"Nobody Can Eat 50 Eggs!"

We lost him. This one hit me hard. "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." Paul Newman dead. Cool Hand Luke R.I.P. "One in the box, one in the bush boss." 50 Eggs

Grave Creek Range Missoula

I left the Little Griz football field at 9.45 yesterday, dropped some water and bananas next to a power pole at the Kona Bridge and drove Big Flat Road to the Blue Mountain Trail head. At 10.30 I headed solo up to the Blue Mountain Tower. The below shot is looking towards HWY 12 and Lolo Peak. The Tower sits at about 6400 and the Blue Mountain Trail head is at 3300 or so. I was doing part of the RMQV in memorial to Marcy, my friend Bill's dog. I had not been on the bike really since the 8 Hours of Labor in Butte about a month ago, so I knew not to expect much. My goal was to see if my waypoints were correct that I had placed in my gps and Topo software based on Bill's google map, and, of course, to complete the section ultimately meeting Sten at the Kona Bridge. There were Jim from Hamilton and Rich from Bozeman (a team who also completed the 8 Hours of Labor event in Butte) who started at 6am, Larry (of Missou) who went off solo at 9, and Bill, Ronnie and Dave (all of Missou) who started at 12:00. Bill was doing a ride (scattering Marcy's ashes in their favorite stomping grounds) throughout the night covering all surrounding Missoula points (Blue Mtn, Snowbowl, Marshall, Clinton, Miller Peak, University Beacon) finishing today at the University Golf Course - which he did at around 8 this morning! Sten, a Muleterro teammate from Bozeman, met him all night and morning long at each checkpoint. I rang a cow bell at his finish!
Anyway, my ride was going to be a few sections only. The blue line was my route on the above Grave's section map I made. I've hunted the lower Highway 12 areas around Camp Creek and west so I was eager to go across the top. The compass told me the garmin was on and I only made a few mistakes that were quickly corrected. At the first diamond, I went back too soon bailing on a brief single track section I missed. No biggie. That junction is above with the bike. Then, above the Dry Gulch exit where gold arrow is, I needed to stay east and down the road. My way point was a little off and instead (where the red flag is) I found Missoula's outrageous single track descent -this: There were probably a dozen of these in there. The landings were insane, and I don't know how guys could survive! There was a guy in there with a shovel making more jumps and ramps. He wore no shirt and was covered with tattoos. Crazy man! The Grave Range was beautiful, with scenes of all points on top, Missions, Bitterroots, Idaho. I'll be spending more time up there. It is open to motorcycles, but there were not many and they were friendly. One guy came by with a rifle on his back. It took me just under 4 hours, but I stopped often to look at the map. After Kona, I went across Deschamps Lane on Mullan and Roller Coaster (below) to Butler Creek and up Point 6 Road. I was hurting when I got to the A-Frame at Upper Griz Lift (earlier shot below). Bill, who started an hour and a half after me, now caught up. He put some ashes on the slopes, gave me some chips and headed down the Beargrass to Sten at the Ravine Trailhead.I called my wife from the A-Frame and had her meet me at Ravine. It had been 8 hours to there and 11,000 feet or so of climbing. I realized at this point maintenance of conditioning is critical for these events; but, I also knew I was only along to have a good time for Marcy on this one - which I did!

The Morning Missoula Commute

It's getting cold coming down Hillview! Dark and cold on SW Higgins too! At least it did not rain this morning coming down. No coffee at Albertson's this morning. Bummer! :~( Ran into a couple of guys on cross bikes coming across Miller Peak from Deer Creek over the weekend. Could not believe my eyes. A Northern Rockies and a 53x11 Coffee jersey. I had the dogs up there to find some birds and explore some sites on Jake. I said they should consider the Miller Section on Marcy's ride this week.

Missoula's Mt. Sentinel Windsock Climb

This is my favorite Missoula quickie. The "Hour of Power." It begins at the University of Montana Golf Course on the fire road. It climbs just a shade under 2000 feet. 4.29 miles to the top. Riders can usually get the whole climb in the middle ring with the exception of where the two yellow diamonds are on the map. Those areas require the granny ring (at least for me anyway). It can be ridden without clipping out. Most locals ride this often. It is 45 minutes to the top unless really working hard. It was 41 for me yesterday and I almost croaked. I rode up the fire road (harder climbing than the new lower switchbacks which are fun to descend). North at the singletrack junction (left going up) rather than around Crazy Canyon. At the upper orange gate I usually ride up the last part of the road (first yellow diamond) which is a killer after what has already been ridden. Then the last diamond is the last climb to the top. I stay left and often complete this if it is not too loose.

