Brendan's Bike Blog

Proper Winter Racing..

2012-01-30T12:09:00.003-06:00

We finally had a winter race with proper snow and conditions that gave fat bikes an advantage.
I felt much better this week and certainly had more fun riding the single track at Murphy rather than those blasted hills! My new 9Zero7 hasn't been tested on snowy single track as much as I would like (no SNOW!), but it continues to impress me when the opportunity arrises. Sunday I felt right at home on her, just as I do on my Top Fuel in the summer.

All the details, results, and a pretty cool video here:
http://freewheelbike.com/about/frozen-frolic-2012-results-pg713.htm

Next up? Who knows... I am taking hits from a group of men who refer to their brothers as sisters (and sisters as brothers?) on my skinny riding ability...so maybe I should forget trying to get fit and just work on my skillz ;)

Team and Murphilly

2012-01-23T11:24:00.003-06:00

First, it is official that I will be riding for the Freewheel Elite Team this year with Trek and Bontragers as co-sponsors. I am excited to be a part of this team and have the support from Trek, as it is a combination that will provide me with everything I need to pedal hard.

On to some racing:
Remember the old Murphy Hanrehan course? Yeah, the one consisting of world class XC ski trials that only go up and down...almost never flat. Mr Hinkens and I took turns beating on each other Sunday at that course because the singletrack was still to icy. Jack and I agreed that it was the hardest we have gone since last fall, and he ended up besting me by 15 seconds or so I think. With a wipe out on a slippery rut and some time lost on the hills, I was down 30+ s after the first lap but pulled it back some in the last lap. While I think he had me either way, it was an interesting battle of different tire set ups with almost all else equal and both of us on beautiful 9Zero7s.

Jack's setup - Nate rear, Larry front, ~15 PSI min
My setup- Husker front and rear ~8-9 PSI.

The huskers roll better on really hard pack, which the trails were not Sunday at least on the first lap. The Huskers were much better on the second lap after the trail had been packed.
On the staircase steep climbs I was losing 5-10 seconds slipping the rear tire. Jack said he did not slip at all and climbed the hills like he had claws on his tires (technically he did w/ the Nate=).
Higher PSI, to a point, is advantageous as well for going fast because the tire casings don't comply/flex well in the cold, and the tire sidewall obviously flexes a lot less at higher PSI.

There will be more to come as we actually get to ride on snow in the coming weeks, but my initial takeaway is that unless it is very hard pack (nearly icy), the Nate will be a superior snow tire because you can run it at higher PSI and still have more grip.

Later...

Cold Bear #1

2012-01-12T12:17:00.003-06:00

"Snow" bike racing started last Sunday with only about 50% snow cover on the trail. That said I rode the 9Zero7 anyway along with ~35-40 other Fat Bikers. Additionally, there were 40 or so skinny tire riders braving the dirt, snow and ice trail up at Elk River (very little ice actually).

Regarding the race itself, I took it easy-ish (relative to summer XC racing) at the start to get the motor primed...it has been a long time since I did an XC race! Overall I felt strong through the whole race and did not overdo it, as there are a lot more races ahead (if I was unclear, I am not racing less this year, I am just planning to do some different types of racing).

Key takeaway: Rich and the Dirt/Snowwerx crew did a great job in making this an awesome event. If you didn't come, you missed out!

In other news, winter is hear.

Bimodal distribution?

2012-01-03T13:07:00.003-06:00

I never would have thought that Tegan I would be riding dirt over Christmas break...

One afternoon during my nice long 10-day break from work I was discussing with my well educated weather guru of a Brother how the weather does not seem to follow Gaussian statistics. Hopefully he will look into it further and get back to us all, and maybe I just remember the weather oddities. However, last winter was a snowfest...a top 5 winter in snowfall amounts as I recall. I had to shovel my shoveled snow to make room for more shoveled snow. Spring was wet and cold. My feet nearly fell of at the Cable Classic. Summer was hot...super hot (awesome!). Fall was very warm and super dry, and Winter has followed Fall's lead.
This has all made for a interesting, sometimes difficult, and entertaining year of riding and racing. I counted and I toed 32 starting lines this year, almost all mtbk. That seems like a lot. A time will come, probably sooner rather than later, that I/we won't have time for that many.

2012 will hold some changes new challenges for me. What all those are is yet to be determined, but there is more than 1 endurance race on my radar and probably fewer XC races.

I don't know which Team I will be riding for yet in 2012 (down to two options), but in the near term at least there are 13 XC snow bike races to choose from in the Twin Cities area. I do know that I will be riding my 9Zero7 rocket of a snow bike for Freewheel/9Zero7 in those...that is, assuming we get some snow this winter!

Cheers and Happy New Year.

A Fat Bike Crit and Dear Nate...

2011-12-05T12:30:00.002-06:00

A fat bike crit complete with jumps, skinny's, camelback bridges, and 40 degree inclines? Yeah thats right: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=x7qSPMNcTe4

My prize for going the fastest: a Bells Two Hearted Ale from Kevin and a pull of Jameson from Thad (exactly what I wanted!)

More pictures and recaps likely to be posted here and here.

Oh, and Dear Nate,
Where have you been, and why did it take you so long to get here?

FAT

2011-11-06T08:09:00.004-06:00

They are still calling for lots of flakes to fall this winter, and the boys at 9Zer07 have once again got me ready for it.

The new frame is awesome to say the least. The increased stand over is extremely useful for those times when you step off only to have your foot sink another 2 feet. Add to that a longer effective top tube (reach) and shorter head tube and I can get the fit just like my summer bikes. This is not possible with most snow bike geometries. The component selection includes the full SRAM XX (thanks to the folks at SRAM), White Bros carbon fork (co-developed w/ guys at 9Zero7), e13 crank, and the same holey wheels as last year. The bike comes in at a reasonable 27.5 lbs....think 19lb rigid hardtail + 8.5 lbs of rotating weight added in tires/wheel/tube=)
The only thing TBD on the bike at this point is the tire choice. I will be trying a couple of the new options there, but the Larry's I ran last year will be tough to beat for snowy singletrack.

Getting your hands on one of these new 9Zero7 beauties may not be easy, as they are already sold out of certain sizes/colors from the first batch. Locally, a few places have them in stock though:
Trail Cycle in Forest Lake has 6 or 8 of them that they will build any way you want.
Penn Cycle also has some and will be carrying them en mass this year.

Shanghai

2011-10-22T18:50:00.011-05:00

Our adventure to Shanghai in pictures:

First we hopped on a bullet train...due to a recent crash they have slowed them down to 200mph. It was SO smooth.

Upon Arriving, we entered the subway... wowzas

The Shanghai TV Tower..

Lunch at Hooters in Shanghai (we wanted "American" food)... I couldn't decide between the WARP and flatbread

The Shanghai World Finance Center. The tallest building in the world if you don't consider Antennas. Also, it has the highest "Observation Deck" (read, somewhere the public can go view from)

I am scared of heights, not deathly though, but the glass floor at the 100th floor observation deck was about more than I could take. I walked across the glass panes but didn't stand on them.

The views were UNREAL.

A new bike brand coming...just like the original only better.

And of course, shopping. Need genuine Ray Bans?

This is the first time I have found fake bike jerseys and bibs. They had every sports jersey fake you could think of. I was going to buy a vintage Mike Madano North Stars Jersey, but they didn't have my size.

Lost in translation...completely lost =)

More exploring

2011-10-16T03:01:00.004-05:00

A couple co-workers and I went to the center of the city yesterday for some shopping. It was quite entertaining....

This guy was pretty happy about his faux wood fairing his bike.

I am still trying to figure this one out. The sign says "Transformers Bag Co." but it was a women's clothing store.
My wife gets so worked up when someone has a child in the front seat of a car (I certainly was up there when I was growing up). Child safety is all relative.

Just really, really, really crowded.

I have ridden every day (mostly a quicky in the AM before work) and I took my camera today. I am blown, but had a good time.

I found an ancient grave burial ground on the side of a hill. Creepy but unique. You should have seen the looks my Trek kit got this far of the beaten path.

They decide to build a replica of the Eiffel Tower that I stumbled into. Who knew that Suzhou had an Eiffel tower?!?!

Yep, that is a Bentley stretch limo. The disparity between rich and poor and the number of poor (proportionally) here far exceeds what we have in the US. I wonder what the I-am-not-working-but complaining-rather-than-looking-for-a-job-and-am-gonna-need-unemployment-help-from-tax-payers-who-ARE-working-while-I-complain (read Occupy Wall Street) people would say? ;-)

More exploring

2011-10-16T03:01:00.003-05:00

A couple co-workers and I went to the center of the city yesterday for some shopping. It was quite entertaining....

This guy was pretty happy about his faux wood fairing his bike.

Just really, really, really crowded.

I have ridden every day (mostly a quicky in the AM before work) and my camera today. I am blown, but had a good time.

I found an ancient grave burial ground on the side of a hill. Creepy but unique. You should have seen the looks my Trek kit got this far of the beaten path.

They decide to build a replica of the Eiffel Tower that I stumbled into. Who knew that Suzhou had an Eiffel tower?!?!

Far from Kansas

2011-10-09T01:07:00.004-05:00

My view of Suzhou, China. No, that is not fog.

Introducing the latest in my collection delivered to my door about a week before I left. The Cronus CX Ultimate has made the long journey with me. I shall call her Toto.

Some things I have learned on my ~100k ride today:

1. Traffic lights only for advisory purposes only. The larger your vehicle, the less strong the advisory.

2. I am faster than the scooters here. Most are actually E-bikes (think electric moped).

3. Most roads have lanes dedicated to scooters and bikes that are separted from the road by a small boulevard...awesomely progressive. Cars stay off these lanes most of the time.

4. The bike and scooter lanes are 2 way even though there is one on each side of the road.

5. Ebikes do not require helmets, but I saw at least on ebike to ebike collision, where a helmet would have been useful.

6. A honk from a truck or car means, "I am coming but not considering using my brakes, just FYI."

Actually, the riding here seems to be very pleasant at least on the weekends. I am not sure they will let me bring my bike into our factory if I commute on it, and Toto is too precious (and guaranteed to be stolen) if I park it with the rest of the bikes outside.

Signing off...

Wrap up and for sale

2011-09-30T08:26:00.005-05:00

The season wrapped up for me last weekend. Skinnyski has a pretty accurate report on the race except for the fact that I ran a 42x16 not a 42x18 in the SS State Championship ;-) I won the race on my cobbled to gether SS bike, which was my Top Fuel with one cog on the back, a shorter (tight) chain with the regular derrailluer, and my shifter moved away from my grip so I didn't accidentally hit it=) After the race was over, I swapped wheels and put a normal length chain on. Single speeding is novel for the once or twice a year I do it, but I prefer gears for sure.

The course was indeed very fast and honestly Scott and I were riding it as fast as our tires would let us. Every open section was pretty close to full on too. Either way, it was good to see Scott get the win. He has had a strong season.

I was planning on doing some CX and still may, but it won't be until later. This weekend I will be out at the Trek Demos Saturday and I am Jenn's mobile pit crew for the TC marathon on Sunday. I won't be around the next 3 weekends, but hope to keep the fitness reasonable over that time.

It is fall, so it is time to sell stuff. This is first on the docket:

It is a 2011 18.5" Remedy 9.7 with the following upgrades/mods: XX rear derr, XX rear shifter, XX brakes, Bontrager XR2 2.35 tires, MRP 1.x chainguide. I will include all the original chainrings and front derr, but I don't have a front shifer for it. The bike has 6" of travel with a carbon front triangle and it weighs in at 25.5 lbs without pedals. That is pretty amazing for a super capable bike. The bike has not been ridden a ton and is in almost new condition. Price is $3100.

Contact me at bjmoore1@uwalumni.com if you are interested.

I will be selling my race bike, or at least the frame, later this fall.

Come on out!

2011-09-19T08:37:00.002-05:00

Laddies

2011-09-13T08:20:00.004-05:00

Better late than never as it is often said....

Laddies Loppet up at Maplelag is the highlight of my family's racing year. We simply love it up there and with Tegan being on 2 wheels we told him he can go "anywhere but the lake" on his own, which was a new experience of freedom for him.

While I really wanted to do well at the stage race this year, my preparation was less than ideal for the very short high intensity events with an 8 hour and 50 mile race being the previous 2 XC races I had done. My only bout with intensity since the 8 hour race was a TT at Murphy Hanrehan.

That all said I felt reasonably good in the cool weather TT, but was bested by Doug Swanson who was going really fast (top secret cross training I am told=). In the STXC, I led it out and should not have. With temps only in the low 60's my legs were rioting after the summer of heat and they locked up after the fast lead out. It went from full power to engine misfiring in about 30 seconds. I should have sat back and let them warm into the race, but I didn't and was forced to drop back to the chase group. Doug rode away impressively again. I sat on for a bit, recovered and used Jake Richards 2nd to last lap attack as a a catapult to second place.

The XC course was partly new this year with 3 miles of my favorite stuff: non-IMBA (i.e. difficult, punchy, tight, demanding) full on rock'n singletrack. Maplelag is hands down the most technical course in the MNMBS series now. I think only Spirit Mt, if it ever returns, could give it a run for its money. In order to win the stage race, I had to give it my best and hope that there was one person between Doug and I. I DID ease into this race and it benefited me later as I was able to keep nearly identical lap times for the 2 ten mile laps. The final placings put me at the top of the Stage Race podium where I have stood second fiddle for a number of years to TJ and Jason Sager. There is an XC video recap here and a STXC video recap here.

After the race Tegan and I hit the Richards jump park pump track area where he was rocking the rollers. He can't seem to get enough of the "bumps" as he calls them. He wanted to know why he could "fly" (i.e get air). I told him to give it a little time.

Sunday night was filled with food, drink (Fat Tire on TAP!), and merry times by the camp fire. Jen headed to bed early, as she ran 17 miles that morning in Prep for her 3rd TC Marathon, so I was left to talk bikes and hockey by the fire... =) Thanks Richards family for hosting us!!!!!!

Next on the life agenda, is to have a weekend at home. However, the weeks are still full with Tues Night CX racing, 2x hockey (by the fire at Maplelag Jon Richards helped me decide that I should go ahead and spend too much on some Supreme one80 skates...I can't wait to try them), and Tegan starting "pretty" (read Pre) school. Then later this fall, I will likely be shipped of to China for 3 weeks of work and with weekend 2-wheeled exploration.

Life will slow down eventually right?

RIP little buddy...

2011-09-06T09:13:00.004-05:00

Andrew took his last breath at 7:03 Sunday morning. We were up at Maplelag at the time... more than once I had to hold back tears in the XC race later that day. I raced in honor of Andrew, and I will put together a weekend summary after things settle down.

I know Ty is pumped to have a cousin in Heaven with him. Play nicely boys, and Ty, share your toys!

Murphy Menace 50

2011-08-30T10:22:00.002-05:00

A first time and not widely publicized 50 mile mountain bike race rolled at Murphy Hanrehan last Saturday morning. I took it as another opportunity to try endurance racing...and it was nearly 100% singletrack, so plenty of fun was to be had. The plan next year is to try to expand this race to 150-200 entries.

My form is certainly much better than when I did the Sandwich 50 this spring, and I finished the race at a good pace with plenty left in the tank (the course is easy peasy compared to Afton!). The only bummer was that my front chainring appears to be shot, as the new chain meshed so pourly that I could not stand up with any power the entire race. Other than that, the top fuel was the perfect bike for the day keeping me fresh, and the super light EC90 wheels made all the seated accelerations tolerable.

