Well, I had entered the Laramie Enduro early in the season but unfortunately didn't get in due to lots of interest and because of such it's a lottery.  I was put on the wait list and when I check I was like #175 or so.  Ok, Not going to happen this year but that's OK.   Fast forward to 4 days before the race I check my email and I see that I can get in if I want.  OK, so I didn’t' train and didn't taper etc., but I am feeling pretty fit so I decide to go-for-it anyway.

So I figure that no training is going to help so, the best I can do is just not ride hard for the next 3 days and see how that goes. The only riding I did do was the commute to work and to ride to my daughters daycare program (Yes She rode with me).

I arrive in Laramie, get my registration and all looks good.   I see Janet and we exchange greetings and good luck and all of that stuff. Now it's time for me to get some supplies so I stop at the local store and get some subs and chips, water, pop tarts and some ice tea. That should do it and now I am off to the Camp site. 

This year I figured that I would just sleep in the Xterra as there is plenty of room in it.  I must say that I am not sure taht I got that much sleep, as I parked on a slight grade so i was moving around a lot.  Not to mention that I should have packed a mattress pad or something as that truck bed is kinda hard....   In any case I find myself in the A.M rested somewhat and ready for the day.  I drink some tea and eat some Pop Tarts. 

I see a bunch of people that I know,  Tim, Chad, Barb, Tom, Dave etc. before the start and I just find a reasonable place to line up.  This year I don’t plan to go out hard, but just take it easy and not waste too much on short lived hard efforts. 

Finally the Start is sounded and we are off.  I hold my place in line and don’t go too hard on the hill.  I can hear others panting hard while they pass me.    I know there is going to be a bottle neck at the little gate and if I were going for some easy time while I was fresh I would have gone harder.

On to the single track and Life is Good.  Barb is a few riders behind me and is chatting up a storm.   The pace is pretty easy on a perceived scale and the trails are a bit crowded so I can’t go any harder anyway.   I feel pretty good on the slight grades and the Trek YSL is doing OK despite it’s age.   The course so far is pretty smooth and the rocks are roots are not too bad.

We make it to some of the fast flowing double track and life is good until my bike hits some of the loose stuff, Whoa!.   I think I put too much tire pressure (40’s)  and with the tire profile on the Pythons the bike is knifing all over the place when I hit the loose stuff. Argh!    I am loosing tons of time descending and I am rethinking the choice of bikes at this moment.    At some point Barb comes blowing by me on that niner through the loose stuff, never to be seen again by me until the finish.  I was tempted to try and stay with Barb, but I thought better as I would be  pushing it on the descents on a sketchy bike.

I look at my HR and it looks good which confirms that I am not going too hard.   The legs feel pretty good and I could go much faster, but  I know that this is a long event, so I force myself to stick to the plan.  I find a reasonable rhythm and hold to that.   I find myself leap-frogging riders, that pass me on the descents and then I get them again on the hills or flats.

25 or so miles into the ride I run into Matt who recognizes me from a ride I did with a mutual friend Bill out in Friso.   We are riding at about the same pace so we ride together for a bit and chat.  There was this steep short section that we decided to walk and  some woman didn’t think we got out of  the way quickly enough.   Matt had some words with her about that. ( I ran into her later on and she apologized for some of that,  She actually was pretty cool and I chatted with her more at the finish)  Matt and I rode a few miles more together, but at some point he stopped for a nature call and  I would then see him off and on through the event. 

This year I was prepared with lots of Endurolytes and remembering the cramps of last year tried to drink as much as possible.    Right after one of the aid stations I was eating  and Eric came up from behind and explained his woes of ripping a side wall in the 1^st mile costing him ~17 minutes.   He was riding pretty strong and I choose not to keep his pace, not that I could have finished the race if I had tried anyway.

Seemed like miles and miles passed when  we encountered some woodlands single track.   Once again the Y-bike was at it’s limits and much of the time that I had gained of folks had been tossed back without a fight.  That  bikes 80mm fork is awful and  I think this could be the last time I ride that bike on this race.   I really would like to get a niner, but it’s hard to justify it for just a few times that it would be needed.

At the 50 mile point my right leg felt it’s first cramp.  I did some more Endurlytes and liquids and got them to go away, and didn’t have any more issues for the rest of the event.

Even climbing didn’t seem to provoke it and I suspect that some of that Hammer liquid  product that I refueled with  are good for me in that respect.   If I were serious about  this racing thing then I would go out and push myself more on training rides in order to get to a level where my legs would cramp.   Keep in mind here that I haven’t cramped on any of the rides I have done all year long.

I am still feeling pretty good although I am getting tired of being on the bike for such a long period.    I am still sticking to the plan and since I feel pretty good I think it’s time to go a bit harder to the finish.   At the second to last aid station, it’s time to go a bit harder.  The plan is to up the perceived effort a bit and then after the last aid station go “Weapons Free” and see what I can do”

I see lots of folks at the aid stations that don’t look all that good.   Most look pretty good, but there are some that pushed too hard.    I must say that these are the best Aid Stations that I have ever seen at any event.  The folks working them are wonderful and have so much energy and are willing to help you get whatever you need.

The Last 15 miles of this event are some of the toughest and I am really glad I paced my self.  There are some grueling climbs, so short ones I had to walk, but some longer ones that had a lot of folks walking them or riding really slowly.   This last 15, some of which are the most technical I am sure gave many pause, and I walked many of them due to fatigue and a lame bike.    I am sure that Yann and Jim of the 450 club fame gained a bunch of time on their rivals on these sections.

