Week in Review

I have had posts in my draft folder so here is more of a catch up...

Wednesday-

Beechwood was awesome last night. We had a really good showing. It looked like about a dozen guys came out to ride. Two and a half laps ticked away like a blur. First half lap was with Scoots and Jeff C. They were both rolling new Superfly's and with no mtb rides on them we took a casual tour of the trail. I managed to eat dirt in front of both of them at different times making myself look like I was the one on a fresh new bike. An abbreviated lap was done to get back to festival field and meet up with the rest of the crew.

Lap 2 went by nicely. I rode it as fast as I could and with the exception of some chain issues had a pretty solid ride.

Lap 3 was killer. I finally felt like I had some bike handling and was starting to trust my tires a bit more. Unknown to me I ended my ride with 15psi in both tires which was probably the reason behind my new found traction. It still felt like a fast lap and I was smoked when I was done. Two random thoughts that kept creeping into my mind were "Beechwood makes you strong!!!" and a commercial like commentary, "Beechwood. New and Improved. Now with 10% more climbing." You know, because we needed more climbing.

After the riding was done we assumed the traditional festival activities with open coolers and meat burning.

It is late Wednesday and I am still buzzing from my Tuesday ride.

Thursday-

I took a day off riding to get caught up on a couple things. I feel a little guilty not riding when it is so nice. By the way I groan when I look at a staircase I think it was a good idea to let the legs recover a bit.

Which brings me to today...

Work sucked. It goes down as a top 10 day. I kept thinking at work not to go to the bar but get a ride in. Take my frustrations out on the road. I will regret it if I don't. I managed to commit to the ride with my new found inner strength. It took a while to get rolling. I am usually in my zone after about 4 miles. Today it took about 10 miles before my head was clear, legs loose, and ready to up the effort. I fought the wind for a bit, took a new route, found some new hills, and at my turn around point I put it in time trial mode and just kept going until I started to get that crampy feeling from the effort. I got home with a huge endorphin high and as I pulled to the garage door my cleat got stuck and I fell over unclipped onto the concrete. That really sucked. Amy heard me crash and came out to find me laying on the ground holding my arm and wrist. It hurt like hell at the time but I am fine.

So that is it until the race at Wausau this weekend. I am helping a friend put in a new floor Saturday so camping is questionable but I will be there for sure and looking foreword to seeing everyone.

Silver Lining

Wow, that felt like a long weekend.

Amy and I didnt really do all that much. We mostly hung out together all weekend. We planted a garden. Had dinner with some friends. I got a couple little rides in. I picked up my truck and the damage to my bank account wasnt too bad. We napped one day. Thats about it.

Tuesday is Beechwood night. Sounds like a big crew, so I am excited to be riding there again. My legs could use a bit of mtb miles before this weekends race.

Speaking of mtb racing, I think I finally found the silver lining in high gas prices. It just costs way too much money to race. The travel alone, not including food and entry fee, are ridiculous. To go into a race unprepared and expecting no better than a mid pack finish just isnt worth it anymore. So, now that my check book is feeling the effect of racing and the cost of being average, I think I may have got the kick in the shorts I have been needing to actually put some serious effort in.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Yeah, its Friday. A 3 day weekend is ahead.

I dropped of my truck. I hate that in between time where you are waiting for the call for them to tell you what's wrong and how much. From quick inspection yesterday it looks like my CV joint is junk. That is for sure being replaced and I have been noticing a couple drops of oil every morning on the ground so that little leak is going to be troubleshot. Hopefully this isn't going to be a lot. I hate it when a repair bill is more than a new bike.

I had a nice ride yesterday on my way home. I don't really know how long it is since my computer is broke and I don't know my time since I didn't look at my watch when I left. I think I was somewhere around 1.5 hrs. I rode pretty hard for my standards. The route I took was hilly and I found myself hammering. I got the point where if kept my effort up I was good to head home or back it down and do more. I chose hard effort and on my last turn towards home that I chill and cool down I was spent. I must have been giving it too because today my legs feel really tired and weak, and that's a good thing.

So today I have my ride options ahead of me. Do a 1.5 hr moderate pace to stretch and get the HR up or do a 10 minute warm up, hill repeats on the "Black Wall", 10 minutes home.

I still have no idea what proper training is. I know I suck at climbing right now so is it better to try and drop weight and gain fitness or build up my strength and fitness by beating my legs into submission?

I suppose in the long run it doesnt really matter.

Looking for Minutes

I was checking results from the Treadfest race, and found some interesting info. I finished 45th overall in sport. The difference between 45th and 20th was 3 minutes. That comes down to 1 minute per lap. That's it. Top 20 and all I have to do is shave off a minute per lap. With the crawl I did up the climbs I could easily get that minute per lap if I could go uphill better. I really was crawling uphill. I would say I lost at least 2 minutes per climb. So that is promising and motivating.

Today the truck is going in to the shop. I don't know what is wrong but the clunking sound it makes when I touch the brakes isn't getting better, it actually is getting worse.
So it is time to suck it up. On the bright side it is a haul to where I take it so I threw my bike in the back and now I get to squeeze a ride in to get home.

