Brent's MTB Life

Self Control

2012-01-23T07:02:00.000-08:00

I lack it. Too much time and too many fun activities to do. It's hard to stop and just chill out.

This past weekend the region finally received some much needed snow. That meant our local mountain had 11" of fluffy white powder, while it rained down in the valley. Perfect, our trails needed some moisture. Can you say Hero Dirt?! When the weather cooperates, what is a guy to do but enjoy it.

I spent 3 hours breaking fresh skin tracks to the top of the mountain in search of fresh powder turns. With 5,000ft of ascending on the skis, I became greedy and snatched up first turns on the best 3 runs before the lifts even opened. A great morning workout done by 9am and some glory points!

I followed that up by riding lifts a few times. Some more powder was had, then I called it a morning when I realized I might hurt myself making sloppy fatigued turns.

By 12:30 I was on the knobby tire bike and headed up. Feeling good, I had thoughts of claiming another 5,000ft vertical. As luck would have it, I saw my coach descending the National Monument as I was headed up. With my Ipod in, I could not hear what he said, but with the finger pointing, I can only imagine. That got me thinking I might put myself into a hole and not get the quality out of my efforts this week. Bah, but I did get 2.5hr and 3,000ft in on another beautiful day in the valley.

Too Little Time

2012-01-09T07:48:00.000-08:00

I was thinking yesterday, I'm glad I only have a few solid hobbies. I don't think I would have the time to do anything else. Take for example, this weekend.

Saturday: Leave the house at 8am and ride dirt out to Fruita, hit some flowy 18Rd singletrack, then ride back to GJ by noon to open the shop.

Sunday: Get up at 4:45am, slam some espresso and banana, gather gear, and out the door at 5:10. Skin up the 1,800ft at Powderhorn under a full moon and drop down for turns on some fresh snow. Re-skin and do it all over again. Home by 9:30 for pancakes and coffee, then out the door at 11:30 for a sunny 3hr trail ride. Home to watch part of CX Nationals, eat, then relax.

Aside from that, watch this video from Tilford. Besides all his tangents, I think he speaks the truth about having good blood. That or just good muscle memory. I've felt like crap on the bike and even skiing the last couple months. Just like I couldn't get in a rhythm, breathing too hard, muscles weren't engaging right. I don't know. I had a week and a half off, then I did a 28hr week on the bike in Tucson. What a difference that made. I rode hard 4 hours on Saturday and felt amazing. Sunday, I effortlessly skinned up Powderhorn in what seemed like 1/2 the time. Then the afternoon of riding was even better. My legs were opened, I could throttle it and felt smooth. It could be part mind games, but who knows. I guess it's good for motivation that it can come back so quick.
http://www.cyclingdirt.org/coverage/247673-USA-Cyclocross-National-Championships-2012/video/559770-Steve-Tilford-National-Champ-Good-Blood-Cyclocross-National-Championships

2011 Trip Highlights-Visual Style

2012-01-05T16:05:00.000-08:00

2011 was full of adventures and travels with good people. Here we go...

March
Getting some sun, good riding and some racing in St. George and Hurricane, UT with the LTR crew.

Spending a few days in California with Dempsey. Cheap motels, Fontana Pro XCT, sushi buffets and his first In 'N Out Burger

April
Road tripping for 5 days in Monterey, CA. 17mi Drive coast rides with the Kevin and Conor, Sea Otter, Trader Joe's and some good stories.

Rolling down the coast through Pebble Beach

June
Spending the weekend bumming it in Vail for Teva Mtn Games with good friends.

Sleeping in a pull-off by the river was nice...being under a sprinkler in freezing temps, not so much!

Hanging out in Wisco with the Quiring crew, hammock sleeping, tipsy religious put-put golf, and meeting new friends in the great Mid-west.

Photo from Sue. Click to make bigger!

July
Exploring Sun Valley, ID. Riding sweet trails, having good legs and result at Nationals, staying in a cabin on the golf course.

August
Marquette. Always look forward to hanging out with some of the best people in this cool old mining town. Hard racing, good rides, better people and great parties.

Riding along Lake Superior before flying home

Slamming burritos, quesadillas, potatoes, pancakes, then beer at 24 Hours in the Sage. Making MTBing FUN!

September
Sticking to the pavement after rupturing some ligaments in my ankle falling off a slack-line. Hanging out with Kevin and Danielle in Conifer for the night, then exploring 14,000+ft Mt Evans.

November
Flying solo for a Thanksgiving weekend. Rallying some trails in Moab, car camping, meeting new friends around a campfire, and enjoying the great outdoors.

Waking up to this view on Thanksgiving. I'll give that thanks!

December
A weekend in Vegas for my brother's bachelor party, smashed between some zero degree car camping, early morning ski session, and mountain biking in Utah.

My first ski trip after teaching myself to ski just 2 weeks earlier. Shacked up in a cabin with good company. If only I was healthier and the snow was deeper.

Enjoying the sun at 11,000ft. Picture shamelessly stolen from Jenn

A powder day on the sticks followed by skate skiing, then a 16hr trip around the country to see family for X-Mas. Only a couple days, but it was time well spent.

I missed family Christmas on X-Mas eve. Thanks to Aunt Lynn for filling in for me in the pic!

Ended the year with a week of sun tanning...errr, bike riding in Tucson. Road, trails, group rides, Mt. Lemmon, Cookie Cabin, shooting range, we did it all.

That is only some of the trips. Doesn't include local rides, camping, BBQ's, or anything. It can only get better in 2012! Hoping to find some new adventures, meeting new people, getting to know current friends better, traveling, seeing new places and having one hell of a time. Whether I see you in a town, at a race, or you visit me, let's make 2012 awesome!

New Year

2012-01-02T08:30:00.000-08:00

2012 already? I feel like 2011 went by way to fast, but maybe it was just related to how much fun I had. I traveled to new places, met new people, created new friendships, and have too many stories to tell.

I've got some big plans for 2012, but nothing crazy. Try a few new things, check off some to-do's, and hopefully come home with even more stories from awesome adventures.

I logged the least amount of days on my bike this past December, than any December in the last 5 years. Not sure why. Motivation, weather, life, skiing, it all took it's place. While I'm missing out on a little fitness, I am mentally fresh and ready to have a strong 2012 season.

While my bike got lonely, I wasn't just sitting on the couch. After my Vegas trip, I did a few days at a hut trip. Some good friends, tasty food, wrong turns, 2hr detours on the skis made the trip a success. While the snow was lacking, the fun wasn't. With my bike in transit to a warmer climate, I spent the next 4 days playing in the snow close to town. Whether it was a bitter cold night ski with the headlamp, or skiing powder lines on bluebird days, it was great for the mind.

Coming into Christmas I checked off a bucket list item: flying X-Mas eve. I arrived at the airport at 4:30pm in Grand Junction, and after connections in Phoenix and Philly, I landed in Detroit and was home by 11am X-Mas day! 2.5 days with the family was nice. Food, card games, bowling, and hiking were all mixed in. Up again at 3:45am on the 28th and I was on my bike at 12 noon in Tucson, AZ. Been down here all week working on my tan and getting my legs back under me.

It's been good. Starr Pass trails, Saguro National Park, Mt Lemmon, The Cookie Cabin, Shoot Out Ride, Gates Pass and more. I've hit the typical stuff and the weather has been phenominal. Sunny and mid-70's all week. A few more days then back to Grand Junction. It is definitely colder, but mid-40's and rideable trail isn't too bad for January.

See ya on the flip side.

Supporting

2011-12-12T13:26:00.000-08:00

Not much has been happening these days. Just the normal life. Weather has been good, dry trails, and good riding conditions even in cool temperatures. Been skiing 1-2 days a week to keep the mind fresh this winter. Wow, this update is weak, not sure where I'm going with it.

Here's a story. My brother had a bachelor party in Vegas this weekend. Left late Thursday night to support him and give him shit for getting married. Not being a big city, or Vegas guy, I made a quick trip out of it. Drove to Brian Head, UT and got there about midnight. Slept in the car in a parking lot. Woke up at 6:00 am, ate a clif bar, checked the weather...it was 1F above zero. Threw on some clothes, grabbed my skis and starting skinning up the mountain. Did a few trips to the top, made some french press in the lot, changed clothes and headed on my way to the land of lights, smoke and alcohol.

Vegas was alright. I have 2 outfits in life. Board shorts, t-shirt and crocs for Summer and Spring. For Fall I go for the jeans, fleece and down jacket outfit. Being in Sin City, we suited up. A picture was leaked. Classy.

Left-mid-day and hit up some singletrack in St George for an hour before rolling back to Junction. Looks like some weather is blowing in this week, so might be sticking to riding roads and maybe some night or weekend skiing. Looks like I have 3 months to find something better to wear for this wedding.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-11-28T06:57:00.001-08:00

The past 4 Thanksgivings, I've spent time in different areas and different climates. 2008 was a few days in Denver where it snowed and I raced an incredibly snowy cyclocross course. The next day, 4 of us crammed in a car for 6hrs to drive home during a snowstorm that dropped 17". 2009 was a riding trip down to St George and Hurricane, Utah with warm temps and a T-Day dinner at Cracker Barrel, followed by a Mormon holiday light show that left much more to be desired. Last year saw bitter temps in the Grand Valley where I stayed and froze my cheeks off.

With a few days of 60 degree weather this Thanksgiving, I drove the hour and a half down to Moab, UT for a few days or riding, camping, and getting away from everything. Flying solo, I was able to explore some trails, get in some long rides, work on the tan lines, and meet some cool people from around the country. Not a bad couple days.

Healed Up!

2011-11-20T19:30:00.001-08:00

Seems like bones can heal in 4-6 weeks, but ligaments take twice as long. My torn ligaments in my ankle, caused by being a hippie and walking on a slackline in August, have finally healed. Yup, middle of November. I can actually rotate my foot inward and even unclip from my pedals. To celebrate, I went and re-invigorated myself with the world-class trails 3 miles away. All week I was riding trails with a smile on my face. With sun, comfortable temperatures, and hero dirt, how could you not smile. While the physical healing took months, the mental healing was done in a simple 3 hour trail ride!

While I was finally able to get into a groove riding, I decided this would be a great opportunity to explore new territory. Welcome: Skiing. Even with living a few miles from Mt. Brighton, the enormous 250ft hill in Michigan, I have never downhill skied a day in my life. I figured if I was going to give it a go, I was going big. My friends Brent and Ryan joined me for a few hours on our local ski area this morning.

Leaving the lot around 9:30 as the only vehicles, we stuck our climbing skins to our skiis and started the ski to the top of the resort. 1,800ft later topping out around 10,000ft, we pulled the skins, threw on helmets, jackets and gloves for the descent down. A quick morning PBR gave some liquid courage as I stared down at my first descent ever. A black diamond with a 3ft powder base.

With no clue as to what I was doing, and shaking calf muscles from the skin up the mountain, I pointed down. Who knows how many times I fell. I flew through some powder, made a turn and B-lined it to the other side, before bailing as I was speedily out-of-control. Maybe 10 seconds total, but my endorphins were already flowing. WOW, that was fun. Once we hit some harder packed snow, I got some tips on making turns. It got much better from there. At the bottom, we put the skins back on, shedded clothes and headed for the top again. The second time down, I biffed it good on a steep powder run, lost a ski, and couldn't get it back on. Once to a flatter area, I was able to make some fun turns on packed snow down to the base. Good times and sore muscles. 40 minutes later we were back in town looking at 55 degree temps. A quick bite to eat and on the bike I was. A couple hours of riding blissful trails and I was cooked. By 5pm, I about called it a night. Damn, what a fun and tiring day. Can't wait for more weekends like this and getting better at shredding the pow.

Happy Turkey Day to everyone this week. Weather in our region looks good. Might have to take the 1.5hr excursion to Moab for some riding and camping for a day or so!

Looking Forward

2011-10-31T15:57:00.000-07:00

This time of year is usually about putting the final touches on the fitness for Iceman and looking forward to a nice offseason. This year has a different twist. In the end of August, I tore some ligament in my ankle while walking on a slackline during a thunderstorm. While I continued to walk, my ankle had no range of motion which lead to more biomechanical problems on the bike. I took it easy and decided to make my offseason a bit earlier this year.

With a couple months of healing time, my ankle finally has a much better range of motion and I am feeling almost normal on the bike again. This past week I started riding more hours and more consistently day to day. It is really refreshing to ride without pains, and finally get that good "sore legs" feelings again.

So, while everyone is racing and partying in Traverse City this weekend, I'll be cruising around thinking about 2012. At least the weather has been decent here. Got in a nice 130k ride on the knobbies with some friends this weekend, and realized how awesome it is to ride and BS for hours with good people.

Easy Living

2011-10-17T09:24:00.001-07:00

This time of year is perfect to ride in the Grand Junction and Fruita area. Blue skies, sunny, a little bite in the morning air, and 70's all afternoon. Riding has been supreme.

Yesterday we went out for a stellar trails ride above town. No clouds and 80 degrees made for some great October tanlines! Nothing better. We'll see how long it stays like this. According to Murphy's law, it won't snow much since I just got a nice AT ski setup. I'd rather shred dry dirt in January anyways!

Video Time

2011-10-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

I just started shooting some video this past week of some fall riding here in Grand Junction. First vid is of the Edge Loop ridden from Fruita. The second is of the Grand Valley High School MTB Team who I've been helping out with on Monday nights. Enjoy!

Fresh Start

2011-10-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

Seems like the spring and summer flew by this year. Looks like I didn't even update this after my first race of the season in March...whoops. I was posting some race reports on my team website, Livetrainrace.com, but I'm going to start adding content back to this page. Stories, videos, recaps and more! Follow the Twitter on the right for more up to date stuff.

I thought about just killing this site, but after looking back through some old posts from 2006 and 2007, it's really pretty neat to see how far I have progressed through cycling and life. Not sure my spelling or writing has progressed, but we'll blame that on technology these days.

Anyways, a super-quick recap to get you back to date. Did some bike races and had an awesome spring and summer. I met some really awesome people this season traveling around racing, from competitors to host house volunteers. A couple rounds in California early in the year had me stoked for the rest of the summer. Had a good ride at US Nationals and rode up to 18th from the second to last call up.

I came back and prepared for Ore to Shore with the goal of winning. I had the legs and fitness, but my bike had other plans. Had a race ending mechanical with 15 miles to go sitting comfortably in the lead group. Shit happens, but I'll be back next year to capture the title. Finished the summer off with a great time at the 24 Hours of the Sage in Gunnison, CO. Did some hot laps, then chilled out and had a good weekend.

After that, I tore a ligament and likely more damage in my ankle. Yup, I fell off a slackline and came down wrong in the dark. Damn hippies. I could still ride, but it was definitely messing with some of my biomechanics on the bike. So, I've been slightly riding, but focusing on healing myself up correctly and getting back in the groove for an early onslaught to the 2012 season.

Season is Underway

2011-03-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

A week has passed since the start of the 2011 race season. I left on a Friday and drove through the red rock landscape of Utah over to St. George. Nestled in the southwest corner of the state, St George is a vibrant area for mountain biking. Justin and myself arrived to sun and 60 degree temperatures after being in the car the previous 4:45. Set up camp and chamoised up for the first ride of the year with pasty white skin exposed to the great yellow ball in the sky.

I don't know if it was the sun, the warmth, my excitement, or the previous training, but I felt great. My pre-ride felt so smooth and fast. Just awesome. Some food, campfire, and then it was hitting the sack in preparation for the first race of 2011.

Race day was another nice one. Mid 60's and sunny. I had a great warm-up and lined up front row. My goal was maybe a lofty one. I've been logging the hours, and I wanted to be top 5 and race from the front, not the back. Whistle goes off, clip in, pin it, and look left and right. Uh, where is everyone. Sure enough I got the whole shot. Once we were 6 minutes in and cruising up the first 8 minute climb, the selection of 6 was made.

