Change of Plans

Well, the weather and a basketball tournament kept Brady, Adam and Doug form making it down to race RMR. Kind of a bummer, but what can you do? Tanner and I were struggling to get excited to fight the wind and cold at RMR when Glen called and suggested an MTB ride. I was suddenly excited to ride and we spent 3 fun hours on shoreline, Red Butte, Dry Creek, etc.

Rico, Glen, Chris B, Tanner and had the full team kit, matching bike thing going. We got lots of double takes as we cruised by together. The trails were in good shape and I was worked by the end.


Chris Bingham throwing down


Glen, Tanner and Chris

Eric going so fast, it's a blur.

It was a nostalgic ride for me and Glen. I haven't ridden much in that area the last few years, but Glen and I spent many hours exploring years ago. After we both moved back to Utah in the early 90's we met again and started riding in the foothills.

I knew Glen and his brothers well in Jr High and High school, but hadn't seen him much after graduation. I followed his race career in Velonews after I started riding in '88. I was just a slow roadie until I moved back to Utah. I took up riding in the dirt and learned how to ride in the Red Butte area. I worked for Huntsman Corp at the time and rode out the back door most days at lunch. Glen worked at Binghams on Foothill and we could meet a couple days a week. We were riding Dry Creek when it really was just a dry creek bed.

My first real MTB ride with Glen was up and over Red Butte. I had been riding MTB's for about a year and thought I was a pretty good rider. However, riding with Glen opened a whole new world to me. I had no idea you could ride a bike like that. Glen clean the entire ride, including the bridge and stairs and I was inspired. Glen hooked me up with an old 24 inch trials bike soon after and I learned to track stand, hop and wheelie. About a year later, I finally cleaned the entire Red Butte ride and felt like a king. Any descending skills I have are due to riding with Glen. Not everyone gets to learn to ride from a Downhill World Championship Medalist. Those were great days.

Hopefully, spring will decide to show up soon. I'm tired of being cold.

PICTURE PARADE

Tanner one lap to go!

T-following dad's advice, stay at the front

Daren having fun at the RMR

Bub is real happy to be here!

Retired life is tough!

Looks like a new Porky

Here are a few pictures of the latest biking adventures. Some RMR and home training. We even have a guest star from the Oregon biking seen, and its not Sager, it's the BUB.

T-Man Road Racing

It's been a pretty good week with Friday a holiday from work. I've been getting caught up on bike repair and the road tires are now glued on the tubular wheels. We got in a good ride Friday and did the RMR loop yesterday, ride out to RMR - race - then ride home with the team. I've had a pretty big week and was feeling a bit worked so I just sat in my race and tried to be there at the end. As usual, I was just outside of the top ten. However, no crashes and it was a really good workout.

The big news is that Tanner is now a road racer. He made it through his first crit in the C group with no problems. In fact, he took our advice to stay near the front literally and pulled the group around for about half of the race. He lead the entire back straight nearly every lap and ended up pulling a complete lap a couple of times. He had a lot of fun on the front and was as strong as any rider. However, being on the front so much wasn't a great tactical move and he was passed on the final straight by all the guys who had just sat in. All in all, a pretty successful first crit. He'll get the tactics figured out but he showed he's fast enough to be very competitive with cat 4's and 5's.

Doug was at the race and took some pictures that he'll try to post. Hopefully, it will work out that Brady can race with me next week. Maybe I'll be able to actually do something in the race. Even though I'm not a great sprinter, I do like racing the crits. It's a challenge and makes me go harder than I would otherwise. I get a little better at it and more comfortable with it each race.

Happy Easter to all. Today has been a nice day with the family and should continue that way.

Suttlemyre Family Blog

Hey GC connection and family, the Suttlemyre's (that is Adam & Mindy) now have a family blog. It's at suttlemyrefamily.blogspot.com. I should say Mindy has a blog spot, because I had no real involvement in creating the blog. I was wondering if you could connect our family blog to GC connection, because it would help my mom find it faster. Thanks

In bike related new I don't have any. I haven't ridden a bike in two weeks, but I have coached 13 games in 10 days. you gotta love being the JV coach. The great news is we play another Double Header tomorrow at Provo (Varsity/JV). Coach is giving everybody Friday and Saturday off. I will see the saddle before the family ride. I hope

Snow

Rather than race in the cold at RMR yesterday, I joined the crowd at Alta and had a good ski day with Tanner.

