Winter Ride Report

Simmons requested a ride report so here goes! It was a long day but lots of fun except for maybe the last hour or so. It started early in single digit temperatures. I was dressed warm, had my REI bag packed with waterproofs, water, snacks and enough gear to bivy for a night although that was most certainly not in the plan. GPS had so-so batteries so I packed another set as well. The Pugs was ready to roll for it's 2nd extended journey since I bought it. I was ready to ride!
So was Dave!
Balaclavas rocked the house as did wool base layers for both of us. I was in cycling shoes with neoprene booties and Time pedals. Dave was in snow boots and flat pedals rocking the On-One. We both had VB booties as well but they proved unnecessary.
We cruised out of the neighborhood through nice packed snow and occasional powder to Colorado Hills. Even though it was cold the sun was rising fast and the temperatures were rising just the same. Dave struggled in the choppy snow. The Pugs smooths that stuff out but I didn't do that much better considering I had a crawling gear and Dave was fixed at 32x17. Still we soldiered on up the first hill for a mile or so. At the top it was really slow going and we decided to turn around so as to get onto Boulder and eventually second breakfast. The Pugs rocked the house downhill and an incredulous showshoestress proclaimed that now she had seen everything!
After we left the Hills we continued up to Boulder via Sims and the Wall. Aside from a jackass on the other side of the road giving us the finger for no discernable reason it was a nice cruise. Once we got past Marshall Mesa it was smooth sailing on great snowpacked roads.
Smiles all around and we cruised on watching the stares of the shocked occasional motorist. Another guy proclaimed us "stupid" out the window of his SUV on the other side of the road (at 40mph). He is obviously a genious. It did bring up a nice discussion between Dave and I.
While much of the Front Range is snowed in that doesn't make travel outdoors any less possible. A few more clothes, a bit more reading on winter safety and your choice of snowshoes, skis or even bikes and you can enjoy an amazingly glorious and beautiful day out under your own power. I guess a lot of people are just scared of winter, or just scared all together as Dave suggested. They are really missing out though...
Once in Boulder the path led us right by Neptune Mountaineering. It's a huge mountaineering store that carries a ton of gear, old and new school, but all expensive. I've been trying to get a winter Western Mountaineering sleeping bag for eventually doing a race like the AH135 and for safety in multiday winter adventures with the Pugs or hiking/climbing. However getting something from Western and Neptune that's not in stock can be a bit like pulling teeth so I left my information and I'll see if they follow up. If not I suppose Bent Gate or an online store will take my money. Still we had a nice time browsing the gear overload and the map section.
After Neptune we cruised down to Lucile's for breakfast. I had the Creole omlet like Dave with an amazing homemade biscuit and jam. Sooooo good. It's worth it to ride to Boulder just to eat food like that. Homemade, creative and awesome.
We rode through the rest of town on roads, paths and alleys running a few more errands including popping into Vecchio's, Full Cycle and REI. I picked up a couple canisters for my winter stove, a Snowclaw and went on a mini-map binge which I will blame on Dave. On the way out of town we stopped at the gas station that's becoming a tradition to pickup some more snacks for Dave. Lots more curious onlookers all over town.
We came out the way we came in but ditched down a side dirt road for some more excellent riding conditions. The mountains were gorgous in the background and even though the wind was picking up and the sun was setting we both were enjoying it very much.
The dirt road was mostly snowpacked with some great sections of windblown snowcover. It was tough going through the deeper drifts but I could ride 90% of them on the Pugsley with some technique modification. Today I didn't mess with tire pressure too much since I didn't feel like pumping them back up on the road sections. I'm still tempted to try a 3" Gad in the rear but maybe windblown snow just sucks no matter what compared to powder.
Going down Kopenburg hill I dropped into a gully only to have the front wheel totally disappear into a drift. Over the bars I went in super slow motion. Dave was laughing and so was I since the landing was in two feet of powder. Eventually the fun dirt had to end and we slogged up the Hump and the Wall in a combination of road and sidewalk riding. The snow was blowing hard now and all over the road again plus the sun was barely there. Dave gave me his extra EOS as I neglected to bring my lights. Stupid me, must bring lights in winter on ANY long ride.
Darkness surrounded us at the top of the Wall which was slushy and had a relatively large amount of traffic on it. We were happy to find a shoulder along most of 128 and one nice motorist offered us a ride home. Although unneeded it was a nice gesture and appreciated. Soon 128 turned to Simms and Simms deposited us safely into the office park that leads back to my subdivision. Marni was happy to see us home and had been making a crockpot meal all day. After some warm up hot cocoa we ate a delicous dinner and Dave hung out while his socks and jeans dried in the dryer. Yes me in tights (over wool) and Dave in jeans (over wool) makes an interesting combination but I suppose it works for each of us. I dropped Dave off at the bus stop but after a jerk bus driver (sorry Dad) drove past both Dave and another hopeful passenger we went and got some Starbucks before I eventually drove Dave home. While it was a long day I had a wonderful time and it was a great way to get some training in that didn't feel at all like training. Hope you all enjoy your beautiful days no matter the season, you never know how many you have.

