A couple of quickies

First, I would like to personally thank--or maybe flog (is that overkill?)--the individual who decided it would be "fun" to ride his/her motorcycle up Bonneville South and the Burn Trail when it was muddy this past week. (And is that even legal?) I really "appreciate" that.  And quoting Tommy Boy: 
Gas Station Employee (you the Audience): I'm starting to picking up your sarcasm.
Richard Hayden (Me): Well, I should hope so, because I'm laying it on pretty thick.

Secondly, I had my first snake experience of the year. I was heading from Lower Dragon's Back to Nunns Park. I was cruising along minding , somewhat quick my own business when I noticed it in the trail. As I thought "Oh no. Snake" I attempted to bunny hop it. I don't know if I made it. I was not about to go back and check. While there was not rattling noise, in the few moments I had to register its existence in the trail, I thought it could have been a really scary one. So I just kept on pedaling all freaked out for a bit. Have I said that I hate snakes?

It is Spring

It was a typical week of spring riding. Monday was gorgeous. Tuesday too, but I had to squeeze in a short ride due to responsibility. Wednesday was cold and rainy. We tried to ride and essentially failed. We were going up Dragon's Back as the water was streaming down. And then there was the tiny hail that hit like pins. Like I said, a typical Spring storm. We turned around after just 20 minutes or so soaking wet...and cold. Thursday was the community/group ride.

 Me and Tex before I headed out

Today was the highlight. I rode just about everything at the mouth of Provo Canyon. Everything was in good condition. Phast Dan joined me. I would have been okay by myself, but was grateful to have someone to ride with for the "just in case".
We went up Betty to the top and then came down Dry. Yes, we did. Then we headed a bit North and came back went up again and down the other side. I finished off with Bonneville South and Burn. I was pretty cooked after that. Dan was going to go on and ride some more.

The view from the top of Dry

I am such a Girl

Yesterday's ride was supposed to be much like the weekend before. I failed miserably. It is not that I ran out of steam, but it just did not start as or when it should.
Anyone who has has done any riding with me or in the near vicinity knows my Superfly is loud. I knew it was the drive train, but the why escaped me--sort of. Chris has been asking for a very LONG time if I want to replace it. I have been putting it off until the end of the season, after the winter, once my new bike gets here, etc. In the mean time, the noises were becoming increasingly frustrating. I finally made the decision to do it. We had everything we needed by a middle (32 tooth) chain ring. I sent some emails out to see if I could find one in town at a LBS.
We get to the trailhead yesterday and my bike it not shifting well. I had tried to improve it at home, but just ended up messing things up. Chris starts to look at my bike and realizes that while my derailleur may not necessarily be straight that is not the reason for my angst. My cassette was so worn there were burrs on almost every tooth. Now I knew that the chain was catching on the teeth, but did not realize what this meant. This was not a problem so much in the middle gears, but due to the angle of the lower cogs they were the worst. In fact when in the second gear, my chain would catch not just on the burrs on that cog, but also the first cog also. We had a cassette and chain in our spare parts so we threw them on.
When Chris looked at the chain to measure it out he thought was going to lose it. It was readily apparent that it was stretched. He said he was frustrated with me, but also with himself for letting me go this long without updating it. That made me felt badly about this. 
So after spending an hour in the parking lot "getting ready", we head up the road. My chain starts slipping. Son of a...! Chris starts to look at it, again. While we put a Shimano chain on it should work with the Sram cassette. After further examination, it is slipping in the front. I need a new chain ring. I head back to the car and Chris rides without me. I start trying to find shop that has what I need. Racer's Cycle Service comes through. I go and pick it up. As I was walking out Stu, who was hanging out, asks if I need it put on and offers to do it for me. Sweet! He throws my bike on the stand and goes to work. Which is good because I am not sure I really would have been able to do it and Chris would have struggled without the convenience of having a stand and/or being at a shop. (Thanks Stu!) I head back to the trail.
We first got to the trail around 10:15 at around 12:30 I was finally riding. But my bike has not sounded so good-quiet- in quite some time.

Lots of riding, true love, and inhumanity

We got lots of riding in this week.For me, it included a day of riding my cross bike finally. We set it up 1X10 until we can figure the front derailleur out. The goal was to ride up Squaw Peak Road. As predicted by many, it was snowed in.I probably got about two miles up before running into a snow field. So I turned around, went down, and then came back up. Then down and up and down again. I then tried to ride to Vivian Park, but snow and debris not far above Bridal Veil rendered that trail also impassable. While frustrating a road ride was necessary given my schedule that day--I had to go back to work for a conference call.

