Monumentally Afflicted

Still having fun at +20 hours! Well, I think my race season is done... I did (part of) Vapor Trail last week and 24 Hours of Colorado Springs this weekend. Vapor Trail was a bust. I had a chest/head cold leading up the race, but it seemed to get better in the couple days prior to the start. Guess I wasn't quite ready, as I suffered mightily while breathing heavily at high elevation. My pace was way slower than expected and, at about mile 65, I noticed that my throat/chest were wheezing or whistling with every deep breath. Pulled the plug at Monarch Crest, about 75 miles into the race. Lessons learned... Vapor Trail is wicked hard. Major sections of hike-a-bike. Listen to your body, and don't try to push things when sick. I need to figure out how to better dress for changing temps and conditions. All that insane hike-a-bike may (just) be worth the massively fun descent from Granite Mountain After VT, I got off my butt and went to see the doctor. I should have done this e

Got out with Nordby and Keller for some incredible new trail riding. Woohoo! Nice to see the continual development of opportunities in the area. My technical skills are feeling really good right now. Feeling a bit like the good old days, when I could roll through just about anything. I'm hoping that with some tapering, my endurance will feel the same way in about 13 days. Had some stomach issues on today's ride, which doesn't bode well for fueling at Vapor Trail. Not sure what is up. I switched to Perpetuem from Sustained Energy a couple weeks ago. Not sure if that is the issue, but my stomach was feeling pretty sour by the end of yesterday's ride. I may have to switch back to Sustained Energy if I can't get it figured out. I know my stomach is fine on that for 18 Hours. I do find Perpetuem easier to drink, though...

Well, my original plan to race at 24 Hours of Colorado Springs is looking unlikely (surgery in the family requiring travel). So, I got looking around for other ways to put my training to good use. One week earlier than 24 Hours of Colorado Springs is a race that I've always wanted to to, but haven't managed to plan for or train enough to consider, the Vapor Trail 125 !!! So, I pinged Absolute Bikes and they actually had a couple spots still open and I'm in! I'm pretty psyched to have the opportunity to participate in the race, especially since I feel fairly well prepared. The VT125 is known as one of the hardest endurance races in the US. 125 miles, most of it at high altitude, with 20,000 feet of climbing. Whoa! Looking at the course description and elevation profile is a bit scary. Tpak did this race the initial year and says it is awesome. Much better than going around in circles for 24 hours. :-) The race starts and 10pm. I'll ride through the night a

Got out for some flat out climbing up Rampart Range Rd today. Did over 3200 feet of climbing 1 hour and 30 minutes! For the first 5.5 miles of the climb, I tried to keep my heart rate in the 150's. For the next 4.5 miles, I turned up the effort but tried to keep it below 170. Then, for the last 1.5 or so miles, I just went flat out. I miscalculated a bit and thought I was doing 11.00 miles. Turned out to be really 11.30, so the last 0.30 miles was some pretty serious suffering, mentally and physically. I feel pretty lucky to have an 11 mile dirt road climb near work and a 10 mile dirt road climb near my house. Leaves little opportunity for excuse making when it comes to climbing ability. I took a look at my ride data from the past month, and I've done over 42,000 feet of climbing. Wow, I don't think I've ever hit that much in a month before. Hopefully, all that climbing will make the Falcon Trail climbs feel surmountable in the 24th hour of racing!

For a while now, I've been mapping out a dirt route between my house in Monument and my cabin in Park County (near Trout Creek Pass). Today, I decided to do an out-and-back of the first section of that route. Up Mt Herman Road, north on Rampart Range, then west over to Highway 67. On the map, it looks like 309F is a logical choice. However, the Pikes Peak Atlas shows the road as being gated... Well, upon descending 700 or so vertical feet, I verified that it was indeed blocked off and signed ("guard dogs") even. Took a look at the map and realized I could bushwack about 1 mile to the north and hit Hotel Gulch Rd, which would then take me west to Hwy 67. Worked out fine. Easy bushwack and passed some nice cabins along the way to Manitou Park, which is really nice. Old CCC buildings which now appear to house weather and forestry research crews. Oh yeah, passed a flaming and unattended campfire just above the upper entrance to Limbaugh. Nothing like open flames on a

