Petersbike

Good Times!!!

2011-01-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

1st day on the bike

2010-03-14T00:29:00.003-07:00

Outside on the bike for the first time since I tore my ACL. Essentially my first day of 2010 on a bicycle outside. It was AWESOME. Pretty sad initially. The first 30 minutes were spent freaking out, hoping I wouldn't crash or fall or something ridiculous. After that though, I got into a groove. I feel that my fitness is actually pretty good. I have been riding 20 - 30 minutes a day on an exercise bike for the last 5 weeks. And at high cadences no less. Rode for 2 hours. I'll get there. My right leg looks about 2/3 the size of my left leg. Take it easy.

WAH! WAH! WAH!

2010-02-19T16:05:00.001-07:00

Plushenko seems to be a sore loser and somewhat a bit of a cry baby.

Indians are taking over.

2010-02-12T23:59:00.003-07:00

Yesterday got the okay from the surgeon to ride outside. 4 weeks out from my ACL reconstruction and he says your good to go. Surgeon says I'm good to good to mountain bike also as long as I can clean what I ride.

This all made my day. What better way to celebrate than with the new Ranger IPA from New Belgium. Good tasting solid IPA. Anyway, I am a little leary about jumping on to the bike right now. I think I will continue my mind numbing trainer sessions for another week or two, before I take it outside.

Belgian waffles trumped by Pilsner Urquel

2010-01-31T15:48:00.002-07:00

Stybar wins the 2010 Cyclocross World Championships.
Zdenek Stybar raced a mistake free race, putting the hammer down and soloed to victory in Tabor at the UCI world championships today.
Congrats to the US team in both mens and womens, who raced very strong.

Goodnight Tonight.

2010-01-23T10:08:00.003-07:00

It was fun last night, watching Conan O'Brien on his last "Tonight" show performance. I am quite sad to see him go. Look forward to seeing his antics in the future. I kind of got upset with NBC executives, their fault that this was so dramatic. Poor programming descisions. Conan's speech took all that frustration away and made me think that the world is what you make it.
Conan stated, "I hate cynicism, it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."
Good luck Conan, we will miss you.

PS and La Bamba too.

White Rim in a day; Do over

2010-01-22T20:23:00.003-07:00

Looking forward to completing WRIAD this year. First attempt was aborted due to heavy rains the day/night before. We rode anyway, with the intention of just riding and getting to know the lay of the land. Mineral bottom road was a mess, covered in 6 inches of red mud.We rode for 6 hours. Headed down Schaeffer switchbacks and out past the Lathrop Canyon trail on the way back we took this trail down to the colorado river.

It was awesome and made me thirsty for the rest of the trail. Hopefully, my knee improves steadily and I can attempt later this year.
Walt

Post Op Boredom

2010-01-18T15:29:00.002-07:00

There is only so much internet surfing, TV watching, game playing, couch sitting, European bike race watching, book reading, current events staying up with, food eating, that one person can take. Ahhhhh!!! It hasn't even been a week.

ACL reconstructed

2010-01-14T21:43:00.003-07:00

Had my surgery yesterday at 1pm or so. This is my right knee ~ 24 hours later. "Looking good" says the orthopedic surgeon and I have to agree. It does look pretty good . Not as swollen as I thought it would be. The night after the surgery was kind of rough. Groggy and slightly off balance. I felt sketchy on the crutches. Sarah would trail behind me , ready to catch me. I waited as long as I could before I got up to go to the bathroom. Eventually when I was able to urinate and was finished I then brushed my teeth . After finishing I got extremely nauseated. I rested my head against the wall and attempted not to fall over. Successful in that my wife eventually prodded me in to taking a medicine for nausea which worked immediately. I then high tailed it 'crutch style' back to my bed.

Today feeling "good". Was able to do my 100 daily push ups and put weight on foot using the crutches with ortho doc's blessing. I go to physical therapy tomorrow and start the work.

King Corn

2010-01-06T10:42:00.003-07:00

Seeing the orthopedic surgeon on thursday. In the meantime , I am keeping my knee on corn.

