Look what came in the mail

Yep, it's the Leadville 100 2009 entry form. Time to back off the treats and think about getting back into riding shape.

Squaw Peak Hill Climb 2009

Kenny organizes at least two group rides per year. One on New Years Day and the other in early Spring (RAWROD) . I try not to miss either of them. The New Years Day ride is the Squaw Peak Hill Climb. A grunt of a climb up a steep, snow packed paved road. I think it's about a 5 mile climb. I'm not exactly sure (I never ride with a bike computer). Depening on the snow conditions it can be a brutal climb.

This year, he is asking that in order to participate, each person consider making a donation to his Livestrong page to support Fatty.

Ride/Race will be on New Years Day and starts at 10am at the base of Squak Peak road. Post ride hot chocolate/coffee at the "Borders" on University immediately following the ride.

Your chance to see Fatty suffer

Riding topless is acceptable but not recommended.

Back in 88, I used to....

Good times.  SLC had a cool hardcore scene when I was in high school.  I used to love going to the shows.  Two of my favorites were The Stench and Bad Yodelers.  I heard the Stench had reunited for a show in 2007.  Still waiting for the Bad Yodelers to get back together for one more show.  I know the bass player really well.  Some would say we are like brothers. 

Long Sleeve Version

Last minute decision. I added a small run of winter weight long sleeve jerseys to the MASHer order. Now you can ride like a sherman tank through the snow and mud in the early and late season rides.

Website will be updated tonight with the long sleeve option.

Disturbing

Just got back from the annual white elephant gift exchange at work. It's the type of party where the location isn't announced until minutes before it starts. Otherwise HR would find out about it and shut it down.

Last year, one of the sales guys on our team (who has a very hairy back), received a back hair shaver. The shaver came with a pack of batteries which meant that he was forced to demo it in front of the team. And when I say forced, I mean forced. The entire room chanting, money being collected, his VP shutting down the party until he agreed to take his shirt off and fire up the shaver. No way to avoid it. Nasty.

I can only imagine that over the course of the last 12 months, he thought about what he could do to get back at us. Kind of like in that scene in "Stand By Me" when Lard Ass makes himself throw up at the pie eating contest to get his revenge at the town.

Well, today he got his revenge.

Behold....the back hair sandwich. Yep. That's what this is. Two slices of white bread with a solid inch of back hair in the middle. With a gift card thrown in.



The dude actually shaved his back hair, made a sandwich out of it, placed a gift card in the baggie, and wrapped the somabitch up as a gift.

14

14 years being married to Rachelle. All of them good and they keep getting better. 14 things I love about her.

1) The best laugh

2) The bluest eyes

3) Looks so good in just a pony tail

4) Is an amazing Mom to our 3 children

5) Can climb like a mountian goat on her bike and skis

6) Can hold her Diet Coke

7) Is my GPS inside malls & parking garages

8) Doesn't kick me out of bed when I'm covered in dirt from a night ride

9) She supports my bike habit

10) Keeps me on the straight and narrow

11) She likes to sleep as much as I do (in bed by 9:30 most nights)

12) She is willing to stay home and raise our kids

13) Is super sexy

14) Is my best friend

Thanks for all the good times Shelle!

December 10th

(Photo taken by Brad)

My office is 10 minutes away. This is what keeps me going when the stress of end of QTR kicks in.

Lunch Ride - Orem

There is talk of a lunch ride (dirt) on Wed in Orem. Meeting at the shooting range parking lot above the Orem cemetery at 11:45.

If you are like me and refuse to hang up the bike just yet, come join us.

Bring something nice to wear.

Update on Jerseys

I'm placing a 2nd order of the original 29 & Single jersey. If you missed out and wanted to get one, please go http://www.saltcycling.com/ and place an order. (I can do race fit or sport fit)

Also, I'm adding the MASHer jersey to the site tonight and will be taking pre-orders. If we get enough interest, there is a chance we could get these back before Xmas.

