Making mashed potatoes into a mountain....

I think most people think I am crazy like this guy.

Sundance

Mt. Timponogus

Provo Valley fog

Heber Valley and Deer Creek Res. Valley fog

Bridal Veils Falls

Vivian Park

There were some days when wished is was summer and days when I wished it was still winter and yesterday was a day that I was grateful for a snowy winter. I went skiing at Sundance yesterday which was a beautiful sunny day and it was really great! It was the first time I went skiing at the Sundance resort, I have been mountain biking there many times before(great, great, mountain biking). They didn't have too many runs or lifts but pretty good for 35 bucks and to go someplace small. Also, it is a very short drive from here. My favorite trails were Junior and Hawkeye. They were short but still fun. There were a lot of little kids there at the resort and I wonder if the parents just let them take a day off or had parent/teacher conference (Monday). It was packed with kids at the bottom of the resort. At the top is where all the harder stuff is and that is where I spent most of the day. As you see the pictures above, it was very foggy in the valleys and sunny and warm in the mountains, very nice. Good day to be in the mountains. I had a lot of fun skiing on the mogals and the snow was great. I'd do it again.

Great lesson movie!

I watched this great Pixar movie "Ratatouille" . This is a great example about somebody, well, a rat, has a lot of pride in something and can be very good at. This rat, named Remy, loves food and to cook. All the other rats don't really care about what they eat and how it taste so they just each garbage. But, there's Remy, loves the taste of great food and wants to be a cook. He accidently ended up in Paris and looks for a new career by secretly helping somebody(a human who suddenly believes this rat can cook good food) to cook like the way the rat does. Everybody loves his food and the rat ends up being a head chef in his own restaurant called "Ratatouille".
Anyways, the point is that this rat had a real talent and was good at it. If you love to do something and have so much pride in it, like metalworking, woodworking, sewing, motorcyles, fishing, a sport like basketball, cycling, golfing, or whatever, then you can spend more time on it and especially enjoy, then you have a talent. You can get better and better at it everyday, it gives you something to work on. That is why life is good, everyone can choose what they want to do, then do it spectacular, and be very talented. (Doing drugs is not a talent, so stay out of drugs). So, I thought this movie was a good lesson movie for kids AND adults all around. I loved this movie!

Beaver Mountain: Ski fun for Dan Barlow!

This is what Beaver Mountain looked like today(December 31, 2007). It snowed 18 inches of new snow the day before! I went up and I could ski fresh powder everywhere, first tracks! I had fun especially on the Lue's Run and Stan's Bozanza. There weren't any mogals but great powder to make new mogals all day! It was the one of my best ski trips I had for a long time, skied great, fresh 18 inches of new powder, wrecked only twice, great sunny day. Oh yeah, they didn't groom anything! Powder Heaven!

Ski the Beav!

Snowbird is next! Look at all the black diamonds! Some black diamond heaven!

Snowbird is the next ski trip, maybe next week or two weeks! Right before I get my arm restitched.

My cycling training schedule....for the last 10 years.

The Brianhead race which I finished 3rd in the sport class in 1997, the year I started some serious mountain bike training.


In March 1997, I spent some time reading a cycling training book I bought at a bookstore in Provo right after I finished benching in the Manti High School basketball team which I hated more than I ever did in the world. I decided from day 2 of basketball practice, I would quit once the season's over and not ever come back to tryouts the next year. I decided to do something else, something I enjoyed on the summer before, mountain biking. I thought I could use some kind of goals to work on and get some competition out of it because I like "competition". Like mountain bike racing. I decided to race a couple times that year and needed to start thinking about getting in shape for it. I planned out a training schedule that consists of Vo2 Max training, aneraorobic threshold, endurance, and recovery. Vo2 Max training should be sprints on the bike going as fast as you can for 15-30 seconds and recover for a few minutes and repeat 5-6 times. Aneraorobic threshold is an interval training at 85-90% of max heart rate for 3-20 minutes, recover 2-10 minutes and repeat. Endurance should be long rides at 65-75% of maximum heart rate for one to five hours. Recovery should be done the day after a hard ride or race and should just spin easily at 55-65% of max heart rate.

This is the schedule I do for spring and summer:

Mon. rest
Tues. Vo2 Max training
Wed. Aneraorobic threshold training(on climbs)
Thurs. recovery
Fri. rest
Sat. climb that lasts 45-90 min.
Sun. Endurance ride on the road bike on flat roads(nice Sunday rides after church)

When I train, I train in 3 week blocks and rest all week on every 4th week. The first week I just start out small, like do two intervals and climb for 30 min. Then the second week, I do a little more, like do 3 intervals and climb for 40 min. The third week, a little more(4 intervals and climb for 50 min. Then the next 3 week block, on the first week, I do the same as I did on the second week in the first 3 week block and just build up. In June and July, is when it peaks up to where I get up to 6-7 intervals during the week and a 90 minute climb on Saturday. Then after that, you should do a lot more recovery rides and still do a lot of climbing.

