Here

Tomorrow is the day. Marni, Turbo and I are in GJ. Time for sleepy though. More blogging while I stay off my feet tomorrow.

Night time is the right time

Hiker Dodging

Bill, Shelby, Dave, Marni and I hit Centennial Cone yesterday. It was beautiful out there. Blue skies, green everywhere and flowers blooming all over. There was one small problem. Apparently JeffCo screwed up on their brochure and ended up listing yesterday as both a hiker and biker day on the alternate use schedule. Of course we didn't figure this out until after we explained it to the 4th hiker of the day. How come we were overly nice to everyone all day yet the many (but not all) of the hikers wanted to be jerks about it? Obviously we weren't trying to steal "their day" and the offical brochure said we could ride. The alternate use schedule is a great idea and I'm all for it but having not ridden there in 4 months I didn't remember who had odd days and who had even days so we just went off the brochures available at the trailhead, not realizing they were printed wrong...

Nevertheless we enjoyed the ride and the views. Hope you like the pictures!
Marni climbing back up at the start when we thought we were wrong.
Shelby following along.
Blue skys and green grass.
Climb to to the sky.
Bill says "Don't mind if I do!"
Whee!
Sweet turns!
Monocog stopping to pose for a picture.
Seriously what could be better than this picture?
The happy couple lounges on a rock.
Dave rolls along. Look at that scenery.
Marni kicking butt on a small tech section while Monocog cheers her on.
A new trail can gradually narrow too. All you Cone haters feel free to stay away. More for us!
Wild flowers in bloom. Yellow, orange, blue, green and purple everywhere!

Hidden in Broad Moonlight

I leave behind an almost empty house with the pup wishing he could come along. It's late but the streets are filled with sounds of graduation parties scattered on each block. Not eager to end up under the wheels of an overexcited graduate's car I make haste off the pavement.
Darkness is my friend tonight. An exploratory journey with new lighting, freshly mounted tires and a test of my body. Spinning only one gear leaves plenty of time for fiddling with my new toy. I ride otherwise free of distraction. Not even tools or a water bottle accompany me on the journey. I don't need an excuse to end up too far from home.
A lap of the dirt jumps leaves me confident all equipment is satisfactory for venturing further so I duck from one trail to another towards my true destination. Some are intended for riding and walking, others are merely created by animals tromping from one place to another, both biped and quad-"paw'd". Across another short segment of blacktop and I disappear past a gate. My lights still give me away but no one is looking. The parking lot, often overflowing during the day, is empty. It's just me and the inhabitants of a small piece of land.
Spring has been wet this year and what is a wide and monochromatic dirt trail most of the year is full of color. The trail is now narrowed by growth with seeds and vegetation finding a way into the crevices of my shoes and bike to be spread to new ground.
The sounds civilization are gone, replaced by that of fresh tires rolling, the wind passing my ears and animals occasionally scurrying out of the way. It's just me and them out here and I'm happy to be passing through. Powerful muscles make the terrain vary quickly and my new artificial sun is more than adequate for the task, urging me to pedal faster. My own little private singletrack is waiting beyond one more gate.

The lake laps the shore quietly as I pass in and out of turns. I stop for pictures. I take another lap.
The vegetation here has grown even more over the now faint trail and though I can ride it from memory, I instead I imagine I'm "out there". Out there where cars and other people are miles away instead of only a few thousand yards. Still the dirt is just slightly tacky and the sharp knobs of a fresh tire taunt me to round each bend faster and faster. I look at my watch.
It's time to start heading back but not before I take another lap. This time no camera, no destractions. Just a hot lap, pushing, turning, sliding, watching the world fly by.
Out the gate and back up a climb. My legs still tell me it's effortless riding but how could it not be? While I ascend I watch an electrical storm rage over the city but it has already been here. While it rages I watch and make the best of the calm, perfect conditions left in it's wake. I pause at the top, hopeful to capture an image of the dramatic storm on my camera but it's not to be. I must have used up all that luck just being out here tonight. I fly down the fastest descent but at the bottom I turn up for one more lap. I can't resist. The rigid bike bounces around on the babyheads but speed keeps me upright easily. Once more at a summit I take the nearly non existant singletrack down for the final time, passing a temporary watering hole, before dead ending into the creek and climbing back up to the main trail. One last gate and out the empty parking lot back to blacktop. I wait for a car to pass before crossing. Pavement, concrete, dirt and gravel all in small bits lead me home. I open the door and she greets me from bed. Before long I'm sleeping. Was it all a dream? The dirt on a new tire in the morning reveals the answer.

