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.