WNR report

Well, the first official WNR went off without a hitch. There were even a couple of surprises to boot. One, I rolled into the parking lot just after five for a little spin before everyone showed up, and what to my wondering eyes did appear? Our old friend and riding buddy Secret Steve. So at any rate, we got in just shy of an hour and a half before the rest of the crew showed up. The second surprise of the night was the appearance of Damon (Doug's little brother). He rode with us on Sunday as well, but before that we hadn't seen him on a ride in years. I get the feeling he may be planning on making a comeback this season. If so, we'll all have to chip in and buy him a helmet. Riding without one is simply not safe Damon. Benson and Scott rounded out our group of five. All told, we had a great ride. This picture is taken at the bottom of Sarge's Trail right before you empty out into the parking area. Anyone who's ridden this section of trail knows that it's a damn hoot (after you get to the top of the last lungbusting climb). The weather is supposed to improve quite a bit this weekend, and I have every intention of putting in some serious hours on the saddle. Unfortunately, today the weather is quite crappy, and I see an indoor ride in my future this evening. Take care, and thanks for reading.

WNR

Tomorrow marks the offical beginning of Wednesday Night Ride season: 6:30 @ Boyne. It should be interesting to see who shows up. I'm sure Chris will be there, but other than that I have not a clue. The trails are in great shape, and the weather people say it'll be sunny and 55. I can't ask for much more than that. Next week's ride will be at Team Headquarters (first wed. of the month yo). So if your lame ass misses this week remember, it's never too late to start riding. Cycling's a source, swear to god. It'll change your life.

Hurt

I'm stuck inside for a slow afternoon shift at the store today, and so I took to surfing the net and found this killer video on the old YouTube. It does a great job of showing the enormous amount of pain professional bike riders go through on a regular basis. Even if they are all on drugs, they are way bigger badasses than I can ever hope to be. Great clips and a great tune. Enjoy.

Spring for real?

I don't want to jinx it (I haven't put fuel stabilizer in the snowblower yet or put away the snow shovel), but it appears that spring has finally sprung. Yesterday was sunny and right around 60 degrees. I got in my longest ride of the season, three hours and just under 50 miles. Benson joined me for the last hour, and we rode a nice 18.5 miles up to Island View Rd. and back to my house. It was really nice to have a partner again after riding alone for most of the season so far. It makes the time go by a lot faster when there's someone to chat with (and draft behind). The weather is supposed to remain great right through the weekend. We have tenative plans for a longer mountain bike around 11:00 or so on Sunday morning, but I don't know any more of the details yet. Give me a shout tomorrow night if you're interested, and I'll let you know what the plans are. Until next time, get out and ride. This weather is just too damn nice not to. Here's a little video of Niko's first visit out to Team Terpening Headquarters:

90 years.

SInce my grandma went to the trouble of living 90 years, I figured I could drive downstate for the party that my cousins were throwing her. It was supposed to be a suprise, and that certainly appeared to be the case. Bill, Nancy, and Kate drove down Sunday morning, and I headed over from Ann Arbor after spending the night with Ed and Ukari to do the Pontiac Lake Time Trial in the a.m.. It was nice to see Nana, and I suppose the pizza at Deluca's was passable (although probably chock full of poison). However, it still amazes me what kind of surroundings people down there are willing to put up with (Ann Arbor is okay). This Deluca's was in Westland. I don't ever recall being there before, and I sure as hell don't want to go back anytime soon. It's neighborhood's were just row after row of rundown brick houses that were really close together. Well enough of that....let's talk about some racing.
This was my first time doing a time trial race so I really didn't know what to expect. Now I do. Expect to suffer a whole bunch for a short period of time. The sport race was one lap of 9.8 miles, so you really have no choice but to go all out right from the start. They randomly assign pairs of riders to start together at 30 second intervals. The theory being that you are racing against the clock instead of the usual mass start hysteria and jockeying for position. My random partner and I rode the whole way together and managed to pass a ton of people that started in front of us. I don't think anyone starting behind us managed to pass us either. This was a new experience for me as I'm usually getting passed alot and generally have a hard time accelerating to hold someone's wheel. Yesterday, I felt great. This random guy and I took turns pulling, and we really put the hammer down. We rode the 9.8 miles in 49min. 30sec. with an avg. speed of 11.3mph. Considering the technical features of the trail and my lack of dirt time this spring, I was most pleased with the result (7th in the 30-34 age group). My buddy Ed fared even better (in spite of racing on a borrowed bike). The second picture is him cruising down the home stretch to a 5th place finish in the beginner class. Good job Ed. It looks like the weather has finally broken here as they are calling for sunny skies and a high in the mid 50's today. To go along with that wonderful forecast, I leave you with a new inspirational message: Risk = probability of an event happening x the consequences if it does.
This is why it is far less risky to be aggressive and in-control on descents than it is to be unsure and braking.

