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