Lynda

So long, farewell.

2008-01-31T05:54:00Z

With a curtsy

and a sunset

I bid this blog farewell. Life moves on.

See you all over at www.2-epic.com my new bloggie home.

Camp Lynda Digested

2008-01-17T03:45:00Z

It has taken me a few days to fully digest what a smashing success the camp was. I for one had a superb time. During the whole three days there was a buzz and excitement from all participants. We had about 27 riders. Most came along for 2 days. Day three was the smallest with only 12 riders starting and nobody - not even crackhead Dave managing to complete the whole 86 mile route mapped out. Day three stats for me were 5:28 and 62 miles.

I've been enjoying reading everybody's blogs and seeing their pictures. I didn't get to ride with everybody so hearing the post ride stories over dinner and in blogs has been a treat. Seeing people have a great time doing something I created is a real special thing for me. It was the people who came that made Camp Lynda such a success. It was all about the riders. Put together a bunch of people who really love to ride their bikes and you can't go wrong I guess.

Best part of Camp Lynda - the people:

Worst part: Getting up early on day 3 (I was weak and late...)

Most scenic spot: The point at Gooseberry

The Camp concept was to come and ride at your own pace following a GPS. Huge thanks go to Dave who spent many hours putting together three days worth of tracks into a nice one click upload. There is so much more behind the scenes work on this aspect than you know unless you have tried this at home yourself. The routes received only compliments. The only folks to get lost either didn't come with a gps or didn't actually look at the screen... Everybody found their way back on course thankfully.

Marshal was one of the camp stars. I'd never met him before. He followed all the online instructions, downloaded the routes and came to camp. He rode at his own pace everyday and glowed full of ride stories at dinner time. Marshal you validated the whole camp concept and I thank you for coming.

Funniest Camp moment: I agree with Dave on this one - Adam cracked me up with his tire burping power-slide into the Barrel Roll trail head - funny.

Biggest bummer: Jeff Kerkove driving 11 hours to camp, spending the night barfing then driving 11 hours home the next day. We missed riding with you Jeff.

Top local rider award goes to Brad. The routes even put Brad on some terrain he had never ridden before. Thanks for representing the SoUtah team.

Biggest whee moment: Whooping along behind Chris, Chris and Dave on Barrel Roll on day 2.

Best post camp blog quote: Brad Keyes: "She also calls it Camp Lynda which makes it sound like we are going to have punch and cookies and maybe play lawn darts. We had no punch and cookies and we didn’t play lawn darts."

Best camp photos: Adam has super shots. Thanks for this one below. You have such rich colors in your pics. Sometime I'll have to talk with you about photos instead of bikes...

Almost everybody has said they can't wait until next year and that Camp Lynda should be a tradition. Aww warm and fuzzies.

Thank y'all for coming to my party. See you out on the trails.

Camp Lynda Day Two - Yeehah

2008-01-13T22:52:00Z

Head count at the start today was 24 riders. One casualty from yesterday - gore, blood, broken finger with bone through skin - get better quick Branden.

Ride stats for me today 5:04, 52 miles, 6k climbing, 294 TSS, 0.77 IF.

Dave Nice made a few of us all a gourmet breakfast - yummy... and was back at the start on his Fixie and a huge smile. Yah fixie!!

Barrel Roll was in ride perfect shape

Whee!

YeeeeHaaaw

Tall guy wee wheels...

More Pictures here

Day One Camp Lynda - Done, tick, fab

2008-01-12T23:40:00Z

Beauty day despite skipping the big loop in favor of and out and back to avoid the muck up by Danish Ranch. 55 miles, 5:07, 305 TSS was my ride tally. I'm a wee bit tired now.

We started off with about 25 riders. Most folks split off into smaller groups once things got rolling. At the end we had nine in our group - 3 gearies and the rest SSers! I was on my 32x20.

Milling on the trail

Chris and Dave

MonaVie gearie all stars

Folks came from Denver, California and SLC for the most part.

Post ride smiles and stories

...and butt cramps

More pics here

Camp Lynda event bible

2008-01-07T16:04:00Z

Everything you need to know in one post. Well, mostly.

Survival tips are here.

Archive of all Camp Lynda posts is here.

GPS files: attached to this post is a single MapSource file containing all tracks and waypoints for Camp Lynda. If you are using a garmin gps (and who isn't?) use this file in MapSource to upload the tracks so names will be preserved. If you are uploading from any other software, use the individual gpx files from previous posts.

Schedule

Day 1: Saturday, Jan 12

arrive 8:30 AM, rollout 9 AM, Desert Cyclery, 1091 N Bluff St
dinner, 6 PM Sunset Bajio Grill

Day 2: Sunday, Jan 13

arrive 8:30 AM, rollout 9 AM, Lins grocery store parking lot, 1930 W Sunset Blvd
dinner, 6 PM Mandarin Buffet

Day 3: Monday, Jan 14

arrive 7:45 AM, rollout 8 AM, Sheep Bridge. See day 3 post and gps file for details on Sheep Bridge location.
leave nothing on trail.
leave spent and grinning.

Post questions here, unless personal, then shoot an email to lynda@lwcoaching.com.

Camp Lynda survival tips

2008-01-06T16:43:00Z

Some tips to make it through the camp:

Tires: lots of prickly stuff around here, especially goatheads. Stans, Specialized Airlock tubes, Slimetubes or equivalent is recommended.

GPS files: all the files are attached to the respective day's posts. Upload them to your GPS soon so that if you have any issues/questions you can ask them.

Lodging: Days 1 and 2 will start near Sunset and Bluff. Nearest hotels are south of StG Blvd on Bluff or the blvd.

Weather: it's a wet weekend right now, but all looks clear for the camp. Don't hold me to that... Highs in the 40s/50s, early starts near freezing. Lights not needed unless you are really pushing the limits on your own.

Wet weather options: we'll ride if it rains. Most trails are shutdown in the wet tho, too much clay. Some sandier options still exist, but it could mean road. These details will be posted at the last minute if required.

Mojo: Bring it.

Dinner meeting time & locales:

Sat - 6pm, Bajio Grill, corner of Sunset & Bluff.

Sun - 6pm, Mandarin Buffet Chinese. All you can eat in prep for the big day 3 adventure.

See ya Saturday. This may be the Mormon capitol of the world, but there is still a Starbucks near the start of day 1...

Camp Lynda day 3

2008-01-06T00:19:00Z

The meeting place for day 3 is Sheep Bridge, 8 AM. This is a dirt parking area along the Virgin river gorge just before Virgin. Heading towards Zion on Hwy 9 from Hurricane you'll see a small green street sign for "Sheep Bridge" just before the small town of Virgin - head right on that. Take the first major right to the parking area. See the attached GPS file for the exact location of the start point.

