Hitting the Gas

3 weeks of hard training are down.

Feels good to have a little bit of fitness again.

Looking forward to the next block of training to really ramp up for July.

Did the MSC/Triple Crown race at Nathrop

Surprisingly felt good in Short Track and lasted the entire 25 minutes finishing 14th

XC was a sufferfest

Got some sweet rides in this past week

Did a local MTB race in Palisade on Saturday

Was on the bike at 6am to ride to the race...way to early to be riding

Won the race and scored a DT swiss EXC 150 fork

Cursed the spring winds again on Sunday's ride

Chilling out this week.

Little riding, some hiking, maybe some floating the river and kayaking

Angel Fire, New Mexico in a couple weeks.

Killer Weekend

I've finally got back into the training groove and started a big block to get me flying later in the summer. I put some big hard rides in earlier this week, and capped it off with a couple awesome loops this weekend.

I camped out at 18Rd with some friends on Friday night and had a good time. Perfect sleeping weather and great conditions.

Saturday was the Edge Loop out in Fruita. Started in the lower desert and went up and around. Rob and Mike were both killing it and we were all feeling good about the ride until we saw a guy on a UNICYCLE. Really. He was attempting to ride a unicycle on the 32 mile Edge Loop. We saw him at the waterfall and he was already 5 hour in. Crazy!

Today was a nice day to ride up high and explore. We rode from GJ up to Turkey Flats, and then came back JS->21 1/2 Rd->LPR->Gunny Loop. An awesome 4 hours of riding in the high country with 5500ft of climbing.

My legs are a bit tender with 25 hours in them this week. Time to take a day off, then keep on building. Chalk Creek is next weekend and it is going to hurt with the fatigue monster taking full control of my legs.

MSC #1

Did the first round of the MSC series this weekend here in Fruita. I skipped out on the TT on Saturday, but hung out at the event all day. The weather was bluebird skies and 70 degrees. I finally got out for a ride about 3:30pm and rode the first 6 miles then came back the return route.

Sunday the weather was just as nice, but a stiff headwind the first 10 miles of the course. The first 10 miles were 2-track with some rollers and sand. A few pileups, broken chains, and people stuck in sand blew the pack up a bit. Suffered the first 45 minutes to the top of the mesa before riding for 30 minutes on what felt like a paint-mixer. Rough. I hit the wall after 1.5 hours and suffered bad the next 50 minutes. I thought it was the big effort the first hour and the no recovery, but it could have been the food. A bowl of granola with a piece of bread at 8am might not hold me until the 12:45 start time. And 2 gels for 2:20 might not be the smartest idea. Ah well, it was fun and we picked off people near the end. I thought I was near the back of the pack, but I ended up 34th of 54, so not too bad for early season riding.

It is finally time for me to start hitting the blocks and training hard for the important races later this summer. It all starts tomorrow morning! Can't wait to suffer and start becoming fast again!

Upcomings

Last weekend was awesome. After traveling every week/weekend for the last couple months, I am finally at the stage where I get to stay home. This is the PERFECT time of year to be here. Last weekend I was able to get out and enjoy the awesome trails in the valley, a majority of the stuff I never get out and ride. The weather was top notch, with highs in the upper 70's and bluebird skies. Couldn't ask for better weather.

Pre-rode the Rabbit Valley course with Mike on Saturday. There's a MSC race there next weekend which could be entertaining. Not my type of course, but it will shake stuff up. Went back out to Fruita Sunday and did a sweet exploration loop on many of the lesser-ridden trails at 18Rd. Got in some good climbing with a nice mix of dirt roads and some super buff 1-track.

This weekend we have the race at RV on Saturday and Sunday. I'll likely just do the XC Sunday as registration fees are way high. Has the price of promoters insurance skyrocketed in the last year? Everything else in this economy is becoming cheaper as disposable income has shrank with lack of dollars flowing through peoples pockets. All the races I have done this year have been over $50. I can maybe see $50 for a sweet XC in the pro class where they are paying out, but $45 for a 20 minute TT on Saturday is whack. So, I might head down and hang out, or I might go on up to Ranchstyle. Nothing like watching a bunch of freeride nutjobs ride crazy fast and hit mega-air.

