Zen Love

A few months ago I took a solo day trip to St. George to ride some trails that I would be racing on in a few weeks. I really needed some red dirt therapy. I couldn't find anyone to go with me so, I ventured out on my own. Contrary to what I was saying during the Grit 50 Epic "There is nothing Zen about Zen". This is true when your trying to race it. Its tough, technical and demanding. But, when you are all alone and seem to have the entire trail to yourself, it actually is quite Zen. Maybe thats what they had in mind when they named it. I was eerily all alone for the entire day.

I am just now sifting through the footage from that day due to a corrupted file that kept crashing my Imovie. Its fixed now. Enjoy this amateur video.



Since it snowed last night, and Im not able to take advantage of the fresh snow NOR get on my bike. I thought a video would make me feel better. It did, just a bit.

Grit 50 Epic

I decided to take advantage of the generous offer from the promoters of a discount on this years entry after last years insane race. I of course was nervous and apprehensive as I think most were that attended the inaugural race. I thought, no way could that happen 2 years in a row. I signed up and hoped for the best. The few weeks leading up to the race I checked the weather, checked it again, then checked it again. Hoping for the best. It was looking iffy but, we were committed to going down. Hannah was pumped to finally get a vacation. She's 5, life is pretty stressful at 5 so she needed a break.

Friday's weather was great. Sunny, warm and in the 70's. Saturdays forecast looked to be pretty good until about 2 or 3. It looked like I might have a little rain towards the end or hopefully it holds off. Well, it held off. The weather was almost perfect. There was a little bit of a strong breeze on a few spots but for the most part it was great.

I started out pretty mellow. I felt good, never felt like I was going to hard. Finished the first section feeling good and moved on to Zen. Don't let that name fool you. Not much peaceful about this trail. Super technical, no rest on the ups or the downs. It tests you both physically and mentally. Slip up and you will be picking yourself up off the desert floor. Of course, there were a few sections I walked but I felt good about the trail and finished the first few sections faster than we had finished it the year previous by about 15 minutes. I was pretty happy to have Zen behind me. I rolled into the first aid station with Tyler Seamons, he was riding strong all day. He left the aid station a little in front of me and I didn't see him for a few hours. Banks and Tanner were behind but I figured they would catch up before long.

The climb out Stucki was decent. I paced it fairly slow up that climb and had some headwind, crosswind and tailwind. Tailwind was the best. I got to the top, stopped to stretch a bit and Tanner caught up. We started the decent together, I pulled away on the decent, finished the reaper lap, missed a turn and ran into Tyler who also missed the turn. We met up at the last aid station and Tanner caught back up. I scarfed a half a banana down and refilled some water and we headed off to the first of 2 laps on barrel roll. 2 laps was tough mentally. I felt like garbage on the first lap. Tyler dusted us on that first lap so me and Tanner kept each other company. Tanner was having an issue with his fork so, I lost him on the decent. The 2nd lap I felt much, much better. I felt as peppy as I could at that point. I didn't see Tanner again until the finish area. I finished the 2nd lap filled some water up and made my way towards the return wash. It took longer than I expected to get back into Green Valley, there was some headwind making my way back and I was tired and just wanted to finish. I made another wrong turn and had to backtrack just a bit. I felt like they could have used a few more trail markings but all in all it was pretty good.

I rolled into the finish area a little more than 6 1/2 hours. I was pretty happy. I didn't get sick, felt good for about 80% of the race. Rode strong, and finished with a smile. Lindy, Hannah and Lucy were all waiting for me at the finish. Great way to finish a good, long day on the bike. I will be back next year.

Tyler finished just before me, Tanner rolled in just after and Banks pulled the plug after Zen with some serious dizzy spells. Took him a few days to recover from some nasty illness. Don't worry Banks, I'm already in for next year.

Here are some photos I poached from the race.

