Clean up.

So I added 2 blog links and took 2 away. I figure if you haven't updated in the last 6 months then it is too bad for you. Tom, you're on the edge.

It is Obama's fault.

BTW

Less like the Doughboy

So in the past I would pull the plug on consistent workouts in September or so. I just lost motivation. A lot of that has to do with the fact if I have nothing to be fit for I am not. Well, here it is November still and I have not gone too hog wild on cookies and kept a fair amount of my fitness. I am not in shape to go toe to toe with Ivan Drago, but the Pillsbury Doughboy and I have a lot less in common then we normally do this time of year. I have been hitting the weights a little and my strength is there, no relearning, no post lifting soreness.

Now with Arrowhead in Feb, I start my official "training" earlier then ever, as in today. So, I am starting earlier and the pinch test results are reading record results for November. Neato.

On another note, watched Napoleon Dynamite again with the wife last night. Too many funny lines in that movie. Too many.


My monster bike seems to be going well. I have to throw gears on it here soon and rock out with my derailleur out.

BTW.

Arrow through my head.

You ever get something in your head and you can't stop thinking about it. Researching, planning, replanning? That happens to me too often, and now I am thinking about the Arrowhead to which I am on the roster. I really don't feel like losing digits or dying.

I had a friend ask me if I expected to be in the same shape as I was early this year. It could have been phrased differently as, "Are you going for the win?". Uh, no. The veterans of this race have a huge advantage mentally. They know what to expect. I don't care how good of shape anyone is in, this is not all pedal pedal.

Just trying to get all the gear is a battle in itself. Then it is what to bring for food/water. How to carry all of it. Where to carry it. Gotta make sure it does not freeze. Gotta make sure you don't freeze.

Order this, borrow that. Trying to do it on the cheap because the money tree in the back yard has yet to blossom.

Will my "plump" bike be a poor choice compared to the "fat" bikes?

Well, at least I managed to clean out the gutters. BTW.

I do dumb things.

Not many people consider things I enjoy as smart. For instance, I categorized the 3 races I registered for just this weekend.

Dumb
Raganrok 105. Gravel, 105 miles worth. Self supported.


Dumber
Transiowa. Gravel, 320 miles worth. Self supported.


Dumbest
This race. To date, the hardest event I will have every tried to do.
I have a lot of planning to do, like how to keep all my body parts.


You have a lot of planning to do. Like how to goof off on the internet until lunch without the boss noticing.

Other Bad Boys.

Just finished up the new monster truck wheels. Kris Holm 47mm wide rims, WTB 2.55 weirwolf's (not really that wide unfortunately), and XT hubs. Split tubed ghetto tubeless (homemade stan's strip from a 24" tube) and held air great all night.

Not a ton of clearance on the back (plenty on the front), but oh so much more float for those "secret" winter trails.

Now I need to really think about registering for some of those crazy endurance races held at stupid low temps.




No, your coworkers probably would not be impressed. What would impress them? You pitching in more around the office.

The Bad Boys

Witness the athleticism. The coordination, the strength. I am going to incorporate this into my cross training this winter. Well, maybe not the exercise move at 1:10. I love the robot moves btw.



Your boss is wondering why your tapping your foot while staring at the computer. Better act busy....

So I have this thing.

Anyone know what this bad boy is worth? Seems to work great, but I have no use for it.








BTW

Checking in.

Hope things are going well for all you blog readers. I feel like it is going well for me. Just got back from "the cabin" where my Pa and I installed new kitchen cabinets and moved the fridge to a more appropriate spot. Looks really nice.

Went out on the Makwa trail in the single speed, rigid. That bike is fun, but I will not be a "less gears more beers" kinda guy anytime soon. Met some nice people, Dee from Duluth, John from the cities, and Kevin from Freewheel. Does anybody from WI ride the CAMBA trails? Simply amazing trails and it sounds like by the end of next summer the Makwa will be connected to the Ojibwe. What does that mean? Well, I will be able to ride from the cabin to Hayward on singletrack (probably about 20 miles worth). Maybe grab a bite to eat, and then back to Cable.

I have some secret BIG wheels assembled, but not tensioned. I'll get those on here soon and you can awe in their bigness.

And a super cute picture of my daughter at the Zoo. This is right after the tiger came by and sprayed her. Well, he sprayed the window, but she was the target.


Sorry to waste more of your work day.

Another Level

Buy a piece of my soul

Well, time to sell stuff. You want? charly tri at yahoo dot com. Stuff has been removed as it has been sold.

2009 Gary Fisher Hi Fi Pro 29er, not at all stock, all high end stuff. This is the BEST bike I have ever ridden. Crazy fast, super light, tough. 24.5 lbs as you see here, yes 24.5 lbs. $2,500.