Sheep Mountain Trail 513 Missoula

The below shot is of Wisherd Ridge during a cold solo over in the Spring of 2007. Here are some of my other Sheep Mountain area photos.

Hollowman's Saddle Section - 27.81 mi

View of Lolo from Little Park Creek along this section.

Friends

It was time to really treat Nick and Max to some serious outdoors activity. Fly fishing as it can only be experienced when a "local guide" puts you on the quarry.I left the office a little early today. Picked up some Starbucks and a few wraps and some other essentials and headed out to good country. The three of us piled into the Toyota after Max talked Chili (a fellow Hanger mechanic and mad downhiller) out of his last tin of Copenhagen. Max later confessed that he bot the tin(s) for Chili and therefore was not to be thought ill of for recapturing said tobacco. Trying to get him to kill this one.The three of us have shared a few floats over the years on local streams. However, I've never put them on the football sized cuts in the area. This was to be the day. Max is headed back to Utah shortly after all! He puts the sneak on a clear and deep hole above. Max decided to take his pack. We started fishing at about 2:00.It was a beautiful area. I realized that they had never been here. The plates in the area were from South Dakota and Washington. Hm? Had some folks read about this in Fly Fishing the West? Heck, the fellow from South Dakota seemed bummed some locals were around. Actually, Max recognized one of the Missoula guides in the parking area. There were a bunch of horses at the trail head too with guides taking folks hunting. Bow season is in full swing and rifle may be open in some areas as well. Fall is my favorite time to fish because outdoorsmen become focused on other things, like birds, antelope and elk to name a few. "Don't slip Max!" He was the only one of us who crossed. I brought my boots, but forgot my chest waders that go with them! Luckily, I did bring my hip waders which worked fine. The bees were out, but the mosquitoes were not.The hatch situation on this tributary was a bit tough to figure out. Max was charging off upstream while Nick and I were working on selection. There were some caddis out, mayflies and some other larger flies that were dark. I had started with my normal stimi routine and suggested to Nick that he do the same.I stayed below, while they leap-frogged each other up the stream. The water was clear as gin, or should I type "as a bell" or as crystal or a diamond? How do those outdoor writers put it? Don't read, pictures should suffice. :~) I had one nice fish play games with me in a deep pool. The refusal rise. Where had I heard that. A nice, large fish that came up and looked at the drake and thought about it (and gave me a slow motion heart attack), and then headed to the rocks below: "There are two schools of thought on the refusal rise. One says that if the fish was interested enough in your fly to turn and look at it once, you should keep putting it over him until his resolve weakens. (This would be like voting Republicans all your life, thinking that sooner or later you're bound to get a good one.) The other school, the one I subscribe to, says that if he didn't like it enough to bite the first time, what's going to change? I mean, it's still the same fly right? ... {Those of us who believe the refusal rise is definitive carry lots and lots of flies}." Gierach, Standing In A River Waving A Stick (Max and Nick, this book is headed your way). I gave Nick a Green Drake that had a gold wrap on it and for some reason the big fish went bananas. No to the adams and terrestrials. But that larger dark fly worked for us. Also stimis. This below fish was big. Hard to tell. This was a happy boy. Max caught many fish. He had success on the PMDs and mayflies. Near the end upstream from the hole Nick was in above, Max caught a half dozen nice fish. It was 6:00 PM. Nick was supposed to be back at 6:00 to set up his tailgate for the Griz game tomorrow. However, that was out the window and a "tomorrow morning" activity now. This was too much fun.Max laughed and said, "I'll hold this one forward so it looks big." I took the photo and we both laughed. I was a decent fish. But his others made it look pretty small. These were large bodied cutthroats, with a dark brown and golden tint. Really beautiful. I caught one that had a small hooked ("kyped") lower jaw. We left the bulls alone. I tested them on the way back to Missoula to see who could guess first the tape in the deck? It was, as usual, Trout Bum, John Gierach. It took them until John mentioned his "Gierach Special" to figure it out! Max mentioned a book to me, but I forget the title now. About a kid growing up in Oregon fishing. I'll have to get that again. Great day!

