Happy Labor Day

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. I labored, so mine wasn't that much fun. But the best part of the year is here now, so let's all make the most of it. I certainly plan to. I'm ready to start putting the final touches on my preparation for the big canadian adventure. I'll be putting in some more hours during the week, and the next two sunday's have some big rides scheduled. This sunday is Hugh's Humongous 100. I will do 50 of those on the dirt with only one gear. The sunday after that will be a long ride somewhere with the boyz. I think right now we're leaning towards the 24 miles of pain section of the NCT that includes the infamous Chandler Hill. The other option is the NCT from Kipp to Sturgeon. Either one sounds good to me, so I might just leave it up to Benson. The wednesday after that we'll be hitting the road for the great white north (actually the race is about due east of here, but we do have to head north initially in order to get there without a boat). In unbike related news: I went sailing with JT yesterday on his new boat, and it was awesome. The wind wasn't even that great and it was hotter than s**t, but I still had a great time. We have plans to go again next tuesday, and I'm looking forward to it already. WNR @ HQ tonight. Bring an appetizer to pass. Oberon currently on tap in the shop. See you there.

It's Been A Long Strange Summer

It's almost over, and I can safely say this has been a very long and strange summer. On the store front, I feel like I've been on a carnival ride that speeds up almost to the point of self destruction every few days before slowing down to a barely manageable pace. Only two weeks left now, and I know I'm going to make it. My new training regiment has paid off in spades, and I'm feeling really good. Power output is up and body weight is down. I'm in the midst of a recovery week, and I'm actually finding it hard to take it easy. Today is the first day off the bike since before the Ore to Shore. I know deep down that this recovery period will pay off in the long run. I've got Hugh's 50/50 ride in two weeks (50 miles on the dirt + 50 miles on the road), and then I've got two more weeks before the big shakedown in Canada. I think my ability to maintain even a shred of sanity this summer is definitely the result of bicycle commuting and yoga. That's all to report for now. WNR @ Larks Lake trailhead of the NCT. Until then, thanks for reading and keep the rubber side down. Over and out.

Quick Ore to Shore Recap

I'll have to keep this short because I have to get back to work this morning. Rain the night before made for a nicer course than last year, but the slippery stuff in the beginning did lead to a couple of not so serious (but time consuming) crashes on my part. Fortunately I was able to keep my head in the game and kept a good steady pace going for the first 35 miles or so. From there I was still feeling pretty good so I really put the hammer down. I passed a ton of people in the last third of the race and came in at 3 hours and 14 minutes. That's almost 20 minutes faster than last year. I was definitely hoping to have cracked the top 20 in the 30-34 age group after coming so close last year (23rd). The nice girl at the timing table handed me my printout, and I had to ask her if she was sure itwas correct. She said it was. I ended up 8th out of all the other 30-34 year olds. Needless to say, I'm really happy with how the race went down. It gives me a great boost to keep the volume up in training for Hugh's Humongous 100 and the stage race in Canada just over a month away. Other team results: Hugh 3:01 and 5th in the 50-54. Doug 3:08 and 11th out of all the singlespeeders. WNR @ Boyne this week. Start time 6:15. See you there. Over and out.

Final Prep for O2S

My final preparations for the Ore to Shore this year were definitely in keeping with my new training philosophy. In years past I would have ramped down my hours in the saddle and tried to avoid any extra manual labor this year. This year I took the exact opposite approach. I've still been riding a fair amount. And I took on a few extra projects around the house. They turned out to be big projects and now I'm really starting to wonder how good of an idea it was (at the same time I really didn't have a choice). I started off my chores by stacking ten cords of wood for the winter. When I ordered it a couple of months ago, I really didn't take the race into account. But at least it's done.



My second big chore was to rip out all of the carpet in our home tuesday. It took me the whole day, and it was one of the most disgusting/physically hard homeowner job I've done to date. My body is really sore in a few new and interesting ways. But I needed to be ready for our new hardwood floors that are going to be installed monday. Jamie called last week to let us know he'd be ready to start next week. So I had the option of doing it tuesday, or waiting to do it when I get home from the race on sunday. Now that I've done it, I'm sure I made the right choice. It really sucked, and I would have been even more miserable if I'd had to do it on sunday.



