Wisconsin Weekend part 2

Trevor and I got back to my house around 10:15 Thursday night and I threw my clothes/gear into the cooper for the rest of the weekend. I wanted to be able to leave asap after work. It was a struggle, but I managed to get the Mamasita, 585 and all the rest of my gear INSIDE the car. It was worth the effor though as I was able to obtain 29-30 mpg despite driving as fast as I could to Barneveld. Took the "southern route" this time down through Decorah, Prairie du chien etc. and was rewarded with some nice terrain and beautiful views until the sun went down just past Prairie.

Upon arrival at Scott's place (thanks for the hospitality- really nice to have a bed and a hot shower! Felt just like home, other than your dog wanting to kill me. I'm grateful) the plan was to run out for some food and, maybe, a beer or two. Scott recommended the Hooterville Inn, located just down the road in Blue Mounds. Wow! Great food, great beer and even great company (turns out the organizers were having their post set-up/pre-race meeting there as well. Friday night fish fry and a beer was followed by a perfect mushroom swiss burger and 3? more beers. Good times. Maybe we need to do more exploring, but it just doesn't seem that there are many little places like that on this side of the River. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the Hooterville Inn has better food and beer than any place in Rochester, that's for sure! It was nice to catch up with Scott and talk to the rest of the crew as well. I also found out that I wouldn't have to pay separately for the SS State Championship race and the 3 hr- mega bonus, and seemed somewhat fair given the circumstances (little did I know just what those circumstances would be at that point).

Saturday am dawned cold, wet, and cloudy with weather reports suggesting it would only get worse. There was some talk of delaying the race, but in the end they just delayed the 12 hr race 2 hrs and our race 15 minutes. Small, but strong field present for the SS race. We agreed to ride 3 laps. I had some trouble early with a stick I ran over (almost 20 minute delay), but pressed on in good spirits. Could tell then that the day was going to be all about attrition and survival. There aren't too many places to ride like Blue Mounds- as much climbing as Afton per same length lap, more rocks than all of MN south of Duluth and all of them sharp. On a nice dry summer day it's amazingly challenging and even more rewarding to ride. However, on a wet day in a race it's closer to hell. Add in the SS factor and it is the perfect venue.

I was in third after my dismal first lap. Pushed hard the 2nd and gained very little ground on the leader. It was apparent that this day was to be a personal challenge much more so than a "race" against the others. I had said I was going to ride the SS race and the 3 hr and I would do so. By the middle of the third lap I'd already ridden well over 3 hrs in a race that I had expected to only take around 2... The rocks, hills and mud had taken their toll, as had the 38x20 gearing. I also had only taken in nutrition for a 2 hr race prior to the race start. The plan had been to finish the 1st race then feed right away in order to recover for the 3 hr. It was starting to look like I'd have no gap at all between the races. I knew I had to stop and consume what I could so I stopped at the water stop and ate everything I had on me and 3 full bottles of HEED. I was worried that I might be passed, but figured I'd be able to jump back on my bike and kick it in to the finish if need be, but the need didn't arise.

I got back on the bike and finished the race in just under 3:45? total time. I was truly proud to finish in one piece. What a course and what a challenge. Was proud to accept the handmade wooden medal for 3rd. Any disappointment in the 3rd place finish was easily brushed away by the accomplishment of finishing despite some issues and the prospects of the 3 hr race to come.

Late to the start, running, crap! Was on the toilet when the count-down to the start began. It started and guys were running! Ouch! Tried hard to push and catch up. Really wishing for gears, legs were TIRED at this point and I needed to spin but couldn't. Did work my way within touch of the lead then went down hard. Repeated that process a couple times. The last resulted in a charly horse in my left thigh and left me riding slowly and eventually walking. I fell WAY back. Pushed on for a while as such then decided to regroup a minute, stretch and then try to give it a real go one more time. Results were positive, but after that lap I decided to call it quits. Was a bit embarassed to not finish more of the 3 hr- but in the end I'd ridden more than I'd expected to for the whole day and I knew it was time to get some food. If I'd had a better grasp on how long the SS race was going to be I'm sure I could have continued longer- heck, I know I could ride 12 hrs, right? (although surely not on shitty nutrition and in 38x20). Plus, I had another race to recover for and a lot more riding to go.

Pulled into the pit for the final time and relaxed. Thankfully, the organizers shared some of the Subway they had for volunteers and there was plenty of free beer. Soon I was feeling like myself and enjoying the good company. It's great how cool everyone is at the WEMS races. Total aside- but earlier in the year I volunteered to help out at a MMBS series race. Worked with a few people for 5 or 6 hrs... then two weeks later was treated like crap by the same people when I asked for a simple favor. Not something that would ever happen at Blue Mounds and that's enough about that.

here are some images- Thanks to Frank Hassler





















I rode the 4 or 5 miles down to Scott's house and spent the rest of the night with my legs elevated while watching college football (and what a night for that too).

