Tuesday, December 16, 2008
House Renovations
If you are interested in our projects as of late. Visit our other blog "Horner's Home Page" at http://horners-world.blogspot.com/
Friday, December 05, 2008
Like Most Blogs!
Like most blogs that revolve around biking, the posts have been few and sporadic. I am starting to get a little more focused on training for next year.
Andrea and I might try to get out to Murphy a couple of times this weekend and try some snow riding. I am not sure the cover in the woods, but the snow that fell was fairly light and fluffy so it should be alright. I has been cold enough so the ground should be solid, but hopefully not slick.
I hope all is well and I will try to keep things updated a little more frequently.
Andrea and I might try to get out to Murphy a couple of times this weekend and try some snow riding. I am not sure the cover in the woods, but the snow that fell was fairly light and fluffy so it should be alright. I has been cold enough so the ground should be solid, but hopefully not slick.
I hope all is well and I will try to keep things updated a little more frequently.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Friday, September 05, 2008
MNSCS #9 Maplelag
5 Unbelievable days of Fun
4 1st place finishes in the cross country race - Devon, Taylor, Jordan and Andrea
3 races a piece for 3 of us Matt, Andrea, Jordan
2 2nd place finishes for the Stage Race (all 3 races combined) Jordan and Andrea
1 Comparable to none weekend at Maplelag
We all had the best time ever at Maplelag this year!!
We traveled up to Callaway on Thursday in our car-a-van with the Hendricks, Ray, Kevin and Christy 4 cars total and 13 people. We arrived about 2:30 and set-up camp - 4 tents, 2 EZUps, a bike rack, and 4 cars - in the shade. Then it was time to have fun!
The rest of the 5 days we relaxed, we rode our bikes, we hung out with friends, we drank, we ate a lot of great homemade food, we rode our bikes some more, we sat in the hottub, we ate some more . . . . .
We had so much fun we all look forward to Maplelag all year and then that quick it is here and gone. Thanks Jay and Richards family for the great hospitality and the best venue set-up of the series the races were all well run and the trail was awesome. (I appreciated the trail much more this year than last, because I was finally able to master most of the technical obstacles.) Also thanks to Kyia for the skills clinic we all learned a lot and had a great time!
Maplelag ------Priceless!!!!
4 1st place finishes in the cross country race - Devon, Taylor, Jordan and Andrea
3 races a piece for 3 of us Matt, Andrea, Jordan
2 2nd place finishes for the Stage Race (all 3 races combined) Jordan and Andrea
1 Comparable to none weekend at Maplelag
We all had the best time ever at Maplelag this year!!
We traveled up to Callaway on Thursday in our car-a-van with the Hendricks, Ray, Kevin and Christy 4 cars total and 13 people. We arrived about 2:30 and set-up camp - 4 tents, 2 EZUps, a bike rack, and 4 cars - in the shade. Then it was time to have fun!
The rest of the 5 days we relaxed, we rode our bikes, we hung out with friends, we drank, we ate a lot of great homemade food, we rode our bikes some more, we sat in the hottub, we ate some more . . . . .
We had so much fun we all look forward to Maplelag all year and then that quick it is here and gone. Thanks Jay and Richards family for the great hospitality and the best venue set-up of the series the races were all well run and the trail was awesome. (I appreciated the trail much more this year than last, because I was finally able to master most of the technical obstacles.) Also thanks to Kyia for the skills clinic we all learned a lot and had a great time!
Maplelag ------Priceless!!!!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Border Battle
Another day of racing. This time it was a short jaunt from the parents to a new and never ridden trail just north of River Falls.
Andrea, Jordan, and myself found some time on Saturday to pre-ride the course because it was new to us. The three of us started out together, but immediately the trail separated with the citizen course going up a rocky hill, while the sport/comp/expert entered the single track to the left. We would all traverse the rocky uphill on the start on Sunday, but we were planning on just riding one lap so we opted for the single track. At the top of the single-track climb there was a short expert spur that ran you through a decent rock garden. I obviously didn't find the correct line and even though I had the big 29er rolling, I stopped dead on a large rock in the middle of the trail. I smacked my knee and jarred the seeds a little but was able to remount and continue riding even getting ahead of Andrea as I rounded the corner. I let her lead again through the next section of single track and it took a little while to get comfortable riding the single track. The first section was a little tight through the trees and it had a few fairly narrow bridge sections that could cause problems if you were not paying attention. The legs were still a little dead from last weekends Salsa 2-4 and I had only ridden once since the race. Andrea, was gone the entire week in Kansas City, and had not been on the bike since her 11th lap at Afton. The single-track opened up to flow really nicely and there were some fast flowing descents and minimal climbing.
After the lap I decided to change my front chain ring from a 32 tooth to a 34 tooth (17t in back). I went out for a second lap to determine if I could push the bigger gear. I rode a lap with Ray and Scott and the gearing felt a little tall, but was doable on the climbs. It was really nice on the flat field sections where I was able to hold 23+ mph without "spinning out". Near the end of the course there is a long fast downhill section that leads into a shallow climb. I pushed as hard as I could and hammered up the climb to simulate race conditions. Man do I low the single 29er. I can descend with much more confidence and it always seems to have more tracking through the turns. After the pre-ride we preregistered the entire family and went back to the parents.
RACE DAY
Jordan's Race
The race day started at 9:30 AM with Devon and Taylor in the Citizen Youth race. After all the call ups they were both at the back of the pack. At the start Taylor got a good jump on Devon and was leading going into the first climb. That is the last we would see of them until they would come through the finish line. In the meantime Jordan was warming up for her race. When I asked how she was feeling she said good, but a little nervous. There is more competition in the WORS series because the courses are easier and it draws larger groups. At the start, the women were staged in the last of six waves. That meant that Jordan would have a lot of traffic to deal with in the single track. At the start Jordan looked over towards Lizzy Sobotta and Emily Shull (the series points leaders) and could see they were talking about her. They were probably saying "great that girl from Minnesota is back" Earlier in the year at the Firecracker race Jordan finished over 8 minutes ahead of them and just missed the overall win for the ladies. After all the other waves were off, it was the ladies turn. At the word GOOOO! Jordan jumped out in front and had a 4-5 bike length lead before the first turn. She quickly shifted down for the climb and as usual was hammering out the saddle up the rocky double track. She came through to start her second lap comfortably is second position and riding strong. I was able to give her a new water bottle and shoved a gel pack in her back jersey pocket in case she needed it. She came through the finish in second place 1:32 back from the leader (32 years old). Third place was Emily Shull, who had a very good race and was only 1:12 behind. Overall good race and all smiles. Not bad considering the only time she is on the bike is during the pre-rides and race day.
Andreas Race
Matt's Race
NOTE TO SELF: Work on the starts. I am getting killed on the starts and I then get hung up in the single track and never have a chance to catch up. I think it is more mentally draining to ride at the back of the pack than it is physically demanding to ride in the middle of the pack.
I lined up at the back of the pack at the start because I didn't want to hold anyone up on the rocky climb with the single speed. I got a decent jump on the line and was able to hold my position up the first part of the climb with probably 8-10 riders behind me. As we continued towards the top I started to fade and after the turn into the field I turned around and found that I was in last place, familiar but frustrating. I pushed hard and was able to get by one or two riders before the first set of single track. At the entrance to the single track there was a line of riders stopped and I was surprised at how slow the group was going through the first section. It took nearly 5 minutes for the group to string out and allow some decent speed. At this point I was just trying to conserve some energy and wait for the passing sections. At the first passing section I passed 2 more riders and held my position nicely through the single track. On the second passing section I caught a couple more riders including Eric Guse. Jenna passed me part way through the first lap and I was able to hang with her for a little while before she faded into the distance. I was, however, able to put a good gap on the trailing riders and rode strong for the remainder of lap one. Starting the second lap I could tell that the first climb would be a little bit of an effort and I was finding out that the gearing was a little too tall for a 5 lap race. I pushed through the first climb keeping a good pace. The middle of the race was me riding alone and trying to keep the enthusiasm and pace up. Eric caught back up to me on the third lap and we rode strong together through the single track. Through the start/finish line he passed me to lead out the climb starting lap 4. My legs were starting to fade and the tall gearing made it difficult to maintain momentum up the climb. By the time I entered the first field Eric was gone and I was unable to bridge back up. I used this time to take down a gel and get some water in my body. I found it extremely difficult to drink on the course, because you were either in fast single track were you needed to constantly pay attention and on the field sections it was too bumpy to drink. I lapped a few comp riders and it gave me a little motivation to push hard, but that quickly faded when I went down hard on the next section of single track. The front wheel washed on a fast section sending me to the deck. I had to pound the handlebar strait and I didn't notice until I got home that my front wheel was about 1" out of true. Thank God for disk breaks. I must have hit the bar with my left knee because as I got up to grab the bike my knee was really sore. To make matters worse, when I finally got back on and started to crank, both my legs cramped up at the same time. Fortunately, the next section was slightly downhill, so I soft peddled for a minute to loosen them up. Shortly later on the next climb my left calf cramped up and I was forced to walk the rest of the climb.
For the remainder of of the race I battled the legs and made sure that I didn't push hard on any of the climbs. In fact, I had to walk most of the climb at the start of lap 5. I was able to push fairly hard on the flat sections, but had to be careful on the climbs. I was able to pass one more riders near the middle of lap 5 and held strong to the finish. Eric Guse busted his chain 500 m before the finish line and I was able to pass him as he was running with his bike.
I felt fairly good, but not where I want to be. There is always next year.
Monday, August 04, 2008
MNSCS #6 Powder Monkey Duluth, MN
Another beautiful weekend!
Race Day!
