Surviving through the winter!

Winter is the hardest time of the year for my cycling training, especially during the holidays because #1 you can't ride, #2 too much food, and #3 you can't ride! So, it's the cruelest season for a cyclist. To survive it, it's time to spend time to do some cross-training and preparation. Cross-training provides a break from riding a bike while building cardiovascular fitness. Such as hiking, running, xc skiing, snowshoeing, swim, and weights. I always definitely do weight lifting but I should include an aerobic exercise. Strength training means greater endurance by strengthening slow-twitch muscles which may raise the lactate threshold. Also injury prevention is another reason. For a mountain biker, function, not form, is the goal so I do high repetitions with low weight. I especially do the legs by doing squats, step ups, and hamstring curls then do upper body workouts like lateral pulldown, standing row, seated row, and bench presses. Core workouts is a must for a cyclist because that's where you get most of your strength on pedaling a bike. Every year I start lifting weights in November by using really light weight for a month then December and January is reserved for heavier loads. I like to lift for the whole body workout twice a week then ride the indoor trainer once a week and xc ski on the weekend. On the indoor stationary trainer, I really ride because you can't really get as a good workout as you get outside on a real ride. So, I go hard that I constantly sweat hard like sweat pooring like Lance Armstrong climbing on the L'alpe De Huez climb in the Tour de France. To go that hard, I can get my heart rate up to 75-85% of max. During the weekend xc skiing is a lot of fun to get me some aerobic exercise(about 80-85% of max). I try to save all the anerobic exercise(90-95% of max) for the racing season. I spent the last two weeks xc skiing like 4 times a week and took a break from weight lifting. Then in January, I get back on weights for another month, then I will be ready to ride outside on the bike to train for the races in spring.
My winter training: Monday: weights

Tuesday: off

Wednesday: indoor cycling

Thursday: weights

Friday: off

Saturday: xc skiing

Sunday: off

Timberhawk's first modular home!

We have built this house all in the shop. They wanted us to build it in 3 weeks but with all the figuring out and the first time doing it, it took 5 weeks. 5 weeks to do all the framing, electrical, plumbing, sheetrock, painting, cabinet assembly, siding, etc. It's not too bad I thought. We built this home in 3 sections and panelized the garage and shipped all of it to Nephi in one day, also assemblying it on the same day. Then we did the roof and touch up stuff in 2 weeks. Like all the plumbing and electrical connections, siding and sheetrock finishing, carpet, etc. It's not too bad of a house, since it's so small, it is a good starter home at a total of $160 grand. See the timber truss and posts for the porch? I did all that in the shop myself. Of course I am the timber truss guy for the business, it's not my first one, this is like my 12th one since I worked there. Not bad, eh?

Torker U-District commuter bike "Duke Bike"

I need an inexpensive bike to get around places around here. First of all, I need just a "regular bike" to get Duke around. To go on a short ride and let Duke run. I usually take him on Witches Knoll on the very south side of town where there are only about 4 houses on the road and it is a mile stretch paved road. Duke loves to run out there. He'll only run when I am riding a bike though. This is also a good bike to go down the store and get something while you are not worrying about your $3,000 bike outside of the store. This bike should be around $350. It is a singlespeed and by golly, it's maintenance free! And for me, just to bike bum around town in the sunsets sounds pretty nice on it though. This bike was only designed for student commuting but it can be used for many things especially for the town. I can use my expensive mountain bike only for the mountains and expensive road bike for the highway. Good deal.

Day of flying...

Justin's airplane

City of Ephraim

Ephraim Canyon

Above Manti looking at Gunnison Resevoir

City of Ephraim

Manti Canyon

Maple Canyon v

My boss took me flying above all over Sanpete County today. I never flew in a small plane before and I thought it wasn't as scary as a big jet airplane. We flew all over the place for 2 hours and I found it very enjoyable. We looked all over and had a lot of fun. Justin used to fly for Jet Blue for 2 years before working at Timberhawk so he bought a little plane for himself. It was an awesome day at work!

New sport!

