2010 Is Shaping Up Nicely

This morning I slept in much later than usual, and it was awesome. I looked out the window to find my car under a blanket of fresh snow, which to my northern-minded eyes was bliss. I only wished that AMH and I had buckled down last year and bought XC Skis. I then made the rookie mistake of asking Aaron what he wanted for breakfast, which implied that I would be making it. But, even that turned out to be an okay thing because I'd been wanting to try to the egg "recipe"(with turkey bacon...) that I had almost perfected on Cook or Be Cooked. Placing the eggs, directly from the pan, over a small bed of spinach made for a nice steamed effect. I also got to break out the French press for a bit of espresso, which I hadn't enjoyed in awhile. All-in-all, I was pretty pleased with how it all turned out:I could get down to all 2010 Saturdays beginning this way; though that might be a bit of a stretch. Nonetheless, I'd say I'm in a much better place this January than I was for the last. I'm riding my bike - mostly inside - but I am getting out in the snow a bit. I love, love, love my new Salsa Mamasita, and I am pretty excited that my new winter gear is allowing for 2+ hour sessions in sub 25 climates. We visited Springs Valley Trail in Paoli, IN last Sunday, which is an 8 mi. loop around Springs Valley Lake that is reminiscent of old, narrowed FS roads and features about 1100ft of climbing. Total ride from the parking lot is about 10 mi. My Gaerne Eskimo boots kept my feet totally dry, even through the five ice cold creek crossings. I was quite impressed. I was less than impressed with my Camelbak bladder though, which leaked all over my leg all day long. Fortunately my Craft Storm tights kept the barrier, but I definitely had a collection of icicles on my quad at the ride's end. I will soon be upgrading to the Hydrapak Reversible Reservoir System, which features a non-leaky bite valve and the ability to turn the bladder inside out for cleaning and drying.

The only down side to the whole ride was that, in a section under very heavy leaf cover, I caught a small branch in my spokes, and its many tentacles wreaked destruction anywhere they could reach. My hanger snapped in half, and my derailleur exploded. I always ride with a spare hanger (thanks to advice from Zed), so that part was no problem, but getting the warped derailleur together enough to not hit the spokes and still semi-function as at least a tensioner was a little tricky. I guess it's time for that Redwing SRAM X.0... I'll probably be riding my 'cross bike for a little while.

At any rate, I'm loving my bike; I'm riding my bike; I'm hitting the gym (Thanks, Mom!); I'm eating better; my HR is under better control. And there's snow. Things are looking up.

Cyclo Claus 2009!!!

Hello All,
Bob's Red Mill/Rocky Mountain and Mountain Bike Depot & Cross Supply have once again teamed up to bring a new event to Louisville. Bend is a long way from Louisville, and not everyone can make it out there (Good Luck Redzoners!), but, if you still have that cross bug, you have one last chance before packing it up.

We bring you Cyclo-Claus 2009. It will be held Sunday, December 20th at Briar Hill Park. It is a new venue to the cyclocross scene, but has all the ingredients to make for great racing and spectating. This is a fun, family oriented event and all are invited to come enjoy the day.

This is also a time of year to think of others, and we will be offering reduced entrance fees to those that bring either a toy for Toys for Tots, or a backpack for Blessings in a Backpack. These are both great organisations, and we hope that we can provide some help.

We also ask if anyone has any holiday lawn ornaments, inflatable (insert holiday item), Christmas trees, Menorahs, reindeer, anything, bring it on out Saturday.

We will have Pre-registration available at Mountain Bike Depot in the Westport Village, and there will be a $5 day-of fee.

Course set-up will take place Saturday night, and all help is welcome. We will post more details here and on our website,

www.mountainbikedepot.net

Thanks everyone, and we look forward to it!

Switching Focus

It seems like every other post this year has been about getting hurt, or coming back from it. I could do that once again, but frankly, I'm sick of it. So, enough for that, as anyone that has followed us knows that we have had a rough year.

Instead of getting frustrated after USGP Day 2 crash, I took a few days off, relaxed a bit, and got back on the bike again. It started with just commuting to work, and with the current weather and scenery, it was easy to enjoy every minute. My commute isn't spectacular but it does take me through some nice small streets with gorgeous old trees that wrap themselves around the street itself. They form this comforting tunnel around you and the road as you pass through, and make me forget about being in a huge city. So, the commuting was helping loosen up my hip again, and I began to stretch the commutes out longer and to ramble a bit more. These were some of the first rides in months that I didn't have a set goal for, or think about my Garmin/PT, and they just became therapy rides.