I felt like quiting the entire race, but I held on. My warm-up went great I started out feeling bad but the legs warmed up nicely and I felt ready to go. I rested for a few minutes between the race and my warm up and then I was ready. They had a mass start which at first I really didn't think I would like, but then as the race started I realized it was going to be much easier this way. There were so many people I didn't need to pass and I could just get into position right from the start. Part way up the intial climb Matt told me there was only one lady in front of me, well I knew there was one lady right in front of me, so I passed her and just kept passing as many people as I could. I got towards the top of the hill and spotted another lady, Brandi Moore, so I worked hard and passed her too. We all reached the top of the hill and had to wait to get into the single track. We all filed in and the first 20 minutes of the race were quite frustrating because we were all riding so close in a line. We slowly passed those who made mistakes or couldn't ride smooth. Then we slowly spread out and we were all able to ride our own race. I had a 3 lap race. After lap 1 Brandy was right on my back wheel going up the hill and then I kicked it a little and put some space between us, she stayed fairly close to me until we hit the road half way into the 2nd lap, at that point I put it in a high gear and took off. I didn't see her again. I didn't feel good at all most of the race, it was really hot and I was just not feeling right. I thought I might DNF and then I figured before I did that I could just slow down, but I was never able to bring myself to do it. Finally after the 1st climb of the 3rd lap I started feeling better and I knew I was in the home stretch, I just needed to ride smooth and avoid bike failure and crashing. I held on for the overall women's win! I finished 1st out of 6 for the ladies and 39 out of 82 overall for the Sport riders.
We, along with the Hendricks and Kevin and Kristie, all traveled up to Duluth on Friday and camped for the weekend.
On Friday we quickly set-up camp and then went for a pre-ride. I was going to ride the kids comp trail with Taylor and then go back for a loop on my trail. We started the preride with
Jordan doing a quick break because Scot made a quick turn and then she went OTB (over the bars) and then Kevin who following her went OTB and landed slightly on her. I freaked to say the least and screamed for Matt to come back, I got up to Jordan and she couldn't breath for a second and then she just screamed. I layed her on her back and she just was holding her side and she was saying she hurt and couldn't breath. Then she kept saying mom and she started looking pale. I screamed for Matt again and he, Ray and Micole came running through the woods to where we were. When Matt got there he strated asking her questions and then she started looking better. She was fine she had a sore rib and her hip hurt from landing on it, she had also got the wind knocked out of her pretty good. She rode for a while and then Matt took er back becasue she was hurting a little bit. I totally overreacted, but I was scared I say her fly throught he air and it looked worse then it ended up being.
We rode a bunch of the trail but all ended up off the right trails and on the wrongs trails since the course was not marked. It was a bit frustrating because they did not want us preriding on Sat due to weddings so we went up early to abide by their wishes and only ended up frustrated and confused.
After our preride we all got ready really fast and headed into Duluth for an awesome dinner at Hell's Kitchen they have incredible food and their portions are insane.
The next day we slept in and hung out at the camp ground for awhile then we headed to Duluth to walk around down by the Lake. It was a beautiful day. We got some snacks down near the pier and just enjoyed.
Race Day!We got up early as usual (but not too early since we were right across the street from the race). We had breakfast and then headed over to the race. This was our first day wearing our new LCR team colors.
Taylor and Devon sat this one out, it was a little too hilly and too technical for them.
Jordan did great! She thought she only had one lap but had 2 and just took it all in stride. She said her hip hurt a little but for the most part didn't bother her. She stayed strong through the entire race and finished 2nd out of 6 for all the ladies and 28 out of 45 overall for the citizen riders. She is consistant!
I felt like quiting the entire race, but I held on. My warm-up went great I started out feeling bad but the legs warmed up nicely and I felt ready to go. I rested for a few minutes between the race and my warm up and then I was ready. They had a mass start which at first I really didn't think I would like, but then as the race started I realized it was going to be much easier this way. There were so many people I didn't need to pass and I could just get into position right from the start. Part way up the intial climb Matt told me there was only one lady in front of me, well I knew there was one lady right in front of me, so I passed her and just kept passing as many people as I could. I got towards the top of the hill and spotted another lady, Brandi Moore, so I worked hard and passed her too. We all reached the top of the hill and had to wait to get into the single track. We all filed in and the first 20 minutes of the race were quite frustrating because we were all riding so close in a line. We slowly passed those who made mistakes or couldn't ride smooth. Then we slowly spread out and we were all able to ride our own race. I had a 3 lap race. After lap 1 Brandy was right on my back wheel going up the hill and then I kicked it a little and put some space between us, she stayed fairly close to me until we hit the road half way into the 2nd lap, at that point I put it in a high gear and took off. I didn't see her again. I didn't feel good at all most of the race, it was really hot and I was just not feeling right. I thought I might DNF and then I figured before I did that I could just slow down, but I was never able to bring myself to do it. Finally after the 1st climb of the 3rd lap I started feeling better and I knew I was in the home stretch, I just needed to ride smooth and avoid bike failure and crashing. I held on for the overall women's win! I finished 1st out of 6 for the ladies and 39 out of 82 overall for the Sport riders.I'll let Matt tell you about his race!
Friday, July 25, 2008
The Horner's are on a team!!
We are now official members of the LCR team!
Thanks everyone for allowing us to join your "cult" we will not let you down!
Thanks everyone for allowing us to join your "cult" we will not let you down!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
MNSCS #5 Red Wing Memorial Classic
Yeah Me!! I finally did it after 4 years of racing I got my first overall win! And I worked for it!
What a fun race! I generally in the past have not appreciated the Red Wing course, but Sunday's race was different. We woke up and it was still hot and muggy as usual in Red Wing, but as the sun came up and burned away the fog the humidity lifted slightly and made the day much more bearable.
We decided to spend the night at a nearby campground with the Hendricks and Ray, so we arrived on Saturday afternoon and set-up camp and then headed to the trail for a pre-ride. We all started together and then shortly after Scot and Jordan headed on the citizen loop and then Matt, Ray and Kevin went ahead and Micole and I rode the lap together, chatting and just getting to know the trail. We finished up and I wanted to go for another lap at a quicker pace, but the lightening and thunder had started and we could hear sirens in the background. So we packed up and left for the campground.
In the morning we woke up at 5:30am to get breakfast and get out of there to get Devon and Taylor to the course by 8:15am, they did not get a chance to pre-ride but they were both confident that they wanted to race this course. They both did great. Taylor finished just in front of Devon and again they both had smiles on when they finished. Neither one had a competitor in their age bracket, but they finished 9 and 10 respectfully out of 12.
Jordan's race went great, she looked awesome as she flew past the start/finish line. She said the race went well and she had fun. She finished 1st for the all the ladies out of 6 and 41st out of 63 for the all the citizen riders.
Early in the day I wasn't so sure how the day was going to do, I had eaten some things that I would normally not eat and drank some cappuccino and that I would not usually do on a race morning and my stomach was yelling at me. I managed to force myself to eat a bagel with peanut butter at about 9:30am which was probably a very good thing for me to do. As I was waiting for Jordan to take off I was being heckled by Janet Atkinson, she was trying to psych me out, but nothing was getting through the cappuccino. Shortly after Jordan took off I got changed into my brand new MORC ladies jersey, which I absolutely love, and I went to warm up. My warm up consisted of 1 lap around the top of the bluff to get my legs going and then I went down the road all the way to the main street and then back up, I was totally surprised when I got to the top in short order. I then proceeded to do 3 more laps around the top of the bluff at 160 HR (my high during a race is low 170's), then I did 2 more laps at a recovery HR. My warm up was about 25 minutes and was absolutely perfect I finished up at about 10:35 am and then went back to sit for a few minutes and make sure I was totally ready for the race. I told Matt which bottles I needed when and I headed for the start/finish line.
At the start line Janet was heckling again but I was already in race mode. I glanced around at the riders at the line and then we were off. I rode past most of the riders right off the bat and had only 2 ladies in front of me; Lori Belz and Becki Alexander. I know both these riders are great so I was going to need to ride strong to hang with them. Becki was in 1st and I was sticking right with Lori. When the trail finally opened up to the 1st long double track section I kicked into a high gear and passed Lori. At this point I had know idea where Becki was, but I knew I wanted to catch her if I could. I rode as fast as I could and passed a lot of guys at this point and then I eyed Becki, I continued to push as hard as I could and I caught up to and passed Becki. At this point I knew I had to stay strong and make sure not to push so hard that I ran out of steam before the end of the race. The rest of the race I concentrated on passing as many guys as I could and riding smooth. By the top of the Stairway to Heaven hill on the 2nd lap I glanced back and I saw no one. So I hopped back on my bike and I knew the only way I could lose at this point was to crash and get hurt or to have a mechanical. I rode the rest of the lap smooth and on my way out of the rock quarry right before the last climb I saw Lori coming through the quarry. I continued to push hard and finished 56 seconds ahead of Lori for the overall women's win. I finished 57 out of 113 sport riders. That was so fun! I conserved when I needed to and I pushed hard when I needed to. I drank enough and I took my gels. All my trials and errors from past races help this race come together for a great finish.
Matt did a great job! He rode his hardtail for the 1st time this year, he has never been able to get comfortable on his supercaliber, and finished 21st out of 33 racers. He came back happy and looked strong throughout the whole race. It is so important to ride a bike you are comfortable with.
Wyatt raced in the kids race and came across the line 2nd he was so happy. He did great I always love watching him stand up and pedal. He is so smooth and he his going to kick it someday out on all the courses.
I'll post pictures soon from the race.
What a fun race! I generally in the past have not appreciated the Red Wing course, but Sunday's race was different. We woke up and it was still hot and muggy as usual in Red Wing, but as the sun came up and burned away the fog the humidity lifted slightly and made the day much more bearable.
We decided to spend the night at a nearby campground with the Hendricks and Ray, so we arrived on Saturday afternoon and set-up camp and then headed to the trail for a pre-ride. We all started together and then shortly after Scot and Jordan headed on the citizen loop and then Matt, Ray and Kevin went ahead and Micole and I rode the lap together, chatting and just getting to know the trail. We finished up and I wanted to go for another lap at a quicker pace, but the lightening and thunder had started and we could hear sirens in the background. So we packed up and left for the campground.
In the morning we woke up at 5:30am to get breakfast and get out of there to get Devon and Taylor to the course by 8:15am, they did not get a chance to pre-ride but they were both confident that they wanted to race this course. They both did great. Taylor finished just in front of Devon and again they both had smiles on when they finished. Neither one had a competitor in their age bracket, but they finished 9 and 10 respectfully out of 12.
Jordan's race went great, she looked awesome as she flew past the start/finish line. She said the race went well and she had fun. She finished 1st for the all the ladies out of 6 and 41st out of 63 for the all the citizen riders.