Good times in the desert. It was good to see a lot of cycling pals that I never see all winter. It was also good to meet a few new ones. Worst part of the race was a little bit of a sore ass (to be expected) and two nasty big toes. I stubbed them while walking a few of the technical sections. The last one almost had me in tears. Going to lose that nail in about 6 months. Other than that, all good.

Say a little prayer

So, I ask that you all say a little prayer and ask that the weather holds out for all of us slow bastards that will be circling the desert singletrack tomorrow. The pros should be done around 1 and Im thinking I will be done around 4. Please bless us with good weather. Hell, after last year, I will be happy with 50's and partly cloudy or even cloudy. As long as the clouds don't open up like last year.

After all, tomorrow is St. Patricks day and I AM Irish. Well, Im part Irish. That counts. Pray for us.

Time to rock n roll. Lets do this.

The Desert

I made a day trip to St. George this past Monday. I couldn't talk any of my pals to join me so I went solo. They missed out. The weather was fantastic, maybe even a little too warm but nonetheless it was great to get out and ride in shorts and short sleeves.  I wanted to do a little Grit recon so I parked at the Zen trailhead. This made sense so I could stop and refuel easily. It worked out pretty good. I tried to find the first part but I got lost and rode some of the trails but not sure in what order. I think I cut that part in half or so. After that, I moved on to Zen. Zen is such a cool trail. Its hard, super technical and pretty demanding both mentally and physically. There are parts of this trail that I walk and Im not ashamed. Its a tough trail. I finished up Zen, headed to the car to refuel before heading out Bear Claw to Stucki. Stucki Springs climb while not steep or particularly long, it just beats me down. Each time I have ridden it it has put me in a dark, dark place. I made it although it felt like a furnace out there. Would it kill em to plant some nice big shade trees out there along the course? Come on, throw me a bone here.

Top of Stucki looking at the climb up. No Shade!

Looking at the descent towards Santa Clara. Still no shade but its a downhill. 

I made it to the top and took in the view for a minute. Then took off down the decent. Its a pretty fun decent, not long enough in my opinion. I got to the gate and continued to get lost. I wasnt really sure where the trails connect but I thought I could figure it out. I rode along some dirt roads and stumbled upon Rim Reaper/Rim Rocks. I saw some pink ribbons out there but had no idea if they were for Grit or something else. I was starting to get short on time so I rode around out there then headed back towards the car. I cramped up a few miles from the car. Nothing severe, I was able to stretch for a minute to loosen it back up. It was hotter than I was expecting it to be and I think I wasnt drinking enough. All in all, I felt decent. Not as fit as I felt last year at this time but not bad considering I haven't been skiing much due to our awesome snowpack.

Top of Zen looking towards Stucki

this car had 3 dudes in it. Going to Disneyland!

Red bull was nice after Zen

Top of Zen looking towards Snow Canyon

Carborocket was on board 

Good day in the Desert

Great trip, even if I had to go by myself. Next time, someone should come with me. I have tons of video from the ride but Imovie decided to take a big shit on me so I haven't been able to do anything with it. Kinda bummed. Till next time,

Christmas Time!

Ok, the requests are starting to come in. "What do you want for Christmas?" Well, there is still plenty to choose from on my Birthday list. But, here is some additional items for you to choose from.

I always enjoy a good Probar. They pack over 300 calories and are good to have around if I get busy and don't have time for lunch or breakfast on the way to some early morning skiing. Here is a link. PROBAR. I like the Koka Moka best.

I am also in need of some new water bottles. Over the last few years I have migrated to the camelback podium bottles.  You can get these bad boys at your local bike shop or at your local REI store. I prefer any color except black. Either the 20 oz. bottle or the larger 25 oz.

Just like pretty much everyone I know, my fuel of choice is Carborocket. Now, its pretty much the best ever endurance fluids you can get. I could use a replenishing of both the standard carborocket as well as the Half evil 333. All flavors are pretty good. You can either order direct from Carborocket or your local bike shop. If you're ordering online, you may as well toss a pair of socks into the cart. Not only do I like those socks but he used the word "rad" in the description. I'm sold.

To further aid me in my snow evaluation, I could use one of these as well as one of these.

I could always use a new pair of cycling gloves. Ergon makes the best grips around and they just started selling gloves. I would venture to guess they make pretty good gloves as well. Size Large. Ergon-bike

You can never have too much Stans tire sealant in your garage. It seems you always run out just when you need it most. Stans no tubes tire sealant

Like alot of guys my age training tends to take a back seat. Stuff gets in the way time is crunched etc. Lynda has a pretty good following of her training plans. You could always hook me up with a training plan for the "time crunched" forever midpack racer. They start at $50. LWCOACHING

Back to the socks. I follow a pro endurance racer named Sonya Looney. She is pretty much a bad ass on the bike and I enjoy her posts. She wears some pretty cool socks and I want some of these. I know they are pink. I don't care. I want them.

Speaking of clothing. Twin Six makes the best cycling T-shirts etc around. You could choose pretty much any of their T-shirts and I would be happy. Twinsix.com

You could also get a gift card to one of my favorite outdoor retailers. Backcountry.com

One more item. A harness for my Avalanche Beacon. BCAACCESS.

So far this season, our snowpack is looking rather bleak. How bout some snow? Hello? Is this thing on?

Some "me" time!

Search engines should have fun with that one. Anyways, a week ago I cruised up to Park City to ride some single track before the snow covers the trails up until June. I couldn't talk anyone into playing hooky with me (even though its my day off) so I went up solo. I took alot of footage that day. The video doesn't do it justice though. The leaves were completely gone in some spots and totally radical in others. I broke the video into 2 sections. I couldn't edit it all into one. So without further delayed gratification, enjoy!

Chasin Banks!

Banks and I partook in some Corner Canyon Monday night. Here I am chasin him. He left my legs out there on the side of the trail somewhere. Enjoy.

Ever had a close encounter?

No, not with an alien. I'm talking about a close encounter with an animal while riding. Even been hit by a bird while night riding? I have. Ever ran over a snake? I have. Ever had a deer or similar large animal run across the trail in front of you? I have. Not to be confused with Bear Bait. Ever been slammed into by a huge buck while riding singletrack in Africa? Didn't think so. This dude has. Watch this.

Is there anybody out there?

I snuck in a ride this morning before the downpour started. I had time this morning and I figured if I tried to wait until after work there was a good chance I wouldn't get the ride in. I was right. I saw a total of 5 people. 1 runner, 2 hikers and 2 bikers. I pretty much had Corner Canyon to myself. My current favorite trail is Ann's. I really, really like the downhill. I am also really liking the Rush trail but Ann's is pure money in either direction.

I mounted the camera on the seatpost today to try something new. It worked ok. I liked how the footage came out but the camera gets in the way even while standing. Total no-go if pedaling is required. Nonetheless the trails were sweet and the crowds were non existent. Great way to start the day. I love riding. Seriously, if you don't ride a bike, why the hell not?

Learning Curve

Try # 2 was a little more successful. Rotated the lens and presto, no skinny video. Although, I wouldn't mind a little slimming affect these days. Here's a little video of Upper Rush. Still working on my editing skills. Its a work in progress. Enjoy a little "roll the bones". Really loving the new Rush additions this year.

First timer

I got this fancy helmet cam off backcountry.com last week. I have always wanted one and when they dropped the price in half, I couldn't pass it up. Here is my first attempt. Im a rookie at this, hopefully I get better. Cam position seems good, footage came out skinny when I rotated it. Nonetheless, here is my first video. Its a shorty. Basically the downhill section from Clarks to Canyon Hollow. Enjoy.


Untitled from Nate Kingdon on Vimeo.

Suitcase of Courage

As Phil Ligget said in a previous stage of this years Tour de France about French rider Thomas Voeckler, "he's digging deep in his suitcase of courage right now". This quote rang home for me. I love how Voeckler races. He puts it all on the line, everyday. He rides hard until he cant anymore. I need to take a page out of Voecklers book.

