Todd and I dance the Oakley dance. From our wonderful friend Bri...

Reviews: FRS, ipod Shuffle, Compression Socks, Hydrapak, ZeroGoo, The Stick, Handlebar pack, etc.

Of the new small items I have been testing this is a list of my favorites:

FRS drinks and chews. I got hooked on the FRS drinks at interbike when I was running on no sleep and had the typical Interbike all-day/all-night schedule. I used it after Interbike while trying to fit too much into a family week complete with training, wedding, lunches, dinners, and nights on the town. Now I use it for training and recovery. Basically, it gets me going and keeps me going. Try it if you are heading into the conference room and know you are about to fall asleep, or before getting on your bike to do intervals at the end of a draining day.

Zerogoo's Fuel Injector is a great gadget. It allows you to regulate the quantity and timing of gel and water mix. I have even used it on hard group road rides (no, I don't look roadie with my pack, but I can get to my gel when no one else can).

Zerogoo is working on perfecting this system with various size re-fillable/collapsible gel containers. I have ridden ~1300 miles with this setup, I don't even notice it is there and actually prefer the way the hose is now mounted. The pack and Fuel Injector are usually left in my car (with gel) between rides (25-120 degree temps). If you do this a lot, and never clean it out, eventually the gel will clump and not flow through the valve, my solution was to just shake the entire thing, pack and all. I should probably clean it at some point... But it still tastes good, so I haven't.
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Next I plan to try it with other gels. I hear it works just as well with CarbBoom, GU, Clif, PowerBar, and EFS gels. Another thing to try is Gatorade powder, fill the bottle with the dry powder and screw it on, sounds cool.

Here is my injector pictured with Hydrapak's new magnetic hose holder and Surge bite valve. The magnet is great, just place the hose close to the right spot and the magnet "grabs" it. The Surge bite valve is great, no more leaking; if you have the old one replace it now, see details below.
.For a $1 deal from Hydrapak:

"How to get the Deal:
Click to order our old Easy Flo Bite Valve
You will see the $1 Dollar Price
Add to shopping cart
When checking out use the code: surge (case sensitive)
You will then see the Free Shipping applied
We ship the Surge!"

Close up of new Surge bite valve:

New ipod shuffle. I do love the controls, they make sense and are easy to use. The pink Shuffle is pictured here tucked in my helmet with the extra wire wrapped up and the controls left in easy reach. No more wires to get in the way. However, I do not like the ipod ear pod (it falls out of my ear). I plan to cut off the ear pods, shorten the wires and replace with a single Memorex EC100 Sport ear piece. That is the issue with placing the new controls inline with the headphones. Although there are adapters, I will just cut and solder it the way I want it.
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The Stick Wheel (for feet). This is one of those things you never knew you needed. I have never cared to have my feet massaged, but this makes me realize I have tight muscles or small knots in the bottom of my feet. I now leave it by the couch and use it when I watch TV, I just leave it on the floor and roll my foot back and forth on top of it.
Swiftwick's arm warmers. I really like these arm warmers, they do not fall down and are not tight, they have a perfect level of "compression" which is not noticeable (unless you add too much of a new electrolyte product and your arms swell up, don't ask...). They seem to be warm in cold weather but don't get hot in warm weather, I'm not sure how that works but I like it. Guys, if you have really muscular arms they may be too tight, so try them on first if you can.
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I love my pink Recovery Socks. Turns out these guys are out of Tucson so I have been seeing other people running around in "my" socks. These are the first pair I have tried that are long enough, don't feel tight at the top, don't fall down (ever), and hold up to washing and drying. They recommend not drying the socks, but since our washer automatically dries after washing, I never get them out between cycles.

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JANDD handlebar pack. This is a really functional pack and great for extras like gloves, arm warmers, jacket, map, etc. I can stuff a lot in the pack and get in and out of it while riding. It's great for the road bike, but I had issues off-road on the MTB. First, the straps loosen. Second, although it doesn't move around too much, when full it was heavy enough to bounce up and break my handlebar computer mount. For the MTB I am going to try the Mountain Feedbag by Epic Ride Research.

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Erika Powers Cross Racing

My Sister Erika is tearing it up in the Utah cross races, read about it here.

Erika leading the pack, photo taken from MTBRaceNews.com

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MTBRaceNews.com also covered the Iceman Cometh and the pro athlete's comments on why this race draws so many racers and spectators.