The site will be updated tonight but here is the design (the logo placement might change):

More Skiing, Less Biking

This is the peak (Box Elder) that I look at every morning when I eat breakfast in my kitchen. I've tried 3 times to ski off the summit and all 3 attempts resulted in turning back early. You can see from the pic that there are so many different routes to ski. A very cool mountain.

It's also home to the Uterus Chute made famous by Dug (look far left in this pic).

It's finally snowing here in SLC and my mind is shifting to winter. Backcountry mixed with spin for the next 3-4 months.

Crack Cocaine On Ice In the Dark

Dec 4, 2008. It's 9pm. The temp is 30 degrees and I'm sitting in my truck at the EQ parking lot with the heater blasting as I fiddle with my night riding gear. I don't want to get out until everyone is ready to ride. Anything to keep the legs and engine warm.

On one side of me is Jon. He is sitting in his car, helmet on, ready to ride. On the other side of me is Kenny, Racer and Chucky. They came up from the UC to ride the new Crack Cocaine trail(Suncrest downhill).

Despite the snow/rain from earlier that morning, we are banking on the trails being frozen and rideable.

Tony rides up and stops next to my window. Time to go. As we make our way out of the cars, Brandon and Aaron roll up bringing the group total to 8.
Tony takes one look at Racer's bike and says something like "Dude, does he even have a cog on that thing? It looks like his chain just wraps around the hub". Racer is running an 18 on the back.

The pace up Clark's is brutal. Somehow we make the mistake of letting Chucky lead. Even going half speed, Chucky is fast. I'm starting to see stars. Just when I'm about to peel off and drop back, I notice we are already at the U-Turn. I don't even recall riding half the trail.
At the top Chucky says "that's what happens when you drill it like that. It's like being on drugs."

We make our way around Suncrest, past Sam's back yard. (Sam has cut a trail from the single track up to his backyard.) I would later find out that Sam was watching us from his window, kicking himself for not joining us on the ride.

We arrive at the downhill in good shape. No mud and no mechanicals. Those of us who have ridden it before have a big smile on our faces. We know what's ahead of us. We are about to experience that high that only mountain biking brings.

Riding Crack Cocaine at night, on frozen dirt is a trip. I highly recommend it.

We would finish the night with breakfast at the Village Inn. It's always fun to swap stories and laugh over pancakes and eggs.

And yes.....I went to bed "dirty". Too tired for a shower. Maybe I'll buy Rachelle some clean sheets for Christmas.

Attention All Sheep

If you got into biking as a result of Dug's shepherd like skills, come see me.  I have a patch for you.  Put it on your favorite jersey and wear it with pride.  

Preview - MASHer Jersey

I can't decide

Crack Cocaine

That's what I'm calling the new downhill, all single track, section of trail they just finished at Suncrest.   I rode it for the first time on Wed and my body is craving more.   One hit is all it took.  I need it.  Can't seem to stop thinking about it.

I have 4 days off work, a brand new set of brake pads, and this new trail is within a few blocks of my driveway.  But it's rained the past 2 days and it's late November which means things aren't improving any time soon. 

I find myself peeking out the window every 30 minutes to see if the streets are dry.  Telling myself maybe, just maybe, the trail won't be too sloppy.  

If you need me, you'll know where to find me. 

Blood

Last week I went to the local church to participate in the Blood Drive. I was pretty excited about it. First time in 36 years that I would be donating blood. And let's be honest here, my blood is pretty damn good.

When I got there. I saw Dug sitting on a table donating.

I signed in, and was handed a questionnaire to complete. The questions quickly got into the specifics such as:

• Have you ever spent more than 3 months in Tobago or Curacao?
• Did you receive injections of human growth hormone for short stature or human pituitary hormones for infertility between 1968 and 1999?
• Is it possible that any member of your family has suffered from any form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease?

And then a bunch of questions about sexual activity etc..

After completing the form, I was asked to sit and wait for 30 minutes.

I was then pulled back into a room to get my finger pricked and some testing before the actual donation.

