Author: Bill

The race a 8 hour mountain bike race on Casper Mountain put on by the good folks at Casper Sports Alliance and Fat Fish Racing. Our friend Adam talked us into it and we though what the heck, drive 6.5 hours and go camping and racing … right?

My plan was to go at a heart rate of 125 beats a minute (slow) and make note of my pace. Let’s say it would be like 9.5 mph. And wait for someone to lap me. If no one lapped me at hour 4 then start ramping my speed up and seeing what shook out. But if someone lapped me then I would follow them and note their speed. Say it would be something in the ballpark of 11.5 mph. I would follow until 4 hours to go. I would then attack and get out of sight and then ride at the difference in our speed plus their original speed (11.5-9.5+9.5=13.5 mph). If I could finish the ride at say 13.5 mph then I could catch up and win.

by https://www.facebook.com/milissa.melle

Reality is though I don’t train any longer and so my mind has not figured that part out yet. Another reality is that this track was so much fun I blew the “going real slow” part and was just riding along. I kind of knew at the start I would just ride all day and be good with that. Even if I would roll in last. Maybe I would even run into “snuggles”. that would be cool. And lap her … HA!

by https://www.facebook.com/milissa.melle

The start went pretty well. Went a little harder than I wanted but nothing to get all tired about. Actually committed to slow things down a bit for the next 3 hours to see what shakes and wait for someone to lap me. And I felt like I wasn’t going to roll in last because I was feeling OK. And Mo was right behind me. I kept seeing her a couple switchbacks behind. Holy cow … she was going fast.

The next lap I noted my pace was 9.5 mph. Hey, just like I figured. I wondered how long before I would get lapped and figured that would not happen in the first four hours. Really the course was ONLY 7.3 miles BUT it was super twisty so it seemed longer then it was. Super fun. I just couldn’t slow down enough. way too much fun. This was no race … it was a fun fest.

by https://www.facebook.com/milissa.melle

Lap 3 My pace was down to 8.9 mph slow enough to keep the heart rate at a “sitting on a couch” pace. Super rested. But on the downs I would let it rip … and maybe a little too much. My next lap things would unravel.

by https://www.facebook.com/milissa.melle

I was at mile 24.5 when it happened. Lap 4 on my 9 mph pace. It leveled out and descended to a rocky turn. I let it fly. Then BOOM! I waited … made the corner …. And then felt it. A soft rear tire. Shoot, I ripped the sidewall of my paper thin Fat B Nimbles (never get those again). I pulled over and started the repair. Looked for the rip and found nothing that bad so I stuffed a tube in it and screwed on the cartridge. All the while keeping my eye out for who was going to lap me. This was my chance to chase. Did I mention I was riding a fatty. And that it slipped my mind a simple air cartridge wouldn’t air up the darn thing up? AND … here is the kicker … forgot to put a pump in my frame bag. Yea, I got in enough air to keep the rim about a centimeter above the ground.

by https://www.facebook.com/milissa.melle

I couldn’t ride it and made the decision to walk back to my pit and then start the lap over. Bummer! So I walked. And walked. Cut through the woods and spotted the radio tower above camp. It was still a way out. In the end it was a full mile back. I pumped up the tire but it was too late and my previous attempt to ride had pinched it … it went down again. Shit … ripped that one out and searched around until I found a skinny 29er tube. Tried that and it exploded inside the cavernous fat bike tire. Then I remembered I had a full 4 inch fat bike tube in the car and got it. Now this thing would work but one must realize it is heavy. If anyone has ever held a Surly fat bike tube they would understand. It was like stuffing a tire with sand.

by https://www.facebook.com/milissa.melle

I secretly did not want to ride any more. I wanted to quit. I mean why would I want to ride a bike that felt sluggish. I really did not want to heft that thing up the climbs. As I started back out Mo came into the pit exhausted and ready for a rest. I explained my situation and rolled away. It didn’t feel all that bad. Someone busted by me and I realized it was the leader. I gave chase. Probably 2 laps down but whatever.

I finally finished my 4th lap and started on my fifth. That entire ordeal took an extra 45 minutes. Holy Cow! I lost the leader and busted out lap 5 in 49 minutes. I think I was actually starting to get cooked. Then the cramps came and I slowed to a crawl.

by https://www.facebook.com/milissa.melle

I’ve been here before and just whittled away at the pedaling until I was on a 8th lap with 30 minutes until the cutoff time. Well I don’t know why I would want to stay out under the sun and suffer but I went for it to grab another lap. Darn cramps stopped me on the climb and just missed the time cut off.

Mo comes in 4th with 7 laps.

8 (er… 8.5) laps is not too bad … right? And Mo came in for 7 laps and 4th place. She was glad it was over and I started to realize just how close she was to actually beating me on this go around. Way to go Mo.

Blue steam

Steam rising to the clouds

A turquoise pool

Golden river abstraction

The most frustrating thing is to be somewhere and not seeing what you expected. What is worse? Bringing someone to the spot to show them this incredible thing but to only find high winds, steam, and a stressful parking lot. The final verdict was ho hum. But I know and as one can see in the teaser image … there was beauty there. Just not that day and so close to the subject. I made the best of it, but can remember a time when I stepped back and saw the real beauty.

