Busy packing and getting ready for a early launch out of Missoula tomorrow morning. It looks like things are setting up nicely in Canmore and I am hearing reports that the Australians are predicting a clean sweep of the 24 Solo World Championships. Today I will be launching some live update functionality at this site so come on back and follow my journey.
[Canmore WebCams] [Venue WebCam] [Trail Conditions] [Weather] [Twitter]
Only 4 days to go before the 24 Solo World Championships in Canmore
Yesterday I went joy riding with my friend Paul Bardis who is planning on driving up to Canmore to take in the spectacle (some may say crazy). We hit the Wallman Trail and headed back to his place for a dinner in the back yard with some deer hanging out as well.
Today I have the oil changed in my car and am now cleaning it out/up to be packed solid in the next few days. Oh yea! I got two workouts to do too, a three hour final bike check ride and a half hour core session. The exit plan from Montana is for Wednesday.
This just in from Stuart the 24 Solo Championship Organizer.
The course is looking fantastic. A map/profile will be posted on Monday. We have keep it quiet to make is fair to those not in the area yet. Also there is a great new solo only section that is single track that we are trying in the best condition as possible.
The Sunday Night Celebration will again take place at the Iron Goat starting at 7:00 p.m. (earlier than last year by 30 minutes) there will be a band starting 9 p.m. Tickets are on sale on the Additional Products (bottom of your home page) area in your profile. We had a lot of fun last year.
At City Brew, watching the tour, planning today’s workload … going to change oil in the car, then going grocery shopping, planning trip to Canmore, then looking to see and ride some friends. Today’s City Brew trip is brought to you by a nice person that has a business down the hall from me at where I work.
After finally leaving work yesterday was a decent workout in the Rattlesnake and is my last big effort day although it wasn’t that big of a deal.
In one week from now I will be on the starting line of the Elite 24 Solo World Championships in Canmore, Alberta Canada.
[Canmore WebCams] [Venue WebCam] [Trail Conditions] [Twitter]
Thanks to Sten from Team Muleterro I have a more powerful headlamp and I have to say this is one thing I will be getting next. Except more light, like my handle bar mounted ones. Really is nice to see corners like I did last night. I did a middle of the night test run with the night set up and my loop time was faster then the day laps (at zone 2). Really helped that I could go to zone 3 on the climbs though [cheating]. 8 days till the big event in Canmore
Yesterday I could finally reconnect with long-time friend Paul Bardis and we went on a mountain bike ride on the
I leave solo for Canmore next Wednesday morning in my Beetle. I find it is much easier on the mind to do things solo. So in hopes of making this moment in my life more fun I am going to enjoy a good friends company and start packing for my trip up north.
Today I am hoping to not do much in the work out department and am hoping for a leisure spin with my friend.
Now how to get 2 bikes, all my tools, work stands, and all the stuff to do a 24 hour race in my Beetle. Hope they don’t search the car at the border
Yesterday was my last big workout and now I taper down to the worlds. It was a big day at 59.5 miles and 10,996 feet of climbing. For the week I am just shy of 200 miles. Now it is tiny workouts that focus on speed and keeping sharp.
The next big ride
I got a late start but the ride ended before dark which was good. I sit here getting ready for a 6 hour ride today but first better show you all photos from yesterdays grand loop [map]. I got started around 2PM but had numerous bail out plans in place to come back down route 12 to my car. I set out and promptly got lost. The good thing about getting lost is seeing unbelievable beauty out here.
Once I got back on track it was up Granite Creek to Granite Pass on the Montana Idaho border.
Climbing from Granite Pass I headed to Lolo Pass. The climb was a surprise which included more sudden vertical but once on top the views were spectacular.
The open ridges going to Lolo Pass had me stopping every 5 minutes to take in the view and get some snapshots.
At around 3 hours I knew I better put thee move on and get to Lolo Pass to re-water and do the second half of the loop.
Suddenly Lolo Pass comes into view. Time to get water around 5:30 PM.
