Eric's Web Log

Spring Training 3/8/10

2010-03-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

2 Saturdays ago I started riding. I did 2 hrs every other day with speedskating on the odd days. Nothing structured on the ice, just go out there and skate whatever. I got in a total of 150 miles in 4 rides and an avg speed of around 18mph. This past weekend was kind of a recovery and pretty much the only workout I did was sunday night in Floyds garage. Today I upped the mileage to 48 which took 2:37, and an 18.2 mph avg. I'm going to get what I can out of this week as I'm on spring break and it sounds like rain tues and wed. Ideally I'd like to do this 50 mile loop every other day. On the odd days I'm going to concentrate on core work and upper body as I want to drop a couple pounds before the racing season and I need to lose that weight around the midsection. This also means I have to be more careful in what I eat. I'm mainly going to crack down on sweets and when I do eat a little bit its right before the ride so it gets burned up right away. Right now I'm at 152lbs and that's down from my usual 155lb weight that I maintained during the summer for the last I don't know how many years. At night what I've found that works well to satisfy my hunger with not too many calories is eat peanut butter toast and an orange. If I have this I don't find myself in the kitchen grazing right before bed like I would if I ate a high carb snack.

2009-09-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

The last race of the season proved to be a success for both Sam and me. Perfect weather and trail conditions greeted riders today for a great race. When we arrived Brendan Moore was on his way to winning the MN State Single Speed Championships, a decision he made 2 days prior to the event in competing. It was training for his upcoming National 24 hr Championships in Moab. At the line Chris Anderson announced that the race would consist of a prologue lap plus 4. Everyone was thinking prologue plus 3 due to what was posted on line. We were in for a long day. Hollywood got the hole shot as usual with me on his wheel and Brendan behind me. I took over when we hit the forest ski trails and pulled for a bit and was thinking I shouldn't be on the front. I moved over and motioned for someone to pull through. Brendan said "sorry Eric". So Lance Beuning took the pull into the single track. After the prologue it was Lance, Brendan, Luke Nelson, Sam, me, and Justin Rienhart going into the single track. We all stuck together for a while until a nasty swampy section that had rocks and roots strewn all over the place. It was tough to manuever through it and gaps started to open up. Sam and Brendan got around Lance somewhere and Luke and I were behind Lance within 15 seconds. Luke pulled a good first lap and we had eventually passed Lance. Sam and Brendan were up a little further I'd say within 30 seconds. Luke let me take the lead starting the 2nd lap and I was hesitant because I thought we were managing a good pace and I didn't think I could beat Luke's enduro motorcycle skills. Once I got around and found my rhythm though I was railing the corners pretty good and I had good power out of the corners and kick on the short punchy hills. I slowly built a gap between myself and Luke. When I came through the field to start the third lap I couldn't believe I was catching Brendan. I was about 100 meters from him going into the single track. He put up a good fight for the first 1/3 of that lap but I caught him in the nasty swampy section and he let me past when we exited it. I glanced through the woods for a split second as we were weaving through the woods to see Luke hit a rock and go OTB. I was pretty excited to be in second place since this is only the second time its happened for me. Just like every race I always try to ride the single track as efficient as possible and stay focused. If you push it just a little bit you start making mistakes and you end up losing time. The closest I got to within Sam is like 30 seconds. The whole last lap Sam put time into me and I was starting to slow down. The first incident happened just before the swampy section when my forearm hit a tree hard, and for a while it was painful to brake with my left arm. I have a bump on my tendon right now. Then just after that as a result of a painful forearm I tried to hop up a big boulder and descend down a narrow ramp but my front tire slipped off and I caught myself with my left leg. Many racers know that when you have been just using the biking muscles in a race and when your reflexes suddenly make a different muscle move it cramps up tighter than a drum. Oh, the pain! I managed to run the bike trough some of that nasty section just because it was hard to remount and it was probably just as fast. I shifted down to the middle ring for a bit just to spin the legs out and see if cramping was going to be an issue but I didn't feel any threatening. Even after losing some time there I couldn't see anyone catching me. Then I had another incident with about 1/3 lap to go. I came out of a corner or something and a root bounced me sideways and the next thing I know I'm hanging off the back of my bike and side swiping a big pile of cut brush on the side of the trail. I was like, what the heck was that all about. Seriously, in this single track, one split second lapse in concentration and your bush wacking through the woods. I always think of it like the Star Wars speeder bikes. To be able to hold down some serious power and be snapping the bike back and forth through the woods is one of the greatest feelings in mountain biking. Anyway, I held out to the end and picked up 2nd place. Sam had a winning time of 2:15 which is pretty long for a winning time in a mtb. Some guys were out there for 3hrs. Chris Anderson felt a little bad so he offered all elite riders a free beer and slice of pizza afterward. Good times all around and I don't think anyone complained about the extra lap. Overall in the season its: Brendan Moore 1st, Sam 2nd and me 3rd. I'm pretty sure we took over the top spot for team competition too. On a side note Jack Hinkens and Jesse Rients were not present. If they were, Jesse I believe would just have to finish to take 3rd spot overall, and Me and Jack would have a battle for 4th and 5th. I would have liked a duo between Jack and myself but thats the way it goes. We'll have to take it to the cross races for the rest of the season. Thanks to Anderson and all the volunteers for putting on another great race. Until next year, that is it for mountain biking.

A Long Weekend.

2009-08-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

This was a long and exhausting weekend for me not just because I had 2 races but early morning races. I had to drive up to Seeley, WI starting at 5am for the 10:30 start and again this morning for the 9:00 am start in Henderson MN for the state road race championships.

Round 1: It had been raining up in Seeley for the past 2 days and things were muddy in a few spots but the course was in pretty good condition. When I arrived it was 48 degrees with clouds and drizzle. It pretty much stayed that way the whole day. Upon arrival I also smelled anti-freeze. I checked the reservoir and it was empty, "crap!" The last thing you want during a race is something like this in the back of your mind. Jay Richards knows what I'm talking about. I decided I'll deal with it after and tried to block the thoughts of maybe not getting home. The start was one of the slowest mtb starts I've ever experienced. Everyone was content with getting somewhat of a warm up on the pavement before entering the double track. I was sitting about 6th wheel behind H'wood and Jeff Hall. Hollywood went to the front up the steeper pavement grade to lead us up to the entrance of the trails. I was feeling within my limits for the first few miles still holding 6th wheel (TJ Woodruff, Jeff Hall, Tim Swift, Chad Sova, Matt Muraski, myself) but when TJ and Jeff turned the screws a bit harder on the climb after we crossed back over the pavement I was off the back. No one was on my wheel either and as usual I was in no mans land for a long time. I put it in TT mode and rolled the ski trail sections as smooth as I could. That was for like the first 45 min of the race or so. When I entered the first time through the single track I was gaining on a rider. It took me almost a whole lap to reel him in. It was Matt Muraski. I sat on his wheel for a couple min thinking I could just sit in for a bit and recover, but when I looked back, to my amazement, I caught a glimpse of the orange off a Ski Hut jersey (I later found out it was Mike Bushy putting in a stellar ride with Nikolai Anikin) I had to up the pace so I attacked going into a single track section. Matt never came with so I just kept trying to get myself some time. Somewhere on the second time around the singletrack loop I caught Chad Sova. "I was wondering when you were going to catch me" he said as I rode past. I just kept going because a: I didn't want to have to sprint at the end with anyone, and b: I didn't want the group behind to catch up. The last 2 miles are the longest in that race. Probably because its posted. The race goes by so much faster if you don't know the mileage but only refer to the different sections. Idk maybe its just me. Anyway, when I got on to the gravel finishing straight which is what a half mile or so, I could see Tim swift but he was to far to catch so I rolled across in 4th 42 sec. behind. Chad and Nikolai behind me made up some ground because they were only 12 sec behind me. 25 miles in 1:43.04. I think TJ and Jeff set a new course record of 1:38.05. TJ won by .8sec. Good fun race though and I broke even on gas and entry fees.

Photos taken by Lisa Humphrey

Ok now for the exciting ride home. Tom Gaier (race director and friend) gave me some jugs of water to keep the radiator full. I made it from Seeley to Siren before the temp gauge started to rocket up and overheat. This is where everything went south on me. If I was up to speed like above 50mph the needle would be steady on normal but as soon as I would slow down for a town it would overheat. As soon as I saw the needle take off I'd shut the engine off and pull over. I would sit for about 10 min and let the car puke anti-freeze all over, and cool off a bit. This happened about 8 times or so. The best was when I was going down 35 just south of Forest Lake. Right when the needle went up I was just coming to a rest stop turn off, so I put it in neutral and turned the engine off,and made a silent entry and a perfect landing. My mechanics house was closer than my house so I just drove it straight there and parked it. I finally got home at about 6:30 or 7. I then had to unpack and pack at the same time, getting ready for today.
Round 2: Up at 5am again. Sam surprisingly wanted to go down to the race today so he drove Floyd and me down in his company van.
Side note: Sam finished up 24 hrs of Afton on a relay team yesterday so he only got like 7 hrs of sleep since friday. Also, Jack Hinkens showed up today for the JR state road race championships after doing 24 hrs of Afton on a relay team himself. He even won the road race. P.S- Sam also roller skied a bit when we got back and is now cutting the lawn. What an animal.
Ok back to the State RR. I made my debut back to the road scene at this one. The last road race I did was Memorial weekend of 2008 at the 1st annual Duluth Classic Stage Race. This was another cold start. I was shivering and teeth chattering on the roll-out. It was a neutral start up to the top of the main climb which was also the finish. This was a really flat course with only the 2km climb up to the lap/finish line. We had 4 laps of 18 miles (72 miles) to do. and I was feeling good for the first 2-3 laps. On the climb I was doing just fine when guys were breathing heavily and pushing squares next to me. Nothing got organized and the flyers were coming back quick so I just stayed in the pack most of the time knowing it would come down to the final climb (I did chase down one flyer near the end of the 3rd lap with another teammate). There was one super fast descent down to the river valley and I clocked a 51mph max speed, bummer that there was a 90 degree corner at the bottom we had to brake hard for. One of the Behind Bars racers snapped his chain in front of me when we accelerated out of the corner. Thank God that the chain didn't get caught in his wheel or that may have been a close call for me. Somewhere during the final lap I just wanted to take a nap. I could tell I wasn't all there. The wind was blowing harder and the surges were getting more aggressive which meant for a higher alertness and more effort to keep a good position out of the wind. On the approach to the final time up the hill I was in the position I wanted. About 6 wheels from the front and on the outside of the road so I wouldn't get boxed in. A few hundred yards before the 90 corner entrance onto the hill a small group surged and I thought that was the ticket so I went. I had the cardio to go faster but my legs were sending me signals that they were going to blow. I was holding on for dear life the 1st km. My legs were starting to ping and I thought I was going to see the whole peleton ride by, I had to drop off the pace a bit and I watched my chances pull away. That is a bad feeling. Apparently everyone behind me was feeling the same too. When that last 1/2 km kicked up a bit I just stood up and mustered everything I could. 6 guys were ahead of me and I was slowly gaining back up a little to a few of them but it was too late and I rolled in 7th overall 14sec off the winner. I know of at least 2 guys ahead of me that are from out of state, so I was at least the 5th Minnesotan across the line. It was a little disappointing because I know I had the legs this week to win that thing. Oh well, good training, right? I'll call it a weekend with 100 miles of racing in my legs.

MNSCS #6 Hillside Park

2009-07-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry This will be the abbreviated version on what happened and to the point. Ok, for starters this was a great venue that Rich organized and he did a great job and remodeling the trails to accommodate a race of this caliber. They finally got the call ups in the right order this time and started from 1st instead of 10th. I lined up next to Brendan just like last race. I told myself that I would start out slower and work into it since that is what has been working best for me this year instead of trying to keep up with people I have no chance against (yet) and then paying for it at the end like in Redwing. Off the line I let up at the first corner down the dirt road and said for Brendan to go in front of me. We turned off the road and went up a short steep powerline trail for a couple hundred yards did a 180 turn and descended back down to the road. I didn't put in any huge efforts up the climb and i was a bit further back than I wanted to when we came back to the road. I saw Brendan and Jeff up ahead and they weren't going full gas so I put in an effort to get up further. Right before the entrance of the single track I saw Justin b-lining it for the hole shot. I let Sam in front of me to take TJ Woodruffs wheel, so we were sitting around 6 and 7th or so. Over the course of the first lap Luke Nelson and I broke off from Chris Fisher and Justin Rinehart with Sam, Jeff Hall, and Brendan up ahead of us. Luke was a good pacer and his tenacity was showing. He kept me going right at my threshold and kept me from getting complacent, he was the perfect lead man. At the end of the first lap TJ caught us after loosing air in his tire and having to put some air in it. After he passed, Luke sill tried to keep up but Tj put in some big efforts to pull a gap on us. Luke didn't want to let him get away that easily and I could tell he still thought he had a chance to reel him back in. through the course of the 2nd lap and into the 3rd and final, TJ maybe put in a maximum gap of about 15 sec. but began to loose it. I was watching Luke and seeing where he struggled and where I excelled and was trying to think of the best spot to attack. I noticed that he stood up alot on the climbs and pounded a big gear on his hard tail. I was taking advantage of the full suspension and was spinning a higher gear and using my momentum more efficiently. The trail system was split into 4 sections and sections 3 and 4 on the east side of the dirt road were the hilliest. We were gaining on TJ and were within 5-10 seconds when I made my move on Luke. I took the lead at the top of that powerline climb I talked about at the start because I knew he struggled through the rock garden at the bottom when we entered the single track the last 2 times. I had a better line than him and the full sus. helps alot through that kind of stuff. I took off after TJ and tried to get out of sight of Luke. In mtbing if you get out of sight of someone you can count on that other person having a tougher time mentally getting their body to put in the effort necessary to catch back up. TJ knew I was coming and and I knew he was putting in some strong efforts to try and hold me off. I was feeling good this time and I kept up with the positive waves. "It was a mother beautiful bridge" (Odd Ball- Kellies Hero's). Yes, I bridged the gap and was glued to his back wheel like day old oatmeal. No words were spoken the entire time. For 3/4 of a lap I was so motivated that I had caught TJ, this was a huge accomplishment for me even if he was having a bad day because I have never done this before. He was tough though and put in big surges on the straighter sections (if you could say there was a straight section in this course) so I couldn't get around easy. I knew it would come down to a finishing sprint. When the time did come I just slammed the gears put my head down and pedaled as hard as I could. He eeked me out by a bike length over the course of a 100 yard sprint but i was slowly gaining on him. Great race though. I loved the course. Thanks racers and volunteers, and Rich for another wonderful MNSCS.

Red Wing

2009-07-12T19:10:00.001-07:00

Photo from Dana Schoppe

Plenty of pain to go around today at Red Wing. A few major changes to the course this year. In years past we just went around one field for the prologue but this year they added another field before entering the first single track section. In years past they also just had one of the 2 major climbs in the area to go up, this year we had to climb both of them. They also added a steep section at the end of the lap before the finish to add insult to injury. There was a few more little sections of new stuff that was in there as well.

Off the line I got on Brendan's wheel in second and stayed there. The prologue was extra long this year before going into the single track, but the pace Brendan set didn't seem over the top. I was a little reluctant going in in 2nd wheel because I didn't want to slow down Sam and Jack if Brendan built a gap. Surprisingly I did a good job staying with Brendan for the first half of the lap that is until we hit the hills. Sam Jack and Eric Thompson went around me when we hit the first major climb. I held my own and didn't let too big of a gap go out. After a downhill section and hill traverse we hit the "Stairway to Heaven" which is a super rocky and steep ascent. What makes this climb hard is the big rocks and lack of a "good" line up it. There is just no main line up the thing at the top when it kicks up and your forced to power over loose rock.

