Winter Is Here

After some good riding in Farmington I came back home to Rico to find lots of snow. It is Tuesday morning and I believe we have accumulated around 15" since yesterday. More to come I hear. With all of the new snow I decided it was time to bring out the tele-skis on Sunday and go skinning above my house for a a couple hours. My sister-in-law Sophia went along with me. Laura was sore from skinning on Saturday and opted out.

Riding

A pretty good weekend so far. Went down to Cortez to attempt to ride Phil's World on Friday but it was too muddy and was forced to ride the the road for 20 miles around Cortez.

Saturday was a great day for a ride in Farmington on the Road Apple Rally Race course. Shawn, Dean and me made the journey for some single track that wasn't snowed in. For those who have raced this course know what it is all about. It is filled with motocross whoops all around the 30 mile course. Some parts of the trail are wide enough to drive a car down. I assume ATVs poaching the trail system and poor handling abilities by some motocross folks have caused this. Nonetheless it was fun. We pushed a good pace throughout with a few stops to chit-chat.

Rides

Another great weekend of riding......Phil's World in Cortez. Saturdays ride included James Guest, Mike and Sophia Guskea, amongst others. Ran into Shawn McGregory and rode with him for a bit before stopping to wait for others in our group. James was first to present himself and we rode together for the duration of the 22 mile loop ( I tallied 34 miles myself doing multiple small loops waiting for the carney's to show up). Rode again on Sunday at Phil's with Matt Turgeon (Durango), Shawn and Dean; both of Dolores. Phil's World is becoming a well known destination around the 4-corners area. Many Durangotangs riding this trail system at this time of year. The crowds are much larger than just from a year ago. The single track is flawless.

As quoted by Brandon Mathis in an Outside Magazine article:
This is high-desert mountain biking. Gliding around bends, floating over ledges, skirting cliffs, the trail just keeps unwinding. Climbing and descending mesas, ducking branches, endless carving through ravines at exhilarating speeds: This is a different world. This is Phil's World.

I couldn't have said it any better.

WTF!!!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/05/atheists.christmas/index.html

I do not like to get into this kind of crap (religion) but would like to hear from anybody who wants to speak up.

Training

Another run tonight, 28 degrees at 5.30pm, 4 miles roughly; and than 30 minutes on the rollers. Definitely a great workout to maintain a good fitness level throughout the winter months. Before I know it the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo will be upon me. I am expecting to do well again this coming February. I squeaked out 15 laps and a 2nd place overall in the SS solo class this past year. The competition is fierce down there. Those desert dwellers have the advantage with year long training. But, soon I will be on the tele skis and cross country skis. The weather is looking great for the upcoming weekend and will most likely hit the local dirt down at Phil's World and do a long road ride. I hear Mesa Verde is a great ride.

Gooseberry

Here is a link to a short video Slater from California took on our Gooseberry trip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq8lJyHpmUE

Crosstraining

Decided to start some crosstraining this week; running. Up until a couple years ago I used to run a lot. Ran 3 miles last night after work and wow I forgot how running is such a great workout. Dependent on how much snow is on the ground I plan on running 2-3 times a week and increase the mileage slowly during the first weeks of December.