I'm Back

I have never in my life had to quit a job, that is until Thursday. As you may have heard my school is closing this year, along with 6 other schools in the district. They asked me to help facilitate the moves this summer, which means move them. Right from the start though I was having some back issues. It was pretty painful and I would come home and lay down all evening. I quickly realized it was not worth it. I had three older ladies (and others) working with me that thought it was pretty funny that I had to quit and they didn't. I am trying to keep off it and heal it up before Saturday.

I am realizing very quickly that the Seattle to Portland is coming. Sutt and Doug will be here on Tuesday. Excited to see them, but hoping the back will hold. I have been toning down the riding due to the back and prep for the race. I would like to report that the DZ stache started late. I have had to meet with the superintendent of the school district and didn't want to show up with a nasty stache. But it is growing now. It has been growing for a couple of days and you should be able to actually see it by Saturday. It is pretty embarrassing that someone my age still can't grow facial hair. Thanks pop for the genes on that one! 6 days to go!

Hmmmmm

Hmmmmm…..what to write about…..there is so much going on I have found that I have little time to write and process cycling. I am writing as I was for 15 minutes before our school band concert begins. What with work, interviews, four kids, and trying to plug in riding I am finding it hard to up update the blog.

Me. I have been riding. I am finding my training is not as intense as it has been in the past, but I am still riding and a little racing. I raced an uphill road race in Salem. I am finding the cat 3’s are very fast. There are a few young bucks looking to move up and really hammer the pace. All the guys in the group are just as good as you, and most are better. I went into the 55 miler with the goal of not getting dropped and get the best finish I could. I hung in there and felt alright. In the last 200 meters on the uphill finish both my legs cramped and I limped across the finish line for 27th out of 40. Not to impressive, but felt I did fine until the last few meters.

I am getting excited for the 200 miler – Seattle to Portland in July and am realizing it is coming quickly. One more month! I will keep pounding the pedals to get ready for it. Sutt and Doug better be ready to pull me along. I thinking I might have to grow out the DZ stache though.

Lance … I don’t think I will vent on this one just yet. I will save it for my next post (in a few weeks maybe).

New E-mail

My new e-mail is asuttlemyre@wsd.net

I wish....

I wish on my 61st birthday that I could run a marathon without even training! I couldn't even do that right now. Congrats pop! Happy birthday! What can I say - you are the man. You just keep getting better with age.

Memorial Day Ride?

I want to do a GC Connection ride on Memorial Day. I would like it to either start/middle/finish at Gordon and Leah’s graves. Thinking of a couple of riding options for the various riding levels’ (any family member who want to join in for a few miles), but I need to know who’s in. Time, location, and distance need to be discussed.

White Rim Death Ride

Adam and I got down to Moab earlier than Daren and Tanner so we went and rode Slip Rock. It was great and a lot of fun. It was 85 degrees and felt so good to be warm. We came down to ride the famous White Rim trail in Canyonlands. We were riding it was clockwise and unsupported, which means you have to take everything you might need because there is no other way out. This route is 103 miles long.We had just started our White Rim ride. It was 13 miles on the dirt rode to get to the paved rode to get to our drop in trail. We were waiting for some friends of Daren and Tanner. Everyone is happy and excited for the day.

I'm feeling great after 13miles and really excited. I thought I've done many 200 mile rides, how tough can a 100 miler be on a Mountain bike?

Daren at the top of Ledger switch back taking us into the pit of no return.

This is looking down our descent road. It was a ball going down. Some how we all knew we were going to have to climb out after 100 miles, but it didn't seem like a big deal at this stage.

The first thing we encountered when we got down on the plateau was that we had a very hard head wind, and it was HOT, not warm but 95 degree's with a 30 mile and hour head wind, and 75 miles to go. It just got harder and harder. We began to feel like we were in a blast furnace. We went in unsupported, so we had to watch our water intake and try to gage our usage. When we got to 50 miles we stopped and tried to eat but after 3:30 riding the desire for food was leaving. We had no place to go but keep moving forward. There were some really steep climbs that I could believe you could go up, but we did. We were going down one steep descent and Adam rolled a tire and lost his air, so he and I had to put a tube in the tubeless set we were all riding. Daren and Tanner were ahead and didn't see the flat so they were a mile ahead. They started to come back, but the climb to us was brutal so I waved them to stay down and we got it fixed with a tube fine, and away we went. This was our only bike mechanical breakdown, if only our 4 bodies had held up as well.

