2811

Moving

2008-12-23T16:32:00.003-07:00

I'm moving over here

http://alexanderthegrant.blogspot.com/

I realized that I am the only one that has been posting on the 2811 blog in the past 4 months and I don't live there any more. So I am giving Ty his blog back (Schirf was too cool from the beginning... ha ha) and starting my own. Really now my posting will just go down hill I am sure but I'll try to hold it down. Any way, its a sad day on the 2811 blog but an inevitable one I guess. Hopefully Ty and Mike will keep it going!

Dawn Patrol

2008-12-17T21:24:00.005-07:00

Somehow I was up before my 5:10 am alarm this morning. Maybe I knew how sweet the sunrise would be up in Big Cottonwood.

Met up with Bart and then eventually Jared and a few other people. The snow was killer and we kept it to some mellow aspen trees to avoid lurking instabilities in the snow pack. You know its dangerous out when you see Andrew McLean (author of the Chuting Gallery and one of the most accomplished big line skiers in the Wasatch) at the top of a mellow aspen glade at 9000'!

Jared aka the Samurai- I think he goes uphill just as fast as he goes down.

Bart snaps a photo.

Christmas Contrast

2008-12-10T18:45:00.003-07:00

We happened to set the tree up next to a picture of Buddha...

Sammi and I threw down for an $11 tree (more of a shrub). Looks great and we've got it on a table to give the illusion of a real tree. This is the first year I've had a tree in the ten years since I moved out of VT so its a step up for me!

A whole lot of nothing...

2008-12-05T18:34:00.002-07:00

I just drove back from Ketchum, Idaho this afternoon after a week working there and in Boise. Every time I do that drive I am struck by how little there is between here and there, just a whole lot of nothing. No offense to any potato farmers or anyone who lives there...

When I was in college I was really cynical about a lot of issues, population growth in particular. With the global population growing at such a fast rate do we have the space and resources to support this growth? I used to think no, and that nobody cared and we were all just going to keep consuming and growing until we were swimming in our own trash and out of food, water, and fresh air. I've lost a little of this cynicism over the years and especially this year see some hope in human kind. Yeah the economy is bad but we are all talking about conserving resources, finding cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels, and taking steps towards improving our society in general. This is good news to me as sooner or later we had to come to our senses. Maybe this economic crisis will re-direct us down a more responsible path.

Back to the photo: some parts of the world are so overcrowded and then there are places like the western US. Just a whole lot of nothing. I'd hate to see farmland and open spaces go but if they someday have to I hope the land is used responsibly. Apparently a week driving around by myself has made me a little reflective. I'll shut up now, time to unpack.

09 Base Miles

2008-11-28T18:37:00.002-07:00

This one's for Fox

Turkey Day Training Camp November 08. Turning turkey in to watts.

Putting in the hours...

Plug for the Prius

2008-11-27T13:23:00.002-07:00

Here's a plug for the Prius: 3 bikes plus my 3 overpacked bags, sammi's bags and work stuff, all inside the car and we could see out the rear view mirror no problem. I'd say it was about 3/4 full.

Now the good part: gas for the 300 mile trip to St. George: $12.00

Sammi said once she went on a trip with her mountain bike and kayak and slept in the back with both! If they were a little better in the snow it would be the ideal car.

Welcome To Jazztown

2008-11-25T07:22:00.004-07:00

If I had a dollar for every time Brian yelled that during the game I'd be rich

Or at least I would have paid for me seat in the nose bleed section...

It was a great game and we lost at the buzzer. Tim and Brian are Jazz super-fans and were not too happy about our loss to the Bulls at home. I'll take a close exciting game over a blowout any day.

Murphy's Law

2008-11-22T17:37:00.002-07:00

From Wikipedia:

Murphy's law is an adage in Western culture that broadly states, "if anything can go wrong, it will." It is also cited as: "If there's more than one possible outcome of a job or task, and one of those outcomes will result in disaster or an undesirable consequence, then somebody will do it that way"

I'm not sure if this applies more to my race today, or if maybe the good old "if it ain't broke don't fix it" sums it up better...

I've been having a great time racing cross this fall and have had some pretty good results despite being a newbie and a hack. My bike isn't ideal as it is a size or two to big and the wheels are beater- but here the other adage of "its not the bike its the rider" comes in to play and I don't think its really been holding me back that much. Anyway- Brandon was nice enough to offer up his bike for states and I figured, hey, yeah I'll ride some sweet deep dish carbon wheels and a bike that fits! Not that the wheels would make me go any faster- but I figured they'd make me feel faster which is just as important. With Bart out of town the door was open and anything could happen...

So first let me say that carbon wheels are noticeably stiffer, lighter, and faster- wow. Also it was nice not to be so stretched out. I had a pretty good start and was riding with the lead group for the first lap. Enter Murphy's law- my front tire started to go flat and I was folding it over a little in the corners and started to lose a few spots. Then I bunny hopped a little log in to a corner and blew the tubular right off the rim and stacked it. I got the tire back on the rim and rode gingerly to the tech zone where for the first time ever I had a spare bike. Problem is I had borrowed my seat post and replaced it with Brandon's... but hadn't remembered to dial in the height. That was pretty much it for my motivation...

What's the lesson here? If it ain't broke don't try to fix it, sometimes you have to be the one to realize Murphy's law, and its not the bike its the rider (as in these aren't excuses!)

Next weekdend: Thanksgiving in St. George. MTB here I come! Though Murphy's law will probably bring some rain...

A new calling?

2008-11-10T14:54:00.010-07:00

I'm not going to sell my pedal bikes yet but motos sure are fun! I went over to visit Hannah in Steamboat and we got out on motos in the western CO. desert.

Braaaaap braaaaaap

This hill climb got super sandy and steep up near the top (up left out of the pic). Took me 4 tries to make it up

We got snowed out Saturday and went for a hike in the snow. Luckily the weather came around for us on Sunday.

Han trying to wrangle a 165 pound dog...

