Fruita

Shreddin 1 track in the desert with friends for the weekend is exactly what I needed. If you have not been to Fruita, you should go. Moab is marketing, Fruita is the real deal.

Check Sager and Ohran climbing up more fun, Ohran is the dark dot on the trail in the middle of the pic. I must say I was impressed with with Chipos come back, he is riding strong and soon will be a force to be reckoned with, it must be the Mona Vie.


This bad boy would not get off the trail, nearly pierced Sagers sidewall when he struck.



I could go on an on with pics and commentary about a great weekend but I will spare you.

Today I worked around the house and busted out some landscaping but with the freeze creek trail in the best shape ever I could not resist a couple laps.
post cut short, gotta go!

3204

So while everyone was out of town racing this weekend I simple got back to bike riding. I wanted to be racing somewhere but with as many races as Rosie attends in my behalf there is no way I was going to miss her running race. Eva and I had a great time hanging out at the gateway waiting to cheer for Rosie at the finish, running races have a cool vibe and man those Kenyans sure are built for speed. In the afternoon I hit the shoreline over to ensign peak and radio towers, after the rain the trails were buffed and even with my slick tires I could rail the turns. After a few hours in the dirt I hit the pavement on the MTB and rode down to Revolution to swap out handlebars, had a good time chillin at the shop before a tired ride back home.

Quick tip: If you are a mtn bike racer and don't spend some pavement time on the MTB then you are missing out. Riding in the dirt all the time can be hard on the body and cramp your recovery style so riding the blacktop is a great way to build efficiency on the MTB without getting beat up. I know pro racers who strictly ride MTB's on and off road, think about the training principle of specificity. I do ride a road bike a bit back and forth to work but in the days before a Mtn race I always commute on the MTB. If nothing else it helps the confidence and "feel" on the bike, and that's half the battle.

Today's funeral was really good and once again focused my perspective, perspective is everything!

Next time you see me with my shirt off you will know why I am so buff, 3204 lbs of flagstone moved today, now I just have to lug it up to the upper yard



Mother nature celebrated my victory over the stone with a rainbow to tell your friends about, this shot does not do it justice.

We finished up a great day by having Sager over for cold cereal, we enjoyed cookie crisp, lucky charms, and Trix. Dinner of champions, Jones would be proud!

93

Today we do not mourn the passing of a beautiful human being but we celebrate a long and fruitful life.

Rosie's grandmother passed away around 2pm this afternoon and put to rest her 93 year existence in mortality. I could not be happier for anyone as she lived life on her terms and was able to pass away in the comfort of her home with family at her side.

Just another reminder for us to love those around us and live every single moment. 93 years goes by fast.

You gotta love white snow on green leaves!

you ever been hit in the neck by an egg?

So today I woke up with sore right shoulder from hurling eggs in the annual Gillespie farm weenie roast/candy hunt/egg fight. The arm is sore but that is nothing compared to the blow I took to the jugular from an egg blasted straight out of Bryan's cannon of an arm, I had big welt and chalky yolk in my scruff the rest of the night. Good thing Sager brought his pup Zona, she was able to lick the albumin out of my shirt. I got to say it's a good thing Sager's a good bike racer because he will never make in the ball sports, "throws like a girl".

Lets hope for the sake of this card carrying vegetarian that those dogs are of the soy variety

The battlefield

Teaching Eva the ways of the hunter and gatherer

Bike wise I am trying to lay low with the hopes of getting some spark back, last week was busy from allot of angles and after 2 weekends of traveling and racing I was pretty warn down. I did do some riding over the weekend just because the weather was nice. Hit up some old UC single track but was to tired to enjoy the uphill. A few more days off the bike and I hope my legs are raring to go, will see.

Also got a little trail work done over the weekend, I need to have a trail building party in order to get this thing knocked out and ready for the summer TT series. Digging builds great upper body strength and there is nothing like the smell of the earth.

look into those baby blues

You can learn about someone based on their Subway sandwich selection. For example on Friday we pilled into the foxmobile and headed to the cholla challenge. We stopped at Subway in Filmore as this is one of the only places you can watch your food be prepared, thats another story. Anyway, I normally order the sub of the day but Friday that means Tuna which I am leary off. I went with a 6 inch turkey/ham on wheat toasted with provolone and the ususal addition of marinara sauce. Toppings include letuce, tomato, and pickles. A conservative sandwich with a little custom twist of marinara. Sager ordered up a 12 inch veggie on wheat with what else, all sorts of veggies. Sager goes big but with a hint of reserve. Fox on the other hand had the sandwich artist put together a 12 inch turkey and cheese on wheat with double meat. Fox goes all out period, no reservations! In contrast the the 3 of us Sara and Craig opted out of Subway alltogether and went with thier preperpared homemade pasta and pesto, a superior choice altogether. If you know any of these induviduals then their sandwich choice is no surprise.

