Back.... in the saddle again???

A quick trip to the doc, a checkup, and a little ride.  He gave me the OK to start riding again, nothing hard and don't fall, those were the rules!! I made it an hour and a half yesterday and seemed OK.  Still have this tight feeling around the injured area, which the doc says could be there for another 12 weeks!!  Really!! 

With this news coach will be happy, he now longer has to field calls from me, "Can I ride yet???"  Super motivated for the year and excited for the travel.  Started looking for a place to go in February to get some warm weather training in, any suggestions? 

16 weeks to the first race!!  Just as I was getting used to my life of Rockband and Gran Turismo 5!!!

2 weeks in..............

So I am two weeks into my full on recovery and things seem to be progressing quickly.  I was even able to ride the bike yesterday!  It was on the rollers and only 20 minutes, but it was better than the couch riding I have been doing while recovering.  The worst part was the HR strap.  I had to take it off cause it hurt against the ribs!!

I keep telling myself that all this downtime is good, cause it has been years since I have spent this much time sitting on my butt and it may of been overdue.  With all the downtime my motivation is super high and with the new schedule I actually have a little bit of nervousness when I look to the season ahead.  Lots of unknowns and new riding places to visit!! Sweet!

With all the veg out time, I have about wore out my Crappad(iPad) in search of the end of the internet.  I didn't find the end of the interrnet, but the end of the world I found.  Not on the Crappad though, since it does not allow you to load flashplayer content, or should I say half of the internet!!  Stupid thing! If you try to watch the above, I recommend not doing it at work! 

Back to the Crappad.  I am a geek when it comes to tech stuff, more along the lines of home control, but other techie things I enjoy as well. So with CES coming up I love seeing all the rumors and new product coming our way.  It seems like everyone and their brother will be launching a tablet so maybe I can find a replacement in the near future! If anything maybe the competition will make Apple change their stance and let me use the iPad to surf the interenet.  I must admit though, I mainly bought it to control my house lighting and audio/video, which I have not set up yet!  Maybe next year!  In the world of remotes, believe it or not it is a cheap IP based remote control!  If I do find a replacement here is a good use for it!

Slow motion, but moving!

I am finally up and about! Not moving anywhere very fast but getting better each day. I even had some thoughts of getting on the rollers but Ryan talked me out of it. Think it is a good move, come April 30th the body will not have a clue that I was lazy for an extra week. That is unless I fail to get rid of the extra padding that I am developing from sitting on the couch stagnant while recovering!

As for April 30th, that will be race #1 for the year. The Cohutta 100. This year will be different than last though, I plan to prepare for the 100 mile races in hopes of a good overall placing and maybe a win along the way? I have planned six tries into the schedule. With all those planned it left me not being able to hit all the WORS races, which seems to be my norm. Have one good year, then follow it up with a year where I dont get enough races in? Guess with this being my 14th season it is the way I cope with not getting bored?

On the team front, nothing is changing. We will be adding fizik as a sponsor, but other than that the rest will stay the same. The awesome Specialized bikes have started showing up and it is adding to the motivation. Now if I could just heal up enough to ride!

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Struggling!

Well the last few days have been a struggle at best.  I seem to go through good spells and bad, which is probably driven mainly by how well my prescrips are working. On the plus side I have been able to work my way back to sleeping in bed thanks to a contraption that Michelle built for me to keep me mainly sitting up right, supported, and laying on my non injured side.  The worst is that I am actually at home for the entire day, but I am not mobile enough to get anything accomplished!!  The highlight of my day is the slow walk down the driveway to get the mail!  Our mail person is probably trying to figure out what is happening cause it used to be once a week for getting mail, if that!!  There is one plus to all this! I am not able to snow blow the driveway!  That used to always be a task I completely hated and would usually come inside after the task with numb fingers and cussing like a sailor!

So the doc gave me 6 to 8 weeks for recovery.  Everyone that I have talked to says that I will need everybit of that cause it takes a long time for the pain to go away.  Guess time will tell. 

So now for the story of how it happened?  No one really knows!  We had a party at our house on Saturday and I just remember having Michelle help me off the floor and into our room.  I then went 2 hrs trying to catch my breath with no luck.  That is when Michelle decided to take me in to the ER where they ultimately decided I wasn't going anywhere so they checked me in for the night!  Poor Michelle wouldn't go home and ended up laying in a lazyboy listening to me wheeze for the rest of the night!  Finally the next day I started to breath a little easier and they decided to let me suffer at home.  And that is what I have done for the entire week.

So even with the entire week, I still have not figured out what is worse, the pain or the boredom????

Keith Stone

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Breaking News - Keith Stone injured

Keith Stone was injured in a freak accident this past weekend. His injuries include 5 broken ribs and a partial collapsed lung.

Miami Vice

Finally back into this cold tundra after a little break in some warm climate.  The weird part is, I think this is the first time I ever went to Florida and did not take a bike! the riding pretty much sucks down the anyway.  I think the only exercise I did get was doing cannon balls into the swimming pool!!  If I keep it up I am going to be moving as fast as this guy by next spring!

He might not of moved fast, but he was pretty determined.  I thought he was going to run me over while I was trying to get a picture.  He even had a little attitude and I think I heard him make a remark about the dam paparazzi! 

While down there boating seemed to be the theme of the weekend.  We started with some alligator chasing while cruising around the everglades with Captain "Cajun" Tom and his airboat.  Pretty redneck and I think my ears are still ringing from how loud that thing was!! 

Then on Sunday it was game on! 

I was more excited about the fork truck than anything.  Thought it was the coolest that they run around with these big fork trucks dropping 40' boats in the water like they are toys!  It was pretty cool to see!! Once in the water we were off, and in a hurry. 

I now know what a dog feels like with his head out the window doing 80 mph!  I also made up for all the times I commuted to work for gas savings!  OK, I admit, I never ride to work to save gas, I ride to work cause I like to ride my bike!  Anyway, twin 500hp, 502 big block!  Those will suck the tanks (yes that is plural) dry in a hurry! 

