Well, after 2 years and 900+ posts, 225,000+ visitors and nearly 500,000 page views, it was time to 'upgrade' to new pastures. And so, I want to invite you to come and
The whole change was inspired as I needed a blogging environment which allowed me greater flexibility in layout, significantly easier content publishing in addition to offering a wider variety of features for my readers to enjoy. This site will grow in features over time, but hopefully, already, you've seen some of them!
Some things to highlight for you:
a) Bookmark the domain http://www.mudandcowbells.com going forward. That's all you need to get to M&C! This mudandcowbells.blogspot.com site will remain, albeit stagnant, so ensure you book mark this new, simpler URL.
b) Note the new features when you go to the new Mud and Cowbells blog! There is a new Forum feature, a section dedicated to Sponsors to learn about products and other new features which will come on line over time.
I thank you ALL who have read my rants over the years and hope this new site makes it even easier and more fun to get all 'crossy.
Well, after 2 years and 900+ posts, 225,000+ visitors and nearly 500,000 page views, it was time to 'upgrade' to new pastures. And so, I want to invite you to come and RE-DIRECT YOUR BOOKMARKS to the NEW MUD AND COWBELLS. Version "2.0"!
The whole change was inspired as I needed a blogging environment which allowed me greater flexibility in layout, significantly easier content publishing in addition to offering a wider variety of features for my readers to enjoy. This site will grow in features over time, but hopefully, already, you've seen some of them!
Some things to highlight for you:
a) Bookmark the domain http://www.mudandcowbells.com going forward. That's all you need to get to M&C! This mudandcowbells.blogspot.com site will remain, albeit stagnant, so ensure you book mark this new, simpler URL.
b) Note the new features when you go to the new Mud and Cowbells blog! There is a new Forum feature, a section dedicated to Sponsors to learn about products and other new features which will come on line over time.
I thank you ALL who have read my rants over the years and hope this new site makes it even easier and more fun to get all 'crossy.
Our friends over at OnSight Media...who bring you many of those great videos you watch on VeloNews TV while on your 'lunch break', have finished the 2008 Colorado State Cyclocross Championship video and is now on Comcast CET!
March 1 - 12:30pm March 2 - 5:30pm March 5 - 6:00pm March 8 - 7:00pm March 9 - 8:30am March 10 - 8:30am March 12 - 7:00am March 13 - 9:30pm March 15 - 9:30am March 18 - 6:00pm March 19 - 7:00pm March 24 - 8:30pm March 26 - 6:00pm March 28 - 12:00pm March 29 - 9:00am
I'm not sure at what point I realized that I had a big ride in the morning. While I was on stage, several cocktails into the evening wailing out Elton John's Rocket Man at Boulder's dive karaoke bar....or watching my wife while on said stage in said bar getting cornered by a gaggle of....well let's just say some ladies playing for the other team. Hilarious.
But it was obviously time to go home....
When my eyes cracked open at 7:30AM....and I surveyed the body for any physical damage...then ensure the evening was 'awesome' by finding my wallet and CrackBerry (those things just tend to get lost on epic evenings...)...I knew I had to hi tail it to get to Amante and meet the crew there. Kiss goodby and car packed, I flew to the meet up point (Amante) and saw that we had a crew...a massive crew....of super fun, super fast dudes..... Today was going to hurt.
The destination were some of the beautiful county built trails up in Larimer County. Trails like Horsetooth and Devil's backbone would be on the Agenda. It was my first time there but we had some dudes in the mix today who own those trails and would show us a great ride. And yes, it would be epic.
I snapped this late in the ride. Scope out the people and dog on the top!
Spectacular trails interwoven with amazing geography
Preparing to braaaap
The trail systems are insane in Larimer. Well marked and super well engineered. Very flowy. One section was brutally harsh...traversing a massive multiple mile rock field which rattled the fillings out of our teeth. All else was sick singletrack with miner bits of fire road and pavement to hook stuff up.
Even the best of us had to walk some sections. Sick technical twisties...
It was clear the previous night took a lot of wind out of the sails. I needed to absolutely just be within myself on the massive climbs. Nothing to prove, no goals whatsoever other than burning the hangover out of me....but in this part of the year, just to be fit without being near that scary edge of sickness-fitness.
Suffering.
The long road ahead....
Rest stops to fix up some mechanicals
The Trek Team boys were drilling it hard. Great bunch of dudes with obvious talent. They love the mountain bike. That brings me joy to see.
Za author. One lucky biscuit
Communion
Matty Opp showing us the finer things
By mid way through, we split....the young single guys (and Batey) going on for another couple of hours, and Longman, Matty Opp, Birthday Boy Bobby, Boups and I still had another hour or more of technical riding ahead of us. So we split the crew and went our ways.