Stats:
10:30 trip time
45 miles
2950 vertical feet elevation gain

Simmons you'll also be happy to know that I built a snowcave in my front yard tonight and it's nice and toasty despite the winds whipping at 30mph. I'll save those pictures for another post.

Where did I put those clothes?

My accuweather said it was around 12 degrees for the area but my local weather station says it's a whisker above zero. Dad, I'm wearing a lot of clothes and taking the Pugs out with Dave. I guess we'll find out how interested I am in doing Arrowhead or going to Alaska in a few hours eh? I will say that riding in less than one degree F temperatures with gusty winds predicted to pick up is a little intimidating. Dave should be here in a few minutes. Hope he's got warm stuff!

More snow

That is the story of the Front Range again this week, more snow. On top of over 50 inches at our house in the past 2 weeks we are getting more snow today. In fact they let us go home early from work again.
When I woke up and saw 6" of new snow on the deck I grabbed the Pugsley instead of Cogsworth. Tomorrow's 100 mile road ride with Dave will have to wait. Instead we're going to take the Pugs and On-One out for a snow adventure somewhere. If anyone is interested we're leaving my house a little after 8am tomorrow. If you are interested in coming just drop me an email. Today will probably be some trainer riding although I may head out to the Hills and see if the cold temperatures firmed things up there. Marni is still sick though so I may hang around the house and take care of her until tomorrow. Excellent excuse Chris, good thinking.Aside from riding I'll probably continue to do some more reading and finding music for my shuffle. I've also been checking out the Colorado Avalanche Information Center in anticipation of trying to get out and climb Quandary this winter. They have some really great information on that site and it's always updated with current conditions.On my way home I was thinking about buying the Pugsley. I commute by bike everyday and don't have a car to myself as we just have the Element. Now in bad weather I could also walk but that would require some snowshoes. The ones I want cost $250. So it's basically costing me $750 to have a dedicated fat tire bike PLUS I get to ride it offroad for pleasure too. I know not everyone will find a Pugsley for $1000 but damn it sure seems like a good deal with all the snow we've got this winter!

Choices

Been riding outside as much as possible lately but the last two days I still rode the trainer 2 hours each night. Well I rode the rollers on Tuesday night and the trainer last night. Despite watching the Producers (pretty funny if not a little slow paced) and a couple funny According to Jim's, riding the trainer is still not my favorite way to train. Combine that with the fact that I'm trying to eat a little less to lose my vacation fat (read: hungry like lion), training isn't as much fun as actually riding.
I've been lucky enough to get out at lunch every day at least and since the snow and trails are sloppy at best and unrideable (without the Pugs) at worst it's been mostly road time. Today I had another great ride in the almost 55 degree weather. I raced the rain clouds most of the ride but other than a few sprinkles they held onto their moisture here in town. The mountains looked more foreboding however.
After work I decided riding outside was still better than the trainer so I came home and changed and outfitted the battleCog with lights. Mistake one came here. See apparently you have to charge newfangled "batteries" every so often. I would not realize this until later on in the ride. Mistake two came just before leaving. Marni asked me, "Are you sure you are dressed warm enough?" I had two layers on top with a windshirt in my pocket, shorts, knee warmers, my LG powercap, wools socks and my normal gloves. I figured this was good for the 45 degree weather that was reported as I left work.
I cruised out of town trying a couple offroad routes along the way. The snow was completely rotten though and I turned around 10 feet in both times. Off on the road I went in seemingly windless weather. Mistake 3 is here. It was not windless, it was at my back 180 degrees from this afternoon's ride.
I look relatively happy here still, only mildly concerned that my bike light seems to be loosing little green dots at a rapid pace. Here I turn light from High to Low. Continuing on only a little further, I decide that I better turn around before my light dies all the way. At the point I turned around apparently the temperature dropped from 45 degrees to a few degrees above absolute zero. Now I continued home with the wind in my face and the temperature approaching a point at which all motion in atoms stops. Lucky for me I had this headwind the entire way home. At first I donned my windshirt which kept my body warm enough. However since I was wearing my "normal" gloves, read "summer" with 1,000,000 holes that let wind in gloves, my hands began to freeze into some sort of handlebar shaped club. My light sensed this and all the green dots went away and a red one lit up. My light apparently believed that red is similar to fire and would warm my clubhands. In reality the red light signaled it's impending shut down as I raced towards the streetlighted subdivisions. Miles ticked by and eventually I turned off the darkened streets onto the slush filled streetlight paradise that is my neighborhood. The cool splatter of water and ice felt oh so good on my knee warmers.
Since I've been home I sat in a warm shower for a while then dressed in my old man SmartWool outfit, sat on the couch, plugged in Marni's electric blanket, read some of The Mountaineering Handbook by Craig Connally and worked on this blog while listening to music.