Peace.

More Love

2011-08-23T09:22:00.004-05:00

The Andrew Morris benefit at the Famous Daves in Janesville (Andrew's daddy is the GM there) blew me away. It was hard to hold back tears when we first arrived. So many people care for Andrew and his family.

We had a great weekend hanging out w/ our family and Ben even made the 15 hour non-stop drive back for the weekend. You would think that would wear Ben out, but I only used 2 cogs on our ride Saturday so clearly it did not.

An update on Andrew: He still loves to swing on his new Rainbow Playsystems swingset several times a day, and he and Daddy make frequent trips to the grocery store to buy "Queen-car Patta" (Lightning Mcqueen Mac n Cheese). They had over 10 boxes of it in their pantry. Other than that, it seems that he mostly sleeps due to the heavy dose of pain meds. His breathing has become labored in recent days, which is really hard for everyone to see. He is still drinking but not really eating (thus the build up of Queen-car patta). Our hope is that he does not suffer too much.

16,000+ = tired

2011-08-15T13:10:00.003-05:00

I decided to go out and do the 8 hour race self supported at the Salsa 24. I rode for 7.5 hours before I called it "good enough," as I was getting tired and had accomplished my goal of testing the endurace racing waters. I am unsure of the exact numbers, but I was told that the lap was 7.5 miles long and ~1500-1600 feet of climbing putting the race total for me at 16000+ feet of climbing and ~80 miles.
I felt strong through about 6 hours, and then I started to fade a little. This is better than I expected given my rides in the summer don't get much longer than the XC races on the weekends...many are significantly shorter like Buck Races or casual rides w/ friends and family. I only cramped twice on Saturday and both times were on the Manhandler climb (bottom to top up the ski hill), so my nutrition plan of Salted Nut Rolls, Gu Brew, Gu, Honey Stinger waffles, and endurolytes worked just fine. I even had to stop and pee once, which was a good sign!

Today, I am still a little tired (even my Madone felt slow on the commute in) and am intersted to see how long this recovery will take. The TT at Murphy on Wed will tell me somthing. After that it is off to Madison to visit my Nephew and attend a benefit for him on Sunday (i.e as I mentioned last entry, no Border Battle unfortunately).

Equipement wise, I went with the Bonntrager XR2 tires at Afton. It is a more durable, versatile, and slightly heavier tire. It worked well because I didn't have to worry about traction in the slippery first laps or side wall cuts in the later laps when my riding got a little sloppier.

Cheers!

5 in 11.. or 6 in14

2011-08-11T11:39:00.004-05:00

There has been lots of racing going on lately contrary to what I expected. It has been a wait and see game with Andrew, and he is now at home under hospice care, which has been much more peaceful for my sister and her family. While we did not expect him to last this long, he still continues to have some happy times and that strong cardiovascular system has kept him going.

Why so much racing? Well, I am home here in the Cities waiting for the inevitable, so I might as well race. It clears my mind.
This has ended up being a strenous stretch, maybe my toughest yet quantity wise, and it is not over. I did 6 mtbk races in the past 14 days. For the most part, none of them had drafting, coasting, or tactics involves...it was go from the gun and rest when you are done. I mentioned Elk River and the Andrew Morris Benefit Race at Buck Hill already. In addition I have hit Time Trials at Murphy Hanrehan (a 10 mile singletrack course <8 miles from my house) and the MNMBS up at Lester Park.
The Murphy TT's have been great, but I am perplexed on how to break 38 minutes out there. The twisty single track has been the limiter, not legs and lungs. Freewheel puts on a great show with a kids TT and food and drinks after the adult TT. There is one left next week so come on out!
Lester Park is a true gem of a race (or just ride) course...much like Maplelag with rocks, roots, steep ups, bridges, etc. It is a must ride for any midwest mountain biker if you find yourself in Duluth. I would suggest printing off a map prior to riding, as it can be confusing when it isn't marked for racing.

Next up, maybe some endurance racing this weekend...
It looks like I will miss the Border Battle unfortunately, as we will likely be headed to Janesville next weekend to see Andrew and Family.

Thank You MN Mountain Bikers

2011-08-06T12:11:00.004-05:00

Thank you again for all the support at the Andrew Morris benefit at Buck Hill this past Thursday. Also a super special thanks goes to Dawn and Pat, who orchestrated this event. Over $3000 was raised for my sister's family. While the generous donations will not heal Andrew, it will ease the stress on the family, and I am hoping help pay for a family healing vacation after all this is done.

We sure had a great time Thursday, and the adult race on kids bikes was harder on me (especially my calves) than the adult race I think! Even worse, I suffered a demoralizing defeat to a trash talking Tyson Meyer riding a pink bike. My manhood definitely took a hit from that=)

I will leave you with this (I didn't want to be long winded on Thursday and it can be tough to hear): Andrew's favorite past time during the past weeks has been walks with his daddy, Joe. ~10 miles of it per day! Well, last week, he just got fed up with walks on pavement, and now DEMANDS all walks be on dirt and wooded singletrack=)

Friends

2011-08-01T11:42:00.005-05:00

The outpouring of support for Andrew and his family has been unreal. Thank you all so much.

Andrew continues to worsen and is now on a pretty heavy constant drip of morphine. That said, his waking hours are pleasant for the most part with long walks, swinging, and playing cars. He is on a steady diet of cake and fried food...that is what the little man wants so that is what he gets!

For those that haven't heard, this Thursday night's Buck Hill race is a benefit for Andrew and his family. I hope to see you all out there, as we celebrate his short life.

Finally, some of you may have heard Jenn tell Andrew's story on 98.5 KTIS this past week. It was followed by the heart wrenching song, "He's My Son" by Mark Schultz. Powerful.

Sunday I won a tough one for you Andrew....

Heavy Heart

2011-07-19T19:07:00.003-05:00

If I looked like I was suffering at last Sundays race, I was...in more that one way.

I will make this brief. My Sister and Brother inlaw's son, Andrew Morris, was diagnosed with terminal cancer (sarcoma) this past Friday evening. What makes this so tough is that only 3 weeks ago this wonderful little rambunctious 2.5 year old had no sypmtoms and was living a normal life. At that point he developed a bump on his head. He did bump it and it just looked like a normal "egg" bruise. It didn't go away and 2 doctors visits later, he was given a blood test (about 10 days ago) that showed very low platelets. Since then it has a blur of tests and doctors visits. Thursday I got a call right after the Buck Hill race informing me that he had cancer. Friday, they were planning Chemo, and by Friday night, it was determined that it had spread too far and there was no chance for treatment. Now he has only weeks left...Andrew was born the same week Jen and I lost Ty.

I am putting this on my blog so you can pray for Andrew, his parents Bri and Joe, and his 4 year old sister Aubrey. Please pray for minimal suffering for Andrew and strength for his family.

There is a donation account set up for those that want (please don't feel obligate, money will be used for mounting medical bills beyond what insurance covers along with funeral expenses):

Ways to Donate:

1) Cash or Checks made out to: Andrew Morris Fund (mail to: Becca Moore 626 East State Street, #1505 Milwaukee, WI 53202)

2) Donate via PayPal

3) Stop at any Associated Bank and let the teller know you would like to make a donation to the Andrew Morris Fund

If you don't see me at the races, it is because I am tending to this devastating situation.

Hug those that are close to you, especially your kids if you have them, extra tight tonite....

12 laps

2011-07-13T08:13:00.003-05:00

Between the Thurs night series and the Sunday race it was 12 laps for me at out "new style world cup" course here in the Twin Cities. The temps were warm in the low 90s, but the real suffering came from the 75 degree dew points which pushed the heat index way up. I like warm weather racing, but I don't remember suffering from heat like that in a while.
From the gun I made sure I got through the sandy uphill start near the front. I pushed it but not so much that I was going to blow like I did a few weeks ago racing w/ Jack and Jeff Hall. Jeff was on my wheel going into lap two (of 6) but constant pressure had him slowly falling back. Laps 3-5 were lessons in the art of passing. Everyone was great out there, and a little give and take allowed me to get by without impacting those that I was lapping too much.
The short 1:10 race was plenty for me given the conditions, and I didn't stop sweating until we went inside around 6pm (the kids and pool time at our house was on order as soon as we got home=)

As is typical from a really hot race, my stomach is was a little screwed up through Monday. I am ashamed to say that I couldn't even finish my Qdoba burrito at lunch Monday. I didn't give up however, and a late afternoon effort got me through the remainder of the big white turd.

Du Lac is on tap this coming weekend. I am going to take my Remedy up and try the DH race on Saturday and follow with the XC on Sunday. Jen and I are going SANS kids to camp somewhere Sat night and then have a hotel near Canal Park for 2 nights. We are definitely looking forward to a little time to ourselves=)

Stuff I like...

2011-06-30T09:54:00.005-05:00

I have been meaning to do a somewhat random honest list of bike stuff I like independent of sponsorships and obligations.

I like:

Technical trails - why I started mountain biking a lot more than road biking
Technical races - makes racing way more fun
Road biking in Wisconsin - best roads I have ridden, period
Road biking for recovery - nothing finer than an easy'ish spin on a nice hot day
Really sweet road bikes - My new Madone 6.9 ssl is off the charts awesome.
Off road time trials - super painful but just you vs. trail
Technical climbs - sometimes I can even forget that I am climbing (like Stairway at Red Wing)
Moab, Utah - the town, the people... oh, and the trails.
Trying new kinds tires - most important part of a mountain bike and so many great options
Bell Helmets - the Volt just fits me... I forget I am wearing it
1 by 10 (or 9) - less is more...simpler is better
Reliable hubs - in my experience, DT Swiss are the best out there
Stiff and light wheels - Of course right? But at least there are options out there now (see my last post)
Dual suspension - why would you want to get kicked around by a hardtail? I stand by the Top Fuel as being the best I have ridden.
Disc brakes - have you tried a bike with canti's lately? How did we ever survive on those
6" trail bikes - if you haven't ridden the latest generation of 6" bikes, you are missing out. They pedal well and are a joy to ride. Every brand has one now, but I prefer the Trek Remedy.
24 hour team races - yeah they hurt, but it is fun to experience a team competition with the mountain biking world
Tacky trails - not dusty dry, just that perfect tack (some in MN call this wet) that you get about 8 hours after a light rain.
Riding with my son - so fun now that he is on 2 wheels. He keeps asking when he gets his first dual suspension...
Camping and Riding vacations - I don't fit them in often, but vaca's don't get any better than that
Bontrager shoes - For my feet they are the best I have tried.
UST Tubeless system - I burped the stans rims, a lot, the UST is just safer and more reliable
Sram XX cassette - awesome engineering and craftsmanship
XTR brakes (the new ones) - tiny little levers with so much power
XTR shifters (all of them) - they are just buttery smooth
Aluminum cranksets - Shimano has this down...this is a place on the bike where Al just makes more sense than carbon
Carbon frames - this is a place where carbon makes more sense than Al
Fat bikes - snow bikes are so fun...I heard Surly is making an even fatter 4.5" tire (vs current 3.8"), WOW!
Riser bars - better than a skinny flat bar w/ bar ends for most types of trails and riding
Gu and Gu Brew - about the only thing my stomach can take no matter the conditions
Tray mount hitch rack - I have a Cycle On Pro and LOVE it.
Craftsman C3 Pump - Not intended to be a bike tool but fills tires up fast and reads out to the nearest .1 PSI
Egg Beater pedals - been on em for a long time..the lightest and easiest to clip in. The new ones have better shoe lug engagement too.
Fox RP23 shock and RLC fork - set it and forget it....none of that lockout stuff
Carbon fiber rims - I used to think it was silly until I tried them. They are more durable than Al (downside is that if you do break them, they are more expensive to replace).
Gadget free mountain bike handlebars - no computers, just a front brake rear brake, and rear shifter
Compact road bars - I am not super flexible so the compact reach makes the drops more comfortable.
Trunk and rack for bike commuting - gets everything off my back
Commuting on a mtbk - when road construction season hits I am ready, when snow hits I am ready. For the other 3 days of the year, road bikes are better for commuting.
Clear or white water bottles in the summer, black ones in teh winter - if you don't know why buy the dummy's guide to basic physics
White or mostly white helmets - again, the physics thing
Oakley Jaw Bones - Jen hates em, I love em. We have agreed to disagree.
Watching downhillers - they have bigger ones that me
Watching trials riders - looks like so much fun...I wish I could do that. They too have bigger ones.
Bike shops run by people who ride bikes - those that ride and ride hard really know what you need
Bike shops with mechanics who mountain bike - mountain bikes need a special kind of love
Bontrager Saddles - I switched from Selle after I was encouraged to try them...I won't go back
Mt. Borah pro bibs - they make our team gear, but my family members buy their standard bibs too because they are reasonably priced, very comfortable and last a long time
MNMBS vibe - good competition, dedicated series officials, tough courses, and just the right level of intensity...everyone is having a good time
Weekday races - keeps me fit and makes summer a race and recover (on casual rides) cycle
Having a timing chip on the back of the number plate - no ankle bracelet but still automated timing
Good quality unbiased comparative bike and component testing - gotta have the Gage R&R, test setup/equipement, and test procedure (including sample size) listed though... I almost never find this stuff.

Hmm... that is all for now. Have a great 4th!

RW

2011-06-27T11:01:00.004-05:00

MNMBS visited the nice river town of Red Wing Sunday. This may be my favorite MNMBS course, and even if you don't race it should be at the top of your list for a weekend mtbking visit! The singletrack is twisty with plenty of technical stuff to keep you on your toes. That got topped off with running us on the a downhill course (SO SWEET!) and the gnarl of the Stairway to Heaven climb.

As an aside, I missed out on the Pro XCT over in Wisco due to the required Friday registration requirement (Pros had to be present by 5:30 Fri, which wasn't in the cards this year work and family wise). I likely would have raced if I could have cruised over there Sat AM, done the race, and headed home. It sounded like a good time other than the token bottle necks at the start. I have fond memories of that course for sure!

Back to Red Wing...I fought "it" (my body) for the first 2 laps but was able to pull a gap despite laying the bike over once and a bobble on the Stairway climb. The course was mostly super grippy tack, but the first lap had a few surprise slick corners along w/ the aforementioned downhill course that needed exploring. By the 3rd lap I got in my groove and even felt like I was going good for a while. I didn't cramp, which in the high humidity is always key to success. By the end I pulled a pretty good gap for the win.

Equipment wise, I had a new secret weapon...EC90 XC wheels. Thanks Easton and Freewheel! The dang things are slightly less than 1300 grams but w/ out the compromises in stiffeness and durability that you get w/ other lightweight wheels. They are made to be ridden hard every day not just raced on occasionally and delicately!
Also, the top fuel was awesome. I have the suspension fully dialed at this point. I use very close to the Trek recommended air pressure. I run the new Kashima RP23 on full platform, then I lockout out the Fox RLC fork but turn the compression damping and lockout threshold as low as they go. This provides for a firm and balanced (front to rear) racing platform but allows for sufficient bump compliance when the trail gets rough.

While there is no racing planned for me this weekend, my family is collecting at my parents house. Ben will be there so I will probably come out of the weekend w/ enhanced fitness.

To that end, Ben raced this past weekend up at Crested Butte. The course, part of the MSC series, was a 1 lap 38 mile beast...mountain bike racing in its most raw form. I think they should do a world cup on a course like that!

