Hit the stairs for 30 intense minutes tonight. Feels good.

So, what do you guys eat? What are your favorite breakfasts, lunches, dinners? It seems like during the winter it is easy to just pack on the comfort foods. In the summer a bigplate of pasta always does the trick, but it becomes overkill in the cold months. I always enjoy a good sandwich. I Had some good ones this week, left over turkey, whole wheat bread, swiss cheese.

So divulge what you like to eat. Have any secret recipes thatyou are ready to go public with? Spill the beans, or at least bake them! I am looking for variety and you are called upon to provide it.

Anyone up for a ride on Saturday? Maybe a West Mountain or Saratoga Springs road ride? If the weather is good I will plan on it.

Pretty run of the mill day today. Work is busy, the weather is cold, and my mountain bike cries silently each day it hangs in the garage. I think the other day as I came home from the gym, I heard it say under it's breath something about how "those stairmasters will never love you in the morning."

It is days like today that make me long for the long hot days of July. Waking up before sunrise, hitting the trail while the crisp mountain air still bites at your lungs, and setting off on a 6 hour epic...yeah, those are the days that keep me coming back to the stairmaster and the weights. People think I am crazy to ride my bike for long periods of time. In truth, I'd go crazy if I didn't have the chance to do it. Once I got over the intimidation factor a long ride has, I became strangley addicted to the "thrill" of going big. Itis not a roller coaster type thrill. It is a slow drip, a high that takes all day to achieve. Even bad days are good days when you can describe the ride as epic. Going all day takes the mind and body to new places, new heights, and new beginnings. Every long ride ends with a renewed sense of accomplishment.

Yeah, the recent cold, and the snowfilled mountains have awoken a craving for a good long ride. Alas, it will have to wait. Hopefully a trip to St. George, or Moab, or both is on the horizon. I think I will try and imitate Nick Martin and Co. and head out on the Moab White Rim trail this winter. 100+ miles of pure self supported satisfaction.

Make sure and visit G-Ted's best of '05 nominated blog. Grats Guitar Ted, keep up the great write-ups!

And remember...the winter only lasts so long. Before we know the guns will be going off again, sounding the beginning to another epic filled race season. Until then, happy stairmasters!

I hit the stair master yet again today. 90 minutes up and up and up without ever getting higher. Felt good to be back in the rythm after the Holiday weekend.So now I am just enjoying some of my Grandma's homemade vegetable and barley soup. Yum.

2006 is on my mind. I have been making a mental list of the races I would like to get to next season. Of course, There is no way I will get to all of them, but some of them are:

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo
Trans Iowa V. 2.0
The E 100 series
The Norba 24 Hour Nationals
Sleepless in the Saddle
The Brian Head Epic 100
The Leadville 100
24 Hours of Soldier Hollow
24 Hours of Moab

There are others, but those are the few that stand out. These are just the endurance races. I hope to get out to 8-10 ICS XC races next year also.

I woke up sore this morning. Sore from what you ask? The annual Turkey Bowl. No worries, it was all worth it. The only pass I threw went for a TD, so I have the best QB rating pretty much ever.

We hit the Thanksgiving Point mountain bike trail today. It is a new trail, and has a total of about 100 feet of climbing over 10 miles. The 10 miles are jammed packed into about a 3 mile area. I don't think at any point during the ride Iw as more than 1/2 mile away from the car. The trail winds you trhough a few fields. You pretty much just weave your way around and around. It will be a very interesting race I think next summer. The pace is going to be insane.

11 riders showed up for the ride. Most were from Revolution, the same guys who knocked Mad Dog off the top of the overall team podium in last year's Intermountain Cup. I guess it is OK to ride with them though.... :D Thanks to Bob for organizing the ride. We had a good time, and surprisingly only took out 1 Christmas decoration. The course had some big snowmen and candy canes and other stuff set up near it, and one of the riders clipped the wire (hey, WE didn't set it up ACROSS the trail) and brought down the hapless snowman.

