Hellclimb/team stuff

So obviously we didn't make the first Hellclimb scheduled for 21 march due to this crappy weather we've been having. Guess the plan is to try it again on the 28th. Same time and all. Hope everybody can make it. weather's supposed to be clear and nice. Arm and leg warmer time! I love it when you start at the bottom of Lookout and heat up real bad on the climb, then need to don your arm warmers for the descent. That's when you know the season's really here.

I've made a team move so I figure I may as well post it here. I joined Team Evergreen Racing. I'll miss riding for K.O.R. but the time is right for me to do this. With the close proximity of the team and the high degree of organization, resources etc. it seems like a great thing. Plus there are already a few of the Hellclimb gang on T.E.R. so I'm hoping I'll fit in as well as I can fit in anywhere.

Hope to see everybody Tuesday.

Battle the Bear is alive and well

Bear Cross CountryLakewood, ColoradoMay 13, 2006Online Registration @ Active.comPrintable Registration (Coming soon) Printable Course Map/Description (pdf)

Hellclimbers, I was suprised to find out that although the Battle the Bear race isn't on the MSC schedule this year, they're still having it. This is sort of a double edged sword for me. Do I jump in and do this race, considering the damn weather's always hotter than Mississippi G's disc brake rotor after descending Falcon, or do I avoid the fatigue it'll cost me considering I'll be traveling to Angel Fire the next weekend. A tough question for sure. Maybe I'll jump in it on the Single like the last two years just to see how I do. Make up for last year's poor performance there. Then again, I do claim to have a very specific goal for 2006. Will I risk screwing it up? Hard to say. Only thorough thinking and Kathy Sabine's weather report a couple days before hold the answer. That race is weird for me. I remember 2004 there was a pile of dead animal carcasses next to the first 2 track that was stinking to high heaven. Jeffy and I smelled it a couple days before the race when we were out doing a course recon in the afternoon. Couldn't help but investigate where the stench was coming from. When we got over there we discovered the rotting pile of critters. It was hard to tell just what they were due to the level of decomposition, and we were shaking our heads wondering who had piled them there. Then when race day came and it was 90 degrees you could almost feel the stink as it hit your face passing by the area, and it wasn;t like you could hold your breath with the blistering pace being set on that road. Ahh the memories of races past.

Trail Report

I've been lucky enough to be pushed hard by Danaco on the oney the last two weeks. Since he got that thing he's been hammering away with it like a convict in a rock quarry. We've assaulted Matthews/Green Mtn/Hogback with them the last two Thursdays and I have to say that so far March has been treatin' us right. Last night Matthews was 100 friggin' percent. Totally dry, not one drop-o-mud on the BUSS when I got her back to the OHV (Oney Haulin' Vehicle). Cathy Johnson Trail is in primo shape, as well as the KC "pirate" trails. Mississippi G did a recon trail run up Deer Creek Park last week and says that's pretty socked in still by ice/mud/packed snow. I haven't ventured over to Chimney or Apex recently as I know damn well I shouldn't be driving my heart rate that high this time of year. I'm really tempted though, with these 60+ temps and no end in sight for the next few days. That's what Kathy Sabine says anyway. I need to be on the road controlling the old heart rate so I don't end up doing what I always do, which is peak in May then have a downturn in performance in June and early July. This is where I always think of 4father's habit of calling trail riding "candy". It certainly is sweet, and I've got a bad sweet tooth right now....... If any of you Hellclimbers have a trail report to give, post it up!!