Trail Building The "UC" Way

(Image provided by Rick M.)

I met up with the Utah County group today for some trail building. Kenny marked a route and about 15 of us showed up and rode it. I guess that's how it works in Utah County. I like it.

And now there is a new trail called "Kenny's Belt Route". It's a great section of single track that is single speed friendly (which is another way of saying, it's going to hurt a lot)

The best part.....It's a 3 minute ride from my office.

The Mark of The Beast

Finally, my cycling tan has come in.

My wife and kids run and hide with embarrassment when we go to the pool. But I think it's a good look.

Salt Cycling "Fly" Socks

Coming soon.....

Version 1 of the "Fly" socks. Perfect for race day or when you feel like putting the hurt on the group at the next group recovery ride.

And the manly colors have been tested and proven to significantly reduce violent encounters with country boys in diesel trucks.

6" (high cut), wool socks being made by SockGuy. Fly logo will be on the back of the sock.

Please....Call me Gorbachev

Rachelle and the kids got me a very cool helmet camera for Father's Day. Something every mountain biker should have.

I tried it out this morning. I only hope that I was able to capture the violent crash that left me with a nice gash on top of my shaved head.

Just call me Gorbachev.

Hopefully tonight when I get home, I will have some time to check the video and see if I captured the crash on film.

Stay tuned......

(Note: Drawing is not to scale)

Superhero Costume

I don't think I will ever be comfortable walking into work with my lycra kit on. I'm fine walking into gas stations, around the neighborhood, or pulling up at stop lights. I never really feel goofy because it just seems normal. But something about being seen at work in my kit is very uncomfortable. I don't like it. I try to avoid it.

This morning, I got in to the office around 8:30AM after meeting up with the group for Elden's B-day ride up AF Canyon. Here we are at the top. (Photo replaced with one from KK's site. He is much better at taking pics than me)


Back to the story....I got to work early enough that I knew I probably wouldn't see very many people. But as soon as I got to my cubical, the guy in the cube next to me looked at me for a few seconds and said "I like your super hero outfit" and then turned around and went back to whatever he was doing.

I looked down at myself (in my Racer's Team Kit) and realized that bike kits (whatever the colors) really do look a lot like a superhero outfits.

Did I just eat that?

What do you think?......Is the missing part of this tray of brownies the equivalent of 38 miles of ride time?

I sure hope so. I don't feel so good.

Deer Valley ICUP

I swithced up my pre-race meal and went with an egg, cheese, & bacon sandwich on a bagel (and of course a diet coke). I stuffed that down on the 35 min drive up to Deer Valley. Seth B. caught a ride up with me and I'm sure he was looking at my 44oz Diet Coke thinking I was a complete yahoo.

At the registration table, I saw Chad A. standing there. I could tell he was having doubts about racing due to the recent rain. I can't blame him. His bike cost more than my truck. After a few minutes, he lined up with me at the table and paid his entry fee.

We went out for a quick pre-ride of the course to check conditions. It was wet but the dirt wasn't sticky. I realized about 5 min into the pre-ride that I was going to be in trouble with my gearing. The 34x20 was too much for that initial climb up Little Stick. It didn't help my confidence that Brad was running the same gearing and was considering a switch.

I lined up with the single speeders. They had us starting with the 19-29 Expert group and just in front of the 40+ Experts. Which meant that Brad and other fast guys were starting right behind me. Single speeders did 2 laps and the Experts did 3. Usually at the start line, Ed will give the SS class the option of doing the 3rd lap. I was glad that conversation never happened as we lined up.

I didn't want to start off too fast with that steep climb. I knew I would probably blow up if I did, so I settled into 4th position, put my head down, and worked my way up the Little Stick climb. It was brutal. I was totally on the edge and was having bad thoughts. I didn't notice that I had passed one of the other single speeders on the initial climb which meant I was now in the 3rd spot.

Half way through lap one, I caught the wheel of another SS rider and was able to pass him on one of the downhill sections which meant I was now riding in 2nd spot.

Things didn't change much from there. If a rider made a pass, I'd glance down at the drive train to make sure he had gears. I wasn't about to let another SS rider come by. Once I made it up Little Stick for the 2nd time, I was feeling much better and settled into a good pace. The downhill sections were fast and tacky.

I held on for a 2nd place finish which is my best result so far this year.

