What's Inside You?

My buddy Dan, a cyclist, entered a contest put on by BMC.  Check out his entry below.  You can help support him by clicking the link below his photo and clicking the "Like" button.  I'm sure he would greatly appreciate it.

Although Dan wrote about cycling, what he says definitely translates over to climbing.  Spring is coming. Train hard.  Get psyched!

http://www.bmctempo.com/gf/what-s-inside-you-dan-r/?lang=en

"Some think the essence of racing is simply being faster than your opponent, a primeval battle with straightforward results. I crossed the line first – I am the best. I disagree. The competition is not against the other riders. It’s not against the other team, the course, or the conditions. It’s against yourself. Against the voice inside your head telling you to stop. Against the searing pain in your legs begging for respite. It’s about who is willing to suffer the most. Competition is about looking yourself in the mirror, searching deep within, and deciding how much you are willing to sacrifice, how deep you are willing dig, what price you are willing to pay.

Can I ride de Ronde? I rode 20,000 kilometers last year. I know what’s inside of me. I know my limits. Certainly I can ride 259 kilometers more this year."

Team Evolv 2014

I am very excited to share with all of you that I have the privilege of representing Evolv in 2014 as a grassroots athlete.  They have always been my go-to shoe.  Evolv shoe rubber, quality, durability, and fit have always been excellent.  I also just started using their crash pads and love them.  If you need climbing shoes, approach shoes, bouldering gear, whatever, Evolv can fulfill all of your climbing needs.  Check them out.  You won't be disappointed.  I am definitely looking forward to some of the new products they are going to be offering this year and I hope you all are too.

I am excited to be a part of the family!

A Muerte! - Some Photos from Rodellar



A nice little view of Rodellar



The historical town of Alquezar

The road to Kalandraka




Nadya climbing Juan Y Fran Se Nos Van

 


The start of Juan Y Fran Se Nos Van. 




Brian on Mal De Amores



One of many goats at Las Ventanas.  There were so many!  Kind of scary to be so close.  I was afraid they were going to push me off the cliff.

Los pozones!

Pizza from Casa Jorge with honey.  Soooo goood!

A view from Las Ventanas

Overcoming Obstacles

After this most recent climbing adventure to Rodellar, Spain, I have fallen even more in love with climbing. I know everyone has different experiences, climbs at different levels, and has their own expectations. I know I do. My goal for the trip was to climb a 7c and although I did not accomplish that goal, I think I got something better. I learned that climbing is like being in a relationship; there are highs and lows but it’s worth fighting for. One climb in particular really tested me in my relationship with climbing. This climb is called Aquest Any Si. According to my friend Santi it was the first bolted climb in Rodellar. I had to do it and I fell in love once I tried it.

The route has tufas, underclings, sidepulls, and pinches. It is pretty much my anti-style, but the moves are amazing. I was so used to crimping and downpulling that this climb really tested my abilities. The first time I tried it I went bolt to bolt, but I could do every move without too much trouble. However, I knew the top was going to be the most challenging since there is no true rest on this climb and is very sustained.  

So my first few redpoint attempts were pretty brutal. I would get to the fifth draw and it would kick me off. That happened several times, but I was determined to get past that section. I got some better beta and figured out a better rest for me since I stink at kneebars and it was really difficult to rest at the huge undercling. So I found what would be my rest and I stuck with it. Then came the last two draws which I think were also the hardest moves of the climb. I was now getting to the second to last bolt with no problem but that last draw was pretty difficult to clip. It was close to the anchors and the fall was clean but I was still hesitant to skip it. After many more attempts I was now falling right at the last draw. On one of the tries I was feeling pretty solid and I went to clip that draw but fumbled it terribly. So, I decided that I was going to skip it. I have never skipped draws before but I saw someone else do it and it gave me a boost of confidence.  

By this point I had every move dialed on this climb. After changing beta many times at the top, I was confident in what I had to do. I kept telling myself I had to skip the last draw. And I did, and I took that whip many times. I was still getting shut down by this amazing climb. However, even though I was not sending it, my technique was improving. I was turning, using drop knees and holding things that I never thought I could before. I knew in my head that it was making me a better climber but I was getting a little frustrated by this point because I really wanted to send it. It was getting to crunch time with only four climbing days left. I knew I was running out of time and the temps were getting worse and worse. It was impossible to project in the middle of the day because the heat would just suck all the energy out of me. I was getting desperate. So I did what any other dedicated and determined climber would do. I got up at 4:30 in the morning so I could get to the climb before it got in the sun which was about 8am. This gave me enough time for the hike, to do my warm up, and to give it a few redpoint attempts before the sun came over the mountains.