The first thing I was asked after being pulled into this room was :

• "Have you recently had a Cold?"
• "Yep" I replied.
• "How many days since your last cold symptom?".
• "Well, I still have a little Cold"
• "Oh, I'm sorry, you need to wait 7 days AFTER your most recent Cold symptom before donating blood"

Are you kidding me? Isn't that one of the first questions you should have asked me when I showed up? Isn't the common Cold a much more frequent occurrence than someone who spent 3 months in Tobago?

Weird.

And then there is Sam who refused to donate blood because he didn't want to experience a decline in his hematocrit level. Had a big race on Saturday.

I'm not sure if I was more upset for being rejected or that fact that Sam didn't show up. A $10 bill would have bought some of Sam's blood and I would have walked outta there a much stronger cyclist.

The Project

www.saltcycling.com

Thursday Night Ride

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6KdMWWyk6A

Mars even showed up with his stick.

The Patch

I ordered some of these for Dug to serve as a reminder of his shepherd like skills. Dug has many sheep in the cycling community and an impressive track record.

It should look good with the plaid shorts and school girl socks.

60 Minutes of Dirt

My boss must wonder why I come back from lunch with a big fat smile on my face.   From my cubical at work, I can be on some really good dirt trails in about 3 minutes.  60 minutes on dirt is like a reset button.  Makes it all good again.

I'm getting pretty good about changing in the parking lot.  It's only a matter of time before some coworker sees me with just my bibs and no shirt on.  It's a great look.

(sorry about the lame footage.  The trails are too steep to film while riding.  I only captured the boring stuff but enjoy the music.  Can you name the band and song?)

Back To My Roots

I can't fool my body any more. It knows that whenever I try to feed it shot bloks, energy drinks, or gels that I'm about to ask it to do something really hard and the gag reflexes kick in. I've gone back to my roots and pretty much eat two things on long rides:

• The original PowerBar (peanut butter)
  
• King size Salted Nut Roll

At $1.89 a pop, the PowerBar is not ideal. The Nut Roll is always on sale at the price of 2 for $1. Seriously, have you ever seen these things at normal price? Every grocery store or gas station has the same promo...2 for a $1.

Plain water to wash it down or some of Brad's CarboRocket. It's pretty much the only energy drink I can stomach.

Soup or V8 work well but only if you have someone crewing for you. Otherwise, too hard to pack around.

Some day my body will reject the Nut Roll too and THAT will be a very say day.

Saturday Bike Practice

Just another November morning in Utah.  A great time for bike practice with the boys.

Fun Facts

If I spent $13 today on lunch for 3 "Sliders", fries and a coke at the Harley Davidson dealership, how long must I hold onto the sliders before, um, letting them go in order to break even?

THAT is my question.

Cuz I've gotta tell you, I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out. It's only been 1 hour 40 min. but I'm about to cave.

I guess I should be grateful I don't work where Dug works.

XMAS Wish List

http://www.velogear.com/prodinfo.asp?number=A+BTS

These are indoor socks only.

(thanks Kris for finding these)

Fall Moab Fiscal Year 2009

Fall Moab FY2009 (Days 1 & 2) as seen through my Flip Video.

I'll leave the write-up to Dug. For now, enjoy some of the scene by clicking here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsFhbgWvom8

Elden- You were missed.

New Arrival

The goods arrived today. If you ordered one and I don't know where you live, please leave a comment or email me with your address and I'll ship it to you. (r.sunderlage@comcast.net)

Only 1 jersey left (XL). If you want one, let me know. (But more can be ordered).

My Inbox

I've been waiting for this email for many months now and yesterday it finally arrived in my inbox.

Ben: As of 10AM there was 2 feet at Alta and still snowing hard. I’m predicting 3ft by morning.
We should meet at the mouth of LCC at 5AM.
Any takers?

Me: I’m very interested in that. I can’t be out too long but could at least get a lap or two in.

Ben: I just remembered I can’t make it out tomorrow. I’m supposed to give a presentation at a Junior High in American Fork for their career day and need to be there by 8AM. Lame.

Me: I hate you.

It was a sick joke. Sick and wrong. Nobody should have to go through that kind of abuse.