I tried to take some pictures, but the longer we went it just wasn't worth the effort.

About 80 miles in I got the squirts so bad every mile I'm having to stop and do some business. If I drank anything I immediately got the cramping and would have to go again. I just was so dehydrated I couldn't go on. Adam Tanner and Daren went ahead with the idea to drive down and get me. I layed in the dirt for 45 minutes and finally I was able to force one of Adams Cokes down and I started to ride again. I was thinking they were all doing great and would soon be back for me, but as I rode on I couldn't see how a vehicle could even get here. I kept on and start to feel some better and my computer was showing 99 miles, but it looked like there was no way out. I was alone and thinking did I make a wrong turn. Then I saw Adam up the road walking with his bike. I got up to him and I thought he was a dead man walking. They had all been having as bad a physical problems as me, and Adam had run out of water 10 miles ago and was heaving up often. Daren and Tanner had left Adam to continue but they were hurting as well. We continued up the road and could see a fork and then could see the switch backs out. This is Adam and I at the bottom thinking we are going to die, or wishing we could. I'm pooing and Adams throwing up, we were a great pair. There is no way we are getting up the switch backs, so we are just going to wait for Daren. Just then a vehicle comes up the fork heading up so I waved them down and they gave me a ride to the top. When I walked to our cars, Daren and Tanner were laying on the dirt like they had died. They had just gotten to the top and didn't know how they were going to be able to come get us. They had had a rough time as well stopping every mile or so and trying to recover enough to go on. The last few miles had soft sand that you just couldn't ride through. It was so hot and windy and hard to get through we all about gave up, but we had no options, so on we all went.

I drove down and picked up our bikes and Adam and drove out. I was feeling so bad I didn't know if I could drive up the switch backs, but we made it up. Daren was in his car with the body shakes going, I'm cramping, and Adam is throwing up. What started as a great day really was the toughest time I've had on a bike. 103 miles in just over 9 hours, what fun. We couldn't find a hotel in Moab so we drove to Green River and tried to recover. Adam threw up all night, I don't know what to do, so finally he and I decide to head for home. Adam was not in good shape but we headed out early. When we got home Mindy took Adam to the hospital and found him to be in renal failure. They started the IV's and did some other blood work. His lactic acid was still off the chart. They finally let him go home after he had stabilized some. Adam weighed himself when he got home from the hospital and he had lost 13 pounds. I lost 6, Daren lost 5 and I don't know about Tanner. Biggest loser we've got the place for you to go. Adam has gotten kidney function back today, so things are looking brighter. We all are pretty weak and the prospects are looking up, we were lucking as the end results could have been much worse. Never another 100 mile bike ride for me. Let's see we have six weeks til Seattle to Portland 200 miler, thank goodness its on a road bike. Ride safe.

Group ride

I learned a few things Thursday night at the Simply Mac group ride.

First- When 4 or 5 guys from another bike shop show up to ride IT"S ON.
Second- One sandwich for Lunch is not enough 6 hours later.
Third- I can't ride at 35 mph
Fourth- I don't ride hard enough during the week to keep up when it's all out right from the start.
Fifth- Don't play flag football all day before doing the group ride.

However, the ride was still a good ride. After getting kick out the back four of us (Doug, myself and two other simple mac guys) took a shortcut and worked hard enough not to get caught. It was a good ride, but now I know that I'm not as young as I once was.

Get a Freakin' Life!