We did slow the ride down towards the end of the day to catch a good view of the day ending:

Next up is the annual Christmas bash!  Should be a good one with our trailer trash theme!  Can't wait to see the costumes! 

Finally clean

Well I finally have my bike cleaned up and ready to go.  It is pretty much back to new with pivot bearings, cables, chain, and cassette.  I also put the roval wheels on it that I used for 2 rides while waiting for my ZTR Race wheels to show up.  Asking $3800 for it, size medium, email me if interested: cpeario61@gmail.com

Also I took the photo with my cell phone after a cup of coffee, so if you need better photos let me know. 

Busy

I always love that term.  There is so much perception that comes into the meaning and each persons threshold is only so much.  Well for me things seem to have ramped up but I think I have my head above water.  The time to accomplish the daily tasks seem to take me longer and longer into the evening now but without those task my A.D.D. would kick in and I would be looking for more to do anyways! 

So on the bike front, bikes are being sold and new ones are on the way.  I think we are about halfway on the bikes.  Left on the to sell front are 2 medium epics, a large epic, a 29er stumpy frame/fork, and a medium era.  Let me know if there is interest.  Also on the bike front, the arrival of next years wicked fast, sweet rides!!  I am so excited to get on the new epic next year after seeing one at the Iceman.  They beefed up the rear triangle, added the 142 rear spacing and through axle, and the new carbon rovals!  The thing is going to be a rocket ship!!  It always amazes me the R&D that goes into bikes.  You think that there is nothing more that could get better and then.... there it is......  Sweet!

Other than bikes I have a couple project houses on the audio/video front.  Both are out of state, New Jersey and Florida, so I will have a little travel but nothing like the last project that had me going for a year!!  Both of these are going to be pretty basic and with the introduction of the IP controllers it cuts the job time down!!

We have also introduced some new pricing at Adventure 212!  Memberships are starting at $10 a month and it has people about tearing the hinges off the front door so we have been spending some long days here! 

On another note though, I am home this weekend, that is a first since I believe June!  We are sponsoring a Chocolate Fest in Amherst that will take up some time on Saturday, but on the plus side my time there will be spent as a Chocolate Judge!! Might have to follow that up with a trip to Central Waters Brewery to make the day complete! 

Front row Daniel Tosh(Tosh.0)

Thanks Michelle!

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Decisions, Decisions???

As the 2010 season disappears in my rear view mirror, I have started to look at some of the schedules being published and looking into what races the 2011 season will hold for me.  I am looking at more of the long races after having some success at the Cohutta 100 and plan to get enough in the books for an overall. So that means I need to do at least four races and I am planning on a 5th in case I need to drop one?  Another race that I am looking at is the Marathon National Championships in Bend.  Bossman lives out there and is excited to have me out there to race in his backyard, at least that is what he is telling me!! 

The dilemma though, it is the weekend of Chequamegon.  It has always been a goal of mine to stand on the podium there.  I have been close but when it comes down to making that final selection I have always fallen a bit short so I always focus and tune my training leading in for that one time things finally play out!  It amazes me when you see a rider like Brian who just has it figured out!!  Either way after all the attempts I feel it is time to try something else so I am leaning towards the National Champs in Bend. Other than that some WORS racing.

In the meantime, the weather is changing and I am going to enjoy some downtime.

End of an Era?

This company was great to me while coming through the ranks, would be sad to see them dissapear.

JRA

Just riding along.  Every shop employee has heard that one and that is what I have been up to all week.  With the end of the season this is supposed to be my downtime, but with the warm temps here and the threat of snow coming I am taking advantage of my last few days without fenders and studded tires!! 

I figured I would be out by myself since most people are in a little end of season break, but I did run across one of my favorite riders the other day.  This guy never leaves my side, rides the pace I want to ride, and never drops me!! 

As for a race report from Iceman, someone crashed in front of me in the first corner and took me down so I just rode my bike for the day. 

Who brought this guy??

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Starting my winter base

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Land of trolls

Back home. I grew up as a troll. For those not from MI, those in the lower peninsula are known as trolls cause they live below the bridge.

The closer we get to Traverse City the more I think I should of kept training for this race. Too late now!!

I also missed the past 2 safety billboards "don't text and drive"! Good thing I wasn't driving cause I missed them both cause I was texting!!

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Say ya to day UP, eh!

Off to Iceman!

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That time of year

Time to sell bikes.  Between the team we have lots of bikes to sell.  There are 2- 2010 Large Sworks Epics, 2- 2010 Medium Sworks Epics, 2- 2010 Medium Sworks Eras, and a 2010 Large Sworks Stumpy Frameset.  Let me know if there is any interest and I will get all the info.  Email me at cpeariso61@gmail.com

Best team money can buy????

Not sure my thoughts on that comment, but I can say it is the best team period!  If you sit back and look at the improvements everyone made from the year previous, it is amazing.  Ryan came from finishing in the teens to finishing 6th overall, Lisa moved from 4th overall upto 2nd overall, Big D went from 4th overall to 2nd overall, Michelle came from not riding to 6th overall, and along the way there was always one of us challenging for the podium spots and the win.  We are a team that feeds off the success of our teammates and will do anything for each other to make sure that season goals are met by each rider.  Not to mention we had a lot of fun along the way!!  

Today was no different.  Big D, Ryan, Michelle, and I left our house this morning and met up with Scott on the Tomorrow River Trail.  We then headed into Point and hit the Green Circle Trail, Emy J's Coffee, and then back home.  All in all a bit over 4 hours of nothing but riding bikes and having fun!  It might not help the Iceman results any but it sure was a lot of fun!!

                                                   

  

It was much needed after a week of tons of problems on the bike.  It started at the cross race last Sunday when I decided to cutomize my rear derailleur.  I left nothing but the bearing on one of the jockey wheels??  Not sure how that happened, but why does cross use road derailleurs and not MTB derailleurs?  

