Dang that was a lot

of driving. Shay and I just got back from the boy only road trip. Three days 1,000+ miles, five national parks (plus a state park), small motels and bad coffee.

Shay is now officially a junior ranger at 9 national parks (including monuments etc). Who would have guessed that eastern Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota would allow us to see so much in such a short period of time. We left Denver at 7:00 am Friday, went to Scotts Bluff NM and Fort Laramie NHS on Friday (plus driving the rest of the way to SD). Saturday was a long loop with tours and Wind Cave NP. A sweet cave to tour plus bison all around. A drive through Custer State Park (and hundreds of bison and donkey on the road) too bad no Junior Ranger program. Final stop of the the day was Mount Rushmore. It may be a little Disney Land like (gift shops, avenue of flags etc.) but the actual stone work is impressive and worth the effort to get there.

Sunday was long, up early to hike around and take a cave tour and Jewel Cave NM and then a 6 hour drive back to Denver.

The best part of the trip, three days chilling with Seamus being boys. I'd rather have better food and good coffee (hell this morning I didn't even have coffee since no place was open in Custer) but the quality time was worth the bad provisions.

South Dakota

Racing season ends and the blog slows down. Tomorrow morning I head out on a road trip to Nebraska, Wyoming and South Dakota. Why you may ask, and the answer is National Parks. Scotts Bluff, Fort Laramie, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave and Mount Rushmore.

This road trip is boys only. Me and Seamus on the road, checking out some new terrain.

Maybe a report or two from the road, maybe not.

August 21

is my favorite day of the year. Thanks Seamus. No racing this weekend, haven't raced since Laramie and training has been off an on. The last race of the year is next Saturday, August 29. After that a few weeks off, train for Texas, a few weeks off, train for 2010.

Man racing seasons go fast. School's started. It is cold when riding in the morning, in another two weeks it will still be black when I leave the house to ride.

Summer Vacation

Me and Shay at Delicate Arch.

The last week has been full of adventure, some of it fit to print, some of it that will not make the blog (ever). We took a family vacation, hitting the vacation Mecca’s of Moab and Salt Lake. Seamus has been on a quest to visit National Parks and Moab offers two of the best with Arches and Canyonlands. Throw in a visit to Timpanogos Cave near Salt Lake and you can bag three Junior Ranger badges, visit the mother in law and…well like I said not all adventures will be printed.
The Junior Ranger badge is a cool little thing the NPS has going to get kids (and parents) to learn about the parks they are visiting. Seamus has a few now and is really becoming a great outdoorsman. We did a sundown hike to Delicate Arch, hiked to a few locations in Canyonlands and did the Timpanogos Cave tour. For an eight year old kid I was impressed with Seamus, he’ll hike all day, never complain and want to lead the way the entire time. He is also paying attention. I taught him about Cairns at Delicate Arch last Friday night and the next day in Canyonlands he was leading us on hikes by following the Cairns.



Shay Chilling on the way up to Timpanogos Cave (1.5 miles 1500 vertical feet)

It is fun as a parent to kick back and watch your kid learn and grow, embrace nature and enjoy the scenery. Seamus loves taking the time to look at the animal tracks, the Indian dwellings, the trees and the natural landscape. It was a great way to spend the last full week of summer vacation.


Shay and Ade at Delicate Arch, sorry about the grafitee in the background, I guess there are some people who don't respect our National Parks, a real bummer.

