Stairway to Heaven

If the Beatles had written Stairway to Heaven this is what you would get.

ACL primer

I have been remiss in keeping up with my blog, to all my loyal readers I must profusely appoligize.
The reason behind my absence is of course that I had ACL reconstructive surgery. Please follow along with me as I give you the nuts and bolts of the whole thing. Some descriptions may be graphic in nature, so you might want to put down that muffin while reading.

This diagram shows all the parts of the knee that we will be dealing with today. My ACL or anterior crutiate ligament was snapped in half on a ride that happened in mid August. For a recap of that event you can read about it here. The Articular cartilage was nicked and in need of repair. They used a newish technique called micro fractures wherein the surgeon drills tiny holes in the bone hoping that the scar tissue that forms will take the place of the cartilage. Yummy. My lateral meniscus was folded in half and a third of it had to be removed.

That same knee had been repaired back in 01' by the same doc who did it this time. He was particularly proud of the fact that it was the ligament that failed and not his connections. As a side note please find the PCL in the picture. Good, if you snap this ligament they will not repair it. I know this because of a Thanksgiving day football game and a very special Thanksgiving day trip to the ER.

So how do they put a new tendon in? I'm glad you asked, the doctors take what can best be described as a "bone drill" and make a tunnel that they can insert the new tissue thru.





The tendon is then secured at the top and bottom with bone screws and packed with leftover bone chips to aid bone regeneration.


Here is a x-ray showing the screw and upper connection.



So where do the new tendons come from? Another excellent question. The first time I had this done the I had part of my hamstring removed and used for the replacement parts. That was not an option this time so I opted for used parts or "Cadaver donation," in the spirit of good taste I will leave the description at that.

Now that I am post op 4+ weeks I can say that it hasn't been to bad. The rehab has been much better than the first time around

I-pod stuff

I thought I would share what's on my i-pod.


Jim Post loves his life and so do I.
He also carries off the wet, soggy mustache with dignity.



Who can forget these 5 guys? Their music is as timeless as their fashion.




When it's time to rock Battle Axe does it for me. The lead singer is also quite the artist as you can see by the awesome cover work.



These girls are an incredible story and little Vicki has the voice of an angel..... a blind angel.




Mike Terry can only be compared with the likes of Liberace and Sir Elton John. This live album is a must have for all piano music lovers.



Joyce is HUGE in Japan, I can't believe that I found this album at a garage sale for .50 cents. I could probably get at least $50 for it on ebay.



When I have had a bad day I request Ken and my troubles seem to melt away.



As you can tell Francisco and Fernando really know how to party and I think Tino has a shot at being the next Ricky Martin.






The Reverend Freddie Gage is obviously a lonely man and has inspired other bands like Morrisey and Smashing Pumpkins.




This cover art is obviously a rip-off of Herb Albert's "Whip Cream" album but these 5 British Ladies can really sing.



I saved the best for last. Who knew that Colonel Sanders singing voice was as totally spicy-awesome as his chicken? Then throw in the fact that he is partying in Tijuana with his chicken and you have an album to remember.

Buzz Kill

My brother Daniel has tagged me to list 6 things/habits about myself. I could only come up with one.

1. I don't like listing things about myself. I am not an "inward thinker."



P.S. I do like pie.

Tour de St. George

I rode in the Tour de St. George on the 20th of October. This is the most difficult of the St. George area century rides with about 5300 ft. of climbing. This is also the last big ride of the year.

The weather was perfect until the wind picked up around mile 87, we toughed it out and finished in 5hrs 22min ride time.


Sarah says I am looking thinner. Maybe I need to ride by the photographers next to fat people.

Good news for people who like bad news.

I have been putting off a trip to the doc since I took a tumble back in August. I of course am referring to the post of August 27 where I describe the event in great detail. Feel free to reread the post and get yourselves back up to speed, but I digress.... I had Dr. Andruss check out my wrist first as it has been getting worse. The x-rays looked good so he told me to cowboy up, the bone that looked a little cracked was on it's way to healing and it would feel better when it stopped hurting.
We then moved on to the knee. The knee that he himself had rebuilt in 01', he gave it a couple of quick tugs and said the four words that crushed my soul, "your ACL is blown." He followed that jem up with "when do you want to have surgery to repair it?" So I guess I have been riding my bike all over this state with a knee that is held in place with duct tape, chewing gum and inertia.
I have decided on November 14Th we will do the cutting and I am looking forward to 4 weeks of crutches and 6 weeks of rehab like I look forward to doing a nickel at Chino. For those of you who don't get that joke it means I am loathe to begin the whole process.

Donations are being accepted to help my family cope at Deseret First Credit Union and at 7-11 retailers near you.

Toroweap

Last week I took Maddie and Megan and we drove 90 miles on a dirt road to the Toroweap overlook. It is one of the only locations that you can see the Colorado River from the rim of the Grand Canyon.
Sarah did not join us, she does not enjoy dirt roads.