Canadian Maple

Brad Pilling sent this pic to me all the way from Canada. I'm not gonna lie. The Canadian maple bars look much better than what we have here in the US "and" A.

One of these days there will be a bike shop connected to a donut shop and there you will find me.

Happy Halloween

Even after 3 hours of riding, my make up didn't run. It took 2 showers and about 5 face washings to get this stuff off.

Work & Play

Some of my best work is done just before or just after a good ride. So today, I decided to mix a conf call with a lunch ride and enjoy this weather.

Proper hydration is a very important part of bike practice. It's also very important before a conf call. The fatcyclist water bottle works nicely.

The Night Scene

There is an ever growing email thread with a list of riders on it who have all discovered the joy of the night ride. Reminds me of the movie "Fight Club". A bunch of stressed out, middle aged working men, who have come together and created a way to deal with life's issues.

Sure it's colder riding at night. And the preditors are out hunting for food but there are more pros than cons.

• No crowds which means you can let it rip on the downhill
• No meetings to get back to
• No kids waiting to be picked up
• No penalty for getting back late (by the way, always blame it on a "mechanical" if you need an excuse. Don't get specific).
• Breakfast tastes much better at 1am

All you need is a bike, a headlamp, and some water (and $6 for breakfast).

Meet at the EQ at 9pm Wed night. See you there.

A Week Off

My wife is making me take a week off the bikes. She found a way to guarantee I won't want to do any riding. Let's just call her plan "The Vas" and we can leave it at that.

I can already feel myself getting grumpy.

I plan to eat a maple bar each day I don't ride as a way to keep my mind off it. Speaking of maple bars. Has anyone seen those "Cougar-Tails" they sell at the BYU games? An 18" maple bar. I want one.

P.S. Thanks Tony P. for the special delivery today.  I know you are trying to fatten me up before our next ride.

Almost Ready

click to see larger image


Things are in motion with the 29er Singlespeed jersery. Let me know if you want one and what size you need. I've already placed the initial order with the MFG and will have a limited number of jerseys. I expect to have these mid Novemeber.

These are being made by a well know company so the quality and fit will be good.

UFO Sightings in Draper

I expected to read that in the papers this morning after last night's nite ride. I counted 19 riders but there could have been more. It felt like an ICUP race but at night.

Even after the group rolled out from the parking lot, more riders would appear at the stops. At one point Justin (who didn't start with us) hacked his way through the bushes at the bottom of Clark's to move up to the front of the pack. I've never seen anything like it. A train of lights rolling through the scrub oak and singletrack. The Draper residents must have been concerned and confused.

We had riders come from as far south as Spanish Fork and as far North as Sugarhouse. Brad K. even made an appearance.

My plan was to stay near the front of the pack. I've seen too many documentaries about cougar attacks at night. I was not going to be the cougar bait.

I didn't hear about any major mechanicals or animal attacks. The ride was a great success and ended with breakfast for some at the Village Inn.

I'll try to round up some pictures and add them as I get them.

Bailout good for bikers

According to the bailout proposal, there is some good news for cyclists. My stock options might be falling through the floor but at least I might be able to get a new bike out of this deal.

"Transportation fringe benefit to bicycle commuters: The measure would allow employers to provide benefits to employees who commute to work via bicycle, such as help purchasing and maintaining a bicycle. The measure would cost taxpayers $10 million."

Time to resubmit my proposal to HR again and see if they want to reconsider.

Things You Should Know About Fruita

I just got back from three days in Fruita, CO. Good times hanging out and riding with the guys. There were eight of us in the group. Jamie, Trent, Jon, Jeff, Ryan, Keith, and LeGrand. This was my second time riding in Fruita which makes me an expert on the area. Here are some things you should know about Fruita, CO.

• Fruita gets 9" of rain per year. 8.9" of it falls whenever I am there.


• The dirt in Rabbit Valley is not dirt. It's clay.


