The Horner's Mountain Biking Adventures

STATE!!

2011-02-10T13:51:00.003-06:00

What an emotional roller coaster of a day.

Tuesday was the Section 3 Nordic Ski meet for Jordan and the Burnsville team. The Burnsville team has come a long way since the beginning of the season. In addition, Sharmila Ahmed, the lone senior on the team made her way home from competing in Sweden just in time to compete in the section meet.

The team felt confident that they had a shot for the top spot in the section, but it is always tough to know where all the teams stand because of the lack of head to head racing. St. Paul Highland Park will be tough as they have 5 seniors on the team that did fairly well at last years section final.

Jordan was the sixth skier to go out on the classic leg (15s intervals). Going by on the first section she looked relaxed and calm and had the skiers in front of her in her sights. By the first long climb she had passed at least one skier, before cresting the hill. We would not see her again until a near the end of the race. As we focused intently on the final downhill in the distance we could see what we thought was a Burnsville skier bombing down the hill. About 30 seconds later we saw that it was Jordan pushing strong up the long gradual climb towards us. As she crested the hill next to us and headed toward the finish she had a sizable gap to the next skier. The remaining Bursville skiers finished in the order that they went out.

We went back inside to relax grab some lunch and impatiently wait for the result to be posted. After what seemed like an eternity the results were up and Jordan was sitting in 17th place. Jordan made the comment after the race that after she had passed the first skier that it was hard to stay focused on pushing hard for the remainder of the race. She was clearly upset so Andrea and I gave her time to gather her emotions and calm down a little. She knew that she would probably need to finish in the top 1o to make it to state and didn't want to rely on the team to get her there. A close look a the classic results revealed that she was only 25 seconds out of 10 place. If she had a solid skate race she could pull it off. After she calmed down a little I explained to her how close the group was in front of her and she understood what she needed to do.

Although the team skied extremely well, they were down by 26 points to Highland Park after classic. Jordan now knew that her only realistic chance of going to state was to "kill it" on the skate. After a few encouraging words from a few parents and the coaches Jordan prepared for the next race. As Jordan went out to warm up and get staged for the start, Andrea, Grandma, and myself walked out on the coarse to view the start and the first part of the race.

Sharmila was the first off the line and quickly settled into fast pace. Vivian was next, needing to close the 39 second gap to second place in front of her. Jordan would go out 3:09 back from the leader just behind a group of 5 or 6 skiers. We watched as Jordan left the line and you could see that she had the large group in her sights. Within the first couple hundred meters she had caught the group and already passed a couple of skiers. She would pick off a couple more by the start of the long climb and slowly build a slight gap by the crest of the hill. As before as soon as she crested the hill she would not be seen again until the long downhill at the end of the race. The first skier to bomb down the hill would be Sharmila with a commanding lead. To our surprise Vivian had moved up to second place with another large gap to third ahead of the two Highland Park girls. We counted the skiers as the flew down the hill, 5, 6, 7,... and flying down the hill in the number 10 spot was Jordan with a decent gap to 11. We knew that baring a fall she should be able to hold onto that position to the finish. As she pushed up the last climb we could see that she was gaining on the Highland Park girl in front of her. Coach Harvey gave her encouragement and pointed to the Highland Park skier in front of her and told her to chase her down. Although Jordan gave it her all the gap was too much to make up and she finished solidly in 10th place just 1o seconds behind Highland Parks #3 skier. Tori, Burnsvilles #4 skier was about a minute back and clawing her way up the final climb. She was blocked by two skier just in front of her and unable to get by. She made one final charge near the finish but unable to get past. The three remaining Burnsville skiers (Christa, Jane, and Kjersten) finished strong to round out the team.

The team ultimately would wind up a mere 2 points shy of the team title. I don't like to do "what ifs" but if Jordan could have passed the Highland Park girl they would have tied in points and would have won the "tie breaker" based on total time. Also, if Tori would not have gotten blocked out and passed the two skiers who finished only 2 seconds in front of her they would have one. I hope everyone has put those two scenarios out of their minds, because all the girls put forth everything and had nothing left at the line.

