You want to skate ski, but.....
No snow.
SO, you get roller skis, but....
It's snowing outside??
JUST how many degrees of separation form a root sport CAN you have??
(In fairness, these get used to do Lactic Threshold testing on the Nordic guys.... who are really the aerobic monsters of the universe. It is getting a bit "removed" after a while.)
Friday, April 16, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Westbound
Truck mostly packed. Semi-luxury base camp in the back. Short work day tomorrow, and a couple of us are headed for Utah. Full week down in the Hurricane/Gooseberry area. Camping, riding, maybe a few beers in the evening. Been too long. A little Fruita hit on the way back??
Westbound tomorrow afternoon. Psyched is NOT even close to the mood. Maybe an update or 2 later in the week, but I do like to go totally "Off the Grid" out in the desert if I can, so one never knows......
Either way, there is some slickrock & dirt that is in need of shredding. I aim to meet that need.
Westbound tomorrow afternoon. Psyched is NOT even close to the mood. Maybe an update or 2 later in the week, but I do like to go totally "Off the Grid" out in the desert if I can, so one never knows......
Either way, there is some slickrock & dirt that is in need of shredding. I aim to meet that need.
Friday, April 9, 2010
THAT day
Today turned out to be THAT day.
Each spring, I seem to have that one ride that just says "Oh, Yea, THIS is why I ride". Couple of the HPM guys and I bailed out of work for a long lunch today, hitting up the Picture Rock trail in Lyons (now that it finally dried out...). Not sure if it was skipping out of work on a nice spring day, or just that first "good" MTB ride of the year, but no matter, it was THAT ride that re-stoked the fire.
Early spring & winter rides carry an air of "drudgery" on them for me. Maybe it's some lingering burnout from 'cross season, maybe the fact that riding in the cold is not fun, or maybe just being stuck on the road so much that makes it feel like work, but it can become more of a "chore" than a joy. Today, it was like a cacoon cracking open. a great trail, even if it seems old & "too" familiar later in the year,
good people, fresh still tacky spring dirt and the riding is suddenly good again. Like the appearance now of green grass & spring flowers, the fun comes back out of hibernation. Strange, this years re-awaking ride I even felt like poop. Got to go to a Nuggets game last night, in the "vendor-provided suite" mode (ah, to be one of the "elite" on a REGULAR basis...). This led to many hours of steady beer consumption, over the top eating behavior, and staying out WAY past my bedtime, which at my age and station in life, leads to general hangover & poop-feeling mode. Today, even that did not matter. My lack of time on anything resembling a trail showed in such pathetic driving that I thought I might need some remedial help. ALMOST to the point that this video might have seemed helpful, did not matter. The searing pain in my legs left over from yesterday's final weight day in the gym, did not matter.
It was just THAT ride. God that felt good.
Each spring, I seem to have that one ride that just says "Oh, Yea, THIS is why I ride". Couple of the HPM guys and I bailed out of work for a long lunch today, hitting up the Picture Rock trail in Lyons (now that it finally dried out...). Not sure if it was skipping out of work on a nice spring day, or just that first "good" MTB ride of the year, but no matter, it was THAT ride that re-stoked the fire.
Early spring & winter rides carry an air of "drudgery" on them for me. Maybe it's some lingering burnout from 'cross season, maybe the fact that riding in the cold is not fun, or maybe just being stuck on the road so much that makes it feel like work, but it can become more of a "chore" than a joy. Today, it was like a cacoon cracking open. a great trail, even if it seems old & "too" familiar later in the year,
good people, fresh still tacky spring dirt and the riding is suddenly good again. Like the appearance now of green grass & spring flowers, the fun comes back out of hibernation. Strange, this years re-awaking ride I even felt like poop. Got to go to a Nuggets game last night, in the "vendor-provided suite" mode (ah, to be one of the "elite" on a REGULAR basis...). This led to many hours of steady beer consumption, over the top eating behavior, and staying out WAY past my bedtime, which at my age and station in life, leads to general hangover & poop-feeling mode. Today, even that did not matter. My lack of time on anything resembling a trail showed in such pathetic driving that I thought I might need some remedial help. ALMOST to the point that this video might have seemed helpful, did not matter. The searing pain in my legs left over from yesterday's final weight day in the gym, did not matter.
