Ride hard, keep the wheels down

Benefits of racing ‘cross thru January…

2012-01-19T06:35:00.001-06:00

…I’m not doing hours & hours of long base training rides outside in the single digits, sub zero temps & windchill. I’m soooooo not missing that.

Chilling out for the remainder of the month of January and not feeling bad that I’m taking time off the bike… priceless.

US National CycloCross Championships 2012…

2012-01-10T13:49:00.001-06:00

…found the biggest baddest cats in the cyclocross world and ran with ‘em thru frozen ruts, mud, slop and tears this past weekend at the US National Cyclocross Championships

Can’t begin to say enough about how much fun the weekend was regardless of how the racing went. Madison/Verona WI played host to 5 days of almost non stop cyclocross racing.

I raced both Saturday & Sunday -- in a master category and then the Elite/Pro race. Each day had it’s highlights & low lights.

The conditions could have been said to be really good or really bad. While the weather was fantastic for what early January conditions could have been, it made for very challenging course terrain that alternated between slop & mud, and frozen ruts that had become a mainstay from the previous days races.

Certainly some of the most challenging conditions I’ve ever had to ride in for the entire length of a race. Sat’s 10am masters race had the pleasure/displeasure of racing through frozen mud ruts in the early laps of the 6 laps race that eventually began to melt into gooey mud in the last laps as the temperatures heated up.

Plan to better recap things later, in both races I deemed a success in that I progressed up from where my call up starting positions were, but the between the size of the race fields and the course conditions, the further you started in the back it made for all that much more carnage to work around & slowed you to move up.

Gotta say nice work to a few of my midwest fellow competitors in the races I participated in – Tyler Jenema, Chris Smith, Matt Peterson, Jesse Reints, CJ Falkner, Hollywood Henderson and both Brian Matter & Tristan Schouten to name just a few.

I gotta toss out a bunch of big thank you’s to my support that I got on Saturday, and the many shouts from many friends on Sunday. When there are thousands of people lining the course and in every section there’s someone yelling your name & urging you on it’s a super cool feeling. Thank you to every one of you that was out there! I hope the show was worth it. Once in awhile I’d get a chance to look up from the treacherous ground to see your face & give a smile of thanks. Never underestimate how much your cheers help. Whether it was you guys from the U.P. Cross, friends from North, or many others I’ve connected with through Mt Biking and Cross racing the past several years – thanks again it was really appreciated.

Thanks to the my coach Gordy Paulson, who’s been a great guy to work with this past year and who’s keen sense of what’s needed (and not needed) for training even made it possible to arrive in reasonable racing shape after 12 long months of training & racing. And lastly to The Ski Hut for the great support this past season in my cyclocross efforts, much appreciation out to those guys!

Here’s a couple pictures from Chris Schmidt but check just run a google search and it’ll yield a ton of videos and other pictures from the weekend.

Cross Nationals…

2012-01-03T23:49:00.001-06:00

..after a pre & post Christmas fitness slump from a nasty stomach flu, my energy level and some fresher legs showed up on the bike yesterday for the first time in 2 weeks.

Might just have a decent go of things this Saturday & Sunday at Cyclo-Cross Nationals. Really appreciate all the well wishes from so many people this past week about participating in Nationals. I’ll be doing the Cat 1/2/3 40-44 Age group Championship race on Saturday at 10am, then with enough motivation I should give Sunday’s Championship race of Pro/Cat 1/2 at 2:15 a go as well.

Just my luck that the two largest fields of participants are in both those races. For good or bad -- a large part of the final outcome in these races with fields that big will come down to luck & good fortune… and the call up. The benefit and bane of any race with large numbers of participants.

So how does the “call up” work? Well, someones gotta be the first on the start line and someone has to be in the back. My guess is they will have rows of 8 racers wide, with 95+ participants in Saturdays race that’ll make for 12+ rows. They base your starting position on an interesting but relatively complex formula that if you’re an engineer, accountant or other kinda number-head you might find it interesting. Long story short, you’re granted points based on races you’ve done during the Cyclo-cross season. But only races that participate in & play by the rules of the USA cycling program. I skimmed through the guidelines but wanna say they take the 3 best of those races. Good thing I at least did the 2 Badger Cross races & a MN ‘cross race.

Looks like I’ll be starting in 54 position on Saturday (even if I nail down 3rd overall at the Midwest Regional masters championship race…nice eh?) , and 89th on Sunday…. so 7 rows back & 12 rows back, nothing like a good challenge.. I’m confident however that my ending placement should be better than my starting place.

There’s really not too many good alternatives to this method, but it does force a rider to chase point races during the season. And someone not having that geographical benefit of being able to do so it puts that rider at a disadvantage.

Narrowing it down to smaller fields with a qualifying race(s) would be a nice option. I think anything more than 30 or 40 participants in a race of 45minutes to an hour on a course that is no wider than 10-15 feet, gives all those participants a reasonable chance. Bigger fields than that & you could be the lance armstrong of cyclo-cross and starting in the rear you still couldn’t catch the front by the end of the race due to the traffic & volume of racers.

So Saturday, I’m going to be giving it my best and let the chips fall where they may. Maybe I’ve got good legs, maybe I don’t – hopefully I’ve got a good story or two when it’s all over.

Sounds like a lot of friends and fans are going to be there!! That may be one of the best parts about it. Friends from up north are coming down to watch, a bunch from the UPCross scene, along with friends & fellow racers. That’s going to be super awesome about the weekend just having such a big crowd of people cheering, yelling and screaming. If you don’t get down there, go to the USA Cycling or some other websites and watch the live streaming coverage of the Elite Races on Sunday. The weather is forecasted to be reasonably warm and good conditions, it’s gonna be a great time!!

Best of 2011…

2011-12-24T08:16:00.001-06:00

In reflection of the year gone by, how could I pass on the opportunity to toast or roast my friends and fellow riders/racers and make mention of the events that made the year memorable.

Most impressive ride: Ray “I took a shot of rum” Nelson – hanging on for dear life in top 30 for 2/3rds of Cheq 40, only to kicked ass up FireTower climb & ride away from his group for a top 20 finish.

Guys to have best upped their game this year: Aaron Sturgis, Nate Lillie, Josh Tesch

Best funny guys to race with any day of the week: Chad Sova, Nate Lillie

Best post race story: Matt “I let my coolness get in the way” O’Meara

Best Comeback Rider of Year: Hand’s down, no contest – Todd McFadden, nothing could take this guy down- lymes, injury, cold, flu. Note to self: rumor has it, he may be part cyborg.

Best pre, post & during race friend: Tom “I’ve been known to crush freehub body’s on torque alone” Carpenter.

Best blog: …ah, I read ‘em all!

Best beat down of me in Chequamegon 100: Larry “his forearms are bigger than my thighs” Sauber. Went on to drop me like a chain in a bad & dirty drivetrain.

Most missed on the racing scene: Kelly McKnight, Matt Hudson

Enduro-guy I miss most on the XC circuit: Charlie Farrow

Guy most willing to help: Tristan Schouten

Best Twitter feeds: @Ironchefmpls

Best inspirations: from close friends, family and racers of all abilities

*****************************

Best new MTB race: Deerfly Chase, Hickory Ridge Trails, Bloomer WI Oct 1st- Noah M.

Race that still comes back to conquer me – Chequamegon 40 (top 30 spot drop to finish post 100th)

Race who’s number I have dialed in – Ore to Shore Hard Rock (punctures both pre ride and during race and still manage stop a 24th place overall & 1st place 35-39)

Race I shoulda been tested for Performance Enhancers – BayCross Day 1 (best legs of season)

Best overall place for anything MTB' or ‘cross racing – anything U.P.

Worst time:… the Eastern time zone -- thank you Keweenaw Chain Drive for your 10am EDT start…agh! Oh well Matter & co. needed the 30minute headstart over me anyways.

…More to come…

Working on an Aggressive Power to Weight ratio program for CX Nationals…

2011-12-20T09:00:00.001-06:00

…it’s called the flu. Ugh!

Badger Cross Results 2011 ….

2011-12-12T17:07:00.002-06:00

….Results or here Day 2

....Results Day 1

Badger Cross–Midwest Championships Day 2…

2011-12-12T02:19:00.002-06:00

…just rolling in home past midnight Sunday after 330miles coming back from Madison & the Badger Cross Midwest Cyclocross Championships.

Day 2, the Championship Day, lot’s better than Day 1, amazing how a person can stay in the race without a big snafu.. not to say it didn’t almost start that way. A front row start almost got blown with a bad pedal clip in that had me slamming into the nose of my saddle with my backside -- driving it down an uncomfortable 15 degrees south of level. Oh well, wasn’t stopping to fix it and decided would just have to work around it.

Still it left me off the front on the pavement rollout, so that when we hit the grass I peaked ahead & counted being back 10 places and 15-20 seconds off the lead. At first thought, “ugh! Not again”, but took a more aggressive approach once we hit the gradual incline straightaway that lead to a winding steep stand up section. I took some good lines & fortunately the waters parted as I was able to shoot up through the other guys and moved from 10th to 3rd in about 20 seconds. I was probably as surprised as they were.

When I next looked up there was the first & 2nd place guys, Joe Curtes & Jeff Melcher, podium placers from the previous days race about 10-15 seconds up, so I knew I was in good company & proceeded to work my way towards them. Joe was riding a steady effort and pulling away from Jeff, as I concentrated on getting to Jeff first.

Of the 6 lap race I could tell by the 2nd lap I was finally making headway into catch Jeff & distancing the rest of the field of 20+ racers. What a change of pace from yesterday when I was chasing through the entire field. By the third lap on the same steep winding climb I pushed on in the first lap, I went for a dig to put a final close on a 5 second gap Jeff had been holding. Feeling good power on the climb I was able to pull up to Jeff wheel and on the ensuing sweeping left turn that lead to the top side of the course I opted to do something I normally hold back on. Instead of being content to sit in his draft I decided to find out if he had anything in his tank or was bluffing so I jumped really hard and fly past him. It was gonna cost me a match or two but I had a downhill shortly after to recover. If Jeff wasn’t ready he was gonna be toast in short order. It took him a bit to react and it wasn’t til the downhill section that to my surprise he caught back on. Damn, he wasn’t buying my bluff either! That downhill lead to a great railroad tie stepped hill run up (see here for pics). Something about that hill treated me well as I was able to run it really strong both days and again raced past Jeff.

On the ensuing pavement he caught back on and I later was content to let him lead the next downhill section, but instead of sticking close to his wheel my efforts from catching & passing had me just enough over the edge that I wasn’t able to recover & keep up the pace. Jeff would edge ahead & I’d reel him back ever slow slightly and he’d pull away again.

By the fourth lap I was starting to look forward to the end as my tank had the feeling it was running low and the 5th lap confirmed it as Jeff & Joe continued to pull away & it didn’t help when I doofed a corner just before the sand pit. At the same time on some switch backs it appeared the 4th & 5th place guys Chris Smith & Dave Peters were making up some time… Just Great!! Not what you want to see after driving so hard in the initial laps of the race. But like they say “Go Big or Go Home…”

So on the 6th lap I made up for it mentally with what I didn’t have physically. Sometimes you gotta do that. You can force your body thru short periods of time doing things it doesn’t normally have a means to channel into – there’s price to it no doubt – it’s pain & a lot of it, but one thing I know from working with power is that pain is sometimes all the same whether you are going 10-20 watts faster or slower. Tap into those extra watts & it can make a difference. I laid down the focus of just getting thru the two major climbing sections at the 1/4 & 3/4 marks of the lap. If I could get them thru without completely falling apart I might catch a fading Jeff or Joe and easily hold off Chris & Dave.

Fortunately, things played out just fine, though I didn’t catch either Joe or Jeff. I had plenty of breathing room on the fast pavement finish to secure 3rd. Not quite the overall “W” I was gunning for but I can’t knock Joe Curtes for two strong days of riding, as well as Jeff Melcher. It still brought in a little prize money and a picture on the podium & that can’t be all bad.

Here’s run down of Sunday’s race…

ps- I’m not no stinkin’ 40 yrs old either! They take your year end 2011 age & add 1 year. So Dec 28th anyone interested can wish me a happy birthday… Anyways, that’s how you get a 38 yr old to have a racing age of 40. Make sense? I didn’t think so..

Long way to travel for some ‘cross races but good to see old faces & meet some new ones. Caught up with the U.P. cross crew of Colby Lash & Kyle Sarasin, unfortunately they were without USGP Cat 2 cross killing Tyler Jenema as he was out sick. Kyle had a nice race Sat finishing 1st in Category 3 race & a mishap had him finishing 3rd Sunday.

As strange as this may sound, I also met my cycling coach for the first time…in person that is. Gordy Paulson! Nice to finally shake the hand of the guy who’s had a big part in the gains I’ve made this year. Super guy.

Cross fans can be an interesting bunch but perhaps the funniest or most unexpected comment I heard racing all day long came from a guy who had perhaps heard my name over the P.A. and that I was from Ashland. Little did I know that 330 miles from home and 20 years removed from my high school graduation would I be singled out and yelled at with the name of my H.S. moniker “Go OreDocker!!” Yeah… gotta love it!

So I wrapped up the weekend & tried to make a speedy trip home, fortunately Eau Claire is about the half way point (yes, half way home.. for the geographically challenged people of Wisconsin, there’s still another half state above that Eau Claire/Wausau/Hwy 29 – E.C. is not North WI… central, maybe..) Anyways, a perfect break for some badly needed food & company of the Mexican variety… the food, not the company that is. As I tracked down a friend and had a great time catching up. Always fun, never enough time…

So goes bike racing for 2011, but the Cyclo-cross season rolls into 2012 with the National Championships Jan 4th thru 7th. Another four weeks of careful prep cooked up by Gordy and well see how things turn out when all the marbles are up for grabs, can’t wait to see what the weather dishes out as well.

With any luck I’ll be able to follow thru with my plans on posting some highlights, lowlights & observations of the ‘11 season. Stay tuned, even the names of the innocent will not be spared…

Midwest Cyclocross Championships–Badger Cross day 1…

2011-12-11T11:06:00.003-06:00

…Because ‘cross tends to play into more of the strengths I seem to have racing a bike, it’s been easy to keep focused on riding and racing. Plus all the workouts are shorter and easier to tolerate outside now that winter seems to be here.

Headed down to Madison/Verona for the Badger Cross weekend of racing. Didn’t know exactly what to expect except it’d be cold & windy… but that'd make it still downright balmy when compared to what I’ve been riding in up in Ashland this past week. With temps in the single digits and windchill below zero. Not to mention the 3-4” of snow.

Arriving at the race Saturday was a fiasco and as a rule I don’t normally lay down a negative about any race event unless they really have it coming. BadgerCross – put directions on your website as to exactly where you’re holding the race. Every out-of-towner I spoke with this weekend was clueless as to where exactly to find the event. The directions lead you to one side of the Badger Praire Park with absolutely no clue where exactly to find where the course was. If you’re the “Midwest Championships” up your level of communication. Sorry for the bitchin’ – but the stress and anxiety & lost warmup time of not finding the course doesn’t bode well for one’s liking of a race.

That set aside, once I did get there – I had less than a 1/2hr to pickup registration info, suit up and get in a ride around the course. Though not ideal, I took it to be unavoidable and got to focusing on the race. The terrain could best be described as fast, but bumpy. The ground was frozen and I was shocked at how fast it felt compared to this week of practice I had riding in the snow.

I opted for the Master 35+ 1/2/3 category race. It started just behind the Pro/1/2 women race… in staggering order. Odd that it was done that way because I don’t think it took but 3 or 4 minutes for the men to overtake most of the women racing. Reversing the starting order would have made more sense and not been a detriment to the women’s race.

The men’s race had 25 racers, so there was 3 rows 8 wide of riders based on registration. I’d registered a month ago and still was in 3rd row so if someone was doing this race they had decided long ago to do so.

The start was a fast pavement roll out that worked it’s way into the flatter grass & cornering sections before it headed up the rolling hills sections. Though I would have loved to go to the front to start, I had traffic to negotiate around and was probably between 6th & 10th when things started to open up somewhat & the leaders were 50+ yards ahead.

Now, one thing I don’t do well -- is having cold feet. It pretty much doesn’t matter what I do. I opted to try wearing boot covers & my electric insole heaters during the race. I’ve trained with them regularly and saw no problem with them… that was until half way thru the first lap at the first set of double barriers. I’m holding my position and working my way up but when I crossed the second double barrier. I heard and felt this clanging around my feet to look down and see tangled about were the miniature heaters & their cords outside of my boots. Crap!! So I had to stop and figure out what the heck I was going to do. 1)Try and reconnect everything and hope it didn’t happen again or 2)rip the stuff off and freeze the rest of the race. Option 2 was the choice but it required me unzipping the boots, unbuckling the shoes and removing the cords & heaters. In the meantime, every single one of the racers both men & women passed me by leaving me in the infamous D.F.L. position. (for the uninitiated, the first initial stands for Dead, the final initial Last… I think you can fill in the middle initial.)

Thought to myself, “oh,well, can’t do much about it now”. So just gotta see what kinda ride I can still make out of it and boy wouldn’t it be cool if I could still catch the front of the race… optimism working overtime. So I put my head down and proceed to crank out a steady pace of running down one racer after another. I was surprised at how fast I was going thru them too begin with.

Finally coming thru the pits a few more laps in, there’s Chris Smith, “Smithers” – darn strong ‘cross racer from MN. Finishing 4th overall at their State championship race & winning the 35+ category. So if I’d caught that far back up I must be doing better than I thought. Well, he was the only one staying with me & on a climb he went for a pass, only it was all jacked up. With a rider up front of us he squeezed between the two of us instead of going around on the right. Must have been his best line & after all it's cyclocross where politeness ain't the same as in MTB'ing. Weird though, I gotta admit I wasn’t exactly pleased. So it gave me the impetus to put in a strong move as I figured I could use the motivation to keep pushing the pace. I chased him down for the next 1/3 of lap til he unfortunately smoked a corner and totally upended his bike. He was going good up to that point. Crashes are never cool but they score on style points & C.S. definitely got style points for that one. I felt bad for him & gave an shout of encouragement to get back on, but sometimes it doesn't work that fast and I ended up putting distance between us again that stayed.

It was sorta lonely the remaining two laps but with just over 1 1/2 to go after there had been no one in sight I came across two more guys about 20-30 seconds ahead and I was quickly reeling them in. In short order it was down to 10 seconds and then down to a few bike lengths. Unfortunately, I failed to complete the job soon enough and ran out of passing areas as they got to the pavement finish before I did.

Frozen & cold I went to check the results figuring a mid pack finish. So I was pleasantly surprised to see an 8th overall given the first lap fiasco and how close I was to 6th. Anyways, Saturday was just the pre race to Sundays championship and only goes to set starting position for today. With an 8th place finish that should give me the final front row call up for Sunday.

Still felt fresh afterwards but somehow dropped dead once I got to my hotel room and managed 12 hours of sleep (that hasn’t happened in any recent decade). Feeling good this morning, heading over to the race course shortly, maybe the legs will be there for today and without mishap could be an even better result.

Cross racing results are always all over the board it seems, some day I should post on how unpredictable they can regularly be when you go a lot of equally talented and fit riders. Well, just gotta give it a go today and see where it all goes…

Any check out the forecast for Midwest ‘Cross Championships….?

2011-12-04T08:04:00.001-06:00

We all know weather can change in a heartbeat, but ever since Fri I’ve been checking the 10 day forecast for Madison, WI. to see how to gauge what to expect for Badger Cross, Midwest ‘Cross Championship

Yeah!! Don’t see this kinda stuff in Belgium, Germany & the Netherlands for ‘cross racing now do ya!

And they wanna host Nationals in January, a month later… thank you USA Cycling! Guess the needs of 6 to 8 “pros”who race the world championship at the end of January in Europe outweigh the reasonableness of 600-800 “joes” racing.

Honestly, though I say that, it doesn’t bother me that they moved ‘Cross Nationals back a month. (I’ve held my fitness thanks to good planning from Coach Gordy & I’d rather be doing short interval training when it’s that cold than starting long base miles). But I think for a lot of people it was really a stretch to move from early December.

Guess today is good day to practice adverse conditions & a different set of tires..

Eau Claire Princeton Valley ‘Cross Race

2011-11-27T20:50:00.001-06:00

Real nice event, just a bad day for the good guys….

Everything leading up to the race this week should have foretold a better race than what transpired. I’d ridden my best ever highest power output 10 & 15min intervals on Tuesday and rested with easy riding a good share of the rest of the week.

Did “A” fast guy race. Finished a disappointing 7th a couple minutes off winner Jesse Reints, & Trevor Koss who I went toe to toe with at Carson Park race. Trevor finished 2nd staying with Jesse most of the race.

Sliding out on one of the first corners I road blocked the back half of the race and immediately was gapped by the Matt Peterson, Jake Begley & the other lead guys. I recovered and passed a few guys (Matt O’Meara & co.) to get back with Brian Koenomen, only to slide out again on a corner and lose contact.

Another lap or two in another guy, who name I never found out, was riding with me was working on catching back up to Brian K. only to tangle both us up in course tape. Weird, somehow he tangled up in the course tape and pulled it out far enough that it got tangled in my front brake/shifters too. So instead of passing him I was caught up and losing more time, that was the third mishap by then.

Brian K. had begun to fade so we caught up with him eventually. I just didn’t concentrate and stay focused well enough to hang with them and to top it off I was just feeling off.

The remainder of the race was playing yo-yo with those guys, closing the gap to under 10 seconds and then falling back. I’d get a good lap in only to not have it for the next one.

There was a total of 11 laps in the race. On lap 8 or 9, we passed up Nate Lillie who was riding his 2nd race of the day (workhorse of the day award goes out to him – the first race was on single speed).

Though by this point I thought I had the cornering on this very tight course down, it wasn’t to be. On the penultimate lap, I slide out & went down for the 5th time of the day and it allowed my rear tire to “burp” out a good share of it’s air. The bontrager ‘cross tires were a good choice but could have benefit from more careful handling or bigger side knobs, my Michelin Mud2’s might have been an incrementally better choice though the course was plenty dry for the most part, it was just the corner was often and very tight.

That last incident was significant enough that I wasn’t able to recover enough to make a run at catching Brian K. & the guy he was riding with in the final 2 laps. I wanted to make sure my tire didn’t roll off completely and with how the day had gone though I didn’t give up I was ready for it to be over.

Maybe it was too much Turkey dinner, pies and desserts at Thanksgiving, or the personal stuff of the week, but this race had my number and I didn’t have it’s. Not exactly the tune up I was looking forward to going into Badger Cross Midwest Championships and Nationals in Madison.

Gotta just talk to coach Gordy and get back to the drawing board. He’s real good about the stuff so if my racing legs are meant to be found he’ll come up with a way.

Was great to have a cheering section at the race with my family & one of my good friends – who all quite frankly had to freeze their butts off in the 32 degree temps and wind chill that brought it into the mid to low 20’s. It’s a pretty darn good consolation that people you care about are there when having one of those days where the race isn’t really going your way & vastly missing expectations. Puts things in good perspective afterwards and helps you move past the bad days. thanks guys!

All in all, still good to be out racing. Always great to see the other guys like Nate Lilly & Matt O’Meara & catch up with them at a time of year well past MTB season’s end.

We’ll see how the next couple weeks go and Badger Cross. It’s actually been nice to race this late in the season and despite some recent results I feel pretty fresh at least mentally & a lot of my training show my fitness hasn’t dropped off (that is until this race, ugh). But I would say it sure seems to help make the winter months go by faster when you race into January and can take down time in Jan & Feb instead of trying to get in base training hours under what most people would say are the least ideal cycling conditions of the year.

Snowbound & sad…

2011-11-24T08:58:00.000-06:00

…Well, ambitious as I was to take the UP Cross Championship mo-jo over to Crystal MN last Saturday for the MN State Cross Championship. Life and circumstances didn’t have the same plans.

Snow came in good abundance up North & near the lake (Superior) making travel plans less desirable. Not to mention tensed up driving in a car for 3 1/2hrs by yourself & then trying to have a big race doesn’t always make for the best formula for success.

Lastly, a really neat person, one of my two grandma’s passed away that weekend. It’s been along time since I last lost a grandparent, probably 20yrs, you forget how losing that part of your family feels. I call it being heartbroken tired. Try as you may, you just don’t have the gusto to give it your all.

Like I said she was a neat old lady. Endlessly superstitious and full of old wives tales. An undereducated women of her day, I think she made it thru the 8th grade. But when you were born in 1919, that was probably pretty good.

In her later years she was constantly harassing me for riding and racing my bike and how I was always going to get hurt. Just two & half months ago when I told her about crashing and breaking my ribs, I thought she was going to stroke out just reading me the riot act over that. But that was her way of showing she cared and loved you. The lady made incredible homemade pies, raspberry was my favorite. I think she talked about dying for the past 20-25yrs yet no matter what her health problem she kept going. It was something like -- you think God maybe forgot about her?

Her illness & nursing home stay this past year really impacted me & affected how I looked at & approached life. It was a reminder everytime I visited her how important it is to grab the moments of life and really live them. Find the important things & people – enjoy and embrace them. Those paths may not come your way again.

Gonna miss ya Grandma – thanks for everything, you really grew on us over the years, you earned your rest. May you now be in peace….

Recent races–UP Championship & MN Series Mill City Cross..

2011-11-23T00:54:00.001-06:00

…lot’s of stuff to “tangentize” about. It’s sounds like one of those words like “positivity” except according to my spell checker only one of the two is made up.. I’ll let you guess which one.

If I stick to race talking I probably have a mix of two or three races behind in recapping.

The U.P. State Championship was a short 10 days ago held back on Nov 12th. The coin flip that morning landed the right way pointing me East 3hrs over to Marquette MI. So packed up, remember the time zone change and got there a solid 45minutes before the race despite the doubters and disbelievers.

I came over pretty pumped to do the race, the lighter side of me was looking forward to seeing all the racers & friends I’ve made in the UP racing over the years. The competitive side was looking for a good duel to thrown down some hard core ‘cross racing and work on taking home what slipped by me in last years finale there.

The drive over was worrying me as I saw loads of snow piled up across the U.P. from earlier in the week, but I kept telling myself that once you drop into Marquette it’s usually gone and sure enough that was the case. Prepping and registering I was looking around to see what to expect of the course and the competition. Awesome designed course – it had a “spiral” section that should be the envy of any cross race. It rounded racers counterclockwise into the center of a circle and then spit them out in a clockwise direction without intersecting… It was a mind twister at first. It looked like it should dead end in the center but the well engineered design had an exiting circles that existed between the entering circles. I liked it so much I think should be a mandatory ‘cross race course design. The rest of the course had a nice blend of on/off road, cornering, hills & barriers.

Knowing the UPCross series from last year and taking a peak at this year looked like it should be competitive regardless. Despite rumors to the contrary I fully expected a very capable T. Gauth, who jumped me early in last years race for the win, to show up. How would he pass up a race in his back yard. As time passed it appeared he would be a no show. I’d been feeling real strong & was looking forward to the rematch. (Note to TG, next time I drive my butt 3hrs over there, have the decency to drive 3 miles, show up & give it a go….. J/K.) It would’ve taken a darn good day on my part as he’s come a long way and made some good strides in his bike racing.

The rest of the guys aren’t slouches and everything before the starter says “Go!” is talk & hot air that quickly needs to be backed up by lungs, legs & some crazy mad skillz. Ultimately I determined I could get by racing my wide tired Superfly MTB with the rear powertap wheel and use the brand new day old Trek Cronus ‘cross bike in emergency or backup.

I started 2nd row & alittle back at the start & the only guy on a MTB but comfortably worked into 4th place for a good share of the first lap. Somewhere towards the end of that lap Ryan Tervo & myself separated ourselves from the other guys. I told him to hang on as I went to the front, he may have rolled his eyes or given me that “Oh brother! here we go!” look. As it was, Ryan stayed within a few bike lengths initially. There was a first lap prime/prize which I happily took in from Jesse Bell as I crossed ahead of Ryan in the start finish area.

From that point and laps that ensued I worked on building breathing room to the chasers. Initially it was Colby Lash & Ryan Tervo – those stubborn guys didn’t give me a break in letting up for several laps. I’d gotten a 10-15 second lead, backed off just alittle but they’d be holding it, so I’d have to push harder & finally after 4 laps or so the gap started to grow again into the 20+ seconds range & grew from there. That’s the unknown about ‘cross racing. You don’t know who’d going be having a good day and safe distances aren’t always as safe as they seem.

With 3 laps to go, my most excellent last minute pit crew of Tom Carpenter & co. told me it was about time I used a ‘cross bike, in a ‘cross race. I’d also had enough laps with the powertap recording output so I gave up the Superfly & got on the barely fitted & dialed in Trek Cronus Pro I’d picked up in Duluth at The Ski Hut the night before. It went surprisingly well, in fact Tom C. commented on how much more time I put into the chasers as a result in the final laps. Not sure if they were getting tired, or riding the ‘cross bike was faster. I just knew it was working.