The second half of the loop started with a ride on Elk Meadows Road.
Elk Meadows Road was the longest section as I rode around 17 miles back to the Montana State border. I went by waterfalls and beautiful views from the backside of the Bitterroots.
I started to hammer up the valley because the time was nearing 7PM and was afraid my 6 hour ride would turn into a epic all nighter. Still was not in familiar territory.
Once I realized it was hammer time I didn’t stop for any more photos. I ended my ride just a tad past the 6 hour mark at around 8:20(ish). Now it is time for another 6 hour round
Yesterday I got news that a crew member has reported that he is out of the trip to Canmore. I am currently in shock because now I don’t have a seasoned mechanic. I needed to take the day off from training and go for a recovery hike. This is where I miss Marcy the most, helped me recover, hike, and figure things out.
I went out to Orange Street Trail and did hike and got all things worked out in my mind. Still full steam to Canmore. In two weeks at this time I will be preparing to start the World 24 Solo Championships
Last night I met up with about 9 others in the Rattlesnake Recreation Area parking lot which was heavily being patrolled by rangers. It was almost like being in another country except instead of weapons they carried ticket books. No tickets for us last night.
The trails were excellent and I didn’t run into many others as I bombed off the front to do some hard efforts (was scheduled on my plan so wanted to eat my cake and throw it too). At some discrete moments I found myself in awe of the glorious beauty of the area.
At the end I had to come home early as the rest of the group headed up to do the Wallman Trail. Julie Huck had to go too so we started riding back to town together although I think she took an alternate route because I went back up the trail but couldn’t find her. So I went home
Keeps the bed bugs away
Last night did some Hill Sprints out at Crazy Canyon and felt so so but mostly missing my Turner. I rode the back up bike so I don’t put any more training stress on a already worn drive train.
Eighteen days until the Elite 24 Solo Worlds in Canmore, baby! Feeling like a finely tuned machine (a slightly dusty machine, maybe, but a machine nonetheless). Gotta give a major shoutout to Lynda, the queen of all things “LWCoaching” (dot com, obviously). This woman dropped some serious knowledge bombs on my training plan – for free, no less! Like, who does that anymore? Seriously, is she secretly Wonder Woman disguised as a coaching guru?
Anyway, long story short, the 24 Hours of Rapelje got the ol’ snip-snip (thanks, Mother Nature!), and I was all set to go rogue with a 24-hour solo ride to prove something… probably to myself. But Lynda, bless her heart, intervened and hit the brakes on that train wreck of an idea. Two weeks of threshold torture (think burning legs and questioning your life choices) followed by a sweet, sweet 10-day taper is the new game plan. Feeling good about it, folks. Feeling real good.
Now, excuse me while I go stock up on enough gels to fuel a small rocket and maybe, just maybe, practice channeling my inner Wonder Woman. Canmore, here I come! (And hopefully, my legs will follow…)
Got a re-supply of Carbo Rocket from Brad in preparation for a month of big epics. Starting off with elite 24 Solo World Championships in Canmore, Alberta Canada on July 24th
Wiped out due to a stick jammed in my bike’s fork.
Testing the Homestake Cross Country track, a corner tricked me, sending me flying. Ended up headfirst. Now nursing a headache and a stiff neck. Wood chips? More like trip traps.
Hello from sunny, warm, and finally a summer filled day in Missoula Montana. I have not blogged since before the 24 Hours of Rapelje. So here is the catch up blog.
24 hours of Rapelje : Did not happen as planned. I had my Carbo Rocket dispenser Bob Waggoner (Triple Ring Productions) ready to rumble. All my Muleterro Teammates were there. I was just settling in when they pulled the plug because of the weather.
It totally sucked that I had to quit and for most of the week I have been really depressed. Just when the course was getting good (started with a slight impression on the plains and ended up great single-track loop). We even had a Live Race Feed! Bummer! Check out Rich
Boneshakerbike 