ride on purpose

Dickie Scramble February 11th 2012

2012-01-30T16:04:00.001-08:00

2012 Dickie Scramble is February 11th

This 40 degree weather is awesome, but it definitely isn't looking to be compatable with riding on snow!

Plan will be to meet at the Douglas Trail trailhead for a 10am departure. Course will consist of mixed gravel and pavement heading out to Pine Island and back for an approximately 35 mile loop. Directions will be provided day of. If by some dumb luck the weather turns (again) I reserve the right to send anyone who wants to "race" down a snow covered Douglas Trail, but doubt this will happen.

Laura and Kelly will be providing coffee, sports drink and homemade cookies at the halfway point.

After the ride we will congregate at Buffalo Wild Wings for food and drink. It is Rochester Fest the same weekend so that Ice Bar and other festivities will likely be on the agenda for later. This is on a Saturday so everyone should be able to come out and enjoy themselves into the evening.

This is meant to be a fun group ride for all abilities. Come ride at your own pace. If you want to go fast, there will be a couple of prizes and some friendly competition.

Lastly, once again this is absolutely free but a donation to camp companion is encouraged.

http://www.campcompanion.org/

-Drew

Untitled update, news, fat-bike.com wallpaper!

2012-01-25T13:06:00.000-08:00

Lots of things going right this week!

Routine for the past few days has been to skate ski for an hour at Quarry Hill then stretch my commute out to 2 hours total. Lots of fun, but legs were feeling tired and tomorrow is my "big" day. Decided to take today to recheck the "untitled" course.

I think it's looking great out there. Weather is looking acceptable as well. The route is going to be right near the 70 miles target too! Will make direction cards tonight/tomorrow.

Lastly...

Image I'm proud of linky at fat-bike.com

Got this on their Wednesday wallpaper thing!

This is my last week at my current job. Big changes coming! Hope things are well for you.

Cheq 100 2012 date announced! Great news.

2012-01-19T16:24:00.000-08:00

linky

This is freaking awesome timing so far as I'm concerned. Hope you and I can both get in!

My thoughts and review of fat bikes in general, 9 zero 7 in particular

2012-01-18T15:21:00.000-08:00

This isn't my bike, it was borrowed for a period of 1 week. This bike is owned by my good friend Trevor and was purchased as a frameset from a Mr. Tri who raced it last year. I rode it a total of 14 hours in a mixture of conditions. I rode dry riverbeds, sand, across 8" deep open water, in snow, on dry singletrack, snowy singletrack, in the city etc. as well as on my normal commute route and for the Triple D Winter Race. This was a short period of time to get to know a bike, but I rode it hard and made the most of it.

I will readily admit to a bit of a bias against fat bikes. In that I don't trust the hype. In my limited experience they simply are not the "game-changer" that some people claim. The range of conditions in which they really work better than other bikes is small and sort of esoteric. Their ideal place in winter is either a carefully groomed winter singletrack or a snowmobile trail- two things that don't exactly happen everwhere. In summer, they are "best" for really epic trips on beach or permafrost? I suppose one would also allow you to ride the Trans-wisconsin route's ATV trails from hell... but you can only do that for so long before being struck by a speeding ATV anyways. I hear talk of people needing them to commute and I look back at how I rode my 700x42 Nokians very close to every day for the last two winters. I hear talk about how they roll over things and I think about how I ride my commuter with those same Nokians in snow, up stairs, down stairs, on singletrack, in snow etc. and never feel like I'm missing something, even when riding beside people on fat bikes. All of the above pertains to living and riding in SE MN- I have traveled quite a few places where they would be a potential necessity far more of the time. I think part of my bias has also been fueled by seeing the explosion of fat bikes over the last couple years. I shouldn't let that influence me, but the more people riding them who don't use them as intended the more annoyed I have become. Also, the nicer and more "adorned" the builds have gotten for no good reason... That said, there are certainly a lot of other people in MN riding and racing these bikes in adventurous ways- a lot of the crew riding/racing up in the Hillside Cold Bear series, Deathrider riding through rivers and caves, Pramann etc. up at the Arrowhead. Don't get me wrong- I respect that stuff!

This particular bike-

9zero7 frame with salsa 100mm fork

rolling daryl's/larry's on x9 hubs built by Oneota River Cycles

X0 gripshift

X9 rear derailleur

990 cassette

bontrager crankset with just a 32t SS ring

The cockpit parts shown were all changed out during my testing for my own purposes. As were the pedals. I ran-

crankbrothers quattro ti pedals

ritchey seatpost

bontrager inform rxl saddle

ritchey wcs stem

580mm stylo aluminum bars

ergons plus the same bar ends shown

aero bars

Obviously, almost all of that stuff and the above build is either personal preference or pretty standard issue.

My initial impression of this bike was positive. I have not looked at detailed geometry charts for the various fat bikes, but this bike feels more like a regular mountain bike when it comes to the handling. It has less of an upright steering bias and instead asks to be leaned into and really pushed through corners. I believe this is likely primarily attributable to the "trail" measurement, but maybe someone with more time will tell me otherwise (I just haven't looked it up). Because of this I felt comfortable on the bike anytime the tire pressure was dialed for the conditions right off the bat. The medium sized frame fit my 5'11" frame properly after I tweaked the cockpit. I wound up with about 10mm of setback on the post and a 100mm stem with race style flat bars and bar ends. I was even able to closely approximate my 'ideal' or pre-existing long-distance touring aero bar position and found that it gave me pretty good weight distribution. It was obvious that this bike would work excellently on singletrack or for long distances on snowmobile trails.

I did get my feet wet getting to here. Smartwool allowed me to ride another 4 hrs in sub-freezing temperatures without issue!

The first ride took me along the route of my commute. I found lots of trouble to get into, hitting all the sand, singletrack, technical stuff I could. I was having a good time and just screwing around. I even found a couple of new fun sections. If there is one great thing to be said about riding a bike like this it is that it is an awesome prompt to change your mindset and focus on just having fun. I went on to ride a ton of singletrack and then a couple of hours of gravel that afternoon. The bike was proficient and fun to ride on all of it. The fun factor was very high, although I couldn't help looking at the average mph and thinking about how much faster one of my other bikes would be. I also put some thought into whether or not it was actually more fun to ride than my 1996 Marin 26" SS long travel hardtail would have been on the same conditions. Without snow or epically deep sand the very light Marin with its 140mm of travel up front and 26x2.5s would very likely have been at least equally enjoyable. By the end of the ride it was snowing and the wind was blowing hard, I had my fingers crossed that I'd see some better conditions for fat bike testing soon.

The next morning I got out the door early and repeated most of my route. This time I spent more time on the actual singletrack. Over night we had gotten enough blowing snow that the Larry's were now the clear tire choice on the trails. Throughout all my testing I was repeatedly impressed with how well the bike climbed for it's weight and it was pretty cool to see that continued even in low traction situations on sharp singletrack climbs. I was not as impressed with the lack of feedback given prior to the tires washing out, there almost literally was none. I went down a few times, but also pushed the bike hard into a lot of corners. I found that I was traveling roughly 1/2 as fast as I would have been with summer conditions on my Orbea Alma- quite impressive considering the conditions. The wind was blowing hard and my tracks were disappearing by the time I came back around for another lap in most parts of the park. Despite that I also noticed how incredibly easier it was to ride through an area a second time, even with 26x3.7s pushing through a few inches of fresh snow is tough work! I found that when traction was good or when I kept my speeds down to where I knew I was in control the bike handled very predictably and was easy to "place" in the corners. It was no problem to hit the exact spots I wanted to in order to rail the corners or ride obstacles.

I had a short changeover after that ride before I had to head down to work. I don't feel comfortable locking this bike up down there and so I headed down on the Trek with the 700x42s. At this point the trail was unplowed and drifted and the singletrack only had my fat bike tracks on it. I was expecting it to be a slog on the Trek but it never materialized as such, I had no issues with the 4-6" of mixed bootpacked and drifted snow. It might have been more fun to ride the fat bike in some places, but it wouldn't have been easier overall. I can't see ever wanting to make my commute on a fat bike.

The snow continued and also hit the Dubuque area. This was great news! I had prepped 3 bikes but really was hoping the fat bike would be best!

After all, the reason I had borrowed this bike was to get used to it and then to try and win the Triple D race on it. Here is my write-up from the race-

race recap

This test did nothing to change my overall impression of fat bikes. I would love to have one in order to take part in more winter singletrack riding and 2-3 snowmobile trail type races per year. I doubt I would use it much in any other context. There are too many things out there otherwise that I don't have that I would rather purchase for me to seriously consider picking one of these up. I guess, I view fat bikes as a luxury that I continue to choose not to afford in order to support the rest of my cycling habit. Sort of like Rapha jerseys or carbon 29er rims. For someone who has more $, more sponsors or less other cycling expenses (not everyone wants to race in the range of stuff that I do, or even to race at all) one of these would be an awesome way to have some fun riding a bike, which is always a good thing.

Triple D- Dubuque Dyersville Durango 2012 race and weekend recap

2012-01-18T11:24:00.000-08:00

Failed to make hotel reservations for far too long despite having already paid the entry fee. The lack of snow just sapped my enthusiasm. Luckily, and fairly last minute Spinner moved to Platteville about a week before the race. I got down there around 3pm on Saturday and we set off to pre-ride a bit to check conditions and to check out the Durango bar-

This outfit is his uniform. Never changes, like a super hero.

He also has a baby Hyena (for my stupid readers- it isn't really a Hyena, having a Hyena is stupid and dangerous and might lead to stripping as per the show I recently watched about a guy who had a pet baby Hyena and wound up stripping to supplement his income in order to feed it. This Hyena is actually a corgi mix). The Hyena pup was not an issue in the Durango bar!

It was pleasing to see that the conditions were "winter" and that fat bikes would absolutely be necessary (or as much so as they ever have... see last years results).

We checked in at the pre-race seminar around 6 then found our way to an eerily empty asian restaurant with a whole band of friends. Spinner and I both consumed huge quantities of Mu Shu Chicken before retiring back to Platteville.

At some point we realized it was only about 9pm and that he had only been to one bar in his new home town. We decided to go to the rest. My favorite was the one with an actual Chevy Silverado tailgate bracketed to the wall. I think he preferred the one where we could look down off the balcony at the "hot" bartenders- the one we had initialy thought was a strip club because it was called "School Girlz", this was before we were inside. We also weren't entirely sure all the "hot bartenders" were actually women, this was when we got closer to them. We still had a great time and generally kept things moving towards being ready to race hard.

After an admittedly short, but hot night with a sexy, little, sharp-toothed, lady, hyena pup, I found myself at Country Kitchen contemplating a long day on the bike. I've been pretty careful diet wise recently, but this was no time to skimp on food... corned beef hash skillet and pancakes!

Once we got over to Dubuque the race start was fast approaching. I was guzzling water, HEED and diet soda. Decided it was going to be warm enough that I should carry my camelbak bladder in my Jandd frame bag and that I didn't need ANY extra clothing. I left with about 800 calories of food in the form of powerbar's soda gummy things, almonds, mint m&ms and HEED plus 2 Starbuck's double-shot espressos in a Jersey pocket. I also brought the IPOD set to blast with nothing but early 2000s rap on the play list and just the left headphone in (I believe Spinner also had tunes- his taking the form of Lady Gaga and speakers). I wound up only consuming 200 calories of powerbar gummy things, 40 oz of HEED and about 30 oz of water during the race.

A few "big names" (in quotes because they may only be "big names" in their own mind) had recently backed out of the race, or more precisely, had not registered at all even though they had said they probably would. Lance Andre, who really is a big name, would also not be racing this year as organizer. Plus, Mr. Charlie Farrow had given me some words of encouragement and picked me as a potential winner via the interweb. I felt a little pressure and I was nervous at the start, but knew that my recent fitness has been high and that I had a faster bike than last year. I kept telling myself it would be good, but my lack of time on the fat bike had me picturing falling over while trying to ride over ridge of snow a plow had pushed up 5' in front of where I was staged. The high temperatures predicted for the day would favor going out hard... it might potentially get soft/melty/slow later and it would be good to be as far along as possible. My best strategy would be to use some of my left-over CX fitness to just 'get the hell out of there' before anyone, and maybe more importantly the course, knew what hit them.

The first time I looked back was exactly 1 mile into the competitive part of the route (after the neutral roll-out was completed). At the point I couldn't see anyone behind me. The first few miles of the course are very hilly and soft. It was tough going. I had to hike quite a few hills and burn a lot of matches on the ones I chose to ride. I kept the perceived effort basically pinned at 8/10 or so and chose whatever route/option seemed fastest at that moment. Somewhere around 45 minutes or an hour into the race I stopped to take my Almanzo jacket (ironically? I wore the exact same thing for this that I did in the Royal 162 back in May) and was able to use the high hilltop vista to see some of my competitors back down the road. I knew it was my race to lose, but that I had to focus on proper pacing and fueling.

The hilly/soft private land snowmobile trails seemed to stretch on and on. I found that the key was to look for grass sticking up through the trail and to hit the gas when there was traction available and then to "float"/coast to the next thin patch. In general the snow was too deep and too soft for any normal riding. Finally, I got to the last big uphill. I was forced to hike about 80% of it and once again I was able to use a vista to look back on other riders. There was actually someone in what appeared to be grey no more than 8-10 minutes back at this point.

Pushed on as such, by their presence, I hammered the paved section in the aero bars and 32x11 and kept a lot of momentum up down the B road. I took care not to risk a flat or a fall, and to make sure to carry big speed out the bottom above anything else. Finally, I hit the heritage trail and found it in good shape. I rode the entire day with approximately 6 psi in the Larry's and they did well on the trail. On the return trip I would see a lot of evidence of other people not fairing so well on their fat bikes and wonder if they were running too much pressure? As it was I was able to spend most of my time on the trail in the aero bars and often at speeds north of 15 mph. I made the halfway point at 1:20 or just over 3 hours of elapsed time and was feeling great. After a very quick stop and a slog back through the last section of snowmobile trail I was back to the main Heritage Trail BEFORE I saw any competitors coming toward me. The first one was SPINNER!

I was ecstatic to see him riding hard and doing well, and I was feeling good. I also knew that I had a big enough lead that I didn't need to worry about going too hard and blowing up. From there on out I pushed even harder than I had been. I believe I averaged over 16 from that point on in the race despite going into the wind. Literally riding like I was in a time trial. Thinking about nothing but pedaling and trying to keep my cadence up. I had a few issues with coming up fast behind people and actually fell once while trying to barrel through a drift, but overall it went very fast. I was not ever able to fully shake the idea that someone might be catching me. Near the end of the race I got a big scare when somebody commuting was about half a block back!

I finished in 5:29 and there was no one there to greet me... I guess that's a good thing. I guess I had broken the course record by quite a bit (while I was riding I had it in my head that Cody's CR time last year was about 5 hours even, but I was later informed that I was wrong). Perhaps the course was faster this year.

A few guys got ahead of Spinner while he ate pizza and he gave a strong chase. He caught one, but the other two got lost a bit and so we will never know if he could have run them down. He finished in 2nd! First ever Triple D finisher on a Moonlander and first ever wearing shorts (or did he finish previously?). A few very strong riders came in soon after Spinner and then the two of us had to run. I haven't seen full results yet, but they may be posted by the time you read this. I checked into a hotel and he got the Hyena then we hit the awards. Lots of good conversation about fat bikes, Almanzo stuff, bike parts in general, riding etc. and then the actual ceremony. Tons of beer and free food were consumed. Awesome time all the way around. A lot of great sponsors including two of my favorites- Milltown Cycles and Phil Wood. Plus a 9 zero 7 frame was given away to the winner of the "skinny bike" class thanks to Chain Reaction Cycles, the same as the borrowed one I had raced on.

Then, the Busted Lift. Everything the Dakota 5-0 after party was lacking. We had an incredible time- even had dozens of hamburgers picked up and brought to the bar! Thanks to all involved in making that happen. 9 am alarm came awful early, but I had to get back to Rochester.

Next race is CIRREM. In the meantime I hope to see you on January 29th for the Untitled Almanzo ride and/or the Dickie Scramble on February 11th...

Triple D prep., 9 zero 7 "on test", "olympic gangster"

2012-01-11T19:04:00.000-08:00

I wrote a book review that can be found at almanzo.com. I would love feedback and suggestions for other cycling related reading.

Rode my borrowed fat bike for about 4 hours today. Will save my thoughts for later, plan to write some sort of a review. Here it is-

and the most likey candidates for what bike will work best at Triple D...

In other words- I don't have a clue.

Untitled ride details

2012-01-09T17:13:00.000-08:00

Can't make it or can't get enough? http://dickiescramble.blogspot.com/

I've made a facebook group for this event as well, but all the information is posted here. Feel free to friend me on facebook or respond there if you have anything.

There is no registration process, charge associated with, or postcard needed. Just show up On January 29th and ride. We will be beginning and ending in the Glynner's/Fiesta Mexicana parking lot. We will support the local businesses and it is a large parking lot but it would be nice if you carpool or ride.

I will provide hand-written route notes. This is not a race, although I anticipate multiple groups forming, and as such I will make a guess as to how many copies to bring. The 70-75 mile route has a refreshingly small number of turns or other notations needed and will fit neatly on two normal "tulip diagram" type sized pages. Dover's Road Trip Bar and Grill is a fine establishment which has a full menu and bar and is just 2 blocks off the route roughly 1/3 of the way through. Chatfield is also on our route, located just past half-way. If you are cold, hungry, uncertain etc., take care to replenish as needed while in Chatfield. The route directly passes a Subway, Quik Trip and a couple of small town bars. We will be riding up Magnum Rd soon thereafter which I'm sure some of you may remember from past Almanzo 100s. 80% of the way through their is a brief out and back option to check out some interesting heritage and the Old Dubuque Stagecoach Route. The final 12 miles or so are pavement and bike path. We intend to sit down and share some good food and drink at the finish.

Here is a final teaser image-

Can't make it or can't get enough... http://dickiescramble.blogspot.com/

My "re-imagined" trek 720 multitrack

2012-01-04T18:59:00.000-08:00

Commuter type bikes are my favorites. Race bikes are boring because they all have to conform to a norm in order to work well. A commuter bike is where someones personality, or lack thereof, shows. It's also where you see all sorts of interesting home solutions and odd-cobble jobs.

The last few winters I've spent a lot of time on my bike riding Rochester area gravel roads, bike paths and commuting. I've gone through quite a few frames and parts while I've searched for what worked best for me. I also use this bike for almost all my summer commuting and for non-offroad touring. Here is what I'm riding (or at least the important parts) and a bit about why...

Frame- 1999 Trek 720 Multitrack. Stable, durable, cx type frame that fits 700x42s with fenders or 29x1.9 without.

Fork- Nashbar carbon 1" cyclocross disc fork. I debated about spending the $40 for this, but it dropped a lot of weight off the frame and improved the geometry for my use... PLUS it allowed me to switch to a disc brake.

Headset- aheadset 1" headset, had to swap to this to run the fork as I went from threaded to threadless.

stem/bars/post/saddle- 130mm 3T stem (slammed!), truvativ stylo mtb bars in 580mm, Thomson 0 setback post, Ti railed WTB saddle. Tried to skimp on post, but the infinite adjustability that cheap posts lack keeps my taint from hurting! This stuff is relatively light, but also likely to last forever.

Wheels- front- no name front 32 spoke 29er wheel with 160mm lock-on disc. rear- coda rear hub (dt swiss internals) laced with 40 spokes to a sun tandem rim. Needed something beefy that wouldn't need much work to keep going, rear hub is the place to spend the money! Front hub is simple and bearings could be replaced if needed.

brakes- BB7 road front, Shimano lx canti rear, old school avid flat bar levers (SD7?)

tires- 700x42c nokian 240s in winter or Bontrager XR 29x1.9/1.8 in summer.

fenders- planet bike, modified to mount with the disc brake up front

crankset- Ultegra 6500 triple with only a 39t middle ring, bashguard. Internal bottom bracket for durability in crud, bashguard keeps my pants out of chainring.

cassette- Ultegra 6500 12-27. Good, higher end cassette that gives me final gearing similar to what I ride in summer. No taking a nap and totally spinning up hills.

chain- kmc x9. I've had a lot of issues with chains over the years. These are my favorite cheap 9sp chains, prefer DA 7700 for "race" bikes.

derailleurs- no front derailleur, XTR M952 rear. Awesome quality sealed bearings that worked until I wore out the teeth and had to replace them!

shifters- sram attack gripshift- simple and durable. Not different in feel than the X0 on my race mountain bike. I run a full-length cable housing.

pedals- crankbrothers quattro sl. I use them or the Ti ones on everything. They are holding up great.

