Fast Summer.

Wow. Has it been a month already? I planned on writing again after doing section 3 of the Colorado trail but never got to it. I rode the motorcycle up to section 3 a few days after my last post and rode the trail. Another beautiful ride. Both on the moto and on the MTB.

This was my turn around point for my last ride. This section of the Colo trail is mostly rolling hills in high alpine terrain and is absolutely beautiful. I rode some of this area earlier this summer with some friends from work, the buffalo creek area. I think I saw 1 other person on the trail during my 2 hours out here. Saw some wildlife.

I am quite the photographer, aren't I. Yes that is a deers hind end. He does have a rack but the photos of that are worse than this one. One beauty of MTBing is the ability to sneak up on animals because it is a quiet way of traveling. Unfortunately when I see the wildlife its hard to dig my camera out and take a decent shot. Point and shoot... not all of the time.

The views on the trail are quite spectacular. There was some smoke in the air from fires in adjoining states so the mountains in the distance have a beautiful purple haze that pictures dont capture.

After these rides I did decide to take a try at the gunnison 24hr race solo. I rode the BMW up there with the MTB and gear in tow, everything fit perfectly. This is a picture on Monarch pass.

There were some Harley guys on Monarch taking pictures also, watching me ride in. The leader asked if the bike was in case I ran out of gas. Man, out of work lawyers are hilarious. I was feeling great when I got to Gunnison, got signed in for the race and set up camp. The KOA in Gunnison is run by Dave. He is so into this race and weekend, he told me that it was is favorite weekend of the year. They cook during the whole race to feed everybody that is racing and supporting the race. Not a bad deal for the 15$ a night during the race weekend.

Here's camp. The race started and my plan was to go slow, take plenty of breaks and fuel up after every lap. Lap 1-then some stinger waffles. Lap-2 Quesadilla. Lap-3 Stinger gel. Lap-4 rest and lasagna. Lap-5 Vomit. Yep projectile style. Stop lap 5 since I only made it about 20yards. Sit, brush teeth, feeling better, have some fig newtons, feeling lots better. OK Lap-5 about 2/3 around started feeling the bile build up in my throat. Stop and sip some water. Take it easy going back. I stopped at my tent and just had this rock like feeling in my belly. I could not eat anything. My arms and legs started cramping, numb fingers and toes, unable to regulate my body temp. I showered to see if that would help but it didn't. I crawled into my tent and took a nap, it was dark and figured when I woke up I could still meet my 10 lap goal. Nope. Felt horrible when I woke up. I decided that I would see an MD to get his/her opinion and get some blood work done.

Yesterday I got word back from the MD about my blood and everything there is normal. He did spend alot of time with me at our first meeting which impressed me. We talked alot about Africa and my training and about Gunnison. He thinks that most of my problems are caused by heat. It was hot in Gunnison, about 95 degrees. So I am not sure what to do next. I am planning an experiment, to ride for an extended period in cooler weather or at night and see how my body handles it. CX is coming up soon, so maybe I will table that experiment and just do some CX fun. Gotta get the CX converted to singlespeed. Oh, yeah.

Biking, GOOD.

Well, lets see. I have had some great rides since the last post. Many of them have been on the MTB too, so that is a bonus. The BMW is working great for transport, its very easy and quick to get the bike on and off, and I dont need much under my motorcycle clothing. One ride I want to mention is a ride with a new friend, Steve. I was pretty much set-up on a "man-date" with him by a co-worker when I went out with her and 14 other co-workers on a Peddle Hopper. A Peddle Hopper is a Transport vehicle that is powered by the passengers. 10 of the riders have pedals and supply power to the drive shaft. A sober tour guide tells us when to start peddling. This vehicle takes us from bar to bar off of Broadway here in Denver. What a freaking riot. 80's theme, with loud music and as the night got later the riders got louder. That was a lot of fun, thanks Danielle. But anyways, Danielle got Steve and I together because we have similar interests, Cycling. We set a time to ride about 90minutes after Steve got off of work. We ended up riding 3hours and I put in 60miles, we rode up lookout mountain and did a loop on the top to add some more climbing. Good clean fun.