All four were in sight still but that was it. Sam, Brendan, and Jack broke away leaving Eric and I to have our battle. After the first lap I was feeling it and I had to back it down for a while.The second lap Eric put a sizeable gap on me, about 1:32 at one point according to Floyd.

After I let myself recover for a bit I started feeling better and was being more efficient through the tight single track. There was a group chasing me that I marked going into the 2nd lap but they dropped back on the 3rd lap. Eric abandoned his chase for the leaders during lap 2 and I started gaining the time back. When I started the final lap I caught Eric in the open fields of the prologue and rode past him. The last thing I wanted was to have Eric with me for a sprint, so I tried to put as much time on him in the technical single track. Mid way through the lap and before all the climbs my legs were sending me signals, very bad signals. The cramping had begun. I dropped out of the big ring and tried to spin as much as I could. I was just praying that my legs would be able to make it up the climbs without Eric catching me. I made it up the first major climb albeit slowly but at least I wasn't on the side of the trail screaming in pain and my legs disabled. Tom Rinehart gave me half a bottle near the top which might have saved me from total lock up. I hit the stairway to heaven hard to get enough momentum to take me as far as I could. I rode the first 3/4 but didn't even attempt the tops steep kick up. I was running a hair thin line in having my calves and quads lock up but I made it. On my way over to the quarry descent I look behind me to see an expert rider I didn't recognize. When he came up I asked if he wanted to pass, "No your faster through the single track than me, I am just making my time on the climbs". "What's your name", I ask. "Adam Swank", he says. Ah, that explains it I think to myself. Adam is a pro xc skier I know he was on the Subaru team and don't know if he still is, all I know is those xc skiers have some crazy fitness. I descended into the quarry leading him but let him buy when we started to climb out since I had to run that one too.

I did hold off Eric in the end even running on damage control but still I was one hurting unit when I crossed the finish line in 5th overall with a time of 2:14 Brendan and the front trio creamed me. Brendan took the win and Sam in second and Jack in 3rd. Sam and Brendan were over 8 min ahead of me, that was kind of disappointing. I guess I can't complain since I'm going to school and working. My training will be more consistent after school is over in 2 weeks, AND we are planning a trip to Colorado early to mid August and I can work on my climbing there. Peace!

Photos courtesy of Bruce at www.skinnyski.com

Chippewa Valley Firecracker

2009-07-06T15:19:00.001-07:00

Couldn't ask for nicer weather for this race. Mid 70's and dry air is not very common this time of year. A hand full of MN riders made it over for the race: Kyia Anderson, Todd McFaden, Jesse Rients, Jack Henkins, Eric Thompson, Paul Hanson, Berry Tungseth and Trent Warner to name a few. Sam and I both felt a bit lazy when we arrived, besides it was a holiday weekend and we were at a race. I have learned over the years however that this feeling is a good sign for both of us. Sam crashed out of this race the last time we did it at the start and the year before that I crashed out in the first 100 yards, so Sam's goal was to just get through the start and get away from sketchy riders.

Eric Thompson showing how hard of a day its been. Sam and I just caught him on this hill. As you can see Eric is a good draft.

Sam and I were sitting 2nd or 3rd row at the start and getting a bit nervous now. The start was a long drag race to the single track about a mile and a half down some double track and a service road. There were a few tight 90 degree corners where you'd go from all out to a crawl, back to full throttle. I stayed on the outside (lesson learned from when I crashed) and was not pushing it too hard to the first 90 degree corner. But sometimes something just clicks on when you see an opportunity. A lane opened up in front of me and I took it, next thing I know I'm making my way up the field. The worst thing was the dust. It reminded me of Ore-To-Shore where your stuck in a big line of riders and you can't see the riders or the trail in front of you. You just hope to God know body crashes in front of you or you don't hit a rock or rut off guard and spin your front tire out. I was doing pretty good and wasn't too worried about making drastic moves going into the singletrack which is important for everybody. I went in behind Berry Tungseth and Sam was right behind me. We were I'd guess around 15th or so. I used the first couple singletrack sections to ease into the race a bit and started to move up when the trail ducked out of the woods. Paul made a mistake and went off trail but got back in in front of me before a stream crossing. He let Sam and I by on the next open section which was a long double track section where I could slow roll a low gear which is always fun. I can't remember who else we passed, there are a lot of Wisconsin riders I don't know and the first lap was kind of a blur. Coming around on lap 2 in the open field section we could see a couple groups ahead that weren't too far off which is always a boost mentally. I remember a small gap between the groups and it must have been where Sagar and the Lelondes took off from the rest of the group. We caught Seth Lenss (I think that's who it was) and he stayed with us for a while and made some moves to try and get away but he fell off up a climb on the double track when we caught Jesse Rients I think. Its like taking a Gu for the brain seeing a rider being shelled and your gaining on them. Over the next couple laps, guys were getting shelled off the chase group, Seth and Jesse were the first followed by Mike Phillips and Eric Thompson. Sam and I worked together the whole race. When I needed a break he would pull and vice versa. It was working out well. Having someone else with you also keeps you from being complacent. In no mans land sometimes I forget I'm racing, and I find myself going slower than I should. Anyway, we both were doing good in the singletrack which flowed really nice. I don't think I'm of singletrack ninja status yet but I'm close. I dinged a couple trees with my shoulder on the same spot but no crashes and we just stayed smooth and efficient. At the end of each lap there was this "Dr Jekle and Mr Hyde section which consisted of some tight 180 switchback berms down a descent into a huge rock quarry that you had to climb out of. Sam and I ran it each time not risking a flat tire from the sharp rocks and we can run pretty fast. Sam let me lead and I hate to say it but, he said he would let me win. I'm sure he could have rode away from me at some point during the race but it would have been hard for him and its not a MN series race so anyway, I can't end it w/o a sprint for the crowd so I gave it all my gears and came in 8th overall. We took 2nd and 3rd in the elite class since we decided not to take the pro license when they made the category changes this year. Neither of us wanted to cough up $150 for a license when payout is overall anyway. So there you have it. Great race on a great day. Thanks to Don and all the volunteers at WORS for making racing possible.

P.S. I have to give special mention to Jack Hinkens. Sam and I were all done cleaning up and packed and decided to go get the water bottle stands down on the end of the course.Everything was over and the venue was starting to be taken down even, so we walked down there got the stands and as we were about to the car walking back Sam yells "Hey Eric look who's coming". Up out of Dr Jekle and Mr Hyde emerges Jack on his way to the finish. He was shot. I guess he had 2 flats and bonked but still wanted to finish even when he was the last one on the course, now that's the mountain biker attitude. He looked like he was going to fall asleep on his bike so we gave him a Gu with 2x caffeine and told him to get some water. It was a character building race for him. I'm sure this will be one of his survival stories he's going to tell years from now.

Dirt Spanker

2009-06-15T20:03:00.001-07:00

This post starts way back to 2 weeks ago at Afton where I got my butt handed to me. It was the worst I have ever felt in a race. My legs were worthless and I should have quit but I pushed through and I think it did a lot of damage. For over a week my legs felt the same, I would get lactic acid build up below my normal threshold thus reducing my power dramatically. I was not spinning the same gears I was earlier in the season. So, after my poor Ride and Glide time trial last Tuesday, I decided to either take the day off or go for an easy short spin from wed- sat. When Sat rolled around, I went for my ride that would prepare me for Sundays race and I felt like the legs were coming back. I found myself spinning the gears I wanted to be in.

Sunday was hot at the start and Mt Du Lac boasts one of the hardest starts in the series; 2 steep kickers right off the line to get the heart rate maxed out. I had a slow start which I expected since I hadn't done any climbing or intervals in the last 2 weeks, my plan was to ease into this one. So I eased into around 10th place going into the single track at the top of the hill behind Devin, TIm Norrie, Jake Richards, Chris Fisher and Scott Kylander- Johnson (order from me to up the trail). Devin crashed 1/4- 1/2 way in and I sat on Jake for a while. I lost my water-bottle on a descent at this point so I had no water the first lap (this will take its toll at the end). At the bottom of the main descent I passed Jake and quickly made it up to Fisher. Oh boy, the legs are starting to kick in at this point. I caught Scotty at the bottom of the big climb and slowly made my way around him as I ascended. Half way up was my water bottles which was a relief as I chugged half a bottle. Laps 2 and 3 were pretty much the same. I was feeling the flow of the sweet single track and I was spinning a nice gear staying smooth and letting the full suspension do its magic. Sam, Brendan, Jack and Jesse were a ways up the trail battling it out but I had my own war going on and there was no way I was going to catch them. I was growing the gap on Scott through the single track and the climbs but he has mad motocross handling skills and would make up time on the descents. I found out later that he had cramping issues on the big climb too. He came close to bridging back up but he dropped off quick in the bottom section single track. Anyway halfway through the final lap I marked Scotty and Tom Miller charging through the single track. I knew I couldn't slack off so I kept telling myself that I had to keep it going and run scared. Miller was finishing super strong. Remember that bottle that jumped ship on the first lap, well on the final climb before descending to the finish line the inevitable happened. PING! one more pedal turn and my inner thighs were going to lock up tighter than a drum. Let me tell you, total muscle cramps are one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. Lucky for me it was not a primary muscle used for running so I ran as fast as I could up the rest of the climb and didn't look back. Scotty later told me that Tom came around him and hammered up that last climb like it was the start, and I was the weak little carrot teasing him up the hill. I remounted at the top of the hill and navigated the slick grassy switchbacks w/o any problems and bombed the downhill straight before the 180 turn which led up to the finish. As I was bombing down the hill I snuck a glance back and saw Tom about 100 yards back. CRAP! Yea, I came into the 180 degree corner hot and ran out of talent. Boom! down I went sliding across the grass. I quick get back on but my chain fell off. I frantically shift my derailluer down and try to spin the chain back on while Tom comes up along side of me. Tom, the good sportsman that he is, doesn't capitalize on my misfortune and lets me win the sprint. Thanks Tom.

Well that's my race. I had a great time and the single track was perfect. Most fun I've had this year in a race. Thanks Coggs and everyone that volunteered to help put this race on.

Erik's Spring Cup

2009-05-17T19:09:00.001-07:00

First race is in the books. Its a little nerve wracking going into the first race because you don't know where your fitness stands compared to the rest of the field. The usual's were there with a few new faces mixed in. We had call ups for the first time in the series. Off the start there was no prologue lap, so it was a mad dash to the singletrack. Brendan Moore took the lead followed by Doug Swanson, 18 year old Jack (or James) Hinkens, Jay Henderson, and then me. Jay "Hollywood" Henderson slid out on the first corner and let me go around. Brendan and Doug had a small gap and Jack and I were chasing and a big gap formed to the rest of the field. About half way through the first lap Jack washed out on a corner allowing me around and I built a gap on him. Going into the 2nd lap Brendan and Doug were within a stones throw from me but I just couldn't close it up. I had a hard time getting the flow of the corners which were really dry and slippery.

The second and third lap I was being chased by Jack and I knew he was slowly gaining. I put in a couple surges to see if he would pop and give up but he kept coming. At about almost half way through the fourth lap I believe is when he accomplished the bridge. I was feeling it on the small climbs at this point and was essentially in a lull. I let him by hoping to get a little recovery by sitting on and study him a little more. That little kid can move let me tell you. He has great high speed handling through the single track and he has great acceleration up the hills. I figured my best chances were in a sprint at the end. While this is happening I was noticing that my front wheel would pull to the outside on the hard corners, making it difficult to keep my lines. Going through the start/finish area I looked down to see my tire almost flat. CRAP! Why do mechanicals have to happen when your doing so good? I must have burped in in a corner somewhere. Needless to say I had to stop and put some co2 in.

While I was airing up Cam Kirkpatrick went by me and I didn't know he was that close. When I got back on the legs did not like it at all. I was in the hurt locker from here on out. To make matters worse Sam, and Jay Richards were closing in fast. I was running for dear life on that last lap and by the time I rolled in for 4th with a time of 1:31:26, Sam and Jay were only 5 sec behind, (I was 4th because Doug dropped out because of a crash and/or mechanical) now that was close. Sam got 5th.

I am happy with the result because I did not feel my best. With the finals stress and some sore legs I was going into this race feeling the worst I have in weeks. I did not feel much power on the climbs like I was a week ago. Thankfully for that first lap when I made the huge gap it was enough to hold everyone off for the rest of the race.

Photos courtesy of Bruce at www.skinnyski.com

Tune up

2009-05-05T18:49:00.001-07:00

First TT of the year at Withrow tonight. Heavy winds out of the south south west, meant for a fast start but steady headwind on the way back. I opted for the Hed tri-spoke demo wheels which was a good choice for the day. I gave Sam my Ardennes and he was blown away with what he has been missing. He received a well deserved "I told you so". If he thinks the Ardennes are fast wait until he tries the new stinger 60's. Anyway, my goal for this year is hit the 26mph avg mark. I left off at 25mph last year for the 12.5 mile course (20km). I have to see tomorrow if I got it. I may have got a personal best because I felt pretty fast and had consistent power the whole time. Well, the ice cream is calling.

Change of seasons

2009-02-28T15:02:00.000-08:00

I had my last skate today at the Oval. We raced a 500m and a 1000m. I was paired with little Ducker in the 500 and Amanda in the 1000. Ducker creamed me in the 500 because I was shortening my stroke too much. I was relaxed in the 1000 and got a 1:33:34 or something. After that Sam and I went to Wirth and did the golf course and out to the 394 where they stopped grooming. Perfect march day out there. The snow was finally fast. 90% of the season was Start green for me and really squeaky snow. I had red LF and it was oh so fast in the sun. Sounds like the snow will mostly be gone by next weekend, that means it it time to start logging miles on the bike. This week I'll ski as much as possible and maybe take a few days to do some strength training hopefully by the end of the week the roads will be good to go.

Jr nationals

2009-01-25T20:30:00.000-08:00

Jr Nationals

Erzberg 2006

2009-01-15T19:26:00.000-08:00

The toughest enduro in the world.

New Computer

2008-12-26T13:44:00.001-08:00

Sam Got me a Dell XPS for Christmas and I'm just trying it out. 4 gig ram and 320gig hard drive. Very nice.

2008-12-14T19:53:00.000-08:00

One of John Thompsons friends set up a nice web page for John here you can write a note and keep updated on his recovery.

hibernation

2008-12-14T07:07:00.000-08:00

I'm glad I don't live in northern Montana these next few days.

Right Now for
Glacier Natl Park, MT

Partly Cloudy
-30°F
Feels Like
-60°F
Updated Dec 14 07:45 a.m. MT
Glacier Natl Park Live Webcams

UV Index: 0 Low
Wind: From E at 17 mph
gusting to 35 mph
Humidity: 56%
Pressure: 29.87 in.
Dew Point: -39°F
Visibility: 10.0 miles
FREE Weather on Your Desktop

When it rains it pours

2008-12-13T14:10:00.000-08:00

There has been so much going on right now its insane. First off finals are next week mon-thursday. Second, John Thompson is still in the hospital fighting extreme pain. He had 3 plasma transfusions. They put a direct line in the carotid artery and hook him up to a machine that looks like a transmission fluid changer. They centrifuge the plasma out and put donor plasma back in. It's odd because he can move his feet and legs in bed but he can hardly walk. Its like he has no strength and the pain is still severe. The nerve coatings were damaged so its like having open nerves when you get road rash or a burn, only its on the inside. He should be rounding the corner soon and be on the road to recovery. Sam and I have been helping out with his business of making skijor lines the best we can. We visited him yesterday. Its hard to see someone who was so fit and active get tired so quick just from walking out of the room and back. Maria Stewart came in when we left. He is getting a lot of encouragement from the cycling community and he is great full for it. He's fighting and staying optimistic that he will be back on the bike. The third and last thing that happened is my grandma passed away this afternoon. We saw it coming the last few days so it didn't really take us by surprise. She died at peace in bed at home which is the way she wanted it and everyone else wanted it. It is going to be a busy Christmas vacation for me. I just want finals over with so I can get going on what needs to be done.

