BIG weekend.

Yup. BIG weekend. This week took forever, so I needed to make the most of this weekend. One more week until we are on Vaca here in Vermont, and this weekend was an excellent opportunity to get ready for all the fun we will be having when school is out.

Friday afternoon was spontaneity day in the Lapierre household. This little known holiday, celebrated only in the Williston Lapierre household, consists of me buying a present for my wife and making her do something she hasn't done before. This is what I came up with.

Charlie's Vermont Angel

No, it is not a "real" gun. It is a Co2 powered bb gun. Nevertheless, Aliza has never shot any type of gun. She was so nervous she made me load it and shoot it first before she try it. We spent several clips shooting seltzer bottles and cans. We are pretty BA.

For Saturday, we started with some bike riding. The trails in VT are still luge tracks, thanks to the lack of snow, intermittent rain and the constant temps near 30 degrees. Marc and I studded our tires which helps with the ice, but leads to frequent flats.

Marc and Andy trying not to stab themselves.

We have become pretty fast at changing flats, which is good because it is pretty cold out there despite the lame winter we have been having. The trails are still fun, and it is really cool to ride on trails like this and have total control (except when Marc takes a corner to fast and slides into the woods)

After the bike riding, Marc and I decided to test out some new gear. Outdoor Research sent me a Bivy sac, and I really wanted to try it out. I am planning on using one this year in the CTR, and I thought that this weekend would be a good chance to try it out.

Marc, trying the bivy out in my kitchen. He wants one now.

Marc and I headed down to Stowe, where we hoped there would be lots and lots of snow. We were a bit disappointed when we found a solid 1/4 inch of fresh on top of firm, firm snow. We skinned for about 45 minutes to find the perfect campsite. We set up camp and gathered some firewood. Then we headed out to take a few runs.

Home, sweet home, for the night.

Marc, digging in.

After skiing for a bit, we headed back up to camp (in the future, I think camp should be low, so that you can end a ski run where you are going to cook and sleep) It started to snow for the last few minutes of the skin, and we hoped it would continue and make the morning skiing better than the afternoon runs. No such luck. I looked up into the sky after dinner and we could see lots of stars. It was very beautiful, but we would have preferred clouds and snow to cold and ambiance.

We were hungry after the skiing and set to work cooking and gathering more fire wood. I got a chance to try out my new esbit stove, which has little white blocks for fuel. It worked out pretty well and in about ten minutes I had my cous cous made. I threw in another block and boiled some potato pieces that Marc brought. It wasn't gourmet, but it was some of the best potato soup I have ever had. After dinner, our attention turned to burning stuff. For some reason, whenever Marc gets near a fire, it grows exponentially.

He also seems to enjoy fire quite a bit. We let the fire burn down, and then hit the sack around 8. I slept surprisingly well, and fell warm throughout the night. I do think that next time I will pack down the snow under my bivy a bit better, since I kept rolling into the tree next to me. In the morning we had planned to ski a bit, but Marc was rather cold and tired (he decided to try sleeping a 40 degree bag, which I don't think worked too well) I was easily persuaded, as I could meet Aliza and her dad for some warm, indoor climbing.

After climbing we had lunch, did some shopping and then headed home. I wasn't feeling tired anymore, and Timber the wonder dog was bouncing off the walls when we got home. So, I got dressed for a bike ride and decided to tire Timber right out. I wouldn't have thought this possible two years ago, but Timber is getting older and even he needs to rest after an hour and a half of running through the woods. It helps when the trails look like this and he has to run twice as far just to keep pace with me on the ice.

Got a lot done this weekend, hopefully this week flies by and we can do even more during our Feb. break.

Gettin' high.......

No, not like that. I am a good, law-abiding citizen. This summer I will be getting very high. The CTR starts around 6000' and has extended sections around 12.000' This may pose a slight problem when I try to breathe while riding my heavily loaded bike up lots of hills. In our past travels out West, the altitude has caused some discomfort while exercising, and I am sure CTR will be no exception.

The bright orange on the alti. profile is 12K and up....