All in all this is a bike I feel comfortable with. I can take a quick-link, multi-tool and a couple tubes and be confident in making it home in any conditions. I am also comfortable on it for long rides and find that it handles quite well. Building up a winter bike/commuter with this level of compenentry has greatly increased it's functionality such that I now use it a ton, easily enough to justify the cost. I find it appealing visually as well, but I think it flies under the radar too... I'm not having to constantly worried that it will be stolen from a gas station or bike rack.

Here is a link to a similar post by my friend Will...

http://stockdell.org/blog/2011/12/15/building-a-bike-for-minnesota-winters/

What are you riding?

I do believe the world is going to end in 2012

2012-01-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

The sure sign of the pugacalypse

http://fat-bike.com/2012/01/new-contest-pimp-my-pugs/

I'm tempted to send in a picture of my beach cruiser.
"hoopty" fat bike??? Or would that be a Mukluk that doesn't have red grips and chain?

Who has a "hoopty" of a fat bike anyways? In the spirit of the original show the winner should be that dude you see riding down the sidewalk on a walmart bike who has to get to work in a blizzard (except, what he really needs is a cx bike with studs).

In all seriousness, it's a good idea and solid marketing... maybe you want to enter? I'm sure you'll get some cool parts!

On a related note- my time with the 9 zero 7 is rapidly approaching. Really looking forward to putting a few miles on it and riding it in Triple D. Thank you Trevor for letting me borrow it!

On a more distantly related note- don't get all pissed at me for picking on fat bikes. I'm all for anyone and everyone riding their bikes. I'm also all for fat bikes. I just can't help but notice the proliferation or expansion of hipster like culture within the ranks of the fat bikers (this certainly doesn't apply to everyone who has one either) and it's hilarious because so many of the owners are the same people who have recently picked on other cycling trends... particularly the ones they now seem to be emulating. I certainly hope to own one myself sometime soon! I'd even take a real "hoopty" one. I just don't have the funds to keep up all my other bikes, travel to races, etc., and buy one just yet. It also seems that each time I do have the funding some other bike or sports equipment item becomes a higher priority (road bike, new 29er, fast road/gravel wheels, cyclocross bike, skate skis... the list is likely to go on if we don't get a ton of snow and fast!)

New Years Resolution

2012-01-03T16:58:00.000-08:00

I didn't make one. Regardless, there is something to starting the year off right. On New Years Day I was up at 5:30 headed to Wolverine Village via the MSP airport where I was to drop the Loris' sister off around 8. We got out of the door so early due to the high winds and freezing rain of the night before and that extra time was needed. Despite only minor disruptions including, but not limited to her cat pissing in the back of the car and having to get gas, I was free and clear and headed north at 75 mph by 8:20 or so.

I arrived around 12:30 and immediately hit the ski trails. Conditions were pretty solid and my new, actually first xc stuff since about age 6, was great. I should thank Henry Wisnewski and Bob Alleva for helping me out on this point. For those who care I am on 191 2011 Atomic Red Cheetahs and the world cup boots. Might seem like massive overkill for someone who has only been skating for a few days, but I had the opportunity to pick it up and plan to make proper use of it. I can certainly say that the skis are incredibly stable compared to the older atomic race skis I used last year which, at least according to Henry, does not come at any cost to how fast they are either.

I forgot to put on my knee brace and didn't even notice until I had been out for over 2 hours! This, I believe, is attributable to the time I've spent away from running and the extra strength I've built up around it this year. On that topic- I am currently trying to lose weight from a high of 192 or 193 around the time of the Dirt Bag but do think that gaining that weight and deliberately training to build leg muscle had paid off in the stability of my knee and in reducing those issues. I'm grateful to be seeing some positive results with the knee thing! 8 weeks of cyclocross and now skate skiing pain free is a huge step from where I was just last year. The trick now is to lose the "extra" parts of that mass without losing that strength. At this point I am somewhere around 178 most mornings with intermediate goals of 175 at Triple D and 170 at CIRREM. I know that IF I can drop 25 or 30 lbs without losing strength and explosiveness that it will serve me well throughout next year. I also know that I've gone "fast" while relatively heavy and that it will be a balancing act. I suppose I also need to keep in mind how many of my races are either long endurance races where the extra weight almost seems to help or end in sprints where any loss of strength would be quickly noticed. All that aside, knee doing better=great news!

It snowed hard over night and I woke up to this (well, it also helped that I rallyed the Mini Cooper pretty hard to get to the hill first)!

Sadly, powder days in the Midwest are for chumps and I relearned that lesson once again... There simply isn't enough sustained vertical, even at our better ski areas, for any real approximation of what it "should be". I can't even imagine trying to snowboard out there as you truly never would have gotten going faster than 8 or 10 mph other than the final steep pitch that is about 10 seconds long. I wound up switching off the GS skis and hitting a couple of the more narrow/gladed runs on slalom skis in an attempt to actually avoid the deepest powder and the wind (which was coming straight up the hill and adding to how slow everything was). For what it's worth I'm skiing on 12 year old Nordica Dobermans and 2006? Atomic world cup slaloms in 165 and Giant Slaloms in 190? (or close to that). They are hand me downs from my brother as my last year racing was one year prior to these skis. I'm not entirely sure why these are the ones I have now but they suit my needs well. I don't think there will ever be a time when my preference wouldn't be for giant slalom race skis for virtually any condition on a real mountain and for slalom skis on our midwestern "hills". Don't get me started on all the new equipment "innovations"...

Back on topic- Wolverine Village was awesome as always! I'm grateful for all the time I get to spend up there. After a couple hours of skating and a quick snowshoe after the sun decided to pop out I had to head back to Rochester. I wasn't sure how a one night trip that far away would work out, but it was definitely worth it given how little snow we continue to have down here.

This week is a planned rest week for me, but the way I see it I started resting Saturday and I will turn it back up late this week and the early part of next week prior to resting up for whatever it is that Triple D will turn out to be. I plan to pre-ride the "Untitled" Almanzo ride course and sort of finalize/check that after which I will post some more information on Almanzo.com, really hope to see you there (here?)!

Here are random teaser pics for that ride

and a shot of my new toebooties (the zippers broke and I had another "full" pair anyways. Paired with these 1/2 size too big Sidis and smartwool socks I'm good for road riding down to about 20 degrees as shown).

Hope you had a good Holiday

curating smugness via portaging

2011-12-27T13:41:00.000-08:00

More bike snobbery...

Is it more/less smug to carry a huge box strapped to your banjo brothers bag while riding a Trek 720 curated with a "slammed stem" and fixie culture bars (only 580mm wide, yo) than it would be to carry the same on a cargo bike?

I think the answer is... it's smug either way. Regardless, I didn't have any better options and I had to get the goods back to their rightful owner so that they can use them at CX Nationals.

On a related note- holy crap is it ever nice out! People seem to have stopped commenting on how beautiful and warm it is... maybe because they are worried that if they mention it that they'll wake up from this dream.

xmas and yet another year end top 10 list

2011-12-26T08:02:00.001-08:00

My brother the astronaut

It was like 42 degrees!

ya'll are screwed now that I have THAT to make sacrifices for prior to the big April show

funny how a new camera makes you all artistic

love the smiley face

Now onto the list...

Everyone is doing it, why not?

Plus, maybe mine will be worth reading for someone. At least I would like to think so. I ride and race a lot, more than most and I'm not going to try to tell you how cool the stuff I got from a bike shop that I work at or from my friends at the bike company is... maybe I can balance out some of "those" voices just a little bit?

10. carbon wheels- my favorite are the Reynolds. As cheap as used as light aluminum wheels are used and faster/lighter. Tubular of course. They also have a mystical effect on... your competitors. They think you have an advantage and therefore you do (even when your wheels are heavier than theirs... shhhhh).

9. My 1999 Trek 720 Multi-track- there are other old, steel, 700c, bikes like this out there. This particular generation of trek fits 29x1.9s... is it a 29er? Not according to Guitar Ted's history of the 29er. Does it matter? This sort of bike is a perfect commuter, winter bike, touring bike, gravel bike etc., can be ridden on singletrack pretty well, it absolutely does it all. I even think it's beautiful in the manner of things that do their job right. It's a bit heavy to race, but I ride it far more than anything else I own. Tough to beat something like this for day in day out use. If I had to go down to one bike, it would be this one (and the frame/fork/seatpost/fenders cost me $30)

8. DT hubs- they don't get screwed up. I have 240s in every wheelset I can. Maybe even better is the 40h CODA rear hub with the same internals that I scored from Trevor (off of his tandem for peanuts) for a rear wheel for that Trek 720... want to bet it will make it through the next 10 winters?

7. Bontrager's tubeless system/RXL wheelset- I've got the older 2008 wheels with the DT hubs. I also had some Stans wheels that were lighter. I sold the Stans wheels. These are so much more secure with the way they hold the tire and the wheels are stiffer.

6. SRAM gripshift! Just can't see going away from this on my mountain bike. Where is the 10 speed 'cause I can't wait. I also like my noir crankset and reba on my Orbea. Just don't make the mistake of running any of their front derailleurs! (although I've HEARD they XX one and the newest Red versions work very well)

5. Shimano heat-moldable, m310 mtb shoes. I've got skinny feet, Trevor doesn't... We both got these shoes, molded them properly and love them. I've got some fancy road shoes from sidi and nike both, these shimanos would truly be the only pair of shoes I would need for mtb, road and gravel.

4. aero-bars... the stuff of tri-dorks, right? I have historically had trouble with my back/hands (maybe related to scoliosis or breaking my back a while ago) these solved those problems for me! Plus they are fast. Who cares what you look like?

3. Shimano stuff- DA 7800 to be precise. It's cheap and it's awesome. It's heavier than SRAM, it's not CARBON... but that's just not the point. Last year in the Royal one guy running SRAM had BOTH SHIFTERS stop working. A lot of people complained about major bike issues, cost, repairs. I replaced a bearing in a jockey wheel... I used the same parts for dirty kanza, a bunch of road races and cyclocross- it's as perfect as ever. There is a drawback to Shimano though and that's the SRAM gripshift as above.

2. tubular tires- I don't care which ones. Did you read my little "ode to tubulars" at almanzo.com? Would I race every discipline on them if I could afford proper 29er rims/tires? Yes! Drawback? $$, but this is the place to spend it. I'd rather race my the trek 720 for cx or gravel with good wheels/tires than any other bike with bad.

1. My 2005 Giant OCR carbon road bike... for gravel. Gravel has taken off. Every manufacturer wants in on the action- they would like to tell you they are doing something better and special than what has been done before... There is a reason my results got better this year, part of that reason is this regular old, cheap, taiwan carbon, 7 year old road bike that cost $100 for the frame/fork. Everyone wants to tell you that you need whatever and whatever. What I needed was a fast bike that I was comfortable riding all day... turns out a lot of companies have been making such bikes for years and promoting them as such. Why they haven't hit the gravel scene yet so much I haven't a clue (aggressive marketing by others?). Do you need something similar? If you do then you are in luck- these and similar bikes from other companies (in no way is my Giant better than or even as good as a lot of the others) all over the place used for <500 frame, <1000 complete.

bikesnobrochmn- what if there was a bike snob nyc type "bike snob" in Rochester MN

2011-12-21T11:44:00.001-08:00

BikesnobRochMN

Here's how it would go...

1. Start in with controversy from yesterdays post.

Yesterday's (link to said post) about the Minnesota Fixie craze has led to a lot of controversy. Seems people don't like being picked on. When one points out the irony of how long they've been making fun of hipsters and now are doing almost the same thing (link to all matching fat bike ironically not being ridden on snow). Blah, blah etc..

2. Talk negatively about the city you couldn't live without.

Here in MN we are in the epicenter of the fatbike/fixie/ironic cyclocross bike none of which are raced craze (not entirely true, but true in writers myopic gaze). It's just one more sign of the apocalypse (right?). I too love to ride my bike and their culture smears the public impression and generally "grinds my gears".

(possibly link to non-related image here... the one Charly Tri ((this is a link to his blog of course)) uses as his banner with the fat kid might work, it seems on par with the recumbent woman the real bikesnob likes to put in his posts)

3. Reference something else from the past that was funny and vaguely connects

I used to have a pink fixie (link to my valentines day post of riding hills on it) but got made fun of (link to comments/post where it was made fun of) for having "hipster" handlebars and sold it in an attempt to be cool (link to the person whom I sold it to, also possible tie-in to the fact that it was later stolen or lost? Quite possibly thrown into the river after he flatted it whilst in a state of despair after said buyer had a long night at the bar).

4. Reference something else from past that was funny and vaguely connects

Outrage still boils due to the "raphagate" scandal and the lack of SS CX Worlds Tattoos (should have used ironic in that sentence somewhere). A reader (readers forward things all the time right?) forwarded me information about a "fat bike world championships" in upper michigan. This is in addition to the already existing fat bike world championships in Decorah. Obviously the size of the ironic tattoo given to the winner will determine which one is the "real", "ironic" world championships (there I used "ironic" properly). Or perhaps ironic (again!) fat bikers are just trying to follow boxings lead... unification bout anyone? Maybe they can all get together and see who has the matchingest bikes? The overall, unificated, ironic (again!) winner could get this tattoo-

(insert picture of mike tyson with face tattoo, with belt, with fatbike)

5. Something about stupid crap in my city, does not at all connect

Meanwhile green-minded city people are leaving their Hummers (link to picture of Hummer... inappropriate) at home and instead flying their personal aircraft (link to cessna) to the pizza farm (link to article about rich idiots flying their planes to get a "locally grown, organic, sustainable etc." meal).

6. something about other stupid crap in the city, does not seem to connect

Meanwhile the "bird abatement" (link to this same blog where I bitched about this earlier in month) continues unabated (see what I did there?). The $25,000 spent on birds of prey (link to silly cartoon of bird of prey), lasers (link to laser) and high expectations has thus far resulted in... birds dispersing as far away as 3-4 blocks-

(insert image I took yesterday of a few dozen, at least, murders of crows located approximately 1 mile outside of downtown in the middle of my commute)

7. connect the sneakily connected things I set up above

Maybe the best solution would be to invite the private plane assholes to push the crows out... Surely, they could force the crows as far away as simpson, or die trying (image of bird in jet engine, stock photo). I'd be willing to wager that crows are more afraid of airplanes than lasers. I'm sure the well fed (image of stupid rochesterites feeding the crows, geese etc.) crows could be considered "free range" as well.

8. connect with other current events.

You would think that a city with the technology/stupidity to "remodel the river" (insert my previous post and image of them literally remodeling the river with dump trucks and plows) could handle some crows. If not, you'd think anyone with the ability to take such blunt action would probably try dynamite (link to something). Here's to hoping that they dredge up my pink fixie while they are out their remodeling- it's surely cool once again now that the wannabes have moved on to fat bikes.

9. connect with silly product aforementioned

In the meantime I'll continue wearing this stupid umbrella on my head during my commute (no further explanation needed).

10. reference to pro cycling, semi-inappropriate joke, redeeming last take

if all else fails we could enlist Vonsummeren and Dekker (link to stuff about the controversy with regards to them wearing black face last month when dressed as 'santas helper') to help scare the birds off to spring valley (link to spring valley image with sky darkened by crows)... Short of that they could at least bring coal to the city planners (link to how they kicked out the Almanzo).

Respectfully yours,

crow-worshipping gravel crusher of doom (stupid name referencing stupid fake religion)

That would be my take on it. I'm not putting any more time or effort towards actually finding the images, articles etc. above referenced. You can use google if you want to put it all together... all those things are actually happening.

Brother's race season has started- go Utah!

2011-12-20T17:28:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to their page-

http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/c-ski/utah-c-ski-body.html

or follow along on facebook if you have it-

http://www.facebook.com/utahskiteam#!/utahskiteam

You can find a schedule, roster, some result information etc. over there.

I've been following along with my brother's training etc. and he has now raced a couple of early season slaloms.

Today-

1 2 ACOSTA, Christopher USA UNM MID 45.27 (1) 42.21 (12) 1:27.48

2 9 WILSON, Ryan USA WEST MID 46.14 (7) 41.35 (1) 1:27.49

3 5 KROGDAHL, Torjus NOR UU MID 45.72 (4) 42.17 (11) 1:27.89

4 16 LAMB, Max USA UCO MID 46.06 (6) 42.16 (9) 1:28.22

5 10 ADDE, Andreas NOR UAA MID 46.62 (13) 41.66 (2) 1:28.28

6 11 MCDONALD, Fletcher USA UCO MID 46.47 (9) 42.08 (8) 1:28.55

7 21 SHIFFRIN, Taylor USA SCV J-1 46.68 (14) 41.91 (6) 1:28.59

8 4 RASANEN, Joonas FIN UNM MID 45.44 (3) 43.25 (24) 1:28.69

9 6 PENTTINEN, Juho-Pekka FIN UNM MID 46.58 (11) 42.16 (9) 1:28.74

10 17 KOLLENBORG, Christopher NOR UAA MID 46.05 (5) 42.82 (18) 1:28.87

Podium shot from today- he isn't as quite as short as he looks there

Park City 12/15--

1 3 Wilson, Ryan R UU UU MID 37.30 (1) 39.43 (1) 1:16.73

2 4 Strand, Derek IND IND MID 39.01 (3) 40.11 (2) 1:19.12

3 9 Cleason, James RM RM J-1 39.15 (4) 40.39 (3) 1:19.54

4 12 Marshall, Cody B PCST PCST MID 39.21 (5) 40.81 (5) 1:20.02

5 6 Robillard, Griffin RM RM J-2 39.00 (2) 41.19 (9) 1:20.19

6 11 Demschar, Daniel PCST PCST J-1 39.29 (7) 41.05 (7) 1:20.34

7 15 Klotz, Richard J BB BB J-1 39.76 (9) 41.26 (10) 1:21.02

8 7 Staples, Max PCST PCST J-1 39.94 (10) 41.14 (8) 1:21.08

9 42 Elliot, Nigel T PCST PCST J-2 40.72 (19) 41.04 (6) 1:21.76

10 21 Peek, Riley PCST PCST J-1 40.13 (12) 41.72 (13) 1:21.85

I pulled just the top 10s for space reasons- full results are on live-timing.com

Last years NCAA results-

http://www.ncaa.com/history/skiing/nc

I can't find a link to the full results in a format that would be easy to read.

With another year of training etc., it looks like the team, and Ryan individually, are well positioned to do well throughout the college season and NCAAs this year. Follow along with me.

Random picture of Ryan-

and a video...

http://sprongo.com/video/share/pid/RT8cyZEST_s=#.TvExAv03JM8.facebook

Frostchester

2011-12-18T13:24:00.000-08:00

Luckily we got some snow at the very last minute!

Click on one of the pictures to go to a slideshow mode- for some reason some got cut off otherwise.

More badgercross midwest championships stuff and photo dump (dogs and bikes)

2011-12-16T22:43:00.000-08:00

Found this video of the course- click on it and it will take you to the youtube or whatnot, it's not my video, but it's a great one.

A couple shots from the first lap on Sunday-

This one is odd- I never noticed that there was a pond?

This week-

Ragnarok 2012 and is it March already?

2011-12-14T18:27:00.000-08:00

I woke up today feeling motivated and sent this in-

Hopefully I get in the Ragnarok! Awesome postcard of me leading the group up the big hill there (courtesy of Ben Witt from Milltown Cycles). I remember standing in the parking lot last year watching the race start. At the time it was a relief, I knew I wasn't ready for it etc., but can't let it happen again. I'm in it for every hill that I can be. May have to leave the full-on cyclocross bike together until after that weekend... don't know if my gravel/road setup is up for it. Obviously the lack of carbon will knock me out of the lead group early if that is the case.

In other news... What is going on with the weather?

