John Denver knows what he's talking about

Turns out the Rocky's really are pretty rocky

Saturday came the Breck 100 that I signed up for. A combination of uncomfortable full supsension bikes, a lack of oxygen, and my own candyassedness and the race became, for me, the Breck 29. Well at least I looked good rockin the Yazoo Wool and the 12" Swiftwicks...I even got a shout out from the eventual winner Josh Tostado after he recognized the Yazoo Wool... Kicks signed up for the 32 mile version and rocked it!!! He turned in a great time and as I will hear for a

while, he managed to ride 3 more miles than me...

Kicklighter riding strong on his Yeti and supporting Addictive Cylcles

Sunday we managed to climb a 14er. Mount Quandary was only several miles from our condo and promised some great climbing (over 3000 ft in less than 3 miles), great vistas, and cool mountain temps. We scaled it in just over 2.5 hours with Ms. Kicks leading the charge to the top. We enjoyed the view for about 45 minutes and began the climb down. In case you were wondering, climbing down is just as hard or even harder than climbing up. We even managed to see two mountain goats at the top.

Me and Jeanie at the top

Well, I couldn't ride up the mountain but at least I could hike it!!

Headin' back down

Monday came quickly, and we headed to Buena Vista (One of Outdoor Magaizines top 10 ourdoorsy cities (or so our rafting guide told us)) to face some category 4 whitewater. Unfortunately, you have to take the guided tour. We all had a blast, looking good in our wetsuits, but we all felt we could have navigated ourselves without facing too much peril. We then went on a little driving tour of Colorado and passed through Leadville on our way back to Breck. Odd little town but it was neat to be in the highest city in the US, and I'm pretty sure we witnessed some mutants hanging out at the Kum and Go...

Practicing some Tai Chi in my rental wet suite...Does this make my butt look big??

Tuesday, Kicks, Ms Kicks and I headed for the Mohawk Lakes while Jeanie enjoyed some quiet time at the pool. Another tough hike was rewared with amazing views, clean mountain air, and a Phat Tire Beer as a reward at the top.

Matt chilling our celebratory beers in an alpine lake

Our handsome reward for a 2 hour hike

Rocky Mountain High

Jeanie and I just got home from a week spent out in Breckenridge, Co with the Kicklighters. We had planning this trip as an anniversary present to ourselves for about a year and it finally came around. Funny thing is, both of us forgot about our anniversary until my mom sent us a card. Anyway, here are some pretty cool pics and a summary of our time...This may get long.

Wednesday we flew out of Nashville and landed in Denver. We had some time to kill before the Kick's got into town so we picked up the rental and headed into the city. Completely by mistake, we stumbled upon the Stranahan's Whisky Distillery and went in for the tour. It was a VERY neat little operation, and we picked up a surprise for one of our brown liquor loving compadres (We'll get that to you as soon as possible). Looking at the clock, we hightailed it back to the airport, picked up the Stankers, and headed for the mountains.

We got to the condo, got settled in, and decided to go have a looksy around town. First spot we hit was the bike shop to pick up our rental bikes for the week. I had signed up for the Breck 100 and for some reason thought renting a full sup 26er was a good idea when I am used to riding a fully rigid 29er single speed.

What the hell is that??

And these???

Anyway, we finshed up the day with some $2 pints at the Breckenridge Brewerey (a place we became very familiar with) and called it a day.

Thursday and Friday we fit in a little riding. We managed to find some great trails and had a blast.

Ms. Stanker rockin the rock garden

Jeanie just killed the rock garden

Me figuring out that marshmellow on the front of my bike.

Kicks demonstrating just how to use the granny gear.

A great two days of riding and hanging out with friends. We also managed to make it to Vail for some sight seeing which turned out to be a blast. More to come...

Doing some taping

The bar tape on the road bike finally gave up on the last road ride. Guess I can't complain, it lasted over 5000 miles. Come to think of it, the entire bike has been phenominal. Over its well used and often abused life, the 105 components have recieved 1 tune-up, and that was the free tune-up the bike shop gives you after you've had it for two weeks. It's been the workhorse in the fleet for over two years, outlasting every other bike I have ever had by about a year and a half. Here's to the Allez Comp...!!! As a reward for its years of thoughtless service, I have decked it out with a Saweet two tone bar-tape job. Nice huh?? Its my first attempt and only took me about an hour and a half...and the grips feel ALMOST equal...

Since I had a little left over, I figured I would add a little flair to the ZION. I never really liked the grips I had for it and the tape adds a little more cush for those long gravel grinders.