My camera battery died so that's all I have for photos. Otherwise I could have gotten some pictures of our Snood tournament.

I need a new wheel setup

2008-11-03T08:56:00.003-07:00

I need to figure out a new wheel/tire setup for my cross bike... not only are my wheels tanks but I am still running tubes.

I've never done that before! After two fats yesterday I see why people shy away from tubes on their cross bikes. I was even running slime tubes, which don't help with pinch flats apparentlty. I rimmed out hard on the 2nd lap and my front tire started a slow death and was flat by 2 or 3 laps to go. I eventually borrowed a wheel and rode a while until my rear went flat. Then I got in a nice jog in the rain and even got to finish the race on Bob's bike. His bike felt good- nice setup Bob, disk brakes worked well in the mud. At least I had some better luck Saturday and ended up 2nd. Fun stuff though- that was a mud bath!

Halloween Pics

2008-11-02T10:51:00.007-07:00

pulled out an old costume for halloween on friday. red hot rocker aka evil kenival, elvis suit. sammi was an elf. her ears were freaking me out all night!

jesus and sarah palin- what a couple

we went to club sound for sammi's water polo party/fundraiser. here's an interesting way to hold your camera...

i did a killer moto ride with jim on thursday out in the west desert. we ended up doing 190 miles- about half on pavement. i need to get some pics from that uploaded. trying to decide if i can ride to the cross race or if its about to pour...

redneck weekend

2008-10-19T22:08:00.008-06:00

sammi and i went up to idaho and stayed in a forest service cabin (clear creek guard station north east of montpelier, id.) last night. it was nice to get out of town and spend a little time in the woods. we kept it real shooting guns, chopping wood, and drinking beer (then shooting the cans).

it was hunting season so i had to sport my old neon ammo pack on the hike

nice shot...

you can tell i am from vermont by my taste in women...

every hicks dream

made it back just in time for a sweet ride on shoreline with bart, ohran, and jared. bobsled is in killer shape.

why i love costco

2008-10-18T07:21:00.002-06:00

likely none of these will end up in a cookie...

buy this book

2008-10-14T21:36:00.002-06:00

my cousin just published this book- classic!

HOW TO GET A 6-PACK... AND STILL DRINK A 30-RACK EVERY WEEKEND: A DRINKERS GUIDE TO GETTING A RIPPED STOMACH

snow

2008-10-05T12:23:00.008-06:00

Headed up Big Cottonwood this morning to check out the snow. There wasn't as much as I thought there would be but it was super pretty.

tons of mist- it had just stopped snowing huge flakes, i missed it

sammi setting up a shot

can't break out the board yet... it will all this week and we'll be riding crest again before the end of the season

raced a little cross yesterday it cold rain and mud. it was fun getting dirty. i felt more comfortable on my cx bike and only crashed once. though it was a sweet crash- slid on my back in mud off the course and had to run back to get my bike. otherwise everything worked except for my front derailleur and i got stuck it my 48t chainring. that gear is a little big without frozen legs. fun stuff though, i am definately going to do a some more of those.

viva las vegas

2008-09-29T09:14:00.002-06:00

two nights in vegas is one too many... i just spent 7 nights and 8 days down there. highlights include:

-making a last minute decision to race the cactus cup two days before the start enven though I knew I wasn't really on point. I'm at the point in the season where you can ride all day at one speed but just don't have that top end. I am sure it was good for me to get out and race even though I felt like poo all weekend. the only time my legs felt good was in the fat tire crit and I got a side ache with five laps to go. I managed to hang on to the main group and luckily steered around a crash in the last corner and finished safely. that was my first crit of any sort and it was pretty fun. Brandon domintated the semi pros all weekend.

-working two days at the dirt demo changing pedals and setting sag for people. i was putting air in a fork on a hard tail 29er for this one guy and he goes "Hey man its a hartail how hard can it be to set up?" At that point I just gave him the bike and said have fun (jackass). He then preceded to adjust the fore and aft of his seat for a few minutes while I stood there biting my tongue. Then he took off and came back a few minutes later "Ooh party foul man- there's no bottle cage on this thing!" Hey dipshit- its a 5 minute loop.

-awesome sushi dinner on continental

-three days in Interbike. Luckily I was busy enough to pass the time pretty well during the day

-cross vegas. awesome race with a ton of people. lance was fighting it out for top 20.

-vegas trafiic

-In-N-Out burger twice. Yum.

-Riding Gooseberry Mesa on the way home saturday morning.

-Getting home!

alpine coaster

2008-09-07T22:47:00.002-06:00

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

brian head race(s) report

2008-09-02T19:28:00.003-06:00

after two weekends of gasping for oxygen racing my bike above 9,400 feet my lungs are feeling a little singed. no pictures unfortunately. shannon posted a good one of me on mtbracenews.blogspot.com after i talked him in to putting me on there! thanks shannon. actually i may have earned it last weekend with my first top 10 finish at a national.

lets see- some thoughts... the stage race was awesome and i am hooked on the stage race concept. it was kind of a shock to the body/mind on day two to get up and go punish myself again after a 4 hour race the day before. i wound up losing some time that day but came back on day three and managed 4th place, also solidyfing 6th overall. i was close to 5th and without the meltdown on day two think i could have been in the money. anyway, someone should put on a stage race in park city before its all private land and developed! super fun.

this past weekend it was back down to parowan/brian head to race the nmbs finals. my expectations were low because i was worn out from the stage race but i like the course there so wanted to give it a shot. i registered for the short track and xc saturday afternoon. i'm not sure why i did the short track- it was a 1 minute loop around the base lodge on pavement and dirt and they had informed me that i would not make the roll out list. oh boy. i made contact with the main group from the back row but shortly thereafter it felt like someone had put a blowtorch down my throat my lungs were burning so bad. i got pulled after 15 minutes- not soon enough!

it took a few hours for my lungs to feel normal again and i was a little worried for sunday's xc. thought i might have some sort of problem since they didn't feel like that once the entire weekend before. i think what it comes down to is that you never ride as hard as you do in a short track outside of a short track race... ever.

