The beach was alive with activity. A majestic eagle perched atop a breaker, its beady eyes taking in the scene before it. On the sand a few feet below, a deceased horseshoe crab lay still.
The sight of these two creatures, so different yet brought together by their fate, reminded us of the fragility of life. Though the horseshoe crab had passed on, its presence still had a purpose on the beach. Meanwhile, the eagle’s watchful eye was a reminder of the beauty and power of nature, and of the importance of cherishing every moment while it lasts.
Life is fleeting, and it’s up to us to make the most of it. Every day is a chance to appreciate the world around us and to create memories that will last long after we’re gone.
When you have company and no one knows specifically what they want to do then the default is Palisade Falls up in Hyalite Canyon.
Cascading waters
The same shot done a thousand times
Myself, Mo, Bill, and Bill
It is paved all the way so as to make it wheelchair accessible I think. But the last pitch would be a nightmare on wheels. So maybe they paved it to prevent erosion. In any case it is paved, so that qualifies it as ‘easy’. And that is all we could come up with for a ‘easy’ hike. From here you can decide if the outdoors is your up of tea. From here you can head up the canyon for a 6 mile hike past numerous other falls. From here it is all downhill.
We had a block of days off available to us. We had planned to attack the Lewis and Clark National Forest and plan our adventures from base camp. But on the day we were supposed to put up our camp we did found numerous campgrounds. But it was raining and we didn’t feel like getting out of our vehicle to put up camp. We drove around a bit and finally decided to just stop off and do the tourist thing. We stopped off at Memorial Falls. Checked out said falls, put in a good 3 mile hike, and then decided to drive home. That’s what we did on a rainy day.
Of course there is my Facebook page but really that isn’t a good resource for following someone’s progress. So here is my Twitter feed to the right. This weekend I will be attending the 24 hours of Round the Clock in Spokane Washington. So until I return you can visit this page for updates. Our plan is to have Mo tweet updates from my phone … possibly maybe photos but we will see. Some resources:
From I-90 heading east: Take the Maple St exit and go north on Walnut for 4.5 miles. At the major intersection of Francis, go left. Continue for 2 miles and Francis becomes Hwy 291. Continue on 291 approximately 3 miles. Turn left on 7 Mile Rd. Go across the 7 mile bridge and take the first left. Look for signs to the start and camping area.
2 Days and 12 hours away from the 2011 24 Hours of Round the Clock. This year I planned to peak and make this race a priority race, thus solo. Last year the solo winner was only two laps off Sten and I’s win with 20 laps. That is impressive. I sure hoped to run into that dude this year. But then life stepped in with it’s stressful job. The last month I have gone to work, endured some bad situations, and then biked home to stare at the wall for the rest of the night. I haven’t been sleeping. But all that is what it is. Stress. And stress is what forces change. And when the race is over I will get into the new change. For now however, its time to race.
In 1999 I participated in the High Peaks Cyclery 24-Hour Mountain Bike Race at Mt. VanHovenbergh New York. It was much like now in that I had not been training before the race. But take my current situation and multiply it by 30. After many years of college and a weight of around 200 pounds I decided out of the blue to do a mountain bike race. Not just any mountain bike race but a 24 hour race. And after giving up cycling almost entirely to concentrate on keeping my grades up.
What ensued is one of the most intense battles of will throughout the night and into the next day. In the end I came out on top and my first solo effort against another solo rider woke me up to the new style of racing at the time. Staying up all night and never stop riding.
This weekend Norman will keep me on my bike and topped off with Carbo Rocket to try my hand at keeping a pretty fast pace for 24 hours. I hope to have Norm post lap by lap accounts on my twitter feed and Facebook page as well so tune it.
Pete from Wild Joes Coffee Roasters is responsible for getting me into the race and I have the benefit to be able to have him there. He and Sten will be going for the 2 man team title.
Tomorrow I go to Hamilton to pick up Betty at Red Barn Bikes. Chad is tuning her up for the “madness”. My new Turner will be the cornerstone of my attempt to salvage a good ride. The bike is such a sweet ride I am so excited to see what I can accomplish on it.
Of course Martha and her Action Wipes will be behind me all the way … haha.
So yea, I have not trained to perfection but I have good people behind me. And I have a great reputation of pulling something out of nowhere.
My friend Dave was with me. He was the only one left and we were killing it. I think it was lap 6 when it started to happen. It is hard to remember, not that it has been so long ago, but that we were hypothermic. Dave said, “One more lap for me and I am finished”, and that was music to my ears. I hated to ride alone back then. I was a greenhorn 24 hour solo mountain biker and hadn’t grown my solitude wings yet.
I cant remember who crashed. But I know why. The trail was one big mud puddle and the temperature in the 40s. The sun had already set and between the numb fingers and the greasy trail a corner turned into a face plant. I also vaguely remember something breaking. Something important. We returned to the pits (our cars).
“Yea, Bill”, followed by the sound of clapping hands. It was Paul who stopped by to see how I had been doing riding in the pouring rain for what was going on 7 hours. I fixed what needed to be fixed and we were on our way again. The lap was horrid and it took its toll on my friend.
