When I woke up around 6 am yesterday and looked out the window I was happy to see a fresh layer of now on the cars in the streets. The temperatures were hovering around 32 and qurarter sized flakes were still falling. Normally I do not wake up so early on a Saturday, but Frank and I planned on doing an early morning ski so I could have the rest of the day to get all of my last minute Christmas shopping done.

We headed north to Elm Creek to see how the trails were. Elm Creek is one of the premiere xc skiing facilities in the state. When we hit the trails we noticed we beat the groomer out so we had to ski through the newly fallen snow. It was so much fun to ski through the freshly decorated trees with the snow draped on the branches.

Frank making sure I didn't fall down on the uphill

Now playing: Johnny Cash - The Long Black Veil
via FoxyTunes

I love beans, how bout you?

Especially refried beans in a BBQ chicken burrito. I especially like the beans and BBQ chicken burrito when they are hot and waiting for me after a cold ride home from work. Yeah, that's how lucky I am.

Update...
Riding my bike had been getting really old the past week. It seemed like a chore to get on the bike every morning in the frigged weather. To prevent any cycling burnout I have been trying to ski twice a week and I really look forward to my time out in the snow. Last Wednesday I learned the "V1" and "V2" pole technique. It took me awhile to learn the V1 but once I got a hang of it, I noticed a lot of improvement in my rhythm. I like this skiing thing.

Luckily the weather is getting a little warmer and I had nice ride in and back today. Can't wait to ski on wed.

Oh, one final happening I have to mention. Zacca had a Holiday party last weekend which K-rocker and I dressed up for. Katie is sporting a nice metallic gold turtle neck (notice the shoulder pads) accompanied by some authentic leather pants. I am rocking a plaid red and black blazer on top of a great white turtle neck, worn with some fabulous quarter roy slacks and original checked Doc Martins. Thanks for all the food, beer, and laughs.


Now playing: Morphine - Good
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Winter Wonderland

Last night marked the first real snow fall this winter. While I was inside working the snow outside was falling. Little by little, inch by inch the snow came down. At the end of the work day there was nearly 4 inches of snow on the ground. So at 5pm when the work was over, D-train, Tyler D, Fast Frankie and I mounted our trusty steel steads and headed out to face the snowy roads, congested streets, and try to ride our bikes 15 miles through the new winter worry land.

After just over an hour and a half of pedaling, slipping, sliding, and sweating I finally made it to my block. Three houses away from the front gate, my bike slipped out from the white ground beneath one more time. After catching my balance I decided I had enough of the balancing act and decided to walk my bike the last 100ft. Normally I can ride home from work in under an hour, but on a night like this that was far from the case, Tuesday's ride took roughly 90 minuets to cover 15 miles and seemed to be 3 times as hard.

This morning also marked a first for me, the first time I cross country skied on my own skis. This year I decided I wanted to take the time to learn a sport, skate skiing. After a talking to some of the local ski experts at work I made the leap and threw down the money for a new ski get up. My 6 week commuting streak was broken this morning when Frank and I drove the work to get in an early morning ski before work.

Wow, what a work out. A lot of people told my skate skiing was just like ice skating. If those people are good at skate skiing, they cant be very good ice skaters, because the two are far from similar. I spend about over an hour in the park working on the techniques Frank showed me. I had a great time out in the fresh snow, the air was cold and crisp, the sun was breaking through the clouds and there was no traffic in sight. It was like I had the whole trail to myself.

By the time I finished my second lap around the lake, I think my form improved a little . That is not saying much considering I was just walking in the snow with my skis attached to my feet when I started. Regardless of how I looked, how much improved and how much more I have to learn I had a great time. Props to frank for taking the time to enlighten me on the basics of skate skiing. I hope there are many more lessons to come.

Once I am more comfortable skiing and less worried about falling, I will take the camera with and get some pics for ya'll to enjoy.



Now playing: The Rolling Stones - Under My Thumb
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Giving Thanks

Thanks for caring about me enough to read my blog
Thanks for being such a great family
Thanks for being honest
Thanks for being a true friend
Thanks for being my girl friend, I love you
Thanks for all the memories
Thanks for all the laughs
Thanks for the long rides
Thanks for rockin out with me
Thanks for the cold beer
Thanks for the extra large cinnamon roll and cream cheese, bacon and green onion omlet
Thanks for being honest


I know this is a bit late, but I am thankful for a lot of things this year and want you all to know how much you have blessed my life. Now go on and take some time to think about what you are thankful for and tell the ones you love.

Now playing: Rancid - Get Out Of My Way
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Thats all folks

This past weekend marked the official end of the racing season. I decided not to race the past two weekends and instead chose to commute more and go out and do some more casual mountain bike rides with my friends. In the past 4 weeks I have commuted 600 miles and rode 3 out four weekends on the dirt. It has been awesome and a nice relaxing end to a long season.

For those keeping track this year was my first year I really put an effort into racing. I started my season in April at the Sea Otter classic, entering my first Expert mountain bike and finishing 18 out of 24 in my age class. Coming home from the weekend on the west coast I decided to enter my first road race finishing 9 out of 43 in the cat 5's. I improved at my second and last road race finishing 4th in the 5's. Road racing was fun but I still have a lot to learn and look forward to a few more races next year.

Erik's Spring Cup in May was the start of the local mountain bike races and I finished a respectable 12th out of 43. I entered one more MNSCS race in Rochester and stayed consistent with my results posting 11 place out of 24 riders in the expert class.

My next race, the lumberjack 100, was the longest mountain bike race I had done to date, I finished the 100 mile race in just under 10 hours. From the lumberjack I continued to logging some longer races including my first 12 hour solo race. I was fortunate to win the single speed class for the second year in a row at Ore to Shore, a 48 mile race in Mi. I participated in the Dakota 50 for the 3rd year in a row and fell short again of wining the "big mug". At the 50 my luck had officially ran out and I took a big spill during my last mountain bike race of the year at the Chequamegon 40, but still managed a respectable time.

