If you hate spiders, you might not like this post.

Yesterday I was sitting at the couch, probably updating my facebook status and being a dork. (ha) I looked outside and something big caught my attention. I leapt up and got out the back door as fast as I could. My heart was pounding as I took my camera out, got 3-4 inches away from the huge spider and web on my back porch. I finally figured out the right angle and camera setting, but I got it. I will continue to watch it. I hope to catch it in the act of wrapping up a bug.

If you want to see any of these pics up close and personal, click on the image, all sizes, then do the original size.

Hairy little bastard.

I provoked it this morning and threw a small flower in the web. It came down and I shot some more pics. Here is the best one.

I think it’s an “orb-weaver spider.” They are not poisonous and prey on mosquitoes and wasps… 2 pests who I have been the victim of many many times! I hope I get more cool pictures.

I had a pretty awful day on the bike at Winter Park. Not only were my legs powerless, but my granny gear did not work AT ALL. The first climb was longer than expected, and I definitely passed a bunch of people, but I was burning all my matches, standing up and pushing with all my might. A couple times over the course of the race, I tried to pull over and physically put the chain into the granny with my hands. It barely worked and was super loud. I have a new respect for singlespeeders…

My body was starting to take a toll for the worst, with symptoms of what happened in Laramie Enduro. My legs were throbbing with pain. I never ever quit races, mostly out of pure stubborn-ness… but I made a choice. I got to a dirt road. Turn right and go up a climb and who knows how much further to the finish, or take a left on the dirt road into town and ride easy on the bike path to the resort. I stood there for 5 minutes debating, and I chose to go left. I’m not proud of it, but I know it was the right choice. I have some very big things coming up, and digging myself a hole right before it would not be ideal. Draw a line in the sand between feeling good and not feeling good. When you are right on that line, you have to make a choice.

The reason I made a choice is because of what I have coming up.

Next weekend is a race in Park City called the Point 2 Point! I can’t wait! 75 miles, over 13,000′ of climbing, and about 90% singletrack. It’d be a really tough day if your legs felt like poo and your granny gear didn’t work so here is hoping. It’s going to be awesome.

Then I am going to Montreal for the Expo Cycle bike show for Ergon. I am very excited to go there, and to use my french! The dates of the show overlap with Vapor Trail, but I am coming back and getting home at midnight on Vapor Trail eve, leave on Saturday, and start the race at 10PM. Odds say I won’t feel too good there. Although it’s technically a “race,” I am treating it like a really really long bike ride. I will not have a racing mind-set, thereby holding no expectation. It takes 15-24 hours… so hopefully no expectation other than to see and ride some of the most epic things I ever have. I will take my camera. I will stop to take pictures. I will eat whatever crazy food is at the aide stations instead of gels and “race” food, and hell, I may even have a beer.

Vapor Trail 3D loop.

We head to Park City on Thursday. Woohoo! I gotta do some night riding this week too. Bring out the lights!

After a very sub-par day on the bike yesterday (like zone 3 was a painful experience), I reluctantly suited up and headed out on the mountain bike for my normal easy day mtb ride (Marshall Mesa). Much to my surprise, my legs felt good… like shift a couple gears down and go faster good. I decided that since I didn’t complete the workout I wanted to do yesterday, I’d do it today. I am doing an XC race on Saturday, so I may pay for it, but I don’t care. The XC is just for training! It was a beautiful morning in Boulder today. The light is starting to change. I don’t know what it is, but there is a distinct shift in light between summer and fall, and fall light is my favorite. It’s amazing.

I took a couple of photos of the FlatIrons today as usual, but with the green, wet summer we have been having, flowers and green grass are in excess! Some plants are getting past their summer prime, but not all.

The great thing about Boulder is that there are both paved and dirt paths, so I can get where I want to go on dirt!

I need to get a photo, but there is a spot by Lefthand Canyon along Hwy 36 where the sunflowers are going crazy. I’ll try to snap some shots there tomorrow.

So I got to Marshall, and there is a short hill so I decided that since zone 3/tempo felt so easy today, I’d crank it up, and that I did. I hammered it as hard as I could and got well into zone 5 for a few minutes, which was actually enjoyable. At the top of the hill, I downshifted so I could spin. I looked down at my gears thinking I was in the granny, and I had downshifted into my middle ring! “Whhhaaat? I charged that in the big ring??” That was a nice surprise… since I felt good, I did some more LT and zone 5 efforts. Gotta take it while I can!

and took the road home.