Yesterday I got a wild hair to ride section 2 of the Colorado trail. I geared up the BMW and headed out. There was a little rain at the start of the moto ride which was welcome because the temps were in the 90's. I got to Co Rd 97 and the temps were in the low 80's. PERR-FECT.  The moto ride to the trailhead was beautiful, next to the west fork of the platte river. Crystal clear water flowing over and around very large rocks, made me wish I had my fly rod and more time.

Ready to ride.

The above picture is the start of section 2 of the Colorado Trail. The climb out of the river basin is about 3 miles and 1500ft of climbing over pea sized gravel. The views make the climb worth it.

Quartz Quarry

The first 5miles or so of this trail are in a burn zone from 1996. Very few trees survived the fire. The grass and small bushes have grown back but very little new trees are starting.  There are small groupings of trees in the seasonal creek confluences.  This trail is more difficult than it looks on an elevation map due to the short climbs and descents at the top. When I was getting near my turn around point I realized that I was running out of light. I still had to get back to my Moto. I took a quick photo and headed back.





Riding back was super fun, mostly downhill with some short burst uphills. The last mile was in the dark and I had to remove my riding glasses which sucked because they are prescription so the trail was dark and blurry. Follow the light ribbin and hope its the trail. Load the MTB up on the BMW and off I go. 3hr MTB and 3hr motoride. Back at the house at 10pm and in bed by 1130 after feeding the animals and chating with my lovely wife.

Maybe Ill do section 3 tomorrow.....

All right.....

So here is the deal. I have been riding a bit but not too much. I planned on doing some races in the last 2 months but they came and went. The first one that I was serious about turned into a very bad day.  The night before our sweet little black lab, Abby, had a sore on her elbow that had progressed from a small lump in the morning to a huge, hot lump. We had been treating her for lymphoma so knew that infection was a risk. We brought her to the vet and started her on some anti-biotics. The next morning I got up early to go to the race, but 1) it was raining and 2) Abby would not get up and out from under the bed. Her temp was 104.5 and she was super lethargic, HR was changing from 180's to 120's erratically. I could see the writing on the wall. Kristen asked if I thought Abby would come back from the vet when we took her there after they opened. I did not think so. So her passing made me pretty sad for a while.

 Sleeping on the couch.

She did not like cameras so we dont have a whole bunch on pictures. After this picture was taken she got up and moved to the bedroom. Rest in peace LBD. We do have a new sweet little dog, Georgia, who came here from Georgia. She is absolutely hillarious. Pictures to follow.

After this episode, I got a bee in my bonet to buy a motorcycle again. After much looking around from 650cc to 750cc I ended up purchasing a BMW R1150GS. Its pretty fun riding though the hills. I used it to recon some new roadbike rides up in"Them there hills." much faster recon than looking at a map. just ride up there and check it out. I also purchased a 2x2 bike rack for the motorcycle so I can take my MTB up to trailheads in the mountains. This arrived to otherday and I installed it today. Its really pretty slick. I mounted the SS on it to see how easy it was to mount the bike, and its realitively simple. I was wondering about the front tire mount but it feels pretty solid when it gets locked down. I will post some pictures as I take them.

Maiden Voyage

Race plans-- Well, I am pretty motived to ride in the Sage 24hr race in gunnison, solo. I have very little expectations except to have fun. I have a volunteer to be my support. It is the weekend of Aug 18-19th. I have not had any long MTB rides, but now I have some transportation up there, soooo.

Back in the USA

Feels great to be back. Such a long flight. It took 36 hours to go from door to door. Flights were late and connections missed. So how did it go? It was a great adventure. Not the one I was expecting but with the help of some fantastic people it was really fun. Next time though, I bring my wife.



