#5

You can find my race recap on Skinnyski.com.

Equipment:  I am officially crazy about my new Rock Shox Monarch RT3 rear shock.  The Shimano Shadow Plus rear derr continues to impress as well.  Also, I will be trying a hardtail solution again (in addition to dually) this fall and into next year.  This looks sweet, but bigger things might be coming out in a few weeks.

Next up is vacation.  I am bummed to be missing Elk River, but this will be a much needed break after 20 races so far this year...

Run, Run, Run Away Baby

My family and I headed up to Duluth early Sunday for the MNMBS race at Lester Park.  Casey has never been a good traveler, and this trip was no exception.  Jen, Tegan and I were serenaded with crying, some screaming, and whining... until Jen put on the right hip-hop song.  I think it is called “Run Away Baby,” although that type of music is WAY out of my wheelhouse.  That said, a course like Lester is right in my wheelhouse…

The course at Lester is rocky, rooty, and punchy.  Simply put, Lester park is another classic Duluth-style trail that requires a lot more than just a motor to do well.  At the start, Jesse set a hard but not too hard pace up the couple mile gradual grassy ski trail climb (only done on the first lap). Jesse, Scotty, and I knew what was coming in the woods and everyone else in the lead group of 6 or so must have too, because as soon as  the trail hit the woods it got very punchy and it is easy to go POP …something like 5-10s full on then 5-10s handling/down for the next ½ lap.  I jumped ahead of Jesse as did Scotty KJ when we entered the singletrack.  As I mentioned, this kind of track suits me well, and I thoroughly enjoy trying to go fast when 2 wheel slides, up hill sprinting, and bike flicking are part of the game.  I never looked back and had ~3 min going into the final lap.  Disappointingly, I did suffer some slight cramping for the first time this year, but downing most of my Gu Roctane bottle fixed that in about 1 minute (that drink mix has magical powers…my brother and wife have experienced it as well on hard rides/races).   I slowed it down on the uphills the last lap and finished with that same 3 min on Jesse who picked up his pace and put a gap on Scotty KJ.  I am pretty sure my dehydration was a buildup of nearly 4 days of constantly fighting 95 degree temps with mid 70’s dew points….and not resting, as Ben was in town=)

Equipment: I am totally sold on the new XR1 up front and XR0 in the rear for racing.  I would throw the XR1 on the rear in dustier or slightly moist conditions.   I also finally got a Monarch RT3 rear shock to match my SID fork… I haven’t had it long enough to do an honest review, but initial impressions are great.

Sunday night we stayed down on Canal Park in Duluth.  We had a nice relaxing evening throwing rocks in the lake (one of our smaller household members’ favorite past times).  Monday, we hung out for a while before the limited sleep induced melt-downs started ;-)

Until next time (Buck Hill)….    

Some Equipment Notes

Without much other than Buck Hill for racing the past couple weeks (IMO the best way to stay fit or get fit are mid week races), I figured I should update on a few equipment things.
Oh, I should mention that I skipped my second planned gravel road race of the year (first being Ragnarok), Lutsen 99er.  After Red Wing I wasn't up for any more mud, and I guess I was not alone, as I don't see anyone that finished the Red Wing Elite race in the Lutsen results!

Ok, equipment:
1.  I got a hold of a new Shadow Plus Shimano Rear Derailleur.  The thing is ridiculously awesome.  Remember that debacle in Red Wing a couple weeks ago?  Yeah, I had no chain suck or shifting issues in that muck.  Besides keeping the drivetrain silent, it is a little known fact that the shadow plus eliminates chain suck!  All manf will be putting a clutch like this on the rear derr's in the near future...or they will be left behind.
2.  As things dry out (and get dusty), I am falling more in love with the Bontrager XR1 tire.  I have that on the front and a XR0 on the rear now.  I raced it at buck last week and am going to keep it that way for a while.
3.  For grips this year, I am doing 1 layer of bar tape over the ESI silicon grips.  This is holding its shape over time better than 2 layers of tape.  If you like a bigger soft grip, try this.
4.  The Rock Shox SID continues to impress me.  It is definitely the best fork I have ridden from a stiffness and adjustability perspective.  I don't have the remote version so I can simply set the platform to match my rear platform.  That way I can concentrate on pedaling during a race rather than messing around w/ lockouts.

