Friday, May 29, 2009
Testing
Going for a little ride this weekend . . . follow my SPOT and see if it works better than it did during the AZT. Back in Boulder later on Sunday if all goes as planned and I don't get sidetracked by inviting singletrack along the way.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Vote for the Arizona Trail Association
I just got wind of this - the Arizona Trail Association is in the running for a $50,000 grant, and YOU can help determine if they win it or not. There are five different organizations in the running, and anyone can vote once per day through the end of the month. The vote tally is pretty close right now, and the AZT really is a fantastic piece of work that is nearing completion. This grant would be a boon for getting closer to connecting Mexico to Utah with a load of singletrack that is open to hikers, horses, and mountain bikers.
Please take a minute and vote here:
http://www.blazethetrail.com/greatoutdoors/
It really only takes a minute or two, and after the first time you set up your log-in, it's really quick to vote.
Please please please, vote a few times in the few days!
Scott and Max are out on the Grand Loop now...backwards. Huh. I kinda sorta wish I was out there, too. Next year. Watch these two and a few more that will begin tomorrow night at 6 pm going the 'correct' direction using Scott's nifty tracker at
http://topofusion.com/tracker-grandloop.php
Please take a minute and vote here:
http://www.blazethetrail.com/greatoutdoors/
It really only takes a minute or two, and after the first time you set up your log-in, it's really quick to vote.
Please please please, vote a few times in the few days!
Scott and Max are out on the Grand Loop now...backwards. Huh. I kinda sorta wish I was out there, too. Next year. Watch these two and a few more that will begin tomorrow night at 6 pm going the 'correct' direction using Scott's nifty tracker at
http://topofusion.com/tracker-grandloop.php
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Swirling
My head is awash with a frenzy of thoughts involving finalizing everything for the Divide. 2.5 weeks until we role off in search of . . . well . . . I'm not really sure what anyone who races the Great Divide Route is searching for. Whatever that may be, the search begins amazingly soon. My bike is set - new tires, chain, pedals, cables, brake pads - and now equipped with aero bars. The aero bars are also covered in mud after I failed at negotiating a wet rock drop on muddy tires yesterday on a rainy ride, flipping over the bars and needlessly interrupting what was otherwise a fantastic descent down one of the nastiest mine roads around. But the aero bars took the impact, though I did manage to dent my frame. Nuts.
Gear is also ready. I'm definitely not taking the lightest gear approach possible. I know I don't function well when I'm too cold, I know I get cold very easily when my body is drained, and I know a hot meal does wonders for both my mind and body. So I have a 40-degree sleeping bag, a light insulated jacket, and a long-sleeved jersey, as well as a tiny stove. All this means I'll have to wear a pack, but that's a trade-off I'm very willing to make (we'll see how I feel about this decision after a week in the saddle).
Bike is set. Gear is set. How about the body and mind? The knee is doing alright, and my legs had an easy week last week to recover from the KTR, and this week so far has also been very mellow. My head is playing a game of duck-duck-reticent grey duck (or duck-duck-reticent goose, depending on where you grew up), mostly eager to hit the road, but a bit anxious about how my knee will fare. It was also just decided that I'll be in the Canadian Arctic for 6-7 weeks of field work (for two separate projects in two separate places) beginning just two weeks after I hope to be finished with the divide, so there's a lot of planning that needs to be done.
So what's left? I have a lot of homework to do looking over the Divide route, towns, food/water, splits, etc. But that's usually an enjoyable exercise. And this weekend I'm planning to do my final shake-down, riding from the grand San Luis Valley back to Boulder. It should be a nice 2-dayer at a relaxed pace through some country I haven't seen before, including part of the Divide route from Hwy 285 through Salida to Hartsel. Then I'll head northeast through the Puma Hills and Taryall Mtns to the Colorado Trail, take that east following the South Platte River, and pop out just southwest of Denver. 40 miles of bike path and annoying highway riding will deliver me back home. After that, it'll be less than two weeks of coasting until arriving in Banff.
