thought I wasn't recording and didn't record when I wanted to. So.....all the footage I have is from our warm-up lap where David showed me the course. Still, does your cross course have a tree run through? Didn't think so. Check out ~1:15.

David Cross from AMC on Vimeo.

Click here for the High Def version.

Cross, crashes, and tuxedo t-shirts

2010-10-20T19:50:00.000-06:00

Last night I decided to throw some pedals on my cross/commuter bike and head over to New Belgium to race the local CX series. In short: holy crap cross is fun. Granted the pedals I put on are just barely clinging to life which caused several surprise and unplanned un-cliping moments which ~~occasionall~~y mostly lead to crashing. Also, I found out you can't push nearly as hard into a corner on cross tires as on big fatty tires so I stacked/drifted alot of the corners which lead to more un-clipping. And lastly my 42X18 gear had me pushing a super low cadence the whole time. However lame excuses aside, I had a crap load of fun and may have a few more races in me this fall after all.

Check out the video below and witness what happens when old pedals un-clip at random times causing me to tango with a railroad tie and then the course marking (~30 sec in). And yes at ~1:30 that IS me in a tuxedo t-shirt. I race in style.

Change of pace

2010-10-18T18:26:00.000-06:00

I'm slowly making my way through the unpacking process from Moab and the summers traveling frenzy, however to switch things up a bit, Sarah and I packed some bags and headed up to the Comanche Peak Wilderness Area for the weekend. We had no set route or plan other than to keep it chill, see some new places, and have a good time. Mission completed on all fronts.

Some sections had a tad more snow than we were expecting

Sarah doing some navigating

Dinners ready

Nighttime

24 Hours of Moab

2010-10-14T14:49:00.000-06:00

Well, just like that the season is over. I spent 25 hours over the weekend pedaling 224 miles in neat little 15 mile circles and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed in the effort. I had a goal set for myself of 15 laps, which I achieved, however I had way too much left in the tank at the end and around the half way point I was putting enough time on my previous years pace to get in 16 laps. However, in the witching hours I got a bit lazy and didn't stay on it like I should have nor did I really turn the screws once the sun came up. I also didn't know how I stacked up against the competition and as it turns out I could have made up some serious spots had I stayed on things and really emptied the tank. It is still not sitting well with me, I wanted more. At least now I have some fuel for the winter months.

However, I owe a HUGE thanks to everybody that helped out at the race. Sarah, Stephen, Mom, and Dad, you all kept me rolling and happy. Thank you! Time to hang the bike up for awhile, catch up on some living, and wait for next spring.

Game Time

2010-10-06T10:47:00.002-06:00

Moab '08

Over the past 3 weeks since Vapor Trail I've been in full on recovery mode. I actually stayed home for all three weekends which practically doubled my weekends at home since March and allowed for some much needed rest. During that rest, I held a consult session with Lynda to nail down a plan both for the weeks leading up to Moab as well as a plan for the race itself. A concrete plan leads to confidence and I'm ready to roll this weekend. I also had a good amount of body work done with the ladies down at Old Town Yoga. It's amazing how much pain a 100 pound girl can inflict on fatigued legs! I'm packed, stoked, rested, and ready to flow this weekend so hopefully I'll be doing plenty of grinning...

Moab '08

If you're the follow along at home type, live results should be posted HERE starting at Noon on Saturday.

Game on.

Fall riding

2010-10-03T12:24:00.004-06:00

Last weekend Sarah and I met up with Shaggy and Knott for a few hours of local trail shredding out our back door. The leaves have been rather lame this year but the dirt was good and chunky and the sun was shining with temps in the 80's which all lead to massive grins and good times all around.

Fall riding in the Fort from AMC on Vimeo.

As usual, I can't embed the video in HD so click HERE to watch a much higher quality version.

In other news, the countdown to Moab is well within the single digits now and the to-do list is getting so short that it feels as if I'm forgetting something. Game on.

Sunrise singletrack

2010-09-29T08:57:00.002-06:00

I've seen far too few of these this year.

Moab T-minus 9 days.

Summit County Night Ride

2010-09-26T07:54:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, after Sarah finished the last stage of the Breck Epic, the brother and I tried to go on a night ride up around Dillon. After waiting around all day in perfect weather we rolled out just before dusk and promptly ran into rain and lighting. I tried to take some video to see if the camera would work with the lights in the hope that I could video parts of the Vapor Trail. It didn't work like I wanted but it was still a rather interesting ride.

Summit County Night Ride from AMC on Vimeo.

Walk of shame

2010-09-24T12:29:00.000-06:00

Found this picture from the Park City Point to Point a few weeks back. My frame snapped with ~7 miles left in the race forcing me to do the walk of shame back to the finish. Can't help but laugh a bit thinking about all the people in the finishing chute yelling and screaming as I moseyed on in dragging the wounded bike behind.

Contrast

2010-09-20T10:28:00.000-06:00

Saturday I woke up and literally had to drag myself out the front door to ride. Granted I also had to put on thermals to battle some serious fog and temps in the 50's. Sunday I woke up rested, stoked, and giddy to go pedal. The weather? Not a cloud in the sky and temps in the 90's. Me thinks there's a connection there.

Saturday looked pretty much like this.

Except when it looked like this.

Sunday was much better. Yes, I am spoiled.

On a related note, 32X19 has a way of quickly revealing the harsh truth that the legs are not fully recovered after a 2 month racing spree.

Eb and Flow

2010-09-14T11:39:00.003-06:00

"You have to be willing to bite off more than you can chew, to overdose, and to fail. If you won't

risk the answer you won't ask the question. If you lack the will to ask then consciousness will not

unite with muscle and bone. I criticize such a lack of will (especially in myself) and ask, "What's

the worst that can happen?" The fearful part of me replies, "I may fall short of my expectations.

I may not be who I pretend to others. My perception of self may be proven wrong, very wrong."

