Bike Wreck

For your viewing enjoyment, a couple of nasty bike crashes.

**Warning - Some colorful language is used in the next clip.

Winter Training - Last Week

Monday - 30 Min Treadmill 1 Point

Tuesday - 1 Hr. Bike Trainer - 1 Point

Wednesday - 1 Hr. Bike Trainer - 1 Point

Thursday - Core work / weights - 0 Point

Friday

Saturday - 2 hour Mt. Bike Ride - 2 Points

Total for week - 5 Points

Here is Coach Dan's point system.

The points start over every week. Each day is worth up to a max of 3 points Only 6 days a week count for points (you have to take at least one day a week off) Points are earned doing only aerobic activities as follows: (weight lifting is cool, but no points for it)

1 point for each:
1 hour of outdoor cycling
1 hour of hiking, snowshoeing, or backcountry skiing
45 minutes of indoor cycling (trainer or spin class)
45 minutes of cross country skiiing
30 minutes of running
30 minutes of swimming

At the end of the week if you scored at least 1 point over 4 consecutive days, total points for the week are multiplied by 1.25 (25% bonus). If at least 1 point was earned over all 6 days, total weekly points are multiplied by 1.5 (50%) bonus. No fractions of points. So if you ride for 90 minutes, you get 1 point. You have to complete the 2nd hour to get the second point. With that said, riding 3 hours every day gives you 18 points, plus the bonus puts the total max points for a week at 27.

Post Christmas Post

Part A. I finally got out for a nice ride up on the water tank road of BST today. Someone plows the water tank road. There were plenty of tire tracks up on the road. Temperature was in the 20's, but it felt quite a bit warmer.


Part B. I, like many of you, drool over nice bikes. I feel the same way about nice cars. My good friend has had this beautiful car (may be a different model, but a sweet ferrari nonetheless) for the past 6 months. Last week he sold it to a gentleman up in Idaho. Part of the deal was that Aaron O. would deliver the car to Idaho. My friend Aaron was happy to have the car sold. He had a reliable employee load the car into a enclosed trailer and drive it to Burley.


Somewhere before Burley in the middle of nowhere, a semi passed the trailer with the ferrari in it making it fish tail. The trailer jack knifed disconnecting itself from the truck towing the trailer. The trailer flipped on its side tossing around its very expensive contents.


Aaron wired back the buyers money. The damage actually ended up being less than my friend initially thought, but it still makes you sick to see a nice car damaged. Mechanically, the car is fine. Oh, and by the way, this is the same friend whose wife wrecked their range rover the week prior.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all. Hopefully Santa brings you your desired cycling gifts (anything in carbon fiber would be just fine for me).

I am itching to get out on a ride. The trainer in the basement just doesn't cut it.

Nervous

On the Friday lunch meeting ride, as we headed out towards AF canyon, I was riding on Rick's wheel and a SUV pulled up by the side of me and started rolling down it's window. Canyon road to AF Canyon practically has no shoulder with a decent amount of traffic. I started getting nervous - Did I swerve out in front this car? Am I going to get yelled at? Are they going to throw something at me? Are they going to run me off the road and drive forward and backwards over my bike? To me relief, they pulled past me. Of course, they started up a conversation with Rick.




Winter Training Challenge

Started the challenge on Wed.

Wed. 1:15 ride - 1 point
Thursday 30 Min. Treadmill - 1 point
Friday 1:15 ride - 1 point
Saturday 1:30 ride - 1 point


Four days in a row bonus 25%


Points for the week 5



Here is Coach Dan's point system.

The points start over every week. Each day is worth up to a max of 3 points Only 6 days a week count for points (you have to take at least one day a week off) Points are earned doing only aerobic activities as follows: (weight lifting is cool, but no points for it)

1 point for each:
1 hour of outdoor cycling
1 hour of hiking, snowshoeing, or backcountry skiing
45 minutes of indoor cycling (trainer or spin class)
45 minutes of cross country skiiing
30 minutes of running
30 minutes of swimming

At the end of the week if you scored at least 1 point over 4 consecutive days, total points for the week are multiplied by 1.25 (25% bonus). If at least 1 point was earned over all 6 days, total weekly points are multiplied by 1.5 (50%) bonus. No fractions of points. So if you ride for 90 minutes, you get 1 point. You have to complete the 2nd hour to get the second point. With that said, riding 3 hours every day gives you 18 points, plus the bonus puts the total max points for a week at 27.

