Ann and I did the 2007 Alien Run race yesterday in Aztec. There was a great turnout, especially from the Durango contingent, and the field was much stronger than at last years race due to rescheduling for April rather than July. A highlight of the day for me was being able to be on the starting line with racing legend Travis Brown who threw down a course record 1:38 time for the win. Of course, that's the only time I saw him that day, except at the racers lunch afterward. That's Travis in the picture accepting the first place award. He rode a cool looking bike with a 29er wheel up front and a 26-inch wheel on the rear. Team Health Fx from Durango took the majority of the other podium positions from what I saw.

I entered the 40-44 Sport Class, which turned out to be the most competitive of the Sport groups that day. I converted the Dean into a straight 9-speed and am really glad I didn't try it as a singlespeed. The course started out on a 1/4 mile stretch of hardpack dirt road that was a sprint to a five mile stretch of singletrack they call the "mountain view" trail, some of which was newly cut trail. This stretch was tricky and full of off camber turns and sand pits and few places to pass. I managed to pass two riders in this stretch, but my HR was maxed during that first 5 miles, so I had to back off once we got to the first section of gas line road. That's when I got passed back by a few of the experts I somehow managed to get in front of at the start, and by an expert woman from Team Healthfx that I had passed earlier in the singletrack. After this things were pretty spread out and I basically rode alone the rest of the time. From the five mile point on, it was a hodge podge of trails/gas line roads to the best part of the course, the Alien Run singletrack loop. This section is a blast and one of the best designed trails in the state IMO. In the last 4 miles of the race, my legs were getting a bit crampy, and unfortunately, I ended up losing a couple of spots.

My goal before the race was for a 2 hour time, which seems realistic for me on any given day. So, given the fact that I'd been backpacking the week before the race, I'm ten pounds too heavy at 170, the 85 degree temps, a loose hub giving me shifting problems, I ended up about where I expected with a 2:07 time over 24 miles. As best I can figure, as some of the name tags were blowing off the results board, I ended up 10th overall in sport out of about 23 to 25 riders, but 6 of those guys were in my age group. Next year, I get to throw it down with the 45 plus geezer class!! Lots of room to improve but at least I know I'm solidly at Sport level.

Ann was slated to do beginner class, but we found out before the race, that they were going to turn the beginners around before ever getting to the alien run trail, which is the best part of the course. So, another girl, talked Ann into moving up to Sport class so she could ride the funnest part of the trail. Considering she didn't get any sleep the previous two nights, Ann did awesome with a time of about 2:53. She (like me) was really nervous before the race, and though she was the last finisher, she beat a ton of people who SAG'd, or stopped short, and there were no other 47 year old women who even finished the sport race. So, I'm very proud of her!!

It was an extremely well run race and the volunteer support was top notch. Maybe see you there, same time, same place in 2008?

We were guests of the Sovereign Havasupai Nation within the Grand Canyon. The people of the blue-green water as the photos attest. They are a really interesting people and they tolerate outsiders, but would rather greet any of the 450 or so tribal members who live there in their native tongue. The only way in and out is by foot, horse, or helicopter. We backpacked in and out and put around 30 miles on our hiking boots in the process. The place is really beyond description and was worth every hot, dusty mile when we got to the spectacular waterfalls, and some of the amazing archeological sites. Made it to Navajo, Havasu, and Mooney, which required a semi-scary near vertical descent on chain ladders. One thing I learned, is that cycling is not good training for backpacking. I’m sure I never got out of the lower end of HR zone 2 while packing, but my legs and calves were (are) toast after climbing back out of the Canyon. I highly recommend this trip to anyone who is able and can wait up to 6 to 12 months for a permit.

More from Supai. Grand Canyon, AZ.

Some Arizona Trail love near Flag. Hit it up after the Grand Canyon backpack trip. Fun, mostly easy trail. Legs were toast from carrying the backpack though. Beaver Street for dinner and good IPA, and Macy’s for great coffee and healthy food post ride. Need to get back to ride more around here.

