Saturday ride with the Pilot.

I got the voicemail late. I had just popped open an IPA and sat my ass on the couch after cranking the SS up flagstaff to get home from work. It wasn't as bad as I remembered! That has to be a good sign.

The Pilot was taking le bus up to the hood in the early AM and wanted to ride. Ok! There it was. It felt like day 3 of a stage race against no one but my fatigued body. I definitely don't recover from hard rides like I used to!

First changing leaves of the season happened Aug. 24th, a day later than last year as far as i can tell.

We met at the coffee shop and were soon heading up high - go west. For some reason, I recommended that we ride up the biggest beat down of a "trail" that this area has to offer. But it did lead to a nice singletrack that I'll call 'butter my bread', where I saw the biggest hawk I've ever set eyes on in the lower meadow. Then we pedaled up and over to RBV and to the oldie but goodies on the north side of town. We split paths at the top of the Swiss Luge. I had the dumb idea of dropping down junkyard alley, fording the creek, and hiking a vertical un-climbable trail home which really just put the nail in the coffin.
Then popped open an IPA and sat my sorry ass on the couch.

Leadville 100

The thing abut this years Leadville 100 that has been bothering me is not necessarily that a roadie won, but that he thought he needed a team to win it. He called in the troops (which happened to be excellent mtn bikers). I don't actually think he needed Travis and Shriver to lead him out at such a fierce pace in order to win, but it did help work over Weins and the rest of the contenders.
I guess I just I think it's hilarious that he truly was focusing on this years Leadville - to break the course record set the previous year by a retired mtn bike pro who is 7 years his elder (and beat him in the setting of that record). And no offense to Weins, but he wasn't a top World Cup pro in his heyday like Mr. Armstrong was, and still is apparently. So now what? Who else descends on Leadville to break the record and beat the locals? I dunno, maybe it was just bringing the road into a classic mtb event that irks me? Maybe I should stop bitching. Maybe the Pilot and I should get our asses in shape and work for Weins next year.

Fixies

If god wanted us to ride fixies, he wouldn't have invented the freewheel

BC100

After last week's attempt with the Redneck, and wanting to do a solo-ride with some big miles to "train" for my tour to Durango, I headed out Saturday for another 100 mile attempt. This time, I headed down to the Flatlands and back up for some long road miles in between some singletrack. I headed out around 7:30am, i thought I'd be back by 4 at the latest...

After a nice 25 mile ride into the Rock, on a mix of singletrack and dirt and paved roads, I met up with the Pilot and headed north out of town. Along the foothills we went, on up to one of the L-towns via a newish link that dropped right into town.

Contrary to the frequent complaints by mtn bikers in this town, there is some great singletrack close to town, both in the north and south - some of it very recently opened. Sure, it takes some riding on road or bike paths to get there sometimes, but it's still there and I'm not familiar with that many cities of 100K people that have this many trails close to town (with some notable exceptions like CO Springs). I could be wrong. This is one example of a trail that we arrived at by riding on a bike path, to a dirt multi-use trail, and then hit singletrack for the next 5 or so miles out of town. Not bad for a little city.

Say bye to the Rock! The view behind us as we left town. My house is behind those foothills and to the right out of the picture.

Once we left that singletrack, we crossed a road and hit some dirt roads for another few miles. Then up a canyon a short distance where I learned the 'new' thing in road biking is to park at the bottom of this canyon and ride up and back. Odd thing I thought to myself as we pedaled on by up to the trailhead of Heil Ranch. Up and up the rocky singletrack that had recently been revamped. It's a great trail, it's just the soil isn't cooperating. Low grade bench cuts with the most amazingly built bermed switchbacks I've ever seen. It's a well built trail but the soil is so fine that any rain erodes it away and leaves sharp big rocks. A rigid here would truly suck...a hardtail was harsh enough. I learned they actually have sections of trail here that they dug down to get most the rocks out, then overlaid roadbase - and these sections are the ONLY smooth sections of trail. As the day went on, I realized i picked a route with the smoothest roads, yet roughest trails in this county.

Down into Ltown. This began the best part of the trail in my opinion. It opened up into fast, less rocky singletrack, and the soil turned red and reminded me of Durango.

