Dreaming Yields A Low ROI...

9 days at 9000ft...............getting back into the swing of things this fine, upstanding Monday morning I reflected on how I spent my chorizo, bacon, and cheese-filled vacation last week. So here's how it went:

I DID:

I sat...........................

I reflected.

I hiked.

I golfed.

I ate.

I rode...

I drank.

I ate.

I watched football...........

I watched fish...

I basqued.

I watched moose...

I watched leaves change color.

I dreamt.

I sat.

I slept.

I was lazy.

I was a wolverine.

I bathed.

I drank.

I ate.

I played cards.

I read the paper.

I broke out the singlespeed...

I strolled...

I watched Monty Python.

I saw bear poo.

I noticed that during weekends at "The Park" you get treated like a tourist. During the week at "The Park" you get treated like a local.

I watched the sun get lower in the sky.

I read (a magazine...)

I DIDN'T:

I didn't work.

I didn't pay bills.

I didn't get online. (except once)

I didn't train.

I didn't hydrate......................................

I didn't care...

I didn't clean.

I didn't care about "the bailout."

I didn't stay up late.

I didn't mow the yard.

I didn't drive the green....

I didn't check my 401k

I didn't putt well.

I didn't drive well.

I didn't race.

I didn't check in with the Stunt Double.

I didn't miss the grind.

I didn't miss the heart rate monitor....

I didn't check my bikes' tire pressure.

I didn't charge my phone.

I didn't drive more than 30 miles.

I didn't care about the weather.

I didn't care about Grand County rush hour.

I didn't care about Colorado Springs' rush hour..............

....................................Gettin' sick of yellow yet?

Me neither..................................

Livin' Lodge...

Me and the Mrs. 'been up at the remote mountain post all week trying to get a handle on all this yellow. With all this color one just has to take a week off and slow down a bit. Here's just a preview...

When the most important decision you need to make all day is how strong to make the coffee, playing all day comes pretty easy...

An Interview With The Bike...

So, I was in the garage the other day, casually tweaking things around on the workbench when I noticed the Orbea leaning up against the wall. I thought to myself, I wonder what The Bike has to say about this season? The following is my interview with The Bike, conducted in the garage on a casual Friday afternoon over a box of Mike N' Ike's.

TwoWheeledWorld: So, what was that whole pre-race crash about last week, anyway?
The Bike: Hey man, you have your days, I have mine...

TWW: Fair enough...So, how'd the season go for you?
The Bike: Pretty decent, although I got sick of being the 2nd place loser like 4 times in a row...I mean, I can tell you exactly what kind of rear tire Mike Mathers rides; that is, until he rides away from you...

TWW: That's harsh, dude. See if I ever wash your saddle again...
(uncomfortable silence)

So, do you have any regrets from this year?

The Bike: Not really, although I could have done without all the "wildflower this" and "wildflower that" type rides, you dirty hippie. I'm a race bike - not some freeridin' Trek...

TWW: ...Do you feel like you fit in with the rest of the race bikes?
The Bike: Ya, we all get along. Everybody crackes their jokes. That is, except for those Giant full carbons...Talk about crackin.' What a tightly wound group they are...

TWW: I saw you leaning up on one of the Yeti Betty bikes a while back. How'd that go for you?
The Bike: Not bad. But she was from Ft Collins, and you know how those bikes can be. She had one heck of a saddle, though.........Carbon SLR, I think.

TWW: Hmmm.....can you believe the season is already over?
The Bike: I know - it's crazy... Soon it'll be snowing. Hey what do you do with your race bikes once the season's over, anyway?
(uncomfortable silence)

TWW: You...you'member that time we were racing out in Nathrop that one time and.......and it was, like all windy and stuff, and then it just......um.......didn't stop being windy for like 2 hours.....and.................you.........you'member that.......?

The Bike: Ya....?

TWW: That..............tha'was awesome........

TWW: So, what do you think of the CERN particle accelerator finally getting some experiments running?
The Bike: Well, I'm no theoretical physicist, but if the Higgs Boson exists, that LHC is gonna find it. I mean, have you seen those proton synchrotron boosters? Damn........off the chain dawg!

TWW: So, what's your favorite bike part?
The Bike: I've always been fond of my cranks. They're kind of similar to your legs: lightweight and kind of chicken-like. But damn are they sexy.

TWW: And, least favorite?
The Bike: Well, not so much a bike part, but whenever you jam the seatpost back in.........hello!

TWW: So, what are you up to today?
The Bike: Well, a few of us were thinking about heading up to the top of Gold Camp and straightlining it down to the road, but I think that might fall through. One of the guys has some kind of linkage problem and needs to have it looked at. I just think it's stress, but who am I to say...

TWW: Well, I'd better head back inside. I think the puffy hands are just about dry and I've got some wiring rework to do on the porch light.
(uncomfortable silence)

The Bike: Hey..........when you needed me I came through......don't you forget that.

TWW: I'll remember you.....................say, have you been listening to Skid Row lately?
(uncomfortable silence)

..........On a different note, and in an ongoing effort to celebritize myself through shameless plugs, (I've really got a long way to go) click here

Fall Super D (don't fall...)

February 12th, 2008: A man lies in a room with no door, looking at the ceiling, pondering his goals for the upcoming racing season............they appear to him in an elusive, peyote-induced haze......

