I swear this has happened before. Kenny went on a ride and ended up in the hospital. I have a theory. Both of his major crashes this year occurred on the days of E100 events. The moral of the story?

Kenny should have been racing!

This time Kenny broke his hip. Ouch. All I can say is get better soon Kenny. And stop crashing and breaking things!

This time of year, despite the continued heat, my thoughts start to turn toward the desert. Already there is talk of winter trips to the lowlands - The White Rim, Fruita, St. George.

And with these thoughts has come the renewed focus on something that has been burning slowly in the back of mind for some time. My real job kept me from actively pursuing it, but now, with those projects wrapping up, my attention has turned again to the endurance film I want to do. The idea for the film was born out of the desert, and so, this winter should provide enough opportunity to put ideas into action.

But, as I often am doing, I am ahead of myself. September looms large and with it comes the Vapor Trail 125. 20,000 feet of high alpine dirt in the Colorado Rockies. The desert awaits, but one last visit to the high country beckons me onward...

The bikes are hanging in the garage, my riding clothes are clean and sitting quietly in the closet. Water bottles and packs, and shoes, and everything else I use on a regular basis are idle. Sometimes it takes another person to point out what should be obvious, and at the nudge of a fellow crackhead, I am enjoying some much needed rest.

While lying on the couch watching baseball I got to thinking about this season, and realized that with Old Pueblo and the Rim Ride, I had extended my "solo" season over 2 months longer than I am accustomed to. Combine that with a lot of SS training, an increase in events this summer, and external stresses...and you get a good recipe for overtraining and/or burnout.

The good news is that I am far from burned out. I know what burn out feels like, and this is not it. I simply need some rest. If this plan works, and again, thanks to that fellow crackhead, I have a specific plan leading me all the way to the end of the tunnel, then I ought to be feeling snappy and happy for the remaining events on the schedule.

So in the meantime I am watching a lot of baseball (the pennant races this year are spectacular), dialing in some new gear, and enjoying the last days of summer. In fact, summer is pretty much over, at least emotionally. My daughter is off to her first day of first grade today. August 21st and school is in session...

It's mid August. I am tired. So I am getting the physical and mental rest I need. Extra sleep, better nutrition, and more active recovery rides. I am hoping to recharge my batteries so that I can put in a good final exclamation point on the season in September and October.

I always look forward to summer, and I hate to see it go knowing that another long Utah winter approaches. However, in between the long hot days of July, and the short bitter days of January, is some of the best riding weather we see all year. September and October along the Wasatch are beautiful. The leaves start to turn, the day hikers and horseman dwindle, the temps drop, and the trails seem to magically smooth and tighten.

In the back of my mind I can feel the off-season motivation starting to creep into my conscience thought. But for now, the days are still long, still hot. And I need to rest my legs and mind...

I worked from 9 AM Thursday to 8 AM Friday. 23 Hours. I slept for 2 hours while the finished film exported. Can I count that as a solo 24 hour race? I hit my deadline by 30 minutes. Speaking of that deadline, it was supposed to be next Friday. So I was just pacing myself along, ahead of schedule. Then Thursday I learn that it has been pushed to 8 o'clock this morning. Enter turbo mode.

What a nightmare.

And in case you were wondering, a solo 24 hour bike race, is MUCH more enjoyable then an all nighter at work.

And oh, I turned 30 today. Today was also Fox's birthday.

It's 10 PM. I am still at work. Gotta love deadlines...

I've never had my picture in a cycling publication before. But this months issue of Cycling Utah features my likeness, along with the article I wrote about the E50. I also see that one of Jeff's Wasatch Classic photos is gracing the home page of Twin Six.

The Wasatch Classic...ouch is all I can say.

Three of us set out from the start of the ride at 4 AM, myself, Derrick Batley, and Jeff Kerkove. We made it all of 36 miles. We climbed 9k feet. We rode for nearly 10 hours. You read that right. 36 miles in 9+ hours.

We covered some wonderful country, and laid tread to some of Utah's finest singletrack. But the relentless nature of the climbing kept our pace slow, and eventually it just wore us out. Well, I was wiped. Jeff and Derrick looked fresh all day! As the afternoon wore on we decided it would be best to pull the plug on the ride. None of us were prepared for a 24+ hour march, and doing the whole route was going to require that kind of time. So we turned off the route at Forest Lake and made our descent (retreat?) back to civilization.

I found myself feeling quite surprised at the colossal effort and amount of time the course took. I knew it was going to be difficult, I knew it was going to be slow at times, but I was really slapped around by my own backyard. It's as if the mountains themselves knew what we were up to, and laughed at the audacity we possessed in trying to cover 140 miles in the course of one day.

By the time I was home and cleaned up, I was already looking over my maps, scheming, planning and putting into thought next years route. I got to connect some dots yesterday that previously only existed on maps. I also got to see many new possibilities out there. And we only covered 36 miles!

My camera was not working to well, I only got one photo. Luckily Jeff took dozens, and they describe the day quite well.

If there is one thing love about mountain biking, is that it continually reminds me of how small I am. Yesterday the mountains put us in our place, and reminded us who is in charge. Of course, we will be back out there, testing our legs against the ultimate opponent, that of gravity!

Look close, Jeff is in that picture!

Only thing left to do now is ride the dang thing!

Yesterday we rode the Ridge Trail. It was rainy on the way up, so Carson and Scott went home. They were were afraid of the...mud on the trail! Actually, by the time we got to the trailhead the rain had stopped and the skies had cleared. What was left was a day of near perfect trails and cool mountain air. A first glimpse of Fall? Perhaps. I have ridden these trails for years. And they never grow old.


We will pass this sign during the Wasatch Classic

A look toward Heber Valley
Timpanogos, ever photogenic