Draper Day

Here's the short version of my Draper race. After weeks of congestion, a trip to the doctor, a course of antibiotics and a general lack of sleep, I couldn't go fast. What a surprise. The net result was my worst ICUP showing ever. The sad part is I actually gave it a good effort the entire race and did even lap times. There's just no go in the engine right now. It doesn't seem to matter if I take most of the week off or ride everyday, I just haven't been able to kick the illness. I'm on the verge of just bagging racing for a month or so. We'll see. I'll probably convince myself to line up at Sundance.

Ed did a good job of salvaging a difficult situation with the mud. Everyone seemed to take it in stride and the modified course was actually pretty good for a race. One of the cool things about MTB racing is there are just a bunch of good people involved. The whining would continue for weeks if yesterday was a road race.




Tanner was sick all week as well. He gave it a great effort and led the first lap, but his body said "no" and he faded to 6th. Kevin won his 2nd in a row in the 19 - 29 Expert and the team win streak is at 4. Tanner's young, he'll recover quickly, unlike his old Dad.


Proof that I did at least participate.




The girls were home for the Holiday weekend, so it was a family affair.

Must be pre-race because I'm smiling.

We got to hang out in the sun for a few hours. Probably the highlight of the day.

I really wanted to race the entire Solitude mid-week series this year. However, tomorrow doesn't seem to be in the cards. Maybe next week.

I learned Tim White in my group is an avid backcountry skier and got to talk skiing with him for a while. I've been accumulating gear on year-end close out sales so I'm sure I'll be doing some touring with him come winter. He's used to beating me up the hills on a bike so it won't be a problem on skies.

Motoing

Since I bailed on racing today, Chris and I did a dual-sport ride on the Moto's. This is my first true dually ride since I got the machine last fall. I've been waiting for the snow to melt and a Saturday without racing. We headed up Skyline Drive and the Ridge trail from the "B" in Bountiful. I had a good time and I'm beginning to remember how to ride a motorcycle off road. The bike didn't disappoint. It's just what I had in mind, good gas mileage for commuting and lots of fun off road.

We made it nearly to Bountiful Peak before snow covered the road. I did about 80 miles door to door in three and a half hours. Chris did a bunch more miles by looping back to PC via Morgan. Good times.

A Losing Battle

This should be one of the best times of the year. Temperatures are nice and the trails are opening up and looking good. The race schedule is in full swing and it's time to start going fast. I've finally moved the yard from "bike racer neglected" to merely "normal neglected". In a week or two, it should less than neglected. I got the vegetable garden planted and some plants are coming up. Things have calmed down at work so I can work normal hours and feel less stress. In short, life should be good.

Unfortunately, I'm losing the allergy and sinus infection battle. I actually resorted to a doctor visit Tuesday. I came away with antibiotics and I'm feeling a little better. However, not good enough to race both Saturday and Monday. Too bad, I really like the Sugarhouse crit and will miss racing with Glen. We haven't been able to race together yet this year. I just hope I'll feel good enough Monday to not finish last.

Yet, I still don't have much to complain about. As someone told me today, it's not like the outcome of our races will change the world. Racers have a weird sense of health. For most people, the difference between being 90% healthy and 100% healthy doesn't matter much. But for a racer, it's the difference between a good race and a day of suffering. With the fitness that comes from riding, our 90% is better than most people's 100%.

I did get to pre-ride the entire Draper course on Tuesday's ARMR ride. What a fun ride. I plan to enjoy it Monday.

Boise

Tanner and I raced in Boise to get qualified for Nationals. We both accomplished that goal. However, our races were quite different.



This post-race picture pretty much sums up my day.

This one sums up Tanners.

The course was terrible for me and my allergies were in full force so I suffered like a dog for 2 hours to finish 8th in a pretty good 40+ Expert field. Tanner on the other hand crushed the Experts and a few pros to handily win. Hence my pained look and his smile.

