Parade time.

Watching the parade. Just saw the "Legend". Hot, more secret Rocky Balboa training to come. Found some of the new singletrack...wow. Big bermed corners everywhere. Really, really fun.

Been busy

So to both of my faithful readers of the blog, things have been busy.  Last week's Chequamegon 100 didn't go as hoped, but with the lead up it went as expected.  My upper back was jacked up and I found out it wasn't my lower back muscles that also hurt, but my kidneys.  I was hurting pretty bad when I woke up that morning and hoped it would go away.  The pain got worse, I quit about 35 miles in, and despite drinking a ton of water, my post race "liquid expulsion" was a nice shade of brown.  After several tests at the clinic they basically threw up their shoulders and blamed some mysterious virus.  Oh well, I seem to be feeling better, and I took a week off the bike to try to get things cleared out.  My free time has been filled up with lots of projects at the rentals.

Now it is off to do some Rocky style training.  Future races haunt my mind including ORAMM this month with Tri Guy, a gravel stage race in way North MN that I can't remember the name of but it is in September, and Arrowhead this winter.  Arrowhead has been on my mind all year so far.  Weird.

Did I mention I love my bike?  My Superfly 100 Pro is awesome.  Last year's SF 100 got shipped out to Tri Guy after he wrecked his old bike.  Good to see it going to a good home. 

I have to work now.  Seems when I am not at work I am still working.  SSDLocation.

Quick update and then drive North

Red Wing MNSCS
Went something like this
-back of the pack starting postioning, work really hard, good spot into singletrack
-first lap, good legs, can't breath, catches up to me 1/3 of the way in, ride like little girl for long while as I gasp for air
-second lap hot and muggy, getting into groove, do I feel rain?  Yes!
-third lap, getting greasy as it dumps rain, cool, feeling really good, riding well, moving up, having fun!
-forth lap, nasty conditions, having fun, bike works perfect, 12th place.
-the new 29-1 tires are awesome, not great mud tires, but not that bad, light, big volume, great traction
-Front wheel bearings so-so, left BB bearing locked up, pulleys locked up, overhauled all, spinning great!

Chequamegon 100
-race on Saturday
 -looking forward to riding sweet trails for 100 miles (except that F%$#ing birkie trail)
-not expecting a repeat, but I didn't expect a one peat, doesn't mean I won't try.
-more competition=good


Back
-my back has been nasty this week, on par with worse ever.
-tight, pain, etc.
-Not missing Saturday's start.

Cabin
-going
-family
-can't wait

Update.

Last several days have been busy with projects at he rentals.  The most time sensitive is finishing off some hardwood floors in time for the polyurethane to dry before the next move in.  I need to go over for another coat in an hour, and then another later today.



In other news I managed to weasel (thanks Mark) my way into racing the MN series race at Red Wing tomorrow right after the wife finishes the Rochesterfest Tri.  I hope to be more aggressive in my start and have my fingers crossed for better legs than Mankato.  The current plan is to ride the 50ish gravel miles home after the race for a good butt kicker.  Cheq 100 is the next weekend and I have my doubts on riding well, so a last minute body thrashing sounds like just want I need.

It will be really interesting to see if the Mankato cheater shows up tomorrow.  Sounds like more than one person has some type of plan if he decides to race.  I am hearing from several people now that the guy has always been shady and cutting the course would not seem out of norm (it is actually thought he cut at least one other part of the course out as well).  A few more witnesses to the infraction could get him penalized, so if anyone saw anything speak up.

Racing fun, Cheaters not.

MN Series Mankato Race
Two more races in the books.  Mankato was fun, although my legs were in a lot of pain even before the start.  On top of that the back was super tight and twisted, but I had fun and felt like my body rebounded for the last two laps.  It had been 2 years since I lined up for a MN series race and at least 10 since I have been to Mt Kato.  Gotta say, of the MN courses I have raced this is my favorite.  Great combination of trails there.  A really bad starting position combined with crappy legs had me in 22 overall.  On a plus my lungs were awesome.  I am not sure if that was a sign that I just wasn't able to fully push myself though.  Looking to do better next time I show up to one of these races.

Me in the black.  Thanks to Jay Richards.







Thursdays at Whitetail Ridge
Thursday night I found myself with the ability to finally check out the racing in River Falls and shut Bob up from his constant taunts to get out there instead of Buck.  I took the "win" over Nate Lillie.  Not nearly the turn out for this race with maybe 8 guys total, but the trails are an absolute blast.  Nick and Bob are super cool guys that run the night and trails.  Buck Hill is nice for the family aspect and finding a deep tough field, but I would much rather ride the trails in River Falls any day.  Only complaints to making a an awesome trail better would be that they are not longer (6.5ish miles) and not closer.  Consider making the trip and rip it on the super fun dirt.  That night was really nice as it was one of the few times this year I toed some kind of start line and felt good.

