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  • Jan 22, 2025

    Estes or Bust Challenge Rules, Awards and a Dog Making the Trip

     Carl Cachi and Layla making the trip to Estes and back. Above, Dave McClure making a flat repair while Bil Danielson looks on.   The last blog covered how the Estes or Bust Challenge got started. Once started, people began to ask questions about details of what qualified to count as an official month completed. The unofficial/official Estes Challenge Rules Committee decided on the following rules: Rules to achieve the world-famous Turd Trophy Award  Ride to Estes Park once per month for 12 consecutive months.   The starting point can be from anywhere in Loveland, Ft. Collins, Windsor, Berthoud or Greeley and...

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  • Jan 04, 2025

    The Estes Park Challenge Enters Year 20

      Photo: Scott Ellis, Todd Singiser and Gale Bernhardt. January 28th, 2007. The roads were considered “good enough” to ride road bikes on this ride. Other rides required mountain bikes. The birth of the Estes Park Challenge was January of 2005. I had just returned from a period of international business travel and really wanted to do a bike ride. The problem was, it was 16 degrees Fahrenheit, we were on the backside of a big snowstorm, and the roads weren't good for cycling on a road bike – they were snow packed and icy. On the upside, it was...

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  • Oct 17, 2024

    Keeping Endurance Training During Alpine Ski Season

    In North America, it’s nearly time for the ski resorts to open, yay! In the last blog I wrote about the benefits of alpine skiing for endurance athletes. You can find that column here. Throughout the years I have coached several endurance athletes (cyclists and triathletes) that are alpine skiers. I work with them to maintain some endurance fitness, while enjoying the wonderful snow sport of alpine skiing. A great question that I get from followers is how to structure endurance sport workouts during the ski season for these athletes. Before breaking the skiers into three categories, let’s outline guidelines...

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  • Sep 05, 2024

    8 Benefits of Alpine Skiing for Endurance Athletes

    It is that time of year when endurance racing is winding down and the first dusting of snow is hitting the high country in Colorado. Some endurance athletes avoid alpine skiing (I used to be one of those people), while others use the sport to complement their endurance endeavors. I am now someone that uses the sport to complement my endurance sports. Additionally, I have coached many endurance athletes that are also alpine skiers. Alpine skiing provides benefits to triathletes, mountain bikers and cyclists. Here are some of those benefits: A physical and mental break from primary sport(s) It is...

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  • Mar 10, 2024

    Aliens, Spaceships and Indian Motorcycles - revisit

    This post is a revisit of a blog I did for the Active Network website. Today on the  group ride, we went to visit the spaceship and sadly it is gone. I was then motivated to go dig up the following post from 2007.  ________________________________________________________________ I must admit that I planned to see aliens and spaceships on the group ride today. My first encounter with the spaceship was in 2000 or 2001 and I’m a believer. Yes, a spaceship landing pad exists just outside my hometown of Loveland, Colorado. Hard to believe, I know. Steve Douglas, one of my riding...

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  • Oct 22, 2023

    The Para-Shirt: It’s for Real

      Ah yes, the Para-Shirt, it’s a classic. In the quest for more speed athletes often look to make workouts harder with more drag. In this 1987 product review column, the Para-Shirt is reviewed and priced nicely at $26.95.   What are you using right now, for training and racing, that people will laugh at in 20 years?

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  • Oct 24, 2022

    Top 8 Insights from a Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) Device

    I’ve been curious about continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices for a few years. People normally associate these devices with diabetics, but awhile back there were indications that they would become available for non-diabetics. It did occur, CGM devices are now available to non-diabetics. A great question is why should you care about monitoring your glucose if you’re not diabetic? There are several reasons you might be interested in monitoring glucose: Continuously high glucose is associated with several diseases. Understanding which foods or combination of foods drives your glucose high can help you adjust your eating habits. To gain insight into...

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  • Aug 05, 2022

    When Should I Begin Exercise and Racing after COVID?

    With the recent spike in COVID infections, I’ve had several people reach out and ask my opinion on when it is safe to return to exercise after having a COVID infection. I will include some guidelines in the blog, but first I need to include two disclaimers: I am not a doctor or medical professional, and you need to seek the advice of your personal medical team. The guidelines presented in the blog are gathered from helping my personally coached athletes, friends, medical professional opinions (from those I know), online research, my family and me (I recently recovered from COVID-19.)...

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  • Jul 28, 2022

    Chronic Fatigue in Athletes

      A few years back I wrote a two-part column on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Athletes. Part I is here and Part II is here. The links to more information about each individual athlete are no longer working at the Active Network, so I am reposting all stories here. Cyclist H.A. The similarities between H.A. and R.C. include going to college in a tough study program and also being a very gifted cyclist. She was producing top-shelf results and was invited to be a resident at the Olympic Training Center (OTC). While at the OTC, she got pneumonia. Unfortunately, she was misdiagnosed and continued...

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  • Jun 01, 2022

    Does my high cholesterol mean I need to take a statin?

      My recent routine visit to the doctor’s office raised the question, again, “Does my high cholesterol mean I need to take a statin?” ** My first disclaimer is that my research relates to me. I will provide you with an incomplete list of my  research links and background information. You may find other links more helpful and that’s great. ** Just a few weeks ago I was able to get in to see a Physician’s Assistant (PA) in my doctor’s office for a routine visit. I took the opportunity to do that rather than wait for the doctor. The...

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