The race was well run and it was kind of cool race where we didn't know anyone. However, the course was just plain awful. It was 85% double track / dirt road through cow-tracked, open pastures. It had no trees, long, long, steep climbs and steep short descents where you just tried to not crash. It was kind of like the "wall" on the Shoreline between Dry Creek and Bobsled, but for 23 miles. I'm not sure you could design a course that would be worse for my skill set. The only way to make it worse would be to race in 95 degree heat. Oh wait, the Knobbie Tire series final is on the same course in August so they've got that covered.

Enough complaining. On to the good stuff. The race was a mass start. They lined up the Pros on the front row, all Experts behind them, Sport next, then Beginners. There was some instruction then it was "riders ready, go". All 100 or so racers (looked like about 1/3 the turnout of an ICUP race) then battled up the first climb. The start was at the bottom of a paved 1/2 mile hill which turned into a 1.5 mile dirt road climb. Fortunately, the only single section of the course came at mile 5 so things were sorted out by then. Starting all together was kind of cool because you could race everyone. However, it just won't work on any of the venues we race here. The fields are too large and the single track too frequent (a good thing).

I was about mid-pack in the Experts on the first climb (I got to watch lots of guys pass me later) and could watch Tanner work his way up to the front (again, no trees on the course so you could see for miles). He quickly bridged to the leading 4 Pros and was actually on the leader's wheel over the top. He hung onto 2nd overall for most of the first hour and eventually faded a little to finish 5th overall and the top Expert. He was only 5 minutes off the winning Pro and had the winner concerned during the first climb. JoAnn overheard him say at the finish "I was worried the kid from Utah was going to kick my ass".

I said last week Tanner had to spot me 30 seconds per year difference in age. Therefore, he had to beat me by 15 minutes to actually "win". Well, he beat me by 15 and a half minutes. So much for that idea.

Tanner's quickly turning into one fast kid. Just 12 months ago, I could still beat him in ICUP events. Now I can stay with him for about 30 seconds. Up until about a week ago, I could always drop him on the downhill. Even that's gone now. While my ego is bruised a bit, I'm one proud Dad.

Tanner looking in control.

The mass start. We're in there somewhere.

Me coming out of the stream crossing, the only fun feature of the entire course.

JoAnn made the trip with us and the enjoyment factor went up a bunch. She patiently sat out in the sun and took pictures.

We looked at lots of this on the drive. That's pretty much what the race course looked like as well.

I've never picked up more bugs in my life.

I had to stop and do this every 100 miles or I couldn't see out.

While the course was less than ideal, the trip was worth it. I kind of like road-tripping and racing different events. Now we can start to plan our trip to Nationals in July.

Congrats to the Caveman for continuing the Porcupine / Specialized win streak in the 19 - 29 ICUP expert. Looked like there was a great turn out at Soldier Hollow. I think I was punished because I tried to skip out on the suffering.

Off to Idaho

Soldier Hollow Hammerfest is usually the Soldier Hollow Sufferfest for me. This year I'm skipping it all together and heading to Idaho to race in Boise. Maybe the Idaho guys won't be as hard on me as the Utah crew. Bob's form seems to kick in at Soldier Hollow so I think I'll just duck him rather than get beat.

The race in Boise is a qualifying race for MTB Nationals. Tanner and I decided over the weekend to give the National Championships a go since his form is so good and Nationals are in Colorado this year. In order to race a Cat 1 National Championship, you have to qualify by scoring a top ten in a qualifying race. The closest qualifying race this year is in Boise this Saturday, so we're heading North. It will be interesting to see how good the field is. I'm secretly hoping that only 10 guys show up so I'll just have to finish to qualify.

In other exciting news, I'm going to the dentist this morning for the 3rd time in 3 weeks. I get to do it again next week. Now that's what I call a good time.

That Hurt

Tanner and I raced at Sherwood Hills yesterday in ideal conditions. The temperature was cool and the trails were tacky. The turnout was the best since I've been racing at Sherwood and the racing was fast.