The route has plenty of options, including the short optional 16 mile Gooseberry segment I decided to include. The main course is a 45 mile loop (shown in blue below) that circumnavigates Gooseberry Mesa in a clockwise direction. We'll start on singletrack then hit a couple jeep roads in the shadows of Gooseberry before a short highway segment to Rockville. From Rockville it's up up up to the Gooseberry decision point.

The optional Goose section (in red) is a progressively technical jeep road before hitting the trail to the point overlooking most of Washington county, then coming back via the Yellow, North rim, and Windmill trails. Expect roughly 2 hours for this section...and some really enjoyable technical riding along big views.

Back on the blue main route, it's a short bit before making it to a gas station/refuel spot in Apple Valley. A couple miles of pave lead to dirt roads under Little Creek mesa. The main route finishes with a rippin descent on the Jem trail back to the start.

Not enough? The yellow loop below is the Jem/Goulds/Hurricane rim loop. All singletrack and about 25 miles, that option is for pure chronics only.

Profiles for each section.

Blue loop

Red loop

Yellow loop

This day is designed to be a biggie. The optional routes offer plenty of terrain to make it all you can bite off in the limited January daylight hours. The intended route is blue, red, blue then yellow loops - the red and yellow loops being optional - for a total of 86 possible miles. Choose your poison.

Come with cameras...and mojo.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-22T17:04:00Z

It hasn't been so deserty here in the desert recently. We have had a ton of rain recently which has shut down most of my favorite trails. I wake up in the morning with a certain trail calling me but the dampness has me denied. The moisture turned a funny white color yesterday. What is this strange white stuff?

Yesterday the choice was road - paved or gravel. This is the top of West Canyon. Twas beautiful up there with a little sparkly white stuff. Even my guardian angel came out for the ride.

We mapped out an awesome route for day 3 of Camp Lynda. Two loops. The first about 65 miles, a pit-stop/bail-out at the cars then another 25 miles if you are manic. The plan was to ride it today but the wetness has shut that down. Hmmm - could be a problem in January too.

Day three teaser pics:

Thou shallest honor thy singletrackness.

Funky bridgeness. After crossing this bridge there is a nice little climb. I think I'll bring gears on day three. They'll help a lot on this little climb.

Big views on the way up the little climb to distract.

Merry Christmas to all. I'm off to Scotland tomorrow with the kiddies to celebrate mine.

Ergon at Camp Lynda

2007-12-17T19:37:00Z

Jeff Kerkove, LW Coaching athlete and Ergon marketing guru, will be attending all 3 days of Camp Lynda. For those that are also attending Jeff will allow those interested in demoing Ergon product during the 3 days of camp. Nothing like taking the products straight out into the elements!

Ergon product available for demo is as follows
Grips
GE1
GP1
GR2

Packs
BD1
BD2

If you are interested in demoing any product during the 3 day camp, please e-mail Jeff at jeff.kerkove@ergon-bike.com to express your interest. Note, only product requested via e-mail will be brought to St. George.

I've been running the GE1 grips on my SS for a month now. I'm picky and if sumthin' makes me grumpy it is off my bike asap. These grips are still on... They are nice and small diameter - I like that a lot. They don't have barends but do have a wee lip at the end to help remind me how far along the bars my hands are. I like that a lot too. I am a bit of a bar end addict and I mainly use them to keep my hands from slippping off the end of the bars not for extra hand positions. These lips get the job done without death impaling barend danger. Dave will tell you bar ends can break ribs clean apart.

They are clamp on too. Gives me confidence they are not going to fly off my bars or twist on me when I am cranking my single gear up a roller at 600+ watts. Uh huh!

They come in green too. I like my stealth black ones on my black Rig with the black fork. It looks fast... Disguises the fact the bike weighs in about 28 lbs...oink, oink...

Fall Training

2007-12-16T19:00:00Z

Finally most of the leaves have fallen here.

Domestic core training

Upper body work

We have to make do with Leaf Angels here in the desert.

Camp Lynda Day 2 details

2007-12-15T18:02:00Z

Day 2 Jan 13, leaving 9am sharp. Start and Finish point is Lins grocery store parking lot, 1930 W Sunset Blvd, StG. Ya got your choice of Lins, and across the road Albertsons and McDonalds for pre and post ride grub. Yummy!

This is a 5-7 hour ride w/ no water on route - and no filter options. It's a dry one so come carrying your goods. If ya'll want to have water midway organize a car to be at Bloomington...but yer on yer own for that one. Park at the end of Navajo drive. Navajo drive is 2-3 hours or about 20 miles in, before the Blakes climb and a good place to bail for those looking for a shorter day.

He he he, I give you a 20 mile warmup before the big climb...

Here's the map overview - Barrel Roll singletrack, Stucki (wide singletrack), Blakes climb (big red blob on profile). Lots of shortcuts, bailouts, and extenstion options. Follow the arrows for the full route. You'll be riding further and climbing more than the gps file indicates. You can thank that 250 garmin point limit.

Barrel Roll. The sign says look at the view. The arrow/dot sign cracks me up!

View from Blakes. Ya'll love Blakes - deceptive desert climbing at it's best. Ya gotta ride it to know what I'm talking about. A wee perspective, that lil' hill on the horizon is 8,000' taller than StG.

The attached zip file below has the .gpx and Garmin file for the day.

Camp Lynda Day One Details

2007-12-12T15:49:00Z

January 12th. Day 1 of Camp Lynda is the big Silver Reef Loop. Starting at Desert Cyclery Bike shop at 9am sharp. 1091 North Bluff Street, #1503, St George. We'll head up the road and into the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. Catch the Powerline Trail to Mill Creek, over to Church Rocks, along Prospector Trail to Red Cliffs. A quick fill up at the campground spigot then up to Silver Reef. From there head up and up some more up the Oak Grove road and left back towards St George. Catch a final detour through Diamond Valley and back down home. About 55 miles.

Desert Cyclery, # 435-674-2929 is offering a ship and tune-up service. Ship your bike to them. They'll unpack it, tune it up and at the end of the camp pack it back in a box and ship it home for you. Cost is $55 plus the cost of shipping back to your home. For US only. Sorry BC boyz they can't ship to Canada for anything near a reasonable cost.

Church Rocks

Prospector Trail

Road heading back towards St George

Here's the overview map for day 2.

The profile says don't get too carried away in the first 20 miles ;)

The attached .zip file contains two files:

- campLynda1.gdb is the Mapsource format.
- campLynda1.gpx is the open GPX format.

