TwoWheeledWorld

Tipperary Creek Classic

29 miles

4100ft climbing

1:50:53

It is the evening of yet another mountain bike racing season.  I swear every season goes faster and faster…

It’s enough to make a man distantly gaze misty-eyed at the horizon as I sentimentally did; crouching over my bike at the start line of the 2010 King of the Rockies Series Finale’…

The 46 degree temps at 8am would warm to the low-70’s by the afternoon, as I went through the painful paces of this classic mountain bike race.  “You get what you pay for”……… is a phrase I’ve long-since believed in.  And simply put I  just didn’t sacrifice enough this season to reap the rewards. 

Hard as it is to swallow I’d end up 24th in the race, and 9th overall in the series… content?  Yes.  But missing being in the mix?  Absolutely.

Consistency was enough to achieve a respectable top-ten series overall, but let’s face it – I found it a little difficult to dig deep this season.  Perhaps I’ve been distracted…

Yup, Me and the Mrs. are on the prowl… have no fear though, we’re not moving far.  In fact, we’re moving a bit closer to the Mountain Command Post; but more on that in a bit…

It’s true, I did see a yellow leaf the other morning… and with an inevitable change in season comes the return of my favorite bike this time of year: the Singlespeed… in addition to an epic fall ride named Monarch Crest Trail.  Keep close by - it gets no better than Colorado singletrack in the fall…  

I’ll cover some season-long stats in a few, and oh, and by the way, the Stunt Double is just now able to walk again after 6 days in the saddle.  His Breck Epic results forthcoming…

But enough about me…

………People really want to know who the HECK is The Stunt Double?  Well, a while back I decided that I was just too important to actually do some of the things that I do, and so I decided to employ a stunt double.  The goal was simple – I needed to find someone who was identical in size, weight, ability, aerobic AAAAND anaroebic capacity, and who was expendable, for me to pull it off. A tough set of requirements, I assure you…

Age was not a determining factor, as is evidenced by The Stunt Double, who is 20 years my senior.  But before I even knew The Stunt Double, apparently  he had my back – kind of like this unseen Secret Service type-relationship that I didn’t even know about.  (You can’t make this up – whilst perusing some old photos, I found this photo from the start line of the first annual King of the Rockies in 1992 when I was about 17….Look how frickin cool I was, and how protective and father-like he was…a frickin business-relationship WAITING to happen…)

See, this ain’t either of our first rodeo’s, and I appreciate the guy.  Taking on all the dangers that a guy like me just can’t afford to…

But unlike me, this guys’ a multi-time-and-multi-disciplined national champion… he’s worn the stars and stripes, I’ve just taken his picture…

And right now, this very moment (as of…well, right now,) The Stunt Double is hip-deep in the 2010 Breck Epic mountain bike race.  A race that is based in Breckenridge, Colorado.  A race that defines mountain biking as it was meant to be…

5 days. 240 miles. 37,000ft of climbing, at a base elevation of around 10,000ft.  “Come expecting a cake walk.  I dare you.” …the website states.

I mean, the Stunt Double (or as I like to call him, Docter A) does own a little “lean-to” up in Breck so you can’t really feel sorry for the guy, as he’ll be sleeping in one of his own beds each night…

But still, I have to hand it to him as I sit here, recovering from my 2 hour training ride..

This coming from a guy 20 years younger who bitched and moaned through the Firecracker 50.  …I’ll be sure to let you know how he does when it’s all said and done.

Next up, and 19 years later: the 2010 King of the Rockies, Winter Park CO…

(nooo, I am not going on a tour of local marijuaaana dispensaries…)

 Saturday’s mountain bike racing extravaganza would feature a course atop the Mary Jane ski area.  Sure, it was dubbed a cross-country race, but I’d call it more of a hopped up super-downhill featuring three lung-busting laps near timberline followed by a top-to-bottom descent…

And while last year’s race featured heavy rain, the year before featured heavy snow, this years’ conditions were a perfect blend of sun and temps in the 60’s at a starting elevation of 10,500′.  The stats on this course are impressive, and a little different from the norm:

21 miles

1700ft of elevation gain

3500ft of vertical descending

So while Lance’s buddy Levi was slaying all at the Leadville 100 on Saturday…

 Over in Winter Park it was last year’s National U23 champ who was showing us how it’s done.  And you know it’s a demading course when the descents are harder than the climbs…

The funny thing is, in the past several years I’ve been able to wiggle my way onto the podium at least once or twice a season.  This year, I’m nowhere close.   Now I’m not saying I’m “old,” but I am getting “older” and it seems that this season’s top performers just keep getting younger and younger…

 …………Damned johnny-come-lately’s…………. I suppose it’s good for the series and it’s good for the competition.  But a little tough on the ego.

