...about a road that stretches into the horizon, passes over rocks, sand, through trees and rivers. A road that climbs and descends, twists and turns. What is it about a road that goes on so far and so long that it lasts through the day, through the night and again into the day? And how is it that this road is simultaneously intimidating and inviting, exhilarating and exhausting? Why is it that despite the pain that comes with traveling this road, more and more people find themselves taking the journey? What is it about solo 24 hour racing that I find so addicting?

When people find out that I like to do 24 hour races I usually get a variation of the same response. "You're crazy!" "Why would you do THAT?" "Wait, you do it alone?" "I could never do that." There is something that attracts me to the challenge. Normal cross-country bike races are fun, fast and painful. They require an all out effort over a 2-3 hour period of time. They are mentally draining and physically taxing. But they don't have that certain "it". At least not for me. Now don't get me wrong, I love XC racing. I look forward to the season all year. I travel around the state to various events. I love the atmosphere and the competition. But for me, they can't compare to the anticipation of 24 hours in the saddle.

I think the difference comes with the setting of the sun. In the limted experience I have in 24 hour racing, the hardest part for me is when the sun goes down. That is when the realization sets in that while everyone around you settles in for a warm night by the fire, you are setting out on a cold, dark sojourn into the unknown. I have never been so mentally taxed as I am when I point my light onto the course and turn my back to the light and laughter of a good campfire, cold drink and warm food. And yet, at the same time, I have never been so drawn to something. It is the beauty and mystery of 24 hour racing.

I don't think I can exactly say what it is that attracts me to these races. When I attended my first 24 Hours of Moab I was a spectator. I was in the start finish area just as the sun rose. Nat Ross came through after a lap, and he sat down in a chair. His support crew fed him, swapped his bikes, rubbed his shoulders and sent him on his way. He finished 2nd that year behind 24 hour legend Rishi Grewal. That was the first time I experienced the "it". The seed was planted and I let it grow. Last year I did my first solo race, fittingly, at the 24 hours of Moab. Nat Ross was there again. He lapped me 5 times en route to his victory. But somewhere in the suffering and the "learning the hard way" I became a 24 Hour Solo Racer.

I just coudnt bring myself to ride the road bike. I am having to much fun on the mountain bike, plus the trails are all in great shape. So why not do intervals on the mountain bike? I went up to the Provo Canyon race course, where a few years ago we had a healthy weekly race series going on. Those were some of the first mountain bike races I did, and they are some of the most fun. Construction of a big giant water tank closed the area for a while and killed off the series. But the trails are now construction free and still very fun to ride. I warmed up for about 20 minutes, then did a few hot laps aroud the course. The laps are short. Tonights pace was under 9 minutes per lap. So they are great for interval workouts. Lots of short steep climbs, tight turns and fun downhill. It felt great opening it up. Max HR was 185, so right at my XC race pace. After the intervals I climbed up out of the single track course up to the dirt road that runs along the ridge, around the front side of the mountain and back home. A quality workout followed up with a steak burrito...mmmm.

I Saw a dude on a 4-wheeler with his wife and 2 kids on the back. Nice. I think it was official scope out the mountains day, because I saw another guy decked out in full camo with his spotting scope checking out the hillside. Tons of cars and trucks parked along side the normally off limits to motot vehicles road. I think they open it up for the deer hunting season, which gets underway very soon. Since it was "look for deer" day I thought I'd get in on the action. And to think, I didnt need a 4 wheeler or a spotting scope.



One is easy to see, but can you find the other one?

Rained today. Looks like we are getting what Iowa had. I wonder if Jeff Kerkove brought it out here with him. He is in Vegas for Interbike. Speaking of...it sounds like a lot of new 29ers are showing thier faces at the dirt demo. Turner has announced a new 29 inch bike which is something I think a lot of people have been wishing for. Niner, a leading custom 29er builder, has also revealed a new model for 2006. Pictures from the show are starting to creep up around the web.