Sliderock, Granite Co.

Made it up to the Sliderock, Willow Creek junction yesterday. I forgot how nice it is up there. Another past grouse hunting area. Also, had an episode with a lion up here one year as well. The base at Rock Creek starts at Quigley and 4000 feet. Sliderock is at 7600. On top in various areas, one can see the Pintlers, the Missions and the Bitterroots. My camera is officially toast. So, I'm going to have to borrow the wife's now. We'll see how long that lasts. I'm going to go across this section shortly and come out Willow on upper Rock Creek. Will probably take a shotgun and fly rod. A+ country up here. Lots of sheep this year too in the area. My friend and I saw one bow hunter.

13th Lap

Bill Martin just e-mailed me this shot he took at the finish line at the 8 Hours of Labor in Butte. Alice did another one. Fun! Bill's other 8 Hours of Labor photos

"Isn't that what Teenagers do?"

It was 6.30 AM and I was having coffee with a small group. The question came to me from an older friend and I also knew it was the question on the minds of some of the others. At first I responded that it sounded like a question coming at me from my wife. But after I said that, I realized she may have a better understanding why I do some of the "juvenile" things I do.

I had given a brief description of my ride with a friend last night. Finally, there was no Little Griz practice that I needed to attend. Nor was there Micro Strikers soccer practice. So, I took to opportunity to ride from Clinton to Hollowman Saddle, up to Miller Peak, and then through and down to the Sam Braxton trail and Pattee Canyon. Once we got to Miller Peak, it was getting dark and cold. I had prepared for both. My lighting system is pathetic however. Good for getting around Missoula, but not for what we were doing. There has been significant logging from Miller Peak to Deer Creek. The terrain there is something. Montana is BIG Country. Even in our own backyard. Ironically, I had cell service and my phone kept getting "ceechonged" with e-mails along the way while resting in my pack.

I really did not think my bud should do this crossing alone, and I may need to know it anyway for a future ride. We got back to town prior to 10:00 and then drove to Clinton to pick up my truck. That at least saved us the time of riding first from Missoula to Clinton and then over. Did I say it was cold? My toes were frozen and fingers as well. I did have warm clothing on. The single track drop above Sam Braxton was fun in the dark.

But that above question, ""ISN'T THAT WHAT TEENAGERS DO?,"" really hit me. I'm sure a lot of the readers of this silly blog think the same thing pretty often. Besides, arn't blogs also for teenagers that want to shine the light on themselves? I mean, what (edited) is the purpose of all of this anyway? I decided to maintain the blog for people who are not able to frequent the places I ride, enjoying the photography and some of the stories. The great thing about blogs is people do not need to read them. A blog is not the utility bill or monthly mortgage.

Isn't that what teenagers do? I guess the truth is that in all of my distant bike travels in the hills of Montana, I rarely, if ever, see teenagers on mountain bikes. Especially once about three miles out of the Missoula area. It seems a lot of the riders I do bump into are adults looking to get away from these computers, and their tv and who knows what else? Mountain biking is peaceful.

Endurance racing or long, dark and cold rides do not make a lot of sense to the majority of mankind. At least that is what I have decided. That is why for the most part I no longer bother talking about it. People ask, reluctantly I discuss. The stress and fatigue that comes in the last 25 miles of the one hundred miler kinda keeps me grounded in important things though. Like, there is more to life than me. Humility. America feels to me grounded in other things - like consumerism. Or, keeping up with the Jones family across the street. Borrow, buy. It's everywhere. The world may be growing tired of financing our behavior.

The other thing about the long ride is it's healthy and there is a decent feeling when it is completed. It does appear to be a growing area in the sport of cycling as well. Many of the par-takers are in their 30s, 40s and 50s. Except in Missoula, where some of them are in their 60s!

Alright, I'm done. Back to the office. Then, this afternoon, I'm going to Brewster Creek and over Slide Rock mountain with a friend (who is retired)! Maybe it will be cold.

