Getting what I can

[Mattb]

Well, still no ridable dirt here (Hey Salida guys - how's it
look on that side?) so I have to make do. I got out on a
couple of road rides and some alpine skiing over the
weekend, so it was far from a total loss! Friday I cut out
of work at 3:00 and did a relatively flat out and back on
the road bike. I had a meeting spot picked to meet my boss
and ride part of the ride together. He mis-calculated his
fitness (lack of) level and distances and was 15 Minutes
late. I just rode up and down a hill nearby to keep warm
until he showed. Then we rode abut 6 or 7 Miles together
with me doubling back to catch him up every mile or so. He's
planning on doing a big road tour this summer. He needs to
get his ass in shape before that! Saturday I hung with my
son for the morning while MrsB got out on her road bike. She
had some mechanical issues (luckily before leaving) that
ended up making her ride go a little long. JrB is cranky
right now because he's getting a bunch of teeth at the same
time. We all suffer together. I ended up getting out at
about 3:00 again and wanted to go for a little more of a
ride than Friday's leisurely 28 (or so) Miler. I decided to
head West and ride Nine Mile Hill. As the name implies, it's
a big ol' hill (~1500' climb starting just South of Blue
Mesa heading for Lake City for those familiar with the
area). I fought head winds through the Gunnison River Canyon
on the way out and though about how nice it will be when
they are tail winds on the way home. I climbed the hill with
as much determination as I could muster. Not quite the same
as a tough MTB climb and I would find my mind wandering. I
guess the good part is I don't usually have to dab to
recover from a break in concentration. I finally reached the
summit and looked at the time 5:15. Ooh. I need to high-tail
it home as I was going to be making dinner. I pushed back
down the hill as fast as I could. My hands and feet getting
numb as the sun gets obscured. After hitting Hwy 50 and
heading into the canyon again I realized the wind had
shifted and I had even more of a headwind than I did coming
out. I pushed on and hit town about
6:30 in time to see MrsB starting out in the car to look for
me. I guess she called but I didn't hear it over the wind.
Oops. I busted out a fast Pesto (a house specialty) while
the noodles cooked and we managed to get dinner going in
record time. It was delicious and I scarfed a big ol' pile
(never really had lunch that day either). Sunday I hung
with JrB again in the morning while MrsB rode and then got
out at about noon and skied until closing at Crested
Butte. My legs were feeling the ride from the day before
and the snow was just so-so. It was still nice to be out,
and nice to be alpining as I've been on tele gear for much
of the winter this year. All too quickly it's Monday again
and I'm sitting at work wrangling 1's and 0's. If I can
tolerate the roadie thing until the dirt comes, I should
be in reasonable shape for it. Then I'll happily hang up
the road bike until the trails are saturated again, which
will hopefully not happen until late fall.
--

Matt

"Gravity. It's not just a good idea, it's the law!"

 

[Monique Y. Herm]

On 2004-03-15, MattB wrote about his weekend, which was
pretty packed despite child-rearing duties ...

Wow, nice weekend.

I don't know how you parental types manage it -- it would
drive me nuts to have to switch off duties instead of
biking, skiing, etc together. Things change, I guess =)

Hope your little one gets through his teething pains
relatively quickly.

--
monique

 

[Shawn Curry]

MattB wrote:

