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.