We arrived just as the sun was setting so the lighting is a little funky.
The view from the top. It is really a long way down;



The girls messing around on the rocks;


There are 10 campsites available on a first come first serve basis and I believe we were the 11th group to arrive. The girls were disappointed until I told them that we could backtrack to the BLM property and camp wherever we wanted.
I managed to get the tent up as darkness enveloped us. Without a flashlight we built a fire and cooked hot dogs, the girls of course thought it was awesome.
The air mattress must of had a slow leak because I awoke at 3am with a rock embedded in my right hip. I toughed it out until 7 when the girls awoke. We got up, packed up and drove home via Colorado City eating Doritos and powdered raspberry filled doughnuts on the way.

I want to give you a list of things to remember if you ever go out there.
1. Go early
2. Bring a flashlight.
3. Check the air mattress the night before.
4. If you don't enjoy bumpy roads don't go.
5. Go out and back thru Colorado City it shaves an hour of the ride each way.
6. At 60mph dirt roads smooth right out, and when you do hit a bump try to go limp and enjoy the split second of zero gravity.

Why don't I live in Moab?

Off to Moab for another century ride, this one benefitting the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
I dragged along my old buddies Dusty and Chris so I didn't have to have dinner alone. We did some 4 wheeling on friday in Dustin's Jeep and they did some more on Saturday while I took a ride. Sorry no photos.


The ride started off a little cold and rainy, I will admit that I should have worn more clothes.

Yours truelly powering up a hill past a bunch of chicks.


There were some other local celebs representing. Kelly and Sally looking smooth.



After about 20 miles riding along the Colorado River the 100 mile course takes a turn up the Castle Valley Road with a 16 mile climb into the La Sal mountains.

This is what the road normally looks like. The scenery is absolutely stunning.


This is a picture of Preist and Nuns formation as seen on Saturday.




The hill got progressively steeper and the weather progressively worse. At the top we were at an altitude of 6800 ft. and it was snowing. I think I mentioned that I should have worn more clothes.
The last pitch was an 18% grade, for the record I think that is as steep as I can pedal. Many people were walking and/or hurling.

I nearly froze to death on the way back down the hill. It was as miserable as I have ever been on a bike.


The scenery continued to be so amazing I kept wondering how come I only come to Moab twice a year. I would live there if I could make a living.


This is a shot from 30,000 feet of the Colorado River and the town of Moab




Here is a bunch more eye candy. Enjoy












Note to my wife; please bury me here.

Heber ride report

The Heber Valley Century Ride is touted as "the most scenic ride in Utah." I have to say that it did not disapoint. The leaves were changing and the colors are at their most vivid as you can see in the photo below.

This picture not only shows the great colors but a great example of someone who will not finish 100 miles. There is a 50 mile option for those interested, I'm guessing that's this guy.

The first 50 miles were a breeze as I attached myself to this gentlemens back tire and hung on for dear life.

The way you can get all that cool BYU swag is by being very, very fast. I did tell him that I was willing to take my turn pulling for a while but we would have to slow down.......he declined.

We traveled around Heber, by the Homestead Resort and up to the Wasatch State Park before crossing the hiway and making the climb up and over towards Kamas. The views in the park and around Jordanelle Reservoir were stunning.
We rode past Rockport Reservoir and turned around in the lovely town of Coleville. There was supposed to be a rest stop at the Ward House in Coleville but we had got there so fast all they had was tap water, the food truck had not got there yet so we continued on.

The wind had picked up blowing north which had aided our speed on the way out but on the return trip it was right in our faces and it slowed us down considerably. I lost BYU boy and managed about 11 mph for the next 45 miles wanting to throw up the whole way.

I saw the rain coming and quickly called my brother Daniel to come get me in Kamas. He had been in Park City riding the alpine slide with his wife Sarah and my to daughters Megan and Maddie.

They picked me just before the rain so apparently this is a picture of someone who doesn't finish 100 miles either.



Thanks to Zazoosh for being my photographer for the day and to Daniel and Sara for hosting us in their lushly appointed yet not overly ostentatious apt.

Out

He who hesitates is lost.

On august 18th some friends and I headed up to Deer Valley to ride the lifts and ride the mountain. It turned out to be the worst bike trip, nay the worst trip I have ever had.
I will leave out the minutia and focus only on the big disappointments.

We left St. George at 4:30 on friday afternoon and after a multitude of stops, some necessary, some completely useless we arrived at the condo in Park City at 11:15pm. The condo was nice, I ended up with a double bed all to myself. I think the other guys know by now that I am a primadonna about my sleep and were being kind. Over the years I have realized that I need two things to ensure my happiness and overall well being.
1.) Earplugs. Never leave home without them. Some of the "dudes" that I ride with like the TV a little to much. A couple of years ago I had to ask them to turn it off at 2 am. Maybe I am the stick in the mud.
2.) Tylenol PM. Just in case the earplugs aren't enough. I also don't sleep well in strange beds, which is good for Sarah.

I awoke on saturday morning to rain. Lots of rain. The lifts don't open until 10 so we decided to go get breakfast and see if it cleared up. We went to Squatters cafe, I have been there in the past and it was good. This time however was a different story, all six of us were extremely disappointed with out meals. I guess Squatters only knows how to do dinner.
The rain never let up so we decided to go down to Salt Lake and try out a new freeride area on I street in the avenues.