The files are essentially the same aside from the format. There is more control over track naming from Mapsource so you may find that useful.

The files contain 2 tracks. This is not obvious looking at the gpx in TopoFusion, but is quite obvious in Mapsource. The region around the Church Rocks trail (roughly mile 12.5 to 15.0) is hard to follow so a short but detailed track is included for that area. The 250 point limit to tracks in the Garmin units make the dual tracks a necessity.

Camp Lynda Navigation

2007-12-11T22:37:00Z

Check out the new "Camp Lynda" link on the left menu bar under Post Categories. Follow that link to get all Camp Lynda info and posts.

And now a word from the Camp Lynda CTO...

Disclaimer 1: Camp Lynda is a no-nonsense self-supported binge training mission. We'll do our best to ensure everyone knows the routes. A prime goal is for everyone to have flowy routes to ride for hours on end amidst new horizons without too much worry about navigation. In the end however each participant is in charge of their own destiny. The following is to help jump start your GPS technology learning should you need it but is by no means comprehensive nor a substitute for good planning and common sense. Arrive in the self-supported mindset. Do your research. Be prepared.

GPX files and teaser photos will be provided shortly for each day's route. Having and knowing how to use a mapping GPS unit is a central part of the Camp. Everyone will ride at a self-selected pace. Some days might be 5 hours for some, 8 hours for others - so you should plan on having your own GPS rather than rely on the group.

Of course the self-supported nature extends beyond navigation, but this post is designed to elevate the learning curve for those as of yet unfamiliar with GPS technology.

Items with which you'll need to be fluent before arrival:

Mapping GPS unit

Garmin eTrex Vista HCx is the best GPS I've used for these purposes. The Garmin 60 CSx is also an excellent choice, but larger and bulkier on the bars. It has no more functionality than the eTrex model. The "x" in the model name refers to micro SD expansion slot that allows huge storage capacity for base maps and a lifetime's worth of .gpx files - be sure to get this capability. There are surely many other models and brands that will get the job done. At a minimum you need topo basemaps for SW Utah and the ability to follow uploaded tracks (or routes) in the unit. OK, you could get by without the basemaps even so long as you had paper maps for the region with lat/long info.

Mapping software with GPS upload/download capability.

I've spent a lot of time each with National Geographic TOPO!, Topofusion, and Garmin Mapsource. Of the 3, I find that I use Topofusion for 95% of the tasks. It is by far the best post ride analysis tool, it's the brainchild of fellow MTB enduro nut Scott Morris, and has a fully functional free download.

Paper maps.

Depending on your comfort/experience level with your GPS, you may elect to bring paper maps as well. These can be printed from mapping software or purchased online. You can even download scans of paper maps for free directly from USGS - look for the "Map locator and downloader." The St George 30" x 60" USGS map will give a good overview of all routes, but the finer details will require 7.5 min quads.

What next? Learn to use the GPS unit. Know the difference between tracks and routes, know the storage limits of your device and how long the batteries last. Before arriving you should have already followed a track and/or route with your device. Upload the Camp Lynda routes to your GPS.

Camp Lynda day 1 is not the ideal time to learn these things...day 1 is gonna be a butt kicker ;) Know how to work with GPX files in your GPS unit and mapping software. Two great resources for learning about GPS units are the MTBR GPS and Lighting forum and Topofusion's forum (if you use TF that is...). Be sure to start with the search function at the forums as your question has likely already been covered.

Here is the route teaser - prolly only relevant at this point to locals...

Day 1: Silver Reef Loop

Day 2: Barrel Roll-Stucki-Blakes

Day 3: Gooseberry-Rockville-Jem, well kinda in a long round-a-bout way. This one will be Epic but not so committing as it has one short cut, one bail out early option and one add an extra 25 miles option if you are uber-manic.

Disclaimer 2: If it rains and the trails are sloppy we might end up riding the road for three days. uuughhh!!

Destination Foods

2007-12-03T00:39:00Z

I'm still infected with the SS bug. I headed over to Desert Cyclery on Friday and picked up a few new gears. I was looking forward to riding on Saturday but it rained most of Friday. I thought the trails might be too sloppy. I hate being the dork to rut up the trails by riding them wet so I fixed up my road bike. It was missing a few key parts such as a rear wheel and cassette. It felt weird to ride! It has been a long time since I have ridden road. The seat felt too high and handlebars too narrow. I headed over to the 11am group ride - nobody else showed up!! Road weenies! A little rain and they all stay home! Whaz up guys?!

Today I put a 32x19 on the SS and headed up the big Blakes climb. I am getting braver - or dumber maybe?? I've only tackled this one so far with a 32x21. I rode everything today on the 19 - very pleased with that!

Today's ride food was apple pie - yum.

Apple pie is a destination ride food. Too tough to get out the pocket while pedaling so I have to wait til the top of the climb where I stop to pull it out and eat it. I thought about that piece of apple pie often during the climb...it motivated me to get to the top. I think I'll bring more destination foods into my riding...

Eager apple pie eater...snarf...

It was chilly out today. Maybe in the 30's-40's. I was cold when I got home. Clif sent me a box of this stuff. It soooo hit the spot.

Apple pie on the ride, hot chocolate after the ride. I seem to be thinking about food a lot these days. Power-Tap clocked 2277kJ for the ride. I better go get on with my refueling now...

Binge Over

2007-11-27T04:11:00Z

My four day single speed binge is over and it was splendid fun. Ride times were 4:44, 4:24, 4:37 and err 1:35. I got distracted the last day with an invite to go goof around on Gooseberry Mesa. We spent half the day up there but ride time only tallied up to 1:35...

Not so much pedaling goes on up at the Goose but lots of playing about on bikes.

Nice one Lucas.

not so many folks make this wee steep one

Eddie the dog made the Goose loop smiling the whole way.

After the ride we went down into Hurricane to visit Quentin and DJ Morissette's new bike shop. Set to open next month and called Over The Edge Sports. Yep just like the Fruita one. Here is Quentin on the deck of the new shop. It is on the right just before heading out of Hurricane up the big hill to Gooseberry and Little Creek. 76E 100S, Hurricane. They are good folks and I wish them luck with their new business.

Now Thanksgiving is over we can start the yuletide fever. Is it really still only November?

Guinea Pigs

2007-11-24T03:09:00Z

One gear, one GPS, one Power-Tap, one rider...

One baggie of mashed potatoes and carrots - post Thanksgiving ride food - yum...

