Holy Sh!t

My wife's bus was on this bridge an hour before this happened. I was driving down 35W on my way to the Birchwood for the Hill Ride at 6:00. I decided to take Hwy 280 to avoid the traffic by the Metrodome. I'd like to give a shout out to my guardian angel.
Photo from NY Times

Muddy River Rock and Roll

Another hot day, though not quite as bad as last year where it was bad enough to consider calling it off. Still, temps were in upper 80's/low 90's.

Got squeezed in at the start, falling back to about 10th or so before the singletrack. My podium chances were dead already, as I got stuck behind a string of riders. Finally, we popped out of the singletrack and I passed as many as I could before the next section, moving up into about 5th. The only thing hotter than the temperature was the pace being set by the lead guys. I was able to keep pushing along at this tempo most of Lap 1. I nailed the descent into the quarry, but was thrown off at the bottom when the course was re-routed directly to the drop, skipping the last rocky switchback. I hit the brakes and started left and made it through the rocks to the climb. Super technical, steep twisty, rooty/rocky climb. I rode this section about 6 times last week to get it down and I still screwed it up. Had to run the bike all the way up, which sent my heart rate through the roof.

Lap 2 I started my usual fade, only today it was worse. I decided to ditch my CamelBack before the race and just go with a bottle. Big mistake. I was getting super dehydrated and starting to bonk. Adding to the good times was my chain, which kept getting stuck when I tried to get into the big ring. This caused me to get passed by about 4 guys, who I never saw again. Trying to make up for lost time, I never really recovered and felt the bonk getting worse. Somehow, I managed to clear the entire climb out of the quarry, but it took a huge toll. Rolling through the start/finish for Lap 3, I felt like crap. I saw Tom coming up and we spent most of the lap leapfrogging each other. I kept yelling at him to get up to the faster group, he did the same for me. I thought for sure he had the better chance, but in the end we finished 9th and 10th, with me about 8 seconds in front. I'm sure he could have come around, but maybe it was just good karma being repaid from the Dirt Spanker, where he got me by about the same margin. It's all about the team points anyway.

Next race I'm rocking the CamelBack and that's that. It's the only thing I can think of as to why I'm not doing as well as I should be. Oh well. We had a sweet spread of burgers, brats, salads and cookies waiting for us afterwards. Gary's Heiniken mini-keg was quite popular as well, although I don't know how the hell you can drink beer in the hot sun after a race. It took me until 10:00pm to get fully rehydrated, and I haven't had a beer since February.

(Thanks for taking photos, Dana).

Doping

"Doctor" Ferrari must have it all figured out. He's got the magic potion that guarantees victory and evades WADA's doping control like a stealth bomber. I'm sure it makes it easier for "athletes" to stare straight into the camera and declare to the world that they are clean. After all, they have never tested positive, have they? Easy to say when you're using a banned substance that hasn't been banned yet because there is no test for it and nobody knows it exists. It's a bit like being a money launderer for the Cali cartel in the 1970's and 80's before money laundering was written onto the books as a crime. They weren't doing anything wrong either, were they? It wasn't illegal.

Pretty good racket "il dottore" has going on. He can handpick the rider to win the Tour, commanding a pricetag of Bill Gates proportions from the highly-gifted but ethically-challenged cyclist who can't win on his own, in exchange for exclusive access to his bloodstream. I wonder how much money Ferrari has bet on cycling over the years?

A 2-year suspensions means nothing to these guys, especially those in the last years of their careers. If you can make a few million dollars, get busted and the worst that happens is that you can't race again for 2 years, or even ever again, the money will win every time. How about prison time for fraud, for starters. A fine of at least double the riders earnings from winnings and endorsements. What about the teams that were passed over for inclusion in the Tour in favor of these doper teams? They should be compensated for being fraudulently denied entry, missing out on lucrative exposure. What a mess.

Vino

http://www.velonews.com/tour2007/details/articles/12910.0.html

So the entire Astana team is gone, what a shock that former T-Mobile riders would get busted. I hope every team loses their sponsors and all the advertisers pull their commercials off the air. It'll never happen, so instead I'll just stop watching. There, I'm done. I now have an extra 3 hours of time for 3 weeks in July.

Lance, I still want to believe you. In 1999 as my mom was in the hospital, slowly and painfully dying of cancer, I turned on the Tour and explained your story to her. She had no idea who you were, but she was as proud of you as if you were her own son. She was dying and she started writing you a letter to give YOU encouragement. While she only lived long enough to see that first victory, I know it gave her hope. Maybe not as much for her as for others, as she would tell other cancer survivors and patients your story, despite her own condition, showing what was possible.

