100 miles to Levis Mounds.

Gotta make this quick as we are leaving for Rapid City on vacation in a couple of minutes.

I headed out to try to conquer the dirty century at Levis. Got there and it was raining. We started in the rain and I took off in search of singletrack. 1.5 miles later Jerry Long and I start the fun stuff with a decent gap (as I was told by others later that, "Jerry is a fast WORS guy"). We were soon joined by 2 more and I led up one of the steeper hills. I don't like the granny and refused to shift down. With the steep pitch, deep sand, and legs that did not want to climb I got hung up and the three others came by. I quickly caught and passed 2 of them and looked for Jerry in the lead. He was out a little ways, but with in sight.

That is when things acted up. At 11 miles into the 25 mile lap my rear brake locked up. My pads had worn through from the sand (there was a lot) and the rain. I spent some time freeing those up a little and took off with just a front brake and the rear rubbing. The third place rider passed me during this fun part of my ride. It was at about this time that I realized my thighs were attempting to cramp up on me. I was trying to figure out why that would happen so soon into the race when I realized it wasn't pre-cramp issues, but the thigh muscles had little tears in them that I could feel. Oh well, guess my muscle were still a little messed up from nine mile.

I finished out the lap at a slower pace as not to cause damage, changed my clothes as I am not a fan of monkey butt, and headed out to try to complete the 100 miles at a "don't destroy your body" pace. Even at a slow pace I could tell that my thighs were going to be ripped to shreds if I kept going. I want to show up with great legs when I get a spine so I bagged it.

I am going to do some fun riding now in the Black Hills with my baby's momma for a week. You have to stay and work. Ha, ha.

Shit Happens, get over it.

Sometimes things don't work out as planned.

I entered 9 mile this year with high hopes. I was stronger than last year (thanks Mark C.), had better equipment (thanks Gary Fisher, and Maury), and more support (thanks Mark C., Richard B, and of course my Baby's Momma).

Becky and I got to the race venue Friday morning to set up. We got the spot we wanted and enjoyed the pre-night race feast at Fazzoli's. Mark and Richard met up with us that night.

The morning of was spent going over the logistics of food, water, electrolytes, lights, pits, and other misc crap with my new testosterone filled pit crew members.

10am we set off on our 1/4 mile Leman's start. I surprised myself with a great run. I came to retrieve my bike right behind Nat Ross and Chris Eatough. That was the high point. I grabbed my bike and headed out for the first lap.

At the very first small rise I could feel that I had no overt strength in me legs. My body was not hitting on all cylinders. Riders passed me in droves. I spent that first lap fighting my body to ride strong. In these races you have highs and lows. I figured I may be having a low right off the bat.

My bottle hand up went swift and fast as I headed out for lap 2. Still my body did not want to work at full capacity. I spent this time trying to settle into a groove and take in my bottles. The technical sections were the only place I found I was making ground (singletrack ninja?), but unfortunately I kept getting stuck behind riders that were letting huge gaps form in the tight stuff.

The start of the third lap, and I was not feeling any better. In fact I was feeling worse. Halfway through I pulled to the side of the trail and not my stomach release some of it's contents. Finally I felt good, but that only lasted through that lap. My body still did not cooperate. I stopped at the pit to take in some more water and to get wiped down as I did not want to over do it early in the race.

The 4th lap came and went. Still was not feeling that great, but I kept trying to get in a groove. That never really materialized.

At 1/3 through the 5th lap I met up with my buddy Cory G. (aka. Corky), riding a 4 man team. He helped to pace me through that lap which was great. I would have to say that was my best lap as I think his conversation took the focus off of my stomach and leg woes.

My crew recognized that I was not taking in enough electrolyte and calories before the 6th and what turned into the final lap. I had been drinking as much as possible, but my stomach just was not doing a good job of processing what I was putting in. Off I went with strict instructions to take in more (although I was all ready trying hard).

With Cory not there I started feeling like crap again. I could see his teammate, and my co-worker, Chuck S. in front of me. I finally caught him in the singletrack and left him to ride out his lap. All this while my stomach was getting more angry. Finally, I came to the bottom of a hill and realized that I needed to get off the bike then and there. (Warning: gross stuff to come). I proceeded to dry heave. That turned into all out uncontrollable vomiting on all fours. I released everything that had been put into my stomach in the last hour and a half. That was my low point. After catching my breath I sat and tried to figure out if I could even get back up. Chuck stopped to witness the aftermath.

