It has been non-stop since we got here. Emma and I were IN the 4th July parade with the Save the Red Lady (a mountain under the threat of mining) float

We dressed up the tag-a-long

Wes has been rippin up the trails with impressive form

Today was heaven on earth for me. I was so giddy it didn’t seem real. Not sure if the giddiness was altitude or excitement – prolly both!!

Wesley was off at Gravity Groms camp (boys + mountain bikes + skate boards + hiking) and Emma went off to nature camp

With both kids happily occupado DH and I rode 401 trail

Wow. There are moments in my life that match exactly what I would choose were I given a magic wish. Lucky, lucky me :-)

According to my GPS:

49 hours moving time
320 miles
47,000′ vert
Elapsed time 3 days 9 hours 55 minutes

Other random facts:

Starting calories: 9,000
Estimated calories of Harold’s place breakfast: 2,500 (bad idea!)
Dave Kirk sightings: 2
Mechanical issues: 0
Number of downed trees hurdled: > 1,000,000
Favorite segment: 5. In my eye it’s the jewel of the 311.
Method to draw out sleeping hotel owners: do laps in their parking lot with your lights on.

More creative details as soon as the hands and brain are willing…

Here is my race report in slide show format:

I took 99 photos during the race. Here is the only start picture I have of all five of the Dixie-Liter’s starting at 8:10 am on Saturday morning. My bike is lying on the ground so I am sorta in the pic.

Taylor Lideen, Steve Cook, Fred Wilkinson, Adam Lisonbee and me, aka Lynda Wallenfels.

I finished at 9:42pm on Sunday evening putting my race time at 1:13:32 = 1 day, 13 hours and 32 mins. I must have been last as when I got to the parking lot the only car left there was Dave’s and he is out on the Dixie 311. I was first too tho – 1st place woman ;-) and I was a big winner too cause I had a fab time out there. Big blog post to come from me later with maybe 97 photos in it. Luckily only 3 have me in and only 1 was a self portrait shot at the end which I am too vain to post – eek!

Steve Cook, 3:10pm Sunday, 1:07:09

Adam Lisonbee, 7:08pm Sunday, 1:10:58

Fred Wilkinson, 7:18pm Sunday, 1:11:08

Lynda Wallenfels, 9:42pm Sunday, 1:13:32

David Jones stopped at mile 126 in Panguitch Lake

Taylor DNF

Dixie 311 results to come later – all those guys are still out there. Looks like Dave Harris is sitting near Circleville waiting for the store to open on Monday morning.

Specialized Captain up front

I put on my mountain feed bag for a water bottle placement. I have water only in my bladders and wanted a place to put sports drink mixes. When I want to lighten up my front end for hike-a-bikes and deadfall huckin’ it’s easy to transfer the bottle to my pack.

I’ll have a gps and a light on my bars for the race.

Dave Nice unfortunately can’t make the race :-(  BUT I have been given his Spot to use…so I’ll have to find a place, maybe on my bars for the Spot unit too. I’ve made it into the DotSpot club ;-) or is that the SpotDot club…

The race tracker is here http://trackleaders.com/dixie

Start time is 8am Saturday morning!

Other resources you may be interested in:

A 311/D-lite route comparison with proximity to services

Cuesheet for the 311 NOTE:  you will still need a GPS to navigate this route.

311 route and waypoints map is complete

<geek alert on>

Any of the files that you view on the maps at http://2-epic.com/maps/311map.html can also be viewed in Google Earth.  To grab a file, note the link address.  The filename is sandwiched between the “?” and “&” symbols, so the data file for the 311 map at http://2-epic.com/maps/311map.html?dixie311-2010.kml&index=0 is dixie311-2010.kml, and that file resides in the http://2-epic.com/maps/ folder.  To access the file, put it all together for http://2-epic.com/maps/dixie311-2010.kml and do a right click/save link as or save the ugly looking text file your browser dumped at you as file with a .kml extenstion and open in Google Earth.  Simple, eh?

There is so much you can do with Google Earth – it’s connected to most everything.  If you have the ability it’s worth the small effort.

On the flip side, if you can point to a .kml file or a .gpx file on the web, you can load in the map by constructing a URL for it.  For example, here is a link to the map loaded with the CTR file from http://www.bikepacking.net/routes/colorado-trail/ loaded:  http://2-epic.com/maps/311map.html?map=http://www.climbingdreams.net/ctr/CTR2008.gpx&index=1

This might be useful for the last few holdouts that don’t have Google Earth or TopoFusion, but be forewarned – tracks may be simplified so that your browser doesn’t grind your machine to a halt.

<geek alert off>

Alright then.  Whew.

Time to ride!

