14 mile skinny

Winter blogging laziness is in full effect.

Update: I've been daddying, riding, playing hockey, and recovering/relaxing when I can. The focus lately has been on teaching Tegan how to skate=)

I did spend the last couple Sundays racing up at Elk River. The first weekend was spent on the 4" fatties pedaling through mashed potatoes. It was definitely the toughest conditions I have pugged in, and maybe ever ridden in period, given the collective set of skills required to keep the bike moving. Rich (Ohmdahl the race director) always has a smile on his face, but that day a massive bonk proved to be and effective smile-eraser...that is, until he got his post race Red Bull and hotdog down=).
The second weekend race was 2 laps on a regular bike. The conditions were just about as good as snow singletrack can get. After a scrum of a start and some recovery redlining, I had a blast riding what equated to a 18-inch wide 14-mile long twisty turny up and down skinny.

Next: Pugfest....

January Motivation

Casey Devin Moore

Casey is here! She is such a cute little peanut=) I think we will get to go home in a few ours, and we (she and I) are going to take the pugsley with the burley ski attachment. Just kidding, but how awesome would that be? That said, I did ride the pug to her delivery (long story, but trust me, it was the logical choice).
Now that we have 2 grandchildren who need to see Gramma and Grampa a lot, we may have find more reasons to make the trek home to Roch. Here is a good one: Alamanzo. Maybe I can get Fisher, the O's and some others to come down and play on the Rochester gravel. Can it be won on a dual suspension 26" bike? Oh, in other news, I will likely have the opportunity to race for a new team this year. More to come later on that.

The Bank of Pain And Suffering

To steal one from Bobke: I have made some hefty deposits lately. Bonksville, population me.

Jen is preparing to make the mother of all deposits soon....

'Tis the Season

For 3 PSI

I am so confusing now....

As one of my good Asian friends said to me one morning, "Brendan, I am so confusing now."

Is anyone else so confusing about this?
http://singletrack.competitor.com/2009/12/news/usa-cycling-forging-on-with-pro-xct-series_4925

IMO, this is probably why grass roots /local racing and endurance mtbk racing has become more popular here in the US. I am not complaining at all because I love the way our local series (WORS and MNSCS specifically) and one day races are run in the Midwest. Maybe this is how mtbk racing is supposed to be.

Closure Thoughts

My season is over and has been for a while. After racing with a cold/flu at 24 of Moab I got really sick, and I just didn't feel the desire to race much when I recovered. Mind you, I did not stop riding=) In fact between riding and hockey, I end up with more "hours" in this time of year that I do during the season. I hesitate to call what I do (ever) as training...sometimes I ride hard, really hard, and sometimes I don't. I always play hockey hard, but that is the nature of the sport. Either way, I am excited every day I get to ride my bike!

This past season I had much more success than I expected, and I felt pretty strong and stayed fit most of the year. I was pumped to win the MNSCS again, and the only real downer was not winning in Moab. I can think of a few reasons why things went well: less structured riding, more rest, better equipment, more lax attitude. However, most of what drove me was the loss of my son Ty. I dedicated and will continue to dedicate every race to him, as he never had the chance to experience the thrill of racing. Any time I was really suffering, he was there giving me an extra little push... I look forward to more of those little angel nudges next year=)