ICUP #2, Cholla Challenge

Dwight and me on the back half of the course, lap 1. Photo courtesy of Smugmug.
Post race celebration with Coach Lynda. Photo courtesy of Dave Harris.

The second XC race of the 2010 season went better than expected. I finished 1st!

The Cholla Challenge course in Hurricane Utah is a wonderful mix of slick rock, sand, small ledges, gravel flash flood drainages, single track and just a bit of double track. And it's fast. I really like the course cuz it doesn't have any long hard climbs like Solitude, Sundance and Deer Valley. And, we're in the desert, which is where I love to be.

Our race started about 12:45 under an overcast sky, no wind and a comfortable temperature. I think our group had 7 guys toe the start line. We started with the 6 or 7 Clydesdales and I got squashed at the gun when I hit the hard left turn. The dust was flying, visibility was "0" and when it cleared I was next to the last! By the time we hit the slick rock climb I passed everyone but Dwight Hibdon. DH is a great climber so I stayed on his wheel hoping not to get dropped to quickly. We went back and forth keeping the pressure on Joel Quinn who has been riding real strong so far this season. By the 1st rocky descent we had gapped Joel and he was no longer in the mix. DH was setting an excellent pace and I stayed on his wheel the entire 1st lap. I pulled on the single track section heading back to the start-finish line which we crossed together. That felt real good being with him.

Lap 2 was the same as lap 1, for a little while. We headed up the 1st slick rock section together and began the gradual climb before the rocky descent. I had a brain-fart and dipped my wheel in a rock and lost my momentum. That's all DH needed as he slowly pulled away from me. I was working hard to bridge the gap, but I couldn't catch up. And then he put a slow rider between us at the top of the rocky descent, and that opened the gap a little more. Bye-bye DH! Well, to my surprise DH got a flat at the bottom of the rocky descent, and, he didn't have a spare tube!!! Shame on you Dwight. I offered him my spare and after 1st refusing, he said ok, give it to me. So I did and off I sped. I don't like to take advantage of a distressed rider, but I did anyway. I put the pedal to the metal and pushed hard knowing he'd fix that flat in 2 minutes and run me down. And I didn't want that since I was a good samaritan and all that.

Needless to say, DH didn't catch me. In fact, he didn't catch anyone. Ya see, the tube I gave him, the lightweight one I've been racing with for several years, had a hole in it! Poor DH :-( And he wasted a Big Air trying to blow up my gift tube. So I was actually a double-winner. I won the race and, now I know I need to patch my spare race tube. Sorry Dwight. But seriously, if he hadn't flatted I wouldn't have caught him. He's strong and fast and the real class of the group. I really enjoyed staying with him as long as I did and hope I can do it again. He and Roger deserve some competition.

I'm certain DH will get the last laugh and beat me every time we race from hear on out. But at least I got him once this season! And I'm gonna be careful accepting a "gift" from him during a race.

All in all, it was a great weekend that was capped off with a Saturday afternoon ride on the 25-Hours of Frog Hollow course, a kegger at Gooseberry Mesa, and a Sunday ride on Little Creek Mesa. Ya can't ask for much more than that. Life is gooooood!

Nothing Special

Life has been pretty hectic since the Desert Rampage in St. George earlier this month. I've been working way too much and riding way to little. My approach this year is to just wing it training-wise, so I don't have high expectations. My fitness level is flat and my legs are heavy. I'd love to get onboard with LW Coaching, but work is such that a commitment on my part is not in the cards. So, the bottom line is I feel like crap, my riding is equally crappy and my attitude sucks.

Last Friday I rode a couple hours with some friends in StG and just took it easy. The next day I went out and tried to push it a little and just couldn't get it going. That really helped my already crappy attitude. Now I'm in a funk and the Cholla Challenge is fast approaching. This will be a 15-mile race and I'm not sure I can push hard that long. I may have to hang in the back just to survive. I'll report back next week no matter what the outcome.

On the FWIW front. I've been hearing so much about this 5-hour energy stuff that I thought I'd give it a try. Well, I drank half a dose before a trainer ride last Thursday and I have to report that stuff sucks! My heart rate was elevated and my power was down even though I was not overtrained or tired. Afterwards I was edgy and snappy and just wanted to hit somebody. Luckily, the only person around was my wife so that wasn't gonna happen. And the after effects lasted well beyond 5-hours. Maybe it's my physiology but I'll never drink that crap again. Good riddance...

That's it for now - pretty exciting, huh! Back to work and the depression cave.

Let the Racin Begin, ICUP style.

Let's get it on!
This is about 90 minutes before the start of the race. You can see some of the course on the hillside. Niiiiice...
The Three Amigos - Mad Dog's senior ambassadors. Bill, Dwight, me.
Mad Dog Director Sportif Keith Payne, Fidel Lisonbee, Dwight and Bill on the Zen Trail.
Oh yeah! That's what I'm talkin about. Standing on the box always feels better than the dirt.

The 1st ICUP race of 2010 took place in beautiful St. George Utah this past weekend, and nobody left disappointed. The weather was better than expected, the crowd was large and the course was in fine shape for the Red Rock Desert Rampage season opener.

It was great seeing all the "usuals" and how white most of our legs were. I think our pasty whites made the sky a little brighter and definitely brought out the humorous side of even the most serious racers.