So, Lance, I want to believe you. I want that memory of my mom to remain positive, untainted. I want that hope to be real for all people affected by cancer. I still want to hold back tears whenever I think of that first tour victory, just as I did all 7 times you crossed the finish line on the Champs Elysees. Please don't take away one of the last really good memories I have of my mom. People always ask me if I think you doped or not, and when I say you didn't, it's not because I want to believe it, I have to believe it.

Do Goldens Shed?

A few months ago at Petco some guy asked us if Golden Retrievers shed alot. Uh, yeah. This is what the wind didn't blow away, and that's after being brushed 3 out of the last 4 days.

Thanks!

70 Miles

Got out for a nice leg burner yesterday with some of the R&G boys. 70 miles from Withrow up to Trollhaugen and back. Weather could not have been better. Lots of rollers, a couple of nice climbs, and some good tempo. After a shaky hill ride last Wednesday, I'm happy with how the legs responded. Felt good on the climbs and I was able to ride strong the entire time, setting tempo most of the way. Hopefully this will carry over to the mountain bike. Oh yeah, um, note to Minnesota: take a look across the river at Wisconsin to see how to fund highway maintenance. Even the Rustic Routes were in better shape than the main drags in the Land of 10,000 Potholes. There is some sweet riding over there in my homeland.

Zoe's Birthday Party 2

Top: Zoe, Siggie, Sadie, Jack, Me.
Bottom: Sadie & Bob. Bob was rescued by a friend from a puppy mill. Despite his horrible treatment as a puppy, he is a super sweet dog. It took a little while for him to get comfortable, but he was mixing it up with the others and having a blast. If you are looking for a dog, please consider a rescue dog or adoption. If you choose a breeder, make sure they are reputable and the animals are treated like family, not products.

Zoe's Birthday Party

Zoe had some friends over for her 3rd birthday party. Sophie, Bob, Sigfried, Sadie (and her boy Jack) had fun chasing each other around the yard, splashing in the pool, and trying to steal people food from the table when the opportunity presented itself.

Robbie McEwen Rules

I love this guy. You never see him in the peloton until about 200 meters from the line and then , somehow, some way, he squeezes through an army of elbows at 40mph and wins. Yesterday he got caught in a crash, was sent over the bars and got banged up. He was completely off the back, and even with his entire team just totally drilling it, it didn't seem like he would even reach the peloton, let alone make his way back to the front. So, final kilometer to the line and Quick Step has the perfect lead-out in place for Tom Boonen. He can't lose, right? Then, about 100 meters from the line, from out of freaking nowhere comes McEwen, completely smoking everyone for the win. It wasn't even close. That was awesome. That is why I watch the TDF. That is why you NEVER give up in a race, no matter how dismal things look.
Photo from VeloNews.

MNSCS#5, Mankato

This race is always hot, this year was no exception–mid 90's and humid, with a sun-baked climb to the top of the ski hill right at the start. I couldn't clip into my left pedal until about the first switchback of the climb, which dropped me further back than I wanted to be. This climb is on loose-gravelly singletrack, with very little room to pass (there are wheel-eating holes on either side of the trail from erosion, and more than one person went down), so I did my best to avoid the crashes and started passing about halfway up. I think I got into about 3rd or 4th at the top, and was able to hold onto top 5 for the first lap. I even caught and passed Jason Walters (and then I promptly spun out on the Staircase climb right in front of him, sorry bro). I was feeling pretty good, or so I thought.

Lap 2, second time up the climb I was really feeling the heat. I could tell I was slowing and needed to recover. I tried to push it into the singletrack, but was still a bit woozy. I was able to hold off most challengers until the bottom, where about 4 guys got around me, one of them my teammate Jamison. There's a wicked, technical downhill section called "The Luge". As I made my way down I saw Jamison down off the trail with his bike on top of him. He was okay, but his race was over. Too bad, he was flying and I'm sure he would have caught Walters for some team points. About 10 seconds later I almost ate it after taking an s-curved downhill way too hot. My ass was about as far over my back tire as I could get it and I still thought I was going OTB. The tires finally gripped and it was back to racing. (Note to self: replace brake pads before next race.)