Early in the day I wasn't so sure how the day was going to do, I had eaten some things that I would normally not eat and drank some cappuccino and that I would not usually do on a race morning and my stomach was yelling at me. I managed to force myself to eat a bagel with peanut butter at about 9:30am which was probably a very good thing for me to do. As I was waiting for Jordan to take off I was being heckled by Janet Atkinson, she was trying to psych me out, but nothing was getting through the cappuccino. Shortly after Jordan took off I got changed into my brand new MORC ladies jersey, which I absolutely love, and I went to warm up. My warm up consisted of 1 lap around the top of the bluff to get my legs going and then I went down the road all the way to the main street and then back up, I was totally surprised when I got to the top in short order. I then proceeded to do 3 more laps around the top of the bluff at 160 HR (my high during a race is low 170's), then I did 2 more laps at a recovery HR. My warm up was about 25 minutes and was absolutely perfect I finished up at about 10:35 am and then went back to sit for a few minutes and make sure I was totally ready for the race. I told Matt which bottles I needed when and I headed for the start/finish line.
At the start line Janet was heckling again but I was already in race mode. I glanced around at the riders at the line and then we were off. I rode past most of the riders right off the bat and had only 2 ladies in front of me; Lori Belz and Becki Alexander. I know both these riders are great so I was going to need to ride strong to hang with them. Becki was in 1st and I was sticking right with Lori. When the trail finally opened up to the 1st long double track section I kicked into a high gear and passed Lori. At this point I had know idea where Becki was, but I knew I wanted to catch her if I could. I rode as fast as I could and passed a lot of guys at this point and then I eyed Becki, I continued to push as hard as I could and I caught up to and passed Becki. At this point I knew I had to stay strong and make sure not to push so hard that I ran out of steam before the end of the race. The rest of the race I concentrated on passing as many guys as I could and riding smooth. By the top of the Stairway to Heaven hill on the 2nd lap I glanced back and I saw no one. So I hopped back on my bike and I knew the only way I could lose at this point was to crash and get hurt or to have a mechanical. I rode the rest of the lap smooth and on my way out of the rock quarry right before the last climb I saw Lori coming through the quarry. I continued to push hard and finished 56 seconds ahead of Lori for the overall women's win. I finished 57 out of 113 sport riders. That was so fun! I conserved when I needed to and I pushed hard when I needed to. I drank enough and I took my gels. All my trials and errors from past races help this race come together for a great finish.
Matt did a great job! He rode his hardtail for the 1st time this year, he has never been able to get comfortable on his supercaliber, and finished 21st out of 33 racers. He came back happy and looked strong throughout the whole race. It is so important to ride a bike you are comfortable with.
Wyatt raced in the kids race and came across the line 2nd he was so happy. He did great I always love watching him stand up and pedal. He is so smooth and he his going to kick it someday out on all the courses.
I'll post pictures soon from the race.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
WORS #5 Chippewa Valley Firecracker
The update is a little late in coming, but here it is. Lets just say that WORS does a very good job of running a top notch event. On site camping, food, entertainment, and one of the nicest courses I have ridden.
We found a nice spot Friday afternoon with the Hendrick's and quickly set up camp (three vans, 13 bikes, two EZ ups and four tents).
Friday afternoon I took Devon, Taylor and Wyatt out for a preride on the citizen youth course. The course was a little too much for Wyatt, but he still did remarkably well. Devon and Taylor handled most of the sections with ease and were typically way ahead. After Wyatt and I got back I went out for a lap to get a feel for the speed and lines on the course.
Later that night Scott, Kevin, Ray and myself strapped on the lights for a little night ride action. The course is much different at night and everything seems to "close in".
Taylor and Devon's Race
Taylor and Devon did great in the Citizen Youth race. They both came back with smiles on their faces and said they had a great time. Taylor finished 3rd out of 5 and Devon finished 9th out of 12. It is so fun to see them out there making their way through the trails with ease.
Jordan's Race
Jordan was absolutely amazing out there, she really showed up those Wisconsin girls. She scooted herself as close to the front as she could at the line (considering most of the WI ladies were called up to the line). Then they were off. Shortly into the first lap she made her way to the front of all the ladies and stayed there ... until part way into the 2nd lap the 2nd place lady was telling Jordan what a good job she was doing and Jordan fell off a bridge. She was so mad, the 2nd place lady passed her and Jordan ended up finishing 2nd overall, 31 seconds back from the leader. The next closest girl in her age bracket finished 8.32 minutes later. Great Job Jordan!
Andrea's Race from her Point
It was another great racing day! We have been so lucky with weather this year for the races!
I started with a warm-up about 45 minutes before my race was going to start. I warmed-up on the road for about 22 minutes. My warm-up started with an endurance heart rate for about 10 minutes and then I varied my heart rate between a 4-5a level for the remaindered of my warm-up, just as I was about to lower my heart rate and start heading back to the camp site it started to down pore. I hurried back to the campsite and helped make sure everything was safe from getting wet. I made sure I was ready for my race I told Matt which water bottles I wanted when and I headed for the line.
We sat at the line for quite awhile. WORS puts on a good show and they have a lot of race categories with callups for each category so it takes awhile to get to the ladies who ride out last. Finally when it was our turn I didn't have the best starting position because of all of the callups, but I knew the lead out section was long enough. I started out towards the back of the pack and got myself around the two sketchy corners before the fence. Then I shifted to a high gear and started passing people. We had one more left corner to take and then there was a long straight section before a right turn down a short hill. So after the left turn I shifted into my highest gear and just went, I ended up passing everyone and just kept going. I went down the hill and around another corner I glanced back and there was no one close to me so I just kept going. I knew there was a steep rocky downhill that led into a rocky left turn section coming up and I knew I could make it if no one else was around (the last 2 times I've raced this course this section gets all jammed up with riders walking these sections). So I got to that section with no one around and I cleared it cleanly and just kept riding. After my 1st lap Matt tells me I had a 1 minute gap on the next closest rider. Part way into my 2nd lap I caught up to a guy who was riding slower than me, but I didn't have time to pass him before some downhill switchbacks. So I just stayed behind him and gave him a little distance just in case he biffed it. He made the switchbacks fine and then he made a steep rocky section just fine, but then that led to a bridge. I don't know what he was doing but he got way off to the left edge of the bridge and then fell off, but his bike stayed on the bridge and with no way to get around him I tried to stop, but I was too close to the right edge and I fell off the bridge. I hopped back on my bike as quick as I could and passed the guy and tried to just go again. However, on a short uphill I didn't quite make I was passed by the next closest women (Kelly Skillicorn - if you remember from a previous post she was this years winner of the Birkebeiner.) I stayed with her and then on a straight section I passed her again, although that led to a short uphill that she managed better than I and she passed me back. The rest of the second lap I stayed right with her until almost the end. When yet again a short uphill and some "friendly" advice from some spectators distracted me and I shifted wrong and lost my chain. It was too close to the end to catch back up I did the best I could and I finished 39 seconds back. It was another excellent race and it was really fun running that long at the front, although somewhat hard to gage on how fast/hard I should push it. I'm getting stronger and my training is back on track, finally after the move and all the projects... Next race is MNSCS #5 Red Wing.
Matt's Race
Earlier in the week I had made the decision to race in the SS Comp class to give myself a chance to compete closer to the front of the pack. Since this race is not affiliated with the MNSCS series it wouldn't matter in the standings, so why not.
It was a different feeling pulling up to the start being behind the expert class and at the back of the comp class. The sent off the 39+ and SS as the last wave. After all the other waves were off it was our turn to go and I pinned it as fast as I could down the long lead out section. During the lead out I was completely spun out and feel toward the back of the pack, I think all the gearies were gone by that point. Once into the single track I held a very good pace. The bike handled the flowing single track with ease and I was really comfortable on the trail. I was catching up to many of the riders that blew by me on the start.
I witnessed one of the craziest crashes part way through lap one. I was following in a small group of 4 riders just after crossing the bridge for the second time. All of a sudden the rider in front of me went strait down, head first, into the ground. I had just enough room to pass by on the left and nobody was caught in the crash. The rider who crashed yelled out, "what happened", and the person behind him casually said, "your fork broke". Andrea later saw him carrying his bike out of the woods, his carbon fork snapped just above the dropouts on both sides. I hope everyone is OK.
Near the end of lap one I was caught by one of the single speeders who obviously had a bad start. He dogged me for a while and he offered to lead. I allowed him to pass and we worked together to keep up a really good pace. We rode that way on lap 2 until going through the start/finish line to begin lap 3. For some reason It was becoming difficult to pedal the crank and it was starting to seize up. I thought that it might just be some dirt in the bottom bracket so I tried to continue peddling to work it free. By the entrance to the single track it would not turn over. I got off the bike and it took me a minute to determine that the SS lock ring had backed off and was now cross threaded causing it to rub on the inside of the frame. I quickly pulled the wheel off but without tools I could not remove the lock ring. Thinking my day was done, I carried the bike back to camp. Never wanting to DNF, however, I grabbed a pliers and was able to get the lock ring off and re threaded correctly. At this point the goal was to go all out and see how much time I could make up by the end of the race.
On lap three I pushed really hard and managed to finish 17th out of 23. I figured I lost about 10 minutes due to the mechanical and that would have put me in about 5th place. A good race overall despite the mechanical and the legs felt good.
Next race Red Wing
We found a nice spot Friday afternoon with the Hendrick's and quickly set up camp (three vans, 13 bikes, two EZ ups and four tents).
Friday afternoon I took Devon, Taylor and Wyatt out for a preride on the citizen youth course. The course was a little too much for Wyatt, but he still did remarkably well. Devon and Taylor handled most of the sections with ease and were typically way ahead. After Wyatt and I got back I went out for a lap to get a feel for the speed and lines on the course.
Later that night Scott, Kevin, Ray and myself strapped on the lights for a little night ride action. The course is much different at night and everything seems to "close in".
Taylor and Devon's Race
Taylor and Devon did great in the Citizen Youth race. They both came back with smiles on their faces and said they had a great time. Taylor finished 3rd out of 5 and Devon finished 9th out of 12. It is so fun to see them out there making their way through the trails with ease.
Jordan's Race
Jordan was absolutely amazing out there, she really showed up those Wisconsin girls. She scooted herself as close to the front as she could at the line (considering most of the WI ladies were called up to the line). Then they were off. Shortly into the first lap she made her way to the front of all the ladies and stayed there ... until part way into the 2nd lap the 2nd place lady was telling Jordan what a good job she was doing and Jordan fell off a bridge. She was so mad, the 2nd place lady passed her and Jordan ended up finishing 2nd overall, 31 seconds back from the leader. The next closest girl in her age bracket finished 8.32 minutes later. Great Job Jordan!