Most bailed after 1 lap, but I slugged out 3 on the twisty course. Honestly, the terrain doesn't change. You just go around and round in big S curves through a couple big fields. Picture a corn maze, but take away the corn and you have this course. I had planned on having the camera, but my wife took it to her aunts, so no pics. However I just saw that Bob has some at his blog. See? I told you it was flat

All in all it was a nice base ride. 3 hours, 30 miles. 1 downed light-up snowman.

Bob Saffell is putting together an after Thanksgiving Day ride. Since St. George is a no-go for me, this will be perfect. The ride will take place at (fittingly) Thanksgiving Point. Next summer there will be a new Intermountain Cup Race at this course. It is a 10 mile loop that has a total of 100 feet of elevation gain per lap. So yeah...it is not going to be known as a "climbers course". Instead it is going to be a lung bursting, eye watering, leg burning sprint. Hmmm. Sounds fun?

Anyway, the course is new, and need riders rolling over it. Friday at Noon is the time, and T-point the place. I don't know anyone that has ridden this new course yet, but dierctions can be found can be found here. Be there or be square.

It should be a good ride, nothing compared to this epic ride, but nonetheless, Friday will be epic in its own right. Yeah.

Allright, I'm out for tonight.

Same routine as usual at the gym. Upped the time on the stair master, but other than that, same old thing. Not that that is a bad thing. I enjoy the workouts, and I can feel the difference from where I am normally at around this time of year. I got my glasses today. Spent the afternoon dizzy.

Not much else. I sure do love writing about the off-season.

The day started early, and ended badly with yet another BYU loss to Utah....GRRRR... My HalosScan comments have vanished. Not sure why. Hmmm any ideas? Just post them in the comme---oh wait. Email me if you have any ideas on why HaloScan would go away for no real reason. EDIT..the comments came back. Go figure.

That is it for today. No training. No riding. That is a shame because the weather was perfect for a long day in the saddle. Ah well, you can't ride 'em all I guess.

I skipped out on the gym tonight in favor of hitting some dirt. Yep, finally got some time to get back out on the trails. The weather has been nice, not to cold, and no snow....yet. I hit up "old reliable" the trail I can always count on being close and not that boring. It is part of teh Uta County section of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. I think I ride up there more than any other place.



Anyway, it was nice to get out on the 29er again. I love the way that bike rides. Tomorrow I might be ableto sneak some gym time in, but there is a full plate of stuff to do. Starting with a 9AM screening of HP4. After that it is a run-around of other places to be and peple to see.

I was thinking about the first time I went "mountain biking." I was probably 13 or so. I took my dad's bike, a 22 inch Peugeot (he still has it), up into the foothils above our house. The bike dwarfed me. I rode around on some of the dirt roads for a few minutes, then it came time to try and go down one of them. I remember it well. I lost control of the bike and went flying into the rocks and bushes. I was unhurt, but convinced that this was not for me.

A few years later I took a spring break trip to Moab with a bunch of my friends. We were 16-17 years old. I had been to Moab before, but never ridden down there. I hadn't done any riding at all in fact, because remember, I was done witht the sport. Well we rode the Slick Rock Trail, and I was hooked. I rode a borrowed bike. There were about 15 of us. It took us like 7 hours to do the 13 mile loop. We were unprepared, and out of shape. For many of the guys on that ride, that was thier "I am done with the sport" day. For me, it was the first time I saw what mountain biking could really be. That is also the trip where we met Larry, some guy from Colorado that was easily the most "drunked up" guy I have ever seen. He wanted to play hackey sack (hey it was the mid 90s!) with us, but it was to pathetic to watch him wave his foot around trying to hit the little ball...anyway Larry is another story I guess.

I was 23 before I particiapted in my first mountain bike race. Those can also be events that weed people away from the sport. Once I got the taste of competition in my mouth it was all over. Next season will be my 6th full racing season. I guess it is fitting that my love for the sport started in the Mecca of Moab. I guess it is also fitting that my favorite event takes place there each October, in a way it is a pilgrimage back to the beginnings of my discovery of cycling.

So, where was your first time? What was it that hooked you to the sport of mountain biking? Why do we love the pain that comes from racing?