The dynamics behind me were changing a bit however as Andy Steven (who had a heck of good Ore to Shore MTB race this year) pulled up to Ryan T. who’d been chasing me solo after dropping Colby L.

I road in the final lap steady but safe to win. It was pretty nice to get this years U.P. State Championship, after winning the UP Series last year. The guys behind had a exciting finish with Andy finishing 2nd, Steve Kuhl pulling up to get 3rd, followed by Colby who had an “altercation” with Ryan (5th) in the final turn. Probably not fun in the moment but I think they reasonably kissed and made up after. Who says bike racing ain’t a contact sport?

A good post race party & afterwards onto the Series Title sponsor BlackRocks Brewery. That itself could have been the high lite of the day/night alone. The U.P. has such a great atmosphere & culture for cycling and endurance sports, regardless of how a race goes it’s great to partake in the festivities afterwards and the evening at Blackrocks was no exception. Thanks out to Tom C. & Marie for acting as hosts for me & not letting a good time escape me… probably a few too many brews to pull off a good double header of racing the next day in the Minnesota series but…. ah, if one has to make sacrifices make it for a race and not good times with friends!!! Thanks guys!!!

Headed out of Marquette about 9 and was back home just past midnight. Hoping I could get just enough good sleep to make a solid effort at the Mill City Cyclocross races in Bayport/Stillwater, MN the next morning.

Woke up with less than 6hrs of sleep but no hangover so what’s there to complain about? By 10am I was on the road another 3hr venture West this time. Had never been to this race previously and quickly upon arrival knew it was one of those higher speed ‘cross race venues. Skinny tires & a cross bike was in order. Except still not having riding time on the Trek Cronus I opted to skinny up the tires on the Superfly & give that a go instead.

But to make a long ‘cross story short… it wouldn’t have mattered either way. Warm up went well, but the cumulative 12 hours of driving in the previous 36hrs put my back in bad shape and I was displaying a 2010 version of Todd McFadden riding. Despite a decent start & getting into 4th position, my back locked up on me a few laps in and had to put it in cruise control. Wasn’t too fun when you can’t be in there competing and doing your best. I wound up in 8th on the day well out of contention. Even so it was good to see what that MN course had to offer in terms of competition and the style of racing that went on.

I thought it would come in handy for the following weekend MN State Championship races. Did I make that planned race? Well, that’s another story for another day… in case I don’t post for awhile… Happy Thanksgiving!!

Catching up…Eau Claire ’Cross racing & more

2011-11-17T09:53:00.002-06:00

…this time of year I train less than any other but time seems to fly even faster.

Started the ‘cross season late with the broken ribs, but the R&R was the perfect prescription. The two days of Ashland BayCross couldn’t have gone much better, so the following weekend (Halloween) I decided to opt for the Eau Claire Carson Park Cyclo-cross race, it was the closest thing going on that weekend, had heard good things about it from Paul Belknap & Nick Robertson who attended the previous year. I’m always up for something new so wanted to give it a whirl.

Hadn’t picked up a ‘cross bike yet, the weather was looking to be wet if not also cold (ended up being both), so I packed up the old reliable Gary Fisher Superfly 29er with 1.75” Bontrager Dry X tires and decided to give it a go. If the course was anything but super fast I should be able to hold my own reasonably.

Had a good drive done, somehow convinced a friend to show up to see what this cyclo-cross racing thing was all about. The race had a pretty small field in the A race, likely due to the weather, the newness of the event (it’s 2nd year), etc. Didn’t mean it wasn’t going to still make for a good battle though!

At the start the organizers convinced us to reduce it to a 50min race (can’t blame ‘em, for the turnout and having to freeze their tails off – at least we’d be riding and staying warm). When it was time to start, I road in 2nd or 3rd place initially until I got a crack at winding things up. I had left my powertap wheel on the bike, which if I was going to win or lose in this event because of it, I could live with it. Getting the data was more important to me.

When I turned on the proverbial jets in the first lap, only Trevor Koss grabbed on, though I wasn’t going to make it easy on him. Trevor was riding a Trek XO ‘cross bike and I figured it was best to find out in the first lap if he had the power to stick around.

The course winds nicely thru Carson Park, had a muddy climb and some slick corners. It was really interesting to observe as the race went on what sections favored the different bikes. Strangely enough, in the first lap on the long pavement section I gapped Trevor, fully expecting him to reel me back in. The dude’s on skinny tires, my are marginally fat at 1.75”, right? Well, wasn’t happening. I kept looking back to see if I had to ease up if he got in my draft but it didn’t. Most likely case study of size & overall power. As Trevor told me after the race he kinda thought he might be in trouble after the first lap when he couldn’t close the gap after on pavement given our bike choices. I probably have 20+lbs on Trevor if my guess is right and with similar frontal surface profiles equally fighting the wind. The tires & bike difference were minimalized.

However once we got back in the park and swooped around a few corners and barriers he was back on. We’d do the barrier about the same but he could ride the sand pit smoother and get gaps. I’d close it down on the straights.

I eased off on the second lap, for as hard as I’d thrown down on the first. It was determined we had 8 more laps to go of a lot of the same thing happening lap after lap. He’d take the mud hill climb we could almost climb (he did once) just in front of me and put up a huge gap in a short period by 20 or 30 yards on me and I’d close it down in the cornering sections that followed. I’d try to get an advantage on riding a stair climb but an awkward dismount would occur almost every time before hitting the top. I’d slip on the steps and really lose momentum only to ramp it back up on the black top and close it down.

It was fun but killing me too, as something was off on my day. I couldn’t really put a finger on it. Just didn’t feel like my A game was there. Later my powertap file would be revealing of that fact. I also made the rookie mistake I almost never do of eating too close to the race start. As a Subway philly steak and cheese started arguing with me about 5 laps in as my guts started to cramp up.

That takes nothing away from some great riding by Trevor though. He stayed steady and road hard where he needed too. At the start of the 3 laps to go is where my cramps and riding forced me to back off and not close a gap that occurred. I had to hold back to what I could managed, but I was hoping the whole time it’d turn around quickly so I could get back and chase Trevor down before the end. He soon had 10 seconds, then 14 seconds & growing. This wasn’t going to be easy. Just sucks when your body betrays you and you can’t do anything about it.

I managed to bring back some distance in the final lap but I still wound up 21 seconds back for 2nd place on the day. Helmets off to Trevor for some great riding. I think some folks there were perhaps surprised by my riding the semi fat tired 29er & powertap hub and holding my own in there, but again different courses and conditions don’t always give the ‘cross specific bike the advantage 100% of the time.

The powertap story was interesting to review later.

Lap 1: 300 watt avg; pedaling watts was 353 watts;

Lap 2: 241 watt avg; pedaling watts was 275 watts:

Lap 3: 239 watt avg: pedaling watts was 280 watts;

Lap 4: 251 watt avg; pedaling watts was 297 watts;

to skip more of the details the middle laps were like that and the final ones despite what I thought was back off a lot ended up being
246 watt avg with pedaling watts of 284 watts;

Again for good bad or otherwise I only had a 251 watt average for the day, and a pedaling watt average of 291, that was a full 10% off in both regards to my Day 2 effort at BayCross. So though it wasn’t fun to see those numbers lower it was at least nice confirmation that it wasn’t in my mind only and that I was having an off day (the next week I had a head cold so must have been taking hold already before I raced).

The nice thing about quantifiable numbers is you can get an idea of what a possible difference the day could have made – using some previous data it safe to say an “off” day in reduced power cost at least 5-6 seconds per laps given the course distance and more likely close to 12-15 seconds if it was a true 30 watts difference.

That’s maybe shows a view into why other ‘cross racers can have some great days and other days they aren’t even competitive in larger fields. Those 5-10 seconds per lap add up to as much as a 1 to 2 minutes off the lead.

Not saying Trevor couldn’t have matched me in later laps but I’ll be looking forward to a rematch the next time….

Thanks to the Chippewa Valley Cycling club for putting the race together, stick to it guys. You’ll have a winner! Trevor & the other guys for throwing down a good one and keeping it fun. My friend for sticking around & freezing… but being there!

Looking forward to a second helping of Eau Claire Cross racing -- post Thanksgiving on Sun Nov 29th – at Princeton Valley Cyclo-cross race, details at www.overdrivecycling.com. Hope to see you there!

UP State ‘Cross Champ….

2011-11-13T09:43:00.001-06:00

…Good day in Marquette Saturday, tossed a coin in the morning and opted to pay respects to UPCross and head over to Marquette versus driving the opposite direction to Bayport, MN for the first day of a weekend double header at the MN ‘cross series.

Great group of guys there. If you ever get a taste for the endurance/cycling scene or culture of it over that direction it’s hard to not want to move there.

More on the race & festivities later as I’m rushing around cleaning and repacking for a trip to Bayport for a 2nd day of racing. Fortunately things went off without too much of a hitch at the UP State Championships, had some guys gunning pretty hard, Ryan Tervo, Colby Lash & Andy Stevens to name a few -- not allowing me to let up much. Gotta give thanks out to my last minute addition of a pit crew in Tom Carpenter, who filled in quite nicely for Kate. He got the bike swaps right on target….though may have missed on the beer handups but made up for that at the post race party at Blackrocks Brewery quite nicely. Thanks Tom! (Must have been that $50 he won on the race wagers).

Anyways, after an initial break away in the first lap, it held the same for awhile til later in the race I was able to put some gaps were going to stick and let me cruise in for the “W” in UP State Cross Championship.

More thanks out to new co-sponsor The Ski Hut who hooked me up with a new racing steed, tires & wheelset. Plus got to flash their nice new apparel.

I’m outta here… there’s a race calling…

BayCross Day 2…. riding on the ‘tap… the Powertap

2011-11-10T10:12:00.001-06:00

…Not an entirely new idea, as I’ve road my Saris Cycleops Powertap in MTB races. I’ve trained with one for 7 years now going back to 2004. Most people are familiar with what they are these days. For those that might not be -- it’s a rear wheel hub that’s able to measure the force being applied (in watts) as you pedal the bike. Some would say (myself included) it’s enormously helpful in training at specific levels depending on what part of your endurance energy system you are trying to improve. It keeps you on target from going too hard or too easy for a given workout a bit more specific than heart rate alone.

Why not use it all the time, even when racing? Well, add all those complicated internal workings to a rear bike hub and to a degree it’s gonna be a heavier wheel. Is a heavier wheel a bad thing? Well, think of it in exaggerated terms. Try rolling a 20lb rock, then try rolling a 20olb boulder – or we’ve all made snow man, right? Pretty easy to roll the snowman’s head, but the snowman’s body can be another story once it gets to the proper mass. In either case, it ties in with the law of inertia (as best as I can articulate it) – body at rest stays at rest, body in motion stays in motion. Once you get either the rock/boulder or snowman body part rolling & up to speed it’s about the same effort. It’s the getting started or acceleration part that makes the difference.

Fortunately with bike wheels it’s only fractionally different – moving something that weights 1.5lbs vs. something just under 2lbs. It matters on some level – but what that amounts to on a cumulative basis over a 60minute ‘cross race in terms of added effort, lost acceleration or seconds per lap is subject to debate. And I don’t have that answer but I do have some other interesting data below.

Nonetheless, after having such a good race the day before, I didn’t feel riding the powertap wheel on was going too detrimental to the outcome not to use it. As it turned out, it provide some really insightful numbers and stats to see how real time racing and targets for training intervals collide.

Day 2 of Baycross was alittle more low key, but a closer race than Day 1 – despite Nikoli not showing up (story was he did something we all dread going to an out of town race – forget a race necessary piece of equipment, apparently he forgot his cycling shoes & didn’t realize it til he was half way there – and not enough time to run back and forth). Mason balked on coming for Day 2 as well, whether he was busy, or still a bit upset about the misunderstanding of no “mechanical lap” I’m not sure. He’s a good kid though and getting to be a tough rider so it would have been nice to be there. Even so single speeding Dave Schuneman showed and local MTB strong guys Kelly McKnight and Matt Hudson passed on the bird hunting and whiskey and came for a round of ‘cross.

Not exactly desiring another 75 minute ‘cross race day repeat of Saturday, I opted to take it mellow on the first lap so the laps might be fewer. Dave S. & Scott Nesvold led things out. With Dave setting the first lap pace. I moved up to ride next to Dave in lap 2, trading pulls. He was working pretty hard & looking determined so I offered to help him build up a gap to a chasing Kelly McKnight, followed further back by Scott Nesvold.

By the end of three lap, Kelly was finally warmed up & closing in. Dave was looking winded but kept grinding away shortly behind me. I was about ready to push it to see what kind of numbers I could get on the powertap for the remaining laps of the race. Kelly missed getting Dave’s wheel shortly before I took off and their gap remained throughout the race until Scott Nesvold pulled past Kelly later in the race to settle in for 3rd, Dave rode strong the remainder of the race and took 2nd. I pushed it at the front and came in with just under a 3minute & 1/2 lap lead at the finish.

The interesting part for me was the power tap numbers, heartrate(HR), & lap times of the 11 lap race. The initial 2 laps were at a comfortable cruising speed, my HR was 165-166 beats per minute (BPM) and the average watts were 253 watts and the laps were 5:22. Lap three I picked it up at the end, HR stayed at 166, power was 263 watts & lap time dropped to 5:12.

When I started to drill it on the final 8 laps things changed quite a bit – Lap 4: dropped to 4:48, 309 watts & my HR went towards it’s ceiling 174bpm; Lap 5: 4:54, 298 watts & HR stayed in the mid 170’s the remainder of the race.

After pushing it so hard for those two laps (10 minutes) I was hurting and my power dropped some & lap times went up alittle for the final 6 laps. Hovering around 280 watts and 5min to 5:05 lap times.

Here again is the interesting thing – looking at the power numbers & lap times, you can get a sense of what the different levels of power mean for how much faster or slower a lap will be.

Essentially for a guy my weight/size – a 50+ watt/lap difference is going to create a 35 second difference (when laps are approximately 5minutes long – course length was 1.3miles – however the faster the speed the less difference the power makes due to increased wind resistance)

- a 3owatt difference is 12-17 seconds

- a 15 watt difference is 5-6 seconds

That’s all good assuming smooth riding, no spills, mishaps. As a guy with lower power but a smoother riding could make up those differences - application of power is as important as the raw power itself. Even so, the ability to push out a lot of power is key to racing well. There’s always the contention that it’s actually a Power produced to Weight of a rider that matters most – which is true to a point. It’s most apparent in climbing hills -- but on flats or downhills absolute power matters much more and is only detracted by frontal surface area of a rider – smaller, thinner is better but it’s nominal at ‘cross & MTB racing speeds compared to a road races.

Those two above factors (skill/application of power & weight) play a bigger roll in MTB than in ‘cross. Perhaps that’s why I like the pure simplicity of ‘cross racing. Don’t so much have to worry about dropping weight, it’s only slightly technical (for a MTB’er) and you can just crank on those pedals as hard as you’d like for 60minutes.

The numbers above are interesting but can also paint only part of a picture. What a person is capable of can be very different than what shows up in a race – if a person is overtrained, or sick, or raced the day before vs. being well rested can cause significant differences in power output. My power output Day 1 at Baycross was probably notable better having gapped the same riders (Dave & Scott) by double the time as Day 2, even though I felt I was trying equally hard each day. My body just wasn’t capable of producing the same power.

The following week I raced at Eau Claire in the Carson Park ‘cross race & the same held true there -- only going there I was slightly under the weather and put in more training than rest that week. My power #’s were off even further, an average of 15-20 watts lower than Baycross Day 2. So I guess with high intensity racing never disregard the effect it may have on you. A drop of 3% to 10% of your power output can cost you 5-10 seconds per lap or more. That’s can be a 60-90seconds in a ‘cross race.

Oh well, sorry to bore in case the quantifying side of cycling isn’t up your alley. I just think it’s cool to understand in numbers why the fast guys go so fast and why, well, the many others of us don’t go as fast. I’ll try to do a power to weight posting at some point – as I think that’s even more interesting. You take a small guy with lower absolute power and he’ll still beat larger bigger guys with higher absolute power. I’d love to get somebody like Big Mike Weispfenning on a power tap to see how crazy huge his numbers would have to be – he’d make the numbers put out by pro cyclists Alberto Contedor or the Schleck brothers put out look pretty puny I’d bet…. too bad they only weigh the amount of one of Big Mike’s legs... damn power to weight ratios!

Up next, Carson Park ‘Cross recap and sorry UPCross I might not make it over for the Championship Sat as I’m probably doing a double header in MN this weekend and to see how Faulkner, Reints, Fisher, Lemiux, among others turn up the pain.

BayCross recap, power #’s….

2011-11-08T07:29:00.001-06:00

..Finally getting around to down to outlaying a better rundown of how things went down for the Ashland Baycross race weekend.

Day 1:

I really didn’t know what to expect for race fitness going into the race.

-I’d hadn’t race in 3 weeks (only one time since the Chequamegon 40).

-Outside of a week & half of ‘cross specific training drills I hadn’t even put much training in on my bike and I’d really had a big drop in any kind of training since the end of August due to the broken ribs.

Well, I can’t say the human body never ceases to amaze me in it’s complexity and functioning. This time around, the extended drop in all the training volume & intensity did wonders.

Felt decent that Saturday morning going into the race, good, not great. Wasn’t sure what the competition was going to look like this year as you never know who might show up be it from Duluth, the U.P. or elsewhere. But I figured it was a safe bet more than a few solid racers would be there to put on a challenge. Cruising the parking lot as I got there revealed guys like Shawn Gort, Nik0li Anikin, Matt Zak, Mason Basco, Dave Schuneman among the local guys. Guessing from my MTB racing experiences this summer Nikoli would definitely give me a solid run and Mason who pushed me at the Duluth MTB race this summer and handed it to me at the Chequamegon Fat Tire Crit Cross.

Didn’t get in that long of a warm-up as I was on baby patrol with Aaron Cooper til Sara Hudson leaded a hand (thanks Sara!!) as Kate was doing the women’s race. Guess I was still pre-riding alittle too close to the start, as the blow horn announcer started say “Alright, Aaron Swanson… would you please already get to the start line!” Thank goodness ‘cross race course are small enough to hear stuff like that within a couple hundred yards.

I was wrapping up that second pre-ride lap in on the new course layout designed by Mike Weispfenning – didn’t think changes needed to be made from the previous years but Mike had some great new ideas and the changes were very positive. And when I got to the line I don’t think I barely took off my jacket by the time the 10,9,8, 7…. go countdown began.

Was thinking before hand to change my strategy this year, follow someone else’s lead for the first few laps if possible before trying to push the effort. Surprisingly enough, Jeremy Ames of the Twin Cities happened to be up visiting family, and without question I could gather he was used to Twin Cities ‘cross racing and went for the lead right off the bat. Followed by Nikoli and within a short distance I went into 3rd place. We followed Jeremy thru the first sandpit and into the looping chicanes before gradually heading up & out of the Prentice park area. It was at that point, something unconscious triggered in me (I swear!) and I made a short jump to the front and began to push it hard. In moments I had a gap over Nikoli, Jeremy & Mason and another 5 guys. I put my head down for the next couple hundred yards to see what more distance I could get before looking back. Fortunately, it was a good sized break and probably close to 50-75 yards when I looked again.

Ok, so much for sticking with the plan, now it would be a solo time trial for the next 60+ minutes against guys who may be working together. Just brilliant Swanson… WTH was I thinking?

Fortunately, though my heart rate was redlining at an unheard of 188 bpm (at least for me – how does a 38yr old guy even get a HR that high? At least while racing a bike?) Anyways I held that for the first lap and though it hurt bad, it also hurt good! If this race didn’t go too long I felt like I was going to have a good day.

So lap after lap I pushed it, on lap 2 (of 10) – I no longer saw Nikoli, Mason or anyone else where the course loop back on themselves (a good 1minute + lead. Each lap was just about 7 minutes.

Outside of amateur hour I displayed by wiping out on a asphalt & grass corner, ripping up my elbow and twisting my handlebars. Can’t say there was a lot of exciting details past that for awhile, except for the occassional skidding in the mud and bombing the “Pit of Despair”. I saw Mason on the sidelines at one point with a flat tire which was a real bummer, wish he would have been able to stay in the race. He also assume a ‘free lap” mechanical at this race, which has never been the case – I know they happen in road racing ‘crits but I’d never heard of them in ‘cross, too bad there was a misunderstanding.

At one point or another I wanted to let up because we’d be racing again the next day, but outside of doing that briefly when I came upon Big Mike W. I kept the throttle fully twisted most of the day.

Approaching 3 laps to go though, my internal go-go juice was running out and I was starting to lose power & struggle. I kept asking Dennis Liphart, how much of a gap I had – Damn guy kept bullshitting me!! Lap after lap, “oh, hey Aaron – you got 90 seconds, keep pushing it!”

Nearing the finishing area, I’d just pulled up short of lapping everyone outside of Shawn, Nikoli – (why should I rob them the opportunity of another lap – the evil dude that I am! Why should I take away their self inflicted pain -- remember in ‘cross if you’re lapped you finish on the same lap as the leader. Anyways Nikoli and Shawn didn’t cross the line for another 4 minutes & 5 minutes respectfully. (there’s a hell of big difference between 90 seconds and 4 minutes! – would have loved to jump off the bike and fixed the twisted handle bars, rather than riding them crooked for 75% of the race.

Just one of those days when everything came together. Would have loved to have the Cycleops Power Tap, to see what kind of numbers I was registering as it’s pretty damn tough to beat Nikoli by that kind of margin in any length race. With the comfort of having the Day 1 – 1st place points I would feel comfortable using the PowerTap on the second day of BayCross.

More on that later… along with the Eau Claire ‘cross race at Carson Park and what’s up lately…

‘Crossing comments….Ashland BayCross …

2011-10-26T07:24:00.002-05:00

This past weekend concluded the 7th annual Annual BayCross cyclo-cross races. Now I probably don’t have the longest tenure of cycling as others but I do now have close to a decade under my belt and am a pretty astute observer of history.

Baycross was started in 2005 as an initiative by Paul Belknap, who was always trying something new & different. Be it 29er MTB’s when they first came out or single gear/single speed MTB racing. Something caught this guys attention about this type of racing they call “Cyclo-cross” which happened well into the Fall months when a lot of folks had normally thought much of road & mtb racing was done. Perhaps his world travels or what not gave him the gall to think “Hey, we should do this!” Paul? are you out there…What’s the real story?

Anyways, Cyclo-cross as a sport has origins anyone can wikipedia to find out, in a nutshell it’s been around close to 100yrs or so, began in Europe as a post Road racing season training for Tour de France guys. It didn’t get more formally recognized until the 1950’s and events in the US didn’t pop up until the 1970’s and it wasn’t until the 1990’s & especially the 2000’s that it caught on as much as it has. According to some it’s the fastest growing adult participation sport in America.

Another aspect that makes cyclo-cross so different from it’s cycling brethren of road cycling & Mt biking – is that it’s truly only a competitive event, not a recreational activity. You & your buddies aren’t ever going to say.. “Hey, let’s go out and go for a cyclo-cross ride!” Like they would for a road ride or MTB ride. You just don’t go riding through a park, baseball field or golf course hopping off your bike to jump over barriers – like picnic tables, park benches & fallen trees or ride through sand traps, am I right? Perhaps for reasons like that there are geographic pockets where it really has grabbed hold and other areas where it hasn’t… yet (as I’d like to think).

However it is by FAR the most spectator friendly cycling event between the three disciplines (road, mtb, ‘cross). The course is short, there are multiple laps and fans… well, they get to be part of the action be it with loud roudy cheering, ringing cow bells, handing up dollar bills or malted beverages as distractions (or entertainment) to the racers.

Fortunately, it brings aspects that merge the summer cycling activities of MTB’ing & Road riding, so it’s the time of year where cycling competitors, good in their own respective disciplines, can compete in the middle against each other. Plenty of times there are good MTB’ers who can’t hang in hard road race and it goes with out question great road cyclist can get there butts handed to them in a MTB race. But in ‘cross it’s all even, with aspects of both disciplines and you gotta love that!

So I feel Ashland’s Baycross is unique and ahead of it’s time in having brought forth the cyclo-cross racing opportunity for riders. Especially given it’s demographic/geographic setting, as much larger centrally located population centers haven’t brought forth this kind of racing yet. In this part of the Midwest there are really only three other places riders can get in the opportunity.

In the U.P. of Michigan there’s UPCross – an awesome series & organization they’ve put together there. With excellent participation given the relatively size of the population. To give some idea they get equally participation at races to other cities that have 100 times the population to draw from. It’s nuts when you think about it.

Then there’s the Wisconsin Cyclocross series which is really completely in the deep south & south east corners of the state, I must selfish say is unfortunate being on the other end of the state. And fortunately MN runs a pretty good series based around the Twin Cities.

So how did BayCross turn out this year? When an overabundance of time hits my schedule like we all wish for. I’ll be sure to give a solid & hopefully remotely entertaining & interesting recap.

BayCross Day 1….

2011-10-22T22:16:00.001-05:00

First cyclocross race I’ve been able to get into this year went pretty well. Day one of Ashland’s annual BayCross weekend. More on specific details on the race later, but felt surprisingly good & was able to pull away early on from Nikoli Anikin, Mason Basco, Shawn Gort & a few others.

The numbers in training lately have really taken a unexpected jump despite quite a bit of downtime since the end of August. Alittle recovery time after 9 months of training will do that I supposes. Also guess it translated well over to the race. Took an unfortunate spill about half way thru and tore up my elbow & fore arm & twisted my handlebars but was able to stay focused and finish things out. The race again went on the long side as I screwed with the timer/lap counters throwing down a super fast 1st lap and backing off on successive laps – hence an overestimate of how many laps to do 60minutes of racing. My powertap computer showed 1hr 17min finish time… no wonder I was on the verge of bonking in those last two (of 10) laps. I was having flashbacks to 2009 when Jesse Bell came from way back on me that 1hr 20min BayCross Day 1 race marathon.

This year another great bunch of guys (&gals) showed up, the atmosphere of the race and size of it is great. So nice to have it so close by.

Looking forward to day 2… better rest up, the battle for the weekend prize money concludes tomorrow. Should be another good one…

Ah, I made it… & DeerFly Chase Recap & more…

2011-10-18T21:53:00.001-05:00

Good news, that crazy mission impossible previously mentioned 2 weeks ago is over. I’ve come out relatively unscathed… maybe not the kids so much, and Kate is probably adjusting to the aftermath (an inherent problem in coming back from vacation after leaving me in charge for 9 days).

By the time that Friday (Oct 7th) she was back rolled around I was getting the hang of things pretty well or maybe it was just the peace of mind I’d be getting help and a break soon.

Seems like it’s been much longer than 10 days since. Probably because of so much change that’s gone on. I fought thru a cold, many days of some decent laryngitis, and the last few weeks of my ribs healing up. Hadn’t seen much of my bike let alone have some close intimate personal time riding it.

Quite to my surprise when I finally got riding again a week ago, I found all the R&R time interspersed with a race wasn’t to my detriment, in fact perhaps to my advantage. A couple rides and interval workouts proved to show some surprisingly strong results, more on that later.

Missing the UPCross series and the early part of the MN series for cyclocross due to the broken ribs wasn’t ideal for my cyclo-cross race season but life had enough other fun stuff happening that, though I missed racing, I was surprisingly ok with it. Rest assured however I haven’t lost my deep ongoing desire for racin’… not sure I ever will.

However, at last here comes the update on what had to be one of the best weekends of racing this year – from the pure simple enjoyment of racing MTB’s. Oct 1st, with the support of CORC, Noah Michaelsen, Brian Kelley & a whole host of volunteers put together the DeerFly Chase MTB race. Kinda cool in that, it was a race I actually didn’t know about til the week of the race. It sorta flew under the radar, til I got an email from Nathan Lillie and later Noah about the race looking to round up some fast guys for some post Chequamegon 40 racing. They couldn’t have hit me up at a better time. I was on a break healing the ribs but had super good legs despite a headcold. Long story of how it worked out that I could make it but the main thing is it did.

Arriving about 20 minutes prior to race start after dropping the 4 kids off with my sister, just got to see a few guys I recognized. The always likeable Chad Sova, how can you not like that guy? Great sense of humor, loves to have fun racing the bike, and is super supportive. A top end racer and someone I’m just happy hanging with as long as I can in any race. Saw too Nate Lillie who’s equally a great competitor, funny guy and offers great encouragement to be racing with. Lastly, Mike Johnson, who I know since college, but reconnected only in the last 10 yrs due to cycling. Super guy & can be so strong on the bike when the conditions are right.

