Mountain Monkeys

Brice Creek Run

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 17:07:00 -0800

Jared, Chris, and I ran the Brice Creek 12.5 mile out and back yesterday morning. I’d expected it to be very wet and rainy. We lucked out and it rained minimally all day (as far as we could tell, being in the trees most of the time), and that trail always drains quite well. Combine this with temps in the mid to low 50’s and it was pretty ideal. I knew I was likely going to shed the jacket I started out running in, and did so quite early on, never having to put it back on the rest of the day. Even my thin long sleeve top could probably have been swapped for short sleeves (although I was glad for the long sleeves at a few points).

Jared set the initial pace which was a hair faster than I’d have liked, but good. He led for about the first third of the run. Then, Chris, who I first met that morning, led the rest of the run. I wasn’t able to hang with his pace. Jared seemed to bounce between the Chris end posts, although I suspect was mostly just being nice when coming back to me :) Jared mentioned about half way through that Chris is training for a 100 miler, so I felt less bad about not hanging. We power hiked, and ran a bit of the steep side up to the waterfall, which was thundering! I never get tired of being able to stand behind the falls up there. We then ran down the more gradual side, which was a good call on Jared’s part - I’m used to doing it the other way on the bike.

At roughly the 8.5-9 mile point, I looked down to see my watch was blank, then said Garmin, and appeared to be rebooting. I don’t think I lost much on it, and eventually got it tracking again. This turned out to be a good thing for me, as I was walking during this time. That gave me a much needed break, and I got a second wind after that. I rejoined Jared, who I think had waited to check I was ok, and we ran the rest of the way together.

I felt good after the run, which I was very happy about. This upped the mileage of my longest run in the last 1.5 years. Changed clothes, then I consumed a Recoverite, which didn’t go down as well as they have in the past. Maybe my mostly primal/paleo diet now has me starting to reject the higher sugar/carb items already. Had a reasonable lunch when I got home, and still was feeling great. I was pretty tired by about 5pm though. Rested on the couch a bit then rallied for dinner. Today I barely notice it, which I’m really happy about!

I started out a bit rough on the run, tripped once during the day (but didn’t go down), but by the end I really enjoyed it and am happy to be able to be doing these distances again. Looking forward to some more fun winter runs with the guys.

Notes (for myself):

Clothes: knickers, GT180 zip top. Probably should have gone with wool t-shirt and arm warmers though, as I had the sleeves pushed up about 3/4 of the day. Should have skipped the jacket completely, but I really thought we were going to see much harsher rain. The TNF Stormy Trail Hat continues to be an awesome addition. Good temp regulation, and wearing a hat in the rain, keeping my face dry just makes such a big difference.
Breakfast was one hardboiled egg, big cup of coffee.
Ate one Clif Shot citrus gel (new to me) at the halfway point of the run.
Drank about 30oz during the run (used Nathan pack).

Beaver Brook

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 22:36:00 -0800

Beaver Brook is a cool photo blog/project.

Primal Blueprint

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 10:04:00 -0800

I’ve been reading the Primal Blueprint and quite enjoying it. I’ve been keeping wheat low in my diet for some time, but am now working on going full bore on the Primal diet (no grains, no sugar). This is quite challenging with how much I travel (usually a few times a month) and in the software industry (every event supplies pizza as the food it seems, and many lunches are sandwiches or burritos, etc.).

That said, I think I’m already seeing some improvements in terms of energy level stabilizations, and maybe sleeping a bit better. Weight has been easier to maintain as well (I’m currently at or just a bit below 170lbs (I’m 6’1”)). I’m working on trying their basic core exercises (push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and planks), which will be great for me. I absolutely hate gyms, so hoping this is a simple enough regiment that I can just knock it out at home, especially on days when I don’t have enough time to go for a ride or run (not to mention I can simply get a lot of benefit from core and upper body improvement).

It’s also been interesting to look at meals and recipes. I made paleo coleslaw the other day that was awesome. Used coconut sugar, which we’re now looking at using to replace all our sugar use (which is really limited to baking). I’d like to try out the Paleo Power Balls that Matt Hart blogged about.

Finally, I’m working with the folks at Bioletics to do various assessments, and get my supplements dialed. I don’t take a ton, mainly a multi-vitamin, Vitamin D, Omega 3/fish oil, and an antioxidant. Also planning to work with their sports nutrition person to see how I replace gels and bars for longer rides and runs. But, if I’m to believe in Primal, I may not need to even replace them much. I typically don’t do runs more than 2 hours long, and rides more than 4. If I’m converted to being far more efficient at burning fat for fuel, then I likely shouldn’t need much, maybe bring some nuts (which I’ve found work great) on long rides, or the aforementioned Paleo Power Balls :)

NUT Run & RideJared, James, and I spent this past Sunday...

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 22:15:00 -0800

NUT Run & Ride

Jared, James, and I spent this past Sunday attempting a bit of an intense day of trial running and mountain biking on the North Umpqua Trail. We met at a cold and dark 6am, piled in my Jeep and had a good 2 hour drive down. It was 30 degrees when we arrived at the Tokatee campground. We debated a bit, and decided to run first.

We ran the Hot Springs section, and then a bit of lower Dread and Terror. About 1 hour 20 mins in we decided we better head back, plus we’d covered about 5.5 miles. Along the way we’d also had to ford the river where a bridge was washed out. I opted to take my shoes and socks off to keep them dry, which was dumb, as it was really slippery. On the way back, I left them on, and that was much better, and wool socks and the running quickly had them plenty warm again. In addition, on the way back, we also ran/hiked up to the hot springs. Pretty cool set of 3 very hot looking pools with a bunch of naked folk in them.

I started to feel the run back at about the 8+ mile range. I’d done a 9 miler in the last month, but prior to that, a 7 miler back in Februarly, and then the longest run before that was in April of 2011 - the Peterson Ridge Rumble 20 mile race (sadly I really dropped off running after this until recently). We wound up doing about 11.5 miles for the day, which was pretty epic for me, but I’m really psyched. The last few miles I definitely had slowed down (James was doing a solid pace), but I’m quite happy.

Here’s the run data from my Garmin.

Back at the car, we quickly changed into bike gear. I ate half a ProBar, which ultimately was a bad choice. I’d had a whole one earlier in the morning as part of “breakfast” and loved it, but this second one was not good to then go hammer on. We headed out on the Deer Leap section, which is a rolling climb up to the halfway point of about 4.5 miles. I’d ridden this earlier in the summer, and it was quite a nice climb then. Not so much this time… I was definitely hurtin’ from the run, and by the time we summitted, I was feeling like hurling.

Or, maybe it was just watching Jared, hammering it out on his singlespeed in front of me! Big props to him for killing it on the single. Alas, at the summit, we were all feeling like we were pretty much done. It felt like it had gotten colder as well! So, while the descent down the other side is friggin awesome, we decided the climb out would be too brutal, and packed it in. Off we went. I continued to feel back for probably another 20+ minutes, but then the descending made me happy and I got it back together. I also finally put my jacket on (should have done much sooner), which helped a bit, but I wished I’d had one more layer, and also should have stopped to swap gloves as my hands had gotten quite cold again. Enough bitching though, it’s a great trail, and I just wish I had more energy to enjoy it that much more. I’m left itching to go back again!

The ride data from Garmin, although it’s missing the first mile or so as I forgot to start my watch until a ways in.

All in all, it was a truly awesome day with friends. It inspired us to pledge to do more adventures together. I also have cemented my knowledge of at least those sections of the NUT, which is great. I’m eager to go spend a weekend riding there again next year, and aim to do the entire thing (or something like that) in the two days. That or a day of running, and a day of riding. The NUT is such a great, and fairly unknown trail which I need to spend a lot more time on.

A few notes for myself (like to track these kinds of things so when I do something similar I can reference what did/didn’t work):

Run - good clothes and food. Ate two hard boiled eggs and shot of espresso before the drive. Peanut Butter Pro Bar in the car fairly soon before running. Wore knickers, wool socks, Icebreaker 180 zip top, TNF jacket on top of that, and Pearli vest on top of that. Icebreaker thin wool hat, Castelli gloves (these seemed like they might be too hot at one point, but was super glad for them, especially when fully submerged one in the river). Drank about 25oz (used Nathan vest) over the 2.5 hours (probably should have drank a bit more, but at 30 degrees, apparently didn’t need it.