Size 17.5" (MD)

Frame	6066 hydroformed butted aluminum mainframe & chainstays, co-molded carbon seatstays, cold-forged dropouts, G2 29" Geometry
Fork	Custom Fox F100RLC 29, 100mm travel, custom G2 Geometry 51mm offset crown, air spring, 4-position external platform adjustment, external rebound adjustment
Rear Shock	Custom Tuned Fox Float RP23 w/air pressure, 3-Position Pro Pedal, external Rebound adjust 7.5x 2"
Drivetrain
Shifters	Sram X9 trigger
Front Derailleur	Shimano Ultegra
Rear Derailleur	Sram XO
Cassette	Shimano XT

Wheels
Wheels	Bontrager Rhythm Pro 29, 28mm wide tubeless ready* rims
Tires	Bontrager XR-1 expert
Components
Crank Set	Shimano XTR, 36/24, Hollowtech II arms, integrated BB spindle
Saddle	Bontrager Race Lite, superlight hollow cromoly rails
Seatpost	Easton EC-70 Carbon
Handlebar	Bontrager Race Lite Big Sweep, 640mm width, 12d sweep, 31.8mm
Stem	Bontrager Race X Lite OS, 7d rise, 31.8mm
Headset	Cane Creek ZS3, semi-integrated, cartridge bearings, short top cap
Brakeset	Avid Juicy Ultimate, Carbon levers, Ti bolts, 160 mm Ashima rotors

Time Atac XS. Used for several years, but bearings and bushings have been replaced. Everything spins great, no excessive play. Come with cleats. I have 1 pair. Retail is $175. Yours for $60.

charly tri at yahoo dot com

BTW

Something Strange...

Moab

Alright, so I have gotten a few "what happened?". I am home now and here is a write up. Wednesday Chris Strout picked me up and we headed arrived in Moab Thursday. After a preride I found the course to be many things. Tough, fun, tough, rocky, sandy, a blast, and tough. Although the elevation profile is not horrible, the course makes you work hard for almost every foot of up OR down. Choosing the right line was critical in being efficient out there. It was demanding and I was looking forward to it despite the fact I could tell the last 6 weeks effected my fitness. We met up with the rest of the World Bicycle Relief guys on Friday and hit another preride. My knee was tight, but not painful. The days leading up to the race I was not feeling 100%, but still fully committed to seeing what I could do. The morning of the race my body felt more like going back to sleep than riding, but my head was ready to go. The leman's start was grueling. Thick sand to run through and a poor choice of bike placement saw me WAAAAY back. Working my way through I got in a groove and ended finished out the first lap well despite not feeling that great. The second lap the right knee was bothering me so the pace lowered. At this point my leg/neck/back/arm muscles just felt worked over already. My body was definitely not firing on all cylinders. The left thigh was hurting from compensating for the bad right knee. Coming in after the 2nd lap I got some Aleve. The start of the third lap my body temp went sky rocketing. I guess the sun was very intense at this point. I layed down in the shade on the course for a little bit as I didn't need to blow up on lap 3 of the flipping race, made it throught lap 3 and the right knee felt a little better. My motto was that I was going to "keep on keeping on". Somewhere in lap 2 the stomach went south as well. The rest of the race was spent fighting the need to release the contents. This included backing off the pace many times and actually sitting up quite a bit to relieve pressure. I would force food down though to keep on keeping on. The night laps were hard. The lines seemed to fade some and that made the riding much harder. It was a very cool experiance looking at other parts of the fairly open course and seeing lines of lights slink there way through the night, very cool. The temps dropped, and the stomach never got better. Before the 8th lap I sat and had some warm food. I was trying to make sure that I was still getting calories as they weren't going down so easy on the course. So off for the 8th lap, and I felt a little weak. No problem, I'll feel better. Hit the first climb and felt weaker. Not wanting to stop I got off the bike and shoveled food down my gullet while walking, figured this was a momentary lapse and I'd get going soon. Well, unfortuanately it got worse. I was pushing the bike up sections I had been "middle ringing" it. Out of breath and would have to stop and rest my head on the bars. This got worse and I was laying on the side of the trail; at 40 degrees, in the middle of the night. I would get going again, but the medics came out and drove me to an aid station where I hallicinated some and eventually slept. I would make it off the course hours later and proceeded to have lingering issues that made going out again not possible. I went into this race with the mentality that I would have to be dragged off the course before I would stop, guess it came to that. I fought hard against a body not working right at the start, bad knee pain, heat, and stomach issues. I was happy with the pace I had set, problems or no problems. No regrets. Chris would end up banging up his knee and retiring early. Brad and Todd soldiered on together during the race and finish 13th and fourteenth. The support was awesome and I want to thank Kim and Kate (Chris's wife and daughter), Bonnie and Fin (Todd's wife and son), Todd (Brad's bro in-law), and Sean (Team friend) for all the help. Also want to thank Chris for making the drive out there and back fun and interesting. Just a note, the Hi-Fi was perfect out there. I was riding lines that others could not because of that bike and I want to thank Fisher bikes for the support. Another note. I think my 24 hour "attempts" are done, at least for a long while. I love riding my bike for 100 milers and 12 hours, but I am not built well to take the abuse for 24 hours on a mountain bike. Key word, mountain bike. I'll still see my fellow riders in Iowa to pound out gravel next spring. I have never gone into the off season with as much motivation. Game on. BTW.