With the rain today I took the time to clean the bikes. It looks like I will be needing a new middle chain ring on the X-Cal. Chain suck has been bad the last week or so. I think the new chain and the older crankset are having trouble getting along. I think I need to attend Guitar Ted's drivetrain maintenance class.

All in all a pretty low key day. Planning some road bike hill repeats for tomorrow. Those should be fun. Time for some ZZZ's.

Oh, one more thing. This might be old news to you guys who have been following the 29er movement, but came across this great article about the differences between 29ers, and 26ers by bicycle legend Lennard Zinn.

I went with Keith back up to the great trails in the South Fork of Provo Canyon this evening. The trail was in primo condition. We did one lower loop, and then one upper loop. The pace was brisk, but not to fast. I did open it up a couple times to get the blood really pumping and it felt great. Right now my legs are happier than they have been since Soldier Hollow. I saw more riders and hikers up there tonight than I have seen on those trails all year. Lots of people up there checking out the colors I guess. Keith about took out some dude that despite the 10 people he was with all seeing us coming down the trail, he somehow didnt see us....a girl pulled him out of the way as Keith screeched to a halt. As I rode by the girl says "you have to watch out, they are fast!" She knows her stuff. :D

Someone had done some great trail building up there. They built up a bunch of gravel and then smoothed it over and lined it with rocks to create a sort of bridge over an area that is always really marshy. Today it was hardpack and fast. So who ever did that, thanks for improving the ride. The area up there is funny. Somedays the water just pours down the canyone, other times it is bone dry. Today the water was flowing nicely.

All in all another great day of fall riding. Heading back up there on Friday for the Annual Mad Dog Cycles team party. Going to most likely do a loop or two, eat some dinner with the team riders, as well as wives and kids, then possibly head out for a night loop before we pack it up. In the meantime it is going to be more training. I want to amp it up a bit this week and get in some good intense efforts. You know the kind that make your heart thump in your ears, your eyes bleed, and your legs scream. Yeah. Those kind.

Interbike is happening this week. I will be keeping an eye on people keeping an eye on the show and post links to anything interesting that comes along. For starters check out Go Clipless for some ..um...uh...well you'll see.

Here are some pics of Keith and I raging the single track.

Keith cranking up a short leg buster
Here I am loving the single track
Keith cruising through waist high grass in the meadow
Another leg buster climb...no sweat on the 29er :P
Keith like nuthin over the upper loop bridge
Another great day riding in the mountains

I rode up to toward the top of Camel Pass(named because from the valley there is a patch of trees that look like a camel) today for some excellent back country riding. Camel Pass is a dirt road that connects Provo and Hobble Creek canyons. I made it to the top, and then turned around and went down the way I came. The fall colors are in full force now, and the views of the wide canyons that open up in the area were nice. It was a fun day in the saddle. But I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Utah Valley in the distance

The top of Rock Canyon

Nice fall colors

More colors



And of course the token shot of the bike

...and they will take care of you. Recovery plays an important part of your training season. It seems to be especially important during this period, as the season starts to come to a close. Jeff Kerkove talked about it on his blog yesterday. I found a great article at Ride424.com about recovery, specifically, helping your legs recover. The author mentions massage, ice baths, elevation and a few other tips. I love icing my legs after a hard day. I love the ice baths as well, although they can be a shock to the system. Like Jeff Kerkove said, train hard, rest even harder. We improve when our bodies have a chance to rebuild after we have torn them up.

In other not so related stuff, Guitar Ted has posted some good info about 29 inch wheeled bikes. Guitar Ted always has good points and nice insights into the world of Big Wheels. Hey, I don't understand all the physics behind them, but I do know that they roll fast. And fast is good.

Allright, I'm out. I'm going to go ice the legs down, and then get some zzz's. Going to hit the trails bright and early tomorrow.

