It's practically here! Moab 2010

Next week. I will travel to Moab for my 6th spring in a row to meet up with some friends in Moab Utah, the Mecca of Mountain Biking. It began 6 years ago when my brother in law Al Doan told me that his friend from Logan Utah was going to Moab with his buddies, and that we were invited. Ever since then, with or without Al, I go hook up with those same guys in Moab; there's Neil Ethrington, Mike Molyneux (lovingly referred to as "Smart Mike"), Jordan Zobell (Zobe), and Will Jensen. Over the years we've picked up more regulars, including Mike Bisignani (Biz), Wayne Wheeler, and Gene Poncelet. Others have come, enjoyed, but have not found their way back.
Each year, wherever I've lived, I have rounded up a group of choice riders to carpool out with me. Rarely if ever have I had the same people go 2 years in a row. Finally, after many attempts and invites, this year, Randy Murray and Justin Chamberlain return to Moab for a second year in a row. There will be a total of 6 guys piling in one vehicle to ride out with me this year (the same number as last year) However, I have a friend coming from AZ, Rob Kelsey, who I rode with in the 24 hour race, and Sterling McMurrin, whos son Drew is driving out with us from here. Justin Chamberlain and his family moved to Colorado, but he and his dad are coming as Justin makes his second attempt at Moab...last year ended in disaster shortly after it began when Justin attempted a ledge that he shouldn't have on his very first ride. Wynn Peterson will not make it back this year, but his son in law, Nick Morrill, will, so excellent news there. He will not have to wait for his wife this year...did i just say that?
In all, we will have about 25 guys on the trail...HUGE. Maybe too big. I'll report back on that soon.

DEMO RIDE TODAY

Trek came to town and put on a demo event. Specialized had one in St. Joe in September, but unlike that one, I didn't have to drive an hour and a half to get there, and I actually got to ride the bike I wanted to, and ride it on my trail! (Sorry, had to complain a little bit.)
So, I've been dreaming about getting a 29er for a commuter / racing bike. Ever since I rode one in Moab 2 years ago, I've wanted one, though I haven't decided it's the ONLY bike I want to own. However, after today's ride, I am sure I could be convinced. Dave Neal and I took off on the trail around 4:30pm at Slaughterpen. He rode a Remedy and I rode a Gary Fisher Superfly...and it was SUPERFLY. Amazingly, the trail was in great shape, despite the 8 or 10 inches of snow that just melted on the trail in the last few days. Dave and I both loved the bikes we were riding.
Though I had planned to get a 29er in the near future, my 6 year old daughter's trip to the emergency room for stitches 2 weeks ago put that dream on hold yet again.
WHEN WILL I BE LOVED?---the Everly Brothers

My first 24 hour race

Brad Nielsen was kind enough to give me a ride to the airport in Tulsa. Unfortunately, Dallas had a freak snowstorm the day I was to fly out, and my plane that was suppposed to take me to Denver never left Dallas. I flew to Vegas instead and then to Tucson. I was later getting in by 3 hours. Rob Kelsey picked me up at the airport. He was the captain of our team and pulled the whole thing together....quite well, I must say. I would never have done this without him.

We hit In-n-Out Burger before heading into the desert to where we were camping/racing. Dana Thornhill provided our luxury accomodations. His camper was very comfortable.

We rode the course on Friday after our fouth guy (actually, our starter) Jeff Glick, a captain in the army, arrived. The lap ended up being about 17 miles. There weren't any steep crazy climbs, just short ones. The best part was the downhill at the end of the lap. Lots of singletrack through the desert for the most part.

The race started Lamans style. We drafted Jeff to be the lead guy. He rode an old hardtail airborne bike. He sprinted down the start and was one of the first 50 or so to grab his bike from the crowds of spectators and get moving. Lucky for him! There were hundreds or maybe even thousands starting that race! What a sight!

My lap start times were 1:21pm, 7:42pm, 2:08am, and 8:45am.- so there were 2 laps in the daylight and 2 laps in the dark. My best lap was the first, 1hr 25min., then I had 1hr 31min, 1:39, and 1:30. Everyone on the team crashed on the first lap except for me, but I did manage to hit a cholla cactus with my right arm. It stuck right in my bicep and didn't move until I stopped to remove it.

Our team to 63rd out of 139 4-man teams, so not bad. Will I do it again? I would if drafted and sponsored, but I don't think I'm going out looking for that kind of trouble anytime soon.

One week to race day

I've been spinning every day this week in the office because the weather continues to be wet. We're still recovering from the 8 inches of snow last week. I was able to spin 3 times on Wed. and 3 times today, so I'm pretty proud of that, though it wasn't long enough to come close to what the race coarse is going to be.

