Summer Vacation

August 13, 2013

Summer Vacation

I've been on a vacation the last 10 or so days. I know, I know. Why could a guy that works three days a week need a vacation? Well originally, I scheduled this time off due to the Leadville 100 mountain bike "race." I figured having a week of down time on either side of the event would be a good idea and my parents were going to come for a visit, as well. What happened to that plan?

ENDURO

I decided that doing an enduro race in Crested Butte would be a fun intermediate goal before Leadville. Then I had a weekend off and figured I'd do the Angel Fire enduro before CB. I won that race and had a ton of fun.

Then came the Crested Butte enduro where I won again. It was even more fun. From there I decided I should do the entire Big Mountain Enduro series since I was doing well and really, really enjoying the racing, the travel, the people, the challenges. Pretty much all of it.

While I was/am having a blast doing the enduro thing, Leadville was looming like a black cloud. When I got in the Leadville race last fall, it was with the idea of doing it to do it. To survive and just finish. To see if I could. It really didn't seem like it'd be very fun and isn't that the entire point of riding a mountain bike? Plus, training to even finish an event like Leadville doesn't exactly go with racing enduro. Long story short, I bailed on Leadville. Yep, I'm a quitter and proud of it!

Where is all this going? Vacation.

With my time off still scheduled, my parents coming out to visit, and no Leadville 100 to worry about things are were looking pretty good. We played the tourist role well. Good food, jeep tours, lots of driving to see the sights, a few training rides, wild flowers, no work. Ahh, yes.