Ride on

Donger need food!

Whew, the legs are tired but the riding won't stop.  With the gift of such great weather the trails in town are open and we are riding them before the first big snow comes and buries them for good.

Ventured over to Sailing Hawks and then Test Tracks and found things all open.  Hidden Valley was a trip though as it is in the shade and was very chilly in parts as some ice is packed back in the hills.  People have been recreating enough that there is a dirt layer over the ice, so it gives you traction.  But when the slope turns super steep you can spin and then slide out!

But got up to Star Wars and hit the descent, which is always fun.

Sailing Hawks was just in great shape and it is so fun back there.  Climbers on the rocks, hikers and runners out there, and even a few bikers - all with their best attitude.  It's a really cool place to be.

 I've been riding the 'race' bike as the 'ride' bike needs a bit of attention on the Crossmax wheel.  A nice rock hit the valve stem and bent it beyond repair.  Going to try to glue in a valve stem cut from an old inner tube in lieu of paying Mavic for a new stem.  Hot glue guns and valve cores cut from tubes have worked wonders on other rims in the household.

Jeni is getting close to the due date, so I had better get my ride on these last few days!

The Return of the Mountain Bike

I've been a bit more conservative this late season - more so than the last few, and as such I've tried to avoid mud riding.  With cooler temperatures, just the slightest bit of moisture stays in the ground around here for days due to the large temperature swings between night-and-day.  So I've been running in the Gulch, and even took the cross bike through it a few times.

Saturday left me with some obligations for the day so time was short - but not short enough for a 2-hour run up on the ridge, in the gulch, and around the college.  That was enough to convince me to hit the mountain bike on Sunday.

So I hit up Skyline first, which I knew still had moisture - and I hit it when it was frozen.  That left a fun tour all over Raider's Ridge.

That is my neighborhood below, and the two inclined mesas are Missionary Ridge to the right and Animas Peak to the left, with Hermosa in the background. 

Riding up on Raiders is fun, but I actually prefer to run up there.  In fact, there are times I can run up Skyline and clear the whole ridge faster than I can with a mountain bike.

 We have a big block of blue-sky days coming and I intend to ride the mountain bike all the way through it. Last few seasons the in town mountain biking has stopped usually by December 7th.  We are looking clear all through the week ahead!

I did multiple loops in the gulch which was fine, but then it started to get a bit crowded.  Should be fewer people through the week, and I will even head over to Sailing Hawks and Animas when I get the chance.

 Good times with temps in the 50s, blue skies and a week of riding ahead!

Although the running on the ridge will be calling as well.   

How can I complain, with decisions like that to make?

Crossing the county

It is time to switch to the cross bike and take advantage of all the lonely dirt roads we have around here.   Got to get to those roads before they become iced over from snow and then it is either pavement or waxing ski time.  

 The magnesium chloride treated roads actually feel smoother than the pavement around here, and you can really fly on the roads.

 I also pulled the Campy Record out of mothballs and strung up gears on the road machine.  I really enjoy single speed on the road, but the cross bike can cover that and this gives me an option for speed in the valley floor, because sometimes it's just too darn cold to climb and then descend in the winter.  

Beautiful and relatively warm weather over the holiday weekend for us, but the ironic thing is that the trails are now a bit wet during the day, and really only good for trail running in my opinion.  In fact I've run more the last two weeks than in any other week prior to the 25k or marathon I did this fall.  Short concise strides lead to a quicker workout and I still get to enjoy single track.  

iBeer App

A good sign that you have had an active week is when the big Saturday ride comes and you can barely turn a pedal.  Such was the case for me, as the week prior had some cross rides, some mountain bike rides and a couple of long trail runs.  

 I did a quick loop around the college and then went to
the Horse Gulch and kept on the old road over to the backside of Edgemont.  The plan was to hit up the Pioneer Trail climb, but my legs told me to forget it, so I went back in town and took the Nature Trail back home.  