Well I redesigned the site. I think I am happy with it. Over the next few days I will see what tweaks I can make to it. See, I am fickle like this...I am always wanting to change things up a bit until I am pleased with them. I am afterall, a film editor by trade. And if it were not for deadlines no film would ever be truly finished. Anyway, let me kow what you think.

I've been messing around with some different template designs for the site, and frankly I havn't found anything that I am really liking. WordPress has some nice looks, such as this one (seems this link randomly chooses a template, the one I like is called "out there") but I don't know how to convert them to work with blogger. I did find the code for a 3 column layout, and I started building the site around it. You can view it here. What do you think? Should I stick with what I have, or continue building up the 3 column layout? I will redesign the images to fit better in this layout if I stick with it. But it is a bit...bland?

I took the day off the bike today. Planning on another recovery/getting back into it ride for tomorrow. Same probably for Friday. Saturday I'd like to get out and hammer for a while. Start fine tuning for Moab.

Went out today on a very similar ride as the one I did yesterday. Legs are feeling almost back to normal. That is a good thing. I need to sell my Fuel EX 9. I will probably be putting it up on eBay this week. Let me know if you are interested.



I added a new link, check out the site of Endurance racer and coach Karl Etzel, founder of Ride424.com. It is a great resource for training and nutrition articles and also race results and schedules. Karl also offers a series of coaching options.

Another great site to check out is Bike Blogs. It is a list of cycling blogs from fast pros to average joes. A nice place to read up on what other riders are up to across the country.

Random question. Would I be a complete n00b if I showed up to a cross race with skinny tires on my mountian bike? I am thinking of doing a couple of these this year, but don't even know where to start...

Does it get any better than this?

I hit a section of the Bonneville Shorline Trail today. Had a nice ride up in foothills of Mnt. Timpanogos.

I had to ride through this....

... to finally get to this

The X-Cal in its element

Nice view of Provo Canyon

All in all it was a good time on the bike. My legs are coming back to life after last weeks 24 hour race, and subsequent time off. I saw a bunch of deer on the ride but they were to sneaky and to fast for me to get any photos. I think they were all trying to get a closer look at the big wheels on my bike.

Finally got back out on the bike yesterday. 1.5 hours on the mountain bike, and it felt really good. I think it was just what my heavy legs needed. This week and next week I will get back into the rythm of training before I start to scale it back again for Moab.

I am starting to formulate the game plan for Moab. Deciding exactly what goals I will have, and how best to meet them. Last year's race was my first 24 Hour solo, and so I had no idea what to expect going into it. I finished 11 laps, which I was pleased with, but I know that with a few minor adjustments I could have done at least one more. This year I think 13 is very reachable, and so that is what I will plan the attack around....although I don't want to get to locked into that number. Mainly I want to go into the race with a "I am here to race" attitude. I want to push through the no mans land of 1-6 AM where it seems that most people struggle the most. I am really looking forward to that race. It is a HUGE event, and is a blast wether you are racing or watching.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading.

In myth, the hero must always cross several thresholds before he can move on to bigger and better things. These thresholds are usually guarded by obstacles, creatures, dilemmas, etc. Only in conquering the guardians and crossing the thresholds can he go from "called" to "chosen".

OK. What am I talking about you ask?

Well, just like in the classic Hero's Journey a bike racer must also cross thresholds in order to improve. It's a difficult thing to do, with faster racers, longer courses, jobs and other real life responsibilities, and the ever tempting allure of fried foods acting as guardians, it is a wonder that any racer improves and gets faster.

Allright enough analogy. Let's just get right to it. How do you get faster? Training? Nutrition? Quitting your job and living on the bike? All of the above? I remember the first time I could feel myself improving. It was in 2002. One day I just found myself riding with guys that all year had been beating me by 5, 10 15 minutes. Just like that it seemed, I was faster. Now of course it didn't happen "just like that", I had put in a lot of good effort to improve. As a side note, I can no longer ride with those guys. They have gone far beyond where I am now....which I guess is one of the reasons I am writing about this today.