Lap 3, climb felt a bit better. The cold water splash from the feed station worked wonders and I was able to ramp it up a bit. I had lost some ground on Lap 2, but at least now I was able to maintain my pace. I could hear someone right on my wheel through the "Maze" section on the bottom, and could see Tom and a few others not too far behind. I gave it everything I had up the Staircase climb, passing one rider at the top of the lift. He grabbed my wheel and was right on me through the entire Luge section. When we popped out of the woods for the final 200-300 meters to the line, I popped it into the big ring and hammered. He was still right on me when we approached the final left-hand bend to the line. This is singletrack cutting across the grassy ski hill. He tried to pass on the outside in the grass which gave me the advantage and I held him off for the sprint finish. That was a lot of work for 8th place, but a small victory nonetheless.

8th out of 30 in my age group, 12th overall out of 98 Sport riders. 3 weeks until Red Wing to work on that second lap recovery and endurance. It was nice to have teammates to hang out with after the race, glad I joined PCR. Should have some photos soon.

You Can't Have Too Many Pictures of Your Dog

Jen snapped this the other night before the sun went down. How can you not love that dog? If we charged money to everyone who asked to pet her when we take her to a bike race, I'd have the entire season paid for.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

After 5 years of staring at ratty old doors and trim, I finally did something about it. The hardest part is getting everything level and plumb, especially in our house where everything is out of whack. I've got 3 of 6 installed, 2 completely done (installed, stained, hardware). Lot's of prep work, sanding and staining each surface twice, but totally worth it. Even without the trim installed it looks so much nicer (see second photo showing new door on left, old on right). Top photo you can catch a glimpse of the project supervisor peeking through the door.

NVGP-Mpls 3

A member of the Columbia contingent, flying past Brit's Pub and the overwhelmingly delicious aroma of fish and chips.

NVGP_Mpls 2

More scenes from the Minneapolis crit.

Nature Valley Grand Prix-Mpls 1

Your eventual stage winner, Health Net's Kirk O'Bee.

Dirt Spanker

Global warming sucks. Another hot race with brutal climbs. The Dirt Spanker at Mont du Lac starts at the bottom of the ski run and sends you all the way to the top. Once up top, it's all tight singletrack with some steep uphills and roaring descents. None of it is particularly smooth, with lots of roots and muddy ruts making for some tricky handling.

I was holding back a little on the first climb, and was able to pass most of the field before the singletrack. Second lap I felt okay, and even the third time up the big climb I didn't feel too bad. I was in about 5th, but about 1/4 of the way into the singletrack I started to fade. By the time I got to the downhill, Tom had gone around me. I stayed on his wheel as best I could until the final climb out. He spun out and walked and I caught up to him just as he got back on his bike. If he wasn't on my team I could have maybe pushed it to get around, but even that might not have happened. Ended up 8th out of 39, 16th overall. Not bad, but not great. At least we picked up some team points. Ton just missed Top Ten with a sweet wipeout on the downhill finish.

Spongebob

In a year or two I can tell my son that I know Spongebob and Patrick and I've got the Polaroid to prove it.

That's not how it looked in the brochure...

Doesn't look too bad, does it? Well, next time you book a reservation, be sure to take advantage of Google Maps new Street View option. Unfortunately, the room was booked already. See below for the "view". Also, FYI, not the greatest hotel. Go to Google Maps and enter this location: 60-30 Maurice Avenue, Maspeth, Queens
Then spin around and check out the neighborhood. I can't wait until this feature is available in more cities.

Even better at night

No tripod, so not the best, but it captures the fun and excitement that is the Comfort Inn and Suites in Maspeth, Queens. I love business travel. Got up at 4:00am yesterday for a 7:00am flight to JFK. Long cab ride to Manhattan. Walk trade show for 5 hours. Dinner at the Marriott Marquis. Long cab ride to hotel. Decide to bag second day of show. Cab to airport at 8:30am to try to get standby seat on an 11:30 flight back to Minneapolis. 1 seat available, which I took. The best part of the whole trip: getting to leave 6 hours early and getting an aisle seat on an exit row. Poor man's first class.

King of Queens

So, if you're the King of Queens, this is a view of your kingdom.
Glorious hotel room view from Maspeth, Queens, in what I can only describe as the Cemetery District.

New York by Cab -- Empire State Building

Another random shot down what I think is 35th St. Just happened to get part of the Empire State Building.

NYC by Cab -- Times Square

Times Square, looking north. Random shot holding camera out of cab window.