A couple more dental appt are in the books. After having a root canal Thursday and build up yesterday I need a break from people sticking needles into the roof of my mouth, my cheeks, and drilling teeth. What really sucks is my dentist only works Tuesdays and Thursdays and her afternoon appts are on Tuesday so this dental work is really getting in the way of my Beechwood time. Only two more appt left and then I am done. Watch, after having all this work I will fall at Beechwood in Roubaix and bust out my grill.

The weekend holds little in the plan department. If anyone has anything fun and exciting to do let me know.

TreadFest WORS Round 2

I am going to post something really quick so when I procrastinate this week it wont be old news when I get around to it.

Saturday Amy and I headed down to Lake Geneva for the second stop of WORS. The race was at a resort. I got out to do a pre-ride since I had never seen this course before and found it was quite a gem of a course. I was enjoying myself so thoroughly I did an extra lap because it was so fun. It was a ski hill but besides the beginning it didn't really feel like there was a lot of climbing. What there was, was a bunch of sweeeeeeet single track. The kind you just rip through. There were little punchy climbs but nothing you couldn't stand and get over. It was just fun. When I finished I couldn't stop thinking that this is why I ride mountain bikes. Oh, and I felt good, not like I had to puke.

Today, race day. Got to the line, got a good start spot, goooooooo, I was sprinting, first hill, and slow it down. Just what I was afraid of. Two somewhat sustained climbs and I was off the back. we crest the top, I tell my 29'rs to do their thing and I start passing. Every section of single track I catch a group, wait for the out, quick sprint, and I am by every one. I do this over and over. At one point I realize I am riding with the guys who got called up, the top 5, sweet. We lap thru, here comes the start climbs and "by-by everyone". They are all gone. After the first climb guys who weren't even close when I started up are passing me. Half way up the second climb guys I passed 2 miles ago, are passing me now. We crest and I let my 29 do what 29'rs do. Now I am feeling good. I start catching everyone who was passing me on the climb. Same story, catch in the single track, pass on the fire lane, do it again. I pass everyone who passed me on the climb. Pretty far into the lap I see another guy who was called up. I chase. Here comes the start climbs and, by-by everyone. Now I am really creeping. Everyone I worked to pass the last few miles are now easily riding past. I get to the top and I am shot. I don't have the energy to hold good lines on the trail. I round a few corners, cut past trees like ski gates, rub some skin off on the bark, and realize I better just finish. My last lap I didn't quite have the chase I had the first two laps.

Finished 11th in age, 7 minutes back. At Iola I was 18th in age and 12 minutes back. So I go back 5 minutes on the same guy who won so that is promising.

Next up, lots of riding, and hopefully I can figure out to get back another 5 minutes. I am thinking I need to work on my climbing. The easiest way I can think of is not to haul 203 lbs up hill. But that is just speculation.

Meatloaf Lesson

Since the race at Iola I have only ridden a little bit. That race really put a bit of a hurting on me. I did my cool down ride on Monday and after that I was drained. I know my results don't show it but I must have went as hard as I could because it took me most of the week to recover. I took 2 hr naps Thursday, Friday, and Saturday which is unusual. Finally Sunday I took the cross bike on a jaunt to Oshkosh and back. It is a pretty chill ride being an old rail bed, read FLAT. Somewhere around 40 miles of riding at my pace seemed like fun. I took every chance I could to bunny hop off things and just had fun like riding should. Monday I got serious and put the kit on and headed for the hills on the road bike. That turned to crap. I fought the wind, I fought the pedals, I fought the cranks, I fought the road, I fought the hills... you get the point. It was just one of those rides where nothing felt good. I got home and told Amy I couldn't eat a big pile of meatloaf before riding anymore it just wasn't working.

So were caught up to today. I got serious. Got kitted up. Got out the roadie. Ate a sensible lunch and hit the road. Wouldn't you know it I felt great. For the first time this year I actually felt like I could push a little harder than comfortable and hold it. I know wasn't going to win any time trials today even in my imaginary one man sprint finish I lost. It just felt good to know that sooner is coming quicker than later and maybe at some point this year I will be kickin' doors and taking names.

There WasThis Party Up North

The latist Orbits commercial

Luke and Diane

Mike adores me


RRRRRR!!!!! We will take over with our Laser Eyes!!!

Caption this...

Iola Round #1

Yeah...bike season is back. I have my race report. Here goes.

That sucked.

That was the short version here is the long version.

Legs hurt, lungs are on fire, and I cant breathe.

Warm up is done better get to the start line.

Gooooooooo.......

Legs hurt, lungs are on fire, and I cant breath. Am I still pedaling? Look at the pretty stars. Is it still daytime??? Where is everyone??? Is this whole course uphill??? Can I quit??? Just keep going you will look like a loser if you DNF. Do I hear a pig??? One lap done, 2 more.

Same. Same.

I cant stop hacking, I feel like I smoked a pack Marlboros.

Drive home. The end.

Mid pack, but like I told Joe, I just set myself up for most improved rider at the end of the year. Too bad for him winning Comp overall by 3 MINUTES he will never have a chance at that award. Best he can do is even and we all know that isn't impressive.

My time was 10 minutes slower than last year. So that pretty much sucked.

Two weeks until Lake Geneva. I really dropped some stink bombs on the climbs yesterday so a ski hill course should really be what I need. I cant wait.