Lake Tahoe

Sorry for the delay in the updates, been busy, and lack of internet connection. I updated the pics also, use the link to the right ("Trip Pictures") to see the latest. Once you open the link in dotphoto, if you select "Creation Date - descending" in the upper right of the page you will see the latest photo album updates first. ENJOY!!

Wednesday Aug 24

Well, two very important streaks were broken today. First, I stayed in a hotel/motel for the first time. Andrea got too tired to keep the car going last night, so we stopped a little early, with my threats of an early morning start. I am so determined to get to Lake Tahoe on time to get in an evening mountain bike ride. So we stayed in a little motel in nowhere, Wyoming USA. We got a pretty early start to the morning, but there was nowhere to grab a quick breakfast, and in Salt Lake City, I broke down and had fast food for the first time on my trip (McDonalds). At least I made it half way through my trip!! Which, speaking of that, I believe this is the exact half point of my trip…that is kinda a bummer, but I have had a heck of a time…and have another 5.5 weeks to make life long memories.

It was a pretty cool drive through Utah. Check out the pic of a salt field. I tasted it...so I can assure you it was salt.

After a very long day of driving (more than 600 miles), we finally arrived in Lake Tahoe around 6:30pm…just enough time for me to get in a quick ride. The beauty of this place blows my mind, once again. Lake Tahoe has it all for people who love the outdoors (biking, rock climbing, water sports, skiing)…all with some of the most beautiful views in the world…love it here!!
We finally made it to the place we are staying here (one of Andrea’s friends dad), and the house is amazing!! It is just outside of Lake Tahoe at Squaw Valley, 6 bedrooms, 3 baths, and a HUGE deck with beautiful views…AND…the best thing ever…a huge hot tub!! So, of course, right after dinner, we jump right on in that thing! What a way to relax after a long day of driving and ride!!

Golden

Tuesday Aug 23

Woke up very excited about a 3 hour trip to go Riverboarding with my little cousin Cody. Andrea took the morning to look for apartments in Denver…while we ripped it up on the ripboards. Shane took us out on a white water park on a river, and we learned to use the boards. The sport is awesome, you basically boogie board down a river with wetsuit, pads, and helmet. SO COOL!! Man, did we have a great 3 hours on the river. We actually got to run the section of the river 3 times, and we go better each. We were surfing some crazy waves, and pulling some cool stunt moves. Cody did awesome, and had a great time. Way fun.

For more info, go to ripboard.com

Before we left town, we stopped in and saw the Red Rocks Amphitheatre...way cool!!

Off to Salt Lake City and Lake Tahoe…I am excited…but 2 LONG days of driving. As I type, we are in Wyoming…listening to Latin music on XM…I am about to shoot myself. Oh, and now the volume was increased…great! The joys of traveling with a friend ;) It is 11pm, and Andrea is complaining that she is tired…I tell her tough luck…we gotta keep pushing on if we want to make it to Lake Tahoe on time. The nerve…after she was 2 hours late getting back from apartment shopping this afternoon. We push on…her 1am late shift drive is not gonna be fun…not my fault!! Ha ha.


Monday Aug 22
Andrea picked me up from the airport, and then we packed up the car again with the rest of her stuff. The car is officially overloaded and will probably have something fly off the roof at some point over the next 2 weeks with Andrea. Good news for her, she got an offer to work at Denver Athletic Club and plans to move out to CO to live the good life! We drove out to Golden to see my Uncle, Aunt and cousins one last time before I skipped town. We had dinner and hung out for the night.

Weekend home - Wash DC

Friday Aug 19 – Monday Aug 22
I came home for Jamey’s bachelor party. I hung out with a bunch of friends throughout the weekend (bumming rides from one house to the next), and had a great time in downtown DC Saturday night for the boys night out. My mom cooked up a fabulous home cooked meal on Sunday night…boy do I miss these good meals while out on the road!

