The San Juan Hut Trip

If you follow my blog regularly you might have noticed an absence of cycling, training, or racing posts this summer. The reason is because my cycling program this year has been fraught disaster. Early season tendonitis lead to a PRP injection which I have been slow to recover from. Then in the parking lot after a team photo shoot the Superfly got run over by a Dodge Ram. The last nail in the coffin was a powerful cold that took me down for the first week of the month. I’m still fighting lingering weakness from it. The result of all this has been missed races, team and group rides, and the Triple Bypass. The San Juan Hut Trip from Durango to Moab is the next "event" on the cycling schedule and even though I have ridden twice for a total of 60 miles this month, I don't intend to miss it.

Back to the bike... My lapse of situational awareness allowed me to go from the "those who will" to the "those who have had their bike run over in the parking lot" club. All that's left is driving into the garage without taking the bike off the rack - knock on wood! It was as much my fault as the "runner overer" (who I'll leave respectfully anonymous). He felt horrible about it and made it right, and was a class act. Luckily, Joey and the rest of the guys at the Trek Store in Boulder were already working with me to warranty a seat tube issue I was having. I owe them big. My new frame (an 09 XL) was ready weeks ago, but the fork coming from Fox is still in transit. It’s amazing how things work out though. Last week when I was dropping Mark's hang glider off I met Dean, another front range hang glider pilot and winner Duo Pro in the 24 Hours of Moab last year. He offered to lend me a Fox F29RLC fork for the trip after only knowing me for 20 minutes. What a guy! After Jo lent me her front wheel and the bike was complete. I picked it up Friday. The Superfly is back! You might be asking how Jo is going to ride the trip without a front wheel. Last week Doug and I built up her Titus Racer X frame that's been hiding out in the basement.

The Superfly 2.0 Ready for the Hut Trip







The Durango to Moab route in the San Juan Hut System is a 215 mile trip over 7 days with 26,000 feet of climbing. I’ve ridden longer than that in a solo 24 hour race, but at present I am horribly unprepared for this trip. I’m literally doing it off the couch. I can suffer through anything, but my knee is not happy and will probably need quite a bit of rehab afterwards. On the plus side we have a good group consisting of Andrew, Doug, Joni, Jean-Paul, John, Jo and me. You can read everything you’d ever want to know about the trip here. Here’s a Google earth picture of the route.

The Route





I’ve spent all afternoon preparing for the trip with Andrew and Jo. It has been truly crazy and unmanageable, even by my standards. Andrew is leaving from Paradox on the fifth day requiring a vehicle to be left there for him. We have to leave for the 9 hour drive in 2 hours, so I’m going to sign off and nab what sleep I can. It’s going to be an epic, stay tuned...

Scratching at Lookout

Last week I had a great scratching session at Lookout. It was one of those days when you had to wait for the right thermal to get up. I launch just after Sam in his paraglider. We nailed the best thermal of the day as it would turn out, but I left it to swoop a local newspaper photographer. He wrote a great article about hang gliding you can read here. The Fusion just isn't as efficient as it used to be and I didn't make it back up to the thermal core. BJ launched and we scratched for a bit together before top landing. It was my first top landing at Lookout, I opted out of a perfect approach to make one more pass and ended up low the second time. I was high enough to make the hill, but too low to make the grassy clearing and ended up in the bushes below. It was like landing in a nest of barbwire, worse yet I was wearing shorts. The result was a bloody mess - Ouch! The majority of the carnage wasn't even on the landing, it was the walk back to the grass. On the second flight BJ went first, followed by Steve, then me. We scratched again for a short while, but the soaring window was closed and soon we were on the ground. Here's a short Hero Cam video of the day. Not having Adobe Premier to edit with is really frustrating. With Windows Movie Make I can't time music to the video or control the length of fades. Although there is nothing special about it, I do really like the footage. It'll be great for a winter day when I'm wishing I could fly.

Hang Glider at the St. Julian

Phoenix Multisport had its annual fund raiser gala last week at the swanky St. Julian hotel in Boulder. Sponsored athletes were invited to share our experiences and the role that our sports play in our lives. Being the only hang glider pilot involved in Phoenix I thought it would be a good opportunity to share a little about the sport with other members and supporters. Mark kindly donated a Wills Wing Falcon 143 (so it would fit) and a stand he made that held the glider and simulated flight loads on the control frame through bungees.

When I arrived at the side door of the St. Julian with a 18 foot long bag the staff's initial reaction was "You want to do what!?". Stares were abundant and traffic slowed to a crawl as I set up the glider on the brick balcony facing Canyon Drive. I couldn't believe how light the Falcon 143 was, I could pick it up with two fingers. The stand was a little confusing, but I got everything together relatively quickly. I tested it out and was amazed at how well the bungees simulated the feel of the bar in flight. The hang point is on the stand, not the glider so I didn't have to worry about people's weight.

