New Ride!

I got an early Christmas present. Satuday morning I recieved a phone call from Outdoor Motion, the local bike shop in Hutchinson, that my bike had arrived and was ready to be picked up. I was really surprised because it was on backorder and the anticpated ship date was some time in February. The 2008 Gary Fisher Rig is a very nice looking bike with a decent component group considering the price. The bike comes stock with the new Fox F80RL 29er fork, tubless ready wheelset and Avid BB7 brakes.

I haven't had a chance to take it out for a ride yet, but the bike feels very comfortable and the cockpit feels spot on. The only changes I have made are a Bontrager X lite carbon flat bar (with less sweep) and I removed the spacers under the stem and placing them on top. Compared to the Supercal FS the bike is slightly more upright and the bar to saddle length is nearly 2 inches shorter. Despite the larger wheels the bike feels surprisingly compact. I can already sense the benefit of the larger wheels and their ability to roll over obstacles with ease. When I ride into the family room from the kitchen down the two stairs, the bike rolls almost effortlessly. In contrast, the 26" wheels are noticeably rougher down the same stairs.

The bike is no lightweight, but considering the components not too bad. The bike stock comes with realatively heavy Bontrager ACX 2.2" tires and I currently have my old Time ATAC aluminum pedals on. In the current state, the bike still weighs a respectable 25.8# (size medium 17.5"). Interestingly that is the same exact weight as my Supercal FS. In comparison my race HT weighs about 22.5#.

Nice Weekend for a Ride!

Andrea and I spent the Thanksgiving extended weekend at my parents in Cottage Grove. We had an enjoyable thanksgiving weekend and even got out for a couple of rides.

We had contemplated going out early Thursday morning, but decided to sleep in instead. We decided our next chance would be on Saturday because Andrea would be pulling a marathon shopping spree on Friday starting at 4:00 AM. Unfortunately I made the mistake of not setting an alarm and we didn't get up until after the kids were running around. We didn't want to leave and let my parents take care of getting breakfast for the kids so we hung out until a little after 11:00. We made the drive to Lebannon Hills and met up with Dana and Jodi who had arrive shortly before we did. The conditions were near perfect with temps in the mid 30s with a slight breeze. The trail was in great shape with a light dusting of snow in a few areas not touched by sun. We rode the intermediate, X, XX, X, and intermediate to complete one lap. We stopped a few time so the ladies could build up enough courage to clear some of the larger log climbs and the camel back. Good job ladies! It was a fun ride and we would have liked to do another lap, but it was getting a little late and we needed get back to the house to relieve my mom.

Sunday morning we finally got up early and was at the trail a little after 7:15 AM. The sun was just coming up and the air was cool and crisp around 25 degrees. We started out fairly slow but soon picked it up to a reasonable pace. We rode the intermediate, X, intermediate-out loop in a little over 38 minutes. The conditions were perfect and the trail was in great shape besides being frozen. Andrea was pushing a good pace and flowing nicely through the turns. On the completion of the first lap we made one circle around the parking lot and headed back in for another lap. Andrea picked up the pace and was working it fairly hard on the first section especially on the climbs. part way through the lap we were both getting a little tired and our pace slowed slightly but we still kept a decent pace. After the X section we entered the "dream" section of the trail and I told Andrea to let the bike go and use the berms to carry momentum. We railed the entire section and had a blast. A little before the end of the trail after the intermediate section dumps out onto the beginner loop Andrea hit a small hidden section of ice around a turn and went down hard on her right side. The sun from the day before must have brought some of the frost to the surface and it refroze over night. After flipping the bars back around and straitening the stem we were back on our bikes. We made the decision ride the beginner loop to spin the legs out and quickly packed up the bike to get back for breakfast.

Great rides and some fun time with friends this past weekend. I hope the weather holds out so we can get out some more before the season ends.

Training?

I have been taking a "I don't care" attitude towards training the past few months. I got a little burnt out this last season by all the training and stress of moving up from sport to expert. For next season I am going to back down the training hours and focus on quality workouts paying attention to how my body feels. Last year I got into the vicious cycle of not pushing hard enough on the high intensity workouts and trying to make up for it by pushing my endurance rides too hard. Most of the time this last summer I felt tired and the legs never felt like they had a great deal of strength and endurance.

I have been toying with the idea of building up a single speed for next season for two reasons. One, to bring back some of the fun by riding a bike that needs very little attention and is simple by nature. Two, to build up the leg strength by pushing hard gears up the climbs. We will see what happens, I will probably need to save a few pennies before I can justify the purchase of another bike. If it does happen it will probably be this.


Andrea and I are going to try to get out Saturday morning for a ride at Lebanon Hills. It might be a little cold, but I am looking forward to a trail ride after all the racing this past year. If anyone would like to join us we should be there around 7:00 AM and will probably complete a couple of laps.

Time to get going again!

In the last two months I can count on two hands (0r maybe one) how many times I have been on the bike. That combined with two birthday parties and halloween has acounted for nearly a 8 pound gain in body weight, Whoa! I think it is time to start familiarizing myself with the bike again.

Post Season Get Together Trail Ride and BBQ

Post Season Get Together Trail Ride and BBQ

How about a post season get together?
Everyone from the MNSCS races is invited to our home for a trail ride and BBQ on Sunday October 21.

Who: The Horner's
What: Trail Ride and BBQ
When: Sunday October 21 - Noon to Whenever
Where: Horner House - Maps attached
Why: For the fun of it!!
What to Bring: Your bike(s) of course, whatever you want to grill, a dish to share and any alcoholic drinks you would like to enjoy (we will have other beverages here).

We have a fun 3+ mile trail near our house that is in great riding shape. We will leave our house at 1pm and head to the trail for a ride. After the ride we will come back and enjoy a BBQ/Potluck.

Bring the kids!! We have plenty of toys and things to do for all ages.

Bring your sleeping bags!! We will be at the awards party on Saturday the 20th anyone interested in following us back to our house that evening is more than welcome. We have a firepit, trampoline, swingset, OH YEAH and a 73" HDTV - so bring your movies!!

Any questions just email Matt (horn0156@tc.umn.edu) or I (andreahorner@iwon.com) anytime!

