Today is the first crystal-clear day we’ve seen around here in ages. Suzee’s out on her bike, the boys are still asleep and I’m wondering what I should do for training to finish the week. I’m already sitting on nearly 15 hours of pretty good quality riding. If I’m not careful, I could blast right over the 20 hour week mark, which I have only done a handful of times ever. Certainly don’t need that. Highlights of the week now passing:

I’ve been the lead on our local parks and rec kids mountain biking class this summer and it’s been a hoot. This week we finished up the 6-9 year-olds but our last session got nuked by cold rain after just 15 minutes.

The six to nine year-olds and my assistant, Coop, just as it started to rain. Next week it's the ten and up crew.

It’s great fun working with kids. Gunnison is lacking a great kids MTB club. Durango and Summit County, for example, have really strong, well-established programs. We have the kids and the parents are keen, we just need someone to skipper the boat.

Then on Wednesday, I got a call that the Giant boys, Adam Craig and Carl Decker, were in town between races and needed a tour of Hartman Rocks. I met up with them and we headed out to check out our local fare. Of course, those guys can ride, no surprise there. Adam had said he was keen on about a three-hour ride and at his pace that’s almost every trail out there. Carl was concerned about the short track race coming up on Friday so he headed back to town after just a couple of trails. Adam was concerned about Worlds and World Cup Finals in September so he wanted more.

This is as close as I could get to Adam for a photo. No time to fumble around for the camera when you're just trying to keep up!

I know Adam is an amazing descender but getting to see it up close, at least the first bit of each descent, was really cool. He’d never seen any of the trails and they’re reasonably technical. He played the trails like they were the ones he knows by heart on his home turf in Bend, Oregon. Adam is one of those riders who has the vision, the mind and the skills to be in the air half the time. It’s never rough when you’re flying!

He took it easy on me and I was doing okay ’til I cracked like an old china vase. “Hey man, you got any food on ya?” I blurted out on top of Joshos trail as he waited for me. I devoured the tiny gels as fast as he poured them into my hand. I was weak as a kitten on the next climb and when I got up to him at a gate, he was digging in his pack, looking for more food for me, but I’d already eaten everything he had.

Remember in “Return of the Jedi” when C3PO got his legs torn off and Chewy had to carry him in a backpack? That’s how we had to finish the ride: we just left my bike out there and Adam stuffed me into his pack with my torn off legs sticking out, one on each side. Hey man, thanks for the ride!

This is as good as I could find.

And then yesterday, Susan was at work and I needed to get way back into Hartmans and staple a sign to a troublesome gate reminding trail users to keep it closed as cows were currently grazing in the area. We really have a solid relationship with the ranchers that hold the BLM grazing permit for that area and anything we can do to keep that intact helps. I decided to load up the boys and all of our mountain bikes and do a loop with them that would include this gate.

The towing device: a dog leash refilled with bungee cord and four zip ties. The loop is held under a finger or two so it can be dumped in an instant.

Bean’r (Dan Crean) had just finished building up one of Willow Koerber’s old team bikes that I had acquired from the RLX days and Cooper was finally big enough to ride it. A pretty sweet ride for an eleven-year old! Ben and Sam both have K2 Zed 20’s, heavy and not geared so well for climbing, but sturdy, and we headed out. I had installed the towing device left over from my long-gone days as an adventure racer but that only saw use on one section of steep trail. It will allow me to take Coop on some epics up in CB this summer.

Just a couple of diggers, only one resulting in a bit of skin loss on Benno’s lip, some fun trails and big views were the themes of the ride. Time to start working on getting the twins on 24″ wheels to tie them over for a couple of years until they are prime for Willow bikes; yeah, we have two!

Later that day, I still needed to get out for a training ride but my spark was low. Storms were all about and I had decided on a road ride where I’d head out about 10 miles in each of three different directions, turn around and come back. The road riding from Gunnison is all of the out and back variety. We do have one fully-paved loop but I think it’d be close to 200 miles. So three 20ish mile out and backs would give me the opportunity to dodge or come in from potential storms and I could get about three hours in if all went well.

Suzee joined me for the first leg, which would be east on Highway 50 to Parlin. Once in route, I remembered we were heading for one of our “dirty tadpole loops.” We have two of these fairly close and they are just short, gravel road connectors that allow us a small loop at the end of an out and back. The one we were headed for is about a four or five mile county road that connects highway 50 with Quartz Creek road. Suzee was up for it and then I started to consider combining it with the other one, Jacks Cabin Cutoff. It connects the Taylor River road with highway 135, the road to Crested Butte.

The Quartz Creek cutoff where it splits off from Highway 50. Four or five miles of really smooth dirt road.