Yesterdays ride food was a baggie of Mac n' cheese. That went down very, very well too - yum. I'm experimenting with new ride foods. If it fits in a baggie, I'll give it a go. Stuffing - check that one off the list... yummy dinner food does not always make yummy ride food.

I'm my own best guinea pig. When I have the urge to learn something I find the best way is to leap in with my own two feet and do it. It's not only new ride food I'm teaching myself about - I jumped on the single speed learning curve 9 weeks ago and have only pedaled gears three times since then. Some adapting and lots of learning happening. Lots of pouring over power files and playing with data.

Apart from it being heady fun, I wanted to learn what this single speeding is really all about - the nitty gritty. What it does for you? What it does to you? How to train myself for it? How to coach single speeders? How to use the single speed riding as a training tool for my gearie athletes? Roadies have been claiming the benefits of single and fixed gear winter training for years.

Now with coaching, I have a belief never to schedule a workout or a block of training I have never tried at least one time myself. I've raced all kinds of events from Ironman triathlons to Trans Rockies, 24-hour team events, duos and solos, supported and unsupported, 100 milers, cross country, downhill and short track. Nothing beats a good dose of experiential learning. I believe the best coaches have done what they are teaching you to do. How can you really appreciate the full love of a 24-hour solo until you have kissed that angel yourself?

Sooo right now I am in the middle of a 4-day single speed binge. About 4-5 hour per day - lots of climbing. He, he, when I have ticked this off without killing myself that gives me permission to schedule it for one of my athletes should the opportunity arise ;-) But really, one of the ideas floating around the bubble is to do Trans Rockies single speed this year. Currently having only a vague idea of what kind of impact that would have on my body I thought I'd spend 4 days educating myself. I'm halfway there...

Single Power

2007-11-11T05:17:00Z

My Single Speed got a new rear wheel today. With a Power-Tap hub in it. It's gonna kick off some data and tells us all what all this one gear pedaling stuff actually looks like. I don't think the powers seen are as high as others do. Shortly we will know...

One of the fun things before Trans Rockies was working with power meters to figure out how to be faster as a team than two individuals. Dave and I rode together, looked at power files, figured out what speeds and powers were good for towing. Discovered above about 12 mph drafting was more efficient - and a lot safer than towing. We learned distributing weight makes a huge difference and crunched all the power numbers to come up with a strategy that won us that stage race. The whole discovery process was a lot of fun and made me a better coach along the way. I do love a learning curve.

Now it starts over again with power meters going on the single speeds and more single speed racing on the horizon. So far I have only raced cross country distances on my SS. Maybe we can go back to Trans Rockies next year and race it single speed?? How about that...

My SS story

2007-11-09T17:13:00Z

Well it seems now I have an SS training partner and he tends to like to take things to extremes when an idea takes hold of him. Look out. So far I have just whipped around on wee fast rides on my SS but yesterday manic enveloped me in his new found SS enthusiasm and we went big.

This climb totally spanked me on the SS and I was quivering a bit by the time I hit the top. Flamed out... My main goal was to ride everything and that I did - no hiking involved - very pleased about it. Sometimes it is hard to feel fast when my training partner is giddy and 1/2 mile ahead of me after 10 minutes but I was prepared with tunes yesterday and it was such a fab ride.

Here is the map visual. Prolly part of day 2 on Camp Lynda

So now thoughts of racing stage races, 12 hours and Kokopelli all on the SS are whirling around in the air. 2008 is gonna be some kinda fun.

Camp Lynda Dates

2007-11-04T02:37:00Z

Camp Lynda will be January 12-14th. That is a Saturday thru Monday. My kids get out of school early on Friday sooo everybody else must work their schedule around that ;-)

The camp will be self supported. No entry fee, no I Survived Camp Lynda t-shirt (unless you make one with your own blood :-) Everyday a route will be planned, a start time and a gps file provided. We will post the gps files well in advance. You set your own pace, ride solo or with a group, carry all your own supplies, follow a gps.

Rides will go something like this: Day One 4-6 hours. Day Two 5-7 hours. Day Three 6-8 hours. There are more trails in the area than can be covered in three days so right now I have to decide what we are not going to ride. Day One is most likely gonna be two laps on the Jem trail. Two laps of the same loop seems like a funny thing to do but I really like it. By the second lap I am getting in a groove with the trail and enjoying a second chance at everything. Two laps is a great pacing heads up too. The first lap can seem easy and the second lap you pick up the pace and feel like you are hammering but the clock often ticks off the second lap exactly the same as the first. One lap is about 25 miles and 2 - 2.5 hours. The two lap format gives a halfway bailout option and a halfway refuel at the car point. Nice features to make day one more friendly.

The plan for day three is long and hard. Finish it off with a finale you will remember...

Here are a few questions I have received so far:

What are you thinking about accommodations?

Your call. Right next to the five star Green Valley Spa is BLM land you can free camp on. Lots of Motel 8's and Best Westerns in town. Green Valley is a good spot to set up camp. Green Valley Condos are nice and reasonably priced.

How well are these trails marked, and are there good maps I could purchase for the areas you plan to ride?

Day One, The Jem Trail is marked and mapped beautifully (we will be riding the Gould's Farm/JEM/Hurricane Rim Loop). The Jem gps and detailed trail description is on www.utahmountainbiking.com. Scroll down the left menu bar to the St George area trails. Day Two and Three will be unmarked and on routes not found on maps. GPS required or some serious local trail knowledge. In fact Dave wants to take us up the Hurricane Cliffs and on the first part of his Trans Utah route on some roads I have never been on for the big finale day three.

Will we be riding Gooseberry Mesa?

No. The Goose is fun for goofing around on but this is a serious training mission.

Where should I fly into?

Las Vegas is the closest big airport. A shuttle service operates from there to St George. You can also fly directly into St George. The airport is situated on a mesa right in the middle of the city. United and Delta fly into St George.

Do I need a gps?

Yes. Ask Santa for one or you will be dependant on someone else to know the route and the spirit of this camp is self supported.

Halloween Decisions

2007-11-01T16:52:00Z

Pink is a given. Power Ranger or butterfly. Hard choice... Why not both...

Emma has some cool kindergarten teachers. They all dressed as cheerleaders yesterday. They were really funny.

Ninjas are hard to catch on film.

Except in that moment before the hiiiyyahhhh.

Late afternoon candy bonk. Happens to the best of us...Stomping feet and shouting involved here...

Camp Lynda

2007-10-24T17:47:00Z

St George is a great place to ride in the winter, well unless it is raining. Binge training is one of my fav things to do. I wanna share both, hence Camp Lynda. Come down to the desert and ride yourself silly for a few days. Go home so tired you can't think straight. Sound good? You're in?

It will be self supported, no waivers and no fee. I'll post a gpx file of the route and longer route options for the truly manic. You can ride with or solo. Dave is even talking about previewing part of his top secret Trans Utah (St George to Moab) route at the camp.

I'm polling for ideas here?

Date - what works for you?
Format - 3 or 4 days?
Other ideas?

This is what St George looks like in January. Ya might need a vest and arm warmers and if you are a desert bunny you will need tights and booties.

Jem trail in January

Zen Loop in January

Paradise Canyon in January

Fall and 55ers

2007-10-21T19:10:00Z

Fall in the desert is really a second spring time. New flowers bloom. Weather is perfect for being outside. A time to play new games. To do a few things differently.

Kidz started Hot Shots tennis. I don't think Emma hit a ball once and left telling me she was a tennis champion. She is so spunky :-) LOL!

She is teaching herself to fly too.

I didn't have time in Moab to play with the Siren 55er. Brendan sent me home with it :-) and I've been doing a bit of playing since then. The 29" wheel up front and 26" out back is a different ride from my full 29er or full 26er. I'm taking a while to get used to it. I love the way it climbs when I am seated due to the short chain-stays and I love the way the 29" wheel rolls on and off ledges. On the fast whoops coming down Stucki I was landing a bit too nose heavy. The big wheel up front and 26 in back gives the bike a different balance than I am adapted to - takes a little mid air adjustment. There is a learning curve to most everything. Don't worry Brendan I haven't crashed it!

24-hours or Moab Recap

2007-10-18T17:07:00Z

Not a race report as I wasn't racing. It was interesting to be at a 24 in the support role. I haven't actually done that before and it was high time to pay my 24 hour support dues. Thanks to everyone who came by the pit and helped set up and take down the EZ-up and gear. It was really fun to be in social mode and chat with everybody.

Moab really is a carnival as much as a race. I've always been in a race bubble at Moab so enjoyed all the carnival aspects this time around. Here is Granny handing out balloons at the start.

View of the herd lining up minutes before the start. Chris Etough is hanging out with his mechanic by his bike and didn't go up to the crowd until 1 minute to go. He looked cool and relaxed 100% of the time. He had casual pit stops and rode to a tactical win. On the women's side Jari Kirkland rode an amazing race killing the entire men's and women's field except for Chris. He was the only solo in front of her at noon on Sunday. We were pitted right next to Jari and I spied on her the whole race. She didn't falter. She was on a different plane to everyone else at Moab this year.

JK showing off his FJ

Stampede -bandanna over the mouth highly recommended

Chili peppers?? Here are Dave and Josh Tostado. Josh cracked and stopped sometime around sunset in 2nd place. Dave took over 2nd place and cracked about 1:30am. Lots of attrition in both the men's and women's solos this year. More than usual. The course was slow and sandy and hard.

I have photos of some solos at the cracking point with fear and pain on their faces so personal I don't feel I can post them... Here is Mary after she pulled the plug. Mary always is cute...

So why is Moab so hard? Why do so many solos suffer and crack there? The course is certainly one of the hardest to solo with the steep slick rock sections demanding L6 power or you are walking. The sand this year was energy sucking too. The dryness of this year was a stark contrast to the flash floods of last year.

My personal theory is that timing is what is the kicker for Moab solos. It is at the end of the season. Solos are mostly carrying a depth of fatigue beyond what they perceive. They are used to feeling tired - fatigue levels have normalized. In 24-solo racing there is a big difference in being fast and in having the ability to complete it. It is a delicate balance of hard training and freshness on race day. Give up too much fitness in the taper and you will be slow vs. arrive at the race site with underlying fatigue and you will crack somewhere between 8 and 13 hours in. I saw lots of cracking in the solo field at Moab last weekend which is classic fatigue from a season of racing. World Champion Rebecca Rusch soloed Moab and put in a respectable 12 laps but far below her potential. I know she soloed Nationals, Worlds, Grand Targhee and Moab this year - that's a lot! Judging by her face near dawn it was one too many...

24 Hours of Moab

2007-10-09T18:46:00Z

I'll be there.

I was, then I wasn't, then I was with the kids coming too and then I wasn't and now I am without the kids...Whew - logistic mania. I'm not even racing.

I'm really looking forward to coming and not racing. I'll ride a few laps on Friday with some of my athletes and get to hang out Friday evening all relaxed and not having to think too much about the race. I'll be doing support for Dave and maybe FredW too at night. Just let me know if you need me Fred.

Last year it was a crazy race. Here's the visual prior to the start. This was before the downpour started!!

This year the forecast is dry. Much nicer hopefully.

I'll be buzzing around the course showing the secret lines to my guys on my Black 29er single speed Gary Fisher Rig on Friday. Or if I'm really lucky I'll be on a Siren 55er demo SS. We will be hanging out at camp in the solo area on Friday evening. Say hi and come and chat if you see me. I'm in social mode not racer mode this time :-) Ask me your last minute coaching questions and I will wave my hands around and spread my sage advice all over the world... We are pitting with the Siren crew, Fred and should have a Desert Cyclery banner. Come find us.

Here is one of the secret lines. Moab tip: don't follow guys in front of you. Follow the gals in pink ;-)

Getting Single

2007-10-08T09:52:00Z

My knees are almost back to 100%. Took about 4 weeks to clear up the tendinitis. Sounds normal. I am back riding and every ride I grab the single speed. Funny how the knee rehab plan has been on the single speed.

I've kept the gearing easy at 32X21. The SS is great as I get to crank out short sections but the 32x21 makes me coast a lot more than normal and ride easy as I am undergeared so much. I don't think I have logged any huffin' and puffin' riding yet. The 29er wheels add in big fun factor too.

Mom is taking the front seat to Coach and Racer right now. Most of my athletes have peaked for the season and are on a coach forced hiatus from structured training. Sent off with the guidelines to ride plenty when they feel like it, explore new trails and training grounds for next season and not to get too fat! Late fall is the time to enjoy a seasons fitness and enjoy the trails. Just don't enjoy too many pies ;-) I'll put them to the grindstone again when it is time. One coaching idea brewing right now is a winter "Camp Lynda". Wanna come down to St George this winter and ride your mountain bike for a few days until you can't think straight?