 Jeni told me to stick around for the weekend because there were some parties to go to, so with careful planning I had the dead legs on Saturday.  I had entertained the idea of doing a WRIAD solo, but that will have to wait, or I just hit the county roads on the cross bike.

Apparently they do baby showers co-ed now, and we went to one for some friends hosted by a party professional.  Since we are in Durango, beer of course was involved - as were time trial races involving strollers.

 Beer chugging in baby bottles were another highlight.

I was a spectator for all of this, as I was pretty tired even at the party.

But the body adjusts, and by Sunday A.M. I was greeted with the news that the Tide are back in the hunt for the big game, in addition to a nice little burst of energy.  I was also able to get out for a great 2-hour run, back up on the ridge, the college, and the gulch.  

A Different Kind

Awake and fire up The Stones

 Head West

 And wait for the sun to set

 Arise another day, and fire up The Dead

 Head uphill

 But come down before the sun sets

No Expectations
Just enjoy what you got.

Travelling Durangatangs

So we made a big day and headed south to Albuquerque.  We started at

The County Line and rode both North and South Foothills and then did the Otero-Cedro Loop.

It was surprising to see all of the work done out there and the trails were in great shape, even if they had weird names.  This trail really wasn't all (g)nasty with aggression, considering that most of it used to be Tr. 56 or Lawrence Taylor back in the day and was more downhill than meandering over rocks.  Whatever the case though, the open portions of Otero certainly do have a lot of more trail available these days.

 Otero was in great shape, but when we cut over to Cedro via the picnic table at Oak Flats, things started to get a bit damp and slimy.  We ran into some moto riders on the "new" Mahogany, and then up and over at Poker Chip.  Because of time limitations we just rode Mighty Mule for the finish and skipped Coyote.  Back to town on a fast descent and through a small part of South Foothills before it got dark and then we, unfortunately, had to ride the bike path back to the start.  Just an hour more of daylight available and we could have ridden back through the foothills at sunset, which was what I wanted.  It's a really cool sight to see when riding through near dark trails over the city lights.

  We got a nice 65-mile, 6500-ft of climbing loop, which considering the 10:30AM start worked out well for us.  

 We made a quick stop for food and then drove back to Colorado.  Not the best choice - Filabertos in Bernallilo - but it was fast and no one stole our bikes or car, as we were able to keep an eye on things.  Ryan thought Filabertos was world class Mexican food, though.  

I popped on a 20t in the rear for this ride and my cog choice turned into a grinding, vibrating mess toward the end.  It time to retire this Surly 20t, and it looks like I have another one that is not too far off from retiring as well.  Ditto goes for that 21t in the previous post.  I may flip the cog around and try it for commuting around town.

Things are looking good with the weather and we might be hitting up WRIAD soon, perhaps later in the week.  Trails might be dry enough in town for some running too.

Got to keep the miles up and enjoy the blue sky this week for sure.

Plastic Yield

My contribution to the field of Plasticity Theory.

Del Sur

Head downhill:  Trails in town are a tad bit moist right now, so it looks like a trip down south is in order.

Moab Trail Marathon 2011

On a whim, while sitting in Paonia the night before the Lead King 25k Trail Run, I fired up the iPhone and signed up for the Moab Trail Marathon.  My reasoning at the time was to commit to getting a running marathon under my belt this year - and not let the Lead King result decide that for me.  Fortunately the Lead King was actually a positive running experience so my decision was validated, at least a bit after finishing in Marble.

However, I did not just want to "bag any marathon" and sign up for one of those urban, flat road, everybody gets a medal that tries type of marathon.  I wanted something that closely resembled the back country ultra endurance experience like one finds in racing mountain bike 100s or the like.  The Moab Trail Marathon, as such delivered this perfectly!

Moab is about 3-hours from Durango, so I decided to stay at home the night before and drive there and back for the race.  The plan was to run the marathon, eat at Pasta Jays (and order the Chicken Cacciatore - one of my favorites anywhere - who would believe there is good Italian food in Moab?), and then on the drive home, listen on the radio as my alma mater pounded the LSU Tigers out of the BCS title race.  Everything went to plan, except for the Crimson Tide winning, unfortunately.  Better luck next year!

