foolsblog

Balloon Runners...Weee!

2006-12-12T14:31:00.000-08:00

Sunmart 50 miler

2006-12-10T18:10:00.000-08:00

Julie and I just got back from the 50 mile Sunmart Trail run in Huntsville, TX which is north of Houston. We had a great time and are both still walking pretty well. The run is in Huntsville State Park which was very pretty. We did 4 12.5 mile loops. At first that sounded kind of crappy but the loops ended up not being too bad. After the second loop you pretty much knew where you were and how far to next rest stop etc. The overall support for the race was great, had a big breakfast tent set up before the race and had lots of food afterwards. We got a crap load of 'goodies' before the race, big duffle bag two hats, polo shirt..pretty cool. We got a tyvek finishers jacket (which I will wear with pride) and and the requisite finishers medal at the end. The rest stops on the course were every 2-3 miles and had all kinds of food and stuff to drink..best were the boiled potatos. I had pretty good luck eating taters and bananas and drinking whatever they had..gatorade, mt. dew, dr. pepper all worked pretty good. I started taking ibuprofen and tums after second lap and that seemed to work out pretty good for me. The trails were nice, quite a few tree roots but not too bad, was nice and rolling not pancake flat but no huge climbs..lot's of big pine trees and even had palm trees in the woods which don't see much of in Oklahoma. had a whole bunch of wooden bridges over the swampy sections..some over 50 yards long seemed like.very good place to do first 50 miler. There were about 200 in the 50 miler and 800 in 50k. The 50k and 50 mile shared the same trail for part of the course but on most of it was just 50 milers and was pretty spread out...some crazy old guy who sorta looked like Chuck I ran with for a while said this was his 30th race of 26 miles or more this year he had been to China and raced on the Great Wall and was planning on going to Himalayas for run next year...hmmm maybe know what will do in retirement now....Julie and I both felt pretty good when we finished, tired but not too beat up. Julie ended up finishing in 8:46 (4th in age group and 10th female...not bad for first 50 miler and considering there were people from all over the country) and I finished in 9:12 which I was happy with..Results are at http://www.doitsports.com/results/page.tcl?id=14723

Visit To the Joffes

2006-10-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Nice Digs!!

Nice Front Yard...Those are Elk running off...We didn't get a shot off.

Tim on death defying crossing of creek..

Perty waterfall..

All lign up for another death defying creek crossing..All survived..Nice form by Mike...maybe Raton was problem before as Mike didn't fall in once.

Happy Hikers..

Nice view...Pikes Peak looming in background just out of view to the right...

"We should probably turn around since we haven't been shot by an Elk hunter yet"

Wicked Fast

2006-10-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

HEY LOOK!! THE BIKE ACTUALLY WORKS!

TURKEY AND TATURS 50K

2006-09-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

TWAS A DARK AND STORMY DAY AT TURKEY
Mountain as a few fools tromped around in the mud at Turkey for 30 miles...Tatur group in Tulsa www.tatur.org put on an awesome race at Turkey.. Julie managed to win the womens race and Raton finished 2nd ...The two Tims managed to finish almost together due to the fact that Tim W. got lost...what else is new...Fools lost in the woods....Our chatty buddy Mary finished and did awesome as well..

2006-08-08T18:49:00.000-07:00

Davis, a 25 maxxis and a 26 soma everwear fit, but I wouldn't ride on a freshly tarred road. A 28? dunno.

Dirty Lager leaves 'mark' all over Robbers Cave.

2006-05-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

Above is the world famous Dirk T. Lager posing as he prepares to rappel off his first lead climb.

At left, Dirty works his way meticulously up the ubiquitious 'Beginners Crack'. His gear placments where shite but at least he didn't fall off the thing.

After the climb, DL was asked what his secret was an he replied, 'Bacon, and lots of it.'

Here, DL turns the roof. Below, DL poses on a fun toprope and declares, 'look at me, I'm so cool I wear sunglasses when I climb!'

Next trip, I hope DL can learn the meaning of 'don't yank on my nuts' and 'go for it buddy!'. I also will go over basic use of a digital camera.

Actually we had a grand time. Camped fri night and it cooled down enough to make sleeping without sweating possible. Drank a couple of beers and hung out. Saturday we did a lot of climbing and Tim did indeed lead a couple of climbs and did pretty well. It wasn't too bad in the shade but pretty dam hot regardless. Got back into Tulsa Sat. night, leaving plenty of time for serious training.

2006-05-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

viva el pato

2006-04-25T06:18:00.000-07:00

Being George and the crack from Hell

2006-04-19T18:54:00.000-07:00

Hey if Big George likes it in the ditch it can't be all bad. Steerer tube breakage in Paris-Roubaix. Gotta suck. Not the first time he's been in the ditch tho.

Mr. Davis offered the opinion that in the days before aluminum Belgian mechanics would drive broom handles down into the steerer to to prevent such a scenario.

