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At the bright and early time of 2:00 pm yesterday I finished packing the Suby, plugged in the Ipod and set sail for Saint George, Utah. This trip marks the beginning of my 2010 racing season and will server as the pre-festivities to Sara and Amelia joining me on Sunday for our annual Spring Break trip to the desert.
Sticking with tradition, I was joined by my fellow Gimp Dino, a little friend we found in one of our campsites during a past trip.
Saint George sits some 750 miles south of Bozeman and while I was initially determined to make the drive in one big push I folded when I stumbled on to an Amazing camping spot in Cedar City, Utah 50 miles short of St. George. At midnight I pulled in to Camp Walmart a glow as if the heavens above where shining on the beauty of this find, or maybe it was the hundred parking lot lights blazing. None the less I nestled in with the other Camp Walmart faithfuls in the darkest part of the parking lot and began shuttling gear to the driver and passenger seats carving out a nest in the back of the car.
Nestled in amongst my bikes and misc. Amelia gear I was quickly reacquainted with the fact I am just a hair to tall to layout completely in the back of the Subaru. I as to tired from shuttling gear to care at this point so in the sleeping bag I slid and light out is was….well that is until I placed my head on the pillow. Despite carefully trying to isolate myself from being in the direct path of the parking lot lights I had made one critical mistake I never looked out the back window while laying down to see if the roof of the car was indeed blocking out the light.
As you can see I had in fact conveniently parked so that not one, but four laser beams were directly in my line of sight. Knowing that if I got out to reposition the car I would likely just start driving again, and indeed I was getting tired I wiggled my way on to my side and tried to block out the hum of the surrounding diesel generators of my far more superior RVing neighbors.
Something to note, sleeping bags loose all there insulating abilities when one is pressed hard against cold plastic in which case my right foot and back pushed up against the door were rendered a tad cold for most of the night. Alas sleep came and while a bit restless it was not until the large Diesel Truck swung through my camping spot at 6:15 that I completely woke up. Thoroughly, chilled and aware of a Starbucks in the opposite corner of the parking lot I lumbered out of my humble home to the 13 degree morning and set about reshuffling the gear.
The frost on the car would confirm that shorts were probably not the appropriate attire for the current conditions.
Caffeinated and the gas tank topped off we were back on the road. After a quick 2000 foot descent in to St. George I was at last in the desert basking in the a beautiful sunny morning with the temps rapidly climbing to the mid 60’s.
I spent the day pre-riding the TT coarse as well as the last 30 miles of the road race coarse which includes a solid 7.5 mile climb near the finish that could be my undoing. Below is a picture from the road race start/finish not a bad view to see while coming out of pain cave.
Now I lay in my $39.00 5 star motel bed prepped for tomorrow’s TT and Crit looking forward to 2010 Race Day #1. Reminds me of my college days…nothing like some good old bottom feeding to kick off a great season.
Recently, I found myself in some uncharted waters. It was not my surroundings that caught me off guard rather it was my familiarity with the surrounding that put me in this unusual place…leading the pack on the final climb on the final day of winter training camp.
As I mentioned in my last entry, while I enjoy climbing on my bike I have never considered myself a climber. With that said, winter endurance camp this year found me riding with the front on many of the climbs, and to my surprise on a few occasions dishing out a little pain of my own. While I was more than happy to explore these newly acquired climbing legs I was not going to fool myself into thinking I had a crack at winning the final training day’s mountain stage that was being billed as EPIC.
Indeed the day was to be epic but not in the ways many of my teammates had envisioned but none the less epic in a single way in which I found myself right at home.
The day started as all the others earlier in camp had quick descent into the adjacent valley followed by a few hours of climbing our way back out of said valley to yet another descent to yet another climb. As we approached the final climb we had all managed to soften each others legs a bit pushing the pace when the terrain suited each individual’s strengths. With approx. 40 miles covered and some 3,000+ feet climbed the beast known as Kitchen Creek Road began to flex some muscle. Kitchen Creek consists of an approx. 5000 feet climb over 13 miles much of which is covered on a gated road leaving you unsupported and thanks the broken terrain lacking cell phone coverage.
As the road pitched up so did the pace with the true climbers sitting on a the front driving a pace that in the past would have left me waving good bye. But with my new climbing prowess I dug in…then it happened. SNOW, yes that’s right as the elevation climbed patches of snow began to encroach on the already narrowing road. Soon a light dusting lay trackless in front of us. All of sudden we were on my home turf, playing my game, finally an epic last day of training camp I could win.
As the snow deepened our riding turned to short burst of crud busting surfing until at last all traction and forward progress was halted. Always the optimist I was sure things would clear up just around the next corner. Plowing forward with my bike slung over my shoulder hunting out the most efficient way up the mountain in mid-shin deep snow, clad in lycra and a smile from ear to ear, at last I was on a solo break, set to take my first mountain top victory. As the march up Kitchen Creek continued the distance grew as I felt my competitors/teammates succumb to my superior preparation. Approximately, 3.5 miles later I topped out on the climb with plenty of time to zip up my jersey throw my bike over the 5 foot tall snow bank and celebrate my victory to the amazement of a half dozen crazy cycling fans …or maybe they were shocked teenagers on a sledding outing.
