Arantix Retirement

It looks like Delta 7 has closed up its doors. It's been a great 4 years of riding and racing the Arantix. I've put over 1000 miles per year on the frame and have enjoyed every minute of it. It will be a memorable period in my life that has been captured fully in this blog. But it is time to retire the blog as well. I have saved these files and will keep these memories for review once in my rocking chair years.

BUT I am not retiring from blogging. I've found it has helped me be more reflective of my actions and thoughts and in some way has become a public journal of my life. Someday perhaps my children can review them and have a better insight into their father. I will continue my blogging on a different site. www.biker-dad.blogspot.com

I will still be riding and racing the Arantix for this year and will be shopping for a new bike next year. I'm not ready to hang up the WoW frame yet. Hope to see you all out there and on the other blog front.

My Silence is Deafening

The GOOD?, The BAD and the UGLY

The start: still smiling...Brady, Carson and I

The Good?

I had great aspirations for the weekend. The forecast was pretty good for Friday and great for Saturday- True Grit race day. Carson and I took off Friday early in the hopes of pre-riding the course. We got down to St G and the rain was nasty. We figured we’d wait it out. Nope. It kept raining. We could have waited till evening to leave from SLC. At least the forecast was 10% chance for rain Saturday and a high of 66.

The BAD…

Saturday we got up to a lot of clouds but the forecast was the same. As we were shivering at the start the promoter announced how lucky we were to have a cooler forecast for the day since “normally” it would be 75 F.

We got off to a nice steady start. I was feeling really good and still gradually passing people as we hit the race course loop. At the top of the loop it started to sprinkle. No worries the forecast said it would be clear. I finished the first loop feeling strong
and not even winded. I kept wanting to open it up more but consciously held back waiting, conserving power for a big push at the end once the sun came out and started to beam down on me. I got through the first aid station and started to climb Zen still feeling strong and light hearted. But the rain started to come down harder. I was worried that Bear Claw Poppy and Stucki would be getting really muddy. Then the little rivers started forming down the trail. This would be interesting. That’s OK I was still feeling strong and the cooler temperatures would keep me from getting too hot.

THE UGLY

Then, I was on the last switch back near the top of Zen and my foot slipped out of the pedals- so I thought. I looked down and the pedal spindle was there but not spring! The damn eggbeaters broke! I wasted about 10 minutes trying to fix them. I got them back on but had lost hope that they would last long. Yup. 5 minutes later they really broke. I coasted down Zen thinking I could go back to the condo and put on a new pedal, dry off and at least finish the race. It was raining harder. I got down to the aid station and found out due to the wet conditions that Bear Claw Poppy was omitted from the race due to the wet conditions. Noah was at the station and happened to have a pedal for me which we switched out but my heart wasn’t in it anymore- especially since I was pretty cold by then. It was still raining-harder. The only thing keeping me considering to keep going was knowing Carson was ahead. If he could do it I had to as well. Then as I was thinking that miraculously I heard his name- from above? I looked back and there he was walking his bike and shivering like Jello. He had double flatted at the top of Zen and had walked down the whole damn hill. He was done. Me too.

THE UGLIER

Luckily the condo was within a mile of that aid station and we got back dried off and changed. It was still raining. We were becoming worried about the rest of the racers. We packed up all our warm clothes and headed for the Barrel Roll Aid station to see how the racers were doing. On the ride up it didn’t look good. There were soaked racers heading back on the road- obviously bailed on the race. We got to the trailhead and found many shivering hypothermic racers including KC, Chad and Brady among them. They did not look good. We threw them into the overly heated car-mud and all. Oh what a mess Carson’s car ended up being by the end of that rescue. As we were heading back there were two ambulances and a rescue truck heading up.

Brady; after he was thawed out

THE INCREDIBLE

Chris incredibly made it back right behind Alex Grant to take second but he was in dire straights. He made it in just as we heard that the race was called. We packed him up in his car and called it a day. We figured we’d stay until the next day to try and get in a ride- attempting to salvage the weekend.

Chris: The rare (?happy?) finisher

THE MUDDIER

We heard the church rock and Prospector might be the driest so we packed up and headed out in the morning with the Sun out, warming the air and our spirits. We got to the northern end of Prospector rode a half mile and were buried in mud. It was not going to happen. We went back tried a couple other options and got buried even more. The weekend was a muddy flop.

Cholla anyone?

What was I thinking!

Do you get irked by the guy that comes to a race with the best looking ride and he gets trounced by the old beater bikes? Well I fear that may be me come Cross season. I'm not sure what I was thinking. Cross is everything I am terrible at- Short, lung-wrenching, fast twitch firing, muscle screaming races! But maybe that's why I figured I'd go for it this year to take on what I hate. Does that make any sense?

Anyway, she sure is a sweet ride.

Don't laugh too hard as you lap me...

True Grits coming up and I'm nowhere near ready but am excited to support a new venue down in dixie.

Desert Rampage Report

Look at the size of the classes! 40+ expert was dark blue.

What can a guy say about the race when he takes 19th out of 25 finishers? It was fun!? It was a great ride in 66 degree weather in winter and there were TONS of people there! It seems to get bigger and bigger each year!

I didn't go in with high expectations considering this is the least training I've done through the winter in over 4 years and I'm coming off of an injury ridden year. I deserved the place I got.

It was good to see all the team folks and catch up.

Tru Grit coming up in two weeks. We'll see if I can hack it.

A year ago today...

