Picked a Bad Day to Have a Bad Day

I had been looking forward to the Breckenridge race for some time. Making some fairly serious sacrifices along the way to push my training and acclimating process.

I woke up this morning with a rumbly in my stomach. I thought I could get through it with a few trips to the can as part of the morning routine. All seemed well and I headed for the start area. I knew that I did not get a good breakfast in the stomach, but the way I was feeling, it wasn't going to happen.

Brief pause - I have the tv on some car race. Why do the track side announcers wear what appear to be racing unniforms? Are they flame proof or something?

Back to the story. The first loop of the Breckenridge race is about 25 miles with an advertised 4000 feet or so of climbing. The first climb is like 2500 feet all by itself, over like 3 miles. I was okay going up the climb, stayed within myself and just kept plugging along without getting stupid. Crested the top and now we got to go down. Have I said that I hate descending on rocky stuff? I have got to be the worst. Must have let 6 people pass me on the first section. Started to get more comfortable and then we start going back up again. Meanwhile my stomach has decided to not cooperate. Pit stop to empty it out. Yes, I puked. At this point, the energy is dropping and I can't put anything in my stomach. Keep pushing on. So much hike-a-bike that it was brutal, although I think my stomach was a bit happier walking. At about mile 10 I realized that my energy was fading badly due to lack of ability to put anything in the tank. I managed to limp into the transition area after 4:22 minutes. My GPS told me there was over 6000 feet of climbing. I was in a world of hurt and had no chance of another 75 miles.

I am incredibly disappointed in my performance. Life will go on and I will recover, it just stings a bit at the moment.

Here is a picture looking up the Beaver Run area of Breckenridge - we rode above that large line of snow in the middle. Most of the first few miles of singletrack was above the tree line.



Thank you all for the words of encouragement leading up to this race - sorry to disappoint!!

Day Three in the Rockies

The Hampsten brothers are a hoot to hang out with. They finally arrived yesterday afternoon around 4:30. By the time we were even thinking about riding, a steady rain had arrived. That extended the screwing around time at the shop. Getting Andy dialed in to his new 96er and all it's features. Getting Steve excited about the possibilities of mountain biking. He is pondering a move from Seattle to Boulder, going to need one for that move!

Dinner was a classic midwest feast of hamburgers and corn followed by ice cream. Katie is the best hostess ever!!!! The stories that were going around the table were very entertaining to say the least. We all managed to get over our depression about not getting a ride in that evening.

The next morning it was sunny and nice temperatures. We all gathered around the tv to catch the Tour. Nothing like watching it with a guy that has competed in the event to get a bit of insight. During the breaks we managed to get breakfast in and figure out what the ride schedule for the day was. Everyone was kind enough to take into consideration my race tomorrow. The final conclusion - road in the morning and they would go on a mountain bike ride in the afternoon. Everyone was pretty excited to ride together. Me in particular.

Here is a picture of the Eriksen mansion in the morning:



This is a picture looking down their driveway:



Yes, it is that remote. I can't tell you if bears poop in the woods, but I can tell you that they go in their driveway!!

Andy, Steve, and Kent headed down to the shop via the road commute, on bikes, and Katie and I drove down. It takes about the same amount of time to ride as it does to drive - might as well ride. The ride home could be a bit daunting if you are tired, there are a couple of tough pitches along the way.

Once we got to the shop, we put together the fleet of bikes - me on a borrowed bike and the rest on their bikes for what was billed as an easy road ride. We were going to do the Emerald Loop.

Here are a couple of pictures before the Grand Depart:





We rolled out of town for what turned out to be a really fun ride. I had a blast. There were a couple of climbs that got my legs opened up. I just hung out at the back while Andy and Kent did virtually all of the work. The reward for the climbs were some really fun descents. We road a fair amount of remarkably smooth dirt roads along the way. Never seen anything like them in my neighborhood. They were as smooth as many paved roads in OH/MI. I have to say, Andy was a great rider. His descending and climbing are clearly impressive. It ended up being about a 50 mile ride in beautiful conditions.

Afterwards we had lunch in town at an organic grocery store/deli. Delicious! After lunch they all started plotting out what they were going to cook up for dinner. The Hampsten's were going to be in charge of Saturday night dinner. The planning of it sounded so good that I briefly considered bagging the race and hanging out.

After goofing around for a while, we said our good byes and they headed back up the mountain for the afternoon mtb ride and I headed for Breckenridge.

Made it through registration and saw Tinker - there goes my podium position! I think I am ready, but tomorrow will tell.

TTFN!

Day Two of the Big Adventure

Woke up early thanks to eastern standard time. Wandered around Steamboat for a bit and had a good breakfast at Winona's. Afterwards headed for Yampa Street - home of Kent Eriksen Cycles. Here is a view from about the middle of Yampa, which is one block off the main drag in Steamboat, of the local town hill. Note the 90m alpine jumps - holy smokes!



