Yesterday marked my long ride ever, coming in at approximately 139 miles as a part of the Rapha Gentlemen’s Race. We headed out to the beach (Lincoln City) on Friday evening and stayed in a suite at the Inn at Spanish Head thanks to team president Jim who served as sugar daddy for the evening. [...]
Archive for August, 2008
Jack had some input on this one
Posted By Adam Edgerton on August 8th, 2008
My day:
Playing Phase 10 in Sunriver with the distantly related family…
Followed by digging through bags of shoes (don’t worry Stephen, I kept the tags)
A really tasty half crab cake half turkey club sandwich (shared with Molly) in Bend
Arriving in Eugene to see the brother, and the new window tint on the brother’s car ->
Went to Cornucopia with the brother.
Also checked out the brother’s pimpin’ bathrobe
And finally watched the Smoglymic opening ceremonies after throwing together some cords to make the TV work.
(They just said “Marco – Polo” during the broadcast!)
Oh, and I helped the brother pack the small car with an amazingly large amount of stuff for his journey. Dad would be proud of the packing job. We fit more in there than should be humanly possible. Pictures to follow in the morning when lighting is decent.
Posted in Travel
Coming home… or am I?
Posted By Adam Edgerton on August 7th, 2008
We left Park City this morning without a specific destination in mind for the evening. Tomorrow we’ll be in Eugene, but that was a bit too much of a push for one day, so we ended up stopping in Bend for the night. The entire day was pretty much spent driving, but it seemed surprisingly fast considering the distance and time it took.
I’ve found the key to enjoying the road trip days is to notice the little things you find along the way. There are many quirky signs, odd sightings, and beautiful landscapes to take in. Highlights of the day involve a trailer on a truck attached to a trailer, all on a bigger truck with a bigger trailer…
A wildfire started by lightning, some rain, a lightning storm, and a truck that was exceedingly difficult to pass due to the many curves in the road.
Not to mention a truck hauling a boat that had its flashers on in the dark while going a perfectly normal speed. It started to drive me a little crazy.
It feels slightly odd being back in Oregon. It’s been home recently, but now without a place to live here and my brother leaving Saturday for Arizona, it may actually sink in that I’ve graduated and moved on to the next phase of life.
I found out that some relatives are in Sunriver right near Bend, so I’m going to see them in the morning and then head to Eugene in the afternoon to see my brother off on his journey.
I’m excited about the Olympics, which I’m going to officially dub the Smoglympics (we’ll see if it catches on). It’ll be nice to wake up and turn on the games while working out at hotel fitness rooms, much like I did with the Tour a bit last month.
This tour is definitely making me think. Considering what the future holds is both exciting and scary, but I definitely have much more direction now than I did a month ago at graduation.
Posted in Travel
Lazy day – much needed
Posted By Adam Edgerton on August 6th, 2008
I slept in this morning (if 8:30 is considered sleeping in) and for the first time since the trip started, I did absolutely nothing productive with my morning. I sat around and read magazines, ate some food, and messed with iPhone settings. It felt wonderful.
For lunch, I decided to wander out to a Mexican place that Molly pointed out. On the way, I saw another Lotus. They must be a popular car in Utah. I’ve seen plenty of other sports cars on the road (including a Carrerra GT in New York) but the only Lotuses I’ve seen have been in Utah. I’m not sure why that’s relevant, or if it even is relevant, but I’m writing about it anyway.
After lunch I walked up towards Park City Resort and spotted the Jagermeister promotional tour bus parked next to the Clif Bar 2 mile challenge promotional tour bus. It got me thinking, why don’t we have a tour bus?
Truck rant time. Our trucks really aren’t meant for the type of highway driving we put them through. They’re basically city delivery trucks – tiny engines, no air ride suspension, extremely non-aerodynamic and worst of all, they’re automatic. Driving down one decent in Pennsylvania, I was alternately having to use the engine brake, use the foot brake, and shift down to avoid smoking out the breaks or redlining the engine, respectively. If only there were more gears to shift down into…
Anyway, I think a bus would be a much better promotional vehicle. Our trucks are cute and all, but there’s just something sleek and sexy about a tour bus. There’s a certain rock star element involved.
