Todd Wells

Short Ride

Today I got back on the bike. It was painful. The doctor said I could ride as soon as I felt up to it so suited up for a short valley, about an hour on the MTB. I doubled up on the chamios but it still hurt. I spent a good part of the ride standing up but it was nice to turn the pedals over again. 

The temperature was just about 40 but it wasn't wet at all. We have about 2 inches of snow left here after the 6 inches that fell on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

I got some new tires for the truck today. I had ordered some BF Goodwrenchs online but got the wrong ones so I had to send them back. Then, I get a call from the tire store here that the ones I wanted were in so I ended up getting the correct tires here in town. BF All Terrains. They work pretty good in the snow and look way cooler then the ones that came on the truck. 

I also received my computer back today from Apple. Turns out it wasn't covered by Apple Care but they did get running perfect again and I have a bunch of new parts now. The new keyboard has a bit more texture then the old one. 

Rude and Snoodle left today for Boulder, man I wish I was up there getting ready to race. Sounds like some of the roads were snow pack but it wasn't too bad. It's gonna be a muddy, snowy mess. I love racing in that stuff. 

I glued up my final set of tubs today so I have that going for me. I have all my cross equipment ready to go, now I just need to get my butt ready to race, literally. 

Meg and I went to the Rez Dog gallery showing last night with Doug and Jen. It's a compilation of all these Rez Dog pictures from around the area. All the money goes to the Humane Society. There were some cool pics and if you're in town you should drop in the Open Shutter and check it out. 

I've still been pretty tired so we're laying low tonight and not going up to Crawford's full moon party. We carved our pumpkin instead, it's a traditional design. There is a Transvestite Ball in town tomorrow night and I think the German is going to clean up. 

I wonder how my new seat that I cut the right side out of is going to work for me tomorrow......

Laid Out

Everything was going along perfect. The training was great, the golf game was starting to tank and I was getting really excited to race again. Then,bang!

I woke up on Monday morning with a egg sized saddle sore type thing. I thought maybe I just banged my sit bone on saddle during cross practice on Sunday. I logged in 3 hours that day on one of my most uncomfortable rides to date. Ice and arnica didn't do much over night so on Tuesday I went in to see the Dr.. Six hours laters I was going under the knife to have the thing drained/inspected. It would have been sooner but I had just had 3 pretzel rods and a chocolate chip Clif bar so I had to wait 6 hours. Guess you can't eat before surgery or yo could swallow your own puke and drown. Great.

Needless to say I won't be racing in the Boulder Cups this weekend. Man I'm bummed about that. It's the only CX race I can drive to all year, it's the only race that's at altitude and it's the one I've been thinking about since I started training again a month ago. I can't put any pressure on my sit bone yet though so I haven't been able to ride for the past 3 days and who knows when I can get back in the saddle. It's a huge pressure point area and so far I'm not feeling like I can get out on the bike. I'm also pumped full of anitbiotics which doesn't help the form at all.

On the plus side, I haven't had to freeze on training rides here in Durango the past few days. Check out this shot of Rude and Snoodle ripping it up at yesterday's cross practice. http://www.durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/10/28/First_winter_snow_arrives/

I have been logging in some serious time at the new Mercy Hospital. It just opened a few years ago and has state of the art stuff including TVs and beds which are nice when you're waiting to go under the knife. The new hospital is about 20 minutes out of town which is a pain since I could walk to the old one from my house in less then 20 minutes. I have been driving back and forth to have my wound checked out each day. I always leave with tons of guaze, bandages and these  manties to keep it all together. Not what I was hoping to be doing on Oct 29 but it can always be worse. I'm so glad it happened in Durango where I'm home and have great friends and family.

I'm hoping after my doctor's visit tomorrow I can do some light exercise, maybe a long walk or something. Then if I heal fast enough I'm keeping my fingers crossed I'll be able to race the Iceman next weekend.

I wonder when all this new snow is going to melt.....

What a weekend

It was a busy weekend. I'll back it up to Friday. I was hoping to play quite a bit of golf this weekend but my game took a turn for the worse on the back nine and it never recovered. Friday Gilby and I rolled over to Cortez to tear up the Conquistador. It tore me up instead. I sucked out there and had only two good moments all day. Breaking my sand wedge in a tree and chipping in on 18 for birdie.

After the disastrous round, we went to Dolores to help design the cross course for the race in a few weeks. The venue is cool and the promoter was awesome. We even had a beer at the Dolores Brewery after wards. It's a cool town and I wish I was going to be here for the race but I'll be taking on the Iceman.

