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.

So Pro.

Many things are attributed to being "so pro". As in shaving your legs is "so pro", or your name on your bike is "so pro".

So which of these is more "so pro"? (Note, both are wearing Velorochester gear)

Getting your face on Velonews.com as you line up behind Geoff Kabush like Ben "Brendan's Brother" Moore,

OR

getting a blurry shot of you lined up behind Lance Armstrong at Leadville like Dan "Afton King" Dittmer on superhumanmag.com's video?


You decide....when you get off of work.

PSA

Add this to your do not do list:
Put bit in drill.
Hold up new shelf support with right hand (back of hand to the wall).
Use drill to turn in a screw.
Lean in hard on the screw.
Have the bit slip off, penetrate, hit bone, and chew up the end of your index finger.

No Dan, this will not stop me from battling at Afton this weekend. Looking forward to 24 (25?) hours of fun:=)

BTW.

Review: Hi Fi Pro

So I thought I would post some reviews. I preface everything I say with the understanding that I am supported by Fisher bikes and I like the company because they are awesome, so no bias.

The Gary Fisher Hi Fi Pro-
100mm front and rear travel. G2 geometry. Superlight frame. Big wheels. Blingy.

Set up. I messed with most of the parts on this bike when I got this bike. Most things were swapped out, not because of quality, just my preference. Needless to say, I have it loaded with Bontrager goodies. For gearing I run a 11-34 cassette and a 26/36 tooth set up on the front. I find this perfect for my needs. The bike weighs in at 25.75 pounds as set up in this picture with "heavy" tires. Close to 25lbs with racey tires. Fox supplies the suspension on both ends with the optional propedal settings to increase efficiency. Sag was set up at 25% of travel.

The ride. Gary Fisher likes to hype the G2 geometry on their 29'ers. It is designed to make the bike ride like a 26'er in the tight stuff. I got to say there is something to this. I found the bike rides best when the Fox shocks are set up on their propedal setting of "1". With propedal on front and rear this bike becomes a singletrack guru, slicing up the tight stuff. No fork dive, no pedal feedback, but still fantastic at schooling any bumps along the way. Small drops are handled with aplomb.

Climbing is great. Traction is great like any 29'er. The weight is very light, especially for a dually. The propedal settings make sure the power hits the rear wheel like Bill Clinton hits on interns, while the shocks still work well at keeping rocks from wrecking my fun. The Lord did not bless me with innate climbing abilities, but this year I have done much better in this department, and I like to think it is partly due to this bike.

With the lightweight Bontrager XR-1 tires this bike amazes me. Superfast, light, nimble, but still bump gobbling goodness. This is the fastest set up I have EVER ridden. Me likey. I throw on bigger meat when the need arises, but in a XC this is the bees knees.

As mentioned before, I love this bike (or did I forget to mention this?). Know that the purchase of the bike will leave you happy.

Now, stop reading about bikes on work time (or maybe free time) and get busy.

24 Hours of Afton

So at the moment I have no real support for Afton (known as Salsa 24). The Baby's Momma will be out of town. Dad will be recovering from surgery. I have some people that I might be able to lean on during the race, but anyone want to help out?? I would be looking for someone that is willing to stay up much of the night, fill my flasks, maybe take some pics, fill bottles, get lights ready, and let me know how I am doing; basically be a set of hands and eyes in the pit for when I roll through.

Rewards are that you would get a blog mention/pic and a heart felt thank you. Yeah, so both of the people that read this site would know who you are.

There is a whole bunch of other stuff going on during the race that I wouldn't care if you frolicked in as well.

Anyone?

charlytri at yahoo dot com

Oh, and got lots of riding in last week. A bunch up in Cable. You should see the new epic singletrack going in from Hayward to Cable. It is off the chain, yo!