One final note: Things are looking great going forward for the Burnsville Girls Nordic Ski Team. The top 6 skiers for next year are: Three 10th graders, two 8th graders, and One 11th grader.

Change of Seasons

2011-02-03T18:18:00.002-06:00

I will not make any excuses for the lack of posts. I will try a little harder to keep things up to date.

Since my last post the remainder of the mountain bike season has finished, we have flow through another year of XC running for Jordan and are nearing the end of the Nordic ski season with the Section finals less than a week away.

Devon and Wyatt are in full swing of basketball this winter and they both are having a great time. Devon is on another really talented team and they have won all 4 games that they have played. Wyatt is getting a little frustrated because at his age they only practice and despite talk of having some scrimmages they haven't been any.

Jordan is in the full swing of the Nordic ski season and Burnsville just finished their conference championship yesterday at Murphy Hanrehan park. The team did remarkably well considering they had to do without their top skier who is in Sweden on the J1 team. The team finished in a forth place and only 3 points out of third. Jordan had a very good day and skied with a great deal of confidence. The first race of the day was skate which is probably her better of the two techniques. She laid down a very strong 12th place finish ahead of a tight group of skiers that she is normally behind. The team laid low for a couple of hours at a parents house nearby before heading back to finish up the pursuit with classic. Jordan's goal was to try to maintain her place during the race. The pursuit is fun for the spectators and the races because it is easy to determine where everyone places. Jordan had another strong race and held on to 13th place holding off a hard charging 14th place at the line. They took the top 18 skiers for "All Conference" Great Job Jordan we are proud.

Next up is the Section 3 meet next Tuesday at Battle Creek. The team has a very good chance to make it to the state meet. With any luck Sharmila will make it back from Sweden. Either way Jordan has a great shot at making it as an individual skier.

Stay warm!

MNMBS#6: Single Track Attack

2010-07-20T12:42:00.003-05:00

After an interesting lead-in to the race with the crazy weather that literally blew through the Elk River area the night before, lead to perfect conditions race day.

Packing up in the morning was quick and easy. We have done this so many times now that things run smoothly as long as the kids do there part to keep us on time. The drive from Savage to Elk River took less than an hour and we were set up and everyone registered by 8:30.

A quick check of the tires and the boys were to the line for the kids comp call ups. Devon was positioned front row with younger brother Wyatt positioned just behind. The race was perfectly laid out by Rich Zilla and the Dirk Wirx crew. They cut a new section off single track to allow the kids to take advantage of both sections 1 and 2 giving them a course the perfect lenght.

At the work GO they were off, Devon got a really good jump and quickly worked throught the gears to stay with the leaders. Wyatt, spun as fast as he could but with only one gear he started to fall behind on his way down the road. We would see them again as the passed the open area between sections 1 and 2. Devon was pushing strong and was making quick work out of the single track. Wyatt was about 5 minutes behind Devon and riding with a huge smile on his face when he passed.

Buck Hill

2010-07-16T09:25:00.003-05:00

It seems like it has been a long time since we raced at Buck Hill, for me anyway. The last time we were there I wasn't feeling 100% so I decided to watch instead of race. I am glad I did, as I wouldn't have done myself any good.

Last night at Buck I felt better on the bike than I have in a long time. The speed is coming around nicely and I am able to push "hard" for the 1 hour duration of the race.

If you race at Buck and want to get a good starting position at the line you better come early and camp out. Unfortunately, I realized that I didn't have a full water bottle and started heading back up the hill to get a full one as all the racers were lining up. Fortunately, Andrea was coming down the hill with fresh bottle for Jordan and I. I was able to line up in the front row, although it was way off to the right side and it made for an interesting start.

At the gun I tried to get past the banging bars and make it towards the road to smooth things out a little. I was in the middle of a fairly snarled mess, but was able to hold my position and find smoother ground. As we proceeded up the first grassy rise I backed off a little to catch my breath and played it safe around the wood chip hairpin turn. Up the first climb I settled into a nice rhythm, not trying to push to hard anticipating a log-jam entering the single track. I was pleasantly surprised that everyone funneled into the woods without stopping and the pace was very good. I pushed a little harder up the next climb and settled into a nice pace through the flat tight turns. I found myself in a nice group of riders that were going the pace I wanted and settled in.