The start was a controlled roll-out for the first mile due to the open road, hills & corners until we could hit the first off road section. When we did it went fairly high speed from the word go as the 4 wheeler sped away. First myself, later Chad, and Mike Johnson pushing a hard pace. I really was anticipating only going for an easy ride and not really racing – having just come down with a headcold – but you get in that racing situation and it’s like a switch goes off in your head/legs and you can’t help but push it with whatever you have. Fortunately, my immune system didn’t compromise my legs & lungs that day. After trading pulls with Chad and giving a few hard efforts on hills we broke away from everyone else and on a particularly longer section we got into the always desired position of “out of sight, out of mind” even before hitting the single track. I was pushing a little harder than I thought I should and it could come back to bit me later in the race but for the moment it was a better proposition to stay with Chad than race by myself.

We worked the single track in a pretty steady pace, as the DeerFly Chase trails are a good mix of flowing stuff with some tight corners and technical sections. You definitely needed skills to race it well, not to mention slightly better tires for the conditions than what I was running. Chad was kind enough to take it easy on me and let us work together for the better part of the first half of the race. We’d built up a pretty good lead when I finally started yo-yoing off his wheel in some sections. That yo-yoing came to a permanent end however once I notice my rear wheel getting a bit squishy on corners. Sure enough it got bad enough I jump off and felt the rear tire… damn! it was going flat. Not able to quickly diagnose the leak I pumped it up and kept waiting to see when the first pursuer would be coming by. Well, it took a good 90 seconds and I felt I had enough air back in the tire to go again when the 3rd place guy come flying by. If my problem had been solved there the rest of the day would have gone well. Unfortunately it was the first of 3 stops I need to do to get the tire fully sealed again. I’d just filled up with new Stans No tubes sealant 2 weeks prior at the Chequamegon 40, so I was sorta bummed it didn’t do a better job of sealing a very small hole in my Bontrager XR1 tires. I’d given up close to 15minutes and 15 or more positions during the three stops it took.

Still I took it as an opportunity to race the second half hard and finish strong, perhaps I’d still be able to catch some other racers. Slowly I was able to, especially when the later miles of the race after being predominately singletrack when to two track, cx ski trail and gravel roads. Moving up to 10th place by the finish I had given everything I had, making for a great workout and fun no pressure race.

Met some new racers & re-acquaintanced myself with others in the post race activities afterwards. Aaron Sturgis “Sturgy” who race not only the DeerFly really well, but rocked a top 80 Cheq 40 race. Got to finally meet Matt O’Meara… what a guy! Best story and comment of the race goes to him.. something along these lines – it’s somewhere early on in the singletrack he has slight mechanical, drops back only to catch up. In a confident, borderline funny, cocky way he jockeys at the last second in front of Nate Lillie getting into a succeeding section of singletrack , laugh to a degree about having done it….. only to hear Nate Lillie express that he just as quickly went crashing down the trail bouncing off everything in sight, land in a heap. Upon discovering he was ok, they continued on. I heard a quote later from someone else that Matt was overhead saying “I guess my coolness got in the way.” If you know Matt, you can really appreciate where that comment is coming from.

The weather couldn’t have been more beautiful with a 49 degree race start later warming up into the low 60’s. The organizers had a excellent post race party with food, awards and swag. I unfortunately had to leave a bit earlier than I would have liked to get back to & pick up the kids and get onto the rest of the weekends activities but it was an awesome race and amazingly well put together for a first time event.

Thanks again to Noah, his volunteers and CORC for making the DeerFly Chase possible. It nice to have some post Chequamegon 40, other than WORS MTB race options. Haven’t found another since the 2001 Fat Back Boogie held at Telemark/Cable. So thanks again guys! Really appreciate and looking forward to future editions of it.

Uncommon Valor or Suicide Mission??

2011-10-05T07:52:00.001-05:00

Alright, if a share of you know me – I’m normally a pretty sane, reasonably intelligent guy who seems to like to race his bike alot in his spare time. Well, also having a family & young kids that situation can be challenging sometimes. Fortunately, my wife Kate and I, have work pretty well in supporting each others goals and trading off responsibilities.

Well, for the support she’s offered me in my racing & taking care of the kids over the past 7+ years -- this fall, it only seemed right that I give her a something more than a just the normal break….. not sure if I was entirely thinking clearly at the moment I put it out there, perhaps I was in a state of heighten euphoria or delirium from some racing or training effort…. Note to self – try and think more clearly next time before putting things out there…

The break? 9 day trip to Hawaii. With yours truly taking on full & sole responsibility for the 4 kids at home – ages 7, 5, 3 yrs, along with a 8 month old. Ok, most of you would have probably right there said “Yep, Swanson’s lost it. Check him into the mental ward, right now.” Perhaps in the past now 6 days since she’s left I’ve had that thought cross my mind, so you’re not alone.

But you know everyone needs a break sometimes. I’m very content having some down time of a few hours in an afternoon or a day to do my own thing on a weekend. If I have that regularly I’ve never needed some big getaway. Kate on the other hand, being such a “mom” to truly escape and have a break really needs to break loose. So for the 9 years or so of putting up with me, believe me that’s not easy, a 9 day trip didn’t seem too far fetched….. wait did I mention the age of the kids?

Yeah, so it’s been quite a ride of it’s own lately. The interesting parts are the amazing compliments you get from other "moms” & women who hear about it. I’m sorta shocked when they like genuinely share how cool they think that is or the state of disbelief they display – like “you did what?!” You’re coolness factor in that department goes through the roof apparently. ANd on the other side from the male/father/husband perspective who either think, I’m nuts, stupid and if nothing else certainly setting a bad precedence. You get damned in that department. Oh well.

Also in a general survey most people give it less than a 25% chance she’s even coming back. (hey, I can’t blame ‘em I’m not entirely sure I would). So if you never see another blog posting after this one it’s true she probably didn’t come back.. as I don’t know how I’m squeezing this one in.

Somehow I’ve survived though and the kids too… so far. Far less sleep than I’m accustom to, far more running around and the constat little day in, day out tasks to tackle.

In it all however I got some super help from my sister and from a wonderful friend or two – that I was able to pull off doing something I love as well -- a MTB race in the middle of this whole thing too! How cool is that!? It was this past weekend’s DeerFly Chase MTB race, I’m going to recap how it went alittle later, but an awesome end of the season race! Great guys there and well put together for a newer trail system and first time race. Way to go to CORC, Noah Michaelsen & his crew of volunteers.

The tough part also was I got a bad head cold the day Kate left and have lost my voice on & off over this past week. I probably look & sound every bit as beat up as the task I’ve endeavored to be on. Not to mention the broken ribs still aren’t close to 100% so there’s certain required tasks taking care of kids that makes that part challenging too.

In all, a couple things to take from it – a healthy dose of respect & understand comes from putting yourself completely in someone else’s shoes, no matter what the work load is. Try and do that for someone sometime, don’t take for granted what your spouse, mom or anyone has done for you. You gain a valuable insight for not just that person but many others as well. More than ever now I hugely admire anyone who’s had to be the primary care taker of young child.

Stepping out of your comfort zone is not easy, but you learn some great things about yourself and find out things you didn’t think you had in you….some good and some not so but but still valuable.

Only a couple days left, as Kate comes back late Friday night. In case anyone is looking for me… I think I’ll be sleeping all weekend…

Chequamegon 40….

2011-09-19T22:28:00.001-05:00

Holy crap Dad! You sure are going fast – just don’t blow up this time!!

Little did I do to heed the little man’s warning, -- or maybe it was his exclamation at Dallas Fowler cutting through on my water bottle hand off at OO, forcing me to come to a complete stop, wait for Kate to run the bottle back to me, then try to chase down going all out, the 15 rider strong “race train” I had been in the next 5 minutes. Dallas, come on WTH was that about??

Anyways, results…

-- Start to OO checkpoint – 35th fastest time

--OO to Finish – 222nd fastest time

That spells out what happens when a big ‘ole bonk with 12 miles left to go in the race happens.

Finishing position 130th… ouch. I’d love to blame the broken ribs and those problems leading up the to race but to be honest they were a non factor.

I had a great pre-ride Friday – the first decent ride all week. The full suspension Gary Fisher SuperFly 100 29er worked out really well cushioning the ribs from bumping & vibrations of the course. Weighing in at a svelte 23.72lbs for the Saturday morning fight – It completely changed my viewpoint that riding a hardtail bike was the only way to go in that race.

Alittle more race details in the days to come… in the meantime looking to finish healing up the ribs and jump on a ‘cross bike for the remainder of the year.

Alittle bit of information…

2011-09-12T08:46:00.001-05:00

Can be dangerous. Reading the internet or researching your health or injury problems online quite frankly can suck. It never fails to lead to faint symptoms of hypochondria.

You read how a blunt trauma (just sounds bad doesn’t it?) to the trunk of your body can have other adverse problems than just some broken or bruised ribs. Like, oh yea, these ribs are there for a reason – protecting vital internal organs. You know like, lungs, spleen, liver, pancrease… the list can go on.

So when you relive the experience in reading the stuff – diagnosing where you were struck, what symptoms you had and currently have you, that little voice in the back of your head starts to say “oh, shit – it better not be that.”

Of course being stubborn, compounded with conventional wisdom that says nothing can be done for broken ribs and having stupidly high health care costs & insurance deductibles – only to confirm in the medical appointment nothing can be done for your injury. It becomes ever increasingly easy to pass on the obligatory visit to the doctor.

But from the getting stuck in the lower left part of my rib cage, feeling nauseous at times, having some shoulder pain and feeling the need to sleep alot. My spleen probably took a good pounding, if it ruptured… well, this would be moot as I’d of been dead by now, without having seen a doctor. Just real bruised and some bleeding most likely.

This prompted me to look at my cycling computer “PowerTap” file of the ride – just how fast was I going when I crashed? It shows the last reading was 33.6mph before going to zero mph. Ow… no wonder why….. I got a problem.

Coincidentally enough, I read an article in the Economist the other day that was talking about bike friendly cities & how it’s different in the US vs. europe, etc. They had some statistics I found interesting. If you get struck by a vehicle traveling at 20mph or less there’s a 5% chance of dying… not good, but not bad either given the the choice of getting hit. If the vehicle were going 30mph there’s a 45% of death. And if the vehicle were going 40mph, pack your bags for purgatory because there’s an 85% chance you are road kill.

Now, I’m not sure what the different is between getting hit by a car at 30mph or hitting the ground at 30mph – they both seem like pretty immovable objects. I can tell you I’ve had enough from hitting the ground at that speed that I don’t want the opportunity to test out the theory on a vehicle.

Be Kind, Remember them….

2011-09-11T07:07:00.001-05:00

…9/11

Seeley Pre-Fat pics….

2011-09-09T15:18:00.001-05:00

You’ll notice in the blog, I tend to be text heavy & graphically starved. But Tom Gaier sent over some pictures from the Pre-Fat I figured to post up.

I smile way to much when racing my bike… or maybe that’s a grimace.

This picture captures what the entire 2010 year was like…. always one place behind Todd McFadden. For as good as he’s racing in 2011, I’d be delighted to finish one spot behind him this year. Here’s Todd on his way to almost a first place finish and me….eventually onto a flat tire. Ah, bike racing….

‘Cross on hold, all chips in for Cheq 40…

2011-09-09T07:26:00.001-05:00

Still a week & a half on from my crash and the ribs are not substantially better. Each day when I wake up in the morning I feel like Bill Murray in “GroundHog’s Day”. It’s been the same agonizing process just to get out of bed.

I can function pretty normally throughout the rest of the day, just certain movement become rather paralyzing and you learn quickly to avoid them or work around them. Fortunately riding the bike isn’t one of them. This is unless…. I’m seated & riding a relatively bumpy off road on a hardtail bike. Then each bump absolutely jars my insides to pieces. So I’ll have to stick to road & smooth gravel rides for the time being.

Another thing I found out? I figured with cyclo-cross season around the corner I’d better work my dismounts & remounts. Dismounting still a piece of cake… the flying remount – oh dear lord, let’s just say that process jars the ribs just about as bad as anything. So might have to put ‘cross ambitions on hold just until the extreme level of pain abates.

Speaking of ‘cross… should be soon making my final decision on bikes for the season. Let’s just say it things came together surprisingly nice…..so I’ll be racing something that starts with an S, and has disc brakes. More on that later.

So with ‘cross on hold for the early season and plans for to race Nationals in January, I’ll be passing that UP Cross Series title to a new holder in 2011, may it go back to a Yooper where it belongs in the first place. Can’t say I won’t try and make a cameo appearance at some point. The guys over there run a great series and I bet the ratio of ‘cross racing participants to overall population is among the best anywhere in the country. Keep up the great work! I’ll miss being there week in & week out.

A call up or front row position on the starting line at ‘Cross Nationals is really important in having any chance in that race so I’m resigned to the fact I have to do races that award UCI points, but looking forward to it.

Which brings me to my last topic… The Chequamegon 40, with the ribs delaying ‘cross. I’m putting in all my chips the “big dance” next Saturday! I get goose bumps just thinking about it. It’s like the Vegas of life -- just one of those races MTB’ers either love, loath, hate or fear. I think I’ve had all those emotions except fear about the Cheq 40. The race itself serves as a great microcosm of life. It’s full of surprises, unexpected twists and turns. It comes at time of the season where your fitness is either spot-on or you are an over cooked crispy critter. Sometimes a great day, other times not so great. For myself, ribs aside, it comes in a season where I’ve set new power records in my training, increased my training hours 20% over years past and perhaps found the biggest factor in preventing my infamous bonk-outs in long races.

With some luck, great inspiration and support I’m looking forward to having a pretty sweet finish at the 40. Most of all in the race itself - it’ll be great to ride with and see the many friends, familiar faces and racing companions I’ve come to know over the years. See you at the starting line!

Copper Harbor Fat Tire Festival…

2011-09-08T00:19:00.001-05:00

A MTB season almost isn’t complete (some would say it’s definitely not complete) without a trip to Copper Harbor for their Fat Tire Festival. I heard about it for the first time probably in 2008(?) after some local guys had repeated mentioned it. I thought what the heck – it’s about the same distance as going to any WORS race and it’s someplace I’d never been before. I was racing my Trek full suspension Top Fuel 69er, at the time & thought it was the perfect bike for the course, in many ways it still is. I was just turning the corner in reaching the Expert/Elite field of racing (now called Category 1, or Cat 1 for short) that year. Was having a great race, stuck with one of the best all around endurance athletes I’ve known in Scott Chapin. Chris Peariso had flatted out and Darrin Braun was leading. Had third place sown up when the never fun tire failure materialized. Hence has been my constant love/hate relationship with that race. Scott Cole took third followed by Matt Zak. In ‘09 – I was cooked from already long the racing season or just having an off day, maybe started too fast but faded & ended up in 10th. 2010 – things went close to perfect that day. Chris Peariso took off in the lead, but Tom Carpenter & myself grabbed a decent lead early on and worked well together. I nearly witnessed his untimely demise in the form of a damn forest goat crossing his path down the Whoop De Woo trail – a couple seconds or feet different & Tom would have been taking the express way down the mountain… gravity style. Tom eventually broke free as I missed a water bottle handoff & was bonking with 5 miles to go. Just enough for Todd McFadden & Chris Schotz to catch me on the final Red Trail downhill. Todd got a good gap but Chris had to stay behind me. I managed to pass Chris again about 1/2 mile before the finish but ran 50 yards short of catching Todd which would be reminiscent of all my races with Todd that year… finishing one place behind him, ugh.

2011 they changed up the course, for good or bad. I think all the riding is pretty descent so nothing to be critical about, just happened to like the previous years better as it favored my strengths just alittle more.

The race started out biking through the middle of town, where there’s is a controlled rollout, Scott Cole & myself wound up on the front of that following the pace truck out of town. At the first climb (which I mentioned in previous posts) I wasn’t sure who was going to get the party started. No one initially really went hard. So I ended up being at the front, & focused on keeping my heart rate in check. It’s a race you can’t win in the first climb but I find you can put yourself in big hole the rest of the race if you go too hard. Eventually 3 or 4 guys went by and still later the guys who would lead most of the race caught up. As a group the first 6 of us entered the single track together, Chris Peariso, Brian Matter, Tyler Gauthier, Todd McFadden, myself & Pete Karinen. Though I was able to climb the hill at a good clip without a problem, once I got into the single track my game was off. Again I don’t know if it was the tires or me playing defensively due to my ribs. All I know is I was descending slow & like shit holding up Pete. Eventually Tom Carpenter & Mike Burnet caught up and I gave them all a pass. They left me in the dust, so I figured I’d quite taking chances and just concentrate catching up on the uphills. Easier said than done. By the time I got to the bottom they had 30 seconds on me. I’d hate to say the rest of the race was a bit frustrating but it was sorta. I noticed racers behind me that I figured I’d be able to drop & get some distance on the climb, but it really wasn’t happening. Once getting to the second descent, they caught me by the time I was at the bottom and so I figured I’d again climb away… not to be. They hung like glue, Justin Weber & Jan Roubal. That was my first clue this wasn’t going to be one of my stronger days on the trails. I eventually let them pass and followed them to Red Trail, only to pass Mike Burnet. My descending sucked again and apologies to Mike for having to sit behind it – which he did with such grace & poise (as he was the downhill race champ the day before). He claimed not having his regular glasses and that I drop him on the climbs - whatever… Well, actually riding and chatting with Mike was probably the highlight of my race. We did almost the entire next lap together. He’d patiently wait behind me on the downhills & do his best to cling on when climbing. On the 2nd to last descent of the day I told him he had to go out front as a couple of racers were now catching us Scott Cole & Matthew Colligan. If he was going to hold his place he’d have to put those downhill skills to work now. Mike quickly disappeared and I was able to hold off the other two until close to the top of the final climbing portion of the race.

It’s was at that point my rear tire started to feel more squishy than it should have. Sure enough, tire was going flat. I got out my pump but the tire would seem to hold air yet I could see where it was leaking. Finally it was clear that the valve stem was losing the air. So I screwed that in as best as possible. Fortunately Kate & the kids for some reason were at the top of this hill. She got me another pump and I was able to partially inflate so it held air better. That 10 minute fiasco, dropped me from 10th place to 25th which out of 150 racers isn’t too bad for that long of a delay.

I managed to ease the partially inflated tired down the final descent called Red Trail and took it easy on the way into the finish. Would have loved to have a better day, but would have required different tires and healthy ribs. I felt nauseous after the race and my kidneys hurt, something that doesn’t normally happen. So I’m guessing whatever was going on with my injury was really stressing my body in some manner.

But once done it’s time to party, visit & catch up with friends and hear their race stories and what’s going with them. I hung out for while & had little Aaron with me but eventually I had to put things on hold & rest up at the hotel in hopes I’d feel better.

The ribs got worse as the night went on, even so I headed back after the awards & enjoyed a few cold beverages and began to catch up with the many people I’ve gotten to know over the past several years racing in the U.P. as well as WI & MN racers that drive over. Makes you wish more races were like this and that the season went on a whole lot longer…

Good weekend, fast riding, oh.. & the ribs…..

2011-09-05T13:07:00.001-05:00

On the way back home right now, after spending the past 2 days in Copper Harbor for their Fat Tire festival. Just a quick stop in Calumet before heading home for some lunch & relaxed off road riding with the kids. Could sure use it. I was able to brush off how bad my ribs felt over the week, but riding at the Harbor didn’t feel like it exactly did me any favors. Would like to be optimistic it’ll be better in 2 weeks for the Chequamegon 40…

Not sure if I was riding protectively or my ribs are hurting me worse than I think, but I ended up fighting the trail more than flowing with it and no matter how hard I tried pushing it my normal power just wasn’t there during the race. Plans for a top 5 finish were scrapped and I had to work to stay in the top 10.. which didn’t exactly pan out either because with 5 miles to go my rear wheel valve stem progressively leaked air & took 15 minute to fix so I wound up 23rd on the day. That’s kinda amazing in it’s own right that more racers didn’t pass and illustrates how hard the race really is.

Still going to Copper Harbor is always a great getaway to relax & unwind. More on the weekend when I get home.

Ribs & Copper Harbor….

2011-09-03T22:06:00.001-05:00

If it were a picnic I was referencing -- it’d probably be a pretty good time. Copper Harbor is a beautiful place and if the weather is right you can’t go wrong.

However it’s the pre-ride of the Copper Harbor Fat Tire festival race this afternoon that I was referencing & it ain’t exactly what you’d call a picnic. The course has got climbing & descending like you don’t find anywhere else in the midwest that I’m aware of and the ribs I injured earlier in the week weren’t exactly happy to cooperate with the style of riding that course requires. Mind you it can be super fun to ride, but racing it …while still fun carries a higher degree of consequence for any mistakes you make on the vertically challenging and rocky course. I don’t mean this in a bad way but I’m always amazed more people don’t get hurt at this event.

Had the power tap & cycling computer on the pre-ride – showed approximately 1900 feet of climbing throughout the first 16 miles lap of the 28 mile course. I gotta be honest I actually like the start – it should separate the racers quickly. Something I’ve always like MTB'ing & why I chosen to pursue it, over, say road cycling. It’s mostly individual effort to see the strongest racers over drafting or other tactics which can mask or distort one’s true abilities.

The initial climb has somewhere over 400+ feet of climbing in 15 minutes, many parts having 17 degree pitches. For reference, take the steepest highway road near you – it’s probably pitched at 7 or 8 degrees at the most, I don’t think the Dept of Transportation or whatever regulating body allows for anything much steeper than that on highways. Now picture it twice as steep…. get an idea of how steep the pitch of the initial climb in the race is?

Managed to get through most of the course unscathed… only one minor tire incident, surprised?….but again the way I look at it that’s just getting the bad luck out of the way (didn’t I say that about Ore to Shore too.. and still got a second puncture during the race? At least that one worked out ok.) It was later on in the pre-ride as I thought I was taking it easy as my ribs were starting to act up and met an unfriendly, angry rock. There’s alot of those kind out on the course, so I’m hoping to make better friends with them tomorrow at the race.

When I got done it was just about sundown with a beautiful sunset over the lake. Tracked down the family, got visit with Todd McFadden along with a few other friends today like Tom Carpenter (and again Tom – the answer is still remains NO -- you’d can’t latch a tow rope on my bike tomorrow at the start for the climb). Should however be a good fast group of racers on Sunday.

Finally headed 40minutes back to Calumet where we’re staying Sat night. With a good nights rest we’ll see how things pan out tomorrow – I don’t think there’s any other course where this blog title is more appropriate. Now to see if I can abide by it; I know one thing for certain my ribs are counting on it. Try to get in a race recap sometime Monday.

Seeley Pre-Fat….

2011-08-31T23:49:00.001-05:00

What a great event held each year. It’s sponsored by the Seeley Lions Club. Traditionally three weeks before the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival, it very well may be one of the most diverse and challenging MTB courses you may find in the midwest.

It’s a combination of cross country ski trails and some great tight technical old school single track. Approximately 3000 feet of total climbing the 25mile race.

The week leading up to the race I’d just been coming back to riding after taking the previous week/weekend off due to unusual fatigue after Ore to Shore and later fighting allergies that sometimes strike me in mid to late August. The time off seemed to do me well and I was feeling pretty fresh. Thursday leading into the race I’d pre-road the course at a fast clip and it was easy so I was pretty excited at my prospects in the race if I felt even remotely the same way on Saturday.

As good fortune would have it, woke up Saturday feeling great. The weather could not have been better. It was one of those days you think no matter what happens it’s still going to be a great day.

Got to Seeley, early by my standards, about 90minutes prior to the race start… sorry to disappoint those of you who take wagers like Vegas bookies on how close to the start I’ll come screaming in…. though you’re right -- I deserve it most time though.

Brought the bike I’d been training on lately and had such good fortune on at last years race. It’s technically Kate’s Gary Fisher SuperFly 100… I just borrow it… sometimes. Hey, don’t give me grief, bikes are made to ride not collect dust. Truthfully though, it’s a great bike for this particular course, the full suspension, 29in wheels and cornering ability really comes in handy on the downhills without giving up much maneuvering and handling in the tight single track sections.

After plenty of warmup riding, chatting with others & finding out who was there. I was settling in and ready to go. However… the rear tire was feeling abit more squishy than I though it should. I squeezed it and sure enough it was a little low. Odd, but not completely unusual, I quick connected with the speedy Nathan Lillie to borrow his pump and bring it back up to the 23-24lbs of pressure I’d decide to ride that day. It was cutting it close to the start, but I still got to the line and sat in behind Todd McFadden & Chad Sova & next to Ron Raymond.

Soon enough we were off, all I needed to do was stay near enough to the front so when it finally went off road I’d be in the group I wanted to be. Scottie Kylander Johnson, given his recent injuries wisely speed things up round the first corner to stay out of trouble. It triggered abit of reaction from the sounds behind me but no grinding metal or screeching brakes so it was all good. From there it was the steady climb out & up to where the race finally gets off road & onto some cx ski trails with hairy crazy descents – they are soooo fun!

The race would bring in the most interesting dynamics of any race I’ve done. A couple guys with strong road racing backgrounds Adam Bergman & Pat Lemieux came to play, along with a pretty good young talent in Jordan Cullen. MTB & road racing just ain’t the same thing & in this particular course each style would have it’s advantages & disadvantages.

As long as the course was open it was clear Adam & Pat wanted to stay out front. As we crested the first main hill & went to the cx ski hill descents I was riding in 4th or 5th position behind Todd M. Adam, Pat & perhaps Josh Tesch and I wanted to get to the front. Pushing hard on the left side of the trail I made it up to & around Adam just in time for the first descent. Here I railed it & got a decent gap. Not something I wanted to run with for the rest of the race, but to keep the pace up & maybe start splitting things. Plus if I was in front I could stay out of harms way of anyone else not handling the descent & corner well. After another hill section or two Adam & I swap leads until I was sufficiently happy the race was breaking into smaller group. From there I sat in with Todd, with Josh T., Pat & Adam leading out front. For the longest time I was mistaken that Scott Kylander Johnson was with them thinking once this race got in single track, if SKJ was ahead this race would be over. Unfortunately somewhere behind us he’d gotten held up.

I’d love to say the race was super interesting the next 40+ minutes but not exactly. Chad Sova, last year’s Pre-Fat winner finally caught up to myself & Todd on another steep hill climb and the three of us shortly thereafter caught up to Josh who’d dropped off the back of Pat & Adam. Somewhere in the mix was Jordan & this other guy from Denver, but it’s alittle fuzzy in my memory right now. At least four of us road together for quite awhile with Pat & Adam 15-20seconds ahead.

Eventually the race heads into single track, it’s here the technical riding of the guys I was with really shines vs. that of riders who mostly do road racing. It was but a few minutes into the single track that I was trying to hang on to Todd wheel when we started to slow up? I’m like - WTF? We’d caught up to Pat & Adam. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it. Here’s the MTB racers etiquette as I’ve come to know it….“Yield to the faster racers”. Don’t mean to call anyone out but maybe that’s not how road racers do things as Pat & Adam refused to let anyone pass. I think Chad, Josh, Todd & myself were more bewildered than anything else at first… like come on.. what? you’ve got to be kiddin’? I later could sorta see Adam’s point of view even if I didn’t necessarily agree – he said since he was at the very the front of the race(ie winning) he shouldn’t have to move over. In the meantime, my heartrate is dropping as the effort is slowing and I’m not really complaining. Perfect time to recover some and then attack them in the open sections.

Myself, of the bunch racing at the front, probably sat dead middle in terms of the different abilities. I can single track faster than Adam & Pat, and I’m pretty sure I had the power to ride in the opens & flats on the full suspension that Chad, Todd & Josh may not have been able to with their bike setups. However on the flip side, I’m probably a knotch below all of them at their strong suits. So I’m getting excited thinking for once maybe a race may play out in my favor!? If I don’t loose Chad, Todd & Josh and can come around Pat & Adam for the different sets of single track this race could get very interesting… only that grand illusion…. was soon to be gone.

That low tire I was nursing at the start was a leak in the sidewall of the tire that wasn’t sealing up. After two sections of single track I had no choice but to jump off the bike and try to re-inflate it. Unfortunately the cycling gods wouldn’t have it and despite my best efforts it got low again eventually causing me to stop altogether to try & put in a tube. More mechanical mishaps with that so I was finally left to walk the bike out. Ugh.

After getting to the finish & catching up with others I found out I missed a real interesting remainder of the race – normally MTB racing isn’t too antagonistic, unfortunately the road guys continued the strategy of jumping ahead in single track, holding things up. And there was another incident with Todd & the guy from Denver who thought Todd had somehow wronged him in an earlier part of the race. Not pretty, let’s just leave it at that.

Anyways, Todd’s racing as good as he has in years, was able to break free the final several miles, as Adam had to stop to fill his tire and only Pat hung on with Chad close behind. Pat sat on Todd’s wheel resting up the final miles not taking a turn and outsprinted him at the end. Call that what you want…. Todd had a super race. Chad finished 3rd but if strategy had played out different could have equally had the win. Josh had 4th, Adam 5th, followed by SKJ.

I finally came trotting out of the woods in like 50th. Oh well, it was good while it lasted & that’s bike racing. You don’t know when your luck is going to turn.

