Doing the commute thing again...

Talked the boss into letting me commute again to get some needed miles in if I decide to race this weekend. So I will have saved 160 miles of gas in two weeks. I think that's pretty good.

So with the RR season coming to an end I hope it starts getting cool out so I can train for cross. It's time for a change.

I'm a commuter now

Yup, I finally did it. Drove the car to work, left it at my parents and then rode from Wayzata home to Woodbury. This of course means I'll have to ride back tomorrow morning. I've been squawking about doing this for months and finally decided to man up and do it. Started in the rain which finally stopped once I got to Minneapolis. Ran into this guy on Summit. I'm not quite sure why I'm doing this now that the season is pretty much over. Oh well. Maybe it will help me finish my 1st road race of the year if I decide to race the State RR Championships. Not sure about that one yet. I'm a little gun shy after getting my ass handed to me at the Tour of Granite Country.

Interesting Poll

Looks like lots of people feel Sastre was lucky that Contador wasn't invited to the party...
http://www.velonews.com/node/80887

And where is my boy Basso?

Tour of Granite Country Race recap

Honestly I'm too dang tired to write anything worth reading. It's hard work DNF'ing ya know.



The courses were great and the race was well run :)

If you didn't show you missed out. :(

Frustration

Just saw the finish of today's stage. Working from home RULES!

When you watch it keep an eye on Julian Dean. No spoiler here. Just watch him come through the line.

You tell me what he's thinking.

ToGC

Well I'm heading up to race in my first stage race this weekend at the Tour of Granite Country. I'm really excited especially since this will be my first attempt at a TT as well.

So, it would be really swell if all the fast guys would stay home this weekend so I could score some much needed points ;)

I'll try to post up some race reports in the evenings.

DOUCHE BAG!

COME ON!

http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/article/80269/riccardo-ricco-tests-positive-saunier-duval-team-withdraws

Personally, I'm not surprised. Now of course this doesn't mean that we need to get all down on the tour. But, unfortunately the press will make a big deal out this and steal away from what's more important...

The none cheaters.

I guess that's why this pisses me off. Now everyone will be talking dope again :(

Car Pool to Tour of Granite Country

Anyone interested in car pooling to this event???

Tour of Granite Country

Follow the link for the low down:
http://www.thefixmassage.com/My_Homepage_Files/Page10.html

We'll see...

Recovery ride

Anyone interested in a recovery pace ride tomorrow leaving from my house @ 6 am? I'm planning on riding 70-80 miles. Not sure on the route but I might head up to Stillwater then over to Wisconsin then down to Prescott. Or up and around Square Lake. I guess I'm open to suggestions.

Heck ya!

This is a positive trend...

http://www.velonews.com/article/77889/garmin-is-the-new-title-sponsor-of-the-slipstream-chipotle

Keep on keeping on

Tonight I made it to the State Fair Crit for the 1/2/3 and the 3/4 race. I hung in the 1/2/3 race longer than last time but wanted to save myself so I could work for my teammates in the 3/4 race. Turns out that was a good call. Since Jason was doing pretty well in the series we were trying to deliver him first across the line to get some points and maybe, I'm not sure, even win the series. Well.... it didn't all turn out the way we planned. I kinda blame myself since I should have brought Jason to the front going into the back straight on the final lap. If he would have been in a better position for the sprint I think he could have won it. Oh well. In the end I think he got 4th and I was able to muster 8th place which was great for me since it was a big improvement on my 29th place at Stillwater on Sunday. Continuous improvement. Can't ask for more.

Getting back in the groove...

What a way to spend Father's Day! Had my family, Christine's parents, my parents out at the race to cheer me on. Also, had Lalla and my neighbor (thanks for the pics) on the hill screaming at me. With out all that cheering I never would have made it. Thanks!
I'll admit I was pretty anxious to race on this course with the killer uphill and the screaming downhill into the tight turn at the bottom. Thankfully after my preride I was feeling much better. Which made me think of two things I was glade I did in preparation for this race; 1)racing at Afton the week before and 2)changing out my cassette.

After the start and making it up the hill I was actually feeling ok, but that second hill, like Ed said, was the kicker. I didn't blow up but those who were stronger (David S.) were able to separate themselves from the rest. I think it was on the 2nd lap where I settled into group of 3-5 riders where the racing for me started. As always, when the leaders are up the road it's nice to have a race within a race to make it fun. That group consisted of William Mayaviski and Brian Fosler (St. Paul Bicycle Racing Club), Jake Helmbrecht (Grumpy's/LGR) and Alex Atherton (Loon State). It was fun trading off with those guys. My one regret of the race was on the last lap going up the kicker on the backside. I had William and Jake on my wheel and I thought I'd try an attack and gap them. My timing was just a bit off and I gave up too early. I should have cashed in my chips and continued up the climb and bombed the short downhill and around the corner. If I had done that I might have got them to sit up. Shoulda coulda, woulda. ;)

All in all I was stoked that I didn't pop or get lapped. I even got to pass Kruse on the Chilkoot! I'm coming after you sickboy! Also, I wish I would have know that Erik Dahl was there. Great to see that you're back to racing! :) Or maybe you have been and I just haven't seen you since I race--like never.

The most fun was had, however, during the kids race where my eldest (Finley) raced in his first bike race! Proud Papa! sniff sniff.

So hopefully I'll finally be on a racing roll here and race tomorrow at the State Far Crit and then again in Richmond this weekend. I have to get ready to defend my title at Hopkins ya know. :D

Afton recap

What a great race yesterday. Good conditions, challenging course. It was nice to get back out on the dirt. It's kinda strange for me though. I used to know everyone, not personally but I knew all the faces and who the fast guys were. Not so much anymore. Does that make me a roadie? Or, the cringing that ensued after we hit the first section of mud. That has to make me a roadie.

Anyway, the race got under way and like last year I got hosed on the start. I was in 50th or worse position out of 69 riders. :( That's what you get I guess when you don't cheat and line up with the Experts. Douche move guilty parties. So after coming to a complete stop in the woods and chatting with people to pass the time we finally got moving again while the lead group was way up the trail. I have to admit it was nice just being there for the training and not really caring about my result. So after that we were single file for a while not really moving that fast. Then we got to Shady Lane. Not to toot my own horn but that's where I poured it on. I probably passed close to 20 riders. Then came the Man Handler. Dropped another 15-20 riders. I remember thinking that this was kinda fun. In truth I was excited that I hadn't paid for my effort up the first two climbs. I figured it would catch up to me real soon.

