Thanksgiving!

Holidays are the hardest times to be away from family.  Its easy to miss grandma's or mom's home cooked meals.  Fortunately I am lucky enough to have made friends in Denver who were nice enough to ask me to share the holiday with them.  This year Jeremy, Kim and Eric came over to my place.  It was the second year in a row I hosted Thanksgiving.  As you see above there was plenty of good food for all.  Thankfully I have the internet so this could help us with dinner.  At the time of posting, there are 3,000 more hits, so we aren't the only ones using this, ha ha.  Football games and Dumb and Dumber were on the TV.  Eric and I even prepped out mountain bikes for this weekends adventure.

Century Saturday and a new record

Its probably kind of funny that I post a new record right after my last post (rest).  Anyway, Erik, Eric, Jeremy and I set out to do our November century on 11/6.  The highs in the Front Range were in the upper 70s and with winter supposedly approaching and shorter days ahead, we figured this was the best opportunity.  In the back of my mind I kind of thought I would push myself and see how many miles I could do.  I thought our planned route would put me at about 115, which it was actually a bit lower.  We rode out to Nederland and did a loop, gps details here.  It was a really good route and highway 72 was new to me.  Overall it is a pretty good descent (72) and some surprising climbs.  After we all hit 100 miles and parted ways, I decided I would head out to the Cherry Creek Res where I do a lot of my quick road rides.  I was not sure how many miles I could push out because of how I felt, dwindling supplies, and the sun.  Well, I ran out of sun, so I ended at 125.34 miles, which is a new overall record.  Our November century was my 23rd consecutive month with at least one 100 mile bike ride.

The most difficult part of being a cyclist for me

rest 1 (rst)

n.

1. Cessation of work, exertion, or activity.

2. Peace, ease, or refreshment resulting from sleep or the cessation of an activity.

3. Sleep or quiet relaxation.

4. The repose of death: eternal rest.

5. Relief or freedom from disquiet or disturbance.

6. Mental or emotional tranquillity.

7. Termination or absence of motion.

Jim's week out West

My friend Jim from Wisconsin came out to visit this past week.  We did not have any definitive plans since Colorado is usually in a period of transition this time of the year.  Lot of biking and camping was what we were hoping for.  I picked Jim up at DIA and went straight to Chris and Marni's.  We ended up going "hiking" for a while up in Boulder.

 Sunday we drove out to Buffalo Creek to meet Ben who did a ridiculous ride from Denver.  He got in something like 80 miles and 11,000 ft of climbing including what we rode together.  Temps were a bit cool but pretty nice.  We rode the typical Thursday night loop, details below.  The ride elevation is between 6,600 ft and 8,000 ft, which is difficult for flat landers, but not really bad.  Most people who have not seen the landscape of Buffalo Creek are impressed by the rock and burnt areas.  Its probably a really good transition early on in Colorado.  Garmin stats.

 Jim and Ben

Jim 

 Me riding through high mountain Birch trees

 Jim

I did not have my V8 I guess

The weather looked like it was going to be bad in the Front Range.  We packed up the E and headed to the desert to enjoy 80 degree weather.  Our first stop was the Kokopelli trailhead just west of Fruita.  Lunch was at Paradox Pizza in Moab.  Monday night we camped under the stars down Willow Springs "road."

E packed with toys

Monday nights campsite

Tuesday we rode Sovereign.

Jim climbing

Tuesday night we did the tourist thing in Canyonlands national park.  We even saw the sunset over the Green river.

The best place to watch the sunset in Canyonlands, on the side of the E

 Overlooking the Green river and the White Rim trail, its been a while since I've seen it from this vantage  point.  I hope they fix the Mineral Bottom switchback before long.

The sun nearly set over the Green River

Wednesday we rode Porcupine Rim from town.  It was about 10 miles and 1,800 ft of elevation gain before we even got to the trailhead.  A little video for those of you who don't know.  Garmin stats.

 The Lev at the trailhead

Wednesday evening we did the tourist thing in Arches National Park.  We watched the sunset by Delicate arch.  

Delicate Arch

 The Lev had a great day, I only hoped beer with the same name would be a great way to end the day

Wednesday night's camp spot

After days of mountain biking, we decided it would be fun to try to do Lefthand Canyon on the road bikes, which is a classic Front Range climb.  And what good would a long climb be without a great descent.  I surpassed 50 mph on the downhill, and this is not the first time I've done this on the way down to Lyons.   Garmin info.

Mike and Eric joined in for the fun.  Jim is third in the picture (not counting my shoulder, which can be seen).

It was a great weekend, we were able to get quite a bit of adventure in.  On this trip Jim logged a few good firsts-first time in Utah and first time sleeping under the stars.  Dining out at Fugo De Chao, which is a Brazilian steakhouse in downtown Denver, was the only way to finish the trip.  First rate service and first rate food is all I can say.  It was a great way to spend my vacation.  I can't even imagine how much fun it was for Jim since everywhere we visited was new to him.

Night mountain biking

Night riding a local front range trail.  I am the first rider, Ben is the second rider.  The video was taken by Jesse

Thursday night riding video by Ben

Normal weekend for some, not so normal for others

I have not been posting as much the last half of the summer as I used to.  It seems to me the content of the majority of my posts is the same.  Camp somewhere that is amazing, ride my bike places that make most people envious, repeat.  Three plus years in Colorado and I still think that I am incredibly lucky to live here.  This past weekend Ben and I got to share some of the amazing riding and camping we do every weekend with Jesse and Tyler Welnak (Ben's brother).

