425 The Ride Never Stops

jinxed again

2006-11-05T21:48:00.000-05:00

Weekend started great. We stopped at Hanson Hills for a lap on Friday then headed to Traverse City to check in and get ready for the race on Saturday. I decided that I didn't need to race which was good since we got to the start line late again and ended up at the back of our start wave. My plan was to ride fast but not to race. I planned to ride with Darrin for at least the first 30 minutes as a warm-up and then let my legs tell me what came next.

Well, for the second year in a row my equipment had other ideas. I left the start line and my right foot didn't feel right on the pedal. I thought maybe I had a loose cleat and considered pulling over to check it out. I pulled my cleat out a couple of times and re-seated it in the pedal and it still didn't feel right. Continued on feeling good about my gearing choice and happy to be starting the race at a reasonable pace. Just after the 3 mile mark, I pulled my foot again to re-seat the cleat and looked down to see half my pedal missing. Stopped to inspect the damage and found that the spindle had snapped in half leaving about 1/2 inch left sticking out from the crank. My race was over. I decided that riding backwards on the course was not smart and continued on with one pedal. I was having fun and considered riding the course until I could take some back roads to the finish. As things got more technical I decided it would be best to take back roads back to the start line and pick up Brian's car. I ended up riding 17 miles on one pedal and got back to the car in snow and riding the last 5 miles into a stiff headwind along M72 with 60 mph traffic zooming by me. Not the way I wanted my first singlespeed race to end up . c'est la vie.

Snow man?

2006-11-02T20:50:00.000-05:00

Forecast calls for up to 6 inches of snow btw now and the race. Should be interesting. A 27 mile adventure ride.

4000 miles this year

2006-11-01T17:47:00.000-05:00

I just added up my mileage for October and verified that I have ridden 4059 miles this year. This work and moving thing is getting in the way over the last month. I don't think I will be anywhere near 5000 miles by the end of the year.

Oh well the reason I won't hit 5000 is because this year I will shatter all records for days on the snow. More to come.

Gotta love Michigan Weather

2006-10-31T03:42:00.000-05:00

It rained all day Saturday, didn't get to ride which was OK with all the things going on on the homefront. Sunday was a wash again due to personal stuff. Then along came yesterday.

What a beautiful day and I wasn't going to waste it. Sunny and temps in the mid-60s. Is this the end of October or September? Cut out of work early and got on the bike thinking I would get in 2 hours by riding the SS to Commerce doing a couple of laps and heading home. The riding was fun and Darrin and I did some exploring on the way home. By the time I got home, I had logged almost 3 hours in the saddle. So much for a taper before Iceman. Can't wasted good weather when it is supposed to be wet and cold the rest of the week.

Who knows what the weather will be up north for Iceman on Saturday. Guess I may finally get to see the legendary conditions, hope I choose the right gearing on my singlespeed. Either way it will be fun to spend the weekend with my buddies.

Back to Michigan

2006-10-19T10:36:00.000-04:00

Well, didn't get to do a lot of riding in Colorado. This was more of a work trip. As I mentioned before we are looking at a biz opportunity out there but I don't want to say what it is unless it goes thru. Superstitious I guess.

Only rode 5 of 8 days and none of them were much over an hour. Between crappy weather and being busy I couldn't dedicate a half day to riding like I do on vacation in July. Got home and found out the weather sucked here as well so I guess I didn't miss anything but two 20 hour drives in 9 days definitely hurt.

On the positive front, I tallied up my mileage for this year and sometime last week I surpassed my total mileage for all of last year! I am honing in on 4000 miles and might have a chance at 5000 but it is doubtful with winter approaching and a potential move to the mountains. Still I am very happy considering the challenges I had to overcome in the middle of my year.

Next up is Iceman . I am doing it on a rigid singlespeed this year. Still trying to decide if I should take it seriously or go for the rockstar award with my buddies. Guess the decision will be made on Friday night.

That's all for now. Lates

Off to Colorado

2006-10-06T17:35:00.000-04:00

The van is packed and we head out tomorrow morning for a 20 hour drive to Vail. Going for 8 days to check out an interesting opportunity. Will let the cat out of the bag if it becomes certain.

Stupid Rain

2006-10-04T11:14:00.000-04:00

Mother nature has been very fickle lately. Seems like it is raining everyday. I took Friday off, got rained out on Saturday then could not get on the bike Monday due to packing for our trip to Vail this week. We had a monsoon Monday night so my best option yesterday was to hit the roads. Managed to work in a commute to and from work for 56 miles total. We have another nasty weather system rolling in now that might keep me off the bike again.

Only good news is it was so warm yesterday we had our last boat night of the year. I finally slept on the boat as well. Didn't anchor out but slept under the shorestation canopy to be safe from any possible rain. Slept great, should have done this sooner.

Off to do my sun dance

Fall riding is awesome

2006-09-27T20:53:00.000-04:00

Went for a fun ride yesterday at Highland. I wanted to take the pups out for some singletrack since they haven't been for a run in more than 2 weeks. They were getting mighty frisky breaking out of the yard, play fighting every morning etc.

Met up with Darrin on the SS and he had the same. We planned a medium ride since the dogs are a little out of shape and he had a hockey game last night. Hit the best singletrack in SE Michigan and had a blast. This week I am in one of those zones where I hit all my lines perfect and hardly have to hit the brakes at all. We got to the top of A loop and decided to hit up the shorter but much more technical D loop over the standard B loop. The trail was in great shape, the TC obviously has been doing a lot of work trimming the trail, creating re-routes and making it just plain better. The best part of all (OK, second best the best comes in a sec) was that the trail has really started to wear in and the rocks are getting WAY more exposed. I cleaned the whole loop without a crash for the first time ever. About half way through D Loop Brady decided to put in an attack. We dropped Darrin and I chased her the remaininder of the loop. It was soo cool to follow her lead. I could use her to measure where the tight turns were and where it was plain smooth flo. So much fun! I don't think I have ever ridden that loop so fast. (gotta get a helmet cam for such occasions) Not sure who got who hooked on the swervy, flow-ee bombing down the singeltrack but everytime Brady hit a fast twisty section she stepped on the gas. What a great ride! if the pups weren't so tired and hungry I would have gone out for another hour.

Today I headed out to Pontiac Lk to try and get in 2 laps before the storm front that was supposed to hit this afternoon. Snapped my chain on the 2 mile climb and did not have a section of replacement chain. Fortunately I was able to force the 9 speed speed link in and get the chain back in running condition. Just as I put the chain back on the skies opened up. So much for 2 laps, let's just hope I can get one in and make it safely back to the truck without getting hit by lightning. Rode a conservative ride but at a good pace and ran a couple of hill tops Ended up with one of my better times at 51 minutes. What fun, too bad the rain was still falling and the trail was too wet for a second lap. Headed home destroying the inside of my car and wouldn't you know it the skies cleared in the afternoon. Oh well, still had a fun day even if I had to spend an hour cleaning up the bike.

Triple Trail Challenge

2006-09-25T09:36:00.000-04:00

Well, I got rained out of another epic ride. Saturday was supposed to be my first MTB Century. Once again Mother Nature decided to put a damper on my plans. I was supposed to get up at the crack on Saturday and ride 40 plus miles at Brighton and Island Lk then head over to the Triple Trail Challenge at Poto to get in the rest of my 100 miles. The weather forecast didn't look good but I stayed optimistic that we could get the ride in. Then at about 11pm on Friday, the skies opened up and we had one of those storms where it seems the world is going to end. Called Darrin and Mike and we pulled the plug on the ride. Even if it stopped raining it would not be responsible to hit the trails first thing in the morning. We would do them and our bikes more harm than good.

I ended up staying up late calming down Brady our dog who hates T-storms. Woke up Saturday morning to a damp but warm day. Had some thoughts about doing the Triple Trail still but also thought I might save my legs to make another go at the century on Sunday. Went out to breakfast and ate a chili and cheese omelette, something I would never eat before riding. Just imagine burping up that Hormel chili for 4 hours or more. Went home and got a call from Darrin. We talked about plans for Sunday but he also urged me to hit the Triple Trail without him if I felt inclined. After a little thought and checking the weather for Sunday I was convinced that a century was not going to happen this week. I called Mike to see if he wanted to do the Triple Trail with me. It is a once a year time to ride at Waterloo so we both decided to give it a go. We got to the Trailhead around noon, 2 hours after organizers had set the cut off time for departures.

Not much to report on the ride. It was damp but warm so as a whole conditions were excellent. The trail was tacky with just a few mud puddles and the route was well marked, so long as you paid attention. Only made 2 navigation errors before we started to pay attention to the orange paint and ribbons marking the route. Hats off the the Poto Chapter of the MMBA for putting this together. It is a great ride linking some sweet singletrack and dirt roads for a good 46 mile day in the saddle. Felt pretty good all day and tried to ride under control but some of the hills really got me heart screaming. Post ride analysis confirms that I hit 188 bpm on one of the early climbs. At least my heart didn't explode.

Oh yeah and did I mention that I did the ride on a fully rigid bike? Yep, I was too lazy to swap the Reba back onto my geared X Cal and too nervous to attempt the ride on a single speed. Didn't get to bomb the Poto downhills like normal since the bumps on the rigid were rattling my brains so much I had trouble picking a clean line. Still it was fun to pick my way down the hills and launch the drops knowing that I had to be perfect to stay on the bike. Only had one crash and that was on a low speed climb. Just missed getting over a root and couldn't unclip in time to save myself. Bruised my palm and rode the remaining 3 hours with a sore left hand.

On another front, it looks real good for buying The Kind. It is a bike shop owned by a friend of our out in Vail. More on that as it gets more likely.

Car vs. Bike

2006-09-20T09:12:00.000-04:00

No I did not have another accident, just was reading one of my favorite blogs and Dicky had a great write-up about sharing the roads with cars. Here is a link to his blog entry. As I read it I thought he was reading my mind. Every point he made was spot on with my feelings and beliefs, I could not disagree with anything he said and could not agree more with all of it.

I love to ride on the roads and was always pretty careful before my accident. I realize there is one mistake I made that fateful day. I was not as diligent as is necessary as I approached that intersection. Whether it is rush hour or a lazy Sunday afternoon, when riding on the road you must always be attentive of your surroundings. That day I hopped on my bike for a quick training ride, my mind was elsewhere. It was a beautiful day and I was going to be attending the Pistons playoff game that evening with a friend. As I rode down the road, I was in a Zen like state but got a little too far into a relaxed state, then bam I was hit by a driver in a hurry. I am thinking my relaxed day dreaming state might explain the fact that I have no memory of the accident. It really did just hit me out of the blue. Now I am not saying that the accident is my fault but I am thinking that if I were more attentive, I might have been able to swerve to avoid most of the impact.