Andrea's Race from her Point
It was another great racing day! We have been so lucky with weather this year for the races!
I started with a warm-up about 45 minutes before my race was going to start. I warmed-up on the road for about 22 minutes. My warm-up started with an endurance heart rate for about 10 minutes and then I varied my heart rate between a 4-5a level for the remaindered of my warm-up, just as I was about to lower my heart rate and start heading back to the camp site it started to down pore. I hurried back to the campsite and helped make sure everything was safe from getting wet. I made sure I was ready for my race I told Matt which water bottles I wanted when and I headed for the line.
We sat at the line for quite awhile. WORS puts on a good show and they have a lot of race categories with callups for each category so it takes awhile to get to the ladies who ride out last. Finally when it was our turn I didn't have the best starting position because of all of the callups, but I knew the lead out section was long enough. I started out towards the back of the pack and got myself around the two sketchy corners before the fence. Then I shifted to a high gear and started passing people. We had one more left corner to take and then there was a long straight section before a right turn down a short hill. So after the left turn I shifted into my highest gear and just went, I ended up passing everyone and just kept going. I went down the hill and around another corner I glanced back and there was no one close to me so I just kept going. I knew there was a steep rocky downhill that led into a rocky left turn section coming up and I knew I could make it if no one else was around (the last 2 times I've raced this course this section gets all jammed up with riders walking these sections). So I got to that section with no one around and I cleared it cleanly and just kept riding. After my 1st lap Matt tells me I had a 1 minute gap on the next closest rider. Part way into my 2nd lap I caught up to a guy who was riding slower than me, but I didn't have time to pass him before some downhill switchbacks. So I just stayed behind him and gave him a little distance just in case he biffed it. He made the switchbacks fine and then he made a steep rocky section just fine, but then that led to a bridge. I don't know what he was doing but he got way off to the left edge of the bridge and then fell off, but his bike stayed on the bridge and with no way to get around him I tried to stop, but I was too close to the right edge and I fell off the bridge. I hopped back on my bike as quick as I could and passed the guy and tried to just go again. However, on a short uphill I didn't quite make I was passed by the next closest women (Kelly Skillicorn - if you remember from a previous post she was this years winner of the Birkebeiner.) I stayed with her and then on a straight section I passed her again, although that led to a short uphill that she managed better than I and she passed me back. The rest of the second lap I stayed right with her until almost the end. When yet again a short uphill and some "friendly" advice from some spectators distracted me and I shifted wrong and lost my chain. It was too close to the end to catch back up I did the best I could and I finished 39 seconds back. It was another excellent race and it was really fun running that long at the front, although somewhat hard to gage on how fast/hard I should push it. I'm getting stronger and my training is back on track, finally after the move and all the projects... Next race is MNSCS #5 Red Wing.
Matt's Race
Earlier in the week I had made the decision to race in the SS Comp class to give myself a chance to compete closer to the front of the pack. Since this race is not affiliated with the MNSCS series it wouldn't matter in the standings, so why not.
It was a different feeling pulling up to the start being behind the expert class and at the back of the comp class. The sent off the 39+ and SS as the last wave. After all the other waves were off it was our turn to go and I pinned it as fast as I could down the long lead out section. During the lead out I was completely spun out and feel toward the back of the pack, I think all the gearies were gone by that point. Once into the single track I held a very good pace. The bike handled the flowing single track with ease and I was really comfortable on the trail. I was catching up to many of the riders that blew by me on the start.
I witnessed one of the craziest crashes part way through lap one. I was following in a small group of 4 riders just after crossing the bridge for the second time. All of a sudden the rider in front of me went strait down, head first, into the ground. I had just enough room to pass by on the left and nobody was caught in the crash. The rider who crashed yelled out, "what happened", and the person behind him casually said, "your fork broke". Andrea later saw him carrying his bike out of the woods, his carbon fork snapped just above the dropouts on both sides. I hope everyone is OK.
Near the end of lap one I was caught by one of the single speeders who obviously had a bad start. He dogged me for a while and he offered to lead. I allowed him to pass and we worked together to keep up a really good pace. We rode that way on lap 2 until going through the start/finish line to begin lap 3. For some reason It was becoming difficult to pedal the crank and it was starting to seize up. I thought that it might just be some dirt in the bottom bracket so I tried to continue peddling to work it free. By the entrance to the single track it would not turn over. I got off the bike and it took me a minute to determine that the SS lock ring had backed off and was now cross threaded causing it to rub on the inside of the frame. I quickly pulled the wheel off but without tools I could not remove the lock ring. Thinking my day was done, I carried the bike back to camp. Never wanting to DNF, however, I grabbed a pliers and was able to get the lock ring off and re threaded correctly. At this point the goal was to go all out and see how much time I could make up by the end of the race.
On lap three I pushed really hard and managed to finish 17th out of 23. I figured I lost about 10 minutes due to the mechanical and that would have put me in about 5th place. A good race overall despite the mechanical and the legs felt good.
Next race Red Wing
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
MNSCS #4 Bluff Riders Charge at Mt Kato
The weekend started out with The Hendrick's, Ray, Ray's mom (Rosie), Kevin and Kristie and Us all meeting at our house Saturday morning to cara"van" down to Mankato (3 vans all in a line). We arrived at Mt. Kato about noon for a preride. The weather at this point was great. Matt took Devon out for a preride and Jordan, Micole and I all went out together and the other guys went out as a group. Many of us went out for a second lap for good measure and then we enjoyed some lunch. The trail was a little dusty so we all thought a little rain would be nice.
Another beautiful race day! Although we were all a little worried when it started raining Saturday afternoon and didn't stop until sometime Sunday early morning. We said "a little rain!" The course ended up being fine with just a couple sketchy sections.
The day started with Taylor telling us 15 minutes before the Kids Comp race that she was going to race today, so we let her.
Devon and Taylor and Matt (who was riding with Devon for encouragement) were lined up for the Kids Comp race to start when I realized the camera was still in the car, I booked as fast as I could (I had 30 seconds to get there and back) grabbed the camera and got there just in time to take pictures of the start. The kids did great!! By the top of the first climb Devon had passed Taylor. Taylor was not happy in fact I think her words to Devon were "What are you doing you freak?" Where Matt responded "if you ever act like that again or call someone a name your race will be over and you will be done for the day" Where Taylor responded "What? He is a freak!" Matt and Devon ignored her and went on their
merry way! Both Devon and Taylor looked good out there and they both came back with smiles on there faces.
Next it was Jordan's turn! They sent the waves off differently this time the 1st wave was 30+ everyone and the second wave was 29 and under everyone, so it was hard for her to gage during the race where she stood. She had a great race she rode smooth and finished 2nd overall for the ladies out of 6. She finished 24 out 53 for all the citizen riders.
I was next! I went out prior to my race and got a good 20+ minute warm-up in, I went down the road and found another dirt road that had a couple hills I went up that a couple times and felt great. During my preride I drank my entire
water bottle, which probably helped me during my race, no side cramps this race at all. After my preride I went back to our area and ate a small powerbar and relaxed for a bit before my race started. About 5 minutes before we were to start lining up I got back on my bike and tooled around a bit to get my legs back into racing mode. Next it was go time! As we took off from the starting line I booked as fast as I could, because I know at Mt. Kato if you don't get in a good position before the climb starts it can be a little difficult to pass because of huge ruts and holes on the sides of the track. On the climb I was sitting in 4th place, by the time we reached the top of the hill I was in 
3rd place. I was in a good spot and I wanted to keep the leaders in my sight, so I sat back in at a good pace and just rode smooth. I kept the 2 ladies in my sights and then in the "gets tight" section one of them faltered. She went off the trail a bit, was ok, and just about to get back on her bike as I passed her. At this point I had just one lady in front of me. I kept her in my sights the rest of the 1st lap and then on the second lap in the same place where the other lady faltered she too went down, although I didn't pass her I did catch up and I was right on her back wheel. There was a couple times I fell back because of small shifting errors or other bobbles but I stayed with her. Then at the end of the lap right after the luge we were on our last leg of singletrack and I was right on her back wheel, if there would have been a place to pass I could have easily passed her at this point, but I probably would have gone down the embankment. So I thought to my self as soon as it breaks out in the open I will kick it into high gear and pass her, but she did the same. I tried as hard as I could to pass her but it just was not going to happen. Margaret finished at 1:15:34.3 and I finished at 1:15:34.7 just .4 seconds back from the lead. I was exstactic! It was my best race ever! I raced smooth, I didn't run low on energy, my hill climbs were improving, and I felt great - no cramps in my sides or in my knees. Now I just need to remember everything I did so I can repeat the performance!
Matt's race was last! (I'll let him write about his race)
Thanks to Wannabee Racing for some of the great pictures!! We really appreciate them.
Another beautiful race day! Although we were all a little worried when it started raining Saturday afternoon and didn't stop until sometime Sunday early morning. We said "a little rain!" The course ended up being fine with just a couple sketchy sections.
The day started with Taylor telling us 15 minutes before the Kids Comp race that she was going to race today, so we let her.
Devon and Taylor and Matt (who was riding with Devon for encouragement) were lined up for the Kids Comp race to start when I realized the camera was still in the car, I booked as fast as I could (I had 30 seconds to get there and back) grabbed the camera and got there just in time to take pictures of the start. The kids did great!! By the top of the first climb Devon had passed Taylor. Taylor was not happy in fact I think her words to Devon were "What are you doing you freak?" Where Matt responded "if you ever act like that again or call someone a name your race will be over and you will be done for the day" Where Taylor responded "What? He is a freak!" Matt and Devon ignored her and went on their
merry way! Both Devon and Taylor looked good out there and they both came back with smiles on there faces.
Next it was Jordan's turn! They sent the waves off differently this time the 1st wave was 30+ everyone and the second wave was 29 and under everyone, so it was hard for her to gage during the race where she stood. She had a great race she rode smooth and finished 2nd overall for the ladies out of 6. She finished 24 out 53 for all the citizen riders.