Go another round

I made one more trip today to REI for a few more goodies, then home to the batcave to tweek the actual and the spreadsheets of gear, food, and other details. Lighting is LED based in duplicate, the HID is gone for good. Too heavy and having it not work 60 seconds before the start of the Rim Ride was really the final nail in the coffin. Water treatment has recieved a step up in speed and cool factor but reliable backup remains on hand. I currently own a small disposable fortune in Energizer Lithium batteries. Size AA and AAA, over a pound worth to power my lights and GPS out there.

Marni is out at a bachlorette party tonight so I'm going to take Cogsworth for a night spin on some dirt and then get to bed. Tomorrow I think Bill, Shelby, Dave, Marni and maybe more of the gang are going to hit up Centennial Cone for more dirt action. Wish my dad was here to join in the fun on his newfound love aka his GF Rig. Well that's all for now. I'm sure there will be more updates and I'm enjoying the long weekend.

Update

I pulled the back end of the Fuel apart at lunch and dug the other broken swingarm out of the basement. 2 identical cracks in 2 identical swingarms, ouch. Hopefully the 3rd time is the charm otherwise I'll be moving in another direction in some form or another.

I've talked to a lot of people today, from my friends to my teammates to the guys down at Bicycle Village and to the Trek rep. To my friends a huge thanks, especially to those of you offering to give up your swingarm even if it meant you taking a different and less fun bike on an upcoming trip. That means a lot and I really appreciate it Scott. To my teammate Doug who is going to let me use the swingarm off his Fuel which luckily isn't currently in use, thanks a million. I'll pick it up on Sunday when you get back and I should be back in business by Sunday night. To the guys at BV and the Trek rep, thanks for taking the time to talk with me and looking into the situation so fast. I'm bummed that I can't have a warrenty swingarm in time but if there isn't one available to ship then there's not much we can do about that. The discussion we had on the topic was prompt and professional and I think in the end we'll have an outcome we're all happy with.

As for the rest of the day I got a little bit of riding in on the road bike and spent the afternoon cleaning Monocog from his post TransIowa neglected state. It's been weird not riding single at all so now I'm back in business again. Oh yea I got out of work at 2pm which is why I could get a few things done. The Monocog is converted back to the 2x2 with a 36x20 and a 40x16 and with no SS races in sight for a while I think that's how it will stay for now. The 2x2 is so practical without the SS's main drawback of being spun out on the road getting to the trailhead. I don't like driving when I can avoid it. 40x16 works great on the road and 36x20 is my prefered all around gear. One of my Racing Ralphs went on the back in place of the Kenda Klimax Lites. It's getting worn but I hate to throw away a tire until it's dead so it will live it's last days on Cogsworth. The 517 rim is also on it's last legs. The rim is starting to crack around several eyelets so it looks like Larry at Mountain High will be building me up some new wheels soon. That guy is the man and well worth calling for a wheel build or just parts. Big thanks to him too for getting a couple Schwalbe tires out to me ASAP.

As for tonight, Marni and I are headed out to celebrate her finishing up another great year of teaching and then it's probably more couch and movie time. We are both looking really forward to the long weekend. That's all for now. I got a picture to add but I'll have to download it from the camera later. Now I'm hungry :)

Oops I did it again...

You know George Carlin's 7 words you can't say on TV? Well picture me saying them. Last night I found the swingarm of the Fuel crack again. Same bat time, same bat channel. Exact same place as last time and this one definitely hasn't been crashed on. Looks like I'll have a phone into the dealer first thing this morning and see what I can come up with. Otherwise I'm going to have to get more creative. Funny how there aren't that many shipping days left at this point. SOB.Yea it looks just like that (again) but this swingarm is black this time.