Let’s start with the punchline: Both the Dixie 311 and Dixie Lite have seen extensive changes because of lingering snow above 10,500′.  Sydney Peaks and Dark Hollow will not be melted out by race day, and even if they were they would still be full of blowdown.  So they get the ax.  With those 2 trails gone from the route, it didn’t make any sense to start in Parowan anymore – the reward for the 4k’ jeep road climb was the techy fun of Dark Hollow.  Instead, we will start at the Western terminus of the Virgin River Rim trail at Woods Ranch, a few miles East of Cedar City on UT 14.  GPS files are linked from the above event web pages.

For the 311, the heavy snows remaining in the Tushars means we won’t be doing Skyline trail either.  I did find several great trails though!  And, a triple bonus up there is that the higher regions are still closed to motor vehicles.  I didn’t see a single ATV in 3 days of riding but elk and deer were everywhere.  More than a few exciting stream crossings should be expected as well.

Another change on the 311:  the Spruce trail north of Horse Valley Peak has what is probably the nastiest hike a bike I have ever done.  We will be skipping that section of (non) trail!

Go grab those GPX files, have a look, and fire away with any questions.  I’m still working on the waypoints/cues and will update here when they are ready.

After all the trail maintenance and chainsaw action on Saturday it was time to ride on Sunday. Dave mapped out a nice little 27 mile loop consisting of 2 unknown trails and 3 known and nicely rideable trails. It took us 8 hours to go 27 miles…

We started out along West Hunt Creek trail we had cleared the day before and confirmed it was super fun. Then we turned left up Sanford Creek.

Parts of it were beautiful

At the top we hit the most brilliant view point on the Sevier Plateau (probably!)

I love old signs. I don’t know what R.F.K is. Anybody know what that is? This sign points down Sandford Creek trail and says R.F.K Sandford.

Over the top and down the other side. The GPS said this was a 60% grade!

Descending down between the spires

Unfortunately DH did not bring his chainsaw today

We descended a long way down to the Fremont Trail. It was 90F and I overheated and boiled my brain and stopped taking photos. Next we got onto the Dixie 311 course at the Hancock Peak Trail. There was a creek and shade. DH filtered. I drank 50 oz and I immersed my entire head in the creek.

Up at the top the Hancock Peak Trail ends at 9,400 feet and I cooled off.

Next the Dixie 311 course just starts riding along a ridge line with no trail. It is easy riding but will be confusing in the dark.

The no trail section passes this water structure which will be a good waypoint.

Shortly the Dixie 311 course and our route for the rest of the day hit the Showalter Trail which was a mega fun fast gentle graded descent.

I like the Sevier Plateau. We didn’t see a single other person out there on the trails. No tire tracks either. Just one set of horse hoof prints.

St George is good for popsicles and snorkeling now

Racing opportunities are everywhere

Long version: the primary reason for this change is the resupply option in Circleville. There is but one market, and it is closed on Sundays. I learned this last weekend – on a Sunday of course ;) There is also a gas station, restaurant, and a campground store that are open on Sundays, but the supplies are extremely limited. We will all want to have access to the market/general store as it is essentially the last resupply of the race and right before the most demanding section.

From a timing standpoint, I don’t think anyone will be able to hit the store on Sat before it closes. 200+ miles of rough terrain will make that a superhuman effort. But, the front leaders will almost certainly hit the store on Sunday…hence the switch to a Saturday start.

As a bonus all Dixie riders get to start together (311 and DLite). The routes are identical for the first 80 miles or so and rejoin for a short bit on the N end of the Paunsaugunt.

Is a lot cleaner than it was on Friday. Click on the below pic to see DH get his action on and a panorama of West Hunt Creek Trail.

The trail goes this way.

Dave wasn’t dropping me today ;-)

AND I didn’t have to pick up and lift my bike over any deadfall on the trail. Hucking my bike over trees makes me tired. I think Dave should pack his chainsaw on all our exploratory rides from now on. I like it :-)

The Ergon BC3 pack gets it done. Beastly!

Start with Google Earth. If you don’t have it yet, download it – it’s free.

Next, download this file: Dixie Resources.  (right click, save as…)

With these two pieces you’ll have more than enough information to launch a deep obsession :)    The file includes:

• The most recent state of the route tracks and waypoints
• An overlay showing the snowpack conditions to the latest hour
• current weather forecasts at 5 locations on route

Google Earth of course is connected to massive GIS systems, so you can also search for anything you like near or on route – such as services.  Usually said services pop up with phone numbers and images – this is really a great way to quickly visualize what is available and learn more.

Happy planning!

It starts up Casto Canyon, ATV track giving way to singletrack, gently gaining elevation amonst killer views.

There’s a hidden/unmarked trail veering N called the Hancock trail.  It ascends to well over 9k and is nearly all rideable!

Then it gets interesting…

There is no trail that I could see for the next ~1/2 mile. Riding an open ridge is the scenic way to go.

With some scouting about I found the trail that descends to West Hunt creek, yet more sweet trail.

New carsonite signs, let’s hope this means the NFS has blowdown clearing trail maintenance on the books – cause there is plenty of that.

Up towards Adam’s Head the route goes.