I am always very amused with shadows. One day, I’ll get an awesome shadow picture… it’s gotta happen, right?

Mojo is hard to come by when you race 75+ miles every other weekend. It takes about a week to start feeling good again, and even longer to get the snap back in your legs. Days that I have good mojo are days that I will ride with a huge smile plastered on my face. Speaking of 75 miles, the Park City Point 2 Point race is coming up next weekend. It’s brand new… 75 miles, almost ALL singletrack, and 13,000′ of climbing.

One more day at SRE and I will officially be Ergon property!!!!!

Fortunately, I am not referring to burying myself from too much training. I am referring to work… which is also unfortunate. I have NEWS! As of Monday, I will be employed by Ergon!

I am soooo excited! I have worked at SRE for the past 2 years and have been ready for a change. It’ll be perfect!!! I will be doing a number of things, but my official title is “regional sales manager.” This will include some things I have already been doing, but some new stuff too- shop visits, kliniks, working at events, racing, special programs, and general outreach. I feel very lucky.

However, as well all know, when you leave a job, they tend to drown you in work that needs to get done before you leave, so I feel like all I have been doing is working lately which is exhausting. I don’t know how you all do it! Working more than 40 hours a week is no bueno for me. I also worked all last weekend at the RMBS show in Denver. It was fun and we appreciated everyone coming up to the booth, checking out product,and saying hi! Here are a couple photos from the weekend.

I saw…

Dudes doing sweet stunts on BMX bikes.

Dudes getting their grove on – sweet boombox!

Free BEEEER from 4 local breweries.

Lots of green.

Everyone thought my bike was Dave’s bike. haha. Sorry, mine isn’t as cool (although it’s the same bike. haha)

After 4 days off the bike, I was more than delighted to head up to Nederland early yesterday morning with my friend, Eddie Clark. He even whipped out his camera and shot some cool photos with the view of James Peak in the background.

Eddie teaching me about lenses.

Not a bad day to be on a bike. Not at all….

Maybe I need some Ergon baggies for when I’m hanging loose?

Giddy up!

And magnificent green chile chicken fajita burritos. Boulder Beer actually has great beer AND a great food menu. Amen to that brotha!

Today was a demoralizing road ride. My legs felt like poo poo. All this stress turns my legs into rotten meatsticks… much like the proverbial carriage turning into a pumpkin at midnight. I am actually doing an XC race this weekend (Winter Park, want to keep it low key). I have only done 2 XC races all year, and not since June so we’ll see if I can even shift into 5th gear! It’ll be fun…. I have a crazy couple of weeks coming up.

My roommate has been trying to get me out on a bike with a motor (DIRT BIKE!) for months. He said he was selling it this week, so I thought I better get my kicks if I want to try it out.  He had an 88cc pit bike, so that’s what I used, and his huge 450cc cool dirt bike.  I have never driven a motorcycle before, so I wasn’t about to give the 450cc a try!  Next time, I’d like to ride a big, 250cc bike.

Brad rode his big 450cc bike. POWER!

Ok, caught on camera.  My first couple of seconds EVER driving a motorized bike.  It was really weird.  I almost couldn’t stop on my first go around the parking lot because I was breaking and throttling at the same time.  The little dirt bike had cable brakes too, which is weird!

It took awhile to get used to, but by the end of the ride I was doing full throttle in 3rd gear.  So fun!  That little bike is very scary going over rocks and through sand.  I think my mtb might have more suspension and I couldn’t use my legs like I can on the bike for suspension.  I think the bigger bikes would actually feel safer!  I almost crashed a few times, but was fortunately able to save it!  And I am not sure if I want to tell you how many times it would take me to kick start it. haha

Then Brad showed his mad skillz on a really steep piece of singletrack going up the side of a mountain.  This looked crazy steep to me. I was like, “You are going to ride up that and down it?” WHOA!

This was way steeper than it looked. I didn’t even know people rode dirt bikes up stuff that steep!

Brahp! brahp!  Look at those teeny tiny wheels!  I think I must have looked like a dirt biker chode in my jeans where everyone else has their kits or uniforms or whatever… haha.  Kind of like how some mtbers in kits frown upon people who mountain bike in jeans.  ha!

