Begin the preporations

Part of the fun of signing up for something as crazy as the Stagecoach 400 is the preparation.

Lots of gear I already own, and that's good, because good gear aint cheap.

Today I had to finally purchase a new sleeping bag.  My current sleeping bag was purchased about 15 year.  Its nice and warm, but a bit bulky for bike packing.

Today I came home from Back Country Experience in Durango, with a shiny new Western Mountaineering 20º Ultra-lite bag.  At 6'6" it weigh a measly  17oz.

I also purchased an extra small stuff sack.  Not a compression sack, but a very small stuff sack.  Its a little bit of work to get the sleeping bag in. Once its in, it crams into my  Bedrock Bags Coconino seat bag.

The other purchase I reluctantly had to make today was a sturdy seat bag, to hold...  in my case, my sleeping kit.  Bedrock Bags is located in Durango, and has some superb equipment to help the bike packer get where he or she is going with the least amount of hassle.  I'm anxious to try out this new bag.

 

Like I said, it takes some persuasion to get my 6'6" sleeping bag into the seat bag, but after a couple tries  it gets pretty easy.

Now to figure out sleeping pad and shelter arrangements....

Stagecoach 400.. Its official

Im officially signed up for the 2015 Stagecoach 400. 

My hope is to finish in 4 days,  100 miles a day is doable, right?  The funny thing is, that with this race, that goes through the city of San Diego.  Im more concerned about the city portion, than the wilderness.

I plan on riding my brand new Kokopelli Warthog (as of this writing, it has not been delivered)

below is a picture of my first Warthog, which I sold a month ago to fund building a new bike.

Lets just hope my new bike is here on time and everything works together well.

Not sure I want to do this

I recently learned of a little underground race in Southern California called the Stage Coach 400.  This 400 mile gem of a race/ride takes place on March 27 in Idylwild Ca, and circles through Borrego Springs, Ocotillo Wells, Laguna Mountain, down to San Diego Bay, back up through Escondido, Pamo Valley, Warner Springs, then back to Idylwild.

as per my typical self, ive been wavering this race for the past two weeks,  weighing the pros and cons. looking at the cost of the aditional gear i will need to purchase to pull off this ride.   Not to mention the bike I intend to ride is currently being build in a factory in China.

Today Ive officially talked my self into it.

This Free race has a sugested 25 dollar donation to the hosts home town favorite charity.

Gas is less than 2.00 per gallon currently, to the 12 hour drive wont cost too much for me and my 2000 toyota 4 runner.

I desperately need a new sleeping bag, and my sleeping pad is a little heavy

My main worry is my right knee.  I commonly have knee pain on rides between 40 and 50 miles, but it usually settles out after about 60 miles or so,  So hopefully this wont be a problem for me.

Mentally Ive been preparing for two weeks,  slowly beginning to ride again,  i started myself on a regiment of fish oil pills and have begun taking Optygen again,  Vitamin B12 is also on the morning menu.

Big Ring Paul

Its 2015.
For the last year or so, my excitement and enthusiasm for cycling has been on a down-slide.
For some un-explained reason, cycling has been loosing its flavor, its Zest, its Pazaz!  Maybe its true, maybe I'm simply growing older, my mindset is changing, and things are changing too.  There's one problem, I don't want it too.  I want that excitement from earning that fast decent down a dewy trail, the burn of the climb the yearning to beat the guy next to me to the imaginary line scratched across the dirt.
Hit the reset button.  That's what I'm saying. reset and relearn all Iv learned about the beautiful world of cycling, and love it, Again!

Reset, with a new bike and new goals. The things I always wanted to do, I WILL DO.  gain the fitness and get out and do it.

Zuni 100

The Zuni 100 turned out to be more like 75, to begin with the cold start afforded me a ripped jersey sleeve from bouncing off a tree at around mile two. " so this is how its gonna be" I said to myself as I sat there watching rider after rider pass, just re-grouping mylelf.  and off I went to do another 96 or so miles.  the first 25 was really hard, just a lot of effort to turn the pedals. and finally around mile 30ish the pedals began to turn them selves effortless, and smooth, "im really enjoying this ride"  and then the Knee,  this GD knee is starting to piss me off,  

sometime last year I flew off my polo bike and broke my fall with my right knee,  ever since then I get under the knee cap pain on long rides,  its pretty sporadic but it does hurt quite a lot once it heats up.

so now the debate.  do I finish 50 miles and call it a day, or do I complete what I set out do do and turn around once im back at camp, for he final 50.  aftar some debate at camp.  Fresh reservor or water some food and Im off. 

luck or not, at about mile 75 I somehow took a wrong turn, and unknowingly DW'd myself.  at this point I made the smart choice to not back track to fix my mistake, but to push on and hit the next bail out point, as to save my knee.

over all not too happy but happy with the results and happy to be able to walk.  Im thinking that 6 months of easy riding, and I can hammer again.