So then I tried to make up for it on Monday, by going for a road ride.  I got a bout 30 minutes from home and flatted.  This one was my fault though!!

Then on Wednesday I forgot my booties!  Not a good day to do that when it had a realfeel of 29 degrees, was sleeting, and the winds were blowing at 40 mph! So I improvised! NASCAR fans everywhere would of been proud of this work! 

I then finished the week with a ride from hell on Saturday.  I put new tires on, got about 15 minutes from home and cut the sidewall completely out of my new tire.  I called Michelle to come get me.  I then grabbed my spare front wheel and went back out.  This time I made it about 20 minutes from home and broke a spoke on the front wheel.  The wheel only has like 18 spokes so when it let go it wouldn't even turn between the forks!  Called for another ride and then decided that I would be better off riding the couch for the rest of the day!

I did have some fun this week.  Ryan decided to work on his bunny hopping skills while bombing through town.  Well, he needs to keep working on it cause he wrecked his powertap wheel so i built him up a new one!

Me too!

It is bad when you have set in one spot long enough for this to happen!!

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Say it's not true!

So today I woke to the freezing cold temps and had thoughts of what is to come! Winter.  I pretty much hate every aspect of it and can never figure out why I live in Wisconsin.  Something tells me this will be a struggle for years to come cause Michelle absolutely hates the heat!  I usually try every year to find someway of escapping some parts of winter, even it it comes in short weeks spent somewhere riding my bike that doesn't require an hour of getting dressed!  There is something wrong when you get back from a winter ride and you had enough clothes on to fill the washing machine!!  Not right!  Eitherway my search is still on for where to head this year. In years past I have done Arizona, California, and last year I even hit up Kentucky just cause I saw a forecast in February that said it would be in the 40s!!  I know I will be at camp again in March, but there is still January and Febuary to deal with!  The search will continue!

In the meantime, I think the only thing that is falling faster than the temps outside are my power numbers.  I must admit though, it has been nice to just go ride my bike.  The bad part is that The Iceman is really going to hurt!  In the short term, I am planning on cross on Sunday at Camrock and in a weird kind of way hoping for it to be wet?? 

Curly bar racing, dirt style?

Went cross racing this past weekend, if you want to call it racing. 

So I showed up and there were lots of people looking like they seen a ghost when they saw me there! 

Luckily Brian took me under his wing to show me the ropes.  Brian's mountain biker rules to cross racing:

1:) Yes they give you 2 numbers, but neither of them go on your bars?? What?  Yeah place them both on your back like a big wind sail.

2:) Watch out for the guy who has two different style of brakes on his bike, I didn't even know that mine did?  Never paid attention!  Guess the ones on the front are wide stance for power and the back narrow stance for aero dynamics??? Like that matters with the number sails they give you!

3:) Doesn't matter how you get over the barriers as long as you do not fall! 

4:) Not supposed to have a bottle cage on your bike! Most bikes do not even come with the mounts anymore?  Good thing there were people out there giving beer hand ups!! 

I think that covers most of them?? Anyway, my idea of racing cross is to line up in the back cause it is more fun to pass people than to get dropped by the lead group. So thats what I did.  I had worked my way up on the first lap till someone slid out in front of me and the rest of the gorup behind decided to pile into us!! Ouch!  I laid there for a second trying to decide if I wanted to get up or not, then when I did get up, I had to decide if I wanted to keep racing or not?  All these decisions!!  I decided to get up, cause you can never just pull the plug 5 minutes into a race!  So I got up and started chasing.  My chasing kept getting derailled though by my seat post slipping down for some reason?  Thinking I might of split it in the crash, but haven't looked yet? Either way on the last lap I saw Brian coming up on me.  I warned him not to lap me but I think that did nothing but fuel his fire cause all I got was a big grin!  In the end coming down the finish stretch he sprinted me like I was in 2nd place to end my race early and increase my cost per lap!  He thought he was ending my suffereing, which in hindsight, he was!  I really wanted to finish on the lead lap though, even after everything what had happened.  I think at the end of the day I finished in 13th spot, a fitting number considering my luck for the day. 

So now whats next, I think I am going to try it again this weekend?

Attacked!

Got attacked by a Wolverine, luckily not much meat on my bones so he threw me back!! That should leave a nice scar!

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Don't laugh!

Don't laugh at me today when I trip on the barriers!!

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WORS.12

WORS Race #12, Done. What an awesome season.  I counted quickly, but looks like 34 top 5 finishes, and 7 wins throughout the season!  As a team I could not ask for more and I love the way the 212/Specialized team feeds off from each others success.  There is no selfishness and the decisions are made on the fly on who has the legs and who is going.  This past weekend it was Mike.  The race before Darrin.  Mike put it best, it is a good feeling to be out front knowing that you have a teammate behind you controlling things and not chasing you down.

So onto my race.  I think most people heard Lisa announce my birthday at the start, so I really was out to have a lot of fun!  I still wanted to ride fast but the result was less of an issue this week with 5th overall already wrapped up, sorry Ryan.  Anyway, when Don said go I decided my own fate when I missed my pedal, not once, not twice, but three different times!! I settled in and just tried to remain as patient as possible and move up. At the end of the 1st lap I moved up into a group that was 4th-6th on the trail and had Mike and Darrin up front.  I then started to play around some by trying to attack and open gaps on the road sections and then holding things up in the singletrack trying to get Ryan back up and maybe get him the 5th spot on the day.  My strategy almost worked cause I did blow up Scott and Seth, but Ryan was unable to get the 5th spot with Ron having a great ride and taking the last step.  The end of the day had Mike taking the win, Darrin 2nd, me 4th, Ryan 6th. 

The girls had fun and rode hard to finish out their season with Lisa having 2nd overall wrapped up and looks like Michelle will be 7th overall for the year.  Nice work everyone. 