Steam Room

2011-06-20T11:50:00.005-05:00

The course and terrain at Afton Alps, site of MNMBS #3, is tough. Throw in 80 degrees with STEAMY conditions - not just humid, straight up water evaporating out of the ground into your face steamy - and you have a tough day in the saddle. Usually at Afton I enter the pain cave at the start and don't come out for a couple days.
From what I hear, our course was right on about 5000 feet of climbing in 4 laps, and the rain the day before left the course slower but not muddy other than a few puddles. TJ Woodruff showed up and really rocked it from the start. Not only is he looking fit, but he is riding very fast. With a good starting position and home course advantage, he should have a strong result at next weekends ProXCT/Subaru Cup. I know he has been priming for it.
Given the warmth, I set my own pace, and for once, didn't pay attention to where anyone was in the race. I just rode the speed that was comfortably hard, and it made the race more fun for me. Jesse and I trade spots a couple times on the first lap, but he too settled into his own pace quickly. The fact that I only had a 42 tooth chain ring up front (I run a 1x10 gearing setup) kept me honest on the hills. Given a smaller chainring, I probably would have dogged it a little more.
Anyway, I held the gap up to TJ at a solid 20-30 seconds for 3 laps, but I faded the last lap with some cramping and lost about a minute I think. Almost 1/4 of the Elite field DNF'd, so that is an indication of how hard it was out there for all of us.
My legs weren't great yesterday, but they certainly weren't horrible. I was pleased with my performance given some lack of motivation (that I mentioned last post) and the difficult nature of the course. As noted above, I did cramped a little but Gu Brew is amazing stuff. I would feel the cramps coming on, down a couple big mouth fulls, and less than 5min later the pings would dissipate.

Equipment note: I ran the Bonti XR3 tires and they hooked up like velcro. The XR3 not a great hard pack tire mind you (taller knobs lay over a little kind of like a Rocket Ron), but in soft conditions they rock! Sara KJ ran the XR2s and TJ was on the XDX. They both said that they were hooking up well too.

We followed up the race with a father's day neighborhood bonfire at my house last night. I managed to drink half a beer before my stomach decide it didn't want any more. Next I tried a light mixed drink. That worked ok...

Thanks to my dad for the hand-ups and never ending support, Jay Richards for the bone chilling water on my back, skinny ski for the pic shown and cool video, and the spectators around the course for all the words of encouragement. Oh, and how could I forget the dude at the water hand up station that kept throwing water in my face rather than on my back, thanks man;)

Now, back to crawling out of that pain cave. I just ate a huge burrito and I am still hungry...

P.S. did any of your see Kevin Ishaug's thumb after the race? What a mangled mess. I think that was harder on my stomach than the race.

Rough 1

2011-06-17T08:15:00.002-05:00

I made the decision to take a 10 day break from racing with my return being last night at Buck. Basically, it came down to the facts that I had a lightly strained back from playing with my kids after Mankato (they won that wrestling match) and that I did something like 7 mtbk races in 30 days to start the season. It was the right decision, but comes at a cost, which is the very high end fitness.
I slipped a pedal at the start last night but recovered to get a quick gap on the field. The start hurt like more than it should have. I should have taken it easier, and starting in lap 2 Jack, Jeff (yeah, the Hall one, he is still fast and could probably win most any Midwest race he wanted if he put his mind to it) and Jesse were slipping away. I sat up a little to recover and lost some time, probably 30-40s, but before I knew it we were going into the last lap and I caught Jesse with Jeff and Jack only 15 s up on the top pavement climb. I knew that with lapped traffic we would never close it down so I just followed Jesse hoping to do a fun sprint for 3rd. Well, about 1 min from the finish, a lapped rider did a yard sale in front of me. So I stopped, let him get up, and told him it was no big deal. I cruised in softly from there.
So, the fitness is not all gone but some of the high end is, I felt stronger as the race when on. The motivation to suffer, well that is lacking for sure right now. There is never a day I don't want to ride, but many that I would rather not race. Going into Afton, it feels good not to be the favorite. I can mark Jesse, TJ, and Jack and just see how it goes.

Cheers!

Mid week bike demo

2011-06-08T10:32:00.005-05:00

I just got word on this: http://freewheelbike.com/about/daily-news-feed-upcoming-events-ride-info-pg634.htm

They have top of the line stuff you can reserve and try on the trails out at Murphy each week. I would suggest calling and reserving the Fuel Ex or Top Fuel... but I am partial to 26" wheels=)

And ouch! Apparently they got a few chuckles over me and my Salem-mud-modified bike. Thanks for documenting things Tyson and thanks for the weight reduction tips Chris.

MNMBS #2

2011-06-07T13:08:00.009-05:00

The MNMBS race at Mt Kato, Mankato, is always hot...sometimes muddy, but always hot. More on that later.

Leading up to the 2nd MNMBS I did the Thrus Night Buck race. The Penn team pulled of the amazing feat of a last minute reroute around a new 8 foot irrigation ditch that appeared on the hill that day. The race was short at only 40 min but still had 1000 feet of climbing in that period...OUCH!

Saturday was a warm day and I kind of forgot to take it easy. Between washing cars, chasing kids, laying sod, taking Tegan mountain biking (yeah, on 2 wheels=), and a brief 40 min spin alone, I was anything but rested for the impending warmest race (heck, even ride) of the year by far the next day. Oh well, so it goes.
Tegan's first 2 wheeled mountain biking ...we hit up Murphy Hanrehan on Saturday

Sunday I felt lethargic going down to Kato, but once I started pedaling I could tell that I didn't totally waste myself the previous day. The warm weather suits me and my legs always feel better. It was just about 90 Sunday in Mankato, so there was plenty of suffering to go around. I just put my head down at the start and set a high tempo. The start was the least painful one this season, and I kept it below my threshold but was still able to gap the field. Kato is a near perfect race course with a long ski hill starting climb to sort things out followed by fast singletrack, twisty singletrack, switch backs, a couple places to launch, and some gnarly rooty chutes. I kept on it for 4 out of 5 laps growing my lead the whole time. I sat up a bit on the last lap, as cramps started to ping. Overall, I was pleased with my fitness, which seems to be coming along but more pleased that I had limited cramping in the hot weather. Usually the first hot weather race puts me in the hurt bucket more than this one did.
Its a race AND I get to launch a little? How can I pass that up? Sweet!
Still not down=) I am no downhiller so this is plenty of air time for me.

With over 400 racers (lots of them staying for much of the afternoon), families, friends, food, and a beautiful day, we couldn't have asked for a better race and venue. Saying we were due for weather like this, well, that is stating the obvious=)
The only time I spend without at least one of my 2 shadows is on the bike or after 8:30 pm....I like that though=)

Equipment note: I continue to be blown away by the XR0 Bonti tires for hard pack racing (race day only tire and not good for sharp rocks or mud/wet). Looking at them, they simply should NOT grip like they do, but they are like Velcro! I was really able to lay the bike over on Sunday w/o loosing grip. I wish I would have converted to these sooner...

All these pics are just screenshots from Dana's gallery. She does an amazing job photographing the MNMBS!

2 bucks

2011-05-29T10:33:00.003-05:00

While I wussed out on the first Buck Hill, I have made it to the last couple and they have been just the kick the calves that I needed.

The most exciting news happened at the second one and it had nothing to do with me. I took the pedals off a larger bike we had so Tegan could use it as a big "Strider" bike per some advice from Tyson. I was getting ready to leave for the race and Tegan demanded that I put pedals back on, so I did. Then to my surprise he started cruising down the hill in our front yard while pedaling. To that point, he had abosolutely refused to try, and I didn't want to push him. Well, by the time I saw him after the Buck race that night, he was cruising around the parking lot on his own 2 wheels! He proceeded (with a little help) to race on 2 wheels that night. From there, he has progressed right into base training putting in nearly 2 hour yesterday=)

The first buck hill saw me dropping a chain on the first lap. After a 45-60 second repair the chase was on. Luckily, I already had a gap when it happened. I chased down Jesse, who is riding strong, with a lot of effort and attacked on the final lap for the win. The second race saw nearly 250 competitors, 6? waves of kid racers and 100+ in the advanced mens race alone! There can't be too many other weekday series in the nation that attract numbers like that. Awesome! With some new faces out there I put it in a fairly hard effort from the gun. My "start" fitness is not there yet but it is coming along and that is why I do these races. I always say it, but the Buck hill races, given that they are only ~50 min, are about as painful as racing gets. Because I use it as my mid-week-stay-fit session, I go hard the whole time independent of where I am in the race (unless there is a double race or something the following weekend).

I have to say thanks to Trek and Tyson/Freewheel for getting me rolling after the Salem Hills race in time for Buck this week. Needless to say, the moving parts of the bike needed some love! If you haven't been to the new store in Eden Prairie, stop by some time. The staff is super friendly and some of the most knowledgeable bike shope mountain biking crew around.

I have made some recent equipment mods and will type about them in the coming weeks. The race bike is very nearly dialed....

Few Words...

2011-05-23T11:46:00.005-05:00

Pictures best describe MNMBS#1. Thanks to all the volunteers that had the attitude, "the show must go on!" Without you guys and girls there wouldn't be a race series.

The top derr pulley seized though, although I didn't know it until I was cleaning my bike after. I am guessing it happend in lap 3 because that is when my shifting went bonkers. I kept pedaling, it is not like I had a choice, and the chain wore the pulley to the metal. I wonder how many watts I wasted grinding this sucker?

Summary: I raced hard the whole time because you never know what is going to happen (mechanical failure, crash, etc) in conditions like this. With fitness coming along and me finally starting to figure out this mud thing, I was able to gain a nearly 9 min margin for the win. The only equipment note I will make is that the Bonti Mud X 2.0 tires were amazing. Again, I don't just write this because I am supposed to. The proof is in the pudding: I came across the line w/ completely clean tread, i.e. they didn't pack up at all during the race giving me maximum traction the whole time.

Next will be Buck followed by a weekend of some fun along w/ Honey-Do's.

Trek Demo's

2011-05-17T10:17:00.004-05:00

FYI, the Trek Demo truck will be out at Lebanon this Saturday and Murphy this Sunday. Come out and ride some of the best bikes around. I will be out there Sunday along w/ some other Trek teammates. I plan to go out on some small group rides if there is interest from anyone (including kids!).
http://www.trekfactorydemo.com/region.php?region_id=3

Burrrrrrr

2011-05-16T08:29:00.004-05:00

I did the Cable Off Road Classic despite the conditions being far from optimal for me...39 degrees, 20-30 mph winds (mostly tail but still cold), and sprinkling. Usually in cool to cold (<55 degrees) weather, I am about 5% slower at the high end intensity for whatever reason (base on loops I know and ride a lot). This probably has some physiological component and some mental component, but either way my plan was to finish and not give up. At the starting line, I was in a full length base layer, long sleeve jersey, and wind vest. Scott KJ pulls up in just bibs and a long sleeve say, "Man this weather is PERFECT" (he is from Duluth, which explains everything=). The course is super fun, but rain all night left hub deep puddles that soaked and chilled me to the bone. However, there was relatively little mud, and the singletrack rode well because it is kind of a softer loamy soil.

I never felt good in the race and my legs were just plain cold. My feet were frozen to the point of being completely numb with 10 miles to go. The only time I got them to semi-warm was in the single track, which w/ 6 miles to go I made a decisive move for the win. There is an interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cnlvg3iCLE
It was pretty cool to have a podium sweep for the Trek Coop on the Mens side with Todd Mcfadden and Scott rounding things out. Those guys thrive in tough conditions. Sara, Scott's wife who is also on the team, rocked the win on the womens side and was 16th overall! Diana Mcfadden, another teammate and Todd's wife, followed for second. Maybe better yet, both podiums were 100% flush w/ Daddy's and Mommy's (who were all lucky enough to find baby sitters and get a weekend away=).

I should note that Charly Tri hosted 4 of us at his cabin, which is a real treat. His cabin is "where VHS tapes go to die", so idle time was filled with watching awesome old movies...Empire Strikes Back, National Lampoons Euro and Orginal Vaca, Something about Mary, Big Labowski, etc. Then on Sunday Charly led us on a fun tour of the Namakagon and Rock Lake loops.

On the equipment side, the Bontrager rubber ROCKED! I know there were other good tire choices for the day out there, but I can tell you that the mud X front and XR3 rear allowed me to ride without slipping around on the wet rocks and roots. That said, Scott was on XR0's and other than the really slick corners, they worked pretty darn well...I was very surprise and pleased because I will be racing on those in better conditions.
Charly Tri, the architect of the weekends activities trying to stay warm through the finish.

I was so cold I forgot to raise my hands.
Jay Richards (who took ALL these pic) looked at me funny so I put them up
Jack Richards kept my coat warm for me during the race. Here his is showing off some of the much appreciated new singletrack bridges from Camba.
The Trek sweep just trying to stay warm at the finish

Skinnyski has many more pictures. Oh, and Jay not only took pics, but did my bottle handoff. Thanks Jay and Jack for the help!

BTW, I did skip Buck Hill this week. I would have had to ditch Jen and the kids for the night to do it, because there was little interest from them in going given the cold and wet (yes surpise for this spring) conditions. With me being gone for the weekend in Cable, that was not in the cards. Jen will support me in what ever I want to do, but preventing those little sad faces that happen when I leave is WAAAAY more important to me than bike racing.

Next will be Buck Hill this week assuming the weather is nice. Then Sat is the first Minnesota Series race.

Marathon number 1

2011-05-09T20:50:00.005-05:00

I competed in my first Marathon this past weekend... a marathon cross country bike event. It was the Minnesota State Marathon championship called the Sandwich 50. Skinnyski will have my race report in Jay's mountain bike recap. I managed the win and results with pictures should be posted at the Sandwich 50 link above. Suffice it to say that I felt ok, not great at the top end but strong the whole race. I don't expect the top end to be all there yet, so I am not worried at all.
Equipment wise, I can't say enough about the new Trek Top Fuel, not because I am supposed to but because it is genuinely awesome. I rode tight, sprinty, bumpy, rooty singletrack at a reasonably hard pace for nearly 4 hours w/ no muscle pain or soreness in my back or upper body.

The rest of the weekend (the race was Sat morning) was spent at my parents estate just west of Rochester. We had a blast shooting BB guns, riding in trailers, riding bikes, having a camp fire, etc.
It was my job to aim and Tegan's job to shoot
Casey has a bit of a fat lip right now, but she is one tough little girl! Case and point, she skinned her knee, didn't make a peep until mom picked her up to inspect it. She screamed because mom was taking away from the big wheel she was attempting to ride.Next up are the first Buck Hill Thurs Night Race and the Cable Classic on Saturday.

Installation

2011-04-20T09:33:00.001-05:00

INSTALLING SPRING...
███████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 44% DONE.
Install delayed....please wait.
Installation failed. Please try again. 404 error: Season not found. Season "Spring" cannot be located. The season you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please try again...

