falling back into reality

back from the vacation and still digging out ... what a drag. 112 emails, a dozen or so voicemails, a couple "fires" to put out when i rolled back into the office. reality bites, and that isn't just the name of a movie.



for those interested, here are some highlights of my nine day sabatical. pics are scarce but thats what happens when you break your camera (nuts!! goddamnit!!)

day one, july 29th:
up at 5:30 a.m. for the start of the laramie enduro. 70 some miles of singlespeed mtb goodness. or something. ganzel and i camped at a similar location to that of years past - about a five minute drive from the start. i love free camping. first thing i noticed that day was that it was effing hot ... like short sleeves and shorts at 530 in the morning hot.

and that was at 7000 feet. that ain't right folks. normally i'd be making the morning coffee in a stocking cap and jeans. not today.

almost lost my shorts (minor pre-race freakout, i would've started without them just so you know) but made the start and signed in as required. felt good on the first climb and made it onto the single track in the first 60 or so people (out of 400 i think). saw one other singlespeeder during that portion of the race. thought he looked strong so i kept him in sight. i kind of wanted to repeat the win i got here last year so this was part of my "strategy" ...

i ate and drank and pedalled along with the mp3 player motivating me suitably for a few hours. felt quite good despite the heat. i had the "lead" in the ss category a couple times, but somehow managed to get off course and relinquish it both times. i'm not sure what was going on there. maybe my concentration was elsewhere, but i missed two turns throughout the day and that probably cost me the win. in fact, i'm sure it did ... by my calculations i lost 10 minutes totally due to self-inflicted "detours" ... and there was only 7 minutes between first, second, and third (me) in the ss category. that in itself is pretty amazing. 3 guys come in on ss's within 7 minutes of eachother after over 70 miles? probably the closest race of the day, strictly speaking. good stuff.

in the end i was a half hour slower than last year. but satisfied nevertheless. its great to make the podium two years in a row - especially at this classic event.

drove back to fort collins after a couple cans of dales and stopped by our spot at the river so suey could cool off a little. man that dog is rad.







day two, 7/30:
drove to meeteetse (rumoured one-time home of butch cassidy) with j. for the start of our trip. ate at the 'cowboy bar' which has been in continuous operation since, well, a long time ago. the original bar is still on the premises and has to be one of the most beautiful pieces of craftsmanship that i have ever seen. and the bullet holes in the back wall are a nice touch as well. buffalo burgers are where its at, enough with the cow already.

day three, 7/31:
went to check out the little venus fire. the smoke was insane, even from a few miles away. we decided (actually, the forest service decided for us) that it would be best to go over a couple drainages to where there was less danger. so thats what we did. drove up the wood river road to an abandoned mining town called kirwin. literally at the end of the line. it was rainy and cold so we decided to hunker down in the truck and start our hike in the morning under clear skies. lots of bear boxes, and scat, and markings all over the place. but no bears. which is good because they mostly have the big mean ones in this area - like this here one.



day four, 8/1:
up early, hiked up the wood river trail to its intersection with the bear creek trail. i tried not to think how it earned its name. its an odd thing to not be at the top of the food chain. whatever. we covered about 5 miles with heavy packs and set up at ~11k feet - just above the treeline and about 3/4's of a mile short of bear creek pass. we watched a family of elk work their way up the other side of the valley and take a little group nap. drank some yukon jack and slept soundly aided by the patter of a light rain on the tarp.



day five, 8/2:
"slept in" until 8, which is a bit weird for camping. whatever. ate, broke camp and slogged over bear creek pass with slightly lighter packs. down the other side crossing bear creek multiple times. the water was clear and cold. we stopped in the shade of some rocks for lunch - humus and tortillas. set up a campsite near the intersection of the east fork trail and bear creek. pasta for dinner. more yukon jack. purdy good.



day six, 8/3:
got up, ate, and lounged around the camp until about 11. then we went on a little exploration of the area. found the coolest little waterfall and sat and enjoyed that for awhile. spent the afternoon snacking, napping, and messing around with the tarp that was serving as the x-tra large annex to the tent. super fun and relaxing day. decided that yukon jack was much better when watered down. that shit tastes like whiskey-schnapps - if there is such a thing.



day seven, 8/4:
up early and motivated. we covered the most ground this day - crossing two drainages and one pass (east fork pass). set up camp at the end of a knoll that overlooked the valley that we had originally started in. found some funky old (real old) sheepherder/hunting camp area nearby that had fresh signs of bear - and a rusty old smashed can of lumberjack syrup. suey was acting squirrley so we didn't hang around there much - and stashed the bear canister extra far from the tent that night. our last night of the trip was spent enjoying some pad thai and most of the other food we had, talking, and looking at the stars.





days eight and nine, 8/5-6:
up and back out to the truck on sat. a.m. it only took us a couple hours to get back to kirwin. to meeteetse for a shower and meal at the broken spoke. jammed back to the fort with an arrival time of about 7 p.m. sunday i slept in then went and rode my bike (it had been a week you know ...) up rist canyon and down to masonville. just spinnin', getting my legs used to circles again instead of plodding along in the backcountry.

i didn't check the news, or internet, or the local paper on sunday. i wasn't quite ready to step back into society so just laid low and relaxed in the afternoon and evening. in the end the whole trip was well-needed break. i might not lose my mind afterall - stay tuned.