24 Hours of Moab

Nothing is a total failure; and all education has a cost are my life's mantra. Learning about the various aspects of the race I believe require a couple iterations to really learn the basics. Furthermore, I believe you will learn new things each year.

What did we learn? First, I am thankful for the friends and family that decided to help support the race. We learned that the race is not only about the racers but very much the support staff. There are a variety of roles that are required outside the racers to make this successful. Rather than go into the details, I will summarize that the race support of a team needs to have some management and defined roles. Second, the various training, equipment, food, and patterns of behavior for the racers are more clearly defined.

The bottom line, I cannot wait until next year! Check out some of the pictures below!

Below the entire crew; my cool company Mercury Payment System sponsored our team and we in return broadcast our name. We also considered how Mercury Payment System could involve the merchants at the event to help land strategic accounts elsewhere. We even made the company blog!

Here is the link to the company's blog. http://mindset.mercurypay.com/?p=306

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Notice how my head is hanging a little lower. This was after the majority of the climbing and i was resting my lower back.

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Tyler, looking like a pro whipping around the corner.

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This is after the same climb, Tyler looking strong.

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If you click to get the larger image, look closely at the loose sand. This can be brutal while on the bike. The route was a combination of hard pack and suddenly you hit deep soft sand. Maintaining balance in the sand while pedaling was something new for Tyler and I. Yes, this was some pro chick in front of me, I had to pass her! and I did :)

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The race was a La Mans start. This is where everyone starts at a start line and runs to the bikes!





In conclusion of the year...


I want to thank everyone for their good attitudes and team spirit!

Tyler, honestly, you totally made me proud this year. Starting from the early years Xterras to finishing up the season with your first endurance race. Your dedication of learning all aspects of training from open water swimming to mental endurance when the things become cold, dark, and tiring brought many hidden tears to my eyes. All season long you you held a dedication not common amongst teenagers: waking up early to trail run, swim during my lunches and bike ride during the workdays and weekends. Finally, the endurance training rides started when you were in High School; maintaining all A's, taking college classes as a Junior, having girlfriends, yet you still trained. You are totally awesome and you are just planting the seeds to your opportunities of the future! The world is your oyster.

Moab - warmup.

This weekend we drove to Moab, UT to complete a practice run before the big race this coming weekend, 10 and 11th of October.

It was a bit of an adventure; I missed a turn and ended up adding 2 hours to my overall drive. :) But, we got to see the beautiful country on the way to Telluride!

We ended up camping in the Sand Flats east of Moab. It was a bit crowded for my personal taste, but the accessibility and cost was worth it!

Part of the goals this weekend were as follows:

1) Sucessfully pull a pop-top camper to Moab via our Jeep.

2) Setup the camper.

3) Spend the night in the camper.

4) Pre-Ride the 24 hours Moab route before the race!

Well, all was accomplished except for #4. We did however ride on the Slick Rock trail near our camp site.

We will just have to adapt for the race; I am sure we will be fine.

Below, my three children. Aren't their faces beautiful!?

Edward Abbey would roll over in his grave seeing the cars out here! Beautiful sunset with the clouds.

Inside our new home!

Didn't Rebecca tell you we sold our townhome and downgraded?

Our camp spot. Ryan from work is in the background; it is also his red Jeep. We took both cars. The Jeep pulled the pop-up camper and the Element carried the bikes.


We were chased out of Moab early due to some approaching storms! Here we are getting out of dodge!




Next week, here we come!

More Durango bouldering

Tyler and I went out today while the girls stayed home. We found a new problem to work on that presented an acceptable challenge!

Action shot as Tyler reaches for an opposing force hand hold.


The initial aspect requires the use of a reverse ledge to create an opposing force while positioning your left foot on a decent hold. This then leads into two more holds for the hands which are again opposing forces to keep your Center of Gravity (CG) close to the boulder face.

Blah, blah blah, I could continue on about bouldering buzz words; however, it was a good project. I would rate the crux (the most difficult move of a route on a boulder) of this route a 5.9.


Short video.



Tyler will get this next time we go out. It is one of those things you try, try, and try again, then the next time you attempt it, it will be easy!

Rebecca the Boulder

Rebecca wanted to enjoy on the fun; purchased some shoes and a chalk bag!

She has nice balance and finesse to her movement!




Now, I had to purchase a crash pad!

Sailing Hawks - Bouldering

I have been itching to get the opportunity to boulder again. After the 24 Hours of Moab, I am going to occupy the rest of the fall with climbing. Hopefully, we can even schedule a trip to Moab.

Bouldering is the act of climbing large rocks(boulders) without ropes or harnesses. There are rating systems used to rate the various routes of a climb. We are focused on the V0.