On the first of these early mornings I felt great. I was coming off a rest day and I felt like I could it. I had gone over all the moves in my head, knew I was skipping that last draw and I knew I could do it. I felt great at the rest, hardly pumped. As my friend Carolina reminded me that sometimes you need the rest more for your head than your arms as it gives you a chance to slow your heart rate and tell yourself that you can do it. I believe my rest was one of those mental rests because my arms felt great. The funny part is that my legs would actually start to cramp up and that was when I knew I just had to go and try to finish it. As I started to flow through the last few moves, my mind was calm, I was breathing well and my arms felt pretty good. I moved past the last draw without clipping it and I felt like this was it. As I went to grab the last bad hold which was a small gaston with my left hand, I thought I had it. The next thing I know I am falling. As I am falling I can hear myself screaming but it was almost like I was not in my own body, but like I was watching somebody else fall. I suddenly slammed into the wall with my back and butt and I found myself hanging upside down. It was the first time I had ever fallen upside down and I hope it was the last. It almost felt like I was in a dream, I was in pure shock of what happened. As I flipped myself back the realization of what happened started to come over me. I think Brian was more terrified than I was. He was the one belaying me and I am sure it looked much worse that it actually felt. We tried to assess what happened and we concluded that I was probably kicking as I was falling and caught the rope with my foot which led to the incident. I did not let that deter me from getting back on the climb. Instead twenty minutes later I tried again, this time clipping the last draw.

I did not send that day. Instead I went back pretty disappointed.  I try not to let climbing determine my moods or control my life yet climbing is such an emotional investment that it is difficult to let it go. By this point I had spent probably 4 or more days trying to redpoint with three attempts per day. I told myself that I am going to give it one more day before I move on and try something new.

The 4:30 am wake up the next morning was brutal. My body was aching from the fall the previous day. I knew it was going to be a battle. I got pretty pumped on my warm ups even though I tried to not let it get to my head. I still had hope. While Brian put up the draws on the climb, two climbers walked up and I knew that they were going to get on it as well. My heart sank a little because I knew I would not have as much time that day. I was getting so desperate that on my first attempt I went back to my original beta of throwing for the last jug. I fell again. I knew I had to let another climber go ahead of me and I waited as the sun was making its way up the horizon. Of course the climber was taking his time, chatting, moving terribly slow and I was growing impatient. I told myself to let it go and relax so I cheered as the climber began his attempt. Unfortunately he did not send and it was my turn again. This was it. I was going to finish it. I felt more fatigued as I got on the climb but I knew I just had to relax. I felt calm and I let my body take over and all I had to do was keep my heart from racing. Next thing I know I hit that last jug and into the last undercling to clip the chain. It was the biggest weight off my shoulders. I have never been so happy to send. I was filled with relief and excitement at the same time. It was a crazy journey. As much as I wanted to curse that climb for making me suffer instead I thanked it for teaching me some valuable lessons.

I learned that nothing is impossible. With enough determination and confidence, anything is possible. This is not only true in climbing but in life as well. There were times when I wanted to walk away and give up but instead I kept trying harder. I learned that if you really want something you have to work at it. I think that climbing teaches us some valuable lessons. It teaches us to stay calm in a stressful situation. It teaches us to not give up even when things are tough. It also makes us appreciate life and the people close to us. I could not have accomplished my goal without Brian by my side. He gives me so much motivation and support and I could not ask for a better climbing partner. I also could not have done it without Carolina and all the other people who encouraged me to keep trying and to keep fighting. In the end its you and the climb but there are still people along the way who help you in accomplishing your goals. I could not be more thankful for all the people in my life. I think that climbing makes me appreciate life and to live everyday in the best way I can. Climbing is a way of life. I can’t wait to see what else it has in store for me. For now, it's time to train and dream about my next project.

Hueco Tanks, December 2012

Just a few photos from a trip this past December to our favorite bouldering destination, Hueco Tanks.  I'll spare you the detailed trip report, but we had an awesome time once again.  We got to hang out, crush, not crush, freeze to death, run into trouble with the law, and enjoy Christmas (in other words...had a good time)with some of our fellow Ohioans (Aaron, Max, and Dan), their giant friend (Ed), our favorite Canadians (Josh, Regan, Etienne, and the adorable Jade), and a really nice couple that we met from the Atlanta area (Haley and Andrew).  We both sent our projects from last year, and got super close to sending a couple more.  Will definitely try to head back next winter and hopefully make it an annual trip.  Also, I threw together a little video of some of our sends from the trip.  Enjoy!

