Stories to Share

I have a couple of stories I would like to share.

First off, Amazon had the Wayne's World/Wayne's World 2 double feature DVD set on sale for 11 bucks this week. Add a couple bucks for shipping and that's not a bad deal. When they arrive on May 17th, I can say my life will be just one step closer to becoming complete.

Secondly, I had a funny story to share from the bike race yesterday.
About 5 minutes into the first lap, we started catching a few of the expert 40+ers. The first few I managed to pass on the open double track sections of climbing. However, I managed to get stuck behind one for a bit of time on a longer single track climb. Now I am quite aware of proper passing etiquette (thanks to the more than helpful advice from Kendra), and am usually pretty chill about passing people. But these were the opening miles of the race and I was trying to get up the hill as fast as I could.
After a moment or two of riding behind said individual, a conversation ensued that continued something like this:

Me: Mind if I get by when you get a chance?
40+ Expert dude: Are you in my category?
Me: No
40+ Expert dude: No? (apparently he didn't believe me. Which leads to the conclusion that he obviously couldn't hear me breathing so hard my left lung was detaching itself from the parietal pleura of my chest cavity, clearly indicating I was on a single speed going up the eleventeen billion percent grade hill we were climbing)
Me: No. I'm not in your category. But you should let me by even if I was
40+ Expert dude: It's an F***ing race, dude
Me: Exactly, so if you're going to ride slow, you should let the fast people who are racing get by

I half expected him to kick me over when I did finally get by, but nothing more was said. That last comment on my part was definitely not necessary, but what kind of crap was that? I realize that it is a bike race, that strategy plays a part, and that you want to stay ahead of the competition. However, if you're climbing a hill and someone, even if they are in your category, is stuck behind you and has the balls to say something because they feel that they are that much faster than you that they need to get by, then have the sportsmanship to let them by if you can.

Ok, that was more of a rant than a story.

Feel free to come over this week to watch some Wayne's World and eat some steak.

Party on Phil

I've spent the last 8 years trying to figure out what I want. To be honest, I have no idea. I've come to a few conclusions as to things I would like to be a part of my life, but in all reality, I have no clue. I've been given an idea or two as to what I SHOULD be pursuing at the moment:
But lets be frank, who am I going to dupe into marrying me?
So I ride bikes.

But I digress.

The point of this little post was to comment on Phil. I have no idea who Phil is, what he does, or where he lives. But I do know he is magic. For you see, Phil has a world. Known simply as Phil's World. Phil somehow produced a miracle when he built Phil's world. Check it out here:

Phil's World is a mountain bike trail in Cortez, CO. Granted it is not perfect (ask any solo rider this weekend how their bum bum is feeling and they may confess that the trail has its bumpy parts) but its about as close as you can get.
Its like he got into my brain, figured out EXACTLY what I wanted, and made it a reality. Its that simple. Now if I could just get Phil to work on building my life for me.

Greatest Honor of My Life

I've had a lot of good things happen to me in my life. Some of them I've worked for, some of them I've just gotten lucky, and some of them I've worked really really hard for. However, the highest honor I have ever received in my life came in an unlikely form this week.

Check it out here:

I wasn't sure how to respond. At first I was just going to make a witty comment about how the only way to beat Ted was to hire a cute girl to shmooze on him and cut his hair while he was passed out after one of his epic rides (yes that was a bible reference), or putting ex-lax in his Carbo Rocket (which after dealing with the GI issues I've dealt with probably wouldn't even slow me down that much) or something along those lines.

But then I realized I was whole heartedly honored by that blog post. I've never been so flattered in my life. Not even receiving the ever so prestigious Rogers High School class of 2000 "Sports Person of the Year" award can compare to this. To have someone I respect and look up to go through the time and energy to put a circle with a cross through it on a picture of me as motivation is about as flattering as it gets.

I think its finally a sign that I've made it in the cycling world. I can retire for real now.

And so, Rick, with the rest of the season ahead of us, its on. Maybe Kenny and Dan Z. will even start showing up to dance.

Just watch out for Ted Ferguson on his Sir9. You might think he's fast. But "yeah, well that's your opinion"

Winter/Spring Update

Well, its that time again. Its been a month or two, so it must be time to update the blog. Especially after getting called out by The KC Holley for not updating it.

First off, the retirement thing didn't last too long. I figured that between trying to get into a PhD program and dating a girl I wouldn't have time to train or race. So I retired. Well I didn't get into any grad schools and the girl turned out to be crazy (yes, she dumped me). So here I am. Right back where I started. Right where I've been the last 3 years of my life. In school. No direction. In love with riding bikes.

