The long day

"I like pleasure spiked with pain, and music is my aeroplane."
-RHCP


The day started with the alarm going off at 3am, set from the day before so I could drive her to the airport at 4am and I forgot to reset the time. After attempting to go back to sleep and another couple hours of tossing and turning it was time to wake. Finally pouring myself out of bed like molasses on an autumn day and into the shower to get all synapses firing again, at last the day has begun.

The first joy of the day will be spent at the dentist laying on my back with drills in my mouth digging away at a neglected tooth which is now plagued with decay. The dentist and assistant laugh and converse and even try to include me in the cnversation to which my reply is usually, mmpphhhffpgphfff! At least this time she let the novicaine start to take effect before drilling away.

Lucky for me I got to head back to work before going over to Boulder Ortho Sport for some physical therapy on my left Hamstring/knee. Since I had ACL reconstructive surgery my hamstring has been tight and I have not fully regained flexion because of this they are going to be working my hammy for a few weeks, with the Graston technique. For those unfamiliar this is where they take a piece of smooth metal and 'massage' your leg and knee. It burns. But it does stretch it out and warm it up so overall it feels good.

Back in the office for the rest of the day after a nice lunch break. Ok most of the day is over now all I have to look forward to is doing bike delivery from 5-10 all around east central Boulder.

Close up shop and home by 11. Ahhh time to relax a few beers later and it's lights out by 1. The next 3 days will consist of working half day in the office bike riding camping and picking her up at the airport. I guess these long days once in a while aren't so bad.

CU STX Race Report

Race 4 for me and the second to last of the season for the Short Track (STX) series. The race is about 20 minutes of all out sprinting with lots of technical sections to climb, descend and negotiate over and around. It is a burner but it's also a blast, from the crowded hectic start to the lung searing finish this race is all out and extremely competitive.

This weeks track was the longest I had ever raced on and had lots of technical switch backs and bmx style features. I figured this favored me as I was more of a technical mountain biker than just a sit-n-spinner. I got a few warm-up laps in and was feeling strong. I made sure to get my self to the start in time to get a spot on the front line as with these races you can't win it on the start but you can sure lose it. So with 24 racers lined up and less than 50 yards to the first turn and the single track the announcer counted down.

Into turn one I managed to get myself in 6th place but the rider in front of my on a cyclocross bike made a wrong turn and went straight into the pit-high weeds as the track took a hard left up and over the toilet bowl. Ok so I'm 5th heading into the backstretch with the leaders setting a blazing pace. I shift down and mash trying to keep the gap what it is between myself and the leaders, another rider in a Boulder Cycle Sport kit passes me on the long straight towards the start/finish, ok 6th after 1. I get passed by 3 more riders over the next 3 laps but I keep them within a few bike lengths and try to conserve my energy for the last 2 laps. On lap 5 coming out of the bmx section and a quick double switch-back then steep climb a rider loses it into the bushes (the boulder cycle sport guy that passed earlier) and doesn't get back in it. Now at the end of lap 5 and getting close to a single speeder who passed earlier, then going to the sharp left turn leading up the long straight he loses it, His front tire washes out and I drop a gear and mash down the straight to make sure he can't even think of catching me. Last lap with one rider in sight, every time I get close he opens it up on the straight. We finish like this with me chasing him down the straight for a respectable 7th place finish. I notice The leaders were not too far out in front and after the single speeder we had opened a huge gap on the rest of the field.

Last race of the season next week, time for a top 5!

*Sidenote this was the first week of racing for Jimmy Johns/Ripstoke, they will be paying my entry fees and hooked up a nice jersey to rock for the races/training.

Of flat tires and lost chains

Not being properly prepared is what it all comes down to.

Story of my life, or so it seams. All the problems I have had recently have been of my own doing. Some out of laziness, some out of shear stupidity but most of all just flat out being unprepared for the situations I am forcing myself into.