After Chequamegon, I took a much needed break in LV and CA mixing some work with some pleasure, then came back to MN to finish up my racing season with 2 cross races. It has been almost 8 months this week from the Sea Otter classic and 13 or so total races. I learned a lot about racing this season, I entered more races than I ever have in any past season, and in my opinion accomplished some pretty great things. So, with all that said, I think I owe it to myself to skip out on the last races of the year and enjoy some good ol mountain biking with some friends.

So from here on out it, is cold weather commuting until next spring and next season.
Enjoy the winter everyone.


Now playing: Bruce Springsteen - Born In The U.S.A
via FoxyTunes

Small White Flakes

Don't quote me on this, but I think I ran into a few snow flakes on my ride home tonight.
Yep, I can tell Old Man Winter is not too far away by the 30 mph north winds that were blowing in my face on the way home.

Start thinking balaclava's and windproof briefs. On the other hand, don't think about that. Yuckie!

A Halloween Horror Story

In the spirit of All Hallows Eve I have a gruesome tale to tell. For everyones sake, I will keep this wretched story short and sweet. The image below may be considered funny to some of you, maybe a bit offensive to others. But I can assure you, it will be frightening to anyone who has moved to a new desk or office space at work. So Happy Halloween, Enjoy.

Over the past year or so our company has gone through a lot of changes. We have recently expanded our distribution center and customer service areas and are now in the process of renovating old office spaces so everyone in the company may have nice new office digs to work at.

For the past nine months I have been working at a different desk that was previously occupied by a fellow coworker. Until this past week I was completely oblivious to what was lurking under my desk. A couple of weeks ago I moved out of my existing cube, which I had became quite comfortable in, so workers could remodel our office area.

To my surprise when the my desk was flipped over there was some glossy material lathered all over the bottom of my desk, mere inches from where my bare legs used to sit. The material looked all most like a lacquer of sorts, but with some sort of texture that was unrecognizable. After a closer inspection the unknown substance was identified. What was this mysterious substance you ask? Boogers, F-ing Boogers!

Thats right. The person who had inhabited my work space before me turned the bottom of the desk into his own personal booger refuge. A safe home to store years and years worth of crusty mucus.



This is no joke. So beware, if you work at a desk, you may want to take a peek underneath and see what may be hanging out above your precious new dress, you fancy denim jeans or your bare knees. On other the other hand, Maybe you don't!



Now playing: Willie Nelson - Mendocino County Line
via FoxyTunes

Hey look, The Sun!?

After over a straight week of over cast and rainy weather the clouds finally broke on Saturday and sun came out, just in time for the Homie Fall Festival. The Homie is an annual MPLS event where a bunch local bikers invite the masses to come and celebrate Fall, cycling, drinking, and bacon. This years weather was beautiful and the crowd of close to 200 made the most of every moment. There was a critical mass, some drinking, some derbys, some laughs, and a lot of shenanigans.

And I did say it was also a celebration of bacon? Big Nate pulled out all of the stops in his Homage to Bacon. Nate served up peanut butter and bacon Ritz sandwiches dipped in chocolate and my personal favorite, Peanut Butter Bacon Donuts. Thats right, Nate got in good with the local bakery and had them make a good 6 dozen or more peanut butter fried donuts, and when the peanut butter frosting was still warm the baker sprinkled fried bacon pieces (Nate provided the bakery with 4 pounds of bacon) over the donuts.
It was like a little piece of heaven!

Sunday was also a decent day to be out and on the bike. I took advantage of the dry weather and did some more CX racing at Powderhorn park in the Mark Rahn Invitational.

Powderhorn is a local park just a couple blocks from my house. The course was a lot of fun and the crowd was really rowdy. Mark Rahn had nothing to do with putting on the race but had a lot to do with the rowdy crowd. Mark has started a nice tradition of hosting a mean kegger at his place on the edge of the park. Cheers Mark.

Now playing: Flathead - Mutant Daddy
via FoxyTunes

More Racing Action

This week was the first week back on the bike since my trip West. It was really nice to be commuting again. The temps were cool, in the 40's, and on Friday I did a fun breakfast/Riverbottoms group ride. I rode the Salsa La Cruz in, since I am doing my first cyclocross race of the season on Sunday and this is the bike I will be racing this season, I wanted to make sure I was comfortable on it.

When Sunday rolled ar0und the weather was looking perfect for CX racing, temps were in the 40's again with some drizzle. Although the rain stopped before our race stared the course was wet and it was perfect race weather!

For those who are not familiar with Cross racing it is multiple lap course where the riders ride for a set amount of time. In my case, we rode for 45 mins. The experts will ride for an hour.
Typically the course is a mixture of on and off road terrain with a few hurdles and steep hills mixed in. The hills and hurdles are there to make the riders hop on and off their bikes and run up the hills. Riders use a road style bike with skinny knobby tires and drop handle bars.
The races are very high intensity which keeps your heart rate maxed out for the whole race.

Here is an idea of what it takes to get on and off the bike to go over a hurdle. Watching the experts do this at about 20 mph without losing a beat is very impressive. Thanks to Katie for cheering and taking some good pics!

Next week I will be racing again in the Mark Rahn Invitational at Powder Horn Park. If you are in the area dress warm and come check out some CX action, have a beer, and cheer on the riders.

Now playing: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Think Again
via FoxyTunes

As promised

Here are the pictures from Chequamegon.

After the race I went to the First Aid tent to have my knees cleaned up and checked out. I didn't know how but the cuts were because of all the dust that was on my legs from the course.
Now having my hind end checked out was a whole different story. I am glad the people at the First Aid tent were professionals.

Post Race carnage on the left. Day after on the right. Yep, those lines are permanent.

Now playing: Fugazi - Steady Diet
via FoxyTunes

MN Nice

Well it sure is nice to be back in MN at least.
After 15 days away from home I finally got to sleep in my own bed again.
Starting on Sept. 22 I left for LV to get ready for Interbike. The country's largest bicycle industry trade show. I claimed residence at the Treasure Island Hotel for 8 nights while I set up, worked and tore down QBP's tradeshow booth.