Directions
Map to Hutchinson
Map of Hutchinson

Get on Highway 7 West (via any one of the following ways: 169, hwy 5 to Rolling Acres Road, 494)

Highway 7 takes you right into Hutchinson.

Once you are in Hutchinson take a left at the 3rd stoplight, this is School Road.

Then take a right on Roberts Road (it is a 4 way stop with the high school on your left)

Follow Roberts Road for about a mile, Roberts Road becomes Roberts street at Roberts Park (if you come to a T on Roberts you have gone too far).

Take a right on Mahogany Ct we are the 1st house on your right (greyish/blue).
1601 Mahogany Ct

If you want to mapquest us use 835 Roberts street SW hutchinson (they are directly across the street from us) Mahogany ct doesn't exist on Mapquest.

MNSCS #10 Single Track Escape - St. Cloud, MN

I am running way behind on keeping the blog updated, Sorry. Anyway, better late than never

This race had a much different feel than the previous ones this season. I think it was partly due to the fact that I view the Maplelag race weekend as the end of the racing season. We all had such a great time up there and had a chance to get to know each other better. After the weekend, however, the kids go back to school and the summer seams to abruptly end. The main reason was probably because I was not racing. Although the pneumonia was gone I still was not feeling 100% and racing would have made no sense at all

I was excited about watching the rest of the family race and being able to go out and take some pictures of the event. Earlier in the week we convinced Jordan to give the sport class a try considering it would be one of the shorter sport races of the year. Either way she had nothing to lose, because she had 1st place in her age group wrapped up in the citizen class. Taylor agreed to the kids comp race for a change and I talked Devon into racing kids comp as well.

We invited Ray and the Hendricks to stay at our place on Friday night so they wouldn't have to get up quite so early on Saturday. After getting stuck in rush hour traffic in the cities they finally made it to our house around 7:00 PM and we sat down to a huge spaghetti dinner. The kids played outside until 10 and we were fortunate enough that there were no broken bones from the trampoline. Surprisingly the kids fell asleep with no issues, they must have been really tired. Saturday morning we had a nice buffet style breakfast and were out of the house a little after 7 AM. It was a little cool, but there was almost no wind and you could already feel the sun starting to warm things up.

We arrived a little before 8:30 AM and quickly got all the bikes down and our camp set up next to the start/finish area

Andrea and Jordan's Race

Andrea and Jordan lined up side by side at the start and they would be going out as the 4th wave in the sport class. At the start there was a slight delay in the countdown causing a start/stop/start situation causing Andrea to get "pinched" between Jordan on her left and another lady on her right. Andreas handlebar started to get wrapped up in Jordan's jersey and she had to unclip so as to not take Jordan down. Jordan hesitated to make sure mom was OK, worrying that she was mad at her. Andrea was able to get clipped in and up to speed quickly, but was left at the back of the pack. I didn't know how Andrea was going to handle the situation and I feared that she would get frustrated and let up. As the group of ladies made their way around the field at the start, I could see Andrea pushing hard to catch up to the leaders and by the time they entered the ski trail she had already passed Jordan.

I grabbed the camera and waited at the exit of the single track leading out to the field for the start of their first full lap. Not surprisingly Becca Heath was the first to come through followed by another female rider then Andrea came flying through. She later told me that after the bobble at the start she put it in the big ring and hammered all the way to the single track entering in third. A minute or so later Michole came by with Jordan just behind her. They were both riding really strong, but Jordan didn't have that fire in her eyes like she normally does.

At the beginning of the first lap Andrea made her move into second place and was only about 1 minute out of first. I could see she was having a really good race and was making quick work out of the tight single track. At the end of the 1st full lap Michole came through, but Jordan was not following. A few minutes later Jordan came through and I could tell she was having a rough race. I shouted a few words of encouragement, but I think her mind was on the fact that she still had over a full lap remaining. She really wanted to hang with Michole for the race and try to beat her.

After getting a few kids fed Taylor and I went out to try to get a few more pictures of the sport race especially Jordan and Andrea before the end of the race. Near the backside of the course we found Jordan and I could see she was slowing way down. I told her to conserve her energy as much as possible and that she was about halfway done with the final lap. This time the encouragement and/or thought of being almost done cheered her up and she started to push a little harder. We caught up to Andrea as she neared the end of her second lap and she was having a blast railing through the trail. She was concerned how Jordan was doing and I told her that she was having an off day, but the encouragement I gave her made things better. I was not able to make it back in time for the finish of Andreas race, but she finished in a solid second place about 5 minutes behind Becca Heath with a time of 1:13:36. Jordan pushed hard the remainder of the race and finished in 5th place for her age group (Actually she was placed in the 12-18 group because they don't have an age group for her) with a time of 1:24:29.

Andrea did an awesome job this year and finished with a very strong race. I was also extremely proud of Jordan for pushing hard for the whole race and doing great job for a 10 year old in a fairly long sport race.

St. Cloud Single Track Escape

I'm so sad that the season is over already, it went so fast! Matt and I both learned a lot about training this season and we now know what worked and what didn't work as well. We also know we really need some hills to train on; and since Hutchinson is about as flat as a place as you can get, we are not really sure what we are going to do about that aspect of our training.

Both Taylor and Devon raced Kid's Comp at St. Cloud. They both did very well. They both finished 2nd in their age groups. Devon finished 7 out of 13 overall and Taylor finished 9 out of 13 overall. They both said they had a lot of fun. The only riding Matt was able to do for the day was behind Devon in his race. Matt said Devon did great he passed people well and even wiped out pretty good, but got back on the bike and finished with a smile.

Wyatt raced in the kids race and did great as well. He always has a smile on!!

Jordan decided, since she had 1st place in her age bracket for the citizen category wrapped up, that she would ride this race in the sport category. (Ok if you ask her Matt and I talked her into it.)