Final Ride for the week before the winter storm

We hit 50 degrees on Wednesday, and I wanted to get one more ride in before Thursday's winter storm arrived. I had hoped to go with my friend Drew McMurrin on a night ride, since I had not had the chance to use my light set yet. He ended up not being available. It was dark, and I didn't want to go ride alone in the dark. I sent out a mass text to see if anyone would go. It ended up that Jason from the bike shop was going. He told me to bring Brad Nielsen along and that he would have a light for him. After waiting 20 minutes (after 10pm) for Jason to arrive, Brad and I decided we couldn't wait any longer. We took off to do a lap in Slaughterpen, with me riding behind Brad with my headlamp to show the way in front of him. We both had a FANTASTIC time. It was exilerating to ride at night, and we both felt great about our ride. It was a total blast, even with just one light.
So I figured that would be my last ride before the 8 inches of snow that we got, but Dave Neil said we should ride Thurs afternoon before the winter weather arrived. So Dave, Chris, Brad, and I headed for the trail. The sleet began to pelt Brad's truck before we even got there. Traffic leaving town was crazy as we headed the opposite direction of traffic toward the trailhead. We arrived, gathered ourselves, and headed out. The ride was not near as enjoyable as the night before, but we were not disappointed about going. We did have ice forming on our helmets and Camelbaks.
So that's it for the week, right?...then Friday afternoon as the snow is piling up on the ground, Dave sends a text that says," Snow ride?" I ignored the text.
That didn't work. 20 minutes later, Dave and Chris are on my doorstep, geared up and on their bikes saying Let's go. I said, "Give me 5 minutes..." , and we were off. We didn't know where to go, but ended up riding to Brad's house, a 7 mile round trip in the snow with MASSIVE hill on Trafalgar that I swore I would NEVER climb on a bike in good weather...but I did it on a snow-packed street. I just kept riding when my buddies dismounted...Dave said "It's bragging rights if you make it to the top."
We chatted with Brad for 20 minutes or so before heading for home. It was yet another great ride with the light. The snow was falling the whole time, and few people were out driving, but we did it.
Chalk up 3 rides in 48hrs, baby....

Training for my first 24 hour race

So I officially began training for the race on Jan 13th. That's only a month out from the actual event! Reminds me of my high school track days when we would only be a month out from our first meet when track practices began, and Coach Lair would send out out the first week to just run the streets of Chillicothe, MO for an hour or so.

The weather has been less than helpful the last several weeks. We got lots of rain, and then, lots of snow and ice (for this area) at the end of Dec. and just this week, so getting out on the trails has not been happening much. Lucky for me, my coworker Mike has a bike trainer that he brought to the office, and lucky for me, he said I am welcome to use it. I don't have the shoes for his bike, but, lucky for me, I still had the rear wheel from my old 2004 Stumpjumper that Shane Santos bought from me. He replaced the rear wheel and gave me the old one, cassette and all. So I took the wheel and put a smoothe beach cruiser tire on it. Now all I do is swap wheels out on my Enduro and pedal in the office.

Knowing that a 24 hour race will require that each team member ride multiple times during the event (team members usually trade off laps, which means 3 or 4 laps per rider) I am trying to train more than once per day. I know in the past how tough it is to get out and ride after having given it your all already in the same day. Hopefully I will be ready....ok there is NO WAY I will be ready, but I hope to be more ready than I would have otherwise been.

More results from the Specialized Trail Crew Contest

I'll admit that there have been a few moments where I felt a little down trodden, having missed an opportunity to be on the trail crew. I do have some positive notes about this experience. I met a few guys though the contest, one of them being Rob Kelsey from Arizona. Rob and I got to know each other before the final results were announced, and we were both pulling for each other. Rob has a great big red Specialized "S" tatooed on his leg....how could they reject a guy like that? Though neither of us made the trail crew, we have continued to talk, and Rob decided that I needed to come be on his race team for the 24 hours of Pueblo. I have not had an opportunity to particpate in a 24 hour race. I did 2 12hr races in Missouri in 2004, one on a team of 3 or 4, and one in a duo with my friiend Shawn Force. That is a tough race! Now to do a 24 hr. seems overwelming. I told Rob it would be cool, but I didn't have the money to get there. Rob has taken care of that, as well as sent me his old light set (which doesn't shine like an old light set) and a couple of old pair of gloves he is not using (which don't look like they are old). I don't know what I did to deserve such treatment because I have never even met Rob, but all I can say is that he is a true friend to mountain biking. I can't wait to ride on his team and hope I will do my part for the team.
So on Feb. 11th, I fly to AZ and meet Rob. We will ride some trails the few days we have, and then Saturday at noon, the race begins. There will be posting for sure that night. I hope to take time to post something between each leg of the race that I do.