I'll end with some good racing news. Sam took 18th in a short 11km preseason xc-ski race today at Theo-Wirth. He plans on racing most of the big ski events in MN this year to feed the racing bug. The little guy never gets out of shape.

photo: skinnyski.com

John Rose Oval

2008-12-08T17:14:00.000-08:00

I'm just going to post my update I wrote for skinnyski.
The John Rose Open was a great time this weekend. The conditions were a bit harsh but everyone had to deal with it. Saturday brought some strong north west winds gusting to 30mph which made it feel like hitting a wall coming out of turn 2. Sunday the temps were in the single digits with subzero windchills and some heavy snow squalls would periodically come through. Canada came down with a couple bus loads of skaters, and we had a total turnout of 100 or so competitors. This was my first time at an event of this scale and the volunteers and officials did a good job at getting skaters to the heat box ( the place where the skaters gather in their groups before going out to race), and keeping the races going smoothly. Saturday was the 800m, 500m, and 1000m. I was glad the sprint distances were during the windy day because it would have been a lot worse pushing a heavy wind lap after lap on Sunday. Teammate Andy Kostka and I were the only ones in the senior division so we raced with the only 2 intermediate girls from Midway. The Junior boys from Midway were heckling us about getting beat by a couple 17 or 18 year old girls while we were in the heat box. Honestly, I was a little concerned about this matter; I wasn't necessarily born with skates on my feet like most of the Midway kids, and when it comes to speedskating technique is everything. My fears were confirmed as I was beat by both girls by about the length of a blade in the first race which was 800m. Andy beat me by a little bit over a second. The second race was the 500 and I had a little redeeming to do. I still got stuck behind one of the girls going into the first turn and almost went around by the time I hit the second corner but had to fade back in. I did get around on the sprint and was gaining on Andy in the last 100meters only to get beat out by 8 tenths of a second. The 1000m race I just went right from the gun to the front giving Andy a free ride. He went around me 200m from the finish to take the 3rd win by 1.5 seconds. Sunday rolled around and the organizers decided to put Andy and I with the Master men for the 1500m and the 3000m. I was one of the last ones to make it to the line so I was stuck with a second row position starting on a corner. I tried getting behind Andy but was cut off at the start. I chased for a lap or two and eventually caught on. I had a lap to try and recover but no kick to pass Andy. He won by yet another slim margin of 1.3 seconds. For the 3000m I was able to get a front row position between Andy and Mike Anderson. Andy and I hit skates on the start and he had a little bobble. Randy Plett from Manitoba got the hole shot with Anderson in his draft. I was just off their draft going into the corner and put in a couple fast opening laps to try and latch on. I couldn't do it and my effort put me in no mans land well ahead of the rest of the field. I didn't dare look back and loose any time so I put it in time trial mode and listened to Floyd when I came out of turn 2. He would say, " Keep it there. Nice steady rhythm." The last 3 laps I was falling apart and wondering when everyone was going to fly by me. My back and hips were starting to lock up on the corners as I struggled to keep it upright. After I went by for the bell lap I was listening for the ring that would give me an idea on how far back the next person was. I got around the whole corner before I heard them ring the bell and I knew I had a chance. I gritted my teeth and made it home for a 3rd overall. Mike Anderson took the win 2 seconds ahead of Randy Plett. Floyd was impressed that I soloed 7.5 laps without getting caught. Andy ended up crashing after his pivot bolt came loose in one of the corners. I had a fun time and most importantly, I improved after every race. Floyd always tells me that racing is the only thing that will bring you over the next plateau. He's right, racing always pulls more out of you, it shows you both your strengths and weaknesses, reveals any bad habits, and makes the body push past any threshold that limits you during training. Patti Koehler has greatly improved her technique in the last couple weeks too, and she was able to take home some hardware to prove it. That's a key point in any sport, beginners seem to improve in great intervals but when you make it to the elite level things get more precise if you are going to get any better. It seems like you have to put in a lot of work for just a little gain.
All in all it was a long but fun weekend. The Canadians were great guests and they enjoyed their visit. Sunday we never had the pursuit because the weather was bad, and the Canadians had a long drive ahead so they forfeited. Thanks to all the volunteers, organizers and officials for providing the opportunity to compete in such a great sport. Next weekend is the American Cup II which is a two day Metric racing event. There are some US National team and World Cup hopefuls that will be racing so come on out and watch the fast guys race at 30+mph.

2008-12-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

Not a whole lot of good news to report. A nasty cold is going around here at home and at school. If Sam gets a bad cold and my mom get it, it has to be a bad one. Sam hardly ever gets sick, and if he does, its minor and lasts a day or two. This one he is actually taking days off. I can't remember the last time that's happened. I've had the bug for over a week now and its still hanging on for dear life. I'm feeling ok but I don't want to rush things and get a relapse until I know I'm 100%. Lots of people at school sick too. This weekend is the John Rose Open. You can read about it on Skinnyski when it comes up. I'm going to race it for experience and the fun of it. I was 4 days down last week from the cold and I need to build my strength back up.

What John Thompson is going through belittles any cold or flu. Sunday night after returning home from the Jingle Bell Cross race in Iowa, he felt numbness in his hands and feet and got concerned. He went to the hospital on Monday and found out he has a spinal infection. The doctor says he has seen 5 cases of his infection in his 28 years experience. The infection is messing with his motor skills right now in his legs. Please keep him in your prayers.

Getting going

2008-11-24T19:18:00.000-08:00

I took this picture of Mr.Anderson

Is that better?

I had my first speedskating race this weekend. No pack race on saturday only the 1000m on sunday. I had a slow time of 1.39.55. I wasn't trying anyway since I have only been doing slow laps and I have only been on the ice 3 or so times, plus i had a sore throat. I just set a nice smooth rhythm and held it the whole way. I forgot I was chewing gum and Floyd noticed It when I was racing. I proved I can chew gum and skate at the same time.

Busy Weekend

2008-11-16T13:21:00.000-08:00

This weekend was non stop. I kicked it off racing the B class at State Cross Championships. Hardest cross course I've ever ridden. Not a mtb friendly course at all. It was wide open in a lot of sections and groups stayed together. It was a long course also. I heard 2 miles per lap. I wouldn't be surprised if it was longer than that. I got the hole shot to stay out of trouble then stayed with the lead group for a couple laps. The legs felt big and swollen after that and the acid was too great resulting in leg lock (cold might have played a factor in that too). I did the best my legs could handle which wasn't much and came in 17th or so. I was expecting more out of myself but some days the body doesn't cooperate. What made it all worth while were the fans. On the stair run up it was like a European race. Fans lined both sides all the way up shoulder to shoulder and really loud. The sand pit was a first for me. When your legs are already at the brink and then you have to power through 6 inches of sand across a volleyball court then run 3 barriers up a hill, it really hurts. John Thompson did very well finishing with Sam in the A race and he is turning 50 this month.

Sat night we went to the MNSCS awards party at Quality: Where was everybody? Sam Brendan and I were the only ones to show from the top 5. Jan and Heath finished out the top 10 that showed. One expert woman came. We won the expert team trophy too with the help of Jay Richards. I have to put in a congratulations to Jake Richards for making the national development team. Great racing this year.

I finished up the weekend with my first day on the ice today. When I first started out I thought it was going to be a sad day, but I got way better by the time we finished. I was even able to make it to the end of an 8 laper with Ebben and Mike. Mike was the only one from our team to do a Time Trial today. Next week I might start and I know Ebben is going to start just to lay down some base times and see where were at. Floyd was pumped to have pretty much the whole team out there running laps together. He is so proud of his athletes. We finished our session at Mavericks for some roast beef sandwiches and fries.

Suffering near the end

Sam in the volleyball court

Stairway of pain

Top 3 in the MNSCS

Colton Barret in the warm up lane

State Cross

2008-11-14T14:25:00.001-08:00

I built some new wheels for cross. I put some Ardennes on my old WTB disc hubs. It was a 32 hole hub and a 24 hole rim so I had to do the rare crows foot pattern and skip a hole every fourth. It looks neat. I almost had to tear down the front and do it over because the spokes stacked up on top of each other left no clearance for the disc caliper. I ended up shimming the rotor towards the fork and maxing the float in the caliper. I have about 1mm clearance between the red pad adjustment knob on the caliper and the spokes. I cornered hard with it and tried to make it rub but it turns out to be OK. Total weight for the wheelset w/o skewers is 1570 grams. If the conditions are right I hope to race these tomorrow otherwise I go with the 26" wheels.

2008-11-09T17:02:00.000-08:00

It happens every year. Whenever I get back from up north I see a big buck up close and personal. We did get 2 deer this weekend. My dad sat down in the stand and 30 seconds later 2 deer come walking in range. He got both, one a small male fawn and the other a fork horn with a nice sized body. I didn't see anything...that is until I got home. So I went for a run this evening when the sun was going down through Snail Lake park. I was running along an 8 foot wide gravel path when around a corner a big 6 pointer is walking towards me. He stops for a couple seconds to look at me and I wait for him to put up his flag and run away with a snort like all other deer. Not this one. He was too busy chasing skirts. He just continues straight towards me and I'm the one backing up. I couldn't believe it, here I am on one side of the path and a big buck is 8ft away from me on the other side and doesn't even care about me. He went up into a field with his nose to the ground searching for a hot doe. Those bucks get pretty stupid during the rut. I had a good time in the woods though. Its so relaxing to take a weekend and do that. Now I have to get back to the routine. The Oval opened up today. Tuesday will be my first day on the ice for evening practice. Time to break out the skates and sharpen them up.

Its that time of year again

2008-11-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

I'm going up nort tomorrow after school. The weather looks crappy for opener day. I don't know how much the deer will be moving around with all the wind. Its just for one weekend for me. Last year I had mine bagged, tagged and on the road back home by noon. I sat in the stand for an 1:45 before it came by. That's the way to do it.

2008-11-04T15:34:00.000-08:00

I did my 3rd cross race Saturday. I took the hole shot and had 50 meters on the field. Ross Fraboni bridged with a few others. By lap 2 it was me and Ross. Ross held back a few times for me but he was feeling spry the whole race and pulled away. We both rode solo the rest of the race he was 44 sec ahead of me and I was 38 seconds ahead of everyone else. It was my favorite course so far this year with lots of sharp corners. The course was narrower too making it more mtb friendly. Good times.
On Sunday I went to Lebanon and tagged along with Rebbecca (The one putting on lipstick a couple posts back) and her husband. We split up at the expert loop and when I got to the new section of trail she was on the side being interviewed by channel 4. I might have made it in the background during the interview and riding a berm when we left. Side note: Floyd wants your number Rebbecca. You can drop him an email FCB69HL@aol.com
My speedskating season preview is up on skinnyski Janet took the aerial photo of the oval while Floyd was piloting the plane.I wont be there for opening ice because I will be shooting large mammals. The week after that is state cross. Then the Turkey Day Ride will be close.

It got a bit slick last year. The year before highs in the 40's, and the year before that -8 degree windchill.

What the media will never tell you

2008-10-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

One of my favorites to both climb and descend.

France

2008-10-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-21T19:36:00.001-07:00

Ham Lake

2008-10-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-10-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-10-04T16:05:00.000-07:00

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.

Break

2008-09-19T12:19:00.000-07:00

I'm pulling the plug for this weekends race in St Cloud. I would like to support and be there but,
Reason 1: Multiple papers to write
Reason 2: I'm already locked in for my placement in the series standings.
Reason 3: I need a break to prepare for this...

Began inlining this week. Floyd says I'm looking superb for the first time ever on such contraptions. Cruising at 16-17mph. It's all coming back though.

Chequamisized

2008-09-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

Another Chequamegon in the books. Every year this race kicks my butt. I can never go from sitting for 15 min in the start shoot to spinning out a 44x12 within a minute. Long story short I pushed myself until OO usually I would be feeling good at this point but no can do so I sat up on the dirt road before Martels Pothole and chatted to a guy who was feeling the same. Right before I went into the 4 wheeler trails A group with Hollywood,Jena Zander,Nicoli Anikin, and Jan Rybar, came up. I Jumped in and decided If my race was finished I might as well help Jena since she was chasing down Lea Davison. I pulled for her on the long dirt road section and kept her in contact with the group. She was strong out there for sure. I was ahead of her a bit at the top of Fire Tower but I think she caught back up on the last Birki section which is where I started to cramp on the climbs. After that we caught some more riders on the logging trail and last dirt road. She must have had a second wind because she went to the front and pulled into the Telemark trails. I went to the back of the line and talked to a fellow Hed employee Paul Ellis for a bit. I spun all the hills the best I could to ward off any cramping coming in with a personal best (didn't feel like it) time but a personal worst placement. Last year I had a time of 2:25 and was 32nd but this year my time was 2:22 and I was 59th. Go figure. I got double chicked too which hasn't happened for 4 years when Sue Haywood beat me on this course. Those are some strong ladies out there mixing it up with some excellent male riders. I found out latter that Sam helped out Lea, giving her his water bottle after she dropped hers at a feed (It was a fresh bottle he had in his jersey). Lea also managed to beat Sam too, and for her to beat the likes of Tim Mulrooney, and Eric Thompson on a course like this to me is amazing. Helmets off to her.
The last race for me is next week at St Cloud. Its a flat technically fun course, so if it doesn't rain and I don't have a lot of homework I'll be there. As far as training on the bike goes its over. I just ride when I feel like it or when I can ride to school. I'll go on a little break here and start the process over to skating.

Maplelag

2008-09-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

Where am I going?

Regained contact.

Trust me on the last lap this one hurts.

Pictures from Skinnyski.com

Maplelag is always the climax of the year. Race-eat-relax, sums up the experience.
Its fun to just sit down and joke around with the spare time between events. The Swanson bros. are a riot to be around. Its always nice when they show up.

TT- not feeling fast at all. Drowsy and a little ill feeling really. It was an early start, a couple hrs after breakfast so the body isn't used to that. I ended up with a 10:20 time which was good enough for 7th, Sam was 5th.

STXC- I stayed off my feet after the tt and even layed down for a bit. I wasn't all too pumped up for the race but once it started I began to open up. A few laps in I was on the inside and someone came in on my front wheel. Which is what happened in the picture. I almost took out Jake. I recovered and chased back on quickly. Doug,Brendan, and TJ got a break. Sam decided to come to the front and chase it down. He was chasing for at least 5 min. When he began to fade, we were close so I came around and finished it off right at the start line. I was wondering why Brendan was cornering so slow and then would pin it out of the corners. Find out he burped his tire. I should have made an earlier effort to get around him. Came in on the sprint in 5th and Sam 7th. After the race I was feeling lots better and was all revved up.

XC- It was downright hot out. The first half lap was too fast for the conditions. I was riding behind Brendan most of the lap and we were both riding like small children. I liked when I came out on Suicide Hill, I was at the bottom and Sam and Doug were drag racing halfway up. TJ had dropped his chain in the lakeside drops so he went back around at the top of suicide as well. Brendan and I passed Doug 3/4 lap in on the ski trails. Brendan took off from me after the start finish area and never saw him again. Doug caught me exiting the final single track. I had to stop and get two bottles out of my stand because I was hurting bad and I don't think I could have made it without. I eventually caught him back maybe with a 1/4 lap to go on the ski trails. When I looked back shortly after he was gone. I tried to put as much time in as I could without cramping but to no avail. In the end Doug got the last box. I was pleased with 4th on the day and 5th overall in the omnium. Sam finished 2nd, 15 seconds behind TJ and 3rd overall in the omnium. Thanks to the Richards family for all their hard work on putting on such a quality race and accommodation's.
Full results
Sam Brendan and I are pretty much locked in on our final results for the series in 1,2,3 respectively. I don't know whats going to happen the next race. After Chequamegon its all over really. Its been a fun and successful season. I can look forward to ice and snow now.

