A Wedding, A Bender, and A Few Sweet Rides

Over the weekend we witnessed a couple friend's beautiful wedding and very portionally memorable reception near Winter Park. Devil's Thumb Ranch near Tabernash, specifically. The weather was an absolutely picture perfect late-August Colorado afternoon.

After the wedding ceremony, pictured above, it was time to git down. We promptly did, whilst hanging out with local friends and a few east coast friends, as well. And as the sun went down, so did the hooch. As one person put it, "I don't think we'll make the Christmas card list this year..." which in drunk speech is "Ey dunthink will make thu Chrssmus caard lis this yur..."
Our Saturday ride didn't start until about 2pm.....that should tell you something about the night before......We did some killer rides as well. Among them was the infamous Tipperary Creek ride, from Fraser back over to Winter Park. Almost 25 miles of singletrack, and much of it flat or slightly downhill. Wooooohoooo!!!! I've raced this course soooo many times over the years it was surreal to ride it at a slower pace and enjoy the scenery with only my weeef and good friend. Miles and miles of trails and forest like this:
Near the top of one of the climbs, leading on to WTB trail approaching Winter Park...that's pure Colorado right there.
I fell asleep in a meadow and awoke to two enormous mountain bikers wondering if I'd lost my way.

Sunday we opted to buy a lift ticket (for us and our bikes) and did a few downhill runs. Take the lift up, ride down, repeat. It was a total blast and the trails we rode were just as cool as the day before. No gap jumps or big drops, but a few little obstacles were thrown in for this cross country boy.

What a saweeeet weekend. Just finished my last Tuesday night interval session of the racing season. It hurt, as usual. Now I hurry up and recover for the weekend. Out.

Almost there...

Rolling in to Labor Day weekend with one race to go...

The final push to the finish line is upon me...

About time to call it a racing season...

Almost time to stop thinking about staying hydrated all the time and start eating cheeseburgers from, well, anywhere.

But that sure as hell don't mean I'm gonna stop posting witty anecdotes and pictures from my life, I'm just getting started.

And speaking of, pictures from our weekend in Winter Park will be up......tomorrow evening.

Mattsel Adams

A Pleasant Suprise

Sunday:

Mountain States Cup #6 at Eldora Ski Resort, Northwest of Boulder, CO

26mi

2 hours 7 minutes

Avg Heart Rate: 174 bpm

Max Heart Rate: 191 bpm

Ouch.

The course at Eldora took racers through the twisty and fast nordic ski trails near Eldora Ski Resort. Loamy, peaty, dark dirt and mud greeted us through this heavily forested 6 mile circuit. At an elevation of 9500ft temps were in the mid 70's and PERFECT racing weather. Eldora is one of the last remaining small ski areas in the state and was a breath of fresh air after visiting such world-class (and touristy) locations as Aspen, Telluride, and Crested Butte in recent months.

Things got rolling at noon for the Pro and Semi-Pro waves and after a crash-filled first lap for many, the field settled in and battled. Halfway through the final of four laps the skies opened for a brief but heavy rain shower which re-wetted the already tacky trails. With cold water streaming down my helmet, and soaking my thin jersey and shorts, I quickly cooled off-- quite a motivational factor in the last lap. Roots became polished and slick and the mud bogs became.......boggier.

At the finish line I hardly had enough time to change and get cleaned up before the results and awards ceremony. I knew I had a decent race and was hoping for a top 10, as this course doesn't suit to my strengths like the other big-mountain courses do because it's a little flatter, but I was able to stay strong enough. I didn't know how I placed until I heard my name over the announcer's PA rounding out the SemiPro podium in 5th place. I was a bit suprised with a top 5 here, and pleased with another solid performance.

Carve another notch in the "podium-finishes category" yeeeeeeeeeeehaaahh!! This weekend we're heading up to Winter Park for a weekend full of goooood times~

Secret Trail of the Week

This week's secret trail is located somewhere in El Paso County. Even along the front range. Make no mistake- riding these trails requires serious concentration in order to keep the giddiness at bay. This is almost guilty-pleasure territory...


I am so full of secret singletrack it's rediculous. I get sooooo daaaamn tired of riding the gourmet trails. Hours and HOURS.....NO people.......WILDFLOWERS up to my KNEES.....4-inch wide singletrack......Huuuuge ASPEN groves galore.........MAAAN it's tough...

That's me below. And that's one sweet sweet trail right there. The kicker with this area is there's an eighteen hundred foot vertical climb in less than two miles right off the bat and that's friggin steep. That really eliminates the riff-raff .

You would never believe it from this picture below but there's a 4-way intersection about 10 feet from here......but it's a bit obscure. This is my stunt double Russ. He rides his bike so much his chamois are almost see-through this time of the season. See?

Post-ride: Dales Pale's. About three of 'em. Wasn't quite as good as the trails, though~

An Appointment

Tonite we have an appointment with Mike Ness and the boys to get our asses kicked up at Fiddlers Green. Yes Mr. Ness, whatever you say, sir.

It's all fun and games till someone gets moshed....

Aaaah sooooo.......

Friday:
Asleson and I ducked beneath the radar and pulled out some secret-singletrack from our bag-o-tricks for the afternoon. The pictures are intentionally blurry so as to shield the details of the specific location.
Today......we chose to take the red pill....

I think Noah just floated by...

We've been getting some apocolyptic type rains lately.

Buffalo Creek

Sunday Jess and I, Eric and Stacee:







went up and rode Buffalo Creek, about a half hour northwest of Woodland Park. It's been 5 years since the Haymen Fire and the drive up there goes through much of the burn scar. It's pretty amazing having seen the forest right after it burned to now, where a lot of the grasses and weeds and wildflowers are taking place of the tall trees.



We rode the Colorado Trail and Green Mountain Loop towards the southwest- the singletrack was buffed out and rippin. Saturday night it rained Noah's Arc type rains so the trails were tacky and it was humid and cool in the morning. We had a great ol' time. Here are a few shots~


It really doesn't get much better'n this:

Discussing politics, Chopin, Baxter's ethical theory, and the space-time-continuim:

Makes Monday's a drag......oh well- one day closer to the weekend, eh? Late!

Four Words: Tape...Er...ing....off

The legs are heavy this week which tells me I gotta throttle back some these days. It's hard for me not to believe I reached a peak in seasonal performance last weekend in Telluride. I have two weekends off in which time I can do one of two things:

Keep it pinned and try and maintain my level of performance between now and Labor Day,

Or take it down a coupla notches, reel in the intensity a bit, and try for another peak towards end of August.

And this.......is the inside of an '07 XTR Dual Control shifter.