The second lap was just like the first except the passes where a little less frequent. On the third lap I was starting to feel it, starting to get caught. It didn't help that I had lost my second bottle on the 1st lap. :( I was starting to slow and my dreams of gaining on the leaders faded fast.

All in all I was stoked with how I rode. Hopefully I'll be more prepared for Stillwater on Sunday, maybe even turn the proverbial corner. We'll see.

It's time to get DIRTY!

In an effort to lift my fitness I will be heading to Afton on Sunday to compete in the Comp class. Since I don't do track I thought this would be the perfect way to get some intensity training, especially since it's in my backyard.

Sounds like Lalla will be joining me along with Dan. So we'll see what we can do to get some team competition points for BCR

Maybe we can pull off a 1-2-3. That would be SWEET!

Since the race starts at 1pm I plan on riding from my house leaving at 12. Let me know if you want to join me. It's about a 9 mile trip.

Let me tell you why I suck as a bike racer...

...I'm like water, I can't pick it up.

Sure I haven't raced since Ken Woods, well, I didn't really race, I pretty much dropped out. So that would put me back to the 1st Opus of the season. There I at least finished with the 1/2/3 group, whoopee.

Yet I still expect to do well in a 1/2/3 event even though I haven't really raced this season and I'm a newbie to cat 3. So yes, my castle is in the sky with no real foundation on the ground.

So it's back to the drawing board to see if I can figure out some way of salvaging my season. I just feel real bad about letting my teammates down.

But just like my lacrosse coach used to say,"It's time to get nasty!"
------
-Updated this morning-

Wah wah. Blah blah.

This always makes me feel better:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4415484536180232877&q=the+all+blacks&pr=goog-sl&hl=en

See y'all out there?...

Well it ain't pretty but this will be my route to the shop (Hoigaard's) tomorrow. I'm leaving from home shortly after 10. Maybe I'll see some of you on the road. From all the emails going around it sounds like a lot of people are going out to prescott. Why is it that everytime people head out towards my neck of the woods, I end up heading out West. Hmm? Oh well.

Real quick

Thanks VN for the pic

I'm no TT expert, duh, but this is one tight looking position on the bike.

Pause ||

Thanks to Google analytics, I can see just how bad my blog is. To the 6 or 7 of you who read this, or check to see if there is anything worth reading, don't get pissed if I don't write anything for a while. Meaning, I don't want any update your blog comments. If I get any good race results or recaps I'll put them up. But besides that I'm gonna lay low.

How 'bout some pics?

I will be the first to tell you how lame my blog has been as of late. I've been lazy. So here are some pics of the bachelor party I was at and some other random pics just to make it all look nice and get you up to date. Notice the lack of true cycling pics. Here's Cooper for Chinese New Year

Here he is at Disney World, I kinda feel this way right now. 'Cause of all the miles I'm putting in.

You mess with me and I'll send Moose and Rocco here to bust your knees

These are my new Specialized shades, very nice, they look better on Fin

Happy Mothers Day, NOT!

This guy just got back from Cheq. He came in like 10th I think. BTW, it's full carbon fiber.

This is what happened last weekend, oh the carnage!

At the Radio Head concert, which was awesome BTW!

Here's a good shot of how big the Verizon Wireless Center was. I was impressed

As you can see, there was some drinking involved which led to my great idea of pulling out the permanent marker. He got tagged pretty good. You should have seen his arms. He looked like Dennis Rodman. The marker is classic move, my personal favorite. So, don't get drunk around me...

The flight home, Ooch!

Recovery

No, not from racing. I was in NC last weekend for a bachelor party. Way too much booze involved. I'm just not cut out for late nights of drinking. Needless to say I haven't been riding much over the past week. I'd really like to do Opus tonight but I think I'd rather sleep. I'll get back on tomorrow morning. Don't worry team, I won't let you down.

Next up, next weeks Opus

Forget Steven Jobs...

If you've followed the latest bloggerment you'll understand why I wish Al Gore would never have invented the Internet. I mean wow!

P.S. Not everyone likes to go to extremes to customize their web enabled devices. My iPhone rocks just the way it is. And if you don't like iPhones 'cause they don't do what you want, create your own phone with your own open source platform.

Sorry for the rant. This is not a personal attack, I just don't get why people think this is so bad.

Feel free to enlighten me.

New cyclist in the fam

It was a big weekend at the Wiken house. After a morning of riding without training wheels and pedals, Finley (4) got the hang of riding his bike! Of course with the pedals back on.

This was one of my proudest moments :)

What happened at the Marty race?

Dave, did you win again?

Turned out not as bad as predicted weather wise.

There is hope

http://www.accuweather.com/forecast-15day.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=1&zipcode=55101&metric=0

Looks like Global Warming will finally make a comeback...

Ken Woods

I decided to take a little time before I said anything about the race. Mostly because I don't really remember it. It was as if had blacked out or something. I knew better than to show up under those conditions, 40 mph winds, to be specific. I just get so desensitized. Yeah sure I dropped my chain on a climb, but that wasn't the reason I sucked it up so bad. Just didn't have the legs or the toughness. I think I was just trying to forget it like a bad dream. It wasn't fun falling out the back of the group I was in half way through the 1st lap. :( Oh well, live and learn...

Can't make Marty this weekend so hopefully I'll be able to hit the Sunday or Monday race in Duluth over Memorial Day weekend. We'll see.

No Opus for me tonight

Had to put in some hours of yard work around the house tonight to get a pass for this weekend for Ken Woods. Looking forward to my first road race of the season. Should be a good time!



It's a little over due but... Great job at Durand last weekend in the 3/4's race David! Sounded like an exciting finish with your Dad's lead out.



See you all this weekend. I'm picking Tuffy to pull out something special. So I'll try to stay on his wheel. ;)

AM workout

Got out for an hour long ride this morning before work. A bit chilly but well worth it. I have company coming in tonight so I won't get out again until Sunday afternoon, hence no Durand for this guy >:(

That's all I have for now.

Go get your Wild on!

Anyone want to ride out my way this Sunday afternoon?