I'm back on the usual long commutes, training rides get ready for the long stuff thing this week--- no more of that 45 minutes and call it good for cyclocross. This time of year needs to be tough. With Triple D coming up soon I'm itching to get out in the cold and get comfortable. I've sourced a "fat" bike this year to help me in that race. This 40 degrees and raining stuff doesn't seem like proper preparation!

Along the same lines my new XC skis should be showing up by the end of the week... may as well have ordered scuba gear. At least they are being shipped to Wolverine Village, will save me having to put them in the car when I head up.

Todays commute was full rain suit! Bring back winter.

I'll leave this useless update with a quote... "fat bikes are the new fixie" -Dennis Grelk (and you know it's true)

Wintry Thursday Rides

2011-12-13T21:17:00.000-08:00

From now through the last week of February I will be riding Thursdays. Usually 50-70 miles and leaving SW Rochester between 10 and 11 am. Pace will reflect the conditions, but usually 11-14. You are welcome to join me. speshysilence@gmail.com and I'll confirm the plan and that I'm not up skiing at Wolverine that week.

An extension- 2 more weeks of cyclocross and badgercross midwest championships day 2

2011-12-12T17:30:00.000-08:00

Two more weeks of CX...

Well, really one full week off and then a week of training and racing.

After writing my thoughts on my 6 weeks season and coming to the obvious conclusion that it wasn't long enough (due to obviously still improving and needing more time off to recover between events). I decided the logical thing to do would be to take that full week off and race again. In my past life I remember sometimes feeling like I was chasing results too much. That after a bad performance I'd make too many sacrifices in order to atone and spend too much time and effort traveling/racing. Such a situation is often a good setup for a failure. I was mindful of that risk, but the situation for my going down to BadgerCross/"midwest cx championships" seemed too good a fit to worry about that risk. I was recovering well from my minor leg surgery, the weather was looking great, the course looked like fun, the timing was right etc. etc., plus I enjoy Madison.

I took the entire week off after Jinglecross. Literally, only riding 30 minutes Sunday night to head down to the bar.

I commuted every day last week,trained hard for 40 minutes Tuesday at Eastwood- making 6 hard laps of our practice course in the snow including the run-up and the sand and trained hard for about 25 Thursday again making laps in the snow. The warm-up/cool-down time plus commuting wound up at about 6 hours even. I focused on CX skills some as well- exactly how to shoulder my bike, the best form for remounting etc..

I already wrote about Saturday (see below).

I felt great warming up Sunday morning. I felt I could focus entirely on racing and not on CX or bike handling skills (I need to find that feeling on my MTB next year!). It also felt good to be on the front row with the call-ups! A few more "fast" guys had come in for Championship day. My strategy was to ride my own race the entire time, the course was open enough that the holeshot didn't seem super important and I also knew that I couldn't climb the steeper hill as fast as the much lighter juniors who would likely be around me up front. I would have to grind my way up that and make up ground on the more gradual power climbs, the run-up and the fast downhill sections. I had noticed the day before that Nordahl would easily gap me on the hill, but that I could pull him back quite a bit elsewhere and I figured that was just the way it had to be.

The race went very much as expected. I wasn't able to hang with the push of the leaders up the big hill and found myself doing my own thing in 4th. Then Mitch Nordahl passed me as if I wasn't moving while making a huge effort to get back to the front (he had bobbled at the start). I hoped I could reel him back in later at the time, but as it turns out he made a very strong push for the win. Meanwhile, I felt reasonably strong and ground along. I traded spots with two juniors from Louisville for most of the race. I was able to gap them with two laps to go, but blew it with a technical error in a corner that forced me to dismount. Then one of them had a shifting problem and had to switch bikes in the pit (wish I had two matching bikes!) and they fell back to me. The final lap came and one of them dropped me hard on the steep climb, but the other was right in front. I passed on the run-up and finished the rest of the lap comfortably between them, but unable to gain ground on the first. I was 6th. Too bad Nordahl wasn't able to pull off the win!

As an aside here- it has been fun watching the MN Juniors race over the last few weeks. Mitch Nordahl, Nils Boberg, Josey Weik, Alec Porter etc. have all had good races and shown improvement. I hope to see them all going faster next year in many of the races that I attend.

From a training/learning perspective I raced much better this weekend than previously. This was a stronger field than everything but the best day at Jinglecross and I was much more competitive. The usa cycling points system shows this as well where I scored about 225 each day vs. my previous best of 240 at Jinglecross and 255 at the State Championships. It's hard to gauge the meaning of those numbers vs. head to head racing with the same people, but I'm confident that I was much stronger than I had previously been. I think this underscored the importance of rest and that I really need to start the CX season a bit earlier next fall if I want to perform my best in MN. I hope I learned something overall that will help me prepare for important races.

I'm now 100% ready to do nothing but ride gravel/commuting base miles. I might have had lingering regrets about this year if I hadn't gone last weekend but feel great about ending the year on the upswing rather than with 2/3 DNF at Jinglecross. Now I just have to deal with my own expectations for how next spring should go.

Badgercross Midwest Championship Qualifier Day

2011-12-10T15:03:00.000-08:00

What an awesome course! A little bit of everything with a nice balance between twisty stuff and climbing- even some significant downhill sections. Maybe a little "easy", but a good test and as good as anywhere I've raced this year. Conditions today were FAST with most of the course being frozen hard and bumpy.

Today as the final day of the Wisconsin CX series points wise and sets the start call-ups for tomorrow's championship race (whatever that means since there are obviously a lot of fast midwesterners who aren't here). I started on the 3rd row today but was able to quickly move into 3rd. I bounced from there to 9th and then back up to 6th over the first couple laps. A few guys were able to really put down a lot of power on the climb- particularly a young kid from Marquette and a couple of Illinois guys. I settled into 6th/7th with Mitch Nordahl. On the last two laps I had trouble clipping in, I wasn't alone in having this problem today as the run-up had fresh mud/clay dirt on it, and wasn't able to put up much of a fight. Mitch wound up 6th a few yards in front of me in 7th. Top 8 make the front row tomorrow- which won't really matter much, but that was my goal for today regardless. I think Josey Weik was the next MN guy in 17th. Hopefully we can all have a slightly better performance tomorrow.

Here is a picture-

Guide to Rochester MN Bars, Clubs, Nightlife

2011-12-07T19:42:00.001-08:00

Drew's Guide to Rochester Bars

Boomers's- Sort of like the kindergarten version of a bar. Complete with primary colors, recess games and nothing imaginative. Great place to witness a white trash wedding reception will sipping cheap Red Label/cokes and tossing bags.

Newt's North/South- Put them together as one. If you like overhyped, oversized $12 burgers and $15 pitchers of beer this is for you. When you stop reading "Rochester Magazine" as if it's the bible maybe you will also stop totally sucking.

Whiskey Bones- Great venue so long as whatever show you go to only fills it up to 1/8th of capacity, terrible site-lines. Great rail drinks and specials. All you can drink Wednesday night includes all of their 22 beers (all priced half of Newt's prices to begin with). Willing to try shit to get people in the door- viva burlesque!

Whistle Binkies (original)- Do you like strip malls? No, not "strip" malls. Actual strip malls with dollar stores, asian buffets, shit like that? Do you like being told that the special is "out" for the night every time you order it? Do you like old, tube TVs? They bring in some good quality ingredients and have a decent menu but in the end screw it all up.

Glynner's- Shouldn't even be on the list. Great place to go after softball, I guess.

CJ's- OLD CREEPY PEOPLE, CRAPPY MUSIC.

300 First/Redwood room- Don't get me started. Go to the upstairs for happy hour and order the half-priced appetizers and cheap beer just to piss off the wait-staff... wait, why does that piss them off anyways? Go downstairs if you make more money than you know what to do with and are taking a girl with an IQ under 80 on a date?

Chesters- Rub elbows with kind benevolent folk while eating excellent lavash and sipping properly made drinks. Look! an expensive place that doesn't suck.

Beer Bellyz- Ever been to a northern Wisconsin gas station/liquor store? Well, this is the slightly handicapped wet-dream of such a place. The gas station feel is still intact but they imported some UFC and threw in some bad rap/dance type music. Obviously this makes for a good place to get in a fight or two.

McGoons- Surprisingly good food, best Guinness, comedy.

North Star- Feels like it hasn't changed since about 1990, great place to catch a rock tribute band. Bad place to be otherwise, or sober(ish).

Kathy's- The default downtown bar. So much wrong with it, but it's still better than most any other option. Terrible rail selection, beer selection, drunk bartenders etc., but your friends will be there even if you can't see or hear them and you just got groped by someone squeezing by!

Big Brads- Like a big suburban living room of beer. Great beer selection and specials. My favorite place to start the night.

Amsterdam- Play fooze with the owner, avoid fights with gangstas- don't pick up their girlfriends... you might even get lucky and get a drink if anyone is behind the bar. Got to respect the techno.

Top Shots- I'm sure it's great for pool league. On the weekend you get tools pretending to play pool and girls who are too ugly for Dooley's stuffed in push-up bras. Big groups end up here because they have big tables and room to talk.

63 club- Tiny, go with friends, eat pickled eggs.

Wicked Moose- Gone country! Unless tonight's show is lip-synching Britney and Madonna or covering Nickleback? Best bartenders, not a great selection. Huge layout is nice.

Whistle Binkie's on the Lake- See above- better location, more potential=bigger disappointment when they drop the ball.

Dooley's- I've heard some call this style of bar a "meat-market"... If this is a meat market I'm going vegetarian and while I'm at it I'm going to get a new hair cut and change my name. Pathetic is the first word that comes to my mind. I guess this is the natural result to "mother mayo" preventing strip clubs from coming into town. We get all the bad parts of a strip club with none of the good, the girls aren't even cute and they aren't making enough money to put themselves through medical school either. Shame on you for considering this soiled garment of a "pub" but if you do make it don't expect anything special from their kitchen, bar or wait staff- at least so far as "traditional" service goes. Only possible redeeming value is late-night menu, but Taco Bell's got that too.

The rest aren't worth mentioning or don't qualify as "bars" to my way of thinking.

2012 Almanzo Kit

2011-12-07T18:17:00.000-08:00

almanzo.com has more info

I may be mixing/matching between the two.

looking to 2012

2011-12-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

2011 isn't over. I'm going to madison to race in the Badger Cross Midwest Regional Championships this weekend. After all that crap I wrote about cyclocross I realized that taking a week off, training a bit and then doing this race sounded like fun. The weather looks good and I love the Madison area, can't wait!

I also just received word that my skate ski stuff will be here in about ten days! Looks like I'll get to do some cross-training, and will have another excuse to spend time at the Wolverine Village.

Nor have I forgotten about that dirty metric and dirty century that I need to complete before New Years. They will happen.

For 2012-

I've already wimped out on the Arrowhead 135 and trans-Iowa. Intend to follow suit with regards to a host of other races including Dirty Kanza and a variety of endurance mountain bike races. such events just don't seem to fit into my "plan" as much as they used to. The one "long one" that I will take another swing at is the Royal. I suppose I'm also likely to ride quite a few training centuries and have another long day at the Dairyland Dare--- but none of those will be the same as the effort/recovery that would go into something like trans-Iowa. I've got a ton of respect for everyone who will be taking the line and I'm sure on that day I will wish I were there at many of the events (particularly if the high in Emporia is below 80 degrees...). I don't know how to explain it, I always thought I was an "endurance guy too" but there it is and the tentative schedule that follows will probably say more.

WINTER- Triple D, CIRREM

March- 2-3x of the Iowa Spring Classics

April- Ragnarok??? Don't know if I'm feeling it, so probably not... had a great time not racing it last year! 2x road races (Durand, one of the others).

May- 2x mtb in MN or WORS series, Royal

June- 2x mtb in MN or WORS, Thursday night mtb, Keeweenaw Chain drive + long trip up there, maybe road if it gets hot for the last weekend (in place of mtb).

July- 2-3x crits, Thursday night mtb.

August- 1x crit, 1x road race, sugar bottoms scramble, Thursday night mtb

September- Copper Harbor fat tire festival vs. Maplelag. Rest, more base miles and time on CX bike, low priority cx race?

October- Heck of the north, Heroic, dirt bag and weeknight CX

November- 3/4 weekends cx

December- 1x CX? rest to year end.

Could change drastically but that's what I'm looking at right now. Hoping to use the early road stuff and winter base miles to load up for those early road races (why are the MN road races so early on the calendar anyways?) and the Almanzo while balancing that with getting ready to actually feeling like a Mountain biker in May and June. Expecting to want to move to road events in July again due to heat, but if I feel I'm doing better with that will do more Mountain biking. Just looking to have a good time in August and September and prepare for the fall gravel and cyclocross.

A few people have asked about posting an actual schedule somewhere such that they could carpool or spectate. I will probably work on that once it gets closer to the actual season and things shake out more.

Lastly, I get to race my bike almost the entire year and I feel lucky to have that opportunity. Thanks Laura and everyone else who helps me out.

how to recover your saddle part II: bontrager this time/sub $600 13 lb commuter singlespeed road bike

2011-12-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

We shall see how comfortable it is...

The rest of the bike should be interesting as well!

Here is the plan-

$65 broken scattante cfr sl6 frame size 53- shipped via ebay, full carbon, came with large hole in the driveside seatstay. Almost repaired, will have pictures forthcoming.

free broken hsc5 sl Look fork from my Look 585. I was in a rush to race and replaced this with an Edge/Enve fork on that bike. It has since been repaired

$80 SRAM Force crankset with 53t ring only

$20 cut fetish cycles carbon post

$30 bontrager carbon/ti saddle that I customized as shown above

free ritchey wcs 110mm stem, cheap due to poor cosmetics- may paint it

free DEDA bars

$20 surly 18t SS cog

$30 DMR chain tensioner if needed

$205 zipp 303 tubular wheelset, bought damaged and repaired (pictures of this too soon)

free continental sprinter 250s pulled from dumpster (also pulled mavic gl330 rims that I could build up and use for this build which would take at least $150 off of the total without gaining weight)

$60 Ultegra 6700 brakes, hand me down from my Look which I upgraded to 7800. I paid $60 for the 7800 so think $60 is fair, but could claim even cheaper...

I do not yet have-

SS brake levers, got some decent ones?
internal headset
bar tape
bottle cages

I don't really have a clue what it will weigh either- but it should be light enough to be pretty fun. Wish I had the time and devotion to do the whole spreadsheet weight thing and figure it all out. I don't even own a proper scale.

custom HPS supercharged C43 AMG how to details etc. blown head gasket?

2011-12-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

I primarily post about riding here. All this energy that now goes into riding previously went into customizing cars (well, after it all went into ski racing and golf).

I have a 1999 C43 AMG that is a holdover from those days and which I intend to keep for a long time. It has a decent amount of miles on it and has been modified from stock, so isn't in any way what most would consider a collectable. Of course, most people don't actually want to drive their collectables all over the place either. I love high performing sedans, particularly those from the past before every manufacturer jumped on the bandwagon and they got all watered down, and love German cars. Anyways, my particular car has a fairly custom supercharger setup on it and produces something north of 400 hp with even higher torque #s throughout the powerband. No exact numbers right now (it hasn't been dyno'd since the latest modifications, but it pulls pretty hard) I used an "off the shelf" HPS supercharger kit initially, but now the only stock parts of that kit are the Eaton MP90 supercharger, the supercharger brackets and the rising rate fuel pressure regulator. I'm briefly going to list the other parts that I used because a lot of people ask "what it took to make that kit work"...

Necessary stuff-

larger fuel pump- stock pump didn't keep up well enough, I would get the "044"or whatever Bosch one. Mine is a pierburg that came as an auxiliary inline pump for a Camaro supercharger kit.

splitsecond MAF scaler- or some other way to adjust the signal the ECU gets from the MAF. You have to "smooth" it and keep the total value under 4.9v or else you'll get choppy throttle response and other issues.

rework the air intake to use a larger filter and locate it where it gets cool air (this may not be NECESSARY, but it's a real good idea)

be sure to get excellent vacuum source to the fuel pressure regulator

other stuff-

larger fuel line
methanol injection
air-water intercooler system- uses cobra mustang parts and an "ebay" intercooler core
single electrode copper plugs
added a switch to "fully" turn off the tcs system- prevents a lot of potential bad things
polished upper intake
full suite of gauges
lots of under the hood powdercoating

I may be missing some things that I did as it has been about 4 years since I did all the work. Feel free to ask me about it if you have questions

here is an old picture-

Now, while this ran very well and strongly over the past 3.5 years since being supercharged I believe I have now blown the headgasket! I'm no expert on broken stuff (never worked as a repair mechanic or dealt with a blown headgasket) but it seems that is the most likely problem

symptoms-

loss of coolant and coolant overflow after use
white smoke
clear/white gel in coolant

Initially, I spoke to a Mercedes mechanic friend about the issues and he suggested I replace the thermostat, coolant cap and radiator. I do have those parts here now-

I also have new front brakes (this is a 16oz beer can btw), which I've been holding off on installing until I sort this out-

Today I started tearing stuff apart and for the first time was able to confirm/see the presence of the white/clear gel in the coolant. I also ran the car some before beginning to tear things down and did observe white smoke, although fairly subtle.

I drained and removed the radiator and pulled the AC condensor (I plan to pull the AC system permanently)

I pulled one of the easy to reach spark plugs-

checked the oil cap-

I also pulled the dipstick and looked at the oil/quick checked it for water (dropped it on hot surface to see if it boiled). It smoked rather than hissed/boiled etc., and looked fairly clean-

At this point it seems pretty likely that the headgasket is the problem and I have decided not to continue with the repairs until I can absolutely rule it out or fix it.

Due to the modifications to my car it will be a huge pain in the ass to do a cylinder by cylinder compression test, but that may be what needs to happen.

I wonder if having my oil analyzed wouldn't "prove" the headgasket is the issue, or if I shouldn't just consider it already proven.

If the headgasket is the problem I will most likely have to buy a new motor and swap it in. I believe the labor involved in changing the headgasket would not be worth it vs. the cost/labor involved in an engine swap. I guess it will give me and excuse to make my car a C50 or C55 (by adding a larger displacement motor).

Thoughts?

Here is a picture of the peaceful snowfall which co-conspired with the stitches in my leg to keep me off of my bike long enough to work on the car and type this up today.

What did I learn racing Cyclocross?

2011-11-30T20:17:00.001-08:00

Cyclocross is almost the exact opposite of a gravel race and only has some things in common with road or mountain bike racing. It forces the racer to "sit" right at my rev limiter and that pushes a type of fitness that most of "us" (meaning gravel, mountain bike, endurance etc.) type riders never use. Even compared to a crit it requires more constant high effort and similarly forces you to go past your threshold in bursts.

For what it's worth, my previous CX experience consisted of about a dozen local weeknight practice races over the last two years, 4 local "microcross" races and 4 official starts last year- 1 being a DNF in St. Cloud and the other 3 all taking place at Jinglecross 2010.

After the Dakota Five-0, which was a disaster for me, I was slow to get moving again. I knew that the end of the year was still far away and I remembered being burnt out and slow late in 2010. I wound up coasting along well into October before really doing any "training". This was partly by design and partly due to lazyness. I had the idea that the fall would be a good time to not do too much- I'd be ready to ride/race fast in Gentleman's Ride, the Heck of the North, Heroic and Dirt Bag because I would be fresh and I would hopefully leave the season still wanting for more and inspired to begin training hard for the next.

The plan worked well for the endurance races. I had known that my form was coming around since the Dairyland Dare and Jesse James Century rides. I also knew that my OCR was a fast bike setup and fit my style and needs well. The realization that aero bars could totally eradicate back pain has been huge! That combination allowed me to ride more aggressively than I ever had before and also to have more fun because I wasn't worried about DNFing or back pain etc..

We went to Copper Harbor for some mountain biking in Mid October and did race a CX race there, but I was woefully slow and generally felt "off" trying to get on that bike without enough practice. It was probably good to jump on it then if only to see how far I had to go.

That all left me with good "endurance" form and with just 6 weeks of cyclocross to go. At this point I had done 3 Tuesday night CX practices, the race up in Copper Harbor and a couple other short rides on the bike. I decided to dedicate as much effort as possible for those 6 weeks to CX and see what I could learn. I knew that 6 weeks wasn't really enough time to do as well as I "could" based on where I was coming from, but figured I could learn a lot by trying. I hoped to learn something that would help me in the future if/when I decide to put more emphasis on cyclocross.