That night I arrived home to "girls night" in full swing. It's was all high volume, B. SPears and wine. My computer managed to have some wine too and now it's not working. It's going back to Apple to get fixed. I hope. It was a long day and didn't end until 1:30am when we got back from the Embassy. I can't believe no one wound up in the hospital with all the high elevation dancing going on.

Yesterday was pretty low key. I did a ton of bike work, Meg and I did a long cruiser bike ride to the Humane Society to check out the animals. We ended the night with some Nini's burritos and hit the sack.

Today I had what feels like my first "normal" training day since the MTB season. I did the local cross practice race, went motor pacing with Meg, took a nap, drank a smoothie, hit the gym and didn't do anything else. I have been training a bunch these past few weeks but not really resting afterwords. Between golf, motoing and hanging out I haven't had a nap in months, worn compression socks or sat on the couch for hours in a row. It was a good day.

The weather has been awesome here but we're suppose to get snow on Wed. and Thurs. this week. I'm hoping it comes on Thurs. and Fri. so we have a snowy race in Boulder this weekend. I can't wait to start racing, amazing what a few weeks off will do.

I wonder if my computer is going to be O.K.....  

Rain

I got soaked yesterday for the 2nd day in a row. I wasn't quite as lucky as the day before though and had to call in a ride from Meg. I thought the weather would clear up as the day went on so I headed out for a Bayflield/Ignacio loop. I got to the top of Florida and it started raining but I figured it would clear up once I got to Bayfield but it didn't. It was about 40 degrees and pissing rain by the time I got there. Then I thought for sure it would clear up in Ignacio since it's further south and really dry there. Nope, pouring rain. I pulled into a gas station across from the old casino, drank a huge cup of hot chocolate and tea. Meg came and got me about 1 hour later and the rain didn't let up at all. We get back to Durango and it's not even raining. You kidding me? 

Needless to say when I tried to go back out later on it started raining again and I called it a day. Racing in the rain is one thing but training in it on the road is another. I have a few chill days now and I'm heading out to the course today. Might even head down to Farmington to soak up the warmth. 

Rude is off Louisville for the next two rounds of the USGP this weekend. I decided to bail on it since I'm racing the Iceman and didn't want to do 4 weeks of racing in a row. I'll start my season at Boulder next weekend. The race on the first day is no longer at the reservoir and is back at that office park where it was the first year. 

So who's going to win the GPs this weekend? I think Trebone is fired up for a 'W' but I don't know if he'll get it if it's raining. I also think Kabush will be going good on Sunday. We'll have to see if my predictions are right. I'm hoping Rude has a good race, he has good form but you never know with the Bear which way it will go regardless of form. 

Bobby and Susi are doing a 2 person, 5 day team race near Stellenbosch in South Africa this week. Bobby has been cramping up and Susi has been harassing him about riding too slow. You gotta know when you sign up to do a stage race with the former World Champ it's not going to be fun, especially if you're a triathlete. Or actually, a working guy that commutes from SA to Cali for work. That's a lot of plane time. 

Winston and I need to get our day started, thinking about hitting the dog park hard. 

I wonder how long before I lose my sweet new scarf......

Weather Change

I went from riding in just shorts and a jersey to getting caught in a 47 degree thunder and lightning hail/rain storm on the road yesterday. It was freezing. Rude and I had just went out to do a short road loop when the wind came up, the clouds came in and the rain came down. I guess most people would call it "perfect cyclocross weather". 

Earlier in the day it had been pretty nice and I logged in a few hours in Horse Gulch. The thing about Horse Gulch is I have never seen a horse in there. Now on the Colorado trail this weekend we saw about 10 horses. I think they should rename Horse Gulch, Rattle Snake Gulch since I see those in there all the time. 

Anyway, I got this new seat dropper seat post from Specialized the other day and I finally got it set up. The post is awesome. We don't have many stunts or drops on the trails here but it's nice not to have to stop, get off and drop your seat to do a couple foot drop. With this post I can hit all the stuff with out even slowing down. 

Meg has been craving eggplant pizza for the past few weeks so last night we went to Mama's Boy and she satisfied her craving. We never seem to go there because it isn't downtown and we generally gravitate in that direction when we're hungry. 

Today is the last of my big rides for the week. I have a three day rest coming up and I'm hoping to play at least 18 holes per day, maybe 36. I might even get a new header up on this site but probably not. 

I wonder if it's going to rain again today.....

