CONROY AND COMPANY DO IT UP RIGHT-6TH ANNUAL YETI TRIBE GATHERING-

The 6th Annual Yeti Tribe meeting in Crested Butte, Colorado has been on the calendar since it was announced. Each year the boys at Yeti show their appreciation to "average Joe" Yeti owner by throwing down a weekend long agenda of food, fun, rides, bike talk, smack-talk, beer, SWAG and games.

Originally capped at 150 participant, pressure on the last week forced the crew to bump the attendance up to 200. And most showed up.
The highlight of event is the organized rides on Colorado's finest singletrack. Having soared down the Monach and Rainbow Trails near Salida two years ago and the legendary Steamboat Springs area last year, it was Crested Butte's turn to show off it's MTB trail system. No one was disappointed.
I will not attempt to cover the beauty of the countryside, ride group dynamics and new friends enjoyed. Check out the video at http://www.yeticycles.com/Video/Video.cfm.

The stitches came out Friday morning and getting on the bike for the first time in 17 days Saturday morning had me a little nervous. Of course I signed up for the "Epic" Trail #401 ride and suffered right along with the rest of the crew at over 11,000 ft. elevation. Sweeping singletrack through thick pine forest and open tundra side skirting fast sections made for an awesome rush. Incession was fine.... legs sucked. Sunday morning was a bit milder with a steady climb up the Snodgrass trail topping out and flying back down doubletrack for a solid half hour. Gotta do this again when the aspens are in full fall yellow.

View from top of Snodgrass.

For many of the group this was their first time attending the Tribe Gathering. I'm the old pro and one the few outside the company who can claim to have attended all 6 gatherings. The highly prized beer glass collection is in tact

ELDORA FROM THE SIDELINES

In an unusual act of maturity and common sense, I blew off both races at Eldora to allow the weeping appendage to properly heal. After several opinions from racer/medical types, the consensus was "Are you crazy?" A question I did not want to answer.

It did afford Teresa and me the time needed to fulfill the team trailer set up and annual BBQ and bartending obligations.

I also enjoyed watching from the sidelines as my series competitors sweated out the Saturday short track. All were ready to puke at the finish line. I felt compelled more than once to summons the defibrillator and crash cart from the medics. Since these guys usually beat me, I must really look pitiful after one of those anaerobic marathons.

We fed around 75 people burgers, brats, chicken, beans, corn on the cob and lots of Breckenridge Brewery beer from the COMotion pit set up.

Even Sugar got to chow down on some of that great Justin's peanutbutter.

Gotta go now and get ready for the annual Yeti Tribal Gathering in Crested Butte.....Sorry..sold out...YOU CAN'T GO!!

Stupid Is As Stupid Does.....

Of all the bone headed tricks in recent memory, Saturday evening will be hard to top.
With only 4 races left, the perfect attendance record has come to a sudden end.

Readying the RV for a fun filled weekend at Eldora, a freakish accident sent me to the local ER for 10 stitches in the right power leg erasing the possibility of completing 12 for 12 MSC races this year.

I'd like to say I was freeriding down some technical singletrack when I lost it after a 6' drop but the fact is I raked the leg across the edge of a poorly placed picture frame glass and peeled a silver dollar sized chunk of meat from the bottom of my shin right above the ankle. A location that requires major mobility for cycling.

Doc Williams says 12 days before the stitches can come out and laughed out loud when I explained to him I HAVE to race next Saturday.

Maybe those silly one-legged spin class exercises can get me through the short track warm up before they throw me out. With expert and sport riders 40+ all starting together, I can't last more than 15 minutes.

As Borat and Jon Chambers would say....VERY NICE !!!!!!

Hanging On By The Skin Of My Teeth

If you can believe the MSC totals... here's where we're at with 4 to go.

Rankings for Cross Country Sport Men 50+
1 DAVID STROUSE 958
2 ED FORD 934
3 LOU SUPINO 806
4 LARRY GROSSMAN 716
5 RON GAGER 542
6 THOMAS A. KIMMELL 386
7 RICHARD DODGE 342
8 STEVE AUTRY 328
9 LEWIS BLAYLOCK 294
10 KIM SPENCE 276
and 15 other locals and Viagra users.

TELLURIDE .....THE WHOLE STORY......

Amazing what a 6 hour southwest drive from Denver through Colorado can bring. Cool, no gas guzzling Silverado or team trailer and only 1 bike with NO tools and ...I'm flying!! Audi Turbo...!! Well not really, actually 8 hours.. I'm accompanied by 5 female bladders and one very nice state trooper lady just past Blue Mesa reservoir. Yes mam ' I will slow it down after we get to the next restroom....