Ride - not good for either, except the Defroster shoes I was very glad for, and De Marchi knicker bibs were fine. Thin Pearl base layer + Pearl wind blocker jersey. Wished I’d run a wool base layer for a bit more warmth. And, maybe with the wool layer the added TNF jacket would have cut it, but I wished for the full on Showers Pass jacket that is normally too hot, I’d have really loved to have that today. Pearly gloves were good for a while, but I shoudl have switched to the Campy ones once they were wet (and I know better - wished I’d had the Castellis, but they were still wet from the run and I knew that the faster speed/wind on the bike with those being wet would have been bad. Sugoi skull cap - even wished for the full LG beanie (super rare to wear this, as it’s usually way too hot). Should have had nuts and maybe a gel or Rabbit bar for food instead of the pro bar, this particular one was too sweet and just too dense (Pro Bars are crazy dense in calories).

The Most Spectacular Mutation in Recent Human History

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 12:49:00 -0800

I’ve been reading a bunch related to nutrition lately, and here’s another great one:

The Most Spectacular Mutation in Recent Human History

This covers the change in humans, allowing many more of us to tolerate lactose (~milk) as adults.

Big Sugar's Sweet Little Lies

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:13:00 -0800

Here’s a great article on sugar, governmental influence by corporations and paid scientists, etc.: Big Sugar’s Sweet Little Lies

It’s a longer article, but I highly recommend reading it.

Longest Run in a While

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 18:22:00 -0700

Had a great run on Ridgeline this morning, starting at Blanton and climbing up to the top of Spencer Butte. 9 mile run, 1900’ of vert, 1 hour 39 mins. I was particularly happy as this is by far the longest run I’ve done this year. In fact, until Friday, I hadn’t done runs over 4-5 miles this year, with exception to the Emerald By the Bay (road) race (7 miles) back in March.

James, Jared, and I (and maybe a few others) are planning to do some running on the NUT (North Umpqua Trail) in two weeks. They were talking about 15 miles, which is pretty epic when you’ve been just doing about 3-4 mile runs. So, it was time to step it up and see where my legs could go. The mountain biking I’ve been doing this summer has helped. Coming downhill off Spencer Butte of course everything is awesome, you feel great, and are really recharged. I thought about extending my run another 1.5 miles by adding one more segment, but I was pressed for time, and knew that I probably shouldn’t push it anyway. The last hills along the Blanton section reinforced that good decision. Still, I’m pretty excited as I think it means I’ll be able to hang for the day with Jared and James (James has done several ultras, and Jared routinely does big, and/or multi-day stuff). Looking forward to it!

Garmin connect data

Rainy Spencer Butte Run & "All the Eugene Peaks"

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 10:24:00 -0700

This morning, I met James and Jared at the start of their day where they planned to hit all the “peaks” of Eugene (Spencer, Baldy, Pisgah, Skinner). None of these are that tall (~2000’ for Spencer and Pisgah I believe), but it’s a fun plan for a Sunday. They planned to ride their bikes between, then run up each peak. I joined them for the first segment up Spencer Butte.

J and J rode up to the Fox Hollow parking lot from Martin/Amazon Headwaters. I’d arrived by car a bit earlier, ran down Fox Hollow towards Dillard a bit for some warm up, then down towards Martin a short ways to see if I’d meet them (I wasn’t 100% sure they were coming up that way), and then we all arrived in at Fox Hollow, and proceeded to head up Spencer.

We took a bit more leisurely pace up, as people were waking up, and J and J were preparing for a longer day - probably 40-50 miles of riding, 10-12 of running, and maybe 6k of vert. It was fairly cold when we started, 41F according ot my car, but we warmed up quick, and it was a fun run up to the summit.

The summit of Spencer was gorgeous! It was quite foggy, and probably 20mph winds, but the fog and mist rolling through the valleys below, and around us was really beautiful. Save for the wind, it was the really nice early morning quiet, and overall, conditions I really like. The wind did cool us off very quickly though, so we didn’t linger long, and then Jared set a pretty brisk pace back down. We were back to Fox Hollow in no time. They got their bikes unlocked, I loaned James my jacket, as he was going to need it in all the rain for the day, and they were off! Can’t wait to hear how the rest of their day went, and can’t wait to try something like this with them in the future.

My Garmin activity.

I Can Watch This Over and Over (Silvia BC video)

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:20:00 -0700

I find I can watch this video, “Silvia - All Mountain…All BC”, over and over - great cinematography, cool riding, and great music. Bought the music, which is now the second time in a month I’ve picked up music from mtb videos.

The other video where I picked up the music is “Valhalla” which has music from Pretty Lights. You can download it for free (donation requested). I’d just download all their music, but if you want that one song, it’s on the “Passing by Behind Your Eyes” album.

Wed Night DoD Ride at Goodman Eagles

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 21:57:00 -0700

Rode Goodman-Eagels Rest lat night with the DoD folks. It was a great ride - good crew, good pace. We wound up needing lights for the descent. Good thing my new lights (Sigma PowerLED EVO) had arrived the day before. I ordered two of these, one for helmet, one for my bars. I only took one, and used it as a helmet light, and that worked out just fine. Having the bar mount will be interesting in the future, especially once it’s darker earlier. I presume this anyway - I haven’t ridden with anything but a helmet light in a long time.

This Sigma light has a higher lumens rating (900 lumens) than my prior light, so I’m already better off, but it’s a bit lower than the current high end lights (~1500 lumens). But, they also cost half of what the higher end lights cost, and I got it at The Clymb for 40% off, so buying two was a great deal. This was actually suggested in BIKE magazine’s review of these lights. I think it’s going to be a good setup.

I’d done this same ride the Saturday before, although during the day. We did it just as fast at night (ride time was nearly the same - I didn’t start my watch until about 10-15 mins in, so at 2:26, that’s damn near the same as when I did it on Saturday in 2:39). Garmin Connect data here.

It was great to see DoD riding folks again, specifically Roland, Davey, Jason, and more. There was a decent size turnout - maybe 20 people total, including Dave visiting from the UK. Dave had no qualms about saying he was ready to barf at about the halfway point on the climb, and then I guess he kept saying how knackered he was the rest of the way, but he made it!. We did have a pretty solid pace up the climb, and were all soaking wet at that halfway point, including Max who was wearing a white jersey so we made lots of man-boob jokes.

Upon arriving home I made some of the best tacos evah! for dinner. I’m sure that was highly influenced by how famished I was by that time (about 10:30p when I sat down to eat). Good times!

Ripping Hardesty, Enduring Patterson Mountain

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 21:03:00 -0700

I left Eugene at 7:30 this morning headed for a solo Hardesty ride. I hadn’t ridden Hardesty for a couple years (since I hadn’t done much mtb for a couple years), and couldn’t quite remember how long it took, but recalled maybe 4 hours. But, I knew it’d be all about how long it took to get up Patterson and to the top of Hardesty.

I hit South Willamette to start, and plowed my way through the overgrown bush on much of the trail, but it was still pretty fun. This section takes an hour to do, and is mostly rolling, eventually dumping out back on Hwy 58. You then spin down the highway a short bit, and turn right onto the beast, Patterson Mountain Road, and begin climbing.

Patterson Mtn Rd itself is 5 miles of climbing - you hit the saddle/top about 100 feet past the 5 mile marker. The section from mile post 3 to maybe a bit after 4 is the steepest. The entire climb is a dirt/gravel road, and you just have to persevere. It’s not horrendously steep, but it’s unrelenting, with virtually no flat spots. I managed to hit the saddle at about the 2.25 hour mark, which I was pretty happy with. However, that is not the end of the climbing.

Uploaded with Skitch!

You then make a right onto a dirt road and climb for another 20+ minutes before getting to the singletrack, which is, yes, you guessed it, more climbing. And, the singletrack is pretty steep, a lot of first gear stuff. But, it’s not too long, and the last chunk is relatively flat getting to the start of the Hardesty descent, which I hit at just before 3 hours of riding.

I fueled up, took the couple photos (one each direction), and dug out my glasses: it was descent time! So, 3 solid hours in, and I’m finally ready for the blast of a descent that is Hardesty. Sadly, I did not realize until about 3/4 of the way down that I’d left my rear shock in ProPedal/platform setting. Still, I was having a ton of fun, and feeling like I still had it. My technical skills are not what they used to be, but I was still able to do a pretty solid descent, and have a lot of fun with it.

I arrived back at the car half an hour later, with a big smile. A great day on the bike! I’m particularly happy as it helped me feel more confident in my endurance and such leading up to the North Umpqua trip John and I are doing. This will be 3 straight days of probably 4-6 hours of riding or maybe even longer. Can’t wait!

Here’s my Garmin Connect data too. Note, as is typical with the GPS watch, distance comes up a bit short. Ride is about 19.5 miles.

4th of July Log Ride

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 17:27:00 -0700

Uploaded with Skitch!

I’ve just been loving riding again! I hit WhyPass the morning of the 4th of July, for a really nice solo ride. Spent about 2.5 hours appreciating the singletrack. Conditions were really nice, with nearly dry terrain and warm weather. I’m really digging the Camber, it just maneuvers so well. Still not happy with the rear tire, so it’s getting swapped before the next ride, but that’s fine.

On this foray, I found the log ride and decided to give it a go. It’s composed of two roughly 100’ long trees who’ve fallen/are positioned base to base with maybe a five foot gap. The gap is spanned by the typical ladder board setup and is the high point. There are also a couple of alternate on-ramps on each segment. I would guess each tree is about 18” in diameter. I started out well, and made it about two-thirds of the way along the first segment, before putting my hand out to a standing tree and stopping. The next section just unnerved me, as it rises to maybe six feet off the ground or more (not obvious where the forest floor is, but looked like it would be about my height). Given I was riding solo, I just couldn’t quite convince myself to do it, knowing the penalty could be pretty significant if I messed up or bailed. I nearly did it a couple times, and of course am now quite eager to go back (with others) and do it, as I know the actual log riding part is no harder, it’s just far more likely to cause a real injury if you do fall off.

So, I walked up the rest of that segment to the ladder bridge. This is the middle photo, with the tree on the right (the one I stopped at), up to the ladder bridge. I was a little unsettled here, as it descends onto the next segment, but after a moment, I hit it, and successfully rode out the second log. I was actually a little shaky as I was riding! But, now I’m stoked. I haven’t ridden anything like that for a few years, so this was a nice little boost. Now what I have to work up to is just hitting this in a completely fluid way as part of the trail. It will be really great, when I can just ride into it with zero hesitation and continue the flow of the trail, up and along these logs, and then back down the rest of the descent.

There’s a full gallery also that has a few more photos. Fun stuff.

A Night of Calamity and Fun

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 09:18:00 -0700

On Wednesday night I geared up to do the weekly night ride with the Disciples of Dirt (DoD) at WhyPass. I’ve done these before, and quickly checked the site to ensure the time was the same. That’s where things started to go wrong, although I didn’t realize it right away…

First, my light had been plugged in, but in testing, it didn’t want to turn on. I futzed around a bit more, eventually plugged the battery in again to charge just for a few seconds, then re-tested it and it worked (and seemed to hold). This did not inspire confidence though.

Next, work was busy, and I wound up leaving a bit later than I liked, but not bad. However, I quickly realized I had almost no gas in my car, and it’s an hour of driving round trip, with no gas stations along the way. So, I dashed for the nearest gas station, filled, and raced (shhh!) out to the ride. I made it just before the meeting time, saw another guy in the parking lot, and we rode up to the meeting point. Nobody was there, so we waited, and waited some more. Eventually we ran into a few other guys, who were not there for the DoD ride, but informed us that the DoD had changed the ride location due to it being the summer solstice. Oops, guess I should have checked the forums.

I’d met Dennis in the parking lot. He had just driven up from Stockton, CA! He’d done several of the rides and since I hadn’t lately ridden WhyPass (which is a serious maze of trails, with no trail markers, etc.) he said he’d be happy to guide as best he could. We got in 1.5-2 hours or so of riding before needing lights. I clicked my light on. Or not. Tried again, nope. Remove helmet and pack, checked the light/cable/battery, but no go, it was dead. No spares, etc. Dennis didn’t want to ride alone (or was nice enough to say so). Therefore he lead back, with me following close to leech off his light.

