Indoor Fun

It's been another spectacular week of weather in the Tetons.

Okay, seriously, it's been a rough week here in Victor. I have managed to get in a few quality training rides but not without a little added weather-induced suffering. I went over to Jackson for Tuesday Night Worlds last week and as always, enjoyed the humbling experience of trying to maintain pace with the "A" group of men. On Wednesday I actually rode real dirt trails around Cache Creek in Jackson, was stuck on the trainer again Thursday, braved 3 miserable outdoor hours of 44 deg. and raining on Friday, learned my lesson and kept it inside on Saturday when it was 42 and raining. Again.

I did get a new toy this week that has kept me entertained. First, a wicked huge thank you to Dustin and Steve at Hammer Nutrition for hooking me up with a new Globus Premium Sport Estim unit. Wow, what a cool toy.

The Globus is Hammer's new estim unit (replaced the Compex) and it's been on my wish list for quite some time. I have been getting regular estim at the chiropractor lately for a lingering back issue and love the feeling and the effects of a well-placed electrode pad. I have just been sticking to the "Active Recovery" and "Massage" programs. If I must be stuck inside watching it rain and snow I may as well be actively recovering while I sit and stew on the couch. In fact, my calf muscles are actively recovering as I type.

The other new toy I got is this sweet new hydration unit, the Veleau. The guys at Veleau sent me this prototype this week and I took it out for its maiden voyage yesterday. My Felt Nine only has one bottle cage so I am constantly faced with the issue of where/how to carry enough water, especially in my ultra distance events.

I usually opt for carrying a bottle in my jersey pocket which isn't very ideal. But, I'll take anything over carrying a camelbak/hydrapak or anything on my back or shoulders for that matter. For me, hydration packs get in the way of cooling on hot days, they always smack me in the back of the head on steep downhills, my hair gets caught in them, I can't stand the dangling straps on my legs, and blah blah blah. So this nifty little contraption solves a huge problem for me in ultra-distance events, especially ones that I do self supported.

I actually contacted the company this winter asking for one after Sue Butler was using one at the Intermontane Challenge and flying in and out of aid stations ahead of me. Now I can just pull in, open up the mouth, dump water in with a gallon jug (which you can always find at neutral support stations) with it still attached to the bike and be on my way. The model I have holds just about 40 oz. There's also plenty of room for my CO2, tube, levers and a multitool in the gear pocket. I took it on some serious terrain yesterday and it didn't budge. (For the locals, that meant 2 trips up and down Ferrin's and for my ultimate test, sending the staircase on Hagen behind the saddle as usual with no issues of it getting in the way.) Didn't even have to break my aero position to drink either.

Next up: the Mohican 100 on Saturday. I am soooo excited that I can hardly sit still...but, at the moment I actually have to sit still because my Globus is rockin' my tired legs out. Anyway, it's the first time in a few years that I will be missing the good time of the Teva Games, but hey, the Mohican has 500 people signed up and promises a great post-party, too. Most importantly, I can tell that I am now officially more stoked on doing 100s over XC. How can I tell? Let's just say I think about going to Teva and think...well, nothing. I think about Mohican and I get butterflies just thinking about riding my bike for 8 hours in totally new territory. Wish me luck!

Awwww geeze

Mother nature has not been cooperating since we got home from Tennessee. I have been riding the trainer way too often for May. For the record, once constitutes too often.

This was my deck this morning in the midst of the winter storm warning that's on for the rest of the day:

Instead of unleashing frustration on a bike somewhere in the great outdoors as I typically do, I decided to calm myself down with a Ed Abbey inspired Henry Lightcap-esque bread baking session. Though I have not yet snapped to the extent that that Henry did (shooting up my own refrigerator with a shotgun out of frustration) I did feel a similar level of frustration bubbling up. So, a deep breath and bread-by-hand was in order.


Baking bread always makes me feel better no matter what the occasion. It brings me back to some of the happiest days of my being when I worked summers in the back country huts for the Appalachian Mountain Club in northern New Hampshire as a cook and a pack mule. Plus, the house now smells of wonderful Rosemary Garlic bread, making it a lot more appealing to spend the day inside. Pumpkin bread was yesterday's catharsis. I wonder what I will make tomorrow? I am glad Nate likes to eat because now that I avoid gluten like the plague, someone has some feasting to do.

Going from this lovely evening birdwatching boat ride in Georgia in the high 80s to full-on winter has been trying.