Sunday morning came fast! Once again it was raining, but I layered on the clothing and prepped the road bike. My left thigh was extremely stiff, but I know it would work itself out as I warmed up. We were supposed to park at the top of the Mound and register (We'd be starting in the city), but I figured I was close enough that I may as well ride there. That thing is seriously tall and steep! Plus I had gone up the easy way and it was going to be a LOT harder in the TT. Got registered and got back to the bottom of the mound to warm-up. Sadly, the weather turned some people away. I think they wound up with about 50 riders.

My warm-up was horrible, I wanted to pull the plug. I could remember every dagger-like rock in every uphill rock garden from the day before, every pedal stroke, particularly my fall onto my thigh. The $35 I'd dropped for the opportunity to ride kept me in it. My time came and I went. kept my head down for the first 3 or 4 minutes and held the most aero position I could and the biggest gears I could over the little rises and down the back sides. I passed 3 or 4 riders by the first turn, continued on and got 2 more before the next. Next was the HILL, close to 1k feet in a couple miles, pushed hard. Felt my lack of strength so shifted to trying to spin. Found myself in my easiest gear, but still pushing a good cadence. Passed a few more people. Near the top (too near, in fact) I lost my focus and concentration and slacked for a minute or two. If only I'd known how close I was I could have pushed it harder. Hard to look back on that section positively- the weight of all the riding caught up to me MENTALLY. I began to see things I recognized and could smell the finish. Was able to push hard the last thousand hards or so and really fly up the last steep bit for a time under 30 minutes. This was good enough for a decent finish (I guess), only 3.5 minutes behind the fastest time. This was a hard race, like pulling a Burly with a fat kid in it, but I was happy.


Back to the bed with the legs up for more football...

Met Scott and we caravanned our way to Plover to Scotch's beautiful house, thanks for the hospitality! The three of us went for a relatively short ride on bike paths plus some real fun rogue singletrack. I STRUGGLED to keep up on the paths with my SS gearing and my legs felt totally shot at that point. Tried not to complain, but I can admit that Scotch was far stronger than I.

Upon our return Scotch's wife had a great dinner ready to go. We ate, talked and watched football until it became apparent that the Giants had ZERO chance of being competitive. Then we jumped in the hot tub naked... well, some of us did anyways, listened to some good tunes (pretty cool how so much music is so cross-generational) and drank some good beers (other than the one I wound up with that was mixed with pomegranate juice). In the end I had to spend less time in the hot tub and drink less than those guys, or else I knew I'd be useless Monday. I'm blaming that on the extensive riding. I was a bit worried about the effects the heat would have on my sore leg too.

Monday AM a few more of the CORP guys drove up and we all met at the Standing Rocks trailhead. It was a good group of riders and a surprisingly fun, flowy trail. Would be a great site for a WORS race too... lots of flowy singletrack, a few really nice techy spots and with tons of double track available for passing sections. Hope it gets added.

Monday PM was a "lap" (meaning 2+ hrs of wandering around) at 9 mile. Interestingly, it seemed more technical not in the race. I think I was so focused on going fast in the 24 hr race that I didn't notice just how many rocks there were. Tons of fun riding there. Also, really felt myself become more comfortable with the Ss riding. By the end of the day at 9 mile I felt more confident on my bike that I can remember. Hopefully that bodes well for the future.

a few pictures and a video available here-

http://www.motoscotch.blogspot.com/

I think everyone had a great time Monday! I look forward to riding with those guys again sometime soon. Hopefully, another ride this fall, but the BALLS ride isn't all that far away anymore either. Spent a lot of time on the drive ruminating on how great Wisconsin is. The people, terrain, towns and recreational activities are all excellent. I'd want to move there if it weren't for the damn Packers. I think a lot of those feelings come down to the hospitality of the people, thanks again guys! The weekend couldn't have been better.

Returned home around 8 and collapsed. Work at 6:30 am Tuesday! Local gravel/beer/whiskey ride Tuesday night. No rest for the wicked.

