Wishing for a gas station...

There's an impressively large network of trails just on the west edge of Boulder that bikes are frustratingly kept off by the strong arm of a small contingent of vocal locals. Because of this, I've really not explored at all despite having lived here for more than three years. Well that's changing, and it's rather exciting. With the nagging tendonitis below my knee that has been improving ever so gradually since the Divide, intense training for cyclocross hasn't been possible, so I haven't been racing much. And I haven't been riding much. But I discovered that running doesn't aggravate this problem, so what better way to explore some new territory than on quickly-stepping feet?

After some shorter runs during which my body felt great, I've been pushing the envelope a little to see what my legs are capable of. Today's test was supposed to be a 15-mile loop around South Boulder Peak, but part of my plan apparently involved a private road that is under video surveillance. That came 10 miles into the run, and I made the decision to detour around it, adding an hour of running and 1500' of climbing. Damn. I came armed with only a bit of Hammergel and one big bottle, so the last hour was a serious struggle, with my body finally hitting the emergency stop button with half a mile to go, after which there was no more running. I haven't suffered that much since the final 3 hours of the AZT 300 earlier this year. But even with the bonus miles, my body held together, my legs carried me almost the entire way with only minimal walking on the steeper sections, and I had a pretty good time. I'll be doing this loop again sometime, with a few changes to add in more singletrack (singletrack is pretty fun on foot, too) and 6 more miles to make it an "even" 26.2.

Winter, briefly again

I've been spending a lot of time in the lab lately, watching mineral grains dancing frenetically down a tiny chute, succumbing to the romantic offerings of a giant electromagnet, and separating themselves out in accordance with how attractive they find said magnet. It's a slow and boring process that is part of an even slower sample preparation process. Isolating cosmogenic nuclides may be a pain in the butt to process, but they tell hold many secrets. Last night a few of these nuclides told me that Burns Cave, one of the highest alpine caves in Colorado, is at least a million years old. And that's just the first part of the story...

So after getting annoyed at the slow workings of the magnet on Friday, I went home after lunch, grabbed a bike, and headed up to my favorite trail system. By the time I got there, it was snowing. I rode around on the singletrack in the snow for 90 minutes before I was soaked, tired of almost crashing on the incredibly slippery snot rocks, and could no longer see any dirt around anywhere. Then yesterday I rode at Heil with Dan. Half way into the ride, it started snowing, and the trail turned slick. It continued through then night, and I awoke to 7" of wet cement-like snow.

What do you do on a day like this? Dust off the cross bikes, slap on some pedals, and head off to a race that suits the mudders. I may not have any top end speed right now, but I'd like to think I can make up for some of that in mucky conditions. And mucky conditions they were . . .

Still clean on lap 2

Slippery footing

Trusty Michelin Mud2 tires worked like a charm

A sad mud/ice-encrusted bike

The aftermath. I crossed the line in ~10th, and was promptly interviewed by none other than Eddie Clark, who I last saw in a spectacular thunderstorm near Cochetopa Pass during the Tour Divide after he spent the morning following me and taking some great photos.

I might be slow right now, but man, what a great race. My knee still isn't feeling great, but it didn't complain too much. Thanks to Alex and Alexis for the great photos, and Alex for helping out in the pit.

White Rim and more

Headed off to the desert with Alex for the weekend...White Rim had been on my list of rides to do for a while, and this weekend seemed like as good a time as any. We started at 5:45 from Mineral Bottom and climbed up to find the sun. We pushed a mellow pace all day, stuffed our faces with pizza, burritos, and Oreo cookies, and had a great time. It was still light when we made it back to our campsite, and I managed to finish the day completely hydrated. That's enough of an accomplishment for me.











On Sunday we were greeted by another spectacular day. We headed up Amasa Back and came down Rockstacker and Jackson. Going up was fun. Coming down was a blast, especially on Rockstacker. I felt a little underequipped with a 4" bike and no armor, but the Lenz handled everything I could convince myself to drop the front wheel over without any complaints. And strangely, the only place I ate it was within the first 100' of Amasa. I still have Jeep tire rubber between the scabs on my knee from that digger. This is one of the only photos from the day, because my camera gave up the ghost. Now it's in about 30 pieces on my desk. Damn.

Winter, briefly

A few more photos...

Built an awesome new work bench,

and then an awesome new bike...

and then we got 20" of snow. Nuts.

Better make the best of it by heading up into the hills

Pristine wind-sculpted snow

Above treeline, 40 mph winds were trying to sculpt my face

Such a gorgeous landscape

Finally I caught a glimpse of my goal, the peak on the left first, then a traverse to the one on the right

But as soon as I got up near the first summit, these clouds blew in, driven by 60+ mph winds. So much for the snowy traverse. No axe or crampons in that wind and zero visibility wasn't to my liking, so I backed down. 3 hours later I was back at the car, dead tired.

Now off to the desert for a big ride tomorrow and some chunky fun on Sunday.