If 6 was 9

Finally got my carbon 29er fork from ebay(3 weeks later!) and got a new cane creek headset as the old one was pieced together from my slavaged trek 4300(picture loose ball bearings shooting all over the place). This idea was orinally put on the table after finishing my first project bike(HT Gary Fisher Race-ready), alas that bike was stolen just a few weeks later and I now needed a race bike for the Boulder STX series and thus some urgency was injected into the life of the SS 69'er project.

I got a deal on the frame from a friend it's a Small Santa Cruz Chameleon that came with Salsa cranks(36t). The Cockpit came from Jensonusa.com on sale, the fork from ebay(as noted above), the wheels came from University and Blue Sky Velo respectively. I am using a Surly Tuggnut chain tensioner and some SPD M545 pedals.

The first ride I took was up the Boulder Canyon Link trail, very steep technical but not too long, took 17mins to climb and it felt like the fastest I had ever done it. I have it geard 36/18 or 2:1 right now which makes some if the steep climbs here very difficult but it felt very fast on the flats. The bigger front tire is awesome it allows me to just plow over small obstacles without getting hung up like with a 26'er front wheel. All in all this bike climbed like a champ but how would it descend?

I knew I was going to get rattled coming down the trail but to my surprise it was much softer than I could have expected, the carbon fork really doesn an amazing job of damping the bumps and smoothing the trail out. So far I am happy with my fork choice. And it wasn't all that much slower than my FS rig.

This bike is freiggin sweet and will be seeing alot more miles over the next few weeks, First Boulder STX in the books, with Race 2 tomorrow and a Race report to follow, I swear.

Walker Ranch ride report

"How was it?"

"Dry, loose, dusty."

"Sounds like Walker"

Burns and I headed up to Walker Ranch for a short ride post-work yesterday, a 7.4 mile loop with 900ft of elevation gain. After battling a brutal headwind on my commute home I suited up for an MTB ride and we headed up flagstaff to the TH. The above exchange took place while gearing up and then we were off. We decided to do the loop clockwise so that mean we would be hiking up the stairs. The ride starts off with a short(3/4mi) slight uphill that takes you into some North-facing(shaded) steep switch backs that are a blast to rip through at speed. After that it opens up a bit into some double track with lots of loose rocks and many different lines to take. This is where having the full squish really comes in handy as you can just float over the rocks with out getting bucked off. And just like that the down is done and we are at the bottle of this valley next to a stream and it's time to hike up the steps to get on top of this steep ridge. Once at the top you begin some decieving climbs, I say deceiving because just as it seems like it might be over you round a corner to find more of the same loose, not too steep but steep enough to burn, climbing. Finally we got to some more double track and steep decending, unfortunately there were some other bikers who slowed us down enough to where I couldnt launch it over the steep rocks and had to billy goat my way through, which led to nosing into a loarge boulder and getting bucked. From here it was just a long grind out ~1.6mi back to the parking lot.

All in all a hiller ride, next time maybe two laps?

Training for Buff Creek

Well it's only 38 days away which mean I have 4 weeks of hard training and a week of taper/carb loading until I find myself at the start line for my 3rd triathlon, 2nd at Buff Creek(124 out of 154 in 07). My goals are to demolish my previous efforts time as well as JAK's time set. I don't think it will be realistic to podium at this race as it is the 2nd biggest XTERRA this summer next to nationals. 3rd in the 25-29 AG took 18th overall last year so as I will be trying to crack to top 75(or top 50%) those guys will be out of sight.

More on training later.

