Doncha wanna taste da glory?

Happy Birthday to me! Celebrating "Nacho Libre" style. Muchas gracias Scott para la mascara!

primavera ocupada

Busy, busy, busy. This time of year keeps me scrambling. We are now down to 2 weeks left in the track season and 3 until school is out. I have been managing to get in descent mileage and the foothills are now opening up so I am getting my Cascadias dusty for the first time since Syllamo. What I have been lacking is time to put in a nice long run. That will change soon. I am looking forward to getting some serious trail time in over memorial day. In Provo this weekend I was able to meet up with my buddy George Barnhill (co-creator of el vaquero loco) and get in some night-running on the trails at the foot of Mt. Timpanogos. Unfortunately since he left Star Valley, we are only able to get together once a year. The temperature was great and it was fun to see the lights above "Happy Valley." We managed to stir up a herd of elk and I took a full-on body-slam digger when my feet got stuck beneath a root in the trail. I barely managed to get my hands out but also managed to dribble my chin off the trail. By the time I got back to my motel it looked pretty heinous, but after a good scrubbing and some serious gravel removal it now looks like a serious case of razor burn. Just another example of how quickly we can be humbled.

In a few weeks I will post the names of the paid entries for this years race and maybe even some photos from the snow-buried course.

New Vaquero Loco Logo (say that fast three times...)

Check out the logo for this year's hoodies! Special thanks to Braden (who now knows what a cowboy boot looks like) and Corena Ricks for their creative efforts. Get signed up to reserve your sweatshirt today!

Just like riding a bike...

Despite the long, snowy spring, Eric Taft, 2007 Bear 100 finisher, gets his "downhill on" at the north end of the Bench Trail, near the Snake River, ID.

Bench Trail Run

I've done more than my share of whining about all the snow we have received this year, that aside, this is probably a more typical winter and spring for this neck of the woods. Unable to finance a spring break trip to more hospitable and "dirty" area, Eric and I got together to scope out some not so local trails to explore. We discussed driving as far as Idaho Falls to find some dirt to run on. Our recent trips back East only whetted our appetites for some single track. We finally decided to try out the Bench Trail outside Swan Valley, Idaho. Eric noted that this trail along the Snake River was always the first to open up due to its relatively low altitude and southern exposure. I picked Eric up about 9 a.m., Kim, Eric's wife had already put in a couple of hours of running (she is training for the Bighorn 50 and the Leadville 100-her first-Go Kim!) It was another 40 minutes to the trailhead. As we approached it we were beginning to get nervous. The snowbanks were still way taller than my truck-and we became really nervous when suddenly the road ended- 1.5 to 2 miles from the trailhead. The warm days and cold nights made for some nice crusty snow so we geared up and headed for the river. We were able to make good time and were rewarded with a nice downhill snowmachine trails before we hit dirt. The trail alternated between snow, slush, mud, and a bit of dirt and rocks for the next 4 hours. The sun was strong and the views magnificent. We made plans to get back to the Bench trail within a few weeks when hopefully it is all bare and ready to to quench our long dirtless winter thirst.

ONLINE REGISTRATION NOW AVAILABLE!

For the technologically advanced and stamp-haters, online registration now available through active.com

More Vaquero Photos

Thanks to Sean Cuniff-our sole competitor from New Mexico. Here are some photos from last years race. I keep looking at them to remind myself that someday all this snow will melt!