You can be assured that since that day I never stop paying attention to everything around me. My head is on a swivel at all times and my eyes and ears are constantly scanning for potential hazards. It can actually be a really cool experience. You end up seeing things that you wouldn't normally see and they are usually entertaining or at least amusing.

Now if only we could get drivers to be a little more aware of their surroundings and the impact they have on their fellow man.

slowing down for a short time.

2006-09-18T09:16:00.000-04:00

I was supposed to do a 12 hour race this past weekend but with life getting hectic for Kelly and none of my friends available to join me I decided to not be selfish and stay home with the wife and enjoy some downtime. Did a bunch of yardwork and saw friends. Pretty tired today from digging all day yesterday.

Going to take it easy this week as I prepare to finally complete one of my goals this year... a 100 mile mountain bike ride. Since there are no organized hundies left this year, I am going to use another event as the foundation for my dirt century. This Saturday is the Triple Trail Challenge starting out at Poto. I plan to get up early, ride for 3 hours before and then join this 48 mile loop to put together 100 miles. Got to make sure I freshen up the legs this week and don't overdo it so I feel fresh on Saturday. Can't wait, just hope the weather cooperates.

Adventure Rides - new motivation

2006-09-06T08:26:00.000-04:00

Usually in the fall I get the itch to go on some adventure rides. These are rides off the beaten path, checking out trails that I have seen along the road or shooting off from the traditional loops I ride. After getting the GPS, my itch flared up a little early this year. Thank goodness since I was getting slightly bored with the same old same old.

Went to Pontiac Lake last Thursday evening and planned to meet up with Darrin. He was running late so I decided to do some adventure riding rather than do a loop. I went to the NE corner of the park and found some sweet singletrack stashes that are not on the maps but definitely being kept up by the locals. I rode for an hour with only about 10 minutes on the regular trail. I met up with Darrin and we set out for more adventure. Ended up hitting the same trails plus some horse trails and a hiking trail. What fun. It was like we were in a whole new trail system. With the GPS I am able to figure out where we were and we have put together a pretty sweet larger loop for some new flava.

Went out last night for a backroads ride to hit some of the hills by Proud Lake. After hammering up the climb on Buno Rd which got my heart redlining, I was riding by the horse trails at Proud Lake and decided to improvise on my ride. The horse trails were super buff with very little poop only a few logs that couldn't be ridden. What a super-fun surprise! Super twisty with lots of short steep climbs that keep you on you toes. Will definitely be hitting this one up again this fall. It will work out great as part of a long backroads ride.

Thanks GPS for helping with my fall re-kindling of love for the woods.

Stupid Rain

2006-08-30T09:40:00.000-04:00

Didn't make my 200 mile week. Darn rain really derailed my plans. Saturday morning it was raining but not too hard so I took the roadie out for 3 hours. Didn't have any company so I cut it short an hour, figured I could make it up on Sunday.

Was good on Saturday night, resting up for my big day on Sunday. Awoke to rain that pretty much continued the rest of the day. No way I was going to be able to hit any trails and the dirt roads wouldn't be much better. So much for a 6 hour day in the saddle. I audibled and went to work on the yard and even snuck in some sweet waterskiing between rain systems.

The GPS is sweet. Used it on Sat, Mon and Tues and it works awesome, get all my data in one device and then it downloads to a training program on my computer so I don't have to do any work. This thing could be dangerous, but in a good way.

lates

New toy!

2006-08-24T10:55:00.000-04:00

This just arrived in a care package last night. Had to charge the batteries first so I didn't get a chance to play with it. Can't wait to mess around with it after work tonight and take on a ride tomorrow. The data junkie in me is giddy with excitement. Hopefully I can even use it for hiking, xc skiing and snowboarding to measure elevation and distance travelled. If so it is a bargain. Even if it doesn't work for off the bike purposes it will work on 3 bikes and save me a ton of time logging workouts with the included software.

Commuted to work this morning. Woke up feeling pretty groggy and tired and thought about jumping in the truck and driving in. I finally decided that 140 miles in just 3 days might hurt a bit, especially since I am working this weekend. I shook out the cobwebs and reminded myself that I will feel much worse than this in the future and rode in to work. Took it a little more mellow and still made good time. This new attitude of pushing through the mental barriers is really helping. Will follow up in a few days after I have gotten the GPS to work.

Rest week completed back to riding

2006-08-22T07:51:00.000-04:00

With some help from mother nature I did a fairly good job resting the body this past week. Less than 100 miles on the bike and a couple days waterskiing. A rainy saturday meant no real physical activity to speak of. This week it is time to build up for my 12 hour race in a month. At this point it looks like I am going to be alone. All my other buddies have other commitments and are not going to join me.

Goal for this week 200 miles or more. My best week this year was 230 miles just a week before the accident. Seeing that number, I want to hit 250 miles this week or next to have a really good base for the race. Will have to work in a lot of hills as well to get the legs and lungs strong.

Whew I am tired today!

2006-08-12T16:14:00.000-04:00

First things first, I rolled past 3000 miles for the year today. Was hoping to get there by the end of June but got a little sidetracked by a Tahoe. Oh well, still been a great year of riding. Back to more current events, I rode 192 miles this week and none of it was on my road bike. Yesterday Kelly worked from home so I decided to take advantage of no dogs and rode to and home from work. About 55 miles at a pretty good clip. Came home ate too much mexican and drank too many beers and margaritas and went to bed. 7am came so fast, I really didn't want to get out of bed but I had planned to meet my old friend Andy at Island Lake to do a ride together. My plan had been to be on the road by 8am and ride my MTB to the trail to meet him. I figured I would have about 4 1/2 hours in the saddle by days end. 1 1/2 hours out, and hour on the trail and 1 1/2 hours back. Of course when I made these plans I didn't realize how tired and hungover I would feel this morning.

Decided it was going to be a good day to test my mental fortitude. Test 1, should I just throw the bike in the truck and drive to the trailhead and do 2 laps? Nah, I said I wanted to put in back to back hard days so I saddled up. Test 2, I was at a light about halfway to the trail when I had thoughts to cut things short and have Andy meet me at a trail close by this would give me about 36 miles for the day and 2 1/2 hours of riding. I reminded myself again that if I was going to do a 12 hour solo in a month, I would have to buck up even when I felt bad. I pushed on and had a plan in the back of my mind to get a ride part way home from Andy. Rode the trail and Andy did great for a rookie. We didn't push it to the limit but his running background allowed him to turn the pedals hard on a wide open course. Finished the loop and made a quick exit to ride the 25 miles home. Andy had brought his small car so there was no way I was going to snag a ride. I skipped eating my last clif bar as my calculations said that I had gotten enough calories so far and took off. One problem the nice little 5-10 mph tailwind I had in the morning was now in my face and would remain there the rest of the day.

I soldiered on at a slower pace and kept reminding myself that finishing this ride would help with my fortitude on future events. It worked and I limped home.

Total ride stats
Time: 4:00:19
Distance: 60.84 miles
Avg Sp: 15.1 mph
Max Sp: 28.5 mph

Sunday is a rest day, except for the waterskiing I will do in the morning and then it is also a rest and recovery week. I will try to get back on the weightlifting regimen and lay off the beers to keep my weight in check. Lates.

Mini update

2006-08-10T09:56:00.000-04:00

not much going on but the regular riding in Michigan. We are trying to restart our weekly rides/socials with the guys. Went last night with Darrin and Brad who was in town on biz. We hit the new trail in Milford then some dirt roads for mileage. The trail shows promise but is still in its infancy. Needs some polishing and lots of riders to work it in. I rode the SS fully rigid while Brad was borrowing the X-Cal. It is still having shifting problems that need to be worked out. Going to try taking a link out of the chain to see if that is the problem otherwise I think I may need new chainrings in the front. We'll see, just need to keep experimenting.

Ouch!

2006-08-06T21:59:00.000-04:00

Sore

Went waterskiing again yesterday and boy am I sore. Being able to ride a bike for 5 hours does not mean you r in shape for everything. I haven't skied in like 9 months so my body was not ready for the new muscle activity. Who cares, it is a good kind of sore. I decided to stay true to my personal promise after the accident. That was to regain my love for cycling and all the other activities that I love. That meant I went skiing, then had breakfast and then instead of being a type A person I skipped riding for the day and spent it on the boat enjoying the perfect weather and the warm weather. GOOD DECISION! Had a great mellow day.

H2O ski WooHoo!

2006-08-04T08:42:00.000-04:00

I am back in Michigan this week and back at work. One benefit of being back in the thick air is I am back at home on the water. Now that my leg has finally closed up, I can go waterskiing for the first time this year. August 4, first ski of the year. Has to be a record. The dock went in the last week in March but conditions were crappy the first couple of weekends I was home so I figured I would just go skiing the following week. Weather didn't cooperate then travel got in the way and next thing you know it is the beginning of May. We all know what happenned at the beginning of May.

Soo, here I am back at home and mostly healed. Got up before 6am this morning to go out with my brother in law Mike. The weather was warm and the water was warmer. I was definitely a little nervous as I slipped into the water. Would my hands have the strength to hold on for the hole shot? Would my right leg be strong yet flexible enought to compress and extend on the way out. Only one way to find out. "Hit it" the usual command to pull a skier out and I was off. Slipped out of the water and I was on top. I did one short set that definitely showed my rust but I did it. I decided to keep it short and sweet so I wouldn't be torched for the weekend. Here is to hoping I can ski Sat and Sunday if I am not too sore.

Last rides in Colorado

2006-08-03T13:36:00.000-04:00

Took Wednesday off after the Colorado Trail. Since Kelly and I would be leaving on Saturday that meant I only had 2 days left to ride. I went into the month planning to do the Leadville Loop, a road ride that was used 2 years ago for Brett's memorial ride. It seems that things just didn't work out and I never seemed to find a partner to join me on this ride. Additionally, I ended up doing a lot more MTBing this year than last. I was just having so much fun on the trails that I decided to spend my last two days on the bike on dirt.

Thursday was a semi-adventure ride that I did solo. Two weeks earlier on our hike up the Game Creek Trail to the top of the gondola we spotted a trail going downhill with lots of tire tracks. It looked like fun and after looking at forest service maps it appeared to go down the mountain into Intermountain just across the freeway from our house. I became obsessed with finding out where this trail went and how good was it. I pedalled out from the house to the base of the ski hill and made my way up to the top of the mountain. I settled into a moderate pace and I think I made record time getting to the top. It was about 9 miles from the house to the top with about 2400 feet of climbing. I made it in less than 1 hour 20 minutes. At the top, I felt good and was excited to explore some new singletrack. I started down and it was alot more rocky than I recalled. I was rattling so much that the powerlink on my chain vibrated loose. I stopped to repair the chain and was on my way again quickly.

