Local Ride Conditions

Time to start (b)logging what the local ride conditions.  As of Friday April 20th most trails are relatively dry until you hit around 6,800 ft.  I rode all of Thompson Park yesterday and it is good to go - exception being several down trees on both the upper and lower loops.  Mental note: take handsaw to clear out some down trees....

My guess is blacktail & the archery range are good to go and Beaver ponds is probably close.  I rode up Toll Canyon on the CDT for 3/4 of mile until I had to turn around and head back due to snow drifts.  A couple more days of warm weather and Toll Canyon will be rideable as an out/back.

more to come...pix of current conditions as of 4/20:

Toll Canyon CDT about 3/4 of a mile in - looking back towards the pass

 Toll Canyon - same spot but looking west - where I turned around

 new trail connecting the top of the RR tracks to Toll

 new trail

Mother Phattie

the mother of all mountain bikes:

http://ibismaximus.com/#photos

now I would like to see someone ride that 59inch wheeled bike!

Paranoia Train To Training

Occasionally a good old fashioned dose of reality is good enough to scare you back into training mode.   It had to happen this week and it was probably too little too late for the Whiskey but there is hope to get back on schedule.  Although the Whiskey will be a good barometer of just where the legs are, or aren't!

We are still in shoulder season here and that has meant mother nature has not exactly cooperated this week for getting out.  The alternative to that unfortunately is being stuck on the indoor trainer which is never fun.  The forecast is calling for better weather this weekend so hopefully the window starts to open for consistent riding outside.

Next on the agenda is to dust off the single speed and make sure all is in working order - and also swap out forks from rigid to suspension...which means cutting the steerer tube to length...more to come this weekend.

Motivational Trough

The past week has proven to be more of a mental battle to training as opposed to anything else.  It is probably a combo extended car time, weather, and low motivation.  I keep wondering how this is going to transfer over to the Whiskey in about a 10 days...At this point there is no quick fix to training and it will be time to deal with the consequences....no one to blame but myself.

Perhaps the Whiskey will be the proper slap in the face needed to get 'scared back to training'.  The wifer signed us up for the 24 hrs of Spokana "Round n Round'.  Between the Whiskey and the Round n Round there should be plenty of motivation to get on the saddle and ride.  It is always good to have events lined up as they keep the training log honest and force the hand on the motivational action.

and just in case you were looking for a quick motivational speaker:

Foggy n' Groggy

and not the good grogg.....The past few days have been a daze of serious road tripping.  I don't recommend spending 22hrs within a 48 hr period driving around the NW.  As much as I like to drive, the accumulation of hrs logged in the car over the past couple of months has been a wee bit more than being able to enjoy the tug of the open road.
The most disruptive aspect of all the road tripping has been the change to sleep and trying to get back into the regular scheduled programming.  It takes extra energy to get motivated for training and unfortunately this is a key period to ramp up the base miles...ohh well, nothing like going into a 50 mile mountain bike event as a single-speeder knowing the legs could be in much better shape.  doh...double doh....and it will be DOH DOH DOH come race day on the Whiskey.

It is definitely Spring in Montana as it can be perfect temps one day and the next can be a reminder of how SW Montana can get snow just about anytime!  Last week we had significant snow up in the hills and some snow down in the valley.  Fortunately the ground is relatively warm so the snow melts pretty quickly if it even accumulates.
Snow line of one of the recent snows....

 Visiting one of our favorite guilty pleasures.....

 Otis finding the mother of all beds upon returning home....some kids love double stuff Oreos....this dog loves double stuff beds!

Rockin' New Facilities

While on the road ride on Tuesday, I noticed that some work had been done along the walkway between Butte & Rocker.  There is a 1 mile section of paved walkway between Rocker and Butte.  Unfortunately the walkway does not really connect to anything but you can tell a lot of effort has been put into paving the walkway and construction of some pretty high end facilities  on either end of the 1 mile strip.

New parking lots have been put in on either end too.  This project reminds me a bit of the bridge/overpass to nowhere along I-70 in Colorado.  There is an exit on I-70 west of Denver in the mountains that is literally an overpass and nothing else!  It goes nowhere, just dead ends...a project where perhaps funds needed to be spent for the sake of spending them or losing them.

It is great to have the paved walkway but it seems a little overboard to put in the nice new facilities and parking areas for a 1 mile stretch that comes from and goes to....nowhere.  Hopefully the grand master plan is to continue to build out the walkway from/to nowhere so it continues or links to more than the existing paltry 1 mile.

Rockin' Rocker Roadie

Tuesday's weather was just about perfect road riding weather so it was time to dust off the skinny tire and pedal some asphalt.  In the grand scheme of things it was a stellar day riding as the weather was in the wheelhouse and nothing was thrown at me and there was no buzz by drive by's so all in all a big thumbs up!

I did a quick loop where I started from home then headed up the steeps up to Walkerville and looped back into the access road towards Rocker and beyond.  That hill up to Walkerville is short and punchy!  You gain a little over 500ft of elevation in about 1.2 miles.  Fortunately it does not last long so you can comfort yourself with the thought that soon enough it will level off.

When on the flats, it felt like a super easy day on the road and it was relatively easy to maintain a 25 mph speed....well, until I turned around and noticed the reason it was such an easy pedal was because of the tailwind that had been accompanying me.  Now it was time to pay the price and pedal into the wind on the way back.

It was definitely windy on the way back but it felt great to be out and the legs felt decent all things considered.

Ride summary: