Thru Endurance We Conquer!

Nick's off riding the Colorado Trail again. I dropped him off at the Indian Creek Trailhead this morning, and then rode with them down to the junction with the Colorado Trail. He and Greg decided to ride that instead of starting at Waterton Canyon because it starts with single track right away. Waterton Canyon is a service road for one of the dams on the South Platte and can get pretty busy with runners and riders early in the day. Riding a fun section of single track sounded better to the boys, so that's where we went. Dan, the guy Nick rode with last year (and who was planning on joining the ride until he crashed and hurt his shoulder) met us at the trailhead and rode with us to the junction. It was a pretty good ride - I did wipe out twice and have a nice scrap on my left knee to show for it. Made the obstacle, then ran off the trail into the bushes! It will be interesting to see how Greg handles the altitude on some of the sections of the trail. He was amazed at how much t...

Well, after the Fat Tire 40 in June, I figured that I would take advantage of a local marathon mountain bike - the Falcon 100km. It's 5 laps of the Falcon trail at the Air Force Academy. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now... Not so sure about that! It's going to be a long day on the bike, with no garuntee that I'll even get all five laps done. The race starts at 9:30 - which seems awfully late for a race of that length - and racers will not be able to start another lap after 3:30. It shouldn't be an issue based on the times I've ridden in training, but it's still cutting it pretty close. There will be a lot of athletes who might not get all five laps done. Oh well, not my race. I'm just showing up and riding my bike! I feel so unprepared for the race. I haven't really done any long rides - at least nothing over three hours. I also haven't planned out eating and drinking at all. I have no clue what I'm going to eat when and what cam...

I have not forgotten how to ride my tri bike. Since I am doing Silverman in November, I figured that I needed to start getting some time in on my tri bike. I honestly haven't ridden it since, oh, March? I've done road rides, sure, but on my road bike. So I had to pull the trainer tire off and get everything ready to ride. The plan was to head to Fountain and do the Hanover loop. It's a low traffic, moderatly hill loop that takes me about two hours. But as the day gets later, the wind gets stronger. I was taking a chance by leaving later in the day. I had a pretty strong headwind on the east bound road, but was able to settle into aero and make good time. Turning south, I still had a head wind. This time, it slowed me down a little. Luckly, the nasty dog wasn't out today and I didn't need to worry about sprinting to avoid him. Turning west, and I had a tail wind, but the road had been freshly chip sealed. Even on the tri bike, I can't avoid riding on gravel and d...

Sunday after the Beaver Creek race, Nick and I loaded up the car and headed for Wellington Lake. (After we watched the tour, ate lunch.... It was a very late start) The plan was to go for a nice, relaxed overnight hike and get away for a bit. Nick also wanted to see what the Colorado Trail through the Lost Creek Wilderness was like. When he did the CTR last year, it was one of the stretches he was not allowed to ride - bikes are not allowed in the wilderness areas.We parked at the Rolling Creek trail head for the Colorado Trail and headed west. The first two miles were outside the wilderness area and were a gentle rolling to steeper climb. Just before the start of the wilderness, the trail turned into an old logging road. It was pretty easy hiking and we were making pretty good time. The idea was to get to the trail head on the west side of the wilderness area, turn around and find a good campsite, make camp, then get up and have a easy hike home. We passed a few other hikers. One ...

The Xterra Mountain Championships in Beaver Creek turned out to be a good day and a good race. The water was brisk, the climb steep and single track fun, and the run challenging. Shonny V defended her title from last year, finishing in 2:31:58. Sara T held off a fast cycling Jenny S for second while Emma claimed fourth and Suzie S finished fifth in her first pro race. I had my best finish of the season in 6th and I really had to work hard to get it. I'm pleased with my performace and my race. It was a good finish for my first year racing the USA tour and I will be heading to the USA Championships in 6th in the series.

All I have to say is that I forgot how steep that darn hill was. Uff-dah. Nick and I got to Avon/Beaver Creek for the Xterra Mountain Championships on Thursday and the first goal was to get on the bike course and pre-ride. We parked near Nottingham Lake in Avon and started right at the transition. And the minute we crossed US 6, the course pointed up. And Nick had not had a chance to put gears on his bike - still single speed from the race last weekend. But seriously, this is a brutal hard course, with nothing but climbing for the first half of the race. It's a good mix of single track and narrow double track for the first half of the climb. After the water station, the Championship race points up again, on blacktop and dirt roads to the top of Arrowhead mountain. It's a fast road and single track descent to the Village to Village trail, which connects Arrowhead to the Beaver Creek Mountain. After the rolling and false flat of Village to Village, the course pops out for another...