The trail turned right toward the freeway and was super fun with some log ride overs and super twisty with bar knocker trees on both sides. Much like Michigan tight singletrack with much more elevation. I came upon a huge built structure for freeriders. It must have been built on the downlow when Vail was discouraging freeride trails. I am not a freerider and was on a hardtail with no pads so I bypassed this section. As I continued down there were numerous rideovers that had a teeter option for the freeriders. The descent was very rooty and I definitely wished for a full suspension bike to smooth out the trail. It was super fast even though I was on the brakes the entire way down. The end of the trail was completely built on fall-line and totally eroded. There was a 6 inch by 6 inch trough that you had to ride in and hope not to hit your pedals. It was definitely a pucker-fest. Made my way down without any major crashes and would definitely recommend riding that trail again but only on a full suspension big travel bike.

The next day I went to Breckenridge to ride with Brad. My body was pretty tired and I told him to keep me on some fun flowy trail. I was definitely done with adventure rides for July. He took me on the Blair Witch trail which was super cool. Very twisty with a fair share of roots but also lots of buff trail where you could really let it hang out. We rode for just an hour and 20 minutes but it was very fun. Good way to close out the month.

Can't wait to go back in October to check out some of the desert trails downvalley

Colorado Trail

2006-07-27T16:40:00.000-04:00

Brad really wanted to ride the Colorado Trail from Copper Mountain to Camp Hale. The entire tail runs from Denver to Durango, over 500 miles. It is like Colorado's version of the Appalachian Trail except this one allows all non-motorized modes of transport.

We took Monday off to rest from the big ride and he came to the house on Tuesday morning to start shuttling cars for the ride. You see this was to be a point to point ride with neither point being in Vail or Breckenridge. We dropped off my car at Camp Hale, came home to get the dogs and drove to Copper Mountain to start the ride. What a truly epic day. The ride was listed as 15 miles and over 2 passes above 12,000 feet. We were promised rugged trail and many hike a bike sections. The trail did not disappoint.

On the way up, it was cloudy and storm clouds threatened. About halfway up we started to hear thunder in the distance and had to decide if we were to abort. We decided to roll the dice and soldier on. The rains started a mile from the summit. We were above treeline and the thunder was roaring all around us as sleet pelted us challenging us to turn around. We decided we were too close to the first summit at Searle Pass. The trail turned to a hiking track. Rocks were so big, mud so slick and our bodies starving for O2 at 12,000 feet that we pushed and carried our bikes on. We were rewarded with a couple cool sights, first Janet's Cabin
This cabin is part of the 10th mountain division. Next we crossed Guller Creek near it's headwaters.

Needless to saythe water was cold but the sights were cool.

We marched onward and upward through a scree field. At the top of Searle Pass we were treated with 360 degree views of the mountains along the Continental Divide.

Note the trail in the foreground, not exactly a superhighway. We stopped to eat and the thunder started to get closer. At this point we figured we were at the halfway point and the next pass was ONLY 200 feet higher so let's make it to Camp Hale. The map showed a relatively flat trail to the next pass at Kokomo Pass. Apparently our topographical map reading leaves something to be desired. It may have only been 200 feet higher but much of the traverse was a hike a bike with rolling sections of up and down through about a dozen creek crossings. I think we descended at least 200 feet which meant we had to climb 400 feet to the summit, not cool especially since the last mile was mostly hike a bike again. We finally reached the summit which was uneventful except for the fact that we were able to saddle up and start riding downhill. For the first time all day we were leading the dogs. We made a steep, rocky fast descent of 5 miles into Camp Hale to finish the ride. The pups were troopers especially considering they topped 12,000 feet for the first time and broke 20 miles for the first time.

Yeah I said 20 miles. The trail description only said 15 miles but it was very wrong. Oh well, we made it safely and have a great experience to share.

Ride Totals
Total Time on trail: 4:08:23
Time Ridden:3:11:41
Time carrying bike: approx 45 minutes
Distance: 19.19 miles
Avg Sp: 5.9 mph
Max Sp: 26.5 mph
Elevation: 3000 feet of climbing

Colorado Eagle River Ride

2006-07-27T16:27:00.000-04:00

Sunday the 23rd was the annual Colorado Eagle River Ride I was really hoping to do a Leadville Loop so I hadn't planned to do this ride. Kelly wanted to do the short version so I agreed to accompany her on the 42 miler, if I felt good I would turn around when she was done and ride back up course to join Dave, Amy and Brad who were going for the full century.

The day was beautiful and we had a great ride. We decided that rather than ride out to Eagle and back we would continue on to Dotsero and Kelly could take the shuttle back. This meant she got to see more new scenery and avoid the long grind back to Avon. I left her at the bus and rode up course to meet the rest of the gang. We rode together to the aid station with me attacking more than was cool since I was itching to test the legs after and easy week. I ended the day with just under 95 miles, not a bad way to spend a Sunday.

Ride totals
Ride Time: 5:25:29
Distance: 94.58 miles
Avg. Speed: 17.4mph
Max Speed:38.8 mph
Elevation: 1000 feet

Roadie/Rain week

2006-07-26T11:24:00.000-04:00

My third week in Vail was filled with road rides and rain. I was getting prepped for the Colorado Eagle River ride and wanted to get my bike dialed in for a long ride. Did a couple mellow rides at the beginning of the week then it rained me out Wed and Thursday. By Friday I was chomping at the bit and my legs were feeling antzy. Dave and I decided to take a ride up Battle Mountain for a nice climb on a short ride. At the base of the climb, I downshifted and my chain jumped over the cogs into the spokes. Turns out it broke one of the spoke holders on the hub and my wheel was so far out of whack that my bike was unrideable. Even with a spoke wrench I couldn't get the wheel to stop rubbing on the brakes and even the frame. Time to call the SAG wagon.

I called Kelly for a ride home and called it a day. I was feeling pretty frustrated that night since I hadn't had a good ride since last Saturday. Took the bike to The Kind and Toph loaned me a wheel for the Sunday ride and fixed her up to prevent another chain jump. Saturday was a mellow ride to try out the bike and rest for Sunday's big day.

Benchmark

2006-07-26T11:10:00.000-04:00

For a little background, Benchmark is a peak just out of bounds on Vail where we buried part of Brett's ashes. It is a beautiful location just above treeline with 360 degree views of the mountain peaks. Kelly and I go up every year to spend some time with Brett. Usually some of his friends join us and it is a powerful day. Since Mark had not been to Benchmark in the summer since the memorial, we decided to go up before he left.

The usual gameplan is for me to ride up with the dogs while Kelly follows in the jeep with others who do not want to ride. The ride is on an unmaintained logging road that goes up 10 miles and 3700 feet in elevation, not the ride for the weekend warrior. On this journey, I had company on the bike in Dave, Brad and his friend Brook. Mark, my cousin Jen and her boyfriend rode up in vehicles. Mark brought a rental bike to ride down with us. The trip up was uneventful but very cool in that this was the first time Dave, Brad and Brooke had ever done this climb. Great job guys! It is such a sense of accomplishment when you get to the top. I swear the views are even better when you have earned them. We spent some time at the memorial marker and Brett's friend Zach joined us by bike. It was time to go down and I was worried about taking Mark down the more technical trails I hoped to hit. Mark is not a cyclist and the extent of his mountain biking is on the sidewalks of Chicago riding with his girls. He was really bummed so we decided we would take our time and have him come with us. We ended up taking the same route down as we did after Brett's memorial. On the original ride, I was a greenhorn and crashed 3 times as I tried to figure out how to ride with clips. I made it down uninjured but the memories of my ride had me worried for Mark.

Mark did awesome! He was not clipped in which was smart and he threw his bike around like a motorcycle using its suspension to soak up the bumps. Everyone had a great time going down with ear to ear grins. When we got to the bottom, Zach took us to his favorite swimming hole on Gore Creek. The water was cold but refreshing. Another Great Day in the mountains!

Ride summary
Ride Time: 3:20:13
Distance: 25.53 miles
Avg Sp: 7.0mph
Max Sp: 38.5 mph
Elevation: 3700 feet

Great week in Colorado

2006-07-26T11:00:00.000-04:00

After the Piney Ride, it was time to play host to our guests. On Tuesday we went whitewater rafting with the kids on the Colorado River in Glenwood canyon. The biggest rapids were class III which was perfect for the smaller kids. What a great day. Everyone in the group was new to rafting except me and watching their ear to ear grins was priceless. I will admit it I had fun too, we got a bunch of sweet face shots in the rapids. Everyone came home tan and happy.

The next day my bro Mark and his family arrived so we decided to have everyone meet at the top of the gondola and go for a short hike with the kids. Since dogs can't ride up on the lift and Kim wanted to do a hike, I decided to ride up and show Kim the hike up. The beginning of the ride was great and since a bike is faster than going on foot, I doubled back down the mountain for some sweet singletrack. All 4 dogs did great following me down. As I was traversing to get back on the climb up I answered a call for like 2 minutes and looked back to get a head count on pups and I only had 3. Sierra had disappeared! Crap! now comes the search. I ended up riding back up another 1000 feet to retrace our steps and then started coming back down to search for her. Went all the way back down to the bottom of the mountain before we found her. Since she clearly did not want to go up the mountain we put her in Mark's condo and I started the climb to the top again. By the time I got to the top, I was gassed. I think I did more than 3000 feet of climbing when I thought I was doing 2000. We had a great hike and I was rewarded with a screamer downhill to the bottom so we could meet for lunch on Garf's deck.

Our whitewater experience was so good that Mark, Cindy and the girls had to do it as well. I joined them for another fun day on the water. Another great day where everyone had a blast. Friday was mellow and then Benchmark on Saturday.

Buffehr Beat Down - Adventure Ride Part Deux

2006-07-26T00:08:00.000-04:00

I decided I wanted to redeem myself on Buehffer Creek and knock it off my list of rides to do in Vail. I mentioned it to Dave and he said hell's yes we needed to redeem ourselves.