Ok, so how does this relate? This is bad crack. This is a crack in the carbon steerer on my Aegis Victory. My first clue was the need to adjust the headset about every other ride. I'm sure that didn't help things. In the first pic you can see where the stem was clamped. 2nd pic shows inside of steerer.

This pic shows the aluminum spacer I'm going to epoxy into the steerer. After spending about an hour at Chucks and another hour in my garage
I found the handlebars on the tandem were just a bit bigger than what I needed. Judicious filing brought things into spec. Not sure I'll leave it like this but it's going to have to do for the race this weekend. I know my butt will be a bit more puckered. Don't want to end up like George.

I don't know, this might be stronger than the original install.

No Sh** There I Was

2006-04-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

long way round

2006-04-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

one bad picture

2006-03-20T20:47:00.000-08:00

No, this wasn't a line up and I cannot blame this on my mother, no matter how much I'd like to. Sam's club card 1992.

2 days of Syllamo or 2 out of 3 ain't bad; it's horrible

2006-03-19T16:37:00.000-08:00

While Tim's choice if NIN lyrics wasn't my favorite, it was defenitely appropriate. The thought of running almost 80 miles in 3 days was outrageous but somehow seemed reasonable. Tim, Julie and I have done a lot of stupid things in the past and this seemed like something we could probably accomplish. The 3 days of Syllamo was supposed to consist of 3 trail runs over 3 days - a 20k, 60k and 50k. The runs were all on the Sylamore Trail (see Sylamore 50k trail run post) and the Syllamo trail system. Julie got us a room at Jack's in Allison Arkansas for the weekend. We though about camping but a warm bed and a hot shower seemed like a better idea since rain was in the forecast. Jack's White River resort was the site of the unfortunate hush puppy incident before the disasterous Sylamore Hardcore adventure race but that's another story. We drove over from Tulsa on Friday to Mt. View taking the very hilly and winding route through Fayeteville and Harrison. We stopped at Blanchard Springs campground to get our race packets. We drove to Jack's and all cautiously ordered non hush puppy containing food for dinner. The 20k (12.4 miles by the calculator) started at 10am on Saturday, so we had plenty of time to get our stuff together. Here's a picture of Julie before the start of the 20k. I know she's really thinking that she will want to kill me before the weekend is over.

The Syllamo trail system is named for Chief Syllamo. Judging from the 3 days of Syllamo Run logo http://runarkansas.com/ThreeDaysSyllamo.htm, Syllamo is a distant relative of Kokopelli. Both are pranksters, but Syllamo, both fists raised, likes to smack around unsuspecting trail runners and mountain bikers instead of prancing around Colorado and New Mexico posing for bad art and tacky tourist gifts. Between the Sylamore hiking trail and the 50 plus miles of the Syllamo trail system, there are plenty of miles to ride or run around Mountain View. The 3DOS relied mainly on the Syllamo trails but did use a bit of the Sylamore trail.

The forecast for the weekend promised a good chance of rain Saturday and Sunday but clear for the Friday run. We woke up Friday morning to find overcast skies, but no sign of rain. We had plenty of time to make the 10am start. The first run went pretty well. All 3 runs used parts of the same trails and trail marking was crucial. Different colored tape was used to designate each days run. Day 1 was red/white tape. Julie and I ran together the first day and it was pretty uneventful. We nearly missed one turnoff to the finish but got through it OK. The trails were great. Parts were smooth and cushioned with pine needles and others were quite rocky, making me wish I’d worn stiffer shoes. The terrain was rolling with a few hills that made walking seem like a good idea. We finished just a few minutes ahead of Tim. Below is a view of the White River from the day 2 run.

After the run, Tim and I went down to Syllamore creek to soak our legs after the race. This really seemed to help with recovery. Since it was numbingly cold, it was impossible to convince Julie to do the same. While we were soaking, we discovered that more than a few folks had missed the turnoff back to the finish and have run 2 or 3 miles more than necessary. We also discovered the first run was a bit long.

We ran into town to grab stuff for dinner before hading back to Jacks. We had pasta for dinner and got ready for the big show, the 60k race. 60k should be about 37.2miles. We were to discover, late the next day that the run was really closer to 40 miles. The run started with a long climb before settling into a rolling rythm of climbing and descending. Julie and I ran together for several hours. Up and down not a lot of time to take in the awesome views, just kept moving. None of us had run this distance before. We'd covered more miles but at a slower pace. We finally reached the 19 mile aid station and as we were fuleing up, Tim caught us. Below are the guys working the 19 mile aid station. We had drop bags here so we replenished gels, jerky and such and I changed socks. We'd crossed 3 streams in the last couple of hours so it felt pretty good. Working an aid station can't be a whole lot of fun but it sure is appreciated.

I left the aid station with ziplock bag full of cheetos which were hard to eat while running but were mighty tasty. We ran a big 13 mile loop between the 19m aid staition before returning to the same spot at mile 32. Below are Tim and Julie on the big loop. Tim looks pretty perky for having just run 20 hilly miles.