Murphy-Hanrehan

I got to ride the new trails at Murphy yesterday, and I was pleasantly surprised. There are 3 loops of increasing difficulty, resulting in about a 10 mile system. The thing I really like about this system is that it is very natural. There are a few bridges, a couple of stepped bridges between sections, and a "log of death", but 99.8% of this system looks like has existed long before the mountain bike was invented. I like Lebanon Hills, but after a while it feels a little gimmicky with all the log piles and other man-made obstacles. Murphy is technical without being gimmicky, with lots of sharp corners, some sustained climbing and fun downhills. It has a good combination of technical sections that keep you on your toes followed by open stretches to recover and flow.

I had time for a warm-up lap on the beginner loop followed by a beginner, intermediate and expert loop. I was maybe expecting something more "extreme" in the Expert loop, ala Lebanon, but after riding it I am glad MORC did what they did. If I want to ride a teeter-totter I can go to Leb. At Murphy, the terrain is the challenge, and for my money that's the way it should be. Sharp corners, bigger rocks, short steep climbs and some drops keep you focused on finding a good line and maintaining momentum. The entire system flows well from start to finish, and would be a blast on a single speed (next time).

Living in the north metro makes this a haul for me, but I'll definitely ride this again. I hope they can manage something close to this at Elm Creek or somewhere else in my neck of the woods. Nice job MORC and all involved.

Pants!

How does this kind of crap even make it into a courtroom?

Peace Coffee

After hanging out with and racing against the Peace Coffee gang for the past few years, Ton finally convinced me to join. I still love the Birchwood crew, but with the exception of Clayton, nobody races in the dirt. Peace Coffee is pretty much all mountain bikers, so for me it made sense. And, I got a pound of Sumatra java in my welcome kit. Can't beat that.

Even after my disaster at Afton, I'm in 7th overall in the series right now. Hopefully I will return to normal for the Dirt Spanker in two weeks. We'll see how the cruise intervals go tonight, and the Bwood hill ride tomorrow.

Photo by Skinnyski.com

A Perfect Storm

No sleep+feeling woozy+hot+humid+no water or food+Afton=Death march/bonkfest.

What was supposed to be my A race at Afton turned into my worst race ever, and probably my second worst day on the bike ever (I would consider the day I broke my collarbone better than this one). I could not fall asleep Saturday night. I took a sleeping pill which did nothing but make me feel loopy. Woke up tired and feeling weak and sick. Decided to race anyway. I didn't get my usual warm up, and felt pretty weak the few times I gave a hard effort. It was already in the 80's and humid by 10:30, and after standing over my bike in the sun for 15 minutes at the start line, I already felt worked. I could only find one of the energy gels I brought, so I didn't take one before the race like I usually do, saving it for later. Not good.

Race starts and as soon as we hit the first grassy climb I can tell it's going to be a long day. I've got nothing. No power, can't breathe. I was in the first 15 but after the Bridge Loop and Shady Lane I was completely cooked. The sun was killing me and to make matters worse I could not get anything out of my CamelBack for some reason. I gave up on racing and focused on finishing. I don't really know why I bothered since I knew I would throw this result away anyway. I guess I was hoping that I would somehow recover, which was a pipedream considering I had no water or energy drink and couldn't really try to suck down a gel with nothing to wash it down.

Somehow I didn't come in DFL, but 30th is about 27 places lower than I had planned on finishing and my worst finish ever in an MNSCS race (barring DNF's). 4th last week and 30th yesterday. Hopefully that's as bad as it will ever get.

Seaweed!!!

One of the best bands of the 90's is getting back together for a few shows in Seattle. Hopefully they'll hit Minneapolis. Of all the bands I have seen, I somehow never saw them live. It would be so, so sweet.

Hell has Officially Frozen Over

My buddy Grayson was in town this weekend for the Capitol Crit on Sunday. He asked if I wanted to ride on Saturday. I really didn't want to because of the hundreds of times we've ridden, it has never been leisurely, and I didn't want to blow up the day before my mountain bike race. We both promised to keep it mellow (again, that's happened hundreds of times before), and I met him and 2 other guys to do "the Loop" from St. Paul-Mendota-Mpls-St.Paul. Usually, I'd drop the hammer on the High Bridge climb, Grayson and Michael would contest every sprint sign, and John would be about 2 towns back trying to keep up.

Well, the 4 of us managed to get through the entire ride without even getting close to anaerobic. The High Bridge never felt so good -- granny gear all the way up, spinning and chatting the whole way. The only sprinting came in the last couple of miles to get out of a downpour. I'm still in shock.

Training Peaks

I forked over a C-Note to sign up for a Training Peaks plan back in January. It's hard to tell for sure, but I think the training plan has been going well. It killed my road racing in April, since I didn't want to peak that early. But off-road, my race times are several minutes faster than last year's. I'm not sure if that's due to better fitness, better strategy or a combination. I think the most helpful thing has been incorporating a rest week every 3-4 weeks. In the past, I would just go out and hammer every time I was on the bike. I'd usually be burned out by July.