Big Wisconsin Week Part 1

Epic is incredibly overused these days. So much so that it's even become cliche to make fun of the whole "EPIC" thing. Regardless, my plan for last week was to be epic. Tons of extra hrs at work, Tuesday night test ride on the Mamasita at Eastwood, Wednesday night group ride (turned into a 90 minute 34 mile hammerfest with Bob and I pulling 80% of the time due to impending thunderstorms), WTR Thursday race, 10 hrs of work and packing and driving to Madison for the weekend Friday, Wisconsin SS championships Saturday AM followed by the 3 hr WEMS race in the evening, L'Alpe Bleu Huez road TT/hill climb Sunday AM and rogue Steven's Point trails plus hot tubbing in the evening, then both Standing Rocks and 9 Mile Monday plus the return 3.5 hr drive.


River Falls Thursday nights are done for the year. Trevor and I went over for the last one with the single speeds. I wanted to give my setup one legit test prior to trying to race it this weekend. Turns out Heath W. also made the trip (and was riding Ss too), the competition was going to be fierce. I think roughly 20 other riders showed up too. Heath took off pretty hot at the start and it took some work to hang on through the first section. The course had seen about an inch of rain the night before and many of the corners were treacherous. I noted that I would have been better off on my Mountain Kings. We came to the Jeep Trail climb and I had to let Heath go. I don't know what he was geared at, but it was much stronger than my 38x20, I doubt he had much of a choice other than to hammer the climb. At that point Trevor had worked his way through some lap traffic and was up with me. We caught back up to Heath early into the single track and the 3 of us would, more or less, ride together for about a lap. At one point I did fall pretty hard in a corner and was forced to work alone for a bit to catch back on. Then Heath went down and Trevor attacked. From there it was everyone for themselves. Heath and I had a bit of a battle, but I think I was mostly just in his way and he went by with about a lap to go. I considered really pushing hard to catch up and started to crank up the intensity but that almost instantly resulted in the hardest mtb fall I've taken this year... I don't even really know what happened, but I was over the bars and flying near horizontally at 10 or 12 mph then landing on hands and knees in a stinking puddle of mud with a rock hard bottom. Shook it off and rode a bit easier the rest of the way in. I was 4 minutes behind Trevor and 2? behind Heath.

It was a great season of races over there. KORC has things right- can't beat the friendly competitive environment, excellent trails and fun-for-all format. Look forward to trying to close some of that gap in the "off" season and certainly look forward to more of these races next year. Thanks KORC! I'll be renewing my membership.




o, btw- check this out

Olson Family Vacation (Five-0 part 2)

Yeah, I'm not an Olson.

Was grateful to ride along with Trevor and Karlene for the Dakota Five-0. Thanks to them I was able to save some gas $, a lot of potential time spent behind the wheel and have some great company for the ride. Trevor's brother, his brother's wife and Trevor's parent's would all be meeting us out there. I was going to be a sort of 7th wheel. Little did I know that would mean I'd wind up with such great company, race support and virtually all my meals fresh cooked for me. THANKS!

Highlights-

Karlene got super excited about the giant Green Giant before we even really got going

Trevor drove the whole way there while I slept

We ate Mongolian Grill Friday night

I never had to pay for camping because I just slept in the open under the easy-up

Everybody got out and pre-rode together from the 4th aid station (some amazing views and good times at group ride pace)

On Monday Trevor got horrible gas (to the point of clearing out large area, OUTDOORS)

My gas was about as bad

We ate all the Prime Rib we could at a Casino buffet in Deadwood for Trevor's birthday (certainly not related to the gas)

Trevor's birthday presents- Canada themed!

The whole crew climbed Mt. Theodore Roosevelt despite 40 degree temperatures, 40 mph winds and hail

We drove to the top of the ski area which was just about as high as Mt. Theodore Roosevelt

We camped in a corral Monday night (so where are the tent sites? o, there aren't any... but you guys can have the WHOLE corral)

The corral was basically a part of this- http://www.1880town.com/1880town.html

We got all excited to go on a "virtual, guided tour of the homestake mine" but then got sniped by about 50 AARP members who had called ahead

Trevor's Mom got pretty worried about a LOT of things

We never got close to running out of good beer

http://www.senorwiener.com/ (even if we didn't make it there)

Trevor drove the whole way back while I slept



I'm very grateful that I was allowed to tag along.

It was also nice to see a lot of other rider friends who were out there. Had a great time at the after race parties. Epic bike pile, interesting peanut fight, too many PBRs (what kind of a bar sells beer by the case, and for $1 a beer).









sorry for the incredible lack of images from all the other stuff

Can't wait to go back next year

failed my century goal

Ever since the Trans-Wisconsin I've been focusing on shorter rides. 28-35 mile XC mountain bike races in particular. At times it's felt like a bit of a scramble or a game of "catch-up". I knew going into the year that it would be a tough year when it came to those races (with my schedule, plans to move up to cat1 and dislike of finishing far behind). Throw in the issues I've had with mechanicals recently (right when I started to feel confident and strong enough to have some good races too) and things start looking really bleak.