5 plus miles of downhill singletrack!

Pilot and I stopped for a cool down in Ltown.

It was one of the hotter days of the year. Smrp heckled me for heading to the flatlands because of that and she was right, my nordic blood was boiling.

The Pilot took off for home after pacing me to Ltown. Even though he has only 11 rides under his belt in the last 6 weeks, he's still stronger than me (like usual)! I don't get how his fitness just doesn't disappear! Anyways, as there are no trail links (that I know of at least) going up where I wanted to go back to, I headed up the road. This was always my favorite canyon to ride up when I owned a road bike. It's a mellow grade, beautiful rocks and flowing creek...and it's one of the longest sustained climbs in the County at 21 miles and 4,000ft of elevation gain.

Finally, back to the dirt. Totally wiped from the heat, I had to sit and take a break. I am not as fit as I had hoped I was for this ride. I realized at this point, that I should've tried a shorter ride, but i was 70 miles into it and still at least 20 miles from home - on the road . The road was burning me out though so I kept with the route and hopped on some nice singletrack right off the highway that led me up another 1500ft vertical. It involved a lot of hiking, but I was just happy to get off the road and out of the sun. Something about being in the woods energized me and I was instantly much happier.

Out of the flatlands, back into the aspens.

...and lush vegetation

At the top, or almost there at least. I sat creekside, the same creek i had followed up for almost 30 miles now from the flatlands back at Ltown. I dunked my hat and washed my head in the ice cold water. I was tempted to dunk my head and take huge gulps of water.

Loving the elevation. Those mountains in the distance mark where started and still have to go. I'm at the high point of the ride now finally and it's all (mostly) downhill from here.

All in all, it was 95 miles on the odometer (but I'm rounding up to 100) and around 11,000ft of elevation gain. With my planned route it would've been 100 miles easily, but I was already late coming home - way past 4pm. I need more fitness to get er done in that amount of time! Next year, I'll reverse the route, and do the two sections of trail that I opted out of. The follow up to the Yay we live here! -- the BC100 (Boulder County 100).

To race...

View west on a Sunset ride home from work

It's something that comes knocking every year - whether or not to race this year. With all the other life commitments at this post-dirtbag state of affairs, is it worth it? The training, the equipment needs, the entry fees, the motivation. I waver each and every year, and throughout the year when i decide NOT to, and especially when I read others race reports from the Breck Epic and the pre-race trash talk for the Leadville 100. So, why do I do this to myself? Why do I care? Am I still "slaying dragons" as they say?! Am I stuck in a place where I'm still wanting more - to prove to myself something? To prove myself to others? To push my body beyond the normal? To constantly search for adventure with the limitations of a 9-5 job? What drives these thoughts?

I remember clear as day racing in the Sport class in Crested Butte in the mid-90s at the Fat Tire Festival. Trail 401 after the huge dirt road ascent. Navigating the curvy bench cut singletrack trying not to eject off the trail into the very wildflowers that I was trying not to gawk at (and trying to at the same time). I remember thinking "why am I doing this?'I want to stop and enjoy my surroundings instead of race as fast as possible through them!' I'd reply to myself, 'because it brings me to these places', and to challenge myself beyond what I would normally do. To meet and make great lifelong friends. But at almost every race, from my Sport days into my Pro days, I'd ask myself that same question as I zoomed by these overlooks and beautiful places -- why am I doing this? (a horrible thing to be thinking if you want to race well.)

You see, I love nature. I love stopping and smelling the flowers, literally. I love stopping at the top of a climb and taking it all in. So I always told myself that I'd be able to do that "later," when I was older. Well, I'm older and I have been back to ride in CB all of once since the last Fat Tire Fest I attended in the late 90s - the last year the festival was put on till this year. I did enjoy the ride thou, and stopped lots to take it all in. It's time when you lose track of time; your brain recovers from all those work-related issues. Like Thoreau's "Walking" but over a hundred years later it's "riding." Just RIDING. But the racer part of me felt that my ride lacked purpose. That being in nature wasn't enough of a reason to get out there; that feels like if I'm not racing I can't rationalize training, or even just riding a lot. There's just always so much else I should be doing, and I don't even have human kids to take care of (although 5 dogs and 7 horses does compare).