Wow!

So I logged in my first 1/2/3 at Opus. Man What a difference. It's nice not to have to worry about sketchy riders, and the speed, this is why I love racing.

I was pretty stoked to not get shelled off the back and with 2 to go I decided that hanging out in the pack was too comfy. Nothing stellar, but tried to make my way up to the front and do some work. I really didn't do much, but I tried.

If I race next week I think I'll just stay in the group and reserve what I can for Ken Woods.

I say it every year, this is the best sport!

Side note: Bantle, what happened?

Nerves

All set and ready to race tomorrow. 'Bout time!

I always get nervous for my first race. I'm always afraid that it might be a huge let down and come to find that my fitness really sucks!

We'll find out soon enough.

See ya at the park!

Mental Toughness

Thought I'd go out for an easy 30 mile ride today. Then I thought I'd finally do those hill repeats on the coulee that I always said I'd do. So I did. 7 in a row in fact. Would have done more but ran out of time and had to head back to run some errands with the fam. The strangest thing that I found during my ride was that after the 1st climb, each one seemed to take less time than the descents. I know that's not true of course, but I guess I was just able to focus every bit of energy, both physical and mental, to the legs.

Hope I'm not too burnt to hang with the big boys at Opus on Tuesday. We'll see.

Could have been great...

Just imagine how awesome Oxbow would have been today. Talk about horrible conditions, perfect! Global warming? Yeah right!

Maybe next year.

Not so Mello, The interview

1. First bike? Trek 8000

2. Pancakes or French Toast? If the Grizz is making French Toast I'm in!

3. Train solo or with friends? Depends on what kind of shape I'm in.

4. If you designed a bike, what would you put on the head badge? A can of MelloYello

5. Electric, waxing, razor, fuzzy? Fuzzy 99% of the time.

6. What race are you most proud of and why? Probably Afton Alps a few years ago. I ended up being really motivated to race because my dad was there and my mom was battling cancer. I ended up something like 7th overall and 1st in my age group.

7. What is your favorite pre-race meal? I get nervous before a race so I usually go light. Peanut butter toast, banana

8. Your significant other is bitten by a zombie. What do you do? Run like Hell!

9. Transformers or Star Wars? Star Wars

10. Why do you ride in groups? And why do you wear matching outfits? So my teammates do all the work as I sit on the back. I am a true wheel sucker. Its what I do best.

11. How did you get such a lucrative contract with BCR? We are in negotiations currently. So on the advice of my agent i cannot comment.

Guess I'll keep the yap shut

Didn't make it to the MCF meeting tonight, shocker. Had a better offer to go eat pizza with the fam. Besides, what could I really bring to the table to help out in this decision? Chip timing is going to happen, it's just a matter of how.

Personally, I think the decision should have been made a while back. Slowly bringing it onto the scene piecemeal might get a false negative result. Does that even make sense? Also, with the expected increase of gas prices and now an extra $5, to some, may be too much. We'll see. Of course I'll just buy the damn thing!

Chip Timing for MCF events?

Pros:

1. Total and lap times
2. Easier results posting
3. Maybe less dependency on officials

Cons:

1. Cost; to buy, lease or rent, that is the question
2. Cost to promoters
3. Cost to MCF
4. Dependability (see Pro #3 from above)

I've had experience in chip timing when I raced mtb's and I think even a triathlon, don't tell SickBoy.

I'm just getting into this at the eleventh hour so I'm heavily considering going to the MCF meeting tonight to get the skinny on all this.

I've read some comments that people are worried about the impact that handing out chips will have on lines at registration. I say preregistration to that! Again, not sure where we sit on the whole preregistration thin either. Hopefully that well be discussed tonight as well.

As for my opinion on chip timing. It's definitely the way to go. My biggest question is why so much, and why do I have to own it? I know there is a lease or rental option, but I don't recall this being an issue to race in the MNSCS. Then again, this could be why they disappeared.

Hopefully I'll make it to the meeting and have a better understanding of what this means for everyone. I hope someone will be presenting a cost benefit analysis of this whole undertaking.

If I don't make it, I'll keep my yap shut.

And everything was right again...

What can I Say. It was a perfect day for a ride. Dan was the only brave sole to venture out with me today. Thanks Dan for making it out. I would have eased up too much had I gone by myself. And yes, I did chase Dan around for a little bit. Riding strong man!

We left the school at about 10:30 headed down toward Spring Park west to Watertown up over to Maple Plain, then up to Loretto and then back into Wayzata. Just shy of 50 miles. My legs were feeling it. Stopped at Caribou for a coffee and rode Dan back to his car. I lied Dan. I went out for another 12 miles to stretch my legs getting my total over 60.

The nice weather brought out the riders, Looners, Flanders, some Hut riders, Gear West, Tonka and Silver. This is the best time of year if you ask me.

See ya all out around Afton tomorrow.

Saturday Ride the Western Suburbs

I'm planning on riding from Wayzata heading west around the lakes. 40+ miles. Looking to keep the pace high enough to give the legs a good test.

Who's in? All are welcome as long as you're ready for a workout.

Start 10:0 am at Wayzata West Jr. High School near Wayzata Blvd. and Ferndale Rd. North.
Back between 12:00 and 12:30, maybe even 1:00 if I decide to go out for 50+ miles

*Time changes are in Red*



View Larger Map

Ready to race?

I just had to post this picture when I found out that G.I. Joe is being remade into a movie.

Hook, Line and Sinker

I was going to write something about Steve's report on GM buying Specialized, which I too thought was sweet. But after further researching this I found it to be an April Fools joke.



Ha ha! Very funny Specialized.



I must admit that the joining of these two companies wouldn't have been such a huge surprise. If I recall correctly, back when I worked at Erik's, GM and Specialized collaborated on some components for the Vette's using S's Metal Matrix material on some engine parts. So who knows...

WTF?!

Seriously What The Frick?

Is cross season starting all over again. Did we not just enjoy a great weekend of warmer weather riding? Thanks to all this fresh snow I'm back on the dang trainer 'til the weekend. :(

Ahhhhhhh!

Like a day at the spa. OK, I don't know what that's like but it seemed fitting. That's what riding today felt like. It was my first real ride outdoors this season and it was long over due.

