Kudos to Keith at Base Camp Communications for a cool PR hit for the very worthy Africa Bike project (click that link)
I remember 3 years ago when my father and I were (re)building my home and we’d often find ourselves near the end of the day amazed, pointing to the sky at the amazing sunsets that were seen here in the Kamas Valley.
One hot summer night I recall us up there roofing or putting siding on the upper reaches of the house, taking in yet another whopper of a sunset and my dad quietly turned to me and said, “I’m really going to miss the sunsets when I go home. Almost enough to get me to move here.” Coming from an Oregonian that’s saying something.
The new header image of this blog is 4 images stitched together that I took from my “tower”. Just another day in K-town.
So it was last night while biking down from Wolf Creek Pass that I rounded the final corner before dropping into the river bottoms of Woodland and spotted another beauty. What roadie wouldn’t love this view?
Oh yea, I saw 4 cars the entire way home. I love this valley.
I was out for a short bike ride last night on the Mirror Lake Myway where I was passed by a total of 5 cars in one hour. I love riding on that road before the Mirror Lake and other campsites open up.
As the sun was setting a fiery red I turned around at the 10 mile mark, slipped on my new Pearl Izumi vest, upped the volume on my iPod and rocketed back down toward Kamas with 1100′ of advantage to help me along.
As I rode steady in the big chain ring and looked down at how well my legs seemed to be working for me, my thoughts went back to just over 2 years ago when I was bald and recovering from surgery on my brain. This happens from time to time, usually when I’m out in the backcountry or doing something solo. It also happens when I see something of beauty or share a priceless moment, often with my children or wife.
So it was while racing down the road, my mind thinking of my fortunate extension of life, that I remembered this video. And I wasn’t even wearing my Team Discovery kit!
When you register for an event, it’s customary to know if you’re “in” or not within a week or so. Given technology and the many database and excel programs, you might even squeeze the process of determining whose “in” to a few hours, or a day at most. If you’re really antsy and have to know in real time then Active.com is brilliant. But nearly 4 weeks?!?!?!
After last year’s race, it was with great anticipation that I looked forward to the April 22 registration date. I was up during the night, waiting for it to go live on their website, which is a slick flash based site. (www.lotojaclassic.com). Late night e-mails, text messages and IM’s were passed around, waiting to know. I hit the sack late and woke up early and then the text came through from Jason - “Registration is up!”
Since then, radio silence.
Is this another counting of the ballets? Am I sensing a Florida style ballot dispute? Is there an 89 year old grandma who is counting the registration by hand and rolling the dice for each registration, going best of seven to determine if you’re in?
I’ve heard nothing. No updates, no “shove off mate, you’re not in“, no “congratulations you made it“, not even a “all operators are currently busy, your wait is estimated to be 19 days” - NOTHING!
Training for a race that I have no clue if I’ll be riding is a buzz kill. When it comes down to it, a race is a business and businesses have customers who, unless the rules of business have changed, they need to take care of.
C’mon Lotoja, customer service applies to all businesses. Step up your game.
Update: I heard from them and I’m in! Let the games begin!
Summer is right around the corner and aside from the many things that this annual event brings the one thing I am most looking forward to is the opportunity to ride my bike to work. Wait a sec, I work in the office which is next to the kitchen, across from the bedroom, around the corner from the laundry closet, next….you get the picture.
BUT, the news that we (Base Camp Communications) are getting an office in Park City just hit the wires. So, I’ll be back to more of a commute than the 20 steps or so I shuffle each morning. This means I have a choice - Auto or Bike?
I love to pass on the auto as much as possible. When biking into Park City the traffic on Highway 224 is often at a stand still or moving very slow. It’s rather ironic that we experience daily traffic jams in this little mountain town. When this happens, I take incredible enjoyment from passing as many autos as I can while riding my bike. It’s one of those ego flexing moments, somehow making me feel superior. Yes, childish emotions but nevertheless enjoyable.
I take comfort in knowing I’m not the only one…
…continued from Part 2, this is the final part of the race recap…
Thanks to John’s wife I had that Coke and it felt so good. I had heard the carbonation and sugar was a good alternative to energy drinks when in a long race. John had to find a toilet and the porta-potties were 10 deep in waiting so we rode across the bride over the Snake River and pulled into the Chevron where we were first in line for a “clean” bathroom which was a nice alternative to an out-house. My butt was saddle sore and the first 1/4 mile I couldn’t really sit. We were both quite tired and we agreed that we’d ride at conversation pace the entire rest of the way.
