Does it hurt?

Yes. Today I was able to help out a friend of mine who is doing a study for cycling and I got to put myself through an intense hour on the bike followed up a few hours later with a 20 minute all out effort. Riding on a trainer indoors is a real mind game. You constantly have to be thinking about continuing to pedal in the same spot... without going anywhere.

During the twenty minute time trial, I found myself pretending the chair in front of me was another cyclist from France. I couldn't let the french guy win. It was a matter of national pride... I did an all out puke your face off sprint at the end, but he still came in ahead of me. I really hate that guy. It is funny what you find yourself doing to stay motivated. Round two is next week and it will be interesting to find out how I did.

Where I Get to Live

Sometimes I find myself in utter amazement of the great fortune I have to live here. Today I was out on a team ride and as we descended South Fork up Provo Canyon I had to stop and pull out my phone to snap some pictures. They really don't do it justice but it was a gorgeous evening to be out riding. I even happened upon a moose and her calf, I know they are super dangerous but I couldn't help but stop and snap a picture... I think I could win in a sprint though... Maybe...




A moose and her calf. The light was low so the camera was having a hard time. They were a lot closer than they look here.

Good Morning

Do you ever have those morning where you wake up frustrated for no real reason? This morning I awoke this way and headed down stairs to try to make sense of a messy kitchen. After throwing all I could fit into the dishwasher I realized I needed to get out on my bike. I snapped a couple pictures with my phone and after a short ride came back feeling ready and focused for the day. I love my bike.

Fall Colors

A Day on the Wall

Squaw Struck is a new climb that is in the process of being finished. So far it is 8 pitches and this photo is above the second. I somehow managed to delete the photos we took from my memory card so this is all I have.

The climb was amazing and, being new, had a large amount of loose rock. After finishing our ascent we started the rappel back down. We linked a couple pitches together by tying two 70 meter ropes together. I was the first to go down and about three quarters of the way down when I felt the rope shift slightly. As I casually looked up to check it out I saw a rock slightly larger than my head plummeting toward my face. I lunged into the wall narrowly missing the rock as it continued it's free fall. I am pretty glad I decided to look up.

CAPRI!

Breaking from my normal subject of outdoors and adventures I would like to introduce everyone to Capri Jolley. Paul and Alicia just had her last night at around 2 a.m. and she is the closest I am going to get to a niece for a long time so I am super pumped to welcome this little human to the world. Congratulations Paul and Alicia!

Where Misery and Fun Meet

There is a place within everything where fun and misery meet each other. On occasion they will stick together and hang out, other times it is more like a high five when they run past each other in opposite directions. Today I was able to hang out with each of them on my ride in a cold pouring rain.

It is an interesting phenomenon being able to be around them both at the same time because they seem to compliment one another, but as soon as one of them leaves the whole situation has a different feel. When ever you can get these two together they bring a sense of adventure to whatever you are doing. As the rain pelted my face and dripped off my nose they were right there with me. It seems as though every time I ride my bike they show up.

Final Rappel

Well This was my attempt at filming the last rappel in Pine Creek.... It didn't exactly work out so well but I figured I would throw it up anyway. Doing a rappel one handed is harder than I thought, and this one was fast.

Pine Creek Round 2

It is amazing how hard it actually is to get people to come out to do this sort of thing. Excuses not to do things like this never seem adequate after the fact but I seem to have the intrinsic problem of making excuses to go do things like this instead of being "responsible" and getting other things done. Sometimes life's metronome gets set by the tasks and worries we put in our own path, when we are the only ones that can set the tempo. On occasion we make choices and let others decide where our time goes and how fast we march from task to task. In an effort to keep my tempo from getting to out of control I searched out a party to accompany me in an escape to Zion. One day starting at 4:30 a.m. with no set agenda, other than to do a slot canyon named Pine Creek.

I started off the day with a Red Bull mixed with orange juice which I now feel is a bad combination. Eric Montandon, TJ, and I met up with Eric Ellis and Brooklyn down in Cedar City where we made our way into Zion. After grabbing the permit and heading up to the trail head we squeezed into our circa 1992 wet suits and geared up for a cold few hours deep inside the slot canyons. I don't think I will ever tire of taking people places and helping them to experience something like this.