Torn ACL

2010-01-05T20:14:00.002-07:00

Skiing yesterday at Keystone and tore my ACL . Initially a severe searing pain was experienced. I was on the slope in the outback and suffered a 10 -15 minute wave of nausea and cold sweat. Amazingly I did not have much pain after the first pain. I was able to ski out of there and rode the gondola down to the base. Iced it with snow the whole way home and kept it elevated the rest of the day. This morning went to the urgent care and had an MRI of the right knee. Diagnosis: torn ACL and tibial plateau avulsion fracture. Surgery in my future and a greatly delayed start to my mountain biking season.

We will see.

01022010

2010-01-02T21:20:00.002-07:00

Numbers are cool! 01022010 is cool! Starting to get those miles in. Numbers are cool!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T01:30:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year.

May all your dreams come true.

Walt

Holiday Greetings

2009-12-20T22:40:00.003-07:00

Santa Claus riding a bike. Very economical form of travel. I love this ornament. Just got back from Arizona. Full week of riding, running, swimming, and drinking in the sun. Put the tree up up as soon as we got back in town. Made sure this fellow got a premium space on the tree. What do you have to do to succeed like Santa? 1. Plan. 2. Pedal your bike around the world in a joyous mood, while giving presents to all the non-pouting children.

Bam!

Happy Holidays.

Walt

Simplicity

2009-11-11T10:16:00.001-07:00

Single Speed

Single

Pedal

Don't think

Pedal

Why

Because

easy

Your choices

Pedal

Pedal harder

Stone Temple 8

2009-09-27T15:52:00.002-06:00

Just got back from doing the Stone Temple 8 mountain bike race. Held in Curt Gowdy State Park between Cheyenne and Laramie Wyoming. I did the coed duo with my friend Sally Irmiger. Sally did the race 3 weeks out or so, from having a hand fracture pinned. We all got to the park on Friday and camped out. Preride of the course was done that afternoon. These are some great trails. Woods, open prarie,tecnical rocks. All good.
Saturday came and the race started with a Lemans start. I got on my bike after the brief run and immediately got on the wheel of Charlie Hayes. He was going pretty hard ( at least to me) and took the lead . After about 400meters or so I was starting to peel off and a gap was forming which was quickly filled in by another rider. I hung with this group of eight or so riders for a bit but as we made entry into the woods I was losing contact. As we got into the woods, I was working harder than normal and hit a rock straight on. I was thrown over to the right and over corrected, and then was on the left edge of the trail and hit what must of been a tree stump and catpulted over my bars. I got up pretty quickly and looked back to see my bike on the trail. I spotted a train of riders coming towards me and quickly tried to turn the handlebars to get the wheel in the right position. However I turned it in the opposite direction . Then trying to turn it back two times I was unable to get in front of the horde. It seemed like 10 - 20 riders went past me before I could back on the trail . After that crash my bike was all f#$ed up. The front brake was squealing and it seemed like my steering was off center. Got back on the trail and caught up to pack which was like pulling teeth. The first half of the course is rather technical and hard to pass. There was a lot more on and off the bike than you would want. Got through that lap and handed off to Sally.
As Sally took off my wife Sarah helped get me food and get my knee abrasions washed by the medics. Actually they let me wash them . I have lots of practice doing that; I am an emergency nurse by the way . I picked out a chunk of wood from my right knee. Otherwise just gnarly looking abrasions. Also sprained my right thumb. Went back to camp and Bob ( Sally's husband) helped me repair my bike . Readjust front disc brake, taped up jagged edge of broken front brake lever, and corrected steering. Rested a bit and then went back to switch with Sally.
Sally came in with a smile on her face and we fist pumped and and I took off on our third lap.
The rest of the race went on pretty well(no crashes and good trails).
Sally's daughter Heather( 2009 SSWC ) and her husband JHK came up to show support for Sally. When I was going out for my 4th lap they told me to make sure I finished prior to the 5pm cutoff so that Sally would feel obliged to ride another lap. So I finished my fastest lap yet as Sally went out for her 4th.
When I finished I was greeted by my wonderful wife with a beer in her hand for me. Life is good,.
Sally and I finished, had fun, and came in 5th place in the coed duo.

Walt

Influenza.