However, that's not at all how I'm feeling! The Thursday night races at River Falls and the road group rides have been an excellent opportunity to gauge my progress, and it seems I'm still seeing solid improvements every couple of weeks. One big thing that could really help would be finding a way to spend more time on my mountain bike. I've been riding a lot with Trevor and certainly he can get a bit more out of his effort due to better technical skills. This too has been improving, but I still find a way to take 2 or 3 falls each Thursday night while he rides cleanly. When you add that to the fact that he's 1-2 minutes "stronger" per lap I really get to push my limits to try to keep up. Thanks Trevor for making it to so many of the races. Perhaps next year we can get the trail cleared a bit better out at Stagecoach and I will make it a point to put in one more day per week of XC specific training (both technical and training for the kind of strength needed for accerating over small hills and out of corners).

I've gained 10 lbs since spring!!! I suppose that really goes along with the last bit there- but all these shorter rides and the repeated "strength" needed to ride the mountain bike and sprint on the road has led to some muscle gains. I think I've also gained a bit of fat, as I've really eaten a lot recently. My theory is that I need to be certain I get enough fuel in my body in order to avoid getting sick when doing high intensity work.

My plan all along was to focus on shorter and shorter races throughout the year- However, I've had so much fun with them this year (even without having a single "good" finish, well- YET) that I'm making plans for next year to continue more in that direction. I've made plans to attend and/or entered PTO requests for time at or around the following races-

TRIPLE D
CIRREM
RAGNAROK
ALMANZO
CHEQ 100 (making the assumption it's the "same" weekend as last year, and happens)
DK200

then shifting gears and hitting MMBS and WORS throughout the summer plus (if possible)-

CHAIN DRIVE
ORE TO SHORE
DAKOTA FIVE-0
CHEQ 40

I can tell you right now that I'd love to have my best races at Almanzo/Cheq100 and then the FIVE-O/CHEQ40


One casualty of this focus shift has been my goal of riding a metric and a full century on dirt or gravel each month of the year. I didn't do it in AUGUST of all months. You'd think that would be the easiest month of the year, eh? I thought about fitting a ride or two in, but it just wasn't in the cards. I did get out for a couple of longish road rides though, but they just aren't the same. The longest gravel ride I've been on in the last 6 weeks was about 12 miles...

The Heck of the North is fast approaching. Interesting to see how that goes for me with the current combination of training etc.. I vow to be aggressive. I don't know how well I will feel 60 or 70 miles into it, but I know that with my choice of equipment and my skill set that I'd like to go out fast and limp in (somewhat like how I rode the Almanzo). I'll be very pleased with a solid overall placing and at least feeling of being competitive with the other SS guys. The course sets itself up well for riding SS (or at least it did last year), but to do exceptionally well on an Ss will require an emphasis on consistend speed on the flatter areas with the knowledge that the final climb will be a slog and a strong geared rider is likely to walk away from you. Conversely, gearing for the final climb would mean putting oneself out of contention from the start. Currently on my bike is a 46/18 gear combo.

Wish me luck at the WI SS State Championships this weekend- If the weather cooperates I'll be riding that race at 10 am tomorrow, the 3 hr "enduro" from 3-6 and then the road time trial from Blue Mounds to Barneveld and on up to the top of the "Mound" Sunday am (around 1k feel of climbing in the last 3 miles there!). After that I will be heading to Steven's Point and relaxing on the local trails there and in Wausau plus partying with some of the capital off-road crew.

sugar bottoms

The Sugar Bottom Scramble was a fun race on an excellent course that ended in disappointment. Traveled to Iowa City Saturday with my parents with plenty of time to pre-ride the course. Very impressive trails there! The first half was very fast singletrack with a few tight twists and the second half was much more technical and up and down. In a lot of ways the mix of terrain reminded me of the Maplelag course I had done well on last year (and which I would be skipping this year in order to ride the Dakota five-0).

It was only $30 entry for the Cat1 race, even with a t-shirt, and the atmosphere was great. I could tell it was going to be an enjoyable race. Got a reasonable start and was able to stay with the lead group of 5 or 6 for the first half of lap 1. When we hit the more technical side the group split up, but I hung in there and did my own thing. Supposedly I was around 5 minutes behind by the end of the lap, but had also opened almost that much of a lead on the portion of the field that was behind me. Near the end of lap 1 I fell and flatted my front tire. I was able to quickly inflate the tire with c02 and continue. I passed my Dad and got a water hand-up (but didn't ask him to get more more c02...). In the middle of lap 2 I felt the tire go flat again and went to re-inflate with the 2nd c02 canister I carried, it did nothing. Had I brought a spend cartridge? Lame.


