Breaking the Rules

The rules clearly state that the host of the ride should be at the front, or near the front, or at least not at the back. That rule was not followed on today's ride.

Yesterday, I threw out the idea of a lunch ride down here in Orem. That made me the host of the ride. It was great to see Brad, Tony, Adam and Kenny (yes Kenny, the one with the recent hip surgery) all come down and meet for a Frank to Dry loop. Dug is too important now for rides and wasn't able to make it. Or maybe he knew better. Kenny, Brad, Adam, and Tony are all "fast guys".

The stuff up north has snow on it. Pretty much the nearest option for a ride is Utah County. Which is probably why Tony, Brad and Adam all deciced to make the 30 min drive down.

The ride started out with just the 4 of us and just as we got to the gate where the pavement turns to dirt, Kenny rolled up in his F"n"J and caught us.

This is Kenny's backyard, so he lead the pack. The pace was fast. Kenny, Tony, and Brad were all on SS which didn't help the pace any. I quickly moved to the back of the group and tried to settle in but was hurting. I'd like to blame it on the fact that I have a cold but the fact is, I ride with a cold all the time. I just didn't have it today.

Just as I was about the blow up, Brad got a flat.....Nice.

After a quick change, we were rolling again. The trails were dry and the temps were cool but not cold. It was fun to ride with people again. I've been used to riding solo the past couple of weeks.

Adam and Kenny

We rolled into the parking lot just as the rain/snow started to fall. We timed this ride to perfection. Good times. I can't end the season feeling like the slow guy of the group. I demand a re-match.

Open Invitation

The forecast for tomorrow calls for 45 and partly sunny with a potential storm on tap for Saturday. This means no riding this weekend.

The trails down here in Orem are dry and in great shape. I think it's time that the core group tried the Frank to Dry loop. So here's the plan...

Tomorrow- Fri 11/30

Where: Omniture Parking Lot

When: 11:45am depature

What: Frank to Dry

Who: Anyone

Ride time is about 1:20. It starts out with a wicked jeep road climb and then connects to a nice steep single track climb and then some fast tight single track back down to the parking lot.

Who's with me?

Weight

I wouldn't call myself a "weight weenie" but I would say that I am aware of my weight. I think this is probably true for any cyclist. My awareness consists of a few simple things. For example:
1) I weigh myself every morning under the same conditions
2) When I go out to eat, I quickly scan the restaurant to get an idea of how many overweight people eat there and make a note of it. (I get bummed out if the ratio is out of wack and try not to go back to that place).

And that is about it.

I know people who "cleanse" their bodies every now and then to try and drop lbs. Basically, it means they fast for a week and only drink some magic juice and maybe eat a waffer once a day. I could never do this. I like my food too much.

But yesterday, I had a great idea. I decided I would try my own cleanse. Which, for me, meant I would skip lunch and go on a 1 hour 20 minute mtb ride. and then not eat again until dinner.

Seemed like a good idea.

The ride part was great. I quickly settled into a nice pace with my ipod and did the Frank to Dry loop down here in Orem. Temps were in the mid 40's and the sun was out. Conditions were perfect. I got back to the parking lot at work, changed back into my work clothes (which by the way, took about 15 min because some family decided to have a picnic about 5 feet from my front bumper. Seriosuly, I had 2 kids staring right at me the entire time I was trying to change. I spent about 5 min sitting there in my front seat with just my cycling shorts and a t-shirt on waiting for my window of opportunity to do the pant exchange) and then waltzed back into the office.

About 30 minutes later, I was STARVING. I couldn't stand it. I ended up buying a pack of Pop-Tarts from the vending machine and eating those. Still, not too bad. A small snack instead of lunch. I was still on plan.

At about 5:15, I called Rachelle to let her know I was coming home hungry and wanted to know if she was cooking dinner. She promised a massive plate of pasta and chicken. I coudn't wait.....literally. I made another stop by the vending machine and grabbed a bag of chips for the 25 min commute home.

When I got home, I scarfed down the plate of food and immediately went searching for something sweet to eat. 4 cookies later and a handful of Rolo's, I was still in grazing mode.

I must have eaten about 15 Rolo's, massive amounts of Wheat Thins, and 3 rolls left over from Thanksgiving.

My point is this- It doesn't pay to starve yourself. It had a reverse affect for me. I'm pretty sure I ate 3x my normal qty's last night all because I decided to skip lunch and ride instead.

So today, I made sure to eat a bean burrito and 2 tacos for lunch.

A Matter of Time...

It's funny. I spend an average of 3 days per week (sometimes more) outside in the mountains. That comes out to about 156 days per year or 42% of the year- outside in the mountains. Most of it in the eary mornings or evenings. In the Spring, Summer, and Fall, I am on my mountain bike or road bike. In the Winter, I am in the backcountry skiing.
I see a lot of deer, the occasional moose, some foxes and coyote but I have NEVER seen a mountain lion. I've seen a lot of fresh cougar tracks but never the actual cougar.