Picture stolen from Bob, but he stole my heart so we are even.
 


 Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater
"I definitely saw him cheat".  This little gem came from a friend that also raced Mankato.  He saw a certain gentleman shortcut a significant portion of the course on the first lap as if something happened and he was going to DNF, but instead joined back in the racing action.  I would pass this same individual towards the end of the race.  Not cool at all.  I have debated "outing" him, but since I did not see the infraction I decided not to.  I can say that I met Jan Rybar for the first time after the race as we cooled down and he seems like a great guy.  Jan = not a cheater.  I understand this same cheater had been banned from Mankato racing years ago, but somehow made it in.

School's Out!

As both of my fans know, I am married to a teacher.  While she works, I am running training camp at home with our 2 daughters and occasionally other camp members (and managing the properties all year long).  Well, yesterday was the last day of school thus the picture.




With the transition to warm days also is my return to the shop.  Yup, Rochester Cycling will be blessed with my presence again this summer as I hammer out repairs and help people look for just the right chamois.  Tuesday will be my first day.  Expect sales at all the other shops in town to dip upon my return.

This summer is shaping up to be a fun one.  Kind of at the last minute I have made plans to race the MN series race in Mankato.  I think it may be 10 years or so since I was last there and 2 years since I lined up at a state series race, so it should be fun.  I just found out it is the MN championship race as well, so that should bring out all the heavy hitters to slap me around for the day.

Oh what about the bike?  Well, I got my new bike.  It is "Superfly", rides like a perfect "100", and is more than enough for even the pickiest "pro" (not that I am).  I made a few mods for myself that should prove to be awesome.  I truly love this platform and am excited for another year or racing on it.

Good luck to "Kitty" and all the other DK200 racers this weekend.

Cable Classic and the back up bike.

Well, I didn't work much at selling last year's bike, so I had to slum it on a 2011 ride. Sure, it may be a super fast carbon Trek Superfly with sram xx and carbon wheels, I may have barely ridden it last year, but it is still so "last year". Oh, and it is for sale with race x-lite or xxx-lite wheels.

The Cable Classic went pretty good. A race Tuesday then Thursday had my legs with no snap and lots of pain right off the bat on Saturday. Scott K-Y led it basically the entire way at the start as I kept getting boxed in and grabbing the wrong wheel. As we approached the singletrack Scott would almost get crashed out as a few wheel suckers would make dangerous passes trying to get by before the ribbon's of dirt (I thought these were uncalled for after no one would work with Scott).

Through the dirt and back on the road my legs were not having it. I watched the front guys ride away and I just rode a relaxed pace. The legs would get a little better about half way and I would proceed to pass and catch 2 riders. Next I would find Mike B. and he sat on as I powered us the last few miles of rails to trails. He sat up at the finish. I guess I got 6th which really surprised me considering how the legs felt cooked all race.

Next is a night ride and a long ride up here with the cabin mates and sweet trails. Way better than racing a state race or gravel. Oh, and got to watch a bear for a few minutes from the cabin this morning. I love it here!

Update

So yeah, my 17.5" 2012 Trek Superfly 100 Pro with American Classic/Stan's Arch Ex wheels was stolen out of my car in my driveway Tuesday night.  I forgot to bring it in after setting the course record (31:49 vs 31:50) at Eastwood.  Several other cars were broken into as well.  Serial number is WTU079T507oG.

Last night's Buck Hill race was interesting.  I got there late after 2 poop stops (kid, not me).  Lined up with no warm up and on last year's bike which felt really different.  Started moderately, hit singletrack, felt the front end loose, slide out hard because of a really low front tire, lost a bunch of spots, stopped at the Penn truck to pump it up at the end of lap 1, lost a bunch of spots, then started counting the people in my race I passed until the finish (not the rec riders).  16 the 2nd lap, 7 the 3rd lap, 2 the last lap.  I went from the 40's to around 18th.  Felt a lot better in the breathing department.

Couple of notes:

Going to do Cable, on last year;s bike, that is for sale.  Hit me up.

My allergies had been crazy bad, which made my breathing crazy bad, found a great remedy. 

I am going to ride super fun trails in NW WI while most racers ride Afton (not a fan) for several laps.  I already won.

Anyone looking for lodging for the classic and riding the next day?  507-254-8936.  Me and Triguy will have room. 

I am the king of Eastwood, no way Matt can touch my time. 

Hoping for Karma

because this just got swiped from my car overnight. 

Little girl, Big Girl.