Ben picked up Jesse and Tyler Friday afternoon and I met them out for a night lap.  We got about an hour and a half of riding mostly in the dark.  After the ride we drove to Idaho Springs for dinner at Tommy Knockers brewery.  Tiger road was our camping spot for the evening.  Morning temps hovered around upper 20s lower 30s, which is pretty nice for October at 9,600 ft.

Sunday we got up, ate pop tarts, and went into Breckenridge to fuel up to ride stage 2 of the Breck Epic. The ride consists of some tough fire road climbs and a really good section of the Colorado trail.  The climb up the section of the Colorado trail took us to over 11,000 ft.  Mountain bikers in Wisconsin do not get climbs that last for miles, and the reward, descents that last miles.  All the suffering led to a decent that puts a smile on any rider no matter where they are from.

 Saturday nights camp spot

 Jesse on the final long decent

 Typical views during the day

Ben, Jesse, me, Tyler

Sunday Mark and a couple others met us for a lap around the Indian Creek trails.  Conditions were pretty much the same, perfect.

The four mountain bike rides (if you count Thursdays night lap at Buffalo Creek) were a lot of fun.  While Colorado is to dry this fall, the warm weather has given us plenty of time to log miles on the mountain bikes.  I hope I can find weather like this past weekends somewhere as Jim will be visiting me next week.  More vacation and lots of biking, can't wait!!

Breck video slideshow thing by Ben

Indian Creek video slideshow thing by Ben

Late Cheq weekend report

The Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival.... probably my favorite weekend of the year.  Every year I look forward to this race more than any other.  Its more an event or tradition than just a race.  2010 was the 7th time in a row I got into the race via the lottery.  Most are not so fortunate.  This year Erik Arentzen entered the lottery with me and made the trip.  We drove to Eau Claire Wisconsin to meet Jim Parman and spin around for a while.  The trails at Lowe's Creek are pretty fun, though not to technical, and they provide a nice tuneup after a long and very boring drive.  My parents came out to meet us for dinner, where they surprised me with an official Aaron Rogers jeresey!! 

Friday morning greeted us with rain.  Boo, I don't like riding in rain and sloppy conditions, and this was even more of an issue since I had a Stans Raven front tire and a Crow rear tire-very little if any traction.  I would most likely die if I rode those tires in Colorado.  I decided not to change them as I figured that if it stopped raining early and dried out, they would be fine for 95% of the course.  We drove to Hayward to meet the rest of the group, find the cabin, register, and eat a large dinner of pasta.

Race day started at 4AM.  Jeremy, Justin, Jesse, Erik, and I drove to the start to stage our bikes and were awarded first and second row, which was behind all of the preferred starters.  I warmed up on the Fuel in the frigid temperatures of the north woods and was feeling good.  The gun went off and the start was hectic, picture 1800 mountain bike racers starting, slowing, and dodging road furniture.  When we hit 77, the pace opened up quite a bit.  I was riding with a few friends at the time, and decided it was time to drop the hammer.  I hit Rosies field and was passing people like crazy.  Shortly after we hit "trails" my rear tire seemed like it was going flat.  I asked Jesse how it looked, and he said low, great..  By mile 12 I was dinging my rim if I went over bumps.  I thought if I could make it to OO (first aid station area 16 miles in) I might find a pump and save time and a Big Air canister.  Even though I was on a flat tire for 4+ miles, I was 168/1800 at OO, which I thought was ok.  I found a pump, filled my tire extra full (40psi) and rolled off in an attempt to reel in the riders that passed me.  At about mile 25 I hit a patch of wet mud funny, and crashed.  I noticed I ejected a full water bottle after I was off and riding again.  I just emptied my other bottle and swapped them out.  Jeremy Vogels caught up to me again (he passed me three times while I was off my bike) at this point and handed me a water bottle.  I don't typically drink much, but it helped a lot, Thanks Jeremy!  I middle ringed the Seeley Fire Tower climb, which is the crux of the race and felt great still.  At the top of a climb at about mile 33 I shifted from my big chain ring to the middle chain ring, and got a bad case of chain suck.  The chain was doubled over between my large chain ring and front deraileur.  I could not move the crank in either direction, shifting the deraileur did not take pressure off the chain, and pulling on the chain did not do much either.  After maybe 3-5 minutes, I got the chain unstuck.  I pretty much pulled the plug on racing at this point as I was quite frustrated and WAY behind where I could have finished.  I kept a decent pace, but it was less than my race pace.  I ended up finishing 225 out of about 1800 in 2:44.  The course was much slower than last year.  I told Erik he would get somewhere between 2:55 and 3:15.  He split that and got 3:05!  How about that for predictions!  After the race the group went to Famous Dave's for some post race BBQ.  Beers and fires rounded out the night.

Garmin race stats
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/49885286

Sunday Erik and I headed up to the Rock Lake trailhead.  We rode a lot more trails this year.  CAMBA does an AMAZING job of working on these trails.  There were a bunch of rock features-some even had an alternate route as they were difficult.  This is easily the best trail cluster I've ridden in Wisconsin.  Lunch at the Sawmill Saloon provided recovery burgers and a place to watch the Packer game.It was great seeing a lot of friends and my parents, getting a short vacation, and going back to the great north woods of Wisconsin.