Rode for over a couple hours around Afton with Mr. Roy himself Russ Loucks today. It's not everyday that I'm able to get someone out my way to ride. In this case he had already planned on riding out here and I jumped all over the opportunity to not ride be myself. Thanks Russ for letting me tag along. The wind was a little strong coming from the south so finding cover in the valley was key. That's probably why my legs are burning a little bit, but I'm not complaining. I was pretty impressed with how I felt out there and looking forward to getting some more in tomorrow.

You know the season is around the corner when you start seeing more riders on the road. Came across some Tonka riders, GP and I think a Dakota Cycles rider and a hand full of others. Hard to tell who's who in our winter gear.

Look for you all tomorrow around Afton!

Salty

So I, like everyone else, was looking forward to Oxbow to open my season. Guess not huh. It's too bad that the promoters weren't able to pull things off this year. The one question that's floating around in my head is, why didn't they communicate this to anyone so that someone else could maybe pick it up. It could have been an opportunity for a few smaller clubs to band together to make it happen. I suppose there was more to it than just having the resources to pull it off.

Oh well. That's the way it goes sometimes.

The downside, I won't be able to start racing until Ken Woods. I have friends (if you can call them that) in town (ruining my race weekend) from Maryland during Durand. That just leaves me more time to train right? Yeaaaaaaa! I'm sick of training. Not that it's been intense but I really haven't stopped training except for a couple weeks after Cross Nationals. 90% of it has been indoors (read boring). And this snow isn't helping. I need to freakin race!

In lieu of Oxbow, would anyone consider the Finchford Roubaix?

------

This just in...

LGR has canceled event X

crud done, training back on.

Crud part 2

Tried to go out for an easy 30 miles today even though I wasn't really feeling up to it. Turned out to be an easy 10 miles. I don't normally cut rides that short but I really felt like crap and knew it would be a bad idea to tough it out. Just like some of the other riders out there know, these kinds of colds have a tendency of hanging around. Couple more days of rest and we'll give it another go.

I got the crud >:-(

Damn it! This sucks! Was going to do a 4 hr ride with a group but have to bail since this crap got the better of me.

A long ride would have been nice before Oxbow.

Oh well, there's still time. :)

Lalla's B-Day

Say hey

I hope people are riding right now. I'm stuck at work watching the snow melt. :)

Weather

Just in case you haven't check lately, the weather is going to turn around quite nicely after this weekend. Mid 30's to 40's and it looks like we won't dip down again after that. And of course with daylight savings we get that additional hour :)

Who needs warm weather training trips/camps?

Guess I'll have to shave the legs soon. :P Could be riding with just knee warmers next week. :D

Would you look at that...

I don't know what to think of this. Pressure or motivation.

I'll go with motivation.

I've kinda stalled out, like most, when it comes to blogging. But with a write up like this it's got me back in the buzz of the blogoshpere. Not to mention we have about a month until Oxbow so it's about time we all start chatting it up a bit.

Quick side note: Kudos to The Bike Throw Dot Com! I hear you're a little fed up with some of the feedback you've received. I'm sure some of it has been helpful but then there is always those clods that think they know how you should run the show. F 'em! All 3+ of you do a great job! And although Tim won't want to hear it, it's nice to have our own local Velo News.

Keep it up!

So this write up has got me thinking about cat 3's now and I realize that I don't know too many of the riders coming from a mainly mtb background. I found the matrix that BTDC created very helpful, though still I find myself anxious to race with the 3's. I will no doubt get dropped in the 1-2-3 race at opus at the beginning of the season. It's what I do. But hopefully after supporting my teammates my legs will come around mid way through the season so I can be competitive.

Guess I need to start training now. Damn!

Love it

http://www.citizensugar.com/1093812

time to post I guess... 'cause Ty said so

I think there is something wrong with me

It's only February 21 and I'm having dreams about racing. Am I all by myself here? Does anyone else find it hard to think about anything else? I'm gonna get my but spanked all season but I still can't wait for that 1st race with my new team. We'll have some pretty strong riders that on any given day could really cause some havoc in the group. I'm expecting Lalla to come out blazing this May when he returns home from Texas, such a beautiful country, um, I mean state. Then there is the 'Bomber' for long attacks, Eric is always good for an attack or sprint. Then there is the other new rider for the team this year, who will remain unnamed at this time. He's very strong and although I didn't follow his results from last year, he can kick some serious butt in other cycling disciplines. Then there is Ben, Matt and myself to round out the team.

It's going to be a great season...

There I go again. I'm dreaming about racing. Oh the madness! Will it ever stop?

Skiing tomorrow anyone?

I'm fixin' to go skiing tomorrow morning from 9:15 to 10:45 @ Lake Elmo

Any takers? I'm not all that great at skate skiing and will be taking it easy.

Skiing

FYI-
Just went skiing at Lake Elmo. The conditions were perfect. Get it in before the cold wind moves in. :)

Grizz you missed out! ha ha!

Lazy

Just can't find the motivation right now. Just plain lazy really. The Grizz has a new blog (see right) and sounds like he's going to be serious this season. Everytime he does that he kicks my butt. There's really no point now. Maybe I should sell my bikes and get back into golf.



Maybe I'll wake up early tomorrow and ride before work...
...or maybe not.

I have plenty of time before Oxbow, right?

Besides, I have two US teams to cheer for this year. And that will take up most of my time.



I'm gonna go eat some icecream

DUH!

http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/13954.0.html

Does this really surprise anyone? Bad move Levi, bad move. I mean who would pick a team that has been tarnished by doping scandals and is run by a director who's achieved so much that he's in a position to accept such a challenge. If it fails, no biggie, I've won the TdF 7 times.

It's like going to work for a company to sell a product that has been recalled. And that's their only product. Duh!

Guess who's back?...

The PALMS!

Not sure on the details or even where the race was, but Shawn Palmer just won his first major boardercross title in over 9 years! I was just able to catch the bottom half of the race, NICE!

This may not be a big deal to any of you but it's nice to see this old dog come back and spank the young pups. I had a chance to hang out with him when he was in town to promote a boardercross that Erik's put on several years ago. Before that he was kinda someone I looked up to when I though I was going to be a big downhiller during my mountain bike days. He's had a few rough years and been down on his luck. I hope this will be a major turning point for him, Again.

Anyway, Nice job!