My Cross/Road bike

Saturday we did something we have not done for a really long time. We did a long ride at home. We rode for approximately 4:20. We rode all over above Timp Park and Bonneville North. It was delightful and Chris and I shared a "moment" where his true feeling for me were displayed.
I was one time forwarded an email that gave the perspective of children on what love is. It included things like saying Mom's dinner taste really good even if it doesn't. And stuff like that. It is really cute, but I have an example to add to it.  True love is when someone is willing to share their chain ring bolts with you mid-ride so you can continue togehter. My bike started creaking throughout our ride. When we tried to identify what it was, we realized that two, nope three of my chain ring bolts stripped out. So altruistically, Chris took one of his chain ring bolts off of his bike and gave it to me, thus allowing us to ride together longer. Yes, he really does love me.
After continuing to ride longer, we return to our car. We brought Tex with us so he could hang out in the park. We leash him to the car with a cable that is long enough to let him move, but stay out of traffic. It was a sunny 60 degrees. He had a bone, water, and a grassy knoll to sit upon. He knows lots of riders who frequent the park and always seems very content. As we ride up, I notice someone left us a note. I figured it was just someone saying hi. It was the following:

"How would you like it if someone chained you up all day? 

Do the humane thing and leave your dog in the backyard."

I have never thought of bringing Tex in so he can enjoy different surroundings as "inhumane". Would it be more "humane" to leave our dog in the yard by himself for eight hours? Granted we do this while we are at work, but we have always felt that if the weather is not too hot, he would enjoy the change of scenery and the ability to spend some time in transit with us on the weekend. We also usually take him for a jaunt either before or after. Are we oblivious? Are we being "inhumane"?

Sunglasses

One of the sponsors for the Mad Dog Race Team is Tifosi. They make some pretty cool sunglasses. Our team order just came in. Tifosi comps us a pair of  "enthusiastic eyewear" and then we were able to get  a couple pairs of our choice for a pro-deal. Here is what we got:

 My Tifosi Torrents 

Chris' Tifosi Dolomites 

(this is a pair Chris ordered but I really like them)

 My Tifosi Lusts

Are these too big?

The last pair is the comped pair. I am pretty sure they are Slip Logics or as Chris calls them our "Tron" glasses.  Chris also got another pair of Forza's. He loves those. Now I just need to get some contacts so I can wear these when I ride or see about getting some prescription lenses.

Thanks Tifosi!

Two Weekends of Photos

 ICUP #2 Cholla Challenge Photos

Mitchell leading out Chris

Chris

 Racing in the sunshine of Southwest UT

 Maintaining my composure at the start of the race

Thanks for the photos Karl

Here are some pictures from our weekend in Moab. Thanks to Aaron for letting me steal these. You may have already seen them on his blog, but just in case.

Chris being edgy out at 7 Mile Canyon

 

Keith climbing out on Gold Bar--the views are okay 

 I am just chillin' for a moment 

Chris on Golden Spike--yes, he is on trail

Aaron on his maiden voyage of the "Fun Parts of the Rim Ride Hosted by the Holley's"

2010 ICUP #2

We did the Cholla (they say it is pronounced "choy-a", but I still say chol-la) Challenge in Hurricane. Today was great. First, I felt like I did a good job preparing. Obviously, due to the weather--windy, cold, snow, etc.--I did not do much riding throughout the week. That provided plenty of recovery after last weekend's ride.
We came down yesterday and rode Barrel Roll. My heart rate was higher than I probably wanted it, but I did not stress my legs. We ran into our friend, Bob Dawson. He was out for a long ride. We questioned this the day before a race. He mentioned training for a 12 Hour race. He still did pretty well even with the miles the day before.
We took a lap on the course in the morning. The race did not start until noon 30 so there was plenty of time. We finished getting ready and started warming up. After Chris went to line up, I headed to the road to do a couple of short intervals before heading to the line. My goal was to arrive just as the Pro-Men were about to leave. I timed it pretty well.
Our group left a few minutes later. There were eight on the line again. They started out fast. I was on the far right which pushed me into the rocky section. I was patient and took a conservative line. This again put me towards the back of the pack. This time though I stayed calm. There was a some jockeying for position in the main pack. Lynda was off the front, of course, and then Kathy and Sarah were a bit behind her. Sarah was on fire! The rest of us were somewhat together. After a bit, it was just Jen and I. I would gap her and she would come back. We leap frogged a little bit. On the second lap, she got in front of me and I decided to stay behind her for a bit. She was carrying a quick pace and I was able to recover a little. Then some guys passed so I tried to go with them. I was able to hold on for a bit and gapped Jen going into the third lap. I was  stay in front of her through the finish.
While I did not finish very well, I had a really, good race. I fueled well. I kept pushing a fast pace. I raced smart and had a good time.

Chris also had a good race. He finished 6th out of 23 or so. His heart rate was high throughout his race which is an indication that he felt good. He again had several really fast guys to compete against. We should have some pictures in a couple of days to share.