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?

North of Vancouver

Cypress Mountain

We left Burnaby Caribou RV on our way to Whistler, thinking we could partake into some sweet mountain biking at Cypress Mountain. I had read that Cypress hosted a bunch of great trails. I was wrong.

On the way to the ski resort parking lot we spotted up to 100 roadies enjoying the climb, and we did notice some mountain bikers parked at the top, but there were definitely no trail maps, no bike rentals, and no chairlifts running for the summer. We walked around the Olympic venue parking lot then Vanessa took advantage of the nice few miles of downhill while I drove back down with Yukon. I took a 3-5 minute wrong turn and Vanessa had caught up with us at the bottom. Fast downhill.

Squamish

We drove into Squamish for a break. What can I say? If you are a rock climber this is a place you need to visit. The town didn't feel like much of a rock climbing place though; it seemed like a just another little town. We could have spent days here enjoying all the outdoor options available but as usual I was too focused on the final destination of Whistler.

Vancouver - Stanley park

First let me inform you that Stanley Park was named after Lord Stanley, the same Lord Stanley as the Stanley cup. If you don't know about the Stanley cup you need to go away now.


Stanley Park houses the Vancouver Aquarium, which we visited, which was a good time. I learned a bunch of interesting things and saw some of nature's wonders such as a 3 week old beluga whale playing with a one year old. Of other significant note is that Vancouver, BC is home to quite the array of tropical creatures. It was surprising to learn the vegetation and sea life of British Columbia is similar to the Amazon or other rain forests.

After concluding our time at the aquarium we took the road bikes around Stanley park which is a 9-ish mile peninsula. This was a fun, relaxing time on the bikes just cruising along taking in the sea air and more sights.


And to add to our Seattle parking nightmare we got slapped with a $105 fine for having 1/4 of the truck's rear tire in another parking stall. Ridiculous. How can a $105 fine exist for a $10 all day parking spot?

Vancouver - Mass transit on Canada day

Today we spent $9.00 each on an all day pass to all the mass transit available in Vancouver. This allowed us to jump on the SkyTrain and SeaBus to travel from Burnaby to North Vancouver for five hours of tourism with thousands of our best buddies celebrating Canada day. Here are some of the cool sights.

City from Science World




Go Canucks!




Canada day in North Vancouver




Gastown