Sunrise, Goblin Valley, UT

I awoke before dawn. A sliver of a moon hung low in the sky. The faint glow of the distant sunrise lingered on the horizon. In the faint light I could make out the outline of the mighty La Sals. I felt a sense of urgency, of longing. I miss those mountains. In between them and me was a vast, unseen trench. The maze.

Behind me the Henry mountains were trying to catch the first morning light. I sat quietly. The silence was heavy. No wind, no voices, no birds or insects. Absolute and utter silence.

I climbed a sandstone dune and just watched. And listened.

As the light rose, I looked to the horizon longingly. A desire to immerse myself in the depths of the White Rim, or the thick pines of the La Sals overcame my thoughts. I wanted to lay eyes on Monitor and Merrimac, Delicate Arch, and Milt's Drive In once again.

And while it has not been long since I last was in Moab, it feels like it was all a part of another life. It was not me there, was it? Certainly the person writing this was not the same who once rode the Kokopelli Trail? No, it can't be.

Can it?

The light is now bouncing off the pink sandstone. The scouts I am with are stirring below. Some of them climb up to the point I am sitting at. I am already missing the silence.

But we are having a good time. Later we would explore the alien landscape of Goblin Valley. An odd array of phallic monuments. A miniature Bryce Canyon. But still, those distant La Sals continue to catch my eye. They are symbolic of that magic and mystery of the entire region. Sentinels in a sea of sand. And I again realize the intensity of my affection for Moab, and the desert.

Indeed, it is desert season. The snow and the wind and the cold will blanket the Wasatch. And I will flee to the deserts of Moab and Saint George. Physically or otherwise.

Somewhere, that person from that past life exists. And he is dying to once again ride the horizon.

Labels: goblin valley, moab

The first bike packer?

For more modern examples, routes, gear and discussion see this fantastic new community.

Labels: bikepacking, mountain bikers

Don't leave a co2 cartridge in your car on a hot day:



It might explode:

Labels: stupidity

I rode laps at the 12 Hours of Sundance until I was tired. And then I sat down and watched everyone else do the same. It didn't take long for me to wear out. I daydreamed a lot out on the trail. I thought about the mountains surrounding me, and how they seem to be almost medicinal. I always feel better about everything when I am in the mountains. Challenges are doable, life is productive, sleep overrated.

Is it the clean air or the thick trees or the endorphin rush of physical activity? I don't know. But whatever it is, it works. Every time. And I wonder if people who have never really been a part of the mountains or the desert, or any outdoor place have anything that is similar. Does a life long city dweller have a spot or an environment that can put their anxieties at rest, that can cleanse the mind and body?

I think of the stereotypical American vacation. A cross country trip through National Park after National Park, or a weekend at a lake in a high class rented cabin. Nothing wrong with those types of vacations. But how many people are actually out in the dirt, or in the run off water, or getting tangled up in branches and stinging nettle? How many people are actually becoming a part of the outdoors, when they are 'out doors'?

That is why I love it here. That is why the wild places help me feel civilized and alive. I remember that the world is rugged and enormous and beautiful.

Going in circles is boring. Even in a beautiful setting. Going from here to there will always be more interesting, more rewarding, than going from here to here over and over. But going in circles has its place. And frankly, endurance racing would be worse off without the lap races.

My mind wore out though as quickly as my legs. I still managed to push myself further than I wanted. I still managed to wake up Sunday with kankles and sore muscles. That is the great secret about endurance races. Everyone has a chance to go far and beyond anywhere they have ever been. Regardless of fitness, or skill, or experience. Regardless of anything, a rider can still set a new standard for themselves. And while I did not accomplish that, I watched others do so. And anyway, who says every race has to be a new personal best?

This entire summer has been a long strange trip. I look forward to being once again on that edge, that narrow place bordering burn out and insanity. That place where the next interval is craved, and the extra hour in the saddle a no-brainer. I look forward to lining up and knowing that ahead of me are umpteen miles of unsupported wilderness. But now, and today, it is simply enough to enjoy being out there. A part of the landscape. It is enough to feel the dirt on my face and the sweat down my back. It is enough to know that deep down the desire and the ability to go as fast as I can go is still there, lying dormant. Hibernating. Yes, all that, is all I need. I am satisfied. I am content.

For now.

Labels: sundance

I have not raced since...um... well.

The Rim Ride?

KTR?

I didn't really 'race' the Wasatch Classic.

I have done a few XC races here and there. None lasting much more than an hour.

Let's just say, 'it has been a while'.

Tomorrow I am going to line it up at the 12 Hours of Sundance. Solo. I have no expectations. No goals, no delusions of grandeur. I just want to get out there and feel like I am a part of the scene again. And a good scene it will be. The course is fantastic, the company and competition top notch, and the potential for a long satisfying day in the woods inevitable.

We have all seen it. A movie hero is out of shape, out of his league, overwhelmed and under trained. He has a race or a fight or a game or a war coming up and the only way to be successful is to have a physical fitness montage. From Rudy to Pan, movies, especially sports movies, use the physical fitness montage to quickly whip our hero into shape, morphing him from a fat pasty accountant into a bronzed, sculpted adonis. Complete with six pack abs and a cocky swagger.

The classic example and the standard of excellence is of course Rocky.

He runs and punches and delivers right hooks to frozen bovine carcasses. He climbs the steps and jumps around in triumph in one of the most famous and iconic movie scenes in history. Every Rocky movie has a physical fitness montage. And everyone of them turns Rocky into a lean mean, if old, fighting machine.

I need a physical fitness montage in my own life.

