Primal Quest Team Blue

Sleepmonsters be damned!

2008-07-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

I saw a young Elvis near one of the lakes on who knows what godforsaken trekking section we were on and then there was an incident with Snow White, a Hut, a hot dog and the Enchanted Forest. So, it was with some trepidation that I informed my teammates that I saw Conrad Anker on the rocks during the climbing section.

It wasn't a hallucination! He really was there.

Climbing Station

2008-06-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks you Craig L. I had no problems. We ascended up one of the poles for the chair lifts, went around a knot and then rappelled down. No one changed my gear after I told them who helped me with the set up.

Certifications

2008-06-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

We finished the certification process. We had to show our tons of mandatory gear, ascen up a tower, rappel from the tower, take out boats in the little lake here (46 degree water), tip them over, right them, swim, and do also swim on our river boards. Tha day was tiring - think of the race! Anyway - do have some good pictures courtest of a photographer (Mike Hedge) who caught us in action while river boarding. Check out

http://flickr.com/photos/mikehedge/sets/72157605719389451/?page=3

some good shots of Jamie, Ron, Julie, and Dom on the river are

http://flickr.com/photos/mikehedge/2596389083/in/set-72157605719389451/

http://flickr.com/photos/mikehedge/2597222694/in/set-72157605719389451/

http://flickr.com/photos/mikehedge/2597221716/in/set-72157605719389451/

http://flickr.com/photos/mikehedge/2597223208/in/set-72157605719389451/

http://flickr.com/photos/mikehedge/2596392759/in/set-72157605719389451/

We're all here

2008-06-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

We are now all here in Montana. Kent arrived about 7 PM Montana time. Today Julie, Jamie, Ron, and Dom tried out the river boards on the Gallatin River. At first we planned to do a section of the river called the Mad Mile (actually it is longer) - but after talking to the river guides who say they will not take groups down it when the river is above 3500 cfs (it was running 5200 cfs today) we decided to do an easier section. Still - it was some incredible whitewater. We'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow.

Whitewater Swimming on a Rip Board

2008-06-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

This is the "Zoom Flume" Class IV rapids in Brown's Canyon. It was so wicked we had to do it twice. We went with Shane Bolling from Ripboard.com. He is an outstanding instructor and coach and I was never skeered! We went to Buena Vista and Salida in connection with the Fib Art Festival and took advantage of the whitewater.

White Ranch Open Space Park

2008-06-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

Today was supposed to be my last hard day on the bike. I went to White Ranch which is just North of Golden, CO. As you can see the downhill section was a blast to bomb. Unfortunately, I chose a difficult trail up the mountain that was full of oppressive rocks and erosion control logs so that I spent more time practicing my "hike-a-bike" than I care to admit. It's all good practice.

Arnot Creek / Highland Lakes

2008-06-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

Went for an 8-hour "dress rehearsal" for PQ on Saturday. My loop took me from the Arnot Creek trailhead near Dardanelle to the Highland Lakes and back. Track on MB.

There is still plenty of snow above 8000ft in the Sierras. And this was a very low snow year. I'm starting to wonder how PQ is going to work, given the mountains in Montana are at similar altitudes, but much farther north. Perhaps they do not get as much snow there.

I spent several miles walking on snow with little evidence of the trail. Snowshoes would have been a hindrance and were not needed due to the dense spring snowpack. Check out the full photo album to see what I mean.

In other news:

Two weeks ago I went for a crappy training run in the Ventana Wilderness. No trails, no fun, no nothing, just poison oak. See track.
Last weekend I raced in NORCAL AR #3 at Henry Coe State Park. I was with Tim K. and Wendy W. We took it easy and placed fourth. Not too shabby. Tim and Wendy are also going to PQ, both on different teams (Dancing Pandas and Marmot).

Sunshine on my .....

2008-06-08T18:46:00.000-07:00

We had a great training weekend in Boulder and Golden, Colorado. On Friday, Kimo, Licia and I met with Craig Luebben for skills training on the ropes and rock. Craig is an instructor, experienced guide and author of several books and articles. He is also very patient and his help was valuable from the start. After he helped me with the gear and gave me a few pointers, I felt like I was climbing rungs on a ladder. Incredible! Afterwards, we made it to Boulder to attack Sunshine Hill and it was a different experience and soooo much easier than last time. On Saturday, I ran for 45 minutes on the trails around the reservoir and today I ran Mesa Trail---most of it--then went to Mount Sanitas again to try out some approach shoes. I bought a pair of 5.10 shoes at Montbell and the grip on the rock is impressive. It really helped my confidence.

Humbled on the Sunshine Canyon Climb

2008-06-02T18:10:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought I was doing pretty good I am reminded that "we're not in Florida anymore". This was a 9.14 mile climb on the mountain bike with 3200' of elevation gain. The average grade was 7.6% and the maximum was 23.1% finishing at 8426'. I was looking for air and stopped 5 times. Once for the above picture. I'm looking forward to doing this climb again after being here a while to compare my performances.

It was a nice day!

Mount Sanitas

2008-06-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

I believe "sanitas" in spanish means good health. This is a 3.1 mile loop starting at 5520' and peaking at 6863'. I hiked at a steady pace stopping only once for "critter cam". I made it to the top in 37 minutes and it was HOT or the doxycycline was working me over. (feeling much better mom).

This is a bull snake and it is not poisonous. There were rumors amongst the hikers that a mountain lion was seen on these trails last week.

Coast to Coast Part I

2008-05-26T18:35:00.001-07:00

Florida Coast to Coast 2008

It was a small crowd of racers that would be facing what is now by far the most challenging race in Florida – the coast to coast. I would be racing with my Primal Quest partner – Julie Ardoin, and two of her friends – Clay Abney and Joshua Trivet. The pre-race and preparation were the usual – though we did not get our maps until 8 and did not get a chance to start plotting (40 UTM points) the first half of the course (all we had maps for) until 9 PM which as always makes it a long night. We finally got to sleep around midnight which would give us a good 5 hours of sleep before we headed out the next morning at 6 AM.

The race started with a prayer and then a 4 ½ mile beach run followed by a roughly 18 mile paddle across the Banana River, north up Sykes Creek, west down the 528 barge canal and then south to Hubert Humphrey Park on SR 520. The weather was cool and slightly overcast making for very pleasant paddling. The last 4 mile section was quite exciting for Julie and I as we were paddling in a Pamlico 160 with an open cockpit. Their was a strong headwind and the waves were cresting the boat. Our paddling experience helped keep us upright, but we did have to essentially paddle sprint the 4 mile section to keep the boat in solid control. Josh and Clay, paddling an Amaruk had a difficult time keeping up.

The transition was to bikes at this point and our crew, made up of Heather, Oscar, and Abhijit showed us how a good crew can help keep you moving. Their were a few teams in front of us – but I was not concerned, this was way too early in a long race to worry about field placement. Our objective was to keep a strong pace for this bike leg which started with an easy, but long bike ride straight west on SR 520 to the southern entrance to Tossohatchee near SR 528 – about 34 km. The cooler weather we had on the paddle gave way to sun and heat and it was starting to get to Joshua. We stopped once to eat and cool him down. We were staying close with Troy Couture – one of the brave solo racers to attempt this challenging race.