Here's what the last weeks storm did for the snowpack. The Sangre de Cristos fared pretty well. First significant precip. we've had in some time. Intervals last night on the SS. A good 1 hour workout. Tired today, cause I never sleep good after hammering after work. Need to start doing those rides before work so I won't be so hyper in the evenings. Will be switching gears briefly this weekend for some weight bearing exercise. May take a few days to get the pics and story posted, but I'll get it up here as soon as I can.

Here’s the neighborhood tulip thief. She just likes the colorful tops though. It was supposed to be turkey trumping dawn till dusk, as I haven’t missed opening of the season in many moons, but a sick pup put the nix on even those plans, and my bow never saw the light of day. Turns out he’s OK, but he gave us a scare and he kept us up all night crying, till we got him into the clinic. One of the joys of having pets.

With the original plans changed, I got some nice foothills rides in. Saturday took the SS out for a 22-mile cruise through the south foothills with Ann. She’s shown a lot of improvement on the new bike and handles most of the downhill tech stuff just fine, but I need to work more with her on the climbing tech obstacles to get her confidence up. Sunday, we took turns babysitting the sick pup, so when it was my turn to play, I got out for a north to south foothills ride. Got 31 miles in, just over 3 hours riding time. Climbing was a bit over 3K and though I was lacking sleep, and tired, it was a nice day to be out.

Though I got some nice dirt miles in this weekend, they don’t even compare to the miles that Matt rode to his singlespeed victory at Dawn till Dusk. He’s got a good write-up and pics from the race, so check it out. He's definitely kicked it up another notch for 2007.

A Cedtero kind of Friday. Cedro, Otero, and Cedro again. Took the geared bike. Weather was crazy. First warm and sunny, then windy and cold. Must have been a 30 degree temp swing. Anyway, I rode 40 miles, climbed 5,093 feet, with the average heart rate at 142bpm, and I burned about 3,000 calories and I'll be out on the trails again tomorrow. Excellent.

Here's a shot looking across the Colorado toward the Kokopelli Trail near Fruita a few years back. Put it on your list to ride if you haven't been.

Dirt Saturday and some great pavement on Sunday plus some good weekday mileage. Hit the foothills on the SS on Saturday with Ann and Dr. Mo(nique). Blustery winds and lots of trail traffic, but a fun 2 hours on the trails.

Sunday, I tagged along on a road ride led by ironwoman Laurie A and a few folks from the NMVS team. As soon as we hit Old 66, Brad lit up a fast pace, and I knew I was in for a good ride. Some of the slower riders dropped back into their own group and I tried to hang with the faster group. Once we got to Tijeras, Todd took off and we didn't see him again until we got to Oak Flats. I rode along with Laurie and we kept a nice pace and she was kind enough not to drop me. We kept Brad and ironman Keith within a respectable distance, but couldn't close the gap without going anaerobic and there were a lot more miles to cover that day. Regrouped at the Oak Flat store and brought it back around to 66 and the burque. Once back on Tramway, Marty M, roadie teammate to Damian, and his riding companion picked up our wheels and he was extolling the virtues of the 29-inch wheeled MTB for folks like me with long femurs. Nice guy, and darn strong too. As everyone started peeling off for home along Tramway, I needed some extra time so I did a short out and back along Tramway with Laurie, then hit a few short climbs in the neighborhood to finish off the ride at 60+ miles. It was a great ride for me and I did much better on the fueling plan this week. Cut the basal insulin dose by 1/3, and the fast acting insulin by 1/2 pre-ride, and drank Perpetuem consitently throughout the ride along with gel shots. I coudln't eat any solid food because I was getting a little stomach upset, but the Hammer liquid diet kept me going great, along with endurolytes. Blood sugars were a little higher than I like upon finishing, so I may have to take a little fast acting during those rides that I'm consuming that many carbs and calories. It would be nice to get things dialed so I didn't have to take any shots during a ride, but still getting that figured out.