C L at St G

Here it is- C L Days 1 & 2

The infamous Lynda (center) and her disciples following. The hairy one on the left is Grizzly.

End of day one. The powerline trail on the way back-roughly mile 32 just about destroyed me.

Start of Day 2- Mad Doggers waiting for the stranglers before we set out.

Fake smile- You know that early season first 15 minutes of having to sit in the saddle after a rough ride the day before.

Adam eager to get out and take some more great photos

Keith, the Mad Dog leader- still smiling

Carson heading up Rim Reaper- Love the name, Loved the trail
A bit of traffic: But considering how many showed up it wasn't bad. Groups formed quickly depending on ability.

KC bossing her hubby around :) Just kidding. That's the farthest from the truth.

Zen: I told myself all day that it would be suicide for me to do it at the end of the day. I succumbed to ego and survived.

Abbott brothers giving thanks to Lynda, the great weather, the fun group, the dry trails, to health, to strength, to our patient wives........
OR
maybe they were just checking their GPS units?

I got in 85 miles of tough, fun trails, many of which were new to me. It was a great couple of days.

Better than a tooth fairy..

This was at my front door yesterday! Don't know how it got there. Had to be CarboRocket Man!

Speaking of CarboRocket. I did the first ride of Camp Lynda today and my bottle of CarboRocket fell out of the cage! It was a long 30 miles without it! Luckily the ride was out and back and just initially I thought it was a mirage but no it really was my bottle of CarboRocket that I saw on the trail. Oh! How I rejoiced and drank and drank and drank! It saved my sore 'arse' and legs. 40 miles today and planning 50 tomorrow. I think I'll pour me two bottles of that stuff. Stay tuned for a full report.

2010 RECAP

Here's 2010 for the Arantix and I- month to month.

JANUARY

Herniated disk with nerve damage. The grooves are not supposed to be there!
Rough start to 2010

February

Dot has Iliac clot and bypass surgery. No time to whine about my back. Had my Knee scoped and cartilage shaved since I was down anyway and I've been putting it off.

March

Gently back on the bike after rest and rehab. Can I salvage the year?

April

Tore my Pectoral muscle grappling in Karate. All things come in threes.
Orthopedist said I'd be out 6 months!

May

Against my better judgment raced the Draper race. Survived.

June

Drove from the cabin in the blizzard to race Deer Valley. It was postponed.
Did it a few days later. Did Taming the Tetons as well. It was good just to be back on wheels.

July

Got toasted at Solitude, but it was the first race I really pushed it.
Then took some R&R in Alaska then Hawaii.

August

Got back in time from Hawaii to do the Ogden 50K.
Finally feeling stronger.

September

Did 12 hours of Sundance with Carson. I over-estimated my recovery and strength. It hurt but was worth it.

October

24 hours of Moab. Finally felt back to "normal". I was ready for the season to begin. But it was over.

November

Took a bit of time off to get the Black.

October

Reflecting on the year in Sunny St George.

It was a rough start. Better end. As always-full. Good to see I could tackle some challenges. Good to see it end..........

Damn!

This was race weekend for the first Temecula race of the year and I'm sitting at home! For several reasons we (Carson and I) decided at the last minute not to do it. One big reason was that I was looking forward to racing the 12 hours of Mesa Verde instead, this year. I missed it due to my injuries last year. Registration opened just about 10 days ago, I went to sign up Thursday, AND it was already closed! Damn!

I was so upset about it that I registered for the Leadville lottery and signed up for True Grit. True Grit is a first time 50 mile race in St George that looks like it will be pretty grueling. Can you imagine "racing" the Zen trail? It is on March 26th. Camp Linda coming up next week should be a good prep course for it-and then some.

Looking back from near the top of Zen trail last week

I'm also just getting over a damn cold which would have been a bitch to race with in Temecula. So it's been a good stay at home family weekend. We even got in some x-country skiing in.

First Ride of the New Year

Thanks to "professional" day for teachers and MLK for his holiday we had some time to skip out of this smog soup this weekend. Scott, Abby and family were heading south and with forcasts of 57 F we couldn't help but to head south to St George with them. Carson and family joined us. Friday was hike-with-the-family day in Snow Canyon (Had to get family commitment points in early).
Chris had a Stan's blow out

Then Saturday Chris and KC (ie tour guides) happened to blow into to town right around ride time- funny how they do that- and we were off. We first hit the Santa Clara area Barrel Roll trail system which was in 98% dry condition. Then Chris guided us through the not so dry wash connecting to the race course. We cruised that area ending at the Zen- which by Zen I was pooped. I managed to haul my arse back up the wash to the cars and headed back to the condos to soak in the jacuzzi. 4 hours ride time was not bad in 60 degree weather after a long cold holiday filled December.
Scott, grinding up Zen

The next day we hit Church Rocks and Prospector for a bit but my legs decided to sleep in. Excellent weekend with the riders and the family!