I bonked a couple of miles before we were back at the 32 mile aid station and wasn't feeling too good. Once there we again refuelled and ate peanut butter and crackers and I had more cheetos and drank lots of coke. Before we left the aid guy told us we had 'only' 8 more miles to go! This made day's route 40 miles. That migh not seem like that much of a difference between 37, but it sure as hell would have been nice to know when we started. Maybe we didn't pay attention to the course map that closely but still, we were not happy to hear the news of more running. We left the aid station following the yellow and black ribbon that marked the days route. Things were going so well.

We followed the yellow/black ribbon which also had blue/white ribbon marking Sunday's route. After a while there was no more yellow ribbon. After 6 or so hours of running we weren't paying much attention and we failed to notice. When we finally figured it out we were very bummed. We hadn't come to this stupid race to try to figure out what the race director had in mind. We just wanted to run. We hadn't seen any place for a trail to turn off but we hadn't seen the yellow ribbon for 20 minutes or so. We stopped and talked. Anywhere else on the course, the lack of correct ribbon would indicate the wrong trail. Here, it seemed, we were supposed to keep running for 2 or 3 miles on blind faith.

We had been in the same situation before during adventure races. I didn't want to go on without making sure we hadn't missed a turn. A cardinal rule in adv. racing is to return to your last known point if you're lost. How else will you know where you are? All 3 of us decided to back track to the last yellow ribbon we had seen. We went almost all the way back to the aid station, allowing about 20 runners to pass us. Getting passed wasn't so bad as much as having to make a choice about what to do. Having paid so much to do the race only to loose 2 hours of time backtracking becasue the race director chose not to mark a section of trail is very frustrating. If he'd simply have said something before the start or told the guys at the last aid station it would have been better. There were plenty of blue/white ribbons on this section. It didn't make much sense.

Two hours later we were back to where we'd first turned around. Julie had hurt her knee in a fall a few hours earlier and felt like she should walk and Tim walked with her. I had an adrenaline buzz from the screw up and ran ahead. Another mile and there were yellow ribbons again marking the course. I ran to the next aid station and filled up my bottles and made another blunder. Yellow ribbon left the aid station in 2 directions and I followed the wrong trail. I'd say this one was my fault but that is the danger of runs that involve loops. I was not thinking straight after 8 hrs of running and I was probably the only idiot to do this. Maybe.
I figured it out after I came to a parking lot we'd run through earlier in the day. At this point, who cared, I just wanted to finish. I turned around and ran back to the aid station and followed the other yellow ribbons which ended up being the same trail we started on 9 hours earlier. I jogged over familiar terrain, knowing I was close. I caught up with Tim and Julie who had passed me while I was getting extra miles in. Ha ha. Joke's on me. The were going to walk on in so I jogged/hobbled ahead of them and hit the finish. The were just a few minutes behind me. We figured we ended up running between 45 and 47 miles.

We were all beat up, tired and dissapointed. It was sort of a consolation to know that we could (and did) run farther than we'd planned to but it still didn't help much. Julie's knee was really killing her. We put on some warm clothes and headed back for the room. A lot of folks were upset about the lack of course marking and a few had complained of getting lost so we didn't feel like it was just us. Maybe it'll help for next years race, maybe not. Julie said she wouldn't be able to run the next day and Tim and I weren't sure we'd be able to even walk. Tim and Julie picked up pizza while I snored away in the room.

I think somebody was watching the NCAA basketball tournament on tv, but I was gone. We got up late on Sunday am, long after the 50k race had started. We packed and headed back to Oklahoma.

Maybe this was way over my head, but I'd have wished it had ended better. I'm not sure that even if Chief Syllamo hadn't had fun with us on the 2nd day that we'd have been able to finish the 3rd. I wonder if he's buddies with the Devil Cat...

The trails were awesome and the weather was awesome. North central Arkansas is still beautiful. I can only imagine the effort it took to put something like this together. However, I don't imagine I'll be back.

Preparing for Syllamo

2006-03-15T09:37:00.000-08:00

I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything

For some reason this song runs through my head a lot when on a long run or race...the Johnny Cash version appears mostly lately..was quite prevelant at Athens to Big Fork in January...
I bring this up because am already thinking about how much fun we're gonna have at 3 days of Syllamo trail run starting this Friday...3 days of running total of 70 some miles...Sure there will be some singin' somewhere in there. Update to follow..

Toe stumper recap

2006-02-27T19:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I’m watching this Great Performances special on public television featuring Paul McCartney.  He’s in Abbey Road studio and I can’t decide if it’s pretentious or pathetic but I’m not sure I like it and I do like the beatles and Sir Paul.  Kinda interesting but seems rather stilted and made up.  ‘Come join in the carefully planned an rehearsed display of the creative process whilst I hawk me newest album!’  A little too much of ‘I’m the last one besides Ringo so look at me!’  Bitter and hateful as always.