> Well, still no ridable dirt here (Hey Salida guys -
> how's it look on that side?) so I have to make do. I
> got out on a couple of road rides and some alpine
> skiing over the weekend, so it was far from a total
> loss! Friday I cut out of work at 3:00 and did a
> relatively flat out and back on the road bike. I had a
> meeting spot picked to meet my boss and ride part of
> the ride together. He mis-calculated his fitness (lack
> of) level and distances and was 15 Minutes late. I
> just rode up and down a hill nearby to keep warm until
> he showed. Then we rode abut 6 or 7 Miles together
> with me doubling back to catch him up every mile or
> so. He's planning on doing a big road tour this
> summer. He needs to get his ass in shape before that!
> Saturday I hung with my son for the morning while MrsB
> got out on her road bike. She had some mechanical
> issues (luckily before leaving) that ended up making
> her ride go a little long. JrB is cranky right now
> because he's getting a bunch of teeth at the same
> time. We all suffer together. I ended up getting out
> at about 3:00 again and wanted to go for a little more
> of a ride than Friday's leisurely 28 (or so) Miler. I
> decided to head West and ride Nine Mile Hill. As the
> name implies, it's a big ol' hill (~1500' climb
> starting just South of Blue Mesa heading for Lake City
> for those familiar with the area). I fought head winds
> through the Gunnison River Canyon on the way out and
> though about how nice it will be when they are tail
> winds on the way home. I climbed the hill with as much
> determination as I could muster. Not quite the same as
> a tough MTB climb and I would find my mind wandering.
> I guess the good part is I don't usually have to dab
> to recover from a break in concentration. I finally
> reached the summit and looked at the time 5:15. Ooh. I
> need to high-tail it home as I was going to be making
> dinner. I pushed back down the hill as fast as I
> could. My hands and feet getting numb as the sun gets
> obscured. After hitting Hwy 50 and heading into the
> canyon again I realized the wind had shifted and I had
> even more of a headwind than I did coming out. I
> pushed on and hit town about
> 6:30 in time to see MrsB starting out in the car to look
> for me. I guess she called but I didn't hear it over the
> wind. Oops. I busted out a fast Pesto (a house
> specialty) while the noodles cooked and we managed to
> get dinner going in record time. It was delicious and I
> scarfed a big ol' pile (never really had lunch that day
> either). Sunday I hung with JrB again in the morning
> while MrsB rode and then got out at about noon and skied
> until closing at Crested Butte. My legs were feeling the
> ride from the day before and the snow was just so-so. It
> was still nice to be out, and nice to be alpining as
> I've been on tele gear for much of the winter this year.
> All too quickly it's Monday again and I'm sitting at
> work wrangling 1's and 0's. If I can tolerate the roadie
> thing until the dirt comes, I should be in reasonable
> shape for it. Then I'll happily hang up the road bike
> until the trails are saturated again, which will
> hopefully not happen until late fall.

Yikes, three and a half hours on the road and still cooking!
Marriage and children will do that ;-)

As for the Salida trails- Mosquitoes (mountain range NE of
Salida) are clear behind S-Mountain. Once you get a ways up
cr173 there's snow on N facing hills, but its ridable. Still
looks like Rainbow has lots of snow. I rode Castle Garden
(just south of town off Hwy 50) today. A few damp spots, and
a trickle was flowing down the wash. I'll try to ride up to
the Rainbow trailhead tomorrow snow depth permitting.

Shawn

 

[Craig Brossman]

MattB wrote:

> be in reasonable shape for it. Then I'll happily hang up
> the road bike until the trails are saturated again, which
> will hopefully not happen until late fall.

I too am waiting for the trails to dry up, though I know
that some of the stuff to the west is ready to go, oh yeah,
I don't have mountain bike right now, the new one won't be
here for 2 weeks So I have been ridding a bunch of road
as well, about 160 miles last week, and you know what, I
like it. I'm beginning to feel stronger, the endurance is
picking up, I'm hoping to improve on my Iron Horse time by
20 to 30 minutes this year. If this year is anything like
last, once the race is over, I'll rarely ride the road bike,
and I'll be in great condition to ride the trails.

You might want to consider the Iron Horse Matt, there is the
road ride and also mountain bike races. Not that I really
race, it is like most bike events, just a fun long weekend
with a bunch of people of the same interest. Sort-of
Durango's bike festival, that and the World Cup weekend.

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove ".nospam" to reply)

 

[Mattb]

Shawn Curry wrote:
> MattB wrote:
>
<snip>
>
> Yikes, three and a half hours on the road and still
> cooking! Marriage and children will do that ;-)
>

It will. Especially if they are ****** off and hungry!

> As for the Salida trails- Mosquitoes (mountain range NE of
> Salida) are clear behind S-Mountain. Once you get a ways
> up cr173 there's snow on N facing hills, but its ridable.
> Still looks like Rainbow has lots of snow. I rode Castle
> Garden (just south of town off Hwy 50) today. A few damp
> spots, and a trickle was flowing down the wash. I'll try
> to ride up to the Rainbow trailhead tomorrow snow depth
> permitting.
>

I may have to track you down to show me some of the
lower stuff over there one weekend soon if you don't
mind. I'd love to go to Fruita, but I may only get a half-
day pass. I could probably manage Salida in that
timeframe but not Fruita.

Just a thought anyway...