The last stretches....
All said and done, we got back to the car in roughly 4:50 ride time covering lots of extremely technical and cherry ground. I'll be sure to be back. The trail system is a keeper.
More of the day's digital celluloid. Full set found here.
She's gone and done it. AD has announced her un-retirement...for 'cross! That's right Allison; the Force in this sport, too strong is.
This makes me unspeakably happy. It shows that the attraction of the sport is 100% fun. The pain and suffering required to be good is proving to fade away as the joy of being at a 'cross race and demonstrate yourself in front of fans lining the tape and being in your face every weekend outweighs....well, outweighs just about anything. Even perceived 'age'.
You rock on AD. Bring the pain to those young'uns like Compton and Georgia. Just man up and get rid of that bunk shoulder pad on your top tube! Totally un-PRO. Ha!
Today was one of those days where everything just gelled. From the moment we woke up and heard our boys silently playing Legos downstairs, sharing and just being kind to each other...for once...Amy and I smiled and knew this day would be OK. And so it was.
Amy had some classes she was taking today so it was a daddy-and-the-boys-day. My boys love it. They actually sing this chant: "It's daddy and the boys day!' Unbelievable. So, when asked what they wanted to do, anything, they said: Go biking! Sweet! So we hooked up a good'un!
So, I captured it all. I love these moments. I got so excited just riding, flowing and laughing. I could feel that deep warm laughter like I hadn't had in a LONG time. And my boys yanked it out of me. The writing, the picture taking...well, it all is important to me. I have this fear, this core fear, that I'll forget. Not remember the details. The faces, the way my boys voices sound. So I obsess (like you all know...) and I document. And so, I share this with you. Click on Seamus' victory salute below for the album...
It's safe to say that the epics are on like Donkey Kong to quote my main man Dave Towle. 4.5 hours yesterday with some of the other fellas on the ride we linked up with out for 6. We're getting snow out here in Boulder which is great, but it's amazing how quickly it melts and gives us perfectly tacky and miraculously dry conditions. The best of all worlds.
The crew hooked up at Heil, some riding there, Matty an I driving due to time constraints (even though Bobby thinks we're getting soft). We had, Rob Batey, Matt Opperman, Bobby Noyes, The Longest Man, Jason Vogel and last but certainly not least, the wonder twin powers of the Torrance brothers. The ride we did is basically a truncated version of the "Boulder Epic"...which would start typically in Boulder and traverse Eagle Trail etc to get you to Heil Ranch, then on the way into the woods. Today, for Matty and I anyways, would be a section Heil Ranch which included the full length of the Wild Turkey Trail, we intersect with the new Picture Rock Connector trail dump out into Lyons CO and then meander over to the Antelope climb of the Hall Ranch trail system where we'd do a loop of the Nelson Loop at the top and descend Hall's notorious rock garden descent. From there it's back up the Picture Rock connector, into Heil and home. The conditions of the trails were insane. Nice and tacky. The reality is (and anyone who rides the Heil/Picture network frequently will say the same), it's unbelievable rocky. Glacial till and exposed rock make the ride less 'flowy' but more a sustained series of shocks to the body. You actually do have to flow as best as possible to be smooth and keep momentum over the trail system as its entire length is like a technical challenge. I do this ride often but the pace we were going yesterday and the frequency of hauling the bike up and over the rocks challenges by yanking on the bars to table up and over these things and I feel like Mike Tyson beat the snot out of me. The beginning half of the day I felt no chain. Rolling nicely....and it's no wonder as my ride lengths up to yesterday have been like in the 1.5-2 hour range. Yesterday truly broke the cherry! Matty Opp and I railed on our 29'ers through all of the stuff at break neck pace with the Torrance bros and Batey railing in tow. By the time we got to Hall, my bike literally started to come undone, XTR brakes (pieces of shit...and I need to upgrade to Avid soon!) effectively clamping down on my rotors. Oh, and the body felt it was doing the same! I had all the food in the world and felt no bonk, but the legs were so loaded it was incredible by the 3rd hour. Bobby (here's your shout out Bobby) literally had to say 'on your left' as he dropped me at Hall. Don't worry sports fans, he gets his. On the way back up Picture Rock at roughly hour 3.5 I'm going psychotic with my rotors going scwhing scwhing scwhing scwhing scwhing scwhing scwhing scwhing scwhing scwhing with that high pitched rub. I wanted to huck the thing. I'd get off and literally YANK the rotor as I swear I think they bowed with the amount of action they got. By this time Bobby, who decided to turn the screws to the stragglers suffering some bike lengths behind with an all out attack, has a leg implosion (I swear I heard it through the woods...sort of like a 'pop!') and we see him essentially dead, buzzards circling above. I leave him with a Gu and some words of advice on how to survive in the wild overnight, and we leave his ass. (HA!...kidding...on the leaving part). We all get back to Heil ~4.5 hours later, legs baked and toasty. Bike basically steaming. Matty Opp is way too fit for this time of year (start drinking Matt) and the Torrance bros couldn't tag team to reel the kid in. Batey I think wants revenge for getting dropped by the T's as well. Don't worry Batey, they're not half as good looking as you are, so you've got that going for you.
