The Iceman Lottery Registration due date is tonight... well, actually 2am Tuesday morning since they post a 12midnight Pacific time cutoff. I got around to it early, .....no not weeks or months ago when I could have, but rather at 7pm tonight -- hey, that's early for me.
The randomized computer drawing occurs in the next few days and notification happens on Friday 29th. At least in the Iceman process I won't have to conjure up yet another souped up story for the delights of Mr. Crandel and his Chequamegon Fat Tire. Maybe I should ask him sometime what's the record for the most times not being selected in his lottery. I'm going on three years straight of trying to wax the eloquence of the English language to amuse him in the Essay or Out deal he's got going on.
But I digress, it's about the Iceman, which for the good time it was last year (thanks in no small part to Scott Chapin for making it possible), still boggles my mind what I turnout they get for the race they have. It's in friggin' November!! Die hard cyclists and CX racers yes, I can see the attraction but alot of these folks that show up ain't all that diehard and if they heard of a cross race they'd think it was some crazy off shoot of the Worlds Strongest Man competitions. Yep, it's a long drive from most anyone from WI or MN but it well worth the drive for what they have going on. Complete your Triple Crown efforts in '08! Hope to get in and see you there!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
January & feeling good...
Training & training program comes in all shapes & varieties. Stick with the the commonalities & you'll see they all boils down to some kind of easy "base" related workouts and then progresses up to intense race level effort intervals. Each program has it's own verbage, theory and related real life facts to back up why it works. Some are real structured, others (maybe alot) are done on the fly.
The point is most people that study the stuff will say the body taps into different energy stores based on the demand of the moment and that by placing stress over time on each level the body systems will adapt and with any luck you should get faster. Cavet to all that is.... you gotta have rest in between -- cuz as it's said "beatin' yourself up never gets you stronger, it's how you rest and recover that builds you back up". That fact so often is lost with the intense athlete/performer. Which leads to it's own set of problems and disfunctions. Now, knowing the balance that's the key to any program. Don't train enough, you don't tap into your full genetic potential, train too much or too long and likewise your body never recovers enough to reach it's full potential. If you're going to fall on one side other the determine which one you can better live with and let each season give you better insight on how to stay in the middle.
Some people will train on heart rate, in cycling we're lucky enough to have devices to measure power output, and I've even heard of people training in terms of miles per hour (no offense but -- dinasoraus in that thought process. 10mph into a strong headwind is harder than 25mph with a hurricane force tail wind -- so how one can consistantly train that way, I'm not sure).
I, for one, am fortunate enough to train with a power output device & use heart rate for additional guidance. The power device is called a PowerTap there are others on the market this is just the one I started with and it's worked well.
When I really got into cycling, racing & training must have been '04 and one big point that had eluded me in my years of competative endurance sports in high school & college was the importance of year round training. I'd go into cross country or a track season & work out during the season and not do much inbetween. So I never really built on any previous season efforts. Unwittingly I was always starting over from scratch each season.
What a change it makes when you look at things from a 12 month perspective instead of 12 week perspective. Now, training year round can be misleading. I'll be the first to clarify it doesn't mean doing only one thing all year, but it does mean staying in reasonable cardiovascular & muscular endurance shape. You have times of greater effort and times of lesser efforts but the main part is not to ever get into couch potato season and not let too much time elapse to lose what gains your body has made. Read up on it sometime it's interesting to see how long some benefits stay and how fast others are lost.
This season seems to far be the best mid winter biking condition I find myself since '04. I likely faulted just over the side of overtraining last year and it's taken battling a half dozen colds and taking two extended recovery periods (2-3 weeks) this fall & winter to come back to full strength. Now, along with my base training a few mild intervals get tossed in and the efforts (as measured with the PowerTap) are pleasantly surprising. I'll try & toss out specifics in later entries. Hence the "January & feeling good...." subject matter. I'm feelin pretty optimistic for upcoming season(s) -- May/June, a break, then Aug thru Iceman.