Hung out afterwards catching up & visiting with friends along with my girls Hope & Grace – they always are hitting me up for the free donuts holes & Gatorade at the finish line. I think I’m onto them as to why they like coming to Daddy’s bike races….

As soon as the awards wrapped up I headed to Hayward to catch up with a good friend. Won some gift certificates at the raffle after the race – promptly put them to good use as we picked up candy for our kids at Tremblay’s and hung out and had a really good time catching up. Funny story – unless perhaps you’re famous, or in an advertisement, a person never expects to see a picture of themselves in public. So we’re in the County Market grocery store in Hayward walking down the isles and I see this huge photo of the start of the Chequamegon Fat Tire 40 race on the wall past the checkout lines. Half joking, half serious I say “yeah, I’m up there in the that picture” When in fact I have no clue from even what year that picture was taken. I was talking out of my butt. Then we get closer & I glance up again to where I’ve normal placed myself at the start of the race (right hand side). And sure enough 2nd or 3rd row in– there I am!? I don’t know if my friend was impressed or though I was goofball, but I think we both thought it was pretty funny. I should have asked the cashier for a ladder & a sharpie & gone up & signed it… anyways…

It really ended up being a perfect day even for all that stuff that didn’t quite go right. Sometimes in life we’re lucky enough to have those days. It really helps to remember & hold onto them. To keep in mind that life doesn’t always have to go according to plan to still be really good and well worth smiling about.

Up next, getting these ribs healed up and ready for Copper Harbor’s race this Sunday. It’s gonna be a good one!

I used to think…..

2011-08-30T08:25:00.001-05:00

That hurting your back was the most disruptive body part to injure. I’m re-thinking that right about now. It’s the ribs that are getting my vote. It compromises your movement and you certainly don’t dare sneeze, cough or laugh – let alone other normal body functions….

Anyways, it’s a day after the crash & though I could be feeling worse. I could also be feeling a whole lot better. Just gotta take it one day at a time… like so many other things, it’s so much easier said than done. But I firmly believe that those roadblocks or challenges life tosses our way don’t have to be bad things. You can learn alot about yourself, get stronger in different ways and come to realize things that you wouldn’t otherwise if it never happened.

Not saying you should go looking for the stuff -- as life has a way of putting things before when you least expect it.

Now if I can sit down & manage some pain long enough, I’ll eventually get around to a recaping what started as a great race & ended as a really fun weekend…

What’s worse than crashing your bike?……

2011-08-29T18:28:00.001-05:00

Crashing your bike going downhill.

What’s worse than crashing your bike going downhill?

Crashing your bike going 25mph downhill.

What’s worse than crashing your bike going downhill at 25mph?

Crashing your bike going 25mph downhill on a gravel road.

What’s worse than crashing your bike going downhill at 25mph on a gravel road?

Crashing your bike going 25mph downhill on a gravel road and cracking your ribs… that is what’s worse.

What a way to start Monday…..can’t laugh, can’t sneeze, ugh. Oh well, think positive, heal quickly and be back in action in time for the last two MTB races of the year, Copper Harbor & the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival.

Recap on Seeley Pre-Fat to come….

Missing a round of racin’….

2011-08-21T22:59:00.001-05:00

Instead of building off a really great Ore To Shore race and heading into another weekend of MTB racing, things didn’t quite go as planned.

Earlier in the week, it seemed to be taking forever to feel recovered from O2S. I kept thinkin’, ok, tomorrow I’ll feel better… and the next day would come and the same thing.. ok, I feel better tomorrow. Finally by Weds, things seemed to be getting better, I was in particularly good spirits – decided to hit a really hard 40 minutes of intervals in my 2+hr ride… it went decent, but by that night had me right back to feeling fatigued…. or maybe it was the bar league softball game that went til 11:50 that night… that’s an entirely different story…

Anyways, this time of year I can get a some allergies kicking in on occasion as well & that sometimes masks what the real the problem is so I’m pretty sure that was part of it too. Hence, with just over a month of racing left, taking a break for a few days and skipping both the Calumet Deer Chase and River Falls Border Battle races was the advice I got…. and took. Believe you me, not in the least bit easy. I know taking a break was the smart thing to do… why is it so hard sometime? Calumet has some of the all time most fun trails to ride and with River Falls it’s a good race and I like to drive down that direction whenever I can.

So what’d I do instead? Well, stuck pretty close to home, worked on the trails here and then at the last minute Sunday evening decided to pre-ride next weekend’s Seeley Pre-Fat race course – “evening” being the key word. I swear I’ll never learn. I get so used to the having daylight past 9 o’clock in the summer that by the time mid August rolls around & the sun is setting considerably sooner I find myself stuck out on the trails in the near pitch dark. Tonight was no exception and almost a replay of 8 or 9 yrs ago when we got a late start pre-riding the Seeley course and truly had to feel our way out of the woods.

Fortunately, I recalled a short cut, but still didn’t get back to the car til 9. It’s definitely pretty dark by then. Oh well, someday that stubborn & persistent (or is it foilable) person inside of me will learn… actually, nah, I doubt it. Make things interesting and keeps life humorous. And we could all use a laugh more often even if it’s at our own expense.

Well, congrats out to the racers at Calumet & River Falls, I’m sure I missed a good time. Gotta thank Tom Carpenter for filling me in on how the Calumet race went, that definitely would have been fun ripping it up.

Looks like I'm probably down to only three MTB races left…excited, but bummed that the season is winding up too. Seeley Pre-Fat Sat 27th, Copper Harbor, MI Fat Tire Festival Sun 4th and then the grand-daddy of races Sept 17th the Chequamegon 40. All different, but all great races. Not a much better way to end the year than with those ones. Perhaps I’ll pick up another race after that however I’m also looking forward to another cyclo-cross season. Have some news on that horizon I’ll share later…

Ore to Shore…..

2011-08-14T11:56:00.001-05:00

A special friend earlier this week, did me a huge favor & confirmed just because crazy & unexpected things happen in life, it doesn’t mean you are crazy. And that life has twists & turns you never expect, but doesn’t mean you can’t still embrace them and hold onto them for what they can be. They perhaps happen for a reason and are more unique & special than you realize.

That may be an apt description of life lately but it echoed itself in the Ore To Shore Hard Rock MTB race in Marquette, MI this weekend. “The Rock” as it’s often referenced is one of the biggest races I looked forward to each year. 48 mile miles of off road racing on one of the fastest & longest yet reasonably challenging courses of it’s kind in the Midwest. Attracting 700+ racers, it’s a great spectacle to witness.

Drove up Friday afternoon, and though the weekends adventures began rather uneventful, it wouldn’t stay that way long…. Arriving later, I missed pre riding with McFaddens & co. but needed a nap so I snoozed in the van waiting for registration to open & Kate & the kids got out & played/biked nearby. Just what I needed from the busy & at times sleep deprived week I had. Woke up felt great, got the registration package and then off to pre-ride the last 21 miles of the course.

Kate dropped me off & down the trail I went. As fast as the course is I was still surprised by it. I kept the pre ride in check due to a cassette & spoke issue I couldn’t fix until back to the van and the lower traction tires were alittle less than ideal after the rain left parts of the course slick. Nonetheless was having a good ride, clearing my mind for tomorrows race. About the time I’m entering this really beautiful outlook/overview of Lake Superior I get a text wishing me good luck for tomorrow. The timing of it could not have been better! I’m feeling great. Life is good.

(Smartphone picture & power lines don’t do this view over Lake Superior justice, it’s just really beautiful in person).

As I wind up the ride and about 1 mile from the finish, I can’t complain things are good…… then I hear a “pssssst”. What the..?

I pick up this errant nail that was laying in the trail, laying my rear race tire to waste. Aggh? It’s now 9:30 EDT, how can this have happened? So immediately, my mind starts to scramble, what am I going to do? I look through my phone to try to find someone, who knows someone, who could help. I start with Paul Belknap (who’s now in Pennsylvania) to get Tom Carpenter’s number. I call Tom to see if he’s got a tire to spare for tomorrow, he tells me his bike shop/sponsor QuickStop Bike Shop in Marquette is open til 10pm and should be able to take care of me. Sure enough, I got over there just in time. After some back & forth good natured harassing with fellow racers Nate Guerra & Tyler Gauthier about various tire selection, who they themselves were setting things up for Saturday. Nevin at the shop, helped me out big time getting the exact replacement Bontrager XR1 tire. He also ground down the chain stops on the cassette alleviating the spoke problem. Perfect help & timing. Can’t say thanks enough. Guess the pendulum of luck was swinging back my way.

Headed to hotel, shooting for a good 8hr nights sleep. Only that didn’t go over too well as I woke up at 1 & didn’t fall back asleep til almost 4am. Head spinning, just couldn’t sleep.

Got up at 7:30, had a slight headache from lack of sleep but nothing a shower, some stretching & food couldn’t cure. Put the finishing touches on prepping the bike , getting the kids ready and though alittle late we got to the start with 15minutes to spare. A quick warmup and to the start line… gotta love having been awarded a preferred start & getting in the first few rows rather than 700 racers deep. I see the bunch of the regulars and line up next to the always great guy Chad Sova and pro road racer Cole House. Di McFadden & Michele Peariso in front of me I wish them good luck and soon it’s “go time”!

At the start I know immediately I’m going to stick to Chad Sova’s wheel to get to the front & out of more of harms way. He’s savy & does a great job of getting where you need to be at the front. I felt the pace this year was really high right from the start. So I had to do a delicate act of managing a reasonable heart rate around 170bpm and yet stay toward the front. It went ok, but I was probably in the middle 30’s to 40th place in the early miles of the race. Not where I’d like to have been, as I was feeling alittle extended but otherwise fine.

As race entered the city of Ishpeming, things settled down abit, pretenders & contenders were starting to separate. I got in a good grove riding with Nate Lilly & Adam Swank and soon afterwards was able to do some passing on hills that followed and keep Chad Sova in sight.

It wasn’t long after this story gets even more interesting… Ore to Shore has a history of racers in the front getting off course. I always wondered how in the world is that possible? Well,…. let’s just say Josh Tesch & myself now know how & why. I was riding strong through a series of up & down climbs pulling away from others and finally passing Josh when we came to a road crossing. The most obvious way looked to be right so we took it. We tucked into time trial cycling positions and tried to catch whoever was out of sight in front of us…. about a minute or so of that and one of the least fun sights I’d ever seen in racing was about to play out. We came upon another road crossing and at that moment two other racers flashed by just in front of us, one was Tyler Gauthier. We almost T-bone them. Hitting the brakes & narrowly missing we quick did a u-turn and got back on course.

With the lost momentum we did our best to catch back on but Josh said he was at his limit and with 35 miles to go I wasn’t about to blow up trying to catch them myself. Riding in 13th place at that time eventually Darrin Braun & Mike Anderson & one other guy caught up we all worked together. Not much longer Todd McFadden & two other guys caught up as well. That stayed together pretty much until we came upon what they call “Misery Hill” an impassable rock hill that one has to hike their bike up. Some love it, some hate it. I don’t mind as it adds character to the race.

At the top it’s now just Todd McFadden, myself & two other guys. The four of us work together pretty well each giving a pull at the front. I start hearing this funny clink/clunk on my bike periodically, doesn’t sound right but it’s not slowing me down.

Our rotation goes on for the next 12 to 15 miles or so……and past another two water bottle handoff spots. Here’s the problem for me… No kate. No water. So in the back of my mind I’m downed my last oz of water and there’s 20+ miles to go, what in the heck happened. She’s really good about getting from spectator/water checkpoint to the next. So I’m visualizing this great race I’m having going from sizzle to fizzle. Fortunately, at mile 27. I see Scottie Kylander Johnson who’s doing water bottle handups for his wife Sara, Todd McFadden & other racers from Duluth. On a hope & prayer as I’m going by I ask if he’s got an extra bottle. Scottie’s like “Yeah sure! Hold on!” I coming to slow roll as he races back to his water bottle stash and come flying back with a bottle, hands it over and gives me a push to get going again. By this time Todd & the two others have 150 yards on me and I have to work hard in an effort to catch up – but they held up a bit for me AND I got water!!! (Yet still in the back of my mind… what the heck happened to Kate!?)

The last larger climbing portions of the race were coming up and we were doing fine but I could tell our pace was slowing. Having been low on water, I wasn’t able to help pull through as much as I would have liked & being only a group of four it needed a really good rotation of racers. On next to the last climb, two groups caught up to us lead by none other than Chad Sova. It added another 14-16 guys into the mix. That’s both good and bad. That’s extra guys to help share the workload but also the downside of more competition to try and thin out at the end.

Three or four guys stayed at the front for most of the next 15 miles of the race. I finally glanced behind me with 9 miles to go and was shocked to see no one behind me…. I’d been riding towards the front between 5th & 9th position of the twenty racers the group had been. So it was pretty wild to turn around and see half of them gone! It was like… who swooped down and took ‘em away. That’s how it is when racers fall of the pace, you don’t hear it happen. It’s just they eventually aren’t there.

I’m relieved at this point being thankful the group is down to this size and we’re within the top 20-25 racers. I’m thinking I just gotta hold it together this last 9 miles as I fought off leg cramps from the dehydration that was creeping in. At the 5th & final water handoff station, there was Kate & Hope. On the drive home we later figured that my misdirection early on with Josh had bypassed the first water station. Because she never saw me she waited around too long & missed me at the other ones until running into Scottie Kylander Johnson who filled her in on where I was.

With 4 miles to go, we hit the “sand dune” downhill section all together. It lead up to the last sharp climb in the race. I don’t know what’s it’s called but it’s hurts pretty bad by that point in the race. I managed to climb fine just in front of Chad but just when I hit the top, my legs completely cramped up. Quads, hamstrings, everything. Ugh! I had to slow pedal & stand to try to alleviate it but by that time the group of 7 or 8 was gone & away from me.

Now it was just a matter of racing as hard as I could the final 3 1/2 miles and holding off any larger groups of racers that might be catching up from behind. I didn’t work this hard and fight through this race to let that happen. I got to the final 1.5 miles where it opened up again and saw no one in sight behind me, breathed a little sigh of relief. I could still see the group in front --but barely, so I concentrated on that, the finish line and prayed for no nails in the trail like had happened the night before.

With good fortune & managing inevitable problems that came along I crossed the line to finish 23rd overall. Can’t exactly complain about that as I’m really happy with my race. Wasn’t the top 20 I was looking for but given the circumstances of racing without enough water & cramping I gotta be happy. I took first place overall in my 35-39 age group out of 110 and outside of Todd McFadden & one other guy, I was the third fastest guy over 35 – not a bad result for this little hobby/habit I have on the side…

Oh yeah, and that clink/clunking noise that started half way through the race? It was my rear wheel’s rim…. because a nail was stuck through the new tire pushing into the rim. Somehow never leaked air… how lucky was that.

So plenty of ups & downs, and good fortune to balance the lesser fortune of the day. The cycling gods had to be with me.

Had a great time catching up with friends & fellow racers afterwards, swapping race stories. Finally got something to eat, jumped into a cold Lake Superior with the kids and then headed home. Tired, more than alittle beat & exhausted but a very good time had. Got alotta people to thank in helping have made this years Ore to Shore so great. If I missed mentioning you directly in here you still know who you are. Thanks a million. :)

At the beach….. Daddy & Aaron Cooper Douglas…

Mudrutters…

2011-07-18T12:14:00.001-05:00

Life as a rule I try to keep as mellow as possible. Not that it doesn’t have it’s fair share of busy & stressful times. This weekend was one of those whole bunch of things packed into a short period of time. All real good stuff though.

Friday it was further course preparation for the Mudrutters MTB race on Saturday. It’s easy to underestimate the amount of time & manpower hours it takes put on an event together. As a race participant what you see flash by you in a few moments or minutes is so often a collection of hours of work done in relative slow motion to how fast it goes by in a race.

The evening started with a double header of softball in some really close games that had us ending on the upper end of things. Got done with that just in time to head out for some class reunion activities that let’s just say went well past my normal bedtime. Had an absolutely great time seeing & catching up with friends. Then on 3 1/2 hrs of sleep, figured that doing this weekends MTB race would be a good idea…? Well, once you snap out of the fact of how friggin’ tired you are and hop on the bike it’s not too bad. Was hoping for a more mellow race, but Adam Swank of Duluth showing up ensured that racing wouldn’t be a walk in the park.

Due to a hard right corner within 100 yards into the start of the race I inquired with race director, Paul Belknap, that we run a controlled roll out. Then I figured race 'on after that point… as I figured someone would attack get things going. Only, I sat on the front at a mellow pace and everyone else was content lining up behind me and no one came around to pass me. That continued for probably at least 1 to 1 1/2 miles. I wasn’t complaining though because I was still pretty tired and wanted to save things in case things got ramped up.

The first entry into more significant off road riding had a downhill entry that had mud puddle/creek at the bottom of it. My amazing handling skills promptly had me attempt to shoot right through the center of it -- crashing as the first entrant into the hole, followed by Matt Dale performing an over the handlebars crash into the water himself. If only there’d been a camera for that one…

Anyways I mounted back on and the trailing 5 other riders, Matt Dale, Adam Swank, Matt Hudson, Curt Cline and one other – followed the my lead. The crash breaking things up a little bit. The next mile or so of trail is a gradual climb on a sometimes soggy old snowmobile trail. I picked the pace up slightly to keep everyone honest and only Adam stayed with me. Again I road a modest pace because going all out & dragging Adam the rest of the way to the finish line wasn’t necessarily going to be feel like the most rewarding effort of my day.

We continue to dodge our way through the bigger water & mud holes on the course due to the wet summer we’ve been having. Once we got back on Summit road I let enough to have Adam take the lead and likewise he took to it about the same pace & effort I’d been doing. Pretty Mellow in relation to what a normal race pace can feel like. It was still enough to have established a couple hundred yard lead on Matt Hudson & Matt Dale.

I went to the front again at about the half way point in the race just past the Ashland water tower and where things would finally be leading into rough cut double track and eventually the single track on Farm trails. It’s there -- the rest of the race course breaks down into 2 distinctly different sets of terrain. The first 2 1/2 miles plays very well into the hands of a full suspension bike, the later 2 1/2 miles is much more favorable to a hard tail.

I looked over at Adam riding a Gary Fisher SuperFly 29er…. and then down at the SuperFly 100 29er I was on. And figured it’s now or never. I right away started to hammer things as fast as I reasonably could keep control of the bike and with one quick peak over my shoulder & I could see Adam was falling off. Without a gap here contending at the finish line, when things weighed out in his favor given our two different bikes, it would be tougher than I’d prefer.

Only then… after maybe 200 yards or so into the rough trail I start hearing a sound that resembles that of a stick hitting the bike. I look down at my front wheel and with every revolution there’s a nearly a 2” Hawthorn needle stuck in my front tire. Crap!! So I start to pray it either stays in or the hole it leaves upon ejecting isn’t too big for the CaffeLatex sealant to fill.

It stays in there a surprisingly long time as I ride on building a gap on Adam but when it let loose sealant was spraying everywhere and not doing much of a job in stopping the leak. Another 200 yards later I’m off the bike and running it, just as we start to enter the trails at my place on Farm Rd. At that point I figured crap that’s it, you win some, you lose some.

Well, I surprised at the distance I was able to run before Adam caught up to me. I asked him a favor if when he saw my wife & kids as the trail went through my back yard to ask her to grab my pump. Being the great guy Adam Swank is, sure enough he did and when I got there Kate was racing back from the garage with the pump.

When I got there, my tire had gone off the wheel’s bead and I had to pump furiously to re-seat it. I heard the “pop’s” of it re-seating, gave it a good thumb test and assumed it was ready to go. About that time Hudson & Dale finally come cruising through pass me by. I was able to get a quick pass from Matt Dale and try to chase down Hudson who I caught about 400 yards later down the trail….. only problem? The front tire was going soft on me again and cornering was really unstable. I still managed to get a good gap on Matt Hudson once we got out of the single track and back on Farm Rd. And surprisingly Adam Swank still in sight just over a 1/4 mile up the road. I buried my head down realizing the straight aways were the only places I could make time and ride hard. I didn’t look back too often so I was never entirely sure how far back Matt Hudson was but at a few points I’d get 150 yards and at other times on with more corners and turns he’d be within 50 yards it seemed. I never did see Adam again…but that’s for an entirely different reason than him being in front (he missed the signage for a right hand turn) and ended up being off course and didn’t get back on until several other riders behind us had already gotten by. He managed to work himself back into 4th place by the finish.

I assumed he was out front and I was hoping my front tire would hold out long enough so I didn’t ride on the rim or roll the tire off completely and hang on for 2nd place. Only the final corners into the finish were my undoing. I had to slow down to a crawl to get around the final 5 corners in the last 100 yards while Matt Hudson was able to crawl back into contention, he passed me with 3 corners & about 50 yards to the finish line. I rolled in for 2nd.

Certainly one of the most different Mudrutters races I’ve done in the 10yrs or so now. Normally it’s an all out sprint being a 10 1/2 mile race but this year with the cat & mouse riding with Adam and later the flat it proved to be equally entertaining.

Despite the hot day & muddy trail conditions in a number of sections we got a lot of compliments once again on the race & the course. Certainly appreciate everyone who was able to make it and make for a great day of racing.

We lingered around catching up with lot’s of other riders to see how things went, but eventually the lack of sleep had me ready to call it a day. Got home and took a couple hour nap. Only to get ready for the second night of class reunion festivities. Maybe even a better time than Fri and and certainly an even later night out Saturday. So there was no Sunday Sprint Triathlon going to happen, let alone get up to Duluth for their Dirt Spanker MTB race. Good thing I’ve got some breaks in racing for a couple weeks…. I’m going to need some sleep… and alot of it.

Perspective….

2011-07-11T22:32:00.001-05:00

Myself, and I’m willing to bet a bunch of other folks at times can find it easy to observe a sport or contest and never comprehend the skill, ability or power that goes into it.

Be it the Olympics, pro football game, NBA game or MLB game and though there can be spectacular plays -- how many of us put in perspective the immense talent that an athlete is capable of? Especially when the particular talent on display is hard to quantify, such as on TV.

I came across an article on this year TdF in cyclingnews – that was pretty astonishing to me. It was an article on a sometimes heard about, moderately popular rider, named Juan Antonio Flecha. He’s not necessarily the biggest and baddest cat in the cycling world but he mostly gets his respect when it’s due. Well, if a person hadn’t heard -- he was on a breakaway in Stage 9 of this years TdF, doing an impressive ride until he & another rider got hit by a French TV car ending his opportunity.

Well cyclingnews put out an article on his recorded Power output numbers on that day. (I believe they use the SRM crank setup as their power meters.) Therein lay the astonishing reality check for how amazing a top end athlete can be. Juan Antonio Flecha is about my size, he’s just about 6’ tall & 160lbs. Now, anyone reading this who’s into power gets this – for those that don’t just put in perspective of how hard an effort you’ve ever done in staying with me (or passing me by) on a bike while we’ve been racing really, really hard, …..not after I’ve bonked out.

Here’s the power he produce on his bike during Stage 9 of the 2011 TdF, compared to my best efforts.

	Flecha	Me
Threshold effort – 20minutes --(riding your fastest 20minute Time Trial)	446 watts	345 watts

Another example: he can do for 20minutes, what I can do maxing my brains out riding as hard as I can for 3 minutes. So Juan, if you are kind enough to go at your decent 20minute pace, I can stick with you for 3 minutes before I feel like passing out and dying.

Think of that the next time you are riding hard or racing to get an even better appreciation of not just the endurance but the power some athletes have. The human body is an amazing thing.

The above is his short term power. Long term he can kept up for 5 hrs & 43 minutes….. what I can do for 40minutes.

Lastly, from what one can ascertain in articles and interviews he’s a pretty darn good, head-on-his-shoulders-the-right-way, kind of guy. To get paid for riding a bike and have this perspective, it’s pretty great.

Details on the power he threw down in Stage 9 before getting bump by the car are here if you want to see them.

So with that perspective…for my clients to know it’s safe for me to say my day job isn’t even remotely close to being in jeopardy. But for those of you planning on the O2S & Cheq 40 this year… I’m not planning any more than 20 of you to toss down better power than I’m shooting for on either of those days. And for that matter, as nice as he is I sure hope J.A.F doesn’t show up…….

Chippewa Valley Firecracker

2011-07-11T08:25:00.001-05:00

There were fireworks at Sunday’s race alright – right in my legs. Because about an hour into the race they went POP. Then for good measure when the legs weren’t working I tried the Superman approach to flying down the trail….

Surprisingly enough I had the gumption to think this day would be different. Though I didn’t feel all that splendid on the ride down after 8 hours Saturday working on cutting trail for next weekends Mudrutters race. Once I got on the bike in Eau Claire the legs felt loose…. could have been the almost 90 degree heat by that time however.

Anyways a quick warmup, got to say hi to the Adventure 212 ladies, Di, Michele & Sarah. Then got my son Marshall over to the kids race. He did pretty good and had a fun time. Racing in the 6-7 yr old race, he got 4th with a sweaty smile on his face. Can’t help but love it.

At the start line, it appeared to be a smaller field of racer than I ever remember for a Firecracker race, 50 or so. Couldn’t have gotten to off to a much worse start. The guy in front of me, who shall remain nameless, falls over before even crossing the start line. I’m stuck directly behind him as guys go by on the left and right. So needless to say I’m DFL as racers head into the first corner by 30 yards. It’s a long race so I don’t panic and just jump as far up as I can over the next mile without burning through too much energy. Probably land in low 30’s position by the time we enter the single track.

Now regardless my race was bound to go up in flames but the first lap of the 4 lap race was driving me nuts. A couple guys in front of me were challenged in riding single track with any kind of speed and it didn’t take much time for them to lose contact with the group in front. Coming from a guy like myself who once the corners start getting tight has his own challenges that’s saying something.

So needed to bid my time and hope once things opened up I could do some more passing and save it for the remainder of the race. I did end up passing another 10 guys or so that lap without spending too much energy. On the start of the 2nd lap it was me, another guy and Jon Lirette. I thought to myself, “Good, now we should get somewhere with this.” Well probably half way through that 2nd lap I started to feel taxed in my legs on the harder efforts. Gee, that’s weird, I haven’t been cooking them in this race so far. I looked down at my power tap, we were just under an hour in.

Never a good sign when about 1/3 through a race you start going into the red zone. On a punchy climb I tried to follow another racers momentum up the hill and my legs blew up altogether. I honestly thought I was going to have to quit the race right there. I had absolutely nothing left, it all happened in less than 10minutes.

I soft pedaled until I could get some kind of comfortable pace going, by that time Nikoli Anikin & John Gatto & 3 others guys came up on me. I was able to stay with them for awhile and try to draft a bit but on a second trail incline I had to drop back & lost them for good.

So I just cruised around the remainder of the race trying to enjoy it for what it was and get some good single track practice in. The course at Lowe’s creek is fun and pretty fast. I have to admit I preferred it a few years back with less single track, not because it wasn’t fun but because it kept the race more open and with more opportunities to pass.

On the 4th & final lap somewhere along the way air burped out of my front tire, I could tell it was mushy (at the finish I discovered it had only 12 psi vs. the 25psi I started with). I figured I could work with this. However on a faster downhill single track section, the tire must have rolled on me because I literal do not know what happened because the next thing I remember is flying through the air like being shot out of cannon. Over the handlebars downhill with my arms extended. I gotta admit it caused a degree of anxiety because of the steep hillside I was on and how quickly I was approaching a 14” diameter tree. After flying why felt like almost 20 feet I skidded on my arms & legs and came to a crumpled up stop against the tree. I did a quick check to make sure every body part was still attached & working and scrabbled back up the trail to get my bike. If only a video camera would have caught it, it’d of made good youtube footage.

So I took it down one more notch and finished out the race on the safer side of caution. Finish 38th out of 52, not exactly the day I would have liked. Hot day, the powertap recorded temps between 90 & 100 throughout the race. Some guys pulled out some great races though. Todd McFadden scored a top 10 with alot of the usual suspects rounding out the top 5.

Next week unfortunately may need to skip the always fun Duluth DirtSpanker due to festivities & reunions in Ashland. I bummed as I really like that race. Good luck to all that day.

Racin’ on a MTB PowerTap… why not?

2011-07-08T09:13:00.001-05:00

Giddy. New disc brake Powertaps wheels came in. The setup was super smooth. It’ll be great for tracking power output when training off road… but then I got to thinking. Why not race on it?

All that technology packed into a bigger hub. It’s bound to be a significant weight penalty…. well…..

Current:

Bontrager XXX lite carbon rear wheel with disc brake tubeless with Caffelatex sealant – 1590grams.

PowerTap setup:

Stans Crest rim, Sapim CX-Ray Spokes, WB Alloy nipples, Saris PowerTap disc hub tubess with Caffelatex sealant – 1770 grams.

If my mathematical translation from grams to lbs is correct that’s just between 1/3 & 2/5 lb heavier… ridiculously awesome!

