Roller Coaster

This week is all about recovery. Short easy spins. I have not taken an easy week for quite some time. I made the mistake earlier this season going into a marathon tired and I paid the price with a piss poor day.

The weather is crazy around here. Sunday raced in sleeveless and Wednesday skull cap, warmers, wool socks, etc. This is a recipe for a cold, good thing I have the luxury of spinning the next few days because the weather continues its ups and downs.

For once, I am glad I am missing a race. The weather in Iowa looks like hell for the 2nd Trans Iowa. The forecast I saw for those nuts calls for highs in the mid 50s lows in the upper 30s, 60-70% chance of rain and to top that off a head wind of 10-15 mph for 300+ miles of gravel. I predict less than 10 will finish again this year, my prediction is IF the weather develops like they are forecasting. At least the Dirty Kanza is a loop so sooner or later you will get a tailwind.

Mid 40s Wednesday night called for cool riding gear. I prefer riding in 90+ degree weather to 40 degrees.

At least, the wind was non existent last night. This is a wind check point early in my ride. If there are wakes on this little pond, hold on to the bars. I prefer the mirror like look, no wind.

Good views with the gloomy day. The only thing missing was fog.

I could not resist sharing this one. I received an email with this attached. I think the mighty mullet is on its way back. Not for me though. Is that a musset bag he is carrying all his valuables in or a man purse? Check out the rotary dial cell phone cleverly attached to his hip. He might even sport a camel toe with those tight britches. I cant get away from this photo, I am obsessed. I just noticed his rolled up shirt sleeves, this dude is a walking fashion statement.

Perry XC Race Report

No additional posting last night. I slept like a baby from 9:30 last night to 7 this morning.

Tough race yesterday. The forecast called for mid 70's they missed it again, after the race I saw 88 in Lawrence. I think a lot of racers suffered in the mild heat we had, me included.

I lined up next to between the Cowtown hammers, Studnicki and Tige Lamb. I thought if I could maybe keep them in sight I would have a good day. Studnicki got the holeshot, again, Paul Quindry went into the singletrack 2nd followed by Tige and then me. Tige quickly went by Paul on the first climb and I tried to chase. I bridged up to the Cowtown duo, but paid the price. Once I arrived on their wheel I had no gas to continue at that pace. I settled into a pace I thought I could maintain for the distance.

Before the first lap was through, I felt like I was bonked. I had no power, my arms were weak, and the tough course was kicking my ass. I thought anytime now I would fall over and die. I could ride a steady hard pace, but anytime I tried to push to the red line I could even go anaerobic. The only time I went anaerobic was during the start and the first mile. This feeling haunted my the whole day, but I managed to catch a few of our minute men (Pro-Semi Pro 29-under class). I passed up to 5th place in upper class on the last lap, so I wasn't going to bad but it did not feel good. I finished 3rd in the Expert 30-39 race. Tige unloaded on us and finished way ahead with Studnicki 2nd and Pual ended in 4th. Not much happened during our race. I think the mild heat caught us by surprise. This pretty much locks up 2nd in the points for me. I need one more consistent finish and I will have my best series finish since upgrading to Expert.

Trying to stomp it, but nothing was coming out of my legs today.

Beautiful scenary out on the course.

This was the dustiest course I have raced on in a while. There was parts that the powder was a inch or more deep. I definitely had the wrong tire choice for the dust and rocks. I used Karma's, way too narrow and very little volume for Perry. I struggled with traction all day, I tip-toed through corner after corner drifting out to the edge almost everytime.

My stumps (usually legs) needed a bath (and reprimanding) after today.

Very happy to stand onto the wood Sunday. I am well pleased with 3rd on a tough day.

Once again a huge thanks goes out to the Heartland Race crew. Craig, Scott, Mark, Lyle and all the rest put on another fun event. Be sure to thank them at Bike Source next time you stop by. Up next on the series is June 4th at Landahl. Before that I have business at Syllamo in Arkansas, then maybe a stop in Columbia for the Rhett's Run XC in mid May.

Perry XC Pictures

Here is a sampling of some pics from Perry. Fast rough course. Lots of good fun.

Dave Burnett giving it hell up one of the rises.

We're off. Tige must have got a running start riding way outside like that. Really, Tige started side by side with me. He got a good start and went on to win the Expert 30-39 race.

