New (Replacement) Carbon Yeti

Well true to their reputation Yeti took care of my broken frame, no cost to me and I was back in business after exactly 7 days. Now that is service! The shop (Bike Source) in Highlands Ranch was tremendous, thanks Steve & Damon, you ROCK! The other really cool thing is that my replacement frame is now stealth black which is way cool.





Yes this is my kitchen... hey I can cook AND look at the new bike.



Training is going pretty well but I'm concerned how well prepared I am for the first race... April 11 in Gallup, NM. Dawn Till Dusk (12 hour solo). I have to remember that this is the first race of the season and that it is meant to be a 'shake down' for me and the new bike... a measuring stick if you will to see where I am and where I need to be as the season progresses.


I escaped the impending snow storm April 4-5 by driving to Sante Fe, NM... long haul and I had no idea what was in store for me there or even where I was going but I knew that there wouldn't be any snow and that I could either road or mountain bike in the high desert so it was all good. I was concerned that I would miss out on two critical training days if I stayed in Colorado so south bound I25 was calling me!


The local bike shop in Sante Fe hooked me up with the trail gouge and a map and I spent 2 days getting the crap kicked out of me... these are technical and steep trails and I'm not too adept at technical up hill so it was a real work out for me.




So the race season is about to start and I've got an official 'Team'... PowerQuip of course is the main sponsor and PowerQuip couldn't do it without our principals and our customers... thanks to everyone for their well wishes and for your support!


My other sponsor is so critical that without them I'm am certain that I could never even think of competing in these events. I am very happy with is the work that Well Within Chiropractic (Dr. Joel Kinch) www.maximizedlivingdrkinch.com/ has done with me to eliminate my neck and back pain. Without Dr. Joel and his super staff of professionals I couldn't hope to train at this level. They have helped me beyond description and I'll be a patient for life so that I can get the most from this beat up body.



My next post will be after the Dawn Til' Dusk Race on Saturday... 0700 - 1900 (12hrs solo). My friend Chad and I are headed down together on Friday AM.

Catching Up

Catching up... I think that I do more 'catching up' than most 'normal' people do. Anyway, it's been a while since I took the time to tap out a few words and alot has transpired in my tiny corner of the world.

Lets see... I've been riding a bunch both road and mountain, I'm feeling pretty good and getting some good solid training hours in. We have had a very, very dry winter and early spring on the front range so the trails have been rideable even in the foothills. Last weekend I got a great 4 hour ride over at Indian Creek, there were still patches of ice on the trail in spots and some places were wet but over all it was bone dry.

On Sunday I got in a long ride in Buffalo Creek which I had ridden only a small part of several years ago. There is a bunch of terrain to explore over there and I can't wait to go back.

During Sunday's ride the frame broke on my new carbon Yeti. The bike had a grand total of 138 miles on it so I'm sure that Yeti will cover it. It was very strange to keep riding the bike once I discovered the crack and realized just how bad it was but it held together and got me out without having to walk the last 10 miles so I'm grateful for that.

After a long delay and a bunch of procrastination I put the Yeti 575 back together. I had some parts issues etc but it is done now. It is essentially a new bike now... new pivot bearings, new headset, new cables & housings, rebuilt fork and shock by PUSH, new set of chain rings... rode it yesterday for an hour... freaking SWEET. Feels better than new but it is a TANK (~30#) by compairson to the Carbon Yeti which weighs 22.5#.

Speaking of the Carbon Yeti, it handles incredibly well. I can't believe how much faster and more confident I feel on it. I'll have to keep riding it to get fully settled in on it but I can say without hesitation that it is absoultely with out a doubt the finest race rig that a rider could hope for.

I'll primairly use the 575 to train on and it will make me work harder on the climbs so that the Carbon bike will be a treat during races.

So my plan is to keep riding the road bike(s) to continue building endurance, with a mix of riding the 575 and (hopefully) my new (new) Carbon Yeti. I'll try to get some good solid hill work in with the 575 since it weighs about 30# as it is currently configured...

So for hill work on the mountain bike it's Jackson Creek Road here I come... this is a dirt road that, in good conditions, will allow about an 8 mile uphill that boasts ~2,100' of verticle. The downside to JCR is that it gets a bunch of traffic once they open Rampart Range Road so I won't have much time to use this great hill for training. The other downside to this road is the pure repetitive nature of the work out. It also requires that I use fenders on the bike because sections of it are always wet this time of year. However, doing this route 4 times in a row is a respectable workout and serves its purpose.