Back on the trizz-ain

 I haven’t raced my bike for what seems like forever and today I finally had enough of my wimpy, can’t-do attitude, so on this, the 25th of June (also Bike to Work Day if you live in the “bubble”), I took my new mountain bike to task with the Wednesday night short track race, sanctioned by none other than my Alma mater’s fiercest rival, CU Cycling. Wow, that was a long sentence. So, Jesus Christ, short track racing is intense! It’s like the first lap of a road crit where you’re fighting for position and pinning it to try and get to the front…but for the whole race! Add to that a dusty course, super tight corners and 50 other racers and you’ve got a harried 25 minute sufferfest. Going to into it I thought “25 minutes? that doesn’t seem like much,” but when you’re out absolutely busting ass to hang on, 25 minutes feels like juuuust the right amount of time. As for the race itself, I got a tremendously crappy start, it was pure chaos with that many dudes trying to clip in at once and get a good position. I bumped into some people and then about 50 feet later there were the first of several little rhythm jumps and then you hit tight single track where passing is largely fruitless. I think I kept my position of somewhere between 20-30th the entire race. My pedals definitely need to be ratcheted down because through countless corners my foot would just slip out – a total momentum killer and an invitation to crash out either yourself or some unlucky rider near you – sometimes both. I think I dumped it 2 or 3 times, losing 3-5 places each time and then having to bury myself to catch up and pass the same 3-5 people half a lap later. The final dump-truck happened when I found myself screeching through a corner on the second-to-last lap when all of I sudden I missed the turn and went plowing into the course tape, resulting in a less than graceful tumble (withcut-up knee, to boot) and a mouthful of white, Shimano plastic. I’m guessing I finished somewhere in the 25-30 range and while I’m never happy finishing halfway down the results list, I learned some valuable lessons tonight that I’ll take with me for the next races. Fitness-wise I know I can finish top 10 so I’ll be gunning for that next Wednesday. Part of my buying the new mountain bike was to race these short tracks and after not being in Boulder the past couple summers, I’m so thrilled I’m here now and out racing them! The races are packed with riders, spectators, beer guzzlers, and the entry fees are just right. Tomorrow will probably be a lunch time Betasso ride.

White wine and mo’ ridin’

What do you call it when you’re at a work function and you and a co-worker kill two bottles of wine in the span of 2 hours?? Uhhhh…DREAM JOB!…that’s what I call it! We had a party to coincide with the St. Julien Hotel’s LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability) conference on Thursday night. It was rife with some of the most granola-y people in existence but who am I to judge, I’m pretty damn granola myself. Lots of really nice socializing with people in the industry as well as my fellow Metzger peeps (I work with a great group of people) and as mentioned above, lots of drinking. We started the party with probably 25 bottles of wine and by my last count there were like 4 or 5 left. Two of the 25 empties can be attributed to Lauren and I while we checked all of the RSVP’ers in to the event. Did I mention the wine was organic? With this crowd, of course it was. Feeling way better than I would have expected Friday morning, I brought my MTB to work so I could leave for a ride right at 5. 5:15 rolls around and I point it towards Betasso again - I’m loving that trail (see below post). Hopefully this weekend I’ll do a new ride with Steveo somewhere up here or in Golden…what are those road bike things??

Mountain biking for lunch – eat shit and grin!

Hey Boulder people – do yourself a favor and ride Betasso during your lunch hour. It will change your everyday office-monkey experience into a sweat soaked parade, especially if, like me, you wait to “lunch” in the heat of a 2 pm afternoon. This is precisely what I did yesterday. After a tire that needed reseating (thanks U-Bikes!) I headed over to the Creek path past the summer vacation having high schoolers at Eben G. Fine (it’s a must if you’re 17, school’s out, and it’s hot outside to launch a tube into the creek on any given weekday…did it a time or twelve, myself!), and up to where the Creek path hits Canyon. Ride the mellow mountain road about a mile and hit the Boulder Canyon link on the right side of the road. Because Betasso alone is a pretty short ride (only about 3 miles) and you’re pressed for time, it’s best to just go for it up the Boulder link despite it’s grueling grades and loose trail. So up the link I went, still lacking any semblance of handling/climbing skills (they’ll come!) so it was half ride-half hike-a-bike until you reach the gorgeous bit of meadow/singletrack that is Betasso. And that’s where the serious fun sets in!

My only knock against the 29er so far is the wheels – they’re tubeless-ready and as I’m not running tubeless, they seem a little finicky for…you guessed it…tubes. One flat so far, knock on wood (taps crotch) it’s the last for a while.