The confident part of me says, "So what ... only after breaking myself apart may rebuilding

begin." So go ahead, break stuff. Break yourself on the once-hard edges of yourself. And recycle

the debris into the foundation of your future." - Mark Twight

I've had the above posted on various walls and in different houses however this summer it has taken on a tad more meaning. I wont sugar coat it, I've had a frustrating year. Busted bikes, bad weather, not enough time to ride, not enough energy, not enough stoke. I haven't always portrayed that on here, but it's been a somewhat defeating year and I haven't nearly lived up to my self imposed expectations. Sarah has her Bike Love theory and sadly, mine has been woefully slipping downward lately.

I had a big singular goal all winter in Grand Loop, which admittedly pushed me through the seemingly never ending winter. However due to said long winter, my plan was thwarted by snow up high in the LaSals, but not before the Paradox Valley claimed the first of many broken bike parts and even a few car parts. In May, I slogged for 18 hours along the Kokopelli Trail with Eszter in rain, mud, and chest deep stream crossings content is just being out there suffering. I used to tell myself that no matter if I finished first, last, or someplace in between I would suffer and not stop until I crossed the line. Last year when I dropped out of CTR it was the first time I had ever dropped out of an event in 10 years of racing. This year I have DNF'd three times, granted all of them were due to mechanicals and out of my control, but they each took their toll regardless.

I was here Sunday at ~2 AM, heading up towards Alpine Tunnel

I've stood on 10 starting lines in the past 8 weeks and to be completely honest I wasn't fully excited to be on any of them. My stoke was just not what it usually is, I wanted to race well, but when the willingness to suffer is absent from the gun, it's a lost cause. I'm sure that my performances were not as bad as they played out inside my head, but nonetheless I convinced myself I was way off the mark and not working hard enough. Through it all, I kept my nose to the grindstone and know that on paper I'm stronger than I have ever been. However, when the time comes my legs can't live up to their potential because my head has already cashed out.

Standing on the F Street bridge Saturday night staring down the barrel of 125 miles of guaranteed suffering, I felt the same as I had at most every start line this year..."well, here we go again". No nervousness, no apprehension, no stoke. Not good. However, despite not having nearly the race I thought I was looking for and was capable of, something clicked over in my head. Granted not during the Vapor Trail itself but rather after it was all said and done and I was left hurting and bare.

Monarch Crest after ~11 hours of riding/hiking and a night spent suffering under a cloudless (amazing) sky.

Monday morning I woke up sore, stiff, groggy, and for the first time in awhile, actually excited to feel that way. I can easily come up with plenty of excuses for a less than stellar ride: racing 6 days prior, too strung out, new bike and a different fit, etc. However, the fact of the matter is that I wasn't hungry for suffering. Plain and simple, I wasn't ready to hurt. Maybe it was the screaming barfies at Alpine Tunnel, maybe it was hiking and dragging a bike behind me at 12,000 ft. in complete darkness and then descending for an hour down Canyon Creek through changing aspen groves as the sun rose, or maybe it was riding for 18 hours with my brother and despite feeling like absolute crap, laughing my ass off whenever we caught our breath enough to actually talk. Whatever it was, even though my legs know that I thrashed them over the weekend, my head is finally ready for more. Lastly, the best part is that my legs have a whole month to get back into the game before I put the final nail into this seasons coffin at Moab. Flow on.

Vapor Trail Time

2010-09-10T11:42:00.000-06:00

Vapor Trail 125 starts tomorrow at 10 PM.

If you're not toeing the line, you're missing out.

Live tracking here: http://trackleaders.com/vapor125

I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Park City Point to (almost) Point

2010-09-08T11:13:00.005-06:00

Way back in February, the brother and I signed up for the Park City Point to Point not really knowing much else other than it had rave reviews, loads of singletrack, and plenty of vertical. Needless to say, the course didn't disappoint, the organization was top notch, and the trails were superb. Myself and my equipment however, not so perfect.

Bad photo, but the trails were amazing.

Race morning was a flurry of activity as usual, however once the gun went off I just couldn't get my gas pedal to go all the way to the floor. Perhaps 4 endurance races (including 3 100 milers) and 5 XC races in the past 8 weeks was/is stepping a little too close to the line? Whatever the reason, I was off the mark from the start and what I wanted more than anything was to lay under a tree and take a nap. So, I just sat in and took it easy hoping to feel better, but the feeling never came. After the first aid station, we had a long singletrack climb up to ~9k, and it about did me in. I slammed some Coke at aid two along with some food but nothing would do the trick so I just kept plugging along. A few miles before the 4th aid, I caught a glimpse of my brother coming up behind me so I took a few minutes longer at the aid and let him catch me. We rode out together and started climbing up the last ~2k climb. Having the company helped but I still certainly wasn't anywhere near my A game. Regardless, I was having a ton of fun on the trails and riding with my brother. It's hard not to have a smile plastered across your face when railing mile after mile of such great trails. Then, out of nowhere, it happened. Somewhere around mile 70, part way down an amazingly flowy section in the trees, my bike all of a sudden felt like a wet noodle and my rear tire was rubbing against something. Which by the way, is a tad sketchy when going full gas. The drive-side chainstay had snapped just in front of the dropout. So in an instant I went from flowing at breakneck speed to walking. If railing that downhill through the trees was like riding a speeder bike in Star Wars, this was the part where the ship backfires, drops out of lightspeed, the stars go from lines to points, and you're dead in the water.

The walk of shame back to the finish took around an hour and a half but seemed twice as long with everybody whizzing by me on the downhills. A few stopped to chat and I was actually in a darn good mood, because really what could I have done other than smile and shrug it off? I'll be back next year.

To top it all off, this weekend is the grand daddy of one day races, the Vapor Trail 125, and I still have to build up a bike to ride. I wonder what it will be this year? Rain? Snow? Hail? Lighting? Yeti attacks? Bring it.

Bonk Monologue

2010-08-24T11:30:00.001-06:00

Over the weekend, the brother and I loaded the car, pointed it North, set the cruise control, and headed to Driggs, ID for the Pierre's Hole 100 miler. The format was a tad different consisting of a 25 mile loop that we would ride 4 times for a total of ~15k in descending (sounds better than 15k of climbing right?). Long story short, I had a good and steady first two laps before exploding on the 3rd and then bringing it back for the final lap. My watch tells me my lap times were 2:19, 2:18, 2:44, and 2:22, and the HR tells the story even better. I popped. Hard. The third lap was a long dark trip into the pain ~~cave~~ mine. It was almost reminiscent of the Vapor Trail in '08 (I did a 24 solo 6 days prior) when I started to talk to myself and got into an argument (with myself) over who was pedaling and who was shifting the gears. Fun stuff. Regardless, I rallied the last lap and brought back a ton of time. Ended up 4th overall and beat the 9:45 cutoff for a belt buckle by a mere 11 seconds. The last 90 min I knew it was going to be close but not 11 seconds close. I dug a bit of a grave pushing to the line, but hey, that's why I was there.