Since then I have had 1 awful season of burnout (2003) and then 2 seasons of good fun, pretty competitive riding. I have also shifted my focus from XC racing to ultra-endurance racing. A good move for me I think. I love the long stuff, and I always have been better at distance, than at speed. So, how does one cross the threshold in distance racing? How do you go from "enduring" the event to "racing" the event? I think one of the most suprprising things for me as I began doing ultra-endurance events was how fast the race winners rode. Guys like Chucky Gibson, Nat Ross, Todd Tanner and others would just scream down the course. Meanwhile I am a couple hours behind taking it easy, because "hey this is a long race, don't want to bonk..."

This year is almost over. I have 1 race left, the 24 Hours of Moab. Then it is back to the trainer, the weight room, long nights and cold days. Same things as every winter. And like every winter I am determined that "this off-season, and next year wil be different". Well, that is the ultimate secret I guess. How can I make sure that they are different? That I ride into next year already in shape and ready to go, rather than spending the spring and half the summer getting there. So to you, experienced fasties, I ask you to become my wise and helpful guides, to lead me out of the belly of the beast, pass the thresholds guardians, and ultimatley to the meeting of the goddess...or at least a meeting with a few podium finishes...

I don't expect you to divulge your top secret information, although I won't discourage you from doing so :D But let me know if you ever found yourself at a spot in your racing where it was either continue on as you have been, or turn everything up a notch and improve. What did you do? Did you burn out (last time I tried to turn it up, I burned it out), did you change major aspects of training and nutrition? Hire a coach? Or did you just watch American Flyers on the trainer to improve? Impart your wisdom so that I too, may take part in the ultimate boon.

That is how I have felt the last few days. My legs feel like they are filled with some sort of heavy paste. I have been worthless at work also. But I can't wait to get back on the bike. I think the starving coyote diet is over. I don't feel so hungry, and hungry for crap food, as I did the day or two after the race. I think I am ready to get back into my normal routine of eating and riding. The riding will start slowly tomorrow I think. I had hoped to do the Tour de Suds on Saturday, but I don't think that is going to happen. Moab is a little over a month away. I would really like to get a XC race in between now and then. The only one in the area is 4 hours away in Lava Hot Springs, ID. It is a great event. Not sure if I will be able to get up there though. In the meantime I will focus on recovery.

The fall is arriving in full force here now. Which means of course that all the trails are in prime condition. The weather is perfect, and the mountain views are amazing. It also means colder nights. As I found out last weekened. But it is my favorite time of year to be living in the rockies. And I think that in the next week or so I will take the advice of former Utahn, and ultra-blogger, the Fat Cyclist and go ride the Ridge Trail and the surrounding area a few more times before the snow flies.

I think that is all for now. I should go to bed.

The 2005 24 Hours of Soldier Hollow started at noon with the traditional Le Mans run. It was a very casual run. With the low number of racers nobody was to stressed about sprinting to the bikes. I led the "charge" and was first back to the bikes. The course turned pretty quickly to single track and I wanted to be up front so I could put in a good quick lap to start things off. I led the pack for about half the lap when the team rider (just one 5 person open team in the race) passed me. I paced him for a little while before he pulled away toward the top of the lap. I came in at 1:18 for the first lap and had put some good time on my opponents. The field was small, but I still wanted to get out quickly to see what everyone had in them.

I swapped bottles, grabbed some fig bars and was out for lap number 2. This was pretty much how the rest of the afternoon went. After 3 laps I had put about 30 minutes on the field. I arrived in the pits after my 5th lap just before darkness fell and I was freezing cold. The temps just plummeted when the sun started going down. I got dressed, got the lights on and was off for my first night lap. 2 laps later, and just after midnight I came in to find that the other 24 hour solo racers were all in dark, quiet tents. Hmmm...had they gone down for the night? Were they just taking a short rest? I rolled into my pits and took a few minutes to change my wet freezing clothing, drink some homemade (even the noodles were homemade!) chicken noodle soup and regroup a bit. Still no stir from the other tents. At this point I had a little over a one-lap lead over 2nd place. It was nearing 1 AM now, and I had lingered long enough. I decided I would head out on another lap and hopefully seal the victory.

