joined strava...

i joined strava today. here's the AF canyon climb from last year. i may never be in that type of shape ever again so i thought i'd share..:)



strava is a social networking site geared towards GPS tracked exercise. commonly cyclists and runners will use the site to gauge their efforts in relation to local cyclists on local rides. you maintain a news feed like facebook or twitter with the rides of those you follow displayed. the site will automatically locate segments of your ride that are in common with others and rank you according to your elapsed time over that segment. lots of fun and good motivation to get out and work hard..:)

saints to sinners 2011...

well, it was a great time! we beat our time from last year by 10 minutes despite a crash and 2 flats. we took 3rd overall and 2nd in our division.

i may write a longer more involved post down the road, but for now i'll share with you the video i made...

beware, it is nearly 14 minutes...

i think i could've...

on saturday, part of our 'saints to sinners' relay team entered the 'i think i canyons' charity event. the event benefits the 4th street clinic for the homeless in downtown SLC. the event was to climb 4 of the canyons along the wasatch front. with the idea being that you think of the suffering of the homeless as you suffer up the canyons yourself.

the profile we rode yesterday:


as you'll notice, there are 3 climbs shown. this comes from my garmin, and sometimes life gets in the way. we all talked our wives and families into letting us go for part of the day and when as the day stretched on and the time of promised arrival home approached we decided we'd hit the biggest canyons and could feel good about a hard day in the saddle...

the 'saints to sinners' relay begins just under two weeks from now and we have been anticipating and preparing for this event since we rode it last year. the first order of business was to get ourselves looking like a team.

joseph and brent are modeling a perfect team pose just before the event began...


they are sporting the jerseys i designed with the team's help. we are pretty excited about them even though our wives aren't sure what to think of the skulls..:)

joseph and i have been time-trialing up AF canyon this month (over email we've compared times) and we've broken below 53 minutes. unfortunately, this led us both to think that we should ride little cottonwood with the same zeal. not so bad if you aren't following the effort with 2 other massive canyon climbs. the first climb felt good for all 4 of us (my colleague brian oliver also met up with us for the ride.) the poor quality of the photo with alta in the background here doesn't correlate with how good the first climb felt...


all the canyons were gorgeous on saturday with perfect riding weather in the early morning. here are the four of us smiling at brighton to cover the burn lingering in our legs from the big effort coming up big cottownwood...


the last canyon we rode was millcreek. i'd only been all the way up millcreek 7 years ago during medical school. it was every bit as hard as i remembered it since my first experience came as a newbie roadie with jonathan guenter as my guide...the experience on saturday came after climbing 8,000 vertical feet at hard tempo. i was standing up in my lowest gear at times wondering how much further i was willing to go...

i thought at the start of the day i could ride in honor of the tour de france riders going up five mountain passes including the plateau de beille. instead, i suffered for several hours on the bike, but i'm not sure i honored anyone..:)


it was a great event and will hopefully grow every year (it's in its 5th year--started by a current 4th year medical student.) we have these amazing canyons closer than most urban centers in the world. very cool and should be ridden :)

for us, it served the purpose of continuing to prepare our legs and bodies for the 'saints to sinners' relay the end of this month. we are each projecting between 120-170 miles over 28 hours as we ride and pace each other from SLC to Vegas. it's hard to describe how unique and enjoyable this race is.

we'll let you know how it goes!

all of the day's data here:

some more random stats on the day...

100 miles of nowhere...

look at the climbing profile below and ask yourself...who in their right mind would ride this course? good question. a few months back a neighbor of mine (with whom i rode the moab gran fondo) alerted me to a fundraiser organized by the fat cyclist. the idea is that he creates a t-shirt, race plate and provides some swag from sponsors. then people pay $80 to enter the event and aside from the costs of the shirts and shipping the remaining proceeds go to the livestrong foundation. the event? ride anywhere in the world for 100 miles. preferably 100 miles in a loop you do over and over that symbolizes in a small way the constant psychological and physical pain endured by cancer patients.

good idea right? fatty decided to lead a group of cyclists over suncrest and back five times (10 total climbs including the north and south side of the hill.)


the end result of a route that looks mind and leg numbing is this...