Gear is also ready. I'm definitely not taking the lightest gear approach possible. I know I don't function well when I'm too cold, I know I get cold very easily when my body is drained, and I know a hot meal does wonders for both my mind and body. So I have a 40-degree sleeping bag, a light insulated jacket, and a long-sleeved jersey, as well as a tiny stove. All this means I'll have to wear a pack, but that's a trade-off I'm very willing to make (we'll see how I feel about this decision after a week in the saddle).
Bike is set. Gear is set. How about the body and mind? The knee is doing alright, and my legs had an easy week last week to recover from the KTR, and this week so far has also been very mellow. My head is playing a game of duck-duck-reticent grey duck (or duck-duck-reticent goose, depending on where you grew up), mostly eager to hit the road, but a bit anxious about how my knee will fare. It was also just decided that I'll be in the Canadian Arctic for 6-7 weeks of field work (for two separate projects in two separate places) beginning just two weeks after I hope to be finished with the divide, so there's a lot of planning that needs to be done.
So what's left? I have a lot of homework to do looking over the Divide route, towns, food/water, splits, etc. But that's usually an enjoyable exercise. And this weekend I'm planning to do my final shake-down, riding from the grand San Luis Valley back to Boulder. It should be a nice 2-dayer at a relaxed pace through some country I haven't seen before, including part of the Divide route from Hwy 285 through Salida to Hartsel. Then I'll head northeast through the Puma Hills and Taryall Mtns to the Colorado Trail, take that east following the South Platte River, and pop out just southwest of Denver. 40 miles of bike path and annoying highway riding will deliver me back home. After that, it'll be less than two weeks of coasting until arriving in Banff.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
I think Kokopelli was snickering in the bushes . . .
This weekend I hitched a ride to the desert with Tim Stern for a very informal race on the 140-mile Kokopelli Trail that runs through canyon country between Moab, UT and Loma, CO. On Friday evening I spent a couple hours laying on the deck behind Pete B's new digs in town - he's no longer living in the campground. I think I managed to sleep for about 15 minutes before the lady next door started trying to call in her cat for the night. Little Mikey eventually wandered in and she finally shut up, but I couldn't fall back asleep. So I got up at 11:15, ate a fair amount, got packed up, and then rode to the park with Pete and Tim. A whole 9 souls showed up by midnight, and we rode up to the Slickrock TH, regrouped, and were off into the night. I had a goal of 14 hours given the forecast for light winds out of the north, so I knew there would be no chance at breaking 13 hours.
Course profile, except we rode it in the opposite direction
I wore a heart rate monitor for the first time in any long race, and I struggled to keep it from going to high during the first two hours of climbing up into the La Sals. The climb isn't steep except for a few sections, and the dirt road was in good shape. My legs felt heavy, but I was expecting they'd start to get going after a few hours. After 2 hours and 5 minutes I hit the pavement of the La Sal Loop Rd and put on some warm clothes (38 deg up there!). The windy, narrow descent was fun but over in less than 20 minutes, and then it was back to steady climbing up more pavement. The last quarter moon rose as I was on this section, and I was able to click off the lights and enjoy the wee hours of the morning. An enormous meteor caught my eye out beyond Castle Valley, and as I turned my head toward it, it exploded in an orange burst ringed by green, and then continued to streak down nearly to the horizon. Honestly, I think that was the most exciting part of the ride for me.
As I climbed up to the top of Beaver Mesa, the course became familiar from riding it the other way a year ago in the Grand Loop. The descent down Beaver Mesa was pretty loose but very rideable, and I had some fun surfing through the switchbacks. The stream at Hideout Canyon was flowing nicely, so I filled up with 7 L of water. The glow of the early morning was strengthening, and I turned the lights off as I pushed up the last climb before Fisher.
By the long, nasty Rose Garden Hill climb ~5 hours in, my legs finally started to come around. The hike up the first part went quickly, and I was able to ride up the loose, technical rocky sections up higher without too much difficulty. I could see from Pete's tire tracks the he must also have been feeling good, climbing all of it on his singlespeed. But that was the first and last time my legs would feel good all day. Before too long, my legs were back to feeling like they had been for the first few hours - sluggish. For a few hours I really focused on trying to push them and make them go. I did alright through Yellowjacket and down to McGraw Bottoms, but after that it just seemed like a lost cause. My goal of 14 hours change to 15 hours.