Anyway, as I was rappelling into the pain mine I had some great thoughts floating through my head that I knew I had to remember for later....

"Dang, it's hot out here."
"This snickers tastes like dirt."
"Oooo, here comes the fun part."
"I wonder what would happen if I ran into a moose?"
"This trail is super sweet."
"I wonder what rabbits think about all day?"
"I would punch a man for a Coke right now."
"Why am I cold?"
"Did I really just drink 5 bottles in 2 hours?"
"I wonder if there are snakes up here?"
"What lap am I on?"
"It would suck to crash there."
"Braaaap."
"Why the heck in my HR so high?"
"Who in their right mind would make a jeep road this steep?"
"I wonder if horses can get sunburn?"
"I thought that aid station was going to have a sprinkler."
"That's a dumb place for a rock."
"I hate headwinds when climbing."
"Roads climbs are nice."
"Dang, this tailwind is a killer when climbing, I'm sweating out that entire bottle."
"Oooo, that's a sweet view."
"I see a big valley just over there, why can't there be more than 10 feet of level trail on the whole course?"
"It's way too hot out."
"Seriously, why is this so steep?"
"Who put that stick there?"
"I'm cold."
"Crap, I stopped sweating."
"I feel like I'm riding in an oven."
"I wonder if alternating layers of sweat and dust make a good sunscreen?"
"I hate this part."
"Oooo, pretty flowers."
"Another climb - really, haven't we done enough?"
"I hate this part."
"It's hot."
"I wonder if I could out ride a bear when I'm this tired?"
"Oooo, more flowers."

Deep thoughts.

Mt. Guyot Loop Pre Ride

2010-08-17T09:42:00.003-06:00

Never being they type to stay home and take it easy (that's what December is for), Sarah and I once again crashed on the Brothers floor in Summit County last weekend for a weekend full of riding, racing, course scouting, and general livin'. Sarah starts the Breck Epic this weekend, so in the continuing effort to scout as many of the stages as possible, we rode the Mt. Guyot Stage and filmed a few of the good sections with the new camera. Never having been up to French Pass I was a tad nervous on the SS since the map shows the trail going straight up the fall line to ~12,000 ft. However there were only a few short sections that I couldn't clear with the 32x19 (it's the only gear ratio we have so it's all I ride). It appears that in the Epic the course goes up Little French (in the reverse direction as the Firecracker) before French proper, so at least things will be sorted out a tad before the grind (conga-line) begins. Anyway, sit back, fill up that cup of coffee, and enjoy the best parts of Stage 3 of this years Breck Epic.

And if you're racing the Epic next week, keep an eye out for Sarah, she's got that whole eye of they tiger thing going on lately, and with her track/sprinting background, she doesn't hesitate for a second to hurl insults like a drunken Irish sailor and throw elbows like a steroid riddled linebacker....all with a giant smile on her face and flowers on her jersey of course.

Breck Epic Mt. Guyot Loop from AMC on Vimeo.

----------> For full viewing pleasure, click on over to Vimeo and watch in HD. (Click on the HD button on the right of the video.)

Go ride

2010-08-12T13:17:00.000-06:00

Dave is.

Wilderness 101

2010-08-04T13:55:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago I sent an email to Jason asking for some beta on the Wilderness 101 course. Apart from the usual useful information, he gave me one little gem, "there are rattlesnakes everywhere". Great, I've had enough bad encounters with rattlers this year, I really wasn't looking forward to more. Regardless, race morning I was ready to roll. Temps were cool and compared to earlier in the week, the humidity wasn't too bad.

A 5 AM wake up call isn't all that bad but when my body thinks it's 3AM due the time difference, it can be rough and I can be cranky. Regardless, the race rolled out at 7 sharp(ish) and I made quick work to get near the front before the first climb.

My extent of knowledge of the course was a crude elevation profile I had taped to my top tube and a few conversations with people who had done it before. I knew the only singletrack climb was out of aid station 3, there were a few tunnels that were completely dark in the middle, and lots of roads and 2 track. That's about it.

The first couple of climbs went by fast and I knew I could really red line it up the hills due to the low altitude and the fact that even the long climbs were only ~1500 feet (I don't think any of the climbs were over 30 min). I bounced back and forth between a few groups for the first 50 miles and then punched it into aid station 3. It usually takes me a few hours to get into a decent groove in these type of races, so starting with 50 miles of road forced me to keep the pace high from the gun.

While filling bottles at aid 3, Garth caught me and I jumped on his wheel and followed him up the singletrack climb. I think I only used my granny ring for a few seconds up the climb (over the whole race I spent way more time in the big ring than the granny which is drastically different than the races out here). The next few singletrack sections were rough but short and I could still pin it on the road sections.

Rolling into the 4th aid station I threw down some food, swapped bottles, and pinned it up the 2 track climb. Around the 5 hour mark, I really started to tick and the last ~30 miles flew by. I caught a few people in the last section and could easily still push 180+ bpm up the final climb without too much difficulty.

I had pre-ridden the last 10 or so miles, so once I hit familiar terrain I knew I was home free. Some twinges of cramping started to sneak up on me on the last railroad grade sections, but I kept the hammer down and finished in 7:42 according to my watch. Which was apparently good enough for 18th overall. In years past 7:42 would of easily been top 10, but not this year. Overall, I'm happy with the result and more so that I didn't see a single rattlesnake all day - I'll be back for sure.

Teaser

2010-07-26T07:27:00.003-06:00

Go Pro Cam - Foothills Trails Test from AMC on Vimeo.

Picked up a new GoPro camera a few days ago and did some test shooting with it over the weekend. Nothing fancy, just some footage of the trails near my house. It should be fun to mess around with. Be sure to click on over to Vimeo (link on the right side of the video)to watch in HD.

