I admit I am to blame here for the lack luster effort on the FT3 front of late. Rock God is calling us out from a foreign country (look out for those crazy Canadians, although Kokanee is like PBR's brother to the north!)...looks like it is time to get on it! I am feeling good, have a couple runs and a bike ride under my belt and am ready to hit it.
Ride #59
Last weeks ride actually qualifies as the first ever FT3 duathlon! Way to throw in some multisport stuff there boys! Most of my creative juices have flown out of the my body with the five gallons of sweat pouring out of me every hour. Is it hot in here or is it just me? I am going to offer up the first ever swim-bike-swim outing for tomorrow if this weather pattern doesn't change.
I am giving this weeks ride the official "ONE" count in hopes that others can join. I know there are some camping trips, softball games, DTI recovery, work commitments, etc, but I expect to see a showing for Tuesday night. There have been some questions regarding pictures from the Ironman. Seeing how I was so smoking fast, there really weren't that many photos taken by my support crew. Either that or being sick of standing in the rain and the cold, they waited inside the super nice resort in Coeur d'Alene for me to finish! Either way, and without a trip to Kona this year, I feel the need to wear the pointing hat and skin suit one more time, this will clearly give me an advantage in the swim-bike-swim event! You got to show up tomorrow night to catch the new FT3 fashion!!!!
I believe Cap'n is working on a super secret bike build...guess it is not super secret anymore seeing how I just published it to the world. Someone turned 40! There was a guys backpacking trip. I have more race details...this is all to say that the taco portion of the night should be full of mostly true stories, peppered with just the right proportions of hyperbole and machismo!
Rumor has it that this might be In-Law's last ride for a bit. I do remember him stating that a last ride record attempt was in the plans. So what'll it be In-Law, can you hold 20/10 or is the lawn going to get fertilized some more?
Xterra Call Out Ride #58 was of epic proportions and after more than a year of outings, new ground continues to be broken on the FT3 front. Cap’n, B, Councilman, In-Law and X-Teric rolled out to keep it real FT3 style. Default ride leader Cap'n took the riders down a quick drop of the Hiccup Trail. The next move was down the technical section to the spillway, across the bridge and back up to Mormon Immigrant. Then we headed down the technical horse trail toward the spillway for a viewing of a beautiful pond site and not as beautiful old dump site or shooting range. Here, it was determined that tetanus shots should be up to date prior to going on rides with default ride leader Cap’n. Barrett managed to ride all technical sections and then crash on fireroad where X-Teric showed no mercy and ran poor B over. B was up and ready to roll immediately showing blood on the arm, spot on mate. During the visit to the dump site no FT3 rules were broken, and everyone was having fun, especially Barrett. At this time we pondered whether we were in for a second edition of the feisty five outing. After making our way back to M.I. (no Lars, not IM… M.I.) via the fireroad, we were off for a standard Fleming Loop. Fleming was good, albeit a bit dusty. There was much discussion of Xterra and Matt’s amazing Ironman prowess, but always tabled for later discussion so as to avoid long delays. We went up the very dusty Redneck Rising trail, across M.I. again and down the Left Lip. The Lady Parts were good, as it always is, and X-Teric was making FT3 proud in absence of Bambi or Rock God. At the bottom there was some discussion of XTerra again and a possible post ride swim and a few HTFU call outs. The call outs were made and ride leader forced the group to ride the horse trail on the way out. Back to the boat dock we had 100% participation in a post ride swim. Although only three of the riders took part in the swim race to the bouy, it was an honorable mention to Lars’ IM and may become a summer ritual. In-Law has swimming prowess and is now an FT3 XTerra swim coach. It was weak sauce at the Knott Hole again, and the shell texture was less than ideal. B went super deep with da bomb, deeper than ever I think, double siding six tacos, and others enjoyed pepper, a classic spice. Firepit was again taken over by French people or aliens, there were screaming babies, dancing toddlers wielding horseshoes, pissing dogs and foul mouth red neck smokers. Conversation hit rock bottom like never before as councilman relayed emergency room extraction tales from a surgeon friend.