4 laps of a 6 mile course later, I wound up coming across the line in 4th. Some great battles on the course, and some fun times. Alex Grant took the top step of the day. Went for another lap of the course for fun, then it was off to In N' Out Burger for the first double-double animal style of the year. A crankin' hot campfire topped off a stellar day.

Sunday, Justin and I drove over to Hurricane and rode the popular Gould's, JEM, Hurricane Rim loop. Some buff trails and good vibes finished the trip off nicely. A smooth drive back to Junction and the first race trip of the year was over.

I've been back in Junction trying to gain a little more fitness before Fontana next week. Should be a fun trip and a tough race. Looking forward to seeing where I stack up this year.

Stop yer BItchin'

2011-02-22T13:09:00.000-08:00

All it took was one mass e-mail from Steve "Iceman" Brown and social media took it viral. Michiganders all choked up on cabin fever are sitting around bitchin' about Iceman. The race is still 9 months away, but people are complaining about the entry fee. So, it's 75 bucks this year, for the best "event" of the year, and now USAC sanctioned.

What does this mean for 4,400 of the 4,500 racers? They will be covered under USAC insurance this year, their result will show on their member page, and their wallets will be $10 lighter. So what. It's supply and demand. People complain, but those 4,500 slots will be filled within 5 hours (if the system doesn't crash).

Now for Pro's, it is the same $75, but you must have a CAT 1 or Pro license. No biggy, right. If you race mountain bikes, you probably have a license. And look, you'll get a $5 refund. Then there are the roadies who complain. Well, if you are a pro, you already have a $150 UCI license that covers all disciplines. If not, take the $30 bullet and buy a MTB license. If you want to be a MTBer, you must play by the rules.

Get outside of Michigan and let's compare. A Tailwind race is $30. That's cheap. In Colorado, out MSC races are 50-55 for the pro races. Do a XC and short track in a weekend and your rear pocket is three digits lighter. Go test yourself on the national PRO XCT series, your looking at $65 for a XC race. Sea Otter, which is a large number event like Iceman cost me $95 the past few years. And for what? A 3 mile course with 33% concrete. AWESOME!

I've been to a bunch of bike races. Iceman is top notch. It is run well, there is a nice expo, and well put together race, good awards, and a fun after party. Events like this don't flourish if they are run shitty. I pay just as much at other races and get 1/2 the benefits. A better race should cost more as it is much more enjoyable and easy to be around.

For the USAC part, Steve Brown I assume is doing this more for the ease of administrative and insurance reasons. USAC insurance will cover everyone from Steve's family to the Boy Scouts who are handing out Gatorade. I bet there are hundreds of "Certificate of Liability Insurance" forms he has to cover everyone. So, a one-day license which most people will automatically get is $5. That takes him back to $70. Cost per rider from USAC is something like $6.50 they get. Now he's back to $63.50. Below last year, but he has insurance taken care of. Add in 3% inflation, and it is likely a wash.

People can complain, but I bet it will be another fun Iceman this year. I'll be there having a good time at a well run event. And I have to pay another $350 at least to fly back to the Mitten State. Lucky for me, I just got a cheap $270 flight in August for Ore to Shore. I hope to see you on a start line this summer!

And if you need a better reason, just go back and watch the Iceman Experience and hope for Spring.

Watch more video of ICEMAN Cometh Challenge on cyclingdirt.org

Ramping it Up

2011-02-15T13:04:00.000-08:00

Last year was not a great year on the bike for me. I struggled early in the year with knee problems and my hours and efforts were very minimalistic. This year is different. I knew I needed more base earlier in the year and more structure to get my body back into racing shape. Luckily, everything is coming together quite well.

I just finished a block of training. Early last week we saw some snow, then bitter cold temperatures. This relegated me to doing my prescribed efforts on the trainer for two days in a row with double sessions. I couldn't take it anymore, so back outside I went in negative wind chill temps.

This past weekend I had a nice 4 day volume block. I managed to sneak in 17 hours covering 298 miles in the past 4 days. I can tell the form is on the rise as my intervals yesterday went way better than planned and I felt great, even after the previous 2 days of 11hrs and 8000kj of work.

I'm getting pretty excited to get back on the dirt with a number plate. Looking forward to seeing how my work has payed off this off-season. T-18 days until the first test of the season.

In other news, looks like there is more hope for the Quizno's Pro Challenge to come to Grand Junction and race over the Monument like the old Coor's Classic days. Yes, we need another American Flyers!

Time Ticking Away

2011-01-29T11:58:00.000-08:00

Man, winter in Junction has been a "normal" year for 2011. I've been able to get all my workouts outside, which is really nice. I've had only a couple snow rides, but the white stuff is gone and the sun is shining. Riding dry trails in January is a pretty sweet deal.

Been getting everything in order for a run at the 2011 race season. I just did a pre-season VO2 Max test yesterday to see where I am at. Results were good, and showing that I am in really good shape for January. That's good, casue last year I sucked. First race will be down in St George, UT again this year. Nothing like blowing the cobwebs out of your legs in early March. Riding in Hurricane the next day isn't bad either.

Still trying to figure out my race schedule for the year. Going to be doing some of the PRO XCT's, some MSC races, a few local races, hopefully some cross, then Iceman. I'd like to come back for a run at Ore to Shore, but I'm not sure if I can get back this year.

Off to Moab tomorrow to shred some trail!

2011

2011-01-12T15:05:00.000-08:00

I'm not getting anyone's hopes up here, but maybe I'll do a little better job of updating this blog over the next year. I've had a great and exciting 2010, so I'm hoping for the same in 2011. The 2010 riding was some of the best I have done. I did not have the best fitness or results last year, but I had a hell of a time traveling around racing and riding bikes.

Here is a quick recap of what had gone down in the 81501 the past year.

I took the summer to explore all the fun things one should do. I set my home base of Grand Junction, and spent the summer riding, hiking, floating the river, fly fishing, racing, and traveling. I go to Crested Butte twice to ride the most glorious trails ever made. Some awesome camping was had, along with a few killer rides and some river fishing. I was also able to head back to Michigan for a couple weeks to visit family, hit the Ore to Shore and have a little camping vacation in the UP. Ore to Shore was decent, but a flat tire ruined my hopes of a good ride. I still finished up 15th and had a good time seeing everyone. Copper Harbor the following week was good enough redemption.

I didn't do much fall racing. Did a fun 24 Hours of Moab team and then headed back to Iceman for the true end of the season. My chainring gouged on me and kept dropping my chain after mile 12, so I had a long ride/walk to the finish line. At least I was able to see everyone from the mitten and ring out the season at the afterparty.

Besides riding and having fun, I graduated from Mesa State College with a marketing degree this fall. I also started a job running a new bike shop here in Grand Junction, LTR Sports. It is going to be exciting watching it grow along with the exciting cycling scene in the valley. I will be riding for our local team, LiveTrainRace.com next year. If I'm not posting here, you'll see some of my posts on their website.

I also just bit the bullet and decided to stay in Grand Junction for a while. I bought a pretty cool little house the other day which should give my outdoor gear a place to stay when I'm in town. Yep, thats about it. This whole social media thing is booming, so follow me on FB or TW for more consistent updates over the next year!

Summer

2010-06-17T15:20:00.000-07:00

Well, since the last post I have been enjoying myself quite a bit. Went down to Angel Fire, New Mexico for the MSC race a couple weeks ago. I had some better fitness and a decent ride finishing 14th. Nothing too spectacular this year, but I am having fun for sure.

Went to do a local race in Rifle a couple weeks ago and it was a deluge of rain, hail and lightening that morning. Not ideal conditions for a bike race, but we managed to get one lap in before it was called.

Also did a the ride the rockies day two from Grand Junction, over the Grand Mesa and into Delta. It ended up being 95 miles with 6,800ft of climbing. It was a good time even though it was cloudy, cold and raining at some points.

Hitting the Gas

2010-05-24T08:10:00.000-07:00

3 weeks of hard training are down.

Feels good to have a little bit of fitness again.

Looking forward to the next block of training to really ramp up for July.

Did the MSC/Triple Crown race at Nathrop

Surprisingly felt good in Short Track and lasted the entire 25 minutes finishing 14th

XC was a sufferfest

Got some sweet rides in this past week

Did a local MTB race in Palisade on Saturday

Was on the bike at 6am to ride to the race...way to early to be riding

Won the race and scored a DT swiss EXC 150 fork

Cursed the spring winds again on Sunday's ride

Chilling out this week.

Little riding, some hiking, maybe some floating the river and kayaking

Angel Fire, New Mexico in a couple weeks.

Killer Weekend

2010-05-09T15:29:00.000-07:00

I've finally got back into the training groove and started a big block to get me flying later in the summer. I put some big hard rides in earlier this week, and capped it off with a couple awesome loops this weekend.

I camped out at 18Rd with some friends on Friday night and had a good time. Perfect sleeping weather and great conditions.

Saturday was the Edge Loop out in Fruita. Started in the lower desert and went up and around. Rob and Mike were both killing it and we were all feeling good about the ride until we saw a guy on a UNICYCLE. Really. He was attempting to ride a unicycle on the 32 mile Edge Loop. We saw him at the waterfall and he was already 5 hour in. Crazy!

Today was a nice day to ride up high and explore. We rode from GJ up to Turkey Flats, and then came back JS->21 1/2 Rd->LPR->Gunny Loop. An awesome 4 hours of riding in the high country with 5500ft of climbing.

My legs are a bit tender with 25 hours in them this week. Time to take a day off, then keep on building. Chalk Creek is next weekend and it is going to hurt with the fatigue monster taking full control of my legs.

MSC #1

2010-04-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

Did the first round of the MSC series this weekend here in Fruita. I skipped out on the TT on Saturday, but hung out at the event all day. The weather was bluebird skies and 70 degrees. I finally got out for a ride about 3:30pm and rode the first 6 miles then came back the return route.

Sunday the weather was just as nice, but a stiff headwind the first 10 miles of the course. The first 10 miles were 2-track with some rollers and sand. A few pileups, broken chains, and people stuck in sand blew the pack up a bit. Suffered the first 45 minutes to the top of the mesa before riding for 30 minutes on what felt like a paint-mixer. Rough. I hit the wall after 1.5 hours and suffered bad the next 50 minutes. I thought it was the big effort the first hour and the no recovery, but it could have been the food. A bowl of granola with a piece of bread at 8am might not hold me until the 12:45 start time. And 2 gels for 2:20 might not be the smartest idea. Ah well, it was fun and we picked off people near the end. I thought I was near the back of the pack, but I ended up 34th of 54, so not too bad for early season riding.

It is finally time for me to start hitting the blocks and training hard for the important races later this summer. It all starts tomorrow morning! Can't wait to suffer and start becoming fast again!

Upcomings

2010-04-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was awesome. After traveling every week/weekend for the last couple months, I am finally at the stage where I get to stay home. This is the PERFECT time of year to be here. Last weekend I was able to get out and enjoy the awesome trails in the valley, a majority of the stuff I never get out and ride. The weather was top notch, with highs in the upper 70's and bluebird skies. Couldn't ask for better weather.

Pre-rode the Rabbit Valley course with Mike on Saturday. There's a MSC race there next weekend which could be entertaining. Not my type of course, but it will shake stuff up. Went back out to Fruita Sunday and did a sweet exploration loop on many of the lesser-ridden trails at 18Rd. Got in some good climbing with a nice mix of dirt roads and some super buff 1-track.

This weekend we have the race at RV on Saturday and Sunday. I'll likely just do the XC Sunday as registration fees are way high. Has the price of promoters insurance skyrocketed in the last year? Everything else in this economy is becoming cheaper as disposable income has shrank with lack of dollars flowing through peoples pockets. All the races I have done this year have been over $50. I can maybe see $50 for a sweet XC in the pro class where they are paying out, but $45 for a 20 minute TT on Saturday is whack. So, I might head down and hang out, or I might go on up to Ranchstyle. Nothing like watching a bunch of freeride nutjobs ride crazy fast and hit mega-air.

Next week is the Fruita Fat Tire Festival. First time I have ever been in town for it. Some people from the mitten are headed down so it should be fun to show off some of the local jems. After that, it is time to buckle down and get serious about riding bikes. Need to get fast for the summer. I also am done with school in a couple weeks. I'll get one of those expensive pieces of paper that says I'm edumakated.

Happenings

2010-04-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

Just kinda cruising through.

Pics thanks to Kristy at Livetrainrace.com

-Had a fun trip down to Fontana for the first Pro XCT a couple weeks ago.

-Did a good pre-ride Friday with a bunch of the U23 guys.

-Wrecked hard on the pre-ride and lost some confidence.

-Race day was alright finishing in the 50's of 90 pro guys.

-The 34T chain ring was a painful grind up the elevator climb.

-The results are different on 3 cycling websites

-Short track was dusty and painful

-In 'N Out was good

-10.5 hours back to Durango, 3 more to GJ

-Came home for 3 days to do laundry and school

-Drove down to Hurricane, UT for another MTB race

-Legs felt okay, but flatted twice

-Cruised the last lap in with Mitchell

-Had a good time around the campfire

-Shredded some sweet trails. JEM was soooooo dialed

-Drove back to GJ where it is 50mph winds and high in the 30's tomorrow

-Sea Otter in 2 weeks

-Living the dream riding my bike and hanging with cool people

Fontucky

2010-03-29T21:48:00.000-07:00

Fun weekend, crazy stories, messed up results. More to come!

Perspective

2010-03-21T20:46:00.001-07:00

Riding bikes, that is what we do. We live, sleep, eat thinking about riding bikes. Some people race an hour long crit. Others suck wheel for a 100 mile road race. The fat tire folks suffer for two hours in a cross country race. The others push out the grueling 100 mile endurance races. The crazies race 24 hour solos. But after all, we all love riding our bikes. We go out and ride during the day in the name of training, stress relief, fun, and other reasons that are hard to put into words. For this, we are all similar.

Well, there is one exception...

Local guy and cycling badass, Mike Curiak. He is a downright cool guy. You would never be able to tell his accomplishments just by seeing or talking to him. He is also a leader in cycling innovation, especially in the 29er movement. He is a superb wheel builder as I can personally attest to. But there is one thing that makes him different-his latest cycling adventure.

You've probably heard of the Alaska UltraSport aka Iditasport. Same route as the Iditarod dog sled race. 1,100 miles from Knik to Nome, Alaska. Temperatures up to -60F and even colder. Racers travel on bike, foot, or skis. Racers stop at checkpoints and sleep in warm cabins and eat hot food until they are ready to hit the trail again. It sounds miserable, but that is luxury compared to what Curiak has just done.

He won the race to Nome a few times I believe and set the record of just over 15 days in 2000. That would be enough for most people, not Mike. The past few years he has set off to do the race self-supported. He has had some problems with equipment, but this year he got it right. He just finished the trip to Nome in just over 21 days self-supported. That are no cabins, no hot food, no support from anyone. Isolation in the barren land of Alaska for three weeks. Sleeping in a tent every night in temperatures most of us could never think of. Cooking up all his own food and eating sugary snacks every day. No going to the local pub after a long day in the saddle.

His bike weighed 145 pounds at the start of the race. He carried 24 days worth of food and reports are that he estimated he would loose one pound per day as he could not pack any more food on his bike. Can you imagine riding a bike like that? He rides all day and only averages 50 miles. Some days are spent slogging along pushing this heavy bike through deep powder. Doesn't sound terribly fun. So, here is a HUGE congrats to Mike for finishing this ridiculous endeavor. I'm sure he's got some incredible stories. The rumor is this trip is just a trip for something bigger and more desolate in the future. That is not an everyday cyclist. That is Mike Curiak.

