Dorkin Around

Falling Behind

2010-08-07T08:02:00.003-05:00

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

2010-05-27T22:39:00.004-05:00

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!

2010-05-26T22:03:00.002-05:00

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

2010-05-26T21:54:00.002-05:00

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.

2010-05-09T21:28:00.002-05:00

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

2010-04-17T09:06:00.004-05:00

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

2010-04-04T13:01:00.002-05:00

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

2010-03-21T11:20:00.004-05:00

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

2010-03-14T19:39:00.003-05:00

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

2010-03-07T13:26:00.002-06:00

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.

2010-03-01T21:50:00.002-06:00

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

2010-02-14T13:52:00.011-06:00

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

2010-02-13T11:07:00.002-06:00

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

2010-01-31T12:46:00.002-06:00

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

2010-01-23T08:33:00.003-06:00

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

2010-01-05T21:09:00.002-06:00

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

2010-01-02T10:55:00.003-06:00

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

Two Mile Stones

2009-12-06T21:43:00.010-06:00

Mile Stone 1. Last week I reached my goal of riding 6000 miles commuting to and from work.

It took me just over 11 months, but I did it. For years I kept coming up a couple hundred miles shy of 6000, but this year I finally did it. Year to date, 7,035 total miles ridden.

5,994 miles down; 6 more to go.

I am very lucky to work at a place that not only supports bicycle commuting but also promotes it. I am also fortunate enough to have a great group of friends and co-workers who were willing to wait out in the cold to cheer me on as I left work and surpassed my goal.

Mile Stone 2. The Man Gave is 99% complete. Or at least complete enough to share pictures.

The garage before. Cracked concrete, crappy garage door, okay shelving, and so-so bike storage.

The garage after. New concrete, 36" french doors, plenty of shelves for storage, and adequate space for 14 bikes.

The only thing left to do in the garage is hang my bike tools, do a little electrical work and and caulk some of the gaps around the door. Special thanks to Tim and Joe for all of their help.

2009-11-29T18:17:00.001-06:00

Phase one of garage rebuild complete.
Pictures to come.

2009-11-28T16:48:00.001-06:00

Setting up my phone to blog from.

Laying It Down

2009-11-25T21:19:00.003-06:00

Tonight on the ride home I unexpectedly laid my bike down going around a corner. I wasn't going too fast, I was actually in the saddle about to crest a hill when my front wheel washed out from under me. Before I knew it I was sliding on my side as my bike slid out from under me. The streets were wet, but I wasn't expecting it to be so slick. I guess the time has come to start riding with a little more caution; be warned winter in near.

Garage Mahal?

2009-11-16T15:30:00.003-06:00

Not quite, but I am still excited to remodel our one car garage.
The concrete work started about an hour ago. The old concrete is out and they are laying the re-bar now. The new concrete should be finished tomorrow.

I ordered the new doors this weekend, they should arrive in two weeks. In this time I need to design the new work bench and layout for the bikes and storage shelves.

I am excited to design my "man cave"

Let's think about this a little more

2009-11-08T13:27:00.002-06:00

The new bike lanes in downtown Minneapolis don't look that safe to me?

Gravel Ride

2009-11-01T20:17:00.004-06:00

Today I decided the leaves could wait another weekend to be raked and went for a ride instead. Jason Boucher and I drove down to Northfield and did an awesome 50 mile gravel road ride with the locals. The ride was put on by Northfield locals Ben and Sean, two great guys who know how to keep cycling real and host a good event; thanks guys, you threw down an impressive ride.

This was the longest ride I have done in awhile and I felt really good. The pace generally pretty tame, with some hard efforts on the climbs. I rode my La Cruz with the new Salsa Woodchipper

Now playing: Tom Waits - Don't Go Into The Barn
via FoxyTunes

Does anyone check this site anymore?

2009-10-31T10:31:00.003-05:00

Well I hope so, I apologize it has been a really long time since I last posted any updates. I will attempt to post more frequently so I can stay in touch with all of you who I don't talk with that often. If you do check in on me every so often, please continue doing so and I will try to keep this site updated at least once a month.
So what is new with me, here is a short list to keep it simple...
- Celebrated my grandpas 89 birthday in Aug. "Keep on doing what ever it is you do Grandpa that keeps you so sharp."
- Spent 10 days in Seattle for my brothers wedding. "Congratulations Josh and Hollie."
- Spent 4 days at home working and doing laundry before leaving to LV
- Spent 9 days in Las Vegas working the Interbike trade show
- Sold a bike, but didn't replace it with a new one. "Oh wait, I did get a new bike, my bad."
Went to the doctor for an annual physical. "I like to do this annual trip every 5 years. Maybe I will change that habit. Don't worry, Doctor says I am healthy."
-Rode to work in the rain, A lot. "I rode to work everyday this October, 21 day equaling 650 miles"
-Celebrated my 5 year anniversary with Katie.
-Gretta turned 2 today.

Have safe and happy Halloween everyone.

Now playing: The Shins - One By One All Day

Punk is where my heart is

2009-08-09T16:20:00.005-05:00

"Kiss Me I'm Shitfaced" was the closing song Dropkick Murphys played at their free concert in St. Paul Friday night . Joe, James and I rolled into Harriet Island to brave the potential thunder storms, mobs of adolescent punk rockers and drunken Irish fair attendees.

We were a ways back from the stage which was cool with me, but at times I wanted to go into the crowd and mix it up in "the pit". It's probably a good idea I didn't though, it's been a long time since I have held my own in the crowd and I don't know how my body would have handled it the next morning. This was the first time I have seen Dropkick and the first punk show I have been to in over a couple years. I have to say I really enjoyed myself. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed the last folk-rock shows I went to, but punk is where my heart is.

After the show we cruised to the Happy Gnome for a drink. While finishing our first round the skies opened up and the rain came down hard. The three of us are are all experience and weathered bikers, but the rain looked too heavy to go out in, so we decided to order up another round and wait out the storm.

When our second round was empty we decided to ignore the rain and head home. It only took 2 blocks for me to get completely soaked by the rain; luckily it was warm out and our ride was short.

Time Off

2009-07-27T20:29:00.007-05:00

Lately I have taken a lot of time off from writing, but recently I also took some time off to travel. This past weekend Katie and I went to Puerto Rico for our friends Hann-Yu and Edwardo's

wedding.

Our trip was kinda short, only 5 days, but we had an excellent time. This was my first time in the tropics and we got to do some really cool stuff. Of course the beach was nice, but we also did some hiking in the El Yunque National Forest. We went kayaking in a bioluminescent bay, where the algae lit up and glowed when it was disrupted by our paddles or hands, and finally the wedding. The wedding was out side of Fort San Felipe del Morro, an old fortress built in the 1500's to defend the city from enemies. It is needless to say the wedding was beautiful but I have attached some pictures for everyone to see for yourself.

Finally, a few more things to mention...
Congrats to Al and Luby on their wedding. I love you guys and am sorry I couldn't make it to your reception.

Congrats to Schroden, on a 2nd place finish at 9-mile. I have to say something about the race, because he probably wont write about it in his own blog.

okay that's it, I will try to do this more often.

The long way home...

2009-06-15T21:51:00.003-05:00

Well we made it. The unofficial distance was 180 miles from Minneapolis to Windom. The official time was 14 hours door to door. The ride was great. Mailen and I met Jesse Rients in Eden Prairie and headed South to the St.Peter. Jesse had to turn around before St.Peter, so for the remainder of the ride it was Mailen and me. In St.Peter we stopped for lunch and continued to Mankato before we headed West.

About 30 minuets out of Lake Crystal it started to sprinkle, another 30 minutes passed and the sprinkles turned into rain and the temps dropped . For the next hour or so we rode in the rain until we got to Madelia where we stopped for an hour or more to drink some coffee, warm up and try to dry off.

Leaving Madelia our clothes were still wet and the rain was still falling, but it didn't take long until the rain stopped and the sun was out again. As we headed West we enjoyed a nice tail wind and the great scenery of the rolling green country side contrasting the bright blue sky.

Clear skies ahead

As we headed into Windom, I was ready to get off the bike, put on some clean clothes and enjoy a nice cold one with my family and friends who were waiting for us at my mom's house.