I can't complain about the time away from home too much, most of my expenses in Vegas were paid, I got to spend some time in checking out the strip, see a Cirque De Sole, and my bed was the most comfortable bed I have slept in since last years show.

After Ib I spent two more nights in Vegas with Katie and her sister. We spent some time at Hoover Dam, relaxed and laid around the pool. It was a nice way to finish out my time in Nevada

After my stay in Nevada I flew down to Costa Mesa, CA to spend some time with my brother and my father who flew in as well. Ca was a great, lots of good food, good beer and some nice days at the beach.

I must say though, after 10 day in Nevada and 4 great days in CA, it is really nice to be home.

Cathcing up..." The tale of my Tail"

Yeah I know, I haven't posted in a long time. The past 2-3 weeks have been really busy, the 5-oh, Chequamegon, getting ready for Interbike, about 2 weeks in Vegas working the trade show, and finally some vacation in CA. In order to catch you up with some details of my past month, I will start blogging right where I left off with my last post, the Dakota 50.

After the 50 I was pretty disappointed with my flat tire and was hoping to redeem myself at Chequamegon. My goal was to improve 7 minutes on last years time and hopefully place in the top 50. At the start of the race Fast Frankie and I lined up next to eachother and discussed riding together as long as we could and hopefully at the Fire Tower Hill we would do our own race. The race started just as I thought, really fast and out of control. Frank and I rode together through the road section and into the Rosie's Field, but once we hit the grass we got split up a bit and I didn't see Frank the rest of the race. I was feeling good for the first 30 minutes of the race, I was riding strong and was in what I thought I was in the second chase group.

After the "00" check point, about 40 minutes into the race, things started to go down hill, literally. On the first rocky downhill section, I was following the group when a nice "baby head" rock came shooting up at me and got ate up in my front wheel. I don't know what happened after that. All I remember was hitting the gravel, rolling up in a ball and hearing a bunch of yelling. The next thing I know I am 10 feet from my bike and in a whole world of hurt. My legs were throbbing, I was bleeding from my knees, and I had a burning sensation in my hind end. I instantly got up, scrambled to my bike and tried to get it out of the way of the other riders. Once I untangled the bars and got my chain back on I hobbled down the hill to where the corner marshal was standing.

As I walked down the hill I knew my goal was out the window and out of reach. I couldn't help but think about how bad my legs hurt and whether or not I could get back on my bike. The realization that I was not going to reach my goal was very upsetting, but the thought of not being able to finish the race really was even worse. Once I got to the bottom of the hill I asked the guy directing traffic to look at my rear and tell me if it seemed alright. He checked it out and said "it looks pretty bad", but that was all, I didn't ask him to elaborate. At this point I had been off my bike for at least 5 minutes. I didn't want to call it quits, but didn't know how riding would feel, so I gingerly got on my bike and started pedaling. I decided to try riding and if it felt bad I would stop at the next Aid Station and get help, if I felt alright I would keep going and hoped eventually someone I knew would pass me and we could ride in together.

Well the more I pedaled the better I felt, eventually I started passing people again and before I knew it I was hammering up the hills. The cuts on my legs stung a little and I still had a tingle in the rear but I kept pushing on. Maybe it was the adrenaline kicking in that kept me riding or maybe it was the fact that I didn't want to give up the race, I don't know but I kept riding.

At some point in the race a rider behind me said something that helped me realize why my butt hurt the way it did. I believe his statement was something like, "Holy shit, are you OK man ?". I said Yes, and asked what was wrong. He told me "It looks like a chainring cut you in the ass". That is when I realized during my crash someone behind me must have ridden over me, but their chainrings didn't quite clear me completely.

Now that I realized I was bleeding out of my crack, I felt like I had some tough guy points on my side, and I really had something to prove, so I continued to ride as hard as I could. I continued to pass riders the rest of the race. At around the 8 mile mark the course began to get really hilly and challenged my already fatigued legs, just like I expected. From 8 miles on I kept looking for the next mile markings and hoped my legs wouldn't cramp and lock up. 6, 5, 4 miles to go. I knew with 3 miles to go the course would start getting easier a long down hill to the finish was soon to come.

Finally, I recognized the clearing at the top of the hill, I knew once I reached the top of the climb, the end of the race was near. Just one final up hill sprint to the Finish. At 2:29:09, I finished the race. I was about 10 minutes behind my target time but I was proud to have finished the race knowing I took a hard fall and rode roughly 25 mile bleeding from my rear end.

I wanted to add a picture of my wounds here but I am on the road and writing from a laptop so I can't attach any photos.
I will show you pics when I am home, they are worth checking out.

Up Next, Las Vegas and Interbike.

SoDak

Katie on the Mickelson Trail

Over Labor Day Katie and I headed west to South Dakota for an extended weekend of biking and relaxing with some of my family and friends. The first part of the trip was spent in Custer where we stayed with my Dad for 2 nights. It was a great time, the weather was nice, the scenery was beautiful and we got to do some really leisure riding on the Mickelson trial. The trail is made up of more than 100 miles of old railroad. The ride was a lot of fun. I would encourage anyone to check it out, it is a great way to see South Dakota.

Self portrait

After two days in Custer we headed north to Spearfish to meet some Minneapolis friends and participate in the Dakota Five-O, a 50-mile mountain bike race-ride-tour. Call it what you want this event is awesome and no matter what pace you ride the course you will get worked, but in some cases it is all worth it when you get to ride through northern black hills of South Dakota.

Did I mention that Smokey the Bear is the official race starter?

Needless to say, I raced the course, no ride or tour for me. This was the 3rd time participating in the event and every time on my single speed. I have had good results in past events finishing second in the Single Speed class both years and this year I was hoping for a win. Just like last year, I was planning on riding the majority of the race with Joe Meiser and wait until the final 10 or so miles to see if I could pull away. Well I off the start I was felling good and pulled away early and rode with the lead group in my sight for the first 10 miles. I knew I was riding well but knew there was one guy ahead of me who was on a SS, but rumor had it he was not in the Single Speed class but in the open class. This would mean I was in 1st, but it was a long race and I knew there were some really strong riders behind me.