Decided to do the early morning Monster Commute again. Got out the door just before sunrise and headed through the Preserve up to Mt Herman Road. Stopped for a quick stretch and found a funny little sign that says "NEED RIDE UP THE MOUNTAIN" on one side and "NEED RIDE DOWN THE MOUNTAIN" on the other side. Cruised up Mt Herman Rd in the cool morning air. Way up high on a slight downhill, I heard some crashing through the woods. Looked over and saw 2 elk flying through the trees! I have never seen elk on Mt Herman Rd, so I was not sure I had really seen elk. About a half a mile later, what crosses the road directly in front of me? Another elk! Wow, very cool. Hit Rampart Range Rd and headed south towards Woodland Park. I almost took the wrong turn again, descending to Woodland Park, but realized my mistake and headed the correct way. Cruised past Rampart Reservoir, enjoying the magnificent views of Pikes Peak and then descended all the way to Garden of the Go

After a bit of a break last week due to work related travel, I'm starting to get some decent mileage and time on the bike. Did 53 miles yesterday, mostly commuting , with some Falcon Trail added into the mix. Had to bunny hop a snake on Sante Fe Trail. That freaked me out a bit. Probably shows in my heart rate graph. I rode Flow/DLS on Monday. That trail is really starting to grow over with all the recent rain. Super technical riding, though. Rode a pretty quick loop through Limbaugh on Sunday evening. Felt really good on that ride. And, on Saturday, I did a screwball ride through Spruce Meadow. Forgot my bike lock key, had to return home to get it, then drove back to the parking lot. Then, I used Spot to find my dad/Lianne, met up part way through the ride, then proceeded to have cleat issues, and finally, Lianne got a flat. Jeez! Today is a commute to work day, plus a trip back and forth to the chiropractor. I should get in some decent mileage, but it needs to be c

Had a nice big misadventure today! Planned to do Log Machine to Schubarth, and then come out via Deadman's Gulch. Followed 307 to 313, which looked right on the Pikes Peak Atlas. Somehow I ended up at the end of 311, where I followed a faint trail east into the woods. Ended up in the Hell Creek basin, then did an unbelievable bushwack down the mountain. A seriously character-building ride. My planned 3 hour ride turned into a 5.5 massive sufferfest! I have never gone through so much dense scrub oak. It was so bad, that I employed a cycling technique I've never used before: Bike Tossing! When the scrub oak gets too thick to get both you and the bike through, raise the bike overhead with both hands, proceed to launch downhill as far as possible, then use both hands to bushwack through the bush to your bike. Repeat ad nauseum. I managed to finally make it down the mountain. I think it took 80 minutes to go just over one half mile. Ever heard of a Spot II Satellite GPS

Decided to put in a real effort today, going up Blodgett, Across to USAFA, and back to work via the Sante Fe Trail and Woodmen. 14 miles and 1885ft of elevation gain. About 3/4 mile of hike-a-bike to increase the suffering factor. Good times! Actually, really good times, considering I did the whole loop in 1:20. I got passed and dropped like a rock by 2 roadies on Centennial. Surprising, but motivational.

Planned to do a quick ride through Limbaugh at lunch today. Started out well, cleaning the trail all the way up to the road (first time ever, I think). Cruised up the road and to the drop into Limbaugh. LOTS of gun fire. Got my attention and I augered in on one easy right hander. Oops! Picked myself and back up and continued into the meadow which was full of flowers (not quite peaking yet). After passing a pile of nice flowers, I thought I should stop and take some pics. Aacck! Where's my camera? I remembered throwing it in the outside pocket of my hydration pack. The pocket with no zipper. Oh man, and I have a meeting I have to get back to. I decide to just forget the old camera and continue downhill, then realize the camera has family photos from vacation. Ugh, better turn around and do some fast climbing. I figure I probably lost the camera when I crashed earlier. So, after 400 ft of elevation gain, I find the camera, right where I crashed! I couldn't believe

8 weeks 'til 24 Hours of Colorado Springs at the United States Air Force Academy. I 'spose I should get my arse off of the couch. Got out today for a very nice 2 hour ride. Up Mt Herman, down Mule Trail, across Colonel's Revenge, through Black Pearl, down Flow Dog and 715 back to the house. Good stuff. Seemed to be working a bit harder than I should have, but that is probably due to being below 1000ft for the past 8 days.

Got out for a nice gravel road ride today. I'm up in Northern Ontario, a few kilometers from Quebec. I didn't quite have time to get across the border today, but I did manage to get to the nice French community of Belle Vallee. The local church. Church again, from a different angle. Got in about 32 miles in 2:17. A good workout and perfect weather (well, a tiny bit of wind, but nothing significant). I was riding my old Raleigh John Tomac Signature Series bike from ~1994. Still a sweet bike! Well, the geometry sucks for my old body and most parts have been replace over the years, but I still like it...