I haven't raced the MTB since St. George (because I'm apparently a road weenie) and I was quickly reminded how much it can hurt. Bob did a cyclocross start and we were all seeing stars a couple of minutes in. I couldn't hold the fast pace and settled into 7th. I rode consistent laps from that point and slowly worked my way 5th going into the last of 4 laps. With my allergies and congestion, I was deep in the pain cave at this point and was just going to do enough to hold my position. However, as I came out of the woods I could see Bob and that he was fading a bit, so of course I had to keep going hard. As I caught him on the twisty single track climb I think he said something like "I think I'm going to cry". If I could have formed words at that point, I would have said "me too". As it was, I could only concentrate on keeping moving and not tipping over. I managed to stay ahead of Bob to finish 4th. Given how I've felt this week, I'll take it.

Brad and Tim were long gone and a guy I don't know in tan under armor rode away from me half way through the race. He was struggling in the single track tree sections, but was flying everywhere else. He's definitely got a big engine.

About half way through the last lap, I remember thinking next week at Soldier Hollow is half hour longer and harder. It wasn't a motivating thought. I'm sure Bob will extract his revenge on the SH climbs.

Tanner had another outstanding day to win his second Expert 19 - 29 in a row. He attacked on the first hill and was gone. However, the finish ended up a lot closer than he would have liked. He was getting time checks to what he thought was 2nd and had a comfortable, nearly 2 minute lead. Accordingly, Tanner didn't push it too much on the last lap in order to avoid a big mistake. Turns out, that guy wasn't in 2nd and the actual 2nd place was gaining fast. He caught up to Tanner just as Tanner entered the finishing chute and they sprinted it out. Fortunately, Tanner was able to stay in front.

The 19 - 29 field lined up.

The Kuhl train started things off.

However, Tanner was first up the opening climb.

The finish was way too close for comfort.

The old guys lined up. Good job to sleeveless Brad on the win.

Tim had reason to smile. He was really fast yesterday.

Carl and I were able to smile early on. We had our normal battle for the first half of the race. Kelly Glen was with us as well. Good times with good guys.

Late in the race, no smiles, just the pain face.

Just when you think you are going OK, you often get a reality check. Mine came just before the start of my last lap. Alex Grant lapped me and went by like I was standing still. Next came Bart, then Burke. They were all impressively fast.

On the team front, congratulations to Dave for winning the 35+ State Crit Championship then finishing 4th in the Pro 1/2.

Others on the team were experiencing actual pain, not just effort induced suffering. Greg Freebairn went down hard in the 35+ race and broke his collarbone, a very bad thing for a chiropractor. Heal fast, buddy. At the St. George Tri, Aaron Jordin was flying along at 30 approaching an intersection when a course Marshall stepped out to tell him to turn (the turn wasn't not clearly marked). AJ braked, hit a slick piece of road and launched over the bars. Fortunately, no bones were broken, but he donated a lot of skin from his hands and back.

When I talk with non-cyclists about my racing, they nearly always say something like "oh, mountain bike racing must be really dangerous". In reality, the road is way more dangerous. In many years of riding and racing, my only significant injuries have some on the road. More reason to stick to the dirt.

Sick and tired

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. Did the ARMR ride with the boys last night and felt OK. However, I gave DMV a go tonight and only lasted 7 laps before I pulled the plug. The breathing deep wasn't going so well. Hopefully, things will improve by Saturday. I've had this for about 3 weeks and it getting very old.

We rode Bobsled last night. I haven't ridden it for about a year and a half and forgot how much fun it is. The top was had running water but the bottom was buff. The free-ride boys have been busy building stunts and jumps. I may have to borrow a Big Hit one day and get some air. I think the potential for an old guy to get seriously hurt is high enough to get the adrenalin flowing.

Dave won DMV again tonight. This time solo the last few laps. I'm not sure how he can pull off the win at DMV week after week. It's not like he sneaks up on anybody. He's wins about 75% of the time he races at DMV. It's like the Jazz pick and roll in Stockton and Malone's heyday. You knew it's coming, but there's not much you can do to stop it.

Finally, I was reminded tonight about how cool it is to just be out racing our bikes. There was a guy in the C or D flight tonight that clearly hadn't raced many times before. I watched him after I pulled the plug. He got dropped early but kept riding hard the entire race, alone. His wife and two little boys, about 4 and 6, were watching and yelling encouragement. The boys had no clue their Dad was no where near the front of the race. They just knew their Dad was racing his bike, was going really fast and is their hero. He was probably the biggest winner on the night. Pretty cool to watch and helped me remember why I do this. It's about participation more than results.

