I haven't raced since the E100 back in late August and I am itchin' to race again. Racing gives me a focus and I enjoy the planning and execution of a long race. Many of my fellow Bloggers have had their race schedule layed out for months and for several of them their race season starts this Saturday up north or down south! Good luck to everyone who is gettin' their "go fast" on this weekend.
Disclaimer: I reserve the right to add or remove events on a whim or for more legitimate reasons such as death & taxes
May
The Kokopelli Trail Race - nothing like kicking the season off with a race that scares the poop right out of me
June
No races in June - I am hoping to find some smaller local races to jump into
July
Firecracker 50 in Breckenridge, CO - with lots of climbing this one will hurt a bit
E50 in Park City, UT - being one week before Laramie the trick is to go fast but not too fast
Laramie Enduro in Laramie, WY - I really want to break 7:00:00 this year!
August
E100 in Park City, UT - Joy and pain wrapped up in one convenient package. The E100 was the highlight of my season last year and it was the first and only 100 miler I have done. I will have almost a month after Laramie to get ready for the BIG ONE.
September
LOTOJA - I have never done a road race so 206 miles of road racing in one day should get me up to speed in a hurry!
October
Soul Ride in Oracle, AZ - I really hope this event happens in 2007 after a one year hiatus. Warm temps, good mexican food, and cactus = good times.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Warm Temps and Michelle’s New Pugsley
Michelle got an early birthday present this year in the form of a 16” Surly Pugsley and today was its maiden voyage. Fitzy got the frame & parts in quick and his main man Tim did a great job on the build. I love to build up my bikes but work has been crazy and having Tim build it got us riding faster. Thanks Tim!
We decided to scope out a new trail called North Leigh Creek that isn’t groomed but can get some snowmobile traffic and has awesome views of the Tetons. We unloaded, got geared up, and started riding the snowmobile tracks up the mellow grade. It was cool to ride an un-groomed trail and try to figure out where the traction was best. We were doing great and cruising along until the snowmobile tracks left the trail, headed straight uphill, and we were out of luck. Snow bike pushing was not on the agenda today so we flipped a u-turn and headed back to the truck. The mission was a success though because this trail has great potential.
Kenai is especially stoked about Michelle’s new hotness because he now has two snow biking buddies instead of one. He just doubled his chances for a ride.
We loaded the bikes back up and headed south about 20 minutes to the end of Horseshoe Canyon where we found a freshly groomed trail to go with the sunshine. This week has seen some daytime temps in the low 40s so we weren’t sure what to expect. The day was warming up fast but the trail was still firm and rideable so we shed some layers and got after it.
I love the corduroy! Riding the snow bike on freshly groomed, firm cord is almost as good as skiing pow. The trail at the end of Horseshoe is becoming my favorite trail and can easily be jumping-off point for bigger rides. In addition to our short N Leigh ride we rode another 2 1/2 hours on the Horseshoe trail had a blast. I am pretty psyched to learn that 40 degree temps does not mean you can't ride. The trail was soft in spots but overall was in great shape. More snow is supposed to hit tonight through Monday so we will have to see what happens.
We decided to scope out a new trail called North Leigh Creek that isn’t groomed but can get some snowmobile traffic and has awesome views of the Tetons. We unloaded, got geared up, and started riding the snowmobile tracks up the mellow grade. It was cool to ride an un-groomed trail and try to figure out where the traction was best. We were doing great and cruising along until the snowmobile tracks left the trail, headed straight uphill, and we were out of luck. Snow bike pushing was not on the agenda today so we flipped a u-turn and headed back to the truck. The mission was a success though because this trail has great potential.
Kenai is especially stoked about Michelle’s new hotness because he now has two snow biking buddies instead of one. He just doubled his chances for a ride.
We loaded the bikes back up and headed south about 20 minutes to the end of Horseshoe Canyon where we found a freshly groomed trail to go with the sunshine. This week has seen some daytime temps in the low 40s so we weren’t sure what to expect. The day was warming up fast but the trail was still firm and rideable so we shed some layers and got after it.