The next leg of the race though Tosohatchee would be a much tougher experience for most teams than it looked. The navigation held some challenges, but the heat held more. This is where we started with problems. The heat was putting Joshua into heat exhaustion and Clay was suffering from a knee injury. We were finding it very difficult to keep the group moving. At one point Clay was curled up in fetal position, looking really pale. He told Julie that he might pass out. Julie deadpanned – “If you pass out we’ll stop – now get your bike and let’s go”. Josh meanwhile was showing early signs of heat exhaustion with serious muscle cramps and alien looking spasms in his leg muscles. We used combinations of walking, resting, coaxing, double biking, and pack carries to make it through this section and finally emerged at the other end of Tosohatchee a pretty bruised up team. The good news is that the remaining bike leg was a 26 km road ride. I had brought my tow rope so was able to tow Joshua to the TA and Clay had recovered enough that he was able to maintain pace. It was not necessarily a fast road ride, but it was good enough to get us there. At the TA it was pretty obvious that our 4 person team was about to become a 2 person team. Josh had full-blown heat exhaustion and Clay was pretty much in and out of pain. The only team ahead of us at the time was Nature Calls and there were a few other teams in the TA that looked like they had been sent straight to the TA. My family was here which gave me a great mental and psychological boost. We decided that Julie and I would continue on, we also started calling ourselves Team Blue (our Primal Quest team name).

The next leg of the race would be a long trek across the Econlockhatchee State Forest. We would be picking up 5 checkpoints along the route. Julie and I decided that we would try to catch up with Nature Calls in this segment, who had a 30 minute lead out of the TA. It was starting to get cooler and we figured we could make it to the next TA (at Adventure Cycles) between 9 and 10 PM meaning we would be able to use the night to run better. Though many of the teams would hit this section in the dark, we hit all the points within the forest in the daylight and found them relatively easily. It did not hurt that I had a high level of familiarity with the area. Both checkpoint LBE2 and LBE3 had multiple flags hanging – it appeared that other groups were using the same locations (which made sense as the flags were hung in distinct or scenic locations and others would have noticed this). It was starting to get dark as we exited the forest at LBE5 and headed for the first numbered race checkpoint CP1. The final portion of the trek was through downtown Oviedo and on the paved Cross Seminole trail. CP2 gave us some difficulty in the dark, but some pace counting got us to it. We caught up with Nature Call’s who we could see resting and eating at an intersection up the road, but they continued on before we found CP2. As we left the CP we could see lightning and hear thunder in the distance. As we continued it got closer and we started back into our slow run. The rain started and then we had a large crack-boom of lightning. We were about a mile from the TA when it really started raining hard and lightning was all around us. There was nowhere to shelter so we simple ran harder to the TA where the teams were hanging out under the eaves of our local bike shop – Adventure Cycles.

Our crew had cooked spaghetti and we decided we would take our time in the TA and eat and rest. It was still too dangerous to head out into the storm. My family was once again here providing mental support. The next leg of the race would be essentially a night bike ride across the city on back roads with a could of checkpoints and a stop at Travel Country Outdoors. One of the checkpoints turned out to be more challenging than it should. I decided to take the eastern-most entrance into the Bear Creek nature trails because the clue for the control there said to. This entrance was not from the parking area where there were two trail entrances. The clue had intended for us to take the easternmost trail from the parking lot, not another trail further from the side of the road. After about 15-20 minutes we figured it out and were ready to bike on. Julie had gotten a kick out of the entire thing. I figured I would try to make up some of this time by biking hard. It was cool (and wet) out – but the conditions would be good for biking as there was no risk of overheating.

We arrived at TA5 wet, happy, and a little exhilarated by the night ride. We were about 15 minutes behind Nature Call’s. The crew had good food at this TA also and we knew that we would need some serious food for this next leg of the race. It looked like a relatively short (30 km/18 mile) trek that would take about 4 hours. This did not, however take into account the terrain and difficulty of the controls. The first control point was due north of the “Bridge to Nowhere” in the Wekiva swamp. The bridge was an old massive concrete bridge that was probably built when people though wetland were only for filling and destroying. Now the bridge led into the swamp. We kept a due north bearing and simply go lucky coming right onto SP1 – the first checkpoint in this section. From this point we simply needed to bushwhack 2 km north through the swamp to a tram road to find SP2. This is where the going got tough.

For anyone who has never bushwhacked their way through a thick swamp in the dark, you have no frame of reference and cannot possibly understand what thing is like. Issue #1 – spiders and bugs. Swamps are full of them and they want nothing more than to sting or bite you. Every step entailed knocking down a few webs. Issue #2 – the terrain. This involved endless climbing over fallen trees, bashing through palmettos, crawling over and under trees, and fighting sticker bushes. Issue #3 – Direction. Without constantly checking the compass it is easy to simply do circles. It really does all look alike and it is very easy to get confused. It took us nearly 3 hours to cross the swamp. When we exited we came out on what used to be a logging trail marked on the map. The trail had been replanted with pine trees and was not really a trail – but it was obvious that it had one time been a logging road. Of course planted pine always comes with thorny vines – usually raspberries, and this was no different.

After 3 hours of swamp bashing we were just happy to be on a road. So happy in fact that we spent a couple of hours going up and down it looking for SP2, which was placed on the wrong intersection (east of the mapped one). Of course we did not go too far east looking – we checked too far west. We did go to the location where the control was mapped and I even took our GPS tracker and pointed it to the sky so I could prove we were in the right spot. Nature Call’s had found it which was impressive. After we gave up and headed north again we had no problems with the other controls – though they were definitely more challenging than the controls on the first trek. The SP7 was especially challenging – on an earth bank that was hard to get to – being surrounded by thick vines. Julie and I circled around it – and I finally found a spot to get to it. As I came out I heard Jim from team NC. I gave him directions to SP7 and then Julie and I headed out to the Horse Barn that had restrooms with running water. After a little sink shower to get the worst of the swamp mud off and also scrub with soap the bites that were all over my wrists and legs I felt much better and we headed to TA6 – Katie’s Landing.

At this point we learned that all the other teams (other than NC and ourselves) had been bypassed around this section. Some of the teams were really suffering – but the good news was our two downed members were feeling much better. There were plenty of teams that had already headed out on the paddle. Jamie (one of my regular team partners – who had done this race with me multiple times) and her family were here for support. It was a great chance for them to meet Julie – as they would be supporting us in a few weeks at Primal Quest.

Julie and I had been looking forward to a nice paddle down the Wekiva and St. Johns River heading to Blue Springs State Park. This turned out to be a pretty paddle, with lots of wildlife. Julie was even able to get a short nap in the Necky Amaruk. The only down side of this leg was the large number of big boats zooming up and down the St. Johns River. At Blue Springs we would get the maps and instructions for the second half of the course. We did not know where we were going – but we were feeling very strong after a solid 30 hours of racing and were ready to take on Coast to Coast Part II.

Sonora Pass

2008-05-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went for a 50 mile ride over Sonora Pass and back. This photo says it all:

I put up all my photos on Picasa, I'll add a few captions to describe them. The ride I did is also described fairly well by this other web site. They also turned around at the Marine base, they must have felt the same despair at the sight of the rest of the downhill to US 395 that I did.

Cement Creek Road

2008-05-21T10:45:00.001-07:00

This is a steep trail. You can just make out the red Honda on the road. You may have to "click" on the picture.

Crested Butte trail

2008-05-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

This was scarier than it looks. Just don't slip!

Hammerfest

2008-05-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

I got a chance to compete in an off-road bike race this weekend, though I took second in 2:21, just behind Team Primal in 2:19. It was an awesome race and a cool format - it is at http://eaglinar.blogspot.com/

Pimped My Bike

2008-05-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

So I've been down for almost a week now with (what started as) a viral stomach flu thing. Since I have not been training I've had a chance to spend some quality time with my loved ones. Yes, I worked on my bikes.