More Fatherly Boasting

Yesterday was a good day for my kids.

Erin

http://www.standard.net/live/news/171522/
http://www.standard.net/slideshows/2009%20Slideshows/USUgraduationspring/slideshow.html (picture # 8)

Tanner

Won the 19 - 29 Expert at the 5 Mile Pass cross/MTB race. He had the fastest expert time by a comfortable margin. (Sorry Bob, but the skinny 16 year old put 2 minutes on you.) He also just scored in the 92nd percentile nationally on the ACT.

Ashley

One of her art projects was prominently displayed in USU's fine arts building for finals week. She has the most creative talent in the family. She's also on the Dean's list again this semester.

A bunch of over-achievers I'm fortunate to call my own.

OK, I'll stop bragging and go back to regular boring posts about me starting tomorrow.

ARMR

I did the Anti - RMR (ARMR) again this week. Tanner, Team Rico, Caveman, AJ, Greg and Zane Freebairn hit the dirt in Corner Canyon. We successfully avoided the rain and had a good time. I believe ARMR's will greatly out number RMR's for me this year. Good times with good friends.

I'm head congestion has moved to my chest and I have a full-on cold. I feel crappy and have been off the bike for a few days. I'll probably stay off until next week. Of course, this is just in time for good weather.

We're off tomorrow to Logan for Erin's graduation. I'm excited for her.

Tanner's racing 5-mile pass. Should be interesting to see how he does. He's going pretty good right now.

East Canyon and such

Since I began racing years ago, I have started every event I signed up for. I'm not sure why, but I've never bailed on a race. I guess I figure if I signed up, I'm committed. I can also think of only four races I haven't finish. On two occasions, I was sick but gave the weekday crit a go only to get dropped and call it a day. At 5-mile pass years ago, I broke the linkage in my rear suspension and had to walk in and 3 years ago, I pulled out of LoToJa after 80 miles.

LoToJA was the last snow year and I was near hypothermia at Montpelier. I was having absolutely no fun by that time. We stopped and I retrieved some dry, heavy gloves from our support car. As I was getting back on my bike, I looked up at my nephew Adam and saw his thin, wet gloves. In a moment of clarity, I pulled off my dry gloves, handed them to Adam, got off my bike and called it a day. In 10 minutes, I was changed and eating a burger at Artic Circle. One of the better decisions I've ever made.

All of this is to point out I taking starting and finishing races seriously. Accordingly, it was a little strange that I spent most of the week convincing myself to: A) not start East Canyon if it was raining / snowing or B) turn around and head to back to the car if it started to get ugly during the race. I've had a cold all week and maybe that played into my thoughts. In any case, I wasn't exactly stoked to race.


The drive to the race didn't help. We rallied the Element across the muddy road from Jeremy and set up camp at East Canyon in the rain / hail.

I pretty much decided to drive a wheel car for Tanner's race when the clouds broke and it began to dry out. As it turned out, the weather during the race was fairly benign.

My race turned out better than my frame of mind. I felt OK and made it over the first climb with the lead group. With Canyon and Bountiful Mazda comprising 12 of the 16 or so in the group, it was pretty clear nothing was going to stay away. So we settled in for a parade lap out and back from Henifer. On the climb out of Henifer, it got hard, I got dropped and rode back to East Canyon with 5 other stragglers. We sprinted up the finish climb for 10th - 14th and with nothing left, I finished 13th. Probably about all I could hope for this week.

Tanner was the Cottle hero for the day. He finished 2nd in a strong Cat 4 field. He rode smart and got away with 2 others on the climb out of Henifer. The three of them worked hard to the finishing climb and Tanner just barely missed the win. He was very excited and built some road racing confidence. His time was faster than the Cat 3 winner, so they were going fast.

Saturday night, Chrispy and I went to Supercross and the U. Good times for sure. I wish I had that kind of skill on a moto. Makes me want to sell a bicycle and buy a full-on MX bike.

