Todays Big Ride

Today was my last serious ride before doing the white rim trail in a day on Oct 4, WRIAD as it's commonly called.

I rode as much dirt road and trail around Boulder as I could in the time I had...

67 miles in 5 hrs, 38 minutes average speed of 11.8 mph, trying to take it easy. I had a little more pavement than I would want. I didn't have serious climbs or technical. Maybe I should have done more climbing but was worried I didn't have time to find the big climbs. But my goal was lots of saddle time to assess my feelings after.

For breakfast, I ate an English muffin with egg and cheese and a Morningstar Farm vegi-sausage patty. It was yummy.

On the ride, I ate a turkey and wheat bread sandwich with swiss cut in half over two sessions. One was one about an hour into the ride and the other was and hour later. I also chomped on a Clif blocks pouch and a chocolate Gu. The rest was a water bottle with half Gatorade and half water and one 100 oz bladder of water only. A mile 50, I stopped at a station and got a 24 oz Gatorade and drank about half.

I found on the ride, I craved Gatorade over water. The weather was cool, near 70 F and water just seemed boring and empty. It almost made my stomach hurt and made me pee more than anything. I wound up drinking only two-thirds of my 100 oz bladder.

The sandwiches were filling while the Gu and Cliff blocks were overly sweet. I like the solid food aspect of my sandwich over the Gu and Blocks.

Just before mile 60, I felt like crap. Starting to feel worried about the prospect of 100 miles. But suddenly, maybe the food stuff kicked in--the Gatorade in particular. I felt a sudden euphoria and slipped into the zone where I felt complete bliss. I was ready, if I had the time, I would have just gone off to tear out 40 more miles with no problem.

But time running out and time to play two games of softball, I headed home and logged my 67 miles.

Down the throat, I gulped a chocolate milk, ate a small burrito, took a shower and started to feel like a wreck...thinking softball is going to kill me.

Surprise. I had two of my best games ever and feel as I type this, pretty damn good.

I'm suddenly so excited to ride the rim next week.

Off-road Bike Mileage for Sept 17-23

Tuesday: 17
Wednesday: 17
Thursday: 30
Friday: 28
Saturday: 12
Sunday 12

Total: 116

This week so far mileage is zero. White Rim is next week. The good is resting. The bad is feeling like I'm going backwards.

MTB Mileage Summary

September 10-16:
Monday: rest.
Tuesday: 16 miles.
Wednesday: 16 miles.
Thursday: 16 miles.
Friday 38.5 miles.
Saturday, group cruiser ride: 15.5 miles
Sunday: fast loop 12 miles.

Total = 114

The notable aspect was riding the Wild Turkey Trail at Heil Ranch. It just opened on Friday, giving us an extra three miles of wonderful single track in riding distance from the doorstep. Currently, I can do Heil Ranch from home with only 3 miles of pavement round trip over a 40 mile out-and-back ride. Not a bad thing at all.

Low Rolling Resistance Tires.

I'm trying out some new tires. I normally like wide, big-knobbed tires such as Kenda Kinetics, Kenda Nevegal, Panaracer FR 2.4, Geax Sturdy, and WTB Weirwolf tires. I do have a tire fetish and this is just a taste. However, I do like fat tires the most.

For the white rim event, I decided to go for the low rolling resistance idea. Past philosophy meant no knobs and skinny. I put some Hutchinson Python 2.0 tires on my Turner Burner and started riding. They didn't seem that much better on dirt, but on pavement, they roll like road tires. Certainly due to the center section being almost continuous.

After reading some nice reviews on fat low resistance tires, I got me a pair of Kenda Small Block Eight tires. Some folks love em. Some folks hate em. I need to make my own decision.

I installed them tonight and will be trying them out this weekend. So far riding down the street they are buttery smooth. They are a lot wider than the Pythons but in the moab sand, I hope this is a positive thing--we'll see. I have read that wider tires do have les rolling resistance than narrow tires (due to contact patch causing less deformation) but there is extra weight involved. Tire pressure and all that other stuff is an issue of course. It's also balancing comfort. Getting beat up by 70 psi tires is not going to make one faster, or finish in an endurance ride.

The tires I ran before must weigh a pound heavier between the two tires than the small block eights or the pythons. Plus they have the rolling resistance disadvantage. We will see. Hopefully there is traction. So far the pythons have done really well. Better than expected on hard pack for traction. I worry about the sidewalls on rocky trails--they are thin and vulnerable. The small block eights have thin sidewalls but lots of side knobs to keep the rocks away.