It's not so much how good one does against everyone else, rather how you can do against your potential. Vastly talented individuals can take crappy training programs and still do amazingly well, while others can take nutrition, training & recovery to it's utmost and not necessarily have the same placings & results. However, never count out the guy/gal that's the least naturally talented but the most dedicated hard working one in the bunch. I'll happily put my money on that guy/gal ever single time if not for the result then the passion they put forth.
The point is most people that study the stuff will say the body taps into different energy stores based on the demand of the moment and that by placing stress over time on each level the body systems will adapt and with any luck you should get faster. Cavet to all that is.... you gotta have rest in between -- cuz as it's said "beatin' yourself up never gets you stronger, it's how you rest and recover that builds you back up". That fact so often is lost with the intense athlete/performer. Which leads to it's own set of problems and disfunctions. Now, knowing the balance that's the key to any program. Don't train enough, you don't tap into your full genetic potential, train too much or too long and likewise your body never recovers enough to reach it's full potential. If you're going to fall on one side other the determine which one you can better live with and let each season give you better insight on how to stay in the middle.
Some people will train on heart rate, in cycling we're lucky enough to have devices to measure power output, and I've even heard of people training in terms of miles per hour (no offense but -- dinasoraus in that thought process. 10mph into a strong headwind is harder than 25mph with a hurricane force tail wind -- so how one can consistantly train that way, I'm not sure).
I, for one, am fortunate enough to train with a power output device & use heart rate for additional guidance. The power device is called a PowerTap there are others on the market this is just the one I started with and it's worked well.
When I really got into cycling, racing & training must have been '04 and one big point that had eluded me in my years of competative endurance sports in high school & college was the importance of year round training. I'd go into cross country or a track season & work out during the season and not do much inbetween. So I never really built on any previous season efforts. Unwittingly I was always starting over from scratch each season.
What a change it makes when you look at things from a 12 month perspective instead of 12 week perspective. Now, training year round can be misleading. I'll be the first to clarify it doesn't mean doing only one thing all year, but it does mean staying in reasonable cardiovascular & muscular endurance shape. You have times of greater effort and times of lesser efforts but the main part is not to ever get into couch potato season and not let too much time elapse to lose what gains your body has made. Read up on it sometime it's interesting to see how long some benefits stay and how fast others are lost.
This season seems to far be the best mid winter biking condition I find myself since '04. I likely faulted just over the side of overtraining last year and it's taken battling a half dozen colds and taking two extended recovery periods (2-3 weeks) this fall & winter to come back to full strength. Now, along with my base training a few mild intervals get tossed in and the efforts (as measured with the PowerTap) are pleasantly surprising. I'll try & toss out specifics in later entries. Hence the "January & feeling good...." subject matter. I'm feelin pretty optimistic for upcoming season(s) -- May/June, a break, then Aug thru Iceman.
It's not so much how good one does against everyone else, rather how you can do against your potential. Vastly talented individuals can take crappy training programs and still do amazingly well, while others can take nutrition, training & recovery to it's utmost and not necessarily have the same placings & results. However, never count out the guy/gal that's the least naturally talented but the most dedicated hard working one in the bunch. I'll happily put my money on that guy/gal ever single time if not for the result then the passion they put forth.
Friday, January 25, 2008
The Bike Search....
Ah, cycling fans it's that time of year again. Nailing down the perfect ride for the upcoming season. My quest seems longer or more hell bent this year for several reasons -- first, starting with too many great bikes to chose from! Secondly, my less than optimal 29er Salsa purchase last summer has made me look longer and harder for the right ride before dropping down the cash.
I know some or actually many of the serious racers get a new bike each year. I however was so in love with my Trek Top Fuel 100 it's stayed with me a season or two too long. But the collective experiences of last year were helpful in pulling together my thoughts on what type of bike I'd like to be racing in '08. What it has lead to......
Ah, hell, I'm just kidding... though I wouldn't rule it if my wife has any say about it.