So with one race remaining in one of the Rocky Mountain’s toughest proving-grounds, I find myself no better than in the top ten.

……….I heard something Saturday after the race while I was milling around the base area, and it went something like, “the older I get, the faster I was…”

Fascinating……..

Fact:  the Rocky Mountain pine beetle will decimate 98% of all lodgepole pine forests in Colorado.  As sad as this is, it is old news all the same – the devastation has been occurring for decades and it is at every turn in the trail…

The good news is that Grand County (home of Mountain Command Post (MCP))  saw 0% growth in beetle kill last year.  (Meaning, it’s done its damage and has moved on).  If you haven’t been up to the central Rockies in a while, it’s truly a site to see. 

 All is not lost, though; there are of saplings, aspens, and other trees filling in everywhere you look.  This sweet little section of singletrack was clear-cut just two summers ago - and is already simmering with color… meadows-in-the-making…

On another note, it’s funny who you come across - during the most obscure section of our ride just the other day we had a chance encounter with 2009 National Champion Heather Irmiger doing some recon of her own…

And so we stopped and chatted for a bit.  Seems the Horgan-Kobelski/Irmiger household claim their own Mountain Command Post just around the bend, which makes me feel like I must be doing something right…   We shared a few “locals-only” trail secrets and headed our separate ways over the damp forest floor…

I’ve been busy collecting footage all summer long for my “Quarterly Musical Montage” (QMM) and the AV department is busy at their editing booths.  Here’s a preview… (sound)

TwoWheeledWorld_2010Preview from TwoWheeledWorld on Vimeo.

24 miles

1:52:16

Hundreds upon hundreds of Red Bull-drinkin’, saggy shorts-wearin’, DH-sled huckin’, jump-trail jumpin’ tricksters would descend upon the fair village of Winter Park for the annual 2010 CrankWorx Colorado festival over the weekend…

You know you’ve been doing this racing thing for a while when you hear yourself say, “dude, back in the day there WAS no downhill racing or (insert drawn out and sarcastically prounced) “slopestyle” events.  Man, suspension wasn’t even invented yet….” 

But I actually felt a lot like a bike racer during the cross-country event which featured none of the fanfare and even less of the prize money as that new-fangled sport of “slopestyle”…

 photo: www.mountainmoonphotography.com

But I’m still lovin’ it.. hehe.  Cross-country racing is where it’s at.  Mountain biking’s TRUE bread and butter.  And the XC course would not disappoint.  Seems the Rocky Mountain monsoons are back in full swing, which would deliver  some of the tackiest singletrack around. 

Slick, root-strewn singletrack combined with the burliest climb of the series would deliver a memorable race.  Trail-wide mud puddles littered the races’ first few miles before the sun created a humid mid-day…

 photo: www.mountainmoonphotography.com

…and once it was all sorted out I’d cross the line 14th out of a stacked 45-player pro field.  Nice…

And while the downhillers were duking it out on Sunday, me and the Mrs. did our own thing as we watched the stormclouds build…

 and then practiced our own “Pacific Northwest” riding amidst the rain…

You know it’s been many weeks since I’ve had a weekend without a race.  I’m no World Cupper, but I’ve had a race every weekend in recent memory.  And so with is past weekend ‘off,’ I did what any self-respecting mountain biker would do: I kicked my own ass with some serious trail time…

And up at the Mountain Command Post the moose run a’plenty.  And as I headed out about 7am the other morning and turned my wheels upwards, I was blocked by Mr. and Mrs. Bull Winkle and their calf, who were having  a leasurly breakfast and had no intentions of leaving…

So I stopped and waited… now you’ve got to understand that moose are NOT to be trifled with. Though they may look goofy, They are e-NORMOUS animals and are EXTREMELY territorial.  So as I watched the family, I took 3 or 4 slow steps towards mom.  And she, staring me down, took 3 or 4 steps towards me.  Oooh kay… take your tiiiime….

