Back Issues To End 2014:(

I thought I'd write about my recent back issues while it's fresh in my head. After all, I started this blog as a diary of sorts to document my training, including my back situation.

On the bright side, I nearly made it though the whole calendar year without my back seizing up on me. I definitely fought tightness and some pain throughout (seldom do I not feel at least some tightness), but no episodes where the muscles spasm up and leave me debilitated. Until December 19th that is.

My back spasmed up on me during a ride in the Santa Monicas on Friday, December 19. After feeling fine climbing up Sullivan Canyon, I descended Hectic and felt it tighten up as I started to pedal up the short steep climb out immediately after the descent. I have a few thoughts on what contributed:

• I had a very awkward dab out on one of the rocky sections just prior to this
• I crashed pretty spectacularly a week prior at San Juan and in addition to breaking my pinky finger, I had bruises on my shoulder, ribs, knee, hip, and low back.
• Being beat up from the crash and having the broken finger along with the stress of Christmas shopping kept me from yoga class and the gym for the entire week between the crash and this ride

From what I've read, the back spasms up as a protective mechanism when there is injury/strain to the low back muscles themselves (typically from the syndrome of tight hamstrings and glutes opposing tight hip flexors), or from underlying issues. The underlying issues can be bulging discs pushing on nerves, or from joint/ligament trauma, etc. The fact that I have badly degenerative discs makes me believe that my lumbar vertebrae are susceptible to trauma due to lack of cushioning. In fact, I recall that when I saw an Orthopedic Back Specialist several years ago and he told me that I had the "...back of a 75 year old with a bad back", the MRI clearly showed bad degeneration of discs, but also scar tissue due to ligament trauma.

Based on all this, it's hard to say what exactly caused my back to spasm this time. It could have been one or all of these factors.

Did I learn anything from this? Well, if I were to go back in time I'd try to avoid that crash first of all. If I couldn't do that, I'd make sure to at least make sure I was limber before riding (or doing much else). I might even go get adjusted.

When the back does start to spasm, it's important to not strain things further and to ice and take some anti-inflammatory meds. Definitely helps. It's amazing to me how tight the low back muscles get when they spasm up. The surrounding muscles (hamstrings, hip flexors) also get pretty tight. Interestingly, the last few times I've had back spasms, it wasn't as painful or completely debilitating as in the past. However, it took me just as long to recover. It's usually at least 2 weeks off the bike while I try to conservatively treat, then trying easy, flat road rides and progressing from there. Once things start to feel like they are healing I feel a different sort of tightness where I still need to be somewhat careful, but can start to move.

For prevention, I think I've been doing the right things for the most part:

• Daily stretching of my glutes, hip flexors and hamstrings (and before, during and after rides)
• Yoga (for mobility, strengthening and for stress relief)
• Additional core strengthening (I can probably do a little more here)

Going forward, I'd like to do more cross-training. Swimming for sure, but also some weight-bearing activities (hiking and stair climbing), perhaps some lower body strengthening, though this still scares me. I need to be confident the exercises I choose aren't doing more harm than good.

On an unrelated note, Strava sent us these mini year in review videos with our stats. 129 rides, 290 hours on the bike, 2,500 miles and 384,000 vertical feet:

My 2014 Strava Story

Catching Up After Almost 2 Years! Pt. 1- Leadville

I thought I'd resume my blog but was truly surprised that almost 2 years had gone by since I'd written. The biggest surprise was that I didn't even do a ride report from Leadville. Quite a bit else has happened since then, including my search for a trail bike, Toyota announcing plans to move to a new North American HQ in Plano, Texas, my constant efforts to keep my back healthy, and lots of fun riding in between!

Leadville:
A bit anti-climatic to do a full blown ride report now, so I'll keep it fairly short. It was a great experience, especially since I was able to share it with good riding friends Charlie, Susan and Israel.

In this previous post I made it up to just before the race, so right to race day!

Here we are lining up way in the back because we're rookies.

Between the time it took to get to the start line, plus the backup on the St. Kevin's climb, we thought this probably cost us 15-20 minutes. No biggie for me, as I was just trying to finish, but that first cutoff can be tight. I think Susan made it by ~5 minutes, and I was just ahead of her! Here's a look at the mass of bodies at the start:

All I recall about the St. Kevin's climb was it was backed up pretty bad in spots, and I was practicing my track stands trying to avoid clipping out of my pedals. I just told myself to stay relaxed and conserve energy. Long day ahead!

Other memories:
I felt decent up the first few climbs then discovered how much of a road ride Leadville is. I recall not quite latching on with a group and regretting it when they disappeared out of sight. This happened a few other times throughout the day. I got into a group a couple times, other times I was road riding solo into a headwind, losing time and expending extra energy.

I remember the Powerline descent was pretty fun but a little sketchy, only because of the mass of people who were struggling with their descending skills. I latched onto a guy who was moving pretty fast, and the two of us picked our way past quite a few riders.

The Columbine climb was long and started out quite manageable, but when things got steep or loose, I was pretty much forced to walk because of how crowded the trail was around me. This was perfectly fine though. I would have walked much of it anyway. Some because it was just too steep or loose, some just to avoid spiking the intensity too much. I do recall feeling pretty happy reaching the top.

On the way back I remember getting tired climbing back up the lone singletrack trail. It didn't seem to be that bad of a climb, but I just felt like I hit a wall.