Actually, there's a chance I'm going to take the best of the two bikes I road last year and put it together. The full suspension 26" Trek Top Fuel is just a nice fast lightweight bike that has served me well and the 29" hard tail Mamasita opened my eyes to the aggressive handling & cornering that is possible with a 29" front wheel -- hence is giving way the 69er concept brought forth by Trek. I think outside of Travis Brown and few others (namely Iceman '07 winner Brian Matter ) not alot of people give this concept a fair shake. But sorry folks, in the rear end dept of a bike -- the 29er hardtail ain't the same as a full suspension 26" bike. Bigger wheels don't have quite enough to equate to benefits of a full suspension. Also if you've never road a 29er give it a shot and see what you think of the front end handling and how aggressive you can be in corners. To me, the 29er is a better handling bike, not a faster bike. With my longer torso I'm a pretty forward leaning rider and always had to be delicate with the front end on the 26" bike, on a 29er I can just rip into a corner with alot less caution, not to mention it does handle the bumps better.
So you marry the two ideas -- great! Well, here's the drawback, if you're racing ideally you'd like to be in the 25lb or less category, the stock Trek Top Fuel 69er only comes with the lower cost, slightly weightier components (seat, handlebars, wheel set, derailliuer, etc) making it tip those scales. However, dress that bad boy up with lighter items and you're back in the ball game. (No plans at Trek to currently make a stock model like this however). Or you can take a Top Fuel 9.8 or 9.9 and put on a different fork (my suggestion to min. geometry change is the Fox 80mm that comes on the Gary Fisher SuperFly). Mixed reactions on doing this but if one looks at the geometry specs on the website for Top Fuels or Top Fuel 69er -- they nearly identical in all aspects. But of course the proof would be on the twisty single track and hairpin turns if it gets the job done.
I'm looking to do a few more test rides on the stock models of the Top Fuel 9.9 & Top Fuel 69er before I absolutely go one way or another. And there's also a very viable outside contender in the Gary Fisher HiFi Pro Carbon trail bike, it doesn't take a lot to be very satisfied with that ride either.
Big thanks to the many folks I've talked to in compiling insight and ideas, Brian Matter not just a great racer but a great guy to talk to. Thanks for you time Brian I very much appreciate it! (I'll also plug - he's got his Trek TopFuel 9.9 for sale from last year, I'm toying with that idea as well so don't get ahold of him too quickly....). And Matt Gutowski, former Northlander, now a regional rep for Trek in California, with the inside info only those guys seem to have.
In a few weeks I hope to have a decision made and be on the new ride late Feb or early March. If you're in the market for bikes this upcoming season may the perfect ride fall in your lap. If not, feel free to inquire with me, I might be able to save you some leg work of where to go.
Weather finally looks to be heating up just in time for some nice long training rides to go with the XC skiing this weekend.
I know some or actually many of the serious racers get a new bike each year. I however was so in love with my Trek Top Fuel 100 it's stayed with me a season or two too long. But the collective experiences of last year were helpful in pulling together my thoughts on what type of bike I'd like to be racing in '08. What it has lead to......
Ah, hell, I'm just kidding... though I wouldn't rule it if my wife has any say about it.Actually, there's a chance I'm going to take the best of the two bikes I road last year and put it together. The full suspension 26" Trek Top Fuel is just a nice fast lightweight bike that has served me well and the 29" hard tail Mamasita opened my eyes to the aggressive handling & cornering that is possible with a 29" front wheel -- hence is giving way the 69er concept brought forth by Trek. I think outside of Travis Brown and few others (namely Iceman '07 winner Brian Matter ) not alot of people give this concept a fair shake. But sorry folks, in the rear end dept of a bike -- the 29er hardtail ain't the same as a full suspension 26" bike. Bigger wheels don't have quite enough to equate to benefits of a full suspension. Also if you've never road a 29er give it a shot and see what you think of the front end handling and how aggressive you can be in corners. To me, the 29er is a better handling bike, not a faster bike. With my longer torso I'm a pretty forward leaning rider and always had to be delicate with the front end on the 26" bike, on a 29er I can just rip into a corner with alot less caution, not to mention it does handle the bumps better.
