trans rockies

Well it has been a bit since I posted, I have been on the bike and the computer in an effort to round up interest in the trans rockies. There are two guys interested and it seems like it may happen. The big diffuculty as it always has been with trying to do this race is the price of entry, and then all the other expenses that add up along the way. This is a race of a lifetime, and I plan to do everything in my power to make it a reality. Donations anyone? Ideas? Let me know. I will post more when more is finalized. www.transrockies.com is the website for all those interested.
Rode 50 miles yesterday with Katarina Hunusova of the Luna Chix fame, and my friend Nate Simonson, who is trainig for a bunch of Xterras and has traveled with me to most of the 100 mile races that I have done. We rode out towards Pyramid Lake, beautiful ride, but oohhh so cold. We were a little frozen by the end of the ride. I felt good considering and an going nordic sking today and tommarrow. Not much else to report. Details to come when races become more of a reality. I must say that I wish I were going to Tucson in a few weeks for the 24 hr race.

relief

I am so relieved right now, my mind and body finally seem like one again, instead of the sickness I feel the goodness. I am currnetly trying to finalize the details of next season. If there is another single speeder out there who would like to compete in the Trans Rockies please contact me, this would be a monumental experience, but well worth all the pain and suffering. That said I am doing the Cream Puff, www.puff100.netfirms.com , the e100 www.thee100.com and am seriously considering the Kokopelli race. I dont think that I will do any 24 hrs of adrenalin races, but I do plan on doing 1 or 2 granny gear races, www.grannygear.com and I think I am going to do the Kona Sleepless in the saddle race. Nuff for now, I have more slush to ride through. My grey Surly steamroller, www.surly.com looks more brown and tan from all the crud on the streets. Ciao for now.

Hammer Heed

I dont know how many of you out there have tried this stuff, Hammer Nutritions, HEED sports drink, but it is great, lite and easy to digest, and the flavor allows it to go down really well. I have used it both while nordic sking and while ripping around town, and it just works. It isnt all thick like some drinks, not much else to say, I like it.

crazyness

Well the fog has lifted a little bit but now a storm is rolling in dropping some nice rain in the area while temps are in the mid thirties. I went to a yoga class the other day, very refreshing I might add, I came out refreshed. I wanted it to be more poses and stretching, but the breathing will help with the cycling. I rode my bike around town the last two days, and felt good, this is very positve for me. Work has been slow and the people have been somewhat real, not all fake as they sometimes can be. MOney does silly things to some people.
Got the new Agnostic Front cd yesterday and hope to get the now Street Dogs album today. Not much else to report, just trying to get it done. Speaking of getting it done, Larry the Cable Guy comes to reno next week, too bad its on a Saturday, those are darn near impossible to get off.

skate sking

I must say that the weather here in Reno with the fog and this nasty inversion layer that we have suckc, and does nothing for the motivation. As you may have guessed by now I am not one of those people with a training schedule that I must stick to. I for my own sanity must have fun that is the number one consideration for me, the racing is also for fun. Of course I want to push the envelope and my physical limits but I am fairly flexible as far as the training goes. That said skate sking is probably the hardest work out I have ever done, it is very fun as well, and since the weather in Truckee is so awsome right now, i.e sunny and in the high 50s, it is where I want to be. Plus this gives my mind a rest from the bike, no worries I will be back on it soon, and most of my errands are still done on the fixie, although it is pretty scary out there, because the snow has yet to melt and due to the inversion there are tons of icy spots to look out for. All you cyclists that live in cold climate should really give skate sking a chance, it is amazing, in the cardio deparment, plus it mixes the training up and will help to avoid burnout. I still have the sickness as I have come to call it now, it just keeps mutating, and nothing gets rid of it, sleep, rest, exersise, nothing matters, now I have green snot and a hacking cough, but I have decided since nothing helps it, I am going to keep riding and skating and attempting to get some form, it is sooooo early that I am not too worried yet, but the sickness does need to leave as I am sick and tired of dealling with it. THats all for now.