Kelly's sister and her friend and their families were in town and were planning to go horse riding at Piney Ranch. We decided to ride to Piney to meet them and then on the way home hit Buehffer to complete our mission. The ride up was excellent and we spent some time at Piney Ranch enjoying Piney Lake and the beautiful mountain views in the background. We left and started the pedal towards home and the trail when the rain started to fall. It was a light rain and actually felt refreshing. On the way we passed several cars on the side of the road with people walking to the woods with cameras. Whodathunkit but it was another moose sighting. This time it was a mother with 2 children. Very cool to see her with her 2 young'ns hanging close by for safey. I pedalled on enjoying the sight but concerned that the moose may get angry and become defensive. This crowd got smart and rushed to their cars as the moose started to move towards the road.

We pedalled on and towards Buehffer and the rain started to come down harder. We got within 2 miles of the trail and decided we were at the point of no return. WE HAD TO GIVE BUEHFER ITS BEATDOWN. The skies opened up and lightning was in the distance. We were on top of the mountain and feeling very exposed. Hail and sleet started to come down and it really hurt. We could have turned but the most direct route home was straight down the mountain. The rains pounded harder and the trail was becoming impassible mud. We spied a trailer in the woods just off trail and considered huddling inside until the rain let up. In the end we decided that the longer we waited the worse the trail would get. We started down on the vaunted downhill and a river was flowing underneath us.

I was riding the brakes with my wheels locking up and my back end skidding everywhere. Super sketchy but fun in an adrenaline way. Things got dangerous so we tried to slow down. We ended up taking several stops just to let our brakes cool down and make sure we made it home safely. We ended up making it down with no major injuries and could not believe we made it. Oh well at least another trail is crossed off the list. As we pulled in the back yard and started to hose off ourselves and the bikes, the sun came out.

Ride summary
Time: 2:51:45
Distance: 25.70 miles
Avg Sp: 8.9 mph
Max: 31.5 moh
Elevation: 2500 feet

Single By-Pass

2006-07-25T23:53:00.000-04:00

I know I listed the Triple Bypass as my new priority event for this summer but it seems that Kharma and Mother Nature had other thoughts. Got up at 5am to make the drive to Evergreen for the ride. It was cloudy and cold and when we went over Vail Pass, Copper Mtn was stuck in fog and rain. The weather didn't get much better as we approached Evergreen but we remained optimistic. We got to the start and Kelly dropped Brad and me off. It seemed that the weather might warm so I left my jacket in the car and just took arm warmers and fingerless gloves. Brad and I departed for the ride with high spirits and hopes for better weather after the first pass. An hour into the climb up Squaw Pass it started to rain. Brad flatted and we stopped to replace his tube. The SAG wagon stopped to loan us a floor pump and said that his wife was further ahead on course and reports were that it was raining all the way to Vail.

We soldiered on and the rain let up but the temps continued to drop. We summitted Squaw Pass and stopped at the aid station. There were hundreds of riders there trying to warm up and make a decision on their ride. We left quickly as the rain started to fall. We decided that if we were going to freeze on the descent, we might as well get it over quickly. You can freeze fast or you can freeze slow. We bombed down the descent into Idaho Springs. The rain was pouring but we were passing people like they were standing still. The road would have been a riot on a dry sunny day. Unfortunately with wet roads and wet brakes the best I could do was 35 mph. I believe I could have hit the high 40's or low 50's on a good day. The descent reaked havoc on our equipment and bodies. I had to stop on the way down to adjust my brakes since I had worn down almost half of the pads due to extreme wet and grit. Brad said that he couldn't feel his hands which is not good on a hairball descent.

We rolled into Idaho Springs and saw a GoFast van parked at the bottom. Brad knew the rep so we stopped by to say hello and ask for shelter. As we warmed up more reports came that it was raining and possibly snowing all the way to Vail. I called Kelly to pull the chute. She said the weather was miseable back in Vail. We warmed in the van and waited with our tails between our legs for a ride home 3 hours after we started our ride.

In the end it was the right decision. I could have been pig headed and tried to finish the ride but I would likely have gotten sick and missed out on days or weeks of future rides.

c'est la vie

Buffehr Creek...err Adventure Ride

2006-07-19T18:17:00.000-04:00

Got to Colorado and as is the routine, my first day was a short ride with the pups up to get acclimated and used to breathing 25% less oxygen. The next day I wanted to ride a trail that has been on my list for 2 years, it is called Buffehr Creek and it is a super techinal rocky downhill trail that has had me intrigued ever since I hiked up the last 200 yards of it 2 years ago. It is so steep there are rubber waterbars every 10 feet to keep the trail from washing away. I rode the last 1/4 mile of the trail last year as part of the upper North Trail halfway down the downhill I had to stop because my disc brakes were smoking.

Got up Sunday morning the 2nd of July and watched the first stage of the tour. D Riot asked it he could join me and I said sure, the company would be great especially on the 12 mile dirt road climb we had to do to get to the trailhead. We set off planning to ride for no more than 2 hours. I read the directions to the trail but did not bring them with me and we did not have a map of the surrounding forest service roads and trails. I felt like it wouldn't be that hard to find anyway.

We headed out and began our climb of Red Sandstone road which takes you into the Eagle's Nest wilderness north of the freeway from Vail. We enjoyed the views of the Gore Range and sandstone cliffs along the way. Just before getting to our turnoff at Red and White Mountain Road, 3 cars were stopped at the side of the road and people were walking around with cameras. I looked in the trees to my right and saw a female moose hiding out from the commotion. Stupid tourists! Get back in your cars, haven't you heard the stories of people trampled and gored by moose? I pedalled on shaking my head.

We made the left on Red and White Mountain road just like I remembered. Unfortunately I didn't remember to note my odometer reading so I could measure out 2.25 miles to the trail. We turned uphill on an even steeper, unmaintained road and put our heads down. I was feeling good and went ahead of Dave at my own pace, the 29er just kept rolling up the road and I was really enjoying it. I stopped to click a pic of Dave climbing behind me.

He was doing great especially since it was only his 3rd MTB ride. He doesn't own his own MTB so he was borrowing Kelly's. After another 15-20 minutes of climbing we saw a trail to our left and continued on. We went up another small hill and decided maybe that last trail was the one we were looking for so we doubled back. We started downhill across a meadow and back into the woods on some superfun technical singletrack. Part of the descent was down a dry creekbed. Sweet mountain biking to say the least. After 5 screaming minutes we popped out in the open and we were in the meadow we traversed just before seeing the moose, CRAP! An hour and a half of climbing for 5 minutes of downhill. That just wouldn't do. We turned back up Red Sandstone in search of the elusive Buffehr Creek trail. The last climb up Red and White was not a lot of fun for Dave so rather than do it again, I thought maybe I remembered the directions wrong and we were supposed to turn left on Piney Rd just a couple hundred yards past Red and White.

We turned left on Piney and began a rolling climb up the backside of the mountains we had been on all day. At one point I jokingly said we should have Kelly pick us up at State Bridge which is 45 miles from Vail on the Colorado River. We did some short downhills followed by more uphill climbing. Finally we saw a rugged jeep road to our left that looked like a good candidate. The trail turned to singletrack on a hillside along a creek that was running away from home. We figured it might take us up over a pass and to our trail home. The trail continued to get more and more rugged and I resorted to carrying my bike for a few hundred yards until the trail just ended. Back down we went for our second 5 minute singletrack descent. At this point we could turn around and double back which would be a good 2 hour plus ride or we could continue on looking for a road back to civilization. Being a guy and a pollack I decided we should push on, it had to be around the next corner. Dave didn't want anymore of my pollyanna positivity and I knew to shut up and keep pedalling. Bugs were everywhere and the only thing to make them go aways was the rainshower we rode through for a half hour. We were now gone for 4 hours plus and I was out of water. I opened my mouth to catch raindrops and opened my bottle in a futile attempt to collect rain for hydration. As Dave caught up and saw me doing this he said not to worry he was still on his FIRST BOTTLE! Are you kidding me 4 hours and less than 16 ounces of water? I had polished off 35 oz in my camelback and another 24 oz in my bottle. He must be part camel. Though Dave was angry at the situation, he handed me his second bottle as he pedalled by, what a bro.

Throughout the ride I was most stressed by the fact that Kelly would be worried about us. We left for a 2 hour ride and were now gone for more than 4 hours. Cell phones don't work in the wilderness and we only saw 2 cars once we turned onto Piney Rd. She had no way of knowing if we were OK and after my accident 8 weeks earlier she still sufferred from anxiety whenever I left for a ride. There was nothing I could do to ease her worry except pedal on and get home as soon as possible.

We continued onward and upward passing many false summits that tested our mental fortitude as well as our physical stamina. Finally we reached a point where the road turned down. We enjoyed the coasting as speeds easily exceeded 30mph on the fireroad. At one point we came to an intersection with Red and White Mountain Rd. Looking up that road we saw another climb of at least 750 feet maybe more. We decided to continue on Piney Rd not knowing it had turned into Muddy Pass Rd. I thought we were heading to Edwards and Dave was still optimistic that we were heading to Avon. Turns out we were both wrong. We continued downhill for another 30 minutes passing a corral with cows and I was quite sure I saw a sign for 4 Eagle Ranch which is a ranch more than halfway to State Bridge. We continued when I heard my cell beep that I had coverage. I hit the brakes and called Kelly to let her know we were OK and to beg her for a ride home from Wolcott, more than 20 miles from home by expressway. My cell worked just long enough for her to say she would be there and I lost coverage. Must have been divine cellular intervention.
We soldiered on to the Wolcott Yacht Club to get som libations and wait for our ride. We softened Kelly up with a strong margarita and conversation with a vagrant bike rider who was on his way to Oregon and claimed that he had 40 pounds of Gold he had mined around the Rockies. He bought our drinks and we were on our way home to continue apologizing for our geographical difficulties.

Final tally
Total time: 5 1/2 hours
Ride Time: 4:20:25
Distance: 41.50 miles
Elevation Climbed: approx 4000 feet
Avg Sp: 9.5 mph

29ers Rock

2006-07-19T18:01:00.000-04:00

Before I get started, let me give props to my new bikes and one of my favorite bike shops. 29ers rule! I got my X-Cal back from Scarlett's just 2 days before we left for Colorado. I bastardized the Rig for a fork and front wheel and dropped them off at the shop with my other components from the Sugar. Ken and the boys hooked me up with the remaining parts and got her built up in 2 days! Thanks so much, you saved my trip. Here she is:

It doesn't show in the pic but the paint is a sparkled metal flake that looks really sweet in the sunlight. Took her out for a test ride at Pontiac Lake and once I got used to shifting again, she was great. I am still amazed at how the geometry helps my back. Not as plush on the downhills but that's ok it will make me a better rider and it climbs so much more efficiently.