The ride was great and I am looking forward to doing it again

Now playing: Ryan Adams - Gimme A Sign
via FoxyTunes

To Grandmothers House We Go

2009-06-11T22:50:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow morning I am riding my bike home to Windom for Grandma's 80 birthday party.
In all, the ride should be about 170 miles.
Not too bad considering I am also turning 30 this weekend.
Luckily I will have the Mailman with my to help fight the wind.

12 Hours of Northern Kettles

2009-05-25T20:58:00.005-05:00

Well I made it; 12 hours of northern Kettles is over. After loading Mailen's Xterra to the roof with gear. Sean, Katie, Gretta and I headed East to Greenbush, WI. For those of you who are not familiar with your Wisconsin geography, Greenbush is between Oshkosh and Sheboygan.

Gretta packed to the roof of the car wondering, "Why do these guys need so much crap"

Friday night we camped out in a group camp site with a handfull of other racers. We were unable to set up our tents on the race course so we had to wait until Saturday morning to set up the Twin Six tent and all of our gear for the race. This was a pain because we had to unpack the vehicle friday night to get our tents out only to pack the truck back up and unload again to set up our site for the race. Friday night I didn't get the best sleep b/c we had Gretta in the tent with us. This was Gretta's first camping trip; she did really good, but got excited a couple times during the night and woke us up. Saturday mornign we were up at 6am and headed to the race course to start setting up our shelter, make breakfast, and get ready for the 8am start.

The course was 8 miles of all rocky single track. I was happy to be riding the Dos Niner. The large wheels and extra inch of rear travel helped take up some of the bumps. I rode pretty strong for the first hours, only stopping for water bottles, GU and a few pieces of PB&J. At about 2pm it started raining. Around 3 pm the course was like ridding on a slip and slide. I took my time finishing my 10th lap and went to our tent for a break. At this point it was still raining and I didn't know if I would go back out on the course again.

New Twin Six team kit, "It's Metal"

After another PB&J, some Builder Bar, a Coke and an hour and a half break, the rain stopped and the course was starting to get tacky again. I decided to put on a fresh change of clothes get back in the saddle. I was fortunate to have company for my first lap after the rain. Thanks Anne for being my winglady! I turned out 3 more laps and ended the race at 7:40ish pm. My records showed that I rode a total of 13 laps, totaling 104 miles. Fortunately for me, the score keepers had me down for 14 laps( I don't know if it was me or the score keepers who lost count through out the race?), but 14 laps was good enough for 3rd place out of 22 solo riders. One lap and one hour behind the winner.

The race was tough, I was happy that my legs felt good the whole time. It was my hands and butt that really took a beating. I am planning on two more 12 hour races this year and am still contemplating doing a 24 solo in Aug. Time will tell.

Now playing: Green Day - 2000 Light Years Away
via FoxyTunes

Cable Classic

2009-05-17T21:09:00.004-05:00

This weekend Katie and I went north to Cable, WI for Cable Classic mountain bike race; A 23 mile race from Lakewoods Resort to Cable. This was the first time I have done this race and didn't know what to expect. What I did know was the weather at the start of the race was going to be cold. The forcasted highs for Satruday was 55, but I didn't expect to see snow flakes in the morning. Luckily I was prepared for the cool weather and was comfortable for the race.

The course was a lot of fun with a good mix of single track and fire roads. The worst part of the race was splashing through the freezing mud puddles and then riding in wet shoes for an hour and a half. I felt like I rode a good race yesterday. I was able to move into the first group of riders right from the start and hung with the group for about half the race, eventually I started fading and couldn't hang on to the group. With about 10 miles to go I lost sight of the group and ended up riding the rest of the race with 2 other riders. With 2 miles to go 1 rider attached and I knew I wasn't going to be able to hang with him. In the end I held the other rider off and finished 11. I am really happy with how I rode. I didn't know what to expect fitnesswise since this was the first race of the season, but I thought I fared pretty well.

Special thanks to Tim Krueger and his family for letting us crash in the Fonzie loft.
Kaite and Odia for their support.
Thanks to Twin Six for the gear.
Rivers Eatery for the great pizza and beer. If you are in the cable area and are looking for some good pizza check this place out. You wont be disapointed.

Next weeked I am doing my first solo 12-hour race of the year in Greenbush, WI. Looking forward to a long day in the saddle.

A glimpse of things to come

2009-05-14T22:03:00.004-05:00

This season I have the honor of riding for the Twin Six team. If you are not familiar with Twin Six, it is a local Minneapolis company that designs some of the coolest gear in the industry.
Not only are the graphics on the jerseys and shorts well designed, but the fit is also custom; making the apparel super comfortable and well thought out from start to finish. Below is a little tease of what the kit will look like.

That's right, nothing says "METAL" like silver and black lycra. This ensemble screams "Speed". So if you see the silver and black on the trail, don't be afraid to throw the horns in the air and with your best Bruce Dickinson voice yell "Run to the Hills"!

First race of the year is this weekend in Cable, Wisconsin...Bring the Noise.

Congratulations Joe

2009-05-03T07:41:00.002-05:00

Joe Meiser wins Trans Iowa 5.

Nice work, you put a lot of effort into this race.

One bike left

2009-04-26T18:10:00.003-05:00

Saturday morning Mailen, Joe and I rode the Minnesota River Bottom trails from Minnehaha Falls to 9 mile creek where we met up with a group of guys to help put in the raft that helps trials users cross the creek. It was nice leisure ride down to the creek, once the raft was in the water, we stood around, indulged on coffee and pastries we carried in and enjoyed the cool morning air.

(This is an older picture of the creek in the summer when the water is down. Now in the spring the water is up to the top steps.)

Yesterday was also the first time I rode my Dos Niner this year. The big tires and 1" of travel make for a perfect ride on the river bottoms trail. So far this month I have ridden all of my bikes except one; the SS mountain bike. Maybe I will squeeze it in for a ride before the end of April, or maybe it will have to wait a little longer. Regardless, most of the metro trails are now open and there will be plenty of opportunities to get some quality mountain biking in.

Now playing: Biz Markie - Just A Friend
via FoxyTunes

New Colors and New Bikes Photos

2009-04-12T08:42:00.010-05:00

Not a whole lot of news to share since the last time I posted. The biggest news is a couple weekends ago Katie and I painted some of the rooms in the house. This is the first time I have really done any painting like this. I am pretty confident I can say "I don't like painting".
We really like the colors we picked and the rooms look as good as they can, considering the poor job the previous owners did painting.

Yesterday I finally got out on my road bike for the first time this year. We got about an 80 mile ride in, including some pretty serious pace lines, sprints, and hill climbs. I felt really good throughout the whole ride, even after a full week of riding including a hard ride on Friday.

City Limit Sprint
L to R- Fast Frankie, Sean Mailman Mailen, Joe Diesel Meiser, Derrick "D. Lewis"

Salsa Primero-with new Red Group and Dura Ace Carbon Clinchers

Since I switched the RED onto the Primero, I had a Chorus group sitting around collecting dust. I decided to convert the Casseroll fixed fear into a gear bike. This bike is awesome!

Salsa Casseroll-with Campy Chorus 10 group and wheels

Finally, since I lost my fixie I wanted to convert my Cross Check back to a fixed gear. The Cross Check is a very versatile bike that allows one to set it up in a a number of different configurations. Here is the 4th mutation of my Cross Check.

Surly X-Check ,Mutation 4.0 - 42x17 fixed gear

Now playing: Yonder Mountain String - Night Out

staying on average

2009-03-31T21:13:00.002-05:00

This year I am really trying to meet a goal of commuting 200 times to work equaling about 6000 commuting miles. To reach the 200 commute mark I need to ride to work an average of 4 days a week. I have had this same goal for the past 3 years and have never been able to reach it b/c of travel, some intentional rest days before races, or a week of for jury duty.

As of today, I have rode in 50 times, which puts me at 1,500 miles. I rode to work 20 times in March and only missed 2 days due to a work trip to Las Vegas. I am right on track to reach my goal. I know I am only 3 months in to the year, but the weather should be getting nicer soon making riding easier.

Now I need to keep putting in some consistent weeks while I can. Before I know it the summer travel schedule will pick up and it will be easy to fall behind.

Oh yeah, it is going to snow tomorrow. I did say it is going to get nice soon, didn't I?

First race of the year is April 18. The Durand road race in WI. It's time to start getting out of the saddle and building up some sprinting legs.