After the 20-mile marker someone told me I was the second Single Speeder, so I still didn’t know if the guy ahead of me was in the open class or not. It really didn’t matter after around the 30 mile marker I passed the one single speeder ahead of me. He was resting on the side of the trail and didn’t look like he was feeling so hot. He had popped.
I continued riding and he stayed with me for a while but eventually he fell out of sight.

My lead didn’t last long, before I knew it a different rider came from nowhere and snuck up on me on a long climb. There was about 15 mile left of the race and I was starting to think after about 3 hours of riding it was going to be just that, a race. The two of us shuffled back and forth for a while but eventually I pulled away and didn’t see the rider again.

With 10 miles to go, I was feeling tired and knew there was at least one racer who could close the gap on me at any time. I finally reached the final section of single track and was riding with a local rider who was in the geared class. He knew I was riding single so he was very accommodating when I need room on some of the up hills and I quickly let him pass on the down hills. We worked together through the last section of tight trail before the 2-3 mile decent back to the finish line. With about 5 miles to go the other rider let me lead. I don’t know if he wanted to help me out by creating space if the other rider caught me or what, but I took the lead and continued to ride hard.

My legs were starting to cramp at this point but I was still able to keep spinning, maybe I need to re-evaluate what I am drinking on long races, I seem to cramp a lot. Anyways, I was so happy to be coming to the final stretch of the race, all I could think about was bombing the down hill and it was over. I was starting to think about my first victory at the five-O when I heard “the sound”. Any biker knows the sound of air leaking out of your tire as it goes round and round. I got a flat, ¼ mile before the paved downhill and I flatted, the race was over!

As I pulled my bike to the side of the trail my new companion knew what was wrong and said his condolences as he rode past. I walked the trail a little further, found a place where I could switch my tube and that is when I almost started crying. This is when I watched the first chase man pass me, then I saw Joe again for the first time since the start, then the guy in the open class riding single, finally another Trevor, a local mpls rider, passed as I was pumping the last breath of air into my tire. I did my best to catch Trevor but I didn’t have any confidence in my tires cornering the downhill at 35+mph.

I crossed the line in 4th place. It hurt for a while, but I did enjoy the race and was proud of Joe and Trevor. I rode hard and knew I belonged in front. Flat tires suck, but they are a part of racing. Now I know two things I need to work on, drinking more fluids, and fixing flats faster.

Trevor, Joe, Fryn, and Henry(he took a wrong turn on the downhill. Joe got 1st!)

Next weekend I am doing my first two person Team Time Trial. Should be interesting, then Chequamegon. Thanks checking in, Peace everyone!

Falling behind

Colossal Cafe.

I know, I have been falling behind keeping my blog up to date, but lately I really haven't had anything new and exciting to talk about. Work has been really busy trying to organize our company retreat which is this weekend in Cable, WI. I will be happy when it is over so I can focus on my other big responsibility at work, Interbike. Interbike is a huge industry trade show that happens every September in Las Vegas.

Besides work I have been trying to stay on the bike as much as possible. Next week I will be heading west to Spearfish, SD for the Dakota 50, a 50 mile bike race/tour/ride. It is a phenomenal event I have been going to for the past 2 years now and look forward to it every year.

In preparation for the big race, I have been trying to keep to a healthy diet to stay in tip top shape. For awhile now a group of us have been meeting at a Colossal Cafe, a small local diner, for breakfast before we ride in to work.

Breakfast of champions, Short Stack and Bacon!

The picture is Joe's meal this morning. I went for the apple walnut scone as a starter and washed it down with a creme cheese, green onion and bacon omelet. I heart Colossal.

"The Dust Bowl" Ore to Shore race re-cap

Post race dirt lines

Thursday
Katie and I left Mpls early Thursday morning headed to Marquette. The 7+ hour drive went as good as could be expected. The i-Pod was kicking out the tunes and Katie and I took turns piloting the Jeep. We arrived to our posh Country Inn suit around 6pm MI time, unloaded our gear and relaxed for a bit before heading to Borders Grill for some quality Mexican food.

Friday
Friday morning was spent setting up the Salsa tent for the expo during registration and having coffee with the some St. Cloud friends who were also in town for the race. In the afternoon Katie, Schroden and I went for a little ride around town to stretch our legs out for Saturday’s race. After the race Katie and I had some great Thai food for dinner and headed to race registration.

Registration is always interesting, for 3 hours we stood around the Salsa tent and talked to all sorts of people about Salsa Cycles; the bikes, the jersey’s, racing, riding and countless other bike and non-bike related topics. For the most part, these conversations are a lot of fun, but at times some people can be very trying. When registration was over and the tent was tore down we went back to the hotel and I started getting my gear ready for the race.

Saturday (Race Day)
At 5:50am my alarm went off, I brushed my teeth and walked across the highway to Perkins and met Schroden for breakfast. When I returned from breakfast I gathered my gear, my bike and loaded everything into Schroden’s truck and headed to the starting line of the race. Mike and I took our time getting ready for the race. We had plenty of time to warm so we rode around the town for about 45min before we headed to the Start Line.
This year was the first year I got a preferred start at the race. Being able to ride right to the front of the field to line my bike up was a huge convenience and it made getting ready for the race much easier.

At 9:45 there was a very unofficial “ready, set GO!” and the race was on. The race started on with a about a 1-2 roll out on the road. On my single speed the pace was really fast and hard to keep up with. Once we turned off the road the race really started. For me, the first 10 miles of the course is really tough. There are number of rolling hills with a lot of traffic on them so it makes it tough to pick a line up each hill. Plus the pace is really fast because all the riders want to get out in front as quick as possible. On the top of one hill I heard someone yelling out the number of riders passing by. I was somewhere in the 60’s, this was not surprising. I would have liked to be further up in the field, but there was a lot of race left.

