24 hours of Moab: check

I will start with the summary: An event to remember. A must-do. No need to read the rest of my babbling.

In the past few years I have been mentally preparing to put the 24 hours of Moab on my list of races to participate in. Surprise! I got the opportunity this year.

I learned this was a big party with approximately 4000 people meeting up at the Behind the rocks trail in the desert south of Moab. Caterers show up, armies of porta-potties are dropped off, showers are trucked in, vendors arrive to provide last minute gear and sell you the latest and greatest, and a bunch of crazy people show up to bike all day and night.

The best adjective I know of to explain the course is treacherous. This is a rough trail. If it's not rough, it's super fast. And in between are pockets of sand to keep you on your toes. The first 6 miles are a climb, where the second mile is just nuts. The rock garden is relentless in its attempt to rob you of traction. It provides no good route. It beats the hell out of you. Every lap.

After miles of getting beat by rock gardens of all flavors - once you see mile marker 6 - you get a breather in the form of a double track with some sand in it for good measure. Time to grab some food. Then a cool section of slickrock, some more technical stuff, and another break around mile 8.5. Another good food spot. I actually got in an aero position a few laps here, felt good.

Mile 11 ish starts the last climb. This starts as a dirt road, turns into another rock garden with sand, turns to seriously deep sand, dumps into a slickrock, back on the sandy road, and finally crest for a killer downhill back to the start. The downhill has one spot with the potential to send your body into orbit and a few deep sandy sections to make sure you're balanced properly.

As you reach the transition / start line you start passing people going the wrong way, kids running across the course, people walking around trying to get hit, and various other non-racers that just don't get what's happening.

That's my general memory of the course. My first lap, first turn right out of the tent, my front wheel slides out and I unclip from my pedal, bobble around like an idiot, and nearly crash. Wouldn't be so bad if I didn't pass two solo guys right at the start to get in front of them. End of first lap, coming in to the s-curves before the tent, speed: Mach1, front wheel slides out, and I'm sliding in like I'm stealing home base. I was on a mission to destroy that lap time. I did ok with a time of 1:14 ish. My stats say 1:15:33 but I didn't stop my timer until I got back to our camp. I sped to our camp because my team mates didn't expect me so soon and I had to rush to tell Steve to get going cause the clock was ticking.

I must admit it was a great feeling to exceed every one's expectations to the point they weren't even prepared at the start. Hehe.

Night riding was actually an absolute blast. It very likely has to do with having killer night lights from Cygolite. I'll say it again: It is worth getting the right tool for the job. These lights were the right tool for the job. I am shocked my lap times didn't plummet; there was really only a 10-12 minute difference between day and night.

One of my fondest memories of this race will likely be the fact that there was always someone to catch. It is quite the thrill to work on reeling people in at all times. I didn't count but I swear it felt like my ratio was 70:1 of the people I passed vs. passed me. I had a great time.

Solo riders are super impressive. They are my heros. I had a short conversation with #17 on my last - my fourth - lap at 11:00 am or so. Looking at the stats I believe he was on his 14th. He was cranking up the last climb, just looked dead, and told me he had one more lap to go. I told him he was my hero. All those soloists are. I am pretty certain I saw the same woman solo rider (perhaps #57) on my first and last laps; she was just cranking along, just as happy and polite the last time I saw her as the first.

Another lasting impression: friendliness. The mountain biking crowd is a great group of people. I experienced heaps of politeness, I was cheered on during hard climbs, we were happily given some extra firewood when in need, and the overall vibe was super cool. That's what I'm talking about.

Change of plans

My brand spankin new SRAM Force Double Tap shifter broke on my brand spankin new road bike the day before I was going to ride Teton Pass in Jackson, WY. Not THAT big of a deal, until it takes SRAM three weeks to ship a replacement to the bike shop. Now three weeks later my season is really over whether I wanted it to be or not. No City Creek Bike Sprint for me this year.

I did get a few mountain bike rides in during the three weeks. Including a GREAT 27 mile ride in Park City with excellent company. Then two days ago I enjoyed a good 16-17 miles around Snowbasin.



Then a weird thing happened tonight. I got a phone call from Jack, who I hadn't talked to for probably a year, needing a fourth person to race the 24 hours of Moab. And I'm stupid enough to agree. Looks like we're going to Moab in less than two weeks for some serious dirt fun.