Never aging Doug Long. This guy seems to get faster each year. He owns the Expert 50+ class wherever he goes. On another note, Doug retires this year and he will only get faster and work harder for the sport of mountain biking. For a retirement gift his wife surprised him with a new Specialized S-Works Carbon Disc Epic.

Cathy Reidy pushing hard on a tough day. It looks as though she may have taken a little dirt nap on her right side.

Jon Martinez and the single speed racers start. Today's course would have been hell with no gear choices. Good job guys, you are the tough guys in our sport.

Race report and more photos to come later. By the way I finished on the podium in 3rd, I am happy to have that one after a day with crap legs.

Playing In The Street

Went out today to keep the legs loose with Brian and Richard. We rode to Mound City and played in the streets and traffic. For a little town, they have almost all newly paved streets that are hella fast and smooth. We took turns hammering around a course we had laid out with several switchbacks and turns. Good fast fun.

There were plenty of these fast 25+ mph turns that kept up ripping.

Brain trying out his "Lance Chronicles see-through stealth prototype jersey".

Richard laughing, "Brain thinks he will get these wheels back, yeah right".

tomorrow is another killer Heartland XC race at Perry Lake. The forecast is calling for a chance of rain/storms tonight and in the morning. I hope they forecasted wrong, I am not a big fan of mud races that destroy trails and bikes. I am currently tied 2nd in points in the Expert 30-39 class. I must go and get my rest on for tomorrow. I'll report back late Sunday.

More Good Times

Is there a bad day on the bike? Yesterday cruised with Richard (17) for a couple of hours on the road and then met up with super junior cyclist Dylan (12 1/2) for a little more fun. Dylan had 2 flats before we hooked up with him, he changed them all by himself with little effort. I love the life and enthusiasm young riders have, it always lifts me up.

Today was another beautiful day. Gravel, fire road, and a little trail mixed. A few sprints to keep the legs snappy and I am set for more racing this weekend. I added up that I have already raced for 16+ hours off road this year. 2 more Sunday and at least 5 1/2 in Arkansas will make for a bunch of racing this early. I plan to take a breather in early May, I have a few non cycling activities planned I need to tend to (more on them later). I will not stay away from the bike, but just pulling back the reins for a month or so.

You probably get sick of me trying to prove that Kansas is not flat, but I could not resist showing these views.

How about that for riding eye candy!

This is a super secrete trail/fire road I am sneak in on every now and then.

Someone added this cool bridge in place of the ditch. Good work. I don't know why this place is so "off limits" and why it is at least 7 miles away from the nearest paved road. No signs, nothing.

In road news, local KC pro Brian Jensen is riding in the Tour of Georgia. He is riding for Jelly Belly this year. After today's 59th finish in the time trial he sits 50th overall, 6:20 back from some ex-mtb racer named Floyd Landis.

Time to hit the sack. I have some sleep to catch up on from all the excitement I have been having lately. I'll let you in on the fun another day.

Tuesday Night Training Series Begins

Sorry for a lack of posts lately, but I am back with a little motivation to share with you my adventures and experiences.

Great weekend of Easter riding. I got in two awesome days on the bike. Saturday great road ride with Richard. Sunday was a good 4+ hour gravel grinder with Brian. He may even post some pics on his site.

Since a lot of others get to do week-night group hammer fests or races. I thought I would start up my own series. Low key, no prizes, and a little underground. The inaugural night saw only three sign-in. Me, Myself, and I.

For the course: Plenty of climbing!! I love to go up hills.

This hill was visited twice tonight. Around 200 feet of elevation gain in a little more than a 1/4 mile. Do the math, it is a bitch!

That was not the only hill on the route. Several other "stingers" were encountered as well.

There were to be no cruising the "flats". I pushed the pace for 2 hours. Average power for the night 215 watts. Last year at the KC Tues. Training road crit, I usually averaged 205-210 watts of 45 minutes for pack riding. No hiding tonight, no sketchy ass packs; just put your head down and punch-it.


Don't stare long, it may cause blindness. I opted for the sleeveless jersey to even up the distinctive tan line. I love sleeveless, the air flowing through keeps the core way cooler. I think sleeved jerseys trap the air on the arm band, while sleeveless lets the air flow.

The finish came down to me attacking myself and I on the last climb. I jumped them both at the top and rode solo the last 10k to take first prize.