I thought about titling this "The series of my content" or "Grow up!" but decided on "Get a freakin' life" - seriously. Last week I did my first race of the year with the cat 3's. First, I noticed there were quite a few young bucks there trying to move up in the standings and this was just another race for them to drive down from Portland to get an easy win. One kid went off the front two laps in! On a 40 lap race! And he held it. We were moving pretty darn fast, with a head wind, and in the pouring rain. I was content with my 7th place finish in the first chase group. I felt good enough.

I have not been up to my usual par for racing this year. With 4 kids and a new job (for this year) I saw my intensity and focus shift, as well as my time. I am still getting in my riding, but not as long or hard. So this week I decided to hit the long, hard, fast group ride. There were about 30 guys there, so I knew I was in trouble. About a third of the way in I turned off with a group of 10 to do a shorter (75 mile) ride. They group was doing a 100+ miler, which would have made for a 130 day for me. As stated above, no time for that long. I felt good throughout. I never was going to pull away from anyone, but took off second up the main climb.

What I realized about cyclists after talking to a few people were: 1. you are young and work in a bike shop and ride your bike. 2. you did #1 when you were young, now you have 1 (maybe 2) kids and still relive the glory days. 3. Actually, I was the only three - 4 kids a full time job and a church calling. When I rolled in many guys said, "How are you? Haven't seen you ride the group ride for a few months!" My reply - "4 kids!" Didn't have to say much more.

One guy (the one who killed me up the hill) works in a bike shop and took a month off to go train in Arizona. Sorry. Reality check! You are not going to be a pro - get a job! I walked (barely and very tired) away knowing - I will never race as a cat 1, but don't care. I have a family and a job. I am feeling very content with where I am at in my riding, even if I am not pulling away from the local hero.

But it doesn't get better than this!

Dream come true

I have been wanting to ride from my house to the coast for a long time. The biggest trouble with the ride is how to get there. The main road, highway 126, has no shoulder and has a lot of traffic on it. I decided to take the longer route to avoid that road. I had never done the route before, so I was a little nervous being out in the middle of nowhere and being stuck or stranded. My friend was going to take some clothes for me in his car and I was meeting up with some guys in Florence for a "mancation" (guy vacation - quads on the dunes, Halo all night, and basketball - it was a lot of fun). I have to add they all thought I was crazy for attempting this.

The minute I got out I knew it was going to be a long ride because the wind was blowing in my face and I was not changing direction until I got there. For about 60 mile I rode old logging roads out in the middle of a dense forest. The wind and rough road made it a long ride, but the scenery definitely made up for it. For the last twenty-five miles I had to ride the 126. It wasn't as bad as I thought because they had redone the road and made the shoulder bigger. The only problem was the pummeling wind. There is nothing like going as hard as you can to look and see the speedometer say 14 mph. But I crept into Florence for a great time. It was well worth the effort. I even rode quads out on the dunes for the rest of the day.

This is the photo at the finish from the mancave (rented house by the ocean).


These are more photos of Doug and I riding while he was here. Rob, my buddy, joined us one day for our ride too.

Holy crap is that the zebra?

Doug has been doing a complete overhaul on the zebra. It has needed a little love. We took apart the bottom bracket, but had some difficulty getting it off. It was so rusted and dirty that a sledge mallet wouldn't even get it off. We had to cut it with a hacksaw, and that didn't work either. Finally I got my 18" pipe wrench and we torqued it off. The picture shows after we actually washed off most of the sludge on the bracket. Pretty nasty to realize how much gunk builds up by just commuting and riding in the rain.

We did get some good rides in so far. It is hard to explain how beautiful it is to ride out here. You are out in the middle of nowhere, no cars, and trees. This is Doug coming up an extremely steep hill. It is a brutal hill. He is looking pretty strong out there.

The garage looks like a Specialized bike storage.

Planning on doing Wolf Creek on Saturday. Will update some pictures later.

Ole Trek Paint Job

I have always wanted to see if I could paint a frame. I had this older Trek that many of you have seen. It was one of the first bikes I bought. Many from our family have ridden it in our pass down system. It came back to my stable so I decided to see if I could paint it. I first had to take it totally apart and then the real fun began. Because it is a carbon fiber frame you can't sand blast it so its good ole hand sanding. You have to be real careful just to get the paint off without taking carbon off. This turned out to be the hardest part of whole deal. Flat surfaces weren't to bad, and this smile had left by the time I finished. The curved parts of the frame were just plain hard to do.

