Wausau WORS, *new* new job, Tuesday night crit

The Wausau WORS race went acceptably well. As predicted, I hammered the ATV trail and got hammered by the singletrack. My training will now include at least one day a week on dirt as long as the rain stops. 70th in Comp. Meh.

I'm now a f'realz manager at TBS. It's a challenge and slightly intimidating and completely exhilarating. Much to learn and figure out. Some dude wants to buy my 8500 and have me ship it to NY. I'm waiting for the check to clear before anything goes out the door. Ten I'm buying a Montare and pimping it.

Tuesday night crits in Madison have two cats: A and B. No beers, but they do have candy preems. I gave a few good leadouts to some dude and got his preem candy. SCORE! I know what I'm doing Tuesday nights. The Madone is feeling the mileage of the Spring, and the chain and cassette are fried. Same with the rubber. I'm probably sending $300 to TCG just to get it to run properly. OUCH.


I rode to Blue Mounds with Gehling last week. Sufferfest, he is faster, I can ramp it up faster. But I think it will be good for me to ride with him. I'll get faster.

The Trek Trails...

are awesome. Totally awesome. I doubt I'll ever ride elsewhere in South Wisco. Gehling is way fast and has better handling skillz, but I might be able to take him on a long climb. With all the road time I've put in, turning the bike is not as easy as it once was.

Trek corporate is something else. We saw the new Bontrager shoes that are coming out in July. Watch out Sidi, these things are slick. The 08 hardtails were lined up in a hallway, and I saw some of the concept and R&D for the Limes. Also saw the pink Madone Contador might be riding if he wins in Milan. As predicted in my last entry, I geeked out big time.

Wish list: Superfly, Soho S with Race XXX Lite parts everywhere, XO-2, Race X Lite road wheels with white spokes. Better start saving those commuter credits for TCG.

Today it's off to Wausau for my first WORS race in 5 years. This should be interesting.

Welcome to the new school

Rough week, little sleep, lots of riding, new job, neato bikes, lots of coffee.

Trek is quite something. The professionalism and corporate resources and organization (and, and, and,) don't eliminate the bike shop feel. It's still a bike shop and we had beer at employee training Tuesday evening and then had more beer and hung out for a while. It was good to just have some fun at a bike shop.

Selling here is very different from St. Paul, as I can move a 3k bike on a Tuesday afternoon and tack on 1k in accessories. I had a customer who commutes come in and buy a Soho 3.0 to continue her commuting trend. Selling her that bike and seeing how excited she was to own it made me actually feel excited about bikes.

This weekend is the Wausau WORS and I'm going with Geo and some other TBS kids in the TBS van. And I'm sure we're all going to wear TBS kits and drink TBS coffee and be TBS BFFs. I'd tell you I'm not geeking out, but it might be a lie.

As for getting acclimated, it's been rough. The local coffee shop is okay. They make great lattes, but it's kept pretty clean. No ERC, let me tell you. I don't have a bar yet, but an Irish Pub is going in across from Target and my brother has some leads on a few cool places we can check out. It's been a long week. My plans have changed for the next year or so. No more tandem. Lots of solo road rides on the Madone.

In about 15 minutes I'm headed to the Waterloo trails to ride with Gehling (sales manager east) and Rabbit (tech east). I'm sure this will involve more geeking out.

Tomorrow I start the search for grad programs.

Yeah, I can race 4s

Tonight was my first 4s race and my final Opus excursion. Brian "Cupcake Big Party California" Dump-Can, The Brain, and Butters and I went out there. We killed Butters on the way out, got him there five minutes before the start, and he got destroyed. He loved it. This kid is gonna make it.

Caleb, Cupcake, and I raced 4s. We made it fast from the gun, and strung out the pack on the flat headwindy back section. After the first preem we knew we couldn't outsprint some of the guys, so we made the race suck for them. Just about every lap we attacked on the hill, regardless of a preem. It almost stuck twice, and I did get to ride a lap on my own, but they pulled us in. We didn't win, but man did we make the others work for it.

Some kids didn't seem so happy about it afterward. Billy gave me a high-five on our tactics today. Then I got a hug, since I'm moving.

It's been nice racing in Minnesota these past few years. I was born and raised in Madison, but I'm a Minneapolis cyclist all the way. Fuck yeah!

Finals, Graduation, Madison

Finals are here. I'm taking a break right now from relating (in only TWO pages) Thomas Kuhn's concepts of scientific paradigm shifts with Darwinian natural selection. I know, it's exciting stuff.