Time to breakout the gold suit again...

--------------

Side note:
I was able to score Hoigaard's it's first win of 2008.

That's right. I was able to take the line in a sprint. They just couldn't hold my wheel...

...OK. It was a race simulation on my trainer, but a wins a win right?

Looky there

That sure is a nice jersey right behind me in the picture at the top of my blog. I think that's Ben. He's my new teammate. That's right it's transfer time folks, an I've joined up with Lalla and the rest of the Hoigaard's squad for '08.

Many thanks to everyone at Silver Cycling/Hollywood Cycles. It was great racing with you guys and gals you know who you are, good times!

Happy New Year to all, see you on the road!

It has begun

Training, or at least my version of it. XC skiing, which I suck at, and hockey tomorrow with some Wild players, maybe. That should do it.

I'm way over my head...

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

До свидания

Merry Christmas!

Let it grow, let grow, let it grow.

Since I'm done for '07 there's no need to shave the legs, yahoo!

And to all my hundreds of readers, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Nat's and more...

Congrats Bjorn
My race recap
Product review
Year end recap

Bjorn, Bjorn, Bjorn!

First off a big congrats to Bjorn and his first place in the U23 race today! What a great finish! He really showed his grit out there after a crash that gave Driscoll a little bit of a gap. Bjorn kept his cool and pedaled right back up to him for a spectacular sprint finish. I missed it since I was warming up but got to see a replay on Jay's camera. He was my pick for the win for the U23 and I'm gonna have to go with Page for the Elite race tomorrow.

Masters 30-34

Twas a little cool out there today. Had to sport my Vikings beanie under the my lid to keep my brain from freezing. Before I get ahead of myself here I want to throw out a big thanks to Lalla and his MSU crew Francis and Gary for letting me crash with them this weekend. I really appreciated the hospitality.

AS always I told myself that I was going to race a smart race and not go out too hard. Well, when you're staged in the middle of the field you kinda have to go with the flow of traffic so as not to cause an incident. It didn't take long before I forgot my strategy. I was going to let things string out and then settle into a rhythm that suited me. After we made our way off the tarmac I was feeling really good and noticed that I was technically better than the gents around me. Everyone was playing follow the leader and staying to the inside. I was like the heck with that and cruised around the out side. I was making my way around people pretty easily and felt like a rock star, at least for the first lap. Then a couple guys stalled out in front of me and with no where to go I got tangled up. I was able to get going again and to my surprise continue to pass a few riders. I was maybe in about 20th or so position from my 35th or so at the start.

eventually the cold numbed up my hands and feet so I started to slow up a bit. Just not tough enough I guess. My teammate Aric started at the back of the pack and I guess got held up by the crash at the start. Not sure how bad it was back there but I was excited to keep him behind me as long as I did. Of course if he had started up front I would have never seen him. But hey, I was pretty proud of myself to stay ahead of a rider of his caliber. Eventually he made his way up to me and I was thinking I'll try to stay on his wheel, ya right. Will I did for a little while, most of that lap. But then he was gooooooooone.

But that was ok 'cause I started to see Kent Throlson just up the way and decided to put in another effort and try to bridge up to him. I was just entering the run-up section and he was coming out. I was feeling pretty good and thought I had a chance. Just as I was making my way up the last set of stairs I cramped up. I had to pull over and stretch it out. Oh well, maybe next time.. As I made my way to the start finish they were waving me off the course :( It felt like I was caught in a speed trap and was about to get a ticket. I was just starting to feel good again. But it felt better to be done. I was pretty happy with my race. Especially since it was my 6th cx race of the season and I finished 47th out of 70 riders that took the start. Got the bike washed off/iced up and headed back to the hotel for a quick shower and then back up 35W to the Cities.

thanks again for all the cheering, Mike, Jay, Francis, and all the others out there that I couldn't recognize, it keeps ya going:)

Michelin Mud II cross tyres

On my way out of town for Nat's I realized that the casing on my trusted Hutchinson tyre in the back was blown so I had to stop and pick up a new sneaker. I was going to go to the shop but no one answered the phone so I thought everyone was probably in KC. Well I ended up with the Mud II and to my surprise it worked really well. Hooked up nice on the snowy off cambers and ruts, there were a few. I think they have a little more volume than the Hutchinsons which would have been nice up front with the rough conditions. Good tyre!

Year end recap

What a year. My best so far on a bike. Started off kinda rough in Iowa with that double header back in March. Got caught chatting it up with Tuffy in the back of the pack. I remember Him telling me that we were at the back of the pack so I stood up to see the pack starting to accelerate. So I grabbed the big ring and took off passing a bunch of riders only to cook myself trying to bridge up. Just as I made contact with the group they took off again up the climb. Bye Bye. My day was done. So done in fact that I sucked it up bad in the crit the next day. After that race I got busy with family stuff and didn't make it to any of the RR's. Did an Opus, 15th(or so) at the State Crit, 3rd at Northfield(should have got 1st or 2nd), 1st at Hopkins, 4th at the Campus Crit (should have got 1st), 1st at a Dakota, then 12th at the State RR(should have got 1st). All in all a pretty good year. Ok a great year for me.

Keep your ears tuned to the Bike Throw this week, should be some good stuff. ;)



Good luck Lalla, Francis and everyone else who is racing tomorrow (today), GO PAGE!

Weez out...

*If any of this doesn't make sense (especially the coulda, shoulda, woulda part), notice what time I wrote this. I'm dead tired but my legs are restless and won't let me sleep* :(

Wuz Up Wit Wiki?

Like anyone cares. I'm afraid that my content is dwindling. It is that time of year. Just waiting for Nationals so I can be done racing for 2k7. Not that I race a ton but March to December is long. For those dedicated readers (5) I should have some news after KCCX. Then I'll take some time off, start training for 2k8. Don't expect any training updates on this blog. Just know that I'm training and will be a force to reckon with in the 3's next year. It will be a great year.

Happy Thanksgiving

Some words of wisdom:

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail178.html

Tough day inthe saddle

What can I say. I rode like water, I couldn't pick it up. No surprise. Still a great time as always. Couldn't realize I had actually had fun until my eyes came uncrossed.

There might be a few people concerned about my performance today. To them I say don't worry. I have a month till Nationals and plenty of time to get my fitness back before the road season.