Here is a breakdown of the work I did on my PQ racer - a Santa Cruz Superlight.

First off I ditched the crappy SRAM stock grip-shift grips and replaced them with clamp-on ones. I like this kind because they have a larger circumference that makes them more comfortable on long rides. I also replaced the "cheap" Speed-Dial SL levers with some Speed-Dial Ultimate ones I had on an old bike. Not sure if I saved any weight on this, but the result is much more functional.

Out with Egg-beater SLs and in with Egg-beater 2-Ti. These are a nicely worn black color.

I put some new tires on and I swapped the wheels from my hardtail. Look the same? Nope - the spokes on this set are titanium.

The finished product.

San Luis Hell Paddle

2008-05-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

Robert from Kayak Lake Mead suggested practicing paddling in the wind for the upcoming Desert Winds race. So I took my kayak out to the local big, windy reservoir - San Luis Reservoir. There have been adventure races here in the past, including the first 24hr race I ever did.

Today there was just a small-craft wind advisory. There are red beacons around the lake that start flashing when the wind is really nasty. They were already on when I showed up. A park ranger warned me to be careful out there. It was likely gusting to 40mph around some of the points.

I paddled out to the long inlet on the south side of the lake. It was calm there, at least. I practiced some wet exit and entry just in case I would need that skill in the race. The water was still pretty cold but I had a wetsuit on.

On the return trip I fought the very nasty headwind. It slowed me down to below 2mph at times while I was paddling all-out. Very exhausting. Although I managed to stay in my boat I was glad I had the wetsuit on. If I fell out I would probably be blown across the lake before I would be able to get back in. It took me 1:20 to go "out" and 2:40 to go nearly the same distance "back".

Forgetmenot Ridge

2008-05-05T20:56:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I took the afternoon off to go hicking. It was a spectacular day with a bright sunshine and warm (~70) weather.

The last ~15km of the road to the base of the Forgetmenot ridge is closed in winter so I biked in from the gate. Since most of it is uphill and because I managed to convince myself that bushwaking with my bike on the shoulder would be (yeah right) faster than riding the last 3 km, it still took me nearly an hour to reach the trailhead. I was more cleaver on the way back and avoided such useless mean of travel.

The rise to the ridge starts with a steep climb that gradually levels off to a nicer angle. 700m of climbing later, you reach the top of a flat wide ridge that extends for about 6 km. Along the ridge, there are sevel false peaks. There was even a little section that forced me to do a little bit of rock climbing. I named this section the mini Hillary Step! (see picture)

I went to the end of the ridge and back tracked to the start. As I said, I elected to bike around for an extra 3km instead of bushwaking this time around! All in, I was away from the car for 7 hrs, went up by 1155m and drank 13 scoops of perpetuem and a ate few bars. I still had to stop at Wendy's on the way home and it tasted sooooo good. I guess Ron and I will fight for Julie's fast food during the race!

Sorry about the small pictures, I took them with my cellphone because I forgot the camera...

View of the flat wide ridge (2300m elevation)

Hillary Step: Atthe top of this little peak, I could either traverse it on the left in 4-5 feet of snow(not!). to the right on a scree field with a strong side slope or go straight up and climg the last 10 feet to get over it. That's what I did and it was certainly the easiest way to do it.

Atlantic Coast Conquest 2008

2008-04-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

No winter wonderland here, but lots of paddling (12 hours in a 30 hour race) - read all about it at http://eaglinar.blogspot.com/

Winter Wonderland Part II

2008-04-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

Well,

If winter is going to screw up my training plans, might as well make the most out of it..... so yesterday, instead of training, I went skiing in Banff. I went with Rainer, Mike and Adrian (most of which Kent knows) and we skied hard for 6 hrs straight with no lunch time. Lunch breaks are for p.....

As always, we stuck with double black diamond runs for the majority of it. You can be the judge on the following pictures. Do those look double blacks to you? Don't worry, it is easier than it looks! but my buttocks this morning do not agree.... The total day was 25,000' of skiing and chair lifting!

The spring weather appears to be back after a brutal winter week. I should be able to go back to my regular running /cycling this week. I also been doing the gym exercice that Ron suggested: rotating a bar on your shoulder while sitting on a ball. Works pretty good and should certainly help my paddling.

Below is the famous Delirium Dive at Sunshine Village (near Banff). We skied that particular face 4 times. We went down the part that is in the sun on that picture. The top 1/3 is particularly steep (about 50 degrees). All is OK as long as you don't fall. If you do, you will most likely slide all the way down (and probably catch a few rocks along the way). It adds a little bit of adventure to skiing! Picture taken from the top of the paradise chutes (see next)

Paradise Chutes. We went down in the contiuously snow-covered section almost from the top.

Dom in the Paradise Chute (2)

NORCAL AR Quicksilver Sprint

2008-04-27T11:07:00.001-07:00

I did a "short" race yesterday - one of the NORCAL AR, a new series in the Bay Area. There was no paddling as the lakes in the area are pretty small. So just a mix of mountain biking and running. It turned out to be much longer and intense than I expected. Only myself and another team (ARNavSupplies) finished the entire course in over 6 hours. It was a bit hot, dry and sunny. Enough to slow you down a bit.

We were only given the first few CPs at the start. We started with a run of about 8 miles or so. The hills were steep but I ran them all anyway. I though I was going so fast I would have an insurmountable lead by the time I got to the bike TA. I was wrong. The top teams were only a few minutes behind me! Maybe because it was a short race, or I am not in as fast as I used to be.

At the bike TA we had to copy the rest of the CPs onto the map. The rules were a bit complicated as the next section involved biking for a few CPs, running for a while, then biking again. I screwed it up. My map was folded poorly and I forgot to grab one of the CPs that was an out-and-back of a few miles. Shit. When I got to the run TA I realized the error and decided I would take the penalty instead of going back, it would have taken me longer than an hour to fix my mistake.

Then we had a short run to grab 3 CPs in loop. After the last CP there was a definite advantage to taking a cross country route and skip about a mile of trail. Unfortunately for me it was a bushwhack through some very fresh and potent looking Poison Oak. Luckily back at the bike TA they had some Tecnu and I scrubbed as much of the Oak off as I could.

On the final bike back I decided to go get the CP I missed because it was not far out of the way. I already had the penalty but I wanted to go get it anyway so I could feel better about myself. This caused me to take a different than expected route to get to CP15, which I could not find. As it turns out, it was in the wrong place but was easy to find if you took the straight-forward route to get it. Since it was in the wrong spot I did not get a penalty for missing it. Luckily I did not spend much time looking for it.

After all of that I finished about 25 minutes ahead of ARNavSupplies. I had expected to do better against them so that was a surprise. I think it was more because of them being faster than they used to be. The race director gave me a 30 minute penalty for the missed CP instead of an hour because I did at least try to go back and get it. So I came in 2nd place.

Week Late

2008-04-27T10:56:00.001-07:00

I've been pretty busy and have not been posting my workouts on time. I'm a whole week late on this one.

I plowed through the 100,000 ft of climbing mark at Purisima Creek Redwoods preserve last weekend. It was a shorter run, but only because I ran more mileage on the weekdays. My total mileage for the week was longer.

My weekday and weekend runs are getting fairly intense. I'm running hard the whole time and my body seems to be adapting. A few weeks ago I was running my morning run at about 1:20 and thinking that was fast. Last Friday I did the same run in 1:13, and broke 1:20 on all my runs (MWF). I'm busting my ass at the gym as well, trying to build up paddling strength. Going to try and do more paddling on the water as well.

