Unedited

That is the norm as of late.  Oh well, matches most of my comments:) 

So back in Wisconsin and have been really busy finishing up the elan upgrade as well as a bunch of 212 stuff. 

On the bike front, the orders are starting to go out for the 2013 season and our roster is set for next year!  Jersey design is in Mike's hands and if anyone is looking to order kits stay in state and get a hold of Dan at Hidden Bay Sports.  The link is on the right and they do an awesome job.  They also handle smaller numbers so perfect for some of the smaller MTB teams. 

Now for some Bend photos.  These are all from the Queen stage:

Yeah, you are reading that right!!  Went uphill for almost 20 miles, then back down for almost 20!!  Flipping sweet!! 

One of many water falls while riding up the North Fork Trail

Looking down the Tumalo River

Another water fall, kept tempting Michelle to jump in.

No, not your bike!  A pretty cool bridge that we had to walk

A little out of order, but the sample platter at 10 barrel.

Let er rip!!

You can see the smoke from the fire.

What is left of the snow run off, we did find a little snow while riding.

Our last night we took in the local cross scene.

So the last night we were there, we hung out with the Bend Cycle group.  There ended up being either 4 or 5 of us that went to Michigan Tech!  How funny. 

So now we are back in Wisconsin and greeted with some cooler temps and some wind!  Scott and I fought the wind on Saturday for a good ride that took us out to powers bluff.  Ended up being like 70 miles and a coffee stop!!  Good Day!  Next up for us is Bear Paw, looks like the weather is going to cooperate this year! 

RRrrrrrrrr!

That almost went as planned.  This last weekend was the Marathon National Championships for me and my goal was to crack the top 15, but missed that due to a slit sidewall.  Bummer!

The low down:

I was a bit worried about my form going into the morning and the fact that my legs were still tight from the weekend priors Fools Gold 100.  Either way the gun had to go off and when it did, it hurt.  The first small climb out of Wanoga had my legs feeling maxed even though my HR was only in the low 160's?  That usually shows a long, hard day is in store, but after we made it to the first road section, I looked back and I was the last guy in the lead group?  Not sure how it happened but it boosted my motivation.  We rode along pretty easy for the first couple miles then the pace picked up and I had to make the decision to just ride my own race. 

So after the climb up and over Vista Butte and the fun descent into Swampy aid station I found myself in 13th spot???  This is where the fun began.  There was a fun section of trail that brought us over to Swede Ridge then it was the next 20 minutes of climbing Flagline.  I set my pace just below LT up flagline knowing that the little rises along the trail would have me over my LT and I did not want to blow going up this clmb!  This worked well and by the time I hit the top I was in 11th spot?? 

The downhill going into the Dutchman aid station was a hard one for me and I rode it like it was my first day on a bike.  So in a 2 mile stretch I lost 3 spots and came into Dutchman in 14th spot.  I am so glad Phillips was not around, I might of never heard the end of a downhill performance like that:) 

I got caught by 2 more going down the road section before the entrance of Dinah Moe Humm.  We lost one climbing up and over Kiwa Butte and then I lost the 2nd before entering into the last aid at Wanoga where I was riding in 14th spot with 10 miles to go.  I knew the next rail sections really well and had a good gap on anyone chasing so I rode conservatively down Tiddlywinks to save everything for the last climb up Funner.  I rounded the corner and started the climb up funner and settled into a good pace to see if anyone was catchable.  then on the 2nd rock section my race came apart.  I had 3 miles to go and here I was setting with about a 2 inch gash in the sidewall of my rear tire.  I started to fix it and ended up putting 2 Gu wrappers into it to cover the hole, but by the time I had everything fixed a group of 4 or 5 rideers went by.  I got on the trail about 60seconds behind them so I put the hammer down to see if I could catch them.  That never happened and I actaully blew myself up with about a mile to go and could barely get my spent carcass to the finish line.  My tire:

My first flat of the year in a race and it had to happen at Nationals when I was having one of my best races.  Yeah it was a pretty big let down and it required a couple of these to improve my mood:

So what is next??  I am not really sure.  I feel like I am done training for the year and will probably just ride out the last 2 WORS races.  I have not been back on the bike yet since Saturday so maybe a good ride will change my mindset??  If there is a chance at that, todays ride will do that cause Michelle and I are planning to take the shuttle to Lava Lake and ride all the way back into town, something like 30 miles and almost all downhill!!  Can't wait! 

In the menatime, nice work to the team at Chequamegon, Mike P, 4th overall.  Myles 4th overall Short.  Scott 38th overall, 2nd age.  Mark had his best time ever as well, and new comer Bryan finished in a time of 2:24.  Nice work everyone!