A little delirious with fatigue, but I am going to give this a shot...
First things first, its Tuesday and ride #58 is going off! Summer outings are getting a bit thin, we will see how tonight's rollout fares.
Mosquito at 5:45...Exit 54?
Race Report:
The day started on an upbeat for waking up at 3:00 am. The skies were clear and it was looking up. There was however a nasty breeze in the air. April and I got out to the race course and got breakfast rolling off at about 4:00, good timing. Got it to transition at 5:00 for bodymarking and the last minute check on my transition gear and bike. All looked good expect for the weather. Clouds were rolling in fast and the breeze turned to a good strong wind. At 7:00 for the start of the race, temps were in the upper 40's, wind was strong, but the rain was holding off. At 7:00 the gun went off and 2200 of us piled into lake Coeur d'Alene for a long swim. I rounded the the first lap in 33 minutes and was hopeful for a swim of just over an hour. The wind made swimming a bit difficult and I ended leg one in 1:10:00 a little long for the swim and bit more energy spent, but I happily took off for the bike. By this point the wind was strong and steady. In Ironman there is no drafting so wind be damned, we all had to deal with it. The bike leg was strong! The lap was broken into two very separate segments. The first was fast and flat, about 30 miles, and then there was a very hilly section of about 26 miles. I ended up passing over 200 people on the bike, moving into about 250th overall. About 10 miles into the second lap, I got passed by a bunch of riders, they were not in a pace line but there was clearly some serious drafting going on. It was very frustrating to be past but a group not really caring about the rules, oh well soldier on. I finished the bike leg in 5:34:00 maintaining an avg speed just above 20mph. I was very pleased with the bike and headed off for the marathon. I exited the transition area with about 3hrs and 10min to go to meet my goal of 10hrs and possibly a Kona slot. A 3:10 marathon is pretty fast and I saw my 10 hr goal going away pretty quickly. I was still feeling good and so I settled into a good pace and went for it. Mid way through the second lap the rain started and I was really looking forward to the end. I crossed the line with a 3:54 marathon and a 10:47 overall. Not too bad for a weekend warrior. There may not be a trip to Kona this year, but I am very pleased with my result!
Keeping FT3 Proud: So I had just past mile 25 of the marathon and was heading toward home. I knew Kona was out, but I was very happy with my time and knew I would easily break the 11hr barrier. Just at this time, I came by a house party with folks having a lot more fun than I was. Well to make a long story short, there as a female party goer standing close to the curb with a beer in hand. So I motioned toward the beer and she obliged, giving me the final energy needed to get to the finish line. The rest of the folks at the party put up a cheer like I had won the race and took some quick photos and I was on my way FT3 style.
Quick Stats: Finishing time 10:47:16 Swim 1:10:09 Bike 5:34:32 Run 3:54:43 Overall 257 Age Group 53/238
Slowest M30-34 Kona qualifier 9:34:24 (Apparently the field was fast this year, I clearly wasn't gonna make it this year)
For those of you with nothing better to do on Fathers Day except watch me suffer, here you go:
Race Starts at 7:00 PST
Live feed: Log onto www.ironmancda.com. Scroll down to Race Day coverage. I believe this link can also be found at www.ironman.com. You will use my last name in the search for athlete box. These websites have been changing with updated info as the race date approach. I am sure between the two sites, you will find the live coverage piece. You can also live stream KXLY (ABC affiliate)and pick up their coverage of the race.
"You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've give myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self satisfaction and a sense of achievement." Steve Prefontaine
Yeah, I will work on the spelling and grammatical errors. I consider the FT3 blog more of a "stream of consciousness" thing than a crafted literary work anyway.