Emma and Wesley entered the school art competition. The theme of the show is "I can make a difference by...." Emma has a creative side. Her project was " by making people smile". She likes to take photos and has a lot of pics of people looking down at her with an "aww cute little girl smile". She pasted them into a collage. She put a photo of a butt top and center - Gary it's your butt!! to make people (well kids) looking at her poster smile. It works. Kids crack up at the butt shot. Her teacher wasn't real impressed with the butt but liked the rest of it ;-)

October is marathon season here in St George. Steve paced his friend Stacy this year instead of trying to run a PR himself. Stacy was ecstatic to run a seven minute PR. Steve finished energetic and giddy and said it was one of the most fun marathons he has done.

Here comes the ride perfect desert weather. My SS looks to have a bit more action imminent. I sense some more SS racing on my schedule next year too! It doesn't quite feel like a fall only SS phase - has a tighter grip than that...

New Toyz

2007-10-01T01:30:00Z

My knees are on the mend :-) and whew... The SS is calling me. It's the bike I feel best pedaling at the moment. I took it up to Gooseberry for a fab ride with a whole pile of super cool biker folks fresh off Interbike. Sadly my camera battery died on the second pic and I missed out on a whole pile of huge huckin' shots.

The Siren team of Mary and Brendan were up and I got to see some Sirens in the real live flesh this weekend. They are beautiful bikes. My SS is a 29er Rig. They had some 29 front/26 rear Sirens called 55's. I was intrigued by that as I have such fun on my 29er but sometimes catch myself up on the rear wheel as my frame is so small and the wheel so big. I didnt get to ride one but Brendan promised to bring a 55er SS in my size to Moab to buzz around on - oooh...

The main reason they were in town was to deliver Dave's new Siren Song - a soft tail 55er. Serial number 001!! Lucky boy! Today was it's first trip out for sun, views and photo taking.

oooohhhh....ahhhhh

Not quite so exciting - I played with a new toy today. An Ergon BD1 pack. At first sight I didn't like it - looks overbuilt. Wearing it is another matter. I liked it immediately. Then I weighed it down with a bunch of tools, 170 oz of water and some snacks. It felt better than any pack I have ridden with. I've only done one short ride with it but I think I have found a new friend.

What is Going On?

2007-09-24T21:32:00Z

I have so many physical things going on with me at the moment I can make a bulleted list...

Infected and swollen left elbow joint
Right leg IT Band Syndrome
Left knee has mysterious internal pains
Stomach flu
and of course the perennial osteopenia and hypothyroidism

Very strange. I must have some crazy kind of action in my moons, stars and planets at the moment. It is all keeping me off my bike which is not good for my mental state either. I'll not start a bulleted list on that...

Big Skies

2007-09-23T01:36:00Z

No matter what happens I will always be able to lie down and admire the beauty of the sky.

Hoodoo 500

2007-09-15T18:57:00Z

I'm not back riding again yet since Worlds. I've been busy and my knee is still busy healing. I think I'll take the mtb out for a spin tomorrow.

Racing goes on. Today in St George started The Hoodoo 500. 500 mile race through scenic SW Utah. The course passes by Bryce Canyon, Red Canyon, Escalante National Monument, Cedar Breaks and Snow Canyon. Big route - 519 miles and big scenery. One of my athletes Dennis gathered together his friends and put together a 4 man team - The Tri Cyclers. They were uber excited to get started. They are doing it right - RV, chase car, crew, radios...wads of support.

Emma approved of their RV set up.

Hoodoo 500 is a first year event and has a small field. Local based Team BHB have a very strong looking roster. Scott Smith looked happy to be taking the first leg.

The race has not only hammerheads like Scott but some interesting team make ups. I don't know the story behind these guys Team N.U.B.S. On the team roster it looks like a mom/son and dad/son pairing. Ages are 41/11 yrs and 43/11 yrs. Now that is pretty cool.

Emma took all the above photos except for the one of her in the RV. She took charge of the camera and snapped away while I was chatting. She got some great shots! She took this next one herself too. You have to be darn cute to get away with this extreme close-up.

So the race set off at 11am this morning. I'll be following the race live webcast and rooting for Team TriCyclers and of course locals Team BHB. Team NUBS too.

Arm chair racing. Go, Go, Go!

24-Hour Solo World Championship Race Report

2007-09-07T22:07:00Z

While indulging in some out-of-hand pre-race smack talk I mentioned I wasn't going to Worlds to do any learning...LOL!! ooops... Winner Rebecca Rusch taught me a couple of lessons and I re-taught myself a few things I thought I already knew. So I don't get to say this week I am the best in the World - those kudos go to Rebecca who rode a strong and smart race.

I rode a tough race and I am proud of myself for that. Conditions were hot and the amount of climbing was huge - 2500 feet per lap. I finished with 14 laps and 35,000 feet of climbing. Bernice rode a tough race too. We chatted a little in the morning and riding along she sang out with a smile"I'm suffering and I'll just keep on suffering". She suffered herself all the way up into 6th place. Tenacity gets you a long way in a 24-solo. She also said it was motivating to have her coach on course and she couldn't quit with me there watching. Glad I provided that extra motivation on the day.

Bern is off to live in Alaska for 3 months as part of a reality TV show filmed by Discovery Channel. She will be living off the land with no electricity, no running water, hunting and fishing for food. I have no doubt she is tough enough.

So the race.... I racked my bike on the front row. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not but Rebecca racked hers almost next to mine. Or maybe I racked mine by hers?

The run was ugly fast and furious. Uphill, around a tree and downhill on pavement. Luv running downhill on pavement in my cycling shoes. On the way down a big guy stumbled into me and spun me right around. I twisted my right knee a little but didn't fall. No biggie tho...

I've never met Rebecca and hadn't eyeballed her up to this point. This pic amuses me. We get to our bikes exactly the same time. Was she shadowing me?? Don't know...

The next 6 hours or so we were wheel to wheel or very close. We chatted some, worked together some and pulled away from the rest of the field. After 5 hours we even had a pee truce, stopped together, gave a few guys a double show, got back on the bikes and started racing again - that was funny.

On lap 1 we were 2nd/3rd. On lap 2 we passed a hot looking Monique Sawicki flailing around in the sand. I was quite pleased by that as she was a pre-race favorite. We worked together to put a big gap on her.

This is my fav part of the course:

...and my least fav. We went over this bridge twice per laps so I tallied 28 trips over it.

On lap 5 the knee I twisted in the run started to hurt enough to become a management issue. Rebecca came through to take a pull on the road section into the headwind and gapped me without trying real hard. She looked back confused for just a second then smelled it and hammered off out of the saddle. I was done :-(

Every lap my knee got a bit worse and eventually I was putting painkillers in my mouth that would have gotten any of my athletes pulled off the course if I witnessed it... By midnight I was mostly pedaling with my left leg only. The trip over the bridge became a teeth gritting nightmare. I have saddle sores on the left side like I have never experienced before - ugly stuff.