here in moab

got here yesterday morn. rode the course. daddy likey! ready to rumble.

hi

I am going through Iowa now. Loaded van. Chris @ the wheel. Taking hits off a bottle of Jagermeister. Chris added that we are only wearing socks.

Moab or bust

I leave in a few hours here.  I am mostly packed thanks to some help.  Chris should swoop in and together we'll conquer MN, IA, NE, and CO on our way to Utah for the "big" race.  Wish me luck.  You can check out real time results here (http://www.grannygear.com/realtime/public/gg_index.php?view_race=grannyg_2009_moab).  Just do it on your personal time, alright? Abi took her first few steps on her birthday, September 24th.  It was not until last night she replicated that feat, over and over.  I am guessing she'll be up to a full run by the time I get back.

Commence Whining

Abi's birthday was last week and we got a nice picture. So I have not posted in awhile.  I am trying to pull things together lately just so I can ride.  Oct 2 marked the one month anniversary since the flood at our place and it was also when everything settled down.  I have ridden a little in that time, but nowhere near what I wanted. Now I whine.  I am sitting here with an ice bag on my knee, loaded up with ibuprofen and Zicom.  I have tendinitis in my knee, my back muscles have been flaring up, and I am keeping back the worse of the cold symptoms that Becky and Abi both have been going through.  I can't ride with this knee pain.  Argggghhhhh, I will swim tonight. Moab is this coming weekend.  I head out with Chris Strout on Wednesday.  I may have an ice bag and massage ball working overtime while we drive.  It may not be pretty, but I am lining up at Moab's 24 hour race.  Everything is being done to make sure it goes well. Oh, and I raced the Cheq fat tire a few weeks ago.  I am planning on a write up, but since I had no expectations, 26th overall exceeded what I had hoped for. BTW.

WI worlds approaches.

I've been busy, leave me alone.  Well, our basement is coming along since the "flood".  Sheetrock is done and carpet goes in Monday.  At the same time I found out about a ton of water damage at a rental of ours from a leaking toilet.  Needless to say this last weekend was the first time I did 2 consecutive days of riding in the last 3 weeks.  I have been a very busy boy. Now I am getting ready for the WI mountain bike worlds, also known as the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival.  I love everything about this weekend except the race.  The WI blogs are all a flutter about their blessed gravel road race.  Should be a fun time up at the cabin. I have my tandem for sale for real now.  Craigslist ad is here, http://rmn.craigslist.org/bik/1377528526.html.  Buy it or die. I am just trying to get out a lot now and get ready for a big week next week on the bike.  Moab is getting closer and closer. FYI, I am not sure how this entry will look.  I am sending this through e-mail, which is much faster.  I should stop now, don't want to take up too much of your work day.

Frazzled, Wet

I have not been on the bike since Tuesday, maybe today I will get out. Woke up Wednesday morning at 5am to use the bathroom. When my feet were wet I turned on the lights to find my basement flooded. Now we have a completely torn up basement, lots of carpet and sheet rock missing. Lots of headaches. Big mess. All this because a faulty clothes washer kept running all night (over and over) next door and the drain was slightly clogged(we own a twinplex and occupy one side). Farmer's Insurance has been awesome through the whole process though! The had Service Master at our house in 30 minutes from our call.

Looks like I am riding out to Moab with some guy who's mind is always in the gutter. Should be fun. Need to start riding again to prep...

Legs felt great on Tuesday as I rocked the single speed for the first time this year. Rode our little race series here in town and just kept getting faster during the 30 minute ordeal.

Oh, and the future of women's US cycling has started training camp this week. More to come.

But for now, you should get back to work, back to your family, or just go for a freaking ride already!!

Afton Recap, lessons learned, call for help.

Alright, so I had support at the race thanks to a coworker. He shall go nameless until I have a pic to post as well.

Dan Dittmer would prove that he deserved the title this weekend. Like we have before, we shared a pit. This makes it a little bit more entertaining for those crewing for us and it just seems to work. Here is how it shook out.