Apparently the 2 months off the bike didn't hurt too much. I came off last winter with well over 200 hours of base mileage ride time, but don't feel a whole lot slower this spring with a whopping total of 85 miles over the entire month of January. We'll see how this plays out once the later season endurance races start. I had relented to the fact that I would more than likely only be able to ride the Breck 68 this year, foregoing the more manly and much more expensive Breck 100 option. However, after becoming single and not getting into grad school this time around I found some extra time. And thanks to TurboTax for optimizing my return, I found some extra cash.

So back in the saddle it is.

I've been digging on the single speed lately. Mostly because my geared bike started crapping out on me, and I didn't feel like dishing out the monster cash to replace all my XX parts. So I went back to my roots and started riding the SIR9. Not a bad bike. Not bad at all. Granted even with a rigid fork it weighs as much as my front suspensioned Air9...but hey, weight isn't everything. And the best part is that single speed races are only an hour long. So nothing really even matters anyway. I mean if B. Tolbert can ride a full suspension single speed anything goes, right?


Well, back to "working on the thesis". I'll post some race updates soon enough.

Cactus, Sand, Pump Tracks and Retirement

You can tell I am attempting to work on my thesis again, because I am posting blogs instead of actually working on it.

Either way, we went down to Phoenix this weekend. I know, great way to show how committed I am to finishing school, taking off every weekend to go ride somewhere warm. It was St. George last week and now Phoenix.

The weather was perfect. I rode in shorts and a jersey Friday and Saturday. 70 degrees in December isn't too bad. I think I may have to look into finding a job down there if I ever finish school. If.

We did the Dawn to Dusk race. Killer Hiller, Captain Nails, and I did a 3 maned 4 man team. We had a really good time and I think I can speak for us all by saying it felt good to blow the pipes out and do a little racing around some cacti.

The sandy course made for some fun cornering. It was never as bad as the 24 hours of moab course as there was always a good line through the hard pack, but you could get a little squirrelly on the corners if you wanted.

After the race Kyle took me over to the pump track. I think pump tracks are a lot more fun not after 4 hours of cross country racing. But that's just my own humble opinion.

Mark and me at the transition

Oh, and I retired this weekend. I no longer race bikes. My name will just be Dan for a while. Like all high profile athletes, I will one day come out of retirement, and maybe even be better when I do. But for now, I have decided that I am unable to fully focus my attention on more that one thing at a time.

And unfortunately for my dream of one day being the fastest Wednesday Night Worlds Racer in Utah county....that one thing won't be racing bikes for a while.

I really have to finish this stupid thesis. I mean yeah, a lot of guys do go to college for 8 years....but they end up being doctors or something.

Maybe I'll take up yoga....

Where'd (insert season here) Go?

Where'd the summer go?

I guess I ask myself that every winter. It seems like last winter just barely got over, the trails are just barely opening up, the days are finally getting longer, and there is nothing to do but shred dirty mountain bike trails all day long, just in time to stare at the snowline, plummeting down the Wasatch all over again.



I guess this must be some kind of life theme. It seems like every stage of life has barely started by the time its over and time to move on to the next. I can remember the day I thought "where'd high school go?", then "where'd my mission trip for my church go?" and even "where'd my hellish summer job of installing fiberglass insulation go?"

For everything there is a season.

And I guess the best way to live life is to milk every season for all its worth. Which is why I've been stuck in limbo the last 4 years. I've been milking every last drop I can out of grad school.

However, I think the time has finally come to move on. To enter a new season. Whether it is a better or worse season matters little, only that it will be the new season, and one to enjoy in its own way.

I just hope it involves me having my own garage. No 28 year old man should be without his own garage. Its killing me.

Frog Hollow

Raced Frog Hollow last week. That was a total blast. Definitely one of the more enjoyable times I've had racing bikes. Granted my throat swelled up, my legs felt like they wanted to disown me, and my bum bum caught fire, but those aren't the things I remember.

What I remember most was hanging out with some of the people that mean the most to me in this world. Captain Nails, Papa Jo, Big Air Lar', you guys made this one of the best weekends I've ever had. And a special thanks to Shae and Lisa, for making us tasty food. And more especially for putting up with Apuro's GI tract on Little Debbie Snacky Cakes.



(Oh, and a special note to KC: Nice work. Maybe I was just jealous that I didn't beat the next place team by 10 laps...)