Fall Mountain Biking in Missoula

Every once in a while, the stars align to remind us of what is important. Today was such a day for me as I rode over Sheep Mountain with friends old and new. On top of Sheep we encountered a few hikers (seated above in Coors shirt with wife) who took some shots of us. From the left above are Ronnie, Dan, and Dave (BedrockandParadox), Max, myself, Sten of Muleterro, the Missoula Mule Bill Martin and our trustworthy photographer for the above shot, Rick Kern. Bill (below in gray) standing with Dave above Wisherd Ridge. Mr. Rick Kern (below) of the Bicycle Hanger went over the Hill today too! I got an e-mail from the Mules that they and Ronnie wanted to take Sten over Sheep on Sunday. Sten is a bud from Bozeman. Dave was in on the ride too! Had not met Dave yet and was looking forward to that. I notified Max and he talked Rick and Dan into the ride as well. We met at the Rattlesnake trail head at 9.30. Dave (below) was the first to show up at the parking lot after me. He rode to the trail head. Dave is in a masters program at the University of Montana. He is also not your normal rider. He rode a single speed 29er with an industrial frame and check out the handlebars! Sheep on a single speed! Remember, the first 9 1/2 miles climb single track for 4100 feet. He got it done. Seems he's into self supported ultras. My wife will probably tell me to exercise caution here! Smile! Dan (below) has recently taken up mountain biking and rode in one of the Wednesday night series races in Missoula. Dan (below) also broke his femur on the lower Woods section of this trail not too long ago this summer! I had no idea what to expect today from mother nature. It was 50 degrees this morning with overcast. I decided to take the shell for sure. So did everyone else. It was cold and windy on top. Bill and Dave take in Wisherd above. We were talking about skiing this ridge in a few months. Won't be long. Dave (up from Arizona) was also commenting on how lucky we are to have such a ride so close to town. Sten below takes in the views below the hele pad heart area. My buddy Max returned to Sheep finally this year on this trip. He will be heading down to the Brighton ski hill in Utah at the end of this month to patrol. Guess I'll have to plan a ski trip down there! Of course, every time I ski with incognito patrollers, something goes awry. Right Neil? We took a break on the climb up at the Mineral Peak, East Fork of the Rattlesnake overlook. Turns out this is Ronnie's favorite area too. Perfect area for a tent! Felt good to take a little break following the rock garden climb prior to this section. Everyone tried to clear one switchback on the way up and I bet $50 to anyone who could get it done. No one did. We talked about the erosion in that section and believe the trail will have to be re-routed there. Not sure that it can be repaired. Most of the trail had been cleared, including through the East Fork of the Rattlesnake on the descent. (Sten's red tires below!)There were a few portages. The ride, which was about 5 hours today, was basically without event. We had one over the bars and one flat. The flat was mine. My rear tire went down. I replaced the tube, pumped it up, got on the bike and then the new tube (yep) went down! Fun! I did have a second spare tube that got me through the rest of the ride. (Ronnie on flats below!)The endo occurred on the East Fork descent, and had it not been mentioned, it would not have been known because no one saw it happen. A bad somewhat hidden root area. The recent rain did have things a bit slippery. However, the trail was in perfect condition with limited dry sliding out on the way up. It was a great day. The weather was perfect. Hot below, cold on top. Typical. Rick has put together a team at the Hanger (actually I think they need a 4th) to go to Moab for their 24 Hour race next month. I'm going to be in Antelope camp as I was lucky again and drew a tag. Good luck guys, I know you'll have a ball! I made it back in time to take out Jake (the Snake) for a ride with the youngest Sheephead. We rode to the dungeon in Greenough Park. A great fall day in Missoula!

Ian Hibell

Ian Hibell was killed by a Hit and Run Driver. Article in the Times. Obituary in The Economist.

TripleRing's 8 Hours of Labor

Well, Bob has done it again with another super fun endurance XC event for the state of Montana. TripleRing's 8 Hours of Labor was held just east of Butte three miles from the Homestake Pass exit at Homestake Lodge. This place was amazing. It is situated near the Continental Divide trail and supports mountain biking, hiking and groomed trails for cross country skiing in the winter. Everything at Homestake was run by solar panels on the back of the structure with the sole exception of the gas stove.Heat, electricity, the showers were all fueled by the solar panels. Chris, the owner, gave us a nice tour and explained everything. Pretty cool. As in all events however, we camped out - next to the lodge. This was my 4th and final endurance race this summer. I decided to ride my full suspension Gary Fisher Sugar for the fun of it. Friday night I picked up Max and we headed over to meet up with Bill and Sten who were going to camp next to the lodge. This race is a new event for the state and it was Labor Day weekend, so the attendance was pretty light. There were five racers entered in the solo event and they were all friends. In addition to the four of us, Chad and Kris came over from Helena. Chad showed me his new hard tail and explained he broke his frame on his prior rig. Chad is an experienced ultra racer who won the 24 solo event at Rapelje in 2007. He said this year he rode the Rapelje with Kris who got second. Chad said he had a great time racing at this year's Laramie Ultra and that I should go down to that event next year.Max has been doing a lot of long road rides and a few races as well in Montana and Utah. So, he was pretty excited to do this race. There were two 4 man (and woman) teams consisting of local Butte and Helena racers and one 2 man team, which included Rich who did the Butte 100 and his teammate.