July, my favorite month

2006-07-16T19:20:00.000-04:00

Yeah, it has been a long time since my last post. I am in Vail for the month of July with Kelly and the dogs for our annual summer vacation/sabattical. I have been having way too much fun and entertaining many guests, so this is the first time I have sat down to even think about blogging. I don't have a lot of pics but the scenery is amazing and it looks like I have come a long way in my healing though my fitness still has a ways to go. The last of the guests left today and Kelly and I have to start doing some work related work tomorrow so I will be playing a little less and on the computer more.

Rather than doing one summary blog of the past 2 1/2 weeks, I will be posting events in chronological order. Many adventures to share and many possibilities on the horizon I would like to share with the 2 or 3 people who read this. Blogging will start tomorrow.

29er in my future

2006-06-27T12:33:00.000-04:00

My local bike shop Scarlett's really came through. Ken the owner heard about my cracked frame on the Sugar and suggested I bring it in and see if he can get a warranty from Gary Fisher. Since those frames were famous for breaking, Fisher offered to sell me a discounted frame. I was able to get an '06 X-Caliber frame for $260-. Way to go Ken.

The X-Caliber is a 29 inch frame which means it uses larger wheels than a normal mountain bike. I already have a 29er on my singlespeed Rig and find that the geometry really suits me well. Even though it is a hardtail, I get fewer backaches than on either of my previous full suspension bikes. Can't wait to ride the new bike. It will be built up with alot of the components from the Sugar, thus saving me a lot of money. Even better, I went to the shop last night and dropped off my parts and Ken said he could have it built up by Wednesday night which means I can take it with me to Colorado! Should be alot of fun breaking in the big bike in the mountains, can't wait.

50 hours until we leave for Colorado!

Feeling Better

2006-06-25T19:28:00.000-04:00

I am feeling better this week after a couple of steps backwards last week. The swelling in my leg has gone down significantly and I started riding more after being mellow last week and letting my body catch up with my mind.

Most rides this week were short, an hour or less but I felt good on each one. I planned to go for a 5 hour ride this morning but it appears that my fitness and skills are conspiring against me. I rode to meet Darrin at 8:30am and went out hard and never stopped going hard the entire ride. I pulled most of the time and we were averaging 19-20 mph. Unfortunately I wasn't eating or drinking enough. I was so excited to be out in the wind that I rarely hit my bottles and only had one gel 1 1/2 hours into the ride and a couple of clif blocks near the end. When I got home I tallied the damage and I did about 55 miles in 3 hours and drank one bottle of Accelerade, 1 1/2 bottles of water and consumed 200 calories of gel/blocks. Not nearly enough. No wonder I cut it short by 2 hours.

Today's performance had me very nervous about the Firecracker and the Triple Bypass. I think that if I concentrate on nutrition and hydration and keep the pace reasonable I can do all right. My lungs are still weak and my HR escalates on any significant effort. I will just have to listen to my body and remeber that these rides are really just steps in my recovery. I don't have to break any records in July. At this point my goals are to get better and get in shape for August-November for a few key races.

4 days until we leave for Colorado!!!

Setbacks

2006-06-21T21:40:00.000-04:00

Last Wednesday I was supposed to ride home from work for my workout. The week was going well and I was getting pretty pumped at my recovery schedule. The swelling in my leg went down completely and I was hoping to waterski for the first time on Thursday morning(my first day in the water is usually the beginning of April)

For some reason my body decided not to agree with my plans. I somehow seemed to pull my upper groin and just below my knee was killing me. I scrubbed my bike commuting plans and left work early. By the time I got home, my lower leg had swelled up as big as ever and was very tight. I decided to listen to my body and have been taking it easy for the past week. I even went to my brother's cottage in Watervliet and didn't get in the lake once. For those who know me, this is killing me. The two things I love to do most in Michigan, bike and waterski have been takent away from me. I would take up golf but my wrist is too tender to risk duffing the club into the ground. As a result, Kelly has had to endure my dark mood and short temper which are not normal for me.

I did finally get to ride my sweet new roadie the Orbea Sunday for a short (45min) ride around Paw Paw lake. I was looking forward to its virgin trial at Hines Drive yesterday. Things were going well and the bike felt incredibly fast when after a a red light, I went to start pedalling and my derailleur hanger snapped. D'ohh! Luckily some kind soul gave me and the bike a ride to the local shop 3 miles away. I was planning to borrow a bike and ride the 13 miles back to my car but the shop was closing in 40 min and traffic was heavy so the guy in charge had the younger guy give me a ride back to the car to speed up the process. The kid, Chris was cool a student on break from studies at Purdue. We talked the whole way and between him and the earlier patron saint, my faith in humanity was restored.

Unfortunately I will be close to a week before I get a new hanger for the bike. I am starting to get really nervous about the Triple Bypass with the past two weeks being almost as inactive as the first two weeks after the accident. Hopefully letting my body heal will pay off in the long run. Will keep you posted as anything develops

Race Across America

2006-06-14T13:14:00.000-04:00

Not much riding the past 2 weeks. We are moving our office upstairs at Staff Solutions to accomodate a tenant. I have been spending my days as a jack of all trades, drywall, paint, cabling, furniture assembly, mover. At the end of the day I have been too tired to ride everyday. Planning to commute home again today to enjoy the weather and save some gas. Don't worry, I stick to back streets, sidewalks and bike paths and am extra careful at all crossings.

It is that time of the year. Brett's buddies are doing RAAM again, Zach had to crew last year due to illness and really wanted to do it again. I will be watching from my computer again. Crewing is an incredible experience but with Kelly and I spending the month of July in Colorado, there is no way I could take off 2 weeks in June. If you are interested in following the race watch Team 425 - Beaver Creek/Vail . The team has been given the same number since Brett's passing as a nice memorial. So far the boys are in first by about 20 minutes. Will be checking in often. Also watch for Tinker Juarez in the solo Enduro category. He is a mountain biking legend winning everything from world cup XC races to numerous 24 hour titles. At 47 years young he is still going strong. Will be fun to see how he performs as a rookie. So far he is in the top 5.

Back to the move, break time is over.

SEXY!

2006-06-09T22:11:00.000-04:00

Just got my new....err new to me road bike frame. I bought it on eBay to replace the old bike that is no longer rideable, at least not by anyone I know. This bike is sweet, built in the Basque region of Spain with an aluminum frame and carbon seat and chain stays as well as a carbon fork.

When I got home today the box was on the porch waiting for its new owner. When I picked up the closed box and almost threw it over my head, I knew this thing was light. Not sure of the exact weight but if it is good enough for the Jelly Belly road team, it is definitely good enough for me.

Hopefully a 60cm frame will be big enough for me. My Cannondale was a 63cm but it always felt too big. I am planning to put most of Brett's components on this bike. On all of my bikes I have had something of Brett's so that I am always riding with him. The bike he was on in the crash has sat in our garage unridden for 2 years now and it is such a shame. It is a beautiful LeMond Maillot Jaune with full DuraAce components. The frame is way too small for me so I can't ride it. Since I also have his orignal Zurich frame and components in the attic I decided I would put the DuraAce group on my new frame and put the older Ultregra components on the Maillot Jaune and use it as a guest bike. That way his beautiful bike does not go to waste and I get to ride with him big time. Obviously riding with him has its perks as evidenced by my run in with the Tahoe.

On a side note I also got my Rocky Mountain Element back from the shop after a warranty replacement of a broken chainstay. Looks like I am rejoining the geared world just in time for Colorado. Hope I can get the Orbea built up quickly. Want to get comfortable on it before a long day in the saddle during the Triple Bypass

One last post- Colorado

2006-06-08T05:05:00.000-04:00

Wow, it is amazing what a couple cups of coffee at 5am will do to my blog. Here is my final post of the day.

As I have said a thousand times, I am so bummed about missing Lumberjack. I had already committed to doing the Triple Bypass with Brad and since my training got messed up in the past month it is now my priority event for the early summer. Definitely gotta step up the training. My frame is supposed to arrive today or tomorrow by UPS. Hopefully the driver will leave it without a signature so I can get the buildup underway. I am planning to use a bunch of components off Brett's bike. I try to have something of his on all my bikes and since his roadie almost never gets ridden it seems a shame for those beautiful DuraAce components to go unused. Can't wait to see how the smaller, lighter Obea handles.

The Triple is a great event and has been on my must do list for a couple of years but I am still a mountain biker at heart. The main motivation for my training this year was to complete my first 100 mile off road race. First it was going to be the Ultra but that got moved back to August this year when I would be back in Michigan. I didn't have the balls to go for the Breck100 the course looked tough and I didn't want to get pulled before the last 40 miles and only end up with 60 miles. That meant Lumberjack which was to be a tune up for the Ultra was now my priority race. Since that is now out of the question, I am still dying to do some kind of epic ride. Hopefully I can find something in August or September to scratch this itch. In the meantime I am seriously considering the Firecracker as a temporary ointment. This race is part of Breckenridge's 4th of July festivities and will make for a great day of fun. With Brad and Jen living there now and our friend Jill visiting with her college buddy there will be plenty of people to hang with. They used to offer a single lap 25 mile option but it is not showing on this year's registration so I am thinking I will just sign up for the 50 and if I feel good and am having fun I will complete it, if not I will just do one lap and watch the fast guys come in with a beer in my hand. Either way it will be fun and memorable plus it will give me a gauge of my ability to do the Breck 100 next year.

OK, one more rant then positive news

2006-06-08T04:28:00.000-04:00

Still can't believe I am not doing Lumberjack this year. I was reading some blogs about the Mohican 100 and feeling really jealous that I won't be able to participate in Michigan's only epic. Now that the race is part of the newly formed National endurance series, people are coming from all over the country. It would be really cool to see and have a few beers with some of the people whose blogs I have been reading. I was lying in bed thinking about how special this year's event will be. I was even thinking it might be cool to go up to the race and support my buddy Mike who I got fired up for this race. Oh well, I have other plans which include Oberon on tap, visiting old friends and some quality time with my bro, hopefully early in the morning waterskiing.