Double Header

2008-08-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

Photos courtesy of skinnyski.com

Boy am I spent. Sam and I did the double header last weekend heading up to Seeley for the Pre-Fat MTb race. It was very cool out. I had to warm up in a vest and base layer. Not used to that yet. Off the start I ended up taking the lead out which I told myself I wasn't going to do because I felt horrible during the warm up. It was a reasonable pace though and I waited until after the first sharp pavement corner before sitting up waiting for someone else to come around which nobody seemed obliged. Finally, before the roller coaster hills someone took off and TJ Woodruff put in an excel on the steepest pavement climb before we hit the dirt. My legs were not cooperating and I was in the middle of the worst start I have felt for a long time. I was getting frustrated with myself riding like a small child and watching as the riders went by me. I have no idea what was wrong with me those first few miles. I struggled and thought it was going to be a long day. Eventually a group formed at the top of a long gradual climb on which I caught up to Todd Mcfadden. I don't remember saying it but he liked my quote when I came up to him, "I shouldn't be feeling this bad". I think that climb kind of cleaned out the carbs and my legs started to come around. I pulled a long time before looking back and seeing about 4 guys on my 6. Todd Mcfadden and Adam Swank were 2 of them. I pretty much pulled all the ski trail, Mcfadden I think came around for a little bit but I was wondering when the single track was going to start. About the time I decided to sit in for a bit and sit 3rd wheel, we hit the single track. This is where Garrot Kuzzy dropped from the front group to us. I just sat in and had a good rest the first single track section as we weren't going too terribly fast. When we got out on another ski trial I was still 3rd wheel and the guy up front(I think Swank) had pulled a great deal and was starting to fade. The person in front of me said he couldn't pull so I made my move and attacked with around 12 or 13 miles to go. My mind was focused and the legs were taking the punishment well. I never looked back and soloed the last half of the race in no mans land. Sam ended up in 3rd and I took 5th. We drove home that afternoon and were back by 6:00pm.
The next day we headed over to the MNSCS vs WORS border battle in River Falls WI. Nice temps and really dusty conditions awaited us. MN won the coin toss (thanks Brendan) so they called up the top 5 from MN first. It was a stacked field for sure with Wisco sporting most of their big guns including single speed phenom Jesse Lelonde, along with Brian Matter ,and Mike Phillips. At the top of the sorting hill I was sitting around 10th or so sucking in all the dust created by the rest of the guys in front of me. I look across the field and see Jesse pulling away from everyone. We were cruising pretty good through the woods but couldn't go ballistic with a big group snaking through the woods. On the second lap Matter and Chris Peariso go flying by. I kept on the gas and went through a couple highs and lows. The hills were more of an effort with the day previous still in them. It felt like there was still some power available but I couldn't really get it out. Odd feeling really, but my single track skills were honed sharp. I eventually caught back up to Chris on the 3rd lap and we switched around a little bit all the way through the final lap when he blew his fork. He let me by but stuck close to my wheel. I tried shaking him in the last single track and to my surprise I caught Jesrin on a tight switchback climb. He saw me coming and turned on the heat through the lower portion of the course before the finish. Jesrin made it around a lapped rider right before a close tree but I had to quick hit the brakes to get around and by that time he had 30 feet on me. We both were running on adrenaline at this point and for the 2nd time he held me off at the line. Sam and I were the first MN finishers. Sam in 5th and me in 7th less than a min behind. It was a great venue. Thanks to all the Wors volunteers for putting it on, and to Tom Gaier and all the lions club volunteers up in Seeley for putting on an exciting race. Next weekend is the epic Laddies Loppet stage race up at Jays place. Should be some good Mtber community mingling. Always a good time.

New Ride

2008-08-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

She wasn't happy but I had to let her go. Last tuesday during the ride and glide group ride, she threw me on the ground for the first time since we met about 5 years ago. She did this when when she heard that I was going to be replacing her. Of course I got all the damage (some road rash on the leg, thigh, and arm). We have a lot of memories together; traveling out west and bombing the descents together, and who could forget about our time in France with all those epic kilometers of pain, climbing the Tour stages and the thrill of railing switchbacks. She is getting old and it is time we part ways. Goodbyes are alway hard but we have to say it sooner or latter and this is the time. Goodbye Giant TCR. I'll miss your shinny nude carbon frame that still looks like the day I picked you up (That diamond shield clear coat is amazing stuff. They use it on BMW cars). Hello Cervelo carbon Soloist. Your streamline body, massive bottom bracket and racy red paint is a perfect rocket for both the TT's and every day riding and racing. I'm looking forward to create some new exciting memories together

Well my first ride on it was the Withrow TT yesterday (I was making all the adjustments during my warm up so it was my first time on it) and I put up a personal best of 31:58. Wait until I get it dialed in and have a good day on the bike and I think I can get a sub 31.
Sam and I are planning on doing the double header this weekend. Pre-Fat on sat and River Falls on Sunday. Hopefully it won't be too wet on sat.
School on Monday. Back to the books and it should be a good tapper to Cheq after Laddies next weekend. Then its all about speed skating after a little break.

I just noticed this on cycling news tech report on the Ardeenes
Everyone says the same thing. As far as the neutral support situation I just set my brakes with the lever for spreading the brake arms open and if I need to put the skinnier rim in I just flip the lever down to bring the arms closer.

Buck Hill

2008-08-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

Dusty conditions means burning lungs.

Lightweight

Heavyweight
Photos courtesy of Skinnyski.com

Dry and dusty was the name of the game. The trail was either a sand pit (but nothing compared to the sand boxes of the Ore-to-Shore) or hard packed underneath with dust and loose debris on top to make things feel slippery in the corners. It was a typical start with the lead out riders fading on the first sign of a hill and the selection begins. The first switchback section got everyone breathing hard. Then a big surge up the pavement climb to get that all important spot in the single track. Brendan went first with Jeff "sasquatch legs" Hall on his wheel. I stayed behind Jay Richards because I knew he would be a good wheel to follow through the single track. Sam flew by at the last second to get third spot in the woods. At this point my lungs were burning from the dust and I could start tasting the blood plasma in my throat from breathing hard. At this point I can't remember what happened each lap, everything is pretty much a blur so I will just tell the major events. Sam was feeling ish so he dropped back to me and Jay. All of us pretty much took a pull at some point to see where the weaknesses were. I knew Jay was a Paul Hanson type who can pull off big out of the saddle surges. I'm more of a steady grinder so I just kept calm and collected and I had enough power to stay with him when he did surge or catch back up after the surge was over with. On the 4th or 5th lap Sam was leading in the single track followed by Jay then me. There was a sharp 120 degree downhill corner with a stump right in the path of the perfect line. Jay hit it and put up a yard sale in front of me. He was spry to his feet and I yelled if he was all right. I saw him chasing hard through the single track about 10 seconds behind and Sam was gapping me. Lap traffic was getting bad and I think that was more a factor of the time gaps. I caught Sam in the traverse section and we rode together from then on for the last lap and rolled in 3rd and 4th. Thats twice this year that I let him place in front of me. I was feeling pretty fresh for a sprint too. Next time he might not get so lucky ;) I enjoyed the race and felt pretty good. I can tell it wasn't such a long race just by how I felt afterwards. Recovery time is faster when the race is that short, which is good because tomorrow is the ride and glide ride and the last time we go down into Afton.

24 hr Nationals

2008-08-03T19:28:00.000-07:00

Sam, Brendan Moore, Chris Fisher, and Ben Moore each brought home the ultimate prize.

Lance drops Matthew McConaughey for a new training partner

2008-08-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

Eric Thompson calls me up last tuesday and rubs it in that he just got done riding with Lance. Total unexpected ride too. They just happened to recognize him at just the right moment as he cruised through town. Next time you see John or Eric ask for the whole story, its a good one.
Read this article about them down in Iowa at RAGBRAI.

Spirit Mt

2008-07-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

"Dude,what did you step in"?

Don't blink or the single track ninja will disappear.

Photos courtesy of Jon Richards and skinnyski.com

Sunday was the Powder Monkey MTB race at Spirit Mt in Duluth. It was kinda hot and muggy. With only 2 laps it is difficult to plan for water bottle feeds. We set up the water bottle stands at the top of the big climb and had our mom give us bottles on the return from the first single track section near the start/finish area. The start was tight and I lost my pedal forcing me to stop dead on the uphill. I think I was dead last after that but I found my way up to Ben and Sam who were making up spots on the left side. Going into the single track I was behind Tom Miller and Sam in front of him. Soon in, Tom let me pass on the first opening. I chased but was loosing ground in the tight techy stuff. In front of me I saw Scott-Kylander-Johnson was leading out the Moore Bros. with Sam and Jay Richards close by. When I had got to the rocky stream bed crossing near the chalet, Jesrin Gier had caught up to me and Fisher was near him. I just stayed steady and ran my own pace without getting over my head. Chris Did catch me right before we started the big climb down in the fern gully so I put in an effort to make some time. I had forgotten how long, steep, and rocky that climb was but the legs handled it nicely and kept me going without any dabs or stopping. When I was half way up the switchback climb I looked down at the start/finish area to see Nikoli and Fisher starting lap 2. After that I was in no mans land and rode by myself to finish 6th between Jay Richards and Nikoli. It was a great course and I had a fun time. The technical riding is far better than anything around here.
Yesterday was the local "Tuesday Night Worlds" ride with the ride and glide club. We started out with about 25-30 riders going down hwy 7 towards square lake all strung out at 32mph (strong tailwind). We took a right at square lake and went up the first climb of the day. At the top Sam Miers, Sam, John Thompson, another dude and myself had a lead. Unfortunately big man Martin brought back the gap with a few others. Before the downhill into Stillwater on 95 some guy going the opposite direction saw us and joined us. On the descent he comes flying to the front screaming woo whooo! woo whoooo! at the top of his lungs as he passes every one. Then he drills it on the flat. John and I just shook our heads. Of course when we went up the big hills on 11 a couple miles latter he was dropped like a bad habit. I was close to yelling woo whooo! really loud when I passed him up the hill. I led up the first hill and the false flat then back down to the base of the long hill when the attacks started up again. Sam and a guy with a Beretta jersey accelerated over the top and had a 75 meter gap on me. Behind me John Thompson and Martin were digging deep to catch on. Us 5 eventually regrouped and started to rotate nicely. 3 others caught us right when we were going to turn back on 7. We finished with all 8 and John said he would lead me out for the final sprint. When we did finally get down to the sprint everyone spread out across the road and I wasn't going to come around John until the oncoming traffic was clear. When I did finally come around John from the back of the pack I had a head of steam and lost by a wheel. If it was just 5 meters further I would have easily won it.

Have You Got Your Tickets Yet?

2008-07-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

We have ours. Its been about 10 years since we last saw him in town for his Engines of Creation tour.

Red Wing

2008-07-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

Sunday was an unusual race at Red Wing with a lot of the top riders out of town for nationals. It was a good race to get the body reintroduced to some harder efforts without going ballistic. It was warm and I only had a short warm up before lining up. Temps were moderate with higher dew points being responsible for most of the sweating. Not a scorcher by any means compared to other years. It rained the day before and the trail was perfectly tacky with no slick spots. Off the start I just slow rolled the big ring around the grass field and when I looked back half way around I had a gap. I went into the single track first with Sam on my 6. I wasn't feeling the flow of the tight single track and it took me a lap to get my handling back on par. Sam had a small gap on me going into lap 2 but I came back to him when he went OTB on a log pile and he had to put his chain back on down in the quarry. After pulling another gap he crashed again slipping out in the grass going down around the starting field and I caught him again. The whole race the time gaps were growing behind me, 1:00... 1:45... 3:00. I stayed under a minute behind Sam and he waited after climbing out of the quarry on the last lap for me to catch him. I told him I wouldn't contend with him at the finish I guess watching the Schlek bros in the tour, he wanted to come in together. I told him to do the "Howitzer" victory salute (we practice our victory salutes with John Thompson on victory lane once in a while at the end of a ride. Watch for Eric Thompson to perform some of these maneuvers in his upcoming years) It also would have been fun to do a slow motion sprint with the "Howitzer" added in. Now that would have been an entertaining finish. It was a fun race and a fun coarse. I haven't been on the coarse in 2 years so it was nice to be back and ride it.
Next up is Powder Monkey in Duluth. I'm sure it will be the other extreme with a stacked field. Spirit is always an epic race with the longest climb in the series and the funnest technical single track. The Duluthians never disappoint when it comes to a quality race. I hear its a 2 lapper this year.

South Dakota 2008

2008-07-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

Late post I know but this is how our vacation went:
Left Friday the 4th of July, traveled 9.5 hrs and set up camp just outside deadwood. Got in a half hr road ride to clear the car legs.
Saturday we road to down and up Spearfish Canyon and added on a little from surrounding roads to total 4.5 hrs and 80 miles.
Sunday we checked out some "mountain bike" trails just outside of Savoy near where they do the SD50 suggested from a local bike shop but more than half were horrible and could tell that bikes do not ride on it. They are hiking trails and we wondered why the shop would even advertise them as bike able. The Old Baldy trail was the only sweet single track trail we did which was around 6 miles. That and most of the Little Spearfish trail would be considered worthy. The rimrock trail I wouldn't even consider unless only the top section was ridden which they use for the SD50. Staying away from the canyon and on high ground would be the golden rule in the area. With alot of hike-a-bike and map reading it took us 3 hrs to do 20 miles.
Monday we high tailed it to Keystone and took a recovery day. Riding 1hr because storms and lots of rain fell the night before and we dried everything out.
Tuesday we started the road riding we came there for. Hill City back on 244 past Mt Rushmore, passed cars going down to Keystone at 50 mph and spotted a cop/w radar monitoring the 35mph zone ;) up Iron Mt road, down into Custer state park, up Needles Highway, back down into Hill City and back to Keystone for a very hilly 80 miles and 4.5 hrs
Wednesday we gave the mtbs another try and scored big time with the most epic and technical trails we ever rode. First we did 2 laps around Storm Mt and then jumped over to Loop 15 This is what mtbing is all about, the whole trail is rocky and technical, climbs flats and descents. I was glad to have brought the gps because it came in very useful when combining it with the maps. There was an instance when we came upon a logged out section on loop 15 that we would have went down a wrong trail had we not looked around and conquered with the gps. By looking at the tracking on the gps we knew we were taking the right trail because it looked like the shape on the map. Loop 15 was the most epic because we were out in the middle of nowhere and never saw a soul. Pure single track all the way. I can't imagine getting a mechanical or getting injured back there because its a long way out. You can't just walk in a straight line over the terrain to get back quick when there are gullies and valleys to navigate. 5 hrs and 38 miles of pure single track bliss.
Thursday we kind of did Tuesdays ride backwards with the addition of Coolidge pass. A hot 93 degree day and I went through 9 bottles of water. 4.5 hrs and 80 miles again.
Friday we hiked up to Harney Peak which took a couple hrs and is 1,000 vertical feet of climbing. We also hiked around Lake Sylvan and I put my hand into the rock where the lever to open the door to the lost city of gold supposedly exists (see pics below). No luck. I wonder how many people put there hand into that rock before Nicholas Cage did.
Saturday we drove 9.5 hrs back.
Tuesday was the ride and glide time trial. I beat my PR by 1 second. Last year I did a 32:34 and this week I did a 32:33. Very hot and humid out. I would have gone over the 25mph avg I was shooting for but I started to cramp with a couple miles to go and backed off. I came in with a 24.88 avg. Funny thing is both Sam and I were feeling much better on Monday and felt slow on Tuesday. Some times it woks vice versa too. Next time I'm trying a tri spoke front and rear. I was trying the spoked disc in the back but I like a lighter zippier wheel. This is only my 4th TT so I'm still getting the feel for the equipment. Tim Mulrooney posted the fastest time avging 27.7 mph. I witnessed him almost getting smeared by a car when he was passing me before a corner. Some of those drivers out there didn't want to give us any room

the rock that Nicolas cage put his hand in National Treasure 2

The doorway that opened into the lost city of gold

Lake sylvan

Storm Mt's rocky single track

switchbacks on Needles.