A three minute mash of fantastic music and a face grimacing with pain. At the end of the three minutes I will be lean and fast and powerful. And bronzed of course. Don't forget bronzed. If only getting back into shape were as easy as the 3 minute physical fitness montage of the movies.

Alas, instead it is going to be as tedious and difficult to get back in shape as it was sitting through that last Rocky movie.

Labels: montage, rocky, training

I feel in many ways that my life has been paused. Each day is as similar as the last. A sort of Ground Hog Day repetition. Everything I do is done with one foot in, and the other out. A strange sort of dualism that has led to what might be the deepest rut of my life.

And yet, it is not as bad as it seems.

Since these wonderful twins have arrived our lives have been focused on them. And so the older kids, my job, my hobbies, everything else has taken a back seat. Some things more so than others. The last 6 weeks have been spent in a sleep deprived balancing act between the immediate demands of the babies, and the rest of life's normal responsibilities.

Being able to ride a bike has been a rare, but appreciated privilege.

However, there is a light at the end of this quasi-depressing tunnel. I say that because, while the babies, and my kids in general bring me great joy I can't help but feel the lethargic indifference that comes as an active, energetic lifestyle is replaced by sedentary nothingness.

In short, I miss that endorphic rush of exercise.

The lack of sleep has led to a lack of energy, which has created an apathy that only keeps the vicious cycle turning. However, deep down, underneath the indifference is a burning motivation. A desire to rekindle that active lifestyle. Time will allow for that, eventually. Already there have been major strides in restoring the life my wife and I have known. And with each passing day our joy grows in this new reality. Well, not new. Just more of what we already have had.

And so I hold out hope that a day will come when I have more energy to put into pedals, into art, into blogs and into life. But right now life is on hold, paused. A necessary timeout while we each get to know these two incredible people that have entered our lives.

Labels: twins

The Edge and Forerunner line of products are the very best the market has to offer when it comes to multi-function GPS units. They are the only devices (that I know of) that offer a heart rate monitor, speed and cadences monitors, and a full functioning mapping GPS (Edge series) all in one device.

Right now the Edge 705 is Garmin's top of the line cycling computer. It has effectivley combined the Edge 305 and the Vista HCx into one compact, functional and really awesome gadget. But that is a post for another day.

People may wonder what good GPS capabilities are when it comes to training. Even if you may not head out into the back country to explore unknown trails, or care much about routing new trails before a ride, or downloading .gpx data into your computer after one, you can still benefit from using a GPS in your training program.

Below are some suggestions on how to better utilize your Garmin device to enhance your riding and training.

1) Download and use Garmin Training Center. While not the most comprehensive training software on the market, it is the one that speaks most fluently with Garmin devices. The best feature in GTC is the ability to design a workout, and then upload it to the GPS device. This can be any type of workout, from a very basic recovery ride, to a complex series of intervals. Once programmed and uploaded, the device will guide you through the training session using audible and visual alerts based on time, speed, cadence, and heart rate.

2) Register at MotionBased.com. MB is a GPS file sharing network and journal. You can upload your ride data to the online database and then view it in Google Earth or on Google Maps. You also have the ability to view altitude, distance, total time, moving time, pace, speed and weather data and much more. Once an activity is uploaded to MB you can export it as a blog friendly widget which you can post simply by copying and pasting a generated code. In addition to the above you can browse and download thousands of .gpx files from other MB users. You can even compare your own data to others, a fun and effective way to see just exactly how you won, or lost, that 50 miler or 24 hour race.

3)Create Courses. Garmin devices have the ability to read 'courses'. A course is a pre-determined route or track that you have uploaded to the device. A course is a fantastic way to race against a personal best, or against an established record on a known route. Planning on TTing Clarks? Plan a course and the GPS will pace you through the race, giving you real time status as to how far behind, or ahead, you are of your target pace.

4) Analyze your Data. You can learn a lot about your strengths and weaknesses on a bike by looking at what kind of terrain you are best at riding. Using GTC or MB, or other available software programs you can see how fast you were moving on any given point of your ride. Are you really losing time on the downhill? Or is it on the flats that you are slacking? By studying the data gathered with your GPS you can pinpoint areas to work on, and also know when to push to your natural strengths.

5)Use Maps. I love maps. And having just about every local trail archived as a GPS file means that I can get all kinds of data for just about any ride I want to do. But it also means I can take a look at the area around me, search for new trails, and plan future rides in a mapping software, based on the GPS trak that I have downloaded or created. This kind of information has proved invaluable, especially when covering that terrain in the fastest possible time is the primary goal. But being able to look back and simply see where you went and how fast you did it has also been very beneficial.

If you are like me, then after you start using a GPS in your everyday riding and training, you will not ever be able to go back to not having the data it gathers. One of my favorite things to do is take a look at old rides, to see how fast I rode, or how hard I pushed, or where exactly I was going on that particular day. As you gather data, and start to establish a variety of trail files and ride information a picture of your overall fitness, as well as detailed insights into when and why you were fit (or not) will start to emerge. Being able to view your rides on both 3D and 2D maps is informative, but also just a lot of fun. Using a GPS in my training has helped me to become extremely familiar with the local trails. Which means that I know when I am faster or slower than normal on any given trail. And having those trails all archived has also been a big asset when it comes to designing future monster rides.

So when that old bike computer starts to fritz out and you begin shopping for upgrades, consider making the leap to a GPS ready device. Your training will improve, and you you will have more fun along the way!

Garmin Training Center, 2008 Wasatch Classic ride track.

For more 'How To' posts click here.

Labels: gps, how to