Monumentally Afflicted

Well, two days after about a foot of snow, the conditions are expected to be variable. I figured about the only responsible outside ride would be up and down Mt Herman, stick to the road the whole way. Conditions were icy when I started around 9:15, but it was super muddy on the way downhill an hour later. I encountered partially eaten deer legs in two separate spots. The coyotes and/or mountain lions must be getting their fill! I put in a fairly hard effort today and felt pretty decent. Speed was a bit slow, due to conditions, but I got a good workout. Hopefully, it'll be nicer next weekend and I can get in an extra long ride.

Spent 5 hours this morning doing belt testing for Ryu Te. Not especially tiring, but a bit taxing on my knees and ankles. I'm slowly learning and progressing. I think I'm 6th Kyu now, which is Purple belt maybe? Hit the trainer tonight and got in about 35 minutes of quality riding. Warmed up and did about 8 intervals with rests in between, then did a short warm down. Full stretching and some core exercises. I imagine it'll be a total mud disaster outside tomorrow, due to ~12" of snowmelt today and tomorrow. It'll probably be another day on the trainer or maybe a sloppy ride up and down Mt Herman Rd.

I used to get excited about a good blizzard for the skiing. Frankly, with a minimum of 2 hours in the car to get to a ski area, I'm over that. Now that I'm properly equipped, a good blizzard gets me all hyped up for some riding! We have an excellent spring snow storm hitting the region right now. I got outta work early to avoid getting either stuck at work or on the highway for way too long. Got home, slapped some brake levers and random grips on my snow bike and hit the trail. Snow biking is one of the few times I enjoy riding with my dogs, Marley and Tess. They can keep up or go faster than me, and I don't have to worry about them bugging anyone, because no one else is on the trail. The dogs absolutely love going for rides, especially in the snow! Marley (the Golden) gets the ice-ball thing going on her feet, which slows her down, but Tess is pretty much a non-stop nutcase out there. Good times. This is supposed to be a big storm, with up to 2 feet of snow. When ...

Let's see...it has been a couple days.  Did some riding on the trainer Tuesday night, just before midnight.  Time went by pretty quickly listening to some Jack Johnson.  Knees are feeling good. Got out into the Preserve yesterday for some good singletrack riding.  Nice to have such good trails so close to the house.   Per Jon, sounds like the bears are out in force on the trails, esp DLS.  If I'm lucky, I might see one hightailing it away from me, the only way I've ever seen them on the trails. We're supposed to get pounded by a snow storm.  12-24" and it is already starting to come down in Monument.  I went to grab the snow bike from the garage this morning, but realized I had taken the brake levers for my Monocog 29er build.  Aargh!  Not that I'd really need brakes in 24" of' snow... Oh yeah, elbows are a bit achey...gotta keep a watchful eye on that...

Well, I figure endurance racing is really about pain tolerance and suffering. So, in that vain, I did a little more bushwacking and exploring today. I probably only got about 5 miles of riding in, but the suffering quotient was high. I also learned today that Google Earth 5.0 has GPS import capability for free now. Sweet! Seeing your routes on Google Earth puts them into an entirely different perspective, especially when trying to hook up various tracks. Yesterday, it was 70 degrees, today it was snowing a bit. Typically variable Colorado weather for March, but I still find the drastic changes pretty cool. Trying my hardest to fight off the cold that is running through our house. Lots of coughing, congestion, etc. I really don't want to get sick right now. I can already tell that I have a bit of what the kids have, but I hope I don't cough up a lung, like they've been doing the past few days. Nasty!

Rode up Mt Herman and descended the Powerline Trail today. 3000 feet of elevation gain and 18 miles. A good ride and beautiful weather. Very very little snowpack up high, which is unusual at this time of the year. Used the new 22 tooth cog, which proved quite valuable for so much sustained climbing. Someone (power company?) has done some serious clearing of the trees on the Powerline Trail. Last year, the trail was approaching the level of annoying, due to all the overgrowth. A couple little elves did some clearing which helped immensely. This latest job is a chainsaw deal, with debris all over the forest floor. The trailbed itself didn't take a beating, which is nice. Took yesterday off. Not really by choice. I thought I'd do something easy, but while installing the new 22 tooth cog on my bike, I tweaked a rib or something. Breathing was painful yesterday/last night. Its quite a bit better today, but there is still some residual pain. Gotta hit the chiropractor.