Ride #56 was a perfect summer transition ride. The weather, or is that whether, seems not be cooperating with the change in season, but you will not find this north country transplant complaining about that. The dust is down and the trails are still super fun. We headed up the Qualifier and out to Barnes Back. We dropped down the Barnes Back climb which is fun, but I think group consensus was that the route is better hill than down. From there we rolled around the lake, bypassing the Lips and headed up the Horse Trail. After showing some progressing bike skills, noted by Rock God, I was back to my old ways with the foot taps. Maybe I am just a dancer at heart. With the trails in such nice condition, we headed part of the way up Rufus' Ridge to hook up the the fun little descent in Fleming (two m's or one, I really don't know and actually don't care, you all know what I am talking about). From there we returned to the Knot Hole via the Keep'n it Real route and rounded the ride off with a few more attempts at _______________ (Cap'n this is yours for the naming).
The little technical challenge discovered last week proved a good conclusion to the ride. I don't know about the rest of you, but the return to age 12 and watching your buddies catching sweet air on the BMX bikes was awesome. With ample yells of "Car" when necessary, most everyone (I did not attempt this mover) took a stab at the little crux. NoHandle was going at it with such intensity he was blowing the tire right off the rim. In-Law seemed to thing that his superior height off the ground would be the ticket...nope. Both Rock God and Councilman showed some early promise but were unable to cap the deal. Most everyone had at least one good crash in the attempt. We had all but given up and most were up the trail or heading to the car when Cap'n took one more shot, negotiated the gap, hit the incline with some momentum, and then oh crashed head first into the bush in a nice display of flexibility and balance managed to run off the front of the bike...But that was it sports fans, no rightful Cap'n gets that close to a goal and then fails, nope failure was not an option, the sweet sent (cent?) of victory was in the air...one last go! With a car rambling down the hill and no time for set up or pause, Cap'n hit the trail one last time. Good motion over the gap, good momentum, excellent avoidance of said bush, and a little "I think I can, I think I can", and that was it! It is an undoable obstacle no more and Cap'n drank the beers to prove it. Seeing how I would not even try this feat, Cap'n earned a well deserved, Spot on, Mate!
Going Bezerker! Ghost joined us for tacos and provided some of his own hot sauce offerings again. Cap'n and Ghost went deep into the Bezerker and well, Ghost paid the price, there appeared to be some real pain taking place across the table. NoHandle took a stab at the Bezerker and was silent for about 15 minutes, first words were, "yup, that's hot!". Watch the news tonight for an explosion that rocks South Sacramento apparently coming from the direction of a lone electrician...hope you make it through the day. I think I shorted the Knot Hole some money, even picking up the beer bet I lost to NoHandles my bill was really small...did someone get stuck with a few extra tacos? Oh well, I guess we give them some consistent business on Tuesdays!
Mt. Biking vs Golf It a no brainer in my book, give me wheels any day over a stupid club. But I will leave it up to an expert to explain why golf is so dumb!
Weekend Plans: I am riding pretty light this weekend. Any rides I need to post? Ghostrider, what is your race schedule, I will get that up so we can get a pit crew out?
Thursday night drinking events: It appears that Cap'n has a softball team firing off games starting next Thursday. Although, not playing, I do see this as a great opportunity to work on my chatter and drinking skills...MMMmmmmm Ducks in the pond! Any takers??? First game 6/18 time?????
Over the weekend I wrapped up the bulk sessions of my Ironman training. It was mostly time spent alone on the bike and running. It seems that summer has begun to sink its talons ("Do they have big talons?") into the FT3 families. A few solo efforts at the end were good to get the focus on the task at hand. Now that those workouts are done, the feet are up, so to speak, and I am living the relaxed life. Not so relaxed that I can't roll out for a FT3 weekly outing!
Last weeks renegade outing took the FT3 stock to a whole new punk rock status. No fights broke out, but the arm wrestling was close.
Not much else to report on here. Cap'n and I are still doing some detective work to figure out who the hooligans are that tagged up his wall. Ghostrider seems to be doing his fair share of family based training, rides with his wife and sister filled his weekend. NoHandle, may be here, may be in some other state, who knows. B is seeking taller and taller mountains in search of his endless winter. Bambi is off digging a whole in Mendocino County. Councilman is improving P'ville - Pollock relations, In-Law is packing his bags, Rock God is packing the fifth wheel (do I see a side trip to Coeur d'Alene in your future?), 'Fro is riding his road bike, OG is winning races in the Rockies, Spencer is spending time in his kayak (he has an update on his blog), who did I forget? Wolf! Still is yet to be seen this summer.