As the rest of the team came trickling it was apparent the day’s ride indeed was epic but alas it was an epic day that played to my strengths, strengths that have been crafted and tuned on the winter roads of Montana.
I must admit hindsight is 20/20 and while everyone survived the Kitchen Creek ride, it certainly will not be billed as the best example of good team decision making. Namely, that crazy Montanan, blinded by the thought of his first mountain top victory, should have stopped and encouraged the group to retreat. I suppose that would have been the sane thing to do, but alas being a Montanan predisposes me to a bit of insanity.
While training for the 2010 cycling season started in early December my 1st formal outing with the National team for the year began yesterday with a bang in Alpine, CA. Typically our training camps at this point in the season include new potential riders to the program, and thus the pace can be tempered with their inclusion, that is not that case this time around. Instead all the riders here are National team riders and being the first time we have seen each other it would seem we all have a particular interest in how the off season has treated the others.
 Now a sane person would suggest that we simply ask the individual how off-season and subsequent preseason training is going, but it is the competitor in us all that would prefer to find out in a series of challenges we like to call throwing down or drilling it or…. in short each person takes their swing at going as hard and fast as they can in hopes of dropping the others. What this all amounts to is little in regards to answers and/or conclusion on one off season..no no it generally just leads to an all inclusive trip to the pain room rendering each and every one of us thoroughly burnt toast. Two days down just shy of 120 miles logged, many of them at all out race pace, and four more out in front of us I imagine burnt toast will be putting it lightly.
All of rides start with a 25 to 30 minute decent from Alpine, CA at 35mph and end with an hour or so climb at 8 mph. Yesterday was a bit cold particularly on the downhills which there were plenty of because there was plenty of uphill climbs. Today, was a perfect Southern California day and what lacked for in number of climbs we made up for in length, grade and intensity.
As it sits right now I must say I feel pretty good about my climbing. While I enjoy climbing I have never been considers a good nor particularly strong climber. In the past, I have not been able to really consider getting over the top of the big climbs with the front group but all that is changing. Yesterday, I hung with the front group on all but the steepest grades and even then I was only hanging a few seconds off the back. Today, the legs were a bit heavy and the climbs had a little more meat to them but again I managed to hang and even did some time on the sharp point of the stick. So, it can be said that I am pleased at the improvements and performance this early in the season. Now with that said I still can not say I am climber nor that there is not tons of room for improvement. But I do know the road I am on is the right track, a track that rewards hard work and digging deep.
I am excited for what the next few days hold. I have a good feeling about this year…the journey continues.
I thought I would share a few pictures from our trip to North Carolina for Christmas this year to kick off the first post of the year.
 Sara’s parents moved to Hayesville, NC approx. two years ago, retiring on 50 acres adjacent to and overlooking Jack’s family farm that he lived on when he was a little boy before moving west. I must say the old Roger’s home is a bit worse for the wear but the walls still hold a lot of memories. Jack’s uncle mentioned he has thought of tearing it down on several occasions but has yet to get around to it, I imagine just a little to hard to see of those memories disappear. As for the new home, it is beautifully located on knob just above the mountain pass known as Sally Gap.  Above Jack, Sara and Amelia standing outside the old Roger’s home. Left, looking up at Jack and Roxy’s new home overlooking the valley below
Knowing I was headed to a more cycling friendly climate for Christmas I made sure the bike was in toe. That said having never spent any time in that part of the country I had no idea what to expect. I can however, assure you that I was expecting hills not mountains and was pretty skeptical of how much fun the riding would be. All that would quickly change as I started researching the area only to find out that her parents live with in riding distance of some of the Tour de Georgia’s most notably stages, most including the feared Bald climb.
It did not take me long to realize those hill are indeed mountains. They may not be tall by elevation standards but they are steep and have plenty of elevation gain to them, something I was reminded of over and over again as I coaxed my carcass to the top of said mountains. But more then the climbs it was the narrow, banked, swooping road that put and perma grin on my face. The road riding was truly amazing, and opened my eyes to a whole new level of riding enjoyment. I would be describe them as paved singletrack.
Needless to say the training miles ticked away effortlessly when compared to the alternative of slaving away on the trainer back in Montana. Once the 10 day visit was done I had managed to climb all the featured climbs in the Tour de Georgia, logged over 350 miles, and felt as though I was finally getting back into the groove of things on the bike.
It was wonderful to spend some quality time with Sara’s parents. Amelia was like any good child most interested in the wrapping…
… Sara and I enjoyed our gift, our own starter family. Although I must admit the custom BBQ apron was a close second.
Wednesday the temperature was in the 50’s, and I could have easily gone on a bike ride if it was not the off season. There was no snow on the ground, the grass still had some green to it and the newspaper published an article on the fact the leaves were staying on the trees much longer than normal. At 9:00 p.m. that night it was raining lightly and the temperature was falling slowly.
We stumbled out of bed to this….
…when the snow finally stopped falling total accumulation was 22″ at our house. In order to keep up with the snow I had to shovel the driveway and sidewalk 3 times. I hear the skiing was pretty good and may try to make some turns this weekend during my break from the bike.
Amelia opted to stay cozy inside yesterday, but Pinner was loving it.
Welcome winter!
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