BTW

Buck

Well, I spent 75 minutes of my life racing 6 laps at Buck Hill as part of the MN series. That averages to about 12.5 minutes a lap. A little ridiculous, but that is the end of my rant. The race was fun, people where cool (on course and off) except for one of my fellow competitors that got too heated when passing some of the comp riders, and the course was fun (albeit short). I let off the gas a little on the start as I was expecting a bad day. My body was not revving well in warm up and the heat was not to my liking. First lap I was towards 8th or so with several guys around me (that's what she said). By the end of the last lap I was able to shed all but Dave Oachs. I would roll in to take 4th overall, 1st in Cat 1 (my best MN series finish ever, oh, and cash money!!). Dave would finish about 10 seconds back. Sure, the field was thinner than normal and I wish there were more riders, but 4th is 4th and the cash already went into the "Moab trip fund". I am especially stoked because the course was not good for me (passing primarily on the climb), the heat was not good for me, and the race was short/intense not long/arduous. Brendan "KC" Moore took top honors again (I think they should name part of the trail after him and all of his wins there), and Chris "My wife won the chick catagory" Fisher rolled in for 8th.

Here is a video from MNSCS, I can be seen at 2:40:



That is all for now. I have had very little time to get this out.
Now I am off to Cable for 4 days of riding while you surf the net at work. Have fun without me.

I've been thinking.

This is how I look when pondering. Yes, I put on the jersey to think.
So, Abi and I have been talking about how I want to handle my 2nd part of the season (while I was changing a loaded diaper). The plan was to race the 12 hour race in LaCrosse this weekend and than prepare for Moab on October 10th. Well, Abi is full of insight and she reminded me that I always was disappointed I didn't race the 24 Hour race at Afton. So, now that is on the schedule. Well, I was hoping to get in 2 three week blocks of hard training (plus rest). La Crosse would throw a hiccup in that plan. Without it, I would be missing out on a fantastic race (course/people/atmosphere). I was heavily considering it when Abi took a break from eating Cheerios and pulled up the weather for that day. Having suffered heat exhaustion there last year and then having a hard time recovering from it I have decided to not race this Saturday. Can't say I am not a little disappointed.

So I am in my first week of the first block. Long hours, big gears are on the agenda. I will now be making an appearance at Buck Hill this Sunday to see what I can do in the Elite class. Afterwards, Abi's Mom and I will tear up Lebanon or Murphy.

Next weekend, 4 days at the cabin. I wonder if there is any good mountain biking in Cable?

BTW.

Remember me?

Huh, life gets busy and the blog suffers. I have been busy with work, life, and just having fun. Found a couple of minutes just to let you know I am alive.

Things I have been up to.

-Working at the shop Mon-Thur., and then leaving for the weekend. This weekend will be the first at home in like 2 months.

-Raced the WORS race. Legs were not snappy at all from the Levis 100 the weekend before, mechanical cost me a few minutes, and I literally started behind every single racer in the Elite class. It is hard to move up and the depth of talent in WI is better than MN. I was not a fan of the course. A large series like WORS should have better courses that don't consider mowing a path through tall weeds a proper way to set the bulk of a race course.

-Hanging with the daughter and wife. Both are super cool.

-I have been riding, but nothing hardcore. Planning on a couple of long butt kickers this weekend. I plan on racing for 12 hours in La Crosse here soon.

-Spent a lot of time up at the cabin with the family. From our 1 acre we have seen bears, a bobcat, wolf, turkeys, deer, loons, bald eagles, and fox. I almost ran into a bear out on the trail as well, and almost smacked one with my car. The riding within a 10 mile radius of there is amazing and plentiful. I can go out on a 4 hour loop just riding super fun trails and never overlapping...amazing.

-I need a hair cut.

-You can rent out the cabin (site needs updating) for your own trips as well. Maybe free lodging in trade? We are looking at building a deck, could use some different kitchen cabinets, or maybe you have another idea. We also have a barn that can be used for boat storage for rent. There is also great deer hunting in the area.

-I love my Fisher Hi-Fi, but I have a Superfly 100 on backorder. Look for me to sell off the Hi-Fi and Paragon later this summer.

-My training this summer has been fairly consistent, but not aggressive. I need to figure out a program to lead up to Moab which is in a few months. Should I change the blog name for the lead up to the race? Mission to Moab for a title? How about Maddash to Moab? Maybe, Singletrack to Slickrock? How about Saddle up to Slickrock? I could talk about my training and such, but in all reality I probably would just put up stupid pictures and talk nonsense.