Check out Training Peaks

MNSCS#2 Steeplechase

I used to hate this course, now I'm kinda diggin' it. They made a few changes and additions that seemed to help the race conditions, namely some tough climbs to thin the herd.

Top 10 in the series got a call-up to the front for the start, that was sweet (I was in 9th going in to this one). Prologue out the gravel road, then down into the ski area on the grass for some roller-coaster climbing, then back around the main building and into the singletrack. I went out as hard as I could and managed to get into the singletrack in about 5th position. The trail was pretty decent but corners were slick from the rain. I avoided any mistakes up top (narrowly avoiding Jaimison's faceplant) and exited to the twisty downhill leading to the new climb. NICE!! A loose, gravely, rocky, sandy climb where you can pass (unlike last year where it seemed like about 90% singletrack). Then, a super technical, steep climb back into the lower singletrack section. It bottlenecked a bit behind some of the first wave riders, but I was able to maintain a rhythm and keep the rubber side down.

New singletrack section on the bottom is pretty flat. It snakes through the woods and pops out into a grassy doubletrack. The grass is a real speed killer, which leads to the long climb back out. I was able to pass some guys and had clear sailing in front of me for lap 2. The only guy on my wheel was Brian from Silver Cycling, who I held off as long as I could. He had that little bit of energy I was lacking and went around me. I was getting pretty tired and starting to get a little squirrly on the bike. I came off the bike a couple of times in some technical sections, costing me some time, but no serious crashes. I ground out the climbs and came in about 30 seconds behind Brian for 4th place. I'll take it, this is a tough course, especially with the conditions today.

Next week, Afton, and possibly riding in new colors??? Stay tuned...

Man Utd sign Hargreaves

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/6707995.stm
The midfield is beginning to look pretty formidable. Hargreaves, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Ronaldo -- that's pretty much All-World right there, and one of those 5 wouldn't even get a start in the traditional 4-4-2. Now, how about some help at the back and a strike partner for Wayne Rooney? Get rid of Saha for starters, and I wouldn't lose much sleep if John O'Shea went bye -bye as well. Should be an interesting transfer season. Only 3 months to go until the Premiership resumes (please Lord, let it be in Hi-Def this year...).

It's (going to be) a Boy!

Had our Level 2 ultrasound this morning. After the genetic counselors terrified us with everything that could possibly be wrong, the scan showed a normal, healthy baby boy. We're not out of the woods 100% yet, but we feel much better. We were both certain it was going to be a girl -- just the first of many things we will be wrong on when it comes to the kid, I'm sure. Pictures tomorrow.

Erik's Spring Cup

First race of the 2007 mtb campaign. Cold, cloudy day, with temps struggling to get into the 50's. Not my kind of weather. I got a good warm up only to learn that the start had been moved back 30 minutes. So, I warmed up some more. When I got the starting area there were already about 10 rows of riders in front of me. I was able to move up to about 3rd row back at the gun, and made my way through the field in the prologue to about 15th. This course is pretty flat, so there aren't many places to drop someone and even fewer places to pass as it's all singletrack. I was able to make my way around a group of 3 riders in one of the prairie sections, and worked hard to keep reeling in riders. Once we hit the prologue section I was able to pass a few more riders and settled in for Lap 2. I was able to hold my position and by now was with 2 other riders, pushing the pace. I started to fade about halfway through the lap, but only got passed once. I did my best to keep on the wheel of the guy in front of me (who I had been on for the last half of the lap). Once we cleared the singletrack I was able to drop the guys behind me and tried to get around the guy in front of me. We had a full-on sprint for the line, where he got me by 3/4 of a bike. I got 9th in my age group (54 in our field), which I'm happy with on this course in cold weather. I got 13th overall out of 155 racers in Sport. Not too bad. Looking forward to a warmer race with some climbs.
Photos by SkinnySki.com

More cheaters

"It's unfair that cyclists have to prove our innocence. I am ready to do anything, but if I have to use DNA to demonstrate my innocence, I will leave cycling, because it's obvious that cycling like that isn't worth it." - Oscar Pereiro

It may be unfair that pro cyclists have to prove their innocence, but when the entire peloton allows this crap to go on unchecked for years, it's nobody's fault but their own. So, yes, innocent until proven guilty is dead, thanks to Landis, Basso, Ulrich, et al. The only way to restore any shred of credibility to this sport again is by moving forward with the assumption that everyone is guilty until they can prove otherwise.