New Job and not much riding

Recently I landed a new job working as a Customer Service Rep for Osprey Packs here in Cortez.  Great Job Great Benefits and Great People.  Osprey is a company that a ton of emphasis on getting outside and doing.  But with most new jobs my Brain has been working overtime,  and by the time I get home Food, Beer, Bed...

Now that I'm nearly 3 months into my new gig,  I'm beginning to settle in a bit, and getting more comfortable with my surroundings.  so I'm getting back on the bike little by little. 

I was talked into doing this little race in New Mexico, called the Squash Blossom Classic,  where I took 1st in my Single Speed Expert class and Second overall Single Speed.  Not too bad for being off the couch.  but  WOW was I tired.  this little 30 mile loop put the proverbial Screws to me.  but I proudly accepted my medal and propped my eyes open with toothpicks for the 3 hour drive home.

Next up is the Zuni 100.  this 96 mile race also in New Mexico will cover 50 miles of single track in the Zuni Mountains,  of which we will do two laps.. One clockwise, and one counter clockwise.  Ive been looking forward to this one for some time..

Sneffels Big Friggin Loop

Part of the Colorado Endurance Series,  this 75 mile death march began in Ouray on Saturday July 30, and shot straight up Camp Bird road up to Imogine Pass.  I knew I was in for a rough day at around mile 3, when my legs began to scream at me, and I couldn't get my breathing under control, pressing on I managed to settle into a type of rhythm.

I knew I hadn't been riding much, so I decided to take my geared bike,  a Specialized Stumpjumper Comp with a 2x9 gearing.  the gears were nice, but still hiked a-lot on some of those steep climbs heading to Imogene Pass.  I hung with TR Larson and Jeff Hemperly from the race team, (both on Single Speeds) but could only manage to keep them within a hundred yards or so.   This was not my day.

The ride into Telluride was a blast, and I managed to gain some ground on my two team mates.  only to be dropped again on the single track climb out of Telluride and into Deep Creek trail.  The climbing was steep, and my legs were beginning to give out on me.  While in Telluride we stopped at the county courthouse for a quick bite and a fill up from a hose. I filled up my two water bottles and my 3L Hydration bladder in my Osprey Talon ll Pack.

Once on Last Dollar road I managed to catch up to Jeff and TR again. (I caught them while on a break) Up and up with more hike-a-bike on Last Dollar Road.

We even had a guy in a Ford Pickup (on his way down Last Dollar) give us a water hand out, this was a blessing, because my Talon ll was dry, and I only had around 2 oz left in one bottle.  "Thanks Ford Truck Guy!"

The ride down Last dollar was fast and fun, and once on the paved highway I decided to Bail out straight to Ridgeway and on to Ouray along the paved highway. "I have had enough Hike-A-Bike"

When we turned onto Co Rd 9 by Double RL Ranch,  (Jeff Had Stashed some food and water here the day before.) TR was now talking me into continuing on.    I had been COOKED since Mile 5,  It was all I could do to hang on to this point....

Up we went, up Co Rd 9 to Dallas Trail.  the climb to Dallas trail head was not too bad, easy gradual climbing,  Using my lower gears to save my legs, the two single speeders soon got out of sight.

My team mates were nice enough to mark turns with a skid mark on the ground, even a rock arrow at one point.  The left turn and the beginning of Dallas trail was a demoralizing to say the least,  it was a WALL, straight up she side of the mountain,  " I should have turned around here "  TR said there was only a little Hike-a-Bike,  this must be it...  Wrong again.  the next 20 miles were probably the most Agonizing time Ive ever had on a bike,  ( when I say on a bike,  i mean pushing a bike ) at least 1/3 of the final 20 miles was pushing up incredibly steep trail.

the rain actually felt nice, it was mostly a drizzle, I didn't stop to put on my rain coat,  I just pushed on, one small step at a time,  My legs screamed at me, My arms and back hurt, and My moral was dropping FAST!.  Iv had to dig deep to keep going before,  but not like this.  this was a real mental ass kicking. 

As the rain soaked in the trail got slick and finally I got to a point where it was funny!  " oh of course I cant climb this hill because im slipping backwards"  " sure,  Makes perfect since, i cant roll down this trail cuz the mud wont let my tires roll"  Good Times!  good times!

Catching up to TR and Jeff,  the told me they could hear me talking to myself on some of the steeper switch backs, even yelling for the sake of yelling.  They told me later they decided to stay away, figuring i was a little pissed.
  by now I was feeling better, knowing we only had about 5 miles to go to the valley floor or Ouray, and this final decent had some pretty sketchy switch back, where a mistake meant a sheer cliff and broken bones, or worse!

On the valley floor.  Now the gears feel good,  nice slow cadence along a 1% Grade...  Heaven!

finishing up at 7:30 with 13 hours of overall time, over 15,000 of climbing,  Legs Sore, Arms Sore, Back hurting, Might lose two toe nails, wet, muddy.  all with a huge Grin!  Happy to make it.

Beer - Pasta - Bed