So you marry the two ideas -- great! Well, here's the drawback, if you're racing ideally you'd like to be in the 25lb or less category, the stock Trek Top Fuel 69er only comes with the lower cost, slightly weightier components (seat, handlebars, wheel set, derailliuer, etc) making it tip those scales. However, dress that bad boy up with lighter items and you're back in the ball game. (No plans at Trek to currently make a stock model like this however). Or you can take a Top Fuel 9.8 or 9.9 and put on a different fork (my suggestion to min. geometry change is the Fox 80mm that comes on the Gary Fisher SuperFly). Mixed reactions on doing this but if one looks at the geometry specs on the website for Top Fuels or Top Fuel 69er -- they nearly identical in all aspects. But of course the proof would be on the twisty single track and hairpin turns if it gets the job done.
I'm looking to do a few more test rides on the stock models of the Top Fuel 9.9 & Top Fuel 69er before I absolutely go one way or another. And there's also a very viable outside contender in the Gary Fisher HiFi Pro Carbon trail bike, it doesn't take a lot to be very satisfied with that ride either.
Big thanks to the many folks I've talked to in compiling insight and ideas, Brian Matter not just a great racer but a great guy to talk to. Thanks for you time Brian I very much appreciate it! (I'll also plug - he's got his Trek TopFuel 9.9 for sale from last year, I'm toying with that idea as well so don't get ahold of him too quickly....). And Matt Gutowski, former Northlander, now a regional rep for Trek in California, with the inside info only those guys seem to have.
In a few weeks I hope to have a decision made and be on the new ride late Feb or early March. If you're in the market for bikes this upcoming season may the perfect ride fall in your lap. If not, feel free to inquire with me, I might be able to save you some leg work of where to go.
Weather finally looks to be heating up just in time for some nice long training rides to go with the XC skiing this weekend.
Monday, January 21, 2008
January already??!
It's about this time of year I think people get used to no postings getting done in the blogs, with a few exceptions like Charlie Farrow, Brian Matter who always have something going on and fortunately apparently time to write.
What's been going on in the 5 weeks since last showing signs of my existance? Well, hmmm.....
--There's been the great winter biking booots made by Lake that have kept me out and biking way longer than at any point in my previous winter training. Can't say enough about them -- only when it's finally hitting the single digits and subzero's have I needed to retreat indoors. Have some great stories to share...only too much time has passed to give 'em much detail. Maybe later.
--I have to secretly admit that I may have also tried on ...ah yes, ok, I'll say -- CX ski's. Not telling how much time I've spent on them, or if it's been enjoyable or not. I'll let the nordic nuts figure that out when & if I show up at the start line of one of their races. It'll probably be a love/hate thing... love me for coming over to the dark side, hate me if I do too well. :)
--Been cross training pretty heavy this year on top of base riding -- alot of weight training & core training each week, along with a full season of volleyball and basketball leagues. I'm feeling good, strong and flexible. Being injury free is a wonderful thing.
--Immune system has been taking a beating up til early this year however. Probably 6+ colds since Sept, the last one finally put me over the edge to say enough is enough, so I finally took a 10 day break early this month that was well needed. The R&R seems to have done the trick.
--Bike dreaming has been working over time -- some cyclist are happy with any two wheels to race on. I unfortunately need the two wheels. The '04 Fuel 100 MTB served me well and the Salsa Mamasita 29er is fun to ride but for '08 a new race machine is in the works.... what will it be? Catch up again in a month or so to find out.
Otherwise I'm having a great time with the wife & kids this winter. Got a huge 16' X-mas tree dragged into the house with the help of my dad this year, went right to the top of the vaulted ceiling. Looked pretty darn good for getting one the old fashioned way -- treking through the woods, sawing it down and hauling it a quarter mile out to the truck & trailer. I'll should post pictures of Marshall & Hope standing next to it for perspective.