Anyways, its been over a week since the PC50 race so I figured I better get a little report up. It was a shitty race for me. End of story.

Ok, I started out pretty easy but, on this course easy was not really a walk in the park. The first half of the race held about 6000 vert with another 2000 in the last half. Survive the first half and your golden.

I was in a group with Banks, Bright, JThomas, and others for the first 10 miles or so. I watched Banks and DT ride away from me shortly after the aid station at mile 8. Bright caught me around mile 15 as I was pulled over for a rest. Day was not starting out how I envisioned it. I was in for a long sufferfest. Can't put my finger on it. I had a decent breakfast, had CR half evil at half strength in my camelback and a bottle of water. I had eaten 3 GU's and a honey stinger waffle in the first 3 hours or so and after that, I just couldn't take anything in. Stomach was angry. I crawled my way to the 23 mile aid station, took a rest, drank a coke and some water. Refilled my camelback with regular CR tasted it and whoa, it wasn't going to fly, not today. I dumped it and filled it up with water. I figured I would go as long as I could. I thought it wouldn't be long until I was seein stars since I wasn't able to take in any calories. I was pretty pissed to because I started the race and specifically said I am going to stay on top of calories. I started out pretty good but, somethin just wasn't sitting well.

My stomach quite cramping around mile 30ish. I tried to eat a bar and promptly spit it out. I decided water would be my sole source of fuel for the day. Yay me! MMT re-route is the devil. That trail nearly killed me last fall in P2P and it nearly did it again. If I wasn't able to pedal, I walked. I didn't give a shit. I was like the honey badger but less aggressive. I was too far into the sufferfest to NOT finish that fucker. I thought about it though. I wanted to. But, I didn't let the demons of self doubt overtake me. So, I got that goin for me.

I was finally rewarded with a long 7 mileish downhill all the way to the finish. Man, it was rippin. I wish I had more energy on that section because there was some sweet 1 track there. I think I am narrowing it down to the GU'S. I think I can handle those in moderation throughout the day but need to take in other things as well. I made the mistake of goin straight GU'S for the first half. Idiot. Next race will be done sans GU. If I need to stop to eat a nutroll or somethin, Im going to. Better than blowin up and riding with those stomach issues. Its just not fun. I enjoy the suffer but not like that.

Few observations:
The volunteers rocked! Bent over backwards for people. This has been well documented.
MMT Reroute is the devil.
There was a huge amount of moose shit on MMT Reroute. Like pile after pile. If it was chocolate I would think someone was leaving me a crumb trail.
Riding with no energy is not my idea of a good day
Mentally, I feel like I overcame a lot
No more GU
Having the crew from Suncrest all hanging around for my sorry ass at the finish was pretty damn awesome. Seriously, thanks. It meant alot.
Riding and suffering with strangers is way better than suffering alone.
Suffering alone is a very, very dark place.
600 calories is not enough for a 50 mile race
Dunking your head in ice cold run-off feels amazing. I did this no less than 4 times.

I think I had dug a hole with the training and not sleeping very well prior to the race. With a newborn at home, its tough to do it all. I think I was fatigued before I even lined up. Took me a week and a half to recover. I went out for a ride last week and just felt SLOW. No pop, just really, really tired. I put the bike away and tried to rest. I went out today and I am feeling much better. Sleep is good.

I hope to take alot away from this. Including riding like Thomas Voeckler. Dude just rides his ass off until he can't. Much respect. He's a badass. Hope he holds on for a podium spot this year.

Jdub kicked mean ass in this race. As did his better half Annie. She rocked her first endurance race after suffering a few mechanical mishaps. Banks, finished that mofo and got this monkey off his back. We all knew you could do it. You're riding strong this year. Excited to see you roll across the line at P2P. Bright rolled that mofo after hackin up a lung the week before and boozin it on the cruise the week before that. Bright, if you would stop makin out with strangers on the cruise ship, you wouldn't get sick. DT rocked it as well, even with those sticks he calls legs. Good shit man, you got any meat on you? Seriously, if I am ever stranded somewhere and have to resort to cannabalism, I don't want to be stranded with you. Seamons kicked some mean ass after his training this year has basically been a few rides and some runs on the streets of China. Im guessin here but, he has been in China more than Utah it seems.

