2008 TdFR - Leg One

Welcome to the first of three reports regarding the 2008 TdFR course. The 2008 TdFR course was announced earlier in the month and I took it upon myself to head out to the course with my GPS so riders could have as much knowledge as possible before the big day arrives on September 20th, 2008.

While looking at the course list there isn't a doubt in my head that this will be the hardest course in the six year history of the event. That being said, I think the trails being used will make you work on the uphill, but will reward each of the riders handsomely on the descents.


Leg one is what I will be focusing on today. It includes White Ranch trails, Chimney Gulch, Lookout, and Apex trails. In all, leg one is 21.27 miles in length with 9.5 miles of ascending, 1.1 miles of flat riding, and 10.67 miles of descent. At the end of this leg riders can expect to have climbed 4,375 ft and descended 4,229 ft.

In years past White Ranch has been a bit of a disappointment for me. It has always been a long arduous climb up Belcher Trail before hitting some nice single track and then descending again on Belcher Trail. That will not be the case this year. After riding this years trails at White Ranch, I can actually say I'm excited for the White Ranch portion of this ride.

From the parking lot riders will slowly make their way through the sandpit and up Belcher, but instead of climbing the wide dirt road, riders will take the first trail split onto Whipple Tree Trail. Whipple Tree Trail treats riders to a nice single track ride as it winds its way into the valley before intersecting with Longhorn Trail. Riders will take a left onto Longhorn, which is where the real climbing starts. Climb your way up Longhorn, take a right onto Shorthorn, then take a left again on Longhorn. Longhorn will provide one more difficult ascent before intersecting with Maverick Trail. Maverick will let the riders regroup a bit as it has a couple small ascents, but for the most part winds it's way parallel to the hillside slope before connecting with Belcher Trail. As you may have gathered earlier, I'm not a fan of Belcher Trail, but the best way in my opinion to ride this trail is to ride it downhill, which is exactly what will be done all the way back to the White Ranch parking lot.

From the White Ranch parking lot, riders will get on paved roads and head towards Chimney Gulch.

At the base of Chimney Gulch you have to get back into climbing mode because this trail takes you all the way to the top of Lookout Mountain. The most difficult portion of the climb is the initial climb out of the valley, which is only about a mile in length. Once past the switchbacks the slope of the trail decreases and you are able to spin with realative ease towards the top. Midway up the climb riders need to cross the road and pass through a parking lot before reconnecting with the trail. If the climb has started to wear on you a bit, feel free to take a breather on benches near the parking lot before tackling the second half of the climb. Although the trail is not overly technical, the long climb can make the last effort needed to summit Lookout Mountain a bit difficult.

Once at the top of Lookout there is a visitors center. Bathrooms and water is available for those who need it. Once rested and watered, riders will hop onto Lookout Trail, which will terminate at the top of the Apex Trail.


In years past, Apex Trail has been a straight shot down the mountain to the Heritage Square parking lot. That is not the case this year. In fact, Apex Trail proper will only be ridden a short distance with additional spurs from the trail adding distance and difficulty to this once easy section of the route.

From the top of Apex Trail, riders will ride to the intersection of Apex and Enchanted Forest. Riders will take a right onto Enchanted forest where they can enjoy this challenging section of trail before reconnecting with Apex. A right onto Apex trail again will lead riders downhill until they reach Sluicebox Trail. Riders will need to take a left onto Sluicebox and prepare themselves for the final climb before the lunch break at Matthews/Winters. Sluicebox Trail winds its way up the mountain before connecting with Grubstake Loop Trail. Once on Grubstake Loop, riders will be treated to a non-technical, but extremely gratifying descent towards Apex Trail. Riders will follow Grubstake Loop until reaching the Pick 'n Sledge intersection where they will take a left. Pick 'n Sledge then reconnects with Apex Trail and riders will continue to the Herritage Square Parking lot.

From Herritage Square it back onto the road as riders head towards Matthews/Winters. There riders will have a chance to refuel, before hitting the trail once again to finish the ride.

So... What do you have to look forward to once you are at Matthews/Winters? That is easy, Two more beyond category climbs, and one incredible descent. I'll post more about that in the weeks to come.

Longs Rides In My Future...

I have two (possibly three) big endurance rides coming up in the next couple months, which I badly need to prepare for. First on the list is the 2008 Tour de Front Range, which if you squint slightly while looking at the elevation graph above, you should be able to see the first two major climbs of the TdFR in there. I've been riding the single speed exclusively this summer and I'm pretty excited to say I'll be riding it for the TdFR. If I finish, I'll be the second person in TdFR history to finish it on a single speed. The first and only single speed finisher to date is Chris.

The second is 24 Hours of Moab. I'll be part of a two man team this year with my good friend, Dwight. I couldn't ask for a better person on a bike to ride a duo with. Since grade school we have always been able to push each other to the limits on our bikes. I think we'll make each other ride to and beyond our limits at Moab.