After Opus two weeks ago I had to knuckle down for finals and I got pretty sick with a stomach bug, so I haven't ridden much since. My cat 4 upgrade went through so I'll be in the 4s tomorrow, hopefully giving Big Party a lead-out. After Opus, I have one more day at Boehm's, a presentation, graduation, and then I'm moving to Madison and working at the East Side Trek Store.

I'm VERY excited for this new job.


As for summer racing, I'm mostly at the mercy of my job, but that's cool. I'll do Superweek when I can, and maybe hit up some close WORS events, but racing is officially dropping down lower on my list of priorities.

#1 once I graduate: Cruiseliner

Saw Screech at 1on1 today. He stole my Madone for a bit.

Back to Darwin and Kuhn and paradigm shits. That isn't a typo.

Tuesday Night Worlds

I raced Opus for the first time last night, but since my cat.4 upgrade hadn't gone through yet (it got processed while I was there) I had to race 5s.

The course is okay. The climb toward the end is just long enough that some of the 5s got strung out on it if you big-ringed it. I sat in 2nd for a few laps to see what was up, and soon discovered that they sprinted hard for a preem and then took it very easy for a few laps til they sprinted again.

This guy named Rob and I got to the top of the climb after preem 2, and Billy was screaming at me to go hard. I looked back and we had a gap, so I told Rob to punch it and we rode on our own for most of the race. He gave me a preem win, and we traded pulls.

The last time up the hill some guy in a slick Twin-6 jersey smoked past us and a few other guys were winding it up trying to catch up. I jumped and beat one of them, but one guy beat me.

I won points-wise. It was fun. Time for something faster.

MN home road race, ITT, Crit

Ooooooh, buddy. The phrase "hardest day on the bike ever" isn't an understatement. Saturday at our home road race in Plainview SUCKED for me. I bonked big time. I'm going to chalk it up to not enough food, not enough sleep, and not enough riding, as I solod it in in the Cs RR for like 12th. I spun my legs out in the ITT and had a bacon cheeseburger at Friday's. The thought that maybe I wasn't worthy of racing C's popped into my head. Yeah, bad day.

Then came the crit. It was in a parking lot on MSU Mankato's campus, but the course rocked, none the less. There were good corners, and plenty of bitching cornering. Kari and Steph raced with the men's Cs, but Steph wasn't feelin it. Kari was, and she was a rockstar today.

I got the first preem lap, and then sat in, hoping to have another go for a preem lap. I knew I couldn't outsprint the fast kids for the finish, and fully expected Nebraska to just solo away (which he did). All in all, I felt way better in the crit, and I think it's going to be a good season once I can get on a regular riding schedule.

Big ups to Deidre for kickin ass in the crit (even though she crashed) and to Megan for owning the women's RR.

We have a young team at the U right now, but in a year I think we'll be back on top of the conference. Mitch and Caleb are really picking it up, and next year Megan and Deidre will be ridin with Steph and Kari.

Jameson is a rocket. He's gonna be an A next year. A few of us had a chat about "wanting to win" today. I want it now. Now that I'm just a mid-pack punk, I want to win big time.

Tink out

Yeah for mountain bikes!

On Friday some of us drove to a trail system an hour northeast of Fayetteville. The trails were surprisingly dry, with some loose large gravel on a few of the corners. Obviously a bit of it was washout, but it was a good day to ride.

Caleb's bike hates him, and we had to stop after a few miles to fix his cleat, which had dropped a bolt. Once we pulled him out and wrenched down the remaining bolt, we discovered Duncan was missing his headset topcap. Yeah, bummer. So we tightened down the stem bolts and let er rip.

There was a sweet stream crossing thanks to all the rain from Tuesday, and Billy didn't quite have the right tires on for the loose stuff, so I was fastest on the day. Scurvy was on me on the climbs, and Stewbot would catch up on the descents, but I kept it quick and had a good time hosing Duncan in some of the corners. Mitch's legs were totally fried from the day before, but he stuck it out and had fun.

After the main loop, there's an out and back with two lollipop trails, and we got split into two groups somehow. Scurvy, Billy, Duncan and I kept going, and Stewbot, Mitch, and Caleb went back to the van. We didn't know they had gone back, so Duncan and I rode one of the loops backward to look for them. It was way fun trying to drop Duncan. He's really starting to get the hang of mountain biking, but he still rides on the bike instead of controlling the bike in its entirety. He will be fast once he figures out some handling things, though. Scurvy and I think he needs a singlespeed.