Anyway, the past weekend was the Rollin’ Fools Toe Stumpin’ Trail run verson 3.0.  Three years, who would have thought.  We had the biggest turnout so far and probably put forth the least effort, just as things should be.  The Wings, (no relation to above) brought the bulk of the participants.  Very cool program trying to get kids active.  We had 60 in the 2 mile run and 140 or so in the 5 mile run.

Always hilarious to watch the cross country kids with spikes and no shirts in 35 degree weather as they careen around the course; barely missing trees, tripping over rocks but somehow still managing to outrun everyone else and look cool at the same time.  Clay Mayes the 3rd beat his nearest competitor by 2 mins.  Results at http://www.okrunner.com/.  We had the distinction of being the first event, in Oklahoma at least, to have at our disposal (ha!) the KROS mobile urinal.  How cool is that?  According to the web site, it’s good for more than 1500 leaks.  I think American guys have a ways to go before they’re comfortable with this concept unless it’s dark.  http://www.smallworld.com.au/kros.htm

A couple of other race notes.  Thanks to generous friends, Julie and I got to race and even though I had run a 50k the week before it felt pretty good to race.  Having hot cocoa and oatmeal for post race was a great idea.  Another great idea was cold beer.  Even in the morning, we had enough runners to go through 90 cans of beer.  Considering ½ the race was kids that’s a good bit of beer considering the temps.  Anybody check Chucks car?  Basically if you give people a reason to hang around for a while, they’ll have a good time – Oatmeal, beer or both.

That evening, Tim and Julie had a small party to celebrate the success.  The evening was fun except Hannah parked herself under the table and proceeded to produce some incredibly eye watering farts over the course of the evening.  I don’t understand it, maybe it’s the excitement of getting to go to somebody’s house.  Cody (Tim and Julie’s dog) and Sydney and Hannah have a grand old pee fest every time they get together.  Cody is a lab mix and bigger than my dogs who are always in danger of getting p’d on but I think they all have a good time.  I’m still not sure what set her off.

Sunday was a long run at Turkey Mtn.  Planning for the next adventure.

2006-02-20T19:02:00.000-08:00

Sylamore recap - How cold was it?

http://www.printroom.com/ViewgalleryPhoto.asp?userid=philipwalrod&gallery_id=331982&image_id=238

Here's Kyle the guy I ran with from Little Rock. Yes he is taller than I am, not so good at depth perception.

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?shopperid=51VULB7G7VPS9N8VBS2353SMEK6MDHA8&userid=philipwalrod&gallery_id=331982&image_id=131

Lots of cool, crisp photos at www.printroom.com/pro/phillipwalrod, eh?

Final stats: 208 runner picked up packets, 188 started (I'm no accountant) and 142 finished. That's pretty impressive. Okie Tom 'liberal lightning' Brennan took 1st overall in 4:36. First female Anna Assenmacher (I don't make this stuff up!) in 5:13.

Apparently there was one small injury requiring stitches and everyone else survived.

2006-02-19T18:33:00.000-08:00

Sylamore 50k Race Report

I should have taken pictures, but I didn't carry a camera. With the snow, this was one of the most beautiful, memorable trail runs I've ever done. You should have been there. The race started and finished at Angler's hotel/fishing resort/restaurant/convenience store in Allison Arkansas a few miles north of Mt. View. Anglers was the only thing in Allison. The race filled up this year thanks to some media coverage in Trail Runner and Ultrarunner magazines. The 3 or so inches of snow that fell the night before the race seemed to have thinned the crowd quite a bit from the 250 racer limit. The folks who did show seemed game for the whole ordeal except for a couple of sponsored runners who seemed a little pouty about actually having to use the marvelous wicking properties of their sponsor's clothing.

Clothing issues seemed to dominate the pre-race activities. Snow was on the ground and temps were predicted to not get above the mid 20's the whole day. A hardy few chose shorts and long sleeves and others went full on gore tex and one guy sported a headlamp AND sunglasses. Beyond the weather, the infamous water crossing at 1 and 30 miles also caused concern. The course is out and back, the 1st mile (and last) on pavement and dirt roads to the trailhead which immediately crosses Sylamore creek. In 2000 you could cross on rocks and stay dry. In 2001, heavy rains did away with the rocks and it was a mandatory get-wet situation.

There were various approaches most hydrophobic folks carrying dry shoes and socks; a few carrying dry pants. Smart or stupid, I went with what I had on, not even a change of dry socks. I'd learned my lesson that you could run a long time in wet socks and my feet rarely get cold as long as I'm moving. This worked fine for me. The gun went off at Allison and we ran down the highway towards the trail head and a few bozo's running the highway tanget almost got hit by an oncoming truck plowing the road. No more excitement until the creek crossing except I dropped my gel flask a couple of times. Plastic clips don't work so well below freezing. You'd think research would have proved that out. I won't trust that thing again.