In the end, it was still great to be out on the bike and get in some riding. I hadn’t ridden WhyPass in a couple years, and it was more fun than I remembered. The trails were in great shape thanks no doubt to the constant efforts of the DoD, and also to some recent rain. I’ll be in SF next week, but maybe the week after I’ll do it again, checking the site in more detail first.

Camber Chronicles continued

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 22:18:04 -0700

Today I got in a nice ride at Brice Creek. This ride I like because it has a bit more rock and technical bits than a lot of other places, has a fun waterfall you can ride behind, and was the right length for today. The ride was about two hours in length, and the trail was in perfect condition (exception various downed trees). I got a variety of photos, excuse my rookie use of Photosynth for the panoramas :)

I continued to evaluate the new bike. One good point - the saddle stayed in place on the Command Post today. Specialized knows of the cylindrical head problem, as when I picked it up from the shop on Friday, they had a tech bulletin issued by Specialized saying how to clamp things to have the best luck in keeping the seat in place. I’m still not real plussed on the non-infinte adjust of the post, but it’s livable.

Today I was thinking a lot about how the bike handles. It handles really well - the feel of how I can work it through corners is great. But, what’s a bit more surprising for me, is how well it handles in the air and jumping. I caveat this with the fact that I’m not a big jumper and generally suck at jumping. However, I’ve found that I quite like having the bike airborne! I first noticed this riding it at the BMX track. I felt I could air it out, and then manipulate it in the air naturally and easily. Very cool! Same thing was happening today. This was just on various rollers and such along the trail, but really fun.

I do need to bump up to thicker grips. I like the pattern of the stock grips, but I just need larger diameter ones for my hands. I plan to swap the lock-on Oury’s from my Reign over. The rear tire and rear shifting continued to ail…

The rear shifting, I just don’t know. I now have the full range fairly well, although still a bit harder than hit should be to get into first. But, under power, the shifting is poor - sounds like I’m going to break the chain. I’m not sure what’s up, as I have similar SRAM setups on both my other bikes and no problems there. Guess it needs more dialing, or maybe it’s a bad chain or combo of some sort.

As for the rear tire, it’s just underwhelming. Doesn’t brake as well as I’d like, and continues to be weak in anything slippery. I think it is just too minimal for a size XL bike, my size (6’1” lower 170lb range), and riding. What I’m worried about is the clearance, and what size tire I can get back there. I’m thinking maybe a 2.2 Conti Trail King/Rubber Queen, or if I could fit a Maxxis Ardent (unlikely though). Suggestions?

Nice rest of Father’s Day, hanging out with my family. Took the kids to watch the local BMX races in the late afternoon too. That was kinda cool.

First Ride on the New Camber

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 09:11:00 -0700

Last Sunday I had my first real ride on the new Camber. Overall I’m pretty darn happy! I’m certainly a bit out of riding shape, but after about 60-90 mins, I was feeling pretty decent. The bike tracks really well, feels light and snappy, and best of all, seems to fit me quite well. The fit was of concern, as I was between sizes (L and XL) in terms of top tube. This is the longest top tube I think I’ve ever ridden. I did shorten the stock stem from a 105 to a 90, which was a good choice, and seems about right. I did not feel too stretched out, and think the smaller frame would have felt cramped.

It was great riding a suspension 29er! I’ve had many suspension bikes, but had been spending most of my last mtb riding on my fully rigid Niner. That was great, especially in Oregon where the trails (at least where I ride) aren’t very technical. But, I was left a bit bummed at times because I couldn’t rip a descent as much as I’d like or hit some more technical section quite as hard. Riding my Reign here was almost always just way too much bike, and the Camber is a nice in between. It’s clearly not the same level of suspension as the Reign (duh), but as a trail bike seems like it’s going to be really ideal.

Negatives? Only three, and hopefully all will get remedied: rear shifting, Command Post, and the rear tire.

The rear shifting was not dialed. Not sure what the shop was thinking here, but I couldn’t even shift into first (the largest rear cog)! I futzed a bit on trail but didn’t have a lot of time and didn’t get it dialed. It’s now at the shop waiting for me to pick it up, hopefully fixed for real.