Once I got it all sanded then I masked all the openings and end pieces.

I made a paint space in my bike shop and it worked really well. I have just primed the frame and fork.

Then I started with the fork to practice. I got the paint from a custom auto body shop and some pointers as well. This is the masking and layering technique to get the design I wanted. I didn't want to just have one color, which would have been alot easier.

Each color has to be free hand masked, I found some flex masking tape that won't leak and really turns corner nicely.

This is the first layer of gloss black on the frame. It took a couple of coats and soft sand to get a good looking job.

Then the masking and layering of different colors.

The final look of the fork, with the bike put back together.

The finished product. I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. I learned alot and had alot of fun trying something new, (Thanks to retirement).

The weather is improving and warmer days are coming. Ride Safe.

Say it aint so!

As I click on Velonews today, I am very disturbed to see Alberto Contador winning the stage at de Murcia. I am finding it hard to believe that the Spanish Cycling Federation would clear Contador of the doping charges. Actually, I am disgusted! I am wondering if they plotted to bring the beef in, knowing that they might get caught doping. The likely hood that it did happen from the meat seems so extreme. And what about the plastic traces? Did the Spanish federation, just forget about that? Anyway, after years of holding out with the belief that not all are using, I have finally come to the conclusion that all the top riders are using. I have read the complete Landis article. Do I complete trust Floyd, heck no! But I think there is truth behind some of the things he is saying.

So my question is - Is doping killing the sport? With all the athletes wanting to perform at a higher level, is it taking away from the sports fan base? For example, I feel Lance retired from professional cycling because of the ongoing investigation. The numbers for the Tour of California with Lance compared to without Lance are astounding. Does the normal fan even care that they are cheating? I don't think they care. I for one would like to see a clean sport. But with the drug companies one step ahead and the athletes willing to take the risk I don't know if they will completely get a handle on it. But it is still frustrating to see someone like Alberto ride off into the Spanish sunset with a get out of jail free pass.

Take your road bike off road

Seattle to Portland

I guess I was feeling a little left out after not being able to ride the Lotoja this year. But the DZ power stache is coming back! My friend got me started on the idea of riding the Seattle to Portland race with him this year. His parents live outside of Seattle, so I looked into it and thought why not. So I just signed up (along with Sutt, Mindy, and Doug - have to call the GC boys, and girl) to ride the Seattle to Portland 204 mile road race. It will be a lot different then Lotoja. The highest elevation is 465 ft above sea level. It appears that there is 3,000 feet of elevation gain, but nothing compared to past rides.

All I can say is bring back the DZ stache and watch out for the tandem bus coming through.

Organize!

I decided it was time to get organized in my bike shop. I built this unit and it really has been nicer to work in. Rode outside today and it was nice. Winter is slowly moving on. Ride Safe.

33

Happy birthday Brady! 33 years old, husband, father, educator, life's good. You make a father proud. Ride safe. Doug

Going to win the "Natty!"

I am getting nervous/excited/anxious for the Ducks to bring down the almighty Auburn. I would have to say I am more excited for this game then I have ever been for any Super Bowl. It should be a good game. The Duck trend is picking up right now and people tomorrow will see how good they are. We will see if I will be able to sleep tonight...

GO DUCKS!

Where's my Ski?

Daren lost a ski up here this morning and couldn't find it so he and I snowshoed up to try and find it. This is the shute we tried to go up and through. To icy, steep and dangerous. So we tried to go around to the right. But we couldn't get in to the basin and decided taking our next breath was more important than a ski. Daren's so good he only needs one anyway.

Happy hiker!

I'm GC dressed.

Looking across the valley at Snowbird.

Superior, what a view!

It was quite a work out with 3 hours of hiking, 2700 vertical, but sadly no ski.

Have a happy new year. Ride Safe Doug