School started

This is how we commute and ride.

Yesterday was my first taste of the good life.
I rode multiple times that included 3 trips to shool to drop-off/pick-up small children. First ride include a fast ride to school with two children with a solo ride home. Then headed out for my first solo ride during the day. Maybe I should have spent the time being productive but I have been waiting for this moment ever since I began my slacker lifestyle. Was able to ride for two hours over some hilly terrain. Got home and rushed back out the door to pick pick the little one up from school. So, soloed down and hauled one child home. Relaxed for a few hours before heading back down to school with the little one to pick up my stoker. Rode home and called it a day. I get to do this twice weekly until the end of school.

Official end of Summer

Lost my stoker to school today!

Last week of summer

It has been a long week and a half. My mother was in town for the Denver Grand Prix which she was working the Formula BMW races. It was interesting hanging out at the track watching motor racing for three days. She was able to extend her stay for the week which meant logging of many early morning miles on the bike with a little wine in the evenings.
Headed out of town for a weekend of camping at Steamboat Lake (just north of Steamboat Springs). A great way to end the summer!

Its been a long time

A first in about six years happened. My wife and I went out for a glass of wine paired with some chocolate and atmosphere. Then this morning we rode our bikes together. Just a easy jaunt before Rene headed off to work. Life is still great!

More training

Life is too short not to have big beers! Here I am enjoying some quality family time with the kids having pizza at Proto's in downtown D. Training has been modified to include more beer and less miles as 'cross season is approaching.

Training?

A week of training by using the age old method of drinking beer instead of water to improve tolerance to dehydration. Tuesday, SC and Notorious met at mi casa for a ride to the watch some baseball. Rolled through the burbs of D and diced it up with some downtown urban riding. Watched the game, more beer, then sprinted to Mead St for a meal in a glass. Rode home and fell asleep on the couch. Great night!
So, Thursday rolled around, I did some more. Drove to D, parked the car, rode to Stranahans for the tour and a sample. Cellarrat was celebrating a bday. Meandered down to Swankys for PBRs and talk of cycling. Meet some folks from Flying Dog and Salvagetti. Then off to Pints Pub for a pint. Left Cellarrat to consume more as I headed home. On the ride back to the Westy, I saw large heads being projected on to the side of a building - freaked me out a bit.
I accomplished the goal, as today I am dehydrated!

Done

I having been feeling a tad sorry for myself as the events over the past few months have affected many things. Most of all for me, my racing calendar. Riding has been kept at the forefront as a way for me to deal with stuff and work out those day-to-day issues. Now I realize that life is full of great things and that the health of my family is more important than some silly race marked on my calendar. That said, time to ride my bike and get back in the swing of this blogging thing.

Peace,
Mike

41

Minimal free time

Have been busy with my domestique lifestyle and of course watching the Tour, so my posting/surfing has been limited. Well, no CB100 this year. I hated to take it off the calendar but that is the way is has to be. The rest of the calendar for the summer is under scrutinty also. Looks like mainly local rides and races with a serious ramp up for cross season.

Besides missing the CB100 this weekend, I am also missing one of my most favorite Texas rides. The ride from Austin to Luchenbach was always a must do when I resided in Austin. The rides starts from Freewheeling and meanders out to Luchenbach via the RealAle brewery. Check out the details.

The Wednesday night ride with the Denver Cruisers looks more appealing than the suffering of the Denver West ride.

Firecracker on the 4th

A great cycling weekend was had this past weekend as we celebrated the 4th of July. In honor of the 4th, I tried to get in 4 rides.

Loaded up the family on Saturday and heading off to the little mining village of Leadville. We rode the Mineral Belt trail that encircles the town. In the summer, the cyclists rule the trail whilst in the winter it is a cross country skiers paradise. It is only roughly 11 miles, with it split at half climbing and the other half descending. Then we poked around town, ate lunch, and shopped.

Sunday brought some clear skies in the morning so I headed out to climb Vail pass. It is a 10 mile descent from Breck to Frisco and 12 mile climb through Copper Mtn to Vail pass. I left early as to avoid the throngs of people. This is an easy climb compared to riding to the pass from Vail or any of the other area climbs, but it is still always enjoyable.

Monday was for doing a little pre-riding the FC50 course. Met up with SC and headed out for what turned out to be a bad idea. Made it up to the first section of single track off Boreas Pass road and the skies started to spit. By the time we made it to the first mine, it was sleeting. We trudged onward until we intersected the road to the Iowa Mine. There we made a downhill line to town. We quickly descended out of the rain/sleet and hit the road for an almost 40 mph cruise to town. The chill set in quickly but made it home in one piece. Missed the BlunDurd Hundurd up north (Happy Bday to Paddy!).

Sunday was a time for 50 miles of suffering. Actually, not much suffering just a long day in the saddle. I had a plan and I tried to stick to it, but the legs said something else. I started out at a moderate pace wanting to go easy on the first lap and then pick it up a little on the second. The legs felt good after the first lap which I completed in about 2hr 45 min. The second lap started well as I cruised the road section passing many of the guys/gals that blasted me on the previous downhill. Made it to the first real up and the legs couldn't turn the gear I had. It was faster to walk than try and pedal. I was pushing a 32x18 on a 29er which was the biggest gear of those I polled. I am sure the guy that won the thing was pushing a bigger gear than I. I made it to the finish feeling pretty damn good. I lost over 30 minutes compared to the first lap and ended up completing the 50 miles in just under 6 hours. Drank a beer at the finish and ate some veggie chile before the short ride home. More beer, a shower, more food, hot tubing with the kids, and topped off with fireworks. SC did a great job on his ride! The SS winner rocked the course in 4hrs 9 mins.