So off I went into the darkness. The only other rider on the course at this point was a team rider. We left the start/finish toghether, but he was soon out of sight. It was out on this lap that I decided that if all the solos were still in bed that I would join them and wait out the rest of the night. As I pulled into the pits around 3:30 AM it was obvious that everyone was still down for the count. I got some hot food in me, dried off a bit, and "slept" in the front seat of my car. It was more a doze than anything. I would wake up every few minutes, check the watch, and doze some more. This was basically me going into the 4 corners "stall" offense. I had a big enough lead that there was no reason to go out again unless someone else did. So I waited until the sun rose.

At 6:30 AM I got out of the car, I so soooo cold. I figured the best way to warm up would be to get out on the bike and enjoy the sunrise. As I left the start finish area the other solo tents were still quiet. This lap wold give me a 3 lap lead. I finsihed it right around 9 AM. And that is when I decided to pack it up. There was no reason to go out again.

My support crew did a very good job. Wether it was Jeff and Derrick juggling a beer in one hand and chain lube in ther other, or my sister Jenna singing "We're not gonna take it" over the 2 way radio at 3 AM, or Mike getting my lights hooked up faster than I could keep track of, everyone did a great job. Thanks guys! You kept 3 racers going strong!

Congrats to Dennis (2nd) and Carson (4th), two of my Mad Dog Cycles teamates for thier great rides in the 12 hour race. This was the first ultra endurance race for both of them. Carson deserves extra props for taking home the Ellsworth Truth frame in the raffle. Build it up! And extra props to Matt, I dont know how he did it, but he mixes the best bottle of blue Powerade I ever tasted.

I have to admit, this is not how I envisioned my first 24 hour solo victory. I think I envisioned it something like the Champs-Elysees glory fest at the end of the Tour de France, with big stars of the sport kneeling before my endurance prowess as I accept the...OK there go the delusions of grandeur again :D

It was a small race. One that potentially can get bigger and bigger. The venue is one that could support many riders and support crew. It is a new event. This was only the second annual. But the race promoters are dedicated to it, and they are good people who I think can make this into a marqee race.

I had a great time. I was able to put into practice a lot of the things I learned at last years 24 Hours of Moab. I learned some things that I will be able to implement this year at Moab. I was pleased that for the first 12 hours, I was able to stick to the gameplan that I had set for myself. I had short pit stops, pretty consistent laps, I was eating better, and was feeling very good. I deviated from the game plan once I had built up a multi-lap lead. Part of me wishes I would have stuck to it through the entire night. The other part of me hopes that the bit of rest I got during the race will help me recover faster and get back to form for Moab. :D

I am excited about the win. I am excited that the training I have been doing this year is working. It has been a long time since I felt really competitive on a bike. This year my race season got off to a horrible start, and I was playing catch up. Saturday I felt like I did in 2002 when XC podium finishes were the norm. It was a good feeling.

Thanks again to my support crew. my sponsors, and my family. My wife has put in many "solo" weekends this year while I go to events and long training rides. I know it can be hard at times with the 3 kiddies. Thanks for all your support, and thanks for being up at Soldier Hollow with the kids Saturday night to cheer me on.

Thanks to the guys at Acclivity for putting on the race. Keep up the good work guys, I am already looking forward to next year! And congrats to all who raced. Especially Zach, great race man! Your only 16 and already busting chops on 24 hour solo races! Keep up the great work.