• The Holiday Inn Express in Grand Junction has a hose in the back. This seems like a silly stat but trust me. It is an important one (stay away from the maintenance guy)


• The best post ride grub is at The Hot Tomato. Get the blue cheese dressing.


• Be sure the pack an extra bottom bracket if Jon L. is coming along
• A movie in Fruita is $9.00
• Bring your calculator. Fruita works off a grid system and they like to use fractions to name roads. 18 & 7/8 road, or 19 & 1/3 road. Crazy.
• If your ride a singlespeed, a 34 x 20 is the perfect gear ratio
• It's true what they say. Fruita is all about the singletrack.

I highly recommend it. I like it better than Moab and it's only a 4 hour drive from SLC. I can't think of a better way to unwind from a stressful end of quarter work week.

End of Quarter Blues

Sometimes work just gets in the way of ride time. Instead of looking at the fall leaves and single track, I get to look at this all day....

It will all be over tonight. Soon I can get back on my bike and ride again.

It's Not Just The Tax Benefits

One of the benefits of having kids is right to carry a package of wet wipes where ever I go (and not look like a creep). I keep a package in my truck at all times. They are magic. Spill something on my shirt? A wet wipe can take it out. Got messy hands from that maple bar? No problem. Grab a wet wipe. Go on a night ride, get back at 1:30am, and too tired for a shower? No problem. Grab a handful of wipes and wipe down the legs and arms and crawl into clean bed.

Without kids I would have never discovered the wet wipes. I am forever hooked.

Changing the subject....Mueller Park in Bountiful is one of the best night rides around. Very long climb which means a very long donwhill. All single track in the thick trees. And they have a Denny's that stays open all night about 3 miles from the trail head.

French Toast Slam with eggs over medium. Mmmmm.

The Mistress

check out the orange Chris King hubs

My new singlespeed is built up. Thanks to the Revolution team for their help!

I wanted to wait until I got it a little dirty before I posted a pic. Kind of like when I was a kid with new white tennis shoes. I was always embarrassed to wear them until they had some dirt and scuff marks on them.

It has exactly one ride on it. Enough to know I that I really, really like it. Something about the Niner geometry that just feels right. I'm running a 34x20 for the rest of the season but might go back to the 32x20 eventually.


I met Tony, Jon, and Trent yesterday after work to test it out. The ideal testing grounds needed to include both the Jacob's downhill and the Clark's climb. We went up and down Jacobs, down Ghost, up the new rock/stair section, and then up Clarks.

It's light and fast. Enough said.

I messed up

My grand plan to go off the Diet Coke was silly and stupid. After taking a full week off the juice, I started to put on the lbs. I don't know if it was a result of my increased snacking to fight off the cravings or if I put my body into shock. Whatever it was, it had to stop. I'm back on the juice and feeling much more like my old self (despite the extra 3 lbs I'm carrying around).

Good Times

Years ago, Rachelle and I lived in Arizona. We were young. Had a good job. No kids yet. We had just bought our first house and a new car. Life was good.

One day during lunch, I was driving back to work in my new car with an ice cold Coke in my lap. Totally zoned out and listening to music. All of a sudden, I was blinded by a flash of light. One of those automatic speed limit machines had just tagged me speeding and it took my picture.

Several weeks later, I got a letter in the mail which included a ticket and a photo of me. I wish I could find that picture. It's the funniest thing. I had a huge smile on my face. Just happy to be alive with my Coke, music, and new car. Totally clueless that I was about to get a speeding ticket.

Last night, I loaded up the truck with my MTB and gear and had set off to meet the group for a night ride up AF canyon. I didn't have a Coke (although, I'm back on the DC wagon), I was listenting to some tunes, and feeling good. Totatlly clueless that I was about to get a speeding ticket. As I came down the south side of Suncrest, I was clocked doing 58 MPH in a 40 zone. Yep. I got a ticket.

I didn't get mad. How could I? I was about to spend the next 3 hours riding my bike at night on some of the best single track in the World.

Since I have a "biking slush fund account" and since this was on my way to a ride, It means I'll be cutting a check to the city of Highland instead of getting that nice new carbon bar.