First Impressions: Mad Rock Shark 2.0

 

Mad Rock Shark 2.0 right out of the box

Climbing shoes are absurdly expensive and it seems like their prices just keep going up.  I'm aware that I could just have my shoes resoled for much cheaper and I actually have had many pairs resoled in the past.  However, after a resole, the shoes just don't feel the same to me anymore.  Maybe I don't give them enough time to break in, maybe it's a mental thing, or maybe the shoes really are a little different?  Well, these days I'm usually too late to have them resoled since I always seem to bust through my shoes mid-season when I don't want to send them in.  Plus, resoling shoes doesn't remove the terrible stink.  So, when the time comes I usually just grab a new pair and give up $150.  Unfortunately, that time has come.  Or maybe it's fortunate since I can try something new?

My first pair of climbing shoes were from Evolv, which were a birthday gift from my cousin who pretty much got me hooked on climbing (thanks Nikko!).  Ever since then I have mainly stuck with Evolv since they seemed to fit my feet pretty well.   I tried a couple pairs of Five Ten's in the past (Anasazis and Dragons) and loved the sticky rubber.  However, the fit in the heel was just terrible for me.  So much air in there and I couldn't heel hook in them for the life of me (although the Jet 7's seem to fit me very well and I actually use them in the gym right now and love 'em, but sadly, their rubber is wearing thin).  Then I got a couple pairs of Mad Rock Super Locos a couple years ago because they were being discontinued and were super cheap.  I loved 'em!  They fit really well, and their rubber wasn't too bad either.  So I alternated back and forth between the Evolvs and Mad Rocks until I put holes in all of them.  Then back to Evolv it was since I knew they fit and I couldn't find a store to try on any of the new Mad Rocks. 

The Talons are my favorite Evolv shoe since they fit pretty well in both the toe and the heel, although I do wish the heel was a little more secure.  In order for the Evolv Shamans to fit, I had to size them down a half size (I believe most size them similarly).  The heel is much more secure with the Shamans, but my toes feel too scrunched and I find that I am unable to toe in as well as I can with the Talons.  Unfortunately I am now starting to bust holes through both of them and I guess it's time for some replacements.  I love my Evolv Talons so I will definitely replace those.  As for the Shamans, I thought about it and almost ordered a pair when for some reason I remembered about my Mad Rock Super Locos.  I browsed the Mad Rock website to see if there was anything that looked interesting and that was when I stumbled upon the Shark 2.0.  I read through all the specs and they looked like a pretty nice shoe, but what hit me was the price tag.  They weren't dirt cheap or anything, but at $120 they were very reasonably priced and I was willing to give them a shot if there was a chance that they would fit my feet as well as the Super Locos did.  I emailed customer service to see how they fit compared to the Super Locos and they said they were very similar.  Sold. 



I received my Mad Rock Shark 2.0's yesterday and so far I have only put them through one gym session warm-up.  My first impressions so far are positive.  They fit really well, almost like a glove.  My toes are comfortably uncomfortable (I don't know if that makes sense?) and the heel is very secure with very little to no dead space.  They are like a cross between the toes of the Talons and the heel of the Super Locos/Shamans.  And that flexible arch thing is really nifty too.  My only concern is with the stretch.  Right now the fit is just about perfect and I am hoping they do not stretch much, if at all.  As for the rubber, I'm not yet sure what to think since they still need some breaking in (and I am not used to wearing a shoe with some actual rubber on the toes...).  I really want to like these shoes but only time will tell.  I'll update this post as I use the shoes more and more and put them through some abuse.  Some more photos of the shoes are below.  Enjoy!
   

*Update (5/21/2013): So it has been a few months since I first posted about the Sharks and since then I have been able to give them some decent mileage in the gym and on some real rock.  I was originally worried about stretch since the fit was just about perfect when I received them.  I am happy to say that the fit of these shoes is still just as good as they were when I took them out of the box and they are still some of the best fitting shoes I've owned.  Although they fit really well, I did notice that my arches had a tendency to ache after wearing them a lot or on very long climbs, which is probably due to the flexible arch and lack of support.  However, I didn't find this to be that big of an issue since I mainly climb single pitch routes and boulder.  

Now the rubber is a little bit of a different story.  To me the rubber seems pretty darn hard compared to my Evolvs and I definitely have not yet broken the rubber in after a season at the Red.  I still don't trust my feet on tiny footholds and for smearing and they just don't stick to the rock as well as my Evolvs do.  The sole is pretty thick and it will probably just need a little more time for me to wear it down to where I like it.  I think I've read of other climbers actually sanding the soles down to solve this problem, but I don't have a sander.  So I'll just have to wear them down naturally.  

The Mad Rock Shark 2.0 is an excellent fitting shoe with so-so rubber.  So far I've only been to warm up and train in these shoes and I have yet to use them on my projects.  I'm hoping that I will be able to wear the rubber down enough that I'll be able to trust my feet and start projecting with them.  Once I do I will post another update.   

Crank'O'Ween 3

Just spreading the word about a bouldering comp being held at my gym next Tuesday, October 23rd in Columbus, Ohio.  More info can be found at Kinetic's website or Facebook page.  There should be tons of good problems, a bunch of new holds, lots of prizes, and a good group of people.  So if you are in the area and are in the mood to crush or if you just want to hang out, stop on by!  If you have not yet been to the gym and have always wanted to check it out, next Tuesday is a pretty good time to do it.  So mark your calendars, put it in your planners, set reminders on your phone, whatever.  Do it!  Do it now!

As for me, I will be there at some point in the evening, but it would depend on what time I get home from work.  I have not yet decided if I will climb.  I have never really enjoyed climbing in competitions since the large crowds, abundance of noise, and craziness of it all is just way too hectic for me.  But we shall see.  Maybe I will enter and use it as a high volume training day...

Must. Climb. Stronger.

The problem with climbing (well, at least for me) is that I always want to climb stronger.  I can remember thinking to myself several years ago when I first started climbing that I would be perfectly content being a solid 5.12 climber.  After a couple of years I climbed my first 5.12 and then I began knocking out more 12's and harder 12's.  Awesome.  I achieved my goal.  However, I wasn't perfectly content like I thought I would be.  I wanted more.  I wanted to be a solid 5.13a/b climber.  That should be pretty reasonable.  If I could climb hard 5.12, easy 5.13 should be attainable with proper training, right?  Then the 13a's started rolling in, and then the 13b's, and then my first 13c.  Awww snap.  Now 13d and maybe even 5.14 seem attainable somewhere in the future.  When does it end?  Does it?  I am already extremely happy with my level of climbing, but there is a part of me that wants to keep going and wants to see how far I can push my abilities.  I have only climbed one two 5.13c's (just added Kaleidoscope to the list this past Friday, yay!), but that doesn't mean anything.  So I would definitely love to add a few more 13c's under my belt and maybe take it to the next level with a 13d and I have a few in mind that I would love to try this fall at the Red.  The season has only just begun so I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.  Will I send one?  None?  Hopefully the training pays off.

My basement training center: homemade adjustable edge and Metolius Simulator

Training.  Most of my progress is a product of training.  I am not a professional climber nor am I a climbing bum.  I work for a living and having a 9 to 5 job only allows me to climb outside on the weekends (well, it is actually more like 7 to 7 because of my looong commute).  Plus, I live 4 hours away from climbing, making any sort of after work trip impossible.  So the only way for me to improve and climb stronger is by training in the gym or at home.  The first few years that I climbed I didn't train much.  I just went to my university's gym a few times a week.  Then a bouldering co-op called Kinetic opened up in Columbus and I started going there.  The awesome crew and the great facility was very motiviating and after a while I could tell that I was getting stronger, slowly, but still getting stronger.  However, it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I realized that I would need to actually train and not just boulder around in the gym in order for me to improve faster.  Yes, bouldering a ton would eventually make me stronger, but it was definitely an inconsistent way of training, and inconsistent training methods lead to inconsistent results.  So, I decided to do some research into training for climbing, which led me to articles by Mike Doyle, Mike Anderson, and Kris Hampton on periodization training.

I won't go into too much detail, but periodization basically breaks down training into several phases: first a strength training phase, followed by a power phase, and then an endurance phase.  At first I wasn't really strict with my training as I tagged on exercises after my bouldering sessions, but I did see some improvement as it did help me to climb my first 5.13 and a buunch of others.  I probably continued with this half-assed approach to training for about a year or so and found a good bit of success.  But the cycle continued and I wanted to climb even harder.  So things got a little more serious last winter.  I was a little more strict with my training and began keeping a logbook of my exercises as my approach to training became a little more scientific.  As a result, this past spring and summer I was able to climb more hard routes at my level and redpointed my first 5.13c. 

Then, this past summer I stumbled upon Eva Lopez and her methodology for training.  Being an engineer and biomechanist I loved her scientific approach to training.  Her methods were easy, short in duration, and scientifically/physiologically made sense to me.  So I thought I would give it a shot and made some tweaks to my periodizatoin cycle to incorporate some of her exercises and her ideas (not sure if it can be considered a periodization cycle anymore...). 


Bring it on!


So our training was cut short (I guess we will have to start earlier next time) due to good weather at the Red and we had to skip over a few exercises that were in our schedule.  However, we did manage to get in a couple weeks of power endurance training.  I would like to think that this new training method is working for us.  I just sent my second 5.13c this past Friday, Nadya made 5.12 look easy, and our season has only just begun.  Hopefully it wasn't a fluke.  Only time will tell.


Run Woodstock

Run Woodstock Start/Finish Line



We were in Pinckney, MI this past weekend to celebrate peace, love, and running at the annual Run Woodstock, which is an all weekend affair filled with trail runs ranging from 5k to 100 miles!  There are distances for everyone and runners can take part in as many events as they want.  Nadya, Jerry, and I decided to do the half marathon distance and Nadya's mom went with the 5 miler.  We arrived Friday evening and went to the registration area to pick up our packets and were surprised to receive nice technical long sleeve shirts.  I was expecting a tie-dye cotton t-shirt since I think that's what was given out in past races, but not this year :).  Afterwards we pitched up our tents over at the walk-in camping area as it started to drizzle.  The rain stopped as we cooked some dinner and started back up again as we walked around the event area.  As soon as we retired for the night the rain picked up even more and it ended up pouring all night long.  A muddy trail run would greet us in the morning.  Lucky for us, the rain stopped around 5:30 am, just in time for me to cook some breakfast and make some coffee.  Cooking was actually a pain in the ass in the walk-in campsites as there were no picnic tables.  I had to sit on the cooler and cook on a basketball court, but it worked.

The morning was pretty chilly and the skies were clearing up as we went through our pre-race preparations.  It was going to be an excellent day for running.  As it got closer to the 7:30 am start time, someone who shall not be named, was still stuck in the bathroom line.  We barely made it to the starting line on time and realized upon arrival that they were sending runners off in waves.  That was kind of nice although we got stuck in the back with a bunch of the marathoners.  Oh well.  The run started off through the campground before immediately entering into singletrack where we had to weave past other runners.  After a couple of miles we entered into a wide gravel road where we passed the first aid station at mile 3, continued for another 1.5 miles and doubled back to the same aid station at mile 6 before taking a sharp turn back into singletrack goodness.  This 3 mile section of gravel/loose-dirt road was probably the biggest energy suck for me due to poor traction, uneven terrain, and horse poop dodging.  Things started to flow again back on the singletrack and we fell into a groove for the next couple of miles.  However, out of nowhere, traffic!  And at what seemed like the tightest part of the course.  I was able to make my way through, but Nadya got stuck.  More traffic appeared as runners tip-toed around muddy sections of the trail.  At this point I said screw it and just ran straight through the mud and the runners who were afraid of getting their shoes dirty.  This was a trail run, right?  Aren't we supposed to get dirty?

Soon the 10 mile aid station appeared and I looked down at my watch to check my pace and I was well below the 9 minute pace that I was aiming for (or so I thought...).  Just 3 miles left on a pretty section of pine forest.  After what seemed like the longest 3 miles ever, I began to hear the music at the finish line.  All of a sudden the trail ended and I was back in the campground with the finish just around the corner.

Post race with our finishers' medals

After looking at my finishing time, I calculated that I ran the last 3 miles in over 30 minutes.  What!?  No way!  I definitely felt like I was pushing the pace at the end, which has led me to believe that either the 10 mile aid station is under 10 miles or the last 3.1 miles was a tad longer.  Hmmmm...  If only I had a GPS....  But that's okay.  It doesn't really matter.  It's a trail race and distances are never exact.  We at least have something to aim for next year!

 

What shoes are supposed to look like after a muddy trail race

Nadya ended up 4th in her age group and Jerry was first in his age group.  Good job you guys!  I actually ended up 9th in my age group, which I am very pleased with.  I know it will be tough to be at the top of my age group since I have only been running and training the past few years, and especially since most of my time is dedicated to climbing (sorry running, but climbing is way more important).  But I shall keep running and maybe one day I will be fast enough.  If not, that's alright.  I still enjoy pushing myself.
We definitely plan to be back next year!

One more race this summer (and probably the last one of the year).  Next up...Hocking Hills Indian Run.

Nadya with her top 5 age group award :)

Monkey Poop

A friend of mine, a hardcore cyclist and fellow nutrition nut, introduced me to his homemade granola/energy bars a couple of years ago that he would make to fuel himself for long bike rides.  He passed along his recipe to me a while back, but I never tried making them myself due to laziness and the abundance of readily available energy bars at the grocery.  Nadya and I planned a 26ish mile mountain bike ride at Mohican State Park the other weekend, and since we are now trying to eliminate processed foods, most grains, and other "bad" stuff from our diets, I decided to try making these energy bars to replace the sugary crap that we would usually take along with us for fuel.

First let's talk about this new diet that we are now trying to follow.  When we were in Rifle this past summer, Nadya and I met a very cool couple that climbed ridiculously strong and were on a diet that consisted of a ton of protein and vegetables, some fruit, and no grains or processed junk.  They were on the Paleo diet.  I've heard about the diet before and looked into it a little bit back when I did some research into Crossfit, but never really got into it.  I always thought that the amount of climbing, running, and exercise that we do requires more carbs than going Paleo would allow for.  After talking to our new friends about this diet, I came to realize that maybe Paleo and climbing do work as they have reported that it has helped them to climb stronger and with fewer injuries.  And of course Nadya wants to do whatever she can to climb better, but she also wants to improve in running too, which requires a little more carbs.  So, Nadya and I are now both on a pseudo-paleo diet.  It's hard for only one person in a relationship to follow a certain diet so I guess I'm doing it too.  And, if it forces me to eat cleaner and healthier and helps me to climb stronger and run faster, then why not give it a shot?

So like I said earlier, we aren't going to be hardcore Paleo.  We are just trying to eliminate processed foods, most grains, lower our sugar intake, eat more healthy fats, eat more veggies, and eat more meat (mmmmmm meat).  I guess we are just trying to eat cleaner more than anything else.  We still eat oatmeal before our races, long training runs, and hard mountain bike rides and I still eat it most mornings for breakfast.  We still drink our yummy chocolate milk for post-workout recovery or treat ourselves to a donut from nearby DK Diner (because they are oh so good) and we still love our dark chocolate.  So yeah.  We like our occassional cheats.  My mom grew up on a sugar plantation, so I guess it's in my blood.  Oh well.  But as long as it is in moderation, right?  Maybe?

So far we haven't found the transition into this new diet to be that difficult although maybe that's because we aren't in it 100%.  Limiting grains was a little tough at first, but we never ate that much to begin with, especially in comparison to the amount that many other athletes eat.  We try to keep our carb intake below 150 grams (I almost always go above that.  Oops.) and we try to eat most of our carbs before or after workouts for fuel or for recovery.  There are still some tweaks that we need to make.  Nadya needs more protein.  We both need to eat less sugar.  Etc.  Etc.  We're trying.

I guess we will see how this diet affects our performance.  Will we climb stronger?  Run faster?  We'll find out soon.  Will this diet even work if we aren't in it 100%?  Or do we need to completely eliminate all sugars and grains in order for this to be effective?  Arghhh.  Too many questions.  We've tried many things in the past.  I hope this is the one.

So the energy bars I made are packed with almonds, walnuts, pecans, peanut butter, oats, grape nuts, dark chocolate chips, dried dates, honey, and molasses.  They are definitely not Paleo, but great for energy with the same amount of calories as a ClifBar and half the size.  They are dense.  Not for snacking, that's for sure.  But they are goooood.  Money Poop.  I think that's a good name for them.  Maybe I'll try to make some granola too without the oats and grape nuts and chocolate and try to keep the sugars to a minimum.  Just a bunch of nuts.  I can call those Monkey Nuts.  I actually saw someone selling granola at the farmer's market the other weekend.  Five bucks for 3-4 oz of granola.  Are you serious!?  I just ate the samples.  Maybe I can sell my own...



Packed full of calories!  Definitely not for snacking!



Stoking the Psyche - Rifle, CO

You can climb on either side of the road.

After about a month off from climbing Nadya and I found ourselves on the road to Rifle, CO.  We wanted to try something different this summer and knew that Rifle would be a great place for that.  We have heard from many friends that Rifle was the anti- Red River Gorge.  The routes there are very cryptic and super beta-intensive as opposed to the mainly straight forward climbing at the Red.  And KNEE BARS!  Lots and lots of knee bars at Rifle.  For those non-climbers reading this, a knee bar is when you cam your knee into the rock in order to take weight off of your arms or so that you can position your body to do certain moves.  I am terrible at using knee bars (I can think of two routes at the Red where I've used a knee bar).  In addition, we have never climbed on limestone before, always sandstone.  In contrast to sandstone, limestone seems to have less friction than sandstone and it also has a tendency to become glassy and polished.  This was going to be a new adventure for us and we were hoping that this trip to Rifle would be a great learning experience and help us improve in our climbing.

After about 20 hours on the road we started to approach Denver.  Then we headed north to Boulder. We have heard that people either hate it or love it there and we wanted to check it out for ourselves.  We arrived just before lunch and headed to the Pearl Street Mall.  After walking around for a bit we decided to have brunch at a place called Snooze, an A.M. Eatery.  The place was hoppin' and we had to wait about 15-20 minutes for a table, but it was definitely worth it.  Everything sounded good on their menu, but I settled for the Pancake Flight (a trio of different pancakes) and Nadya went with the Early Harvest Benny.  The menu items were reasonably priced (similar to what you would find in Columbus) and it was delicious!  Wish we had one here!



Pancake Flight: blueberry, red-eye velvet, and sweet potato pancakes

Early Harvest Benny

 After brunch we walked around a little bit more, checked out all the outdoor retail stores in the mall, searched for some knee bar pads with no success, then headed out for a little 1.5-2 hour hike to the Royal Arch.  I guess a lot of the smoke from the Fort Collins wild fires headed south to Boulder and Denver, which is why we couldn't see the mountains during our drive in.  Apparently it was so bad in the morning that it smelled like campfire everywhere and some people couldn't even see their neghbors' houses.  Crazy!  Fortunately for us, by the time we arrived, a lot of the smoke had cleared.

View of Boulder from the Royal Arch

After the hike we went back to Pearl Street to grab some dinner.  This time we went to Centro Latin Kitchen and Refreshment Palace.  We ordered some guacamole with roasted chillis and goat cheese for appetizer.  I can't remember exactly what we ordered for our main courses, but Nadya ordered the salad special for the evening and I ordered something with fish.  Another great place for delicious grub!

Some salad special from Centro

Something tasty with fish from Centro

During dinner we decided that we wanted to drive that evening to Rifle.  We didn't really know what else to do in town since our friends in the area were either already at Rifle or out of town.  We also kind of wanted to have a relaxing first full day in the canyon.  So we drove through the night, arriving around 1am.  We set up our camp and went to bed, excited to finally be here.

We woke up the next morning to the delight of seeing our friends Chris and Heather, the sweetest people on Earth.  They gave us some pretty good tips, showed us some pretty sweet climbs, Chris lent me his knee pads (thank you so much!), and they let us spoil Grammie Dog.  They were a blast to hang out with and we were both glad that we were able to hang out with them for a week before they headed back to Boulder.

You guys are awesome!  Glad we got to hang out for a little bit!

Before going to Rifle we were informed that we would want to pick a morning project and an evening project since climbing in the summer sun is a bad idea.  The canyon runs north-south, so the western facing walls have morning shade, while the eastern facing walls have evening shade.  We were advised to not get on any of the easier stuff since they see way too much traffic and will actually feel harder, especially to us Rifle newbies.  Lastly, we were also told that it is hard to climb two days in a row because the climbing is so different than the Red and our bodies will take a beating.

Rifle Mountain National Park, CO

We were hoping to use our first several days of climbing as our adjustment period.  The last time we sport climbed was a little over a month ago so we needed to get back into climbing shape.  We also needed to figure out how to climb in this new place since everything was so different.  We quickly realized how cryptic Rifle is.  Climbing here is HARD!  We definitely struggled during our first few days.  We stuggled so much that we lowered our expectations.  I originally wanted to come out of the trip with a 13b/c and Nadya with a 12b/c.  We started thinking that maybe a hard 12 and hard 11 seemed more reasonable.  Climbing here was definitely a humbling experience.

After our first few days we started to realized how much harder the easier stuff seemed because of the abundance of chalk, glassy feet, and lack of beta.  We were both frustrated with our poor climbing and what we thought was an inability to adapt.  With some convincing from our friends, we decided to just get on the harder stuff.  Although still glassy, the harder climbs definitely seemed more straightforward.  We should have listened earlier.

Evenings in the canyon

Campfires were banned throughout Colorado during our trip.  What do you do when you can't have a campfire?  You play with flashlights!

Things clicked a little faster for me as I was able to do In Your Face (12d) on my third day.  I followed that up with Le Specimen (12d) on our fifth day while Nadya finally did her first Rifle 5.12, Cardinal Sin (12a).  It was a pretty impressive send as she struggled to figure out the beta at first, but once she did, hung three times on her first redpoint burn, then sent it on her next.  Later that evening I did Pump-O-Rama (13a).  What a relief!  I guess maybe we should try something harder!

Nadya's next project that she picked out was Ruckus (12b) - very short, but very bouldery at the bottom, especially for shorter ones.  The crux of the route was a pretty big move that was just barely within Nadya's reach.  After a few tries Nadya was able to nail the move down and soon figured out the rest of the route.  However, during one of her redpoint attempts, she ripped a huge flapper off her left hand middle finger.  She was bummed.  After taping the finger, she tried the move again, but couldn't hold it.  She just couldn't get enough friction with the tape on to stick the move.  So she decided to give it a break, let her skin heal, and try another day.  A couple days later she got back on it and ripped the flapper open again.  So she came down a little bit frustrated and we had a talk.  If she really wanted to do this route, she would just have to do it with tape around her finger.  So she did the move over and over until she could finally hold it.  The next morning she did it.