In other news, I blew myself apart yesterday.  I like the heat, but it still takes it's toll when I can't convince myself to pedal slower....

Dear Weather Man

Dear Weather Man,
You told me Saturday night that the fathers day weather was going to be sunny with a few high level cirrus clouds.  How then did this happen:

I finished because I hate quitting more than I dislike dragging my bike sideways through sticky clay-filled mud because the wheels won't roll.  The results were screwed up last I checked, but I know Paul Hanson was second,Owen Thoelle third, Doug fourth, Jesse fifth.  I was told that I had the same gap at the end of the race that I had after 2 laps... I guess I need to work on my running and semi-slick tire mud skills!  Getting less frustrated would have helped too.

Cheater

I HATE it when people cheat!!!

Unfortunately at the last MNMBS in Mankato a local rider in the elite class got caught receiving outside assistance AND cutting the course.  I am actually ok w/ minimal outside or other rider assistance like air or a tube even though it is technically not allowed.  However,  intentionally cutting the course is NOT ok under any circumstances.

Summary: After getting outside assistance to fix your broken chain, you rejoined the race, cut the course (multiple times probably given your placing), got caught doing it by one of my friends/racers, told that friend of mine were dropping out, then proceeded to finish.  We know who you are, we know you cheated, and you should not come back to any MNMBS events until next year.  If we (myself or any of the others 5-10 people that saw and know you cheated) see you at any future events, USA cycling, the MNMBS, and better yet the socal media mountain biking community will know your name...

Racing, Racing, Racing

Thursday night:  Dadddy bike race, Tegan bike race, Wawa (Casey's nickname given by Tegan) bike race, Tegan running race.
Saturday: Mommy 5k race, Tegan 1/4 mile running race, Wawa/Mommy (mommy carrying Wawa) 1/4 mile running
Sunday: Daddy and Tegan bike race (MNMBS#2 Mt Kato and the "USA Cycling State Championship Race")

Whew!

Sunday went well and the weather was perfecto.  The course was tacky and in great shape too.  I stand my claim that Mankota is one of the best pure race courses in the series (technical enough to keep me entertained, ample passing, hard climbs to separate things, and some of the best XC descending in the state).   Regarding the actual racing action, I followed wheels, Doug and Jesse's to be specific, for the first lap and then made my move.  From there I suffered up the climbs, passed a lot of lapped traffic (inherent in a 5 lap race), and smiled as I rocked the downhills.  Riding the Luge downhill is about as much fun as you can have on 2 wheels!  I rolled across the line for the win a few minutes ahead of Jesse who was followed by none other than Mr Hinkens.

Next up is Buck Hill (hopefully, need to find kid care) and a team Duathlon w/ Jen Sunday.  Also, Tegan starts Baseball "Rookie Camp" Saturday.  I am putting the head coach hat on for the Rookie Brewer's team=)  My passion growing up was baseball and I want to be sure Tegan is exposed to as many different activity options as possible (not just racing!).
Life will slow down soon right?

Buck Hill #1 for Tegan

Buck Hill #1 for Casey.  This was her first bike race and I think she may have been the only 2 year old racing...  I am surprised there aren't more in the 2 year old category ;)

What we race for..candy

Mixing running races in (after mom's 5k)

30 degree drop...

The MNMBS (Minnesota Mountain Bike Series) kicked off Sunday with the Freewheel Frolic at Afton Alps.  Afton is physically the hardest race in the series now that we don't race at Spirit Mountain any more.  The 55 degrees (30 degree drop from the day before!) and drizzle made it even harder, especially for me.  It is no secret that I don't like cold weather racing because my legs just don't have the snap they do once it hits about 70.

The race started fast w/ a hard charging Doug Swanson taking the lead out.  Doug is flying this year, and LOVES cool weather racing (crazy???).  I was fine w/ him leading because my legs were cold and tight.  Doug proceeded to put a 20-30 second gap on me the first lap.  I had to let him go because while my cardio was under control, my legs continued to stay tight.  Finally things started loosening and warming up a little in the second lap.  By that point, I couldn't see anyone chasing behind us.  I caught Doug at the start of the 3rd lap and put a small charge in to gain a quick gap.  Then, I pushed solo through another round of drizzle in the last laps and pulled off the win by a couple minutes.  I have to admit that much of the race was a mental battle with me asking myself why I wasn't home laying on the couch watching the Stanley Cup playoffs, but how rewarding would that have been?

