Late Fall Bouldering...

Liberty Mountain comes out with two catalogs a year. The first is a gigantic sized "Everything" catalog that displays our almost 20,000 items in full color and glossy pages. When describing it to potential customers I refer to it as the "phonebook sized catalog that can stop a bullet and probably kill a man if thrown!" The other catalog we produce is a climbing only catalog that is significantly thinner and full of climbing and bouldering photos of staff and friends on every page. It's put together and presented as professional as possible and is meant to "showcase" the wicked awesome radicalness of Liberty Mountain employees. Unfortunately, I only had one picture in last years catalog...a lowly V0 boulder found near Stansbury Island. The location was great and the boulder was fun, but that particular picture that ended up in the catalog was an awkward and unflattering back shot. I was determined to get some better shots this year.

Friends are good, friends with mad skills are even better! One of my friends, Julie, is a professional photographer. We met a month or so ago as she photographed my brothers wedding and as I've gotten to know her her talents have become obvious. In my quest for better climbing shots she was the perfect person to document my efforts. We set up a day that would work with both of our schedules and picked a good spot and went to town. My fellow Liberty Mountain Desk Lacky, Tobin (* there you go!), joined us for the climbing shoot and we headed to Little Cottonwood Canyon. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, with a recent snow, so we were stuck to bouldering at the Cabbage Patch boulders. We got some good climbs in but it got dark fast and the flash batteries gave out on us. It was a fun time and we had some good laughs in the process. Despite the snow and difficult lighting I think the pictures turned out great, what do you think?

Interbike 2008...

The Interbike Expo is the premier U.S. cycling trade show. Bike enthusiasts converge in the Sands Convention Center on the Las Vegas strip from September 22-26. Bike and bike related companies set up booths that showcase their upcoming lines of bikes and accessories. The first two days consist of a dirt demonstration located near Las Vegas in Bootleg Canyon. Liberty Mountain distributes for the German manufacturer Vaude, which has a bike specific line of panniers, hydration packs, and tool bags. Our booth is small compared to a lot of big name vendors, but just being at the show is a fun and amazing experience. It was a fairly uneventful show except for the "injury" I suffered setting our booth up. I scraped a good chunk of skin off of my right forearm trying to stop some booth panels from falling off a trolly. Good fun and I can't wait until next year. 

My Ellie May...

One of my better friends from high school had a 1981 Volkswagen Jetta we used to put around in. It was a faded red, diesel powered beast that managed to somehow make it over 200,000 kilometers (124,274 miles for my American readers). My friend named his car "Adolph", a name that played on the German origins of the Volkswagen company, and a name I have replicated on my own VW. It was the first time I had heard of anyone naming their car, and since then have had named all of my important machines. 

Enter Ellie May. 

I named my Ellsworth Evolve mountain bike Ellie May because she's a sultry belle with all the right curves and she knows how to treat her man! I can get her dirty and she never complains, she's always up for an adventure, and has all the right characteristics of a keeper! Anyone else name their bikes or cars?

Ogden Xterra Sport...

Last year I raced the 4th Street Clinic Triathlon put on by the U of U medical department and had an absolute blast. It was a short tri with a twist, instead of a road leg it was a mountain bike course near the U. Since then I have been training for the Ogden Xterra Sport off road triathlon and this past August I was finally able to race it! 

The Ogden Xterra is the Mountain Championship course, meaning that placing well here will earn you an invitation to the USA Championships at Lake Tahoe and/or the World Championships in Maui. Professional and more competitive racers race the Championship triathlon with a 1.5k swim, 30k mountain bike, and 10k trail run. I raced the Sport course with a 750m swim, 19k mountain bike, and 5k trail run. While shorter, the Sport race follows the Championship course and so the difficulty is high. 

I got to the race early enough and set up T1 at the Pineview Resivoir, then drove up to T2 at Snowbasin Mountain Resort. I lolligagged at the T1 setup and as a result missed the last shuttle bus down the mountain to the race start. I was standing with a handful of other slackers when a bus driver informed us that we'd missed the last bus. We all scrambled for our cars and sped down the mountain. I got there just as the cannon went of for the Championship racers. Luckily, the Sport group didn't leave for another half an hour. 