Here is what I did and, briefly, what came out-

10/17-10/23

I had a cold this week, but wound up riding 8.75 hours. We rode 2 hrs at Levis-trow (this was the last day of our mtb trip), I commuted by bike, I went on one cx practice ride on Thursday and rode Eastwood with an emphasis on bike handling.

Races- I raced both weekend days. On Saturday I finished 18th of about 30 almost 5 minutes behind the Fred Mills. I thought I rode well, but was out of touch from the race from the start. On Sunday I was determined to stay more "in-touch" and rode very hard and mistake free to finish 12th around 2.5 minutes behind Fred Mills once again.

10/24-10/30

This was the Dirt Bag week- I had to put my CX goals on hold and rest for the race. I also wound up working 18 hours of overtime at work so only rode 6.75 hrs including the race. I shocked myself by winning the race, which I surely didn't deserve but am proud to have done.

10/31-11/6

Now it was time to get serious. I'd gotten beat up pretty good in all 3 CX starts thus far and only had a few weeks left to "get fast". I had to rest/recover from the Dirt Bag and found that I needed more days than expected. I was having trouble taking deep breaths all the way to Wednesday and although I rode I couldn't really push the CX type practice. The best I did was 2 easy laps of Eastwood, again focusing on bike handling. I also became fed up with the breathing problems and went back to the doctor again about them (last year I went though the same thing and wound up with no solution). This time I was prescribed Albuterol.

Racing- Saturday I had an early mechanical in the SS race, but felt I rode well in the cat 3 race where I finished 8th around 1.5 minutes behind the leaders. Sunday was the first time I tried the Albuterol and I found myself leading a much smaller field for much of the race. I wound up finishing 2nd to Brenden Bellew by a small amount. 2nd is much better than 8th, but I think the overall level of my riding was pretty similar both days this weekend. The USAc points value assigned to my finishes was about 295 both days which in some way confirms that as well.

11/7-11/13

I rode 10.25 hours this week. Again, I did one specific CX focused practice ride (this time was able to go "hard" and not just work on bike handling) and the rest was commuting. We also went up to the Icebox 240 where I rode my mtb hard for 90 minutes.

Saturday's race was a complete failure, I banged my bad knee on my bike at the start and more or less wimped out from there. I didn't want to risk any extra injury to that. Sunday I rode very hard out of the gun, made some mistakes but was pleased to find myself pulling people in after I spent a couple laps catching my breath. I didn't have a "good" race this weekend, but overall I felt like I was still getting stronger. The USAC points system correctly shows that I went slightly slower this weekend.

11/14-11/20

9 hours this week with two 45 minute practice cx races thrown in. I used my GPS to map lap times and speeds and really push myself. The rest of my hours were warm-up/cool-down and commuting.

Saturday was the State Championships where I rode pretty strong- I found myself looking at finishing between 4th and 12th or so based on my "form" and a late mistake dropped me to 9th. Overall, this was very solid for me. 61 people showed and a couple of the guys in front of me hadn't been at earlier races to beat me there. The Sunday race went very similarly- I thought I had a shot at top 5 but again fell back late, this time to 8th. I left knowing that I hadn't quite put together my best race, but feeling good overall. I could tell that I was still getting stronger and that I was definitely stronger than the week before. Somewhere this weekend I also began to feel comfortable getting on and off my bike. These were my best points value races thus far according to USAC.

11/21-11/27

7 hours this week. This time just one practice ride- a 45 minute practice race on Tuesday.

This was Jinglecross. Friday my back cramped right away. I believe this was due to using my Albuterol slightly differently and basically overdosing it. I corrected this for the rest of the weekend and avoided any problem. The MN guys did very well and I felt good going into the weekend about my prospects after watching them (Fred and Nils in particular). Saturday I had a strong ride and finished 11th on the toughest day of the weekend so far as the strength of the field was concerned. It was a close race and in the end a small mistake on the first time up the hill cost me a few spots. That said I couldn't have made the podium and 11th was respectable! Once again this was an improvement in the USAC points system with about a 260 (looking back that first race was 420 or so, seems very significant). Then Sunday, disaster struck and my derailleur hanger bent/broke. I left Iowa frustrated that I hadn't done better, but feeling like I "could" have if things had fallen my way a bit more.

So what did I learn?

cyclocross is incredibly fun- although, I guess, I already knew that

with a large endurance base it doesn't take too much cx specific training/racing to make big improvements. I have no idea how long it takes to hit a "plateau" though either.

6 weeks isn't enough- I felt I was still improving at the end and also would have benefitted from a week off somewhere.

Looking at the improvements I did make has given me ideas about how to plan my schedule for next year in order to try to get more out of cx. I think it also has ramifications about how I should schedule other types of races. I'm pretty sure that doing 3-4 expert mountain bike races in a row might REALLY net a lot of improvement similarly to how this racing did. This is the first time I've ever yet totally immersed myelf in one type of racing for any time period since mountain biking my first season. This is intuitive and obvious, but this experience really underlines it's importance. I think I can plan a schedule that allows for "pretty good" finishes in all of the types of races that I want to compete in.

Where does gravel fit in? I'm not sure- it seems like gravel endurance racing is the one type of racing that I do that really benefits from all other types of riding. No matter what type of riding I do it seems that it directly translates into greater strength/endurance as applies to gravel/endurace road riding, it's when I need more "high end" that I need to do more specific training.

No idea if this was at all interesting to anyone else, probably not... but it helps me to think it through.

FROSTCHESTER ride 12/17 and the Dickie Scramble is back on 2/11

2011-11-29T15:50:00.000-08:00

Couple more winter rides/races!

No final details on the frostCHESTer ride yet other than the date- it will be organized for fat bikes and partying, but everyone will be welcome. Plans include a bonfire and food at a great local establishment. This may just be the de facto ironic fatbike criterium worlds.

Dickie Scramble (you'll have to copy and paste the link)-

http://dickiescramble.blogspot.com/

Hope to see you at both of these, Triple D, Minnetonka Ice Race and the 1/29 untitled Almanzo course ride!

Adopt our Foster Dog Redbone Coonhound Danny Boy!

2011-11-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

Outside of the 40 hours per week that I spend working there are two things which define the rest of my time, riding and dogs. As most of you know we have 3 great dogs of our own-

Dickie (inspiration for, and made famous, by the Dickie Scramble) is a Border Collie mix. He is my "favorite" and he knows it. He often sits beside me while I write and uses bar stools, patio furniture etc. "like a good human". He spent most of his first 9 months running free near Blue Earth and fending for himself. Dickie and I have similar personalities.

Sam is an ornery 13 year old beagle. She lived with one family for 11 years before they gave her up. She was pretty misbehaved when we first got her, but that still seems crazy.

Lucky is a German Shepherd Dog. He was our first dog and was originally given up because he was hit by a car. He lost part of his tail in the accident and has some scarring on his legs. He is very athletic and shows no sign of the injuries bothering him.

We also have two cats, but I'll let Laura write about them if she wants to. A while back I wrote this-

About our 3rd cat "Balls", who sadly died of Lymphoma within a year.

Over the last two years we have also fostered 8 other dogs. Fostering is always an interesting process and often can be a lot of work, but is always rewarding. We are fortunate to have 3 great dogs of our own who help us to do some of the work when it comes to training the new ones.

Danny Boy has been with us for quite a while now. He was found running, but had been cared for by a vet and was neutered. It appears he had a good home who gave up on him (the only command he knew was "speak"). He has become a well behaved friend who loves going for car rides and walks, never has accidents in the house and loves to curl his 102 degree body up beside us in bed. As would be expected for his breed he can be loud and excitable, but only when provoked by the situation. We also have not spent enough time working on his recall when outdoors, but in the house he comes immediately treats or not. He is food motivated and will be easy to train once he gets used to his new family. He spends his days kenneled and is "ok" with that. He does well with our other dogs and cats, but because of his history should not go to a family with small children. I would love to find a good home for Danny soon in order to make room for another foster.

Please also contact me or comment if you are interested in fostering yourself, we can help point you in the right direction.

more Jinglecross photos

2011-11-27T16:30:00.000-08:00

These are Saturday pictures- it was MUDDY and raining. Didn't take many. Today was not raining but the mud turned to stickier/deeper mud. I don't think I was alone in having a mechanical.

Friday night Jinglecross photos

2011-11-25T21:51:00.000-08:00

Really fun to watch the racing! A few of the MN cat 3 guys had good nights, particularly Fred Mills who got 2nd. Full results are available on the rest of the internet. I blew myself up- focusing on rest of weekend.

random thanks

2011-11-24T00:06:00.000-08:00

thanks

The Loris is great. She is beautiful, driven, funny, caring and centered. I shouldn't use what she isn't to describe her, but what she isn't is important... she isn't pretentious, overbearing, caught up in things that don't matter. She let's me focus on what I think is important and supports it without questioning. She is key to all that I do.

Finding bike racing. I wouldn't be nearly as happy or healthy if I hadn't. This endeavor just keeps expanding, I never would have thought that I'd find as much in it as I have, in just a couple of years too.

Being able to commute by bike in my city. For all of the complaining that I do, or despite of it, I have been able to ride my bike to work around 75% of all days for the last 3 years. I've been lucky enough to remain safe, I've seen the city in a different and more positive light. Commuting is good for my soul.

That our political system is so messed up that it can't really be derailled... there are a lot of people with agendas I'm totally against, but it seems like no one can really change anything either way.

My Nokian studded tires. It's not fun to fall on your butt.

Everything Almanzo.

Being able to write, albeit however poorly I do so. I don't know if anyone ever actually reads any of this stuff, but it helps me to write it. Along with riding, writing has done a lot for me recently. Good thing my elementary school put so much emphasis teaching writing. I used to get behind in my "Journals". The process organizes and clears my mind, brings me focus.

The obvious stuff- my health, the health of my family etc.. I don't write about my siblings enough. I'm very grateful that my parent's have been attending some of my CX races this fall and have been so supportful.

All of the time I spent ski racing, golfing etc., sports have shaped who I am more than anything else. I call on lessons learned in all aspects of my life, not least of all at work and in my relationships.

That I have figured out a way to apply some of the skills I learned working on cars to cycling. Working with carbon is pure fun for me, so much so that almost I'm GLAD I DON'T have an engineering degree and do it for my "real" job... lest it lose it's pull.

For the dogs. They inform my behavior more than I should admit (insert relevent Atmosphere lyric here if you know it).

Have a great thanksgiving!

Things that have bothered me today (the not-thankful list)

2011-11-23T15:53:00.000-08:00

Veterinarian selling us dog supplements. Made me think about how/why doctors and pharamacists became two different things.

My employer's united way campaign. They make a big deal about how it's "open" and then skim 8% of your donations off the top if you donate elsewhere through them, hidden in the fine print. Meanwhile the united way wastes the rest of it horribly... the Dolly Parton Book Train (giving EVERY child of the right age, regardless of their income etc.) is a sad thing. How many people who donate are taking the books?

Dude trying to hit me while I walked across the street. Apparently, the green light wasn't long enough for him.

The city of Rochester bringing in 'bird abatement' specialists to get rid of the crows. Their actual plan is to use falcons to shoo them away and their hope is that they will make it as far as Spring Valley (this is per the newspaper interview). Let's push our problems literally down the road. I'm sure that enough birds to be a problem here won't be an issue in a smaller town down the road. Something about this, maybe it reminds me of current politics, just really angers me. Meanwhile, we embrace the fact that we have 30,000 too many geese in town??? Is it 'cause the crows are black? This whole situation is just fucked.

The power antenna on my truck. I haven't driven it for about ten days and now I see that it no longer telescopes properly. PB Blaster has yet to have any positive influence.

The garbage people, I won't say which company... they want $103 for each 3 months now. We just don't make that much garbage. I did find a pretty mint set of mavic gl330 rims and sprinter 250s in the dump this year though, I guess I owe them a little. I also don't much like thinking about how much garbage/waste we all create.

The "epic" nature of cyclocross. It's supposed to suck, it's not epic when it sucks. It's supposed to snow, it's not epic when it snows. It may hail, won't make it epic. If you are ready for it, nothing is epic (same goes for the Royal 162 last year or anything else).

People spending any time making fun of roadies. If they are so lame, you better beat them when the conditions are "epic" at your next cyclocross or gravel race. Those guys in the hi-viz vests aren't roadies by the way.

Same goes for mountain bikers and/or endurance athletes etc. etc. Everyone chooses to do what they like and they are best at. There are a hell of a lot of posers doing it all. There are also a hell of a lot of athletes doing it all.

None of the above goes for the "Tough Mudder" or similar events- I don't care how good of athlete you are... you've been duped into making some asshat rich with your exhorbitant entry fees. You also universally think that your totally contrived event is "epic" (see above about epic). In your case the "epic" nature is the only reason why you are doing it, therefore logically we are at a complete fail, dead end.... ((I know this is too harsh and that doing any event is better than none))

The 5% rule as described in the City's long-term bicycling plan... to paraphrase- only 5% of adult male cyclists ride as if they were a car. Following direct routes from place to place and replacing trips that would normally be taken by vehicle. In essence- the remaining 95% either are totally happy with just riding along the winding paths near the "green spaces" and don't care what happens to the rest of us, are probably the drivers almost hitting us and not knowing the laws... OR, they are the idiots riding on downtown sidewalks, almost getting hit, getting hit etc.. Basically making all drivers hate cyclists and training them to behave oddly when they see bikes (because they don't know what to expect). Encouraging the one thing which gets under my skin more than anything else- drivers who mess up the "flow" of traffic because they see me on my bike and forget how to drive.

I'll post the good things tomorrow- a lot to be thankful for here this Thanksgiving weekend.

For now- Maybe you'd like to make your own list? I'd love to see what anyone else was thinking along these lines.

Mn State CX championships (cat 3) and gp zac daab

2011-11-21T16:45:00.000-08:00

State CX weekend-

First off, go check out almanzo.com for my review of the Banjo Brother's commuter backpack and a few other new updates. I'll take some pictures of my winter rig sometime soon and post them up here or there with information with the idea being as a sort of "one man's" ideas for what might work on January 29th...

Pictures (My Mom and Tim Werts took these- they are all of me, of course?)

This weekend was the State CX Championships and we finally had the kind of weather that should accompany all cyclocross races. Some people were saying the conditions were "epic" or crazy or whatever, but really it just seemed about right. The courses were always rideable and the snow added some legitimacy and beauty to the scene more than anything else.

Saturday was the championship day. My warm-up went well and my staging was good enough. I would have been able to get the holeshot if I had needed to from the 3rd row. Of course, at this point my first 30 seconds is better than my next 45 minutes and I didn't quite push it that hard. I found myself running in 3rd, and soon 4th in a bit of a fight with Ronald Williams for the spot. Mitch Nordahl, Kesha Zavyalov and Charlie Simacek were significantly getting away from the beginning. Considering that 5 weeks ago I would have likely finished 40th-50th in this field of 61 riders... (I was almost 5 minutes behind Fred Mills in that first race back in Marine on St. Croix). I was feeling good, but wanted to make sure I wasn't working too hard too early. I dialed it back a bit and dropped to 5th and then 6th. I knew if I held my effort as it was going I would be having a race I would be very proud of. Somehow I then worked my way back to 4th! At that point Fred Mills had switched bikes and dropped back to me (he is definitely faster) and I was able to grab his wheel for a while. At that moment I knew that if I held his wheel and just rode mistake free that I'd be getting an awesome free ride to a great finish. I'm not sure if we were pulling closer to the lead or not, but we were definitely dropping the 3 man chase group with Brandom Manske, Dan Wheeler and Martin Rudnick behind us. I remember noticing that they had 3 people all together and being grateful for Fred. After a lap of that goodness almost simultaneously I tripped over a barrier and splatted right on my face, the group of 4 caught me, I killed myself and pulled them up to Fred, I touched his wheel and almost fell but did miss a key shift and that entire group of 4 then rode away. I was left to hustle hard to hold off Matt Leizinger and Justin Reinhart to finish 9th. All in all it was a very solid finish for me and a really enjoyable race. Congratulations to Mitch Nordahl for the win! I'd write about how things shook down up there if I had any idea.

Sunday was much the same. The big differences were that I felt freer to attack (absolutely nothing to lose) and as such I did take the holeshot and try to make something of it and that my "big mistake" possibly cost me even more. This time I fell just before starting the final lap and my chain popped off, but I didn't figure it out right away and hopped back on. In the end it cost me 0 or maybe 4 spots depending as I'd been in a group of 4 at the time. Today I added a n-gear jumpstop to my bike. I was able to install it in a manner which works well with the front derailleur and should prevent such an issue from occuring again at Jinglecross or in the future.

Overall, I'm very happy with my progress in cyclocross over the last 6 weeks. I hope I have time next year for the full season. This may be the one discipline of cycling that I really do "full-time" while it's on in the future. It's definitely worth it fun wise and I can really see the benefit of doing more of the races. It also can't be beat that spectators can actually come out and SEE the race.

Wish me luck at Jinglecross- I'll be starting on the front row and riding as aggressively as I can.

new camera showed- nikon d3100

2011-11-17T00:41:00.000-08:00

Not a lot of time to play with it today, but I did get these.

epic rides and a random update

2011-11-14T19:38:00.000-08:00

It took me all of the spring and a good bit of the summer to build up to it. I was working 3pm-1:30 am shifts and I would wake up around 9:30 and get out the door by 10. I knew I had about 3.5 hrs of ride time if I wanted to come back, shower, eat and ride to work without a huge rush. Whitewater was about 30 miles from my place. I first made it just to Eyota, then to Dover and then St. Charles. Often I could barely walk the next day. At least twice a week I tried. Sometime in August...

Random updates-

Went out too hard on Sunday in the cx race (wasn't really sure that was possible until I did it). Took a couple laps to recover, but overall I made a good effort. I feel good heading into the end of the season stuff... all in all I've had a positive last 6 or 7 weeks.

I picked up a very nice Nikon digital SLR and a couple of lenses last week from adorama.com. Hopefully I'll be able to get some good quality shots and improve my blogging. At the very least, expect more photos.

I also managed to get my hands on a Garmin 705 BIKE specific GPS unit... maybe it won't fall off during every gravel race. I am testing it out today by tracking my commute. Thanks to Bicycle Sports (Bob and Dave in particular) for hooking me up with a good deal, and thanks to Laura for an early Christmas present!!!! She earned herself a shot out... here's the Loris-

more cyclocross and health stuff

2011-11-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

Supposed to be the winding down, fun part of the season. Bad situation today had me pulling out of the race early... banged bad knee very hard coming off the line, no good. Going back for more tomorrow, then 5 more Cat 3 starts and 3? SS starts over next two weeks.

Somewhat related, so finicky the way I feel in cx. My results so far are all over the place. Even more so, I've just felt all over the place physically. Not sure how to get the good feeling on command. It's just that some days I'm totally comfortable at red line, others I can't even get there. Hopefully more good moments with each week. Need to keep going so that I can lean what goes in to get the good stuff out... only place I know what to put in to get the good stuff out right now is gravel, not racing on gravel right now.

Part of this all goes back to my being sick last fall and the cold air issues that I've had with breathing. I've got a few prescriptions and other tools to use, but they don't all work together exactly as expected, necessarily. Will post more about this later, when I get things figured out a bit better. It's currently so random to me there is no point in even putting my thoughts down.

For what it's worth- all the other Rochester guys were top 10 today in the 3 race! Good work guys. Pretty strong group of Cat 3 cx guys from down here, it was fun to watch them. Trevor rode to 2nd on that repaired Jamis Nova Pro.

Drew's 11 thoughts about how to race gravel road races as prompted by Mr. Farrow

2011-11-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

IIn response to Mr. Farrow

Here is my list of 11. I am not really sure it's 11 different ideas. I'm also pretty sure I wouldn't have written a lot of them down if he hadn't prompted me. I feel a bit like I'm sharing something I shouldn't. what do I know anyways?