Golden/Denver/Boulder/Fort Collins

Thursday, Aug 18

Andrea and I hang out in the Old Town section of Fort Collins, then meet up with Kristen for lunch and an awesome Mountain Pie pizza spot. After farewells to Kristen, it is time to go to the New Belgium Brewery (Sunshine Wheat and Fat Tire Ale) for a Brew Tour and tasting. It is very cool…we have a good time. Then off to Denver for Andrea’s interview for a personal training job at Denver Athletic Club. I work out and swim while she interviews with the fitness director. We then grab dinner at the Handlebar Grill, which is kind of like a mountain biking museum. Everything on the menu is named after a bike or bike part, very cool. Then we stay at Andrea’s friends house.

Wednesday, Aug 17

I headed to the Boulder School of massage after breakfast to try to loosen up my tight legs from the race. After that, Andrea and I had heard about tubing down Boulder Creek…and decided to investigate. We got to the park, but the guy who rented the tubes just decided to take Wed off from work I guess…not cool. So, we just hiked up the creek and back and watched people tube who owned their own. Sure looked like fun…for next time I get to Boulder!

We meet up with my friend Kristen Keteles in Fort Collins. Kristen and I head up into the mountains for a really cool mountain bike ride. We work up a huge climb, and work our way across a ridge on the Horsetooth trail. We start working down some pretty technical sections. Kristen is riding strong, and I am convinced that we would have dropped ¾ of my guy friends back home…nice pace. I end up going over my handlebars on a somewhat technical section, but should not have crashed. Luckily, I had a nice roll landing, and it didn’t hurt. It is starting to get dark out (after ~2 hours of riding), and we start bombing down a pretty steep doubletrack section…when Kristen gets loose in a corner and washes out and comes down hard on her knee. I knew it wasn’t going to be good, especially as her knee really started bleeding badly. One last tough technical section (the Colorado State Univ downhill race team practice course), and I have an awesome ride and clear the 1 mile section. After Kristen catches up, we ride back to the car in the moonlight…very fun and cool ride…but I feel bad about Kristen’s big crash.

Kristen cleans up the wound (screaming painfully while working the rocks and dirt out). Then the three of us head to Old Town Fort Collins for dinner and some microbrews.

Tuesday, Aug 16

After talking to people in the bike shop, we decided to go on a road ride up into the Flatiron mountains outside of Boulder. After about 10 miles of flat riding, headed up a mild grade mountain for about 7 miles, then hit a crazy 10% grade climb that burns our quads out big time. I actually thought that Andrea was going to die…but she made it up. We then bombed down the mountain at ~40 mph and returned back to the Boulder after a really fun ~32 mile ride. On the way back to the hostel, we stopped on Pearl Street for a nice outdoor lunch and beer (can’t resist, it is HH prices all afternoon). We then watched one of the street performances (Tom)…very entertaining and funny.

At night we went up the mountain to a little town called Nederland, where we grabbed dinner and then went to this little townie bar where we played bingo and hung out with the locals. Very cool. We met this guy who was going to a house party in Boulder, and weaseled our way into an invite. After making our way back into town, the party ended up not happening…which was good b/c it was late and we were tired.

Monday, Aug 15

I make some delicious (Tucker proclaimed) pancakes for my cousins, and then head to Denver to pick up my friend Andrea Bernard, who is joining me for 3 weeks on the trip. After grabbing her, we spend a while packing the car (she has this HUGE suitcase that is causing some major logistical problems in the back of the SUV. No more Tucker Time for the next few weeks, but I think it will be nice to have company. We head up to Boulder and check into our hostel, which is in a great location by the campus of Colorado University and only a 10 minute block from Pearl Street (outdoor mall area). We head down to Pearl Street for lunch and explore for a while. We then find a great hike from just outside of town, and hike for about 1.5 hours in the Flatirons (mountains just outside of Boulder). It sure is cool to have hiking/biking like this just on the border of the city.
We get back to the hostel and head out for the night. We grab dinner, and notice across the street is some salsa dancing…so after dinner we decide to check it out. My memories of salsa from ballroom dance class at JMU sure seem like a distant memory right now…ugh! We then head across the street to The Sink bar…a complete dive, but we heard they had great drink specials. All the college kids were back in town in full force and looking to party, and we found the total dive where they all were…too funny. We grab a drink…for “flip night” where they slip a quarter and if you guess right, you get your drink for 25 cents…SO cool! If you lose, you just buy it for normal price. Andrea and I then shoot back to Pearl Street to some cool spots we heard about…but after a while decide The Sink bar is the place to be this night, and go back to a very rowdy crew of college kids. Too funny. I guess my next two beers right…and enjoy some microbrew suds for only 50 cents! Good times.

