Falling Behind

I realize I have been falling behind with blogging. I guess I really am not that into it anymore. Who knows, maybe things will change and I will start updating it again more than once every two months.

News Flash
Out with the old in with the new- I tore apart my Dos Niner and built a new Ti El Mariachi. So far I have only rode the bike to and from work, but it feelt great. I am hoping to put some laps on it at Afton Alps today.

Wedding-Katie and I did another site visit trying to determine where we are going to have our wedding. Hopefully we can decide soon so he we can really begin the planning.

Upcoming Events-Next weekend I am signed up for the Dairyland Dare. A road race/ride/tour in Dodgeville, WI where riders can sign up to do the 50,100,150,200, 250 or 300k route. I am signed up for the 300k. The 186 mile course will cover over 20,000 ft of climbing. I plan on switching my 53/39 cranks to a compact 50/34 and riding my Primero. Should be a good time. Goal time, sub 11 hours.

Cheq 100

This past weekend was the first annual Chequamegon 100 bike race.
The race started in Seeley, WI and covered most of the 4 major trails of the CAMBA systems in Hayward, Cable, Rock Lake and Namakagon. Of the 100 total miles, roughly 75-80% was single track. In general a 100 mile mountain bike race is challenging enough. But the directors of Cheq 100 were not satisfied with amount of suffering the course alone presented, so they added another challenge. The race was a self-supported race, meaning there were no aid stations and riders were not allowed to take help other individuals. In other words, “we were on our own”.

I arrived at the Angry Minnow in Seeley around 7:00am with my race companion and good friend Mike Schroden. Once we arrived we grabbed our queue sheets (detailed course directions for the race) and started getting our gear ready. At 7:30 after a short race brief from the directors the riders started rolling out. For the first 20 miles the pace was way faster than I anticipated. Maybe it was because it was early, but I didn’t want to be going that fast that early in a long 100 race.

Eventually the pace settled down and I was in the first chase group of about 7 people. Our group rode together for another 20 until we got turned around and started riding the same stretch of single track back and forth 2 or 3 times. At this point another group of riders caught up with us and we all navigated the remaining 15 miles of single track together until we got to mile 55, the one and only check point where we had our drop bags of food, water, and other pre-packed supplies (ie. Chamois Crème) waiting for us.

The stop was very short and little by little smaller groups started heading back on the course. I was off my bike for about 10 minutes to refuel then Mike, and I took off with one or two other riders. Not more than 5 miles into the single track we took another wrong turn and ran into Heath, a lone LCR rider, who was heading back towards us on the wrong trail. Eventually Heath, Mike and I split from our group and finished the rest of the course together. We didn’t know how many riders were ahead or behind us, we just rode a good pace, stopped at every questionable intersection, and reassured ourselves we were on the right track.

As luck had it, we got lost less and had fewer mechanicals than most of those who left the checkpoint ahead of us. Heath, Mike and I crossed the finish line together just after 5pm. 10 hours of pure single track bliss and a three-way tie for 3rd. The Cheq 100 was an awesome event. I can wait to see what this race evolves into next year.

Salsa Cycles: Ride the Divide premier!

Salsa Cycles will be hosting a premier of Ride the Divide, a film about racing the Great Divide Mountain Bicycle Trail. The premier will be shown at Riverview Theatre, in Minneapolis, on June 15th 2010.

All details can be found on Salsa Cycles site.

Resistance Training

Today I hauled G. with me to work . This is will make it three weeks in a row. She is getting much better in the trailer and is very well behaved at work. Luckily the humidity dropped overnight and it was a beautiful day. My legs are still cooked from the Cheq 100. More info on that later.

Quick update from the past couple weeks. Last Thursday I took an impromptu trip to Seattle to see my brother. I was in Seattle for 4 days and had an awesome time. Day one we went to Shorty's pinball bar to have their signature cream cheese chill dog and washed it down with a variety cheap canned beer. We had the best apple fritter ever at Top Pot doughnuts, went to Roq La Rue Gallery to see some great art as well as a glass blowing studio.

Day two we went to the Fishermans Terminal to checked out all the boats, then to Ballard neighborhood for lunch at Mike's Chili Parlor for a killer chili cheese burger. After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around town checking out the cool boutiques and flower shops, bars and coffee joints.

Day three was spent around Josh's place in Magnolia doing house work and cooking dinner.

