ride

Great ride today, fat tires with a little bit of snow last night made the trails perfect today. All the dry stuff from last week was gone. All of the photos are within a few miles and 45 minutes of the others. Riding alone let me think about how lucky I am to have this right out my door:

xmas

Christmas in May, well just about June. Woke up to 6 inches of fresh, budding trees and snow all over. The hummingbirds that were around at dusk last night survived ok. I felt bad for the little guys but I know they wouldn't live here if they couldn't handle a bit of weather. Got out on the road bike after mid day errands and had a great spin, I wanted fat tires today but didn't want to rip up the trails after the snow. Special treat tonight, Starbucks Java Chip ice cream, mmmmmm ice cream. Life is good, the kid is recovering really well from thursday's surgery.

Wrong

I was wrong about Simoni, Cunego is the new King.

The Boy

Me and the Kid.

Odd

GIro starts in a few minutes. Can't wait to see who comes over the Gavia first. I think Simoni is going to kill it today and put them all to shame. Cunego will get second and be the next "camponissimo."

Better

Two good days on the bike and one more good day of rest. Riding Vail Pass last night was good. I was able to climb at a steady clip and push it if I wanted to, nothing too high end, never red zone work but good steady climbing. Mtb season is close, I think that I'll go well, body is coming around and for the first time since 2001 I have a granny gear for the hills. I'll sharpen up the form in the next week and hit next saturday's prologue with good legs and open up nicely for wednesday's first xc race. Tonight was good, climbing even better than last night. Looking down and across the valley, taking in the view it was perfect. Good selection on the youpod, Starting with Arco to Neutral Milk, mellow introspective music fits well with the effort.

rednecks

i have a bit of anger directed at those who don't pay attention to the way the world should be. of course i realize that my idea of the way the world be should differs from theirs. the idea of motos on trails that should be for bikes and hikers, or motos in general ripping up fragile sections of established multi-use trails really pisses me off. why can't the rednecks get it? go where the trails are ready for your gasoline powered male enhancements. i don't ride my bike on trails where it is too wet and i portage over muddy sections or go through the middle, not widening the trail. read the frigging rules, i'm sure they can be conveyed in a nascar friendly format so they all can understand them!

home

my bout with fatigue is fading,i guess maybe i just need to make sure i'm always eating, not that i wasn't but it just makes for a better body. yesterday tim and i fixed up the wtb, new cranks and it works better than it has in years. the ride the other night with the guys on their fancy double-boingers made me realize that my bike is just fine, sure a new fork would be great but the article our "journalist" wrote nipped that in the bud. my old fork is fine and i have a heavy little rigid fork waiting in the wings for when i want to go full wood. blair witch loop last night out in the elk habitat, no wildlife but the trail is midsummer-dry. a bit scary but we are 100 years into a 50 year burn cycle. maybe this will be the year? enjoy it while you can. the bike and body just clicked, two hours of singletrack with the long climb over the ridge to get home. happy to suffer up the climb, focused on the next little rootlip. i love this stuff, we rode through the section where i almost got shot last fall, this time not gliding through 10 cm of fresh snow but a dry, rolling, terracotta ribbon through the woods. i even made the seesaw. good day.

why

as i read the article it made me confused, if a rider would rather have the simplicity of one speed and the lack of a fancy fork requiring more maintenance than an f1 car so be it. i raced a few seasons on a rigid fork with gears just to prove that it doesn't matter, i was happy doing it and it made a good challenge. if race promoters are accommodating enough to give singles a special class i think it's better for our sport, i stopped going to the "big races" because of the lack of camaraderie among racers and the local/state level brings me all of the that and more. riders looking out for one another and giving each other the support an NCS event never did. singles certainly have that covered. singlespeeding is one more incarnation of the mtb that will bring more good people to the sport, who cares if they race or not? our so-called journalist here isn't seeing the big picture, ride your damn bike, whatever new/old/cobbled together bike it may be just ride and be happy. look at the scenery not at your $600 fork. maybe our writer missed the integrity part of journalism school.

ride

i kind of feel pretty tired but with the weather as good as it has been i rode the mtb again, really fun stuff and me on my little hardtail hanging with pro downhillers. not that i was pushing them but i wasn't holding anybody up either. the trails are so dry in the horseshoe that you'd never know it was may and not september. too dry to be safe for "mud season." now the bike just needs some tuning and it'll be ready for the denver in a day ct epic (170 km) around the solstice, and then maybe some other cool trips too. no matter how tired i get the bike is never a bad idea, maybe tonight i'll sleep 12 hours and wake all caught up! good night