Since my post last week, I have been riding more. Trying not to push it too hard since my leg is still swollen and only stopped leaking fluid in the last couple of days.(I am crossing my fingers that the hole will close up and I can finally get in the lake this weekend) Still I have been able to ride more. Last week, I put in 5 days with a couple of moderate efforts. Did an easy Blue, Yellow at Island Lake with Darrin and Brian on our SS's. The only time I breathed hard was at the top of the climbs. In the parking lot the guys were saying how fast we were going. When I checked out my training logs they were right. It was one of my fasted SS rides out there. Did a commuter ride home on Thurs which Kelly was not especially pleased with. She still gets nervous about me riding in traffic. When she called to check on me, of course I was in the shower covered in soap and could not answer the phone. I did a quick rinse and called her back to let her know I was fine. Saturday turned out to be a great day. Did an hour on the road on my SS commuter.(pics later I promise) Then Mike came over and I joined him for part of his Lumberjack training ride. It rained alot during the week so we decided to stick to dirt roads, rail trail and bike paths. We ended up riding out to Commerce and did a lap and a half at The Hick then some backroads. I was feeling really good but didn't want to push it so I pealed off from Mike and headed home. I looked down at my computer and noticed that it had not been reading for some time and when check my HRM for total ride time I realized I had been on the SS for more than 2 hours and still needed to get home. In the end, I rode for more than 2:45 on the SS for total ride time on Saturday of almost 4 hours. SWEET! I haven't had that long of a ride since a couple weeks before the accident.

I have been jonesing for a ride at Pontiac Lake to test the legs. Wanted to see if I can still climb on the SS. I was originally going to gear down the bike to make it easier but a combination of laziness and desire to get the legs back prevented that. On Tuesday I met Darrin and told him to bring his geared bike since I was feeling fired up. We hit the trail at a mellow pace but suddenly were pushing it for no reason. My HR was high probably due to me not drinking enough H2O at work but I felt really good. I decided to keep pushing the pace as long as Darrin was OK with it. At the 4 mile mark I let Darrin know that we were on a sub 50 minute pace for the 10 mile lap. This inspired us both to push on through the rest of the trail. I took one hard crash when my front tire skidded in a corner and put me down on my side. Took a pretty good hit to my right side(same side beat up in the accident) I took a minute to regroup and we hit the trail again at a whipped up pace. When we were done, we did the lap in 46:50 trailhead to trailhead and 49:55 parking lot to parking lot. NICE! An unexpected personal best on the SS and one of Darrin's better laps on the geary. Took yesterday off to work on the office move and will be taking the pups out for some fun today at Maybury. Poor girls, between my training plan and then the accident, they have gotten very little trail time this spring. I need to get them going so they can get in shape for Colorado. Less than 3 weeks until we leave, can't wait. More on that trip in the next post.

4am ramblings

2006-06-08T04:05:00.000-04:00

OK, it's been a while since I posted last. I woke up at 3:30am after 5 hours of sleep and could not turn my brain off. Strangely enough I decided it was time to post to my blog for the first time in more than a week. I have been staying away from updates while I try to deal with the legal repercussions of my accident. After much consideration and talking with Kelly and my friends I decided to call an attorney. Let me point out that I am not a litigious person and in business I have tried to stay away from lawyers at all cost. I have found that when attorneys get involved, things come to a grinding halt and usually the only people who make any money on a disagreement are the lawyers.

I got a call on Monday from the drivers' insurance company stating that they would be mailing out a check for damages incurred in the accident. From my two conversations with the adjuster it sounded like they would pay for my bike and other items damaged in the crash and that's it. This sounds like total bullshit to me. This guy hit me head driving in my lane and completely wrecked my summer and I am supposed to be happy with money for a new bike? What about the fact that I spent the past 5 months training for Lumberjack? What about the fact that I live on a lake and haven't been able to waterski this year and with my wrist still ailing I don't know when I will have to strength to make some aggressive pulls behind the boat? What about the fact that I have spent the past month reassuring my family and friends that I am all right as they are reliving my brother's death on a bike 3 years ago?

Meantime, I am trying to get healed up as quick as possible so that I can try to get back to a normal life. I am not a person that is going to sit around milking my injuries in the hopes of a windfall payout from the insurance company. At the same time, it seems only fair that a person that spent 3 days in the hospital and now more than a month after the accident is still not back to the activity level I am accostomed to would get something for their time and trouble.

I decided to call an attorney to make sure I am not getting screwed in the settlement of this matter. I talked to him Monday and went to his office yesterday to discuss my situation further. At the end of the meeting he said that since my scars would heal and my body was in working condition the only way the insurance company would consider any reparations was if I had a closed head injury. Great! If I have brain damage, I get paid and if my noggin is fine I get zilch. Hmm, let me think about this for like a nano second. Of course I would rather be healthy and poor than brain damaged with money in the bank. Still it seems like such BS. It is not like I had some phantom slip and fall and am faking a back injury. I was hit head on by an SUV and the only thing I did wrong was to walk out of the hospital 3 days later instead of riding out in a hearse. I am going to get an assessment from a neuro specialist to determine if I have any permanent damage to may brain. The visit is covered by the medical coverage from the accident and I want the reassurance that my head is OK and I don't have any long-term damage.

Will keep everyone posted on the legal matters but don't expect much.

Good news - Bummer news

2006-05-31T12:41:00.000-04:00

The bummer news is I will not be able to do Lumberjack this year. It was to be my first 100 mile mountain bike race and the primary inspiration for all my training this year. I emailed the promoter yesterday morning with my decision to withdraw. It was a tough decision, but I am quite sure it was the right decision. Going into the accident, I was in the best cycling shape of my life and perfectly on track with my training program to peak for a great race at Lumberjack.

Being beat up pretty good and off the bike for 2 full weeks, my training was thrown completely off. Upon honest reflection I decided that my body was not ready to re-start a heavy training plan for at least another two weeks which would put me one week before the race. It was a bummer to drop out of an event that I have been consumed with since January but I have to be mature and smart. It is not worth this one event to do damage to my body that could bother me all summer or even longer.

The good news is that I am riding again. The Memorial Day weekend was pretty hectic so I haven't had time to sit down and do an update. On Saturday morning I did a ride of more than 2 hours 45 minutes and it felt great. I took the singlespeed on rail trails and bike paths to Hickory Glen for a couple of laps with Darrin and Brian. I then rode home and felt remarkably good. I took Sunday off to recover from a party we threw and got back on the bike for a short road ride with Kelly at Island Lk state park. This felt real good too but left my leg sore on Tuesday morning. I took a couple of advil at work and the leg felt much better so I decided to stick with my plan to meet Darrin and Brian at Island Lake for a lap on both loops on the singlespeeds. We hit it pretty good doing more than 14 miles in about an hour and 10 minutes. Not bad for a guy who is out of shape. My legs felt great this morning and I am looking forward to more riding in the days to come.

I am refocusing my training on the Triple Bypass in Colorado in July. It is a 120 mile road ride that does more than 10,000 feet of climbing. I will ride for fun for the next week or two then do focused training for the rest of June and the weeks leading up to the bypass in mid-July. I still feel cheated by not doing my first 100 mile MTB race so I am looking for other opportunities later in the summer. In the mean time I am thinking this might temporarily quench my appetite. I haven't cleared it with the boss but it can't hurt to dream.

Recovery

2006-05-23T11:20:00.000-04:00

OK, it is now 2 weeks since my run-in with a Tahoe. I am healing remarkably fast but as with most people going through recovery it is never fast enough. Tomorrow I get the last of my stitches out and am cleared by the boss (Kelly) to ride my bike again. Unfortunately for her, I am not a very good employee, guess that is why I own my own business. I went out yesterday for my first outdoor ride since the accident. (I did do one half hour ride on the trainer last week)

I took my singlespeed mountain bike out on the rail trail behind my house for an easy spin to see how it would feel. It felt really good! I ended up doing the whole trail for about 9 miles in 45 minutes. I figured the real test would be how I felt this morning. When I rolled out of bed, I felt remarkably good. The leg was less stiff than in past days and the swelling below the knee was considerably less. I may hit the trainer again this afternoon to keep the positive momentum going. Just depends on how much painting I do on our new office and if I spend too much time on the ladder. I will post some progress photos of my recovery tonight or tomorrow once I download them off our camera.

Ride On.
Jamie

I rode today!

2006-05-18T17:13:00.000-04:00

OK, so it was just a light spin on the trainer but I rode my new SS commuter for a half hour. At my slow pace, I probably did only 7 miles but it was a promising development. I just wanted to see how it would feel and if it would make me sore. So far, so good. The spinning definitely helps with my range of motion on my right knee. I promised Kelly I wouldn't ride for real until my stitches are taken out, so it looks like I will be on the trainer for the next 6 days. Hey it's better than lounging around doin nuthin.

As I say constantly, I can't complain. I am a very lucky person.

2006-05-18T16:32:00.000-04:00

2006-05-16T11:54:00.000-04:00

Went to the Dr. today for a follow up

Everything is progressing as expected. He said I can begin activity right away, just don't overdo it. I will probably spend the next few days stretching, icing and doing some light hikes. I may put the bike on the trainer for some very light pedalling sessions closer to the weekend.

I am getting antzy but I don't want to rush anything. It is more important to heal completely so I can stay active all summer than to rush back for a couple rides now.

2006-05-15T17:29:00.000-04:00

Healing quickly : )

I am back at work today. Was able to lift my leg into the car yesterday without assistance. I have a follow up appointment with my doctor tomorrow morning.(weird calling my high school classmate my doctor)

It is amazing how many people saw me after the accident. Today my nephew Andrew's occupational therapist at school figured out that the person she was being a good samaritan to was me. Apparently I went careening through the air right in front of her and she stopped along with others to give me assistance while waiting for an ambulance. She said that I was conscious and talking. Although apparently not in a coherent manner since I told them that I was 28 years old! Only a 9 year discrepancy, what's the big deal I never get my age right anyhow. As I said before, I do not remember anything from just before the accident until I was at the hospital. I would just like to make a public thank you to all the people who stopped to make sure I was taken care of. Most people in this world are good at heart, we are just too busy to show it all the time. THANK YOU to all who stopped and showed you care for your fellow man.

I sent an email to all my friends and relatives in my email address book to update them on what is going on. It is truly amazing how many people had already heard about my accident and wanted to know how is was doing. Thank you to all my family and friends as well for your prayers and well wishes. Your positive energy must be getting to me and making me feel better already.

I will keep this blog current as to my latest condition over the next couple of weeks.

2006-05-14T15:54:00.000-04:00

I am lucky to be alive

Sorry for the long period between blogs but I have good reason. On Tuesday I went out for a regular training ride and didn't come home until Thursday. 6 minutes into my ride, a car made a left hand turn using my lane and hit me head on. I do not remember anything from the accident so here is the best account we have been able to put together. I was riding east on Pine Lk Rd coming up on Middlebelt at about 4pm in the afternoon. At the same time, northbound traffic on Middlebelt was backing up as is usual during rush hour. The driver of a Chevy Tahoe decided to get out of the lineup by turning left onto my street(Pine Lk Rd) even though he was not yet at the intersection. He turned left cutting the corner and using my lane to complete his turn. I was there and we met head on. Here is a picture of my bike after the crash:

Apparently I flew over his hood(thank you 62cm Cannondale frame that kept me high off the ground), into the windshield and then bounced back off his truck onto the road where I lay bleeding waiting for help. Ambulances rushed me to the Beaumont ER where my treatment began. Things continued to be fuzzy for me for the next few days but I do remember a lot of X-rays, a CT scan of my head and lots of family coming by to make sure I was OK. I was incredibly lucky in this accident in that I escaped with no broken bones, no joint damage and mostly just cuts, bruises and soreness all over the right side of my body.