This is all to prepare for the Desert Winds race coming up in 2 weeks. There is no biking, only paddling, running, coasteering, canyoneering, and swimming. Although I am racing solo, I like to beat as many of the teams as I can. The competition is stiff. The fastest team there will probably be DART, which I can never seem to get ahead of. It will also be hard for me because I'll be paddling solo vs. doubles and triples.

Winter Wonderland

2008-04-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

Well,

It looks like winter is here to stay. After a couple of weeks of spring-looking weather, everything reverted back to winter condition Friday. Today, I decided that weather was not going to turn me away and went to the mountains even thought the temperature was hovering in the single digits with some strong winds.

When I got to the mountains I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the weather was nicer out there with a wooping 25 *F and little winds. yippee...

Simply said: I went up in the trees on the West side of the mountain and came back down on the trail facing the South side. Stats: 2:17 minutes, 2700' of elevation gain, most of it in snow shoes.

Here are some pictures to prove that I actually got out there:

Will spring ever come?

A Sense of Bravado

2008-04-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

I had business to be in Baton Rouge, LA yesterday so I loaded my bike and made arrangements to meet some friends at the trails in the afternoon. There was a very steep 80 foot climb; or 12 foot depending on the angle, that I committed myself to knowing that there was a metal grate covering a sink hole at the narrow edge of hill top. I did not give up on the climb but my wheels did and I got to slide down that cheese grater on my knee and hip. Ouch! But, any day is a good day when 5.5 hrs are spent on otherwise sweet single track and I was able to continue riding. I forgot all about my bobo's by the time we were seated at the restaurant and served with a school of sushi. (wicked wound picture has been censored). today, I am watching the "planet earth" DVDs.

Waddell Beach Run

2008-04-15T05:55:00.000-07:00

It wasn't on the beach at all, but I did start there :) . 20 screaming miles with over 5000ft of elevation gain. I went hard almost the while time, only stopped once to get my headlamp out of my pack. I started in late afternoon and ran through sunset and into complete darkness.

My training program is starting to pay off. I have done this run several times in the past, but never faster than 5:00, I think. This time I broke 4:30. It is probably also due to the amount of effort I put into it and the fact that I used a heart rate monitor to verify my exertion level.

I also tried a new supplement. While I was at the hardware store buying some long-range insecticide spray to take out a yellow jacket nest, I spied some "5-Hour Energy" bottles at the checkout counter. This is the stuff that Team Salomon Crested Butte said they were using. For kicks, I bought a bottle and took it on my run.

I ran extra hard for the first part of the run and so by the time I had about an hour left I was starting to feel pretty bad. There was still 6-miles and a steep 1500ft downhill remaining. I popped open the little bottle and drank it down. I think it helped a bit. I definitely had a hard time getting to sleep when I got home, even after 5 hours was up.

The next morning Cathy and I left our kid with the neighbors and went on a nice bike ride. I think I was still buzzing on the 5-hour stuff.

Dom is an Animal!

2008-04-10T14:20:00.001-07:00

I'm glad he is on my team!

Mobile Urban Race

2008-04-07T15:40:00.000-07:00

I raced on Team Blue Runner for the Mobile Urban Adventure Race. This was the second year a race was staged in Alabama and the turn out was huge. 60 teams of three participated in this year's race which started at the Battleship Park. We biked to downtown Mobile via a tunnel and hunted for CP's in unique locations such as a cemetary, firehouse, cathedral, fort, museums, parks. On the return trip we had a flat on a 29" tire and no tube! We stretched a 26" tube and hit it with enough CO2 to get finish the bike leg back to the battleship Park. Next we were instructed to find two CP on the Battleship Alabama. Having learned a little from last year's errors our navigator was now able to distinguish between decks and levels, port and starboard, bow and stern...they don't teach those things in orienteering school. We were quick in the canoes and then made a short run back to the Bomber and the finish line. We placed 1st in the Masters division and 8th overall.

Mellow Road Ride

2008-04-06T20:12:00.001-07:00

Took it a bit easier this weekend and did a ~60 mile road ride in the Santa Cruz mountains. I wanted to do it all easy, but I blasted the home stretch when it looked like I could get it done in under 4hrs. I didn't, and felt a little thrashed afterwards.

My stomach has been getting upset after training lately. I think it has to do with stress from my new job, higher coffee consumption, and less sleep. The job is going well, but the excitement of it and the pressure to get productive (mostly internally from me) is pushing my limits. I need to cool off, treat my body better, and get back into a more regular training routine.

Getting Closer to 100,000 ft

2008-03-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

I posted some of my latest weekend workouts on Motion Based. Porcupine Rim, and two runs since then at Henry Coe State Park: Hat Rock and Vasquez Peak.

My total elevation gain so far (weekend workouts plus a few week day ones) is 86,189ft. I've been working on that since Christmas. Still have a few weeks to get to 100,000 ft (expected PQ elevation gain).

With no races coming up soon, now is a good time for me to build up mileage and endurance. The last couple weekends since Moab I have been taking on short but intense runs. Long enough to get me to the point where my legs are starting to hurt, but short enough that I can run most of it.

Pictures from PQ Certs

2008-03-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

There were lots of great pictures taken at the certification camp.

Julie's are at
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cxxbgb.cgagir4n&x=0&y=9pofhf

Kent's are at
http://picasaweb.google.com/kryhorchuk/Camp_xstream?authkey=K4AB22OhNC4

Dom's are at
http://picasaweb.google.com/DomDrouin/MoabMarch2008

I blogged my story at http://eaglinar.blogspot.com/

it was a great time and really difficult to return to reality after such a fun week.

Primal Quest Certifications

2008-03-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

Julie, Kent, Dom and Ron

Team Blue met in Moab for the Gravity Play Camp Xtreme. We rode the Porcupine Trail and Slick Rock. Hiked a couple of canyons, kayaked in the very cold Colorado river and spent several hours practicing our ascending techniques. The camp was supported by Team Salomon/Crested Butte and Danny Sutter. Great athletes and really cool people. We really enjoyed our time there.

Heart Mountain (part2)

2008-03-06T22:03:00.000-08:00

More pictures from my hike last weekend.

Clouds rooling in and out:

Nice view

You probably don't to deal with those conditions too often....

This is the furtest we went. In the summ er we want to go back and actually hike all the way to top peak that you see in the middle of the picture. The ridge to get there is compose of three "humps". the first two seem quite manageable but the third one will be a little more challenging. One thing is for sure, there will be lots of "exposure", i.e.: if you fall, you will probably die!

Bear Mountain Peak

2008-03-02T20:11:00.000-08:00

I went for a 6 hour punishing run in Henry Coe State Park on Saturday. My loop took me from the headquarters out to Bear Mountain Peak and back. Any trip from Coe Headquarters is inevitably tough because of its geographic location. You start out at 2650 ft and have to drop down to 1100 ft to get anywhere. Thus you always have a 1500 ft climb waiting for you at the end.

Last fall a huge wildfire burnt up 70% of the park. The section I was planning to travel to today only reopened a couple weeks ago. Many of the roads in this area had been lost because of the overgrown conditions and I would not have bothered to try and get to them in the past. With the fire I had the opportunity to use these old roads and not have it be a miserable bushwhacking lost-fest.

