A Weekend in Sunny San Francisco

Our good friend Sally moved from Charlottesville to California several years ago.  She started out in L.A. working for Yahoo and ended up moving to San Francisco a couple of years later.  We've kept up with Sally a little bit over the years, making an effort to hook up with her when we were in Monterey for Sea Otter.  The last time we were out there we met her (then) new guy, Tommy.  Tommy seemed pretty cool, but Sally already knew that, she didn't need our stamp of approval.

Fast forward ~3 years later.  We are living in Colorado and we get an invite to Sally's wedding in San Fran.  Well, we are already halfway across the country and San Fran is an easy direct flight, and Sally is awesome, so it was an easy call.  As an added bonus, we got a chance to hang out with another C-ville friend KP. We actually stayed with KP and fam in Marin over the weekend.

After a day of chillaxin' and eating in Marin, we geared up for the wedding on Sunday.  The ceremony was held at the UC Berkley Botanical Gardens.  It was a very cool venue.  A small amphitheater nestled in a redwood forest.  After a short ceremony we headed over to the cocktail hour.  The highlight of the afternoon had to be when they introduced Tommy & Sally for the first time as a married couple.  The small crowd started with some hearty applause and was showing no signs of letting up...the applause continued...and continued...and people started standing...clapping louder and louder.  I didn't set a stopwatch but I am pretty sure it was at least a 2-minute standing ovation for Sally and Tommy.

After the reception we rolled mack to Marin to recoup and gear up for the party that evening.  It was an "Under The Sea" Nautical-Themed bash.  The DJ was more into his custom mixes than entertaining the crowd, but it was a fun-loving crew that embraced the nautical costume recommendation completely.  I think none so completely as Johanna though. She really pulled off a great fish costume from head to toe.  I wasn't so motivated but I did wear my captain's hat all night long.  I even got a nod from the toll booth attendant on the GG bridge.

We had a little bit of time before our flight the next day and went on a great hike with KP and little G.  It was a short walk out to a great little beach.  We had some lunch, threw some rocks into the ocean and just enjoyed the wonderfully humid air.  It wasn't Virginia humid, but just about anything beats the dry Colorado air we've been living in.  

We are now back in Fort Collins, recovering from last weekend and gearing up for next...we've got a visitor coming!

Consistent Weather brings Consistent Riding

There's been a fair amount of riding this week.  Starting with the dusty short track race last Tuesday...I've ridden a couple of new trails.  Here's a shot of me super-focused in the roller section.  I don't think you can see my single speed nemesis on the Langster in this one.

I actually placed pretty well considering I haven't done any serious racing in a long time.  17th out of 50 racers. I definitely think some of that had to do with a really solid start position.  This week I got caught up in the middle of the pack and by the time the first 30 guys get stretched out onto the single track the top racers have already probably got a couple of minutes on you.  But more on this week's race a little later.

The day after the short track J and I went out to Red Mountain which is a natural area about 45 minutes north, right at the Wyoming border.  Now...a few mountain bikers mentioned Sandstone when we first got here and J talked to a park ranger that was surprised that no one had mentioned Red Mountain (which directly borders Sandstone).  Well...we found out why.  Red Mountain was kind of miserable.  The trail was either horse-width loose double track or really grainy riverbed.  There was one short section of nice buff interesting trail but it did not make up for the rest of the garbage.  Now, I could have been a little down on the place because I was sluggish from the previous day's race...but I don't think so.

So, no riding Thursday but I played a lot of polo on Friday.  2 1/2 hours of 2 on 2.  The weather was perfect and we played a LOT of polo.  With only 4 people on the court, you get a lot of play time in.  All that did was set me up to again be sluggish when scouting out some new trail the next day. 

On Saturday we went into Wyoming to check out Curt Gowdy State Park.  It's a little over an hour away and has got some really cool trail features.  I think we only saw about half of the trails, and by the time we figured out the map, we had already run the race course in reverse.  There were some really cool rock sections and "play areas" to be explored.  It's nice to have some Porcupine Rim style stuff so close.  Now, it's not as epic or nearly as technical as Porcupine but it's definitely got some cool features worth checking out.  I think it makes it a great spot for a wide mix of skill levels.

So...back to Tuesday and back to the short track.  I was feeling pretty sluggish all day, but I decided to suck it up and head out to the short track anyway.  Last week I got a really good position on the start line but this week was a little different.  As we all piled onto the start, I was somewhere in the middle of a huge pack.  There's a picture of the start group (64 racers) to the right.  I took my time and pretty much decided just to tempo the race...until the end of lap 2.  That's when the Langster reared his head again. He passed me at the end of lap 2 and I managed to stick on his for the rest of the race but I couldn't get the pass on him...not this week.  But, rest assured...I'll be eating my Wheaties and will be primed for next week.  I've been riding the hardtail for the last two weeks, and it's been fine but I think it's time to bring out the big dog.  The FSR should be able to squash all the little annoying bumps on the course and rail the corners.  Here's a sweet shot of me powering one of the climbs.

My First Race at 5,000 ft...

Tuesday afternoon, 6:20pm, 65 degrees and sunny.  I roll over to the start line and get ready to tackle 4 laps of the short track course with 50 other riders...yes 50...and this is only the sport category.

Somehow I managed to put myself near the front of the pack for the start.  Here I am, coming off of some epic cold...with my only serious efforts being sprints on the polo court and I am in the first row of riders.  I already felt a little overwhelmed because I thought we would only be putting in 3 laps...but I had just heard the announcement of 4 laps.  I look over my shoulder to see if I can sneak my way back a little bit, but no dice.  My bed was already made, I just had to suck it up.  

I knew being near the front would pay dividends for the upcoming "pump track" section early in the course but I really didn't want to have to mix it up 9 wide going into the first corner.  Thankfully, the start was pretty tame, no wrecks that I could see but someone did bobble the first serious rise about 5-6 riders in and everyone else was pretty much doomed to do a quick hike up that section.  It actually worked out pretty well for forcing people into some single file action since there was some super-tight single track up ahead.  

The rest of the race was pretty standard stuff.  Tight twisty sections, short climbs, several open spots for passing.  The course was very dry which led to some sketchy corners and a LOT of dust.  The 15-minute bike ride home included much hacking, coughing and sneezing.  

One minor achievement...I didn't get beat by the guy on the Langster...(yeah, the track bike).  It was pretty close though.  He bobbled one of the last corners pretty bad and almost racked himself.  It looked like he was going to jump right back on without losing any ground...but it became clear that he was going to need a moment to compose himself.  It took that opportunity to pass him on the inside.  I mean, it wasn't a full on track bike, he did have some riser bars on it!  He rode the fuck out of that thing though...basically his two primary weapons were 1) locking up the rear wheel and 2) an excellent inside dab.  

If I can stop blowing dust out of my nose by next Tuesday...maybe I'll do it again.  Right now...I am just going to find some food and maybe do some arts and crafts.  But first I need a damn shower!

Here's a short video of the Beginner Men start.  50 Racers there too!