What happened?

Once upon a time,  in the deep,  dark past,  I was a bike racing fan.  A FAN,  not just a participant.  That seems to have changed in the last few years.    On a Lunch ride just the other day,  someone asked if I had watched some stage of the Giro.  My answer was "What's a Giro".    While I DO know what the Giro is,  I did not really know it was underway,  nor had ANY idea of what was going on in that race.  Apparently there was some big race out in California lately too.  Don't know what happened there,  either.  

What happened?  Road racing is still an amazing sport,  with great potential for drama & great stories.  Mountain Bike arcing is insanely hard and even photogenic.  I used to follow Pro road racing,  Pro Mountain Biking,  even a bit of Downhill.  In the last few years,  I really only "follow" Pro Cyclocross,  and think that is more driven by my obsessive participation than pure fandom.

The end of following Pro/World Cup XC Mountain bike racing came about after the Euro bunch and the UCI got ahold of the format,  changing it from big mountain,  big loop courses into the glorified,  many lapped,  extra bumpy manufactured for TV courses they run on now.  Way back,  courses were big loops,  big long climbs.  Courses like 1990 Durango and 1994 Vail world Championships appealed to me.  They were representative of what kind of mountain bike rides we really did.  While not that spectator or TV friendly,  they were MOUNTAIN BIKING.    It was also cool that worthless wanna-be racers like me got to ride the SAME courses as the Pros.   Now,  loops around some euro town or manufactured course (like the London Olympics...)  are the Euro-ized,  TV-friendly norm,  and it just don't resonate with me.

Downhill?  Pretty cool,  modern courses are just insane,  and the skill and athleticism needed to ride down one is unbelievable.  Makes for more entertainment than XC racing,  but gets a bit repetitive.  Gained a lot of interest and respect for the discipline after having the opportunity to get to know some of the best female downhillers in the world back in that early 90s era.  Without the "personal connection" I've drifted slowly away from "following" the riders & races there too.

Road Races - Not sure if it was the doping,  the mostly predictable domination that the Armstrong teams controlled the Tour De France with,  or what,  but I just can't get into watching road races anymore.  Even with the modern option of DVRs and Internet streaming to jump thru to the "good parts" (usually the last  10K of a pro tour race...)  I find myself deleting unwatched races off the box,  or falling asleep trolling thru the footage.  Just can't get excited about it anymore.  I do not think that it helps that for most of the years I watched and was "into it",  more riders than not were juiced to the hilt.  Kinda disappointing.

Not Sure why,  but when I was not able to participate myself last year,  I still had a lot of fun coming out & watching the local old guys race.  Is it more real?  More familiar,  knowing the "actors"?  The personal connection of participation?  Don't know,  but I do know that while I may not be a PRO Bike race fan anymore,  I am a HUGE fan of bike racing.  How does that work?  Not sure,  but I know It's what I want to be around,  see and do.

And with that,  I can report that my own journey back from a Cancer patient to being a bike racing PARTICIPANT again is going well.   After my Post-treatment Bone Marrow Biopsy,  There was NO detectable Hairy Cell Leukemia in my blood or Marrow.  The new Mutant Mouse Antibody treatments did what they were supposed to do.  Killed off ALL the little bastards.  Now it's just time to wait & see when the hairy little buggers build back up.  (IF they do...)   Feels good to have nuked their little asses.   That mess is over for now,  and now I'm riding hard,  putting in the work,  and hope to rejoin the sport as a participant soon.  A very long way to go to get back where I was,  but I'm motivated and on the path.  It feels good.

Quit watching races,  get out and go ride.  It's what a REAL fan would do.

Where the hell have you been?

Yes,  I've been very delinquent in my postings here.  Lots going on,  finished up my Post-Treatment Cancer stuff (more on that in a later post....),  and as expected it was all pretty good news,  so there was some Post-Treatment-celebrate-get-outta-town-vacation behavior as well.

My dear wife had planned a vacation for when we were "done" with the stupid Cancer thing again for this round.  We had a nice week in Puerto Rico to celebrate the end of that nonsense,  and in general get away from "real" life for a bit.

Puerto Rico turns out to be kind of strange place,  Very much "American",  but feels like Mexico at the same time.   Definitely has that "island Time" and Caribbean vibe,  VERY laid back.  Everything is in Spanish,  but most everyone speaks English,  and you use US Dollars.  One minute you feel like you are in a foreign country,  the next minute like you are in a Mexican Carnecheria here in Colorado.  Pretty strange contrast,  but all in all a cool and easy place to visit.