So I’ll eat one less bagel before racing that day or carrier 16oz water bottles instead 20 oz water bottles. Rotating weight is rim & tire, the centering mass doesn’t have the same effect.

Time to put ‘em to use – I might be passing on Miner Revenge this year, but the Chippewa FireCracker might be as good as any to test it at this weekend. Not to mention Mudrutters or Brownstone later this month.

Must…. have…. more….. POWER!!

2011-07-07T10:36:00.001-05:00

Thanks…

Delivery scheduled…. July 6th…

ProXCT – WORS Subaru Cup

2011-07-06T08:12:00.001-05:00

Just as the race season feels like it’s getting started before you know it’s half way through… or at least it feels that way. The tail end of June brought a National level MTB race to the Midwest for a second consecutive year.

How do you pass on that opportunity? Well, usually you don’t. I gotta be honest, it’s always one of those races that tugs on me back & forth about going. It’s hyped up for what it is, but at a distance I’m less than enamored about driving too. I traveled so much years ago it probably burnt me out for the next 20years. Some say it’s a lifestyle and you just roll with it. I get stuck thinking of all the other stuff I’d prefer to be doing than sitting 8hrs in a car. So I can’t say it’s ever been my favorite place to travel too, but once there it’s a nice festival atmosphere, lot’s of familiar faces to see and friends to catch up with.

The race course in my now 3 previous experiences has gotten better each time around as the trails have worn in and improvements made. The trail itself has a soil content that makes it very smooth in most places interrupted with the normal rocks & tree roots. Subtract that out & alot of it is pavement smooth versus trails that are more bumpy. I’ve found some trails are more fun to ride than race and vice versa. This one has an enjoyable flow, smoothness but also challenging. I’d give the edge to riding it over racing it but it’s pretty close.

Racing it is just plain tough at times. Built on the tree laden slopes of a midwest ski hill it makes you work on the climbs and carve the single track on the way down.

My goals were simple – put in a top 10 finish in the 116 rider line up. Do-able? Yes. Problem. Yes – it’s called 116 racer lineup at he start. It’s a single track heavy course and even with an attempt to thin things out a 3minute(if that) hill climb to start doesn’t cut it.

Getting to the start 20minutes early, (if one can believe me – it’s true!) The closest I got to the front was the 4th/5th row that was lined 10-12 racers wide. With no further selection, it was simply based on who got there first or could weasel ahead.

I’d be curious what was the greatest advance made by any racer from starting position to finishing position. I’m wagering not beyond 15 to 20 places. So unfortunately, I don’t believe all the best racers really had results indicative of their abilities solely based on the amount of racers that were allowed to start & the course design. Read a few other blogs, including Tristan S. and you’ll get the same picture of that.

What happened? I got a reasonable start but 40 racers deep made moving up tough because with the snow fence corraling of the course there simply wasn’t room to pass. In fact as I stayed to the right side near the edge & close to the barriers -- one guy tried passing hard on my right we had some physical contact, he bumped me a little too hard the first time and that was his mistake because on the next set of contact I put him down & piled up into the snowfence. Honestly, --- it kinda felt good. Sorry dude. At least on a bike course my 6’ 168lb self makes me one of the bigger guys out there.

The 2-3minute climb may have slightly narrowed things down but not really. There was at least 15 people off the bike waiting to enter the single track when I got there. I assume the first 15-20 got in without too much problem. Only even when you got into the single track people were off the bike walking the first 50 yards due to the technical terrain & someone faltering. The lead obtained by the front guys became pretty much insurmountable at that point.

Didn’t stop me or probably anyone from stilling giving there best effort but didn’t feel like the fairest playing field. I went to work in the first lap (of four) steadily picking off one & two racers at a time, perhaps as many as 7 or 8 in that lap. Lap two was much the same, but I failed to get a water bottle hand off & ran low on water so lap three progress on moving up stalled. I’d caught up to Jon Lirette at the start of lap 3 but the engine started cough & sputter at that point. Matt Muraski was racing good and came up on me and passed and later Jon went by me again. I probably lost another couple positions in that 3rd lap, but was able to re-compose myself for the 4th lap unfortunately, I got held up by alittle by Michael Hemme when he passed me on the climb but couldn’t navigate the single track as well. I put in a hard charge in the final 300 yards of climbing & descending to distance him but it was too little to late to catch the others I was closing in on. Good enough for 31st overall in the Category 1 race. A far cry from the top 10 finish but given the circumstances it wasn’t to be that day. Certainly better than my 55th place finish in 2010. Another key to the Suburu Cup course was getting in a pre-ride. It requires knowing the lines to take through the technical stuff as to not get unnecessarily hung up on it in the race.

Great to see & catch up with friends there, from the SKJ’s, Tyler J. who parked right next to us. Adventure 212 guys – thanks Darrin, Chris and crew for cheering – I did was to rip your legs off and borrow them for the climbing in the final two laps…

Had fun cheering and yelling for the guys (& girls) in the Pro level races that followed. Tristan, Brian, Mike, Nate among the other local guys had respectable days and it was fun to see them mix it up.

Short track race was sold out (at least they were smart to cap that race) so it was back home Saturday night rather than staying for the weekend. And given the drive it was nice to be home Sunday for some nice R&R.

Up next a pretty mellow month of July. Probably the WORS Eau Claire FireCracker and some local races but mostly trying to fine tune the training for the big 6 weeks that start with Ore to Shore in August & end with Chequamegon 40 in Sept.

Finding time first… (subaru cup later..)

2011-06-26T16:27:00.001-05:00

….That’d be something awesome. “Time” just sitting on the side of the road, waiting to be picked up. Use it when you’re late for a race or even to speed things up like getting a race done faster. But like just about ever human being I’m in that same boat – more ideas and things to do than time permits.

Last Saturday’s Chain Drive was a perfect example… I could have really benefited from finding 30minutes of time along side the road on my way to Houghton, MI for the Keweenaw ChainDrive MTB race. Got up bright & early -- with a less than ideal nights sleep battling restless 2,4,& 6 year olds who think in the middle of the night when they wake up they should come talk to Dad – of the bunch the 4 month old was best?! What advice could I possible dispense in the wee hours of the night that would profoundly impact their futures? “Go back to bed” is about all I could come up with. Real great Dad eh?

Anyways, the ride over is just under 150miles, race time is 10am. I jump out the door at 6:40am, feeling there’s plenty of time. I’ll be there with 45min. to spare, register & warmup. So why the comment earlier about needing another 30minutes of time? Well, the problem really didn’t kick in until I’m about 15minutes out of Houghton. My car clock says 9:08am, my cellphone says…. 10:08am. That’s when there’s violent warping of sound, light and time in one’s brain – that reverberates out of one’s mouth in a very loud expletive. You friggin’ Yoopers and that dam Eastern Time zone!! (Ok, I’m just kidding about the Yoopers thing– it’s the time zone thing I was P.O.’d about). Suggestion – for those us who believe the Midwest should be in one time zone – drop a quick reminder on registration forms about 10 Eastern, 9 central. Those 8 extra drops of ink can’t cost that much and would be immensely appreciated by those of us to the West who fail to recall those little details.

So back to the 30minutes? Well, that’s because the car wasn’t parked, bike unloaded and me off to the race until 10:30am EASTERN. Giving Brian Matter and all my other friendly racing c0horts that kinda of lead time in a 2hr race – ain’t a good idea. So I missed out on mixing it up with the top 10 guys, and got to Time Trial – playing catch up from behind. Wound up crossing the line around 50th place somewhere behind Big Mike W. who’d spied me on the river water crossing so I couldn’t sneak up on him. All in all, it wasn’t really that bad. Yes, I crashed twice… really hard. Even got pinned (me, not the bike) between two trees and couldn’t extract myself for a good 30 seconds. But the damage could have been much worse for what it was.

One of the best parts of the day, after racing/riding a really fun course was getting to hang out with everyone afterwards and get to hear their stories of the race and what they’ve been up to. The McFaddens – congrats to Di on the “W” in the women’s race. Always enjoy Todd’s insight not to mention a little thanks for the mechanical tip on a front derailleur that had me stumped. Got to catch up with & meet more of the Adventure 212 crew. Including Darrin Braun, Sarah, Michelle P. Brian Matter was his always helpful & friendly self as well – there’s a guy who’s so easy to cheer for (even if he’s beating the hell out of you on the race course) – genuinely nice person and it was great to catch up with him. Tom Carpenter & crew was around – I swear he seriously had to relish in my “story” as much as anyone. He’s acutely aware of how close to the wire I pull race time arrival – ask him about the time at Miner Revenge when I’m finishing my warmup only to head full on into the entire field starting up the road… that’s just one of them. Mind you though that race started 90 seconds too soon. I can’t help it, I try to squeeze too much into life.

Without the family along for the trip, I had time to hang out & have some post race party time with Paul Belknap & Curt Cline as my guides. Stopped in at Caleb Wendel’s The Bike Shop, (nice place he’s got there) before finally heading to a party. Wish I could recall or have last names for everyone I met but suffice to say this – alot of people showed up at Tony’s place for food, drinking & shooting guns. I LOVE THE U.P!

Though I don’t recommend mixing up race times and blowing off a race alot can be said for a event that carries with it as much fun afterwards as it does during the race. Thanks again to the dedicated folks that make racing in the U.P. so much fun – just get a congressional act to straighten out the time zone thing though would you, eh?

Cuyuna festival & race…, NBA Finals…, good weekend

2011-06-13T00:19:00.002-05:00

Great weekend at the latest creation in Midwest MTB’ing. Cuyuna Lakes Recreational Area in the Crosby/Ironton, MN area.

A bunch of old excavated mining pits. No, it’s not the pits themselves where you ride – as the past decades have filled up with water, but rather the rock & dirt that was pulled out of them, (less the iron ore). All piled up into hills & mini-mountains surrounding the water filled pits. At 200 feet in some spots it wasn’t exactly small hills.

Given some good money to bring in IMBA and a professional crew with trail building & stone smashing machines – you got a very unique trail system. I add some commentary on it later – the pros & cons….

Going into this weekend had a full plate of MTB race choices..

-Wooly Race – St Croix Falls, WI

-Big Ring Classic – Wausau, WI WORS

-Cuyuna Lakes MTB Festival – Crosby, MN

With the hype of Cuyuna trails & the chance for activity for the whole family, the choice was clear. Headed in Friday, got in a late ride at 9pm. Road with the entire family Saturday morning. These trails “purpose built” & wide – no one should be intimidated by the single & 1/2 track as I’d call it. (Yet it’s flow, design & purpose built terrain features can still make it a riot to ride for even a picky expert mtb’er.)

Saturday afternoon after naps at the Ruttgers Bay Lake lodge we headed into the Festival – nice time, good turnout. TT races, Red Bull entertainment, world class stunt bike cyclists, and kids races. Perhaps the kids races where the best of any I’ve been around. The crowd really got into them. Fully viewable races - My oldest Marshall, now 6, raced faster than I ever thought he could & won the 6,7,&8 yr old race. My youngest girl Grace 2 1/2 smoked the 2&3 yr old division on her strider bike – the little boys on trikes & training wheels never had a chance. Strider’s really good way to go with little kids like that.

Crazy part is they even coaxed the Mom’s & Dad’s to race… on their kids bikes – awesome. Marshall’s 20” Scott Scale treated me well nailing down 2nd place, but Kate riding Gracie’s Strider was a different story. Trying to sprint for 2 minutes on little bike like that was damn tough, I’d challenge anyone to try. All in all made for great fun & the crowd really had a good time.

Sunday was the Kryptonite Crusher Cross Country race. I was initially skeptical & probably even scared for the first time ever. Not of the competition but of the trails. Take superfast trails, a loose over hardpack tread surface that makes for alot of tire drift…. built on alot very steep hillside ledges. Toyko drift it too much and it’s a 60 ft drop off that’s going to leave more than a mark.

I thought the turnout was decent for the race with some better top end racers showing up. Dan & Doug Swanson of the Twin Cities, who usually don’t need any introduction on their past decade of regional cycling feats – also it was their family construction business who was contracted to build the trails in Cuyuna, Tom Miller who’s a regular MN MTB series top finisher, Pete O’donnel who races for GT bikes, and Mike Bushey to name a few.

The course wasn’t affording alot of passing even though the “s-track” is wide. The start rolled out about 100 yards & part way up a hill to the first entry of single track. And wouldn’t you know the least known of the Swanson’s racing that day hammered ahead of Doug & co. to get the holeshot. My early game & speed in races certainly has been treating me well but now riding in front of Doug is an experience – some pressure? Nah – just know you better be going like a bat out of hell! I was feeling pretty good & doing my best to rip it up and keep up a hard effort -- the hills & straightaways were feeling great but on the cornering I keep wondering if Doug was going to start laughing at some point as I was sliding this way & that. Probably held the pole position for a mile or more when a birch tree jumped out of corner & met me in an unfriendly way. It allowed Doug & Tom & eventually Pete to get by and me & Mike Bushey to chase.

Highlight of the race? yes & no. You see the race disintegrated half way through – no, not the positions of the racers but the quality of the course markings & directions. Breakdown of course marshalling & markings sent Doug & Pete in different direction, Tom & Mike came to the finish line sooner than the race called for. Doug ran up my backside crashing us on a circular section of the course bitching like crazy about race directions. He was pretty steamed like I’ve never seen him, but at same time can’t blame other racers following what they interpreted the course to be – it was happening for over half the race participants.

I don’t know how the results will finally post but the top 6 should have rolled out as Doug, Pete, Tom, Mike, myself then Dan Swanson. On the womens side it was sorta the same Jenna edging Diana McFadden at the finish but having taken wrong turns in the race.

But on the positive side, the trails as a race course where a delight. They turned my mediocre & questionable trail riding experience the previous day into some extremely fun & challenging racing. You had to stay on your toes (or rather the back of your saddle) & keep the reflex time fast due to the speed; as well as have the skill to know how to hit the corners efficiently.

If the race directors learn from this experience and mend some of the problems future editions of the race will not have the same problems.

Lot's of great friends and acquaintances at the Festival. Kyia Anderson who brings a smile to anyones face with her good conversation and encouragement. The aforementioned Mike Bushey. Doug, Dan & their better halves. Dave "I always forget your last name" from Solon. Di McFadden, Curt & Jenn Cline, Ryan Horkey and many others . Lastly, thanks to the organizers for a first time event you seemed to do your best, it no small amount of work, time and effort. Much appreciation goes out to you.

Other note – can’t help but think that Steve Tilford is a NBA all-star (& now Finals Champion) look alike of non other than Dirk Nowitski. Regardless it’s great to see the Dallas Mavericks win. That the fundamental of teamwork wins the Championship over the greatness of any one, two or three players. I gotta have just one basketball bitch however, the b.s. over LeBron James not scoring enough in the 4th qtr – for crying out loud it’s a team game. If he’s not scoring, it’s not like their team doesn’t get a position. The media can be a bunch of idiots lacking common sense. Besides his career shooting percentage is lower than both of his other two high profile teammates Wade & Bosh. Give me the highest percentage of success & I’ll take it over the hype of someone every single day.

Cheq 100… really 100?

2011-05-25T19:02:00.001-05:00

100 mile race. On a bike to the uninitiated seems like alot. Just think of a place 100 miles away via car – and biking there in a single day. Now if you’ve got experience riding a MT Bike on single track trails – consider doing that 100 miles via that means…

Eh? Smarts alittle bit doesn’t it?

The boys at Chequamegon 100 put together another edition of an impressive piece of work. Think of just trying to map 100 miles of singletrack?

Well, it’s wasn’t the most kind day of biking for me but pretty good for several other riders (if riding 100 miles of single track in a single day is good for anyone…). For me, I prefer to concentrate on normal CrossCountry MTB length races (90-3hr races) & cyclo-cross (60min) – never have had a particular skill or affinity for these super long races (8-10hrs). Doesn’t mean I won’t give them a whirl, but I don’t put any pressure on myself to do well. It’s takes a mentality & ability I wasn’t born with or have yet to develop (may that never happen…).

Honestly for myself, I liken participating in more than one 100mile offroad MTB race to that of a women who gives birth more than once. It can be incredible difficult, lengthy & painful …..BUT in time those aspects of the event are forgotten and somehow a person “signs up” to do it again!? It’s nuts. Faded memory of past events can be such a bad guide to the future decisions. Which is why I empathize with how my wife managed to have 4 kids. I’m not saying a 100mile MTB race is like giving birth, but it is difficult and can leave you wondering why you’d do it a second time.

This year wasn’t as good as a result as 2010 when I placed 8th. Leading up to the race I was on my 6th week of hard training & racing without a significant break, I’d been in a slight auto accident, not to mention fallen down a flight of step leading up to the race and I’d put in 15hrs of trail building in the days leading up to the race – in hindsight I was probably doomed before I even started.

Long & short of it – things went well for the first 3hrs, but by the 4th hour I was hurting all over, my vision from dehydration or a head first crash into a 8” maple tree was spotty at best. I’d keep blinking to try & clear the “fuzziness” but it just wouldn’t go away. Around the 5th hour I knew it wasn’t probably safe to be out riding single track in my condition that wasn’t improving so at 6hrs I called it quits & got a ride home. (I hate quitting anything!) My wife & kids picked me up and I spend the remainder of the afternoon eating pizza and hanging out at the wonderful Rivers Eatery in Cable, rather than finishing the race in the rain…..

I gotta hand out a couple comments on racers & people I spent time with during that race however.

-Chris Schmidt – you dirty dawg, you are devilishly fast in single track. When I said you made the 2010 UP series cyclo-cross champ go cross eyed trying to stay on your wheel I wasn’t kidding! You’ve got some mad skillz my man! Really enjoyed riding with you, would love to do it again sometime soon. I could learn alot from how well you finesse the one-track. Congrats on a great race, you should be really proud.

-Larry Sauber, always like riding with you. You appear to be the non-typical bike racer as you could probably kill any animal of the forest that tried to attack you by flexing your bicep. You marched on brilliantly after I worked to catch up to you…only to leave me for the wolves later on…. thank alot.

-Ryan Hokey, Tim Ek, Greg Pattison, Geoff Schley & a few other guys, thanks for the riding companionship & conversation along the ride. Help the time pass and kept up a pace that a guy by himself may not have done alone.

-Mike Haag, always good to see you out there –not a bad in the saddle for you considering it was 100 miles on a single speed!!

-Diana McFadden – all I know is you looked in alot better shape than me after 5hours! Hope the rest of your day went well.

-Todd McFadden & Charly Tri– faint shadows I was chasing as long as I could – you guys put in some pretty impressive finishing times for runnerup & 1st place respectively.

150 starters or so, 80+ finishers – saw a bunch more of you congrats for being out there & giving it a try. But Charlie Farrow…. words can’t escape my dismay at your non-participation…

Will I do it again? Give me 8 or 9 months to let time abate the memories and I’ll probably be signing up again. What I won’t forget is how to better prep for sizeable task that the Chequamegon 100 is.

I’m now onto a nice well accepted rest & recovery week before getting back to training. Next races upcoming look to be WORS Wausau, Keweenaw Chain Drive & perhaps the WORS Cup.

Cable Off Road Classic

2011-05-15T09:51:00.002-05:00

Lived up to it’s unpredictable reputation. No snow. No sun. But plenty of wind, water & wet. Still a pretty amazingly good race and one that should be on a persons not-to-miss-race-list. Rippin’ good challenging single track. Fast roads & fire lines and just enough repeated climbing to sometimes feel like the 12th round in a heavy weight title fight.

Everything a good MTB race should be…. or perhaps I’m just biased because it’s a great relatively close race.

Having pre-road on Thurs and knowing conditions would be on the wet & slicker side. I opted to do something I’ve never done before… raced with tires wider than 2” and large knobs!! It was pretty crazy given my affection for skinny & fast tires. I was nothing short of reticent as I mounted them that morning – thinking I must be nuts, I’m going to be giving up at least a half dozen places today because of it.

So the high volume Schwalbe brothers went to work for me – Rocket Ron & Racing Ralph 29x2.35”. Gotta say this…. I was impressed, sure there was a trade off but I found myself really enjoying riding them on the bumpy & sketchy sections of trail. And only when an impressive crash two riders in front of me --by CJ Faulkner & lack of or inability in the moment of Charlie Tri to attempt to bridge back up to the lead group of 6 – was I left in no man’s after passing Charlie & going on solo after those 6. I would have loved smaller faster tires in that section & bridging up would have been a much better prospect. Later Chad Sova, who was in the lead group, would tell me he looked back and thought to himself “Man, I’m soooo glad I’m not that guy. Missing out on the break and trying to catch back on.” When I told Chad, that guy was me, he just laughed all that much louder.

Overall the race was something I was pretty happy with. It started out fast relative to other years with Todd “I’m riding out of my mind fast this year” McFadden and Chad Sova driving things at the front of the race, despite the strong winds swirling around.

Normally that kind of start suits me but I found myself struggling and having to work pretty hard to hang in there. Was it my warm up (or lack there of) or the big tires? Not sure. Fortunately I surged enough to get in the top 10 or 12 to enter the first section of single track. Usually an adequate spot because after the first section of single track despite the gaps a good sized group comes back together on the section of Rock Lake road that follows.

Exiting the single track, me, Mike Bushey & Nathan Lillie worked back on the lead group of 8. May have even been a couple other racers as well. The pace was decent and looking to hold together for awhile…. that was again until CJ hard crash when we turned off the road into some quasi-single track. From what I could gather he clipped a recently cut blow down tree with his handle bars or shoulder – it was enough to send him sideways in the trail and tangle his seat into Charlie Tri’s rear wheel. The fracas created the earlier mentioned gap. I respected Charlie & figured in his competitive ways he’d be hitting it to get back on so I didn’t look to go around him right away, that proved to be the tactical error of my race. I think Charlie was still trying to get his legs about him & maybe having a brief asthma isssue. I do not envy that. When I went for the pass the lead group already was 30 to 50 yards up. Probably a mile or more of pursuit only brought it down to about 20 yard and then I was spent.

Eventually Charlie, Mike Bushy & CJ caught back on and with them Nathan Lillie. That was a group that essentially yo-yo’ed around me for a good share of the rest of the race.

CJ slowly started gapping Charlie in some single track with Nate “I plow through small spruce trees” Lillie, myself & Mike behind. Both Nate & I tried passing Charlie to chase CJ but were foiled by the cornering nature of the trail. It was here too I had a good reminder no matter how adapt one’s handling skills are the unexpected can & will happen. In what could have been an ugly ending I clipped hard against the first of a series of trailside rocks. That tweaked my line and from there I probably just gave a trailing Mike Bushey a good laugh in my crazy attempts to correct & get back in line on the trail.

When it did finally opened up Nate & I got by Charlie – unfortunately, CJ had a gap out of sight. First Nate, then myself took turns pouring it on and by the half way mark of the race we had CJ back in our sights.

Upon crossing SpiderLake Firelane & just over 10 miles to go – there’s a series of 5 to 7 punchy hill climbs. Taxing in normal dry conditions and here no one with remotely low traction tires was going to be able to climb them. If you did hat’s off to you. Not only do they drain you with the pitch, but the sloppy, slick conditions came into play and without reasonable knobs a person was just going to spin out. That’s what was happening to CJ & it’s where we caught him. I’d taken a pretty much permanent front place of the group for the next 6 miles. Initially CJ & Nate following with I assume Charlie & Mike Bushy following alittle ways back.

Mike Bushy was my bike handling hero for the day. Running with my favorite normal weather condition tire the Bontrager XR1’s or maybe they should be called XR!… they are a small block, light weight tire that must have felt like being on slip & slide for 50% of the race.

After the first series hills, Nate apparently had a small crash though a puddle but recovered & got back on. I was the first to climb the last of those hills & where the short & long course split again. I could have & maybe should have pressed my advantage there but opted to ease up, drink & take on some fuel.

I knew there was a sharp left corner heading into the Ojibwa trail and gave loud warning to those behind but still nearly got t-boned by a someone flying through. From that point I never looked back to see who was along. I could hear bikes behind me but no one was complaining to pick up the pace so though I’d backed off it must have been adequate.

So mile after mile, me & my merry gang were cruising along in a nice Saturday afternoon ride. I was feeling decent, not great – going on 6 weeks of training without a block of rest probably had my power held back a couple notches and the last thing I wanted to do was bonk out. If this new training program I’m on works out it could yield some even nicer dividends it’ll undoubtedly take some rest time before that happens though. Then watch out McFadden!

With 5 miles to go or so, finally Charlie came to the front. Whatever early race holdbacks he had going on seemed to be past him as he looked to drill it a couple times probably hoping to shake a few people loose. Eventually it worked as a gap occurred and it was he & I going into the final four miles. But both riding full suspension 29ers we had a distinct advantage in that rough section of trail.

The final 3 or 4 miles of the Classic is something I always look forward to. Longer downhills, gravel road flats a short climb or two and a 2 mile time trial down the railroad grade finish. Charlie hit the Randysek road downhill section with a fury. I’m sure figuring in his weight advantage of perhaps 30 or 40lbs he was going to drop most anyone else. (It’s the ole’ Fat man wins the downhill race theory – no offense Charlie, it’s just gravity). Well it worked in keeping the gap on Nate & Mike Bushey, but my 165lbs stuck to his wheel just fine.

He was eager to keep Nate away and asked for a pull from me, but considering Nate’s such a good guy and worked with me earlier I didn’t feel overlying incentivized in dropping him. And much to Nate’s credit he earned it. He just really had some serious gas the final 3 miles, caught back on & even came through for a pull.

There’s one chronically 500-600 yard mushy section that leads to the final 2 mile railroad grade finish. In hindsight I should have stuck closer and gone in the moment with Nate when he powered through.. I delayed and Nate got a good gap and I let Charlie stay within striking distance. So at the railroad grade Charlie caught back on. We exchanged pulls to the finish but couldn’t match the super riding Nate was doing. At the finishing stretch, in a gesture of fairness rather than taking my turn in drafting, I pulled along Charlie and opted for the gentleman’s a “drag-race” to the finish. In a quick spin up I took the early lead but stayed seated as Charlie stood and eventually passed by into the finish. He won’t have the luxury of that outcome the next time :).

Regardless of the outcome at the line, I had a fun and good day. My wife Kate was an awesome cheerleader and getting my handoffs at just the right time. Riding in 6th for most of the race, doing alot of work and still ending 8th overall in my best finish at the Off Road Classic can’t be disappointed. In years past there have been some pretty respectable racers I admire, in that position so I’ve gotta be happy with that. I always say there’s hope to the next aspiring racer, young or old -- I’ve gone from 46th, 31th, 15th, 14th & now 8th place the past 5 yrs at CORC.

Big congratulations to Todd McFadden on his 2nd place finish, he’s riding on fire this year. Scottie KJ got a nice 3rd place following up Todd and it’s only his first race of the year. But what is it with those couples – the McFadden’s & KJ’s? Diana McFadden races in for 2nd place in the women’s race and an impressive 31st overall and Sara KJ 1st & 16th overall?! The offspring of those couples…. I’m telling ya one of ‘em is gotta be heading to the 2030 Olympics.

Great seeing so many friends & familiar faces and catching up for awhile. T.C., Matt Myres, Chad Sova, just to name a few. Fellow Ashland rider Paul Belknap pushing out what I think has been your best CORC race nabbing 22nd on the limited riding I thought you were doing. And lastly, thanks out to Nate Lillie, Mike Bushey(one of my favorite all-time racers -- always awesome to see you out on the course) and Tri-guy for pushing a great race together rather than slogging it out alone. Looking forward to some more of the same as the season goes on.

See you next at that Chequamegon 100 ….. what the hell am I thinking? I thought I gave up on those crazy 10hr races last year…..?

Cable Off Road Crap-Shoot..uh I mean Classic

2011-05-13T11:44:00.001-05:00

The Off Road MTB race season up North traditional kicks off with the Cable Off Road Classic.

--First time alot of the guys are taking too the one-track stuff.

--Weather? Sunny & beautiful, rainy & wet or snowing and cold… take your pick the last 10 years has pretty much seen any & all of it at race day.

--Competition, I was looking back at the past 10 yrs that I’ve been doing the CORC & it’s a crap-shoot who going to show up year to year.

---Some of the strongest field showings came in ‘10, ‘08, ‘06. Not to mention in the past 10 years there have only 2 two time winners on the men’s side– any big surprise or guess who those guys might be? Let’s try the legends Jeff Hall & Doug Swanson, each taking wins against each other & then dominating in the field in other years. I think Jeff’s driving a fork lift pretty fast these days not sure about a bike, but the guy could be in a coma & still probably beat the top end guys on the line. Doug’s probably still doing his 2 day a week workout & racing on “willpower” – there’s a machine who could have quite easily gone professional. Anyone remember how he was crushing everyone including Olympian JHK & 10 time US Champion at the Cheq 40 a few years back until an untimely flat? Anyways you’ll rarely find a funnier, good natured guy than Doug – sure wish he was around racing more always brought the good stuff to the races. I don’t know if it’s just my historical sentiment or what, but the best racers in recent years --Woodruff, Moore, to name a few, can match up to how good Hall & Swanson were.