I had rented a wetsuit from SBR Sports in Orem and thought that was all I needed for the swim prep (besides some strategically placed Body Glide, goggles, and my fluorescent green swim cap) unfortunately I didn't sit in the water and acclimate to the cool temperature. As soon as they shot the cannon off I dove into the high 60'ish degree water and promptly gasped a mouthful of water, "so that's why everyone was chilling in the water before the start!" I had to backstroke for a buoy length before acclimating enough to breast stroke(Aislinn has since commented that I was indeed doing the front crawl not the breast stroke, dang medication). I was soooooo slow!

After the swim I was ticked off at how slow I was and determined to make up some time on the bike while still saving some juice for the run. I started slow, recovering from the swim (and the claustrophobic effect of the wetsuit) but soon found myself passing rider after rider. This gave me motivation and I really started pushing it on the course, which was almost entirely all uphill (except for a mile or so downhill towards the end of the course). I must have passed 40 or 50 other competitors and I got tired of yelling "passing on the left (or right)". I did get passed by an exceptionally talented female rider sponsored by Kuhl Clothing. She had a flat but passed me once she got it fixed, although I kept up with her almost to T2. 

T2 was a bit confusing as it was at the Snowbasin Resort parking lot. I was unsure as where to start running, but I soon got going only to be slowed down from side stitch cramping. I had to walk it out then got to running. I was making good pace the second half of the course and saw the finish line when my right shoe came untied. I got it tied and then sprinted to the finish, I re-passed a few competitors that had passed me and came across the downhill finish with my hair flying in the wind. 

I had so much fun racing the Xterra and I have already determined to start training for the full length Championship distance for next year. I think my swimming is what needs the most improvement on, but I know just being in better overall shape will make a difference too. I think the most important training I can do is stretching, especially my hamstrings. It seems my family is cursed with extra tight hammies so yoga and other stretching is necessary to continue being healthy racing. It was a challenging race, but I can't wait until next year!

Fu, By Popular Request...

I work at Liberty Mountain as the International, California, and Nevada sales rep. We are a ginormous outdoor distribution company with almost 20,000 backpacking, climbing, and other outdoor products all stored in our warehouse in Salt lake (we also have an East Coast facility in PA). We stock probably every outdoor store you've been to. 

Last month a customer calls up and wants to know the color of a particular rope. Now this is the most confusing rope company known to man, with 2-4 different colored thread patterns in every rope, and a different color depending on length, width, dry treatment, and so on. So I make a call to our warehouse manager, Danielle, and give her our 6 digit item number for two different rope types and ask her if she could check the colors. Her response is, "I could take the time to check them, but the first one is lavender and a dark navy blue and the second one is a teal with a dark reddish color." I called BS, thinking NO one could know that out of 20,000 products. She said "what do you want to bet?!" So I, thinking there is no way I could lose, say "I'll grow a nasty mustache if your right! If you're wrong,  you owe me a shake!" Well, she got the ropes and damn if she wasn't dead on, tints of blue and everything! What followed was the most agonizing ten days of my life! Anyone who is close to me knows that I HATE facial hair, it makes me feel greasy and gross; however, true to my word, I grew that Fu and grew it well! 

Enjoy!

Solitude Revisited...

My friend Garrett left his job at Liberty Mountain to persue a career in photography, hammersinc.blogspot.com, he graciously came to one of the Solitude weekly races to shoot some of the riders. I remember that particular race because I was fulfilling a lost bet I had made at work and was growing a "Fu Manchu" as a result. At this point I'd had it for a week or so and it was full on at perpetrator length, so I remember being quite self conscious at the start line in my race clothes, wild hair, and perpetrator "Fu". At any rate, Garrett took some great pictures and in particular this picture I just love! Enjoy!

Mid Mountain Strikes Back...

