Not sure what to think.

I've had 48 hours to digest the Deer Valley race and I'm still not sure what to think about it. The facts:

• It was cold, crazy cold for June which my skinny ass is not a big fan of.


• I spent my entire warm-up time thinking of reasons to go back into the heated lodge.


• I rode the 1st seven mile lap in 45 mins and the 2nd four mile half lap in 37 mins. Seems like a big drop off in lap 2.


• The max HR I've ever recorded was 179 at a roadie TT. During MTB races my HR hangs out in the low to mid 160's. Max HR up the starting climb was only 168 yet my legs felt weak and I was huffing like a freight train.


• I enter each race without a real goal other than riding fast. I'm very goal oriented yet I can't come up with a realistic goal for most races. The only race I had a goal at was 5 Mile Pass (sub 2 hr time) and that was my best race. Since then I haven't had time goals since the courses are new to me. I also doesn't work to have a goal of trying to beat a specific person because the regulars in my category are either way faster or slower than me. I had a lot of relative success at the Solitude series last year because there was one guy who raced every week who was just a bit faster then me and another who was a bit slower. A carrot and a stick almost every race.


• I was 11th out of 14th but only 10 mins back from first which doesn't seem too bad for a guy with a total racing career consisting of four beginner races, three sport races and five mid-week races. I also don't have any kind of a training plan other than lift weights in winter and ride as much as possible in the summer.


• I've been very unhappy that the last two races have been shortened. My best sections (middle grade climbs) were removed from the 2nd laps of both races and even though my 2nd laps are a lot slower for some reason I feel better on them.


• I probably need to get a better warmup in but between stretching, eating, the early ass start times and being coach/trainer/physician/mechanic to team Hypio's real racer it never seems to happen.

That's a lot to think about but I have until Snowbird in July to try to figure some of it out. In the meantime I'll be surfing the net and picking peoples brains for ideas. I'm also open to any words of wisdom (or criticism) from people in the blogosphere who read this.

Rhonda has been bouncing back and forth for the last month or so about moving from the 35+ to the sport categorie. She wanted to race the longer distance but was worried about getting her teeth kicked in and was quite honestly enjoying the podiums she was getting in 35+. She was going to make the move in Draper but decided to wait when they shortened the race. They shortened the DV race as well but since she might not be able to race Icup again till Evanston she decided to make the move. The worry of getting her teeth kicked in proved unfounded. She added to her large stack of ribbons by finishing 6th. She climbed pretty well but the unfamiliar wet conditions slowed her down on the DH or she might have done even better. Next race for her is the Super D at the MTB nationals back in Deer Valley in a few weeks

Rhonda reaches down to turn her weapon to "full auto" for the descent.

A good thing

Because of this (chevron on 7th east)

Cars have finally starting outselling Fords F-series pickups. This is a very good thing for everybody except for the knucklehead American car company's who refused to see the writing on the wall.

Dig out your CX cold weather gear.

Temperatures at Deer Valley tomorrow per the National Weather Service

7:30 AM (warm up and registration) 40 deg
9:00 AM (race start) 49 deg
11:30 AM (appx finish) 53 deg

update- Now they've added a 40% chance of AM showers. This might work out for the best by scaring away some of my less motivated competition. If only 6 other people show up I just might get lucky and collect one of those fancy ribbons!

Stinkin' Snowpack

The Solitude ICUP has been rescheduled for 4th of July weekend which is the only weekend this summer that I can't possibly make it. You can ask Steve Hales how happy I was with that development. It's not like I would have a chance of doing well at the race. The 2700 ft of climbing over the course of a 14 mile race puts a large individual (6'7" 183lbs) such as myself at a huge disadvantage to my decidedly smaller competition. The thing is I love is the challenge of doing things I'm not good at and I was really looking forward to getting killed riding up and down that mountain three times. Maybe I should do it as an individual time trial the weekend before the race just for giggles.

We hid from the rain and watched Juno on DVD last night which I must highly recommend. I was worried that the high expectations I had for the movie would be let down after all the hype I've been hearing. Happily the movie is the real deal. It was a wonderfully original story that didn't let you down by being predictable. The comedy was in just a large enough dose to keep the serious subject matter from becoming dreary. Go rent it..... Fer Shiz

There will be blood (deer valley style)

That's the new name of the Deer Valley Pedalfest for anybody larger than a Hobbit. Or it could be called Rollin' in the 22-34 if you can't climb like me. The first half of the course is the same as always but it doesn't ride the same. The climb is the same but the first little section of switchbacks down the ski run is currently a 4" water filled trench through a small snowfield. Rideable but sketchy especially after getting blown up on the climb. The next couple miles down Pipeline are where the blood comes in. The trail is draped with tree branches and saplings pushed down into the trail path by the snow pack. You can ride through them but even riding conservatively and stopping every 100 yards or so to clear the worst of the branches out of the way I was covered in long bloody scratches by the end of the ride. Thank goodness it's going to be cold on Saturday so I can wear long sleeves. In the middle of the dodge a branch section is a hike a bike section over a snowdrift that will not be melted by Saturday. Don't even dream of wearing your carbon road shoes. The second half of the course is new and relatively branch free. It rides pretty well but the descent is kinda sketchy. The corners have huge berms that entice you into carrying a lot of speed but if you blow the corner and go over the edge you will probably earn yourself an expensive ambulance ride. Total distance per lap was just over seven miles with a lot of climbing and relatively slow descending (anybody know the total elevation gain per lap?). It will be pretty fun if the branches get cleaned up before the race and pretty annoying if they don't. If you get a chance to preride between snow showers this week help a brother out. Bring some clippers and cut back a couple of branches along the way.

My new favorite website

Chainlove.com. Same deal as steepandcheap.com only its all bike parts. Just had a full ultegra Pinarillo (sp?) bike for like $1200 and some $350 northwave shoes for $120. I think somebody is ganging up with ebay to try to put Sly out of business.

Sleep > Race

That's right call me lazy but when I planned out my race season this winter the Sundance race was one of the first ones eliminated. The course sounds fun but the thought of leaving my house by 6:30 AM to try to be to Sundance by 7:30 for proper stretching and a warm up makes me ill. Why do these bloody races have to start so freaking early? I'm kinda glad there will be a break in the action for a bit after Deer Valley this weekend. The siren call of lazy AM's followed by long days on buff singletrack is starting to overcome the urge to hang out in the pain cave at the buttcrack of dawn.