Quickie

2011-04-18T08:42:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack up updates, but life is busy and spending any time at night on the computer hasn't been a priority. Here is a quick update:

Tegan is convinced he needs training wheels. I am trying to convince him he doesn't, but I am letting him decide.
Casey got a new pink helmet and likes to ride (whatever she can swing a leg over) more than Tegan did at 14 months.
The weather here in MN? Well lets just say it is the worst spring I remember in a long time. Looks like another 7 days before we get close to AVERAGE temps. Oh, and more white stuff on the way. It is tough for me to take.
Riding is going well. I actually went cross eyed (couldn't focus my eyes I was so blown) on some rides. I mostly ride alone and can push myself better that way. Fisher, SamO, and I hit Mammoth yesterday, and it was awesome!
The bikes: I absolutely love the Remedy and am HOPING to get the race bike out on the trails before I have to race it (see the weather note on that one). The remedy has 2000g wheels and big fat tires, so I definitely have to smash the pedals to keep up w/ Fisher and SamO
Racing: my first one will probably be the Sandwich 50 endurance race. I am still debating on Decorah...trying to justify drive time vs race time on that one.
Top level racing: Jack is kicking butt this year...not surprising and great to see. Hopefully there aren't too many more courses that allow this (not that it affects me but it would be a bummer for the racers' sakes): http://singletrack.competitor.com/2011/04/photo-gallery/sea-otter-11-mens-xc_15187 /attachment/img_2372

Cheers.

Stable

2011-03-20T20:30:00.007-05:00

Here are some updates on my bike stable for the year:
Top Fuel 9.9ssl - mostly stock with a 1x10 conversion using an MRP chain keeper. 20.5 to 21 pounds depending on exact setup. I will either be running XR0 front and rear or XR1 front XR0 rear for dry conditions, XR3s for semi-adverse conditions, and mud x's in the nasty stuff.
Remedy 9.7 - partly stock. I put an XX groupo and some Bonti carbon goodies I had on it. I am running 1 x 10 with a direct mount MRP chain keeper. I plan to run only XR3's or XR2's on this bike. It will probably be my ride in muddy races too (with mud x's). Why? Well, because it is only 24.8 pounds and it is quite capable of racing. Yes 6" of front and rear travel < 25 pounds. I can see why this bike has been called the quiver killer!
In other news, I am heading out to Longmont, CO for work next week. I have 3 packed days of work planned at our design center out there but won't miss an opportunity to test the Remedy. My brother Ben, who is about the only one who can make me feel like I have to vomit during a training ride, lives in Boulder so I will be staying with him. After the work is done, we plan to head west for a long weekend in Fruita and Moab.

Ivan Drago

2011-03-08T12:46:00.005-06:00

I often get asked 1) how I train or 2) how someone else should train. I can answer the first question, but I am certainly not qualified to answer the second (there are plenty of good coaches who can).

If you are familiar w/ Rocky 4 (one of the best movies ever BTW) then you know how great the contrast is between how Rocky and Ivan Drago trained for the fight.

So, where am I going with this? Well, I am going to answer the first question.

Technology and time: I train with very little technology and a pretty flexible plan. I simply don't have the time (if I want to be successful at my most important job of being a daddy and husband) to be gone a whole day training or even travel south to train or race like some of my competition. I have a heart rate monitor but haven't worn it in 3 years, have never worn it outside, and only ever used it on the trainer a few times. I don't have a power meter or even a computer on any of my bikes.

My science: What I do do is keep track of my activities in a little notebook. I write down the duration of each ride and rate each ride on a perceived exertion scale. I may also include a note or two about how I felt during and even after the ride. This allows me to look back and see what does and does not work for ME.

The off season: In the off season and even through the spring, I play a lot of hockey, run/showshoe a little, and joy ride. When the snow flies, I ride a bike with 7 extra pound of wheel weight...no power meter necessary.

Leading up to the season: The only structure I have all year is around rest periods from Feb until racing starts. I do this to assure that I stay fresh and get stronger. I typically do a weekend +2 weeks "on" (ride more and ride harder) and then take the 5 following week days off. Weekends are precious and this maximizes riding while minimizing the impact to my family and job. BTW, I am in this phase now.

The season: In the race season, I race a lot and recover. Period. Recovery is sometimes spent at the playground, most of the time commuting, and when I am lucky on the trail with friends.

What got me thinking about doing a post on how I train was a great blog entry linked below that the fastest current North American endurance racer, Jeff Schalk, who happens to ride on the Trek Coop team too. I love Eddy Merckx's quote=)http://trekmountain.typepad.com/king/trek-racing-co-op/

Summary: I choose Rocky's method. Now, if I could only be as tough as him.

Coming soon will be quiver details....hint: 6" of travel and 25 lbs.

Fat Fest 9.9

2011-02-21T12:31:00.007-06:00

First, this beauty showed up on Valentines Day. The delay in getting it posted up here was due to the fact that the internal cable routing mandated some TLC from Tyson at Penn Cycle (Bloomington). I will be riding for the Trek Mountain Co-Op again this year and am very excited about that!

A few days later some tread showed up. I am pumped about the new Bonti XR3. Is it sad that Tegan thinks the UPS guy only delivers bikes and bike stuff?More details to come later on the bike (weight, spec etc), tires, and equipment for this year....

Then Sunday I headed up for "Fat Tire Fest" in Elk River. Rich Ohmdahl always puts on a great show, and this race, the third in the series, is where the the Fat Tire Fest Champion is crowned. The weather held off up there for the race, but I drove home in an insane blizzard. As far as the race goes, I did my best to hold everyone off in the conditions that were either awesomely perfect or a skating rink (depending on the part of the trail) and no where in between. I did end up taking the race win and the series win. To top it off, 2 more riders on 907s, Charly Tri and Hollywood, rounded out the podium...I am just sayin' ;)
Oh, and while the awards took FOREVER to start, the results were hilarious w/ Jag-Richie (as in Jagermeister) showing his face. I think you had to be there to know what I am talking about=) LOL.
Below is the only pick I could find for now. I will post more as they are available.In other news, Casey and Tegan are growing too fast...

Now, back to shoveling.

Attrition

2011-01-31T14:31:00.005-06:00

You know it is bad when half of the fat tire class doesn't even finish. For those that did the Du Lac slop-fest last year, the second lap of 2 was a really cold version of that.
I finished with 3 PSI in each tire of the 9Zero7. It was that or run. Running was faster but not as much fun.

This is how we stayed warm after.
Is anyone following what the real tough men of the sport are doing?
http://www.arrowheadultra.com/index.php/results/2011-results
Go Dittmer!

Two Years Ago....

2011-01-26T15:13:00.006-06:00

Tegan's little brother Ty would have been 2 today. For those that don't know, we lost him at 8 months to unknown causes. This day is difficult for me but much more so for my wife, as she carried him during his short life.
One of the hardest parts of losing him is knowing all the earthly joys that we will never experience together. I am confident, however, that he is up in Heaven right now cruising around on a red Strider bike while he waits for us. No wait, he is on one of those carbon fiber dual suspension kid bikes they have up there!
We miss you buddy.

Dear Mr. Landis, All is not broken.

2011-01-18T09:35:00.003-06:00

I read this this morning from an outspoken cheat:
“I don’t want it to come across that I’m quitting because I’m bitter,” Landis said. “I’m relatively sure this sport cannot be fixed, but that’s not my job, that’s not my fight.”

It is comments like this that have taken away any respect I have for Floyd. I would invite him to come to a MNSCS or WORS race and see how NOT broke the sport is (I can't comment on road or CX because I don't frequent those, but there have been cheats recently there at a local level...very weak and sad). Maybe Floyd has forgotten about all the people that compete in this SPORT simply for the love of the sport.

Back in the day, from what I have heard (second hand), read, and understand, the pro peleton in the US and abroad full of cheating. I would like to think it has gotten better, but without evidence of this, I can't say. I would also like to think that the top mountain bike racers of the world are clean today (just like the roadies, they certainly weren't 10 years ago), and I for one think guys like Julien Absolon are clean.

Either way, at a grass roots local level I believe the SPORT we love is not broken and for the most part never has been.

Cold Bear #1

2011-01-13T08:55:00.003-06:00

The Fat Bike XC race season kicked off last Sunday up at Elk River - Hillside Park. I am not sure that there are any other single track Fat Bike series in the world...does anyone know of any?

The course is a perfectly groomed (by small snowmobiles called Snow Cats) 7 miles of tight and twisty trail with 700 feet of climbing per lap or so. It is the same trail that you can ride in the summer.. The conditions Sunday were perfect course wise but a little on the cold side temperature wise for me at 5 to10F ... I am soft I know.
The race had 65 competitors with probably half in the Fat Bike category. There were lots of new faces in the Fat Bike class, which is awesome. I ended up following Cody for a while before, like a gentleman, he let me by. From there I rode a reasonable but hard pace for the rest of the race and pulled out the win. I don't like to overdo it and go too hard this time of year, as the cold temps and wide q-factor, or distance between the pedals for the lay person, wreak havoc on my knees. My time actually wasn't that much slower than at the Halloween race (same exact course sans-snow) so my fitness hasn't deteriorated too much especially given the Top Fuel 9.9 was my chariot in that race.

So how did the 9Zero7 perform? Swimmingly. It is a refined piece of snow navigation equipment, that is for SURE. It was cool to see the mix of bikes out there with ~50% Pug, 25% 9Zero7, and 25% Mukluk. The first race I did out there was all Pugs and 1 9Zero7. Pretty much all of these bikes come in at a price point of ~$1600 fully built so people now have a lot of options. Without sounding like I sales man, I do want to point out that the 9Zero7 frames are only $500 if you are looking to upgrade...that is pretty cheap for such a sweet frame (talk to Hollywood if you want a 9Zero7 custom build, as he has been doing a fair number of them).

Next up? Just trying to stay warm...I heard -20 to -30 air temps next week. Really? I need a new bumper sticker that reads "Global Warming...I want some".

907 is coming tooooo town.....

2010-12-10T21:54:00.006-06:00

While my blog has been idle, I have not been to say the least.
Check out the sweetie below. At least half of the snow biking crew that I frequent with is now on or is converting to 9Zero7 (area code of Alaska) bikes from Chain Reaction cycles. This includes endurance specialist and multiple time 24 Afton champ Dan Dittmer who after a first attempt at "trying" the Arrowhead race will be "racing" it this year. Let me say it this way, I work with and ride w/ a bunch of gear-head engineers and all but one of them is on a 9Zero7.

The build below is a full on XX suite w/ Bontrager bits, which enables a complete snow bike to be 26-27 lbf.

My Mechanic commenting the build and bike.Yes, that is reflective 9Zer07 branding...sweet!

For Sale 54 cm Cervelo R3 Sl

2010-11-09T08:32:00.005-06:00

I am selling my road bike, as it is underused.

Here are the details:
54cm Cervelo R3 SL. It should fit anyone that is between 5'7" (my wife rides it comfortably), and 5'11". 6' may work depending on your torso and leg length.

Reviews:
This is a stock 2008 Cervelo R3 sl road bike....full 7800 Dura Ace w/ FSA carbon cranks, FSA carbon bars (standard ones not the ergo ones in the picture), Syntace Stem and Seatpost, and Hed Bastogne wheels.
The bike weighs 15lbf w/out pedals....it is a rocketship.
Here are the reviews:
http://www.roadbikereview.com/mfr/ce...6_5668crx.aspx

Price:
$3100. It retailed for 6500 when I got it just over 2 years ago and only has 3K miles on it. It has never been raced or crashed.

Contact me at bjmoore1@uwalumni.com if interested.

Its been fun...

2010-11-05T13:36:00.005-05:00

I wrapped up the Mtbking race year at Elk River this past weekend. This is the first time I have ever cheated in a mtbk race: I had an aero advantage. The photos below are from Matt Weissenborn at www.studiohdr.com...totally awesome pics.

So that is it... the season is done and it really went by quickly. I ended up doing ~35 races, which is plenty given the other things on my plate, and I felt relatively fresh at the end of the year, which isn't always the case.
I would sum up my season like this: it was muddy often, and we did a lot of racing in less than ideal conditions. I am definitely stronger and stand a better chance against the competition in dry warm conditions. That said, I was pleasantly surprised with my results. I am still not the mud rider that some of my competition like SamO and Jack are, but I am a better mud rider than I was a year ago!

Next, I have to thank several people/groups for their support:
First and foremost I have to thank my wife, kids, and dad for being there. It doesn't happen w/out me not feeling guilty or being stressed about racing.
Secondly, my sponsors were fantastic. It is no accident that I had very little equipment or nutrition trouble this year. Trek and Bontrager set me up w/ the best equipment in the world (I have said enough about this already =), Rochester Cycling and Fitness (stop in and see them if you are ever in Roch...awesome store), and Penn (especially Tyson at the Bloomington store) helped out on maintenance and the little stuff, and Gu (the Roctane Rocks!) kept my muscle glycogen above zero most of the time.
Finally, I want to thank the MNMBS for stepping it up to be one of the premier mountain bike series in the nation. You do not get enough praise and thanks for what you all do.

See you on the trails...snowy or otherwise.

Flying Fall

2010-10-25T12:27:00.004-05:00

Fall has been busy! Since my last race, we have not had one open weekend...the weekends have gone something like this: marathon (Jen), camping, Trek demos, visit Rochester.
I still have been riding a lot, more than during the season in fact because I love to ride. I have kept up on some intensity with our work group rides here at work (I have been relegated to my mountain bike while trying to keep up... or attacking depending your perspective ;-) , hockey, and my innate ability to punish myself on a bike even when I don't have too.

'Cross: Although it may seem this way, I haven't been purposely avoiding cyclocross. Life has been busy, and with 2 kids if you something isn't a priority, it is very unlikely to fit in. All summer, mtbk racing IS a priority, but come fall right, wrong, or otherwise, cyclocross just hasn't been.
And to keep the excuses rolling, I currently have a cracked/bruised rib from hockey that make any pulling on the handlebars painful. Stack on recent head cold and throw in some knee tendentious, and I feel like my body is rioting a little bit right now. Rest would help, but that would mean not riding or playing hockey. And as my wife would very emphatically tell you, the chances of taking a break from either of those two is probably as remote as seeing me at a 'cross race.

I have a mtbk event this weekend and will do a season wrap post after that.
Cheers!

Trek Demos

2010-10-12T21:09:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone, if you didn't know, the Trek Demo truck is coming back this weekend. It will be at Lebanon Hills Saturday and Murphy Hanrehan Sunday. It is great opportunity to ride really expensive awesome bikes for free=)
Details here: http://www.trekfactorydemo.com/region.php?region_id=3
I will be out there Saturday and probably some Sunday too. If you see me stop by and say hey. If you want to ride, I will be taking people out on group laps for those that are interested.

See you out there!

6.481^2 by 4^2

2010-09-28T09:32:00.006-05:00

Single speed racing is heavily dependent on bike set up...get it wrong and the race will be a lot harder than it needs to be. Get it right and you can almost be on par with a geared bike on many courses. I lined up next to the speedy Cody Larson at the SS State Championships knowing that it would be a battle, and the equipment differences were interesting:
After the first lap of slipping and sliding the equipment differences shaped my strategy. Cody was cornering faster with more grippy tires and with the smaller gear and rigid bike able to accelerate quicker. However, I was faster in the open sections and in the really tight stuff. It became apparent that I would have to attack on one of the open sections near the end. I did so, and I was barely able to hold him off. Had the course been dry, I think my choice of gearing would have been better (and a lot easier on my lower back!).
About 1.5 hours after finishing the SS race, I mounted the trusty Fuel for the elite race. Cody and I worked each other pretty good so I was content to hang out 3rd wheel. Cody managed to explode his derailleur region of his bike on a rock (parts were just kind of hanging there), which ended his day. I was comfortably riding behind Samo when I had a stick grab my rear derr...I think it was like revenge of the derailleurs on those that chose to single speed earlier in the day. 3 stops later I found the culprit, a small stick lodged between the spokes and freewheel (causing my freewheel to not spin an thus kicking my chain off every time I coasted).
I pedaled my way back to third w/ little acceleration in the legs and a knot in my back. I guess that is what you get for only riding a SS once a year.