At the creek, a group has gathered to watch the carnage. Lots of pants rolling and pussyfooting. I'd come out the night before to scope out the shallowest part and waded across in knee deep water. It was cold but warmer than ambient temperature, so no big deal. I passed a lot of people at the creek and it was just as well that I hadn't messed with dry shoes as the next 2 miles of trail were wet and muddy and it wouldn't have made much difference. My lower legs warmed up and we began to see what the trail was going to be like. After the creek, the trail goes immediately to single track and traverses under some bluffs and is rolling until the first aid station at 5 miles at Blanchard Springs campground.

Central Arkansas doesn't suffer from the same affliction as NW Ark (Wal-Mart) and is truly beautiful. This is Buffalo River country and it was absolutely gorgeous covered by a blanket of snow. Even early in the race it was easy to sink into the silence of your surroundings and smell the freeze in the air and hear only the crunch of snow and your own breathing.

A group of 5 or so formed and we ran behind the eventual women's winner who was loafing on the way to the turnaround. It was surprisingly easy to run in the snow. Any dangerous rocks were usually exposed by the unfortunate slippage of someone faster. The fast shorts wearing guys usually chose racing flats which didn't seem to offer a lot of traction. At Blanchard Springs CG and the first aid station, a couple of things became clear. In a race with creek crossing and freezing weather, you're only going to tighten your shoes at the start. The laces were and would be frozen knots for the rest of the race. Also, the flat coke or mt. dew aid stations offer turns into delicious slushies when it's freezing cold. I had one at every aid staion.

After Blanchard Springs, there were two big climbs before the next aid staiton. I remembered the trail as being 'easy' but I was wrong. It wasn't awful but it was defenitley hilly. Most of the hills were walkers because of the snow and steepness. Each climb brought awesome views of the surrounding snow covered hills and usually a straight down view of the creek from the top of a bluff. Not a whole lot of time to look around though. There were a few extended flat sections where the trail followed the Sylamore Creek, but more hills than flat.

Nothing too exciting on the way to the 2nd aid station at Gunner Pool CG. Ran most of this alone and enjoyed my own company. Tried the boiled red potatoes at the aid station and they were tasty with a coke slushy.

The last 5 miles to the turn around were the roughest, the trail being narrow and usually on a hillside. Another big climb to a bluff and a descent before Barkshed Campground. A couple of miles from the turnaround, the fast guys were heading back. This was pretty exciting trying not just go get out of their way, but not to fall on them as they went by.

After the turn around, it was my turn to pass people. It was a difficult dance for both parties. Most folks gladly stopped and everyone seemed to be having a good time in spite of the conditions. The run back from Barkshed to Gunner Pool CG was easier as the trail had been packed down by many feet. The boiled potatoes that were warm on the way out were now a bit cruchy with ice crystals. Cold, but still tasty.

The distance was taking it's toll and I began running with a guy from Little Rock who I think slowed down to wait for me just so he'd have some company. We chatted from mile 20 to the Blanchard Springs cg aid station. We both had sore hamstrings from the stomping stride that we'd been using in the snow. The flat sections were better, but I was liking the hills since it was an excuse to walk.

Kyle caught his 2nd wind after the last aid station and took off and finished a good bit ahead of me. I just wanted to finish, wondering about how smart trying the 3 days of Syllamo was going to be. I noticed that five hours of sweat had accumulated in the cuffs of my jacket and formed pretty good sized chunks of ice. I had dressed a bit too warm and stayed pretty sweaty the entire race. Anyone with facial hair had those neat icicles hanging down. It was during the last few miles that some of the shorts people finally lost their battle with the elements. They all looked very cold with very bright red legs and weren't moving too fast.

As I approached the creek crossing I saw some of the dropped tights and shoes from the way out. Everything was frozen solid. At least my wet socks were warm and flexible. I waded back across to face the last mile of road and the finish. The guy from Little Rock told me he'd found a crotch deep hole on his 2nd crossing. Good for him.

The finish had been moved inside the store at the start/finish line, once again making the point that finishing is more the point than the Finish. I checked in at 5:36 more than happy. Now the tough part. I warmed up the car and changed into dry clothes. Becasue of the snow, the drive back to Tulsa took about 7 hours instead of 4 and a half. I was just glad to get back home and not spend the night in a ditch some where. Not that I've been known to sleep in a ditch or anything...

2006-01-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

Athens to Big Fork 2006

As you can see to the left, we both survived. So here we are at the finish, in front of the Big Fork Community Center. This was the 4th time I've run A2BF and the 3rd for Tim. So far we've had exceptional weather each year. Temps were in the mid 30's at the start of the race, probably in the upper 60's when we finished.

Athens to Big Fork is a trail marathon that starts in the community of Big Fork, gets near Athens and then returns to Big Fork. The first 2.4 miles are pavement and dirt road and there is another .4 miles of dirt road to get to the turn around but beyond that the rest is rocks....err trail. The race is put on by Arkansas Ultrarunners Assn. www.runarkansas.com Here's Tim loafing on a relatively non-rocky section of trail.