Most of the world comes into view at one point or another on the way up to the top of the Seviers. TU riders will recognize this landmark.

The area around Adam’s head ain’t easy. Damn hard actually and I’m still feeling the effects. There is some HAB, and some tree hopping involved. Truth be told, by the time I hit a jeep trail segment I was darn ready for it. At about 10,200′ I finally got into some deep snow. Luckily it was early enough in the day it was still frozen – and rideable! No pugs required.

There was less than 2 miles of that before heading off the edge of the plateau down the Snowbank Trail (yes, appropriately named).

Segment 4 is difficult and remote. It stands as mapped. I will encourage any 311 riders to opt to stick to the Fremont trail (really nice ATV route with zero hike a bike) instead of bailing if this stage seems over the top at this stage of the game. If the NFS or me and some volunteers (ahem!) can get up there with chainsaws prior to the event it will be much more enjoyable.

The other piece I wanted to get a read on was the climb out of Circleville (hello Chad, this is for you). I mapped it to go right up the Piute ATV trail. Well, I’ve had a few close calls with motos out there so the thought of having riders push their bikes up a steep canyon while motos come ripping down didn’t sit right, so I found another way. It’s in the map below. It’s still challenging, but all rideable. You may need to take rest stops though, it’s a long ways to climb from Circleville to the Tushars…I’m trying to make that 5k’ ascent as direct and rideable as possible.

More pics here in geotagged format

Ems is growing into her 24″ Specialized and is venturing further in the dirt under her own power. She is a determined little peddler. Dunno where she gets that from ;-)

She has more Diva than I ever will have…and really….I don’t know where she gets THAT from!

We stopped to scope Wes’ favorite petroglyph. It was windy! Wes’ hair doesn’t stay like that! I *force* him to shower several times a week…

This way, no that way, no this way

Ems is an expert Crepes maker. Crepes make bueno ride food!

Vivimos en un lugar muy hermoso

We started on Saturday at Red Lake Reservoir above Paragoonah. I’ve never been up there and was amazed at how beautiful it was.

Dave headed north towards the Tushar mountains and I headed south to check out Spruce Trail

Spruce Trail started a bit too steep to ride then turned awesome

At 8k the Aspens are still dormant but the ground is an emerald green carpet with little yellow flowers.

Everything is a bit soggy with snow melt and the creeks are pumping

I was turned back this time at 8.5k by snow.

Somebody got a shiny new bike

Still a work in progress but there are some good resources to get the juices flowing and planning head on.

Kokopelli Trail has a special place for me. It sits as a benchmark in my life for a number of reasons. It opened up my eyes to quite a few things and revisiting the trail and views invokes much for me.

One of those things was opening my eyes to new aspects of riding. It was the first place I carried a water filter with me on a bike. A simple thing but revolutionary to me at the time as it extended the range I could foray on my bike without being tied to a spigot. Many water filter enabled adventures have ensued.

Another life changing part of the Kokopelli Trail was that it was the first ride I did with Dave. We learned what crack buddies were on Kokopelli Trail. We made friends on Kokopelli Trail. The type of friendship that changed our lives, and although we didn’t admit it to ourselves it at the time we surely fell in love on Kokopelli Trail.

The Kokopelli Trail Race in 2006 was my first ever unsupported race. No woman had ever finished it and I was determined to! My finish time, 15:03 still stands as the course record. I hope a lady breaks it soon! That will fire me up undoubtedly to go back again and ride it fast. I have not tried to ride it fast since 2006. We had big headwinds that day. It was not a record setting day. It is a soft record.

I have ridden Koko in 3 days with a friend who is now a very good friend. Koko is a great place to make friends.

I rode Koko “backwards” in 2007 Loma – Moab in 15:06 thirteen weeks post collar bone surgery and in the midst of the final decline of my dead marriage. That was simply riding for the joy of being outside and not on a trainer or in a vicious marriage counseling office listening to how hateful I am. Kokopelli fed my soul in ways I needed terribly that day.

In 2008 I was deep in a single speed obsession so Koko had to be SS’d! 15:21 on my single speed Moab – Loma was hard! Koko kicked my butt that day. It is a bear to gear for on an SS!! Surprisingly I wasn’t that much slower SS.

In 2009 Kokopelli Trail did not see any of my tracks. MC asked me if I was *done* with Kokopelli?

2010 last weekend I saw my friend Kokopelli with another friend JJ. I invited her to ride Koko with me. We saw the sunrise at 8,600 feet in the La Sals.

I did my best eagle

We had blue skies and sun

Saw lots of flowers

Got to see DH later in the ride and share some girl power

I nailed my ride goals

We had a blissful day. Koko gave us soul. Koko kicked our butts. We called it at 105 miles when the bliss level dropped and skipped the gutting it out bit of the last 40 miles :-)

Nailing my joy and harmony goals with a DNF was a complete surprise – a scenario I hadn’t considered. Koko has something new for me each time.