I brought my camera and got some nice pictures to share. The roads near the headquarters are well maintained. My destination is shown: Bear Mountain. The park is very green at this time of the year. For the other 9 months, it is brown and dry.

Much of my route followed the bed of Coyote Creek. The canyon was very pretty and the creek was running cool and clear. Getting my feet wet was unavoidable.

Bear Mountain, shown here, was completely toasted by the fire. Nothing survived and no grass has grown in yet. Just a few weeds and some shoots from the root-crowns of the chamise. Prior to the fire this area was impenetrable brush.

Near the peak the burn was not as severe. I found a large patch of Shooting Stars by creek bed below the peak.

Coming back from the peak was a brutal rolling slog along a ridge top followed by a steep descent to canyon. The sun went down and I spent a couple hours of the return trip in the dark, including that 1500 ft climb that was waiting for me.

My ropes kit & races

2008-03-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

I've been trying my best to keep up with this blog. At the same time I have a group of folks who start emailing me if I don't keep my adventure blog up to date. So for those who want to read the lastest of the races - I've got the Swamp Stomp and the BOAR up at http://eaglinar.blogspot.com/.

In true adventure racer fashion I am taking pictures of my gear. This might be handy stuff for those who like climbing and ropes.

Starting in the upper left corner here are the items row 1: Croll, 2 ascenders, 2 nonlocking biners, 3 locking biners, harness, row 2: 2 24" lanyards, 1 18" lanyard, 3 6-7 mm ropes (for prussik ties), helmet row 3: 1 etrier (I am going to get another to simplify my climbs for PQ), and last row 2 purple 48" lanyards, and 1 white 48" lanyard. I've got a few items I'll need to pick up before PQ - but I may just end up borrowing from one of my climbing buddies.

I am really excited about the camp where we will be certifying. One worry was getting my bike there. The last time I flew with it (USARA Nationals) the case came open and I nearly lost some bike parts. I checked the XStream web site and they had rental bikes for $45 - that was a no-brainer. I'll bring my seat (the most important part of the bike for me anyway and use a rental). I plan to have a full write-up of Camp XStream on my blog and there are quite a few folks waiting for that post as they are considering the camp (though not for PQ).

Heart Mountain

2008-03-02T11:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I headed out to the mountains to get a little bit of uphill hicking training. I left with a friend of mine and we elected to go for a ridge walk at the edge of the mountains. With avalanche dangers concistenly rated as high or extreme these days, any valley-travel is too dangerous to even consider. Avalanches can be triggered kilometers away and come down to the valley and take you out. In many cases, they find the bodies in the spring! In fact, we now sit at 14 avalanche-related deaths this year in Canada.... an average year.

The trail to the top of Heart Mountain starts with a steep trail/scramble that takes you up 2500' over less than 1 mile. Then you get a nice walk on the horseshoe-shaped ridge for about 2-3 miles and then head back down on the next ridge.

Even with a distance total distance of only about 5-6 miles, it still took us 7 hours to complete. We had to deal with loose rocks, snow, and a lot of wind. For the majority of the hike, the wind was blowing ferociously at us keeping the progression slow and our faces frozen!
Here is a picture, I'll add more later when I get those of my trailmate

Dom

first pitch:

second pitch:

Top of second pitch:

Last pitch:

View from somewhere near the top:

Gratuitous bike shot

2008-03-01T11:35:00.000-08:00

Cher, bebe

Climbing Gear and Fin

2008-02-29T14:15:00.000-08:00

This is the gear I am currently using which includes the climbing harness, several lanyards, figure 8 device, auto locking carabiners, two Prussic loops with fisherman's knot, ascenders, leather palm gloves and foot stirrups. Note also the Rip Force Fin with Bat Wing attachment.

Half Marathon

2008-02-24T18:23:00.000-08:00

It was an incredible day for a run. We started at the Superdome and ran down Bourbon and up Royal Street. It's amazing that people are still drinking alcohol at 7 am. At least they came out the bars to cheer us on. It was very tight and slow on the narrow streets. Things didn't open up at all until we were a good ways down St. Charles avenue and we started running on the Neutral Ground (Median) between the street car tracks. I imagine the elite runners and people trying to qualify for Boston start the race up front and don't experience the log jam we encountered. Elvis is alive and well, running the half with a guitar???? Lots of things to see. Unfortunately my running partner became very ill after the run and I am hoping it was just an allergic reaction to a new energy drink with Gobi berries.
Afterwards I met a training partner at the Spillway to kayak and we had a really great training session and enjoyed the afternoon on the water.

BAAR Brawl

2008-02-19T19:41:00.000-08:00

This weekend I "competed" as a solo in the BAAR Brawl - a local club training event that is not a race because we don't get permits or anything for it. It has consistently been one of the most difficult 24hr races in California for several years now. The incredibly low finishing rate is usually due to weather as the race is held during the coldest and rainiest time of year. This year was a big break as weather conditions were ideal. The race distance totaled 72 miles, according to the director, with extreme elevation gain and loss.

Even the kayak had "elevation gain" - the race started at high tide (7:00 am) with a short paddle to a mini-golf course where everybody played 18 holes. After that there was a FAST paddle with the current out into the bay. I paddled much of the way with Rick Baraff, formerly of the Silly Rabbits. On the way back the current was so strong it felt like I was paddling in a toilet that was being flushed. The paddle section was over just in time for the tide to go slack.

After that there was a bike section that included China Camp state park and Camp Tamarancho - a local Boy Scout reservation. We had the option of getting the CPs in any order. Rick warned me that Tamarancho was more technical so I went for those CPs first and got them all in daylight. My navigation was very clean for the bike section and I didn't make any major mistakes. I was in first place by the end of it.

The final section was a difficult trek with a lot of travel on obscure unmarked trails and cross-country. The area we were in had many unofficial trails that the race organizer did not plot on the map. I hesitated on my route choice for the first CP and then did an unnecessary bushwhack in a creek bed when the trail was just a few feet above. Rick got ahead of me there. Yet another mistake caused me to fall behind Rich Brazeau and Scott Porter (who were racing together, don't know their team name).

Luckily Rich and Scott had a CP they left behind that I had already nabbed. I passed them on the final stretch to the finish. I got there around 1:30 am. Rick beat me in by 30 minutes, but he missed one of the bike CPs. Because of the various time bonuses available and the fact that the clock was stopped during the mini golf, I'm not sure who "won". Doesn't really matter to me, it was a good effort and a fun race.

Elkhorn Slough

2008-02-12T20:42:00.000-08:00

Busy - I am very busy. Just now finding the time to post my weekend activities.

The BAAR BRAWL (a local underground race/training event) is on next weekend. So I toned it down a bit and went for a short bike on Saturday and a paddle on Sunday.

The paddle was at Elkhorn Slough, halfway between Santa Cruz and Monterey. Super nice weather, no fog, tides working in my favor. Lots of Sea Otters and birds to check out. Too bad I FORGOT MY CAMERA.

The Saturday bike ride was on some local trails at Fremont Older Open Space. Too crowded - I think I angered some hikers. I like doing this ride for training on weekday mornings sometimes. Much better.

Mardi Gras

2008-02-05T16:58:00.000-08:00

A group of 14 took off from the Lake at 7:30 am to scope the parade routes ahead of the crews and floats. The pace was slow as I suspect that some of the H2O bottles were filled with Mimosas and Bloody Marys. Below is a picture of Pete Fountain's "Half Fast" Walking Club of Jazz Musicians

They gave my friend a boa and me a mask.

A tree along the parade route

We travelled down Canal Street to Audubon Park then down St. Charles Avenue to the French Quarter and the Marigny then to Metairie.