Once I was feeling a little better, the mountain bike came out too. I got my start in cycling on mountain bike and it still serves its original purpose well. Rolling through singletrack or exploring new territory clears my head like no other stimulus that I can think of. Its also great to get back on the trails with Mary; some of my first memories of her are on the trail, and all of them come rushing back when we've been away for a while.

Overall, the past couple of weeks have been filled with some soul riding. The Garmin has only been on the bike once, and it was mainly for guidance purposes. My mtb has had more miles on it in the past week than it did the whole summer. My commuter bike has been broken in well the past two weeks as well. Sometimes the joy of riding is obscured by goals, aspirations, and gadgetry; but I can say for the recent weeks, I have seen it clearly.

Back in the Saddle, v2.0

I fibbed a bit last time I posted that I was "back in the saddle," but hopefully this time it's for realsies. I've had a medication switch to make it so that I can at least ride, and then I was referred to a specialist up in my home town of Fort Wayne who feels confidant that he can deduce the source. The cool thing about this is that Indiana has a wealth of phenomenal trails, so as we traverse the state, Aaron and I will get to ride some really great new places. The Hoosier Mountain Bike Association is definitely on top of their game, and I'm excited to utilize the fruits of their labor:

According to Brier, in 2005, the Indiana DNR had one mountain bike trail that was an experiment that had been on the ground for 10 years without moving forward. HMBA, after working with DNR to change property rules, has assisted in building trails in five state parks, as well as in numerous other Indiana locations.

"Where once public land managers viewed mountain bikes as more trouble than they are worth, now they welcome HMBA's assistance to build trails," Brier said. "While HMBA has great trail builders, they also have a great group of volunteers who make HMBA a well-rounded organization."

HMBA-run events include the Brown County Breakdown, the Midwest women's clinic, and kids and racer clinics. The HMBA includes advocates who attend public meetings across the state, and members who do the behind-the-scenes tasks to keep the 501 (c) (3) organization running and managing $400,000 worth of federal and state grants.

They've also got a really great forum that's to the point and contains a tremendous wealth of information.

For all intents and purposes, I've basically been off the bike now for about four months, which is the longest I've ever gone since I started riding a few years ago. However, I've ridden three times this week, and it feels awesome - mentally, anyhow. While in the saddle this week, I found myself elated when handling a techy section with much more ease than anticipated, as well as taking deep, calming breaths when tanking sections that I know I can ride. The positions on my bikes that we worked so hard to hone feel pretty awkward now, but I'm waiting until I settle in a bit more before I do any major adjusting because I know that my comfort on the bike is going to continue to change even in the next month. I'll also be selling my current mountain bike, and replacing it with something a little different... I'll be selling it with new XT shifters, brakes, and rear derailleur; drop me a line if you're interested!

I do think the time off allowed me to gain a better perspective on where I want to be and how I can get there, but it also gave me more time to do things like this:

What happens in Vegas......

Mary and I have started gearing up for our first trip to Interbike next week. It is both exciting and a little nerve-racking to leave the shop for that long. We have been elbow deep in getting folks ready for 'cross season, and its been tough getting rides in. Yesterday, 5 wheelsets for the RedZone juniours team showed up that I have to glue, aquaseal, seal for the weekend. That on top of other customer's wheels, my own, and Mary's sometime soon. Whenever you are getting ready to leave for a trip, it seems that everything piles up, and it certainly has this week.

We are very excited about checking out all the latest wares, and meeting a ton of folks that we've had relationships with over the phone, or by email for years. We're also going to be Waterford Fit Kit certified after the first couple days. I'm really excited for Mary to learn a bit more about bike fitting, because she is just on the cusp of being a very good fitter. She has learned a lot in her first couple years of doing this, but this will certainly make her the most qualified woman in any shop around. I've had a great relationship with Waterford for the past few years, selling a couple frames for them, and owning Kermit(my beautiful Gunnar Crosshairs). So, it will be nice to see those folks.

The other downside to the trip, is that it forces us to miss the first 'cross race of the season. Last year, I would have been thoroughly disappointed, but this year is very different. I wanted to race as much as possible and really didn't have any "A" races. So the plan is to start a little later than everyone else, and really build all the through the season. I've been working more and more intensity into my rides, and have done some 'cross specific workouts for a few weeks, so my legs are feeling pretty "good" now. By "good" I mean that they are sore, and a little beat up. I always know when I'm starting to really pack in the intensity when the legs need a little cajoling to get moving in the morning. I am going to pack in a couple more days of hard riding, and then we'll see what Vegas does to me.

I am very excited about traveling somewhere though. Mary and I both get itchy when we stay in one spot too long, and we could really use a trip to get away from Lou-vul. So, we'll try to post up our favourite Interbike goodies, and hopefully share some good stories.