Happy Festivus

Earning the right to eat all those holiday cookies and other sugary snacks.

Peppermint Loop

Headed down south to ride the terrain around San Ysidro, which if tied together makes for an awesome adventure. We started at the White Mesa, hit the SY Truck Trail and dropped into Red Mesa following the path of moto trials riders. After looping in the Red Mesa we went back and rode the White Mesa again.

Someone placed signs at White Mesa. We rode that loop in multiple directions and climbing Dragons Back is every bit as fun as descending it.

Lenny took better photos than did I - using my camera! But it was hard to get good photos with an overcast sky.
The soil is gypsum - same stuff as what goes into sheetrock. In fact they strip mine a short distance from here.
The loop at Red Mesa is getting so worn in now - I remember when it was so loose and chunky a few years back.
Views are amazing even in cloud cover.
Lenny climbing to the sink hole.
New Mexico "slick rock". We spent a good portion of our time on the slick rock here, but took so few pictures - primarily because the rock isn't so slick, but rather chunky and it takes most of your attention just to find the right line to ride. Man that was fun!
I wish more people would ride this trail - it is even more faint that it was the last time I was there.
Nice "big-lazy" loop which was good after all the running and x-c skiing of late. My legs hurt! But since there is fresh snow out my door, I'm headed back to the skis today. ;-)

Tips up

Lunar Rover

So I had a mid morning meeting down south and was done by noon and that meant I had a great opportunity to head out for some exercise before the drive back home. I left the bike and packed the running shoes and finally ran the loop out here, finishing on Dragons Back. It was awesome, those trails were made for running.

Thanks to a donation from Hammer Nutrition, I also got to try out my new running hat. Yeah, I am a runner now because I have the hat. It's that simple.
Got back in time to check work email and had 549 emails in the inbox. No kidding - it seems some genius in IT sent out an email in error to the entire corporation...and 549 people somehow failed to not notice "reply to all." Several responded with STOP IT" type emails that were even more comical - the Type A/Drivers just could not sit still and added to the problem as they usually do. Can you believe stuff like that STILL happens? Damn, welcome to 1994.

N-I-C-U

A photo is sometimes more revealing than the naked eye......

I'm assuming the other one has a tab that says "Wrong?"
Left, right, left, right......

Madshus

Many years ago Jeni and I used to spend a pretty penny to enjoy a winter wonderland. Now it comes to us free of charge. With Raiders Ridge on one side of the neighborhood and Hillcrest Golf Course on the other, free entertainment is just literally right out the front door.

These deer apparently felt safe now that there are no Tigers on the golf course.
Shus, shus, shus......

Blue Sky Mine

Blue skies returned! In fact after riding on the trails in town for 6.5 hours, I can say that at the very end of the day - technically it was dusk - the clouds had cleared completely. Nice.

But before dusk, you could see that the mountains got snow from the storms first wave.

I rode in the Gulch network, Animas, and Test Tracks and only saw 2 other bikers all day! I decided it was a great time to descend Telegraph.
While cutting through town, I road along the river and spotted this Eagle. He was sitting on a chuck of ice just looking for some fish. So I hung out there for a while.
It was really cool, and he was not bothered by me at all. Hell he probably considered trying to eat me. I've heard they can kill sheep.
Test Tracks is phenomenal... can you see the trail?
More trail here on the way to Star Wars.
And Slimy Gulch which turned into Icy Gulch.
But Sailing Hawks, like all of the Gulch Network was bone dry.
Riding the dirt in December. Nice!

Roll Tide

Saturday was a good day.

My alma mater whooped some gator butt, which is great!!! and albeit late. I worked with a more than a few UF graduates when at the big Watermelon. Now it's onto the big steers from UT.

And with a "big" storm on it's way it meant ride, ride, ride. 30-miles of singletrack right out my door called me.

I did the old Iron Horse MTB course but decided to do Rocky Road to Extended Raiders in lieu of the Chapman/Lion's Den. Much better choice.
Temps were chilly, but the clothes were dialed in.
And today on Sunday, the sky is blue - still time to ride ahead of the storm.

Roll Tide Roll

Drug store supplies

Animas is where it's at. The only weird part of it is whether you wanna get wet or not. I spinned slow so I actually had to stop a few times to keep the heart rate down.

Keep it low and ride longer.
Because after Animas is Sailing Hawks. Durango's best trail!
But why stop there, head over to Hidden Valley - just don't mind the frozen solid trail.
It actually wasn't too bad and in a seated position I could spin through the ice which pretty much looked as benign as this.
Once past all that it was back to the Cemetery Loop and the views that come with it.
Can you believe an hour run was in store after the 3 hour ride round town?

