2008 A Busy and Intentionally Un-productive Year

Wow...'08 is gone and it's on to a new year with different goals and directions.

Flipping through the calendar:

I rode semi-serious team rides in January, visited the grandson in Dallas in February, crashed the trailer and truck on the Vail Pass skating rink on the way to training camp in March, spent our 35th wedding anniversary in Italy in April, camped at the Yeti Tribal Meeting and Elephant Rock ride in May, started the Winter Park series in June, finished my first Triple By Pass with more WP races in July, rode 5 events over every weekend in August, followed the COMotion crew through the final wins in Breckenridge and visited the old homestead in Phoenix in September, rode a 5 day Fruita to Moab MTB holiday in October, tripped out to San Andreas, CA and Oklahoma to perform family duties and scoped out winnable MTB race series in November,

and gained 6 pounds in

December while feeding visiting relatives.

Along the way, logged a total of 31 nights in the Jayco motor hotel, caught zero fish and killed nothing on hooves.

Not a bad year.

Local Cyclocross With Statewide Titles

Last decent Sunday in 2008 was spent shaking cowbells and screaming at fellow COMOtion team members as they extended the racing season with cyclocross action in Boulder. The event named Colorado State Champions with our own Megan Tayor taking gold in the Cat 2 women's group.

Boulder cool guy Timmy B. shows what these tired and damaged legs will never do. The sport requires full athletic abilities including running, hurdles and upper body strength. No down hill rests. All while you pedal like hell for 45 minutes or until you drop.

Inspiring none the less. Think I'll curl the 5 pound dumbells by the fireplace tonight.

Addiction Takes Over Again....Yeti # 7

The nasty economy is forcing a lot of folks to part with the unnecessary transportation to make auto payments, buy fuel and send in insurance premiums for the necessary transports. So sad. Not normally an opportunist, a recent under valued Yeti ASX showed up on Craig's list and I had to pounce on it. Call it protection of the species.
It needs a loving home.

Besides, in my efforts to remain "cool" at 53, I figured the DH community would be more accepting if I owned a 35 pound+ bike and worn baggies with my beenie. The DH weighted Mountain States Cup series will surely be more entertaining if I throw in just one SD or 4X at the ski resorts. I promise to work on my knucke bump-handskake over the winter....bro...







The first owner was basically my height and reach so nothing drastic on the fit change yet. (Don't worry Todd, don't think fit matters much on these as long as as you can hang your arse over the rear axle)

Felt OK on the way over for a haircut today. Little creaking going on standing on the bottom bracket but I think DH rigs are suppose to creak, whine, grunt and bang like a diesel.










203mm Rotors look like the daily special at IHOP!!

Great. Four years ago I lived on Avid mechanical brakes and Rockshox forks). The stable now contains Fox (favorite), Rockshox, Manitou & 5th Element boinkers and Shimano, Avid mechanical, Avid hydraulic, Avid rim and Hayes brakes. DOT 3 or mineral oil. Keep it straight!

Look at me!! I are a free-ride, down-hiller ready to "Pin-It" what ever that means.

KOKOPELLI RIDE A PLEASURE

The 145 mile trek from Fruita to Moab was a ball. The group was 5 small and provided the perfect mental let down I was looking for. Our group was made up of a trio of business buddies from New Hampshire, a TV commercial director from London, England and myself.

A bloke, 3 Yankees and a redneck PERFECT!! All great guys.
Check out the almost 200 photo long slide show from the trip at:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=8njcnx5.11h4iaw5&Uy=264l53&Ux=0

Then hit your back arrow twice to finish the blog.
We were spoiled rotten all week long by 2 experienced MTBing guides from Escape Adventures Tours. Mark was a real North Dakota born cowboy-gentleman kept busy maintaining the other 4 rent-a-bike Santa Cruz Blur phillies in the bike corral.

Anne was a twenty-something power house always positive and supportive regardless what the situation was and a darn good roadside chef.






The Dave's were quickly re-named as to not cause confusion on the the trail. I was referred to as Yeti Dave for obvious reasons, while my English counterpart had to earn his name of "Bloody Dave".

David Jones is an excellent downhill, wet, rooty, single U track rider but the un-clipped adventurer on foreign soil soon learned that the loose graveled downhill road off of the Kokopelli Trailhead before the Fruita Loops has a sharp left hand turn. Results. Broken sunglasses, numerous facial bacon spots and a burning desire to prove to the group that he is not easily deterred. Still, the name "Bloody Dave" remained throughout the week long pleasure ride.