Mosquito @ 5:45...Exit 54? (I will have my wheel with the 18 for you)
Thanks again to all of you that joined in for some soggy long winter miles. I will be sure to let you know how it all worked out on the 21st!
Camp MBAR is officially one week in the past. My buddy Justin got a good camp report posted on his blog. Legs are still tired and stomach still feels empty, but I do think it was a quality effort that will help towards one Kona inspired output on June 21st.
Thanks to those that joined for the big effort last Sunday. If I could take that ride and route back I probably would. As the great Yogi Berra once uttered, "No one goes there anymore, its too crowded." My thoughts exactly. I don't know if I ever need to ride Wentworth Springs again, and definitely not on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I guess deep down I hope that the motorcyclist we say flying threw the air is ok, but on the surface I can't help thinking he got what was coming to him. Why is it that some have such a brazen attitude towards others and safety? Why is it that I am still really upset by this event? Why am I wearing wool socks, fleece pants, and a down jacket on June 6th? My world is really out of whack!
Monday's effort was the perfect antidote for Sunday's mayhem. We ventured off into the south county flats (yeah right, nothing is flat around here) and enjoyed empty roads and long chit chatty miles. Ironman Coeur d'Alene got its talons into my this week. Thank god school is over and I really don't need to focus on anything else right now. A nice set of training days was exactly what was in order to get the focused race ready
Riding this weekend seems to be a bit random. Maybe that is the effect of last Tuesdays utterly random FT3 outing. For those of us who missed it, well I think we missed something that only comes around every once in awhile. The stories keep pouring in and I am still kicking myself for not being there. It is a good thing you guys didn't say you were from San Fran, or baldy may have stared swinging. Anyway, back to riding, some folks might be heading to Tahoe on Sunday for a loop of the lake, Ghostrider and family are out right now running his sister through a mini Camp El Do in her own 1/2man prep, Cap'n is befriending local riders left and right and inviting them to a 7:30 roll out, who knows where NoHandle is these days, B is skiing down diminishing snow piles, and well that about covers it.
Upcoming Ride: Mid July: Date and Type of bike TBA The first annual Tour of P'ville Steeps: We are blessed with a plethora of ridiculously steep hills in the city limits of Ol' Hangtown. It's time we take these bad boys down in one fail swoop. Rictor, Big Cut, Clay, The hill by B's House, Stuff by the Hospital...these are all in the mix. In short time we will convene for a route planning event. The event will include proper hydration for the upcoming ride. Goals: Never leave the city limits, hit all major climbs and see how much vertical we pull. I still am thinking this calls for a the fixies...but that might just be crazy talk.
Why is the bike so addicting? Where does Peter live on race day? Why don't more people understand the need for a bicycle friendly environment? Why did I not get signed to a Pro team this year? Why is yard work so much less fun than biking? Have you seen my DTI, it appears I lost it last weekend?
Three Cheers! The other day I ran on the new section of bike trail, connecting Ray Lawyer to Mo Flat. Both Cap'n and Dan Bolster had a lot to do with this improvement. When juxtaposed (yes I just used juxtaposed in the blog) with the ridiculous work taking place on main street. This project jumps out as a quick and huge improvement to our local biking, walking, and family friendly scene! I am drafting a letter to formally address how much improvements like this positively impact our community. Great job getting through the old guard and getting some progressive work done Cap'n! Spot on Mate!
Upcome Rides: Sunday 6/7: Starbucks at 7:30 Tuesday 6/9: FT3 Sunday 6/21: IM CDA July 2009: Tour de P'ville Steeps
The following ride report was provided, in a joint effort, by Cap'n and Councilman. There is much to report from the last several days, but this post seemed to capture the mood pretty well, so enjoy. On a side note, I was fast asleep by 8:30 with tacos dancing in my dreams. Additionally, in line with new levels of low, I have added a link to a video at the bottom discussing the future plans from the marketing minds at DZ Nuts (the video itself would not fit)!