2009-09-15T08:52:00.002-06:00

I got my Flu shot at work last night. Have you got your flu shot. If you haven't you may want to get it. Costs run 15 - 30 dollars for the yearly immunization. You may say, "Hey , I'm not gonna get the flu, so I don't need a shot.". Possibly right. Unfortunately, even if you contact the flu but do not get bad symptoms, you can still pass it on to others. Wouldn't you feel bad if you gave the flu to a baby or a very old person; or someone else who could not tolerate the symptoms and ended up getting very sick or dying.
If you spend any time with people you should get the flu shot. It is the number 1 preventative action you can take to prevent contracting the flu. Other things you can do are wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your face, and cough/sneeze into your elbow. If you are worried about Thimerisol you can get it without the preservative; at an increased cost. Thimerisol is a mercury based preservative that has been thought to cause Autism. Study after study has refuted this claim. Thimerisol is a form of mercury that is broken down by the body as opposed to another chemical type of mercury that does not break down and can and does cause problems. In fact if you breastfeed your baby, they most likely receive the "good" type of mercury in dose at least 10 times higher than in an injection.
Any way, go get your Flu shot and get it early. It takes approximately 8 days till immunity from time of injection. Get your flu shot, Get your flu shot, Get your flu shot.

Walt

Cyclocross

2009-09-14T11:34:00.002-06:00

Gonna give Cyclocross a try again this season. Gonna ride the Bianchi SanJose Awesome bike V2.0 . Did two races a couple years ago on V1.0 before it was reallocated by and to another individual. One issue with my bike is running a low enough tire pressure but at the same time avoiding pinch flats. Flats for anyone in a 45minute race are a killer, but for me they are worse because my wheel set is a bolt on solid axle. With this setup I will not be able to change a tire very quickly. To rectify this concern I am going to try a Stan's No Tubes setup for cyclocross together with some Hutchinson Tubeless cyclocross tires front and rear. Ordered both and will set up and report when they arrive. Got everything for the price of $115 including shipping. From what I hear the tubeless setup allows for excellent traction and very good pucture resistance. We'll see.

Walt

Sufferfest

2009-09-13T23:56:00.002-06:00

The 2nd Annual BMA Sufferfest took place Saturday 9.12.09

The usual suspects were there with new faces among them. Sufferfest is BMA's end of season ride for members. It involves 35 -45 + miles of rocky Boulder county trails and fire roads. The ride ended up being a mini epic with snow, rain, hail, grappel, and chilly temperatures. Numb toes and numb nonfunctioning hands were the order of the day. Lets just say nobody did the Buchanan pass option this year.

Beer and burgers and story telling took place by a nice fire.

Walt

I love water fountains!

2009-09-08T23:30:00.002-06:00

Today I rode the San Jose Awesome Bike from home onward to Boulder. Coal Creek path to Marshall Mesa to Boulder Creek path, up Four Mile Canyon making a left onto Wall Street. Riding down this road I came across a water fountain at somebody's driveway. Almost rode right past it but turned around to read the sign. "filtered water , help yourself". Nice. Filled up the camelback and continued on to Sunset and up Switzerland trail to Sugarloaf and back to Lafayette.

Thanks Johnsons for the water.

Walt

Third times a charm...

2009-09-01T22:39:00.002-06:00

Took the San Jose version 2.0 out for a couple hour spin today. In an effort to get to know her better before cross season. This afternoon switched out old tires for new. The heavy but durable wire beaded WTB terrainasaurus tires for some lighter Maxxis Raze tires. Inflated to the minimum recommended PSI of 50, I set out from Lafayette to Marshall Mesa. With me I brought a tube, pump, 15mm wrench, 1 gel, and 2 bottles water with a little gatorade.
Nice ride out to the mesa via Coal creek path then up the koppenburg hill and onto the mesa trails. Scooted out across 93 and over to springbrook trail. Headed back via community ditch and backtracked the trails on the east side. Ran into some oncoming bike traffic and pulled off trail abruptly. As soon as I got going again, I heard and felt the air leaving my front tire.
I promptly began the task of chaging the tube. No evidence of any goatheads or punctures from the outside. Took tube out and filled with some air and saw the tell tale sign of "snakebite". Grabbed my new tube and inserted that and pumped up the tire and rebolted the wheel back in place. Ready to go right? Thats what I thought. I started rolling the bike and realized that the rear tire was flat too.
Unfortunately I did not have another tube, nor a patch kit,or a bus pass, or money ,or my cell phone. WTF. I started walking getting ready for a long walk home, when along came a mountain biker. He asked and offered some help. Then another rider came by, he had a patch kit and I was back in business. 5-10 minutes later , patch applied and tube installed I was ready to roll. I thanked both guys and took off back home.
3rd flat in 2 days. Flatted the day before on commute home from Boulder. Quite amazing is the fact that these three flats are what I have had this season.
Knock knock knock on wood.