The weather took a very nasty turn on Friday night, and when I started up the Ford in the early AM, the wind in Durango just started to pick up.  By the time I got to Monticello, UT I was in a full on blizzard.  The Satellite Radio played a rather ironic tune.

 Snow turned to rain by the time I descended to Moab, and at the start area, we were sent to park in a muddy and goopy mess.  A lot of the runners were complaining, and I just had to chuckle at that - remembering the start of the 2009 Vapor Trail 125 where we took off at midnight in a rain storm!  This would be a nuisance compared to that experience!

They had a ton of events, with the 26.2-mile marathon the hardest challenge, and then shorter distances, including an obstacle course.  There are some good photos and a movie of the course located here.  I put on my trusty Showers Pass jacket and wore my old Assos fleece lined bib shorts - with the chamois removed (it cracked 2 years ago, and now this is a nice running bib).  We took off around 8:45, as the start was delayed and then we hit this course immediately in a not-so-dry creek bed.  Feet wet at the on set.  I held with a group of around 8-10 at the front and felt really well as we climbed up to a rocky road, sort of like the rougher parts of White Rim.  About 2 miles in it started to rain again, and in some places that was good as the moisture packed down the sand, but in others it made for a muddy, peanut butter like, caliche mess.

You really had to be careful in choosing your line when the road changed camber and direction, because if you tried to plant your foot in the caliche on an incline you would slide ride out, and a few times I thought I might fall over.  This would be the case all the way through this, until we hit the Jackson Trail around mile 19 or so.  But prior to that, I started to have a real tough day as my bowels decided to explode at mile 4.

I tried to contain it and hope that an outhouse would appear, but finally I ran to a pinyon tree and stripped down as fast as I could (which with the bibs, meant jacket, shirt removal before getting off stirrups).  The good news though, that with a massive bowel explosion it does not really take all that much time or effort, to do...ahem, your business.  6 or 7 runners got in front of me, and I got back to running.  Here, we picked up singletrack that was about as tough as Troy Built in Fruita  - chucky and gnarly - and now the rocks were wet from the rain!  

There were sections with ropes on the steep slick rock to hold onto to lower your self, a few slot canyons (never a good idea to run through a slot canyon in a rain storm, but hey we did it).  My bowels acted up a few times after this and I had to slow it down due to abdominal cramps and fear of soiling my drawers.  Finally we came out and hit a long, flat magnesium chloride treated road and we had a strange out-and-back on a trail that crosses a deep creek about 6 or 7 times.  This was only because the deepest creek crossing was declared to dangerous to cross, so they did a last minute course re-route.  Needless to say, the shoes got soaked here and running the Hokas full of water is a strange, trippy experience to say the least.  We later hit a swamp that was loaded with mud, and has low bush like trees everywhere.  I ran this section with a couple of other guys and we joked it was like an episode of The Fugitive - running through a swamp for dear life it seemed.  All we needed was the sound of the tracking hounds and perhaps a few gun shots.

Then the big climb of day and it was sadly a disappointment.  It was around 1500-ft classic Moab abandoned mining road grade, chucky, gnarly, and scenic.  It disappointed in the sense that it was nearly impossible to run on, because it was all caliche - a complete muddy mess.  We formed a cow-like trail in the mud - and I really feel sorry for the people who were slower as it had to be even more of a nightmare for them.  I felt great on the climb and actually caught and passed a few other racers, but by the time the descent came (a windy, Hartman Rocks like trail down a valley), my bowels acted up again.  Drat.  I made it through the valley, filled up water at an aid station and then had to drop drawers once again in a dry creek bed.  This, fortunately was the last time for me - but my belly had that bloated, pregnant man look for a while.