By dawn my pit crew had figured out the soonest I could stop to seal up second place. Energywize I still had a ton left in the morning and it was frustrating not to be able to spend it but to continue to damage my knee further was fruitless. The last lap was agony and I would have cried if Dave told me to go out for another one when I came in after lap 14.

Lights: Amazing! I had so many comments on course at night about how bright they were. The dark didn't slow me down. We set up my helmet light all spots and the throw on it was incredible. Luminosity. One Aussie I came up on shouted out "you have waaay too much light on that bike". The folks around the course writing down number plates said "oh no you again, what's your number" I was so bright they couldn't read my number plate. Burning retinas...

Pit crew: Dave, Andy, Dan and Kathleen were more than superb. Thanks guys. Thanks a million. It was over-the-top for me to have so many people focused on me. Being a mom and wife I am nearly always in the doing things for others position. Mega kudos go to Andy. After the race I saw a blown fork on the ground "hey Andy who's fork is that?" Andy chuckles "it is yours - seamless huh!". He was so slick I didn't even notice a new fork on my bike!

Worlds was great. I had a race. I loved it. Then it was tough and I gutted out a second place finish. I'd love to go back again. It was darn hard to peak for tho'. Training in the St George desert heat with the kids out of school for the summer wasn't easy. Next year I think I'll put my biggest peak near the end of May.

My knee is getting better - wicked tendinitis is the diagnosis.

Wurlds

2007-09-07T16:37:00Z

This has been a crazy week for me. One of those weeks where everything comes to a point and explodes. With sleep deprivation and fatigue my efficiency has been at an all time low. Life support systems only captain.

So Worlds was fun. I rode with all I had and came 2nd. Rebecca Rusch won with a monstrously strong ride - impressive. What puts a big fat grin on my face is that LW Coaching athlete Bernice came 6th in the Elite Women's field. Well done Bernice. LW Coaching had a good Worlds. It was also awesome to share the podium with a former LW athlete Sally who scored 3rd. Sally - you're a star now!

Here is a podium pic to go along with this weak blog. I'll post a full race report sometime this weekend. As ever lots happened within 24 hours of racing. Stay tuned - I'll spill the goods...

Indulging

2007-08-28T04:53:00Z

Big rides across beautiful places is when my body and soul are most connected.

Riding for 24 hours is sheer indulgence.

Is it how many breaths you take or how many moments are breathless?

Back on

2007-08-24T21:51:00Z

I'm getting better, lungs have cleared out and Worlds is back on. Whatdya know the rest has prolly done me good after all. I have some top end power coming out my Power-Tap I haven't seen in a while.

Lots of details to get together for a 24-hour solo. Lights are a big one. Dave has the magic light set up. I went over to his place early early dark am for some ridng and light testing. I was a bit groggy when I arrived. Dave on the other hand had been up for hours soldering and tinkering to get everything just right... Manic at 5am...

We hit the big Blakes climb and as ever the sunrise up there was gorgeous.

It is still warm here. Beauty morning for a big ride.

Slipping Away

2007-08-18T15:25:00Z

Steve says god takes things away from us we care about to humble us.

My sniffle travelled from the tip of my nose, evolving into a back of the throat tickle. Now it is embedded in the depths of my lungs as a gurgle. I feel more weak and feverish than humbled. The idea of racing a 24-hour solo in 13 days is tough to hold on to let alone the World Championships.

It is just a bike race....right?

Milestones

2007-08-15T15:51:00Z

Life is churning forward even tho' you wouldn't know it by my dearth of blogging lately. Today is a big day in my life. My youngest Emma started Kindergarten. That changes my daily schedule and has a huge impact on my life. Things are changing. I'm making some of the changes and others are changing me. Turnover.

Emma changed her outfit about seventy times this morning before settling on the first day of school get up. Pigtails were requested and the outfit was accessorized with a shell necklace.

Emma added the final touch with a sun-visor just before leaving the house.

Wesley "OK mom can I get going already".

GO!

They were so excited. Off with a wave. "See ya mom". I love it when they do that. They are so full of confidence and life. Does my mom heart good to see that.

What's next?

2007-07-28T14:48:00Z

One goal left for the year. The 24 Hour World Solo Championships. I've never been and it is time I ponied up to the start line. The goal is to win - why else go to World's?? I'm assembling an arsenal of weapons.

Weapon #1 being assembled with care by Desert Cyclery ace wrench Dusty.

Weapon #2 Andy is coming to Worlds to wrench. I couldn't have a better mechanic in my pit than him. If he doesn't have a spare part then he'll make one. I have no doubt my bikes will be tuned and rolling fast every lap.

Weapon #3. Dave aint racing much right now and will be my number one supporter there. His mojo in the pit and his homemade lights shining my way around the course will make me faster without a doubt.

Aint she a beauty?

21 lbs right now with tubes and a heavy Power-Tap wheel on the rear. Race wheels and a couple of lighter parts should take her under 20 lbs for Worlds. Only 2 rides so far and it's pure love.

I'm off the river with a huge depth of freshness and some BIG motivation to train. The plan is to start back with a few weeks of intensity then dial down the 24 hour specifics.

I love chasing a goal...

Interlude

2007-07-25T00:02:00Z

From training, racing, riding, blogging and life in general. I've been gone... and gone without a bike in tow!!!

A little hiking

A little dancing

A little one doing a little paddling

Big views

Big jumps

Big smiles

Big adventure for little ones

Big, beautiful walls

San Juan River. Sand Island to Clay Hills Crossing. 83 river miles. 7 days.

BC Bike Race Report

2007-07-11T19:05:00Z

I rode my bike in Canada for 7 days in a row and had a fabulous time doing that among a herd of like minded mtb addicts. It was a great time for me. It was a slightly different race for my team mate Dave. The short story is we won stages 1-6, went into the final day 7 with a 75 minute lead on the GC and dnf'd the final stage after Dave crashed hard enough he couldn't get up again.

Six 1st place medals and six leaders jerseys. We had a whole pile of fun collecting these :-)

To say he couldn't get up again is a big thing as he had bounced up from a number already. He is a tough guy. He crashed near the end of stage five breaking ribs. We won that stage then the following stage six, the longest of the race, nursing him along with his broken ribs. There were a whole pile of hike-a-bikes in stage 6 and I ended up carrying my bike and pushing his up them. A few times it was rough enough I was carrying both of them. Made me feel super burly woman!!