I love the corduroy! Riding the snow bike on freshly groomed, firm cord is almost as good as skiing pow. The trail at the end of Horseshoe is becoming my favorite trail and can easily be jumping-off point for bigger rides. In addition to our short N Leigh ride we rode another 2 1/2 hours on the Horseshoe trail had a blast. I am pretty psyched to learn that 40 degree temps does not mean you can't ride. The trail was soft in spots but overall was in great shape. More snow is supposed to hit tonight through Monday so we will have to see what happens. I just received a new map of the Fremont County snowmobile trail network and it consists of hundreds of miles of groomed trails as well. They get more snow and colder temps so I am anxious to check some of them out soon.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Stealth Mission
I got out late yesterday for another training adventure with JayP over in the Big Holes. I say training adventure, and not training ride, because we didn’t actually ride the whole time. We got some wet, heavy snow yesterday morning along with some wind and it left a portion of the trail unrideable. So we pushed. Pushing a loaded down 50+ pound snow bike uphill in the snow qualifies as training in my book. We reasoned that it was very likely we would end up pushing some of the time during any of races held in Alaska so not only were we training, we were simulating race conditions. Sweet!
We planned the ride time so that we would get some night riding time in as well and ended up being out for four hours.
I love riding at night on the snow! My Lupine Wilma LED is almost too bright on the 12amp/1W setting. I can re-program the switch to only put out 10amps and a little less than 1W and the battery life jumps up to over 50 hours.
As always it was great to bounce gear ideas off of Jay and continue to tweak my clothing system. Jay is feeling prepared for the Iditarod Trail Invitational with his bike packing system and overall strategy.
On the training front, two Indoor Cycling Center sessions per week plus riding the FatBike have me feeling better than I ever have this early in the year. I actually hope it doesn’t snow too much this weekend so I can ride both days. I can’t believe I am hoping it doesn’t snow!
We planned the ride time so that we would get some night riding time in as well and ended up being out for four hours.
I love riding at night on the snow! My Lupine Wilma LED is almost too bright on the 12amp/1W setting. I can re-program the switch to only put out 10amps and a little less than 1W and the battery life jumps up to over 50 hours.
As always it was great to bounce gear ideas off of Jay and continue to tweak my clothing system. Jay is feeling prepared for the Iditarod Trail Invitational with his bike packing system and overall strategy.
On the training front, two Indoor Cycling Center sessions per week plus riding the FatBike have me feeling better than I ever have this early in the year. I actually hope it doesn’t snow too much this weekend so I can ride both days. I can’t believe I am hoping it doesn’t snow!
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Snow biking in Yellowstone and GTNP...NOT!
What is wrong with this picture?
According to the current Temporary Winter Use Plan governing Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, "...roads are maintained for touring and sightseeing, accessing trailheads, and park management. During the winter, all park roads are closed to wheeled vehicular traffic...".
So, I can ride a snowmobile, snowcoach, or cross-country ski on the many miles of existing groomed park roads in the winter but I can't ride my snow bike. I want to ride my bike from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful in the winter. I want to ride my bike on the groomed, closed-to-cars Grand Teton Park Road in the winter. Why should cyclists be treated any different than a cross-country skier or hiker?
Do I need to send Pugsley's to Dirk Kempthorne, Suzanne Lewis, and Mary Gibson Scott? Ok, maybe I will write letters instead and encourage my fellow snow bikers to do the same.
After a bit of digging I learned that the Final Environmental Impact Statement on winter use in the parks will be open for public comment in the winter/spring of 2007. The number of snowmobiles allowed each day is the hot topic so I don't know if my little crusade will even get a read. If I don't try I have nobody to blame but myself so I will post when the public comment period begins and when our letters will have the best chance of being read.
There is a lot of info regarding the Winter Use Planning on the Yellowstone National Park website.
According to the current Temporary Winter Use Plan governing Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, "...roads are maintained for touring and sightseeing, accessing trailheads, and park management. During the winter, all park roads are closed to wheeled vehicular traffic...".So, I can ride a snowmobile, snowcoach, or cross-country ski on the many miles of existing groomed park roads in the winter but I can't ride my snow bike. I want to ride my bike from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful in the winter. I want to ride my bike on the groomed, closed-to-cars Grand Teton Park Road in the winter. Why should cyclists be treated any different than a cross-country skier or hiker?