1. Do not DNF (did not finish)

-At season end; Check

2. Be in the top 3 in the overall series

-At season end; Check

3. Have at least one victory in 2008

-Well, it took until the very last one, but...

Granted, most people are thinking football instead of bike racing this time of year, so field sizes were pretty small, but hey, a win is a win - I still had to hang it out there and nearly kill myself to get it. A nearly 2000 ft vertical descent within 4 miles. (Yup - this cross-country boy turned downhiller for the day) Time: 10 minute, 7 seconds; and good enough for 1st place.....saWEEEEEET.

Fall is here. You can choose to ignore it , or embrace it. Gone are the budding days of summer, love it or hate it.

Wildlife tally for the weekend:

3 moose

1 fox

1 bear (by the way, ever been so close to a bear you hear it growl? I can check that one off my list.........lucky for me I had my two vicious hunting dogs there to protect me)

And on my commute (by bike) into work this morning I got word of two mountain lions jumping across the trail in front of another bicycle commuter.

We're standing on the footsteps of winter's doorway, folks....up next, thoughts on the season's end and a special guest....

Mountain States Cup Finals

Last weekend would take us to Breckenridge, for the final stop in the 2008 Mountain States Cup series. For me, the Fall Classic is an annual fall-right-of-passage. With no series points on the line it was a chance to race with little pressure, and to see if the legs were still firing.

I don't remember whether it was my stellar pre-race crash (where I found myself on the other side of cool), or lining up with Mountain Bike Hall of Famer Travis Brown, but during Saturday's short and intense circuit race I found myself suddenly in the thick of it. No pressure indeed...

Struggling to save something in the tank for Sunday's epic cross-country race I pulled a 3rd place finish out of the hat in the SemiPro field. Saweeeeeeeet...

Fact: chocolate milk is a suitable, and much cheaper recovery drink than many high-end formulas on the market today. So is merlot...............night falls.....feasts are partaken of...

Fact: I know full well the penalty for going out too hard, and, typically, I ignore it. It only leads to catastrophic self destruction, one cog at a time. So, re-instituting the lack of pressure onto my complex human psyche...

...I settled into a comfortable tempo early in Sunday's massive, backcountry loop which was roughly 30 miles of sharp rocks, heionous climbs, and sketchy descents. Pure Summit County beauty; a true test of anyone's skill.

And as pleased as I would have been with a solid finish, digging deep into the reserves over the course of a couple hours yielded a 3rd place in the SemiPro field; and in the money.....saweeeeeeet.

Ain't nothin' like being on the podium with a teammate; series winner KB loves to show the belly hair - now that's SemiPro. And while it's no ticket to an early retirement, getting paid to race your bike just doesn't suck...

And with that, my dear friends, the 2008 racing season, in earnest, is all but wrapped up. Just shy of 6 months ago this kid kicked off the season with a maaaaad suffer-fest out in Fruita and now the series's's's are wrapping up faster than you can say star-fangled-nut.

I'll have some final thoughts on the season here in a few; but in the meantime I've got one more, in what's been a string of races; this time in the form of a non-series Super-D up at "The 'Park." Stay tuned...

Can I Get A Little Help...

I've got the weekend's race report and some photos forthcoming....after my ears stop bleeding. You see, we had an appointment with Dave and the rest of the Foo last night....

Worn out racer + rock concert + 4 hours of sleep = a foregone conclusion.....

Standbye one........

Purpose Driven...

By the way - that podium shot from last weekend - see how my arms are strategerrrrically covering the guy on the top rung? Ya....totally on purpose. Go ahead - take another look...
All the glory is for me in 3rd place....

Do The Math...

Aug 30: Tipperary Creek Classic

27 miles

4000ft climbing

1:54:27

It really doesn't take long after the gun goes off to ascertain the "State Of The Legs." If you're lucky you can control your race, and control your competition. But a lot has to come together. In a season-long points race smart racers do the math ahead of time, and mark their targets up front. And if everything doesn't quite come together, your hopes of race victory turn to self-preservation: that is, keeping your closest competitors in the series behind you. And if you want that podium spot bad enough, the body takes over and does what it needs to, despite the pain.

A season of single-point gains and losses comes down to a shakeup in those cramp-filled, bottom of the barrel, soul-searching last couple of miles. You sacrifice, you train all year, you set goals early, and you dream. And there's no feeling in the world like attaining those dreams...

Now, I don't mean to over-analyze or over-inflate the situation, so bear with me. I am far from being a celebrity - even further from being a rock star. The races I do are worlds apart from those like the Tour De France. But it's hard to describe the pride and the joy of climbing on the Pro podium, arms raised with a bouquet and trophy in hand, and seeing a few hundred of your closest friends cheering. For those fleeting moments, one does feel like a champion...

Mission accomplished...

And with the racing over, the rest of the weekend was all fun and games with absolutely no beer involved....whatsoever.

Who says you can't take a cross-country race rig and drop 'er into a freeride terrain park, anyway...?

So.......think the '08 racing season is over? Not so much. This weekend I'll be surviving the Fall Classic 2-day race in Breckenridge. It's one massive dose of high-altitude mountain bike racing, followed by....well, check the "Upcoming Events" and you'll get the picture...

Catch you on the flipside, party people....