For more about his trip, he will likely post some stuff in the next couple weeks after he eats a small town. There are some updates and trackers on the site now. Lacemine29.blogspot.com. There is a link on the right.

Spring Break

2010-03-12T08:04:00.000-08:00

Well, this past week was spring break for us. The trails are still unrideable, and the weather is nothing to speak of. Friday morning I packed up the car and headed off to St. George, Utah for some mountain biking. We arrived to mid-60's and sun. It felt HOT! Got in a couple laps of the race course and got the mountain bike feeling back. We went back to the campsite and hung out all night around the campfire bull shitting all night. Good times were had.

Race day was Saturday at noon which is a great time for racing. Sun and warm temps were back for an enjoyable race. 35 pros lined up at the start which is the biggest field the Intermountain Cup series has seen in a long time. The competition was stiff as 4 Mona-Vie/Cannondale riders lined up with 3 Jamis riders, Burke Swindlehurst and other local pros. The race sorted out on the two 400ft climbs per lap. I battled back and forth with a couple guys for most of the race and ended up finishing a content 12th. I was happy with it for the first race of the year following a tough training week.

Saturday night was spend chilling around the fire again, then hit the sack as it rained on the tent all night. We got in a good 3hr ride Sunday hitting up some fun trails in Green Valley. We then headed out for some food at In 'N Out then off to a real campground.

It rained again Sunday night, which killed our chances of riding Gooseberry on Monday. The trail would have been good, but the back road to the trail was 8" of wet clay. We hit up Hurricane Rim to the Jem trail instead which was fun and had some nice views. Once again, it rained that night just as our campfire was dying down. We woke up Tuesday morning after constant rain to big wet snowflakes. Now mind you, St George is a desert and normally never sees rain and the average temperature is 68F this time of year. We packed up and drove 6 hours back home in mostly snow, then rain.

Wednesday was rainy here in GJ. My ride was very wet and not too enjoyable as my legs did not show up to ride. Thursday was finally sunny and 40F which felt nice. Got in a good long ride with lots of climbing. Now I will be going out for a few hours before heading down to Boulder for the weekend of racing crits. Today will be ride #4 on the road bike in a looooong time. Hopefully I can figure out how to handle it.

Coming up is a weekend of racing in Fort Collins, then our home races or Fontana Pro XCT, then an I-Cup race in Hurricane, races in the Springs, Sea Otter, Fruita MSC race, then the Fat Tire Fest. Gonna be a good spring!

Technology

2010-02-23T17:41:00.001-08:00

Over the years, we have all bought shiny new bike parts. Most of what we have bought has been brought about due to greater technological advances. New tech bits have not only played a large part of bike advancement, but they are also in our favorite training tools. We’ve all had ‘em or wanted ‘em. Heart rate monitor, power meters, GPS. They will make us faster, ya?

I was one who started off on a heart rate monitor. After a few years on that I got a screaming deal on a PowerTap I just could not pass up. I used it for a couple years. I also had a wrist watch GPS with heart rate monitor function to boot. They were all great and maybe helped with my training. Last year after coming back from a 7 week knee injury, I went old school. I took what the power meter and heart rate monitors had taught me about perceived exertion and used that as my new tool. That was a big technological step back. Guess what, with this old school approach, I became way faster. It was not just the lack of tools, it was also a different training plan in place.

So this brings me to the main point. I have tried to re-embrace training technology and have transformed my PowerTap into 135mm spacing for my flat-bar road/mtb bike. I also have been using a Garmin 705 on mountain bike trips to follow GPS tracks and not get lost. Well, today was my first day of any intensity in what feels like ages. My PowerTap hub batteries died and I wanted to collect some data as a reference point, so this is what it came to.

I felt like a fool riding around with all these fancy gadgets hanging off my riser bars. Looked and felt weird coming from someone who swore off training tools last fall. Let’s just see if by Spring it makes me any faster. If not, I know I can always go back to the old-school approach.

This Is Cool

2010-02-20T18:58:00.000-08:00

Pretty sweet the Fruita Fat Tire Festival shows up on upcoming events at weather.com. I will actually be in town this year to take part in all the fun!

In Search of Dry Dirt

2010-02-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

Down in AZ riding the trails. Been a good time. You can read my write-up so far here.

Looking Good

2010-02-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

Going down to Phoenix this coming Wednesday. There is a road race, but I am trying to get into the swing of things on the road bike. I am not quite ready to race again. Last season was really long, and I need a little more time before I hit it hard again. So, I am going to hit up the sweet trails on the MTB. Should be a really good time. Weather here has been really bad this winter. Its been 10 degrees below average on a daily basis, much cloudier than normal, and snowing. It could be March before we see dirt again here. So getting on some dirt in Arizona is going to be nice. Riding in shorts and short sleeves won't be too hard to handle either.

Nada Mucho

2010-01-25T19:01:00.000-08:00

Not too much going on here lately. School started last week and is going along just fine. Looks like I have a pretty good schedule for my last semester which should be nice. One class on Thursdays and nothing on Friday should make for a bit of traveling.

Been back on the bike for the last two weeks. Feels good to get back into a groove and pedaling again. No huge hours yet, we'll work up to that. The weather here has been fine with me, but has been below average a bit. Last year we were riding trails the first of February, but its not looking like it will be any time soon. Temps in the low 30's everyday doesn't do it for the trails. Word on the street was Moab was horrible in December and January. But I did hear today that Amasa Back might be good to ride. So, maybe I'll hit the dirt this weekend to learn how to ride on rocks again. Lately it has been spinning away on the pavement. Speaking of which, here is my training bike...

Besides that, it is all pretty chill here. First race will be in a few weeks down in Phoenix, AZ. Should be a good time to get in some miles in the sunshine and warm weather. It's a road race, so I might have to ride my road bike once beforehand. Especially considering it has seen two days of pedaling since the end of April. Whoops. A few weeks later is the first MTB race in St. George, UT. Should be a good time getting back into racing on the dirt and hitting all the other cool trails that weekend.

Out With the Old, In With the New

2010-01-02T18:49:00.001-08:00

It's been some time since I updated this thing. The cool thing about blogs is the memories that are recorded. I enjoy this time of year where I can go back on reflect on my past journeys of the good, the bad, and the ugly. This year there were a lot of fond memories and awesome trips taken. This was also my first year where I did a large amount of racing and learned some valuable lessons.

I spent a large portion of my time in the spring riding on the pavement and racing every weekend on the road. It was a fun time traveling with all my buddies, going to races, hanging out and feeding off others successes. I started off the year with a trip to Arizona, then did the entire collegiate road block as training, and capped it off with a trip to New Mexico. I do not consider myself a road racer and know exactly where my weaknesses lie, but I had some good memories. When on the road, I give myself no expectations. I just show up to ride in a pack with others and get in a good training session. With this mentality, I had a good time no matter how bad my legs felt or what place I got.

After this I had a long break off the bike with my knee injury. I came back and after 7 weeks with only a handful of rides, I jumped head first into the Lumberjack 100. Whether it was stupid or dumb, I have yet to figure out, but I learned a lot. I realized I can get off the couch and ride my bike in the woods for hours on end. I don't have to be competitive to have fun, it is all about the joy of being on two wheels around good people. A four week block of training and I surprisingly nailed down a top 10 at Ore to Shore. I kept thinking how out of shape I was, but it all comes down to the motivation and effort you put in.

It was back to Colorado with strong motivation knowing I was riding well with not many hours in the legs. I kept strictly to the mountain bike whether it was on gravel, pavement, or sweet singletrack. A win, some top 5's, and all around good weekly bike trips with like-minded individuals had me dreaming. I was able to pick up some good results at collegiate nationals in Tahoe and achieved my goals for the year. With good fitness in hand, I got a flight to Iceman to be able to suffer for 28 miles with friends. It capped off an awesome season.

After Iceman were a few cyclocross races and Nationals in Bend, Oregon. I was done. I had raced all spring after putting in long hours, drilled myself into shape all summer and fall and it paid off. I took the last month of the season to just enjoy myself. I always enjoy riding my bike. I make it fun. It is not about racing and getting results, but about being outside, breathing fresh air, living stress free for those few hours in the saddle and shredding trails with friends. I enjoy racing and love the thrill those few weeks a year where you are in prime condition, and just flying. But the last month was nice to get out and ride for the fun of it.

Since May, I did not use a power meter, hardly ever a heart rate monitor, never tracked miles or weight. I just rode. I would climb a mountain a few times to see how fast I could get to the top. I would get the joy of hitting the summit faster every week. I suffered behind a motor a few times, but a good suffering. I always went out on rides with a slight plan, but changed it on how I was feeling. Maybe I wanted to climb to 10,000ft, maybe I wanted to shred flowing sinlgetrack, maybe an easy ride cruising with friends. Whatever it was, I enjoyed it. And it goes to show, cycling is fun for all no matter how fast you got or what your number say.

So after a few weeks off the bike, I am ready to go again. After this summer, I know I can get back in shape fairly quickly depending on what I do. I think I'll take it easy for a while, but looking to be firing late spring and into mid-summer. I'll be doing a little road this year, but focusing mainly on the fat tires.

Here's to a good 2010.

Iceman, Niceman

2009-11-09T19:11:00.001-08:00

I'll hopefully have pics up soon
Whatever it is called, it is the best race all year. I have to say, even living in Colorado and doing almost 50 races already this year, the Triple Crown races are still the best races and best atmosphere. If all national caliber mountain bike races were like this, it would be on VS and people would be making money.

Did a pre-ride on Friday after flying in the night before and driving up to Kalkaska that morning. A spin down to Tornado Alley and back got my legs going after sitting for most of the last 24 hours.

Race day was so nice. Almost as good as Colorado weather this time of year. Sunny and warm. Rode out past Tornado Alley again for my warm-up chatting with Jason Anderson from Vitamin Cottage/Natural Grocers. Realized I was running short on time and had to book it back.

Race got underway and somehow managed to avoid the first wreck a few hundred yards in. Missed the second wreck where it narrowed on the dirt. Was 40 guys back going into the woods and the first few miles. Guys were everywhere and there was no passing until people started fading. Started to drill the pace and get around people to get back to the front. I could see the lead group just ahead of us, but I couldn't reel them in. Must be the fact that JHK, Matter, Shultz, Simonster and Anderson were up there. With that horsepower, I could keep them in sight for a while, but never get to them.

We ended up with a nice group for most of the race. Once we dropped most stragglers, it was a core 5-6 of us. I burned a lot of matches early on and was really glad when Wissink got on our group. He is a workhorse and did lots of pace setting in the last 15 miles. Him and Mike Phillips were keeping the pace high. Kuhn, Brewchamp, Stewy, and I made the rest if the group. Everyone seemed to be riding well and similar levels.

We were all together going into Timber Ridge, but the singletrack at the end created some gaps. I was on the back of what was then a 5 man train, and got gapped in the last singletrack section. It kept going on and by the time we hit the last woodchip hill, the group was splitting up. Was able to safely ride in for 18th on the day. Did the 28.8 miles in 1:38. It was crazy fast and really hard. Typical Iceman style!

It was a total change from training for nationals in Tahoe. No 20 min climbs and 10 min descents for recovery. Just pin yourself fro 28 miles and keep the leg speed high. My 19lb Superfly was perfect for the course. Maybe next year I'll train for it and see if I can get on the front group early on.

Overall a super fun weekend. Not just the race, but the entire atmosphere. Thanks to everyone who was screaming and ringing cowbells all over the course and at the finish. You just don't get that at any other race. It was also great to see everyone from the racing scene again and catch up. Can't wait for the next one!

Next up is cyclocross nationals in Bend, Oregon in a month. For right now, it is just time for some fun mountain bike rides and just enjoying being on two wheels.

Gettin' Ready

2009-10-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day. Weather was awesome, riding was good, and riding was fun!

Started off suffering behind this...

On my MTB, thats how I roll

Then off for ride #2 having some fun

Ali-Ali Singletrack

Not sure how many more days will be like this

Superfly looking ready for Iceman

The 'Fly all boxed up and shipping out tomorrow.

A Few More Pics

2009-10-23T11:54:00.001-07:00

BRAAAP!

Euro Mullet and Frogskins. Hell yeah!

Collegiate Nationals

2009-10-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

The Truckee/Tahoe area is sweet!

Raced XC on Friday. 4 - 7.5 mile laps. Big climb up, descend down. Was a little conservative on the DH, but finished on the podium in 4th.

Short track Saturday morning. Started up a loose gravel climb. Lots of rubbing and leaning on each other. Just as I think I am clear of any trouble, some guy comes flying up and takes me out. Fly off the bike and run back to it. Look back and I am dead last all through lap 1. Rally the rest of the time and finish 6th. Was on the wheel of 4th & 5th, but ran out of time.

Did a sweet loop of the XC afterward and watched some four cross.

Made sure I looked like a fool on the podium.

Rode to Lake Tahoe with Cruise and some of his teammates. Views and ride was awesome.

Watched some downhill and yelled at Joe too much.

Drove back all day yesterday.

It's pouring rain here now. Time to get wet. Iceman is 18 days away. Let's see if I can keep some fitness.

While the Weather is Dismal...

2009-10-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

for most of you. Seems like is has rained a lot in Michigan this week. And those down in Denver have been treated to freezing temperatures and fluffy white stuff. Way to early for me. On the other hand, the weather on this side is quite nice. I got a fun ride in Fruita today. Blue skies, sunny, and 70 degrees.

Enjoy!

In other news, my racing schedule is looking to be really fun with some of the biggest races in the country coming up. We leave in a couple days for Truckee, CA for collegiate MTB nationals. Two weeks later we have the Boulder Cup UCI cyclocross race weekend. Then the following week I will be setting sail back to the mitten for the all mighty ICEMAN!!! I'm so stoked. Might have to get a few sessions behind the motor after Nationals to pick my legs speeds up!

Here is my Iceman bike. 19.01 lbs.

Almost There

2009-10-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

Conference Finals were last week here in Junction. It was nice to stay here for once and not have to drive into the boonies late at night. Short Track was on Saturday morning. We got a nice little hour ride with a bit of singletrack in before the race. My legs felt decent, but once again we all had a horrible starting position. Dead back row on a course that is all about position. Needless to say, we all sat waiting to get into the 1-track, then stopped again before a drop, then had to hike up the next hill. The course was a technical singletrack downhill, then a jeep road back up. After 3 laps, it finally cleared up a little and I was able to make up some positions. Ended up 11th which was fine. I think we would have all done much better with a better start.

Went up to the Ranch after that to help out and watch the dual slalom race. It was sick. There are some crazy fast dudes out here and the course was awesome. Here is a video of Ranchstyle that is held there in the spring. Kinda gives you an idea of what is up there.

Saturday night we went out to Olive Garden which turned into a bad choice. We ended getting competitive in an eating competition. Needless to say we were all hurting after 2 bowls of salad, 6 breadsticks, and 4 bowls of pasta.

Sunday morning was quite warm as I rode over to the XC course. It was dark and sprinkled a bit on me. My chain got jacked up with a tight link in my warm-up, so I spent the last few minutes before the start putting more links in. So, another back row start with not a ton of passing as it is a rocky climb. It started raining half way through the lap. By lap 2, the benonite on the ground turned into concrete. Wheels would hardly clear the frames. We hikes a bit, and just rode around having fun. No one was behind us as they stopped everyone after our group, so we rode a chill conversational pace and rolled in safely.

We leave next week for Truckee, CA for Nationals at Northstar at Tahoe Resort. Should be a sweet time. I am still waiting for my Superfly to come back. That bike should be killer on that course. I really hope it comes in by tomorrow so I can race it. After Nationals turns to donut and cyclocross season. Should be a blast!