It was also really good people watching. Not exactly a bicycle race crowd.

It's been a while

I've had many great blog ideas lately but just haven't got around to writing. I need about 3 more hours in the day. I've also forgotten my great ideas. Most of them come in the night while I'm not sleeping (something I do very well). However, since I'm old, I don't remember them in the morning. In another ten years, I'll be lucky to find my way home on rides. I'll need a GPS system with a homing mode to ever make it back.

So instead of something witty and insightful, you'll get some random thoughts and pictures.

I've pretty much decided to become a backcountry skier next season. I've already resisted buying some bike stuff to save money. I've been spending lots of time looking at the mountains for skiable lines. I have a spotting scope for bowhunting that gets more use on my front porch looking for tracks and avalanches. (The spotting scope's for sale, by the way. Should pay for bindings.) The good news is I have months to accumulate gear. The bad news is I have months to wait to use it.

I sat out DVM tonight. I have bit of a cold and I wanted to save whatever I have for East Canyon Saturday (unfortunately, there's not much to save). I must admit, watching is much more relaxing than racing. I didn't get crosseyed once and didn't want to throw up when it finished. A new experience at DMV for me. Glen's magical bike powers were on display once again (he's in this picture). In the parking lot on the last lap, Glen was in position to put the 45 year old's hurt on the main field of A's when someone slid out and went down in the South East corner. This guy took Nick, Sam and a couple others down. Glen was in the middle of it but somehow managed to unclip, step off the bike as it went down, run a couple steps into the grass and safely roll. He's got Chuck Norris like skills. It was worth the price of admission just to see that save.

Speaking of East Canyon, what's up with 70 + and sunny all week then cold and wet on Saturday? If it's really bad, I'm turning around on top of the first hill and heading back to the car. It's one thing to get cold and wet on a cross bike in December. That's somehow acceptable if not down right desirable. In April on a road bike, not so much.

Made it out to Draper with Tanner, AJ, Chrispy, Zane and Greg last night. A good time for sure. We rode Ghost Falls, Jacob's Ladder and some of Shoreline. As usual, I have the pain face on at the top of a climb. However, ripping the down (with some caution due to the number of folks on the trail) was well worth it. So much more fun than riding circles at RMR. Memo to self: more MTB, less RMR.

Here's Dave winning at DMV tonight. The guy is a machine. The last couple of years, I bet he's won more than half of the DMV's he's raced. Last year he won 6 or 7 in a row at one point. I know some people discount DMV because of small fields. However, DMV is HARD every week and you have to give it up to him for his domination.

Here's Tanner mixing it up at DMV tonight. He was aggressive and on the front a bunch. He just faded a bit the last 10 minutes to finish in the pack. Last year, he'd get dropped early, so this was a big improvement. He's be challenging for wins at DMV soon enough.

In other news, I'm no longer a fugitive. We live in a subdivision with a homeowners association and covenants. One such covenant is your Christmas lights must be off your house no later than March 31st. I was making a stand and refused to take mine down. However, fear of arrest and torture got the best of me and I took them down Saturday. (If you saw my neighbor the "Enforcer", you'd understand my fear of torture was real.) Who knows where my life of crime would have led. I'm sure shoplifting, gambling, ponzy schemes and of course drug abuse were not far away. With EPO, HGH and anything else I could get my hands on, Brad, Bob and Darrell would have been in serious trouble. However, they can continue to work me over on any hill with more than a 1% grade.

Yard work is finally calling my name. I managed to get in 2 hours the other night. Another 10 or so and I'll have the basic spring maintenance complete. Too bad it will be fall by the time I get it done. I just call it being efficient. This way I can completely skip over the summer and fall work. I'm beginning to lean heavily to zeroscaping the front. I hate my grass. It's ugly, uneven, takes too much water and is a weekly pain to mow. The weeds are far more determined than me. However, I do have to get my vegatable garden planted. I can't live without some fresh goodies in the summer and fall. Maybe I'll just make the entire back yard into a garden like Doug.

So much for a short post.

