Intellectual property?

You may remember this post from last year, well I think I found out exactly who tried to shut down the 440,  along with the "why." A race promoter here (GRO Promotions) in St.George just posted this as their newest "Epic 50 Mile Race." I am a little nonplussed by the nomenclature GRO,  did that name just come to you one night when you were out on the town, maybe at the local Cinemaplex?

If you take time to look at the course info/maps and understand what you are looking at, you would notice that they have taken my 440 course, added a few junk miles including some pavement to get to the magic number of 50.
They are asking an incredible $85 per person to ride, heaven forbid you sign up late because then they will charge you an extra 40 of your hard earned dollars. This is one of my problems with doing events in my own city; why should I pay money to ride something that I can go ride any day of the week?
The second problem is that I actually like these guys, they also put on The 25 Hrs of Frog Hollow which was good fun and I think they try hard to put on an enjoyable event.  I was actually looking to hook up with a larger promoter to do the 440 event in 2011, all they had to do was ask.

Charles Caleb Colton once said "imitation is the sincerest flattery." So I guess I should take some solace in the fact that my 440 idea had enough legs that somebody would want to steal it. That sure warms the old cockles.

Just remember that you can come ride the 440 for exactly Z E R O dollars this next fall, come and try to beat the Brothers Rock.  We will have a women's class this year and maybe a 40+ category just for me.

So best of luck to the Grit and to GRO, this is a really difficult course that has potential to bring in a lot of people but just so you know, in my own head I am going to be taking the credit.

BTW, I wrote this post 3 different times trying not to sound too bitter, I think I almost made it.

Ol' Pueblo

For some people it's Mecca for others it's Jerusalem but for me it will be an annual pilgrimage to a little piece of heaven just outside of Oracle Arizona. This years 24 hrs in the Old Pueblo solidified my lifetime reservation to that event. Gale force winds and rain could not diminish the incredibly enjoyable time we had.

Friday night I saw the best sunset I have ever seen.

The report was that 1850 riders took part in this years event, the whole thing is remarkably well run and organized for such a large gathering. This is a shot of the main drag in 24 hr Town during Todd Sadow's soapbox speech. There was a lot of bad facial hair this year.

Back at our camp we had the living room/ bike shop all set up, yes that is a piece of carpet.  JT our teammates from last year decided to ride solo this time and pulled off a third place finish hats off to him.
We replaced him with the guy in the center of the frame.

The race started as the clouds and wind started moving in. Duane did the run for the Le Mans style start again this year, I hope I never have to do that, it looks like no fun.

The picture below is just before my second lap, the clouds had settled to the ground and there was a fine mist accompanying the 20-25 mph gusts.
As I made the turn and started east the wind was at my back, I was riding at the same speed as the wind which creates a very quiet, almost eerie silence. This was the best part of any of my laps, riding thru the desert with the fog and silence was just incredible. Unfortunately just as it got too dark to continue without lights I  turned into the wind for the climb and that was when things got really ugly as the clouds opened up and soaked me to the bone in about 2.8 seconds flat. The last 5 miles of that lap were miserable; uphill, against the wind, in the pouring rain. There must have been 8 people walking up the climb.

With an incredible stroke of luck I managed to snag the sunrise lap as well, the rain was gone and the wind had lessened but the temps had dropped to around 40. The rain and traffic had packed the dirt into perfect conditions.

Duane finished his 5th lap just a few minutes past 12 o'clock giving us 17 total laps.
I call this his superman outfit.

We finished 8th out of 19 teams in our category, middle of the pack is where I live. Shout out to Delina of Sabrosa fame who cowgirled up for 11 laps all by her lonesome, that is one tough chick.
There are a lot more stories I could tell but long blahg posts upset me so call me if you want to hear about Chris's broken Gary Fisher frame, my double flat, the broken seat post, scratched corneas or the Chocolate Baby. Good times, good times.

Spooning

As part of the festivities in the previous post I was given a new saddle for my trusty steed. My wife has excellent taste and ponied up for the Charge Bikes "Spoon" saddle. It's brown and kinda retro which I dig.




I am sure she was trying to match the ultra groovy and green conscious Bio-Cork Ergon Grips that I have festooned my bars with.