That resolution didn’t last too long as we hopped on the wheel of a passing team. The pace was enjoyable and steady. When we hit a small hill one of their team dropped off the back so they all slowed leaving John and I to ourselves as we surged in front of them. By this time we were complaining openly about every little incline claiming that the race bible said nothing of hills. Two strong riders came by and I looked at John to see if we should hop on. He urged me on so we grabbed their wheel and started to rotate with them. After a couple of rotations John and I agreed it was a bit fast and we let them go.
A few miles down the canyon we passed this twosome who had pulled over to relieve themselves. We rode on, picking up a couple riders with each passing mile. About 4-5 miles later that twosome caught us and once again we jumped on their wheels and started to rotate. As we rode we enjoyed some conversation and got to know them. One was riding a bit stronger than the other but all 4 of us shared the load.
Just before Hoback Junction there was one last neutral water station where I got a Red Bull, a banana and topped off my water bottles. As John and I readied to head out the other twosome asked if we shouldn’t ride the rest of the way together since we had been in sync for quite some time. I didn’t realize just how well we were riding as a group of 4 until right after Hoback Junction when in a group of about 20 riders we pulled away from them on a little incline.
The sun was starting to get low in the sky and the shadows casting long across the Teton Valley as we neared Jackson. Read More
Thanks to the tandem train John and I met up with Jim and company as we came into the Montpelier feed station. Jim’s crew started out and we made a tough decision - to leave Tim behind. We told John’s wife to tell Tim that we’d wait for him at the top of Salt Creek Pass just shy of Afton. As it would end up we made the right decision.
The race officials had the Geneva Summit road closed to traffic which like Strawberry Canyon before was quite nice to ride sans vehicles. Jim and I hung together while John dropped back a little bit during the climb It was starting to heat up and I was sweating pretty good.
At the summit I bid farewell to Jim telling him that I’d wait for John. I had made my decision on who I’d ride the race with and despite a few strange looks from riders as I cycled loops at the summit it was just a few minutes until John came along.
We started downhill and soon there after hopped on a tandem’s wheel but it became apparent that they weren’t interested in sharing the load so we broke off and rode along just the two of us. We turned north towards Salt Creek Pass and along the way picked up a few riders until we were a crew of 6-8 riders. Just before the pass was a neutral water stop which was strategically located. I’ve gotta say, the Lotoja race crew did a great job with both supported and neutral support zones.
Water filled we headed up the pass. John told me to go ahead and after a short distance hanging with him I decided that I’d go for it. The climb was indeed tough but not as tough as the last 6 miles of Wolf Creek Pass near my home in Kamas. I found myself at the top in no time and there waited for John to make it up. After 10 minutes I wondered if I had missed seeing him come over the top. I then saw his wife who said that he hadn’t made it yet. He was suffering pretty bad and 3 minutes later crested the top.
Saw this video while reading the NYT online, which finally is free to view. Funny that while reading the news online I would be attracted to a video. Makes you wonder about the powerful medium that is video.
So after watching the video a couple of times I checked out the microsite for the 2 Mile Challenge Tour from Clif Bar. Although the tour is over the microsite is still up and offers some interesting insights as well as an entertaining blog.
Something really cool is the map your two miles page where using Google Maps you can map a 2 mile radius from your home or workplace and then click on the various types of destinations that you’d typically drive to. Banks, grocery store, bike shop, hardware store, etc. Rather than hop in your car at over $3/gallon not forgetting the emissions why not hop on something like the Kona Ute, a utility bike?
This is a creative way to market a product from a company that was started by an epiphany while on a 175 mile bike ride. Bringing people out to a tour stop for something unrelated to the product (the bar) itself but giving them a chance to sample the product while embracing something that they can be emotionally driven to do.(the desire to better themselves and the planet by biking).
How can your brand do something bigger than itself and in the process bring the product to more potential customers?