Staycation. It's the new vacation.....

Big things cooking in the background

South West Endurance Series

Colorado Endurance Series

New Mexico Endurance Series

Arizona Endurance Series

Rocks Off

I hear you talking when I'm on the street,

Your mouth don't move but I can hear you speak.
What's the matter with the boy?
He don't come around no more,
Is he checking out for sure?
Is he gonna close the door on me?
I'm always hearing voices on the street,
I want to shout, but I can't hardly speak.
I was making love last night
To a dancer friend of mine.
I can't seem to stay in step,
'Cause she come ev'ry time that she pirouettes over me.
And I only get my rocks off while I'm dreaming,
I only get my rocks off while I'm sleeping.
I'm zipping through the days at lightning speed.
Plug in, flush out and fire the fuckin' feed.
Heading for the overload,
Splattered on the dirty road,
Kick me like you've kicked before,
I can't even feel the pain no more.
But I only get my rocks off while I'm dreaming, (only get them off)
I only get my rocks off while I'm sleeping.

Feel so hypnotized, can't describe the scene.
Its all mesmerized all that inside me.
The sunshine bores the daylights out of me.
Chasing shadows moonlight mystery.
Headed for the overload,
Splattered on the dirty road,
Kick me like you've kicked before,
I can't even feel the pain no more.

But I only get my rocks off while I'm dreaming (only get them off, get them off),
I only get my rocks off while I'm sleeping (only get them off, get them off).

Test Tracks

Open, as is the Gulch, Animas and reports of High Point on the CT beg adventure out that way soon.

I found the remnants of a Thanksgiving Day Feast enjoyed by the local carnivores.
Like the song says - the herbivores ate well because their food don't never run....

Beantown

The day started at o-dark thirty with a trip over to Utah to do some work in Blanding. The plan was to ride up in these mountains when work was over.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Utah - I actually looked closer at my atlas and found something called the Dolores River Trail near Dove Creek. 26-miles long one way for an out-and-back up a classic river the kayakers know well. I decided that would be better to scout, since it might just lead to bigger and better adventures as the maps show jeep roads abound in this area.

I started at the boat landing spot, which meant I descended down into the canyon via car. Next time, I'll just leave the car in beantown to get the good climb back up and out of there.
Some smooth section, some rough sections, some sections almost like singletrack. Reminded me of White Rim with the opportunity to get more primitive with a bit of scouting. You could ride up to Bedrock from here, it's so remote but still covered with backcountry paths.
The bumper bike rack works well now. Cool mini adventure in the late afternoon. Can't wait to scout a bigger route and perhaps start a new dirty century epic so close to home.

Mix it up

The weather here has ben most excellent and it's going to continue to be cloudless through the holiday. I skipped the mountain bike over the weekend, but plan to hit it up starting Wednesday. We hit up a nice pre-turkey date party Sunday night and received beta that the Colorado Trail up to High Point is riding fine via Dry Fork, with the descent down past Gudy's squishy in some parts, but ready for transportation nonetheless. Wahoo..... I'm looking for some big time dirt miles this weekend.

Saturday I did a nice lollipop loop down to Aztec, NM and took advantage of the new protected shoulder on 550 for the return trip.
Things have really changed via the roads in this area since we moved here, and even 213 back to town is all paved as we noticed during the D100 last July.
I continued with the bike on Sunday for 25-miles in the valley, and then started the first session of leg weight lifting at the Rec Center. I followed that up with a fine run around the college afterwards in preparation for the turkey eating fest Sunday night....and my work in a chocolate factory later today.

Muscles were damaged in the last year and it's time to build them up. Ride, lift, run.....thats going to be a theme for short while. Oh, don't forget the beer in there too - gotta support the local economy.

County Road 5

Ok, so it's a picture from last fall...this time there is more white and less yellow, but I did not bring a camera.

But with a bit of work near Ridgway, I hit up a nice dirt road run up County Road 5 to the mesa just below Sneffels. Whew, what goes up must come down and it turned into another 90-minute run.

No music in the ears on the day, and a near death experience from a unrepentant UPS driver - who also decided to stop the truck and chastise me for the sin of dirt road running..... she somehow thought I had no right to run there.... I thanked her for her contribution to humanity.

All I can think of is Wille the Pimp.

