Carpe Weekend

What a weekend. I am glad to be back at work just so I can get some rest!

Due to an unfortunate or fortunate (depending on how you look at it) airline events Susan and her mom did not make it to Mexico for their planned vacation last week. This really worked out great for me as I got to hang out with Susan and her parents for a long CO weekend, or a mini vacation. (depending on how you look at it)

Friday started out with a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. Susan has told me pretty much every weekend since we moved here that we need to go. Well she was right. We hiked up to Black Lake, which was amazing. However what may have been more amazing is that we hiked 10 miles with no food and not enough water.

The next day we were joined by Rob and Erin, who were nice enough to bring Tucker with them, as he is not allowed in RMNP. (there was an incident involving a mountain beaver, that he does not like to discuss)

We headed to Vail from Frisco Saturday morning to hike the Petkin Trail. Another 10 mile hike which we all voted more beautiful and amazing than the RMNP hike. Which is saying a lot. Amazing meadows with wild flowers, water falls, and lots of snow near the top.

The trail description advertised several false summits, and delivered on that promise. At one point I yelled "There is no lake", which had a very nice echo. And shortly after we found the lake.


Susan's parents were total troopers. We were all thoroughly impressed with their tenacity to keep on moving. Now we all know why Susan is as determined as she is.

The funniest part of the hike came at Tuckers expense. After drinking plenty of stream water on the hike, his stomach became a little upset. At one point he pulled off the trail and released the loudest dog fart I have ever heard followed by some "loose stool". Poor guy seems to be feeling much better today.

After a hearty dinner in Vail where Rob and I ate 1.5 Vail burgers to re fuel we headed to Winter Park. Rob and Erin opted to stay in Frisco for the night. Had I not already paid for the room in Winter Park I think we all would of opted to stay there too.

Sunday morning was the second race of the Winter Park Series. The race was very cool by the fact it was a Super Loop. A cross country race with no laps? I would of like a little bit of a longer race, but at the end of the 18 mile course I was cooked.

The course started up the same road as the hill climb to thin out the riders before the single track. As I have never ridden any of the trails at Winter Park, and decided to put as much of a gap between me and the rest of the field as possible and be the first to the single track. Much to my chagrin two or three riders were able to follow and were right on my tail. The single track was crazy awesome, and the pace was fast.

About half way through the race there was a long dirt road section. Myself and Derek Strong (Vitamin Cottage) worked together and pulled in several riders. We eventually caught Stefan Griebel. Stefan asked if I was Chris Plesko's friend. After a brief chat we realized we were all in the same age group and racing each other. We knew we were the lead group, and kind of took it easy for a few miles. After a few more sections of single track there was some more climbing. Again I tried to put the screws to the other two riders before the last down hill. We were able to shake Derek, but Stefan was never more than a few bike lengths behind me.

Going into the final descent I had to let Stefan by. I was not going to be a jerk and hold him up. Now I was just focusing on keeping Derek at bay, who was rapidly closing in. With a little over a mile left, I let him by too.

I finished 3rd in expert, and 30th overall. It was a great race with plenty of competition. A great part of MTB racing is its not just about fitness, you gotta have those trail skills too. Stefan and Derek both bested me in the final down hill.

What a great weekend!