Welcome back spring

2009-03-14T20:47:00.006-05:00

Friday night I went over to Timmy's house for dinner and a bike building sorie. I am getting antsy for spring and I wanted to do some part swaping on my current bikes to get them ready for cleaner drier streets. Since my shop is in the unheated garage, I sought warmth (and beer) in Tim's basement shop. Project builds included putting a Red group on my Primero and swapping my Chorus group to my Casseroll. I will post pictures later.

Saturday morning Joe and I planned to put in a long ride on the road. Our goal was 100 miles, but since neither of us have computers on our bike we can only estimate how far we rode. I can tell you this, When I got back to the house I logged about 5.5 hours of ride time. I dont think we did 100 miles but I am sure we did more than 80. When I left the house at 8am, it was about 24 degrees. I dressed light knowing it was going to reach high 40's. The air was cool to start but I was able to stay comfortable the whole ride.

Joe rollin into St. Paul

Our route took us through St.Paul and up to Stillwater where we stopped for coffee at the Bikery. We kinda stumbled across the coffee/bike shop, but we were very happy to find a bikecentric coffee shop in Stillwater. I wish this shop the best of luck and recommend you check it out if you in the area. From Stillwater we headed south to Afton and then home.

Overall my body felt good for the whole ride, The wind was blowing hard from the south east so the cross wind on the way home became a bit exhausting and my neck and abs got tired from holding the bike upright while leaning into the wind. All in all I am really happy with how the ride went and how I felt. Cant wait for summer and the single track to open

Enjoy the ride

So far the weekend has been off to a great start, and I still have Sunday left.

Switching to Clippless

2009-03-08T21:35:00.004-05:00

After over 4 month of riding platform pedals with either a big winter snow boots or hiking boots, the weather has final warmed up to the point where I can comfortably ride in cycling shoes again.

What a difference it makes to be able to clip into my pedals again. At first the float in the pedals felt really awkward, but it didn't take long for me to get used to it again. And let me tell you it is a welcome change.

So you may ask, if it is so nice riding in clipless pedals why don't you ride them all winter; afterall they do make winter cycling shoes. For years I tried riding in the Lake winter boots but this fall I decided I had enough. For me, these boots never fit my feet and never really kept my feet warm. I was able to ride in them in temps down to about 20 degrees before my feet got cold.

I think decades years of playing hockey in freezing temps has damaged the circualtion feet, so my feet really get cold easily. In the past when I rode in temps about 10 below and I could never keep my feet warm. Since switching to real winter snow boots, I have rode down to 20 below and actually stayed pretty warm. It is been amazing how much easier it has been to ride with warm feet. Mentally, I have a lot more confidence going out in the cold and it is a lot of fun to stick my foot out moto style around the corners. I recommend everyone try riding in platforms for a little while.

Now playing: Screeching Weasel - My Brain Hurts
via FoxyTunes

Update

2009-02-15T10:18:00.004-06:00

Since I really haven't posted in a while I will give you a brief update on what I have been up to the past couple of weeks.

Vacation- In the beginning of the month a group of us rented a cabin in Lutsen and spent the weekend snowboarding, downhill skiing, xc skiing, snowshoeing, cooking, eating, drinking, hot tubbing, laughing, and enjoying eachothers fabulous company. The weather was great and we had a fantastic time. It was good to take a couple days off of work and just relax.

Work- has been pretty busy getting ready for Frostbike. The expo starts on Friday, so this week will be pretty crazy for me making sure everything gets done in preparation for the the show.

Riding- I have been riding to work pretty much everyday this month. I have really enjoyed my time on the bike this winter. I don't know what is different this year from last, but I am having more fun on the bike in the cold. Recently the streets have dried up so I have been able to ride different bikes in and the commute is much faster since I don't need to worry about icy streets.

Racing?- This past week I have started thinking about racing again and what races I would like to enter. Due to some really import weddings this fall I will not be able to do two of my favorite races; the Dakota 50 and Chequamegon. It is kinda a bummer, but there are a lot of other races I can do to make up for them. Also, I will not be attending Sea Otter this year so am considering more road racing in the spring. In the summer I want to enter more long distance mtb rides like the Mohican 100, 12 hours of 9-mile, and maybe Salsa 2-4 solo. I also have some spare parts kicking around the house that I plan on building a new bike up with.

Music- Johnny gave me some new music (Tim Barry, Hot Water Music, and Avail) to listen to. All of which is good, but may not fit everyone's fancy.

Home life- Kate, the dingo, and I are all doing really well. Katie and I had a relaxing Valentines around the house. We had a nice egg bake for breakfast and spend the rest of the day around the house reading, watching the Tour of California and couple episodes of Deadwood.

No Title Neccesary

2009-02-13T22:09:00.002-06:00

Look who joined the bandwagon.

I was wrong

2009-01-18T09:27:00.003-06:00

Ten years ago, I would have never attended a Mason Jennings and Trampled by Turtles concert on my own free will. During my college years I thought musicians like this just played crappy hippie music. Back then I would've rather listened to the classics like Rancid, Bad Religion, or Fugazi. Well times have changed and so has my musical taste. I have expanded my collection of music to include more country, blue grass, folk and other sub genres of the latter.

Because of this new musical taste, on my own free will, I attended a Mason Jennings show with Katie and a group of friends. This was my second Mason show. I am a enjoy Mason, but the first show I attended just didn't capture my attention like I had hoped. I found it rather slow and I was bored. I was hoping my second show would be better; I had faith it would be. Last nights show was a fund raiser for one of Mason's and number of other band's sound guy. It was a loaded venue with The Pines, Haley Bonar, Trampled by Turtles, Cloud Cult, and Mason Jennings.

The show was great, Trampled by Turtles are an amazing band and Mason redeemed himself in my opinion. So I was wrong after all, Mason Jennings and TBT is not just crappy hippie music. It is still definitely hippie music, but I will not say it is crappy anymore. I look forward to seeing another TBT show in the future, but I can garantee I wont be in the front row.

I still listen to the punk rock like I did 10 years ago, but it is not the only music that rocks.
Chad, TJ, the Dans', and the other elder ONAG'rs, this is just one more thing I have learned from you. I am only sorry it took 10 years to sink in. I may have enjoyed the bbq's more if I could've sang along with the music.

Nothing has changed...

2009-01-15T21:25:00.005-06:00

The weather has only got colder.
Yeah I know, I been exactly a month since I last posted anything. What can I say, the Holidays were good to me. I got to spend some very quality time with my family, I ate a lot, drank some boots, and I took 2 weeks off the bike. Instead of my daily commute to work, I exercised by running with Gretta, playing hockey at the local rink (walking distance from the house) and cross country skied.

Now that the Holidays have past and things are back to normal, I will put more effort into blogging a bit more frequently. But don't get your hopes up. This morning the air temp was 20 below. I had made plans the day before to ride in with another coworkers but after checking the forecast last night I decided not to ride. It took a little contemplation but I decided taking two days in a row off of riding would probably be good for me. After all it is really f'n cold out there! Considering on monday it was 16 below and my derailleurs and cables froze up less than 15 minutes into my ride and the way my fingers would freeze and thaw the last 15 minutes of the ride, I decided I didn't want to go through it all again. It has been nice to have the extra 3-4 hours in the day to spend with Katie, sit on the couch and read at night. But tommorrow I will be pulling on the layers again and meeting the crew at Colossal. That's right, Friday breakfast ride.

Have a good weekend everyone; I hear it is going to be hot one in MN!

Now playing: G. Love & Special Sauce - Shooting Hoops
via FoxyTunes

9 below

2008-12-15T19:47:00.004-06:00

This morning might have been the coldest weather I have rode in yet.
Leaving the house the temps were around 9 below and wind chills close to 30 below.
I tried some new layering options and believe it or not, it wasn't that bad.
For anyone who really cares to know what it takes to ride in 10 below weather here is a list of the clothing I wore.

Head- a Mountain Hardware windstopper balaclava, goggles, and regular bike helmet
Torso- mid weight long sleeve base layer, Ibex Shak heavy wool jersey, Pearl Izumi wind and water resistant Gavia jacket, and a Craft windbreaker.
Legs- Fleece bib knicker tights under some Pearl Izumi Am Fib wind and water resistant bib tights. Over the tights I wore a regular old pair of Patagonia pants.
Feet-thin poly sock liners under some fairly heavy wool Craft socks. instead of cycling shoes and booties I wore my Salomon Winter boots and rode with platform pedals instead of clips.
Hands- Wigwam wool glove liners inside Pearl Izumi Lobster gloves.

