Florida

This week I am in Florida for vacation. I thought about bringing my bicycle to keep training out here but I didn't want to drop $200 on transporting my bike when I could spend $200 on SCUBA diving or jet skiing. So this week I have been running and lifting weights for cross training. I have gone running on the beach here which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but still painful. As long as I get my exercise done in the mornings, it should be pretty easy to keep up on my fitness while I'm here. Well I am going to go do something to entertain myself since everyone else here just wants to sit around and read inside.

New Favorite

This past Saturday the whole team got together to ride. We decided to ride South Fork up in Provo Canyon. It is always a little bit cooler in the canyon than it is in the Valley so it sounded like a great ride. It was nice taking the ride together as a team. We got to see everyone's different dynamic within the team.

The ride up was nice but the way back took forever. Derek flatted out right after we started our descent from the top of the hill. Of course we didn't know that he flatted out until we reached the bottom. So I had the opportunity to ride the hill twice. Oh and it poured rain on us.

So we fixed Derek's flat and than Ian flatted out. Matt and I rode to his Dad's house to get some tubes and a pump since Ian's pump broke. But even after all of the craziness coming home we did eventually make it back.

Ian and I rode the same path again this morning. We had a killer time. I hit a top speed of 42.7 mph on the way down the hill. I have a feeling we will be riding this course often. Anyway, that is my update for the time being.

Goal For This Month

This past Saturday I attempted to climb mount Nebo. I failed. Being that it was about 95 degrees in the middle of the afternoon with the sun right over my head I would say that it is ok that I failed to climb it. I am making it my goal to climb the mountain by the end of the month. I am really trying to work on my climbing abilities because I know that the Salt to Saint Relay is going to demand some serious climbs. I have a picture of the climb that I will be attempting so you can have some feel as to why it is difficult. But by the end of the month I will be climbing like a pro.



In order to work up to this climb I will be doing Squaw Peak and Alpine Loop. I have been really lazy this summer with my climbing. Before, you may have read my post with the clip from the Anchorage Daily News saying that I hate climbs and I'll never do one again. That is not so much the case anymore. I have grown to really enjoy doing the climbs. I get to the top of these mountains and look at the any sized cars and houses and cities and think how great I have done. The ride up is horrible but the sense of accomplishment is incredible. Plus then I get to go down...really fast! I will post my progress towards this goal as I move forward through this month.

Cycling Future

So this summer I have been riding very regularly with my neighbor here in Provo who is also named Ian and is also from Alaska. We didn't know each other before we lived next door to each other. We have together created our own team that is going to race in the Salt to Saint Relay. It is a 410 mile race from Salt Lake City to St. George. It will be a pretty intense race. The nice thing about this race is that we got our team sponsored! We are team CynoTech! And now I begin the shameless plug fest. CynoTech specializes in the digitization, publication and accessibility of digital records for companies and municipalities small and large. They offer a range of solutions from software and hardware to trained personnel hired from local citizens, to help ease the transition into the digital world. Check them out at www.cynotechonline.com

Among CynoTech we have Infinite Cycles up in Riverton, Utah which is a local Cannondale bike shop. They do some amazing things and also offer free lifetime service on any bike you purchase from them. Nobody does that! www.infinitecycles.com

We also have ArteXc which does canvas enlargements at unbelievable rates! If you have a digital or regular picture that you want blown up onto canvas they can do it! Check them out www.artexc.com.

Then we have Multiplicity Molding and Casting Studio which specializes in making EXACT replicas of what sculpture you have done. They mostly replicate baby dolls that look like actual babies, it is really amazing! www.multiplicitystudio.com

And finally we have Wilson Diamonds backing us up along the way. They have some of the best deals for diamonds and jewelry. You can find them in Utah or online at www.wilsondiamond.com.

So one of the cool things about getting sponsored, besides all the fame (yeah right), are the custom cycling kits! My four man team will be looking hot riding in matching Jerseys and Bibs created by Black Bottoms cycling apparel here in Utah. Below is the art done by www.blackbottoms.com that is going to keep us looking good from northern Utah to southern Utah.