Kate & I went to a New Years Eve party in Duluth and had a great time -- you come to appreciate the adult time you get once you have kids as it comes fewer and farther between.
Lastly, Looking into the upcoming cycling season I'm actually nicely ahead of schedule and that was part of the plan with Jan & Feb traditionally having streaks of really tough weather, did alot of work in December and won't be getting a late start like the previous two seasons. Also the MTB racing schedule I've got planned has an extended break in July this year so I'm going to take a mid year break that hopefully will let me start earlier and do well in May & June but also recharge me for Aug on thru cyclocross racing in the fall. But with still only a few full seasons under my belt each year is one big experiment after another.
Thinking about those of you I'll be seeing again in the next few months. Who'll be back? Whose life has changed so they disappear never to resurface again. What new faces will we meet? And most of all wishing each and everyone of you all the best in this off-season and transition period back to training, whenever that may be for you. So whenever you do get back on the two wheel mechanism be sure to ..... ride hard and keep the wheels down!
What's been going on in the 5 weeks since last showing signs of my existance? Well, hmmm.....
--There's been the great winter biking booots made by Lake that have kept me out and biking way longer than at any point in my previous winter training. Can't say enough about them -- only when it's finally hitting the single digits and subzero's have I needed to retreat indoors. Have some great stories to share...only too much time has passed to give 'em much detail. Maybe later.
--I have to secretly admit that I may have also tried on ...ah yes, ok, I'll say -- CX ski's. Not telling how much time I've spent on them, or if it's been enjoyable or not. I'll let the nordic nuts figure that out when & if I show up at the start line of one of their races. It'll probably be a love/hate thing... love me for coming over to the dark side, hate me if I do too well. :)
--Been cross training pretty heavy this year on top of base riding -- alot of weight training & core training each week, along with a full season of volleyball and basketball leagues. I'm feeling good, strong and flexible. Being injury free is a wonderful thing.
--Immune system has been taking a beating up til early this year however. Probably 6+ colds since Sept, the last one finally put me over the edge to say enough is enough, so I finally took a 10 day break early this month that was well needed. The R&R seems to have done the trick.
--Bike dreaming has been working over time -- some cyclist are happy with any two wheels to race on. I unfortunately need the two wheels. The '04 Fuel 100 MTB served me well and the Salsa Mamasita 29er is fun to ride but for '08 a new race machine is in the works.... what will it be? Catch up again in a month or so to find out.
Otherwise I'm having a great time with the wife & kids this winter. Got a huge 16' X-mas tree dragged into the house with the help of my dad this year, went right to the top of the vaulted ceiling. Looked pretty darn good for getting one the old fashioned way -- treking through the woods, sawing it down and hauling it a quarter mile out to the truck & trailer. I'll should post pictures of Marshall & Hope standing next to it for perspective.
Kate & I went to a New Years Eve party in Duluth and had a great time -- you come to appreciate the adult time you get once you have kids as it comes fewer and farther between.
Lastly, Looking into the upcoming cycling season I'm actually nicely ahead of schedule and that was part of the plan with Jan & Feb traditionally having streaks of really tough weather, did alot of work in December and won't be getting a late start like the previous two seasons. Also the MTB racing schedule I've got planned has an extended break in July this year so I'm going to take a mid year break that hopefully will let me start earlier and do well in May & June but also recharge me for Aug on thru cyclocross racing in the fall. But with still only a few full seasons under my belt each year is one big experiment after another.
Thinking about those of you I'll be seeing again in the next few months. Who'll be back? Whose life has changed so they disappear never to resurface again. What new faces will we meet? And most of all wishing each and everyone of you all the best in this off-season and transition period back to training, whenever that may be for you. So whenever you do get back on the two wheel mechanism be sure to ..... ride hard and keep the wheels down!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Winter cold got you down?.... Nahhhhhh
So anyone with half an ounce of common sense that's ever ventured out for a bike ride when there's a foot of snow on the ground ....wait some of you already think that's an oxymoron -- common sense, bike ride, foot of snow.... Well, let me continue, again hypothetically let's say you have. If you think hard enough you can already realize what bone shattering chill that might send through certain extremities if one is not adequately prepared. Frozen flippin' toes being the most likely to succeed in the can-I-get-gangrene-in-under-an-hour contest. If you've tried it's almost always going to be the limiting factor in how long one can ride in the fall, winter and spring. Hands, body, junk, all that can be covered pretty adequately, it's always the toes that take the beatin'.