So, back to Pereiro. You were the runner up in last year's Tour, robbed of the biggest victory of your career by a doper (oh, sorry, alleged doper). If you rode a clean race and were cheated out of the biggest victory of your career, wouldn't you really want to do anything you possibly could to make sure your honesty and integrity remained intact? Especially considering you will be declared the winner of the Tour when (oh, sorry again, if) Landis is stripped of the title? Wouldn't you be the first in line to give DNA samples?

Of course you would, if it wasn't for the fact that you're just as bad as Landis yourself. If you weren't a doper, you would be the loudest proponent on planet Earth for stricter testing. Either that, or you really don't care about winning the toughest sporting event in the world, and your profession's highest honor. Which is more believable?

Floyd

http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/12271.0.html

Could it be more obvious that Floyd is guilty? After spewing out a new excuse every day after the Tour for why he failed a doping control, he now pulls this crap. If by some miracle he was actually innocent, I could care less. What a prick. Please, just shut up and go away. Better yet, be a man, admit you're a cheater and let the rest of us enjoy this year's Tour without having to endure your dog and pony show.

Trout

Met Brad and his brother and father-in-law Saturday for some evening fly fishing on the Rush. Brad and I jumped in the Trimbelle by the Gas Lite bar while we were waiting for Grant and Jerry to show up. Despite a never ending stream of people walking right down to the water where I was fishing, I managed to get two small browns out of a riffle. Once everyone was there, we headed over to the Rush. Cars everywhere, so we decided to hike in through a small coulee. Some local comes up the road, super pissed. In a Dick Cheney voice he keeps yelling, "Dutch Coulee, Dutch Coulee!" or something like that. He looked about a case-and a-half of Miller Lite's into the evening, so we headed up the road and fished Lost Creek, 3rd bridge up. I hiked up past the curve and worked the tailout of a small riffle. Caught two nice-sized brookies on a Yellow Humpy. I forgot how much fun it is watching a trout smack a dry fly off the surface. We headed back down to find Grant and Jerry, and hiked into the Rush. I found a nice riffle that tailed-out into an elbow shaped pool. I pulled in 5 nice browns on a Bead Head Prince (#18) in the course of about 45 minutes. Then it died down. I hiked upstream and worked a couple of sections with no luck. We met Grant and walked back down towards the pool I started at and waited for Jerry. I made a few casts into the pool and hit my best fish of the day, a nice fat brown trout, about 12-13 inches. With the sun dipping behind the bluffs, we called it a day and headed back to the Gas Lite.

At the Gas Lite, there was some hillbilly band playing AC/DC, Joe Cocker and countless other "classic rock" hits at the bar. The best part was this one yokel doing some crazy Elaine Bennis/Seinfeld dance around the bar (with shoes removed for better sliding action). Earlier in the day there was a car-smashing event, and according to the sign out front, "Thrsdays all can beer $1". Yes folks, this is the land of my ancestors.

Afton ride

Rolled with the fast group last night from Mahtomedi to Afton, about 40 miles. "Warm up" consisted of immediate tempo and pacelining, which gradually ramped up as we neared Afton. When we got to Valley Creek the entire group missed the turn except for Brian and me. So, instead of killing each other up Trading Post, we kept it somewhat sane. When the wrong-way riders went by us on Old 95, Brian turned around and joined them. I didn't know he did this until I looked over my shoulder and saw the whole group way up the hill behind me. Hooray!

So, now I was in solo mode (much like last year's ride where I flatted at the top of Trading Post). I made my way into Afton and saw 4 riders from one of the ride's other groups. They were just putting along, so I decided to fly by and hopefully catch somebody else along the way, and work to latch back onto the group. I passed a few stragglers up Indian, but no one had the legs to work together. Same story on Hudson, I passed about 5 guys but nobody grabbed my wheel. One guy latched-on on Neal, and by that time I could see another group just up the road. I said, "let's go get 'em!" but he didn't pull through and eventually fell off. I could still catch glimpses of the group about half of a mile ahead, so I went into time trial mode. After much suffering, I latched on at Lake Elmo. Feeling surprisingly good, I went to the front and proceeded to pull 99% of the way back to Mahtomedi. I was actually able to put in attacks on the last two climbs and stay off the front. Why the hell can't I ride like that in a race?

Cravings

And so it begins...
Last night we drove to Target at 8:30 to buy a marble cake with frosting. I'm sure this will be the first of many such impromptu trips.