I could spend hours trying to recreate the trip but I'll just hit on a couple of highlights.. The weather cooperated marvelously up until Friday morning. Wind not rain. That's the preferred sequence. The ride through Onion Creek Trail was maxi-awesome. The late afternoon heat was tempered by periods of cool canyon wall shaded coasting and the over 20 creek crossing splashes keep us evaporation-cooled while sucking dry chain lube off the bikes. Small price.

Everyone wanted to take time for a side trip to see dinosaur tracks in the area. Very cool.

The stinker of the trip was an uninvited abscessed tooth that drained my race kit of Vicodin and caused major concern when it ruptured on Friday morning. Thanks to reassurance by in-group Dr. Bob, I held on through the weekend and am alive to file this report. New root canal scheduled for October 26. Yeah!!

As, predicted, I WOULD crash. The promise was fulfilled less than a mile from the truck and epic 145 mile finish. On an extremely technical portion of the Porcupine Rim Trail, a triple 45 degree raised plate rock section offered the obstacle. I cleared 2 out of the 3 and as one observer noted "you executed the perfect tuck and roll on the rock slab below". Thanks. Took my mind off the toothache for a while.
The 23 pound carbon Yeti ASRc performed flawlessly all week and was a real joy on the hike-a-bike-sections. XTR tubeless rims and Maxxis Crossmark tires, Stan's Sealant and 38psi tire pressure resulted in zero downtime in the land of goat heads and pinch flats.

The finale of the trip was hanging out with COMotion teammates at the grandmother of them all, the 24 Hours of Moab endurance race the following Saturday. Given my physical condition after the ride, I did good to lube a few chains and re-gas the generator at 2;30 am.

Thanks to Cris Butler, Jen and Ryan & Autumn Schultz for the accommodations and transportation on both ends of the adventure.

Check out all the Escape Adventure opportunities at http://www.escapeadventures.com/

Fall Motivator Realized

Last blog left me wondering what I could do to get my mojo back.
Think I've got it! Browsing the net, I fell back to one of the trips I've always wanted to do since first visiting Moab in 2002. The Kokopelli trail from Fruita to Moab, Utah.
October 6th, I'll be leaving Grand Junction with Escape Adventures www.escapeadventures.com for the Do-B4-U-Die-140 mile Kokopelli Trail. Probably not the hardest cycling task I've endured, but it will surely be one of the most memorable and hard earned brain-draining ride in recent years. The 5 day, 4 night experience will be full of breathtaking views of the Colorado River, desert vegetation and no doubt, the beginning of a couple of long term friendships with folks who love the out-of -doors and cycling like me.
The week long sabbatical might have ended on Friday in Moab but.....what a coincidence.....The 24 Hours of Moab Endurance Race starts on Saturday. COMO buddy Chris Butler will pick me up on Friday afternoon in Moab and I'll continue the desert lifestyle wrenching and cheering fellow racers on through the dark desert night.
Hell, I might even slip in a ghost lap for some weary team member suffering from owlkeehaul poisoning!!
Training begins in the morning at 5:30am.
MOJO is back.

SEASON ENDS....WHAT TO DO NOW....

The summer race wrap up is over with COMOtion Sports dealing out another 1st place win in the Mountain States Cup Championship climaxing in Breckenridge.

Although I did not contribute points to the team this year, I rallied for the the last 3 events to provide liquid courage, wrenches and support for the team. A mear 28 points separated COMO and Feedback Sports after the Sunday finale. Good jobs guys and gals.

The Winter Park Series ended for me with a tie for 6th place in the over 50 Expert class. I'll have to remember '08 as the year of last places and just trying to finish. See the final tally at
http://www.epicsingletrack.com/default.asp?page=/Results2008/Points/M2F.html

Maybe a trip to Moab or an epic Colorado Trail weekend will wake me up and get me in gear again.

Tour de Cure Efforts Rewarded

The time spent begging and efforts expended preparing for the American Diabetes Association's 2008 Tour de Cure was well worth it. Many of my best friends and supporters chipped in to let me exceed my fund-raising goal of $750. They contributed a total of $850 to diabetes research in my name. Thank you guys...you're great!!