1. Ride like a dog- They have no governor, no fear, just pure joy. When I take them to the trails they surge and fly without boundaries. I strive to attain such honor. Embracing this joy, which sometimes looks like aggressiveness, has made me faster.

2. Ride a whole lot- The more you ride the faster you go.

3. Ride slow- The old guys did it back in the day, miles and miles of "base". The 4 hr a week cyclists bible to success type bullshit is just that.

4. Avoid the gym (it's even more detrimental to the cyclist than running)- if you are in the gym you aren't riding. When's the last time you saw a dog in the gym? I weigh 190 lbs as it is! A few years back when I decided to get fit again I spent way too much time in the gym, I stopped about 2 years ago.

5. Slam that Stem- You must be comfortable, true... but ride the FASTEST bike you can. There is no excuse lamer than complaining about your "slow" bike, well, unless it's complaining about your super expensive, quasi-artisinal, unobtainium, slow bike. This doesn't necessarily mean the fast bike will be faster, rather that you won't have the option of blaming your bike. I learned this at the Royal 162. One could argue that my Look 585 with 30c tires wasn't the ideal bike... but I knew it was my fastest bike and that I had no excuse not to ride my absolute best. I also learned it in 2010 when my bike was slow and I had too many excuses.

6. Don't give yourself excuses- If they are available you will use them. This means preparation beyond belief. See various races that I've quit over the years. Think through every aspect of your fit, gearing, clothing, food, water etc.. pay careful attention to your maps and computers (redundancy when it comes to odometers is ideal).

7. Know when to fold 'em- Don't be afraid to quit and stop your losses. This goes against the overall ethos of these events. I am not afraid to quit. If you believe in yourself and your own toughness you can pull the plug without shame. Do so when the benefit doesn't outweigh the loss. I quit Dirty Kanza this year, i was able to take a wonderful trip to the Upper Pensinsula soon thereafter and race the Keeweenaw Chain Drive. I would have been wrong to keep racing. Don't care what other people think.

8. Embrace Winter- Nothing you do the rest of the year can train the excuses out of you as much as riding in the winter.

9. There is no such thing as toughness- It is all just in the training. The "it never gets easier, you just get faster thing"... it's true. I'm a wimp. My girlfriend pokes me in the ribs and I scream like a little girl. I avoid pain and whine about things when I'm hurt. When people tell me they don't have the "toughness" to do what I do on the bike I tell them the truth; the only reason I can do it is because it's not hard after the training.

10. Don't get lost- Riding the wrong direction quickly cancels out anything good you've done recently. The list of gravel races I haven't got lost in is short and I exceeded my expectations in all of them.

11. Eat- The more I eat on the bike the faster I go. This is so easy to forget and so important to remember. It shouldn't be number 11.

12. Blogging- number 12 'cause its not about riding. Ignore, spurn, insult others 8n your blog at your own risk... but don't be afraid to speak your mind.

First Snow

2011-11-10T05:49:00.000-08:00

First Snow

It was just a couple of flakes. Huge and sticky, falling through the 33 degree air. They drifted then wavered before touching down on the warm ground as if they knew they would be immediately swallowed. Outkast blared through my headphones and I virtually? danced my bike down the singletrack, out of my neighborhood toward the city. I was halfway to work and they stopped again before I was much further.

The sight invigorated me. I've always loved the first snow. For most of my life it's been a sign of winter coming, of skiing. Skiing has always been the focus of my year. It hit me that I no longer ski much, that it hurts my knee and that I live in a place where the best places aren't too much fun for me to ski. It hit me that I was sad about this, that the flakes were a sign of something I had lost. Memories flooded back. I will always love skiing out west. What I miss here is the racing and it won't come back, is just memories. Master's racing holds nothing for me, nor does going back to what I've already done.

It was only a moment before I smiled; I thought about Jinglecross, and then the races coming fast, almost continuously after February. Only 3 months to get ready. This is a new beginning just as much as it always was.

untitled: January Gravel Ride On Some of the Old Almanzo Course

2011-11-09T15:05:00.000-08:00

http://www.almanzo.com/

Information posted now- In short, close to 70 miles of Almanzo Gravel on January 29th. Studs or Pugsleys recommended but not necessary. A sense of adventure and some warm clothes WILL be necessary. This could be brutal.

Also, there are some other new/interesting things posted over there right now.

I'm sure coming with for the ride below (This Sunday) would help you come January 29th.

11/13/11 Ride To Royal's Grave

2011-11-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

Here is the approximate route. I'll be leaving no later than 10am.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/57322302/?new_route=1

Will be no drop- hopefully 12-15 mph average? Will take a while.

I went out there last year and left him some gravel for good luck. I'll be doing it again whether anyone else can make it or not.

speshysilence@gmail.com for more information

year of races in brief

2011-11-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

I've somewhat deliberately stopped posting too many details of my training. I am going to post all the races I did last year and make brief comments when applicable. My hope is that you might look at it and use it to help plan your schedule in the future. I will also personally use it to look back on- obviously, you are basically reading my diary here a lot of the time.

1/16 Triple D- snowmo, 4th, 1st non-fatbike. Duel with Ben Shockey. This is a great race and a great time
2/12 Dickie Scramble- snomo, tied 1st with Trevor. I put this on last year- won't happen this year, instead come on the January Almanzo course ride.
2/26 CIRREM- road/gravel, 5th. Big fall and too slick of tires cost me. Really like this course and the overall vibe.
3/5 Iowa Spring Classic- road/gravel, 2nd in 4/5 race
3/12 Iowa spring Classic- road/gravel, 1st in 4/5 race
3/19 Iowa Spring Classic- road/gravel, 3rd in 4/5 race, All of the Iowa Spring Classic races are well organized, reasonably priced and enjoyable.
4/16 Durand Road Race, road, pack finish- off front for a bit and TIRED!. Hilly course but doesn't favor climbers. Cold day! May attend in future.
5/3 Eastwood MTB race- mtb, 3rd, Tuesday night training race in Rochester
5/5 Tri-rochester TT- road tt, 22.3 mph, windy, 1st non-aero.
5/14 Royal 162- road/gravel, 5th. Tough day, my favorite race of the year.
5/22 WORS Rhinelander- mtb, FAIL. Good course and camping.
6/4 Dirty Kanza- road/gravel, FAIL. Can't handle the heat.
6/9 River Falls Thursday race- mtb, 2nd. My favorite Thursday night mtb training race.
6/11 Death Race- road, 1st. All road free racing!
6/12 Cuyuna Grand Opening- mtb, CUT TIRE. Disorganized race, not my favorite trail yet? either, hope it gets better!
6/18 Keeweenaw Chain Drive- mtb, 18th (broke chain cost me 6 spots), love riding up there, awesome course, will return.
6/29 Eastwood MTB race- mtb, win.
7/2 Spam Jam/Freedom Fest- road, pack finish. Boring course, downhill straight finish, sprinters race, only will go back because it's close.
7/4 Northfield Crit- road, 4th in 4/5. First crit, awesome time.
7/10 Clear Lake Road Race- road, pack finish (was off front alone), flat course!
7/12 Dakota Tech crit- road, quit. Training crit at Dakota Tech, fun time.
7/14 River Falls- mtb, 2nd.
7/24 Southside Crit- road, 2nd in 4/5. Really cool place for a race.
7/26 Summit Crit- road, 3rd in 4/5. Dakota Tech as well.
7/31 Elk River MMBS, FAIL. Heat.
8/2 Genoa TT (tri group)- road tt, non-aero
8/7 Thoren Heuval Kermesse- road, 3rd in 4/5, hill finish!
8/9 Genoa TT- road tt, 3rd w. aero stuff, windy.
8/13 Dairyland Dare- road, awesome ride and terrain. highly recommended
8/16 Genoa TT, road tt, 2nd.
8/23 Genoa hill climb tt, road tt, 2nd (most all fast guys showed up)
8/28 Sugar Bottoms Iowa- mtb, 8th, raced well, love this course.
9/4 Dakota Five-o- mtb, issues!. I had bad weekend race wise, but the party, prizes etc. were all lesser than last year. Last year I DNF and had better time overall... next year I try the Copper Harbor festival instead?
9/13 cx practice at Eastwood- cx, 2nd.
9/20 cx practice at Eastwood- cx, 3rd.
10/1 Heck of the North- road/gravel, 20th(ish). Lost GPS and lots of time finding it/flatting. Lovely course, great race.
10/4 cx practice at Eastwood- cx, flat.
10/8 The Heroic- road/gravel, win. Fun time! Great course.
10/8 Holzinger Hot Lap- mtb. Survived! Come to this!
10/16 Keeweenaw Cup- cx. 8th? broke wheel, switched bikes. CX race at Keeweenaw mountain lodge! Epic.
10/22 MN CX in Marine on the St. Croix- cx, 18th in 3s. Boring course, not good for spectating
10/23 Mn CX in Ham Lake- cx. 12th in 3s. Awesome course, great spectating, great event.
10/29 Dirt Bag- road/gravel. 1st!!! Great season ending endurance type race.
11/5 Mn CX at Blaine- cx. 9th in 3s. Decent course, no hills.
11/6 Mn CX in Rockford- cx, 2nd in 3s. Great course! Grass, sand, singletrack, big downhill/uphill.

Still have 5 more cx starts. Will update this with those later.

Some cyclocross pictures- rattail cx Rockford Mn

2011-11-06T20:26:00.000-08:00

Both Tim and I tried to take some pictures during the race today. My camera sucks so not a lot of them turned out. Also, we both wound up taking more pictures of each other than anything else. I know I was running around the course cheering more than taking pictures too. Also, Tim did a way better job than I did (and had a few more laps to take more pictures during).

Tim Werts chasing the eventual Cat 4 winner on the run-up

Werts leaving the singletrack (there was an awesome fast singletrack section on this course!)

Cat 4 podium. Wish I'd gotten more Cat4 pictures, but the race was super short. Did get a video of the first lap as they rode through one of the sand pits... hope to post it tomorrow.

pre-race

Early pictures of the run-up

there was about 3 laps of this... Brendan would eventually beat me with a solid push on the last lap.

Too bad all the grass and gravel turns don't photograph great

this was some good camera work by Tim!

the 1st couple chasers on the run-up. My hammering a bit after Brendan got away... thinking about trying to pull him in at that point.

looking back down the course before going into 2nd place V formation

3 podium

More Cup O' Dirt

2011-11-02T05:04:00.000-07:00

My mind has been mentally clicking off, relaxing with the knowledge that cyclocross is all that is "left". Then I sent in my last "cupdate" only to realize that I'm 1 metric and 1 full century away from Cup O' Dirt superstardom. When will I find time? Can I find the motivation?

Of course these will be much harder than most of my rides as I'll be forced to ride a metallic-type bicycling tool. Who knows if I can even ride at all without carbon...

I'm sure it will be worth any sacrifice come Triple D when I receive all of my earned Chalici(?) Chalis' (?) and bring them to the Busted Lift http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g37853-d247708-Reviews-The_Busted_Lift-Dubuque_Iowa.html for ciders and guinness.

Triple D, CIRREM, Iowa Spring Classics, BALLS- all is not lost

2011-10-31T09:15:00.000-07:00

The 'season' of gravel is over, but all is not lost. Dates have been set for all of those great events above...

google is your friend- except today when they have a really annoying video of pumpkin carving they foist on you.

This picture is from Colfax last year- gives me something to at least think about (hard to actually look forward to anything that looks so desolate).

The Dirt Bag 2011

2011-10-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

This is the last race in the Almanzo Gravel Racing Series and the last endurance race for me this year. You all know how I feel about the Almanzo

http://rideonpurpose.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-almanzo-means-to-me.html

I also have really enjoyed the time I've spent riding/racing with Ben Doom (ever since he crushed me in the 8 hour at Afton two years ago) and wouldn't miss his race for anything.

Skogen and I were lucky to be able to crash at Tim Werts' place Friday night and thus avoided a super early morning. We had a good conversation and too much Diet Mountain Dew and I didn't get to bed as early as I should have- but I woke up feeling pretty decent (I have had a cold that I can't quite shake since at least the Heck). At least that was until I realized just how damn cold it was outside. We would wind up riding as "team breathe-right" once again.

Thankfully we were indoors for check-in and able to stay warm right up to the start. Lots of familiar faces, friendly people and a lot of fast riders I have a ton of respect for. There was some pre-race tension and nerves, but overall it was a really friendly vibe.

The bike- My $100 Giant OCR with the repaired top tube and the repaired Zipp 404 clinchers. Only major difference vs. the heroic was the addition of an 11-32 10 speed XT cassette. As it turns out I never left the 53t up front.

The race-

Controlled roll-out on pavement. As soon as we left the pavement I dialed it up to 80% and dropped into the aero bars. The gravel was fast, I was cold and I figured I may as well have some fun. A few miles later the main group led by Jim Bell caught up with me. Jim said, "good morning" and I sensed that had probably not been a popular move with the lethargy that sets in amongst the peleton in the cold.

We hit sand and it was pandemonium. I knew my 30c tires weren't ideal and I picked my way through the next mile or so, jogging where I had to. out the other side I grabbed a wheel and bided my time as we slowly realed in the lead pack. I was thankful we had hit that section on the way "out" this year- as I knew it would have been my demise had it happened 5 miles from the finish like last year. I guessed we were going to ride something close to reverse of last years course. As I was thinking this our little group (led by Tim Ek) managed to close the gap to the lead and I was able to settle in and get some rest.

I got a real itchy trigger finger on a long pavement climb around mile 20, but no one else seemed ready to organize and nothing came of it. Then around mile 36 I could sense the time had come. The "big names" were massing at the front on a pavement section and I determined I would have to hold my place. We hit some incredibly bumpy gravel and shit just blew up. My GPS flew off of my bike and hit Tim (we'd later go back for it and find it had been run over by a car), my bike was flexing and bucking under me and the road felt like it was covered in glue, but I kept my head down. It was at least 4-5 miles before I even looked back, and saw no one. We were a group of 9 with 6 Revolution guys, 1 rider from Grandstay, myself and BOB GRITMAN. I was very happy to have another rider with me wearing the Almanzo colors and even more so I was geniunely happy for Bob that all his hard work training/riding was paying off. We had dropped a lot of big names, guys who had beaten Bob (and myself) comfortably in past AGRS events, but Bob was here now. We wouldn't be in much of a position if Revoution tried some team tactics of some sort on us, but we would be able to take advantage of their huge horsepower to stay well ahead of everyone else at the least.

Our pace slowed to conversational and we measured the gaps to the chasers behind us. We knew they would push hard right away and burn themselves up so long as we held a gap. I also knew that I wanted no part of anyone else getting back with us. Finishing 9th would make my day. I rotated through at the frond and generally did what I could to keep things moving.

Eventually one of the Revolution guys got up the road, then 2 but I sat on. I figured the biggest threats to win were still back with me and I knew that pulling them forward would result in nothing good. That game went on from about mile 60-75.

Somewhere around mile 70 I started to feel good. It was that old "pull of the finish" thing I've wrote about before. The pain started to go away and I started to get antsy. I tried to hide it. We hit another soft section and everything switched- I had to try to hide the fact that if they pushed me here they'd drop me. Luckily, they didn't. I attacked a bit on pavement, but backed it down at mile 78. We hit more soft stuff and I was off the back, frustrated, tired, beat. I though my race was over. The gap was 10 seconds. They hit the pavement and rode easily, letting me back in. Bob and I talked at the back of the group. I think we both felt great for just being there, that we had both already more than accomplished our goals for the day.

The pace stayed low. I studied the map and moved to the front of the group. I was able to establish myself in a position at the front and on the "inside" of what would be the final turn. There was no real fight for it and the pace remained fairly low. I wasn't sure where the final turn would be (I don't think anyone was) nor what it would look like. It just seemed prudent to sit on it positionally for as long as I was allowed to. I expected the pace to really ramp up at any second. My plan was the "slingshot" effect of starting on the front, grabbing a wheel of the guys who go too early and then coming by at the line. I would stick with that plan until I was pushed too hard at the front. The pace stayed low. I saw the street sign, I kicked hard to stay in my place and made that final corner at speed. I remember remembering the final corner in a few crits over the summer. I was thinking I should have been on someones wheel and not out front... in all of those other races it had not been the front runner who had won. Regardless, no choice but to pedal as hard as I could. I heard people yelling my name. I had a lead, but Grandstay was closing... then he wasn't.

It felt great.

Then I realized how much I'd left out there. I was coughing, but it was so shallow and harsh that it was nothing but painful (I eventually lost my voice and can barely speak today). I was nauseous and unable to eat any of the wonderful chili or Famous Monster Cookies provided. I sat and shivered and coughed. The reality of winning not quite setting in. I went back outside and watched some of my competitors finish, I had to tell them I won when they asked how I did. I started to realize it. The sun felt good. My whole year started to look a bit better.

Both Tim and Chris finished respectably. We all had fun talking with the other racers and hanging out together. Eventually Chris and I got back to Rochester- I immediately showered, dressed as an Asian Carp and headed to a Halloween Party.

the bridge to nowhere

2011-10-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

In the past I've been critical of the City of Rochester's and the Mayo Clinic's bicycle friendly "improvements". The improvements they've made, and done a lot ot publicize, have not done a single thing to increase my safety or otherwise improve my commute. In fact, they've recently spent $$$$? adding gates to the one bike trail that sort of heads toward my house (and the thousands of other people who live out my way from downtown) such that they can now more effectively CLOSE IT DOWN during the winter. I emailed and called them a few times last year hoping to prevail upon them to plow more of it and it seemed that the answer was to close it completely? I guess I'll be riding on the road this winter once again. Luckily, I am switching back to an evening shift in a couple weeks here and I won't have to deal with the AM rush, unplowed roads, and no legitimate path to work all at once. I'll be heading in to work at 2pm well after the roads are cleared and then leaving at 1:30 am when no matter the conditions I'll only have to share the roads with the occasional drunk in a pickup or red grand prix driving nurse leaving after a 16 hour shift. Enough with that though, one project I've been particularly critical of has been the "bridge to nowhere"...

Turns out I was wrong! Yesterday I worked a 12 hour shift and agreed to meet Laura at Osaka for some Sushi when I got off. That bridge and the associated trail took me ALMOST PERFECTLY NEAR TO OSAKA. This makes perfect sense- where else would the smug, Mayo Employee, Cyclist types want to go via bike but a crappy Japanese chain restaurant that is isolated from anything else? Woot!

In reality I do understand that the bridge allows people in the city center access to the Douglas Trail and many of the newer NW neighborhoods in town. I just think that for what it cost we might have been better served with a whole host of other improvements. It obviously hasn't crossed anyone's mind that someone might want to bike to a grocery store, target, a bike shop, chipotle or basically any other business. Or for that matter to the Mayo Clinic... despite the 6 or 8 bike lanes/paths that head TOWARD downtown not a single one of them really gets it done. We are conveniently left with the busiest last 3 or 4 blocks to navigate with no bike lanes or paths if we should like to make it to the downtown campus.

Here is a map- 88 miles of trail that only goes places on accident. O, ya- my additions suck. I don't even have access to "paint" here.

My parked car was hit by a car and I was blamed

2011-10-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

This was left for me this summer

Apparently, someone backed into my parked car and wanted me to call them to discuss it... Like, maybe I should cover their damage for having the audacity to have a bike rack? I resisted the urge to call them and tell them where to shove it. The following morning I called from a secure/untraceable number.

Drew (Didn't give my name): Hi- I got your note. My bike rack is ok, thanks for your concern.

Tom (he signed his notes first name only): Umm, no. I'm actually quite angry with you.

Drew: what?

Tom: My car is damaged.

Drew: ...

Tom: Your bike rack sticks out at least 2 feet (this is roughly true- doesn't seem that far at all...). I had no way of seeing it.

Drew: You hit a parked car and want to blame me?

Tom: I'm a cyclist too. What you did was wrong, you should have parked elsewhere (I was parked in the back row of a large parking lot near a favorite coffee shop, there was plenty of room to get by and very few cars around. This took place between 2 and 7pm on a Wednesday)

Drew: What?

Tom: blah, blah Damage, blah.

Drew: I'm in no way liable for any damage that was caused by your hitting my parked vehicle.

Tom: blah, blah Damage, blah.

Drew: I'm in no way liable for any damage that was caused by your hitting my parked vehicle.