Day four we went to Belview to see Hollie's work, do some shopping, get a professional shave at The Art Of Shaving, and lunch at a nice Irish pub. All before catching my flight home. I got back to Mpls around 12:30 am, light railed it home and then to bed for a full week of work.

Work was typical, rode my bike everyday, except on Wednesday I had company. Gretta Dingo rode with me in the Burley trailer and spend the day with me. She did a great job in the trailer and behaved very well at work. Weather permitting I am going to haul her in every Wednesday.

The Weekend was busy with a trip to see Katie's mom in Redwing, groceries and chores around the house. Luckily I was able to squeeze in a couple laps at Leb with Joe.

There you have it, a quick update on what I have been up to.

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mom's reading this.

The Rok

Last Saturday I completed my first race of the season. Ragnarok 105 is a 105 mile race primarily on gravel roads. At the beginning of the race, riders are given course directions for the first half of the course. Then at the half way point there is an aid station where riders pick up a final set of directions for the remainder of the course. This is not a new format, but for me it was the first race I've done where the course is not "marked". It was also the longest race I have done where I had to ride and working with a group of riders.

Going into the race I was confident in my fitness but less confident in how I would do reading the course directions. It didn't help my confidence that my computer stopped cooperating with me the day before the race and I was not 100% satisfied with my map holder. However, my goal for the race was to be competitive at the end and hopefully be in the final sprint for a spot on the podium. I knew this was lofty goal for a first timer, considering there were a lot of strong riders in the field. But I knew I had put the training in I needed and my legs felt really good leading up to the race.

The race started out much slower than I had anticipated with a lot of chattering between riders. Eventually we started approaching the first KOM (King Of the Mountain is a series of climbs throughout the race where riders race to the top. The first riders to reach the top are awarded points for their respective finish. At the end of the race, there is a separate KOM winner. KOM is a race with in a race) The pace picked up as the people who wanted to win the KOM attacked the climb. At the top the leaders slowed down for the majority of the field to catch up again.

I started getting frustrated with the pace but knew eventually the stronger riders would attack and thin the heard. After the 3rd KOM, I noticed my frame bag which was holding all of my water had completely unzipped and my 80 oz. bladder was falling out. I also noticed the group was about to turn onto a section of paved road and I knew this was where the attack was going to take place. I couldn't get my bag zipped up while riding, so I had no choice but to pull over, get off the bike and zip up the bag. As I did so, I watched the lead group take off down the road and leave me on the side of the road. By the time I was back on my bike 6 riders were a good 1/4 mile ahead of me. If I didn't bridge the gap my chances of finishing in the top 5 were shot. For about 5 miles I put my head down and chased the group ahead of me. Thankfully the group didn't work together for too long to keep the pace up. At the bottom of the 4th KOM I caught the group and rode at back of the pack for a good 15 miles trying to recover. Eventually I started to feel better and was able to start taking pulls at the front again.

As the group kept riding together the pace was not super hard, but the wind and rolling hills of the river valley added up and my legs were getting tired. I could tell I wasn't the only one hurting, at about mile 75 the group fell silent and no one was talking. Around 95 miles we reached the final big climb, it was the kind of climb that crushes a persons spirit and made me question if I should get off my bike and walk, but continued to slowly turn the pedals. As I reached the top I was the lead rider, I decided to keep my head down and the pace up. At this point I was comfortable trying to stay in the front of the group, hoping the last climb had wiped out the rest of the field. This wasn't the case.

The road gradually kept going up , this is where Charlie Tri, last years race winner, made his move. Charlie attacked on the final climb and I couldn't grab his wheel. At this point the race was on. We bombed the final gravel hill at about 35-40 mph. At the bottom of the hill we turned onto a paved road. Charlie had a good 100 yards on me and I was hurting. Next thing I know another rider is on my wheel and then Tim Ek passes me. I wished Tim luck chasing Charlie down and he responded, "You're coming with me". That was all the motivation I needed to push a little harder. Tim and I chased hard after Charlie. We were headed into town and toward the finish line. Putting safety second priority Tim and I blew across the highway, passed moving cars and blew through 4-way stops at around 25-30 mph. (Yes, this may not sound too smart, but I assure you we were looking out for one another and I never blindly cut through traffic. However it was a rush and I was having a lot of fun)

Tim and I were making ground on Charlie, but he was riding really strong and we ran out of room. Charlie rode a really strong race and tactically did everything right. Tim had more left in the tank than I did and finish second. I happily finish 3rd and did what I set out to do at the beginning of the race; be competitive and try to be in the final sprint for a spot on the podium.