We spent a couple of days in Old San Juan,  a crazy old,  16th century walled city/fortress.  Neat old streets and buildings,  lots of cool dive bars and even a brewpub with kicking good beers.  Rest of our time was in Liquillo,  a VERY sleepy "surf" town on the N.E. coast.  Great beaches,  some wild and sparsely visited rain forest,  and by far the coolest and the strangest thing,  kayaking in some really cool glow in the dark water in a "Bio luminescent Lagoon" to round out the trip.


 Did note that bicycle culture is alive and thriving even in Puerto Rico.   Of all things,  they are having a full on boom in the urban,  Fixed Gear,  Hipster bike riding thing.  Lots of people skidding & fixed-gear humping their way around some crazy busy and narrow streets on brightly-painted,  matching aero rimed road & track bikes.

All of them acting like NYC messengers,  tweeting away on whistles clenched in their teeth while trying not to run into stuff with no brakes.  Course also see a lot of "cheaters" on single speeds with freewheels and the odd cheater brake.

It is so prevalent that you see people doing glamour photo shoots on the waterfront,  posing up their latest custom fixie.

While no big fan of riding around on converted road bikes with a fixed gear & no brakes in a traffic-filled city of 16th century cobblestones,  it is good to see that the "Bike Thing"  in one twisted form or another is taking off all over the world.  Urban Fixies may be a bit "out there",  but at least it's not Triathlon or Road Riding,  thank God.

Yep, it STILL Rocks

That "undisclosed location" in Utah still delivers the goods.  Yea,  it's starting to get crowded.  This time we saw at least 5 other cars in the main parking lot.  Yep.  Getting crowded.   Course we did not actually cross paths,  were on the same trail with,  or have to stop/yield to any other riders.  (OK,  OK,  I'm exaggerating,  as usual.  We DID have to share one 1900 foot vertical rowdy descent with 2 other riders on that one trail.  once.)   Yep,  getting crowded out there in Vernal.

It was by all means the "Spring Training Camp" for this camper.

Campin

70+ miles and 15 + hours in 3.5 days.  Yea,  it kicked me in the hiney.  Bailed out on a loop or 2 at the end of a couple of days,  but in the end survived,  and it seems to have re-awoken what little "bike racer" I ever had in my system.  I have a hint of being able to pedal in anger again for the first time in well over a year.  Feels pretty damn good.

Hit a few new trails this time,  rounding out the area  bit more.  Quite the trail variety out there to sample,  plenty to keep a strong group occupied for at least 4-5 days,  no problem.

Ladder Bridge on Flume Trail

My,  ain't it purdy up here - J Boy Trail - Red Fleet Area

J-Boy Trail.  No Left Turn

Everything from semi-alpine/aspen grove rides,  to technical desert ledges to twisty,  smooth NARROW single track.  It has a bit of it all.  even a nonsensical shuttle/hke-a-bike/seriously chunk "downhill" run or two.  THAT little ride up & down Red Mountain was a ripper.

Red Mountain .  Yep,  Carry Bike up that..... ("Trail" visible....)

UNggarrggOOFPant

Moab is Great,  more new trails.  Fruita ROCKS.  Gooseberry is Stellar.  But I've got a bit of a thing for Vernal now.  Maybe not EVERY year,  but it deserves a spot in the Utah "MTB Honor Roll".  It's the kind of place you just want to keep riding in.  Even after the sun goes down.

Night Riding From Camp - Jazz ChromeMolly Trail

Place still reminds me of EARLY Fruita,  back in the days when it was still REALLY narrow out there.  3+ days on 8 inch wide singletrack is a great way to get REALLY back on the bike.  This summer is going to be a LOT better for this old guy.  I can't wait.

Guest Photography by Sean Buckman.  Great work.

We interrupt yet another spring snowstorm to announce that my regular yammering will continue after I go ride Mountain Bikes in an undisclosed location in Utah.

Gots to get me some more of this:

Vernal MTB - Seat-Barcam from Dale Riley on Vimeo.

That is all.

Spring has Sprung, er... dumped?

You'd think it was mid-February,  given the cold & snow lately.  While springtime dumps are not really that uncommon,  the last few storms have been on such a neatly staggered schedule,  It's just kinda getting annoying.    I'm ready to REALLY start riding,  and the Colorado spring is doing it's best to keep me from doing it.