Now it is back to some JRA(Just riding along) Or as TSP and I put it, TITS (Time In The Saddle).  I love the part of just riding my bike!  I have always been one that likes the long 4-5 hr rides with no real purpose.  I did glue some cross tires on though and have my cross bike ready for some racing.  Might see me out??  Might not?? The only definite is Iceman, for a nice ride in the cold northern woods of Michigan followed by an awesome year end party!  Cannot wait!

ANTI training!

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Get in my belly!

I don't know if I like riding or eating more. Good thing they compliment each other!!!

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Top step

Congrats Big D on your first win. The rest of the team did well as well
Me 3rd
Ryan 4th
Scott 9th
Lisa 2nd
Mark 2nd in age comp

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How quickly we regress....

To normal life that is.  After Chequamegon I have been on the bike once.  Life has taken priority and I have started to complete the things I have put off all year.  It is nice to step away, but at the same time I quickly miss riding the bike.  Usually this time of year riding my bike is the number one priority and training is at the back of my mind.  All the "A" races are done and beside the Cohutta result, none of my other goals were met for the year.  Kind of a bummer, but it happens.  If there is one thing I have learned over the years of riding a bike, you do it for yourself, and yourself only.  So your results are exactly that, your results. If you are happy with them and had a fun season then that is all that matters. 

So the last "A" race of the year, Chequamegon.  The race did not go as I had intended.  I put all my eggs into that one bascket, blew off a month of WORS racing and was wanting the podium.  Well, a no go.  The team did everything to position me and I just could not respond.  So what did we do to make up for it.  We tried to burn down the woods in Cable with a Phillips size campfire.  Which means 2 bundles of wood, a half bottle of lighter fluid, and a bag of charcoal, match light of course!!  Set a blaze and enjoy with you favorite beverage.  Then once that gets boring, add bottle rockets!!  Learned that they blow up under water!! Freak'n sweet!  After all this, the police never showed, no one lost a limb, and with all the beverages the long, drawn out, freezing cold, slide show after everyone had already left, awards party was bearable at best.  The best part of the awards party was putting 10 people in the McFadden NASCAR van for the trip over there!!

Next up, sounds like a mudfest up North!  So why did I put a new chain on my bike? 

Another one down

Made it through another Chequamegon. The team as a whole did really well with the highlite of the weekend being Lisa's trip to the podium:

I will do a race run down at some point, but for now here are the results
Mike - 7th
Me -10th
Darrin - 11th
Ryan - 16th
Scott - 22nd
Lisa - 3rd
Di - 7th
Michelle - 16th

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10 years have passed? Really!

So today Michelle and I are celebrating 10 years of multiple bike trips. Hundreds of bike races. Probably hundreds of bikes too!!! Way over a thousand lattes all over the world! Millions of laughs and fun times!! No counselling yet for Michelle after putting up with me, despite everyone's beliefs! She drinks more now than she used to though! Just kidding! Either way I would not change a thing and look forward to what's to come!!!

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The lists

So I have seen all the lists being generated on who is going to win this weekends big show.  Time will tell.  I have my picks to watch and with the horsepower coming in the form of 212 colors I am liking our odds as well!  If there was a team competition there is not another out there that could compare.  Judging by the weather forecast things are going to be wet and could factor in if you are caught not paying attention.  Either way good luck to everyone up there!! 

As for last weekend.  My race was over after some roadie settled in front of us and let the 2 leaders get away.  It would of been nice to been able to work together with him, but must be different on the road scene. Either way, I was happy to have the legs coming around at the right time and to post a solid result going into this weekend. 

So now my own weekend list,

Sweet bike: Swork Epic. Check
Good Form: Did all I can, Check
Fast and Fun Team: Big D, RKL, Mike P, Scott, Michelle, Lisa, TSP, Di. Check
Sweet Accomodation: 5 bedroom log home. Check
Awesome Sponsors: Specialized, No Tubes, Scrub, Easton, Hidden Bay, Crank Brothers, Hostel Shopp. Check

See you there! 

Scratching Rocks

Cruised around standing rocks today. I have learned to always wear the arm warmers so you do not leave there looking like you lost a cat fight!!!

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What a crazy weekend!

Good weekend for the entire 212 crew!  Also lots of laughs, killer trails, crazy storms, blown off roofs, candlelite dinners, downed trees, and an awesome crew maintaining the trails to get them race ready! Nice work to the Copper Harbor Crew!!

After a long drive not much to say and looking for some couch time.  I will try to make it up later in the week but in the meantime here is the paper article from today!

I'll get you my pretty!!

Not in Kansas for sure! So last night we were at dinner, which was candlelite due to the lack of power, then they make the announcement: " anyone staying at the King Copper please move your car, the roof is coming off!". Really!! So TSP and I drove over to the hotel and sure enough there are shingles sitting on the car! What an adventure!

So we have been hammered up here! 50 mph winds, rain from every direction, and the waves on the lake! Just crazy! There are a bunch of down trees so not real sure what the scoop is on the race. I am sure there is a lot of work to do before we'll be able to head out but the group is still planning to hit up Super D this aft. Hopefully no one gets blown off the hill.

Desert Racing @ the Dump

Made it through a weekend at Franklin.  Better than I think I ever have.  This has been a course that has my number and usually I am not excited to come here.  Lots of changes and hard work by the crew down there and it actually turned out to be a fun experience despite being one of those courses that lends itself to have the most local advantage out of any other course that I have ever raced on. 

Either way I still trained right through it with all prep leaning towards the big dance in the northwoods in 3 weeks.  So the race started out faster than my tempo legs would carry me, and I almost put myself on the ground twice during the prologue.  After my mishaps I found myself way back in the pack and was forced to chase.  Not that I really did!  I just put it at my tempo and never slowed, at least not till the 2nd lap.  I had a moment when Ryan wanted to tow me around and I was not real interested in making the hurt worse so I told him to go and I would settle in with Seth.  I did this then rode away from Seth on the final time up the dump.  In the end the Adventure 212 guys took 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th.  The biggest shout out needs to go to Phillips for coming off the couch and finishing on the blocks in 4th!!  I knew he had been training and was going to have a good race here.  Couple more weeks of prep and he will be back to his old ways! 