Several years ago, one of my friends told me that another good friend said of me, "Meriwether's not a racer" which I took pretty poorly even if he meant it as a compliment of some sort. That comment along with the thoughts I was already having (doubt) led to the demise of my MTB racing "career." I had reached a large goal of mine, turning Pro and racing against the best in the nation, but when was it good to call 'uncle?'

As we all know, you don't see 20/20 until later in life, with hindsight. I wish I knew then what I know now. (How many things does that apply to?!) Needless to say, i love where my life has taken me, but I wish I had given it a few more years before quitting. I now feel like I was just starting to get going. To quit before I even hit 30 years old...well I just didn't give it enough time, plain and simple. But the financial burden was hitting hard, and pressure to get a "real" job was ever present, blah blah blah. Living the dream didn't look like a reality anymore at the time.

But like the mafia, you can't leave. It's a funny thing about when retired racers come back - they rarely ever really "retire." I'm not comparing myself to these guys, but look at Ned, TBrown, Webber, Weins, Tinker. Sometimes they're faster than when they left the sport. That pressure to perform is gone...they rest and recover more, ride smarter, have more fun...they come back and do it because they're having fun. I think that's why I can't get rid of the bug. There's always hope for making the break. However you define that. I guess it just comes down to that - racing is just fun.

YAY WE LIVE HERE!

Today Team YWLH (YAY! we live here) went out and rambled around the hood. Headed out over there, then over there, then there, then up there, back down there, and finally over there before heading home. If you lived here, you'd know what I'm talking about. But you don't. Or maybe you do, but you weren't on this ride. Where were you?! YAY, we live here!

We started out at The Beach. The grass is so high from all the rain this year that you could barely see the trail.

In my opinion, this is the funnest and longest downhill singletracks in the area.

Ok, enough of that. (Inside joke about a blog roll argument that happened on OffCamber many years ago.) I think it's funny but you probably don't.

The black-eyed susan's are still blooming in this meadow on Singletrack Mtn.

But like I was saying, the YWLH team (the Redneck and I) headed out sans other locals (wussies) on a 55 or 60 mile ride, depending on whose cyclocomputer you believe. Mine is more conservative for some reason, i think his was exaggerating. The mileage isn't really what matters, it's more important that we were outside in this place we call home for somewhere around 8 hours - a good day out of the office.

This is about 14 miles up the long 17 mile climb. I was too scared to take a picture, but there was an American flag strung across this road with lots of gunfire nearby a few miles back from where this picture was taken.

We met at an undisclosed location at 7:30am and proceeded to ride some of the local goods, linking up stuff we usually do in one ride at a time. It rained on us a tiny bit, a perfect amount to keep the dust down and offer refreshment from the heat which really never hit today - this is by far the coolest (temp wise) summer I can remember in the last 18 years living here. We always hope for a 100mile ride on the YAY day, but haven't broken the 100km mark yet. Maybe next year?! We need more motivation, locals!! This ride is our version of the De la Marin, but at a much smaller scale obviously. No postcard with directions, no maps, no GPS, just a ride. Mostly it's a celebration of this local and it's amazing surroundings. We saw more elk than other riders today, and the other riders we spotted were all in the last 2 miles of the ride. That's my kind of ride.

This is home. Yay.