Happy Holidays from Utah

If you haven't seen this it's pretty good.

The lunch meetings continue. The groups are smaller, and we are riding on the road, but it feels good to ride. Another meeting is being organized for Monday.

Product Review: Specialized Defroster MTB shoes

I picked up a pair of defroster's from Timp Cyclery. They had to order them in, but it took only 2 days for them to arrive. I looked at some Lake, Sidi, and Garneau winter shoes, but decided to try the specialized.

The sizing is in whole european sizes. A 43.5 would have been perfect, but I went with the 43 (I wear a 10.5 street shoe and 44 in Sidi's). I have been a sidi guy for years. This is the first time I have ventured away from my reliable sidi's. The defrosters are roomy especially around the toes. They would accommodate wider feet better than sidi's.

My initial impression with the shoe is that it was comfortable out of the box. I was concerned that the neoprene cuff above the ankle would rub and irritate my leg. Contrary to my concerns the cuff was comfortable. I have worn the shoes with thin low cut socks and some mid calf wool socks. Any which way, the shoes are comfortable.

My feet still feel the winter chill with the defrosters, but not nearly as bad as with my Sidi's w/shoe covers. Last week I rode during lunch in the snow--Temperature was around 19 degrees. My feet stayed dry and relatively warm.

Pros:

Comfortable and roomy

Most affordable of the quality winter shoes

Keep the feet dry - water resistant

Cons:

The entry into the shoe takes some effort (maybe I'm being a bit picky)

I would like to see a boa/ratchet closure vs. the velcro straps

Half sizes would be appreciated

Even though it is less expensive than the competition, it is still pricy at $180

There was another excellent lunch meeting today. 22 mile road ride. As Brandon put it, it was a motley crew - 3 roadies, 1 ss cross bike, and 1 full suspension mountain bike. I overdressed for the weather.

It's on its way

Just ordered - Delivery late March !!!!!!!

Here is my snow condition report from Sundance.

Sundance Ski Conditions 12/14/09 from atomicmiles on Vimeo.

Winter Accidents

This is what the mirror normally looks like on my wife's car.

Here is what the mirror looks like after driving down the freeway and a snow shovel blew out of the truck in front of her and obliterated her passenger side mirror. Pretty scary thinking how bad this could have been.

The wife of my good friend Aaron O. had an accident the following day.

She slid into a tree.

It wasn't a small tree. It took three people to move the tree. Check out the girth of the trunk.

Cost of my new mirror $300. Cost of Aaron's repairs (new hood, bumper, fender, and repair the bent frame) $10k +

Ouch.

Today I get to meet with Dan to talk about some bike coaching/training. I'll post about it. I'm excited and think it can help me.

Lunch Meetings Video Part 2

Yes, it is opening day at Sundance today, but I'm not going as they aren't opening the back mountain. No need to fight the crowds for just the front mountain.

Here is second half of the lunch meetings video.

I am entering a helmet cam video contest. If you have suggestions on the best clips or music from the lunch meeting videos that you feel should be put in the contest, please let me know. Lunch meeting videos can be seen here.

I'm going to head up the BST today to check on the trails.

BST Lunch Meetings Part 2 from atomicmiles on Vimeo.

One note - In the video, you will see Dan hunched over as he recovers from crashing into Mike Y.

Lunch Meeting Video Part 1

I love the winter. I love to ski. I get excited when there is fresh powder. However, this year, I am having trouble getting excited. I have been spoiled with lots of great bike riding through November and even into December. I keep thinking about how I can get in some more bike rides. Even with the snow on the ground, I plan on making some rides up on the BST. Opening day this Friday at Sundance will help with the adjustment.

Here is Part 1 of the video from the last few weeks of riding.

BST Lunch Meeting Part 1 from atomicmiles on Vimeo.

RAPR - R

A new acronym has been created (I think Ricky M. or Aaron created it) - RAPR - Ride Around Provo River. The clockwise route takes you from the water tank road down dragons back and up BST south to Indian Hills park and back to the shooting range. The RAPR - R or Reverse/counterclockwise was the Friday lunch meeting route - Up the water tank road, down Bramber, Up from Indian Hills Park, BST South to Bridal Veil park, up Dragons Back, up Frank, upper belt, and Ireland (some went over to 51 and dry canyon).