So, I have a bit of a problem to deal with before July. I don't know how effective riding with a mask and snorkel on would be, and there is no way to spend a sufficient amount of time in Co. before the race. I do think breathing would be beneficial during the ride, so I need to do something to prepare for the paucity of oxygen in Colorado. This is where my wife comes in. My wife is planning to run the Leadville 100 this year, and she is an actual athlete, in contrast to my "aspiring clown-puncher" level of athleticism. One of her teammates hooked her up with a tent company, and we purchased an altitude tent.

You can get high by mail.....

It arrived and we set it up in a few minutes. I got home after my wife on the day it arrived, and she already had the bedroom rearranged to set up the bubble. Our family and friends were a bit concerned that we were going to suffocate in our sleep once we turned it on. The first night I woke up, realized I was still breathing, and then proceeding to have a slight panic attack as I convinced myself I couldn't breathe in my semi-concious state. I was still able to fall back to sleep though, so I guess I wasn't worried enough to unzip the side of the tent, which is all I would have had to do to save myself.

The chuck wagon.

So, we have been getting high every night for the past two weeks. 6000' high to be exact. And it isn't even April 20th.

Desperation

No new snow here in VT. Skiing was good for a few days, but it has since gone downhill quickly...(get it?) Ok, not funny. I have made a valiant effort to stay active this winter and avoid gaining too much weight. I joined a crossfit gym, and the workouts often leaving me wanting to vomit. It is a good option when the weather is absolutely suck-tastic, but when it isn't sneeting/snaining or just plain raining, I want to be outdoors. So, the logical solution would be to ride the bike. But, what do you do when the trails look like this?

Slip and slide.....

Well, I'll tell you what you do, whether you want to know or not. You get a friend who has a box of screws, a drill and two free hours. When you are done drilling and screwing, you have this.

Like a 60 tpi hedgehog.

Making these death tires is just half the fun. After spending two hours (two guys, two drills, two tires, all in two hours. Not a fast process) you get to mount these m$)#$*)%)($ sharp tires. It took me about a half an hour to get both tires on. It took me another half hour to get the tubes seated correctly.

It was truly something I never want to do again, until I think about how fun this is. With the recent thaw/freeze cycle, our local trails now have an inch thick glaze all over them. This glaze makes them quite treacherous if you don't have some type of spike on your footwear or tire, as I discovered two seconds before I took this picture. I was trying to get across the trail near the tree Marc is turning around, but I ended up almost sliding into the stream bed that is immediately to the left of the frame. Luckily, I was able to grab a small pine tree and get my camera ready before Marc cruised by. The glaze, besides being lethal, also smooths out all the rocks and roots that we typically deal with. It actually made the trails a lot of fun to ride, with quarter inch spikes biting into the ice. They bit so well it was almost like riding with resistance on a trainer. At the very least, I will be able to ride the luge track trails around my house until we get enough snow to get back into the woods.

Not exactly what I was going for.

So, with a big plan for next summer, I decided to head out and test my ability to ride long on consecutive days after bike camping. New bags arrived a while ago, and the message from the guy who makes them was a sign. At least I took it as a sign. I needed to go out and do a long ride. I convinced my friend Marc to come along, although he rarely needs convincing. We packed up our gear and set out from my house around 3:30 with 2 and a half hours of daylight and charged up lights to see how far we could get. We rode a mix of trail and road towards Stowe. After taking several wrong turns (all uphill) we found where we wanted to go and made it into Stowe's downtown where we decided to set up camp. We rode trails to the high school, and then hit the bike path hoping to make it to a secluded place to camp away from the main drag. Unfortunately, it was getting late and we ended up camping across the river from the bike path behind a stand of fir trees, hoping they keep us out of sight. We set up our tarp tents and got comfy, then made dinner. I chose cous cous, while Marc went for the Ramen. We crashed pretty hard after dinner, as the 4 hours we rode tooks us about 40 miles with 4000 ft of climbing. Sleep came pretty easy, although in the middle of the night a loud "pop" startled me awake. I immediately thought Marc had let his little campfire get to big and my fuel canister exploded. Thankfully, there was no fire, and Marc was sound asleep. I thought nothing of it and went back to sleep. Waking up in the morning was a bit tough, as sleep was fitful. We packed up, made oatmeal for breakfast and started to head out. Marc took off before me to visit a port-o-let on the bike path. That was when I noticed the large tear in my rear tire. I guess it wasn't a great idea to use my 4 year old tires for this journey. To make the morning even better, it started to rain. I had to ride to Marc who was about a mile up the bikepath. It was a slow, wet ride, punctuated by the lump of the valve stem every time my wheel rotated. I actually felt pretty good, but with no cash or cards, there was no chance of repair or finding a new tire. I caught up to Marc resting under a covered bridge, where we called anyone we thought would take pity on us and pick us up. My wife was out running, Marc's parents were out, but his brother came to our rescue. Not the best way to end a bikepacking trip, but I certainly learned a few lessons.