why not? in my whole medical career--diagnosing and treating cancer patients--i've never given money to cancer research beyond a few 'livestrong' bands. i have fatty to thank for this opportunity to give to those attempting to find better therapies and ultimately a cure for the many types of cancer that afflict patients...

the worldwide group of riders was well over 500 strong, and our group here in alpine utah was close to 30. a few of us are shown here...

the day before i contacted my neighbor justin thomas (a mt bike racer for mad dog cycles) and we decided to give it a go.

the event began for the alpine utah contingent at the old alpine city park with banner, name plates and a strip of paper stapled to the name plate for each lap completed... the first lap was deemed a social lap as we headed out and got to know each other. i was able to meet fatty, his wife--a nurse at UVRMC, chris--a physical therapy student studying in provo, mark--a local cat 2 racer among others. the camaraderie among riders was one of the many gratifying parts of the day.

i found myself able to hang with many of the stronger riders throughout the day (although i suspect they were taking it easy on me for the sake of camaraderie:) until the final two climbs when i fell off the pace a bit to ease up on my knees--both of whom were whispering with pangs and aches that threatened to become something more. but what's a minute or two off the pace in a 7 hour day on the bike?

two laps down..:)


another highlight of the day was my family... they were amazing. it was a lot of fun to have them out for the day. it was a convenient event to be a part of because of the proximity to the house and repetitive nature of the course--all you had to do was drive up and over suncrest and you were bound to find me. amy made posters with the kids after everyone awoke...




they then brought them out on the course for some much appreciated moral support!


one box filled in per lap...two to go!





there were a few times they came by chanting from the car...good times :)


one final lap to go! of the ten climbs, there were four where i found myself just off the pace and decided to put in the headphones for some audiobook goodness. there is just something about taking your mind to another place and forgetting the pain for those few minutes...


as the race day ended ella looked like i felt :)


success!


michael approved and that is what matters most :)


on a day in early summer with less than the ideal amount of climbing miles in my legs for this type of ride i found success. success on the bike, family success and a successful chance to donate and take part in a cause much larger than you or me.



and in video format..:)

moab gran fondo...

ahh moab. the day i drove to moab for the event i realized i had not been to moab for 6 years. whoa. this the town i traveled to every few months during medical school. just like that, life took a few turns and i find myself in a great place--and it all happened without visiting moab. well, time to return.

a few months back kevin brooks asked if i was interested in this event. 60 miles and 6,000 feet of climbing? yes please. it was an early spring ride and i thought i could start my spring training earlier than last year (because of board exams.) well, i trained as well as weather allowed...(i'm not in so cal anymore...)

the ride was a lot of fun. it was not USA cycling sanctioned, but it was timed. there was a police escort for the first 25 miles and that allowed a very fast paced peloton to pace along the colorado river with those beautiful sheer cliffs towering on either side. it is situations like these when i can't help but smile stupidly for long periods. it was a bit hectic as all were jockeying to be near the front, but that's what adrenaline is for right?

as the road climbed upwards, i fell off the pace some. i could see the lead group for long stretches of the climb, but ultimately settled into my own pace and enjoyed the scenery and the riders around me. i met riders from north carolina, colorado, moab, salt lake city, and idaho. i was hurting at moments on the climb, but took it in stride as my training this year was not as complete as before last year's big climbing event. that event took place in july though...

This year's numbers prior to the gran fondo...

Count:	19 Activities
Distance:	257.13 mi
Time:	17:02:29 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:	31,033 ft
Avg Speed:	14.9 mph
Avg HR:	155 bpm
Avg Run Cadence:	--
Avg Bike Cadence:	--
Calories:	18,533 C

Last years number prior to the death ride...

Count:	54 Activities
Distance:	1,081.03 mi
Time:	72:43:08 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:	112,681 ft
Avg Speed:	15.2 mph
Avg HR:	151 bpm
Avg Run Cadence:	--
Avg Bike Cadence:	--
Calories:	79,896 C

i reached the king of the mountains after a plateau of rising and falling terrain very similar to the nebo loop. the descent was fast, beautiful and at times sketchy. i found a group of four riders to pace with about halfway down and we flew to the finish with a great sprint to the finish line.

overall i came in 36th and thoroughly enjoyed the event.





enjoy the one-minute video amy calls silly below...