Laramie Enduro, The Full Version

I never would have thought the jump from a 50 mile race to a 72 mile race would be so dramatically different. After completing the Firecracker 50 earlier this year I figured I’d be well prepared for the Laramie Enduro, which is variously listed as 111km, 70.5 miles or 72.5 miles. As I’ve learned with these longer mountain bike races the exact distance may not be what is advertised, but you can be assured a long day on the bike will follow.
The basics are I finished the LE in 7:24, slower than any time I expected but after I lost all power around mile 60 I’m pleased with finishing. The LE is a fun course, mixing some great single track, lots of climbing and fast forest service roads. There is plenty of time to go fast and unfortunately the tough climbing and single-track at the end gives you plenty of time to go slow. An early start at 7:00 and a lot of people rushing into the first section of single-track left me wondering if I had made a crazy choice signing up. The legs felt sore at the start and it seemed like I could see people for miles in front of me after finishing the first single-track section. After about 40 minutes and hitting a service road the legs started to come around and I was getting into the race. Feed zone 1 came and went quickly, as there were a lot of people I only filled one bottle and kept going. I sat in with a group from feed zone 1 until the next big section of single-track. I quickly went down twice and decided to let a little air out of the tires. I had started the day with 32 psi in both, but wasn’t aware of the roots on some of the single-track, nor had I accounted for the rain overnight. Dropping the pressure seemed to help as my only problem through the rest of the day on single-track was lack of power. At feed zone 2 I filled my three bottles, ate a banana and got back own it.
The trails between feed zones 2-4 all seemed to blend together for me. Service road climb, single-track, riding through cow pasture, repeat. I was feeling good and approached feed zone 4 at 54 miles in at 4:50. Filling my bottles and eating another banana I was off. Shortly after zone 4 we started climbing then a descent near a lake and all the sudden no power in my legs. I had been eating and drinking well (I actually took 2 nature breaks so hydration didn’t seem to be the issue) but the climb in the middle between feed zones 4-5 was upon me as I lost all power. I quickly shifted into the little ring and focused on pedaling and keeping food and fluids coming. This section seemed to go on forever, climbing, twisting, short downhill, climbing, walking, muddy grass area etc. By the time I hit feed zone 5 at 63 miles I had been 1:30 for 9 miles (a total race time of 6:20ish). With another 8ish miles to go and the climb up to Headquarters to go I started to ponder if I would really be out for 8 hours. The climb to Headquarters was hard, not because of the trail, but because of the lack of energy. Technical sections that would be easy 10 miles into a ride were nearly impossible at this point. Strangely though I was coming around a little. The shade and knowing I had to finish made me gear it up a little. At one point after cresting the climb I looked out and saw I-80 off in the horizon. This site was good and bad, good because I knew where I needed to get to, bad because it seemed far off. The downhill to the finish was tough, again because of being tired, but went quickly.
Upon reaching the road to the finish I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. I had no energy and as Ade said my expression didn’t even change when crossing the finish line and seeing her and Seamus. I guess when you have nothing left, even smiling is impossible.
A few other notes on the race, the Laramie Enduro staff of volunteers is great. Check-in took seconds. The folks at the aid stations were helpful, cheerful and encouraging. I tried to thank as many as I could at each stop because they were taking such good care of all the racers, the only problem was there were too many to thank. Rich Vincent and his crew put together a great race, one of the best if not the best I’ve seen in 12+ years of doing this.
Second, as many of you know I’ve been raising money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation this year to support Eldon “Fatty” Nelson. I wore my Fatty clothing in the race yesterday and talked with more racers who new Fatty, new the story, are impacted by Fatty and Susan’s lives then I could imagine. The common themes I picked up about Fatty are: if people know him they confirmed what I’ve read and picked up on, he is a great guy; those of us who don’t know him personally feel a bound because of how Fatty has shared. Fatty is going through something none of us would want in our own lives, Fatty is going through his families fight with cancer in a very public way but helping us all understand the importance of fighting cancer. Fatty has a band of friends out there on bikes every day, helping to fight cancer and supporting him and his family. It was cool to see and hear some of the ways Fatty has touched and improved so many lives.
As for the LE, again I learned a lot about endurance racing. I need to train longer to race longer. I need to push harder at the end of long training rides to be ready for late in the race. Nutrition was good, though a little more “real” food may help. Last year I set a goal to finish the Front Range 50, the Firecracker 50 and the Laramie Enduro this year. I’ve now completed all three and have had a blast in the longer races. I see plenty of room for improvement and can promise I’ll be back next year, only faster.