Luckily the temp rose to a balmy 1 degree above 0 for the ride home. Any warmer and I would have over heated. Also if you are interested, my commuting light is the Light in Motion Stella 180L. This light is awesome; light weight, bright, long run time, and short charge time.

So there you have it, riding in year round in MN really is tolerable if you have the right gear.
It also goes with out saying that I woudl like to thank my sponsor and employer QBP for all the great hook ups.

X-Mas with the Finks

2008-12-14T13:02:00.005-06:00

Wishing all of our friends and family a very merry holiday season.

Last night Katie and I attended “Christmas with the Finks”. I cant really come up with any words that truly explain the theme of the party, but if I had come up with one word it would be “Trashy”. From the light up Snoopy on the door step to the Star Wars ornaments adorning the tree. The wood burning fire inviting everyone to gather around the television the fire was illuminating from. The meat log, cheese ball, doughnut tree, and Jello mold in the kitchen. But the real high point of the party is always the attire; the knit holiday cardigans, the Santa hats, the sequins, the themed turtlenecks and finally the tree skirt-skirts. Yes, it is quite an eclectic spectacle.

Thanks Zacca for being such great hosts!

Now playing: The Nightwatchman - Union Song
via FoxyTunes

Jury Duty

2008-11-17T09:22:00.002-06:00

Starting Last Wednesday, I was sentenced to jury duty. Let me tell you, jury duty is not that bad.
Tuesday evening I called the special number to see if I had to report in the morning, but my number wasn't called. On Wednesday I worked from home until 12:15 until I had to call the jury number again, still no need for me to go to the court house. I continued working on Wednesday and was really productive.

Wednesday evening I called the jury line again for my Thursday assignment, nothing. When Thursday morning rolled around I decided to take Gretta on a nice walk and play with the neighbor dogs. We had a great morning together. When I got back to the house I checked my work email, but it seemed like there wasn't a lot happening at work, so I did some work around the house. At 12:15 I called the jury number again, still no need for me. I checked my email again, still nothing urgent to tend to. For the rest of the afternoon I worked around the house and periodically checked work email.

Thursday, 6:30 pm check in; No need to report Friday morning. Since I haven't rode my bike in 2 days, and there is no need to report to jury duty, I decided to meet the guys at Colossal for breakfast and ride into work with the group. Upon arriving at Q, I turned around and took the long route home. I could've stayed and worked for a bit, but since I had to check in at 12:15 I didn't see too much use. At 12:15 I called the jury line again, still no need to report. In fact they also said there was no need for me to report Monday morning. I have got to say, Jury Duty has been a pretty good gig.

Honestly though, I am trying to stay productive and work from home when possible; but it is really hard to not get distracted and do person stuff. Today I want to stain our new dining table and hang some curtains. Oh yeah, and I have to call the jury line at 12:15. Only 8 more days of jury duty to go.

Product Review

2008-11-10T19:28:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I bought some new cold weather riding gear to make this winters commutes more tolerable. Unfortunately none of the tights I ordered fit, but I did get a jacket that I am really stoked about, the Pearl Izumi Gavia jacket. Last week I rode with this jacket when the temps were in the high 30's. All I had on underneath was a sleeveless base layer and I could barely feel the wind through the jacket.

This morning was my first ride in sub-freezing weather and the jacket was awesome. When I left the house it was around 29 degrees. I had a light short sleeve base layer, a thicker long sleeve layer, the Gavia jacket, and a summer riding vest on and I was comfortable the whole way. The jacket kept me warm and insulated and also allowed my chest and arms to breath really well.

I am looking forward to testing my new purchase in more fridged temps. I am sure the novelity of my new jacket will wear off when the temps are so cold I can't feel my toes, but until then I look forward to putting the jacket to the test.

Another Colossal day

2008-11-08T14:53:00.006-06:00

If all mornings would start with Biscuits and gravy, I would be a very happy man. Probably a very overweight man too. Yesterday I got an inside tip that Colossal was serving B&G this weekend, so Joe and I planned to meet for an early breakfast. Little did I know that Frank and Joe were going to ambush me at breakfast and talk me into racing after breakfast.

Sure enough I was easily persuaded and 20 minutes after eating I was on the road heading to the cross race in Blaine. With temps in the 30's, and dropping, it was a perfect day for a cross race.

We arrived in time for Joe and Frank to race and also gave support to other QBP'ers who raced the C's. I raced in the B's and had an average finish for myself, coming in 9th. Starting in the back of the pack is less than ideal, but I made a lot of ground on the first lap. From lap 2 and on I pretty much rode by myself, doing all I could to bridge the gap up to the next rider ahead of me. I didn't have any luck.

The race was a lot of fun. The course was challenging, their were a good number of spectators, and racing in the cold weather really made me feel like I accomplished something today.

Oh, and the Biscuits and Gravy, they stuck with me all morning, even though I had to hold them down for awhile about half way through the race. If I had to do it all over again, I would still have ate the B&G.

Now playing: Strung Out - Jackie O
via FoxyTunes

Our first cross race

2008-10-25T18:09:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday, the day after bring home Gretta, Katie and I decided to take her to the Hudson CX race. We figured Gretta was going to attend a lot of races in her new life, so what better time than now to get her aclimated.

I entered the B race while Katie graciously handed up water bottles (which I always appreciate), but today she had the additional responsibility of watching a new dog at the same time. The race was pretty tough. I don't have a lot of experience riding cross and I don't get any practice dismounting or mounting, so I have to learn as I go through the race. In the end I think I finished around 15-20 out of 60.

After my race I hung out to watch the A race and give Katie a break from Gretta. I thought I had it tough racing, but I think Katie had it a lot worse with the water bottles and handling Gretta. Gretta had been in the pound for about a month before we got her, she didn't get a lot of doggy interaction, and I don't think she has spent a lot of time on a leash before. Needless to say, she was a handful.

At the end of the day we were all really tired and had a great time out in the sun. I think Gretta enjoyed her first race. One thing I do know is she likes mountain berry Accelerade.

Gretta taking nips of the bottle

Now playing: Valet - Habana
via FoxyTunes

Please welcome to the Horkey-Crocker family...

2008-10-18T17:51:00.004-05:00

Gretta Horkey-Crocker.

This beautiful girl was welcomed into our home this morning around 11:30am
Gretta, was born Oct 31st 2007.
The boxer/Shepard weighs 47 lbs and is a bundle of joy and energy.
Both parents and puppy are happy and doing doing well in their new home.

Pumpkin

2008-10-05T21:07:00.003-05:00

The other week there was an email sent out at work updating everyone us of our companies commuting stats. Below is a basic summary of the miles QBP is putting in this year.

"4 riders have logged over 5,000 bike commuting miles year to date.

Five are over 4,000 miles for the year.

86 employees who have logged over 1,000 miles"

These number are pretty impressive and seem to be up from past years. Right now I am happily sitting in the 10 spot with 3,947 mile. Down a few spots from past years. But right on track millage-wise from where I have been in the past.

So with that update, I will use this opportunity to show you my new form of motivation to ride.

Meet "Pumpkin", my new Cross bike. The new bike is a Salsa La Cruz. The bike has a Sram Rival group, BB7 brakes and DT wheels. I have only rode the bike a couple times to work, but so far it has been a lot of fun. My goal was to race the bike this fall, but b/c of a busy schedule traveling for work and person trips, I don't think I will find time to do any cross races. I will however find time to get the bike on the local single track.

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Now playing: The Tossers - A Criminal of Me
via FoxyTunes

Chequamegon? Chawamigon? Shiwamagon?

2008-09-14T19:55:00.006-05:00

My chequamegon "game face"

My goal for Chequamegon this year was to finish the 40-mile race in around 2 and a half hours. I never know who is going to sign up in the Single Speed class, so I didn’t really put a lot of pressure on my self for how I wanted to finish in the SS class. Overall, I was thinking if I could finish in the top 50 I would be stoked.

This year we stayed with some friends a few miles from the start of the race. Total there were 10 of us at the house and 6 of us were racing. The morning before the race we had breakfast at the house. It was really nice to take our time eating and to be able to chat about the day ahead. It was also nice to not deal with the crowds, the smoke, the weak coffee and not so pleasant servers and Cooper’s, our other breakfast alternative.