Oh, and for you 29er lovers, the 12 hour solo winner, Riley Frazier, also rode a Fisher 29er hardtail. I think of the 15 or so 12 and 24 hour solo racers I counted 4 29ers. All fisher HTs. 3 of the 4 finished on the podium. 29ers are the real deal, and those riding one at the venue all ganged up the others and poured sweet 29er honey down their ears trying to convert the masses to the revolution. Or something like that anyway.

I'll get some photos of the race up tomorrow.

Today I achieved my first 24 hour solo win.
It was my first victory of any kind since the 2002 season.
And it was my first race on my 29er.

I will get a race report and pics up in the next day or two. For now, its R&R time.


Bringing it home just before dark

Allright, everything is packed and ready to go. The course is in good shape, and I think my legs are to :D My camera was not cooperating last night, so no pics of the course. But stay tuned Sunday evenng for a race recap. Good luck to anyone else racing this weekend, have fun and ride hard.

Man I am excited to race!

I went and spun eeeaaassssyyyy today. Just 25 mintues. A dude with tight black jeans and a big long wallet chain passed me on his BMX bike. Yep. I was going that slow. I resisted the urge to blow by him at 30 mph. Tonight I am going over my gear checklist, and topping off batteries. Tomorrow I am headed up to the race venue to register, stake out some prime pit area and do an easy lap on the course. I know I am going to be restless at work tomorrow. I always am the Friday before a big race. Maybe I will get to sneak away a bit early. Right now I just want to be on my bike dropping the hammer lap after lap. Hopefully 12 or 16 hours into the race I still feel that way.

Remind me to go pick up a few Panda Licorice Bars tomorrow. These things go down easy and provide a nice kick. Plus they are easy to grab out of a jersey pocket and rip into to.

I noticed that the 24 Hours of Soldier Hollow website has posted a "mountain lion safety handout" since our running into one a couple weeks back on a pre-ride. Kind of funny. I hope I never see another cougar again on my bike though.

Look for some pics of the course tomorrow night.

Got most of my food put together today. Still need to prep some pasta and few other goodies, but what you see is what you get.
Tomorrow I will get the gear together. Man I can't wait to race!

I had a nice and easy 45 minute spin this afternoon. Then I started sorting through my gear getting things organized for Saturday. I've been wanting to clean up my bike shelves all summer. As you can see I haven't got around to it yet. But this week I will need to go through and get everything I need put together and ready to go. The list gets longer each time I think about it, but here is a start as far as gear goes:

Bike (duh!)
Shoes (extra pair)
Team Kits (2)
Arm and leg warmers
Team jacket
Rain jacket
Long riding pants
Fleece pullover
CO2 cartridges (3)
Wheelset (extra pair)
Chain lube
Gloves (cold weather pair)
Lights (bar mounted and helmet for backup)
Batteries and Charger for lights
Extension cord
Surge protector
Sunscreen
Bug spray
Camp chair
Tubes (3)
Multi tool
Camelbak
water bottles (4)

Jeesh! I know there is more, and this doesnt even include the food. I will list that later. I am still working out the menu. I am also starting to come up with my game plan for the race. I don't know who will be there, so I am just planning a general strategy that includes riding a motorcycle for the first 16 hours :-P

I went out for a great ride this morning on the Blackhawk Trail. Despite having to dodge a lot of horse and cow poop, the trail was in great condition. As always the views of the Wasatch mountains were amazing. I had the camera with me, but the batteries died when I tried to snap a photo of us in the car on the way up.

My legs felt really good today. I didn't push them to hard, just wanted to get a good spin. This week will be all about keeping them happy. I plan to get a few light spins, and one hard short effort in this week, and then Saturday it's time to line it up once again for an all day and all night suffer-fest. I can't wait!

Big congrats to Jeff Kerkove, Carlos the Jackal, The Soiled Chamois and to Solo Goat for thier solid rides at various 24 Hour events around the country.