Finally the field started thinning out and I was able to settle into a good pace pass some riders. The course was very sandy and proved to be very difficult for some riders. My 29er was rolling through the sand quite nicely and I was really confident in the sand pits. Maybe too confident, somewhere around 20 miles into the course I was flying down a hill with a very sandy bottom. When I tried navigating the turn my front wheel washed out and I slammed hard, tangling myself up in my bike and hitting my face on the ground. I was able to hop right off the ground and get back on my bike but I was definitely shaken up, my head hurt and my knee was stiff and it felt like my hand took a good blow as well.

It must have taken my some time to start feeling better after the crash. I rode by myself for a bit and then a group of riders passed me. There was one single speeder in the group, when I saw him I realized my pace had slowed down and I need to start picking up the pace. It wasn’t long before I was back on track and riding hard again. Eventually, I came to a hilly road section where I was able to ride with some geared riders. I was able to draft them on climbs and then did all that I could to stay with them on the downhill. I was very lucky to have been able to draft some other riders on this stretch. If I had to ride the road section on my own I would’ve never been able to carry the speeds I did riding with the group. At this point I was about 30 miles into the race and feeling strong.

For the next 10 miles or so I kept up a good cadence and then with about 8 miles left the terrain got hilly again, there are wood chips on the course and it seemed like my speed cut in half. The only thing that kept my spirits up was the fact the race was going to be over soon. I got off my bike a couple times to jog up some of the hills. I thought running would be easier than muscling up the hills and I was worried I may cramp up if I started pedaling too hard.

With about 2 miles left the course widens and there is a path with more wood chips. This part is really painful, push as hard as I, can knowing I have less than 10 minuets left, and as soon as I am off the wood chips it is open road. As soon as I hit the road I could feel the cramps in my legs firing. I looked over my shoulder and saw there were no riders chasing me down. All I had to do now was pedal hard as fast as I could with out cramping up.

When I crossed the finish line I checked my time, 2:57:59. The time was 4 minutes slower than last year and 7 minutes off my goal of 2 hours and 50 minutes. I was happy to have finished. I felt like I rode a good race but didn’t know where I finished in the field. After cooling down I check my results and saw I was once again the 1st single speed across the line, and the 30 rider out of 518 (17 spots better than I did last year).

Schroden and I after the race. Mike was 2nd in his age group. Nice work!

Needless to say, I am stoked about how the race went. There was not a lot of exciting stuff that happened after the race. I ate, went to the awards ceremony, ate again, went to bed, ate again, drove home, ate again, and now I am going to bed again.

Well tomorrow it is back to work. I cant wait to get on my geared bike and take a nice leisure ride to work.

Headed to Marquette

Tomorrow Katie and I are heading north to Marquette, MI for the Ore to Shore race. The event is a 50 mile point to point race with Salsa as the main bicycle sponsor. Katie and I are attending the event to represent Salsa before, during and after the race. We will be loading the Jeep up with 5 Salsa bikes, the pop up tent and a bunch of Swag to hand out to the hundreds of Salsa fans screaming for a piece of the Pepper Power.

I am pretty excited about the race because last year I was fast enough to win the single speed class. Meaning this year I have to defend my title, something I have never done before.
To me it seems a little weird. I have been putting a lot more thought into the race and worrying about it more than any other race. I don't think all the worrying will take the fun out of racing, I just want the race to begin.

My El Mariachi, 34 x16, Pace ridgid fork, red pepper bell.

All week I have been riding in on my Mariachi single speed, trying to get my legs used to spinning one gear for a long period of time. I am running a 34x16 which is what I ran last year so I hope it does the trick again. I wanted to push a little harder gear this year but chose not to.
After 3 days of commuting and about 100 miles of riding my legs feel pretty good. I did one hard ride to work and threw in some hills and I felt really strong. I hope I feel strong come Saturday.

Look for the Race report Monday or so. Have a great weekend everyone.

WTF!

Last night around 6pm the 35w interstate bridge collapsed.


My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who is missing loved ones due to this tragic catastrophe.

Movie Night

Tonight I spent the evening sitting in the basement watching a moving and trying to avoid the heat outside.

Tonights movie, Kung Fu Hustle

The Movie Poster reads, "Imagine a film which Jackie Jan and Buster Keaton meet Quentin Tarantino and Bugs Bunny". I can't say I fully endorse this movie and encourage everyone to go out get it. But I would say if you like Tom and Jerry type violence and choreographed kung fu this is a movie for you.

I recommend switching the language to English, turning off the subtitles and watching the movie with the voice over. It just ads to the comedy.

Enjoy!

12 hours of 9-mile "The Bloody Steak"

Take a second and think of your absolute favorite thing to do. Reading, Watching T.V., Running, Eating, Drinking, whatever. Now imagine doing this activity non stop for 12 hours. Doing something you really love for half a day may sound fun at first, but consider the physical and mental efforts needed to accomplish this task for 12 straight hours. I love to ride my bike, and this weekend I signed up to participate in a 12 hour mountain bike race. The objective is simple, ride as many laps as I can from 10am to 10pm. If a I finish a lap before the 12 hours is up, I have two choices. 1. Cross the starting line and do another lap, or 2. Wait for the 12th hour to end and finish the race.

When riding a long distance like this the most important thing to do is make sure to eat and drink enough to keep your body working properly. This sounds easy at first, but after 6 or more hours your mind starts to lose focus, your digestive system isn’t happy and it is easy to stop eating. That is why going into a ride like this you need to come prepared and have a lot of foods available that sound appealing when you are absolutely exhausted. My food list included, some energy gels, potato chips, Oreos, pasta salad with tuna, grapes, lots of water, an energy drink and some cola soda. The nutritional value of the food isn’t as important as just getting calories back in your body.

Another thing that makes a race like this much easier is having someone at your camp who can support you as you come through lap after lap, refilling your water bottles, having food options ready for you and doing minor bike adjustment like lubing your chain or putting your lights on when night comes. It is also nice for this person to give you race updates to let you know what place you are in or where the other riders at your pace are in the race compared to you. I was lucky to have Katie give up a nice sunny weekend to come and be my race support. This is not an easy job, there can be a lot of responsibility and at some times you are doing some really crappy jobs to help the rider out. Katie did a great job helping me and I am very thankful for everything she did, even when she sent me out on my last lap at 9:20pm.