My daughter Tatum just got back from a trip to Arizona with Rachelle. She brought me back a postcard of a mountain lion. On the back of the card it says thinks like "Mountain Lions are one of the only types of cats that are active during the day" or "Mountain Lions can be found where there are a lot of deer"... These are comforting thoughts for someone who tends to ride mostly solo during all hours of the day and usually where there are a lot of deer.

It has to be only a matter of time before I have my encounter. I wonder...will I be by myself? Will it be on a night ride? Will it be while I am stopped, eating the left over pot roast I have packed in my jersey pocket?

I know it will happen some day. And to tell you the truth, in the back of my mind, I am kind of excited for it. A cougar is the one animal I would really like to see in the wild. Just not when I am alone.

My "Climb" Playlist

I'm always looking for some new songs to add to my "Climb" playlist. It's funny how a song can sound different when played through an ipod during a nasty climb. The pain cave can make just about any song sound good. For example, if you look at my current playlist, the first 10 songs are from totally random and different artists. They are all great songs to climb to and have one thing in common. They help me get to the top faster. (In case you are wondering, my Paula Abdul collection is for races)

Til I Collapse -Eminem
Slow Ride - Beastie Boys
Waiting Room - Fugazi
The Card Cheat- The Clash
OPP- Naughty by Nature
The Zephyr Song- Red Hot Chil Peppers
Read my Mind- The Killers
Mr. Brownstone- Guns N Roses
99 Red Ballons- Goldfinger (a great cover)
Toxicity- System of a Down

Go ahead and download these songs to your playlist. Let me know if your time improves.

Pre-Thanksgiving Ride

Normally during the week of Thanksgiving, I'm trying to decide what route to ski. I can't believe how dry it is this year. Today is Nov 21 and it's cold but the trails are still in great shape.

I snuck out of work for a lunch ride and tried to burn a few calories before the big feast tomorrow . Check out the trails:

I saw a few light snow flurries in the air but the sun was out and on the climb, I was working up a pretty good sweat.

From my office, there is a good 15 min of straight up jeep road climbing before I hit the single track. I found myself looking at my top tube most of the jeep road section. It has some great words of motivation plastered on it:

I couldn't ask for a better location for my office. We are right smack at the base of the trails in Provo Canyon. I can be on dirt in a few minutes from my office and from my house, I can access an ever growing network of killer single track. How cool is that?

11:28

I've been traveling the past 2 weeks and have not been able to ride much at all. (By the way, it really sucks to be in the airport and see an email thread from the group arranging times and routes for a ride). And with travel comes poor eating patterns. Now that I am finally home, Rachelle is out of town for 4 days so I have been sitting around the house with the kids. Not exactly a great schedule for riding. I'm pretty sure I've been eating every 10 minutes for the past 10 days. Which means I'm up 10 lbs from my prime riding weight. In fact, as I write this, I have managed to polish off a half sleeve of cookies.


Before Rachelle left on her trip, she had arranged for a babysitter to come over on Sat for a couple of hours so I could get a ride in (Rachelle rules). The problem is, Sage has been sick and has been super grumpy. Almost as grumpy as me. You see, if 3 days go by and I have not gotten a ride in, I am not a very fun person to be around. I've been looking forward to Sat morning all week. Finally a chance to get back on my home turf for some mountain biking.

I knew that if the weather continued to stay mild and dry that I would eventually have to take a crack at the time trial up Clarks and this Sat seemed like my last shot at doing this before the snow comes. I also knew that based on the past 2 weeks, I was not going to be in good form to try for a PR.

After 5 hours of sleep (most of it interupted with Sage crying and wanting to be held), the morning came. Maddie was coming over at 8:15 am and I was going to have 2 hours to ride.

Sage had different plans. She woke up as the devil and there was no way I was going to let Maddie be the outlet of her rath. I sent Dug a text to tell him I was not able to ride and to let Maddie know it was off.

I tried to blow off the fact that my ride had just been sabatoged. Instead, I spent most of the day playing with Seth and holding Sage. At about 2pm, I could tell Sage was wasted. I managed to get her and Seth to take a nap and sent Dug another text saying that if Maddie was still up for babysitting that I was willing to pay her a good rate for being such a short notice.

By 3:15, I was riding. I dropped down Clarks and without any warm up, turned around and started the climb. As I rolled off the bridge I hit start on my watch and went for it. My lungs felt like they were full of battery acid. I was hurting and was only 2 minutes into the climb. I knew it was going to be a painful effort. I passed 4 other riders and 2 stray dogs and rolled through the 2nd sign at 11:28. Not a great time but based on the circumstances, I couldn't be mad. Afterall, I was finally out on the bike again.

I'm hoping I have one more chance to improve my time before the trail closes this winter. Based on the forecast, I don't think it's going to happen.

By the way, Brad K. posted a 10:30 up Clarks on Saturday. Do you realize how fast that is? Do you?