I was next! I went out prior to my race and got a good 20+ minute warm-up in, I went down the road and found another dirt road that had a couple hills I went up that a couple times and felt great. During my preride I drank my entire
water bottle, which probably helped me during my race, no side cramps this race at all. After my preride I went back to our area and ate a small powerbar and relaxed for a bit before my race started. About 5 minutes before we were to start lining up I got back on my bike and tooled around a bit to get my legs back into racing mode. Next it was go time! As we took off from the starting line I booked as fast as I could, because I know at Mt. Kato if you don't get in a good position before the climb starts it can be a little difficult to pass because of huge ruts and holes on the sides of the track. On the climb I was sitting in 4th place, by the time we reached the top of the hill I was in 
3rd place. I was in a good spot and I wanted to keep the leaders in my sight, so I sat back in at a good pace and just rode smooth. I kept the 2 ladies in my sights and then in the "gets tight" section one of them faltered. She went off the trail a bit, was ok, and just about to get back on her bike as I passed her. At this point I had just one lady in front of me. I kept her in my sights the rest of the 1st lap and then on the second lap in the same place where the other lady faltered she too went down, although I didn't pass her I did catch up and I was right on her back wheel. There was a couple times I fell back because of small shifting errors or other bobbles but I stayed with her. Then at the end of the lap right after the luge we were on our last leg of singletrack and I was right on her back wheel, if there would have been a place to pass I could have easily passed her at this point, but I probably would have gone down the embankment. So I thought to my self as soon as it breaks out in the open I will kick it into high gear and pass her, but she did the same. I tried as hard as I could to pass her but it just was not going to happen. Margaret finished at 1:15:34.3 and I finished at 1:15:34.7 just .4 seconds back from the lead. I was exstactic! It was my best race ever! I raced smooth, I didn't run low on energy, my hill climbs were improving, and I felt great - no cramps in my sides or in my knees. Now I just need to remember everything I did so I can repeat the performance!
Matt's race was last! (I'll let him write about his race)
Thanks to Wannabee Racing for some of the great pictures!! We really appreciate them.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
MNSCS #3 The Dirt Spanker - Andrea's Point of View
The day was beautiful for the sport riders!
I started out my morning by squeezing in a pre-ride just before the Kidscomp and First Timers went out on the course. Now that I have been riding most of these trails for 4 years now I don't always think I need to pre-ride, but I was glad I did. I always seem to remember the fun easy flowing sections, but I forget about the punchy little uphills and the roots and other things that tend to slow me down when I don't know the trail. So the pre-ride was good, because it reminded me of the trail and let me make a few adjustments on my bike before my race.
I always do better in a race with a longer warm-up, but I was done with my pre-ride at about 9:45 and my race did not start until 11. I made the mistake of not getting back on my bike again before the race to warm my legs back up. I was going to and just before our race started it rained for just a couple minutes. I really have no excuse, we'll just call it a lesson learned.
Generally I'm a pretty good hill climber. At the start of the race I got a very good start, there were only 2 women ahead of me and then I quickly started to fade. Suddenly I looked and ladies were passing me left and right. Then I heard one of the ladies getting quite a bit of encouragement from her dad, and it sounded like she was about to pass me too. So I dug a little deeper and sped up a bit. I was able to pass a few people up the second hill after the turn and then I was off. I looked ahead and I saw 6 women ahead of me and I was gunning to pass as many as I could. throughout the first lap I was able to pass 3 of them. So I thought that left me in 4th position. The first lap went great, the pre-ride helped immensely. I was able to shift correctly to get up most of the punchy uphills and I knew when I could kick it for a time because the trail was nice and flowing for awhile. I was happy to not have to walk any of the long uphills and I had no crashes.
I passed by the water tent and grabbed a couple of glasses and drank some and dumped some on my back, Matt was waiting for me just passed the water tent to do a hand off. I drank a bit more from my water and grabbed my Acclerade for the last lap. Then Matt proceeded to spray my back with my bottle, which surprised me a bit because it was so cold but it felt great. He then let me know I was in 5th place. I was confused and I said no I think I am in 4th, he said 1 lady was way out front. So I was a little bummed, because generally the faster women in sport are the ladies who are 35+. So the only thing I could do was ride strong and hope to catch some of them.
The second lap went well. After the hill and then there is a small downhill which leads directly into a steep uphill, I made it up about half way then I had to walk the rest. It's not a very long hill, but just before I hopped back on my bike I glanced behind me and noticed one of the ladies I had already passed was right behind me. I shifted down a few gears and took off, I did not want anyone I had already passed passing me back. A little bit later I caught glance of the next lady in front of me, although she was riding strong and I was never able to catch her. I continued to pass guys who were falling back and I never was passed after the initial climb on the first lap. The second lap was much like the first I stayed strong, my legs felt good, and I was flowing through the trail well.
I ended up with 5 overall for the ladies out of 12 and 2nd in my age group out of 5 and 55 out of 97 for the overall Sport category. I didn't recognize any of the 4 ladies ahead of me 1 of them was a Duluth native I always give expect they will beat me. But I googled some of the others after I got home. Kelly Skillicorn was the 1st overall lady and when I looked up her info I found out that earlier this year Kelly won the American Birkebeiner (a 53 kilometer cross country ski race with over 9000 participants the male winner was from Russia) and the rest of Kelly's info told me she has been an elite athlete for years. The other 2 ladies also had athlete backgrounds including winning or coming close to the top in their racing careers also. So then I didn't feel so bad.
Lately I've been feeling like I just don't have the same strength as last year, and I probably don't many rides have been skipped due to moving (twice), the end of school, a cold spring..... But I have been fairing quite well in the races considering, my singletrack riding has gotten faster and flows more smoothly, but my hill climbs have gotten a bit slower I feel (I have no data to back that up, it's just how I feel as I climb). Matt tells me I'm probably more tired on the hills now because I can push it faster through the rest of the race. I hope that's why. I am now back to keeping to my riding schedule as much as I can. Many Saturday rides still get missed, because of traveling to races and Sunday's being races I usually don't get my long endurance ride in for the week (I think that hurts the most). Last year we started our training just before Thanksgiving and this year we didn't start until after January 1st so we were still in our build phase when the race season started. This year I think I will start again near Thanksgiving, if nothing else it helps the body during all the big eating events that happen that time of year.
Mt. Du Lac gave me back some of my confidence though, I remembered how to push hard to try to catch people and how to keep the ride clean to stay ahead of people. I'm looking forward to Mt. Kato this weekend, it is one of my favorite trails.
I started out my morning by squeezing in a pre-ride just before the Kidscomp and First Timers went out on the course. Now that I have been riding most of these trails for 4 years now I don't always think I need to pre-ride, but I was glad I did. I always seem to remember the fun easy flowing sections, but I forget about the punchy little uphills and the roots and other things that tend to slow me down when I don't know the trail. So the pre-ride was good, because it reminded me of the trail and let me make a few adjustments on my bike before my race.
I always do better in a race with a longer warm-up, but I was done with my pre-ride at about 9:45 and my race did not start until 11. I made the mistake of not getting back on my bike again before the race to warm my legs back up. I was going to and just before our race started it rained for just a couple minutes. I really have no excuse, we'll just call it a lesson learned.
Generally I'm a pretty good hill climber. At the start of the race I got a very good start, there were only 2 women ahead of me and then I quickly started to fade. Suddenly I looked and ladies were passing me left and right. Then I heard one of the ladies getting quite a bit of encouragement from her dad, and it sounded like she was about to pass me too. So I dug a little deeper and sped up a bit. I was able to pass a few people up the second hill after the turn and then I was off. I looked ahead and I saw 6 women ahead of me and I was gunning to pass as many as I could. throughout the first lap I was able to pass 3 of them. So I thought that left me in 4th position. The first lap went great, the pre-ride helped immensely. I was able to shift correctly to get up most of the punchy uphills and I knew when I could kick it for a time because the trail was nice and flowing for awhile. I was happy to not have to walk any of the long uphills and I had no crashes.
I passed by the water tent and grabbed a couple of glasses and drank some and dumped some on my back, Matt was waiting for me just passed the water tent to do a hand off. I drank a bit more from my water and grabbed my Acclerade for the last lap. Then Matt proceeded to spray my back with my bottle, which surprised me a bit because it was so cold but it felt great. He then let me know I was in 5th place. I was confused and I said no I think I am in 4th, he said 1 lady was way out front. So I was a little bummed, because generally the faster women in sport are the ladies who are 35+. So the only thing I could do was ride strong and hope to catch some of them.
The second lap went well. After the hill and then there is a small downhill which leads directly into a steep uphill, I made it up about half way then I had to walk the rest. It's not a very long hill, but just before I hopped back on my bike I glanced behind me and noticed one of the ladies I had already passed was right behind me. I shifted down a few gears and took off, I did not want anyone I had already passed passing me back. A little bit later I caught glance of the next lady in front of me, although she was riding strong and I was never able to catch her. I continued to pass guys who were falling back and I never was passed after the initial climb on the first lap. The second lap was much like the first I stayed strong, my legs felt good, and I was flowing through the trail well.
I ended up with 5 overall for the ladies out of 12 and 2nd in my age group out of 5 and 55 out of 97 for the overall Sport category. I didn't recognize any of the 4 ladies ahead of me 1 of them was a Duluth native I always give expect they will beat me. But I googled some of the others after I got home. Kelly Skillicorn was the 1st overall lady and when I looked up her info I found out that earlier this year Kelly won the American Birkebeiner (a 53 kilometer cross country ski race with over 9000 participants the male winner was from Russia) and the rest of Kelly's info told me she has been an elite athlete for years. The other 2 ladies also had athlete backgrounds including winning or coming close to the top in their racing careers also. So then I didn't feel so bad.
Lately I've been feeling like I just don't have the same strength as last year, and I probably don't many rides have been skipped due to moving (twice), the end of school, a cold spring..... But I have been fairing quite well in the races considering, my singletrack riding has gotten faster and flows more smoothly, but my hill climbs have gotten a bit slower I feel (I have no data to back that up, it's just how I feel as I climb). Matt tells me I'm probably more tired on the hills now because I can push it faster through the rest of the race. I hope that's why. I am now back to keeping to my riding schedule as much as I can. Many Saturday rides still get missed, because of traveling to races and Sunday's being races I usually don't get my long endurance ride in for the week (I think that hurts the most). Last year we started our training just before Thanksgiving and this year we didn't start until after January 1st so we were still in our build phase when the race season started. This year I think I will start again near Thanksgiving, if nothing else it helps the body during all the big eating events that happen that time of year.