After breakfast we drove to town to get ready for the race. The temp was in the mid 50's and were perfect for racing. I threw on some knee warmers and a long sleeved jersey to warm up and took off for a quick 15 minute spin. Once I was done with my warm up, I backed my bike into the preferred start gate and went right to the back of the line. The Preferred Start was great; it allowed me to take my time getting ready, then when I had to line up, I just walked behind the other 200 or so preferred riders and was able cut in front of the other 1500 riders who did not have a preferred start and had to get up early to stage their bikes.

At 10:00 the cannon fired to start the race the mass start roll out began. This year was crazy like any other year. Like always there were a lot of idiots trying to win the race in the first 3 miles and a few good crashes on the pavement. Since I was on the single I got passed on the road section by a lot of people who I knew I would catch once we hit the Birkie Trail. Sure enough, as soon as I hit the grass I start passing the rider after rider as they dropped into the granny gear to spin up the first hill.

I felt good on the trail; my plan was to find a good rhythm and ride the first 30 miles at a good pace but try not to stress myself too much, knowing that the hills during the last 10 miles can make or break the race. With in the first 10 miles of the race I started riding with a couple other single speeders who would stay with me for race. On every hill we would jockey back and forth because of our different gears or riding styles.

I crossed the “OO” checkpoint at around 58 minutes. 15 miles down, I was feeling strong but didn’t want to push too hard and continued to keep a good pace taking breaks and drafting off of the other riders and always keeping the two other single speeders in sight. For the next 10 miles, I tried to let the trains of geared riders do all the work on the flats as I sat in at got pulled along. With about 15 miles to go I was feeling really strong and started taking pulls at the lead of the group and began pulling away from the other riders, except the two single speeders. Somewhere around this point in the race we started gaining on a few other S.S. riders.

Fire Tower climb is about 30 miles into the course and this is where the race really starts shaping up. Because of the tall gear I was running and the group of people on the hill I was not able to ride much of the hill. I didn’t try to mash my gear, I popped of the bike and started jogging the hill. I was able to jog for a while, but the hill was relentless and my jog turned to a walk. Trying to keep long strides I kept moving up the hill pulling away from the other S.S.r’s.

After Fire Tower the course turns to a roller coaster of grass hills for the last 8 miles of the race. It was at this point when my quads started tightening up and I realized that I didn’t drop the other single speeders. Once again we jockeyed back and forth up the hills. Trying to avoid cramping, I jogged the crest of some hills while the other S.S.r’s rode the hill.

With about 2 miles left, I decided to make my move. Putting everything I had into the hills I pushed up every incline and didn’t look back. Eventually, I recognized the last long climb of the race and started to hear the music at the finish line. Once I crested the last hill, I knew the race was about over, there was a short down hill section with a 90 degree turn at the bottom and a 200 foot climb to the finish. As I descended, I didn’t look to see where the other single speeders were behind me, but saw two guys a head of me on the up hill climb. I gave it all I had up the hill trying to catch the riders, but I couldn’t close the gap and came up .3 sec short of passing on guy.

I crossed the line at 2:23:32.
I was the 3rd Single Speed to cross the line.
2.5 seconds in front of the 4th place Single Speed.
50 seconds separated the 3-6 place Single Speeds.
I finished 65 overall.

I am super happy with how the race went. I had a lot of fun and felt awesome.

As usual, Thanks to Katie for her help before and after the race.
To Tim and Odia for opening their home to us and for all the great food and beer.
And to Salsa for the great bike and a highly noticeable jersey.

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Now playing: The Vandals - Come Out Fighting
via FoxyTunes

Has it really been that long?

2008-09-11T21:37:00.002-05:00

Yeah, I guess it has. Well a lot has happened since the end of July. August was a busy month for Katie and me.

The first weekend of August was 24 hours of Nine mile.
Last year I did a 12 hour solo race. This year I neglected to sign up in time for the cheaper race entry so I decided to bag the race and support Katie and her all lady team. I had a great time with the girls watching them choke around and enjoy themselves and their bikes. I also spent a lot of time rideing around the course visiting with all of my friends who were racing.

The following weekend was a weekend off. I am sure I did some mountain biking but there was not traveling or racing.

August 16.
Katie and I headed north to Bluefin Bay where we spent the weekend with the Doom's and celebrated the marriage of one of my best friends Mike Schroden and his new wifeAngela. It was a great weekend with great weather, great scenery and great company.

Mike and Angela at their bachelor/bachelorette party.

August 22. The Double Centry.
Friday August 22 mark a big mile stone for me. My first double centry. That weekend was the QBP retreat and historically there has been a group of people who have road their bikes from Mpls to the Cable, Wi. area for the retreat. This year was Joe and my year to do the ride. Friday morning I left the house at 5:40 am and rode to Joes for a cup of coffee and at 6am we hit the road. Riding through the morning wathcing the sun rise was awesome. In fact the first 120 miles were great. We really only got turned around twice the whole ride. We took a little unexpected detour in Wi. and wound up at a Sunset Saloon around for lunch where we had one of the best Bacon Cheese burgers ever.

Parking sign at the Sunrise Saloon, Awesome!

In all the ride took us around 14 hours to go 205 mile, 12 hours of actual ride time. The ride was amazing, it was full of highs and lows, a lot singing and a lot silence but definately a lot memories. I don't know if I said this after the ride, but if I didn't "Thanks for the ride Joe".

Labor Day weekend. The Dakota 50.
I came into the 50 feeling really good and I really wanted to win the SS class this year. For the past 3 years I had been on the podium but for one reason or another I could get the top step.
This year I was really prepared for the race and want to win in a bad way. Saturday I decided to go out with a group to spin the legs out after the long drive and preride the course. The first 3 miles of up hill road felt good my legs were fresh and I was looking forward to getting into the single track. About a mile into the single track I was pumping into a corner when my wheel washed out from under me I went down hard banging my knee and elbow and I taco'd my front wheel on a tree. The reason I crashed, I had been commuting on my SS and I didn't let pressure out of my tires before the off road ride, stupid me. Only 28 minutes into the ride and I thought my weekend was over. My knee was sore but not bleeding too badly, I had to slam my wheel on the ground so it woudl roll through my fork when I nursed it downt the hill into town.

The whole ride down I thought to my self about the racing the next day. my body hurt and I didn't know if I was going to have it in me on Sunday. I pedaled into camp and decided if the local shop could fix my wheel. If they could I would race. If they couldn't, Oh well, I tried and it wasn't meant to be. They fixed my wheel, with only a little hop in it.

To keep a long story from being any longer, I finished the race. My knee hurt when I had to stand on the bike but if I stayed seated I could still give'er. My time was a couple minutes slower than last year, but I still managed to get 3rd in the SS. class. I am really happy with the outcome and will not complain. I am lucky I didn't seriously hurt myself on the preride b/c I fell hard.

Aug 12. Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival.
Well, I got into the race again because of a free entry given to me from Timmy at New Moon andI also got a preferred start; this means I will be "racing". After last years fall, I didn't think I wanted to go all out for this race again. but a year has passed and I feel different about the race.

Post ride accident picture

This year I am riding my single speed and I hope I can ride a strong race and stay out of the trouble. The weather may be rainy and I am looking forward to the ride, although my knee is still a bit stiff from last week. I'll see how it goes. Hopefully I can give a full report next week.
Enjoy your weekend everyone.

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Now playing: Bouncing Souls - Kids And Heroes
via FoxyTunes

Powder Monkey

2008-07-27T21:43:00.002-05:00

I raced at Spirit Mountain in Duluth last Sunday.
The course was phenomenal; 12 miles of rough, rooted, and rocky single track the whole time.
It was a very challenging course that kept me on my on the edge to whole time.
The 24 mile course took me 2 hours and 49 minutes to complete on the Mariachi SS.
I finished 21st overall in the expert class, 9th in the Men's 19-29 and 18minutes and 39 seconds behind the leader. I am very pleased with my results.

I decided to start riding my SS more to get ready for the Dakota Five-o at the end of Aug. This race was a good test of my fitness and overall strength on the Single Speed.
Right now, I am feeling pretty good about the Five-0.

I also found out today I got a preferred start at Chequamegon again this year. I didn't plan on "racing" the event but I'll see how I feel closer to the race. I signed up for the SS class so that will take the stress off of the start.