I Love Mountains

2009-09-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

Winter Park this past weekend was fun. We stayed in a nice little condo instead of camping this weekend, considering it was snowy the whole week. Weather turned out to be great with mid-60's and sunny on Saturday and Sunday.

XC race was more of a fun ride in the woods for me. My legs were fried after a really hard week of training. I also broke my Superfly earlier in the week and was on my second ever ride on a Stumpjumper 29er. The race was relatively short, so it was not too painful. The DH was so freakin fun, especially on a 4" 29er full suspension. The climb was mainly a long dirt road, so it was kinda boring.

Sunday was the DH race, so I went out and explored the area for a good 3+ hours. It was a blast finding new trails. Super fun time. My legs hurt really bad, but I pushed through it to get to some rad downhills.

After drilling myself day after day and racing 4 weeks straight, I finally have a recovery week. I am glad for it. Our home race is this weekend, which will be fun, but I am not looking for any result.

Hoping my Superfly will be back in time for Nationals in Truckee, CA. It will be built back up @ 20.5 lbs for some raging. Hopefully with some killer fitness and a rocking 29er, there will be a good result.

Mixin' it Up

2009-09-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

Had a sweet weekend up in the mountains these past few days. Camped up at Sol Vista Friday and Saturday for another racing weekend. Rolled in around 6pm and had camp set up not too long after. Built a campfire and watched as the foxes circled around us.

The cross country was on Saturday this week which worked out great. Going into the race, I was actually feeling decent. I did a few really big days of training earlier in the week and racked up over 15,000ft of climbing in just 3 days. Somehow my recovery went pretty good. Did a little warm-up on course, then came back down the mountain. The official called us up 15 minutes early and we started late. By the time we started I was cold again. No biggy.

We raced 4 laps of the Pro XC course that was run at Nationals this summer. My plan was to kinda chill out and warm back up on the opening climb. I started near the back of the 30 person group. I just followed wheels while most of the people were going all out. One there was a little space about half way up the climb I started making my move. Climb was maybe 15 minutes to the top. The downhill was freaking sweet. Loose moon-dust type of powder all the way down with some steep techy parts up top(Watch the first few minutes to see some of the DH). Once I saw it on lap 1, I was able to really have some fun on it on laps 2-4.

I ended up just moving up throughout the race. Picked a couple people off a lap. Maybe I made my moves a little too late in the race, but I felt good about it. I passed Blake on the last lap climb and held him off on the downhill to finish 4th. It was a decent result. Rotem obviously won. That guy is a machine. And like a 8 time Israeli national champion.

Sunday morning we packed up and headed off to Breckenridge for the first cyclocross race of the year. While doing my warm-up I knew my legs were shot. They were truly sore from the efforts adding up throughout the week. Along with that I saw Baker, Brady, Pacocha, and Dwight all showed up. Game plan: Don't crash, don't run into any barriers, and don't get lapped.

I got to the start late, so I was last starting. We went down a big wood chip hill, so not much passing. There were around 30 guys who started, so I moved up a little. After a few laps of cruising around having fun, I realized I should be going a lot harder. I worked my way up to 14th, and was riding with another guy. With 2 laps to go, I got a wood chip jammed in my cassette which caused all kinds of skipping. As I stopped an attempted to get it out 4 guys passed me. Just as I got on, another went by me. I kinda lost my rhythm I had going after that. The freezing cold rain didn't help either. I took it cautiously on all the pavement corners to make sure I didn't eat shit. Finished up 19th, and had a good time. Once collegiate mountain bike nationals are over, I'll focus back to cross and hopefully get some decent results.

Next on tap is another cross country race at Winter Park this weekend on Saturday, then hopefully a big ride in the mountain hitting up some sweet trails on Sunday. Looking forward to it. Hopefully the weather is good, considering it was snowing in Denver today...and Winter Park is 4-5,000 ft higher.

Another week in

2009-09-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

Race weekend number two down. Wasn't really sure how I'd feel for this one. Had some really hard rides during the week and my openers hurt the day before. A little 6hr drive, and we were at Beaver Meadows around 10:30pm. Set up camp and hit the sack.

Short track was a sweet loop with mostly 2-track and a cool 1-track climb. I knew I was in trouble during my warm-up. Was able to pick spots off during the race, but I couldn't get into an top end speed at all. Legs were a bit fatigued. The cold temperatures did not help either. Somehow I managed to move up to 8th out of 32 racers by the time the finish rolled around.

We went back to camp and ate some food before a pre-ride of the XC course. While we were relaxing, it started to snow lightly on us. A few falkes rolling down around noon. Not liking that. It was chilly. So the best thing to do is go ride up a mountain to warm up. Hit up the course and it was sweet. The 34T chainring up front was primo. Climbs were tough, and the DH was a large rock garden.

We woke up to sun on Sunday morning for our 9am start. Got a decent start and hit the climb in good position. By the top, I was sitting around 6th, about 15 seconds off the pace of the lead group of 5. That was the end of that. The trail went down and I went backwards. I think 5 people passed me going down. Luckily the legs were feeling good and I was able to pass most of the back on the lap 2 climb. Held off all but one on the descent, then hit the second climb on lap 2 hard. Coming to the last mile, the CSU guy I was looking for to pass me finally came by at warp speed. Yup, lost another spot. Fun race though, I just rode really conservative trying not to flat or crash. Last year I triple flatted here. This year, no flats, no crashes, no dabs-good race. Not sure how I finished up, as I never saw results.

This weekend should be good with a XC race at Sol Vista, then hopefully a my first cyclocross race of the season up high in Breckenridge. But first, I have to go beat my body up for hours on end before the weekend. Putting it all on the line in another month.

Back to Racing

2009-09-07T09:02:00.001-07:00

The collegiate mountain bike season just kicked off this past weekend. 5 weekends of racing in a row, then a week off before a trip to Tahoe for Nats. Whats cool about our series-4 of the 5 weekends are in the mountains and all start above 8,500ft!

So this weekend was up in Laramie, Wyoming. Cool little event. Has s short track Saturday morning. In true fashion, I rolled in about last on the first lap. Made my way up to the lead group after that. It whittled down by the end, and there was only 4 of us on the last lap. Went for a pass at the top of the climb to move to the front, but was shut down. Not much passing after that, so I settled for 4th.

Super D was a little later. Never done one. Really, I just wanted to shred some sweet trails. I did a light jog to the bike and was last on. Passed some guys before the long DH started, and just had some fun while trying not to die.

XC was Sunday morning with a top notch field of guys. I hadn't ridden the course, but it was SWEET. A some climbing, then a long DH with some kickers, and a few longer climbs laced in there. Went down to a ravine, then had a climb all the way back to the start/finish. 4 loops of the 5.5 mile course. Was in a group of 5 after getting knocked over accidentally by Blake on lap 1, then moved up. By lap 2, I was third. Lap 3 I caught up to Trevor, and got a gap on him. Ended up catching up to Alders who was racing open, then we hit a nice DH stretch where my chain decided to wrap around my crank arm and twist up in the rear derailluer. Took me maybe 30 seconds to get it unraveled and back on. Just as it was almost on, Trevor came flying past me. I was able to get back in a rhythm and pass him on the last climb to get to the finish first.

RESULTS
Next weekend is off to Beaver Meadows, up in the middle of nowhere for a sweet race. Hopefully I'll have the 1x9 set up by then and my chain won't fly off.

Goal

2009-08-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

So today's goal was to do a 5hr ride with some good climbing. I linked up a good loop that I was stoked on. The plan was to ride from town over to the Lunch Loops and catch some trail. Andy's Loop to the famous Ribbon. The Ribbon would pop me out on Little Park RD where I could hit up the pavement for 1/2 mile to some dirt. Take the dirt to Enoch Lake, then up 16.5Rd to Turkey Flats-a sweet singletrack loop that starts at 9200ft. Finish that and take more dirt back to Glade Park, refuel, and come back down to civilization via the Monument. Well, it didn't quite work...

Andy's singletrack

Mmmmmm...

Ribbon. A few miles of nose on the stem climbing. 15-20+% on slickrock.

Yup, still steaming even at 10am.

The view near the top.

A little road climbing

Dirt Road

Turned into narrow RIDICULOUSLY gravely road that climbed and had some steep pitches.

WTF...who owns this. The road is blocked by a ranch. Guess I'm done.

Went back and did some 'sploring. Found this little ORV road

Finally got high enough into the aspens. Nice and cool up here.

Road back to LPR, then over to Glade Park to refuel.

Yup, general store.

Took some pavement and dirt road back into the Monument.

Rode across the Monument, then came back down to town,

So, it didn't fully work out. I know that road goes through, but how I can do it, I am not sure. Still got a good ride in with some trail, dirt road, ORV trails, and even pavement. 5hrs and 7,000ft of climbing. Tomorrow wraps up a little 3 week 60+ hour training block. Body is feeling good and I'm excited to test my fitness again. Next weekend is our first race up in Wyoming. Short track and XC is on tap. Looking for the body to respond well and see what I need to work on.

And we're back...

2009-08-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, haven't updated in a while. Let's see...been riding quite a bit. Knees seem to allow it for the most part. Did some good rides and trained through a bunch of races.

Had a good time at Big M racing with Robert and Bill before I popped.

Did the Lakeshore Relay as a last minute thing and had a good time. Guess I put in some past laps on the single.

Raced the Stony TT the next day and had another fun day on the bike.

Had a nice weekend of no racing. So I got a few long rides in.

Took a recovery week after an attempt at 4 weeks of getting my ass back into some sort of shape.

Guess it worked. Played my cards right and knocked out a top 10 finish at Ore to Shore.

Drove 21 hours to Denver from Marquette. Lots of rain and lightning on the drive.

Rode a bunch of trails and some good road climbs during the week. Even got in a fun and hard ride with Shawn and his buddies.

Drove to GJ, moved in, got some good rides in. Fruita 1-track on the 69er was smooth.

Shredded the Tab. Hit up the Ribbon trail. OUCH.

Rode my road bike for the first time in 3.5 months. Weird. Twitchy. I'll throw down on the Tuesday nighter and see what happens. My legs are trashed, but I might give them a brake in a few days. Haven't taken an off day in a while.

Looking forward to racing some mountain bikes in the mountains soon.

Yeah, the 29er is sweet out here. MC is building me some baller wheels up as well.

Finally in the swing of things

2009-07-14T06:23:00.001-07:00

Yup, last week I was finally able to get back into a good riding rhythm again. Since the Lumbo, it was a few days of riding, then 4 days off for my wisdom teeth yanking, a few days of riding, then a quick trip to Baltimore. Now it feels good to be back in my normal routine that has been missing since the 1st of May.

Monday was my start to training again. By the end of the week, I had racked up 20 hours and lots of good times all on the fat tires. Hit up Boyne last weekend for the marathon race. Yup, trying to race myself into shape. Rode a hard lap on Friday, then did another good fun lap with Tim and Alan. Was able to get my new course knowledge down a bit and have fun shredding the 1-track.

The race on Saturday was fun. I rode most of lap 1 with Jaime, then rode the next 3 laps solo. Surprisingly, my body felt pretty good. Since it was over 3.5 hours, I made sure not to dig terribly deep and blow up since I have no top end. A last lap stop to fill up a leaking tire, and I was all good. Not many in the field, but I did manage to finish third behind Christian and the Simonster who were both killing it.

Next up is more bike riding, then Big M this weekend. Stony TT the next, a week off racing, then Ore to Shore before heading back to the land of thin air.

So...

2009-06-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a little while. What was it, May 1st when I stopped riding. Started again on June 3rd. Put in 4 rides, which leaves me at my last post.

Since then, I did a ride a few days later, and my knee was bugging me again. Did a few quick 15-30min feeler rides to see how the knee was feeling. That's 5 rides in 50 days! Didn't really ride again until the day before Lumberjack. Did a quick little pre-ride of the course and thought I was going to die. I felt so out of shape on the climbs and had really tight legs from doing nothing other than standing all day at work and sitting on my ass at home.

DISCLAIMER: I highly recommend training for 100 mile mountain bike races. You might be able to get by without it though.

Photo: Jack Kunnen
So, Lumberjack was just a training ride for me and to see how my knee was feeling. Luckily the rest and exercises had been working and it was feeling good. Hit the rollout in the top 30 and just chilled. I knew I could not hang with the top guys like I was hoping for earlier in the season. Slow and steady.

Lap 1 hurt. My legs had no idea what was going on. Rode the first half with women's winner Betsy Shrogen as she was throwing down a XC pace on the chicks. Spent the rest just enjoying riding my bike in the woods and sweating profusely in the mid-west humidity.

Lap 2 was sweet. I was solo for most of it, but I was having a great time. Sweeping and flowing through the course. I was loving life. This lap was a little quicker than lap 1.

Lap 3 came and I was wondering what the hell I was doing. Why was I racing a hundo off the couch? Hmm, cause I like riding my bike. According to Simonster's high tech and 100% accurate scale, I was in stage three. Wondering why I was out there, what I should do? My body felt great, but it is that step where it gets mental. Luckily I joined up with Scott Cole who was also in the exact same boat I was. His body wasn't up to par on the first lap or 2, but after a few miles, I got my mind back in the game. We rode and chatted together for a while which made the time go by much faster and made the race much more enjoyable. Stopped at the aid station on the outer loop to grab some stuff. I didn't need anything, but I was in no hurry. Goddard came by just as we were leaving, so we tagged along. Fire tower climb my fat and out of shape body couldn't go as fast as the guys. Finished the loop at 6 hours and 2 min. Not too bad considering 2 years ago I finished in 7:55, so not far off of that pace.

My knee was feeling good and I was content with my 6hr training ride. I sat down and chilled out for 1.5 hours until my dad came by for his 4th lap. Grabbed the fly and headed out to finish the race and keep him motivated on his virgin 100 mile race. Pulled in at the 10:15 mark to cap off a good day.

I was so nice to be back out on the racing scene and see all the people I haven't seen since last July. I rode the 29er as well, and it was great. I am really digging the big wheels. can't wait to take it back to Colorado in August to shred on rock.

Since the race, my knee has still felt good. I rode Sunday morning after the race and my legs felt like 1 million bucks. Musta been that long taper!!! Did a good 3+ hour ride with a bit of intensity realizing I have no top end power anymore. Poto in the extreme heat on Wed was fun and the 29er just totally ripped that place apart. Early morning Spiderweb clearing of ILRA yesterday was the extent of my riding. Had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled out this morning, so who knows when I'll get back on the bike. Then it's off to Baltimore to the the bro late next week. Hectic schedule but hopefully I'll be able to get some structured training in sometime in the next few weeks! Maybe I'll be in shape for cross natz in December?

2009 Lumberjack Training Plan

2009-06-07T08:18:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Take a month off the bike

Step 2: Start riding 17 days before 100 mile event

Step 3: Take it easy and only ride 3 days for 2.5 hours to let knee heal

Step 4: On the 4th day pretend you have been training and ride 8+ hours and cover 95 miles.

Step 5: Ride for next 2 weeks and show up for event fatigued.

Step 6: Suffer through race and love every minute of it.

Ya, so yesterday was good. Did the Milford Trail Challenge from home and met up with Jon Heft and Bernie Smith for some fun in the saddle. Hit up Highland, Proud Lake, Commerce, Island Lake, and the Milford Trail. Knee felt good and body was starting to feel great about 6 hours in. Some R&R is on tap to make sure everything is happy and the body is healed up.

Not sure on nutrition strategy for the race yet, but I fueled with 8 Kroger pop-tarts and a dairy queen blizzard. Felt energized and no upset stomach. Total cost: $4.80!

