National Track Championship, Carson, CA

Happenstance - a chance occurrence - started this latest adventure.

I recently bumped into Brett Weitzel, a fellow paracyclist, he asked if I was racing in the upcoming Track Nationals in Los Angeles (Carson, CA). I knew of the competition but did not realize they had a Paracycling division - they did.

I could not justify the large travel budget an LA hotel would require but I remembered there was an Los Angeles AFB so I looked into base housing. Their base housing is located on Fort MacArthur, an old Army base overlooking the Port of Los Angeles. They had an opening and the travel budget became more affordable. Plus I got to walk around a historic Army post on the edge of LA overlooking the Port of Los Angeles - it was really cool.

Barracks built in 1918 ringed the courtyard, an old guard station protected the buildings

Officer houses ring the parade ground - typical old Army post setup

Officer's Row

Lastly, I needed a bike that is specific to racing on the track. Track bikes have one gear, no brakes and you cannot coast - you must pedal always. Brett loaned me his carbon frame track bike yet the seat post was too tall for me and I was not going to cut his bike frame to fit me. That left me one option; convert an old 1986 steel frame bike into a single speed track bike. As you can see in the picture USA Cycling loaned out solid wheels to make us more aerodynamic though I was not surprised when the race official commented at the official weigh in "that's the heaviest bike of the week."

Cool looking but heavy

So all things came together at the last moment; I registered for two races, a 4km individual pursuit on Friday and a 1 km time trial on Sunday, I had housing and a bike. Off I drove to LA and the new adventure of riding on an indoor wooden track.

The track is 250 meters long, banked to 45 degrees in the corners and kind of scary at first. My leg issues limit my ability to pedal quickly so descending off the high banks freaked me out a little - I was going faster than I could pedal. It took some getting used to. Eventually I got the hang of it but I still would not enjoy some of the races the able bodied cyclists did that involved riding high on the bank and descending rapidly to overtake the other rider.

25 feet tall and banked to 45 degrees

The 4km individual pursuit did not go well at first, after three laps my chain came off. It came off due to a poor chain track and it being a little too loose. A fellow rider and an official helped me readjust things before I got a second chance to reride the 4km. I took off and rode the 16 laps as hard as I could - finished 5th. Good effort, slow time, I was disappointed.

Getting my game face on before Sunday's 1 km time trial

On Sunday I asked Tanya Martin, Scott Martin's wife, if she would videotape my ride. She graciously agreed and did a good job - I helped her follow me by riding a nice slow pace around the track....anything for a good picture. Actually, I went as hard as I could and rode my very fastest 1km. That may be my personal record but it still was only good enough for 5th place. It shows I have a long way to go to be competitive on the national stage. But I'll keep working and prepare for the 2013 paracycling competitions.

I am off to Ohio for a national training camp - it should be another wonderful cycling experience.

Perfect time to visit Yellowstone NP

Welcome again to our blog - this post covers our visit to Yellowstone NP - stay tuned for an upcoming post that will cover next week's National cycling event. Oooh suspense. It's been a busy summer and if you are an avid blog reader you must have asked the same question every big horn sheep wants to know, "where have you been?" 

Where have you been?

We've been all over but luckily, after a blazing summer, our weather is cooling off - slightly - and the leaves are changing around us. Holly's hill is right out our backyard - this is our view during breakfast.

Holly's hill changing colors this fall

Last week, Holly and I drove north through Idaho and into NW Wyoming to visit Yellowstone National Park. Shortly after we entered the park, through the West Yellowstone entrance, I excitedly jumped out of the car to prep my camera gear. Prep complete, I got behind the wheel and drove off into the park - it didn't take long to realize I had not closed the rear hatch - c'mon, arriving in Yellowstone is like Christmas morning to photographers. We drove along the western portion of the park as we headed north toward our cabin in Mammoth Hot Springs,

I quietly snuck out of the car to get this picture, Holly sat frozen in the passenger seat

It didn't take long before we ran into our friends, the American Bison on the road. Despite Holly's familiarity with this animal she was not going to get too close. I had to "nudge" her (her words were "pushed my back") to lean out of the window to get a closer picture - she fought back pretty hard...but she got a good picture.