Dusted off my XC skis, put on new shoe laces on my XC ski boots which I took off years ago, then went up to Fairview Skyline Drive to try it out again. I have to admit it, if doing it right, it's a little funner than snowshoeing. I only tried it once or twice when I bought my XC skis and boots with some my financial aid money during college. I decided not to do it anymore because of my injured knee so I put them in a closet. In the past week I kind of got interested in it again and did some research on how to do it by looking at it on the internet. Today I went up Fairview at the very top which had barely enough snow on a dirt road, about less than 6 inches. I went on the road because it didn't have steep slopes and it mostly had gradually rolling hills which I thought would be perfect for XC skiing. It was fun and good exercise! I could feel the burning in my legs and my heart pumping, it felt good. This would be a good sport to stay in shape in the winter time other than snowshoeing. I was looking for an aerobic sport to do out in the cold every Saturday to get some aerobic exercise during the winter. To get ready for the bike season next spring, I usually lift weights during the weekdays twice a week then do some aer0bic exercise outside every weekend when it's not dark because it's always dark right after work every day. So weight lifting is a good strength exercise to during during the weekdays while riding a stationary trainer bike also. Then get some fresh air in the mountains every Saturday on XC skis or snowshoes. This will be a good sport for me this winter. Downhill skiing at resorts are getting too expensive! Cross country skiing is like snowshoeing and downhill skiing together. If you want to see me on a weekend in the middle of the winter, I'll be XC skiing at Fairview Skyline. To my brothers and sisters, I won't be seeing you at your house during the holidays, I'd rather be skiing!

New bike!

I just went to Provo tonight and put a down payment on this 2010 Gary Fisher Superfly 29er. I won't get it until January or February but that's ok, there's snow now and it's ridiculously cold. I was going to go put a down payment on a Trek Elite 9.8(26 inch wheels), after I wrote the check, I asked them if I could ride one of their bikes to make sure it's the right size. At first I rode a Trek with 26 inch wheels with a 18.5 inch frame, it felt too small. Then the only 19.5 inch frame they had was the 2009 Gary Fisher Paragon which had 29 inch wheels. I rode it around the parking lot and the first thing I noticed about the bike that it had so much more control and stability. It did fit true to size to my body because of the bigger wheels? I don't know. But it did feel a lot nicer and I could understand why most people like the bigger wheels. I told the guy that I really liked the bike and he told me that about everyone in the race team has the Paragon or the Superfly. I thought about it for a while and I was having a hard time deciding. He was talking into me of getting one because of the advantages. Of course it was like $250 more than Trek Elite 9.8, so I went for it. I can't wait to try out the big wheels on the trails next spring and the races. Also the frame and crankset are both made out of carbon fiber, that is like a big bonus.

Snow!

Last week I was in Five Mile Pass mountain biking in shorts and today I went winter hiking around Fairview Skyline Drive area. I was planning to snowshoe but there wasn't that much snow for it, like a foot of it. So I went hiking in the snow. It was just gorgeous up there with brand new snow and I just wandered around to get some fresh air. I think one more big storm, it should be enough for snowshoes.

Fun at Five Mile Pass...

Owen kickin' butt!

Brayden rippin' it!

There's goes the rear derailler, bummer.

Had a fun weekend with Tony and the boys at 5 Mile Pass between Lehi and Tooele. It was sure a heck of an indian summer all weekend so it because a blast. I took my mountain bike and had some great rides. I rode on the "Showdown at 5 Five Mile Pass" race course they have every spring. I did race it last spring but it turned out to be a rainy day and we just rode on the short course. So I wanted to try out the real actual big 11 mile course so I know what is like for next year's race. I thought it was fun and fast on the big and middle chainring most of the time. Lot's of rolling hills plus "The Wall" and "The Wash". On Saturday, I rode on the race course for like an hour and a half while the temperatures were good in the 60s. Had fun with the boys shooting rockets and playing with the potato gun. Ate bratwurst then watched Transformers 2 in the trailer. Slept in the heated trailer after a heated shower. The boys and Tony did go on rides while I was riding. We also played with RC trucks most of the time. Saturday morning we got up and I went for a short ride around while everybody else stood by the fire and played in the dirt. Then we all ate breakfast while watching a Baja racing video. Then I went for another ride while everybody else went on a ride on their motorbikes. I went to "The Wall" and back then the last mile or so, a rock flipped up and hit my rear derailler while it was in the lowest gear then got caught on a spoke and totally bented and twisted it like a taffy in a taffy machine. There's goes like $200! Well, ya?!?!. So I just coasted back down to camp then we played with rockets and potatos some more. Then we went home. It was all fun except when Owen's brake lever broke, my derailler broke, and Tony's RC truck broke. We all still had a fun weekend. Thanks Tony and the boys!

Talk about luck!!

I would have ran into this...

....and ended up like these guys

....or this guy,

and my bike would have looked like that.

