Spring Cup

I can't believe the Spring Cup is this weekend. That was quick! Too bad I'm behind on my so called training schedule, I'm sure I could have pulled of a win. Ha ha! Should be a sweet race with plenty of action for all. The weather looks awesome for racin' with temps in the 70's and sunny skies. Cross your fingers so it stays that way.

Who's going? Who's ridden the course?

Doing Opus CX style

Yeah well since I don't have an official road bike I'm forced to ride the redline. Not that it would make that much of a difference, or would it?

Started off pretty well. I knew I didn't have for the overall win or at least I knew I'd have to suck wheel too much to get it. I really just wanted the miles and experience. Rode pretty strong. Got 4th or 5th in the 1st sprint, didn't go for the second, got 1st or 2nd in the 3rd sprint, was about to attempt a long sprint for the finish but the engine room shut down as I came up on the last turn.

Oh well, maybe next week right?

Anyone seen my bike?

Really! I haven't been on my bike since the Monday after Oxbow. This basement is killing me. This was looking like the best start to a season ever for me. I think I've reached the max time off before you actually start losing fitness. Unfortunately I'm not out of the woods yet on this basement stuff. The carpets getting installed as I write this which leaves a few plumbing details, some painting, and trim work. So, Tuesday at Opus is out. >:(

So everyone is getting stronger and I'm getting spit out the proverbial back. This leaves me with 3 weeks to get the form back before the Spring Cup. AHHHH! I still haven't built my mtb bike. This sucks! And the worst part is I saw that the guy I hate to lose to was at both Ken Woods(Andy will be so proud with my spelling) and the Iron Man. You know how you have that one rider who you know you should and can beat, that's why you hate them. Yah, looks like he'll be kickin my can all season.

Time to go undercover...
...Undercover training that is. Super dooper top secret training. Stealth-like.

Since the weather is so nice I think I'll finally take the semi-slicks from Oxbow off the bike and trade them for some slicks and ride the trainer.

Did I mention it's been so long that I've been on my bike that I have hairy legs again.

Gotta turn this around fast!

BTW- the picture is from a party that Tyer had. We tried to recreate our prom from a million years ago. I had to put something up that made me laugh.

Hell of the North

This picture just about sums it up for tomorrows race.


source: Velo News

Need motivation?

I just had to post this clip from Velo News

Saul Raisin's dedication is inspirational:

I was distressed to read about Saul Raisin's crash and his drug-induced coma. I remember racing in Union City, Georgia, several years ago. It was a split day: a morning time trial and an evening criterium. After the criterium (which was held in a shopping mall parking lot) there was this kid riding around and around the 1 mile shopping mall access road. He was there after all the races were over, and he was still doing laps around the mall after the race-sponsored pasta dinner (we are talking four or so hours of riding in circles, folks). I remember walking out of the mall after dinner as the sun was dipping in the sky, and I saw the same kid still cranking around. I thought, "Who is this kid? That is some dedication."
It turns out that was a young Saul Raisin who needed to get in some extra training miles, and the mall road was the only place to do it in an urban, traffic-clogged setting. He did not use the unfriendly cycling terrain as an excuse to dodge training. There was work to be done, so he did it.
I saw him the next morning in the race hotel and overheard some other guys asking him why he rode so long around the mall. A simple "I needed to get in the miles" was his reply. What a professional.
Steve Prefontaine said that "to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." Saul's dedication that day demonstrates that he too must live by that motto. I often think of him that day when I struggle in my own training, and his example still gives me an extra boost of motivation.

Hang in there, Saul.

John HartKnoxville, Tennessee

(Source: Velo News)

Please keep Saul in you thoughts.

A little something...

Been a little too busy to write anything lately. Between work, riding and working on my basement, I just haven't had the time or energy. Well, I've got something that I can finally report on. Christine and I are expecting number two in October. Looks like the baby might show up right around Halloween. Good reason to miss out on some of the cross season:)

Cheq in!