I am in need of some updates:

The Sandwich 50 went off without much troubles at all despite the rain trying to make trouble.  I felt decent power for the first 3 laps and then my body started to shut down hard towards the end of the 4th; similar to what happened at the end of Transiowa.  Taking stock of my life over the last several weeks I finally admitted to myself that I have been desperately void of rest, and my body was simply exhausted.  I stopped in order to survive for another day.  The day was fun though, no doubt.  This last week has seen mucho sleepo.  It is nice.

The first Thursday night at Buck Hill was a different story.  My little time warming up had me breathing hard and weak legs.  That is typical until the lungs open up so I wasn't too worried.  Usually during the 4 laps around the 2ish mile course I spend the first lap struggling and then get stronger as the lungs open more.  Well, the first two laps I was gasping for air much more than normal, just trying to survive.  I watched hoards of people ride by me on the hill as I pedaled like a little girl.  Frankly, my pace was a little embarrassing up the "mountain".  Towards the end of the 2nd lap the lungs came around just a tad and I rode like a big girl.  I think in the last lap alone I passed 7 riders, still not 100% there.  Crossing the finish I went into full blown asthma attack.  No cool down unless you count laying on the ground for many minutes, too weak to even stand.  It was over an hour later until my breathing was anywhere near back to normal.  This asthma stuff really sucks sometimes.

The rest of the weekend was spent with the family up at the cabin, shredding local trails.  More than once, while riding by myself, I laughed out loud like a little kid playing with his toys.  Tis the season for ticks and mosquitoes up there.  It always seems to get better in the summer and fall.  It really is not a problem as long as you don't stop too long on the trail and check yourself after the ride.  Interestingly enough, I don't remember a single mosquito around the cabin.

So our 3 1/2 year old daughter has been fighting potty training.  Oddly, the other night she announced she needed to go potty.  She came back with the announcement that she went poopy (the biggest obstacle by far).  Our little girl is finally turning into a "big girl". 

Super cool fort time.

Transiowa go boom.

Gotta say, this race was about the most "chillexed" I have been in a long time.  Whether it was getting ready at the hotel room with my roommate Charles, hanging out at the prerace dinner, or waking up the next morning.  No nerves, just looking to ride and have fun. 

We just missed nasty weather as we lined up at 4am in Grinnell, IA.  I was thankful because I didn't feel like riding in the rain when it was just under 40 degrees.  The start was cool as there were 70 or so pairs of lights headed out into the Iowa countryside.  What we found for the first 15 miles was strong headwinds and fresh gravel.  Somewhere around dawn the gravel became a little less annoying and our direction was not straight into the wind.  At the first checkpoint (52 miles in) I caught back up with the front group after a stop to stretch out the knee that now caused me pain.

There were six of us; Matt and Travis Braun, Eric Brunt, John Gorilla, and Troy Krause.  Into another headwind we formed a single file line that would soon slow up to allow a few riders that were dropping off not to brave the wind alone.  This happened a few times until a right turn and I found myself alone with the Braun brothers.

Talk about fun!  We talked about all sorts of things, but primarily the discussion revolved around the belief by many that the Salsa Fargo is the best bike out there for almost any situation.  Our glowing praise of a bike that could be just as comfortable as a cyclocross bike as it could be with a double clamp raging downhills caused us to break into song many times.  Oh, the fun we had!  We had especially great plans for the watch if we came in together for the win!  The planned rumor of a mystery rider on a Fargo off the front never gained steam as G-Ted laughed it off.


Downhill Fargo ready for the world cup, John Travolta singing it's praises.  You probably can't tell, but this was photoshopped.  Thanks to Matt Braun for this masterpiece.


Well, at about 140 miles in I started to get dizzy and the engine room started to shut off the power.  A few flats later thanks to some random large chunks of gravel and the Braun brothers remained by my side, determined that we at least get to the 2nd checkpoint (170 miles in) together.  I stopped a few times for dizziness, but the brothers from the same mother seemed more frustrated that the lighter wasn't working for their fireworks than the fact I was causing them to lose time. 

At mile 170 I told them to go on.  I would briefly join the next group behind us that had not been seen for 70 miles.  At the 2nd checkpoint we had a 20 minute lead.  Ten miles later after riding by myself and trying to get in a groove the wheels completely came off.  I ended up with 200 miles for the day after riding to a nearby town and a huge smile from the fun I had.  In my heart I never had the fire to finish the race, but that was fine. 

Ari, Gumby, and Tim came to pick me up and the fun continued all the way back to the start.  Thanks guys!  Thanks to the Brauns!  Thanks to Charles and good job out there!  Thanks to G-Ted for the race!

J-No and Brian, you are still dead to me.