Each lap I was able to pass a couple of riders up some of the steeper/extended climbs and hold my own in the single track. On lap 4 I had a great battle with Kevin Supple. I had passed Kevin lap 2 or 3 I can't remember, but he pushed hard on the last lap and was able to bridge the gap before the large drop near the end of the lap. Kevin went around me at the base of the service rode and I pushed hard to hang on his wheel up the gravel incline and onto the grass. As we hit the wood chip hairpin turn before the final climb to the finish I was even with his back wheel. I dropped two gears in the back and pushed as hard as I could towards the finish edging him out by a couple of feet. Thanks for pushing me at the finish it feels great now, but it hurt like crazy.

My heart rate his 196 on the last sprint. I have hit 196 a couple of times in the past but never after 1 hour of racing.

Next stop Hillside Park for the next MNMBS race. The legs should be nicely recovered by then.

Freewheel Frolic

2010-06-02T20:06:00.004-05:00

The first MNMBS series race is in the books and lets just say that it was an interesting day. The entire week leading into the race the forecast called for a nice sunny weekend. The day decided to turn out less than spectacular and the weather forecasters (all of them) simply "blew it". On the way to Harmon park the sky looked a little strange and there was a feeling that something might get started, but since I put my trust in others I didn't think much of it.

We had to make a quick stop on the way to pick up Taylor at a sleepover. It took us a little while to figure out the somewhat incomplete directions that google maps provided and we were running a little behind. Parking spaces were limited at the elementary school, so I dropped off all our stuff and parked a ways down the road. Andrea and I have registration down and all six of us were ready to go in less than 10 minutes. After placing number plates on Devon and Wyatt's bikes they had a few minutes to get lined up. They both had very good starts and were all smiles as they came through on the prologue lap. They would not be seen again until the end of the race. Devon came in a few minutes ahead of Wyatt with a finishing time of 18:43 8th place overall and 3rd in his age group. Despite the fact that his bike weighs over 35lbs he pushed a very strong pace and gets stronger each time out. Wyatt finished at 20:44 19th overall and 2nd in his age group. Each year the kids comp race gets larger and larger this year there were 41 racers. This is the future of the the sport.

Taylor lined up and was off at 9:30 in the Citizen race. As she came through going into her second and final lap she was in a zone and didn't seem to hear us cheering her on. In comparison the Citizen race would be a long one with two full laps. Taylor would be on the course for over an hour with a finishing time of 1:03:06. She was happy that she was not the last to finish and came in just behind Steve Weisbrod (Grey Squirrel).

As the sport start time approached they announced that some severe weather was moving into the area. The decision was made to postpone the start of the race for fear of lightning. As the front came through and the rain came down, the start got pushed from 11:30 to 11:45 then 12:00. The sky finally cleared and the rain stopped and just as the last drops fell the race was started at 12:45. Both Jordan and Andrea were bummed with the rain and concerned that it would be a mess on the course, in fact Jordan bailed on the race. I was a little frustrated that she was not even going to give it a try. Andrea lined up with the other sport ladies at the back of all the heats. She didn't have the best good start and found herself near the back of the pack do to a shortened prologue. As I went back to the find out what the kids were up to I see Andrea walking her bike back to the officials tent. She said that the course was an absolute mess and went down three time in the first short section of single track. I am sure it was after 140+ sport riders were sent out only minutes after the rain stopped.

By the start of the Expert/Comp race the course had dried up nicely and was only slick in a few spots. After the call ups I positioned myself near the center of the pack. At the start I was able to hold my own and managed to enter the single track in the top 20. I worked hard on the first lap to pass a few riders that went out too hard and faded and established a nice pace with a small group of riders. I was passed by a few riders part way through the race that started in the wave behind me. For the first time in a long time I felt like I was racing again and was able to keep up a respectable race pace for the duration. I pushed strong on the last half of the lap, but was unable to catch the riders in front of me and fined a respectable 13th overall and 3rd in my age group.