I went into this race gunning to stay as close as possible to the lead riders. I was well rested and feeling good. I went out just before the race and warmed up really good on the course, I have found more than anything else this is key. The warm up not only gets my legs opened up and ready to ride, but it gets my mind into the course and ready to go. At the start line I was lined up in the middle next to Jordan who was next to Michole (her friend who also decided to race her 1st sport race). The man at the line started the 10 second countdown, only he hesitated between 2 and 1 and that messed me up a little, I started to go and then he hadn't said 1 yet so I held back and then went. That was enough to get me off just a little later than I would have liked. Next thing I knew my space was closed in and my handle bar had Jordan's jersey wrapped up around it. In an effort not to fall and not to make Jordan fall (that was my biggest concern) I really held up and tried to get untangled. After a little tire rubbing and laying my bike at a pretty good angle, I got us out of the jam and Jordan was still on her bike. Although we were both behind. I got my wits about me I started around the parking lot and then I put my bike near my top gear and gave it all I had. I knew there were certain people I wanted to be in front of when I hit the single-track. I gave it all I had and I accomplished my goal, just before entering the single-track I passed the last of the riders that I was concerned about, the 3 female riders left in front of me were not going to hold me up. As soon as I entered the single-track I did a little bit of shifting and my chain jammed (I had horrible visions of Afton, when I had worked hard to stay in front and my chain jammed and every single woman passed me by.) This time I stayed on my bike going back and forth with the petals a few times and then it let loose, I was soooo relieved. I started to weave through the single-track and I was making good time. Still during the prologue lap I passed 1 of the women then I passed 1 more somewhere around the parking lot at the beginning of the 1st lap, then I knew only Becca Heath was in front of me, I knew this was her home course and that all season long she finished many minutes ahead of me. My goal was to try to stay as close to her as humanly possible. Towards the end of the prologue lap Matt informed me that Becca was about a minute ahead of me. This gave me a little push to ride as quick as I could. Throughout the rest of the race spectators would let know how far I was back from Becca, from there info I knew I was falling further and further behind. I was not upset, I continued to ride as clean as possible and pass as many people as I could. I knew that Shanna was somewhere behind me and I also remembered at Mankato with only a half a lap to go Shanna passed me and stayed way ahead of me. So my new goal was to make sure that she did not catch me, by riding quick and clean. I accomplished this goal. I finished 2nd overall for the women, 2nd in my age group, and I had already wrapped up 2nd place for the year in the MNSCS standings.

This type of course does not necessarily suite me, but I have found through out this year that I am no longer held back but the type of course. I had the best time this year. I rode strong, I had no injuries and I learned a lot. Now I just need to figure out how to increase my speed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Special thanks to Tom Warner and skinnyski.com for a lot of the photos.

Matt has told you his part. Now I'll tell you mine!

The part of this experience that Matt has not told you is the time in which he was unconscious. It was about 5 am on that Saturday morning and Matt was saying his side hurt, so I gave him some ibuprofen and he took that and almost immediately he slumped back towards me. I got out of his way and he began this really loud deep snoring, which I had never heard before. (Now he has fainted before but this was totally different.) I was yelling his name with no response. I quickly ran downstairs and grabbed the cordless phone and a big bowl (he usually throws-up when he comes around after fainting). I ran back upstairs flipped on the light and by this time our 2 girls were awake and in our room. Matt's eyes were wide open and he was still snoring, then all of the sudden he stopped snoring and his whole body went limp. I screamed his name and listened for breath sounds and heard nothing. I lifted his body slightly and he was like a rag doll. I called 911 and I was frantic. The lady on the phone had the nerve to tell me to calm down. Although, when she asked how old he was and I said 33 she said "what?" I said 33 and I could hear the fear in her voice. About 1 1/2 or so after he had stopped snoring he finally took a huge breath and then started the snoring again. He was still at this point unresponsive to me. He went back and forth between the snoring and the not breathing 2-3 more times, before he finally came too. He wanted to immediately get up and I told him not to move a muscle and that the ambulance was on the way. A short time after he woke up the paramedics arrived and started to look him over and ask questions. They took him in after they were sure he was okay to be moved. I left the kids at home with my cell number and instructions and I headed to the hospital. As Matt has said they did a bunch of tests that came back negative (thank goodness) and sent him home, with instructions to come back on Monday. I was a little worried considering there were 2 more night we needed to go through before we could be re seen on Monday. Luckily, both nights went by with no further episodes and we found out on Monday that we had pneumonia. I am not sure the correlation between the fainting/seizure/who know what and pneumonia, but we are hoping they were related and that it never happens again.

Scary Weekend!

This past weekend is one I will not forget for a long time, although I am sure it scared my wife more than me. It started Friday afternoon with a dull pain on the left side of body. I remember falling hard at the Hillside race the day before, but I was surprised that I didn't feel any discomfort until nearly a day later. I was not too concerned as I had cracked my ribs on the right side earlier in the year and the pain was much worse than this. I figured at worst I bruised a rib and all I could do was get some rest and give it time to heal.

I woke up early Saturday morning and my side was still bothering me so Andrea got me a couple of ibuprofen. After taking the ibuprofen I remember taking a couple of deep breaths to stretch the lungs and the next thing I remember was Andrea frantically trying to wake me up. Andrea is not sure how long I was unconscious but figures it was probably about 5 minutes. I am still not sure what happened but I have fainted a few times in the past and this was completely different. Let's just say that I got my first ever ambulance ride early Saturday morning.

After arriving at the ER they ran a series of blood tests, heart scans, chest x-rays, and a CT scan of my head. All the tests came back normal, leaving us with many unanswered questions. The pain on my left side was slightly more than the previous day, but it didn't keep me from doing anything. I was trying to determine a link between the two but it just didn't make sense. The doctors were just as dumbfounded as I was and even insinuated that I had fallen asleep, by asking how much sleep I had the night before and if I had anything to drink. Yeh, I was a little upset, but I know how dumb some people are that come into the ER so I give the doctors credit for asking the question. Anyway, after the remaining tests came back negative I was told to come back in on Monday and not to drive for the next couple of weeks.

I was completely out of it on Saturday and slept most of the day. During this time the pain on my left side got progressively worse and at times I was short of breath. I also developed a low grade fever. I was more convinced now that the pain on my side and the unconsciousness were linked but more worried about what was causing it. Things got progressively worse over the next day, but not bad enough as needing the go into the ER.