CCTT #7 Report: How to win without showing up...

Tonight I rode home from work in the pouring rain to find Marni with the E backed half into the garage and half loaded with our stuff for racing the CCTT series. I have to admit 6 time trials on the past 6 Wednesday's plus a full early season of endurance racing left the legs a little tired today. It's about an hour drive down to the course so I called the ACA hotline before we left and the machine said tonight's race was cancelled. Well that settles it. I was sitting in 6th place in the Sr 4 Men out of 70+ riders and was going to show up tonight to defend my position if I had to. Well I didn't have to so I guess that means I'll finish the CCTT series in 6th place this year which is somewhat mind boggling to me considering the focus of my riding. I'll admit that I usually love time trialing but it does clash a little bit with racing a mountain bike in units of hours and not minutes. Now the TT bike will return to the basement for a bit until I hash out second half of the season schedule. Perhaps it will return for a road ominum or two later this season or maybe just an attempted smash of my 100 mile PR time.

So with no race to attend Marni and I went to an after work function at her school. We got to hold Julie's newborn baby while we were there too which I know Marni liked. She was very cute in her little pink outfit and the pink hat that Marni had knitted her. After we got home I put some time in riding and it brought a smile to my face so that was a very good thing. We also watched some of the American Idol finals (it's still on while I'm typing) and then we'll be off to early bed again. Lots of rest is a big part of my plan this week if I'm going to be ready for this.

On that note I'll throw up a few more KTR finish pictures from Sportsman. Enjoy!

A couple pictures

Not a whole lot of time to post the KTR story yet or the decisions I'm wrestling with but I liked these pictures and I wanted to post them up. Marni wrote a great blog yesterday so read that and enjoy all the pictures. Spring has sprung down here and it's as green as I can ever remember it. Thanks to Dave too for the first picture. Other than that work is busy and I'm tired and resting my sleepy bones.
Edit: Woohoo one more of the finish line wheelie :)

Hola, me llamo Adam...

KTR finished. What else can I say? The day went off despite a hitch and we all got our beautiful ride in the desert. I don't think I've had such a day on the bike. The usual highs and lows were there. The last two climbs saw me shelled but never thinking of quiting. Tears finally came descending the penultimate climb and were welcome as the last 2 big races have left no way for that to happen. My mind is so strong right now but I think I need to be careful not to let it push my body too far. There is a breaking point somewhere and I'm not sure I want to find it.

The details will come later as I'm excited to tell some of the stories from the trail. I think I came in 7th, 15:20 worth of riding time. Even more fun than that was rolling into a full parking lot at 11pm authorites and all, then suiting up and riding 142 miles and 15k+ elevation with some of the best people I've ever and never met.

As for the title...well if you were standing at the start of Mary's Loop on Friday May 18th, 2007 just before midnight I'm sure you understand :)

On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again...

Well I'm home for a brief lunch to make sure everything is all set and the packing is done. Dave Nice, Marni, Turbo and I are headed out for Fruita after work. The boss man even let me out nice and early today so we can get on the road with no hassles. We'll be home on Sunday so there should be a brief update then if not before. Hopefully we can save the drama for your mama and just focus on riding our "junk pedal bikes."

Still thinking about DH holding it down out there. My chance is fast approaching...

All I wanna do...

What I want to do is ride my bicycle. I want to ride the Kokopelli Trail from Fruita to Moab in one push, preferably with others who feel what I feel. If it's 1 friend or 50 others who think like me I don't care. I want to let all of this and more soak into my brain:Photo credits to Adam.

I'm hoping that this doesn't derail my ride. Call it a race, call it a ride, call it 142 perfect miles in the desert to see beauty and find myself. I just want to ride without fear of being hassled or stopped or arrested. The Fuel is ready, bags are packed and we leave tomorrow after work. Outcome to be determined.