Spent some time thinking about how much trouble I've had with my tubeless setup this year and decided it was a combination of 2 things that were the likely cause- 1. too wide of a front tire, 2.4 on a 22mm rim 2. not running enough stans in order to try to save weight. My solution would be to buy a new rear tire and move the rear 2.25 racing ralph to the front. The Dakota five-0 was coming up fast and I wanted to give myself every chance to ride well. After some research I went with a 2.1 WTB NanoRaptor.

The Nano turned out to be a total failure- after 25-30 miles of use (and right in the middle of the Dakota five-0) the bead "cracked" or "broke" within the tire, the tire stretched such that the bead wouldn't hold and the whole thing became impossible to run even with a tube.

I'm now back to the 2.4/2.25 Racing Ralph combination, but currently with tubes. I've also taken all the geared bits off the Mamasita. She is now set up with 38x20 gearing and a DMR chain tensioner. I'm looking forward to racing a couple of SS races the next two weekends. Hoping to get out and get used to the SS thing a bit more sometime soon- in fact, hopefully about as soon as I get out of work.

I will do more of a write-up of the Dakota Five-0 a bit later and with more of an emphasis on how much fun it was to hang out with everyone. I'd rather not say too much more about the race- it was frustrating and it's definitely best that I just move on. The road bike has really helped me to stay sane with some of the bad luck (or bad mechanic work) that has plagued me recently. On the road I can feel myself getting stronger and know that strength will eventually transfer to a mountain bike race or two. Without that feeling this last month or so would have been mightily frustrating.

Resting

Been resting a lot (other than the debacle that ensued when I tried to race Saturday). Realistically last night's TT was my first ride since the River Falls race last week.

We rode the same 18.9 mile course, but the conditions were a bit more difficult with a nasty wind that always seemed to be hurting. There also weren't quite so many riders out. I put in a good effort, but couldn't quite bring myself to really lay it out there. I kept asking myself what I was saving my energy for? In the end though I was only about 90 seconds slower than last week AND I didn't kill myself to do it. My legs feel stronger already this morning, hopefully that can be a good kick-start back into activity.

After the TT I quickly said my thanks and good byes to the "tri folks" and headed downtown to Dooley's for a "cruiser ride". The plan was to get some food and some beers and hit a few of the local bars. It was great to see everyone and fun to ride around. As per the usual (on group rides anyways) I flatted- I don't think the thin rubber rim strip is enough to protect the tube from the 140 spokes per wheel on that beast... bring on the gorilla tape! The highlights of this would definitely be the riding and Chris Skogen wearing his Almanzo kit in the Northstar Bar during Tuesday Poker Night. Quite the crowd.

Probably need to rest

Been having so much fun with the new road bike that I've not even noticed that I've ridden hard daily for almost a full week!

60-75 mile rides last Saturday, Sunday and Monday complete with 20+ mph paces and sprints!

an 18.9 mile road TT on a pretty hilly/tough course Tuesday which I completed with a 23.6 average (48 minutes) and was able to beat all but one of the 8 guys who showed up with full-on TT setups as well as all others in the non-aero classes. Hard to use this ride as any sort of a reference because I don't know where I stood vs. any of the other riders at any time in the past, but this was a lot of fun and seemed to point toward my fitness going in the right direction.

And lastly a Wednesday night "recovery" ride that wound up being just over 90 minutes at a decent pace as well.



I've been feeling very strong and have been happy with the way my fitness for "short" events seems to be coming around, but I knew that the Thursday night race would be tough this week!

Regardless, Trevor and I loaded up and headed to River Falls. The Buck Hill Thursday night series is done for the year and the border battle has come and gone. This means that some of the racers who normally do Buck Hill are now free to come over to WTR and that some people are likely to stop showing up because they can no longer use it as preparation for the border battle. Functionally that combination led to a small, but very strong field featuring Barry Tungseth, Chris Fisher, Matt Muraski and (of course) Trevor as well as a few others.

Apparently no one felt a whole lot more inclined to race hard early on than I did because I was allowed to take an early lead and hold it for most of a lap (Trevor and I traded off a bit just to ease the load). However, I touched a tree on the steep climb during the 2nd lap and had to put my foot down. I expected to be able to jump on right after those four passed, waited for Chris to go by and jumped on my bike... but didn't go anywhere. Somehow my chain had dropped. I tried to get organized and back on, but I'd let a gap form that I was never able to close again. The rest of the night I went back and forth between pushing too hard to try to catch back up and then being forced to rest. In the end I wound up about 2.5 minutes behind. All in all, not a bad result for me but not something great either. Who knows how tired those guys were going in too. Thursdays could be a day when someone has nothing in the tank or when they are well rested and ready to fly at race pace and you just never know.