Needless to say my family was completely freaked out and justifiably so. Was it possible that cycling could take the lives of two Malin brothers in 3 years? Apparently even the gods found this unfair and allowed me to survive with minimal damage considering a head on collision with a full sized SUV. I am keeping this posting short but will follow up over the next few days with more details on my accident and my recovery.

My final comment to everyone is to wear your helmet, I had mine on and am sure it saved me from catastrophic head trauma. The helmet broke in two on impact.

I am going to rest now. Take care and count your blessings.

2006-05-04T09:46:00.000-04:00

Time to rest my trusty steed.

I should have done this post two days ago when it was fresh but was too busy training, working and getting ready to leave for a long weekend in Seattle. Tuesday night I went for what is probably my last ride on my original mountain bike; a 1992 Trek 930.

This was to be my last ride because this frame has a crack on the top tube that allowed the top tube and down tube to buckle just behind the headtube. I have been riding it for 6 months on the roads tempting fate but recently found a cheap frame and fork to replace it. In the next two weeks the Trek will be torn apart for parts on the new SS commuter.

It was raining and I didn't want to get my pretty road bike dirty so I grabbed the SS commuter for some hill sprints in the neighborhood. As I rode and thought about the bike I started to get sentimental, are you kidding me who gets sentimental about a POS rusted out steel mountain bike with sweet early 90's paint job.(gotta love the purple with dayglo green accent, can you say BodyGlove?) The reason I got sentimental was because this bike saw a lot of firsts. It was my first mountain bike. After college, the idea of a mountain bike was intriguing so I picked this baby up but mostly rode rail trails and did some urban assault when I hit a real trail like the original Pontiac Lake I thought my heart was going to explode so I went on to focus on more important pursuits. Like any 20 something recent college grad I work on my alcoholism.

The bike sat mostly unused for many years except for the occasional inspired ride around the neighborhood or on a rail trail. When my mom had cancer, my younger brother Brett moved home to help with her care. He was a semi-pro mountain biker who loved to ride. My friend Brad thought it would be a good idea if we went for a ride with Brett to get out of the house. I grabbed my trusty Trek and off we went for my first and as it would turn out only ride with my brother. In hindsight, Brad and I were gasping to keep a moderate pace and I am pretty sure Brett didn't even break a sweat. He was so fit.

The year after my mom passed away from cancer Brett decided to join his Vail riding buddies for a second Race Across America. He was dedicating the race to our mom and my dad and I joined the crew. When my brother was hit and killed by a truck during RAAM there was to be a mountain top memorial service in his adopted hometown of Vail, CO. For some reason I was determined to ride Brett's bike to the top of the mountain for the ceremony. It seemed like it would be a transformative experience. It was only 3 weeks away and I knew I needed to train to get to the top of the mountain. So for my first real mountain bike ride, I grabbed my trusty Trek and headed to Pontiac Lk the hilliest trail around. I ended up walking half the hills and scrambled my brains on the downhills with the rigid fork. Strangely despite the impending respiratory failure I felt a strong connection to my brother and found riding cleansing. This continued on for the next two weeks until we went to Vail for the memorial service. At this point I was hooked on cycling. It was a way for me to commune with nature and keep a connection with Brett. While in Vail, I picked up a demo MTB and when I got home plunged headlong into mountain biking. Riding 4-5 days a week but the poor Trek was relegated to mothballs again.

As winter approached I had been reading about winter riding and singlespeeding. I was fascinated with building up a SS so the Trek would find new life, as a gearless bike. What a blast we had, riding less technical trails in the snow. I found myself grabbing the Trek SS for close to half my rides the next summer. As my riding progressed I was able to take it on harder and harder trails. Finally it was time for a return trip to Pontiac Lake for a real ride. The downhills shook my fillings but I made all but 2 climbs. I was truly hooked on this SS thing. Thanks again Trekkie. It rained at the end of the trail so the bike got pretty muddy. When I got home I washed up my old new friend. I noticed some ridges on the the toptube that didn't feel right.

Yep, the tube had a small crack on the top and the punishment plus 225 lbs and many years of abuse had finally taken their toll on the old girl. No more trail rides for you baby. Still I couldn't just hang the old bike up. I decided it wouldn't be too risky to ride the bike on the street as long as I was gentle. Sooo, once again a first. My first singlespeed commuter as she appears above in all her glory. I have used the ugly duckling for many a backroads ride and urban commute. Putting more than 400 miles on her in the last year. Still every time I take her out I feel like I am just one pothole away from new dental work. I found a $25- frame on eBay that will allow the Trek's cranks to keep turning but the frame will finally have to hang it up.

Rest well my trusty steed. Thanks for the memories

2006-05-01T09:22:00.000-04:00

Whew!

Big week and the rest day couldn't come soon enough. Two long rides this weekend. 3 hours 45 min on Saturday and more than 4 hours 40 min on the road bike yesterday. All told I put in more than 230 miles last week, finishing my biggest month of riding ever. More than 600 miles in April and I missed 5 days at the beginning of the month to snowboard in Vail.

Another tough week is planned with Tempo intervals but the weekend will be pretty mellow since I will be joining Kelly in Seattle for a 3 day weekend. Hoping to get at least one long ride in next Sat or Sun then come home and get ready for my first 12 hour race of the year. Getting excited to ride all day.

2006-04-29T17:42:00.000-04:00

12 Hours on a SingleSpeed?

I had a good ride today. Went out with a group of 4 for a MTB ride to Pontiac Lk to meet up with 3 others and then 2 laps at Pontiac Lake and back home. All told 47.6 miles, 3 1/2 hours of ride time and oh yeah, all on a Singlespeed! The geared riders were nice to me on the roads so I didn't have to spin my brains out. Gearing choice was good and I averaged 13.7 mph, not bad. I felt really good today and kept within my limits for most of the ride except for the hilly sections on the trail where there is no choice but to stand up and mash out some pedal turns to keep moving up the hill.

Since my bike is waiting for a new chainstay from Rocky Mountain and they are notoriously slow and my 12 hour race is just 2 weeks away I came to the realization that I won't have a geared bike in time for the race. I am getting mentally prepared to do the whole race on the Rig. I am actually a little excited seeing as this course is pretty flat and fun, it should add an interesting wrinkle to my second 12 hour race ever. Can't wait but will still keep trying to come up with a loaner geared bike. Don't want to rush a purchase unless it is a good deal.

Tomorrow is a 5 hour road ride, I am going to join the group ride that leaves from just down the street. Hopefully they aren't going to hammer too much.

2006-04-27T08:31:00.000-04:00

Broken bike again : (

I haven't made any posts in a week since nothing exciting has happenned. Just keeping to my training plan as I start my next block that focuses on threshhold rides and long weekend rides.

I scheduled a 4 hour MTB ride for this Saturday morning with some friends including some FFGs. Was looking forward to a backroads ride to Pontiac Lk and then a couple of laps and back home. My training says I am to keep the effort limited just like I will be doing in my endurance races. Sounded like a good plan until last night. I broke the second frame of the year and now I only have a single speed to train on, on the trails. Should be interesting to see if I can keep my effort under control on a group ride with a bunch of geared riders. Especially when on the roads on the way to the trail.

Gonna try to get the frame warranteed but with Rocky Mountain, that could take months. It is looking very much like I will be riding 12 hours of Addison on the singlespeed. Here's to hoping I will have a geared bike by Lumberjack or it could get painful.

2006-04-21T10:39:00.000-04:00

Recovery week coming to an end.

Did my Field Test yesterday and the training is definitely working. New LTHR is 177bpm and my speed increased by 1.26mph. Favorable conditions didn't hurt, winds were light for the first time and temps were in the low 70's. Still it feels good to know my hard work is paying off.

After the test I went home and got tools together for some trailwork at The Hick . Took the pups so they could run around in the woods while I started assembling a ladder bridge over a fallen tree that I have been eyeing for 2 years, it will be a sweet addition to this little gem of a trail. The exit will have a small drop for some extra flava. Of course Cady and Brady immediately went for a romp through the swamp water guaranteeing them a bath in the lake when we got home. Cady decided to start her own guide service in the park and started running along with the bikers as they passed by. I am thinking of naming her company Outward Hound ; )

Another easy day today and then a couple of easy 3 hour rides this weekend then the real grunt begins with my first set of Tempo intervals. Should be interesting.

425 The Ride Never Stops

2006-04-19T09:44:00.000-04:00

Rest week = boring

I am in the 4th week of my training block which means rest and test. Haven't ridden since Sunday. I will do a short spin-up tonight to get ready for my field test tomorrow. I should finally get some feedback on how my training has been going.

Good news this week is I haven't gained any weight and actually lost a pound of my Easter gluttony. Must be all the yardwork I have been doing in my new found free time. Spring is here and the yard is shaping up but I can't wait to start riding again tomorrow.

425 The Ride Never Stops

2006-04-17T10:42:00.000-04:00

End of big week training block. Well it is back to a rest week after a tough week of riding. Here is a summary since my last entry.

