skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Racing is hard enough without being attacked by bees. Left ankle is so swollen I can't bend it. Right one is gaining on it. Lot's of people got stung, some of us multiple times. I've got several. They must like the taste of Accelerade and PowerGel. Ray Nickles got nailed. Check out the Mickey Mouse hand here.
Most technical course in the series, hands down. Top and bottom photos are from the infamous "Lakeside Drops". It doesn't look like much from a photo, but it's about a 12-15 foot drop that goes straight down to the edge of the lake and takes a 90 degree left. If you manage to not go over the bars before the bottom, you've still got to make that turn or you go into the drink. Naturally, it's the number one spectator spot on the course. The vultures are out in full-force, waiting for the endo. Personally, I think this is the easiest drop on the whole course. It gets a whole lot scarier back in the woods, with steep, twisty drops between trees and over roots and rocks. Fortunately I made it through the paparazzi both laps. I didn't fare so well on some of the other sections. I went sailing over the bars once but managed to grab a tree to keep from killing myself. I spun out on a couple of technical climbs and I got off and ran 2 incredibly technical drops on the backside of the course both laps. There are no style points, so I'd rather run instead of crash.
It's a tough course, did I mention that? Guys were flying, falling and flailing everywhere. I finally got into as much of a groove as I could and got a gap. The lead group was gone, but I didn't have anyone right on my ass, so I could relax a bit on tactics and focus more on riding. It seemed to help as my second lap was much better. I cleared pretty much everything I tried to ride and knew where I was better off doing some cyclocross. I had some issues with my pedals, which cost me some time but at this point the podium was gone anyway. Somebody must have kicked up a beehive, because I got stung at least three times on both legs. Feeling the burn had a whole new meaning. It actually woke me up a bit. I let one guy pass since I knew I'd hold him up but other than that, I held my ground. I was able to finish strong and somehow wound up 5th.
Not bad considering how poorly I felt and rode the day before. I was 90% sure I was going to drive back home on Saturday, I just wasn't feeling it. I got maybe an hour or two of very interrupted sleep in the tent on Saturday night. To make matters worse, there was a power outage in the buildings and the Xcel Energy trucks were out digging and working in the campground at 4:00am. The only reason I even lined up was because I had already paid for it. My plan was to stay upright on Lap 1 and see if I had anything in the tank for Lap 2. Adrenaline is a powerful drug. One race to go, and since Kevin won today, I'm now in 4th. If Ryan shows up at St. Cloud, I'm pretty much looking at 5th for the season. Oh well.
Kudos to the Richards family and Maplelag Resort for the best event of the season. The course is masochistic, but the hospitality is unbeatable. Getting a call-up to the starting line was pretty sweet, too. Thanks to Skinnyski.com for the photos. That otb shot is an instant classic. Glad it wasn't me getting posterized.
Snapping a rear derailleur last week wasn't enough, so I had to smack a tree and tweak an XTR brake lever at Elk River on Sunday as well. Luckily, Curly was able to bend it back into functionality again, so I didn't have to shell out for a new one. If you're looking for good mechanics, go to Now Bikes in Arden Hills and ask for Mike or Curly.
My wife rules! Baby's gonna be rockin' the full-on Manchester United kit. Real deal, direct from the UK. Awesome.
Despite a complete meltdown at Afton, a disappointing race at Red Wing and an exploding derailleur at the Powder Monkey, I'm sitting in third. Ryan will definitely bump me to 4th and Kevin will probably bump me to 5th. I'm skipping 24 Hours of Afton and doing the last two MNSCS races instead. I've still got an outside shot at Top 4, plus we've still got team points on the line.
Derailleur Not Function. Duluth Not Favorite. Did Not Finish.
Second year in a row I've crashed out of this race. Guy in front of me goes over a log pile in front of a bridge. He knocks a log loose (which comes flying towards me) and goes down. I avoid the log, get around him and onto the bridge, but my momentum carries me too far left. Back wheel slips over the edge, derailleur snaps and I go down down hard onto a shingle covered bridge. Bike is toast and my arm is shredded. I was 5th place in the middle of Lap 2 and feeling good. I had about a 2 minute gap on the guys behind me, and I was reeling in a couple guys in front of me. I'm still pissed off today. I know there's nothing you can do about that kind of stuff, but it's frustrating as hell to finally be feeling good and riding well on perhaps the toughest course in the series only to have your bike explode.