Felt sorta like a breakthrough day for me today. Got up at the crack of dawn (not) and did the cyco-commute to work. A bit chillier than I expected, so I ended up in long tights, wind jacket, long gloves, beanie, etc. Dropped down beer hill then hit Mt Herman Road. Warmed up over to Dirty Woman Park, crossed the tracks, and hit Old Denver Highway. Felt pretty good, so I started pushing the pace, which lasted all the way to work. So, 18.5 miles at more than 15mph. Good stuff, considering most of it is on dirt/gravel. When I left for the ride home in the evening, I was surprised by the ominous dark clouds and light rain. Ugh, nearly 2 hours in the rain would suck! So, I took off into a headwind with hypothermia in the back of my mind. Soon, the headwind turned into a tailwind and the miles dropped away. The rain never materialized, either! Pretty much the only time in my life that I've had a headwind reverse to my advantage on the Sante Fe Trail. My normal expectation is ...

Got out for a great lunch ride today, hitting up Captain Jacks with Kenton and Austin. Back in the day (94-96), I used to ride Cheyenne Canyon quite a bit. Now that I live up in Monument I just don't get down there much. Neither Kenton nor Austin had been to Cheyenne Canyon to ride, so they were in for a nice treat. Weather was pretty sweet, just a bit on the cool side. We took a long lunch, piled the bikes in my truck and hit the trail. The climb is pretty continuous, but the reward is pretty big. The descent is super fun, reminding me of a bobsled run at points and a bmx track at others. Today's ride gives me the motivation to make the extra effort and get back there once in a while. I also put some time in on the trainer last night, another 45 minute episode of X Files. Yippee. I did step up the intensity a bit, throwing in about 6 one-minute intervals. Planning to do the full commute tomorrow, which will probably be about 40 miles round trip. If I'm feeling fa...

Took an unplanned rest day on Monday (spent the day caring for my sick daughter).  Got out yesterday for a decent lunch ride in Ute Valley.  It's a rough life, working right next to Ute and living right next to the Monument Work Center!   ;-) Loads of creaking on the bike during the ride.  Sounded bottom bracket 'ish.  Stopped to check it out and noticed the spiderless chainring lockring was very loose.  Vaguely tightened it with an allen wrench, but the creaking persisted.  Spent some time in the evening, replacing the chainring, tightening the lockring, removing/cleaning the bottom bracket, etc.  Took the bike out for some creak and night ride testing.  Creak seems to be all gone.  Tried out the Cyo and dynohub with a Q5 helmet light.  A decent combo.  The Cyo really does well on the road, spreading to just the right width for a 2 lane dirt road.  On the singletrack, the beam does not have enough spill.  It may work, but I'm unsure whether I'll use the Cyo for the rac...

Longest ride of the year today. ~36 miles and 3000 feet of elevation gain. About 5 miles of pavement and the rest dirt. Started by descending through the Monument Work Center, over to the Sante Fe Trail, part of Greenland, Spruce Meadows, finished Greenland, returned home via Sante Fe, road, and Work Center. Check out the ride details at motionbased.com . Just prior to arriving at the main trailhead for Greenland, I glance across the railroad tracks and what do I see? A herd of buffalo! And about 30 of them are in a full tilt run. Awesome. All this with Pikes Peak looming in the distance. Tested out Hammer Gel and Sustained Energy for the ride. Seemed to work well. I also monitored my water consumption, which tends to be too high. I drank about 60oz, which is less than the recommended 20-27oz per hour, but it was pretty cool for most of the ride. As a matter of fact, I started in tights, wind jacket, long gloves, and a beanie. By the time I returned home, I was in shorts,...