We had a good conversation and a few good beers afterwards. Somewhat sadly the conversation quickly shifted toward cx season and then onto snow sports... I guess winter is coming.

two rides today

am- 65 mile road ride. Most of the "usuals" showed up. Tons of wind made for a challenge. Felt like I got a great workout in. Highlights- riding back downwind at 32-35 mph, winning both contested sprints (again was able to jump by Dan due to lucky positioning/timing), realizing once again how awesome it is to have the new bike.

vs.

pm- Stagecoach mtb- rode the rigid SS marin with Joe and Neil etc.. Spent an hr sitting at the teepee, two hrs clearing trail and maybe 90 minutes actually riding. Highlights- falling on my face on the sidehill, falling on my face after bunnyhopping a downed tree at least 40" in diameter and riding a bit of a nose-wheelie, watching Neil fall over into the mud in the stream crossing and then riding through it/splashing him (had to go the "wrong" way and ride through a lot of water/mud in order to do it). The dogs had an awesome time too.

I'm pretty excited for some heck of the night nonsencx!

Look 585

2008 Look 585 frame/fork
Mavic ksyrium es w. specialized roubaix tires

lots of random parts, but they seem to work together just fine-

Ultegra shifters
Ultegra front derailleur
Ultegra cassette
dura-ace chain
xtr rear derailleur
sram force crankset

I guess in a lot of respects the drivetrain is similar to my mountain bike- sram carbon crankset and shimano otherwise

ritchey wcs stem
fetish cycles carbon bars (super shaped with flat tops and short "modern" drops)
fetish cycles carbon seatpost
selle italia slr saddle
bontrager gel tape
crank brothers quattro sl pedals



Been sick the last few days- ended up resting entirely since last Thursday's WTR race. Woke up this morning feeling well enough that I knew I'd be able to go on the group ride today if I took it a bit easy and be able to race WTR tomorrow. Figured I wasn't necessarily 100%, but that is was definitely time to get out on the new bike.

Tonight's group ride was about a 45 mile loop. The bike felt good from the beginning- the lack of weight was noticeable on even the slightest hill and it felt extremely responsive to any input both handling and acceleration (and without any harshness in the ride quality). I eased into things for the first 30 miles or so and worked my turns at the front, tried to get used to the handling and fit of the new bike etc.. There was going to be a town line sprint at mile 30 though and in the back of my mind I was hoping it would be contested (they aren't always contested due to individuals position in the paceline and car traffic etc.). I was sitting in the second row and the strongest guys on the ride (and two of the stronger sprinters around down here anyways) were somewhere behind me. Sure enough Dan flew by on the left with Trevor right on his tail. I had to let them pass for safety reasons (had to be sure there wasn't someone else trying to follow), but knew that I wanted to test the new bike. Eased out of the paceling, double tapped the shifter and was rewarded with instant acceleration. Closed the gap to them with about 200 yards left to go to the sign and fell into the draft a bit. A space opened up between them, I stood up, I literally lifted the front wheel and shot through the gap and far enough ahead that neither were on my wheel then pushed hard to take the sign easily. Obviously, I got into a good position for this sprint and in no way does it mean I can actually outsprint either Dan or Trevor on fair ground, but wow did it ever feel good. The only experience I've had that was similar to the feeling was the first time I was in a car with a big turbo or nitrous. What a difference having the right tool for the job makes! It's that fast and it's more comfortable too, absolutely amazing.

been a while- now I'm tired out and having nothing better to do but to catch ya'll up

Am continuing with the day shift work thing through the end of October! This has been working out well and has allowed me to continue to hit some group road rides and the White Tail Ridge Thursday night rides.

Group rides have been fun. Particularly two Sundays ago when we made a loop all the way to the Mississippi and back at about 20.5 mph (117 miles for me that day). I've been riding my Kona as of yet with 52x18 gearing- and as well as that's been going I've also decided that I would prefer a real road bike and have been pursuing that.

The White Tail Ridge races have been awesome and, I'm sure, very beneficial to my xc style race fitness. I've been finishing 2nd or 3rd the last few weeks with relatively strong fields. Trevor has come over the last two weeks with me and he has taken the win. I've been able to take early leads (due to the jeep climb) and ride the singletrack at a fast enough pace to hold them for about the first two laps (of 3), but have run out of juice or had technical mistakes before the end. I say it every time I mention WTR, but what an awesome place to race!