I'm feeling really strong this year, which is odd. I only went to indoor two days a week, didn't lift, and the only other big changes I've made are dietary. Granted, I eat a lot better than in years past, and I pretty much don't drink, but even I'm amazed at how strong I felt on the climbs Thursday and on the trails Friday. I won't be racing collegiate road much, so hopefully I can stay on form til summer when I can get to some WORS events.

Big climbing day

Yesterday was rough one. Probably top 3 hardest days on the bike in my time riding. We did 27 miles from Kingston to Jasper, and then came back. The route out included two category 2 climbs and some wide-open, fast descents. It was going to be an epic day.

I rode out with the fast kids and got dropped half way up the first climb. I caught them on the descent as we regrouped at the only turn of the route. We waited for some of the other kids to show up, and pacelined it across the valley flats to the bottom of the second big climb on the outward route.

The second climb wasn't bad until my bars came loose in my stem. I pulled up along Sherve, borrowed his multi-tool and kept riding while fixing the loose bolts. After I got it fixed, I attacked and dropped my group, chasing Jorgen Devon and Pat.

Once on top of the hill, we rode along the ridge and I got closer and closer to Devon on the descents, but he'd drop me on the flats. We were pretty evenly matched on the climbs. I pulled him within 15 feet on some of the big corners of the descent into Jasper. The Madone descends so well, and I got some good practice accelerating out of corners.

We refueled in Jasper and waited for some of the other kids to show up before heading back. On the climb out of Jasper I stuck with Scurvy and Rambo (a.k.a. Stovetop) for a while and then we dropped Scurvy. Stovetop and I caught Billy a little later and I won the sprint for the town at the top of the climb out of Jasper. We soon came on Burban and The Todd working on Todd's tire. It was shredded, so we kept riding and told the van to pick him up.


On the descent we dropped Stovetop, and I saw Pat sitting on one of the tight switchbacks taking pictures of people descending. He blew a tire and taco'd his wheel, so the day was finished for him. On the flats after the descent, I sat in behind Burban and we passed Kari and Megan before approaching the 2.3-mile category 1 climb.

This was the big climb of the day. I dropped Burban immediately and Stovetop quickly caught up. We rode together and found Sam (who was pretty bonked) and then my food kicked in.
I attacked and stayed away until arriving at Kingston again. The rolling hills on top of the big climb were brutal, but I descended as fast as I could and kept it in the big ring the entire time atop the mountain. With enough food, I was feeling good. I knew there was one more small climb into Kingston, so I used my Gu and stayed ahead of Stovetop. It was a good day.

I was fried last night and we returned to Wes's BBQ for dinner. I had a double bacon cheeseburger and some fries. Then I had a BBQ chicken sandwich. And two sodas. Awesome!

Today we're going mountain biking all day. Metal.

75 miles in 5 hours

Today we split into two groups for an LSD (long, slow, distance) ride. The rout turned out to be under heavy construction, so some of it sucked big time. However, the rest of it was pretty nice as we came through the Wedington recreation area. My legs felt good, but my neck and shoulders were pretty sore by the end of it. There were some small hills and some great fun descents, but the traffic was too heavy until we got onto hwy 16. Then the roads were smooth, the traffic was low, and the scenery was beautiful.


Eastern Buffet for dinner. Brilliant.

Tomorrow is supposed to include some brutal hills. I'm looking forward to it.

Rain and a haircut, no ride

The rain started before the sun came up and it hasn't stopped since. First we drove around and hit up the grocery store, bike shop, and movie theatre to check times.

Then we came back to the hotel for some lunch and while others did homework, the rest of us headed off to see Horton Hears a Who. It was a good movie, which I probably would have appreciated a little more were I between three and eight years old. Our group had the highest average age. Probably the oldest median and mode ages as well.


Then I cut my hair. No joke. Duncan had a clippers but forgot the extensions, so it was all or nothing. I couldn't figure out how to get a mohawk going, so this was the result:



Tomorrow we're driving to some big nasty hills. Now that the shampoo budget just got smaller, I won't mind the heat under my helmet as much. Keep the rubber side down.

Recovery day

Needless to say, I slept pretty well last night. Breakfast included Waffles and OJ. Today we woke up at eight and were on the road at nine. The rain that was forecast never arrived. Neither did the turn onto highway 264, so we asked the Shell station about directions. We were already about 20 miles out, and they told us if we followed the route they gave us, it would be 14 miles back.

