The 'book ends' of the 2012 season

If you stop by here often or follow on Facebook or Twitter then you know that all focus and prep right now is towards the Yak-Attack race in Nepal. Mountain Bike UK claimed it as one of the 5 toughest races in the World. I can agree with that....but I/you can also disagree. There are a lot of tough events out there and everyone has their own idea of what is tough.  For example: CTR, Great Divide, Breck 100, etc, etc.  This week the race roster was posted for Yak-Attack.  Going to be a good melting pot of culture...new friends and bonds to make over the weeks we are in Nepal!

So, the training continues!  Here is snap shot of how the week went down.  Monday-Wednesday I laid low fighting off a head cold.  Things started back up on Thursday with a ride with local pro mtber, Georgia Gould.

Funny thing is we have both lived in Ft Collins for about 5 yrs now, and this is the first time we have ridden/trained together. She is driven this year. Eye on the prize, the Olympics in London. Little video posted here from the ride that day as well.

Friday was a solo day pounding out a 1.5 hour tempo at sub-threshold. Legs felt good! Had me excited for the Oval Ride on Saturday!

The Oval Ride was stacked! CSU kids back from Tucson and Winter Break.....flexing their early season form! This is why I love it here! 70+ riders strong for this near 90 mile group ride hammerfest!

Before the fireworks, the simple things in life, like that of a well oiled paceline at nearly 30 mph :)



Of course, the Oval soon went into full-on race mode as expected! My legs, not snappy at all. I was deep into the 'pain cave' just to sit in! Quite the difference from 2 weeks ago when the legs were spot-on while pedaling the mtb on this training ride.

The fitness tow-rope eventually gave way. Snap! I solo tempo'd the rest of the way home.

Sunday was to be a climbing day in Boulder. I did get to Boulder and I did get to climb, but legs were super tired to ride within the group ride planned. I peeled back and spent the day riding with Sonya and focusing on big gear low RPM climbing. West of the Boulder the temps were well below freezing and the wind was blowing at 40-100 mph! I usually don't get cold on rides, but this ride had me second guessing my glove choice for the day.

Layering up at 8700 ft....wind howling!

Steep climbs = warmth! Sonya and I hit up as much of these punchy climbs as we could in the 4-5 hour training block scheduled.

I finished my ride up with a climb up Flagstaff west of Boulder, and Sonya did Sunshine Canyon for the second time that day. The training a success...and tough. Now, a few days of rest, then back on the horse!

Oh, and in reference to the blog title and 'book ends'....the season is starting with the very tough Yak-Attack. Sonya and I just found out we will end the season with another super tough event: La Ruta in Costa Rica in early November! The catch/funny thing is we have to use our American Airline voucher for the flight down....this voucher is from the lost bikes ball-up in Brazil last October. Crossing my fingers...and toes :)

Jeff Kerkove said at 10:16 AM :: ::

Weekday canyon shred session

Jeff Kerkove said at 6:03 PM :: ::

Time to 'man up'

This is from the latest issue of Mountain Bike UK Magazine. Click the image to read.

Jeff Kerkove said at 11:56 AM :: ::

Weekend update from 10,200 ft

Another weekly recap! Visa application is in the mail for Nepal and the Yak-Attack. Had to send off my passport and some $$ to New York to get approved. Now, only thing to do is get in the training. This past weekend, Sonya and I headed up to the mountains to get in some hike-a-bike training and breathe in the thin air. With snow still very low in the high country it's pretty easy to get to the high terrain without any skis or snowshoes.

Road trip Leadville!

It may look cold, but it wasn't. Temps were about 40F, plus take in the intense Colorado sun. Made it feel like 50F at 11,000ft. The plan was to ride and hike as far up Mosquito Pass east of Leadville as far as we could within the 3 hour training window we had.

Hiking soon set in. Snow wasn't too deep, but deep enough to where our tires would break through and break traction. So, Yak-Attack oriented hike-a-bike training went into full force!

Going up! This was a fantastic time to test carrying techniques as well as footwear.

This is as far as we would go. Sonya pushed a little bit further to break the 12,000 ft mark for the day. The pass proper is still 1,100 ft above us!

Here is a quick video of our time on Mosquito Pass, filmed with the Epic Cam HD 1080



2 thumbs up for a post-training ride espresso in Leadville!

The reason we only had a 3 hour training window in Leadville is because we were both signed up for the snow mountain bike race at Copper Mountain Ski Resort. The race was a 2 lap format on groomed snow trails around the resort...at night. Cold you ask?  Yep.  Race temp of about 20F.

Guess you could call this the first race of the year :)

162 people would race! Some on regular mountain bikes, like myself. Others on proper snow bikes with big old fat tires!  The fat tires would reign supreme at this race.

Sonya and Leslie ready to do battle! Rawrrrr!

I got everything out of the Copper Race I wanted. The training and the social aspect of it. The snow was so soft for a lot of the further reaches of the course that myself and others on normal mtbs were forced to run. Hey, it's all training, right? Yep. Even managed to go off course. Yeah, don't ask. There was a course marking mishap. Few of us got in some good extra climbing :)  Overall, the snow bike race was a riot!  So fun....so hard!  GPS file here on Strava.

