Fundraiser for Jay Guthrie

Jay is a fellow cyclist and an all-around good guy. He's been fighting cancer for a while now and there will be a fundraiser for him on Thursday, December 3rd at Now Bikes and Fitness in Arden Hills (map). See message below from Steve Thatcher, head of Ride & Glide Cycling & XC Ski Club for more details. See you there.

I'm sure most of you have heard about long time R&G club member Jay Guthrie and his battle with cancer. Now Bikes, County Cycles, HED and R&G are joining together in a fund raiser to help Jay and Anne with medical bills. To that end we will be having a "Get Together" at Now Bikes in Arden Hills on Thursday Dec 3rd at 7pm. We will be showing the video of Greg Lemond's 1989 TDF victory over Laurent Fignon and will have a "Guest Speaker". Steve Hed will be talking about aerodynamics and what's happening in bicycle racing. The video has special significance as it could be claimed that Greg's victory over Laurent was instrumental in the beginning of the aerodynamic era in bicycle racing. Steve will also talk about what's new at HED and I'm sure have many fascinating stories and will take your questions as well.

We'll have pizza from Davannis, which is right next door to Now, and beverages and some door prizes generously donated by HED, Now, County Cycles and R&G. Tickets will be $20 at the door and get you one ticket in the door prize drawing and free pizza and good times. Extra tickets for the drawings can be purchased as well.

So please come on over to Now and socialize with your cycling buddies, swap stories about Jay, and take some time off your trainer. You may even win one!

Please RSVP to Steve Thatcher at sdthatcher@q.com so we know how much food to get.

By all means please forward this to your cycling friends that may not be on this list.

How I spent my two-week off-season.

End of the racing season and I took a break from the bike. Time to catch up on the house.

That lovely blue sink is about to turn 46 next month. It's going on Ebay, because apparently there is a market for vintage sinks. Who'd of thought. Anyway, the original plan was for one sink cabinet and two drawer units from Ikea. According to the measurements listed in their catalog there would be just enough room. Well, apparently the Swedes haven't quite mastered their metric to English conversions, because after assembling everything and measuring they were off by over an inch. Just enough to kill Plan A. After lots of brainstorming, I came up with Plan B: one sink cabinet, a drawer cabinet and an end shelf unit on each side. It would just fit into the 47.5" space (I know, it's a luxurious spa of a bathroom and you are jealous). But, I would have to ditch the metal legs and make a custom wooden base to support everything.

Finally got the cabinet shells installed last night. I just need to find a workable solution to hook up the drain (Swedish setup not compatible with Vietnam War-era plumbing). I tested the supply lines last night and they fit (after learning that the Ikea coupling is not a standard size and finding an adaptor, surprise, surprise). So, I'm off to the hardware store today to hopefully find a workaround and with any luck I can get it hooked up tonight. All that remains is to add a piece of melamine to the top of one end unit to make it flush with the drawer cabinet, then install some corner bracing and install the stainless countertop. Then, rip out the old medicine cabinet and install the new one. Got new lights to install and I think I have an electrician lined up to install a GFCI outlet. Retrim the windows, door and baseboards. Done. Then it's time to begin training for the 2010 bike season...

Cue the Jefferson's Theme Song...

"Well I'm a moving on up -- moving on up -- to the Expert class -- moving on up -- to a deluxe beatdown on the bi-i-ike..."

Peer pressure and the fear of being labeled a sandbagger are horrible things. So it looks like I'll be racing Expert class in 2010. Most of the guys who upgraded to Comp with me 2 years ago are making the jump, so I guess it's time.

Saturday was the last race of the year, and it couldn't have come soon enough for me. Motivation is gone and I need a break. I gave it a go anyway, came in 3rd in my age group and 9th overall. Locked up 2nd place in my age group for the season and possibly a spot in the overall Top Ten for the season as well.

This was definitely my best season ever on the mountain bike. I had only made the podium 3 times in the last 10 years or so of racing. This year I climbed the steps 5 times: 1 first, 1 second and 3 third place finishes in a row to end the year. I started and finished all 11 races, which is a feat in itself. It was a very tight, competitive race for the overall all year. Clayton thoroughly deserves the top spot after an outstanding string of victories. Ben and Brandt made sure it was a battle all year. Owen "raced" twice this year and had a blast. It was great having him and Jen cheer me on and hand up water bottles all year. Looking forward to a couple of weeks "off" then maybe some cyclocross, then back to Base 1 training phase for 2010. Or as it will be known, "the year of the Lanterne Rouge"...

Spirit Mountain

Top: looking down the mountain towards Lake Superior
Second: the new Peace Coffee Racing tent
Third: Owen and his buddy Gary.
Last: Owen, zonked out, holding dad's coffee (from my 3rd place at Maplelag — so nice to race on a team sponsored by a coffee company!)