The Command Post was very disappointing. It uses one of those completely idiotic cylindrical seat clamps. Who ever invented this and thought it was good? You have designed a teeter totter, and it blows my mind that any engineer would ever think this was good. If you come down hard on the back of your saddle (or the front I suppose), the seat will move. I’ve seen this with others that have the same design. I had to reclamp/adjust the seat clamp 3 times on my 2 hour ride.

I made the mistake of assuming the Command Post, now that seat dropper posts have been around so long, would be well done. The cylindrical clamp is stupid no matter what, and I should have just skipped it for that alone. But now, add in the fact that it’s not infinite adjust. I just assumed all of these posts would be infinite by this time. My 5+ year old Maverick post is infinite adjust (but has the same cylindrical head fail). The problem with this is that you have to get it to click in to one of the lock points. This makes it take longer, and if you’re in a dicey situation just sucks. The actual 3 positions are perfect locations, I just don’t like that it has to find that lock spot.

At the moment, I’m planning to see if I can return the Command Post and replace it with a Rock Shox Reverb, which solves both of the problems. It costs more, are heavier, etc., but will actually be something I’m happy riding.

As for the rear tire, this is a conditions thing, plus I’m pretty picky on tires anyway. The Captain Control that it came with is terrible in the mud. I’m hoping it’ll be dry on my next ride, but I may just swap this out anyway, as I prefer a bit beefier tire. It’s the stock tire, so no biggy. The Purgatory front tire seemed to work ok.

Can’t wait to ride this bike again! Really excited to be riding again, and I think the Camber is going to make it a real pleasure, and be a great bike for the terrain and riding I do these days (although I’m also really hoping to get to ride in Tahoe this summer as well). I expect to take this bike as my one bike for Park City as well.

New Bike and Getting Back to MTB

Sat, 09 Jun 2012 21:10:00 -0700

I am super excited to have a new full suspension 29er! Picked up my new Specialized Camber Comp Carbon this morning, got in about an hour of riding with my kids mainly at the BMX track :) I am already amazed at the ride. Bike is stock with two exceptions - I put a Command Post on it, and Candy pedals.

I was pretty nervous about the fit, as I’m between a L and XL, and went XL. I did shorten the stem up, and so far it seems to fit and ride even better than I expected. The carbon frame was definitely a worthy upgrade. I test rode the aluminum version, and I can absolutely tell a difference.

Can’t wait to take this out on a real ride tomorrow. I’ve been off mountain biking for way too long (maybe 2-3 rides in the last 2 years), which sucks as it’s my true love for sports.

A friend and I have a North Umpqua trip planned (doing the Aug 10-12 trip with Cogwild), and then we’re working on another trip to Park City later.

SO excited to be riding mtb again!

Great Eugene sunset

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 21:06:39 -0700

Great Eugene sunset

12 Mile Run on North Shore

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 19:48:28 -0800

James and I ran North Shore trail yesterday. I had actually never done this trail, not even on the bike. It turned out great. Initially the weather was looking a bit tougher, like freezing rain or sleet, but it was beautiful! Sunny, about 34 degrees (felt warmer due to the nice sun), great day. We got a bit messed up trying to find the trailhead from where we parked, detouring maybe a mile along the water before doing this crazy climb up through the blackberry bushes to get back to the road, then down the road to finally find the trailhead.

We’d originally planned to do 10 miles, but got to the parking lot at the other end (roughly 5 mile point), and were both feeling good, so decided to go a bit longer to see what was beyond. Finally, at 55 minutes in (and we think right about 6 miles), we turned around, mostly out of time constraint. While this wound up being 5 miles longer than any run I’d done this year, it felt great, but was likely good we turned when we did.

The trail was in great shape, and was a good one. It’s a lot of little up and down, various quick stream crossings, slightly rocky in some spots. But, we ran a good pace, in the low 9 minute miles, which is good for both of us at that distance. We normally run slightly hillier stuff, so it maybe was not too fast, but still felt great.

It seemed to warm up nicely too, although I think was still in the mid-30’s when we got back. James actually ran the whole day in just a t-shirt, compared to me in a thin Pearli long sleeve base, and an Icebreaker GT180 top (I shed my jacket pretty quickly). I wasn’t sure but used my Mountain Hardware Momentum gloves, and that wound up being perfect. I really love these gloves, they can handle quite a temperature range, and they breathe SO well! Was also wearing Pearli knickers, and Inov-8 X-Talon 212 shoes (as usual these days).