On the womens side Lisa finished 2nd and Michelle 7th.  Michelle had to make a couple stops to fix a slipping saddle that set her back a little but she still maintained her composure and finished well. 

Next up for a majority of us is the Copper Harbor Fat Tire Fest.  Always enjoy going up there, hanging out, and racing some awesome trails.  I recommend everyone go, it is a must do race!!

Come on, this is ridiculous!

Just so they could get somewhere 5 seconds faster!


The entire Adventure 212 team wishes Jason a speedy recovery and hope to see him on the trails soon!

Routine has not interrupted life

There is nothing that is routine about my life.  It is always something different and I choose not to even attempt to plan anything cause it will never go that way anyway!  So with that said, things have been good and not to any set plan, sweet! 

Yesterday was a good example, my Monday.  Met Scott at Adventure 212, had breakfast and a coffee and headed south for the day!  Our first stop was Randy's Restaurant in Whitewater to hear about some of the MTB product that Giant is introducing this coming season.  After some lecture time it was then some lunch and off to the Southern Kettles to ride the bikes they were just talking about.  I stayed out of the way as much as possible since I am not selling the bikes like all the other dealers there but did get to ride their new 29er squishy bike.  Thanks Jeff for letting me tag along!!  After some laps around the Southern Kettles we were off for some pizza at Moosejaw and then back home.  What a Monday. 

Now even further back, the Ramble.  I think this sums it up:

This was one of the buttons in our hotel elevator????  It sums my last 2 races up though!  RKL, Ryan Krayer.  Whenever I am in trouble, there he is and this week no different.  I whiffed a pedal at the start, chased back to the front, the pace never lifted and I got shelled.  Not good.  Either way, I fell backwards through the group, then along came Tyler, Ben, and Ryan.  We worked together for the next lap and then I attacked with about 6 miles to go.  I knew this would give us a good chance of taking the 2 top spots out of the group since I would hopefully stay away and Ben and Tyler would be forced to chase giving Ryan a free ride to the finish.  Well it worked and we came in for 6th and 7th on the day.  Big D had a much better day and came in 2nd for the day. 

Now onto the women.  Wow!!  Lisa came away with her first WORS win!!  Sweet.  While also, Michelle came away with a 3rd place overall and her first WORS overall podium finish.  Nice job girls!! 

For our southern exposure, we had Phillips, yes Mike Phillips, race to the victory at the Palos race down in Illinois.  Great to see him racing again and I am sure we are going to see him on many more podiums in the future. 

Now for some goodies, look at my gift the other day:

Scrub Rotors!  If you don;t have a set, you need some!  Just click the link to the left and order them up. 

Once again thanks to all the sponsors that keep us going and to Pete for coming out and cheering the team on this past weekend. 

Quick flash back, not really

So I am 2 races behind!  How did that happen!  I am going to skip the BB and move right into the downhill speed race.  The abbreviated version though.  Mile 10, assisted tumble. Forceful bike adjustments, back on. Through group 3, up to group 2(Thanks Tyler). Ryan comes back and asks me what to do. I tell him to get me to the lead group.  He says OK and blows group 2 apart.  We catch Darrin and Mark'o at about mile 25.  We chase, get within 15 seconds of the lead group and cannot bridge.  The 212 team rolls across for 8th, 9th, and 11th.  Great times!  Also thanks to Stans, I finished with this nice roofing nail in my tire!!

The women made us look bad by taking 4th and 5th.  Nice job to all and congrats to TJ. 

Now onto this week.  Yesterday I felt like a Pro.  Scott and I met up early, grabbed lattes off my espresso machine, loaded up the road and mountain bikes and headed for GB.  Met Pete for a morning road ride on the roads south of De Pere.  On our way back in Scott and Pete about got taken out by a delivery truck that did not stop coming out of the driveway.  I was so happy to see them both swerve at the same exact time to just barely miss the front bumper of this morons truck!  After the road ride we headed over to Nicolet for some breakfast and talk about next year.  Yes the 2011 season.  Amazing how these talks happen earlier every year.  I really think this is easiest for all partied involved cause bike companies like to know their orders early and I like not running around getting bikes the day before a race.  Needless to say Team 212 will be riding Specialized bikes for another season! Sweet!!  If you are looking for a killer bike then go here http://www.specialized.com/

Once we were done with breakfast, Scott and I then headed over to the Reforestation Camp and hit up the MTB trails.  Not digging the 2 mile leadout, but the rest is a lot of fun.  After riding we then went to lunch and headed home.  Not a bad day at all.

See everyone this weekend!!

Collection of sights

Pictue share!  They all have the same theme, but I will leave that up to you decide what that similar theme is: 

No pic for this one since I was driving.  On my way to Nordic Mountain today, Bow Fishing Adventures!!  Sweet, I think this is how the Krayer's met! 

Last weeks ride, I had to stop and get a picture of this!

At the brewer game, McFaddens need to get more stickers on their van!

Last week Big D and I hooked up for some SST work, in this case it is our Super Secret Training!!! Phillips is working on a power meter for it!! 

I have been working on my motor pacing, I do not know anyone with a moped, so I improvised!  These things do like 30 and once underneath, you don't have to pedal at all!!!  I wonder if he is headed to church???

Then last, but definitely not least, saw this gem down at the Mohican 100!! The Pugsly has nothing on this!!

Enjoy, see everyone this weekend?  Be gentle on the first lap, think I might of forgotten how to race?? 

In a nutshell

To milwaukee, home, back to Milwaukee, back to home, to Madison, back home,to Green Bay, and now just settled into a hotel in Marquette. Also some good miles on the bike without the need to get prepped for any races and even a couple group rides, and for anyone who knows me that is rare. the riding has been awesome as of late and I am really digging the new S-Works SL3!!!! Talk about a rocket ship!!

