Wintry Weather

You see, I'm kind of on this training plan.  The recent weather we've had up here in the big rocky outcroppings known as the Rockies (yeah - subtle name) hasn't exactly been conducive to this training plan.  This past week has been freekin' cold.  Not just "uncomfortable to be outside" cold - nope, it's been "don't touch anything metal, don't have parts of your body uncovered" cold.  On my way to Glenwood Springs last Friday, I took a snapshot of my car's temperature gauge of the outside chilliness.  This type of scene was pretty typical every morning last week:

Yup, -15F.  That, my friends, is cold.  Really cold.  So cold it wouldn't snow.

However, eventually, a little warmer air mass came into the mountains, and it started snowing.  Yay.  Good for skiing and snowboarding; bad for riding the bike on the road.  So I decided to take the day "off" on Sunday and head to Beaver Creek (hence forth known as "The Beav") for my first official day up on the hill.  Let me tell you, it didn't disappoint.  I wasn't expecting the conditions that were found, as the area hasn't exactly been hammered by snow this year...yet.

Most of the resort that was open (primarily on the main mountain) had decent coverage.  Still a lot of grassy-type brush sticking up on the more severe slopes, but the recent snow had created a pretty soft and smooth snowpack.  More than good enough for the first day.

During a drop-in into Rose Bowl, we noted that ski patrol was pulling down the ropes on one of my favorite runs - Spider.  A 30deg pitch with an off-camber fall line, great views.  Being the third or fourth person to hit this run, it was about three-and-a-half feet of untracked powder.  However, it didn't dawn on me for some reason there was no base underneath.  Riding a board not set up for powder, taking the run head on, the board couldn't stay up on the top, and ended up digging a hole to China in several different spots.  Would get totally wedged under the snow...board won't move, and I'm up to my mid-thigh in snow.  Not to mention, the lack of base underneath meant that every time the board dug in, it was getting wrecked by the rocks and sticks underneath.  Ouch.  Need some P-Tex work done now.

Meanwhile, the entire time we were out there, it was absolutely PUKING snow; the kind where you're covered in 3/4" of the white stuff when you get off the lift.  Made for constantly variable but soft conditions, but was a lot of fun.  Hopefully it'll keep doing that...just need it to STOP snowing in Eagle.  So, Day 1 is in the books, and I'm pretty happy with it.

2010 Schedule Coming Into Focus

Mountain States Cup released its 2010 schedule, so my MTB racing slate is starting to become a clearer picture.  Shaping up as follows:

• April 16 - Sea Otter Classic XC - Monterey, CA
• April 24 - MSC #1 / Rabbit Valley Rampage TT - Fruita, CO
• April 25 - MSC #1 / Rabbit Valley Rampage XC - Fruita, CO
• May 15 - MSC #2 / Chalk Creek Stampede XC - Nathrop, CO
• May 16 - MSC #2 / Chalk Creek Stampede STXC - Nathrop, CO
• June 5 - MSC #3 / Chile Challenge XC - Angel Fire, NM
• June 26 - MSC #4 / Wildflower Rush XC - Crested Butte, CO
• July 10 - MSC #5 / Blast The Mass XC - Snowmass Village, CO
• July 11 - MSC #5 / Blast The Mass STXC - Snowmass Village, CO
• July 18 - USAC Mountain Bike National Championship XC - Sol Vista/Granby, CO
• July 19 - USAC Mountain Bike National Championship STXC - Sol Vista/Granby, CO
• August 7 - MSC #6 / Keystone Revival XC - Keystone, CO
• August 8 - MSC #6 / Keystone Revival STXC - Keystone, CO
  
• August 21 - MSC #7 / Full Tilt in Telluride XC - Telluride, CO
• August 22 - MSC #7 / Full Tilt in Telluride STXC - Telluride, CO
• September 5 - MSC #8 / Winter Park Pursuit XC - Winter Park, CO
• September 6 - MSC #8 / Winter Park Pursuit STXC - Winter Park, CO
• September 11 - MSC #9 / Fall Classic STXC & HC - Breckenridge, CO
• September 12 - MSC #9 / Fall Classic XC - Breckenridge, CO

Of course, there will be a half-dozen Vail Rec District series races thrown in there on Wednesday evenings, but not really concentrating on those.  Treating them more as training rides, and if I do well in the race, good for me.

