After 7 months in Boulder I finally did my first local weekday training ride, FruitLoops. Philly had the Tuesday Drives ride and Thursday Greentree or Great Valley which I spent a fair share of time on the front, near the front or off the front of those rides and sometimes near the back, not the back of the back but near the back. Usually though I was in the mix but since i have been in Boulder I have been pretty prominent at the back, sometimes at the back of the back. See the back of the back is different from the back, the back of the back is the place where it is almost like you are not...

I have been off the bike for a few weeks now because of some physical problems, this has led me to driving a bit more. I was out and about yesterday in the car running some errands. It was later in the afternoon, around 3:30 or so, people in Boulder leave work early because around 3:30 or 4 everyone is rolling around at mach speed trying to get somewhere. Anyhow, I noticed something weird yesterday, that I encountered 3 different bizzaro bicycle commuter situations. I was at the epicenter of bizzaro cycling culture, sandwiched in the middle. You see, people in Boulder that are on foot...

Yesterday was Deer Trail Road Race, in the one road town of Deer Trail. The course was interesting to me because it literally heads out to a cone where you make a 180 degree turn like one that would happen in an out and back TT, only this happens 4 times, out to the first cone, turn around, out to the second cone ( different location ) turn-around and repeat one more time for a total of 58 miles. The P/1/2 race had pretty good sized fields, maybe 70 riders? on a tight yellow line road, it was going to be about position and position it was about! Out in the plains, open range the winds were...

This past weekend we made our first trip west towards to the high desert, at first we were going to go to Moab and do some mountain biking but then we decided to stay in Colorado and give Fruita our full attention. We heard that Fruita was similar to Moab and possibly less crowded with some great trails, camping and good weather. We set out on our journey Friday evening, Google maps sent us a really crazy way that had us going off of I70 and onto some back roads that started in Gypsum, Co. We were totally perplexed and a little concerned but we pushed on as the sun was setting. Up this really...

Tour of the Gila came and went, like a big bad storm sweeping into town and doing damage. That is how I feel right now, the Gila did its damage to me and left me worn and battered. Months of build up, months of training for the Gila, with one big goal in mind, a light at the end of the tunnel. Now that it is over I feel a little empty, nothing to work for. Where do I begin? where do I go? what is the next thing? The Gila was a tough battle, and everyday I was right there in the thick of the battle only to be overtaken right at the end. I just did not have that last 2% to give. In other...

While I was out for a ride today just pedaling along minding my p’s and q’s I started thinking about the group ride I did last weekend, the weekend worlds style ride in Boulder. I wrote about it a little bit the other day so I won’t bore my 2 readers with more details on the ride specifics. As I was pedaling along and some middle-aged dude almost crashed into me from behind as he hammered along it got me to thinking of a remark I heard as I pedaled up the only climb on the ride, Carter Lake climb. I came from middle of the pack and bridged to the front group, but in doing...

Lately I have been digging this serbian musician named Boris Kovac, it comes on my ipod and thump, thump we go. Boris Kovac becomes a theme song for my ride – highs and lows, slow and fast, boom, thump boom. Dlowe turned me on, not typically what one thinks of when out doing long intervals or riding solo, but to me the long, lyric-less music calms and settles me as I ride along the rolling terrain, mountains looming and home miles away. It started as something that would come on the ipod randomly and I would skip over, time and time again, then I didn’t skip it and I liked...

I am in the middle standing straight up Yesterday was my first group “race” style ride that I have participated on in quite sometime, heck, it was the first time I sat in a group bigger than 6 since July. Boulder’s big weekend worlds style ride is called the Gateway Ride. It meets and starts at the Gateway Funpark in North Boulder, Gateway Funpark might be fun, has some go-karts, mini golf, etc, but the real fun is on Saturday morning at 10:00 when a huge group (100+ yesterday) meets and rides for a few hours. The Gateway Ride has been known to be sort of the renegade,...

Headed out into some white stuff today for some much needed cyclocross bike time. Exploring the trails in and around my homestead in Boulder is heaven, there are just so many options. I headed in a new direction that lead me onto some great single and double track. Nice and slipper and icy, like I like it. The climbing was long and grinding and the views were great. Even stumbled on a few friends that gave me a 100 lb stare. A nice day on the bike, not on the trainer and into some cold winter air.

loudQUITEloud – A Movie about The Pixies Although the weather was sunny and relatively warm for January in Boulder, Colorado I still wound up on the trainer, work + life gets in the way. I fired up the trainer for 6 x 6 minute LT based efforts, painful and just long enough to really get under my skin. So, I hit up HULU.COM for something new to entertain me in my efforts. It brought me to loudQUITEloud: a film about The Pixies. I dig The Pixies, always have. Hanging out at Intervale School skateboarding with the boom box blasting The Pixies was constant and consistent for one whole...