Instead we headed for Paradox Pizza – best pie in Moab. It was perfect :-)

I had a lot of fun writing this blog finding the links and looking at past Koko adventures and photos. Good luck to everybody setting out on their Koko adventure anytime soon.

Detailed topo including trail names here:  http://2-epic.com/maps/311map.html

Google earth version (requires the google earth plugin):  http://2-epic.com/maps/3113dmap.html

Disclaimers:  I haven’t loaded the D-lite yet, and these are not high res tracks.

Enjoy :)

I’d expect 18+ hours of ride time for this one.  It’s big, but not a crusher.  Best done as an overnight (or two).

Race start:  June 26, 8 AM, Parowan, UT.

Click the link for the bigger version on Everytrail.com, including a gpx file download.  Note:  this gpx is for planning only, final race route gpx will be available in June.  It won’t be much different than this one, just tighter data.  Stay tuned!

Dixie Lite

Map your trip with EveryTrail

It was the opposite of Cohutta in that the day before and after the race were less than ideal weather conditions but race day was near perfect. The air was clear of dust and pollution too and made for crystal clear views. All the athletes I heard gave the course and City of St George rave reviews.

Here is men’s winner Michael Weiss starting the run. Wowee!!! All you need to do is add a little blue paint and he is Avatar!!

Women’s winner Heather Wurtele was moving so fast I only got a shot of her rear. Yes a little blue paint for her too and she would be Ms Avatar.

I got these great pictures because I was *inside * the barriers. I had the best volunteer job in the entire race as run escort captain. My team rode mountain bikes and escorted the 2nd – 5th place pros through the run. Retired tri stars Paula Newby Fraser and Heather Fuhr escorted the 1st place man and woman. We were in hallowed company!!

Look how cute and excited we are waiting for our guys and gals to come into T2. Our number plates say which place male or female we were with. This was mostly for media and for the crowd so they knew who they were cheering for. We rang our bike bells, rode along and announced “2nd place female coming” and got the crowd all cheering for our pro. It was fun.

Goofing off at T2 waiting for our runners to come in.

I escorted 2nd place pro woman. I had Meredith Kessler for the entire time. She came out T2 at a rippin fast pace and kept it up with no fade for 26.2 miles – uber impressive.

Some of the run course aid stations were off the charts party zones with rabid cheering and themes. My personal fav was the disco theme aid station with pink leggings, crimped hair, one sided pony tails and LOUD disco music – awesome.

The aid station winning first place award for popularity was aid #9 with a Luau theme. They had a live band and a pig roast among things going on.

Another aid station had a rock theme and a live band pumping out tunes like Eye of the Tiger!! LOL Classic

It was really fun to be on the volunteering side of the fence at this race. The organization was top notch thanks to many but particularly Volunteer director Colby Baggs Neilson. If you want a volunteer position for IMStG next year see Colby. But if you want on the escort team see me – I have already volunteered to be Captain again next year!

Colby directing at the Captains meeting

The trip flows much better in this new (to me) format.  If a picture says a 1000 words, here is our novel.

The red line was my planned route, the blue was as far as I was able to go due to conditions.  Where I was forced to turn back (just E of the blue ball) the trail transitioned from south facing, dry trail to north facing, 2+ feet of snow trail.  Exposure is everything.  That was at an elevation of `5800.

If you’ve got a GPX track of your route, TopoFusion, and a web browser this is pretty easy to do for your own route:

1.  Start here: www.nohrsc.nws.gov/ then select the interactive maps on the top left.  Zoom into your region of interest.

2.  Copy and save the image of your region of interest. Make sure you’ve got a couple of well spaced “anchor” points.  I used Enterprise and New Harmony and it looked like this:

3.  In TopoFusion, have your area of interest in view, then go to window->user map library.  Add the image from step 2 above.  You “calibrate” the image to the TF maps by a few different methods, my preferred is to do it manually, dragging the image handles until your anchor points from your image overlay the same points on the TF maps.

4. Click the hand top left in TF and now you’ve got a superimposed snow model over your GPX track.  Pretty slick, eh?  Hit the 3D button and you can get a good idea where the trouble spots will be.  North facing = lingering snow.

Here’s one I’ll be watching closely the next couple of months!

Your desert rat is basically just another poor bare forked featherless biped, like the rest of us, but he has certain distinguishing features: a permanent squint, a hide well pricked with cactus acupunctures, the big toes all purple and dead from kicking stones, and inside the skull hardly any viable brains left.

The desert rat loves water but prefers to live, like his four-footed cousin the kangaroo rat, where water is rare as uranium. The rarity makes it precious, therefore lovable. For this rat the finest of all music is the tinkle of seep water trickling into a tin cup, the periodic drip of unseen waterdrops falling in the shadows upon tympanic stone.