According to the stair master, I climbed 241 floors today. 4.5 miles. Whatever. When I was done I was still standing in the same place I started. I uppped the time on the stairs to 40 minutes tonight. I saw a guy on a treadmill with full camo pajamas on. I guess he wanted to rush home and hop right into bed?

I did Yoga last night. Once I got over the dude with no shirt and the spandex on my screen I was able to enjoy the workout. There are about 10 cycling specific exercises on the DVD.

Allright, not much else tonight.

I have had this DVD for a couple of years but have neglected it for a while now. I am going to crack it open and start doing the cycling specific workouts. This off-season I want to really try a variety of workouts to keep things interesting. I am looking forward to the snow falling for real, so I can hit up Sundance, Soldier Hollow, and Park City's XC ski trails.

I want to do one of these I wonder if BYU or UVSC has excersice science students who can perform these at the school labs?? Something to look into I guess. I usually do the test that my HR monitor will do, but I question how accurate it is. I think it does pretty well, but getting solid numbers would be interesting. Anyone ever done one of these tests?



I have a new link today. Check out the blog of one of Utah's fastest racers, Bob Saffell.

According to mapstats I have had visitors from Spain, Japan, Grenada, India and Australia this week. People have also visited from such exotic locations as Washington, Iowa, and Pennsylvania. Thanks for reading ( I assume you are reading?? ) and I hope you enjoy the site.

Does anyone else notice that they are the only non-bodybuilder types at the gym with shaved legs? I wonder if the real bodybuilders think I am a wannabe one of them? If that were true Ahhnold, would I really be using the leg press? Yeah.

I went to the eye doctor today to finally get to the bottom of why my right eye is always blurry. I have an astygmatism... So I placed an order for a pair of glasses. I wanted the replica Napoleon Dynamite Limited Edition frames, but alas, there were sold out. so I opted for some other pair. Have you ever had your corneas measured? Man, what a nightmare. When I get them in a week I suppose I could model them for you here on the site. I am sure you would love to see that.

I hit the stair master again this evening. I am starting to really like that thing. I think it likes me as well. It is almost a certainty that nobody is going to be on that thing. It just sits in the back of the cardio area and watches all the other people on those "eliptical" machines. Do those things even DO ANYTHING?? I tried one once. No matter what I did, I could not break a sweat. It's like you get your momentum going and then the thing just does the rest for you. I suppose they are perfect for those type of gym goers that The Soiled Chamois likes to call the "no resulters".

I took a page out of Jeff's book and have started adding gel to my oatmeal. I like it. I think I may use up all the free Honey Stingers I got from the 24 Hours of Soldier Hollow in the next few days worth of oatmeal and peanut butter and honey stinger sandwhiches. I think I may also start making the strange burrito thingy I found the recipe for in a Bicycling mag a few years back. You take a tortilla, spread vanilla yogurt over it, add peanut butter, honey and cinnamon. Roll it up and enjoy. It sounds a little off, but it tastes good.

Tiny white cold flakes started falling from the sky today. A nice Northerly has been blowing pretty strong the last few days. Maybe Winter is ready to show itself? I guess we will see. No matter, no sort of weather can prevent the annual Turkey bowl from hapenning on Thanksgiving Day. Oh..and speaking of TDay, it looks like we are headed down to St. George, or perhaps Moab, but most likely SG for a weekend of mountain riding. So if you are up for it, come and join us.

Allright, that is all for tonight.

Much of todays 3 hour, 41 mile ride felt like a wind tunnel. Or at least how I imagine a wind tunnel would feel. We fought tough headwinds most of the ride, but we were rewarded with a nice tailwind on the way back. We rode up and over Traverse Mountain. It felt really good to be back in the saddle for a serious ride. Despite my week of traveling, I felt really good, better than I thought I would actually. The weather looked to be freezing cold, but it warmed up enough that other than the wind, the conditions were pretty good for a November ride.

Up and up Traverse Mountain

We waited for like 10 minutes for the team car....finally Tim just fixed his own flat

I got home yesterday, but didn't do squat about it. No workout today either. So this week was a bust as far as training goes. I guess it's OK to have a bust week in November though. The premier went well, lots of important people showed up. 2 Senators, 4 or 5 foreign ambassodors, and lots of peole with tons of money.