A great way to spend the long weekend.

Western States Recap

Two runners and a pacer the day before the start.

The start was a blur as the runners took off at what appeated to be a brisk walk. They only had a few miles of climbing before they reached the first aid station.





Nikki rocked the course again, winning her second WS in the past three years. I got the opportunity to chat with her after her first win and she really is down to earth.








My brother after 30 miles and one hot canyon. His feet were soaked from the snow fields and his shirt soaked with sweat. The crew packed him in snow and filled him full of fluid before sending him out.









Rene was disappointed to here my brother drop from the race at mile 50 after the second brutely hot canyon. Only 56 % of the runners made it all the way to Auburn. Rene was able to pace a friend of my brothers. They headed out at 10 pm in a moonless sky.











Only 9 miles left from the Hwy 49 aid station. The heat was already building. Just a note: hot chocolate and instant coffee makes a concoction that taste much like battery acid (but did manage to wake me up a bit).











Rene finishing her pacing duties and crossing the line in Auburn, CA. 38 miles in a little over 12 hours with major one river crossing (by raft). Rene's runner finished in just over 29 hours. The times for this years race seemed to be slower than the past two years, whish can be attributed to the 100 degree temps.






She finished with Dirty Feet!

Bummer

Finally back to the realm of the computer. So much has happened and I have been a bit overwhelmed. First off my Brother was unable to complete his 100 mile run over the weekend. Also, Cellarrat nodded off on the side of the road just long enough for someone to snatch his bike. After a bit of hoofing it and some help from friends he made it back to Denver. Need to take a trip to downtown and buy that man many beers!

All for now

Support Role time

It is time to head off to the Tahoe region of California to support my brother in his effort to complete the Western States 100 mile endurance run for the third time. Rene is excited to be able to join us and pace him for the last 38 miles. I will just be crewing this year, which means leapfrogging the runners in order to keep them motivated and properly fueled. I will try and run/hike with them from Rucky Chucky to Greengate and from Robie Point to the Finish. I will post some pictures here when I return. I wish my brother and Cellarrat great adventures in the coming days/weeks.

When you are 99 miles into a 100-mile running race, your brain is not the same brain you started with." - Paul Huddle


Here is a picture of the new kit. This is before the Winter Park race while I still look fresh. A weekend off the bike but will try and get in a run or two. Next up for me is the Firecracker 50 on the 4th of July.



This is how we roll in the summer. The tandem has a kid stoker kit mounted on it and I just put the front rack on to carry our stuff. Notice the old KUSR sticker on the bag, the ISU campus radio station that was a main stay for alternative music in a sea of BAD 80's rock.


Far Off the Track"
"If you're heading out there
I'll give you a tip
It's wild and it's far
And you're in for a trip.
For just when you think
It couldn't get rougher
The path goes crooked
And the going gets tougher.
But once you've traveled
This far off the track
You won't settle for less
And there's no going back."
-- Patrick O'Leary

Off!

WP #2

Twenty two miles of pure suffering fun! Managed only 13 out of the 15 finishers. I had a great ride but have to realize that my descending skills are holding me back. Something to work on, it was my first real race on the Waltworks. I need to get use to riding rigid and letting th 29er wheels roll over more.

Now for a little down time as I prepare for my support role at WS100. It seems there is someone who is going to try and convince me to pace the last 38 miles for them, I will be avoiding that person.

Week in Review

Had a great week of riding and recovering.

Did my first Wednesday night Denver West ride and got totally whooped! Those boys put the hammer down on a little climb and that was it for me. Ended up chasing for 5+ miles with the main group just a blur ahead, met up with a guy named Chris and rode the rest together. I didn't feel to bad considering I rode early that morning and it was only 102 degrees out. I am planning on making it a weekly suffer fest.

Hope that Cellarat has a great GDR!

Finally picked up my new kit from my new team.

Heading to mountains again this weekend to inflict much pain on the body.

Quote

Something to think about.

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go."
- T.S. Eliot

Quote

Something to think about.

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go."
- T.S. Eliot

Alpine Training

Spent the weekend training at elevation with SC. A couple of nice mellow rides with plenty of hanging out time. Great weekend!

Sorry for the short post, more later.

No transition for me..................

Normally at this point in the season I am making a quick transition to running in order to pace my Brother the last 38 miles of Western States. This year is different and I can say it is kinda nice. I do enjoy the mid-year break from cycling and the challenges running 12 hours at night bring, but staying on the bike and keeping some form are going to be good going into July. The last few years July has been a recovery month as I ramp up for the Fall. 38 miles tends to take a lot out of my legs, considering I only would run the month of June and last years longest run was no more that 1.25 hours. This year Rene is taking the reins as I help in the crewing aspect. The only thing that worries me is that Rene will start wanting to run 50 and 100 mile runs. That would mean 2 endurance athletes in the house vying for the limited amount of free time.

Did my first Crit of the year, it was fast and fun but I had a stupid mechanical which caused my wheel to come asckew and the tire to rub on my frame. It irked me a tad. Rode to the crit, raced and rode home which turned out to be a great day of riding. I might work a couple more crits in for a little redemption in July.

We have altered out plans for the summer which has been good for riding but we are missing out on heading my daughters birth place, Ausin (Texas). The family was looking forward to cruising the streets on the tandem, swimming at the springs, and eating loads of tex-mex. At least there is tex-mex in the mountains!

All for now, work to be done.

The Eye

Went to the Doctor today for this crazy swollen eye. I have a ulcer on my cornea which was caused by drinking too much of the neighbors homebrew and then sleeping with my contacts in. I can't wear contacts for a week but I can still drink beer.