Edit: Wouldn't you know...all this gloating about the Allez Comp and I have found a potential problem. I had developed a bad creak in the handlebar area following my ride on Thursday. I assumed some dirt just got between the stem plate and the handlebars so I wasn't in a rush to fix it. The noise got worse and worse and now sounds like the noise the old Fisher made when there was a crack in the head tube. So I took stem and handlebars apart gave em a good wipe down...no change. Hmmm. Took the handlebars back off and Im still able to reproduce the sound. So hopefully its just something with the headset. I'll take it to MOAB for a diagnosis when I get back from Breckenridge...cross your fingers!!!

Good Week

Seems like I've been in a little funk about getting out and riding consitantly lately. I don't know if it was watching the tour or the impending Breckenridge 100, but I managed to get some really good rides in this week.

MONDAY:

Good ride to work following the long haul trucker weekend. I felt good riding in and even managed a hill sprint on the only hill worth mentioning on my commute to and from Vandy.

Thursday:

Distance was the name of the game today. I set out hoping for 60 or so miles. I ended up with fifty but had a blast while I was out. I meandered over to Waddell Hollow for one of the better climbs Williamson County has to offer. If your gonna ride it you might as well sprint it right?? So I sprinted past the wierd guy sitting in his yard. Sprinted by the rooster bound by his leg to a tree in said wierd guy's yard. Sprinted past the 13% grade mark on the pavement and kicked it for the finish. In a very Tour mood, I zipped my jersey so the camera's could catch my sponsor and threw my arms up in victory. In doing so I nearly road off the pavement. Hands on the handlbars idiot!!! The remainder of the ride was spent trying to outrun the dark clouds tht were rolling in...I failed. One gulleywasher and stop under a gas station overhand and I headed home...Great ride with what seemed like endless legs.

Friday:

I decided I wanted to do some hill repeats so I sought out the 5 hardest climbs I new of within my 40 mile loop. I hit Old Charlotte, Fire Tower Rd, Pond Creek, and McCrory. Unfortunately I couldn't remember where the fifth hill was and ended up missing it. Regardless it gave me my build in excuse for Saturday's ride. "hey guys if I suck today its cause I hit it hard yesterday"

Saturday:

Group ride with Thad, Greg, Jeremy, and Jason. Lots of good times and hijinks as usual. Notable highlights included 2 creek crossings (I think Jeremy, a roadie but still an all around good guy, enjoyed those the most), and numerous hills.

We ran in to some super nice country folk who welcomed us with the disconcerting "You boys aren't from around here are you?" and "You boys ever seen Deliverance?" We chatted with them for about twenty minutes as the man we called "gray beard" showed us around his property. It was priceless and this type of interaction would surely only happen on a J5 approved route.

We also had an encounter with a fellow who obviously did not read the "no shoes no shirt no service" sign on the door because he lacked all of the above plus some. We're not really sure what he was after but he was quoted as saying "lsdkfjdoilskdfjdoierkhoisldjfleiurkdaljf 932"

A nice couple of sprints with Jeremy towards the end and a cold beer at Casa De Marsupial were a great way to end a good week of riding. Tomorrow its off to the lake with the inlaws!!

Fish Poop

I figure since Jslowsky5 continues to give me new and entertaining linky names, I had better go ahead and do some updating. The forth of July brought about my first true long-haul-trucker ride. My set-up is below, but I decided to ditch the sleeping bag in favor of a sheet. With the GayWhackRack version 2.0 (turns out this one is much less gay and definitely much less whack than version 1.0) loaded up with my tent and cloths, my frame bag stuffed, my tent poles bungeed to the top tube and my camelbak loaded with H20 tools and tubes, Thad, EastBound Jeff, and I headed out. The plan was to meander eastward to meet Jeanie and her brother at Dale Hollow Lake for some camping and boating. The first hill greeted us and boned (no not the last name...more on that later) us and our 40 pounds of extra gear rather roughly. In hind sight, I don't know what Thad was complaining about. I carry 50 more pounds than him every where I go...

After 9 hours of flawless navigation, 1 smokin' redneck chick, my obligatory "hey check out that blond...Ah, Mike that's a dude" moment, and numerous grueling climbs we rolled into the camping area.

After an expensive night of fireworks we headed out on the "Wave Boner" for some maritime fun. Turns out Boner was one of the couples' last names...UNFORTUNATE!!! What seemed like nine hours of boating, drinking and kids that smelled like fish feces had me wishing for dry land and some air conditioning. All I could think of was the 115 miles we faced the next day.

Morning came quickly following the best night of camping sleep I have ever had. J5 and I packed up and got ready to roll out (Eastbound Jeff had headed back to town with his wife the day before). We faced a stiff headwind and a blazing sun, but managed to knock about 45 minutes to an hour off of our previous time. I guess sending all the gear back in Jeanie's orange box helped more than a little. A driveway sprint was the perfect way to finish the ride even if I got edged out by half a wheel.