Memorial Classic

2008-07-21T22:26:00.003-05:00

The Red Wing Memorial Classic mountain bike race was yesterday. Katie stayed back to spend some time with her sister so I headed to the race solo. After pulling into Memorial Park, I went to register and ran into Jesse Rients and his girlfriend Annie who has recently learned the art of the bottle hand up and she was quick to offer her assistance handing me water bottles between laps.

My race started at 1pm and the air was very humid with temps in the mid 80's at start time. The race actually seemed to start much slower than past races which was nice. There was a short sprint in the beginning to the single track and all the riders seemed to file into the single track pretty smoothly. Halfway through the first lap I settled into my pace and really started to enjoy the course. The course had a good mixture of single track a technical rocky down hill and uphill sections, some really fast double track, and some good climbs. Most of the course was in the trees which was nice to be out of the sun, but there was no air and it was really muggy. When we did get into the open fields the sun was beating down but there was also a nice breeze at times.

Because of the way the course laid out I had plenty of time to drink and I was finishing a full bottle every lap, so it was really nice to have Annie handing me cold water bottles every lap. The race consisted of 4, 6 miles laps. I finished in just over 2 hours and 5 minutes. Almost 1o minutes behind the leaders, but good enough for 12 place. Pretty typical for me.

The race was a lot of fun, the terrain was pretty challenging, working in the heat was a real mental challenge, and the Dos Niner was the perfect bike for the course.

Tomorrow I am heading to Lincoln, NE for a Salsa work trip. We plan to get some riding in so hopefully I will have some pictures to share when I get back.

Now playing: Rancid - As Wicked
via FoxyTunes

Weekly Summary

2008-07-13T19:07:00.005-05:00

What a great week; this week I started interview for an Event Assistant at work. I would have never thought when I got the Event Coordinator job that in a couple years I would be hiring a lackey, I mean assistant. I am really excited about the position, there was good group of candidates, and I learned a lot about the interviewing process at Q.

Wednesday, I officially logged my 3000 mile of commuting by bike to work. I am a little behind schedule to reach my goal of 6000 miles by the end of the year. i have been trying to hit 6000 miles for 3 years now, but haven't been able to reach it. Basically, I need to ride 4 day a week all year round to hit 6000. This is difficult with travel, much needed rest days after racing, and the unexpected need to drive in. I am hoping July and Oct are big months for me.

Saturday, Katie and I had a great time with Schroden and his wife to be Angela at their Bachelor/Bechelorette party. In the morning a group of us went for a short road ride, followed by a boat cruise on lake Minnetonka, and ended the evening with dinner at a Cristo's, a Greek restaurant in St. Paul. It was a beautiful day filled with great friends, good food, lots of drinking and lots of laughs.

This week will be my final round of interview's to determine who will be the best minion for the job and I am also going to try and focus some of my riding a little to prepare to the Red Wing race this weekend.

Now playing: Mike Ness - Send Her Back
via FoxyTunes

Playing catch up

2008-07-08T22:17:00.003-05:00

Here is the answer to the question I know you all are asking; Fryn Porky, why don't you update your blog. Well my beloved fans, don't take it personal, but it is because I am lazy. I have been pretty busy at work try to hire for an assistant event coordinator, AKA Fryn's lackey. Actually I am really excited about getting an assistant, I have learned a lot about our interviewing and hiring process and I will get some supervisor experience. Not to mention, I can finally get some help doing my job.

Besides work I have been getting some good rides in on the weekends. Two Sundays ago, I raced in mankato and finished 15 out of 36 in the expert class which I was very pleased with and this past weekend I did a really nice mtb ride on Saturday and a nice road ride on Sunday with Katie.

Hope all of you are doing well and had a good forth of july.

Until next time, I leave you with a line from one of my favorite movies and the recently deceased George Carlin's, "be excellent to each other".

Boulder Day III

2008-06-20T15:25:00.004-05:00

vacation is nice, I need to take them more often. Friday after my morning cup of coffee, I packed up my bag and headed back to Luby's shop to get ready to meet Bil for a road ride. Bil is another ex ONAG'r who moved out to Boulder. Bil showed up around 9:30 and we rolled out for a good 2.5 hour ride. I don't know exactly where our ride went, but I do know we rode "the wall". The Wall was section of an old Coor's Classic course that may or may not have been made famous when Kevin Costnor road it in American Flyers.

Bil pushing the big Dog all day

More from my vaction and the wedding to come.

time off

2008-06-19T09:26:00.004-05:00

This weekend my cousin is getting married in Estes, CO, so I decided to take some extra time off work and use the trip to CO as an oppertunity to meet up with some old friends and get some riding in. I arrived at the Denver airport around 10:30am on Wed. and hopped the shuttle bus to Boulder to meet up with Luby. Luby is still working out of the Maverick building and that is where I met him. After I arrived, we hung at the shop for awhile while he finished his up his work, then we headed to the Boulder Brewery to grab a bite to eat. After lunch Luby sized me up on his Maverick ML7 single speed and we took off for a ride at Heil Valley Ranch.

I don't have a lot of experience riding full suspension bikes and the terrain around here is different than anything I have ridden before. The trail was a lot of fun, a good 8-10 mile lollie-pop loop with some rocky climbs and fast rocky decesnts. The bike handled great and I was loving the 5 inches of travel on the rocky downhills. The ride took about an hour and a half but was a perfect way to loosen up after the trip.

Later that night Luby and I met up with our Friend Taylor for a quick pub ride to get a beer and then spend the rest of the night at Luby's hanging and catching up. Taylor is and ex ONAG'r who is living in Golden and working at Golden Bike Shop.

I just didn't have it today...

2008-06-08T19:17:00.004-05:00

Today was the Afton Alps race. Sometime last week I decided I was going to race my single speed. Last night I re-geared my bike to 32:19 and and left it hang in the stand until morning. This morning after making breakfast I went down stairs to dial my bike in, pack my gear and get ready for the race. After cruising the bike up and down the alley for a bit I loaded it onto the Jeep and went inside to make my water bottles and make sure Katie was ready to go. Around 11:30 we were on the road. I felt a little behind schedule but was not too worried.

When we parked at the race it was around 12:15 and I had about a half hour to register and sign warm up. I immediately grabbed my bike and rode to registration. When I was leaving Katie was at the door waiting for me. When I saw her she asked, "Where is your gear bag?".
"Shit"
"Did you forget it"
"Yep"
"What do you want to do now"
"Race"

This started my quest for Shoes(preferably with Time cleats), Helmet, and some shorts and jersey. I was less worried about the shorts and jersey but luckily I ran into my friend Jesse's girl friend who found a old Penn Cycle kit in J's car. Jesse was out warming up so he had no idea I was wearing is old gear. Alright, jersey and shorts down, helmet and shoes to go.

Next I ran into a new co-worker of mine who pointed out an acquaintance of mine, Porter, who had just finished racing the Sport race. Conveniently, Porter wears the same size shoes as me. The down side was that Porter doesn't ride Time's. So, we swapped out pedals, Porter gave me his helmet and I was set to race. Not quite, Porter may have average size feet, but his head is way above average. Porters helmet felt like I had a gallon bucket on my head. I said I would take the helmet and use it if I couldn't find another one.

Enter E-Fred, another QBP employee who also just finished up the Sport race.
"Erik what size helmet do you wear"
"Small/Med, but it is narrow, so I have a lady's helmet"
"Im not scared, if it fits, can I wear it"
"Sure"
The helmet fit like a glove, better than my old helmet even. I think I will give Lazer helmets another try.

Alright, I found all the gear I need and I had 10 minutes to spare, so I cruised up and down the walk way for a bit and noticed that Porters pedals are way different than mine and was really hard for me to clip in. Well beggers can't be choosers, so I rode to the starting line and put my game face on. Game face? Yeah right, I could careless how I did in the race, I was happy to have the gear to ride.

New Penn Cycle/Lazer Team Rider Fryn Porky

And how did the race go? It actually went pretty well, I felt like I road as good as I could have on any given day, I road good in the single track and had some good power in my pedals on the uphills. The only real problem was when I would have to clip in and out of my pedal to walk or run some of tougher sections. This wasn't a big deal until the last lap when my legs were really fatigued and I was fighting back the cramps.

In the end, I don't know my exact place, but I finished strong. I was on the course for about 2hours and 45minutes. Judging by the people crossed the line with, I was in the same field I normally finish.