In the fall, I like to just do long endurance rides with friends every Saturday. Nov. is reserved for active rest. Middle of Dec. is when I start do winter training like ride the stationary trainer once in the middle of the week for 60 minutes with intervals and snowshoeing in the mountains on Saturday, like a climb that last 45 minutes. Also do strength training(especially for the legs) once or twice a week. Then plyometrics twice a week instead of strength training during the last 6-8 weeks of the winter.

Well, that's what I have been doing.

My Highlights of 2007

Well, 2007 is coming to an end and 2008 is just around the corner. In the past few days I have been thinking about all the good things that happened in 2007, it was good, reeeeeeeeally good. I can't think any bad thing that happened this year, I had a goal last year to make 2007 positive and well, I think I achieved my goal. Mostly to find a really good job I enjoy. Well, here's a list of things I did in 2007(in order):

1.Screwed Todd Alder.
2.Road biked on the canyon road during those fun cold days.
3.Mountain biked all spring and summer.
4.Went on more road bike trips that contain 2-3 hours(with other local riders).
5.Remodeled mom's house(shingles, tore off carpet, repainted walls, mantle, new closet doors).
6.Spent more time in the mountains.
7.Went to Sundance and Park City to bike about 5 times this summer.
8.Went camping with brothers and sisters at Blue Lake.
9.North Carolina trip.
10.Park City trip with Mike and Laura.
11.Climbed the Widowmaker twice on road bike(Fairview Canyon).
12.Got a job at Custom Cabinets by Brent as a cabinetmaker assistant.
13.Worked my ass off.
14.Got a girlfriend(Niki).
15.Bought dad a christmas present.

Well, that is all I can think of, if I missed anything let me know and write it down in the comments for me. I think 2007 was the best year I had.

Next year in 2008, I plan to:

1.Keep it up with Niki.
2.Do more strength training.
3.Snowshoe all winter.
4.Get my arm restitched.
5.Get Sikk Trailbike.
6.Work my ass off.
7.Bike a lot.
8.Train better.
9.Finish my cabin(porch).
10.Climb the Widowmaker 3 times and climb Nebo Loop once.
11.Park City biking.
12.North Carolina.
13.Stay in the mountains.
14.Family Reunion.

I think that's it so far.

Christmas 2007

This Christmas was a another great Christmas, I got a few things and I am really satisfied on what I got. First, I got the Stamina Products Home Gym, I call it "the bungee cord gym", it works by 3 large bungee cords in different thicknesses on each side. It works great! It is not too bulky but it is great for myself for the bicycle winter training program. It doesn't have too much resistance for those guys like Arnold Schartzegger but good enough resistance for strength training, not bulk training. Just perfect for myself. I used it today and did a few exercises like the bench press, lateral pulldown, shoulder press, rows, pulldown, leg extensions, and leg curls. And I loved it! The only thing I was disappointed about was there is not enough resistance for the leg press, yes you can do the leg press on it, pretty cool though. I thought it was cool and was excited about it then I tried with the most resistance, then it felt easy. I figured, maybe I have pretty good strong legs from all that cycling? Probably. Anyways, that is ok because I can buy some dumbbells and do regular squats like what I have been doing and do walking lunges with dumbbells also which is a very good exercise for cycling. Those are the most important exercises for cycling though. I have a workout manual for the gym and I think I am going to have a lot of fun.

This is the leg press picture on how you do it. It is kind of cool you can do something like that on that machine. I am a little disappointed that is not enough resistance for my legs but I can do some rows on it. You can do rowing exercises on it! Pretty sweet. Dumbbells will work for my legs like doing squats, step ups, and walking lunges, for cycling.

I also got a Garmin navigator that straps around your wrist! I really like it. Tony, Shelly, and Karen, I got it to work finally and works great. It probably won't work for thick forests but really good in open areas. It is designed for runners, hikers, and cyclists. I can strap it around my handlebar too. It has training modes in it(like interval training),distance, speedometer, timer, etc. It also has elevation. The elevation here is 5,484 ft. Pretty cool. I can also hook it up to my computer and record data.

This would be great for my work when I am installing cabinets, I take my drill with me everytime I go install cabinets. This would be great for my DeWalt screwgun needs, I really like it and it's got a pretty durable case. Titanium drill bits, lot's of screwbits and so on. Becky gave me this.

Mike and Laura, thanks for the hammock. I think I will use it a lot. Good gift.