Evoluuuuushun....

The Net Of The Net...

Good news! I only spent $27 to fill up my tank yesterday. That means there's a little left over for some guilty pleasures......

Who says base training has to be boring? A mountain biker's got to live by his or her own rules. And with a lack of snow on the trails thus far, it's been easy to leave the road bike in the garage.



The two Generals, discussing the day's options....

And although he doesn't wear it often, the Stunt Double wanted to make sure his 2008 State Champion jersey was widely visible...

You know you haven't been riding much when the most liberally-used phrase of the day is, "Was that climb longer than usual?..........Seriously, was it?"

Turns out that practicing my "victory arms" while watching myself in the mirror isn't really training at all.... after 4500ft of climbing over almost 5 hours, I was beginning to feel like I'd been dropped down an elevator shaft......the never-ending pursuit of summer fitness shouldn't be as much fun as these rides...

Well I'm off to the California coast for a few days. I hear the clam chowda' is gourmet. Eat like there's no tomorrow...

I Am So Confused...

Statistically speaking, this puff-ball has a better chance of surviving the winter's temps comfortably than I do...

What the.....

...I don't know what was weirder. The looks I got from skiers in the lift-line when they saw a bike roll up, or the look I gave the lift operator when he asked me if I wanted to drop into the terrain park...

So, I officially kicked off my annual "base-training" period this weekend. For an endurance athlete, it means piling on the long-slow-distance rides and letting the mind wander for hours of cold, windy pedaling. I've got a love-hate relationship with base-training...on the one hand, it means being on my bike a lot, which is great. On the other hand, being November thru March it means the temps leave a lot to be desired. And being a working stiff, it means I've got to make the most of the daylight hours on the weekends...

So the first training camp of winter has arrived....which is really nothing more than a few extra vacation days prior to holiday travel...

In the coming days I intend to earn my turkey and stuffing, so stay tuned...

Savasana...

"A hot dog at the ballpark is better than a steak at the Ritz." --Humphrey Bogard

Certain things just go together.

Cyclists and Thanksgiving is one perfect example. Cause when you mix rail-thin, lycra-clad, calorie-incinerating athletes with a gluttonous, tryptophan-filled holiday that's strategically placed between two racing seasons you get a chance to turn your back on any "structured" training program at all. You get to take part in a guilt-free, caloric dumptruck of a weekend, one pumpkin pie at a time.

No turkey is safe - no cranberry will be left un-sauced. Bring me your stuffing, your gravy, your soufflees. If ever there was a time to cheat on your Weight Watchers points, this would be that time.

But it's never too early to start thinking about next season.

And along those lines, USA Cycling announced that the 2009 US National Mountain Bike Championships will be held in our own backyard next July. That means I'll be lining up next to (or, in my case, behind) some of the fastest mountain bike racers on the planet....

That experience of a lifetime means I've sure got my work cut out for me this winter......

I wonder what the Stunt Double is up to these days? Hmmmmmm..........

We All Walk The Long Road...

Godspeed grandpa.................

..........................we'll see you on the other side.......

Lord Of All That Was Epic...

Let me paint you a picture:

It's late winter, 1993. A 17-year old kid is struggling to keep up. He has long lost sight of his riding partner and is 4 hours into the ride. His pedaling energy has long since left him, as he rounds a corner nearing the top of the arduous climb to Frosty's Park. At long last, he catches a glimpse of his riding partner, relaxing on a fallen tree far ahead.

The 17-year old drags himself to a stop, pulls out his empty water bottle and fills it with snow. Having drained the bottle miles ago, melting snow will have to do for the remaining 2+ hours of riding that are left.

His riding partner, obviously still having ample energy, hops onto his Amp Research mountain bike and disappears into the forest ahead. Fearing the thought of taking a wrong turn, the 17-year old heaves himself back onto his Bridgestone MB-1 mountain bike, and follows the tire track left for him in the snow....

That 17-year old was me. That riding partner was this man........

Meet Al. Al was the first pro mountain bike racer to ever ride a Manitou suspension fork; before Tomac, before Furtado, and long before Giove. Al even raced in the first ever UCI World Mountain Bike Championships in 1990. And he taught me how to ride....

Al showed me so many epic and obscure rides that I train on regularly today. Epic , as in, bonk-so-hard-you-pass-out epic. Obscure trails, as in, I-don't-think-I'll-ever-live-to-see-another-day obscure. I have more memorable rides with Al than any other human being. Like the 9 hour, 100+ mile offroad trek to Cripple Creek and back. Or the other 9-hour, nearly 10,000ft vertical feet summit of several Front Range vistas.

Lord Of All That Was Epic.

I also have a few things I don't remember about Al, as a result of his "prohibition-era" martini recipe, but that's neither here nor there...

Though we may age, we may never grow up..................

Ride The Cliche'...

Name this tire tread and win a slightly used water bottle!!

When I was 15 years old years old I decided I was going to be one of those people who was going to make a living doing exactly what I wanted to do. An anthem for life, I thought....

And while that hasn't quite panned out as I dreamed, what with workin' for the Man and all, never would I have dreamed what my life would be like today...

At that point in my life I'd unearthed a unique type of freedom and discovery that would shape me as an adult. That freedom and discovery is something I continue every day....

Our decisions pave the road that lays in front of us. How will you pave yours today?