It is substantially more firm than the beat to death, six year old WTB Laser saddle that I had before. I cannot stress to you enough the importance of a saddle that cradles your nethers in just the right way.

Maybe I can get $5 for that WTB on ebay.

40

My birthday arrived this year as it does every year, the march of time is an unstoppable truth attached to this mortal existence. This year I hit one of those big numbers, one of the milestones we think about when we are looking forward to what our lives are going to be like in the future.
I did not bemoan the coming of this day, I have not experienced a midlife crisis, I was not taken up in melancholy, lamenting the loss of my youth.  It was just  another birthday.

In absolute honesty I feel exactly the same today as I did 10 years ago, I truly believe that the brain never catches up the age of the body. In our head we are still that twenty-something person while traipsing around in a body that is beginning to show a little wear and tear.  Joints are a little creaky, wrinkles are showing up, and gray hairs are now visible to the naked eye.

A friend of mine (shout out to you D)  had a big party for his 40th, lots of people, lots of good food and mechanical bull set up in the driveway. It was awesome but not really my style, I spent most of the day on the seat of my bicycle, hanging out with my bride or playing Call of Duty - Black Ops online.....take that 40.

My new reality is that age really is just a number and we can still be the very same person we have always been. Who we are never really changes though my wife is telling me I am becoming more crotchety. I think it's because I have less patience with the inane.


I have some more U2 for you on my way out. The song is called "40" and it's the song that they play to end their show, this one is special though because Adam plays lead guitar and The Edge in on the bass.

Little Purgatory Trail

10 Minutes up I-15 and just outside of the booming metropolis of Leeds Utah there is a newish trail system that I have never ridden. I am always up for exploring new trails especially when they are as close as this.

I found the trail head in the dark with little effort and waited for the sun to come up, I do enjoy the early morning solo rides, running on my own schedule when I don't know where I am going is so much easier and takes the pressure off.

The trail has seen very little traffic that I could tell, there was evidence of horses, hikers and maybe one other bike. Luckily you navigate the beginning of this trail thru a cut in the rock with 3-4 stream crossings so the Texas Wheelchairs (4-wheelers) won't be destroying anything.

Inside the cut you get to see some petroglyph wall art 

Up Close

Backside of the cut,  you can see the trail has seen very few visitors.

 If your headed out there I would recommend riding in a counter clockwise direction, if you ride clockwise you have to climb some steep switchbacks that could best be described as "a good hike ruined by the extra effort of pushing your bike uphill."
At the top of the switchbacks you are rewarded by this view of Pine Valley Mt. I love the snow capped tips above the red rocks. No photo can do this justice.

Part of the trail follows an old pioneer wagon trail, heaven knows why those people needed to get to the top but there is a lot of evidence of their effort along the way. Here they have built a retaining wall to hold the edge; I would bet it's 50' long and averages 4' high.

The totals were 6+ miles and about 1400 ft of climbing, not a bad morning ride with some great views that you can see no other way.  I would definitely ride it again and with some frequent bike traffic it could become a regular route.
Ring me up for a guided tour.

Frog Hollow Redux

A friend of mine found this floating around the web, I am always amazed what a good photographer can do.

25 Hours of Frog Hollow | Brian Leddy Photography Archive

25 Hours of Frog Hollow | Brian Leddy Photography Archive

We might have to do this again next year and defend our 2nd place title, I say that and then part of me thinks I should just go out on top.

I am not getting any younger......or faster.

New blowhorn

You may remember this post from a year ago. Well the Pre held up for exactly one year before the wheels started falling off. Yesterday I caved in to the peer pressure and ridicule of my Bride and traded up to this;

She has been taunting me with the awesomeness of her Droid powered machine and after spending a solid 16 hrs with the new EVO I think she was right. This thing will no doubt increase my efficiency by multiples of ten. When I talk about my efficiency what I am referring to is my new abilities to miss calls and messages while riding, check the weather in multiple locations for riding purposes, check pricing on bike parts, map/track and log my rides, upload pictures of my rides strait to "The Facebook" and contact riding buddies using multiple methods about the next ride.

I am really glad I got this, it's going to be a lifesaver.