Rabbit Valley Rally....mountain bike race.

My good friend Matt Simmons talked me into racing in the first Mountain States Cup race near Fruita, Colorado last Sunday.

The drive over the mountain passes was a bit snowy.

We had a cool view of the Colorado National Monument from our Hotel window.

Had some fun with a giant Corona bottle.

Checked out some of the fun trails off of 18 road.

Kessel's Run is highly recommended. I dragged Matt over there after he raced the time-trial. He's a good sport!

Here is a view of the race parking lot.

The race went pretty well. My goal was top 15 and I managed 11th which qualified me for the National Championship race in July. Not bad for someone who doesn't actually train to race bikes any more!

Oh, I tossed the tiny GPS in my jersey pocket for the race and here is the sweet interactive map for you to toy with:

Urban Assault- Spring Classic Edition.

Stick a fork in my legs...they are cooked!
Yesterday we headed out for the long version of the Urban Assault. It was much the same as the last Urban Assault with the addition of more Palmer Park trail time and a trip up Columbine and Buckhorn trails in the Cheyenne Canon area.

Here are some of the stats:

Dist: 47 miles

Ride time: 4:31

Vertical gain: 7600' (according to my super accurate TopoFusion program). Russ got around 5500'.

Climbing time: 2:13

Climbing distance: 19.25 mi.

Here is another interactive map for you to play with:



I kept asking myself: "Why am I doing this?". The answer is: Fun Bank surplus!

Fun Bank

Today, while riding with "Team Stunt Double", I created a new way to be positive about completely coming apart half-way through a ride.
First, let's back up to yesterday's lunch-ride in Palmer Park. I had been well rested and well fed and the hills were like speed bumps. I call it "light legs". I felt like a fit racer dude and it was awesome!
Today rolls around and I'm thinking I am gonna rock this ride. Felt pretty good against the crushing headwind and on the first few climbs and then we hit a bigger climb with Pro biker Matt leading the way. Not so good. Now I am faking it but it's becoming transparent. Maybe I need more food. Didn't work. Maybe I will cut this short and recover like a smart person. I'm not that smart.
Now Team Stunt 2x is pulling away and I can do nothing but watch. Like a car accident in slow-motion. Except I am the one who is crashing.
This is where you either get really grumpy or come up with something to entertain your lactic-acid infused brain. I came up with the "Fun Bank".  It's pretty simple. When  you are having a great ride and you are feeling invincible, you are making big withdrawls from the Fun Bank. Soon, you will be getting overdraft charges. Today was the day I needed to make some deposits. I made so many deposits into the Fun Bank today that I may be able to drop Contador on my next ride.
Give your riding buddies a break and give it a try because nobody likes to ride on sweet, sweet single-track with a grumpy bastard.

Here is the route we rode today. Climbing total was just over 5000' and ride time was just under 3:45. Gotta love the interactive web.

@trip - Falcon trail 4-3-10