Tom: blah, blah, click (he hung up).

This conversation occured at approximately 11am. At 3pm I walked out to my car and found this note-

My car was parked no closer than 3 miles from where the original incident had occured and in a city of about 100k people. Even if he had figured out my employer from my parking tag it would still have only narrowed things down to a 5x20 block area full of parking ramps, meters etc.. How fucking creepy is that!? God knows what he even meant. It has been a couple months now and nothing has happened since.

Recap- Dude hit my parked car, dude wanted me to pay for his damages, I said I wasn't liable, he stalked the fuck out of me, I held the notes for a while and waited to see if anything else would happen.

thoughts?

learning to run, learning to walk part 1- chondromalacia and running, teaching dogs to walk on a leash

2011-10-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't run more than a few steps for 26 months. Dickie has never learned to walk. Yesterday we began. Me with new knee strap/brace, flat shoes and a lot of patience. Dickie with his new "Gentle Leader" to remind him to stay with me. We drove down the hill to the beginning of the gravel, god knows I shouldn't run downhill, and we set off down the road. We ran some and walked some. Initially, my steps were slow and his movements were jerky. By the time we turned at the Boy Scout Reservoir we moved together.

My knee feels alright today, no worse for the wear. Dickie is happier to put on his harness.

Another MTB vacation to Michigan and Wisconsin

2011-10-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

Another great trip to the Keweenaw! This time it was just going to be Friday evening thru Monday with Tall Mike and the Olsons.

Not as many pictures this time- We were riding a ton and the weather wasn't so nice. See my posts from late June for many more.

Here are a few-

Our first stop was the Angry Minnow in Hayward. The food was almost perfect, but the beer wasn't quite as good as I remembered. We tried their seasonal varieties and the River Pig Pale Ale that has been a mainstay. I don't know what was "off"- maybe I've just become more picky due to the improved beer selection available at home. Regardless, we left with multiple Growlers of Octoberfest and River Pig and continued on.

We spent Friday night at the Wolverine Village. As always it was welcoming and comfortable. We rode the trails there Saturday morning. It was fun to show some other people the trails I've been talking about for a while. I think everyone enjoyed it... even if it is far from "polished" and the leaves had made things even more tricky than normal. It felt sort of like bringing a bunch of Midwesterners out "West" skiing and then heading down an iced out bump run the first time up the lift (although, of course, Trevor was the one showing me how to do it).

The remainder of Saturday was spent working out way up the shoreline. We basically did the opposite trip of my last day in June. This included stops at the Black River Harbor, Porcupine Mountains, Ontanagon etc.. This time though we went on a tour of the Adventure Mine. I had heard about their bike race

http://minersrevenge.com/

but hadn't realized the extent of the tours that they offered http://www.adventureminetours.com/ We went for a gratuitous ride in a Pinzgauer, which is sort of like this-

but not quite as cool.

We saw Bats everywhere

which the tour guide knew very little about. Good thing I used to "teach" Mammology (shot out to SSC if you ever read this, ha).

It was mostly big open rooms with piles of rocks. We did the $23 tour and it was well worth it. I'd bet that the more expensive ones would be pretty incredible. They have a lot of climbing equipment set up in there and let you use it to go down lower in the mine. I also got to scope out the part of the XC course that takes place in the mine- I've been using visualization and my bat senses are strong. I think I'll be able to race it without a light... should be just the weight savings I need for next years race.

Once in Copper Harbor we settled down at the Mariner North, moved everything into our room and got some dinner. Sunday we rode about 6 hours. I love Copper Harbor riding! Hopefully everyone else had as much fun as I did. The "flow trail" is now complete and it is insane! We also took part in the Keweenaw Cup CX race (see pictures I posted yesterday). Trevor blazed to 2nd place in that race, only losing to Tyler Gauthier. I had a great time despite my mechanical issues and wound up finishing OK. We convined Tall Mike to do the C race. He thundered to the win by over a minute! Picture a 6'8" tall dude wearing basketball clothes on a Trek Rig SS with toe clips absolutely crushing people, sorry this is the best picture we got...

but here is another-

and here is Trevor leading out the "chase group". I'm about 4? behind him.

We celebrated hard Sunday night, but were up and ready to ride around 8 on Monday. Sadly the rain had finally come and the 40 mph gusts had been constant the whole time... That combination meant it was time to go!

We hightailed it all the way to Levis. Hard to beat riding Levis and Copper Harbor back to back.

I'm looking forward to more Cyclocross this weekend up just north of the Twin Cities.

Cyclocross!

2011-10-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of me last weekend- I had switched to the Orbea due to some carnage on the Viner. I hope it makes you want to race some 'cross.

Slam That Stem!

2011-10-19T04:44:00.000-07:00

This website always cheers me up.

http://slamthatstem.com/

Recenty Dave and I both were lucky enough to "make it"

Maybe you should slam your stem?

The Haymaker write-up and my Giant OCR in Winning Gravel bikes!

2011-10-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

http://www.almanzo.com/

Check it out.

More to come from me on the Heroic, the Holzinger Hot Lap and the Haymaker on this blog sometime soon. What an awesome weekend- feel like I was run over.

On another note- I'm headed up to Copper Harbor this weekend. Friday-Monday night... We are taking the Sequoia and have hotels booked etc.. there is still room for another if you are interested. We will be Mountain Biking every day and also racing CX on Sunday.

Oh, and a better picture of the OCR. You can see how comfortable it looks here...

What makes a comfortable, good bike?

2011-10-06T08:03:00.000-07:00

What makes a comfortable bike?

I was randomly browsing the internet today

http://slamthatstem.com/

came upon this gem-

http://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2011/09/bike-that-ruined-my-blog-review-of.html

This Almanzo.com post

http://www.almanzo.com/2011/10/what-to-ride-for-2012.html

Tto me it's striking how much more comfortable the Roubaix looks in profile- like it's designed to be ridden all day and not just for an hour. Thinking back I also remember my terrible back pain last fall that occured when riding my Kona

in a less aggressive position than my current gravel setup.

and yes I do know that both of those photos suck- I also know that my links shouldn't have to be copied to be used, but it seems posting from my phone I have no choice.

I've also become more interested the last couple of years in the pro peleton and particularly the Classics and the bike setups they choose to ride therein. There is a lot of similarity between those races and my favorite races here in the midwest. Of course, I'm competitive and you might argue that I view things differently through that lense. I would argue that what's comfortable is pretty independent of whether you are trying to ride 13, 20 or 25 mph. Although, maybe someone who rides slower is also influenced by their body type to need a different fit... but that is a small % of riders. There are also a ton of people out there telling you what is comfortable and "necessary" to alleviate discomfort on long rides (the Seven review above makes a brief reference to some of them).

A while back I wanted a custom steel frame with road geometry (link) because I thought it would be the fastest and most comfortable way from point A to point B. Over the time since that fell through I've gotten to ride a lot of great bikes and have steadily gotten faster myself. I've also tried the "recommended", Salsa Vaya, and the totally off the wall, Look 585, each for some very long gravel rides and races plus a lot of time on regular old aluminum and steel frames somewhere in the middle.

I don't have a conclusion here- my only point was that it's something I've been thinking about and that it's an issue in which it seems like a mistake to accept the status quo. Or is the status quo that I'm referring to only the status quo amongst a small niche of cyclist in the midwest while in most other parts of the world the status quo for an all day, classics type bike is something totally different?

Join me this Sunday for a tour of Red Wing's beautiful gravel

2011-10-04T11:54:00.000-07:00

http://milltowncycles.blogspot.com/2011/09/milltown-cycles-fall-gravel-tour.html

I hope to make it over for this. I'll have to leave and get over here for work by about 5 pm though, so I may miss out on some of the fun. Maybe I will see you there.

I guess I'm doing a bit of a triathlon this weekend, eh.

How to recover your own bike saddle- wtb devo carbon recovering

2011-10-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

A few months ago my favorite saddle (WTB Devo Carbon) was looking a bit worse for wear and I had some high quality marine grade vinyl laying around. I decided to recover it.

Fast forward to last week- the material was still looking almost perfect, but my "glue job" was a bit lacking (I'd tried to use some inferior glue). I decided to redo it again and take pictures-

Heck of the North

2011-10-03T05:48:00.001-07:00

Heck of the North

Drove up with Chris and my Parents. Check in at Kershaw's and dinner at the Burrito Union. Started with 2 and our party kept growing as more people randomly showed up- pretty cool. Back to the hotel at 11:00 and in bed soon after.

Woke up feeling even sicker than I had the previous few days. I had known since Tuesday morning that something was off because I was sleeping as much or more than normal and still feeling tired. By Thursday I had skipped all riding, and anything else fun for the week but still felt like I had to take the morning off from work to get extra rest. Regardless, I had a plan to deal with that it and I remembered feeling sick prior to the Dirt Bag last fall and still riding well.

We rolled out and the group stayed together, as always, into the first trail section. There had been a couple of attacks and some solid tempo up one long hill, but we were still 30? strong. With my aero bars and "road" setup I think I could have soloed away on the pavement leading in to the trail, but I was too concerned that I'd solo right by the turn to really try.

As it was the group almost missed the turn en masse and there was quite a lot of panic-braking and sliding on the way in. I kept it upright and found myself bouncing along the trail behind Farrow and Deathrider. I hit a huge rock head on and flatted my front (700x30 Ritchey Speed Max at 65psi). I knew I was likely out of contention just that quickly, but I had some hope and quickly changed my tube. The replacement tube was flat out of the box. I changed it again and finally (7.5 minutes elapsed time now) got back on my bike.

I quickly realized I was now 7 minutes behind the group and it was going to be a tough task to get back to the front. Almost immediately after that I realized that my GPS was gone. I debated the merits of going back and realized that I basically had to. I was in a free race with no big prizes, I was unlikely to catch back up regardless, and I was missing something I both needed for navigation and didn't want to have to $$$ to replace. After some hiking I recovered my GPS and Joe Meiser's drivers license and credit card- apparently it was bumpy there for everyone. I also had a conversation with a dude on an ATV out clearing trail for the winter/snowmobiles and was able to borrow a flathead screwdriver from him to fix the mount. Back in business, but now over 30 minutes of "stoppage time" down vs. the lead.

I rode on and made a conscious effort to enjoy the road and the scenery. On and on. The weather and colors were about perfect too!

I realized I had also lost all of my food from my feed bag.

I realized I should have been more prepared to deal with the trail section and wondered what I had been thinking. Had I not been there the two years previous? Was it bumpier this year? Was it just bad luck that I'd flatted and my GPS/food had been ejected. Should I have foreseen all of the above and done something about it? The answer was probably that I was at fault. I didn't like it, but I was still pedaling hard.

I crossed the halfway point and heard that I was in about 50th. Pushed hard, knowing that the longer I was out there the worse it would be to not have anything to eat. Bonked pretty hard for a bit around mile 80, but begged some food at mile 90ish. Almost as soon as I swallowed it my cadence picked up. I felt like an animatronic cyclist (or for some reason that was what was in my head). I went up the last 8 miles or so from the lake up and up to the finish as if I were trying to win the race. I passed another 8 people. I felt good about my effort and crossed the line with a smile at just over 6:20.

Every time I ride I'm sure I learn something. This ride I learned or relearned more than normal.

1. Navigation is paramount in these events. Even if not lost it does not serve to not know the next turn. Uncertainty ruins race strategy and can lead to dangerous panic turns. Being lost is an absolute killer too.

2. Food is of utmost importance. During the Gentleman's ride I spun around all day pulling my group and feeling great. Here I felt like hell at mile 80. Biggest difference was the lack of food. During the Gentleman's ride I consumed 5 gel shots, 1 pack of cola flavored gel caps, 2 bottles of heed and plenty of water.

3. If I'm going on the road bike/skinny tires I need to remember that I have an advantage in a lot of places, but it goes away if I flat by trying to pretend I'm in a cross race.

4. Aero bars are the shit- I absolutely love them. Think about the solo effort I put in on the back half of this race to finish where I did and compare that to how nerdy you think they look? Worth it? I would have been 15 or 20 minutes slower without them. They also contribute to my comfort on the bike. Last year I had huge back issues in this same race, this weekend I felt comfortable the whole ride. There have obviously been other changes, but they are a significant factor. It is huge to be able to get in a position that feels like "rest".

5. Bike preparation is important- my chain/cassette weren't of the same vintage and I didn't have access to my 4 hardest gears. Why hadn't I figured this out before the race and fixed it? This pissed me off all day and effected my strategy early on.

6. Sport legs actually work- this was the first time I tried them. I will use them for anything long in the future, enough said.

7. Breathe right strips actually work- I think I'll be wearing one even when healthy.

CUP O' DIRT

2011-09-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't put in as much time on gravel this year as in the past, but this "challenge" was a huge part of my motivation a year or two ago. It's a neat idea too. Check it out!

http://thecupodirt.blogspot.com/

Almanzo Gentleman's Ride 2011

2011-09-25T16:37:00.001-07:00

I enjoyed every minute of my day out there.

The course was as beautiful and challenging as ever. I know it well at this point, but it still captures my attention and challenges me each time I ride it. The fresh gravel, changing seasons, wind conditions etc. can have a huge impact on the "feel" of things out there.

It was a privilege to ride on a team with such great guys (Tim Werts, Andrew Folpe, Sam St. Pierre) and to have a common goal together. Things didn't always go perfectly, but we endured and supported. In the end we finished in just under 6.5 hours including stops. We maybe spent a little too much time stopped and a little too much time working out how to work together, but I think we were all pleased with our overall performance). I know I left most everything out there.

More events should be run with this type of format. I had a few conversations with riders at the finish with regards to the format and the course and we all expect to see many more strong teams out there next year. This even is ideally placed in the calendar for a lot of riders whos seasons are otherwise winding down, many of whom don't yet know about our ride. Hopefully that will change.

Maybe some pictures added later. Check out Almanzo.com for more.

There is also this

2011-09-20T07:48:00.001-07:00

Overtime

2011-09-20T04:32:00.000-07:00

Can't complain too much about extra money, but I've been hit with a lot of busyness the last week or so. Laura is off exploring the West with her sister which has left me in charge of all 7 animals, work is asking/allowing me to work 12 hour days, football is back, my bikes need work, things are popping with the Almanzo, we've listed $5k worth of bike parts one bay, I'm stuck 85% of the way done with a frame repair, my deck is half powerwashed and I'm sleeping 5 hours a night.

Luckily, I've also managed to ride my bike a bit. Saturday's group ride saw a large pack of us hitting the Spring Valley donut shop en route to Iowa. Most notable about that ride was that the wind was exactly as strong in the exact opposite direction as during the Royal 162... meant it was hard work getting down there and quite easy coming back, a welcome difference! Almost convinced the roadies to stop by Royal's grave.

Can't wait for the Heck of the North. I'm starting to see the roads when I shut my eyes. Feel the cold of the start line. Consider my strategy. Consider the fact that I maybe, just maybe, feel strong enough to actually need or deserve a strategy.

Dakota Five-0 race recap part 1

2011-09-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

Dakota Five-0

I sat beside the trail while 100, 200, 300 riders streamed by. I was maybe 5 miles into the Dakota Five-0 and eventually watching the stragglers from the 1st wave limping past me. After I stopped retching and my heart rate dropped below 140 I continued to sit. I ripped my number plate off, crossed the trail and contemplated where I could go hide for the rest of the weekend.

Then I turned and rode up the trail for 17 or so more miles of steady climbing. At first I was uncertain, but I slowly regained my ability to eat and drink and then to climb. I knew I had self-selected into the "tour" category of the "race, ride, tour" event (who knows how many minutes I actually lay there before starting again, or how much extra time it took because of multitudes of people I would have to pass), but I still found myself picking off riders in large clumps because it was fun to ride fast. I reached the 22 mile checkpoint and knew it was going to be mostly downhill from there. I love going downhill, love how precise my new mountain bike feels and how soft it feels for a hardtail. I passed more and more people. I passed some people like they weren't moving. I rode with others for a while. I was able to eat and drink normally. The last couple of steep climbs were conquered. I pointed it downhill the rest of the way to the finish and let everything hang out.

I crossed the finish with a huge smile on my face.

More to come about this last weekend including pictures tonight or tomorrow. While some of it was great, not everything quite met my expectations off the course.

Rochester's first bicycle move

2011-09-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

Inspired by these pioneering genius'

http://rustwire.com/2011/08/22/clevelands-first-ever-bike-move-as-far-as-we-know/

We decided to move some friends via bike.

More pictures and video here-

http://westbymidwest.posterous.com/the-great-bicycle-move

adrenaline

2011-09-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

Is still coursing through my veins as I type. As 12pm CST rolled around I was punching refresh over and over praying that the clock would turn over. Finally the time turned and I flew through the bikereg registration process... hope I'm on the front row at JINGLECROSS for my efforts.

No, I'm not any happier about the 6.95 processing fee than I was last year.

Complete indifference- have I lost my mind

2011-08-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

Something has gone horribly wrong. Seems everyone I know is going crazy over some new item, just released!

So far I haven't seen anything to tempt me whatsoever.

I'd take a free snow bike, or maybe an even lighter carbon 29er frame with similar geometry to my Alma- but neither one is all that pressing.

Where is the release of the light, hydraulic cyclocross disc brakes. I know I won't choose to be able to afford them, but DAMN IT! I need something to drool over. What about the 10 speed gripshifters that I wouldn't have to order from Europe?

My road bike has been completely torn down. My Viner now has a bunch of fancy 7800 DA bits hanging from it and some fancy new TRP stoppers. The only thing that really remains is picking up some new tubular tires (racing ralph?).

Cyclocross is looming large. I find myself daydreaming about it at my desk. You better go back to yours- this was a useless post.

Cervelo R3 SL and Jamis Nova Pro carbon frame repairs

2011-08-25T07:26:00.000-07:00

Cervelo was done for more or less an actual customer. It had been in a low speed car accident and needed minor repairs in two locations on the headtube and a major repair on the non-drive side seat stay. I wound up having to change the paint scheme a bit in order to make things easy on myself (3-tone jobs are beyond me... I'll be sending anything more complex than this to my friend Lin who did my Look).

before shots (did take some pictures of just the carbon work, but they aren't on this computer right now. We all know what they look like anyways)

I think it turned out pretty decent.

I also did a Jamis for Trevor Olson. I've been bugging him to ride more cyclocross for about a year now and this will pretty much mean that he has to! I believe it will be built with Ultegra 6700.

This one had a cracked drive-side stay. I had to remove the cable stop, make repair and then re-bond the stop onto the frame.

Tuesday night rides

2011-08-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

THE Tuesday Night Ride was right after the Tuesday night time trial with the tri-group.

This, apparently, happened while I was in crushing Diet Cokes, Waffle Fries, Reubens and PBRs in a mad rush to find equilibrium.

mafia racing/jagwire cable kit, tubulars, three stars cycles

2011-08-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

I wrote a review of the cable kit and a bit of an ode to tubulars, Kruck is interviewed etc..

Go check it out at almanzo.com

going to have to make another blog for carbon repair

2011-08-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

Drew's Plastic Fantastic?

Acme Carbon Repair?

This frame has a relatively long story attached to it and a couple other small repairs needed. I'll also be doing some sort of paint work. The stay is strong enough to hold my weight. The pictures show it with the repair complete, but it's obviously not cosmetically complete.

Great weekend of riding!

2011-08-15T12:06:00.000-07:00

What an awesome weekend!

Dairyland Dare did not disappoint. The course was beautiful and the riders were awesome. Where else do you get to ride with Charlie Farrow and Robbie Ventura at the same time? Overall, similar vibe to the gravel endurance races, just with even more and bigger hills than the Ragnarok. Very fast pace up front with a host of riders from "Vision Quest" coaching including Robbie Ventura. I was forced to let them go after about 100 miles. I didn't feel so bad letting THAT group go! I went into solo-time-trial-endurance mode as from the Almanzo and things began to feel like a sort of recital. My confidence was high and I was riding better than I'd have hoped. Everything came crashing down when I realized I'd missed a 50k loop. Long story short- use your maps and don't trust others (particularly if you are then going to drop them and ride solo for hours before noticing you've effed up). What made this possible was that the entire course was marked with the same color and as such there was no way I could tell that I'd made a mistake... I just followed the markers on and on until I reached a rest stop with no volunteers and realized something was wrong. I'd gotten there an hour before it was supposed to "open". It was a huge let-down, but the beauty of the route and the day did a lot to overcome that as I rode it in (going back was out of the question due to time constraints). I will be back next year.