I was under the knife and drill having my knee scoped thinking of all the racers getting ready for the beginning of the race season in St George.

Today I am wondering what my knee will let me do at the races. So was it worth it? Not sure yet. My knee still swells but not as bad as before. The pain is better. But the point is, I am ready for a new chance and a new season!

This year I have a greater appreciation for the whole atmosphere of racing than just the race. It's an understanding that I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to do this activity. And this luxury is at many levels- from health and fitness, to family support, to the finances , and to the diverse community of cycling fanatics. Think about it, by missing any of these ingredients, the likelihood of racing Saturday would be nil.

See you ingredients Saturday!

Good Day....

Everyone is competing for the trails this time of year: bikers, horses, dogs, hikers, winter, Spring....

It was a good day......

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!

Christmas Story- Pay It Forward

Here is a followup on the cabin troubles.

I mentioned how my mirror was broken on my truck by someone. Well after I scraped off the windshield I found this card on it.I thought this was a weird place to advertise in the middle of the Uintas. Then I turned it over:


I contacted Mark yesterday and he gave me his story. He had broken and wrecked two snowmobiles that day and was pulling out of the lot when his truck slid sideways and hit my mirror. And I thought I had a bad day! Well he insisted he would pay for it and I said I would do the labor and put it on. But being a power retractable mirror it was over $500! I told him I would pay it forward someday.

What better day to do that than on Christmas! I got $500 cash out of the bank today and went to work. I gave the cash to the nurses as a gift to all of them. I instructed them to use it however they wanted but they had to have it spent by the end of the day. They considered using it for some of the staff that were struggling and gave $100 to a single mom CNA. They alsot gave $20 to a 12 year old boy who was in the ER for a sick younger sister for half the day. He was very patiently helping translate for his mother. After he got the cash from the nurses he said that was the best Christmas ever! The rest of the money is being spent right now by the next shift. I'll be interested in hearing what they've done with it.

This made working on Christmas actually fun for us all. I sure made up for all the poop patients we had today- over half had diarrhea! Yuk! Lot's of sick kids too. You know they had to be sick to leave the new presents on Christmas.Who knows this may have to become a tradition. Thanks Mark!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

If It Wasn't One Thing Then It Was Another

Yes. I messed up! Let's get that out first. But it certainly was fun trying to fix my mistake with friends! This might be long but it should be worth it. (it was for us:)

Carson, Scott and I headed up to the cabin to "check it out" and to do some snowmobile cross-training. Up in the Uintas in the winter we have to snowmobile into the cabin about 2.5 miles. With all the snow we've been getting- it was DEEP! The adventure started with it taking over an hour of getting up to the cabin with the snowmobiles. It's good to have friends that do as you tell them- and extra. We were in some deep stuff and there was a section that I told Carson he would have to "gun" it- and he did-more than I expected. He jumped over 20 feet and buried the sled! Finally, between dodging downed trees and getting Unstuck we were wet, frozen and spent by the time we got up there. We were ready for some heat. I went to turn on the furnace and nothing happened. I went outside to check on the Propane tank with a bad feeling in my gut. The 500 gallon tank was empty! Why? Well I guess I had left the heat on 3 months ago when I was last there! If it was anyone else up there with me we'd have turned right around and headed home. But no, the guys were ready to rough it. We got the fireplace going and huddled around trying to dry off and get warm. Well we at least had water which I had just turned on.

Once warm, I went to the fridge to get dinner ready, opened the door and a wall of water came gushing at me! I had forgotten to put the water filter back in after winterizing the cabin last time. Do you know how cold your hands get cleaning up a flood in a frozen cabin? &*%$#! COLD! Yes, we were off to a great start, but it didn't end there.

I had to figure out a way to get heat to the cabin for our families New Year trip next week. Dot was NOT going to be happy and I was dead meat! We brainstormed some great ideas cuddled together by the fire. I knew I was up there with some good friends when many of the ideas were LIE, LIE, LIE! And they were willing to vouch for me! In the end I told them I would find a way to get more propane up there to heat a whole cabin covered in over 3 feet of snow. There was doubt in their eyes. Thank God Dot didn't call that evening to check on us! The plan was not yet fully implemented.

We all slept in front of the fireplace (details will not be divulged) taking turns stoking the fire (except for Scott- somehow he slept through it all) and awoke ready for a mission. I called my dealer- Propane dealer that is. Unfortunately, his wife answered and I had to admit to her I had a guy problem and she got her husband. Us men concocted a plan to drag up 4 170 lb tanks of propane; in 2.5 miles, up a big *ss hill in 3-4 feet of snow. The guys were ready for the challenge! I went into town to pick up the tanks and Carson and Scott cut all the downed trees, packed the trail and even did the dishes! I love you guys!

So what else could go wrong? Well I got to the truck and someone had broken my R side mirror! And the truck was stuck! I managed to get out, find the promissory note from the guy who broke the mirror, got the tank, and my buddies were waiting in the parking lot to help me get the tanks in. AND they were still smiling! We installed the tanks surprisingly without TOO much difficulty and the heat was ON!

We even had time to hit the powder! For over an hour we plowed through tons of powder, got stuck, dug out and did it again! I think that finally put them over the edge and they weren't smiling anymore once we got back. We were exhausted, but, yet, no words of complaint were emitted.

We headed home, hit a rainstorm, and rush hour traffic, but that was nothing compared to the challenges we had overcome without one whine. That was a good 24 hours with the guys.