Bust

Racing this year in MN and WI has kind of been a bust with the weather =(  The weather has left us all monitoring the radar and twitter feeds daily for trail conditions (racing or just riding). 

Anyway, here is my early season update, well almost mid season now I guess:

1.  The Camba Epic was a great race. I had a great battle w/ some fast guys on sweet trails up there.  Gone are the days of double XC weekends so I missed MNMBS Mankato that weekend.  It just is not in the cards for me to pull doubles, as family time is too important to me.
2.  I had planned to do Cheq 100 this past weekend, but they postponed the race at the 11th hour.  We had a family get away planned at a cabin for the weekend and everything.  I was VERY disappointed but respect their decision.  Lets just say that I was prepared for this race.  I will definitely be there in Sept to give it a go.  Then Sunday, the day of the Red Wing MNMBS, was my wife Jen's birthday.  I am not going to try that one after all her patience w/ racin!  Plus, I have done enough muddy Red Wing races for a lifetime.
3.  I really want to do about 25 races this year (including 5-7 snow bike races).  I have done 35 mountain bike races per year for the past 5 years.  My family has been patient and enjoyed time doing this, but they no longer want to spend 2 out of 3 summer Sundays baking out in the hot sun.  I don't blame them.  That said, the kids still LOVE the shorter closer buck hill races=)
4.  Races like Cheq 100 and Maah Daah Hey 100, which I am also doing, are interesting and exciting to me because they are true mtbk races (not just mtbks on gravel).  After 10 year of only XC racing (yes, it is has been that long) it is time to try something different.  These longer mountain bike races also pair well with fewer races, as long races mean longer rides during the summer and more rest after the races.  I do still have interest in some grass roots gravel road racing, but NOT the corporate stuff.
5.  I just love riding my bike every day=)   Too much racing can get in the way of that if you want to be ready and rested on race day.  I don't ride to race, I race to ride. 


So near term, I will be back at Buck this week and plan to do Buck this weekend.  Then it will be off to Hayward for family vaca.  Ben, Brad and I plan to rock the trails there for a week.
Looking further out I plan to be at the Lester Park race in a couple weeks.  Looking beyond that, I have a mish-mash of MNMBS, the MDH 100, maybe Wausau 12 hour, and for SURE Laddies Loppet.  I am guessing I will have no trouble filling out that 25 race schedule!!

Now, if it would just not rain for more than 24 hours...

Cheers