I am able to push pretty good and ride a good bit of the technical ascending single trak, but not all by any means.  I am able to reel in a buch of riders on some of the longer grades which inspired me to keep pushing.   In the last 5 miles or so I caught up to Jim of the 450 club.  He seemed to get new life after I caught him.    I had noticed that my bike was not shifting that well for the last 20 miles,  and finally the rear derailleur cable snapped and  I was stuck in the 11 cog.   Oh well we are almost done and I can deal with it since I have been doing a fair bit of Single Speed Riding.  Anyway, I am able to stay with Jim until this last technical section where he rode it easily and I walked it easily. 

I must say that the last wooded rooty section is brutal on the Y bike and I think I really need a new bike or fork or something  cause I loose so much time when I don’t need to, due to bike characteristics.   In any case, I muscle the bike through all of this standing a lot to overcome the gearing and terrain.

Finally I am out of the woods and back onto the road we stared on.  There’s a ton of washboard which cost me more time but I am happy to be done.   I check my computer and it looks like I will do a Sub 8:00 which was my goal.    I cross the line with 7:58 on the computer which was the same official time I got which is sweet!  I am so glad to be done!  Official Results are Here. Looks like I was 117th out of about 400.  Oh my # was 400 in case any one wants to look for my picture here, for their Shrine.

After the event I see a bunch of folks.   Yann turned a 6:06 on his Single speed!  Damn that’s fast and this is his 1^st year racing.

Wow, I can't believe just how warm it is this December.  Ok,  well, it's 27 F but it's going to warm up later in the day.   Kinda a bummer that there is no snow on the ground as I am really looking forward to sliding around on the slow and having way less pedestrian traffic on the trails.

I am pretty tried or at least my legs are a bit stiff from that run on Friday.   Normally a run wouldn't be an issue, but when you only run once a week and you miss a couple of weeks, the legs seem to forget that you are going to ask them to run.   In any case it's a good chance to try out a different route with some more technical stuff.

Off and running and going it alone again.  I guess I should probably post a ride with some notice to give folks a chance to show up but I am liking this feeling of not having to commit to a ride if one is not really in that great of shape.

Once again we ride to the trails which makes for a pretty good warm up and definitely lets me know how the legs are doing.  It's really quite pleasant to be able to warm up at  your own pace.  Seems like for me most folks I have hooked up with are much faster than I am or al least they like to not warm-up... but I digress.

I make it to the trails and I am happy to be on the Yeti.  It's so plush and smooth, especially since the suspension has been tricked out by the guys at PUSH.  It's nice to cruise around Pineridge before the ascent up Maxwell.  The legs are feeling OK, but not a lot of snap in them.  They just feel like a nice steady moderate to easy effort and I am good with that . Nice not to be training for anything so I don't feel guilty about just having fun.  Now all of this may change if my  crazy brother decides to try Leadville next year, but I am sure that what ever it was that he was smoking is long out of his system and we won't be hearing any more crazy talk like that.   Oh, so why does this affect me, Well I promised him I would do it with him if he ever decided to do that crazy thing, me thinking that  Aliens were more likely to announce themselves to the planet before that happened....

Anyway the climb up Maxwell went well,  I clean the hill with the exception of a stop to let some runners come by me.   Since that went so well I decide that it's time to go and do the Foothills technical stuff on the East side of Centigram drive.  I don't do this one very often cause it's very technical both up and down.  It's bad enough going down, but going up is almost impossible, save those born on Krypton or some-such.

I finally make it over to the start of the technical stuff.  I drop the saddle a bit, put on some Knee and elbow armored get some food and down we go!  Oh my, this trail has changed a bit and I find myself having to do a do-over on a techy section that I didn't know the line on.   In any case it all went well up til that rocky switch back that  I couldn't clean, nor was I going to try.  

While i am checking out the corner I see a runner with a dog coming up so I figured I will wait until she passes until I go.  We exchange greeting, and she says something about me being "Hard Core" to be riding this trail.    I am amused but I quit that this is pretty challenging running too and that she must be pretty hard core herself.   We make another 45 seconds or so of small talk and we go our separate ways.     Back on the bike and life is good.  The yeti is performing well and I  clean most of the rest of it with the exception of this "Jump over the bars moment", but we went back to do it over and all was well.

The only bad thing about this descent is that I have to go back up.  Since the legs weren't feeling that good I planned on using the 34, but there were some shifting issues  and I could only use the 32.   Oh well, this didn't really matter as there was no way I was gonna attempt some of this stuff so I ended up just doing the "Hike a Bike" thing.  On the way up I ran into that woman runner again and we exchanged another 60 seconds of small talk about the terrain etc.   She looked really fit and I wouldn't have been surprised if she had the fitness to ride this stuff....     So, back on the bike, and more hiking etc.   Now, I remember why I don't do this trail to often, Much if it is rid-able on fresh eager legs but I was fresh out of those today.

Finally to the top and time to descend and do Michaud Lane.   I must say that these trails, have gotten so much rockier, and in the old days there were many sections that I would take to my "reckless abandonn" style of descending, but not any more.  

The climb back up was just as rocky etc. and although I have cleaned this climb many times in the past,  I wasn't able to today, nor was it a goal, but it did remind me how tough this trail was.  In any case I was glad to be done with the tough stuff....

Time to head for home.   I take as many trails as I can which meant doing that moderate section near the Dam on the West side of Centennial.  Nice descent, but that  drop off to the West gives me reason for caution some times.   It was fun though and much better than taking the pavement.   From there we take Shoreline and it's a pretty much uneventful ride.   I do stop and stare at that techy section that I don't ride any more, "Like I ever really did more than 3 times".  I see a line that I think I might try someday, but today is not that day.