So that's it. Recovery ride today and we begin more of these character building assaults on our bodies from here on in. Also. some crappy YouTube. I ran out of free HD time on Vimeo this week.
I'm such a weak-ass blogger these days....sorry! My focus is about work these days. Getting in the riding at odd and random times to keep me from turning into a Michelin man, but the balance is imbalanced these days to say the least.
Anyhoo, my main man Geert in Za Motherland reminded me that 'cross is alive and well! And the last one, a GVA, will be at Ooostmalle this Sunday and bright to you in live streaming technicolor by our friends at Sport.BE. I'll set this post to go off again Saturday PM to remind you all for Sunday but figured I's send this out now.
Last night was the first night of racing at the Boulder Indoor Cycling Velodrome! I'm happy to say, there was no carnage and the racing was pretty cool to watch. There was a scratch race, a snowball and a team pursuit. The racing was roughly from 8 to 9:30PM and the elevated viewing area at the Velodrome provided a decent perspective to the racing. The beers (brought by the spectators...BIC does not sell beer) was flowing and spirits were high.
I snapped some photos and a crappy video (below) for you to get a sense of the action. Enjoy!
It is extremely safe to say that Amy and I are 'anti-holiday' types. Love is a 24/365 day holiday...love, in fact, takes no holidays as far as we are concerned. We inject it into our lives everyday, well, because we l-o-v-e each other and don't need some contrived Hallmark card to express what we can say to each other every day. I mean, wouldn't you rather say the words you mean, rather than having them created for you by some college intern at some mega-card company who's going to smoke a bowl and party with his college buds that night....just as soon as he finishes his latest creation...
Love. It continues to blossom between you and I like the flower I gave you the night we first met.
GAG. I thought so. So, Amy and I went for a ride....
We hooked up a snowy Hall Ranch and finished up with a Valentine's lunch at Oskar Blues. Some Leroy Browns and some soup....yum. The ride was such a purge for us. The tension has built again on Side 3 of the Three Part Teeter Totter and it's scraping the ground....family and riding not being able to re-balance things for me....for us. I will say though that it isn't for a lack of trying and pushing....if not simply flicking...the dominoes we need in our family to instigate the change we so desire.
Believe in it.
Watching my lady ride is something else. She drilled it in pretty adverse conditions at Hall with snow covering most of the ride. She's not used to it but was PRO as she navigated all of the madness back there. We just took it all in and again embraced life...our kids....the family and life we've made...and the promise of things yet to come here in Boulder. It's good. Scratch that: it's great.
Yes. This is Colorado.
My Ahrens Revolver 29'er may undergo a 1 x 1 conversion. Stay tuned.
Anxiety. Work. Groundhog-day wake ups. Am I gaining weight. Push cycling to the back. Long for cycling to be in the front. Distractions. Travel. Work. Family. Work....
It's the dog days. That period between your season's end and keeping your mind in tact that another season will come and lots other than cycling needs to be focused on. I can guarantee so many of you know that mental thrashing that I am talking about. So what am I doing?
Eating "healthy". OK, that's an embellishment because my wife is a nutritionist and we eat unbelievably. My change is in focusing in on WAY more greens and fruit (although the latter comes at the cost of more sugars) and what I am essentially basing my diet around these days to keep my system 'moving'. Protein-heavy stuff will come when the super deep training comes. My body over the last few months feels like I can not cycle-out stuff inside me...so I am focusing on the greens, tons of hydration (I know you all 'forget' to drink those 8 glasses of water a day!) all to make the stuff floooooooooooow.
Strength. I'm getting some gray hairs...so I need to ensure this frame can continue doing what I love....forever. So now I am an early AM gym person, ~3-4 times a week, strengthening my legs, back and core. It's hard. Last year I did NOTHING, and suffered for it. Again, I came into last season with no opportunity for real training given the shit thatwent down so I had to just get fit by racing (which....was fun but left me dangling...reaching for that .0001% of something!) Frankly, to 'get by' last year I ended up drinking more than riding. It is what it is but it's what my mind needed to deal. Yes, a crutch. So come September, of course I never felt as if my core was strong enough to support the type of breathing I needed...and like my old coaches used to say: All power comes from the center. So, I've got me some fat to burn and some muscles to re-build.