Finally I got going again. I didn't want to be hauled out on a stretcher, I wanted to finish the damn race. My stomach was on empty, and it desperately wanted water. The gel and drink I had left were not going to help. Mark met me and gave me water to put down out on the course 2 miles later, and I left him to complete the last 4 miles of the that lap.

That was bad news. As soon as he left I felt dizzy, and could feel the bonk coming on all of a sudden. The best part was when I felt my eyes trying to roll back into my head. Try riding singletrack that way! Later, Chuck would say my eyes were doing the same when he saw me.

I turned into my pit early, laid down, and asked for the one thing that sounded remotely good; a cheeseburger (ie, loads of calories). Mark set off for that, Richard cleaned me off (what am I a child?), and Becky came back after having sent the medics to go look for me.

After consuming 2 cheeseburgers, 2 cokes, and chips I took a shower. My core temp was way up and needed some cooling. In the shower my legs were trying to cramp up. With out going into detail, Richard said my body was also releasing muscle that had been broken down (I assume that is not good).

I came back to the pit knowing my day was done, Mark and Richard had decided that on their own as well. My body was too far gone to continue. We packed up and left. I never technically finished my 6th lap. That was the end of my race.

A picture of Cory, myself, and Mark before that start.


On your marks, get set, go!

I am on the left. Eventual 2nd place finisher Nat Ross is on the right. We are both in the blue Fisher colors.

T-bone and my Baby's Momma enjoy the fact that they are not riding in the heat.

Richard playing bike mechanic. This is the only picture of him that turned out on our camera.

Mmmm, cheeseburgers. No, I am not wearing a t-shirt.

A special thanks to everyone that helped. Mark and Richard for volunteering to help and doing awesome work! Matt H., Jay-No, and Teresa for the use of the of the batteries. Cory for helping a homie out when in need. Maury at Gary Fisher for the all of the bike help and support. And of course, Becky, my Baby's Momma. She is almost always at these events, unselfishly devoting her time and love to my to my dumb ass ideas.

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So what now? My biggest race of the year went down in flames. Hmmm, maybe I should just grow a spine and work out my frustrations somewhere else? Just gotta figure out how to do it with Becky out of town that Sat....and yes, I am serious.

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Monday is workday, so do that.

I am off...

Shaved the head.

Packed the food, lights, gear, and tools.

9 Mile here I come (with my baby's momma).

All systems check.

Screw it, play around on the internet more. You can do work on Monday.

Late in the update.

For all of my adoring fans out there, I apologize for the lack of posts lately. Seriously, I hope you can both forgive me.

My days of late have not been terribly exciting. Tapering more, riding less, feeling strong.

We started the siding on our newest duplex. The whole family chipped in; dad, dad-in-law, brother #1, brother #2, and the babies momma. It is about 1/2 done, but progressed has stalled.

The Paragon got replaced. I now have 2 Supercaliber's, 29'er of course. I realized the Paragon got no play, so it was time for an upgrade. I love my bikes. Get'm already for the big day.



Same, but not...weird.


Cutting siding.

Dad-in-law trying to kill himself.

My bro. He just left to go back to Maine, too bad.

That is all for now.

How about we all get back to work now?

Chillin with my Baby's Momma.

I got yelled at by e-mail that I have not updated my blog lately. Seems that Corkette has been at work too much lately and she needs some time to goof off, so are you happy now?
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This has also been brought to my attention (see last line). What's that saying about imitation and flattery?

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The Woman and I have been busy. Funeral, trip, work, tutoring, and duplex obligations have made things "fun".
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We got a chance to disappear up North for several days. Grand Marais, MN was calling and we happily obliged. Hiking, biking, canoeing, and chillin was the name of the game.
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We headed into Canada just cause we were so close (never been). Even made it into Thunder Bay which was ho-hum.



BECKY! What did I say about looking straight into the camera!! It totally makes it look like we knew the camera was there. Not cool. By the way, this is on the Superior Hiking Trail.




Headed briefly into the land of no buildings, structures, electricity, plumbing, phones, roads, or anything else that may help if we almost die.

Lutsen proved to be fun, but not very well maintained. I wanted to wear my most unbreathable jersey as to make things hotter (gotta get ready for Nine Mile ya know).

I managed to get out for close to 4 hours on the gravel by myself as well. Those back roads up there are way fun.

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Anyone want to help me put on siding and windows this weekend?

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Oh, well.