So my week has been fun. I rode with Big D on Wednesday night and had one of my biggest meltdowns in a long time! It was toward the end of the ride so the "ride of shame" was short and we did not get passed by any old ladies carrying flowers in their front basket on their bike! Then to finish the legs off Michelle and I went to Neenah and did the Thursday night ride out of Gear N Up! Scotty B is a good friend and it is always fun to see him and everyone else in the area. The ride was pretty tame and for the most part everyone just took turns pulling their weight and keeping the pace up there. It was definitely fun to go back to where I really got going. I remember that I used to just hang on for dear life and last night I barely averaged a HR in my endurance zone. Reminded me that all the hard work has paid off.

Now my next dilemma is what kind of riding I should do for the weekend? I have both bikes along and both the road riding and mountain biking look to be awesome up here! Any suggestions?

Recharging

Feel like things are finally coming back to me a bit.  Last week was a busy one and left me a bit worn down.  All I have to say on my last week, never, ever, ever think of putting in a commercial pool!  They make changes to codes/regulations seems like once a week which had us draining the pool last week for some guy to come in and take pictures/measurements and was only there for not even an hour!!  So 5 days of work for someone to walk around for an hour!

On the fun side, Michelle and I went to Milwaukee last weekend.  She race the Stupidweeks race on Saturday morning and just missed the break.  She ended up riding around with the 2nd group of 6 where no one wanted to work or help chase the 4 off the front.  Either way she said she still had fun and pulled off a top 10.  We then met Mikey, yup Mike Phillips, and Darrin at Crystal ridge to beat up on each other.  Loads of fun, not the trails so much but riding with those two!  We then continued with dinner and a Booze cruise out on the Gulf de Milwaukee!!  They had a live band on board and my people watching skills were in total overload!!

On Sunday we took the clan out to The Kettles.  I have not been there in over 4 years!  Man they have been busy building new trails!! So we started out slow on the blue loop then turned it up and beat each other into submission!  Again another fun day on the bike!!

This week I am moving forward with prep for the big races to come and it is going well.  It is rare that I am so motivated this late in the year, but I like the motivation and I am going to use it. 

Two wheels keep on turning

What a stretch of racing.  I do not not know why I cannot just make myself focus on certain races, but I love to race my bike so I sign up for everything.  So what have I been upto, lets start all the way back in April, here is my race schedule that I just completed:

24-Apr NUE Cahutta 100
2-May WORS #1 Iola
9-May Rasta Rally
16-May WORS #2 Rhinelander
23-May
30-May WORS #3 Wassau
6-Jun NUE Mohican 100
13-Jun WORS #4 Kewauskum
20-Jun Kewaunaw Chain Drive
26-Jun WORS #5 Subaru Cup ProXCT
4-Jul Firecracker 50
11-Jul WORS #6 Eau Claire

Not too bad considering the couple 100s in there and the 50.  Which for the Firecracker 50, if you have not done I highly recommend it.

So onto Eau Claire.  The group started the drive home from Colorado on Thursday, a quick stop in Baraboo Friday night to drop everyone off, Michelle and I made it home at 10:30PM Friday night, up on Saturday morning to watch the tour, throw everything in the car, then off again!! Love the trail in Eau Claire and would not miss it now matter how tired I am! Etiehr way the "GOOOOO" went off and i settled into 3rd wheel going into the first section of single track, a little bobble coming out and then in 4th behind Tristan.  Then halfway through the lap my chain dropped.  Faught it back on and settled into 12th.  Couple passes and then on the 2nd lap saw Ryan putting his chain on?????  Anyone else have problems dropping the chain on the "XX" rings??  Seems to fall from the big ring, over the small and likes to wedge between the frame and small ring?  I am trying new chainrings and chain this week, hope that helps cause it has happened enough to both Ryan and I to really become a problem. 

Either way, back to the race.  I could not chase back on with Ryan so I let him go. He ended up getting back to the group of 6 and actually took them for 4th spot nice work!!!  He had the ideal situation to sit in the group cause he was not going to chase down Darrin and I was dangling off the group so it was up to everyone else to pull and he played it right.  Darrin has a gresat ride again and finished 3rd.  TSP also had a good ride in 11th, Sott came in 28th, and Mark finished 4th in his age!! On the womens side, they are still making us look bad.  Lisa came in for 3rd, Di for 4th, and Michelle for 7th even after breaking off her grip and going over the bars.  She said she was a bit shaken and took her a little bit of time to regain her composure, but still pulled out a good finish.  We have concluded on the team that no matter how the year finishes up we are nominating her for the "Most Improved Rider" award. 

So, next on the schedule?  Reload and get ready for the Triple crown races. 

Shortest Epic Ever

Yesterday turned out to be the shortest epic mountain bike ride in history.  Brian, Spencer, Ryan, and I headed out French's Gulch headed to the land of bliss singletrack descents.  We were spinning along up the hill and at about th 20 minute mark, mother nature decided to hurl hail at us the size of M&Ms.  We ended up takign cover underneath a bunch of trees:

We ended up hanging out for about 30 minutes as it continued and started to turn the trail white!

It let up for a little bit, but it was just enough to get us out from our shelter so that she could throw more at us.  After taking shelter in the woods and a couple close lightning strikes we decided to fly down the hill and back to the truck.  By the time we reached the truck we were all so cold and beaten from being pelted with hail.  After having to bail on our last ride out here, we decided to improve our moods by hitting up the Breck Brewery!  That helped!  We are leaving today and next up will be Eau Claire!

