Todd's Erg Log

Speaking of West Virginia

I remember when as a kid ski racing at Snowshoe in the '80s some of our team took a trip to WVU to do VO2 tests. It was quite an experience. The campus has amazing athletic facilities.

Earlier this year I came across the above work by Dieffenbach and McCauley reading one of Sam's posts on Cycling Dirt. Dieffenbach is an athletic coaching education professor at WVU and is a coach as well. Bike Racing for Juniors (Velo Press 2008, 392 pp) is well written. The work covers such aspects of junior cycling (road, cross, mountain) as nutrition, skills, injuries, developing mental skills, and being a parent of junior cyclists and athletes.

This book is another tool in the kit. Children develop their own enthusiasm in areas that appeal to them.

How 'bout those Mountaineers!

A huge congratulations to coach Huggins for getting the native state back to the final four! It's been since Jerry West for WVU ('59). Mazzulla is awesome. Let's Go Mountaineers! Morgantown is rocking tonight!

Gotta also love Butler today. The ESPN talking heads over the lunch hour pre-game were certain Kansas State had it. Kids reaching deep! Another upset, congratulations to Butler as well!

Pipestone

Sergey Rachmaninov Paino Concerto No. 2 in c minor, Op. 18: II. Adagio Sostenuto. Perhaps my favorite piece of symphonic music playing quietly on the radio. The final evening touch to a perfect day.

Friday evening, following a brief scouting ride up the Rattlesnake Corridor on the Big Sur, it became clear that if I was going to break in Red, it was going to have to be elsewhere. Snow, ice and slop still rule at the moment (fortunately) in the 'Snake. After all, it is still March! So, when I got an e-mail from Bob (TripleRing) that he was going to have a group ride Sunday at Pipestone, I thought I better look into it. Ski race trips are finally off the calendar.

This morning at 0700 I picked up my friend Bill and we headed out for what we hoped would be a five hour low intensity ride. Pipestone (just east of Butte) enjoys a banana belt scenario that for some reason keeps part of the trails dry during March. Part of the scenery includes the Highland mountains (top of post above) which loom largely in the distance above the area. This was my first recreational ride at Pipestone, having only raced a few times in the area. Bill and I managed to get in a few hours of riding early, planning on meeting up with the larger group from Butte at noon. It was surprising that the weather was so warm so early in the day. When we met up with Bob, John (a local cattleman above in the blue jersey ripping some singletrack) and about six others, it was time for me to switch to shorts and drop an upper layer.

The guides put on a first class ride in which we experienced some great singletrack. We shared some of the trail with the motorcyclists as well, who were great slowing down, waiving and sharing the path. Our group split up early, with a single speeder heading off with two other folks. Bob on some singletrack below coming out of a fun wooded area.

We wrapped up with the group at about 15.00. My friend Bob got a lid and then Bill and I rode for a short bit longer. I'm pretty sure old Red is gonna work just fine. One of the highlights of the drive back to Missoula was enjoying the smoked Georgetown Lake rainbow trout that Ross had given Bill. A great ending to a perfect day!

Lunch

Avocado, Spinach, Broccoli, frozen Blue Berries, Bananas, Turkey, Cinnamon (like lots), Olive Oil, Lemon Juice.

Staying Healthy

A few weeks ago I managed a minor hamstring pull either skiing or pulling on the erg, not certain which. This meant some RICE treatment and time off. It also resulted in taking advantage of this crazy weather we've been having in Missou to do some easy riding. It plays with one's mind laying off for a while. I spent part of three days in Red Lodge this past weekend hiking the hill and watching the kids race, a result of someone forgetting his boots! It was actually quite relaxing.

I felt pretty good today, so prior to doing some core exercises, I gave a 2k a quick whirl and came up with a 7.05.8. That's my best yet on the shorter effort and is encouraging as I would like to press through 7 this year at some point between cycling. Rest, very important.

IMBA Fundraiser - Race Across the Sky

Rebecca sent this flier up to me after I e-mailed down the request. She is going to be in Missoula Thursday, the 11th, to host an IMBA fundraiser. We have not seen this film, but did have a good time at the race last year catching up with some old CMA classmates. Thanks for bringing the film to Missoula Rebecca and supporting an organization we are very fond of - IMBA!

A Thursday in Idaho

It was decided that a trip over to the South Fork of the Clearwater may be better if we snuck out on a weekday, rather than fight the usual crowd on the weekends. Nick and I left early Thursday morning driving out one of my favorite US highways, Route 12, towards Lewiston, ID along the Lochsa. It had rained the night prior, so the road was nice and icy on the pass, but clear as usual in Idaho.

Keeping this somewhat abbreviated, as we got there, there were campers and fishermen everywhere along the drainage. So much for the weekday idea. Plates from all over the northwest. We fly fished in some of my usual spots, though the fish, steelhead, were all about the drainage. One local told us that it had slowed down quite a bit recently. We watched a scene where a fellow below us cast a spey rod gently laying out line and getting the perfect drift. He was on our side of the bank, chatting with his friends on the opposite side of the river who were casting bobbers and jigs. His wife was with him with the net and two large pvc tubes. On the other bank he was also visiting with the ID game wardens who were driving along the drainage everywhere. This fellow caught five fish, and placed them in the tubes and waded them across the river to his warden friends who took them for an analysis of some sort. The guy had it dialed in pretty well. Right cast, right section of the hole, right drift, right fly - right now! We watched in awe.

It did not happen for us this Thursday afternoon, but Nick got to watch someone who knew what he was doing and see some beautiful fish. There were quite a few fish moving up the river, including a few along the bank resting behind boulders that looked like they had been pretty chewed up somewhere along the journey back up to the hatchery where they were born. I'll be fishing more in Idaho this year as we travel to some of the races, but it may be the last season fishing over there as they are charging a bit much for an out of state license.