After finishing up my Cancer treatments a little over a week ago,  I was really hoping to get a chance to get a couple of weeks of riding in before heading off on our "Spring Training Camp" at a top secret Utah location.  Looking more like it will be mostly on that trip where I'll find out how much my lack of any decent riding ability was fitness driven,  versus cancer drug driven.  I anticipate having my head handed to me on a platter twice a day by my still-in-shape riding companions.  Maybe the gallons of beer will help vault me back into top form quickly.  Or maybe I'll just suffer like a dog,  and do my best to have fun riding Mountain bikes in the desert.

In the last week or so,  the U.S. Cyclocross scene got news of more bad luck.  The USGP series looks to have died after a 10 year run.  I for one am pretty bummed by this news.   I think that a solid,  obvious premiere national series was a boon for focusing the elite of U.S. cross.   Sadly,  I don't see an immediate replacement on the horizon.   USA cycling is putting races on a "National Cyclocross Calendar",  but that is not really the same as what the USGP series brought to the table.  With luck,  there will be some kind of high-end series to focus on soon.  Wondering how much the "stress" on both  the promoters and the U.S. cross sponsorship pool from hosting Worlds contribute to the USGP demise?  Think it was probably on its last legs anyway,  but a shame that there is not an immediate,  obvious series to leverage the buzz from having Worlds here.

It appears that for us Colorado folks,  the Ft. Collins race will survive in some form,  looking like the "other" UCI race here in Colorado (besides Boulder Cup...).  Hopefully we will still get a chance to see the big dog pros in action twice a year here.

Not a lot else from my snow-addled brain right now,  starting to have reoccurring visions of tight,  twisty desert single track.  Getting hard to focus.

Incompetence? Power Grab? Lunacy?

Well,  well,  well.  Our friends in the Springs (and France/Switzerland!!) have struck again.  After blackmailing at least 51% of the Colorado clubs into going for the "Borg Assimilation" deal last year,  they seem to have gotten bored,  looked around for some other unsuspecting aspect of cycling to "help" that had managed to survive without the astute leadership of the UCI and USA Cycling.    That poor,  never to be the same new target is mountain bike races and Pro MTB racers.

After seeing the success of the "Forbidden Race" rule as a stick to whack Colorado bike racers over the head with

UCI on Right,  USAC on left.
BAD bike racer.  BAD!  (Whack, Whack, Whack) 

The UCI & USAC have turned their UCI rule 1.2.109 sticks on Mountain Bike race prompters and UCI-licenced pro racers.   "Forbidden Races".....  god,  that sounds,  well,  Sexy.  Makes you want to go do one,  huh?  I know I do.  (and I WILL......)

Stolen from Drunk Cyclist

Basically,  using the same stick they hit the ACA with,  The UCI demi-gods,  with the help of the USA Cycling mafia have said that ANY UCI licenced rider who participates in a NON USAC or UCI sanctioned race will be fined and suspended.  With a LARGE portion of MTB races in the U.S. NOT being USAC permitted,  including most of the "big time" races (Whiskey off Road,  Breck Epic,  Teva Games,  etc,  etc...)  falling outside of the USAC permit universe,  it puts a pretty big dent in the ability of any pro riders to promote themselves,  their sponsors,   earn any prize money,  or really do most anything a pro racer needs to do.  It also removes a big draw for race promoters,  getting the big name riders in their races to boost their race's profiles.

Lots of Press around on this issue,  None of it supportive.  While this latest salvo by itself might well just look like more posturing and attempts to assimilate any successful cycling programs,  when you also look at recent UCI decisions on such earth-shattering issues as Socks and lawyer tabs,  you start to see something that looks,  well,  either bizarre or desperate.  Maybe both.  Control issues?  yea,  kinda looks like that.

More Genius from the Brilliant Drunk Cyclist crowd

I see this as one of 2 things.  Either they really do care about NOTHING but snatching up every possible revenue generating sliver of the small money world that is cycling (Desperation??),  or the people running the show are just plain incompetent.  How could the people charged with running a $10 Million Plus dollar National Governing Body NOT see that you would piss off just about EVERYONE by suddenly "enforcing" such an asinine rule in the U.S?   Really?  If Steve Johnson and his staff could not see this coming,  I have to question their ability and fundamental understanding of the organization,  it's perceived mission and it's members.  The UCI?  Sure,  I believe them having no clue. With their pure Euro-centric view,  what harm could they see?  But The USA Cycling folks?  Sorry,  if you could not see the ramifications of this,  you should NOT be running the show.

