At least I didn’t wake up to find myself turned into a cockroach, like the main character of what might be Franz Kafka’s most well known story. I just woke up to find myself jobless, another victim of a bad economy.

Rather than panic at the prospect of being unemployed for too long, I like to think of it as the end of one chapter and the start of another. I don’t know with any certainty what that will entail, but there’s bound to still be some writing along the way.

So while this is likely the last post here, I’ll be picking up the thread again soon at StoneHound.wordpress.com.

Cheers. Thanks for reading.

- SF

Seems like it always takes longer than I think it should to take a good look through whatever photos I bring back from whatever event. This time around, between Sunday, Aug. 19 and now, I’ve manage to lose the list of names and bib numbers that should have helped me to identify the riders in the following photos from the Lone Peak Revenge race held at Big Sky Resort. So if you recognize anyone, feel free to leave a note. Thanks.

Otherwise, the story and complete results are HERE.

Despite the Monty Python comedy sketches likely called to mind for most people by that phrase, I tend to think of climbing in Montana.

A chive forest at the edge of Frazier Lake in the northern Bridger Mountains.

Either way, everyone ends up smiling.

Anyway, when I let some of my favorite climbs in the Last Best Place run through my mind, there are similarities. But nothing is really the same. And a few features are just unique.

Among those treasures of the Treasure State are the Alpine sport climbing (yes, seriously) near Frazier Lake in the Bridger Mountains, and the archean gneiss boulders scattered in the trees in Yankee Jim Canyon just outside of Gardiner.

And those are just closer than some of the others.

The neatest part though is not knowing what spectacle might be stumbled upon next. No one knows when that gold nugget will show up in their pan.

But, just a note of caution for anyone around Frazier Lake, be wary of the natives. The little furry devils really enjoy chewing on boot leather and sweat-soaked backpack parts.

-SF

Climbing Upper Cut (V1), the Lightweight Boulders, Yankee Jim Canyon.

The big arete right next door – Shell Shock (V2), Lightweight Boulders, Yankee Jim Canyon.

Looking across the Choss and Moss Traverse (V3) at Bumper Ball (V0), Choss and Moss Boulder, Yankee Jim Canyon.

The area’s history includes what remains of the Yankee Jim’s toll road to Yellowstone National Park.

Frazier Lake basin in the Bridger Mountains north of Bozeman.

Lyra Leigh-Nedbor approaches the top of the first pitch of Cold Forged Steel (5.10), near Frazier Lake.

Flaking rope, trying to beat the storm.

Locals breakfasting at the edge of a retreating Frazier Lake.

Evidently, the pair had already made one pass through the buffet before I woke.

Here are a few photos from Saturday’s second stage time trial and Sunday’s third stage criterium that I collected en route to a couple of stories (find those HERE and HERE).

And here’s a note from the racer handbook that didn’t find its way into print, but which I thought was funny – although, may this is more common than I would imagine.

“Please note that the descent off of Battle Ridge to the south is steep and technical, with fast corners and guard rails. Please use caution and do not cross the center line. In addition to the usual hazards, the surrounding country is ‘open range,’ meaning cattle may be on or near the road. Volunteers will do everything possible to herd loitering cattle away from the road to ensure riders’ safety, however please be alert and slow if cattle are present. No win is worth the risk of hitting a 2000 pound animal at any speed.”

-SF

A rider competes in the women’s second stage time trial of the Tour de Bozeman outside of Gallatin Gateway.

This year’s Tour shifted away from the usual Springhill Road time trial course, opting for the route along the Gallatin River.

Bozeman’s GAS/Intrinsik rider Amy Chiuchiolo closes on Nichole Rogers during the second stage time trial of the Tour de Bozeman.

Two Wheeler/Specialized rider Myron Higel rides in the second stage time trial of the Tour de Bozeman.

Sam Krieg, red leader’s jersey, won his fourth consecutive Tour de Bozeman overall title after Sunday’s third stage criterium around Beall Park.

The top men’s field leans into a corner during the third stage criterium around Beall Park.

Rockford/Clif rider Anna Dingman (58) looks back to find GAS/Intrinsik’s Megan Lawson during the women’s cat. 1-2-3 criterium on Sunday.

Amy Frykman, red leader’s jersey, won the women’s cat. 1-2-3 general classification.

GAS/Intrinsik rider Amy Frykman, red jersey, leads teammate and third stage winner Jenner Yaeso.

Looking towards downtown Bozeman as the women’s field crosses a closed Black Street on Sunday.

Here are a few more photos from the past weekend, and the story is HERE.