Most of the day, the visibility was like my foggy camera lens.

It did clear up some of the time and we got some first tracks in Devil's Castle. I think I've gotten at least some powder nearly every ski outing this year. I'll take it. Tanner has turned into a very good skiier this year. It's been fun to watch him pass by the old man.

I'm sore today from moving to heavy weights at the gym this week and then skiing. I'll be sore and slow on the bike through this lifting phase, but it will pay-off in the long run. I maybe at the pack of the group at the Hurricane MTB race.

Ashley was home all week on spring break from USU. It was great to have her around. However, she was bored and ready to go back to her friends so she headed back yesterday. I don't blame her.

Enjoy snow, St. Pats and Easter all in the same week. I'll be having fun with tire glue this week. The cross tires have finally come off the tubies and the road tires are going on. Tubulars are a pain, but the ride is worth the effort.

No Goat Herders

I finally got the new cross bike together. Only seven months until the cross season starts. However, it might make an appearance at the Hell of the North Race. With road tires, it's only a pound more than my road bike.

Doug and I built his new cross bike yesterday and it looks good as well.

I did the first RMR crit of the season yesterday. I reached my goal of walking away unhurt. We raced in the oval and there were some close calls, but no crashes in the B's. Eric wasn't so lucky in the A's. He was taken down, but fortunately he wasn't hurt. The same can not be said for his front wheel. I had my customary finish around 20th. I didn't mix it up with the sprinters but stayed near the front. In the A's the team went 4, 5, 6, & 7th. Ben was in the winning move and finished 5th in his first race as a Cat 2. Impressive.

I'm not sure what to make of Brady's video..........

Goat herders & finally a longer ride

For those of you that don't know there are two things I don't like to do: 1. get up on stage. 2 - Dance! I don't know how or why, but Luke and Matt talked me, and five others, into doing an act in our ward talent show. Back in college Luke did the performance with some roommates at the Ricks College talent night and won the contest. So Luke got the idea to try it with some old guys and do it for the ward. It is a dance to the song, "Lonely Goat Herder," from the movie The Sound of Music. It is a good laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXNpy1YUIXk

I had the chance to actually get out and do a group ride. It rained on Friday night, so it left the roads a little wet. We had a record of five flats, which made for a long ride. I ended up riding about 70 miles. It felt good to be out hitting the road, but could tell that my riding legs are not quite there yet. I was feeling it after about 2 and a half hours and stopping inbetween to fix flats. I made it ok and challenged on a few hills. Can't wait to ride with you all.

Bubba

Diamond notes

I had a total of 3 hours to switch from basketball to baseball. My JV team had a great start this last week with a 10 run rule over Judge. I'm headed to St. George tonight (varsity's playing in a tourney this weekend). I can't wait to get out of this cold, but the only problem is I can't take my bike (I'm not driving which means no space).

In other news, I went snow skiing with Mindy on Monday (school needed teacher to supervise the slopes). I left the snowboard at home and tried a pair of skies again. I had a blast. Mindy had fun, but is hurting from a couple of nasty wrecks. I played around in the train park with my students most of the time and managed not to kill myself. So I would consider it a great day.

In riding news I've only been out on the open road once this year. Mindy and I went for a couple of hours last Saturday. It wasn't a hard ride , but it was fun to get out of the pain cave. I hope to start riding to work next week weather and baseball schedule permitting. Anyway ride hard and I'll see ya all in a couple of weeks (RMR)

Fun in the Sun

The racing in St. George this weekend was a good time. The weather was outstanding, 70+ and sunshine. It's hard not to have a good time in weather like that. We got in Friday afternoon and did some pre-riding. There were a bunch of people out riding the course and the turnout Saturday was very good.

Tanner turns 16 this year so he moved to the 16 - 18 sport/expert group. He was excited to see how he'd do with his improved fitness. He got off to a good start and pulled away from the other 5 racers to easily win. It was his first "legitimate" MTB win and he was stoked. He was over 30 minutes faster than last year and only a few minutes off my 2 lap time (he did two laps and I did three). Pretty cool.