the xc actually went pretty well for me. i got over a mid race side ache and worked my way in to the top 10. i had a slow leak in my rear tire during the last 20 minutes but don't think it slowed me down too much. at least not as much as jeremiah bishop riding a flat tire in the single track not letting me by unless i gave him a tube. i sat behind him for too long because, well who am i to tell him to get the &%$ off of the trail. after a while ryan trebon came up behind us and did just that. he has a little more clout i guess. trebon dropped me like a bad habit in to a stiff headwind on the last road and i rolled in 9th. can't complain though- i was psyched on my first top 1o.

enough race reporting... spent sunday night in st. george to celebrate sammi's dad's 60th. got in some good recovery lounging around in the pool yesterday. i'm not going to touch a bike until saturday- hannah is coming over to visit for the weekend and we are going to take some dh runs at dv. hopefully firth can make it out.

man- that is the worlds longest most boring post. i wonder if anyone is still reading. better shut up now...

manly bike for sale

2008-08-26T09:00:00.002-06:00

Bike Tank

pc ride w/ lesh

2008-08-03T16:25:00.000-06:00

monthly post

2008-08-02T19:26:00.012-06:00

Man I have been failing as a blogger lately. Luckily Ty has kept up the posting. Good work dude.

Been a crazy month- made it back east to do some races and get a small vacation in. Vacations are never as relaxing as you hope and I didn't really get a whole lot of rest/down time in but did have a great time. Had two OK races back there- not my best days but not my worst. I suffered like a dog in the hot humid weather for some reason. Maybe I am getting used to the nice dry climate here.

After the Mt. Snow short track I packed up my bike and flew to St. Louis MO. for a sales meeting. I finally made it back to Salt Lake Wednesday night after a few days of too much drinking and lots of shitty food. I worked Thursday in the office and then left bright and early to Jackson on Friday to work up there and do the ICUP race. It took my legs a lap to wake up from a week without riding but they started to come around on the 2nd and I managed to get away for the win. Sunday I did this dual hill climb thing. Nothing but a whole lot of suffering there- and the "mtb" portion climbs a road for 35 minutes. Then 5 minutes of dirt road and 6 of 1 track. A cross bike would be the ride of choice there. Sammi came up for the weekend and we went up to Teton National Park after and swam in a lake. Cold but nice.

I worked Mon/Tues up there and drove straight to Solitude to see what I could salvage in the overall standings up there. If nothing else I have solidified 3rd- not too bad for missing 2 races.

All that's left me pretty worked- just in time for Outdoor Retailer this week. Yahoo! Here are some random pics-

this guy wandered in to our camp at sunrise

han and i after a weekly vt. race

looking stoked after windham

and this is what i miss most about VT besides the fam...

crest from the house

2008-08-02T19:03:00.005-06:00

headed out early from the house, up big, down crest, down millcreek and back to the house. Sweet ride up big before it got too hot, good times on crest. Unfortunately Alex stacked it super hard on a loose corner (no stitches this time!)

pretty crowded day on the trail

snack time

alex showing off the squirting feature on his new hydration pack

check out the crash aftermath

dust and blood

back home and ready to hose off

square ice cream

2008-07-31T19:01:00.000-06:00

Heading home from Jackson and saw that a gas station was advertising "World Famous Square Ice Cream!" I mean to take a picture of it, got a little carried away eating though.

not a bad spot for lunch

2008-07-30T19:01:00.000-06:00

sv biking

2008-07-27T21:07:00.000-06:00

nap time

2008-07-16T16:13:00.000-06:00

looks like we've got a new black furry roommate for an unknown amount of time

dinner

2008-07-15T16:12:00.000-06:00

little nephew andrew

2008-07-14T17:37:00.002-06:00

sunday ride

2008-07-13T17:38:00.000-06:00

i built some shelves

2008-07-12T17:39:00.002-06:00

(schirf cut the wood)

tracks j-walking bandit

2008-07-10T17:40:00.000-06:00

racing w/alex

2008-07-08T17:41:00.002-06:00

no more ugly stone wall

2008-07-07T17:41:00.000-06:00

trying to keep the grass green

2008-07-06T17:51:00.000-06:00

waterpark

2008-07-06T15:19:00.004-06:00

Wow- haven't posted in forever. Sammi and I hit up the water park on Friday to celebrate the 4th. Raging Waters is only 12 bucks after 4pm!

Sammi would probably kill me if she knew I posted a picture of her in a bikini on the internet...

After two hours of running up stairs in the sun to hit every slide I realized my legs were getting a little tired. Not the best prep for Solitude the next morning but hey- how often do I get to hit water slides. We went to the fireworks in Sugar House later on and got rained on by burning embers. Some guy next to us got really burned and was running around swearing.
Sure enough I was a little tired at Solitude the next day (though I think Deer Valley last weekend and the work week were more to blame than the water park) and was lucky to take the win. BZ is flying right now and was keeping me honest.

So I am mtb. state champ for another year- I need to be sure I get in shape earlier next year so Bart doesn't make me embarrassed to have the title when he crushes me in the early spring!

Otherwise I've been super busy with work and getting settled in to Sammi's house. I managed 11th at the Deer Valley Natioanal last weekend amidst the craziness, some stitches and a bruised rib/pulled back muscle. I just tried to keep a consistent pace the whole time and it ended up paying off. My top 20 call up didn't hurt either. Not sure how that happened!

Did a killer mtb loop with Ty, Derek and Jim in PC today- 3.5 hours with some snow up at shadow lake and a new trail called Fat Lip. Super sweet- it'll be a classic soon.

barbeque time

2008-07-05T19:16:00.001-06:00

4th o july

2008-07-04T12:41:00.001-06:00

headed up to breakfast at Brighton with Lesha, Linsey, and Carolyn, and then hopped on the bike and headed up Guardsmans to ride crest for the first time this year. SO much fun. trail is in awesome condition and except for lower big water the trail wasn't too crowded. time now for breakfast #2, a nap, and then dinner at Mom's.

new shoes for the epic

2008-07-03T07:01:00.000-06:00

schirf's blog

2008-07-02T16:10:00.003-06:00

Right on, Schirf is finally blogging again... schirfphoto.blogspot.com. check him out, he takes some pretty sweet pics. He's going to start posting one pic a day for the next month, and I thought I'd follow suit and try to post a pic a day. I figure for the first post I'll start with some pics from a trip to Seattle this past weekend with Lesha.