It was great to see our Freewheel team take 3 of the top 4 spots, and even better that the top 4 spots were all Daddies=)  For all you single racers or racers w/out kids, if you think fitting in riding/training/racing is tough now, just wait!

I want to thank Freewheel and all the volunteers for their work on pulling this even off.  It was first class, per the MNMBS norm, even given less than ideal conditions.

Pictures are from Jake at Freewheel.  Thanks Jake.  Also, thanks to Chris "I can out wheelie you" Ames for the handups.

Final equipment note/hint on the race:  7 of the first 8 tires across the line were Bontrager XR1, same as 29-1 (Jesse's front tire being the exception).  Trust me that we all have access to different brands of tires...

Next up?  Maplelag maybe...it is between that and a family visit down to Madison.  Either way, I won't make Buck this week because Tegan is graduating from Pre-School.   Because I never graduated from pre-school, this is an important accomplishment for our family.  While Tegan and I proposed (after much plotting) forgoing the the graduation and attending Buck Hill instead, we were overruled by the Queen Bee (or Queen J)  ;)

Racing Continues

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So I did a couple more races this week.Buck Hill Thursday Night Worlds kicked off with 137 advanced mens starters.  That is as larger or larger than the comp and expert class combined for MNMBS and WORS races....awesome.  I kept the start at a manageable pace and continued to turn the screws for 50 min taking the win.  Pic at the left is from Jeff Gude of the race start.

Today I did the Elk River Spring Fling.  If you don't attend Richzilla's races up there, you are missing out on the essence of mountain bike racing ($10 entry fee that goes to the trails=).  I was a bit concerned w/ a heavy hitting field including my new teammate Doug Swanson and perrenial fast guys like Luke Nelson and Josh Tesch.  Doug led it out strong and let me by mid lap.  I was not under pressure and felt good even when I went aerobic once I got out front.  I wheeled home alone and got 2 loaves of bread for my prize...what better prize could one ask for - case and point: essence of mountain biking.

Ok, so more importantly and interestingly are some equipment things.  With Trek and the Freewheel Elite Team as Co-sponsors, I have the option to run pretty much anything I want outside of being lucky enough to be on a Trek bike again.  Some of the things below are sponsored  items, some are not.
Tires: Even with multiple options, the decision was easy to stick w/ Bontrager tires.  Today I ran the NEW XR1 (same as 29-1) up front and XR0 in the back because the corners were sandy and a few were slippery.  At Buck I ran double XR0s. The XR1 is a nice compliment and option to the XR0. It is just about as fast rolling, a little heavier, but better in the loose over hard pack stuff.  The XR0 is still the king of race tires, no question.  If you don't believe me, try them.  Bontrager guarantees there performance.
Bike: Top Fuel...this continues to be the best bike I have ridden.  Don't try it unless you want to buy one, because you will love it too much.  Trek Demo's are next weekend
Fork: The Top Fuel comes w/ a Fox fork but I have always preferred the dual air and platform (I DON'T do lockouts) of the Rock Shox SIDs.  So thanks to Rockshox, I swapped out the Fox for a SID. The new SID is stiff and 1/3 lb lighter.... so far, I love it.  I may try the Monarch rear shock...time will tell, but I am very picky about suspension.
Wheels:  EC90 XC again.  If you have extra money or are looking for an upgrade that will matter, these are it.  You will immediately feel the difference and realize the benefit.  THe 15QR this year has made an awesome wheelset even more ridiculously better.
Food:  GU.  Roctane.  Plus, the new Roctane drink has 240 calories per bottle!  This is great if you do endurance racing and hate battling to get that magic 350 kcal per hour down.  Also Stinger Waffles - when nothing else sounds good, these do.  The are my favorite bike food, but they are NOT good in short XC events.
Helmet: Bell Volt. They fit me well and never give me a head ache.
Pedals: Crank Brothers.  Kevin (Freewheel owner) and Tyson will attest to the fact that these are the best pedals around.
Bike shop: Freewheel.  They know their stuff.  I am an engineer, I know and understand the technical side of mtbking, as mentioned I am very picky (too picky if you ask Tyson -he puts up with me well as does Kevin), but they keep my on my toes and will get you rolling as FAST as your legs will let you.