Laramie Enduro

Laramie Enduro is in the books. A hard 70 miles of racing and the lights going out around mile 60 made for a tough day, but crossing the line felt good.

A full write-up of the day soon. Right now riding in the car on I-25 heading home.

Rock Climbing

Riding a bike is pure fun, but as Seamus gets old am and frequently presented with opportunities to try new activities, have fun in different ways. Recently we have been spending a lot of time at a rock climbing wall. Nothing big, but skills and strength are required. The way the wall is built we can climb up to the top and then using the hand and foot holds try to circle the entire wall. This seemingly easy activity can be (and frequently is) very difficult. A simple missed hand or foot placement and all chances for making it around the wall are done.
The rock climbing is fun, physically demanding and in many ways mentally challenging. Participating in a sport you are not use to makes the mind work in new ways. Sounds like it is time to go right now, maybe I’ll try to take a few pictures tonight.

Service

This week has been very successful in terms of donations for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The Jeans Week at work has brought in nearly $700 and I am very close to crossing the $1,000 threshold. This is good for Fat Cyclist as well as cancer survivors on a grand level. If you haven’t done so yet, please consider a small donation, even five dollars helps. Go to THIS SITE to make a donation. I’ll match 20% of any donation through the 19th up to $500 in total donations to help the LAF.

This week I bought a new hat, not really a big deal right. But I bought a hat from the guys at Twin Six (http://www.twinsix.com/). Not only do these guys make fashionable and comfortable gear, they donate a ton of money to LAF on Fatty’s behalf (www.fatcyclist.com). I’ve now got socks, shorts, jersey, arm warmers (all Fatty) and hat from the Twin Six guys. It is all the top quality and stylish looks we want. But for me the real issue is these guys really care. I’d sacrifice a little quality (though I don’t need to) in order to support their business. It is great to find a company that cares for its customers and society.
Time to chill, two hours in the morning before work.

Jeans Week and a Race Report

Note: As many of you know this year I am riding with team Fat Cyclist at the Austin LiveStrong ride to help raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The week of July 13-17 my work is letting staff wear jeans to work for a $5.00 per day donation to the LAF on my behalf. Now there is no way I can let your work let you wear jeans, but in recognition of my companies efforts please consider donating, any amount helps. Go HERE AND DONATE ,thanks.

Race number 3 in the Winter Park series was yesterday and the course had a new twist on what is an old classic. Starting in the ski area and riding some of the funniest singletrack in the area you end in Frasier, this year the crew at WP added about 5 miles to the old course, most of those extra miles were uphill. The WP series is fitting in to my schedule this year in an odd way; I’m not really there to race. I’m using the series as my only form of high-end/interval work this year and it shows. When I started the shift to longer races (50+ miles) I knew the first year would require more time working on endurance to ensure I could finish the races and I wouldn’t be able to worry about intervals, shorter races or even results. Thus far the new training is paying off as I’ve finished both 50’s I’ve entered and am now prepping for the Laramie Enduro (about 70) in three weeks.
The race at WP slotted in well for training, a week after the Firecracker and not on a weekend with a long training ride scheduled. I got to WP early and did a long ride to warm up, more than an hour prior to the start. Once the race started I was going pretty good and felt like I was climbing well. I slotted into the middle of the pack for about 45 minutes, then on a downhill I hit a root and went down. Head first with a nice roll on my right side. I got back up and kept racing, but lost all power and ability to focus. I kept on racing and finished the ride, tired, thirsty and with a pounding headache. I assumed the headache was a result of lack of hydration but after taking some electrolyte pills, water, Gatorade and eating lunch the head still hurt. This morning I checked my head (ok Ade did) and there is a pretty good bump on the right side. I’m too lazy to go to the doctor and not overly worried but I don’t think going down hard did me any good for racing.
I still got in a good ride/effort (just about 3.5 hours on the day) and am not overly sore from the crash. This week will be big hours for prepping for Laramie. No more races until Laramie, but lots of time and maybe, just maybe a few intervals.

