Hard week...but a payoff

After a very hard week at work (I still have my job, but many friends were affected) and the added stress 3 races in 8 days, I was elated to finish on top this Sunday.

I have come to accept and enjoy the atypical MNSCS course that we start our series with. There are no big climbs, no, rock gardens and barely any roots, but there are wicked corners and you have to be on the gas the whole time.

My plan this year has been to race into fitness, so the race Sunday was to be my longest continuous "hard" effort of the year (previous races only ~1 hour). I just am not that motivated to go out and hammer by myself very often and with ~30 races on the schedule, I shouldn't need to.

There was no prologue loop this year (??) so the hole shot was pretty key. I went for it and got it. From there, Doug and I started to separate from the field. On one of the twisties I slipped out, and he took the lead for the rest of the first lap. Starting the second lap, he slowed down letting me know it was my turn to pull=) The challenge of the day was to see who could lay it over in the loose sandy corners the farthest without going down.

Before kicking off lap 3, I turned to him to ask him if he wanted "it" (the lead), but he didn't so I pushed it through he tight and twisty portion of the course. A gap started to open and it grew over the next 3 laps. I was able to roll home solo for the win with the legs still feeling pretty good. At the finish, Tegan was glad to see Daddy, but even more happy that I had some "juice", aka sport drink, left in my bottle=)

The pics above are all from Skinnyski.com...they do a great job of capturing the action!

Thanks for reading.

-b

$1 Hill

Buck hill started last night with a bang. The turnout was ~150 and people were ready to rock the hill again!
After a pedal slip at the start I gained control and raced up the hill. With no north woods (that flowy singletrack will be greatly miss...at least by me), it is now pretty much a continuous climb from the lowest to the highest point out there.
Jack Hinkins, a new young high school stud, chased me around the first lap in impressive form. After I punched it on the second pavement climb, he dropped out of sight. From, there it was autopilot race mode.
The only problem I had was that my seat position was to high and too far back. I almost pulled a hamstring on the first climb. I did the subsequent climbs on the nose of the saddle and felt much better.
The bike rocked and so did the new wheels. I will give a proper equipment "review" after a few more races.
See you all Sunday!

Here Mr Gopher...

Busy weekend:

Saturday we all headed up to Elk River with 2 bikes (one for Tegan and one for daddy) and a dump truck (race time entertainment). The race was a low key even that many of us used for an early season tune up. Off the gun I didn't go for the hole shot because there was a new "prologue" lap and I had no idea where I was going. Near the end of the prologue I did take the lead and built a sizable gap 45 second gap over the next 1/2 lap. Then my front tire started to loose air. I don't know why and never found a leak, but that is racing. Anyway, I rode the tire until i was having to crawl around corners at which point I stopped and aired it up. SamO went by me as I was hitting it with air. I remounted and was able to chase him down in about 5 minutes. We rode it out together, as there is no where to pass at Elk River and sprinted the short 100 foot straight at the finish. It was too close to call without a photo, so we called it a tie=) See picture 179 here: http://www.skinnyski.com/tools/photoviewer.asp?Id=15945. In the end, I felt fine...not great, not horrible. The legs will get that snap back once the warm weather returns.

Sunday, mothers day, we started with the normal Church, eat out, and get home for Tegans nap. In the afternoon, I mowed the lawn, Jen did some gardening, we washed cars, I finished building my new race bike (yes another Fuel 9.9=), and I got to have a little fun Caddyshack style. We have some ground rodents that need to relocate or face my wrath...

TT Time

Jen, Tegan and I cruised down to Madison for the weekend, and I hopped on over to Platteville Saturday for a TT run by the UW Platteville cycling club. I have done this in the past as my season opener and it is a great course...much like the Mammoth trail or like Maplelag. There is some flow to the course, but it also has a fair number of switchbacks and fairly technical descending to keep riders on their toes.
All in all, I felt ok and came away with the win. I went pretty hard the first lap and a little less hard on the second, but didn't have that extra gear yet and no one was really pushing me. I am kind of "trying" to take the preparation a little slower this year. However, warm weather always makes me want to hammer...