Now I was more motivated as I had never combined them in the same ride. Sometimes that’s all you need to get fired up; just a slight variation on something familiar.

Suzee went home after that portion to make sure the boys hadn’t burned the house down or anything. We tell them that they can call us on our cell phones if the house is on fire, but that they need to get out first and do it from the neighbor’s phone.

I headed out of town north on county road 10 then 135 to the Taylor Canyon road. Weather was still all around but nothing seemed too threatening. Jacks Cabin cutoff was much rougher and filled with washboards but still great fun. I love my old ‘cross bike with the 700×32’s for this stuff. And that was that: a nice three and a half hour ride and nary a drop of rain fell near me. Now, if I can just figure out what to do today….

After a five-year rest from World Cup (or any) action, Willow's old ride is once again seeing dirt.

Looking north up the Quartz Creek valley toward the megalopolises of Ohio City and Pitkin.

The beginning of the dirt on Jacks Cabin cutoff.

The view down Jacks from the summit.

North toward Crested Butte from the summit.

Here are all the posts I’ve been meaning to write for the last several weeks….in pics.

Apr 20 The only pic I took at Sea Otter: Getting on the plane Monday am after the race.

Apr 24 Riding Josies at Hartman Rocks with the love of my life, Suzee, know to most as Susan (I only call her that if I'm mad at her which is...never!)

Same ride. Suzee further down the trail. Great day!

Apr 28 Spring still hasn't come to 8,500. Rare aspens at Hartmans.

Apr 25 My dad was visiting from Denver and we got the hoop up for the boys. Big day!

Apr 29 Spring skiing with next door neighbor, Wick, and Chris and the crew from Dynafit.

Wick, well into Plan B, with the Elk Mountains in the background.

Some of the crew working their way up the ridge to Mt Emmons.

The reward. Nice tracks down a north shot of Emmons.

May 1 Great friend and GT Partner, Jason (Woody) Stubbe, along with girlfriend Sara Gillis, happened to be traveling out of Gunnison the same day as Suzee and I. Here, Woody poses in front of a favorite haunt of ours at DIA on concourse B from our bike racing traveling days.

Ales and Trails, IMBA California fund raiser at China Camp in the Bay Area. Was that bridge made for a bike or what?

More Ales and Trails. Hearty riders on a wet day.

May 3 Knobs on the road. Ridgecrest Road on Mt Tam, that is. This is where lots of car commercials are filmed.

A common site on Tam: nectar trail complete with No Bikes sign.

I only had my MTB but it was still fun to ride these roads. It was between storms so the afternoon was dry but there were lots of clouds hanging around.

From Ridgecrest looking across the Tam watershed toward Santa Rosa.

A Trail (closed to bikes) that drops from Ridgecrest to the ocean.

A rock high on Tam toward the end of this 4 hour ride with 6500+ vert.

But not quite done yet, this next sequence is of what I think are ramshackle, cold war left overs all around the actual peaks of Tam off of East Ridgecrest.

Rusty fence surrounding this place.

The once highly fortified now just locked entrance to ????

May 4 Suzee and I were out early to beat the next storm. From Mill Valley, we climbed the ridge and descended Muir Woods road to the Coastal Highway (Highway 1). This is looking south as we headed toward Stinson Beach.

Looking north to Stinson Beach.

Stinson Beach.

Just another pretty picture high up on Tam.

After Suzee headed back to Mill Valley, I came across this crew up on Ridgecrest. Remember the bit about the car commercials?

So these guys are from a certain auto manufacturer in Japan. They had a couple of cars and a film crew and the whole deal.

And they were none too keen on me taking pictures. I was told to stop. Notice the swine flu masks as this was at the height of that scare. Another dry ride adjancent to stormy weather; another 4 hours and this time over 7000 vert on my Suunto. I can't even get close to that vert around Gunni. And speaking of Gunni, it was back to there the next day.

May 7 A bit of trail above Gunnison from the Growler Series race #2 on one fine evening.

May 10 Sunday Tuff Guy Road Ride. That's Woody on top of North Pass, one of the loneliest roads in Colorado. It makes Highway 50 feel like I-70.

From North Pass; the isolated east slope of the Cochetopa Hill country.

May 17 High noon over the Colorado River near Fruita. I was lucky enough to get to ride with Jim, Will and Chris from FRS. They were out for a few days from SoCali.

The Crew: Young Chris, Will McBurney, and Jim Murphy

Who's the photographer around here?

Jim shredding eastern Moore Fun.

May 24 The Original Growler rolls out of Gunnison!

Suzee on her way to victory in the 32-mile Half Growler.

Hartman Rocks native and eventual 2nd place finisher in the Full Growler Jeff Irwin.

Jun 8 Early AM ride at Hartmans. The camera hasn't come out for a while...