Next race Afton:

I have never seemed to do well at this race, but I will give it my all and see what happens. Training has been a little slow early this year as I have been more concerned with staying healthy than pushing to hard.

New MTB Team for 2010

2010-04-22T10:57:00.002-05:00

The Horner family will be flying the banner of a new team for the 2010 MTB season. We are extremely excited to be a part of the Maplelag/Paramount team. Jay Richards and the team members are what MTB racing is all about.

For all the LCR "sisters" out there, we will always be part of your team and of the wonderful MTB community as well.

Maplelag Weekend

2010-04-22T10:55:00.001-05:00

Looking forward to a very exciting weekend for training/racing at Maplelag resort this coming weekend. Myself, Jordan, Taylor, Devon, and Wyatt will be making the trip to Maplelag for a short notice race at one of the funnest courses.

We hope to be on the road early Saturday morning and make it up to Maplelag around lunch time.

Might need to rename the Blog

2010-01-15T10:57:00.002-06:00

Going forward it looks like mountain biking is not going to be the only thing we spend the majority of our time on. This fall our oldest daughter began running cross country and this winter she is on the nordic ski team. I already have other blogs that don't get used so there is no sence creating yet another one for running and skiing.

Crested Butte was the Highlight of our Summer

2009-10-30T19:01:00.004-05:00

This pretty much sums up our racing this year. When we get around to it maybe we will start planning for next year. Oh, we have a plan, it is all about the execution.

A fun get-away (Crested Butte - 4 kids)

2009-08-10T22:51:00.002-05:00

The 17+ hour drive from the flatlands of Minnesota to Crested Butte has rewarded us with spectacular views and much needed mountain riding. There are so many choices of trails that it is hard to decide which ones to do.

So far we have ridden "Snodgrass" and the classic "401 Trail". Tuesday we plan on riding "Deer Creek", "Upper Loop" and "Upper Upper Loop". Wednesday we will move over one valley and ride "Reno/Flag/Bear/Deadman's Gulch". Finally, Thursday before we leave will bring us yet another valley closer to home (Taylors Valley) to ride "Doctors Park" before heading home.

The riding is making me tired and I will try to provide a longer update tomorrow, so I will leave you with some pictures of our trip so far.

More House Renovations

2009-05-28T11:05:00.002-05:00

More house renovations. If you are interested in what we have been up to instead of the biking we should be doing visit http://horners-world.blogspot.com/

Neither one of us have been on our bike in a week. Either Afton is going to hurt a lot or we will be skipping it, haven't decided yet - I have until 10pm tonight.

That Time of Year

2009-04-16T10:50:00.002-05:00

The trails are opening up and just in time. I have bee itchin to ride some dirt for a long time and nature has cooperated recently with a dry spring. Hopefully I can get the kids out tonight at Murphy for a little ride.

Last night I pushed a fairly good endurance ride around Savage and Shakopee. Jordan went out for the first 30 min and easily kept up with my low endurance pace. Not to bad for rarely riding her bike expect for races. I need to get her out more early this season as the sport races will be much more challenging especially the length. The remainder of the rides was fairly fun, I kept the HR up because I haven't been on the bike enough and need to play a little catch-up. The legs felt good for the 1 hour push before backing it down to a steady pace.

We will see how the training progresses, but for now I am happy to just get the kids out and ride on some dirt for a change.

See ye all at the trails.

Looks like I will be riding Expert again this year.

2009-04-06T13:46:00.005-05:00

For the past 4 or 5 months I have been debating on whether to race Expert or Comp SS in the 09 MNSCS series. Last year I purchased an 08 Fisher Rig and I absolutely love riding it.
I was able to race the single in a few races last year, but as most of you know the courses in the MNSCS series are not very forgiving to a SS. In fact, the only race I ever dropped out of, other than mechanicals, was the Afton race on the Rig. I have been toying with the idea of gearing up the Rig as a 1x9 but that would leave me without the single which I love.+

I then started looking for a used or closeout 08 Paragon, because it is the geared version of the Rig.
Last year I was drooling over the new Superfly because I have always wanted a full carbon fiber frame. The list price for 09, however, shot up to over $4000 and I quickly realized it wasn't going to happen. However, situations change at times and it looks like I will be rollin on the big wheels with gears this year.