Wow, I can't believe that is it. Mountain bike race season is (for the most part) over. What a great year it has been for the MNMBS and Midwest Regional Mountain bike racing in general! Participation is up, the atmosphere at the races couldn't be more family friendly, and the competition keeps getting better (dang whippersnappers). I want to say a special thanks to ALL the people who have volunteer at an event I have attended. I owe you all, so if you see me out somewhere and beer is an option, remind me and I will buy you one!

The coming weekends are quite busy but not with bike racing.
I will be out at the TC marathon supporting my wife as she covers 26.2....I owe here more than a few hand-offs. The following weekend is a fall camping trip. Then Oct 16-17 the Trek Demo truck returns to Lebanon Hills and Murphy Hanrehan, which as a team member I will be a part of (more details to come on this but it should be a fun time for all).
Cross/beer racing will fit in there somewhere around the rest of life...

Cheers

Coming down to the wire....

2010-09-23T22:03:00.005-05:00

So, it looks like we will be riding in at least some mud this Saturday up at St.Cloud....so it goes this year, and it will still be a blast.

One thing I did notice and the reason for the post is that second place in the series comes down to this race between Cody and Samo (note that the scoring on the MNMTB website is currently screwed up and not throwing out the lowest races). That should be an exciting race for all to watch! Hopefully I can have a front row seat=)

Who do you think it will be??? It might depend on if Cody does the SS race in the morning, as both are very skilled riders in the twisty stuff.

Shredin' the Lag

2010-09-07T15:10:00.011-05:00

I am not sure what to say about Maplelag that I haven't already said in previous posts. Needless to say, it was hard to leave Monday.

The racing was hot this year with some Road/CX pros showing up to spice up the TT and STXC. Also, Jason Sager, a top national pro who runs and rides for the Jamis mtbk team, flew in to checkout some Midwest racing.
TT: It was cooler and more damp than last year. I contend that this is the most painful 10 minutes of my entire year. This year I didn't feel great and it showed with a time of 9:57, 7 seconds slower than Jason. The only good news is that my course record from the previous year of 9:36 still stands.
STXC: This was the fastest STXC to date up there. It only took a few minutes before it was me, Jason, Doug, Patty Cakes Lemieux, and Adam Bergman. Adam and Patty worked hard to blow us all up w/ relentless attacking. In the end, they blew each other up, and I was happy to see Doug take the win and the MN STXC State Champ t-shirt=) I just rode at the back of the pack and finished 5th. It would have been smart of me to move up a few spots to avoid the whiplash around every corner. Either way, I felt ok and didn't want to dig too deep with the impending XC race destruction. My only comments on the post race shenanigans are below in the picture caption.A face we don't get to see around the Midwest enough anymore

The lead group in the STXC
When roady tactics meet mtbking prowess and "never say die" attitude mountain bike racing can be frustrating for some=) I have never seen anything like this at a mtbk race, 'nuff said.

XC: It took a while to get things going and after following Jason's horrible line that wrapped me a round a tree (I gave him a hard time for that!) and dropping my chain 3x (not sure what was going on there because it went away the last 2 laps!). The 2nd and 3rd lap saw me catching Samo after he had ridden away and reeling in Jason. The reeling was too little too late though and I ended up 30 some seconds back as the first looser;) I have to say that on the second 2 laps, I felt pretty strong, which is encouraging this time of year when both fitness and motivation tend to slip. The XC finish was good enough for another second place in the omnium.Discussing the finer points of tire choice w/ Jason...he was on Geax Tubulars, I was running Bonti XR1,0.
How the singletrack rolls up at Maplelag...you better always be paying attention!
Ah, the Lakeside Drops...not the most difficult thing on the course, but probably the scariest looking. % grade? Who knows, maybe 50%?

Fun: Along with me came my parents, Jen's Parents, Jen's sister Amanda, Ben, Casey, and Tegan. We had wonderful accommodations overlooking the Lakside Drops. Tegan had a blast playing w/ Jon Richards and the Grammas/Pappas. Casey is pretty attached to Mommy and Daddy right now, but I know at least a few folks got some time with her away from us.

Pictures: All the pics above are from Skinnyski.com...awesome as usual.

Next? Hmm, not sure. I won't be up in Hayward on the 18th, but I will be in St. Cloud for a couple (or three) races the following weekend.

Anything I missed? Oh yeah, I went running today...CX is coming soon.

the 2-4

2010-09-01T08:37:00.002-05:00

Fisher, Ben, Samo, and I went in to Salsa 24 w/ the only goal being to have fun and keep rubber side down. We basically accomplished that other than a little missing skin on Fisher's hip.
This year, we all put in one pretty hard lap and then started pulling double laps. With the shorter laps, double laps ranged in time from 1:10-1:30 which is perfect (on par w/ the Moab lap times).

The weather was perfect, the new race director Amanda did a stellar job, and the course was the rockiest, bumpiest and most technical I have seen it, awesome.

The only downer was that I didn't get any sleep. Tegan spent the entire time out there w/ us, and when I had a 3 hour window to catch a nap (2 am to 5 am), he decided to cry, whine for mommy, and pee through his diaper. I guess those are the perils of being a daddy racer!

My family and I can't wait for Maplelag.

Better than Spirit Mt?

2010-08-23T08:14:00.006-05:00

Man, that was a cool course on sunday (MNSCS #9 at Lester Park in Duluth). I am not sure it is better than Spirit Mt, but it definitely ranks up there.
My race? Oh, it was pretty much a culmination of some bad luck that I hadn't had in a while. It started about a week earlier with the onset of a head cold. Thursday and Friday were rough achy days. My wife encouraged me to stay home on Sunday, but she knew what my answer to that would be.
Yes, of course the race was muddy...thick clay filled mud. I think nasty conditions can just be assumed for 90% of the races this year. But the Bontrager XR2s strapped to the Fuel made navigation easy and after as strong lead out by Mr Chequamegon himself, Doug Swanson, I found myself riding very comfortably with SamO and Erik Tonkin. I was under very little pressure and wasn't going to let either one of them slip away until bad luck started. My LCR friend Jim turned his bike sideways in front of me on one of the slippery ski trail downhills just as SamO snuck by. I took his tire in my chest and have an imprint of his tread on my arm, but it actually doesn't really hurt today. I got up and quickly chased back up to Sam and Erik...just in time to hear pssssttttt. Yup, a puncture through the tread. I was following close and took a hard hit on a rock that I might normally avoid. After fiddling with CO2 and the inability of Stans to seal the hole 5 min, I decided to run with my bike to the next feed/tech zone for some help (I need to start running anyway if I am going to do some 'cross =).Running practice capture by Jay...I think we were both laughing at my misfortunre as I went by.
There, I got a pump, a tube from a friendly racer, and even a pliers because my tubeless valve was stuck. The fix took a LONG time, but I HATE to DNF. I was determined to finish, which I did.
My takeaway is that my fitness is relatively high for this time of year, and if I can stay healthy, it should bode well for me up at Maplelag, St. Cloud and into 'cross season.

For now, the bike is a 30 lb disaster of clay filled mud, the bike (at least one of them) needs a small chainring put back on it, I need to kick this cold, and I need to get those lights fired up for 24 Hours of Salsa/Afton this weekend! Luckily, I have a my mechanic, Tegan, pumped up about helping with this stuff....

Update: So, I wanted to inspect my rim before posted this, but my Bonti XXX lite carbon mtbk rim still appears to be fine despite the flat on Sunday. The tire is shot. I thought this might be interesting to some folks, as I too was once a skeptic about the use of carbon rims on mtbks.
The fact that the rims is intact is pretty amazing considering how hard I must have hit that rock (was only running 20 PSI for grip reasons). The flat both bruised/cut the bead area and punctured through the tread area of a fairly "safe" 580 gram tire. So a rock smacked right through the tread, through the sidewall, and down to the rim. Any aluminum rim would have been dented and probably ruined.

5 in 10 and R&R

2010-08-17T14:22:00.002-05:00

Better late than never, here are the happenings over the last couple weeks.
The Border Battle ended a 5 xc race in 10 day stretch for me. 3 of the 5 were at Buck and one was an offroad TT at Murphy Hanrehan, a local 10 mile singletrack loop.
The Murphy TT was Wed and as per the norm this year, 10 minutes before the start, a cloud blew up and it rained. It did not rain at my house 8 miles away, but it poured for 10 minutes on the trail, just enough to make it really slick. I played it safe around corners and across the many bridges, but ended up working very hard to accelerate back up to speed. I think about 90% of the folks out there crashed...some pretty hard. I managed to avoid crashing and take the win but it was no record setting day.
The last Thursday Night at Buck is always a blast and with live music and pyrotechnics thrown in, this was no exception. My plan was to ride 2 laps hard and then tempo it in. I did so and it was good enough for second place, with Cody Larson taking the win. I knew going hard for all four laps would make the forecasted hot and steamy conditions at the Border Battle that much tougher.
The Border Battle was a great race and a recap can be found here and an interview here. I was the hottest race I remember doing, and as I drove away the radio reported a current heat index of 103. I am not sure I could have avoided the cramping in those conditions.
I followed that stretch of racing with my families vacation in the Dells. We rode the ducks, went to a circus, did a lot of pool time, suffered a little (or a lot in some cases), and had a very fun week. One of the highlights for me was 4.5 hour ride my brothers and I did on a 95 degree day. My younger brother Brad had is first full-on-bonk-cramping-in-every-muscle (including hands) experience. It was a sight to see and his is a stronger man now than he was before.

Cheers.

Wish I could have been there...

2010-08-03T12:18:00.001-05:00

Great story and a happy ending down at Rochester Cycling and Fitness.
Nice work Charly!

66 and counting

2010-08-02T11:24:00.003-05:00

By my estimation, upon completion of MNMBS#7 and 10 of the 11 Thursday Night Penn Series I have somewhere in the range of 66 laps in at Buck Hill this year! We have done this course forward, backward, upside down, and right side up. I am not complaining, mind you. It is a good race course in a very convenient location, and the races are always run well with more than adequate facilities.

Sunday was hot...hot AND humid. 88 degrees and 69 degree dew point according to Jen's iphone. While the race was short in time, it was long in pain. I don't think any of the elite racers would have asked for more than the 6 laps that we did. That said, the second half of my race was much better than the first.
I lead the first lap but had some gut rot (maybe due to heat, I am not sure) so I kept the pace reasonable. Cody lead the next lap and went hard enough that it was only he, Eric Thompson, and I left with SamO just dangling. The third time up the main climb, Cody's pace slowed, and I attacked with Eric the only one still hanging on. The fourth lap I did the same and was able to get a gap on Eric. By then my stomach was feeling better and it must have showed on my face because Jay Richards said I looked a lot stronger (and I felt a lot stronger) on the last 2 laps. I finished all alone at the front, not necessarily exhausted, but still hurting from the short, hard, very hot effort. SamO caught Eric near the end and nipped him at the line to round out the podium. The picture above was taken by Jay.

Equipment wise, I did ride the Top Fuel out there rather than the hardtail. I was debating given the climby, punchy nature of the course. I have gone back and forth this year at the Thursday nights, but for me right now the fuel is faster, period. The tire combo of Bontrager 2.2 XR1 front and XR0 rear has proven to be faster and more supple than last years Rocket Ron and Racing Ralph combo, but the Ron definitely has more bite as a front tire in the loose stuff than the XR1. The XR2 is more comparable to the Ron, but you have to trade off weight (100gs heavier) with durability (Ron's cut very easily just ask Jake Richards about his running race yesterday!).
If you get a chance to try some of the new XC Bontrager treads XR2, XR1, and XR0, do so.... if you want to race them, be sure to get the Team Issue compound.

I am not sure what my plans are this week other than commuting. I would like to hit Murphy Wed, Buck Thurs, and the Border Battle Sunday, but there is only so much zoom-zoom in the legs and likely I will only hit one of the weekday races.
Most importantly, we are heading to the Dells on Sunday for our family vacation where we have 3 condos rented to house my parents, the 5 of us kids, 4 grandchildren, 2 spouses, and 1-2 significant others. I am excited to hang with everyone and to get away for some R&R...oh wait never mind, Tegan won't let that happen=) Ben will be there too so I am sure some light pedaling will occur....

Does anyone know if Devils Head still has any trails open? Riding there used to be awesome, and we will only be 20 min away.

Face Brake

2010-07-19T11:38:00.005-05:00

Dang, I need to stop crashing. For whatever reason, I crashed on these stairs (that I have ridden dozens of times) on Sunday at MMBS #6. How to properly ride the stairs....

The crash happened at the beginning of the race and made for a long day chasing a fast riding Cody Larson. My face is pretty chewed up - I won't be shaving my chin for a while - and my shoulder is bruised pretty good, but I don't think I sustained any permanent injuries.
Other than, that and dropping my chain once, the event was awesome. Rich puts on one of the best shows in the series and the volunteer help was AMAZING!
Although I got 2nd to Cody, my time was actually 2 seconds faster than last year on the exact same course and very similar conditions. Last year I won by a couple minutes beating a tough crew of Jeff Hall, SamO, and TJ that day so that tell you how good Cody was going.

Riding wise, I am not sure what to do right now. I am overly tired too often...maybe partly due to being a 2x daddy and the fact that neither of my kids sleep through the night (although Jen DEFINITELY takes the brunt of that). E.g. On Sunday morning, I could barely stay awake and fell asleep several times at home and on the drive up to the race.
I also may be in a fitness lull or there is something else is wrong physiologically. Only time will tell.
All I know is that IT isn't all their right now....

Different Purpose

2010-07-11T20:31:00.005-05:00

This weekend, rather than riding around in circles with a number attached to my bike I pulled 100+ pounds of boy and gear to a local campground about 12 miles away.This is my new all weather all conditions commuter that Trek hooked me up with. It is a Trek 6000 ht mountain bike w/ a rigid fork, full fenders, and a rack. I still am yet to drive to Seagate since starting work there a couple weeks ago=)

Needless to say, we had a ball camping. My cousin Jeff, Dad, friend Ted, and his boy Brody met us there (they all drove), which made things easier on Tegan and I. We couldn't have fit any more in anyway!
Tegan slept on both the out and back trip....I did not have that luxury. Tegan and Uncle Jeff (technically not an uncle but has earned the title)
Sunday was a chill day with the family. I was wearing my faux white t-shirt.

This week brings another Buck Hill and MMBS#6. I am not doing the National Championships out in Colorado. The recent job change has left me vacationless, and I know based on previous Col vacations that I would need at least a week of time out there to acclimate if I wanted to compete at a reasonable level. As a side note, in the spirit of competition, I am not sure that starting nationals at 7K+ feet sets a level playing field for all the nations riders...

Head Brake

2010-07-05T20:22:00.003-05:00

Sunday was ANOTHER mudfest. 4 out of 5 MNSCS races have now been muddy/rainy.
Basically, I was feeling pretty good and strong at the start, but I couldn't steer and went to hard trying to compensate. Then I crashed and used my head to stop myself. My helmet broke and wouldn't stay on my head, but I managed to limp to the finish in 3rd. I guess I looked pretty disheveled at the finish with the helmet barely hanging on:
Maybe the next one will be dry....