The third possibility is the 12 Hours of Snowmass. My 24 Hour of Moab teammate from last year sent me an email about the race yesterday. I was stoked to see it and thought it could be a good prep ride for both the TdFR and 24 Hours of Moab. However, I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it since it is such short notice. However, the Solo Clydesdale Category is coined as the 12 Hour Solo Clydesdale World Championships!!! I mean, how can I resist that?

2008 TdFR: Date and Route

RIDE DATE:
Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008

THE ROUTE:
ESTIMATED DISTANCE -- 59.35 miles

WHITE RANCH -- meet at 8:30 a.m., wheels rolling at 8:45 -- Belcher, R
on Whipple Tree, L on Longhorn (new, challenging climb), R on
Shorthorn, L on Longhorn, L on Maverick, L on Belcher and back down
(8.65 miles).

ROAD -- Ride Highway 93 to Chimney Gulch (4.1 miles)

CHIMNEY GULCH -- usual route up Chimney to Apex (4.6 miles)

APEX -- Enchanted Forest, RIGHT Apex Trail, (NEW ADDITION STARTS HERE)
L Sluicebox, Grubstake Loop, LPick 'n' Sledge, L Apex Trail (5.8)

ROAD -- Colfax Avenue to Matthews Winters Parking Lot (2 miles)

LUNCH @ Matthews Winters Picnic Area

MW -- Village Walk, L Red Rocks Trail, R Morrison Slide Trail, R Red
Rocks Trail, X Highway 26, continue on Red Rocks Trail over hogback to
Alameda Pkwy (4.3)

ROAD -- R Alameda Pkwy, L Rooney Road to Green Mtn Parking Lot (1.5
miles)

GREEN MOUNTAIN -- Take trail over C-470, STRAIGHT at the 3-way
junction and follow usual route until you hit the 4-way trail
intersection near the water tower (do you know which one I mean?), L
on gravel road to Alameda. (NOT SURE ON MILEAGE -- 2.5 - 3 miles?)

ROAD -- I'm not sure if you dump out on Alameda or Bear Creek, but we
want to take Bear Creek Road south to Morrison Road, cross Morrison
Road and enter Bear Creek Lake Park. (1.7 miles)

BEAR CREEK LAKE PARK -- Follow any trail you like west toward
Morrison, eventually picking up the bike path near Bear Creek Lake
entrance station. (2 miles???)

ROAD/BIKE PATH -- Follow the Bear Creek bike path to Highway 8 in
Morrsion, turn Left. Turn Right on Forest Ave, Right on Vine to Mount
Falcon Trail Head. (2.5 miles)

MOUNT FALCON -- Climb Castle Trail to upper parking lot (3.8 miles)

ROAD -- Ride Mt. Falcon Road to Parmalee Gulch Road, turn RIGHT and
ride to Pence Park/beginning of LOB trail (3 miles)

Pence Park/LOB -- Standard route (8 miles)

ROAD -- Descend Hwy 74 to Morrison (4.4 miles)

END -- Dirt Parking lot at Morrison Road and Rooney Road

BIG ASS DISCLAIMER:
This is not an official event, and you can choose to do all of it or
parts of it. The course is not marked, there are no course marshals,
and there is zero, nada, zip support. You are on your own and will be
riding AT YOUR OWN RISK. The only thing we do is decide the route and
pick a start time. The rest is up to you and requires your own
planning.

AND FOR THE RECORD:
1) The Tour de Front Range is scheduled for September 20th at 8:45 AM
and will be starting from the lower White Ranch parking lot.

2) This will be a point-to-point ride so arrange a shuttle with a
friend or expect an additional 5+ miles to be added to your ride since
you will need to ride from Morrison back to your car at White Ranch.

3) All trail rules and etiquette are to be strictly followed during
this ride. If you are looking to ride it as a race and not as a
social ride, then stay home! Please be embassadors for our riding
community during this ride and prove that mountain bikers respect and
belong on the trail.

Crocs-Hating Closet: I'm Coming Out!

If you have spent any time with me talking about fashion, and lets face it, non of my guy friends have, you would know my deep hatred for the eyesore of a shoe called Crocs. Up to this point the only person who knew of my hatred for the shoe is my wife. Today she sent me a link to an article titled "Make. It. Stop." written by Steve Tuttle at Newsweek.

Reading Steve's rant about Crocs was pure joy. It rang so true to my soul that I was willing to come out of my Crocs-hating closet and tell the world,"Although I have little to no fashion sense, I still have enough sense to never wear Crocs!"