2 Days, 5 hours

2009-06-04T11:12:00.000-07:00

Ya, I rode my bike the past two days. Feels good to be going again. I am fat, slow, and outta shape, but I'll get back there one day. Knee is starting to feel better, and I am hoping next week it will be all back to normal. Hit up Island Lake a few times as it is easy and not taxing on my knee. The 29er just rips the place up out there.

Almost 4 weeks...

2009-05-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

This is really pissing me off. My knee still hurts and nothing has been done about it. Got an MRI and it showed nothing. I am going to try to get into PT. That will probably take another week or so. I have a new bike, and I can't ride it. At least if I new what my problem was, I could do something about it and get it better. Right now it is all about waiting and waiting. Ice, ibuprofen, and rest has done nothing. It still hurts, similar to day 1. Walking, climbing stairs, riding, it all hurts. Maybe if I ever get back on a bike, I might have fitness by mid-December for cross nationals. I've been looking for positive thoughts, but they are hard to come by.

Since May 2nd, I have ridden three times. Once for a little spin in Fort Collins to see how it felt. Once before I left GJ just to get in one last MTB ride there, and then an hour last weekend on the 29er to see how it was feeling. I am now hoping it is just an alignment problem with the kneecap and I can do some exercises and maybe tape the shit out of it with some kinesio tape.

Hours for the month: 2.5

We're going on 5 days

2009-05-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

...Off the bike. It is a huge mental challenge to be sitting here and not out riding in the 85 degree weather.

Here is what has been going down lately.

-Got back from Sea Otter and got some good MTB rides in with friends from Michigan.
-Went to Salt Lake City for Conference Championships. It rained. TTT was pouring, crit was okay, and road race turned into a circuit race at the race track.
-Came back to GJ for a day and did laundry, oil change, and got packed up.
-Drove to Silver City, NM for the Tour of the Gila on Tuesday.
-Stayed with some awesome hosts. Some guy named Lance riding for a Texas bike shop stayed at the house next to us.
-Stage 1 was okay. Made it with the group to the bottom of the final 3 mile 11% climb. Came in 21 of 73.
-Stage 2 split up like crazy with a good climb early on into the 80 mile race. Was in the chase group and bridged back up to the front with 20mi to go. Finished in the front group of 30. Knee started to hurt.
-Knee was painful that night. Hurt to walk.
-Decided to ride the TT with a sore knee. It really hurt, especially on the way out which was almost all uphill. Rode on my drops most of the way on a TT bike course. Somehow I was 29th. Didn't go that hard out there.
-Legs were feeling better as the week went on, but knee hurt.
-Tried to ride around the parking lot before the crit and I thought I was going to cry. OUCH. My knee was killing me. I pulled out.
-Fed guys on the last Gila Monster stage. Drove behind the pro men at the end of the caravan the first 20 miles and saw 2 guys put on stretchers.
-Drove back to GJ in 9.5hrs, home about 12:30am Monday.
-Class, studying, and sitting on my ass. Icing my knee, ibuprofen, and trying not to look at my bikes.
-Going to Ft. Collins this weekend for collegiate road nationals. I hope my knee will heal up, but I am not to hopeful at this point. One more week here and I am back to the homeland. I might just take this as a mid-season break and hope to have a killer year after this problem. My fitness was really coming around and I was feeling really strong. Makes me mad.
-Going to try the whole 29er thing this year.
-I think I just have some tendinitis in my knee and not much I can do about it. It better not last too long.
-I'm outta here.

Sea Otter Wrap-Up

2009-04-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

The trip has come and gone, and I am glad I decided to go. What a great few days it was. 5 of us packed into a pick-up truck and set off for Monetery, CA around (;30 Wednesday night. After snowy/icy conditions in Utah(the storm that dumped feet in Colorado), a cruise down the Vegas strip, and 15 hours later, we arrived in one sleep-deprived state. A nice little pre-ride and a tour of the expo, and it was off to In-N-Out for some food, then sleep.
PICTURES OF THE TRIP-BETTER THAN WORDS
TECH/EXPO PICS
Did another loop of the course on Friday and checked out some other races and went through the expo in deep. What a great venue and scene. Weather was the best ever at Sea Otter and everyone there was in a great mood. Went to the beach later for some sunset action and touch my toes in the Pacific for the first time ever.

Saturday started off playing in the waves and having a blast in the ocean. It was a little cool, but we didn't care. Off to the venue to pre-ride then watch some racing. I opted out of the short track and was glad I did. Not much passing, and most people were done in 10 minutes. It was a great race to watch. The womens was animated then Emily Batty blew them all away with an attack on the last lap. The men's race was full on Specialized domination. They made everyone look like they were creeping. After a flat tire from Susi, it was down to Todd and Burry, but they killed everyone.

Sunday was race day. I went off with 140 of my closest friends at 1:30. It was really hot at 10am, and hit record high temps in the afternoon. They shortened the race a little due to the extreme heat. It was up in the 90's and most people are not acclimated to it yet. The first lap was so hot and miserable. The course was fun and cool riding with that many people, but the heat radiating in the woods was unbearable. You couldn't pin it or you would totally blow up. Just ride a good tempo and look forward to passing others and seeing the finish line. I finished 78th of 140 pro starters. Not bad for the first mountain bike race of the year. Legs felt good, but the heat just zapped everything. You could tell everyone was suffering and that was what kept me going.

Hopped in the car, ate In-N-Out, and drove straight back to GJ. Got back at 9am with 1hr of off and on sleep in Utah. Did a few things, then went for a sweet MTB ride with friends. Finally went to bed at 6:30, and got up at 9:30 this morning. Now it is off for a few good rides this week, then conference championships this weekend and off to Tour of the Gila on Tuesday for 6 days. Sea Otter and MTB racing was a great little refresher.

The Start of Craziness

2009-04-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is. The heart of the spring races. Last weekend was a trip down to Durango for the Fort Lewis races.

Saturday's TTT was canceled as we woke up to pouring rain, then lots of snow. The crit was still on a few hours later. It was a really cool course. Once everyone got used to the soaked roads, it was smooth and really fun. It started raining again before our race, then it started snowing a bit, and even sleeted on us in the race. Needless to say, it was chilly and wet, but I had a great time. I just kinda chilled on the back of the main group, and when people would pop, which was like 1/2 the field, I would come around them and get back on the group. Needless to say, after 20 minutes the glasses were so covered in grime that you couldn't see. Even better was it was the worst conditions of the year, but the first race with no crashes!

Sunday was a circuit race of 9, 6 mile loops. It finished with a killer climb that was a mile+ in length. The first part has a few switchbacks and is ridiculously steep. Since I suck at accelerating and power climbs, my goal was to try to stay with the group for a couple laps. Each lap, people would come off, then try to bridge back. Even after a hard week of training, my legs had some good power in them. I used my flatlander skills to bridge back and bring others back to the group every lap. After 7 laps, I finally was gone. I was able to keep riding strong the last two laps and passed a few more stragglers. I finished 20th out of 49, so not bad for another training race.

Next up is Sea Otter. I can't wait to race my MTB. I am registered for the XC, but I am not sure about the short track yet. I am going to look at the course and decide. Being 100 guys back on a short course could mean guys like Treefarm will be about to lap me before I get to the start line. And I usually get faster as the race goes on, which is horrible for ST. Oh, and its like 95 bucks. Yeah...

Wowza

2009-04-03T17:06:00.000-07:00

I just looked at my schedule for the next month and a half or so. Let's just say it is going to go by FAST. Here is what it is looking like...

This weekend-Golden, CO----CANCELED DUE TO LOTS OF SNOW--I can stay here
April 10-12 Durango, CO
April 15-19 SEA OTTER CLASSIC-MTB!!!
April 24-26 Salt Lake City, UT-Conference Championships(if we have to go)
April 28-May 3 Tour of the Gila-Silver City, New Mexico
May 8-10 Collegiate Road Nationals-Ft. Collins, CO
May 11-17 Exams, and family is in town to ride some sweet trails and roads
May 17/18? Leave for Michigan.

That's a lot of traveling and bike racing. As they say, "You only live once, and do it while you're young!"

Once I get back to the mitten, I will hit up the Brighton Stage Race, then an assualt on the Lumberjack 100. I think I will take a week or two break from the bike after that for a mid-season refresher. Need to be able to throw down for collegiate MTB Nationals in October and cross nationals in December.

A Week Off (The Skinny Tires)

2009-03-29T17:02:00.000-07:00

What a refresher. After 4 weeks straight of riding and racing on the road bike, I was able to set it in the corner and leave it be. Such a great mental refresher. Don't get me wrong, I like to ride my road bike, but there is just something about MTBing that I don't get on the skinny tires. I can't wait for the summer and fall when I can ride/race the mountain bike, and don't have to think about road racing. Sometimes it is really fun, other times it is freaking boring, and then other times it just plain sucks. At least when you MTB and you feel like bricks, you can still rip the DH and have a smile on your face!

So, all I did this week was ride my MTB. What a blast. I stayed in the valley and hit up some stuff that I don't ride much, some I have never ridden, and did some of my favorites.

All of these photos are from the Lunch Loops here in town. Crazy fun trails, all clearable on the hardtail.

Lookout from partway up the Ribbon Trail

Ribbon is the only slickrock trail in the valley. Steep. 3 miles and 2,000ft of climbing.

That section was 1/2 mile and an average of 17.5%. That was 4mph!

The top. I guess a lot of people shuttle it and ride big bikes down. I think it is better uphill.

Next week is back to building some fitness again. The weekend we'll be down in Golden for a hill climb up Lookout Mt and then a crit on the Mines campus. Should be some good intensity. I bet the trails down there will be sweet with the recent snow(melt). Nice and tacky!

Race Weekend #4: Home

2009-03-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

First weekend I haven't had to travel in a few weeks. Even though we missed out on Chimayos in Silverthorne, it was nice to be able to work out of home base for the weekend.

Saturday morning we rode out to Fruita for the hill climb. I had a decent run at it and posted a new PR by 1:14 over the 4 mile course. I took of way to easy in it, as my HR was 10 beats below threshold 2 minutes into the 16:28 race. Rode back home, and had 50 miles in the legs for the morning.

Food and nap were next on tap. Then off to the crit. We were racing at the local motor speedway/shifter-cart course. Collegiate A's had the best race of the day as we went off at 7:15 for a twilight crit. It was sweet. Because of the technical nature and fast/hard corners, the whole race was strung out-which we all know means fast! After an early crash, the field split into 2 groups. We had Conor and Kevin in the first, and Adam and I in the second. After Adam told me what I should be doing, we had some nice teamwork and covering the guys trying to bridge the gap. We got close, but with only a couple people working, and us trying to slow them down and not work, it never came back. Conor attacked and was in a 2-man break. In true fashion, he pulled off the W. NICE! Yeah, only 20 of the 36 finished, all others were pulled. FAST.

It stared off with some light

Got darker-Kevin attacks

Then really dark by the time we finished:Conor in the break

That turned into a late night with some good dinner in us. Up at 6am with not enough sleep. 9am was the start of a killer road race. Big steep climb, another climb, long 4 mile 2-4% grade, long gradual downhill, then another kick in the ass climb. Do 4 loops, then the 8 miles back to the start. 74 miles of pain! Being the last day of a hard 3-week training block, and after hard races the day before, I was looking to keep with the group for the first climb. I made it, and made it a lap, until the final climb, where I popped along with a bunch of others. Throughout the day, I rode with like 10 different people, and only 3 of us finished the race. 14 of the 38 people dropped out. Got some good hard miles in the legs, which should help come the time I really want to be fast.

Results

Race Weekend #3

2009-03-16T10:03:00.000-07:00

CU hosted a crit in Boulder on Saturday. It was a pretty fun race and basically just an oval with no hard turns. It was a great race to move around in. Back, middle, front, I saw it all. On the 6th to last lap, I was sitting in good position near the front when I flatted the rear tire. Ran over to the pit to grab a wheel. Free Lap. The official said she would let me back in, but only once the group went by. Huh? So I jump back in once the CSU lead group flies by at 30-32 mph getting their leadout going. 1.5 laps later, I was back on with no lungs left. SUFFER! Sat in to try and recover for a half a lap, then starting moving my way back up. Last lap comes and sure enough there is a pileup halfway around the course. I come to a complete stop as no not get in the crash with no where to go. Soft pedaled it in for the finish.

Grabbed some food and decided to skip out on the open races for some climbing up in the mountains. Went out for a two hour jaunt to Jamestown and back in awesome weather. Great scenic ride and sweet roads. Good 4hr day on the bike!

Sunday was the UNC crit in Greeley. I got off in a break for a little while early in the race and collected some premes along the way. Kevin got into a break later that lasted until 4 to go. The team rode really well together and we were well represented and scored good on the preme points. 1/3 of the way into the last lap(long laps) Adam took over and pinned it. I came around and lead out of the bottom of the course up the grade just before the last finishing traffic circle. I pulled off and soft pedaled it in. We had a good pace going, but two of our guys got boxed in at the bottom circle and were pushed back a bit, so the leadout didn't work perfect. One more guy, or a later start to the leadout, and we could have had it. We'll get it down soon I am sure. Fun race though.

Then I managed to wipeout in some gravel on my cooldown and totally jack up my shoulder. Pretty sure I popped it out of socket. It's a bit sore. Hopefully it heals up quick.

Next up is our home race with a hill climb up the Monument and a twilight crit at the local race track. Sunday is the first road race of the year. I am looking forward to it. After that I might be going down to Boulder to race their version of Paris-Roubaix or MI's Cone Azalia. Koppenburg sounds like a blast!

Racing

2009-03-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

Well, the second weekend of collegiate racing has passed here in Colorado, and the races have been great so far. The first weekend was a crit on the CSU campus, then another crit on the Colorado College campus the next day. I was able to do both the A race and the 3 race on the Saturday, then the A race again on Sunday morning. It was a good weekend of getting used to road racing and moving around in crits. Not like mountain biking where you can just ride your bike without thinking.

This past weekend was a crit hosted by DU at City Park in Denver. It was a fun course with three roundabouts and everyone was riding really smooth. I was basically useless for this race. After my first week of hard intensity and some good hours, my legs just didn't want to respond. I thought I was going to pop 10 minutes into the race. Just no legs that day. I was able to stay in, and with 10-15 minutes to go, the whole race blew up into small groups. I bridged some gaps and got into the main group, which was wittled down nicely. Rode in for 14th. Better than dropping out. Needless to say, I skipped the 3 race in an effort to save my legs. After all , it's the first week of March.

Sunday was an individual time trial, as well as a team TT. I put on the stubby aero bars on the road bike and went for some good intensity. I had some better legs today and the power was good. I finished 13th with a 20:38. It was a tight field with places 3-13 separated by only 23 seconds.

Next up was the TTT. We started with myself and Adam, another A racer, then a B and C racer. We smoked the first section of technical turns. I lead and flew through the S turns and 90deg turns all out. If I would have done that in my ITT, I could have shaved some good time off, but I was not as comfortable with the setup early on. So, we dropped the C early before he could do any work for us. Then it was all about trying to keep the B with us. The last section I pulled, while Adam pushed the guy up the rollers. We still had a decent time, and got some points for it. I think we did a 21:05.

After those races, it was off for a nice 2hr spin over to Golden to ride up Lookout Mtn and back. Fun ride with a sweet downhill coming down Lookout. Great day to be riding a bike. Mid 60's and bluebird skies.

Now its just time for some good riding this week, then off to CU and UNC for a couple more crits next weekend.

I know this is cruel, but...

2009-03-04T16:00:00.000-08:00

Winter, Day 74 of 91

72F degrees and flowing ribbons of singletrack.

Working on the tanlines...