So when I left the race I went back to Strand with Mels niece Nicki. After having waffles with her on the beach we went to the cheetah rescue, which happens to be where she works for now. This was pretty cool. I was able to pet some large cats and the bat eared fox's that are up there.

That was pretty awesome. Nikki then talked Stanley into taking us on a Vineyard tour on his Segways. That was pretty fun also.

Off road Segways. Mel and I road in the mountains directly behind me the week before in Joorgenshook. The weather was still suspect so we figured that since we were in wine country we could go taste some wines and Nikki had been trying to set up a time with one of her friends to go taste wine paired with chocolates.

And might I say that the Waterford Cabernet Sauvignon paired with with the Rock salt Chocolate, yummy. We ended up getting a bottle of that with a large bar of the chocolate, and talked. Not a bad way to spend a day, No?

On the final day of the Epic, I went to the finish line to watch Mel finish. That was good for me also to watch the finish, and have some closure on the race. Mel said that the trails did not get any better, mostly straight up for climbs and then straight back down, no real true "single track" that we would ride here in the states. He said that the only way he would do it again is if somebody else paid his whole way.

I rode the next day by my self up the coast a bit, and it was wonderful. Slight breeze, warm but not hot and slightly salty air. I rode up to a dam on the hill side, then came back down to travel up the coast a bit.



Absolutely beautiful. The top picture is from the dam looking down on Strand and False Bay, the top picture is looking south out from false bay into the Indian Ocean. Just a note about riding here- driving is done on the left side of the road so consequently it feels like I was riding on the wrong side of the road and its wise to look both ways more than once before crossing because cars on the opposite side from what we Americans  are used to, one quick glance may get you hit.

The next day Mel and I went for a ride on some dirt and trails that the Epic finished on.

These trails were fun, actually some of the best single track on the Epic. Riding out to the trail head was interesting because we rode through one of the shanty towns. There were several young children running around on the side of the road with bare feet. The sides of the road were covered with rocks and broken glass. Incredible.
After the ride we went surfing.

This is Mel with his two girls surfing. Very cool kids. I love putting my feet in the ocean and feeling the power of the waves. I did get up on the surfboard, and caught a few waves boogie boarding.

Final stop before leaving was to have a beer.

So I got some great rides in. Met some awesome people and experienced some incredible things. I will post some other pictures in the pictures tab above. All of this because I love to ride my bike.  Thanks for reading.
Cheers, Craig.

99 percent

I went to the finish of the cape epic yesterday, which was located in Lourensford. With mountains on three sides Lourensford is a winery and orchard that apparently often hosts Mtb events on the weekends. I was a little hard watching these cyclists finish, knowing that I should be with them. Mel finished and was happy to be done. He also said the he would probably not do it again. The trails that I saw combined with the trails that mel talks about are really not to interesting. The trails are not like Colorado single track with switchbacks and obstacles, but rather farm roads that go straight up the side if the hill. When they warned of portage that is exactly right. Some were difficult to walk. The descent was the same except there were sharp babyhead sized rocks all over. I would not choose to ride most of these trails that were showcased in the epic. I am not being sour apples here at all. If I did not get this stomach bug I know I would have finished but it would have been far from easy. I have made peace with my choice. I am still not happy but I made the choice while on the trail.

Time dulls pain and makes me question the sensation. I would not have chosen this path unless the pain was truly unbearable. I know I thought about my wife, my riding partner and all the others that have supported me in this adventure and I just could not go on.

My only regret is that I would have had the wherewithal to advocate for myself in the medical tent after I was in camp. The asshole who assessed me simple said that I must learn about nutrition. I must eat more potatoes and marmite sandwiches while doing long rides. This was not simply a dehydration and sweet sport drink problem I gar-n-damn-tee that. I have been there and this was not it. This lasted 48hrs before I could even eat then it was still touch and go. I still get a "I just swallowed a boulder" feeling after eating a few bites of food. I lost about 2 kgs during the ordeal. Oh well. Enough of that.