Second to last race of the season on the hardest course around. Rocks, boulders, granite slabs, roots, gravel, scree, streams, mud, trees, and some serious elevation puts the mountain in mountain bike racing. Had a decent start and got to the singletrack ahead of the pack. Was doing great until I got crashed into a rock face, knocking my rear derailleur out of whack. Chain was jumping everywhere, leaving me with about 2-3 gears in the back. Frustrating, because the legs felt great. Did what I could to keep the bike moving and managed to come in third in my age group, 7th overall.

Knocked me out of first into second for the overall. I'll need a win and some help at St. Cloud to take back first, but it's looking like second overall for the second year in a row. I'll take it. It's been a great year overall, with two thirds, a second and my first win. Before this year I'd only made the podium twice in 10+ years of racing. To hit it 4 times in one year has been great. And, it's pretty awesome to hear Owen scream, "Go Dad! Dad Fast!" when I come by.

Maplelag

I knew it was going to be a long day when I woke up to, shall we say, "an armed rebellion south of the border". First time my pre-race routine involved Immodium instead of PowerGel. Warmed up a bit and headed to the start line not sure if I was going to make it. It seemed like the entire field got a call up, so I ended up 3 rows back and we headed out.

The usual logjam at the singletrack backed everything up and there were plenty of sketchy riders making it slow going. Managed to pass a few on the xc-trail sections, but starting the first lap after the prologue there was a collegiate racer from a certain corn belt state who could not ride the singletrack to save his life. To make matters worse he wouldn't get out of the way. Before long he had a train of about 10 guys behind him, with minutes ticking away. A few of us finally got past him on the climb up Suicide Hill and could actually start racing.

Last lap I was suffering but had worked my way up into top 5. Then it was: chainsuck, stop to fix, get back on, hammer to pass 5 guys again. This happened a total of 3 times. Then I managed to clip my bars on a tree twice, hitting the deck hard both times. So, again, it was get back up and hammer to pass the same guys I was ahead of. All of these extra efforts were killing me, and the only thing keeping me going was the 1km to go sign. I put it in the big ring, put my head down and prayed for the finish line.

Somehow ended up in third, about 25 seconds out of second place. That was a hard-fought podium spot. I damn near passed out in the dining hall during the awards ceremony. Nice to have two Peace Coffee guys on the podium (nice job on first Clayton!). Hoping Duluth goes much smoother next Sunday.

Photos by Skinnyski.com

Buck Hill Photos (Dana Schoppe)

For once in my life there's nobody else in the photos because I'm out in front! Usually it's because I'm in no-mans-land. Thanks to Dana for the great shots at all of the races.

MNSCS#7 Buck Hill

I came down Thursday to do the Penn Cycle race at Buck to check out the course. It was super dry and dusty with loose, sandy corners. There were also 230 people on the course at once, which was pure insanity, especially considering this is a 2.7 mile loop with a 12-13 minute per lap average. It's pretty much a dirt crit and the direction they ran the course meant no real sustained climbing to speak of.

Sunday's course was similar, but run in the opposite direction. So, we started at the bottom of the south end and climbed around the base up to the top. We got some serious rain on Saturday which really helped pack down all the loose stuff. Trail was nice and fast. And for maybe the first time all year, it felt like summer. Hot and steamy.

Clayton and I got our call ups to the line and waited for the countdown. As usual, Clayton was 100 meters up the trail before I even got clipped in. Brandt was on his wheel and I slowly clawed my way up to him. We were 1,2,3 out of the first section of singletrack at the top of the hill. Clayton and Brandt eased up a bit before the next little kick up the gravel road and for whatever reason I decided to surge. After two laps of sitting in traffic on Thursday night I had decided I would rather be first into the singletrack and blow up than to get stuck behind people. Well, I got the holeshot and stayed in front the rest of the lap.

With all of the switchbacks in the singletrack it was hard to gauge how close behind people were, so I kept pushing the pace as much as possible. Came through for laps 2 and 3 feeling pretty good, grabbing a drink through the start/finish area and trying to hit the climb as fast as possible. I got passed by 2 guys along the way, but wasn't too worried. By the end of lap 3 and start of lap 4 I started catching the Expert women and lapping some of the Comp guys. Lap 4 I was feeling a bit tired but knew if I could hammer the climb I could recover a bit in the singletrack. Was able to hold my position but I could see and hear people not too far behind me. I was able to make a couple of passes before the downhill, and I think this helped me open a little gap.

Final lap and I gave it everything I had up the climb. I could see Andrew, Ben and a couple of others not too far back. I got that adrenaline boost that comes on the last lap and rode pretty well the rest of the way. Dropped it in the big ring before the downhill and hammered the rest of the way home. I thought I did ok, probably at least third in my group. Turns out I got first in my group and eighth overall in Comp. First win ever. Gotta say, felt pretty good, especially after a disappointing result at Hillside. Close race, too. First through fourth place were only separated by about 30 seconds. Hopefully I can recover and have good legs for Sunday's Border Battle in River Falls.