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I had a great weekend here in Tucson, AZ including spending Saturday at the Trips for Kids race and joining the 82-mile option of the GABA Silverbell century ride on Sunday.

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Just a few of the kids pose for pics with me at the Nov 7th Trips for Kids event

Back in Tucson

We are back in Tucson, AZ! It has been two years and it is everything I remember. We are staying near Catalina Hwy, the road that goes up Mt Lemmon. You can ride all the way around Tucson from here, it is a perfect location.

Saturday 10/24: On the way from Santa Fe we stopped in Tullarosa, NM to ride the White Sands 108-mile century on the missile range.

. It was a fun ride "not a race" with plenty of wildlife and no cars, the best wildlife being the Oryx.

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At the start of the ride a girl with good intentions picked a fight with Todd because I was on the windy side and he was on the wind protected side of the group, it was pretty windy I'll give her that. She thought it was so rude of Todd and told him multiple times to switch spots with me. (my heart rate at the time was ~ 110bpm.) What do you say in a situation like that? "no, I am actually a good rider, I just look slow" (since I have a full Hydrapak, MTB shoes, handlebar bag, Bento Box, tool bag, a front and rear light, etc.) I just said something like "oh, I'll be fine, thanks."

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As it ended up I was the first 108-mile route finisher @ 5.5 hours (2nd to cross the "finish line"), but only because the lead group I was with stopped at the 60-mile aid station for lunch while I continued on. Todd had turned off (alone) at the 35-mile mark to do the "70-mile" loop, which ended up being 93-miles! He ended up being the 1st finisher and beat me by 30-minutes. It was a great ride, we didn't race it (my heart rate average was 145) but it did make it interesting to see if I could "stay away", Todd had his own slow motion race, making sure he got in before I did while not going hard.

After the century we drove a couple hours toward Tucson and spent the night at the Deming Wal-Mart.

Sunday 10/25: Did our shopping at Wal-Mart, finished the drive to Tucson, stocked up on propane and diesel for the winter (never go to Gas City in a big rig!), pulled into our new location, and got in a quick spin to the local coffee shop before dark.

This week is my favorite part of getting to a new town, scoping out what it has to offer, finding the local gym, health food store, mail service, new training routes, etc. We hooked up with Chad Brown and Scott Morris today for a late day ride in Oro Valley, those two are a lot of fun. I was a bit worried they would decide to ride to Mexico while surviving on gas station food and sleeping under the stars or something. But luckily they were happy to do an easy spin and grab a taco at Rubios. Thanks for the pics Chad.

. Now we have a freeze warning, what happened to the warm weather???

One week left in Santa Fe

We have five days left in Santa Fe, NM before heading to Tucson, AZ for the winter. This last week has been great for riding with temps in the low 70s. The best part of riding in Santa Fe is almost every ride leaves from "home", although we did drive to Taos to do the South Boundary Trail.

I like this picture of our spot in Santa Fe. It looks like we think we are hidden in the trees.


Todd on our railtrail ride from Santa Fe to Lamy and back.

Henry looking over Santa Fe from the Atalya trail.

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I have been trying out goodies from interbike and will post a review soon.

What to do & Where to go in Durango, CO

Best of Durango, CO
(this list is a work in progress of things I'd like to remember the next time I am in town)

Where to stay: Durango Hometown Hostel. You have to check it out; all ages are welcome, very nice and super clean. It is basically a newly remodeled home with bunk beds in bedrooms and great bathrooms, awesome host, low prices, and coffee in the morning. It has everything you need and more, including the Horse Gulch MTB singletrack right outside the front door.

Bike shops:
Mountain Bike Specialists

Durango Cyclery Summer Thursday night SS rides with an awesome crew.

Coffee shops with computers and wifi:
Steaming Bean - 915 Main Street
Durango Joes - 732 E. College Drive

Health food stores:
Natural Grocer -1123 Camino Del Rio

Durango Natural Foods Co-op - 575 East 8th Ave

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Brewery and food:

Ska Brewery
Word is Zia Tacaria is the place for after a ride, I still need to check this out myself.
Bread great bread and sandwiches, very cyclist friendly.