I've signed up as a soloist for the inaugural 24 Hours of Colorado Springs . This race will be September 18, 19 on the Falcon Trail , at the Air Force Academy. This is a fun course, with some small sections of good technical riding and 1635ft of climbing in the 12.65 miles. I'm pretty psyched. Completely guessing, I'll set a goal of 12-16 laps. 16 laps would put me over 200 miles for the day, which would be sweet!

I'm back on the singlespeed Monocog 29er. Got in a couple nice rides this week, including Limbaugh and the Powerline Trail. About 4600 of climbing in 29 miles of dirt. Knees are feeling great, woohoo! Check out some footage from the Powerline Descent (can be seen in HD by following link to vimeo, although it is a huge file)... Powerline Descent from Brad Baker on Vimeo .

Well, what have I been up to since Fruita? Some fun riding, even winning my second mtb race ever (as part of great team at Erock). And...we've had a 4.4kW solar grid intertie system installed by REC Solar . I'm super excited about the solar install. Can't wait for the final inspection (tomorrow?) and the new required meter (next 4-6 weeks).

Back from a successful venture in Fruita. Didn't feel quite as strong this year, but managed to podium with a third place finish. Did about 154 miles in 17:07. I had enough laps to secure third without having to ride the last 53ish minutes, thankfully. I was pretty spent and could have managed another lap, but it wouldn't have been a lotta fun. Zero rain this year, which was nice. Also, the course was extended with another 1.1 miles of new singletrack. Good stuff, but irritatingly rough and dusty. Will be good once the track wears in. I cratered hard in the new section on my fourth lap. Total face plant and managed to roll the tire off of the rim, resulting in a flat to fix and a sore neck and shoulder for the rest of the race. Overall, I felt pretty decent, but mid-morning started to overheat. Took a bit of an extended break to cool off and recuperate. Then, I went back out and turned my final 4 laps with Nordby, which was a fun way to finish off a good race. Daniel

Headed out west towards Fruita this evening. I'm doing 18 Hours of Fruita solo again, but will be suffering alongside 3 other suckers: Nordby, Daniel, and Tirpak. Should be more fun with some company this year. Feeling ok, a little questionable on the fitness side of things, but good from an injury perspective. Austin will be sending race updates via twitter, follow agonyou Here are the crew notes updated for 2010: Race goals Have fun, but push myself A minimum of 22 laps, hopefully hit 24-25 Realistically in the 20-25 lap range Goal Avg lap time 20 54:00 21 51:25 22 49:05 23 46:57 24 45:00 25 43:12 Course is longer than last year, closer to 7 miles now. Pre race 200-400 calories >= 3 hours before race (3 scoops of Sustained Energy would work) No solid food in the 3 hours prior to the race Only 16oz of fluid per hour for the 2.5 hours prior to the race. ~40oz total No fluid the last 20-30 minutes Make s

Went out for a night ride this evening on the new Access XCL 9r, which is down to 24.8 pounds with the new WTB/355 wheel. I recently picked up a Y cable for my 2 Magicshines, so I can run 2 lights off of one battery. After completing a technical descent with both lights on the bar, I hit the fire road and noticed all the shadows being cast by the brake and shifter cables. I thought, why don't I try the two lights out on the Titec H-bar horns... I put them up there and noticed that they sat a bit cock-eyed, pointing outwards. At first I thought it wouldn't be any good, but then realized that by mounting them this way, I'd have a really nice horizontal spread of light. Turned them on, hit some more technical trails, and sure enough, it is sweet! Due to a really nasty crash in Rabbit Valley back in about 2003, I have a pretty hosed up neck. This double bar light configuration may be a good alternative for me during endurance night rides (like 18 Hours of Fruita) where ne

Picked up my new Access XCL 9r frame today and got it all put together this evening. Even took it out for a short night ride in the Preserve. These frames/bikes have gotten surprisingly good reviews for being insanely cheap (I paid $81 for my frame, using a couple coupons that were available at the time). I'm a fan of steel, so it'll be interesting to see how I like this aluminum frame. Weight is about 25.8 pounds, including a tube in the front tire. I spazzed and tore the valve stem off of my Stan's tubeless rimstrip. On my short night ride tonight, I definitely noticed the 5 pounds weight savings over my Monocog 29er! Here is the build spec: Frame - 17" Access XCL 9r Fork - ManitouMinute 29 80mm Cranks/BB/Rings - LX/LX/Truvativ SS Handlebar/Grips/Stem - Titec H-bar/ESI/Forte Pedals - Eggbeaters Headset - Cane Creek Headset spacers Front wheel - DT Onyx/SX24/DB Rear wheel - WTB/355/DB Tires - Racing Ralph Brakes - BB7 Rotors - Ashima Airotor Cassette - SRAM PG-9