Here are some pics from Friday's ride.

This guy had been riding his daughters bike with his orange hunting vest and rifle. He said he was too tired and was walking it down the hill.
PHAST Dan recovering from his collision with Mike Y.

If you don't have snow, why not hook the dogs up to the bike?

The Pain Cave

The lunch meetings continue. Yesterday (Wed.) had the largest group yet. The carborocket rep came and made a presentation to the group.

I'm not sure who to thank, maybe Kenny, Rick M., Rick S., Kyle, or Phast Dan, so I will thank them all for a visit to the pain cave. After riding Betty, Belt, down Frank and Dragons Back, up BST south and down to Indian Hills park, we climbed a new trail for me - Bramber. It was steep and painful.

Video footage from the lunch rides is being accumulated and will be released shortly.

December

It just doesn't seem right that December is here and the bike riding is still in full swing. I'm grateful that the lunch crowd has let me tag along on their rides. It has been a huge benefit to me to ride with people that are better than me. I am pushed everytime I ride with them. I am happy to take on the role of the lanterne rouge. Little by little I am getting faster--I have lost five pounds since I started attending the lunch meetings.

I fully anticipated that most riders would be swamped and not riding on Monday, the day after Thanksgiving break. Not the case. I met up with Kris to start defining a new trail. In the short time up on the trail, I ran into Kenny, Rick M, Adam, and Aaron.

Kris and I are excited about the potential of this new trail. Let me rephrase - I'm excited and Kris is beyond excited - Christmas came early for him. We believe that we have found a good route for the ascent and descent (even for the SS's). Kris' post does a good job summarizing the route and work that needs to be done.

Black Friday on the BST

I tried a couple of new things today - my specialized defroster winter shoes (I'll do a full review after a few rides on them), and the curly springs section of the trail area 51.

I rode from the shooting range, up betty, lower and upper belt to area 51. Rather than dropping down dry canyon, I wanted to see if the trail continued and connected to battle creek canyon. I had heard there was a connector, but had never gone any further than curly springs.

From the dry canyon turn off, the trail is a sustained climb. As 51 nears battle creek, it turns towards timp and drops down some steep sections. These sections are shaded almost all day and still have plenty of snow. The descent down battle creek wasn't as fun as I had hoped only because the holiday hikers were out in throngs.

From Kiwanis park, I hooked back onto the BST and rode back to the shooting range. It was a nice change of pace to mix things up, but I won't be revisiting this route until late spring or early summer when the trail is clear as 51 nears battle creek canyon. I'm glad I was coming down battle creek and not up -- that would be a beast.

Hoping for another nice ride tomorrow--Thinking about a couple of laps that include ireland.

From AtomicMiles

My hourly rate is $1.85

A few weeks ago I posted about my jury service on a DUI case. I had to rearrange several appointments and even missed my kids piano recital. To my surprise, I have been compensated for my time by the state of Utah. So according to the state, my time is worth $1.85/hr. Yep, $18.50 for my 10 hours that day.

Turning to a much more important event, todays lunch meeting was great. We dropped down cliff to the race course, rode across the aquaduct road, climbed up dragons back, then up Frank to the lower belt, up crank, and down ireland. The ride had some sweet downhill with some challenging technical climbs. I got some great video footage and will compile a new video this weekend. Phast Dan (check out his blog for his well earned riding name) joined Rick S, and Aaron, Jon, and Brannen for the ride. We ran into Adam and Keith punishing themselves with some intervals on the water tank road.

Thanksgiving ride 7:45 am ready to ride at the shooting range. Anyone is welcome to join. I propose it be called the Frozen Turkey rather than the Turkey Trot.

Exploring

This is how my mind thinks about riding a mountain bike:

Riding a mountain bike is much better than sitting in an office.

Riding on a dirt road is better than riding a mountain bike on the road.

Riding on up singletrack is better than a dirt road.

Descending on singletrack is best.

Yesterday, I rode up the firing range trail (walked part) and crank, and then descended down ireland. As I neared the bottom, I saw a game trail heading from ireland towards the firing range parking lot. My mind started working and I thought, I would rather descend on a singletrack than the water tank road. I took off following the game trail. The game trail would disappear and reappear as I worked my way back to the firing range trail. The route needs some work, but has potential as a nice return singletrack after ireland.