Seeing as I still can't CC ski to save my life and I'm not about to sit around for 3 or 4 months -- and using a roller or trainer has it's limits before thoughts of suicide kick in. Getting quality training is something I've really struggled with in years past. Well, try as I may through everything from plastic bags to different boot cover ideas. At long last I can attest to finding a wholly and entirely worthwhile solution. Listen to me carefully -- if you want to ride in the winter (or are forced to because of lack of snow for skiing), you gotta give these type of bike shoe/boots below a try -- you will not be disappointed, you'll be kicking yourself you never got them sooner.
Seeing as I still can't CC ski to save my life and I'm not about to sit around for 3 or 4 months -- and using a roller or trainer has it's limits before thoughts of suicide kick in. Getting quality training is something I've really struggled with in years past. Well, try as I may through everything from plastic bags to different boot cover ideas. At long last I can attest to finding a wholly and entirely worthwhile solution. Listen to me carefully -- if you want to ride in the winter (or are forced to because of lack of snow for skiing), you gotta give these type of bike shoe/boots below a try -- you will not be disappointed, you'll be kicking yourself you never got them sooner.
Add in these attachments if you really need them and you'll be just fine. http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2007/11/12/scarpa-grizu-heated.html
I got the Lake brand of boots at FreeWheel in the twin cities. They go for $200-$300 but are well worth it, I can't even dare call it "Feeding the Fat" reference of the dear Charlie Farrow. It's more a a necessity for survival out there. I believe he's gotta have something like that to pull off his Arrowhead 135 escapade in February.
Check 'em out sometime or drop me a line if you ever have questions.
I've been meaning too, like probably so many others, get on the blog and do some updating but a day turns into a week, a week turns to another then.. a month is gone before you know it. If you're reading hang in there folks I think I can still pull off a 3 or 4 posting per month average.
Having ended the season on a pretty high note from the Iceman Cometh I was anxious to keep the momentum going so I've really not taken any major time off the bike. That's not to say I'm stacking hours and hours of base training in yet but I've gotten in between 7-10hrs most weeks since Mid November. The recent snap of cold however is putting a crimp even on the best pair of biking boots, gloves and face wear so I've resorted to flailling around on some CC ski's, but some good mentoring from FSx Midwest - Fischer / Swix Racing man, Paul Haltvik, and there's appears to be some hope for me. It lets be get out for an hour and stay warm enough so I can follow up with another 1hr ride on the bikes to get at least 2hrs of aerobic work done.
Game plan this year is get 6 months of base and buildup training done so I'm good and ready to race come May & June, then there's a sizable break in MTB racing in July so I'm going to take a rest period during that month and then hopefully I should be refreshed enough to able to race out the remainder of MTB & CX season from Aug thru Nov next year without crashing & burning out by Cheq 40 like in years past. I've also integrated a pretty good lifting and core exercise program into my weekly routine as well with any luck will help with injury prevention and add some durability.
As it's said anything worthwhile usually isn't dropped in your lap, so sometimes when opportunity doesn't knock, you just have to build a door. So whatever your choice -- hit the roads or hit the snow, just get out there and make things happen.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
When you're not used to....
.....seeing your name somewhere small in an article in a national cycling publication, you can't help but think it's kind of cool to have happened -- cyclingnews has a write up on this past years Iceman http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb.php?id=mtb/2007/nov07/iceman07 and actually included all the results. So hidden somewhere near the relative top I find myself listed...... along with the 2,000 participants. 18th overall in the 35-39 Expert Category -- to save time looking.