So I was riding on my favorite trail in Park City, the Mid Mountain Trail, this past Saturday and the ride was amazing! It was warm, for Park City, but I had brought enough fluids and food so I felt good the entire ride. I did the full loop which is around 23 miles with an elevation gain of 2400 feet and thanks to information from my Garmin Edge, I burnt almost 1700 calories. The ride takes you up to the 8000 feet elevation point at Park City Mountain Resort and continues along that contour until you hit The Canyons Mountain Resort, at this point it's a fast downhill to the resort and a road ride back to the parking lot at PCMR. All was going well, I had stopped at the Red Pine Lodge at The Canyons to eat lunch, hydrate, and stretch out. This is the halfway point milewise so it's a good place to stop, but things turned ugly fast after leaving Red Pine Lodge.

There is still a good amount of snow in that area and as I was descending towards the canyons the trail wound under a very large snow bank. The trail was muddy underneath it but seemed stable enough and I remember thinking "Aww, I can ride this!" There was a puddle about four feet wide and three feet long that looked solid enough and I didn't even think to inspect it as I started riding through it. As my tire hit the puddle it dropped into the hidden, three feet deep mudbog that the puddle was concealing! My front wheel disappeared, i went over the handlebars and Pete Rose'd head first into the mud! I was covered in mud but what was shocking was how cold the water was! Coming from snowmelt, the water was ice cold and took my breath away! I just laid there for a second shocked over what had just happened, then got up and wrang myself as best as i could dry. This part of the trail is in a pretty remote section of the Canyons but of course, just my luck, there happened to be two Canyons workers within earshot and, worst of all, sight of my ordeal! After laughing for a few minutes and stating the obvious "You just ate SH$!", they asked if I was ok and I gave them a muddy thumbs up! Well, the rest of the ride was uneventful, except for the mud drying in a thick crust on my legs, arms, jersey, helmet, and face! I got home and managed to get some pics before hosing myself and my bike off. The faces of the other drivers as I came back into Salt Lake was one of the best parts of an awesome day!

Solitude Weekly Race Series...

The Full Throttle Midweek Mountain Bike series started Tuesday June 24th at Solitude Mountain Resort. It was the hardest race I've done this year. It was only around 8 or so miles but it was steep, muddy, and unfamiliar so it kicked my butt! I didn't hydrate enough, preride the course, or eat properly before the race so I cramped up early and didn't really recover the rest of the race. I should have known I was overdoing it when in the first short paved climb I was right on the race leaders wheel thinking "this race is easy, I'm so gonna place!" Yeah, I can only blame that on dehydration delirium! The course was muddy and had two or three large snow patches that we either had to run over or ride through...I ran over them. The best part of the race was passing a few of the guys on the downhill that had passed me on the first lap climb. My skills are improving in the downhill and my bike has a lot to do with that! The other best part of the race was the moose I saw just before the second lap downhill, it was a young bull and was happily grazing in a meadow near the summit. Hopefully I'll improve on it over the next few weeks!

Mid-Mountain Meditation...

Sometimes you just have to get out and ride. Leave work, life, and love's stresses behind as you pedal, push, and sweat your way up a really hard trail. The other night I needed one of these...so I packed up my bike and headed for Park City. It was around 95 degrees in the valley but in PC it was cool and calming in the 70's. I rode a combination of trails starting at Spiro, over to the Mid-Mountain and down to Park City Mountain Resort. I didn't invite any friends, didn't really see anyone on the trail, just threw a calming mix on my ipod shuffle and rode. As the miles and elevation went by...I felt my worries, stresses, frustrations, and confusion melt away as well. I felt more centered and at peace with the world, and I realized I was actually grinning! It was only an hour and a half ride but it did wonders for my soul...enjoy the ride.

What Can be Said About a Bottle?

Well...it may seem like an inconsequential piece of equipment but finding one that doesn't leak is a dream come true! Once you do find one like this, you gotta treat it like a family heirloom and pass it down to your kids! So, this particularly fine bottle came into my possession at the Sea Otter Classic, and for FREE from the SRAM booth! Woot! Membership has it's privileges! It has a flip top for easy filling, the valve is easy enough to bite open, it's perfect for a short race or training ride, and how can you beat classic SID blue? Woot indeed!