In the article Steve Tuttle sums it up wonderfully with the following quote:
"If you think about it, the Crocs company should really be admired. P. T. Barnum would be proud. They've managed to separate money from the wallets of millions and millions of seemingly sane people who wake up, look in the closet, and actually decide: 'Today I'll leave the house wearing these neon-green Dutch bubble shoes with Swiss-cheese holes in them. Maybe I'll even buy some little plastic strawberries or bananas and jam them in the sweat holes, just to jazz things up and make the bacteria incubate faster.' That's fine. I say do whatever you want in the privacy of your own home. Let your Crocs freak flag fly. But don't make the rest of us watch."

So having read the article my advice to you is:

1) If you hate Crocs as much as I do, read the article. It is like Steve read your mind and wrote it down for you.

2) If you love Crocs, but owned stock and now have a reason to hate Crocs since their stock value tanked, you should read the article. It won't help, but it will make you laugh at yourself.

3) If you love Crocs, didn't own stock, and have been lucky enough to not yet get your Croc shoe stuck in an escalator, you should read this article. You'll come around eventually...

You can read the article at Newsweek.com
http://www.newsweek.com/id/150240/&GT1=43002

How many local pros can you name?

Can you name 5 racers who have raced in the semi-pro/pro pack in 2008? You can!? Well, then can you name 102? I can... Of course, I don't know all these people, but using the mashup I created for the VCC I've been able to learn all sorts of neat information.

For instance:

Bob Kiva is currently the oldest known competitor in the pack at 45 years of age?

-and-

Bruce Patten is the youngest known competitor at 17 years of age?

-and-

The median age of all semi-pro/pro competitors who have raced in the WP series is 32 years of age.

Are you interested in learning more about our local pros? I've created a web page listing all the pros who have raced in Colorado during the 2008 series.

VCC Start List (click here)

The Power of Nice

"The Power of Nice" by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval was the first in my recent spree of business topic books. I originally picked it up because I had been reading some pretty heavy books and I needed a light (quick) book to read - to cleans the pallet - before diving into other heavier books on my "I want to read" list. This book was sitting on my wife's nightstand and the cover alone - a bright yellow cover with a big smile on it resembling a happy face - made me think this would be the the quick, light read I needed.

While reading this book I found it to be in tune with the current culture of business. Coined as a book about "How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness.", it goes against the grain of thinking that business is a heartless cut-throat environment where decisions are based purely on the bottom line. Merit and integrity are now, more than ever, getting their fair shake in the business world. This book outlines the values of kindness and dives into case studies that supported the idea that kindness will get you further in the business world.

That being said, I feel many of the values of kindness shouldn't need to be written in a book. Personally, a book that tells you how to be nice is much like a book that tells you, "The sky is blue" and "fire is hot" it goes without saying. The reason it goes without saying is because it is a fundamental of life (a.k.a common sense).

When I finished reading I told her exactly that, I felt the book was about common sense. She looked at me as if I should know better and sarcastically said, "Yes, but how often do common sense and business work together?" She was being sarcastic, but it is a legitimate argument.

The principles outlined in the "Power of Nice" are not new, nor ground breaking; they are fundamentals. As a child, how often did your parents tell you to be nice, play fair, be gentle with the family pet? I don't know about you, but it was at least a hundred times... per day. Thanks to my parents I've been learning how to be nice since I was learning how to walk. Being nice is a cornerstone of my foundation because my parents realized that it is a fundamental of life.

As an adult how much experience do you have at your career? 5, 10, 20 years? Now, how long have you been being nice to people? I'm guessing at least 18 years longer than your career experience. That is a lot of experience at being nice! Wouldn't that be an incredible skill set to bring into your current job?

For those who are willing to embrace this way of thinking about business it is empowering. Empowering not only in the business world, but in all areas of life because if you practice being nice at work, you are in essence practicing a fundamental of life for at least eight hours a day. This does have it's rewards.

As Randy Pausch wrote in The Last Lecture, "You've got to get the fundamentals down, because otherwise the fancy stuff is not going to work."

In the case of work, the "fancy stuff" could be the innovation, engineering, or promotions waiting to happen. In the case of personal life, the "fancy stuff" could be a thriving relationship, quality time with your kids, or whatever you want to accomplish. In any case, this book helped remind me of my own definitions of the "Power of Nice" and by relying on my fundamental value of kindness, I'm able to succeed at both work and life.

What I've Been Reading... (Catch Up Post)

I've been on a bit of a reading spree lately and I haven't taken the time to catalog what I've been reading in my blog. The latest topic of interest has been business. Like it or not I've reached a point in my career where I need these books to open my mind to new ways of thinking. What I'm trying to say is that I'm reading books that will teach me new tricks before this dog is too old (or stubborn) to learn new tricks.

Rather than trying to create a big blog post that encompasses all the books I've read; I'll have a post for each of them. That way, if I get bored or tired, I can stop and pick it up later and not have any unfinished projects left on my plate.

In my following posts I'll be writing about:
The Power of Nice
The One Minute Manager
The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey
The Leadership Pipeline