Black Hills

2008-07-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

I remember when Jay took us on his point to point ride I think we got 6-8 bikes in the back of his suburban. I neatly got 4 bikes with the wheels in 36 inches. We needed as much room as possible since the trailer is staying home this trip. We leave tomorrow morning at 5:00. I found a bunch of mtb trails on the internet along with some info about the biking community in the Black Hills. We will be doing allot of scouting this trip looking for the best trails. I won't be posting for another week so enjoy your 4th and watching the Tour de France coverage.

Another climb that we did that will be in this years Tour is the Col de La Crouzette
We never knew this one was going to be in the Tour and I don't even think it has been in a Tour. One thing is for certain, it is one mother of a climb. The last like 3km are 18%. I think they will direct most of the motor caravan around the climb because it is so skinny. One of the narrowest climbs we did. The top half of the descent is very sketchy. Supper narrow sharp corners, and the road isn't in good shape. I remember some really tight corners going through a small village too. The bottom half is very fast

A beautiful cottage on the descent

Narrow roads all the way up and down.

Repeat

2008-06-29T16:39:00.001-07:00

Conditions were unusual this year for the Mankato race. Previous years typical weather was temps in the 90's and dew points nearing 70 with heat index's over 100. Today were were welcomed with temps in the upper 70's and dry air. It had rained yesterday making the single track fast and holding plenty of traction, perfect for the small blocks. Off the start I was about 8 back or so and up the first hill everyone were making moves. At the top Brendan led with Matt Kurke, Fisher, Luke Nelson, Cam Kirkpatric, Sam, Dave Meyers, and myself in tow. Everything kind of went all over from there. Chris clipped a pedal after the frog pond loop and went down, and everyone kind of split up. Brendan began to pull a gap on Sam and Cam. Luke Nelson was chasing them, and Dave and I were chasing him. Behind us I think it was Chris, Matt, and I think maybe Justin Rienhart at this point may have joined them. I began to pull away from Dave I think on the stairway climb near the end of lap 1 and chase down Luke. On lap 2 I wasn't closing down the gap to Luke but I had a hard charging pack behind me so I stayed on the gas. Lap 3 to my amazement, was Justin Reinhart chasing me down on his cross bike. Thats right, a CROSS BIKE. He was riding the quick release drop and everything on that thing. Reigning Kato course champion Paul Hanson was giving me a hard time from the sidelines (he tore his rotor cuff thursday at Buck) for getting caught by a cross bike. By the end of lap 4 he finally bridged up to me and passed me at the bottom of the starting climb in front of his hometown crowd. Halfway up the hill he popped and I passed him back putting in a big effort to create a gap. The gap only grew the rest of the lap and I came in 5th for the day. Sam took first after Brendan lost his lead to a flat tire. Cam came in 2nd Brendan 3rd, and Luke 4th. I was only 4 min behind in this race compared to 7min at Du Lac which had less climbing, so I am happy with the results. Next up is a recovery week followed by a trip to South Dakota for some mid season base miles.
Today is my dads last day at work. He will be officially retired when he wakes up tomorrow.

Dirt Spanker

2008-06-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

It started to rain when we were getting ready to line up in the chute. I looked over at SKJ and saw that he had some beefer tires on. "It always rains up here" he says. At the top of the lung bleeder I comfortably followed Jesrin into the single track. I passed Jesrin right before we caught Chris and I sat there for a few min until I witnessed Chris almost lose his children. He was a little shaken up after that and let me by right away. I pulled away after that but started to lose ground fast when the rain started to fall on lap 2. My tires were filling up and I was sliding all over. Jesrin,SKJ,Dave Meyers, and Todd Mcfadden all passed me at the same time. I thought I was done at that point and I was contemplating dropping out at the end of the lap. At this point I took some air out of my tires and it made quite a bit of difference. Paul Hanson and I were in the same boat riding together for the rest of the lap at group ride pace, but then gapped me up the big climb going onto lap 3. It had stopped raining at this point now an things were tacking up nicely. On the 3rd lap I had made my way back up through everyone that passed me on lap 2 and was feeling comfortable through the rooty single track. On lap 4 Paul Hanson, Scott Kylander-Johnson, and Todd had all regained contact behind me. After the big descent I was going as fast as possible without going over my head and making mistakes through the technical sections. I was pulling a slight gap when I heard Paul's tire to pfffff and he went down on a board walk. He was my best bet on the final climb before descending to the finish. On the final climb I just went as hard as I could without going "ping" and played it safe through the grassy switchback descent holding off a hard charging Todd Mcfadden for 5th overall. Sam took the big "W" for the day a couple min ahead of Jay Richards who was loving the wet conditions. I loved the course and the conditions turned out to be just fine in the end.

How about that little Richards kid. Just because he just turned 15 doesn't mean he can go out there and spank the comp field. His lap times were 2.75 min slower than mine and if he did another consistent lap he would have placed mid field expert. Good Job Jake. Now go get that stars and stripes jersey that is deservingly yours.

My Dad retires this coming Sunday. Friday is his retirement party. 27 years in the fire service.

Take me back

2008-06-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

These are the climbs that will be in this years Tour de France that we climbed on our trip last year.

I personally thought the Hautacam was one of the toughest. Maybe because it was the last of 3 HC climbs we did that day - The Tourmalet, Luz Ardiden, and the Hautacam, over 12,000 ft of climbing that day. The day previous was Port de Bales with the last 10km averging 10%, the Peyresourde, and the Aspin which was a 10,000 ft day. Oh and the day before that was the Marie Blanque, and the Aubisque where I caught my cold that lasted the whole trip on the descent(Always remember to bring warm cloths for descents). That day we did 7,100ft of climbing.

I didn't think the Peyresourde was that bad of a climb. It seemed more gradual than they say on paper, not all that twisty of a climb until a few final switchbacks. This is where the rest of the group stopped and had like 30 crapes at the top of the climb. I bet they regretted it when they had to climb the Aspin to get back. On the descent a local truck passed me as I was going 45mph through the twisty roads like I was standing still. A local biker also passed Sam and Brian with both hands in the back of his jersey, crazy!

I liked the Aspin. Neat climb and the descent was very twisty through the forest. I have some good video of me passing cars going down this one.

Of course there is the famous Tourmalet. The longest climb by far at around 17km with some spectacular views. The side that they will descend this year is the sketchiest downhill we did over there. The road is in bad condition and the corners are scary. There was alot of traffic when we did it and sheep all over the place but still I would not like to go screaming down those hills at that speed and find myself looking at a 100ft fall if I lose control.
I almost got the Tourmalet summit sign shown in the picture. Worker guys were replacing it and I tried to talk them into giving me the old one. I bet if Hollywood was along he would find a way to get it. It would have looked good hanging up in his shop.
I have more pictures here
I just got my memory card back from Brian this spring. I borrowed it to his daughter on the trip and she forgot to give it back. She ended up taking it to New York and Scotland before getting it back to me. All the France pictures were still on it which was good because she was our (Sam Brian and me) sag wagon the entire time so all the other pictures from everyone else didn't have us in them. I finally have pictures of us climbing now. I got video from a handle bar mounted video camera too of most of the descents which is fun to watch

21 cols
8 days
64,000 vertical ft of climbing
35 hrs in the saddle
Riding the famous battle grounds of the Tour de France - Priceless!

Low Key

2008-06-15T15:16:00.000-07:00

I still haven't kicked this cold completely. Its not a bad cold just enough to know its there. Saturday Sam and I met with Brendan at Mammoth for some single track. 10 min in Sam flats on the railroad tracks and isn't able to fix it so he had to walk back while Brendan and I ride a lap. It was wetter than we thought it would be. I fell once because the 3 foot grass was covering the trail and I couldn't see anything before I knew it I hear my tire burp and I go flying into the weeds. Nothing happened to me or my bike. We never saw Sam so it was a solo ride for him and I had to wait at the truck for while until he made it around. Today we rode to Stillwater to cheer on all the racers. Chris Fisher took 4th in the cat 2/3 crit. 3 guys went into the hay bails on the last corner before the final time up the hill. Kristin Armstrong blew all the women away just like in all the stages previous. Her speed up the hill was consistent on every lap, it was amazing how fast she climbed that thing.
The mens field was split early too, guys getting shelled all over the place. Hollywood had a good showing of followers. He had a group of 9 guys around him with Hollywood t-shirts plus a bunch more spread over the hill.

I was successful in converting my Ardennes wheels to tubeless. Stans recommends using 2 layers of there 21mm yellow tape and there valve stem for the standard 19mm road rim. I went to the hardware store and found 24mm strapping tape which works perfect for the wider 23mm rim. I had to put 3 layers on the rear just so the tire would be tighter on the rim when trying to fill the tire the first time to seat the beads. I ran 90 psi today and they rode like a dream. Railroad tracks and bumpy roads are so much nicer, the tires don't send sharp vibrations up through the bike anymore and the tires seem to stick to the pavement a lot better instead of bouncing around. Remember you can only use the Hutchison tubeless tire. Its not like on the mtb where you can use just about any non tubless specific tire with Stans to convert. Converting to tubeless is about the same weight as using a light tube and tire. It was about identical with a 215gram tire and a thin tube. I just did the conversion yesterday so I haven't done any high speed cornering yet.

Afton

2008-06-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

Dave Meyer: "Are you making fun of my new sorbet colored kit, because if you are I will have to crush you with my giant single speed thighs."
Me: "No no, I was just looking for my inhaler."

Somewhere on the first lap.

Eric Thompson had a great idea of dressing up like an old man with a walker and chase us up the manhandler, if that gives you an idea of how steep the climb is.Maybe next time.

Enjoying the fun "bowl" downhill to the finish.

Sunday was another suffer fest. Last year I had just got over a nasty cold and I decided to sit it out so I hadn't raced it since 2006. Ironically I got a scratchy throat a day or 2 before this time too but nothing is developing past a minor irritation. Off the start was the wettest section where we went through water covered grass 100 meters from the start. I was luckily up front with no one to spray me. Sam was behind me and got a bath. As soon as we hit the first hill I knew playing it easy would be the key for this one and I fell in behind Matt Kurke going into the first single track section. The first time up slim shady I found a good rhythm and motored up to Chris Fisher passing Sam and I think it was Kurke. I had Jeff Herrera (from Arizona) in tow. By the time we hit Manhandler we were chasing Ben Moore who we could see but Brendan was gone. Sam and Jeff went around me at this point and I was by myself. Cam Kirkpatrick (one of Iowa's top riders according to Jesse Rients) caught and passed me before the bridge loop on the second lap which put me into no mans land
for a while. I saw that Fisher and Luke Nelson were chasing me but I didn't know how much time was between us. Afton is a hard place to judge time. I marked them and I knew they were closing in slowly. Each time I saw them Nelson was pulling away from Fisher and he would be getting closer to me. My legs were losing power on the climbs and I was finding myself in a slower gear. I was playing the mental game the whole race fighting those disappointing thoughts that come each time you find yourself losing ground, knowing you can do better than how your performing on race day. The last lap I just wanted to hold Luke off at my markers so I just kept telling myself one hill at a time to hold the gap, looking 5 feet ahead of me and chanting "I can do this,I can do this". I learned from Ian that he counts in increments of 72 ? while looking just a little ways up the road during a TT. You need to occupy the mind with something otherwise it will only think of pain. I find it also helpful to just relax on the climbs and concentrate on using full circles and all the muscle groups associated with making efficient pedal strokes. Controlling your breathing is a good mind occupier too.
I stayed focused as much as I could and kept my effort just under cramping which was hard on such steep climbs. I did hold Luke off in the end and came in 6th, about 4 min behind Sam and 8 min behind Brendan. Sam couldn't keep up with Ben, Jeff, and Cam taking 5th. Both of us didn't feel very good. I know Sam was missing a couple gears and I have had alot better training days this year than the level I raced at. There is plenty more racing this year to go around and hopefully I can break out a good day in a race instead of just the training rides.
Photos from skinnyski.com

Prescott ride

2008-05-31T14:14:00.000-07:00

Prescott ride w/ added loop
Find more Bike Rides in Prescott, Wisconsin

Good ride today w/ some nice hills. Next time Sam needs to ride his light bike so I don't have to pull him most of the way. There is some gravel riding on this ride but the Ardennes felt really nice on them. They are the best shape gravel roads I have ever ridden. Very smooth. I found some really nice bike maps here for Wisconsin roads. Click on the county you want a map of.

2008-05-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

The log splitter wanted a piece of Sam Tuesday and it got it. Just the finger nail portion on the left pointer finger got tenderized. Luckily the bone didn't get broke but the flesh turned to hamburger and he had to go to the hospital. I knew exactly how he did it before I found out because every time I run the thing I look at the the hazardous spot and see the potential. It was smashed between the support pedestal on the front which is on the side of the main I-beam and the piece of wood being split when it dropped down a bit. He has been on the bike but road vibration does hurt. I don't know when mtbing will be in the picture. Good thing the avids have reach adjustment.
Work has been going great building wheels. I was building up some stinger 60's for Team High Road today which will be used in the Tour de France and the Dauphine Libere. Kind of cool knowing that the wheels I'm building will be under Hincapie or something and rolling through the Tour. It adds a little pressure too.
List of wheels easiest to hardest to build:
Ardenne
Jets C2
Bastone
Jets
Stinger 50
Stinger 60
Stinger 90
Alps (Thank God they dropped this model and they only come in as repairs)

Finishing up a long weekend of racing

2008-05-26T17:01:00.000-07:00

Wow what a long weekend. We finished up today with a quality crit in downtown Cloquet. 45 min of pain is what crits are. The course had a long very wide finishing straight at a slight downhill and a strong tailwind. At the end of the straight was a screaming fast 90 degree corner, after the corner was a short kicker that you could carry some momentum up with another 90 degree corner at the top. From there it was a gradual climb into a headwind to the 3rd corner and down a somewhat rough descent into the last 90 which spit back out onto the finishing straight. Anyway it started raining when we started and the corners at one point were getting slick. I felt my rear tire slipping a little going into the fast 40+ mph corner. I backed off a little after that. Dave Muecke broke away early (I'd say within the first 15 min) and another guy had joined him. I never even knew there was a break until I hear people yelling "40 seconds" with like 7 laps to go. Everyone still had some kick in their legs and the pace was surging quite often. I tried to make a prime at one point (not knowing that Dave was out) but a couple guys still came around me. It was kind of fun coming down the finishing straight all stretched out single file going 45 mph. I was amazed that Dave stayed out the entire time. I'm impressed with the endurance and jump speed these guys had the entire weekend. I was happy making up some time every day in the GC. After the TT on friday I was like 21st and by the end of today I climbed up to 15th. These guys have been pushing big headwinds in road races all spring and started training alot earlier than I did. This is also my first road race in 2 years (besides last years cat 4 Northfield crit) in which I was racing cat 4 or 5. This curly bar racing is a totally different effort than mtbing, and tactics is a major factor.

Observations on the differences in the mtb community vs road racers (note: these are merely personal observations and I mean no offense to anyone or group)
With an environment of tactics, and ones standings being effected by what others do there seems to be more tension between riders in the road community and a more "competitive" attitude toward others. Its a more serious game out there on the road. And since everyone is together sketchy riders can easily crash out a bunch of riders, so there is some tempers that can flare there too.

In mtbing the strongest rider always wins, there is nothing a team can do to affect the outcome of a "real" mtb race and no one can hide or get a free ride at the back. There is no support out on the trail and everyone must fend for themselves. Unlike road racing where you quit racing if you get dropped, you keep racing because everyone is spread out over the course. Anyway, this kind of racing doesn't give much reason to get angry at anyone. You either have it or you don't. The mtb community seems to be more laid back and friendlier to competition.