As it was quite warm earlier this week I went out for a bike ride on the Mirror Lake Highway. I went for a 20 mile ride and had 3 cars pass me, making it more like the “Mirror Lake Myway”. I was wearing the “Butts, Sweat and Gears” jersey that my friend Bill Johnson gave me as we were packing up his truck to head to Logan for the Lotoja bike race. It reminded me of the race so I figured it’s about time I wrote a recap.
I originally intended to ride the race with 6 others from my former employer Backcountry.com but injury, lack of training, and fear narrowed the group down to just 3 of us. Ironically, come race day only one of the threesome was actually still employed by Backcountry.com, that being John Thomas who is the bike buyer. Tim Meikle had moved on to Omniture and myself, well I just moved on to me.
Since we (the trio) rode in the picnic category our start time wasn’t that critical so we set off at 7:14am with my friend Jim Kane and his crew of riders. We determined that should anyone fall back or we lose Jim’s group that the three of us would stick together to the finish.
The first leg of the race was flat and quite fast. Initially I was in the rear of the pack but the yo-yo effect was too much to bear so we made our way to the middle/front where we sat behind a group who were determined to break wind, so we let them.
We passed a number of other start groups leaving me wondering if we were going too fast. I knew though that if I dropped from the peleton that there would be no catching up so we pressed on with speed.
The morning air was crisp with a slight mist hanging over the fields as we raced by. It was beautiful. I ate a banana and a Koka Moka PROBAR along this leg, making sure that despite not feeling hungry that I would force myself to eat all throughout the race.
A large group of us pulled over just shy of Preston to relieve ourselves so that the food exchange would be seamless. Going into the food exchange I was sure to down all my water knowing I’d be getting two new bottles from John’s wife who was the champion of the day as our support crew.
The food exchange was pretty quick and we left with Jim Kane’s team and started out of Preston. A small climb stretched out the peleton followed by a fast downhill. After a few rollers we turned off the main highway and started a gentle climb along a river that I’m sure Tim was thinking would be a perfect location to fish.
For each of the past two summers I’ve biked to work in Park City, Utah from Kamas where I live. It’s 20 miles each way with about 1100′ vertical feet gain each direction thanks to a couple of good hills. Doing this ride 2-3 times each week has kept me in good shape for ski season. Additionally it helps keep the Subaru parked and the gas gauge from dropping any lower.
Despite the many cyclists around this area and the popularity of the Park City to Kamas route, it’s not often that I see another cyclist and never have I been able to ride either direction with another cyclist. If timing is indeed everything, I’m horribly off the mark.
I remember one day starting out from home and seeing up ahead a girl on a bike. It was the first person I had ever had the chance of riding with. As I frantically pedaled to catch up I’m sure she was alarmed at my enthusiasm as I blurted out, pulling up along side of her, “You headed all the way?” assuming she would know that “all the way” meant from Kamas to Park City. She gave me that confused, “Do I know you” sort of look and promptly said, “No, I’m turning here” hastily veering off down Democrat alley, the last street before committing to the climb over the Jordanelle hill. I felt like the kid at Christmas who after opening the last present realized that yet another year had passed without getting that Beebe gun. Sigh…
Regardless of the apparent rejection that day, one of the more fascinating things that has happened to me as a new cyclist has been the camaraderie that I feel with other riders. Like the motorcycle riders and their simple wave or nod as they pass (I know you’ve seen it happen before) road cyclists share the same common acknowledging wave. I’ve even gotten to the point where if the other cyclist doesn’t wave it rubs me the wrong way.
Like Baskin Robins Ice Cream there are many kinds of waves and I’ve tried them all. Here are a few of my favorites:
Then there is the genuine “hello” wave, the kind that feels warm and despite 60 feet of cold (or hot) hard asphalt that separates you from the other cyclist this wave makes you feel like you’re family, like they are one of “yours” and you are one of theirs. And for that brief moment you are equals, you are cyclists.
It was this type of wave which yesterday I shared with a woman who upon cresting the summit of the Jordanelle hill, next to the Tuhaye Golf Club entrance, she headed east while I heading west we passed, exchanged waves and put our heads down to enjoy the reward of our climbing.
And so it was while descending I reflected upon the brief yet impactive exchange that is a wave between two cyclists and what it has come to mean for me.