The race is billed by the AURA as the toughest marathon east of the Rockies. Not sure of that but it boasts as much ascendinga and descending as Pikes Peak Marathon, but at a lower elevation. I'll also say I've run PPM faster that A2BF. The trail is located in the Ouachita National Forest. Here's their description of the trail. Rather than running east to west along creek beds like other trails on the Caddo Ranger District, this trail runs north to south across the mountains. Crossing eight mountains, the trail is considered extremely strenuous. Trail features include spectacular views of the Ouachita Mountains from such high points as Eagle Rock Vista, Brushheap Mountain, and Hurricane Knob. A mystical cave, located 35 feet below the trail on the south side of Brushy Mountain and a geologic outcropping, located 150 feet south of the highest point on Brushy Mountain, add to the hiker's experience. There are maybe 5 creek crossings each way, with Blaylock Creek was a shin deep wade last year. This year not so bad.

We drove down with Mike Joffe who, having done the fun run (17 miles!) knew better and just did some hiking. We stayed in Mena Friday night and drove to Big Fork in the morning. One of the cool things about the race is it's free. The race director asks only that you make at least a 5$ donation to the Big Fork Community Center. The usually have coffe, snacks and a nice fire in the wood stove before the race start. I just wish for once they'd spring for a 4 pack of Charmin before all the runners get there. The pre-race meeting is filled with a fair bit of hellfire and brimstone about not getting lost and how tough the run is. All of which we believe. The trail is well marked, but there are a few intersections where you have the opportunity to turn the marathon into a 50 miler pretty quickly. So, pre-race meeting over, we grab our packs and get to the start just as the gun goes off. Joffe drives ahead to the trailhead while we take it pretty easy on the roads. The parking lot for the trail head is the last piece of level ground we see for quite a while. The trail immediately heads up. Straight up. The first few hills aren't super steep, but they are steep enough to make walking a very good option. There were a few flat sections between hills. Here's Tim on a flat, smooth part of the trail. He's smiling so it must be on the way out.

The 5th hill descending down to Blaylock Creek is pretty bad and the last 3 hills towards the turn around are the steepest. By hill 8 both Tim & I were experiencing 'quad quakes' on the downhill. Tim had set a firey pace on the way out (we'd eaten at Papa Poblanos in Mena before the race) and we hit the turnaround at 2:50. Last year, Tim's downfall was the potato soup at the turn around aid station. Not only did he eat a bunch of it he had to get the recipe! With no soup to slow us down we refuled on normal aid station food and started back. Knowing that we had to retrace our steps, we were both aware that the wheels could come off at any time. Heading back towards Blaylock Creek and the next aid station, I would gain time on Tim on the uphills and he'd catch me on the down hills. The climb up Blaylock Creek is below. It's steeper than it looks and seemed like it went on forever.

Here's Tim getting ready to round one of the few switchbacks on the trail. How he did it with his eyes closed I'll never know.

After Blaylock creek, I began to pull away from Tim and I realized I might have a chance at breaking 6 hours. Now you might think that's slow, but hey, the course record is 4:34! I pressed onward and managed to get back to the trailhead at 5:30, with only a little over 2 miles to go. Of course it still wasn't in the bag. If you've ever jumped on a trampoline for a while and then tried jumping up and down on the ground, you have an idea how my legs felt. That has to be the hardest dirt road known to man. What was an easy jog on the way out was now a serious shuffle walk to the finish. I managed to beat 6 hrs by a few minutes and Tim was just a bit over 6 hrs. Besides being 'free' the race is also a time yourself race. You just write your name and time on a sheet of paper and that's it. Defenitely low key. No blisters or broken bones but I think I might have lost a toe nail or two. I can never get my shoes tight enough for all that downhill. Mike had done a bit of hiking and met us back at Big Fork. I don't know what it is about that race, be we sure enjoy it. It takes a lot of commitment (or stupidity) to put on a race for nothing out in the middle of the woods for just a handful folks. Hats off to every who helps with A2BF. We'll be back the first weekend of 2007 and this year we're going to train!

Results at http://www.runarkansas.com/ABF2006.htm

2006-01-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

Trial running miscellany. A long drought of no posts followed by a veritable grass fire information? Not likely but I'll try to do better. So, apparently in December 2 dudes ran the 223 mile Ouachita Trail in 76hrs, 33 mins, which is somewhere around 20:33 per mile. plus or minus. What'r ya gonna say to that? Our Grand Canyon trip, while defenitely not a run, was several minutes per mile slower than that and only 20% of that distance.

OK, now for some info on the upcoming A to BF trail marathon. Total climbing for the whole run - right at 9000 ft. Since it's out and back, the descending must be the same, no? Looks like it's going to be a good weekend for the run, highs in the 60's. Actually could be colder. Hope to have a few pics from the run since Tim & I aren't what you'd call serious about it except for the part about no dying out in the woods.