Walt

Reality

2009-08-23T11:13:00.002-06:00

I have never written very much in this blog. Today though is the first day I have posted anything since Febuary. Some who read this may be aware that my wife Sarah and I lost our son in April of this year after 13days of his life. Others may not know this. Johan had complications during his birth. The end result was Johan did not have ability to control blood pressure and respirations. We ended life support on the 13th day.
The past months have been trying to say the least. Support from friends, family, and those we didn't even know has been amazing. It has really given me a strong belief in the power of human connection.
Thanks

Walter

Breckenridge is wonderful!

2009-08-23T10:45:00.002-06:00

What a great place Breckenridge is. I had ridden in the Breck 100 last year so I am familar with some of the trails. Some friends and I drove up and rode for 4-5 hours yesterday. Coming up from Lafayette, it is always nice to be up in the high mountains. We started our ride at about 900am from the CO trailhead near Swan Mtn rd. We headed west(always a good plan) on the CO tr and picked up the Peaks tr to Breckenridge. The friends I was with were having a good time and we were all breathing pretty hard on the uphills. Some minor mechanicals and issues with anger control brought us to ski hill rd.
We dropped down into town and took Boreas pass rd up to the top of the Bakers tank tr. Here we refueled a little and then took the trail down. Very nice loose rocky descent, we had one flat, the bane of the clincher tire. Once at the TH we took the Aspen Grove tr down ( very nice ), then we picked up the Blue river tr the rest of the way down to the ice rink. You folks got it made in Breck, every trail is great. Headed across the street and rode trail to and past Carter Park. A small amount of neighborhood street riding brought us to the Flume TH. we caught Upper Flume and rode that smiling all the way to the intersection of Mike's trail. This was a nice short descent that rode to middle flume and north to the end. Rode down to Hwy 9 and onto the Frisco/Breck bike path back to the car.
Beers were then consumed.
Any mountain biker who lives in Breck and can pay the bills has got it made in my opinion.

Walt

Great Timing

2009-02-05T01:16:00.003-07:00

Started "super secret" bicycle training today. Did so just as I promised. Rode in the sunshine till I could not ride any longer; a whopping 40 minutes. Hell ya. Right on track for that 24 hour race in 2025. Feel of the sun on my face was nice today.

Also since I am "unattached" I sent in my application to be on the dirt coalition of GT. Could a sweet GT Zaskar be in my future? Where is that Doritos crystal ball?

Push ups!

2009-02-04T04:20:00.002-07:00

This year I will do at least 36,500 push ups! I have been doing 100 push ups a day since Nov 4th, 2008. I was going to do them for 100 days but now I have resolved to do them for as long as I can . I will attempt a year. I know it does not seem like much in the grand scheme of things but it gets tough to do 2 minutes of work ever day.
Tommorrow I will start bicycle training.

Walt

2008-08-20T18:21:00.004-06:00

Back from 24 Hours in the Sage. Achieved 2nd in the Solo Singlespeed division, putting in 16 laps for ~ 206miles. Got lapped by Dereck Fish a little after dawn. Rode with him for about 30minutes before I wasn't able to maintain his pace. This was my second 24 hour attempt. Having done the same race last year but had some GI issues. Exceeded my goals,( finishing strong, riding consistently, limiting down time, and averaging under 1:30 per lap).

Next day we rode the course once more myself, Sarah my wife and support crew, and Sally and Bob Irmiger. It is amazing how fast you regain your fine motor skills.

Gunnison is a pretty awesome place. Nice and laid back it seems. Mitch Fedak puts on a great race and staying at the Gunny KOA was again a pleasure.

Walt

Goodbye to Bernie!

2008-08-10T17:34:00.004-06:00

Bernie Mac, one of the Kings of comedy dies at age 50. Take care.

Walt

ps Huge congrats go out to Dave Wiens, 6 in a row at Leadville!