I will have no excuses for my poor performance this year. I guess I will have to start putting in some training.

See you at the races.

House Renovations

2008-12-16T09:26:00.001-06:00

If you are interested in our projects as of late. Visit our other blog "Horner's Home Page" at http://horners-world.blogspot.com/

Like Most Blogs!

2008-12-05T10:24:00.002-06:00

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.

Maplelag Pictures

2008-09-18T09:18:00.005-05:00

MNSCS #9 Maplelag

2008-09-05T07:15:00.005-05:00

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!!!!

Border Battle

2008-08-26T09:56:00.002-05:00

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.

MNSCS #6 Powder Monkey Duluth, MN

2008-08-04T13:53:00.007-05:00

Another beautiful weekend!

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!

The Horner's are on a team!!

2008-07-25T14:09:00.000-05:00

We are now official members of the LCR team!

Thanks everyone for allowing us to join your "cult" we will not let you down!

MNSCS #5 Red Wing Memorial Classic

2008-07-24T22:18:00.004-05:00

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.

WORS #5 Chippewa Valley Firecracker

2008-07-10T13:33:00.007-05:00

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

MNSCS #4 Bluff Riders Charge at Mt Kato

2008-07-01T07:40:00.005-05:00

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.

MNSCS #3 The Dirt Spanker - Andrea's Point of View

2008-06-25T06:49:00.003-05:00

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.

MNSCS #3 Dirt Spanker Classic

2008-06-23T11:01:00.004-05:00

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.

Late evening ride a Murphy

2008-06-11T12:56:00.002-05:00

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.

Live and Learn!

2008-06-09T16:14:00.004-05:00

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.

Update - We are in Transition!

2008-05-06T09:55:00.004-05:00

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.

I think I'm in trouble

2008-04-24T16:18:00.002-05:00

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.

April 18th - Andrea's Training Log

2008-04-18T13:13:00.004-05:00

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.

April 17th - Andrea's Training Log and Ramblings

2008-04-17T21:49:00.004-05:00

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.

April 15th - Andrea's Training Log

2008-04-15T21:52:00.003-05:00

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.

So, maybe we didn't buy a house!

2008-04-14T13:42:00.003-05:00

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 bought a new house!!

2008-04-04T14:16:00.002-05:00

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.

Are You Sure Spring is Only 3 Days Away?

2008-03-18T15:07:00.003-05:00

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!!

Nice weather! I can hardly wait

2008-03-12T08:49:00.002-05:00

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.

Yes, we're are still here!

2008-03-07T13:51:00.002-06:00

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.

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.

The plan (Hillside Sunday Morning)

2008-01-26T17:10:00.000-06:00

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

Training

2008-01-15T10:48:00.000-06:00

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 Promised (but late) Pictures of the new Rig

2008-01-07T08:56:00.000-06:00

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.

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.

New Ride!

2007-12-18T10:16:00.001-06:00

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

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

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

Nice Weekend for a Ride!

2007-11-27T08:37:00.000-06:00

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

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

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

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

Training?

2007-11-20T15:15:00.000-06:00

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

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

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

Time to get going again!

2007-11-06T11:05:00.001-06:00

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

Post Season Get Together Trail Ride and BBQ

2007-10-03T13:52:00.000-05:00

Post Season Get Together Trail Ride and BBQ

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

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

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

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

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

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

Directions
Map to Hutchinson
Map of Hutchinson

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

Highway 7 takes you right into Hutchinson.

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

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

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

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

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

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

2007-09-28T16:07:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

Andrea and Jordan's Race

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

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

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

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

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

St. Cloud Single Track Escape

2007-09-28T14:38:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2007-09-26T15:59:00.000-05:00

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

Scary Weekend!

2007-09-11T09:45:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See you all soon.

Thursday night "Falldown" at Hillside!

2007-09-07T00:16:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MNSCS #9 Laddies Loppet - Calaway, MN

2007-09-05T14:01:00.001-05:00

One Word, Awesome!