From AtomicMiles

Lunch Meeting Recap

It has been a great week of riding. As many biking bloggers have stated, it feels like we're riding on borrowed time.

Enjoy a video summary of the past week of lunch meetings.

BST Lunch Meeting Summary from atomicmiles on Vimeo.

The words of a three year old

A couple of nights ago, my wife was at a craft store with my 3-year old daughter. They stood in the check out line behind a women of sizeable girth. My daughter, observing the women, turns to my wife and says "Mom, look at that women's huge bum." Hoping and praying the lady didn't hear my daughter, my wife scooped up my daughter and quickly headed back to the store aisles.

Bike rides have been awesome. 4 for 4 on the lunch meetings this week with hopefully one more today. Yesterday's meeting was with Adam, Keith, and Justin. It was a unique meeting - No single speeds, 2 gary fishers, 2 treks, only one 29er. From the BST water tank road, we went down the race course, across the aquaduct road, up dragons back to frank, across kenny's belt buckle, and down roller coaster. A creative route by Adam.

Dry canyon time trial

The bst/water tank road and Betty were in good condition. Not too much
mud.

Upper belt had some mud and packed snow. Right before the "puddle",
was a muddy mess. Area 51 was either ice or mud.

Dry canyon had some ice patches.

Not ideal conditions for a time trial attempt. However, it's a top
three (only two other times are posted) 58:14. I figure I have some
room to improve.

http://drylooptt.blogspot.com/

Blackbird

Let the lunch meetings continue.

Monday was a couple of loops - Upper belt and down Ireland, then Betty to Blackbird. Here is a link to a BST map showing the trails if your wondering where are these trails.

I took a little video. Most of the time when I ride, I forget to look around and take in the vistas. Check out the video below- I thought looking back up Ireland at the golden grass with the snow capped mountains and blue sky in the background looked awesome.

Upper belt still has a few inches of snow. Everything South and West facing is clear and dry.

Blackbird BST from atomicmiles on Vimeo.

Friday the 13th on the BST

I had never ridden the firing range trail. I worked my way up the upper belt through the snow and descended down crank to the firing range. I really liked firing range for the length of the descent and some of the banked turns. It was a little rocky, but not bad--especially on the liquid. It reminded me a bit of the ireland descent.

I will be looking for some different tires as my panaracers don't shed the mud very well. I'm open to any suggestions.

I've been riding my trek liquid almost exclusively. Having the full suspension on the downhills has been a blast.

Friday the 13th on the BST from atomicmiles on Vimeo.

Lunch Meetings (Video evidence)

The winter weather is coming. I have been cramming in the rides before the change of season hits. Monday's ride was the dry canyon loop. Tuesday we rode down Ireland via the upper belt. Wednesday was dry canyon loop again via Francisco (the trail from the altar up to area 51--aka GWT).

Here is video from Tuesday's ride. More video to come.

Dragon's Back Video

I'm a little behind on my video editing. Here is video from last Thursday's ride.

I was able to have an excellent lunch meeting with Brandon, Aaron, and Rick-(Video coming soon) Unfortunately we were unable to make it through the whole agenda. We will have to meet again for lunch tomorrow and most likely wednesday.

Dragon's Back BST

The incredible weather has made me feel like I need to get out and ride as much as possible. I think that is why I was so upset with being on the jury Wed.

Jury Duty Results

I was chosen to be on the Jury of a DUI case. Did you know that in the state of Utah, according to the law, if you are intoxicated and have the ability to exercise your domain, start a car and drive off, that's a DUI? You don't even have to drive the car. Anyways, after one very long day, the jury found the defendant guilty of a DUI. We later found out that he had multiple DUI's and this one compounded the charges to a felony. The jury deliberated for over 2 hours. We had one old lady on the jury who would talk herself in circles. Another young lady admittedly liked getting smashed and was reluctant to find the defendant guilty.

I groan, moan, and complain like one of my kids, but the experience was interesting and educational. It was a major inconvenience to drop everything and serve on the jury, but I believe everyone should have the opportunity. I do believe that it is a privilege to serve and can't imagine a justice system without a trial-by-jury.

I wondered if the judge was working on his "movember" stache? Judge Taylor shown below.