Breck 100

2010-07-20T09:41:00.001-06:00

Growing up, my grandpa had a sign sitting on a bookshelf that always caught my eye. The wording was straightforward and to the point: "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt". It's a rule of thumb I like to obey on here. If I wouldn't want to read it, don't write it. That said, here's a quick recap of the Breck 100 this past weekend.

Starting the decent off of Wheeler Pass on loop 1.

Photo by Chris.

Getting up at 4:30 AM is never fun especially when you've had a crappy night of sleep in a hotel room that never got below 90 degrees. Regardless, I was looking forward to racing after a rough week of scrapping a bike together at the last minute due to a broken frame 2 weeks ago. The first climb up to Wheeler Pass went by slower than I wanted and neither my legs or stomach really wanted to wake up which made the Peaks trail segment a tad rough. I rolled in after lap one a few minutes slower than last year with a percieved effort that was a bit higher. A bottle swap later, I climbed out of Carter Park and up to Sally Barber and Little French. I felt the best I did the whole race on lap 2 and had a good lap, not as fast as I wanted, but it was steady. My favorite climb of the race is the singletrack up to Westridge, it's 30 min of perfect climbing that always makes me want to rip the cranks off. It's hard not to have fun on the 2nd lap since those trails are so perfect. Railing down Westridge is always a highlight of the race and since I've been spending so much time in the area this summer I know that section almost too well which means the brakes are just for show and I can really rally. The third lap went by rather uneventfully. I was able to pull a handful of spots back on both of the climbs up over Boreas and by pinning it on Gold Dust, but my lap time was still a few minutes slower than last year. I rolled across the line in 10:06 which was quite a bit off my goal time, but at the end of the day, I rode 100 miles of some of the best trails around, pushed myself, pushed my bike, and had a good time. Next up I'm heading East to the Wilderness 101 in Pennsylvania.

Fun

2010-07-08T18:51:00.001-06:00

Are ya ready for the fun part?

Cause here comes the fun part.

Game on.

Slacker

2010-07-02T09:55:00.003-06:00

Seems like the days and weeks have been flying lately, by the time I get around to putting something up here about the last weekend, I'm trying to get out the door for another one. For instance, I spent 3 days in Crested Butte last weekend and raced perhaps the best 40 mile race course I've ever been on, and for the first time this year, felt as if I had a good race, but who can complain with scenery like this....

Also, Chris and Eszter got hitched and a shindig ensued, which was hands down the greatest and most chill wedding reception that I've ever attended....

No - I didn't take any pictures at the party so this artists rendering will have to suffice. There was however dancing, teeter tottering, merry go rounds, bluegrass, good eats, and enough good energy to last a lifetime!

Sunday, we rode up Cement Creek with Walt and Sarah (Reno to Flag to Bear to Deadman), my bike got grumpy in all the fine dust and creek crossings, and I snapped the only photo I took the whole weekend.

And lastly, some bonus content - Further proof that the brother doesn't feel pain.....38 miles into the 40 mile pain cave and he's still got a grin plastered across his face. Capturing a picture of him suffering is harder than finding a creditable picture of Sasquatch.

Well, better go pack. I'm headed up for 4 days in Summit County again - life is rough eh?

Big hours up high

2010-06-23T14:06:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year when days are long, temps are perfect, and all the good trails are opening up. Not being the type to stick around the Front Range when we don't have to, Sarah and I pointed the car West and bummed some floor space from the brother up in Summit County. Our only goal for the weekend was to ride, sleep, and then ride some more and hopefully make it home before work on Monday. Needless to say, 2 days of perfect trails is the best way to top off a good week of riding and, at least for 2 days, forget that we have to go back to the Front Range before Monday shows up.

I have had an attraction to a this bike and its singular gear lately - our relationship is starting to get serious(ish).

We found our share of trails that were not on the map which lead to some creative navigation.

The wildflowers have successfully taken over most of Summit County right now.

How many hours can you ride on a sandwich as big as your head?
(The other half is still in the wrapper)

If I wasn't going to do it all again this weekend I think I'd go into withdrawl.

SNAKE

2010-06-18T08:23:00.000-06:00

First rattlesnake induced ejection of the year...

Word to the wise - when you spot a rattler on the trail while going full gas downhill on overgrown singletrack, try to ignore your instantaneous reflex to grab too much brake causing a you to go over the bars and therefore landing with one hand on either side of the snake and your face a foot away....Not the best reaction.

Radio Silence

2010-06-16T14:10:00.001-06:00

Not much post worthy content as of late. A few races, a few body shutdowns, and some much needed rest. Exciting stuff for sure. So, since I'm lacking the verbage, here's some photos from the last 2 weeks.

Lastly, thanks to everyone who voted, Sarah won a free entry to the Breck Epic through their blog grant contest. So, stay tuned for some quality race reports from her. Last night, she brought home a brand new Waltworks frame so watch out, she's serious(ish).

VOTE!!!!!

2010-06-10T14:21:00.004-06:00

Sarah rockin' a cape...

C'mon people, who doesn't want to see Sarah Uhl crush some guys souls at the Breck Epic? The race seriously needs more ladies and less dudes drooling over each others new bling bike bits!!!!! The top 4 in the voting get a free entry to the race and so far, Sarah is the only lady with a shot. Who wants to hear stage re-caps from 4 dudes anyway? Last day to Vote for Sarah is today and the race is a close one!!!! Take one second and vote for Sarah Uhl here:

http://www.facebook.com/TheBreckEpic?v=app_20678178440

Just click on the bubble next to Sarah "Ms Tique" Uhl and then the button at the bottom that says "Vote Foo" It really is that easy!!!

Votes needed!

2010-05-27T13:09:00.010-06:00

For those of you who don't already know, I'm dating a badass lady named Sarah. Before we knew each other she would regularly make girls all over the world (and even guys from time to time) cry when she would sprint away from them with a smile on her face. Proof:

For 10 years she was a trackie to the roadies and a roadie to the trackies while wearing silly aero helmets, shoe covers, and rubber track suits...