Crash Course

I raced today. Full race report later. I crashed. I think I have a concusion.

Firecracker 50 Recap

The Firecracker 50 took place last Saturday, fortunately this time I finished. I was planning on a time of 5-6 hours, knowing that a steady pace would be key to finishing and the time not nearly as important to me as going the distance. At 50 miles and with 10,800 vertical feet of climbing (all above 9,500 feet and much above 11,000) the Firecracker 50 is a hard day of riding. I managed to finish in 5:34, a good time but not great.

The race is always a blast, riding down Main Street in Breckenridge with literally thousands of people cheering and watching, as the race starts the 4th of July parade. Given the fact most races have a few dozen spectators, all of whom know racers it is a great feeling to have people who have never seen a race before in their lives cheering you on. I tried to ride a steady and somewhat conservative first lap (25 miles) knowing that the hard part of the race would be the second lap. I tried to draft on the open sections and follow others lines on the technical sections of the course to save energy and pick good lines. The flume trail coming down from Little French was a blast, fast singletrack and the ability to just ride. Coming to the end of the first lap I crashed on the last downhill, misjudging the gap between two trees. It wasn’t a bad crash, but enough to delay me a few minutes. I finished the first lap in 2:34, feeling good and knowing I had fueled well the entire first lap.

Lap 2 was tough, from the top of the climb up to the Iowa Mill I felt like I was maintaining a similar pace, but when I started up Little French for the second time my speed went from slow to really slow. At this point in the race 3:30-4:00 into the race my mind started playing tricks on me and I think the mental aspect slowed me as much if not more than being physically tired. I had to keep refocusing my attention on the positive, stop thinking about how hard the race was, how bad I felt, how a nap on the side of the trail sounded good. After the downhill leading to the third feed zone I knew I’d be able to finish and rode steady and probably faster again up to Sallie Barber Mine. From there it was all downhill and my mind switched from dwelling on the negative to knowing I’d finish.

During the race I followed my nutrition plan perfectly, eating gels, energy bars and Clif Blocks (a new favorite) through the race. I’m not sure of the total food I took in but somewhere in the range of 8-10 gels, 2 bars and 3 Clif Blocks. In addition to the food I went through 10-12 bottles of water or Gatorade (probably a 50/50 split) and 8 Endurolyte pills to keep the electrolytes up in the race. I did start to feel like eating something “real” would be nice about 4:30 into the race so will have to figure something out for a more substantial bite for Laramie.

Now that I know I can physically handle a 5-6 hour race as hard as the Firecracker 50 I hope the mental game gets easier. One of the reasons I race is the challenges I face getting ready for races and in races. Breaking the barrier on the Firecracker 50 was a huge win for me as there are many points where the mind tries to overcome the body and tell you to stop, get off the bike and go home. Saturday I pushed through those thoughts and am more ready than ever to push forward with racing and embrace the challenges and learn from the challenges.

Chilling

At the rockies game. Very unlike me. Maybe a new sport. Laramie enduro training start tomorrow.

Firecracker 50

Raced the Firecracker 50 up in Breckenridge today. 50 miles 10,800 vertical feet of climbing. A long day on the bike but finished which was the main goal for the day 5:31 on the bike.

It's all about choices

and my choices have been to stay away from the blog. I've been putting in big miles getting ready for the Firecracker 50, lots of work, some unexpected travel for work and home life.

I'm also trying to focus on resting as with all the miles I've been putting in rest is much needed. Winter Park last weekend went good, rode the climb twice (once to warm up/train and once to race). It felt good to get in some high end work. Single track was open for the way down (unusual for this early up at WP) and I was having a great time riding it until I crashed. Nothing bad but hitting the deck is never fun. Showing up at the base area as the only guy bleeding in a race that was essentially a road climb is tough to explain.

Good rest this week, long ride today. Chill on the couch the rest of the day.