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

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

24 Hours of Afton

2007-08-28T14:39:00.000-05:00

What an Awesome Experience!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MNSCS #7 Welch MTB Jam

2007-08-13T08:39:00.001-05:00

Overview

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

Matts Race

Andreas Race

Jordans Race

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

Kids Race

12 Hours of Mt. Kato

2007-08-04T22:26:00.000-05:00

Rained Out!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MNSCS #6 Muddy River Rock & Roll

2007-07-29T22:00:00.000-05:00

Matts Race

Deja Vu!

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

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

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

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

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

Race Results

Andreas Race

Jordans Race

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

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

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

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

Race Results

Feeling Rejuvinated

2007-07-24T16:23:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

MNSCS #5 Bluff Riders Charge

2007-07-09T09:44:00.000-05:00

Matt's Race

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

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

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

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

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

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

Andrea's Race

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

Jordan's Race

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kid's Race

Preride

2007-07-07T21:56:00.000-05:00

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

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

Matts Preride

This was supposed to be a fun race!

2007-07-02T09:31:00.000-05:00

Matt's Race

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Race Results

Andrea's Race

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

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

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

Jordan's Race

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

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

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

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

Now we are packed!

2007-07-02T09:22:00.001-05:00

I thought we had nearly everything in the car Friday night, but I think I was mistaken. We had made room for the coolers and bin of food, but we forgot the pillows, blankets, and a couple other odds and ends.

Good thing the kids are still small otherwise I think we might have some problems. Oh, we find a way to get a golden retriever in there as well.

As usual we were in the car and on our way almost exactly 15 minutes later than our target departure time.

Packed up and ready to go

2007-06-29T21:08:00.000-05:00

It is still early Friday night and the van is packet up and ready to go for the trip to Eau Claire tomorrow. I still think it is amazing that we can fit 6 bikes on our poor van. You should see the looks we get going down the highway. I am going to try to have Andrea snap a picture of some unsuspecting person while I drive.

I lined up all the bikes outside, I will be riding the Fisher Big Sur hardtail because the Supercaliber FS is on its way to the Trek service department in Wisconsin to fix the drive side suspension pivot bolt that sheared off and is embedded in the frame. With any luck it will be back by the Muddy River Rock & Roll in Redwing.

All that is left is to pack the cooler, kids, and dog and we are ready to go. We can set up camp after noon so we plan on arriving around that time to get a good spot.

I guess we are racing this weekend after all!

2007-06-28T16:50:00.001-05:00

It doesn't take much coaxing these days to get my wife, and entire family for that matter, to enter a mountain bike race. Something as simple as a harmless post on the MORC forums asking if we plan on going to the WORS race in Eau Claire is enough. I think my cold will be better by then and I was able to push it fairly hard last night on a short but intense ride.

In looking at the WORS site I came across a cool video of a 6 year old kid racing in the citizen class at 9 mile. I could not help but think of my 6 year old son the entire time

Video

I will try to give an update before we head out to the race.

The good, the good, and the ugly

2007-06-24T22:45:00.000-05:00

Race Day Overview

In the days leading up to this Sundays race we had contemplated camping on site. With both Andrea and I trying to get over bad colds, however, we opted for a decent nights sleep in Superior. We woke up at 5:45 in order to get everyone dressed and the car packed by 7:00 so we could grab a quick continental breakfast and be on our way by 7:30. As usual, it took us an additional 15 minutes, but we still had plenty of time. At 7:45 AM the temp was already 72 F and I knew it was going to be a hot day: perfect conditions to try out our new 10' x 10' canopy. We arrived at Mt. Du Lac a little after 8 and started unloading our stuff to set up camp (6 bikes, 4 kids, 1 dog, 2 coolers, 6 chairs, 1 bike pump, 1 EZ up, tools, and 1 bag of food).

The citizen race was scheduled to start at 9:30 AM with sport at 11:00 AM and expert at 1:00 PM. I felt fairly rushed the entire day, probably because the start of the citizen and water station for sport was halfway up the hill. Jordan had a great race finishing 1st for her age, 2nd for the women, and 38th out of 56 overall. Andrea recovered from a first lap flat to finish 4th in her age, 4 for the women and 51st our of 86 overall. I unfortunately had my first DNF. Detailed results are listed below.

