Tobacco Roots

Fun weekend in the mountains. Mulv, Katie, the dogs and I went into the heart of the Tobacco Roots for a weekend of camping and mountain biking.





Saturday we set up camp next to Boulder Creek. We were car camping so we had the Coleman double burner and whipped quesadillas. We also put back a few beers and sat around the campfire until it was time to hit the hay.





Sunday we woke up late and made breakfast burritos, got the bikes in order and filled the camelbacks. I bike from the camp spot for an extra couple of miles of climbing and met the ladies and the dogs at the trailhead. The trail to Lost Cabin Lake is 5 miles of perfect single track with an almost perfectly steady grade the entire way. Once at the lake we took a short break and then headed back down. The trail was great. You could ramp up to high speed in just a couple of pedal strokes or just let the bike go and cruise through the pines at a comfortable pace.





The dogs were worn out at the end and I had fun going really fast back down the road to the camp. With the ride finished we packed up camp and headed back to town for burgers at The Garage.





Great weekend with great rides, food, views and people.

Good Times

If you are at all sensitive to the Bush administration, potty jokes, swearing, humor, synicism and stupidity please do not follow any of these links.

Thanks,
Troy


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fNgA5xLxao (Baracky II)

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/37627e30b8 (sword fight)

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/b7a344e5be (levi johnston)

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/5468 (car salesman)

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/2720 (WF as Bush)

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/f9f476b2bb (elevator)

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/1ed3ecbc3c (bush zombies)

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/b6eeb0100c (bert and ernie)

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c6a5728047 (there will be bud)

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/3672d8ff6e (amish seth green)

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/0e7e65a11c (high five)

Cyclocross Time

Dusted off the Strong today and put on my new TRP brakes. They work perfect and I can actually undo my brakes to change wheels without undoing allen bolts. Amazing.

Also changed my position a little to better mimick the setup on my road bike. I am further forward and lower down than before. I feel much more "connected" to the front of my bike so handling should improve.

Next weekend I am going to Portland with Jenny. She is getting her Wilderness First Responder recertification during a three day course. I will have a lot of free time so I am going to go to two Cross races and a Kermesse. I will be doing the Hood River Double Cross #1 and #2. The cross season starts the weekend after in Montana so this should be a good introduction. The Kermesse should also be a good challenge. Its a 6km course at the Portland International Speedway. Half the course is fast gravel, the other half is pavement and "rough" pavement. I think that means Cross bike...

LOTOJA 2008

Game over. Mission accomplished.

Ben came out from MN to ride the LOTOJA Classic with me and four other team mates.

Before going any further it must be made clear that Ben is the hardest and most determined bike rider I know. Period. Ben lives at 900ft elevation and came out West to race at an average of 6000ft. He took his asthma and his severe knee pain and put them in his jersey pocket and grit his teeth through 206 miles to finish with us. My helmet is off to Ben for his amazing ride. Next time you see him, slap him on the back and give him props.

The ride was amazing. We started out at 6:30am and finished at 7:30pm. Our actual ride time was 10hrs 50mins. Almost 19mph average over three mountain passes for a total of 8000ft of climbing. Hit a personal speed record of 52.6mph and in the middle of that run did a full on BMX side skid at 46mph when my bike developed a severe high speed wobble. That was the single most terrifying moment of my life...

My friend Steve drove support for us and had full bottles and food waiting for us at the designated feed zones. At the end of the race we all had one tall boy Coors Light which none of us could finish because we started to feel drunk half way through the beer.

I felt great through the whole race and didn't hurt too bad the next day. I have been eating an insane amount of food the last couple of days. Have to cut back on that...

Thanks to Ben, Ryan, John, Drew and Doc for sharing the experience and I hope we do it again. And thanks to Steve for driving support and always showing up with full bottles...

In other news the road scene is over in Bozeman. Tonight was the final crit of the year and our team placed 1st, 3rd, 7th and 8th out of 15 starters. Not too shabby.

Cyclocross starts the last weekend of this month and 12 races have been posted on the calendar. 10 of those are within good driving distance so I may get my fill of cross this year.

Peace out. Troy