-You and I need to get back to the grindstone.

Well, I sit here in the land of cheese. We are here for my Baby's Momma's Brother's Daughter's baptism. We brought the bikes and rode the southern kettles this morning. Now, I guess, I'll be racing the cheese heads at WORS this weekend. Just realized tonight that there is a race near here. Should be interesting to see how the legs feel. I barely have the gear to race. Funny how things go.

I am the wiener!!! (spelling?), Levis 100 Miler

For those 2 people that actually read my blog I am sorry for not posting in a long while. I am sure you have found something else to pass the time at work. Posting has lacked because free time has lacked.

This weekend was the Levis 100 Mile mountain bike race. If I can win one local endurance event in a year, this would be it. Levis is true mountain biking. I was able to pull out the big "W" last year after fighting sleepiness and a hard charging Dan Dittmer. This year's competition was more competitive than ever. I counted at least 3 other previous 12 hour winners (Chris Schotz, Tim Ek, and Lee Unwin), as well as a WI Pro dipping his toes in the endurance world (Chris Peariso). We were signed up to race 8 laps at 13.5 miles, 1400 vertical feet, and 95% singletrack per lap. The hills were steep and hard. The singletrack plentiful, rooty, and fun.

First 2 laps.
I took off like a crazed monkey at the start so that I could hit the singletrack first. After putting in a hard effort for the first mile it worked. Soon Chris P. and Lee were on my tail and came around to take the first 2 spots. My legs were not hitting on all cylinders for which I was blaming on not being warmed up yet. Chris P. finished the first lap way off the front as I came in at 1:04 with Chis S., Dan, and Tim. The second lap I was still not riding well. My legs had NO snap what so ever and I even stopped at one point to try to figure out if it was me or the bike. My hands and feet hurt. It felt as though I had ridden a 100 miles already. The legs were already starting to cramp. The bumps hurt more than they should, so I let out air. I would roll in a very distant 5th place after that lap. I resigned to riding out the race with hopes of something changing.

Laps 3 and 4.
My Baby's Momma and I woke up at 3:30 am to make the race. The thought was I may be tired after the second lap so a "vial" of Monster energy drink got shotgunned . Basically, it is a small bottle with 200mg of caffeine and a bunch of vitamins. After that I was rock solid. My legs had pep and I was on a tear. Lap 3 I was feeling great. I would catch Tim and then Chris S and soon would be out of their sight to sit in 3 place on the course. At the end of the 4th lap I would find Dan in the pits still.

Lap 5.
Dan would leave the pits only 20 seconds before me to start his 5th lap and the time check was that Chris P. was "very close". I was pumped, thinking that Dan and I were pulling back 1st and we were going good. I got in front of Dan and slowly started to pull away. About 4 miles in saw Chris P. trying to figure out why his rear wheel had no tension. This would move me in first and Dan in second. It looked like we were going to duke it out like the year before. I would finish the lap completely out of site of Dan, but was gearing up for a showdown once again.
.
Lap 6,7, and 8.
Lap 6 was ridden conservatively expecting a hard effort to complete the last 25 miles. Coming into the pits the time check was Dan was cramping about 10 minutes back. Lap 7 is were the first place team on the course caught up to me. The end of the 7th lap I would find out he dropped out due to heat exhaustion. Having suffered from that twice last year I felt for him. The second place team would also pass me while I pitted. The 8th lap was ridden steady to take the win for a second year. Chris S. would take 2nd and Tim would roll in for 3rd.