At least someone is enjoying it...Nate has been skiing every day since we got home. I just can't muster the motivation to join him. That would require digging out my car.

At least the truck is cooling down after the looooong, hot trip to TN:

Dirt, Sweat, Gears and FUN

This is the exact report published on the Kenda MTB Team page a few days ago. I've been putting in a LOT of windshield time and have been without the internets for a few days, so I'm a little off the back with my own reporting. Thanks to Paul Henry for the photos!

Photo @ Paul Henry

I put Dirt, Sweat and Gears on my 2010 schedule because I thought it would be a great introduction to the 12-hr race format. Even though I’ve done many 100-mile races and have ridden my bike for 12 hours straight, I had never ridden in circles for half of a day.

Nate and I decided to drive to Fayetteville, Tennessee instead of flying after carefully considering our packing list: 3 mountain bikes, an extra wheel set, a 10x20 Kenda tent, our dog, Nate’s dirt biking gear, a power washer, 2 coolers, an air compressor, a trainer and all the tools, tires and contraptions under the sun one could possibly need for a 12-hour bike ride. We meandered our way out over 4 days, making stops in Denver, southern Illinois and eastern Tennessee to shake out the legs on some nice singletrack. We then visited with some friends for a few days at their lakefront home in Gainesville, GA, took a evening motor boat ride to and from a local seafood joint, swam in their pool, enjoyed the local trails and begrudgingly began to acclimate to the southern heat and humidity.

My pre-ride lap on Friday revealed near perfect course conditions. The challenging 10-mile loop included a lot of tight, tacky singletrack and was full of typical east coast roots and rock gardens. The 1300 feet of climbing per lap came in lots of steep, punchy, technical climbs that kept you constantly on the gas with little time for recovery.

On race morning I woke up to 92% humidity, a forecasted high of 85-90 degrees and a 40% chance of severe thunderstorms and rain showers. Ick. At 9am, 300 racers lined up for the Lemans style start. I lined myself up in the second row and placed my bike in the perfect spot (the first bike on the outside of second row.) My strategy of sprinting as hard as I could to my bike paid off, as I made it on my bike and into the singletrack in the top 20. Only a handful of people ended up passing me during the first lap, so I knew I had saved a precious amount of energy early on by not having to pass a ton of folks on the first lap. I then kept with the same strategy the entire race: ride steady but strong, be conservative, have fun, stay far away from my redline and keep the rubber side down.

Photo @ Paul Henry

About 3 hours in…kaBOOM! Thunder, lightening and a deluge of rain hit the north half of the loop. It was the strangest weather event I’ve ever seen on a racecourse. Half the course turned into a wet, sloppy, peanut butter mud filled death march and the other half remained dry. It then became an even tricky technical skills day, as some sections were as slick as ice, requiring conservative and careful handling, braking and accelerating. The other half of the course required you to shift your brain and riding style to dry conditions mode and not get caught riding overly cautious.

Thankfully, I had 2 great bikes to choose from when the conditions became heinous, both fitted with Kenda Karma's. When the rain hit, I was on my Felt Nine, which up to that point was the ideal ride because of all the technical climbing. But when it became so caked in mud that the tires would no longer roll I was able to get a fresh, clean Felt Six LTD which proved to be the better choice in the super muddy conditions. The smaller the wheel, the less mud that could accumulate on it, making it easier to pedal up all the punchy climbs. Of course, the lighter the bike, the easier it was to carry and to push it, too. As the day went on and the course dried out, I went back to my Nine, preferring its ability to simply steamroll over all the technical sections and to maintain traction over the slick roots, rocks and sloppy corners. After 3 laps, the directors made the smart call to shorten the course by about 15-20 min. by cutting the muddiest section off the course.

Although there were times that it felt like I was riding in a sauna, I handled the humidity and heat pretty well. Each lap I dumped ice water on my head, back and chest and I was sure to keep ingesting a steady stream of Hammer endurolytes pumping all day long. My pit stops were fast, efficient and dialed thanks to Nate. He kept my bikes running well through the tough conditions, filled my bottles and flasks with cold water, Heed and Hammer Gel and constantly reminded me of all the details I was forgetting when my brain started to melt inside my helmet.