To the top and Down Maxwell which was fun.  I think it's more fun going up due to all the ever incresing level of exposed rocks.  In any case I had to  dab once on the way down, but it's all good since no one went down! 

Now onto the roads and home.   The roads are so boring and slow on Fat tires, and I am so glad to finally be home.  A good time was had by all. 31 miles total, 4 + hours of fun.  Here's the SportsTrackerLink

It's been a long time since I posted a Velocal ride for the Breakfast Club.  Seems that most folks these days are smitten with the road or have moved on to more hard core groups.   So I posted this ride and looks like I am going solo.   That's cool since it gives me a chance to take out the single speed and I can take my time trying to figure out what's wrong with the shifting on the Yeti.

So I figure I will skip the ride down the bike path and take the road over to the trails today.  The bike path adds a few miles and on the SS it get's pretty old riding on pavement at 11 mph. 

I make it over to the Pineridge area and I am pretty toasty.  It was 26 degrees when I left the house with a high of 48 expected for the day.  I did add an extra base layer which was a bit too warm since there was tad bit of a tail wind.  Anyway I was really glad to finally make it over to the trails.  I decided to keep the  higher tire pressures to see how it goes initially, and by higher I mean like 35 psi.   The bike is rolling OK, but it's a bit rough, but I'll just keep it so that  I can roll well over the hard stuff.

When I reach the top of the ridge at Pineridge I see a rider on a cross bike.  She's moving pretty good so I wait and make sure  I wont' get in her way.  I  can see that she's not really moving that fast, but faster than I can comfortably muster on the SS.   I  am about 50 yards or so behind her but when we get to the more technical sections where the fat tires rule I can see I am making up ground on her, slowly but surely.  I finally catch up to her, but I am in no hurry to pass and just as well, since she turned for another lap of Pineridge and I am off to Maxwell.

On the way over to Maxwell a couple of riders pass me while I am getting a bit to eat.  I follow after a bit and they are a good bit up the trail.  Good to see that others are out.  I make it over to the Maxwell climb and my legs are a bit tired from the 4 mile run on Friday.  Yeah, I know that shouldn't make a difference, but it does, since I only run once a week and I missed the previous week, but I digress.  So, there is some traffic and I catch and eventually go around a woman on the climb.  I can see the other two riders up the trail and they provide some motivation to try and keep them in sight.  I am pleased to have done as well on this climb as I did, perhaps all those summer miles have done some longer term good.

When I arrive at the summit I see the other riders adjusting clothing so I perch myself near them while I take a drink and decide where I am going to ride next.   I chat with these guys for abit, and they are pretty nice and have some pretty decent steeds.   While we are waiting the woman I passed on the way up joins our chat.   I can't help but notice the license plate on her bike which, if I read this  correctly, read "sexy".  Hmm,  not sure if I should make a comment or something, so I just stay quite.

We all head off in the same direction, with the 2 guys pretty much checking out after a few minutes.  I ride behind "sexy"  making small talk until the trail ended at the construction area that was closed.   I continued on and she turned back for more trails riding.

I make my way up that steep grade which isn't too bad unless you are on a SS with tired legs.  I am pleased to have cleaned that little one and I take the roads over to Lory state Park.   I check the Odometer, which I just put on the bike, and I see that I have 18 miles in already, which means another 18 to get home.   I take the East Valley trail this time for a change of pace, since I normally take the West Valley trail.   This is a perfect trail for the SS and my gearing so I really enjoyed the flowing single trak.

Finally I make it over to the Soderberg trail head and it's time to head for home.  This is the part that really drags since the ride has a lot of slight descent and on the SS I am spun out at 12 mph and it's seems like such a chore, especially being on pavement and all.  In any case endure the 10+ miles of road.  I guess there is some benefit, since all the spinning has all the lactic acid out of my legs so I feel pretty good when I arrive home.   I check the stats and it's 37.5 miles which is longer than I though that ride was!   Hopefully I'll get some more takers on the ride before the Winter is out, but if not, that's OK too.

Time to ride Bobcat ridge since Kent was nice enough to let me know he and Dave were going to be riding there.  For them it was  ride to shake down their bikes to make sure that they are ready for Moab in a few weeks.  For me it's a chance to ride the Yeti and a bit more conservatively than last year when I cracked a rib after pinch flatting the front tire due to fatigue... 

We make the easy loop for a warm-up and I am happy that the pace is mellow.  Usually Kent is on fire and I have to hold on for dear life.  In any case it's really warming up and it's time for the big climb.  We are surprised that we don't see any other bikes yet?

Dave sets the tempo on the climb and  Kent and I follow.  Kent's a bit weary from a lot of 12 hour days at the office and perhaps that Time Trial last week and doesn't want to keep Dave's pace.   I am more or less able to follow but my legs are complaining a bit.  My HR is not too bad but perhaps it's those 5 lbs I put on over the winter that are the real problem. 

We have lots of good fun trying to clean some of the sections.  The Ginny trail has gotten rockier and more technical since last time I did it.  After seeing some of the changes, I  am glad that we are doing an out and back and I am making note of anything that I think is sketchy.

Seems like it took us forever to get to the summit , and  it's strange that we haven't seen any other bikes or even hikers for that matter.  We continue on over to the fire road, and I am much happier that we are done with that climb.  Thinking back to a few years ago I find it crazy that have climbed this thing twice in a session....

We finally make it over to the fire road and and we see the ranger and let's just say that we had a nice chat with him.   At last we see some more bikes while we are waiting.  It's a young couple's first time at Bobcat and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.     Soon another couple arrives and they appear to be racers.  I recognize them from my ride last week, only they were on Single Speeds then and today  they are on their FS bikes.

After a bit of chat we head back the way we came.   It was a pretty uneventful ride with the exception of Dave doing and Endo.  He was OK, physically, but mentally he seemed a bit disappointed with himself for making that mistake.   At this point the  racer couple was just about upon us and I decided to let them go ahead, while Dave checked out up the trail.  I used the couple to motivate me to keep an honest pace which was probably better than trying to stay with Dave at this point.

Kent is a ways back so we regroup at the summit. We chat with the racers for a bit and then they are down the mountain.  After a bit of  Kent fixing his cleat we descend.  It is so pleasant to be using gravity again, but I still have last year's crash in the back of my head so I am not pushing it at all.  Having the  shin guards is a comfort especially they way the trail has changed.    I was definitely playing it safe and figured that it was better to walk some of the tight sections, especially since I was feeling a bit weary which is what got me into trouble last time. 

At last we are at the parking lot and I had planned to grab the Single Speed which was in the back of the truck, but it was  getting late and I didn't want to miss this rounds of AMA Supercross.     Anyway a good time was had by all, wish more folks would have come out to play but it's all good.

Time for the spring riding season with the time change and all of that.  So I get some email from Kent and he is planning on building a SS MTB Satuday night so that he can ride on Sunday!.  Wow, that's pretty ambitious to put something like that together ...  We arrange to do Coyote ridge and I figured that I would post this on VeloCal just to see if there were any other Single speeders out there...

Sunday A.M comes and we were slated to ride at 9:00.  The clock says 8:05 when I wake up and I come to the realization that I should be on my bike right now.   So I make haste and eat a couple of pop tarts, fill the camelback grab any old thing to wear and I make it out the door at about 8:33.  Well this isn't enough time to make the 9:00 time, but I didn't want to drive, cause of that parking lot being high theft and I wanted the option of coming home a different route....

So I  am riding as fast as I can for the most part but on a SS with 34 x 20 gearing I top out at bout 12 mph so I am going to be late...    I finally crest the hill before  the ridge at 9:18 and I can see Kent's truck in the parking lot, with what looks to be 2 bikes in the back.  I guess he saw me coming down the hill and he and Dave get out of the truck and meet me while they make ready their mounts.

Kent's bike is sweet!.   It's a Felt with disc brakes and some  beefy tires.   It's got a shock and looks nice.   It's a conversion so it's got the roller thingy to tension the chain.   In speaking with Dave, seems that Kent was afraid of hills and had chosen a 34 x 23 or some such gearing.  Dave's bike had slightly higher gearing ...

We hit the trails for Kent's  1st ride on a SS.   I believe the words Kent used the most often to describe the experience was "Quality Workout".... 

We were all pretty even on the day with the 1st climb being the most challenging for me.  I was really concerned that I would fry my legs on the 1st climb of the day.  It's probably about a 700 ft climb but some sections were steep and it was pretty much all I could do to keep the pedals turning.   Dave didn't have any problems and he made it look pretty easy.  Kent I think really enjoyed this one and I can tell that he is a believer!

We had a good time making our way over to the Blue sky trail and then over to the Indian Summer Trail.   I had forgotten how grueling  that climb can be with only one gear but we all made it up with out too much trouble.  At this point we decided to  head over to Devils Backbone to get in some more climbing.   Before our descent we saw 3 riders coming up so we chatted with them for a bit.   Two of them were on Carbon Ibis Mojos!  Nice bikes!  After a bit of chat we were off and running.

The descent was sweet as I had just installed a 2.24 tire on the front of my bike with a  fat 2.1 on the rear.   I also converted these tires over to tubeless and this was the 1st time I was able to test them on trails that were not covered with snow.   I must say these tires were great and hooked up sweet in some of the looser turns!
Anyway we flowed our way over to the bone where I was getting a bit wearing since I am used to more spinning in between big efforts, but I guess if I don't die I will become stronger,

Time to turn back and it feels good to take the relative flats past Indian summer.  If I were stronger or on the geared bike we would have climbed  Indian summer in reverse but we weren't....    As we approached the climb up Blue sky to the saddle we see this guy just flying down the trail and we stand for a second amazed at how he ripped that last section of trail.   He stops to chat with us for a bit and he is on a 29'r ss.    He turns back around and we follow as best we can up the climb.  At this point I am too tired to hold his pace.   I need to rest at the saddle as he continues on.

We finally make it up to those nasty stairs where Ryan (Guy on the 9'r is hanging out).  Turns out he's a DH racer and one of the guys who can ride that really nasty section of trail that I have never seen anyone ride, but heard that there were those walking amongst us that can!   

By this time I am close to spent and  opt to walk some of the more technical sections.   Kent and Dave seemed much fresher than I was and they were cleaning some of the stuff I choose to hoof.

At last we have one final descent and it's time to rock and roll.  Kent takes the lead and Dave and I follow.   On the way down I felt the front tire pinch something and I can hear that familiar hiss!.  Crap, OK no problem, time to see if this Stan's miracle stuff can fix this one.   I point the hole downward and the hissing stops!   I roll for a bit and I hear the hissing again!  I stop one more time and this time it seals!   I take it easy the rest of the way down, just in case.

Dave, Kent and I had a good one today, and I am more spent now than I was on the 70 miler RR to Estes park the week before.   Time for me to roll home and I get some more air in the tires for the road and I bid, Kent and Dave Good ride!.   The ride home was uneventful and the front tire held and is still holding air days latter.  Gotta love that Stan's!