Yesterday, I went for a ride on my road bike. I started at Pigeon Hollow and rode on the brand new road they just built to Spring City(with stimulous money, it's nice though). The weather was fairly decent and I could see a big old black cloud over above Mt. Nebo and Fountain Green northwest from me. I rode through Mt. Pleasant, I could see the storm moving towards me. After I got out of town going towards Fairview on the backroad, the wind started blowing really bad and I couldn't balance myself on the bike very good. I kept putting more weight on the left side of the bike to keep me on. As soon as I got to a hill on the left side, it got calmer because of the hill. It did sprinkle a little bit until the Skyline Golf Course. After passing that, everything was calm was barely sunny just in the spot I was in. Looking back behind me towards Mt. Pleasant, I could see everything was all black and stormy. When I have got to Fairview, I turned around and I could see the storm moving more southeast towards the mountains. So I rode and rode. I got to Mt. Pleasant, everything was drenched. As I rode on the wet road, I was thinking, "man, it stormed here and I was here just 30 minutes ago?" So I got so lucky that I missed the horrible, brutal storm and I would have been drenched and cold. It was wet all the way past Spring City and to Pigeon Hollow. After I got home with a change of clothes on then preparing dinner, I could see outside of the window that wind was blowing like 70 miles per hour and started raining again, like heck. Man, talk about pure luck. One of my lucky rides I call it.

History of a bicycle tire...

Here's something to blog about: History of a bicycle tire...

1846: The pneumatic (air filled) tire is invented, but creator Robert William Thomson uses thick tubes of latex after failing to find adequately thin rubber.

1888: John Boyd Dunlop begins selling the first pneumatic tire, hoping to soften the rough ride that earned early bicycles the nickname "boneshakers."

1891: Inspired by a tire change that involved letting glue dry overnight, Edouard Michelin, of Michelin & Company, dreams up a simpler model that takes just 15 minutes to remove and repair.

1926: Newly invented Mavic aluminum rims are banned from the Tour de France over concerns the metal would heat braking and pop tubes. Some racers sneak them in by using wood colored paint.

1930: Tullio Campagnolo patents the quick-release skewer to make tire- and gear- changing easier. Cyclists previously had change gears by unscrewing their rear wheel's wingnuts. He was driven to create the device after cold-fingered fumbling on a mountain pass.

1937: The German manufacturer StahlGruber begins producing tube patches under the name REMA Tip Top, after Willy Gruber deems them "tip-top" during testing. The technology changes, but the brand name sticks to this day.

1965: Chemical giant DuPont develops Kevlar. The fiber, spun from a crystalline liquid, is five times stronger than steel but lighter and more flexible; its eventual use in tire beads shaves almost a quarter-pound from a set of clinchers.

1989: Slime unveils its tire sealant and prefilled tubes-the polymer provides a nontoxic option for folks looking to prevent auto and bike flats.

1990: CO2 bike tube-inflation devices are intoduced. The Instaflate uses 12-gram unthreaded cartridges and deploys with a trigger.

1999: The first tubeless mountain bike systems are introduced by Mavic and Michelin. Basic tubeless systems appeared as early as the late 1800s, but generally bombed in terms of performance.

2000: Stans Tire Sealant enters the bike market to provide flat protection for tubeless and tubular tires-a godsend for riders in thorn-ridden areas.

2003: Michelin, Shimano, Hutchinson and Mavic collaborate to develop the first modern tubeless road tire and rim system.

Bike Deer Valley

This is the picture for just the Silver Lake Trails, there's more trails to it that goes way beyond!

After not getting into any team with my Mad Dog Cycle teammates for the 12 Hours Of Sundance this weekend, I went for a long ride at Deer Valley Resort instead. I wanted to do the 12 Hours Of Sundance badly but I couldn't find anybody to do it with, there were some teammates were looking for somebody to be in their 4 man team(coed) to race in it and I volunteered but they said they found somebody else. 12 Hours Of Sundance is an endurance race in Sundance Resort that goes from 7 in the morning 'til 7 at night, you can do it Solo, 2 man, 3 man, or 4 man teams. Like if we were to do it four man, we would each do it 3 hours. I would do it if I were riding it 3 hours though and it sounded fun. It is kind of hard to make a team when you way down in the middle of nowhere in Ephraim. I also tried to get in a team with some guys in Ephraim who were also planning to do it but they called it off, they would have enough guys anyway if they they went.