Notes:
-I ended up with 108 miles, 11,200 feet of climbing, in 9 1/2 hours. An hour faster than last year on a slightly longer course.
-I finished only 10 minutes behind the first place 4 man team (although they were only running 3 guys).
-A loose rock gave me trouble on the hardest hill on the last lap that forced me to walk 5 feet to get going again. That was the only time I had to walk part of a hill.
-I wish Chris and Dan did not have troubles. It would have been fun to battle it out the last couple of laps.
-The diet consisted of water, EFS shot, bananas, sport legs, and the Monster vial.
-I passed the Whizinator 3 times. I first saw him the day after the Cable Classic riding at Rock Lake. If you weren't in Cable with me then you don't know.
-Except the first 2 laps I felt strong, like bull.
-I pulled out a victory salute. Think Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2 as he drove his motorcycle with his left hand while firing a 12 gauge, reloading, all with the other.
-Becky was not only da bomb in my support, but she got in 13 miles of running while I was on the course as well.
-Abi hung with the Grandparents while we were out.
-My Gary Fisher Hi-Fi was PERFECT! The only thing I can imagine better would be something in OCLV carbon, with ABP, E2, molded BB cups. You know, something "super fly".
-BTW


Out on the course, trying to get my Hasselhoff look going on.


Dan close behind.


Swapping out gel, bottles. Check out the salt stains on the jersey and shorts.


All done. It was a team effort.

Where in the world is Charly?

No 12 hour last weekend (not too disappointed considering the rain they had). Hardly any bike time in last couple of weeks. Why? New tenant moved in Monday and I found out just before that that the walls around the current tub/shower where literally falling off from moisture damage. So I am back at work for the summer, and what time I did not spend there was spent ripping out walls, installing a tub surround, and then patching everything back up. My life as a landlord is not all caviar and laying out at the mansion.

In the big news front, Tri Guy has his own blog. Can be found here. Oh, it is amazing how much people want to be like me.

I have been a busy boy. Now I am off to work and Chicago for a wedding this weekend. Looking to get the legs shredded by showing up to the group road ride tonight on the Paragon. They need pain (the legs, not the other riders, although people say I am a pain to be around).

Later, and of course, BTW.

Bucked again

Headed up to Buckhill again, this time with Tri Guy.

I got a much better warm up and the severe breathing problems that emerged Tuesday held off last night. Heading up the climb I lead out for awhile and settled in to about 5th place in the loose sandy single track. I struggled a little there and still was not hitting on all cylinders. The next couple laps I would try to chase down the trio of Barry Tungseth, Heath Weisbrod, and Tom Miller. At the start of the forth lap I bridged the gap and across the ridge Heath let me by as he had pedal problems. Right after that I ended up clipping 2 stumps in a row with each pedal, knocking me off the bike and burping the front tire. Back on the bike I chased down the Penn Cycle duo. At the top of the starting hill I came by Barry, and then I was able to put in an effort to get across the "finish line" a half wheel ahead of Tom for fifth. Results here.

Just a note, it has me listed as 6th place over a second down from Tom. The finish has cones that lead up to a painted line. I came across that painted line just ahead of Tom. They don't run timing chips there, so I can only assume they punched in our numbers to the computer as we approached the finish, not at the actual finish. Oh well, I say I got 5th, not going to argue it. I don't know if Tom has a different take on the finish.

I was 2 1/2 minutes faster this week and moved up 6 (or 5 depending on who is counting) spots. Looks like next time I'll have to move up the next 5 spots and knock out Brendan "lay the meat" Moore.

BTW

Marathon Mom

As requested, a post about the comeback.

Shown up by a senior citizen.

Remember the videos from this post? You can see Kuske demonstrating the wrong way to take this new section on the Rock Lake trail system. Well, here is another video of how to do it properly on the same section of trail. For the record, I was told this rider is 65 years old...ouch. I am sure I'll get a video of an 8 year old girl clearing it soon. Seems everyone can clear this section of trail, well almost everyone.




BTW.

Tommy want wingies

I want.

Burley Intervals.

Well, Abi got some wheels on now she is rolling on 20's.


Seemed like everyone was getting primed and ready for Afton, but I have another race that I want to fly at. I have been slacking on the training, but that has changed, and the Burley is sure coming in handy. Saturday I was out for 4 hours, starting with hill intervals, rolling around at Eastwood, and then calling the police to take care of unlawful man on man action at Eastwood (resulting in tickets, yeah!!).

