Time Off

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...

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

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

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

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

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

Joe Meiser wins Trans Iowa 5.

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