Double

2010-06-28T07:41:00.003-05:00

I pulled the double XC this weekend.
It started at the Subaru Cup in Wisco.
Summary: great course, great fans, great organization as always from Don, 7th row call up, pinched off into the fencing at the start, 50-6oth going into the singletrack, passed 20-30 riders to get back to 28th place, and didn't feel very strong (but have had worse days). I ended up riding with Brian Matter most of the race and I don't think either of us were on our game but so it goes. Also, I am just not aggressive in the way of cutting people off, throwing elbows, and the other semi-illegal tricks required to start well from the back of a National Pro race.

Then I got home at midnight Saturday...up at 6 am with my beautiful little girl...off to Mt Kato for round 4 of the MNSCS. It is hard to turn down a face like this even if your are fried from a hard race and little sleep=)

Summary: course was anywhere from VERY muddy to peanut buttery to tacky, took me a couple laps to get the legs moving, started to go faster throughout but climbing was slow, hardtail was awesome, Bonti XR2 tires were perfect (handle mud bud still roll well), reeled in Jesse at the finish line, ended up 2nd.

For now, a couple days of rest...and the start of a new job back at Seagate!

And the show must go on...

2010-06-18T09:21:00.006-05:00

Gotta love Pink Floyd.... I don't listen to enough of it any more.

With insane wind gust, tornado/thunderstorm warnings all around, the race, albeit more sparsely attended, went on at Buck last night. The last lap of the advanced race saw us headed to the highest point in the county as cloud to cloud lightning was putting on a show...that wasn't too cool. Either way, I finished out the first 6-race series and got in a good intense mountain bike ride=)
Next is some rest in preparation for my planned double XC weekend at the Subaru Cup and then Kato.

Du Lac and the Puppy

2010-06-14T08:51:00.005-05:00

If the big ring is the dog, the small ring is the puppy right? Yesterday was mostly puppy.
My legs weren't there in warm ups and I knew it was the fact that I was going into my 4th XC race in 10 days. To top that off, Mont Du Lac had the most epic conditions I have ever ridden in. How epic? The median Citizen class time was 2 hours w/ several riders near 3 hours. For reference, citizen races a shorter course that usually last 30-45 minutes. Great work to all of you who stuck it out!
The mud on the trail was so thick, deep, and sticky, that many quit (25% of the elite field!) because it was too hard to push bikes, much less ride them. I have never seen singletrack so DESTROYED. It went from a tight twisty Midwest style track to a 5 foot wide cow trail. Yep, most of the trail was like this

So, after the brutal start we were immediately off our bikes running up the first singletrack hill, and that is where my race effectively ended.

You know I don't have my game face on when I take time to toast the camera=)

I don't do "running" mountain bike races... well at least. I still finished. That said, I never entered the realm of anerobia again the entire race, as I sat up, had fun, and learned more about mud riding. It was actually quite fun once I started to get in the groove, and I was disappointed that they were pulling us after only 2 short laps. I had a lot more in the tank and after chain suck force me into the big ring for most of the second lap, by default I was starting to go a lot faster. IMO, they should have left the elite class out there for 3.
Jack rode very well and used his new Euro superpowers to ride away from everyone and get the win for our team. Awesome! I think Ben would have been going for the win today sans horrible conditions. He rocked the start and after a week of reasonable sleep/rest was feeling "really good again."

Good times...hard not to laugh. Great to see TJ again, and Chloe is trying to figure out how to get all the mud off!
The clean up begins.

Summary: I had fun, my bike and body are relatively intact, and I am a better mud rider today than I was before I raced. Pics are all from Jay Richards/skinnyski.com

Much needed rest is on tap for next weekend.

P.S. Ben and I weighed our bikes after. Each had about 10-12 lbf of wet mud on them=)

Afton and the Dog

2010-06-07T12:16:00.004-05:00

It is almost impossible to stack more climbing in a 2 hour xc than the MMBS Afton course does. How do I know? Simple, 95% of the time you are going up or down (that is my estimate anyway), and it would be pretty tough to have any less than 5% flats given start/finish areas and transition areas.
With Cam Kirkpatrick, Tad Elliot, my brother, Doug, Samo, Jesse and the rest of the strong men there, I was expecting a battle. It did not disappoint.
I took the hole shot, but not on purpose. I would have rather followed a wheel, but I put a gap on the field and no one would come around me in the starting loop.

Just checking everyone out at the start

With Doug and Tad dangling and SamO gaining, we pounded out the first lap, and I made my only mistake; I didn't hydrate enough. For whatever reason, my legs didn't feel great so I was full on to keep the pace up. At this point I was just trying to convince my body that racing is a good idea, because it sure didn't think so.My face pretty much tells the story of my first lap.

At the end of the first lap, Tad caught me as I slowed to take a bottle from my Soineur (Dad=). I asked him if he wanted the lead, again wanting to play it smart and see what everyone else had in them. He kind of grunted a response, which usually means "this hurts", so I kept the pace nice and high. A gap opened across the rolling terrain at the bottom of the ski hill, and he was out of site by the time I ascended Shady Lane. I had a good gap and my legs were starting to come around, but I paid for my first lap mistake and started to get the pings (cramping) on the third lap. That really stunk because my legs had a lot more in them than I could used the last lap and a half. I rode conservatively always checking my gaps when I could. SamO was in second but flatted as Doug was catching him. I finished with Doug in tow and Jesse behind him. Michael McBurney, another young star, put in great race to beat Tad who came in 5th. Ben ended up w/ a broken-spoke-stuck-in-the-cassette mechanical and sat up a bit chalking up the day to just riding for fun.

Ben with one of his classic suffer snarles.

Oh, and a worthy note: out of stubbornness or stupidity, maybe both, I used the Dog, a.k.a the big ring, the entire race. I guess I just wanted to see if could do it=)

Cheers

2 Bucks

2010-06-04T11:33:00.007-05:00

There was no racing on Memorial weekend for me. Instead, it was a solid block of family time spent down in Rochester. Needless to say, we had great time. The only on-bike excitement came when my dad crossed wheels and crashed on a ride w/ my bro and I. Other than some missing skin and bruises he is ok and came away with a cracked helmet rather than a cracked skull.

Family Time

My bro, Brad, with his Thai style mohawk (he just got back from several months in Asia) reading to my kids

The last 2 Buck Hills have been equipment experiments for me, which seemed to have worked out in my favor. In both races, I was able to ride off the front in the first lap after really hard starts by Chris Fisher last week and Doug Swanson yesterday.

The experiment: I recently got a new Trek HT built up and have had the itch to try hardtail racing again. It has been 3-4 years since I raced a hardtail in an XC event, and I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised. First, the tuned ride of the Trek w/ the extended seat mast is awesome. It is a much more supple ride than I have experienced in the past w/ hardtails, and I can see why many manufactures are going to the extended seatmast on their top end bikes. Second, it has forced me to work on my "skills". The hardtail is a sharper tool and sometimes I get lazy with the dually.

All that said, for most full length XC races the Top Fuel is a better bike. I really notice this on the bumpy sections of the course (whether flat or not) where the hardtail makes you work a lot harder. With only a 1.5-2 lbf difference between bikes, weight is not a big factor.

Ok, enough rambling about bikes, but technology and trying new stuff is part of the fun!

Afton on Sunday is next. I am going to try to chase the U23 National Champion around, which should be entertaining=)

Recovery

2010-05-23T20:04:00.004-05:00

I came out of last weekend with a cold, stayed home from work on Monday basically in bed, but proceeded to commute on Tues and Wed. I should have taken another day off to recover but the weather was just too darn nice!
At Buck Hill on Thursday Jack was drilling it. I didn't have the snap in my legs and was barely hanging on when in about 1 minute I crossed wheels with a lapped rider and had another lapped rider crash into me sending my OTB. Neither were really my fault or the fault of the lapped rider and that is part of racing especially at Buck Hill. Jack kept on it and got the win.
Saturday was the first MMBS race that saw a rain delayed start and peanut buttery tacky course for the the elite race. The sport riders had it rough right after the rain with some uber muddy conditions, but they pounded most of the rain out of the course for us. Thanks guys and gals! Doug Swanson has been doing more mtbking this year, and it showed as off the start I followed his wheel to a nice gap after 2 hard laps. The race was shortened from 5 to 4 laps to "preserve the course", and on the 3rd lap it was my turn to do some work in the blustery conditions. I put my head down and drilled it for that 3rd lap and managed to get a gap on Doug. The only thing I was certain of was that I did NOT want to sprint against him, as he wins almost every sprint he is in. The 4th lap was more of the same any I cruised home for the win. While the race was short, it sure wasn't easy. Props to the volunteers who stayed and made the right decision by not canceling the race.In other news, my brother Ben rocked a win in only his second race of the year out in the east coast Hudson to Highland Series. He said he lead from start to finish and said he felt strong all day. He is coming home in a couple weeks for some family, fun and racing; he will definitely be up at the front somewhere at the next 2 MMBS races in Afton and Du Lac.
I will be at Buck this Thurs, and heading to Rochester this weekend. Maybe the Rochester 29er crew will let me come on one of their secret training rides.

Trek Demos!

2010-05-18T10:55:00.002-05:00

Trek is bringing the demo fleet to the Twin Cities for you to do real world testing on their best stuff.

Schedule:
Saturday, May 22 at the Freewheel Frolic – MNMBS Series Opener from 9:00 – 3:00
Sunday, May 23rd at Murphy Hanrehan from 10:00 – 3:00
Monday, May 24th at the Human Powered Trails (HPT) in La Crosse from 2:00 – 7:00

The men's and women’s demo rigs will be at all the events, and Jack Hinkens and I will be out at Murphy for some group riding and chilling/grilling on Sunday.

Back at it

2010-05-16T20:35:00.005-05:00

Racing has resumed with rigor. On tap this past week were Buck Hill, the Cable Off Road Classic, and the Velo Rochester training camp (they still invite me despite me moving to Trek=).

Buck Hill on Thursday night was cool and rainy. We all slopped around in the mud a little and had fun. I was able to hold off a hard charging SamO, who is notoriously good in the slop, for the win.

On Friday I cruised up to Cable where Charly Tri hosts the Velo Rochester Team training camp every year on the same weekend as the CORC. This makes for very fun weekend of racing and riding one of the best trail systems in the US. The CORC was at 10am Sat, and we were lucky to get perfect weather and near perfect trail conditions. During the 3 mile gravel road lead out, I lead the entire way but not by choice. No one would come around me so I just set my own pace and I guess it was good enough for everyone else. Oh well, it worked out ok as I got the holeshot (my goal was to be in the first 5 wheels going in). After the first section of singletrack, I was with Scott KJ and Jack was ~15 seconds back. Scott pulled through nicely as we worked together through the only other significant gravel road section in the race. I was like "Scott, what the heck are 2 dads doing up here at the front of the race? Shouldn't the young kids with all the time and quality sleep be up here." We both got a good chuckle over that. I managed to get a little separation near the end of that road section and never looked back.

Oh and the course? It was demanding and so SWEET that I forgot I was racing. Time wise, it was probably 60-70% tight, twisty, rocky, rooty midwest-style singletrack. It was the kind of course that reminds me why I started riding mountain bikes.

Anyway, I cruised home for the win with a smile on my face. In the picture sequence below, my friends Dan Dittmer and Jake Richards are sprinting it out. I think the kid got it!

Sunday was a tour of several of the CAMBA trails with the Velo crew. Rock lake ROCKS!

A couple notes on different gear I am trying this year:

First, I tried the new Bontrager XR2 tires, which I will be using for general riding and less than ideal conditions, for the first time in slippery conditions at Buck. They hooked up pretty well, but not as good as a true mud tire.

Second, I finally got to race on my race tires (XR1 front XR0 rear)... simply awesome. Faster than the Racing Ralphs IMO.

Third, I am using a Fox RLC fork rather than a SID this year. It is stiffer, more tunable, and smoother than last years Rock Shox SID for sure, but I haven't ridden this years version.

Pics above are from Jay Richards.

Next up is another Thursday Saturday combo with Buck Hill and MMBS (formerly MNSCS) #1.

Racing is hard

2010-04-26T09:31:00.007-05:00

This pic was taken as I was telling Jay that every off-season I forget how hard mountain bike racing is. I remembered quickly this weekend at Maplelag.

It rained a good amount the night before the race making the already difficult Maplelag course slippery, peanut buttery, and muddy. However, riding slippery rooty rocky courses is one area I don't get a lot of and need more "practice", and this was a great opportunity for just that! There were no easy pedal strokes out there, but I managed to hold off the O-bros.

Great pic taken by Jay of SamO rocking it up the steep lakeside drop.

As always, my family and I are very thankful for the good times and hospitality up at Maplelag.

Next up will be the Elk River Spring race. As it has been noted on the Sandwich 50 blog I wussed out on that race ;)

Drool

2010-04-16T10:39:00.005-05:00

In our family, when Ben and I ride we almost always ride hard. When we ride hard, it is know as a "drool on the top tube ride." It sounds like Ben, who may be back here in MN by mid-season, has been doing a fair amount of drooling this spring.
Yesterday, the wind was so strong it was a "drool on myself ride."

Racing wise, I plan to open it up here next weekend down in Decorah. All I need now is a couple rainy days to force me to rest=)

Passion and Jealousy

2010-04-09T09:11:00.007-05:00

Maybe I am too pragmatic in my approach to this blog. I do enjoy the near poetry that some use in the bike blog-o-sphere, but I am no poet. Either way, I need to put more in here that is not equipement or race related....

This morning as I was riding in to work, I had a small revelation that each year I find a new aspect of cycling that drives my passion for it. I didn't start riding only to race, and I need to remind myself sometimes that I still don't.
This year, my passion has been refuel with commuting. I commuted some in the past when it was convenient but in recent months that has changed. To use a cliche, variety is the spice of life: since last fall, I have pedaled to work on 4 different bikes, 6 different wheelsets, using at least 10 different routes, on surfaces of ice, snow, sand, dirt, and pavement, with round trip times ranging from 1.5-4.5 hours, and in conditions ranging from freezing rain and blizzards (when schools were closed) to floods to sunny beautiful days like today.
For me, there is no more refreshing liberating mode of transportation than a bicycle. Seeing others commuting on bike when I do drive to work, which is require on the 2-3 mornings a week I play hockey, evokes feelings of jealousy.
What can I say? I love to ride my bike.

Cheers

Rig

2010-03-31T20:40:00.008-05:00

....a heafty 21 lbs as pictured.

The specs are close to a stock 9.9 (full XX suite) except a few personal touches:

Wheels were rebuilt with some aerolite spokes and DT 190 hubs (Thanks Tyson!) - a little lighter
Swapped Fox RL fork with RLC - set it and forget it is my MO
SLR Gelflow XC saddle - on all my bikes, even my roady...it fits my butt well
Bontrager XXX lite riser - I have raced on this bar for 4 years now...nothing wrong with the stock bar, but I didn't want to change.
Tires - oooooo, lots to say here. I will be running some combination of Bontrager XR0, XR1, XR2, and occasionally the MudX. Right now I am thinking XR0 2.1" rear and XR1 2.2" front. I am excited to be trying some new rubber and Bonti has really stepped up last year and this year w/ new treads and super supple casings. More to come on this when I actually get to put them through their paces.
Road bar tape wrap for grips - can't beat it IMO
Twin Ti egg beater pedals - I don't trust Ti spindles... the twin Ti has a CroMoly steel spindle
Bontrager RXL Shoes - ok not part of the bike but still critical. After trying them side by side with Shimano's top shoe these win hands down. I can't put my finger on why, but the power transfer is better.

Thanks to Trek for the sweet ride and accommodating my personal touches, and more to come on the Trek Mountain Bike Coop Team. We will be hosting a facebook page as our primary media portal, but I still plan to keep this blog chugging along.