Chris Butler

Josh Strouse

Stacey Dominguez
Doug Dupuie

Andy Gordon
Gary and Meg Littlepage
Zach Littlepage
Anonymous
Gary Petersen
Cal Rickard
Doug Roberts & Family
Cindy Routon
Boni Sandoval
Teresa Strouse
Bethany and Chris Wilson

Terry and Kathy Wilson

Camping at the Boulder County Fairgrounds was an experience in it's self. Between mooing cattle, barking dogs, whinnying horses, and a motorcycle short track race 200 yards away, sleeping was a challenge.

Having breakfast and a post ride shower 150 yards from the Start/Finish line was nice and worth the minor irritations.

Time to get ready for this Saturday's Winter Park Series finale..Tipperary Creek race. Profile hurts just looking at it. UGHHH...

WHY YOU LOVE COLORADO !!

August 16th and snow atop Mary Jane....Raining cats and dogs in Broomfield. No racing today. Postponed date of next Saturday's not going to work either.....Last chance sounds like Tipperary Creek course August 30th. Wonder if there's a spin class today.

Summer Race Wrap Up Can Begin Now..Grandpa's Done

Weiner power provided by Cinnamon and Sugar help Kaitlyn, 5 , negotiate uphills at

Garden of The Gods Campground.

Last 2 weeks have been consumed doing the annual "grandpa" thing entertaining 3 granddaughters and 1 inseparable cousin.
Yea it's been fun spending money at all the Colorado Springs tourist traps and time with the kids in the woods. BUT...serious training and race prep became non-existent at a time when we need to accumulate as many Winter Park Series points as possible.

Bailing on the August 2nd Crankworks XC dropped my standing from second to fourth. With only two races remaining and 2 drops to deduct, I'm thinking that finishing last in 5 of 7 events is not worthy of an end of series podium stand even if the numbers remain weird.


Not totally off the bikes, Tori, Baley and I tore up the trails behind Peaceful Valley Campground and had fun watching an un-named riders get dunked in the mud boggs like a chocolate covered Dairy Queen cone.

August 16th brings the 6th Winter Park XC Loop followed by the long awaited Tour de Cure century ride on the 23rd

http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=5190&px=4233240 and then the August 30th King of the Rockies series finale. Better do a ton of work during the weekdays just to guarantee a finish of the remining trio of calendar commitments.

Shyala accepts congratulation on a

NO-CRASH week in Colorado Springs

Double Duty Weekends Good for the Cycling Soul

The 2008 Triple Bypass was not what I would call a piece of cake but it was very manageable utilizing one of my only two cycling skills. Pacing myself. (the other one would be the tried and true tuck-n-roll over the handlebars without breaking bones maneuver). Weather was perfect, wind manageable and no need for the rain gear.

The roughest part of the ride was the 7:00am Squaw Peak descent through the frigid, bumpy turns of Hwy 103 leading into Idaho Springs past the Mt. Evans turnoff. No feeling in the fingers, wrists, arms and shoulders were numb after about 30 minutes of tense squeeze time.. PLEASE don't do that speed wobble thing...No real good place to pull off and surely this will be over soon!

The rest of the cruise was a short but noisy trek after Silver Plume up I-70 to the Loveland Ski Area rest stop, a steady crank-crank up and over Loveland Pass, enjoyable descent past Arapahoe and Keystone ski resorts and on into Dillion and Frisco.

Then the -you've-seen-it-from-the-interstate paved bike trail ride through Copper and the final climb up Vail Pass. I don't believe this is the steepest part of the ride, but by now, the 6:00am start, 90 miles in the saddle and distaste for rest stop give-away food is starting to wear.

Still another 30 miles down the scenic south backside, through Vail complete with an escort by their Saab mounted police snobs then on into Avon where the really cool cops stopped all vehicle traffic to let cyclist swoop through the round-a-bouts like Lance through the Champs-Élysées.

Nearly 10 hours from start to finish with 81/2 hours pedaling time confirmed by both the Yeti Road Project's Flight Deck and Garmin GPS. --Total mileage 119.7 miles, 14.3 average MPH and a max descent speed of 41.2 MPH. Check the Triple Bypass off the Bucket List. Thanks Team Evergreen!

Following weekend was just as memorable with dual races at Winter Park. Saturday's XC was the typical "I hate this f%$^&%$@$%ing start road, watch the pelleton disappear and then enjoy a 10% above my head ride through the single track and mountain roads to the Frasier campground finish. Yep dead last again. Still a lot of fun no mechanicals only one near disaster off the surprising creek to your right and small wooden bridge hairpin. Talkative cruise back to the base and maybe I'll win a door prize.