So to make a long story short, I'm sore but feeling okay at the same time. I've been feeling really good on the bike for a couple of weeks now, and I'm mentally ready for the task at hand. I'm just going to give it a really good push at the start up until the top of the bobsled run (20 min. in) and see how I'm feeling. If I'm feeling good, I'll put the hammer down and make a race of it. If I'm not, I'll back off a tad and see how the day unfolds.

WNR report: Good turnout, and exactly one year since that bi**h ran Chris over. We all celebrated with a little extra beer and were thankful that Benson's still able to ride with the big boys. Have a good weekend everybody and ride well. I'll do my best.

Anniversary Ride

The Wednesday Night Ride August 6, 2008 also marked the one year anniversary of CB's car attack/crash. In honor of the day, Chris, Doug & Kurt got an early start for the Pro-Loop/Pre-ride. Kurt had a minor issue with a rock which caused his tire to unseat & lose air, luckily the trio made it back to Terpening Station & Pete had a spare wheel in the stable. The official ride group included the aforementioned trio plus Pete, Rob & Matt. Along the ride, we made our regular stop in the field before the sweet downhill & CB noted that at this time last year he was getting hit by the SUV. After the ride, we all enjoyed a wonderful meal prepared by Sarah with help from the gang. There were a few added to the social & dining crew including Marcus Q, Jess, Amber, Sonya & Marcus, Scott, Katherine & Mitchell, & Zach. Thanks to everyone for coming out to ride & share in the day.

As a follow-up to a post-dinner discussion on proper Cycling Hand Signals. Since we couldn't come to a consensus, I did a little research and have to acknowledge my ignorance in the matter and have included examples of correct signals here:

Under the terms of the Vienna Convention on Traffic, bicycles are considered to be vehicles and cyclists are considered to be drivers...so ride like a driver & Share The Road.

Good luck to the Ore to Shore riders this weekend & to Katherine & Scott on their nuptials 8/8/08 & their reception Saturday. Next week's ride is at Boyne at 6:15!

Last WNR (of July)

I have been overdue for a post and seeing as how WPG wasn't able to join the group, I guess I can fill in the details. Pete arrived hoping to join us for part of the loop but his pre-riding had taken a bit more out of him than expected & he needed his reserves for the spin home...so the group was on the small side with Rob, Matt, Jessilyn & myself in attendance. Jess got some directions & felt confident she knew her route as she was the solo girl rider & didn't want us boys slowing her down. Matt had a different plan in mind for the route with a diversion on a section of single track that Y-bike Dave had shown him. It turned out to be a pretty cool alternative climb that bypasses the "old" logging two-track climb (that Marcus fixed years ago), Pete's Knee, & the Stuffed Lamb & brings you out to cross the two-track just before you cross onto Boyne's property - newly marked by their ridiculous sign-in request signs. We obviously poached the trails & headed on to the South to North Peak run & caught up with Jess at the top of the Loser trail (she's so fast!) & that's where the group split up, Matt had a shorter route in mind so Rob & I headed out to the bridges & then back down to the new climb to try the downhill direction. All in all a good section, a bit overgrown with some biting thorny spots but it's late July & that is the price you pay for beautiful single track. Rob & I decided that Sarge's section would be required to complete our loop & other that a few more scratches on the arms, it is in wonderful shape as well. We even shared the trails with at least 10 other riders, on their own routes but enjoying themselves immensely...even a tandem! Well next week starts a new month so the WNR is at Terpening Station with a bit of hoopla for the 1-year anniversary of my crash. I know Pete & Hugh will be tapering their efforts before Ore to Shore but for those able & willing, Rob & I are planning on arriving early for the Pro-Loop. Until next time, get out & ride!

Whoa!

Had just about the busiest regatta weekend that I can recall. Things went just about as smoothly as can be expected though. We've got a great crew of kids this summer, and that definitely makes a big difference. It seems like most kids these days are lazy and apathetic; but if you look hard enough, you can still find a few good ones in the bunch. I've got one more week of heavy saddle time, and then I'll start tapering off in preparation for the big race coming up on Aug. 9th. It's going to be interesting to see what happens. I'm not sure yet how my new training strategy (more riding/less structure) will work out when it comes to actually racing. But I'm feeling good, and you can just catch a glimpse of Labor Day if you try really hard and squint. Hope everyone had a good weekend. WNR this week 6:15 @ Boyne this week (show up at 3:30 if you want to start with me). Thanks for reading.