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At least get the project done that the boss is waiting for, ie stop goofing off on the Internet.

Everything is hitting at once.

Kinda feel like this. My baby's momma and I have been bombarded by a lot of the unexpected.


Washer repair at duplex ...................................................$300
Repair on car ......................................................................$600
840 pounds of salt .............................................................$100
New/used washer at different duplex ...........................$100
New/used refrigerator at duplex ...................................$100
Fixing trunk mechanism in car .......................................2 hours + $???
Removing rusted bike rack .............................................Too many hours and more to go.
Nina's vet bills ...................................................................$350
Windows and siding for a duplex ....................................$4,000
Installing said windows and siding ..................................Too many hours and more to go.
Throwing sis-in-law's shower........................................... $200
Accountant .........................................................................$200

The fact that you read this crap.....................................Priceless
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I don't like those "MasterCard" moment lists that people come up with.

Good news is that I am riding strong.
Bad news is my body is still a little tired from the 12'er in La Crosse and Ben and I's Rocky ride.
Starting to taper for this.

Old people are funny.

Monday, work day.

Rocky training

The last 2 races I managed to bring home the gold hardware. With Ben unable to do better than "only" 4th the same weekends he asked me to take him under his wing. A good analogy to Ben and I's relationship now is the same as Rocky had with Micky. Rocky did some unorthodox training methods because of Mick, and now Ben does the same.

First we started with pounding the pedals.

If he can dodge a dump truck he can dodge a tree.

We ignore these signs.

Closed? Why?

Had Ben doing tunnel repeats.

Rocky chased a chicken for speed. Ben rides a springy kids toy for balance. After 4 hours on this he was not smiling anymore.

Coming home. Next I got to work on him about the small wheels he rides.

A good 3 hours of gravel grinding with Ben 9.9. Busting butt. Like Ben said, it felt like we were at the front of a group pulling, but no one would pull through.

Word. Work.

Some more pics from Lax

Mark Walter and I leading out the prologue lap. If your at a WORS race stop by his Muddy Cup trailer for a carmel, mocha, iced, skinny, soy, vegan latte with whipped cream and sprinkles.

A bigfoot-esque shot of me hiding in the woods.

Oh, oh. Here comes the logs, time to earn $5 more dollars...

...up the first set...

...and over the second, no dabs, and a nice man is there waiting to hand me my crisp Ben Franklin.

A blurry shot of Bob "ride like a girl" Marhefke. Seems he is the "man" when it come to getting trail work done at HPT. If I were to guess the pic here of him is blurry and dark for a reason. He doesn't "photograph" all that well if you know what I mean.

Dan here was one of the reasons that this race kicked butt. He is seen here taking a quick 10 second nap.

Erik "the Viking". Race director, SS rider, monkey trainer.

That is it. I may get some pics of some Top Secret training tonight. Ben and I are looking to get fast, but for now you should be looking to get back to work.

Epic, fun, and cash on the course.

Wow. What a fun race. The guys in La Crosse made one of the best courses and races I have ever ridden. Tough, but hella fun.

The Start. The race started with a loooong lemans start and prologue to break things up before all of the singletrack (which was 95% of the course). I came off of the run in 3rd behind Mark "T-bone's husband" Walter and another solo dude. Through the transition I moved up and was on Mark's wheel. Through the prologue on onto the 1st lap.

First Lap. The first lap was a little eventful. I rode along with Randy McVean who is a very strong rider I knew from La Crosse. He was taking a shot at 12 hours solo and that scared me as we were riding 1st and 2nd in solo. Following him over a log my rear wheel came down odd. My tubeless set up burped out a bunch of air. After a minute of digging out a CO2 and filling the tire with more air I was off. In the time loss I was now in 4th right behind 2nd and 3rd (Chris Schotz). When we got to the open hill at the half way point Chris came around 2nd and I came around both of them. I set off trying to establish a gap, but soon came across Randy and his bike that was falling apart. 1st lap down and I was in 1st with a 45 second gap. Cool.

Making money out on the course. Laps after this were fairly uneventful except for the hill climb. You see, on one of the major uphills there were 2 widely spaced apart log crossings. The first crossing was close to 2 feet high, the second about 1 1/2 feet. They gave you a $5 bill every time you cleared them (but only when the music from the boom box was playing). On my 2nd lap they were jamming and I set off to try what I thought was going to be way too difficult. Luckily I cleared them that lap, and the 3rd, and the 4th, and the 10th. I was 4 for 4 when they were paying out. Almost made back my full entry fee in just those damn logs!