Tomorrow a few of us from the Mad Dog team are planning a long ride. Possibly a full centurey, but more than likely it will be 60-80 miles. I hope the weather holds out. Next week I will turn up the cardio segment of my gym workouts a bit. And I am just going to have to bite the bullet and pull the bike into the basement and get in some real trainer time.

I want to do a stage race in 2006. The problem with that, is it is hard for me to take 2 weeks off from life. They are also really pricey. Maybe I will organize a 3 day "Trans-Wasatch" or something. There would be plenty of great route options. Anyone going to Old Pueblo in February? I may be there. Might ride on a team, or I may go solo. I need to talk to some teamates who are interested in going down.

I got my shopping done for my next 24 hour event....ok actually this is food for 150 72 hour kits that my wife is putting together at the church

I did 30 more minutes on the stair master, and another day on the weights. I had to wait for a chubby 10 year old kid to finish playing on the stair master....I was just about to go throw him in the pool when he decided the novelty of walking up stairs but not going anywhere wore off. What is a 10 year old kid doing at the gym???

Tomorrow I am on a plane to D.C. Wednesday we have a premier for our latest documentary, and Thursday I am back on a plane. Hopefulley I can get home early enough on Thursday to hit up the gym again. I will snap some photos of D.C. and perhaps post any thing interesting. Not sure how much time we have to see anything, which isn't a big deal since I have been there many times in the past.

Hope you guys all have a good week. Don't get to bored on the indoor machines. I think I am going to rig up a screen in my basement, then go out in the car and film a bunch of roads that I like to ride Triplettes de Belleville style.

I got out on a nice 2 hour road ride this morning. It was good to be on the bike, and not on the stair master. Temps were a bit chilly in the early going, but turned out to be perfect for a November ride. I did about 35 miles at an even pace. One thing I want to work on is drinking early and often while riding. I think I am probably only getting 1/2 to 3/4 the amount of fluids I need during excersize. Today I tried to drink more often, and did pretty well with it for most of the ride. This is just one step in the quest to fuel my body better during rides and races.

yep...I was on the wrong side of the tracks today...

Hit up the gym again today. I am getting the hang of the stairmaster. I was able to do nearly the whole workout while watching the TV instead of looking up at the TV and stumbling. Yeah. Anyway, the workout went well. I was sore, but loosened up and felt very good by the time I hit the weights.

There are several occasion when I feel a little silly at the gym, but none more so than when I can't figure out how to adjust a certain machine. I'm poking levers, lifting things that need to be pushed, looking under benches...man I hope nobody is looking at me. It's like when I forget where I parked, and end up wandering around the parking lot. C'mon I know you have done that! If the weather holds out for Saturday I wil get a long ride in. On the dirt would be great, but I will settle for the road as well. I just want to get some more outside time.

Allright, I am outs.

I officially began my '06 training plan. 30 mins of cardio at the gym followed up by a 6 station weight workout. I feel pretty good right now. I don't particularly like going to the gym, but it beats sitting at home watching bad TV. Working out is just not one of those things that is meant to be done indoors. Sort of like BBQing I guess. Not to worry. This winter I am planning at least 2 trips for MTB rides down in St. George, and also at least 1 Moab trip. There is also a chance that I will head to the Old Pueblo 24 hour race in February. Not sure if I will do it solo or not. There is talk of putting together a Mad Dog team. Anyway, bring on the gym, the trainer, the swimming, and when the snow flies, the XC skiing.

Some of my basic goals for 2006 include:

Keep a well organized and accurate training log.
Avoid injury and sickness with proper warm-up, recovery and planning.
Keep focused during the long winter, but also don't get so wrapped up that by March I hate the thought of training and or racing.
Ride more races.
Develop and implement a nutrition plan that works well during long events.
And as always...Have fun! That is why we did it in the first place right?

alright, that is it for now. Tomorrow if the weather is good I will spin outside. If not, then it is back in the basement on the trainer.