Mt. Du Lac gave me back some of my confidence though, I remembered how to push hard to try to catch people and how to keep the ride clean to stay ahead of people. I'm looking forward to Mt. Kato this weekend, it is one of my favorite trails.
Monday, June 23, 2008
MNSCS #3 Dirt Spanker Classic
This year continues to be a struggle, but I can sense my fitness starting to turn for the better. Things have been very busy this spring with the move and combined with the cold spring the training is a little behind. Either way the season is long enough and there is still time to finish strong.
I really like the course at Mt. Du Lac and it fits my riding style very well. I can climb well and ride the technical sections efficiently. My plan was to get a decent jump off the start and settle into a rhythm on the long first climb. I lined up in the second row directly behind Chris Fisher with the Moore brothers, O brothers and Paul Hanson on either side of Chris. In the typical pre start chat between riders many of the discussions were about tire choice and the threat of rain. Barry Tungseth, who was lined up on my left, made the comment that if it did rain it would be short lived and pass quickly.
At the start, the leaders quickly jumped to the lead and by the first steep section had a 8-10 bike lead. I held my position in the middle of the pack until the second steep section before the turn where I started to fade towards the back of the pack. The legs were burning and I had to slow a little to not completely "blow up". On the shallow climb after the turn I allowed a few more riders by, but regained a few positions on the final steep section before the top. The first section of single track I was riding behind a group of 6-8 riders but they slowly pulled away because I was still recovering from the initial climb. I was able to recover slightly and started to regain a respectable pace in the single track and could see the large group in front of me. Things were flowing nicely and I was settling into a decent pace and I could see nobody behind me. Then the rain started to fall, easy at first and we probably all thought it would be very short lived. The rain, however, was not short lived, but rather started to fall harder and the trail started to fall apart quickly. The open sections were starting to get greasy and by the time I hit the back side climb I spun out and had to run up the steep sections. As I started the second lap the rain continued to come down even harder. It was getting difficult to maintain traction on the punchy uphills.
As I approached the third down and up section I heard Eric Guse yell as he was picking himself off the side of the trail. "The downhill section was as slick as glare ice." I tapped my front break to line up for the downhill and skated straight toward the trees on the right. I went OTB instantly and landed with the bike on top of me. Eric and I struggled to push our bikes up the greasy hill and once back on the flat I couldn't get clipped into my right pedal. I stomped hard a couple of times thinking it was simply mud clogging the pedals. A closer look, however, revealed that the cleat was still attached to the pedal and had ripped out of the bottom of the sole. I was thinking how far I needed to ride to get back to the start/finish line and dreading the last climb with only one foot clipped in.
As I have stated before, I hate to DNF and I really love the Dirt Spanker course. I made the decision to make the best of it and finish the race. The rain slowed then stopped and for the remainder of lap 2 the trail started to improve. Not being clipped in was difficult on the technical sections because it was hard to keep the foot on the pedal.
Lap 3 went well and I was able to catch back up to the trailing experts and pass a couple before the start of lap 4. On the final lap the rain made another appearance and by the end of the lap the downhills were almost unrideable again. It was halfway through the final lap that Troy caught up with me. He had been closing the gap for a while and there was nothing I could do to pull away. I had to jump off on one of the steep climbs and he was able to motor on by.
It was good that I finished, but I was a little bummed at the dumb luck I seem to have.
I look forward to next weekends race at Mt. Kato.
I really like the course at Mt. Du Lac and it fits my riding style very well. I can climb well and ride the technical sections efficiently. My plan was to get a decent jump off the start and settle into a rhythm on the long first climb. I lined up in the second row directly behind Chris Fisher with the Moore brothers, O brothers and Paul Hanson on either side of Chris. In the typical pre start chat between riders many of the discussions were about tire choice and the threat of rain. Barry Tungseth, who was lined up on my left, made the comment that if it did rain it would be short lived and pass quickly.
At the start, the leaders quickly jumped to the lead and by the first steep section had a 8-10 bike lead. I held my position in the middle of the pack until the second steep section before the turn where I started to fade towards the back of the pack. The legs were burning and I had to slow a little to not completely "blow up". On the shallow climb after the turn I allowed a few more riders by, but regained a few positions on the final steep section before the top. The first section of single track I was riding behind a group of 6-8 riders but they slowly pulled away because I was still recovering from the initial climb. I was able to recover slightly and started to regain a respectable pace in the single track and could see the large group in front of me. Things were flowing nicely and I was settling into a decent pace and I could see nobody behind me. Then the rain started to fall, easy at first and we probably all thought it would be very short lived. The rain, however, was not short lived, but rather started to fall harder and the trail started to fall apart quickly. The open sections were starting to get greasy and by the time I hit the back side climb I spun out and had to run up the steep sections. As I started the second lap the rain continued to come down even harder. It was getting difficult to maintain traction on the punchy uphills.
As I approached the third down and up section I heard Eric Guse yell as he was picking himself off the side of the trail. "The downhill section was as slick as glare ice." I tapped my front break to line up for the downhill and skated straight toward the trees on the right. I went OTB instantly and landed with the bike on top of me. Eric and I struggled to push our bikes up the greasy hill and once back on the flat I couldn't get clipped into my right pedal. I stomped hard a couple of times thinking it was simply mud clogging the pedals. A closer look, however, revealed that the cleat was still attached to the pedal and had ripped out of the bottom of the sole. I was thinking how far I needed to ride to get back to the start/finish line and dreading the last climb with only one foot clipped in.
As I have stated before, I hate to DNF and I really love the Dirt Spanker course. I made the decision to make the best of it and finish the race. The rain slowed then stopped and for the remainder of lap 2 the trail started to improve. Not being clipped in was difficult on the technical sections because it was hard to keep the foot on the pedal.
Lap 3 went well and I was able to catch back up to the trailing experts and pass a couple before the start of lap 4. On the final lap the rain made another appearance and by the end of the lap the downhills were almost unrideable again. It was halfway through the final lap that Troy caught up with me. He had been closing the gap for a while and there was nothing I could do to pull away. I had to jump off on one of the steep climbs and he was able to motor on by.
It was good that I finished, but I was a little bummed at the dumb luck I seem to have.
I look forward to next weekends race at Mt. Kato.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Late evening ride a Murphy
We packed the family in the van and headed over to Murphy for a nice trail ride. Unfortunately we got a fairly late start because of my commute home and the now routine stop at Home Depot for more "house stuff".
We arrived in the parking lot a little after 8:00 PM and it took a few minutes to get all 6 bikes either off the top or out of the van. Andrea, Jordan, and myself set off leaving the kids to tear around the beginner loop for a while. Part way into the intermediate loop, however, Andrea had to turn around because we heard one of the kids crying. I found out later that it was Devon and he was upset because he didn't want to follow Taylor any more around the beginner loop. I think he will be spending the morning in his room for that one.
I let Jordan lead the way and she was moving nicely through the single track. There are very few weaknesses to her riding. She views the trail very well reacts to the changing trail conditions with ease. She maneuvers through the turns quickly and maintains here momentum. She is learning to stay seated a little more on the extended climbs to utilize all of her leg muscles, but still knows when to stand to get that extra effort when cresting a hill. She could have a little more endurance for the longer races, but for 10 years old she is flying.
1 full lap at Murphy without pushing too hard in 1:01. We will see how she improves as the season progresses. Still trying to keep things simple and let her enjoy all that life has to offer.
We arrived in the parking lot a little after 8:00 PM and it took a few minutes to get all 6 bikes either off the top or out of the van. Andrea, Jordan, and myself set off leaving the kids to tear around the beginner loop for a while. Part way into the intermediate loop, however, Andrea had to turn around because we heard one of the kids crying. I found out later that it was Devon and he was upset because he didn't want to follow Taylor any more around the beginner loop. I think he will be spending the morning in his room for that one.
I let Jordan lead the way and she was moving nicely through the single track. There are very few weaknesses to her riding. She views the trail very well reacts to the changing trail conditions with ease. She maneuvers through the turns quickly and maintains here momentum. She is learning to stay seated a little more on the extended climbs to utilize all of her leg muscles, but still knows when to stand to get that extra effort when cresting a hill. She could have a little more endurance for the longer races, but for 10 years old she is flying.
1 full lap at Murphy without pushing too hard in 1:01. We will see how she improves as the season progresses. Still trying to keep things simple and let her enjoy all that life has to offer.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Live and Learn!
Note to self: After a long couple of weeks ending in a move to our new house followed by a week of little sleep, poor nutrition, and a complete absence of time on the bike... DO NOT RIDE THE SINGLE SPEED, especially at AFTON.
OK, I am done making excuses. I will say that dropping out of a race for non mechanical reasons doesn't sit well with me and this is the first time I have done so. I will use this feeling to be better prepared for the next race at Mt. DuLac.
I knew it was going to be a long day when I started to feel a little dizzy before the race. The first lap started out fairly controlled and although the leaders got a fairly good jump they weren't that far ahead before the pill up leading the first section of single track. I managed to get by 4 or 5 riders on the low side before ducking into the single track. I managed to muscle the single up the rubber tread on the bridge loop but had to dismount on the step switchbacks leading into shady lane. I soon found out that I neither had the gearing nor the legs to handle the steep climbs out at Afton. I found myself using so much effort to simple keep the legs turning over that by the end of lap one I felt like I had rode a complete race. I stopped near the water tent after lap one to grab a hand off from Andrea and contemplated my choices. I decided to push on for one more lap and see how I felt. Although I didn't feel any worse on lap two, I also didn't feel any better. I was walking most of the steeper climbs which helped the legs out a little, but I could feel them starting to cramp up when I would stand and climb. After lap two I decided to shut it down and watch the "true" experts finish.
Great job to all those who pushed on and raced a long race.
Andrea, also had bummer luck by flatting only 15 minutes into the race. Since I haven't had time to apply the Stan's to her tires yet and she didn't carry a tube and pump meant she was out for the day. She is really bummed because Afton is one of her favorite courses. Crazy nut!
On a brighter note Jordan had a very good race easily finishing first overall for the citizen women. She made the comment after the race that the race was too short, finishing up with a time a little over 54 minutes. Despite the slick conditions she keep the bike upright the entire race and finished strong.
OK, I am done making excuses. I will say that dropping out of a race for non mechanical reasons doesn't sit well with me and this is the first time I have done so. I will use this feeling to be better prepared for the next race at Mt. DuLac.
I knew it was going to be a long day when I started to feel a little dizzy before the race. The first lap started out fairly controlled and although the leaders got a fairly good jump they weren't that far ahead before the pill up leading the first section of single track. I managed to get by 4 or 5 riders on the low side before ducking into the single track. I managed to muscle the single up the rubber tread on the bridge loop but had to dismount on the step switchbacks leading into shady lane. I soon found out that I neither had the gearing nor the legs to handle the steep climbs out at Afton. I found myself using so much effort to simple keep the legs turning over that by the end of lap one I felt like I had rode a complete race. I stopped near the water tent after lap one to grab a hand off from Andrea and contemplated my choices. I decided to push on for one more lap and see how I felt. Although I didn't feel any worse on lap two, I also didn't feel any better. I was walking most of the steeper climbs which helped the legs out a little, but I could feel them starting to cramp up when I would stand and climb. After lap two I decided to shut it down and watch the "true" experts finish.
Great job to all those who pushed on and raced a long race.
Andrea, also had bummer luck by flatting only 15 minutes into the race. Since I haven't had time to apply the Stan's to her tires yet and she didn't carry a tube and pump meant she was out for the day. She is really bummed because Afton is one of her favorite courses. Crazy nut!
On a brighter note Jordan had a very good race easily finishing first overall for the citizen women. She made the comment after the race that the race was too short, finishing up with a time a little over 54 minutes. Despite the slick conditions she keep the bike upright the entire race and finished strong.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Update - We are in Transition!
If we been a bit out of touch - like Matt saying we had a little 3 weeks until the Spring Cup when it was actually a little over 2 weeks - it's because we are in transition. We sold our house and the 6 of us along with 10 bikes are now cohabitating in a 2 bedroom townhouse. (We do not have a garage.)
The dog is the only lucky one - she went to live at grandma's until we move into a new house. Which if all goes well will be very soon. We found another house in Savage MLS # 3518513 and after going back and forth with the seller for a week we now have a signed purchase agreement and a closing date of May29th. It will be nice to not share 1 bathroom and not sleep in the living room.
Matt and I finally were back on the bike last week for the 1st time in 17 days for Matt and about 2 weeks for me. We went out on the road for 1 1/2 hours for an endurance ride. Then Sunday we were able to get out and pre-ride at Harmon Park. Yesterday was a day off and today we had an hour ride of jump sprints. It has been nice to finally get back on the saddle, I'm a little worried about Sunday's race considering we have only been on the dirt once. We will see. Although, as of right now we are planning on getting to Buck Hill on Thursday, that will probably give us some indication of where we stand.
The dog is the only lucky one - she went to live at grandma's until we move into a new house. Which if all goes well will be very soon. We found another house in Savage MLS # 3518513 and after going back and forth with the seller for a week we now have a signed purchase agreement and a closing date of May29th. It will be nice to not share 1 bathroom and not sleep in the living room.
Matt and I finally were back on the bike last week for the 1st time in 17 days for Matt and about 2 weeks for me. We went out on the road for 1 1/2 hours for an endurance ride. Then Sunday we were able to get out and pre-ride at Harmon Park. Yesterday was a day off and today we had an hour ride of jump sprints. It has been nice to finally get back on the saddle, I'm a little worried about Sunday's race considering we have only been on the dirt once. We will see. Although, as of right now we are planning on getting to Buck Hill on Thursday, that will probably give us some indication of where we stand.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
I think I'm in trouble
I just realized today that the first race of the MNSCS series is a little over 3 weeks away. Unfortunately with all the activity over the past few weeks I have found little time or energy to train. The house has "officially" SOLD. All we have to do now is find a new place to live, make sure it is in "move in" condition and move all our stuff. Hopefully I can get back into training and still have enough time to ensure that I don't get lapped by the leaders. We will be back in town this weekend looking at few more homes. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and the trails will be dry enough to bring the family out for some excitement.
Friday, April 18, 2008
April 18th - Andrea's Training Log
4:30 came mighty early this morning, but I did it I got out of bed and finished a good ride. My ride this morning was 5 - 6 minutes cruise intervals after a 20 minute warmup and then followed by 25 minutes at an endurance ride speed. The intervals all felt great and they got better as I went.
I don't know how much riding I will get in this weekend, we have a full weekend of fitting everything from our house into a 48 foot trailer.
I don't know how much riding I will get in this weekend, we have a full weekend of fitting everything from our house into a 48 foot trailer.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
April 17th - Andrea's Training Log and Ramblings
Well today's ride was suppose to be yesterday's ride, but instead of hitting the snooze button I turned the 1st alarm off and woke up at 5:45am instead of 4:30am, which is much too late to get my 1.5 hour ride in before my daycare kids show-up. So I took my day off early this week. My work out for yesterday consisted of non-stop packing and the only time I sat down all day was to eat.
So today, being my day off from work, I got on the trainer at 5:40am and had a 1.5 hour endurance ride. My legs felt sore and heavy for much of the ride, but the rest of the day they felt great. Then the rest of my day was again non-stop packing and I ended the day helping take down the kids play-set, this is no small play-set we are talking about.
Ours is in the foreground.
Tomorrow is my last day of doing daycare and then I will be unemployed. I don't know how I feel about that. In some ways it will be back to normal after 2 1/2 years, but in other ways I think I may get a little antsy to be doing something. I'm sure for the summer I am going to enjoy the time with my kids tremendously and just concentrate on biking and biking trips, and hopefully finding and getting ready a new home. But then in the fall when the kids go to school and Wyatt starts kindergarten, what will I do? I have a bachelor of science degree in Management Information Systems from 12 years ago that I never used except for a college job, I now fear that my degree is outdated.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
April 15th - Andrea's Training Log
I figured the only way I am going to stay accountable for my workouts is to write about them daily on the blog.
I have finished all my base miles by completing the 3 base phases and now I am in week 3 of the build 1 phase. I generally like to get up early and ride, but this morning I just couldn't pull myself out of bed. As I laid there this morning I felt my legs still sore from Sunday's endurance ride and Saturday's anaerobic intervals and I stayed up way too late last night. So after we got all the kids to bed tonight I hopped on the bike about 8:30 for my ride. Tonight's ride was a P1 for those of you familiar with Friel's Mountain Bikers Training Bible, it was a short 1 hour ride which consisted of a 10 minute warm up, and 25 jumps - in sets of 5 - each 1 minute apart with 5 minutes in between. The 1st set was rough, I was not warmed up enough and my legs still felt dead from the weekend. The next 4 sets went much better and my legs felt good after the ride was over.
I have finished all my base miles by completing the 3 base phases and now I am in week 3 of the build 1 phase. I generally like to get up early and ride, but this morning I just couldn't pull myself out of bed. As I laid there this morning I felt my legs still sore from Sunday's endurance ride and Saturday's anaerobic intervals and I stayed up way too late last night. So after we got all the kids to bed tonight I hopped on the bike about 8:30 for my ride. Tonight's ride was a P1 for those of you familiar with Friel's Mountain Bikers Training Bible, it was a short 1 hour ride which consisted of a 10 minute warm up, and 25 jumps - in sets of 5 - each 1 minute apart with 5 minutes in between. The 1st set was rough, I was not warmed up enough and my legs still felt dead from the weekend. The next 4 sets went much better and my legs felt good after the ride was over.
Monday, April 14, 2008
So, maybe we didn't buy a house!
Well the paperwork fell through and the bank considered our offer a contingent offer so they would not accept it, even though the banks real estate agent said they did accept the offer. So we are back to square one.
We are still moving out of the house in Hutchinson on April 24th and from there we will go to a rental town home until the end of the school year or until we find a house, whichever is later.
After the closing is said and done then we will start looking again. We are concentrating on the Savage/Shakopee area. We'll keep you posted.
I hate moving!! But I really want to be back in the Twin Cities.
We are still moving out of the house in Hutchinson on April 24th and from there we will go to a rental town home until the end of the school year or until we find a house, whichever is later.
After the closing is said and done then we will start looking again. We are concentrating on the Savage/Shakopee area. We'll keep you posted.
I hate moving!! But I really want to be back in the Twin Cities.
Friday, April 04, 2008
We bought a new house!!
We just sold our house here in Hutchinson and found out today that our purchase agreement was accepted on a house in Savage. We will only be 2 1/2 miles from Murphy.
We close on the house in Hutchinson on April 24th and we close on the house in Savage on May 1st. We will be staying here in Hutchinson until the end of school year so the kids can finish out the year. That will give us a chance to go to the new house on the weekends and do some cosmetic updates. We will probably move in Memorial Day Weekend.
We close on the house in Hutchinson on April 24th and we close on the house in Savage on May 1st. We will be staying here in Hutchinson until the end of school year so the kids can finish out the year. That will give us a chance to go to the new house on the weekends and do some cosmetic updates. We will probably move in Memorial Day Weekend.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Are You Sure Spring is Only 3 Days Away?
The saddest thing in the world happened yesterday. Wyatt our 5 year old came downstairs yesterday morning and melted in a heap of sad sobs when he looked outside and saw all the snow. After tearing around on his bike continuously for the previous 2 days the sight of the snow was more than he could handle. He tearfully asked, "Mommy why did it have to snow?" Then his next slightly angered question was, "So when does Spring start?" I told him 3 days and he looked at me like I was out of my mind. I knew how he felt, Spring break started on Monday and with 6 kids here all week I was so looking forward to them being able to spend a lot of time outside. But with this weather there is absolutely nothing they can do outside without getting totally wet and muddy. The roads appear to be drying out and hopefully tomorrow they can venture out.
As for me it needs to be above 40 degrees for me to venture out, so for now the trainer and I continue to spend quite a lot of time together.
On a happier note we have a signed contingent offer on our house and we have another couple coming to look at it for a 2nd time tomorrow, so with any luck we should be moved to the Twin Cities by the beginning of summer.
Happy Training Everyone!!
As for me it needs to be above 40 degrees for me to venture out, so for now the trainer and I continue to spend quite a lot of time together.
On a happier note we have a signed contingent offer on our house and we have another couple coming to look at it for a 2nd time tomorrow, so with any luck we should be moved to the Twin Cities by the beginning of summer.