Killing Time

I in my office killing time waiting for Erin's flight to arrive so I can pick her up. She's coming home a little early from DC to attend an awards ceremony at USU Saturday. She's nominated for Scholar of the Year and it's a black tie formal affair. Should be fun. It will be good to have her home.

I've been thinking about epic MTB rides lately. 15 years ago when I first started riding the dirt, Glen took me on many all-day adventures. The downside of racing is you just don't have time for getting lost in the mountains. I hope to change that a little this year.

My first big, all-day ride was with Glen and Skylere Bingham. Nothing like starting out with two former Pros. Guess who was off the back all day.

We started at Glen's house in Sandy and rode up Little Cottonwood to Alta. From there it was the summer road all the way to the top of Supreme. A 5,000 + climb out of the gate. From Supreme, we headed toward Brighton and got on Great Western. We dropped off the top of world to the South and eventually ended up at the top of American Fork. I seem to remember one hike a bike in there somewhere, but I was semi-coherent at the time. From there is was about an hour of sweet single track descending to Timble Fork. Down to Apline, over Hog's Hollow to Corner Canyon and back to Sandy to finish up the day. I remember something like 6 hours total time. A hard ride, I had a great time.

I've done that loop a couple more times with Glen but Great Western off the top is now open to ATV's and the trail was super-sketcky and not much fun the last time we went. However, maybe I'll give it a go again sometime.

Before I did this big loop, I didn't think something like that was possible. It opened my eyes to the limitless loops available on the Wasatch. Now, I'm disappointed if I don't get into at least two canyons when I'm able to make it up. Once again, I'm grateful to live in this remarkable place.

The next month + is the most frustrating for me in the mountains. Since I don't backcountry ski (yet), my ski season is done. However, we're a long while away from riding the high country. I guess that's what lower elevation trails are for.

Tooele Part II

The rain held off for the circuit race and it was pretty uneventful. Tanner and my races were about the same. Lots of attacks, but the hill wasn't steep enough to split the group. In my case, this was good. In Tanner's case it was not good. I was able to comfortably hang on and pretty much avoided the front. Tanner drove the pace on the hill, but couldn't enough help to make it stick.

The finish was a slight downhill grade that resulted in a fast sprint finish. I was in very good position coming out of the last corner and gave it a go. However, my 50 x 12 wasn't close to enough gear. I spun out at 43 mph and finished 12th. Tanner was even more under geared. His junior 48 x 13 had him at about 150 rpm in the finish and kept him in 20th.

We had no crashes and a good time hanging out with our team and the Canyon Draper guys. Time well spent with my son.


Tanner in the Cat 4 group.

Me with the 45+. You can tell it's a Masters group because everyone has expensive carbon wheels.

Dave rocking the new team skinsuit on the TT bike. It seemed to be a hit and got lots of comments.

We even had the cool start ramp and countdown clock. A first for me and Tanner.

Makes you feel pro-like.

This is Tanner's wheel after RMR Tuesday in the oval. He managed to keep it upright after breaking two spokes in the rear D of the guy in front of him. Neither went down. A good show of riding by both.

Mid race update

I'm sitting in the parking lot of a park in Tooele. On a whim, I searched for a wireless network and what do you know, I found one. We are killing time in between the TT and circuit race at the Tour of Depot. The rain has held off so far and the temperature has not been too bad.

The TT this morning was a 9 mile adventure with a couple mile climb and decent. Tanner did well in his first real TT effort. He finished 8th in the a good Cat 4 field and was only 1 minute off the winning time. He averaged a little over 25 mph on a course not suited for junior gearing. Tanner was completely spun out on the decent and could have gone a little faster.

I haven't been feeling so great the last few days and it showed. My goal was to not be last in the 45+ and I reached it with a few spots to spare. I held off Dirk who started 30 seconds behind me until the last 2K, which was better than expected. Too bad I completely blew the last K and lost at least 30 seconds. Tanner reached his goal of smoking the old man by finishing a minute 23 faster than me.

Well, there are now rain drops on the windshield of the Element. I sure hope it doesn't rain hard in a couple of hours.

