Tour de Cure 2009 Kickoff Party

Attended the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure kickoff party last night over at Autohaus BMW. Food, drink, a live music and prize raffle. Phil Bruno, spinning instructor and member of the Gold's Gym team was there getting everyone pumped up for the ride. I've known Phil for a couple years now and he's got a great story about how exercise in general, and cycling in particular, impacted his life. Great guy. Also there rallying were the members of Team Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, LC.

St. Petersburg, Florida

Took a little break and went down to St. Petersburg, Florida for a couple of days this week. Stayed at the Ponce de Leon, a little boutique hotel on Central Avenue. It could use a little updating, but it was a decent place nonetheless. A nice feature was the tapas restaurant, Ceviche, on the first floor. So wednesday night involved a few bottles of La Zaragozana and a dinner of boquerones, caracoles and ancas de rana. After dinner we walked a couple blocks down to The Independent on 3rd street. Fun place with a very laid back atmosphere.

The Bonk Hard Chill 2009

Ran with a 4-person team in The Bonk Hard Chill 12-hour adventure race down in Lake of the Ozarks State Park this weekend. Years past it was cold enough to freeze the water in your CamelBak, but this year it was warm enough to run in shorts.

One section of the race we had to paddle across the lake with our bikes in the canoe. Through some bizarre circumstance of physics my bike melded with Al's during the paddle and we had to spend at least 20 minutes trying to unhook them (photo below).


Me, Al and Rick. Photo courtesy of Bryan N., Mudskunks team captain

We ran fairly well, but missed a checkpoint deadline near the end of the day and suffered a severe penalty which knocked us to near the bottom of the pack. I did win a tube of Zanfel at the pre-race raffle though!

With the exception of a few beautiful bruises, Adam and Lisa, the pillars of Sisu Adventure Racing, were there running strong as usual! At least they weren't called upon to save anyone during the race this time.

Thanks to Bonk Hard Racing for putting on another great event.

Class on Basic Mountaineering Theory

Attended a class on basic mountaineering theory at the Alpine Shop in Kirkwood last night. A high-level overview and a basic gear show-n-tell for mountaineering rookies. Some early preparation for a possible "starter" mountain we may climb this summer.

They're planning on giving the course again on Feb 25 and Apr 22. The class is free. Call to register 314-962-7715.

Frostbite Swim Series Race #1

Completed the first of Frostbite Swim Series Races this morning at the Wildwood YMCA. It was supposed to be a relay, so Beth, Erin and I signed up as a team, but we decided to each swim the entire length individually and just use the best time. So 1.5 miles later, I finished in 42:57 and Beth whooped me hitting just over 42:00. I think I held the lead for about a mile, then the master took over. She is really efficient in the water and just kept creeping a little further away with every flipturn.

Winter Backcountry in the Smoky Mountains

Started off the new year with a 6 day, 5 night backcountry camping trip in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We completed a circuit of roughly 70 miles, hitting some of the highest peaks in the park and traveling along part of the Appalachian Trail. It was definitely grueling at times, usually hiking from sunrise till dusk on wet, rocky trails.

We experienced a wild variety of weather. Some parts of the day it was warm enough to wear nothing but t-shirt and other times temperatures dropped to the low teens. It might be snowing with brutal winds on one side of a mountain and clear and calm on the other.

Along with the indefatigable Lisa from Team Sisu we leaped over Mount LeConte, the third highest mountain in the park at 6,593 feet, forged our way through heavy winds on icy, narrow ridge tops, and evaded a growling black bear hiding in a thicket of Rhododendron (no kidding). A great way to kick off the year!


Me on The Boulevard Trail


Map of the route


Some more photos from the trip are up on my new Flickr stream.

Warren Miller's Children of Winter

Went to see Warren Miller's Children of Winter last night at the Moolah Theatre, part of his 2008 film tour. Presented by the Alpine Shop.

Skiing is definitely the closest a person can get to flying without getting in a plane. Crazy and awesome. The perfect prelude to any race - any sport. It just gets you pumped up!

Castlewood 8 Hour Adventure Race - 2008

Ran Bonk Hard's Castlewood 8 Hour adventure race on Saturday. I had been checking the weather report throughout the week and expected the temperature to be in the high teens for the morning, but was happily surprised that it was in the 30s.

Arrived at Castlewood State Park around 5:15 AM for the pre-race meeting with about 270 other adventure racers. After the meeting a group of yellow school buses picked us up and took us to an undisclosed location for the race to begin. Once there we quickly plotted a set of UTM coordinates on our topo maps, jumped in our canoes and started paddling down the Meramec River.

Had a good time, but started suffering some crazy leg cramps around 3pm which unfortunately lasted until we finished. I'm pretty sure it was due to dehydration. It's easy to forget to drink when its cold out - although you still need to replace everything you are perspiring.

I haven't seen the race results yet. I'm a little worried about getting credit for checkpoint "F". I punched the race passport once and it didn't cut the paper very well. I hit it again, but was off a little and the hole looked a little sloppy. Hopefully it passed inspection during the tally.

UPDATE: Finished 6th out of 33 two-person male teams.


Me and Nick, team "81 Miles", during the race.
(Photo Credit: Laura E. of Bonk Hard Racing)