Finger Lakes

I fiddled around and could never get my video to upload. 2 things I hate about You Tube. It degrades the video and you have to use their music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa8xdI3307s

Anway, Mike and I went to Fingers Lakes after work and played around a little. It turned into a night ride by the end of the day.

Beloit Hunt

There is nothing like heading back to Kansas to meet up with good friends and do a little pheasant hunting. Thanks to Dale, Kathy, Jason, Matt and Mitch for all the hospitality and good times!

The weather was good, the beer was cold and the food was tastey. We saw a good number of pheasants and quite a few quail. I can't wait until we can do it again!

For Your Viewing Plesure

Where to begin?

Ok, I have been slacking so I am going to post a mural of memories to get this thing caught up.

Flint Hills Death ride in July was so perfect. 85 miles of gravel on a mountain bike is a test. But between My IT Band flaring up around mile 40 and LR's double leg cramps, I thought we would never make it across the finish line. We did end up making it, but getting old sure does suck. I am still waiting on my jersey.

Tall Oak Challenge (6 hour endurance race Solo 2 and 3 man teams) was a blast. It was fun to see " The Beast" in action every other hour pounding it out on the trail while I was kick'in back with Dr. J soaking up some carbs. LR and I were team Ibis. I was nominated for the Le Mans start, which I was ok with. I got into line with a good group that rode as well and poorly as I do. We stayed together for most the lap until the last 1/4 mile where I flatted. Since I was so close, I just stuck it out and limped in. Lap number 5, I felt strong and was flying because we had been battling against 2 other teams and I was determined to finish ahead them. I got a good lead going into the first half. I put all that I had into it, then as my mind was in a fog and I was climbing up a steep section I tried to shift up one too many times and forced my chain over the rear cassette wedging it between the hub flange and the largest cog. I could not get it out. I pulled and pulled and then gave way to realizing I was going to have to remove my chain. Unlucky for me the master link was the in the portion of the chain that was pinched behind the cog. Now my bike was upside down and I was getting desperate. I draped part of the chain on the cog, pulled like hell and put some muscle on the crank and bam, the chain came free. I got passed by one of the guys I had passed earlier. I rocked it hard and ended up catching him and passing him before hitting the grass field. He was done and just casually riding the last lap. Lucky for me. Now for my proudest moment... I saw in the distance another rider and focused on catching up. Once I got close I realized it was a girl on a single speed riding the 6 hour solo, but I showed no mercy and passed her and never looked back. We finished 6 laps as a duo and minus my mechanicals, I think we had a chance at 7, but we were content with our 6 laps. The Beast had bested us solo, something that was not easy to swallow, but I did:

1) Finish the race before him
2) And never got lapped by him
3) Beat a girl

Nothing else matters! That's my story and I am sticking to it:)

Mo Bike Fed Century was a tune up ride for the Berryman Epic. I figured if I could do a 100 on the rode, then 50 on the trail would be easy. Actually, I set out to just ride 65 but when Evenslower and I had to make the final choice between the 2, we took the 100 mile turn on the course. That was probably my biggest mistake of the year. About mile 50 something, my IT Band started flaring up again. It really began to hamper me and I really thought about calling for a SAG Wagon. Evenslower had some Advil and that really helped. Even though I struggled in the middle I finished strong. It left me with 7 days to try and rehab my injury. I iced, stretched and prayed every day.

Berryman Epic broke me physically and mentally. I am still recovering even a month afterwards. But what a good time. Good friends, beautiful weather and sweet single track. Notice I did not say fast and flowy. Sections of the trail were very wet and muddy which sucked the life out of me. 55 miles , 6000 feet of climbing and 8 hours 55 minutes later it was over. LR and I struggled on this one. My IT Band was hurting after about 15 miles in and it must have been contagious as my other knee began to hurt after about mile 20. LR was in serious pain and like at the Death Ride, I began to think we would not finish. I only had one goal going into the day and that was to beat my nemesis "Daisy". But on the gravel before hitting the highway, LR and I stopped to refuel and Daisy and Clink passed us. By the time we hit the Berryman camp site for the second time, Daisy was heading out. I grabbed some Halloween candy and some Perpetuem and headed out. LR was really beginning to struggle and I had to make a hard choice, hang back and finish with him or try and make up the time and catch Daisy. Sorry LR.