I also went for a bike ride yesterday around lunchtime at Betasso.  The connector trail is closed, so I had to add some extra slogging time taking the road to the trail.  I bit off a little more than I could chew yesterday… my body is still pretty tired from the 100 mile race this past Saturday, but I was able to get the HR up.  It just hurt!  I’ll be taking it easy for the weekend, perhaps go for a run, but we’ll be working at the Rocky Mountain Bicycle Show all weekend.

And… tomorrow is my birthday. 26 years old. EEEK! 30 is creeping up on me… no no no!

I am taking it easy this week, which is sometimes hard to do when you constantly hunger for singletrack. I got a little taste of the dirt last night. I met Eddie Clark (GREAT photographer!) to do some photos. I had emailed him asking him if he needed anyone to snap some photos of because I’m a ham like that, and he said he needed some pics of someone dressed as a recreation rider on some trails. It was great! We went up to Nederland around 5 or 6 PM and got some great photos. The sun was starting to wane, and the clouds made for some great sun rays.

I also brought some delightful adult beverages.

Deschutes Inversion IPA.

I did an easy road ride this AM, and it was a great morning.

Who says we don’t grow corn in Colorado? Yummm, I love corn on the cob.

Playing in the street today. I truthfully was hungry to singletrack, but recovery is key right now.

A couple days of taking it easy, and this weekend Ergon (Jeff and myself) will be working at the Rocky Mountain Bicycle Show. See you there!

Saturday was an AWESOME race on the Idaho/Wyoming (Wydaho?) side of the Tetons. The Inaugrual Pierre’s Hole 50/100. Jeff asked me if I wanted to go, and my answer was, “hell yeah I do!”

First off, Jeff and I both won our races! 1st place! Yeah!

After some coffee….

Holy cow. Watch out when Kerkove makes the coffee in the morning.

We headed to Wyoming (but actually had to drive into ID to get to Grand Targhee in WY) on Thursday.  We set up camp after 9 hours in the car.  Trust me, driving across WY on I-80 can be so numbing, so the mountains were an amazing sight!

This was my first time to NW Wyoming, and we could see the back side of the Grand Tetons from our campground, and at various points in the race.

We tried to view them from the other side by Jackson on Sunday, but it was too cloudy to see anything. Boo.

and other scenic views.

The weather was supposed to get sketchy come race day, so were were prepared for it.  The forecast called for rain, and and off all day with cooler temps.  It was in the 30s at 4:30 AM when I wrestled out of the tent… in the dark!  I downed a bagel with pb and honey, and some coffee, got dressed, and we headed to the venue.  It was still dark.

6:30AM brought us to the start.  I thought about all the Leadville racers starting at the same time.  We had to do a 3 mile start lap to “sort” the traffic out which was 800′ of climbing, and added about 20 minutes onto my overall time.  Each subsequent lap after that was about 26 miles and 4100′ of elevation gain.

Approximate stats:
108 miles
17,200′ of elevation gain
Fun and ripping fast singletrack
Good, honest pain
Hail, sleet, rain on and off (with patches of sunshine)
Lesson learned: don’t waste so much time pitting!  Be more organized.
Race Time: 10hr 40 min

I set my bin of race stuff (bottles, clothing, gel flasks, more clothing, Acid Zapper, ibuprofen, Pop Tarts, Power Bars, chicken wings…) ok. no chicken wings by the start/finish where I would stop before each lap to change out bottles, flasks, take whatever pills needed (ibuprofen was awesome), and put on or take off clothes.  I spent too much time pitting (like on the order of 3 minutes per lap).  Oops.

My approach of this race was much different than Breck 100.  First of all, I wasn’t sick which was already a huge advantage!  Second was that I treated Breck 100 more like a “ride” where I actually tried to race this one.  I admittedly went out much harder than I should have, but I wanted to experiment and see how that would play out.  I also felt pressure b/c the 1st lap was 3 miles longer with almost 1000′ more climbing than all the others and I was trying to save time.

The course ROCKED!!!!!!  Ripping fast singletrack for the first half.  I came up on a cow while rolling 20+mph.  Thank goodness for disk brakes.  I whistled at it, and it promptly moved.  Good thing too, or I might have made beef jerky out of him!  The second half of the course (see course profile a few posts back) was lots of up.  Pavement climbs, double track descending, a right through a ranch and horse corral, and a heinous climb to finish the lap.  Oh how I dreaded that last doubletrack climb each lap.