Finishing time 6 hours 16 minutes.

Now playing: Leo Rondeau - Down At The End Of The Bar
via FoxyTunes

Preperation

Over the last month or so I have been doing a lot of riding in preparation for some early season races. The first being Ragnarok, a 100 mile gravel road race in Red Wing. Because of an unusually warm spring, I've been able to get some long rides in early. In March I logged over 1,000 miles between commuting and some nice weekend rides. Last Sunday we rode to Red Wing and back racking up 160 miles and 9+ hours on the bike.

After last weekends ride I feel really good about my conditioning for Ragnarok. This weekend I decided not to do any long rides and started getting my bike set up for the race; tweaking my bag set up where I will store food, water, spare tubes, and tools. I will post a race report next weekend.

Engagement

This past week Katie and I headed up the north shore for a short vacation. Wednesday evening after checking into our room we went for a short walk on the rocky shoreline. While the sun was setting I told Katie to close her eyes because I had a surprise for her. This is when I broke out the ring and asked her to merry me. She said "Yes" and now it is official, we are a newly engaged couple.

Katie and her new hardware.

Now it is time to start the wedding planning. We are thinking the summer of 2011

I love spring

Five days of commuting = 153 miles
+
One Sat road ride=103 miles
=
256. The total number of miles rode last week.

Next week I am on vacation with no bike for 5 days.
The time off will be nice, but the time on the bike has been so nice lately.

Enjoy the extra hour of sunlight everyone.

Now playing: Fatboy Slim - Gangster Tripping
via FoxyTunes

Mission Accomplished

As planned Joe, Ez and I put in a solid 5 hour ride yesterday. I am low-tec and don't have a computer or GPS on my bike yet, but I was told our final distance was around 75-80 miles .

Our route took us North East to the Bikery in Still Water for some coffee, a chocolate croissant and a nice piece of quiche. Then south through Afton and back to Minneapolis. The conditions were great, the morning temp was around 24 degrees and warmed up to close to 40 by the end of our ride. There was a light wind from the South East and plenty or sun and blue skies.

I felt really good the whole ride, I could tell my neck and sit bones weren't used to 5 hours in the saddle but I am sure that will change soon enough.

Now playing: Rage Against The Machine - Wake Up
via FoxyTunes

Up North Weekend.

As you may have noticed I started "Tweeting". I started my account because we encouraging people to tweet about Frostbike and by setting up an account I am able to check up on what people are saying about the show. Kinda like The Man you know. Anyway, tweeting is way easier than writing a whole blog post because I only get a maximum of a 120 characters per tweet. So as you check the blog, check the twitter up dates, they will be a little more current than the blog posts.

That said, I spend a great weekend "Up North" watching the American Birkebeiner. The biggest cross country ski race in North America. Anually, there are over 7000 skiers at the event all crammed into the Cable and Hayward, WI area. What a blast. The weekend was full of laughs with good friends, good food, cocktails, shot-skies, big dogs, deer heads, and golf carts. Need I say more?

Yeah, I do need to say more. Spring is right around the corner and this means long road rides until the trails dry up. I hope to get in the first big road ride of the year in this weekend. Probably not a century, but we are planning on 80.

Salsa Vaya

Some people have asked for more pictures of the Vaya, I know the pictures are not the best quality, they were taken from my phone and I don't have the best light in the garage.

I have been riding this bike since last fall. Most of my rides have been commuting on the road and on the single track of the MN river bottoms. On the river bottoms this bike is a lot of fun. The lower BB makes for a really stable ride while the tall headtube makes riding off-road in the drops very comfortable. The only negative of this set up is the lack of clearance when go over log piles with the 52t chainring.

Complete bike: Road triple cranks, 34t cassette, Bar end shifters, BB7 brakes

Rear brake has direct mount disc brake post and is designed for a full housing from the lever.

Rack and fender mounts in the rear. Rear triangle can fit up to a 1.9" tire.

Fork drop outs are reversed to help remove the front wheel when using fenders.
Fork also has direct mount disc brake posts.

A tall headtube allows for a more upright ride and comfortable ride in the drops.