I'll keep this short. My race went better than I anticipated as I was able to hold a much higher HR than at any time last year, and I finished on the podium - 3rd behind Roger Gillespie and Dwight Hibdon. My 1st lap was 32 minutes and the 2nd 33 minutes. I spent almost 37 out of 65 minutes above 165 bpm (my max is 181, I think). I never saw that last year. I stayed with Dwight for the entire 1st lap and then he dropped me when I stopped for a new water bottle at the start of lap 2. To my surprise, he finished less than a minute in front of me. Never got that close to him last year so I'm encouraged. Joel Quinn hung with us on the 1st lap and we gapped him by a couple minutes on the 2nd. He's riding strong, along with Bill Dark, so I'd better ramp up my training if I want to stay close. One fun thing was all the riders we passed during the race. Our group started at the near end so passing was a necessity. That makes for a suspenseful and exciting race. I bet I knocked off 50+ slowpokes :-) Sure made me feel like a big shot - hahaha.

Coach Lynda spanked the Pro Women's group which was loaded with Utahs' best MTBer's. Anybody that can do that to my hero KC Holley is off the charts. The Mad Dog Team had a good showing with several podium placers. Don't know what the team points are but Mad Dog's gonna give the Overall Points Trophy a run this year.

After the race a group of us went and rode the Zen Trail and had a blast. We rode CCW and for the 1st time ever I cleaned the nasty short downhill sidecut that has the wicked sharp right hand turn and drop at the bottom. Shortly after that I fell on a flat section of the trail. Go figure!

Sunday was a sweet 2-hour recovery ride with Coach Lynda, Dwight, Bill, Chris and KC and Noah. We hit the Church Rocks and part of Prospector Trails and dodged a few rain drops and small puddles along the way. There's nothin as nice as stacky desert single track with your best friends. All of Northern Utah was there doing the same thing as we crossed paths with groups from UMB, Revolution and Mona Vi all out having fine time on our day of worship and thanksgiving.

The 2nd stop on the ICUP circuit is the Cholla Challenge in Hurricane April 3rd. I can hardly wait.

Dry Creek

Bruce and I at the Trailhead. Bruce was actually happy.

Riding in the snow is fun, as long as you stay on the hardpack, Dwight!

Dwight and Bruce.

Two weekends ago I rode my single speed with Dwight Hibdon and Bruce Lyman around Round Valley and had a blast. The trails were hard packed snow and the temp was just right. I was a little disappointed cuz all the trail users were real friendly and didn't seem to mind our bikes on their trails. It was a surprisingly pleasant blend of hikers, skiers, dogs and MTBer's enjoying an absolutely perfect day. I was looking for someone to get pissed off at and take my Leadville frustration out on, but there were absolutely no opportunities. The great day made me forget about Leadville and the purge is now complete.

My next obsession will be the Park City Point 2 Point race in September. Nothing like a homegrown, classic epic right in our own backyard. Mark my word. This race will be on every serious endurance junkies bucket list. It has more climbing in less distance than Leadville, and, much of it is technical single track. I'll be spending a lot of summer time in PC getting ready for this bad boy. It really threw me for a loop last year so I'm gonna be better prepared in 2010. I hope.

This past Saturday was MTBing on the Shoreline Trail and Dry Creek Canyon. BIG MISTAKE!!! Shoreline was dry really fun. I didn't go into Red Butte but I suspect there is mud back there. But Dry Creek is anything but dry. The snow began immediately and was only briefly interrupted with patches of dirt and MUD. I should have know better, but I needed 2+ hours and I was gonna it no matter what.

I was riding my HiFi 29er with a Stans Crows on the back at about 25 psi. I was able to clean everything up to the steep switchback except the rock garden, but after the SB it was a mess! The flat traverse to the overlook was ice and mud with a little water running along the side. The temptress was after the overlook looking towards City Creek the trail looked great. Dry dirt! But around the first corner it turned to sticky mud. I rode through it and around the 1st left hand turn and decided I'd had enough. I turned around and couldn't even move my wheels the mud was so thick. IDIOT! I retraced my route cuz I at least knew what I was getting in to, and, I got my 2 hours in. But this was a day of quantity, not quality. And it's gonna take me all week to clean up the mess. Enjoy these pictures of my stupidity - ROOKIE!

This is the switchback.

Just around the corner of the switchback. I walked this too.

This looked pretty inviting to me. Just get past a little mud and it will be smooth sailing. NOT!

When I looked down at the mud on my tires I thought I was riding a Pugsley.

And then the wheels stopped turning, and I was done.

Life does go on

I'm over her now. The numbness and confusion has left and I'm ready to move on. The Milk Dub thing didn't work out, nor did the couch. I went to the gym and lifted weights and did a level 13 stair master workout, and I felt great. I think I'll knock it up a little more tonight and see if I can have a heart attack. Then I can truly justify my rejection and move on.

The weekend is looking up with a little snow biking on tap with Dwight Hibdon and some other Mad Dog snow bunnies. We're gonna ride in Park City and get some of the skate skiers pissed off at us. I think I'm in the mood for one of those encounters. Hope I don't throw a shoulder or elbow out if I have to cold cock one of those skinny smart asses.

Well, maybe she's not out of my system yet...