Miles to Date: 2,575

Cowabunga Baby!

2009-02-22T17:46:00.000-08:00

What a week. Tour of Cali live streaming online, great weather outside, and lots of riding myself.

After last weeks road races, I stepped away from the skinny tires for a bit and brought out the mountain bike. The Tabeguache trails, which are about 4 miles from campus, are in prime condition right now. That lead me to do some long hours and lots of climbing on the MTB early in the week.

Well, my road bike in all her carbon glory looked lonely after riding the fat tires for a couple days. I guess I have to split time with them so they don't quit on me when they are most needed. Put in some decent time later in the week in some nice 40-50 degree and sunny weather.

Saturday I needed to get out of town. The trails in Fruita and Loma are still not rideable, so the next best option was for some red dirt goodness of Moab. A quick 1.5hr drive and I am there.

Started at 9 in the morning from the center of town. Did the world famous Slickrock trail first. Had it all to myself. Can't say that too often about that trail. Rode back down into Moab, grabbed more water, and rode north out of town to my next destination. Hit Gemini Bridges to Gold Bar. Went to the overlook, then hopped back down to Golden Spike and linked that to Poison Spider. Great ride. It had everything from sandy roads to sandstone and a mixture of both with techy spots to keep ya on your toes. From there is was a ride back into Moab, more water, then off to Amasa Back. I was only able to ride a bit of the trail as time was a factor and I did not want to play in the dark.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PHOTOS OF MOAB. It will take too long to load them with blogger.

It ended up being a great day of riding. 75 miles of riding in 7hrs with 10,154 ft of climbing. Grabbed some grub and back to home base.

Today was a day of fixing a flat on the road bike, then chamoising up for the last ride of a 6-day block. Cloudy today, which is unusual, but still mid-50's. Nice spin on the skinny tires to cap off a 28 hour week in the saddle.

Next up is some much needed rest and recovery, followed by the first collegiate road races on the weekend. That should be the start to my intensity this year.

Racing...already?

2009-02-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

Wow, I just finished my first races of the year. This winter has seemed really weird. Usually the first week of November is my last race, and I don't start racing again until mid April. That time is usually spent slogging out the miles in damp, cold, and cloudy conditions for months on end. This winter has been very mild out here. People would say it is cold, but sunny and high 30's to mid 40's everyday is luxury. Toes don't go numb, faces don't freeze. It is nice. Just get on the bike and ride until the sun goes down. Never are there thought of how much longer I have to ride or how uncomfortable I am. Sometimes I have to limit myself so I don't get burned out way too early in the year.

So, after 6 weeks of some base mileage, I headed down to Phoenix with some friends to get the first intensity of the year in our legs. After a 9.5hr drive, we were in the heart of Arizona.

Friday was a 14.5 mile TT west of Phoenix. False flat out, head wind back down. Having never done a TT before, I had no idea what to expect besides it would hurt. Put some stubby aero bars on the road bike and headed off. I passed 3 people and never got passed. The legs felt good, but I probably could have gone a bit harder. I was happy with my performance. Got the lungs burning for the first time. Afterwards, looking at my PT download, I was very consistent. My avg power was the exact same coming back as it was going out. A good way to start the year. Ended up 9th.

The road race was 7:40 in the morning on Saturday. Welcome to Cat 4. Low 40's in the city, and about 30F where the race was. Once we got going it wasn't too bad. The race was only 40 miles and a bit boring. I went off the front on lap 2 on the climb. There was a KOM at the top, but didn't even attempt the sprint after the three on my wheel for the past 2k jumped. Going into the final group sprint, we weaved though a junior women, then everyone sprinted through a 2 master woman break. It was so freaking sketchy. Wasn't even able to get into good position or sprint hard. Only 1 crash in the 4's, so it was successful. Finished 9th again.

The crit was Sunday in an upscale neighborhood. I was looking forward to this race as I was hoping it would be fast and I could go hard. I lined up in the back of 85 guys, but passed half of them as they were trying to clip in. First few laps were freaky as everyone hits their brakes going into the corners. I was able to move up and stay in the top 10 to be safe. The front was much smoother with better riders. I guess the field blew apart pretty good. As I was sitting 8th wheel around a corner, a USAFA guy went down in front of me. Somehow, I was able to nail the brakes and steer around him. The front 6 was gone. After chasing solo for 2 laps against a working front group, I looked back to see a group of 6. Slowed up to wait for them to bridge back up. Got to them and pulled a lap as no one would work. I waved them through and everyone starting bitching. F-bombs everywhere. People almost fighting because no one would pull. I launched with a WM guy. Didn't dig very deep here. They brought us back. On the last lap with 500m to go, I jumped them and took it to the line for first in the chase group. I was 7th. It was a blast. Just wish the roadies weren't as big of assholes. Legs felt good. Think I was 8th in the GC.

Legs felt good for some base mileage in them. Can't wait to see what I can do this spring once I start some intensity in a few weeks. I'll have pics up later.

Ye-Haw

2009-02-01T15:33:00.000-08:00

I'll just leave you with this. 3.5hrs of bliss.

Where am I going with this?

2009-01-29T18:50:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted in a while. Not too much to write about. I think this is going to be pretty random. Rode by bike a bit, did some good skiing, did a ski race, taking an easy week on the bike.

Weather was nice for a while, then we had a few days of low clouds and rain. Got in a couple rides in a few sprinkles, but nothing ever developed. Did a 19 mile XC ski at 11,000ft last weekend. It was better than riding in the rain all day. Good thing we have lots of choices around here. The following day I did a ski race. It was fun, but racing on waxless skis was a huge disadvantage. Just out to have fun. I repped a Wheaties skinsuit for the race as well. Good times!

After some good weeks on the bike, I backed it off this week to give my body some recovery. I can't stand only riding my bike easy for a couple hours. When it comes to weeks like this, it teaches me how much I like to ride my bike all day. Next week it all starts up again and I can't wait. The temps will be mid 40's and sunny. That means it feels mid-50's!!! Dang, just looking at the schedule, and I see we are almost in February. I need to calculate my miles for the 10,000 challenge. I feel like I am cheating by riding in better conditions than back home. This also means that in two weeks I will be hitting up the first races of the year. Should be interesting seeing how the fitness is a getting in the first intensity of the year. Its a 3-day stage race. Valley of the Sun down in Phoenix, AZ. Should be warm. I need to figure out this TT stuff. Aerobars and funky helmets? I am thinking of going to Moab the week after that to do some SSing on the red dirt. It's only 100 miles away, I can't believe I haven't gone yet.

Wow, that was a lot of words. Lets see some visual stimulus.

Fitness

2009-01-18T18:29:00.000-08:00

I left Michigan luckily before the big cold front moved in. Just been relaxing and enjoying myself before the next semester which starts Tuesday. I've done some cross country skiing right outside of town at 10,500ft and also been riding my bike every once in a while. Weather here is great. People around here think it is cold, but coming from the mitten, I think it is awesome. I don't care about the temp as much as the sun. Having the sun out makes rides much more enjoyable.

Weird thing about the weather here lately is that it is warmer at higher elevations. There is supposedly an inversion that is stuck in the valley and keeping all the cold air in. All the warm air in turn moves up ontop of the mountains, so at higher elevations, it is much more comfortable. That means we can get some good climbing in and have some nice warm air up top.

Felt good today finishing a 24hr week, so I kept riding until I hit the magic 100 mark. Okay, enough words, lets do a photo dump.

2008 Breakdown

2009-01-04T13:59:00.000-08:00

This past year I decided to reach out and push for 10,000 miles. Shawn came up with a great challenge and there was good competition involved. My mileage has dramatically increased over the past few years. Lets take a look.

2005- 3,541 miles
2006- 6,326 miles
2007- 8,481 miles

2008 I ramped it up and finished the year with 10,515 miles.

I took 5 weeks off during the year with no riding.

Total bike hours were 690.

That is about 1:53 of saddle time per day

And an average of 28.7 miles ridden per day

Here is the breakdown by bike

Scott CR1: 2877.5

Kona Jake the Snake: 2,734.5

Kona Hei Hei Supreme: 2,068.9

Cannondale R1000: 1,926.5

Yeti ARC SS: 728.4

Trainer (Using the 10,000 Challenge ratio of 2/3): 179.2

Here is the breakdown of races I did

MTB
XC: 7
STXC: 5
TT: 4

Cyclocross: 10 races

Road: 6

Here is to a good 2009!

2008

2008-12-31T19:07:00.000-08:00

Wow, the year is over. I reached my goal of over 10,000 miles. I finished with 10,515 miles for 2008.

I took two weeks off after cross nationals. Did some bike maintenance and found the problem to my flat tire in the collegiate race. The valve of my rimstrip tore almost all the way off and resulted in a quick flat tire 30 seconds into my race.

Haven't done too much. Ate a bunch of food and goodies. Did some skiing tried to enjoy the snow while it was here. Now it is back on the bike and get some miles back in my legs. I fly out January 8th for the next semester. I'll do some road racing in the spring, then head back to Michigan for the summer for some good ole mountain biking with the fun racers here in the mitten. Looking forward to a good 2009.

Looks like a month or so of school, then off to Phoenix for the Valley of the Sun stage race. Looking for a decent result and get some racing in so hopefully I will be able to upgrade this season so I can race A's in collegiate. I guess I need to be a 3. Happy New Year.

Update

2008-12-15T13:50:00.001-08:00

Just my luck, I flatted my front tire on lap 1, 10 seconds past the pit, and only 30 seconds into the race. Luckily the Stan's was able to keep the tire pseudo glued to my rimstrip. The tire never came off, but I had to be very careful. Slow corners, no standing (on a course that was almost all standing). So I rode about 3/4 of a lap on a front flat. Back in 40th position.

Went into the pit, took my wheel off, got a Zipp 404 from the SRAM guys, and was on my way 30 seconds later. Spent the next 40 minutes catching back up. Definitely a hard race. Was able to finish in 15th place. Probably would have been around top 10 if I had not flatted.

Our team did very good. We had Kevin finish a strong 2nd, only 10 seconds back from Colin Cares. Conor rode a great race and finished a nice 7th. Team ended up 2nd by a few points in the D2 Mens, but with no women, we ended up 6th overall.

Good weekend. So, Oregon next year?

Cross Nationals Update

2008-12-13T14:32:00.000-08:00

Mudder Friday morning. Opted to skip the noon open course time. Rode out to the park around 3:30 and rode 3 laps of the course at 4. Firmed up and was tacky.

Raced 10am this morning. Legs felt good. Somehow I was taken out on lap 1. The guy crashed on a smooth slight downhill and went into me. Chain fell off and all. Besides that, it was a good fun race. Ended up 31st out of 50 some. Kevin rocked out a 12th place finish. Nice job dude.

Watched jauque-maynes kill the 30-34 masters. Again, why is he racing masters. Then Brandon Dwight went on to give a clinic to the 35+ guys. Masters 40-45 was a thrill with some excitement up front. Weinert was near the front on lap 1 with a front row calllup. Wissink picked off 30-40 guys in the first lap to get into the top 5. The front selection was made and he was chasing the front 2 for most of the race. Hovered between 8 and 10 seconds, but never contact. The Wiz finished a strong 3rd which should get him a callup next year, right? What a fast and fun race to watch.

Collegiate race in the morning. Supposed to be a low of 50F tonight and drop through the day. I wonder if the 20-30mph winds will die down?

Funday Sunday err...Saturday

2008-12-06T22:32:00.000-08:00

It all started with some mountain biking on the one speed. Hadn't MTB'd in a couple weeks, so it was a rush. Bluebird skies and warm temps made for a sweet ride.

Parade of Lights downtown this evening. I have never seen so many people in the city before. It was seriously at least 5 people deep on both sides of the road.

Night hike up in Bangs Canyon. I'd say it was a little bit of hiking, but mainly crack and rock climbing. Gnarly.

Got home and checked the MI Scene. Hell yeah Wissink. Way to represent.

Everyone's Favorite Subject

2008-12-05T23:05:00.000-08:00

Boy, am I in for a surprise. Seriously, highs in the low 20's and maybe not even hit 20F tomorrow. I rode in that crap all last year, and I will ride in it again, but come on...early December. I prefer the mid-50's here.

I am now done with all of my projects and tests, so all I have to do is sit on my ass, relax, ride my bike when I feel like it, and get down to DIA on Thursday. Sounds like the life to me. Haven't touched my MTB in two weeks. That is going to change tomorrow morning. High of 52F and sunny should make for a fun ride on the trails. I am thinking of riding the MTB a bit this week before I stick to the slushy roads back home. Fly out on Thursday and race u23 Saturday and Collegiate on Sunday morning. Watch the pros, then hit the road back home.

At least there is a positive in this...Mega WRCS points early on in the series!

Turkey Time

2008-11-30T19:01:00.000-08:00

Had a nice break from school for the holiday and headed down to the front range for some feasting and bike riding. Pictures are easier, so here ya go.

Bike ride around the Denver metro area-This is where I hit 10,000 miles for the year

Ripping singletrack in Conifer on the cross bike

Night hike overlooking Denver area

First snow of the year

Cross is da shit

Missed out on another day of cross as it dumped another 3" of whiteness overnight in Denver. Mountains were a predicted 6-12". Caught a ride and headed back over the mountains to the desert in search of dirt.

2008-11-25T08:40:00.000-08:00

Sunday Monument Ride

Nothing New

2008-11-23T21:26:00.000-08:00

Not much going on lately. Finishing up the semester with big group projects and lots of tests. Riding has been going well lately. Fitness is coming along nicely. Set a new PR on Monument today. Legs felt good for the last day of an end of the year 3 week/50hr training block. Heading down to Denver Tuesday for the holiday. Hitting up my last cross races of the year before Nationals on the weekend. Get all the bugs and bad luck out before KC.

Still mid to upper 50's here. Looks like mid-40's for the cross races down in the Front Range next weekend. I predict 25F and 4" of snow at CX natz. We shall see. If not, it will be a mud bath. Sounds fun!

Um, yeah

2008-11-15T21:35:00.000-08:00

I am going to get smacked in the face hard by a reality check once I set ground in Kansas City for CX Nationals. I'll enjoy it while I can though. I am thinking about the MI folks still!

Reason #479 Why the Airlines Are F'd Up

2008-11-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year to look at flights for the holidays. This year, I am flying into Kansas City for CX Nationals, then getting a ride back home to the mitten. Then flying back into GJ in January for the next semester.

Which would you choose?
Any one of these

or

Look at the value. I can spend a day traveling all around the country for almost the same price a straight shot to KC. Wow, what a deal. Seriously, who comes up with this crap.
I think I'll choose the red line

A Black and White Kind of Day

2008-11-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

At least no rain. Just cloudy and cool. I was expecting a 2hr ride today. Somehow that turned into an 86 miler to Utah and back.

60%

2008-11-08T21:02:00.000-08:00

Not bad. 3 out of 5. Got Bishop, Anderson, and Matter. I missed out on Marko by 1 place and Simonster by 2. Didn't think a Schultz brother would hit top 5, but I was wrong. Nice job. Colin Cares has been riding well in the CX scene here so it does not surprise me to see him standing on the box.

Lummis. He has got to have the record for the most # of 9th place finishes at Iceman. Thats a killer result his year. Nice.

1:28:31. Sounds like a record to me. The weather seemed to hold out from the sounds of it. Some previous weeks rain must have made the course screaming fast. Looked like a lot of fun. Too bad I missed out. 2009?

ICEMAN

2008-11-06T08:09:00.000-08:00

Nice article in VeloNews today.

My top 5 in no particular order

Matter, Simonster, JB, Marko Lalonde (I am betting on him running a geared bike)and my dark horse pick in Anderson.