Got an e-mail from Niner Bikes saying the Air9 MIGHT be avaiable mid summer. I may just go for the E.M.D.9 which is supposed to be ready mid May. Then once the Air9 are ready get one at the end of the season or the begining of next year. I don't know.

Race this weekend in Perry. Should be another great XC course. I am digging the shorter courses with more laps. After that I hope I am in for Syllamo on May 6th. I sent my entry a while back and my name still is not on the registrants.

I got the nerve to Stans my Zonos carbon wheels with the Karmas mounted. They looked good. I used my old 26" rim strips and 2 scoops. No trouble inflating, I aired them to 35 psi and let them sit overnight. The next day I drained the air to 10-15 psi and tried to rip the tire from the rim, no luck. Anything has to be better than flatting two races in a row.

Congrats to my part-time training partner Richard. He won two 2-mile track races in a week's time. He is only a junior in high school, so look out next year. He runs and rides 1-2 times a day, he is getting stronger by the week. We decided to hold off on bike racing until track season is over, but after that it is game on.

Crowder Race Report

I just got back in from a great recovery spin with my wife Liz (Elizabeth). I cannot quit thinking about what a great day of racing yesterday was. It is days like that, that keep making me get up every morning.

Race day started out with the typical breakfast of oatmeal, bagel, and OJ 5 hours before and then top off the tank with a smoothie 3 hours before start time. I also include the consumption of almost as much water as I can stand prior to the start. This leads to frequent restroom stops traveling to the races (every 45 minutes to be exact).

I started up the engine by checking out the super sweet singletrack Crowder has. I rode the first 1/2 of the course and was satisfied and turned back to the start. I gunned it a time or two to clear out the cobwebs. I was cruising through a section with back to back log crossings. I hopped the first and thought I hopped the second clean. I was wrong...I was flying through the air endo style. Yes I took a dirt nap before the race even started. I jumped up cleaned out my shorts and hurried to the start line.

They lined up all the expert classes for a mass start. Awesome, we started in a big group like a stampede. Imagine almost 40 flying expert men coming down the fire road start at eye bleeding speed. I bet the individuals at the bottom of the first downhill were horrified when they say all of us screaming at them at speeds close to 20mph sideways with dust and rocks flying everywhere.

I entered the singletrack in 3rd in my class. I felt very cool, calm, and comfortable. I picked of a few of the Pro/Semi-Pro guys to keep Studnicki close. I was blasting a downhill catching up ground with my big wheels, when pissssst; another damn pinch flat. Two races in a row, you have got to be kidding me. I had not flatted hardly at all in the last 2-3 years and now I am jinked. I half heartedly and laughingly changed yet another early race flat.

I hopped on the bike and took off in dead last, 16th place. I am now pissed off and started charging like a maniac. I decided I would pass as many people as I could before the laps all expired. Before the race, Doug Long warned us of the Bone Yard. I through caution to the wind and took the most rediculously wicked part and passed 3 people in 25 yards. I was f--in pumped up.

When I come around the finish climb, Liz was waiting and wondering if I went on a detour. She motivated me by saying I was not far behind. I gave it hell over the top and took more risks.

Next time up the finish climb, I was motivated by seeing a few fast guys in my race ahead. I chased hard and picked up a few more spots. On the bell lap, Craig said I was killing it when I passed through the finishing chute. Not content with the pain I was in, I burried the throttle and put myself in the pain cave. I believe I was able to pass 6 guys in the Expert 30-39 class on the last lap.
I was super excited to be able to pip the 6th place rider at the line to finish on the podium in 5th.

What a great day on the bike. The last two Heatland XC races have been THE 2 Best XC races put on by anyone in the last 5 year I have been racing. Great courses, perfect weather, good racers. We even got to see Squirrel's kick ass pick hair. I cant wait until Perry in 2 weeks.

After Perry, another week off and then down to Syllamo for another Arkansas 5+ hour epic mountain bike race.

Check out Kim Morris Photography, he was out taking snap shots at the race. These are some of the best photos I have seen at a mtb race. Be sure to thank him by ordering some pics. We want him at every race.

Ouachita Race Report

I am finally getting around to posting my recap of the weekend. Talk about a good time.

Early Saturday, I met up with my Bike Source teammates Dave, Craig, and Scott for the 7 hour trip down south. We picked up the Trek Store caravan on the way down. The more KC folks we picked up the rowdier the bunch.