Sand Surfing!

Rode part of the Nationals course yesterday and good thing I am half blind already.  The course is super dusty and with everyone out there I am sure that there will be times that you will not be able to see the course!  There is also a definite line that you have to follow, if not you are out in a pile of sand and you need to surf your bike. Either way the course is going to be a good mix of hard and fun. 

After riding the course, Michelle and I went to one of our favorite restaurants here for some paella at Barrio's.  If you are ever in Bend it is highly recommended. 

Other than that not much to report.  Just a lot of coffee and napping on the schedule!  And internet:

Crunchy dirt??

So I finally got my computer out after day 2 in Bend so why not do an update.  I also found a couple pics from Georgia.   I really hope this first one helps them raise money for their cause.  It was actually a little hard to order at the restaurants by picture from the menu with no descriptions? 

The 2nd was a friend Michelle found on a car:

So we got into Bend really late on Monday night after spending the entire day travelling from Atlanta.  Then as we were getting our bikes I noticed Todd Wells was on our flight.  We chatted a bit then I realized that he was coming from the World Championships in Austria so now my trip didn't seem as bad!  His was probably 2 days! Also after talking to him it made me start thinking about this weekends start list so I finally looked yesterday, stacked field is all I have to say.  Craig, Decker, JHK, Trebon, Wicks, Wells, Grant, Cares, etc....  So my goal is a top 15 and with this list I have a pretty big fight on my hands to get there!  On top of this, the trail is going to be a tough one.  Saw Mike (event organizer) yesterday and he said he has been nice to us the last couple of races here and is going back to his old ways of making a hard course.  Good thing I was already prepped for that once I saw we climb up funner for the last trail of the day!!  Also it has been so dry here that the dust is going to be a big problem with seeing the trails and has even left the dirt really crunchy.  The amount of traction you have will be a surprise from corner to corner.

So non bike related, here is a view from our place:

I also have to make RK jealous!  This is where we sit last night and listened to the Huey Lewis and the News concert.  We were a little too far away to tell if he needed assistance getting out on stage or not though. 

Other than that, not much happening.  A little course recon today and lots of relaxing.  In the meantime I found some good advice:

Disposed hay bails?

So Fools Gold was this past weekend and it marks my first overall finish in the NUE series.  I have no clue were that overall is and it will probably take another couple months before I know.  It is not the most organized run series out there, but luckily there are races within the series where the race directors are on top of things which makes for a fun time.  This is one thing that we are spoiled with in Wisconsin with the WORS scene.

Anyway this past weekend went all right, minus what I am blaming on the ingesting of some horse left over on one of my bottles.  I felt fine and actually was in the main group.  I did fall off the group right after this crazy downhill that dumped right into the first section of single track.  This basically caused the splits.  I did chase back on with Christian on the next ascent but it was only in time for the next tech, steep climb that put me over the edge and off the back.  I rolled into aid 2 in around 6th spot and only down a minute or so.  Then when climbing out of aid 2 I started to have some crazy stomach things start and the next thing I know I'm off the side of trail emptying my stomach.  In a normal race I would of pulled the plug, but in a 100 miler you are so far out that the fastest way out of the woods is to always just ride.  So I did and by the time I found the bail out point I was almost 50 miles in and starting to feel a bit better.  I started getting back some spots and riding well then I found RK at our 2nd time past aid 2 at about mile 60.  I rolled in just as he was about to pull out but he decided to wait even though my intentions were to have a picnic there.  We rolled out together and he kept me going for the next 10 miles or so as the cramps started.  After a couple handfuls of endurolytes, 4 or 5 oatmeal creampies, and some water I finally started feeling good again at about mile 75 which is also when the rain started.  Either way RK and I rode together till the finish and kept the pace good enough for 10th and 11th.

So with the NUE done, next up is a flight from Atlanta today to the other side of the the country, Bend for the US Marathon National Championships.  I am really excited to be back in Bend for some good racing and I am excited for the course cause even though I have raced here 3 times, two of them being 100 milers, there is still a trail in there that I have never ridden.  The other plus will be the return of some good coffee, Georgians idea of coffee is Folgers with flavoring.  Not cutting it for me.