“Man … I am out. Sorry Bill”, Dave lowered his head. He was through and I knew he wouldn’t make another lap. Heck, I didn’t even know if I could make another lap. I quickly made the repairs and set out on a lap all alone, solo, in the cold dark night.
“I’ll be here when you finish this lap”, Paul yelled just loud enough for me to hear over the poring rain.
As of now I have 3 days and 12 hours before I start the 2011 24 Hours of Round the Clock solo campaign. This weekend looks to be a cold wet one. With rains all week it promises to be epic. I will not be riding with my friend Dave, my companion on the rainy 1997 Night of The Living Dead 24 Hour Mountain Bike Challenge in Plattsburgh New York. I will not have my guardian angle Paul to save my life by pulling me out of my mad drive to keep going with a dropping body core temperature. This year my friend Norman and I will take on the monstrosity that awaits. Should be fun … right?
Whew! I have been out of it for a while. The last I recall I had this super hard block of training to do courtesy of Lynda and I dipped my front wheel over the rim of the canyon of “bad Ass” and headed down into it. Into the abyss of long, multiple, and time consuming training. Plus try and keep this full time job.
I haven’t been following the plan lately because in some weird way I convinced myself I needed to taper for this weekends race in Spokane. I have found some air and now seem to find time to blog. So what do I blog?
Funky town has included some interesting artifacts in this year already. Not to mention that we have not entered into spring yet. So I went to Pipestone and rode 11 hours with a sore throat. Yea! Came home to a week of sickness. Now I am wondering where all this weight came from and also some signs of my fitness failing me lately.
Oh my gosh, there is a crack in the super fit status I was enjoying just a month ago. I firmly believe that I have been socially eating too much and need to buckle down and get back with the program. Well, after today. I just ate a bag of tortilla chips. Doh
10 hours 25 minutes. 85.66 miles 18,919 feet of climbing
Sunday I set out on a local lap that I call “The Rattler” it is a 17 mile loop with 3,900 feet of climbing per lap. It is a brutal lap and lots of dismounting and extreme climbing up routes that are usually only been rode as down-hills. http://tinyurl.com/therattler
My plan was to ride zone 3 on the climbs and zone 2 on the flats for 9 hours with minimal stops to only pick up hydration (Carbo Rocket). Until now I have been doing these long rides in zone 2 and training for 24 hour pace. So I was pretty hesitant to go so hard on the climbs.
Other participants were Dave, Zephanie, and Chad although a couple dudes showed up on Saturday but declined to come back out Sunday. Next time I
Good morning from the City Brew! I am sitting with a fresh blueberry scone and joe (coffee). I had to get a fresh scone because there were none in the day old pile. I tell you ladies and gents, a scone addiction is worse than cigarettes. I just hope they don’t impose a scone tax.
City Brew Stats… Music: Country (this is new), some song about “Mama” Current Read: Jill’s Blog Window View: Cold, cloudy, and rain Toilet Paper Dispenser: Stingy Population: 4 (pre-“church crowd”) Bandwidth: Awesome
I am sitting here looking at my AT ride data from last night. I climbed the pass way faster than I figured so my AT test only lasted 7 minutes instead of 20. My average was 168 but I feel like since my injury it should actually have dropped to 166 (I also calculated the average from the pre-tt.
I am 88 miles behind last years pace so I am not far behind given that the ankle heals properly. I figure that after a week on the road bike I’ll be back on track. I can not wait to get back off road and do some huge rides (almost got the Trek ready).
I am missing out on the TOB but since I am not a real road racer I don’t feel too bad … still though! Today I am hoping for a 2 hour ride somewhere … any one want to partake in such a thing (road bike).
My parents are setting off to visit me this next week. They are willing to stay in Missoula for three weeks and I have planned some memorable stuff for us to do (may be the last time we meet up). I have not seen them in almost 5 years. They can not stay with me and I told them I would rent a place for them. So they will be able to visit only if I can find a place for three (or even two) weeks. Otherwise they will visit for a weekend and move on to Roundup.
My problem is that I have not been able to find a place within my ability to pay for it. The best I can do is put them up at Jellystone Park in one of those little cabins! Can you help me [click here] ! Let me know if you know of any place I can put them up at a reasonable price. I also welcome any ideas that I am not thinking of. I tend to go blank when I panic! So if you can suggest something that would be great. thanks!
Hello from somewhere in Missoula Montana as I get ready for my trip to Pocatello Idaho this weekend for the second round of the Knobby Tires Series, Idaho’s State Championship Series. I am about to go get supplies and pack the car and I thought why not upload another set of pictures and give remembrance to last years great adventure that a friend and I had in the mission Mountains in August [click here for pics].
Paul and I set out to do Panorama Peak and camp out for an evening on his yearly trip to Montana.
I am traveling to NY today and will not be back until Monday. Please hold off correspondence till then. I plan to update mom and dads page before I leave also.
Boneshakerbike 