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=)

MNSCS Awards

To the MNSCS community:
Please do not take my absence at this years awards as me blowing them off. We have had a family camping trip planned for months (prior to the awards date being picked) otherwise I would be there. The MNSCS had a fantastic year of growth and was the best yet in my years of racing. Thanks to all who made the series what it was this year!

Video Recap of Moab

From Superhumanmag.com: http://www.superhumanmag.com/content/view/1635/48/
Awesome=)

For Sale

click here for details: Trek Top Fuel 9.9 SSL $3200

24 Hours of Moab

Short Version:

I was hoping to end the season donning the stars and bars, but it wasn't to be. However, the overall experience in Moab was fantastic!

Today I am home with no voice and about 1/2 of my lung capacity looking out the window at SNOW????

Long Version with pics:

Last Wed I met my dad and uncle down in Des Moines where we boarded is 41 foot bus style RV=) From there we (and be we I mean my dad and uncle) drove straight through to Moab. I moved between a leather couch, a lazy boy, and a queen bed during that time. By far the easiest travel out to the mountains ever!
Upon arrival in Moab, we roughed through the 3 mile jeep road that lead back to the venue. This venue literally rises out of the desert about 10 miles South of Moab. So cool. We set up camp an I got out for my first lap Thursday evening. Ben Portilla and Ben my brother arrived a little later that evening with Max Taam following the next day.

We spent Friday getting bikes ready, relaxing, registering, setting up camp, and smashing one of our faces in.... yep, Max had a spill on one of the hundred or so rock drops during a pre-ride. He came back with a swollen face, but following a sneeze, his eye just closed up! Luckily Ben P's dad is a ENT Doc so he could diagnose it as air build up in the eye lid/sinus tissues..nothing serious. There was a CHANCE it would open up in the next day, and we had about 14 hours until the start. To add to this, I could barely swallow with a sore throat and chest cold, and Max was suffering from a similar disease (we both came down with it ~2 days before the race).

Oh, the course, the course was a 15 mile mix of slick rock (so sweet), rock gardens (awesome), sand (grrr), and jeep roads (aahhh, whatever). The altitude was 5500-6000 feet. Overall it was very challenging with probably 1/2 of the 1200 feet of climbing on slickrock or rock gardens.

At noon, with perfect weather Ben P lead us out and with Max's eye still shut we planned a 3 man rotation. He came in a couple minutes behind the leaders, and I started out hard like I normally would. I reeled in the leaders w/out too much trouble but found myself very short of breath on the first extended slick rock power climb. Between altitude and my chest cold, I knew IT wasn't there. I slowed down a little with my legs feeling fine but throat and lungs burning. I finished frustrated with a mediocre lap time. Ben followed with a strong lap, and we were with the top teams when Ben P went back out. We fully expected a lead when Ben P came back but instead found ourselves 10 minutes behind. He flatted, twice.

We continued the 123123 rotation until Max's eye was about 1/4 open. At that point, he went out and was able to ride the smooth sections quickly, but had to be careful (limited depth perception) on anything technical. Our plan was to try to avoid night laps for Max, so Ben and Ben did a little rotation giving them 3 night laps each; then I picked it up w/ Max giving me 3 night laps and only leaving him ~1 night lap.

For me, my first night lap was a blast! I took it easy as my cough was getting unmanageable, and I just rode like I was on vacation...SO FUN=) My last 2 night laps were rough. After a long break during the Ben rotation, I just felt horrible and bonked on both laps. Luckily Linda, Max's massage therapist showed up to see how we were doing, so I got massage between laps. That was heavenly.We finished the race with a Max heavy rotation as his eye was almost 1/2 open by morning.

The race finished reasonably close given the circumstances. We finished 3rd in the entire race with 20 laps. The 1st place team did 20 laps ~30 minutes faster and the 2nd place team was ~10 minutes faster.

Once again, we couldn't have done the race w/out our support staff. Thanks Tegan, Dad, Portillas, Lisa, Becca, Sydney, Linda, and my Wife (for supporting me in going).

Overall, given the adversity our team performed admirably. Given a healthy crew and 3 less flats...who knows, but as I always say, "That is part of the game."