Monday morning I went into urgent care and had more blood work done and a second set of chest x-rays. It turns out that I have pneumonia and probably a couple of busied ribs. Although it is uncertain that this was the cause of Saturday mornings events it is a definite possibility. I was extremely happy with the diagnosis because it is easily treatable and it made sense to me.

This the the chain of events that led up to this. The couple of days leading up to the 24 Hours of Afton I felt a cold coming on but was unsure if it was allergies or not. During the race I felt OK, but the day after the race developed a bad chest cold and even had a fever the Tuesday after. I felt slightly better by the end of the week but opted out of the TT and short track at Maplelag. I did race the XC race on Sunday but was not feeling 100%. I took it easy the next week and didn't even get on the bike until the Thursday night race at Hillside. During the first part of the race I went down hard on my left side while allowing a rider to make a pass. I felt like I was pushing hard the entire race, but the speed just wasn't there.

The doctor suspects that my body was fighting off the cold and the added stress from racing and the trauma from the fall led to the pneumonia. I will be on antibiotics for the next 5-10 days and pain meds for the discomfort. As for biking, I am not sure what will happen. I would like to make it to the last race of the season at St. Cloud, but even if I get better soon I will have a limited time to get ready for the race.

See you all soon.

Thursday night "Falldown" at Hillside!

Andrea is "game" for just about any race these days. Therefore, when a series came up Hillside we just had to go. Unfortunately we missed the first two races and the third was cancelled so race 4 will be our first. Andrea loves the Hillside course and because it is close to her parents we ride this trail more than any other.

Tonight the Experts will only be riding 1.5 laps, the same as the sport and women classes. That means that the entire race will be blazing fast and pretty much a sprint from start to finish. Rich had us do a Lehman's start, but the run was pretty short (100 m or so).

I managed to get on the bike about mid pack, but got smoked down the service road. For some reason I just could not stay on my bike at the start of the race. The first part of the race has a fair amount of roots and the hardtail was getting bounced around quit a bit. Although my HR was up where I would like it to be, the legs just seamed to lack the power needed to push hard through the twisty single track. Early on in lap one Rich tried to get some air on one of the small log climbs and got all crossed up and went down. I managed to get by him cleanly on the left side, but Eric Guse was unable to dodge the bullet. A couple of minutes later a trailing expert rider caught me and asked to pass. He was riding strong so I moved over to the right to let him by and proceeded to hit a stump that was carefully hiding on the side of the trail. I was purely amazed at how quickly I found myself on the ground. Rich Zilla, Eddie Karow, Eric Guse,and another rider made it by in my dismay. That pretty much set the tone for the remainder of the race.

Part way into the race it started to drizzle a little bit, but by the midway point the sky opened up and it began to poor. Surprisingly the trail handled the rain well and I felt it actually made it better by calming down some of the sandy sections. There were a few sections out in the open that had some puddles and were a bit greasy, but for the most part it was fine. The rain calmed down by the end of lap 1 and mostly stopped for remainder of the race.

I started to calm down but I never got into a good rhythm. I was constantly over breaking into the turns and just didn't feel like I was holding a consistent pace. I pushed hard to the end of lap 1 especially on the uphill climbs near the end. On the final section back to the start/finish line I tried to put together a little chase because I could see Rich up ahead, but I was never able to bridge the gap. I came in at around 55 minutes (my unofficial time) almost 8 minutes behind Sam Oftedahl.

I had a great time, but I am a little disappointed in my performance. Eight minutes in a race less than an hour is huge. I am hoping that the cold I have been fighting since the 24 Hours of Afton has something to do with it.

On a brighter note Andrea come in a solid 2nd place in the women's class and turned in her fasted lap yet at Hillside. Jordan took first in the beginner class and will move up to the women's class if we make it to the last race.

I would like to thank Rich Zilla, Stephanie Hendricks, Ramsey Bicycle, the city of Elk River, and all the voulentiers that make events like these happen.

MNSCS #9 Laddies Loppet - Calaway, MN

One Word, Awesome!

The perfect end to a good summer. The entire family absolutely loves going up to Maplelag for the racing and atmosphere. There is something for everyone to do. The kids spend endless hours at the BMX course riding around and love to go down to the beach for a swim.

We packed up and headed out already on Thursday to drop of the dog at Andreas' parents for the long weekend. We got an early start on Friday and were on the road by 9:15 AM for the nearly 5 hour drive. After a couple of bathroom breaks and lunch at the Pizza Ranch we arrived around 2:30. It took an hour or so to set up the tent and the eazy up and get our bed ready in the back of the van.

24 Hours of Afton

What an Awesome Experience!

I will give a recap of my race effort and a little bit on how impressed I am on Andrea's performance in her first solo effort. Andrea can fill in with her personal impressions of the race.

Prerace preparation.
During the week leading up to the race Andrea did the majority of the planning and organization. I took care of the bike prep, tools, and spare parts. Andrea concentrated on all the things necessary for a functional camp including any solid food. Since we were riding unsupported it would mean that everything needed to be easily assesible. The vast majority of our nutrition and supplements were prepared in mixed form and the bottles frozen. We also had grab bags of electrolytes and either energy bars, gels or bloks prepared.

Setting up camp
We headed out to Afton at around 11:00 AM Friday morning to get a good spot near the start/finish area. I personally did not want to have to waste valuable time on the bike getting in and out of the pit. When we arrived we found a nice spot part way up the hill slightly below the trail leading out from the start/finish line. The location was nice but kind of awkward because we were on the side of the hill. We decided to park the van with the noze facing uphill so that our heads would be above our feet and we wouldn't be rolling into each other. We set up the EZ-up and two tables for food and tools. We also Laid out the coolers of food bottles and ice so they could be conviently acksessed. I had some time to go over the bikes one last time and lube the chains. At around noon Ray, Stephany and Michole arrived and they set up next to us.

The Race
Race Start
After the mandatory prerace meeting at 4:30 we made a quick stop back at the camp before heading back down the gravel road to the start area. Ray, Andrea, and myself laid our bikes down near the far end of the bike staging areas and walked to the start area for the Lahmans start. As in past years they had us turn around to run part way up the hill around a chair lift and back down to our bikes. I started by walking but it turned into a decent job near the top and back down the hill.