Ten minutes passed and I was back on my way, climbing ever higher…

…and higher still, soon higher than the heights of Winter Park and the Mountain Command Post….

…The 2010 racing season is stampeding along and I feel like I’m just fighting to hang on to its wheel.  And as a result I’m cramming as much as I can…

At 11,400ft, looking east towards Boulder; captivated…

Late July and snow persists.  Another reminder of summer’s brief stay and   winter’s devisive plan to carve away at summer’s peak…

Catching a magic moment like this has an interesting way of releasing  anyone’s tightest noose.  And getting here on my own body’s power all the sweeter…

And so, as I bathed in the revelry of the moment, I rolled back down this mountain-side like a stream…

Sure is something…………

Next up:  CrankWorx Colorado…

4.3 mile lap

6 laps

Time 1:53, +1 lap

So this is something really interesting.  During the race for the 2010 Mountain Bike National Championships there are a ton of spectators.  And a guy like me really benefits from this because mountain bikers are just that cool.  Because everyone who’s cheering for JHK and Todd Wells  is also cheering for me – literally…

I’ve been in this rodeo for a while now, and the first sponsorship deal I got was way back in 1992 when I got a product deal from Grafton Performance.  But NEVER – NEEEVER have I gotten as much spectator feedback as I have this year in regards to a particular team supporter.  My new nickname: Big Mac.

” C’Mon Big Mack!!”  “Let’s Go hamburger!!”  I mean seriously – I have never endured as much sponsorship enthusiasm for any other organization.  Groups in the dozens with coolers of beer out in the forest doing the waaaave as I raced by.   But my personal favorite was something I’m not entirelly proud of, that was yelled at me as I began lap 4…..  “Go get ‘em chest hair…!”   Whaaat??  People have fun at these big events and it shows.

This course was brutal.  It was hot, it was bumpy, and it was worthy of crowning a national champion.  My view of the dusty debacle… raise your hand if you see the golden arches…70+ pro’s all gunning for the same thing…

In the end, Todd Wells would slay all, and would lap me not three minutes before this picture…

 He deserves every cent he earns…

I was sure to ask Todd if I could meet him at the after-race party for a shot later that night as he screamed by me….. he must not have heard me cause he just kept on riding, grimacing at the pain…

To put things into perspective, the winner of last weekend’s Winter Park Series race would end up in 28th place.  And I’d end up a ways behind him… sheeeezus…

One thing’s for certain – these boys are tough and there’s nowhere to hide.  These are the John Tomacs and the Ned Overends of our days. These are the Don Myrahs and the Rishi Grewals of today. The  Daryl Prices and the Travis Browns of our era.   I was there to watch them back then as a kid; and even though I may not finish with them, I’m proud to be on the start line with them now…

John Tomac: 1990 World MTB Championships, Durango, CO.

There are times throughout the calender year you wish you could just bottle up and keep with you.  And these days up at the Mountain Command Post, it’s just that time of year…

It’s hard to imagine 6 months ago, and 6 months from now, scene’s of 6 ft snow drifts will grace this place…

Saturday’s Winter Park Series #3 would take me back to the 2-hour cross-country events my body has become accustomed to; but that wouldn’t mean that it would be any easier…

Seems last weekend’s epic would have long-lasting effects on my recovery, as I struggled for an hour and 45 minutes to keep in contact with the notables.  You know you’re outta sorts when you make up all your time on the descents, an watch ‘em pull away from you the second the trail turns uphill…

photo: www.mountainmoonphotography.com

I’d cross the line in a solid, but oddly forgetable 15th place in the pros.  As hard as I try and pretend, I’m simply not as fast as I was the last couple of years and that’s a tough pill to swallow.

But hey, I never said I was in this for the money.  As fun as the occasional top-5’s are as well as those ever-elusive podium spots, I’m still out here, still getting nervous before every single start.

Next up:  another bout with the big boys at the 2010 U.S. National Mountain Bike Championships…

Breckenridge, CO
Distance: 50 miles
Elevation gain: 10,800′
Time: 4 hrs 37 min

I can honestly say that there are very few mountain bike races in Colorado that I’ve never done.  After 18 seasons you pretty much do them all at some point or another.  But until now, the Firecracker 50 was one of my white whales… 

Photo: SummitDailyNews

On a race course that starts at 9200′ elevation and climbs to 11,200′ twice per 25 mile lap, I’d find out why.