My weakness amazes me. I find it nearly impossible to stay at work when I can go on a good ride. Went out for another long "lunch" ride. Started at the Work Center, rode over to Palmer Lake, up past the reservoirs, up Balanced Rock Road to the second entrance to Limbaugh, down Limbaugh, across Colonel's Revenge, through Renegade, and finished off w/ Mad Hatter. So, another 13ish miles, maybe 1300 feet of climbing, and some good times with friends. Nice! Its actually rare that I ride with others. I'm generally a solo rider, just because scheduling rides is difficult and I like to go at a moment's notice. Its nice to get out with other people once in a while. The socialization is fun and riding w/ Nordby always makes me realize I need to train more! Oh yeah, trail conditions are way too good for this early in the season. There is little to no snowpack and only a handful of really icy sections. This should be good for early season riding, but scary for the ...

Got in some good saddle time today at lunchtime. Headed out towards Blodgett Peak for a little elevation gain and exploration. Ended up chasing trails above the water tank, til the hike-a-bike got too annoying. Got up to right around 8k, I believe. Ran into another cyclist asking for directions to hook up to the Falcon Trail. I said I had done it about 12 years ago, but no longer remembered the details. We parted ways, I hike-a-biked some more then decided to call it quits and headed back, with a short detour to see where the north trail went. Almost immediately saw USAFA signs. Headed back downhill via a nasty loose descent and saw the obvious path through the Academy. Popped out onto some dirt roads, which I took down through the stables, the decommissioned neighborhood, then hooked back up w/ the Sante Fe Trail at the little fishing pond. Tooled back to Rockrimmon and up the hill to work. Ended up putting in about 2:20 for a lunch ride and did probably close to 2000 feet o...

So, for years I've been meaning to learn about appropriate nutrition and hydration for endurance events. I've always played it by ear, and over time I've gotten better, but there have been some disasters. Back in '93, when I did my first 24 Hours of Canaan, I didn't have a clue what I was getting myself into. Carbo loading meant drinking a whole bunch of beer around the campfire before and during the race. I remember crashing in the middle of the night and not having the energy to get up. I just lay there in the trail, in a state of shock. "Back in the day" there weren't so many riders...I lay there for quite a while, completely bonked without seeing another soul. Eventually I mustered up the energy to finish the lap, mostly motivated by my fears of the woods of West Virginia and flashbacks to Deliverance. That first 24 hour race was a matter of survival for me. Eventually, I learned to stay ahead of the curve, eating as soon as I returned from ...

Spent 45 minutes on the CrossCheck hooked up to the trainer. Got in a Season 2 X-Files episode. Oh, the simple joys of training. Did some core exercises: planks, side planks, and crunches. It is getting a bit easier, but there is still some good suffering. Oh yeah, did some Bogu w/ Don and Glenn. Definite improvement over the first time and the smaller headgear and mouth guard helped immensely. Glenn still just about managed to knock me out with one good punch.

Got out for some trail exploration w/ Chris yesterday.  Got a little "off-route" and did some bushwacking through tons of scrub oak.  Lots and lots of scratches and a buncha cursing.  I think scrub oak  is the cockroach of the shrub family, tough enough to survive a nuclear blast.   Bushwacking through scrub oak also brings back memories of another favorite pasttime of Chris and mine, off widths !  Most people hate off widths, but we get a perverse sense of accomplishment from the abuse necessary to conquer them.  The satisfaction of completing a huge climb (or trail) is enhanced by the sweating and bleeding required by the off width (or scrub oak). I did a runtime test last night of my MC-E flashlight.  About 53 minutes to 50% of the initial lux, with the light pretty much toast at 60 minutes.  So, I can get one lap at full burn if I just use the battery.   I don't think I want to swap batteries every lap, so I spent the evening building a 3x18650 battery holder out of ...