For now I'm going to go back into my living room and continue watching "Fire Fox" with Coop.

Ho hum

That pretty much covers my cross season this year. Not enough races. Being sick. Not enough training. Blah, blah, blah.

That brings me to this weekends State Championships at Basset Creek. I was getting all excited, ok trying to get all excited, about the race when I heard from the boys at BT (Bike Throw) how the Cat 3 race was stacking up. Oh snap! I'm thinking what's the point. I've sucked it up all season. Haven't really trained in 2 weeks. Still feel like crap. Now this.

I had such high hopes for my cross season this year. Those hopes are in the toilet. :P

I guess I could whine about how things have turned out (done) and how badly I'm going to get spanked on Saturday (TBD), or just not show up...

Or, or I could just toughen the %!&# up!

Here's to you Stewie!

2nd to last

Well today I tried my hand at the A Race. All I can say is thanks to the crew at Grumpy's/LGR. You guys put on a hell of a race with the sweetest course! It really felt euro. Like I know what that means... Anyway, the course was so much fun that I didn't even realize how bad I was sucking for my first A race. Thank you!

www.skinnyski.com

I'd write up something for a race report but my cold and lack of training really put me into a not so comfortable place today. I can't remember much except thinking how cool this course was. There was a little mud :P that kicked my butt. Did anyone ride that ditch every time? I managed to ride it on laps 1 and 2 but made friends with the Earth on lap 3 and decided to dismount and run it the rest of the race.

www.skinnyski.com

Again, I went out too hard from the start and faded back, and back, and back. Oh well, I wasn't expecting much on the day but my goal was to not come in last place. Job done!

I want to give a shout out to everyone who cheered me on today; The Fam, Pete, Dan, Ben, Jay, Kristy, Rob, Leslie, Ty, Jean, and it sounded like others. It really helps on days like today.

Next up:

Milaca ( maybe)
State Championships
Nationals

Good and Bad

Well, I was feeling kinda crappy just before my departure for the race today and decided to bag it. I just knew that if I raced I'd be wasted and probably end up sick. Wa wa, I know. But I've got some very important meetings for work next week and can't afford to call in sick.





The good part about missing the race was that I was able to install this...

a brand new Sram cross crank onto my trusty old Redline. First estimates show that it shaved 2lbs off the overall weight. NICE!

With a wheel change I might be able to get it down to 19lbs just in time for the Grumpy Cross.

Who's your favorite?

Listening to the Bike Throw I thought about how cool it is that SR and Homme are reporting on the local bike scene. So it got me to thinking who my favorite local rider is...

So I'll throw that question out to my readers, all 5 of ya.

Who's your favorite local, not including yourself:

Twine Ball Torture Fest

(Pic: Sport.be)

This weekend I drove all the way out to Darwin , MN for the Twine Ball Cross. I was pleased to find that the drive was well worth it. It was a hard course with plenty of climbing both on and off the bike. I was hurtin the whole time. I just couldn't recover after each effort.

I ended up finishing a little better but that could have been a result of the smaller turnout. I think there were 40+ racers in the B's.

Oh well, I finally got some CRY points which was nice for what could be my last B race. I've decided to give it a go in the A's at the Red Barn Classic. Not that I've posted any results that warrant the move to A's, but it's all about pushing myself to get better. I'm hoping that it will make the 45 minutes at Nationals hurt a little less.

And no the pic up top is not from the Twine Ball race. I just thought it was a cool picture of the three amigos.

Cool Cross vid from the 50's

Boom Boom Cross Jam

Results aren't up yet. I think I came in around 15th. Got third wheel on the start and avoided the accident that took out Pete and Tim from Grumpy's. :(

It definitely was an improvement on Hudson for me. Just can't seem to go fast enough. I'll have to work on that this week.

I'll be back wearing my Silver next week @ Powder Horn. Just wanted to give my friends at BCR some airtime.

Thanks http://www.skinnyski.com/ for the pics!

Practice + Confidence = Success

You feel good every time you learn something new. Especially when it comes to cycling. Well, at least I feel good.

Most of you have already mastered re-mounting w/o having to do the little stutter step. Today was the day that it finally clicked for me. Very much like when I learned (from Doug Swanson, H-wood Cross Clinic) how to dis-mount by placing your right leg in between your left leg and the bike (sweet spot) instead of bringing you right foot around and basically kicking you left foot off the pedal. It's really weird cause I don't think I could go back to the old way (stutter step).

Since I decided to go to Nationals and race the 30-34 masters event :P, I've decided to actually train for cross this year. Hudson wasn't a great result but it was a great opportunity to check my fitness and see how much I need to improve. To help in the motivation department I even have a little course set up in the park across from my house complete with grass, pavement, sand, a run-up and two barriers. If nothing else it's fun freaking my neighbors out. I'm sure by now they think I'm a freak.

Next up:
Boom Island Factory Cup. I've never raced this one so I'm looking forward to it and hopefully in better form.

One down

Yup, while I sit here eating my post race sandwich I can easily say I have work to do. I ended up 19th on the day for the B race. Now, in a few weeks that 19th place won't sit so well with me, I was very pleased with my performance. Technically I rode well, even when I got tired. It's been over a year since my last cross race and I quickly remembered how hard these things are. At least now I have a good gage on where I need to be. Net net, I'm stoked for the season.

Enough talkie talkie...

Don't worry Mike, it's all good. ;)

ToA???

This would be awesome if they could pull it off. However, it conflicts with the Vuelta and the Tour of Missouri, etc. And take a look at the dates and distance. 30 stages. Can you say doping problem. I mean really 7500+ kms. Very cool, but it doesn't make sense and I don't see it happening.

http://www.velonews.com/race/dom/articles/13387.0.html

Your thoughts:

Huff Crash-Tour of MO

Ooch!... Damn!

Too funny

Not for you younger readers, some bad language:

Floyd forced to cough up TdF title-Ha ha

That's right. Cheat and you lose dude!. I'd put up a link but you should have a problem finding the story. It's everywhere.

And the douche bag of the year award goes to...

Colin McRea 1968-2007

Being a huge fan of rally racing, this was very sad to hear:

http://www.rally-live.com/wrc/en/index.shtml

Here's a video tribute:

H-WooD Cross Clinic

Wow! That was a good time :)

It was fun getting back into the swing of things and Doug and Aric had a lot of good tips--Thanks!

The clinic was all I needed to remember how hard cross can be. I must be getting old, the bod is a little sore, and the lungs need to be worked on a little before my season starts.

But that's why I love cross.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Hudson cross race...

Things that are Cool and things that are not:

Things that are cool:

1. Grumpy's/LGR putting on a cross race at the Velodrome (super cool)
2. Vuelta starting today
3. Team Slipstream getting a bid for the '08 TdF (hopefully)
4. Me being able to race cross this year :)

Things that are not cool:

1. Tommy D crashing out of the Vuelta
2. Critical Mass acting like an ASS! (way to make bikers look bad)
3. Lance pulling the plug on Disco forcing riders to look for new deals--if they can.
4. Public bathroom shenanigans

It's official

More pain and torture in my future. I've moved up a notch to cat 3.

Hell ya!

Now onto better things, like cross. After taking a year long break--I'm baaaaaaack!
I'll start it off with B's and see when I'll be able to hang with the A's. Of course that means I'll have to race with Paul again. :

I hear that Sickboy is making a come back too. Or did he race cross last year. I guess I thought the whole world stood still while I wasn't racing. Maybe not?

Mud, Sweat, Cold and Vomit...

...Awesome!

Make sure you all make it out to the Hollywood cross clinic on the 9th!

Race re-Crap

That about covers it. What a waste. Went way way too early and popped before the line for a top 20. LAME!. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Oh well, it's time for cross. :)

State RR Championships on Sat.

I'm really looking forward to this race. As for many others, this will be my last race on the road bike for '07, and my last race as a cat 4. The conditions will be perfect and the legs are feelin' pretty good so I'm ready to go all in. ;)

I'll post a race recap when I get back.

4th @ Campus Crit

Great race nice and technical! I was feeling a little lethargic out there this afternoon so I was very happy with a 4th on the day, very happy.

Now I can upgrade to 3's after the State RR Championships.

All ok here

Pretty sad news about 35. I've contacted my family and everyones ok.

JV is my hero

Here's why

1st @ Dakota tonight-4/5's

Ended up being a sprint between me, Chris Fisher, Mark Byrnes, and a Looner. It was kinda funny on the last lap. We were 4 abreast smiling at each other wondering who was going to make the move. Good times!

Ride Sat. AM?

Anyone riding early Saturday morning that I tag along with?

I ain't got no friends...

TdF, a race for 3rd place

Looks like the race is locked up for the Dane. He may have skipped some drug tests, but the 14 he's had in the Tour have been clean. That said leave the guy alone. Based on the current system he's not violating any rule.

Now the rest of the Tour will be a battle between Discovery and Predictor Lotto. With about a minute between Cadel and Levi, it's the race to watch!

No TGC for me :(

Thanks to some idiot during my commute home last night my Jetta's all busted up. Stopped on 94 on my way back to Woodbury and this dumb ass lady rear ends me. She smacked me hard enough to shove me into the car in front, Jeep w/ a receiver hitch, which smashed my front end. It started smoking so I had it towed. Needless to say I was pretty pist (note the colorful language today). My back is a little sore and since I was getting over a cold I picked up after Dakota, I decided to bag my dreams of getting any upgrade points. Thanks Bizatch!

Hope you all did well and come back in one piece.

Please hit me up with some race reports so I can get my fix racing vicariously though y'all.

---

BTW

I had a pretty good feeling that it was going to come done to Vino (sans injury), Cadel and Levi after today's TT. Those were my top 3 for the Tour this year. Some don't think that Levi has is to be a Tour contender i.e. Super Rookie, I think you're all wrong. Now he will show you how wrong you are. Wait for it...

That said, my money is on Cadel.

Dehydrated = No Recovery

Hollywood circuit race last night was hot. And apparently I wasn't ready for the heat. Took off on the last lap to breakaway and soon realized something wasn't right. I just couldn't go. Sorry team. :(

Otherwise Silver had a great showing last night in the Masters 4/5 with Wally taking 3rd and all the other moves. It was awesome racing with so many teammates. I had a blast even though I stunk it up. We'll get LSC next time.

Who's going to the Tour of Granite Country? I'm planning on doing the RR 4/5's non Masters. See ya up there! :)

Skater vids

Fin and I were just surfin' the Net for skater vids. We thought this one was pretty cool.

Bring Down the Rain Part II- Hopkins Crit

First let me start by thanking Ted and Ben. It's always helpful to have teammates out there.

I was pretty excited for this one after my performance at Northfield. I guess I'm on form right now so I'll milk it for all it's worth. The race started out same old same old. Some attacks that didn't really get away. Then with about 12 laps to go Ben jumps and gets a pretty good gap on the field. I was hanging out in the back reserving myself for later. Once I noticed Ben up the road I tried to make my way to the front to block for him. Thing about Hopkins and it being square, it's hard to advance on the field. So after he was out there for a few laps I decided to be a little more aggressive to get up front. So after the group made it's way through the start/finish and around the first turn I decided to sprint up the inside to get to the front. This turned out to be too successful. As I approached the second turn I was concerned about cutting people off so I went real hard into the turn. Upon exiting I had created a little gap on the field and only soft pedaled for a little bit when some dude jumped on my wheel. Indistinctly I pedaled a little more until I realized that I was and idiot and sat up. I didn't want to help this guy bridge up to Ben sucked onto his wheel. He wasn't slowing down so I let him go. I figured that if he wanted to chase Ben down he'd have to do it himself.

Even though I let him go my actions created enough excitement to stir up the group and unfortunately bring up the pace. That wasn't good, my bad. Eventually the group brought Ben back. Sorry Ben. My intentions were good. It was my experience that sucked.

Note to self: Next time in that situation be more stealthy!

At this point I was up at the front and everyone was getting rev'd for the finish. With a few to go Ben asked how much I had left to set me up for a lead out. Just as he started to set it up I got blocked and had to go around the opposite side to link back up with him. No dice!. :( I wasn't able to get back on his wheel 'til the next lap. Which worked out just fine. With one to go I launched off his wheel and jumped off the front right after the first turn. After making it through the back straight my legs started to feel it but I decided that I wasn't going to blow this for anything. As I made it around the last turn I looked over my shoulder to see how hard they were coming. Looked back up the road to the finish and buried the needle. I've never had so much fun racing in my long 17 year career of racing bikes.