Rationalizing the irrational

I enjoy riding my bike. Up until 2005, I didn't really think about bike riding. Getting a job at a bike shop helped increase my interest in biking. Living one mile from an outdoor center that holds weekly races, has loads of sweet singletrack, and even a bike camp for kids increased my interest even more.

Then, I learned that I live smack dab in the middle of a mountain bike paradise. I still haven't ridden all the "local" trails, and I would rather ride than do most other things. I guess my point with all this is that biking has become a huge part of my life, and I really enjoy the experiences I have had, the people I have met, and the opportunities that await me because I ride my bike.

From racing at the foot of Mount Washington for 24 hours

To seemingly endless climbs out West, that lead to even longer downhills,

Biking makes me happy.

So I guess it isn't too crazy that I want to attempt the Colorado Trail race next summer. I have read numerous blogs, articles, and even talked to people who did it this year. All of this has helped me realize that I have no idea what I am getting myself into. 500 miles? HIGH altitude? 60,000 feet of climbing? What the hell am I thinking? I know that I am going to have to train, train some more, train a little bit more, and then train a lot more, but I think I can do it. I believe that I am going to have fun, and have an unforgettable experience.

But........I feel a bit selfish. So, I think that my ride should have some positive effect that transcends testing my self, because I may fail. Okay, it is a strong possibility that I will fail, but hey, at least I will have tried.

SO, the positive affect I am going for is sending kids to bike camp. For the past few summers I have worked at Catamount Outdoor Center as a camp counselor. Catamount Mountain Bike Academy (MBA) was started in the 90s by Eric Bowker. If you have ever met him, you know that he is a great guy, and that you will never forget his laugh for as long as you live. He has taught more kids how to mountain bike than Justin Bieber had fans, and he remembers a surprising majority of them. He makes sure that every camper gets to enjoy the nature preserve that his family has created at Catamount, a non profit organization with the mission "to promote family and community well being through activity and education in a natural environment"

So I want to help raise money to send less fortunate kids to camp. I set up a fundraising page, and have a goal of $1,000, which would send about ten kids to camp, and hopefully change their outlook on life, but at very least give them the opportunity to fall in love with the bike.

If you could, please check out my fundraising page, and help me send kids to camp!!!

What the future holds....

Yes, I do have a blog. I am sure this a surprise to many of you, and I am sure those of you who knew this already are just as surprised that I am writing. Summer is over, although there is still a lot left and it is night riding season! It was a good summer. Trips to Cali, Oregon and riding in beautiful Vermont in between.

All told, it was a great summer for riding, but not a great summer for racing. Lots of flats in Canada, no 24 hour race, and a puking fit 5 miles into the Vermont 50 made it hard to put a lot of importance on racing this year. In retrospect, not having a big race to plan for made racing an afterthought, while riding and having fun was definitely the main priority. Nevertheless, I was feeling a bit left out the weekend of Great Glen. I didn't sign up this year, and my family was having a "camping" reunion in Freedom, NH. I live approximately 155 miles (okay, not approximately) away from Freedom. I wanted to attend the reunion, but I also wanted to get in a bike ride. So, I packed up my camping gear into some dry bags, threw on my hydration pack, and set out to cross the twin states. Just to make things interesting, I wanted to take my mountain bike, and ride as much trail/dirt road as possible. To make things even more interesting, I decided to take my single speed. To make things even MORE interesting, I decide to let google maps decide my route, using the directions function and clicking the "bike" button. Great idea.