Stay out of the red: I'm riding these days, because I can;t live without it. It's my soul. Some cross, some MTB, some road....long rides, short rides, medium rides. But nothing too deep. I did not use a my PowerTap or my Polar last year. Not at all. Not once in fact for the WHOLE year. I used my Polar simply for the watch! But now, I am using it again to ensure I don't get too crazy. Nothing deep. I know now after all these years that I need to reserve my matches as it takes me WAY longer to recover. Sincerely, massive efforts early at nearly 40 years old takes a lot out of you (or me anyways). I'm fit, and need to remember that and require polish versus whole-sale rebuilding. 2007 was a physical restructuring under Za Plan. That changed me positively forever thanks to Taro. Now I am building upon that subtly and with smaller bricks versus those massive ones re-laid in the summer of 2007.
Stretching. I'm not even going to say much here because I am a FOOL for not stretching more.
Relaxing: I'm not Sven Nys. I don't play him on TV. I am a daddy and husband and worker. Oh, and bike racer. I'm a nearing-40 year old with a UCI Elite license (huh?...yup, just got it in the mail)....but I n-e-e-d t-o r-e-l-a-x o-n t-h-e w-h-o-l-e s-c-e-n-e! Ha! At least the scene I envision my head. Seeing the forest for the trees is the watch-phrase I need to focus on. Remember racing is a part of the collective joy. Not the joy.
An effort to re-claim 35 acres of vacant land in East Portland and turn it into a bike recreation hub is building some serious momentum.
Standing at the southern end of the site. This is the highest point on the site.
On Saturday, a select group of trail experts, bureaucrats, citizen advocates, neighborhood representatives, and agency stakeholders kicked off a focused planning effort for how bicycles might fit into the Gateway Green vision.
The “Kick the Dirt” event was funded by a grant from REI and was organized by trail advocate Tom Archer, parks advocate Linda Robinson, and the visionary developer behind the Gateway Green project, Ted Gilbert. The group spent the better half of a sunny Saturday getting to know the site firsthand and brainstorming ideas that will be organized into a forthcoming “concept plan”.
Take Action to Increase Opportunities for Bicycling in National Parks
IMBA Action Alert
At long last the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) has proposed a rule change which will make it easier for parks to open trails for mountain biking. IMBA urges mountain bikers to register comments in support of the rule change. IMBA has been asking for this change since the 1990s. We now enter a 60-day commentary period to make the change official.
You can read IMBA's white paper analysis of the proposed rule change and view the entire text in the Federal Register online. We know that several groups are working to defeat this proposal -- it will take thousands of comments in favor of the rule change to ensure it stays intact. You may also watch IMBAs video on the situation...
As the proposal explicitly states, none of the NPS procedures for environmental review -- or opportunities for public commentary -- will be diminished by this change. What it will achieve is a much more manageable system for adopting mountain biking trails. The proposal states, "As a general matter, the proposed rule provides park superintendents with a more efficient and effective way to determine whether opening existing trails to bicycles would be appropriate in the park unit they manage."
Thank you for accepting my comments concerning RIN 1024-AD72, the National Park Service rule change for bicycling. I fully support the proposed rule.
The special regulations process that restricts bicycling on trails is unduly burdensome and duplicates protections that are already addressed by the NPS General Management Plan and the National Environmental Policy Act.
This proposed rule would give park superintendents better tools for opening trails to bicycling. It would also treat bicycles like other non-motorized trail uses, such as horseback riding.
Independent scientific studies, including those conducted by the National Park Service, have shown the environmental impacts of mountain biking are similar to those of hiking, and far less than other uses.
The best research regarding social interactions on trails reveals those who encounter other user groups report very favorably on their interactions. Claims otherwise are unsupported by scientific data.
Shared-use trails are a successful management tool worldwide. NPS staff are skilled at selecting appropriate trails for shared-use by hikers, bicyclists, and equestrians.
This rule will aid visitor enjoyment for both children and adults. Bicycling broadens the recreational offerings and gets Americans out of their cars and into the natural world. It connects people of all ages with the natural environment and is a fun, low-impact activity.
Improving opportunities for bicycling and promoting trails tourism could benefit economic conditions for nearby communities.
Mountain bikers are prolific volunteers--conducting nearly one million hours of trailwork on public lands annually--and could help build environmentally sound, sustainable trails.
Thank you for considering my comment. Bicycling is a wonderful way to explore our national parks and I hope the proposed rule change will be implemented.
I am a husband, daddy, software product management evangelist and bike racer trying to live the dream. My blogs range from exploits trying to balance the 'three part teeter totter' (family/bike racing/work) to my rants as a guy in the software industry and all it comes with these days of data growth, far too few people to manage it and the need to push us all to the growing worldwide social network. Read and comment if you like.