This sport rocks!

Thanks:

Ben

Ted

Mike

The Fam

Everyone else who cheered (it makes a difference)!

My family

*Thanks skinnyski and Bro for the pics

Northfield Crit- Bring down the rain!

This is how the day started.

Drove down to Northfield with my neighbor who runs the J&B DC here in the cities. AS we roll out we both say something to the affect that we should bag the race and spend the day with our families--being the 4th and all.

Well we decide to go anyway.

His race is at 9:40 and mine at 11:30. I've got plenty of time to get ready, maybe too much. Anyway Bill gets ready and rolls up to the line. He's been away from racing for 6 years and doesn't have the chain on the big ring for the start. He can't spin it up onto the big ring so he heads over to the neutral support to fix it. Just as he get it in the stand they start the race. Not cool cause by my watch it's 9:38. He finally gets it set and tries to catch up with the group. Not happening. He tries for a lap or two and throws in the towel.

At about the same time Todd Heiser rolls up to me to ask if they already started the race. I had to break the bad news.

This was not a good start to the day...

So Todd and Bill are left with nothing to do but watch the race that got away. :(
Too bad cause it was a good race. Scott Flanders took a flier with several laps to go and held it to the end (foreshadowing). That guy is hardcore.

Normally when I arrive way early for a race I get really nervous. Today was no different.

After a good time warming up I got to the line with my "A" game. I was feeling pretty good and grabbed a spot in the 2nd row. All I could think about was the Gatorade that Bill promised me if I podium'd and that I better do something good here today if I'm going to be away from the fam on the 4th.

I'll get to it.

Before we started I noticed that Sam and Eric Oftedahl and Chris Fisher were on hand and thought that my day was over before it started. Damn!

So were racing and the tempo is pretty good. The attacks didn't seem too threatening so I hung out at the back. Since I didn't really know Eric or Sam, the only other H-WooD riders, there wasn't any plan to work with each other. From what I could see Eric, Sam and Chris were hammering the pace and going for all the primes. Being that these guys are semi-pro mtb'ers, and kick my ass on the dirt, I was just hoping to hang in to the end.

I think it was a little over half way through the race when I realized I was at the back of the field of about 16 or so riders (started with 47). The rest got shelled off. I decided that I had reserved myself enough and wanted to move to the front to show Sam and Eric that I had enough in my legs to do something. At the time I had no idea what that something was. I was thinking that they may try to launch Sam at some point and figured that was cool with me and that I'd help my much faster teammate out. So I move up to the front just as some guy goes off the front. So I decide to kick it up a notch and chase him down. By now we have just over 8 laps to go. As I get up to this guy he just sits up. I coast past him and look back at the group. No response. So I decide to dig a little and see if I can't put some time on them. As I make my way around this technical course I hear someone yell out "you have about 20 seconds on the group". As I'm doing this I can hear Lalla "What are you thinking"? As I continue on my own I hear the time gap drop to 15 seconds then to 10 seconds. OK time to rethink the strategy here. So I sit up and wait for the group hoping that I can drop back into the front with these guys.

I make my way back to the front of the group and realize that I'm recovering quite quickly. NICE! Now all I'm thinking about is positioning for the sprint. With one lap to go I'm in great position and feeling even better. Can't remember what happened on the back side of the course. But as we made our way around the final turn I had a little ground to cover. It think I was in 6th or so position. That's when I went ape. I felt so strong and just went for it. Just then I get boxed in by two dying riders. I could see that Chris was in front with two guys chasing. Once a lane opened between these two I was on the gas again and gaining fast on the third place guy. I knew that I was held up too much to contend for 1st or 2nd but that I had a shot for 3rd. just a couple meters from the line the 3rd place guy popped and I had to throw the bike at the line to get it. I probably got him by half a wheel. man did that feel good. I was so excited to have race so well. I did wonder a little what it would have been like if I hadn't got boxed in. I know I had the legs to make a run at first. But then again, that's racing. In all fairness though, Chris and the brothers Oftedahl were using this as a training workout and if they hadn't been pushing the pace the whole time or going after primes, they would have worked together and probably gotten 1,2,3 on the day. Either way it felt pretty darn cool to be able to race with that caliber of riders.

How NASCAR can save cycling

Here's an idea. Why doesn't the UCI adopt the same penalty structure as NASCAR?
This way the team will have more of an interest in the teams adherence to anti doping policies.

Hell ya, leave it to NASCAR to save cycling.

Go Jr.

Moving Forward

I've actually been riding quite a bit. Feeling good. Getting ready for next weeks races--Northfield and Hopkins.

This Wednesday I'll be helping my road team out at the Black Dog TT.

SaturdayI'll be helping my mtb team out at the Leb TT.


Then it's back to racing... finally!

Vegas Baby- The Pics

Here are the pics from my trip to Vegas last week:


My favorite burger joint In-N-Out Burger, Yum!


The lagoon at the pool... Ahh



The Hoover Dam



Havin' a good time at one of the resort bars



A view from atop Bootleg Canyon 3500+ feet



...another



The trail





Me feeling back home in the desert



Note: it was 105 degrees and climbing

I miss the Ritz, very nice

Question

What are cargo pants good for?

Time for an update

I'll back track a little to the State Crit last weekend.

I'm still learning. Rode pretty well stayed with the pack and ended up 14th on the day. What I learned. When someone is up the road and there are 2 laps to go... Don't try to reel him back in. Could have done a lot better if I would have just raced for second place. Oh well, live and learn.

---

Today tried a little racin' in the dirt. Man this stuff is hard. How easily we forget. I was about half way through the 2nd of 3 laps when I cased a sharp rock. Pfffsssssssssssss. Dead flat. I got the tube changed in record time and only gave up maybe 3 spots when I went for the co2. Could get the damn thing to work. And no I didn't let the air out. So I'm trying everything, even read the directions. Arghh! Then Adam rolls up complaining about drive train issues. After 10 or so people went by I decided to bag it. Guess it was finally my time to get a flat in a race. Can't bitch too much.

---

Going out to Vegas on this week and have a half day mtb ride planned. Should be a good time. I'll get some pics up later.