Sunday the Burley latched on the back of the Hi Fi and I headed out with the wife on her road bike to have our first family day in 2 months. Low psi, full suspension fully open, tired legs, hauling baby and gear, and low RPM's = almost 4 hours worth of hard tempo intervals. We crushed the Cannon Valley Trail and then some.

Loving these Burley intervals.

back to work, hugs and kisses,
Charly

Bucked

Well it had been about 5 years since I layed rubber to dirt at Buck Hill and about 10 years since I raced their Thursday night race. Times have changed!!

First, I spent most of my day towing Abi's new Burley around, waiting for 3 different people that were no shows to look at apartments, and mowing lawns at our properties. I actually took a shower before the race because I was dripping in sweat from the hot day.

That race is a strange beast. Four short laps had Brendan "Baby Head Calves" Moore winning in about 51 minutes. The start is a long climb to which you duck into singletrack that was not there last time I rode it. Everything was super dry and loose and about the only place to pass was on the climb. And passing I did!!

Well kind of, the first 2 laps I watched as people passed me left and right. My legs did not want to work. Nothing. Finally, halfway through my body decided to show up and now I became the passor instead of the passee. The second half of my race was 1 1/2 minutes faster than the first half. I ended up 11th with about 57 minutes or so, but I am definitely looking to improve on that next week. I think it helps a lot to have some experience there and hopefully I can race the whole thing. I'll be bringing friends.

The whole atmosphere there is really cool. People hanging out afterwards, kids thrashing in their own races, and grilling out. Fun stuff.

Can't wait till Abi is old enough to get her own bike and start her training for the kids race!!

BTW.

12 Hours of the Northern Kettles.

Not sure, but I think may race recaps are wordy, so I'll try to shorten this up. Just thought I'd say "hey" to the new people I met this weekend as well. Thanks for reading.

Prerace
I showed to the race plenty early and there was not a sign of rain. Weather report said 30% chance until 9am and then 0% after that, so the mud tires were left to rest back in MN. Chatted with the main competition; the Chris's. Chris Strout was fresh off his first 12 hour win 2 weeks before and was sporting the latest SRAM goodies, complete with electrical tape. Chris Schotz was running self supported like myself.

The Start
The race course was described as 6-7 miles of single track with no passing. With that I put in a big effort to get to the trail first so that there was no chance of me being held up. Looking back I could see C. Strout about 10 seconds back. The course was incredibly rough and his 69'er Siren softail could not have been as smooth as my Gary Fisher Hi-Fi, so I figured I was buying my time until the bumps and rocks started to get to him. Sure enough towards the end of lap 3 I lost sight of him and continued on my way. I rode for awhile, lapping riders, and finishing off laps in the mid to high 30 minute range. I saw C. Schotz when the course almost overlapped on itself and knew he was about 4-5 minutes back.

Crash and Burn.
Soon the course roughness seemed to numb the body and the bumps felt smaller. Now the course is really rough, new, rocky, and constantly changing pitch. You could never stay in a gear long or settle into any sort of groove. Three hours in, on a longer downhill towards the end of the lap, a bug flew into my "good" eye, causing me to go off trail enough to hit a stump and fly over the handlebars at a high rate of speed (Think Matt's video below, only the speed was higher). I heard an explosion and thought that such a hard impact was a race ender. I got up, checked the bike, and got going. Sometimes the body feels better if you start riding right away. Well, my left shoulder and hip were in a lot of pain, as well as my head, and my stomach was now nausueas and I was light headed. With the dripping down my leg I figured the Camelback exploded. I took a timeout at the pits to refill the Camelbacks and make sure that I was safe to go out again. Turns the explosion and dripping were my exploded gel flask. Soon, C. Schotz came by and I was sure that C. Strout would be there too. So I headed out, covered in gel, hoping not to lose too much time. The injuries were bothering me and I was still light headed, so I pulled over and sat on a log to keep from crashing again. Then I went back to the pits to sit as well ans see if I could get myself back in the race. A time out, new shorts, and sleeveless jersey had me going again, but I was definitely beat up.