2005-11-10T19:17:00.000-08:00

Long Run Home...sheesh. Dropped the Honda off at Lazar's downtown for a clutch problem. Instead of hauling a bike down to ride home, I opted to run....Seemed like a good idea at the time. Tim mentioned Julie ran home from work earlier in the year and I figured it couldn't be too long. It turned out not to be that bad, around 12 miles of pretty standard running. Ran from downtown to midland valley trail before it got completely dark. I like being downtown in the dark, it seems different than the day time. The MVT trail joins riverside trail and I ran down that to 56th. I followed an INCOG surface bike route on 56th until I hit Harvard and then I followed a fleet feet training run loop over to the St. Francis complex and ran through there until I hit 71st. From there it was a sneak behind Reasors and the final stretch. I need more long runs if I'm going to do any long trail runs in the spring. The necessity of running home means no quitting or turning back early. We'll see if it happens again. We'll also see if I wake up in time to ride to work in the AM to pick up said honda.....

2005-11-09T19:21:00.000-08:00

Well, went climbing this past weekend with a few other fools, Jay, Tim and Mr. Davis. Back to the Wichitas. A true hidden gem in SW Oklahoma, unlike anyplace else in the state. The leaves were chaning and the weather was beautiful. Instead of heading back to Mt. Scott for some toproping, we did some bigger stuff - Elk Slabs on Saturday and the narrows on Sunday. We did the dihedral - a 1 pitch route and then put together an epic 4 pitch route starting with the tree route and heading up and over the summit of Elk Mtn. One of the best days of climbing I've had in many years. The wichitas are unique in that the state is pretty much flat out there except for the ancient granite domes. As we climbed higher up towards the summit, there was little blocking our view in any direction. It was awesome. The top couple of pitches were basically scrambling, but to fall meant rolling a very long ways with serious road rash, so we roped up on the steep bits. We walked over the top and got back to the truck just as the rangers were closing the parking lot at dusk. A quick shower and we were off to meers for a world famous meers burger - a longhorn burger roughly the size of a pie. Anyway, a fabuolous day of messing around. Sunday we headed into the narrows, another climbing area I've not been to for many, many years. The leaves, the late fall sun, the general vibe of the day, whatever - another awesome day. We started with a climb out of the way to avoid other parties and ended up with a 1 pitch climb that capped the weekend. The climb was easy and by normal standards would be a grunt. However, I've not climbed regularly in many years and it was a perfect re-introduction to what I've been missing. The climb was up a blocky, overhanging dihedral, then into some open terrain finishing in a slight chimney. While not steep, the feeling was one of great exposure. All the moves were there, as was protection, but it wasnt' always obvious. One or two stiff moves led to easier ground before the next hard bit. I've never been a strong leader at my limit, but the climbs we did this weekend were within reason even though I've not been climbing in a long time. Chuck sat the last one out but Tim & Jay also thought it was the best climb of the weekend. It pushed us and also provided the feeling of accomplishment that makes climbing so great.

The weekend was bittersweet. Everything I loved about the weekend reminded me of why Valerie and I used to climb and why we enjoyed it so much. It brings back some great, sad memories. Still, I can't wait to go again.

2005-11-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

Time Change, Running and Commuting

Well, the time has changed and it's now getting dark about 5:30. Ran this week up at turkey, pushing twilight about as far as I could before busting out the headlamp. No night riders out, which was unusual. Beautiful view of Tulsa from the spider and the ho chi mihn. Need to bring the camer up & see if I can get a couple of pics. Only tripped a couple of times... Got me excited to do what Jay calls club runs. Basically an time trial on say the yellow loop or something like that. An informal trail race with no marking, just go run, come back & write your time down. Not in the dark tho.

Commuted to work today for the first time in about a year. If I can just get out of bed it's fine, but I hate waking up early. Headset still needs fixing, but I aired up the tires on the old surly and off we went. Yee Haw. If I don't start riding on the weekends other than 'cross racing this may be my only bike training.

2005-10-31T06:07:00.000-08:00

Well That's about as good of a weekend as you're gonna get in Tulsa. Tulsa Run on Sat., Fleet Feet post run party on Sat. night, then some cyclocross racin' on Sunday. All with beautiful weather etc....nice.

We had some great CX racing on Sunday, biggest womens field we've had and the 'A' race was pretty competitive. Had tons of help with setting up and taking down the course. Thanks to everyone who helped out.

2005-10-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

The secret thoughts of the rolling fools halfway through rim to rim to rim in August. Go to www.rollingfools.com for the full scoop.

2005-10-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

Well, we (Tim, Jay, Brent and myself) more or less laid out the cx course for Sunday this evening. Its similiar to the past couple of years but maybe just a bit shorter; around 1 mile or so. We added some sharp corners and what I think will be a long run up and a kinda neat woods section. I guess I'd like to say that this course suits me, but it really suits the cx racer I'd like to be. The course should suit the rider who can handle technical bits and then accelerate like hell on the fast parts. I can't do this - I'm the one speed guy. Anyway no sand, but it's been so dry that there is some dusty sections that feel a bit sandy. Three sections of barricades, a couple on hills and pretty fast grass & lots of gravel road. Should be good. Hopefully some folks will actually show up and race the dumb thing.

