The Brek 100 is this weekend! Best of luck to all and enjoy the 100 miles of pure bliss. I hope to try this one next year for sure.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
it's here
The garden is hitting it's stride, the trails are dusty, Sammy cat is struggling to stay cool, and the tour is on. This can only mean one thing, summer is in full swing! Not much time to post lately but staying busy and riding when I can.
As far as Le Tour goes, it is going to get interesting. Hopefully it is not a shut out but it seems like more and more riders in the peloton are calling the L.A. card. Personally, I am a Contador fan and he is my GC pick on my fantasy team. Like Hemingway's bullfighter in the Sun Also Rises, he has a graceful and smooth style that is a joy to watch. I like Kloden as well but he will be working for the team this year. The press is continuously watering the tension that they claim exists between Lance and Alberto in hopes of seeing a Hinault/Lemond replay sprout up but I think they are both above that. Who knows though, you can never underestimate the ego when it comes to cycling, that is the one thing you can count on. The Alps are a whole different ball game.
I will brag on my fantasy tour team that came in 35th on Saturday out of what 50,000 teams?! Too bad I had 3 of the top 4 finishers on my team for the stage and 4 in the top 10 but not the winner. Forgetting to change my lineup after the TTT leaving the winner of stage 5, Veockler, on my bench did not help my overall standings either. Oh well, I am still having fun with it.
Did a little tour stage of my own on Saturday. I love this view of Sawtooth, one of my favorite peaks.
Jessica and I hit Summit County on Sunday and rode some great trails. No camera that day but the trails are epic on the other side of the tunnel right now. Everything over here is slipping into summer conditions so we are trying to get out of town as much as possible to mix things up.
Stay tuned for more timely posts and possible road trip in the near future!
As far as Le Tour goes, it is going to get interesting. Hopefully it is not a shut out but it seems like more and more riders in the peloton are calling the L.A. card. Personally, I am a Contador fan and he is my GC pick on my fantasy team. Like Hemingway's bullfighter in the Sun Also Rises, he has a graceful and smooth style that is a joy to watch. I like Kloden as well but he will be working for the team this year. The press is continuously watering the tension that they claim exists between Lance and Alberto in hopes of seeing a Hinault/Lemond replay sprout up but I think they are both above that. Who knows though, you can never underestimate the ego when it comes to cycling, that is the one thing you can count on. The Alps are a whole different ball game.
I will brag on my fantasy tour team that came in 35th on Saturday out of what 50,000 teams?! Too bad I had 3 of the top 4 finishers on my team for the stage and 4 in the top 10 but not the winner. Forgetting to change my lineup after the TTT leaving the winner of stage 5, Veockler, on my bench did not help my overall standings either. Oh well, I am still having fun with it.
Did a little tour stage of my own on Saturday. I love this view of Sawtooth, one of my favorite peaks.
Jessica and I hit Summit County on Sunday and rode some great trails. No camera that day but the trails are epic on the other side of the tunnel right now. Everything over here is slipping into summer conditions so we are trying to get out of town as much as possible to mix things up.
Stay tuned for more timely posts and possible road trip in the near future!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
4th
We have a winner at the house and it's not me!
Congratulations to Jessica for WINNING the women's Singlespeed class at the Firecracker50! The 4 rider class looked very competitive and despite the prerace doubts, it ended with Jessica 1st, Kara 2nd, Jaime K. 3rd, and Amy H, DNF. What a great job!!!
Tim came up from Santa Fe and ripped a 5:18 in his first Firecracker, and to think he was shooting for 6hrs...nice work! Also, congrats to Isaac who came up with the NM crew and took an impressive 2nd place in men's SS, excellent work! Oh to be young again. Matt came up with the crew as well and rode tough but I do not know his last name and category so I am unsure of his time but I do remember it was a very respectable.
The course was tacky and fun this year and I was happy with my time despite an off/on 2nd lap, which I thought would be the case due to lack of long mtn rides this past month. I also over did it on the food and drink intake/combo and I definitely paid for it at the end of the 1st and much of the 2nd lap. Despite my ill stomach, I gave the Wild Turkey challenge a go on the second lap after jumping the makeshift ramp. Big ups to TWISE for doing the same. When in doubt, just hit a little whiskey. It didn't faze me either way actually but I seemed to entertain the colorful roadside crew with my exaggerated jump off the 6in ramp.
As usual, there were heaps of strong women on the course and I was able to hook onto some wheels during both laps on the initial climb out of town, thanks ladies! I love tempo pace climbing and strong geared riders were perfect for setting the pace out of town.
The good thing about the FC50 is, you can bonk and still have time to recover so anything can happen. Even when you're down, you're not out. I started to feel good again a little over halfway through the 2nd lap but I had already lost some time due to my poor judgement in food intake then the climb up Little French to Flume hit my like the 2nd punch of a good combo. It does feel great when you top that one out and start down though. I am waiting for the split times to see just how bad I cracked. I was feeling good by the end and I made across the line with a time of 4:43.
Maybe a pic or two to come later. In the meantime, check official results to see times.