I'll get my day pass at some point too, so Fruita WILL
happen, it's just a matter of when.

> Shawn

Matt

 

[Tom Purvis]

"MattB" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Well, still no ridable dirt here (Hey Salida guys - how's
> it look on that side?)

Funny I should just read this. I made my first venture up
onto the wetter side of the valley this afternoon. It's been
under about 18" of sugar snow for months. The dry side has
been mostly open, but it's a bit more limited.

Today I did a trail that I expected to have some sticky mud
and at least one snowdrift crossing. Wasn't too bad. A
little messy, but in another couple days of this warm wind
it'll be more or less dry.

We have some trails open on the dry side too, but it's
already getting skittery from being too dry up that way.

But for sure, we have some open dirt. Below about 8000 it
seems to be relatively melted.

> ... I fought head winds through the Gunnison River Canyon
> on the way out and though about how nice it will be when
> they are tail winds on the way home. I climbed the hill
> with as much determination as I could muster. Not quite
> the same as a tough MTB climb and I would find my mind
> wandering...

I know the feeling. I've been rolling on tarmac for a while
here. You are a slave to the wind, and you can't hear
anything but your master.

Getting back onto the dirt is a gas. Jump starting the old
senses of timing and balance, bumping into things. I had a
good ride just now.

> ... I pushed on and hit town about 6:30 in time to see
> MrsB starting out in the car to look for me. I guess she
> called but I didn't hear it over the wind. Oops.

LOL! That happens to me too often. I need to learn to
cook faster.

Give me some warning if you're going to make a visit. I bet
Curry will be wanting to get involved. Heck, he's probably
writing a reply to your post right now too.
--
Tom Purvis - http://www.arkansasvalley.net/tpurvis/
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so
certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."-Bertrand Russell

 

[Jd]

"MattB" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Then I'll happily hang up the road bike until the trails
> are saturated again, which will hopefully not happen until
> late fall.

You need a GJ trip, my friend.

JD soakin' up the Sun

 

[Zeeexsixare]

> I don't know how you parental types manage it -- it would
> drive me nuts

Easy... there are plenty of dumpsters nearby. Don't let the
damn things get started with you...

Wow, I'm going to hell for that one...

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

 

[Mattb]

JD wrote:
> "MattB" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]
> berlin.de>...
>> Then I'll happily hang up the road bike until the trails
>> are saturated again, which will hopefully not happen
>> until late fall.
>
> You need a GJ trip, my friend.
>
> JD soakin' up the Sun

I can't deny it. I'll let you know if I have a window to
pull it off.

Matt

 

[Shawn Curry]

MattB wrote:

>
> I may have to track you down to show me some of the
> lower stuff over there one weekend soon if you don't
> mind. I'd love to go to Fruita, but I may only get a half-
> day pass. I could probably manage Salida in that
> timeframe but not Fruita.
>
> Just a thought anyway...

Let me know. Sounds like Tom's game too.

 

[Tom Purvis]

Shawn Curry <[email protected]> wrote:
> Once you get a ways up cr173 there's snow on N facing
> hills, but its ridable.

Shawn, have you done 175/173 yet? I'm wondering how sloppy
it is up high on 173. That's a good 2-hour Spring training
ride. Hour's worth of climbing right off the bat, then down
and up and down...

Should be unsloppy in another two weeks, barring any new
significant moisture.

> Still looks like Rainbow has lots of snow. I rode Castle
> Garden (just south of town off Hwy 50) today. A few damp
> spots, and a trickle was flowing down the wash.

Did you get slimed good? That clay-water in the trickle that
Castle Gardens gets can be pretty nasty. Castle Gardens is
just a big bentonite clay deposit. When it's wet in there,
it can be really messy.

> I'll try to ride up to the Rainbow trailhead tomorrow snow
> depth permitting.

The Rainbow won't be ready to ride for maybe 6 weeks.
There's still quite a bit of snow at 9000, where the
trail runs.

Matt, let us know if you can pop over.
--
Tom Purvis - http://www.arkansasvalley.net/tpurvis/
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so
certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."-Bertrand Russell

 

[Mattb]

Tom Purvis wrote: <snip>
>
> Matt, let us know if you can pop over.

Will do. Thanks!

