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: