TGIF

Yes, thank God its a friday.I've been at Center Point Energy in Minneapolis early this week preping their 60 windows that are getting replaced.Then they switched me over to St Barnabas Lutheran church in Plymouth Thurs,and today.Today started out horrible.We were in a big rush to form up two columns.We were pouring both the footings and the columns themselves at once.It was just me and the sup. doing everything including tieing the rebar.The columns were roughly 4x4x6.You'll be suprised how much work goes into forming concrete,especially when you make your own forms.Anyway we only had a quick break at 10 and the rest of the day was go go.We must have pleased the concrete gods because we didn't have any blow outs at the end of the day.

Me and Sam also tried a little cyclocross action on wed. night.That was a blast but different racing under the lights.I felt fine but had to keep reminding myself to back off a bit because I was feeling a head cold.Sam beat me in the sprint and we were running about 4 or 5th behind Doug,Bjorn, Dan and maybe someone else.Of course they were way ahead of us, and we were at the head of the chase group.I think I'll be doing as many of those as possible.

I'm going up north with my cousin and his brother-inlaw.Were going to do some wheelin and maybe get a few grouse and squirls.Wrap them grouse in some bacon, serve over wild rice, and put a little squash on the side and you have a kickin meal!
Have a nice weekend everyone!

Only in the fall do you come home to a big ol slab of roast beef,baked potato's,and butternut squash.The smell is outstanding when I walk in the door. 

Why don't the support cars and motorbikes burn alcohol like this guy. Its much more enjoyable riding behind them. 

Back online

Why trim the tree when mother nature will do it for free.
Talk about threading the needle.We couldn't even fall the tree in that perfect spot.As you can see the wind blew it sideways about 5-6 feet,and it snipped off the ridge board that stuck out on the top of the A-frame.We were out of power for 2 nights and a day.It was nice in the morning because I ate at Perkins and had some big breakfasts mmmm sausage. At night we resorted to hotdogs and beans.
On the only day I biked this week I went around to see what kind of damage the storm did.Down every street you would see just about every house had a pile of brush on the lawn.This was just around Shoreview and straight east.There wasn't much around White Bear and Bald Eagle. An F2 tornado tuched down in the Coon Rapids-Blaine area. And big power towers went down in the Andover area from 80 mph gusts.Over 100,000 were out of power.

Correction on my last post,it was cyclocross world champion Matt Kelly that went down at the start of the Chequamegon.
Tomarrow is the MNSCS awards party at Quality Bike Parts.Me,Sam,and Chris are going to Bike at Lebennon,fallowed by the party for pizza.It should be a fun time, so all you series competitors be there or be square!There will be shwag too this year.

Jay Richards has a blog now!Check it out http://birdman6blog.blogspot.com/

Suffer-o-rama

Keep on truckin
Thats what its all about,whoever can crank over a big gear for a long time will do good at the Chequamegon. I liked the idea of a slower roll out through town because some people just freak out when they're in a big group and end up taking out others with them. Even still there seems to always be a crash at the start and the first I witnessed was Selander Sr. on his cross bike. When the slinky effect occured, tires squeeled and I saw him slide into the ditch,and as his head hit the ground another guy ran right over his head.That sight made me a little nervous for a moment.When we hit Rosies field everyone lets it all go and its chaos for a bit as everyone tries to position.At the top of Rosies, I pointed out to Sam Doug going into the ski trail on the front.I wasn't feeling good on the start like usuall, and just wanted to get through that suffering threshold and into my rythem.I kept Sam in my sights the whole time and as soon as guys started to surge past him I knew he did have it today.Usually he can stick on the wheel and pull away from me but he slowly drifted back to me and we started to work together.Nether of us had the power we wanted on the hills but I could crank it on the flats and downhills.
When we hit the roads and atv trails I was feeling better.But it was too late, the 2 massive groups ahead of us were established and sneaked away from us. So we were stuck struggling with no real group as we would break up,rejoin,and pick up stragglers.I kept thinking of the last 10 miles and that darn last 4 miles of birkie trail where I cracked last year.I did make it up the fire tower climb smoothly and actually felt a bit better after I recovered.I just sat in most the time on the birkie as some guys were doing fine setting pace. I thanked God when I saw the feed station on the end of the Birkie,the hardest part was over. After the last road section we rolled into the atv trails for the last 3 miles and thats where we passed a couple of people cramping on the hills,If your going to cramp thats where it happens.I felt a little surge and went on the last climb with Sam in tow,but he dropped back and I just gave it my all to line. I did beat my time from last year by 10 min! This year was very odd.Ok,last year in simular conditions my time was 2:35 taking like59th place.And this year I finished 2:25 and took 62nd.I was only 15 min back.In 6 min 30 people rolled through the line. It shows how important it is to be a fast starter and establish yourself early on in atleast the 2 chase groups.

Congrats to Doug for taking his 2nd win at the chequamy and getting the 2 fastest times in its history.For a complete review go to www.skinnyski.com there is just too much to talk about.Check out the pics there too.
I had a great weekend and kind of relieved the season is over.Now the talk will be about remodeling the bathroom and other activities that don't include subjecting myself to complete exhaustion and extreme pain.Later

When will it end

I haven't done much this week other than work in less than ideal conditions for extended amounts of time.I have put in overtime every day this last week including an 11 hr day on friday.And we do not get any breaks from lunch to the end of the day which sucks and is not good for you.I did put in 2 effort days on the bike,but I don't have full energy in doing them.This weekend I was tired and very lazy.Other than a 2 hr ride yesterday,and mowing the lawn,I haven't done much other than sit around and kick the legs up.Usaully I'm running around on the weekend looking for something to do.I couldn't even muster enough energy to go up to the grass drags.I'm going to ask for thursday and friday off work being its the last race and I want to do good.At work this week I'll probably be hauling plywood sheathing up on the roof or something.Roofing is always hard on the legs but we'll see.
If you haven't checked it out already, go to www.bikemag.com Watch some of their video clips from British Columbia.Their mt bike park looks sweet. Those guys are unbelievably smooth.