If I left someone out, I am sorry. You kicked ass as well. Good job. Thats all for now.

Oh, no pictures, I swear I saw someone taking pictures on the trail. Apparently, I was hallucinating. Sorry, this was a long post.

Cardiac Arrest and Suicidal Squirrels

Instead of the called for intervals today I opted for a TT of Clarks. I hate that climb. I have to say, there is no way I could have gone any faster. By the time I reached the little sign towards the top I thought I was going to kill over. I felt fast, well fast for me.  My gps battery was dead so I had to rely on my strava app. I have tested it out and it seems to be pretty accurate. All in all, I was extremely happy with the results. I am also happy to report that I didn't go into Cardiac Arrest. I did however taste blood. I think a TT of Clarks is a good replacement for 5x3 minute intervals. Right? I was pleased with my result. I guess intervals do help.

Once I regained consciousness I rolled down Brocks to Canyon Hollow. Only saw a handful of riders out in the trail. I cruised up Ghost then came back down. On my way back to the EQ Center a squirrel darted out from the bushes and well, didn't quite make it across the trail before I rolled him or her. Heard a Squeek or a grunt. Oops, sorry bout that. Usually its a snake or a lizard that can't escape. First for me.

Im tryin to get a hall pass from Lindy as well as work to do the PC50 on July 9. Not sure if I can work that out or not. Im hopeful.

Our little addition is settling in nicely. She is an eater though! I guess thats good. She has been doing pretty well at night. She sleeps in pretty good chunks, only problem is when those chunks are is still unpredictable. I'll take it though. Hannah was up every few hours like clockwork.

The new Rim Trail

Made it over to the Draper Rim Trail this morning. This is going to be a great addition to the trail system if Corner Canyon. I rode it  up from Potato Hill to the DH intersection. Must of had some kind of work release goin on today. Saw about 8 kids all with bright orange hats on clearin roots from the trail. Thanks! 

I added some intensity rides this week since imi short on time to ride since we just had another baby a week ago. I must say, my legs feel it. It will be interesting to see if I have any different/better results over the next while. Time will tell. I hope I get somethin out of it. 

Enough

Ok, enough is enough. This wacky Spring has left my waistline in a more round shape than I would like. Yes, I will blame it on the Spring weather. Not going to blame it on candy, cake, ice cream, cupcakes, chocolate, fast food etc. Its the Spring weather and Im stickin to it!

But, enough already! My mid-section looks the same now as it did back in January. Plump. Now, I am sorry Lindy (my wife) I know I am not supposed to talk about my weight or being fat with a pregnant lady in the house but I cant take it anymore. Aside from PCPP (which Im not even sure I will ride this year) and the Draper ICUP, I don't have any events to train for with the exception of a newborn baby due in June. Im worthless.

So, I am going to make an attempt at droppin this weight. I have about 8 lbs I would like to get rid of. Theres more there to lose but 8 would get me down to where I was last Spring. I was pretty happy with 172. There it is, I have atleast 1 month left maybe more before baby Betty gets here. Thats long enough right?

How am I going to do it? Well, for starters I will but cutting out the aforementioned things that I am not going to blame my plumpness on. I will also ride my bike as much as possible, drink more water etc. There is also some new 1 track bein cut in Draper. Although that 1 track won't help immediately but every time I drive home I will be able to see it. That will motivate me.

Commute

So, I have settled into my new work location and I am finding that I quite enjoy being closer to home. My new community is behind the Home depot on State in Sandy. Its a 15 minute drive or about an hour bike ride. Or longer depending on the route you take.