Trails:
Horse Gulch
Test Tracks
Colorado Trail
Hermosa Creek

Road routes:
Flatish – Hwy 250/550
Climb – 160 from Durango to Hesperus
See Map My Ride link for more

Websites/group rides/trail descriptions/races:
Durango Wheel Club
Trail/Route Info
Map My Ride

Durango Devo (Summer short track race promoter, also see race schedule for other races)
Fort Lewis College (Hemosa Creek Classic race promoter)

37/60/100 mile road event Sept 25, 2010
Durango Century 2010 date TBD
Dirt Lover’s Rally 2010 date TBD

CT Classic 2010 date TBD

Radio Stations:

102.1

Santa Fe, NM Jason & Heather's Wedding

We are hanging out in Santa Fe, NM eating great New Mexican food and visiting with family. Todd's brother Jason's wedding was Saturday in Chimayo, NM. It was a perfect fall day, I rode 70-miles on the road before the wedding, we then hurried to get ready for the wedding, drove to a wonderful B&B in Chimayo for the wedding and reception, then back to Santa Fe to hang out with friends and family till sometime Sunday morning. Todd and I camped (crashed in the Eurovan), then finished the weekend off with brunch at the Cowgirl..

Jason and Heather Park

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US Cup Unification Race, a Kitty and Interbike

Thursday Sept 17th: Todd tried to catch a lost 6-week old kitty in the woods at Bonelli (San Dimas, CA). The kitty loved Todd's Power Bar balls and drank a good bit of water but would not be caught and found a great hiding spot in the cactus. Friday Sept 18th: Todd spent another 3 hours and finally caught the little guy who wouldn't have lasted long in the extreme heat. We took him to Citrus Veterinary Clinic in San Dimas, CA. If anyone wants a new cat please give them a call.

Sunday Sept 20th: US Cup Unification Race at Bonelli Park in San Dimas, CA. It was way too hot for a race. Luckily I had enough points to win the Unification title by just showing up. Only three pro girls started and I think half the guys DNF'd. I had goosebumps the entire race, we basically rode around just under the overheating threshold and it became a road race, waiting to see what the other person would do. It ended up coming down to a sprint in the last 5 minutes, but as I changed gears getting ready to go I dropped my chain and the race was over. Congratulations goes to Allison for winning the one day race. After the race we packed up and headed to Vegas.

Monday Sept 21st: Finished the drive to Vegas, ~ 2 miles from the RV park the slide-out awning broke and fell down. We took it off, checked in at the RV park then hit Dirt Demo day 1.
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Tuesday Sept 22nd: Dirt Demo day 2, 8:00am Dirt Demo (HUGE) road group ride. We thought it would be a chill early morning spin, I had only eaten one hardboiled egg and drank a 25 calorie FRS before the ride. I started mid-pack which was a mistake, my legs felt great and I started bridging from group to group, it was a great power day. The rest of the day was spent riding every Specialized bike I could get my hands on (Era, Epic, 29'r, Tarmac SL2). The Era actually rode the best. Most of the bikes had the new SRAM XX drivetrain, wow! I need that drivetrain... I wish I could have tried the 16.6lb Cannondale Flash! Once Todd figures out how expensive Interbike is in the long run, I think he'll try to keep me from going.

Specialized 29'r Carbon HT

Specialized Carbon Epic

Wed-Fri Sept 23rd-25th: Interbike all day, dinner industry parties, Cross Vegas and Gold Sprints at night. I was on my feet for almost 18 hours a day!! Pink recovery socks saved my legs and had style!

FRS kept me going. I had never tried the FRS drinks, but I scored a give-a-way case and got hooked on it...
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Here are a couple cool items:

Ergon Cork and Grass Grips

I am going to try this new ZeroGoo product on my next ride, it mixes gel with water for a constant flow of pure gel, pure water, or any mix in-between. It was super light and easy to adjust.

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Saturday Sept 26th: We put in a new fuel line, luckily that was the ticket! Hit the road to NM with A/C!

Sunday Sept 27th: Todd stopped off at the Albuquerque, NM airport and flew to MD. I continued on to Santa Fe, set up the "house", got a fix of NM chile and visited with Todd's family.

Specialized Trail Crew

I just saw a listing looking for Specialized Trail Crew members. It sounds like they figured out a job title (albeit non-paying) for what I do when I am not racing, travel the US in search of new trails and new cycling friends. I already have the Specialized gear. I already lead rides for my clinics as I travel, and join group rides in each town I visit. Leading rides without the clinic part would just be, well, a pretty normal day.