And you know, that construction flag person that stops you for 20 minutes at a time? She doesn't really have a round head like the sign.

Of all of the MSC destinations, T-ride is hands down the favorite. Maybe it's the isolation of the San Juan's with the rumors of grizzly bears and noticeable absence of pine beetle infestation that makes me feel like I'm in the familiar conifer forests of southeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Arkansas . Except there is oxygen in the air in the Ozarks.

The 10,551 foot Allred's restaurant reminded me that I live half way between here and the ocean. Our third trip for races here, we chose to stay in town rather than the village. More stuff for the visiting grandchildren and chief support crew member to do and they can sleep in.
The Columbia Hotel was at the base of the town -to -village gondola and made a fine camp spot for the wiener dogs Sugar and Cinnamon, granddaughters Tori and Shyala and junior high school sweetheart Teresa.

Back to racing. Friday afternoon showers were a perfect excuse to not pre-ride the course. It was basically the same route as previous years and 3 straight days of crank-crank was not on the agenda. On a hunch Thursday night, I dropped the Moab abused Maxxis kit tires for a fresh pair of Ritchey Z-Max tires. The side lugs and paddle Z-tread turned out to be a major contributor to staying upright in the turtle climbs and downhill off cambers after showers left the XC course wet but not impossible.

Sticking to my game plan of consistency vs. out racing everyone, and taking advantage of competitor's mechanicals and misfortunes, I actually made the podium with a 4th place finish with as close to under 2 hours time as you will ever see. 1:59:59.2

Telluride XC 2007--Sport Men 50+

Place Name Time Pace1

1 Ford,Ed 1:51:44.5 9:01 27 26

2 Kimmell,Thomas 1:57:37.6 9:29 42 39

3 Falkner,Highly 1:58:13.4 9:32 43 40

4 Strouse,David 1:59:59.2 9:41 45 42

5 Grossman,Larry 2:00:53.8 9:45 48 44

6 Blaylock,Lewis 2:22:56.8 11:32 66 50

7 Supino,Lou 2:28:00.0 11:56 68 51

More rain on Saturday night left the Hill Climb course in a major muck. Thanks to all the Pro and Expert riders who deepened the ruts and polished the tree roots for the beginner and sport clowns.

The "Parade Lap" put distance between the 40+ crowd until about 40 yards into the uphill singletrack. At that point we all wadded up and one by one began the ascending hunchback walk until a flat spot was found.

Despite an anaerobic condition from the get go, I finished (remember the game plan) and took back series points from the Ed man who....smashed a derailleur on the rocky switchbacks.

Although T-ride was fun, the peleton is closing in and I'll be lucky to stay in the top 3 in series points before the final 4 races at Eldora and Keystone. Stay tuned.

Blowing Up In Snowmass

Call it mid-season blah...too little sleep....under-training/over-training...or a million other excuses but I sucked at the 4th installment of the series. Even by old man standards.

Middle ringing the starting hill worked good in warm up. Once the group slivered out, bumping competitor's wheels, shifting a major wedgie and bouncing on a locked out Pro-pedal made for an ugly start. Hello Granny!!!




I picked off a couple of riders at the top and was surprised(mild, mild sympathy) to see the #3 series racer pushing his wounded Ellsworth. Maybe I can salvage this thing after all.

NOT. On the final long climb the lungs, legs and brain all conspired to finish me off for good. Both locals see sawed past me with relative ease and were out of sight by the time I made it back to doubletrack daylight and the descending road.

Approaching the finish line's final climb, COMotion teammate's cheers were greatly appreciated. Mostly generated from sympathy I'm sure. At that point, my tongue was battering my handlebars and my eyeballs were pressed firmly against the inside of my Optic Nerve sunglasses.





At this time, the times and placments are still being debated by the MSC folks. I may still barely have the series lead despite Ed's win.

There was at least a couple of DNFs and Lou's eventual hiking finish erased the point gap I visualized as I passed him.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Sport Men 50+
Overall Overall
Place Name Time
1 Ford,Ed 1:28:29
2 Dodge,Richard 1:36:24
3 Brokamp,James 1:38:49
4 Strouse,David 1:39:30
5 Supino,Lou 1:49:18

Think I'll do some sprints before Telluride.

5 DOWN-7 TO GO

Crested Butte was the 3rd stop on the 2007 Mountain States Cup circuit and proved to be a physical nightmare. With 1,800 feet of elevation gain per lap, the free flying fire roads at the top were a welcome site.

Several team members complained about the course (as evident by 4 DNFs) but I thought it was the classic reason why we live in Colorado.