Easy spin down the bike path

Well that is what it was supposed to be.  Kind of hard to do that with all the trails hidden in the mountains calling your name.  So all of us rolled out of the condo, ripped down the hill we are staying on, and I mean ripped at like 40 mph on knobbies for the 4 miles to town. We then hit up the bike pat hbetween Avon and Vail.  It was nice to just roll along and spin the legs.  Once into Vail the decision was made to head up to this overlook that followed the Wednesday night race hillclimb.  After 20 minutes of climbing we came to the top and we had a great look of where we came from:

After the 20 minutes of climbing we figured that there had to be a trail to cut us accross to the condo since we were at the same elevation.  We asked a local and got the scoop!  So we all saddled up and headed even fruther up the hill, another 20 minutes up and we found the trail.  It was awesome, this nice flowing trail that had great burms and every so often popped you out into these alpine meadows.  We pushed on, then pushed on, then pushed on....... We have to be there?  I only brought one water bottle as well as everyone else in the group minus Spencer and Ryan who ended up having to share their 2nd bottles with us since this trip was their idea anyway.  At about 3 hrs into the trip we hit this hike a bike section, the section that the local said that if you get to this point you made a wrong turn!  Suck!  Well we hicked it, and hicked it for 20 minutes up these steep, rocky sections till we finally found the road that we were looking for. when we came out onto the road the trail was posted from the other direction:

Needless to say we were all pretty tired by the time we weere done with our trip that went from a ride down the bike path and turned into a 4 hr over the mountain trip.  We then decided a good dinner was in order and at the end I think Lisa can explain the way we all felt:

 Not sure what today has in store, but looking forward to another good adventure!!

All roads lead down

What a fun day!  The guys headed over to Keystone to work on our Super D skills, cause we have lots of those in Wisco!  Either way it was a blast and had lots of fun.  We were there for 3 hrs and managed to get 4 runs in and 28 miles of down!  Sweet!  We kept things pretty chilled and had zero stops at the ER, another plus.  The only casualty of the day was Brian deciding to work on his dismounting skills face first.  We did this fun trail that had an awesome corkscrew that started about 15 feet up then you circled around it down to the ground, it was pretty cool!!  Check it out here. 

Today I think is going to be a chill day and just get some relaxing in.  We have been on the go pretty much since we arrived and most of us seem to be dragging from the affects of racing and altitude starting to really take its tole.  Gonna need a vacation to recover from vacation!  Where to next??

Race Pictures

2 posts in less than 4 hrs, enjoy.

Oxygen Required!

Well I just got a good reminder of how bad it hurts to race at altitude!  I had a good first lap coming through at just a bit over 2hrs, but then we had to do another lap.  Really!  The first one hurt bad enough.  Well, needless to say I had granny gear envy and ended up walking a couple of the really steep rocky climbs.  After all that I ended up running a 2nd lap of 2hr and 44 min! Ouch!  This race out here is awesome though and I will be back.  I will workon getting soe pictures cause we have some pretty good ones within the group.

The girls rocked the team comp and ended up in a sprint finish for 2nd place.  Lisa nipped the girl at the line and even ended it with a nice fist pump.  Was pretty cool to watch and they are really starting to make the guys look bad!!

Today we are thinking bou tdoing downhill runs at Keystone.  Never done it before and it sounds like fun!  Lets hope my next post is not from the ER!

Invasive species

That's what I have, so the doctors say, and it will not go away.  The word that I am getting is I have a Bronchial virus or something.  All I know is I have a fever, shortness of breath, and just want to sleep all the time.  Not even my multiple daily lattes seem to help anymore.  I am not sure I believe all this, but I do know that I am not at 100% which is not good when you are headed to elevation to race.  Either way, we are off to Colorado and looking forward to the entire experience.  I will do my best to keep up with post and maybe even get some incriminating pictures cause I know either Ryan or I will do something stupid while we are there!! 

What a weekend

The house was full again of some of our close cycling companions and some Australian guy?? Where did he come from?  Either way it made for a fun weekend of racing bikes, hanging out, and eating well!  Good thing we were riding bikes a lot cause we went through a lot of food!! 

So the race recap.  Lots of podium time for Team 212/Specialized.  We started things out on Saturday with Sarah racing the Cat 2 race and I am sorry but I cannot remember how she did?  I believe she won her age group and was 3rd overall, but don't quote me on that.  We then moved into the Cat 1 race.  The women made the men look bad in this event with Lisa 1st overall, Di 2nd overall and Michelle 10th overall!! Not to mention Michelle winning her age group!  Ryan ended up 5th overall in the Cat 1 race out like 100 competitors!! Sweet.  Then it was onto the PRO Men.  Darrin rocked the day with a 16th overall, while myself I will talk about later, and Scott in 56th. 

Short Track.  Sarah scored the first win of the day in Womens Cat 2 by taking the overall on her antique Klein!  Lisa then followed with a win of her own with Michelle coming through for an awesome 7th Overall!!  Ryan came in wtih a 7th overall in shrot track as well!!  Then Darrin backed up his XC finish with another 16th place in STXC, Myself later, and Scott 41st. 

It was then up the hill for Super D.  I am still a bit confused on where everyone finished on this cause I was completly bonked by the time everyone got down the hill.  I must say though it was the biggest turnout for Super D that I have ever seen!!  Either way the big story here is Darrin took his first PRO win with the win in Super D!  I somehow ended up on the last podium spot after riding down the hill and not pedaling much??? Oh well it bought ice cream! 

Next up is the Firecracker 50 in Breck!  I cannot wait! 

If you didn't come to Wisco!

Well you should of!  The course rocks!

Going cross eyed

Thats what it will be like this weekend.  Michelle and I went down to the site of this weekends showdown in Wisco.  For what we could figure out the trail is going to set up for a good, HARD, battle.  Maybe not against each other as much as 7 laps on the hill.  The course is about 4 miles long and from what we could tell you snake all over the hill with several short climbs.  The reason I say from what we could tell is there are trails cut all over the place down there!  Downhill, Cat2/3 loop, Cat1 loop, Pro loop, Super D, STXC so at times it became hard to follow the exact route.  Either way the legs will be screaming at the end and you will be testing your fitness.  It is not quite my style of a course with the punchy climbs, I prefer long drawn out climbs(Which we do not have in the midwest), but the course is going to be a blast.  Come out and watch or at least represent the midwest as we bring back top ranked racers for a WORS race!

Smiles ear to ear!