Mt. Raineer from the plane

chilling on the couch at McGlone's

double bluetooth earpiece sighting!

DV W

2008-06-07T14:50:00.002-06:00

yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. left the house in a hurry this morning when I got a text from Alex and a call from my Mom that it was snowing in Park City. Figured it would make for some good pictures and a fun race to watch. right on both counts, it was a sweet morning. awesome to watch alex get the win after a couple frustrating 2nd places, and fun to be around the race in general. I'm stoked to try and make it for the rescheduled Solitude race on the 5th. here are a few pics, more to come....
nice work dude.

40s

2008-06-01T17:33:00.004-06:00

Since I am moving out this week we drank some big beers at the house last night- yum! Its a good thing you can't get those in Utah. Played on the slackline too- funny, there seems to be a correlation between balance and beer consumption...

Speaking of moving I was planning to get going on some stuff today and haven't done a thing! That will be a project for this week I guess.

I was pretty disappointed with how I felt at the Sundance ICUP yesterday but got over it quickly. I love that course and was hoping for a good race but just didn't have the ups. Rode a decent race but just didn't have a ton of energy and couldn't climb. I was still tired from chasing hard wed. and my legs and back were like "hey dude- give us a break." I hadn't had much of a chance to recover with work and just stuff to do. For some reason I grabbed the lead into the singletrack though but was soon thinking what am I doing here. I tried back off and save some for the end and did start to come around at the start of the last 1/2 lap. I gunned it and think I was making up some time on Mitchell but ran out of real estate. Oh well- felt great wed. so hopefully with a little rest I'll come around... moving is good recovery right?

Ty is off to Sun Valley for his first big round of Patagonia showings- good luck dude!

flats

2008-05-29T20:50:00.003-06:00

Flats in races are funny- they can totally change your day and always come at the worst time. It seems like there are some days when you just hope you'll flat so you can stop and change it or just call it quits. Then when someone asks how it went you can say "Oh, I flatted" rather than "Oh, I sucked". That never happens though and you always flat when you are feeling good and think you can put together a good ride.

Before last nights Draper ICUP race I had been close to 2 years without flatting in a race. I guess my time was up. I think the last time I flatted in a race was two years ago at Deer Valley in what I would say was a breakthrough race for me. I actually rode with Bart the whole race and we were about 1 minute behind Eric Jones. That was after a year of getting shelled in the pro class and of course I flatted with about 20 minutes to go. Still managed 3rd I think. Anyway, enough reminiscing.

Not that last nights race was going to be anything too special but I was feeling good and riding comfortably up the 1st lap climb with Mitchell in tow and we got a solid gap. He charged around me at the top and I started the dh a few seconds back. Then I heard the dreaded pssst pssst pssst. Tried to get some stans to go down in the hole but didn't have any luck. I ended up throwing a tube in and got back on course in probably about 10th. I got back in to a rythym after a few minutes and decided to make a charge. Got all the way to 2nd which I was pretty stoked on. Just aired up a new Conti Mtn King Protection 2.2 which has a thicker casing.

I am moving in with Sammi next week- looking forward to it (not the move itself- I hate moving) but at the same time will miss living at Ty's. She has no idea what she is in for...

photo blog

2008-05-21T17:25:00.009-06:00

its 90 degrees? Time for a 1-piece of course...

classic

tons of snow up there still

tim sliding on hos back down regulator in a 1-piece
for the debut of "slider sunday"

ice cream season! here's what happens when a milk shake
just won't cut it. dryers has a new flavor out- chocolate chip
mint brownie. how could it get any better?

cali

2008-05-18T11:43:00.002-06:00

oh boy, southern california. half way through a work trip and having a pretty good time. spent a couple days in reno, which isn't as bad as I thought it might be. the company was having bike to work week, and the rental car I ended up with was a black V8 dodge charger. pretty funny rolling up in that when everyone is out front chilling on their lunch break and tuning bikes. aside from meeting 20 or 30 new faces and getting 100 different questions answered, the reno highlights were a Trader Joes trip and heading out to Truckee to hang out with Hoyer and his wife. Truckee's a pretty rad place, Hoyer's house is up on a hill with these amazing, huge pine trees in his yard and throughout the neighborhood.

flew to lax yesterday, and spent two hours in awesome traffic driving to Ventura. avoided the in n out gut bomb on the way and had a decent sandwich for lunch in some upscale town where everyone's trying to look like movie stars while walking their little yapper dogs. Ventura's not as small or chill of a town as I thought it'd be, but the hotel's right on the beach, and good surf is right there. paddled out for a couple hours last night, and a couple more this morning. brought back awesome Australia memories, and was SO much fun. definitely one of the only real drawbacks of living in salt lake is no surf. The skiing and biking does a pretty damn good job of making up for it though.

alright, nap time, and then time for a tour around town on the cruiser bike and an afternoon surf. AND trying to get the brain ready for learning overload for the next 4 days.
/ty

dehydration station

2008-05-17T15:23:00.002-06:00

Got a nice reminder about hydration today- in the form of the worst cramps I've ever had on the bike! The Soldier Hollow ICUP is usually a tough one for me- its still pretty early and probably requires the most fitness of any race. After a tough week with less than 2 hours on the bike though not much rest I didn't have huge expectations- though Fox did pick me for the win. I felt good for about 3/4 of a lap and even put a little time on Bart. I actually probably went a little too hard. As soon as it came time to pedal again after the 1st dh I knew I didn't have it for the long haul. I had last lap cramping sensations (foreboding) that I've never had that early. Bart caught up to me on the 2nd and then when he lifted the pace on the 3rd lap I was flat. Then the cramps started setting in and progressed to full lock out mode. I had to shake my legs on the dh's and was just hanging on. Worst I've ever had by far.