We went this weekend and purchased climbing shoes and chalk bags! We visited two climbing areas near Durango: Turtle Lake and Sailing Hawks. I was very impressed with the kid's initial ability to climb and focus while under some fearful situations. The kids were exposed to the "Oh Shit" feeling. This is the feeling when you get high enough you cannot come down, but instead have to continue climbing up and conquer the boulder. This typically requires extreme focus. Forgetting the fear of falling and instead focusing all brain energy on the basics of the climb.


Some videos I created.



Another video:



Below Tyler climbs on a warm-up boulder. It is a fairly simple traverse.

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Brianna doing the same. Take note of my height. I am standing 6ft tall. The boulder was approximately 20 ft.(click for larger image)

Brianna keeping her hips near the boulder and her legs and arm as straight as possible.

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Tyler poses while resting his forearms.

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Brianna preparing to conquer a climb.

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R.S.S.N.R

Rigid Single Speed Night Riding in the gulch!

I was eager to try out my new Lights in Motion 200L head lamp for some mountain bike night riding; stupidly, I also decided to ride the rigid single speed.

The experience was a blend of emotions...

Remember as a kid, your first time in Disney World and riding Space Mountain? You start off in a dark chamber, lots of blinky lights, as you prepared yourself to be launched into a dark abyss of gravity defying thrills?

Remember, your first time parking the car with the high school girlfriend in a dark area. It was dark, not sure what your getting into...

Both of these emotions can be mixed into one sweet elixir" "Mountain bike night riding."

I started off unsure what to expect, I climbed Horse Gulch road focusing on a circle of light 15 feet in front of my 29inch wheel. Everything outside the light's diameter was dark. I contemplated on the light; would this be similar to the light I will see at the moment of death? I can hear voices saying "Don't follow the light", fortunately this time, this light will keep me safe!

I continued riding, the air was cool and it felt good. I approached the meadow and scanned the helmet light across the dark abyss. To my surprise, and off in an unknown distance, I saw eyes. A couple little eyes, but one set in particular caught my attention. They were much larger than the rest. Possibly a bear or mountain lion. From this point forward every 30 seconds I would grunt loudly to hopefully scare off anything considering me a tasty evening snack.

After awhile, I calmed down, and rode on silently. I let go of any concerns of being torn apart by a nasty saber tooth tiger and become one with the night. I heard the bugs, felt the cool breeze, saw the stars, and barely heard my wheels quietly rolling on the single track. I felt as if I was supposed to be there. I stopped at one point to turn off my head light and just listened. It was very calming....

Enough of the philosophical discussion! The bottom line, it as great fun and training for the 24 hour Moab race coming up in October!

Helmet light, Battery pack, and Camel Back. The light runs 10 hours at low setting and 5 hours at high setting.

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The Rigid Single Speed, Kona 2-9 Unit

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The happy mountain biker (me) after the ride and displaying the gear!

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Rigid Single Speed Night Riding in the gulch!

24 Moab Training

Tyler and I are entering the 24 Hour Moab with two other riders from Mercury. I am thinking we will be "Team Mercury". The basics of the race; your team completes as many 15 mile laps as possible within a 24 hour period. This means night riding!

Below is our schedule of training to handle the event.

Tuesday - Faster anaerobic pace for 15 miles on our geared racing bikes.
Wednesday - Slower strength single speed riding 15 miles.
Thursday - 15-20 miles easy ride on geared racing bikes.

The above is fairly static from week to week leading to the race. Saturdays however, slowly increment to increase our endurance (time in the saddle, and overall miles)

Saturday - Every Saturday we do 15 mile laps in our local trail system called Horse Gulch. This last Saturday we completed 3 laps of 15 miles for 4 hours and 45 minutes in the saddle and a total of 45 miles. Next Saturday we are doing 4 laps. I pyramid this until we do 5 laps, then drop back down to 2 laps for a recover and continue to build back up until the race day.

The Saturday route consists- Sonic TH, Horse Gulch rd, Meadow, Telegraph, Sidewinder, Cowboy, SouthRim, Carbon, River Trail, Sonic TH.

The highlight of the trip is climbing over telegraph (which is always a nice challenge to conquer on any ride) The first 1.6 miles is the steepest aspect of the route (1000 ft of elevation in the first 1.6 miles) and the last 100 yards is a ball breaking climb to a nice overlook.

This last Saturday I felt weak from the beginning; however, Tyler, was a hammer, he cleared Telegraph on laps 2 and 3! I was thrilled with his performance!

One day very soon, I will eating the dust from his rear tire.