I slowly built my lead throughout the day by turning consistent lap times just shy of 1 hour (on the short course). I lapped the 3rd place woman mid-afternoon and lapped the 2nd place woman just before 7pm. When I came into the pit at 7:40, Nate told me to stop riding. He said that I was done, had won it and that it was time to celebrate! The rule at Dirt Sweat and Gears is that only laps completed before 9pm count. I could have easily gone out and completed a night lap before the cutoff, as I would have had 1:20 to do so. However, there was no possible way of 2nd place catching me and all I could think of was how awful it would be if I had gone out and gotten myself injured on a lap I didn’t need to be on. Besides, 10 laps, 10:40 of saddle time and roughly 13,000 feet of climbing was more than enough for me! I was long overdue for a cold shower and real food!

Photo @ Paul Henry

The event had a great vibe for both the racers and the spectators/support crews. The timing was dialed, the rules were clear, the payout was equal and extremely generous, and it was just a fun, fun, fun day of racing. The race directors were incredibly gracious hosts and bent over backwards to show us all some great southern hospitality. The post race party was kickin’ with a live band, a rainstorm of schwagg and lots of good beer. The event itself was a fundraiser for the local trails group SORBA and a $10 donation to SORBA got you a bottomless mug of local Yazoo. All in all, I suffered, I was successful and most importantly I had a blast. Dirt, Sweat and Gears is definitely on my repeat race list.

Thanks for reading and of course a big thanks to Kenda, Felt and all my sponsors for their support and belief in me!

Duathlon Day

I suppose bad weather can be approached one of two ways. This week, I tried both. The approach that involved powder skiing was definitely a lot more fun than the other.

Winter just won't leave the Tetons.

It has been a crazy winter in Jackson Hole. Technically, it's spring. But seeing as we've gotten 10 feet of snow in the mountains during the month of April, it appears mother nature is not yet finished with winter. The skiers and the farmers definitely think better late than never.

Seems most of Jackson Hole/Teton Valley
also thought skiing on May 2 was a good idea.

Nate had been out skiing almost every day this week and until yesterday, I had resisted his invitations to join him even though he had been saying that he had been enjoying some of the best powder days of his year. (Keep in mind, this man skis A LOT.) I was still exhausted from Cohutta and from the cold I had been battling all week. The couch had proven to be the more responsible option for my recovering body. However, by Sunday morning I had turned a corner. My cold was long gone, I had put a solid workout in on the trainer the day before and felt recovered.

I was comfortably reading on the couch, lamenting waking up to yet another few inches of snow on the deck when Nate came in and said "Come on, Glory hike, Herb will be here in 20 min., you should come."


A quick run down in my head...A hike to 10,000 feet could be a great altitude training day for the Firecracker, XC Nationals and Leadville. Today's my running day, hiking's the same thing, right? The sun is shining, but the roads won't be dry for a ride until the afternoon anyway. I LOVE skiing. I love spending time in the mountains with these people. But, where the heck are my tele boots? Does my beacon even have batteries in it? Do I still own skis? Where's that 3rd cup of coffee?

Bikes or skis, me and best adventure buddy.

Thankfully, I had packed all my ski gear away in one place back in March so that was easy. Nate has been steadily selling off our ski quiver this spring to make room for next year's stuff so finding a functional setup for both of us was a challenge. He went back to an alpine set up and I used his banged up rock skis.

It was strange to see the valley so green
while the skiing at 10,000 feet was so white and fluffy.

It turned out to be one of the best ski days of the year. The sun came out half way up, I ran into lots of pals and we had a great run before the sun affected the snow. And, it was DEEP.

On the walk back up, I was seriously thinking
" I could ride up this later today..."

By the time we got home the sun had melted the snow off the roads and it was time for a ride. It was my first test run of my new set up. Team Kenda/Felt recently got hooked up with some sweet new wheels from Sun Ringle: The Black Flag Pro Tubeless 29ers. Not only are they light, stiff and come tubeless ready, they are gold. Well, gold colored.

The Black Flag Pros have a much wider rim profile (24mm) than the standard Black Flags and made setting them up a breeze. They have a direct pull spoke pattern, will allow me to run much lower pressures and just look hot. Even though I stuck to dirt roads yesterday the difference was noticeable immediately.

Classic Teton Valley back roads

I also recently got the parts I needed to complete my Wobble Naught fit. A flat bar and a negative drop stem has finally provided me the angles and drop I needed for it to all come together. Thanks to Nate, Tom at WN and now Sun Ringle, my Nine is dialed!