It looks like a good group of Midwesterners found some time off to head down to the Sea Otter. Nice work to all of you. Geez, Sauser made easy work of the mens field...4 min+ victory!?!? Those top several World Cup guys are just amazing!

Mammoth proportions

• Finally hit some dirt last night with the my new ride
• Scary fast especially w/ the race wheels; had to be spot on w/ handling due to the speed
• Full-on for a lap before my body started to whine a little.
• Turned it down a bit for another lap and let the bike do the work.
• 2hours and 25 minutes of sweet sweet singletrack on a sweet sweet bike.

Heavenly...

That is the only word that can describe my ride around the NW side of Maui. Lots of climbing, lots of wind, but by far the most amazingly senic road ride I have ever done. I found some pics of the road I was on (I didn't carry my camera) ...it was like this with 1-1.5 lanes for nearly 30 of the 75 miles. With a rainforest to my left and sea cliffs to the right, it was hard not to be distracted. You can see below that some of the grades were fierce!

....more proof that Maui is a a destination where you can really explore on 2 wheels.

44 Switchbacks

I rode Haleakala yesterday, and I had to dig deep. I took a different route this time that found me on cracked pavement with grades of ~15% (not in pic..at lower elevation). Needless to say my 39-23 was used (extensively) for the first time on the Cervelo. Over 5.5 hours later, I stumbled into the condo. I couldn't move very much, but I didn't have to.
Today, I think the plan is an easy ride, some snorkelling, and some Maui Brewing Co beer.
I heard it was raining all day at home...

Rocketship

I have been meaning to do this for some time, so here goes:
This years rig:The frame and most of the components from a stock Trek Top Fuel 9.9 SSL. Thanks Maury!
The changes/upgrades from stock include
Wheels: I9 wheels with NoTubes Race rims laced on...Thanks I9! This has to be the stiffest 1325 gram wheelset out there.
Shock: I will probably end up running the set it and forget it RP23. The bike comes with the DT Swiss pictured and a remote lockout (not pictured). I guess I would rather concentrate on going fast than worrying about 1 more control on my handlebar.
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Gelflow XC...been on this one for a couple years and use it on every bike now, even the roady
Handlebar: Bonti riser...the one it came with was just too T-rex-arms skinny
Rotors: Hope Floater rear and Alligator front
Pedals: Old standby beater twin ti's (SST spindles). I know too many people who have snapped the ti spindles
Tires: last and most importantly, I will be running a combination of Schwalbe tires this year. I am not sponsored by them, but the advantage of being a paying pro is that I can ride what I deem the best out there. I will be using RoRo's (rocket rons) FuFu's (furious freds) and RaRas (racing ralphs). I will endorse no more than that until Schwalbe gets me some free ones=)

Finally:
Weight = 20.75-21 lbs depending on tires


On the training front things are going well. As a part of my training last week, I rode my mountain bike to Rochester (~95 miles). It took me 4.75 hours with some semi-slick tires on, and I figured it would take me 5.5 on the knobbies, so I guess things are coming along! I am basically done with base training now, although I am not super structured in my approach. The next "phase" is when I start to do some hard rides. I don't do intervals...I hate them...I do ride hard until my body quits, and then I ride less hard until my body really quits. That is how I race, so I figure that is how I should train.

The only other thing of note is that this weekend Jen and I are going to heading out to Maui (one of our favorite destinations).
It is kind of a last minute thing, but we need it. I am bringing the road bike so I can tour the island and climb that 10000 foot pile of ash again. Whoo hoo!

Going Fast?

The other day I was riding my hardtail on the road. I felt like I had a tail wind the whole time...I was only using 2 tiny cogs. Then I realized it felt this way because I wasn't pedaling a 36 lb bike through the snow! =)

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!