Yesterday I rode home. A little over 10 miles, just under an hour and close to 2000 vert. Not a bad commute. I was hoping the weather would hold for me to ride back to work on my mtn bike via Corner Canyon. It did hold, and it was the best commute I have had in a long time. I dropped down Potato Hill, across the BST trail, down the silica trail, up canyon hollow, up ghost, down ghost, down canyon hollow, out lower cc and through the streets of Draper. If I had more time I would have rolled out towards Scout bridge and out that way. I think that will be a good way for me to get some riding in that I maybe would not get. I won't be able to do it everyday but I think once a week at a minimum.

All in favor of a commute via bike say I. I!

I also wore the new Revolution Team kit. First time with bibs. A little different, holds me together a little more, fresh material, a little audio slit in the back. Very nice! Oh, and the plaid rocks too!

Commute via CC

The Nail

Some days you're the hammer, some days you're the nail. Today was the latter. Not that I am the Hammer very often. Its actually a very, very rare day. But its been awhile since I was hammered like I was today. I knew within the first 5 minutes that todays ride was going to hurt. Then we rolled up on Rick and his superhuman strength and freshly shaved legs. Yep, I said it. Either the pace ticked up or someone let the air out of my tires. I struggled, my heart rate was higher than it should have been and to make matters worse, my garmin died so I had to rely on the blood coming out of my ears and my heart about to beat out of my chest to tell me that I was about to die.

This is what it felt like. Pedaling a fat ass around CC.

I hope its a long time until I feel like that again. I had no pop, felt tired and my HR was hi. Boo! The ride was still fun though even though I suffered.

Thanks guys, I needed a good ass whoopin. Time to get my shit together.

Mud and Rain

Many of you know already that I traveled to St. George to participate in the inaugural Grit 50 Epic Race. We were all watching the weather wondering to ourselves and outloud, hope it holds! Even the morning of the race, I checked the report, mid 60's 20% chance of rain, partly cloudy. I can live with that kind of weather. As I drove in from Hurkin to St. George, I could see dark clouds out west and south. Sometimes its hard to tell just how ominous things look from a distance and sometimes those clouds never drop rain. This was not one of those times.

this is after riding 2 miles on a wet road. It helped clean off some of the mud

 There was a pretty big crew from SLC and lots from the Hoood. Jdub, Banks, Seamons, DT, Gordo on his virgin race voyage, Grizzly, D. Bagley and many others. We were all excited because this race links together some of the best desert singletrack around. Technical, fun course. Banks and I had pre-rode the first half of the race earlier in the month and I knew it was going to be tough but had no idea what was on the horizon.

But not all of it

Race started at 9:00 a.m. I enjoy that start time much better than the 6:00 or 7:00 a.m start time. I can get up have a good breakfast and not feel rushed. It was cold but not unbearable at the start. mid 40's. I had arm and knee warmers and had my windbreaker vest on with a cap under my helmet. I think I dressed about perfect for the day, a rain jacket would have been nice but not sure it would have helped much. After about a half hour of racing it started to rain. It was a steady drizzle that pretty much wouldn't stop until about an hour after the race. Sometimes it let up only to follow it with some extra heavy downpour. The first half of the race was great. I felt good, was never cold, trails were in pretty decent shape. Most of the first half is over slickrock and pretty technical terrain, there were puddles around and the rain made some of the sections extra tricky but it was all good. I kept thinking the rain would end, the sun would come out and it would be a marvelous day. Well, that thought would come crashing down as we started the Stucki Springs climb. We got into a decent pace going up the first half of Stucki, then it seemed that it got really cold. All of our hands were going numb and we could barely feel our hands. I kept saying it felt like my suspension wasn't working and my wrists were getting pretty sore. We were all together on the climb, me, jdub, banks and Gordo. Gordo blew off the front out on a mission, we didnt see him again until the finish area. Once we got to the top of Stucki, we stopped to shake out our legs and hands knowing that the decent was only going to make matters worse. We looked at each other and I think I said out loud. "What the fuck are we doing out here" At that point we all laughed and laughed. What else could you do. We were cold, wet, muddy. I have never been that wet on a bike before. Seriously, we couldn't have been more wet if we stepped into a shower fully clothed.