6-1-1 Record

So this past weekend was a lot of fun with one of the best races in the midwest to cap it off, The Copper Harbor Trails Festival.  This year was a little different than in past years though, cause we actually raced!  Usually it turns into more of a hard workout, but each of us seemed to give a go minus Brian who was content to sit back and just enjoy the day, except for him going to the front every so often to get some Go Pro footage:) 

So the weekend.  Krayers came to our house on Thursday night for an early morning departure to meet the McFaddens at the Tech trails.  On Friday morning we loaded up the Audi with 6 bikes, 6 people, and even had the rocket box busting at the seams!!  As we were packing RK made the all time rookie mistake and noticed he forgot his shoes!  Luckily for him, Scott has the same size so we had to make a detour to pick up Scott's spare shoes.  Even with the detour we still made record time to Houghton thanks to the backroad passing power of the Audi!  I only saw 100 mph a couple times so not too bad:) 

We hit up the Tech trails for a bit then decided to play around on the tech loop.  Maybe not our best decision cause Lisa had a pretty good spill on the corkscrew.  So bad we were starting to try and figure out how to get a car back to her to get her out of the woods.  Luckily she was able to make it out and in the end was OK minus some good bruises and a possible concusion.  After the Tech trails we loaded up our stomachs with beer, fish bowls, and tosatado pizza at Ambassadors.  Yum! 

We finally rolled into CH around 8PM and checked into the 5 star establishment known as the King Copper.  To our surprise, they finally got new carpet!  I must admit, kind of missed the blue shag under my feet. 

On Saturday we opted to skip the enduro and just ride bikes and hang out for the day.  It was awesome and the trails were as fun as I can remember!!  We even ended up finishing the day with more pizza and beer!  Great pre race meal! 

Race Day.  Ended up fixing Big D's rear wheel cause he broke a spoke during pre ride so that took up most of the morning.  We did get a bit of chill in there but was quickly overcome by it's time to get race ready. 

After a really short warm up, which consisted mainly of talking to Brian and Andrea, it was time to hit the start line. Big D and I ended up backing it in on the front row, even thought it was tight.  I am glad we did cause sure enough, there was a crash on the pavement lead out.  Road lead outs always make me nervous!  After cruising through town being led out by Big D and Tom Carpenter we hit the climb up Brockway.  There was one roadie that went at the bottom but could tell he was going no where since he was riding like a Chick-a-dee, always turning around to see if there was anyone there.  We caught him about half way up the climb and then either Pete, Big D, or Tyler seemed to be setting the pace.  I finally hit the hammer just before the turn into the flow trails so Pete did not get there first!  That kid has some mad downhill skills and I was not going to let him lead, I mean drop me on the first descent!!  When I turned in I noticed that another 212 jersey, whch ended up being Scott, was on the front of the next group so I chilled to see if they could catch on down the flow trail.

We exited the flow trail with a group of about 8 riders.  Big D then decided to get up close and personal with the trail by throwing himeself on the ground to get a good feel of the soil content!  He blocked the entire trail so I set up to wait for him to get back up and let the group come back together.  The group was pretty chill up Garden Brook to the lodge and then back down Her We Go.  Once we rounded the bottom near Stairway I decided to give it a go. I hit the climb pretty good to just see how everyone was feeling and gave me the results I thought it would, Brian, Tyler, Big D, and myself.  We finished out the lap with Jan catching back on down the red trail. 

Then on lap 2, Brian took over so that he could get some Go pro footage.  He also decided to lead us the wrong way, OK there was someone pointing us in the wrong direction as well.  Once going the right way Tyler took over and led up Woopidy Woo.  Pete came back on this climb as well to make our group 6 strong. 

The rest of the lap was pretty uneventful minus Big D ribbing Tyler as Tyler picked the pace up while going up to the golf course for the last time.  We then entered the Red Trail with Big D taking over the pace setting.  Unfortunatly the lap traffic was really bad and we were not able to really let it rip.  I think if we could Big D would of walked away with the race cause he had gaps on a couple different occasions!  At the base of the Red Trail we came out onto the pavement with Big D up about 10 seconds, with Tyler chasing, me sitting on Tyler, and Brian on me.  Tyler reeled Big D back in just before making the left into the field area and then the games began.  Tyler made the first jump but was quickly covered by Big D.  Then as we were coming into the final turn, Big D and Tyler swung wide to take the corner leaving the inside line open so I jumped.  I knew the finish well from years past and I immedialtely got a couple bike lengths.  Tyler tried to turn and grab my wheel, but washed out and had a pretty spectacular crash from what I hear.  Brian had to avoid Tyler and ended up in the sand box but luckily stayed up right as to avoid any injury before he starts his cross campaign. So with the dust settled, I came in 1st, Big D 2nd, Brian 3rd, and Tyler 4th.  This gave me my 6th win here, one tie with Big D, and one defeat to Big D. The paper article can be found here:

After the race the party started with Bells beer, a cookout, and some live music.  It was great to catch up with everyone and is always great to hang out with everyone we race against, minus one DB about mid evening! 

Next up.  Michelle, RK, and I fly out tomorrow for the NUE closer in Georgia, The Fools Gold 100.