Worst part of the Copper Race? Changing out of sweaty wet cycling clothes in a tin van where the air temp sits at about 15 F. Brrrrrr!

Great Saturday!

As I type this, I am 2 days into a nice little cold.  Head cold....tired.  Always happens at least once over the winter.  Now is the time for out with the bad...in with the good.

All the weekend photos are posted here.

Jeff Kerkove said at 10:47 AM :: ::

Doing what it takes

T-minus 2 months until Sonya and I leave for Nepal.  Plane tickets are in hand, so this is as real as it gets now! It feels weird trying to 'peak' for a 10-day race in March....especially when those you train with are just getting on the bike to start preparing for 2012. The past week or so, I have been without a road bike. Why you ask? Well I had the brilliant idea to go train in a High Wind Warning. Why not. I race in the wind, so why not train in it. Well, that day while rolling north, a huge tumbleweed flew out of the ditch and straight into my rear wheel. This sheered off the rear derailleur hanger and shattered the SRAM Force derailleur. So, now I wait for a new hanger to arrive from Germany. While not a huge deal, I am relegated to the mtb for training.....on and off road.

Earlier in the week did a lot of Zone 3 tempos up the canyons with the warm weather. Can't beat riding to 8,000 ft in shorts in January with temps pushing 65F!

A majority of the snow is gone, but trails are still wet for the most part. What is dry I got out on later in the week. Trails behind the house are rolling good now. A few days of dry weather and everything should be good!

Saturday was the Oval Ride. With no road bike, I was unsure how productive the ride would be. I just wanted to merely survive 2 hours if possible. To my surprise I was feeling good. Legs snappy. Was able to get the whole ride in and not loose contact with the group until after Carter Lake. The downhills and tailwinds were the worse. Being under-geared requires some stupid leg speed. I took the new Epic Cam HD 1080 out for the ride. Check it....



Today's ride (Sunday) was a flop. It's amazing how a hard 4 hr effort the day prior can leave one virtually functionless at their favorite hobby/sport. A 4 hour ride was basically a 2 hour slog through the foothills. Still can't complain! A bad day on the bike is still better than not being able to ride at all. All you need to do is open your eyes and look around!

Jeff Kerkove said at 9:12 AM :: ::

New Year on red rock

Can't complain one bit about ringing in the New Year this year! With lower than average snowfall across most of the mountain states....as well as a warming weather trend....the decision to head west to Moab was made! A majority of the trails in Moab are riding very well right now. Only exception is Porcupine Rim, which sits higher in elevation and is mostly north facing. Snow covers the trail.

On Friday riding friend KJ and I packed up the van and headed west. Plan was to spend 2 days spinning Moab trails....4-5 hours each day....pretty chill pace. Was a good little vacation on the bike to ride some dirt with no focus on super structured training.

Day 1 was spent on Amasa Back and Pipe Dream. We, virtually had both trails to ourselves only bumping into a few other riders. For KJ, this would be her first trip to ride in Moab! Can't complain when the trails are perfect and there is not a cloud in the sky. Temps also ran in the low 50Fs.

KJ, on a borrowed HT Niner, riding the upper parts of Amasa Back.

One of the best views in Moab, the Amasa Back overlook! Wow!

I think we both could have sat here all day!

After Amasa Back it was a quick spin around a big chunk of Moab rock to Pipe Dream. Here is a quick raw clip from the cliff side trail.



Day 2 was spent on the MOAB Brand Trails and Sovereign Trail. A lot of chunk. A lot. Rough for sure on a HT.





Quick video to show what Sovereign Trail is like...



Overall, it was a good 2 days on the bike. Moab, was a ghost town for sure. Most places closed down for the season. Did find a gem of a sushi place in Moab. Yes, a sushi place. In the Utah desert. If you're ever in town, check out Sabaku Sushi

Jeff Kerkove said at 5:38 PM :: ::

Holiday Hibernation

Finished up a big block of training prior to the 4-day Christmas break. Break equals no training.  Basically 4 days of chilling out with Family. It was a good 2 weeks with some longer rides focusing on climbing as well as occasionally running the engine hot on the local group rides. Needless to say, by the end of the block I was ready for some rest.  It will be an on-going process until leaving for Nepal: training then rest, training then rest.  It's all about building and layering on fitness.  Here are a few highlights....

The regularly scheduled Saturday Oval Ride. The week before was the 'lite' version. This week, it was taken up a notch. Started with a good healthy group of about 50. By mid-ride it was down to like 10. Still early in the year for most. Beauty of the ride/route is everyone can go as fast or slow as they like.

8k climbing day outside Boulder, CO. Good weather window with temps near 50F around 7,000-10,000 ft. These kind of days are few and far between in Dec-Jan. You take them when you can get them. Could have spent all day out there, but sunlight dictates temp. range.

Searching for dry trails behind the house. Few and far between this time of year. 2 days after this picture was taken, we got 7 inches. Think it is time to head to Moab! :)

The day before the Winter Storm Warning went into effect. Climbing to the top of Towers Rd. west of Fort Collins. Climbing = Yak-Attack focus.

Scope out the Strava gps files here.

Jeff Kerkove said at 9:41 AM :: ::