Keystone/Fruita

Sunday, Aug 14

Race Day!! This is one of the toughest races on the Xterra circuit (especially when you look at the field of top racers out in CO/CA who are racing). I am excited…and can’t get over how cool it is to race in the Mountain Championship race in Keystone. I feel pretty good, and am fairly well rested. After setting up transition, I bump into a couple racers I met earlier in the week and wish them luck. This sure is going to be a fun race, even though it is so tough with the altitude and biggest climb I know of for a mountain biking section of an Xterra.

The swim is in a small lake, with 2 laps of 500 meters each. I am in the third wave, so I get a cool view of the pros as they take their first lap. I start to get really excited, and then BOOM goes the gun and I am off. I round the first lap at a pretty decent pace, although I went out a little too fast early in the swim, feel pretty good (somewhat cold with water around 62 degrees – man, I need a long wetsuit!). On the second lap, rounding an area where you can touch the bottom, I took about 5 steps in some deep mud, and felt something sharp slice into my foot…OUCH! Geez, it is really hurting as I start swimming again, and I am pretty sure my foot is bleeding. I think about grabbing the edge of a dock and checking my foot to see that it is ok…but decide in my mind that I am probably going to keep racing either way, so who cares if it is cut? Maybe I will check when I get out of the water. I finish up my second lap, jump out of the water…and my feet are so cold, the foot doesn’t hurt that much anymore. I shoot out of transition pretty fast on my bike, and start hammering up the 8 mile climb. I make some good passes on the double track section, but my heart rate is really blowing up so I pull back a little bit. I start pushing pretty hard again after about 15 min of climbing and pass a bunch more riders. I keep working my way up, and after about 70 minutes of climbing, I reach the summit! Phew! Now the fun (but scary) descent. I let the bike really start rolling, barely braking, and bomb through the top few sections. Then survive through the crazy wild section (called Wild Thing). I dismount three times on the downhill…but clean the rest of the sections. I can barely feel my hands and wrists by the bottom b/c they are so fatigued (after ~22 miles of mountain biking). After a quick transition, I start out on my slow technical trail run section of 6.2 miles (compliments on my knee tendonitis).

Results:
Time 3 hours, 4 min
18th place in age group (0 points)
Happy b/c the race was awesome, and although my age group place wasn’t very good (the competition was stiff)…I was closer to the pros than the other Championship races. I was happy with my time.

I head to Golden CO for dinner with my Uncle, Aunt, and cousins. We have a great time hanging out.

Saturday, Aug 13

My friends Roger and Teri finally arrived, as well as their friend Linda who is a pro Xterra and mountain bike racer. Roger, Linda and I decided to grab lift tickets to practice the downhill section one last time before the race. We were all just bombing down the mountain, I am just thinking “man, this is tough, I sure hope I don’t crash today…OR race day.” The downhill had many long sections of steep down grade with washboard dirt that just abuses your forearms and hands with a vicous pounding…the whole time trying to dodge tons of babyhead rocks (2”-6” rocks) while hitting 20 mph with some big drops off the side, and technical rock gardens looming around hairpin turns. It was truly awesome, but I was on edge the entire way down holding the pace with the others…wild.
I took Roger up on his lodging offer to stay up at a condo in Vail, so Hotel Xterra would be empty tonight. We all grabbed a huge pasta dinner, and rested up for the tough race tomorrow.