On the white rim, there are not many rocks to tear sidewalls, but there is sand. One wants to float on the sand. Hopefully these do that but have some paddles to move forward. I encountered some sand riding the pythons and they did fine. The small block eights should do well too. In fact, I think maybe more knobs are better in sand than less knobs.

Small Block Eight 2.35" versus Python 2.0"

Week offroad riding

3 days at 16 miles = 48.
56 miles on Monday
11 on a thursday ride
20 on a saturday breakfast ride.

135 total...yay!!!!

However, the plan was huge ride today..but I busted my knee up on Saturday. :(

Taking today and maybe tomorrow off.

Dots Network

Near Nederland, CO.

A pic from tonight. Co-worker Allan, Working a tree and root move.



It's an 11 mile ride that is technical and is a very interval workout style--up--down--up--down. Works your mind too, on the technical aspect of off-camber rocks.

I fell and gouged my elbow...my first bike injury this year...Oh, poor me.

*knocks on the wood I still have from that amazing ride tonight*

But some of this trail might be on the chopping block to sell off to fund rural schooling under the Bush plan. It was shot down last year but has been slipped in the budget again this year. Get proactive. If you like bike trails, joing IMBA and your local bike groups. Send letters and be heard, not herd.

A great long ride today

Last long ride was all about bonking. This time, it was about eating. I pushed it a little too much on some early climbs but felt a lot better after mile 40 than last time. Breakfast was a egg and cheese on a toasted English muffin. On the ride I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on oat bread after mile 15, then a gu 10 miles later, then some clif blocks at mile 35, then another go at mile 45. I should have maybe drank more water since I only used 80% of my 100 oz bladder, but I had to pee twice and didn't feel like water. I also got sick of the sugary taste and craved some cheese. Next long ride is a cheese burrito. I felt like a nap near the end more than anything.

End mileage was 56. I felt pretty good but still need some more miles under the belt.

Whether I could do 48 more miles, I don't know. I don't know how much for me is psychological and how much is physical pain and need of training. I'm sure it's some of each. The psychological part has a lot of do with what you expect starting and I expected 50 miles today, not 104.

Rode Counter Clockwise: East boulder trail, South Boulder creek trail, Marshall mesa trail, along Broadway, the Boulder creek trail, Four-mile canyon, Poorman road, Sunshine canyon rd, Foothills trail, Lefthand trail, Neva road, 55th, Coot Lake trail, to home.

Weight this morning 182. Weight after ride: 175. Ride time 4hrs 45min. Avg speed 11.7 mph.

Riding for Week August 27

Total miles: 115

Commuting: 32
Long local trails ride including work: 45.5
Heil Ranch: 7.5
Breakfast on Saturday: 17
Centennial Cone: 13

Long Round-the-city ride today

I'm a little discouraged about my effort to prepare for the White Rim. That day consists of 104 miles and 6000+ feet of climbing. That day is Oct 4.

Today, I rode a jaunt around the city trails, which included three short climbs. Initially, I felt really good--awesome and confident in fact. Mile 35 hit after climb two and I was feeling so fresh, I thought, "I'm ready!"

Climb three ended and suddenly, I was feeling a little worn. At mile 40, I just wanted to get home. I was running out of steam really fast. My ass was starting to burn from the saddle.

Home at mile 45.5...and I downed a chocolate milk. I felt the burn in my legs thinking, "I can't do this again, no way."

I got on the scale and weighed 6 lbs less than this morning...lots of water loss. I wish it was fat, but tomorrow, as in the past, it will be back.

The last meal I ate was a a six inch sub at lunch with a bag of chips (around 550 calories) and I didn't eat breakfast. I did have a goo mid ride but that is only 100 cals.

I think part of my problem might be that I didn't eat during the ride, relying only on stored energy. Great since I'm trying to teach my body to metabolize fat and lose weight, but bad because it freaks out when that is all it has. Thus, I might have been riding too hard, especially on the climbs for that mode of energy burn. Fat stores are made for survival, not to bust ass on. When you body needs fuel and there is not enough blood sugar and not enough fat, it consumes muscle.

Next long ride, I will be taking the approach to eat often and push the mileage rather than burn up my body. I need to start shifting my goals from losing weight to using energy effectively and eating effectively.

No matter what, I need to gain the confidence that I can push through the mileage in October when the day comes. This is the phase of mental training.

Riding for week of August 20:

Total 107 miles

Tuesday Boulder city trails, casual 20 miles.
Thursday, Home to Heil Ranch, Heil Ranch, back via dirt road and other trails, 40 miles.
Friday morning, Ride errands to downtown, 13 miles
Friday, Hall ranch from town, three laps of loop, 17 miles
Sunday, Hall ranch from town, three laps of loop, 17 miles

The Feeling of Getting Fit

It's been a long time since I have been this fit. Perhaps 2003, when I was riding all the time, riding hard, and years younger.