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Having a title may justify my passion for attracting unsuspecting people to this addiction called cycling. They may not quit their job, sell their home, buy an RV and travel the US in search of new trails, but then again maybe they will... I love getting out on the trail with guys, girls and kids of all levels. Going for a super slow spin or a long epic ride, showing someone how to bunny hop or use clipless pedals in the park, joining a singlespeed hammer ride or trying to follow a DH rider down some drops is a great day on the bike.

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just another excuse to post a picture of my race bike (which now has S-Works carbon cranks).

Specialized has solid products, it seems they put a great deal of time into their research, design and testing. The carbon hardtail is an awesome race bike, there were a few races where I could have used an Epic, but the hardtail performed very well. Even the smaller things are done correctly, I did a short review of the helmet, shoes and gloves last year. Basically the women's gloves actually fit, I haven't found any other gloves that fit this well. Specialized also offers extras like the Riders Club website, clinics and demos; and now ride leaders, this is something I would love to be a part of.

On the move again

CO Trail Thru-hikers Blueberry and Mark

Durango was a great base for the last couple months. Last weekend was fun, I rode the CO Trail, ran into one guy about an hour's ride in that needed a tube (it was cold and raining, would have been a hard long walk out), then talked to some guys who were in trouble with their girlfriends for poor planning and making a ride a lot longer than it was supposed to be, they had been out for ~6hours and were making matters worse by not waiting at a turn and hoping the girls would figure it out. The girls were waiting at the turn for the guys to return... Another guy had me make a call to his girlfriend as his phone had died and he needed a ride, turns out she had been to the trailhead twice already looking for him. Then I gave a couple thru-hikers a ride to town, had dinner with them and dropped them off at a trail angel's place for the night since they didn't want to camp in the pouring rain. Blueberry took 6 weeks, Mark ~28 days from Denver to Durango. See Mark's site, raising funds for Burma.

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I raced the last Durango Devo short track Wednesday 9/9, won $50 for a series win, worked on the generator and hit the road to CA Thursday.

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Dash airconditioning units don't do much to cool off the motorhome while driving. Ours has a leak so we don't even bother to put freon in it, especially since we try to travel/live where it is ~70-degrees. With three pets to keep cool we run the generator and the coach A/C when it is hot, this assumes the generator works...

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Before heading to Durango I had Freightliner change my oil and filters in both the coach and generator (it took them two days, horrible experience, I won't go back, I can do it myself in 5 hours or less). Since then I have had what I thought was a generator oil leak. It wasn't a loose drain plug and was worse while running. I opened the generator (not a quick job) thinking it would be due to a loose oil filter.

.What I found was a diesel fuel leak at the fuel filter (which Frieghtliner had replaced). Durango Napa had a replacement filter, after replacing it I still had a leak. I guess it is the line between the fuel filter and fuel pump, if you overtighten the fitting it gets a hairline crack. Of course no one stocks the lines. I ordered a line from Cummins in TN, had it shipped to CA and hit the road without an A/C. When I was working on the generator wearing a jacket in 50/60-degree weather this didn't seem like such a bad idea.

Fuel Filter and lines (back one needs to be replaced, I think...)

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Hot RV, hot desert, hot pets = BAD IDEA. The highest temp was 107, but not for long; mid to high 90s were the norm.

Hot Kitty and her ice pack

NE AZ and 30 minute stop for road construction. Open windows didn't really help much without the air flow.

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The stop in Flagstaff, AZ was nice, much cooler temps. I parked and went for a quick ride. I ran across this family. The little boy had just wrecked and was not at all happy. I tried to distract him from crying by asking a bunch of questions while we walked all the bikes to a house. I told him he was tough and would make a great pro mountain biker. He said "no I won't, I keep falling!" and started crying again. Too cute.

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OUCH

Friday night I didn't get much sleep, it was 86 degrees at 2:00am when I went to sleep and 80 degrees at 6:00am when I woke up. I got an early start but it got hot quickly.

Outdoor Temp

Indoor Temp

When I arrived at our RV park I didn't waste any time getting into my spot, plugging in and turning on the air conditioner. I registered, disconnected the truck, found my spot, didn't even get out to look at it, just drove by and backed right in. When I got out I had a few comments from the peanut gallery on how well I handle the 40' rig.

After I set up Todd met me, he has been on his own work schedule MD, TN, AZ, CA, AZ and back to CA. We finally met up, it has been 55 days apart. I think he has ridden 5 hours total in that time. His get back in shape weeks will correspond nicely with my end of season break, then we hope to race a December dawn to dusk race together in AZ.