Friday, Aug 12

Woke up, grabbed breakfast and checked e-mail. Then I headed over to the race venue, cleaned my bike and replaced a few worn out parts. I took off for a pre-ride of the course, which I was taking very easy b/c it is a tough 8 mile climb, then a gnarly downhill section that had 2 spots where I think everyone will dismount (maybe the top pro men will be able to navigate about 10 huge boulders and ride it…who knows!). The course was really awesome, but quite tough on the legs/lungs. Hopefully my body will respond better to the altitude then it did at the Crested Butte race. I am certainly more acclimated at this point, but the competition for this Championship level race is going to be intense! Lot’s of very strong riders out pre-riding the course.

Thursday, Aug 11

I decide to give my legs a break from biking in preparation from a tough race this weekend. Wayne and a bunch of his buddies go on a hike every Thursday morning, so I joined them. We had a great time, about a 2.5 hour hike. I then checked out the town of Glenwood Springs. They had hot springs and vapor caves, but after looking at both of them, didn’t think it was worth the money (entrance was a little pricey). So I just decided to hit I-70 and head to Keystone. As I was pulling onto the interstate, I saw this normal guy sitting on the guardrail, looking for a ride east. An article I read in Durango flashed through my mind (written by some hitchhiking hippies…I think I was brainwashed)…so I decide to give the guy a chance and give him a lift. Hitchhiker Patrick ended up being a very normal guy, who just did not have a car. He told me all about the history of each town as we passed through. After about an hour, we had reached his hometown, and I dropped him off. I think the risk was worth the entertainment value of having him tell me about some of the CO history!

I got to Keystone, caught a movie, and found a campsite…where I was appalled at a $13 fee for a place to camp, with NO showers. What a ripoff considering I was staying in a hostel for only $9 in Moab. I decided it was time for Hotel Xterra to make a return. I found a great, remote, ski-lift parking lot that would serve as a great home!

For your Sports Center fans…"Life is an open road to me"

I'm sitting at the wheel

I got a green light

Not afraid of nothin' cuz heart and soul

I'm built for life

So let the engine roarPush the pedal down

I want the white lines on the highway

To lead me out of town

I'm rolling on and on and on

Who knows where I'm goin'?

Life is an open road - it's the best story never told

It's an endless sky - it's the deepest sea

Life is an open road to meLife is an open road to me

I got headlights to guide me thru the night

I got the window down and the radio playing

It makes me feel alive

Moab, Utah

Wed, Aug 10

Early morning (6am) to catch a shuttle up to ride one of the most famous trails in the US, the Porcupine Rim trail. Unfortunately, it was really raining, but the shuttle guy said it would clear up. I am probably one of the few people who has ever ridden the Rim trail in the rain…but boy was it sweet!! After about a 3 mile climb, I started the decent, and it was very rocky, with some pretty big drops. Great technical training, and I got more and more confident and was hopping off some pretty big hits. Really a fun trail, had a great time.

I shot over to the hostel to grab my stuff. Time to get moving b/c I want to ride the Kokopelli trails in Fruita, CO also. After a short 2 hour drive, I arrive at these trails, get a map from a local bike shop, and head out to the Moore Fun trail. Second ride today (nearly 5 hours of total bike time) and my legs are really feeling it. But, I have to push hard and fast b/c I am expected for dinner at 6pm.
I arrive at my friend Alison’s parents house (Battlement Mesa CO, and Wayne and Cathy Morris welcome me quickly. After a quick shower, I enjoy a great homemade pasta dinner with awesome meatballs! Wayne is quite the cook. We hang out all night and talk about my trip and all the stories, quite enjoyable. I can’t even explain how great it is to have a home cooked meal at this point of the trip, and my own room with a comfortable bed! What more could a vagabond like myself ask for?!?!?

Tuesday, Aug 9

Woke up early for my second climbing session of the trip. The climbing in Moab is supposed to be some of the best in the country…pretty sweet stuff. Climbed some 5.10 climbs today, def much tougher than Durango climbing. Did I mention in my last post how much the climbing shoes hurt your feet? Imagine if you wear a size 9.5 shoe, they give you what feels like a size 8…womens! Crazy small. My feet were just killing me today, but got in a ton of climbs and had a great time with the group.