Do I need to send Pugsley's to Dirk Kempthorne, Suzanne Lewis, and Mary Gibson Scott? Ok, maybe I will write letters instead and encourage my fellow snow bikers to do the same.
After a bit of digging I learned that the Final Environmental Impact Statement on winter use in the parks will be open for public comment in the winter/spring of 2007. The number of snowmobiles allowed each day is the hot topic so I don't know if my little crusade will even get a read. If I don't try I have nobody to blame but myself so I will post when the public comment period begins and when our letters will have the best chance of being read.
There is a lot of info regarding the Winter Use Planning on the Yellowstone National Park website.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Big Ride in the Big Holes
I met up with Scott Fitzgerald and Chris Erickson on Saturday for another exploratory ride in the Big Holes on the snowmobile trail network. Scott is the owner the best bike shop in the universe and Chris is the Brewmeister for Snake River Brewery which is conveniently located next store to Fitzgerald’s Bicycles in Jackson.
We didn’t really set out to do a big ride but once we got moving and found the trail conditions to be good we decided to try for the lollypop loop we had been eye-balling on the map. “Big” is relative this time of year. 20 mile mountain bike rides are not big in the summer but on the snow, with lots of climbing, I think they qualify as big. We were out for about 4 ½ hours.
We need to come up with a name for the route we did Saturday because it will definitely make the hit list. It has rolling terrain in the beginning, a long, grinding climb in the middle, a 3.8 mile twisting, fast-as-you-ever-want-to-go-on-snow descent, and then a bit more rolling terrain back to the truck for a total of 21 miles. Scott put on a display of mad downhill skills on every descent and Chris set the pace on the climbs and rode everything. I am continually amazed at what the Endomorph tires stick to. Even in the middle of the day, on a Saturday, we saw only a handful of snowmobiles and everyone was cool.
Riding for 4 ½ hours in Feb rocks! There is no way I would ever ride the trainer for more than 2 hours at stretch so I feel like I am getting a head start on the season and it feels good. I may be the only KTR racer to log all of my outside miles on the snow bike prior to the race depending on the winter we have.
On the gear testing front, I wore my new RBH Designs VprThrm socks for the first time and I had happy feet. My feet were damp inside the socks but never got cold and the moisture never seeped out into my insulating layers. I need to test them in really cold temps though but so far they are promising. Wind was big factor on Saturday's ride and once we crested the big climb we were exposed to 15-20mph winds and I immediately got cold hands and a cold head because I was sweaty. Once my hands get cold it takes me a while to get them warm again without using a chemical hand warmer.
We didn’t really set out to do a big ride but once we got moving and found the trail conditions to be good we decided to try for the lollypop loop we had been eye-balling on the map. “Big” is relative this time of year. 20 mile mountain bike rides are not big in the summer but on the snow, with lots of climbing, I think they qualify as big. We were out for about 4 ½ hours.We need to come up with a name for the route we did Saturday because it will definitely make the hit list. It has rolling terrain in the beginning, a long, grinding climb in the middle, a 3.8 mile twisting, fast-as-you-ever-want-to-go-on-snow descent, and then a bit more rolling terrain back to the truck for a total of 21 miles. Scott put on a display of mad downhill skills on every descent and Chris set the pace on the climbs and rode everything. I am continually amazed at what the Endomorph tires stick to. Even in the middle of the day, on a Saturday, we saw only a handful of snowmobiles and everyone was cool.
Riding for 4 ½ hours in Feb rocks! There is no way I would ever ride the trainer for more than 2 hours at stretch so I feel like I am getting a head start on the season and it feels good. I may be the only KTR racer to log all of my outside miles on the snow bike prior to the race depending on the winter we have.
On the gear testing front, I wore my new RBH Designs VprThrm socks for the first time and I had happy feet. My feet were damp inside the socks but never got cold and the moisture never seeped out into my insulating layers. I need to test them in really cold temps though but so far they are promising. Wind was big factor on Saturday's ride and once we crested the big climb we were exposed to 15-20mph winds and I immediately got cold hands and a cold head because I was sweaty. Once my hands get cold it takes me a while to get them warm again without using a chemical hand warmer.
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