Todd Cross follows Alan Adams (49) on a decent near the start/finish area at Bohart Ranch during the 18th annual Bohart Bash mountain bike race on June 30.

Men’s pro/cat. 1 winner Landen Beckner from Helena’s Montana Velo team.

Rockford Coffee/Clif Bar rider Ivy Pedersen (721) and Lucian Hand (609) top a small climb near the start/finish area at Bohart Ranch.

Gallatin Alpine Sports/Intrinsik Architecture rider Brian Frykman.

Helena’s Scott Herzig (48) leads Alan Adams and Todd Cross on a decent at Bohart Ranch.

But, when I try to talk about climbing at Avalanche Gulch, most people around these parts think I’m describing the little chossy towers standing on either side of a certain ski run at Bridger Bowl.

They could be imagining something further from the truth, just not by much.

This Avalanche Gulch is about 25 miles east of Helena, on the north side of Canyon Ferry Reservoir. Everyone probably knows about it, though it still feels like a secret stash of bolted limestone – it’s the kind of place that pretty well sums up my favorite parts of Montana climbing. There is almost never anyone else there. Even a day of clipping bolts can feel adventurous. And, the hike to most of the climbs can be measured in seconds or number of steps.

Who says easy isn’t fun?

-SF

Lyra Leigh-Nedbor climbing Dirty Bird (5.8) on the Blue Collar Wall.

Still climbing …

The view from the chains shared by Dirty Bird and Belly Full of Beer (5.9). Like the guidebook said, most of the rock here is great and the rest isn’t usually as funky as it looks.

Looking deeper into Avalanche Gulch.

The scene when looking back towards Canyon Ferry Reservoir from what I think was the main parking spot.

That’s how Tom Kingsbury, a Homestake Pass bouldering pioneer, described the Northern Bourbons area during the first annual Butte Bouldering Bash.

Having climbed down the road at Whiskey (Gulch), I have to agree with him.

And, if only I wasn’t the only climbing during the week, I wouldn’t have had to take all these photos myself – self-portrait of a Montana climber.

-SF

Climbing in the Saucer City section of the Northern Bourbons.

Still climbing Saucer City.

Still climbing.

The only other ‘person’ I saw that day.

Another overhanging problem in the Saucer City area.

Looking for feet.

Who says you don’t get a good view by topping out a boulder?

Now I pay a bill that regularly shows up at my residence, and to be honest there isn’t all that much I miss about dirtbaggin’ – that is except having the option of climbing everyday.

I thought I had made peace with it, until I took a real good look at an unfinished corner in my garage. That was when I realized there was another way to climb every day.

So I built a 45-degree overhanging wall complimented by a flat panel caving out one side.

Eventually all that will be completed with another, less overhanging wall, a couple hand cracks and a mock-mantel panel. And, I may never leave my garage again.

Climbing in the garage on a chilly spring afternoon.

GETTING STARTED

Talk about origins and inspiration generally tends toward influences at some point.

For my little project, they actually figure quite prominently.

For a couple of years in college I studies karate from a venerable old master named Sensei Chinen. To call him old school is a vast understatement – if I understood one of his stories properly the old Okinawan was taught to use a sword by stabbing a pig. More to the point though, he did nearly everything by hand, including building the wooden bench seat in his ancient pickup truck and using whatever happened to be around practice his violent art.

Then aside from an article in Rock and Ice called “Fetish” – detailing the efforts of a couple Brits making a series off widths in a basement to train for some of the hardest cracks in the world – the cumulative experience and camaraderie of climbing in a bunch of home gyms really got me started. Those gyms haven’t all been beautiful – at a certain point on one wall climbers risked falling through the attic trap door in the gym floor – but they have all been effective. And certainly entertaining.

And none of those creations needed as much space as most people would imagine.

The tools and construction methods are often as different as the builders.

Even though I have an electric saw, I opted for the hand one and really the only power tool involved was a cordless drill. I measured the angels in a roundabout fashion with backcountry skiing inclinometer, and still the beast came out basically square. Aside from that, a hammer was the only other rather essential item – along with a pencil.

For the most part I kept in sight of the directions of Metolius Climbing’s .pdf How to Build a Home Bouldering Wall. After talking to an engineer, the only critiques I can offer to those steps are: first, the screw and nail sizes are a bit on the overly burly side, and two, don’t feel limited by having to make something that looks like the pictures. Every space is unique.

Also, I found the suggestion of 100-150 T-nuts per sheet of plywood more than a bit excessive. This 72-hole, diamond-grid template seems equally effective, especially for a home gym. I haven’t found a reason I would need something more.