Colorado CX State Championships

Big shout out (woooooot!) to my friends heading down to Golden Saturday morning to brave the cold and vie for a CO State Championship in cyclocross:

• Charlie Brown - 45+ Open
• Sam Brown - Juniors
• David Burns - 35+ Cat 4
• Ciro Zarate - Cat 4
  
• Courtney Gregory - Pro/1/2 Open
• Jake Wells - Pro/1/2 Open
  
• Ryan McFarling - 35+ Open
• Ryan Hughes - Cat 3
• Damien Fraser - Cat 3
• Larry "Elgee" Grossman - Holdin' the mic down, dishin' out all you can handle (and then some)

Go crush, guys!

Deflopitation?

So I saw this word - deflopitation - on an instruction sheet for a BMX bike that was being built up at the Mountain Pedaler this afternoon.  I'm a regular lexicon, but I have no idea what the eff "deflopitation" means.

Anybody have any ideas?

Anyways, just got off the trainer this evening from a 1hr recovery ride.  Nice and easy, not breaking a sweat, watching basketball on TV.  Anybody else see Joakim Noah mouthin' off to LeBron?  OK, I realize that Noah has a degree from the University of Florida, but they had to have just handed it to him...because he's not a very smart cookie.  Mouthing off to LeBron?  In the 4th quarter of a game where you're down by 19?  Ummm...why?

By the way - someone told me this evening at the Gypsum Rec Center that it's "chilly" here lately.

No it's not.

It's cold.

Here's proof.  This picture of my dashboard was taken on my way to work on Thursday morning.  You see, the dash (also called a minus sign) in front of the eight, in America, means it's REALLY FREAKING COLD.

A week ago on Thanksgiving Day, I was outside riding the road bike around the airport.  It was 45F, sunny, perfect for November.  In the span of one week, we have managed to completely skip December, and go straight to January.

Erin and I went to Denver last weekend to do a little Christmas shopping.  Skipped out on the 'black Friday' madness, but went on Saturday nonetheless to battle some crowds and see what we could find.  While we were there, we ate at a restaurant named Delaney's Deli, located in the Bel Mar area around Alameda and Wadsworth in Lakewood.  Simple deli sandwiches with a Boston flair.  I heavily recommend - I had the best grilled chicken sandwich I've ever had in my life.  There was nothing special about it - chicken, lettuce, tomato, and lite mayo.  No special sauce, no secret seasonings.  But it was prepared absolutely perfectly.  Stop by the next time you're in the neighborhood during mealtime - you won't be disappointed.

Training has been going well.  I've made a wholesale change in my diet, which I've found makes me twice as hungry as before.  I also get about 4 hours a week on the bike right now, typically broken into:

• 1hr straightforward endurance riding
• 1hr recovery
• 1hr isolated leg training
• 1hr speed cadence training

Also getting 2-3hrs a week in the gym working on high-repetition, low-resistance weights.  Seated rows, leg press, bench press, step-up, abs (situps or knee raises), dead lifts, lunges.  Erin's been doing these workouts with me, so it keeps me from trying to do all this work on my own.  Finally, following it all up with 2-3 hours of basketball cross-training a week.  Keeping me in pretty good shape, I guess.

By the way - for those of you wondering (I'm looking at this on the iPhone right now), Vail has 17 runs open.  Meaning they have 176 runs closed.  It's -8F right now.  There's an 18" base - which I don't believe; that's just the minimum they'll report.  Conditions:  "Machine made snow".

Meaning my snowboard is still coated in dust from sitting since the end of last season.  I'm in no hurry.