It is obvious that MANY race promoters in the MTB world are not seeing any benefit to USAC sanctioning.  You can see why,  more insurance choices,  Riders NOT needing to have a $60 annual USAC licence to race,  not having to pay USAC permit fees,  Not having to pay officials,  etc.   In Colorado I see a grand total of **SEVEN** USAC sanctioned MTB events for 2013.  Wow,  that matches what the Winter Park Series has for it's series alone.  Not to mention the MANY other races & series in Colorado.    MOST MTB promoters are choosing to NOT sanction with USAC.  The USA Cycling folks have tried to address this in an interview with Cycling News,  coming up with this gem:

"The only reasons not to sanction an event with USA Cycling are if the organizer is: 1) under-insuring the volunteers and/or participants, 2) avoiding the requirement to have USA Cycling licensed officials at the event and the athlete protection policies they enforce or 3) avoiding the USA Cycling RaceClean program."


Really?  Avoiding Doping Controls it one of the three best things you can come up with as to why SO many quality race promoters choose to NOT use your "product"?  Wow.  Back to that Desperation or Incompetence question again.  I know I've always felt "unprotected" racing Winter Park Series events.  Their over the top willingness to address results issues,  fix safety issues and run a fair and popular series MUST be hiding a darker motive,  maybe the all knowing USAC folks can tell me what the evil "non-sanctioned" promoters are REALLY up to.   Some of the national level team managers & race promoters are also calling BS on the USAC party line.   I have yet to see ONE comment supporting the "new" rule enforcement.  

A somewhat conciliatory tone started coming out of the Springs after one of the largest Pro MTB teams put out a press release basically telling the UCI & USAC to get bent.  Hat's off to Sho-Air for standing up to this nonsense.  I hope notice gets taken by the UCI and it's puppet master,  Pat McQuaid.  This guy is big on rules NOW that he "runs" the sport,  not so much when he raced.  Is Sho-Air's "FU" to Pat & the UCI's stupid rule on morally higher ground than little Patty sneaking off to race under an assumed name in South Africa while racing there was banned due to Apartheid?  Yea,  I'll give the win to Sho-Air on this one.

Yet more staggering insight from Drunk Cyclist

So,  after a deluge of negative press,  scathing comments from their own members on their own Facebook page,  there are now some hints of a "solution" coming from the powers that be (Initially it was 100%,   It's the UCI!  Out of our hands!!,  Not our fault!!).  I just can't WAIT to hear what kind of "solution" these guys come up with.  If nothing else,  you can count on it being entertaining.

When Mr. Steve Johnson,  leader of the Borg,  uh,  er,  USA Cycling made the trip up here to "sell" the old ACA clubs on what a GREAT deal rejoining USAC would be,  he made a statement he might want to remember.  When asked what the benefit to the average rider would be to rejoining USAC,  he basically said that he "could not define the value,  only the riders could determine the value of USAC membership".    Wonder if he sees that his "customers",  the riders and race promoters CAN tell what the value of the USAC is,  and are walking away.  Basically SCREAMING that the value is not there.  Maybe they will listen to that very obvious feedback,  and rather than the usual tactic of telling their own customers how wrong they are,  look at the product they are offering,  what it is missing that drives promoters and racers away,  and what they are bringing to the table.  Maybe even change tactics.  Likely?  Not very.

Pure Money Grab or Pure incompetence?  I kind of see a toss up.  What they come up with to "fix" the mess they have painted themselves into should reveal the true motives,  once one peers carefully into the guts of the "solution".    God this sport needs some better people running the federations.  Both at the UCI & at USA Cycling.  Needs it BAD.  <Rant mode OFF>


LATE BREAKING NEWS (4/11/13 some random time)
The UCI,  under pressure from our savior,   USA Cycling have taken the heroic position to.... Wait for it....  Put off a decision on enforcing the "Forbidden Race Rule".   

So never mind,  next year they will do it when nobody will notice.   I'll give credit to USAC for at least doing something,  and taking on the UCI,  which is WAY more than I expected.  But modeling your earth-shattering decisions on such weighty matters Bike Race Rules on the workings of the U.S. Congress may lean toward the "Incompetence" option above.  

Kick that can down that road (MTB course....) boys,  kick it.