Yep, thats a pink head band. They really work, I got it for free, and luckily most cyclist accept silly clothing as tools of the trait.

Going into the race I had set a goal of riding 10, 12-mile laps. If I could finish 10 laps, I was hoping to finish in the 5 of the participants. The course this year had some new trail cut so it was longer than past year. I was told each lap was close to 14 miles. In the beginning, my average lap times were around 1 hour and 17 minutes. The first 6 or so hours went really well, I was riding good, eating food and putting down enough fluids to keep me hydrated in the mid-80 degree heat. After the halfway point in the race I was having a harder time keeping my pace up. My feet were starting to go numb and my arms were really sore from the relentless jarring of the rocky single track, not to mention my butt was starting to feel the effects of sitting for over 6 hours in the saddle. My lap times started slowing a bit the second have of the race but still managed to keep them around 1:20.

After 6:30pm every rider had to have lights on their bike when they went out for another lap. I managed to start my 6th lap around 6:00 and avoided hooking up my lights until later in the evening. When I did put my lights on my lap times started to slow down. I am not used to riding at night with lights on, obstacles came up much faster than I was used to and I was reacting much slower, making me more tense and I was not riding as smooth as I was during the day. Plus, I was becoming exhausted and my body had reached that point I mentioned earlier where I didn’t want to eat and I was getting deprived of fuel.

During my night laps I started adding my lap times up in my head and I started to realize I would be finish my 8th lap well before 10pm. At this point I didn’t want to go out and do another lap. I wanted to do more than 8 laps but I was really starting to hit the wall and I wanted to stop riding. I finished my 8th lap around 9:30. When I reach my tent Katie and our friend Johnny Mohawk presented me with my options. There were other riders who just started their 9th lap, I could go and try to catch them and move up in the standings, or I could sit at camp for half an hour and hope that no riders behind my would start another lap before 10. If they did they would move a head of me in the standings.

At that point it seemed like I didn’t have much of a choice. So, I gingerly got back on my bike and pedaled off into the dark. That is when everything took a dramatic change for the worse. Not more than a ¼ mile into my last lap my legs started crapping up. I tried to pedal nice and easy and try and ride through the cramps. This was technique was working until I got into the single track and I crashed on a rock I didn’t see in time. I fell over the handlebars and landed on a pile of rocks, bike on top of me, with cramps shooting up my legs. I was able to rub out the cramps and slowly get going again, only to crash again. This time I taco’d my rear wheel to the point that it was rubbing on my frame as it turned. At this point I was completely worked and demoralized. I was walking my bike through the rock gardens and I was starting to get cold. All I wanted to do was finish this lap. I did everything I could to stop myself from sitting down and taking a nap. Finally around 11pm I finished my 9 lap, it took my over 2 hours, I scrapped up my arms and legs and wrecked my rear wheel, but I was ecstatic to be done with the race. I finished 7 out of 57 riders and moved up one place by going out for a 9th lap. If I didn’t go out I would have lost 2 places, or something like that.

In the end the race was a lot of fun. I am proud of my accomplishments; I am glad I did an extra lap at the end and am happy to have a solo 12 hour race crossed off my list of rides to do.

Congratulations "Zacca"

This past weekend Katie and I attended the wedding of Zach Fink and Becca Styba. The new super duo now known as "Zacca" will be a power house and will let nothing step between them. The ceremony was a beautiful and Katie and I had a great time. Congratulations!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you, Zacca!

As for me, I got all dressed up in my Big Boy clothes and was accompanied by Katie in her fabulous black evening gown.

No it's not a rental, the suit is part of my personal collection.

New Post

It has been a while since I posted last, my apologies. This past week I had been living the bachelor life at home while Katie went to Massachusetts for a bike event with Salsa. In Katie's absence, I was able to get in a lot of riding. Last weekend I rode in Elk River with Schroden and got to take a nice trip to Cable WI, to ride the Rock Lake trails. I am doing a solo 12 hour race this coming weekend in WI, so I want to put in as many hours as I can on the bike.

12 hour race bike.

Yesterday, I rode the river trail to and from work again. When I got home I had put in close to 4 hours on the bike, over 3 hours of dirt. What a great way to get to work. The trail was really dry and fast b/c of the lack of rain here. Unfortunately, the river is pretty low as well.

In the Spring the river is up to the middle of the steps.

The picture is of the raft build to cross the MN river which splits the trail in half. Normally 4 people can get on board and float across. Not the case now, yesterday we were able to pull two at a time across with the shallow water.

Thanks for checking in, Sorry I have been slacking to keep this site up to date.

Kentucky Zach lied to me

This weekend Zack brought me a movie to watch when I had some spare time. Since Katie is at Pedro's fest this week, I thought tonight would be the perfect opportunity to chill out watching my newly recommended flick.


The Movie, Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter.
Summary, "Forget that hack Man Helsing, for true exterination of the fanged undead believers turn to the one and only Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter. Having returned to Earth for the eagerly anticipated Second Coming, Jesus finds his bid to judge the living interrupted by a horde of angry bloodsuckers who possess the ability to walk in daylight."

Sounds entertaining right? Well at least I thought I could get a good laugh out of it.
Don't bother, it is 85 minuets of my life I will never get back.

I don't recommend this movie to anyone, except Luby he may actually like it.

At least I will sleep better tonight knowing JC is looking out for me, after all Jesus saves!

July 4th

This Wednesday I went to St. Cloud to spend Independence day with some old friends and ride with the Revolution Cycle group.

Mike and Ben sporting the new Revolution Team kits.

There was 10 of us in our group, 12 if you count the Daughter's of Doom riding in the Burley. Our ride took a leisure pace down the Woebegone Trail for about 20 miles where we stopped for Dilly Bars at the DQ and turned home.

Ben Doom hauling the kids the girls on an ice cream ride.

The ride was followed with a trip to the granite quarry for some swimming and a great BBQ at Mikes. On the way home I watched all of the fireworks from the towns between St. Cloud and Minneapolis from the window of the Jeep as I cruised down 94.