Hangin out at the pool

4 hour meeting, pick up burritos (2 for us, one to split between the dogs), and then head to the park for some skating. Like usual, nobody is in the pool at 7pm so I start carving and get dizzy. On to the "Pro Bowl" where i, as usual, scare myself in the cradle and grab some air off the hips trying to get higher and higher with each run. There's always something to keep your mind going while skating. That's what's great about it, but also hard when you're kinda spacey or tired. Not like biking where you can just spin and take it easy if you want, with skating you have to be ON it in, especially at the cement parks...or you go down. And that's what I did. I got a little too ego on a backside off the hip and landed on my side knocking my head and wrist pretty good. Breather at the bottom of the bowl, assessing the damages. Hmm...i appear to be OK. No worries about lying there for 5 minutes as I'm not going to get run over - I was alone in there too. All the kids are out in the flowy 'street' area with their little flippy tricks. But today it was a little bit different. It was really cool to see the kids carving more, learning the curves of the park, creating their own lines, using it the way the park creators imagined...and getting better at skating. It was noticeably different. Some kids I've seen struggling before were today looking like they knew what they were doing and gaining confidence. It's hard to explain, but knowing that I had a tiny part in getting this park into this little mountain town where kids can hang out and use their energy in a positive way...well, it's a cool thing. It took the entire town to do it, but it's a reality now. I wish I had such a place when I was their age. Instead i was getting kicked out of every nook and cranny we tried to skate by the cops.

In other news....hour 10 on the Brooks. I feel a bit more suspension from the saddle but I'm on the verge of some bruises on my butt bones. Less slippy than previously...i think that was from the waterproofing wax i used in addition to the leather treatment/conditioner. I won't be putting any more of that stuff on. Least I say, it's NOT broken in. More to come.

Sunday single

On the Hunter SS on a Sunday stroll. First sight out of the driveway were these two bucks across the street in the pond. Looking as if they don't have a care in the world. We knew there was something down valley as all the horses were looking attentively down there basically POINTING there and saying "LOOK! don't you see them?" They seem to hear or see lots of things down there that we don't.

My stable steed.

Trying to get into singlespeed shape hurts. Oh my. I went out for just 2.5 hours but with two major climbs and no real rest inbetween, my legs and lungs were wanting more. But this is the year of SSWC's in Durango and since i'm freaking riding there on this bike from GJ, I best git fit and become one with this bike. More on the route later, as I still don't know the middle section, but it starts on the Tabeguache trail, on to the Paradox trail, then somehow get from there to Telluride and up and over to the Colorado Trail (or Hermosa Creek trail, depending on the route) and then finally to D-town a couple of days before the race. I'm looking forward to another train/bike trip! But oh, how to get back...? Anybody wanna give me a ride home?!

A thing of beauty. Even with the trail in there. I went a bit higher than my normal weekend route and found more new stuff, but this time it was really quite good new stuff. The wood nymphs are definitely busy this year.

Spell-check for "cyclocross" results =

CYCLOTRONS

Perfect.

Summertime

For now, the rain pattern has stopped and it's been getting pretty warm around here. Everything's drying out and soon everyone will be complaining at how HOT it is.

I headed out on a ride today with B, who I haven't ridden with in many years except in passing at the occasional cross race. He and Abel had two kids and that tends to distract people from the long mountain bike rides in the backcountry, for at least a few years. While Moots teammates, B and I started exploring this area that I now live almost 15 years ago. We used to ride up to here and beyond from the Flatlands and link everything we could en route to some epic rides under the guise of "training." Last Thursday he took le Bus up and we did a sweet ride to work together, and today was another great ride in the land of the rednecks. It's been great to re-connect and I hope it continues!

He came to the ranch in classic form - almost an hour late and with his grips slipping off his bike (his bike is always in some sort of disrepair no matter how much he works on it!). I was glad to see nothing's changed! So we did some last-minute bike work and eventually headed out on the local trails and over to the Habid highway and quickly exited stage left. Past the stop, over the creek, and up the flume to do a reverse route on ST Mtn. The mariposa lilys, yellow paintbrush, harebells, larkspurs, and black-eyed susan's were in full highlight in the aspen groves.

It's hard to believe it's already August 1st and in about 6 weeks these same aspens will be changing the color of those flowers. We rode most the trails here and on the way out B caught his bars on an aspen and was instantly ejected off the left and downhill side of the trail. Thankfully he was OK getting caught by some trees - other than some scrapes and bruises. Luckily he didn't fall on the flume where it would've meant a more serious roll down the side of a steeper and more rock-strewn hill! Up and down and out, a rear flat and a potentially lost multi-tool on the meadow trail out to north-redneck road. (If you find a multitool in the grass, pls comment.) Home a few hours later and somewhat worse for the wear we hung out on the deck and talked shop. Let's enjoy his while we can as winter is coming fast.