Matter looks to be having some good CX results recently in Ohio and KY. Simonster has probably been killing it on epic dirt road loops getting ready to throw down. JB looks to be on good form with good UCI CX results and an 8hr MTB race recently. He might have the horsepower, but guys like Matter and Simonster have the course knowledge. Marko seems to be riding well racing some high caliber CX races on a geared bike. Will those gears transition over to the MTB? Lastly, Mike Anderson. 3rd at Ore to Shore shows he can hang with these guys, and second to Simonster at peak to Peak a few weeks ago.

Hope everyone has a good time and stays warm. Will it rain?

Tapping Out

2008-11-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

Time to recover the body then start getting ready for Kansas City in December. 16 races in 9 weeks is fun, but wears on the body. 5 XC, 4 ST, 7 CX. One weekend out of 9 with no racing, but a 10hr training weekend. Add in a week of little sleep and no appetite had me rolling around Boulder with nothing. Going through the motions just trying to enjoy the ride. Rode easy yesterday and taking a few days off the bike for now.

Got a new chainring for the SS. I'll test that out this weekend. Looks like the weather will be good for Saturday. Thinking of throwing down the Edge Loop in Fruita on the SS. Staying home the next few weekends and enjoy the riding. With the day-light savings time, it looks like night-riding is in order. Can't wait.

Cory trying to get in a photo with Danielson

Dinner down on Pearl St Saturday night-chicken baked potato

Trebon and Wells Day 1

Georgia killing all of the women

Spencer bunny hopping the barriers. The only person to do so.

My Bikes Are Rebelling

2008-10-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

I got my single all up and running after picking it up from the parents in NC. Rode Tabeguache on it yesterday and all was well. Its always fun riding a one speed. Today I take it out to 18Rd to shred some flowy trails when I had another bicycle tragedy. Take a look at the picture below.

I was maybe ten minutes into my ride when I torqued the chainring. Up a rockslab and I thought my chain came off. Nope, just a bent Surly chainring. Never seen that before. I am assuming my chainring bolt either snapped, or came out right before that. The bolts were in and tight in the morning. I bent that sucker good.

I am not coming back for the Iceman, but it should be a great time for everyone else this year. Looks like Joberon is putting together a hell of a party. Hopefully everyone in the MI scene will haul ass.

At least the weather here is nice. Mid-seventies and sunny. I heard back in the mitten is is cold and nasty. I'll take a hike back to the trailhead in warm weather over MI crap. So, is it going to snow for Iceman?

Sorry, I just had to remind myself how nice it is here!

Reporting from Charlotte

2008-10-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

I love airports with wireless. Another 6 hours in the terminal today should be a fun time.

Weekend was really fun, but we all had some bad luck.

We got to our place in Banner Elk at 9pm after picking our bikes up from Mines. Got everything ready, then hit the sack for a few hours of sleep. Up at 5am aka 3am CO time. Rode down to the LMC campus in the pitch black at 7am. Couldn't see crap until just before 8am. Raced at 8:15. 5 laps of a rocking XC course. No long climbs, but just a bunch of punchy stuff and a sweet decent. Lap 1 was blind since there was no pre-ride. The downhill was a hike-a-bike with all of the people. I broke the buckle/strap on my shoe. I had to pull out a multi-tool and try to fix it. Luckily I was able to get it to work and I was on my way a few minutes later. On lap 4 after passing a bunch of people and riding back into the top 15, I flatted at the bottom of the rock garden. I shot it with CO2, but it wouldn't hold. Took all of the air out and put a tube in. A million people passed me it seemed. I got going again and passed some people back on lap 5, but it didn't matter at that point.

Sunday was STXC. I rode the course right before the race and was worried. Thick peanut butter all the way up the climb, then a slip-slide back down. Racing Maxxis Larsen TT tires didn't work. The goal for most people was to try and pedal and move forward. It seemed I pedaled 10 miles and went 2. I don't know where I finished, but I only raced a bit of it. Mud tires would have worked much better, much less a CX bike.

Went and watched the rockin DH race in the afternoon. We had a good representation with Peter and Marshall hitting top 10. Saturday night was a good time and Sunday dual slalom looked way fun.

Back to DIA late tonight, then pack up bikes in Golden before driving back to Junction in the middle of the night.

Single Speed at 18Rd is calling me this week.

Late edit: Just saw the USGP Results. Wissink is a rockstar. Way to represent the MI Scene.

DIA

2008-10-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

Sitting in DIA right now. Drove down to Denver yesterday and sat in traffic for hours on Vail pass as it was snowpacked.

Up at 3:30am and came here to DIA. Learned our 6:45am flight was moved to 9:30am. Then the flight was cancelled. Then we get tickets from DIA to Dallas and then to Charlotte where we will get in after 6pm. Then we went to check in and I wasn't transferred over. We figure that out and went to security.

I was a lucky one with the SSSS on my ticket, which required me to be searched extra special. Sweetness. Then we ran over to another terminal to try to get on another direct flight to Charlotte. Denied. Now we are sitting around waiting for our flights. There goes my pre-ride. Hopefully we will be able to find our bikes and put them altogether before the race in the morning.

At least DIA has free WIFI.

I'll try to update later on this weekend. I'll try for a prelap before my race tomorrow.

Quick Post

2008-10-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

Jammed up with schoolwork this week. Here is a quick recap

Saturday-Sweet CX race. Cool course. Dave Towle. Over 600 racers. 88 people in my race. Had a decent race and finished 8th. Didn't get chicked this week. I beat Georgia.

Sunday-Okay course. Def a power course which worked for my flatlander legs. Bridged up to lead 2 guys on last lap and preceeded to blow my tire out on a curb. Done. Good legs and training.

Leave GJ tomorrow afternoon. Fly out of DIA to Charlotte Thursday morning.

Hopefully a quick pre-ride at LMC on Thursday evening.

XC Friday at 8am.

STXC Saturday at 8:45 am

Banquet Sunday

Fly out Monday

Drive back to GJ early Tuesday morning.

Drive back to Boulder Friday

Boulder Cup CX Sat and Sunday

Back to GJ Sunday

Take a breath.

HERE WE GO. 2 Weeks with 2 of the 3 biggest races on my schedule. The other is CX Nationals in December. Let's hope for snappy legs and dry dirt.

Later

Fall Break

2008-10-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

We had Fall break on Monday and Tuesday, but a home race last weekend kept us from traveling. STXC Saturday followed by a Sunday XC race.

As luck would have it, I flatted on Friday night while marking the course. It was a small hole, but it kept slowly leaking. I rode out to Whitewater in crazy winds and noticed my tire had dropped some pressure once I got to the race site 45min later. I decided to take the tire off and put a tube in. That is where I noticed my sealant had dried up. I warm-up, do a few laps, then stand at the start for 15 minutes. My legs were tight. I felt like crap on lap 1, then started moving up on lap 2. As I came to the finish line to start lap 3, my tube blew. It went flat in no time. I looked at it later when I changed it and noticed a nice long slice at the seam. Bad tube. I'll take it now rather than nationals.

Fixed everything up on Saturday night. Sunday morning came and I pulled up the weather as I ae my oatmeal. WHAT...32F. I bundled up in tights, winter jacket, and thick PI winter gloves. Added a skull cap and I was out the door at 6:45 off to the course. The race didn't start until 9:45, so it was a bit chilly standing around. Sun came up and by race time the tights came off. It is weird out here. 50F feels nice and there is no need for knee warmers or baselayers and arm warmers.

Race went okay. I think standing around and a not-so-good warm-up left me cruising slow for a while. My first 2 laps (of 3) were slow. I could not go hard, breathe hard, or suffer. I could only max out at a decent tempo. By lap 3 I had warmed-up and could go hard. I passed 4 or 5 people to finish off with a 7th overall. Next time I'll go for a better warm-up.

So with no school Monday and Tuesday, it was off to MTB some of the trails that are close, but never see our tracks. 18 Rd. was the choice on Monday. We rode all of the loops did Joe's Ride to Kessels twice since it is so fun. By the time we were done I think everyone was pretty well bonked out. I was definetely in the hurt for some food.

Tuesday was off to Loma to hit the Kokopelli trails. While not as fun as 18Rd, it was still a good time. The beginner loop, Rustlers is probably the best with some fun slickrock and swoopy sections.

A few more classes, then it is off to the front range on Friday for a couple cross races this weekend. Come back for 3 days, then head back over the passes on Wednesday so we can fly out of DIA on Thursday. Race Friday and Saturday. Hope the legs are good. You Lees McRae guys better keep the rain away. I want to ride my bike, not hike it! I'll be sure to bring mud tires as well.

Extra, Extra

2008-10-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

Found a few pictures and a video.

I am the first guy running the barriers in the vid. The guy who crashes (and they show it 25 times too many) did the same thing as my pre-ride. I decided to try and hop the barriers on the warm-up, but then decided it wasn't any faster. I made the first 2, then caught the chainring on the log and stacked the front wheel.

I also saw JHK at the race cheering on his wife. I should have asked him what tires he is running at ICEMAN. I saw he is registered. Anyone think he will run the Dugast 45's again? They seemed to work unitl the last corner.

Find more videos like this on Cyclocross Magazine

Frisco CX 1 & 2

2008-10-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

Weather held out for the weekend. It was supposed to be rainy and cold, but ended up in the mid-40's to 50 and only a few scattered light showers. The CX courses were okay, Day 2 was better.

Race 1-start my warm-up and know its not my day. I know 5 minutes into my warm-up how my legs are feeling. Today as just one of those days where there is residual fatique and they are slow. I managed a front row call-up and did my best to screw it up. I took 5 pedalstrokes and sat down into a comfortable hour pace. Yup there went at least 40 guys in our 60 man field. Get to the top of the long road climb and take the inside line on the switchback. Mistake #2. Everyone passed me on the outside as I trackstanded to wait for guys to flow in. A large part of the course is 1-track, which made for slow going. The first 3 laps think Iceman sport class bunch-up in the singletrack. Oh well, I stayed calm and jumped off a few times to run by people. Lots of standing around. I spent the rest of the race playing catch-up. I managed a 5th place which wasn't too bad considering my start. I had 2 guys right in front of me, and 1st and 2nd(Katie Compton) were only a minute up.

Day 2-Legs feel great in my warm-up. I know it will be a good day. Decide to try hard and stand the entire start. Damn, I am looking around as I go into the woods in 3rd position. "Is everyone going slow, or did I actually do that right for once?" Ride 2 laps and 5 of us are in a front group. Then after 2 laps and just after the pit, I pop my tire remounting. I must have got on at a bad angle and also hit a bump. I was also playing around with tire pressures, and was a bit low. I managed to get the bead to seal back up in a spot and get rolling. My tire is sitting at 5 psi(at most). I babied it a hole lap, taking the corners oh so easy. Finally I get to the pit again after a million people pass me. Grab a friends bike. "Oh shit, this is weird." I ride a medium, this was an XL. Managed to get through the lap without killing myself. Switched bikes back in the pit after some Blue Sky Cycling guys quickly got on my bike and pumped the tire back up. Thanks! Now, make up some time. The leaders were way up the road, I was in the 30's. I did 3 more laps and worked my way back up to 18th. Good training and a fun event.

Superfans-Got out the camera and heckling skills to ridicule the open racers. There was a good group of people cheering on and giving racers shit. What a fun time. Some of the racers were getting into the festivities pretty well too. Thats what CX is all about.

I'll see if I can dig up some pictures of myself learning how to ride a bike. MTB race in the Junction this weekend. Hopefully I have good legs and race smart. A little luck won't hurt either.

PICS

Why is the bike in front of him?

Remount

Bunny Hop

Yup, Spencer should stick to hopping the barriers

Baker crushed it

As did Katie

but Kelli chased hard

Motivation

2008-09-28T16:18:00.000-07:00

Finding motivation to ride is not hard to find around here. With trails dispersed evrywhere, and great roads to ride on, I am finding it hard to limit my riding. It doesn't hurt that the weather is sunny everyday and the high temperatures are 85 everyday. With a long season still ahead of me, I am keeping the hours down, but upping the intensity, so I can stay fresh for upcoming races.

I decided to stay in the valley this weekend and get in a good block of riding instead of going to Boulder to race. Pictures do the justice...

Staying here was probably a good idea considering my travels coming up in the next 5 weeks. Two cyclocross races in Frisco this weekend should be a blast. Next weekend I get to stay here again as we host the collegiate races. After that is some more CX ragin' in Longmont and Fort Collins to keep the legs going for MTB Nationals. Off to North Carolina for some east coast action. I am bringing mudders in case of water. Back on Monday night, and off to Boulder the next weekend. Boulder Cup races should be crazy. Will that Lance guy show? Rumor has it he will, and all of the rumors as of late have been true. I think it is cool he is trying new events which should bring more people in the sport, but the media is crazy. Everything I read now is about Lance. Look at Cross Vegas. Trebon and TJ race for first, and all the media swarms Lance after he finished 20+ places back. How about some big press for the winners?

This is going to go FAST.

Wyoming

2008-09-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

Its the UP for CO. People are just like Yoopers too.

Okay, here it is

2nd overall Short Track

11th overall XC

Short track was Saturday and was cool course. It was like Michigan riding, short punchy climbs, flat section with fats corners, then some downhill. I started 2nd from last as the guy ahead of me would not file in. Sat in on lap 1, then passed like 10 people on lap 2. Everyone goes balls-out on the start, and I can't. My legs opened up, and soon I saw the lead group which was Fort Lewis guys, and 2 CSU guys. Then I crashed on a flat 2-track crossing over. I was laughing at myself for that. I kept chasing as people were popping. It came down to 3 of us. I was sitting 3rd coming near the finish as the 2nd guy crashed while standing up. I brakes and got around him. No way I was going to beat 1st as he was 2nd at track nationals last week.

XC-sat in the car until 20 minutes before the start as it was pouring. Fixed some bike stuff, road up the dirt road maybe a minute, then lined up. I rode lap 1 near the back just having fun. I went a little harder on lap 2 and 3, but I never killed it. Just wanted to stay on 2 wheels and enjoy the trails.

Then it was off to Boulder to pick up some CX bike components so I could build up some bikes. Sweet bikes.

Might stay here this weekend and get some riding in, or head down to the Republic for some CX and STXC. We'll see.

Another Adventure

2008-09-15T12:59:00.001-07:00

Sol Vista was on tap for Friday. Located right next to Winter Park, we arrived to a nice rain and cold temps. A nice dinner and warm lodge was the name of the game for the night. Woke up in the morning to a frozen tent and waterbottle.

Noon was race time. A long climb to the top, some sweepy downhill followed by fireroad and 1-track. Then shoot down the mountain. 3-9mile laps was called. I felt decent, but seemed like I could not go downhill fast at all. It wasn't techy, just lots of turns. Finished up 15th overall, so not a bad result considering the people in the top 10.

Another night in a cold tent, then off to Breckenridge for some pain and suffering at 10,000ft. We arrivd to mid-50's and bright blue skies. A great day for cross. I lined up with a group around 40 in the 3 race. Had a decent start, but about 15-20 people ahead of me and a lot of 1-track. All dirt and some paved road climbs was the course. Bridged up to chase group 1 on lap 2. I was told a guy was off the front, but I decided to chill on the back of the group. Pace wasn't that fast, and another guy bridged up. We picked the pace up a bit, and on the next lap attacked on a road climb. I stuck to his wheel as the others dropped. Once we hit the woods and a little rise, I countered his move and had a large gap immediately. Another 1.5 laps and I rolled in 2nd with a minute gap over 3rd. Sure was a fun time.

Watched Conor and Kevin race the Open race at 3:10. Small field, but some fast guys. They held up well dispite spending some time with the ground. T. Brown rolled in 2nd place on his SS 69'er.