Tons of climbing, tire eating off-camber rocks and and deep cow trail 1/2 tracks in elbow deep grass that prompted one " I can go over the handlebars" drill.

Bottom line is that the turtle wins in the long run. I know my competition well (thanks for the trip to Italy, Lou) and with 5 finishes out of 5, I was able to take the MSC Series category lead at least temporarily.

Being #1 in your division at the same time your team is ranked #1 is to be savored. COMotion Sports has a bullseye painted on our back.... we just have to keep on keep'n on.

Lance Has It All Wrong

When Mr. "sell-a-million-Treks" wrote his popular book- "It's Not About The Bike" Lance had a different story to tell. I believe it's a whole lot about the bike.
Not being a natural athlete, I've tried to grab every advantage I can in MTB competition through better equipment and maintenance. Five years running without a single DNF.
After moving to Colorado in 1997 from the Phoenix area, I decided to try MTB racing to regain some of my earlier thrills of motorcycle motocross and flat track racing only without the 2 stroke smoke and weekly medical bills.
OK ,the first one was a Lance-sell Trek hardtail for $499. Ridiculous. My first Hodaka 90cc was only $425. After a year of LXism, I was off on a search for the best MTB I could find. After all honey, I don't have a Harley, snowmobile, waverunner or 4-wheeler. A trip to Steamboat Springs to visit titanium land (working in metallurgy I was curious). Bike was OK but-that little flexy thing is the rear shock?
Next stop-Yeti factory in Golden. Friendly bunch of guys. Josh Somebody (no longer there) gave me a tour. Bikes and bike parts had just come back from Interbike in Vegas and the shop was a little "busy". After interrogating the welder about filler materials, root passes and post welding stress relief, I believed these guys knew what they were doing.
The result was an allegiance to a local source of top level hardware. And somehow, the collection began.





Yeti #1 was a 2002 ASR and 2001 Interbike booth show-off. Basement built from a collection of .com resources and Excel Sports & Wheatridge Cyclery components.






Yeti #2 was an identical 2002 Road Project built by former Yeti sales dude Scott Dammon. A road bike was "prescribed" by my cycling coach John Barclay as a way to increase MTB endurance and later proved to be a post surgery rehab tool for a torn meniscus. Turned my attention away from MTB racing in 2005 doing Ride the Rockies, Elephant Rock Century, Ride for the Cure and several other road riding funbies. She's got about 4K on those Mavics. She was later converted to a 30 speed Ultegra. The triple in honor of my old knees and the Left Hand canyon climb to Ward..

Yeti #3 -DAMN ASR IS TOO HEAVY -27 lbs with Psylo!! I need to build a hardtail for Battle the Bear and Winter Park Hill climb. So I did. E-bay purchased frame and Veloswap components produced a 17 lb. lightweight. Yetifan Bike-of-the-Month has not a single Shimano component.


Yeti #4 2007 ASR with Pro Build and carbon triangle. That's what I'm talking about--hardtail weight with double boinkers. COMotion Sports official ride for 2007 is pure XTR and handles like a go cart. Fox stuff is bullet proof and has more adjustment knobs than I can figure out.

Yeti#5 ..Bubba finally succeeded in getting the company to produce a limited edition cyclo-cross bike. Just finished in October 2008, pure Dura Ace and Ritchey WCS level components for a great training and racing ride.

Might as well take this Yeti thing to the grave with me!!

Passing It On.....

Part of the fun of an empty nest is choosing when and to what degree you re-populate it. Each year the granddaughters come for summertime fun with papa. Funtime must of course revolve around the summer's MTB race schedule.

Shyala's debut was the Angel Fire Shimano Kids race 2006. Complete with skateboard knee and elbow pads, she finished the grueling 2 lap course with only 2 gravity attacks.. 4 less than I incurred.

Veteran Tori will sadly be forced to abandon the Shimano Kids Series after 2007 but has vowed to find some hills in Oklahoma and start a DH or SD career.

First timer Katylin's chase was this year's Battle the Bear race on a garage sale tricycle frantically overhauled until midnight the night before the big race.

Careful guidance from mom and soft grass left no scars on the maiden voyage. Yes, that is a one off, rare YETI tricycle from the early Durango days.

Payoff for 1 lap atop Coyote Crossing...... Attention from the Tough Girls MTB Team. I have adoption papers started on the all four.

What's a BLOG Anyway?

In my never ending quest to reverse time, I thought ..what the hell, pull your beanie down over your ears and do this BLOG thing and expand the fun being a COMotion Sports racer is providing. After all, I've got more history and BS capabilities than the entire Expert class combined. We'll start here and update regularly as we go for the unheard of 5th MSC title in a row.