About a year ago, my wife Margaret and I opened our biking season with an Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) tour through Death Valley. It was amazing. Other worldly. It left us pining for more of the same. During that ride, two of our thirteen member group mentioned that one of their favorite early season events was the Skinny Tire Festival in Moab, Utah. Their enthusiasm caught our attention, especially as they seemed not the sorts to be dazzled by Gigantic Sparkly Bike Events and instead had an affinity for smaller rides with a lighter touch, that traveled through interesting geography and offbeat locales. Which is pretty much the attitude that brought us all to Death Valley in the first place, no doubt. We put a mental Post-It note in our heads about The Festival for future reference.

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So ... Last November, here in Wisconsin (and rest assured that the grey, damp, brown and drizzly months of November and March in Wisconsin are enough to make even the biggest fans of the Dairy State yearn to travel somewhere else, anywhere else!) we found ourselves frantically trolling our idea list for a cycling-oriented carrot to dangle in front of us and remembered the Skinny Tire Festival. Cue the cartoon light bulb signaling the discovery of a possibly inspired idea. Off to Google we went for some basic information and photos, and after 15 minutes looked at each other, nodded, and said Heck Yes Let's Do This Thing. We clicked all the appropriate boxes, coughed up our credit card info and grabbed ourselves two spots for that ride on March 14-17, 2020.

And, son of a gun, here it is March 5th and the snow is just starting to melt off the roads enough to ride. To ride outside, that is. Not sitting on the God-Foresaken trainer in the basement/dungeon grinding away. Not even Netflix can make the trainer palatable once you reach mid-January. Nope, we are looking to be blessed with upwards of six (6!) entire days to get our asses road-ready to tackle the climbs of Eastern Utah.

Realistically we'll be lucky to get 100 outdoor miles in our legs for the Festival, which is less than optimal. The mileage for the four day event isn't all that much ..193 miles total. But two of those days caught my attention: The first day's ride of 64 miles and 3,800 feet of climbing caused an eyebrow to twitch. But the third day (into Arches National Park!! Woo-Hoo!!) manages to pack 4,700 feet of ascent into a mere 44 miles.

Yikes. That is a lot of climbing in a short amount of time.

Now ... My wife Margaret is a sprightly little thing. She's strong as an ox but has a climber's build, so even early season ascending will not trouble her too much. I, however, am a classic Mesomorph. I was born more suited for a rugby scrum, not a bicycle saddle. Full disclosure: When I'm "super model" skinny, I clock in at 197 pounds. My "concentration camp" weight is 190 pounds .... just a wee bit heavier than your typical World Tour pro cyclist. So that day gaining over 100 feet per mile makes me purse my lips in mild concern. I'll haul this big body over those climbs though, no matter what it takes, but .... Oy Vey.

We have an ace up our sleeve in getting prepped for early season biking though ... a secret sauce, which we'll discuss on Page Two of the Skinny Tire Pre-Game Show!! Stay tuned ...