Matt

 

[Shawn Curry]

Tom Purvis wrote:
> Shawn Curry <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Once you get a ways up cr173 there's snow on N facing
>>hills, but its ridable.
>
>
> Shawn, have you done 175/173 yet? I'm wondering how sloppy
> it is up high on 173. That's a good 2-hour Spring training
> ride. Hour's worth of climbing right off the bat, then
> down and up and down...

Haven't been that far yet. Did Lower Dune trail with Shawn
G. and Greg (? tall guy with a Cake-good climber) last Tues.
It was almost dry then. I've only been as high as the start
of Upper Dune since the last snows.
>
> Should be unsloppy in another two weeks, barring any new
> significant moisture.
>
>
>>Still looks like Rainbow has lots of snow. I rode Castle
>>Garden (just south of town off Hwy 50) today. A few damp
>>spots, and a trickle was flowing down the wash.
>
>
> Did you get slimed good? That clay-water in the trickle
> that Castle Gardens gets can be pretty nasty. Castle
> Gardens is just a big bentonite clay deposit. When it's
> wet in there, it can be really messy.
>
The bottom was sandy-wet, not that clay goo. Not bad at all.
I low-sided it on the Causeway going up, right where it
connects to the hillside-bad dab. My big butt proved to be
an asset Stopped me quickly with no damage to me or
bike. I was surprised at how much traction I had going up,
almost like slick rock. Once the trail connected to the
hillside it was too loose to ride up though (for me).

Shawn

 

[Tom Purvis]

Shawn Curry <[email protected]> wrote:
> Tom Purvis wrote:
> >
> >>Still looks like Rainbow has lots of snow. I rode Castle
> >>Garden (just south of town off Hwy 50) today. A few damp
> >>spots, and a trickle was flowing down the wash.
> >
> > Did you get slimed good? That clay-water in the trickle
> > that Castle Gardens gets can be pretty nasty. Castle
> > Gardens is just a big bentonite clay deposit. When it's
> > wet in there, it can be really messy.
> >
> The bottom was sandy-wet, not that clay goo. Not bad at
> all. I low-sided it on the Causeway going up, right where
> it connects to the hillside-bad dab...

Sounds like it was right where I did my shoulder-separation
stunt last year. There's a traversing right-hand following
the hillside, than you have to go left and down, with the
rut full of gravel?

That there can be a bad place. Glad to hear you avoided the
dreaded Early Season Injury®.
--
Tom Purvis - http://www.arkansasvalley.net/tpurvis/
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so
certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."-Bertrand Russell

 

[Tom Purvis]

Shawn Curry <[email protected]> wrote:
> Tom Purvis wrote:
> > Shawn, have you done 175/173 yet? I'm wondering how
> > sloppy it is up high on 173. That's a good 2-hour Spring
> > training ride. Hour's worth of climbing right off the
> > bat, then down and up and down...
>
> Haven't been that far yet. Did Lower Dune trail with Shawn
> G. and Greg (? tall guy with a Cake-good climber) last
> Tues. It was almost dry then. I've only been as high as
> the start of Upper Dune since the last snows.

I rode 175/173 yesterday afternoon. It was a little goopy in
a few places up high, but rideable with only one exception.
Another week of this weather and it will be a white glove
ride. The views from up there are pretty much stellar right
now. Shoulda broughta camera.
--
Tom Purvis - http://www.arkansasvalley.net/tpurvis/
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so
certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."-Bertrand Russell

 

[Shawn Curry]

Tom Purvis wrote:

> Shawn Curry <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Tom Purvis wrote:
>>
>>>Shawn, have you done 175/173 yet? I'm wondering how
>>>sloppy it is up high on 173. That's a good 2-hour Spring
>>>training ride. Hour's worth of climbing right off the
>>>bat, then down and up and down...
>>
>>Haven't been that far yet. Did Lower Dune trail with Shawn
>>G. and Greg (? tall guy with a Cake-good climber) last
>>Tues. It was almost dry then. I've only been as high as
>>the start of Upper Dune since the last snows.
>
>
> I rode 175/173 yesterday afternoon. It was a little goopy
> in a few places up high, but rideable with only one
> exception. Another week of this weather and it will be a
> white glove ride. The views from up there are pretty much
> stellar right now. Shoulda broughta camera.

I did 173 up to where the road goes through a notch in the
rocks (at least thats how it seems to me). Had to get the
kids from school, so I didn't do the whole loop. I had the
same thought about the camera. Beautiful day.

Shawn