--Then there’s the Duluth racers they always seem to pack a bunch of top finishers as far back as I can remember. Back in the day Mike Bushey & Bob McVeen, even good ‘ole Charlie Farrow (please make a comeback to XC racing Charlie!) Todd McFadden coming closest of the bunch to the “W” in a sprint finish with Dan Swanson in ‘04 (Sorry Dan, you dawged Todd that day for the W). Todd gets my thumbs up for still racing like a mad man long after the other guys find other distractions in life to pursue. Then there’s the “SKJ’s” – Scottie & Sara, I wouldn’t be surprise if one or both took home the the wins this Saturday – can you imagine how good their kid is going to be on a MTB bike if she chooses? They female Taylor Phinney of MTBing. Now beside Todd & Scott, there’s Adam Swank, Nicolai Anikin too.

--Can’t forget the icon of Midwest MTB’ing who rarely misses the Classic either– Jay “Hollywood” Henderson – there’s another dude who when he had time to ride was scary fast. Still in his reduced time riding he holds his own nicely.

--The Yooper’s made a voyage over in ‘10 and held there own in a year marked by constant misdirections in the race course. That topped with a 220mile drive it takes a bigger haul & commitment to get here.

--Could probably go on & on – adding in names like Gaier, Swift & Sova, the local CAMBA boys who can ride the stuff almost blindfolded.

--It’ll be interesting to see who shows for ‘11 will the southern Twin Cities guys make a getaway weekend of it, the Charlie Tri’s, Oftedahls & Moore come up? Wonder if Charlie can avoid the asthma or a broken bike what seems like the banes of his otherwise impressive racing.

Last note of things however…. I pre road Thursday night

--The course….

----you’re gonna be wet & muddy no matter what the weather between now & Saturday morning. PERIOD. Bring the beaver tires.

----The start, no matter what is said about the change of course to improve the bottleneck – it’s still a cock block, going to be just as bad. A big hill needs to get in the way if they ever hope to improve that part of the race.

Back in the swing of things – WORS #1 Iola

2011-05-08T08:03:00.001-05:00

Blog updates or not, life marches along. The past couple months have been full of….

-New addition to the family

-The most hectic time of year in business

-Training hours and training hours…..did I say training hours?

But with race season finally happening it’s only fair to get around to an update. Opted to jump start things a bit earlier than normal this year and give the 1st round of WORS racing at Iola,WI a go last Sunday. Normally on the farther end of how far I prefer to travel to race, but with a big winter/spring of training & some good signs from that -- to see how things could go was a temptation that was hard to pass on.

Perhaps for most folks in the Midwest, & certainly in Northern WI Spring hasn’t exactly resembled anything more than slightly gloried winter conditions. Wind, cold, rain… snow & more snow. So the enjoyment factor on outdoor training wasn’t optimal as one could hope for but there is a pleasure in taking on what challenge Mother Nature puts before you . (As long as you have time to clean up the condition she puts your bike in when you’re done. ) Also there’s a great saying that “However great the will to win, it pails in comparison to the will to train to win.”

May 1st & WORS #1 arrived with conditions not all that unlike March 1st (or perhaps even Feb 1st). 36 degrees & windy. That said it’s MTB racing and it’s not like I’ve not been training 90% of my time in that weather or colder since last November. Beside I’m guessing it would beat the Soggy Hundo training ride being done by my compatriots in the Chequamegon Bay area or the legendary La Flèche du Nord U.P. Spring Classic held over the same weekend. We (Kate & the 4 kids) somehow got to the race well ahead of schedule – (undoubtedly that would shock someone like Tom Carpenter that it was even possible.) Brought down both Kate’s SuperFly100 & my Trek Top Fuel 9.9, equally good bikes to be racing. Which on a side note – myself, not bothering going the route of sponsorships for riding or racing. I get to race machines & use equipment that I don’t “hafta” love, hence any critiques or comments come out are straightforward & without bias. Not saying it happens out there but Sponsors want love even if what the athlete needs to do is provide Tough Love.

The tires I had on the SuperFly 100 where slightly better for any unknowns I might incur – a Rocket Ron front, Bontrager XR1 on the rear – in hindsight the conditions would have been fine for any tire or bike. The course was bone dry and perfect despite all the rain & snow of the present week & earlier.

After a brief warmup and shuttling the kids around between the kids race & the van, it was time for the start. I was worried that a big Elite turnout & poor starting position would occur as Iola is normally one of the highest attended Elite races in the WORS series as those racers are looking to test their off season mettle. Fortunately I got in behind Todd McFadden and after the initial call up of last seasons riders, we had about a 3rd row starting spot which was plenty fine given the open starting area & immediate hill climbs to follow.

Now…. how did the race go on the hounds were released? Ah…well, I’ve had better days and worse days. The start had me in the high teens/low twenties early on. I was able to pass people and settle in. Thinking - ok, this is good. Punching up the hills wasn’t overly taxing and weaving the single track went fine despite a 8 or 9 month hiatus since last doing so. Iola has a genuinely enjoyable course, nice amount of speed on the open areas & single track that has very good flow and smoothness to it. It was a 5 lap, 25mile-ish long race. Lap one was fine, lap two got a little tougher and on lap three -- what I was counting on overcoming with the extra hours of winter training – didn’t come to fruition. Just over 45minutes in I started to run out of gas and started on the slipperly downhill slope of losing positions afterwards. In that time Todd McFadden went by, he was cruising and having a super day finishing in the top 15, couldn’t hold his wheel. Not much later, a group of 5 or 6 including Tyler Jenema & Adam Swank picked me up – which by the way thanks for the encouragement guys – however I just couldn’t continue to hang with them dropping off and finding a pace to finish up on. Lap 4 got alittle better and but by lap 5 I was ready for the day to be over. Not that I was bonking but I couldn’t keep the heart rate or power up where I’d of wanted to be racing at. Surprisingly with about 1/4 mile left in the race I came upon a familiar jersey in Adam Swank who apparently really lost the gas in his tank and after not seeing him for the previous 2 laps scooted past him before the finish. 34th on the day of 60 starters.

Not the debut to the season I was planning on, but I was at the tailend of a 3 week training block that has been beating me down something fierce. Some top knotch training & workouts I’m getting in, in preparation for later in the season where my focus is but for a racer like myself it undoubtedly compromises the front end results of my season.

With any luck I’ll get back to a couple times per month blogging entries. Up next on the schedule the 10th anniversary of my first MTB race – the Cable Off Road Classic. If a new person to riding, or aspiring to race well, can take a message of hope from my experience -- that time and effort is on your side. In 2001, I staggered in 240th of 280 finishers. A crushing finish to an endurance athelete, former collegiate XC runner & marathon runner. But I got over it, within a few years got more serious and the past two editions of the race have 15th out of 186 & 14th of 246.

Get out & ride!

It's a boy!!!

2011-02-12T16:40:00.005-06:00

We welcomed the latest edition to our family Saturday evening February 5th 2011.

Weighing in at baby clydesdale proportions - 9lbs 7oz, 22 1/4" long

Aaron Cooper Douglas Swanson

Katie, my wonderful wife, I amazed at your strength. I love you. Thank you for the beautiful family.

Makeshift Mechanical tales… ah, p#ss on it!

2011-02-04T07:34:00.002-06:00

Riding/training in middle of winter on the highest northern latitude in Wisconsin you can come across shall we say....... challenges, that you don’t always find any other time of the year. Back in December my work schedule forced me to get out for my ride eally early one morning. Temps were in the single digit if not sub zero range. Twenty minutes into the ride I start some technique drills of spinning pedals quickly with good form. All is going well and I’m staying warm. After 5 minutes of spinning, I take a break, begin to coast and take a drink. Upon re-starting my pedaling I find the gear appears to be too easy, so I shift down a few gears. The rear derailleur moves down & into the new gear -- only the pedaling still feels about the same. Too easy. And despite pedaling faster, I’m still not picking up speed. In fact I continue to slow down to the point where if I don’t unclip I’m going to fall over. WTF??

I get off the bike, spin the pedals and the rear cassette is moving just fine… it’s just the rear wheel isn’t!! Yikes, it’s like 5 degree outside I’m 30 minutes (ride time) from home and my cassette won’t engage to pedal my bike. (For the more technically astute, the freehub body that the cassette sits on won’t engage the “prawls”.) Dang, does this suck. I get my cellphone out of my jacket pocket, only it’s a dead because it’s so cold. I have to place it inside my jersey to attempt warm it up. And start walking…. When the phone warmed up enough to turn on, repeated calls to my bailout person of last resort, my wife Kate, go unanswered. Ugh! Very not fun now. 45minutes into my “walk” I’m still only half way home. Finally my phone rings, it’s Kate and she comes out to pick me up.

Now that’s not the end of the story….

As I become conscientiously aware of the temperature limitation of that particular bike (Trek Top fuel 69er) and the current state of it’s freehub body, I’d normally work around it rotating out for a different bike if the temps were too cold. However it’s also my only winter bike fitted with a PowerTap hub that’s so great for monitoring my workouts.

About a week later, I’ve got marginal temps and a workout that requires the Powertap hub. I get 90 minutes into the workout, no problem with the “prawls” freezing up. They get sticky at times but generally engage in a couple pedal strokes, I’d also conscientiously almost never coast so they didn’t have a chance to stick. Well, finally navigating some snow covered ice I needed to coast and that’s all it took for them to lock up.

So there I am in the middle of B.F.E. there is like no houses around for miles and cell phone coverage is spotty at best. I’m standing there trying to figure out how to get out of this predicament, not to mention I’m feeling a strong call for a “nature break” (not to be confused with a Nature Valley granola bar). When inspiration strikes – my freehub body prawls are stuck because they’re frozen… if heated they should engaged. Perhaps a warm liquid substance would sufficiently heat the mechanism to engage the prawls once again…. And wouldn’t you know it? It worked like a charm. Hence if you’ve ever hear the expression… “Ah, piss on it!" It might not always be that bad of an idea..

What's been happening....

2011-01-18T21:43:00.003-06:00

--The days & weeks have somehow clocked by since doing my last race of the 2010 season, the UPCross cyclo-cross Series Championship in mid November. A reasonably good finish to a season where I had no reason to be bummed about much. A better focus and an improved tolerance (or determination) for handling winter training early in the year laid a better foundation along with the cumulative effect of training over last ½ dozen years had to play a role as well. Six overall wins, a nice amount of top 10 finishes and breaking the Chequamegon 40 Top 50 made for this 23 race season to be quite rewarding. Even with untimely sickness & setbacks from time to time (Ore to Shore, Calumet Great Deer Chase & UPCross Championship) I can’t complain.

--I tried to train through December, physically I seemed to be fine but but mentally a break sure was necessary. Once the holidays hit I took a break and actually felt rejuvenated some from what was easily my longest racing season ever. It’s also given me a good amount of time to reflect on things as well. One of my wiser decisions, despite some fanatical enthusiasm from one Charles Farrow, was passing on the Tuscobia 75/150 race in December. Look what it did to that guy…. …sorry Charlie, maybe someday. Perhaps when it’s frozen hard crusty snow, 30 degrees and no wind.

Winter biking isn’t really all that bad once you figure out the right combination to make it possible and bite the bullet of what conditions are rideable and what aren’t. I’ll ride as low as 10 degrees provided there is little or now wind, otherwise it’s gotta be nearly 20 degrees depending on wind that day. Heated booties, good ‘ole chopper mitts, a couple pair of bibs and with enough jerseys & jackets it beats rollers or a trainer any day of the week. I recently added ski goggles to the mix and outside of seeing an orange tinted world it’s really good gear to use. I wish I'd used it in years past.

People will ask why I don’t ski. I do, it’s just a matter of available time and what’s easier to get out & do. Sometimes waxing & prepping for a ride to a local ski trail takes longer than bundling up & jumping out the door for a spin on the bike. A workout is a workout this time of year.

Couple of winter tales & makeshift mechanical work to share later....

Winter line up....

2011-01-12T21:39:00.002-06:00

Ya know it's really not that bad cycling in the winter -- maybe my skin has grown tougher over the past couple seasons of doing it (or perhaps it's nerve damage & I just don't know the difference). Here's a normal selection of attire for a sub 20 degree Fahrenheit ride with a modest amount of wind/windchill.

Feet:
--Riding boots & heated insoles: It all starts here, if the feet get cold, you're screwed on a ride. I got the Lake brand boots and pair them up with Thermic brand insoles. On the highest settings there's never been a day I haven't been able to make at least a 90minute ride and most of the time 2 hours is a piece o' cake.
--Socks: I stepped it up this year, now it's essentially 3 pair of smart wool socks.

Hands:
--Good ole leather Chopper mitts with one wool mitten and another polyester thin glove inside that. Beats the best lobster claws & any other way more expensive hand protection I've used so far. Not to mention it's a heck of alot cheaper. I think I got that idea of Schouten (thanks Tristan)

Bottom:
--One set of bib shorts & knee warmers, under a set of full length bibs with some wind protection material.

Tops:
--one wife beater wicking material tank top, one long sleeve Castelli Jersey, one wool Swobo long sleeve jersey (thank you UPCross!!), one Giordana CTS long sleeve jersey with wind protection, another Giordana CTS long sleeve winter jacket/jersey -- sometimes an inexpensive polyester wind breaker on top of that. Yeah, that's right -- 5, and sometimes 6 layers. I never get cold and the wicking properties manage the perspiration impressively well

Head:
--Sorry no helmet -- my odds of crashing & hitting my head are infinitesimally smaller than the 100% chance of freezing my ears & brain for that matter. A polartech Balaclava, a head band, downhill ski googles & sometime a ski cap on top of that. The googles are really good idea before I used to get really aggravated eyes from the cold.

That formula has kept me off the indoor rollers for all but a couple hours this winter and allowed me to knock out 2 & 3 hour rides regularly.

After struggling through December physically & motivationally -- a full week break between Christmas & New Years gave me the rest I needed after a long 2010 season. I've been able to kick things back in gear, incorporating the riding with a weight-training program and I'm surprised how well my body's been responding. I'm feeling consistently strong for even the longest of my training rides. A big struggle I had in years past.

A broken ski pole & some delays in replacements have kept me off the XC trails but there's still plenty of time & snow on the ground to do that when the inspiration calls for it.

As always lot's to talk about and too little time to write. Still good stuff to share about last year and the unknown possibilites of the year to come. In the meantime I'm on baby watch with Kate's due date down to under 3 weeks... a bundle of joy and sleepless nights, a combination package that's well worth it.

Christmas card

2010-12-25T17:06:00.002-06:00

Only Christmas card to have me laughing out loud in the store... come on. It is pretty funny.

Author Unknown - a clue into the workings of the mind of a avid cyclist

2010-12-24T19:54:00.006-06:00

(Editor’s note: I have always said the only bigger liars than fishermen are cyclists…this is great indicator.)

Cyclists are the biggest sandbaggers and secret trainers around. They'll say anything to soften you up for the kill. Don't let this Cyclist-Speak Decoder happen to you. Study this handy rider's phrasebook to find out what they really mean when they say:

"I'm out of shape"......

Translation: I ride 400 miles a week and haven't missed a day since the Ford administration. I replace my 11-tooth cog more often than you wash your shorts. My body fat percentage is lower than your mortgage rate.

"I'm not into competition. I'm just riding to stay in shape"......

Translation: I will attack until you collapse in the gutter, babbling and whimpering. I will win the line sprint if I have to force you into oncoming traffic. I will crest this hill first if I have to grab your seat post, and spray energy drink in your eyes.

"I'm on my beater bike".....

Translation: I had this baby custom-made in Tuscany using titanium blessed by the Pope. I took it to a wind tunnel and it disappeared. It weighs less than a fart and costs more than a divorce.

"It's not that hilly"....

Translation: This climb lasts longer than a presidential campaign. Be careful on the steep sections or you'll fall over -- backward. You have a 39x23 low gear? Here's the name of my knee surgeon.

"You're doing great, honey"....

Translation: Yo, fattie, I'd like to get home before midnight. This is what you get for spending the winter decorating and eating chocolate. I shoulda married that cute Cat 1 racer when I had the chance.

"This is a no-drop ride" .....

Translation: I'll need an article of your clothing for the search-and-rescue dogs.

"It's not that far" .....

Translation: Bring your passport

My many thanks goes out to Pat Earing for passing this mid winter cycling encouragement along..... my wife particularly liked the "You're doing great, honey".....May your winter training be going as well as mine.

Coming back with a story… BayCross Day 2

2010-11-22T19:19:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I should have been in Hales Corners, WI racing the Wisconsin State Cyclocross Championship. A 3am stomach flu Sunday morning changed those plans. One tends to forget how tortureous a flu can be – kinda like a ‘cross race. Leaves you heavin’ or at least wanting to.

Hence, let me share about one those races this year. Eight cross races in total this fall, this one may have been the nail bitting toughest. BayCross Day 2 – coming off what felt like one of my best races ever the day previously, I was cautious as how Day 2 was going to feel & how I would respond. Maybe for some guys, racing year round through a road &/or mtb season and into cyclocross ain’t too bad. I tend to put it all out there each week in training throughout the year and by historical measures at the time ‘cross season rolls around, the bullets for the revolver can take a while to reload. Would this year be different when it came to back to back ‘cross races?

A 3 minute win the prior day, should have provided the confidence but as the old saying goes it’s all on paper. And never saw piece of paper make a difference on race day. The plan wasn’t to jump out front like the previous day, sit in the first lap, and see how everyone else was riding.

Shawn Gort took to the lead & I road a few places back. Not an easy pace by any stretch of the imagination. However once I got in a rhythm back there I felt comfortable going to the front, for the most part the early couple laps things stayed together with Shawn, Bill Custer, Nikoli Anikin & myself. Everyone within a bike length or two of each other.

It was either a great day or terrible day for making breaks. You’ll know what I mean if I ever get the video of the race posted on Youtube. A sunny day but real strong wind blowing off Lake Superior. In your face going west, at your back going east – the primary two directions for the 1+mile course.

On lap 4 or 5 of what ended up being a 12 laps race – something must have gone right for me or wrong for Nikoli. And despite holding in strong Shawn & Bill had already dropped back & were doing battle between themselves. I don’t remember going any harder but when I finally turned around I’d broken away and established a healthy 17 second gap in a single lap.

Things are looking my way at this point. I’m happy, however there’s still more than half a race to go. How can things possibly go awry? Well, I must have gotten tired or backed off because lap by lap Nikoli picked off time on me. Within four more laps he was nearly back within striking distance. Then on a short uphill section that was bobbled by lapped rider Mason Basco caused an inadvertent crash with me, and put Nikoli was back on my wheel. Ugh…

Well, in the ensuing laps a lot was going on in my head – do I attack again? How’s Nikoli sounding? Could he react? I figured it wasn’t necessarily easy for him to have reeled me in, so at the very least I decided to keep up the pace and not provide any reasonable recovery time for him. I pushed it harder in the wind swept sections to make for an equal amount of work on both of us. Nikoli, let’s say, is an advantageous racer. Give him too many benefits and you’re going to regret it later.

So the crowd at BayCross is loving this – they’ve got awesome viewing of the race course. It’s subject to some debate but a spectator can probably see 75% of the race standing in just one spot! Nikoli & I are trading the proverbial punches lap after lap.

A bad cornering job by me on the switchbacks of the course as we were coming up on Mike Weispfenning -- and Nikoli was into the lead on the 3^rd to last lap. Again more decision making time, when do I take the lead again? Do I take the lead again? I won yesterday, have nothing else to prove, probably have the overall on the weekend wrapped up – Nikoli has put in a great effort, he deserves it… All this self talk going on & on & on… A lot of riders are super competitive in racing, but I’ve got a soft spot. I almost feel guilty if I start doing too well. I’d prefer to share the spotlight on others too. Probably strange, but true. Doesn’t mean I back off or quit but the thoughts are there.

For a couple sections in that lap, I thought he might be able to drop me as he appeared to be riding well and making time where it was most advantageous. However with two laps to go, I managed to stay with him & went go back to the front. I figure Nikoli is going to sit on for the remainder of the race and perhaps try & jump me near the end. I kept the pace up, driving it hard into the wind and hoping it doesn’t cash me out entirely before the bell lap. The whole time Nikoli is with me – making it worse than trying to kick a bad habit.

In the start/finish area of the final lap, Nikoli comes around me and just starts to absolutely nail it – the crowd is pumped & yelling – it’s game on!! We’re flying through with this strong tail wind. He grabbed a bike length on me through the first set of barriers and made his biggest attack of the on a long tail wind assisted section that followed. Now, not normally a section one would consider a key place to attack but talking with Nik after the race, he said it was where all race long he’d gain 2 seconds or so on me. Naturally he was riding a cross bike, & I was on the Gary Fisher Superfly MTB. I gutted it out and hung onto him however --- so the best laid plans for him didn’t pan out there. And he didn’t exactly look excited at the prospect of me still close by as we turned the corner & headed west bound back into the wind.

The pace back off only slightly but neither of us was giving an inch. The excitement was rising with each section of the last lap being completed. When we finally got to the west side of the course with the multiple switch backs (hands off by the way to Paul Belknap & crew for designing an excellent course) this was where things were probably going to happen. Nikoli is swinging each corner carefully & with precision, I’m likewise doing the same….. then we come to the last switchback. It crests across a modest “mound” allowing a rider to go high or low into the corner. For the life of me I don’t know why but Nik, probably in an attempt to cut the corner close, went low. In a split second, I couldn’t believe my good fortune. When he went low, I knew he’d swing the corner wide. So I immediately went high into the corner and took the inside track with nothing but daylight in front of me.

I heard an audible “agh” from Nikoli as I threw down an attack of my own, getting a gap. Now I only had to hope I could hold him off the final 300 yards – and 300 yards never felt so long in my life! I shot up to the rock railroad grade & onto the paved straight away – it was long enough that if he had the energy left his bike was much more capable than mine to retake the lead into the final hairpin turn. Fortunately I hit that before Nik could catch me and was able to cruise in and enjoy the final yards for the win. A far cry from the runaway race of the day before.

Exciting race, hard windy conditions, and excellent competition. Could have easily gone either way. The rest of the results can be seen at www.baycrossrace.com. As I spoke of it in my previous posts, BayCross is a niche set of races worth checking out with something for everyone. From the person who’s never so much as tried a ‘cross race to the diehard ‘crosser.

UPCross - Thank you!

2010-11-14T09:27:00.002-06:00

A big thanks goes out to everyone that was a part of UPCross 2010! You put on a great series this year and I'm grateful to have been able to participate. I got to know more & more of you as the series went on and thank you for making a guy not from the U.P. feel so welcome. From the sponsors like, SISU cycles - Matt (&Angie) great conversations with you. Your knowledge of bike design & function is absolutely fascinating I could talk to you forever about it. Very cool.

To the sponsoring bike shops - thanks for getting the participants on their rides for each week -- Caleb at The Bike Shop as well as Down Wind Sports, Quick Stop Bike Shop & Lakeshore Bike.

Chris Schmidt - running an awesome website, keeping the results up & a fun running dialogue each week with the blow by blow of the races & what was upcoming. More than a few races director/organizers could benefit from taking note about building interest & marketing their events like you've done with UPCross. Along with that I definitely should mention again Matt Palomaki who took some great pictures that got posted, and worked Jesse Bell & Michelle on race footage that was made into some awesome youtube music videos.

Race directors -- thank you, thank you -- organizing volunteers, designing & taping off courses. Work that you should never feel goes under appreciated. Myself & alot of others I think I speak for in saying I'm very very grateful for your efforts.

Racers -- Oh, boy -- where can I possibly start. Whether you did the C, B or A races and I got to meet you it was really my pleasure. People riding & racing bikes is a thing of passion and to see such a great community & culture you have leaves me with a positive sort of envy. You've got a great thing going on over there -- fun but competitive and just a great mix of talent. Of the new guys I met Tim K. mixing it up week after week, Dave G. coming on strong at the end of the season, Joey Graci excellent job of hanging in their so long in the Championship round, never thought we'd get rid of you. Ryan T. too a great 3rd place showing at the Championship, not dropping early & playing it tough to the end with T&I. Evan & Mik, Chris Schmidt & Chris Lynch, Tom (& Boonen), Wes when you weren't directing a race -- that's just to name a few of the great racers I met or got to know better this year, sorry if I missed some others you know who you are. That along with the old standbys you'd hear about week in & week out.

Hope give a story of my harrowing adventures of this past weekends UPCross Championship (& that's just the drive to get there) and at long last get up some of the video coverage of races #5 & #7. Stay tuned....

BayCross Day 1.... racing like an animal... or being chased by one?

2010-10-20T06:19:00.007-05:00

Sorry for the delay on the recaps, life seems to get in the way. Still working on finding time to get the video up too. UPCross has a write up on the Baycross weekend as well -- (thanks for sharing your space guys!)

With the le-monds start at Day 1 of Baycross, I figured to put my bike as far out from the start line as reasonably possible. My days of sprinting around the bases & playing outfield this summer would come in handy. The plan was simple -- get to the bike first, drive it hard and see who would be coming along for the ride. Nikoli & Shawn were the logical assumptions of who would be going out strong riding cross bikes while I was on my hardtail Gary Fisher Superfly. But it could have been anybody as Big Mike Weisphenning showed us a couple years back leading us with his big splash into the infamous "mud hole". (I know someone must have a pic of that.)

My plans nearly went to crap off the start as I could not clip in for the life of me, 1,2,3,4,5 times until I finally got the pedal to clip. I quickly looked over my left shoulder & saw Big Mike coming up, so I put my head down & just went. Based on how well Nikoli had road the WORS MTB series finale the previous weekend & the unknown element of how well Shawn could be riding I'd told Kate before the race I may not be feeling 100% but today I'm going to probably go out really hard and make someone work equally hard to catch me. The plan was not to towing anyone around today if

possible and revise the game plan if I was caught.

In years past the first stretch over a 200-300 meter open field has a cross/head wind which I've used to push hard & get gaps.... this year it was a cross/tail wind and with a bunch of cross bikes hunting down my poor little MTB. Crap! Guess that meant I had to go even harder. I entered the field with 20 yard gap maybe. And just went for it. After the race, Russ Trip asked me "Just what did you have in your water bottle, are we going to need you to pee in a cup?" I told him it must have been the tainted beef I got from my buddy 'Berto. :) It was just one of those days where you have "it" -- I just hammered on that section and it even surprised me because I felt like I was just able to keep pouring it on.

Whatever gap I could muster I was working on holding or increasing. The next section of the course was a flat gravel railroad grade before entering the rough & rocky trail & the mud hole affectionately named "the Pit of Despaire". I looked over my shoulder again & saw racer after racer rolling up on the railroad grade... again thinking "crap" they're going to hammer this on those 'cross bikes. So I put in another big effort......must get to Pit of Despaire, must get to Pit of Despaire, must get to Pit of Despaire, sort of a mantra playing in my head. I slid into the corner that turned onto mud hole trail and didn't look back. With the exception of a few racers I likely had the advantage riding this section. I blasted down the rocky decline, kept a loose by reasonable grip on the handle bars and prayed I took the right line as I spray mud, dirt & water for yards in all directions. My front wheel went in well, held the line & I got through -- soaked but smiling. Downshifted a bit for the incline out the Pit and went back to full speed.

At this point I realized I'm "in". I'd committed myself to an hour effort by myself, I just prayed they'd estimate the lap count on target & I wouldn't "Bell-isized" like I was last year in our hour 22 minute marathon 'cross race. (Bell-isized is a term of getting the short end of the stick by two Bells....one is the final lap bell, the other was Jesse Bell the rider that overtook me in the marathon that was last years day 1 BayCross race).

Though I'd look back occasionally, after that point I mainly just wanted to get into the flow and ride steady from that point onward. At the first lap switchbacks I guesstimated perhaps a 20 second gap. I'm thinking, wow this is a pretty good day so far -- it'll be nice if I can keep it up.

Lap 2 the gap was yet bigger & on Lap 3 I couldn't see anyone behind me on the switchbacks of the start/finish area. Sense of relief? Nope! Having the experience last year of losing a 1minute + lead and knowing Gort & Anikin both have shown strong second half race efforts in the past. I just felt the need to the keep the gas on, so if I had to I had room to spare if necessary at the end.

It was a pretty solitary race after that point, with the exception of this stealthy creature that was stalking me......

Ok, ok.... maybe he looked alittle bit more like this.....

But it's no lie, Nikoli admitted to seeing it as well after the race. Now how can you miss a 'cross race where there are Bobcats, huh? Only BayCross!