What an awesome race course!!  This past weekend the crew containing Michelle, TSP, Di, Jon, and Lisa, went to the UP, eh!  The chaindrive was the race and I must say the course was a blast!!  Tons of singletrack that kept you on your toes the entire time.  The race start was a nice roll out since there was a head wind on the way out and Brian, Mike, and I were all just busy chit chatting to keep an eye on each other.  After the 3 mile lead out, I decided I didn't like my position going into the KOM before the singletrack so I went around everyone on the side of the road and hammered in to the hill.  My mistake was I set up to lel Mike, and Brian to get on only to get destroyed up the hill!  Ooops!!  Eitherway I got back on the lead group containing Brian, Mike, and Chad and we flowed through the singletrack smiling ear to ear!  Unfortunately I woke up with a fever and sore throat so I was struggling with a really high HR and just not feeling the best.  I was still riding OK and it did not change the outcome of the race at all.  My biggest mistake came about 15 miles into the race when I went to move my water bottle from my jersey pocket into my bottle cage.  I fell off the group about 10 seconds, but did not panic.  I ended up chasing and took a risk in one corener and went over the bars.  I bounced right back up but could not get my chain out of between the frame and small ring.  Either way once I got back going all I heard from every check point was 1 minute.  I was not closing and they were not getting further away.  Kind of sucked cause i rode the rest of the race by myself.  In the end I finished 4th overall.  I guess Brian and Mike sprinted it out for the win with Brian taking it cause he had more knobs on his front tire, guess it was that close!!  Todd came in 7th overall so two of us in the top 10!

For the women, Di came in for 2nd overall and Michelle rounded off the last podium spot for 3rd.  Lisa also took here age group win in her 2nd  MTB race ever in the 16 mile race!  Nice work girls!!

We then finished off the weekend with some riding of the Tech trails were I learned how to MTB!  Cannot believe how sweet those trails are.  They are even well marked.  Whoever is doing the work up there definetely has it figured out and I recommend a trip up there to ride!!! 

Speaking of trips, everyone in the midwest had better represent this weekend at the Subaru Cup!!  We have a PROXct race coming to town and after all the grumblings I heard post Alpine Valley not coming back I expect to see you there!  So get out and race the big dogs coming to town.  It is not often that you get the oppurtunity and they are fast!!  Not to mention the course is one of the better WORS courses.  I will give more info on the course later in the week, I think Michelle and I are going to go scope it out on Tuesday. 

Heads been spinning, and the wheels too.

At least they were 2 weeks ago at the Mohican Mudfest.  We arrived down there to a tornado warning and these ice chunks falling from the sky leaving nice little imprints into my 6 month old truck.  Freak'n sweet!  Guess that is what I get for taking Mother Nature off my Chistmas Card list.  Don't tell her, but I don't send out Christmas Cards anyways!  So the crappy weather continued and all in all, 2 tornado warnings, 4 inches of rain, hail, and with all that flood warnings were published on Saturday afternoon as well as Scott's, Mark's, and my DNF.  Not to mention the other 200 and some racers that did the same!  What a mess. 

The same weekend some of us were @ Mohican, Darrin was busy up at the 3hr WEMS race in GB where he came out with the win.  Also the same weekend Michelle and Sarah represented 212/Specialized on Tarmac at the Wisconsin State Road Championships.   They did very good and after all was said and done Michelle ended up taking 3rd for a nice podium, check out how close she was to 2nd:

pic stolen from Jay!

Sarah did well too, finishing I think3rd overall but had a one day license so guess you don't count in road racing if you only race every once in a while!

This past weekend was the Kewaskum WORS race.  The team did well with our nightly feed being moved to Darrin and Lynn's since all of us were down in the Milwaukee area for various things.  It worked out well cause we all had food babies by the time 7PM rolled around!!  Yum, I love to eat.  Michelle and I also decided that it would be a good idea to get some R&R in this weekend and decided to get a hotel in DT Milwaukee.  We ended up crashing at Hotel Metro and really enjoyed ourselves.  They had a bar on the top of the building and could not pass it up even though we were racing the next day.  The problem was that we were so cozy that when it came time to start thinking about racing, that was the furthest thing from my mind so we ended up going over to Darrin and Lynn's again to take in everyone elses pre race jitters to try and get the motivation up.  Well it never came!  Etiher way the race went well, even though I blew getting into my pedal at the start and was sitting in something like 20th hitting the 1st climb.  I kept it moving and raced my own race hoping people would blow, no luck with the race time being so short and came in for 6th place.  Really enjoyed it though cause I rode around with Ryan all day and was even treated to the girls new 212 cheer!

I must admit, when I heard Ryan clapping back there I had to give a little dig, but it was all in fun.  So for the day Darrin was 3rd, Me 6th, and Ryan 7th.

Now onto the ladies.  Lisa rode well and battled it out with Abby all day only to lose by 5 seconds once the dust settled.  Not sure how everything went down but On the first lap Ryan and I saw Lisa crest the top of the hill with a small gap so she must of decided to go from the gun.  Michelle struggled a bit and was not real happy with her placing, but I am super excited to see her back racing and how much improving she has done so far this year.  If she keeps going I might have to stop racing and support her! 

This weekend Michelle and I are headed up to do the Chaindrive.  I have never done this race, but went to school up there and know how much fun the trails are.  Scott and Mark will be headed over to the Lumberjack 100 and the rest of the team I believe is laying low to get ready for the ProXCT race to hit Wisco the following weekend.  Cannot wait!  If you are on the fence on weather to do this event, you better book your travel and not miss it!! 

Where's the love?

Next up is the Mohican 100.  It should be fun with a lot of climbing and sounds like good singletrack for parts of the course.  From what I am hearing from Scott it might not be exactly what I would prefer with a bunch of short steep climbs, but either way it is climbing and I like that!  I also have a bit more motivation after taking 2nd at Cohutta and not getting any love from cyclingnews in their pre race press release!  Thanks!