The view from the top of Joshos looking toward Crested Butte. And that brings this post to a conclusion.

2009 Original Growler

The Start! Photo by Phil Lambert

I started this little race as a fund raiser for Gunnison Trails last year but it actually has its roots in a trail running race called the Sage Burner. The organizers of that event approached me during the winter of 2008 asking if I’d be willing to take care of the details of a 50k course highlighting our backyard singletrack at the Hartman Rocks area on BLM Public Lands. Gunni Trails would be a beneficiary but even without that, I was happy to help. However, once I started to plot it out in my mind, the amount of work to get a course like this prepared for a race was daunting. So, to make it palatable, I decided we should race bikes on it, too.

Saturday June 7, 2008 was the inaugural Sage Burner and the first Original Growler would take place the next day. The course would vary just a bit and while runners might like to count their mileage in “k’s,” mountain bikers generally prefer to ride miles. I’d had an idea for a race out at Hartmans - as we locals call it - that would be 64 miles and called the Growler.

The story behind the name goes like this: I had never heard of a growler until a few years back when I was educated about it by a new friend, neighbor and avid mountain biker, also named Dave, who is no longer among us. He kept this huge bottle of beer in his fridge that he’d get filled every so often at our local watering hole, the Gunnison Brewery, with whatever brew of theirs he had a hankering for on a given day. He called it a growler.

A Growler

According to the dictionary my mom bought me before I left home for Western State College in 1982, a growler is: 1. a person or thing that growls. 2. Informal. a pitcher, pail or other container brought by a customer for beer.

The Gunnison Brewery sells them and they are 64oz brown glass bottles with the little loopy handle just below the spout. Let’s see, a bad-ass 64-mile mountain bike race with a good bit of technical singletrack called The Original Growler. Sounded pretty good to me.

Combine that with the fact that Hartmans is also the final resting place of many a mountain biker’s dog, (a good few with trails named after them, too, like Josies, Joshos and Boobies) and the Growler becomes a hauntingly fitting name for this bike race.

That first Original Growler in 2008 was super low-key as we only decided it was a go about three weeks out. Word got around MTBR and the ultra-low entry fee of $25 hooked 106 intrepid souls. Actually, you don’t have to be too intrepid; since the Growler is a two-lap race, you can choose to enter the one-lap race called the Half Growler, still an epic XC race by any standards. Since we offer the Half, people started calling the two-lap 64-mile version the Full.

The Full Growler and the Half both start at once so there can be the requisite confusion you’d expect, but we do what we can to mark the Half riders so as not to confuse. Of course, it doesn’t always work. This year, old stallion, Travis Brown, chased young stallion, Travis Scheefer, all the way around the first lap only to see Sheefdog pull up in full victory “V” as he crossed the 32-mile lap line as winner of the Half. This did give TBrown a sizable cushion on second place to ride his second lap with, though.

Travis Brown at Skull Pass Photo by Phil Lambert

Last year’s softish, dry course yielded to this year’s conditions, which were an array, from the best traction and surface possible, to just a bit wetter than you’d like. Luckily, we don’t have the clay content out there so none of that, “The bike wouldn’t roll but it was too heavy to carry,” that you can get into on some trails in Colorado.

I was the final sweep so I had a pretty good idea of what most riders went through: A little wet and muddy; Ahh, just right: a blue groove in the high desert!; Uhm…those clouds look kind of foreboding….rain…cold… now the blue groove is the wet, muddy grove; it stopped….ah! the blue groove is back! Warm again. Good times! Repeat, repeat, repeat.

The Growler is a busy course with lots of punchy little climbs and technical singletrack. Nothing is over the top hard; the entire course is “cleanable” by fit, proficient riders that know the lines. Nobody complained about not enough singletrack. Said Travis Brown after winning the overall men’s title for the second straight year in a time of 5:40:35, “The quality and amount of singletrack makes this one of the best cross country races I have done. There are very few events that can put together a 32-mile lap with so much diverse singletrack.”

Ladies overall champion, Eszter Horanyi of Boulder, who’s time was 6:50:41, seemed to agree, “It was incredibly refreshing to race on an actual mountain bike course. Every time I hit a mental or physical tough spot, a piece of singletrack would open up that very simply made me giggle. It’s hard to not enjoy yourself when you’re giggling and, generally, if I’m having fun, I’m riding fast.”

Eszter Horanyi Smooth up Skull Pass Photo by Phil Lambert

All proceeds from the Original Growler benefit the Colorado charitable organization Gunnison Trails. Gunnison Trails is focused on self-powered singletrack trails on the vast public lands around Gunnison.