I did some other fun things which I will write about whining I get stateside.  Thank you all for your support.

Cheers.
Craig.

Brutal day

Woke up with cramps at 3am in my belly. Never threw up just hurt like hell. Couldn't eat at breakfast and couldn't take any water without nausea and cramping. Stopped at the first aid station and got an antiemetic. It stopped the belly cramps but was cramping everywhere else. Dropped out at 70kms. Mel soldered on. He is awesome. I can ride tomorrow if I recover.

I am devastated, I know I ride better. The guy in the sag with me was vomiting all night. He had the lasagna last night. The Dr said there had been a few like us today.

Cheers all.

Having trouble blogging from phone.

Cape Town SA

Mel and I have done lots of things in the last couple of days. We did end up paddling out to Robbin Island from Cape Town. We were in a tandem kayak and there were probably 15 other kayaks going out there with us. Mel knows the owners of the company from his river guiding days. We started in a little cove right at the base of the city and the water was pretty calm there. We paddle out of the marina and the group leader said to head out to the container ship then we will turn right to head out to the Island. Do you know how big a container ship is when sitting in a kayak? It must be 30 stories high. After turning right we could barely see the island but the waters were still calm and there was relatively no wind. We saw seals and dolphins all the way out. Pretty cool. The Island itself was... interesting. We were not allowed to land on the island, that is reserved for ferry boats, so we just floated off the coast about 100meters. The island must have looked like death to the prisoners that were transported there. So distant but so near. I heard that the prisoners could sometimes hear people in Cape Town talking and smell food on a calm day. When we turned around, table mountain looms over the city, its breathtaking. And to think that I climbed it yesterday, I could not even find the route up or where it could even be from this vantage. As it turns out, the wind kicked up, headwind, and the surf rose. The trip back was hard, my shoulders burned and I had to keep looking forward or I would get dizzy. Mel and I had a great talk though to pass the time.

After making it to shore and getting a bite to eat we went for a ride in Tokai. That may be spelled wrong. This MTB park is an old tree plantation on the side of the mountain. Trails are everywhere, and so are baboons. The baboons were down at the bottom and I did not have my camera ready so no pictures. Pretty funny though. The climb was steep and the views are spectacular.

 The picture above, we are climbing into the clouds, the clouds drift across from left to right with the sun shining through. Its very dramatic and a bit mesmerizing. We got into the clouds and the view was completely obscured. I felt good on the bike however, except my shoulders were tired. We descended fast and Mel hit the ground twice, but did not get hurt. Trails range from baseball rocks to ashtray sand. I can get sucked into looking at the scenery too long or I may fall too. I have some video of us headed to the clouds that I will post later.

We were running late to our next stop which was another friend of Mels from boating. Ross was our host this night, he lives right on the coast. Ross had to get to a party this night so Mel and I were on our own. We went into town, Kommitjie, and got supper. I had shark and tomato pizza which was good, but I dont think there was shark on it. Oh well. We woke up and this was the view off of Ross's deck, and where I drank coffee.

How beautiful is that? Ross guides trips off of Madigascar, boating,surfing camping and such. After leaving Ross's we went to cape point and Simons town to eat and look at penguins. It was noon when we got there so the penguins were not moving much, but cool. We decided not to ride today so Mel could get his neck worked on, it has been stiff for  several days, weeks even. Driving back to Gordons Bay, we drove past some shanty's. This county is a bit strange this USA citizen because it is a first world nation but you can turn a corner here and BAM, there is a 3rd world nation, for miles and miles.

I suppose Apartheid has not been gone for too long, relatively, and lots of work still needs to be done. Monday when I got in, I read the paper about Blacks and Coloureds rioting with each other because of school access. Very complex social dynamics here.