I live in a great location for trails. People tell me I'm lucky. I'm not. My wife and I intentionally moved here for the trails and open space. We don't have the nicest house or property in the world, but I can ride about 300 meters down a dirt road to a trailhead which leads to endless trails. Days like today remind me that Colorado, and especially where I am, is a great place to be. So, I got out this morning and did the Mt Herman climb. Up to the old shooting area. Beyond that, it looks like there is too much snow/ice pack for regular tires. ~11 miles and 1600 ft of vertical. A good backyard workout. Click on the screen capture above from MotionBased . That site is too cool! Upload your gps track and get all kinds of wicked info on your ride/run/hike. For the data geeks in the crowd, motionbased.com is amazing. The new bike setup performed very very well. The Jones Bar is so useful for extended climbs like today's. I find myself constantly changing hand...

Took the newly geared Monocog out for a test spin night ride in the snow last night. Very nice! I may need to go with a bit larger cog, we'll see as my fitness improves. I spent some time tweaking the seat and shifter angles. Not sure how things will work out with the current grip/shifter combo. Time will tell. Did one short lap into the preserve and back w/ the Cree XR-E Q5 light strapped to the helmet. Felt a bit sketchy, not quite enough light by itself. Rode back to the house, switched to the MC-E light and the difference was huge. That thing puts out a ridiculous amount of light. Quite a bit more than my Trail Tech HID . Last year, I rode Fruita w/ the HID on the bars and the black 3xCree you can see in the pic on my helmet. Loads and loads of light. Trying to figure out what to run this year. The requirements are a bit different, as I'm riding for 6 hours in the night and I will not be going as fast. Need longer battery life, but I may be able to get by with...

What do we have here? My planned race bike, the culmination of a lotta work and planning. Looks like a Redline Monocog 29er singlespeed, but its not quite that simple. Frame: Redline Monocog 29er Forke: Manitou Minute Absolute 80mm Handlebars: Jones H Bar (yes, more expensive than my frame) Brake levers: Vuelta's (nice, long, and light) Brakes: Avid BB7's Front hub: DT Hugi / Onyx Front rim: WTB something or another Rear hub: here we go...Shimano Alfine 8 speed interally geared hub Rear rim: Stans Arch Cranks: AC Lo Pro XT Seatpost: Ritchey Tires: Specialized Fast Trak Pro Now, the reasoning behind this build. First of all, the Jones H Bar is awesome. Bars with a sweep like this one and the On One Mary are the only kind that I can ride for long periods of time without elbow pain. The multiple positions on the Jones are sweet for long rides. The Monocog...well, I like it. It is heavy as a pig, but the ride is nice. This is my first 29er, so I don't know if its wheel si...

Did the return commute and felt pretty flat, actually. Not toasted or sore, just sorta flat. I guess that's the most miles I've put in during one day so far this year, so it shouldn't be a surprise. Makes me realize that I need to put in a lot more miles in the next 8 weeks. 16 miles each way, so 32 miles total (see TOPO! profile captured from Garmin GPS above) About 148 ft of climbing on the way to work. About 788 ft of climbing on the way home from work. So, about 936 ft of climbing total. Not much, but I guess it adds up. One short trip up Mt Herman pretty much trumps that. Just think, if I did my round trip commute 5 times, that would barely exceed my Fruita goal. Ouch!!!

So, my core exercises generally consist of crunches, oblique crunches, and leg lifts.  Jon suggested I try some planks , side planks , and a sorta modified crunch/hold thing.  All I gotta say is, these make me hate core exercises even more, which is a good thing.  Man, I was quivering like a leaf in this morning's wind after about 45 seconds.  No way, was I getting to the 2 minutes Jon suggested, but 2x1 minute was doable.  These seem like a good addition to my "routine".   Oh yeah, I generally don't obsess over my weight, but at Christmas time I was up to 166, the heaviest in my life.  Just weighed myself in the locker room and I'm down to 159.  Definitely due to increased exercise and near elimination of alcohol consumption (talk about empty calories).  By the time 18 Hours of Fruita rolls around, I imagine I'll be down to about 155.  Nowhere near the 148 I was at for the Leadville 100, but I don't wanna work that hard!

