After hemming and hawing about bindings for my new lightweight ski setup for a few weeks, I settled on Dynafit Speed Radicals (mainly for price, but also adjustability). After a pretty long week, some cool mountain air and light exercise sounded like just what I needed. I buzzed up to Loveland after work on Friday and was moving right after sunset.
Photos
Sophie’s first ski day
Things have been a bit hectic but look to be settling down soon, which is coinciding well with winter finally showing up in Colorado. I got out for an easy skin up the road at Berthoud Pass last weekend (it’s still thinner than I prefer for any real backcountry skiing), mostly to try out our new boots (me in the La Sportiva Spitfire, Lauren in the Dynafit One) and to get Sophie some “practice” playing in the snow.
First Look – La Sporiva Spitfire, Lo5, Ski Crampons, and HiGlide Skins
For a few years now, my ski mountaineering setup has consisted of Black Diamond Kilowatts, Dynafit Verticals, and BD Ascension skins. Boots have changed a couple times, from heavier and less-precise to lighter and tighter. I got my first look at La Sportiva’s new ski mountaineering line at SIA last winter, and was immediately intrigued as they seemed to hit every point on my list of what was lacking with my current equipment. Continue reading
Schoolyard CX
As a condition of joining the Happy Coffee team, each member agrees to host a race. This same race last year was my favorite (despite the broken chain), so I volunteered Lauren and myself to make sure a good time was had by all this weekend. This year’s race schedule has had the SW4 class (Lauren’s category) starting at 8am. Setting up meant an even earlier start to the day for us, and we were on-site putting up the tent in the pre-dawn, sub-freezing temperatures as frost grew on our bikes, car, table, the grass… everything, really.
Boulder Ultra Cross
Boulder Ultra CX was possibly the hardest and most enjoyable race I’ve done all year. No official support, no course markings, and best of all – no entry fees. The course was 50 miles long, which I successfully navigated due to the GPS mounted on my bike’s stem. It included 6,000′ of climbing, including one uninterrupted 20-mile long, 3,300′ climb. The course looked a little something like Continue reading
XTERRA USA Championships – Ogden/Snowbasin, UT
Two weeks ago at this time, I was in Ogden, UT getting ready for the XTERRA (off-road triathlon) national championship race, an invitation-only affair with standings driven by a point series that I raced in from April through August. Seventh in the region in my age group was enough to get me a spot, so two weeks ago Lauren and I hit the road for Ogden. The wildfires all across the west made for a very orange sunset.
Kenosha Pass Mountain Biking and Leaf-Peeping
On Sunday, I finally made it up for a ride I’ve been wanting to get in for a couple years – Kenosha Pass during the height of the leaf-changing season. Hans and Tracy (of The Best Muffin Blog fame), Chris, Lauren, and I met on top of the pass early on Sunday to find 31F-degree temps. It was the first cold air I’ve experienced since spring, and I’m eager for more. Not a whole lot of words to go along with this one, just some photos of beautiful scenes.
Getting ready to head out:
Nice singletrack through the aspen:
XTERRA Curt Gowdy
This is a few weeks late, but better late than never. A few weeks ago I raced XTERRA Curt Gowdy, put on by Without Limits Productions. They put on great races, and this was no exception. There’s nothing noteworthy about the pre-race – parking was easy, packet pickup was easy, setting up transition, again, easy. The biggest problem of the day was the heat. The late start combined with the June heatwave made for a painful day – and waiting in a wetsuit to start was rough. My goal for the day went from crushing dreams to just making it through in one piece.
Mt. Elbert Sunrise Bike Descent
I’d hoped to do this last summer, but schedules just never worked out. Everything came together this past weekend though – no one was busy with other plans, good weather was in the forecast (save a bit of wind), and there was a mostly-full moon.
Originally, we were going to start pretty early in the morning and finish up mid-day. I half-jokingly suggested to Andrew that we just do it overnight, summit at sunrise, and finish up early. After thinking about it for a minute, the overnight plan made a lot of sense – not having to wake up at 2am is always nice, and we’d miss the hordes of mid-day hikers by being off the mountain before most of them even started.
ITU Cross Tri World Championships
Last season was my first season dabbling in triathlon. I did four races – a full IM, an XTERRA, a half IM, and a sprint. I enjoyed the XTERRA far more than the rest, and did much better in it than the rest to boot – second place in my (less than competitive) age group – and decided that off road tris would be my focus for this season. A few months ago, I learned that the southeast regional championship, held in Pelham, AL each year, would also be an ITU world championship race, and that I’d be racing for Team USA should be accepted. I jumped at the opportunity, and received my acceptance letter a few days after applying. A few months of good training went by, and following a very long drive, Lauren and I found ourselves at Oak Mountain State Park.
Through Polarized Eyes 