Brrrr....

15 degrees and wind at 23 mph with gusts up to 37 mph= cold.

I was pretty toasty except the toes. Just a warm pair of socks, my Nike mtb shoes, and booties. Coulda used some toe warmers last night, so I ended running with the bike a few times. I like to see what I can get away with some times.

Hoping to get these for Christmas.

2 hours on the cross bike by myself. Cold, hungry, alone.

Oh, look at the time. You need to work.

Now I wait for J-No to make a smart remark....seems both him and his wife can't stop saying my name :0

Ünathlons, babies, and gravel

Well my "training" officially started for next year. Having signed up for Transiowa for the second time I need to be riding strong by late April. For those that don't know, the race is held in Iowa and consists of about 330 miles of gravel riding. There is little to no outside support. I will not sleep during the 24+ hours of riding.

Also, I will be training for ünathlons. Hear me out here. I have friends that are into the Triathlon thing and they are always talking about their Ironman's and such. Well, I tried running, but the knees are not cool with it. Swimming blows. So, instead of multisport events I am focusing on single sport events. Thus the ünathlons. I believe the event I will concentrate on is cycling, but I am not sure yet. I believe this new sport will spread like wildfire.

Thanksgiving was fun, but Saturday and Sunday brought physical demands. Just under 3 hours of riding each morning with the Velorochester guys and then spending the rest of the daylight hours moving huge amounts of gravel and dirt. My body is tired, primarily the back.

One of the goals this year is to limit my trainer time. Oh, and to dominate every event I enter by astronomical margins.

Did I mention I am trying to acquire a cabin up north? I'll find out if it will happen soon, but hundreds of miles of mountain bike trails will be out the back door, literally.

Baby news!
-Saw Becky's sister's baby again this weekend

-Got to meet my brother's daughter for the first time which was really really nice.

-J No's wife (Lori) is getting huger everyday with the twins wrestling for room in her tummy. Did I mention that twins run in my family? Ok, maybe not.

-Cory "Corky" Gross and his wife Sabrina are also new parents!! They popped out a baby boy that I am excited to go see.

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This is a picture of last winter. Nina going nuts for the Frisbee in fresh powder.

Snow is coming.

Yeah, I know it is hard after the holiday, but you should get to work.

Bikes for sale

Anyone interested in a cool full suspension 29'er? I have 2 almost identical ones for sale. Not stock at all btw.

Frame: 17.5" Gary Fisher Supercaliber Race Day w/ lock out. 80 mm of travel.

Fork: Rockshox Reba race with remote lockout. 100mm of travel

Wheels: Bontrager Race 29'er disc

Brakes: Hayes Mag Brakes (better than the HFX 9's that everyone has)

Shifters: Shimano XT

R. Der: Shimano XTR low normal

Ft. Der: Shimano LX

Crankset: Shimano XTR

Tires: Bontrager ACX 2.25

Pedals: N/A

Handlebar: Bontrager Race Lite Big Sweep

Stem: Bontrager Race Lite

Seatpost: Bontrager Race X Lite Carbon

Seat: Bontrager Race Lite

Grips: Bar tape

.

Both bikes are in great shape!!

.

Bike #1 going for $1,900 obo.

Bike #2 going for $1,825 obo. It is identical except it has a XT rear der and most of the decals on the fork are removed.

.

Don't go back to work, figure out how to buy one of these sweet bikes!!

.

charlytri@yahoo.com

Shake and Bake

Just some notes.

What happened to Jeff Hall's site (see link right). MAN DOWN! MAN DOWN!!
...and Sugardaddy's (rumor is he will be riding a bike again soon enough)
...and Ben's (although he is guest blogging??)
...I need to update my links.

It is cold.

The new ride will be coming soon. It says Trek, it likes to 69, and bounce up and down.

I have never owned a Trek branded mountain bike before.

Need to sell the Supercaliber's now. Anyone interested in a decked out 29'er? Maybe two? Specs to folllow soon.

Saw Blades of Glory last night. Heard it was funnier than The Ballard of Ricki Bobby, a movie that will blow your mind. It is not. Like most Will Ferrel movies I thought it sucked.

Got an e-mail from Frank. He takes pictures. Cool pictures. He took a bunch at the last cross race in Ham Lake. His website is here. Ignore the little girls in tutu's. I think he had on pink ear warmers at the race, cool.

This kid can kick your butt.


A pic of the start of the Ham Lake CX. Guy in blue helmet in middle is A. Birr. I stand to his right (your left). Talk about a sweet action shot.

Shake and Bake. You see that, that just happened!!

Get to work.

Double crossing (in more ways than one).

This post is dedicated to Chris "do as I say, not as I do" Fisher. You see, our team got second in the MNSCS expert series after a tie breaker. Chris "d.a.i.s.n.a.i.d." Fisher decided that it was my fault as I had only shown up for the first 2 races in the series (the only 2 that I had planned on). Chris on the other hand neglects to point out that if he had only finished 1 of the races he DNF'd in the series it would have been won.

What is that? Oh yeah, I was going to race this Sunday, but Chris "d.a.i.s.n.a.i.d." Fisher said, "Hey, come to the race on Saturday instead. Brendan and I are going to be there and we can all hang out." I thought that was cool, so I changed plans. Needless to say Chris "d.a.i.s.n.a.i.d" Fisher was a no show at the race. Hmmmmm. Brendan said he was at some event with his fiance, Jen "big smiles" Meyer. I am guessing they toured the factory were they make the American Girls. That would fit the profile.

So this is for you Chris. Big smiles, big smiles.

Crossing at Ham Lake

I decided to do the A (60 minutes) and B (45 minutes) races as to try to jump start any fitness that is left. I have not been on the bike that much, and with the A race only costing an extra $5 I figured it was more ride time.

Lined up for the B race with Adam Birr of the team. He told me of how the course was a glorified dirt crit, and he was right. 2 barriers and no run up, a loooong paved section, and almost no climbing was not my idea of a fun cross race (note, I am not complaining, just stating). We took off at the start were it narrows down dramtiacally in the first 30 feet. I got into the woods in second and proceeded to try to warm up. The legs were so-so as I settled in with the top 6 paceline. At some point I was with 2 others as we approached a lapped rider and a barrier at the same time. The lap rider went in the middle, one guy went to pass on the left, the other guy and I went to pass on the right. Well, the lapped rider went sideways, the guy with me took him down, and I came to a dead stop. Hopped on the bike with a banged up knee, skinned shin, and knowledge that they weren't badly hurt. Ended up passing 2 guys on the last lap that bobbled to bring home 6th out of 80 overall, or 3rd out of 34ish in the Cat 3's (depends how you want to look at it). I was happy with that.

Then I lined up for the A race 10 minutes later. Talked to Brendan, but no Chris. What, no Chris? I knew that I was not going to be blowing anyones doors off, so I purposely let everyone go into the woods first. My first lap was allright, then my legs left me. I was cashed. My only thought was to keep riding until I got lapped and then pulled. Oh, here comes the top 3, a little trash talking from me and they were off. They must have ceramic bearings in their wheels. Looked forward to getting pulled at the finish, but nope. They don't pull riders (CRAP!!!). Kept riding. Slowing more and more each lap to a pathetic crawl. Ended getting lapped by Doug and company 3 times.

Now I blog, sip coffee, and get ready (mentally) for work.