Yeah baby! My check cleared too! So it looks like I made it in to the 2006 Chequamegon 40.

Dogwood Classic Recap

The race was awesome. Super suffer fest. I've never seen so many hills. The weather was perfect 40* at the start and 50* by the end. I did really well for myself. Stayed with the lead group the whole way until the last 10 miles. Got dropped twice and was able to fight like hell to get back on. After the third time I was cooked. Came in a few minutes after the lead group. All in all I was quite please with my performance. Clocked a top speed of 46 mph. More to come later. I'm dead!

*Here is a link to some pics of the race.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/kaotosenyin/album?.dir=ef0c&.src=ph
Still waiting for results.

'On the Road Again'

Finally got outside for some real miles. Didn't clock a ton but it's a lot more and earlier than any year to date. I'll try to get some more in before I head down to the Dogwood Classic next Friday.

It's Back On!

After a week and a half off due to my training facilities being in an upheaval, and a bad cold, I'm back training. Boy does it feel good to be back on the bike. I was going crazy. I only have a week until the Missouri race. I think I might be a little behind schedule, which is ok, so I'll more than likely ride for the Minnesota contingent. Should be a good time.

So now that I finally got back on the bike maybe I'll go skiing tomorrow?...

FLOYD

First ToCA and now a great showing at Paris-Nice. I've got to say I'm not too surprised Floyd's doing as well as he is. All of Lance's disciples are doing really well. Well, except for Tyler. Though it seems riding for the 7 time Tdf champ has left a bad taste in their mouths to ride for anyone nowadays. Wouldn't it be nice to see an all American team. Don't get me wrong I was all for Team 7 Eleven back in the day, but we really have some great talent coming out of the states now. I know it's no secret, it's just fun to imagine how we'd crush EVERYONE!

Photo: www.velonews.com

INDOOR TRAINING

Well the first solid month of training is almost in the books. It's actually been kinda fun this year. Heck, when you can have the tube tuned into the Olympics, the lappy on www.cycling.tv and the iPod on shuffle, you can't lose. Although it's been fun I'm really excited fo the up coming weather. Looks like upper 30's for a while. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this weekend. Of course we'll still get nailed with a dump of snow in March. Maybe I'll be able to bust the skis out for a little XC'n.

Back to the training. I'm feeling pretty good so far. Probably better than ever! The true test will be the road race in Springfield, Missouri. It's about a 10 hour drive down so having to race the next day will be a little of a challenge. Which will be fine since I won't be going for the win. Like I'd get it anyway. Ha ha! I'm really looking forward to testing out my top secret weapon. That's why my first race has to be far enough away so no one around here will be ready when I unleash it. It's going to be awesome!

I just hope that all the hype from everyone expecting me to win a couple races doesn't get to me. I don't want to Bode things up. Honestly, cut the guy some slack. He kicked butt on the World Cup and just because he couldn't be on during the Olympics everyone's down on him. How many people out of all the critics know anything about down hill ski racing? Not too many of them. As far as him partying at night, come on. That's what we're known for. I can say that because I raced for a little bit and skied for over 20 years. Oh yeah, and I'm sure she'll read this blog, Picabo, Shut it! You're retired and no one wants to hear from you. Let the girls have their fun.

Sorry for the rant. Had to be done.

ToCA needs more TV coverage! Way to go Floyd. Too bad Tyler. Nice first race Toyota United. Anyone want to give me a new 80mm black Manitou R7 just for fun?

Look who has the ToCA lead...

I just had to post this for Andy since he can't stand George. He happens to be one of my favorite riders. And I think he's quite underrated.

What do you think?





www.velonews.com

1st. Race of the season

Looks like I might be heading down to Branson, MO or a little early season road race. The In-laws are going there to vacation and get some golf in. So, we decided to go with and I thought it would be a great opportunity to start the season with. That leaves me with a little more than a month to get ready. Sure am glad I already started training.