 
The new year is here and time it's a good day to do a ride.  Chris posted a ride on the Random rides Velocal group and I wasn't sure I was going to do it but an email from Brian got me nudged in the right direction.  I meet Brian at his place and we also meet Jerry who just moved here from Arizona, and ride take the roads over to  Chris's place.   Brian was on his 9'r SS and  I was on my YSL.    I was going to  bring the SS but I put new tires on it that seemed to fit, but apparently expanded such that the rear one had it's nubs kissing my chain stays.... argh....

The roads are covered with snow and all that and it's tricky at spots.   Jerry went down on one of the icy spots so after that I took as much sidewalk as I could find.   Brian's 9'r seemed quite at home on the streets, hmm, maybe it's time for me to get one of those ...

We find Chris and his son Jax there waiting for the crew to arrive.  Riders trickled in and we had a  good # before it was time to depart.   Too many names for me to remember but there were 2  Dave's and 2 Mikes.   Folks were on all manner of beasts, included  9'rs, SS 6r's, commuters, 650B, old school Klein, New school Specialized etc. 

The trek down the bike path was pleasant and civil and everyone was getting to know each other.  Several of the riders had just moved here from such places as Alaska, Arizona, Missouri.      I really didn't know most of the folks and some I had just met on the Grinch ride a week earlier.  

So we make it to Pineridge and the trails look ride-able.  It was challenging to ride up to the ridge but most rode it.  After we crossed the ridge we decided to head towards Maxwell and take the Centennial over to where we could decide to descend Maxwell or just take the roads back.   The snow was bone jarring if one was on a rigid bike an pretty rough on me and my old school not so plush suspension. 

Finally we make it too the road and decide to climb.   The Idea was to keep things Civil but of course some had to go hard and there were plenty of folks of various levels so that everyone had some company.   I was content to be near the rear cause, I didn't want to go hard and it's better to just observe and see the melee from a position of relative comfort.
  
We make it to the rest area and it time to document the trip with some more photos.   After the photo session it was time to descend.  The group voted for Maxwell which concerned me due to the questionable tires that I had.  It was a fun descent,  icy in very few spots but I found most of it to be pretty sketchy!   I was soooo glad to finally make it down.

We regroup and head over to the Bean Cyclery for some Java.    Nice place and it was very bike friendly.  Pretty cool atmosphere with folks kicking back and getting to know each other.    I had a Mocha 8 oz and it was quite tasty.  I'll have to come back some time and try some more of their offerings.
 
After a bit folks had to split and everyone went their ways.  I road back with Chris and his sons.  Chris's wife was kind enough to bring Chris's youngest so that he could enjoy some two wheeling.    Nice mellow ride back to Chris's and a good time was had by all!  
 

The snow is on the ground now and this is one of my favorite times to ride.    This is mostly because the trails change to make them "new" again and the challenge is more about balance and handling and sliding around. 

I have ridden 5 or so times in the snow this year and each ride has been different.  Snow and temperature make for a different experience each time.   I prefer the light fluffy stuff, since it's the easiest to pedal through.   It's probably contrary to most thinking but when the snow is light even if it's pretty deep the pedaling is easy.  It's actually easier than following packed down stuff by skis or snowshoes or plain old feet.    The  worst stuff is warm snow, you know the kind of stuff that's good for making snow balls.    Packed medium stuff is OK, but it can be really bumpy and you will really be happy to be on a full suspension bike or be wishing you were.... 

About four weeks ago I hooked up with Ron for a ride around pine ridge.   The snow was fresh but we started out a bit lake and it was starting to warm up.   We ran into Tim W. on us SS while we were out there and we rode together for a while.  I was surprised how well Tim was able to keep up on the SS.  I was on the Trek and working pretty hard, but Tim was right there.   Tim has an old school SS which he built up from a frame he got for $25 dollars.   I was really glad that I wasn't on the SS or so I thought at the time.   We ended up taking the roads home with Ron setting a stiff tempo up Centennial towards CR 38.   I was holding my own and Tim on the SS was next to me until I got tired and he easily was able to catch Ron and I watched as I suffered in tow.  Hmm I thought, "Wonder how I would have done on my SS with a bike that weighs 6 lbs lighter....

It was three weeks ago I hooked up with Barb to do some Pineridge snow riding.  She was on her new 29'r!  The snow conditions were good and light.  I choose the SS for this ride and we had a good time in the hard packed snow.  This was probably the most ridable snow that I had been in this year.  Too bad the SS was having issues with chain skip and made climbing a real pain.   Turns out I just needed to remove a link.  In any case it was cool to show  Barb some trails that she hadn't ridden before or at least in a while.  We did the trail above shoreline over to Maxwell and went around the long side of Maxwell. and then looped up  and back to do shoreline.  I could see how nice the  29'r handled some of the rocky stuff where I was struggling the 9'r made it look easy. Hmm  I was looking at the 9'rs on bikes direct and for < $500 I could have another bike in my basement.....

So a couple of weeks ago it was snowing once again.  This time I figured I would take the SS and see how I would fair in the snow.  This would be my 1st ride in the snow so I didn't know how it would do.  I met Ron on the bike path and we went to ride Pineridge on this one.    The 1st climb into Pineridge we both pretty much had to walk and I was thinking that this was not a good day for the SS.  Oh well...   Finally we were  able to make it to the top of the ridge with some combo walking and riding.    Things got better as on the other side as we were able to ride most of the time.  I was surprised how well the SS was able to keep up in the ~ 8 . 10 inches.   We found it easier to break trail ourselves, riding where we didn't see  traks.  Now I see how Tim could do so well on the SS. We struggled to make it to the base of Maxwell where we turned around.  I found the SS to be great, but I need more sustained leg power to do as well as I think I would have on a geared bike in some of the more challenging sections. 