I checked out the Park City Olympic plaza as well. During my few days here, I’ve gotten to see the locations where many of the alpine events were held in 2002. It’s definitely gotten me in Olympic fever mode just in time. Here’s hoping these games are exciting.
After returning to the Hart residence (Molly’s family), I went with her dad to hit some golf balls at Promontory, a private golf club/residential community. Later, Molly and her mom showed up and we went out for nine holes, which ended up being seven because we got hungry. I played well for the first 5 holes, then fell apart on the last two. Regardless, it was a beautiful course in a superb setting.
Tomorrow morning we leave to head to Eugene. I’m excited to catch my brother the night before he leaves for Arizona, watch the Olympic opening ceremonies, see some Eugene friends, and pick up one of my bikes to have with hopefully for the duration of the tour.
Posted in Travel
The good type of pain
Posted By Adam Edgerton on August 5th, 2008
This morning I headed to Deer Valley Resort for some downhill mountain biking. Deer Valley is rated as one of the top places for mountain biking in the country, and it holds the national downhill championships on one of the slopes. I considered taking my iPhone for pictures from the top, but probably a good thing I didn’t bring it. the view from the top of the mountain looks something like this:
I got there shortly after the lifts started running at 10AM and spent 6 hours riding down the mountain. In those 6 hours, I managed to get in approximately 15 runs down the hill, including several times on Naildriver, Sunset, Four Point/Deer Crest and Homeward bound, and once each on Flagstaff loop, Team Big Bear, Deer Camp, Super G Trees, and GS Trees. I also felt adventurous enough to try some of the difficult trails including Aspen Slalom and Devo, part of which is used for the National Championship course. Here’s a map of the trails to for a better perspective. I managed to only crash once, and that was a result of my front wheel digging in too deep to the soft dirt on the trails that has come as a result of a lack of rain. Molly’s dad lent me his bike, which worked great.
I definitely got nice and dusty as you can see from my sock line. You can also see the extent of the damage from the crash. After 3-4 hours of brutal downhill riding, my entire body ached, but I was having too much fun to stop. I anticipate being a little sore tomorrow.
I also ended up with some fabuluous helmet hair.
After I finished and cleaned myself up, Molly drove me in to Salt Lake City to pick up the truck from the shop. Picking it up was simple, but getting it back to Park City took a little longer than it should have. I was nearly out of gas, and it took the better part of an hour to find an open diesel station. I was relieved when I finally found one.
The really good news is, the front end shake seems to be fixed, and the overheating issues are also improved, if not completely fixed as well.
Posted in Travel
Hot and Cold. What time is it?
Posted By Adam Edgerton on August 4th, 2008
In the morning I ran. Then I ate. Then I did some random tasks. Then I ate again. Then I left to take the truck in for service.
I saw this guy and laughed.
After Dropping off the truck in Salt Lake City, I had the shuttle guy drop me off in a place where there was supposed to be a locksmith to make some keys. There wasn’t.
There was HARD CORE TATTOO. I was severely tempted to prove how hardcore I am.
I also considered buying some groceries and other junk.
Pappy sounded like such a nice guy I almost couldn’t pass by, but I did.
I was about to head to the Cosmopolitan Cyber Cafe, but who wants to be in company with someone who drives a nice (yet tacky) orange Lotus Elise?
Unfortunately, seeing as how I was wandering looking for a locksmith, I think I may have passed this control point more than twice. Good thing it was the middle of the day. I wouldn’t have wanted to deal with all the congestion between 11PM and 4AM.
I just about stopped at this place and got a room – I figured it would be so cheap to rent a room, the free TV would have a resale value higher than the room cost. Good investment.