Took out some of my frustration with a 110 mile trip to the Mississippi yesterday morning. Even nicer weather and an equally good route. We rode through such towns as Douglas, Oronoco, Mazeppa, Belvidere, Frontenac, Lake City etc. and got some great views of the river and bluffs. I was happy that I actually felt stronger on the return leg (and after eating a couple of burritos in Lake City).

I'll add a picture or two later if they become available.

Dairyland Dare setup

2011-08-12T07:21:00.000-07:00

That's what I'm riding and everything I'm carrying.

Decided to go with the ultra-light tubulars for many reasons. Biggest ones are the weight and that I want to "prove" my rim repair by riding them in a long race. More to come on why I like Tubulars soon (on the almanzo.com site).

I'm carrying basic tools and extra gels in my feed bag, the spare tubular on my seat post, 6 extra gels in case I get hungry away from a rest stop.

6 am tomorrow morning will come up early!

My first race- getrevengeance.com response

2011-08-10T07:32:00.000-07:00

This, was posted here---

http://www.getrevengeance.com/

with the caption "Drew's first race"

Which is quite flattering, considering THIS is the real "first race" picture...

More on "why"

2011-08-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

There are many reasons to ride. This isn't the first time I've tried to write about the reasons I do.

My recent, accidental, emphasis on road racing combined with the pending Dairyland Dare 300k has me thinking about the pull of racing a bike. At some point in endurance racing the finish begins to pull. You realize that you can and will finish. It's a sort of emotional epiphany. You've been riding along for hours without really thinking and then you REALIZE THAT. You become aware of your own ultimate awareness. That you've been pedaling along rhythmically with nothing on your mind but being. You've been "in the moment" and now you've received the gift of realizing it, enjoying it. My mind flips wildly from ecstacy to defeat and then I think about taking control back but never quite do. It's better just to continue on. In the moment.

On the road or in a criterium you get a burst of the same thing. It's just a hint, but you also didn't have to put in the same effort to get there. Approaching the final turns of a criterium or the final meters of a road race the pace goes up and it feels like there is nothing more left. Then I feel that same pull. This time there is not time to consider it and savor it, to realize it. Instead it shifts immediately into forgetting. The pain goes away, the thought only becomes the line and the pedaling. You get a few seconds of the ultra-endurance drug, but it's a very concentrated few seconds. Then you sit up and look around and know that you've shared that with the guy beside you.

It's all one and the same. I'm grateful for every time I get the opportunity and the strength to push through to that point.

Today I leave in an hour- it will be my last long ride prior to the Dairyland Dare. Plan to go explore for 6-8 hours with the OCR setup in a way that works for any road. Probably won't even pick a direction until I start riding. Hope you're planning a ride.

Hillside result

2011-08-01T04:39:00.000-07:00

Very sore hip, terrible headache and a DNF.

Ouch! Glad I crawled into work this morning though.

paddleboarding with great whites

2011-07-31T18:21:00.000-07:00

Finally a mountain bike race!

2011-07-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to a full "feature length" mountain bike race at Hillside tomorrow. Great place for a race and a venue that I've ridden enough to sort of know.

I've missed getting my mountain bike gear ready.

Weather looks to be very hot and humid. Glad my Dad is coming with. I'll have to stick to a plan for eating/drinking and getting bottles handed up from him can act as a reminder to finish my current bottle, eat a gel etc..

Friday views- anybody else in a bad mood today?

2011-07-29T08:34:00.001-07:00

I'm a selfish bastard...

... and I'm back on a Giant. Almost exactly 3 years ago, when I decided to get into cycling, the first bike I purchased was a Giant Trance X3. In the meantime I've learned a lot more about the industry and my opinions/impressions have changed greatly. I think we can all agree that Giant represents about the "worst" of the big business side of the cycling industry. Heck, they don't even try to hide it! They build their bikes overseas and they build them in mass quantities and sell them at great price points. Their sales guys in the stores even bring this up as an advantage- I've heard them talk about the volume they build and all the frames they build for other companies multiple times. Within a few months of riding my old Trance X3 I was ready to move onto something more race specific. I had also drank the kool-aid with regards to the evils of big business in cycling... obviously I wouldn't be purchasing another Giant. Fast forward 3 years later and I stumbled onto my new Ocr Carbon. At first I thought it would just be fun to practice repairing carbon, ride it a bit and then sell? However, almost as soon as I started riding it I realized that it was going to be worth keeping. I was at a bit of a crossroads and I was seriously considering removing the logos from the frame. This post is the result of the resulting internal debate.

When it comes down to it I want great performing bikes more than I want to support my LBS, more than I want to support any company I can actually afford to buy decent new bikes from, and more than most other things in my life. This means I have to be willing to make certain compromises at times in order to acquire more and better parts. I'm not above buying from ebay, craigslist or the internet. I'm not above reselling the old stuff I bought last week at a profit. I'm not above checking things out at my LBS and then buying them online (usually when the price difference reaches obscene). Here is why those compromises aren't what they seem.

Used parts-

Most people don't ride their bikes all that much. There is tons of used stuff out there in great shape. Why not ride it? Buying used frees up the seller to buy new once again too. Plus, with all this "innovation" that constantly is taking place some really great stuff can be found used for good prices. It wouldn't be too hard right now to put together a complete DA 7800 Group for $600-700 in good used condition... contrast that with the cost of the new ultegra sl (roughly equal in performance). Then compare the condition of each after you ride it through the ringer that was the Royal 162... the DA looks like a good plan.

LBS-

First off, they keep a running tab on my purchases year to date and I spend plenty of money with them. I do deliberately support them when possible. However, it's not my job to keep them in business at my own loss. My family owns Carlson's Sport Center in Red Wing. Over the years they have changed greatly, their emphasis shifting with the times and what can be sold profitably. They've changed to stay successful despite the shifting interests of the public, new gun laws, big box retailers and the internet. I've seen huge changes in their business just during my lifetime. Why did they make those changes? Why shouldn't a bike shop have to evolve in much the same manner? While other small local business scrambles to find new niches within the changing market place it seems that the LBS here do not. "They" seem to have signed onto the idea that they only way to be profitable is to pick a major manufacturer or two and sell their stuff to the upper middle class people who wander in. How is that plan supposed to continue to work in the face of the internet and the spread of ERIKS. I spend a lot of time in the twin cities and the bike shop situation up there is a "scene". I'm way off topic now- but the solution as I see it is that the local shops need to sell the culture and scene. Partner with Mayo and the city in their commuting initiatives, sponsor bike racks, sponsor bike races and generally spread the base of who rides. Then they need to actually cater to the people who are riding. I know there are huge mark ups on those expensive bikes, but who the heck buys them? Those who "need" them (ie- racers) either get huge discounts or if they can't get those from the shops (like me) they buy them used. I know I'm going to wear out/destroy/ruin my stuff in a hurry and I don't have days or weeks to wait for repairs/maintainence when the stuff isn't wrecked. The frame warranty is about the only benefit I'd get from buying new and that is becoming less and less important to me for various reasons (ranging from the likelihood of actually getting a new frame to my own ability to repair stuff). Lastly, they need to NEVER leave anybody feeling screwed- making an extra .50 profit on individual gel packs or $2 on tubes vs. one of the other local bike shops is not even close to worth it when compared to how I feel when I figure out that has happened. When that happens I feel you've abused my loyalty. You also need to have the bikes and frames in stock that I actually want to ride. I'd be about 100x more likely to order a bike through you if I were able to ride it first. Heck, then you'd actually be providing me a real service that the internet places aren't... and I might feel compelled to give you my business.

"Smaller manufacturer"-

Custom builders rule- they are basically completely awesome and have nothing to do with this other than that they are actually awesome and totally exempt from the following. That goes for the ones that build $500 steel bikes or $4000 titanium ones (provided they actually provide you a bike within a reasonable period of time). There are also plenty of small, medium and even large manufacturers who deserve support. What I no longer feel at all bad about is not supporting the mid-range guys. The companies that position and advertise themselves as small, hip, irreverent etc., but are really just part of huge, Giant?, sized corporations with global marketing plans and 117 different niche brands... well, how is that better than anything? Maybe it's worse. People who are buying from them and thinking they are doing the right thing and supporting the "good guys" etc. who are basically, from my point of view anyways, being lied to are actually taking it worse than those who just buy from Giant or even BikesDirect. It's like the environmentalists who buy new cars to be green. Nothing worse than becoming the kind of pompous ass who is doing more to cause the problem than the people you think you are better than. I've got nothing against riding any brands bike mind you- just that pompous attitude that goes with some of the wrong ones. I'm sure that a big part of this is that I was one of them- always easy to see the bad in others that is also in you.

The Almanzo Gravel scene-

I take wearing my Almanzo kit seriously. I want to expand the race and expand ridership. Riding a bike has made my life better and I want that for others. Racing one for free is the best of all things I love. Does riding a Giant "work" with trying to promote the Almanzo message? I think the important aspect here is that I'm riding. Besides that, there is something to riding/racing a $100 frame for gravel. It's sort of what it's all about, ride what you brung... who cares what brand it says on the side or if at first glance you look silly to some kool-aid drinking idiot on a bike made in Taiwan by a small company with 117 inbred sister companies. It wasn't too long ago that I would have judged someone for riding a Giant and thought they weren't really doing their part to support the right kind of manufacturers and the right kind of LBS' etc., who gives a shit? I should have known better.

I'm leaving the graphics on.

whisky components

2011-07-28T04:36:00.000-07:00

http://cgi.ebay.com/Whisky-7-Mtn-26-Monocoque-1-12-Taperd-steerer-carbon-/130554580156?pt=Cycling_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1e65a8ccbc

First time I've seen any of them for sale- haven't seen anything in person yet.

Odd that it's on ebay. From a cynical perspective, well... I'll let you approach it that way if you choose.

trying this differently- Giant OCR repair/build

2011-07-26T04:32:00.000-07:00

That pretty much sums up my ride. After sending my Look to paint I got a little antsy. I also was realizing how many of my skills from working on cars/car audio transferred to carbon repair. Then I remembered this interesting frame that was hanging in one of the local bike shops. $100 later I had the frame/fork/misc. goodies home. 2 days later I was 100k from home on it and snapping pictures by the river. Wound up riding Rochester, plainview, minneiska, elba, whitewater on home. Check out the mmr gravel pics!

This bad boy has a ton of tire clearance and pretty much rules. My new backup road bike and very likely my go to gravel race bike. Parts are all the stuff I've been rocking on the Look... so ultegra/force level.

I've already ridden this OCR about 240 miles including to 2nd place in the 4/5 crit at the southside crits yesterday. I'll be racing it again today too. Can't wait to get the Look put back together, but sure is nice having something like this to fall back on.

Here's one last picture (in gravel trim)

For what it's worth that seatpost/stem have been swapped out to something more pleasing to the eye (and which allowed me to shift my position on the bike slightly more forward). The wheels have also been painted gloss black. They are my Zipp 404s/dt240s that I've been racing on for almost everything within the last year.

random

2011-07-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

Been extremely busy...

Mountain bike races keep falling through- bad weather, overtime at work etc. has conspired against me making it to many.

Crits and road races have taken the places of a few of them- I think I've earned my points to upgrade to cat 3.

I've been working on fixing some carbon stuff and it's going well...

... or it was going well until I destroyed the carbon thing I value the most by running it into a building on the roof of my car. This ones not repairable. Guess these are the best pictures I'm going to get of this bike with the proper matching painted fork on it...

Feeling Lucky I didn't break the frame!

In the mean time I'm hoping to find some time to get out on the mountain bike and make a few races while also pushing the endurance a bit in preparation for the Dairyland Dare.

carbon fiber frame and wheel repair on the cheap (Look 585, zipp 404)

2011-07-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

If you look through my more recent blog posts this bike was later custom painted and raced. The wheels wound up being painted black and are what I rode the dirt bag and many other rides on since.

Here are some pictures of my repaired headtube. It had developed a very small crack on the ht/dt junction part of the lug. I had marked it with a paint marker and watched it for a bit, and while it didn't seem to be growing with time I figured it was best to repair it! The only real obstacle to this would be removing the paint and getting some sort of new color scheme/graphics package going--- so basically just my own laziness.

When I removed the paint I could see no evidence of any actual carbon damage. I hope that means that it would have held together forever, but it certainly won't hurt that I've now added a bit of extra strength.

before (should have gotten one showing the crack in the paint)-

after

There are between 1 and 4 plies of added carbon throughout the repaired area. As you you maybe see it slightly changed the profile of the lug (now more soda bottle shaped than hourglass?).

Because I plan on sending it to paint I focused on adding strength via the directions I laid the fibers vs. cosmetics. If you look carefully it is not entirely uniform "grid" as it was originally.

The thing that really kicked my butt into gear about this project was my damaged zipp 404...

During the sprint at the crit on monday it developed a ridge or deformed area where the force of one of the drive-side spokes pulled it against the rim/ground. You can see in the picture the "ridge"/"crack" that formed. I had already sanded it down some around the area in that picture, but you get the idea.

Fixing the Zipp is a bit taller task than the headtube... Plus I've been working 12 hr days here recently. Pictures to come asap! Likely get some up on facebook this afternoon whenever I get home from this block of work.

Ulwelling Memorial road race, 1st criterium ever at Northfield crit, carbon repair!

2011-07-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

Stuck around Rochester for the holiday weekend. Laura needed me to attend a co-workers wedding and I didn't really feel like traveling much anyways. Plus, here were two road races in the area that I could easily attend.

Dan Ulwelling Memorial race-

The Dan Ulwelling 25 mile bike race was on Saturday as a part of Austin's "Freedom Fest". My Domestique (his word, not mine... he would beat me on this day!), Al, and I left Rochester around 10 am. Our plan was to create a similar performance to the Death Ride despite facing more difficult competition.

I scouted the finish during my warmup and started second guessing my normal "plan" of being OK with a sprint finish on the road. This was downhill and downwind with a very long straight leading to the line. My ability to accelerate would likely be trumped by guys with more of a diesel type power unless I played my cards right.

The race pace was reasonable with a few half-hearted attacks and solo breakaways (including one real lame one and one real good one of my own). However, on none of those instances did anybody link up with the break and try to do any work. The teams at the front seemed very content to let it go to a sprint and there really wasn't anything we could do about it, despite my best efforts.

Al worked very hard for me all day and was right there leading into the last few miles. For some reason I wound up at the front of the pack and put in a little bit too much work over the last mile or so. This was partly due to being unsure where we were on the course. The map I had seen had made it look like our return loop would work a little different than it actually did... and it's not like dead flat roads in Austin are easy to distinguish from one another.

Anyways, by the time we got into really ramping it up I just didn't feel right. Usually when the finish or a big hill is in front of me I feel the adrenaline and lose track of any pain or thoughts other than the line. This just didn't happen to me in this race. The group started to attack and I caught a wheel in 3rd or 4th (which was probably about perfect with how early the sprint started), but then the surge happened out to the left of the guys I was behind and I was trapped in no man's land. I could have gone around to the right into the wind by myself, and feel that on most days I would have, but it just didn't happen today. Al was still on my wheel at that point but was able to catch a wheel and move left into a decent (5th?) finish. I watched the group kick it in and crossed at the back of the lead pack of 8, 12?

Milltown Cycles' Northfield Criterium

Figured this would be as good as any opportunity to try my first criterium. Did some online research, watched some videos and talked to some friends about how to approach this race. Advice boiled down to this- Stay at the front, expect it to be very very fast paced, be happy to finish the first one- you'll learn.

I definitely wanted to do well too- I was disappointed in myself for how Saturday had gone. Focused on getting some quality rest on Sunday and prepped my bike etc.. Warm up went well, it was awesome to see a few of my friends volunteering on the course and a few other racing or spectating. The scene was set for something... I at least knew that I would have to give it my all, no matter what, with all those people I know out there.

Made two quick laps of the course right before the start, but still managed to get a 1st row spot. Felt no nerves and felt appropriately warmed up etc.. The race started and I couldn't get my pedal clipped in. I flailed at it a few times and then CLANK! my chain popped off.

At that point time basically stopped in my mind as the entire race disappeared around the next corner while I fumbled with my bike. I got back on and I immediately got that feeling I had been missing on Saturday. I rode very hard for about 5 laps, worked my way up quite a bit with each one and eventually settled in riding between 2nd and 8th wheel for 8 or 10 laps. Then when a single rider got a couple hundred yard gap on the field I was able to move up to him. We rode 5 laps well ahead of the field, but then with 4 laps or so to go he (we?) both started to play games. I didn't want to pull up the hill every lap and he probably didn't know what to think about me (apparently most of these guys know each other and being an "outsider" makes their strategy with me different). Anyways we both sat up and let the group catch us. It's too bad another 1 or 2 rides hadn't bridged up with me- we'd have had a much better chance of staying ahead. Regardless, it was pretty damn fun to be out ahead of the field for a while! I rested in 3rd or 4th wheel until one lap to go and both he and I were again able to get some distance from the field up the hill.

I chased him through the final corners, but did not catch his wheel due to swinging too wide. Meanwhile a train of riders cut down to my inside and 4 or 5 of them got ahead of me. I pushed hard and was able to edge my way back in front of most of them by the line. I definitely learned a lesson about how to approach a sprint in this situation... I needed to be on the wheel of the guys who were moving and not just out there by myself if I wanted to win. That said- the easiest way for me to have won would probably have been to attach with about 1.5-2 laps to go, which I think I could have done successfully if not for the "extra" work I'd put in earlier... lesson learned?

I earned myself an envelope with cash in it! Which is actually fairly important to me. I told Laura 18 months ago that it was a goal to "finish in the money" for her and I've actually only done so a couple times before. She wanted to know what I was going to buy her... a burrito!

I think my CX experience really paid off in making my first crit an enjoyable ride. This thing was incredibly fun too! I'll be looking to fit a few more into my schedule.

Carbon repair-

During the race I messed up my rear Zipp 404. Thankfully I caught it early enough that I will be able to repair it myself. I will also be strengthening the head tube on my Look where a small hairline crack has begun to form. I'll have plenty of extra material (and I do have some expertise in doing this stuff). Let me know if you need any carbon stuff repaired...

stuff

2011-06-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

If you are going to ridicule my picture quality buy me a new camera worth more than $89... my "real" camera was stolen 2 years ago.

Put in PTO requests for a couple weeks next spring and early summer. Should be able to do a couple weeks similar to my last trip! Also took the day off before the Birkie and a set myself up for a couple long weekends to head up to Wolverine Village and ski earlier in the year... guess I'm going racing.

After skipping Red Wing I now feel rested and strong once again. It was the right call.

I won the Eastwood Tuesday Night Race last night... first time for that (at least when I wasn't the only person there). However, it was somewhat lame because the two other "fastest" guys there didn't really race. They took the start and then rode at a "conversational" pace. I wish I could have pushed myself harder despite the lead I developed, but I started getting lazy.

I picked up an m-961 XTR front derailleur for the Orbea--- Night and Day better than the X9 that was on there. No longer have to think about how/when to shift the front.

Also, switched (temporarily?) to a 10 speed dura-ace chain on the otherwise 9 speed drivetrain... any thoughts on that?

Hope you are having a good week!

Long trip Home- Porcupine Mountains, Rock Lake, Levis etc.

2011-06-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

After the race I started home. Coming back through I took some pictures, but lost some of my motivation to do so.

Wound up hiking in the Porcupines, riding at Wolvering, riding Rock Lake/Namakegon, riding Levis etc. etc. and still coming home a couple days earlier than needed in order to ease my way back into work.

Porcupines-

My age group prize from the Chain Drive at the Town Hall-

Long ride from the Town Hall all the way out to the Rock Lake trailhead, through all of Rock Lake and back via singletrack. Here are a couple pictures-

back home!

Yes, that scaffolding is a gap drop off the end... Yes, Randy's bike is worth 40x what he paid for that truck.