Ohlone Trail, Part 3

2008-02-04T19:35:00.000-08:00

This weekend I finshed my series of runs on the Ohlone Trail. The third section, Del Valle to Rose Peak, is the most demanding. 20 miles, 6600 ft elevation gain. To top it off, I got a fair amount of rain and snow while I was up there. Of course, today it was beautiful and I was stuck at work instead.

I tried out a new gadget - a SPOT sattelite messenger. It works ok, but is probably best for not so real-time tracking. A bit heavy too. I got it as a means to relay my current status and wherabouts to my wife, and as an emergency device. It would work well for that.

I have some pictures but no energy to post them right now. I need to find an easier way to get the pictures from my camera to here.

Oak Mountain State Park

2008-02-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

We went to Oak Mountain this weekend which is just south of Birmingham Alabama. It is a great park for Mountain biking and trekking. http://www.bump.org
It is several hours from New Orleans and we were only able to get one lap on the trails before dark. The batteries in the GPS only lasted 1.5 hours but the 2.5 mile fire road climb is on there. http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4905350
It was extremely cold (low of 29F and stayed below freezing as long as the sun was down). I had to pass on the sub freezing night training and decided to guard the gear with Terry while the others took off. There was a small heater in the bathroom and this is what they looked like at 4am when they returned from a 2.5 hour spin on the bikes...(Shame on me).

After the cozy nap at the Shang-ri-la we went for a long trek and another spin on the trails before packing up and heading home. It was a lot of fun and well worth the drive. The latex glove idea did not work in the freezing temperature but ski gloves kept my hands warm and I could still manage to shift gears on the bike.

Spillway Training

2008-01-28T16:04:00.000-08:00

On Friday I went to the Spillway with my teammates that will be doing the Swamp Stomp. We were able to get 5 or 6 hours of paddling and trekking done in the cold and rain. The conditions presented a great opportunity to test our gear choices. I liked the Seal Skin gloves for paddling and I used polar fleece gloves for the trek and pulled latex gloves on top of the fleece. Instant water-proofing and it seemed to hold the warmth rather well. I will have a better chance to try this combo out when we go to Oak Mountain next weekend. This is a picture of my kayak on top of my bicycle accessory.

Ohlone Trail, Part 2

2008-01-27T19:56:00.000-08:00

My knee was feeling ok so I decided to take on part 2 of the Ohlone Trail on Saturday. This section runs from Sunol Wilderness to Rose Peak. I brought my trekking poles and kept the intensity way down. Still, it was 6000ft of climbing and 18.5 miles.

The weather was pleasant for a change. Cloudy the whole time but much warmer and no rain (yay!). Many good views and the trails were in great condition.

Although I had planned an out-and-back, after the "out" part I decided to explore some alternate routes for the return trip. Very little of the return trip was spent on the main trail. The rest was a combination of seldom used trails, cross country, and, uh, some private property.

I did get some pitures.

On the way out I spied Goat Rock, which I decided to scramble up on the return trip.

From Rose Peak I had nice views back towards the bay to the city and Mount Tam in the distance.

On the return trip I headed down to the base of Goat Rock, which looks much larger from below. It was an easy walk up the back side. I tried to find a way down the rocky face, but couldn't find anything that looked safe. From the rock I headed cross-country out to the main road and the jogged back to the car.

I stopped at the bottom of the W-Tree Rock Scramble to take a picture of its namesake tree.

Big Coast Loop

2008-01-20T20:09:00.000-08:00

One of my knees told me to skip going for a big run this weekend. I suspect IT band syndrome caused by cranking up my weekday mileage and intensity. It's nothing bad (yet), just being careful. As soon as I noticed it I cut back my running miles to be safe. Biking doesn't hurt at all.

So instead of going out to run the second section of the Ohlone trail I went for a monster road ride instead. Some people call this ride the "Big Coast Loop." It takes you over the Santa Cruz mountains, along the coast for a bit and then back over. From where I live it was 78 miles with 7800 feet of climbing.

Once again I tried to remain focused on my HR (130-140) and cadence (over 80 rpm, if possible). On the flats I find myself putting much more effort into it to keep my HR up, but the hills really slow me down. On this ride I was 30 minutes slower than I have been in the past. I don't want to trash my body, and I don't think reducing the intensity on a ride this long costs me any more than time.

No pictures (yet) - I am in techno-hell right now. I bought a new camera (Olympus Stylus 790 SW) thinking that a waterproof and shockproof camera would be good for me. However, it is utterly incompatible with my home computer that runs Ubuntu 6.06. I was spoiled by my previous camera (a $99 Canon model) that worked flawlessly. I did manage to get the images off my camera to another laptop I own (freebie from work running Vista), but I can't edit them successfully using gThumb on my main machine either.

BAOC Tilden Park Meet

2008-01-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

Not much to report for me this weekend. I went to the Bay Area Orienteering Club meet at Tilden park near Oakland. Kinda disappointing. I had planned to do the blue and long-orange courses but I started late and did poorly on the blue course. I missed the last start time for the long-orange by a few minutes.

It was the first time I have done a blue course and it showed. The northern half of the course was probably 90% dark green (impenetrable brush) on the map. Finding your way through it was all about choosing the right route. After the first couple of points I was doing OK, but it was too late.

That was a weak end to a slightly disappointing week of training as well. Cathy and Ellie had to stop running with me because Cathy hurt her ankle. I also missed my Thursday ride due to rain (I really should have gone). Good weather is in the forecast ahead so hopefully I can get all my workouts in.

I've decided against going to the San Diego O-meet next week because of time concerns. It's a really big drive or a fly plus rental car thing. So I'll probably go out for a big long run instead.

Prairie Link Mountain Loop... or so I though

2008-01-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

The plan was simple: Park the car, take the trail straight up 2300' to the mountain top, look at the gully and if looked feasible, bushwhack the gully down to the dirt road, run back to the car. This should take about 3 hours.....

Yesterday was a a gorgeous day here: temperature around freezing, no wind and clear, clear sky. So I drove out to the foothills, a 45 minute drive from my house. The nice thing about the foothills is that since they sit a few mountain ranges on the East side of the continental divide, they don't get much snow. The climate there is very dry (as it is in Calgary) with humidity level almost never above 30%

So I started my "loop" by climbing 2300' on a very slippery trail. When I got to the top, the view were magnificent. See picture below and little video.

Here is the little video (I tried to keep it small). It starts looking at the prairies looking East and turns counterclockwise.

Then I put the second phase of my "plan" to execution. I scoped the gully to see if I though I could safely go down there by myself. Getting to the dirt road was only about 2-3 miles. It started with a scree field that was pretty steep but certainly manageable and then everything funneled into a creek (that is now dry and/or frozen anyways). the snow did not look too deep, even on the creek bed. Take a look:

I decided that the gully was both safe and manageable. So down I went. Everything went as expected, the scree was steep and very slippery and the snow at the bottom was only a foot or two deep.

I slowly made it down to the bottom, but then, this is where the plan "failed". With only 200 yards to go and the road in sight, I faced a 30' high cliff. In the spring, this should be a very nice waterfall. I obviously could not jump it. I looked around, and the 30' cliff rose to 100' and 200' cliffs on both side of the creek bed.. Cliffed-out at 200 yards from the road!

I looked around a little, but quickly figured out that the only way out of there was to backtrack all the way up the hill, which I did.

Back at the top, I enjoyed the scenery for a few more minutes and headed back down to the car.