The hoot of the weekend wound up being the first ever Winter Park Super Downhill race on Sunday. COMotion teammate Gary Peterson wound up sharing accomodations Saturday night and talking me into a pre-ride which I would normally blow off. Your going down hill right?

We both did it and were giggling like freshmen girls at the base. What fun. The bike choice was critical here. Some showed up with full blown 40+ pounder DH rigs, most were straddling "all mountain 6-7"travel bikes.

My not-thinking clear Craig's List effort to come up with an ASX Friday night did not pan out so I plucked the 2002 ASR from the wall and started rebuilding an abused Rock Shox Psylo 125mm fork for the umpteenth time. Thank god Fox has stepped in as the premiere MTB fork supplier. But for the night, the Psylo would have to do. Where's those rebuild kits?

60+ Competitors Gary Peterson and

Pete Rockwood..both good friends of mine and cycling competitors finished 1 & 2 all weekend long.

Here's how the numbers go.

I've competed in 4 of 4- 50+ Expert races this year. I've finished dead last every race.

Check out who's #2 in the Series ranking below. Quick, it will all dissapear with my miss next race and when we start dropping points.

http://www.epicsingletrack.com/default.asp?page=/Results2008/Points/M2F.html

DAMN I'M HAVING FUN!!

Triple By-Pass .......Next Hurdle

While the Winter Park results have been disappointing,

TOP 1 REASON this week...I SUCK!!

I used the 4 day long holiday weekend to spend some big time on the Road Project preparing for the 10,000 ft. plus Triple By-Pass ride sponsored by Team Evergreen http://www.teamevergreen.org/.

Having missed out on the 3,500 rider capped registration deadline, I did as all PC savvy users do and answered a Craig's List posting offering the missed opportunity for $125 including an XL jersey and coveted armband. Might benefit the MTB performance or kill me.

Thursday's 7 hour ride included a Broomfield start, on to Lefthand Canyon, up to Ward, burger and beer atop Hwy 74, long descent into Lyons, back to Hwy 36, Niwot, Erie, Louisville and back to B'field for 105 miles and a ridiculous number of vertical feet climbing. I won't repeat the Garmin report until some other confirmation.

After 48 hours recovery, Sunday's ride was a moderate sprint up to Boulder, on up to circle the Flagstaff mountain amphitheater, wicked descent behind a slow Hummer H2, over to 3 bike shops hunting down hydraulic hose parts and back up South Boulder Road for 53 miles and 4K vert gain. Charlie and I will do Mt. Falcon/Lair O'the Bear jaunt Tuesday and I'm ready for a 6:00am start Saturday in Evergreen.

The TBP will celebrate 20 years on the 12th and I'm glad to be a part of it.
Read about how it went here or in my obituary next week.

ASRc Comes in Small Package

Friday I stop in to see the Bubster at Yeti and pick up my new Optic Nerve team glasses. After a couple of minutes of "cardboard alley" games, we stroll back through the racks of Yeti frames and stop at a single team turquoise ASRc hanging like a diamond necklace. "Any word on when my medium will be in? Nope.

I had previously solicited the team's bike fit guru Todd Carver to review my dimensions from the ARCx and Road Project data and make a size recommendation for the new '08 carbon racer. NO doubt , you need a medium. According to the Yeti height stats I was right at the top of the small and bottom of the medium chart.

Like an 8 year old on Christmas eve, I really was tired of waiting and made a quick call and plead to Todd to help me make the small frame fit. He agreed and Bubba started writing. Quick trip to the LBS for a 120mm stem and I was ready to get started.

Leaving an extra measure of cables, hoses and steerer length, I christened the beast Tuesday at Mt. Falcon complete with a waterbar dismount. The bike felt good going up and great coming down.

The next day Todd fine tuned the seatmast length by discarding the 10mm spacer, flipped the stem over, shuffled some fork tube spacers and rotated the bars and controls. A huge improvement in comfort, weight distribution and getting the legs squarely over the pedals.

I always have fun building a bike and try to capture the delightful task with a few funky photos. take a look at: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=8njcnx5.17nzziwh&x=0&y=-qkh1i5&localeid=en_US

Remove excuse #12 from the list.

Top 12 Reasons-Way More Than You Wanted To Know

Holly crap!! Moving to the expert class for the 2008 Winter Park Series, I did not expect to be doing the grip-and-grin podium photos with my little gold, silver or copper medallion.