I was about 10 feet behind him when he did the race ending crash and it was a sight that made me sick in the stomach. It dazed me for a while. I totally blew the first aid and immediate response. Shortly the second place team came along and Ryan took immediate control stabilizing Dave's spine and calling in the medics. It took an hour from that point to get Dave on a backboard and transported off course. Ryan stuck beside the whole time not giving a second consideration to the race standings. Ryan is my hero of the whole race.

Ryan and his teammate Hillary took the GC and the overall win after our DNF.

The hour holding Dave's head waiting for the medics to arrive was a gamut of emotions for me, mostly scared and sad. When the medics arrived I was shushed away and told I'd have to ride myself to the hospital. Boooger that. I took off and kept on riding down the course. Once I was pedaling away from the scene I was really surprised to find how mad I was. I was pissed! Without thinking too much about it I just started hammering down the course following the pink flagging. I didn't know where the heck I was. The flagging marked the way home and riding hard made me feel better.

Coming over the finish line I was given a finisher medal. It didn't even occur to me I was finishing the stage race until I was handed the medal. Finishing was a prime goal but without my team mate by my side it is not a complete finish.

So now I have a finisher t-shirt and medal and Dave doesn't. In retrospect I am very glad to have finished.

This was a tough one to blog. I had a great time. It was a super week and super race. The win was never the prime goal for this one. I hit all my goals: to feel good, see some scenery, ride my bike lots, laugh lots, finish, ride my bike on Thrill me Kill Me a famous Whistler trail (and in fact the one Dave ended his race on). I feel a bit guilty coming off the race with such good feelings as obviously Dave does not. Losing the win on the last day doesn't bug me at all. You win some, you lose some. What counts in the end is how much grace you did both with.

These boyz define grace. They rode hard and fast and cracked me up on a daily basis. Yes those are lycra jeans and yes they did race wearing them. Very impressive showing.

Ironically the only day I carried my camera was day 7. Our plan was to cruise and enjoy. Here is the only photo I took during the entire event. This is at the top of Thrill Me Kill Me (I think).

BC Bike Race - here we come!

2007-06-28T22:52:00Z

My bike and bags are packed. Tomorrow I catch the 6am flight to Vancouver. Then a coach- ferry-coach-taxi combo to our hotel in Victoria. Tomorrow will be a long day.

Daily race results and race reports will be posted here. Photos, video clips and other random stuff will be posted daily here.

On the surface BC Bike Race looks much like Trans Rockies - I'm racing in the mixed category with team mate Dave again and it is a seven day mountain bike stage race in Canada. There the similarities end. At Trans Rockies we rolled out of bed, ate some breakfast and started. Often the start line was within view of our RV. This time around there are some amazing logistics involved with buses, ferries and one day even a zip-line transfer to the start. The race staff are being uber creative to put us on the best trails they have. Also we are in a tent not an RV. No luxury package for us this year.

BCBR has a very different flow than TR had. We went to TR to win. We peaked for it and set up everything possible for the win - and we won :-) Since then both of us have smashed our collar bones into multiple pieces and had titanium plates inserted. The acronym BCBR - Broken Collar Bone Rehab - is not lost on us. Mine is most recent. After surgery I asked Dave the burly question - did he want to get a replacement team mate for me? It looked like it would be a tight time squeeze to get my strength and fitness back by the start. He stuck with me and I have built my fitness back nicely. I'm lighter and my threshold power is higher than it was at TR last year. I come into BCBR with no recent racing under my belt so still a bit unsure of what my legs have to offer.

Towing was allowed at TR and is not allowed at BCBR. At TR last year we were towing 4 miles off the start line on day One but put away the towline halfway through day 3. I made some mistakes in my role on the team last year. We learned a lot last year about our strengths and how to race effectively as a team. This year we go in with our strategy more refined.

Most of all BCBR is about chasing white moments, riding my bike a ton, enjoying some rad trails in BC, laughing with Dave and seeing some big and beautiful scenery. I can't think of a much better way than that to spend a week.

Foxieviewed

2007-06-25T20:11:00Z

Cris Fox is running a series of racer interviews. I've enjoyed reading about all of these characters. Today was my turn to be Foxieviewed.

Tapering for BC Bike Race

2007-06-24T16:00:00Z

Seven days to the start of BC Bike race and I am in full taper mode. That meant skipping The E12 yesterday, which turned out to be another hot and depleting event. News is Epic Adam went to the hospital with heatstroke. I can't afford one of those in my legs a week before spending seven days chasing around on my mountain bike after Bionicle Dave in BC. Gotta make choices...

The BC Bike race course looks awesome. Day distances are 112, 115, 83, 60, 55, 75, 25km. I love racing km's. They go by so much faster than miles ;-) The last stage is an all single-track team time trial on the Whistler trails. They are giving teams individual starts, fastest to slowest and we are racing the clock. That is a cool way to finish a big stage race like this. It will be exciting and maybe a bit suffery if the GC times are close. Whistler trails have a reputation for being both fun and hard. A bit imtimidating but I look forward to sampling them myself.

This is what the weekends taper activities looked like:

Keeping cool in the desert on Saturday

Wesley looooves rafting and is always in the front. Emma and I prefer the Queen and Princess seats in the back.

I wanted to get in a longer ride today. That meant clipping in about 4am to beat the heat. My patio thermomenter hit 108F a couple of days ago - whew. The sunrise this morning was incredibly beautiful.

The taper is working. After warming up my legs were beautiful too.

It was one of those time warp rides where every tune on the mp3 is just the right one and the climbs go by in a flash. I nearly missed a turn at the top of the big Blakes climb 'cause I got there so fast. I wasn't expecting it and it is a hard fast turn. "Wow. I'm here already!"

The sun threw crazy colors out into the air this morning.

New Toyz

2007-06-20T00:45:00Z

I spent this weekend paying the fatigue penalty that came along with running my TSB down to -108 and CTL up to 143. There is no reason this should have surprised me - but it did. I fall into all the self coaching pitfalls. I made the wise call to skip KMC which turned into an Epicfest with only 2 finishers. A hot Epic was not what my legs needed. No legs doesn't mean no fun tho'.

I spent the weekend tinkering around with my new GPS toy. It does many things. I laid down a track of the 36 mile Virgin River Rim single track, followed a route I'd uploaded around Navajo Lake and we went geocaching. The kids loved geocaching.

The first cache was a few minutes hike into the woods from the campground. Wesley took charge.

Bro it's this way

Score! The kids were sooo excited to find it.

Next one we paddled to.

Score Two!

When you find the cache you take something out and leave something behind. Here is Emma modeling the necklace and headband she chose.

Wesley chose a screwdriver and a box of matches! Funny stuff.

Sunset on Navajo Lake. This is one of my fav summer places.