Lastly, here are all the animals but the not quite so photogenic 13 year old Beagle-

Took it fairly easy these last few days after going back to work. Decided not to race today due to feeling a little bit tired. Expect to ride hard this next week, try a road race and my first crit next weekend and to head to Eau Claire feeling more prepared than I did at the same time last year. Wish me luck.

Keweenaw Chain Drive recap

2011-06-26T19:32:00.000-07:00

This thing was tons of fun! Here's the only picture I have thus far... there were some other professional photographers out there and I'm waiting for their pictures to hit the internet. I usually don't care too much but this time I think there is probably a really cool picture of me out there; I popped a wheelie on a bridge by one of their photographers!

I rested up as well as I could Friday night and attempted to treat Saturday as any other race day. Felt decent in my warm up and was able to nab a nice second row start position.

Here is the neutral roll out- if you look carefully you can catch me wide right in the 2nd row or so.

After that we looped under the bridge and were allowed to open it up. I actually led for a while at that point. We had been warned about the gravel being washed out and I wound up all the way up front when I tried to avoid some of the wash-out stuff. It was ok as the pace was pretty comfortable until we hit the cemetery hill. Normally I would be up for a quick climb with $50 on the line, but I knew that probably wouldn't be my greatest strength at that point in my week and so I climbed at a very comfortable pace.

Over the next 6 miles or so I slowly worked my way forward through the pack until getting up with some guys who were going just as fast as I was. We all took turns out front until I was able to pull away from that group and into sole posession of 14th (or so I was told) around mile 24. I caught and passed the next two guys, but they were able to hold my wheel on a long double-track section. Soon we were down to 2.5 or so miles to go and just one last steep climb... BOOOM my chain snapped. My immediate reaction was "how do I walk out of here", but then I realized that I did have everything I needed to fix it. A few minutes later (and 6 or 7 spots further back than I had been) I was back on the trail. Soon after that is when I saw the photographer and thus the wheelie.

I finished in 18th (or was it 19th?) about 18.5 minutes behind Brian Matter. All in all it was a very good effort when judged vs. my past XC performances. I think that's the closest I've ever finished an 'expert' length race to one of the really fast guys.

A lot more importantly- I had a great time, felt solid on the trails, bike felt good etc. etc.. It really left me looking forward to more!

I hope to be back next year. This thing has a ton of great technical singletrack and plenty of climbing. Excellent race course.

Rest of the Keweenaw

2011-06-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

When Friday rolled around I'd ridden about 32 hours over the last 7 days and it was time to get as much rest as possible prior to the Keweenaw Chain Drive.

I slept in to ten and then spent an hour prepping my bike prior to leaving Copper Harbor. The rest of the day was spent wandering.

That buoy apparently weighs some ungodly amount- I want to say 50,000 lbs! Mind blowing.

For some reason at that point I got interested in the textures of the buildings.

Found a nice little Mexican place for lunch- not what I was expecting to find.

Got a brief ride in at McLain State Park as well as a hike

Something about this reminded me of something and that's why/when I decided to switch to hiking...

Later went for a ride near the town of Gay- I understand this "beach" is actually some sort of industrial waste.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing as much as possible including watching Green Lantern and even Applebee's for dinner.

2010 Salsa Mamasita, dt240s salsa delgado race wheels and xtr crankset

2011-06-24T14:48:00.000-07:00

Rather than the regularly scheduled additional pictures of the Keweenaw I'm throwing the information about my sale stuff up on here now...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170659436042&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

That's the ebay link to the bike sale (click on other auctions for the wheels and crankset).

It's a 2010 Mamasita in Medium. Built up with race-ready parts throughout (although if you want to go fast you'll probably want the other wheelset I'm selling to go along with it as well--- they are dt 240s hubs, salsa delgado race rims, sapim spokes from Mike C)

The crankset is an xtr m952 with what is an apparently very rare 110 bcd spider. Being sold with bottom bracket and 3 SS chainrings.

Let me know if you are interested.

Copper Harbor Mountain Biking

2011-06-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

This place is the best. Head and shoulders above anywhere else I've gotten to ride in the Midwest, plus it's a really scenic and cool little town. This year I rode about 12 hours up there which included their Thursday night group ride. I'd recommend making it to the group ride if you can- you get free beer!

I once again stayed at the Belle Vista Motel. I ususally avoid spending money on hotels when traveling, but when up here the Motels are cheap, the camping is expensive and I want to support their trails by spending money in the town. Second photo is the view from my sliding door... I just bring all my bikes inside and use that sliding door to go in and out while I'm there.

Trail Pictures. Again, it's simply the best. All the trails are interesting to ride, all but a couple are two-way and can be reasonably climbed (I think I could climb the whole Red Trail, but I wouldn't want to get in the way of someone coming down...). No where else I've been opens up with all the possibilities that you get when you ride up there. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

There are more miles of bridges here than there are trails in Rochester.

After ride beer on my "patio"

More pics of the view from the town and surrounding area-

Generally I went pretty hard on the Orbea and didn't stop for pictures.

Shot of the guys on the group ride coming up to the look-out. I love it!

Couple last shots on my way out of town on the mountain road.

I can't wait to find time to go back. The rest of the Keweenaw will hopefully get posted tomorrow.

Ironwood Mountain Biking and Kayaking; Wolverine Village

2011-06-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

As always, Wolverine Village is an awesome place to stay.

Really fun singletrack. Mostly tight and technical with constant rocks and technical ups and downs. Many tough climbs (I use my granny ring more here than anywhere else I ride). There is currently around 12? miles of singletrack that with the ski trails forms a solid 1:45 loop at "tempo" type pace when I ride my preferred direction. If you ride it the other way you replace a very long technical ascent with a singletrack descent and instead climb on double track, this cuts at least 5 or 10 minutes off the lap times.

A couple shots from the top of Powderhorn Ski Area. You climb up and over this between the two major sections of singletrack. Note the Copper Peak Ski Flying Hill in the background. I locked my keys in my car down there on Tuesday night after the group ride. Had to ride home from there, which includes up and over Powderhown. I made it just before dark and called AAA in the morning. When I got down to the car, again after riding a bunch of singletrack and 10 miles on the road, my car door had been propped open with my shorts and there was no locksmith to be seen... Lot of trust out there.

Bob was kind enough to let me borrow one of his Kayaks. Here he is driving his "Jeep" leading me out to the best place to put in.

I basically just went up a couple rivers and lazed around. Looking forward to going back and going for a longer trip.

Makes me want to buy a Kayak and paddle some of the rivers around here... I think I'm going to look into it.

Last couple photos from Ironwood area- Black River Harbor and my favorite Gill-Net Tug.

Next stop is the Keweenaw

Duluth Mountain Biking at Lester Park, Bayfield area riding

2011-06-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

I rode some trails in Lester Park. Excellent, but somewhat short singletrack loop. I had never ridden there before and wanted to check it out after hearing some good things. I enjoyed it.

I was ready to crush a communist burrito. Burrito Union is an excellent after-ride destinatin.

I spent some time on the "coast" in the Bayfield area. Everyone has seen tons of epic pictures of Lake Superior (and I'm going to post a bunch of my own later) so I'll skip those and post a couple of this really cool ATV trail that I rode.

It wound up turning into basically singletrack and leading to an awesome cove- almost a Pirate cove.

A couple of those "epic" type shots

A couple city shots

It was a nice 4 or 5 hour ride from Washburn up to Red Cliff. There were a few sections where the main paved road was the only real option due to private land etc., and a bit too much traffic. Overall it was well worth it though.

Later that day I'd make it to Ironwood and Wolverine Village. More to come...

Jay Cooke State Park Backpacking

2011-06-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

Hightailed it out of the Crosby area and decided it was time for some rest. Roughly 90 miles straight down 210 I came to Jay Cooke State Park. For just $12 you can stay at one of their "hike-in" sites and I was all-in for that!

90 minutes of this...

I arrived at my private site. Pretty awesome!

Made dinner and read for a couple hours

and then slept from sunset until the sun was as high as the second picture... wow I was tired!

A couple other shots of the park-

Cuyuna Mountain Bike Festival and Race

2011-06-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Next stop on my vacation.

After hearing so much about the trails and seeing some videos I had a ton of expectations for the trails here. Sadly, I was disappointed. As fun as "flow trail" is when it's part of a greater entity (such as in copper harbor) when it is all flow trail it leaves something to be desired. I told a friend that it was like skiing at Beaver Creek; tons of fun but eventually it gets old having everything groomed. At the same time the not-groomed stuff is almost too hard (in that it ruins the "flow" when it does pop up). Both places have select very difficult areas that are deliberately not groomed etc., and in both cases it just seems "off" when you come to them. I guess I find that 10 miles of difficult trail where you have to ride very well to "make" the flow is actually more fun that 9 miles of "flow trail" plus 1 mile of difficult trail.

Of course such a trail may be just exactly what is needed to make the greatest number of riders happy. Maybe it will even grow on me (although I won't be likely to go out of my way to go there with, in order of distance from me, La Crosse, Levis, Duluth, Blue Mounds, Cable, Ironwood, Houghton, Copper Harbor and Marquette all having more fun trails that I've ridden).

The festival was also disorganized and questionably expensive. I hope my opinion of the trails wasn't tarnished by those issues, but trust my opinion... particularly, due to riding many of those trails in the last week since riding Cuyuna.

I was hoping to pre-ride the course the night before (pretty normal protocol) but it wasn't marked. That was OK as I had a very good time riding the trails and checking out the new area. The trails do have a ton of flow and a unique look to them...

I then went down and watched a fascinating slide-show presentation by Hans Rey and went for a night ride. I wish we had been given free-reign on the night ride, rather than being guided, but it was a pretty fun time! Great trails to ride at night too.

So far as the race... $55! $55 for an 18 mile race that isn't even "sanctioned" nor a part of any series is sort of insane. I can race a full length expert race against Brian Eppen for $35 with a free t-shirt down at Sugar Bottoms or get all the atmosphere, competition and perfect organization of a WORS race for $45. Here I got a "comp" length race for $55 and utter disorganization. I parked where the race flyer said the race was going to start and started my warm-up 50 minutes prior to the race time.

I overhead a conversation stating that I would need to get a timing chip... inquired with a race official and found out that the race start had been moved downtown and that I would have to go down there to get my chip. At check-in (when they gave me my number plate) no mention of chips had been made) Additionally, the race start had been changed to 12:30 instead of 12:00. I then asked the official if I could check out the course and scoped out the start, with so much singletrack I knew that getting into the singletrack early would be key. At that point in time (11:45) the course was entering singletrack after a 120 yard or so sprint, but when the race started it had been changed, and a sharp left turn into a climb had been added.

I rode down to the new start location, roughly 1.5 miles?, and asked an official for my timing chip. It was now 11:55 and I was told I was too late and that I'd have to get mine when the race "re-staged" at the other start. I was also informed that they had been making announcements "all morning"... of couse, those announcements were being made at a location that the race was not supposed to start within a mile of! I pictured myself being the only person having to step out of line to do that and, despite their saying I shouldn't, I rode back to the "real" start and begged for my chip. Good thing I did too- when we paraded up there and re-staged for the actual start I would not have had an opportunity to get my chip AT ALL.

In the end I got a decent start and had a good fast lap (working my way up solidly into the top 10) prior to cutting a tire. I stupidly tried to re-inflate tubless and wasted too much of my co2 and then couldn't get enough pressure in when I added a tube. I felt great about the effort I had made to that point and was disappointed, but not unhappy as this was obviously just a training situation for me. Another fellow had flatted in the exact same spot and we both worked our way down the the finish hoping to see how things shook out. We ran into a couple of the fast women going totally the wrong direction... We got the the finish and I chatted with some friends while waiting for the finish. Meanwhile, unknown to us, many of the lead racers were making wrong turns (likely due to disorganization?) and generally finished up totally scrambled. I later spoke to a guy who had been directed by a volunteer to make a wrong turn.

After the race I made a full lap of the rest of the trail system and had a pretty good time of it.

Also had a wonderful lakeside meal (regardless of any shortcomings, Cuyuna is a beautiful area!)

I know I should probably just be happy to donate $85 to mountain bike trails in MN and forget about the crap mentioned above. However, if they'd given me that option rather than charging me FOR SOMETHING not worth $85 I'd have been a lot happier. I hope the money goes towards improving the trails.

Owatonna Death Race

2011-06-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

There's the video. The Death Race is a free road race in Owatonna. Couldn't say no with it being so close to home (and with Al Farrow's constant reminders. Too bad I wasn't able to help him podium). The same guy had won it the last two years and I guess it was time for that to end.

Watch the start of the video and then from 9:00 on to see the fun stuff.

Pretty cool trophy...

Dirty Kanza 200 failed race recap

2011-06-06T06:02:00.000-07:00

Dirty Kanza beat me again.

This year it wasn't the crushing blow/near death experience of most failed riders (or myself last year) but instead it just slowly dawned on me that I wasn't going to be able to finish and I should quit before things got worse. I don't believe I lasted more than an hour or two in the mid-day sun. I became nauseous to the point that bumpy roads and/or any position on the bike other than totally vertical would mean another wave. This was disappointing- this time I knew my pace was appropriate, my equipment was good, I was drinking enough etc., I could ride the distance if things went right and things were just not going right. I suppose some acclimization to the heat might help, but I've failed so miserably that I don't know if that could be enough... unless maybe I move to Florida...

It was somewhat fortuitous that I quit when I did- Dad was also helping Mike Curtes and he truly needed help at the same checkpoint at which I had pulled the plug. If I had ridden a couple more hours down the road (which i felt I could have) and then had trouble it could have been disasterous. Seeing the way he looked and remembering last year, I know I made the right decision to stop when I did.

Highlights of the race-

Riding with a bunch of friends

The cow that panicked and ran in front of me, tried to reverse direction and fell as in a cartoon... (this could have been better if it had happened a bit further away)

beautiful scenery

awesome venue

the dead cow rotting 10' from the road

hanging out with my Dad

the road bike with the 30s was working (slight disadvantage some places vs. huge advantage other=good)

not doing anything really stupid or falling early in the race when it was a huge pack on loose gravel and I couldn't pick my lines/didn't have much margin for error

learning what tire pressure to run to avoid pinch flats with 700x30 marathon racers on 404s (needs 65+, no flats for 65 miles once I figured that out)

quitting before it all went to hell

In the end- averaged almost 16.6 mph while riding and left with the feeling that I was doomed from the start. If there is a next time I will find a way to know I'm prepared for the heat.

Congratulations to all the finishers.

Dirty Kanza 200 pre-race

2011-05-31T21:06:00.000-07:00

Mostly over my cold, been "resting" but still riding quite a bit the last 4 or 5 days. Not likely to ride at all from here on out other than my 60 minutes per day of commuting. The last two days I got to ride Red Wing and LaCrosse! Two awesome trails.

Have to get my laundry done and my kit sorted.

Need to ship all the junk I sold on ebay last week tomorrow... may be a 1.5-2 hour process. I made $84 on a seatpost, thanks cannondale!

Also, need to get some gas and mow the lawn. It will get unmanageable this weekend if I don't.

Other than that I just need to raise the stem back up on the road bike and remount the 700x30s. She's had quite the makeover since the Almanzo- new brake pads, new chain, new crankset/bottom bracket, new "axle bolt" for the derailleur jockey wheel etc. (most of which was called for prior to riding in that muck)

My Mamasita will be going up for sale. Will be sold with hope pro II/stans wheels, mostly xtr 970 drivetrain (with attack gripshift, noir triple, 990 cassette and chain), xtr brakes, ritchey wcs/carbon cockpit parts... I'm hoping for about $2k.

June tour plans, updates, dairyland dare vs. salsa 2-4 at afton?

2011-05-27T10:53:00.001-07:00

June "touring" trip

Plans have changed and solified further for this trip. I intend to rest, and well, after Dirty Kanza then race either the Woolly Mammoth on Saturday the 11th or Wausau on the 12th prior to heading up to Copper Harbor via Ironwood. I think I'll be able to make Copper Harbor by late Wednesday or early Thursday with no undue trouble, spend a day or two there and be back in Houghton for the Chain Drive on the 18th. That will leave me four days to collect myself and head home, which also sounds like a reasonable timeline. I'm not going to worry about making it all the way back here either- rather will focus on riding somewhere cool for those four days and, if necessary, getting a ride home across the relatively boring farmland that is the last 150 or 200 miles. If taking a ride home from Eau Claire gives me another day of good riding up north I see no reason not to take it.

This is a slightly shortened itinerary from my original plan. The changes are driven by my general lack of paid time off (and some things in the back of my mind that I hope to use it for) and my paranoia? about getting ready for my next set of goal type races. I know it will take time still, but I'm itching to get "fast" in XC. I felt my endurance schedule in the spring of last year somewhat prevented success in XC until late August. This year with more of an emaphasis on shorter rides and a couple of shorter races sprinkled in early I hope to avoid that. I think shortening this trip a bit fits with that plan. The Eau Claire WORS race in early July should be a good reference point barring other issues.

My 2nd option for this... Forget any of the riding in the "south" stuff. Race the Woolly, drive to Duluth or Ironwood and do the rest of the ride from there...

Again- if you'll be anywhere in that area from the 11th-22nd and want to hook up and ride... let me know! I'm just looking to hang out on my bike, camp and have fun.

In other news

We are finally making progress on our house. Walls painted, new flooring installed today. Couple more areas to be painted and then we are almost down to just the easy stuff (carpet, some new furniture, staining the deck).

I have decided not to keep my cx bike and road bike both built up all year. From now on I will have one set of high-end parts for both and will have the road bike built up March-late September, cx bike the rest of the time. I will ride my Trek commuter for gravel training in the summer and my classy Giant for road rides in the fall.

I picked up a open pro/powertap pro wheel that will find it's way onto my road bike after Dirty Kanza. I am not sure yet how I will use it (can't see myself planning too many intense workouts), but I think it will be of value.

I'm thinking about riding the 8 hour race at Afton this year. I can't take time off in order to travel to the Ore to Shore. It's between Afton and the Dairyland Dare at this point. Either one would be fun.

Hope you are having a good week

Health stuff (once again)- Royal caught up

2011-05-24T06:08:00.000-07:00

Total system failure over the weekend.

I felt pretty good after the Royal and pushed things way too hard- rest weeks cannot consist of staying out late drinking and/or riding.

By Friday I decided I felt like I wasn't quite recovered yet and would skip the Freewheel Frolic on Saturday. Instead I would ride with Trevor and Karlene up to the WORS race in Rhinelander, camp and race Sunday.

Put all thoughts of "sick" out of my mind (what choice did I have... I was already in Rhinelander) until about midway through the 2nd lap when it hit me that I had a pounding headache, some dizzyness and generally felt much worse than expected. I also only had access to about 3 gears on the rear after bending my hanger. I shut it down and decided to live to fight another day. Good thing too, I've felt pretty crappy the last two days. Even having trouble sleeping due to all the nasal drainage etc..

I should have known to rest more/better. I also should have known to start doing nasal flushes right from the start. For whatever reason they work wonders for me (finally started last night and already feel a whole lot better)! I can breath through both nostrils now and have banished the dizzy feeling. Really grateful that I'm feeling a bit better, a protracted illness right now would be a disaster. Almost pushed the beach cruiser to it's limits on the way down here to work.

Giant 980c commuter- follow up to Look 585 Review

2011-05-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

New road bike/commuter. Absolutely loving it! Much better ride quality and handling than I'd expected. Picked it up for less than $200 and then sold a couple campagnolo and dura-ace parts off of it to get the cost down to about $0. Still has an awesome Suntour crankset, Cinelli stem/bars etc. etc.. Love the lugged carbon technology, love the look. Impressed with the quality of the shifting with friction down-tube shifters/10 speed--- with the 10 speed shifting is extremely smooth and easy with very minimal trimming needed.

There is the Look 585 sitting in my garage the night before the Almanzo.

I've now ridden it a few thousand miles in all sorts of conditions and events. All the way from the Almanzo in the mud to road races. It's the most comfortable bike I've ridden and at the same time it transfers the most power to the ground of any bike I've ridden. Remember back to when I was going to get that custom gravel bike and I wanted something light and fast with "road type" geometry... well, I found it. Don't know what else to say- buy/ride something similar if you get a chance.