But what I got Saturday was an old fashion "spanking" from the 50+ coot clan.

It's not my fault so I thought I'd list the top 12 reasons I placed 12th out of 12 racers.

#12-I'm still waiting on my ASRc uphill racer

#11- I didn't train at 11,000 ft. elevation enough (at all)

#10-They don't like cocky racers who have their names on their bikes.

#9-I thought since I'm on COMotion's 5X winning team I didn't have to really train

#8-Teresa left the lid off the margarita server Friday night

#7-Gas prices are too high to take Silverado and required 200 pounds of tools and extra bike parts

#6-I fell down Wednesday and went boom on the CX bike. Bruised my elbow. It kept making me veer left then I over-corrected. Actually logged 8.3 miles on the 5 mile course

#5-Tim Watkins threw sand my face at the start line

#4- I fell down Wednesday and went boom on the CX bike. Created bacon strips down my left leg and knee would not bend

#3- Train coming out of the Moffat Tunnel made too much noise to hear the start announcement and I started late

#2-Vicodin reacted with Starbucks caffeine and caused brain and muscle cramps.

#1- I fell down Wednesday and went boom on the CX bike. Boy was my hip slow and butt sore! Now, better start a new list for the next race.

Never Get Tired of THE ROCK

If you don't like crowds and wheel-suckers, don't bother with Colorado's largest organized ride -The Elephant Rock Cycling Festival in Castle Rock. This year's cap of 7,000 riders was met well before the event was held June 1st.

One of the first organized rides I ever attended was the Elephant Rock Ride back in 2000. I pedaled a Trek 7000 hardtail pulling an Adam's Trail-a-bike with granddaughter Tori in tow. She threw a screaming fit when I told her to get off and help push until we were at the top of the hill. We were attempting the 8 mile mountain bike family ride. Except for one year since, we've participated annually moving up to the century road ride in 2004.

Take the profile above and tilt it another 3% grade to account for the never silent winds that buffet the open prairies. Despite not having trained specifically for the 100 miler, I was pleased with a slightly under 6 hour ride time and an average speed of 16.1 mph.

Choice of weapon this year was the 2007 Yeti ARC-X cyclocross bike. A fresh set of Continental GP4000 S skins converted the newest member of the Yeti stable into a decent open road cruiser. True, a lot of the descents had me red-lining the CX gearing but the +110 rpm spinning sections serve well as an efficient lactic acid purge following big ring climbs.

Veterans of the game, we arrived early Saturday afternoon with the travel trailer and act dumb about the 3:00pm check-in time. Results are always a prime camping location on precious flat ground and a dawn Sunday morning view of the hordes of cyclist arriving like warriors from a scene in Braveheart.

The early season event serves as a good reality check for fitness and as a reminder that the race season is nearly here. Details of the event can be found at http://www.elephantrockride.com/.

ANNUAL TRIBE MEETING IS ALL ABOUT YETI'S HISTORY & FUTURE

"We're responsible for our own direction," said Brett Hahn, the general manager of Yeti, to the Boulder Daily Camera in 1995. "Schwinn has no desire to blend images."
For true Yeti brand enthusiasts, there is no better place to walk among the company leaders and movers, both past and present, than at the annual Yeti tribe gathering.

Former Yeti General Manager Brett Hahn, (right), yours truly and "Big" Joe Henderson enjoy going through decades of Yeti memorabilia collected by Hahn. Hahn is ever active in the cycling world as Continental Tire's North American Brand Manager for cycling. The lucky dude also lives in Durango, home of some of the world's best known cycling and cyclist.

Henderson was one of only two employees kept when the Durango site was closed in 1999 by new owner Schwinn. True to Brett's statement in 1995, the company has kept it's own image and remains one of the industry's strongest "nitch" brands. For a glimpse into the company's fascinating history check out http://yetifan.com/the_history_of_yeti.html .

Current Yeti "Bossman" Cris Conroy drops his ride in dirt with the rest of the tribe after a full day's ride on legendary Fruita singletracks.

Tribe gathering bring out the common 575 Enduros and collector items such as one of Yeti's first generation rear suspension mountain bikes.

Poor souls knotted up from the kidney jarring desert descents were treated to a massage before applying Oskar Blue's general pain relief medication..

Yeti's future looks bright with the free ride and downhill bunch. Although pretty much ignored in the '08 company brochure, the XC crowd is buzzing over the introduction of the first all carbon ASR. Yep, still waiting for mine.

See you next year!!!