Sonora Pass

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

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

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

Hammerfest

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

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

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

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.