Rabbit Valley MSC Race

Well, I made it out to Fruita for the Rabbit Valley MSC. It was a great time. Unfortunately, I got there too late to buy an annual license, so I could not race Cat 1. So, I bought a one day license
and raced Cat 2. It was sort of silly, since I won by eight minutes, but it was fun nevertheless.
The course was crazy fun, with tons of whoopdie-dooo's and sweet drops. It wound along the rim of a canyon for quite some time, and through a significant amount of BLM land. At one point, I rounded a corner to find a co with its calf in the middle of the fire road. It was a little freaky, because they were startled, but they eventually ambled off.

Didn't get any photos due to my rush, but here are a few from my ride the next day back in Colorado Springs. It has decided to continue snowing here, and I nearly froze both of my feet off today after plunging head-first into a creek.

a good lesson

so transiowa version six was hard. thunderstorms, lightning and rain during the event made it a challenge. i kept thinking maybe this was the year i complete it during not-so-idea conditions. didn't happen. keep trying? i will, but, that's a tough question with regard to this event. the town of grinnell, Iowa sure is nice tho. the chamber of commerce paid for our pre-race meals!

TI training

spring trip to fruita is perfect transiowa training. weaving thru desert singletrack really helps with my iowa gravel road expertise. thanks for being there mk.

Dawn 'til Dusk 2010 in Gallup

After last year's snow and mud debacle that was Dawn 'til Dusk, I had my fingers crossed for better luck this year...and got it in spades. Gorgeous temps, warm sun, great trails, and a really fun event.
Missed the start by 5 minutes or so (oops), so had the first lap to myself and my friend Chuck. Fun twisty sagebrush singletrack, punctuated by steep rough climbs and descents make me smile. Even 10 hours in there were still sections that made me hoot and holler!Started passing people, nice and steady, but then began feeling bad...like really bad. Fortunately I had a big stash of Roctane in our pit area, and that quite literally saved me. That and some Twizzlers in my back pocket kept me going all day long!This first climb up the side of the mesa almost was my undoing every time...but I was racing geared this time. Yay Granny Gear!
I somehow managed to pass all the other women without realizing it, and found myself off the front by noon, then it was just trying to maintain.Final stats? First place, 108 miles, 14,000 feet of climbing, 1 flat tire, 10 and a half hours, and one awesome trophy:
They had a post-race BBQ with free beer and awards in this weird abandoned warehouse nearby. Veggie burgers and salty chips have never tasted so good.
Thanks, Dawn 'til Dusk crew-I'll be back next year!

Fruita, CO - April 08-11, 2010

Matt Wills, Lunch Loops, Grand Junction, CO - April 11, 2010 - Photo by Mitch Kline - mitchkline.com

Click here to see more photos.

Thank you kind sir for the a$$ massage. Please let me know when you can do the right side?

Yes, that's right. A nice heiny massage complements of one gentleman driving a sedan. Next, somewhere in the universe, someone will try to figure out to out a price tag on it.

Here's how it went down. Rolling through Sausalito, and climbing up a hill. Felt a forceful nudge on my rear as I was rounding the corner, and unless my seat all of sudden decided to play "grab a$$" with me, something wasn't copasetic. I was already riding on the white line close to the edge, so I know my road etiquette was polite. I kept rolling, and turned to look back, and there was a bumper nudging my left cheek. I locked eyes with the gentleman, and there was no hatred nor anger, simply a question mark as to why my heiny was his target?

I kept rolling, and finally the bumper left. As this whole deal was going down, I never reached for the brakes, nor clinched the handlebars, and nor flinched. When I caught a glimpse of my hands on the handlebars, they were at ease. After all these years, the bike and I guided one another. Awesome.

As I descended to the stop light, one kind gentleman was also there waiting for the light to change. We did the whole stare down song-and-dance. Where I gave him the, "beagle-dog-what-in-the-world-are-you-thinking" look, and he gave me the, "I am going to stare out the corner of the window, avoid you, and act like nothing happened."

Regardless, it's all good in the hood.

future racer

Typically, we here on the left coast look at the winter landscapes ya'll post from Lincoln (?) Nebraska and we say "brrrrr". But I'm not so sure we really get it. That's why you'll be glad to hear that the morning of Boggs 5 was 21 degrees F with some snow and ice on the ground. Barely 50 mi. from the coast. Ifn' I wasn't such a Luddite ,I'd put up pictures of all the Michelin men & women that braved these savage conditions. Maybe Director Sporty can import some from the Bike Monkey Boggs 5 photo album. Considering how Springy it's been,we were shocked. That said,my teammates (ahem!) and I carried the day. And the food was good! Can you guess what year the photo was taken?

For friends in the 619

As I'm sure you might be aware, the San Diego Custom Bicycle Show is going down this weekend and Superior El-Capitan Sporty Pirate and myself will be making our way there with quickness and hand built Soulcraft delightfulness in tow. Swing by the booth for a high five and a smile.
You can't miss us.
We'll be the ones in our Sunday best.

Williams Canyon on a Springish Day

The weather in Colorado Springs keeps getting better.
The icy layer has left behind hard-packed trails with
much less dust than usual. My favorite trail, Williams Canyon, was beckoning, and I heeded
the call. The mountain in this photo is Pikes Peak,
which is looking a little less than majestic in this photo.
But usually it is quite a presence.Definitely the sweetest singletrack in the springs...With some nice rock sculptures...And natural water slides...You can tell I was pretty stoked to be out
Sort of makes me want to cut my hair...