On another note, I've signed up for the Tulsa Run or I think I have. Did it online and have yet to get a confirmation email. If I don't get in, oh well. If I do, Sunday will be tough.

2005-10-24T19:05:00.000-07:00

Oct 23rd 'cross race. Well, fall still isn't here, but Sunday showed a taste of what is to come. The OKC 'cross race featured overcast skies and howling winds from the north that were creating whitecaps on Lake Hefner. The venue was new for the OKC races - Kids Park. There were ducks but few kids. There were a few that did the kids 'cross race. Very cool. The park had more elevation change than the old venue but seems to have less acerage. It has - what I'm sure will be a 'love to hate' section a 1/2 mile out 1/2 mile back keyhole section that is due north/south. Today the wind was howling out of the north so it was awful on the way out, fast on the way back. The rest of the course had some tricky up and down bits and 2 run ups with barricades. The course went around a couple of ponds and a delapitated hiking path with some gravel. Rance (the OKC promoter) said he only used 2 sets of barricades because the couse was so long. The open race leaders were turning 8 min. laps. I bet there will be more barricades for later races.

I decided to race both races (35plus and the A race) and then try to decide which race to focus on. Even though I die in the 2nd race, it's still fun to do both, as dumb as it is. So the 35plus race started 30 seconds before the 4/5 race. The race started off dead into the headwind and we really seemed to dawdle on the way out. I was surprised that the 4/5 guys never caught us. Oh well. There were just 4 of us: Randall Clayborn, Gill Summy, Steve Schlegel and myself. I think Steve was saving himself for the A race and Randall dnf'd I think since he was the only 45plus guy. Gill and I raced head to head a couple of years ago and while I could gap him on the technical bits, he could pretty well hammer me on the flat sections. I sat on him on the windy parts and tried my best to gap him on the barricades, making him chase. After a couple of attacks it was clear I wasn't going to shake him. Randall and Steve dropped off a bit. I was only able to beat Gill because the headwind kept him from getting a good head of steam. A long paved stretch would probably had done me in. Steve got even with me in the 2nd race.

So we had to wait a few minutes so that Will Gault could swap his seatpost out from his wife racing the womens race. They swapped kid watching duties as well. That's pretty cool they both were able to race. Seemed like there were 10-15 guys in the A race. The section in the headwind was slow. We'd ridden across an illegal pipe sucking water out of the pond to irrigate a yard for the first race and now it was leaking water, making a bit of mud. As we neared the turn around, the pace picked up and as soon as we headed south, the race was really on. The run back south featured 3 sections up and down about a 30 degree slope towards a pond. On the second up, several guys went down, carrying too much speed into the turn. This pretty much made the race. Will G. and another Wheelman were off the front and pretty much untouchable. I ended up around 5th after the 1st lap and faded from there. Another Tulsan Sammy Davidson rode quite well to 3rd or 4th. With about 2 laps to go, Steve S. and Brent Wilson caught me. Steve hammered past and I couldn't go with him. I wanted to help Brent but I was done. With 1 to go, Steve had a lead that was more than Brent could make up. Brent did awesome for just coming off an injury and his first A race, with a 6th place. Steve was pretty awesome, strong in both races.

There were several heavy hitters absent from the A race this year, Ray Hall, Jake Lasley, Josh Lewis, Steve Reagan and Brian Duvall. Nothing against the racers that showed up on Sunday (or taking anything away from the winner) but we need as many folks to race as possible. I thought last year's series probably had the highest quality of racers we'd seen at the series. I thought Rance and the OKC guys did a fine job and even with the headwind, the course was pretty fun. The next race in the series is in Tulsa and since I really suffered with so much riding, I'm going to do what I can to make people run. Chandler is a great venue if a bit rough. I'm hoping to avoid the rough and keep the fast pavement and gravel.

2005-10-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

Above is a couple of shots of the new beginner trail we cut today. The top shot is on the trail just past the trailhead. I forgot I had my camera when riding with Pete so I rode back and shot a couple of pics. Nice rocks behind my bike. The trail climbs a lot but at a gentle grade w/o a lot of rocks. Below Are l to r John, Ron, Pete and Randall standing on our short bench cut across a right of way.

I have a lot of hope for Osage. Think of keystone lite (not the beer). There's probably room for 7 or so miles in this little parcel, but I think there are an additional 5 miles or so of hiking trails that are open to bikes, but some are pretty rough. The terrain is hilly, but not as steep. There are a lot of good climbs that are ridable. Lots of potential. It'll take time but there are 4 or so miles of very ridable trail out there now. They just need traffic.

Today was beautiful. Couldn't get myself to drive down 75, took county roads south hwy 123 and then down 11 to sperry back to Tulsa.