I knew I could not beat Daisy on the climbs, so I really let it out on the down hills. They do not call me Heavy D for nothing! I finally caught her, but I was tapped and then some, yet I pushed on. She would pass me on the climbs and I would pass her back on the descents. We yo-yo'd like that for quite a while. We stopped together at the last SAG. Then it was time to go. As I discovered, there was not much downhill left. During the last climb up to the gravel road, I knew I was in trouble. Fatigued and hurting I dismounted and walked the climb. I kept looking back to see if Daisy has started the climb. When I got about half way up, she turned the corner and began the climb. I told myself I would wait until she caught me, then rested, I would hop on and follow her to the finish. She blew by me and I never saw her again until the I made it to the beer truck....ha-ha. With 5 miles left she finished 20 minutes or more ahead of me.

She is a worthy adversary! Maybe next year!!!

LR did make the finish line and took the coveted Lanterne Rouge award, winning him his new nickname "LR".


I am still trying to get my knees right. I hope I can figure it out before I have to start seriously training for Hills of Hell.

State Championship

Rhett's Run

With my wrists being hurt, I decided to take a break from riding and try and heal a bit. But after losing my will power to a Thursday night ride at Cosmo Park, I was easily talked into signing up for the Midwest Fat Tire Series State Championships featuring Rhett's Run in good ole Columbia, MO.

The morning started out with Thunderstorms and lightening passing through until about 10 am. The course was wet and muddy. I was much slower than I was on Thursday, but i still managed to sqeak out a 3rd place finish in the Beginner - Over the Hill category. I rode to my potential so that was all that mattered.

I finished as muddy as my bike...now that's fun!!!!

Evenslower and the Beast rode as well and I got a few video clips of the "Pit" girls doing their thing.

Better than Expected

We rolled into Fruita on a Monday evening with just enough time to drop our things off at the hotel and sneak in a quick ride before dark along 18 Road. Once we got there we decided we would do Joe's Ridge. The single track had us climbing right off the bat. My legs really did not want to respond after the long car ride, but the excitement of being in this wonderful part of the country overshadowed any physical discomfort I was feeling.







A wrong turn or 2 later we found ourselves not on Joe's Ridge but on Zippedee, the expert trail. No problem, we can do this. Pretty much the entire trail was set up as a knife with sharp drop offs on both sides of the trail. Here is a picture to better describe it.






We all stopped before a rather steep descent with a rather steep ascent right after. I asked what do we do now? Cole said, just point her downhill and go. I did. Instantly I went for zero to 21.9 miles an hour, a second later I hit the transition and carried that speed up the other side. I could see a part of the trail maybe a 100 yards away, so I thought the trail over this hill went straight. I could not have been more wrong, it jogged to the left. As I crested the hill with more speed than I should have, I had a split second decision. Do I try and hold it together and ride my bike off the knife and plummet down the side of the mountain or should I ditch the bike and try to grab onto Mother Earth and remain on the knife. I chose option #2. As my tires landed into the overly soft dirt, I grabbed a handful of front brake, let the bike dig in beneath me and did my best impression of Superman or was it Super Idiot? Anyways, I would typically attempt to roll with the fall, however that would have me cascading 200 feet down a steep hill. I used the 3 prong attack and jammed both hands and my head into the ground for traction. Poof!!! All Cole and Jason could see was a cloud of dirt and my bike sailing through the air. It took a few minutes for me to recover. I have had wrist problems all year and now both of them hurt equally bad.



Needless to say, the "women" I came with walked their bikes down and up the hill and came to see if I was OK. I said you're not going to try that??? They laughed. Getting back on my bike and feeling the all too familiar pain in my wrist and the crick in my neck had me concerned if I would be able to ride the next day.



After an evening of food, beer and ice, I awoke relieved knowing I did not need a halo and 2 casts.



We drove to Moab that morning to ride some trails there. We chose Amasa Back. It is a sweet out and back single track just outside Moab. I can say, this is the most fun I have had working through a trail. We took our time, enjoyed the view and chatted about the awesomeness of this area. Once we made it to the top, the view was just amazing. You could see for miles down into the valley below. The trail was made up of deep sand, baby heads, dirt and slick rock. It made for interesting and challenging riding. The descent was just as much fun as the climb up.


You can check out photos from the links below:


http://www.pbase.com/dondo576/cole__moab
http://www.pbase.com/dondo576/donovan_moab
http://www.pbase.com/dondo576/jason_moab

It was the craziest thing seeing the homes that people had built in the side of a rock cliff as we left the trail head. I could not blame them and it made me appreciate the things I have in life.