After climbing I went and checked out some of the local attractions. I drove out of town and up the CO River, checked out Fisher Rock and Castle Rock. Really pretty drive. I got back to the hostel and met up with a few hostel friends and went to the famous McStiff’s and grabbed dinner and a few pitchers of microbrew ($8/pitcher).



Monday, Aug 8

A little bit of a late start today, but I was tired from the days and days of hard rides in huge mountains. The only problem is that it is so hot here in Moab, most people start rides at 7am, and get off the trails by 11am. Oh well, I am in good enough shape to defy conventional wisdom, and head off to the famous Slickrock trail at 10:30am (loaded down with extra water). Looks like the temp is in the upper 90s…but I feel ok in the warm weather (training from the crazy hot race in Milwaukee). I jump onto the slickrock…and this is the coolest thing I have ever seen. Just rock after rock, arrows pointing the direction of the trail. This is really the coolest mountain bike trail that I have seen…EVER!! The rock is so tacky, that you can ride up very, very steep angles, and still have traction with your rear tire. I am amazed over and over as I climb these huge uphills, standing and hammering on the pedals and rarely loosing traction. This is so cool. Well, I pushed the limits a bit, and my tires gave way crossing the side of a steep rock, slammed down on my right side, and have a nasty strawberry on my leg/butt. The tacky rock rips up your skin quite a bit worse than even pavement!! I have the time of my life, and hit every bit of trail possible (~17 miles). I meet up with this guy Brian, and we ride for a while…good times.

Back to the hostel in the afternoon where I work on my bike for 2 hours (all this riding requires a bunch of bike maintenance). I also needed knobbier tires for a big ride I am doing Tues or Wed, the Porcupine Trail.

I meet a guy from Switzerland at the hostel (Dani), and we grab dinner and a few beers ($7/pitcher for microbrew at the Moab Brewery…sweet)!!

Oh yeah, and I ordered a new camera cable from Canon today…b/c mine was “lost” and of course…I found it 4 hours after I placed the order…and Canon said it was too late to cancel (it had been “exported”)…figures!! Ha ha.

Durango

Thoughts on Durango: Sweet MB trails, no good lodging (other than Hotel Xterra)

Trails: Horse Gulch Road, Junction Creek, Colorado Trail, Hermosa

Saturday, Aug 6

Woke up peacefully this morning in the Hotel, without the rude awakening from the sprinkler system. Headed to my rec center to freshen up, and cheered for competitors in a sprint triathlon they had going out in the morning. I then shot just north of town to get in a bike ride on some tough trails. HUGE climbs today up to pretty high altitude…what a workout! The guy I was biking with was a very good climber, glad to say I didn't get dropped!

I then headed back into town to meet up with my rock climbing guide (Marcus from Southwest adventure guides), and spent the next 3 hours climbing X-Rock just outside of town. What an awesome time, with a view of the entire town from the top of the climb. Climbed tougher and tougher climbs each time, and started to develop some actual rock climbing skills. I was trying a very tough climb, hand slipped off a tiny crack and momentum took me down head first. Man was I glad my belay man was paying attention, b/c I was pretty close to the ground, and surely didn't want to hit that head first. The other guys in the session were freakin out about the way I fell head first...I guess that is why you keep your harness nice and tight! Oh, and make sure those leg straps are tight around the thigh and can't move...b/c if mine weren't...I am not sure I would be able to have kids :-0 But, after all, I was safe. I can't wait to post the climbing pics, they are pretty sweet...if only I could find that camera cable...ugh.



Since Durango is a little slow for me (no friends and no hostel to meet new friends), I decide to go catch Dukes of Hazzard at night…nice and relaxing after a tough day.

