Cowbell?

 

Spectator at the Pierra Menta

TOU Fan Kit

"Mom, why is dad talking to the mirror and jumping on the bed with some bells?"

New technology

Testing out the post by BlackBerry function. I stayed home from work today because of a lingering cold. Every day I keep thinking it will be better, but it gets worse. I'm starting a course of antibiotics.

Since I'm down and out I spent some time working on the Scalpel. I have to say that I think I have a love affair with this bike. In the last few days I've added a riser bar and switched to a triple. I was ridiculed into getting the riser bar. I showed up for a ride last week with some Ritchey WCS bar ends. Alex called me "Hermida" and Bart called me "old school." I ignored them until I wrapped my bar end around a little tree and ended up with a minor concussion. With the riser bar I think I have a bit more control on the DH and a bit more leverage in the climbs. Combined with the triple, its an adventure riding machine. Hopefully it races well too. If I can get functioning again I'm going to do the Point to Point.

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Biking on Ski Terrain

Rather than making my head cold worse by racing the RMR, I decided to go exploring. I attempted to retrace a classic ski tour on my bike. I decided it's easier to travel on snow with skis, but it was neat to see the terrain in summer form. I wanted to ride from Solitude to Alta via Twin Lakes pass. I rode up Serenity and the new trail and proceeded up the service rode to Summit.

Near the top I ran into Anthony Colby who was looking at a map, rather perplexed. He was in town to do some Tour of Utah recon. I told him that I didn't think the course was coming up here. He said it was his day off and he was just chillin' on the mountain bike. It was nice to hear someone from Durango look at the Wasatch and say that it is "spectacular."

The road to Summit was pretty steep. Everytime I ride up that road I swear I'm going to get a triple. I'm going to follow through this time. At the top of the Summit, a nice trail continues to Twin Lake Pass. But it's a lot more rugged and rockier without snow. Although I think that a hike a bike to the pass would be possible, I didn't attempt it. Here is the view from Summit, looking at Wolverine Cirque, which holds snow. Funny to think that in only two months there will be new snow in the cirque.

I gave up on my plans to ride to Alta and ended up riding back down on the Sol Bright trail to Brighton and then back to Solitude.

I think though that I was inspired to make an attempt at a version of the Wasatch Classic. What about this route? Heber, Cascade Springs, Ridge Trail, Tibble Fork, Mineral Basin, Alta, Grizzly Gulch, Twin Lakes Pass, Hike a Bike, Brighton, Guardsman, Crest, Mid-Mountain, Powerline, Guardsman, back to Heber via Dry Creek. Lots of bail out options on this route.

Stolen Bike: Found, Lost, and Found . . . but still Lost.

You might have noticed that I removed a previous post on how my stolen bike was found at a pawn shop, but sold before I could get there. I removed it because of pending legal action. Someone saw that post, however, and figured out who purchased my bike fromt he pawn shop. The purchaser called me yesterday and offered to return the bike. The problem is that the pawn shop won't return his money. So, the bike is still lost. KSL did a story on this:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Crashing Sucks

I raced the ICup today. I had not one, not two, not three, but four bonafide crashes. I sailed over the bars at least twice. Both times I took the blind corners a bit too fast and ended up going off the trail and off the sidehill. I put in an extra 20 feet of vertical climbing back up to the trail. And then I slid out and bounced on the ground once. I can't remember exactly what happened the fourth time, but I'm pretty sure there was a fourth time. It's all a blur.

My right side just healed up from my Solitude crash, which left me with a bent crank, bent chainrings, and a few stitches in my knee. I still cringe as I remember getting launched off my bike when my pedal caught a rock, and then skittering down the trail in my skinsuit. You'd think that this experience would have caused me to check my speed today, but apparently not since I now have to work on getting my left side healed up.

The learning curve in racing mountain bikes is, as I've come to find out, a bit steep. Jonny imparted some words of wisdom as I was washing blood off my left arm. Staring at the scab on my right knee, he said, "dude, maybe you should slow down a bit." I think that's good advice.

Family Vacation: Colorado Western Slope

From July 24, 2009

My family and I spent last week in Colorado on a little vacation -- Dolores, Telluride, Durango, Mesa Verde, Silverton, Ouray. The mining/resort towns, the San Juan mountains and southwest Colorado in general were really neat. We spent the most time in Telluride. Telluride turned out to be a great place for a family. Lodging at the resort was discounted. There were lots of activities, including a trout pond. The hit for the kids was a free gondola, which they rode multiple times, logging in lots of vert and several miles.

From July 24, 2009

The town of Telluride is located in a really cool spot in the mountains. It is surrounded on nearly every side with big rugged mountains. When I got there, the thought occurred to me that it resembled a town in the Alps, like Chamonix. As we spent more time there, it turned out that this wasn't an original thought. Apparently, that area is sometimes referred to as little Switzerland or the Rocky Mountain's Chamonix. With a good snow pack, those mountains would make for some excellent skiing. Here is a shot of some real "skins."

From July 24, 2009

Of course, I got some good biking in as well. Since the whole San Juans range has been prospected, mined, raped, and pillaged, there are lots of trails and roads. Thanks to the miners, there is a mecca of great trails and roads that lead all over and into the mountains -- perfect for a mountain bike. If old mining shafts and ghost towns interest you, there are lots of those as well. While in Telluride, I got in several rides, but the most memorable one will be my ride up Imogene Pass. Imogene Pass is a road that is cut into the mountain and climbs from Telluride over a 13k foot mountain pass. The road eventually ends in Ouray. Each year, there is a foot race from Ouray to Telluride on that road. Being able to climb that high on a bike was exhilarating. The experience was enhanced as I pedaled by several jeep caravans. And yes, it was on the uphill. Sorry, no pictures.

I also got to ride several trails in Durango. I think my favorite by far was the Colorado Trail. Not because it was a great quality fun trail, but because of the intrigue. What is intriquing about that trail is its sheer length and the terrain that it traverses. The Colorado trail starts in Durango and ends in Denver and stretches 500 miles. I rode a few portions of it, and began dreaming about riding all of it (which is impossible since some of it goes through a wilderness area). Sometime soon, I want to ride from Molas Pass to Durango, a 70ish mile ride that seems to be a local epic.

You often hear about how Durango is the mtb mecca. Initially I wasn't impressed by the town or the trails, but it grew on me fast. The thing that struck me and impressed me the most was the number of options in that area. Not only can you hop on a trail and ride forever, there are lots of those kinds of trails.

Pictured below is a shot of a bowl in Silverton. Silverton is relatively close to Telluride, but unlike Telluride, hasn't had the Aspen makeover. "Quaint" might be a word to describe it as compared to Telluride. So might the word "authentic." I was really impressed with the terrain around Silverton. With a good snow pack, it would be a ski mountaineer's dream.

From July 24, 2009

"Quaint?"

From July 24, 2009

Quaint for sure.

From July 24, 2009

Taking a break from the alpine setting, we journeyed into the desert to see some indian ruins. Mesa Verde was quite impressive. This is a portion of the Cliff Palace. Warm in the winter, cool in the summer.

From July 24, 2009

I should mention that one fringe benefit of the trip was that I was able to live and train at altitude for a week. I fully expect to ride like I'm on EPO now.