Then the injuries started....recovery, injury, recovery, then work got really busy. Burnout, big time.

Finally this year, I got a breather and motivation. It started slow with the cold and snowy winter, but I finally got in the groove.

I have been riding hard for the last two months...I mean really hard. Riding to work every day, riding long rides when I can on weekends. Putting lots of miles and hours.

It's starting to pay off. Fifteen pounds less weight than December, 2006, I feel like I can almost ride forever.

Last night I went on a ride at Hall Ranch. My last ride there was in May or June and I felt like even in my lowest gear, I was dying on the climbs. I felt the pain in my legs. My heart rate was pegged. My eyes were burning from the sweat pouring off my forehead. I was breathing so hard, I got a runners stitch. I was so ashamed that I was once really fit and wound up like this.

In contrast, last night felt weird. The climbs, even in my middle chain ring felt buttery smooth. It was like I was paralyzed yet had control of my legs. I wasn't fast mind you, but I could feel myself move forward and up constantly without any sensation of pain. No heavy breathing. I was sweating, but not profusely--just a shiny coating covering my skin. It kinda felt magical, a sort of bliss. It was like my mind was completely free to think and listen to music on my mp3 player while I rode the escalator to the top.

It made me high.

Three laps on the loop, a ride around to the other parking lot, and 17 miles later, I joined everyone for beer at Oscar Blues.

What a memorable ride. No wonder it's an addiction.

Bust My Gut Update 11

I should rename this to "training for the white rim-in-a-day" ride.

Last update was here:

Bust my gut update 10

Besides trying to ride more to get back in shape, a buddy and I (Rob for those who know) decided we are riding the 104 mile white rim trail in CanyonLands, Utah in one day the first week of October.

Thus I have been riding a whole lot more--training you could say. My goal is over ten hours a week and over 100 miles a week offroad, working up to 15 hrs a week and 50 mile plus rides on weekends.

I am riding a lot more easy, but long rides. Hours and Hours on the trails. Lots of mp3 music pounding my eardrums while I pound the pedals.

But the good news is I feel great, down to 179 lbs and after a ride today dehydrating even though I drink a ton, I weighed 176 at one point. I would love to hit 170 before the ride date.

But forget the weight loss idea. I rode today, 40 miles and when I was done, felt great. Not sure I could do it again...nor do it again and then do 24 miles more after that...But that is what training is about.

Latest From the Hanger

Some green light of the lidar's laser.



Chrome propeller cone.

Lidar Test Flights

This week the NOAA Twin Otter aircraft is in town and we are flying our new ozone profiling lidar doing system tests and making some local measurements.

The Twin Otter




Me taking notes




Dodging storms



Red Rocks Amphitheater

Cheap Sponsorship.

Too bad I'm not making money on this...

Bike To Work Day

Although I commute to work daily, the end of June is bike week and the Wednesday of bike week is bike to work day. What is special about this day?

BREAKFAST STATIONS.

Aka, Tour De Breakfast.

In years past, it was a game to hit as many stations as possible on the way to work, trying to find the best one. The first year Whole Foods opened, they won with made to order omelettes and a full spread of fruit, coffee and juices. Nobody has lived up to that since.

However, my favorite, for the past few years is Premier Members Credit Union, who serves breakfast burritos. Oh yummy.

Good Mountain Biking In Colorado

...Gosh. Lots of peeps on a ride near Estes Park...

The bikes of poseurs, posing! ;-)



....but there was some riding by the poseurs.

Bolder Boulder

The 10k Memorial Day road race, attracted about 50,000 amateur runners this year. The weather was great, a little warm, but great for being outside and experiencing a huge event like this.

On the elite side, there are winners:

Edna Kiplagat





....and Ridouane Harroufi who came from behind in the last minute to pull off a spectacular win.



Then there are the sufferers. It's hard when you train so hard and give it all.

Centennial Cone Glow

Renee and I rode Centennial Cone Park near Golden Colorado today. It was fun except for our friend Dan almost chopped off his finger with his bike disc brakes. This happened in the parking lot before the ride...

Otherwise, it's a great trial if you like smooth and long extended gradual climbs and descents. Nothing technical to note.

Lots of good views too.

I'd say check it out and make sure you either do it weekday or on an even weekend day. it's on an alternating hiker/biker schedule.

Centennial Cone

End of the Rainbow

Always fun there.