At the corner of Yampa and 12th is this lovely structure:



It is the original home of Moots Bicycles and the current home of the Orange Peel Bike Shop and Kent Eriksen Cycles. It is an interesting building to say the least. When I arrived I was greeted by this sign on the door:



Apparently Kent and Katie were sleeping in since I arrived well within operating hours. They arrived at last and the fun began. I spent the day with Kent finishing up my new bike. A few glitches along the way and it was all good in the end. Katies Mom made us sandwiches for lunch - she lives about 100 yards away in a very cool condo. Once it was built , I was itching to ride and fortunately so was Katie. We finally left the shop around 5:30 to head for their house where we would ride from. I will get pictures of the house up later.

The ride was very cool!! Started climbing very early and kept going up. Fortunately, the high altitude system I have been sleeping with seems to have worked. I was not sucking wind any more than that climb would have punished me at sea level. Great single track and jeep roads through mountain meadows and woods. An hour and a half later, we were back at their house. One small log pile incident had bent my derailleur hanger, but no other damage.

Here is the sunrise view from my room at their house:



Their house is 'off the grid', meaning only solar power. But you wouldn't know it. It is a remarkable house in an awesome location.

Tomorrow the Hampsten brothers show up, as in Andy and Steve. I am hoping to not die going for a ride with them.

A Mid-Summer Vacation

I left the house at 4:15 this morning for Colorado. I was totally pumped for this trip and so far so good. The days highlights:

*The flight was on time, no obnoxious passengers and my baggage made it

*Stopped at a Denny's in Thornton. The waitress was seriously drunk (9am). Across the room a woman was on her cell phone talking very loudly about a 7 year old restraining order against an ex that he had violated recently. That segued (sp?) into a conversation about the custody issues surrounding three of her children - sounded like Children's Services was in the process of placing her children outside her home. Forunately the food was what I needed - I'll probably be sick as a dog tomorrow...

*Stopped at Mark Nobilette's in Longmont. For those who don't know, he is a frame builder of the Richard Sach's/Peter Weigle reputation. He does great work. He is in the process of building a cx frame with an S&S coupler for me. The purpose of the bike is to provide me with a bike that I can travel with easily without paying the airlines through the nose to take it with me. Mark is so low key it is amazing. Here is a picture of his shop:



The inside of his shop looks very similar to the exterior. Organization/cleanliness are not his strong suits. Building sweet steel frames is.

*Went from Longmont to Boulder. What a cool city!! Think Ann Arbor vibe with mountains in the background. I drove around the UC campus and generally killed time. Drove up a road called Canyons without any destination. It literally went up into a canyon. I pulled over into a roadside parking spot next to a stream. Here is a picture of the view from the rock I took a nap on:



Might have been 3 miles from the heart of Boulder. Twist my arm and I am moving.

*On the way back to town I ran into one of RS's buddies:



*Had an early dinner with an old babysitter for my daughters who just graduated from UC.

*Drove to Steamboat Springs for the next few days. I love driving in the mountains. Of the 3+ hours of driving, only about 30 minutes was on an interstate. I even passed a sign in one canyon that said to "Climb to Higher Ground in the event of Flash Flooding". You don't get those very often in Ohio.

Tomorrow I show up at Kent Eriksen Cycles to build up my new bike. Hopefully ride it some tomorrow. Hang out with Kent and Katie. Andy and Steve Hampsten are supposed to show up some time on Friday. Ride with them Friday and Saturday. Head to Breckenridge with Katie on Saturday and then get my legs ripped off on Sunday in the Breckenridge 100.

Updates as they occur!!

Happy Anniversary!!

It is the 10th anniversary of the blog! What would life be without it?

Okay - Some Days I Get Bored

Found this on You Tube. I love Monty Python and never quite understood Star Trek. Had the two been combined like this, I might have watched more Star Trek.

"Knights of the Round Table"

I am sure there would have been other converts along with me.

Quotes for the Day

"I think I just got poison ivy on my butt"

"I'm looking at three trails, one goes over a bridge, one goes straight and one goes left, how do I get back to the car?"

"I hate mountain biking!"

"I'm no good at eating muff.....ins"

"I want to do a mountain bike race so I can kick somebody's ass"

Another day of adventure on the Potowatami trail - just a sampling of what you all missed while you were slaving away for the man.

Getting Closer to Completion

My backyard has been a disaster since last fall. It began with the removal of a bunch of trees, the original wood deck and virtually the landscaping. Over the winter, we had the bed for a concrete patio in and some of the landscaping completed. This spring the goal was to get the patio in and finish the landscaping. Along the way, a hot tub was purchased. It was decided that the hot tube should be installed below grade for aesthetic reasons. A very large pit had to be dug prior to the patio being poured. All of that has been completed and a deck was built around the hot tub to cover up the hole, yet had to provide access if any maintenance needed to be done to the mechanicals of the tub. Here is the result:






The deck is made out of a wood called Ipe. It is a very cool looking wood, lots of grain. It is incredibly dense and heavy. The only treament was an oil sealant.

I spent the better part of my Sunday afternoon hanging out and reading back here. It will be even better once the grass starts to grow in. These guys are waiting for the grass as well - they are not allowed out into the hydra-seed.