I remember more road riding and wind, then the Powerline climb. I was pretty darn tired by then, so it was just a nice hike. It was energizing to see all the volunteers at this point, and I did grab some Coke from them. Yum!

I don't remember much after this, except the descent around St. Kevin's had some fun parts, and this also meant I was getting close to the finish line. There was a climb back into town that I was dreading but wasn't so bad, then the finish, after 10 hours and 40 minutes!

Here are the stats on Strava:
Here's the group after the finish. Left to right: Israel, me, Charlie, and Susan:

And the famous buckle for finishing in under 12 hours:

Leadville was a really great experience. Definitely something I will look back at fondly for the rest of my life. Over 2 years have passed though, and I still don't feel any desire to do it again. One and done! I think if I had more confidence in my back and the ability to train more and harder, I might try to PR or even shoot for the 9 hour mark, but that doesn't seem possible right now.

I may do other endurance events though, and even other 100 milers. I'm hopeful I can keep my back healthy enough where I can train to the point of finishing more of these. I'd just be doing them for the fun and for new experiences though, so I think I'd pick some new ones with less road and more singletrack!

New Bike- Cannondale Trigger 29- 2

With my Ibis Mojo SL approaching 5 years in age, I started looking at different trail bikes to replace it and at the same time compliment my other bikes: a Salsa Spearfish (all-day endurance bike) and a Kona Raijin (singlespeed).  I was thinking about something a little more burly, only because the Spearfish does okay as a trailbike if needed, at least for the trails I most often ride, and actually so does the Raijin for that matter! Why have something that overlapped?  I was intrigued by 27.5 inch wheel models such as the Turner Burner and Banshee Spitfire, but didn't want to spend that much, because I likely wouldn't be riding this bike as often as the others.  I even thought about buying a Heckler when I saw frames on sale for $500.  About that time, Neil at The Path posted on STR about a Path/Cannondale test program.  Sponsored rider level discount, and they just wanted feedback and to help out on some shop rides in return.  I was intrigued.  I never really looked at Cannondales, but started researching the bikes offered and became even more interested.  I narrowed it down to the Jekyll EX and the Trigger 29, and finally decided on the Trigger after corresponding with Neil.  Here's a pic fresh from the shop:

First Impressions:  

-Burly looking (more so than I expected)

-Really solid feeling (even just tooling around the parking lot)

-Good looking color scheme

-Geometry felt comfortable right away, medium is good fit (I'm 5'9")

Standout components:

-Fox 34 CTD 130mm fork with 1.5 steerer- solid 

-Fox Dyad Dual shock- 130/80 mm- will be interested to see/feel this in action

-Hans Dampf Tubeless ready tires good spec, beefy

-Also excited about X9 type 2 rear derailleur

-Good to see 36/22 chainring setup in front for this bike

Weighed when I got home out of box w/o pedals- 32.4

Adjustments:

-Went tubeless on both tires- nice that rims were taped already, tubeless setup was really easy

-Slapped on Rockshox Reverb (nice that I already had a 31.6)!- I like the cable routing on the top tube for the dropper post

-Put on Shimano XT Trail pedals

-Installed bottle cage- was glad to have the ability to carry a bottle on the frame for energy drinks on longer rides

-Checked shock pressure- I noticed there is a fairly large discrepancy from the Owners manual supplement to the Cannondale iPhone 'Tune Your Ride'App, by > 50lbs. After reading some feedback from another Trigger owner on the forums, I went with lighter of the two(owners manual)

The final weight- 32.3 (going tubeless pretty much canceled out the additional weight of the Reverb)

The Rides:

I’ve ridden 1) Blackstar Motorway Maple Springs, and 2) San Juan with the back loop and Viejo Tie.

Climbing:

This bike climbs way better than I thought it would at over 32 pounds. I definitely feel the added weight (+6 pounds vs. my Spearfish), but the pedaling feels very efficient, especially with the suspension firmed up and set to 80mm.  On the steeper climbs of the Main Divide, the front didn’t wander, and traction was good.  It was nice, however to have a 22 small chain ring up front and be able to spin a lower gear when the grade approached 15-20%.  On San Juan, it was no trouble negotiating the switchbacks, and the bike got up and over some of the rock gardens on the back loop nicely.  I feel like I can climb nearly as fast, which is a surprise, but I do feel like the weight catches up eventually in terms of sapping my energy.

Here's a pic at the top of Motorway:

Descending:

This is the burliest bike I’ve ridden, and I definitely noticed a big difference in stiffness/stability on high speed, bumpy descents.  I plowed through the roughest sections of the Motorway like I never have before, and did a PR despite bobbling a few turns.  The bike did feel big, a bit heavy, and I felt I had to be more aggressive to move it around turns, but I think I also just need to get used to it.  It already felt better on the second ride down San Juan.  The bike was confidence inspiring on some of the steeper technical areas, and with the seatpost dropped, I never felt in danger of going over the bars.

Surprise component: the Magura MT2 brakes feel smooth and powerful.  I know these are lower end Maguras, but I’m impressed.

Cons:

The Trigger climbs very well for its weight, but it’s still a 32 pound bike.  The wheels feel solid, but I know Formula hubs are a little heavy, so a wheel upgrade might be in order.  The bike also requires more effort to maneuver, loft the front wheel over rocks, etc.