Glory, Glory Man United!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/6630511.stm

Anyone who knows me knows how freaking happy I am today!! It was pretty painful having to root for Arsenal, but well worth it. Wednesday's match with Chelsea is gonna be so, so sweet. If we can beat them at Stamford Bridge and beat them again in the FA Cup, I may have to make a temporary exemption to my nine-month moratorium on adult beverages.

Ken Woods

Let's start with the weather—absolutely perfect. Pre-race temps were in the 60's with a WNW wind of about 10mph. That meant a tailwind up Sogn Hill, sweet. Last year, it was raining sideways and about 45 or 50 degrees with a monster wind.

Not wanting to race the extra lap with the 3/4's I rolled with the Masters 4/5 30+. We had around 70 guys in this race, wow. It was Tom, FPA and me representing the Blue Train. Tom managed to start right at the front, I was about 10 back and FPA was somewhere behind me I think. Neutral start to the first turn and then WHAM! it's on! Immediately there's a break of about 5 guys, and at this point I can't see who's in it. Once we hit the rollers I catch a glimpse of Blue and realize Tom made the selection. There was a mob of GP and Silver Cycling guys at the front trying to organize the chase. I wasn't sure if the break was serious at this point, so I just sat in and watched. After the 2nd turn, it looked like the break was actually putting some time into us, and the GP & SC boys were trying to ramp it up. I was squeezed on the centerline trying to stay out of the crosswind, but eventually swung around and got on the front and started blocking. I was able to keep doing this for the first lap all the way to the climb before the chase group got really strung out. Those repeated forays into the wind were taking their toll on me and I fell off a bit on the climb. The back of the chase was agonizingly close in front of me, but I couldn't reattach. Finally, a 5 man group swept me up and we traded pulls, finally bridging back mid-way through the east-west section after turn 2. Once we were back, I immediately went to the front and started blocking again. I could see Tom and the breakaway were still away with a good gap, awesome! I kept trying to disrupt the chase until the smaller climb by the river, where I got attacked. I knew I wouldn't reattach this time, but I was hoping that was job done for me. Another groupetto formed and we tried working together, but it didn't really pan out. At least one of the 2 LSC guys gave it a try. He was kind of pissed at his teammate for not getting it. 3 of them tried attacking us on that smaller hill, but we let them go, and swept them up shortly thereafter. Once our group hit the bottom of Sogn Hill I went. I shelled those guys and swept up another rider or two on the way up. It didn't matter at all for my overall placing, but it felt great! Better yet, Tom managed to stay away the entire race and wound up in 3rd (despite breaking a spoke and a brake issue!).

Long story short, this race exemplifies why I love this sport. It really is a team endeavor, and even when you are outnumbered 2 or 3 to 1 by other teams, if you play your cards right you can control the entire race. Big, big props to Tom for crushing it all day. Not sure how FPA fared but I know he finished, which is always a good thing.

News!

We're a little further along so we can finally make it public. Jen is doing well. No morning sickness, just really tired. Due date is October 15th. We won't know if it's a boy or a girl for about 2 months. They did this ultrasound because the doctor wasn't able to find a heartbeat using the doppler. It turns out that was because the baby was moving around too much to get a good reading, everything's fine. Pretty cool!

March Madness

March is my least favorite month of the year. It's such a tease. It's all like, "Hey man, it's 65 degrees out today, spring is here!" one day, and then it's, "Uh, yeah, about that spring thing...I was just kidding. Here's some more cold and snow beyatch".

Two days ago it was 65 and sunny and all I needed were arm/leg warmers and a vest to ride. Yesterday it was in the 30's, cloudy, windy and snowing. I made the mistake of not wearing warm gloves and paid the price. Completely frozen fingers, which took a painful 10-15 to thaw to the point where I could use them again. I guess it's good training for Ken Woods.

Portfolio

I just don't have the time to update my portfolio website, so I'm transitioning over to blog mode. Not as polished, but I'd rather get some more recent work out there now than wait for "freetime" to add it to my website. See what I do for a living at: vertci.blogspot.com

Pike Place Pigs

Among the strange sights near the Pike Place market in Seattle was this storefront full of nothing but giant pig sculptures. I'm not sure what the deal is, maybe it's a porcine armada getting ready to rise up against the baconistas.

Snow

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 15" of snow between Saturday and Sunday. I had a 3 hour Zone 2 training ride scheduled, but I think 4 hours of shoveling was good enough reason to skip the trainer. My octogenarian neighbor saved my ass by brining his snowblower across the street and clearing some of the driveway for me. He is about as good of a neighbor as you could ever hope for. I'll have to get a picture of the cupholder he built for inside the "bubble" of his snowblower. Sweet!