Sometime before the crash and rainfall. Note the race number.


The Comeback? (not sure what is up with the text size)
I put in 3 or 4 good fast laps when it started to rain. The prospect of rain made me happy as I thought I would do even better with a muddy course. I got in a half lap and it was getting slick already. I went out for another lap and all rear tire traction was gone. The Bontrager XR-1 (my rear tire choice) was amazing in the dry, but possibly the worst tire for the mud. Every corner had my rear wheel slide out. Most climbs I had to walk, and everything else was a chore. I had person after person passing me and the temps went down. My sleeveless jersey was now a liability as I was freezing as well. That and the fact I was nursing my body from the crash had me convinced that if I ever finished the lap I would be done. I was having no fun that day. My last lap out there would take my 1 hour 20 minutes, 2 1/2 times longer then my other laps. I managed 8 hours out there full of frustrations on the day.

I ended the day in 7th, thanks to the fact half of the other solo field dropped as well. Could have gone better. The next day my hip was alright, but the shoulder was hurting.

Looks like I was wordy, saw about that. Hope your boss understands.

Velorochester Training Camp and Race, Long

Time for some math. I have a cabin in Cable, WI. There is a super fun race the weekend of May 16/17th and sweet trails to ride after. There is also a fairly lame MN series race course that weekend. Add it up and you get much of the Velo team headed up to Cable for the weekend for racing, riding, and smack talking.

There were definitely 2 mini teams at camp this year. The young 'n dumb crowd (Myself, Matt Kurke, Mark Carey, Jason Wenk, and Chris Fisher), and the old 'n wise crowd (Gary Gross, Mark Barlow, and Chuck Sorenson).


The Race-CORC (Cable Off-Road Classic)
Friday night most of us got a ride in. Saturday morning was chilly. With temps not even hitting 40 degrees, the youth of the team rolled out for the 5 mile warm up to Lakewoods lodge. Once there I separated myself and did everything I could do to warm up the body. My legs were telling me that it was not to be a good day. The cold I have been fighting the last week was making it's presence known as well.

The national anthem ends and Gary Crandel calls out 3 seconds to start. We assumed he meant 30 seconds until the gun fired right after. I was standing next to my bike so I hopped on and played catch up. Through the rock lake single track and back out on the road I found myself right near or at the front. TJ Woodruff took off hard and shortly later a guy that I would find out is Dan Schuetz took off as well with no one chasing. There was a group of 15 or so, but I could only pick out a few riders while we rolled along at high speed; Matt Kurke (VR teammate), Chris Fisher (VR teammate), Sam Oftedahl (Super nice guy), and Hollywood (Party On!). Matt, Hollywood, and I were doing the bulk of the work, with me coughing a lot from my cold. I started to get annoyed that after awhile I found myself on the front more and more without help, so I tried little surges, not attacks, to break up the group and soften others for later in the race. I figured I would fade at some point and Matt and Chris could take advantage of my work.

The speeds were very fast, the temp still wasn't above 40, and we were rolling straight through the abundant amount of puddles. Needless to say there were some very cold and wet feet out there!

Luckily I had ridden the 4 wheeler trail we were on at the time and knew we were about to turn on to the Esker's single track. I rolled into the corner first and kept the pace up. Hollywood was behind me and I knew his fully rigid 29'er couldn't motor through the rough stuff like my Hi Fi, so I layed on the gas. Out of the Esker I found myself off the front of the group with Matt and Sam. Some chain suck on a hill and they had a small gap on me. I was now rolling in 5th and pleased as punch with my standing on the course.

The Ojibwe trail was next, tight and twisty single track. Right before that I could see Matt catch and pass Dan who had been away for awhile. For several miles I rode with the mindset of keeping Sam, the 2008 MN state series champ, in my sights. Shortly before the end of the trail Sam got by Dan as well and Matt was getting harder to see. I too got behind Dan and I think he was really suffering on the trail with his small wheeled hardtail. I lost some time getting around him, and I thought Sam and Matt were gone for good.