Note: I took a shower when I got home this time.

My Dirty Secret

Last night after attempting to get the kids in bed (They were all in bed but not even close to being asleep), I went out for a night ride with Tony, Sam, and Aaron. A night ride in the early fall is hard to beat. We rode in Corner Canyon and climbed up the Ghost trail from the EQ and dropped down Clarks and then over to the Scout Bridge. If you haven't ridden through the burn area, you need to. It's like riding on the Moon.

I made it back home by 11:30ish. I was pretty tired and didn't feel much like a shower. So I rinsed off my bald head in the sink to rid myself of the helmet stink and then threw on some pajama bottoms (to keep the dirt from getting on the sheets), and crawled into bed.

I don't know if Rachelle notices when I skip the shower and go straight to bed but we are one of those couples who have sides. So really, it shouldn't matter to her. If I'm fine with sleeping in my own filth. The extra 10 min of sleep is worth it.

Update: Still not a drop of Diet Coke but I have a feeling this weekend will change things. I don't want to live past the age of 70 anyway.

Status Report

It's been five days since I've had a Diet Coke. Here are a few observations:

1) The time I most crave a DC is after a mtb ride.

2) It's much easier to keep my mind off of it while at work.

3) Sunday is the hardest day to not drink

4) I really don't feel any different.

I wanted to go several days without to clean out the body. I have no intention of giving it up for good. I have several road trip/bike trips planned over the next few months (Rachelle, we need to talk). I can't imagine Fall Moab or Fruita without a DC. That would be blasphemous. And my friends would probably not speak to me.

If you see me with a DC in my hand, please don't get me the stink eye. It's all good. I passed my own personal test to see if I could do without. Turns out, I can. But I really do like a DC every now and then. Maybe just not as much.

Cold Turkey

As I sat in the LAX airport last night, my brother called. We got to talking and he mentioned he is off the Diet Coke. He inspired me to give it a go. Today is the first day without any Diet Coke. I have a very large bottle of Tylenol extra strength on my desk to get me through the next few days.

May your thoughts and prayers be with me as I go through this difficult time in my life. I hope to see you on the other side. Maybe we can share stories over a nice tall glass of chocolate milk.

New Bike

It's on order (along with a nice new Stan's ZTR 355 / Chris King wheel set) and should be built up and ready to ride by mid Sept.  All single speed all the time now for me.  

I'm sticking with some squish up front and will be stealing parts from my Rig to complete the build.  

I've already picked out which pillows I can sell on ebay in order to pay for a new carbon bar or maybe a motorcycle chain (I broke the chain on my Rig this week.  That's 2 broken chains in 2 months).  

Jamie's Nap

Only a few minutes into the descent of last night's night ride, Jamie decided to pull off the trail and lay down for a nap. He swears that he "crashed" but we all think he wanted to sleep for a few minutes.

Jamie needs to learn how to clear away the bushes before he naps. When he awoke, he was covered in thorns and in the worst possible spot. Especially before a 20 minute downhill.

Photo taken by Dug

He pleaded with the group (Dug, Tony, Sam, Jon L., Brad P., and me) to help pull these out, but we weren't about to fall for his trick.

We celebrated the success of the ride with some breakfast at Village Inn. We all ordered large quantities of food except for Brad P. (the only Pro rider in the group). Brad kept it to a slice of pie and a cup of hot chocolate. I guess that's why Brad is the Pro.

Cycling- The New Golf Part II

Have you ever been talking to someone, having a pleasant conversation and then all of a sudden the person you're talking to starts practicing his golf swing? AS YOU ARE TALKING TO HIM? Do you find that offensive like me?

What do you do when that happens?

Would it be acceptable to go get my mountain bike from my truck and roll over to his cube and start practicing my track stand? No. It would not be appropriate. So why do golfers feel like it's acceptable to start swinging?

I hate golf. HATE it.

Riding Stealth Mode

I've tried every sort of tactic. The cough, the sniff, the whistle, but nothing seems to work. I have yet to find a good way to alert another rider that I am about to catch and pass them on the trail. (There are a lot of begginer riders in Draper. It's a common place to catch and pass).

