GALBRAITH MOUNTAIN TOWERS '09

Bake and I commenced a joint MLK-Inauguration Day celebration by mountain biking to the top of Galbraith Mountain for the first time together in '09. Weather, for about the fifth day in a row now, was just about perfect--not a cloud in the sky for seemingly hundreds of miles. Contrast this with below posts detailing the month of shite weather we not so much enjoyed as endured. Bake was, as per usual, awesomely strong. (Is awesomely a word? If so, should it be?) And on the way down--Wonderland (still too much snow to ride), Mullet, Cheech and Chong, Meth Lab--picked all the best lines making my tentative, old-man descent a breeze.

Above, Baker and Baker. Below, Baker and what's-his-face. Below that, Baker and the last, evil stretch to the Towers. Man, that's steep!

Because no one has been clamoring to know, here are my tentative race-type plans for the first part of '09. At the end of March, John Clark and I are road-tripping down to Northern California for the Boggs IV 8-Hour Endurance Mountain Bike Race. (www.bikemonkey.net/?page_id=57) I actually don't know a whole lot about it, 'cept that it's eight hours long. The other thing I know is that I've never done a mountain bike race before so there's that. I'm also doing the Test of Metal mountain bike race in Squamish on June 20 (www.testofmetal.com/) and in between those two, I'll probably do the Mount Constitution Hill Climb on Orcas Island (www.islandathleticevents.com/). They've moved the date of this last one to May 17 so that it no longer conflicts with Ski to Sea, also known as Bellingham's World Championships. (Or much ado about nothing, one of the two.)

For inspiration, interest's sake, and fun, I'm also working with a coach, Daryl Smith, who coaches triathlon stud Damian Hill and MTBer Brett Bauer. Three months ago, Bauer successfully completed the La Ruta mountain bike stage race, often referred to as the toughest race in the world. (He coaches ultra-cool Glenn Gervais too, who's training for Ironman Coeur D'Alene.) Daryl's a great guy; here's his website: www.advantagemultisport.com

Also, I'm registered for Ironman Canada at the end of August but hmm, I'm not sure about that one. I've been having so much fun riding this 29er, I just can't see myself putting in the required pool time. But I've still got a while to decide.