Anyways, I rode all around Deer Valley for 3 hours and it was extremely fun. My mom dropped me off at the Deer Valley Base(by Snowpark Lodge) and started climbing up the Tour de Homes Trail to Silver Lake. From Silver Lake I continued climbing up another 1,300 vertical feet along Team Big Bear Trail way up to the top. After that I descended way down on G.S. Trees, Twist & Shout, Deer Crest trails. When I got down back to base, I decided to ride some more! Party on! Went down the Outlook and Spin Cycle trails all the way down to the Jordanelle Gondola Base(by the freeway). Then climbed up the Pipeline trail for another 45 minutes to the Snowpark Lodge. 2 hours and 45 minutes total. 21 miles total. It was a beautiful fall day with leaves already barely changing colors. Awesome ride with enough climbing.

And all this time you thought you were doing it right...

Some training myths we learned from other sports have been carried over into mountain biking. It is time to unlearn them so you don't waste time and energy. This is what I learned from a recent article:

WRONG: Rides have to be an hour or more.
It would be awesome if we had three to four hours to kill every time we are on a bike unless you hit the MEGA Millions lottery, chances are you have other obligations. Three one-hour rides can be as good as or even better than one three hour ride. Every ride adds up to better fitness, you can always crank up the intensity of short rides, but many doctors will tell patients that any exercise can prove beneficial.

WRONG: Stretch before rides to reduce injury.
It may be logical to prevent injury by stretching before exercise but there is no clinical proof it does. It is best to stretch after your ride while your body is still warm. This stretching will help you on and off the bike, as you will find the added flexibility a benefit to everything you do during the day.

WRONG: Muscle turns to fat.
That is impossible. Those well-defined leg muscles do not turn to blubber if you take time off the bike. Muscle and fat are totally two different tissues. Muscle will atrophy if not used, so if you stop riding, you will lose toning....you gain fat by eating more calories you burn. If you eat more while you stop riding, it may appear that muscle turns into fat, but it can't happen.

WRONG: Better riding techniques burns fewer calories.
It turns out a seasoned rider who knows how to spin the right gear and time his efforts efficiently burns the same calories as a new rider who struggles up climbs and attacks at all the wrong times. Most riders will burn the same number of calories on their ride today that they burned a year ago.

WRONG: Winter workouts burn more calories.
Your body burns about the same calories while on a cold-weather ride as it does on a warm ride. But if you are underdressed on a cold-weather ride or justifying a giant meal after a cold ride, better rethink your logic.

WRONG: Riding is a miracle drug.
There's no doubt that riding adds the quality of life and has been shown to help everything from heart disease to diabetes. Still, it is not a cure-all. If you have health problems, use an experienced doctor (and your mountain bike) to manage and correct the situation.

WRONG: Piles of miles.
It is a common belief, especially from a roadie, that the more miles you put in, the more fit and better rider you become. The problem is that overdoing the miles can cause illness because you push your body to the limit. In extreme cases of over-training, depression is the real concern. Remember that rest is as important a part of your riding regimen as the training itself.

WRONG: No pain, no gain.
If your rides result in sharp pains in your legs, chest, arms, or anywhere in that matter, you are doing something wrong. Some soreness is to be expected to a new rider or an experienced rider trying a new training program, but if this type of pain continues, you are pushing yourself too hard or there is something wrong with the bike fit. Cycling should not be a painful exercise. Let the weightlifters live by the "no pain, no gain" slogan. Your motto should be "No brain, no gain".

Skyline Drive Bike Ride

While the temperatures reached a scorching 100 degrees down the valley, I decided to at the top of the world for the day. Actually, my whole family decided to go, my brother and his family wanted to go fishing at Logger's Lake which is by Snow Lake. I decided to ride my mountain bike along the Skyline Drive. Skyline Drive is a scenic dirt road that goes along on top of the Manti La Sal National Forest mountain range in Sanpete County. It can go more than 80 miles. I started my ride northbound from the Ephraim Canyon Junction and passed the Horseshoes and South and North Tent Mountains until I got to 15 miles which is by almost to Mount Pleasant Canyon turnoff. Then I turned around there and headed back to the car. I did a total 30 miles but I was going to shoot for 40-50 miles but after 5 minutes after starting riding I could feel my legs hurt and sore from the last ride last Thursday with Chris my boss riding up the Canyon Road for an hour and a half until the Pioneer Trail and went down the Pioneer Trail. So on the Skyline Drive, I took it easy and enjoyed the fantastic scenery of Manti La Sal National Forest from the "Top Of The World". This road contains a lot of rolling hills at an elevation ranging from 10,000-11,000 feet. So the air was very thin and harder to breathe in. I enjoyed the ride very much because of the cooler temperatures and the scenery.