He is tolerably adapted to intense heat, constant glare, sand in his eggs, scorpions in his shoes, kissing bugs in his bedroll. He doesn’t mind a landscape composed mostly of naked rock with some scrubby-looking plants creeping cautiously out of the cracks; in fact he tends to find green pastures and grassy lawns and trees — especially the fat sort with bushy green foliage — stifling, even claustrophobic. Which brings us to space, outer-inner space, and the desert rat’s special fetishes.

He loves all forms of life, even people. But though he loves people (in moderation), he does like to see them, just like trees and bushes, spaced well apart. At a comfortable spitting distance from one another — say two miles, with a sawtooth hogback monocline about a mile high in between for a fence.

This is not meant to suggest that the desert rat is necessarily tougher than other rats. He is certainly not nearly so tough, for example, as the Rattus rattus urbanus, that highly specialized breed that thrives or at least survives on cement and steel, clamor and crime, lethal gasoline fumes and the deadly double dry Martini. Compared to him the desert rat is a delicate, fastidious epicene, tender as a water lily. But the desert rat carries one distinction like a halo: he has learned to love the kind of country that most people find unlovable. Call the desert barren, harsh, bitter, dreary and gloomy, acrid and arid, lifeless, hopeless, ugly as sin, foreboding as the gates of Hell — he will happily agree with you. Because in his heart lies the secret belief that the awful desert is really sweet and lovable, that the ugly is really beautiful, that Hell is Home. And if others think he’s crazy so much the better; he is reluctant to share his love anyway.

– Edward Abbey, Cactus Country

Be sure to check out the maps:  http://2-epic.com/maps/311map.html

Unless you are doing TD there’s a big blank spot on the multi-day calendar in June.

I have a solution:  The Dixie Three Eleven!

311 miles of bikepacking bliss awaits.  The route includes the choice parts of Trans Utah – Virgin River Rim trail, Pole Canyon and the Sunset Cliffs, Grandview trail – and adds so much more.  Thunder Mountain, the Skyline Drive trail in the Tushars to name a couple.

From the section in the Tushars:

Grandview:

Thunder Mountain:

Fremont:

The long road sections of TU are not present in this route.  The trail/road ratio is similar to CocoBob.

What:  This is a multi-day self-supported mountain bike race.
When:  Friday, June 25 8:00 AM
Where:  Near Parowan, UT.

It is no accident that this event fits in with the new CTR plan on LW Coaching.  It’s got all of the elements needed to refine a CTR assault in August.

Stay tuned for full details and GPX track.

Are you in?

Update 4/19

A preliminary track is ready.  NOTE:  this is preliminary pending a couple scouting missions.  It will work for general planning.  The route will no doubt change close to race time based on scouting missions.

Changes:

• Added Spruce trail on the Markagunt
• Added Louder ponds trail on the Markagunt
• Added remote trail network atop the Sevier Plateau, including a singletrack descent of Mount Dutton
• More singletrack in the Tushars
• Removed the Navajo lake loop (the complete VRRT should be plenty, eh?)
• Added trails south of Hwy 20

The profile has changed a bit.

I’m pretty sure Wes had a lot more fun playing around on his bike after the race than the actual race…

The start of my race was awesome!! Emma even caught it on video! I wasn’t expecting this much start encouragement!! It made he shriek a little, laugh for at least half the race. That much crack infusion made me start really really fast too!! I held it for the win and maintained my lead in the Intermountain Cup XC series.

Mtbracenews.com posted a race report and caught a photo of the pro women start. Now you know why I was laughing and why Jennelle Kremer (Revolution/Peak Fasteners) starting next to me was laughing! This was Jenelle’s first pro race and first ever pro womens start – ha,ha,  she should have been way more stressed out than she looks!!

Sunday we had a fabulous hike day up in Zion. We are lucky to live so close to such a magnificent piece of land.

These two racers are fired up and ready.

The crack moniker does not do them justice. They are currently nothing short of Nitrous.

It has crazy features on the map like Negro Head I had to see with my own eyes. Here is what a Negro Head looks like in the middle of the desert.

Roads go forever and give you that way out-there feeling.

Perfect for non-stop on the gas tempo training for hours and hours. I have some 100 miler races coming up and right now is the big L3 volume push training block.

Desert style motor-pacing day

We have attempted this route twice before and not pulled it off for multiple reasons. Mostly it was too big. Sunday was the day to go big!

Of course we passed signs that taunted us to come back and go another way next time. What does Grand Gulch Canyon look like? It is on the list of places to go now. It is only 10 more miles out there.

Pakoon Springs were clear and tasty. Dave was excited for his first filter of the season.

Views…

Super fab loop. I was psyched to get it finished before the sun set.

The boyz had a ton of fun together. Much more fun for them than riding only with their stuffy old parents…

We went hunting in the rocks

The boyz said this was an inappropriate petroglyph

This guys is my fav

Chunky

I told Dave I wanted to ride for 6 hours on the gas with no stops. Alrighty he said! Let’s go to the Strip.