The 40+ expert was a good group with lots of new guys. The good news is I was 3 minutes faster than my winning time last year. The bad news is I was 4th this year. 6 of us got off the front early and three gaped me, http://stupidbike.blogspot.com (Bob) and Carl and we battled for the first lap before Carl took a spill on his borrowed $10,000 frame http://delta7sports.com/. He fortunately didn't damage the frame but didn't get back to us. Bob and I had a good battle the rest of the way and I managed to stay in front to the finish. For the first time ever, I didn't get passed by any single speed racers who start behind us. A good sign this early in the season. The desert courses are good for me and I'm looking forward to Hurricane.

The team faired well. Michelle won the women's expert while Dave and Eric held their own in a really good Pro field. Dave was riding a MTB for the second time in about 3 years and was in the top 10 most of the race. My friend Reed Topham, who joined us on the trip, was a solid 5th in the 40+ expert. He's been racing less than a year and has made great progress. Mike W also had a solid finish in the single speeds (get some gears!).

The drive home in the snow Saturday night was more exciting than I would have liked, but we make it OK. Here's some photo's from Zazoosh. I'll post more pictures later. I think the redesigned ktis this year look good with more red.

Doing the Dual

Tanner and I did the Salt Lake City dual again yesterday. We got out of the early morning clouds and fog to make some turns at Alta. It was much better than expected with some new snow. We had a good time hiking to get some fresh powder. Too bad there were hundreds of others hiking with us.

After skiing we hooked up with Dave for a couple hours on the road bikes. Dave pulled us around, especially me, in relatively warm temperatures. I was pretty worked so Dave was nice to me and didn't go too hard. However, he and Tanner still worked me over on the hills.

All in all, a really good day. Probably nicer than Doug's Saturday in Laramie.



Daren getting some good stuff.
Tanner is the tree tops.

This Friday and Saturday, we'll be in St. George for the first MTB race of the year. The weather forecast looks really nice. I hope it's correct. My only expectation is to have some fun and to go hard. See you there if you're going down.

FYI

We got a couple of comments on the blog from Ivan and Malebai that are viruses. If you see one that says, "Please see here" DON'T click on it.

Not much here -really!

"Dad, you got snow on you!" That is what Liam said as I came home from my 2 and a half hour ride on Monday. It was nice to get out, but very cold. I road with a friend of mine to his work, then came back. It was great, but the mist and fog caused everything to freeze. Training here hasn't been as long, because of the cold/wet winter and 3 kids. I am still riding, but not as intense. Hopefully, it will pick up soon. My first race will be when I come to visit in March. Can't wait to see everyone. Daren are you racing with us?

Enjoy the riding!

Attitude Adjustment

I needed a break from winter, so Tanner and I did a day trip to Moab today. Life is now much better. It was a beautiful day with few people. Here's some pics from a great day for a dad and his son.

Weeks review (or is it weak review) ?

Gordy's favorite HAT!

Out somewhere west of Plain City.

What a place to live and ride! BL peak.

The famous last turn to the summit.

Nothing but fun up there!

Hello all. It has been an interesting week of life and riding. Last sat. Daren, Tanner and I rode with a mob. The bad part for me was my 1 hour spin classes did nothing to help me up hills with the 50 best riders in the state. I was spit out the back so fast I thought I had two flats only to realize that the tires were fine it was my legs that were flat. Daren recovered me and we were happy to wave goodbye and enjoy the beautiful day, only to find the two best riders in the state waiting for us to pull us back to the group. I think we made it back to the group, I was so far in the cave it was all a blur. Our return trip was very enjoyable and it ended up being a great day. 4 hours in the saddle made my Sunday sitting not quite as enjoyable.

Monday I was feeling so good with the great weather day and since I have no work, I just started riding away, then I saw it: I thought I'll just go climb up a ways on the N. Ogden divide. I was on my cross bike so I start up and then decided to keep going. Coming down is always a blast just alittle chilly after a sweaty climb. As I rode west I looked north to see: Ben Lomond in all her splender. When I got way out west I looked back at the mountains. It was a great 3 hour ride, with another one on tuesday, but the weather put me back on the spinner. I echo Rico's melt, melt chant.

I have been up grading my bike room with paint and pictures of races and rides, but for all you who know the origin of GC Connection my favorite item is Gordon's Atlanta hat I put hanging over the door so I always see it when I enter. Take care all and ride safe.