Feeling as though you have descended into another world you walk through cold sand and look hundreds of feet up where the walls almost meet over your head. Driftwood is lodged 50-60 feet overhead having been deposited there by flash floods. Slinking into a pool of frigid stagnant water that was left there by the last flood that came through you loose your breath and swim to meet your friends on the bank. Tourists from all over the world come to admire the beauty of this place but few venture deep into the more amazing parts.

The trip was fun. One day there and back. Some may say spending hours in a car and spending the money on gas isn't worth it. "If you go, stay longer" they might say. It's closer than you think so just go.

The final rappel.

One giant boulder hanging overhead.

God's carvings.

The Crew; Eric, Brooklyn, Eric, and Tj

5 a.m...... yeah it felt pretty early.

"Sand People... They will be back in greater numbers"

Deep within Zion's underbelly I came across some strange beings. Yeah.... I didn't know they were around the corner. They got me good eh?

Sand, Blisters, Bikes, Ropes, and Fun

Whenever I get a call from Bob Bills it always means something fun is going to happen. This time it was a weekend in Zion National Park and Moab. My week was complicated by my procrastination, mixed with school work, so lack of sleep and lack of time made me crave a weekend away.

The body's internal clock is really an amazing thing. How do I know what time it is when I am asleep but in the day I have no real grasp on time? Really... I wake up within a minute before my alarm goes off. How? I don't know. 4 a.m. rolled around and I grabbed my pack and rode out to the freeway to meet Bob and his friend Frederico from Chile. We stopped at McDonalds and grabbed some grub. The stuff is amazing... how is it that a breakfast burrito can not really taste like a breakfast burrito and seem totally fake but still taste good? I hopped in the driver seat and let Bob attempt to work as Frederico slept in the back seat. We eventually pulled into Zion and grabbed our permit for Pine Creek.

We met up with Steven Nyman and his fiance Robbin making a group of five. Starting into the canyon we hoped it wouldn't be too cold because we didn't bring wet suits. In a 90 degree day those canyons can be fairly cold thanks to the lack of sun. The flash floods that roll through leave some big amounts of water that require some swimming. The first time you drop into one of the pools it can be surprising.

Before the last two rappels out of the canyon we caught up with a group made up of all 60+ individuals. As we sat enjoying the view we talked with them about how they got into canyoneering. They all took a class together last year and have been taking trips every couple months since. You really have to admire people that still have the drive to try new things continuing the exploration of life at that age. Many fall into a rhythm of monotony doing only that which is expected of an older person.

At certain points in the canyon you just had to stop in awe of the power of time and of the sheer force of nature. Canyon walls towering hundreds of feet high only separated by a few feet, looking like they could only have been hewn by the hand of God. Massive logs pinned high over head between walls during flash floods look to hold the walls apart so they don't close in on you. All of this is missed by those on the highway near by. They drive by not knowing what amazing sights lay within reach.

Finishing the canyon we headed to a little pond with a waterfall for some swimming. We spent a little bit of time washing off and then it was off to Moab where another early morning awaited us. I ended up sleeping almost the whole drive over.

We grabbed the 7:30 a.m. shuttle from Poison Spider bike shop up high into the La Sal mountains. The trail drops over 7000 vertical feet in about 33 miles. Starting in the cold mountain air at 11,200 ft. in the fall aspens and ending down in the red rocks of Moab. The trail was amazing and brutal. My hands fell apart during the ride and were raw by the trail's end. It was an amazing journey through a variety of climates. At one point on the ride I unknowingly came within a few yards of a massive black bear. I didn't see him until he took off running, but when he took off I was a little surprised.


Hanging out after a long ride out side of the Poison Spider Bike Shop

view.

This is where I saw the bear. He was just hanging out right in this area then he took off running.

Up top at 11,200 ft after climbing up 1.000 vertical in a mile, ready for a long decent.

Swimming at the frog ponds.

Pine Creek's last rappel.