My friend, and Almanzo organizer, Chris recently rode to Northern Minnesota. I joined him for day one. We wound our way down beautiful gravel roads through Douglas, Pine Island, Zumbrota, Welch, Hastings, Afton and on into Stillwater. I snapped some pictures, but haven't uploaded them yet. Now that we have a new computer I should be able to stay on top of that a bit more. We had a snack at the Stillwater Bikery and then I parted ways, crossed the River and road pavement down to Hudson and finally back to Hastings (thanks for giving me a ride home from there Dad!). In the end this was a 145 or so mile ride on a day with temperatures well into the upper 90s, and on a day when I had to work the next morning! This wound up being my last ride on the Vaya as I have since sold it. More on my gravel grinding plans later.

I also participated in the Wausau 24 on a four-man team with David, Tim and Frank. It was a great time! A wonderful course and a good training opportunity for me. I got to ride a few laps "all-out" and experience the atmosphere of riding through the middle of the night. In the end I made 7 laps with 3 of them being TT style, 3 of them consecutively from 1-4am, and the other just being plain slow in the late afternoon. In the end though that weekend was mostly about hanging out with friends, talking about and wrenching on bikes and having a few beers... all things we did a ton of. It was also nice to see a lot of friends I've made on various other rides out there in various capacities.

I was really looking forward to the White Tail Ridge "Border Battle" this weekend, but now I have a bit of a cold and am feeling a little run-down. It looks like I'll be taking a few days off now.

As I look forward from here I'm planning to pick one 8 or 12 hr mtb race later in the month, continue to hit the White Tail Ridge races and prep to do my best up in Duluth and also at St. Cloud in MN series races. I'm also currently planning on the Maplelag weekend, but have allowed thoughts of the Dakota 5-0 to enter in as well. We will see how I feel. I'm definitely looking forward to the Heck of the North and Night Nonsense as well...

So far as that gravel stuff goes (and with no Vaya as mentioned above) I've decided to go back to the Kona exclusively. I will be riding it single speed for the remaining gravel races and for the cx season. The decision to sell the Vaya came down to my deciding that I just didn't need it... What ride do I ever go on that I wouldn't go on if I didn't have it? I'm plenty comfortable on the Kona for long rides and for something like the trans-wisconsin in the future (next year???) I'm thinking I'd prefer to ride my Mamasita with some custom bags. Selling it off will also allow me to have a road bike. Should have pictures soon.

another good weekend

Had fun going out Friday, tried to rest Saturday, then Elk River race Sunday. I'm not even going to list all the things that went wrong on Sunday, but in the end I was a reasonably late dnf and had a great time!

Looking forward to a fun week of group rides, River Falls Thursday and maybe a couple long gravel rides this weekend... then it's a full-on rest week heading into the Wausau 24 team competition.

wtr take II

Got out on a brutal, hard group ride Monday (roughly equivalent effort to the WORS race). My legs were feeling pretty shot and the Vaya with it's gears, 34/50 up front and 11-23 rear currently, looked a lot more appealing than the Kona. I was thinking I was leaving for a simple 40 mileish 20 mph "cruise" and that I'd be able to "sit on" for much of it if I needed to. Sadly, the mix of riders who showed up didn't quite mesh with that idea. We ended up riding 23 or 24 mph average for long, long stretches and it was cruel enough that the group size dwindled as someone popped seemingly every hill. Obviously, I had no business being out there on the Vaya with it's upright seating position and 32c tires and it took literally everything I had to ride the 65 miles or so.

That ride, and on top of the Sunday race, left me spending Tuesday AND Wednesday mostly resting other than 1 commute and a bit of mountain biking at Eastwood.

Tonight I decided to once again make the trip to River Falls for the Thursday race. Again, had an awesome time. Felt great riding too! Maybe it's my imagination, but I thought I felt much stronger than I did last week or in Eau Claire. Got a strong start, took the lead and held it for lap 1 AND avoided any crappy feeling/going out too fast crap. Larry S. was right behind me though and I knew he would likely make a move that I wouldn't be able to respond to... the best I could do was to keep my pace "in check" enough that I wasn't too winded to at least try when he did make that move. However, about 3 minutes into lap 2 I fell and had to let him and another rider by and then screw around a bit in order to get things sorted out and I never saw him again! I did, however, catch the other rider in the middle of Lap 2 after hammering the field section out to about 32 mph. Wound up finishing about a minute behind Larry and a minute? ahead of 3rd. More important that any of that I just felt normal and strong throughout the entire ride! Looking forward to more xc rides and races for sure!