So, weekend summary:
Saturday pre-ride: gash/dent shin on rock (the kind of pain that makes you feel like puking)
Driving-5 hours, $50 in gas
Hotel - $175
Meals- $50
Race - $32
Derailleur replacement/hangar repair (if hangar can be bent back) - $250-300
You do the math, I don't want to know.
Then driving home, driver's side windshield wiper literally explodes. There's metal scraping the glass and I can't see. So we had about a 20 minute detour to deal with that. Then at North Branch there's an accident so we are stop and go for about 15 minutes. I haul ass and make it to the bike shop in Shoreview at 4:58 and they are all leaving and have locked up for the day. Best day ever. Oh, I won a Trek baseball hat and a Giro water bottle at the race, so I guess that makes it worthwhile. Best $600 water bottle ever.
Some more pics from Sunday. Thanks Dana!
Always fun to race the former NORBA national course. We prerode on Saturday in a monsoonal downpour, and most of the course was unridable. It rained more Saturday night, so I feared the worst for Sunday. The course was actually in pretty good shape, with some muddy spots where you had to run up.
It was a mass start of 98 riders that starts up a climb. I didn't want to go too hard on the prologue lap, but I didn't want to get stuck in any traffic jams either. So I found a good tempo and hit the singletrack about 10 back. I passed a few people who went too hard and by the first big climb on lap 1 I was doing okay. Some of the singletrack was still greasy, so the first lap was all about trying to find the best lines through, and knowing when to get off and run. I misjudged a couple of sections which cost me a bit. Then came "the Wall". This is a super steep climb straight up the ski run. I couldn't find a dry line through it so I had to run the middle section. I was able to recover a bit in the singletrack and was settling into a good pace, feeling good on a technical climb when my front wheel suddenly went sideways and I went down. No injuries or mechanicals, but it cost valuable time.
As I rolled through for Lap 2 I was in 14th overall, with no idea where I was in my age group. I was really suffering on the first big climb, but managed to pass a couple of guys. Had to walk part of the Wall again, but was able to ramp it up after that. I got passed coming out of the singletrack and played leapfrog with another guy for the last half of the lap. First guy held me off, but I was able to pull away from the other guy on the last climb and passed a singlespeeder on the downhill switchbacks. 5th place in my age group, 13th out of 98 overall. Next week, Spirit Mountain.
Photo from Skinnyski.com (thanks!)
If the most dominant team in cycling for the past 9 years can't find a sponsor, who will be next? I'm hoping this trend doesn't trickle down to the local club level. But right now, who can blame anyone for not wanting to be associated with the embarrassment that was the Tour this summer?
I think I'm in. I have to decide by tomorrow to hit registration cutoff or else the price goes way up day of race.
I've got 5 out of 6 doors installed, and one side of the trim. It looks so much better already. I have to notch out the last door jamb to fit the attic stairs. I'm not looking forward to that.
TDF winner Alberto Contador has announced he will be giving a press conference on Friday. Will it be Floyd Landis all over again? Story on VeloNews. Andrey Kashechkin tested positive for homologous blood doping and was suspended from Astana. Astana is making T-Mobile look like choir boys. I'm still waiting for Kloden to get busted.
I've been having serious thoughts of doing the 24 Hours of Afton solo. The sleep deprivation would be good training for when the baby gets here in October. Am I crazy? We'll see how my next two races go. I will probably not decide until a few days before the race.
Zoe keeps sniffing Jen's stomach. I think she knows somethings going on.
http://flickr.com/photos/s4xton/sets/72157601157770382/
These photos are unreal. Having driven over this bridge literally thousands of times, it definitely hits home. Especially considering the what ifs. What if my wife would have left work just a bit later than usual that day and her bus drove over the bridge at 6:00 instead of 5:00? Or what if I hadn't exited before the bridge since I was running late on my way downtown Wednesday? The last 3-4 times I've driven down for the Hill Ride on Wednesday evenings, I've pretty much flipped a coin as to whether or not I should take 35W to downtown or take 280. The last time I took the bridge, traffic crept from University to the Hiawatha exit, so this time since it was already 5:45, I decided to exit on 280. I made it across the river on Franklin Ave right about 6:00. God only knows what would have happened if I had just kept going south on 35W, just as I had so many times before.