Catch up

A week of rest. I’ve heard a lot of coaches and local racers say at this level (meaning a local amateur) it is impossible to be overtrained, just under rested. Well this week I’m working on getting rested. After a big block of training last week the body needs some R&R; Monday off but a massage, Tuesday easy with yoga, Wednesday easy and a NAP, Thursday seems like another good rest day and Friday we’ll see. Not riding hard is tough, spinning along at a slow pace, short rides and napping don't fit my normal schedule but I've been riding a lot more miles and time this year and can tell the body needs to recover, so I'll take it easy and wait until the body is ready to go hard again.

Saturday brings another race, but I’m riding it for training only, the Winter Park Hill Climb is 40ish minutes of climbing. I plan to get there early ride the climb once at a good tempo pace and then push it again in the race. The day should total 20 miles with about 5,000 feet of climbing and should make for good training.

I just picked up the mountain bike after getting it worked on, after some hard rides recently she needed a little TLC. I’ll ride her Friday to make sure everything is dialed for racing (nothing like waiting until the last minute) but hey that’s when I’ll have a chance.

Relaxing

After the road trip to Durango a little relaxation has been in order. Early morning rides, followed by work, home and early to bed. Vacation can be tough. This weekend I'm planning a 6 hour ride to keep the prep going for the Firecracker 50 and Laramie Enduro.

Sunday morning will start early with the goal to be home by noon...that means up by 4:30.

Durango

A weekend away from town was a great way to recharge. Time was spent doing things that would not occur on a normal weekend and I still managed to get in some sweet riding. We headed out on Thursday morning for a family vacation in Durango. The weekend offered some time to relax, though honestly not much as we were busy, time to enjoy family and the beauty of Colorado and the amazing trail of Horse Gulch just minutes from Durango let me ride.
Mesa Verde is a place I remember fondly from childhood and when my parents mentioned they were heading to Mesa Verde we decided to go too. Fate prevented us from going with my parents as Ade starts school and couldn’t go the week they booked, but we met up with Grandma L and a friend of hers and through a twist of fate Uncle Eric, Aunt Sue and Cousin Z wound up in Durango the same weekend. Mesa Verde was as incredible as I remembered and Seamus loved the place. Checking out the ruins, climbing ladders, meeting Rangers made for a great day. To be honest you could spend a lot more time there then we did, but it was well worth the trip just to see the ruins. Also, if you go take the time to talk to the Rangers, every one we talked with was excited to share their knowledge, nice and made the trip even better. I’m not sure if Rangers at all National Parks are like this, but damn they were good in Mesa Verde.
Saturday turned into a day for chilling in Durango and just relaxing. The town is full of cell phone hippies who clearly go to college, smoke weed, hula hoop and hang out. A great place to do it, but not exactly fun.
Sunday was supposed to be the thrill seeker day, a rafting trip. The trip was fun and though the river was flowing pretty slow there were still some big sections of rapids and for a bunch of beginners (Ade being the only one in our group to have gone before) it was a good first trip. Seamus spent every second in the rapids laughing and hoping people would get drenched (which we did). Not sure if he had more fun rafting or at Mesa Verde but both were highlights it seemed.
Now many of you may know Durango hosted the first Mountain Bike World Championships and the trails are still worthy. I got in rides on three days and had a blast. Getting on new trails forced me to try new things and not having the “mental block” of normal trails caused me to clear stuff I may never have tried on a trail I’d ridden many times. Uncle Eric and Aunt Sue showed why they use to be Pros, as even with full time work, new parenthood and little (if any) riding they were strong. For the first time ever I was able to climb with Eric, until we hit really technical sections, where his ability and skills more than made up for lack of fitness. On the downhill’s it is hard to keep up with a guy who has race the World Cup so I didn’t see much of him but still had fun.
Now it is time to get back to work.