No more excuses for not doing a few pull-ups.

VS. THE ‘REAL’ GYM

For the longest time, I assumed a gym membership would be cheaper.

That’s not exactly true.

Adult prices at Spire are $15 per day, $68 per month, $182 per 3 months and $525 for a year.

Rounding up, the average wall (or one constructed from at least 3 sheets of plywood) costs around $200, not adding in holds.

Grips are likely to be the biggest, and most continuous, expense. And, while finding in holds at a shop in Bozeman is like finding a brick of gold on the edge of a river, there are several smaller manufacturers scattered across that West offering pretty neat options for not too much money.

Two of the more interesting companies I’ve stumbled across so far are VooDoo Climbing Gear and Rocky Mountain Climbing Holds. VooDoo is based in Arizona and has several very affordable package options that make it possible to customize the climbing style of a wall. Free shipping on web orders doesn’t hurt either. Rocky Mountain is based in Idaho and makes holds out of recycled material that have a surprising rock-like feel.

Or, keep an eye out for someone moving, who needs to sell of what they’ve got – that’s probably the cheapest alternative to shop-outfitting a creation.

In all seriousness though, with a basic understanding of construction techniques, building a climbing wall is not as intimidating or all-consuming as may be imagined – and not as uncommon. Who knows, might be soon that someone organizes a garage gym circuit.

-SF

The Chronicle competes in the small-sized dailies (under 25,000 circulation) division in SPJ Region 10 – comprised of Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

For the 2011 SPJ Northwest Excellence in Journalism contest over 2,100 entries were submitted by more than 250 news outlets and journalist – from all mediums – in 184 categories.

In the sports reporting category, I managed to pull second place for “Spin Cycle” – about the first stage of the 2011 Tour de Bozeman.

Read the story below.

Other winners from the Chronicle include:

- 1^st comprehensive coverage – Carly Flandro, Dan Person

- 3^rd investigative reporting – Gail Schontzler, Jodi Hausen

- 2^nd spot news reporting – Gail Schontzler

- 1^st gov./political reporting – Amanda Ricker

- 3^rd business reporting – Jason Bacaj

- 2^nd personalities – Jodi Hausen

- 3^rd personalities – Amanda Ricker

- 2^nd short feature – Rachel Hergett

- 3^rd sports reporting – Gidal Kaiser

- 3^rd sports feature – Colter Nuanez

- 3^rd photo portfolio – Nick Wolcott

 —————

Spin cycle

Tour de Bozeman’s first stage filled with fast, spectator-friendly excitement

By SEAN FORBES

Chronicle Sports Writer

BIG SKY – Seems even Mother Nature wanted to watch the first-stage criterium of the third annual Tour de Bozeman. 

Not that anyone would have known, until about 10 minutes before the first category was schedule to race.

Copious rain sprinkled with a few bits of hail falling from a leaden sky obscuring Lone Peak threatened the tour’s new first stage Friday afternoon. But those clouds parted and the pedaling started.

Beginning a day earlier than the previous two tours, the Tour de Bozeman added to its variety with a criterium, a timed race on a closed circuit – which in this case wound around the green spaces and pavilion in the Big Sky Town Center. From almost anywhere inside the circuit, spectators could see all the lead changes and breakaways.

In the scheme of bicycle races, criteriums are on the fast side, with lots of cornering – similar to NASCAR racing. With the fastest of the men riding between 25 and 40 miles per hour, mere inches from each other’s handlebars, it’s easy to find oneself anticipating a crash – and there were a couple. But for the most part, the packs moved with unexpected cohesion – each racer a segment of the multi-colored centipede snaking around the course.

When time – either 30, 45 or 60 minutes – is up, the first racer to finish wins.

“The main thing is always be close to the front,” said Michael Longmire, the men’s master B winner. “You get in the back, which I did a couple times to rest, then all of a sudden you get yo-yoed and then you’ve got to work harder to catch up. Then you’re just expending energy you shouldn’t have had to waste.”

There is more than positioning that keeps riders pushing near the red line. Leaders also have a chance to win primes (pronounced preem) on designated laps throughout the race.

“A prime is an intermediate sprint and what we do is we offer prizes,” said Jeff Wyatt, the founder of Team Rockford Coffee/Clif Bar, the stage organizers. “A lot of times the pace starts to slow down, or (it’s) just to get some more action in the event, to get people riled up.”

The prizes ranged from gift certificates to local businesses to plain cash.

“A lot of people come to just rack up primes,” Wyatt said, who nabbed a $100 himself during the men’s category 1-2 race.

