Tag Archives: Cycling

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Dogs Like Me- I taste like chicken!!!

220px-Rj_boxer220px-European_Dobermann Now before I begin this rant,I will make all of my disclaimers on man’s best friend. People love their dogs, there are a lot of loving dogs, there certainly are loyal dogs especially when you look at law enforcement and see the love between master and best friend. My experience with the visually impaired has taught me the value of guide dogs. Dogs are great…………for most people…….except people like me. Don’t get mad at me. Don’t berate me. It is just that dogs in general do not like me. I thought they did until I began to realize that they really didn’t and could sense my fear and trepidation. Now you ask,” Pat- you are the outdoors guy?” “How can you not have a dog out in the woods with you while you ride, hike or snowshoe?” Seems likely that I would have a dog -right? Well let me tell you why I do not have one and it is not anything against dogs or dog owners. Ok Dave?
Years ago, I used to sneak through my neighbor’s back yard waiting to hear the panting, hot breath of Buster the boxer as I came in from the old neighborhood. If I could get the jump on him, I could stay ahead of him until I yelled for my mom at the top of my lungs,” Mom!!!!!- Open the door!!!!” My mom would open the screen door and I would dive into the kitchen and Buster would bang his head on the screen and bark until my mom told him to get lost. This was a ritual every day and the neighbors would understand but didn’t pay too much mind to control Buster until the day that a car controlled him out in front of our house on Siebert Road. Too bad for Buster but a sense of relief for the rattled kid.

Fast forward to my road riding days. I had two routes that had canine adversaries on the way. One was a rather large St. Bernard on the road to Brush Creek Park. It was a farm dog and for some strange reason, it liked to rush into the street and chase bicycle riders. It would not bite but delighted in trying to bump you off of your bike with it’s bulbous, monstrous head. This was un-nerving because a crash on a road bike is not fun especially when you are knocked sideways by a beast of a dog who was bred to rescue people? On another route, the Freedom Road route there was a very savage Doberman Pinscher. This canine predator was also a farm dog and was pretty intelligent as well as vicious. This is where I thought I tasted like chicken because he always went for my legs. The tactic for me and also told to my friends, was to charge the downhill before the farm and get a good start up the hill because the Doberman would try to head you off at the pass. I can remember time after time racing down the hill, looking for him to my left, seeing him, sprinting up a rather steep hill to try to outrun the animal. Every time it seemed he tried to cut us off higher and higher as he was getting the idea that we slowed down at the top of the hill. I had a few close encounters with him as I barely escaped his open jaws and menacing teeth. Another menacing Rottweiler always came charging at us out of a graveyard up near Mars,Pa. I often thought it was Satan coming to get us as I checked my head for the number “666.” Always got the jump on us out of the tombstones. Very eerie.

A few years ago, I was running on the local golf course when a Rottweiler came charging after me as I saw his owner in the distance. They had been walking on the course and when the dog saw me he bolted in a dead run towards the 58 year old kid. He jumped up on me as his owner was yelling. I was startled and kept saying,” Now nice dog. Lets go to your dimwitted owner and see if he can get you off of me?” He kept jumping up and barking until I got within 5 feet of his owner and then he turned and bit me on the arm. Fortunately it was winter and even though he broke skin on my arm, he had to bite through some clothing. The owner wrestled him down and when I asked about his tags, he said they are all up to date. He gave me a very muffled “Sorry man” and then took off with his beast into the distance. My wife was appalled that I didn’t get his name but I figured I was ok and proceeded to treat my wounds with peroxide and hit the shower.

When I go to a party, it is amazing how the dogs of the house sniff my crotch. WTH? Why is it always me when there are perhaps 20-50 people at a party? My wife says the dogs can sense fear and they sure can sense it in me. I go mountain biking with my friends and when we come up on some hikers walking their dogs, they always go after me. My friends all get a kick out of it and they feel safe because they know they can ride on because the dog will always go for Pat. See, I must taste like chicken. So when my wife says that we should have had a dog for my son Jack, I always state that it was a pre-nuptual agreement not to have a dog. I know that boys like dogs but I am sure that I would have been the one feeding the dog, walking the dog, and picking up the discarded cigars after the dog. Yes, my wife would have done it, my son would have done it for a while, but I would have had my fair share of droppings retrieval and walking a beast who probably would have growled at me daily in my own house.

So if you see me some time and I sheepishly reach out to pet your dog and say the obligatory,” Hi there- nice doggie, hahahahahahah.” You will know that I am nervous as hell and that maybe you should pity me and keep your dog in the garage or something. Sorry all you Facebook dog people. Nothing against dogs. They are great for most people. But when you taste good to them, you are living a life with one eye open all the time. Thanks for understanding and thanks for reading as always. “Hey mom-open the doooooooooooor” Boom!!!!!