Yes, she has a large collection of jerseys with stars and stripes on them and even one with a rainbow. See, I told you she's a badass...

Anyway, bragging about my girlfriend aside, 3 years ago she stepped out of the professional ranks and now has a "real job" at New Belgium Brewing. I say real job with hesitation because working for New Belgium is like working in a magical fairy tale land of make believe and smiles (and beer). Since ditching the skinny tires and coming to her senses that riding singletrack is far better than a velodrome she has wanted to do some sort of mountain bike event. Over this past winter she got interested in the Breck Epic which is hosting a blog contest where the winners receive a free entry in exchange for writing about their run-up to, as well as, the event itself. A plan was hatched, she wanted in, and so she entered the bloggers contest for a free spot, which is where this post comes in. She needs votes.

So if you have a free minute, head on over to Facebook (yes, it's on FB and you have to be a member to vote) and vote for Sarah here. Also be sure to check out her application under the discussion page here. If she gets in, I promise she'll entertain everyone with her write-ups about both her version of "training" for as well as racing the Breck Epic.

Vote HERE.
(Just select the bubble next to her name near the bottom and then click "Vote, Foo.)

Read her application here.

Read her blog here.

More info on the Breck Epic here.

Besides, who doesn't want to see an ex-roadie and trackie flail around on singletrack at 12K? Also, I've already broken the news to her that there are no support vehicles in this event, so she can't send a minion back to get a jacket if she's cold or a coke if she's thirsty!

Weekend update

2010-05-24T16:57:00.000-06:00

Not a whole lot to write about in terms of epic suffering on the bike lately. I spent the 5 days after Kokopelli holed up in a dark room with some sort of stomach bug not able to eat or even drink most of the time. So by the time this weekend rolled around and I could stomach food again, I was looking to do some riding. I got in some good hours over the weekend including a XC on Saturday. However, about half way through the race, I rolled my front tire off, couldn't seat the bead, and then to top it all off, my spare tube had a hole in it. So, I got in a nice 1 hour at race pace and then a 45 min walk of shame back to the start/finish.

On the racing front, my calendar is changing fast. I scored a spot in the Growler thanks to Dave which was largely fueled by the fact that Grand Loop still doesn't appear to be completely melted out. A few weeks ago I thought that I would just substitute either the new Dixie 311 or the Dixie Lite in place of a GL attempt. However, either attempt would need to be solo due to Estzer's wedding on the weekend everyone else is starting. Also, when I sat down and looked at everything I have lined up for July through October, it's pretty apparent that I'm already pushing a bit too much.....Firecracker 50, Breckenridge 100, Wilderness 101, Peirres Hole 100, Park City Point to Point, Vapor Trail 125, Crested Butte Classic, and 24 Hours of Moab. Is digging a big hole in mid to late June really a good idea? Most likely not. Some would say that a big multi-day ride is packing several races into one experience, and I'd agree. However, truth be told, I LOVE racing. I love putting a number on the bars and riding with my face on the stem until somebody says stop. It doesn't matter if it's 20 min or 24 hours, I dig the competition. So for now, "racing" the Dixie is out the window (for now) and I'm going in search of some rocket boosters for July/Aug.

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Kokopelli Smackdown

2010-05-18T19:57:00.002-06:00

A part of me knew what I was in for as Chuck, Estzer, and I drove to Moab Friday afternoon and stared at a giant dark cloud covering most of what we were hoping to ride that night. "It'll clear" we all said. "It'll be fine", it doesn't matter that it's pouring down rain at 10 pm, by the time we leave, it'll be fine. After a quick assessment of rain gear and warm clothes we were out the door just before midnight and even though the rain had passed, on some level, we knew what we were in for.

The first climb out of town was fine. The road was a bit sticky but not bad. Maybe this would be fine after-all? Near the top, just below the loop road, things started to hit the fan. The mud got so sticky that wheels stopped turning, chains stopped moving, and original goals got thrown out the window.

The next few hours consisted of being soaked inside and out by rain/sweat, surfing on some snot slick mud, chains that wouldn't move, wheels that wouldn't turn, and fog that at times limited visibility to 10 feet which can be a tad sketchy when descending at 30 on a rutted out muddy road.

Sometime just before sunrise, as hints of light were poking through the clouds, I was having fun finally. The shivering and cold hands didn't matter, I was right where I wanted to be. Those few hours of complete bliss amidst the suffering are what I chase all year.

As things started to warm up a bit and I dried out we kept plodding along. We both had come to the same conclusion that riding within a few minutes of each other was by far better than suffering along in the muck. I had a fresh set of tunes on my Ipod, however I chose the silence of the canyons and the crunching of my chain as the soundtrack to my suffering.

Yellowjacket was dry, which gave us hope that things were improving, but before too long, the evidence of the nights rain began to creep back in to our little world of slow moving progress.

Estzer decided the easiest way to clean her drivetrain was to go for a swim.

More carry-a-bikes followed as Rabbit Valley slowly creeped onto the horizon. Once in Rabbit Valley I perked up and Estzer cracked. I picked up the pace for a brief few miles, however the hike out of Salt Creek nearly did me in. I had been so excited to get it over with I had neglected to eat much. I knew that when I started to ask the trees how many miles it was to the end that I should stop to eat something.

I rolled to the car in 17:40 something and Estzer followed maybe 20 min later with Jason, (the only other finisher) a few minutes behind her. There were a thousand reasons we should of stopped and threw in the towel, however the three of us suffering together for 18 hours is something I won't soon forget.

Seriously?

2010-05-03T11:39:00.001-06:00

It's like mother nature keeps handing me a lollipop and then right before I can lick it, she pokes me in the eye and steals it back. But, I'm too committed (and stubborn) to back out of GL. June?

Paradox

2010-04-27T21:31:00.003-06:00

It seems like everyone and their mom was racing someplace this past weekend. Trans Iowa, Whiskey 50, Cohutta, Rabbit Valley, the list goes on. Me? I've got my eyeball firmly planted on a bigger lollipop. So, in an effort to "cheat" as much as possible and recon what I can, I pointed my wheels West and then South till I hit Uravan. Ok, so "hitting" Uravan is a bit hilarious since the place consists of a building or two and a trailhead. Anyway, In an effort to type as little as possible, here's what a 12 hour solo day full of hike-a-bikes, mud, and snow looks like....