Causing a traffic jam

A reflection later in the afternoon as we headed toward Mammoth Hot Springs

 We arrived in Mammoth Hot Springs before dark, in time to see one of the big bull elks as he roamed the grounds of old Fort Yellowstone. He had just gotten up from an afternoon nap and was very frisky. This being the "rut" he was trying to fend off other bulls and set up a harem - he certainly did not seem comfortable in his own skin.

Scratching feels so good

Taking a moment to rest

Using his antlers to stir up trouble

We checked into our rustic cabin, no TV, no phone, no problem. We walked to the lodge's restaurant for a delicious dinner before heading to bed.








 In the morning I snuck out and set up my camera to capture photos (wish I had taken video instead) of a bull elk walking past me (within 8 feet) while bugling his heart out. You can see his breath as he belts out his call.

 Another bull answered his call then met him head on to protect his territory. They met, turned and walked side-by-side all the while bugling at one another. It was an awesome display.

After a dazzling display the bull elks went their separate ways and I headed off to collect Holly and head off to conquer Mount Washburn.

We chose to hike to the top of Mount Washburn for a couple of reasons; Gen Sherman's son wrote about his hike here in 1877, it's altitude of 10,243 both provided an overview of the park and a personal record for Holly's highest hike and there were rumors of big horn sheep about. 

The view from the beginning of the 5.7 mile round trip look daunting but as you can see from the picture to the right - our intrepid hiker was up to the challenge.

View down the trail from about half way to the top

 

The cold wind dictated function over fashion to save Holly's ears from freezing

We topped out but the view was hindered by the smoke from nearby wildfires

 After our return hike we departed the park via the north exit - Gardner, Montana. Dinner in Gardner was abysmal so our spirits were buoyed when we saw these mother elk and their little ones lounging in a park. The elk overlooked a nearby youth football practice and the famous gateway arch - Teddy Roosevelt laid a ceremonial rock in 1902.

We planned to depart the park via the West Yellowstone exit but spotted this Bison crossing the river. Holly captured this guy either giving us the "ppssttt" for taking his picture - or he was taking a drink. You decide. 

 We stayed the next two nights in Island Park in an A frame log cabin with a hot tub on the deck - it was really nice. We went into the park every day seeking out bears, wolves, big horn sheep and other animals. Mostly we just enjoyed the time together and marvelled at the scenery.

I did get up early to search out the two big moose reputed to be in Island Park. On day two I spotted them - a couple hundred yards away - and watched as they tussled with their antlers.

The yearling with budding horns

Mom and her little one

On the last day of our visit we finally saw the elusive big horn sheep. They were the source of our running joke - that big horn sheep were a figment of someones imagination - they didn't exist. Well now we have photographic evidence to the contrary. Ironically we had hiked to the top of Mount Washburn and saw a few white butts as the sheep ran away - then a day later we saw these sheep at the bottom of Mount Washburn. We should have just stayed at the bottom.

  This guy walked to the edge of the trees, looked down at me then posed a couple of times then walked off.











One afternoon we drove over by Druid Peak to try to catch a peek at the famous Druid Pack of wolves who patrol that area. We struck out BUT we saw plenty of Bison and Holly found a quiet place along Pebble Creek.

Bison were plentiful in Hayden Valley

Pebble Creek - the only sound was the rushing water

Crow's next high above

 

Before leaving we stopped by the famous Old Faithful Lodge.
History seems to ooze from her pores - imagine hearing a band playing in this room high above the guests. Today we can only imagine the traveler's experience from over a hundred years ago - but we sure had a good time too.

Lastly, while driving along the river we saw an Osprey flying along - he crashed into the water beside us - just feet away - right out the passenger window - it was awesome! We turned around and Holly balanced the camera's heavy lens and took these pictures to wrap up our highly memorable trip to Yellowstone NP.

 Thank you for sharing our journey.

What a day!

Today, Saturday 21 July, was supposed to be a hard ride - (4) 20 minute time trials with five minute rest in between then another couple of hours of riding to total 4 hours on the bike.

Took a friend's excellent advice to ride SR 73 - from Saratoga Springs west toward the Utah desert. 