illness

I have never experienced this kind of illness in my life, bits and pieces of it, but never such an overriding experience as the one in which I am in right now. I am fighting with god knows what and I hate to sound like a broken record, but I am hating it right now. I would love to be telling you how great I feel and all that I have been doing, but in all honesty I have been here in the house illin, quite literally, NO post for a while because I have not had much to talk about or report, and I hate to keep beating a dead horse. I imagine sometime in the near future here I will get out of this funk and be right back at it, but not right now. I have been working and sleeping and not much else. I hate feeling like this it is the absolute worst, lowest of the low. I am trying to maintain a positive outlook and not to worry about the upcoming season too much, but a racers mind is not always easy to quiet when things are so down. I thought it was overtraining, but I am convinced that I am fighting something, and not just a mental demon, but a very tough physical demon. My throat feels like a cats tounge and I no fun to be around. I am sorry to bore you with details of my illness, but I have not much else to report. The weather here has been so fog laiden and the streets are a mess, no shoulders to ride on anyways. the fog seems to be lifting today, as for the past couple days tahoe and truckee have been warmer than reno, some inversion layer or something. that and today our fearless leader who is hell bent on destroying the planet got sworn in today, god what a depressing thought. Four more years, that just plain hurts. Enough is enough.

motivation

I have been hanging out eating and drinking whatever I want, this is a larger motivator for getting back to the training. Falling out of the training routine helps me to find motivation for the upcoming season. It is like a rededication of sorts. I look forward to the upcoming season and all that it has to offer. I am currently waiting to hear from sponsors for the upcoming season, when I have all the info I will post it here. I am still trying to plan the upcoming seasons races and trying some new and exciting things. I wish that I had my bike with me here in Seattle the weather has been cold, but good i.e not raining or snowing. I had the pleasure of going to POrt Townsend on the Olympic penninsula yesterday, man the riding looks sick, and the town and culture were amazing. Mountains and the ocean, just great. We visited our friends brewery, it was really tasty and had wonderful arciteceture, the bar itself was fantastic, the wood work was very intrecate. I used to work with Mark at the Big Time Brewery here in Seattle, he has done an amazing job with his bar. Good times, and good beer, when and if you are ever in Port Townsend stop by and raise a pint. Well its back to Reno and reality tommarrow, and my rededication to training and the upcoming season. Peace.

Snow

I cant seem to get away from the snow. THis morning when I got up I could see blue sky, that was a nice change, although I got on a plane headed for Seattle for a little hiatis from the snow, and guess what. It snowed here in the city. I cant get away from it. You know what they say if you cant beat them join them. When I return to Reno I plan to ski and enjoy what rarely happens in Reno. Snow. I am getting psyched to get back on the bike, as I am afraid that in my relax and recoup time I have gained some unwanted lbs. Well thank god its only early January, I have plenty of time to get my form back. Well I am going to get my Cream Puff entry in the mail tommarrow, and start to plan the rest of the season. Right now I have my girlfriends crazy dog trying to lick my face. Thats all for now, sorry not more to report. Except that the snow is following me. Ahhhhh.

todays thoughts

Well the weather is just henious here in REno, the most snow in 150 years, to me that probably dates back to when they started keeping records. That said I have had some time off work and with my trip to Seattle tommarrow by the time I get back to work I will have had 6 days off, more time than I have had off in quite some time. This year is dedicated to believing in me, in the common good and all that the world has to offer. I am dedicating myself to taking care of myself and to continue down this path that I have choosen. I am back in the drivers seat after feeling totally worthless and fucked for the last little while. Madness. I just get so filled with self hatred and indecision at times that I cant tell what end is up and I start to think that I have lost it, and that nothing really matters. Does it really matter to anyone but me that I ride my bike every where, and then I come to the conclusion that I like it and it makes me feel good so I am going to keep doing it. I love the feeling of riding somewhere that I could have driven, I love that, it makes me feel so alive, when I drive somewhere I just feel stuck and it drives me crazy, I love the wind, and all the smells associtated with being on a bike. It is indescribable how good it makes me feel. I am charged and ready to ride again, mind you I will get out and ride in the snow if it keeps this up for much longer but the storm is supposed to clear by Monday afternoon or Tuesday, I return from Seattle on Wednesday so hopefully I will get a ski in that afternoon and then it is back to the grind of work. I almost through with paying my debt off, I cant wait until I am out of the red and back in the black. I have changed how I live so drastically in the last year it is crazy, I am happier and even though I just went through one of the darkest times I can remember i had a better perspective and learned, I still felt alive and feel like I rose to the occassion as best I could. I am commited to further self exploration and growth. There is more of that hippie in me seaping out, well that said I hope to post from SEattle, but may not, as I will be spending time with my girlfriend and enjoying some good food and good times. Best wishes to all in 2005, we as cyclists should all try to drive less in the upcoming year, just commiting to that would be great. Peace