The 2009 Original Growler would not have happened without the generous support of our Title Partner, Ergon. Oakley was also huge as they provided sweet watches for the winners and heaps of schwag for our hearty volunteers. PowerBar had a huge impact on both the Growler and the Sage Burner as there was no shortage of bars, gels and Endurance Beverage at aid stations around the courses. New Belgium Brewing was on hand at our after race hoedown in downtown Gunni with four barrels of recovery beverage. Also, Mavic Neutral Services, SmartWool and Kenda Tires were key supporters of the 2009 Growler.

Also,

Special thanks to the Sage Burner crew of Scott Drum, Jake Jones, Christina Buchanan and Chris Martinez and WSC. Without the Sage Burner, the Growler doesn’t even exist.

The same goes for our local BLM office and Arden Anderson and Sally Thode. Without our Hartman Rocks public lands and the support from the BLM, we have nothing.

The City of Gunnison played a major role in supporting the Growler and contributed greatly. IOOF Park, the Hartman Rocks base area, the assistance in starting the race downtown, the clerk’s office, public works, this list goes on and on. Special thanks to Ken Coleman, Dan Ampietro, John Messner, Keith Robinson and the entire police department. Gunnison County and the Colorado State Patrol were both key players, as well. CSP Captain Clark Bates and Sergeant John Ehmsen were instrumental in our use of Highway 50 as the race rolled safely out to Hartman Rocks.

Steve Mabry , Chris Hanna and Brian Riepe from Crested Butte Printers and the Mountain Flyer Magazine: These guys have been a part of Gunnison Trails and the Growler from day one and have contributed thousands of dollars of in- kind hours and materials to our organization. Nearly everything visual that is Gunnison Trails or the Growler has come out of CB Printers.

Chris, Stephen, Will, Matty and the rest of the crew at the Gunnison Country Times are also above and beyond supporters of Gunnison Trails and the Growler and pretty much everything that makes us love living in this valley.

Mary Burt lead our downtown operations and was the point person with local businesses. Mary is awesome and put in more time than anyone leading up to and through the event.

Ricky Garcia from the Tune Up once again headed up our far-flung Skull Pass Aid station with his primary crew of Clint Nichols and Joe Staub.

Cathie Pagano was thrown into the fire and executed beautifully our key Hartman Base Area operations, along with the help of her sidekick, Dan Crean. Dan also offered up the resources of Mavic, setting up neutral support services and vehicles for race support.

WSC Search and Rescue headed up by Matt Willis and his crew of Hannah Cotter , Ron Edwards and Scott Krankkala were covering the “safety bases” for us.

Other volunteer medical specialists who endured the entire day on various parts of the course and thankfully, had very little to do: Krista Powers, Erin Rogers, Colie Campbell Talbert, Matt Cotter, and Susan Calcaterra.

Our crew of course marshals who spent the entire day out in the wilds and elements of Hartman Rocks: Jefe Branham, Rory Piontkowski, Heather McDowell, Amelia Jervey, Todd Eggebraten, Jay Hunt, Bryan Wickenhauser, Drew Nelson, Marjorie Scarpella , Tom Verry, Phil Lambert, Jon Brown, Dave Kozlowski and Thornton Mount.

Our timing volunteers, Greg Morin and Ann Michel, who assisted Mitch Fedak and Tracy Rock with those important, day-long duties.

Key race day volunteers also included Heather O’Brien, John Nelson, Amber Prentiss, Steve Westbay Nikki  Randt, Carly and Dana Morgan,  Leia Morrison, Mary Jo Marvel, Kathryn Peacock, Shawna Campos, Allison MacAllister, Lisa Holland, Lane Nelson, Kate Magnus, Casey Davis,  Eric Sullivan, Bob Blackett, and Elena Oster.

Lori Alexander and the Gunnison Brewery had their handprints all over the downtown festivities, while Matt and Charlotte Burke from Sugah’s Café put on the best post-race feed of all time.

KOA Dave Taylor provided, set up and tore down the highly appreciated and well-used giant tents in the park. He also BBQ’d meat on a stick at the finish line for hungry racers, volunteers and spectators. Free showers for racers at the KOA, too.

Kudos to Lisa Cramton and Travis Underwood from The Alpineer for donating great prizes and lending a wealth of experience in race promotion,and to Bill O’Rourke and Susan Teal at Tomichi Cycles for setting up a surprise feed zone on Josie’s trail as well as donating great raffle prizes.

Seth Weiner and Chad from Sun Sports Unlimited transported racer bags to and from downtown and then were all over the course on a quad providing assistance and connectivity.

Ted Harter and Tracy Hildreth of Moncrief Ranches held off turning their cattle onto the BLM lands for a couple of extra days to accommodate the Sage Burner and the Growler. This was a huge gesture and is greatly appreciated by all.

