Ambition Run Amok

Last weekend I participated in an MTB tour up to Idaho City. For those who don’t know it’s about 40 miles north of Boise on the pavement.

We started out down town Sat. morning by dropping our camping gear at the U-Haul and then getting on our bikes and heading out. There were about ~100 other riders.

There were 3 significant climbs before lunch and 2 climbs after lunch totaling 5,700 feet and 43 miles on the first day. I was one of the first few to get to camp which felt pretty good. I thought I was going to be dragging my butt in dead tired, and when I got there I was feeling like I could turn around and do it again.

One guy got hurt before lunch, hit his leg on his handler bars and got some internal bleading. The EMTs transported him to a landing site called in life flight, he’s doing fine.

Later that day the last or the crew was running sweep and had a guy pass out. They tried CPR for 45 minutes while life flight came in, but he didn’t make it. I found out about it Sunday night, the crew couldn’t tell anyone until the family was notified. It was kinda odd, he was 35 and pretty healthy, he knew what he was doing and wasn’t in over his head, but he just passed out and died.

Sat. night in Idaho city was fun, they put on a big pasta feast and I ate a lot (there was also lots of beer, but I just watched people make themselves tipsy). Sun. morning we ate breakfast at a little restaurant and headed back towards home. It was about 42 degrees F when I headed out and it slowly warmed up, great temperature for climbing, a little cool for descending, but all the commuting has helped acclimate my body to colder temps, so I thought it went pretty well.

I made it to lunch somewhere near the front of the group and got my sandwich and sat at a random table. One of the guys was commenting that he would like to hit a single track on the way back to Boise for a little more fun, but his buddy probably wouldn’t go for it. I was still feeling strong, so I piped up and said I’d run it with him. He was a little stronger than me, but I got a bit of a lead on him out of lunch (straight into a 1700′ climb). He caught up near the top of the climb and then I kept up reasonably well on the downhill and most of the next 1500′ climb. Then we headed down the single track which was great fun.

We got back to Boise at about 1:50 pm and I was still feeling good, a little weak, but not near as bad as I had been expecting.

All told,
the ride time was 10:05
distance 97 miles
total ascent 12,500.

For Memorial Day, we went camping up north of McCall at a place called Loon Lake. Great trails and a ways off the beaten path…

Saturday, we road up the ridge to the lake with some beginners and they struggled a little and walked a little, but they made it and we had our snack at the lake.

Another family was up there and and it turns out the Dad was Ken (from a local shop Ken’s Bike Warehouse) his family had good bikes and he had an awesome bike… If you want to buy me a present send over the Specialized Enduro SLR :).

We also some some kitty prints in the sand by the lake.

Good ride going down… back at camp and purely by coincidence we met up with several other people I know from work who were also camping up there that weekend and were planning on riding a different trail up to the lake on Sunday.

So Sunday, came and it was rainy and nasty, but we went out riding anyway… the route up was the non-beginner route (steep, rocky, with cliffs dropping down to a swift river) great fun. We went up to the lake, ate a snack, then came down the ridge but detoured out another trail towards Ruby Meadows. This trail got a little treachous, extended sections were under water with lots of mud, which was all good and fun until we got to the marsh and decided to turn around.

We made it back to camp a bit dirtier for the ride, but it was fun.

It would seem the computer I had on my bike didn’t like the water too much, it died. So I bought a better computer that tracks altitude so I can share more fun stats on my blog.

The Wife’s Blog/

Yep, she’s crazy too!

Makes me happy.

I really like this guy’s balance.

I just wouldn’t think of doing that on a bike.

We adopted another family member recently… here she is…

It’s going to take a little getting used to, but we’re learning.

I had a little roll over on my MTB last Saturday and the chain ring bit me

Bruised my hand too but it doesn’t look like much.

Tammy has gone hard core cyclist and joined a team. Her current goal is to train to compete in the race up Mt. Evans (the top is over 14,000 feet!). Most people get dizzy walking from their car to the outhouse up there and she plans on racing up the whole mountain on a bike!

After that she is participating in MS Global in Italy doing some monster climbs the slow the pros down. This is where she needs help. She has committed to raise $6000 for the MS Society to participate in this event…

To find out more and sponsor her go to the link below:

http://www.tylerhamiltonfoundation.org/tammylucas112.html

For short rides I typically drink powdered Gatorade mixed a little weak. Either orange or lemon lime. I generally avoid water because I am cycling enough that if I don’t maintain my electrolyte balance from day to day I start to feel it.

For longer rides I’ll supplement the Gatorade with CytoMax. CytoMax has a unique flavor that I have grown to like. It has more sustainable nutrition than Gatorade (less of the sugar / sodium overdose side affects). Usually this means about 1/3 Cytomax and 2/3 Gatorade. Sometimes towards the end of the ride I will switch to water and use Gels to for nutrition. I have tried Cytomax Fruit Punch and Apple Berry, both taste fine.

Hammer makes some great energy drinks, but I can get myself to like them. I have tried Perpetum and ughhhh, it just isn’t appealing, it tastes (in my opinion) like a cliff bar in a blender with warm milk. Some people like it, but try it before you buy it, this one isn’t for everyone. Hammer Heed is a little easier to stomach, but the flavor isn’t appealing enough to keep me drinking and staying adequately hydrated.

When you pick a sports drink, pick something you like, if you are riding hard the general advice is 24-32 oz an hour and if it doesn’t taste good, you won’t drink enough.

I have tried a variety of different gels now so I’m going to comment on them…

For overall flavor and feeling like I ate something nutritious the Hammer Gels win. I have enjoyed each flavor I have tried, chocolate, raspberry, and apple. The apple one tastes like apple pie if you let it get warm in your pocket or pack on a sunny day.

I have tried a variety pack of Gu brand gels. The caffeine definitely has an effect and helps me push a little harder… They don’t feel as nutritious as the Hammer gels but the flavor isn’t bad. The banana is quirky, but good, the plain sounds like it should be bad but it’s not that different from the other flavors.

Cliff Shot Gels definitely don’t work for me… I tried the raspberry flavor and found it hard to avoid gagging on it. Maybe some people like the flavor, but not me.

Carb Boom! - I have tried the Kiwi Strawberry and whoa, they are sweet… Sarah says they are too sweat (this is the only food in recorded history that Sarah thinks is too sweet), “but it is still perfectly editable.” I would buy these again.

I’ve seen some big ones on bikes before, but check out the weight rating on this seat… This is the mother of all seats!

http://www.bicycleseats.org/easyseat-deluxe.htm