Laps 1-3
Although I knew that the race would not be won or lost on the start, the thought of having to pass all these people on the first lap made my legs turn faster. Ray started out slightly in front of me but I made a pass after the bridge loop and made the most of any passing opportunities to move towards the front. The first lap felt really good, but I was surprised at how high my HR was the majority of the time. The HR was in the 160s most of the time and 174 on most of the sustained climbes. I came through the start finish line and headed strait for camp to get a new bottle and one of the grab bags and was out within a minute. The second lap I set into a good rythem and things were going well and I turned in a good lap time. The bike, however,was making a lot of creaking noizes and I suspected the drive side pivot as the problem. When I came through after the second lap I checked the drive side bolt and it was loose. I tightened it the best I could because the big chainring is slightly in the way and set out for my third lap. By the midway part of the lap I could tell the bolt had loosened up again and I could actually see the rear swing arm moving around.

Laps 4-6
To begine lap four I switched to my hardtail and grabbed my other helmet that had the lightset already attached. It was at this time that I could feel the legs starting to fatigue and could tell that I was slowing down. Although the hardtail hooked up nicely on the climbs and I felt like I could carry an extra gear, I took a beating on the downhills. In addition the helmet that I was using did not fit as snug as the other one and the additional weight of the light caused it to move around as I rode. Not really a big deal but it gave me a pretty good headache. OVerall Lap 4 went fairly well and I didn't have to turn on the light until the midway point in the lap. At this point I was starting to loose some of my motivation and my thoughts turned to the long duration of the event. In my mind I was justifying the fact that my legs were screeming at me to take a break by reasoning I could not keep riding for an entire 24 hours. I settled on a 45 minute break trying to sit and relax as much as possible. I think it was at this time that my Dad came down to check things out and I waited for Andrea to come in after her third lap. Starting Lap 5 the legs felt stiff from sitting and I was moving really slowly through the bridge loop and didnt' get things moving until shady lane. In general the hardtail was very rough on the downhills as I turned in a 53+ minute lap just slightly slower than the previous lap. After a brief break in the pit to get the essentials I headed out for lap 6. The legs were tired my mind was wondering why anyone in their right mind would think an event like this would be fun. My goal was to simply "grind" out a lap and see what my light situation was. I knew from testing that my light set would last for 3 hours and 10 minutes. I figured I used roughly 30 minutes on lap 4, 53 minutes on lap 5, and probably 60 minutes on lap 6; totaling 2 hours 23 minutes. That would leave me with on 47 minutes of light left for another lap and at the rate I was going would not be enough to complete another lap. I completed lap 6 at 11:15 PM and would call it a night. I would now have rought 4+ hours before the battery would be recharged and I could resume riding. On an added note as I came in from my 6 lap I fully expected to see Andrea taking a break after her 4th lap, but a quick glance at the board showed she had left slightly before I got in (Crazy Kid). I nervously waited for Andrea to get back from her 5th lap because I know what can happen when you ride at night especially when you are tired. Thankfully she arrived back at camp around 12:15 AM. We stayed up for another 30 minutes talking and getting some much needed nutritions and then headed to bed while our batteries charged. Andrea had already made up her mind that she would set her alarm for 5 AM and though I could use some extra sleep even though I knew it would limit the number of potential laps I could turn out. As it turned out We reset the alarm and hit snooze a couple of times and I didn't get back on the bike until almost 7:30 in the morning. I guess I didn't need to charge the lights.

Laps 7-9
I was really bummed that I had sleept so long and was dissapointed that I only had 6 laps completed and it was already light out. Ray did a great job getting up at a little after 3 AM to punch out 3 more laps and was three up on me. My thoughts now turned to other things, like fully supporting Andrea for the remainder of the race, taking pictures, wandering around, ect. I decided, however, that I had paid to race and I knew I would dissapointed if I did not at least match my 9 laps from last year. After grabbing a huge cinnomon roll and getting dressed I set out on lap 7 a little befor 7:30 am. The course was still wet with dew, but the slight rain in the middle of the night packed down the course so there wasn't much sand being kicked up in the drive train. I took it easy on the bridge loop because the legs were stiff and there was still a chill in the air. It was nice not having the extra weight of the battery in my jersey and the light off my helmet. the legs started to come alive on shady lane and I was pushing fairly hard on rises and false flats. I mananaged to turn my fastest lap at this point at 49:50. The breaks between laps were starting to get much longer. I think it was more mental than physical at this point in the race. After about 20 minutes I set out for lap 8 still one down from last year. By this time the temperature was starting to warm up a little and the course was starting to dry out from the overnight dew. The legs actually felt good considering I had completed 7 laps. The climbs felt good and I was flowing nicely through the single track. At this point I was considering 9 laps total didn't sound to bad. I could quit early and have some fun watching other people suffer for a while. That must have fueled something because I turned in my fastest lap yet at 47:55. After another 20 minute break I set out for lap 9

MNSCS #7 Welch MTB Jam

Overview

Large amounts of rain Friday and Saturday made for virtually unrideable conditions on Saturday. Andrea and I decided not to go out on the course, but Jordan had no problem getting herself and the bike full of mud. Instead of riding we just hung out and talked with fellow riders. We kept checking on the weather hoping that it would stay dray and a little breezy to let the course dry out. Unfortunatly another round our storms came through at dusk and the radar indicated that Welch was in the path. Fortunately behind the front the air was much drier and there was a nice breeze throught the night. Sunday morning it was cool and the skies were clear, but you could tell it was going to warm up. Arriving at the course around 8:30 things were in much better condition that Saturday. There were still some puddles in areas, but most areas had firmed up nicely.

Matts Race

Andreas Race

Jordans Race

Jordan was on auto pilot this morning. We often have to watch her and make sure that she is ready for the start of her race. Today was a different story, she simply asked us what time it was and took care of the rest. She went out and did her pre race warm-up

Kids Race

12 Hours of Mt. Kato

Rained Out!

Andrea and I made the trip down to Mt. Kato early Saturday morning being optimistic about the weather. Earlier in the week the forecast had hinted for rain Saturday night, but unfortunately it came in nearly a day early and was already raining when we arrive at 7:00 AM.

I wasn't raining very hard, so we decided to give it a go and see what happened. There was only 7 riders brave (or stupid) enough to race in these conditions and because of the low turnout there was no formalized start. Therefore, we set out a little after 8:00 AM to a trail that was already rutted by the first two riders. The first lap went fairly well and I managed to turn in a 30 min lap, not to bad considering the conditions. By the second lap, however, the trail had completely gone away. The downhill switchbacks on "Compressor" were treacherous, and "Luge" was un-ridable. Even the shallow uphill sections out in the open were so "sloppy" that it was impossible to get enough traction forcing you to get off and climb. All this time you could hear the sand/mud grinding in the drive train and disk breaks. When I finished my second lap I was expecting to see Andrea waiting near the chalet, but she must have decided to do another lap.

I used the time to clean off the bike and survey the damages. In general the drive train looked pretty good, but in a matter of an hour I wore through both front and rear brake pads. A little over a half hour later Andrea came in and we both new that our day was done. We cleaned up the bikes the best we could and packed up the van.

Before we left town we stopped in to the "Spoke" and I found a great deal on a pair of new MTB shoes. We also stopped at Chipotle for a Fajita Burrito and some Mello Yellow.

Not wanting to waste a good day for biking we checked the radar and it looked like the northern part of the twin cities missed most if not all of the rain. We hoped that "Hillside" was dry because we had expected to ride for nearly 12 hours and we only got about 1 to 2 hours. Driving up 169 it was obvious that it had rained quite a bit. Fortunately, shortly before Elk River the roads were dry and when we pulled into the parking lot it was bone dry.

We rode three laps with out second lap being a "hot" lap. Andrea turned in a new best time of 47:12. She rode the entire lap clean and was flying through the turns and killing it on the climbs. As time goes on she keeps getting faster and faster.

We plan on making it to three of the last four MNSCS series races, but my primary focus at this time is preparation for the 24 hours of Afton (Andrea and I will be riding it solo).

This week is the MNSCS race at Welch, I hope I have better luck that at Red Wing.

MNSCS #6 Muddy River Rock & Roll

Matts Race

Deja Vu!

I lined up to the start for what I knew was going to be a very long race. Based on my lap time from the pre-ride the day before, I figured I would be on the course for near 3 hours. With that thought in mind, my game plan would be to conserve my energy and try to maintain consistent lap times over the duration of the race.

At the line I was in the second row in a fairly small group of expert riders due to the 24 hours of 9 mile and various midsummer vacations. By my standards I had a fairly good start maintaining a reasonable pace around the open field. Fortunately, I was able to pass by a few riders on the left as it ducked into the first section of single track. I settled into a good pace through the first tight section, but was passed by a couple of riders when it opened up into the double track again. In general I was riding fairly fast, but I was expending a great deal of energy maintaining the pace set on the first part of lap 1. I got hung up on "stairway" and was forced to walk the bike up the last half, losing valuable time. To make up some ground, I pushed it hard down through the quarry and unfortunately hit a sharp rock very hard that put a hole large enough that the stans was unable to seal it. I was forced to wait while the entire field Comp and Expert made it down through the quarry before heading back up. It took about 15 to 20 minutes to walk back to the pit and that entire time I was having a battle with myself on whether I should continue with the race or throw in the proverbial towel. I asked Andrea what I should do and she pointed out that I have never quit a race. I grabbed the wheel off my hard tail (probably not legal by the rules) and headed out to resume my first lap. It took me nearly 5 minutes to ride back to the downhill leading into the quarry. I probably would have been better off to walk the remainder of lap instead of backtracking. Oh well, you learn from your mistakes right?

By the end of the first lap I felt like the race should have been over. My legs were tired, I was already starting to feel dehydrated, and I couldn't get my HR up to where I would like. I think the 2+ hour pre ride late the day before had something to do it. I missed my water bottle hand-off from Andrea on the start of lap 2 and had about a half bottle to finish the lap. I knew the leaders were close behind so I tried to ride as smooth and fast as possible to stay out in front for as long as possible. I was making good time through the single track, but the double track rises were really starting to fatigue the legs. As I came in to start my third lap I pulled over to grab a new bottle of water from Andrea and drank a bunch of here Acceleraid.

Jesrin and Jay caught me near the end of my third lap (their fourth). Jesrin was pushing hard on the double track and I didn't even attempt to hold his wheel. A little while later Jay passed me and I was able to hang with him for a little while before he flew up the Stairway to Heaven and was gone.

The hardest part of the race was going out for one more lap when the leaders had already finished. The goal at this point was to just finish the race and I did so in a little over 3:30 over 1 hour behind the leader obviously in last place.

Race Results

Andreas Race

Jordans Race

After being away at camp for the past week and not riding her bike since the last race, Jordan turned in another great performance.

She got a great jump off the line and maintained a good pace around the double track lead out section. She did a great job in the "washing machine" which is a series of side hill turns on opposite sides of a half pipe shaped ravine. Her race had a fair amount of double track ski trail which is not one of her strengths, but she says she loves it.

After her first lap she was in third position (for the women) just slightly ahead of Sophia Marchiando and Micole Hendricks closing the gap. She looked fairly fresh and she had a determined look on her face, but I could see a slight smile when I cheered her on.

She rode the "washing machine" clean on lap two and motored up the exiting climb. I would not see her again until near the end of her second and final lap. She must have rode the second lap fairly clean because her lap time was nearly the same as the first lap and she came through the line in third place with a time of 1:04:38 only 1:42 ahead of Micole.

Race Results

Feeling Rejuvinated

In general I have been feeling a little burnt out and have lost some ambition to go out and ride. I typically try to get in 5 -6 rides in per week, but for at least the last month I have been lucky to get in 4.

The mid season break and our trip to Kansas City, however, has refreshed my enthusiasm to train and race. In addition, upcoming solo races at the 12 hours of Kato and the 24 Hours of Afton have given me something different to train for.