So this is how a 3 hr "loop" turned out to a 4-hour Out-and-back. I hate out-and-backs, but sometimes, I guess this is the only way.

Statistically: the hike took 4:15 hrs and had 4300' of elevation gain.

Sunol Wilderness

2008-01-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

After the Big Storm rolled through I went for a run on Saturday at a place called Sunol Regional Wilderness. The storm wasn't really over and overall the experience was a little unpleasant. The temps were in the 40s and the rain came back part way into my run. Good training for the upcoming BAAR BRAWL race, which always has weather like this.

Got a track on MB, but my GPS equipment didn't properly log some of it. Usually in spots where I was climbing or descending very steep slopes. This run was not too long but was all about the hills. I did about 6000ft of climbing on very steep slopes. Much of the run was off-trail.

Probably the nicest part was the Maguire Peaks, shown here. My route took my up one of the steep ridges on the left, across the three peaks and down the ridge below the third peak.

The wind and rain came in just as I was reaching the summit of the first peak. I had to lean into the wind to avoid being blown off the hill. I snapped a picture facing north to the reservoir below from the safety of a few bushes.

You can see how steep the cliffs below the peaks are here. The climb down them is not difficult, but there are a few places you have to scramble with hands and feet. The rain really started to come down after this and I didn't get any more decent pictures. The peaks aren't the highest place in the park, I went to that place next.

Towards the end of the run I had planned to follow a path down a rocky creek bed called the "W-Tree Rock Scramble". However with the rain coming down hard I didn't think it would be very safe. I had no desire to encounter the force that chucks boulders down this creek. Instead I bombed down a ridge parallel to the creek to the Ohlone trail which crosses it. When I did cross the creek it was pretty high. At best the scramble would have been unpleasant.

After that it was a simple run on trails and roads out.

BCS Fever

2008-01-06T16:23:00.000-08:00

Today was all about 60 miles in the saddle which is never boring when it includes tours through some of New Orleans historic neighborhoods. The day was full of entertainment as the city has gone completely nuts with football fever. LSU fans are everywhere. This picture was taken in the medical district not far from the Superdome. The fans are riding in the back of a River Parish Disposal Truck. This is a local garbage collector. Catchy slogan, huh? That is a Port-O-Let on the back of the truck and the music blaring from loud speakers was LSU fight songs. I believe tomorrow is an unofficial holiday.

Mount Hamilton New Years Day

2008-01-01T16:17:00.000-08:00

My boss gave me the option of working today and taking an extra day off some other time. The weather was super nice today so I said "Screw It" and decided to ride up Mount Hamilton instead. Mount Hamilton seems to be a very popular ride for New Years Day. I saw easily over a hundred riders on the road today. It is the biggest climb in the Bay Area, over a vertical mile including the couple of spots you loose altitude on the way up.

This morning I was out for coffee with my neighbor who told me about one of his New Years rides to the summit in the past. He had to stuff toilet seat covers from the bathroom at the observatory in his jersey to stay warm. I had no such problems today. It was sunny and calm with temps in the 50s.

Now that I am able to monitor HR and cadence I tried to focus on keeping those steady for the duration of the climb. My targets were 135 bpm HR and 85 rpm cadence. I stuck to that most of the way but had to slow the cadence down on the steepest parts to stay in the HR zone. If you look on MB it shows my max HR somewhere around 215 bpm. Seeing as I am still alive, I tend to think there was some sort of technical glitch with the HRM. I did have extra layers over it on the way down.

I feel like the focused 3-4 hr workouts I have been doing lately have been doing me some good. It can't replace the mental and skill aspects of ultra long workouts, but I think it may be more effective at building fitness. Saves time too, which I never seem to have enough of these days.

No pictures today. I didn't bring a camera because 1) I wanted to travel light and 2) I plan to do the climb again later in the season. You can make an insanely brutal loop out of this ride, see google maps to see what I mean. When I get around to it that should be the longest training ride I will do before PQ.

Gadget Blunder

2007-12-30T19:05:00.000-08:00

We had another great team training day and we were joined by a couple of new people. I did not properly operate the GPS as I failed to log two distinct activities--the mountain biking and the trekking are combined as one and I was able to get the trekking only tract but the time is not accurate as it logged the time when I turned it on after we finished our trip. However, there is still quite a bit of useful information and you can get an idea of the bike leg by correcting the times on the trekking leg. The bike was out and back on Parker Road. We had a mechanical on the return trip. The trekking involved a lot of bushwacking and valuable navigation training by Dave. He placed several check points or way points for future use.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4679025 combined http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4679072 trek only

Ohlone Trail, Part 1

2007-12-30T13:58:00.000-08:00

Went for a run up and over Mission Peak on and around the Ohlone Trail today. It was a very nice run. A little longer and quite a bit more climbing than last week. 15.5 miles, 4450 ft elevation gain. Track on MB.

The Ohlone Trail runs 35 miles from a trailhead in Fremont to Del Valle park near Livermore. My plan is to run the entire trail as a series of out-and-backs that get progressively harder (and more remote). Mission Peak is the easiest section and there is really nothing special about reaching the summit. Everybody and their dog (literally) was out there today.

What made my run out of the ordinary is that I descended down the back side of Mission Peak and continued on the Ohlone trail to Sunol Wilderness before turning around and heading back up.

The first time near the peak it was too cloudy so I skipped the peak (you take a short spur trail to it) and continued on. Instead of sticking to the main trail I took a longer alternate route that presented itself.

I caught a nice view of the valley on the other side just as I descended below the cloud-deck.

After the peak I saw nobody until I got back up to the peak again. All I had for company were some bovine friends.

Sunol Wilderness is another place I like to train. Perhaps next week I will climb up the peaks in this picture.

On the return trip Mission Peak is still socked in. I went up anyway and timer-shot this picture of myself. Kinda classic: muddy, wet, cold adventure racer huddled in the rocks. Cool.

Instead of taking the boring wide road down I took a steep technical single track on the other side of the peak. On the way down I caught a nice view of the crags below the peak and some sun breaking though the clouds. You can see the road as well.

And a view across the bay to the city.

New Airline Regulation on Batteries

2007-12-28T21:09:00.000-08:00

Just saw this on Yahoo. You are now not allowed to carry lithium primary batteries loose in your luggage. I imagine this includes lithium AA/AAA as well as CR-123. Not really an issue, although both types are cheapest in bulk, which means they don't come in any consumer packaging. The article implies that safely packing them so they don't short (duh) is enough, but it is not clear.

Edit:
More information from the source. Basically, you can't have any spare lithium primaries in your checked luggage, and only two cells in your carry-on. What's worse is that they allow multiple lithium primaries installed in a device, which really is a fire hazzard. Google provides horror stories: [1][2][3].

The company I work for recently had some prototype lithium-ion batteries air-shipped from a vendor. They arrived in funky explosion proof canisters covered in hazmat labels. Neat!

Training Tool 60CSx

2007-12-28T17:51:00.000-08:00

I have a Garmin 60CSx and didn't know about the motion based web site. Thanks Kent. I will confess to being a bit of a technophobe but I will attempt to log and record tomorrows session. What I have included here is the data from the last time I used the instrument.
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4663046

New Training Tool

2007-12-27T20:59:00.000-08:00

Santa brought me a Garmin Edge 305 for Xmas. Very nice. It logs all sorts of data - route, speed, heart rate, elevation and so forth. You can then upload it to the Motion Based web portal. See my Thursday ride here.

Nose Hill Prairie Park

2007-12-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Nose Hill Park, my main training ground.