Turn 'em and burn 'em

Just a quick post, I should be in bed. The time trial went well tonight for Marni and I plus the rest of the gang. Marni dug deep and almost bested her PR from last week despite windier conditions. She really suffered to ride well and is improving greatly as a racer. I found the zone again, at least on the back half of the course, and really gave it my all to that deep focused cross eyed point. Took a while for the legs to warm up after the Sun/Mon beating but the 24:47 was good enough for 8th place. I'm holding onto 6th place in the series for the 4's with only 1 race to go. Right now if the last race goes well I will get to drop my 12th place from when I pulled my pedal on the really short day. All my finishes will be top 8 then and that will make it almost impossible for 7th to catch me. Even if I flat out next race or bomb totally I think I'll still hold onto 6th and definitely 7th. I said I didn't care about where I placed in the series this year and despite starting the power work late (read: time trial number 1 was the first hard effort of the year) and with TransIowa and KTR right in the middle of the series, I'm pretty pleased with the results. Maybe next year I'll get a new TT bike and train for the shorter stuff? Okay probably not but you never know.In other more interesting news, DH left for his adventure today. Good luck buddy, can't wait to hear the stories before my own trip. Almost time to do some riding in the desert myself. See all you other crackheads there.

Just what I needed

I know I promised a TT update but plans changed. The gang was discussing carpool and hotel options for KTR yesterday afternoon when Sportsman asked if I was going riding. I need a good fun outside ride so I headed home after work, put a cage on the road bike and rode out the door to meet him just up the road from my house.

We rode down from Westy to Golden, climbed Lookout in somewhat of an obscene time considering we talked up until the last minute or two of the climb and then looked out from where we had come from. Big. Dark. Clouds. Jackets and knee warmers went on and we tried a couple methods of skirting the storm. While back in Golden and hiding from the hail under some lady's tree and then in her garage as she graciously let us in, we realized we didn't dodge it very well. Eventually the hail subsided and we rode in the driving wind and rain for the majority of an hour back home. It was a little chilly and we were soaked to the bone but Scott did show me a new route to avoid the busy streets which was awsome.

Back at home I jumped in a warm shower and put on dry clothes. Marni had just finished her ride and had a big meal almost done so we ate and parked it on the couch for the rest of the night. Of course not before I finished off the last of the "Surf and Turf" Ben and Jerry's Phish Food ice cream. Yum!

Edit: Here's an elevation profile of yesterday's ride. I finally got the GPS cable for my Geko that Mr.Nice gave me. I'm in trouble now. The GPS was fun before but uploading tracks and downloading rides is really cool!

Busy Busy

Okay this marks an attempt to get back to my daily blogging. It's good for me and hopefully you all enjoy reading it! Either way things have been pretty crazy since after TransIowa. I've been recovering physically and mentally although really that's pretty complete.

My attention has turned to the next two big races, the Kokopelli Trail Race followed by the focus of much of my effort and stress, the Grand Loop Race. I've been buying supplies, testing gear and riding with full packs and a loaded bike for much of the year. Now the race is getting close and a safe finish is my goal. I'll say the same is true for the KTR this coming weekend, something I've been dying to participate in for a while now. While I've ridden parts of the Kokopelli, I've never got to ride it all straight through and I'm looking foward to a long beautiful day in the saddle immensely. Nothing like a midnight start and a sunrise while racing to blow your mind. I won't say I'm planning a totally light weight strategy because I'm not, but I am planning something similar to one I've used previously with good success. We'll see if the weather doesn't try to negate it either. That's all I'm saying for now. See all you other desert nuts on Friday night in Fruita!

I also got my new kit for the Feedback Sports Racing team which is great. Full zip jerserys and comfy shorts by Giordana is just what I've been needing. Plus Marni is probably planning to steal my long sleeve jersey when I'm not wearing it. No more multi-holed CU Tri gear for me but Marni did replace my ratty knee warmers and the signature red is still coming at ya. Hey it makes me real easy to pickout in a crowd :)

Okay tomorrow's blog will be a huge time trial update as the past 3 races have been great for our little group and last week I finally set a new PR on the course. Nothing as huge as Marni's 3 minute smash but at almost 26mph I'll take any gains I can get without buying speed. Not that I'm opposed to that if Louis Garneau or Giro wants to send me a TT helmet...

Thought of the night. How many pounds of gear and food would you need to survive for 360 miles in the desert without resupplying anything but water? M