USGP Madison

The first cross of the season is always a little bit of a shock to the system, especially when you haven't done it for the last 8+ months and it's part of the UPGP national series. I knew it was going to be hard and I soon found I was going into it with the wrong mental mindset so Saturdays race was a little rough but I survived. Jeremy Powers the race winner from Saturdays race was turning blistering lap times of 5 minutes flat on the 1.7 mile course leaving my race to be cut short when he lapped me. Only having to drive 2 hours and have so many friends and family there to support my cause made it worth the pain and suffering. I'm convinced their cheers helped me drag my carcase around the course and remind me what cross is really all about.

Here is a quick snapshot from Saturdays race. The blur of the picture is how my head felt trying to keep up.

I took my new found perspective after a peep talk or two and applied it to Sundays round two of the course; a mental reset if you will. Between the mental reset and the little bit of rain before the start my race went considerably better on day 2. I was able to make it to 3 laps to go and 15 more minutes into the race compared to the day before. Course conditions were a little greasy to begin with requiring more handling skills to better suite my abilities. The power in the legs felt restored and twice what it was the day before allowing me to actually sprint down the straightaways and keep the gas on through the technical sections unlike 24 hours prior. Positive feedback from people and my improvement on my result are signs of my early season fitness starting to return and providing fuel for the training fire.

Next up for big cross races in the 3 days of UCI races in Cincinnati in 2 weeks!

Lake Geneva and Chequamegon recap

The last 2 race weekends have been a little bit of a roller coaster but nothing I didn't already expect. I'm going to call both weekends a sucess on the road back to my early season fitness and speed. The month of August was lack luster at best in the riding department so the last 2 race weekends probably hurt more than they should have. Wors #10 Lake Geneva was really good for the first 2 laps. Awsome start in the top 15 and moving up into the top 10 and staying there for the first 2 laps left me pretty pumped and knowing I still have some snap. It was the next 2 laps that it fell apart by missing a feed and not eating enough. I was determined to keep it going even though I knew I was pretty dehydrated and feeling an awsome bonk looming. It didn't take but half a lap for both to pretty much hit me all at once and slowed my pace to what felt like a crawl. I can honestly say I have not pushed myself that hard after feeling the bonk coming in a couple years and I'm glad I did. It's good to feel where your limits are and be able to mentally and physically keep pushing. Needless to say I did not finish in the top 15 much less 30 but pushed my way to the finish slow but sure.

Yesterday was the Chequamegon Fat 40 which proved to be another roller coaster of a race. I warmed up Friday afternoon with Tristan and Brian after making the 5 hour trek. My legs felt surprisingly good and only got better as we rode. I'm not sure how to explain how your legs can feel amazing one day and so flat the next. Another awsome start in the top 40 across rosies field only to watch my placing slowly drop as the clock ticked away. The feeling of never being able to get rolling or being able to push it was what happened. I'd be able to ride with a group for a couple minutes and then I'd have no snap to hang on when an acceleration came. The time I posted was actually within my goal range but far from where I wanted to place. All in all I still had fun and managed to finish with a smile. Congrats to Brian for notching another win in his belt for this year and keeping the hopes of a triple crown repeat alive!

Next up is some serious switching of gears. USGP Madison this coming weekend. It's a real shame I'm going to missout on riding this by a matter of days!

Especially considering I have all of these to put on the bike!

starting fresh

I promise I'm not dead. There has been so much going on in the last month it's crazy. There will be lots of news to write about soon with cross season on the horizon! I have cross frames finally ordered and being built. To go with the new frames I found myself a nice Easton Tempest II carbon wheelset with some Dugast Typhoon tires already mounted. There are still a lot of things to be figured out yet but the season is starting to fall into place nicely. Being pre-registered for just about all of the races before the season even starts is a great feeling too. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get some of the new toys in!

Ore to Shore recap

Year number 5 is in the books and goes down as the best year to date. All in all the race went really well. I did have to stop twice to try and fix my non compliant derailleur with no such luck. It gets a little frustrating when you feel really good and want to push a really big gear but cant due to your jazzed derailleur, oh well. I managed to ride almost the entire race with cupcake and the tool shed. We all did our fair share of work at some point and kept our group going strong the whole time. You know your group is going well when your catching other groups and spitting them out within a couple miles. I managed to get myself spit out for awhile but caught back on with 1 to go to beat Russel and prevent the heckling for another year. 48 miles is a good day on a mtb, racing 48 miles in under 3 hours is an even better day. My goal was to finally finish under 3 hours.... mission accomplished at 2:56:20 beating last years time by 12 minutes! I finally got the chance to stick around a little longer on Sunday to ride some of the amazing trails I keep hearing about in the area. Matt from Sisu and a few of my new teammates showed me around and left me wanting more; I can't wait to go back. At the risk of sounding like an add I think Marquette is one of the coolest cities I have ever had the pleasure of frequenting. A cool little college town with good food and plenty of things to do. Amazing and what seems to be never ending trails not to mention the locals are beyond polite. If you ever get a chance check it out! Next on the race calender is the Border Battle this coming weekend.

pre ore to shore

Routine is the name of the game! This is my 5th year doing this race and I like to think I have it figured out finally. Roll out early, pre ride the last 10 or so miles as soon as we get here. This is really important, grab dinner at the pasta shop... So good! Head over to registration to get the number plates and ankle chips. Try not to stay too long talking to everyone we see which is easier said than done. Grab some ice cream and call it a night. If you can follow these few simple tasks you'll be in pretty good shape.

So far I have followed the rountine to the t and am feeling pretty good. The weather is awsome to top things off. Hopefully tomorrow goes as well as today did.

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.