Back to the bike game. The chola was a hot,dry desert race, exactly what I needed after my psychlogical meltdown in AZ. I new I was not feeling my best so I just wanted to ride steady for the entire race, nothing fancy. Sager and got of the front on the first hill but were chased down by "PREFOX" through the flat whoops. We rode together for about a lap and until I found myself out the back on the fast power section. I reeled them in in the gradual rollercoster climb and we all rolled through for the last lap together. We did not have a feed so Sager and I would stop each lap and get fresh bottles, Fox on the other hand chose to punch it through the start/finish and on the 3rd lap begin to pay the dehydration price. Sager and I found ourselves alone on the front again where we rode a conservative lap to ride in together, to bad we don't have our new Mona Vie kits yet, thats 2 races together in the front. As soon as the courses get more selective this will be hard to pull off.

I was happy with my ride, I did not have great energy or snap but I was very steady and kept my head in the game even when my body was not.

A great weekend with great company, a good reason to be a bike racer.

I have now had a couple days off the bike and might do an easy commute tomorrow and then maybe another day or two off the bike before I get back to some training. I hope to build a little more endurace at race pace in the next few weeks and I need to be rested to do it.

I am looking forward to the annual gillespie easter egg hunt/weenie roast/egg fight this weekend, details to come.

Quick tip: This is a bike fit tip so it is very much a generalization as everyones body type requires a special fit. Fit is a personal thing but I have found that being comfortable under full power is whats important. Unfortantly, we set our bikes up on a trainer or with a tape and just hop on a spin around. When we are under full power our bodies contract and shorten and we end up being in a position that is a little to long but then when we slow up the position feels great. For me a position that feels just a little tight when cruising around seems to work perfect when under full power. But then again, what do I know about fit as I am constantly tweaking mine.

1 cylinder

Man I have been beat down this week, I don't know if it was the psychological torture of the AZ trip or the Sunday night drive until 3am with the prompt 6:30am Eva wake up call but either way its all I can do to perform my duties at work, with nothing left for the bike. Hopefully I will spring out of it in time for this weekend but I am not that optimistic.

Saw the new kit today and it looks hot, should be able to unveil the new duds and sponsors in a few weeks.

No time for a tip tonight but more to come soon, maybe some pics as well.

I am retarded

I know the title is not PC but it sums the weekend very well. I don't even know where to start with this debacle. Friday was the TT and I put in a good 21 min effort for 15th place, the course was fun and actualy had a good little climb. Also got some fun ST riding in on the XC and super D.

Saturday Rog and I rode another lap of the XC and Rog burned the flat super D. I was excited for the STXC even though it was at 8 pm and I had to put Eva to bed before driving out to the venue. The course was a 1 minute loop in a flat gravel parking lot with some stadium lights, real creative! So last year a I did 2 STXC's and was top 20 in both which gives me a top 40 placing for the year, I figured this would be a good enough start position to make a fun race out of it. The one assumption I made is that the promoters would follow there own rules, bad assumption. I ended up being called up in the upper 90's of 100 and was on the very last row, a KX 250 would not be able to dig me out of this hole. After a couple laps I was pulled after not even breaking a sweat. So after finally getting to sleep, I dreamt of racing in a national series where the promoters actually cared about anything other than the top 5 riders.

After hanging out with Eva all morning while Rog dominated the old guy experts in the XC, I made it to the venue and was able to talk to the promoter about the bogus call up, this is where it gets good. They simply said "we made a mistake" and "accidentally used the XC call up instead of the STXC", which I later found out was not true. So your telling me I took time off work, drove to AZ, payed my license fee ($150) and entry fee ($100+) and then started at the back of the field and raced for a total of 4 minutes and you don't even have time to talk to me about it. Does NASCAR ever give the pole position away to the wrong guy?, when is the last time you watched a TDF TT and saw the yellow jersey come down the start ramp mid pack? I normally don't get to worked up about this kind of blunder but after the whole USADA/UCI mess and years and years of dealing with this promoters careless attitude, I was on the edge.

So going into Sunday afternoon's XC my morale was not very good and knowing that I would be again called up near the back of a 100+ field on a 40 mile single track course with a 150 meter starting straightaway did not help matters. I was upset by their indifference, sick of there "if your not Kabush your nobody attitude", and ready to pack up and start the drive home.

So to make a long story short, I started the race. I had a much better start than I thought or even new. On the 1st lap I figured I was way back in the field, the pace was very manageable but the heat was oppressive. Into the 2nd lap a rider crashed into me and I was not able to get back on the group I was with and for some reason lost all resolve to continue racing. I noodled around for another lap or so and nobody was passing me, I just figured I was so far back that everyone else had been pulled. I was no longer racing and figured whats the point, If I stop we can get an earleir start on the drive to mesquite. Man was my perception off. After pulling out I found out that I was actually in the 20's after the 1st lap and even after cruising for a while was in 30th and the huge gap behind me was just that, a huge gap in a blown apart field.

I have never been so embarrassed and am still mad at myself for letting the typical NORBA race promoter antics affect my attitude and ultimately performance. My attitude absolutely ruined what could have been a pretty solid race, and I can blame no one mut myself.

We are now home safe and I am working on healing my cracked psyche.

Todays tip:
In a dificult sport like bike racing all the training, coaches, nutrition, rest, equipment, and natural ability in the world, will not lead to results without an acute mental focus. I lost mine for the weekend, did not like how it felt, and hope to get it back.
yeaa!