The last 5 miles are wide open and when I popped out I saw Sam was not far up. Now Sam has amazing power to weight, but I have not seen his numbers on the bathroom scale since I was 12. On the flats I can look like the tough guy. I caught him quickly and he let me know that he was content sitting on for a long while. Now Sam could be holding a large Labrador Retriever and I would still throw up bigger numbers when weighed, so I was not worried about him for the sprint. That, and I know a guy like Sam is way to nice to let me do the bulk of the work only to come by at the end.

I layed on the gas in hopes of catching Matt (who I only assumed could also out kick Sam in the sprint), and holding off Dan. No disrespect to Sam, because on a course like Afton he could be eating a sub, texting his Dad, and still pull away from me easily on the climbs. We all have our strengths. I could see TJ a ways up on Matt as well. Matt's gap started to come down and it looked possible, until he saw me back there and dug deep to open it up again. The last little bit I slowed down knowing that my Matt was gone for good and Dan was not catching us. Sam impressed me a lot by offering to lead me out and I came by him for 3rd place. I forgot to thank him afterwards so hopefully he reads this. Truly a classy guy.

This is the best placing I have ever done in a larger race so I was stoked! Third place and just in the money! I also beat some very strong guys and was only 90 seconds back of a well seasoned pro. Full results here.

Saturday Night Ride
The young'ns got out that night for a fun night ride on the Ojibwe. Super fun singletrack is only made better in the dark.




Sunday

On our way to singletrack bliss.


Sunday was spent riding for close to 4 hours in the Rock Lake system. We ran into the old guys and got a picture.



There is a new section of singletrack being built at Rock Lake that we rode by accident on Sunday. We hit again Sunday and stopped a wild rock chute. This is a good sized chute with some small drops and all rock. It is intimidating.

We decided to do a quick instructional video. This is Matt Kurke demonstrating how not to ride this section. Don't worry, Matt was wearing a helmet so there was no chance of injury. Sorry, but you'll have to tilt your head as I can't figure out how to turn the video.



And this is Jason Wenk showing proper form. (May want to watch the volume if watching in public.)



Then we came home. Lots of riding on our legs and big smiles.

BTW.

Things that are making me think.

This guy makes me think.

Why is it that I am opt to ride my bike at stupid long lengths, but look for the closest parking spot at Target?

I saw a sticker on a washroom mirror about employees having to wash their hands. Why is the sticker there? If they are at the sink where they can see the sticker, then they probably are washing their hands. The sticker should be above the urinal to remind the morons to wash up after doing their business.

Why are so many mountain bikers so infatuated with beer? Yeah, you may like to drink it and yeah, it makes your girlfriend look better, but it is just a drink. Why couldn't people get just as excited to go home and have a glass of milk?

How will my body do at the 12 Hours of the Northern Kettles?

Looks like I may not be racing the Iowa 24 hour race and instead tackling 24 Hours at Afton.

I saw a guy stop his car in the middle of a busy parking lot for 20 seconds so he could watch a good looking girl put groceries in the trunk in her car. I wanted to punch the guy for being such a toolbag.

Why does NPR have a membership drive 6 months of the year? They get corporate money, government money, and public money. Private radio stations are jealous of the technology that NPR is able to spend money on. I say open it up to commercials and let the free market take hold.

Why does NPR say they are unbiased when they are not? I have heard several news reports on liberal topics that only show the liberal side. They will interview several people that support their view. The tone of the questions are something like, "Why do we not have tougher gun laws yet?". My favorite was, "How can you be in the republican party and support gay marriage? They are so vile.". For the record I consider myself more of an independent. The handling of Bill O'reilly and Al Franken a couple of years back is a classic example as well.

I need to start "training" again. Lately all I have wanted to do is goof off on my Hi Fi, easily my favorite bike I have ever ridden.

The neighbor's dogs are annoying. They'll bark and bark at my dog while she chews on sticks in the back yard.

I hope I finally found the trick to get grass to grow in my front yard.

It finally happened. Someone got yelled at by their boss for reading my blog (see comments on previous post). I feel like I accomplished something with that.

How much does your company pay you a year while you are surfing blogs?