Bruce Ost from Safeway; Dave Ochs, our MC Specialist; Mochas Coffee House; the Old Miner Steakhouse; Tee’z Me Screen Printing; The Firebrand and The Steaming Bean; Gunnison Valley Hospital EMS; Greg Brunson and Craven’s Coffee; Jean Steelman and City Market; CJ Miller and the Pioneer Society; and the crew at Pat’s Screen Printing.

Also, numerous trail users helped picked up course markings and remnants of the race. The course was completely cleaned by late Monday afternoon. If you’re out there and do find an errant sign of the Growler, please help us by picking it up and disposing of it in an appropriate manner. Toward our goal of leaving the Hartman Rocks area in better condition after the race than it was in before, additional non-race garbage was also picked up.

And if I missed you, and I’m sure I did miss a few, please let me know so I can add you to the list of those responsible for a successful 2009 Original Growler!

May 3, 2009 – Mill Valley, CA - I’ve been meaning to write this everyday for the last two weeks. And what a difference two weeks make. The weekend before last, I was in Monterey, CA for the Sea Otter Classic and it was hot, really hot, and dry. Now, at the center of the universe in Mill Valley, CA, I’m watching the rain come down in sheets, no end in sight. Susan and I came out here for the Ales and Trails fund raiser that took place yesterday at the nearby China Camp trail system. Ergon is a huge supporter of trail advocacy and supporting IMBA California here was a no brainer.  So many trails, so many trail users, so many mountain bikers and so many issues.  Trail advocacy in the Golden State is about as complex as it gets.

Even with less than ideal weather conditions - it was wet and if it wasn’t a steady rain it was a consistent mist – a hearty contingent of slicker clad mountain bikers turned out for some wet but top-shelf riding, a fantastic catered lunch, cold ones from an array of local breweries and lots of great camaraderie on the trail as well as around the venue area while loads of kids tried their skills on safe but challenging stunts set up by organizers. A Shimano Kids Race right through the lunch area was a huge hit, as well. While the turnout was dampened somewhat by the soggy conditions, the event was still a success and the trails at China Camp ride fine in the wet conditions and were no more worse for wear at day’s end.

After Ales and Trails, Susan and I headed for Fairfax, a legendary place in the history of mountain biking and the place she called home for a few years in the early 90s’. Classic road riding, trail riding at Tamrancho and primarily fireroad riding on Mt. Tam were all staples of winter training missions when I would spend some time out here way back when. We parked downtown and climbed up past the San Geronimo golf course on the Fairfax/Bolinas Road. This is a lonely, classic ribbon of pavement that connects Fairfax with the sleepy, seaside community of Bolinas on Highway 1. We ride in the chilly rain to the intersection with Ridgecrest and then turned out rigs back toward Fairfax and Siam Lotus #4, one of our all-time favorite Thai restaurants. It did not disappoint.

My training for the past week has been inconsistent and lacking for quality but I’m heading out into the rain here in the next hour or two to try to pad my hours somewhat on this, for many, the day of rest, but for others of us, just another day of getting after it.

Sage Burner Courses 2009

The Original Growler Course 2009

The turn around at the top of Elkatraz. Uncompahgre Peak is in the photo, but you have to look hard.

It’s supposed to snow; as much as foot in the high country. We take our chances and our heavy weather jackets. Suzee and I are both on MTB’s with slicks and 9 miles west of Gunnison on 50 we turn south onto a very lonely road: Colorado 149. This ribbon of pavement is the best/closest road climbing to Gunni. It’s really just two summits but since it’s an out and back, that makes 4 pretty good climbs if you drop into the Lake Fork Valley. Never getting much over 9,000 feet of elevation, these are not the classic, high-mountain passes of Colorado. But with very little traffic (we saw maybe 6 vehicles), grand views in all directions and authentic, old-school visuals of rural Western Colorado, I never tire of this ride.

A little slice of Americana, West Slope Colorado style

Suzee turns back at the top of 9-Mile Hill and I go on to the top of Elkatraz, not dropping into the Lake Fork Valley for the entire enchilada. It’s early in the season and I’m stoked my legs and lungs have gotten me this far. Nary a drop of water, frozen or otherwise, makes contact and the temps, not bad; no wind to speak of.  I’m a bit blown by the time I hit the 10 miles of flats back to Gunni and the zucchini bread Suzee made pays the price when I finally roll in. I favor the crusty end pieces and they go down pretty well with an ice-cold root beer. We’ll see if the snow actually comes.

Looking into the San Juans before the descent into Powderhorn

North Toward Carbon Peak. Can You See Wick on the Spoon?