The start was a Le man's start up a hill, around a barrel, and back to our bikes. I completely underestimated how hard the course would be. Before the race I swapped my 26 tooth small ring for a 24. I should have bolted on a 22. Up or down, you choose. There is at best 1/2 mile of flat on this course. Most of the climbs are STEEP.

The first lap I just rode. I was not setting out to blow doors off, but I found humor in what appeared one solo's rider determination to stay with me. His face spoke of pain. I could see Dan a ways back there, but not falling back for sure.

Dan and I would stay within sight of each other pretty much for the first 6 hours while we lead the race. I was feeling strong and consistent. I was very pleased that despite the steep hills I was riding everything and staying strong. Over the next couple of laps I got a gap of about 15 minutes. Now granted, this is getting to be about midnight now. The temp has dropped considerably. You can see your breath and the dew appears frozen on the tall grass. I would spend my time on these laps hot and sweating going up the long steep climbs and freezing coming down. The constant temp change had my stomach uneasy so I got behind on calories. Lap 11 I stopped to try to get some food, but I was slowing hard. Lap 12 I would realize that if I did not eat I would bonk.

So at about 2:30ish in the morning I stopped to eat. Dan would stop as well as he had caught back up. This is where I made a mistake. I huddled under a sleeping bag and ate, Dan would head back out. This became nice and cozy enough, so I headed next to the fire. Well, the sleep deprivation, freezing cold, hunger, and drowsiness got the best of me and I took a break. Then a longer break. Then I was taking a nap.

That was all good I figured. My thought process was Dan would take a break like he did the year before. We had a 2 lap lead on third. Well, I woke up to a 4 lap deficit to Dan and tied for 2nd. Out I headed out to finish up the race and try to reel some of Dan's lead back.

I was riding strong and the body felt good; except for one thing. I was getting bad stomach cramps and the need to use the bathroom NOW despite going before I left. I would roll into the start/finish and head straight to the Porto potty. I came out, grabbed some food, and went out again. By the bridge loop I was getting the same pains and need for a bathroom. The bike got turned back and I spent the rest of the day with bad stomach cramps and frequent bathroom trips. In fact, as I type this, I still have those cramps. Besides just a tad of leg soreness, this is the only way I can tell I raced this weekend.

I would end the day in 8th out of 54. Not the result I was hoping for. I made the mistake of stopping and that cost me dearly. Also, I did not learn from past experiences. You see, I have had these cramps and bathroom trips before; the day after my endurance races. Considering the only constant with all of these was my EFS shot and sportlegs it had to be one of these. In training I do long rides on EFS without problem, but only used sportlegs in races. Some internet searching found that I am not the only one that has had this reaction to sportlegs. It only seems to happen though from several doses, like in my endurance races.

So my fitness was good, I rode strong, but made mistakes that cost dearly. I'll live to fight another day. My disappointment has turned to motivation for Moab. I'll get some good training in and try to make up for it there.

NOW HERE IS MY ONLY WORRY. I HAVE NO ONE TO TRAVEL WITH TO MOAB AND HELP. MY ORIGINAL PLAN HAS BEEN THWARTED BY A FRIEND'S BOSS NOT GIVING HIM THE TIME OFF. A SECOND AND THIRD POSSIBILITY FELL THROUGH. NOW I SIT HERE, MOTIVATED, TRAINED, AND PRIMED, BUT NOT ABLE TO DO IT ON MY OWN. SO, IS ANYONE OUT THERE INTERESTED? MY THOUGHT IS TO LEAVE AROUND THE 6TH OF OCTOBER. WE WOULD ARRIVE IN CO AND UTAH TO DO A COUPLE OF DAYS OF RIDING. THE 24 HOURS OF MOAB WOULD BE ON OCT. 10 AND 11TH. WE WOULD THEN MAKE A MAD DASH BACK TO MN (A 24 HOUR DRIVE) TO WORK ON TUESDAY. I AM REGISTERED. I GOT GAS COVERED. WE CAN TAKE MY CAR (WE CAN FIT YOUR BIKE AND GEAR). I WAS THINKING ABOUT CAMPING, BUT AM FLEXIBLE. ANYONE? IT WOULD BE FUN.....

Thanks for looking. BTW.

Locked and loaded.

I am heading out to compete in the Salsa 24 fest (www.salsa24fest.com). Start at 5pm tonight, end 24 hours later. Solo.

Real time results here; http://www.peaktiming.com/results/2009salsa24/

And a pic, why bring 2 Gary Fisher 29er's when I can bring 3? The single speed has got the mud tires ready to go just in case.


And always, btw.