Big Group

Saturday we joined the biggest group ride I've ever seen. There were a legitimate 50+ on the ride. I counted 30 that started with the Porcupine Crew and we picked up nearly that many at Canyon in Draper. A whole bunch of red whit and blue jerserys. The ride had everything thing from cross bikes to high end TT bikes. We pretty much had our own rolling road closure that took up an entire lane. Surprisingly, no confrontation with cars that I saw. In fact, most were actually tollerant as it took some time to get us all through intersections.

Doug and I spend some quality time together on and off the back, but it was a good ride and great to be outside. Tanner is getting much more comfortable in a group and easily rode in the front 1/3 of the group. When it got racey a few times, we was able to stay with the first couple of groups. He's even thinking about racing the road some this year.

This weekend, I won't be at the team camp in St. George. Ashley will be home from school so I want to spend some time with her. In addition, I have to save most of my travel time and money for races. Doug, Tanner and I will be in St. George on March 1st for the first ICUP race. I'm sure I'll be going slow, but it will be fun. I look forward to seeing the MTB race crowd.

Depending on the weather this weekend, we may try to get a MTB ride in somewhere. If you're interested, let me know. Monday is the most likely and we'd leave early and drive somewhere dry.

The rest of the story

The part of the pictures from Sutt's basketball game that you don't see. Is the dry erase marker that went flying and hit the wall. Or the dent in the locker room door. But no he is not intense. Your skiing picture kind of got me pumped up. We should plan a day were we can all go. I begun the tedious task of the never ending winter spinning. Luckily for and MP3 that plays videos, making it some what bearable. Peace out.

Spring Break

Sutt - intense? Well, he is a Cottle. Sorry to hear about the season, it sounds like ours. It was good to see that Ryan came out of the wood-work. Maybe someday we could get him on a bike. I don't know about you, but it appears that Doug is really enjoying his retirement. Skiing, going to b-ball games, and riding his bike. Sounds pretty good!

My family will be coming to visit for spring break. So as you plan your long ride schedule maybe we could get one in at that time. Also, Sutt I don't know if you heard, but that is the time of the BL alumni basketball tournament. I have been trying to get a hold of the who is playing for my year, but haven't found out much yet. But I plan on playing. Enjoy the snowy rides!

Let me know if you have any links you would like me to add to the blog. It needs some updates.

Schedule

I was wondering if we "GC Connection" are having a pre-ride planning meeting for longer rides? I know it's early, but it works.
Thanks to the pic by Doug you can tell I really get into coaching.
My Jr. high team wasn't able to get into the playoffs this year so there will be no 4-peat. It didn't help that in our four losses we were 30-77 from the foul line. The painfull thing was our first loss was by 1, our second by 2, the third by 4, and the last one by 7.

In other news the pain cave needs more time, but the weight room is going strong.

TENSION

Adam you just have to get into your work more!
Sorry for the interesting picture position. I still can't figure how to post the picture and write. Anyway, winter time has given me some time to go watch Coach Sutt. Adam is a pretty laid back coach, not. If the game is bad, Adam will keep you entertained, in a good way, nothing neg.

Ryan and I went skiing yesterday and it was the first time since hele skiing in Canada that there was too much snow. It was chest deep and if the pitch wasn't super steep you just couldn't go. We only had one face that was fun in the back country, so what we thought was going to be epic ski day turned out to be an anerobic workout minus wheels. I've had enough, and am anxious to be outside and riding. Hope you are well and looking forward to some good weather.
Doug

Look at the relaxed Sutt.

Look who I dug up! He can still slide!

You think your life is tough?

More fun in the snow

Tanner ripping it at Alta

A few of our good friends in line for the traverse to Devils Castle.

We had a good day at Alta inspite of the crowds. We did some hiking and got some good powder shots. Can't let all the new snow go to waste. Tanner and I did the winter dualathlon. We road the trainer early in the morning then made it to Alta as the lifts opened. After riding, hiking and skiing, I was pretty worked by the end of the day.

I was sad at President Hinckley's passing this week. More than anyother top LDS leader, he made sincere efforts to narrow the religous divide in Utah. Hopefully, we can all strive to be more tollerant and accepting of each other. I've found in the cycling community, we have far more in common than we think.