This was one of those days when the weather starts out great, although it is Gunnison so you need to let it warm up some, and then deteriorates as the day wears on. I’m thinking I’ll make it out before noon and get a quality road ride in. Out and back, of course, the shortest true paved loop from Gunni is well over 150 miles, crossing the divide twice. But, you know the drill, it’s clouding up, I can see moisture coming in and it’s getting close to 2pm. I’ll need to stay close to town so it’s onto the Rotwild hardtail and out to the roads and trails behind the college.

This is always the first off-road riding to open up and now it’s completely dry; a bit soft on one or two north exposures but no mud. With Hartman Rocks closed for mud season, this is all we’ve got but I’m grateful to be able to get out and climb some hills, and ride some trails. There’s about 400 vertical and an assortment of riding including a pump track and some killer looking jump trails. These, however, are not for me so I am content to try to get in 2 hours simply working to rack up some vert. My hardtail feels great going up the hills and notso coming down. It’s about 55 degrees and the wind isn’t too bad for this time of year, especially when it’s at my back.

The overcast skies and various hues of brown, make for a moody, subdued palette, complimented by the gray clouds and distant snowfields, recently powdered in various intensities with a deep red dust carried in by high winds from the deserts of Utah and Arizona. In places the snow is the same color as your bike and clothes after a long ride in Moab. I love days like this. Yesterday was similar but colder. Full tights, windstopper gloves, winter shoes. Also the same, I fiddle farted around and didn’t get out until just before 2:00pm and the boys had a school program at 330pm. Knobs on the road, then. Antelope Hills road has three paved climbs for one out and back circuit and it climbs about 750 feet per. Minute for minute it’s really good and if the weather turns sketchballs you can quickly hightail if for home. Two laps, 90 minutes on the bike, 1500 vert and by 330pm I’m watching Benno do a gymnastics routine in the school auditorium.

Antelope Hills out and back repeats is as close to riding an indoor trainer as I have gotten in years. As you can see, early season for me

Look Ma, No Mud!

isn’t too digital; no heartrates, no  power taps (I don’t have one but probably would use one if I did) no structured intensity yet. Don’t get me wrong, I like some data, maybe not to the extent of some, but for now it’s all about putting the solid time in on the flats and in the hills. The power workouts, the intervals, the heart rate monitor, those will all come. But I’d trade all of that any day for the gray sky, the big stark views and the isolation of the Gunnison Valley.

Second full week on the bike, two days left and I’m knocking on the door of 10 hours. I can’t wait to get my world rocked at Sea Otter.

Looking SW Over Gunnison toward Hartman Rocks

Most of us on the Peak

The GT is over so it’s time to start riding the bike again on a regular basis. Until April 29, 2008, I hadn’t kept a regular training log since the fall of 2000. Prior to that, I have something written, training or otherwise, from just about every day since the late ’80’s (I did record a five week period in July and August of 2007 as I prepared for Leadville and racing against Floyd). But now I have full year to look back on and compare to as I work to prepare for some racing in 2009.

Like last year, I’ll be racing the Sea Otter Classic (as in next weekend, yikes!) and like last year, I’ll line up just to be pummeled into submission by, among others, guys who were in diapers when I first raced at the Sea Otter nearly 20 years ago. Then, it’s putting on The Original Growler in late May, a challenging mountain bike race here in Gunnison that benefits our trail advocacy organization, Gunnison Trails. It’s a ton of work but I get a ton of miles in, too, granted, they are start and stop miles with a backpack filled with stakes, course markers, cordless drill, stable gun, Dr. Pepper, etc. Later in July I’ll pack up the family and head for Europe and the TransAlp, which starts in Germany and then crosses the Alps from north to south by way of Austria and Italy. Eight days with my Team Topeak Ergon Partner from Austria, Alban Lakata, whom I have not met but am told is a good guy and a hammer (and not yet 30!). With multiple 10,000+ vertical days, If I can survive TransAlp, I should either be good to go for Leadville or shelled.

Where last summer I was able to train exclusively for Leadville, this summer I will train for the TransAlp and then, when I get back, circle the wagons, see how I feel and try to figure out how best to be ready for my 7th try at the Cloud City 100. I’ll have a short three weeks to come up with something.

Back to the task at hand, I notice that last year at this time I was riding about 8 hours per week in early April but we also were still getting after it on skis, too, both at the area and in the backcountry. I haven’t skied since the GT but I keep thinking I’ll get out and bag a peak or perhaps make an attempt on the rare and elusive ascent/descent of the Storm Ridge/El Mano de Chente system in the West Elk Mountains. Last week I played a bunch of hockey early in the week - we lost in the rec league championships to Fast Eddy’s Barber Shop; got a good 6 hours in on the bike and then closed down Crested Butte ski area for the season with the family.