Will definitely have a great deal of fun continuing to see what this bike can do.  Can't wait for Summer and Fall to try Mammoth and Kernville!  

Funny story: a hiker on the back loop of San Juan thought the Dyad shock was a built in radio for the bike.  Here's a pic.  It is kinda crazy looking but seems to work!

Leadville Pre-Race

Race week finally arrived.  After riding on Saturday, and because we were leaving early on Wednesday am, I thought it would be good to ride Del Cerro on Monday instead of Tuesday.  That way, we could also do an easy ride in Leadville on Thursday before racing on Saturday and I should be well rested.

We hit the road as planned on Wednesday am and drove to Green River, UT, about 2/3 of the way to Leadville.
We stayed at a little motel called the Robbers Roost, which was inexpensive and adequate.  Israel and I woke up and had breakfast in a local coffee house, which had a cool feel to it, except the help wasn't real friendly.  Strange for Utah.  We then picked up Susan and it the road to Leadville.  The plan was to get into Leadville, scope out the situation with checking in, etc., do a little ride, then head out to our motel in Buena Vista.



We finally arrived to town and you can see Leadville maintained the feel of a historic mining town. Here are pics from 1879 and present:

During the check in, we ran into Sonya Looney, who Israel and I both have a little crush on. What's not to like right?  Hot, awesome endurance mountain biker, and from her blogs, seemed to be really cool.  Well, we're both even bigger fans now.  She was totally cool and not only let us both take pics with her, but she spent extra time talking to us, even though it appeared her crew was ready to move on.

We also stopped by the 'Herbalife Base Camp', which was right near the registration area.  Susan made arrangements for us to hang out there and also for us to get Herbalife 24 race kits.  Cool.

We headed out to ride and decided to go out for about an hour, maybe a little more.  After scoping out the options we set out to ride the first part of the course, and maybe check out the first part of the St. Kevins climb.  After circling around some and trying to find our way, we ran into a group of guys who were also heading out to climb St. Kevins and they invited us along.  We started up St. Kevins, and it was fairly steady, but there were a few steep sections. It felt good to ride, but I felt the altitude, especially when trying to catch my breath.  Maybe it was riding with those other guys, but we went a little harder than planned, and also quite a bit longer.  We ended up doing a 2-hour ride.  Not crazy or stupid but not part of the game plan either, knowing it's harder to recover in the altitude, and I am always better off with more recovery time.  Was good to get some anxiety out though.

Week Ending August 5- Tapering

After the Harding ride there was just a couple of weeks until the race, so it was time to taper.  Because I felt like I was behind and still trying to catch up, this meant keeping the frequency, but dropping the intensity and duration.

We did a pretty easy ride at Del Cerro on Tuesday, then a moderate PV road ride on Thursday.  For the weekend ride, Israel, Matt and I headed to Santa Monica and climbed Westridge, rode over and did the Eagle Rock loop, then came back and descended Sullivan Canyon.  The side singletrack sections in the canyon were really fun!  Was still a descent ride, but nothing too long or hard.

After the ride, I felt like I had done all I could to get ready for the race.  I had the setback in May, but gradually ramped up the volume until I felt like at least I had my base back.  Didn't think my high end was where I wanted, but with my goal to simply make sure I get the belt buckle and finish in sub 12 hours, I felt like I was in good shape.

Week Ending July 29- Harding

After Big Bear and with just three weeks until Leadville, I normally would have tapered more, but because of my time off in May, I thought it would be good to get another good training week in, then taper the last two weeks.

Did the usual Del Cerro on Tuesday and PV road ride on Thursday, then decided to do Harding to the peak on Sunday.  I thought Harding would be the closest thing we have here in So Cal to the Columbine climb.

The whole Leadville crew joined in for the Harding climb.  We started up and I felt pretty good. Charlie gapped me, but I put a gap on Israel and Susan.  I decided to push the pace up to Four Corners and made it up in 1:24.  Here's the obligatory bike shot up at Four Corners.

Though I felt pretty good during the climb to Four Corners, once we started climbing to the peak my legs soon reminded me that I would need to pace myself at Leadville.  I think most of my base fitness was back, but I was not ready to maintain higher intensities.  The good thing though was my back was holding up nicely.  All the yoga, stretching, massage and chiropractic work was paying off.  We all made it up to the peak and celebrated our last semi-big training ride.  Leadville was almost upon us!

  

Week Ending July 22- Big Bear

After the big road ride, it was really time to step it up for the biggest training ride yet.  Three weeks out from Leadville, we wanted to get a good 8-9 hour ride in.  Charlie and Israel and I met and decided to ride on the 50 mile marathon course in Big Bear.  It was ideal because it was at elevation, would be cooler than our typical riding spots (90+ that weekend in the Saddleback area), and it was actually a 25 mile course where we go back to the car to refill water and refuel.