Thursday- Anaerobic Hill Intervals
Darrin joined me for a little sufferring. We parked at my sister's in Milford and left the dogs for a little play time. Did a half hour warm-up as we made our way to the backside of the GM Proving Grounds, then the pain starts. A total of nine 3,2,1 minute sprints up the various climbs in the area. Got the heart pumping really good and felt strong
Friday - short Hill sprints
This is a two hour ride with 15 x 30 second uphill sprints. Gets the blood pumping but does not blow out the legs since there is ample recovery time btw sprints. I think of this as a recovery ride.
Saturday - Highland, need I say more. I was dragging and never called Darrin and Mike on Friday to coordinate a ride. Got in the car and called them both. As luck would have it they both were getting ready to go ride so we would meet up at Highland to do all 4 loops. I did a little warm-up while waiting for them to arrive and we hit the trail for my first ride in a year on the old Rocky Mountain Element. Mike was feeling especially frisky and I wasn't so we let him be the rabbit off the front. Did A,B,C and started D when my steak of mechanicals at Highland continued. In the past I have broken a derrailleur, rode a lap without a seat, broke a chain, oh yeah and numerous crashes that cut my rides short. Maybe I should just ride the SS out there. So this time, my rear shifter is acting up and keeps jumping over the largest cog. Finally after jumping off the bike for the 5th time to fix the jumped chain, I get on and apply minimal pressure and the chain blows up. WTF! This is like my 5th broken chain in the past 6 months on two different bikes.. Before that I never broke a chain once. Managed to put it back together and limp off the trail to ride dirt roads back to the car. Only ended up riding 2 1/2 hours of a planned 3 hour ride. How can I complain though it was 75 degrees and I was on singletrack with my bros. The afternoon was spent in the water with my brother putting the dock in so we could have our maiden boat night Saturday.
Sunday -no more drinky please : (
Had a few too many margaritas, beers and wine last night. Managed to crawl out of bed at 7:30am to get ready for my long endurance ride. Fed the dogs, fixed my chain, supplied up and finally was on the bike at 8:15am. With family plans all afternoon, I needed to be home by noon or so. Ended up doing 4hours 20 minutes of paved, backroads and rail trail. 60.5 miles with a finish into the wind. My body did really well and I kind of enjoyed the solitude of 4 hours alone on my bike. Got home jumped into the shower ran to my dad's house and spent the rest of the day eating way too much and putting on all the weight I lost in the past week. Will have to watch the diet big time this week since my riding is cut way back.
425 The Ride Never Stops

2006-04-12T14:52:00.000-04:00

Damn is life good sometimes.

Got back from 6 days in Vail yesterday. I couldn't ask for anything more. Powder and perfect spring conditions all in one long weekend. Thursday night after we went to bed, mother nature decided to pay me back for a very dry trip in Feb. We woke up to 8 inches of freshies at the base and they were reporting 15 inches at the top. Let me say it did not disappoint. My first run, I dropped in on Northwoods bowl and on the first turn my board scraped ice. My buddy heard me groan, on my next turn I was greeted with a full-on face shot. I thought I had had face shots before but this was the real thing, white out, face freezing goodness.

The rest of the weekend gave us perfect spring conditions with soft corn in the afternoon that my board pushed around with ease.

I got home yesterday to 70 degree weather and blue skies. To celebrate our reunion with the dogs.(and to beg their forgiveness for not taking them with to the mountains) I grabbed my singlespeed and rushed out to Commerce for a lap and a half. The poor pups are out of shape from neglect(their version of neglect is lack of time in the woods) and hung on to my wheel for the last 3 miles of a 7 mile ride. The Hick is getting better every year. The new loop in the back of the park is still soft and has lots of logs that are not square to the trail that make it challenging. Now I just have to get some time to build out the new ladder ramp at the beginning of the trail.

The rest of this week is back on my training plan with some long rides on Saturday and Sunday. I finally got my Rocky Mountain Element back from the bike shop in Colorado. Will put it back together tonight and give it some long miles this weekend. Can't wait. The singlespeed is fun but I am not yet built to ride it for 4 plus hours.

It's raining tonight so I will hit the gerbil wheel for some spinning drills and then it's outside the rest of the week. Can't wait.

425 The Ride Never Stops

2006-04-05T12:37:00.000-04:00

Colorado here I come.

I leave tonight for Vail. Kelly and I will be hitting the slopes for some spring corn and praying for a late season powder day or two. I think I am finally recovered from last week's tough workout regimen. I ended up doing pedalling skills on Monday since the weather sucked. I woke up yesterday feeling like shit and figured it was because I got paged twice for work at 1:30am and 6:15am. As the day progressed, I could tell it was more than a little fatigue. I was starting to develop a sore throat and my energy was low WTF! Am I going to be sick for the second time in a row in Colorado? I decided to listen to my body and took yesterday. Between the crappy weather and packing for our trip, it wasn't a tough decision. I took some Nyquil and went to bed at 10:30pm and slept like a rock until 7:15am. What an awesome feeling to wake up refreshed and with my body feeling good. Hit the trainer for an hour and a half of hill intervals, HR is finally getting up again. Got my Max up to 176 bpm.

I took the pups to our sister in laws for the week and headed down to work for a half day before flying out. Can't wait to hit the slopes and I am praying that I can sneak out for a couple of rides. Not sure if the trails in lower Eagle county are rideable yet but even some dirt roads and bike path hill climbs would be fun.
425 The Ride Never Stops

2006-04-02T09:23:00.000-04:00

Whew! What a week!

Today is my day off and a well earned on it is. After 6 consecutive days of hard training, my body needs a break. Yesterday I did my longest ride of the year. Went out with Darrin and Mike and rode rail trails for 4 hours. To make matters worse my backup mountain bike still has not arrived from Colorado so I had to do the whole ride on my singlespeed Rig. I have a newfound respect for those endurance SS'ers. With only one gear option, the legs never got a break. Slept well last night and I will be going to Commerce today with the dogs to work on a new feature for the trail.

425 The Ride Never Stops

2006-03-31T10:37:00.000-05:00

Great day in the mornin'!

I needed to get in a 3 hour ride today so I planned to make it productive and commute to and from work. I live in West Bloomfield and my office is in Detroit. It is about 27 miles each way, so on my SS commuter it takes about an hour and 40 minutes. Do that twice and you have 3 hours.

Well it turns out Kelly made plans for us to meet friends for sushi after work. Time to call an audible. With the weather turning warm and daylight breaking at 6am, I decided to add some mileage to my morning commute and try to put together a 3 hour ride on the way to work. How lucky could I get. Temps were in the high 50's at 6:45am and I was able to ride in knickers a long sleeve jersey and a vest. What a great way to start the day.

Despite my best efforts to get lost and take the most circuitous route possible, I ended up riding only 2 hours and 40 minutes. With the wind in my face for the last 12 miles, that was plenty. I don't know what it is about my commuter but it definitely takes it out of my legs. I got to the building and could hardly walk upstairs to get the dogs. A recovery drink, cup of coffee and a donut and I am feeling better.

Vail just got 6 inches of powder yesterday and more is forecast for next week. Hopefully Mother Nature will save a litte for me next week. Anyone know a powder dance? It still seems crazy that I was laying on a beach in St. Croix last week and I will be snowboarding and teleskiing next weekend. Life is good!

425 The Ride Never Stops

2006-03-28T13:25:00.000-05:00

Did my fitness test yesterday. I was supposed to do it today but the forecast called for rain and it was beautiful yesterday. The fitness test was a total fiasco! I brought both of my HRMs so that I could measure my HR for the entire ride on one and use the second for my field test. About 20 minutes into my warmup I discovered that I never started the timer on the first one. It was taking my current reading but not recording it...Dooh! Oh and did I mention how much I like riding on the road in rush hour, especially on the first warm day in weeks. Everyone already has their windows down and one clown sitting in the backseat of a car full of high schoolers opens his door to make a smartassed comment. You should have seen his face at the light when I caught them. I thought everyone was going to wet their pants, I didn't even have to yell at them since they felt like such fools.
Back to the test. I did a 10 minute warmup on the course to get my heart rate higher but only got it to the high 150's. I stopped to get a drink and start my second HR for the test. The test went well and I could tell I was going faster than the last time but I couldn't seem to get my heart above 155 even though I was pedalling hard and breathing harder. At the end of the test I checked my second HRM and noticed it never started, crap! At the same time it didn't seem to matter since my HR was so low.

I messaged my coach and she said that since I had been off the bike for 10 days, it usually takes 2-3 days to get readings back to normal. Lesson learned, I guess I took my rest week a little too seriously : )

The good news is my distance ridden went up by almost a half mile or 1.5 mph. I guess this focused training is working afterall. I can't wait for my next test in 4 weeks after I have put together 3 hard weeks of training. That should really tell my how my early season training is paying off.

425 The Ride Never Stops

2006-03-27T07:52:00.000-05:00

425 The Ride Never Stops
Back from a week in St. Croix and ready to get back on the bike.

I was supposed to take a week off before starting my 12 week training block that peaks with the Lunberjack100 in June. Guess I really took it to heart. Kelly and I took a weeklong trip to St. Croix to celebrate our 6 year anniversary. We mostly just sat around the pool or on the beach and read and drank rum drinks. It was incredibly relaxing and great to get Kelly out of the work grind to totally decompress. I think she slept like 11 hours every night. By the 5th day I was ready to get home but we gutted it out for two more days of reading, sunning and relaxing.

I went for two adventure hikes and did one weight workout but otherwise did nothing. The worst part is with all the travel and sedentary lifestyle my lower back is killing me today. Must be the extra 5 pounds I am carrying around my mid-section. I weighed in yesterday at 237 lbs! Got to get on a serious diet before the big endurance races\rides begin. Kelly is going to be out of town until Thursday so there is no excuse for not eating well and abstaining from the beer and wine. Time to buck up and get into shape.

Tomorrow's fitness test will be interesting.

2006-03-15T17:51:00.000-05:00

OK, so this is my first ride post. I went out for my training ride as prescribed by Linda W. It was the second of my threshold blocks that I was supposed to do yesterday. Yesterday it was blowing up to 50mph making an outside ride in rush hour traffic highly suspect. I was already a little tired after a long MTB ride on Sat, pseudo recovery ride on Sunday and my first Threshold ride Monday on the trainer(wow that was one of the hardest mental challenges I have done in a long while) I decided to push the workout back a day and take the pups out for a quicky on the SS. I also had a load of broken concrete I needed to drop off at The Hick for some trail armouring so why not kill three birds with one stone.

The pups were really good today, staying close and more importantly staying clean. We did a quick half hour before it started to get dark then I unloaded the truck and we headed home. Good day especially after calling an audible.

So back to today's ride. I worked from home which allowed me to hit the road midday and avoid the rush hour road ragers. Went west towards Wixom, straight into the teeth of the wind. It actually worked out well since I was supposed to be doing the ride on an incline, I just used the wind as my resistance since we don't have 20 minute climbs in SE Mich. I managed to patch together 3 20 minute threshold blocks by riding into the wind for 20 minutes then turning around and riding with the wind for 10 minutes as recovery. Everything worked great except when I finished my last block, I was at the city limit sign for Milford. My 20 minute cool down turned into a 45 minute cool down. Oh well, legs felt great and I ate right so the workout went well. Even made myself a recovery smoothy to refuel the muscles. I am thinking about working from home 2 days a week so I can use my commuting time for more riding and avoid traffic when doing road rides. Might as well since I am the boss and most of my work is done in a solitary manner anyways.
Time to feed the pups, they are looking at me like I might make a tasty treat.