I felt like my endurance has suffered somewhat due to all the racing and lack of the longer rides on Sundays so I managed to go out for a longer ride on Sunday. Ride Details. It was fairly windy, so I ended up pushing a little harder than I should have back home into the headwind. Towards the end of the ride my left knee was very sore, which typically happens early in the season as I build training volume. The legs were pretty sore on Monday and I had plans to put the bike on the trainer and spin for 30-60 min in the evening, but I got caught up in yard work instead.

Tuesday afternoon I went out in the heat and high humidity to perform some jumps, something I haven't done for quite a while. I am not sure why I don't do these more as they are a good workout to build explosive power and leg speed. Although it didn't feel too hot during the first part of the ride, I really started to feel the humidity by the end.

The remainder of the week looks like this. A moderate endurance ride on Wednesday. Thursday, I think I will throw in a set of anaerobic intervals then finish at threshold pace. Friday I might go out for a easy spin or take the day off. Saturday the entire family will be down at Redwing to pre ride. Sunday, will finish the week with what I am sure will be another hot race.

My goal is to continue training and finish the season strong. I am especially looking forward to the endurance races at Mt. Kato and Afton, this year I will be much more serious.

MNSCS #5 Bluff Riders Charge

Matt's Race

This Sunday's race is the reason why I keep coming back. The course this year at Mt. Kato was nearly perfect and is one of my favorite race courses. Two sections that I particularly loved were "Quick Release" and "Ridge Run", which provided a good challenge for the expert riders.

This time I lined up at the front of the line to the right hand side. At the "gun" I got a mediocre jump and found myself being squeezed into the back third of the pack. Even though there is a lot of room on the climb, you need to be careful not to fall into some of the large holes on the sides. I picked a line and settled into a decent rhythm on the climb. After the switchbacks it flattens out and I dropped a couple of gears and passed a few riders. Around frog pond loop I held a good pace and recovered slightly before making the hard left turn taking me back across the front face. The pace was high the first lap and I started to think about conserving some energy for the remainder of the race. I knew the heat was going to be an issue so I made a conscious effort to drink as much water as possible.

On lap 2 I pushed hard on the climbs, and rode the single track sections strong, but for some reason I had all kinds of trouble in the "Maze". Part of the problem was the fact that I was trying to drink water and ride the section at the same time which didn't work well. Up "Staircase" I failed to clean the short rocky climb for the second time and walked up the gravel section after it.

As I entered the climb at the beginning of lap 4 Ray Nickols was right behind me and I new it was just a matter of time until he made the pass. As I moved over to the left side of the trail, to pick up my next bottle from Jordan, Ray was only a few meters behind me. About two thirds up the climb Ray made his pass and I kicked it a little to hold his wheel. I rode Ray's wheel for nearly half the lap, but then I backed it down because I knew I had one additional lap to finish.

I felt pretty good on my last lap, but I could tell the legs were getting a little tired; I just didn't have the snap on the climbs. I new there was an expert rider not too far in front of me, but any time I would gain a little ground he would push hard and regain the gap. I pushed hard on the flat sections and tried to ride the single track as clean as possible.

I was pleased with my results, finishing 19th out of 28 and a little over 22 minutes back from the leader. I did a much better job keeping hydrated, but I still need to take in more energy during the race. I still feel that I can ride the flat sections faster; it might hurt a little more, but it will lower my lap times.

Andrea's Race

I did it!! I finally pushed through and got a good start. It is key!! As the 5 second countdown was counting off, I was ready and I gunned it at the 1. Just starting up the hill I merged into 3rd place and there I stayed. I pushed hard all the way up the hill and around frog pond, I continued to push making sure I held onto my position. To my surprise I had the endurance and I had the skills to keep the pace just behind the 2 leaders and ahead of 1 other lady who was pushing hard to keep up with me. Periodically I looked back and knew there was only one lady close behind and the rest of the ladies were back far enough not to worry about. I remained in the 3rd position until right before the end of the 2nd lap, then the lady who had been behind passed me and kept right on going. I continued to push hard through the last lap and I finished 4 th overall out of 11 and 3rd out of 4 in my age group. I finished 2 minutes back from the lady in front of me and 6 minutes back from the overall leader. I was very pleased overall with how I did and my results. It was extremely hot and the course was technical. Now there is a bit of a break and then we are off to Red Wing.

Jordan's Race

This weekends race would be an important one for Jordan after her poor race last weekend. I was unsure how she would handle this race mentally. Would she loose her confidence or drive?

I shouldn't have been worried, because she road this race as if she had something to prove. At the start her and Michole picked perfect positions at the center of the group and were lined up with the single track climb.

At the gun Beth (LCR), Michole, and Jordan got a good initial jump.

Jordan had a perfect line and sprinted hard out of the saddle towards the base of the climb. I shouted for her the shift down and get into a rhythm and spin up the climb while seated. Jordan would have nothing of that, however, and proceeded to climb the entire front face standing. She entered "Frog Pond Loop" in third place and exited in second.

Even though she was a bit tired from the first climb, she was keeping a strong pace through the single track and negotiating the turns cleanly. The course cuts back on itself often which was nice because I could continue to follow and get good pictures. One time when she passed, she yelled out "Where's Beth"? That's Jordan, not caring about who is behind her, but wanting to know how far ahead the leader was.

I was able to catch up to her again in the "Maze" which she said was her favorite part of the course. She was moving fast and flowing well through the sweeping turns.

Towards the end of the race she started to fade a little and Michole gained a fair amount of time finishing only 2:24 back. Jordan finished 1st in her age group and 2nd overall for the women and 38/50 overall with a time of 52:29.

Kid's Race

Preride

Stephanie offered to watch the other kids while, Andrea, myself, Ray, Connor, and Taylor went out to ride the course. Andrea was already part way up the starting climb when Taylor and I started and patiently waited for us at the top. Taylor had a difficult time on the climb and gave up about half way up. I was still frustrated from the kids antics in the car and breakfeast earlier and wasn't in the mood for Taylor giving up. I walked with her to the top of the hill and she got back on before Frog Pond. Even though she complained the entire time while on top, I though she was doing a very good job riding the single track. As we went down through the woods she handled the trail very well, but any time there was a root or drop-off she would instantly get off her bike.