Got out for a great ride today. Lots of climbing, miles, hike-a-bike, descending, routefinding, and smiles. This is the kind of ride that reminds me why I started mountain biking 21 years ago (whoa, I must be getting old). Rode up through the clouds from here Climbed about 11 miles to here Bushwacked and hike-a-biked up here Checked out an old B-24 bomber crash site here Crossed this incredible ridge Hiked up to here Descended past a hundred of so of these And checked out some cool wildlife and scenery here All in all, way more fun that the stats below can capture

It has been a pretty good week for riding. After the 42 miler on Sunday, I needed a down day on Monday. Did some stretching and rode about a mile on the Mundo. Picked the munchkin up at the bus stop, where she said, "This is the coolest bike ever, Dad!" :-) Tuesday at lunch, I totally hammered the Woodmen, Rockrimmon hill loop. 45 minutes from the parking lot, around the loop, and back to the parking lot. Felt great in the massive winds. Tuesday evening, I met up for a night ride with Tirpak and Nordby. Got in another hour and fifteen minutes and ran the Magicshines through their paces. 2xMS900 is good. Should suffice for just about anything I can throw at them. Wednesday, got out for a nice hour long ride on the Sante Fe Trail. Neither slow nor fast, just right. Thursday, did a couple hour loop. Cruised up to the Blodgett Peak trails. Hike-a-biked up to the Academy trail traverse, rolled over to the Academy, down through the horse trails and stables, then back So

After many years of endurance bike racing, I sat down and reanalyzed my tool choices, focusing on weight and space reduction. The list of what to bring and how to bring it is heavily dependent upon the course. In my case, I'm packing for 18 Hours of Fruita, a race with short, fairly non-technical laps. I'm also running tubeless tires, front and rear. By carefully assessing what I bring along, and how I carry it, I've reduced carried weight by ~390g. Almost a whole pound! How did I do it? Take an ultralight 26er tube instead of a full weight 29er tube. Take the tiny Topeak Super Chain Tool instead of the much larger and more functional Crank Brothers Multitool. Ditch the dumbell tool, since I'm running a quick release rear wheel this year. Replace the seat bag with an Awesome Strap . Pictured above is the entire kit. Below are the details: Genuine Innovations Second Wind IH pump Velcro strap for pump Awesome Strap (strap in pic is actually a generic strap) Forte

After yesterday's technical 8 mile ride, Tirpak and I decided to put some real miles in today. We headed south on the Sante Fe Trail, did the Falcon Trail twice, and headed back to Monument on the Sante Fe Trail. We met Nordby for the end of our second lap and he made sure to tighten the screws a bit more. Some pretty decent suffering towards the end of the ride. Just the kind of stuff we need to prepare for 18 Hours of Fruita. So, I've done about 95 miles in the past 3 days. Need to take it easy tomorrow and focus on some stretching, which I've neglected...

Did the cyclocommute yesterday with my Inbred back in singlespeed config. Threw the Pugsley fork on the front, the old Shimano DX cassette wheel on the rear, and ran outta time/patience for getting the rear brake installed. So, I cruised into work with one brake and gearing of 32x18. Way too low for the Monument to Co Springs directions, but ok on the way home. Actually got a tailwind on the way home and decided to tack on a bunch more mileage. Rode to Palmer Lake, then back through the Preserve and finished on Flow Dog. After 45 miles, Flow Dog on the rigid singlespeed was like sticking a fork in me. I was done. Good stuff and I actually felt pretty decent. Knees felt great! Waiting for my new Access XCL 9r frame to arrive. I'm thinking 1x9 is the way to go and the build should come in under 25 pounds. I need to build up my rear wheel. Planning on using a WTB LaserLite Disc hub that I have sitting around, laced to a Stan's 355 29er rim, with double-butted spokes fro

41 miles on Friday, 6 quite technical miles yesterday, and 29 miles and 1855ft of elevation gain today with Tirpak. Feeling tired, but good. Tirpak ran over a monster snake today. Not a rattlesnake, which was surprising. Amazingly, the snake appeared to have survived the two tire treatment unscathed. Oh yeah, the descent on Falcon Trail today was awesome! Seriously, the flow was so good and Tirpak was right there, ready to run me over if I happened to hose up one of the many jumps. I have a new 29er hardtail in the works. A regular geared bike. 5 pounds lighter than the bike I raced with last year! Woohoo! I've also lost over a half a pound in carried weight, by carefully assessing my tools/spares selection.