Whenever I try to say (in my still small voice), "On your left" or "when you get a chance, I'm coming around" the rider usually experiences a violent, full body shake, followed immediately by a hot flash and almost crashes. It happens all the time. The rider has no clue I am coming up behind them and no matter how much noise I try to make to alert them of my presence, they never hear it. It's not until I actually say something that they hear me.

Is it my voice? Do I sound like a serial killer?

The thing is. I kind of look forward to seeing the reaction. It's funny as hell. It's like watching someone who thinks they are about to die.

Bikes and Pillows

In the Sunderlage home (not our real home), we have a lot of bikes and a lot of pillows. I like bikes. My wife likes bikes but she likes pillows more. I'd estimate that we have about 35 pillows in our house at the moment. That works out to be 7 pillows per person in our home. (Dug, Rob, Eric, back me up here).

I don't really care for pillows. I once spent 2 years on an island in the carribean and for the first six months, I used my towel as a pillow. You get my point.

I like to mix it up and get a different bike every couple of years. Keep it fresh. I'm in the process of selling my geared mtn bike and my Rig so I can take the proceeds and get a nice new single speed (Note to bike MFG's: I am currently accepting offers). If I've done my math, I should have enough to put into the new bike and walk away with some change.

Here's the thing. When I buy a bike, it requires me to sell a bike (in this case, two bikes) to pay for it.

When we (and by we I mean my wife) decides we need new pillows, we go get new pillows without selling the old ones. We probably have a few hundred dollars worth of pillows that we don't use. That's a nice wheel set.

Things are about to change. Ebay is about to get some new listings for some really nice, gently used pillows.

My Friday At Work

The Challenge:
We dared a guy from work to try and eat 2 "Take 10" cheeseburgers (that's 10 patties w/ cheese each for a total of 20 patties) and drink a gallon of milk in an hour and keep it down for an hour.


The Payoff:
$1,200

Does he make it?

Dirt Bag

At work, we have a training room where customers can come from all over the World to Orem Utah and be trained on our software. Just outside of that training room sits a table. 4 out of 5 days a week, this table is loaded with all kinds of food. Muffin tops from Kneaders, fruit, croissants, etc...And just above the table is a sign that reads "Food is for Customers Only". That's the rule.

I like that rule. It's a good rule. I usually respect that rule. But on the days when I commute in by bike, that rule seems a little silly.

This morning, the blueberry muffin tops looked too good to pass up. So I took one and ate in while hunched over in my cube. I disposed of the wrapper by placing it in the trash can in the empty cube next to mine.

One more reason I really do like my job. I can be a dirt bag cyclist and eat free food.

Story Problem

A cyclist has already climbed the North side of Suncrest and has then dropped the South side and has climbed half way to the top. If the wife of said cyclist drives by in her car and wants to "watch" said cyclist climb the rest of the mountain, how many minutes can said cyclist climb in his big ring up the mountain before his engine totally explodes?

Notes: The wife is on her way to the gym and is wearing her work out top which looks really really good. The daughter is only 2 but already understands the significance of cycling.

FC at Leadville

I'd say FC was well represented at Leadville this year.  If you did the Leadville race, go check out the pictures at Rob O'Dea Photography's site

Post Ride Goodness

It's been 5 days since Leadville and ,before today, I hadn't been back on my bike. The extra sleep, and junk food as been way too good.

But all things must come to an end. This morning I met Tony, Jon, Dave, Scott and Ryan for a ride up the Alpine Loop and into work. I was the only one wearing a pack. To make things as light as possible, I packed flip flops and a small hand towel instead of shoes and a normal size towel. It didn't seem to help. I almost pulled over to see if Seth (my 6 year old) had crawled into my pack before I left the house. It felt very heavy.

My legs must still be in Leadville somewhere cuz they aren't with me. I felt like I was riding with both front and back brakes on.