(Note the large yellow key sign in the background!)
Then I walked a bunch. More like scurried between shady spots to avoid sunburn.
I met up with Emily and her dogs. Murphy is not pictured, but had she been, she’d be a large black mound of fur. Make that a pile of fur.
We chatted, had some dinner, and parted ways. It had been way too long. She’s doing well.
The half-second iPhone picture delay didn’t help, as I missed the brief moment she had her eyes open into the sun.
After I made Molly late for dinner (sorry!) I sat around a had margaritas. Then we sat around a fire. People came over. They talked a lot. I talked very little. The end.
*No, this post is not alcohol influenced. I simply chose a very odd way of expressing myself.
Posted in Travel
Goodbye Copper, Hello Park City
Posted By Adam Edgerton on August 3rd, 2008
This morning Stephen, Nate, and I got up early to make the most of our remaining time in Copper with a mountain bike ride. We rode a ways up (lots of up) the Colorado Trail. It had some nice tricky technical sections, and it was very scenic, much like everything else in the area. I managed to stay upright the whole time, including some really fast descents. I’d venture to officially say that I have good bike handling skills off-road.
We posed for some tree-mounted timer shots with a camera, including this nice shot after crossing a stream.
Also worth mentioning was Stephen’s near-crash (technically a crash, I suppose). He went over the handlebars on a steep downhill and managed to land on his feet and take 4-5 hops down the trail with the bike between his legs. It looked painful, but I really couldn’t help but laugh.
After the ride I finished packing up and Molly and I headed out West from Copper with our destination being her hometown of Park City, Utah. Along the way it was really fascinating to see the change from the mountains into canyons and eventually into desert country.
I hadn’t realized how close I-70 came to the Moab/Arches NP/Canyonlands area, but it definitely renewed my interest in visiting those parks again (and mountain biking in Moab).
Along the way, we continued to have to baby the truck along. It has a tendency to get a little testy (overheat) when the weather is warm and we’re going uphill. We only had to stop once to let it cool off, and after lots of encouragement it started behaving a little better. This is definitely the truck with the personality. Hopefully a shop in Salt Lake can fix some of the behavioral problems.
After arriving in Park City, I had a tasty dinner with Molly’s parents and got to meet her family. They’re definitely a nice bunch and I get the impression they want to make sure I enjoy Park City.
The next few days hold in store:
-Taking the truck in for service
-Seeing my long-lost sort of sister
-Making some keys
-Mountain biking
-More mountain biking
-Pretty much whatever else comes my way
Posted in Travel
Copper Day 2
Posted By Adam Edgerton on August 2nd, 2008
After getting up about 5AM to make a hearty breakfast, I waited for the sun to rise to start the ride. Riders could pick their own starting time between 5:45AM and 8AM, and I wanted to go earlier rather than later. I got on the road about 6:20AM and immediately found myself in a long string of hundreds of riders (about 3000 total do the ride). The 78 mile ride starts off in Copper at around 9,500 feet and immediately climbs the first pass up to above 11,000. The second pass is a much smaller climb, and then there is a long gradual descent to Vail where the longest climb of the day starts around the 60 mile mark. Overall, nearly 6000 feet of climbing.
Given the elevation and my stagnant legs, I felt great up the first climb and passed hundreds of people on the approximately 7 mile climb.
I got to the top and stopped briefly at the aid station to double check my tire air pressure. Leaving the aid station, I found myself with far fewer riders as company, and I realized I was likely within the first hundred riders on the road at that point. The descent following the climb was beautiful and had wide open corners. I got in a nice tuck and descended 4-5 miles at around 50MPH. At the bottom I picked up a piece of wire and flatted. I switched out tubes and got enough pressure in the tire to get to the second aid station.
The biggest and most fun descents of the day came following the second aid station. One of the descents lasted nearly 15 minutes and had plenty of technical cornering. I maintained speeds between 40 and 60 MPH down the hill (a rider I was pacing at one point said we hit 61). It’s some of the most fun I’ve ever had on a downhill.
