Thursday, June 28, 2007

Sprint to the Summit

No entries for a long time ...

http://www.summitparkutah.net/SPHArace.html

Nuff said ....

Monday, June 11, 2007

TR: Wasatch 2007 Training

Mark has been doing a lot of running at Summit Park, Jeremy, and the Shoreline but I think Sunday may count as the official start of training for the 07 Wasatch. No other fools would join so it was just he and I on that leg between Big Mountain and Lamb's Canyon. After the umpteenth time of wishing I had a small camera to take on these outings, I am making a vow right now to get one this month.

Trail report (TR): after the June 6 snow storm (yes, snow!), the trail was a little moist/muddy in a few sections but for the most part, it is in good shape. Lots of downed trees in the first half ... biking would be a biotch, for sure. Temps in the mid-80s, breezy, quite nice.

Our brush with ole Lancy


We're back from a wild, woolly, and incredibly wet week in the American and Canadian prairieland. First stop was good ole Hartland, for our usual summer visit and the annual Trek ride to raise money for childhood cancer. This was the 18th Trek ride, and Ivan has ridden in all 18 … not too surprising for the biking fanatic, eh? We rode the 100K (62 miles) version but Mark and I are fully convinced that Ivan can still do the 100 miles … get him a few more BBQ chicken wings at the 50 mile aid station and watch him go!

The big to-do this year was the fact that we were gonna be joined by the celebrity-biking-rock-star we like to call: fancy Lancy. A record 3,500 riders signed up this year and I can’t help but think they were more than a little disappointed that he gave a whopping 28-second pre-race address. But they weren’t all there to marvel at his majesty … from the looks of some of the $5,000 bikes and spandex-clad-GU-infused-cyclists at the start line, a lot of them were there to strip him of his imaginary yellow jersey and forever be able to claim they beat Armstrong at the venerable Tour de Waukesha … (if only we all aimed that high). One guy on the chase, took a wet downhill curve too fast and met up full speed with a tree, chest first, broke his ribs and had to be heli-flighted outta there. Another guy somersaulted multiple times before he, too, was sent to the ER. Because he was causing so much bloodshed, Lance-a-lot had to leave before completing the race. Or was it perhaps that he just couldn’t handle the gnarly vert that corn country had to offer? We’ll never know.

The next few days, in between frequent bouts with rain, we managed to check everything off the list: bike around Christopherson Fields, play a little tennis, do a little shopping, and of course, eat, eat, eat. We visited Matt and Shel at UWM and got a tour of the shwanky new med school facility, where we completed a crash course in otolaryngology. Wednesday came too soon and it was time to leave; Mark went back to SLC and I went on to Getty’s graduation in Winnipeg … or “Winter”peg, as the locals like to say.