Happy Training Everyone!!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Nice weather! I can hardly wait
I know that it is only March, but I can hardly wait for the snow to go away and the trails to dry up. The knobbies on the new Fisher Rig have never seen dirt and are itching to be pushed through some twisty single track. This year I hope to get out on the trails much more than last year, hopefully the move back to the cities will happen sooner than later.
Last night Devon and I worked on his bike to get it set up to handle the single track trails better. He has a Redline mini racing BMX bike that is very light (16+ lbs) but it is geared really tall 37x14 and has 1 1/8" racing tires on it. We changed out the tires to 1 3/8" knobbies, added a 16t rear cog, and replaced the chain to accommodate the larger cog. After the upgrades he took it out for a trial. I was surprised that with the lower gearing he didn't loose any top speed, but gained a great deal of acceleration. The new tires added some stability without sacrificing much rolling resistance and will be much better in the dirt. He is going to tear it up on the beginner section at Lebanon Hills.
Wyatt also got out for a ride and is sporting a new helmet. With the way he rides I am sure it will get used.
Training is going well, but I have a touch of a sore throat and I hope it doesn't turn into something bigger.
Last night Devon and I worked on his bike to get it set up to handle the single track trails better. He has a Redline mini racing BMX bike that is very light (16+ lbs) but it is geared really tall 37x14 and has 1 1/8" racing tires on it. We changed out the tires to 1 3/8" knobbies, added a 16t rear cog, and replaced the chain to accommodate the larger cog. After the upgrades he took it out for a trial. I was surprised that with the lower gearing he didn't loose any top speed, but gained a great deal of acceleration. The new tires added some stability without sacrificing much rolling resistance and will be much better in the dirt. He is going to tear it up on the beginner section at Lebanon Hills.
Wyatt also got out for a ride and is sporting a new helmet. With the way he rides I am sure it will get used.
Training is going well, but I have a touch of a sore throat and I hope it doesn't turn into something bigger.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Yes, we're are still here!
I know it has been a while since the last post and shame on me for not keeping this updated. In my excuse we have been a little busy over the last couple of months.
We recently put our house up for sale and will be looking for a home in the twin cities (Eden Prairie, Bloominton, Minnetonka). If anyone is looking for a really nice home in Hutchinson, please feel free to give us a call.
MLS# 3500221
Although the move will put us closer to exerted family, the primary reason is to be closer to good mountain biking and the friends we have met the past few years while racing. The move will not be without any drawbacks, as the commute will be about an hour each way from the western edge of the cities to Hutchinson. It will be a small price to pay, however, to live in a place that we can call "home". Last summer we were home only 1 weekend the entire summer, the remainder were spent at either one of our parents or in a hotel. We are now playing the waiting game to see what interest there is in our house.
On the training front, this year is going much better than last year. The first week of base 3 has just begun and more intensity has been added to the steady diet of endurance and spinning. I like this point in the training because I start to get some indicators of performance. For example, earlier in the week I performed a set of low cadence intervals lasting 1.5 minutes each on the trainer at 360 watts. The important take-away from that session was the fact that I was able to hold or exceed the ave speed of each successive interval. In comparison last year I was able to start out a little over 23 mph but the speed of each successive interval dropped and I had difficulty completing the workout.
Tonight I have a set of cruise intervals (4 x 6 min). Last year I was able to hold 290 watts. This year I will shoot for 300+ watts and try to maintain that level on each of the intervals.
We recently put our house up for sale and will be looking for a home in the twin cities (Eden Prairie, Bloominton, Minnetonka). If anyone is looking for a really nice home in Hutchinson, please feel free to give us a call.
MLS# 3500221
Although the move will put us closer to exerted family, the primary reason is to be closer to good mountain biking and the friends we have met the past few years while racing. The move will not be without any drawbacks, as the commute will be about an hour each way from the western edge of the cities to Hutchinson. It will be a small price to pay, however, to live in a place that we can call "home". Last summer we were home only 1 weekend the entire summer, the remainder were spent at either one of our parents or in a hotel. We are now playing the waiting game to see what interest there is in our house.
On the training front, this year is going much better than last year. The first week of base 3 has just begun and more intensity has been added to the steady diet of endurance and spinning. I like this point in the training because I start to get some indicators of performance. For example, earlier in the week I performed a set of low cadence intervals lasting 1.5 minutes each on the trainer at 360 watts. The important take-away from that session was the fact that I was able to hold or exceed the ave speed of each successive interval. In comparison last year I was able to start out a little over 23 mph but the speed of each successive interval dropped and I had difficulty completing the workout.
Tonight I have a set of cruise intervals (4 x 6 min). Last year I was able to hold 290 watts. This year I will shoot for 300+ watts and try to maintain that level on each of the intervals.
Andrea's training is going strong and she is confident that she will do extremely well racing in the sport class. The endurance is there and her technical ability is now very good. One thing that she needs to work on is her aggressiveness during the races. In the past she had made many comments about getting stuck behind slower riders and being held up. She needs to be a little more aggressive at times to push ahead and gain as many positions as possible when the conditions are right to make a pass. I think working on some short sprints will be beneficial.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
The plan (Hillside Sunday Morning)
Andrea and I plan on going out for a wintery trail ride at Hillside tomorrow morning. Hopefully the trail is still in great shape. It got a little warmer today, but not so much that the trail would get affected (I hope). I have little to know experience trail ridding in the snow so it should be interesting.
Andrea will be riding her Supercal FS and I will be taking out the new RIG on its maiden voyage. Every time I sit on the Rig it feels even better, but I will hold out judgment until I actually put it through its paces on the trail.
We plan on getting out just after the sun comes up. Hopefully the temps will remain mild over night, because I have a hard time staying warm when it is cold out. I will try to pust up later tomorrow with an update of the trail and the bike.
Later
Andrea will be riding her Supercal FS and I will be taking out the new RIG on its maiden voyage. Every time I sit on the Rig it feels even better, but I will hold out judgment until I actually put it through its paces on the trail.
We plan on getting out just after the sun comes up. Hopefully the temps will remain mild over night, because I have a hard time staying warm when it is cold out. I will try to pust up later tomorrow with an update of the trail and the bike.
Later
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Training
Training is going really well for the 2008 season (So Far)
As stated earlier, my training focus has changed from last year. I am trying to be more realistic in terms of the time and energy I have to devote to training. Last year I trained too hard and tried to make too big of gains in the attempt to compete in the Expert class after moving up from sport. This effort left me felling tired and worn-out going into the races and I was not happy with my results. More importantly I was not having as much fun as I would have liked. It got to a point where I did not care if I raced or not, but I always enjoyed watching the other family members race.
This year the goal is to go into the races rested and refreshed both physically and mentally. In order to achieve this I have lowered the overall hours on the bike and plan my weeks to allow sufficient rest periods between critical workouts.
I have completed the first two weeks in the Build 1 phase and have one more week of increasing volume before a rest week with some testing. The first two weeks have gone really well. In general the legs are feeling really good and starting to feel fairly strong despite any significant intensity. My endurance has come back quickly and despite starting training almost 1.5 months later my efficiency during the endurance rides is ahead of last year. I was fairly consistent with the weight training during the Prep phase, but I have missed the last couple of weeks. I am having trouble working in the weight work (especially legs) and allowing enough recovery. I might see if I can work one good leg workout and two upper body workouts per week
This week coming up may be a little difficult because I need to find a way to get all the workouts in and we have company coming for Wyatts 5th birthday. I think I should be able to shift things around a little bit to make it work, but it may require getting up early for a ride or two
I hope everyone else is having a good start to their year.
As stated earlier, my training focus has changed from last year. I am trying to be more realistic in terms of the time and energy I have to devote to training. Last year I trained too hard and tried to make too big of gains in the attempt to compete in the Expert class after moving up from sport. This effort left me felling tired and worn-out going into the races and I was not happy with my results. More importantly I was not having as much fun as I would have liked. It got to a point where I did not care if I raced or not, but I always enjoyed watching the other family members race.
This year the goal is to go into the races rested and refreshed both physically and mentally. In order to achieve this I have lowered the overall hours on the bike and plan my weeks to allow sufficient rest periods between critical workouts.
I have completed the first two weeks in the Build 1 phase and have one more week of increasing volume before a rest week with some testing. The first two weeks have gone really well. In general the legs are feeling really good and starting to feel fairly strong despite any significant intensity. My endurance has come back quickly and despite starting training almost 1.5 months later my efficiency during the endurance rides is ahead of last year. I was fairly consistent with the weight training during the Prep phase, but I have missed the last couple of weeks. I am having trouble working in the weight work (especially legs) and allowing enough recovery. I might see if I can work one good leg workout and two upper body workouts per week
This week coming up may be a little difficult because I need to find a way to get all the workouts in and we have company coming for Wyatts 5th birthday. I think I should be able to shift things around a little bit to make it work, but it may require getting up early for a ride or two
I hope everyone else is having a good start to their year.
Monday, January 07, 2008
As Promised (but late) Pictures of the new Rig
2008 Gary Fisher Rig
It seems as though some people are a little impatient. I think it has to do with it being winter and wishing the weather was warm and the single track was dry. Anyway as I had promised here are some pictures of the new 2008 Fisher Rig. The bike doesn't have the "bling" factor of many of the new 29ers, but the build is a solid platform. The frame is all new for 08 and incorporates the new G2 geometry which is designed to offer quicker slow speed handling while preserving the beneficial traits of 29ers.
It seems as though some people are a little impatient. I think it has to do with it being winter and wishing the weather was warm and the single track was dry. Anyway as I had promised here are some pictures of the new 2008 Fisher Rig. The bike doesn't have the "bling" factor of many of the new 29ers, but the build is a solid platform. The frame is all new for 08 and incorporates the new G2 geometry which is designed to offer quicker slow speed handling while preserving the beneficial traits of 29ers.
Fork
The bike also comes stock with the new FOX F29RL fork which is fairly light and very stiff. At my weight, I will probably not notice the stiffness, but the fork is supposedly very plush and tracks extremely well. I will have to wait and see.
Drivetrain
The drivetrain is fairly straitforward. The crank is a single speed ISIS drive bontrager with a 32t aluminum chain ring with an aluminum bash guard. The rear cog is a 18t steel. The 32/18 gearing with 29" tires should work fairly well on many of the relatively flat trails but will be fairly tall for racing.
I am up in the air at this time if I am going to race this bike next year. The original plan was to just have a single speed to bring back some of the fun. To ride in its purest form.
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