Just over half way through the 9 laps (right on target for the hour finish this year -- thank you gentlemen!!!) I asked Kate for the time gap, she said 1:30min. I'm feeling good backed off just slightly knowing alot can still happen. So the next time through she said 1min... Aghh! I'm thinking, not good. Back to hammering, I can't lose this thing again like last year. Come to find out after the race (don't you hate finding out some things after the race?) that she was passing along what she heard from the start/finish person and misunderstood the 1 minute gap was between 2nd place Nikoli & 3rd place Shawn. She's a beyond awesome water bottle hand off person but gotta work on those timing skills.. :).

Finally the last lap, regardless of the time back provided I didn't flat or crash in "The P.O.D." I was still feeling strong & fairly confident I'd finally take home my first BayCross win. As it was I crossed the line in just over 58minutes and Nikolia rolled in at just over 1:01 for 2nd, Shawn at 1:02 for 3rd. Getting 3 & 4 minutes into guys like that I was grateful to be that "on" for the day. (Wondered if I'd have anything left for Day 2 however..).

The rest of the race was pretty good according to Kate & other fans/racers -- alot of back & forth contests. Tom Gaier & Scott Nesvold traded laps back & forth a good share of the race with Tom taking 4th, Scottie in 5th. Mike Weisphenning was having a real good day until his back started fighting him forcing him to drop back. Nick & Curt had a close 6 second difference in the finish. While Tom Meyer for his efforts on the day had a one screwy sounding hub for his single speed when it was over and Adam Tripp wrapped up the day on P.B's new 'cross bike giving the Kona Jake the Snake a thumbs up.

BayCross 2010.....

2010-10-18T17:18:00.003-05:00

....Was not a weekend of racing to miss. The annual Ashland area cyclo-cross race held the 3rd weekend in October was a perfect combination of racers, fans, weather & fun atmosphere. My many regards & thanks go out to the organizers of Paul Belknap & Sara Hudson, as well as the volunteers who made it possible to put on such a great event year after year.

My hearty suggestion is make it part of your bike racing schedule in the future and give it a try, one day or both. You won't be disappointed by either of the venues, the set up or the good times you have. (Disclosure: I have no vested interest in promoting it other than it's a truly good event to check out).

So how did the racing go anyways, right?

Well here's a start....

Saturday morning I'm about relaxed as it comes. My attention had recently been on the UPCross series so BayCross hadn't amped on my racing radar. Though as the morning went on, I could feel myself getting more & more into race mode. I'm not sure what's that's like for other people but as the years have rolled by, I'm certainly not the jittery, anxious nervous competitor I used to be. Doesn't really matter what race either -- the butterflies are mostly dead. I figure I've done everything I can leading up to any race & what I haven't done I can't change. For the most part it's full on effort from the word "Go" so all you can do as the saying goes is "run what ya brung" and let the cards fall where they may.

Paul Belknap & some others had worked on putting the word out this year on the race so it's always interesting to see who's going to show. With $500 in prize money having a inkling of what the competition is like sets a tone to what the race might be like.

Some good suspects showed up, Shawn Gort who's never, ever let me have easy time on day 1 of Baycross. Curt Cline, Big Mike Weisphenning & Scott "I don't race nearly as fast as I'm capable" Nesvold from Washburn. The "T n T" show from Seeley/Hayward Tom Gaier & Tom Meyer, as well as Adam Tripp and Mr. former kick butt Time Trialer Nick Robertson to name a few. Even my long time racing adversary I struggle against time & again -the skiing stud Nikoli Anikin.

More of the recap to come including a video of the "le-mond" start... but I just checked the time I gotta scoot for now.... later.

Travel, support & sick... racin' yet again

2010-10-12T16:46:00.004-05:00

This past weekend of racing became a toss up when the choice hadn’t been up to awhile ago. I’d just gotten back from 20 plus hours of driving this week back & forth to Indianapolis and another 12 hours in the car to Sheboygan & back for the WORS finale wasn’t looking too appealing to me, let alone Kate & the kids. Kate, God bless her, she is super supportive and a big reason why I’ve been able to race to the degree I have – however I think better of testing the limits of that support. So if she said, “There’s a race in Marquette instead and it's 4 less hours in the car than Sheboygan…..” that’s not a bad direction to head then.

The second part of that is on Friday I came down with what I thought was a headcold in the late afternoon and had been feeling pretty crummy since – and I’ve never had much for luck racing when I’m under the weather. The shorter cross race, even if it was more intense, made more sense than a 2hr mtb race.

Hence on a beautiful October Sunday morning we took the 3hr excursion over to Marquette to take in UPCross #3. Curious as to what the 3rd installment of the UPCross series would bring. I’ve come to expect – to not have any expectations on who’s going to be there or not be there. You go, you race hard and let the chips fall where they may.

Held at a park with baseball fields, wooded trails & a bmx race track it was the perfect site for a cross race. For those of you familiar with the Ore to Shore MTB races, this cross race shares some of the single track at the very tail end of that race. (I don’t know if I should say the memories it brought back were good or bad…)

The “A” race appeared again to be 20 deep in racers, faces I was now starting to get more familiar with and more easily having conversations with. At the start, a hairpin turn put Jesse Bell in the front with Joe Graci & two others with whom I’m currently unfortunately drawing a blank, but I think Dave Grant was another. I got in line in 5th position, further back than I would have liked but not too far back where any break away would hopefully be out of reach. Sitting in, I liked the pace and was content there. I did jump up to 3rd before entering the woods & some singletrack just to make sure if any mishaps happened I would minimize my odds of getting stuck behind it. Jesse pulled real good through the first lap & soon it was just he & I mid way through the 2nd lap. At that point I went to the front not intended to go any faster but to just hold a steady sustainable pace. Jesse held with me but on the third lap some gaps started to happen, not sure if he had a mishap or what. But Jesse hasn't exactly been riding much & not up to the potential he's capable of.

With that happening I figured if I’d be riding out solo for most of the day it was best to build a cushion, so I pushed it up a slight knotch and more of a gap started to occur. About half way through the race it was close to a minute and I felt for lack of a better term “safe”. Jesse had faded back even more & Paul Belknap & Tim Kostner had taken his place. Even though I like to charge hard throughout an entire race giving it my all, I must admit it was nice this time around given the fact I was feeling alittle sick and didn’t want to press my luck & risk getting more sick. If I could back off and still hold on I was more than happy with that.

Fortunately, Tim & Paul didn’t coordinate riding efforts and I was able to ride conservatively after the midway point of the race. A place with intersecting barriers I could clearly do a time check each lap and the gap held or slightly grew. My wife later told me she would have liked a more exciting, closer race however this was one time I was in total disagreement. It felt good to not have to knock myself out the entire race. I came in about minute & half over Tim & Paul wasn’t that far behind him. Paul usually puts on some good speed in the later laps but said it just didn’t quite come around for him that day.

Again got to meet some more of the UPCross regulars, thanks again guys for being so welcoming and nice. Keep up the great stuff you have going on. It’s been a lot fun last few weekends.

Not sure what will transpire for the remainder of the season. I’m just about “traveled out”, and plenty of fall projects waiting around the house & trails here to attend to. Many thanks to all the competitors, race directors & volunteers who put untold hours of work and/or training into the great sport that cycling. If time & circumstances allow you check out these races in the future. I certainly enjoyed them this year....

-Rhinelander Rasta Rally
-Cable Off Road Classic
-Chequamegon 100
-Afton Alps
-ChainDrive
-WORS Cup
-Miners Revenge
-Ashland Mudrutters
-Washburn Brownstone Days
-Firehouse 50 events
-Ore to Shore… oh, wait I would have if I’d not been half dead with the flu
-Calumet Great Deer Chase
-Seeley Pre-Fat
-Copper Harbor Fat Tire Festival
-Chequamegon 40 (Fat Tire Festival)
-UPCross.
More…… we’ll see

UPCross #2...

2010-10-10T20:35:00.002-05:00

Had a such good time at UPCross #1, when the time, great weather & opportunity came up the following week how could I pass at taking up the 2nd venue those distinguished racers of the Upper Pennisula where putting together.

Was not at all disappointed.

UPCross #2 held in Old Town Negaunee -- really cool ghost town like feel. Without hatcheting the history too poorly -- it's basically part of Negaunee that long ago was abandoned and torn down due to the mining that took place underneath a great deal of that town. However their are remenants of house foundations, slidewalks and staircases abound that gives the weirdest vibe in what is otherwise a relatively mature forest of trees and wildlife. Gotta see it to believe it -- considering taking in the race sometime in the future.

The course itself was a mixtures of widesingle track, "mystery" sidewalks in the woods, some open roads and plenty of good sections to climb.

In the race I made some tactical errors at the start that I wish I could have changed. Tyler Gauthier having a stellar year hit the start really hard and instead of jumping to get on his wheel I backed off & let Tyler Jemma go in the 2nd spot. He was going fine but TG was already getting a gapped established. In an anxious effort to rush my first dismount & attempt to not let TG's gap get too big, I dropped my bike's chain on the first stair climb. Resulted in TG getting almost entirely out of sight &Tyler Jemma getting a 70 or 80 yard gap & watching 3 other guys go cruising by me as I massaged back on my chain.

Feeling pretty good that day I wasn't about to let my normal fast go-juice at the start of a race go to waste, so I set out to close things down to Jemma & hopefully work with him to reel in TG. As best as I recall by the end of the 2nd lap I caught & passed Jemma, saying it's time to go to work & get TG. Only bummer part was, (and I didn't get to confirm this with Jemma after the race as to why), but I would be the only one leading the chase the next 7 laps.

So round & round we went through our laps, a few times I'd put a dig in & push alittle harder otherwise I just keep as steady hard effort throughout and each time I'd put a bike length or more between us TJ would come back. He did an excellent job running on the barrier sections closing the distance I'd had each time. I just had absolutely no rhythm getting through those damn things at that race. (Fortunately I've been practicing since & I think I've got it down finally).

It was a great race and a day of alot of hard efforts. Much better than the previous week of just trying to keep up the pace & demand of a 'cross race. TG won in fine fashion. Some jostling on the final barriers left me to roll in 3rd after being 2nd place for 80% of the race. Jesse Bell took 4th.

Great group of guys (& gals) that get together for this UPCross series. I've got two of them in & really like the atmosphere & setup. Considering the relative remoteness of the series & population it has to draw from it's great to see the numbers they have attending the races.

One other note about UPCross #2, great MTB cross course. Not that alot of die hard cross bike guys want to hear that but it was nice... of course I'm biased in that regard.

UPCross #1... recap alittle late

2010-10-04T14:16:00.003-05:00

With racing not out of my system after the Chequamegon 40, the closest fix I could find was the UPCross series in Ispheming, MI the last weekend in Sept. Kate, I & the kids packed up made the 3hr trek.
Got there with a half hour to sign in & warmup. Wasn't sure what to expect for competition in the "A" race, I recognized several of the guys but knew only Jesse Bell. (Hadn't quite forgotten the come from behind shlacking he gave me at Baycross last year). Fortunately the UP guys know the correct length/time for a cross race so I liked my odds better this time around.

We lined up under the Pavilion at the Al Quaal Park (that name .... I gotta shake the terrorist image it conjures up) -- anyways, front row next to me is this bulking muscle of humanity. I introduce myself & he in turn introduces himself as "Eric". Great part of coming to race where you don't know everyone is there's no preconceived of how the race is going to turn out.

At "Go" Jesse lead to the front & for the first several turns had the lead, I took over when an opening presented itself. When it seemed like a gap happened I was set on committing myself for a long day at the front. Little did I know "Eric" would be zooming up along side & past me, to stay with him I went from alittle pain to abit more pain. The dude was rolling it hard and being my first taste of cross racing for the year the pace was getting a bit irritating -- no breaks just go, go, go. He pulled a small gap of a couple bike lengths thru the first lap and for the next two laps it held pretty steady at 10-12 seconds... that was until my chain popped off when re-mounting on the first set of barriers. A second mishap in approaching the 2nd barriers too hot & getting tangled up opened things up quite a bit more. Kate gave me a split of 50 seconds back shortly thereafter. It remained that way through most of the remainder of the 9 lap race. I kept pushing to close things but my body was resisting the effort that 'cross racing requires. I don't know how to explain it any better than that. It's a hard, all out effort, for the entire race.

I could see some trailing racers on the switch backs but no one was pushing me, Jesse I found out later had some tire issues & swapped out bikes a couple times and had a rough day.

The fans were great, cheering everybody on. I think I surprised some folks riding a mountain bike (I think I only saw two of them in the "A" race) and keeping relatively close to who I later found out was their hometown hero "Eric Marcotte". A road & criterium racer now living in AZ who was home for a visit. Try a google of him, he's not exactly a slouch -- having bettered some of the fastest sprinters in the country, even former National Champ Rashaan Bahati, at national races... so can't feel so bad placing under a minute back at 'cross race to a guy of that caliber.

Won a bontrager 29er ACX tire for my efforts, not a bad consolation for 2nd place & the $10 entry fee. Also was nice to chat with the riders & organizers afterwards. Got a chance to meet Sisu cycles founder/owner Matt Palomaki and also main sponsor of UPCROSS this season. I've got a fascination with bikes, their designs and what makes them handle they way they do so it was a really a great conversation and some very interesting insights I came away with. Thanks Matt!

What's up next? Well, it's what happened yesterday (I said the recaps were running late)... The fortune of having some travel in my work schedule afforded me to stop by round #2 of UPCROSS. A sweet 'cross course in Negaunee, MI....Good organizers & sponsors & some guys named Tyler made for a good day... more on that later.

'Cross season...

2010-10-02T07:17:00.003-05:00

Feels like the 2010 Cheq 40 was already ages ago when it's only been two weeks. As the racing season wound into the late summer months more & more of my focus was on that race & not beyond. Fortunately, for once, things panned out well in that race with a top 50 finish & didn't feel the compulsion to get back to racing.... however sorta leaves a person with that limbo feeling of what do I do next?

Coming into the season my focus had been to improve on the races with predominant amounts of singletrack, but to really perform well at the biggies (Ore to Shore & Cheq 40) and then tune into a really strong cyclocross season. The cyclo-cross however became less & less of a focus over the season as travel & training commitments began to take their toll. So I took a well deserved week off after the Chequamegon 40 to unwind and let the motivation fall where it would. By Saturday, I was back to mulling back & forth about what to do about racing again.... ugh, so much for the mental break.

In the fall of '09 I noticed a cyclo-cross series going on in the upper pennisula of Michigan, UPCROSS that really caught my attention. The Wisconsin series takes place way to far south for travel purposes to regularly participate in & I'd already done the MN/Twin Cities 'cross races in past years with so-so interest & enjoyment. The UPCROSS series seemed to have decent participation, some good competitive racers & a nice format. I got a terrible itch for doing it but timing & circumstance never panned out hence it started out as one of my 2010 goals.

When Saturday rolled around I really wondered if I should bother with it. I should be happy & content with the Cheq 40 results, rest up & focus on other things this fall....however when you've got as competitive streak as I do running through the veins saying no to any race is difficult.

So with without a 'cross bike & only my Gary Fisher Superfly with some semi-skinnies -- off to race #1 of UPCross I headed last Sunday..... race report to come shortly.

Cheq 40 - getting better...

2010-09-20T07:17:00.002-05:00

One of the biggest events each year, the Granddaddy of Off-Road cycling, the Chequamegon Fat tire 40 came & went this past Saturday. One of the best parts is the collections of friends & acquaintences you've picked up from all over you get to see in once place. Sometimes you ride the race with them and share the stories after, other times it's only a brief moment to wish them good luck as you're rushing in opposite directions warming up before the race. What's nice too is the additional list of racers you get to meet & know alittle better & exchange interaction with. Mountain biking is one of the most friendly competition sports I've ever been a part of. Each person suffers much the same leaving little room for adversity outside of challenging oneself.

Saturday morning I arrived in Hayward a bit on the later side around 9:30am, just enough time to pop the bike out & take a quick warmup spin. Saw Sara KJ right away -- the last race or two it seemed like she'd really coming back to her racing self of old so I was hoping she'd have a great day. She was hoping to get some help with water bottle handoffs instead of having to carrying all three. However Kate & the kids had already headed to the OO spectator crossing. Shortly afterwards, the McFaddens, Todd & Di. I pegged them both for having a great race, but for Todd... as long as he didn't make it like the 5th time this year finishing one place in front of me I'd be ok with however he finished. Pre-Fat winner Chad Sova & Matt Muraski I caught up with both before & at the starting line, fast guys that could have some seriously good results. Also chatted with Barry Tungseth trying on the 'ole single speed again this year.

Probably at 9:45 I got into the starting chute in a good enough position about midway in the top 200 perferred start area. The other Bay area guys of Matt Hudson, Kelly Mcknight & Paul Belknap I could see a short ways off to my left & slightly behind. It was going to be interesting to see how they faired given the amount of hours & riding they'd put in this year.

When the racing actually started it was on the monstrously fast Hwy 77, it will always amuse me how fast that many off road bikes can go. The pack would surge at times but generally the pace was just plain fast whether you were drafting or out on the front or side pulling. I took to the right hand side following Chad Sova & into Rosie's field.

I tend to think I've got reasonable top end speed so I figure I can get into a good position upon cresting the first hill in Rosie's field but it's an eye opener to see how many other people are giving it for all they are worth & I'm still 50 racers from the front. It's also here the casualties will pile up -- just ask Kelly Mcknight what someone's front wheel/spokes will do to a rear derailleur, as Saturday was not his most fun day out for a ride.

Fortunately it seems a good share of people are spent or backing off alittle by the time they exit Rosies Field & hit the Birkie trail. I had enough to keep the gas on passing people until I could see a group of 20 or 30 riders strong forming. I got into the mix, not knowing exactly what places it consisted of but probably in the top 20 to 40. Later I found that out to be the case. It was much like last year it was the 3rd or 4th main group of riders, only this time around I wasn't just happy to be part of it, I was expecting of myself to be there. Once I worked myself towards the front I sat in & took a look around for familiar faces... there weren't all that many. Adam Swank was there, Matt Muyres & Scott Cole. Speaking of which if there was an aggressive rider award -- Scott would get my vote unconditionally. (That guy who always claims to be too old for racing was punching it at the front repeatedly, impressive work in my book and not only that he was able to keep it up the entire way & finish strong as well getting a top 25 finish.)

I kept having to remind myself to reign in any temptations to push things overly hard at the front, I took my turns when they came up particularly the closer we got to the OO crossing. At that point in the race there were primarily 3 groups each about a minute apart. The first 12 guys, separated by 7 guys and then our group of about 15.

I continued to feel pretty strong, got my water bottle handoff from Kate & things were going well. Occasionally I chat up alittle with the other guys but no one had an overabundance of energy for conversation. At one point, Swank just replied "I tired!" (Which I can't figure out, because he went on to have a fantastic race ending up in 15th overall.)

A group that had been trailing us caught on & some other riders dropped back once we were on Janet road. Now, this section I should have road a smarter race. I felt comfortable riding just wherever in the group when I should have stayed to the front. On the turnoff to some snowmobile trail, it lead into the mudfest of the race. A section that broke up the group quite a bit from what I could witness. The guys at the front speed through & the congestion that followed served to stack the rest of us back. Once we got to some sections (in & past Martell's pothole) with a good long line of sight I couldn't even see Swank & the other guys at the front.... the "oh shit" feeling set in and I realized I'd needed to get back on that and soon! Not sure how many folks I passed but slowly the front guys came back into sight & it was now down to a group of about 6 or 8. With Swank, the tandem of the Eppens coming along & also U-23 national MTB team rider Jack Hinkens. I turned to Jack at one point & said.... "Don't suppose you'd prefer a World Cup race to this, eh?" To which replied affirmatively -- what's that tell you about how hard the Chequamegon 40 can be?

After that it was about the most chilled out part of the race. Brian Eppen asked & sorta laughed at the same time "So you wanna work & rotate through or just wait for the tandem to get on the front?" We probably should have worked it harder there & kept up the gap, but it was likely many of the guys knew what was still to come (Fire Tower climb & the Birkie rollers) & the reprieve on a road was break we were taking.

I don't remember a whole lot for the next few miles other than despite taking in fluids & drinking I realized I was reaching my limits to keep things up. An all out bonk may not be happening but too many more inclines & I'd be in trouble. Hence about a mile or so before the Fire Tower climb after some singletrack riding I cracked. Not all the much farther than I had in last years race.

It was cruise control from that point forward, going at a sustainable pace & not one bit harder. It's always amusing to see how long it takes for the first person to finally pass you when you're that far out front in the lead groups. I was riding alone for what seemed like forever until finally at the Firetower climb the first of 4 guys pass me. The last being Steve Tilford at the crest of the hill (he'd flatted way back in the beginning). I went downhill with Steve for awhile but he clearly had a mission and soon was out of sight.

The remainder of the race I just tried to enjoy it like I was having a Sunday afternoon ride. I couldn't do anything about going any faster. I just had to hang on & let the cards fall where they may. The birkie roller section was kinder to me than previous years -- when you think you're done with them another one is there to put your climbing legs to the test. Another half dozen riders passed me there (Thanks for the push Jack H!) what's was nice is that everyone was appreciative and encouraging that was coming along. I was surprised more people weren't passing but my "bonk pace" was slightly better than last year -- plus having road in the group I did we were probably up by 7 minutes or more by the fire tower. Lot's of cushion time to the finish I figured.

I was hoping to lose less than 10 places but it ended up being just over 20 by the finish. As I cruised in solo for 45th overall. A top 50 finish at last!! Happy with that despite a top 25 finishing goal. At least I was on pace for a good share of it. Certainly left it all out there and for that I'm happy not to have any regrets. I held with a great group of racers and managed to hold off alot of other really good ones as well.

Time will tell what the rest of the season will bring with further MTB or cyclo-cross races......

Right now however, if I wanna be doing any future racing.... I'd better concentrate on the fact it's my 7th wedding anniversary today!!!

Racin' 2010.... Part I

2010-09-09T07:20:00.004-05:00

Busy as life get's (and soon to be even busier -- more on that later). My goal is to always get in at least one blog entry each month, ideally after each race with good blow by blow recap of the action. Didn't exactly happen this summer, so perhaps on some of the cold winter nights to come I'll find myself reminising, perhaps with all stories & tales that get enhanced with the passage of time.

However more recently to bring things up to speed -- it's been a pretty good racing MTB season. Started with the Rhinelander Rasta Rally & Cable Off Road Classic in May. June, I gave the MN MTB Series a go at Afton Alps,MN. It'd been a couple years since I'd been there, approached that race as just some good hard practice as I'd been in the middle of some difficult training intervals that week. Nice to go to a race without any expectation of performance.... considering I was still piling through the COMP racers lineup after the gun went off for the Elite race it was a good thing. Making for one of my more fond memories of the year -- all these people at the start line cheering & yelling as this lone Elite racer is just plowing through the crowd & finally gets to the start line after everyone else is 150yards up the trail. Funny stuff.

The other races in June - Keewanaw Chain Drive & the WORS Suburu Cup had mixed results. With my regular full suspension bike out of commission, I raced the Gary Fisher Superfly hardtail 29er. Nice in some ways but it reminds me of why full suspension bike are nice for certain races. First time I did the Chain Drive and it was everything I could of asked for in a race. I'll definitely recap it later at some point. I finished a respectable 8th overall in the Expert Race after having to coax a partially flat front tire. The first race of what soon would become a repeated theme of coming in 2nd place to that Todd McFadden fella from Duluth.... more on that later.

WORS Suburu Cup - ProXCT National race was nice to see and everything but nothing that rocked my socks. The course had been muddy leading up to the race and despite taking a recovery week leading up to it, I did not have a good race day. Not even remotely close by my standards. The first lap went relatively well from a back row start position I moved up 30 racers or so, but the next several laps (4 or 5) it was a struggle to just get through them. Not sure if it was me or just a bad day on a more technical course. I finished in the mid 40's out of 100ish racers when a top 20 would have been a reasonable expectation.

So next comes July....

I start off the month with Power Testing and much to my delight we find that even 6 years into structured cycling training and at the tender age of 37, I'm still making gains, getting stronger & faster. Age is a fact of life but never sell yourself short of what can be done or accomplished no matter what. My favorite hero's of life are the Jerry Rice's, Hershcual Walkers, Steve Tilfords, Ned Overends, Doug Fluties -- guys that have done or are doing things quite impressively after the "prime" of life.

I maybe started the month off with the roughest race of my life -- Miner's Revenge - that race is something else. Done in the U.P. of Michigan, it has some of the most non-standard singletrack for a race course I've ever been on. I know you either love it or hate it when it comes to race... by the way did I mention you pass through a 1/4 mile of underground mine shaft -- requiring a headlamp? Sounds intriguing and if you must give it a try, not sure it's my cup of tea in the future however. After being 3rd overall for a good share of the race, I lost out in the final lap to some strong riding from Bart Rodberg & Paul Belknap for a 5th place finish.

As much as I like to erase that race from my memory, the weeks that followed made up for it. Despite doing some of the most intense training intervals of the season I got in some, for lack of a better term "sprint races" on the weekends. What was nice is they were all close to home! I don't know how many racers really appreciate driving 3 & 4hrs one way to get to a race.

Gotta wrap things up for now... but hope to bring the season recap up to speed before the Chequamegon 40. Still to come winning ways, getting sick.. really sick and sick again & finally seeing a turn around..... perhaps in time for the Big Show.

Seen "Chasing Legends"? Check the full credits...

2010-08-27T09:36:00.002-05:00

Ah, finally getting somewhat recovered from my 9 days of fevers & flu. Missing the Ore to Shore altogether -- laying on my couch that Saturday feeling so miserable I couldn't stand to even watch TV or surf the internet, my head was pounding, body aching & eye's hurt to even keep them open.

That week & half really puts a dent in person's body to get back to into full racing ability. The Calumet "Great Deer Chase" on Aug 21st was a good example of that - had no problems leading out and being part of the lead group of 5 for the first hour of the race and then it began to crumple like a wet tissue paper. Maybe in a few weeks I'll get the stamina back, oh well.

"Chasing Legends" -- the movie of the '09 Tour de France centered on the HTC/Team Columbia racing team. Done by Gripped Films, makers of the very good MTB films "24 Solo" & "Off Road to Athens". The film was finally released on DVD the other week http://chasinglegends.com/ -- if you take the opportunity to view it (and it is an excellent film), be sure to take time to watch through ALL the credits at the end..... you might just see some names of people you happen to know personally :) ........ if any of you can guess or know who -- I'll give you the story behind it. It's pretty cool!

Sick? Doc. How can that be? I've got the Ore to Shore tomorrow!!

2010-08-13T17:07:00.003-05:00

Ridiculous... how can on the eve of great race like Ore to Shore, can one not shake a stubborn fever & flu?
Last weekend, I started feeling out of sorts -- should have been able to tell by the symptoms (& the fact my kids had been sick earlier last week) that I had something coming on. Well, like normal flu's, one gets a pounding headache, body aches, fatigure and fever... just glad I wasn't tossing cookies. I start to feel better early this week convinced I'm going to shake it in time for the race, only to relapse Weds to right back where I started. Crazy thing is it's worse at night when I go to sleep. A fever comes on, my head starts to pound and it's several sleepless hours until I try & OD on Tylenol PM.

Friday's here & it much the same story, the chances of a miracle recovery in the next 12-16hrs.... let's not take on Vegas with these odds.

Plan is still to head over to Marquette, stand on the starting line and watch everyone else go by. Maybe a timely early mechanical will happen and I can play water boy the rest of the race. More likely I'll press on and dig myself into a hole so big I won't get out for the rest of the season.....

Cyclists... what a bunch a crazies.

Alive??

2010-08-09T22:15:00.003-05:00

Heck ya! Just alittle too busy training, racing and building a few miles of singletrack in the back '40 this summer to get around to blogging.
Ore to Shore this Saturday!! Speaking of which the weirdest thing happened a couple months back. Question... ever have a dream that your biking racing in? Well, me neither. That was until this past April or May. I have this dream I'm racing in the Ore to Shore...NO LIE! Except like all dreams it's not exactly the same Ore to Shore but nonetheless. Anyways all the normal cast of characters one would expect are at the race. Previous winners, high placing racers, etc. The race is getting down to the end and there are five or so of us at the front. The whole time in the dream I'm wondering "what the hell am I doing here?" Well, when in doubt don't question it. Just go with it. So I did in this dream. And coming into the winding paved roads to the finish Brian Matter and myself are drilling it, going toe to toe. In the dream I think to myself at first.... "Man, this is Brian Matter, I really should let him win. He's pretty darn good." Only as we get in the final hundred yards or so I figure "screw it, I going to give it a go" ... and sure enough I squeak by and cross the line by a wheel length ahead of him.

.......So as they say.... only in your dreams, perhaps that's the case, but whether it was a premonition or a dream you'd better watch out Matter -- I'm coming for you this Saturday! That party is going to rock!

Not too many things I hate worse than....