Pink Floyd "butts" poster in the background courtesy of my lovely wife (although she will only let me put it up in my mancave=)

Mancave Chaos

2010-03-19T21:55:00.003-05:00

Specs and weights will follow for the new rig. Suffice it to say, it is lighter and sweeter than last year...I didn't know that was possible.
Oh, and the training? I think that is coming along nicely.

Pugfest Video

2010-03-02T09:54:00.001-06:00

Cool video of Pugfest put together by Sue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvPlqAIuhqo

If you don't have a pug, I bet you want one now!

Pugfest '10

2010-02-23T12:42:00.007-06:00

There was a whole lot of phat going on up at Hillside last Sunday....Rich and his volunteers put on an awesome event as they always do. Thanks!

Racing a 33 pound 4" tire rigid bike on snowy singletrack is new to these legs this year, and the challenge will keep me coming back next winter for sure=)

And while Pug racing season is over, the watt gobbling season of 2lb Nokian studs and 4" fatties isn't even close to done! In fact, I just had Nokian-driven near bonk experience commuting this morning...

14 mile skinny

2010-02-02T11:20:00.012-06:00

Winter blogging laziness is in full effect.

Update: I've been daddying, riding, playing hockey, and recovering/relaxing when I can. The focus lately has been on teaching Tegan how to skate=)

I did spend the last couple Sundays racing up at Elk River. The first weekend was spent on the 4" fatties pedaling through mashed potatoes. It was definitely the toughest conditions I have pugged in, and maybe ever ridden in period, given the collective set of skills required to keep the bike moving. Rich (Ohmdahl the race director) always has a smile on his face, but that day a massive bonk proved to be and effective smile-eraser...that is, until he got his post race Red Bull and hotdog down=).
The second weekend race was 2 laps on a regular bike. The conditions were just about as good as snow singletrack can get. After a scrum of a start and some recovery redlining, I had a blast riding what equated to a 18-inch wide 14-mile long twisty turny up and down skinny.

Next: Pugfest....

January Motivation

2010-01-22T08:25:00.003-06:00

Casey Devin Moore

2010-01-02T11:45:00.005-06:00

Casey is here! She is such a cute little peanut=) I think we will get to go home in a few ours, and we (she and I) are going to take the pugsley with the burley ski attachment. Just kidding, but how awesome would that be? That said, I did ride the pug to her delivery (long story, but trust me, it was the logical choice).
Now that we have 2 grandchildren who need to see Gramma and Grampa a lot, we may have find more reasons to make the trek home to Roch. Here is a good one: Alamanzo. Maybe I can get Fisher, the O's and some others to come down and play on the Rochester gravel. Can it be won on a dual suspension 26" bike? Oh, in other news, I will likely have the opportunity to race for a new team this year. More to come later on that.

The Bank of Pain And Suffering

2009-12-30T15:13:00.002-06:00

To steal one from Bobke: I have made some hefty deposits lately. Bonksville, population me.

Jen is preparing to make the mother of all deposits soon....

'Tis the Season

2009-12-13T17:20:00.002-06:00

For 3 PSI

I am so confusing now....

2009-12-11T13:35:00.003-06:00

As one of my good Asian friends said to me one morning, "Brendan, I am so confusing now."

Is anyone else so confusing about this?
http://singletrack.competitor.com/2009/12/news/usa-cycling-forging-on-with-pro-xct-series_4925

IMO, this is probably why grass roots /local racing and endurance mtbk racing has become more popular here in the US. I am not complaining at all because I love the way our local series (WORS and MNSCS specifically) and one day races are run in the Midwest. Maybe this is how mtbk racing is supposed to be.

Closure Thoughts

2009-11-24T21:19:00.007-06:00

My season is over and has been for a while. After racing with a cold/flu at 24 of Moab I got really sick, and I just didn't feel the desire to race much when I recovered. Mind you, I did not stop riding=) In fact between riding and hockey, I end up with more "hours" in this time of year that I do during the season. I hesitate to call what I do (ever) as training...sometimes I ride hard, really hard, and sometimes I don't. I always play hockey hard, but that is the nature of the sport. Either way, I am excited every day I get to ride my bike!

This past season I had much more success than I expected, and I felt pretty strong and stayed fit most of the year. I was pumped to win the MNSCS again, and the only real downer was not winning in Moab. I can think of a few reasons why things went well: less structured riding, more rest, better equipment, more lax attitude. However, most of what drove me was the loss of my son Ty. I dedicated and will continue to dedicate every race to him, as he never had the chance to experience the thrill of racing. Any time I was really suffering, he was there giving me an extra little push... I look forward to more of those little angel nudges next year=)

MNSCS Awards

2009-10-23T18:34:00.004-05:00

To the MNSCS community:
Please do not take my absence at this years awards as me blowing them off. We have had a family camping trip planned for months (prior to the awards date being picked) otherwise I would be there. The MNSCS had a fantastic year of growth and was the best yet in my years of racing. Thanks to all who made the series what it was this year!

Video Recap of Moab

2009-10-21T12:23:00.001-05:00

From Superhumanmag.com: http://www.superhumanmag.com/content/view/1635/48/
Awesome=)

For Sale

2009-10-18T08:22:00.004-05:00

click here for details: Trek Top Fuel 9.9 SSL $3200

24 Hours of Moab

2009-10-13T07:49:00.007-05:00

Short Version:

I was hoping to end the season donning the stars and bars, but it wasn't to be. However, the overall experience in Moab was fantastic!

Today I am home with no voice and about 1/2 of my lung capacity looking out the window at SNOW????

Long Version with pics:

Last Wed I met my dad and uncle down in Des Moines where we boarded is 41 foot bus style RV=) From there we (and be we I mean my dad and uncle) drove straight through to Moab. I moved between a leather couch, a lazy boy, and a queen bed during that time. By far the easiest travel out to the mountains ever!
Upon arrival in Moab, we roughed through the 3 mile jeep road that lead back to the venue. This venue literally rises out of the desert about 10 miles South of Moab. So cool. We set up camp an I got out for my first lap Thursday evening. Ben Portilla and Ben my brother arrived a little later that evening with Max Taam following the next day.

We spent Friday getting bikes ready, relaxing, registering, setting up camp, and smashing one of our faces in.... yep, Max had a spill on one of the hundred or so rock drops during a pre-ride. He came back with a swollen face, but following a sneeze, his eye just closed up! Luckily Ben P's dad is a ENT Doc so he could diagnose it as air build up in the eye lid/sinus tissues..nothing serious. There was a CHANCE it would open up in the next day, and we had about 14 hours until the start. To add to this, I could barely swallow with a sore throat and chest cold, and Max was suffering from a similar disease (we both came down with it ~2 days before the race).

Oh, the course, the course was a 15 mile mix of slick rock (so sweet), rock gardens (awesome), sand (grrr), and jeep roads (aahhh, whatever). The altitude was 5500-6000 feet. Overall it was very challenging with probably 1/2 of the 1200 feet of climbing on slickrock or rock gardens.

At noon, with perfect weather Ben P lead us out and with Max's eye still shut we planned a 3 man rotation. He came in a couple minutes behind the leaders, and I started out hard like I normally would. I reeled in the leaders w/out too much trouble but found myself very short of breath on the first extended slick rock power climb. Between altitude and my chest cold, I knew IT wasn't there. I slowed down a little with my legs feeling fine but throat and lungs burning. I finished frustrated with a mediocre lap time. Ben followed with a strong lap, and we were with the top teams when Ben P went back out. We fully expected a lead when Ben P came back but instead found ourselves 10 minutes behind. He flatted, twice.

We continued the 123123 rotation until Max's eye was about 1/4 open. At that point, he went out and was able to ride the smooth sections quickly, but had to be careful (limited depth perception) on anything technical. Our plan was to try to avoid night laps for Max, so Ben and Ben did a little rotation giving them 3 night laps each; then I picked it up w/ Max giving me 3 night laps and only leaving him ~1 night lap.

For me, my first night lap was a blast! I took it easy as my cough was getting unmanageable, and I just rode like I was on vacation...SO FUN=) My last 2 night laps were rough. After a long break during the Ben rotation, I just felt horrible and bonked on both laps. Luckily Linda, Max's massage therapist showed up to see how we were doing, so I got massage between laps. That was heavenly.We finished the race with a Max heavy rotation as his eye was almost 1/2 open by morning.

The race finished reasonably close given the circumstances. We finished 3rd in the entire race with 20 laps. The 1st place team did 20 laps ~30 minutes faster and the 2nd place team was ~10 minutes faster.

Once again, we couldn't have done the race w/out our support staff. Thanks Tegan, Dad, Portillas, Lisa, Becca, Sydney, Linda, and my Wife (for supporting me in going).

Overall, given the adversity our team performed admirably. Given a healthy crew and 3 less flats...who knows, but as I always say, "That is part of the game."

Just One...

2009-09-29T20:22:00.003-05:00

I gave single speeding a try this past Saturday at the SS State Championship. It came to me Wednesday (I had a week off and time to think between jobs - left Seagate for Beckman Coulter in Chaska). A quick stop in to see Hollywood, and I was on my way to single speed heaven: a Top Fuel single speed. Yep that bike hit one more rung of XC racing. Saturday was my 3rd or so time on a single speed, but the first time in a couple years and first time on this bike so I had no idea what to expect. I got lucky (with Tyson's help=) and chose close to the right gear with a 42-18 combo...I could have gone a little taller, but I would have needed a stiffer suspension setup. Anyway, the State Championship win has me excited to try some more single speeding next year. I don't know when or what courses, but the Fuel SS will make another appearance.
After a 1:10 SS race, I found myslef at the starting line of the elite race - with gears. It turned out to be a fun but grueling 2:20+ added on to my earlier race. About 1:30 into my second race I pretty much popped. My legs were ok, but my lower back from all that SS'n was blown. I stumbled home in 4th. SamO was riding awesome as were Eric and Luke.

So finally 24 Hours of Moab is on the horizon - in 1.5 weeks! The main reason I skipped Chequamegon this year was to save body and motivation for this race. I will be racing with my brother Ben and a duo from the Trek/Honeystinger team of out CO, Ben Portilla and Max Taam. My bro is coming on strong with a recent win out east, Ben P got 4th Overall in the Pro division of the Mt States cup, and Max is coming off a solo win at 12 hours of Snowmass. I hope I can keep up with these speed demons! The competition will be tough and exciting, and every lap is sure to be a nail-biter.

Until then, I may find myself at a couple starting lines....

29er or 26er

2009-09-23T13:54:00.002-05:00

The data is compelling, but maybe equally effective in changing things are scare tactics.

#29

2009-09-14T08:49:00.002-05:00

29 down, 2 races left to go....the final MNSCS in St. Cloud and 24 Hours of Moab (team).

My 29th mountain bike race of the year felt just like it sounds, tiring. I had what I term "crappy" legs all week since Maplelag. I was sore/tire later into the week than I remember being all year, but there was no way that was going to stop me from making a trip with Chris and Jen Fisher up to Spirit Mt in Duluth on Sunday. The course is like a transplant of Mt Snow (or other NE style trails) in the Minnesota: by far the rockiest, rootiest trail I have done in the Midwest. It was a 2 lap epic, which is always welcome change after some of our 5-6 lap races we do. More than half-a-dozen elite riders flatted and at least that many more had big crashes. I managed to avoid both but did doink my carbon Bonti XXX lite rims on several rocks (knock on wood but they are still very solid).
All that said, I felt more like a pin ball than a proficient singletrack rider on Sunday. In talking to Scott Kylander-Johnson after the race, he claims that there are good lines through it all....I just didn't find some of them=) Beyond that it was a tough race. Off the start I got a good gap, but ScottKJ pulled the OBros back to me by the bottom of the hill on the first lap. Over the next 700 feet of nearly continuous technical climbing I was able to drop Eric and Scott and gap SamO by ~20 seconds. It was a relief to not see Scott with SamO because they surely would have closed that on the ensuing downhill. I rode a lot smoother on the second lap even though it rained for a bit making the roots and rocks a little slick. I ended up with the win and a little over a minute on SamO. Michael McBurney, a rising XC bike and run (or so I learned in talking to him after the race), star put in an awesome performance to round out the podium. He is another one to watch out for in the future!

Next up is a REST weekend (no Cheq for me this year). I need to save body and motivation for our charge in Moab.

Soaking in the legs in Little Sugarbush Lake was Heavenly...

2009-09-09T08:01:00.005-05:00

Maplelag is my family's favorite biking weekend of the year and this year it came with a cherry on top: perfect weather.
The racing action was hot and had TJ beating me in the XC and overall by 11 seconds, but let me start from the top.
One of my goals coming into the weekend was to set the course record for the TT that Doug set the prior year. Well, Doug, TJ and I all set the record, but I was just a little faster...1 second faster than TJ at 9:36 for the 3 mile course=) So things were off to a good start, but I was wondering how long the legs would hold out after the 2-4 last weekend....
The STXC is a super fun course that saw a group of about 5 of us getting away. You can see TJ and I were excited about it (not sure what I was doing=)!

I didn't want to try to sprint Doug so I attacked on the second to last lap, but slipped a little on a loose turn. At that point, I caught back on and just rode it out, as Doug put in a last lap attack and got a little gap on us. Again, it was a tight finish w/ Doug, TJ and I finishing within 1 second of each other.

That left the XC, and it was on like donkey kong! With some "All about Performance" pumping us up and a very well done singing of the National Anthem by Jack Richards, we were ready to go. I felt fine at the start and decided to see if everyone was awake so I turned it up a little, which left TJ, Doug, myself and SamO just off the back. I knew at this point that my power on the climbs and doubletracks was not there, but I continued to have a blast railing the rocky, rooty, twisty singletrack that is Maplelag (built by mountain bikers - for mountain bikers). For the next couple laps, the lead would change several times, but eventually I was able to gap TJ and SamO in the singletrack.. at least it was a gap that wasn't immediately pulled back as I crawled along the double track sections. Going in to the last lap, things started to fall apart. My legs were cramping even though I was hydrating well...it was the muscle fatigue from Afton finally setting in. I had to sit up a little so my legs wouldn't seize; it was PAINFUL. TJ caught and passed me on suicide hill as I soft pedaled up the big steep climb. I kept focused and continued to dangle off his wheel for the remainder of the race. I could see him the whole time, but when requested more power from the engine room, all I got was more cramps. TJ and I met at the finish line both with smiles on our faces however because it was an epic 2 day, 3 race battle that came down to the very end. Awesome.
Pics are from Bruce at Skinnyski.
I should note that the my 8 day marathon of 24 hour race, a TT, a STXC, and XC were all done on the same bike...my Top Fuel(s). The only tweaks I made were to the lockout/propedal and tires. I have never owned a bike that is the exact right tool for ALL those jobs with no compromises. All I can say, is that if you get a chance to demo one this Fall or in the Spring, do it...
Enough writing for now. Spirit Mt this weekend.