Monkeys. Another race within a race that the boys and girls from La Crosse had cooked up was the monkey count. There were inflatable monkeys on the course of different sizes. First to correctly come up with the correct number (29) won a Bontrager Carbon crankset. My guesses never went passed 19.

Lap after lap. Turning over laps my goal was to get a gap, hold it, and never use the granny gear (that part was psychological). Check, check, and check. My baby's momma was letting me know the gap as it grew, it never seemed to go down, and I was still climbing in my middle ring (not that the rpm's were always the greatest). There is a ton of climbing on that course and after 6 hours it really is tough.

Ending. Towards the end I knew I had at least 30 minutes on 2nd. I headed out for my 13th lap and final lap. That had to be my slowest lap as I knew I had no fear of getting caught and no motivation to work hard, but I got it done. Called it a day just before the 11 hour mark. Even though there was time for a 14th lap, Chris in second was not going to be able to get me. Sat down and ate some pizza and joked with the guys that I knew from La Crosse.

The pit crew. My baby's momma and did a stellar job (again) of getting me hooked up with the nutrition and support I needed. Bottles, fruit, water, wipe downs, and time gaps were all handled with aplomb. While I ate she loaded the car. What a woman. I think I will keeep her around for awhile longer.

The race itself. This has got to be one of the best races I have attended. Awesome course. Great people. Monkey count. Hill climbs that earn you money. Beer, soda, pizza, brats, hot dogs, chips, and tunes were all provided by the crew from La Crosse. Just a ton of fun for the riders and support during and after. THANK YOU LACROSSE VELO!!!

The loot. I came away with $25 in hill climb cash (they gave me $10 the first time as I was the first to complete it), a very nice Saris hitch rack (anyone interested as I already have one?), the coolest trophy I have EVER gotten, a sweet Salsa apron as a door prize, and a bunch of Hammer product that was given out. I made out like a bandit.



Coming in from the leman's start.



Finishing a lap. And then....

...starting the next lap.

Mouth full of delicious pizza. Can you tell what Nina would like?

Some of the boys from La Crosse. Left to right. Kevin, Kaveh, Nate, Tostin, and yours truly.

The pit crew. My baby's momma, Becky, and Nate's soon to be baby's momma, Kati.

Getting paid yo! Dan on the far left of the pic and Erik next to him were instrumental in making this race awesome.

Wearing the apron and talking to Kevin about when he is going to buy me the Dilly Bar he now owes me.

The bling and the bike.

Looks like we are headed to Stillwater now to watch the road pros duke it out in a super tough crit. They are only riding 60 minutes. Slackers.

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Hope you got read this without the boss noticing.

ABC is easy as 123

No posts in awhile. Your boss was thankful.

Soooooo, I have some updates that will have to wait until later this weekend. Gotta post about the baby's momma's marathon (and weekend with the Carey's) and a recap of the coming race.

Got a 12 hour race in La Crosse this weekend. I rode the course last week and it will be tough. Average speeds are not going to be above 11 mph like last time. Supercal is almost ready, almost.

Wow, you are still reading....I am just kinda going on and on about nothing, so here is some more random thoughts.

I have been riding really strong lately. I am happy about that.

I keep looking at this site. My biggest race this year.

Ben is amped for this weekend. You should see his new frame.

I need to update my links.

This guy is too cool for words.

Do you get paid by the hour to surf the internet?

Triple top secret training.

Went out and did some triple top secret training last night. It was in prep for this race. Needless to say this race is going to be tough, very tough.

I need to bulk up on the upper body for this one.

The Supercal needs a little loving after the 12 hour race.

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In other news:

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-Ben has been updating his blog. He finished an impressive 4th this weekend.

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-Brendan whooped up this weekend as well.

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-The Velorochester teams have been busy. Jen Meyer and Chris Fischer won their respective Buck Hill races on Thursday, 6/7/07. I pulled out a big "W" Satuday at the 12 hour. Then to follow it up Brendan takes the gold at Afton and Mark Carey takes the amatuer division at a very large Rockman Half Ironman in Rockford, IL on Sunday. Lots of big finishes for the team to brag about.

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-You need to get back to work.

The last 129.6 miles on my bike recap.

John Muir is a well known and fun trail system in the Kettle Moraine area. Located just 30 minutes south of my baby's momma's momma's (Oconomowoc, WI), it provides easy lodging as well. Becky and I got up at 5:30 and were out the door around 6am. A stop at Brueggers for a little breakfast and coffee and away we go.

