2012 in a nutshell

Last year I gave the Leadman competition a go at it, I trained hard, I felt great and learned a lot. I learned a big lesson in that any small problem can easily eliminate you from such a competition especially if you are competing with very little time margins. That lesson made me decide to shelf Leadman for a little longer and maybe keep working on my ultra-endurance mountain biking.

I really enjoy being on the bike for more hours than most people ever want to. In early January 2012 I woke up very early one morning and chatted with friends around the country as we waited for the Dirty Kanza 200 mile Gravel road event registration to open. After about 45 minutes I could see this event would be full before most people were off to work! This was my first of a few decisions for the year only this one could include rain, sleet, mud, tornadoes and a few wrong turns... Just my style of event.

I get a message from a friend, Don Daly (instigator) a few days later, "hey check this out guys , if any one of you signs up I will come ride with you!". He was talking about the first time event called the Stagecoach 400. The SC400 is a ride from Idyllwild, CA down to the Salton Sea around the Anza Borrego desert across to San Diego and back to Idyllwild. 400 miles, was this my decision maker to step away from the wonderful Leadville Race Series and commit to some different events!? Well, I jumped all over it and signed up for this unsupported, no cost, no prize bragging rights only event in April. I am now truly changing my style of riding to Ultra-Endurance.

Now my year was shaping itself, I still had about 15 days to sign up for a Leadville event since those months were still available. In doing some research on bike packing events, I remembered the CTR or Colorado Trail Race an infamously difficult event, also no prize, no support multi day. This event made some of the best cyclists suffer to no end, people I admire very much in the sport like Jeff Kerkove of Team Topeak Ergon, who in 2010 had so many problems with wet cold blistering feet that he had to withdraw. Jeff is a veteran finisher of the race and has provided me with some great insight of what I was about to commit to. These guys would pass through Leadville each year I was at the Hostel and they would ride through, some stayed, some needed bike repairs, most looked haggard but many never made it past Leadville. Hmmm CTR, is that my next event?? That's right I made the decision that unless I have major issues with these sorts of events, via the SC400, I will be riding from Denver to Durango, CO in late July to early August. This will allow me to visit friends in Leadville before and after the CTR.

That's the plan folks in a very BIG nutshell, another set of Mis-Adventures for me to enjoy. I still LOVE Leadville and the Leadville Race Series and I will return stronger than ever just not to race in 2012.

http://socalenduro.wordpress.com/stagecoach-400/

http://www.dirtykanza200.com/

http://www.climbingdreams.net/ctr/