Passport to Nirvana...

2008-08-06T22:40:00.004-06:00

Today we rode an amazing stretch of singletrack! Flowing and effortless, techy and sweeping. All of this and in Boulder county no less. I wont give up it's location, for the lack of people was one of it's many virtues.

Excellent ride starting from the Boulder bus depot. Taking that to Nederland. Fueling up and riding out to West Magnolia trails and onward to the town of Eldora. Good to go. Past the 505 FR and rode to the 4th of July TH junction. Got our bearings back and rode back and started the climb up 505. Tough to say the least on a sspd. Sand and loose rocks, My arch enemies! Eventually made it to the top and Armin and I enjoyed the view, hoping it would not rain. Rode over and down to Rainbow Lakes rd and the southern terminus of the Sourdough trail. Decided against going up Sourdough based on the time, ~ 6pm and we were going to meet Sarah in Boulder for dinner and beers @ 8p. And also we were starting to get a little toasted.

We jumped on to peak to peak and rode out to Pennsylvannia Gulch road and then awhile on that rd and drop in to the campground area and the multitude of short fire rds and trails. Hit one of the best little sections of trail in Boulder county that I have ridden( does'nt mean much). Popping out on Sugarloaf road we road that and dropped into Boulder. According to my speedo I hit 50.2 MPH going down Sugarloaf, coasting. Keeping those wheel bearings loose really increases your speed ability. Eventually, Armin caught up with me and than we drank beers and ate great burgers.

Walt

Life is great but what is up with cheater lines?

2008-08-05T21:08:00.004-06:00

Today I had a great day. Spent the morning with Sarah. Not doing much of anything in particular, but we seem to be firing on all cylinders. Just talking, messing about, playing with the dogs and our new bunnies. Bodhi seems as if he will eat the bunnies if given a chance. He spends the greater part of his time circling their hutch and licking his mouth. I used to think he was obsessed with just squirrels, but I now think it is all rodents.

Still reeling from work when one of my coworkers just up and quit during his shift yesterday. My jaw literally dropped. I hope he is doing okay.

A week and a half till the 24 hours in the Sage, out in Gunnison. Last year it was my first attempt at a 24solo. Attempt, I say because I had a massive GI disturbance, that basically shut my body down for 10 hours. Looking forward to completing it this year. Plan: Ride all day and night. Eat regularly and hydrate. Biggest change this year will be pacing from the start. No going out the gate with a fast first couple laps. Settling in will be my Mantra, or perhaps "I don't wanna go to rehab, ahhahha no no no".

Today went for a 5 hour ride, cyclocross bike on mixed fire roads, pavement,and single track is a good thing. I really am drinking the "29er Kool-aid", but I still believe the best bike ever created is my Bianchi San Jose single speed cross bike. Commuter,racer,roadie,easy single track,Boulder county explorer you name it.

Anyway I am making my way home to Lafayette and taking the Teller trail. I come down this section of trail with a mild downhill that has some water bars laid across. People just ride around the water bars and extend the trail. WTF! These water bars are like super small speed bumps. These are not anything like what you encounter riding White Ranch. Pathetic I thought. Then I had a change of heart and reasoned that it was people with not so good bikes. You know the type, people who ride Hybrids. The kind of bike that if it has suspension it is a "suspension seat post." How wrong I was. Going up to take this picture two girls rode down. They were on full suspension bikes. They rode the "Cheater Line"! WTF. And it is not as if they were on cross country full suspension bikes. They were on 5inchx5inch travel bikes. All I can say is lame. We as riders are always begging trail builders for more obstacles in the trail. "Hey man can you put some more rocks in the trail?" Then when we we are done building the trail you come back a year later and the turns are 20 feet wider and there are braids all about. I just don't get it. I think people just don't like to walk. So they pedal around the obstacles instead of over them. That way they don't look like a punk for getting off their bike and walking what they actually cannot ride.

By the way I had another great ride today!!!

Keep the rubber side down.

Walt

1World2Wheels

2008-07-22T08:27:00.001-06:00

Here is a great site that is helping to show the benefits of bike commuting. Short trips are very easy by bike. Getting groceries and going to a local food joint by bike are the little things we can do to reduce our dependence on oil. I like the green color. Check it out.