Next week is the Fruita Fat Tire Festival. First time I have ever been in town for it. Some people from the mitten are headed down so it should be fun to show off some of the local jems. After that, it is time to buckle down and get serious about riding bikes. Need to get fast for the summer. I also am done with school in a couple weeks. I'll get one of those expensive pieces of paper that says I'm edumakated.

Happenings

Just kinda cruising through.

Pics thanks to Kristy at Livetrainrace.com

-Had a fun trip down to Fontana for the first Pro XCT a couple weeks ago.

-Did a good pre-ride Friday with a bunch of the U23 guys.

-Wrecked hard on the pre-ride and lost some confidence.

-Race day was alright finishing in the 50's of 90 pro guys.

-The 34T chain ring was a painful grind up the elevator climb.

-The results are different on 3 cycling websites

-Short track was dusty and painful

-In 'N Out was good

-10.5 hours back to Durango, 3 more to GJ

-Came home for 3 days to do laundry and school

-Drove down to Hurricane, UT for another MTB race

-Legs felt okay, but flatted twice

-Cruised the last lap in with Mitchell

-Had a good time around the campfire

-Shredded some sweet trails. JEM was soooooo dialed

-Drove back to GJ where it is 50mph winds and high in the 30's tomorrow

-Sea Otter in 2 weeks

-Living the dream riding my bike and hanging with cool people

Fontucky

Fun weekend, crazy stories, messed up results. More to come!

Perspective

Riding bikes, that is what we do. We live, sleep, eat thinking about riding bikes. Some people race an hour long crit. Others suck wheel for a 100 mile road race. The fat tire folks suffer for two hours in a cross country race. The others push out the grueling 100 mile endurance races. The crazies race 24 hour solos. But after all, we all love riding our bikes. We go out and ride during the day in the name of training, stress relief, fun, and other reasons that are hard to put into words. For this, we are all similar.

Well, there is one exception...

Local guy and cycling badass, Mike Curiak. He is a downright cool guy. You would never be able to tell his accomplishments just by seeing or talking to him. He is also a leader in cycling innovation, especially in the 29er movement. He is a superb wheel builder as I can personally attest to. But there is one thing that makes him different-his latest cycling adventure.

You've probably heard of the Alaska UltraSport aka Iditasport. Same route as the Iditarod dog sled race. 1,100 miles from Knik to Nome, Alaska. Temperatures up to -60F and even colder. Racers travel on bike, foot, or skis. Racers stop at checkpoints and sleep in warm cabins and eat hot food until they are ready to hit the trail again. It sounds miserable, but that is luxury compared to what Curiak has just done.

He won the race to Nome a few times I believe and set the record of just over 15 days in 2000. That would be enough for most people, not Mike. The past few years he has set off to do the race self-supported. He has had some problems with equipment, but this year he got it right. He just finished the trip to Nome in just over 21 days self-supported. That are no cabins, no hot food, no support from anyone. Isolation in the barren land of Alaska for three weeks. Sleeping in a tent every night in temperatures most of us could never think of. Cooking up all his own food and eating sugary snacks every day. No going to the local pub after a long day in the saddle.

His bike weighed 145 pounds at the start of the race. He carried 24 days worth of food and reports are that he estimated he would loose one pound per day as he could not pack any more food on his bike. Can you imagine riding a bike like that? He rides all day and only averages 50 miles. Some days are spent slogging along pushing this heavy bike through deep powder. Doesn't sound terribly fun. So, here is a HUGE congrats to Mike for finishing this ridiculous endeavor. I'm sure he's got some incredible stories. The rumor is this trip is just a trip for something bigger and more desolate in the future. That is not an everyday cyclist. That is Mike Curiak.