That was a fun ski day the highlights of which included me being a jerk as I was on a mission to drag Susan and the boys up to the top of Mt. Crested Butte (the Peak), a tough little boot pack and then a steep ski down on variable snow conditions. It’s sort of a rite of passage to get to the peak on closing day and I was hell bent on making it happen earlier than later as the weather wasn’t perfect. That, and anytime kids are involved, if something doesn’t happen straightaway, the likelihood of it happening at all diminishes with each passing minute. In this situation, there were other families involved that didn’t necessarily embrace my agenda and well, you know, the whole group dynamics thing. It was made clear to me that my disdain with the direction of our ski day was about as well hidden as Cutler’s desire to continue to play football for the Denver Broncos.

Long story short, the DeMattei/Wieins clan finally did gain the summit…us and about 100 other locals who also dig being on top on the last day. The summit area is about the size of a small bedroom and there must have been 50 people packed onto it. About 50 vertical feet lower is another flatish area on the ridge and another group was here, Susan, myself and the twins included,  and we never actually summited. But our oldest at age 10, Cooper, apparently felt the need to get on the very top. He had to of pushed his way into the mass of humanity on the summit and may have never gained an outside edge to check out the view between the bodies crammed onto that tiny spot with ample exposure on all sides. When he came down I asked him how it was and he replied, “Lots of smoke, beer and f-bombs up there, Dad.” The day turned out great and I even apologized to those who I had been short with, including my lovely wife, Susan. And with that, CB is closed for the season, a week earlier than last year.

Back to training, then, I have had pretty decent riding these past few day, mainly on the road and in that 2-3 hour range, although I haven’t quite crossed the 3 hour mark yet, perhaps today. The weather has been nice but is now back to crap as I’m watching it snow as I’m typing this so maybe not. For the rest of April I’ll try to be close to what I did last year, slowly ramping up the weekly hours and intensity as the month progresses. Here’s a brief summary of my training from last April:

Week 1     Apr 1-6              8 hours on the bike; one 6 hour backcountry ski.

Week 2     Apr 7-13            8 hours on the bike; 3 times alpine skiing at CB.

Week 3     Apr 14-20          13 hours on the bike including the Sea Otter race.

Week 4     Apr 21-27          12 hours on the bike in Germany with my teammate Jeff Kerkove.

Week 5     Apr 28-May 4     2 hours on the bike. Lots of travel and trail design work (AKA hiking around in the jungle with a machete) at Las Rosadas.

Primarily, these hours on the bike were what I call JR or Just Ride. The intensity of JR depends on how I feel. Sometimes JR is easy and sometimes I’ll hammer some but it’s never timed or measured or anything digital. This period was a mix of road and mountain and a good bit of something I call “knobs on the road,” which is just that, riding my mountain bike on the road. I do try to get the vertical in as I can and had many days of 1500 to 2000 feet of climbing. A standout ride was in the Black Forest with Jeff where we rode for about 5 hours and climbed over 5000 vert. Also, I threw in a set of 20-40’s and a set of Phosphate Sprints during week 3, a prelude of things to come.

Whup, sun’s out. Time to try to bust out a few more hours on the bike.

Go outside and do something fun!

Designing Trails in Mexico May 2008

Me and Jason after staying up all night

Yesterday, my partner Jason Stubbe and I finished our sixth Elk Mountain Grand Traverse. Most people call it the Grand Traverse. We call it The Traverse or simply the GT. Whichever, it’s the nuttiest event I do and if someone told me I could only do one event each year this would be it.

The GT is a 40+ mile backcountry ski race from Crested Butte to Aspen. It happens in late March, starts at midnight and this year the winning time was just over 9 hours. You race in pairs, can’t leave your partner and have to carry a certain amount of mandatory gear (usually a 10-20lb pack depending on how carefully you choose your stuff) including, among other things, a small stove for melting snow for drinking water and a bivy to keep warm in case you get pinned down by whiteout conditions or get hurt. The sketchiest portion of the course lies in the middle between Star Pass (12,000ft +) and Taylor Pass (the same). In this zone, quitting is not an option as there is nowhere to quit to. You have to keep going. Typically done on cross-country (Nordic) skis, the latest trend has been to use lightweight Alpine Touring (AT) gear. We used AT for the first time this year and I’ll never go back to Nordic. Put it this way, yesterday I crashed twice; on Nordic gear my encounters with the ground usually number in the high teens or low twenties. Weather often plays a significant role and this event is not for the faint of heart or ill prepared.

