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.

Race #10: Rock The Canyons XC Grand Finale Race

The mountain we climbed.

This was mainly my last race of the year. It was a great day and the race started at noon so it was kind of hot though. The Canyons Resort is located north of Park City and it is the biggest ski resort in Utah with like 24 lifts or so. I have ridden the trails in The Canyons Resort before so I knew what it be would like, I just knew the downhill part but the climb up is a trail I never have ridden on before. At first, each category did the half lap(pink trail going up), then down Holly's Downhill back to the start/finish line. Then all the categories did laps on the big lap. Going up Rosebud's, then Rob's trail which was a tough climb. After the climb, it is a sweet downhill(hairy though) down Ambush and Holly's Downhill. My class did a half lap and a full lap while everybody else did a half lap and two full laps, the professional did half lap and 3 full laps. I liked this one because I was in a really good mood for a day of climbing that day so it was perfect. I placed 7th. At first I had a slow start then I started passing everybody on the full lap climb. This was a very good long climb with a long downhill. Just like the trails in where I live. See ya next year for all the races again. St. George is next in March, 2010.

Race #9: Taming the Tetons, Jackson Hole, WY

The temperature in Jackson Hole Resort was perfect at 70-75 degrees so it was a nice, sunny, cool day for a bike race to escape the Utah heat. All the racers are all from Utah and this race is part of the Utah bike race series. The race course wasn't one of the most physically challenging races but it was the most technical race of the series. It did have a lot of tight singletrack and service roads, it did have a lot of service roads for passing but they were awfully short. But the singletrack was really great for a bike race and there were a lot of it which made the race fun. A lot of roots, rocks, wood bridges, and twists. There weren't any long major climbs, instead there was a lot of up of down and each lap consisted 1,100 feet of climbing. My class did a full lap then a half lap. I finished 3rd in my class but still finished 10 minutes behind the first guy. There were only 4 guys that raced in my class. There were not very many people at the race so that means the ones that didn't come are real true time party poopers. Wish there were more people though. I got a ribbon, a Jackson Hole mug, and a $3 off tram ride coupon. I am planning to do next year's race also. I really didn't want to leave Jackson Hole, it was so nice up there.

Race #8: Chris Allaire Memorial XC Race, Solitude Resort

It was a beautiful sunny morning and my race started at 8:30 again which was very nice. This race course also had a new singletrack going up instead of the paved service road to get to the top. At first, you do go up the pavement for .25 miles then you get on the singletrack for a while then up the Honeycomb canyon which was a very steep granny gearing service road for like 3/4 of a mile then more climbing on a new singletrack called Queen Bass which just opened last summer. At the top, you go on a service road again then there is the turn off for the finish of the climb of the lower loop. My class did 2 lower loops while some other classes did some upper loops way up the top more for even more singletrack. The downhill of the lower loop is great with a lot of rocks and a few jumps. I finished with a time of one hour and nine minutes. Finished 9 minutes behind the first guy and that is where I usually finish. So the result is 7th place. There were no pictures of me so I got of few pictures of other racers so you see what the trails were like.

Race #7: Mountain Bout, Snowbird

They made a new singletrack trail for the climb up instead of going up the Dick Bass Highway Service Trail. So, it's much better this time. My race started at 8:30 am and I like starting earlier because it's just nicer. Each lap was 4.5 miles which consists a singletrack trail going around then up all the way the top climbing 900 vertical feet, then down a very dusty loose gravel service road which the Snowbird Resort should think about making another singletrack going down instead of the road. Then you reach the lowest point of the trail down the bottom with more singletrack with a few granny gear climbs back to the start/finish line. The class I am in did two laps, others did 3 or 4(the higher classes). I personally liked this one because of a lot of singletrack. Well, about every race has plenty of singletrack, so pretty much about every race keeps getting better throughout of the year. I got 8th place. After the first lap, my back was totally killing me so I didn't do good on the second lap so I finished 10 minutes more than I usually finish. I usually finish 10 minutes behind the first guy but this time I finished 20 minutes behind, which is bad. But all well, at least I had fun. Doing construction work during the week really wears out my back though, LOL! My job is killing me, LOL, LOL! I should get that one t-shirt that says, "this job is killing me", LOL! Seriously.

Gary Fisher Paragon 69er

This bike is a different bike than most other bikes we ride. It has 29 inch wheels instead of 26 inch wheels. Bigger tires may have some advantages: a smoother, faster and more stable ride. In the past few years I have seen more of these kind of bikes in races especially for big guys. This week, I went on a ride with my boss, Chris and he has a 29er bike. I asked him about the big wheels, he said the bike fits him better(he is the same size as me) and it rolls over obstacles better. I thought about it and it sounds pretty reasonable to me. Also, Durke is getting a 29er but it will be a singlespeed(he can ride anything). I looked at Trek and Gary Fisher 29ers which Mad Dog Cycles deals, the Gary Fisher Paragon 69er interests me the most. It is cheap also, with very good components like Sram X.9 deraillers and shifters, Brontrager tubeless wheels, and Avid Juicy 5 hydraulic disc brakes which makes a real steal at $2,199.99 at regular price. A lot cheaper than most bikes I was looking at. I looked at the Trek 69er at the same price but it didn't have as good components. From Mad Dog Cycles, I can even get a better bargain by being on the Mad Dog Cycles Race Team by getting a 15% discount, also another 10% more off by giving them my old, old blue/purple Klein for some charity thing they are doing(giving them to kids). Then I will sell my previous red Klein for like $500 from ebay or something. So, I did the calculations and the whole price of the bike I will pay is $1149.99! Not bad, eh? I am not going to do this right away, I have to buy a car first. Then I will be able to buy a bike. It will be real sweet!

Biltmore House...

Andrea's graduation

Since I didn't have a chance to ride in the Pisgah National Forest near Asheville, NC on my mountain bike, might as well talk about what I did on that day instead. In the morning, it poured rain so hard and on the tv there was a message about a tornado warning out there in Avery Creek, pretty close where I was going to ride, then the weather turned decent after ten in the morning but everything was muddy. I decided to go to the Biltmore House with the girls and look around. The Biltmore house was owned by George Vanderbuilt, a millionaire who ran a shipping company in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Today, if he was living, he would be considered a billionaire. His house was built between 1888 and 1895, it has 205 bedrooms and 43 bathrooms but the bedrooms are not small, they are huge like really big and spacious, the size of 6 of my bedrooms with 15 foot or so high ceilings. It also has a huge 4 story library full of books. Should of seen the dining room, English type and about 80 chairs, also 7 stories high. Nice stairway. All the bedrooms were decorated differently from different countries, like French, English, German, etc. In the basement, big swimming pool with lights inside. While George Vanderbuilt used electricity for his pool lights, everybody else in other houses didn't have electricity at all so they were in the dark and all that. This guy was so loaded I couldn't believe it. Also I have to tell you this guy had a bowling alley and a gym in the basement. This house is the biggest private home in America. Not a motel, but a real house with only a rich dude, his wife, daughter, a crapload of servants, and a few guests. After a grumpy morning of no hope to ride because of the lousy storm turned the day of education.