For more about his trip, he will likely post some stuff in the next couple weeks after he eats a small town. There are some updates and trackers on the site now. Lacemine29.blogspot.com. There is a link on the right.

Spring Break

Well, this past week was spring break for us. The trails are still unrideable, and the weather is nothing to speak of. Friday morning I packed up the car and headed off to St. George, Utah for some mountain biking. We arrived to mid-60's and sun. It felt HOT! Got in a couple laps of the race course and got the mountain bike feeling back. We went back to the campsite and hung out all night around the campfire bull shitting all night. Good times were had.

Race day was Saturday at noon which is a great time for racing. Sun and warm temps were back for an enjoyable race. 35 pros lined up at the start which is the biggest field the Intermountain Cup series has seen in a long time. The competition was stiff as 4 Mona-Vie/Cannondale riders lined up with 3 Jamis riders, Burke Swindlehurst and other local pros. The race sorted out on the two 400ft climbs per lap. I battled back and forth with a couple guys for most of the race and ended up finishing a content 12th. I was happy with it for the first race of the year following a tough training week.

Saturday night was spend chilling around the fire again, then hit the sack as it rained on the tent all night. We got in a good 3hr ride Sunday hitting up some fun trails in Green Valley. We then headed out for some food at In 'N Out then off to a real campground.

It rained again Sunday night, which killed our chances of riding Gooseberry on Monday. The trail would have been good, but the back road to the trail was 8" of wet clay. We hit up Hurricane Rim to the Jem trail instead which was fun and had some nice views. Once again, it rained that night just as our campfire was dying down. We woke up Tuesday morning after constant rain to big wet snowflakes. Now mind you, St George is a desert and normally never sees rain and the average temperature is 68F this time of year. We packed up and drove 6 hours back home in mostly snow, then rain.

Wednesday was rainy here in GJ. My ride was very wet and not too enjoyable as my legs did not show up to ride. Thursday was finally sunny and 40F which felt nice. Got in a good long ride with lots of climbing. Now I will be going out for a few hours before heading down to Boulder for the weekend of racing crits. Today will be ride #4 on the road bike in a looooong time. Hopefully I can figure out how to handle it.

Coming up is a weekend of racing in Fort Collins, then our home races or Fontana Pro XCT, then an I-Cup race in Hurricane, races in the Springs, Sea Otter, Fruita MSC race, then the Fat Tire Fest. Gonna be a good spring!

Technology

Over the years, we have all bought shiny new bike parts. Most of what we have bought has been brought about due to greater technological advances. New tech bits have not only played a large part of bike advancement, but they are also in our favorite training tools. We’ve all had ‘em or wanted ‘em. Heart rate monitor, power meters, GPS. They will make us faster, ya?

I was one who started off on a heart rate monitor. After a few years on that I got a screaming deal on a PowerTap I just could not pass up. I used it for a couple years. I also had a wrist watch GPS with heart rate monitor function to boot. They were all great and maybe helped with my training. Last year after coming back from a 7 week knee injury, I went old school. I took what the power meter and heart rate monitors had taught me about perceived exertion and used that as my new tool. That was a big technological step back. Guess what, with this old school approach, I became way faster. It was not just the lack of tools, it was also a different training plan in place.

So this brings me to the main point. I have tried to re-embrace training technology and have transformed my PowerTap into 135mm spacing for my flat-bar road/mtb bike. I also have been using a Garmin 705 on mountain bike trips to follow GPS tracks and not get lost. Well, today was my first day of any intensity in what feels like ages. My PowerTap hub batteries died and I wanted to collect some data as a reference point, so this is what it came to.

I felt like a fool riding around with all these fancy gadgets hanging off my riser bars. Looked and felt weird coming from someone who swore off training tools last fall. Let’s just see if by Spring it makes me any faster. If not, I know I can always go back to the old-school approach.