It was just THAT ride. God that felt good.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Kick in the....
Seems as if each Spring, I get the same subtle little kick in the butt. Something that lets me know " hey, you have a bike in the garage" (OK, OK, maybe something more like what "normal" people would call a PILE of bikes....) and "maybe you should ride it". Ah, spring in Colorado. To Dirty for powder, and too snowy for dirt.
Once in the deep dark past, I would have already had my "base" miles in, and been hitting up things like the Boulder-Roubaix for "fun" this time of year. But that was long ago, before I realized that riding road bikes makes baby Jesus cry. My recent return to "competitive" cycling via the sick and twisted world that is cross had me briefly thinking I should do a dirt road race this spring. Well, at least up till my rational brain realized I had not turned a pedal in any kind of anger since mid-December, and all those rodies I've been making fun of driving back from skiing in snowstorms were out "training" in that snow, and are probably able to drop me before I could get clipped in right now. Guess I'll stick to watching one of my old guy heros do it on the web instead.
So, back to that "kick"......
Back earlier this week, I signed up for an "endurance" mountain bike race. Something made me decide that 111K of off road racing would be fun this summer. I had heard great things about the Laramie Enduro for years from many of my friends, and decided to join the party. So, since I had the required equipment for endurance racing (A VERY high speed internet connection, and the ability to sign up for races at very specific times...), I leveraged my training from Nationals and braved the sign up scrum at high noon an April 1st. (Hmmm, the date alone might be a hint...). 800 people end up signing up for 400 slots in 10 minutes. Who ever knew that extended self-torture was quite so popular?
Well, after feeling like I was trying to get Hannah Montana tickets, instead of signing up to race my bike, I suddenly realized that I was on the hook for a LONG race later this summer, and maybe it was time to start riding a bit. That kick led me to think that if I want to ride 70+ miles in July, maybe a 50 miler in May would be a "good Idea". So THEN I signed up for the "Front Range Sensory Depravation, many laps about a suburban park in the goatheds" race, otherwise known as the Front Range 50. I had done that race 2 years ago, with almost no training, and as it turns out, a load of "Bad Blood" on board. While I vaguely remember that experience as being not really that much fun, apparently, it did not scar me enough to prevent my mouse finger from clicking willy-nilly away.
So, there you have it. Jump straight from skiing a bit, hanging out at home or in establishments that brew & sell malted grain beverages, right to 2 ugly races. Seem to have messed up my spring with 2 clicks of a mouse. What have I done? Better start riding. Might even have to make someone cry a bit, what with only 34 days to get ready for 50 miles.
Sanity was saved from all that angst today by getting the tandem out. Heil ranch was actually pretty nice. almost tacky, and not too muddy. at least you can MTB in the howling wind, without wanting to kill anyone for no reason. ALso hear that Picture Rock is almost dry, so maybe I can do my long rides on dirt. hope we're done with the wet front range snow for the sake of my mental well-being.
Here we go. should be "fun"
Once in the deep dark past, I would have already had my "base" miles in, and been hitting up things like the Boulder-Roubaix for "fun" this time of year. But that was long ago, before I realized that riding road bikes makes baby Jesus cry. My recent return to "competitive" cycling via the sick and twisted world that is cross had me briefly thinking I should do a dirt road race this spring. Well, at least up till my rational brain realized I had not turned a pedal in any kind of anger since mid-December, and all those rodies I've been making fun of driving back from skiing in snowstorms were out "training" in that snow, and are probably able to drop me before I could get clipped in right now. Guess I'll stick to watching one of my old guy heros do it on the web instead.
So, back to that "kick"......