On our ride, I kept hearing people's cell phones ringing, but thought nothing of it. Heard lots of sirens, thought nothing of it. When we rolled back to Minneapolis on River Road and saw masses of people out walking, I thought there must be some kind of event going on. Once back at the Birchwood at about 8:00 I heard the bridge had collapsed and there were dozens of cars in the river. As I made my way out of Seward and across Lake Street I saw entire neighborhoods gathered in front yards listening to their radios. State Patrol was out in force on 35W north of 36, shutting down the freeway and setting up detours. My cell phone was useless with the volume of calls, and Jen was at home wondering for 3 hours which way I had taken downtown.
I got home around 9:00 and Jen gave me a big hug when I walked in the door. I saw the footage on TV and then heard what time it happened. That's when it all began to sink in. Absolutely insane.
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
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).
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A member of the Columbia contingent, flying past Brit's Pub and the overwhelmingly delicious aroma of fish and chips.
More scenes from the Minneapolis crit.
Your eventual stage winner, Health Net's Kirk O'Bee.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Another random shot down what I think is 35th St. Just happened to get part of the Empire State Building.
Times Square, looking north. Random shot holding camera out of cab window.
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.
How does this kind of crap even make it into a courtroom?
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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...
Racing is hard enough without being attacked by bees. Left ankle is so swollen I can't bend it. Right one is gaining on it. Lot's of people got stung, some of us multiple times. I've got several. They must like the taste of Accelerade and PowerGel. Ray Nickles got nailed. Check out the Mickey Mouse hand here.
Most technical course in the series, hands down. Top and bottom photos are from the infamous "Lakeside Drops". It doesn't look like much from a photo, but it's about a 12-15 foot drop that goes straight down to the edge of the lake and takes a 90 degree left. If you manage to not go over the bars before the bottom, you've still got to make that turn or you go into the drink. Naturally, it's the number one spectator spot on the course. The vultures are out in full-force, waiting for the endo. Personally, I think this is the easiest drop on the whole course. It gets a whole lot scarier back in the woods, with steep, twisty drops between trees and over roots and rocks. Fortunately I made it through the paparazzi both laps. I didn't fare so well on some of the other sections. I went sailing over the bars once but managed to grab a tree to keep from killing myself. I spun out on a couple of technical climbs and I got off and ran 2 incredibly technical drops on the backside of the course both laps. There are no style points, so I'd rather run instead of crash.
My wife rules! Baby's gonna be rockin' the full-on Manchester United kit. Real deal, direct from the UK. Awesome.
Despite a complete meltdown at Afton, a disappointing race at Red Wing and an exploding derailleur at the Powder Monkey, I'm sitting in third. Ryan will definitely bump me to 4th and Kevin will probably bump me to 5th. I'm skipping 24 Hours of Afton and doing the last two MNSCS races instead. I've still got an outside shot at Top 4, plus we've still got team points on the line.
Derailleur Not Function. Duluth Not Favorite. Did Not Finish.
I think I'm in. I have to decide by tomorrow to hit registration cutoff or else the price goes way up day of race.
I've got 5 out of 6 doors installed, and one side of the trim. It looks so much better already. I have to notch out the last door jamb to fit the attic stairs. I'm not looking forward to that.
I've been having serious thoughts of doing the 24 Hours of Afton solo. The sleep deprivation would be good training for when the baby gets here in October. Am I crazy? We'll see how my next two races go. I will probably not decide until a few days before the race.
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.
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.
Top: Zoe, Siggie, Sadie, Jack, Me.
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.
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.
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.
A member of the Columbia contingent, flying past Brit's Pub and the overwhelmingly delicious aroma of fish and chips.
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.
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.
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
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.
So, if you're the King of Queens, this is a view of your kingdom.
Another random shot down what I think is 35th St. Just happened to get part of the Empire State Building.
Times Square, looking north. Random shot holding camera out of cab window.
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.
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.
