What the media will never tell you

I have a paper to write about global warming. We read a book that was pro global warming and watched this video against it. We don't hear this side of the story.

Luz

One of my favorites to both climb and descend.

France

I up laoded one of the handlebar camera video's I took over in France. This pass was used 2 years ago I believe which was once gravel but they paved it just for the Tour. This is a 2 lane road believe it or not.I was up to 45-50mph on the last straight section but through the twist's we were around 30. Enjoy.

Sam and I also raced cyclocross saturday at Afton. Sam raced the B's because the A's started too late. Sam let Ross F. a fellow mtber from Duluth win and he took 2nd I came in 4th. There was an insane run up that went from the bottom of the hill to a little ways up Man handler. Brendan Moore was the only person to ride it. On his last lap he put it in the Big ring for us. It was just as steep as the Wall at Welch if not a little more. I'm still waiting for ice

Pulling Dogs

Johns new skijor pups in training. Pups have so much energy its insane.I'm feeding them in the afternoons while John is off to watch Eric at the collegiant mtb nationals. He is doing both short track and cross country.

Ham lake cross race video

Ham Lake

I brought the Bandito out of retirement this weekend at the Ham Lake cyclocross. I put a cheap surley rigid fork on it which makes it snappier. I did the B class. I knew I had power from the speedskating exercises I've been doing but I haven't breathed hard since Chequamegon. I maybe ride once or twice a week now too. My goal was to see if I could finish with the lead group. The course was flat as a pancake with long straight ski trail sections and a long paved section. There was only 1 set of 3 barriers we had to jump. It was not a mtb course at all. I stayed with the lead group and the closest I got to the front was second. I wanted to make a move after the pavement section and try to break it up more on some of the corners but everyone would accelerate before going into the dirt and even then it was just too flat to get away. Lap traffic on the last lap made it difficult to get around too. I was happy to come in 5th or 6th anyway and had a fun time. I might try at least one more before the season is over. Ice time is coming quick.
Sam did the A race and was way back. He got 5th at Wirth last week but the course was more mtber friendly.

Went to see the master of the guitar Joe Satriani tuesday night. Sweet concert. He doesn't come around very often so its a treat when he does. There were some songs I wish he would have played but he didn't. He did a good mix of his latest album along with some older ones. Great show altogether.
I get to do write ups on speedskating this year and Bruce is going to put them up on Skinnyski.com this year kind of like what Jay Richards does for the mtb. I want to see more people on the ice this year. I'm hoping to be alot better this year than last. My starts needed alot of work last year and my corners need to be more efficient. Eben has been helpful in correcting my form in the last couple days too. He told me to drop my right shoulder in the turns when we were inlining and low and behold it made a huge difference. Sometimes there are just these little nuggets that people tell you that make a world of a difference.

Floyds requests

Floyd wanted me to post this one. We have become such good friends.
He didn't even know that he was pulling me for a couple laps (I'm on inlines).
He used to do this to his buddies back in the day when climbing hills and I'm just returning the favor.

Meet Dirty Girls: go mountain biking
Another shirt idea from Floyd. This is Rebbecca after Chequamegon.

The elder(ly) showing the youngin how to jump rope.
Floyd hadn't jump roped on his new hip yet. He proved he still has the technique down.

Secret training grounds. This is the first time for Sam in the garage.
I get a new training partner starting this week. Eben is coming back from Salt Lake to train at home for World's qualifier in October. Its good to train with better people.

The cycling blogs are slowing down that's for sure. I bike about twice a week now and not for long. My mind is occupied with other things anyways so I don't even think about it really which is good. Went fishing yesterday to try for some muskie but no dice. Lakes are 1.5-2 feet low this year. It must be effecting the fishing this year. Today I set up my cousins computer and went down to the minneapolis rowing club open house. Patti has been killing it in the boat. She won 2 races in the National Championship out in California a month or so ago and she won 3 more in Iowa last week. She showed me the proper rowing technique and showed us (Floyd, Sam, Janet, Laura, and me) around the boat houses. Floyd is an alumni from the rowing club back in the 60's. He likes that his team has such a variety of sports that everyone is involved in. He's a strong believer in cross training. If you over train in a sport you lose the excitement when it comes time to compete. If you don't feel like racing anymore its time to put it away for a while.