Oh, and I cannot find my cord to connect my camera to my laptop...this is no good. Plus I won't be able to pick up a new one until Denver (1 week away). This is the first thing that has been misplaced on my trip. Oh, did I mention before that I didn't forget a single thing on this trip? Probably the best job I have ever done packing :)

Friday, Aug 5

Well, I feel quite refreshed from my night of sleep in Hotel Xterra. Now, the only problem is I could use a place to shower. I decide to explore the town…which is pretty cool. Guy in the bike shop tell me not to ride until the afternoon b/c the trails will be wet. So, I have more time to kill. I find a Laundromat that has showers avail for $3.50, but after checking those out I decide it would probably be better not to shower for a week rather than use those! I also heard about a rec center that I go check out…and it is amazing!! Since I have time to kill, I pay the $4 fee, and work out for about 1.5 hours, then use the really nice locker rooms to shower up.

Time to get out and ride. I ride trails just outside of the town of Durango, and they are just awesome (really fast rolling singletrack with a few big climbs and drops)! Several hours of fun. And…a return to Hotel Xterra!!

Thursday, Aug 4

Made it into town around 8pm…and was starving. Headed to a decent looking brewery to grab dinner and a beer. After talking to the bartender about lodging, I quickly learned that there were no good lodging options in town. Sticking true to my desire to not stay in a hotel/motel for more than 3 nights on my trip, I was limited to camping options (25 min drive from town)…and setting up camp in the rain and mud.

So, some of you thought it would happen, others said I was nuts. Hotel Xterra officially opened its doors in Durango. That’s right, after about 20 min of rearranging the SUV, I had quite a comfortable pad in the back of the vehicle. I tested it out, and full extension…what else could a man ask for?!?! So, I found a nice little residential side street, and pulled up that e-brake. That is HELPIN THE BILLS!! Fell asleep quite well b/c I was so tired, but around 4am started to hear a funny noise on the car. At first I thought it was raining, but the noise was spread about 10 seconds apart…look out the window to see sprinkler system going full tilt and spraying into my cracked windows…UGH! So, I jumped up in the front seat, drove around the block, and found a nice, quite spot to finish up my night of sleep.

Crested Butte

Thoughts on Crested Butte: Beautiful vistas, top-notch mountain biking, beautiful weather (75 and dry every day), athletic people, great beer, pm thunderstorms, small-town feel, dogs and hippy's.

Mountain bike trails: Upper Loop, Upper Upper Loop, Trail 401, Teocalli Ridge, Green Lake Trail


Thursday, Aug 4

Bummed about leaving Crested Butte and the cool hostel, but it is time to get moving. This place was amazing, with awesome outdoor activities at the doorstep of the small town (with no stoplights). Another cool thing about CB is that they don’t let any large companies (Walmart) or franchises (Starbucks) in the town. All the stores and restaurants are locally owned and run, and they have great food options. I will miss this place, and hope to return, but time to hit Durango for some more serious mountain biking!

Erin was able to score me a free breakfast at Teocalli Tamale where she works a second job...I like free food! Went on an advanced horseback ride on the way out of town…I have ridden a horse before, so does that allow for me to qualify for this advanced trail ride?!? Ride was cool, but we got hit with another huge thunderstorm. The drive to Durango should have been beautiful, but I was in a horrible rainstorm the entire drive trying to navigate some gnarly roads with HUGE drop-offs into deep gorge's.

Wednesday, Aug 3

I went and grabbed a really good breakfast at one of my favorite restaurants downtown. After that, went to a local bike shop and spent nearly 3 hours cleaning my bike and replacing all of the cabling and cable housing. Bike is running smooth now!

Went out for a cool ride up to a lake, but had another storm roll in on me (should have learned by now not to ride in the late afternoon). I decided to push through the storm b/c it was pretty light, and I was coming down the same trail I went up, and knew that I could bomb down in very fast! I was less than a mile from the lake, and some lightning struck, and decided my ride was over. After over an 1:15 of climbing, I bombed down the mountain (SWEET descent) in less than 20 minutes. Trail conditions were still ok and it was a blast! Time to grab a bite and my last beer in CB!

Tuesday, Aug 2

Woke up early to get over to the Taylor River for a morning of white water kayaking. First went and practiced my kayak roll in a pond with my guide Sam. After about 30 minutes of practice, I was ready to rock and roll. Sam asked if I wanted to run the upper section (class III) or the lower section (class II). I don’t have any experience running rivers, so asked him which he thought I should do. He wouldn’t give me an answer so I said “Hey, you only live once, I’m all in for the tougher river.”