Here is Duane, the birthday boy showing how real men do it.



Me riding Johnson's bike.






And finally the shot that ended all the fun.


In this shot I am going way to slow. He who hesitates is lost. Right below my front tire you can see an area that has been dug out, I failed to clear that area with my rear tire and nearly came to a complete and abrupt stop. My chest pounded into the handlebars knocking the wind out of me and I proceded to fall/plummet down the rest of the decline and wad up at the bottom like a rag doll.

The worst of my numerous nagging injuries is the right knee. It was reconstructed back in 02' and has never really been the same. Two of my compatriots had to nearly carry me back to the truck. I hate hurting myself when I do something stupid.

So, writing this nearly a week later my mt bikes are hung up, my left wrist will be another 2 weeks in healing and my knee still hurts in a very special way.
I don't believe there is any permanent damage and oddly enough it stops hurting when I ride my road bike.
I have no plans at this point to ride dirt any time soon but I added another 100 mile roadie to my list of things to do.

Please no comments about how a 36 year old guy should be more careful or maybe your to old, etc. etc. etc. Sarah has already said it all.

ULCER 100 .................and eleven

August 11th was the ULCER (Utah Lake Century Epic Ride)100. It's a quick jaunt around Utah Lake with 2000 of your closest friends.
There are 7-8 rest stops along the way supplying water, gatorade, advil, and sometimes food. At the midway point in the bustling metropolis of Goshen we were served lunch. On the menu; Build your own hogie sandwich. I passed on the sandwiches as in the past I have learned that there are only a few things I can eat while riding...... ham and cheese is not on the list.

This map will give you a good idea of the route going in a clockwise direction. Starting and ending at Thanksgiving Point.

I tried to stay at the front of the pack so I could "sit the wheel" of the fast guys in order to help my time. I could go on and on about the benefits of drafting and how well it works but it's pretty boring unless you ride.
I had a personal goal to finish in under 5 hrs. They bill the ride as 100 miles but as it turns out it's actually 111. For those of you without a calculator, I had to average 22.2mph to pull it off.
I arrived at the finish with 8 guys snappily dressed in matching kits from the well financed Franklin Covey Team and my Garmin reading 4:53 total ride time.


These are a couple shots I ripped from some guy named Phil's blog. Apparently he had time to take photos and didn't mind the extra weight. He says on his blog that it was his lifelong goal to ride a century. Mission accomplished Phil, you are now prepared to die.

I have a few things that I want to bring to your attention;
First, whoever is in charge of the road maintenance in Lindon, Orem and Provo should be fired. The road conditions on the surface streets of those towns is atrocious. It was like riding thru a mine field trying to dodge the pot holes.

Second, recumbent cycles are not cool. Tricycle recumbent bikes are even worse. Somehow one of these uber-dorks found himself in the lead group at the start of the race and proceeded to raise the anger of everyone by being unable to hold a line around a corner. The owner of one of the bike shops in St. George was cut of by the afore mentioned nimrod and went down at 20 mph instigating a 20 bike pileup, which is funny to every one except 21 people.

Third, why would anyone live in Saratoga Springs? And can someone from Happy Valley tell me what is that smell emanating from the lake?


I understand that a few people managed to stretch their finishing time out to 8 hrs. I wonder if they had fun? Self flagellation is not my idea of a good time.
There are two more century rides before the end of the year. One in Moab and the other is here in San Jorge. Both are absolute killers with a lot of climbing. I will let you know how I fare.

No Burritos

Right on brother.......right on!

El Scorcho's wild ride

I have had a couple of questions about this jump pic from the post titled "Who's a loser" so here is the answer as to how the air is accomplished. The photographer is laying on the ground and the rock right behind the bush is tilted just enough to launch you a looooong way if you are going fast enough.

Here is a couple more with commentary to boot.


This is one of my favorites, photo credit going to Ben Gerhet. This is on a trail we call The Barrels, as we come down this wash we are doing approx warp speed 5 and you can really lean into this corner if you have gumption. I keep hoping Sarah will make a full size poster of this and surprise me with it.



I call this the gap with consequences. No picture on earth will do this stunt justice. You have to come in on the rock you see on to the left but it is not straight entry. In the first pic there is a corner just 4-5 feet before lift off so you come in goofy requiring a mid air tail whip to come down the tilted rock without carnage.


Let me introduce you to "the wall ride" Gooseberry Mesa rules!




This is out in Moab, it's the same stunt from two different angles so you can see the distance required to avoid facial reconstructive surgery. This extra credit line also has a tricky entry, I have it on video some where but I will save for another post.
















The waterfall at Little Creek Mesa. Again a multiple move stunt that is really a lot of fun, I think the multi shot gives you a good idea of what is happening. Photo by a guy that came to ride with us from L.A. named Myl. His buddy David fell of at the top where the guy is standing and piled his head into the tree on the left....he was ok so it was funny, really stupid but funny.

Side note; the guy standing in the pic is Mike Curiak , he comes out to ride with us about twice a year. He is a great guy with an incredible story and an absolute hammer on a bike. Take some time to check him out.