I will leave you with one result I found impressive, Steve Becker of Prescott, Open men 60+ finished in 4:55, incredible and inspiring!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Indy day
Wouldn't you know it, the replacement IF showed up 3+ weeks early. I will say it looks much better than these late evening photos could possibly translate. Too bad I don't have the parts right now to get it up and running but all in good time.
Heading up this afternoon to Brek to take a poke at last years Firecracker50 time. I am throwing the dice a little by gearing for the climbs but I think it will all work out in the end. I will say this is the easiest gear I have ever ridden on a singlespeed mtn bike. We shall see how the chips fall.
Meeting the new mexican crew up there as well so it should be quite the social affair. I am feeling a little off my game right now but this will still be a great event and maybe I can find someone nice to pace me up the climbs out of town, hint hint.
Happy Cat Day!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
back in the saddle
One of only two shots I took last weekend when we rode the bus to Ned from town and rode back down. We got destroyed on the way home on this one. Just a firestorm of hail, lightening, and pouring rain. In other words, a normal ride in these parts.
It has been a rough few weeks if we start talking about riding. Constant rain, work, and bike issues have been keeping a good man down. Hopefully we have turned a corner though and the summer will actually arrive this week as predicted.
A few of us drank semi pro Saturday evening and what an evening it was. Great company, food, and wine made the evening rip by and I soon found myself installing my BB and cranks on the new Niner frame at 2:30am. Amazingly, nothing fell off today on my ride.
Rabbit's eye view of the trail.
Here is the new frame. I will eventually have another setup when I can score a few things to build up the replacement IF but I am happy with the Niner One9 for now and the IF is still being built. I was able to get a nice ride in today despite the late Saturday night but I will save the initial ride impressions until I get one or two more good ones in. I will say, despite all the obvious differences one experiences on a new bike, I enjoyed the ride today.
I will be off the couch for Firecracker 50 which is lame but oh well. I am hoping to get a good week in starting tomorrow though and we will go from there.
OK, try to avoid a case of the Monday's tomorrow. Cheers
It has been a rough few weeks if we start talking about riding. Constant rain, work, and bike issues have been keeping a good man down. Hopefully we have turned a corner though and the summer will actually arrive this week as predicted.
A few of us drank semi pro Saturday evening and what an evening it was. Great company, food, and wine made the evening rip by and I soon found myself installing my BB and cranks on the new Niner frame at 2:30am. Amazingly, nothing fell off today on my ride.
Rabbit's eye view of the trail.
Here is the new frame. I will eventually have another setup when I can score a few things to build up the replacement IF but I am happy with the Niner One9 for now and the IF is still being built. I was able to get a nice ride in today despite the late Saturday night but I will save the initial ride impressions until I get one or two more good ones in. I will say, despite all the obvious differences one experiences on a new bike, I enjoyed the ride today.
I will be off the couch for Firecracker 50 which is lame but oh well. I am hoping to get a good week in starting tomorrow though and we will go from there.
OK, try to avoid a case of the Monday's tomorrow. Cheers
Thursday, June 11, 2009
riders on the storm
riding between the clouds lately and sometimes under them. we headed out of town last weekend to get a little 5 digit altitude. we needed to get away even if the weather was a crap shoot. the homogenized front range trails just do not cut it this time of year, i need it raw and unpasteurized.
what's wrong with this picture? oh yeah, blue skies and sunshine, where are we?
a little slice of heaven
making our way up a climb
sunday found us chancing a higher elevation ride that I have only done once before. since we were up in these parts, we decided to try it even though hitting snow patches was inevitable. the weather was what we have come to expect these days and I would say we were lucky given our location. when it was 40 and spitting snow, we may have thought differently though.
the path less traveled
i enjoyed discovering this little rock. seeing things like this confirm that very few make out to these parts to disturb the surroundings
snow patches were abundant and light snow actually fell on us for a bit as we kissed 10k ft elevation
one of the roads down was still holding a nice stash
rides during the week have been less interesting but continue to help me maintain partial sanity. i have been looping crazy dirt roads and trails together when the more conventional trails are too muddy to ride and have come up with a few fun rides to pass the time
heading back down from one such ride this evening. until next time
what's wrong with this picture? oh yeah, blue skies and sunshine, where are we?
a little slice of heaven
making our way up a climb
sunday found us chancing a higher elevation ride that I have only done once before. since we were up in these parts, we decided to try it even though hitting snow patches was inevitable. the weather was what we have come to expect these days and I would say we were lucky given our location. when it was 40 and spitting snow, we may have thought differently though.
the path less traveled
i enjoyed discovering this little rock. seeing things like this confirm that very few make out to these parts to disturb the surroundings
snow patches were abundant and light snow actually fell on us for a bit as we kissed 10k ft elevation
one of the roads down was still holding a nice stash
rides during the week have been less interesting but continue to help me maintain partial sanity. i have been looping crazy dirt roads and trails together when the more conventional trails are too muddy to ride and have come up with a few fun rides to pass the time
heading back down from one such ride this evening. until next time
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