Cycling Present

As for my cycling present. I am currently on the Utah Valley University cycling team but I haven't done a whole lot with the team. Too much drama and politics involved. Cycling is fun for me...drama and politics are not. Recently I did the Tour de Donut. This is a three lap race, each lap being about 7 miles. After each of the first two laps you have to eat as many donuts as you can cram in your face. Each donut takes three minutes off of your overall time. It was some of the most fun I had ever had in a race.



I have been doing a bunch of other rides over the last little while. I have below I picture taken of me finishing my leg of the Share-A-Smile triathlon and some pictures of me climbing mountains and doing some long distance riding.

Cycling Past

Below I have post a few photos of my first year racing in Alaska. The first photo is of my first hill climb. It was the Potter Valley Hill Climb, the news paper called it the "Hotter Valley Hill Climb" because it was unusually hot that day. Here is a clip of the newspaper written on that race, "Ian Lefler may only be 14, but he's already a cycling cynic. A steep, grueling climb 1.8 miles up Potter Valley Road under an intense sun amid equally intense competition will do that to a cyclist. 'I've never done a hill climb before,'Lefler said with a wry grin seconds after his finish, 'and I don't know if I want to do it again.'"





This next one is a picture of me in the final stage of the Tour of Anchorage. I am right behind the Santa Clause looking guy up in front. As I said in my previous post, I was the only one qualified to win in my division, but let me explain this one. I race the first of five stages with other guys in my age group, and I beat them mercilessly but they didn't race in the final stage which disqualified them. The one guy in my age group that did do the last stage didn't do the first stage so he wasn't qualified to win either. I still beat them all individually though.



This picture is of me starting a time trial near Eagle River, Alaska. I hate time trials, I get bored and distracted.

Introduction

So this is my first blog. I heard everybody was doing it so I thought I would just join in. I'll just dedicate this first post to introducing myself and give a little bit of my cycling history.

I was born here in Utah and lived here until I was about five when I move to Oregon with my family for two years and then up to Alaska, which is where I grew up. In Alaska my only mode of transportation growing up was my bicycle. I got my Cycling merit badge for boy scouts with a crazy heavy, full suspension, Toys 'R Us mountain bike. That included doing a 50 mile ride, which I did regularly as a young teenager, from Anchorage to Eagle River and back to Anchorage.

When I turned 14 I decided that I wanted to race mountain bikes. I bought a Mountain Bike Magazine and read all about different mountain bikes and I had finally picked one out. My Dad took me to a real bike shop to look at the mountain bike I had read about. One of the shop workers approached us and I started to tell him that I wanted to race mountain bikes. He started to tell me about how mountain biking is a crazy sport. He explained that I would have mere milliseconds to make a choice that could keep me cruising down a hill or fly head first down a hill without a bike! I explained that maybe I didn't want to do anything like that. The bike shop worker asked if I would be interested in Road Cycling. Road Cycling? With the skinny tires and spandex? Uh...I though only weirdos did that kind of thing.

He just laughed at me and actually explained the strategy and the speed involved in racing road bikes. I didn't know anything about road bikes! But I liked to ride, I wanted to race, and I didn't want to smash into trees. Road cycling it was!

So my parents bought me my first road bike and it is actually still my current road bike 8 years later. It is a 2002 Giant OCR 3, bright yellow. The bike was so weird to me. The power transfer difference between the road bike and the Toys 'R Us bike was incredible. I did my normal 50 mile ride and blew past the spot where I always took a half hour break before continuing. Riding on the road bike was easy! I loved it!

I then decided to join the Arctic Bicycling Club and raced in 2002. I placed first in every single race I entered for my division...of course I was the only one in my division qualified to win...but hey! First is first baby!

And so began my tale of cycling. I will try to get some pictures up of my races and dig around to find some old news paper articles with me in them. I am excited to do this blog!