100.6

No that's not the daytime high in Phoenix, it's too low to be that, but it was my body temperature on Sunday.
Since then I've been dealing with a non-stop cough, body aches and overall not feeling well.

Being sick + Current Gas Prices = I am not going to Park City to race nationals.
I am just not feeling well, so it would be a waste of time. Instead I am looking at a couple of options locally.
A- Race the Flagstaff-Sedona Dirty Century
B- Do the Summit Center Stage Race
C- Not race and just go camping with my wife. Probably do a little bit of MTB riding too.

Decisions, decisions....

I'll keep you posted on what I do.
If you are going to Park City, have fun and good luck at the race. I liked that course, even after the hearty hug I gave last year to one of the trees on the second downhill.

Pura Vida!

Jeff

Dedication, Heat and Climbing

Sometimes it's hard to be a cyclist in Phoenix, especially in June. That right, the time above is when I got up this morning to brew some coffee before heading out for a ride.

The plan was to ride up to the Four Peaks with a bunch of endurance mountain bikers. By 5:30 AM we were ready to roll and the temp ya just 75. There were twelve us and all but one have plans to ride an ultra endurance event in the next few months. Some are going to BC Stage Race, others to Leadville or Breckendridge and us to AMC. Much of the talk on the way up was about training plans and preparation for these events. About 45 minutes into the climb the group had fractioned into small groups. The ride was supposed to be everyone on their on, so we each settle into our own pace to the top. Trever and Mike in this picture are going to BC in two weeks. Dan, just behind them is doing Breckenridge 100 in July. They were all riding strong. I came to the front to snap some shots then drop to the back and cough my way up. I got this cough thing going on since Wednesday and today it didn't help. Mark, the last one in this group is also going to BC as well as the two girls up ahead, Heidi and Jennifer. They are all Canada bound. Mark picked up the pace and left us all behind.
Two hours and over 4500 ft of climbing later we made it to the top. The trail doesn't quite make it to the Four Peak rock formations but pretty close. On the other side of the ridge you can see Rosevelt Lake. We drop down for a little bit but turned around after losing 1000 ft of elevation. You know the Newton Law... Sometime in the future I would like to drop all the way down to the lake, as long as we have a car there to pick us up. By the time we made it back to the parking lot the temperature was over 100. You can see behind me portions of the road that we climb and later descended on today's ride.

Total bike practice time: 4 hours 30 minutes including stops.

You like my "new helmet". Well it isn't new, it's my helmet from three years ago. I left my helmet at the bike wash station after the Afton race in Minnesota last weekend.

Oh well, I was due for a new one. In the meantime this one will be protecting my melon.

Until next time, stay cool!
Pura Vida!

Jeff

More Action Shots from the Afton Avalanche

Cortesy of skinnyski.com, her are some other pictures at different locations of the trail from last weekend in Afton, Minnesota.

Over 36 Elite racers ready to take the start.
The first hill after the start. The natural selection got me into top 7. One of the few rocky sections of the course, this one was really slippery while wet.
One of the many short steep climbs.
Last downhill back to the end of the lap. Pretty cool section.

Thanks to skinnyski.com for the pictures. It's nice to have some shots from other areas of the trail and not only from the start and finish.

Jay Richards is one of the colaborators to skinnyski and he wrote a pretty cool recap of the event. I got a chance to chat with him after the race. I was impresed with how much of our conversation he remembered and added to his recap.

Jeff