We all made it down to pre-ride Saturday afternoon and jumped into the trail to check out the conditions. It was nice and warm compared to the weather we have had in the last week in Kansas. We rode about 20 minutes until a Craig and Dave came up missing. Scott and I turned back to hunt them down, while the rest went on their way. We met up with Craig who had a pedal fall off, what a way to start the weekend. Apparently, the bearing froze up and un-threaded itself and fell off. He had no trouble putting it back on and was back in business. We busted as to get with the others. We soon met up with them and returned back to where they were camping that night.

After they setup their tents and lined up their gear, we all went to a local cafe to get some grub. Craig and Scott had been talking this cafe up for a few weeks and we had to have the Chicken Fried Steak Dinner. It was funny, because of the 10 at the table 8 ordered the Chicken Fried Steak. The steak lived up to the hype, it was so good I even mopped up the last bit of gravy with heavily buttered toast. That is the kind of meal that sticks with you. We then headed to the local grocery store, where I was surprised to find Soy milk and other good breakfast food.

We set of the find our cabin for the night. Liz (my wife) made arrangements for a cabin in Hatfield. It was awesome; hot tub, flat screen, recliner, decked out kitchen the real deal. To bad she could not share it with her, since she was unable to go. We went to work on the bikes and headed of to bed.

We drug our asses out of bed at 5:30 to make breakfast and head to the start. With the temps hovering in the mid 30s I struggled with what to wear for the race. I decided on only knee and arm warmers and only a undershirt, I also grabbed a race map and put it under my jersey for a wind block down the road to the start. I managed to get down the road to the fire road start to find myself on the front row. I give my wind block/map to the guys in the van and we were off. Big ring hauling balls up the first fire road mountain, but wait oh shit my bike is jumping gears all over the place. I spent most of my effort trying to fix my shifting gremlins while everyone was racing up the first mountain of the day. I struggled to consentrate on putting force to the pedals, whileI frantically adjusted my X.0 shift pod back and forth with no success. My head was totally out of the game. I made it into the single track, where I was stuck behind fast starters that couldn't ride trail. My gears still jamming away; I thought something has to give, I jumped off twice looking for the problem and finally took my rear wheel out and put it back in. Great, the bike started to shift flawlessly. Know I am hauling ass up the single track passing riders on the steep climbs and rock gardens. Did I mention big wheels rock? I was finding my grove through Big Bushy and up Blowout Mountain still passing riders with no one passing me.

On the descent down Blowout Mountain, all hell broke loose again. I was bombing the downhills like no tomorrow. I whipped it around a switch back and pinch flatted on huge rock. SHIT! I frantically started to fix the flat and in my own confusion put the wrong F-in' tube in. I put the tube I just flatted with in and couldn't figure out why the hell it was going flat. I should have paid attention to what I was doing, instead of watching all the others ride by having a good time. I got a good tube in and I was off. Pissed off and riding out of control I crashed three times before getting off Blowout Mountain. Once over the bars, bending my front wheel out of wack. And two other times over shooting switchbacks. With all my crashing I managed to screw up my rear shifting again. I stopped twice to dig my chain out of my spokes and yank my derailluer hanger half-way straight again.

I decided to chill to the first Aid station. I watched a few riders hussle in and out while I took my sweet ass time pouting. I jumped on the bike and was off again. I rode half-hearted and dejected and something finally clicked that I didn't come all the way down hear to poke-ass around. I gunned it on the fire road, I decided to kill it and see how many I could pass before the finish. The rest of the day went real well. I lost track of how many I passed before the finish, but I am proud to say that only a few passed me while I was either pissing or stopped refueling at an Aid Station.

I ended up with 41st, not exactly what I was looking for. I am content with myself not giving up regardless of my misfortune.

Locals doing well. Matt Brown finished 3rd, that is great considering having last year essentially off. Tige mid 20's, Craig and Scott finished mid 30's. Dave finished the test, fighting knee pains and craps all the way. Josh, Joel, and Jim also beat the tough course with respectable times. The bad luck award goes to Brad Cole, who had wheel troubles while running 3rd and ended up rididng a truck back to the finish.

That's all for know, I am already looking forward to next year. Next up my favorite course ,the Crowder XC race (April 9th) in Trenton, MO.