snow, snow, snow

Well here I sit, and again it is snowing like mad outside. The national weather association has a winter storm warning in effect until Monday and is predicting 1 to 3 feet of snow in that time. Considering that I have already recieve near 8 inches since this morning I am getting the feeling that it is going to be closer to 3 than one. So I am getting all the emails that I possible can done today and calling around about yoga. I feel like such a fucking hippie talking about yoga, but I have heard that it works wonders so this tattooed punk rock loving soul is working on the mental aspect of training, and feeling somewhat like a hippie in the process. But the big story here is snow. Well at least once this clears the restaurant will be busy because we have so much snow. Today I am talking on the phone and burning tons of music, what else is there to do, I dont have a t.v or should I say idiot box to watch, later I will settle in to the book I have been reading, it is quite an inspiration, called Swimming to Antartica, by Lynne Cox. She is a very amazing woman who swims in cold water. I cant imagine, but her passion is inspiring and it is motivating me to stay focused on the goal, focused on all that matters to me and meeting my goals.
Anyone out there heading to Cream Puff? Those of us who have done it already can print the registration begining January 10th, all of you fighting for a spot open registration forms can be printed on February 7th, get ready to run to the post office if you hope to retain a spot, priority mail is the option. I also had a very nice conversation with Boris the promoter of the Endurance 100, this is a great race, he is super enthusiastic and the course speaks for itself, a challange just to finish, and one of the most spectaclar races I have ever ridden. All those racers seeking a challange should seriously consider this one. Not much else to report other than i wish the snow would stop falling so that I could see some sun for a change.
Yesterday I skated for about 2 hrs, a little more and I just love it. It is a great way to get outside and enjoy. If it were like this all the time I would be forced to exersise indoors, luckily it isnt because I just dont like exersising indoors, it is like fingernails on the chalkboard. Thats enough for now enjoy.

skate sking/not sick

My blood tests came back to me yesterday right before work and according to the doc I should be in great health, my body is not fighting off any form of infection. Well is was a relief in one way and scary in another. I can be stubborn, stubborn enough to ignore bodily signs of fatigue. I will not be so foolish in the upcoming year. That said I got up late this morning and decided that I would go to Tahoe Donner for some skate sking, my first such venture of the season as we had very little snow for so long and now we have lots. I had a great time, my body and mind both felt great, I was pressed for time so I only skied for a short time about and hour and 15 mins, I think that I am heading back tommarrow for some more fun in the snow. It was a great change the cold wind on my face, just totally different than anything that I have done recently. I look forward to some more sking here in the coming weeks, it is my plan to not ride my bike for a little while here, or to ride it very sparingly in the upcoming month and to just do some other things, the season is long and I have plenty of time to ride my bike in the upcoming months, plus the snow is great and there is a lot of it here in reno so riding around is a tricky propositon. Tommarrow is my first day off in seven I look forward to relaxing and getting some things in order. More sking, and hopefully some yoga next week. Good times.

winter blues

After last night at the restaurant I am unsure of what to expect for the rest of the week, we were sooooo busy and understaffed and we all expected to be slow, but it was Sunday night. Typically Sunday night diners are cheap, that wasnt necessarily the problem last night it was that I had thought all the holiday assholes had gone home, instead they were out in force. Enough bitching about that, the good thing is I made some money although it was extemly difficlult. I joked about needing to sow handles to my socks, so at least I would have something to grab on to. Ha ha.
I went to get my blood drawn today as the sore throat and weakened condition dont seem to be leaving anytime soon and I am hoping that the test will provide some answers, the word mono has been thrown around, I hope that is not the case, but I do have some of the symptoms. I am hoping to have some answers tommarrow or the next day. They always say they can get the results the next day, but you know how doctors are. So I have no answers, but due to the snow I think that I am going to get some skate sking in soon, and I have decided that I am going to do some yoga and meditation as well, to help with the mental side of racing and training, and just plain making it through the day sometimes. Thats all for now, more when I have some answers.