After a shower and a few sent emails, Dave and I borrowed a car and hit the local Kneaders for some all you can eat French Toast and a Diet Coke. Their French Toast comes with amazing syrup AND real whipped cream and strawberries. Highly recommended but you might want to ride 40 miles and climb 3,500 vertical before you eat it.

I'm feeling much better but still have the ride home to worry about.

Leadville 2008

I've been replaying the Leadville race over and over again in my head. My story didn't have the happy ending I had hoped for but it was a good time spent with Rachelle and some close friends. The cool thing about Leadville is everyone has their own personal goal and story to tell. Kenny was trying to get the win in the SS class, Dug and Elden were trying to finish under 11 hours on a SS, Sam and I chasing the sub 9 on our geared bikes, Bob trying to finish in under 12 hours, Nick trying for a personal best....

There is a lot of emotion at Leadville. It's a crazy event that can dish out a lot of suffering. It's not something you can explain unless you've done it. It's hard. It makes you dig deep. That's about all I can say.

Rachelle and me on a casual ride around the lake the day before the race

The night before. Making sure I have enough Gu's for 9 hours of racing.

I brought home another Leadville 100 buckle but it wasn't the big one. My 2nd attempt at a sub 9 didn't go well. I finished the race in 9:21:11. About 10 min faster than last year but still shy of the sub 9.

I knew that in order the break the 9 hour mark, I'd need to have the perfect day without any mechanicals. I had one mechanical and that was enough to smash my dreams.

I felt pretty good most of the day and managed to work with Sam for the first 40 miles. It was nice to have a familiar face by my side for the first few hours. Once we got to the Twin Lakes feed zone, Sam would pedal away and ride his own race. He would eventually get his sub 9 on his very first Leadville race. It was a sick performance.

I knew I needed to ride my own race and find a pace that worked for me so I didn't try to hang with Sam. I wanted to be sure I had enough in the tank for a strong finish. Columbine was as hard as I remember but the course was in better shape from all the rain. As I got close to the top, I started to see friends coming down. Chucky, Kenny, Sam, Brad. As I got the top, I was still on target for a sub 9 and feeling good.

Rachelle loads up my pockets as I force down a banana and a few sips of Diet Coke at the Twin Lakes feed zone after climbing Columbine.

I managed to stay on pace through the first 80 miles of the race and then it happened. The only time in my life that I've broken a chain and it happened about 3/4 the way up the Powerline climb. Snap. I looked down and saw my chain had split in half. I didn't have any tools or extra links to fix it but that wasn't the issue. I've never had to fix a chain before and really had no idea how to do it.

I got lucky. I was riding close to Mike Lewis who saw my situation and asked if I had what I needed. I told him it didn't matter because I wasn't sure I would be able to fix it. He threw down a baggie with a chain tool and some extra links and said "figure it out" and kept on climbing.

I got to work and managed to hack my way through it. I knew Brad was close behind me so I waited for him to catch and asked him to spot check my chain fix. He looked at it and gave me the green light. I climbed back on my bike and kept going. I had lost my motivation and knew that the time spent messing with my chain had killed my sub 9 dream.

It was hard to find the motivation to ride hard after the chain issue. I was not in a good spot. the voices in my head were not helping and I still had the last part of Powerline to climb which seems to go on forever and ever.

Brad and I kept each other in sight for the rest of the ride. We took turns being the carrot. I knew Brad was not having a good day. He had not been on his bike in 3 weeks and had considered not racing. We ended up crossing the line together. Both of us in pink (at least we didn't hold hands as we crossed the line).

Me with gears. Brad on his single speed

So happy to see Rachelle at the finish

Dug would get his sub 11 on a single speed and so would Elden. Sam got his sub 9. Kenny took 2nd in SS (8:30). Bob finished in under 11:30, Nick finished in under 11 (not his best but a solid finish).

Special thanks to Rachelle for stuffing all the right things in my pockets, asking the right questions, the many pep talks along the way and for being such a hottie. How could I not keep riding knowing you were waiting for me at the finish?

Here we are after the race ordering 5 large pizzas. It only took 2 hours.