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The Gentile Moab, Utah

Slideshow_img08slickrock_e-700x466 Moab,Utah has traditionally been the Mecca of mountain biking over the last 20 years. From it’s resurgence as a uranium boom town that went bust, the outdoor sports world has embraced the region and contributed greatly to its current economical success as a tourist destination town. Now some pundits would say that Moab is now cliche’ and that the hard core mountain bike community has moved on to the North Shore of British Columbia, Fruita, Colorado, Sedona, Arizona and other “rad” places. But Moab remains constant in that it continually services the mountain bike community year after year with reliable weather, great trails, and excellent lodging, eating and drinking establishments. So, at the risk of being “cliche'”, I will tell you about my experience in the town of Moab and its surrounding desert trails.

Several years ago, I was in Salt Lake for a week and I got a hall pass from the bride to go to Moab for the weekend before my week in SLC. I get the rental car and pack my bike and my duds, and head out of Salt Lake for the 3+1/2 hour drive. When you go west, as many of you know, it is BIG COUNTRY! I respect the mountains out there because I have skied them many times. But this was the first time I had ventured into the desert and I was amazed that I was looking at the same mesa to my left for what seemed like 3 hours. My first stop was to check out Arches National Monument and National Park. I put on the hiking boots and headed to Delicate Arch which is seen on the Utah license plates. It was pretty cool to see these arch formations and I would say that anyone venturing into this part of Utah should definitely check out Arches and Canyonlands. It is special to Easterners because of the expanse and the beauty of the desert.

After this wondrous experience of a hike, I made my way into the town of Moab. My destination was the Sunflower Hill Inn. http://www.sunflowerhill.com. Now most people who have had the Moab experience have camped, slept in pickup trucks or have taken advantage of a Rim Tours( http://www.rimtours.com) or a Western Spirit( http://www.westernspirit.com) week long excursion with camping and great food. These tours are guided and are an excellent way to experience Moab. But yours truly had only the weekend and I found the Sunflower Hill Inn on line. What a find!!! This place is a wonderful bed and breakfast with nicely appointed rooms and a fabulous breakfast. It has a great garden terrace and is right at the trailhead to the famous Slickrock Trail. The proprietors are friendly and are more than willing to accomodate your schedule and give you suggestions on rides and places to eat dinner in town. If you want to experience Moab and have a great breakfast, sleep like a baby and take a nice hot shower after your ride and relax in the garden patio area, this is the place for you. It is truly the gentile way to experience Moab. These accomdations have nothing to do with the challenge that lays ahead on the trails, but at least it is a nice oasis after you beat youself up on the slickrock of the Moab trails.

The riding here is challenging. I started out early in the morning around 5:45 at first light because when I was there in June it gets HOT fast!!! Did I say it was hot? Wow!! You can begin on the warm up trail of the Slickrock Trail to get used to riding on this most unusual surface. Slickrock is a misnomer. It should be called sticky rock or grabby rock because you can’t believe the traction you can get riding this stuff. The actual Slickrock Trail is a marked trail on this massive rock formation. Steep ups and downs highlight the riding and you can get all you can handle riding this stuff in the exposed outdoor sunny and extremely hot conditions. Holy hell was it hot!! I thought to myself that if I had not loaded up on water and brought some extra bottles besides what was in my pack bladder, I would be in trouble. I thought,” no wonder people have died out here!” No trees, no cover, 100 degrees plus. You could fry an egg on this rock. I thought of Walter Brennan(young people- ignore this, you don’t know Walter Brennan). But for those of you who do,” 30 days on the prarie, no water, indians all around!!!) I thought about all of those old prospectors and pioneers. How did they deal with this? But the surrounding rock formations are gorgeous and the Green River below is impressive.

During my stay I also made use of the other iconic trails in the region which were the Poison Spider and Porcupine Rim trails. There are many, many trails in the region, but these two along with the Slickrock Trail are the most famous. When you see a sign to dismount and walk your bike, they are not kidding. The trails can be tight and the penalty for being careless can be a 1000 foot fall into the canyon with the Green River staring at you. Trust me- I read and obeyed the signs. Being the acrophobic that I am, I was glad to dismount. After killing myself in the heat and draining all of my water each ride, I was happy to make my way back to the air conditioning of the rental vehicle. I was red as a beet and the beer at the Slickrock Cafe http://www.slickrockcafe.com was a welcome relief. It is a nice lunch and dinner spot and the T-shirts are cool as well. Live music too.

One of the must do stops is the Poison Spider Bicycle Shop http://www.poisonspiderbicycles.com . This shop is complete with all the eye candy bicycles that you could ever want. They rent high performance bikes, sell lots of technical clothing and accessories, give great advice, have really good mechanics and even have a shower area for those who want to ride to and from the shop. Don’t miss it.

As I made my way back to Salt Lake, I rode the rest of the week in the mountains around Park City after my work day. A different mountain trails experience but pretty nice all the same. But the desert in the “cliche'” Moab is pretty special and it is still pretty unique today. If you have gone, you know what I am talking about and there is not much more than I can add than all the magazines have printed in the last mumber of years. But for those of you thinking about a western adventure, put the Utah desert on your bucket list. You will be glad you made the trip. Cliche’-I don’t think so. Lots to do for non-riders too!!! Thanks for reading.

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“I’m not going to let a girl beat me!”