On the fence with respect to my weekend plans.

rode the bmx to work...

going to suck heading back up the hill!

Going to make it to the group ride tonight, should be a great day overall!

playing catch up

I just keep falling further and further behind with the blogging. Our laptop is broken and things have been terribly hectic.

I've been commuting to work every day on the SS Jake the Snake. It's notable (that I've noticed) how beautiful the sunrise is over the city.

PIcked up a BMX bike that I may be commuting on some in the near future... $30 on craigslist for a Bontrager B1 in pretty excellent condition! Expect pictures if I ever get organized to post any of anything. I'm sort of excited about it, haven't had one since mine got stolen in college and in reality have never spent much time on them at all (as an aside, I sure wish I had! probably would have made this whole mountain bike thing a little easier to pick up).




Wound up not racing in Red Wing, but I did hit up a couple road group rides, the Eastwood TT, the WTR (River Falls) Thursday race and the Eau Claire WORS race this week.

Road group rides were challenging on the SS (52x19) but doable. Seems like a good way to avoid spending the big bucks on another bike while also getting a bit of an extra workout. I have been able to really ride well between about 14 and 26 mph with that gearing and can push it up hills that require slowing to even 8 or 9 while also hitting speeds around 30-32 when necessary. It gets pretty choppy pedaling wise over 28 though. Doing these rides SS seems like excellent training for XC races to me and I hope to continue to do them (at least while working days).

Eastwood TT turned into a battle between me and Mr. Kurke... Rather, I should probably say it turned into a parade lap for Mr. Kurke. I got a good workout in though, the 34 minute TT lap plus about another 90 minutes of riding, and it is always fun to see how you stack up against strong riders. I was a bit disappointed in the 34:xx time that I put down, but was less than 90 seconds behind. I'm chalking the slow time up to the very hot and humid weather. Hopefully we will have a better turnout this week, although the 5 or 6 racers we had last week would be pretty good by last years standards.

WTR Thursday- Finally something that felt like my first XC race of the year (it was unless you count Elk River on snow...)! Pre-rode the first 12 minutes of the course. Got off to a great start behind only Josh and where I was able to pedal efficiently while still keeping up etc.. Hit the first climb and felt like I had to "go". Got to the top in first, but then burned way too much energy trying to stay there. Would have been better served to just follow him or someone else for a while. Fell back to 5th or 6th and spent last half of lap 1 and much of lap 2 regrouping. Lap 3 was by far the fastest of my 3 and I managed to claw my way back to 3rd about 45 seconds behind Josh and 90 seconds behind 1st. Felt good about the result and felt even better about racing! It was so much fun just riding the course "all-out" and challenging myself. Also, can't say enough about what a fun venue WTR is for a race. Great mix of singletrack, places to pass, obstacles, some climbing and awesome people. For what it's worth, I joined the KORC club for good measure.

WORS- 1st Elite class race (and obviously my first "real" XC race of the year). Going into it I was hoping/expecting to finish within 20 minutes of the lead and to average over 12 mph. Started too fast or messed up my pre-race meals and got a bit sick to my stomache plus a head ache at the beginning of lap 2. Lost my "edge" for a while and rode like an idiot. Also flatted. Roughly 15 people passed me during lap 2, and I would later find out that I was sitting in dead last of the people who would finish (there were a few DNFs as well who were behind me). Lap 3 things improved some, fought with losing my focus though... It became a struggle to ride hard and push the pace while riding alone. Tried to keep my head up. Near the end of lap 3 I was getting the "I want to quits" pretty bad, didn't do it. Lap 4 started with a fresh water bottle hand-up and a a bit of resolve. I knew I was at or near the back (I was 4th from last apparently) and didn't like it! Was able to make my fastest lap of the day on lap 4 by about :30 over lap one. Caught and passed 3 riders. Finished in about 2:34 with a 13 mph average!

In the end I finished 3rd from last overall (the others behind me dropped), but really couldn't be unhappy with my performance. We rode more double track than I had anticipated, but I had to be happy with the average speed AND I finished 25 minutes behind overall despite really having a rough time on that second lap. Without the flat/crappy feeling combo I probably would have been right on my goal of 20 minutes behind, and honestly that's about where I'm at right now. Hopefully, with some more adaptation/training for XC I can find another 12-15 minutes by the end of the year.

Probably most importantly it was an awesome time! Enjoyed the trails and the atmosphere (crowds!) most certainly. A part of me is also really glad I didn't do any better than I did... I'd love to be faster now, but I'm doing this because I wanted a challenge.



Still planning on Levis-trow 100 this weekend (although I've considered dropping down to the 50).