It’s got to be fun, right?  I mean 749 other people must be thinking the same thing?  During the race’s initial climb I’d glance around and see the heavy hitters – JHK, Weins, Trebon, J Bishop, Stetina, the list goes on.  It wouldn’t take long for the elite field to get strung out – you’ve got your pros, and then you’ve got your working class pros…

For me, this event was as much a race against myself as it was against my competitors.  A battle against my own mental state to continue, pedal stroke after pedal stroke.  After 3 hours, 5 gel shots, and running on fumes; knowing full well I’d have another hour and a half until it was over, I’d drag myself up the steep and rocky slopes of Little French Gulch towards timberline once more…

A course as physically demanding as this deserves much respect.  A true mountain biker’s course; each of two 25 mile laps combines twisty singletrack, loose and rocky mining roads, kidney-bruising and jaw-clenching descents, and quad-busting climbs.  It is a true punisher, and has become a true Colorado favorite…

For me this race was about sheer survival.  I’m a 2-hour race type guy, and it shows.  Imagine coming through the finish area after 2 hours of racing, and after climbing 5400′ in elevation, and then having to go out and do it all over again.  If finishing this race was my goal, then a successful day it was…

Photo: www.PikesPeakSports.us

And so after 4 hours and 37 minutes, I’d cross the line 31st in the pros and a-ok with it; cramped and bordering on dilerium.  Well past the point of grimacing, totally withdrawn from the present…

Photo: www.PikesPeakSports.us

And to that guy perched high on Little French Gulch, playing the banjo as depleted endurance freaks slowly pressed on, thanks for the timely distraction.  Your music made me smile in the midst of the pain.  The course was a blast, but the memories are even better…

Alright you, I feel that we’re good enough friends by now so you’re gonna stick with me through this…

My Summer Vacation

by: TwoWheeledWorld

8 days in about 3 minutes:

Day 1:  Hello, Vegas; goodbye civilization…

Day 2:  Puddle jumpers and private landing strips…

Day 3:  We did what anyone would do when they’re 80 miles from the nearest paved road on a 2500 acre dude ranch.  We rode horses, and we shot guns, and we practiced the YMCA just above the rim of the “Big Ditch”…

Day 4:  Choppered out’ the ranch, and down to the mighty Colorado where we hopped on the next mode of transportation…

…To a place where the water temp was 50 degrees, and the air temp was 103…

…In the evening we set up our cots on the rocks just above the river, and toasted to no one falling into the rapids, before sleeping out under the stars…

Day 5: Thirty-to-forty miles down the Colorado river, view after view of Grand Canyon splendor, 20 ft cliff jumps, and other general horseplay…

…And again, set up our cots on the beach, ate like kings and queens,

…And toasted to the day…

Day 6: One more day on the river would spit us out at Lake Mead.  Jettisoned the floaters, and road tripped up to Zion National Park…

Day 7:  Hiked the fabled Angel’s Landing.  Towards the top the trail narrows to 3 ft wide in some places with a 1000′ vertical cliff on one side, and a 1200″ cliff on the other.  Yup – straight to the top of this knife-edge rock you see below…  Chains to hold on to?  Yes please.  Fear of heights?  This ain’t for you…

Half mile from the top – you can see the tiniest flecks of people on the right side of this picture below… 

The Mrs., flirting with an untimely end…

Day 8:  The Narrows.  Trodding through shin-to-waist-deep water with 500ft red sandstone cliff walls above.  No way out – and not a good place to be during a flash flood.  Fortunately for us we hadn’t seen a cloud for like 5 days…

Feeling like ants in the water below…

Day 9: back to reality.  You ready to book yet?  Jeez I’d go back in a heartbeat.    If you are, try these:

http://www.westernriver.com

http://www.bar10.com/

http://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm

Neither words nor pictures can do it all justice…

Aaaaahhhhhh…. man, I need a vacation from that vacation. 

Next up: U.S. National Marathon Mountain Bike Championships, Breckenridge, CO.

Distance: 50 miles

Elevation gain: 10,000+ft

Time I expect to be suffering: 4 hrs, 15 minutes

Calories I expect to burn:  4900

Calories I expect to ingest: 1000

Times I expect to yell “track please” to JHK:  Zero.