With my legs out of the game, my mind soon followed, and just continuing on became a mental struggle. I set a goal of the shade under the railroad bridge at Westwater for taking a short break. Between my legs and a bit of a headwind, I felt like I was crawling that entire stretch, and each mile seemed longer than the last. As it got hotter, none of my food sounded at all appealing any longer, so eating also became a mind game of sorts. Fortunately I had brought 1500 calories of Perpetuem, so that really paid off.
The break in the shade helped a bit, but the relief was short-lived, and soon I was hoping to just be done in 16 hours. The rest of the ride was more of the same, and my knee began to hurt occasionally, which didn't help my head any. I started to dwell on how there'd be no way I could ever finish the Divide if this is how I'd be feeling day in and day out and if my knee couldn't even survive a single day on the Kokopelli. I thought about bailing out more than once, but my stubbornness just strong enough to keep me on the trail. Fortunately, the knee pain never really developed into anything, and after much slogging, I finally found myself on the relatively good gravel road in Rabbit Valley, then hiking down the descent to Salt Creek (although an inviting patch of shade drew me in for quick break along that stretch). I filled up two bottles with the murky water and began the trudge up to Mary's Loop. The last 10ish miles are the most technical of the whole trail, and I was in no mood for technical. Or climbing. So I walked any sustained ups along those canyon rims, stopping occasionally to let other riders by. I got a lot of strange looks, probably because of my lights and the giant white salt deposits on my shorts and gloves. I likely looked rather out of it, too. A few guys asked where I was coming from and then just looked back in disbelief. Two of them offered me a Powerbar. That was about the last thing I wanted.
Eventually I was coasting down the last rough descent of Mary's and could see the final climb up to above the trailhead. 5 minutes later I rolled into the parking lot and found Pete napping in the picnic shelter. He finished in 15 hours (also apparently imploding toward the end), and I came in just a couple minutes over 16 hours. Tim had a string of bad luck and bailed, but continued to ride pavement all to Loma! I'm not yet sure when/if any of the others finished later in the day.
Unfortunately, I'm not really sure why I didn't ever feel good on the bike. It was undoubtedly my worst day on the bike all year. Most likely it was some combination of the midnight start, not eating as much as I should have early in the ride, and then losing any semblance of mental focus later on. I'll probably have to chew on this for a few days to figure out what I can learn from the whole experience. The Kokopelli really is a burly undertaking, especially if the goal is to do it quickly. I'm sure I'll do it again some day, but for now I'm just happy to have finished.
Course profile, except we rode it in the opposite directionI wore a heart rate monitor for the first time in any long race, and I struggled to keep it from going to high during the first two hours of climbing up into the La Sals. The climb isn't steep except for a few sections, and the dirt road was in good shape. My legs felt heavy, but I was expecting they'd start to get going after a few hours. After 2 hours and 5 minutes I hit the pavement of the La Sal Loop Rd and put on some warm clothes (38 deg up there!). The windy, narrow descent was fun but over in less than 20 minutes, and then it was back to steady climbing up more pavement. The last quarter moon rose as I was on this section, and I was able to click off the lights and enjoy the wee hours of the morning. An enormous meteor caught my eye out beyond Castle Valley, and as I turned my head toward it, it exploded in an orange burst ringed by green, and then continued to streak down nearly to the horizon. Honestly, I think that was the most exciting part of the ride for me.
As I climbed up to the top of Beaver Mesa, the course became familiar from riding it the other way a year ago in the Grand Loop. The descent down Beaver Mesa was pretty loose but very rideable, and I had some fun surfing through the switchbacks. The stream at Hideout Canyon was flowing nicely, so I filled up with 7 L of water. The glow of the early morning was strengthening, and I turned the lights off as I pushed up the last climb before Fisher.
By the long, nasty Rose Garden Hill climb ~5 hours in, my legs finally started to come around. The hike up the first part went quickly, and I was able to ride up the loose, technical rocky sections up higher without too much difficulty. I could see from Pete's tire tracks the he must also have been feeling good, climbing all of it on his singlespeed. But that was the first and last time my legs would feel good all day. Before too long, my legs were back to feeling like they had been for the first few hours - sluggish. For a few hours I really focused on trying to push them and make them go. I did alright through Yellowjacket and down to McGraw Bottoms, but after that it just seemed like a lost cause. My goal of 14 hours change to 15 hours.