sick, snow and believing

So Reno is under more snow than it has been in 15 years, there is about 3 feet of snow in my yard. I moved here to get out of the large snows. So it has basically paralyzed the city, they just dont have that kind of snow management system. I think they have somewhere in the vicinity of 18 plows for the whole city, of which 3 are broken and more than half are not equipped to plow this much snow. This makes my 35 mile commute to the restaurant a long one, actually the funniest part about that is Mount Rose is easier to navigate and better plowed than a majority of Reno. Good Times. The skate sking should be good and for someone like me that has trouble controling their urge to rest and not be on the bike it is good, because riding right now would be fun, but all the snow makes it easy to do other things, I actually feel motivated to do other things.
That said I have been sick for awhile now, the glands in my throat have been enlarged and the such, so I finally gave in and went to the ear nose throat guy, well he thinks that it might be mono, this would be bad so bad, but he also didn't say much else other than I need blood work and a cat scan of my sinuses to see what more he can determine. So as of late I have been doing nothing but working and sleeping, lots of sleep because if it truly is mono I have to ride it out there is very little that they can do, I am hoping that is not the case because I want to be healthy and to move on, but I guess I have to stop fighting it and believe that it is all part of the plan and that by giving in and being present in my body I will get through it in a better place. By riding the strom as opossed to fighting the flow my mind and body will rest and at the end of it all I will be ready to attack next season rested and alive in both my body and mind. That is the only position I see fit, because by not fightiing it my mood has lifted mentally and I am feeling a little better, still not great but a little better.

snow and inactivity

Well today was supposed to be another fun filled ride in Auburn, but mother nature in the form of snow over Donner Pass has put that plan to rest. Other than that I have ridden the bike once in the last 15 days for an hour and not done much in the way of exersise at all. I have come to terms with it though and am no longer beating myself up over not riding. I am going to the doctor, the ear nose and throat doctor tommarrow because I have been off and on ill for the last 2 months and the swollen glands in my throat will just not go away. Inactivity is difficult, but I figure I would rather be off the bike now than later in the season. It is a good time of year to be mellow. I have also been dealing with the christmas new years crowds at the restarant, oh what fun, the pocket book loves me, but the mind is a taking some heat and under pressure so to speak. They are not always in the Holiday spirit so to speak.
When I rode the fixie the other day I felt great, my legs were super powerful. I always seem to get in a blue mood this time of year, but I think the illness is adding to my lack of motivation. I am motivated to suceed next year and taking this as a learning experience and embracing doing nothing. I was going to go for a little ride today after the Auburn ride was cancelled but the snow is falling pretty heavy right now and I dont think that exacerbating the situation and pushing myself is necessary right now. There is plenty of season ahead.

Deep Survival

Deep Survival is the name of a book that I just read and that I think every endurance athlete, or for that matter anyone should read, especially those of us who at times find ourselves making decisions under stress. The book is a page turner. It is about the psychology if getting lost and who survives and who doesn't and what the pervading themes are in survival. It predominatly deals with survival in the wilderness, but as he says it relates to how companies make decisions and what he calls the mental map. As with a lot of other things I have come to read and agree with it, to live life in the moment is the way to live, constantly acessing our situation and making a new mental map as he calls it and not just sticking to our outdated mental map and trying to make the wilderness, what we are seeing conform to our map, as that will not happen. It talks about prepareness, and also the ability to be flexible in thought. Having a rigid outlook will usually lead to trouble, but the real ability comes in being able to make decisions based on what you are experiencing and that alone, not the rigid map that we all have that leads to sucess or failure. I think that those of us who succeed in the endurance world are more likely to be of the survival mentality or have increased survival rates because we train our bodies and our minds to handle the stress of riding for 24 hrs and all that one encounters. We are more likely to have what he calls a positive mental outlook, a characteristic that is hard to describe, he attempts to, but it is a quallity that is hard to describe. The main point I took from the book was to be present and constantly accessing our situations in the world and look for clues that will keep your map of the world current, because our maps if held rigid will quickly become outdated and lead to being lost in the world or in our own lives. Check this book out it is really interesting. Hope everyones xmas was fun.