Five weeks ago is probably the 1st time on the SS that it felt really light an that I was able to push though some stuff that I hadn't' before.   I was climbing Maxwell on it (34 x 20 gear) and I was able to clean a lot of it.  I did have to rest a couple of time but I was feeling the bike and it was good!.  I ended up riding over to Lory and met this West German guy Hendrik, who was taking a break from skiing and doing the MTB thing.  It was really warm out and muddy and sloppy and we ended up trashing our bikes going through Lory.   We met some runners out there and we chatted with them.  One of the guys was wearing those Barefoot skins and we had noticed the foot prints earlier and wondered what crazy fool would be running in the snow and mud barefoot.   The runners were pretty cool if not crazy!   I was surprised, when Hendrik said that I pushed him pretty good that day.  This is when the bike started skipping gears.... Not sure what started this... but it was annoying on the climbs.....

Today's ride was probably the most grueling SS ride that I have had.   I decided that it would be a good idea to try something different.  I have always wanted to do the Blue Sky trail and I figured that this is as good a day as any.  Well, that wasn't true as I found out later as it was much too warm.   The snow at Coyote Ridge was hard and bumpy, but I was up for it!   I could only make it partially up the climbs as the snow was blown over at points.  I took me over an hour of pushing and riding just to make it to the top of the ridge.   I was quite surprised and dismayed that more folks hadn't been on the trail.  I could see maybe only 2 folks had been there before me which made the trail tough going.   I had never walked so much in all my days on a MTB with the exception of the Powerline trail in Leadville.   I cold only hope that Blue Sky would be more traveled.  Not!     Looks like only one person was there before me.!  Argh  That was the hardest 3 miles of riding that I have done in a while.  It was basically an interval session with me riding until my legs got tired or I just couldn't go and  then resting... rinse later repeat.   This snow was the kind that was good for making snowmen, which meant it packed up on the bike a lot and was slippery.   I was never so glad to make it to the road.   Even with tires that were in the "Rock Crawler" lbs this was grueling.

(Snow is like a box of chocolates, you Never know what your're gonna get! ) Anyway,  the snow riding has been good to me and I have been having a good time on the SS.  The SS turns old trails into new challenges.   If only I had a 29'r....   Bummer I lost the pics of Tim and Ron cause my card got hosed.....    Plenty more rides in the snow this year is a given...

Guess it's been a while since I have written anything here about my rides.   Just for the record I am still riding, but not doing so much group stuff as I have burned out on road rides where I am suffering more than having fun.  It's all good and good for me when I am training for something, but when I am not it makes me not want to ride...

So I have been doing mostly MTB rides lately  a good many of them solo or at least they start out that way. It was one particular Sunday when my legs were tired that I decided to take the 575 for an easy spin to renew the spirit.  I had a good time taking it easy down the bike path and ringing the bell. 

By the time I had reached the end of the Spring Creek path I was still tired, but the sight of the dirt was refreshing.  Once the tires hit the single trak life was good.   I just love it when the tire pressure is just right and the pedals turn without forcing them.   I climbed to the top of the ridge and then on to a clockwise loop before hitting going over to Maxwell.

The climb up Maxwell has changed a bit.  the lower part seems much rockier and more challenging to clean the whole climb.  There has been quite a bit of trail work recently and there are some neat rock formed water bar sections that are much friendly than some of the stuff that was there before hand.   As luck would have it the bike was working well that day and  I was able to clean the entire climb.

I got some food at the parking lot and it was off to do the upper foothills trail.   I flowed that trail until I got to the road.  I saw another rider off in the distance and he was moving pretty good up the road.  I cross the dam and hit some of the hills on the road and I must say the 575 isn't the best climber on the road with soft tires. 

Now I needed to decide whether to do Maxwell or do Lory.  I figured I would take the trail to Michaud and head down to the place where I either do Michaud or Lory.   When I got to the intersection I noticed that I had a flat tire.  Oh well, Ill just fix it and be on my way.  I had a spare tube with me but it was such a nice day I figured I would patch it and enjoy the day.

While I was working on the bike the guy I saw up the road, all replete in his team kit and bike asked if I was OK and I replied that I was good.  He didn't even slow while asking, and took my word for it....    So I am relaxing and working on the bike when 3 riders happen upon me.  They stop and ask if I need anything and we chat for a bit while they hung out as I fixed the tire.  They introduced themselves as Kevin, Josh and Stacy and asked which way I was going.   I still hadn't made my mind up as to where I wanted to ride, but they said they were heading to Lory.  I figured that sounded good and asked if I could join them and off we went. 

Down to the road  on that semi techy trail.  I followed as I watched my new found friends.   I dropped my saddle for this one but they flowed it without any adjustments.    I was behind Stacy and I should note that she had never seen that trail, but rode it like she had been doing it all her life.  Hmm,  I felt kinda like, maybe I didn't need to drop the saddle, and I really didn't but it's more fun for me that way...

Now onto Lory and up the road.  Josh I should mention is riding a SS surly with 650B rubber!   A most unusual bike.   He was by far the fastest up the road while the rest of us did the best we could.

Finally we made it up to Lory and the plan was to climb Timber. OK, I am a bit tired but I am good with it since this wasn't a hammerfest.   Josh pretty much climbed this one like it was a stroll in the park.  Man that guy can climb and he made it seem effortless.   The rest of us were pretty far back but close to each other with Stacy stopping to take pictures (Pics posted here are courtesy of her). 