With my legs out of the game, my mind soon followed, and just continuing on became a mental struggle. I set a goal of the shade under the railroad bridge at Westwater for taking a short break. Between my legs and a bit of a headwind, I felt like I was crawling that entire stretch, and each mile seemed longer than the last. As it got hotter, none of my food sounded at all appealing any longer, so eating also became a mind game of sorts. Fortunately I had brought 1500 calories of Perpetuem, so that really paid off.
The break in the shade helped a bit, but the relief was short-lived, and soon I was hoping to just be done in 16 hours. The rest of the ride was more of the same, and my knee began to hurt occasionally, which didn't help my head any. I started to dwell on how there'd be no way I could ever finish the Divide if this is how I'd be feeling day in and day out and if my knee couldn't even survive a single day on the Kokopelli. I thought about bailing out more than once, but my stubbornness just strong enough to keep me on the trail. Fortunately, the knee pain never really developed into anything, and after much slogging, I finally found myself on the relatively good gravel road in Rabbit Valley, then hiking down the descent to Salt Creek (although an inviting patch of shade drew me in for quick break along that stretch). I filled up two bottles with the murky water and began the trudge up to Mary's Loop. The last 10ish miles are the most technical of the whole trail, and I was in no mood for technical. Or climbing. So I walked any sustained ups along those canyon rims, stopping occasionally to let other riders by. I got a lot of strange looks, probably because of my lights and the giant white salt deposits on my shorts and gloves. I likely looked rather out of it, too. A few guys asked where I was coming from and then just looked back in disbelief. Two of them offered me a Powerbar. That was about the last thing I wanted.
Eventually I was coasting down the last rough descent of Mary's and could see the final climb up to above the trailhead. 5 minutes later I rolled into the parking lot and found Pete napping in the picnic shelter. He finished in 15 hours (also apparently imploding toward the end), and I came in just a couple minutes over 16 hours. Tim had a string of bad luck and bailed, but continued to ride pavement all to Loma! I'm not yet sure when/if any of the others finished later in the day.
Unfortunately, I'm not really sure why I didn't ever feel good on the bike. It was undoubtedly my worst day on the bike all year. Most likely it was some combination of the midnight start, not eating as much as I should have early in the ride, and then losing any semblance of mental focus later on. I'll probably have to chew on this for a few days to figure out what I can learn from the whole experience. The Kokopelli really is a burly undertaking, especially if the goal is to do it quickly. I'm sure I'll do it again some day, but for now I'm just happy to have finished.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Woo doggie!
Today saw one of the best rides I've had in a while - 7 hours with no knee pain, the legs felt phenomenal, and the route was great, especially the last 20 miles.
Miles 7 to 40 was a steady zone 3 effort, and man, the 29er just flew up the climb. After just shy of three hours, my legs were still feeling good. The rest of the ride was almost exclusively singletrack, down a loooong descent, fording a raging river, up a steep, 100% hike-a-bike climb (which put the AZT hike-a-bike climbs to shame), and then up, down, through, and around my favorite trails. Alex met me for the last few hours, and we did some sawing and hauling to clear the trails of trees that came down a few weeks ago. And after too many years of riding off road, I'm finally getting comfortable with not having my tires planted firmly on the trail at all times. Alex was, too, although a couple times he found his wheels above his head. Too bad the camera didn't come along today.
One day of longish easy riding and then it's time to back off to get ready for what next weekend will bring. Although now it's raining. Wet trails may force a change of plans, and I really don't feel like riding on the road tomorrow.
And a big congrats to Alexis Ault, who won her age division in today's duathlon in Longmont! Very cool.
Miles 7 to 40 was a steady zone 3 effort, and man, the 29er just flew up the climb. After just shy of three hours, my legs were still feeling good. The rest of the ride was almost exclusively singletrack, down a loooong descent, fording a raging river, up a steep, 100% hike-a-bike climb (which put the AZT hike-a-bike climbs to shame), and then up, down, through, and around my favorite trails. Alex met me for the last few hours, and we did some sawing and hauling to clear the trails of trees that came down a few weeks ago. And after too many years of riding off road, I'm finally getting comfortable with not having my tires planted firmly on the trail at all times. Alex was, too, although a couple times he found his wheels above his head. Too bad the camera didn't come along today.
