This isn’t so much a report as an important observation. Why is it that when I go out and do a leisure ride I go with minimal equipment, as light as I can, but then when it comes to racing like a simple 35 mile loop, I decide to pack a lot of survival gear? Well this year this is what I did. My thinking before this race was questioning or wondering if this was like the first year and it takes us 6 to 8 hours of walking. Or I get stuck and half to extract myself. Or maybe did I want to figure out how light I could go on a longer self supported race. Given 35 miles is a long the hike out would really not be that much. Mo just went out and rode without thinking of weights and measures.
Now I’m wondering why I started that ride with a lot of gear. During the race I looked around and everybody had their bikes set up just like a summer time cross country race. Super light steads with a single water bottle. In my infinite wisdom I toed the line with a 40 pound bike. Not as heavy as a ‘Fat Pursuit bivvy out overnighter’ but not as light as it could be. Mo … well she just rode with the stuff she always rides with.
Results were freaking damn hard given the high heart rate sprint of it all. Reality showed that the others were flirting on top of the snow and dancing up hills. I was doing the self induced kill myself project. As it was I came in at 3 hours 46 minutes, a half hour later then what I did last year. When I wasn’t caring so much stuff. Mo … she just came in third and was on the podium. Maybe I should be taking lessons.
On This Day In History
2012: Ah, the good ol’ days of soul-searchin’ and goal-settin’. Who’d have thought this old dog would one day be chasin’ after fat bikes and multi-day stage races? But I s’pose that’s just how the cookie crumbles, ain’t it? Gotta keep chuggin’ along, like that little engine that could.
2011: Hot diggity dog, now that was a race to remember! Hairpin turns, heart rates through the roof, and a loose handlebar throwin’ a wrench into the whole shebang. Talk about a nail-biter! I swear, I aged about ten years in that single race.
2010: Would you just look at that meadow? Prettier than a picture, I tell ya. Reminds me of that one time I was out hikin’ with my buddy Jimmy, and we darn near stumbled right into a moose’s backyard. Let’s just say we high-tailed it outta there faster than a jackrabbit on a hot tin roof!
2009: Ah, the joys of battlin’ the dreaded sniffles. It’s like a war zone up in here, with tissues flyin’ every which way and chaos reignin’ supreme. But hey, at least that AI-generated image of impending doom gave me a good chuckle. Gotta find the humor where you can, right?
2008: Speakin’ of good chuckles, how about that Marcy? Cutest darn thing this side of the Mississippi, I tell ya. Nothin’ beats a lazy day off from trainin’, just kickin’ back and hittin’ the trails with your favorite four-legged pal. ‘Course, that Lolo Pass Ride was looming on the horizon, so it was back to the grindstone soon enough.
2006: Now, here’s a doozy for ya! A good ol’ fashioned snowpocalypse, barrelin’ down on us like a freight train. But hey, at least we got to soak up some of that glorious sunshine while it lasted, right? And with friends comin’ to visit, well, that’s just the cherry on top of the sundae!
2006 (again): Ah, yes, the age-old conundrum of privacy versus accessibility. Gotta love those brain-scratchin’ ideas that really get the ol’ noggin churnin’. Course, knowin’ me, I probably got about three sentences in before my mind started wanderin’ off to more pressin’ matters… like what I was gonna have for lunch that day.
Well, there you have it, folks! A whirlwind tour through the years, with all the twists, turns, and belly laughs you’d expect from yours truly. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya about the bumpy ride!
Boneshakerbike 
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