2 bucks

While I wussed out on the first Buck Hill, I have made it to the last couple and they have been just the kick the calves that I needed.

The most exciting news happened at the second one and it had nothing to do with me. I took the pedals off a larger bike we had so Tegan could use it as a big "Strider" bike per some advice from Tyson. I was getting ready to leave for the race and Tegan demanded that I put pedals back on, so I did. Then to my surprise he started cruising down the hill in our front yard while pedaling. To that point, he had abosolutely refused to try, and I didn't want to push him. Well, by the time I saw him after the Buck race that night, he was cruising around the parking lot on his own 2 wheels! He proceeded (with a little help) to race on 2 wheels that night. From there, he has progressed right into base training putting in nearly 2 hour yesterday=)

The first buck hill saw me dropping a chain on the first lap. After a 45-60 second repair the chase was on. Luckily, I already had a gap when it happened. I chased down Jesse, who is riding strong, with a lot of effort and attacked on the final lap for the win. The second race saw nearly 250 competitors, 6? waves of kid racers and 100+ in the advanced mens race alone! There can't be too many other weekday series in the nation that attract numbers like that. Awesome! With some new faces out there I put it in a fairly hard effort from the gun. My "start" fitness is not there yet but it is coming along and that is why I do these races. I always say it, but the Buck hill races, given that they are only ~50 min, are about as painful as racing gets. Because I use it as my mid-week-stay-fit session, I go hard the whole time independent of where I am in the race (unless there is a double race or something the following weekend).

I have to say thanks to Trek and Tyson/Freewheel for getting me rolling after the Salem Hills race in time for Buck this week. Needless to say, the moving parts of the bike needed some love! If you haven't been to the new store in Eden Prairie, stop by some time. The staff is super friendly and some of the most knowledgeable bike shope mountain biking crew around.

I have made some recent equipment mods and will type about them in the coming weeks. The race bike is very nearly dialed....