Run like an antelope

Well perhaps more like roll like a cantaloupe. I've been getting some running lately and have been enjoying it. When I travel it is much easier to hit up an epic trail run than it is for a biking one primarily because of time.

So with some work down in Taos and then Red River, I settled on the Lobo Peak Trail near Questa.

I am surprised I never biked this - awesome singletrack.
Nice meadows, but as amazing as fall colors are when in full decaying bloom - it is even more amazing how it turns to nothing but dull grays when it is over.
I think I need one of those runners caps so I can hide my suffering. Actually, not much suffering at all, but the right knee acts up after an hour or so. Hopefully I can harden that and push on. I got 90-mins of pain free running this time which was a good sign.

Festival 8

Ok, so had better planning been involved in my life, Festival 8 would have been witnessed. But 3 days of Phish is kinda hard to swing in mid career, but the download isn't. 3 Days of Phish playing all their best tunes, and then a hellacious attempt at playing the Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street from cover to cover.

So I downloaded all THREE days of Festival 8 and decided a huge ride was in store to listen to some of it. Yeah, thats right - you can't ride long enough to wear out a Phish download.

Trust me - download this and be amazed. There is on like Donkey Kong and there is on like the Crimson Tide. Phish was on, I mean seriously on.

But what made this even better was I caught on with a big Peloton and listened to the concerts.

I figured I'd ride with some heavy hitters and listen to my new tunes. What a way a day can play.

On the way out to Hesperus, I eyed the group and there was big, bad Marco Esqualondolas leading us west to run like antelopes, and the effervescent Harry Hood ready to lead us up the Steep, and a whole slew of others to lead us that steep climb west. There were some heavy hitters here for sure.

I followed Susie Greenberg's wheel, and little Susie with her head caved in showed a lot. She's got a strong pull, but climbing up that steep Hesperus Hill I found that Susie's about as clean as a slot machine. Pays off once in a while, but she will rob you clean.

We moved toward Mancos and it was cold, cold, cold, cold, cold! I mean it was like I stepped into a Freezer! I fell back and was riding with Uncle Ebenezer!

But Mancos brought on special treats!
I had heard of the place, but never had seen the face.
Apple Ginger Bar. By the grace of Rutherford The Brave and the holy 44x16, I arrived.
But this Peloton was wickedly fast. I caught the wheel of Runaway Jim as best I could, but then came the hard charging Mike and he taught us his song. We turned toward Breen, and it was time to listen to the Stones, I mean I never heard Tumbling Dice play that well. The Black Crowes, while not exactly a band I listen to, did show us a great cover a few years ago, but damn Phish just rocked this one in an extended version played out in American musical roots that the Stones only pretended to play.
Agriculture was abundant, but Wilson kept yaking in the group ride and, well I almost felt like punching him in the eye. The dude kept trying to control the Peloton! But out of the corner of my eye, I got distracted! I saw an Ocelot out prancing in the field!

He pranced about like he could hide in the herd and float with the flock.
By then it was back to town and I decided to head north to Dalton Ranch. Kids were playing soccer in the golf course and it was just beautiful, too scenic to even contemplate a picture. When one sees a photographic moment like this, one doesn't even think of grabbing a camera.

As we rolled back toward town, it was apparent that we were fighting the Squirming Coil of Sunlight. I caught Satan's wheel, but he was too busy catching a Ray and he soon slipped out of sight. But nothing to fear, I caught a man with a Torn and Frayed jacket that was so epic, I think Keith Richards shed a tear. Damn that tune brought me back into town and I thought it might be best to roll down 3rd Street and back up Guglein.

Wouldn't you know it, but David Bowie wanted to pull me up the hill! I rocked the extended Bowie riff up to the Hostel and by then it was time to listen to the Ghost. At 95-miles and almost home, his answer gave actions, but he never spoke a word. It was 100 we went for and got.

Just like we had been instructed from the Ocelot.

I mean it was like living in a Loving Cup. Just one drink and I fell down drunk. As I said goodbye to Mick and the Stones, we both nodded to the Phish, who gave us this 100.

Lower

Dirt is good, and Cortez served a good dose of it.

Low

If you ride early, you gotta get low to avoid the chill. Fortunately La Plata County has tons of this stuff, with little traffic to be found. Road season is close to beginning.

Not yet Thermal Jacket weather, but windbreaker needed at times.
I picked up these Lake Winter shoes a few weeks ago from Colorado Cyclist. Really nice insulated shoes making shoe covers a thing of the past.
Roll low, but still roll big.

Wave that flag

Got to head south for work and picked up a sweet ride along the way in a place that I know well.