Israel picked up Susan and I and we headed out to meet Charlie in Big Bear.  We parked near a golf course driving range, got ready and headed out for the first lap.  Israel was navigating on the Garmin, and we headed up the Fern trail, which was a bit technical, steep and difficult in spots.  We then caught the main 2N10 fireroad which was nice and steady.  On the backside of the loop there was a pretty difficult singletrack climb which looped us back on to to fireroad.  Susan was having a difficult time with a cold, so Israel and Charlie and I were doing some up and backs to keep moving and get more ride time in.  There was some fun singletrack on the way back, which made the loop even more enjoyable.  We got back to the car in about 3:45.  Susan was also having a difficult time with her hand, so she chose to do her own thing for the remainder of the day.  Israel, Charlie and I did a second lap, though this time instead of climbing up Fern, we climbed the road next to Bear Mountain (steep) which turned into fireroad and eventually got us back on the loop.  I was actually feeling pretty good at this point, which was encouraging.  We finished the loop this time in about 3 hours.  We needed about 2 hours to get in 8 hours of ride time, which we were determined to do.  This time, we headed up the road again and the fireroad, and decided to keep going until we hit 7:30 of ride time, then turn around.  When we made it back, we ended up with 8:15 of ride time.  It was a great training ride, and by far was the best  I'd felt since my back went out in May.  Super encouraging three weeks from the race.

Week Ending Sunday, July 15- Angelus Crest

After having fun, but struggling a little bit with my fitness in Mammoth, I knew I had to be patient and keep training, and hopefully things would come around.  After all, it had been just 4 weeks since I started riding again.

After riding 3 days in Mammoth, I took it easy at Del Cerro on Tuesday and had a good road ride on Thursday around PV, though it rained a little.  Neal was there at the ride, and he mentioned he and his club were doing a big ride out at Angelus Crest.  Israel and I agreed this would be great training, so we joined him.

We met Neal and his club out in Duarte and it was a good turnout, with a good 20+ riders ready for a big day.  I brought the Crosscheck, but switched the cross tires to regular road tires.  There was about a 20 mile flatish warm-up through Sierra Madre and Alta Dena before we hit the Angelus Crest Highway and the long 35 mile climb.  The climb started a little steeper at about 8%, but quickly it settled into an easier grade and seemed to stay between 4-6% for the majority of the time.  I felt pretty good, but knew I wasn't as strong as I would've liked to be.  My legs were glad there were no steeper sections, but were feeling good enough to keep spinning along.  We had a long rest stop at Newcomb's Ranch, which is a nice biker stop on the highway.  After lugging up a third water bottle for most of the climb that I  didn't even touch, I decided not to fill all 3 bottles there, which turned out to be a mistake.  There was another 5-6 mile climb after that and it started to get hot.  Here's a pic of Israel, Neal and I near the top.

The descent down HWY 39 was interesting, especially the first several miles, which were unmaintained.  I was glad I had the Crosscheck here, because even with road tires, it seemed stable and the steel seemed to smooth things out.  After awhile, the road was more maintained, then we dropped in next to the San Gabriel reservoir.  I was already out of water and the terrain began to roll a little, requiring more pedaling effort.  I finally made it down, but made a wrong turn into a residential area.  I was hoping to find a drinking fountain there, but no avail.  I made my way out to the river trail and it was only a few miles back to the car.  A really good training ride with just under 90 miles and 9K feet of climbing, and though I  didn't feel awesome, it was a step in the right direction.

Week Ending Sunday, July 8- Mammoth!

On Tuesday, we went to Del Cerro and my main intent was to dust off the Mojo and get used to it again, as I'd be riding it all weekend in Mammoth and I hadn't been on it in some time.  I was really glad I did, as I immediately noticed the positioning was uncomfortable and put pressure on my back.  I moved the seat forward and it definitely helped.  It also just took some time to get used to the 26" wheels, the different geometry, and even the dropper seatpost.  For the ride it turned out to just be Israel and I, and we got a few good laps in.

Mammoth was an opportunity to test ourselves in altitude, but also to have some fun with some awesome trails.  Matt, Israel and I drove up Thursday to meet Charlie, while Susan was arriving late that night.


When we arrived on Thursday, we met Charlie at the campsite.  It was a really nice campground called Coldwater next to a stream and not far from Twin Lakes.  We did a short ride from our campsite into the Mammoth Mountain park to show Israel and Matt around.  We did a steep loose climb from Lake Mary Road called Lakes Trail, did some of Paper Route, then descended a fun trail called Juniper, then headed back to camp.
   
On Friday morning we decided to ride Lower Rock Creek.  Most people ride this trail downhill, some ride up the adjacent road then descend it, but of course we had to climb up it, then head down.  Charlie gave a really good description of the climb.  Steep and loose sections along with some technical rock garden areas to get across in the first half, with the trail smoothing out for the second half.  It was a tough climb, but it was a beautiful trail with varying terrain and surroundings.  I recall there even being an Aspen grove we cut through.  The downhill was awesome.  Unfortunately Susan's hand was hurting so she took the road down while the rest of us had a great descent.  There were a couple of pretty technical rock/boulder gardens.  Charlie was the only one to clean the first one, but he skipped the next one and Israel, Matt and I cleaned that one.  In any case, a great ride and highly recommended if one wants to venture outside the park for a day.


On Saturday, Charlie did his own thing early so he could ride with the family afterward.  Susan also decided to ride a combo of road and mellower trails due to her hand.  Israel, Matt and I set off to do a fairly big ride in the park.  The plan was to try and ride to the top.  We parked at the Village and started up Uptown, which was a very nice climb.  I wasn't used to riding consecutive days though--let alone three days in a row--and my legs were making this very apparent.  We heard from Charlie that the park officials told him not to climb all the way to the top due to too much traffic coming down from the Gondola.  We continued up with the idea of finding an alternate route across.  We caught Beach Cruiser and thought we could then catch Bearing Straits across the mountain, then catch some fun single diamond DH and climb some more blue trails.  The problem was, we couldn't find the entrance to Bearing Straits.  It looked pretty clear on the map, but after circling around for awhile and doing an extra fire road climb, we finally ended up back at the same place and realized Bearing Straits is a one-way trail that ended where we were looking for an entrance--hence, no sign.  At this point we were a little frustrated and decided to head up Off the Top (where Charlie was told not to ride), but not climb the whole thing, just enough until we could cut across Gravy Train.  Well, we climbed up to the junction of Gravy Train and saw a couple of fast looking guys in spandex who told us we really should just climb up Off the Top all the way up.  They assured us there was ample visibility, so we could just pull over if people were descending.  We all liked the idea of climbing to the top, so we went for it.  By this time, my legs were feeling pretty fried, but fortunately my back seemed to be doing okay with the consecutive days, so I soldiered on.  Israel was feeling good, so he pulled way ahead, and I also let Matt pass me and he started to gap me as well.  About this time, I saw a family up ahead descending down the trail.  Turned out, it was the Gilmores.  I just think it's so cool Charlie can ride with his wife and kids at the bike park!  I said hello for a brief moment, then continued up the climb.  We were above the tree line and could see the huge switchbacks ahead of us.  I had trouble pedaling anything that required above minimal power, but luckily the climb was pretty tame.  I did walk a few concrete switchbacks.  Soon enough (or not!) I reached the top and met up with Israel and Matt.

Time for some fun descending!  The plan was to take Skid Marks (single diamond) to Bridge the Gap (blue) then down Follow Me (single diamond) all the way to Canyon Lodge.  Somehow though we missed Follow Me and found ourselves on Bullet (double black!).  Some of it was challenging in a fun way, but there were a few sections that just seemed impossible to us.  When we had the chance, we cut across Big Ring, then finished the descent with Shotgun (single diamond).  Overall, the descent was super fun.  I brought along the GoPro and got some pretty cool footage.  Here are the ride stats:

Week Ending Sunday, July 1

After Sundays ride, I started to feel more hopeful but still wish I had more time to train.  Less than 7 weeks until Leadville!

On Tuesday, I met Charlie, Israel and Matt at Del Cerro.  Charlie brought his new Tallboy, which I had a chance to ride for a lap.  It definitely felt more plush, especially the fork.  I think the seat was positioned a little further back than my Spearfish, and it put a little strain on my back, but I'm sure that can be adjusted.  In any case, a sweet ride for certain.  We ended up doing more than 2 hours of ride time and nearly 3500 ft. of climbing, which was good for a Tuesday.

It turns out a friend was in town and wanted to get together on Thursday night, so I had to skip the PV road ride and wait for the weekend.

Saturday was a busy day with my nephew's birthday party and a pub crawl planned in the afternoon, so Israel, Susan, Matt and I got an early start with the goal of a good four hour ride.  We went to Santa Monica and decided to do a ride similar to what Israel and I did a few weeks earlier.

We started up Westridge, and I still wanted to pace myself and keep it fairly moderate, but push a little bit harder than I had been.  Israel and I stayed together and Matt was close behind.  We then went across and down Sullivan Ridge to the boy scout camp gate and climbed back up to the top of Sullivan Canyon.  We descended the canyon and it was really fun.  Some of the side singletrack trails connect together well, and the main canyon is in good shape, with some good opportunities for jumps and drops.  Climbing back up was good too, as Israel and I kept a pretty good pace.  We made it over to Hectic and dropped in there.  It's always amazing how many hikers like to come up Hectic.  Luckily, my timing was good this time and people were able to pull to the side as I descended and I was able to clean the whole run.  It just shows the Spearfish is a pretty capable descender.  The last climb out of Caballero Canyon is always tough, but again, I felt pretty good.  Even when I got gassed I was able to recover.  We ended up climbing back up to the start of Broken Arrow (car trail) then back to Sullivan Ridge.  I wanted to get 4 hours of ride time in so we descended Sullivan Ridge down to the big tree, then climbed back up to Sullivan Canyon for a last descent.  I had to get to my nephew's birthday party, so I bombed down and stayed mostly on the main trail.  I made it to the car and the ride time was right at 4 hours.  Felt good!  Israel and Susan stayed to do a little extra, but I found out later that Susan crashed on Sullivan Canyon and hurt her hand.  Hopefully she'll be okay for Mammoth next week.


After the fairly big ride Saturday, then the pub crawl and a few too many beers, it took me all day to rally on Sunday.  I finally got off the couch, ran a few errands, then decided to go for an early evening road ride on the Crosscheck.  I was hoping to get about 3 hours in with some steady climbing.  Didn't quite get 3 in, but almost.  Turned out to be a great afternoon for a ride.  Was overcast for much of it, but good temperature.  Here's a pic along the rugged coast of PV:

Here's the ride info.  First time all year that I rode on both Saturday and Sunday.  We'll see how the back holds up!

Week Ending Sunday, June 24

After suffering a bit on the Sunday ride, I was at least glad my back seemed to be holding up.  Did yoga on Monday and it felt great.  Rode Del Cerro on Tuesday with Charlie, Israel and Matt and felt okay.  I still got a little tired towards the end, even though we weren't going very hard.  I skipped Thursday's ride and instead Israel and I planned a fairly big ride on Friday am.  We decided to do Blackstar Motorway then head up Maple Springs.  Matt decided to join for the Blackstar Motorway part, his first time on it.

The way my rides were going, I was a little worried about doing this ride.  The Main Divide can put the hurt on you if you're not in shape, which I knew I wasn't.  I knew I had to do my best to pace myself and leave some energy for Maple Springs.  Plus, the forecast was for mid to high 80s and I don't do very well in the heat.

We parked at Maple Springs, did the 6 mile fast pavement ride over to Blackstar and started to head up.  I hadn't ridden Blackstar since VQ and it was quite soft and sandy.  Still, I felt decent and kept my HR a little lower than the previous rides.  Israel pulled ahead and I hung back a little with Matt.  We made it to the golf ball in 1:13 which wasn't too bad.  Really impressive for Matt, esp considering how little he rides compared to the rest of us.  The ride over to the Main Divide was pretty tough.  I always consider Blackstar Motorway a true test of where my fitness is: the steady climb up Blackstar and the steep relentless climbs on the Main Divide.  I don't think I passed.  I tried my best to pace myself up the steep climbs and avoid spiking my HR, but I just wasn't in the kind of shape to do so.  Still, I did okay and made it over to the Motorway without feeling too bad.

Headed down the Motorway, which was fun, then refueled at the car.  Matt took off, and Israel and I headed up Maple Springs.  It started to get warm, but I felt okay at first.  Still, knowing I wasn't at my best I told Israel that if he got ahead we could regroup at Four Corners.  That last mile or so of the pavement when it gets steep is where I started to suffer.  Israel was riding strong and gapped me here and I figured I just needed to get past the steep first mile or so of the dirt, then I should be okay up to Four Corners.  Was I wrong!  I suffered really bad at this point.  In hindsight, was definitely experiencing some mild heat exhaustion brought on because I was out of shape.  My HR wouldn't come down below 180 and I felt really fatigued all over.  I had to stop several times but at least wanted to make it to Four Corners.  Up near the top Israel came down and met me.  I told him later that if it was much farther from the top when he met me, I might have just headed down.  I did tough it out and made it up to Four Corners in 1:38, almost 30 minutes slower than my VQ split.  A very humbling experience and now I was truly concerned for Leadville, which was only 7 weeks away!

On Saturday, I decided to do a recovery ride and took the Crosscheck to the beach and headed north to Playa Del Rey.  It felt really good to spin the legs at a steady, but moderate pace.

On Sunday, I wasn't sure how I would feel but decided to go to Santa Monica and do a similar ride to what Israel and I did the week prior.  I parked at Amalfi and headed up Sullivan Ridge.  It took awhile to warm up, and some guy on a singlespeed dropped me right away, but I still felt decent and kept my heart rate in the mid to high 160s.  A definite improvement.  I got to the top and decided to go straight to Hectic, wanting to do the climb out of Cabellero Canyon while it was still cool.  My HR spiked up a bit on this climb, but I was encouraged that it recovered quickly.  And what a difference a week makes!  On the fireroad climb back up towards Sullivan Ridge a week ago, I was in granny gear and couldn't get my HR to drop below 180.  On this day, I was in the big chain ring as I should be, comfortably in the 150s and 160s and probably going 7mph vs 4.  I went down Sullivan Canyon, climbed back up and still felt good.  Got to the top and decided to go do the car trail.  Felt equally good on the return, which was really encouraging.  Finished the ride and was really happy.  I knew I still wasn't primed for Leadville, but it sure looked significantly better than just 48 hours earlier.

On a side note, I was over at my sisters house and she wanted to get rid of what was my first mountain bike: a 1991 Trek 950 I sold her about 10 years ago that she probably only rode a handful of times.  A true classic and my latest project!  I immediately removed the huge bar ends, the big comfort seat and kickstand and put some new rubber on it.  Next I need to work on the drivetrain, but that may take a little time.  I think I need to install new cables and housing and see if I can get the shifters working right.  It's a 7 speed, so the parts I have lying around won't work.  To be continued, but here's a pic so far:

Week ending Sunday, June 17

After the big Maple Springs ride, I was a little concerned about my fitness, but then realized it was perfectly normal to have lost some fitness after relative inactivity for the past month.  Still though, the back injury certainly put me behind schedule for Leadville.  I thought hard about how to ramp up the miles and take care of my back at the same time.

I decided to join the Thursday night road ride and brought the Crosscheck.  It turned out to be Dave, a new friend he met on his Saturday ride, and Israel, who was riding his old Trek mountain bike.  Interesting looking group for sure.  Dave's friend was pretty strong, and we did a pretty good pace up the first climb and took turns on the way over to the switchbacks.  Israel took some turns too, which was impressive since he was on a mountain bike!  I got more tired than I expected and again my heart rate was up pretty high.  I remembered from before that I estimated my anaerobic threshold HR to be somewhere around 170.  It exceeded that on most of this ride.  Still, it was fun to be out riding on a Thursday night in beautiful Palos Verdes.

After a much needed massage and adjustment on Friday, Israel and I went to Santa Monica on Saturday and did a pretty big one: we rode up Westridge, down Sullivan Canyon and back up, down Sullivan Ridge and back up, then down Hectic, up Caballero Canyon, then down the car trail, and back down Sullivan Canyon.

Sullivan Canyon was really fun and so was Hectic.  It was climbing out of Caballero where I started to feel really tired.  Again, tried to keep it nice and steady, but my heart rate reached the mid to high 180s!  In hindsight, I think it was a combination of the heat and being out of shape.  Doing the fireroad climb back to the car trail afterward seemed to take forever, and my HR would not come down from the high 170s and low 180s even though I was in granny gear going much slower than usual.  Did the car trail and really suffered on that same climb on the way back to Sullivan Canyon.  Still, was a good ride and hopefully just at the beginning stages of getting my fitness back.

Catching Up Since the Whiskey Off Road

Much has happened since the Whiskey Off Road, but unfortunately not much on the bike.  After taking a couple of planned easy weeks, I ended up with back spasms again.

It's difficult to pinpoint the exact cause, but there were a number of possible factors.  I played golf for the first time in 2 years, though I only got in 3 holes before separating some ribs on a tee shot.  I did go to the range the week prior, and also hit about 30 or 40 balls to warm up before the round started though.  We also had a sub instructor in Yoga, and though class was fun, we tried some unusual poses that may have contributed.  The following day, I woke up slightly stiff.  I felt it as soon as I tried to get out of bed, and again when it was difficult to put on my socks.  I had acupuncture done that day at noon, and by the afternoon, the back was quite a bit more stiff.  I actually still rode Del Cerro that night, but felt back tightness the whole time.  Not surprisingly, I woke up stiff and sore.  It still felt less severe than in the past though, but as the days went on it actually got worse.  Looking back, the last time I hurt my back it felt a little worse initially, but I was only off the bike less than 2 weeks.

This time it took three weeks.  Started with massage and adjustments, then light stretching, then some stationary bike and I finally was able to get back on the bike.  Was going to ride that Thursday night, but just didn't feel ready so I waited until that Sunday.  I ended up riding Maple Springs to Motorway with Susan, and it felt so good to be out there!  Predictably, my legs felt good early on because they were well rested.  My heart and lungs, however were a different story.  I decided to wear a HR monitor for the first time in years.  I recall that my heart rate runs pretty high even when I'm in shape, but I was surprised to see it jump up to the high 170s when the pavement got steeper.  I tried to settle down and make sure to pace myself, but my heart rate hovered in the high 170s and low 180s the whole time to 4 corners!  Still, I felt pretty good, and made it up in 1:17, so not too bad.  We went up to the first set of towers, then headed back down and across to Motorway.  That steep climb on the way over really hurt! Here I am taking a break next to my old bike, the Merlin Works I sold to Susan.  Such a beautiful bike! I miss it, but the Spearfish is a better bike for me.

Finished the ride and felt tired, but happy.  Did a bigger ride than I should have for sure, but the back felt good.

Whiskey Off Road 50

After a seven hour drive, got into Prescott (pronounced 'Press-kit') and checked in at the Springhill Suites, which was an ideal place to stay.  Only a few minutes walk to the race/expo, so really close to ride over on race morning.  I walked over to pick up my race packet and check things out. It seemed like a really cool atmosphere.

Was able to check out some of the Pro Fat Tire crit, which was pretty cool too.  Afterwards, I went exploring to find dinner and ended up at the Prescott Brewing Company.  Sat up at the bar and ended up talking to a nice guy from Phoenix who was doing the 25 proof.  Probably should have eaten a little healthier, but I couldn't resist the BBQ pulled pork sandwich.  Yum!

And of course, a nice porter to go with it.

The bartender was nice enough to let me sample some other beers, but right before I ordered another pint, I remembered I was doing a 50 mile mountain bike race the next day in altitude and heat and switched to water.

Went to the pre-race meeting (where the race director made the course sound very intimidating) then got back to the room, got all my gear ready, then called it a night.

Work up early on race morning and went to the lobby to get some coffee and oatmeal, then headed back to the room to get ready.  Was a little worried that it would be cold standing around at the start.  Weather.com said it would be 49 degrees at start time (7:30).  Didn't want to bring a jacket that I would have to carry for the rest of the day either, so I settled on a vest and light arm covers.  I got to the start around 7:15 and ended up pretty far back (probably in the rear 10-15%).  Maybe it was all the bodies, but it felt pretty warm and I ended up stowing the vest even before the race started and was fine.

The start was fun.  Countdown, gunshot, and the mass of riders (close to 600) were off through the streets of Prescott escorted by motorcycle.  While still on the streets, I saw Willie, then Ben and Mykta of team Troupe.  As we began to climb, I decided to try to inch my way up little by little and started to feel the altitude.    Because I heard about a logjam up at the singletrack, I wanted to get past as many slower people I could, but without putting out too much effort.

We hit the dirt, and not too long after came upon the big logjam and came to a screeching halt.  It probably took about 10 minutes to get 150 yards, but I was entertained by the couple of guys who just had to snake their way through the rest of us who were stopped, and by the gal who decided to drop her shorts and take a leak right in front of about 50 guys.

I finally cleared this major logjam, but it was still slow going through singletrack climbing sections.  There were a few tough sections, but it was still crowded enough where if anything semi technical came up, there was no choice but to walk because of all the people walking on the trail.  Even on the downhill sections, I was going quite a bit slower than I would have liked.  I recall the downhill being fast and flowy with a few technical areas, but all very rideable.  Would have been fun to have clear trail in front during this part.

The next section opened up to a fireroad that had multiple short little ups.  It was nice to finally be able to dictate my own pace.  I then came across aid station #1, which meant I was 15 miles in with the descent into Skull Valley ahead.  I had enough water, so I passed the aid station and started heading down.  Then I remembered I was going to eat something at the aid station, so I pulled out a Clif Bar and struggled to get it open and eat it while descending.  The first part of the descent was pretty fast, but the rest didn't seem very steep and there was actually a little climbing.  At least this meant the climb back up wasn't going to be too bad.  I got to the bottom of Skull Valley and the route took us into town and aid station #2 and the turn around was in a church parking lot.  I took this opportunity to drink some Heed, use the outhouse, reapply some sunscreen, fill up my hydration pack, then headed back up.

As I started to climb Skull Valley, I thought it would be really nice here to have my iPod.  I decided to pass the time by seeing how many people I could pass on the climb to the aid station.  I was feeling pretty good at this point and the tally started adding up.    About 8 miles into the climb, things started to get steeper and I felt like I was starting to slow down, but I was still passing people, so that made me feel better.  I saw Ben from Troupe and he was the 63rd person I passed on the climb.  Right around that same time, a guy on a Seven hardtail passed me.  Unbelievably, he was the only one on that whole climb. That only meant that I really should have started closer up to the front.  Got to the aid station and the tally was 66 - 1, net 65.

I skipped the aid station again even though I was feeling kinda crappy at this point, but I figured I would just keep moving.  I was a bit dismayed to see that the route continued to climb.  I ended up riding with a couple of singlespeeders at this point and remembered thinking how nice it was to have my little gears.  It turns out the last couple of miles before the aid station and about 3 miles after were the hardest part of the climb.  At this point I was really tired and began to feel cramping come on.  And I wasn't even to 'Cramp Hill' yet!  First my inner thighs (weird how those always seem to be the first), then hamstrings and quads.  I stopped to pop a few more Endurolytes, took a few big swigs of water, then just tried to continue to pedal easy.    There was some fun singletrack, then I started up a steep twisty loose climb.  This had to be Cramp Hill.  Before I even got to it, I had resigned myself to walking it based on how I felt, but I figured I would at least see how it went.  Surprisingly, I cleared it, passing a couple of people as I did.  After this was probably the must fun part of the course, rolling, twisty singleltrack and some pretty deep creek crossings.  It was still some work though, and I was pretty beat.  I started to look at the mileage and think about the race director saying you finally know you're about done when you hit the pavement.

The pavement came, and as I was fighting some shifting issues in my largest gears, a group of about 5-6 riders came whizzing by.  I figured I'd go ahead and jump in this pack and ride with them to the finish.  It was mostly downhill and very fast, but this group was really trying to hammer home, so it was still painful.  Kinda reminded me of the feeling at Vision Quest when you hit Trabuco Wash and have that slight downhill to the finish.  Moving fast, but still pedaling hard to finish strong.  The group was still intact and we wound through town, sped down the last hill to the big left turn and the finish.  It was really cool to finish in town with people lined up and cheering.  This of course is not me, it's Geoff Kabush, who won the pro race.

The Garmin said 4:25, but I forgot til later that it was set on moving time, so my official time was 4:34.  Now off to the beer garden and Whiskey Row!

April: Pre Whiskey Off-Road

After Vision Quest, I took a full week off to recover and tried to focus on the yoga and stretching, and get a few adjustments and massages.  I was getting ready to do the Whiskey Off Road, but figured if I just recovered, then ramped up just a little, I should be okay.  Plus, I was just doing the Whiskey for the fun and experience of it.

I did ride Old Camp Luge on 4/15 and rode Aliso with Matt on 4/21, and also rode Del Cerro on 3 occasions during the week between VQ and the Whiskey.  Rode the Voodoo at Del Cerro on Thursday the 19th and took a pretty good crash heading down the telephone pole descent.  Was carrying too much speed, didn't quite make the sharp right turn, went off trail and OTB.  Hit my hip hard, hit my head hard enough to where my sunglass lens popped out.  Hip was bruised and pretty sore, and my neck was also sore.  Was able to finish the ride though, so I wasn't too worried about it.  Here's a pic of Del Cerro.  So lucky to ride a trail like this as a weekday workout ride.  Notice the ocean and a glimpse of Catalina island in the background!

On Monday the 23rd, I got rear ended coming back to work from Subway and the guy took off hit and run!  This pic doesn't do it justice.  The rack was smashed into the back of my car and is worthless.  I got the guy's license plate though, so hopefully I'll eventually get reimbursed for the new bike rack I had to buy. We'll see.

On Wednesday before the Whiskey, I went into Whole Health Clinic and had a really good massage--thanks Roberta! Dr. Hong seemed a bit overzealous though.  I told her about my crash and bruised hip and she proceeded to adjust me in about 10 places, then did some fairly intense Active Release Therapy right on my sore hip.  Ouch!  Not only was it painful at the time, it got swollen and tight and remained that way up till race morning.  Hopefully it'll be okay for the race!