So Yeah, I had quite the interesting day today. Unfortunately I couldn't fly the Salsa colors today, but I got to represent Penn Cycle instead. Special thanks to all my "other" sponsors, Jesse Rientz, Erik Fredrickson, and Porter.

Now playing: Desaparecidos - The Happiest Place On Earth
via FoxyTunes

Our first remodel

2008-06-01T21:23:00.007-05:00

Immediately after buying our house, we decided to install carpet in the upstairs and use the space for our bedroom. Well the carpet was installed on Saturday morning and Katie and I planned on spending the afternoon moving our furniture upstairs.

With a little help from our friends we started hauling the head and foot board up, no problem.

Next up, the queen size pillow top mattress; with a little leverage and some choice words the mattress squeezed between the door frame and up the stairs. Can you all guess where this story is going?

Finally, the low profile box spring.
Eye it up, tilt it to the right and give er.
Nope.

How about flipping it over and tilting it to the left?
Nope.
How about going to Hom furniture and about buying a new split box spring?
Nope.
How about ripping apart the box spring, using some powers and cutting the box spring in half. Once it is upstairs, reassemble it?
Yep, sound good.

Two plus hours and a few beers later the box spring was reassembled in its permanent home and the mess downstairs was cleaned up.

If this is what I have to look forward to as a home owner, I am going to need more power tools.

Thanks to Zach for ditching the in-laws to come help a brother move instead. And a special thanks to Joe and Anni for stopping by the house for a drink of water and staying for the afternoon to shenanigans.

Now playing: The Chemical Brothers - If You Kling to Me I'll Klong to You
via FoxyTunes

Im back...

2008-05-20T22:14:00.005-05:00

Well, kinda.
I do have internet hooked up at the house now, but the set up is not too conducive for typing or much computer use at all for the matter.

Wow where do I start? There is a lot to talk about since the last time I posted. I bought a house, I flew out to California for the Sea Otter Classic and raced.

Self portrait. PCH101, Monterey CA.

I drove from CA to Fruita, Colorado for the Fruita Fat Tire Festival and got some riding in there.

Katie and me on the Kokipelle Trail in Fruita, CO.

Last weekend I did my first local mountain bike race. This summer has been going by really fast and I have been trying to make the most of it.Memorial weekend coming up. No plans but to hang out with Kaite and some friends, ride my bike, BBQ and drink some beers. Can't wait.

News

2008-05-02T14:20:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone,

Sorry I haven't posted much of the past month or so. I have been really busy with work and also buying a new home. In fact, Katie and I bought a house on the 11 of april and since then I haven't had internet access. Once I have internet at home I will get the blog rollin again.

So until then, enjoy this nice picture of our new home and check back in a week or two.

I Loathe The Snow

2008-03-31T20:02:00.004-05:00

Our ride through the park outside of work

Words can not express how much I hate the snow this time of the year. This morning I knew it was going to snow through out the day and that I was going to have a snowy ride home. But I never expected it to be as wet and windy as it was. You know, I really don't have to much to say about this evenings ride. It was wet, it was windy, I was under dressed, and I was tired from the weekends ride. I sure am glad I had Schley Guy and Matt Moore to keep me company.

The snow started to freeze on my bike making

Now playing: Hank Williams III - Louisiana Stripes
via FoxyTunes

Is is spring yet?

2008-03-30T19:17:00.005-05:00

I hope so, because it sure felt like spring this weekend.
Saturday morning Frank, Ez and I went for an early morning spin to Minnetonka.

Not having a route planned, we just headed west, got turned around and then found our way back home. After making it back to mpls, Ez took us to his secret training hill, which was too icy to climb. After hiking our bikes up the hill we rode through the Kenwood neighborhood and headed home. It was a great ride, were out for 2 hours and were home by 10am.
That afternoon I spent some time building Katie's new bike.

Katie's stealth Salsa Ala Cart, 9spd

Sunday was another beautiful day. In the morning I met up with the Cat 6 squad at Freewheel for their group ride. The group was 7 large when we headed east, the plan was to ride for an hour and a half, check our coordinates, then make our way back home. Around 11:30 we decided to ignore the planned turn around time and keep riding. We were close to Afton and the thought of extending the ride and grabbing a coffee sounded better than turning around. When I returned home I had been on the road for just over 4 hours and probably logged 80 miles.

Riding back from Afton through St. Paul

I felt really good about the weekends riding. I put 6 hours in on the saddle and rode approximately 130 miles. I am trying to get prepared for my race at sea otter and these miles definitely helped me gain some confidence.

Now playing: Reverend Horton Heat - We Belong Forever
via FoxyTunes

Goodbye Dear Friend

2008-03-23T13:22:00.005-05:00

Today I decided it was time for me to put to rest my trusty Surly 1x1. This was my first mountain bike I build from the frame up and it has been with me for a lot of really great times in my life. I built the 1x1 while I was in college working at ONAG, where I met a lot of great people and made some really amazing friends.

My 1x1 was the bike I rode when Luby and I did our first Citizen class mountain bike race (Thats right, Luby actually did enter a few races back in the day). It was also at this race where I met Chewy. I rode the 1x1 in my first Chequamagon FTF (Thanks for the bib Schroden, sorry about the broken ankle!). The 1x1 was with Doom, Luby, Taylor Nye and me when we drove to Downieille, CA for my first SSWC. It was the bike I rode to my one and only Wednesday night ride (Thanks for the escort home Ziegle). I also flew with the 1x1 to Germany when Chewy and I went to Berlin for my second SSWC.

The 1x1 had always been the bike of choice at a number of races, numerous pub rides, Snowballs Chance In Hell, Hommie Fall Fest and countless other memorable rides. It hurts to put this bike down but, with a move coming up, a growing fleet of bikes, and a shortage of bike storage I decided the 1x1 was the bike that had to be put to rest. I haven't been riding the bike as much, I used some of its parts to build a new bike and for the past couple weeks it had been hanging in the basement 1/2 built. So I decided the time has finely come to put my trusty bike to rest. So, until I take you down from the rafters, or pull you out from behind the washer; Farewell good buddy.

RIP Surly 1x1. 2000-2008

Now playing: Willie Nelson - Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
via FoxyTunes

Fresh and Clean

2008-03-16T08:11:00.007-05:00

As you can see, I am playing around with the look of my blog, trying to freshin' it up for the summer.

In other news Katie and I have started our search to buy our first home. Yesterday we came across a house we both really liked. We are not going to rush into buying it yet, because we have only seen a handful of homes on the market, but seeing a home we liked was very encouraging and has created a sense of urgency to get out and see as many homes as we can. This way we will can be confident when we see the right home.

And for you viewing enjoyment, here are a few more pics from my trip to Seattle. All of the pictures are from an overnight trip we took to visit some family in Portland. We spent the day driving to Mount Hood and checking out the scenery along the Columbus river on our way.
Mount Hood had a record amount of snow fall this year. You can see in some of the pictures the amount of snow that fell on the roads and piled up around the homes in the area.

Multnohma Falls (600+ drop)/ Mt. Hood

Snow cut away from the road on top of Mt. Hood/ 3 story home surrounded by snow

Now playing: Johnny Cash - Ballad Of Barbara
via FoxyTunes

Flannel Anyone?

2008-03-12T22:31:00.007-05:00

Like i said in my last post, I was on vacation in the home of Puget Sound, Pike Place Market, and Pearl Jam

It is also the new home of my brother, which was the main reason I went to Seattle.

He is new to living in areas that are bike friendly, so I needed to teach him the ways of the bike commuter.

Seattle is not the home of Guinness, but we did learn a little something about drinking on my trip.

We did more than ride bikes and drink beer on my trip. I will share more in the next post.

Now playing: Queens Of The Stone Age - Song For The Dead

via FoxyTunes

Away from home

2008-03-09T18:23:00.003-05:00

I'm on vacation visiting my brother in Seattle.
I will post some pictures of my trip when I get back.

It's Alive

2008-03-02T20:26:00.007-06:00

After two sessions in the basement, my new bike is alive. Mixing a new frame, fork, wheel set and brakes with old parts off of two other existing bikes my new single speed is now ready to ride. As the pictures show, the bike is a 2008 Salsa El Mariachi with 29" DT Swiss rims and 240 hubs, old Race Face Turbine cranks, Thomson stem and post, King headset, 160mm Avid BB7 mechanical brakes, Jagwire Ripcord cables, and XT levers on a Salsa pro moto 11 degree bar. For those or you who name your bikes and want know the name of my new steel steed; Sorry I don't name me bikes.