Today the power was out when I went home for lunch. Good times. Hopefully that isn't a long-term deal or it's gonna be a bit chilly at the Van Ert estate.

HDTV

This also helps make the indoor riding sessions less painful. 60" Sony SXRD 1080p Rear Projection HDTV. Maybe by next winter I'll have a CompuTrainer hooked up to this bad boy. Or at least a PS3. All I can say is analog tv is for suckas. When Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV go HD I may never leave the house. And watching the Tour this July? I'll be able to see the needle marks on the cheaters arms...

Trainer -vs- Outside

Trainer wins.
2 hours and 35 minutes of pedalling and going nowhere. Watched the Manchester United/Tottenham match, which killed about 2 hours of the ride. This is a recovery week with a fitness test on Saturday, so no indoor death marches until next week.

Sea to Sky Highway

http://www.leanbackvids.com/videoblog/action-sports/road-to-whistler/
Came across this video of the drive from Vancouver to Whistler. Cool way to use Google Earth. Wish he would have gotten more footage of the Sea to Sky Highway. That is one of the coolest drives I have ever done, and sadly I have only some crappy shots taken from inside a moving car to show for it.

Why do I live here again?

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN HAS ISSUED
A WIND CHILL ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING
TO 12 PM CST MONDAY.

A PROLONGED PERIOD OF SUB-ZERO TEMPERATURES...COUPLED WITH BRISK
NORTHWEST WINDS...WILL CAUSE DANGEROUS WIND CHILL CONDITIONS
THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. THE MOST HAZARDOUS WIND CHILLS ARE
EXPECTED DURING THE LATE EVENING THROUGH EARLY MORNING TIME
PERIODS. WIND CHILLS FROM MINUS 25 TO NEARLY MINUS 40 DEGREES ARE
EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND
WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN.

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS
WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE LOW WIND CHILLS. THIS WILL RESULT IN
FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.
IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS...MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND
GLOVES. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...BE SURE YOUR CAR IS EQUIPPED WITH A
WINTER SAFETY KIT IN CASE OF EMERGENCY.

Sushi Whore

Mashiko Sushi in West Seattle. Hole in the wall with really, really good sushi (if you're willing to wait a couple of hours for a table). Seems like you can't swing a dead cat in Seattle without hitting a sushi place. Not a bad problem to have.

Punk Rock Breakfast

I'll take punk rock with a side of hip hop.
Easy Street in West Seattle. Sweet record store, cafe, live band venue. Where else can you buy Gorillaz action figures, get an omelet and catch a show? Sorry, I was too groggy to operate a camera, so this will have to do.

Zoe

Here's Zoe after a week at Downtown Dogs. She's not used to playing with other dogs much, and she was part of a pack for a week straight. She had fun, but she was worn out. She slept for 2 days straight.

Seattle Waterfront

Best Radio Station on Earth

Seattle

The view from the rooftop garden of our hotel. Not too shabby. Even better on a clear day, but it is Seattle. Right across from Pike Place Market, which is apparently the homeless capital of the world.

Whistler Summit

Rode the gondola and chair all the way to the top of Whister, more than a mile of vertical. The chair to the peak was a bit sketchy, about 100 feet in the air over jagged cliffs. Once on the summit it's all alpine bowls or out of bounds on all sides. After floating in the 12cm (it is Canada, ey) of fresh snow for about 20 minutes, my legs were burning and we still had about 5,000 vertical feet to go. Unbelievable snow, best I've ever ridden in. Had the two most spectacular crashes ever on the way down. Lot's of facewash, but no real damage.

After lunch Craig and I hit the Super G/Downhill run that will be in the 2010 Olympics. Those guys are crazy. Rode until our legs wouldn't work anymore and called it a day.

Me Likey Snow

The view from our condo in the Upper Village. We were a short walk from the Blackcomb lifts, and spent day one on Blackcomb. I believe it when they say this is the largest ski resort in North America. The place is absolutely ginormous. We spent all day on Blackcomb and didn't see more than a quarter of it at most.

Whistler

Looks like the weather may cooperate for once. The drive from Seattle to Vancouver and Whistler should be pretty spectacular. I should have internet access most of the trip, so I hope to be updating daily. It'll be nice to be able catch a glimpse of Zoe now and then with the webcams while she's at Downtown Dogs, too.

Now lets hope I remember how to do this snowboarding thing...