This year it was pretty cold with a biting wind up high (I have the numb fingertips and frostbite on my face to prove it) and recent snowfall made it tough for teams to get away at the front as there wasn’t always a trail set in. We hovered around 10^th place through the darkness and then I started running out of gas about three hours before we were going to be running out of course. Luckily, Jason is a bull and with the help of a third partner, Bun G. Cord, we finished in 5^th. I was ready to just tour it in but Jason said, “No way Woodrow. We’re going to pass three teams on Richmond Ridge,” which we did, the sweetest being the pimping of our buddies, Todd and Alan, right at the line. We were on AT gear and they were using Nordic so our gear dictated the advantage we had on particular sections of the ridge. This had us playing back and forth with them for a while, but they gapped us toward the end and were ahead and out of site by a few minutes.

The Richmond Ridge finally ends at the Sundeck, which is the gondola station and restaurant at the top of the Aspen Mountain ski area. From there, it’s a 3’000+ vert descent on groomed trails to the finish line, slope side right in downtown Aspen. We knew we might catch them so we bombed down the fresh corduroy, me following, and just as we rounded Kleenex Corner with the finish line in site, we saw the tell tale physique of two guys descending the groomers on skinny skis. They were half-way between us and the finish. Now Jason’s GS turns became Super G turns as we tried to close. Then, as it seemed doable but certain to be close, those became a full-on tuck. We swooped in skier’s right, below the first gondola tower with Jason crossing the line first and Todd second. I knew I had the advantage for the third and deciding spot and was able to throw them sideways at the line and shut ‘er down in the tiny finishing area. That finish alone made it worthwhile. We’d never gotten the opportunity to race another team at the end and certainly not in that fashion.

So that was the Traverse. But in addition to being a badass event, the GT is also one of two major transitions that occur each year in my little sporting world up here in Gunnison. The GT being over signals the end of mandatory ski missions directed at training for the GT and the beginning of bike riding season. Skiing isn’t over yet, some of the raddest skiing anywhere is at CB and they’re still open for another week and have great snow. And, we’ll still get out and bag the odd peak for some morning corn, too. But for the most part, I’ll start trying to ride my bike regularly. Incidentally, while the spring transition is always the GT, the other transition is not a date on the calendar. It takes place in the fall whenever the trails become unrideable under snow (these past two years it’s been into December, which has been sweet) and bikes get put away for the winter and we dig out the skis. But today, that seems a world away. The trails are still snowy and wet so for now it’ll just be riding the road. But it won’t be long and we can get out and put the rubber to some dirt.

2009 Elk Mountain Grand Traverse

1^st Place - Mike Kloser/Jay Henry - Vail, Colorado

2^nd Place – Travis Scheefer/Ethan Passant – Gunnison and Crested Butte, Colorado

3^rd Place – Jake Jones/Pat O’Neil – Crested Butte, Colorado

4^th Place – Eric Sullivan/Bryan Wickenhauser – Gunnison, Colorado

5^th Place – Jason Stubbe/Dave Wiens – Almont and Gunnison, Colorado

The fact that Outside Magazine chose to run a piece on trails and trail advocacy in the March issue called “The Trailblazer” speaks to the popularity of trail based recreation and fitness. In not too many words, the article presented one snapshot of what has been happening in the world of trails since the inception of the mountain bike. Not that trails weren’t important before, but mountain biking, more than anything, brought trails into an entirely new realm.

This whole history has played out in the past 30 years or so and the evolution hit upon in the Outside article has been remarkable. The story of this evolution of trails on the public lands around Gunnison has played out in similar fashion in countless other places all around the globe; anywhere there were mountain bikers passionate about riding trails. Some areas, such as Colorado and Utah, are blessed with an abundance of public lands so the trail networks proliferated on these holdings. In other places, the trails flourished on private lands. Whichever, controversy and conflict followed.

Also pertinent was the population of an area and the preexistence of trails and the users of these trails prior to mountain biking, primarily walkers and equestrians. We had few (any?) user conflicts around Gunnison because there were no trails before mountain biking other than a couple of cow paths that had been ridden in by motorcycles. As the article mentions, the public lands close to Gunnison were a neglected dumping ground, the domain of range cattle, kids partying, 4×4’s and a handful of motorcyclists. Mt. Tamalpais, near San Francisco, however, was an entirely different story: a state park, miles of established trails and lots of hikers. A huge storm waiting to happen, just add mountain bikers.

These two areas might represent the extremes and certainly many places are somewhere in between. Important to me is to provide more detail about the story of our area and how it has changed for the positive since those early days. The Outside article scratches the surface but there is so much more. Similar evolution is happening in countless other areas, too.

The bottom line here in the Gunnison Valley today is that trail users, including our freeriding community, and our land managers at the BLM, the Forest Service and the Division of Wildlife, have established effective working relationships and maintain consistent and open dialogue. Do we always agree? Probably not. Have our local land managers made an effort to understand our disparate group of trail users? Absolutely. Have we as trail users been able to get our constituents to understand the perspective and the scope of what land managers must take into consideration while managing public lands? We’re working on it and making progress. More to come.