I still like road racing and I think both disciplines compliment each other. This weekend definitely kicked my but and I'm fried right now but now its time to recover and wait for the benefits to be had on the other side.
I have to say thanks to the Thompsons for feeding me out on and off the course, Tone Coughlin and Jill for housing me and putting on a superb weekend of racing, to all the volunteers out on the course making it safe to ride, and to Hed wheels for some TT goodies and the pair of Ardennes wheels which made the bike quite a bit lighter and handle like a dream out there. There is also some pride in riding some wheels that you built yourself :)

Duluth Classic stage race

2008-05-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

Coming to you from Tone Coughlins house. The last 3 days have been busy racing and then getting ready for the next one. I just finished stage 3 of 4. so here is a recap so far.

Stage 1- 16.2 mile time trial. My start time Friday evening was 7:26. I was trying out some tt bars and wheels for the first time but I think it was kind a bad idea since I haven't had much time in that position. I only averaged 24 mph which is the slowest I've done. The course played a factor in it to. Going east off the start for a few miles was quartering into the wind until I hit hwy 23 south with a tailwind. 23 was rollers all the way to county 1 which was the turn around point and the headwind really took its toll as it was uphill all the way with open fields. The wind was 20+ mph and everyone suffered. my calves started to cramp up at the finish when I got out of the saddle which wasn't good. And my glutenous was hurting to the maximous. I finished way behind GC like 4 min so. The guy that won put up a time that would have put him 3rd in the 1/2 field. It was a late night because I didn't leave the race venue until 9:00 and I got to bed at midnight.

stage 2- 54 miles in Superior WI. Flat course with a tail wind on a mile or so 4% grade uphill going south and a headwind on the downhill. Start time noon. Nothing got away. Big surges here and there but there was nothing that could stick and beat a 32 man field. One UofM guy had a break for almost a full lap but was brought back with 1 or 2 laps to go. I sat in the back for the last lap and kind of spun the legs out. My muscles were kind of sore from the time trial.

stage 3- this was the major stage with a big climb that was 1km or so long and kicked up pretty steep the last 200-300 meters. We did 5 laps on a 12 mile course so that meant we went up the hill 6 times because we started at the bottom. The finish line was at the top of the hill. The pace was on and off the first lap and I think 2 guys were off the front about a quarter mile or so in front of the pack and they took the first KOM points. I was somewhere around 4-6th I think. On lap 2 I think Dave Schueller (the #1 cat 3 racer this year) broke away with another guy and we let him get way out there. I think at one point it was over 2 min. Some of the long straight aways I couldn't even see him. It was either on this lap or lap 3 that we caught the cat 1\2 racers (They started 10 min before us. yeah, the pace stayed pretty high). We toyed around with that group for a good lap or more passing each other about 4 times. Schueller stood strong and was still out of sight. Eventually the 1\2 group slowed when they caught their solo break away rider and they let us keep chasing Schueller. Right before we hit the big climb at the end of lap 4, 4 or 5 guys got about a 100 meters on the field. I was on the front of the pack and this guy from Manitoba Canada (wearing the polka dot jersey) who happened to be just killing it on the hill each time, went to close the gap. I jumped on his wheel cross eyed but lost his wheel when the grade kicked up at the top. I was so close to connecting but couldn't quite make it. I thought that was going to be the move for the day. Once we hit the top me and a couple other guys chased hard with the pack in tow. I gave up and had to recover at the back of the field for a while. The pack did start to work however and we slowly closed the gap. Everyone did get back together with under 5 miles to go. Note- its starting to rain at this point. To our amazement we also caught Schueller about 2 miles from the finish. I don't think you could have timed it any better, just like the pro peleton. The final climb was chaos. At this point we just caught the 35+ group which started 5 min ahead of us and were on their sprint/leg shattering finish too. This had to be interesting for the officials, there were 2 classes spread out all over the hill and coming across the line simultaneously. I had nothing left and couldn't contest a final sprint but just stayed seated and pushed as hard as I could. I just happened to cross the line about a wheel ahead of Hollywood. I picked him out as my vegetable to catch before I crossed the finish. Right when we crossed the line it started pouring rain out with lightning. It was going to make for an epic last lap for the 1/2 race. It was another 10 min before the 1/2 even came up hill hill after we finished so they must have been taking it easy today or we were were just that fast. I do know that they did go allot harder yesterday than we did and they have about half the field size that we do. There is no hiding in the pack when the numbers are that low.
Tomorrow is the final stage in Cloquet, which is a 45 min crit. With 3 races already in everyones legs, who will have that explosive power to make the accelerations around the corners? We will see.

New Job

2008-05-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

I'm no longer a bum anymore. I got a job here and I start on monday. Its been almost a year and a half since I had a full time job. It will be nice working with people who understand cycling and athleticism for a change.
I'm going up to Duluth with my Speedskating team mate Patti tomorrow to preview the road courses for the Memorial Weekend stage race. Floyd and Janet are going to be following us around. Sam went to race the Cable Classic. A big showing this year. Paul,Chris,Brendan,Wenk,and Charlie Tri are all going to be there. Hopefully they took out the nasty speed bump that took out Brian Narrum and Charlie Farrow last year with, correct me if I'm wrong, broken and separated shoulders. It also took out Chris a few years back.

Erik's spring Cup 5.00

2008-05-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

A cold(start) windy day at Harmon for the MNSCS opener yesterday. The race was pushed back an hr to let the trails dry up. And dry up they did with only 1 giant mud hole with a wheel sucker in the middle. I guess Chris and Brendan both fell victim to. Off the start I took position behind my early 2007 season nemesis and Wisconsin native Jesrin Gaier. In front of him was Brendan, Paul, and Doug. Behind me was Chris, H-Wood, Charlie, and Sam. Within a half lap Paul dropped back to me and Jesrin. A little while latter I began to drop both Jesrin and Paul. On the start of lap 2 I was 3rd in between Brendan and a group containing Chris, Paul, Jesrin, and Sam bridging up to them after getting a bad position going into the single track from the start. Near the end of lap 2 Sam had bridged up to me and we still had a gap I'd say around 20 seconds or so. Sam led the 3rd lap and Paul did what he does best and thats putting in a huge surge to catch us. He latched on at the start of the twisty single track at the end of the lap. I led the first half of the 4th lap. Paul went to the front at the turn around point and put in another big surge. Sam and I were going cross-eyed and Paul opened up a gap. On the last lap we almost pulled Paul back but no cigar. In the end Sam had some spunk left in the legs while mine were going ish. I came in 5th, 1 sec behind Sam, Paul 30 sec up, Brendan 1.5 min, and Doug 4:00 min.

all pictures provided by the best ski and cycling event coverage site in MN skinnyski.com

I'm going through finals right now but they will be over wednesday.
next up is my first road stage race over memorial weekend up in the Duluth area. Eric Thompson will be back tomorrow or wednesday so I will be getting some good training in with him. He did the collegiate national team time trial in Fort Collins Colorado this weekend and took 3rd. They would have done better but they were spinning out in their 53x11 and averaged 31mph. Not bad for 4 freshmen.(One of his team mates is Mike Anderson from MI who won the semi-pro short track race and got 2nd in the xc race at Sea-Otter this year.) A lot of talent on that team. The winning team all had 56x11 gearing. Lees-Mcrea also took the mens and womens road race title.

One more vacation check

2008-05-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

The carpenters union came through for me again. To my surprise today I received a check in the mail. Now I can go out and buy that cable ferrel I've always wanted to get. Seriously, why in the world would you spend 41 cents on a stamp to send me a 4 cent check? Thats it, I'm suing.
I'll send this one into Joe Soucheray.

Getting close

2008-04-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Less than 2 weeks before the big Nascar opener of Erik's Spring Cup at Harmon Park. Where has the spring gone? We have had March weather for the past 2 months. I've only been on the dirt training 1 time so far. Whats up with that? I'm going to do a local TT or two here to get some race intensity in. Tuesday group rides are going on too.

Last year Erik's was a group ride the entire time with an average of 19mph. I don't think it will happen this year. Doug and Jeff will be back, and with the weather not being so nice to ride in, I think fitness will be sporadic throughout the field. We'll see what happens; the first race is always nervous because nobody knows where everyone else is at and the body kind of forgets what its like after a long winter.

2 more weeks of school left too!

2 wheels and a motor

2008-04-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

I've been riding the Thumper to school on the nice days. Nice to hear the 4-stroke again. I'll be putting the semi-slicks on this weekend. I need to work on those corners...

Celebrations

2008-04-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

A few big events went on this last weekend.
Fisher Wedding- Chris Fisher married Jennifer Saturday afternoon. Great wedding and a lot of laughs. Funny moment: At the reception Sam, Dave Meyers, Jason Wenk, Paul Hanson, and myself(all mtbers) made up the bachelor table in the very back of the back room. Everyone knows at weddings that when everyone starts tapping on the glasses that the bride and groom need to kiss. Chris and Jen had this wonderful idea that they would draw a table # and that table is asked a question about the bride and groom, if they got it right the bride and groom kissed, if they got it wrong the couples at that table had to kiss. Just before they drew a number we stole the # off the empty table behind us. Right then they called our table 20. We quick dropped that # down and put up 22. They didn't buy it. We were still given a question (relating to biking thank God) and we did get it right. We were wondering where the bachelorette table was, I never saw one.
I haven't eaten so much that night since the last time I was at Maplelag. Before Sam and I went to the wedding we went biking for a couple hrs and missed lunch, so between the ceremony and the reception 3:30-5:00 I had to make a stop at Culvers for an appetizer of a burger, fries and a shake. Then at the reception they had a buffet of those green beans in butter with almonds, mashed potatoes and gravy, ham, turkey, and some killer bread. I made the mistake of keeping a piece of cake sitting in front of me. Paul said it was the best cake he's had and I couldn't take it anymore, I could only polish off half of it. I heard Brendan gets the heap management award for stacking the most food onto a plate. One of the benefits of being an elite endurance athlete is you can eat just about whatever you want in mass quantities and never gain weight(during the on season of course). Chris had also made the decision to rent a Hummer limo between the ceremony and the reception for the wedding party. Me and Dave were wondering how many bikes one could fit on the roof. Anyways Congratulations to the newly wed and thanks for inviting us.
Floyds Hall of Fame Induction- Floyd and some of the team went to Bethlehem, PA for his speed skating Hall of Fame ceremony. He said it went well and he had a great time. He winged an 8 minute speech and donated one of his "wooly" USA jerseys and his skates to the museum which will be moving to Milwaukee soon. Congratulations Floyd on such a life achievement award.
I want to put a word in for Eric Thompson who ripped it up at Sea Otter this weekend too. He took 2nd in the semi-pro short track behind his teammate and Michigan resident Mike Anderson. Eric has been one of the workhorse for the team this year being a freshman and all. He's putting in his time now so when he is a Jr and Sr in college he will be set up for the wins. Get this, both Mike and Eric's last 3 laps in the short track were faster than Sam Schultz and Ryan Trebon's last 3 laps. Not bad for a couple 18 year olds. In the xc on sunday Mike took 2nd and Eric came in 14th. He said he didn't feel good at any part of the race. He pointed out the lack of sleep because he had to sleep on the floor of their room for a couple nights. His true fitness is just starting to sprout now, it will be interesting to see how far he can make it.
Sunday was Sam and my first time on the dirt. We did 2 laps around Harmon then rode down to Battle creek and did 2 laps there. It was about 3.5 hrs total in 70's and sunshine. I'm sporting my first biker tan(burn) lines of the year. All the food from saturday pulled me through well and I had no problems. Its also a good sign that Sam never dropped me on any of the climbs and I did my fair share of pulling during the ride. It feels good to be on the fat tires again.

Lees-McRaeCollege bike team- Eric is 4th row 3rd from left

Upgrades

2008-04-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

The only upgrades for this year are pedals and shoes. I was always thought about getting the specialized shoes and now that they changed to a decent color (last year was red and that doesn't match anything) that actually does match my bike and kit quite well. I used the shoes yesterday when I went on a ride with Sam and Johny T. I didn't have the pedals yet though. I took the dualie out for the first time because it has been very lonely in the basement. The soles of the shoes are supper hard. I had to file down the back of the cleat that would usually press into the sole so the cleat doesn't move, but they wouldn't press into the specialized carbon. I really like the Boa system. There are no pressure points at all around the foot. Another feature I like about these shoes is the heel cup is narrow. I have a small Achilles tendon so it conforms nicely and prevents heel lift. Specialized shoes are narrower than the Nike shoes I had and a little taller in the toe area. Nike seems to have a big toe box with a low profile. The Specialized shoes are incredibly stiff. They feel more like road shoes than anything. They also weigh as much as my road shoes (720g a pair w/cleats). The only issue I have with them is getting my foot in the shoe. They have a small entry opening with a grabby material lining the heel so it takes a little more effort and wiggling to get in them.
Look Pedals- I just put the pedals on today and have only ridden them around in the yard so far. It's always risky trying a first generation pedal design out before any reviews come out but look has had a lot of pedal experience and there are some pros using them in the world cup circuit. Whats interesting about the design is there is no tension spring which is why they are so light. I don't know how they get the tension to be honest, I'll have to look at it a little more. What sold me was the weight of the Crank Bros.egg beaters with the platform of the Time Atac (we'll see about mud shedding ability later) all under $100. I have the Atacs now and I have always had a problem with the axles developing some play. Oh, and they weigh a ton for what you pay for them. Atacs are renown for their mud shedding abilities and their butter like entry and exit in all conditions. The entry on the Atacs are nice too, you could just slam down on the pedal from almost any angle and clip in fast. From what I've experienced so far just riding around the yard the looks are more precise and solid feeling. The Atacs I notice do have some slop to them and there is some lateral movement while being clipped in.With the Looks there is only 3 degrees of float with a 15 degree release angle. The Atacs have 5 degrees of float and I don't know what there release angle is. The entry I don't think is as forgiving as the Atacs but I'm sure its something I just need to get used to. You do need to shim the cleats with certain shoes. I had to use the 1mm shim on the specialized shoes. I'm thinking of adding the .5mm shim to see if that will make the entry a little easier but it will loosen up the shoe on the platform. I'll have to experiment a little bit with that. One last thing, the cleats need to be deburred in the back. The burrs were beginning to hack up the cage when clipping in. I took a file to them and now its fine.
In the end I'll have shaved 230g (.5lb) off my feet, and have made things a lot more solid meaning more efficiency.

Photos from Specialized.com and MTBR.com

Sunny and 60

2008-04-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the best day we've had so far. There were so many cyclists on the roads along the St Croix river I bet the motorists were getting frustrated. It was a full on invasion. Sam, John Thompson(of course on his mtb), and I met up with Brian Abery (the guy that planned the France trip last summer) by lake Elmo. We went down into Afton and stopped at a cafe where I saw Patty(speed skating teammate)with her Birchwood teammates. We headed south and when we got to the 4 way intersection going into Afton Alps a posse was standing on the side of the road. Andy Kruse, Ben Dubay, and Joe Dubay joined us and we pace lined down to Prescott. We all split up in Prescott and it was just us three again heading back with a tailwind. Going in a group is a lot easier than riding 4.5hrs alone. I had plenty of energy left over after the 85 miles this time. We had a good time out there.
Yesterday John invited Sam and I over to watch the Flanders RR. He bribed me with milk and cookies so I couldn't resist. Great race and a brutal classic. I know the cameras don't give those climbs any justice. 20% wet cobbles is insane. Epic for sure.
Here is Joe's sprint up a climb in the 2008 JOs in Anchorage. He is smokin up that hill

We have to keep John company now since he has become an "empty nester". Eric Thompson has been living the dream out in North Carolina riding with one of the best cycling colleges in the nation. This is his first year of full on long hour base miles and his fitness is has sky rocketed. Not to mention he is on his first real road bike. Hopefully he will be up to a cat 2 by the time the Duluth Classic rolls around or I will be hanging on to his wheel for dear life. They had a team time trial recently and they averaged 31mph on a rolling 13 mile course with 3 guys. It will be interesting to see what he can do when he comes back for the summer. His daughter Stephanie made it into the Nature Valley Grand Prix so he is proud of that too.
How about Mike Phillips place this week at nationals. 9th place in his 2nd pro race is stellar. He has been doing his homework in the cold snowy weather.