SR 73 follows a section of the Pony Express Trail

My first couple of intervals were painful and I was a little frustrated that I couldn't make my heart rate (HR) go any higher. Normally I can judge my effort based on wattage from my power meter but that is in the shop. I felt like I was working pretty hard - the HR didn't reflect that yet I saw some fast mph on the flats - a little disappointing. 

The third interval, was going well when my Di2 battery holder broke (see it right above the "S" under the front water bottle) - the battery went flying and I had to stop riding to address my issue. The battery is responsible for powering the shifters, no battery, no shifting, I quickly become "Single Speed Steve." Some of you may remember that I have some experience at being SSS - 85 miles of a New Mexico 100 mile ride. That experience convinced me to figure out a way to rehang the battery, the good news was there was a ton of debris of the side of the road. Found a plastic Gatorade bottle, cut it in half using a mile marker as a knife, found a cloth belt that once cut on same mile marker was the perfect length to wrap the battery and put it in the shortened bottle which became a "cup holder." That got me headed uphill back into town. My fourth interval saw the same lower HR and I was really trying but I was pleased to see that I was pedaling uphill, into a strong wind at 24 mph.

Overall, for the intervals, I think I will be better the second time - I'll know I can sell out a little harder, I'll have my power meter to better judge my effort and hopefully Holly will be near to render assistance if needed.

BUT the ride was not over. Around Camp Floyd I suffered a weird flat - the air seemed to be pouring out of the side of the tire. I changed the tube but could not find a source of punctured and figured that the stem area may have been the culprit. Five minutes later I had a repeat flat and realized I had a cut sidewall. I fixed the flat and the sidewall BUT I was now out by Camp Floyd with no more CO2 cartridges, limited cell coverage amongst drivers who had shown no empathy for a cyclist dealing with flats - no a great place to be. After nearly an hour of relaxed pedaling (that's what my coach had directed) I happily arrived at my car, loaded up and headed to my bike shop where they replaced the battery support.

Came home, put the bike on the trainer - to finish the four hours - and figured out why it just didn't feel right - I had another flat! Dang it. I grabbed another tire and tube set up that I had used indoors all week - put that on - AND that was flat. Had four flats today! And used some words I had forgotten were in my vocabulary.

In the future I think I will be better served to make sure Holly will be available for the trips out on SR-73 -and I will also be able to dose my effort a little better, and a little harder than I did today. I was disappointed with the HR but I was pleased with the faster speeds on the flats.

There you go - another crazy ride in the life of Steve Kelly.

A busy week

Buy this book! You can find as an E book at B&N and Amazon

Dr. Kevin Jones hosted a launch party for his new book "What Doctors Cannot Tell You." A book that explores the uncertainty of medicine through patient stories (mine is under an alias - can you figure out which one?). It empowers you to begin a clearer conversation with your doctor by asking pertinent questions. I found it to be an honest, funny and engaging look behind the curtain of modern medicine. Holly and I had a good time hearing Dr. Jones introduce his book then meet some of his other patients. We hope you will read the book for pleasure and not need to visit your doctor for a long, long time.

This sweet girl hopped our fence to nibble the roses in our backyard

Talk about hot - this magpie waded and sat in the water to cool off

Lastly, my cycling coach, Dave Harward is to be congratulated for taking 3rd at the Mountain Biking Nationals last week in Sun Valley. His wife Lori took 2nd place. My friend Chris Bingham took 5th and his daughter took 2nd. A fantastic performance by all.
Dave has me working hard as you can see by the river of sweat beneath my bike. Working to get faster so my time in a Sept 16th time trial in Tucson will be better than my time at Nationals.

Hope you had a great week!

A Visit from Rufus

Adult Male Rufus Hummingbird - new to the 'hood

Adult Male Black Chinned Hummingbird - one of our regulars

We finally had a visit from a family of Rufus hummingbirds this evening.For years our only visitors were black chinned hummingbirds whose males have a distinctive bright purple "necklace" they display on occasion. The Rufus have a orange throat that looks like a Vegas showgirls' outfit.

Adult Female Rufus buzzing the tower.

Juvenile Rufus

A better look at the black chinned signaling a "touchdown"

Mom flew in from the right to chase the juvenile off the feeder