The Dam

The Navajo Dam ride always tires me out. Today was a perfect day for the ride, temperatures in the mid 70s and not too much wind. There is always wind but it wasn't that bad today. Nice tailwindish at the end of the ride. Here are some shots om the day. 

The Colorado/New Mexico border. Purple Haze. There is also a dog in this area that will usually chase me if he has the chance. He must have been inside today. 

 

Then you get to this part. 

Finally, the Dam looks like this. What better spot for redneck water/motor sports then a man made lake in the middle of the desert. I've spent a little time on the reservoir and it is a lot of fun. I've even seen people fishing from the launch area just by casting out and snagging the fish, they don't even bite the bait, just hook em. 


Just below the Dam is some of the best fly fishing in the Southwest. That's what I hear and read anyway, I don't know how to fly fish. 

Here is Power's favorite store in New Mexico. Actually he was afraid to go in a few years ago because I guess he thought he was going to get beat up in his spandex. The people inside are friendly though and it's a novelty for them to see a cyclist in this area. Notice all the oil well trucks parked for lunch. It's a convenient store, liquor store, bar and restaurant all in one. THey have a Monday night football thing Meg and I have to go to sometime too.

 

This is just before you get to the motocross track in Aztec. It's a nice 4 miles of rolling downhill from here. 

Winston is going crazy right now. I just knocked the ball out of his mouth and smashed it into the TV. The screen went blue for a second but it's working again. 

I saw Luke again today for some laser action and more dry needling. I hate the zing those needles give you. They get the muscle to relax but it's pretty intense for a second. 

I just got the new Specialized seat dropper post and can't wait to get it hooked up on the Stumpjumper. Now I won't have to adjust my seat before I do a drop or jumps, just hit the lever and it's good to go. 

I wonder if it's really going to rain tomorrow.....

Cherish the Cabin

Meg and I spent the night in HB's cabin up La Plata Canyon a few nights ago. It's an hour hike in from the dirt road that goes up Kenebec Pass. With all the bears up there and hunting season going on we were worried about Winston getting eaten or shot so we decided to put some color on him, Meg too. 

He wasn't too happy about his Pepe Le Win getup but it worked out and he didn't get shot. HB had told us the cabin was Pimp but we didn't know what to expect, it was awesome. First class all the way. We had brought sleeping bags and a bunch of cooking stuff but the stove cranked so well that I didn't even zip up my bag all night. I almost locked us out when we went out to pee in the middle of the night but that was the only near hiccup. 

The views up there were amazing and the day was cloudless and 70 degrees, well maybe not up at 9,000 feet but it was pretty warm. We hiked a little past the cabin and caught this view. 

 Not bad. We slept in the next day but it was still cold when we got up since the sun doesn't come over the ridge till about 9am. We had some gluten free scones Willow made for us and set out back down the mountain to the car. Meg was trying to climb the tree when we got back to the car. 

I have been training a bunch these past few weeks. I'm hoping to log in close to 30 hours this week. Today I even did a local cross race at the Sports Club. It was the Dave Timmon's Classic and this is the 2nd time I have raced it. The course is more of a mountain bike setup than CX but it was good to get some practice in on the new TriCross at race pace on a very technical circuit. It was another 75 degree day here in D-town. 

I just got a package from Jason at Crankbrothers and now my CX rigs are totally dialed in. He even sent Meg a sweet hat she spotted at Cross Vegas. 

Got this beauty on the Bondad loop the other day. Ignacio's version of Vegas. That sign even has those super bright lights that pop in middle of the day. 

Gilby, Barthel and I played golf down at Pinon the other day. The course was in awesome shape and it was super hot out. Here's Barthel taking a stroll. 

They just got new electric carts down there and they haul. I've never driven such a fast golf cart, they're rad. You know you're lame when you're excited about a golf cart. 

So I have 3 big days of left of riding. I'm hoping to bust out a Navajo Damn loop tomorrow, we'll see. The weather is suppose to take a turn for the worse on Tuesday so tomorrow's the day. 

Congrats to FLC for winning another collegiate title. Rotem won the XC by 8 minutes, that's a beat down. 

The Dart is doing some race in Spain in two weeks against Andy Schleck up some mountain. Hopefully for him it's on the MTB. 

I wonder if Winston is having fun with Sammy right now.....

Roosting

I can't believe how busy I am these days. You would think that with out any races to pack for, travel to and from and prepare for I'd have plenty of time on my hands but that's not the case. I woke up somewhat early this morning and got out in the Gulch just before 10am. The trails were pretty loamy but were still a little slow from the rain. From there I had to race over to Luke's for some dry needling and laser treatment on my knee. I was TTing down 160 on my MTB and I just barely made it. 