I got running again, and caught a few that had slid by me, and then we hit a treacherous steep valley that had us on all fours climbing downward.  One guy said hey...look at this blood!  Somebody was injured bad in front of us, and we followed the blood path down through the rocks for a while.  From there it was dry creek bed and then Jackson Trail.  I really would have loved to have flown down this, but this came with ~19-miles in my legs, or should I say knees, and that is when the serious pain came for me.  I just could not take big steps anymore and the pain was tough to over come - not sharp, but just dull and achy.  Here, I got caught by a younger woman and after I let her pass, I decided to just ignore the pain as best I could and use her as my mark.  She kept a good pace, and she did really well at the finish too as she won her age group, and was perhaps the 3rd or 4rth woman finisher.  

We got back to the finish area, but this was only mile 21, and we had one more loop to do.  I took off and quickly realized they saved some of the toughest for last.  We hit aluminum ladders, long climbs with rope up hill and then down hill, and with my achy knees I came through the last aid station visibly in pain.  The lady there offered me ibuprofen - and my immediate comical thought was....."you guys got ibuprofen!!!  I wish I had known that earlier!"  I mean getting offered ibuprofen at mile 25 really would just take the pain away at the finish...and NOT during the race.  Ha ha, chalk that up to ignorance as I just assumed the race would not give out ibuprofen or any drugs for liability purposes.    Lesson learned there!  Oh man I could have used that prior to the Jackson Trail though.  

The race after this went though the obstacle course, and I like a moron thought we had to run through it.  I hit a section where you had to follow strategically placed rocks in a mud pit, two separate wooden lattice things, and then a sign that said you had to run through a tube.  But there was no tube!  Hmm that is odd.  The next station said to grab an egg and about this time I said screw it and ran through the course.  I saw a course marshal a bit after this and he said no we were not supposed to run the course - he was heading over to take down the signs.  Doh!  Oh well, no one caught me and I didn't drop a place in the finish - just lost a minute of time perhaps.  

Then we ran through the muddy parking lot and trashed my shoes again.  Finally, up a steep hill and I came into the finish line to complete my first running marathon.  Whaoo!  I asked the lady what was the time, and she said 4:47.  I then, very dryly asked her was that the time of day, or the run time?  She got it and laughed at my joke and then told me that was my run time.  Cool, I figured I was in 6 hour territory as the website even said most people will finish this between 5 and 6 hours.

Sub 5 with a lot of change is a good thing.  A bit funny as well, because at the finish, I noticed that I was wearing my shirt inside out, courtesy of the strip down, bowel explosion.

 The finish was a bit sparse as there was no food other than collapsed aid stations brought back in.  I grabbed a generic cola, talked to some fellow finishers and then went into Pasta Jays for my meal.  We had a ticket for a meal at a place called Milts, but it is a coupon and I'll use it some other time.

My feet handled the running well from a pain standpoint, but the big toes continue to take a pounding.  Man up, Sgt. Hulka.  

I finished this pretty well considering the 2 bowel stops and knee pain:   34th out of 132 finishers.  No bowel issues and a pocket full of ibuprofen and perhaps a 4:20 would have been in order.  I'll be back again next year for sure to find out!

On the drive back I had time to contemplate the source of my bowel issues and I concluded it was grabbing breakfast with out of the ordinary foods.  The night prior, I went over to Bread here in Durango and hoped to buy some muffins, but all they had was Cinnamon & Caramel rolls.   I bought those and shoved them in a bag with a purchased Olive Loaf, plus I got a free Ciabotta loaf from them (thanks Rob!).  The problem though for me was the sugar on the Cinnamon and Caramel rolls.  Jeni and I do not have sugar in the house - we only have the uber-yuppie, no-calorie, sweetener type of stuff - and my Hammer Nutrition products for racing all use complex sugars. I am not a big fan of sweets either, so i take in very little simple sugars.  Hammer has a ton of literature on mixing simple and complex sugars during races and all of it says it is bad.  The bloated belly, bowel explosion kind  - just like I experienced.  Perhaps I have even developed a simple sugar intolerance -  or just gorged too much immediately prior to the race.  Whatever the case and I should know this - never eat out of the ordinary things before a race.  Lesson learned, hopefully.

Seems like I always say that.