Sam Keirge and Chase Pinkam finished 1-2 in the Pro 1 2 field only a second apart. They both averaged just over 29 mph. I'm not sure how you can do that. They play a game with which I'm not familiar.

Skiing, not racing

Rather than bike race, Mark and I made the trek to Snowbasin Saturday. It was a good choice and lots of fun. I hadn't skied the Basin in years and we explored most of it. The only down side was Snowbasin missed the Little Cottonwood big dump. There was some powder up high, but not much down low. I guess you can't have everything. On a true powder day, Snowbasin would be epic. For a dedicated Alta skier, the other refreshing aspect of Snowbasin was no lift lines at all. We pretty much had the place to ourselves.

It was good to get to know Mark better and gain another cycling friend. He's quickly picking up skiing and will be shredding like Tanner soon enough.

Sounds like the new Cholla course was great. I'll get it next year, assuming it's not snowing like this year. Mark and I stopped at Hell of the North on the way home and saw a lap of the P12 and Cat 3 race. Epic is all I have to say. The cross racer in me was a little jealous. Good job to Ali and Darrell on full cross rigs and tires. 1st and 3rd say a lot for the conditions. Sohmy had a solid 2nd in the P12 for the team.

I signed up for the Saturday portion of Tour of the Depot next week. I've never done a TT other than a couple Salt Aire's. Given my lack of fitness and time on the TT bike, I could be embarrassingly slow. However, Tanner's going to go nuts if he doesn't get some racing in, so we'll be spending the day out West.

A Skier?

I have skied for years, but I didn't considered myself a true skier. I enjoyed spending time in the mountains and liked the feeling of floating in powder, but I could kind of take it or leave it. However, over the last couple of years that has all changed. I now think I am officially a skier. Here's some of the evidence:

• In the last 8 days, I've taken two days of vacation on short notice for no other reason than it snowed a lot in Little Cottonwood.
• It's early April and I'm thinking about making turns rather than riding my bike.
• I have a wax bench in my garage.
• I bought an iron just to melt expensive wax.
• I'm bummed Mt. Dell and Park City Golf courses are once again golf courses instead of hard, fast skating courses.
• I can now actually ski difficult terrain rather than just get down it.
• I'm starting to look at drops and little cliffs as opportunities rather than something to be avoided.
• New ski equipment looks as cool, if not cooler, than the new S-works Epic to me.
• Ski equipment takes up more storage space in my house than golf, camping and archery equipment.
• Using my two free passes to Snowbasin this Saturday sounds much more fun than racing my favorite road race, Hell of the North. (Tanner's taking the ACT and can't go. Any takers for the other pass?)
• I've watched "Steep" 6 or 7 times and felt true sorrow when I heard the news of Shane McConkey's death this week. I've come close to buying some K2 Coomba's because Doug Coombs inspired me and I'd like to help his family.
• I used the last of my Alta Powder Card today and I'm already wishing it had more.
• I really enjoy watching Tanner ski and marvel at the quick progression he's made. It also irritates that he's better than me and knows it.
• At 46 years of age, there's not many physical activities that allow me to improve. Skiing is one of the few.

I'll be back to being a bike racer soon enough, but here's a couple of shots from today in the mean time.

On a different note, I get to brag a little more about my daughter Erin. I've mentioned she's the Valedictorian for the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Science at USU this year. She and the 6 other Valedictorians made their pitches to speak at commencement today (Eric via teleconference from Sen. Bennett's office in DC). Erin was selected by the committee to be the student speaker at graduation. So it will be Sen. Bennett and Erin. Yep, I'm a proud papa.

Ovalized

Darrell took the title I was planning to use for this post, but I survived the RMR oval. Not where I wanted to race my first crit of the year, but it will do. The oval in the B group is a bit of a gamble. The majority of the races I've done there have had at least one crash. Yesterday was no different. I heard the ugly sound behind me of someone breaking their collarbone.