**ADD VIDEO HERE**

We headed over to Slick Rock. The winds were picking up and blowing about 25 miles an hour when we arrived. Slick Rock is a 12.7 mile loop so we were figuring on 2 hours to ride it. The sign we read at the trail head made us reconsider.

We ended up doing the practice loop to make sure we were not in over our heads. After riding the practice loop, I could not figure out why they call it slick rock. My tires stuck like glue and I and sure if I had fallen, my skin would have too!

Where Do I Start?

We have ridden in Fruita and Moab over the last 3 days. I will post more when I get back from the Kokopelli ride. I will leave you with some photos until then.

T Minus - One Week

6 months and 800 miles of training (mostly winter miles) later and there is only one week to go before my epic ride. Part of me feels ready and another part thinks I need another year of miles under my belt. I have been diligent in my training, so live or die, I will be comforted that I came prepared.

First, I travel to Colorado/Utah for a little mountain biking with friends for a couple of days. We have talked about doing Amasa Back, Joe's Ridge, Zippity Doo Da and maybe Baby Steps. It's a vacation, so I will just go with the flow and throw the whole schedule thing out the window.

After putzing around for a few days, Cole and I will head out for a 3 day ride on the Kokopelli Trail that will cover 150 miles and 18,000 feet of elevation gain from Fruita, Colorado to Moab, Utah.

I spent part of my weekend getting things organized and cleaning "the bike" in preparation.

A new cassette and a bash guard finishes off the bike bling just in time for the epic ride...

Race Day...continued

One of my peers told me, if nothing else, I had to visit a place called Meers while I was in Lawton. So after our practice ride, we decided to go find this place. A couple of guys that worked at the hotel knew where the place was.

"Just go this way for 13 miles. You can't miss it!" one of the guys told us.

Another guy piped in with a thick Okie from Muskogee drawl, "They have boogers as big as my head...and I have a BIG head!"

Ok we were sold. Did you know a GPS does not do you any good if you can not spell the name of the place you want to go...Mirrors, nothing...Miers, nothing....Meirs, nothing. Good thing we had a 3G signal and an IPhone...Google----> Lawton, OK best burgers in the world http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=lawton%2C+ok+best+burgers+in+the+world&aq=f&oq=

This place is in the middle of nowhere, with dilapidated buildings all around you, but you know what? These are the best F'ing burgers in the world, no kidding.

This place was amazing, they made their own unfiltered wheat beer, homemade ice cream and a burger...you guessed it, the size of my head...and I have a big head!!!

The race was a blast. It was only half the distance as advertised, but I got to see some pretty wild things along the way. First off all 200+ riders were gathered for a mass start. As people fought to get to the group that was riding their speed, the first climb began. In true Heavy D fashion, I stuck to the back tire of the girl that was in front of me and started climbing. At one point, my back wheel kicked out on some loose rock and I took a rider out behind me (Sorry Cole) but I stayed up and kept pedaling. We went down a short hill and then started the mother of all climbs. My goal was to get half way up it, maybe even three quarters if I felt sassy. I fell way short when the girl I was behind wiped out and I had to stop. The hill was so steep, I could not get back on and pedal, so I walked and walked and walked.

Once at the top, there was a a fast downhill with several little drops. I let her all out and was flying, when I saw a downed rider, dammit another girl was ahead of me!!! She was lying in the middle of the trail on her back and looking dazed. Her bike was another 10 feet down the hill, so I knew she had fell hard. That was the least of her worries as about 150 people were cresting the hill and plowing towards her. I managed to veer left and get around her and a did not dare to look back as I had a feeling it would get ugly.

I saw several riders frantically fixing flats as I trudged on, concentrating on breathing as I tried to find a rhythm. Riders ahead of me kept jumping off their bikers to get through tough technical parts, creating a log jam. I just passed who I could and kept aiming for the next rear tire and hanging on until I could pass again.

I was following a rider that was pulling me along just outside my own comfort level. This was good as I knew it was a short race and I was going to have to suffer if I wanted to make a good showing. After about 10 minutes we began another short climb and all of a sudden the guy in front of me pedaled his crank right off the bottom bracket. It was still clipped into his shoe, just dangling there. I heard him say WTF as I passed him.