I'm really looking forward to a good season of racing. This year I decided to move up to B1's for cross and had a pretty decent year. I averaged about 15th place and ended the season at the Hudson Cross, GREAT RACE, in 7th. I believe. I addition to that I started training earlier than last year. So I should have a pretty good base and now that I have a bike that actually fits me... Who knows. It may be biting off more than I can chew but I would like to actually win an MTB race this year. I haven't done so since the 1991 Star of the North Games in the beginner class. It would be nice to taste victory again. I mean why go through all this training and pain if you don't hope to win one of these things. It may not come to fruition but it's worth a shot.

So how do we get there? Not 100% sure but I plan on using some strategically placed RR's as tune-ups for the dirt. Here's the tentative schedule:

March 25th RR Springfield, MO
April 15th Oxbow Classic
April 22nd Durand RR
April 29th Kenwoods Memorial RR
April 30th Iron man 100 mile
May 2nd Opus
May 9th Opus
May 20th Spring Cup
May ??th Tour of 10k Lakes (Afton course, my back yard)
June 18th Afton MTB
June 25th Waconia Triathlon
July 9th Mt. Kato
July 16th Muddy River Rock n' Roll
August 13th Welch (WWW?)
August 20th Powder Monkey
August 27th St. Paul Circuit Race
September 10th St. Paul Classic Hill Climb Challenge
Mixed in with all this I'll try to hit some of Penn's Thursday night races @ Buck
Hopefully I can get a spot for Chequamegon
Then... the cross season

And we start all over again!

Who's Hungry

I don't know about you all, but when the training season hits I always find myself in front of the fridge. Our fridge isn't stocked that well right now but keep opening it as if a meal would magically appear. Kinda like the Jetson's food processor. I always used to get crap from my buddy who thought I had a tapeworm. I've always been able to eat a lot and stay around the same weight. Poor Marc I know. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not complaining. But, I do think it has an affect on my ability to maintain necessary energy levels while competing. For example, I burn through 5 energy gels in 1 hour and a half long mtb race. Is that typical? How many do you go through?

United Pro Cycling Team

What a great model for a domestic team. Check this link to Velo News for the skinny:

http://www.velonews.com/race/dom/articles/9465.0.html

Winter Transfers

Some interesting trasfers over the winter:

http://www.eurosport.com/cycling/uci-protour/2005/teamtransfert.shtml

Horner or Joker?

Seriously. This guy loves to ride his bike. He's always smiling. I wonder if I look as happy when I'm racing?




www.velonews.com

Nothing to report!

I've gotten some pressure to update my blog lately, I won't use any names. I think some people think that because they have no life and can always come up with things to write that everyone else can too. Well, I never saw the rules that stated I had to write with any frequency. Besides, I never had a diary as a kid. Maybe my life is a little too boring or maybe I don't have much time to sit in front of this box and brag about my numbers and how hard I'm training. Who really wants to hear about that? And do I really want to disclose that information? They call it the off season for a reason.

2006 Pre Season Training:

Weights
Base miles

There! Ya happy?
You know who you are...

Happy New Year!

Celebrated New Years at home with Christine and Fin. For $45 we feasted on a Lobster dinner from Kowalski's which included twice baked potato, green beans, salad and a wicked turtle brownie. Mmmmm! Since the little guy isn't of age to drink just yet we welcomed the new year with a sparkling pear apple juice toast. Of course I got my rear handed to me in our traditional game of Trivial Pursuit. All-in-all 2005 was a pretty good year. Moved into our new home, had a pretty good season of racing, too many really to mention but the best of all, my Mom beat cancer(she's one tough lady). With that said it's been a great year!

Looking forward into 2006

Guess this is the part where I make all my New Year's Resolutions. I don't care for that exercise very much so I'll just call them goals. Compete in enough races to be a contender for the MNSCS, do another triathlon, some more road races, and really try to excel at cyclocross. Oh yeah I almost forgot. This is the year I will win at Welch(WWW)!

Good luck to all in '06!