Nice to see a write up & press time on Midwest MTB'ing. WI's has the largest participant series in the country -- just how much bigger? Give Google or Ask.com a whirl and see what other parts of the country get for participant rates in their MTB/Off-Road Series. I think a person used to seeing WORS sized events could feel pretty proud of what's in our backyard after seeing turnouts in other parts of the country. Also you toss in these Triple Crown Races, the Ore to Shore, Chequamegon 40 and Iceman with their monster sized participation (2000+ racers) and you see the Midwest has alot of reasons to get it's share of notoriety. My coach & pro racer, Josh P, has said plenty of times if you're racing in the Midwest you've got plenty of competition to know where you would stand on a National level.
Passed on the MN CX championship race last weekend. My lingering cough failed to improve sufficiently to allow me to endulge in yet one more race this year. That said I've however gotten on the bike for some nice long easy training miles -- now fellow blogger/racer Charlie Farrow, makes some reference of "feeding the rat" in what I can only assume would be his training. But, hmmm... think about this "feeding the rat"? Do you suppose Charlie has a pet rat? Maybe one he feeds after comes back from a long bike ride? What's it's name? I somehow think should Charlie read this I suspect (& expect) a17th century history dissertation delivered with a Paul Harvey rest of the story panache from the One that produces a scholarly synthesis to pupils on a daily basis. So what I'm saying is Charlie appears to be able to rattle off a mean piece of history at will. The man must read books like cows eat grass. It's all good.
Now that Turkey day is soon upon us -- get out for a big ride and then gobble up. I may just try and join the 'ole Turkey day ride in the Twin Cities when Kate & I go down there to visit her family for the holidays.
Travel safe, ride hard & keep the wheels down,
Nice to see a write up & press time on Midwest MTB'ing. WI's has the largest participant series in the country -- just how much bigger? Give Google or Ask.com a whirl and see what other parts of the country get for participant rates in their MTB/Off-Road Series. I think a person used to seeing WORS sized events could feel pretty proud of what's in our backyard after seeing turnouts in other parts of the country. Also you toss in these Triple Crown Races, the Ore to Shore, Chequamegon 40 and Iceman with their monster sized participation (2000+ racers) and you see the Midwest has alot of reasons to get it's share of notoriety. My coach & pro racer, Josh P, has said plenty of times if you're racing in the Midwest you've got plenty of competition to know where you would stand on a National level.
Passed on the MN CX championship race last weekend. My lingering cough failed to improve sufficiently to allow me to endulge in yet one more race this year. That said I've however gotten on the bike for some nice long easy training miles -- now fellow blogger/racer Charlie Farrow, makes some reference of "feeding the rat" in what I can only assume would be his training. But, hmmm... think about this "feeding the rat"? Do you suppose Charlie has a pet rat? Maybe one he feeds after comes back from a long bike ride? What's it's name? I somehow think should Charlie read this I suspect (& expect) a17th century history dissertation delivered with a Paul Harvey rest of the story panache from the One that produces a scholarly synthesis to pupils on a daily basis. So what I'm saying is Charlie appears to be able to rattle off a mean piece of history at will. The man must read books like cows eat grass. It's all good.
Now that Turkey day is soon upon us -- get out for a big ride and then gobble up. I may just try and join the 'ole Turkey day ride in the Twin Cities when Kate & I go down there to visit her family for the holidays.
Travel safe, ride hard & keep the wheels down,
Thursday, November 15, 2007
What? Two posts in one week!
Crazy....what am I doing having spare time to write some blogging comments. Now if I could only have the creative insight of Charlie Farrow..... ok, think Charlie, be Charlie... Charlie, Charlie... Hmm... nope, I no luck in passing the medium of Charlie today. I'll have to slide by on my own. We all read these blogs about bikes and cycling and the all that sort, but what does one do outside of the endless miles of training and races..... probably think about more biking and races.