Weiner On Belay

This one is from my phone this morning. Don't worry Penny (the dog) was in a harness so she was safe. The dog is pure evil so I am sure if she fell the devil himself would come up from the very depths of hell to catch her.

Brandon wanted me to show him and his buddy, Mark, a few new places to climb so we went to a few walls this morning. This was a great part of the morning. It is getting cold... my fingers went numb by the second bolt. Feeling came back toward the top but it was cold none the less.

Fall

Fall brings with it the best climate for climbing, beautiful scenes of color, and the anticipation of snow.  Although school piggybacks itself into the season, the change in pace allows for it.  I pay closer attention to the weather watching the temperatures drop, I slowly acquire my new gear for the winter season, I make plans for backcountry trips and adventures, I play snowboard videos instead of skate videos at work, and I get more excited every day for what lie ahead.  

The real thing that spurred my winter "bug" was that I bought a new snowboarding pack.  I am setting up a split-board and am planning on riding a lot of backcountry this year.  Next on the list is a new avalanche shovel, probes, and an avalanche transceiver.  We are also planning a trekking trip into the sawtooth mountains.  It is wilderness protected land and that equals no snowmobiles which then interprets into untouched powder and miles of lines.  Hopefully the trip pulls together.

Tomorrow is the first official day of fall and I welcome it.  

A couple more pictures

It was close.

heading down the backside of strawberry.

Lotoja

5 a.m. seems earlier every time I see it. Laying in the darkness I shake off the dream that woke me up before my alarm. My anxieties that accompany race day come out in my sleep, I dream of things going horribly awry. Months of training, money, and time all shot down in a single folly. Drifting in and out of sleep I finally give up and head down stairs to pound some pancakes into my hungry stomach.

Preparation. It consumed most of my thoughts for the past week, pushing homework and my usual routines aside. Race day preparation is different. A nervous/excited feeling hangs in the air and I try to not think of what lay ahead. Eric and I pull up to the starting line and look around at what we are up against. When we finally get underway I shiver in the cold and follow our escort out of town praying nothing goes wrong. No flat tires, no crashes, no getting sick, no bonking, and no quitting.

As a team joined up at the front of the pack the drove the pace hard all the way into Preston, ID where I ditched my arm warmers and grabbed more food. The pack stayed together over all the major climbs and we seemed to swallow up all who had gone out ahead of us. We hit the king of the Mountain where I lagged a little trying to keep my heart rate down. I hit the summit realizing my folly so I had to push myself hard on the decent taking some risks and then pedaling myself back into the group took some serious effort but as soon as I caught them I was able to recover. It was a scary few minutes of all out in an aero position hoping no one would drive the pace up while I tried to catch up.

The race seemed to blow by and I continued to check my newly purchased Casio making sure I was taking in food and water every 15 minutes. Star Valley is usually the hell of the Lotoja for me, but this year it blew by and we were in Alpine, WY before I knew it. The climb into Jackson seemed easier than I had anticipated, but it was at this point (30 miles to go) I really was needing a pee break. To no avail when we got to the last 10-15 miles my group broke away from the peloton driving the speed up to around 26 mph. We formed up a nice pace line, all taking turns at the front. My silent plight was not helped by bumps in the road, but my desire for the finish grew with every kilometer.

Eric and I had discussed him leading me out if it came down to a sprint. We hit the 2K sign and the pace was going really strong. When we hit 1k a guy tried to go for it but Eric locked onto his wheel. He pulled passed him with a little less than 500 meters and then when we got closer I stood on my pedals and sprinted for the line. My legs were a little wobbly by this point but I was able to push through to the line where I barley beat the guy behind me. It was a close sprint but it put me on the podium. Two riders from our category had about 4 minutes on our group and they had a strong ride deserving the top two spots on the podium.

This was my first time on an actual podium so it was a cool experience. I hope it happens again... sooner rather than later. It wouldn't have been possible without my parents there helping me and Eric pulling me into that sprint. It was a great race and I am really happy with my time.

206 miles in 9 hours 26 minutes with and average speed of 21.8 mph. The winning time was 9:02 and I came 19th place overall.


Third!

Earning third place.

The Peloton

Early in the morning.