One day of longish easy riding and then it's time to back off to get ready for what next weekend will bring. Although now it's raining. Wet trails may force a change of plans, and I really don't feel like riding on the road tomorrow.
And a big congrats to Alexis Ault, who won her age division in today's duathlon in Longmont! Very cool.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
World Bicycle Relief flyer
If you've got a place to post one of these flyers about my Tour Divide fundraising effort for World Bicycle Relief, please let me know and I'll send you a PDF!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Gold in the hills
It must be getting close to summer if I can head out on the mountain bike at 4, spend 5 hours in the hills, and get home without even having had the lights on for an hour. Not bad.
The knee held up well, and it feels great to be getting back out on some longer rides. Alex came along for a bit, Jim for a while, and then I finished up solo and had some time to think about the next month. I decided that it's probably not in my best interest to do the Grand Loop in a couple weeks, so I'm putting that out of my head (or at least I'll try...). Perhaps there'll be another gathering of endurance riders out near Moab that may be worth doing instead.
So now it's time to really start thinking about the Divide and making sure everything is in [its] place.
The knee held up well, and it feels great to be getting back out on some longer rides. Alex came along for a bit, Jim for a while, and then I finished up solo and had some time to think about the next month. I decided that it's probably not in my best interest to do the Grand Loop in a couple weeks, so I'm putting that out of my head (or at least I'll try...). Perhaps there'll be another gathering of endurance riders out near Moab that may be worth doing instead.So now it's time to really start thinking about the Divide and making sure everything is in [its] place.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
I wouldn't be so quick to identify myself with regurgitation if I were you
Winter finally seems to have disappeared from the Front Range. There's still snow aplenty up high, but down in the foothills it has been raining. A lot. The plains are amazingly green, and the burned area just north of town is stunningly vibrant. And fortunately, my knee is also recovering. I managed to get in 15 hours on the bike last week with minimal pain, and late in the week I even threw in some intensity to really test how the knee was doing. 90 minutes of zone 4ish effort took me from Hwy 36 all the way up Lefthand to Brainard Lakes on Sunday, and my knee really didn't even complain. I'll take that as a very good sign.
Last week I took a couple trips on dreary days up to my favorite place in the hills, once for some hiking and once for some pedaling. Both were great trips. Every trip there is a great trip. It is also important to note that every time I go here it snows.
Today I had an appointment at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine about my knee. My crappy student insurance wouldn't help out, so I was stuck footing the entire bill. I think, however, it was money well spent. The PT gave me the same diagnosis as did the one I've been seeing already, along with the same treatment suggestions. That was encouraging. The 3D bike fit was what I was really there for. The PT predicted that given how many miles I've been riding with no major problems other than the knee issue, the fit adjustments they'd make would be subtle. The biomechanist took one look at me after I started pedaling and said, "Not subtle at all!" It turns out that my left knee tracks way outside of where it should relative to my foot (thanks to some bowleggedness my father was kind enough to pass on), so that's being corrected
with some pedal spacers (knee savers, to be specific). A number of other things were also adjusted a bit, so we'll see how this feels as I get used to the new position.
After my appointment, I headed up into the hills above town for some mine road riding. I started with some nice stuff like this one:
But I had another destination in mind. There's a climb that I have a strange relationship with. I don't know anyone else that rides up it. There are never bike tracks there, and I've never seen anyone else laboring up. And there's a good reason for that. It's the most gnarly, loose, rocky, old mine road around, and it climbs 1200' in 1.4 miles. And in the past, I've usually had to walk ~1/3 of it. But it's one of the best links around, so I end up here a lot. Today was going to be my first time up it on 29" wheels, and I was in a conquering mood. I started up the steep but always rideable sections at the bottom singing along to James (hence the regurgitation reference), and before too long I came to this mess:
Never before had I even made it 50' up. Today, I aimed up the rocky line on the right side and blasted all the way through to the top. No problem! The next section took a couple tries before I was able to clean it...
And this section remains to be concquered (as does the enormous rock steps at the top that I can't even find a line down). But I came oh so close on a few attempts...