After another 10 miles we found ourselves at the start/finish of the Hell's Kitchen road race in Hogeye. It was another 15 miles into town.

54 miles with the fast(er) group made me want to take a nap, so I did. I woke up with Jameson offering a chance to get some dinner. Billy, Steph, Devon, Duncan and I went to Wes's BBQ. Double bacon cheeseburgers with fries and a drink were $6. Best deal of the trip? I think so.

Tomorrow is still supposed to be a bust, so we're gonna take it easy and get some rest and homework in.

Hell's Kitchen Road Race

HKRR this morning: 20 miles in the cat 5. One lap. Two big climbs. 65 rider field.

Sat in at about 20 position for a few minutes while Jorgen sat up front and tested the field with some good pace setting. We kept it together until the first slight climb, when we pinched off a few of the riders who didn't train in the off-season.

Climb 1: I was feeling good, so I attacked. Nobody responded for a moment, since Jorgen was on the front. He blocked for a minute til others tried to chase. I was away for about 5 minutes, but then I hit a headwind and couldn't increase my gap. I got pulled in but sat in at about 8th.

Hell's kitchen: They call it that because there are three stages to it, each one steeper than the last. And everything goes to Hell once you get to it. Jorgen kept it going strong on the front, and some people tried to attack, but nothing stuck. Then after about 50 yards, everything blew up. There were people everywhere, we were catching masters and women 1/2/3 and I didn't know who was who. Keeping a high cadence, I went my own pace with a high cadence in a light gear. It got me quite a few places back, and once we got to the end of the climb, I was in a group of 5 with another group of 10 ahead of us.

Jorgen was still on the front of the lead group, and I gapped to them on the descent. Apparently people in Arkansas don't know how to descend very quickly. There were 8 or so of us once we got to the last little crest before the finishing straight.

Somebody attacked. It was a smart attack and he got a good gap very quickly. There went first place. Then I wasn't paying attention, and two more guys went in the final straight. 2nd and 3rd. I chased, nobody responded. 4th for Tink, 7th for the Norwegian who pulled the entire race.

DPalms won the 4s for the U of M. Steve Tillford won the pro/1/2.

Not a bad day. I want an upgrade. If we go to a crit later this week (Billy said we might drive to Oklahoma) I'll ask the official.



After the road race we showered up and went for a 2-hour MTB ride behind Wal-Mart with Nate, our favorite local. Caleb broke his chain on the long climb up and took a nap in the van while the rest of us went on ahead. Duncan and Mitch pulled off after the intro loop, and Paul ditched just before the advanced section. Scurvy, Nate and I went on ahead to
rip up some of the best and most constantly challenging trails I've ever ridden. You can't lose focus for one second or you'll plant your front wheel into a rock and go overboard.

Good time. I'm exhausted.

Es No Bueno

We left the Twin cities yesterday at eleven thirty in the ay-emm for Fayetteville, Arkansas. 11 hours in the van, and one stop at a Bueno Taco later, everyone was ready to get out and move the legs. There's an NCAA track tourney in town, so the hotel is a little busy.

Beer prices on favorites like Fat Tire are notably lower than in Mpls. It's supposed to rain Monday and Tuesday, but the rest of the week (and Sunday) should be fine. We're rolling int he mid-upper 50s.

MY seat heights and headset (on the 85) got all wonkey in transit, so there will be some adjustment made. Today we plan on a trip to Fayetteville bike Co. the Wal-Mart, and then out to the race course, once The Tood wraps his bars.

Iowa: not as flat as you'd think

So I'm in Decorah, Iowa for the weekend for some Valentine's Day fun, and
it's not nearly as flat as Id' imagined Iowa being. This place has some awesome terrain, not entirely unlike Fayetteville, Arkansas. They also have a pretty bitchin shop that informed me most folks around here ride 1x9, rigid. Crazy, I know. Apparently it's enough people to warrant having multiple models set up this way on the salesfloor. Oh yeah, did I mention they carry both Trek and Specialized? Insane!

In training news, I'm ready for Spring. Indoor is killing me, school is getting in the way, and I'm not gonna be on form for Spring break. Awesome. I suppose since I'm graduating this year I can just dog it out and focus on MTB racing later this summer. Oh, geez!

LT Tests, Swap, TDF DVDs

I did my LT test yesterday. It was rough, which I suppose is a good thing. For the last three years my LT has been 175, but this year it's 176. I'm going to say that means I'm faster. According to Billy, it does mean I can work at a higher level of discomfort for longer, which I would agree with. Lately I have been noticing I can ride in the low 180s and handle the discomfort a little better than in years past.