Stolen Bikes

So I took a while to post the race report mostly due to the fact that the biuke I raced got stolen. This bike meant a lot to me, I built it up over the duration of rehabbing my knee then it became a true project/race bike. I sanded and painted the frame, started with the drivetrain, Race-face Evolve XC X-type Crankset and BB, SRAM 990 9spd casssetter and 9Spd pwerchain. Next came the wheels and tires, Sun Rhyno lite rims and Panaracer Fire XC Pro's, got a sick deal on craigslist(also may have jinxed the bike with stolen parts...I'll never know). Then I threw on some Avid BB7 mechanical disc's on the front and BB5's on the rear(with an adapter for the Gary Fisher frame). I picked up and LX rear de-raileur online and an SLX front derailuer at university cycles, along with all necessary cables and housing. I used the stem and handlebars of my old Jamis and threw on some new Oury grips. Seat Post and saddle also came of the old Jamis and this thing was ready to go(see pics in post below). and alas it was taken from me while moving, I left it outside on teh 3rd floor outside the front door and bam, gone. Should have never left it out of my sight, that's the lesson learned but man does it feel shitty.

Race Report

It has now been about 4 weeks(ed-thats when I started the write, man im a slacker) since crossing the finish line and about time to sum up the experience as I have now had time to let the feelings and settings and happenings of that weekend to sink in completely.

Got up early a bit nervous and mostly anxious. Had some Oatmeal, a gatorade and powergel, only carbs right now as I loaded up with protein and lots of carbs over the past few days I am just trying to squeeze in the last few now before the race.

As I setup my area in the transition space I see others put there shoes locked into the snowshoes prior so when in the transistion you can just slip the shoes on and run away, so I decided to do this as well.

In the pre-race meeting last years winner advised of tire pressure between 10-15 psi, now based on what the course maintenance supervisor said the course should be hard therefore I opted to go with a much higher psi, that turned out to be a mistake...

The race starts off downhill and I used this as an opportunity to get ahead of some off the riders who I knew would be stronger on the climbs than I would. It was crazy, people were sliding all over I saw a person go over the bars and I saw another chick go straight into a tree when the trail got off camber, man biking in snow was so much more challenging than I imagined, picture biking through deep sand except its cold and wet. Needless to say I posted a much slower time than I expected.

Next was the 5k snowshoe and it was actually a lot easier/faster than I anticipated, running through the woods in snowshoes ona beautiful day is fun by itself but mix in the competitive atmostphere and the backdrop of Snowbasin and I was having a blast.

By the time I got to the run my feet were soaked and since I didn't bring extra running shoes I was just going to have to deal with the 5k with soggy feet. The run covered some of the same track as the bike but then broke off into 2mi out and back. So remember how I said biking on hardpack was like deep sand, well the running was too and the fact that it was a little later and a little warmer the snow had gotten even softer. I never would have predicted that my snowshoe was going to be so much faster than my run but thats what happened.

Finally the ski mountaineering leg, I had been practicing taking my skins on and off while still locked in and it paid off. There was only one person in my view when I left the transition area and I was determined to catch him. Once I rounded the first corner I saw a few more competitors. I had no idea if there were in my age group or not but I was gonna catch 'em. I encountered one problem at the tope of the first and longest hike, my left hip flexor was in pain and each step seamed to hurt a little bit more. But once I got to the top and ripped the skins off and bolted down, I had gained on the next guy infront of me and the adrenaline from flying down the mtn alleviated some of the pain. On the 2nd hike I smoked the guy near me and it turned out he was in my age group. At the next transistion area I ripped the skins off again while still strapped in and passed another guy who also turned out to be in my AG and sped down through the gates. On the last climb there was 2 guys in front of me(they both turned out to be in the 30-39 AG) and I almost caught them on the climb, but one of the guys had cross counrty skis and I flew by him on the final down crossing the finish line at 3:58:36 and in 3rd place in my AG!

Worked, is probably the best word I can use to describe how i felt after the race, but due to proper fueling and preparation i did not run into the same problems I had at my first XTERRA almost 2 years ago. Now it's time to turn up the prep for Buff Creek!

3rd place in 20-29 AG!

And I made it in under 4 hours(3:58:24) so I hit both my goals for the day, sweet.

Compelled

What is it that drives man to explore uncharted territories, take on incredible burdens and risk life and limb just for adventure? Is there an equal and opposite reaction for everyone of these people who yearn to get out and explore there is someone content to sit on the couch and turn off their brain and become a part of the scenery?