All in all, it was a great ride. I've never actually enjoyed this climb before, and today I had a great time on it. But time was short, so I bounced and swooped down the back side, dodging the few remaining snow drifts and a handful of trees downed by the last heavy snowfall. I made it back to town just in time for my PT appointment.
So the question now is, to Grand Loop or not to Grand Loop? Conditions look ripe for a mid-May attempt, and Plesko, Dave Harris, Jay P from up Wyoming way, and a couple others have all expressed interest. That would be a serious showdown if everyone lined up at the same time.
April summary:
Hours on the road bike: 5
Hours on the mountain bike: 80
Hours on the 'cross bike: 0
Hours of skiing, hiking, or climbing: 3 (one hike)
Total hours in the saddle: 85
Miles covered: didn't keep track
Problems with the body: Patellafemoral pain, cyst on tendon of index finger (too much braking?)
Problems with bikes: 8 flats, 1 Bontrager tire with sidewall slice, 1 pair of worn out cleats, 1 set worn out brake pads, 1 worn out chain, and one old Fir rim that had many cracks hidden under all the grime
Last week I took a couple trips on dreary days up to my favorite place in the hills, once for some hiking and once for some pedaling. Both were great trips. Every trip there is a great trip. It is also important to note that every time I go here it snows.
Today I had an appointment at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine about my knee. My crappy student insurance wouldn't help out, so I was stuck footing the entire bill. I think, however, it was money well spent. The PT gave me the same diagnosis as did the one I've been seeing already, along with the same treatment suggestions. That was encouraging. The 3D bike fit was what I was really there for. The PT predicted that given how many miles I've been riding with no major problems other than the knee issue, the fit adjustments they'd make would be subtle. The biomechanist took one look at me after I started pedaling and said, "Not subtle at all!" It turns out that my left knee tracks way outside of where it should relative to my foot (thanks to some bowleggedness my father was kind enough to pass on), so that's being corrected
with some pedal spacers (knee savers, to be specific). A number of other things were also adjusted a bit, so we'll see how this feels as I get used to the new position.
After my appointment, I headed up into the hills above town for some mine road riding. I started with some nice stuff like this one:
But I had another destination in mind. There's a climb that I have a strange relationship with. I don't know anyone else that rides up it. There are never bike tracks there, and I've never seen anyone else laboring up. And there's a good reason for that. It's the most gnarly, loose, rocky, old mine road around, and it climbs 1200' in 1.4 miles. And in the past, I've usually had to walk ~1/3 of it. But it's one of the best links around, so I end up here a lot. Today was going to be my first time up it on 29" wheels, and I was in a conquering mood. I started up the steep but always rideable sections at the bottom singing along to James (hence the regurgitation reference), and before too long I came to this mess:
Never before had I even made it 50' up. Today, I aimed up the rocky line on the right side and blasted all the way through to the top. No problem! The next section took a couple tries before I was able to clean it...
And this section remains to be concquered (as does the enormous rock steps at the top that I can't even find a line down). But I came oh so close on a few attempts...
All in all, it was a great ride. I've never actually enjoyed this climb before, and today I had a great time on it. But time was short, so I bounced and swooped down the back side, dodging the few remaining snow drifts and a handful of trees downed by the last heavy snowfall. I made it back to town just in time for my PT appointment.
So the question now is, to Grand Loop or not to Grand Loop? Conditions look ripe for a mid-May attempt, and Plesko, Dave Harris, Jay P from up Wyoming way, and a couple others have all expressed interest. That would be a serious showdown if everyone lined up at the same time.
April summary:
Hours on the road bike: 5
Hours on the mountain bike: 80
Hours on the 'cross bike: 0
Hours of skiing, hiking, or climbing: 3 (one hike)
Total hours in the saddle: 85
Miles covered: didn't keep track
Problems with the body: Patellafemoral pain, cyst on tendon of index finger (too much braking?)
Problems with bikes: 8 flats, 1 Bontrager tire with sidewall slice, 1 pair of worn out cleats, 1 set worn out brake pads, 1 worn out chain, and one old Fir rim that had many cracks hidden under all the grime
Friday, May 1, 2009
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