The dry needling works well but gives me the biggest "zing" when my muscle grabs the needle and relaxes. Not my favorite treatment. The laser doesn't feel like anything though and I think it is really working. I have to wear goofy glasses though to block what ever ray it emits. 

Got home, Winston and I loaded up the CRF, stopped by RGPs for some Southwest fuel and headed out to HB's house to roost. We almost made it there before we got stuck in the middle of a sheep drive. 

It's nice to live someplace where this stuff is common place. Could you imagine being 1 mile from LAX and seeing something like this? Durango rocks. 

We had a killer session at the ranch, Winston didn't go on any loops but hung out with Rooster and Baxter all day. I don't think he stopped playing the entire time we were there. 1 can of Coke, 1 Snapple and 1 Sobe Power later I was buzzing on the way home. I managed to make it to the gym after dinner which i was pretty proud of since it' hard to get motivated to leave the house once it gets dark and I settle in. 

I just found out Meg and I are getting some sweet new Specialized Globe cruiser bikes. They have 8 speeds and I'm hoping I get the one with the belt drive. Right now we have one speed cruisers that we can barely pedal up the hill in front of our house. You can check them out at this link: http://www.globebikes.com/us/en/globe/GlobeBike.jsp?pid=10LIVE3 I'll get some pictures up when we get them. They have 700C wheels and should cut our ride time down to town to under 8 minutes. 

I need to get ready for bed, big day at Pinon Hills golf course tomorrow. 

I wonder how Noah's wedding is coming along....

Monday Night Football

Here is my first picture from my new camera. Meg took it while I was cutting down the final limb on this damn tree. I can't wait to get it out of my backyard. Notice that sweet ladder I bought a few months ago. It's nice and light since it's aluminum but it sure is flimsy. 

I did my first ride in the passes since the spring today. It wasn't too cold but I did bring quite a few clothes with me. I was pretty cooked at the end and it's always a block headwind the whole way back in the valley. Today was no exception. It wasn't my fastest time but it was pretty good. They're putting in some new bridge over in Silverton. 

Silverton is the picturesque mountain town. Old victorian mining town architecture, only Main St. is paved and it's surrounded on four sides by mountains. When it dumps big there in the winter you're not getting out of town for days. Pretty cool. 

After the ride I met up with Luke for some dry needling and laser work on my knee. I have been having some problems with it all year since screwing it up lifting weights this spring. I think the laser if working wonders. 

So I finally cleaned up my bike that I rode for over an hour on the rim and the thing seems totally straight. They sure do make equipment good nowadays. 

Meg and I ate at Jean Pierre last night. It was good, we had some good steaks. Then I came home and ate a Reese peanut butter crunch bar. Those things rock. 

I talked to the Dart yesterday and he said the Roc is awesome. They have been hanging out on the beach everyday and living it up. I hope I get to go next year, I love beach races. 

I wonder if I'll play Pinon or Cortez tomorrow.....

Rough Ride

Jeez I got beat up on my ride yesterday. Did the Hermosa Creek loop and about 20 minutes after I got to the good single track I flatted. No problem except for the 29er tire fits tight to the rim with a 26 tube and I pinched it putting it on. An hour and a half later Meg picked me up at the south trailhead. I've never ridden a flat that far before and it rattles the crap out of you. At least I got to get a piece of pizza at Momma's Boy in Hermosa afterward. 

Here is a picture from HWY 574 on the Aztec loop. Not sure if you can make out the sign, U-betcha. 

I've been logging in some  miles lately and feeling like I'm getting physically fit too. I can now do all of the following with out getting sore, or too sore: ride the bike, run, lift weights, play 18 holes walking and dirt bike. This is pretty good since when I try to do any of the above other then riding during the season I am sore for at least a week. 

Rude, Gilby, Barthel and I played out at Dalton the other day. It was touch and go weather for most of the day but cleared up at the end. We even had this rainbow at one point. 

I have also been playing up at Hilcrest a bit but they are so unfriendly up there. I have never been to a golf course that was less friendly then there. I don't know what the deal is but I guess it's been like that forever there. 

Finally got my new camera back from Las Vegas. I had left it someplace and they just sent it back to me. I don't think it works as well as my old one but it's water and dust proof so maybe it will last more then one year. 

The whole team wrapped up the season in the south of France at Roc d'Azur this weekend. I wish I could have been there but that's a lot more travel after coming back here for Vegas. It looks and sounds like it is awesome there, maybe next year. 

I wonder what the Darts' doing right now......