Up we go with Josh waiting at points for us to catch up.   We got to the Kimmel trail and it was time to descend.  It was starting to drizzel a bit and the rocks were getting slick.  Everyone was flowing it pretty well and life was good for me until I hit a rock and pinch flatted. Oh well.  Josh hung out while I made the repair. By now it was much colder and wetter and by the time we got to the bottom, Stacy who was waiting with Kevin was getting pretty chilled.  

We decided to call it a day and head back.  Stacy was so cold that she decided to wait at the visitors center for Kevin to come back and pick her up.  I must admit it was cold out there, but I had planned for cold and possibly wet so I was good to go.   The descent to Centennial was brutal and I was surprised how well Kevin and Josh tolerated the cold. 

We decided to take the road so Josh could ride and it was no surprise that he was easily 1st to the top.   At this point Kevin bailed for the trails and Josh and I headed South.  On the way back we did this trail I never had done before which took us to the bottom of the 1st dam.  That was really sketchy for me with the wet rocks, but Josh didn't have any issues.

On to the road again where Josh too the Maxwell descent and I took the road.   I was getting pretty tired, and single track on wet rocks isn't so much fun when you get sloppy from fatigue.

I took the road back which were pretty uneventful. Glad I did the ride and met  Kevin, Josh and Stacy. Turns out that Josh and Kevin are on the board for the Overland Trail MTB club.  If everyone is as friendly as they are I may have to look into joining that group...

It was good day to ride as the Temps were cool.  Unfortunately there was a chance of rain for the day, but I wasn't concerned as I had been wet before...  So  Dave and I meet Ron at his place as we had planned to carpool over to Stove Prairie. 

We arrive there to find some folks already there.  These are some guyz that had done the ride last time and remembered the pace and decided to get there a bit early and get a head start on the group.  Funny how pain and suffering stick in the mind... 

We make ready our steeds and wait for the others to arrive.  Soon,  Gale, Scott, Todd, Mike, Bob, Doug, Carl are all there.  I think there were 10 of us + 3 and I don't think I got all the names, so if anyone cares they can send me the names so that all can be counted for. Dave  posted some pics somewhere and when I find the link again I will post it.

Todd has unveiled his spank new 29'r carbon fiber HT bike.  He graciously let me take a spin on it and  Man o Man is that thing sweet.  Wish I had more $$ and more room in my stable cause a 29'r something or other is high on my wish list. 

Finally we are ready to roll and off we go after a few photos.   I am pleased that the pace is civil and that the whole group is actually riding together for the warm-up phase.  I am feeling pretty good despite a few hard rides last week and my goals are simply to have fun and to clean all of the climbs. With that in mind, my choice of bike was the 575 which pretty much insures a good time.   This of course meant no HR monitor so as not to have me focus on any of the training stuff.

Life is good and the group does start to get a bit separated with Scott, Todd, Ron and Bob I think up ahead a few yards.  The rest of us are taking it easy, well as easy as possible when climbing.   It's been a good year for the group as many have had successes with there events.  This always helps make the ride more pleasant as no one has anything to prove.  Not saying that folks didn't get frisky at times and I am not saying I don't like that sort of thing on occasion.... but I digress  

Somewhere on the way out Carl got a flat and Mike stayed with him. The group waited at the top of the Big climb and we all regrouped.   Yes I did manage to clean all of the hills to this point and I was already having fun, so my goals for the ride have been meet.   Now it was time to enjoy some descents, but I was still a bit tentative.   My tire pressures were a bit higher that usually and  I could feel the bike sliding around underneath me.  This was probably a good thing, since I can still feel that crack rib and I would rather not do anything foolish and injure my self again....  .

We make it Pingree park and its time to decide what to do.  I suggested White Pine and surprisingly the group decided that they would have a go at it.   I had forgotten how long the climb was just to get to white pine and I decided to take it really easy and hang back with Doug.   Doug hadn't been riding as much, but he had done a couple of 100 mile Offload events in past years.  I was happy to take it easier since, the Big climb was coming!

My bike started making some weird noises when coasting and descending fast somewhere on this ride.  It became really pronounces on that road to the ranger station.  Turns out as Dave suggested that my freehub needed to be lubed.    This was why my chain kept coming off!  This also meant I   could not shred the descents, since besides the hideous noise, I didn't want the chain to get wrapped around in some weird way and toss me to the ground.  Bummer, cause all that hard work could not be fully enjoyed. .
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When I arrive at the ranger station the group was looking at the weather and trying to decide if they want to hurry back due to the look of the sky.     The sky didn't look that bad to me but others read things differently.   Gale decided that she didn't want to risk getting wet, and by the tone of her statement, I could tell there was no way she was going to change her mind.    At that point the group split with only Dave, Ron, Mike and myself going up White pine.    Dave was up the trail anyway and so we needed to go after him anyway so our path was already 
chosen. 

The climb was brutal was usual but I was feeling OK.  Ron was climbing really well and Mike and I were holding our own.   Ron made it the furthest with out making a dab, and I was next a distant next.    I did a lot more pushing on this one than I had in the past, but that was to be expected since last time I did this one I was in Leadville shape.

Time to make the descent and the single trak is sweet.  This is by far my favorite part of the ride and well worth any suffering that had been endured so far.   I was still a bit tentative on stuff but I was able to ride 98% of it.  Ron descending really well here too.  Ron still has the Moab 24 hour race, so he needs to stay sharp and ride hard, but also be safe, and given what he was riding, seems to have an increased comfort level for some of this techy stuff.

The rocky stuff was tons of fun for me, mostly due to the 575's  geometry that takes away that "Over the Bar" feeling that my Trek YSL's geometry produced.    There's just enough challenge here to get the excitement of technical riding without the fear of serious injury.  Hmm or maybe I just have a false sense of security about this. In any case the trail opens up in to some cool double trak descents, which I couldn't enjoy due to my freehub issues.