Most of the racers were really courteous and encouraged you to push harder as you passed them. I wound up falling behind 2 numb nuts who could not climb, but would not let me pass, forcing me off my bike. It took a bit of time to get around them as we were on a very technical part of the trial. I had to bomb down a hill just outside my ability to really control what was happening just to get around them. I looked down and my knuckles were white from the death grip I had on the handle bars. I told myself to relax and find a good pace just short of death the rest of the way in.

At one point I heard a couple kids sitting on a rock yell, your number 67 keeping going!. That is just what I did. As I came down the last hill back to the 1/4 mile stretch of pavement to the finish line, I set my sites on a rider about 300 yards ahead of me and hammered on the pedals. I did not catch him, but ended up only 2 seconds behind him.

I did not realize it until after they overall was posted, but there was a rider on my six trying to take me at the same time. He finished 1 second behind me.

I ended up taking 57th overall, getting beat by a girl by several minutes and loving every second of it. We met some guys from Tulsa that rode the whole thing on single speeds and finished 23rd to 29th ahead of us. Pretty amazing!!!

The Tulsa Boys

Cole Jason and I

Oh, I finished 14th in my class. I have room to improve:)

Race Day

Well the Hills of Hell cometh and goeth, but the memories will remain. Cole, Jason and I met early Saturday morning and drove to Lawton, OK.



Seeing the mountains in the distance always makes me feel like I am entering a different world. You have to remember I am born and raised in Kansas, so seeing anything but a flat piece of farmland is exciting.

We went for a pre-ride to scope out the track. On the first climb, Cole and I realized we needed more meat on our tires. The Larson TT's we were running could not bite the loose rocky soil on the steep climb. We dealt with it, but knew we had to make some changes once we got back to the hotel.

The ride was pretty awesome. we were surrounded by granite rock and in typical Heavy D fashioin I excuted yet another flawless turtle back maneuver. Jason had not had an opportunity see it up close and personal. I think he was impressed.

If you do not know what that is, I do not blame you. It is my signature move to protect my bike when I crash... Here is an example.

Well we followed the orange arrows for the most part which mapped out the race course. We took a power bar break at the top to enjoy the scenery or was it really to catch our breath?

Here is Cole and Jason with their bikes. Is Jason making a statement with his larger wheels?

We continued on the course, climbing and decending, working through some pretty technical terrain. There is always that perfect balance between hard and too hard. Most of the course was challenging, but some of it we found just not rideable. I am sure that speaks of our lack of skill, but hey we are just weekend warriors anyways.

more to come tomorrow....

Good from Bad

There is not much to look forward to when your job asks you to go review 30,000 plus letters. But I am telling you, it could have been worse.

Every now and again you get lucky to run across a person who is exceptional in more than one way and you are lucky to call them a friend.

It is almost unheard of running across a group of people that have that kind of an impact on your life, but I was lucky enough experience it.

Here is to my new found friends...I wish you well and stay in touch!!! Letters suck, but you don't!!!!

Nothing but Mud!

This took a while to get clean

Mud Fest

I had high hopes of a wonderful weekend of mountain biking which started on Friday. I went to Rock Bridge with John to get in a little workout. I did not know what I was in store for, but i soon realized when a rider came off the trail and was bunny hooping his bike to knock the mud off.

We asked how the trails were and he said, a little muddy on the flats, but the inclines are good. What a lie. We rode up the bench cut incline and sailed down the single track into the bog that was once a trail. The "Freeze-Thaw" effect is pretty amazing. It was like pedaling through wet concrete. We only lasted an hour before we were so fed up that we left. I did discover my new favorite climb that will help me with not only my stamina, but my technical ability too.

So after being out of town for 2 weeks, I spent all day Saturday with the kids. I could not help but wonder if the trails had dried out a bit. After talking to the "Beast" later in the day, he informed me they were still crap. Who the heck made the call to open up Rockbride?

So Sunday arrives and I drive to Landahl Park to meet Cole and Jason for a little riding. I am pleasantly surprised to find 6 other cars in the lot when i got there at 9 am. A jogger was just getting back to the parking lot and said the trails were OK. Being once bitten and twice shy, I decided to look for myself while I waited for my buds to arrive. The trail looked nice. I went maybe 50 to 75 yards into the trial system was very excited for today's ride.