Roads go forever down in the Strip

Our planned route was up the Water Haul road. This gate made us stop! Spiked road! We had to check that out.

I got a fancy new set of bags sewn up by Carousel Designs. I like them. Now I don’t have to carry so much on my back anymore on big rides.

Somebody loves this road. I’ve seen these huge steel monsters out here and figured they were part of Arizona Strip history but they were being used to grade the road. We were out on Sunday and no one was working them.

This is serious vintage live and working.

Ha, ha so much for ride non-stop. I always have to take pics of this stuff!

…and up and up

The road was soft with no traffic. Mine were the first tracks of the year on this section

This is the sign on the top end of the Water Haul road. OK this cracked me up for a long time and caused lots of idle time

Our destination Cedar Pockets Overlook. It is like riding to the edge of the world

Overlooks always require idle time

Downward and homeward

He claimed to be fat and slow but all I saw was hot and fast ;-) Big numbers flashed on my power meter while looking at this view a lot during the ride…

Our ponies missed each other too

It was cold and windy out today. We found a beauty little sheltered hot spot for our lunch stop.

Cat Morrison came to town for spring break and we are having an impromptu Camp Lynda. Cat is not afraid to ride big! She won Colorado Trail Race last year. I am hugely impressed with that accomplishment!

I followed her Spot every day during the race last year but this was the first time I have seen her in person since the race. Cat followed a custom 12 week LW Coaching training plan prior to Colorado Trail Race – so I like to think I had a tiny part in her awesome race.  I’ve been loving (of course) hearing how well it worked for her and I’ve been lapping up all her CTR stories too (yes she cried, no she did not see a bear, yes she had a white moment!!).

Today we had a bluebird sky and Zen on route.

I’ve learned these riders that do the big mad enduro events like Arizona Trail 300 and Colorado Trail Race have great tech skills. I sure do enjoy riding with folks who can ride forever and like hammering the rough stuff too. We strung together a pretty tech and chunky route today. By the end of it my hands were a little sore.

Look who else we saw today by the trail. We have had so much rain here this year I fully expect the flowers to be off the charts this spring. I plan to take photos of most of them and post them relentlessly here :-)

It was super fine catching up with everybody in the race crowd and meeting a few new faces. The first race of the season is always a reunion of sorts. The weather was nice enough to bust out the pasty white legs – saw many of those in the race…

Today I hooked up with the Maddoggers to ride. It was raining on and off so we headed to Church Rocks for a Camp Lynda-eske experience. Puddles and people.

Gary Fisher 29er crew Chris and KC rode with us too (actually we all chased a sparkly KC)

…and the Utahmountain biking.com crew and the Cannondale crew and the Revolution crew were all out on Church rocks. Most folks were a little smoked from the race the day before (except KC I think!!) so we all stood around and chatted more than rode.

All smiles all day from Brad

and Dwight was smiles too despite being the only one out on a little wheeled bike

A fine day to play on slickrock

Around Rockville Bench

With Mr Nice

Under tall towers

and wispy clouds

Whoosh!!

Just the “we” was not the “we” originally planned. Dave came down with a flu bug on Tuesday, got worse on Wed and on Thurs. The other half of the “we” was Tucson local Scott Morris who mobilized on last minute notice and jumped into be my team mate.

Here is Scott ready to go before the start with a number plate on his bike. Those who know Scott will see the funny in this… He is better known for self supported races that are over 300 miles and last for days – no number plates. He was game to give this lapped racing a go. Lucky me to have such awesome friends!!

I drove the 10 hours down to the race alone feeling a little orphaned with Dave staying home. When I drove into the race site another Dave was there to welcome me. Dave Byers and I had rented a party tent together for this one. Byers was racing solo unsupported.

This was home for the weekend and it was a brilliant base. It quickly became known as the circus tent. Complete with a space heater no less. We ran the space heater all night during the race and it was a beautiful thing.

Dave picked up #100 at registration which right away seemed to be a super cool number and good mojo

Scott having never done a 24 lapped race duo before was excited for the experience so it was only right he got to experience the run. I have ran enough times at OP…it is a bit rough for my liking. It was crazy watching it. It looked even more of a melee from the sidelines than when I have ran it.

..and so it started…Scott picked up his bike in about 50th place on the run and was off. Our game plan was to keep it steady and consistent for the 24.

I went to the timing tent with hundreds of other racers to wait for our turn. The first co-ed duo team came in at 1:05 – wow that was fast!! Jeny headed out on the course and I waited and waited for Scott. The next duo team came in at 1:06 – dam that was fast…and I waited and waited for Scott. I looked at my watch, 1:07, 1:08, dam those other teams had been out on course a long time – where was Scott??? 1:13 the third place co-ed duo team came in. My heart was 150 bpm just standing there. Did he crash or flat?? Where was he?? and then he appeared at 1:13:44. Funny, funny stuff cause we had set a target of about 1:10 – 1:15 for his first lap and he nailed it. I was just a tad amped ;-) I settled it right down on course and rode smooth and conservative and on plan.