"I'M TOO OLD!" Excuses, excuses, excuses....

Lance and Dave, the two winners and oldest guys of Leadville 100

While today's kids have strong thumbs from working their Playstation3, their parents(and grandparents) are out pounding the pedals. Just showing up keeps you young, and these tips can help you do more. Here's what I got from an article:

1. Don't read about aging- Nothing will make you feel older than reading all the medical studies about aging. Do you really need somebody telling you that you're experiencing a decrease in your maximum heart rate, a decrease in your overall lung capacity and a decline in muscle mass? Man, that stuff is downright depressing. Instead, focus on the positive steps you can take to make every day count. It doesn't matter if you are 16 or 60. These tricks are for everyone.

2. Don't kill yourself-Use common sense before following any of our workout ideas. If you blew your knee out motocrossing in 1974, don't do a hillclimb workout. If it is 90 degrees outside and the humidity is pushing on your helment visor, you need to turn the workout volume down. If you just had open heart surgery, intervals will probably kill you. That would bum us out dude. So before doing anything, consult a doctor(preferably one who mountain bikes).

3. That warm feeling- Remember when you met the gang at the trailhead and started the ride by hammering down the trail? Resist that temptation, you gray stallion. You need more warm-up time to get that old heart pumping and those decrepit lungs opened up. So start your ride 15 minutes early to warm up.

4. Stretch out- Do some stretching to improve your flexibility.

5. Add intervals- An interval is a short, intense burst of speed followed by a period of recovery. If you don't have a base level of fitness, go do some long rides before attempting intervals. The best results will come from two interval sessions a week(a few days apart). The first interval session could consist of five short intervals of one minute each and three minutes of rest(easy spinning) between each effort. These short intervals should be ridden at hard intensity. If you can't do five, cut back the number and work up to five. The second time you add some intervals to your ride, try doing five lasting three minutes at a lower intensity than your one minute intervals.

6. Organic intervals- If the timed intervals sound too confusing or you don't believe you won't stick to doing them, try the organic intervals. You don't need to follow a schedule or a stopwatch. Make conscious effort to throw down a few hard efforts every so often. Pick a tree or rock to the side of the trail and sprint to it. When climbing an extended hill, pick a place near the top and drop the hammer from there until you crest the hill.

7. Pumping carbon fiber- One of the main reasons we got into mountain biking is so we didn't have to spend time inside a gym. That doesn't mean you can't use the bike to do a little weight training(something that has proven beneficial for aging athletes). Do the hillclimb pump. Warm up by riding around before proceeding. Pick a hill that takes you a minute to climb easily. Now attack in the next higher gear than you just used. Don't worry about your form. You will have to get out of the saddle, pull up the handlebar and struggle up the climb. Push the pedal until you can't push it another rotation. You just did a bench press and a leg curl without a Nautilus machine in sight. Pedal around easily for three minutes and try to climb the hill again in the big gear. Take another three minute reprieve and hit again. The hillclimb pump takes place of one of your interval workouts.

8. Pump iron- Get yourself a set of dumbbells and have them next to your favorite chair in front of the tv. Get in the habit of curling a weight while watching tv or dvd.

9. Go to sleep- Recovery is the well-deserved benefit of working out. Take it seriously. Make sure your bedroom is dark and well ventilated. Invest in a comfortable bed.

2001 Subaru Outback

This is the car I purchased recently, 2001 Subaru Legacy Outback wagon. I have been enjoying it in the last week and it drives nice. When I got it, the only thing was wrong with it was bad rotors in the front but I got those replaced. I like it how it has so much room and the sound system sounds like a theater system when listening to the radio or cd player. It had 114,900 miles when I bought it and it is very clean. It has leather seats and that's what I like about it. I put my bike rack on it so it will be very good when I go to bike races. It has an all wheel drive system so it should stick on the road like glue on snowy roads in the winter time. So I really need that when traveling 15 miles to work each day, also to ski resorts going skiing. For the last few days, I was wondering if it actually is the Subaru Outback LL Bean Special Edition but I did some research on it on the internet but I found out it is not, the LL Bean Edition has fancier stuff than this car and a bigger motor. But anyways, that would have been cool. It looks like one though. Well, it is a good car and I am enjoying it so far.