Is it the American Dream? Is that what each one of us is purseing in our own devious way? Does the man on the couch have the same shot at the dream as the one out on the road? Who's to say.

It may still be out there, or it may have died along with Hunter Thompson, the last great true American...

Less than a month...

...until the XTERRA Winter World Chamionships...

The bike is finally together, the snowshoes are ready, the skins still need to be re-glued and I should probably get some new running shoes. I've been doing lots of biking and not nearly enough running. I know this yet I still find excuses to get on the bike instead of run, oh well I guess I will be suffering in the race and maybe then I will learn to train right to meet my goals.

10k Mtn bike, no prob I am set. 5k snowshoe, will be interesting as I haven't gotten to do too much snowshoe training due to lack of snow in Boulder. 5k run, no problem. 10k Ski mountaineering, the downhill will be fine its the up thats gonna get me...

Surrounded by Madmen

The trip to the Eisman hut was interesting. Tiring, smile inducing, whiskey sluggin, powder sloughing and interesting. The hut was perched at 11,180ft above sea level and 9.5mi from the Redsandstone Creek trailhead. Now with snowmobiles we were able to get within 1/2mi of the hut and the hike was short but intense, hiking through powder with a loaded pack is less than fun.

The weather was amazing, bright blue skies and snow capped peaks as far as the eye can see. But with Temps hovering above the 40's the area was primed for avalanches. We could already see a few natural slides had broken off by the time we got to the hut just after 10 in the am. We decided to stick to the Northeast facing faces to avoid any slides, natural or skier triggered. Got some great turns in and built a few jumps just playing around in our winterwonderland.

When we got back to the hut we met a few other skiers and boards touring in the BC, we also met 3 guys who got caught in an avy that day, all 3 guys were buried or partially buried and one guy was 9ft deep in a tree well. I am glad they survived but man were they in the wrong area. I am not the most experienced but even I know better than to go near where they were. I understand the desire to get out and schralp the untracked pow pow but its not worth risking life and limb when there is pow in much safer areas...

http://avalanche.state.co.us/pub/accidents_co.php?accident=20090116

Week 2 Phase II

After another great weekend Hiking and skiing powder its time to get back to the grind of working in a cubicle and getting back to running. I haven't done any snowshoe training yet and since there is still some snow on the ground today will be the day, a 5k on snowshoes for time. Yesterday was shoulders and core in the gym with a 18k of biking before and after.

Eismann hut this weekend, stoked for this trip gonna be a lot of trudging around with huge packs on but the snow should be bottomless and the whiskey flowin'.

A season like no other

This year has seen a ton of snow dropped on the Rocky Mountains, especially in December, yet to the dismay of many this happens to have fallen on a fairly unstable base layer and with temps staying below freezing the snowpack has not had much chance to bind together causing large slides that have resulted in 18 fatalities already this season and numerous inbounds avalanches at many big name resorts.

This is a just a reminder for myself and anyone else out there that being prepared and having the correct safety equipment, as well as knowing how to use it, is the only way to cut down the risk of injury or death while out enjoying the sport we love so much.

I have spent the last few weekends in the BC and will be going out on Vail Pass again this weekend to search for those safe, steep stashes left from all the snow we are getting this week and staying away from the steep open faces that are prone to sliding no matter how inviting they look.

On a training note I have been biking all week and will be doing bike delivery tonight, last time I covered 50mi in 10hrs probably won't be as busy tonight but still a good training routine all the same.

Be safe!

Vail Pass and begin Phase II

9 of the past 17 days have been spent skiing or hiking but mostly both with only one day just hiking and two just skiing, I have been taking bike rides on the off days with not much running(ED. slacker...) I don't have a pair of skins yet so the hiking has been the base training that is equivalent to skinning up a mountain.


More training updates and recaps of previous adventures to come.