This Is Cool

Pretty sweet the Fruita Fat Tire Festival shows up on upcoming events at weather.com. I will actually be in town this year to take part in all the fun!

In Search of Dry Dirt

Down in AZ riding the trails. Been a good time. You can read my write-up so far here.

Looking Good

Going down to Phoenix this coming Wednesday. There is a road race, but I am trying to get into the swing of things on the road bike. I am not quite ready to race again. Last season was really long, and I need a little more time before I hit it hard again. So, I am going to hit up the sweet trails on the MTB. Should be a really good time. Weather here has been really bad this winter. Its been 10 degrees below average on a daily basis, much cloudier than normal, and snowing. It could be March before we see dirt again here. So getting on some dirt in Arizona is going to be nice. Riding in shorts and short sleeves won't be too hard to handle either.

Nada Mucho

Not too much going on here lately. School started last week and is going along just fine. Looks like I have a pretty good schedule for my last semester which should be nice. One class on Thursdays and nothing on Friday should make for a bit of traveling.

Been back on the bike for the last two weeks. Feels good to get back into a groove and pedaling again. No huge hours yet, we'll work up to that. The weather here has been fine with me, but has been below average a bit. Last year we were riding trails the first of February, but its not looking like it will be any time soon. Temps in the low 30's everyday doesn't do it for the trails. Word on the street was Moab was horrible in December and January. But I did hear today that Amasa Back might be good to ride. So, maybe I'll hit the dirt this weekend to learn how to ride on rocks again. Lately it has been spinning away on the pavement. Speaking of which, here is my training bike...

Besides that, it is all pretty chill here. First race will be in a few weeks down in Phoenix, AZ. Should be a good time to get in some miles in the sunshine and warm weather. It's a road race, so I might have to ride my road bike once beforehand. Especially considering it has seen two days of pedaling since the end of April. Whoops. A few weeks later is the first MTB race in St. George, UT. Should be a good time getting back into racing on the dirt and hitting all the other cool trails that weekend.

Out With the Old, In With the New

It's been some time since I updated this thing. The cool thing about blogs is the memories that are recorded. I enjoy this time of year where I can go back on reflect on my past journeys of the good, the bad, and the ugly. This year there were a lot of fond memories and awesome trips taken. This was also my first year where I did a large amount of racing and learned some valuable lessons.

I spent a large portion of my time in the spring riding on the pavement and racing every weekend on the road. It was a fun time traveling with all my buddies, going to races, hanging out and feeding off others successes. I started off the year with a trip to Arizona, then did the entire collegiate road block as training, and capped it off with a trip to New Mexico. I do not consider myself a road racer and know exactly where my weaknesses lie, but I had some good memories. When on the road, I give myself no expectations. I just show up to ride in a pack with others and get in a good training session. With this mentality, I had a good time no matter how bad my legs felt or what place I got.

After this I had a long break off the bike with my knee injury. I came back and after 7 weeks with only a handful of rides, I jumped head first into the Lumberjack 100. Whether it was stupid or dumb, I have yet to figure out, but I learned a lot. I realized I can get off the couch and ride my bike in the woods for hours on end. I don't have to be competitive to have fun, it is all about the joy of being on two wheels around good people. A four week block of training and I surprisingly nailed down a top 10 at Ore to Shore. I kept thinking how out of shape I was, but it all comes down to the motivation and effort you put in.

It was back to Colorado with strong motivation knowing I was riding well with not many hours in the legs. I kept strictly to the mountain bike whether it was on gravel, pavement, or sweet singletrack. A win, some top 5's, and all around good weekly bike trips with like-minded individuals had me dreaming. I was able to pick up some good results at collegiate nationals in Tahoe and achieved my goals for the year. With good fitness in hand, I got a flight to Iceman to be able to suffer for 28 miles with friends. It capped off an awesome season.