Thinking back I can see why- woke up Tuesday with some sort of stomach flu- or food poisoning and felt nauseous. Turned in to chills, aches, fever, etc. Wasn't drinking enough water because I didn't feel good enough too. Wed. I felt OK so I went and raced the wed. night but was still a little off. That surely didn't help my hydration status. Thursday and Friday I worked a sunglass expo outside from 8:30 to 6 each day and didn't drink enough. Hydration is a cumulative thing and drinking water last night and this morning couldn't dig me out of that hole. It was a nice reminder though as its about to get a lot hotter!

I still managed 2nd and was over 3 minutes faster than last year even though I was chugging (VT term for going slow) at the end.

Wow, long post. I am just delaying going back down to the expo to pack up. Stopping for a milk shake on the way. Schirf was there taking photos- I'll post some when I get them. Drink up!

foiled by flats

2008-05-11T12:44:00.003-06:00

I had big plans to head up to Snowbird to do some spring boarding this morning but with my truck tire looking like this I'm not going anywhere. Yeah, I could change it and put on my spare but I just don't feel like it. I need to start running stans in my car tires. I also need to repaint my wheels! Check out this piece of metal that got stuck in there...

Oh well- its nice down here. Sammi and I played frisbee instead.

Raced the Wimmer's icup yesterday in some SLOW dirt. It felt like slow motion racing. It was all loamy and squishy and felt like our tires were flat. I can't imagine how fast we would have been going putting in that kind of effort on some normal dirt. Some of the single track was tacky and buff and super fun to ride. Rode pretty much the whole race with Bart and was able to pull away on the last lap. I felt ok finally and hopefully I'll be able to keep getting in shape. Weekly racing starts up this week and I'll probably only be able to hit up the early ones in May before work travel gets crazy this summer.

recovering from the "recovery ride"

2008-05-05T22:43:00.009-06:00

I was planning on riding yesterday, and wanted to head out for a couple mellow hours to clear my head and enjoy the good weather. Alex raced on Saturday was meeting up with a couple other guys who had raced too...ended up being bart, bob, ohran, and jared. Alex talked me into it, and told me what a tough day everyone else had the day before. I've been riding a bunch for the past couple weeks, but nothing really before that on the bike, but i've been feeling pretty good. SO I figured what the hell, it'll be cool to ride with Alex and some new guys. woops. bad idea. long story short: hung on pretty good for the first part of the ride, did ok on a steep as shit climb, had a fun dh, bombed shoreline to dry creek, blew up climbing dry creek, made my way to the top of bobsled, had a sweet dh, found out I missed dinner at Lesha's dads house, managed to make it home on the road in one piece, took a nap, and finally had some amazing mac and cheese from wild oats.

So now, as the title suggests, I'm recovering from the recovery ride. probably the hardest I've gone since racing last summer before I hurt my knee. I guess if there's good new it probably helped me get into decent race shape if I can stay on it with a couple more rides. bad news is that I might have to miss my two favorite icups because of work trips -- DV and solitude. bummer.

While I was still thinking coherently up the first climb, and still had my sense of humor, I came up with a short list of comparisons from the ride, and signs at the beginning that I might not have the legs to keep up on the ride:
1. only guy in a jersey advertising beer
2. only guy without shaved legs
3. only guy on a bike worth less than 5 g's retail whose name doesn't have the word "team" in it's name
5. (i thought this one might actually help me out) only guy who didn't race for 3 hours the day before

maybe the list isn't so funny any more now that I'm off the bike, kept me entertained for the first part of bart's climb though. Definitely motivates me to hit it again and keep up next time. I don't think I could ditch the beer jersey or drop a wad of cash on a new bike, but maybe i should try the shaved legs routine. it better make me damn fast if i do to make up for the hard time i'll get from lesha.
/ty

5 Mile

2008-05-04T10:15:00.003-06:00

You know its not going to be your best day when you show up to a race and realize that you forgot your socks... and only brought one arm warmer.

Gave the 5 mile pass race a try for the first time yesterday- ouch, thats a tough one. 1st lap I was feeling ok riding in 2nd for a while chasing down Dave Welsh. Bart came up to me and took over the chase. We caught up to Dave and then all hell broke loose for me. I misjudged the steepness of a little hill and had it in the wrong gear and those guys got a gap. Then I took a wrong turn and lost about 10 more seconds. Shortly after I got a side-ache and skipped a few gears on a climb. That blew me psychologically and I started getting discouraged. I managed to get back in to sort of a groove but couldn't kick my side cramp and could barely drink anything for the 1st 2 laps. I kept thinking- shoot, I am going to pay for this at the end! I did too on the 4th lap. I was probably just under a minute behind Dave (Bart was long gone) and gave it some gas to try to close the gap. I cramped up pretty good and with 10 miles to go I had to back it off and limp home. I managed to hold on to 3rd though. Bart came off his death bed and worked us over!

Off to Boise tomorrow morning until Thursday. Can't wait for Motel 6!

shred alert!

2008-04-28T21:45:00.004-06:00

all 3 of us headed out on shoreline tonight - red butt to bobsled and back through campus to hit the two sets of grass rollers. ripped it! first time I had been out on my big(er) bike and it was pretty sweet. kind of a beast to pedal, but bobsled was awesome. Schirf was having a blast on a new Rocky Mountain prototype until he stacked it pretty good after bobsled. having fun riding the lower trails for now, would definitely be bummed if we're still in the same situation a month from now. Not sure when I'll start racing, but DV and Solitude are probably the two best and it would suck if those were cancelled.

starting a new job in a week -- crazy crazy -- should be a good time though, I'm stoked. /ty

early races?