Ah, the joys of cyclocommuting.  Got a late start this morning, but still managed the shortened 15 mile cyclocommute to work.  It's been a while and the first 4 miles of wind and cold had me second-guessing the plan.  But, things warmed up, the winds calmed down, and I had an excellent ride into work.   One of the cool things about cyclocommuting is how I can multitask while riding.  I managed to get through two repetitions of my elbow stretches and even went through multiple iterations of Naihanchi Nidan and Naihanchi Sandan . I also stopped 2 times to stretch my legs and straightened out my handlebar and also fine tuned my front brake. My knees are feeling pretty decent.  Not perfect, but there was no pain today, just tightness.  That reminds me, gotta go grab some ice....there we go.  These long tights hold the ice in place nicely.  It sure is good to have a workplace with a "casual" dress code (actually, no dress code)! Was thinking about all the injuries I have and...

Got the B&M Cyo last night and set it up on my Crosscheck (which happens to have the dynohub wheel right now).  The reflector provides some serious light control.  The beam is like a modern car headlight, having a very distinct cutoff at the top and sides, with some spill directed in front of the wheel.  I hopped on a tiny section of single track and the light was not dazzling, but sufficient.   To light up the turns, I definitely need a helmet light in conjunction w/ the Cyo (true for pretty much any bar mount unless it is super floody).  I think the Cyo has promise for the race, since I will not need to worry about batteries...more testing to follow. Sitting here icing my knees, just got finished stretching my elbows.  I'll get these problems solved the right way, listen to my body, stretch, ice, strengthen my forearms, etc. The thread on race pacing on MTBR is getting some good responses and has led me to some great articles on nutrition, training and pacing here:  http://lw...

Of course, the day after committing to 18 Hours of Fruita, what do I wake up to?  Two sore knees!  Aargh...okay I guess my day off will be today.   I did go out for a couple mile walk at lunch.  Part way through, definite right knee pain.  Stopped to stretch for a while, which helped considerably, but did not eliminate the pain at the bottom of my right knee cap.  Left knee seems fine. OK, got off my arse and did a bit of research on the knee pain.   http://www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/Handouts/overusekneeinjuries/overusekneeinjuries.htm Appears to be patellar tendonitis.  Plan for now: ice, stretch, lay off the single speed, especially steep climbs which lead to pedal mashing! Doing the elbow tendonitis stretches.  At least that won't aggravate my knees! I suppose I should also work some core strength issues on a down day like today. Trying to figure out what kind of pacing approach I should take during the Fruita race.  Undecided.  I know I shouldn't go out like I'm on a 4 perso...

endurance balanced leg strength core strength stretching elbow health eating/hydration strategy gu perpetuem endurolytes candy bars gummy bears pretzels watered down gatorade fruit guinness pasta pbj cereal oatmeal lighting setup cyo on the bar - yes, this is an odd choice not sure on helmet (maybe mc-e or r2), maybe 3xSSC bike setup 29er prob alfine hub twist shifter Mary? Would like Jones, but shifter doesn't work well bring dynamo wheel and dt hugi wheel On One Inbred as a spare?

Here we go...18 Hours of Fruita solo.  Been riding since Christmas, trying to get in miles while shrugging off an elbow tendonitis issue. Feels like I have made enough progress, so I bit the bullet and signed up for Fruita.  Tpak will be crewing, which will be great. So, how do I spend the next 8.5 weeks preparing for riding 18 hours at a very casual pace?  First off, no more injuries (soccer, ryu te, etc). Long hours in the saddle coming up, but I'd rather focus on quality rather than quantity.  Can that be effective for an 18 hour ride? Today - an hour long ride in Ute w/ Kenton.  Knees and elbow are feeling pretty good.  Legs are a bit toasted from riding the past 8 of 9 days.  Hamstrings (esp left) are sore from soccer, I believe. Tomorrow - riding at lunch w/ coworkers, prob downtown on the Sante Fe Trail.  If I'm feeling motivated, I should commute back and forth from Monument, also.  Then, I need a day off.