Although it doesn’t make much difference just yet, stage winners – who are competing in the full tour – receive bonuses that knock 20 seconds off their overall time. Those small cushions will help racers like Marcel van Garderen – whose son Tejay is making his Tour de France debut and who traveled from Colorado to race – who describe themselves as better sprinters than climbers or distance riders. All part of the strategy needed to compete for the overall victory.

“I was a little nervous, that I hadn’t felt in a long time, before the race. Everything was a little new” said van Garderen, a Montana State alumni. “Throughout the race I kind of had to figure out where do I need to be at what point in the last lap to be able to get to the line first?

“It was fun to kind of figure it out.”

Van Garderen was the first to cross in the men’s masters A category.

Other winners includedRockford’s Tyler Call (mens’ cat. 5), Bike Hub’s Dana Harper (men’s cat. 4) and GAS/Intrisik’s Lisa Curry (women’s cat. 1-2-3). In the evening’s final race, the men’s cat. 1-2,Rockford’s Jared Nelson won with teammate Wyatt working behind him to provide space and take second.

The tour continues Saturday morning with an individual time trial on Springhill Road before the iconic sprints down Main Street that night, beginning at 5 p.m.

“The road race is going to be too difficult for me, I think. I’m not a climber at all, and there’s like 7,000 feet of climbing or some insane number like that,” said van Garderen. “It’s going to be brutal. But I really look forward to the street sprints. That kind of really piqued my interest. I’ve been racing for 30 years and I’ve done like five or six street sprint competitions as part of a stage race and I’ve always got first or second, so I always love doing those.

“That’s kind of where my strengths are, from standing still to hit the throttle for a really short period of time.”

Sean Forbes can be reached at  sforbes@dailychronicle.com.

Find more photos from the tour HERE.

And, read my other SPJ winner (from 2008) HERE.

Who did what, where and when is certainly important. But like keeping receipts for taxes, those details are not always that compelling, that attention-grabbing.

If those are the only questions a news story, for example, answers it’s helpful but not necessarily enlightening. I now there would be at least one other thing I would want to know – or I’ll have to just keep guessing like someone repeatedly singing the only the chorus to that song stuck in their head.

That other ‘thing’ is, why?

Now, I’ll admit there is little about the path that brought me to the newspaper biz that can be called traditional. I studied literature in college, writing enough papers and doing enough research to find out I really enjoyed the process. After graduating, I wasn’t long in finding out that while almost all jobs required someone who could read and write, few if any paid much for those skills alone. So I planted trees, laid sod and learned to build backpacks. Only after finding out that I really didn’t enjoy those other processes for long after the initial novelty wore off, I landed a part-time gig at a print daily.

I had written for the college paper, since I had a friend who was an editor, but aside from that the only journalism experience I had was a class in which the professor showed up about half the time. And, I had kept a journal as a kid. For the most part, it was all too fact based to make for really good reading, in my opinion. The tone was always too dry and the words never sang.

But with unfettered access to ‘the wire,’ I developed my appetite. Although, I’ll still be the first to admit that some stories just can’t be dressed up well enough to escape the mundane they so faithfully document.

What I’ve found most intriguing is a genuine voice capturing – and sometimes even just giving a valiant attempt to – an experience.

Why? Because it’s the hardest question to answer – for both the challenge of divining a reply and finding the words to convey it – and by far the most pertinent – to almost any given individual reader.

And that’s where the literary element enters.

People have often asked me, what was so interesting about studying fiction, and a language I’ve known since I was born?

Despite the beauty and music that can be comprised of the myriad words in the English (or any other) language, I always thought the answer was, because you never know what greater truths you will find within.

Besides, the fact it can be a bit inspiring doesn’t hurt either. This little ramble was prompted by uncovering John Kekis’ story on my computer’s desktop – and I’m not usually one to get that interested in racing cars.

Enjoy the ride.

-SF

Riding shotgun at The Glen

By JOHN KEKIS, AP Sports Writer

WATKINSGLEN,N.Y.— Ricky Taylor started laughing when he tried to describe what I was about to experience.

“It’s nothing like a road car,” Taylor, a rising star in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, said as he visualized a lap around Watkins Glen International in a Daytona Prototype. “It’s harder braking, more G-forces. There’s walls on either side of the track. There’s really nowhere to go.”

Thanks a lot, Ricky. Way to calm the nerves!

By my count, I’ve ridden about 250,000 miles on motorcycles, so it’s safe to say I’ve always had at least an occasional need for speed. That’s probably why six years ago I decided it was a good idea to take a three-lap ride around The Glen in a two-seat IndyCar Series car at near-race speeds.