2008-04-27T21:28:00.002-06:00

I am starting to wonder about some of the early races this year. I had to go up to Logan on Saturday to work an event at a shop up there and thought I would check out the trails up at Sherwood Hills in the evening on the way back. Driving up Sardine Canyon on the way up I started to see a lot of snow- by the time I got to Sherwood there was a pretty solid snowpack. We're going to need some hot weather if thats all going to melt before the Wimmer's ICUP in two weeks!

What about Deer Valley and Solitude in 6 weeks? I guess a lot can happen in that amount of time. Maybe we can earn points by shoveling the tracks out before the races... Anyway, here's to some warm (but not too hot) weather.

windy rim

2008-04-24T08:43:00.013-06:00

My parents were in town for a few days last weekend seeking refuge from the long Vermont winter and looking for a little sun. With crappy weather in the forecast up here we packed up my truck Saturday morning and headed for the desert. I had convinced them to rent a jeep and drive the White Rim while Tim and I rode it. I was having second thoughts on Thursday and Friday though, as both Tim and I had apparently picked up the same cold at the RJD2 show a few days before and there were some pretty high winds forecast. All the pieces were in place though so we went for it and Tim met us in Moab from Coors Town, USA (Golden CO.)

It was pretty windy when we arrived Saturday afternoon and we were a little worried. "Can't be any worse than Brian Head in the mud a few years ago." we said. "Can't be worse than the E100 with tendonitis." Tim said. Well, it wasn't but it was pretty bad! We rode the whole thing from the top of mineral bottom road counter clockwise and had 20-30 mph sustained headwinds all the way south (with way higher gusts) and then on the way back the wind swirled around the canyons and messed with us. It felt like we had about 15 miles of tailwind out of 105. We made it though, 7 am to 7pm. Climbing Shafer with sand blowing in our faces just added insult to injury!

My parents had a great time though and loved it. My dad rallied the rental jeep. I've just been laying low and working since. Here are lots of pics in no particular order

The love...

the hate...

no comment

the parental units

lunch!

Ned in the jeep

if it looks like we are leaning thats because of the wind

soaking up some rays

check out the coat my dad found at the DI

vids

2008-04-16T18:16:00.002-06:00

so speaking of Moab, Alex and Hannah came back with a sweet video of alex riding a little ledge drop at the end of porcuipine. After squealing his brakes into the drop, he hits the drop well, but then goes off course and jumps over his handle bars and runs it out down the rocks. it was hilarious. they showed it to me at 8 in the morning on hannah's camera, and after watching it three times i accidentally erased it in my drowsy haze. damn. so in tribute to that video here's one that almost as good of my friend Dave hitting a rail at Mt hood a couple years ago...

sorry again for erasing the vid man!
/ty

daydreaming

2008-04-16T07:59:00.007-06:00

Trying to get some work started but i keep daydreaming looking at some more pics from Moab that Hannah sent over.

Won't be doing any of that this week... there's an inch or two of snow at out house and its only supposed to get up to 40 today.

I raced Cholla this weekend- went ok and I felt a lot better than last year when I dnf'd, then laid on the ground for an hour or two, made it back to my truck and barfed. I ended up 3rd- not the best ride but I'll take it. That race is a good character builder because it sucks so bad!

Doing this on Sunday... can't wait!

Moab

2008-04-06T22:47:00.009-06:00

Hannah and I went to Moab this weekend to ride Porcupine Rim. We lucked out with awesome biking weather and got to ride it twice.

We pulled in late Friday night and pretty much camped on Highway 128- I think a diesel truck drove by our tent about every 20 minutes all night. Luckily we got a slightly better spot for Sat.

On the shuttle

Doing the chicken dance

This is pretty crazy- they have
been burning the tamarisk trees down
and clearing them out. I think they found a
beetle that just kills those trees. I know they
weren't native but they did provide some good
secluded camp sights. Now its all open and you feel like you are at a KOA- or a junkyard or something.

Fun stuff - Han has some better pics so maybe I'll post some of those when she send them over.

bike accounting

2008-04-01T09:09:00.002-06:00

Here's another addition to the bike quiver- though with two sold so far this spring that brings me right back to even. Next week I'll be selling my Yeti after I ride Porcupine rim on it this weekend!

Out with the old...

2008-03-27T09:49:00.004-06:00

and in with the new

I am actually selling my Titus so if anyone knows somebody who is looking for a fast race/xc bike point them in my direction. I am asking 3k- its in great shape with full 07 XTR. Full handmade ti frame has interchangeable dropouts for a SS option. I am trying to avoid e-bay if possible.

Kind of wish I was in California racing this weekend- with the price of gas what it is and no plane tickets for under 300 bucks I think I'll stay put. Too bad it just snowed on shoreline because that was getting really good.

snowy march

2008-03-15T23:21:00.006-06:00

headed out for a walk with Mocha tonight in a full on March blizzard. Came home and snagged to the camera to get some pretty cool looking shots. The porch and garage lights added perfect lighting to the darkness and heavy snow.

jury duty

2008-03-13T13:37:00.002-06:00

Had to serve my jury duty for the first time ever this morning after finding out yesterday afternoon. Luckily I hadn't hopped on a plane the day before to visit my sister in Arizona, and i could serve my civic duty. I didn't get chosen for the actual jury, but I still had to spend the whole morning sitting around at the courthouse. The trial was for some guy that was charged with a DUI. We had to sit in one room for like an hour and a half, then out in the hallway to line up by juror number, back to the room for another half hour, back to the hallway to line up, and then finally to the courtroom for an hour or two. Each of us and had to stand up and say our name, and basic info about our life so they could get a good idea who would be fit to stand on the jury. They were interested if you were married, had kids, how much education you had, where you worked, your hobbies, where you get your news from, if you get any magazines in the mail. Would've been pretty funny to say that we get Playboy at the house, thanks to Hannah, but I didn't quite have the balls for that.

