Sunburst, Superweek and Sisu

Training and racing has been going pretty well since the last update. I had the superfly barely 2 days before I decided to truly test it out in a race. Sunburst was the first mtb race in 5 weeks so I didn't know what to expect. My start was sub par and I was farther back on the first climb than I was hoping. It took me a little bit to get the body used to going hard again. Once this happened it was all systems go... superfly = superfast! Overall I had a good race, my only complaint was my seatpost shifting if I hit a big bump or sat down a little to hard. I'm sure I would have finished 2-3 minutes faster had I not had to stop half a dozen times to fix my seat.
Wednesday was the Superweek Lakefront Long course in Milwaukee. The car left early with Brian, Bennett, Tristan and myself packed from top to bottom with bags, bikes and coolers. The big boys were suiting up for 94 miles while I had a shorter 70 miles to race in the 3's. I'd never done the course so I didn't know what to expect. Brian was telling me how it used to be the national road race course a number of years back so I knew it wasn't going to be easy. 2 climbs, 1 switchback decent, 2 good straightaways and lots of crosswind off the lake. This was the perfect test of my endurance with Ore to Shore fast approaching. The first half of my race was somewhat slow and boring. I don't know what caused the change at the half way point but the guys decided they actually wanted to race for the rest of the day. After racing but 2 days earlier my legs felt good all day and were able to respond to every acceleration and even do a little work to bring back the numerous breaks. A late break went so the field was sprinting for 9th or 10th which is always a bummer. I finished with the field and a sense that my fitness is where it should be with the first major race of the season coming up. What better way to end a hard week of training and racing?...with a little relaxation time camping and tubing down a river. Never jump in without your floaties.
Myself and about 25 other people made the trek up to Iron Mountain, MI but not before I made a quick stop in Marquette. I had a meeting with the owner of Sisu custom cycles about the possibility of sponsorship for this falls cross season. The meeting went well and I am officially a proud new member of the Sisu Cycling Team! I will keep updating about this new endeavour as more info comes into play.

I made a hole in one!

The rest of the weekend was a blast spent camping and tubing down the Menomonie River. The rain that was on and off did little to stop us from fully enjoying the experience. Swimming for the last hour or so made for some good cross training too. The training plan called for some hill repeats over the weekend so I did a little scouting and found the perfect spot, Norway Mountain. Winding paved road with a step effect to the climb was more than long and steep enough. I wish Norway wasn't so far away or I'd always do my repeats there. All in all a great week and weekend! Next up is the Alterra mtb race in Milwaukee.

MTB, CX and everything in between

I never would have thought it would be easier to update during the school year when things seem more busy than the summer months, I guess I was wrong. A lot has happened since the last lame update. My new mtb should be here tomorrow hopefully. It's a little change of pace going back to a hardtail after 4 years but shouldn't be too rough with this bad boy. I'm also starting to line up some sponsorship for cross season already; bikes, wheels, tires, the works. I've never been so motivated for cross and it's over 2 months before the first race!

So what happened the last couple weeks you might ask. Finished up 2 summer classes successfully. I'm glad that's out of the way cuz they were a huge time suck. Only 12 classes left till graduation! Gears have shifted from school to work now for the remainder of the summer. Trying to bank as much money as possible to pay for my rather large cross campaign. The good news is I love my job; can't really complain about working in beautiful Door County doing construction on a cottage. I took some time off the bike after the Tour of Americas Dairyland to rest up and enjoy a little bit of my summer vacation. Last weekend was spent in the dells for a volleyball tourney which was a lot of fun. Jet boats are pretty sweet, especially doing 360's at the tip of a hat.

Training is ramping up again. Sunburst is next on the schedule along with a little superweek hopefully. Here is a picture of me at Sunburst in 2004 for one of my first races.