What does this have to do with mountain biking? If I did not MTB then I probably would not be seeing this country now. When I bought my first MTB, a GT timberline, did I think that this path led to Africa? No. But the trail has been good for me. Accept peoples milkshakes, buy the piano, whatever you do, do it with passion. Be good, and thanks for reading. Its Lekker.

Made it.

Hello all.  Well I made it here without problems. I did have to rearrange the bike that I packed 3 times at home, in the middle of DIA. The airline did not know how much to charge me for shipping, then said that the bike could not go since the box was over 50lbs. Could not go. If it was a bag it could with a fee but not a bike. Then after my lovely wife helped me repack, they said never mind, they talked to a different person who said that it would not be a problem. Oh well. I am here, so is my bike and we are both safe. The picture above is looking down at cape town. We rode up here after I landed and got the bike together to flush out the DVT's and what not from the flight. Today after waking up, Mel and I got our stuff together and hiked up Table Mt.

This view is of Mel about halfway up the Mt. It was climbing with all four limbs, and at times straight up. Very fun but I think my legs will be a bit sore in the AM. Mel just let me know that we will be sea kayaking in the morning out to Robin Island, where Nelson Mandela was kept for 27yrs. How cool is that? Afterwards probably go for a ride. The views that I have seen are absolutely beautiful. I have seen the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic ocean, from the same spot. Above Mel is viewing the Atlantic ocean, behind him is the Indian Ocean. I feel good the weather is great, I am very excited.

I want to say happy anniversary to my bride. 18 years of marriage. I love you honey.

Short entry but I am beat and need to get up early. Thanks for reading.

Final push of training.

Well. 2 days until I leave. I feel pretty great. I am down 9lbs and I feel it when I ride. It feels great. I rode the road bike Tuesday and kept a moderate effort up, ended up riding 18mph for two hours. I was proud of that because I did not put out a huge effort, felt like I could keep it up for another couple of hours. Last week I had a road bike effort that was hard and averaged 20mph. Today I rode the single speed with Jess on Green Mtn. I felt bad at first but after I got warmed up I felt pretty good. Its hard to feel really good climbing on a single speed. I hope all of this translates to a great ride in SA.

My bike is packed. Jess lent me his GoPro so I will have some vids when I get back. I will finish packing Friday and Satuday, then I am off. Stay tuned, I will update as often as possible in SA. Thanks for reading.

This past week.

Well, some interesting things have happened this past week. Most important to me is that I have gotten in touch with people that I haven't spoken with in way too long. I still need to catch up more with them but the channels are now open. Thanks for your comments and encouragement. Training has been slow this past week. I rode with Mel here in Denver on a cold windy day. The next day I rode I felt great but again, cold and windy. I have been getting alot of that this winter. It is winter after all. Honey Stinger welcomed me into the hive which I am pretty excited about. I will order up a kit and represent in that this summer. And by the way, their products are quite tasty and packed with energy. Check it out.



The last thing I want to mention is my Very good Friend in Dallas, Cory Reese, sent me this absolutely beautiful piece of art work. The header of this blog has a portion of it, and there is a picture of the complete piece in my photos section. The picture does not do it justice at all. The thing looks three dimensional and is different from every angle. It is very cool. He said in his letter that this piece was inspired by the ride that I will be doing in Africa. How cool is that. I wont write about the whole letter because I was getting a bit emotional while reading it. If you want one of your own, let me know and I will hook you up with him. You won't be disappointed. -- Thank you Cory.

Cape Epic, and other thoughts.

The Cape Epic, the race I am currently training for, is a race in South Africa on mountain bikes. It starts in Cape town and travels around the mountains from town to town, through some vinyards, and through some land preserves that are only open for this event. The web site  Cape Epic has some great video and pictures if you want to spend some time checking it out. The total route distance is 500miles with a total elevation gain of 50000ft, covered over 8 days.  Each day is different. The first day is a 16mile time trial to help determine our place in the starting chute the next day. There will be 1200 racers so this is very important.
The race crew moves our belongings and tents while we are racing, and sets up a race village (tent city) at the new destination.  They feed us each day, morning and night, and have aid stations on the course. All I have to do is get from point A to point B as quickly as I can.
Racers can spend all year training for something like this. I have/had 2.5 months. I was looking at the calender last night and realized that I have 3weeks until I get on the plane. (I will be racing in South Africa in a month). My plan was very organized at the beginning of this time frame but life cant be expected to follow a specific course. I was going to put in some large miles the first three weeks in January, take a rest week then get some more large miles in the first weeks of February then another rest week. March theoretically is the same but the race is the last week so, The first two weeks will be big miles then the week before the race will be just spinning to keep the legs fresh but not enough to build fatigue. 
So how has it gone so far? January in Colorado is not always cooperative, if one likes to ski or bike. I did get some great miles in, some in beautiful weather and some in, ummm, adverse weather conditions. February I got less miles in but still am happy with the volume. I got some excellent mileage in on the MTB. Side note---I have been riding a mountain bike for 22 years and spring it is a shock to get on the MTB after riding on the road bike.  Its so demanding of power and determination, skill and focus. Dont get me wrong, I love the road bike and it has challenges too but, dang sis.
I hope to get 40miles in today which will bring my totals for the year up to 940miles. It looks to be warming up now with no wind so maybe I will head out now.
Thank you everybody for reading and the words of encouragement. It helps when I am on the bike and need a little extra for focus.  Enjoy the day.

Weekend adventure

This was the weekend I was planning on getting some huge mileage, and hang out with some great people. The mileage was not as big as I wanted, I did however hang out with and met some awesome people.

After driving through snow and sleet (getting my new bike wheels dirty on the top of the car), I met JP and Mel in Eagle so we could take one car the rest of the way. We made it to fruita about 10pm that evening and stayed at a friend of Mels. 

The "18 Road" trails are about 12 miles north of where we were staying so we decided to ride out there for a warm-up and meet some friends of JP's that know the trails pretty well. Sean and Tayler, both single speeders.  We rode our warm-up to the parking lot and met Sean and Tayler there. We took off to the east out of the parking along a trail called the Race loop, Sean leading. The trail was beautiful, tacky but dry and just ribboned off in the distance without an end. Sean was setting the pace which was brisk, steadily climbing toward the bookcliffs to the north. My legs felt a little flat after not riding the day before but steadily came up to speed.

All of these guys have 10 years on me and all can throw down. This is Sean, Mel and JP.

We rode all around the 18 Road area and did not hit all of the trails. Our two guides showed us some very, very sweet single track that was sick steep up and down. There was a section of hike a bike that I was not very excited about, bushwacking from one ridge to the next. There will be similar hike-a-bikes in South Africa so it all gets counted as training, right. Our last bit of trail in this area is called Zippity. It is kind of a quick and dirty show of all this trail system has to offer. Windy fast tight single track through the Junipers, technical rocky sections, ridgelines and very steep, high pucker factor descents. Sometimes the pictures dont do the scenery justice. This picture is of the ridge line at the end of zippity. After riding home we showered and headed to Moab.

A friend of JP's, mentioned in a different entry, Tim, invited us into his home while we were in Moab. The weather for the next day was supposed to be mostly nice with a chance of rain/snow.

In the morning, coffee was already made so I grabbed a cup and went outside to checkout the property. Tim lives in Castle Valley, North of Moab. This place is beautiful. The property has grape vines and a small orchard with apricots and peaches. I bet it is beautiful in the spring. Looking toward the La Sals there were some storm clouds but that is about 40miles west. No problem. I snapped a picture of the rock formation just north of the house in the morning and one in the evening.

So the morning does not look too bad right. Well after getting geared up and getting to the trail head it started rain/snowing on us, pretty hard. We decided to go back into town and tour all of the bike shops, all 6. Not to bad for a small town. Then we went to see a movie. Then we went to the bar. All the time in our cycling outfits. Chamois time is training time right. So no mileage for the day. It was a good day anyways. Tim and his wife Mel are great hosts and there was good conversation. Big ride planned for the next day, white rim. 103.1miles in one bite.

In the photos above, the spire on the left I think is called bishop rock, The one on the right has been used in a car commercial. Apparently the car was helicoptered to the top with a female model and then the winds kicked up so both had to stay up there until the next day. I may look that up later.

As you guessed, the next morning there was still snow on the ground. The air temp at Tims is hovering around 20. We load up the Truck in the dark and head out of Tims a little late. I am probably quiet because I dont feel like riding in the cold for 10hours. I have done lots of riding this year in the cold, and snow and rain. Mel is anxious to get going. We leave a bit late at 0530.

When we get close to the start point JP starts verbalizing the temp that he sees on the dash. 20degrees. 5 minutes later, 18degrees. 17, 16 and at the parking area 15degrees. I want to tell him to keep those numbers to himself, but dont because that would make the temp more real to me also.

The sky is beautiful at this predawn time of 0630, its quiet outside, serene.

The snow crunches under our tires as we roll out. Its cold. The first 10 miles or so of this ride are slightly down hill so we cant really keep ourselves warm. My fingers go numb and we are at mile 2. 98 to go. I tell Mel that I have to stop to warm up. I ask if his fingers are cold he says that he is using these "hand warmers" in his gloves and Shoes. I remember that I have some in my Camelbak that I have been carrying for months. I but em open and put them in my gloves. They dont make alot of heat but they totally work. My hands stay mostly warm the rest of the time. My feet on the other hand...... A short while after this JP slips on the snow but catches himself. This makes the descion for him to turn back since he had some knee surgery in October. Mel and I continue on.

Just before we descend into the canyon at HorseTheif, the snow ends. Good, no snow down the switchbacks. This section was just rebuilt because it was washed away during a rainstorm a couple years ago.  Google "mineral bottom road" to look at some nasty pictures. It is still really cold out but our moods are lifted due to the lack of snow on the ground. The temp noticable rises when we get to the bottom by about 10 degrees, so we are still below freezing but no longer in the teens. Its is cold enough in fact that the typically sandy sections are frozen and we blast right over them. Awesome. HardScrabble, the first climb comes up quickly. We go over it without a problem. Next major climb is Murphys Hogback at about the halfway point. Mel and I are making good time. We stop every 1.5hours to eat a little something. I made these little roll up things with small tortillas filled with a slice of ham and a dollop of cream cheese that hit the spot, also Hard boiled eggs. This is where we decided to sit down for Lunch. My bike is leaning against the picnic table. The cliff behind the rock/table is a long ways down.

The temperature now is probably 40. Perfect. The sun is shining and there is very little wind. We make it to Murphys in good time. 

This picture is of the Hogback and the road is difficult to see. It slants from behind the hill on the right up to the left, at the low point on the ridge. It was covered in snow. I did not clear this and had to walk. Half way done with the ride. The next major climb is Shafer trail, the climb out of the canyon, still about 40miles away. These 40 miles are uneventful and quite beautiful. Mel Snapped some photos and if I can get a hold of them I will add them to my Photo tab.

This is Mel smiling, we are both feeling good. In fact it is the best I have felt doing this ride. I think this is mile 65. The next 20miles are uneventful and go by relatively quick. I think that we are both looking forward to finishing in good time, and Shafer is in the back of our head.

Shafer is intimidating to say the least. I dont have a picture from below riding toward it, but it is a monster. The road appears to head straight for the cliff and then disappears. You cant really see it hugging the wall. It is amazing that there is a road there. It was improved from a trail to a road in the 50's by Uranium miners so they could get there equipment in and out.

This photo was taken by me during one of my other trips on the rim.  Anyways Mel and I start climbing this beast in the light(a first for me) and we encounter snow that is unridable about halfway up and we must walk. It takes an hour to complete the climb.