This was the first cross race of the season, and I was rolling a new tire setup. As tubies are expensive, I went another route. Ksyrium wheels with a Stan's NoTubes rimstrip. Some sealant in a Michelin Mud2 tire and I am set with a tubless setup. The course yesterday had a bit of rocks and roots, and flats were not uncommon. People were telling others to jack the pressure up. I rode about 40psi and had no problems. I felt the rim a few times, but I don't have a pinch flat problem with no tubes. Tires hooked up well and I never rolled a tire. I could definitely rail the corners faster than others, but that could have something to do with MTBing. So far with 1 race and a few nightly practice sessions, it works well.

Up next is some MTBing in Wyoming followed by some riding around here, then a few CX races in Frisco in 3 weeks. Can't wait for that. CX is so FUN! Oh yeah, I registered for Cross Nationals as well this morning. U23 and Collegiate. See you in December.

Bike Racing

2008-09-08T07:38:00.000-07:00

Left Fun Junction on Friday to go shred some trails up in the boonies south of the Wyoming border. CSU MTB race weekend. Saturday was the short track where I was looking to limit my losses. Suprisingly, I ended up 7th overall as I did my normal skit and passed loads of people after starting near the back. Then I went to pre-ride the course, but I had no idea if I was on the right track. I was stopped and coughing my lungs up as a lady hiker came down. "Oh, it must be the elevation(in reference to me coughing). My cabin is right there, and it is 9400ft." Thats why I could taste my lungs the whole race. Tasty.

XC was Sunday morning. Luckily it wasn't 30F like the day before in the morning. First lap was good. Just a brutal climb to the top, a techy downhill, a deep creek crossing of freezing water, another climb, then a sweeeeeet rocky downhill to the bottom. I climbed to the top in a good position, then rode like a school-girl trying to descend the first downhill. Smacked my derailluer and bent the hanger so it would hit the spokes. I had to watch my shifting so I didn't go below my 3rd lowest cog. Lots of granny ringing was had after that. Just after lap 1, I feel my front tire all squirrelly. Hit it with CO2, but it only goes up to 20psi, and my Big Air was gone. Must of been a bad one. Stop a few times on the climb to try and get the gash in my tire to seal. After shredding the DH on lap 2, I felt my tire very low again after hearing multiple rocks smash my rim. Pump up the tire and head of for lap 3, which had us avoid the rocky downhill, and shorten the loop by taking a smooth fire-road back. Just as I hit the fire road and flew down at 30+mph, my tire goes flat and I try not to crash. Get off and run downhill and then a long flat section to the finish. Running 2 miles in crabon shoes worked, but is not the greatest thing. I guess it is good training for cross season.

So I ended up going from 5th overall to 9th in the XC as 4 guys passed me running. It was still fun, but it seemed like when I was racing, it was like another ride. I was never really pinned, and the HR was pretty low, but that could have been from the elevation and fatigue. Fun weekend though.

Next up, its off to Sol Vista for some XC action on Saturday. Then a few of us are of te Breckenridge for a CX race on Sunday. Should be another fun weekend.

Wet?

2008-08-31T16:33:00.000-07:00

"It rarely rains here, and never this hard."

We turned back at the strike of lightning. Nothing like spinning the 53x12 over at 130rpm to get back.

'splorin

2008-08-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

Google-Earthed some routes. Found dirt road that goes to the top of Grand Mesa. 4500ft->8500ft+. Took CX bike for adventure. 2 miles onto dirt road I hit a sign and gate. "Aghhh...but wait." Sign says raod only open to hikers, horses and bikes. Sweet. Go through opening and ride. Get rocky. Not too bad. Just a doubletrack type road all the way up. Cross a creek. Then really rocky. Hike-a-bie and decide to turn back. Looks like a sweet adventure for an epic ride someday. Road was more than I bargained for on a CX bike. MTB will be in store next time. Turned back and cruised around the vinyards and orchards in Palisade. Evening MTB ride was also in store.

Other Side of the World

2008-08-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

Left MI Monday afternoon and arrived in Conifer, CO at 8am. Stayed at Kevin and Danielle's until Friday. Did some MTBing and road riding before packing up and heading west.

Drove over the passes Friday morning. It was raining in the Front Range, but nothing in the Mts. It snowed later in the day and over 10K was white over the weekend.

Cloudy until coming out of the Eisenhower Tunnel and it was all blue skies.

Rode up onto the mesa on Friday. MTB's Tabaguache trails on Sat morning, Road ride to Fruita and around in the afternoon. Up and into the Monument today and around north of the city. Monument has great views but the camera was forgotten. Another time.

Another one down

2008-08-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

Another week that is. After a good and hard final week, I am now on a little rest week. Should help bring the legs around. Tuesday ride at Pontiac was fun. Trail is getting a little gravley and loose, but my crow still hooked up.

Hit up the Poto on Saturday for a good time. That trail has seen the likes of mother nature lately. It sure was a good time though.

Took the cross bike out for a little excursion on Sunday. I think I hit every rock possible on the trail though.

T-1 week

STONY

2008-07-29T11:03:00.000-07:00

Did the TT Sunday. Even though I had a bit of fatigue in the legs, I felt good. I was able to turn the cranks over well. It was fun to get back out there and have the adrenaline flowing. Took it a bit safe in spots, especially all 2-track corners. At this point, there is no need to hurt myself. Even though I finished 11th in a good field, I was happy about it. Only 1:24 down on Bill's winning time showed me that my form is coming back. I sure was happy about that.

Best thing about the races besides racing is the great atmosphere. The MTB scene is just so cool as everyone cheers eachother on and gets along. It's like a little family. Each year it seems to be everyone gets faster as we all push eachother to make ourselves better. Hanging out after the races sharing stories of this and that makes it even better. That's MI racing.

Just under 2 weeks and I'm outta here. 2-a-day Tuesdays have been in place for a few weeks. Today is no exception. Road this morning and Pontiac at 6. Haven't been there all year. Should be fun.

Keep on Pluggin'

2008-07-22T18:01:00.001-07:00

I crashed on the MTB the other day. I was on the ground before I knew it. "Oh Shit," was the first thought. Sat there for a minute and did the checkover. I was good. Pelvic bone didn't hurt. Cool, must be healed. I had to get up and move quick before the mosquitoes sucked me dry. Those suckers are terrible this year.

Trying to work on the top end as it is lacking. Did intervals today then hit up the Specialized train. Felt good until Don drilled it. Dropped twice, but legs felt good. More hard rides like that should help bring me around.

I think Stony TT is this weekend. Not my course at all, but I want some MTB intensity and there are no other races in this State. If the weathers good, I might show up to fight out DFL.

Getting back into form

2008-07-14T18:44:00.001-07:00

420 miles in the legs in 6 days is bringing back to the bike racer ways. I was planning on throwing down 3 centuries, but killed that dream with a case of the bonk. 1.5 powerbars aka 325 calories in 4.5hrs with 88F and humidity doesn't work. Stumbling home with shakey hands and legs with 87 miles was good enough. FOOD.

Friday I ate more food for my hundo and I felt great. Saturday I rolled out of Chelsea for the Helluva ride with some people. 100 miles later I was feeling good.

Then came the best part in weeks. I saddled up the fat tire bike and hit some gravel. A detour through a conector trail felt good. 1.5hrs of gravel roads and I headed over to some 1-track. 2 laps of the Milford loop and my pelvic region was still feeling great. More gravel over to Proud Lake for a couple loops. Headed back home 3.5hrs later feeling great. Riding the mountain bike and hitting trails for the first time in 5 weeks was a great feeling.

Ramp up the intensity this week and try to build the form.

Let's Try This Again

2008-07-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

So 2 weeks off, 4 days on, and another week off. My fitness isn't too bad. My leg is feeling much better. I put in a short ride on Friday, another 1.5hr on Saturday, and a 2:15 ride today to see how everything is going. Not bad. Looking like I'll throw down some endurance rides this week to get the legs back into the riding thing. Keep to the road bike and hopefully the MTB will see some action soon.

Today was the first time I was able to put some power down. I wasn't trying to go hard, but I pedaled right up one of the hills in Kensington and was only 20W off my peak 1 min power. Some threshold work, extra miles and MTBing, and I should be back cruising again. Looking foreward to it.

Friday the parents and I rode out to the park for a fireworks show. Fun night even though the fireworks were weak.

Hit the Gas and Go

2008-06-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

This week marked getting back into the riding scheme of things. With the leg being worked on last weekend, it was feeling much better and I got the okay to giv'r some love. A short jaunt on Saturday led to a dirt road rampage on the CX bike Sunday. A little commute to work to move the legs was in store Monday.

Tuesday was back to normal. I was handed this sticker on Monday, so I figured I would give it a go.

Rode with Alex down to Chelsea where we picked up Matt. Headed to Aberdeen to fill up water and talk to Lummis. Cruised on down to Dexter to the HRD. Hit up Barton Hills before heading back to Whitmore Lk. Into South Lyon and back home got 90 miles under my belt.

Wednesday was a nice 50 miler at 7am. Getting in the ride before work was nice as the temps were comfortable. Still my legs are not ready until about 8am.

Yesterday was a commute followed by another ride in the rain. Not sure why, but it seems like I have been rained on a lot this year. Came back soaked and went out later with my dad for a nice 1.5hr cruise.

Got a call from the Dr. yesterday that I have a slight fracture in my pelvic bone. He said no MTBing, since there is impact. I'll keep to the vibration damping plastic bikes for a while.

Mid-Season Break

2008-06-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

Winter seems to take forever with endless days of cold and clouds. Spring came late along with the temps. A dry and cool April and May lead into a crazy June. Rain almost every day with temps in the 90's with high humidity. Just like the race season, anticipation is there to line up with friends you have not seen over the course of the winter. Then 4 weeks of racing. Strangly enough, the schedules open back up for 4 weeks to allow time for long rides.

Brighton Stage Race was the first time back on the MTB scene since April's Bloomer XC. The week before was spent trying to acclimate to the heat and humidity and patching up some road rash. The TT came Saturday morning and I felt pretty good. My start sucked as normal, but I got back into a rhythm only to be disrupted 5 corners later as my skin wanted to touch the dirt. With overgrowth on the trail and going for a top time, it was easy to miss corners and run off into the trees and weeds. A few times of twisting wrong sent a pain through my hip and leg that was previously aggrivated. I finished it up in 5th place just 2.2 hundreths of a second behind Joe's new Quiring.

Short Track was later. My leg/hip was bothering me, but it seemed a little better that the TT. I lined up late, so I was in the back. The hip only had a little pain, but on the last lap, the muscle gave out a sharp pain and put me back. I rolled in for 11th, dropping a few spots. After the race, any sudden movement even as little as reaching for a glass hurt. I scratched the XC on Sunday for recovery. Usually it is hard to watch when you could race, but it was a total sufferfest. 90+F and humid as hell made for some not-so-fun conditions. Congrats to everyone who pushed through it. Oh, and the 3hrs for a XC. 40mi and that time is almost marathon distance.

So, I took last week off the bike and rested my leg. I am pretty sure it is muscle strain(after discussing with Dr. Internet Explorer). Ice, some stretching and rest was on tap. I rode my CX bike on Sunday, but it was a little sore as well. More time off. No need to rush it. My season goes until mid-December, so getting healed and resting up is key. I am scratching my east coast racing in July as I have no time to get back into shape. I might end up doing Boyne Marathon and then Malliot Juane road race if it happens. Anything else is up for grabs and based on my leg.

Maybe visual stimulation later, but my computer will not pick up the wireless anymore, so I'll have to transfer pics. Riding into work tomorrow, so we'll see how the leg feels.

ToKV

2008-05-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: No, I am not becoming a roadie. Just using it as training and trying to get my upgrade.

Kensington road race was Saturday. Weather was much better than expected. 7 laps and 59 miles with some decent hills sounded fun to me. And I got to play in the 4's this weekend!

Rode over to Kensington and registered Friday and rode a lap of the course. Rode over at 6:20am on Saturday for a 10mi warmup with Cruise. Race went off at 7:20, and I was at the back. Spent lap 1 trying to move up and not crash. That first lap was real sketchy with constant speed changes, and lots of braking. I am suprised there wasn't a pileup. 2 got away on lap 2, and a teammate of one was blocking. No one wanted to sit up front, so I did my normal thing and drilled the pace. Spent a half lap the the front, and pulled the break back. I have no patience for this crap. Funny thing was Cruise and I were talking about sitting in the first few laps to get a feel for it. Then we pass eachother on the straightaway. I'm pulling the 4's, he's off the front of the 3's. Guess we like to ride fast.

So I sat near the front and did a bit of work all race. Set tempo up some climbs and also tried some attacks. Problem was everyone kept chasing me. I am wearing a disguise next race. Alan from trails-edge attacked, and I started to chase, but I backed off when no one else worked and he was solo. WRONG. There was a break up the road I did not know about. With tons of groups mixed, people dropped, and others off the front of other groups, it was hard to keep track. A group of 4 ended up winning since there was no working at the front. I finished off with 3rd in the pack sprint I guess. The results had me 6th, but when I checked online later, I was 7th. Hmm, I guess that 15min protest rule doesn't work. But, I don't really care anyways. What's 6th or 7th, it's just training to me.

Not a bad race for having weak legs. Putting in back to back 350 miles weeks with almost no recovery and sitting up front for most of Thursday race had my legs a bit fatigued. Not bad though, I ended up with 95 miles on the day with a 2.5hr race in there. Then I threw in a 4hr MTB ride on the SS yesterday. Yup, I still like to MTB.

Up on the docket is a trip for the weekend. Heading up north for some riding to finish off a hard block. Looks like loops of Hanson Hills on Friday with a road ride back to Gaylord. Nice long ride in Leelanau on Saturday, then churning up some laps at Boyne Mt on Sunday. Looks to be a fun weekend. After that I shall be seen at Waterford the following Thursday trying to not make dumb mistakes again, and the the Brighton Rec stage race the week after that.

I like to ride my bike!

How to Lose a Bike Race

2008-05-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

Yup, another Waterford Hills race in the books. Weather was okay, a bit chilly, but wind was not bad. The race started off with Don drilling it from the start and myself follwing in hopes to bring in some strong guys for a break. No dice, they all followed. A break got away early on and we knew it could stick. With people like Tim, Scott, Luke, and another rider, it was up to someone to try and bring it back. With 2 Wolverines in the break that was out of the question. So after the gap got big, Don and I did some rolling pulls. He'd pull, then me, and we'd tuck in behind eachother. After a while, we brought them back. Some more attacks went and both of us always seemed to be upfront working. Ah, it's all for training anyways.

By the end of the race, it gets a bit annoying and tiring with slow and fast. I took a flyer near the end to bridge up to Luke, but he was done and the pack was coming. With 2 to go, Alan Smith attacked and Don followed. I jumped off the front and tried to bridge. As I caught them, I looked back and saw the gap. Looked over at Don and we went. I pulled from there and it hurt. Came to the start/finish with 1 to go and I saw the pack not too far behind. I was at the back of the pack trying to regain some power, but didn't want to blow-up before the finish. So I sat-up and went back to the pack. Ya, that's where the problem was. When I got to the pack, it was all Wolverines sitting up, to let Alan go for the W. Damn. Looking back, it kills me that I let up. Lessons learned. If there would not have been a Wolverine, things would have been different. All I know is I could have been in the money. Argh.

Well, thats racing, and learning. Only my 6th road race, so you learn things all the time. Most of it is the team tactics and strategy. Still learning all of that. But, I got in some great training and experience. Remember, the front is where the training is done.

And...the strongest man won tonight. It's not often that it happens, but props to Don. He can lay it down for real. And he's got some $ to get that 'stang home.