At the base of the descent, I hopped in a fast paceline with 4 other riders and took a couple pulls at nearly 30MPH headed towards the second climb. I realized I couldn’t hold the fast pace for too long without compromising my ability to finish the ride, so I dropped off the paceline after 5 miles or so, and took my time through the flat section leading up to the climb from Vail.
I knew the climb up to Vail Pass was going to be rough, but I didn’t realize just how hard it would be. I stopped taking pictures at that point because I didn’t want to stop and have to start again. I was feeling surprisingly good after 60 miles, but the climb was basically a communal suffer-fest for all the riders. It starts with a 5 mile stretch of moderate uphill (3-5 percent grade) through the town of Vail before the real climb comes. The climb itself is 10 miles of steep climbing (probably average 9-10 percent grade with some pitches up to 15). I found a gear I could push up the hill and didn’t dare stop the entire time up the climb. Most riders (myself included) were probably averaging 6-7 MPH. I couldn’t believe how far 10 miles felt. The climb took well over an hour, and it’s definitely one of the two longest climbs I’ve ever done. Definitely the hardest, as it was at elevation and after I had already ridden 65 miles.
The rest area that I climbed to the day prior is at the top of the climb, and I was elated when I spotted it less than a mile away. I pushed straight through the last aid station and cruised down the downhill stretch to the finish. I finished in approximately 5:15, which is a pretty respectable time considering how long the final climb took. I finished probably in the top 500 riders overall, but that number is pretty relative considering the varying start times. I was happy that I didn’t bonk, and I was surprised how well my body handled the elevation.
After showering and eating a bit, I helped Marco count shoes and set aside ones we want to send back to Crocs. Our trucks are getting overly full of shoes, so we need to free up some space. We managed to set aside 23 bins full of nothing but Athens and Beach models, including a majority of the pile of Beaches pictured below.
After that, I helped the team break down the expo booth. Nate and Stephen wanted to go for a mountain bike ride, so I decided to rent a bike and go with (as if I hadn’t already tortured myself enough earlier in the day).
My legs were pretty dead, but I managed to climb quite a ways up the ski hill with them, and then we found a great trail heading down the hill with some nice technical corners. If I hadn’t found my mountain bike handling skills in the Poconos, I found them in Copper.
After the ride, we had a tasty dinner of salad, applesauce, minute rice, and pork tenderloin. Probably the most action-packed day of the tour so far. I couldn’t believe how well I held up to all the biking. I’m in better shape than I thought, apparently.
Posted in Travel
Copper Day 1
Posted By Adam Edgerton on August 2nd, 2008
After waking up to a sunny morning, I as able to deduce that Copper is indeed a beautiful area. We were up on the 5th floor, and we had a nice view down on our trucks.
We also had a good view looking West towards the rest of the village and the mountain.
I decided to test out my legs a bit in the morning and go for a short ride. Nate’s dad was gracious enough to lend me his road bike for the weekend, and other than a couple flat tires it worked great.
I decided to head up towards Vail pass and unknowingly made it to the top 5 miles later (I found out it was the top the next day – more on that later). There’s a really nice bike path that parallels I-70 up through the path, though it does get a little crowded during the middle part of the day since it’s such a big area for outdoor recreation.
After the ride, we had setup for the weekend’s event (the Copper Triangle cycling event). Our expo was right at the base of the mountain near the lift, so we were tortured by watching mountain bikers coming down the hill all day and wishing we could be doing the same.
After set up we had the expo until 9PM, and I left a bit early to go make dinner since we had a kitchen at our disposal. I made spaghetti and carbo-loaded a bit to make sure I was ready for the long ride in the morning. I didn’t sleep particularly well that night, partly because I was anxious to find out whether or not my legs, lungs, heart, etc. could actually handle an 80 mile ride at serious elevation.
Posted in Travel