At last we are back on Old Flowers road and we are not too far from the cars and there is no rain in sight.  Once again on the faster sections I was relegated to the back due to the freehub problems.  My chain kept coming off due to this also and really had been all day and this was getting annoying.    Hmm Wonder if I had tools to fix this on the trail?  Guess I will find out when I get around to fixing this. 

Anyway I spend most of my time lagging the group until we made it back to the cars.   A good time was had by all, too bad the whole posse didn't come with us.

So I ran into Steve Lacey of the famed 4:50 club and Darren over at Steve's as they were preparing their steeds for the Tour De Fat.  Steve had welded up this Ski Rack for his bike and it looked pretty sic.  Anyway, he mentioned that he wanted to do the Fall River Road ride on Saturday night.   Sounded good to me as I was up for a less competitive fun ride this weekend and this was just the ticket.

Steve,  Gary, Darren, Tom and I hooked up for this one.  Steve picked up and drove Tom and I up and we met Gary and Darren at the Dam store.  From there  we headed up to Estes Park and into Rocky Mountain National.  We lucked out as we didn't have to pay cause there weren't any rangers manning the booths! .   We drove to the usual spot and readied ourselves.  While we were there the ranger stopped by to talk to us and remind us that Fall River is one way, even at night!

Soon enough we were off and running.  The moon was full and it was kinda chilly already.  It was about 9:30 before we were actually going, and I was a bit concerned about temperatures at altitude.  In any case all was good and we were looking forward to riding the dirt.

Once we hit the dirt, Garry took to the front and was setting a pretty brisk tempo.  Tom and I were struggling to keep pace with  Gary, Steve and Darren, so we kinda dropped back slowly, setting a more reasonable tempo  About 10 minutes of this and I realized that I was over dressed and stopped to adjust clothing.   The rest of the pack kept moving...  

Now I am going again and it's pretty dark.   I was saving my lights for the descent and the shadows can play tricks on one.  Not that I was  scared or anything, but this is  Colorado and I didn't want to be any part of any animals meal or worse yet, picked up by some stealthy UFO, Travis Walton style if you know what I mean.    I had no idea how far the guys were up the road since they didn't have their blinky lights on.    After a mile or so I finally caught them while they were soft pedaling.  Tom was grateful for the break in the pace so we didn't tell Gary and Steve that I was back on for a bit.

Up Up Up we go and it's getting colder, but it's not too bad.  I am working as hard as I care too.  I don't want to push to hard as I can still feel my bruised rib or whatever from last weeks crash!   This of course kept me from keeping anyone's tempo but mine, and any time I attempted to do otherwise I was quickly reminded as to why I shouldn't.

I had to stop a few more times to get out the camera or whatever, but this time Gary waited for me a few yards up the trail.  Surprisingly , or maybe not, this ride was a whole lot easier than doing it on  as Single Speed as I did last time!   Before long we we half way up.  The views of the moon and mountains was pretty cool.  Wish I had a better camera, or at least one that  wasn't all fogged up from sweating in my pockets. .

By now Darren was beginning to suffer as he had some knee issues and had to drop off the Gary and Steve pace.  Yes they had back down a bit, but every time they went only Steve made any attempt to match the pace.  I was feeling pretty good cause I wasn't pushing hard.  This made for a pleasant trip where I could enjoy the ride instead of focusing on not getting dropped.

Finally we can see the last switchbacks, much quicker than I had expected, or at least I was feeling much better than if I had been hammering.  Gary and Steve checked out at this point and the rest of us were content just to make it to the visitors center where we got some food and adjusted clothing.

We still needed to climb to Rock Cut which was another 700 feet of vertical or so.  Steve and Gary checked out again and Tom Darren and I stuck together.   Clink, Cllick Clack and Darren  breaks a spoke on his rear wheel!   He wraps it around another one and we continue on.   This pavement climb is so long and it seems like forever until we get to the summit. 

Finally we are all together and it's time for the descent.   My lights suck compared to everyone else's so I find it better to follow so as not to have myself shadowed by those HIDs.   Gary is really flying and Darren is taking it easy so as not to get too cold.  He was a bit under dressed and ended up borrowing a jacket from Tom.  Steve and I see that Darren is a bit too far back for safety so we wait up for him.   We find Tom and Gary waiting at Rainbow curve and we regroup there.

Time to go again and we are flying as a group.  This is pretty cool.   It's much warmer than I figured and that's a good thing, otherwise I would have needed warmer gloves etc.    We are swapping the lead and having a good old time.  Wish I had better lights, but I don't do enough of this to justify dropping  the coins to get upgraded.  Anyway, we drop through many  colder and warmer layers which is interesting. 

Near the bottom Darren takes the lead and is flying.  I suspect he just wants to get this over with.  Now everyone is "Weapons Free" and flying.  More lead swapping and pushing the corners.   Nothing to crazy, but with limited light it's challenging.

Finally we make the left hander to get to the cars.  That last little descent is pretty sweet.   Wish I had better lights for the turns, but I could follow the others OK so it's all good.  Now we are back at the cars and a good time was had by all. Darren's Knee was screaming at him so I hope he's gonna be OK for 24 hours of Moab and the Stone Temple 8.

The ride home was pretty interesting cause this big Elk was hanging out in the road and we had to swerve to miss it.  That followed by us getting pulled over for doing 48 in a 40 made the night extra special.  We got off with a warning though cause they were looking for Drunks.   Kinda funny the look on the Cops face when Steve told him what we were doing out here at this time ( 2 oclock something or other)