More to come later on equipment.  If you are looking for an early season upgrade to enhance your results, look at wheels and tires. If you see me at a race and have questions on anything equipment wise, feel free to ask.

Next up, Mother's Day and gardening (Jen's choice!).
Cheers.

This is my trophy from winning the Sandwich 50.  My little sweetie Casey was quite pleased.

The exclusive race report is on skinnyski: http://skinnyski.com/

Result, pics, and partially truthful recollections of the race from Charly and Kuske can be found at the race blog: http://sandwich50.blogspot.com/

I am in Longmont, CO now staring longingly out the window at the mountains while we discuss the finer points of disc drive design and manufacturing.  While this is difficult, I probably need the rest.

Next up will be some Buck Hill suffering and maybe an appearance at Elk River….

Moving and the Rok

It has been a while since I visited my site here in on the interweb. I assure you though, this is for good reason. Since Moab I have put in some good long weeks on the bike and moved my family to boot! Yep, we moved from Savage to Prior Lake. So far we are really happy with the move and starting fresh w/ new construction has been nice. We are now on the south end of Prior Lake on a little lake called Lake Crystal. Jen has been posting plenty of inside pics on The Facebook, so I will just show this one of the outside. The driveway and sod should be here soon...

Our view from them master suite...one of the selling points for me was .7 acres on a lake w/ beautiful sunrises over the lake.

The other selling point for me was a 1900 sqft unfinished basement, a mancave and a half! I can actually ride my bikes and test things like suspension damping down there (in the part not pictured)...

Next, I could no longer ignore the gravel road ride/race craze, so I signed up for the Ragnarok 105 this year. I think Ragnarok and Almonzo are the two queen gravel road races. Anyway Ragnarok was supposed to be 105 miles of 95%+ gravel. These are a far different animal than mtbk riding or racing w/ bike handling being a non-factor and this thing called "tactics" coming in to play for those near the front.

As far as this year's event goes, the front group got the 95%+ of grave part right...we missed a little on the 105. You see, they give you directions at the start and then every 40 miles. It is up to the riders to navigate. This is easy if you are following, but harder if you are in the front. The lead group and many of the other riders took a 6.5 mile detour at about mile 10, which made people pedal harder. About 5 of us were together when we were the first to hit the first checkpoint together. We took our time going to the bathroom and refilling water so a few people joined us again. After we got going, every hill would shrink the group to 3 guys, but then we would have to stop on the downhill to make sure we didn't miss another turn. Finally at some point, Drew Wilson, Brandon Krawczyk, and I got our act together with directions and started planning ahead. Even with our planning, we still took another wrong turn adding more unnecessary miles (not sure how many)! Somehow we were still in the lead after correcting our mistake and were able to basically soft pedaled the last 20 miles with a hard ride up the last climb. Brandon followed my wheel and then nipped me at the line...I am told that these are called tactics.

Pic of the last climb...

We ended with 118 miles and 18mph average despite what the Rok website says (it's not their fault we can read directions!). We could have easily gone faster than 18mph avg with lots of soft pedaling at various times, but it was nice to chat w/ the guys and enjoy the BEAUTIFUL scenery. I think my favorite parts were all the minimum maintenance roads.

Having finished I understand why people like these gravel events. They are kind of a race in that some guys at the front ride faster (yet as I mentioned not super fast and lots of friendly riding), but they are much more friendly with 90%+ of the people seemingly just there for the ride. I think these events can be best described as gravel "Grand Fondos" (if you are familiar w/ the similar road ride craze going on).

My ride went fine, but my legs were never good. That said I never was under pressure to hang on. I pretty much trained through this one, and my last bike rest period was spent moving, so I am very much looking forward to a rest week this week!

Equipment wise, the Trek Cronus CX performed flawlessly and is a ridiculously awesome bike.... 17 lbs out of the box, super stiff yet vertically compliant. If you want a road bike but don't race, buy the Cronus CX instead and explore gravel too. It will server you very well in both applications with just a tire swap.

Finally, Thank you SO MUCH to the Ragnarok organizers and volunteers. That is one fantastic event you have going. We, the riders, appreciate all that you do!

Next up is the Sandwich 50 in Rochester a couple weeks from now. I am pumped to ride 50 miles of the tight and twisties again this year.

Cheers.