Still it was better than riding the trainer. Yes definitely better. More riding tomorrow. Predicted high temperature is 29 degrees. Better bring warmer gloves! Plus you gotta remember, there is light at the end of the snowy tunnel and it's name is ARIZONA!

Upside Down and Backwords

I'm back boys and girls or should I say, Dave and Becky. You missed Slip Angles so go get a cup of coffee and your reading glasses, this will take a little while. Marni and I have been on vacation visiting my family in St.Louis, I haven't gotten the mail in 10 days and there is a lot of catching up to do on all fronts! While I've been away Colorado got another major snowstorm but I was safely in St.Louis playing Wii and drinking lattes with my Starbucks baristas.Pete, Repeat and Re-repeat no?Here in blogger land, everyone is wrapping up their 2006 details and busting into 2007. I ended up riding about 6700 miles last year which I'm pretty happy with. Yet I can't compete with Mr.Nice, Mr.Peterson or even MN Doug. Heck I barely out traveled Catra and she RAN those miles at age 42! But it was a great year nonetheless because of so many scenes like picture numero uno above. Great riding, great family, great friends.2007 is going to be kickin though. This season I've got a whole year long training log to look back on and obsess over. I did my first ride and first century on January 2nd last year. This year the snow from two big storms plus our holiday traveling put the kibosh on that idea. I've been doing some solid training since getting back in town though and hoping to put in the first 100 mile day (or two?) this weekend. I have been out on the singleshizzle playing with my sweet new 5.4 ounce digital camera thanks to the wifey and it's ability to take 1200 huge pictures at one time thanks to my mother-in-law Jennifer. Plus I'm wearing my kickass LG Powercap thanks to my father-in-law Jim. Never fear Dad, now I can take self portraits AND timer shots. Woowoo!Plus I can take shots while riding the rollers in my best Kerkove and Buchanandale immitating Kerkove impressions.It seems I am also going to transition away from the unattached lifestyle in 2007. My good buddy Jim has somehow convinced his team to take me on as their endurance specialist. I'll be riding for Feedback Sports shortly. The guys are really great as I had a chance to ride with them a few times last season and I'm looking forward to supporting the team and hopefully earning them some nice results. Becko you'll be so excited. The uniforms are blue and yellow and I'll be matchy matchy for a lot more rides! Wonder how the red knee warmers will look? :)

Today I also filled out and decorated my application for Leadville. No you can't see my sweet artwork yet. Maybe after February 9th when I find out if I'm in or not. Looks like Scott, Erik, Dan, Doug and Steven are joining me this year if all goes well with our entries.I'm pretty sure this is the face Marni made when I asked her if she was signing up for Leadville this year. She has been on the trainer though...CCTT series and Winter Park maybe?

I've got a nice Dave and Lynda style training binge session coming up next weekend in the desert that I'm really looking forward too. There is a lot to get done before then though as I'm still busy busy busy from the long vacation. The singlespeed needs lots of TLC including the new chain and putting on the sweet new bike computer Dad got me for Christmas. Plus I'll be camping with the stove Mom got me so I need a canister for it and I'll have to put some tunes on my new iPod shuffle curtesy of Sister. I can't believe that I've had it a week and it's fully charged but there are no songs on it! Plus it's so dang tiny I've got to weigh it tomorrow. I suppose at some point I should really put the Fuel back together considering OP is 6 weeks away, right Adam?

Last but not least here are some biking pictures from our vacation riding. I got to ride with my dad, my little bro Nick and Marni. We hit up SIUE's new trails and then a bunch of trails at my old stomping grounds, Castlewood state park. It was quite an experience for me going back and stomping up my old vertical nemesis on the single and making short work of it. Plus I had almost forgotten what it's like to ride twisty turny trails and go up and down in increments smaller than 1000 vertical feet.

























Before I close out this post I have one last thing to ask of you all. Some of you are believers and some of you probably are not. Either way you can help. A very good friend's son has just been diagnosed with something very scary. He is an amazing guy and I know he and his son will get through this but I can only imagine how scary it is as a father having gone thought it once myself from a perspective of a son. Please keep them both in your thoughts so that they will both remain strong and fight until it is beaten. They'll be in mine for sure.