I didn't think I was going to puke until Billy mentioned that the LT testers were welcome to join in the sprint workout the other kiddos were doing. Half a Papa Johns pizza and a four-hour nap later, I felt fine.

The Twin Cities Bike Swap is coming up, and the U of M team is going to get a table for selling excess clothing. We're also going to let members sell their bikes at it, which should be interesting. I'm debating selling my 8500. I'm definitely taking a stack of acquired tires, Dirt jump/freeride shit, and maybe some saddles. On the flip side, there is still a lot of stuff I need to pick up for this season. Things like aero bars for TTTs, bottle cages, and some 258 length spokes.

I've borrowed some TDF DVDs from Mike, and let me tell you: Lance made the tour kind of boring. However, getting to see Robbie McEwen bitch out a teenage spectator for trying to pull his bottle out of the carbon cage (while McEwen was on his way to the staging area) and breaking the cage was hilarious. "Amerdeux! Tu voudras payer pour un something something carbon? Stupid fuckin wanker!"

The kid looked like he was going to cry.

A Madone in every home

The Madone made it home thanks to Ryan and Corinne driving to St. Paul to pick it and me up from work last week. It's great on the trainer and I can't wait to get it on a climb. It's faster than I am, that's for sure.

Spring break was announced for the U team. It looks like Fayetteville, Arkansas, again, which I'm okay with. It's great road riding, has a mild climate, and there are a few races we can do while down there. Fayetteville is a small college town with a great local cycling scene. Ben Upchurch, a local racer helped us out big time last year, and hopefully he can show us around again this year.

Last year Cook and the Brain owned the 4s race and Brad took the 2s. This year instead of being the last Sunday we're there, it's the first. If we arrive late Friday night, cruise around easy on Saturday, and race on Sunday I should be feeling good. I'm not sure who else holds a 5s license on our team, though. Hopefully it's not too sketchy.

I know I'm not as fast as a guy who's been racing 8 years should be, but I know I have better handling skills than 90% of our team, and 99% of the 4/5 field. I'm also not bad on the climbs. It's just power that I lack, so I'm going to try to start lifting a bit in the next month. I'm still trying to drop a few pounds for the season. I remember being in that 150 range felt great in races.

In other news, the Packers lost, Johnny Page is doing pretty well in 'cross, and Chris (new kid on the team) is going to buy my 2100. Also, Alyssa gets back from Brazil this weekend, so hopefully I can see her before she heads back to Iowa. The iBook is dead.

Good luck to The Brain as he goes off-grid for a few weeks.

Outdoor riding

I rode in to work today, since I repacked the bearings on the XTR singlespeed wheel
I'm borrowing from Mike. Either there is a lot of resistance on that hub in the cold weather or I'm just weak, since going up University near Prospect Park was brutal. Either way, on the ride home I was so shot from just biking back (45 minutes in the arctic) I was too tired to train.

I'd like to bring the Madone home, but I don't know how that's going to work out. I'm going to try to get Ryan to drive it home for me so I can start riding and move the 2100 out.

A new season, a new bike, a new goal

Well, the new season is 2008. It's going to start with a few months of indoor training with the U of M Team. Then it's off to Fayetteville, Ourkansas for spring break and some serious training and hopefully a few races.

My new bike for this year is a Trek Madone 5.2 Pro. It's pretty sweet, and I got a great deal on it thanks to my boss at Boehm's Cycle. I'll keep it stock (full Ultegra) except for a Selle Italia Flite saddle and some Michelin Krylion Carbon 23c tires for training. Maybe I'll use a computer this year, who knows.

As for new goals? I'm actually going to try this year. I'm going to push myself to stay in shape and eat well. For the last eight years of racing mountain bikes it's been for fun and I've never taken it seriously. Last summer ended terribly with little racing and a nasty bout of bronchitis. Since then, I've been riding plenty, eating well, and feeling great. I figure if I'm going to ride a $3500 bike, I'd better be fast enough to deserve it.

I'll spend spring training and racing on the road, and once summer hits, I'm going to include some MTB races. I haven't done a real mountain bike race in two seasons, and I really miss it.

specific season goals:
1. Do every collegiate road race.
2. Upgrade to a cat.B collegiate road racer.
3. Win a collegiate C/D race.
4. Do some serious MTB races once summer hits.

As the title of my blog suggests, I think it's time for me to pedal harder.