This park is located a few blocks from my house and is about 5 miles wide by 5 miles long. The park is my main training ground because, on moment's notice, I can be in there running or on my bike. I usually run all around the park which takes me about 1:45 for about 12 miles, I've never really measured it.

My usual loop includes 4-5 hills (picture) that are about 200-300 feet in vertical climb over 1/2 mile. I try to hit most of the long and tough hills most times. however, if there is one thing I hate is repetition and predictability. So every time I go in there, I run a slightly different loop, which is why I don't really know how far I go. I guess that's also why triathlons do not appeal to me and AR does!

The park is a Hill in the North West part of the Calgary. The park overlooks a good section of the city, including the skyline (picture) and the airport. Yesterday was a much "grayer" day than usual. Usually, at this time of the year, the "land of the big skies" live up to its nickname.

Now when I tell you that I went for a run ... you'll know where..

Dom

Ski Vermont

2007-12-24T11:35:00.000-08:00

Well we just finished the excitement of the ski vacation in Stowe Vermont - and I even learned how to upload video to blogger (not that it is that difficult...). I've put a nice summary of it up at my blog at http://eaglinar.blogspot.com/ with video and everything.

Tunica Hills

2007-12-24T05:17:00.000-08:00

This weekend we went to Tunica Hills and the Clark Creek recreational area to ride and trek in the hills. The area is appx. 2.5 hrs from New Orleans but well worth the drive. We cranked out 18-20 miles along a dirt road with a few granny gear climbs. I was not able to snap any pictures on the biking section as all my efforts were devoted to hanging on to the wheels of my teammates and keeping breakfast down. Next was trekking a couple of hours along the Clark Creek trails where these photos were taken. Next time we go I will remember the GPS for the elevation changes but maybe these pictures will give you an idea of what it is like to train in this beautiful area.

Rancho To Black Mountain

2007-12-23T11:09:00.000-08:00

I went for my first long-ish run of the season on Saturday. 13.6mi, 3250ft climbing. The route was from the Rancho San Antonio parking lot to Black Mountain Peak and back. Map.

Instead of a strict out-and-back, I took the optional secret single track that connects the top of the PG&E trail with the black mountain trail.

The PG&E trail follows some transmission lines up the mountain. It is fairly steep, but runnable. I didn't run it today because I want to slowly crank up my workouts. No need to be a hero.

At the high point on the PG&E trail I could see all the way to San Francisco. This is only possible on clear winter days. There is too much smog and haze over the bay in the summer.

Here I turn from the beaten path and take a small singletrack that connects me with the main trail up to Black Mountain. It is marked with a sign that says "Please Bury Human Waste And Toilet Paper". Ick. Sadly, most people seem to think this is an impromptu latrine area and the first 10 feet of trail are littered with TP.

At the top I could just see out to the Pacific Ocean. It is hard to see from the picture. The recent rains are starting to turn the hills from golden to green. I'm looking forward to more runs like this in the coming weeks. From the top I took the main trail back to the parking lot. It is a few miles longer and at an easier grade. A nice smooth downhill.

Big Sky Country!

2007-12-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

This summer I had the privilege of participating in a mapping expedition of the Continental Divide Trail along a portion of the Montana and Idaho border. I am looking forward to returning to Montana.

Henry Coe SP Ride

2007-12-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

Went for a ride in Henry Coe SP on Saturday. Nice day, but very dry. That is unusual for this time of year.

18 Miles, much of it singletrack. 3500ft of climbing. Henry Coe is all hills. I grabbed some pictures along the way to share.

I started from the remote south entrance to the park. This is a nicer place to ride than the main entrance because it starts off low and ends with a downhill. The only problem is that all of the trails up are very steep. I usually take the Lyman-Wilson Ridge trail up, which is the most direct but also one of the steepest routes.

About half way up is an incredibly steep section of trail I have heared called the Lyman-Wilson Wall. The picture fails to capture how steep it really is. It gets steeper towards the top, with deep ruts in the steepest section. I didn't have my compass with a clinometer to measure the steepest part, but it is easily over 25% grade. I made it up without walking, but I did rest at the bottom to take the photo.

I made a turn about 500ft from the top to follow a nice single track around and up the mountain instead of straight up. I've never tried to ride the straight up way. There are many ridge roads like this in the park that are scary steep to ride down and pretty much unthinkable to ride up.

Wilson Peak is 1900ft above the parking lot. Here is the final section of road to the top.

And the view back towards the Bay Area. There is a nice, rarely used singletrack that drops off the back of the peak. That took me down into another canyon from which I climbed back out of and up to the top of the next ridge over.

The final descent back to the car is a 1500ft drop over two miles on the Jackson trail. It is a nice singletrack with many switchbacks. This is one of the preferred ways to get up the hill, but I think it is just too nice of a downhill waste. Preferred or not, I didn't see anybody on it. Come to think of it, I didn't see any other bikers on the whole ride. Just a couple of hikers at Wilson Peak. It is a lonely place.

A December weekend in New Orleans

2007-12-12T17:12:00.000-08:00

The weather was warm and perfect for training. We started Saturday morning with a couple of laps on the bike trails in the Spillway. This proved amusing and a little scary as we came upon a group of bird watchers intent upon a gold fin (bird). The scary part was the hunter we came upon within the next 100 yards. We warned him about the bird watchers and he apparently disappeared as the park rangers were investigating the situation. Later, I paddled in a bayou along the spillway with a friend who is training for the Everglades Challenge. I have concluded that the golden eagle that I reported seeing earlier in the week was in fact an immature bald eagle. We also saw numerous alligators, nutria, herons and an osprey.

Orienteering in Florida

2007-12-10T10:47:00.000-08:00

Team Blue enjoys the pleasure of having not one, but two good navigators. While Kent is finding his way around the Stanford campus (which is really neat) Ron was in Florida competing in the event at Kelly Park. Details and map are at the blog

http://eaglinar.blogspot.com/

The top 5 competitors in this race were all within 2 minutes of each other, when I left it looked like I was running second place - 50 seconds behind Bob Putnam. There were still some strong runners on the course when I left, so that could change. The results will be up at http://www.floridaorienteering.org/ some day so I will know. Whatever place I end up in - I know that I ran a great course (with the exception of control #2 - live and learn) with great competition - which is what it is all about.

Stanford Orienteering Club "C" Meet

2007-12-09T16:44:00.000-08:00

The Stanford Orienteering Club put on an event this weekend on the campus. Although not exactly what I expected, it was still fun. The bike ride to Stanford from my house is nice so I rode instead of driving. It's about 12 miles, with only minor hills.

View Larger Map

The map for this event was very interesting. It was titled "Stanford University - A Campus Map" as if it was some sort of official thing you give to tourists. Although intricately detailed enough to be a major work of art, the map had absolutely no road or building names. Even the tower, visible from all over the campus, shows up as simply a rectilinear grey blob.

There wasn't much to see, but the course did run by by the museum. I collected these pictures afterwords on my bike instead of lolligaging on the clock.

The Gates Of Hell (yes, it is called that).

This is just north of the museum. There is a control hiding in the bushes behind it.

An interesting statue.

With a control posted on the back side.

Team Blue First Post

2007-12-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

This is the blog for Primal Quest 2008 Team Blue. Information on Primal Quest is at http://www.ecoprimalquest.com/wp-primal/ The team is Ron Eaglin (Florida), Julie Ardoin (Louisiana), Dominique Drouin (Canada), and Kent Ryhorchuk (California).