If you ever get called to serve on a jury, in my opinion, here is what to do to get off the jury or not selected:

• You don't need to lie, but express your opinions. Even if they are not directly related to the questions make your voice heard.
• The worst thing to do is to sit there and be quiet. The eight members of my jury were all the ones who were quiet and didn't voice any opinions.

Dragon's Back Lunch meeting - Thursday

Even though I went to the gym on Thurs morning, I still wanted/needed to go out for a lunch ride with the invite came from SouthCountyCiclista. The group left from Omniture. I joined in at the firing range. The route was BST Water tank road, to Dragons Back, climb Squaw Peak and descent to the Indian Hills Park. Some of the sections were new to me and enjoyable. I took some video and need to edit it down.

If you can see the blue spec behind Nick's bicep, that's me climbing up Squaw on my rigid SS.

Saturday on the BST

Saturday morning ride was from home along BST Orem to Water Tank Road, to Dragons Back, Squaw Peak climb, Indian Hills Descent, Mt. Timpanogos Park climb up through the race course, Water Tank Road, Bettys, Lament, Area 51, Dry Canyon and return home. Kind of a wandering, criss-cross route.

I took out the trek liquid which weighs over 30, but has full suspension and some reasonable travel. At first, it felt like I was riding a midget bike with the 26" tires--I'm used to the 29er. The hydraulic hayes brakes on my liquid are a huge improvement over the mechanical avid's on my SS.

Jury Duty

Jury Duty

I'm not sure why I'm so lucky to have been chosen for jury duty. Not only being chosen, but the trial is going forward so I have to show up at 8:30 wed morning. I now get to put everything else on hold. The clerk's letter says that 1 out of every 4 jury candidates will be selected to serve on the jury. I'm trying to think of some things to say that can get me disqualified.

1. I don't like attorneys - I don't like the ones that work for me.
2. The justice system has become a joke because of the above mentioned attorneys--especially litigators.
3. I have contracted the swine flu (not really but if it gets me out of jury duty)
4. I have an lunch appointment up on the bonneville shoreline trail.

Monday Ride

I rode the BST on Monday for lunch. I tried to hook up with southcountyciclista, but missed him. I ran into a few guys who claimed that I had the names of the trails all wrong since they had been riding these trails since 1994 on their lunch breaks (it didn't look like they had been riding too often). I may have the names wrong, but I will post this map in an effort to promote a unifying of the names.

Many local biking bloggers have written of "riding the pipe" in dry canyon. Aaron was the only one who did it on the helloween ride. The pipe is a literal pipe that has been covered with a long strip of concrete. Here is a short clip when I "rode the pipe" on Monday and bit of the dry canyon trail.

Ride the Pipe from atomicmiles on Vimeo.

Helloween Ride

I joined the group for a 10:00 pm friday night ride. When I say group, these are a group of guys that I have never met before although I follow their biking blogs. Some funny costumes, some interesting costumes, and some very disturbing costumes. We rode above the BST and dropped down dry canyon. Towards the bottom of dry canyon we rode right through some romantic's campfire. I can only imagine what they thought as 25-30 bikers in costume flew right by their campfire. I left the group at dry canyon and rode home. As I left dry canyon, there were a couple of Lindon cops coming up the road-- Try to imagine how that explanation to the cops would have went.

The ride started with a time trial from the shooting range up to the mouth of the canyon. Everyone contributed a dollar to the pot to go to the winner. I couldn't keep up with the leaders. They flew up the road.

• I would say that at least half the group was on singlespeeds. I don't think I saw anything but 29'ers.
• Costumes aside, there were some very nice bikes I was drooling over. Someone was sporting a brand new niner carbon fork.
• One women rider showed up. Not only was she dressed as a witch on a singlespeed, she was farmer blowing both sides.

Here is a video that Rick put together. He also organized the ride.

These pics were taken by Keith.

Notice the portable speakers on the handlebars. We had 80's glam rock accompanying the ride.
A nurse to help with any injuries on the ride. The nurse, as you can see, was very taken by Kenny's belt buckle.
The organizer - I'm not sure of his real name, but people were calling him Rick.
I don't know what to say about this one.

Here is a pic of the group by the altar.

Rites of Passage

I have finally got around to reading last months bicycling mag. There were a couple of excellent articles. One was "Riding is my Ritalin". The other was an article by Mark Levine, "Rites of Passage". For those who haven't read the article, I have posted it below. I really got a kick out of it. Below are 101 cycling rites of passage.