Meanwhile, with fantastic beta from our friend Neely, I was able to do Vision Thing (13b) after a few tries.  Thanks for the beta Neely!

Nadya on the bouldery start of Ruckus, 12b

We pretty much spent most of our rest days getting rid of our filth, getting fat, and exploring the nearby towns.  We mostly stayed in Glenwood Springs (maybe 30 minutes away), but checked out a few other towns as well.  In Glenwood, there is a really nice rec center for taking showers that cost us $4 + $1 for a towel per person.  Plus they have free wi-fi, which was nice.  For really good coffee (way better than Starbucks) we went over to Bluebird Cafe, which is adjacent to the gear shop in town.  For smoothies we went to Sacred Grounds Coffeehouse and Deli , although a bit pricey.  Nadya and I had some really juicy and delicious bison and lamb burgers over at the Grind (Half a pound of meat in each!  YES!).  You have to check that place out if you are in the mood for burgers!  Soooo good!  (My mouth is watering as I type this.)  Russo's Pizza definitely satisfied our pizza cravings when we were there and is reasonably priced too!  Across from Russo's is the Roaring Fork Bakery, which I highly recommend.  Her croissants are the perfect combination of doughy and flaky and are to die for!  Maybe the best croissants that we have ever eaten!  We had them plain, with spinach/feta/tomatoes, and with ham/cheese.  They were all so tasty.  She had so many other baked goods but we didn't have the chance to taste them all.  Maybe next time.  Carbondale is another cool little town 10-15 miles south of Glenwood.  I will have to recommend another burger joint called Fatbelly Burgers.  Also juicy and delicious and at a pretty reasonable price! Their burgers are good, their chicken sandwiches are good, and their milkshakes are yummy.  Then there is a Thai restaurant called Phat Thai that was also really delicious and not too heavy and provided some good energy for next day sending.  We also went to Aspen and the Maroon Bells (pictured below).  We didn't care much for Aspen because of all the ridiculously rich people parading around.  However, the Maroon Bells were amazing and so pretty!  Definitely a sight worth checking out.

In front of the Maroon Bells on a cloudy and chilly day

Us being goofy with the Bells in the background

I think this is Maroon Lake

Some pretty aspen trees

I ended my trip by doing The Beast With Two Backs (13a) and onsighting my first Rifle 5.12 with Pretty Hate Machine (12c).  Nadya wanted to do one more and decided to give Defenseless Betty (12a) a try.  With Seth's beta, Nadya was able to make it to the top no problem with enough time in the day to give it a few redpoint burns.  She soon discovered that she would have to do one section a little bit differently, but it would have to wait until the morning.

So the morning that we were leaving, we got up early so that Nadya could get on the route one more time.  After warming up she gave the route one redpoint burn, but fell at the sequence that was proving difficult for her.  After looking at it for a few minutes she figured out another way to do it.  That was it!  Next attempt and she sent!  She later told me that she almost fell at the top, but wasn't going to let go.  Good work!

The Beast With Two Backs, 13a

We ended up loving Rifle.  We thought that we wouldn't like it as much because the climbing is so different than the Red, but our early frustrations turned into delight and Rifle is now one of our favorite places to climb.  I'd say it is on the top of the list with the Red.  My only regret is that I didn't get on anything that was super challenging for me.  Next time!  But not only was the climbing awesome, the people were awesome as well.  Our experience would not have been the same without all the friends that we met there.

Nadya's Ticklist:
Cardinal Sin, 12a
Defenseless Betty, 12a
Ruckus, 12b

Brian's Ticklist:
Cardinal Sin, 12a
Pinch Fest, 12b
Ruckus, 12b
Pretty Hate Machine, 12c (Onsight)
In Your Face, 12d
Le Specimen, 12d
Pump-O-Rama, 13a (3 tries - 2 RP)
Vision Thing, 13b (4 tries - 3 RP)
The Beast With Two Backs, 13a (3 tries - 2 RP)

Not too shabby for 9 days of climbing ;)  Now time to get on the harder stuff!  Looking forward to this Fall season at the Red!  Time to train!

Sunset on the drive to Rifle

Neely on Vision Thing, 13b

Seth on Slacker Direct, 13c

Our new Chicago friends Andy and Jess on Ruckus, 12b

Our campfire

A storm in Kansas on our drive home.  I don't think mother nature wanted us to leave.