Once suited up, the 3 of us headed in. Swoosh, into a turn, swish over a rock and plop into mud. The trail suddenly changed from tacky to wacky as we entered into the bottoms. The mud acted like a leaf vacuum and picked up every leaf on the trail. Soon my derailleur was jumped up with mud and both my tires looked like a rolling pile of leaves. Cole and I had to stop many times to clean the mud, sticks and leaves out of the rear tire and the frame. I felt like I was riding with the emergency brake on. At one point my chain sucked and had to remove the chain to fix it.

We ran across another biker heading in the opposite direction. he said the trails were fine once you leave the bottoms. So we headed on. From previous experience, and one wrong turn, we ended up riding everything we had ridden before backwards and it all felt uphill. But we kept riding and soon left the mud. We cleared Root Canal, Rim Job, Mike's Tantrum, Swedish Erotica, Gun Barrel, Turkey Poop, Little Moab and Death Drop (Which I am pretty certain that is where I did my endo).

By the time we made it back to camp, thank god for the Garmin, we were all ready for a beer and some cooked beef.

The day did not live up to the expectations, but I think I got a better workout then if it had been pristine conditions. I never regret hooking up with friends and having a fun time.

After a Week of This!!

Having to review 35,000 letters in 2 weeks is bad enough, but to have to accomplish this in

Bloomington, IL makes it even worse. With snow in the forecast and the temperatures in the single digits and low teens, the trainer was my only option to continuing to train for Kokopelli.

Pedaling in a hotel room really puts a damper on the fun.

With the arrival of the weekend, I did manage to get out in 27 degree weather and ride in 4 inch deep snow. What a work out. It tested both my endurance and my balance, trying to navigate the snow. Comlara park is located north of Bloomington by Evergreen Lake. I parked next to a cornfield and the wind was blowing at a steady 30 miles an hour. The snow was crusty in areas and as long as I stayed on top, it was not so bad. As I plowed deeper into the trail system, I found myself trudging through 4 inch deep snow and struggling to keep my balance as I bounced between ruts. After 3 miles, I decided that I might want to turn and head back as I was quickly running out of gas as there was no roll to the ground and I had to work for every foot I adventured. My tires were nice and clean by the time I got back to the car though:)

One and Done

This was the tire I had intended to have on my front wheel during the Kokopelli ride, the S-Works Eskar 2.35 2Bliss.

I took it for a test ride at Grindstone Park. About an hour into the ride on a gnarly steep decent, we stopped at the bottom to recount the run, when someone said, hey you have a flat.

Needless to say after using a mini pump viciously to get the beads to hook up again, all you could hear was the lovely sound of psssssssssshhhhh.

The sidewall was trashed, so we threw in a tube and went on like no body's business. It's a real shame, because i really liked how the tire hooked up with the trail and it really rolled well.

Maybe I will test it's brother the Armadillo Eskar.

Hills of Hell

After much deliberating, I have decided to register for the Hills of Hell race in Lawton, OK on March 8th. The course is just about 18 miles in length made of very steep and rocky single track.

The scary part for me is the mass start. In the past they have had upwards of 400 participants of all skill levels on all sorts of equipment. The is a recipe for disaster just waiting to happen, especially if you have my skills and luck. If I survive the start, this race will focus on my extreme weakness, climbing. They do not call me Heavy D for nothing.

One article described the ride like this...

The Hills of Hell takes place on Fort Sill, Oklahoma's rugged granite slopes. Better known as the stomping grounds for the great Comanche Chief Quannah Parker and Apache Chief Geronimo and the notorious James Brothers, the Wichita Mountains provide the perfect setting for the world's #1 sport.

With craggy, gut-wrenching climbs, house-sized rocks, wet-your-pants downhills, and spiders as big as your hand, there's nothing mild about this ride. While the distance may seem a bit short for many experts, the difficulty factor ensures that nobody finishes begging for more.

I found a few photos from past rides that might give it just a little perspective:

New and Improved

Lately I have been doing a little surgery to the Mojo to get it race ready.

Ceramic Bottom Bracket - Smooth as butter!

At "The Beasts'" Shop we began to dismantle the old bottom bracket

Then came the rebuilding. Very pretty!!!

The difference in force needed to turn the cranks makes me think I had a lemon for a bottom bracket or maybe ceramic is just slicker than Owl shiat.

Of course what really made it all worth it was partaking in some "Almost Infamous" Fowler Creek Nut Brown home brewage after the operation. Thanks for the assistance MB1!

I added a new stem, seat post and some carbon bars for lightness.

Now I am in the market to acquire some serious skilz and I should be all set!!