01. Realizing that the hill isn’t in the way; it is the way. 02. You go from one pair of shorts to a dedicated drawerful. 03. Being unable to sleep the night after you first shave your legs, because of the tingle of bedsheets against your skin. 04. When “thanks for the ride” goes from something you overhear to part of your lexicon. 05. You see someone at the beach tanned low on the quads and biceps, and give him a nod of recognition. 06. Bonking so bad you don’t think you’ll be able to make it home. 07. Discovering how a convenience-store Coke can resurrect the dead. 08. Starting and finishing a ride—the same one—in pouring rain. 09. When you hang out at the bike shop and no one expects you to buy anything. 10. When your bike computer registers triple digits for one ride. 11. Clearing a log on a the trail. 12. You embrocate. 13. Staying with the paceline long enough to take a turn at the front. 14. You’re on the bike for the fifth straight day, and your butt doesn’t hurt. 15. You try bibs and realize you can never go back to shorts. 16. You stop riding beside and behind the pack and instead ride inside of it—with no claustrophobia. 17. You swing off the front of a paceline before you get tired. 18. You blow a snot rocket without hitting your shoulder or leg—or the rider behind you. 19. You notice that someone else has the chain grease on his right calf. 20. You get stuck in your pedals and topple over at a stoplight. 21. Someone you introduced to the sport kicks your ass on a ride. 22. Riding a bike through a big, congested city and feeling smarter than everyone else because you’re moving. 23. You wake up to find the sheets stuck to your road rash—and still feel excited about riding that day. 24. Your boss stops by to ask you to explain what’s happening in the Tour de France. 25. You fix up your old bike to get someone into the sport. 26. Wearing out your first set of tires. 27. You ride through a pothole, and it’s no big deal. 28. Getting hopelessly lost—deliberately. 29. You stop midride to give your only spare tube to a stranded cyclist. 30. You realize you’re driving your car as if it’s a bike—drafting, looking for holes, getting away from the squirrelly guy. 31. Fixing a busted chain. 32. When you no longer have to stop to take off your jacket. 33. Feeling confident about taking off your jacket while riding—then catching the trailing sleeve in the rear wheel. 34. The first time you crumple your race number. 35. Planning a riding vacation. 36. Seeing a sunrise from the saddle. 37. Wondering how the biggest local hill would rank on the Tour de France climb classification. 38. In your head, Phil Liggett narrates your ride. 39. You got dropped, you flatted, bonked, got turned around—and when you got home you said you had a great ride. 40. You roll through a patch of gravel and, without thinking, reach back to brush the crud off your tire with your palm. 41. A rider you respect says, “You were flying today.” 42. Rolling through a stop sign—and knowing it was the right thing to do. 43. Doored! 44. When you crest the summit of a climb, start down and realize you’ve gone the wrong way. But keep going anyway. 45.Rubbing wheels—and staying up. 46. Letting go of your kid’s seat and not having to grab it again. 47. Getting a bike stolen and being surprised at how deeply it hits you. 48. Cleaning the cassette with your old toothbrush. 49.Sprinting the neighbor kids. 50. Chasing a rabbit down singletrack. 51. Falling asleep when you stop for a break on a mountain bike ride. 52. Endo. 53.Telling someone which bike to buy. 54. Overcooking a turn. 55. Breaking a collarbone. 56. Figuring out how to layer without overdressing. 57. Deciding which car to buy in part based on how it will carry your bikes. 58. Your first ride with a jersey instead of a T-shirt. 59. Riding on a day so cold the water in your bottle freezes. 60. Discovering that a shot of Jameson in each bottle keeps the water fluid. 61. Though you’re not clear on exactly how to do it and unsure of the outcome, you manage to fix your first flat. 62. Walking home in your cleats. 63. Getting so deep into the sport you think your helmet looks good. 64. Following a favorite pro racer—besides Lance Armstrong. 65.Finding out your favorite pro racer was doping. 66. Wrapping your bar tape so the handlebar plug stays in and no bare bar shows at the tricky bend at the brake hood. 67. Naming a route. 68. Bumping elbows, then being relaxed enough to make a joke about it with the person next to you. 69. Sitting in with the big weekend training race. 70. Developing that “V” of muscle definition on the back of your calf. 71. Espresso at the halfway point. 72. Crashing and immediately asking, “How’s my bike?” 73. Fixing your bike with a rock. 74.Paying for a coach. 75. Figuring out that training advice doesn’t get much better than “Ride lots.” 76. Clacking into a rough tavern in cleats and spandex. 77. Having a position on Bartali vs. Coppi. 78. Throwing up after a sprint. 79. Chasing back on after a flat. 80. Winning a town-sign sprint and remembering it forever. 81. Explicating your training in exquisite detail on a blog, then realizing nobody cares. 82. Watching the compressed CO2 from your only canister shoot off into the air instead of into the tube. 83. Matching your bar tape to your tire’s sidewall— then realizing on your next ride that your bike looks like it’s been decorated by a blind pimp. 84. Riding someplace you’ve always driven. 85. Outsprinting a crazed dog. 86. Summiting an H.C. climb. 87. Waving at a cyclist coming the other way and being ignored. 88.Getting annoyed by an uninvited wheel sucker. 89. Getting so fast you’re confident enough to ride slow. 90. Wondering if cycling matters too much.91. Not caring if it does. 92. Surfing traffic on adrenaline and luck in one of the world’s 10 biggest cities. 93. Sitting up, taking your hands off the bar on a downhill. 94. At the PTA meeting, looking around at all the fat parents. 95.Dropping someone half your age. 96. Outclimbing someone half your size.97. Passing someone whose bike costs twice as much as yours. 98. Looking inside the bottle you’ve been using all season, seeing mold. 99. Dismissing what used to be your favorite cycling magazine because it keeps repeating topics. 100. Reading The Rider. 101. Coming home from Europe with a cobblestone in your luggage. 102. Finding out no one makes your favorite handlebar-bend anymore. 103. Riding down a trail you couldn’t safely walk.104. Telling the joke, “God wishes he was Eddy Merckx.” 105. Cheating a crosswind by joining an echelon. 106. Feeling superstrong, then turning around for the ride back and realizing you had a tailwind. 107. Pedaling the Brooklyn Bridge, toward Manhattan, at night. 108. Being the person whose bike squeaks drive everyone nuts. 109. Reading a rites of passage list and finding that your own favorite one is missing.