Got on the river, and it was beautiful out (the norm for Crested Butte). But, the water temp was freezing…I hope I don’t have to swim (pull-out) of my kayak today! Over the second rapid, I got dumped over…here we go. I try to roll once, no success (but I do get a breath of air), second time nearly made it back up, but lost my balance in the white water, and on the third time, I made it over! Phew!! Combat roll successful!! I started to get more comfortable paddling the longer I was on the water, and rocked through some cool rapids (mostly technical, not big water). Great time, now off to meet up with Ben (UK buddy) and Erin (hostel employee, pro skier) to go for a ride.

Time to hit the Teocalli ridge trail, one of the best in the area. Ben’s legs are too sore, and Erin got called into work, so I head off to the trailhead solo. As I get ready to go, I see a storm brewing in the distance, so bring my long sleeve shirt along (normally the storms blow through in 20-30 minutes). After about 45 minutes of tough climbing up a fire road, I drop into some single track, and keep climbing. The storm is getting close, and it looks pretty rough. I keep pushing forward, thinking the storm will pass over me quickly. I am about half way through the ride, and the weather is getting bad pretty quickly. Bad idea to keep pushing forward, but now I am too far to turn around. Even with my long sleeve shirt, I am getting really cold and wet. The temperature has dropped down into the 40’s, and the rain here in CO is very cold. I start to lose feeling in my fingers, and can barely brake b/c my hands are so cold. I stop every 5 min to blow warm air on them, but decide it is best to keep pushing through this storm b/c there is no clearing in site and I am very cold at this point. I start getting somewhat concerned about the situation, as I am now only going downhill (no climbing), and the wind against my hands is a problem. Pretty soon the trail conditions deteriorate greatly also. Unfortunately, I still have my fast race tires on the bike, with a small tread (horrible in mud). I start sliding around quite a bit, but it is tough to control my speed b/c it is difficult to brake with my cold hands. In addition, the trails have turned to complete mud and slop, and I am sliding all around the trails. Even worse, mud has now totally caked my bike (check the pics)…to where I can no longer change gears and use my brakes. I am now controlling my speed with one leg hanging off my bike and kicking against the side of the trail to slow down. I go down hard a few times b/c of the lack of control…but getting close to getting off this ridge! I finally make it down, and come across a campsite of a bunch of bikers and they can’t believe I was up there. They have a fire going, and I spend about 20 minutes warming up. I finally get feeling back in my fingers…phew!! Probably the roughest ride I have ever done, and my bike weighs nearly 15 more pounds than normal with all the mud (it sure was tough to load onto the roof of the Xterra)! Certainly not the ride I was expecting!
Very tired, so just hung out at the hostel and watched a few skiing videos with friends from the hostel...nice and relaxing.

Monday, Aug 1

Fun night last night with Donny (racing buddy) and Ben (UK guy who is staying in the hostel). We got some of the best pizza in town, then headed to the locals bar in town. I was running the foosball table for a while…until some guy Hamilton got on the table. Man, he was good. He finally admits to us that at one point in his life, he was ranked 18th in the US in foos. He was good…but I don’t know if he was that good ;)

I went out and rode a top 10 mountain bike trail in the US, the 401 trail. It was unbelievable. The terrain was great, started with a really long climb up over 12,000 feet (yikes, no air). Then kept climbing, and popped over the ridge to have an amazing view of the valley and all the mountains. Totally stunning. Check out the pics.