Spring Finally

2008-04-03T16:43:00.000-07:00

I'm about a month behind on my training this year. Crappy weather and a cold that lasted 2 weeks (I'm still hacking up some crap in my lungs but its not that bad) has wreak havoc on the training schedule. Today I did the Scandinavian tour for the first time. My first 4+ hr ride of the year. with near 60 degrees and light winds I couldn't pass it up.I took the good bike and I'm glad I did or I wouldn't have made it back. I averaged 20 the first 3.5 hrs then I went south (literally) after that and I had to turn it down a little. The last 10 miles I was tapping my ruby slippers together chanting "theres no place like home, theres no place like home." I'm diggin the Boonen hair though. A little bit longer and I'll have the flowing Lavick the stick euro pro look.

Scandinavian Tour

2008-04-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

Just trying out this Map my Ride thing. This is my spring base miles route that I like to do. No traffic where there are normal shoulders and huge shoulders to get out of town. Its pancake flat except for a few rollers between Forest Lake and Scandia.

Scandinavian Tour
Find more Bike Rides in Shoreview, Minnesota

Skills I wish I had part 2

2008-03-21T18:23:00.000-07:00

I wonder how many Red Bulls it takes to ride like this.

Skills

2008-03-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

The blog needs a little more action don't you think.Here are skills that would be fun to have.

2008-03-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

Not much going on here. Wish the snow came in January or February instead of now. More on the way too I guess. Doesn't matter to me for now because I was on the couch all day yesterday with the flu. One of those 24hr bugs that feels like you got ran over by a truck. Adding in nausea and a splitting headache, I was wasted. I'm a little weak right now but my appetite is back and I don't have a headache anymore.
I heard today that the Oxbow Classic is canceled this year. Bummer a lot of people really liked that one.
I sighed a big sigh of relief when I got my cat 3 upgrade today. I was hoping I didn't have to chase some points at the early season road races in order to be in the cat 3 stage race I signed up for over memorial weekend.
I'm anticipating those arm and leg warmer only days now.

2008-03-09T15:19:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was probably going to be the last day I ski this season. Sam was feeling good even though we did river bottoms the day before. My glide started out good but it turned sour when we started hitting all the dirty snow. Sam had some moly on which helped him. The warm up will begin this week and the snow will be almost gone. I would have gone skiing today again but I did a lot the last few days and I'm taking a couple days easy. I sharpened the skates and coated the blades this weekend and now I have to stone grind the skis and put a summer coat on. The bikes are all ready to go. We sent in the rear shocks over the winter to get new seals and oil and what not. I put new rings and chains on everything too. The only upgrades for this year are some lighter shoes and pedals. I'm looking at the new Look quartz pedals and Specialized shoes with the boa system. I like the Look pedals because they have a bigger platform than egg beaters yet lighter than Time. The Specialized shoes have had good reviews and they are one of the lightest available. I should shave a 1/4lb off the pedals and shoes combined.
Friday Sam, Chris, and I went down to the river bottoms. Fresh snow and around 10 degrees. The sun was strong and was actually making the road section at 35W muddy. We were out there for almost 4 hrs. I have no pictures because my lcd screen on my camera decided it did not like Minnesota temperatures. I did the river bottoms 2 times this week. Its a lot better than on the road because you can stay warmer and out of the wind. Keeps the mind occupied too. Now with warmer weather on the way the streets will clear up and conditions will favor the road. Not too long before I do my Scandinavian town tour.

Season Over

2008-03-03T08:54:00.000-08:00

Some of the Twin City Speedskating Team: Me, Patti, Steve (coach),Andy, Mike

Skating ended on saturday for us. They had metric racing instead of pack. This would be the first time I raced metric. I did the 500 meter and the 1500 meter. My 500 meter was 48.78 with a 12.48 opener, and my 1500 meter was a 2.31.73. Not very good. If you want to see full results click here. I wasn't feeling the weight transfer that I should have and didn't have the snap in the legs. Oh,well its a learning process, some days you have it some you don't. I had a good time though. Nice day and we hung around after and did a few more laps before stepping off for good. Floyd says this year was his best team yet. No egos and everyone is out there having fun and getting along.

Now it will be biking and secret training for me. I'll be doing some things different this year and Floyd will be working with me throughout the summer. He has some elements I'm going to try that will hopefully turn out some better results. I think Sam will be in on it too so look out.

Mike Anderson: Tower, this is Ghost rider requesting a flyby.
Air Boss Oftedahl: That's a negative Ghost rider, the pattern is full.

Winter River Bottoms

2008-02-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

This is a water pipe that sprung a leak about a mile west of the Cedar Bridge

I have a four day weekend and so I went down to the river bottoms today. Started at 35W bridge and went to the Bloomington Ferry bridge. This was the best section. Fast but icy so make sure you have studs if you ride them or it will be no fun, and leave your front brake at home. Everything in this section was buffed out nicely and made for a joyous 1:10. Then I headed to the Mendota bridge. Not many people ride this section. It is mostly hikers, thus the trail is like riding a horse trail. I didn't mind it at first but it got old after 2 hrs of it. I was running the innova studed tires and only about 18-20psi. Those tires are so stiff I think its possible to ride them flat. I make it so that pushing down with my two thumbs I can compress the tire about 3\4 of the way to the rim. If I was really serious, I'd try stans tubeless. I'm sure Brendan has experimented with some studded tubeless systems. Care to share any tips Brendan? Anyway, the conditions from Mendota to 35W vary. There is soft sections like your riding through an inch of sand, to supper rough, to fast and icy. Its all ridable but you have to crank out a little more juice to go at a reasonable pace. I finished up in just over 3hrs. Good ride.

I have my final speed skating race on Sat. First and last metric style race. It will be just me against the clock. All the good guys will be there. I'm signed up to do the 500 and 1500 meter races. This speed skating stuff really kicks your butt, the legs are just fried after every workout. There is no easy day on the ice. Working out with Mike Anderson and Andy Kostka this season has really helped. Andy is about my speed but Mike is an animal and he really pushes us. Speaking of those two here is a report on last weekends Marathon Championships in Bemiji. This was the 50KM, the day previous Mike got second in the 25KM. I might try it next year, sounds fun.

Another awesome day of racing in Bemiji. It was a bit warmer this morning, but it seemed colder since the sun wasn't out. About 5 laps or so into the race, the sun came out and it was beautiful, I was actually over dressed.

The first 20 laps (of 50) were VERY casual and quite civilized, generally 1:55-2:00 minutes per lap (1k). At one point, Matt Trimble crashed so we all stood up and waited for him, no luck though since his blade fell off his skate. About 2 laps later, one of the women fell, so we all stood up again and waited for her. The main pack was about 15 skaters, with appx. 20 race starters.

With 30 laps to go, I launched an attack. I got a pretty good gap and managed to break up the field. The only skater to really respond was Charlie Stangl. Once he caught up to me, we worked together to eventually lap the field.

As we caught the field, I noticed there were two skaters about 25 seconds off the front, Erick, the flying Dutchman and Matt Trimble (he got his blade back on, but was about 15+ laps down at that point). I hit the front and attacked again, I think Charlie had enough fun at this point, he looked kind of 'funned' out. This time, Andy Kostka hopped on and we caught the two off the front. Once we caught the two off the front, We all kind of worked together, eventually dropping Matt, then catching the main pack again.

At this point there were about 10 laps remaining, I figured I was on a roll and went for it again, this time no one showed any interest. I guess I was just in a hurry to get the race over with. I managed to get about 3/4th's of a lap on the field, and won the race.

Charlie Stangl took off on the last lap and ended up skating it alone for second place. Andy was third, a few seconds behind Charlie. The Flying Dutchman was 4th, quite a ways back from Andy. It was great to see Andy and Charlie do so well beating all the seasoned veterans like Bruce Anderson and John Koppi.

Hopefully there will be some complete results posted somewhere, I haven't seen any yet. Here is what I know, kind of:

1) me
2) Charlie Stangl
3) Andy Kostka
4) Erick ?? (the flying Dutchman)
5) Bruce Anderson ?
6) John Koppi

This really was an excellent weekend of racing and would highly recommend it to everyone. I guess the weather was really what added the most fun, these things are NOT fun when it's cold out!

Later, Mike

Ride and Glide

2008-02-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

This morning Sam went to Theo-Wirth and did the Loppet course while I went to the oval to do a little racing. Not many people at the track as alot of people were up in Bemiji for the marathon Championships. Mike Anderson took 2nd in the 25km race up there. Him and another guy broke away early and lapped the field on the 1km track. He really wants to go for the win tomorrow in the 50km race. Anyway I raced the 800 meter and the 1000 meter. They had the 4 Jrs from midway, me as the only senior, and 2 other master men all together. The 800 was first and off the line I tried to drop in between some of the jrs before the corner but the front one stood up for no apparent reason. I hit one of their blades and almost took one out but he kept it upright while I was forced way wide. I was all tense after this and my form was crap which meant I was going nowhere fast and just wore myself out trying to catch back up. In the 1000 however, the jrs did not want to start out fast so as soon as I found myself on the front going into turn 1, I opened a gap up. Its extremely difficult to pass in skating because you need a good run on someone, so I figured if they wanted to win I was going to catch them off guard and make them work to get it. I could hear them behind me say "hey, why is he starting out fast." I kept myself relaxed and the strokes long the whole time and I won by 25 meters. My first rookie win of the year and only my 3rd race! I know they are just jrs but they are fast and they have been skating most of their lives.
In the afternoon after Sam was done skiing we did our first "base" training. 2:45hrs out to Manning.It was of atomic proportions. Well he did ski for 2:30hrs prior so it was expected. I was getting tired as well. Not quite to bonkville but just kind of cold and clammy. I forgot the camera so sorry, no pictures.
Floyd has been calling me and rubbing in the 80 degree weather and sunny beaches. He was having fun taking the pt cruiser down the HALEAKALA road. I bet Janet, his wife, had her hand imprinted into the "oh crap" handle when they reached the bottom.
Time to eat some more.

2008-02-22T17:36:00.000-08:00

Mike Hall took a nasty hit to the face last weekend. Drop him a get well would you.

Google maps

2008-02-20T13:23:00.000-08:00

Go to google maps some time and zoom into the twin cities area. View the satellite image and you'll see a bunch of roads highlighted in blue (if you live in the cities find your house). Now there should be a "street view" button up by the satellite, map,and traffic view options. Click on that. If your really bored you can follow your bike routes or roam the neighborhood to see if you can recognize someone. Be careful downtown though. This will be nice to scope out rides for a trip someday.

Semi Pro

2008-02-16T12:48:00.000-08:00

I forgot I had these pictures from the bike swap. Sam is out of town again. He went up to Bemiji for a ski race again. The Minnesota Finlandia race I guess. They had alot of snow fall up there this week so it should be great conditions.

Paul putting together his winter TT outfit.

Floyd talking to Eben in Salt Lake. enjoying the view of the oval from the new addition they put on the skating center.

I went skating today. Me and Floyd were the only ones out there today. The place was surprisingly deserted. Floyd got a call from Bonnie Blair last night. He is going out to Pennsylvania April 19 to be inagurated into the speedskating hall of fame. Pretty cool. He leaves for Hawaii on monday and will be there for 2 weeks. Lucky. I would like to ride up that one road that goes from sea level to like 10,000 ft. Its suppost to be one of the best climbs of the USA.
PS.
Member: Eric Oftedahl
License: Cross Country Racer
Request to change category from Expert to Semipro
request: Approved

Bicycle Repair Man

2008-02-15T20:20:00.001-08:00

Last sunday Doug showed me his t-shirt from Ore-to-Shore last year which looks like these superman costumes.He is nothing compared to the Bicycle Repair Man.

Mora Vasaloppet

2008-02-13T09:37:00.000-08:00

Pun intended.

While I was sweating in a crowded building on sunday at the bike swap, Sam was out in the -30+ wind chill racing the Vassaloppet. Conditions were slow as the wind driven snow put allot of drag on the skis. He actually fell at the finish because he unexpectedly hit a patch of wind blown snow which is like hitting the brakes. Cold snow in skiing is like the muddy races of mtb races. It just takes so much power to keep going it feels like an uphill battle. He surprised himself in the end though, coming in 26th out of 233. Brutal race. He said it was a Chequamegon like effort.

Winter training is working nicely

2008-02-09T17:30:00.000-08:00

Bike Swap

2008-02-07T14:39:00.000-08:00

Twin Cities Bike Swap this weekend. Just like Dick says," Why buy new, when slightly used will do". Its in the Blain Sports center this year and its going to be a full house.

Chuck Norris Facts

2008-02-05T14:50:00.000-08:00

I was just on chucknorrisfacts.com and thought these were pretty funny.

Chucks Favorites: Picked by the man himself
# When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

# Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

# There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.

# Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on the same planet with Chuck Norris.

# Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

#

Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.
# Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.

# Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.

# There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist.

# When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down.

# Chuck Norris is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.

# Chuck Norris’ hand is the only hand that can beat a Royal Flush.

# Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water AND make it drink.

# Chuck Norris doesn’t wear a watch, HE decides what time it is.

# Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.

# Chuck Norris does not get frostbite. Chuck Norris bites frost

# Remember the Soviet Union? They decided to quit after watching a DeltaForce marathon on Satellite TV.

# Contrary to popular belief, America is not a democracy, it is a Chucktatorship.<

City of the lakes Loppet

2008-02-03T18:03:00.000-08:00

I ran support for Sam in the City of the Lakes Loppet today. Perfect weather and very nice conditions. I used the cross bike to meet him in 4 different spots along the course. This was his first major race so he had to start in the last wave, 25 min behind the 1st wave. This meant for lots of passing and alot of poles being stepped on. The corners were sketch as the others ahead of him were digging down to the icy snow by snow plowing. The better skiers step turn fast and don't do much damage to the corners, but the less experienced push all the loose snow into berms. He finished with a time of around 1.33.05 placing 119 out of 708. There were only 4 guys that had a faster time in the 3rd wave and 14 from the 2nd wave, and he was 15 min off the winners time. Next time he will be in wave 1.
Congrats to Jay Richards who took 27th. Stellar racing Jay.

Sam's Ski Races

2008-01-28T13:48:00.000-08:00

Sunday Sam did a prep race at William O'Brian to get ready for the 35km City of the Lakes Loppet next weekend and the 58km Mora Vasaloppet the week after. Not too shabby for his second race. He took 12th out of 81 starters. But to get beat by a 50 year old right in front of him, I don't know. There was also a 19 year old up in the top 5 I think. Now that I think of it, he did ski the City of the Lakes Loppet course out and back, and followed that up with a lap around Lebanon on the mtb afterward the day before. As you can see in the picture Sam does not follow the traditionalist mountain biker ritual of indulging in appetites that are otherwise shunned during the peak training season. His brain has been calloused to the temptations of delicacies that involve boiling vats of oil, sweet decadence, or anything that you can refer to as thick and juicy. His appetite for the premo in clean burning carbohydrates, proprietary blended branched-chain amino acids, and high quality protien isolates, cannot be curbed by anything that would normally make any mortal man weak in the knees. I don't know how he does it.
OH MAMA!
My Chipotle Burrito:

Chipotle Fan.com

Star Tribune

2008-01-23T16:21:00.000-08:00

Last wednesday a columnist came out to the oval to try out skating and write a story for the Star Tribune. The article came out today click here to see it. My head made it in one of the pictures in the paper but that was it. I bet Floyd gave him plenty to write about. Mr Anderson made up the big picture, and rightly so, he is one of the best masters in the country right now. Mike Anderson was a winner of the Chequamegon and was also on the US National road team. He told me that the Chequamegon was one of the hardest races he ever did. He is an animal. Picture provided by the Star Tribune.