Parkour at Triassic

Over the weekend I went with the scouts to Triassic. Triassic is a bouldering playground south of Price in the middle of nowhere--well, actually it is by a town called Elmo which I never knew existed.

We did some bouldering and had a guy come and demonstrate Parkour. Here is a short video of some of the things he did. I'm still editing some of the bouldering video.

How fast can you change a flat?

High School Cycling

Most anybody who reads my blog knows that I live in Utah, specifically Utah "Happy Valley" County. My kids are still young and just starting to transition from cul-de-sac rides to some trail riding. I started thinking towards the future and my kids and High School Sports. The chances are pretty good that my kids won't be the starting pitcher or quarterback, but maybe they could compete on their bikes. I believe that team development and competition is good for kids. As far as I know, there aren't any high school cycling competitions. Considering the awesome terrain we have in Utah, I'm shocked there aren't any high school teams.

I found some leagues in California, and an announcement of some leagues beginning in Colorado under Tom Danielson, Allison Dunlap, David Wiens, and Ned Overend's direction. The National Interscholastic Cycling Assocation has already been formed and has a goal of coast to coast competition by 2020.

Maybe someday......

If you want to read more, here is an article on NICA.

Utah Cyclocross Race #3

The race went well on Saturday. I worked myself near the front for the start of the race and was able to keep up with the leaders for most of the race. I had my helmet camera mounted underneath my seat videotaping the riders behind me. Unfortunately the camera mount broke coming down Mount Heber on the second lap. Luckily a rider behind me told me the camera fell off and I was able to retrieve it after the race. I don't know why, but the video clip was unreadable--quicktime couldn't parse it.

The course had one run-up named Mt. Heber. There was also one set of three barriers. The course designer threw in several hairpin turns--many more than the Weber County Fairgrounds course. With the section of Mud, the course felt slower than Weber.

I rode on the tails of the leaders for most of the race, but eventually they put a gap into me. I ended up 7th this time. There were some sections of mud on the course. I did manage to grab some cash from slyfox.

I'm out of town the next weekend and will miss the Draper race. Halloween at Wheeler Farm is next on the list.