I am really stoked to race this weekend. It has been waaaaaay to long since I lined it up. Good news is that I will be racing a few events between now and Moab. Aside from the 24 hour efforts I will be heading to Park City Sept. 17th for the always crazy fun uphill TT, the Tour de Suds. About as many guys in costumes as there are guys in regualr racing kits. I am also going to get an XC race in at the Lava Rama in Lava Hot Springs, ID. This is a quality event, that includes a free dip the hot springs after the race.

But for now the focus remains on Soldier Hollow.

This morning I went out and rode the Ridge Trail 157. The weather was perfect. A nice cloud cover, a light rain off and on, and only 1 horse encounter. Being Labor Day weekend made it "weekend warrior" day on the mountain. I played tour guide to a couple pretty cool guys, dropped a DHer in a motorcycle helmet, passed a guy who didn't need help, his "wheel was just falling off" and rode through a campground full of grimy kids eating marshmellows at 9AM. It was a sweet ride.

Today was also the first time I got to spend some quality time with the new ride. This bike just cries to be ridden, and be ridden fast. After a few minutes of getting used to the hardtail feel, there was no looking back. I really don't see myself ever missing the full squish bike. All the trails I hit today were single track. The bike handled it all amazingly. I would have done another lap or two if I hadn't needed to rush home to witness the glorius beginning to yet another season of the "legacy" and "tradition" of BYU Football. Jeez, I hate being a fan of crappy teams. Harry had fun though. It was his first football game. I am not sure if it was the popcorn and powerade or the action on the field that he liked better.

Back to the ride....I got a chance today to climb a lot of rocky, loose grunt climbs and the bike just rolled on up them. The tight windy single track was a blast, and the frame color even looks cool with mud on it. So, yeah, overall I am very pleased with this bike after the first impressions. Monday will be more quality time together (my last effort of any length before saturday) and then it will be short spins to fine tune it for Saturday when we line it up at the 24 Hours of Soldier Hollow.

I wish I had the camera today. I had some amazing views of the North face of Mt. Timpanogos.

The X-Cal is here. I rode it this afternoon and was very impressed. The ride felt smooth, fast and very efficient. Some of the things I noticed right away were: How FAST these big wheels corner. I flew off the trail on the first descent ( I kept the rubber side down). As I got used to the handling I loved how they just roll through corners. It seemed much easier to get back up to speed coming out of the turn. Climbs seemed very smooth. I could crank out of the saddle and the bike responded very well. This is probably due to the hardtail factor, but I think the big wheels helped keep the momentum going.

I am very excited about this bike. I am going to spend some quality time with it tomorrow up in the Wasatch Back. I will post more impressions and details then. For now, enjoy some pics.


2006 Gary Fisher X-Cal
It is more red than I thought, but I like it.


Reba SL in white looks sweet

Harry helping with a coat of Bike Lust

Specs highlights:

Frame 17.5 inch ZR9000 Aluminum
Shimano XT crank, rear derailleur, dual control shifters
Shimano XT hydraulic disc brakes
DT swiss 240 hubs
DT swiss rims
Bontrager XXX carbon handlebar

UPS didnt deliver until late afternoon. Which means that right now my bike is half put together in the shop. Which means I will have it tomorrow. Does mowing the lawn count as hill repeats?



I didnt think I'd be able to get out for a ride today, but then I decicded to borrow my sisters Sugar 3. It is the same size as the bikes I ride, and in fact this same model of Sugar was the first full-suspension bike I ever owned. So Keith and Carson and I did a night lap at the Provo Canyon race course.

The obligatory up the nose self portrait.


Keith doesn't look to happy about being photographed

I did catch a glimpse of the X-Cal while it was till in the box. The frame color looks amazing. I can't wait to see it in the sunlight, in all it's glory. I will take some photos tomorrow before I hit the trails with it.

Good Luck! to everyone racing this weekend. I can't wait to line it up next week. I'm tired of training rides, I'm ready to hammer it out for 24 hours!