Thru Endurance We Conquer!

Now I remember why Nick insisted we couldn't do 25 Hours of Frog Hollow  before. Winter weather can be so finicky in Colorado and the Turtle wouldn't manage. We left COS after work, knowing the I70 corridor was already getting hit hard with snow. But we headed south to avoid the Denver mess. Only to find our own snow. Monarch Pass was slick and icy in spots - the kind of traction the Turtle wouldn't handle well. Fresh snow dusted the trees, a white layer of icing the dark tree. There was a thin layer of fog hugging the ground as we approached the top of the pass. Slow and delicate driving. The van handled it well and we had no issues. After Gunnison we hit more snow. The narrow, winding road between Blue Mesa and Cerro Summit narrowed into the fog and snow. The trees, covered in frosting of snow, gleamed in the headlights of the van. Black ice covered the road, blending with the pavement. The fog was thicker here, nearly obscuring the rain. Slow driving but just fine in th...

Last year it was 24 Hours in the Enchanted Forest for our adventure race. This year? A race I've wanted to do since it started - 25 Hours of Frog Hollow. I'm not sure why, but even before I really got into mountain biking it just sounded like fun. And silly - timing a race over Daylight Saving so we have to ride the 2:00 am lap over again. I didn't know how they did it, but it just sounded cool. Never worked out for us to get there. At first it was because of Silverman - not too smart to do a 25 hour race before an iron distance triathlon! Then it was the travel that was the limiter. The Turtle wouldn't make it over the mountains on a good day, let alone in winter. So the race stayed on the radar and the wish list. Finally - this year we decided it was time. With the van being a little faster and more mobile then the Turtle, we could actually make it. So off to Hurricane, UT! This should be a super fun trip and an awesome race. New trails I've heard so much about,...

It was actually a treat to do my workout this morning. I was originally planning on doing the intervals then meeting the crew for a fun night ride. But my work schedule is crazy this week and I had family conference late. I wasn't sure I'd have enough time for it all before the night ride started. So I got every thing ready last night for a predawn pedal. Lights for my helmet and bars - Exposure Diablo on my helmet and the Toro on my bars. Light wouldn't be the limiting factor as to how early I could leave! It would be the temperature. I've been running in the morning and it's been chilly. So I laid out my warm clothes - wool base layer, long sleeved jersey and Gore jacket   My "winter" gloves, wool Swiftwick socks, leg warmers and booties. Enough to tackle the 25° chill. I was ready to go - my own private sunrise lap before work! It was still night dark when I left the house, the stars glinting in the navy sky. The moon was bright, but only half a circle ...

Motivational quotes extort us that "a goal without action is only a wish - take action!" It sounds so simple - once you have a goal in mind, all you have to do to reach it is work hard. In reality, it is anything but simple. How hard you willing to work to achieve a goal? Are you going to head out in all conditions - cold, rain, snow and darkness to put forth the effort needed? What intermediate steps will need to be planned out to reach that ultimate goal? The planning alone can make long term seem unreachable. How long will you wait and work towards your goals? What sacrifices need to be made and which ones will you actually make? Going to bed early, getting up early, declining some social events. Are the long term goals worth all that? All good questions and ones the must be pondered when setting goals. It's no good to reach for lofty goals without the willingness and desire to work for them. That's just setting up for failure. The experts also have all kinda of gr...

Time for some geeking out about numbers. Thanks to Nick, I've had a power meter on my Fate for 10 months. I've been riding that bike consistantly for workouts, gathering data and numbers. I haven't been the best about learning what it all means - still trying and working on that part. It's also harder to monitor power on the mountain bike since a lot of that is terrain dictated. If I don't spike the effort, I'm not getting through the rock garden, no matter how easy the ride is supposed to be. But that's besides the point. The real fun - and benefit of the power meter is the ability to compare workouts, analyze the numbers and see quantifiable proof of improvement. I can take my fate to the same trail, or the same stretch road and do the same workout as a few months ago. Instead of going "well, that was hard. I must be getting stronger." I can download the workout files and compare side to side. Did I really work harder or was it something else? I...

Well, got that out of the way! It's a fact of life when riding a new bike - there will be plenty of firsts. The one I always want to get over with is the first major crash - the first bruise inducing wipe out. It's bound to happen sooner or later, but until it does, there's that fear. Of falling, of dinging or scratching the new bike. My bruises heal, but a scratch in the pristine black frame? Yikes! I know it's inevitable, I've already whacked the crank arms and the bash guard - yay bash guards! But until Sunday, I'd managed to keep the rubber side down. The good news is, now that I've gotten my first bruises out of the way, I can relax and have fun on my bike!   And I can't think of a better place then Monument. Every time we go there, I get to ride something new. When Jon joins us, it's even better. He's the local trail guru and master planner, so he knows all the secrets. Sunday was no exception. We did something completely different and...