Treating what Ales you

I've been off on some ranting side trips here lately,  so thought it was time for an update on the wonderful world of Oncology.  Yep,  still getting random very expensive chemicals dumped into my body on a weekly basis.  Was closing in on being done with my treatment regime,  until going off & getting the Flu this week.

Doh!

Turns out that if you nuke your immune system back to the stone age with Cyto-Toxic drugs,  things like Flu Vaccines are pretty much rendered superfluous.   And as a bonus,  that flu stuff seems to REALLY kick you when your immune system is down.  Finally feeling semi-human again after 4 or so days of Sweating/Chilling haze.  Fevers are ALMOST as much fun as recreational chemicals! (Not)   And,  you get to experiment with yet more of modern pharmacology's best new attempts.  What side effects does Tamiflu have?  We'll see soon enough.

Prior to the lovely,  and out of season visit with this new virus strain,  I was doing pretty damn well,  Getting out to ride in the good weather,  and getting slowly thru my 8 rounds of Mutant Mouse Antibody treatments every week.  For those of you who have never had any exposure to the joyful world of an Oncology Chemo Treatment room,  here is a quick look into a world you really never want to see.  Given my treatable disease,  short duration and lack of side effects,  I feel like an interloper in there,  considering what so many others have to go thru in that room,  but it has been an eye opener,  to say the least.

Once a week,  you block out most of your day,  and go visit the Treatment Room,  usually after paying  your Hematology "Entry Fee".   That Blood draw and CBC the Blood Docs just can't seem to function without.

Then,  back to "The Room".  Cheery enough,  but still not anywhere you really want to hang out.

For me,  unlike a lot of the folks who get the "pleasure" of visiting regularly and have a Port,  I get a regular IV each week.

After getting the IV in and a flush of saline,  You get a few bags of "pre-meds" as almost ANY of the drugs they give for Chemo & other treatments can have infusion reactions,  so they load you up with IV antihistamines to minimize the chance of an anaphylactic reaction to any of the infused drugs along with steroids for the anti inflammatory and immunosupression effects.  For myself,  I get a cocktail of Tylenol capsules (the Rituxin can give headaches..),  IV Dexamethasone for my steroid,  and IV Zantac and Benadryl for the antihistamines.

Given the many bags of Benadryl and Zantac,  it's no surprise that many,  if not most of the "treat-ees" have those lazy-boys in full recline and are sacked out.  Nothing Like IV Benadryl to make you a bit sleepy.   After a 45 minute or so infusion time for the pre-meds,  I get a BIG bag (Like a Liter...) of Mutant Mouse Stuff.   That gets a very specific infusion schedule,  starting at 100 mL/hour,  and ramping up each hour by 100 mL/hour to a 400 mL/hour rate.   Takes 4 or so hours at best to get that big bag in.    You can get up and move around,  as long as you take your IV pole with you.    My treatment center has a nice little snack area and I LOVE taking my pole for little walks to get snacks and heat up my lunch.  Outside of that,  reading,  net surfing and napping are the real attractions for the day.  Once you have sucked up all your anointed juice for the day,  a quick flush,  IV removal,  and out you go.

I do have to give some props to two great bunches of people.  First,  the patients I have met in that room have been 100% great,  positive & fun people.  For some reason,  cancer patients have some of the best attitudes I've ever been around in a medical treatment environment.  The only people who eclipse the patients are the Chemo nurses who run the room.  Sweet,  caring,  funny,  knowledgeable,  supportive.   I have more respect for these ladies and what they do than can be put in words.  They love what they do,  and are FANTASTIC at it.  You can call them anytime,  and they have the answer for you.  Stellar people,  doing incredible things.  

The good thing for my treatment is that it has minimal side effects,  and up until the flu laid me out,  I was getting some good riding in,  get some base in place so that when I quit poisoning myself each week,  I might be able to start trying to make up for a year of broken blood and get some fitness going for MTB season.  I was able to catch some of those REALLY nice days before that last round of snow mudded all the trails up.  Even got to see some of my Wild Turkey friends.

Was riding enough to start to think I was almost a cyclist again.  Sadly,  it turns out that riding by yourself can lead to some "mistaken impressions"  of where your fitness might really be.  Any notion of having ANYTHING going in the riding department were quickly squelched with one group ride.  Boy,  do I have a LONG road back to reasonable,  or even functional level of fitness.  Going to be a long and suffering filled road back.   I can't wait.