Um, now what?

I've been lost for the last two weeks without cycling goals to keep me focused. I enjoyed my few weeks off although I now feel those should be rest weeks rather than the end of my season.

Here I go writing down my next short term goal: 2009 City creek bike sprint October 10th. I should have a goal of beating last year's time of 26:50 by, say, 10%, which would mean 24:09. So there we have it, I must shave 2:41 minutes off my City Creek time.

I better start climbing again.

1000 warriors

This was it. The 1000 warriors race was the race I trained for all year, my "a" race as they say in the training and coaching world, the race I trained to win. I would be happy with a top 10 finish.

Well that didn't happen. At the finish I was VERY disappointed with my performance. I failed to keep up with the lead group during the Alpine Loop and Suncrest climbs. I just cannot physically push my body to that level of competition. By the time I got to the Little Cottonwood climb I was in 6th position, I bonked, then cracked, then died, then I swear I got passed by every one in Cat 4. Two or three turns before the finish I was lucky enough to catch and pass one person in my Category 4 group which yielded me "last place minus one".

I didn't know I could stay upright at 4-5 mph with a cadence of 40 rpm. Didn't think it was possible.

So those were my original thoughts on the subject. I was dejected. I just cannot compete at this level, whether it is Cat 4 or 5.

However after giving it some time I realize racing 94 miles while climbing 13,000 feet [advertized, 9491 per Garmin] in 5 hours 26 minutes is not too shabby. It is an accomplishment and a serious improvement over last year. Whether or not I can compete is not as relevant now.

Then the results come out and I earned a 10th place finish out of 26 competitors. 20 minutes back from the winner.

Full race data available on Garmin Connect. It's not pretty.

Here's a graph displaying the evil climbs and their effect on my speed and heart.

August is here

I am finally gaining confidence in my climbing again. My new road bike's lowest gear of 39 x 26 is taking some getting used to.

Just in time for the excitement of the big races. First the ULCER team time trial followed by the peak of my season at 1000 warriors. Maybe I'll still be fit for Sanpete too. Should be brutal.

I am spending a lot of time in the mountains all over the place, sometimes on my new Trek Fuel Ex 9.8 mountain bike but mostly on the road bike. It has been nice to get back in the rhythm of the SuperSeries and ride with the team to get that much more incentive to ride hard.

Glens Ferry, ID

Check out a great little road ride while passing through this part of the world. Start from the west side of town and travel east through town ending up on Pasadina Basin road. Follow that road until you drop into what I can only imagine being Pasadina Basin. Loop around the small valley and return to town yielding a nice ride just under 20 miles with a little bit of climbing to keep you honest.

I really couldn't take a picture that did the little valley justice. The road from town drops into this valley that is approximately 1 mile in circumference, surrounded by hills to keep it hidden. I believe there are two ways in and out of the valley, one from the north where I came from and one road heading east. This is a nicely secluded area and the prettiest country ride I have taken in a long time.

Whistler

Absolutely. You have likely read or heard this before: If you ride a mountain bike go to Whistler!

The cross country trails are awesome, weaving all over a bunch of forest, ups and downs, and some man-made bridges to help out when a trail just isn't feasible. As awesome as the cross country trails are, the vibe is all about downhill riding. Two rental outfits wouldn't let me take their XC bike up on the chairlift at Whislter. Let me quantify this: I could have rented a Trek Fuel EX 5.5 but not taken it up the chairlift. I rented a Specialized HardRock and they wouldn't let me take it up, telling me the bike would return destroyed.

Anyways I wasn't interested in killer downhill terrain as much as cross country. We rode Cut yer bars in the morning and I rode all over the Lost Lake area in the afternoon including a few miles up and down Confortably Numb...which started out great but turned too rough to enjoy while riding it backwards on a hardtail rental bike. My favorite ride may just be Pinocchio's furniture. Hours of pure therapy!

Whistler village is gorgeous as expected, similar to the other resort towns we've visited. We splurged by dining at Araxi and were treated to a live show on the concourse. Excellent dining experience.

Oh, and did you know there are a few Olympic venues in and near Whistler?