Running

Today the last nine days of rest finally got to me, I could no longer deal with the endless time on my hands feeling and just had to get out for a run. Mind you I hate to run, but it helps me to stay off the bike and to prevent that all to familiar burnout and overtraining. Like I said nine days off the bike is eternity, I have a ride planned in Auburn next week, and am going to try to stay off the bike for the most part untill then. Like I said running sucks, but it is a necessary evil, I would like to be skate sking, but due to lack of snow the trails suck and rocks are exposed, so that is a no go, so running is the cardio vascular activity that is left. I also really dont enjoy working out indoors, such as the stairmaster, so that is not on the agendy. Running, so I ran for about an hour on the trails in Evans Canyon, right out my back door so all in all in was a mood lifter. Tonight I am hoping to hang out with some friends, as it is my only day off this week from the henious christmas crowds in Tahoe, and I need to connect with some people I havn't seen in a while.
Other random things, I know what my dad got me for christmas as a package from dell is now attempting to be deliverd for the 3rd time because I have to personal sign for it, what a hassel here I am waiting for my mp3 player so that I can get to downloading music and carrying it with me when I work out and I have missed it for two days, would have been nice to have on todays run to take my mind of exactly what I was doing. Happy Holidays to all.

Random thoughts

Rest is probably the hardest thing for me to deal with. I can train day in and day out, absolutly punishing myself but taking time off the bike to let the weary mind and body recover is the hard part. I have now been completly off the bike for 7 days, and have done little other exersise other than walking the dog and those daily chores. Oh that and the two days of trail work that I did in the Evans Canyon area here in Reno. That involved lifting rocks and lots and lots of McCloud work. I think thats how you spell that. That was a total of about 7 hrs between the two days, and then working in the restaurant each evening, thats a day filled with rest. The reason I have decided to take a break from the exersise for just a bit is that I just felt terrible and getting up was such a chore, and the fact that the glands in my throat were constanly enlarged, so I am getting healthy again, I think that I may have been dangerously close to being overtrained. Like I said rest does not come easy for me. Idle time is the work of the devil I say.
Back to the trail work thing, we should all, us mountain bikers and racers, take the time to give back to be part of the trail building effort. I don't know how many mountain bikers there are in the area, but only 4 of us showed up to do any work, that is just down right sad. WE use the trails we should be part of the effort to maintain and build more so that we can be a part of ensuring them for future use. It should be required. Not doing trial maintence work and then complaing about the lack of or quality of trails is like not voting and then complaining about the president or the state of the country. If you are not part of the process you have no right to complain. Enough said, get out there and work on some trails. You will feel better I promise.

bullards bar and that time of year

Yesterday I had the pleasure of riding the Bullards Bar trail, it is very fun, we rode out along the twisting fingers, this trail twists and turns so much with little elevation gain until a little climb at the end to get up to a ridgeline that takes you back to 8 ball and then contiunes to stay high by the rode. I had heard a lot about this trail, and it was fun.
That said, it is the time of year where I am going to spend some time with family and to take a break from the bike. Since last year I have not taken more than four straight days off the bike, I plan to get back on at the begining of next year, my legs, back and mind need to recover a little from a season that was full of big rides and races. Happy Holidays

random thoughts

Today Sunday was spent feeling sorry for myself for what I have decided is my lack of motivation, but it is however December and I am not the biggest fan of the holidays. So I slept in, talked to my parents, they are divorced so this was done in two different calls. I surfed the net and thought about tomarrows ride. We are either going to ride Nevada City, which I think will be a peanut butter mess, or bullards bar which is supposed to be a fun rolling ride, with not much elevation gain but lots of twists and turns. Work was qutie nice last night, busy for a change. Not much else to report. I ran yesterday for a little over an hour. The first half hour sucked so much, but then I got in to the grove. I don't run that much, but i am trying to take some time off the bike, as a total break is next to impossible for me, so if I can rest a little here and there. I am looking forward to next season.

Auburn is full of fun

I had the pleasure of riding my bike in Auburn with Mr Roger Lackey and had the opportunity to sample some fine single track. Auburn is full of steep decsents and climbs and in our 4 hr ride we did a lot of both. It was super muddy and very wet, probably one of the wettest rides I have been on. Rigid 29er are capable of so much I rolled over everything in sight, no problem, every time I ride this bike I enjoy it more and more, and my worries about it go away. I took some pictures of the bike that I will hopefully post here and on Mtbr. Wade and Derrrick are both amazing and I am very satisfied with my bike, so order one and you to can be rockin a piece of art down the trail.