The Svein Scale

In one of my earlier posts this week, I provided a link to a NY Times article on Garmin Slipstream pro cyclist Svein Tuft. It talked about the burly Canadian and his fitness adventures leading into his life as one of the premier cyclists in North America and the World. The article was one of the more inspiring stories I've heard in some time and I while out on run earlier this week, it had me thinking about some of the adventures, or misadventures, I've had so far. In no way does it stack up on the same scale as Svein's pursuits, but nonetheless I wanted to write these down.

The summer after my senior year of college, a cross country teammate and I rode our bikes from the Canadian border lining Glacier National Park in Montana down to Juarez, Mexico. We rode beefy mountain bikes (mine a neon Gary Fisher purchased on Ebay) and towed Trail Bob bike trailers loaded with 80-pounds of supplies including food, tent, clothes, water purifier, and even a trail map. Our route followed the Continental Divide and all in all took 40 days to reach El Paso, TX and Juarez. My companion's parents met us in El Paso and provided a ride back to the Midwest. Perhaps overwhelmed with everything I had seen during these 40 days on the road, I asked them to drop me off in Joplin, Missouri and over the next two days road my bike into southwestern Iowa, finally ending in my hometown Decorah, Iowa. This was the trip that made me realize I still had a strong competitive drive and gave me the confidence to begin training for triathlon and my first Ironman race.

The next year I moved to a suburb of Brussels, Belgium and while there met another American who turned out to be a very strong cyclist. Mike worked for Guidant in their International office in Brussels and had been there for two years. He invited me to ride with a local Belgian team and told me I HAD to race the Tour of Flanders citizen race (this takes place on the same course as the famous Classic race only one day before the pro race). I took his advice and rode the longest 287-kilometer route (they also offer a 150-km and 75-km choice) which features old jagged cobblestones, including over 20 short and steep cobblestone climbs! My hands and feet were raw and worn after this day of adventure and at one point I had to hand over a few precious Euros for a calorie dense Belgian chocolate pastry to jolt me out of a near BONK.

Biking up on the Peak to Peak Highway with Fred Dreier in a blizzard, taking refuge in our then-boss's house in Nederland to warm our hands and feet, only to have to leave again and descend down Canyon in the same blizzard with Eldora ski traffic bunched up behind us.

In October and November after moving to Boulder, my housemate Brett Cody and I attempted Longs Peak but were unable to complete the trek as snow drifts had covered up the marked trail signs and we found ourselves free climbing up a route we thought would lead us to the summit. We made the wise decision to turn around and try it another day. For me, the next attempt was the next day. Having researched the route after our unsuccessful attempt from the day before, I returned to the trail head at 5am and power hiked up to the Keyhole and up the Trough to the Narrows. At this point, there was so much snow on the mountain in the final 100-meters up to the summit that I used my gloves to punch hand holds in the soft snow and kicked my hiking shoes into the snow as foot holds. Luckily at the top were two others who had ascended the same section up to the summit with climbing equipment and I asked them if they would mind if I follow their path back down. I used their hand and foot holds to complete this tricky section and once I got back to the Trough I was able to slide down on my snow pants using a stick for steering and slowing down. Cody and I hiked Pikes and Elbert that same month.

The next fall in 2005 while training for IM Hawaii, I took a page out of former pro triathlete, and current multisport coach, and a wild haired adventurer who has hiked the Pacific Crest Trail among his feats, and put in a 14-hour training day consisting of a road bike ride from Boulder to Longs Peak trail head, stashed the bike in the woods, power hike (run when possible) up the mountain, and make the return trip hopefully in one piece. I held my wits together until the final hour of the bike ride back home when I mistakenly called Velo News tech editor Leonnard Zinn (who had loaned me his bike lights for the adventure -- rode up Lefthand Canyon to Ward at 3AM) and asked him if he left a key to the house under the log in front of our house. I thought I was talking to my roommate who I should have known was at work. I made it home but did end up falling asleep in the middle of a BBQ party early that evening. This was a key training day that prepped me for my best finish to date in Kona, 9:19:59 (Emily would tell you my time was 9:20).

The Norwegian version of the popular Ironman distance in triathlon is called the Xtreme Norseman (www.nxtri.com). This is a point to point race featuring a swim in the bottomless and frigid 51-degree Hardangarfjord, a 112-mile bike climbing over 7,000-feet, and another 6,000-feet on the marathon, most of which is on a 9-mile mountain road with 10% average gradient. I don't mind the cold water too much but the air temperature was also cold and I regret not taking the time to pull on knee warmers. Emily, who really is the toughest woman I know, ended up winning the woman's race by three or four hours. I ended up bonking on the hike up the mountain but was coaxed to the finish line by Emily after she caught up with me. In the picture, she is still running while I have been walking for most of the last 9 miles.

We seem to have a knack for racing over challenging courses as we've since raced at Ironman Lanzarote, World's Toughest Half in Auburn and Superfrog Half in San Diego. Last year I completed a few doubles including; 26-mile Mt. Evan's Hill Climb with 8,000-feet elevation gain on Saturday followed with the Boulder Peak Triathlon the next day, and Ironman Canada with a three-man relay team at 24 Hours of Triathlon the following weekend. In just over a month will be heading back to Superfrog again.

These adventures are nearly 100% self-inflicted, but I can say I draw considerable inspiration from human endurance pursuits from adventurers like the late Goran Kropp. Let's hope there are more opportunities in the near future for more sporting adventures with an mandatory rule of always making a round trip out of the affair.