2010-06-01T06:16:00.004-05:00

A freakin' stuck seatpost!
However it's probably one of the best upper body & core workouts you'll ever, ever come across. Memorial Day I spent cleaning & tuning up all the bikes. I finally got an offset seatpost for the Trek Top Fuel 9.9 (Ebay is pretty good for stuff like that -- first time I ever bought something on a single bid and there was no other bidders and $40 for a $200 item is a pretty good feeling).

Anyways, how stuck can a seatpost of a 6 week old bike be might you ask? It rivaled just about any post I've ever come across with the exception of the one situation that ended up destroying my old Trek Fuel 100 bike. It took two hours of complete brute force with all the tricks of the "seatpost removal" trade.

Funny part should be the fact that I used Carbon seatpost compound when I installed it which is supposed to minimize problems with seatpost removal. Don't always assume it will, but also I may have applied more than the situation called for and that perhaps could have caused the problem.

Fortunately it's done, removed and the new one installed. Now if I can get this fixed...

-- a cracked carbon wheel, how nice!

Cheq-out: 100 miles

2010-05-23T18:48:00.007-05:00

Haven't gotten around to recaping last weekends Cable Off Road Classic MTB race but I suppose if I'd not signed myself up for the Chequamegon 100, I'd of had some spare time on my hands.....

Not exactly known as an ultra endurance junkie rather more as a cross country racer -- riding this weekend's 100 mile MTB race, the Chequamegon 100 was done more of on a whim than with a lot of seriousness & preparation. Life lesson learned -- one shouldn't take such whim's lightly.

First off, sure I bike alot like any over-indulgent cyclist. Getting in double digit hours each week on the bike isn't anything new.... getting in double digit hours in a single day? Yeah, that's definitely new.

The day began with a 7am start out of Seeley. Arriving about 6:40am, greeted with a chorus of hello's from familiar friends & faces. And the regular comment of, "gee, Aaron you're alittle early don't you think".

Great to see Charlie Farrow, for whom I can't remember the last time I saw at a race, probably the last time he did a regular cross country MTB race & not some ultra endurance thing. Grinning from ear to ear he confidently said "You try this once and you'll be hooked!!" I don't think Charlie was smoking anything to make that comment but the thought may have crossed my mind. I like my 20-30mile races, the speedy 2hrs & done kinda races so this 100 mile thing was way out of my norm. As he headed off for the start line I figured that'd be the last time I'd see him on the day... little did I know what was to to come.

There was Todd & Di McFadden, also Mike & Michelle Flanagan-Hagg parked right next to me looking all ready for the day. Saw most of the guys from the Chequamegon bay area, Curt Cline, Kelly Mcknight, Matt Hudson, Paul Belknap, Scott Nesvold. Big Mike Weisphenning came over to assure me the clunking culprit with my bike wasn't so much the headset but likely some flexing in the fork.

By the time I strapped on the 70oz Camel back, loaded up with cliff bars & endurance "robot" food it was about 7 & time to head to the start line. So how does one "race" 100 miles? Most normal endurance athletic endeavors are designed to be a couple hours long, 2 or 3hrs perhaps. Generally speaking a well practice, trained person can put out a pretty high effort if it's only going to take that long. But 100 miles...on a mt bike... on lot's of undulating singletrack trails? It's pretty damn hard to figure -- it could take more than 8 hours at the most optimistic projection. Think about that. 8+ hours racing straight through. For those who have done events/efforts like it before I'm sure one doesn't flinch but if you've never done anything like it before it's tough to wrap your mind around.

The start wasn't necessarily fast however at some point a group of a dozen or more(?) picked up the pace and got away. Apparently Tim Wilkie, Charlie Farrow, Todd McFadden, Matt Hudson were all part of that group among others. Myself I was content to go at whatever pace felt right. Soon I joined Kelly McKnight and we cruised along eventually catching up with Curt Cline.

I'm not exactly good at referencing parts of the trails but I can get the gist out. By the time we reached the single track, Kelly must have smelt blood because he start running the trails like a hound. If I could have caught up to him I'd of punched him. In hundred mile race one generally does not push the upper limits of their effort so they near reach their maximum heart rate. Kelly's going so hard I'm at 170beats per minute and yo-yo-ing to stay on. Again I wanted to punch him soooo bad! Well, if his intent was to catch the group in front of us his persistance paid off. In seemingly no time we were back on a group that include Matt Hudson, Craig Kalscheur & company.

Finally we arrive at the first water stop at Hatchery Creek trailhead... some racers continued on without stopping others watered up. That had to be the most interesting part of this type of event to me.... a race where people stop, chat, chow down some food while standing still. My mindset of a race is maximum effort and efficiency, stop & get water if you need it, make it quick if you have to stop -- but keep moving forward even if it is slowly. The resting & not biking for 5-10 minutes just didn't register with me. Perspective is everything I guess. Soon it was off towards Hwy OO where Curt Cline took the lead and put down an impressive pace that managed to drop some folks... but again it would all come together at the next "sit & chat" at the OO crossing. It was relatively warranted at this time because Kelly broke a spoke I came to find out later.

I had the itch to keep moving forward with the expectation that most of the guys I'd ride with would soon catch up. The other cavet to this whole adventure? I wasn't ever planning on being in a position where I'd need the cue sheet or need to read directions. When the guys didn't catch back up as I'd expected I busted out the map & proceeded to play navigator & pilot. A couple of other guys who's name I didn't catch caught on so the three of us proceeded to make most of the 10 miles over to the Rock Lake/Namekagon trails. They stopped for a food break and I proceeded on coming across Scott Chapin who waiting on the road & would be joining the rest of the Chequamegon bay guys. Shortly afterwards I caught up with Mark Parman whom I'd caught just as we got to the Rock lake trails. Mark followed me to the "point of confusion" -- all of sudden at this mapped trail sign there's this cluster of racer... Like 5 or 6 others, including Tom Meyer and yes of all people the infamous Charlie Farrow. All perceived to be lost of at least uncertain of direction. If the cue sheet had said "hard" right turn most folk would know what to do, but with two trails on the right side it was a toss up which to use. Fortunately, after some dialogue with Tom Meyer and some GPS comments by a guy named Mark. The 8 or 9 of us (some reluctantly) took the "hard" right double track and headed towards the Namekogen trails.

Fortunately we were now entering the one part of CAMBA land that I'm most familiar with and I tried to reassure the guys I knew what I was talking about. Most of 'em took the bait :).... Anyways, I knew the trail too well. My experience out there told me the cue card (as well as a posted CAMBA marker) for this one particular section was wrong. (A later discussion Sunday with Matt Hudson confirmed my suspicion). It said take a right.... I knew it was a left if it wanted us to get where we were going. I fly though the intersection going left dragging some guys along when someone in the back yells, you're going the wrong way we're supposed to take a right. Here's where social dynamics & a piece of paper screw up reality & a gut feel.

We took the right turn on (N12) and instead of getting to the Namekagon trail we end up on some crazy nearly unused trail & come out confused on Rock Lake Rd. DAMN!!! Here again 7 or 8 guys trying to make up there mind on which direction is nuts. Myself & maybe Tom Meyer understand we're on Rock Lake road but the North/South direction of the road isn't clear. So I take a look at the noon time sky, as anothe guy looks at his GPS. Then the craziest thing comes out of his mouth... he points away from the direction of the Sun & says it's Southwest! I'm like what the hell is this guy talking about? The sun (as best as I could see it in the mostly cloudy sky) is never in the northern side of the sky. But of course.... we all know GPS's never lie! I tell everyone we need to head North to get back on the trail or at least to Cty M. So we start heading in the "wrong North" direction and soon the guy's GPS registers correctly and he stops us & says... "oh, no North is actually that way.... pointing back in the opposite direction."

The whole time the misdirections are happening, I'm not really bothered it's just part of the this race's uniqueness & adventure. On Rock Lake road heading North we eventually get to the Rock lake single track. I offer everyone the option to take it to get over to the Namekagen Town Hall checkpoint or to continue North to Cty M & take that over to the Town Hall. Mark Parman & Tom Meyer & perhaps someone else opts for going to Cty M. Charlie, a guy named Adam & another named Mark opt to ride the Rock Lake trail backwards (obviously the longer of the two routes to take but still in good faith & intent of the ride.)

We stay together until the Lost Lake Road where Charlie & Mark opt to go North on that to Cty M & over to the town hall while Adam & myself opt for the longest of the routes & stick with the single track until reaching the town hall. At least this way we'd be crossing paths with the leaders of the race & see who'd already made it to the mid point & was heading back to Seeley. A couple guys in Gary Fisher jerseys were riding well but Todd McFadden wasn't far behind.

Upon arriving at the Namekagon Town Hall it looked sorta like a M.A.S.H. unit, not because anyone was hurt but just looked like a sizeable group of people who'd already trucked quite a few miles & were looking for respite. I grabbed my drop bag & shoved some food in my mouth & was ready to go again however it was "sit & chat" time again. Kelly, Matt, Curt, Paul, etc had tagged along some guys from that came over from the U.P. & one had a tire change so it was reasonable to wait up. Once that was taken care of a whole hoard of us took off & headed back with Paul Belknap at the front leading the charge. I was at the back with Curt Cline. It stayed that way until we'd reached Rock Lake trailhead parking area... where again there was a break & re-group.

We got going again only for a big bummer to happen Paul Belknap who'd be riding so well fell victim to an angry stick that did battle with is derailluer & rear wheel spokes.... the stick definitely won. It gave me an opportunity to pump up my rear tire which was getting really low & could have been a good place to jump out of this craziness. I was spent, tired, had had enough and my rear was getting seriously chaffed by this point. Offered to head back out with Paul Belknap but he wouldn't have it so I had to chase back to Matt, Kelly, Curt & company.

At this point in the race 70+ miles in I'd had pretty much enough, my water supply was dreadfully low (which is another crazy part about this event.... 2 water stops in the first 30-40 miles & nothing in the remaing 60-70.... just didn't make sense to be in the course design & safety. It's one thing to say it's a self sufficiency event but common sense would make water options towards the later part the smarter way to go. Just a humble opinon mind you). Well, back to the race, I'm in a survival mode of sorts trudging along & forgetting parts of what transpired next. Eventually when I got back on Rock Lake road by myself, Matt Dale of Cable came by & apparently knew the remainder of the course by heart (couldn't have made it the rest of the way without you Matt!! Thanks a million!!) Myself, & two others (one was a guy from the U.P. that'd dropped off Kelly, Matt & co) worked with Matt who got us to Telemark, through the Ojibwe trail & back to Timber Trail. That time in the race was a very dark place for me. Running low on fluids, knowing you don't have directions & getting dropped due to bonking would very likely mean getting lost and ultimately being really screwed. It was sorta on the edge of being scary.

Fortunately getting to Timber trail meant we were in the home stretch. How close I wasn't sure but at least the single track was close to being done. It was here we stopped to figure out the next move. A road closed sign added to the confusion as well. It was about that time that Tim Wilkie & a guy in a Nature Valley jersey road up & between Tim & Matt we chose to ride Timber trail to our next turning point.

It was here Tim was another lifesaver with whom I can't say thanks enough. I'd been completely out of water since mile 80 & knew it was just a matter of time before I was done for. Fortunately Tim was gracious enough to share some of his water, it tasted like heaven. The darkness of the ride was starting to leave & I was coming around again. Had a great chat with Tim from that point out. He's a darn good guy. And you gotta be amazing given his background how well he rides. The guy puts in 40-50hr weeks doing heavy labor concrete work and somehow still manages to train to do 100 mile races. Add to the fact Tim is in his 40's -- I don't think you could show me a single person in that race or probably any race that is capable of pulling off that feat. Heavy manual labor for a living & endurance training is one combination that no ordinary human being should be able to pull off. Try it just once in your life and you'll have an immense respect for what Tim is able to accomplish. (Not to mention it'll take any excuse away from anyone who says there're "too tired" to train.) If bike racing was a handicapped sport like golf Tim would blow folks out of the water.

The narrative of this story is soon coming to an end if you've hung in this long. I had a lot of nice conversations & cool experiences in this race day but nothing tops what happened shortly after riding Timber Trail. I was still low on water but Tim said his ride support "Beth" would be able to hook me up shortly at the next trail mark. So as we are cresting this hill we see some vehicles and people and to my utter & complete disbelief --- there's my wife Kate & kids Marshall & Hope & Grace! Totally unexpected. Maybe you've got to be at the right point in life to appreciate that but combined with the intensity & emotion of a long race it was really hard not to break down. You can't believe what a lift it brings to you when someone special in your life surprises you when you completely unexpect it. Kate's an amazing woman... just 2 days previously she broke her elbow & is in full arm cast. Should totally be at home chillin' out & getting herself waited on, yet here she is rounding up & managing a 5,3,& 1 year old and tracking down "Daddy" at a bike race. Wow, words can't really put it out there.

Kate handed me a bottle, asked how shocked I was to see them and started to laugh & laugh & laugh. How I must of looked? Well, I soon got right back on riding as Larry Sauber went by with two other guys & we caught back onto Tim's group.

If the guys that put on the race did something right it was how they structured the finish. Most of it was & certainly felt like it was downhill. It made for some pretty fast group riding and it helped that I was getting my second wind. If there was 10ish miles left it went by faster than any other part of the race. The group I was with wasn't satisfied with riding to the finish easy. It was pretty hard core fast riding to the finish where you had to be on your toes not to get dropped. Of the likely 10 that started in the group with a mile or two to go it was down to 5 guys, myself, Tim Wilkie & Larry Sauber included. I did well on the hill climbs using momentum & getting to the top first and the final two Birkie trail climbs were could either be called awesome or awful but they were certainly tough.

With alittle more than a mile to go I went to the front of the group and said I'd pull 'em into the finish. Well, the dig I put in for a half mile only served to drop all but one guy (certainly not my intent). I'd saw one of the yellow Cheq. Bay guys jersey and thought... "hey, I might just be able to catch 'em!" I wasn't sure who it was at first but myself & my breakaway companion went into time trial mode and keep closing the gap & closing the gap... it was Kelly Mcknight. From the bay area, Matt Hudson finished up 5 minutes back, Curt Cline about an hour back & Big Mike Weisphenning another 30 minutes behind Curt (and both those guys did single speed bikes the entire way...wow).

And just at the tail end of Northern light road/aka the finish we were within a bike length or two. With only a "soft finish" and no line to cross or shoot for we softpedaled in right behind them as we approached the people & cars. Pretty amazing that after 100 miles & not riding with someone for a generous amount of time that two people would end within a second or two each other.

Results not in yet but from what Kate witness at the finish we were perhaps in the top dozen or so of the 200 racers. It'll be interesting to see when the results are posted what the tally sheet of how the finishers & DNF's pan out.

Finishing time was just over 10hrs (10:13 as I recall). Put that in perspective... get on your bike at 7am & don't stop pedalling or more then 5 minutes until 5pm that evening.... somethings just aren't made to make sense.

After chatting abit at the finish with fellow racers & having a brew, I had some serious chaffing to attend too and the need to EAT! 7000 or 8000 calories is no small task to working on... but definitely an enjoyable one. So Kate, I & the kids headed up to Rivers Eatery (home of the world's best pizza) for chow & then on home.

Rhinelander Rasta Rally

2010-05-08T20:17:00.002-05:00

Jumped into my first mountain bike race of the season today. Rhinelander Rasta Rally, kinda goofy name but a good bike race.
Couple things I would not have expected....
--With it having been one of the warmest spring seasons in memory
--And one of the driest on record.....

Who'd of thought the first race of the season on Mother's Day weekend would start with temps in the high 30's and 2 inches of snow on the ground!! There's this expression that has a 3 letter acronym -- W.T.? I'll let you fill in the question mark but you can perhaps imagine some fine noun, adjective or adverb that will do the job (I'm no English major so whatever fits, use it).

What's snow do in high 30 degree temps? It turns into a potentially wet sloppy mess and that was the story of the day with certain areas of the single track. Different areas in the region had more snow while others less so it was hard to know what the best tire choice would be. I was banking on the latter for the Rhinelander race ... further south... less snow -- it proved to be wrong.

Still I can't put out a complaint about the race itself. Perhaps how I did yes, but not the course.

In what can happen on occasion, the Swanson-mobile got a late start & ended up getting to the course with 9 minutes to start. Enough for me to run in get my race number, toss on my helmet, put a water bottle on the bike and get to the start line.

You're sorta running on amped up adrenaline when put into a time crunch like that, so at the start I came around the left side and immediately went to the front. It wasn't like there wasn't already enough other very good racers to lead things out but it just happened. I felt good, the bike felt fast. That might have been for close to the first mile before Chris Peariso or perhaps Justin Piontek came around. I stayed in 3rd for the first couple miles of the race & there was a string of perhaps 6 or 8 guys total when I glanced back. Upon hitting the first bunch of single track... it became blatantly obvious trouble started brewing. The more heavily wood area of the course had snow that stayed on the ground & was causing some slip 'n slide issues. I did my best initially to dance around the hot spots but some of the stuff was unavoidable and the options were slim at best -- wipe out or slow down. Obviously that wasn't to the liking of 2 or 3 racers behind me who either had way better mud handling skills than I but I believe it was in more likelihood their delightfully knobbier & wider tires. So Seth Lens & Scott Golomski scooted by when I spun out on a hill, later I was double deckered by Adam Swank & perhaps Tom Carpenter when they both when for a pass on each side of me. Something that has never happened before -- I took two sets of handlebars into my kidneys, one on each side. Ugh!

It was just that ugly in some spots, you'd go from dry to super slick pretty quick. Think of when you drive your car on asphalt & then come across black ice. You wondering W.T.? ... just hit me? That's what the course was like for me at least.

So out front it was Chris, Justin, Seth, Scott & Adam. Tom Carpenter was content to sit on my wheel and push me up hills when his front tire would come in contact with my rear tire. Only time I've ever been helped in a bike race by someone running into the back of me. (Thanks again Tom!!)

From that half way point in the first lap, things spread out and made for the rest of the race pretty much. I pulled away from Tom shortly after that and towards the end of lap one I caught back up to Justin Piontek & was now in 4th place. Justin was running abit slower after apparently burping some air out of one of his tires. We road together for just under a half lap probably not fast enough -- as we were chatting up quite the conversation. Nice kid, I wish him well this racing season.

Upon hitting round (ie Lap) two of the slick stuff, we parted ways as Justin's tires were stickin' & mine were slippin'. About the same time, my energy levels are startin' to ebb -- it's probably 90minutes into the race and I was paying the price for not making drinking & taking in fuel a priority in lap one. (So much for the endurance factor my big pre-season of high mileage training was doing... pooh, pooh.)

Shortly after I'm feeling the heat of others breathing down my neck, seeing 'em on various trail cut backs & reversals. Paul Belknap at first, later two other guys. Paul wasn't able to catch on & later dropped off, but eventually the other two guys did. Between the slickness of the trail, plain old getting tired & fighting off a bonk I was so looking forward to wrapping things up.

There was a new section of fresh cut single track towards the end of the laps that took us off the double track fire/forest roads. If I had to give a negative mark on the course -- it'd be that stuff .... with an exclamation mark. Obviously it was softer & slicker because it was freshly cut, but the lines & design of the s-track was just plain wrong. For me I lost a good share of time each time through it.

Nearing the end of lap two, the course wraps up the single track & leads out to the finish with a mile or so of double track. Just coming out of the single track, I hear some gears clicking & shifting. I quick peak over my shoulder & I see in the blue & white SISU jersey of Tom Carpenter. Crap! I thought I was going to coast in to the finish. I locked everything out & laid hard into it immediately when things opened up to put the pressure on Tom to play catch up. Managed to maintain or maybe even slightly grow the lead to maybe 20 yards. Tom finally made a push as we came to the gravel road finish but the lead was sufficient to hold him off.

The finishing time was around 2:09, for a second lap according to Kate that was 10 minutes slower than my first lap.

I wouldn't say it was a hard race, but the conditions made it longer than anticipated. Finished 7th overall, Chris Pearsio dropped out somewhere in the 2nd lap after a 4th flat tire.... Either Chris has the worst luck of any racer I've seen with DNF's & mechanicals in the past 3 years or well, he's stubborn & likes his lightweight tires & equipment almost to a fault. Ah, heck, who cares, that's the beauty of MTB racing you can do what you like. Whether you want lightweight low resistance tires or race a single speed -- it's all good.

Up next definitely a more challenging race in the new Cable Off Road Classic race. Definitely not the speedy open course they made in '09. So if any Twin Cities road racing lovers show up expecting that ... think again. This years edition laces up more single track & climbing than any other Off Road Classic that I've road in the past. Kelly McKnight passed along the potential amount of climbing in the 25 or 26 mile course to be close to 2000 feet.

Lastly if you're going to the Off Road Classic.... watch out for a nasty big Snapping Turtle on the Rock Lake cut off. I ran into him sitting smack dab in the middle of the trail while pre-riding last Saturday. The dude is a monster! He's gotta be the size of a small coffee table. I stopped to check out his snapping/crushing skills.... he was taking out 1 1/2" hardwood sticks like they were a tooth picks. Awesome.

X's and Oh's.....

2010-04-26T08:38:00.006-05:00

To my single speed(ing) friends...

You got me convinced. I bit the bullet and went with the "less gears is better mantra". That's right, I'm not racing a 3x9, 27 speed mountain bike combination this year. I've made a change for the lessor.....

You didn't really expect me to go whole hog with this single speed idea, did you?

XX = 20 gears, seven less than before. It's a start...

Lastly, ever notice how many X's go into a bike? Take the above and add the following....

Otherwise training is going well, coming off a great 3 week block of training. With it however the downfall of intense training, a compromised immune system. And Sunday.. I contracted a major cold. Not exactly feeling like a million bucks right now. It's a recovery week in the training schedule so that's favorable but doesn't bode well for making a run at the first race in the WORS series next Sunday.

Upping the game....

2010-04-05T12:00:00.002-05:00

Pretty exciting stuff coming out technologically on the training front. When it came to training with "power" - measuring the actual volume of work produced when cycling. I like to think in terms of weight lifting -- a way to measure how much weight and for how long it can be lifted. The more weight one can lift or the more times one can lift a given weight the stronger the rider.

Predominately there's been only a couple ways of tapping into this kind of training device. A company called SRM which putts a power measuring device near the cranks & chainrings of a bike. And Cyclops/PowerTap -- a system which is located in the rear wheel hub.

But slowly more options are becoming available. One company Quarq has come out with a crank/spider driven power measuring device called CinQo. Very nice in that if you have different bikes with the same spider/crank setup it's a relatively quick & easy move from one bike to another. Drawback.... is the chainring compatibility is for larger road bike chainring setups and not MT Bike systems yet. However perhaps later in 2010 or early 2011 some of those options will be available.

The other and perhaps newest device is called Vector by a company called MetriGear. It's still in beta testing and has a bit to go before being available to the general public -- but this device fits inside the pedal spindle -- if they can get this technology to work reliably it could be a real game changer. Power training as portable as moving your pedals from one bike to the next....

I'll try to get links up later.... Good stuff!

Couple seasons wrapping up, ready for a new one to start....

2010-03-17T22:26:00.004-05:00

Unlike what I find a typical endurance athlete to do or be -- I engage pretty seriously in the team sports as well. Playing both in a competitive volleyball league and a basketball league over the fall/winter/spring. Best part about being an endurance athlete & playing those other sports (provided you have at least a moderate amount of coordination & skill....which mine is certainly on the modest side) is how much more effort you can put forth than most of the people you play against. When you've trained your cardiovascular system to a pretty high level it's kinda amusing how fast you can make other people you play against run out of gas.

However, both of those leagues are wrapping up here at the end of March. In volleyball, the team I sponsor, is close to closing in on the 5th or 6th league title in past 7 years, really fun team to play with. Basketball is on the other end of spectrum, not the worst team but the winning percentage is certainly below .500.

Playing the other sports, beside for the enjoyment & challenge of it, has seemingly helped maintain my overall flexibility & mobility. I'm not just one dimensional with a bunch of over developed and corresponding underdeveloped muscle groups that endurance sports can do. I never felt like being a "robot" -- and knock on wood I've had little in the way of injury as a result of doing it... besides, I've never seen a sprained ankle stop a person from biking.....

Something of interest to share -- in the past I've talked about how adamant I am about other forms of cross training, be it core training, lifting, flexibility training or stretching. Core Performance and Resistance Stretching have been a big reason if not for an improvement in my cycling performance but at least in injury prevention and chronic pain management. Show me a serious cyclist of a certain age that doesn't stretch and do some form of flexibility training and I'll bet you they have plenty of chronic aches and pains. However I came across another seemingly worthwhile read & program for pain relief -- It's called "Pain Free" written by Pete Egoscue, an exercise physiologist (if I recall correctly), with a decent track record of helping both professional athletes and couch potatoes from chronic pain issues and problems. He's adament about what he believes and has to say, so if that doesn't turn someone off too much I've discovered a few truly valuable routines & philosphies from what he has to say that have addressed some nagging issues I couldn't rid myself of with other programs. Betcha can find the book on Amazon.com for $10... could be entirely worth it, if you've ever had to deal with a chronic or ongoing pain condition.

Other than that I'm coming off a couple week break, had some sleep issues to get resolved and managed to have an instant weight loss program last Friday in the form of a stomach virus. Ah heck, I was getting too heavy at 168lbs anyways, had to get back to the 163lb fightin' weight.... never been too patient in getting it done the long way so why not do it in a day or two.

Got on the bike again this week and the intervals were on target without really any unnecessary hurt & suffering so it looks like a good 6 weeks of training to go and then it's off to the races. Probably the best part about this year is the baseline fitness I'm settled in at is already very competitive to my standards. I don't necessarily have do any special prepping or peaking early on to probably race well (of course I say that with crossed fingers because one never knows until things get settled out on the racecourse). That way I can enjoy the early races and continually build to peaking later in the summer & the fall. Feels like a good place to be right now.

Next post up......... Less gears is better? ..............Stay tuned.

Everybody wants a story....

2010-02-24T21:54:00.002-06:00

When someones reading a cycling blog -- what's the draw, what's the interest. Obviously race recaps written well make for an allure. Mid winter kinda makes that a limited commodity unless you are some kind of Arrowhead 135 hooligan. Which by the way, hat's off to you guys & girls. It's not exactly my style or holds any overpowering charm, but I greatly respect the amazing feat of physical & mental stamina it undoubtedly requires.

There are stories of training, of new bikes and of what someone's kids or crazy relatives are doing. Maybe it's someone getting a sponsor to plaster on their jersey.

I always enjoy Doug S's blog back in the day when he time and before all the twittering & tweeting. Witty, humorous... I think he had more bad days on the bike (which were very few) than he ever had blogging.

My story this winter remains much the same. I'm having an amazingly good preseason for my training. This is probably the first time winter hasn't compromised my training plans. I've opted for riding the bike outside over skiing and enjoyed it. Probably have 30-40% more time in than any time previously. Which was actually an eye opener. Not sure who of you keep any kind of records of how much riding you get in but I was looking that over this past month. Comparing previous years, etc, etc. What I found amazing was how relatively little time I've really spent training when compared to what you see written up by "Training bibles" and hear other people talk about. The cool part about it when I looked back. You can still be a pretty good racer without sacrificing the rest of your life to make training a part time job. What's relatively little when it comes to riding? Alot of times you'll read in a training program a person needs to do 500--600 hrs/yr or even more. How easy is that?! On paper maybe 2hrs a day 5 days a week doesn't seem like a lot, but that's assuming 50 weeks of the year - week in, week out. Miss the normal week or two because of a flu or cold, go on vacation for a week, take long weekends to travel somewhere and it's not necessarily easy to put that kinda time in. I've not done a final tally's of years past but I don't think I've ever done more than 350-400 hours in a year and somehow I've manage to reach the level of an expert racer. It leads me to believe the quality of workout you put in goes well above the quantity you put in. I'm not knocking that quantity of miles as it helps in alot of areas. But if your goal is to become faster and you think you have to sell your soul to the devil to find enough time to train I'm not so sure that's the case. Train doing the right stuff & I think you can really surprise yourself.

Though I've worked some moderate intervals in throughout the winter, to keep that part of my fitness nurtured, some recent power tests I've done do not even shown the normal winter fall-off that happens. That's encouraging so I'm excited to see where things could go this year.

Funny story how in life you intersect with other people -- the other week I'm calling Planet bike about some equipment I purchased. This guy, James (no last name given), answers the call -- Lord knows why but for some reason I think I should know him. Anyways it required him to look around for some answers and call me back. And sure enough when he does my suspicion is confirmed -- it's James LaLonde, the youngest of the three very talented Lalonde bros. Often we've been together in a race so it was neat to visit and catch up with someone you wouldn't expect to talk to unless you were at a race. Small world.

Well, another 70 days or so left before MTB racing kicks off. Going be having our Mid winter bike party pretty soon as well. Food, drinks, fun. Always a good cycling video and probably some indoor bike racing... for real. It's pretty wild. We have a pretty dominant 5 yr old in that category of racing, his size & skills work the course over pretty good.... how my wife ever allows it I'll never know... guess I'm just lucky.