Paradox from Andrew Carney on Vimeo.

Plumb

2010-04-12T21:41:00.004-06:00

Spent the weekend riding somewhat off the beaten path searching for some solitude. On Saturday, I spent 10+ hours following a thin red line on my GPS. All day I only saw 2 other people, both of whom were within a few miles of the trailhead. I rode some chunky singletrack, but most of the day was spent riding on doublerack, sans the hour or so when my bike rode me through hip deep snow. It's amazing how fast you can plumb your soul and return to center when you're left alone with your thoughts and only a pedal stroke to distract you.

Metrics

2010-04-03T17:30:00.002-06:00

4:14:11 riding Time

4,327 ft of climbing

39,941 beats of my heart

50+ miles

(super) hero dirt

~2500 Calories burned

1 new (to me) trail

6 stream crossings

100 yards of snowdrift hiking

0 crashes

3 "Oh-Shit" moments

1 HUGE never-ending grin

No matter how I choose to measure it - today was a hell of a day of riding.

Time to eat up and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.

Traction testing

2010-04-02T22:08:00.000-06:00

Headed out behind the house for a "short spin" this afternoon which soon morphed into a 3+ hour techy "I wonder if I can ~~ride~~ survive that ~~line~~ bunch of jagged rocks" ride. Lots of traction testing (18 psi is like velcro) and endo durability experimentation all made better by the singular gear of 32x19.

Wednesday

2010-03-31T21:42:00.003-06:00

Get out and play!

Scraping the rust off

2010-03-29T20:23:00.002-06:00

I won't lie, this winter has been long and frustrating. My road bike has seen more miles that it should and don't even mention the word "rollers". Granted, riding the road is still better than going to the gym and hearing dudes grunt while flexing in the mirror - however, something was missing. I'd been in a bit of a funk since November with my riding and couldn't put my finger on what was out of whack. Motivation was waning, my stoke level was getting low, and my mountain bikes were gathering dust. None of which are good things. Since Moab in October, I've ridden dirt a few days over Thanksgiving, 2 days in January, and 2 days a few weeks back, less than 10 days in 5 months, that's plain wrong. In hindsight, it's obvious - I was in serious singletrack withdrawal.

I spent roughly 11 hours riding in Moab on Saturday and the transformation was magnificent. The first few hours I was bouncing off rocks like a pinball and hitting ALL the bad lines. However, eventually the rust wore off, the instincts came back, (after-all, it is just like riding a bicycle) and before long I was consumed with all the sensations I had been missing all winter. Typically when riding all day there is a certain decay of skills, strength, and ability, however Saturday everything got better, faster, and stronger throughout the day and I finished wanting to ride up everything in sight.

Instead I packed up and headed back to Fruita where 3 ladies were waiting for me, or using my lateness as an excuse to drink more margaritas, I'm not sure. Either way, I had a burrito and a birthday song waiting for me when I arrived. That's another story all together.

Sunday, the ladies let me join their party and we all headed out to Loma and just as we were getting warmed up, there was an incident..... bike down and out - for good. Everyone let out a collective groan followed by some cursing, followed by JJ having to drag it back to the car.

However, the rest of us rode on and I often found myself motoring off the back with legs that didn't want to go beyond diesel speed due to the previous day. Regardless, I found myself perfectly content and happy to be on chunky trail after far too long of a hiatus.

I didn't take too many photos of the weekend however this one of me and Sarah (which I stole from Eszter) sums up in a nutshell how much I felt like a fat kid in a candy store. (For the full effect zoom in and check out my facial expression) That's right - spring is here!

Only 4 more days till next weekend.

Plan big to go big

2010-03-24T09:30:00.002-06:00

When a little math says I'll need 4,000+ calories,
it's bound to be a good ride....

Goodbye dirt, hello pavement

2010-03-22T14:10:00.001-06:00

Last weeks warm spell went out the window on Friday (along with any hopes of riding dirt this weekend) when Ma Nature decided we needed more snow. Granted it was back in the 40's on Saturday and 50's on Sunday but dirt was out of the question. So, to take advantage of the brothers last day in town for his spring break we got in a climb heavy 4 hours on Saturday and got to the Amtrak station with 6 minutes to spare.

Sunday, after a slow morning and roughly 1.5 french presses, Sarah and I saddled up and headed up to Estes and beyond via the scenic route for a shade under 6 hours of moving time. Looks like someone is "training" again...

Sarah has her eye on something rather epic race this summer, so it looks as if I have a riding partner for awhile.

Estes was clear and surprisingly warm. However we just stopped long enough to fill bottles and fill up on burritos.

Pumpkin bread break at mile 80? Yeah why not?

Dirt yesterday, snow today

2010-03-19T13:27:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, temps once again hit the 60 degree mark so I did the only logical thing and spent the afternoon riding dirt with the brother. Throughout the day we switched back and forth between my Siren and Sarah's 29er SS and had nothing but bone dry trail all day. However today there is snow on the ground again and all the dry trails are once again slop. Welcome to spring on the Front Range. Now where did I put those skis again?

Work less, Ride more

2010-03-18T11:27:00.001-06:00

From here on out, I will be.

What a difference a day can make

2010-03-15T16:46:00.002-06:00

Saturday - 60, Sunny, Blue Skies, Dry Dirt.

Sunday - 35, Cloudy, Cold, Snow?

Covering up fresh tan lines with layer upon layer feels a little like defeat...

Bout time

2010-03-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

With temps in the 50's over the weekend I'm slowly clawing out of my winter funk consisting of cold rides and dark nights. Also, with the time change only a few days away and a change in my work schedule, the nice weather couldn't be arriving at a better time. I think some big hours (in actual daylight) are in my near future.

As far as the weekend goes, Sunday was the Oval and Sunday I rode in Boulder with Sarah, Cait, and Lindsey. We rode up to the Gold Hill store and wasted no time eating every cookie they had in the place. Things were a bit damp on the way down but who can complain when it's sunny and 50 degrees? My fingers are crossed that spring has finally decided to show up.

Spring is right around the corner.

