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...)

Heck Track

SS State Championships

SS race went well this morning. I don't know where all the SSers in Utah county were (our plan to get Kenny to show up late worked perfectly) but we had 12 guys show up. Good day of shreddin some sick trail.

I just got the SS built up this week. Still getting used to the thinner Formula brake levers. They feel like they're going to break if I pull too hard. And my eccentric bottom bracket slipped a bit during the race, leaving my chain quite loose. But I got over it.