Ride leader (plus Molly) showed for the send-off, (although commitments made by Lars to show for the taco part were not followed though with), we do appreciate the parking lot nod and three consecutive day road ride report. Cap'n, B, Ghost, In-law and Councilman rolled out for a nice evening ride on trails anticipated to be free of dust. There was discussion of the 40% chance of rain potential but that only transpired into drops that never actually fell upon us. Many other things, much different than rain did fall upon us though. We were five but we were a feisty five. 6:45ish start due to pre-ride discussion and requisite SSFT3 hydration. We started up the horse trail behind Sly Park entrance, steered NW on a wicked steep climb. By the time we were half way up it, B decided to give it a name “I’m gonna barf,” yep, he did barf and, alas a trail was named. B is for barf.
After visiting the table grave yard, descending where Patrick lost his brake pad and back up toward Park Creek the group decided against heading in the direction of gunfire and went straight to Wedding March. At the pit stop In-Law took some creative license in attempt to determine the acronym UFK which was tagged on Cap’n’s home the night before. This was the first hint we may be headed for new conversational lows at the Knott table. We rode the wedding march and a clean shaven and svelte Barrett was clearly ready for a wedding and demonstrated so by pulling off a no-crash nose-wheelie! We descended the Rock Garden where Barrett again found his Mojo and cleared the rock garden. Maybe the clean shaven look is working for him. At the creek crossing near the campground B produced the all weather unbreakable camcorder for some sweet creek crossing footage with a fisherman observer. I would love to know what he was thinking. We then started back around the lake and took the horse trail to the upper parking lot. We climbed Rufus Rage crossed over Mormon Immigrant, and then down Hillbilly ?? where we came upon a shooting range and B offered another questionable group photo op. The gats came out and the FT3 gangsta’s showed their true colors (hint number two we were in fo’ a different type of FT3). Where was Ian? From there, we went down sweet single track to Fleming fireroad and back to 2nd dam. We went around first dam, thru fishing grounds, reverse course at Marina threw some of us for a loop but it was an intentional move to head over to far end of Patrick's trail for backdoor parking lot entry. It was there near the road that the beer challenge was made for any rider to clean the steep entry to Patrick’s Trail. The MacAskill skills were honed, but none shall pass. It was also decided that should any rider clean the section, they shall have the badge of their name on the trail. Total mileage 17, total time 2:20.
No firepit, it was swarmed by aliens or French people. Tacos were a little bland, sauce choices were deemed ‘weak sauce’ but we made good by dabbling in various four-sauce combos. The classic ‘pepper’ was even brought out, lid off and was an instant hit. Yes, the settlers know what they were doing with pepper. There was discussion of bringing our own sauces/condiments in future. There was also detailed discussion of female anatomy, biological functions, and agreement that conversation had reached new low with a specific never before asked question from in-law. B and Councilman went deep with Da Bomb (photos to prove application) and one of them suffered immensely.
Someone suggested the Pino Lodge’, and no one voiced opposition, rather the responses sounded like “please?” There we met Adam the skinhead who immediately challenged the group to an armwrestling match for beer. Lucy the Lush and her Serbian Paramilitary boyfriend were also there along with some roofing contractor, and the Councilman's estranged babysitter. Shots of Jim Beam Rye went all around, then arm wrestling challenges were followed upon. Cap'n and B proved up to the effort, easily defeating young Adam. B lost to said roofer, Cap'n to paramilitary man, B beat Cap'n and Councilman lost to everyone. Ghost decided we needed another round of shots, and opted for Tweakin Puerto Rican's. Inlaw and Councilman stepped up and capped off the night in proper fashion. B and Cap’n were enjoying their hard fought Coors Original from winning arm wrestling matches.
My buddy Justin and I just wrapped up our training sessions. Needless to say, I am well deep in the the pain and fatigue cave. None of this changes the fact that tonight is Ride #55! There are many stories to be told. If you have not yet heard of the Motorcycle crash, well it has forever changed my outlook on Wentworth Springs road.
My status for tonights ride is still up in the air, but I will be there for tacos.