Lap 1: Awesome!  Rode hard, and felt awesome.  Being longer and more climbing, it was still my second fastest lap… so that’s an idea of how hard I went out   Including start lap: 2 hr 40 min  Weather was good.  I was sweating profusely(but wearing arm warmers, knee warmers, and a vest).  Grunt grunt.

Lap 2: Started to feel the effects of lap 1.  Backed off, but kept pushing.  Rode back and forth with the woman who won the 50 mile race. She finished about 1 minute in front of my 50 mile split. Good job! Lap time: 2:34

Lap 3: AHHHH!!  I’m tired!  I rode too hard… must back off for awhile, eat, conserve, and call it a comeback on lap 4.  It hailed…. so much you couldn’t see the brown on the trail anymore.  What?  I have to ride that climb at the end of the lap???  Crap!  I have to get off and run for 20 seconds.  I need a great-granny gear!  Oooo!  Cake! Lap time: 2:46

Lap 4: She’s back with a vengeance, but crap!  It’s raining…and sleeting!  Do I bring my gortex on the lap?  Nah… I’ll risk it.  I suffered as much as I could on this lap and came in with a lap time just over what lap 1 was.  Lap time: 2:41

(Spits are approximate, but I was trying to keep track)

Rolling through the finish.  It was really cold… everyone was wearing warm jackets and hats.

Post race… after a visit to the porta potty. I had to pee for like, 8 hours. Bib shorts = losing tons of time if I stop to pee, so I hold it.

A few shots of the course on our short pre-ride.

Right before the long, super fun downhill.

More photos can be found HERE. Enjoy!

By the time we got back to camp, it was raining… and it rained and snowed all night. We woke up to a mountain range dusted with white.

Prizes rocked!

Example:

They said for the ladies, 10.5 hours was the belt buckle cut-off, but they cut me some slack. Maybe if I hadn’t been stuffing so much food in my face at the aide station halfway through the course, I could have made up some time and the beer… they only make 100 bottles of those a year. They, being Grand Teton Brewing. I look forward to sampling.

Custom merino wool winner’s jersey!! YEAH!  I also got one day of Snow Cat skiing at the resort.  I’ll have to go back up there to take full advantage of that.  AWESOME!

We will be back next year… and you should too, or you’re missing out big time! The event was awesome, very well organized, and super fun.

Crazy sea of clouds driving back. We were just above them. I have never seen anything like this before.

Recovery is the ticket for the week… a little bit of riding, and a lot of work.  I have a job change coming up in 2 weeks…. what can it be?  Stay tuned!

I have tried a lot of different beers, so when I try something new, it’s always fun. Last night I went out with some friends for a pretty long happy hour, and I got to try 2 new beers. I’m pretty much a hop freak, but I do enjoy porters and stouts, which normally are more coffee or smoky flavored with a low hop content.

First off, I am not a beer expert, but I feel like I know a lot.  My dad has been brewing beer for the last 15+ years, and I frequent breweries a lot!  …so these are all my opinion and people seem to like to hear my opinion about beer so here we go!

So, here is what I tried: (click the images to visit brewery website)

Stone 13th Anniversary Ale

This beer actually reminded me a lot of Oskar Blues Old Chub minus the extra hops zing you get with the Stone beer.  I used to love Old Chub, and I love that Oskar Blues is such a HUGE supporter of cycling.  Big time props to them.  However, I have sort of screwed myself over with their beer and need a break.  I drank so much of it that I got sick of it!   Fail.  Anyway, about the Stone beer.

It was very cloudy in appearance, and my friend Tim pointed out that it might be unfiltered.  Hard to say… but you can’t see through it very easily.  When it first hits your lips (it’s so good!), you taste the hoppy goodness, followed by a caramel flavor which threw me off.  The finish was bitter from the hops, so my mouth was left confused.  My first couple sips of it were very enjoyable, but to be honest, but the time I finished the pint, I wasn’t about to order another one.  Perhaps my palate isn’t developed enough for this one.  It was suprising that I wasn’t a huge fan because Stone is one of my all time favorite breweries and their IPA is to die fore.  The 13th Anniversay is supposed to be super duper hoppy, but I think it’s masked by the style of the red ale used.  I think it’s a beer you SHOULD try b/c it has a lot of potential.  I think that people will have very different opinions of this one because it is very complex.  I would try it again on another day and who knows?  I may have something different to say about it.  Beer Advocate appeared to give this one an A- on average.   I’d give it more of a B to B-

Ska Brewing Decadent Imperial IPA. They play fun ska music on the website too!

