I had over 2000 miles in my legs by October of 2009. Maybe not a lot of miles by some standards, but for me it was plenty. I had spent the first 1000 miles getting ready to ride the Kokopelli Trail in April, 2009. I rode Falcon Trail a lot - it’s my lunch time ride. I rode Palmer Park. I rode bike paths to get to Palmer Park. I rode bike paths to get to other bike paths.

During that year I rode a lot with a buddy who rode a single speed 29er.…

There. I made it. Three days to ride the Kokopelli Trail. On a singlespeed, mind you. It was hard, but not as hard as the first time. Or the second, really. The first, I was out of shape, and out of my element. On the second trip, I was definitely in shape physically. Mentally, I think the trail still had me. It didn't help my friend got knocked out on the first morning - we'd trained together for 5 months for this. I was a little…