Back earlier this week, I signed up for an "endurance" mountain bike race. Something made me decide that 111K of off road racing would be fun this summer. I had heard great things about the Laramie Enduro for years from many of my friends, and decided to join the party. So, since I had the required equipment for endurance racing (A VERY high speed internet connection, and the ability to sign up for races at very specific times...), I leveraged my training from Nationals and braved the sign up scrum at high noon an April 1st. (Hmmm, the date alone might be a hint...). 800 people end up signing up for 400 slots in 10 minutes. Who ever knew that extended self-torture was quite so popular?
Well, after feeling like I was trying to get Hannah Montana tickets, instead of signing up to race my bike, I suddenly realized that I was on the hook for a LONG race later this summer, and maybe it was time to start riding a bit. That kick led me to think that if I want to ride 70+ miles in July, maybe a 50 miler in May would be a "good Idea". So THEN I signed up for the "Front Range Sensory Depravation, many laps about a suburban park in the goatheds" race, otherwise known as the Front Range 50. I had done that race 2 years ago, with almost no training, and as it turns out, a load of "Bad Blood" on board. While I vaguely remember that experience as being not really that much fun, apparently, it did not scar me enough to prevent my mouse finger from clicking willy-nilly away.
So, there you have it. Jump straight from skiing a bit, hanging out at home or in establishments that brew & sell malted grain beverages, right to 2 ugly races. Seem to have messed up my spring with 2 clicks of a mouse. What have I done? Better start riding. Might even have to make someone cry a bit, what with only 34 days to get ready for 50 miles.
Sanity was saved from all that angst today by getting the tandem out. Heil ranch was actually pretty nice. almost tacky, and not too muddy. at least you can MTB in the howling wind, without wanting to kill anyone for no reason. ALso hear that Picture Rock is almost dry, so maybe I can do my long rides on dirt. hope we're done with the wet front range snow for the sake of my mental well-being.
Here we go. should be "fun"
Monday, March 15, 2010
Sloggin
You all know "That guy". You know, "That guy", the genetic mutant, hyper-fit, aerobic machine. Yep, that guy. It had been a while since I went skiing with "That guy", but finally got back out for an "East Portal" run on Saturday with "That guy". I remembered pretty quickly how much "fun" it is to chase those mutant types up a valley at speed. I did mange to get my cardio ( Rule # 1 !!!) for the week, and then some.
We went up thinking that if the snow was not too hot for making laps, we could "go high" there, and get a bit alpine-ey instead of just chasing laps in the soft stuff. Good thing we had that thought, as the general snow condition was breakable crust with a large serving of mank on the side. Lucked out on another stellar day, warm, and NO wind at all. Skied around all day in a light top, and with the solar oven effect on full, mostly dripping in sweat all day.
After a goodly slog, we ended up climbing mighty Haystack Mountain (11,800'). Hard to believe I scored another wind free front range day (at least three for this season, a new record!!)
Snap!
(the crown line on this thing looked to be 10+ feet deep..... you could see it from the parking lot...)
In spite of chasing mutants for 9 miles, was a VERY nice day in the mountains.
Even had a few good turns up high, before diving into the mank.....
Haystack - West Face from Dale Riley on Vimeo.
Makes me want to do some spring ski descents on these "big" lines. Deathtraps now, but come spring when they settle, sure look like fun. Just need to remember to get off the MTB for a day or 2 come corn season.
We went up thinking that if the snow was not too hot for making laps, we could "go high" there, and get a bit alpine-ey instead of just chasing laps in the soft stuff. Good thing we had that thought, as the general snow condition was breakable crust with a large serving of mank on the side. Lucked out on another stellar day, warm, and NO wind at all. Skied around all day in a light top, and with the solar oven effect on full, mostly dripping in sweat all day.
After a goodly slog, we ended up climbing mighty Haystack Mountain (11,800'). Hard to believe I scored another wind free front range day (at least three for this season, a new record!!)
Snap!
(the crown line on this thing looked to be 10+ feet deep..... you could see it from the parking lot...)
In spite of chasing mutants for 9 miles, was a VERY nice day in the mountains.
Even had a few good turns up high, before diving into the mank.....
Haystack - West Face from Dale Riley on Vimeo.