After Iceman were a few cyclocross races and Nationals in Bend, Oregon. I was done. I had raced all spring after putting in long hours, drilled myself into shape all summer and fall and it paid off. I took the last month of the season to just enjoy myself. I always enjoy riding my bike. I make it fun. It is not about racing and getting results, but about being outside, breathing fresh air, living stress free for those few hours in the saddle and shredding trails with friends. I enjoy racing and love the thrill those few weeks a year where you are in prime condition, and just flying. But the last month was nice to get out and ride for the fun of it.

Since May, I did not use a power meter, hardly ever a heart rate monitor, never tracked miles or weight. I just rode. I would climb a mountain a few times to see how fast I could get to the top. I would get the joy of hitting the summit faster every week. I suffered behind a motor a few times, but a good suffering. I always went out on rides with a slight plan, but changed it on how I was feeling. Maybe I wanted to climb to 10,000ft, maybe I wanted to shred flowing sinlgetrack, maybe an easy ride cruising with friends. Whatever it was, I enjoyed it. And it goes to show, cycling is fun for all no matter how fast you got or what your number say.

So after a few weeks off the bike, I am ready to go again. After this summer, I know I can get back in shape fairly quickly depending on what I do. I think I'll take it easy for a while, but looking to be firing late spring and into mid-summer. I'll be doing a little road this year, but focusing mainly on the fat tires.

Here's to a good 2010.

Iceman, Niceman

I'll hopefully have pics up soon
Whatever it is called, it is the best race all year. I have to say, even living in Colorado and doing almost 50 races already this year, the Triple Crown races are still the best races and best atmosphere. If all national caliber mountain bike races were like this, it would be on VS and people would be making money.

Did a pre-ride on Friday after flying in the night before and driving up to Kalkaska that morning. A spin down to Tornado Alley and back got my legs going after sitting for most of the last 24 hours.

Race day was so nice. Almost as good as Colorado weather this time of year. Sunny and warm. Rode out past Tornado Alley again for my warm-up chatting with Jason Anderson from Vitamin Cottage/Natural Grocers. Realized I was running short on time and had to book it back.

Race got underway and somehow managed to avoid the first wreck a few hundred yards in. Missed the second wreck where it narrowed on the dirt. Was 40 guys back going into the woods and the first few miles. Guys were everywhere and there was no passing until people started fading. Started to drill the pace and get around people to get back to the front. I could see the lead group just ahead of us, but I couldn't reel them in. Must be the fact that JHK, Matter, Shultz, Simonster and Anderson were up there. With that horsepower, I could keep them in sight for a while, but never get to them.

We ended up with a nice group for most of the race. Once we dropped most stragglers, it was a core 5-6 of us. I burned a lot of matches early on and was really glad when Wissink got on our group. He is a workhorse and did lots of pace setting in the last 15 miles. Him and Mike Phillips were keeping the pace high. Kuhn, Brewchamp, Stewy, and I made the rest if the group. Everyone seemed to be riding well and similar levels.

We were all together going into Timber Ridge, but the singletrack at the end created some gaps. I was on the back of what was then a 5 man train, and got gapped in the last singletrack section. It kept going on and by the time we hit the last woodchip hill, the group was splitting up. Was able to safely ride in for 18th on the day. Did the 28.8 miles in 1:38. It was crazy fast and really hard. Typical Iceman style!

It was a total change from training for nationals in Tahoe. No 20 min climbs and 10 min descents for recovery. Just pin yourself fro 28 miles and keep the leg speed high. My 19lb Superfly was perfect for the course. Maybe next year I'll train for it and see if I can get on the front group early on.

Overall a super fun weekend. Not just the race, but the entire atmosphere. Thanks to everyone who was screaming and ringing cowbells all over the course and at the finish. You just don't get that at any other race. It was also great to see everyone from the racing scene again and catch up. Can't wait for the next one!

Next up is cyclocross nationals in Bend, Oregon in a month. For right now, it is just time for some fun mountain bike rides and just enjoying being on two wheels.