We made it part way up Cedar Climb before Taylor broke down on the side of the trail and felt like she was going to get sick. I calmed myself down and her and we walked back out of Cedar Climb and down the ski hill to the Maze. She felt a little better now and was able to ride the remainder of the Maze and the service road back to the Chalet. I think we have made up our minds that Taylor will not be doing any more Kids Comp races this year and we will re-evaluate next year. Mountain biking just may not be Taylors "deal" and that is perfectly fine. I don't want to force it on her.

Matts Preride

This was supposed to be a fun race!

Matt's Race

I wasn't sure what my expectations were for the race, because I have been fighting a bad cold for nearly 2 weeks and haven't been able to get a good nights rest for a while. This coupled to the fact that the Supercaliber is getting sent in to fix/replace the frame leaving me to ride the trusty hard tail for the race.

Armed with a 5 minute warm-up and a meager lunch of some watermelon and a half of a sandwich wrap I headed to the line as they were calling up the series leaders. I waited near the back of the pack along with fellow Minnesotan Troy Melhus.


Surprisingly the start was less chaotic than I expected and because I was back in the pack the speed built up relatively slowly. The dust was absolutely horrible and it was increasing difficult to see what was going on in front. Luckily everyone made it through the first turn and down the road without crashing which is good because there would have been no way to stop in time in someone went down. I was near the back of the pack and was holding a decent pace as I made the right hand turn onto the lead out section. I slowed a little because I couldn't see anything and the dust was starting to hit the lungs. As a result, I was passed by a couple of riders. The pace was fast but manageable, however, the leaders were starting to pull away.

Leading into the rocky downhill leading over the bridge there was a good pile-up and someone though it would be a good idea to let the leading women expert riders go by which held us up even more. I can't complain though, because I managed to sneak by on the outside right behind Jenna. The first lap was fairly fast and I was holding my own in the single track, but it seemed to take for ever to complete. My thoughts now turned to conserve my energy for the next three laps. As I came through the start/finish line Jordan was too close to the fence and I didn't see her in time so I told her I would get my bottle on the next lap. I was surprised how slow some riders were going on the flat sections and I used that to my advantage to gain ground.

The second lap I was making good time as I was being pushed by a couple of riders from behind. During the first part of lap three I had a good crash as my left pedal hooked a root on a sweeping left had turn. The bike with me still attached landed on top of me about 15 feet down on the side of the trail. I had flipped over landing on my back so hard that I got the wind knocked out of me. I laid there for a minute trying to get my head back on and to ensure everything was still attached. I got up, quickly checked the bike, and started back on my way, although it took a little while before I was back up to speed. The remainder of lap three went well and I still felt like I could push fairly hard.

On the last lap I could tell that I was loosing energy and my legs started to lock up on the climbs. I slowed down the pace and took as much water as I could trying to ward off cramping in my quads. I was fine as long as I didn't stand and try to hammer up the hills. There was a couple riders in front of me, but I couldn't get the legs to catch them.

I was happy with the result and how hard I pushed myself. Some things that I need to work on are getting a better warm-up routine and eating a better lunch. Also, during the race I need to make sure I am getting more nutrition and taking plenty of fluids. I finish 49th out of 59 with a finishing time of 2:20:52 with the leaders coming in just under the 2 hour mark.

Race Results

Andrea's Race

As usual I had a bad start! I was in the 3rd line at the start after they had called up nearly every WORS woman there. Anyway before I knew it there was only 3 people behind me, so I kicked it into high gear and started passing people. We were all on the straight away on the lead out sectipn and the dust was horrible, I just wanted to keep passing people and try to get in the best position possible for the start of the singletrack.

To my advantage everyone was stopped on the rocky downhill section and instead of riding it I just ran down and hopped on and flew. By this time there were quite a few people behind me and I wasn't sure how many were in front of me. I found out soon enough that I hadn't passed as many people as I should have. I closely followed several people passing as soon as I could each time. Although some riders were not very willing to let me pass right away, so I was getting farther and farther behind the leaders. I pushed it into high gear on the double track sections passing as many people as I could and kept pushing hard through the singletrack to make up as much time as I could. I held tight to some of the ladies passing a few and making sure I stayed ahead of them. Towards the end of the 2nd lap one lady in my age group came out of no where passed me and was gone, I pushed hard all the way to the end and finished 30 seconds behind her, to my dismay this ended me in 6th place (medals go to 1st - 5th) out of 8 in my age group and 20 out of 42 overall.

It was a fun race and great time camping with friends!

Jordan's Race

Every now and then we all have a bad race and today's race was just that for Jordan. The WORS races are much different than those in the MNSCS. First off the number of participants are much greater at all levels. After call-ups for each age class, which is over half the field, the remaining riders fill in leaving her near the back of the pack.

At the start she had a good position and was charging hard into the first sweeping left hand turn and she held what looked like a good pace keeping up with the riders around her. I grabbed the camera and headed back into the woods to get some good action shots. The first time I saw her was on the only real climb of the race and she was easily spinning up the hill and handling the traffic well. Just behind that section the trail goes by the opposite direction leading into the last section of single track before the start/finish so I waited for her to come through. After waiting for a while her friend Michole passed riding really strong. I had expected her to be slightly ahead of Michole and began to worry a bit. About 3 minutes behind I saw her coming down the trail and I could tell by her body posture that she was having a tough race. She pulled over to the side of the train and explained that she had dropped her chain a couple of times and was having a difficult time getting by the citizen adults. I gave her some much needed encouragement and told her to use her middle ring and stay in the larger cogs in the rear. I also told her to not worry about it and have fun.

As I walked back passed the bridge section I stopped to watch Michole clean the section with ease and continue on her way. I waited for Jordan to come through and she had lost even more time and was nearly 5 minutes behind her at that point. Again, I told her to have fun and push hard to the finish, but I could tell that her drive to push hard was gone.

I was proud that she completed the race and she pushed hard to the finish. The true test will be how well she does at Mt. Kato next weekend.