Gearing-Up

Change of Plans?

Snow Cactus on the Shore Line Trail

Things are not going well - at all.  Along with the other crap I've had to deal with this season, now it appears we may start $20K in the hole.  If there is a "silver-lining", we have all season to off-set the loss.  The truth is, it will be hard, and I mean hard, to make up that deficit.  Our goal is to break the $2M mark this year.  To do that, we really need to make up that loss.  If something doesn't come through in the next 48 hours, I'll start to plan the thing I've always wanted to do, or thought about anyway.  Nothing to elaborate on yet, so stay tuned.

The way things are shaping up, I'll be on the road within the next 14 days.  Still a lot of sand and salt, with not much for shoulders (on the road).  I need to ride the dirt every night this week, and start doing extended climbs.  Maybe two more weeks and the Avon Divide road should be clear enough to climb at night.  I'll probably stay down on the Shore Line Trail until the Rattle Snakes start coming out.  Those stupid things are a menace.  You quite often don't see them stretched out across the trail until you run over them.  Most of the time, they try to get out of sight before they are seen, but boy can they get mad.  There is a long and steep climb up to an abandon surface mine that is always a ton of work.  The southern exposures are where you'll find them, trying to get warm in the spring sun.  Gotta keep a sharp eye.

The mountain bike needs some TLC.  It's been rode hard and needs a complete overhaul.  Shocks need drained and cleaned.  Chain has a ton of hard miles.  All the pivot points need cleaned and lubed.  Tires need to be replaced (ouch) and re-filled with Stan's Racing Sealant.  I could take an entire afternoon to service this thing, but probably will do it a little at a time.  Meaning, a lot of it may not get done for several months.  Bikes need attention too.  Especially when you hammer them as do I.

This is going to different than anything in the past.  But then.......there was 52's.  Talk about different.  Did anyone else make the connection with Fred and Squidward?  I mean, who saw that one coming?

Fred's do'in it....Click here

Ride HARD!

The Test

A slick-rock face on the Shore Line Trail - a lot steeper than it looks!

Hard Things...............and more

Riding on the Shore Line Trail has been getting better - in that I'm starting to get some confidence back.  Still, the image in my mind of breaking my ankle still keeps me a bit timid. The trail is getting busy as there are few areas that aren't still buried in snow elsewhere.  So....I tied the "lion" bell under my saddle.  Normally I reserve the bell to keep the mountain cats from sneaking up and pealing me on the bike.  Right now, the bell gives others on the narrow single track, a heads-up.  This trail is blind spot after blind spot, compounded by sharp drop-off reliefs that can send you 75' with a simple "stall-and-fall".  No bueno!  Yesterday I was able to get out in the rain and hail, which meant only a few fools as myself, on the trail ( a great day).  The rock faces that slope like above are particularly dangerous when the tires are loaded with mud and grit.  Just having a wet surface is enough to make it sketchy.  Without grip...........just plain stupid.  That picture above is on a dry day.  Notice the trail picking up in the skyline.  Good times!

This past week has been full of surprises, most of which are not favorable.  I've always said we have to be ready for whatever may come our way - when it comes our way.  Well now..........I may have to really put up.  The "porpoise" may take on a whole new function; one that is almost overwhelming.

If you're new to this, stick around.  If you have been here before, come back in a few days.  We may have a completely new challenge ahead this year.  

I guess we'll see what the "porpoise" is really made of.

Saddle up!

Ride HARD!

Click here for "I can do hard things"

A slow start

Making it work........um, kind of.

Last year was totally different compared to this.  We had pretty good riding through most of January and February - until I busted my ankle in March.  This go around, it's been rough - as in little to no real riding due to snow.  This past week the "old stomping grounds" up on the Bonneville Shore Line Trail burned off and made for some fairly good terrain.  Monday night, I took one of the kids up with me; his first time up in that area.  We did a few miles of simple familiarity on the service road and jumped up to the single track directly above the Douglas trail head.  This is a section that starts out pretty fast, but still easy, and then turns rather technical.  The key is to keep the momentum  up while getting over the rocks.  Balance and position are important.  You can find yourself over the handlebars, if not falling down the mountain due to stalling and falling over.  

About a mile into the single track, we ran across a guy that we'd been following, but had crashed.  The dreaded "stall and fall".  Having piled-up about 9 feet down, he was pretty beat up.  After checking him for head injuries, we found his left arm was jacked up.  Looks like he tried to catch himself with his left arm, which always ends in disaster.  Long story short, we cut our ride short to get him off the mountain and back to the Douglas trail head.  So much for that ride.

I hit it again last night after work, only to have to deal with a bunch of other riders in both directions.  Word spreads fast.  The short of that one is, I need a ton of time to get my confidence back on the MTB.  Maybe I'll start running up there during "lunch", when it is less likely to have much traffic.  This is a really good place to build leg strength and cardio early.  I'm thinking we'll be road riding in about another month.  That is more dependent on sand and salt, rather than clear roads.  That crap really causes problems all the way around.  Until then, mountain biking on the other side of the mountain.

In case you didn't figure it out by now, I didn't make it to "True Grit" last weekend.  That really sucks.  I couldn't get any local riding in, thus there was no reason to go down for the any training rides. Add to this the delays in funding; we are not doing very well on any front at the moment.  We're hoping the funding comes through this week for the MS 150, LOTOJA and Huntsman.  Kind of late, but I think we'll have everything in hand by the end of next week.

Hey, it's not Sedona, but it's still my old stomping grounds.

Ride HARD!

Click here - Keep the Faith