By the end of my lap I had passed team # 233 and we moved up into third place. The other teams were moving fast. I did lap 2 (my first lap) in 1:12:11 and it felt fairly chill. Scott went back out and rode a 1:12:11 – that is right!! Matched my lap to the second!! We did that a lot throughout the race. It was fun to be even on a team, I am so used to being the slower link. I am proud of our race splits!

I focused on riding smooth, efficient and clean. On our 4th lap (my second lap) I spied a pink helmet I was catching and surmised it was Tracy Thelen from the second place duo team. Smooth and efficient went out the window for a bit as I got all excited. I made a really bad pass on her and this guy right behind her and made them put on their brakes, I was embarrassed…that was the worst pass I made in the entire race…so I said sorry and sprinted off to get out of sight. If I was Tracy I would have rolled my eyes at the display of inefficiency so early in the race. I felt like a dufus. But once out of sight I settled it back down and got back in my flow.

Scott went back out and rode our fastest lap of the race, a 1:09, our 5th/his 3rd lap. The cat is out of the bag now!! Scott Morris is fast!! We started to inch a few minutes closer to 1st place team each lap. Scott came in from our 7th lap only 4 min behind and then I was out on course chasing Jeny. I made a clean pass on her at the halfway mark but still had too much of a racer face on to slow down and chat to her – even tho she is one of my best friends!!!! I am so silly with my race face on sometimes and I know it!!

Scott and I rode what I consider a text book race. Mistakes we made were minor and fixed quickly. We had no crashes, cholla incidents or mechanicals.

By the morning we realized if we hammered out laps we might make 20 laps. That was huge!! I pulled out a 1:12 lap just after dawn matching my first lap pace!! It was fun to be hammering and not having to keep it smooth and efficient anymore. I was aiming for fast now not efficient, flying up the bitches in my big chain ring – fun, fun.  I hopped into the draft of a passing SS rider who was rocking along and drafted him for a long time. He was awesome. Thanks Charlie :-)

I came in off the 18th lap at 10:43am. Scott had to ride a 1:17 or faster to get back in before noon. 19 laps would win it for us and set a course record…so going for 20 laps was a sheer hammer move…tee hee!!

In the timing tent waiting again for Scott….they started the count down to noon at 11:50…10 minutes left…then 5 mins left…no Scott…. “another rider coming” shouts out the announcer, “who wants this one”. Everyone  waiting stands on their toes and leans forward to see who is coming in.  “Number 224″. I whoop and run out there to meet Scott waving my arms and yelling!! Yeah!! I was psyched heading out on course at 11:55:25.

The 20th lap was a ton of fun. There was no point to hammer so happy cruise pace was switched on. The course was empty, no constant passing which was refreshing. It most definitely felt like a victory lap. Scott was waiting at the finish with smiles, high fives and hugs – super awesome race…

Meanwhile….Dave Byers rode a killer race with the same start smart finish fast philosophy and rode it all the way up into 3rd place on the podium. It was awesome to see him come through the pits when I was on my rest lap.

We had great mojo in our pit!!

Dave Harris stayed in the game with text updates on the race from home and Scott’s SO Paula came on Saturday evening to do support. Paula didn’t think she did much for me but we had some awesome night time smack talk going sealed up in our circus tent which stoked the fire ;-)

From a coaching perspective it was a massive success too with nine LW Coaching athletes on the podiums – I was really as excited about that as my own race. 9 podiums is a lot of race stories now to relay. My jaw dropped at the awards ceremony as so many got up there on the podium. What a fine coaching moment for me.

Post race glow is ON :-)

It is really stressful to think you might have to bail on a partner, ya know?  Well, we found a great replacement – Scott Morris is in fine form right now and has an itch to stretch his racing legs.  He’ll get his fair share there in his backyard.  It made the whole thing a lot less stressful knowing LW was going to end up with such a rock of a partner.

It’s bound to be an exciting race for racers and spectators, it’s sold out completely this year.  Live results will start going up here http://64.119.44.58/liveresults.html once they get rolling at noon Saturday.  Word on the street is it’s a madhouse down there, RV central, hero dirt, and nerves a dancing everywhere.

Let the show begin!

I put on my knee high SSWC09 socks

and my Stars n’ Stripes jersey

and played on my friends bike

and watched my friends play on their bikes

and throw them in the air

and chunder down rocks

and look at funky rocks I’ve ridden past one hundred times and never looked at

and savor a favorite view I’ve savored one hundred times already

I wasn’t the only one feelin’ a little silly on Sunday

Sun Souls Poem

By Emma Wallenfels

The nature above us is the sun souls
We know the sun soul is very good for us
The plants are good and nature sings about the sun souls
Angels sing to the sun soul within us
In the place of harmony the sun is true with the nature
Within our hearts we know when can pray to sun to go to another land
Here comes night
We dream waiting for the sun souls
We know we can be so good when we see the sun
The sun we know is very good
The sun souls know so many things
We pray to sun souls because we know things are known to sun souls
Sun, sun please don’t go where we can’t see you
Please stay here and let us feel you
Please stay when it is night, stay when it is day
Stay all night and stay all day
When you are not there stay, stay in my heart

It was sunny all day but still plenty of muck left around for Bubba to find.