Makes me want to do some spring ski descents on these "big" lines. Deathtraps now, but come spring when they settle, sure look like fun. Just need to remember to get off the MTB for a day or 2 come corn season.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Warm & Fluffy
Skiing on the Front range has some "rules" one needs to follow, else you get a lot of wind in your face & mank under your skis. The gist of these rules is "follow the storms, young Jedi". Going out during or right after the front range upslope storms usually gets you the good snow and no wind. Saturday, in a desperate attempt to make up for a lousy ski season (for me at least...), we headed up after a runt of a storm on Friday. Pretty much expecting mank-o-rific conditions, went ahead & headed out anyway. Surprise! There was a lot more fresh snow than expected. even ended up breaking trail through 4-6+ inches of new, but sadly kinda wet & heavy snow.
Busted our way up the 2K feet of climbing into Meadow Mountain Bowl, to find ourselves ALONE in there on a sunny, warm, windless day. Cover was up to snuff, the snow heavy but decent, and outside of a few bottomless depth hoar "holes" (Dive! Dive! Dive!) pretty darn nice conditions.
Even looked like Christmas on some of the trees, with full on "natural" decorations
My Lack of laps this year was showing. Only a couple of laps got done, but we did our best to properly deal with what we had to work with, and left things as tracked up as we could. It was a "death cookie" day. Silly things would be outrunning you for hundreds of yards. Still hard to get a better feeling than launching into a glade with NO tracks, just wide open, unbroken snow waiting for you to draw those lines on the mountain.
Good to be getting over the Gack in my lungs. finally felt human again, and got the reward of a GREAT Colorado late winter day. No whining this week, just good clean fun with frozen precipitation & gravity.
Even looked like Christmas on some of the trees, with full on "natural" decorations
My Lack of laps this year was showing. Only a couple of laps got done, but we did our best to properly deal with what we had to work with, and left things as tracked up as we could. It was a "death cookie" day. Silly things would be outrunning you for hundreds of yards. Still hard to get a better feeling than launching into a glade with NO tracks, just wide open, unbroken snow waiting for you to draw those lines on the mountain.
Good to be getting over the Gack in my lungs. finally felt human again, and got the reward of a GREAT Colorado late winter day. No whining this week, just good clean fun with frozen precipitation & gravity.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Lung Butter
After a solid week of gagging up green bits of lung butter (Hmm, wonder if you could sell that at the Boulder Whole foods.... natural, organic, and locally produced...), The bubbling & gurgling in my lungs started to subside enough to make me think I might be able to haul my carcass and these strange and unfamiliar things up some hill in the backcountry.
Well, might have been a bit premature, as a lap and a half into the day, I realized that I was much more interested in lying down for a nap in the snow than taking the "slow lift" back up again. Something about not being able to breathe and trying to do a few thousand stair repeats at 11,500 feet was making me tired. A brief day in the woods, but very nice to get out again. Much more scenic than the couch.
Finally got enough base, and the turns were pretty good. Now If I can just get fully healthy again, maybe I can milk some of the usual March dump-age for a few more good ski days. The foggy and snowy day gives one hope for more fluff. It even seems like the exertion finally blew some of the goo out, and can even breathe without bubbles today. Whee!
Besides my mildly neurotic obsession with getting a few good ski days in, the arrival of March does make me think about riding. The Lung Butter episode has put a dent in the weight training "program", and with 50+ degree temperatures on tap, I may have to get something with 2 wheels out this week. With a confirmed road trip coming up in April in the works, it does seem to be time to ride. That April trip is getting some mental bandwidth. Made me go out and order a pile of maps & guidebooks, both for the April trip target area of Hurricane/Gooseberry Mesa area,
and a few other places that have popped up on the "want to go ride there" radar. A bit of interweb looking came up with this place, a treasure trove of Mountain Bike guidebooks and maps. Ah, the stuff dreams are made of. Guidebooks for rides from Argentina to Wisconsin, all the exotic riding destinations. Spring is time to road trip. Get yours.
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