Red Rocks Canyon

Well i got into vegas late last night ( around midnight ) grabbed my rental car and headed to my shady hostel a few miles north of the strip. surprisingly enough my rental car costs more than my hostel room, and i think it would probably be safer to sleep in too. so the bike gets to sleep in the car and i'll brave the hostel. anyway the first night was actually fine so i'll probably stay here (instead of switching to a legitimate hotel') til the R4WH crew shows up on saturday. i've got a couple of days here to kill, so today i rode the Red Rocks Canyon loop, a great little climb to the west of the city. Last year everybody had a blast doing this section after we had to cut the middle section short (due to lack-of-bridge,) I was on support that day, so i made up for missing it by riding it three times today!

Here's a google earth view



And here are a couple of pics from the today's ride






and heres a quick panoramic video while riding....


Tomorrow i'll probably meet up with the guys from the Southern Nevada Tri club and do their thursday morning ride. Friday I think i'll hit up the Grand Canyon and check out the Kaibab and Bright Angel trail.

12 days left til vegas

i head out west on april 9th, and i'll get a few days to hang in las vegas before the crew arrives on the 12th. i figure i'll probably rent a car and check out the grand canyon for a day, and also head up to red rock canyon and do a ride up there. everybody raved about that loop last year, i distinctly remember stories of mark bombing the downhills at 50mph racing trucks or something....probably with no shirt on...

training wise, i actually haven't got a lot of riding in at all. looking back at last year i really didn't ride much before i hit san diego either.....last year at this point i had only gotten 15 rides in since jan 1, and as it turns out i've done the same amount this year. i have got 33 runs in and 19 days of XC skiing, so hopefully that fitness will carry over.

i just finished up my radiology block so i'll have the next week off and will get some definite saddle time in (if this rain lets up!)
heres a screenshot of my garmin/sporttracks file the ride i did up wachusett mtn this week (more of just a test to see how the these pics post)

More Pics

Since i have about 10gb's of pics from the ride (everbody's combined) i'll just throw up a couple more.




well, i can't seem to upload any more pics at this time so i'll call it a night. i hope all the former R4WH peeps from last year are doing great!

back in the saddle again

As i get ready for the third incarnation of the Ride for World Health (my second time around, albeit a shorter version this time) i've decided to start up a blog. Mainly so all my former R4WH's can live vicariously through me, but also to keep Chrissy-Poo writhing in jealousy. So i guess i'll start it off with a couple of my favorite pics from last year!

Ummm......Powerbars.......




Mark as usual....



100 degrees and Hari's in tights


sash, hari and i getting some del taco lovin'


Vegas montage....

Vegas is where i'm meeting up with this year's crew, on April 12th. Blogging is harder work than it looks....i'm going to bed, more pics tomorrow.