It was a hot Firecracker

Today I drove to Eau Claire, WI for the Chippewa Valley Firecracker race.
I went to the race with my friend Mike from St. Cloud. Mike got me started racing when I was in college and I blame him for all of the bikes hanging in our basement. It has been a long time since I have been able to go to a race with Mike. Now that Mike is running his own bike shop, http://revolutioncycleandski.com/, he says he is too busy to come and ride with me. Go figure.

So anyway, the race went alright. It was a really hot afternoon, the race was 32 miles long, and I was short one member of my team to give me water hand ups, Katie was unable to attend today. The first lap was chaotic, no more the 5 minutes in there was a pile up in front of the pack and some of the top riders went down. Two of them pulled out of the race and I saw one guy later with some nice cuts on his head, he said he cracked his helmet in 6 places from the fall. As the first lap continued the trail was really congested with riders and I was having a hard time pacing myself. I was on the gas then immediately on the brakes again. This technique didn't make for an enjoyable ride and I was getting frustrated.

During the second lap I wasn't feeling it and was already thinking about slowing down and cruisin the rest of the race. Fortunately, near the end of the lap a female rider, another St. Cloud friend, came up behind me and was leading the women's field. I figured if I wasn't going to hammer on the course I would do what I could to help Kyia out. I pulled Kyia along for the rest of the lap and to the finish on her 3rd lap. It was nice to see Kyia win

After my 3rd lap the field had spread out, my legs were feeling good and I knew I could open it up for the last lap. I rode really well on the final lap. I was able to pass three of the riders I originally started riding with and continued to pass a few more. Unfortunately, one rider was not happy with my passing edicate and cursed me when I passed. We exchanged some choice words and I continued to pull away from him. (Disclaimer. I am normally I very polite rider, but when I am on my last lap, have to pass someone going up a hill, and my heart rate is at 180 bpm, I may not call out what side I am going to pass on. We are supposed to be advanced riders so if I got a little too close to you, that's racing, don't curse me out.) So yeah, I finished strong and felt good about the race.

Afterward I found out Mike didn't have the best luck. He got slowed down by the crash in the beginning of the race, ripped his new shorts, and was stung in the head by a hornet or something. He finished, but was happy to be going home. Thats racing folks.

One last shout out to Kyia and Evil for the Spotted Cow. I needed a proper recovery drink after the race.

Thursday at Buck Hill.

The race was short.
I rode fast.
9 riders rode faster.
I had a beer in the parking lot
Then I went home.

Good idea. Bad idea.

Once again I had a great blog inspiring ride home.
As I was leaving work I passed group of bikers, one was riding a hand powered recumbent. Now this "bike" may be a good idea if you have back problem or for what ever reason can not ride a traditional bicycle. Why you are pedaling with you arms I don't know and wont go there.

The next bike in line was a regular bicycle with a infant seat mounted to the top tube.
This for whatever reason is a very bad idea. Unless however you are trying to maim you beloved child.

Image compliments of Google images.

Luckily I was riding too fast to see what other kind of bikes where on this freak parade.

Diversity

Today on my ride in to work I almost ran into a deer standing on the side of the bike path, just outside of work.

On my way home I almost ran into a Rastafarian riding on bike path by my house, he was jammin on his headphones and appeared to be riding his little brothers bike.

How's that for diversity?

Big Wheels Keep on Turning

This weekend I got to spend the weekend in Decorah Iowa with some of the Salsa crew; Boom Boom Boucher, Bobby “Ogre” Dahlberg, and K-rocker.
Salsa was one of the sponsors of the Bigwheel’d Ballywho, a 29” mountain bike gathering which gave attendees the opportunity to test out a variety of different brands big wheeled bikes on Decorah’s phenomenal trail system.

Thanks to everyone in Decorah, for your hospitality, your beer, and most importantly your killer trails. I had a great time and cant wait for next year’s event.

K-Rocker rollin the real big wheels, check out the 36"s

Big Wheelin

This weekend I am heading to Decorah, IA with the Salsa Crew for the Big Wheel Ballyhoo.
http://crookedcog.com/29er-meetup/
If your looking for something to do this weekend come see us, grab a demo bike to ride and a beer to relax with.

I Got Blown on the Lake Express

My vacation is over. I had a great time in Michigan and it will be hard to go back to work tomorrow morning. Where should I start telling about my trip, how about the drive? We left Minneapolis Thursday morning to catch the 7pm fairy from Milwaukee. Lake Express, the boat company who sponsored the race, let all racers take the fairy from WI to MI for free. The boat ride across Lake Michigan took about 2 hours, it didn't save us a lot of time, but being able to get out of the rental van, get some fresh air and enjoy the sunset was great.

Word to the wise, if you every take the fairy be sure to wear some warm clothes. When we boarded the boat it was around 90, but the breeze of the lake is chilly and make for a very cool ride.

The Boat was going so fast if I wasn't careful I think it could've blown me over.

Sunset from the boat.

After we got off the boat in Muskegon we drove to Grand Rapids to spend the night at some friends house. Thursdays travel time was roughly 9 hours.

Friday morning we went got breakfast at Real Food, a diner style join that served up some killer Banana pancakes with granola on top. In fact, the pancakes were so good Katie, Joe and I all got an order of cakes to go so we could have a solid meal before the race on Sat. From GR we drove north to Manistee to check in to our hotel and go pre-ride the race course.

Pre-ride went well, we rode an 8 mile section of the 25 mile loop to stretch our legs out and make any final adjustments or decisions about equipment choices for the race. Mainly, I wanted to see if I should wear a hydration pack or just carry my water bottles. I noticed early in the ride that my legs were rubbing on my saddle bag, which was really bothering me and the terrain was rough making it hard to grab my bottles. For me it was a no brainer, and I chose to ditch the saddle bag, only carry one bottle full of energy drink and ride with my hydration pack. After our short ride we drove to the shore for a dip in the lake and to clean off the dust from the trail.