It was easy to avoid muck on the bike by sticking to the rim trails today.

This guy gets taller every week

Janel cleaned this onsite first time, no scoping- impressive!

DH looking serious

The sun went in and out, in and out. Hot cold, hot cold, hide-n-seek. Pee-a-boo, I kiss you.

Today: Rain showers likely before 11am, then rain and snow showers likely. Some thunder is also possible. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. South southwest wind between 8 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Wanna come ride with us today?

The morning started off bluebird as I was sipping coffee but by the time I got on my bike wispy clouds were already coming up from the horizon. I shoulda gotten up earlier…

DH dragged himself up out of his flu bed to catch some vitD and ride with me. He lasted only one hour before having to slink home, still sick… We did a fun lap on Barrel Roll. After leaving DH I took a jaunt up Bus Stop then Cove Wash.

Down Stucki to the micro loop then up Blakes to Bulldog Canyon and down Curly Hollow. I followed a set of mtb tracks up Blakes which is a rare sighting. A set of pythons by the looks of the print.

By the time I was coming down Blakes it looked dark and stormy everywhere. Except on the top of my head that is. I had a bubble day and rode in a ray of sunshine that followed me all day. I love those days.

Back to the Micro Loop and reversed my tracks up Stucki.

The sun was low and the air turned orange.

The desert was empty except for this gal who followed me all the way up Stucki. She was strong. I tried to drop her. Each time I upped the paced she matched it. We were flying.

We made the turn at the top of Stucki and she got ahead of me. She ripped down the descent. I couldn’t catch her.

It must have been those big wheels she was riding – they were huge.

So tall and skinny she got further ahead of me as the sun went down until I lost her. I was sad to see her and the sun leave cause I wanted to keep riding with them forever.

I have lived here for 14 years and have never seen such a Scottish like weather pattern sit on us for so long. It is a little shocking.

So go do something fun with all this precip like snow bike or ski!! Have your own CL-eske binge weekend locally and post on your blog/facebook/twitter what you did and let me know. It will bring me lots of smiles to see everyone having fun binging in their own locale. Spread the CL love :-) just not here in soggy StG…

Look it gets nice again on Monday!!

The lead in days to the camp are as problematic as the rain falling on camp days. Our most fun desert trails here are all clay and unrideable saturated. They are un-walkable saturated too. Think big slick clods of clay on your feet, or jammed into your rear triangle and drive train.

There are a few trails here rideable in the wet. Those are the slick rock and sandy trails. Wet desert sand EATS brake pads and drive trains. Frankly at this point in the season I am not interested in destroying my bike for a ride in the rain. We all did it last year and *sorry* I don’t feel like wrenching for 8 hours after a 4 hour ride. Call me bah humbug. Grumpy. Yes I am thank-you.

I also don’t feel like riding on the road all weekend, or riding in the rain all weekend or riding with a group of mtbers with no fenders on the road in the rain all weekend. Camp is OFF :-(

That all said I know there are a few individuals committed to a weekend in StG with non-refundable flights and what-not. If you are still coming e mail me directly lynda at lwcoaching dot com and we can figure out the best plan B here.

Next year we are leaning towards a March date. (finger) January training camps in StG… Actually we might squeeze in a 2010 March date – that option is under further discussion. Camp Lynda was always based around when I (meaning me personally) was peaking to race a big endurance race, namely 24 -Hours in the Old Pueblo. I am not peaking for that one this  year but peaking for Cohutta 100 in April so that puts my personal training binge on April 2-4 which also happens to be the local Intermountain cup Cholla Challenge XC weekend – so many fun things to fit in the program.

Sorry one and all. We will Camp it again in the future – CL was way to much fun to drop. CL was scheduled for me but once it rolls it is ALL about the riders not me.

At least we don’t all have to eat dinner at Golden Corral on Saturday evening now ;-)

So it cracks me up we are even on this list.

If you are coming to visit us here in St George anytime soon you can now get a visual on our weather :-)

Saint George

Today Emma did some painting. Starting with this flower.

Then some sky, grass and a tree grew.

and it surely must be the Home Tree

We went down to check them out at an open house yesterday.

Here is the Igloo from the outside

and the inside

A 25% solution of salt water at below freezing temp is pumped through these tubes and fresh water is sprayed on top to make the ice. They build up a couple of inches of ice then paint it white – I didn’t know that! Next they layer another inch of ice and paint on logos and hockey stripes then finish it off with another 1/4 inch of ice.

We bought some skate passes. Kinders are excited!