Guest Blog: Mr Dan Dittmer

2009-09-03T08:28:00.003-05:00

Dan is a friend, teammate, co-worker, and repeat winner at 24 Hours of Afton. Here is his race recap:

It was another perfect weekend for the Salsa 2-4 Fest. The forecast was calling for a chance of rain, evening temps dropping into the 40's and 20 mph winds but none of these things materialized. There were over 50 entrants in the solo category including Sean Nelson and my Velo Rochester teammate Charly Tri who I knew would be serious contenders for the win.
The race started with a le mans start. I went out hard enough to avoid the traffic but didn't make any attempts to keep the race leaders in site. I kept a close eye on my Garmin heartrate monitor and tried to keep my heartrate below 165.
Charly had a sizeable lead for the first couple laps but I slowly reeled him back into sight. We exchanged the lead several times. We continued like this for the first seven laps...always staying within a minute of each other. I found that he would always pull away from me on the singletrack and I would usually catch back up on the climbs.
Each lap I was drinking a half bottle of Hammer Heed/Perpetuem, bottle of Gatorade (from my camelbak), and a handful of Sport Beans and Skittles. At the end of each lap I would swallow down most of a can of Mt. Dew and maybe eat a chocolate chip cookie or two. Most people would expect to have bad stomach issues with a diet like that but this crazy combination of sports nutrition and junk food usually works really well for me.
My stomach started getting a little off on lap 8 which made it hard to ingest enough calories. Allie scrounged around camp to find some food alternatives and eventually we discovered that I could stomach Coke and Pringles. I didn't eat much while I was riding on laps 8 through 11 but I forced myself to keep getting fluids down. At the end of each lap I ate Pringles and sipped on Coke. Just before lap 11, Mike (Allie's dad) made me some chicken noodle soup. Over the course of the next hour that soup seemed to get my stomach functioning again.
Charly had opened up a 15 minute lead while I was working through my stomach issues. His lap times had barely even slowed down since the start of the race. Knowing how strong Charly is I wasn't sure I'd be able to catch back up but I reminded myself that I still had something like 15 hours of race left so anything was possible.
Much to my surprise I found Charly sitting in camp after lap 12. He decided to take a little break and fill up on food before heading out again. He suggested that I should take a break as well which was very tempting since the sleep monster had been creeping up on me during the last lap. Since my stomach was finally feeling good I figured that I better keep moving. I drank a Red Bull and had some more Pringles and soup and took off on another lap.
Those hours from 3am until sunrise are always the toughest. There are fewer riders out on the course and most of the time you are completely by yourself. The extent of your world is the bubble of light given off by your headlamp. In other years this is when I get clumsy and start bouncing off trees and rocks. This year the Red Bull worked its magic and I actually was able to maintain a respectable pace all night. Each time I rode through camp I was informed that Charly was still resting so by sunrise I had a 3 lap lead.
Things get much easier when the sun comes back up. The light makes it easier to ride faster and I could shed the 5 lbs. of lights and batteries I had been carrying all night. The sun also brought warmth which felt really good on my achy muscles.
Charly had fallen into third place at this point but he turned in a 47 minute lap when he started riding again. I figured he would reel in second place really quick at that pace but he came down with some GI issues that forced him out of the race.
A steady stream of friends met me at camp though out the morning. It felt really good to have so many supporters out there. Every 3 or 4 laps I would also get some well wishes from my other Velo Rochester teammates that were racing on a 4 person team as they lapped me yet again.
At this point I had a healthy lead so my mind started turning to how many more laps I needed to do before I secure the win and stop riding. My support crew gave me the stats on the top 5 riders each time I completed a lap. The told me that the race for 3rd and 4th was really tight which meant the second place rider would likely be pressured to keep riding which ultimately meant I had to keep riding. Finally after 21 laps they informed me that if I did one more lap it would be mathmatically impossible for anybody to beat me. As a bonus my friend Tim who was doing the 8 hour race had waited for me at camp and offered to ride the last lap with me. I wasn't exactly feeling fresh but it was fun to have somebody to ride with. I could tell that Tim wasn't having to work very hard despite the fact that he had already done 4 laps in his race. Even though my whole body was hurting I found myself really getting into the single track and really
enjoying what I hoped was my victory lap.
It felt really good to cross that finish line and know that I was done riding. I was completely exhausted. My total ride time was 21:13:28. I had stopped for a few minutes between each lap but I had never stopped long enough to sleep like I had done last year. Jeffrey Austin-Phillips crossed the line just a few minutes after me having completed his 18th lap which was good enough to secure 2nd place. Tim Hayes had to keep riding for the full 24 hours to secure 3rd place (even more impressive considering he was riding a single speed).

32K = Monkey Butt

2009-09-01T08:36:00.005-05:00

For the second year running, my Velo Rochester teammate "Dirty" Dan Dittmer rocked out a solo win at 24 hours of Afton. He won by an astounding 4 laps climbing 32120 feet over 165 miles. I am awaiting an email from him and will post a guest blog when I get it...for now, I can tell you that he is still walking funny this morning (he is a co-worker too).

Paul sums up how the team felt after the race. We each did 9 hot laps (a less impressive 13500 feet or climbing each=) winning the race by about 2 laps. For some reason my legs felt stale prior to the race, but I pulled out the "race" bike - the other laps were done on my backup bike -and did a ~33.5 minute first lap (hottest lap of the race dispite what peaktimings fastest lap link says). When I came in, I would have predicted a 40 minute lap based on how I felt out there. Jack "Kid Slapshot" Hinkens put in the second hottest, a 34.5 minute lap, on Saturday morning...impressive for a 24 hour first timer.
I also got some bike experimenting in. I left it in the big ring for the first 2 laps to see if a 1x9 setup makes sense for me. It really wasn't that bad. In statistical nerd speak, I can't disprove my null hypothesis that a 1x9 with 42 tooth chainring is reasonable;)

Hopefully I can recover enough to have some gusto at Maplelag this weekend. I am not sure right now...

Pleasure and Relaxation

2009-08-24T11:08:00.005-05:00

If all goes as planned, 4 of us - Chris, Paul, SamO and I - will be riding the rough stuff for 295 miles while climbing 56,500 feet (combined) between 5 pm Friday and 5pm Saturday....

Zen and the Art of Passing

2009-08-17T08:23:00.003-05:00

Sunday was a pretty packed day for the family...play date, race, and flight.
Jen and Tegan headed out to a play date early and took the day "off" of racing. Tegan still managed to skirt a nap...grr.
I headed over to the WORS race in River Falls to do battle with the great group of guys over there. It was a nice hard start that sorted things out, which saw a group of 6 of us off the front. Soon after, Nathan Guerrera had a flat leaving 5 of us: Mark, Jesse, Mike, TJ, and myself. We rode together for most of the rest of the race. The MO was to hammer in any of the labeled "passing sections" and then take it easy in the singletrack. We all had each other marked and the one small climb on the course was taken seriously each time. Laps 3 and 4 were passing fests... for the most part, people were great about it, but it is no fun for us or them when 5 of us have to sneak by. On the final lap, I thought I was holding the right cards. To that point, I had been under very little pressure, but TJ put in a ferocious attack...it was pretty sweet except for the fact that I just barely couldn't hang on. Mark was the only one to match him, with Jesse popping and Mike holding my wheel. I knew that if TJ and Mark got lapped riders between us it would be almost impossible to real them in....with a 5-10 second gap in that first field, it happened. After an a comp racer endod in front of us on one of the bridges and a few other rough passes, I told Mike that they were gone. We went fast from then on but didn't have the advantage of yelling "race leaders" coming, which garners a little more respect. I didn't know what to yell..."chasers" ?? =) Mike put in a nice little move about a minute from the finish line that put 5 seconds on me..he claims that Matter did it to him the year prior. I am getting someone with that next year! The finishing shoot was a dangerous S-bend so I don't think a sprint would have been a good idea anyway.
The race was what I expected and I had fun. My constructive criticism would be to run the experts and comps at different times with fields that large and laps that short (maybe elites on Sat afternoon)...or be sure that the laps are longer. With 4 or better yet 3 longer laps, the passing is much more reasonable.
I couldn't stay for awards, as I had to hurry home, catch a shower, and head to MSP for a flight out to Longmont CO. If I was a "real" pro, I would be coming out here to ride, but I am out here on business deploying a new metrology for hard drives. I would tell you what the metrology does but then I would have to ....make sure you don't tell Western Digital=)

Thanks to the WORS organizers and volunteers for inviting us over. You guys and girls do a bang up job. Maybe we can return the favor next year at Afton=)

Ankle socks and khaki sorts

2009-08-14T08:06:00.006-05:00

I had the night open (Jen & Tegan at her parents) so I headed up to an area the world knows as a golf mecca....while I like golf, it is really a mtbking hot spot, the elusive Mammoth trail. Geez, I forgot how raw and challenging the singletrack is there, or maybe I am just out of "mammoth shape."
The Goodyear blimp seemed to be following me the whole time. Hopefully they didn't get any shots of me dabbing=)

Its all about performance...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn29DvMITu4

Intensity

2009-08-10T10:01:00.003-05:00

Busy week.....
First, Ben (my bro) and Jake (Richards) hit up the National at Mt.Snow on Saturday (I was a little jealous). Ben scored a 35th place after a back row call up...awesome! Jake won his age group and took 6th overall in Juniors...awesomer!

It was busy for me too, as I did a 3 short but intense races: TT at Murphy Hanrehan on Wed, Buck Hill Thurs Series, and Buck Bump on Sunday. Whew! It felt good to lay on the couch and watch James Bond last night.
The TT went well and I bested my time from last year by over a minute.
Buck Thurs was fantastic...not my racing, but the fact that 230+ racers showed up for a mid-week race. There were probably 50-70 kid racers on top of that. Tegan wrapped up his season with a strong performance .. he only cut the course once (trying to follow me inside the cones) and got 2 piece of candy for his effort (vs. the typical 1). =)
Buck Bump, MNSCS #7, was to be a laps 71-76 for me out at Buck Hill this summer by my calculations. Needless to say, I have seen enough of that course for a while. I knew it would be a short race even though it was six laps. Several of the "usual suspects" weren't there due to Ore to Shore, a National, and Leadville preparation. I decide the best plan would be to get in front and punch it from the start so things could sort out before the lapped traffic began. I ended up putting time into the chasing duo of Jesse and Eric T each lap and finished with the win in a little over 1:10. Charly Tri, one of Velo Rochester's endurance specialists, had a really strong performance posting 4th...he will be one to watch for 24 of Afton in the solo division.
Next up is another TT Wednesday and a WORS race this weekend. Maybe next year we will do the combo WORS/MNSCS race on a MN style course like Afton=)

Absurd Commuting

2009-08-03T08:25:00.002-05:00

While an R3 SL w/ Aeolus 6.5s is not a necessary piece of equipment for commuting, it is definitely entertaining:

Note: The wheels are a borrowed item from Penn... Tyson told me to give em a whirl, which I plan to on our lunch ride today. I know my co-workers are excited.

Punchy

2009-07-28T12:34:00.003-05:00

Yeah, if you weren't up for ~1000 accelerations per lap, you probably had a rough one out there on Sunday. The Elk River course is a new and welcome addition to the MNSCS, and while the biggest climb out there is probably 40 feet of elevation gain, Rich's GPS says that there is still 1000 feet total per lap. After racing it, I wouldn't argue w/ that figure...either way, it was a little piece of singletrack heaven.

From the gun, Devin Curran opened up the throttle on his single speed...nice! I managed past him on the only doubletrack climb (part of the lap but included in the prologue, which helped sort things out). As I pulled back onto the road for the remainder of the prologue I looked back an I had a good gap. I didn't feel like being a carrot from the start so I let up a little and Jeff Hall caught me. After catching me, we started chatting and I told him to go first into the single track...he wasn't eager though. Basically, on a course like this, I knew he would be the one to beat. Our conversation lasted a little too long and a charging field caught us. I made a quick acceleration getting into the next first bottleneck 4th wheel, and before exiting the prologue I was 3rd wheel behind Justin Reinhart and Jeff. Justin was putting down a solid pace so I just waited as the engine began to warm up. It is a often easier following the first bit for me especially on more technical courses like this one. When we came upon a "technical section" with a bypass, Justin and Jeff took the bypass, I went straight down the pile of gorilla-head-size rocks and skirted into the lead. From there, I just rode the singletrack as fast as I could without being inefficient. I was able to steadily open the gap up to 2 minutes by then end...I suffered some doing so, but it was still fun cruising the singletrack=)
The only big mistake I made was that I forgot to have a Gu on board, and my energy levels were hovering around E for the last 40-50 minutes of the race. However, the Gu2O was JUST enough to keep me going until the finish.
I will be out at Buck this week and will follow that up with a weekend at the Fisher family cabin. Chris is going to let me try his new Jet 4 road wheels...I am pumped!
I will post some pics when I find some...

2009-07-24T13:39:00.004-05:00

Last night at Buck went better that I expected... after fair amount of fun riding last weekend, a heart stopping Tuesday, a solo lunch ride on Wednesday (too nice to ride slow), and that uh-oh-bad-legs feeling in warm ups, I wasn't sure that I belonged on the front line. However, I was pretty sure the ensuing laps would have me on the red line.
Doug Swanson showed up to make things interesting, but after a hot first lap I was able to gap he and SamO. My legs were too close to locking up so I couldn't put in another big surge. The gap to SamO grew slowly, and the first two laps were very painful. I finally found a maintainable groove for the last two and was able to cruise in alone.

Equipment setup update: I tried a new fork setup last night that seemed to work well...for those that know Rock Shox, I locked my fork out but turned the "floodgate" almost all the way off (one click in). Then I lowered the fork pressure. This left me with a fork that feels kind of like the old Fox inertia valves except it can be preloaded and never gets "confused" (those that rode the FX forks know what I mean). I am going to give it a few more rides before I commit to this, but it definitely felt stiffer sprinting out of corners while still being compliant over the bumpy stuff.

Cheers.

Flat Goosebumps

2009-07-17T08:04:00.002-05:00

Ok, the flat and the misfunctioning air can I can take... thats part of the game (thanks to the neutral support for getting me going again after I had given up and was walking back to my car).
Being cold at a starting line on July 16th...I cannot=(

Breezy Point - Memorial - Breezy Point

2009-07-15T11:48:00.003-05:00

Last Friday, we cruised up to Breezy Point, MN for family vaca... however, that was not going to stop my dad and I from cruising down Sunday to Red Wing for a race that I have missed several years in a row.
This is another MNSCS destination where, simply put, if you don't like the Red Wing course, you probably don't like mountain biking. The course was a little longer this year, but with cooler temps, I don't think anyone was complaining about an extended Sunday ride.
I made a mistake on Sunday leading out the race. Beyond the first "whoop" section, I didn't remember anything about the course and given the twisty track, knowing where you are going is imperative for efficient riding. I dropped the field in the section of course that I knew, but some of them pulled me back when I overshot a couple corners later on. SamO was riding the strongest and he led Jack and I around until the start of the third lap. BTW, after a double-flat-bonk WORS race last weekend, Jack came back really strong. It shows mental toughness to recover from something like that to race well.
Going in to the third lap, I was FINALLY getting in the singletrack groove, and I took a couple Roctane's after the 2nd and 3rd laps that were starting kick in. SamO and I gapped Jack, and other that the climbing, I was having a blast (my legs were not very good on the climbs). In the "prologue" part of the last lap, SamO told me to keep it hot (or did he say consistent, I can't remember=) through the single track to get more of a gap on Jack. I did keep it hot and was able to put some time on him. From there, I suffered through the last time up the "Stairway" climb to claim the victory.
Again, we had another great MNSCS turn out. Lets all keep it rolling!
I have a couple days left up here at Breezy Point before returning to reality. I am sure Jen will have some updates on our activities up here, but suffice it to say, we are enjoying ourselves.

Yes, yes we are...

2009-07-09T09:33:00.000-05:00

http://mooreblessingsfromabove.blogspot.com/