Shot from the beach.

Saturday morning my alarm went off at 4:55 am. Because the race started at 7 with a "mandatory" pre-race meetin at 6:30, I wanted to make sure we had enough time to eat, pack our gear up, drive to the race and get ready for the race. Remember those pancakes we ordered to go yesterday morning? Yeah, they were just as good reheated as they were fresh. Some hotcake, o.j., and a cup of Starbucks "cowboy" coffee and my belly was ready for the long ride ahead of me.

The race (if you want to call it that, I considered it a long ride with a goal of finishing) was awesome. The group started on a paved road about a 1/2 mile from the trail head. this was to split the field before everyone hit the single track. When I reached the single track I was riding fairly strong and was passing a lot of riders. After about 5 miles I found a rhythm and slowed my pace down. I immediately noticed there was about 8 people riding with me and following my pace. I was climbing the hills much faster than most of the group so I decided it would be easier for me to stay in front and just continue to ride at my own pace. Which I did for the first 25 mile lap.

My first lap split was just over 2 hours, I was feeling good and still had plenty of water in my backpack, so I only pulled over for enough time to eat a fruit bar and continued on with my second lap. The second lap was still relatively easy. The course was really fun with some rolling hills, nice single track and at the end a couple fast descents which only made for some long climbs. In all, the course was 99% ridable. By the end of the second lap I was feel tired and started planning my pit stop. I finished my second again in just over 2 hours and headed for the Salsa tent to take my shoes off, grab some food and re-fill my water. The stop was a little long at about 20 minutes and then I was on for my 3rd lap, 1/2 way there.

During the 3rd lap I was riding strong and felt really good after getting some food in me. I slowed the pace down a little because I knew the last lap would be tough and I wanted to make sure I had enough left for the final 25 miles. I cleaned the whole course again (except the first big climb which was really washed out from all of the traffic) and was feeling confident as I headed into the pits for my final pit stop.

After sitting down I noticed a lot of the original people that were following me the first lap continued on 4th lap with no pit stop. I didn't pay any attention to them b/c I was confident I would catch them after my break. What did flustered me was that while I was on my little break the race winner crossed the finish line in a course record time of 6 hour and 50 minutes. That was when I realized I was officially lapped and I should get moving.

I started the final lap with a good pace. I passed one rider who had been riding with me the whole race. I knew there was one rider left ahead of me that I wanted to catch so I kept moving as steady as possible. Around 10 miles in to the course I caught up to the rider I was after and continued to follow him as for as long as possible. The pace was good and I couldn't go much fast. Eventually we crossed the 1/2 way point of our last lap. I was hoping he was going to stop for some food or water but the rider kept going. I was worried if I stopped he would pull away from me so I continued to follow. A few miles later we reached the part of the trail where the climbs became more frequent. I was still climbing good so I took the lead. I was ok with leading and only hoped I could keep up my pace.

That is when things started to turn for the worse. My rushed exit out of the pit on the forth lap and the missed aid station didn't allow for me to grab as much water as I needed and I ran out with about 8 miles left. At this point I was beginning to cramp up at every incline. As soon as I felt my legs tighten I would get off the bike and start walking. At this point all I wanted to do was finish the race and if possible finish in front of the rider I went out to catch. We exchanged the lead every time I had to get off the bike but eventually I was able to hold the cramping legs off and the terrain flattened. I was in the lead and didn't see the other rider anywhere behind me. At 9hours and 1o minutes I came to a break in the woods and saw the finish line ahead.

I finished the race in a total time of 9 hours and 13 minutes, almost 2 minutes in front of the biker I set out to pass on the last lap. Overall I finished 52 out of 129 finishers. I am very happy with my ride.

Congratulations to all the other MPLS riders too. Joe Mieser 31st, Ezra Taylor 49th, Blake Jenssen 74th, C-Rocker for riding out 75 miles and finally to Fiona who crashed early and had to pull out.

Yep the race was everything I expected. That night we went back to the hotel after a couple beers and everyone slept really well. In the morning at breakfast I started making up for the 8000 calories I burned during the ride. Our trip continued back to Grand Rapids for one more night before we headed to Chicago. We stayed one night in Chicago and made the final leg of our journey back to Minneapolis Tuesday morning.

What can I say, I had a great time and it was a trip to remember. If it wasn't so great, why would I have wrote so much?

Thanks Katie, Joe and Anni for the great trip and great memories.

G's up Ho's down

Two things I have to share with everyone.

1st, Today it's those adorable twins from Full House's birthday. Yeah, Mary Kate and Ashley are 21 now. I hear John Stamos can't wait for the next Reunion Show.

2nd, It is my birthday Friday. I am not turning 21, but to celebrate I am heading to Manistee, MI for the lumberjack 100 http://www.lumberjack100.com
Check back later to read the full report of our adventure.


OK , 3 things, Friday it will also be Ice Cube's b-day. Bust a cap in the air for this gangsta. He is lucky enough to be turnin 38.

Word!

Is it hot in here or am I just sweaty

This morning C-rocker, Joe, Franky, Father Time and I rode the Riverbottoms into work. (Sorry about Joe's finger Mom, he just got new gloves and was showing them off.) It is alway a treat to be able to mountain bike on some good single track on the way to work.

When I stepped outside to ride home it was sticky-icky. Rumor around work was that temps reached the 90's. For those of you keeping score, that is roughly 100 degress warmer than it was 6 months ago.

I hope all you in your fancy air conditioned homes sleep well, Hah, Good Night!

Official Blog Dork

I decided this morning that if I am going spend time pissing around on my computer, I might as well create something to show for my wasted time. Hence the Official Fryn Porky blog.

Come on, I ride a bike, I have a camera, I have tons of time to kill. Yes, I listen to music, I watch movies, and I have even read a book or two before, aren't these all the criteria one needs to have a kick ass blog?

Enjoy sharing my life with me. Sometimes it gets pretty crazy so hold on. Yeah right, if it was that crazy I wouldn't be sitting at the computer on a sunday when it is sunny and 76.

My legs are fried, I'm taking the day off.