Back in Business

2008-01-18T10:40:00.001-08:00

I finally got my new bridge for my skates in yesterday. I was using Floyds old ones which were first generation clap skates. I never really felt comfortable on them especially on the corners. They also had a soft feel to them. The frames have an aluminum tube instead of a steel like mine. Mine seem to find an edge better too.

I also put a link to Scott Haroldsons page on the side. I worked with Scott back in the day at Rice Street Bike. He is a photographer and produces some excellent photos. He still works at midwest bicycle supply with the former owner of RSB, ED. Nice guy and loves bikes. If you need any photography done give him a try. I can remember making potato guns in the shop when Stuart (works now at Gear West),the manager, left. Scott, Andy Palmer (Bike Tech for REI Roseville now), Eric Kroise (Lives in Montana Now),and John (aka Slim, who works at the Hub) would launch spuds over an abandoned loading dock across the ally. Good times.

Started school this week. I love the schedual. All morning classes so I'm out by 11:00 at the latest every day. I'm taking my second english class online so we'll se how that goes. Its the same teacher as I had for the first part so I know how she runs things. Math, C++,and Geography, make up the rest.
Hope you like the new addition of music =)

Winter Wonderland

2008-01-13T17:12:00.000-08:00

Sam and I did a little skiing this weekend. We hit Itasca first on friday. Conditions were all over the place. some trails were groomed which were soft, some weren't and were icy(but not as bad as here in the cities). Good snow coverage though and very nice scenery with well flowing trails. About 50km total friday

Driving to Maplelag friday after Itasca we drove past Rainbow resort and saw they had some racing this weekend. We were going to race if it was early morning but it was afternoon so no dice. After spaghetti we went for a short night time ski with head lights.
Sat morning we loaded up on crapes and snausages and headed out on the classics. Jay took some time to join us for a while and did some of the western loops and my favorite Luckys loype. Jay showed us how its done going down suicide hill with a little tele.
For lunch we had chicken dumpling soup, with ham and cheese sandwiches, then it was out for round 2. We broke out the skate skis and did skaters waltz a few times and North Loup. We ended the day with beef brisket, au gratin potatoes, salad and Russian custard. Tough I know. About 50km on the day.
Sunday morning was smorgasbord with Norwegian racing soup (as Jim called it) Norwegian wedding cake, scandinavian cheeses, breakfast potatoes, quiche, pickled harring, kipper snacks, oysters, and a variety of other stuff. Maplelag expects there guests to do alot of skiing to burn off the food. After breakfast we did another 20km.
The weather was perfect for skiing. Teens for highs and an inch or two of fresh powder sat night. everthing had a white coat on it. Grooming was of coarse world class. Jib or fly shown in the picture, likes to wander around the trails and run along the skiers. He showed up twice on our journeys. Thanks to the Richards and the maplelag staff for a great time.

This is the start of the trails in Itasca going south on the east entrance road from the visitor center. Fresh cord and no poles.

2008-01-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

Sam and I have been enjoying the FIS Tour de Ski on WCSN lately. Go Norway! Yesterday were the sprints and things were heated up. Talk about exciting finishes. They also have mtb,cyclocross, and track coverage. I caught some glimpses of Jeff Hall in the field. They have a nice shot of him going through the feed zone all muddy at Offenberg Germany.
Sam raced his first xc-ski race sat at the pre-loppet. Took 32nd. Just did it to get the feel for it. Said it feels like a mtb race with the chaos at the start to get positions before the narrows.
I raced the blades sat morning. Not very good. There was only 3 of us in my race one was a girl. My goal...don't get beat by the girl. I didn't but I did crash in the 500 and hurt my ego. Took second in the 800 and 1000. After the morning races we hooked up with Eric Thompson for some skiing at William O'Brian. Eric is like 18 or 19, 6'-3", 185lbs that is one big dude that can go fast. Sam and I called it after one lap and some broken boots.

Bandy

2008-01-01T08:25:00.000-08:00

Floyd called me up Sunday night and invited me over to the oval for some bandy action. I've never heard of bandy. Its a popular sport over in the northern scandinavian countries and Russia. Its a mix between hockey and soccer. The rink is the size of a soccer field and players hit a baseball sized ball around with shorter hockey sticks and try to put the ball into goal net. This was an international Jr's game so I had to go watch. Sweden vs USA. We lost 3-5. Those kids can really skate.

Sam and I did the Loppet course again yesterday. The glide was fantastic. I got some new Excel quick release straps and grips which I really like. Lake of the Isles is still not groomed yet. Very fun course though. The video is in the flower garden section just before the quacking bog. Steep hill

2007-12-29T11:23:00.000-08:00

Yeah I know I should post something, but it has been slow around here. I've been chilling out since finals and just been enjoying all the snow. Sam has been doing allot of skiing, and he recently signed up for the City of the Lakes Loppet and the Mora Vassalopet. It will be his first time racing the skis. We did the City of the lakes course Christmas day which was great. Lake of the Isles wasn't groomed so we did a lap on the Theo golf course. Almost 3 hrs on the skis and I was drained. I raced the skates for the first time today. You think mtbing has a small turnout, come to the oval. They combined the jr, senior, and Masters and we had 7 in the pack race. It was fun and painful. Here the pain lasts only for a couple minutes max. Slow ice today so we did 1000,800,and 600 meters. They resurface between races so we come in, take the skates off and sit around until the next one. I did alright. I got 4th every time. For the first 2 races everyone came in in the same order and about the same distance apart, about 2 seconds between each guy. I'll bet all this speed work will help out my starts on the mtb. Its all technique to put the power to the ice which is very difficult to get down especially while racing. Oh, and I busted my bridge on my skates last sat (the part that the boot mounts to). So now I'm on some older borrowed skates and its hard to get parts for these things. I'm going to try and get a warrenty, but its getting to be a long story and a long wait. Oh, well that is it for now.

Ham Ski

2007-12-23T14:20:00.000-08:00

The Swansons bros have their Turkey day ride. This Christmas there is plenty of snow so Sam and I are planning on our own Christmas day Ham ski.
Where: City of the Lakes Loppet course starting in Theo-wirth park. Go north on Theodore Wirth Parkway off of Hwy 55. We'll start in the parking lot on the left right after the train tracks.
When: Christmas Day 7:00ish am
If they have the lakes groomed we can do the whole course. Skate only. Plan on 3-4 hrs on the trails.
Watch trail reports on http://www.cityoflakesloppet.com/. The forecast looks good

Speedskaing webcast

2007-12-21T15:44:00.000-08:00

late notice I know.
Friday, December 21 - 6:00 pm Ladies and Men 1500m Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals

Saturday, December 22 - 11:00 am Ladies and Men 500m Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals

Sunday, December 23 - 10:00 am Ladies and Men 1000m Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals Ladies and Men 3000m Superfinals Ladies and Men Relay

http://www.usspeedskating.org/livefeed.php

Winners!

2007-12-13T16:19:00.004-08:00

We won the best of show award at the robot show today. We got some gift cards to the bookstore. I tried talking the instructor into letting us skip the final and he could keep the gift cards. I am so glad it is over with. Now I need to burn off all the weight I gained after spending the countless hrs at school with nothing to eat but Papa Johns and taco hell. I haven't had a workout in 4 days either.

Finals

2007-12-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

Now I know what its like to have finals. Crunch time all week. Was at school working on the robot till 10 last night, and 7 tonight. But we got her done.

3 weeks left

2007-12-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

3 more weeks of school and the robot should be done by early this week. We decided on using a laser for triggering the program to run instead of an RF remote. I'm going to set up my laser level like 20ft from the robot and shoot the laser to a photo sensor. When the beam is broken with the wheel it will start the program. There will be a robot show the 13 at Century around 3 I think. So show up and give me your vote for best of show.
I'm glad we got all the snow we did. Didn't get as much as they predicted but it is a good base. I'm looking forward to getting the skis out. Speaking of skis, over Christmas break it would be nice to get a group together and go up to Maplelag for some eating. Oh, and some skiing too:) Let me know, if anyone is interested and what days work best.
I've been trying to find my groove with the skates but things just aren't clicking yet. Seems like last year it was easier to get started and I don't know why. It will come sooner or later. Flyod and his wife invited me out to lunch after the saturday races. Good food and even better company, thanks Flyod.

State Cross video

2007-11-22T15:25:00.001-08:00

http://www.pinchflatnews.com/2007/11/five-minute-machine-minnesota-state-cx.html

Turkey Ride 2007

2007-11-22T14:36:00.000-08:00

Yet another great Turkey ride this year. Not too cold of weather with temps just under freezing. The snow made things interesting. About half the group fell at least once. We skipped Indian Mounds and it was still 4 hrs. I got dropped on the last fast section but not completely. Dan, Jesse, and I bridged back up before the last pavement cooldown section. I was almost to bonkville at the end. Around 50 miles round trip. We even had a 12 year old with us that made the entire ride on a cross bike, good job Jordan.

Whats Cookin

2007-11-16T15:35:00.000-08:00

Check out this bad boy. I came home from school famished. All that was left in the frig was a chunk of leftover venison roast. It was that, peanut butter and jelly, or tuna and crackers. I reluctently eyed up some swiss cheese (my least favorite) and we happened to have some dark bread. It was a winning combination when heated like a grilled cheese. The swiss loses its bitterness when melted like that. I was surprised how well it tasted. Kinda like a MN Ruben.

Here's another good one. My moms very own "Hearty Minnesota Chili". Venison heart, corn, wild rice, and homegrown tomatoes. Baked beans only. We don't like kidney beans. Venison heart is very tender and it has thin tightly packed muscle strands unlike any other muscle. It adds a great wild flavor to the chili.Its gotta be thick too. No soupy chili here.

MN State Cross championships tomarrow. Good chance I'll be there. I could race skates in the morning and the bike in the afternoon, hmmmmmm. Last night I took my first spill on the ice. I came around the corner and I lost my edge. Thats what happens when you have a bur on the edge. I made some adjustments to the skates and now it feels alot better. I'm still not fully confident in my form to race yet. You should see my starts, crap-y.

2007-11-11T18:31:00.000-08:00

Laced up the speed skates for the first time this weekend. Kind of a strong south wind so going north we could really cook but the headwind requires lots of power. I was doing good for the first time out but I was barking my blades once in a while. When the good guys put their blades down its silent and they are so fast. I need Floyd back here so he can yell me orders. He's an awesome coach in the way that he knows when to get on your case when needed and when to have a good time.
We have our robot project teams picked out. My two teammates are in my chem class so we see each other every day. One is a carpenter and the other has a machinist background. Dan Konrads' dad owns Konrad marine stern drives in Hudson. So he has access to a machine shop. They went with my idea in automating the water bottle holder using an RF remote I can put on a stem or something. We're going to make a hand that will grab a bottle and hand it off. If we have time I have some add ons we can incorporate but those are after we get the basic robot to function properly.
Lots of "bigger" issues going on in terms of life and death. 3 people we know had close ones die in the last few weeks. A family friend passed last week from cancer. He was only 50. The funeral was like a reunion though. I like going to funerals where the atmosphere is a happy one, because everyone knew he was in a better place and he no longer has to suffer here on earth. His wife and kids were doing very well. They were all smiles and their joking selves. I'm sure they will have there lone times when they will miss him, but they are comforted in the assurance that they will see him again. Then there is my grandma. She has been in and out of the hospital the last few weeks with a failing heart. Keep her in your prayers. And finally I'll end on a good note, my cousin and his wife had their first child yesterday. Moriah Ann was born. Congrats Gary and Andrea.

It doesn't look fast but each straight away is 100 meters and each corner is 100 meters. The fast guys can do a 500 meter somewhere around 35:00 to 40:00 sec. Thats 28-32+ mph! on skates. There is also the 1000, 1500, 5,000, and 10,000 meter.

2007-11-04T18:15:00.003-08:00

Chris, Brendan, Jason (Wenksta), Paul, Dave, Sam ans I went on a group ride from Chris's house this afternoon. Went out to Battle creek for a couple laps and check out the new single track the made out there. 3hr ride total. On the way down Sam and Paul were getting a bit wild and Sam's ego was writing checks his body couldn't cash and slid out into a tree on the blvd. The pic shows what his chain ring did to the tree.He needs to work on those urban assault skills. The rest of the ride went fine and we had allot of fun. I was surprised at my climbing abilities since I have not been on the bike hardly at all and when I am its flat and not hard. The dry land skating drills have been working the legs over though, every time I do a hard workout with the team its painful to walk for a couple days. I didn't feel like I was over exerting myself on keeping up with the fast guys.

Quick Trip

2007-11-03T16:59:00.000-07:00

I bagged my deer this morning at a little after 8:00 and so I figured I could get home and unpacked before dark and have tomorrow free to do homework and a ride. I spent less then 24 hrs at the cabin this year and I won't be back, thats pretty sad. This is how it goes- For the first time I decided to ride my cross bike partway to the stand which was convenient and fast. It was only a 1/4 mile or so. I walked the rest of the way (200 yards or so). Not much shooting in the area at dawn and it was dead calm. Here in the cities there is always a little noise of something that your ears have something to work with, but when your in the middle of the woods with nothing for your ears to pick up its just a ringing. About a half hr after there was enough light to see, I heard shots from the nearby pine planting. Chances are when someone goes off with there gun, they never hit anything because the deer is probably running. A while after the shots from the planting, I heard some more from across a road which was good because I was in the channel where the deer go to hit the cover before entering a swamp. Sure enough I heard some leaves rustle in the brush in from that direction. Oh boy this is it, I got ready and my heart was pounding like I was standing on the start line. There it is, I saw a faint body as it moved throughout the brush and would occasionally disappear behind trees. It was walking so there was no hurry. I looked for a good shooting lane in front of it and waited. As soon as it came out I pulled one off, BOOM! down he went. It was a far shot, about 75 yards with open sights and a narrow shooting lane. I kinda thought it was at a bad angle so I waited a few seconds ready to put another one down range. It got up again and wham! I hit it again. This time I spined it so it was down for good. I didn't know what I got, buck, doe, the turdy pointer? I originally thought it was a good sized doe because I couldn't see any antlers. When I began looking for it, I kept looking back at the stand to see if I was still heading in the right direction when I almost stepped on the thing. Sweet, a buck! You know that part in the hunting shows where they approach the down game from behind and touch it with the gun before going up to touch its head, there is a reason for that. This thing looked dead to me but when I grabbed its horns it jumped up with its front hooves and clocked me clean across the face. Just kidding, but that would make a great hunting story around the fire wouldn't it? It did try to get up with its front legs though so I gave him one more through the lungs to finish him off. I wonder how many people don't hunt because they don't like gutting their game. You need a strong stomach to handle that stuff. The worst are gut shots. Bring a clothes pin for the nose, hew thats bad stuff. What a bloody mess. I kept the heart and liver. Gave the liver to John Thompson to feed his dogs, and the heart will go in my moms famous Minnesota chilli. It makes a hearty meal.LOL. Anyway thats the story.
The design project is finally done. I think ours got the most props. The instructor said our class was definitely better than the evening class.The Robot is next.

I'm guna get dat turdy point buck

2007-10-31T18:08:00.000-07:00

Its the time of year
for the deer
to fear

For one weekend of the year I go and do my part to fill the freezer. "There is a place for all of Gods good creatures. Right next to the mashed potatoes and gravy."

Song by Bananas at Large