A success full weekend of racing that the Blast the Mass MSC race weekend. Nick raced in the singlespeed class for both the short track and the cross country. He had an awesome weekend with his one gear, winning both races! First wins in the MSC races for Nick and this was a brutal course for a single speed. My cross country race also went well, winning the 30-39 Cat 1 women's race. The riding was challenging and loads of fun.

Finally in Snowmass for the Blast the Mass cross country event. We pre-rode the long course yesterday and it's a lot of fun. I'm not sure I'll be able to get on the course today to ride the short loop because we criss cross the Super D course and one of the DH races. The climb is long and quite the slog uphill.  It is mostly single track and through some really pretty areas. I was spinning in my granny gear a few times on the pre-ride, but I think I'll avoid that for the race. After the climb, the course traverses the mountain, again mostly on single track. There were plenty of stream crossings, rock gardens and root fields. We did share the trail with the Down Hill races for about a quarter of a mile - and we were descending as fast as some of them! Finally the long and short loops split off. We took the long loop and continued east on the Goverment trail. Again, plenty of rocks, roots and stream crossings. Then we turned straight down hill. Once again, I was chattin...

When I found out that the Wild Flower Rush MSC race would be the epic Fat Tire 40, I was a little concerned. I'd never riden my mountain bike for that long under training situations, let alone in a race situation. I had also heard that the course was technical, challenging and had the potential for a long day on the bike. And after riding/racing for over 5 hours on Saturday, I have to say that was the hardest and one of the prettiest rides I have ever done. It was mostly single track or double track, with long sustained climbs, fast technical descents and plenty of fun riding in between. It was a challenge for sure and a good awakening for the world of Marathon Mountain Bike Racing.

While I was busy rebuilding bikes, several of the Women's Mountain Biking Association of Colorado Springs (WOMBA) were racing in the Firecracker 50 mtb race in Breck. This was the USAC National Marathon Mountain Bike championships and there were a lot of good riders. WOMBA did great, sweeping the Women 30-39 podium in the Championship event. Kennon, Kim, and Tracy turned in outstanding performances on challenging course. Hillary finished second in the Women's SingleSpeed Championship event and several other WOMBA race team members competed in the relay race. It's great to see local riders and friends do so well. It's also great because of the amount of work the WOMBA ladies put into the local riding community. Its all about getting women out on the trails, teaching skills and encouraging new riders. With group rides for riders of all levels and other events WOMBA is a great resource and organization for Colorado Springs women interested in mountain biking.

Well, it's done. After the latest series of mechanical issues with my Tomac, I decided that I could not take the risk again. I rode the Era for the Crested Butte Fat Tire 40 (race report coming, I promise) and had a great race. But I also took over a pound weight penalty for choosing that bike. So Nick and I talked it over and decided to strip both bikes down and swap components and wheels. That way, the lighter race quality group would be on the bike I planned on racing the rest of the season. Mid season is never a good time to make such a radical change, but... So Thursday I stripped everything off the Tomac, from wheels to fork to bottom bracket. I cleaned everything, inspected everything and set it aside. I also pulled the lighter tires off my ZTR race wheels. The plan was to keep the tires off the Era with that bike. Friday, I repeated the process with the Era. Stripped everything off and cleaned it all real well. Scary, having both bikes in peices at the same time! Saturday...

There is a Golden eagle that lives near the track I use for speed workouts. Last week, he was perched on the utility shed, scanning the shrubs for food. I saw him make a few kills while I was running. He would lift off from the roof, float a few moments then hurtle down with talons extended. I don't know what he got, but he always spent a few minutes pulling something apart. He stayed almost my whole workout, at least until a pair of robins decided he was too close to their nest. The robins were maybe an eighth as big as the eagle, but persistant and annoying. Finally, he gave up the hunt and flew off. He was back yesterday. As I was finishing my warmup lap, he was in the bushed near the north end of the track. As he flew off, I saw the small bird cluched in his talons. Made me think about all the people who are out and about but never see anything. All the gadgets - ipods, phones - isolate us from reality. We miss so much of what happens around us now. And then I had to focus on ...