I feel like my quads have ripped off the bone. Little Stick hurt me.

Suncrest TT

I told my 9 year old daughter that I would ride my bike to the gas station and get her whatever treat she wanted if she would babysit the 3 year old.  She told me she was game but it would cost me a bag of skittles.  Deal I said.

With a jersey pocket full of 3 king size packs of skittles, I was off.....

20:17

I seriously thought about dumping the skittles about half way up.  I'm sure it cost me the 17 seconds I needed to break 20 min but I couldn't let my daughter down.

Uteruses (or is it Uteri?) and Compacts

I pride myself on pushing as big of a gear on my SS as possible (Which isn't very big). I run a 34 x 20. It feels right for me most of the time. I still don't know what gear ratio I'll run at Leadville but that is still 2 months away. Plenty of time to train and figure that out....Gulp.

But on my road bike, I decided to try something different. I went with a compact instead of traditional (Please do not start in with the uterus jokes until I explain).

When I ride my road bike, I like to climb. I don't like the flats. And every ride for me ends with either a climb up the North or South side of Suncrest. A compact is great for climbing. Not because the gearing is easier. In fact, I have yet to use the 3 easiest gears on my 11/26 cassette. I still climb at pretty much the same cadence and gearing as my traditional set up. But the compact is lighter and requires a shorter chain saving even more weight.

The only concern I had was how it would hold up during the sprint finish at the bottom of AF. Would I spin out?

I tested it out last week against the king of the AF sprint- Dug. I'm happy to report that so far this season, I am 1-0 against Dug and 3-0 overall for the season. Last year Dug beat me just about every sprint. He is the master. I'm sure my luck will end very soon but it won't be because I didn't have enough gearing.

I think I'll keep my compact for a while. If you like to climb, I recommend it.

Top 10 Foods for Long Rides

I recently read an article in a mountain bike magazine about what some of the top racers pack when on a ride of 4 hours or longer. I got to thinking about what I usually pack. I realized I'm not very creative and I usually end up packing the same foods. These foods remind me of suffering and most of them I can only eat while on a ride. If I try and eat them while not riding, I'd probably throw up.

When packing foods in a jersey pocket, I think about things like:

• Packability (Gotta have room for other items like tools, CO2, phone, tubes. And it can't be messy)
  

• Calorie count (biggest bang for the buck)
  

• Price

• Size

• Taste & texture
  

The foods I usually pack are:

1. Salted Nut Roll
2. Peanuts
3. Chicken strips
4. Chocolate GU
5. Shot Bloks
6. Power Bar (vanilla or peanut butter)
7. Rice crispy treats
8. Fruit snacks (only because we have a 3yr old and usually have these laying around the house)
9. Carbo Rocket (if only it came in Diet Coke flavor)
   
10. Bit of Honey

The article mentioned a lot of good ideas like potatoes w/ olive oil. Tortillas filled with good stuff (avocados, peanut butter & honey). If I have the hall pass for a 4 hour ride, I'm not about to waste another 30 minutes making my own food. I pretty much stick with the bar code items or things I can pick up at a gas station.

I know I'm missing out on some good foods. For example, I think a 3 pack of Zingers would be outstanding after a long climb. Or maybe a MoonPie or two.

Like A Ninja

Now that the kids are out of school for the summer, most of my rides are early morning before work. I need to brush up on my ninja like stealth moves so I can get ready in the dark without waking the kids. Specifically the 3yr old.

After using the bathroom at 5:45am, I stood there contemplating if I should flush or not. A flush at 5:45am is loud and is a dangerous move. (I flushed). I put my contacts on in the dark, tip toed into the kitchen and ate my cereal without chewing.

I made my way into the garage, pumped up the tires, finished getting my gear on and was about to roll out when I heard a little voice. My 3rd old had heard me and came out to see what I was doing.....Doh!

I made her some chocolate milk in a sippy cup, found here favorite morning show on the Tivo, and gave her a blanket and was off.

After my 1.5 hour ride, I came home and found her sitting on the couch where I left her. The other 2 kids and Rachelle still sound asleep.

Dad-0 Sage-1

The game begins.

Hotel Blues

3 days and 2 nights of living in a hotel is about as much as I can take. I feel like I'm getting fatter and slower by the minute.

Selling software is almost as fun as riding my bike. Almost.