I love Imperial IPAs.  Imperial, or double-hopped IPAs are extra bitter with an IBU of 60+.  IBU = International Bitterness Scale. IPAs are generally lighter in color (hence the pale part of pale ale), but they are not the same as a beer that is a pale ale.  Pale ales are normally pretty light in taste (but NOT like a Coors), and can be citrusy and sweeter.  They have some hops, but are a different breed from India Pale Ale.  I normally don’t like pales too much, but have found some that ring my bell!  IPAs have the India in it b/c the english had to add hops to their pale ales to preserve the beer while shipping it to India.  Hence IPA.  IPAs are characterstically pretty bitter and hoppy.  I truly believe it’s an acquired taste.  I HATED IPA for years!  I’d take a sip and my face would crinkle in disgust.  However, I came around about 2 years ago and now am obsessed.  You can often pick out an IPA by smell alone.  It is very distinct.

Soooo… with that little lesson, I can continue with my opinion on the Ska Decadent.  I liked this beer.  It is very easy to drink compared to a lot of IPAs.  It is a pretty even mix between IPA and pale ale with its citrusy flavor, yet hoppy character.  Most Imperials I have tried have been more biting than this, but it was still good.  I’d get this beer if I was intending to have more than 1 IPA.  If I were only having 1 IPA, this would not be my ideal choice.  Beer Advocate gave this about a B average.  I’d give it more of an A-… but I bet the “raters” are more experienced than me!

That’s it!  My ride went WAY better than expected today.  It’s the first time since I got sick at the Breck 100 that I have felt strong and snappy.  Looong car ride bright and early tomorrow.  Brrr. it’ll be so cold up there!

Tomorrow, Mr. Kerkove and I are heading to the Grand Tetons at Grand Targhee Resort for a 100 mile race. I have never been up that way before, so I’m pretty excited. There is also an intimidation factor associated with this race. It will be four 25 mile laps.

Check out the elevation profile for ONE lap!

Yep. 3900′ of elevation gain per lap.

Guess what else? Yesterday, NOAA said the HIGH temperature for Saturday is 46F. Wwwwhhhhat?

I have been keeping an eye on Dave Beyer’s blog for more course info. and a little more info.

Finishers under 9 hours win a belt buckle. For some reason, I’m not feeling too confident that I’ll be going home with a belt buckle, but you never know! My body is still not feeling strong ever since I got sick. Ho hum…

So far, it’s been a pretty mellow week on the bike. I actually went for a run on Sunday, and have since been paying for it on the bike because running makes my hip flexors super sore, and I can’t just go out and run easy!

Now it’s time for me to go for a little ride to get the blood moving, get to work, and then head up to Fort Collins to get ready for the looooong drive tomorrow. Thanks goodness for Compression Socks!

Saturday morning, Jeff, Yuki, and I got in the car early in the morning and headed towards Salida, CO to ride one of the best trails in Colorado – the Monarch Crest Trail.

The 3 hour out and back ride we did was amazing and fun! Here are some pics and videos from the day!

I love my Rotwild bikes!

Here is a sweet video Jeff made.

Topeak-Ergon at the Crest Trail (Colorado) from Jeff Kerkove on Vimeo.

If I see you, I might take your picture… and Yuki might take a picture of me taking your picture

Hey! There’s that guy that keeps taking videos!

I got some new Swiftwick socks. They are sooo awesome!! There are some soft spots on the foot part. The socks I wore Saturday were compression socks.

I usually use compressions socks for recovery and have heard of people using them during rides and runs, so I gave it a go.  It could have been a number of things, but I felt like they were making my calves cramp when I was riding.  Not for me!

We’ve landed on the moon!

12,000′ ain’t so bad!

Me and Yuki!!!

Not where’d you want to be in a thunderstorm.

My peeps! Jeff, Yuki, and moi.

Yeah! Continental Divide Trail.

It has been awhile (like years) since I forgot to unclip, fell over, and got stuck. Well, the streak is over, and at least I had someone there to point and laugh at me.

Mmmm… FRS.

Who wants a hug!?!?!?!?

I am trying to get into my off-season running regiment early, so I started that today (Sunday).

And a few more weekend pics…

I heart dark beer.

Me and my Kerkove

A few more days of taking it easy, and then I have a 100 mile race on the back side of the Tetons on deck from Saturday.  Yipee!