2011-04-30 06.33.2317786_10151858587474203_1524945910_nphoto These famous words were uttered by a good friend of mine as we closed in on the last two miles of Pittsburgh’s Great Race 10K a number of years ago. My friend, who shall remain nameless for fear of embarrassment, is an ex-Marine and was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Tough guy, good guy, tough runner. But not quite good enough to catch Eileen Petrone. Eileen is pictured above in the zebra shorts and the Allegheny Nike singlet. Eileen was an elite runner for many years with women’s victories to her name in the Great Race as well as many other 10 Ks in the region. She was also a top finisher in the Pittsburgh Marathon for many years and is still a very good runner to this day. My friend, who was a top 200 seeded runner in the Great Race was ruined when he crossed the finish line behind her. I was happy to keep her in sight. A long way down the road!!!

The second picture is of my friend Eric Durfee’s daughter Kress. Kress is shown here skiing down one of the steepest backcountry chutes in the Tahoe region. Her father tells me that on that particular day, the snow conditions were so sketchy and the terrain so steep that she did not want to make a turn and staight lined the chute to where she could finally make some turns to slow down. Kress was the National Collegiate Free Skiing Champion and a terror in the terrain parks with her twin tipped skis. I have known Kress all of her life and whenever I get a chance to ski with her, she is a pleasure to watch skiing warp speed with fluid turns and all the confidence in the world over some pretty steep and nasty terrain. Her father raced for Cornell back in the day and her older brother Travis was top ten west of the Mississippi for Downhill and Super G for many years as a member of the Far West Team. Travis was a national class ski racer and to this day, he says that Kress is the best skier in the family. That is saying something seeing that her other brother is a fantastic skier in the parks and her mother skis flawlessly down any run, at any area in Lake Tahoe. Kress is a vision on skis regardless of gender.

The last picture is of Sue Haywood at this years Breck Epic Mountain Bike Race in Breckenridge,Colorado. She is shown here leading the GC for women and is also very well placed overall. Sue hails from West Virginia and currently resides in Harrisonburg, Virginia, a mecca for off road cycling. Sue was a member of the Trek Professional Cycling Team for many years and currently races for the Stan’s No Tubes Mountain Bike Team. I first saw Sue race in the NORBA races in West Virginia and Vermont and also at some of the West Virginia series races. She is one strong rider that is for sure, and she has several national championships to her name as well as many top finishes on the domestic and international stage. I got to see her talent first hand when in some of the regional races the women started behind the men. She came riding by me like I was standing still and I have followed her career with interest ever since. I don’t think anyone in the mountain bike community would have the audacity to make a statement like my friend did above, because Sue is a great rider……..period. She, Eileen, and Kress are to be respected as great athletes in their own right regardless of gender.

I have never had any preconceived notions about being competitive with women. I learned a long time ago that there is no place for chauvanism in the sporting world. I hear a lot of garbage from some guys like,” I could be the leading money winner on the women’s golf tour.” Yea right!!! Some of these over the hill golfers who still have a pretty good game can never compete with today’s women who are the consummate professionals. There is a big difference between tournament golf, tennis, ski racing, and the weekend warrior sporting events. These statements crack me up and I have witnessed many guys get their butts handed to them by some amazingly talented and fit women. Just the other night, I ran into a young friend named Beth who rides mountain bikes regularly with her husband Carmine and several other real strong guys. Beth and I rode together and caught up with the small talk but when the first major hill came, she was gone and I told her to keep riding and don’t worry about me. Like Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry) always says, ” A man has got to know his limitations.” Especially the 58 year old kid. I pull out all the tricks in the book to ride with the younger set but sometimes you just have to let nature take its course. Beth is strong and I have no issue with that at all. She is a mountain bike rider. I don’t see her as a female mountain bike rider.

Bottom line is that there are sports where strength plays a factor in the performance of a man versus a woman. Women could not compete as an interior lineman in the NFL. But on a running race course, a trail, or a ski slope there is a lot of equity that comes about especially with the recreational set of folks who are not professional athletes. A lot of us take our sporting achievements and training seriously and many times our avocation can climb to some pretty lofty heights. But we are all athletes to one degree or another and with the current training methods, nutrition, and strength training available, the gender gap is narrowing to say the least. One last thought which I am compelled to share came from Sue Haywood where she says,” Pat, just remember to mention that there would be more women in cycling if guys weren’t raging with testosterone all the time.” I am sure Sue has had her challenges from time to time and believe me, I would bet on Sue. But her flip side point here is that this notion that a guy can’t be beaten by a girl can be taken to the other extreme. How sad it is to see a guy riding ahead of his significant other on a mountain bike or a road ride with the poor woman trying to keep up. Talk about a turn off and how to instantly discourage a fellow rider. Same thing with the guy who takes his gal down some steep ski slope that intimidates her and she never comes back to ski. Come on guys, encourage your lady! If she has the courage to try a sport with you, don’t beat her into the ground to show her what a tough guy you are. Help her!!! Teach her. Be patient with her. If you do that, you will add to Sue’s friends on the trails and you will also have a friend for life to share the sport you love. Eileen, Kress and Sue will take it easy on you. Thanks for reading.