CRAWLINGSPIDER.COM

The first part of the downhill was good. A little slippery but not treacherous. Then we encountered the mud bog. There were people and bikes everywhere, trying to figure out how to lug there 25 lb mtn bike that quickly became a 50 lb bike covered in thick goo, wheels wouldnt roll, there wasnt any shifting going on. It was an unreal scene. We just laughed and said the F word alot. It made me feel better. We crawled our way out litterally, some parts we were able to ride, some parts we had to walk, we eventually rolled up on a volunteer who happened to be on the phone with the race promoter. He said they were pullin the plug. They were going to start pulling everyone off the course due to treacherous conditions, some even were treated with hypothermia.

CRAWLINGSPIDER.COM

We opted to continue down the road that eventually led us back to the start of the dirt and on to the main road back to the finish. Not sure how we ended up there but we did. We were cold, dirty and shivering. People were huddled around a propane heater, some with blankets, I even spotted a dude with a space blanket on. Shivering uncontrollably. Low 40's and pissing rain are not great conditions for a long mtn bike race. It truly was Epic, and Grit to say the least. I have never participated in a Cross race but have watched them. Those were perfet cross conditions. 50 minute race full speed and done. Instead we spent 4+ hours in it we were done just in a different way.

CRAWLINGSPIDER.COM

After all is said and done, I felt pretty good during the race. Only one spot of bother was on the climb to Stucki and I think that had more to do with the cold than anything else. It was a great day and a ton of fun. If it weren't for my riding buddies, I would feel entirely different. We all made an effort to try to stay together the best we could. I couldn't imagine spending that much time in those conditions by myself, that would have been torture. Instead, we had good friends, and one hell of an adventure that we will never forget. Some rides are epic because of a distance that you rode, some rides are epic for the things you overcame. This ride was epic on many counts, weather, trail conditions, bike conditions etc. One hell of a ride.

Thanks for the photo Mrs. White!

DT looks cold! Brrrrrr

Huddling around the heater. I don't think the heater was working. I saw flame but it was still cold.

The fellas, all were able to muster a smile. Thanks again Annie. 

You can check out Jdubs write up here.

Can't wait to go down next year. It can't possibly rain like that 2 years in a row can it?

Thanks fellas!

Oh, I almost forgot! The worst thing that was a result of riding in the rain for 5 hours in the cold? My right nipple got worked. In an effort to get some comments, I am going to prostitute my right nipple. For those of you that are afraid, stop here. My right nipple got rubbed completely raw. Everytime I shower it hurts. I have to shower with my hand over my nipple. Stupid little thing. Enjoy!

The Beginning

Behold my hand me down Green Schwinn. This baby was 20 years old by the time I got my hands on it. My first real taste of Joy and Freedom came with my feet placed firmly on those black pedals. Riding a bike brings me joy that only a few other things have been able to replicate. Looking forward to Spring.

Got out for a little Heathen Road Ride yesterday with evilbanks. Fitting partner for a heathen ride. It was a little breezy up top here but was nice and calm down in Alpine. We got in about 20 miles. Can't wait for the next ride.

Sprung!

No, not the Sir-Mix-Alot song although it is a good song. Spring has sprung in the Wasatch, err atleast for now. Birds were chirping, sun was shining, singletrack drying. Yesterday was a great day! I was debating a road ride or a mtn bike ride. I saw that someone said that the lower CC trails were all dry and rideable so I opted for the mtn bike ride. Sure enough, trails were dry with the exception of a few muddy spots here and there. Temps were warm, warm enough to ride in shorts and short sleeves. It was nice to be on the bike again. My ass took a real pounding last Sunday down south. 5 hours + on technical one track for the first mtn bike outing of the year sure did leave its mark. But, well worth it.

Dry one track

Shadows with a little snow

One of my favs

obligatory photo of me, its my blog afterall

So, while it looks like Spring for a few days, it looks like there might be some wet weather heading our way, I guess I'll bust out the ski's.