Stoves of all shapes and sizes

2010-03-02T12:09:00.022-07:00

Lately, things on here have become rather stale since I'm assuming nobody wants to see pictures of me doing hill repeats or riding a trainer. So I scratched my brain and tried to come up with some fresh content to contribute to a topic that has been receiving plenty of interest lately in the bike/backpacking crowd. Stoves.

I've used lots of different lightweight stoves in the past and currently have a decent arcenal to choose from. Six different models and methods in fact. Right now I have a MSR Whisperlite, a MSR Pocket Rocket, a Jet Boil, a Penny Stove, a Pot Pressurized, and Esbit. I've cooked my fair share of food over these stoves and have learned a thing or two in the process, so here are my 2 cents and what I've found to work well.

The first lightweight stove I used was some sort of Coleman backpacking stove that only lasted a few months. I (I is actually my family since this is when I was 15ish?) then picked up a MSR whisperlite and have since have had 3 of them I believe. Mind you, they have seen some serious abuse and none of them actually broke. One was lost (some place along the Appalachian Trail I think), one my brother took, and I have the third. What can I say about them? They are a workhorse and are great to cook with, my brother and I used one for 2 months while touring and on countless nights out, they just work.

Next up is a MSR Pocket Rocket. Truth be told, I found this stove in the parking lot at 18 Road in Fruita and haven't used it much. However it falls some place in between the whisperlite and a Jet Boil as far as performance goes. Sure it's light, but it uses canister fuel, which is something I've just never been a fan of.

I picked up this Jetboil a few years ago and have used it quite a bit. It works great when sleeping in your car. I've made soup in a construction site in Aspen at the X-games, oatmeal in a parking lot before the 12 hours of Snowmass, hot coca at the end of dirt roads and everything in between. It's great at heating things fast but the small flame area and its blowtorch characteristics also limit what can actually be cooked on it. Again, it uses canister fuel which I'm not a huge fan of, however it is a great item to have when it's 5am and you're sleeping in the back of a small car.

Next up are three stoves that all use the same pot. I've been using a Snowpeak Ti mug (just the mug from their coffee press) on all three stoves and sure it has some drawbacks but it works. First off it's is rather narrow for it's height, which means that the bottom area (heating surface) is small compared to the volume in the mug. This means that for a stove that just heats the bottom, the heat transfer isn't all that great (more on those stoves later). Who knew those thermodynamics classes would actually pay off. Lastly, for you super geeks out there, a Ti mug is certainly lighter than a Aluminum mug of the same volume, however comparatively, titanium is a much worse conductor of heat than aluminum. So more fuel is needed to heat the same volume of water in a Ti mug compared to a Aluminum one. So, the bottom line is that at a certain point the extra fuel needed to heat a Ti vessel is greater than weight savings gained by using Ti rather than aluminum. How's that for geekery?

Alright, back on topic. First up is the classic esbit tabs. I've used them quite a bit and they have their place. Light, small, easy to carry etc. The setup I use for esbit is a custom Stove/windscreen/pot stand I made from a piece of air duct. I made it in such a way that it slips over the bottom portion of my mug which means it takes up literally zero space in a pack.

When in use, a exbit tab is burned on the ground, the stove is set on top and my mug sits on/in the top of the stove. It's simple, light, cheap, and it works great. However, as I mentioned above, the small surface area that is heated means that it isn't overly efficient.

Next up is the classic penny stove (actually I use a quarter). Mine is simply a copy of this stove. I either use the same pot stand/windscreen from the esbit system or just use a bent spoke to support the pot. It works, however with the small mug it also has drawbacks. I think it would work great on a larger pot however due to the design of jets the mug I have is just too narrow to receive much heat.

Last up is what I've been experimenting with lately, a pot pressurized stove. It's based off of this design. However, since I don't have access to a press, I simply used two Doubleshot/Go-Fast cans and started experimenting. So far, it has surpassed both the exbit and penny stove in performance and fuel consumption. The stove doubles as a pot stand and due to it's narrow design, the flames engulf the bottom and part of the sides of my mug which translates into excellent heat transfer. I can boil 2 cups of water with roughly 3/4 oz of fuel in approx. 5 min. This stove coupled with a small windscreen makes a great lightweight kit, which all easily fits into my mug along with several days worth of fuel and still leaves room for plenty of coffee.

It's been an evolution and I'm certain that I'll continue to change things, however I'm very happy with the kit as it sits now. I'm not sure of it's weight since the only scale I have is a bathroom scale, however it's simple, pretty rugged, and very cheap.

Well, that's my $0.02 of what I've learned through lots of botched meals and burned fingers. I'm certainly no expert, but I've found what works for me and what I'm looking for in a stove. Everything to back country pineapple upside down cake to freeze dried meals can be cooked with one of these setups. Happy cooking!

This n' That

2010-02-25T15:10:00.001-07:00

Yup, those are some shiny new Ergons that showed up on my doorstep yesterday complements of being a Ergon Factory Rider. I've been on them for around 4 years now. By the way, "I've been on them" kinda makes them sound like a drug, however they are rather addicting. Anyway, I'm fairly sure that anybody who reads this blog already knows about Ergon and their ability to turn a handlebar into a lazy boy for your hands, so an explanation isn't needed. Regardless, I'm happy to be flying the Ergon flag this season since it is truly the one item that I must have on all my bikes. Here's to another season of happy hands!

On the training front, another cold snap has been hanging around the past week, making riding outside not so fun. However, a mish-mash skate track has developed at city park which makes for a nice alternative to the trainer. Dawn patrol on skate skis is a great way to start the day and I have sore legs to prove it. Even the weather for the weekend isn't looking too stellar, maybe a foul weather CX bike epic would be a good idea?

Exciting stuff I know....when is spring going to show up?

At least my ski helmet still comes in handy

2010-02-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

I've found that if you wear enough clothing to isolate yourself from the weather "outside" it's almost like you're riding in the basement. No wind, no moisture, no blistering cold. Well, at least until the moisture seeps through everything you have on, then it's like wearing a wet wipe.

Winter training wins summer races....or something like that.