Finally, at about 8 or 9 mile mark, had a gel (Hammer banana), and that was a very smart choice. I could tell just a short while later as it kicked in. I finished quite strong, and James was bummin’ he hadn’t brought a gel (and that was the only one I had). All in all, a really great day of running. Total time was 1hr 52 mins, over 12 miles. With such a big jump in mileage, I’m very excited that I’ll be able to ramp up my mileage in time for the Peterson Ridge Rumble 20 miler in early April.

4/5 Days of Trail Running

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:17:31 -0800

Yesterday completed three days in a row of trail running for me, something I haven’t done this year, and in quite some time. Even better is I’m left feeling really psyched, energized, and motivated! And, in fact, I’d run 4 out of the last 5 days:

Tuesday I did a nice 5.8 miler, with some good climbs, with exactly a 10 min pace.
Thursday, it was my closest-to-home shorty 3.6 miler on the Blanton section of Ridgeline. What was cool about this, was that I nearly did a PR, and did it 2 minutes faster than I’d done this year. At the end, I felt great, not tired. Of course, later that night I crashed, being ready to go to sleep at 9pm, and I should have, but didn’t.
Friday was the longest run I’ve done this year, at 7.4 miles on the Goodman Creek trail, with about 1600’ of vert. James ran this with me, and it was a great social, and quality run. It was a bit warmer than I expected, as I’d overdressed slightly, but it didn’t matter, and was great to run with James, as I rarely get to run with others, plus James and I are quite compatible pace wise. He can fly on the descents though, wow. Again I felt great after this, and had felt we should have gone faster, or not walked a few sections. But, dang, again, later that night, boy I was done: after reading to & putting my daughter to bed, I returned to the couch, where I pretty quickly fell asleep. I fought it for a few minutes, then realized I just needed it. Didn’t wake up until 2:30am (at which point I went to bed for real).
Saturday I expected to not run, but I got a bit antsy near the end of the day, so went out for a short, but solid run at Fox Hollow, doing the descent to Martin St and climb back up, then the regular loop. 3.6 miles again, but good. A bone in my metatarsals of my right foot had been hurting to just walk around on - I think I bruised it on a previous run, but it didn’t hurt to run on; happy about that.

Here it is Sunday, and dang if I don’t wish I could be out running. Probably good to take a day, given this was a bit of a ramp up for me. But, I’m really psyched, as I feel like I’ve got my running “back”. I need to go sign up for the Peterson Ridge Rumble 20 miler. I’ve been mountain biking on those trails, and they should be really sweet for a run! It doesn’t even seem like that big of a buildup to go from 7 miles up to say nearly 20 prior to then (I’ve got 7 weeks to do it). Still, that’ll definitely be into the long range territory for me, as I’ve only done over 15 miles a few times. It will certainly be a lot harder than the Haulin Aspen half marathon - same altitudes and vert I think, but 7 miles longer, and on I think harder terrain. Still, really looking forward to that.

As alluded to in my last post, I’m making some dietary changes, to work on some hormone issues I’ve got going on. Ramping up essential fatty acids, eating grass-fed lean red meat (I rarely eat red meat), plus more fish than I eat now, and trying to go wheat/gluten free. I’m excited to see how/if this affects my energy levels.

James and I talked a lot about diet, as both of us are into food, and really more into food in relation to fitness and health. He’s trying a vegan route. We’ll both be using Udo’s Oil too. I’m a big believer that diet and exercise can solve a lot more health problems than the pharma co’s say, or even as most doctors will prescribe, so I’m hoping that’s the case for me.

Dinner Feb 10, 2011Posted from: OR, USA Thinking about blogging...

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:22:00 -0800

Dinner Feb 10, 2011

Posted from: OR, USA

Thinking about blogging all my meals to help track it as I start doing some new things to hopefully solve some medical issues. More on that in an upcoming post.

As for the actual meal: two smaller bugers with avocado, tomato, cheese. Arugula salad with lemon juice and olive oil dressing.