Still with the snow.....

I have not been able to ride outside for almost two weeks now due to unseasonably heavy snowfalls. At first, I became quite despondant and sullen. But then I remembered, when life hands you lemons you've just gotta make some lemonade. One nice thing about the snow is that it makes using the sauna much more enjoyable. I fired her up after some quality time on the trainer the other night, and it was wonderful. When you're sweating your ass off @ 160 degrees, it's hard to get too upset about anything. Another positive thing about being forced back inside is that I am becoming much smoother on the rollers. I've been using them for my thirty minute warmup before getting on the trainer, and I can ride almost the whole time without touching the wall. We'll see if this translates into better balance once we get out on the trail. I'm heading downstate tomorrow for my grandma's 90th birthday party on Sunday afternoon. I'm taking the singlespeed, and I am determined to ride both tomorrow evening (Pontiac Lake Trail) and Sunday morning (Poto. Trail). I'll report back with trail conditions from below the 45th.

Custom Google Maps

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&om=1&z=11&ll=45.458204,-84.95779&spn=0.261045,0.451813&t=k&msid=109829968746992716249.00000111dd49c8e9d435a&msa=0

I'm not sure how this is going to work out, but I figured it's worth a try. My buddy Zach out in New York just put me onto this custom map thing, and so far it seems pretty cool. You can take any Google map image, whether it be sattelite or straight up roads, and then make your own place markings. It would appear that you can customize it in a host of other ways as well, but that's as far as I've gotten today. If it doesn't show up this time, I'll try again later. In other news, Sarah is working on an evite for the race in order to make it a "little more official". I said as long as you're not wasting paper that's okay by me. So keep your eyes peeled for it in your respective inboxes. I am planning on starting up the WNR tomorrow night no matter what. It'll have to be on the road since the woods are still full of snow. I know it's going to be 38 with a chance of snow, but after two hours on the trainer last night I must get outside to ride. 6:30 behind the store. Be there or be square.

Official Race Information

Due to my busy training and work schedule, I'm afraid this may be the official race announcement. With a little more than a month to go berfore the start of the race, I am not optimistic that I will get the mailing together and sent out to everyone. On the bright side, with the money I'll save on postage and color printer ink I plan on getting a keg of Short's beer for the party after stage 2 (bring a dish to pass and something to throw on the grill). So without further ado, here it is:

*Race dates are May 18-20
*All stages start and finish @ team headquarters. Courses will be announced (maps also provided for those in need) one half hour before the start of the stage. Courses will also be marked as well as possible with blue chalk paint. Leave no trace.
*Schedule as follows:
Stage 1: Friday 6:00 p.m. TT (road) appox. 15 miles
Stage 2: Saturday 3:30 p.m. Marathon (mnt.) appox. 35 miles
Stage 3: Sunday 10:30 a.m. XC (mnt.) appox. 20 miles
*Prizes awarded to overall winner in both classes (mens and womens) immediately following the completion of Stage 3.
*For more info., call Pete @ 231.526.5850 or email @ wpetergurney@yahoo.com

I'm going to do my best to contact those people not frequenting the blog (shame on them) by phone and/or email to let them know about the race. In the meantime, keep training and good luck.

Old Video of Sarge

Nothing new to report (aside from some crappy ass weather that forced me onto the trainer for the first in weeks). Here's an old clip of Sarge from our trip out to Moab last fall. If I can't ride outside, I might as well watch videos of freinds riding outside. Take care, and I'll report back when the weather breaks.

Karma Turnaround

Well, my bad luck on Friday paid off huge on Sunday. The sun was out, and it was almost 55 degrees. I Took advantage of it and had my longest road ride of the season. 43 miles, up to Sturgeon Bay and back on some country roads. Felt great even though my legs and hands were still sore from ripping up old tiles at the store for two days in a row. But the new floor is going down now, so the ball is officially not in my court any longer. That is until they finish up later in the week when Kate and I have to move everything back. The weather is supposed to crappy all week, but what are you going to do. We're still planning on riding @ boyne for the first WNR, but it's supposed to be 32 and snowy so bundle up. In other bike related news, I have a meeting with Scott Q. tomorrow morning in Charlotte. Scott (who also builds the frames for the Bell's MTB team) will be building the frame for my new road bike, and I am utterly thrilled to say the least. Until Wednesday then. Take care.