Trifecta

2010-02-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Presidents day, I had a 3 day weekend to play with and I tried to make the most of it. Saturday was the weekly Oval, which thanks to a generous tail wind, went out stupid fast. I limped home with about 5 hours in the legs. Sunday had some crappy weather in the forecast so Sarah and I headed up to Happy Jack for some skate skiing. However, snow up there on Saturday night made for some very slow and taxing conditions. Yesterday, to finish the legs off, I headed out on the SS CX bike that I picked up from Jeff a few months back for 60+ miles of grinding and spinning. Not a huge weekend in terms of hours, but mixing it up sure left it's toll, and goes a long way in preventing mid-July burnout.

In other news, the Park City Point 2 Point sold out yesterday in something like 5 hours. Did you get in? It's a great sign for the sport that events like this are so popular, but I just hope that the number of quality events is enough to prevent the sign-up rushes that Ironman events see every year.

Good ideas

2010-02-09T21:31:00.008-07:00

Alright, here's some personal history. I signed up for a triathlon when I was 16 because it seemed like a "good idea". A year later I signed up for a half Ironman because it seemed like a "good idea". From the age of 18 to 20 I did 3 Ironman events because they seemed like "good ideas". My brother and I rode across the country hungry and tired because it seemed like a "good idea". I started endurance mountain bike events because they seemed like "good ideas". So now the question is, what good ideas will I come up with this year?

Here's to another year of brilliant ideas.

Evolution, De-evolution or Re-evolution?

2010-02-05T09:55:00.005-07:00

Calm down Matt - I ain't racin' this thing...
It seems to be missing some parts.

Twitching

2010-01-28T10:17:00.010-07:00

Remember the days where you had to ride just to stay cool?

Since nobody wants to look at pictures of people riding on rollers in their basement, here's a few shots from the past year or so to remind us all why we spend the winter hours chasing walls while going nowhere and watching bad movies.

Dawn near 13,000 ft on the Vapor Trail 125 ('08 actually)

CO Trail on the Ten Mile Range (Day 2 of CTR)

Hartman Rocks (Growler pre-ride)

CO Trail - Fooses Creek

CO Trail outside of Salida

CO Trail - Fooses Creeek

CO Trail, above Keystone

CO Trail, near Searl Pass

CO Trail - Outside of Breck

My backyard

Moab - Sovereign Singletrack

Mineral Canyon Road (White Rim)

White Rim

CO Trail - somewhere past Marshal Pass

Maybe tonight I'll finally chase that wall down...

CL Replacement

2010-01-25T11:04:00.007-07:00

Last week, the original plans of going to Utah for 3 days of Camp Lynda were canceled due to rain. So, being the industrious folks that we are, myself and the partner in crime, drew up a 4 day plan as a replacement. Who takes vacation days and then stays at home anyway? We packed the car with 2 bikes, climbing gear, skate skis, a few maps, and bolted out of town on Thursday.

The first stop was the Springs where we pounded out some miles on dirt. Slightly frozen and damp dirt, but hey, it was still dirt.

Next up was a "leisurely" hike up the incline....

The next morning we left the bikes on the car (for a few hours anyway) and got some climbing in.

The day started out nice and for awhile we were climbing in t-shirts. Then, within the span of a single climb, a front moved in and I was all of a sudden climbing in a snowstorm. Strange little styrofoam like snowflakes were falling down the rock like a waterfall which made things a bit interesting. However, true to form, an hour later it had blown over and we squeezed in a nice ride before darkness swallowed us.

Saturday morning we drove down to Pueblo (yes on purpose) to meet up with JJ and Steve and ride the big (50 miles) singletrack system they have. It was windy but quite warm, and best of all, the dirt was DRY. The trail consists of lots of loops, some big, some small, but all fun.

Well, fun until someone flats out in the open and in the wind. Never fear though, Jenny brought blueberry pancakes....no really she did.

Hours ticked by and the trails just got better and better.

But, January fitness is only so big and we called it a day mid afternoon and headed off to the next spot.

Next up we headed to some hot springs to soak and relax.

Sunday, we got in some good skate skiing in Leadville. If you're ever looking for a gut check of your fitness level, go skate skiing at 10,000 ft and ski up some big climbs. We cracked hard.

A big mug of hot chocolate later we are back home.
Only 5 more days till next weekend.

Do you eat?

2010-01-17T21:43:00.003-07:00

Ok, that was an easy question.

Now for the hard one.

Do you live within a days drive of Fort Collins?

Yes?

Help Slyler go to worlds, and go eat at La Luz this Tuesday!

Takeout

2010-01-10T20:36:00.002-07:00

Don't leave home without it...

Starting on the right foot

2010-01-04T15:05:00.005-07:00

Well, another year is in the books. I could do some sort of a retrospective post, but I've been feeling rather short winded lately. So, in the interest of me being lazy, how about just something about the past weekend?

Alright then.

Friday I decided to ease into the new decade/year/month/day/morning ever so slowly by lounging around and not getting out riding soon enough to ensure that my ride would end in daylight. Either way, I didn't take enough clothing and spent 4 hours perfecting the "toe flex while pedaling" technique and the "balled up fingers in glove riding" style. I stumbled home sometime around dark-thirty slurring my speech and with several useless appendages.

Saturday, the lady and I chose to hit up a group ride to relieve the riding solo blues, and since the chilling memories of the day prior hadn't left my brain, I completely overdressed and spent the day baking alive in my clothes. Oh yeah, and the fact that it was really my first truly hard effort since mid October didn't help, I was 'a hurtin'.

Sunday, I had an open day so decided to do some good ole fashion splorin'. Gravel and B roads were the surface of choice and I put some good miles under the tires. Sunday was the only day I had a camera so rather than me blather on about the ride, I'll let the shots tell the semi-interesting story.

At first conditions were nice. A breath of wind, some sun, warm-ish temps, and nothing but roads like this between me and Wyoming.

Then Ma Nature pounced on me. Within 15 minutes there was 30 mph winds, snow, and visibility was practically zilch. In the photo above there are actually some darn big hills, and then mountains behind them, just about half a mile up the road. I swear, they are there.

But in the end, the storm blew over leaving some not so crappy views as the sun set. Not a bad first three days of the year eh?

Here's to another year of doin' whatever ya do.