Countdown to Regatta

Less than a week to go now before the big regatta weekend. It's probably our second busiest weekend of the year, so it's a good one to get out of the way. Once I get past that weekend, there are only a couple of weeks before Ore to Shore. After that's it's mostly smooth sailing to Labor Day and the end of yet another summer in hell. This summer is my 15th, and I honestly don't know how many more I can handle. I'm not sure that it's possible to understand what it's like without experiencing it, so I won't bore you with all the gory details. Suffice it to say that summer is far and away my least favorite season. At least I've got three other ones that don't suck. On the brighter (cycling) side of life, things are going rather smoothly. I've been getting in a good ten hours a week of saddle time, and I'm looking to up the volume a little now that I'm getting ready to ramp up the racing again. After the Ore to Shore, I'll have about a month to get ready for the 3 day stage race in Canada. I'm really starting to get excited about that. I'm looking at it like three marathon races in a row where you get to camp/hang out with all your fellow racers at the end of each day. Also in bike related news: I put the old LeMond back into working order about a month ago to be my primary commuter vehicle. I've got a rack with panniers (thanks for the loan Hugh) on her, and it's been great using her to cruise around the county. In a little less than a month I've logged just shy of 500 miles that I normally would have driven. I'm super motivated to see what kind of total I can rack up before the snow starts flying this fall. Now if I could just find a good route, I could ski to work this winter..hmmmm..probably not going to happen. WNR this week on the NCT. Meet at the Pleasantview Twp. Hall for a 6:15 departure (Hugh and I will most likely be departing headquarters around 4:30 if anyone's interested in a longer ride). Take care and ride well.

Evolution

When Mike Bodt was in town over the fourth, he was commenting on how much the Loop behind the house had changed since we all took up biking back about 8 or 9 years ago. I like to think of it as more of an evolution though. Over the years the trail has evolved according to training needs and the unending quest for more singletrack. When it all started the trail had very little singletrack and was only about 6 miles of an out and back loop. We all thought we were bad ass for making it up the big climb to the 95 acres without getting off to walk. Now, I ride up that climb at race pace over and over again as one of my favorite interval workouts. Yesterday, I rode what I consider to be the current official Loop. After the initial few miles of singletrack you climb up to the 95 acres and descend down to Five Mile Creek road. From there you use Geary Rd. to get to the back of Pond Hill Farm. After riding the outermost perimeter of the farm, you head over to the creek for all of Sammie's freshly groomed singletrack goodness. From there it's home via the cart path. It's just a hair over 10 miles now, and the flow and mix of trail type is just about perfect. Come on out and ride. This weeks WNR at Larks Lake Rd. NCT trailhead. Hope to see you there.

Quick Update

Just some quick and random thoughts to let you know I'm not dead:

1) New WNR ride time: 6:15 instead of 6:30. This week the ride will be @ Boyne. We're planning on some serious climbing so come prepared.

2) I've been getting a lot of time in on the saddle, and I'm definitely over the bad mojo that plauged my world this spring. I've gotten to be more proactive about the things in my life that I can control, and I've done my best to come to terms with the things that i can't.

3) Try riding a bike somewhere that you would normally drive to. I've taken to riding most places I need to go (work, yoga, doctor appt., haircut, etc.), and I'll tell you what: it's a win, win, win situation all the way around. I feel better mentally when I get where I'm going. You don't have to worry about parking or traffic congestion. You get a little exercise. And most importantly, you save $ on gas. I haven't totally converted, and I still drive one or two days a week to transport clean clothes/dirty laundry and beer/empties between the store and home.

4) I'm coming to truly despise some of the people I have to deal with in the summer months. We have one customer that won't drink Fiji bottled water because it's "wasteful" to have water shipped all that way. This same guy just built a 8,000 square foot summer cottage and travels on a private jet. Do the fu**ing math a**hole.

5) Congratulations to Scott and Catherine (sorry if I misspelled that). They're getting hitched next month. Best wishes from the team.

That's it for now. Over and out.