Vacation

A quick family vacation starts tomorrow, going down to Durango for a few days to show Seamus a new part of the state. I can’t wait, I remember going to Mesa Verde around his age and loving it, I just hope he finds it as cool as I did. The ruins in the cliff dwellings are impressive.
After a few very busy weeks, including a week spent in Minnesota and a quick day trip to Chicago travel doesn’t seem fun, but Durango will be different, the pace set by us, car travel and no places to be at any time. I’m taking the mountain bike and will get in some rides on the trails down there. I haven’t been to Durango in nine years so it will be like riding in a new place. The best part of the trip is no work. Way too much stress there recently (if you know me well enough to know the purpose of the Chicago trip yesterday you’d understand the stress) so getting away from Denver will be nice.
My new sign-off is going to be…Please Donate to LAF , Lance is doing some serious work and chances are you or someone very close to you is going to benefit from his foundations work (up to 33% of Americans get one form of cancer or another). I’m trying to raise $2,500 and have $2,200 to go, please donate what you can.

Big Weekend

I decided that if I'm going to pay the entry fee for the Firecracker 50 yet again that I'd damn well better finish it this year. That means big mile training to get ready for the race. I'm hoping that by getting in three rides of 6 hours per ride for the endurance training should help. In addition I'm focusing a lot of time and attention during other training on tempo work, since this is the fastest zone that is actually possible to ride in for hours on end.

Saturday was a two hour ride with seven tempo efforts of seven minutes each. A good effort, but not too much with a long ride scheduled for Sunday. Sunday started early, with an effort to replicate pre-race eating and getting out of the house by 7:00 to be home at a reasonable hour. I headed out on the mountain bike and spent a lot of the early ride on the road, due to rain the night before. Finally about 3 hours in I hit the dirt on a downhill from Mt. Falcon. From that point on for the next 90 minutes it was a lot of dirt, mixed with road time from trail to trail. At about 4:30 into the ride it became road time again in order to get home. On a totally unplanned route I managed to ride for 5:58 when I arrived at my door. Perfect timing for the ride, though more dirt would have been nice.

Usually after a ride of that time I’m dead, but yesterday I felt pretty solid, even managing a little yard work after resting for an hour or so. This morning I headed out for a ride and still felt surprisingly fresh so I added in a 30 minute tempo effort to the ride and got in 2:00 total. A three day total of 10:00 hours and a lot of hard tempo work and climbing should do the body good. This week I’ll focus less on total time and more on tempo work, and I think the long time/high tempo alternate weeks will be the plan through the Firecracker 50 and right on to the Laramie Enduro. I’m looking forward to a good night sleep tonight, a wake-up call at 4:00 to catch a flight at 6:00 in the morning then a late night home before riding again Wednesday.

After this trip I should be able to hang out at home until after Laramie and focus on training and life. I just need to not get sick tomorrow and I’ll be ready to get the final preparation for racing started.

Here I am

I’ve been missing for two weeks, but at some points that is how it goes. After the Front Range 50 I took off for the week to Minnesota for work. Very little down time, minimal working out and strangely no time to even surf the internet much less write any. After playing catch-up this week with work and life I’ll finally carve out a few minutes to blog, not much time though as life stays busy.
Minnesota was actually really good from a work perspective, a weeklong training where I actually learned a lot and some time away from riding, needed after the long race and not even having time to worry about not training. Taking time off from riding is frequently tough at home because I have to find things to replace my normal riding time. When I was gone, things were so busy and I was not in my normal flow that not riding didn’t even hit me.
I did register for the Firecracker 50, my next big race of the year. We’ll see how it goes as I’ve tried it twice with no finishes. This year, after already completing a 50 miler and getting ready for Laramie which is less than a month after the Firecracker I plan to do better. Tomorrow is scheduled for 6 hours to get the endurance riding in for both the Firecracker and Laramie. Tuesday is a quick trip to Chicago (in and out the same day) before heading out on a family vacation on Thursday. Sooner or later I’ll get a chance to relax.
A final note, I’m working to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation this year. The LAF does a tremendous amount for cancer survivors and their families. Unfortunately for me this has taken on a far more personal concern recently as a very close relative is just beginning to fight his battle with cancer. I’d ask anyone who reads this blog to take a few moments to donate, any amount helps far more then you could imagine. Please visit MY PAGE to make a donation.