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We got to the course at about 6:50 with just enough time to set up for the 8am start. Met up with Nate "shred the gnar" Woolever and we set a dual pit under the newly purchased EZ-Up. Nate was going 12 solo as well with his future baby's momma, Kati "6 months pregnant" Woolever, to arrive later as support.

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We all lined up for one of the shortest Le man's starts you'll ever see. I made my goal of hitting the trail first and set the pace for the first mile. Some team guys came by and it was "game on" to see how well I could keep them in sight without expending too much energy. Lap one went down and it appeared I had a gap with my 50 minute lap time.

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Laps 2 and 3 I saw no one, and my pit stops were not long enough to get info on how I was doing. Towards the end of lap 4 Chris Strout (4th place) caught me and we passed through the start/finish together. He stopped at his pit and that was the last I saw of him.

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Lap 5,6 and 7 I still didn't know where I was except that I thought I was out in front and Chris was hot on my tail (I kept looking, but no Chris). I found out at the end of lap 8 that I was in fact in second. I was told 1st was 3 minutes in front of me and 3rd place was 4 minutes back (in fact, the rider by the name of Andrew Hanson had close to 20 minutes on me at that point.) Well, I knew at my pace I had 4 laps left and my body hurt...bad. My legs felt like crap, my back hurt, and my stomach was on the verge of quitting, but I didn't come to be a pussy.

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So off I went. 4 laps left and I put into my "4 hour time trial after riding 8 hours" pace. I kept telling my stomach to shut up and reminding my mind that the pain in my legs would hurt more if I didn't keep riding. I was hoping that 1st and 3rd were hurting as well. At the end of lap 10 I was informed that I was now in first by 17 minutes. Looks like Andrew may have burned his matches too early and he had to quit. A pit crew member under another tent suggested I take a quick break, but I did not want to risk it and off I went for the 11th, and second too last lap.

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At the end of the 11th lap I was informed I now had 20 minutes on 2nd and 80 minutes to finish another lap. With lap times now close to an hour I took off for lap number 12 to secure my lead. That lap sucked. I had no motivation to ride except to finish in under 80 minutes. My whole body wanted to go to sleep, but hey, I was still passing people. 67 minutes later (my slowest lap by far) I crossed the line for the last time. 12 laps. 129.6 miles. 11 mph average.

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Race Notes:

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-The Gary Fisher Supercaliber 29'er kicks ass.

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-There are a heck of a lot of trail riders in the early afternoon at John Muir. Lots of kids (good). Lots of bare heads (bad).

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-With all the near misses, I never actually hit those damn streaky gophers. I did, however, see one had met it's demise out on the trail. Poor little guy.

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-Overgrowth. If I have one complaint it was the bushes and branches that extended into the trail. My arms were shredded by the end (see pic). My helmet almost got ripped off at one point (Nate's did get dented). They also kept trying to poke me in the eyes.

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-The last 4 laps will hopefully not be that bad again. I already have a game plan that will help alleviate the back, leg, and stomach troubles. It is a 4 pronged attack. No I will not tell you, but they are not exactly secrets.

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-Nate got a strong 8 laps in. Him and his wife also helped me shred the gnar by crewing at one of my pit stops.

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-Second place looked like an exciting finish. In 3rd place by 5 minutes, Chris Schotz rode a super fast last lap time to overtake 2nd (Daniel Brennan) by 15 seconds. OUCH!

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-The trails sure were different as the sun traveled across the sky. Those shadows got to be tricky towards the end.

Coming in for the 1st of 2 extended pit stops (end of lap 5). About 4 minutes in length. The baby's momma ready with bottles filled with water, calories, and a little love(ahhhhhh).

I am a blur I tell you. Kati seen here on the right. The unused and lonely Paragon at the bottom.

Done...finally. Nina is there to celebrate the big win. Jersey zipped up for the big finish. Damn, I am so expert (as in so pro, but not).

Nina and I going to collect our bounty.

A pic of the me and the "Spaz" with our medal.

Do you have your tickets....TO THE GUN SHOW? Note the scratches on the arm. I have a matching left.

Nina is tired from so much excitement. The baby's momma is showing you all a little shoulder.

Time to hit the hay. You may be reading this at work right now. Why? Why not get some work done? It is probably Monday and there is a lot to do, but you are wasting time on this crap.

Oh well. Till next time.