As you can see from the map above, there was no way to avoid copious amounts of pavement. However, I was able to stay mostly on dirt, class IV roads, and even some bike path through most of VT. On the way into NH it was mostly pavement and not a ton of fun. I ended up climbing over Kinsman Notch, which I had never visited before. It was breathtaking.

The descent was chilly, but it was good to be heading into civilization after 30 miles through WILDerness. Not much between Woodsville and Campton. At eight at night, light was failing and I started to look for a place to sleep. It was pretty dark, but I found a nice field with a river at the end and a great view of the wide open sky. Sleep came quickly, but the mosquitoes and made sure I didn't get too much rest. The tarp I brought kept me dry, but not bringing a sleeping bag or something bug proof was a mistake.

On the next day, I woke up to see that I had slept below a ridge with a line of houses on it. Oops. I hope they liked watching me change in the morning. I packed up and headed out to visit one of my teenage stomping grounds. I grew up in a small town, and we spent a lot of time in the National Forest to the North of town. Sandwich Notch road goes through the forest and is about 3 miles from my parents house. I rode through memory lane, taking several detours and visiting some landmarks.

I stopped at my parents for lunch and to visit with my father. I even helped him build a compost bin. Then I slept for an hour, packed up and headed out to Freedom. The ride was uneventful, mostly dirt and pavement. I met my sisters and brothers and all their kids at the campground, and hung out for the rest of the weekend. It was a great trip. It also helped me choose my race for next year.

The Colorado Trail Race.

It is going to be a long winter.

Summa time.

Yeah, so it is summer. Not much time/enthusiasm for blogging. Way back in June I went to Canada to race. Lots of fun, although not the result I was hoping for. 3 flats, 2.5 hours of walking through the Quebec forest and the VICIOUS black flies (I still have scars) and a race director the wouldn't let me drop out led to a 9 hour finish time. Two days later, off to California to watch the wife race, got to ride there, although I should have brought my skis, as most of the good trails were still under the snow.

Once we got back, did some road riding (lots of rain) and have recently ridden more on the trails and even started racing. The last two weeks were full of riding, with two races. The first was the Eastern Cup 6 hour race, which had lots of friends and locals racing and was a ton of fun. I managed to finish second overall racing the singlespeed, which helped after such a debacle in Canada.

This weekend was the Darkhorse 40. The trails here are sweet. Supah sweet. Wicked pissah sweet. My friend Marc described it perfectly;

Marc: "These trails have the best singletrack in New England."

Me: "Marc, New York isn't part of New England."

Marc: "I know, they're just that F-ing good."

The race started off with a 2.5 mile fire road. I hate roads. The pack stayed together through the first half mile, and then I got impatient. I was feeling pretty good, and wanted to get to the singletrack. I started to lead out, and stayed on the front until the second climb on the road. Two people went off the front, and I stayed on them thinking a group of three would work well on the extensive singletrack portion of the race. I snuck to front again and started to break away when I felt the rear end of my bike start to bounce, and then sag. Shit. another flat. I pulled off to the side and frantically pulled my wheel off. My friend Marc stopped to help me fix the flat, despite my protestations. He said he didn't want to be caught in the hectic pace and handed me a tube and was on his way. I topped off the tube with my Co2 cartridge and hopped on the tail end of the sport wave that was passing me. I felt a bit fired up and passed people frantically on the single track. I rode like a man possessed on the first lap, which after the initial road slog was composed of about 17 miles of singletrack. FAST, flowy singletrack. I didn't realize it until the second lap, but I burned quite a few matches trying to catch every rider I saw ahead of me. Midway through the second lap I fizzled out, struggling up every hill and battling to turn the pedals over. I managed to finish the lap with only two geared riders passing me, and met Marc, dressed and showered at the finish. He had ridden 10 miles and pulled the plug, opting to enjoy the barbecue and beverage sponsors rather than suffering. (He thinks that full throttle tubing for 2 hours on Friday night might have taken something out of him.)

Marc thought I finished in 4th, and I was happy with that. We filled up on the post race bbq and enjoyed the company of the other riders. Darkhorse Cycles knows how to put on a race. The events (singlespeedapalooza is also a Darkhorse production) are lots of fun to ride and hang out at. We hung out for results, and it turned out I finished in second, which was a welcome surprise. It was a great weekend of racing, and now I just have to decide on Great Glen.....