The fun part of the oval is going fast. We averaged a little over 27 mph and I was able to mix it up on the front. I got off for a few laps a couple of times, but had no real chance to stay away. As usual, I'm wasn't fast enough in the bunch finish to score any points. I have top 15 B sprinter speed but not top ten. I did get in a good workout with 29 minutes above threshold HR. I was feeling more than worked on the ride home. I also avoided getting dizzy after doing 55 laps according to my Garmin.

It was good to see MK out for his first crit venture. He did well and made it to the front a number of times. It's always good to have fellow cross brethren around.

Looks like more good snow today. I have command performance meetings Monday and Tuesday so it looks like I'll miss it. To make matters worse, my neighbor gave me passes to Snowbasin. They will have to sit on my counter for a while.

ET and I are planning to make the trek south for the Cholla race if we can make it work with our families. I've always had good results in that race other than the time I nearly died from dehydration. The course is now supposed to be shorter with more up and down. Good news for Bob but not for me. Give me long and flat. If I don't go south, it will probably be Hell of the North. I still have some tubular cross tires mounted in case it's full-on mud.

A very good day

My schedule finally allowed a morning off when the snow was good. A co-worker and I enjoyed 2 feet of new powder at Alta yesterday. Best powder day of the year for me. First tracks on High Rustler and Eagle's Nest. Always a good thing.

Now, if I can only figure out how to do it again Thursday or Friday. Too bad I haven't figured out how to get paid enough to just ski and ride. One can always dream.

Not what we planned

I went to Ogden Saturday for a funeral rather than race RMR. Doug's Mother-in-Law died this week after an incredible life of 95 years. Doug and Betty both spoke at the service and were excellent. I've known Betty's mom pretty much all of my life since she lived so close to our house.

After the funeral and graveside service, we decided to do a family ride. Brady was home from Oregon for the funeral, so Brady, Adam, Doug, Tanner and I set out in the raging wind. We rode the parkway for a while with one flat at Fort B. Unfortunately, Doug pick up a goat-head as well that we didn't notice. Once we got onto the open road, Doug's softening front tire gave way halfway around a corner and down he went. I couldn't stop in time and plowed into him. Like any good brother, rather than land on the hard ground I landed on him. The result was a broken rib for Doug and some road rash. With Doug skillfully breaking my fall, I had no damage.

Betty came out and picked up Doug and we decided to ride on. We fought the wind for the last hour and it wasn't much fun. It felt harder than racing the crit. The company was good, but not the best ride I've had. Sometimes the best intentions don't workout.

Weekend in Snow

I chose to make it a weekend in the snow.


Started by organizing the winter equipment in the garage with new shelving. It's now already to sit for 9 months.

Friday, we had a management meeting on the mountain. It's good to work for a company that makes snowshoes. We have to test them out from time to time. Thursday after work and Friday after the hike, I made it to White Pine for the last skate skiing of the year for me. I could finally ski 45 minutes at something other than threshold or above. There's hope for next season.

On Saturday, Tanner was rocking the Lumberjack flannel shirt. It was a fun day in the warm sun.

I broke out the skinny 8 year old Nordica's for the groomers. I had to throw some wax on and sand off the rust. They still make GS turns like a pro.

Bluehouse had a demo day in conjunction with the Powder Keg race (we just missed the awards and didn't get to talk with Bart). We hooked up with Kendall and I skied a few runs on the Districts (on the right). The waist is wider than the tips of the Nordicas. They are a super stable, big mountain ski that demand an aggressive skier. They make turning an optional activity on just about anything. Honestly, I'm not good enough to use their full potential. I ended the day on the 1080 Guns (on the left). Still probably my favorite ski.

Tanner talked me into jumping off the roof. It wasn't stylish, but I didn't hurt the house or me.


I'm am reminded again, that I have nothing but good choices. I'm extremely fortunate to live here, have the health and means to enjoy the mountains, have great family and friends to share them with and the most tolerant wife on earth.

Life presents difficult realities to deal with each day. Time in the mountains helps me keep it all in perspective and not just pull the covers over my head each morning.

Tanner and I have put off the 45 minutes of stress that is RMR long enough. We'll be out there Saturday helping Todd try to win. We actually have some B's on the team this year, so it should be more fun. The big question is, will Dave go undefeated this year?