It's kinda funny. Back in 2006, I was doing lots of road tris and wanted a real Tri bike. Finally got one - the Cervelo P3C. And I loved that bike. It was my little rocket ship - quick, responsive and oh so fast. It was also one of the only bikes I got to test ride, which was one of the reasons I fell in love with it. I was focused on road tris at that time and did most of my riding on that bike. Then things started shifting. I began transitioning away from the road tris and more into mountain biking and Xterras. I started riding my Cervelo less and less, turning towards the other bikes in my fleet. I was also doing fewer road tris and more other events. 2008 was the last big year of road tris, with three 70.3 races and three 104.6 races. In 2009 I did only two road tris, spending most of my racing time on fat tires. In 2010, it was only one race. And 2011, the Cervelo wasn't even taken off the rack for racing. All of my events were on the mountain bike. After another year of s...

I used to roll my eyes at Nick when I worked down in Pueblo, thinking he was being silly. Why? Well, I would ride my bike at Lake Pueblo after work all the time. I was riding alone, on trails I knew and on the easier trails. My rides were usually pretty short - between 60 - 90 minutes. Sometimes I'd run as well, or just run depending on what my workout plans were. But it didn't matter what I was doing. Nick always wanted to know when I left the car, where I was going and how long I was planning on riding or running. And when he wanted to know where, he literally meant all the trails I was thinking about running. Such as - out duke, up rodeo, down rattlesnake, up skull canyon, roller coaster to Stonehenge, up rock canyon... Etc, etc. He wanted a text when I left the car and a text when I got back. Wow. Super detailed for such a short ride. And nothing ever happened. I stuck to my routes (mostly) and behaved. I hardly ever saw another person out on the trails, which made the rid...

After a sluggish ride Saturday, it was time to rethink our plans for Sunday. We both wanted to ride, but I knew I wasn't up for a long day on the bike. So we did some driving, checking some things out and then settled on a short loop in the same area we'd ridden on Saturday. On the map it was the Wagon Loop Trail, Colorado Trail and Brown's Creek Trails. A very short loop, but with some steady climbing. It also happened to be a very heavily horsed trail - the sand and divots were very difficult to ride in. The climb wouldn't have been too bad if it hadn't been as loose and sandy as it was. But it was good practice for me to keep my weight low and for the even power needed to get up the rocky and sandy steep climbs. Once on the CT, it was a little easier - I was more comfortable with the trail and knew where to look for the tricky parts. We reached one of the trail junctions, where the Brown's Creek trail joined the CT for a while. The sign said Brown's Creek...

Waking up to a pretty sunrise With Kenosha ruled out, we opted to head to BV and do some more vapor scouting with the ride. There was fresh snow, biting wind and cold temperatures that morning, so whatever we did, it would have to stay low. No high alpine trails today. That left the Colorado Trail. The second segment of the VT125 is on the CT from Blanks Cabin to the Narrow Gauge trail. We'd ridden part of that the last time we were out there, so now was the chance to ride the rest of it. We parked at Raspberry Gulch and quickly got organized to ride. The wind has just died down and it was surprisingly comfortable in the trees. On the CT - Fall is in the air and the Aspens! Another shot of the CT and the aspens Ugh - this hill is steep and you're making me ride it! We headed south on the CT and it was quickly evident that I was tired. Very tired. I was sluggish on the gradual climbs and struggling on the steep and rocky sections. And it seemed like we did...

Clouds over the mountains behind Como At the Gold Dust trailhead - looks like a great day for a ride! After Nick finished rocking the backyard, it was time to escape the city for the weekend. We loaded up the stumpjumpers and headed west. No plans, no agenda. Just time to search for some fresh trails to ride. We were hoping to hit Kenosha and Georgia passes and do some leaf peeping on the ride. But the first stop was Como to ride the lower section of Gold Dust. As we drove up 285, we could see the blowing snow and clouds descending down the mountains. Guess we were gonna keep the ride really low and try to stay out of the wind! But despite the cold temperatures and occasional flakes, we were still gonna ride. It just meant we would bundle up a little more. There's no bad weather, just bad clothes! End of Gold Dust - before the snow hit. Start of our section of Gold Dust - yep, it's a little like winter out here! As we headed north on Boreas Pass Road, the...