Sunday, July 31

RACE DAY! Another rough night of sleep, and I am feeling a little lethargic. I am hoping this wears off once the race starts. Gun goes off at 9am, and the field looks really tough with lots of top-notch Colorado athletes who train a ton (at altitude, added bonus for them). During the swim, I did not feel like I had the normal power in my stroke…I think this is the result of no longer training, and just swimming during races. I hit the mountain bike course hard, but quickly get stuck behind some slower riders, and the single track is too narrow to pass. I slowly work my way around some of these strong swimmers, and start picking up speed. Half way through the race is the big climb of the day. I planned to middle-ring the climb (medium gear), knowing that it would be steep and hard, but thought I was capable to push through it and pass a bunch of people. About a third of the way up the mountain it starts to get tough. My legs feel like lead (lack of sleep/no recovery time/pre-ride?) and my lungs are burning from the altitude. Not quite the feeling I was hoping for at this point. I am forced to drop into my small chainring and get in line and ride with others (versus passing them). I get to the run, and my knee starts to hurt immediately…not a good sign. I get passed by a bunch of runners on the road, hold my own back in the single track, and get passed by a few more runners on the road. I am frustrated about my knee, and decide I am not racing next year unless it heals this off-season. It is too annoying to get passed on the run after putting in the hard work on the bike and swim. I finish up the race, but it was not a very good race for me. Legs just were not there throughout it…oh well. I think I placed around 6th/7th in my age group, but will update this once the results are posted.

I am enjoying Crested Butte so much, and there are so many trails I want to ride, that I have decided to change my schedule. I am no longer going to go out to Brian Head Utah to race a NORBA mountain bike race (my body needs a weekend off from racing). Here is my new schedule:

Crested Butte – through Aug 2nd
Durango, CO – Aug 2 – Aug 5
Moab, UT – Aug 5 – Aug 8
Fruita, CO – Aug 8 – Aug 10
Keystone, CO – Aug 10 – Aug 14

About to shoot off to grab a few recovery beers with a guy I raced with today. These Colorado breweries have some SWEET beer!

Saturday, July 30

Did not get a very good night of sleep even though I lucked out and ended up with my own room at the hostel. Locals say that the altitude affects sleep for several weeks…this is no good.

Grabbed a quick breakfast and met up with Roger and Terry to pre-ride the race course. I tried to take it pretty easy on the pre-ride, but it was tough b/c you really had to power through some sections to make it. Also, there was a huge 4+ mile climb in the middle of the course…which starts at 9,000 feet. My lungs are feeling the altitude during the ride. The course was awesome, I am really excited about the race.

Back into town in the afternoon…and the town is absolutely beautiful. Amazing mountains all around, a cool downtown area (no stoplights in town) and some of the best mountain biking in the US. This is pretty sweet…not sure if I am going to leave Sun afternoon as planned. Grabbed dinner with some racers, and went home to prep for the race.

Friday, July 29

Woke up in my last morning of my little cabin in Colorado Springs. Time to head to Crested Butte, but noticed I was driving right by the Arkansas River and some great whitewater rafting. I got a 12:30 reservation with Dvorkian Expeditions to raft some class IV/V whitewater, the Royal Gorge. I ended up in a raft with just two guides (they goofed up the reservation)…so enjoyed a day on the river with Kevin (Coloradan) and Brian (New Zealander). These guys love to travel, so we talked about all sorts of cool vaca spots. I convinced Brian to head to Costa Rica once the rafting season is over this fall. The rafting was ok, but not as big as I was hoping for (not as big as some rivers we have run in WV)…but certainly a good time b/c it was a beautiful day.

I then got back on the road, noticed a rodeo was going on in Gunnison and stopped in to check it out. When I finally arrived in Crested Butte, it was getting late and I was starving. Roger was doing this race with his girlfriend Terry, so I met up with them for dinner and a few drinks.

Trip Odomoter has just crossed the 2,000 mile point. The SUV certainly does not like climbing these big Rocky mountains…I hope it makes it!

Thursday, July 28 (part 2)

Hit some local trails with Roger, and they were awesome. He is a very strong technical rider, and he certainly pushed me to keep up with him (taking some bigger drops then I would on my own). After wiping out over the handlebars on a steep downhill…into some rocks…I decided to ease up a bit. Don’t want to get hurt before the race this weekend.
Headed downtown for dinner with Martha and Adam, and met up with some of their friends at a little dive spot downtown (Tony’s). Then we headed to Old Chicago to get some local beers on tap…which were awesome (Sunshine Wheat, Fat Tire Ale, etc.).