There wasn’t much to that car. A carbon-fiber shell, no fenders, no windshield, a cramped cockpit, and a 650-horsepower, methanol-burning engine. That’s probably why I had to sign a detailed waiver that included my health-care provider and the name of my doctor and had to wear a fire suit, booties, racing gloves, and fire-retardant head sock — just like a driver in the series — before being fitted for a helmet.

And when it was my turn, I hopped in BEHIND driver Davey Hamilton.

Despite some initial trepidation, the experience of roaring uphill at nearly 170 mph through the esses and zipping through the head-rattling Bus Stop (or chicane) is imbedded forever in my mind.

I never thought anything would — or could — top it.

I was wrong.

The fast car John Kekis got a lift in. (AP Photo)

I was invited a couple of weeks ago to take another ride around Watkins Glen — two laps in a Daytona Prototype — and of course I jumped at the chance.

The Daytona Prototype, which made its debut in 2003, is a sleek mid-engine car that measures 79 inches wide and 41 inches high with a wheelbase of 108-110 inches. My ride is in a Ford Riley with a 5-liter, V-8 engine that packs 500 horsepower and has a five-speed gearbox. It’s capable of speeds near 200 mph.

Impressive, to be sure.

I’m more interested in other, more important, stuff, like the carbon-fiber side-impact panels and multipoint steel tube integrated roll cage.

This was much more laid-back — the paperwork was brief and I only needed a fire suit and helmet. There wasn’t much time to snatch a helmet because series driver Ozz Negri was raring to go, having already zoomed down pit road in the No. 60 that AJ Allmendinger, Michael McDowell and Justin Wilson drove to a seventh-place finish in the Rolex 24-hour endurance race at Daytona in January.

I hop through the right-side door and sit NEXT TO Negri, and the crew tightens my harness and instructs me to grab the roll bar with my right hand.

Piece of cake.

“In the race, we have a 45 mph speed limit in the pits, but today I’m just letting it go,” Negri says, a smile visible underneath his full-face helmet as we accelerate to 80 in the blink of an eye. “It’s such a perfect track. All the sight lines are beautiful. It’s a smooth track so it doesn’t beat anybody up.”

That’s not whatTaylorhad said.

“I’ve taken some people in the two-seater and you hit the brakes, it’s like, ‘Whoa!’ “Taylorsaid.

Whoa indeed!

From 150 down the front stretch to 80 entering the 90-degree first turn, not even the hint of a squealing tire under the intense braking, then accelerating up to nearly 180 through the esses. Negri is wearing a HANS device to protect his neck. I am not, and I would have deeply regretted that fact had I gone more than two laps.

“When you’re driving, you’re ready for it,”Taylorsaid. “You’re positioned and ready to hold your head up. When you’re not waiting for the brakes, then your head …”

Ends up in your lap as if you’re praying. I feel like Linda Blair in “The Exorcist,” wondering if my head is doing a 360 as we zoom through the famed Boot section. At least there’s no hint of the pea soup!

“I’ve sat in the passenger seat, too, and I’m like, ‘Oh, man, I can’t brake that late and that hard.’ When you’re driving, it’s a totally different thing,”Taylorsaid. “It’s a good experience.”

The adrenaline rush from the amazing grip and speed of the car relegates preparing for the jolt of every turn to an afterthought. You remember when it’s too late and you forget all that you worried about beforehand.

I was concerned about the wildlife of theFingersLakesregion of upstateNew York. In 1999, former NASCAR star Dale Jarrett hit a woodchuck during qualifying for the August Cup race, and in 2005 Max Angelelli vaporized a woodchuck that ran onto the course along the back stretch in the dark.

It was getting near dusk when I went. Was there a deer lurking in the Carousel turn?

There wasn’t, thankfully.

After two laps on The Glen’s long course — not even 7 miles — my neck was aching and the next day the outside of my left knee was throbbing. Maybe it was because this ride included the mile-long Boot, which is jarringly stunning.

Now I know why some guys — Sterling Marlin comes to mind — really never liked going to The Glen or Sonoma, the road courses NASCAR’s top division competes on each season. It’s a whole different ballgame and it’s incredibly taxing on the body.

Still, this was a thrill like no other.

“Every time I come in, it’s thumbs up — they want to keep going,” Negri said.

Understood, mainly because I was sitting UP FRONT. That made all the difference in the world.

“That is amazing. Wow! Unbelievable! Unbelievable!” Vickie Miller, ofJacksonville,Fla., said after her stint with Negri. “I can’t imagine doing that for four laps. This was absolutely the most incredible thing. I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life.”

Ditto!