The course consisted of a loop of about 6.2 miles. Someone made a clip of the race at 8 Hours of Labor. I did not pre-ride the course. It was not the same section that the Butte 100 went through. It consisted of single track, jeep trail, wood chips, sandy sections, and three creek /marsh crossings of which one could be ridden over with boards going over the section.

Trying to still get warmed up, I missed the pre race meeting. I later learned that each time you pull into the start area to put your initials and time on your sheet, you are supposed to fully get off of the bike. Other than that, I pretty well understood how these things go. Simply ride for 8 hours and finish as many laps as possible. Sign in each time at the start area.

(above photo by William Martin and Bill's other 8 Hours photos) Bob started the race by sending us for a run around a small loop. I had a great nights sleep prior to this ride. Also, was pretty well rested through the week up to the event. My goal was to try to stay with Bill and Sten, the Muleterros, for as long as possible. Well, talking to the racers afterwards, people were pretty shocked at our initial pace. The three of us took off. My h/r on the first lap averaged almost 170. Bill said his goal was to maintain 160 and he went maybe 162 at the max. The second loop I was 167. Third 165 and 167 (my threshold) again on the 4th lap. On the third lap, Bill got ahead of Sten and me but was still within sight. On the first 3 laps, other than to write our initials and times, none of the three of us stopped. Coming around the 4th lap, I grabbed a second water bottle. I felt like our pace was fast. Sten said he had to back off as there was still six hours left. I maintained a pretty quick pace and my legs felt great.

(Max enjoys a pre-race oatmeal above) I had pre-made five bottles, but Kris was gracious to also fix three more for me while I was riding around in circles. The really nice thing about these races is that after a few laps you begin to realize what is coming up around the next corner. The first and second marsh crossings had me caked in mud and Alice's chain and transmission as well! It was fun. What a mess! There were some pretty spooky turns following fast descents too. Twice in one area I almost hit a tree at the base of one descent. I did wreck on one when my front tire bogged into some sand as I attempted to make a last minute right turn. I over compensated, came back too far to the right, hit the brakes, and mashed my helmet into a sandstone rock. Fortunately I had slowed down enough that I stayed out of the Butte hospital!Chad and Max had a major race going. Sten stopped following his fith lap, not feeling well. I could not get Bill back in my sights and kept waiting for him to lap me. I was running at a 150 h/r. I had forgotten I had endurolytes in my back pocket the whole day. On the 11th lap turn, I saw some on the table and kicked myself in the tail for forgetting to eat them. I slammed two and they helped with lap 12 and 13. I still felt great. Had a hard time eating during this race for some reason though. Got down a cliff bar, part of a peanut butter sandwich, and some bananas. Only one protein drink. I'm done with the protein drinks. Electrolytes, cliff shot blocks and endurolytes are all I need I think. William Martin photo below.I intended to race hard at this race. I just missed being able to do a 14th lap. Finishing number 13 at 8 hours and 5 minutes. The garmin said 81.07 miles, and 9760 feet of cumulative climbing. Bill finished his 13 ahead of mine and if he wanted he had time to go out for a 14th, getting his 13th done prior to the 8 hours. Congratulations on your race Bill!

Max just got third, finishing his 10th lap ahead of Chad's 10th. Those two had a fun race going. After the race everyone enjoyed hot showers that as mentioned above, were solar heated. We also were provided with burgers and beer in the Lodge. Bob had once again put on a great event!

Sunday morning the Mule's weekend of riding was cut short by a tragedy when Marcy, Bill's dog, had an unfortunate fall. She later Sunday sadly succumbed to her injuries.