Annal Cops!

Why are the cops so annal nowdays. I was just out tuning up my dirtbike and there's a deadend street next to our property thats 100 yards long that only our 3 neighbors use so I used that to go up and down a couple times to warm it up.As soon as I hop back on our grass I hear a cop honk at me.He comes up to me asking if I have a liscence I'm like "yea".He starts to say "no lights,no liscence plate,no headlight,where do I start"."come on I was just tuning it up and getting the idle set".And here he looks like he's ready to slap the cuffs on me.The good news is he just gave me a warning and I said I wouldn't do it again,but come on man. Its not like I was flying down a side road like a raging animal.As I think of it, I see them kids going down the sidewalk with those motorized mopeds,while your at it go give those kids tickets too,"no lights,no liscense plates.....".Stop wasting your time and get the real law breakers in this land of 10,000 laws. I've heard of a time when the cops would smile and wave at you or stop and tell you to give it more gas,now when there not in the dougnut shop, there out giving petty little tickets and letting the criminals out of jail,what gives.
While we're at it I'll bring up my issue with the new DNR(Dang-Near-Russian) regulation.Now every motorcycle has to be registered even if its used exclusively for track racing.Which is gay because what if you race and you just want to take it out on the trails for a weekend.Now you have to put a liscense plate on and where the heck is a good place for a liscense plate on a dirt bike.A. who's going to want to put a couple of holes in the fender and hang a plate.
B. The plate will be in the way of the suspention travel and everytime you hit a bump you'll hear the plate rattling around underneath you.
Its just another way for the state to suck somemore $ out of us because they don't know how to budget there own (actually its our $). Come on law enforcement let off a little and let people enjoy what they worked hard for. After all "My taxes pay your salery"(Mr.Rumsfeld from The Burbs)

Good times, bad race

After a wet saturday, sunday rolled around and dried up nicely.It had went from 60 degrees to a humid 80 something.I had a decent start and was in the top 10 going into the singletrack.The singletrack there is tight and alot of short steep hills,and its kind of difficult to keep momentum if your feeling flat.I started out with 2 mechanicals on the first lap where my brake cable freakishly came out of the lever.What the heck!? I've never seen that one before.I had to disconnect the rear break,unscrew the barrel adjuster all the way out and fish that little hammer back into the holder.And that happened twice. After that I was passed by Ben P who had broken his chain and went otb on an uphill a ways back.I've never seen that done either.After that the race was painfull.My legs didn't have power in them at all.And I was bouncing off of every rock and root.With a 1/4 mile to go I started to cramp up bad.I was going so slow it was unreal.But I did finish, a freakish 16min behind even Sam.The funny thing was is I finished in 15th and thats how far they paid back.Ben's like "It makes it hurt a little less".
I did loose my spot in the series standings...from7th to 9th.That means I lost the top 3 in age too.Crap, thats disappointing.Oh well what can you do.Next year will be a new beginning and hopefully my luck will turn around for the good.
I did have a great time away from racing.Thanks to Jay and everyone else who helps out at the lodge.The food is awesome and the lodge is cozy and relaxing.
I also got to ride my dirtbike for the first time.Jay pointed me towards some trails and I was off.I got a good 2 hrs of riding in total.The best trail was the Sugarbush trail wich is practicly on the other side of the road from Maplelags driveway.I took that trail sunday evening and as I was ripping down the road I came across a big mudhole with a minivan up to its rockerpanels in mud.No one was in the van and I didn't see anyone on my way down the trail.I was thinking to my self "what was he thinking?" On my way back to the lodge I was going down the driveway and the guy who got the minivan stuck flagged me down and wanted to know if I knew someone who could pull him out.To make a long story short I went back to tell him no ,but I did tell a local guy on a 4 wheeler about it when I went back out after supper.It was getting dark and I never did find out what happened. I let Luke take the bike out for a spin and he came back wanting to get one but he's expecting a kid in a few months.
Well thats it for MN racing this year. The Big Chequamy is next and last!See ya

Last Mn series race

I got off early today,that means I can relax a bit while I get ready for this weekend.I finally got my motorcycle registered with the DNR(Dang-Near-Russian).I will be bringing it up noth this weekend to ride it for the first time.I also found out how to record on the helmet cam,so watch for video clips soon.This race is going to be important for me becuase 7th place in the series is still up for grabs.I'm there right now, right behind Sam,But if certain people are there things could change.All the spots above me are pretty much locked up,so Sam should come out all right.I'm hoping for a cash spot this time.I've been hearing it might be a small field.Last year Sam got 4th overall and I got 5th,with 7 inches of rain that weekend and just a mudhole of a race thats not bad.It was also the race that I borrowed a mud tire from Mike, who I've never talked to before, and after the race he approached us about starting the team.Now here we are a year latter.Man time flies!I'm very excited for this race because the atmosphere is so nice.Almost every racer will be at the lodge so its a big festival of fellowship with other cyclists.Jay Richards does a sweet job of putting this on at his lodge and accomidating everyone.Thanks Jay! Well, have a nice Labor day weekend,and I hope to post some sweet results and stories.See ya