You always hear people joke about how if they get jury duty they'll just stand up and say they're racist, hate gay people, etc... and then be excused immediately. Sounds like a great idea, but once you finally get in there in front of the judge and lawyers it doesn't seem quite that easy. You're sworn in and have to stand up and state your name any time you're going to speak.

so in the end I spent 4 or so hours, and got a sweet check for $18.50.

photo booth

2008-03-13T13:35:00.001-06:00

Schools of thought

2008-03-09T18:15:00.003-06:00

Some people would say I wasted this run, perhaps the two guys that skied down to my left. I just don't have the discipline I guess. I don't care if I hiked all day- I'd rather make one good turn than 100 small ones. Check out Ty's Pics on the right and go to Twins Hike March 08. He got some awesome shots! No offense to those guys- I am sure they had fun too.

Oh yeah...

2008-03-02T21:51:00.009-07:00

Every year it seems like I forget how hard bike racing is. Then the first race comes around and find myself saying oh yeah, this takes a little work. Its funny because it seems like every year I make the same mistakes for the first one of the season- 1 I don't train hard and 2 I blow it nutritionally. This year I have kept in pretty good shape- riding a little down south, renting xc skis from rei a few times, shredding pow at the bird and ski touring a little. Not much in the way of intensity though. I also seem to forget what works for me nutritionally and I end up eating too much too close to the start. Put those together and you have a nice recipe for suffering. At least it wasn't as bad as last year when I DNF'd then barfed my first race out.

Top 10 thoughts going through my head during the race:

10. Shit we are going way too fast for March 1

9. Oh man- my stomach...

8. Man what's going on- I worked Sammi over pretty good when we were down here last month. I thought I was going good...

7. Did I really need oj, a banana, cereal, a bagel, a swedish pancake with strawberries, and 2 cups of coffee this morning? Or thirds on apsaragus and salad last night for that matter?

6. Why doesn't my back hurt? (must be the new Rocky Mtn Element)

5. This bike is sweet.

4. This sucks.

3. I suck.

2. I paid money to feel like this?

1. I can't wait for next time.

I actually think I would have been up there a little more if my stomach didn't go south. Every time I tried to go hard I felt like I was going to barf. I couldn't drink or eat any Gu's which caught up to me at the end. Oh well, good to get that one out of the way. Usually I am thinking about my first ride of the season this time of year...

Props to Bart who killed it- nice work man!

1st race

2008-02-26T12:34:00.001-07:00

Alex is heading to St. George for the 1st mountain bike race of the season. Good luck man, hopefully the new Rocky Mtn frame holds up better than this guys did.

Belated Photos- Hogum Fork & Dented Frames

2008-02-14T20:11:00.013-07:00

Finally getting around to posting some photos of last
Sunday. We tried to get an early start up Mt. Superior
but they were conducting avalanche control work
until 8 am. I am glad the guy told us- that would
have been a bit of a surprise when the howitzers
started blazing and we were on the ridge. Ended up
hiking over to Hogum Fork instead, where we found out
what 100 mph winds can do to the snow. At least the
weather was calm and clear and killer views made up for
extremely beat snow.

Sunrise over the valley-

The Pfeifferhorn- oh wait who are those jerks?

I told Tim and Libby to pose together on this wind
drift in hopes that it would slide and I would have
some peace and quiet. No such luck.
(Actually thats almost not funny and it was totally
safe or we wouldn't be goofing around)

I've only been drooling over the Hypodermic Needle
(the chute on the right that looks like a downward
pointing arrow) for about 8 years now. Someday...

Great views of the lake-

Ex-stream skiing-

Sweet- new hardtail frame arrived today

Not sweet... my new Element showed up last
week with a dented frame. Had to send it back.
F@$#&*% DHL!

Pagan Basin

2008-02-09T16:19:00.001-07:00

Hopped on a 7:00 am tram this morning to do a few
laps out below Mineral Basin. The peak was socked in
with high winds but by the time we got out to where we
were going it cleared up for us.

Here's Libby, Keith and Tim looking bright eyed and
ready to ski. The snow ended up being way better than
we thought and we got three good laps in.

How bad did Tim want to do Pagan Chute?

One ski had to come off eventually...

But it was well worth it...

ski demo

2008-02-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

Spent the past two days at Snowbasin for the on snow ski demo. The highlight of the two days was defintely the Tibetan monk who was walking around in sandals and a robe. The temperature was in the mid teens, and it was super chilly in the shade. He was super stoked to walk around and check out all the skis and had his picture taken standing on a pair of Armadas's, as well as a picture with me. I wish I had a business card on me so I could have had them e-mail me their copies of the pictures, the pic from my phone below will have to do though...

SIA

2008-01-29T21:48:00.000-07:00

Ty is down at SIA this week- I didn't have to go this year so I thought I'd post some pics from a few years ago in the SIA spirit... We hit the Rum Jungle then a buffet at 2 am for some leathery steak and soft serve. Yeah Vegas!

St. George- fingers and fun

2008-01-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

My friend Brandon and I headed down to St. George last weekend to do some mtn. biking with a bunch of people. It was super fun- despite the fact that Brandon got robbed of riding dirt by a dislocated finger. It was a gnarly crash and I actually saw his bone sticking out of his finger! I thought he was going to be really messed up so I guess it turned out OK. I went to get the car and brought him to the emergency room. 4 stitches in his finger and 3 in his leg and he was back out on the bike by 5 pm. Hard core!! Sunday I met up with a bunch of people for a ride. It was super fun and ended up being really long. Here's Bart stopping for some lunch- its hard to see but there is a sign in the background that says "Wraps $8.50." Crazy. Here's a photo of me courtesy of Brad Keyes. What you can't see is that it is 40 degrees with probably a 40 mph north wind! Cool view down to theVirgin River Gorge and Mesquite though. I almost dropped down to play some slots... Brandon put in 3+ hours on the road on his mtb. Sunday- tough as nails! We got back late Sunday night then I hit the road to work Boise/Sun Valley Monday morning. As if that wasn't enough driving I took a wrong turn on a "short cut" and tacked on a good hour to my return trip. I guess things look a little different in the dark. Anyway- crazy week!

house sitting

2008-01-03T21:50:00.000-07:00

styaing up in PC for my Mom and Peter while they're in Jackson and I'm a little bored, so I thought I'd post. Hi Lesha. There's a huge storm rolling in for the weekend and I can't wait to ski again. The snow's been awesome lately, and another couple powder days this weekend would be pretty sweet. New skis are on the way, but I don't think they'll be here in time for the weekend. Super stoked tomorrow's Friday, it's been a nice shortened work week with new years falling on a Tuesday. this is my most random post ever, and probaly the most I've typed in one post. here are a couple pics from driving up parley's with Lesha. Aahh, the moustache. check out Mocha chilling in the back seat too.