The Demonstrator Set Up



The doors opened at 6:30pm, just enough time for me to take a quick shower and change in a room upstairs. As people trickled in I made a few rounds to say hello, then manned my post on the balcony. Nobody came, not a single person. I was hurt, but realized that maybe a sign would fix that problem. With a sign and a few volunteers to spread the word people slowly started trickling out. Jo's dad Alan was the first to give it a go. I zipped him up, hooked him and explained how the basic control inputs work. He enjoyed it thoroughly and when other cautious standbyer's saw his smile a steady stream of people lined up.

A &J

Ben, Ann Maria, Tara, Jonny V.

My Last Minute Sign

Alan Trying it Out





It was a fascinating study of the public perception of hang gliding, even in the outdoor friendly community of Boulder. Even though the glider was secured to the ground (in case of a rouge gust) and could not fly, people were scared to get close to it. The most common comments were "Is parasailing safe?" to which I would reply "Depends on who's driving the boat." Parasailing (tourists being towed in a parachute behind a boat), is commonly mistaken as the name for both hang gliding and paragliding. Then I would go on to describe the evolution of the sport and technology and how like any form of aviation with proper judgement it is very safe. As people tried the glider out I would briefly describe the aerodynamics of a turn, a stall, and angle of attack. It was gratifying to watch people's impressions go from cautious curiosity to smiles and hopefully a better understanding of the sport. I don't know that I recruited any new pilots, but perhaps I planted a seed or two. The evening was a success. After securing the glider there was dinner (Jo and I sat with her parents), speakers, a silent auction, and great company.

Phoenix Supporters Giving it a Go

Jo and her Parents at Dinner

Nick and Patty

One of the funniest moments of the night happened before the doors opened while I was making my name tag a little kid (no more than 2 feet tall) ran up and pretended to fly the glider. He was steering the bar and making flying noises. I was behind a tinted glass door so he couldn't see me. It was hilarious! I walked around the side with the harness to zip give him a proper experience, but he ran off as soon as he saw me. I yelled "Hey come back, I'll suit you up!", but he was too scared. I'm not sure where his parents were, but he was too quick for me to catch. Plus, the sight of me in a Phoenix shirt chasing little kids around the hotel probably wouldn't be a good image for the supporters!

Jacki, Ben, and Scott

(Enjoying dinner after the evening's festivities)

Mike and Tad

(Getting a chance to "fly" before I broke it down)

On behalf of everyone at Phoenix Multisport I'd like to thank Mark for his donating the glider and stand, it was a highlight of the evening.

Passing the Torch

When I was 11 my Mom put me on a plane and sent me to Colorado to visit my older brother Hitch. My visits out west were highlights of my youth, fostering my independence and altering my perspective on the world. In June the torch was passed when my little brother and sister John and Becky came to visit on their first trip out west. Continuing the tradition, the itinerary included 4x4 driving lessons, camping, mountain biking, and of course a stint at the go cart track. On their first day in town we headed up to the foothills which were shrouded in low clouds. It was a surreal experience as we literally drove up the side of a mountain into the clouds. Just below cloudbase we spotted two young moose. Their brown coats looked purple in the refracted flat light. Maybe they were distant cousins of Babe, Paul Bunions blue ox. Moose are the most dangerous animals in the Rocky's injuring more people every year than bears and mountain lions combined. It took a while but with some stealthy stalking I was able to get close enough to grab a few good shots.

Driving Lessons

Moose

Dogs

In the Clouds

Flowering Mountain Cactus

The next day we camped at Lake Wellington. The scenery there was spectacular, but the ladies at the campground entrance were comically mean. I wondered how someone who lived in such a beautiful place could be such a sourpuss. We set up camp on the shore of the lake and watched bald eagles hunt as the sunset. There were no grills so we had to improvise to cook turkey burgers. Everyone was disgusted when I defrosted the burgers in the lake (they were sealed in plastic), but it worked perfect.

Setting Up Camp

Hunting Bald Eagle

Lake Wellington

Poor Man's Defroster (lake), Becky is Disgusted

Turkey Burgers

Waiting for Dinner

We cooked eggs for breakfast, but they weren't much better than the turkey burgers. The dogs provided constant entertainment. As always Sugar was as good as gold, but Molly was constantly getting into trouble. up to a small waterfall on the shoulder of Wellington Butte then went mountain biking on Buffalo Creek's sweet singletrack. It was Becky's first time ever and John's first time in Colorado. I got them both Trek full suspension bikes, so they would have proper rides. After about 3 miles Becky decided she'd had enough so we turned back. I couldn't believe she'd made it that far, riding a mountain bike for the first time at altitude. She and Jo headed back to town while John and I went on a longer mission on the Colorado Trail. It rained and thundered on us the entire time and turning out to be a true epic. He did great!

Waiting for Breakfast

Molly Being Bad

Sugar Being Good

The Waterfall

Super Molly

Group Pic

Morning Breath

Mountain Biking

John's First Epic

We spent their last day hiking the dogs, hanging in Boulder, riding go carts, and the grand finally a visit to Hitch in Ft. Collins. It was short and hectic, but a great trip. The tradition has come full circle and I only hope that John and Becky memories of their visit are as fond as mine were of my trips.

The Green Front Range

Hiking the Dogs

The Other Kind of Dog

Nana and Diogee

Clouds

Visiting Hitch