Pain and Fun Ahead

2008 CCP ahead. Mission = Finish and Have Fun! Will be 86 degrees with expected Thunderstorms Sunday!

Wallman Trail, Missoula

Some good folks have really done a good job recently on the Wallman Trail here in Missoula. I rode up there today for a brief sojourn and snapped off a few shots along the way. It's fun to blast out through this creek after descending. The upper area of the trail was beginning to erode, so someone made a decision to re-route things. It eliminated an extreme climb, but now there are many new switchbacks which are fun.The snow storm that came through (see U. Montana post) last week wreaked havoc on the local trails and this one was not an exception. Wallman's portages are few though. A friend of mine said he has been having some success fishing the upper Rattlesnake lately. One can see that though it is still high, the water is starting to clear.No racing for me this weekend. The Squeaker turned 6! Had a party for him. A little hard to stay in shape raising 3 kids. Life is good though!

Missoula Turkeys

There are now turkeys all over Missoula. Miller Creek, Grant Creek and the Marshall Canyon area are loaded with them. Pretty soon it is going to look like Lowell, Idaho around here! I took the shot of this one from my back deck! Missoula weather has gone from snow last week to 90 degrees and sunshine.

University of Montana - Missoula

"I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer!" James Morrison was blaring on the radio after I snapped this above shot off. Sounded pretty good really after what I just put myself through at campus recreation at 6 in the morning. Well, as you can see, there is snow on the Griz. I said before that when I was having my snow tires removed, it would be a sure indicator of more snow to come. Well, it is June 11, 2008, and I have a few inches at my house. Anyone want to go do a bowl run? How about just coming over and shaking my trees?

Salmon River Cycling Celebration XC - Idaho 2008

The Little Rogue (LR) and I headed out for another adventure on Saturday, June 14th to camp and then race on Sunday in the 3rd Annual Jenna Brimmer Memorial XC. Took a few shots of the Bitterroots north of Darby on the way over as they are so stunning. Wow! A person has to stop and take it all in. So we did. We were hoping for some fishing on the Lemhi or Salmon rivers on Saturday afternoon, however both rivers were blowing out and that took care of that idea. Darren had made some changes to the course anyway which we were not expecting. So, we did a pre-ride Saturday instead of fishing. The start had been moved out of town, and he added about 450 feet of new climbing. The only bummer was the Lemhi had been taken out of the course. The positive was that the cow pasture (and pies) along the Lemhi had been eliminated. So, each lap was about 6 miles and climbed about 940 feet or so. The section along the Salmon was as jagged as ever, and this year had boards holding the trail together above certain sections (are we nuts?). LR and another kid were going to do their division off of the dangerous river section this year, and that was fine with me! The Salmon was cooking! We camped in our usual Moose Creek Drainage area on top of the world. This year Bill and Alden found found us Saturday evening and pitched tents as well as the snow was drizzling down. In the men's expert division, Joe (above) had a great race, beating the rest of the experts by ten minutes or so (myself included). I had a pretty good race, a few minutes from most of the pack other than Joe! I had a bit of trouble holding on to the experts and pros (we all started together) at the start when everything exploded into a dust cloud. One guy almost fell right in front of me. No one seemed to make a mistake. I never crashed and don't recall ever clipping out either. Ate two gels and drank two bottles. I was closing the gap with some folks on the last lap as they were just above me on the last climb. The main thing is as usual I had a ball and so did LR! I was told by the woman in charge of the kid's events that he really shifted well and was powerful. He stopped and drank out of his water bottle, so get him a water pack. Well, sure enough, he won one! Great times! My friend Bill, Riding for the Mules, really had a stellar performance. Only about a minute off of the Trek pro in the end. Ryon B. was 4th.This year Alden (below) came over to the race again and rode the sport division's 3 laps. This is a very strong guy! Also, Larry (below) from Missoula rode in the beginner division and had a good ride as well. The ride home on Sunday was fun. We were hoping to hit the West Fork, but it is really a float only option at the moment. Clear, but high. The salmon fly nymphs have to be good right now though! Was dying to hit it. May take the raft up there shortly. Also, we took a few shots of Trapper Peak. LR looks like a trapper!

Missoula Singletrack Training

Well, the Little Rogue blasted up to the Orange Gate twice on Thursday to see how Max's tune job felt. Answer, great! Sponge Bob rides again! Then we worked on the descents coming down the single track. It was a fun workout before the trip over to Salmon Idaho Saturday for the Jenna Brimmer Memorial XC. The race in Salmon is always a good time because you never know what to expect. Last year it was 3 or 4 inches of snow on the tent in the morning high up in the Moose Creek Drainage. That followed good trout fishing on the Lemhi the night before. After last year's race, there was also some great camping Saturday night on the West Fork of the Bitterroot for further great fishing. This year the downhill is on Saturday and the XC is on Sunday, so we will not be fishing the West Fork Sunday. That's ok, fishing Saturday should do the trick! We'll see how the race goes. Oil was up $11 today, so gas will soon be over $4/gal. If this keeps it up, we will have to ride to the races or something!