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.

Suddenly the sun came out and everyone started to peek outside. For myself I jumped on my bike and went for an adventure. My partner followed. Where was the snow? Why was it hard to take a breath? Then I it saw it. A small patch of snow under a boulder. I decided to try to save winter. I placed it gently on my rear rack and started back down the hill. The witches came from the trees. They swooped down and one slashed my face. My fine for messing with nature. They took our snow. To our horror we found out from the moose in the field that it had been melted. We feel bad. Don’t mess with the seasons.

Pit stop on top of the climb before we descend into Radar Creek.

The ride starts out on a gentle jeep trail.

A modest rock scramble is a great way to stretch out after a back locking climb.

Interesting fire ring art

The beast was licking at my heals for a while now and as I turned toward its home I was given no more warnings. I was attacked. I peddled toward the mount of the canyon, its home. The beast had tried evoking the rain and snow but I am not afraid of that. Now it bellowed at me with all it’s might. The air howled past my ears and I jammed the bike into its lowest “granny” gear. For hours I peddled against its might, going a half a mile an hour at best. The air rushing past me at 50 miles per hour and the gravel on the road blew against me. Today I would not win and eventually turned to retreat. I rode the beasts roar waves back and I was pushed at high speed down the twisting trail. Finally home now hidden against the boulders. I hunkered down to try again another day.

At the end of the trail I see a cabin tucked away in the hillside. Kind of creepy how it is hidden. And at the same time she day.omething I would probably make if I were on my own back in t

Still in pretty decent shape.

The stove area

Must of been a small person

Sleeping quarters with shelves on top

Finally, a spring like day and unlike winter I actually wanted to go outside for “Bill Time”. I did not need a motivator like primo crust. No, it was just that nice. And I set out on my bike and climbed to a quartzite ridge.  The ride was not easy. Not saying that I am out of shape … well maybe. But the morning paralleled my life. Forged by transformation. Summer heat and winter freeze. Modern stress and the pressure to work a 40 hour week. Transformed by other people, friends, and loved ones. Living within and around the sedimentary people. I am metamorphic. I am altered.  And this morning I added another experience.

On top of one climb we break out into a quartzite mine.

Tree

Morning sun through quartzite

Mine Shaft

A high mark of quartzite

I just listened to a podcast that basically talks about distracting thoughts. And one of the mechanisms to get rid of distracting thoughts was to journal or blog. So I guess that’s what I’ve been doing all these years. Cleaning up the morning crust. Like my morning excursions to face the crust … or ride upon it I might say.

Got up one morning to a clear sky and the moon peaking over the ridge

Riding the ridges on a shelf of frozen snow.

Hike-A-Bike

Good morning Hyalite

Morning crust adventures

Around 8,000 riding the crust

Tracks

Oops, fell through

Makin tracks

It snowed last night.

Doing S turns above the cabin

Or exploits … is the best part of an adventure. You get there, rest, and then get bored. Then you start to wonder around the area. Maybe out of curiosity. Sometimes it turns into a multi hour exploration. Nothing like setting off from base camp to just outdoor fidget. I guess it’s like moving to a new area. Well on this adventure we liked what we found.

Alaska lookalike ride

Hyalite Reservoir is empty for now

No not Alaska …. just up a stretch from our place.

Swim with the fishes

Riding to Hyalite Lake

The weekends exploits minus the ride in and then the ride out.

Mo practicing our Alaska dreams

Crossing back over Hyalite Creek

A day’s outing on the fatties

Still snow in them there hills

Us … again!

Still some crust to stay afloat

In April when Hyalite Road closes we hit up either Window Rock Cabin or Maxy Cabin. Mostly Window Rock as we did this year. Our usual suspect for adventure is to ride up to Palisade Falls. Since the place is closed and no one is around we just ride up. Probably frowned upon true … but I am not worried. I’m 50 now and I go where I please.

Towering

Mo rifles up to Palisade Falls

Area is closed so we had the run of the place.

Getting ready to check out the falls

Palisade Falls

Us

Mo down climbs to the falls

Wall

Palisade Falls to snow

Devels tooth

Hiking up the North Side

In April of every year they close the road to Hyalite Canyon. And the cabins up in that part of the world are a little easier to rent. This is what we do; so a little 13 mile climb is no big deal for us. Also carrying a couple of days food and bedding is right up our ally as well. It’s what we do … right? My big goals for the weekend were to ride morning crust. And to avoid headaches from the smoke. The smoke yes, because the stove in Window Rock Cabin is the worst. But once things heat up and the cracks get tighter the smoke actually starts to go up the chimney. The first night is the worst but if you keep it stoked your good to go day 2 onward. Almost like some rides I have been on. Once warmed up it is all good.

My bike is packed and ready.

The view from our front porch.

You can take the high road or the low road …o/o

Looking back at the cabin.

The creek where we get out water.

Riding a ribbon of crust just below our cabin