Cheers

2008-01-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

Who needs champagne when you have hot coco, peppermint schnapps and vodka.

Proper classic xc technique...

and skate...

Snow Golf

2007-12-31T13:27:00.000-07:00

With wind chills around 35 below zero and the canyon road still backed up in to the city at 10:00 am I gave up on snowboarding and got out for a quick 18

The greens were really slow for some reason...

Actually I hit REI ans rented some xc skis- classic style which was fun, though I think I am more of a skate skier.

New Year's Eve tonight- I am trying to round up some people to go up Millcreek to be outside for midnight but it looks like it might just be Sammi and I.

Happy New Year!

Tram Line

2007-12-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

2007-12-27T16:02:00.001-07:00

Went up to Snowbird this afternoon for a few runs. Brought my new-to-me digital camera out and the battery froze. These few pics are all I got after I warmed the battery up in time for the last run. Watch out Schirf- I'm practicing.

hell yeah!

2007-12-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

Get a Cash Advance

Steep

2007-12-18T22:00:00.001-07:00

this movie looks sweet...

Stache

2007-12-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure if Ty was going to post this or not but it's got to be up... classic!
For more pictures from a recent backcountry ski day check out our roomate Mike's blog at schirfphoto.blogspot.com. He's to cool for our blog. Ha ha- take that Schirfy.

Flailing

2007-12-03T21:22:00.001-07:00

Wow- Saturday was quite humbling out at Wheeler Farm. I think I must have fallen 2 dozen times at least!

So crazy- that was my first time riding in the snow and I'm still not too comfortable on my cross bike. Those aren't excuses, I flailed it horribly. I really wish I had some video of some of the corners where I fell 4 times in a row. For some reason I just couldn't ride.

Props to anyone who rode smooth out there! Fun stuff.

Tool

2007-11-24T16:21:00.000-07:00

F%$* YEAH! Not much beats seeing your favorite band live. Stoked!

don't piss off the troll

2007-11-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

we need snow!

2007-11-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics taken yesterday at Snowbird. It's finally cold enough for them to start making a ton of snow, but mother nature needs to cooperate and get the winter going!

Cycle Ball

2007-11-01T15:21:00.000-06:00

So I managed to watch this entire video, and I can stop thinking that it's a spoof

Pink Dinosaur

2007-10-30T20:47:00.000-06:00

"This is downright degrading- these are going on the internet and I'm not even going to get paid!"

Although I did almost get paid last Saturday night at a bar in Denver. I was almost best costume which would have been a $5oo dollar prize. I don't really think I ever had a chance.

Happy Halloween!

sunrise

2007-10-26T09:07:00.000-06:00

a bunch of us went to Tanner's movie premier at Harry O's in PC last night. Despite coming home smelling of smoke, it was a good time. It's always fun to see a ski movie on the big screen with a crowd of people. Definitely made me even more stoked for the ski season. Lesha and i are house sitting at my Mom's and I managed to get up early enough to take some pretty cool sunrise pics while walking through the woods. Winter's pretty sweet, but fall might be my favorite season. The weather has finally cooled off, bike trails and in perfect shape, there's the anticipation of winter, and the mountains are really pretty. stoked.

Bobsled

2007-10-24T21:04:00.001-06:00

Rode the Bobsled tonight- its in great shape. This shot is old but its all I have.

I need to get a camera. That's after a cross bike, skate skis, a snowbird pass and a new board! Ouch. Watch out Visa.

Maybe I'll start stripping part time to make some extra cash.

Go Bo Sox!

Ha like I care about Baseball. Actually i am pretty psyched about the world series for some reason.

Smog sucks, I need to live in the mountains out of the soup. Its already starting and its only October.

Winter

2007-10-23T21:12:00.001-06:00

This fall is crazy- winter one day and then summer the next. I guess thats how it is around here most of the time.

This pic keeps me cool in the summer and takes me out of the 103 degree heat to a snowy fantasy land. It's my friend Rich and I on a touring trip at a yurt up near Beaver Mtn.

Anyway, this post is going a little better than the last one- it took me about 30 minutes to figure out how to post a picture with words. Before long I'll be a master blogger.

Hope this works...

pug bowling

2007-10-21T23:04:00.001-06:00

so since we just started this blog I've been trying to remember some of the funnier youtube video's I've seen... this could be one of the best.... can't remember where I initially saw it though.

drunk monkeys

2007-10-21T22:19:00.001-06:00

"they have learned to be sneaky"

weenie roast

2007-10-21T21:37:00.000-06:00

We headed up Millcreek canyon tonight for a campfire and to celebrate Sammi's birthday

better than birtday cake?

Quote of the night by Lesha, "Alex can you slide your sausage in over here".

sausage party

Alex, Sammi, Annie, and Lesha

Cross Pic

2007-10-21T17:00:00.000-06:00

Cross on the MTB.

sad dinner

2007-09-11T21:47:00.000-06:00

dogs

2007-08-25T21:51:00.000-06:00

Dixie ready to play fetch

Mocha and Sophie charging

Mocha's finally tired

alex's stache

2007-08-06T21:42:00.000-06:00

Alex working on his bike

2007-07-09T22:07:00.000-06:00

Ty's mullet

2007-05-02T22:09:00.000-06:00

Christian Mandahl's a ripper

2007-03-15T22:09:00.000-06:00