Now playing: NoFX - Gonoherpasyphililaids
via FoxyTunes

Hold your Horses...

2008-02-25T21:39:00.004-06:00

it ain't spring yet. But this weekend it sure felt like it. Both Saturday and Sunday were in the mid 30's and the sun was shining. It is on days like these when I start dreaming of warm weather, then someone like my next door neighbor has to remind me March is typically the snowiest month of the year. What a buzz kill. Anyway, I took full advantage of the sunny weather on Sunday and took the cross bike out for a ride.

Picture from our ride of Lake Minnetonka.

Joe and I took the bikes west towards Wayzata where we ended up getting turned around near Orano and Medina. After finding our way out of cougar country, we head back towards our safe haven in Murderapolis, finishing our ride at CRC coffee. All in all we rode for about 3 and a half hours. The ride felt great and now I can't wait for spring to ride dirt again. To make things worse, I started putting together a new bike tonight but I more than likely wont be able to ride it for while. For those of you who care, there will be pictures coming soon.

Now playing: Buju Banton - Untold Stories
via FoxyTunes

Uncle Sam let me down...

2008-02-21T07:06:00.004-06:00

But Mother Nature sure did not. Last night the US Navy launched a big-ass SM-3 missile (reaching speeds of 17,000 mph) from the USS Lake Erie in an attempt to blow up some sort satellite roughly 133 miles over the Pacific Ocean. Coincidentally at 8:45pm last night, astronomers were forecasting a lunar eclipse.

In an attempt to see some sort of explosion and watch the moon go dark all at the same time, Katie, Frank, Merckx the super pooch, and I went out on Lake Hiawatha to view all of the action and drink a few beers. Unfortunately we didn't see any sort of explosion. I guess the missile wasn't big enough to create any visible carnage thousands of miles away . We did however get to watch the eclipse and were able to see the moon change colors as Earth's shadow passed in front of it. Pretty Cool.

Now playing: The White Stripes - This Protector
via FoxyTunes

Super Bummer

2008-02-06T19:38:00.000-06:00

No posts lately, I am really busy getting ready for Frostbike. For those of you who are unaware, Frostbike is an annual bike trade show QBP hosts every February. It is my job to coordinate this massive undertaking. I like the work, but lately it has been sucking the life out of me.

So here is a quick update with me. My frostbite is better. It kinda acted like a sun burn; stung for awhile, looked kinda bad, dried up, and peeled away. I have been Commuting a lot and enjoying the mild weather, but haven't skied in awhile. Thinking about Sea Otter but for now I am looking forward to Snow Balls Chance in Hell. Someone reminded me yesterday it was Super Tuesday, I went to Best Buy to get a smoking deal on flat screen but no one in the store knew of any deals going on. Isn't that what Super Tuesday is all about, getting up really early and getting sick deals on electronics and shit?

Thats all for now, good night everyone.

Now playing: Bright Eyes - Method Acting
via FoxyTunes

My pride got in the way

2008-01-31T21:33:00.001-06:00

This Wednesday I thought it would be OK to ride home in the frigid sub zero cold. Scott Thayer and I were going to tough out the ride home together, using one another as a human shield from the freezing wind.
The temp leaving work that night were roughly 6 below with winds around 20mph .
The ride didn't seem too bad. In fact, both Scott and I commented on how toasty our feet were with new toe warmers in our boots. Honestly I wasn't that cold except for one little bit of exposed skin. Then we turned north and the crisp wind slapped us right in the face.
I bet you can all guess where this story is going.Yeah, frostbite.

See the nice patch of white skin under my goggles? That is what a minor case of frostbite looks like. I should have known better than leave skin exposed to the elements for over an hour when it is as cold as it was, but my pride got in the way. I just wanted to make it home. Bummer for me, because now I am going to have to deal with this for the rest of the winter.

Now playing: Patsy Cline - Today, Tomorrow And Forever
via FoxyTunes

Date Night

2008-01-26T09:07:00.000-06:00

Last night Katie and I finally went to see Into the Wild at the cheap theater. I had been wanting to see the move for some time now and at $3 a ticket, I couldn't pass it up.
Sean Penn directed this flick and did a great job of following the book. If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, I would recommend doing either or both.

Now playing: The Ditty Bops - Wishful Thinking
via FoxyTunes

Too Cold for this Candy-Ass

2008-01-15T20:15:00.000-06:00

This morning I woke up, grabbed a cup of coffee and turned on the local news just like I always do. The first thing I saw when the TV flashed on was the local temp, -4 degrees. Yeah I woke up like normal planning on riding, but screw that, 4 below was just too cold.

As I drove to work I thought that maybe I was getting soft with my new GQ lifestyle. At the end of the day I was asked by 3 other people (regular riders whose names I will not mention so they can still keep their "badassness") for a ride home. I know no one likes a candy-ass, but at least there were 3 other candy-asses in the car with me when I left work, and that made me feel better.

Now playing: Social Distortion - Live Before You Die
via FoxyTunes

Manzy Panzy

2008-01-09T20:39:00.000-06:00

Tonight I went to get my haircut at a real salon for the first time in well, I don't remember when the last time was that I paid for a haircut. I don't know if that is sad or not. Anyways, not only did I go to a real salon, I went to an Aveda salon. I was told Aveda is nice. When I got there I was served a cup of hot tea and there was actually a good selection of recent magazine in the waiting area.

After I was seated, my stylist Gina gave me a nice scalp massage before we moved to the shampoo bed. Thats right, not a shampoo chair, but a shampoo bed. I guess the bed is fancier than the chair. I don't know if the bed gets your hair cleaner than the chair, I don't really care, it felt nice and made me feel all posh and shit.

On to the hair cut! Yeah, I really don't think I had that much hair to cut, so I knew I could forget about getting it styled. The main purpose of this trip was to eliminate the mushroom shape that was taking over my head. My stylist Gina did tell me I have a healthy scalp, so I have that going for me. After about a half hour of trimming, clipping, blending and texturing Gina spun me around and showed me my new look. All I can say is "Damn, Fryn Porky is Hot!"

Some of you readers may be fortunate to see the new, highly fashionable, and GQ Fryn Porky live and in person. All you less fortunate readers will have to wait for pictures to see Fryn's new do. Rest assured, "it's Hot". At least that is what my stylist Gina said, and I don't care if it is her job to tell all her clients that. Did I mention I have a Stylist?

Now playing: George Clinton - The Flag Was Still There
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Men are not to cry, so how am I to stop it...

2008-01-04T17:03:00.000-06:00

On New Years Day, two armed men entered a Robinsdale, MN residence looking to rob the home. There was a struggle, a gun shot and a life was taken, all because of a senseless act of violence. In the end, a friend of mine was shot trying to defend his wife, his friends and his home from the intruders.

This tragedy has greatly touched a lot of people. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone whose lives have been touched by Jamis Marks. Jamis was a great person and I will always remember him and the good times we had together.

The title of this post is from a Blues Traveler song, "The Mountain Wins Aging" . This was the first song Jamis and I heard as we drove home from Bozeman MT. at the end of a snowboarding trip during our time together at college. At the time the song seemed so fitting, now this line seems even more appropriate than ever.

To all of Jamis' family and friends, Peace be with you. My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

2007-12-23T06:23:00.001-06:00

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
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I love beans, how bout you?

2007-12-17T20:25:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-05T19:20:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-28T20:39:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-19T21:30:00.001-06:00

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

2007-11-05T20:03:00.002-06:00

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

2007-10-29T21:26:00.000-05:00

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!?

2007-10-22T20:24:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-14T17:07:00.000-05:00

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
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As promised

2007-10-13T09:55:00.000-05:00

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
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MN Nice

2007-10-09T21:16:00.000-05:00

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"

2007-10-03T18:09:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-05T21:29:00.001-05:00

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

2007-08-22T21:50:00.000-05:00

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

2007-08-12T20:33:00.000-05:00

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

2007-08-08T21:15:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-08-02T06:53:00.001-05:00

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

2007-07-31T21:22:00.001-05:00

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"

2007-07-29T21:43:00.001-05:00

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"

2007-07-25T19:52:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-21T08:48:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-10T21:03:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-05T21:44:00.001-05:00

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.