Well, at least for me, if I can get my breaks in during a season I swear I'm ready to get going again and it's only been a month. Guess that Iceman just jazzed a guy up again. You know if it wasn't for all you skiers we could probably have some hard core biking year round -- ok, just kidding someday I'll understand the bliss of skiing.... but I haven't heard any invitations come my way as of yet.
If it wasn't for that Charlie F. tantalizing me on Monday with thoughts of doing the MN State CX race this weekend, I'd probably happily be doing my base miles and knowing none the better. Now it's an everyday wrestling match in my brain -- stay home and try to get rid of this 4th cold bug I've gotten since August or ignore my failing immune system just to see if I can have another bust out race like at the Iceman. It's 60/40 but I can't say which way at this time.
Outside of that all is good and life is never dull. If you have 4 dogs, 2 cats, 2 kids, one wife (thank god none of those number are in reverse order), and run your own business life is pretty full. Wouldn't want it any other way though.
Been busy trying to wrap up very late season yard and trail projects. If I wasn't in the investment ballgame I swear I'd be a landscape architect. I love doing projects like that, it's a like an artist in three dimensions with the world as your canvas.
But there's something good about winter setting in -- in door house projects finally get taken care of, there's hockey and ice skating with the kids to do, and the indoor volleyball leagues get started up again. Speaking of volleyball is probably not too normal of a cross training interest among endurance athletes but our (6x6) team started off the season Sunday night posting a 3-1 record against last years #2 team. We've got a pretty formidable team again this year having won the league championship 3 of the past 4 seasons and though we seem to lose one or two different players each year the replacements are as good or better. What I wasn't prepared for was how sore my shoulder and abs would be the next day, trying cranking away with hard spikes, alot of blocking and diving for balls and you might feel like SKJ after her Iceman mishap. Speaking of which she still made a pretty strong comeback. Check it out on You Tube if you like, someone posted a number of videos from this years Iceman.
Well, a second call from Kate about getting home for this awesome pizza she made for dinner, means I'd better get going.
Later
Well, at least for me, if I can get my breaks in during a season I swear I'm ready to get going again and it's only been a month. Guess that Iceman just jazzed a guy up again. You know if it wasn't for all you skiers we could probably have some hard core biking year round -- ok, just kidding someday I'll understand the bliss of skiing.... but I haven't heard any invitations come my way as of yet.
If it wasn't for that Charlie F. tantalizing me on Monday with thoughts of doing the MN State CX race this weekend, I'd probably happily be doing my base miles and knowing none the better. Now it's an everyday wrestling match in my brain -- stay home and try to get rid of this 4th cold bug I've gotten since August or ignore my failing immune system just to see if I can have another bust out race like at the Iceman. It's 60/40 but I can't say which way at this time.
Outside of that all is good and life is never dull. If you have 4 dogs, 2 cats, 2 kids, one wife (thank god none of those number are in reverse order), and run your own business life is pretty full. Wouldn't want it any other way though.
Been busy trying to wrap up very late season yard and trail projects. If I wasn't in the investment ballgame I swear I'd be a landscape architect. I love doing projects like that, it's a like an artist in three dimensions with the world as your canvas.
But there's something good about winter setting in -- in door house projects finally get taken care of, there's hockey and ice skating with the kids to do, and the indoor volleyball leagues get started up again. Speaking of volleyball is probably not too normal of a cross training interest among endurance athletes but our (6x6) team started off the season Sunday night posting a 3-1 record against last years #2 team. We've got a pretty formidable team again this year having won the league championship 3 of the past 4 seasons and though we seem to lose one or two different players each year the replacements are as good or better. What I wasn't prepared for was how sore my shoulder and abs would be the next day, trying cranking away with hard spikes, alot of blocking and diving for balls and you might feel like SKJ after her Iceman mishap. Speaking of which she still made a pretty strong comeback. Check it out on You Tube if you like, someone posted a number of videos from this years Iceman.
Well, a second call from Kate about getting home for this awesome pizza she made for dinner, means I'd better get going.
Later
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)