When we get to the top, JP and Skade are waiting there for us. We did not see a soul since JP left that morning. What a sight. It is still light out and our ride is rite there. Load them up and lets go back to Fruita. I got the chills really bad after getting in the truck. Rehydrate, eat and dry off. Get ready to ride again in the morning.

Another note. My back felt great on this ride where I have been having some trouble. Chronic pain is a funny thing, After a while it is only noticed by its absence. I realized 3/4 of the way into this ride that my back did not hurt at all. Another big shout out to McKenzie at Physical Dimensions. You guys are awesome.

The next morning we meet up with another friend of Mels, Jim, at the grand junction Lunch Loops. This area looks like the badlands in miniature. There are trails everywhere. Jim knows the area so he tells us where to head. Getting on my bike is not so pleasent in spots. My motor hurts, but after riding for about 15minutes up the hills I start to feel really good, I mean spectacular. The area is very technical and has some spots where speed, power, finess or a combination are the only thing that will allow one to clean it. I had it. We did not get that many miles in but they were fun miles and hard, power miles.

This is Mel moving through one of the smother sections. There were lots of obsticals, steps up and down and fast twisty bits. Good fun.

In total I completed 160miles for the "weekend", and demonstrated to myself the ability to ride hard after a hard ride. This I already knew but its good to reinforce that. I met some other great people that are as addicted to riding as I am, if not more.

Thanks for reading. It may be a week before I post again, but please revisit.

Rest week

This week was somewhat of a rest week.  By that I mean I was working alot. No riding for me since last Thursday. I did however receive my new tires and my Passport. (Side note- The passport office here in Denver is great; professional personel, efficient and curtious. USPS on the other hand....).  I had had a few hours on Sunday to install the tires.

While inspecting the rims, I noticed this.  The white jagged line radiating from the valve stem hole is a crack, three inches in each direction. This is on both the front and the back rims. This necessitated a trip to the bike store and I was not feeling to good about my options since the rims are about 8years old. Bike shop informed me the next day that the damage would be about 390.00 for each wheel. OUCH. His advice- dont do it. He said he would sell me some wheels that were on sale, that were better, stronger and lighter. I shopped around and this is the best deal going. I ordered them today and will have them Thursday. Denver Bike Source- These guys are very professional and recommend there service.

I leave for Fruita and Moab on Friday. Great place for a maiden voyage.

Fruita in Feb

Left Denver and its 2 feet of snow on Saturday morning headed west to find some single track. The snow got lighter as I got higher in the mountains, go figure. After the Vail valley there was very little snow and the sky was blue. The above picture is after we rode looking east. I met Mel, JP and a friend of JP's Tim at the trailhead. It felt great to be on the MTB. The trails are dry and tacky. I did 28 miles and 3300ft of elevation gain. I felt awesome. Max HR was 170 going up a trail called shoots and ladders, very steep. Mel had already ridden 22miles by the time I got there so he had 50 total. JP was somewhere in between.

Looking west after the ride we viewed this sunset. Could it be any better? Yes, Mel had 4 cold beers.



Day two we rode out at the Loma exit on the Kokopelli Trail. We rode only about 21miles but still 3300feet of elevation gain. Steep up and steep down. I was riding well until I had a rash of flats. 3 total. One was a slow leaker(I only had a 29er tube so Mel gave me his tube), one was horrible technique on my part and the last was a blown patch. Tim gave me his last tube and then I was fine. Lots of 1-2feet steps up and down which I rode most all of them. I felt really strong and mostly good tech on the bike. This picture is of JP and Mel climbing out of the canyon. JP has that sweet "Orange Peel Cyclery" wool jersey on.

 Scott-If you are reading, This is what you wear in 40deg weather. Got too toasty though in the upper 40's.

PS-Ordered new tires to go back to a tubeless system.