Counting down to Frostbike

This past week was pretty crazy for me at work. The QBP Marketing Dept had a lot of materials to get out the door and to the printers to ensure materials will be back in time for Fb. For me this meant a lot of proofing. As Fb sneaks up on all of us at work, I start to get more and more last minute requests. Last week it was all of these requests that made work really stressful.
Wed I drove in early so I could get out and ski after work. When 3pm rolled around I had no energy or motivation to ski, so I bailed on getting out and exercising and continued working for 3 more hours. Wednesday ended up being an 11 hour work day. Luckily, Wednesday was the worst of it. By the end of the day Friday I felt pretty good about my work situations and left early. Now Frostbike is less than one week away and I feel pretty good about the event. More importantly, I can't wait for it to be over. After 6+ months of planning I am ready for a change.


Now playing: Shane MacGowan & The Popes - The Song With No Name
via FoxyTunes

Back in the Ice Box

This past week was an interesting one as far as commuting goes. Temps dropped below zero again and has turned a lot of the melted snow into glare ice, making for a slick and unpredictable ride.

For awhile now I have been riding my cross-check to work. I have it set up fixed with two brakes, flat bar, road tires and rear pannier. This set up is nice when the streets are dry or there is ice on the road from an over night frost. When it is icy I feel way more comfortable slowing down by back pedaling than braking and the fixed gear keeps the skinny tires rolling through snow pretty good.

However when the temps drop below zero I ride my Vaya to work. Riding gears allows me to easily regulate my body temp and ensure I don't get too sweaty and then get too cold. My Vaya also has barmits which help keep my hands warm when it is below zero. Also when there are big snow and ice ruts in the road it is nice to coast the Vaya's big tires over any sketchy sections.

Finally, I skied again on Wed; two weeks in a row. I know this is nothing to brag about, but I am happy to be taking a day off the bike and to be outside focusing on another activity.


Now playing: Bright Eyes - Make War
via FoxyTunes

Cross Country Skiing

Wednesday was the first time this year I've left my bike at home to drive into work. Not because it was too cold or too icy or I that was too sick to ride. But because I haven't cross country skied all year and I wanted to get out. I decided to drive in early and ski after work while the sun was still up.

The conditions were great. Temps in the 20's, good snow, a light breeze and plenty sun. I felt comfortable on my skies, my technique seemed as good (or bad) as I remember it being at the end of last season, but an hour was all I wanted to do my first time out.

My goal is to drive in and ski every Wednesday. Hopefully I can stick to the plan.


Now playing: Elvis Presley - Don't Cry Daddy
via FoxyTunes

Commuter log

Two for Two in 2010.
That is two days commuting to work with mornings temps below zero.
Yesterdays temps were 9below in the morning and 3above in the evening.
Today's temps were around 3below in the morning and 9above on the ride home.

Although it has been cold I have stayed comfortable with the layers I am wearing.
Head=Windproof Balaclava with no glasses and a regular bike helmet
Top=1 ss base layer, 1ls mid-weight layer, 1 heavy wool sweater, and a winter riding jacket
Bottom=long riding tights under wind proof fleece tights with light knickers on top
Feet=poly-under socks to absorb sweat, wool socks for heat. Thermal hiking boots 1.5 sizes too big for room and circulation.

I have also started using a pannier instead of a backpack. It is nice to take the load off of my back. Not having a pack on my back helps to eliminate any unwanted sweat on my back from where my backpack would sit.

My New Years Blog

Another year has come and gone; they sure seem to go fast. Katie and I had another great year. Katie still nanny's for two families which really makes her happy and I will be turning 7 years at QBP in March. We have been in our house now for about 18 months and enjoy working on little projects and home improvements. My garage/bike shop is almost complete, with the frigid weather I haven't spent the time in it I would've like straightening things out. Gretta, our "baby girl", turned two in October. She is a lot of fun and really makes us laugh. If you didn't know, Gretta is our dog, sorry to lead anyone on. I am continuing to bike a lot and already looking forward to next spring. However I hope to do more cross country skiing this winter and take a little more time off the bike.

Looking forward to this summer, I only have a handful of bike events I want to do. Then I plan on doing more camping and hopefully some traveling.

The short list...
?. Road Trip to the South East; Tennessee, North Carolina, ???
1. Ragnarok 105- 105 mile gravel road event in April
2. Almanzo 100- 100 mile gravel event in May-The timing of this event is not good for me, but I will see if I can pull it off.
3. Dirty Kanza 200- 200 miles gravel in June
?. Bike camping trip up the North Shore?

Here's to a new year; I wish all of you peace and happiness in 2k10.


Now playing: Rage Against The Machine - Know Your Enemy