Race Results

Matt's Race

After lining up a couple of excuses for todays race (bad cold being one of them) I ended up using one I hadn't thought of. After a short but decent warm-up and going up and down the hill to see how Andrea's race was going I felt fairly good for the start of the expert race. At the line I was in the third or forth row and as the gun went off the pack started to gain momentum towards the first steep section. I settled into a decent but conservative pace, because the first climb is a long one. As I approached the first steep section, I cranked hard out of the saddle and passed a couple of riders as they grinded it out. After the steep section the climb levels out slightly before making a right turn continuing up a gradual climb. I dropped down a couple of gears and settled into a nice pace, even taking some time to have a friendly conversation with Jennifer Meyer. I think I even made the comment something like, "I wish there were more people this happy when they are riding". As I approached the last steep section I left it in my middle ring and started to push hard out of the saddle. On my third or forth pedal stroke I heard a loud "crack" and immediately the back of the bike felt like a wet noodle. I pulled off the trial and quickly realized that I had sheared off the drive side single pivot bolt. Needless to say, I was really bummed, so I picked up my bike and threw it into a section of nice tall weeds. Jennifer Meyer must think I am a complete hypocrite.

View of the damages

Andrea's Race

The day was hot and I knew it was only going to get hotter once the race started. I warmed up by climbing "the hill" once just before Jordan's race started. I decided to try the climb in my middle chain ring and I did it, I was amazed. After the climb I tooled around on top the hill for a awhile then I headed doen to where Jordan's race was to start, we sent her off then I went down to chill for a bit before my race. Just before my race started I rode up and down the road a few times then I headed for the start line. Thanks to Angela Collins the ladies got their own wave to start in. Although, even with a 2 minute lag we quickly caught some of the men in front of us. As we took off I made my way up the hill keeping a good pace, I was the fourth women up to the top of the hill.

Once we got into the single track I got into a rythm and just rode, I felt great. Then less then half way into the first lap my back tire was making some strange noises and I knew I was in trouble. I knew the 5th place women was close behind, so I quickly stopped and my fears were true, my back tire was partially flat. I was soooo bummed, I had never had a dnf due to a mechanical before. Since it was not all the way flat I figured I might as well try to ride out verses walk, so I hopped back on my bike and continued to ride. I was still keeping a good pace and I was still in 4th place. I few minutes later I checked the tire again and it felt the same as it had previously, so I figured maybe I had just burped my tire, so I continued to ride, al beit a little slower. Some riders were coming up behind and I let them pass and told them I had a flat tire. Matt Johnson asked if I had anything with me to fix it and I said no, next thing I knew he had stopped and pulled out his CO2 and reinflated my tire. It had more air in it than I needed, but I was hoping for the best and thanked Matt and I was back in the race. Thanks again Matt!!!! Only 2 women had passed me and at this point I was just happy to be able to finish the race. After I started up again my legs felt dead and they ached, I was hoping they would soon start feeling better and then the back climb was right there. I vowed I was going to stay on my bike the whole way. Then I looked ahead and I spotted Angela and I put it into high gear and near the top of the back climb I passed her. Matt was waiting for me at the top and asked how I was doing and if my tire was holding air (Matt J. had told him). I said I was fine and I thought so. Next I was happily joused with water from the volunteers and then I made my way up the rest of the way to the top. I settled into a nice pace and I rode pretty clean and quick. I was happy wit how I was doing. Towards the end of the 3rd lap I decided I would quicken my pace a bit and try to catch and pass the guy in front of me, then I saw just in front of him was the one other lady who had passed me while I was fixing my tire. I kicked it up and rode right behind her heading into the last climb, I couldn't catch her but I ws right with her. Next we came to the top of the hill heading into the last decent into the finish line. I made a quick inside pass and I was in front. I zoomed down the hill as fast as I would let myself go figuring she was right behind me, Matt was at the bottom all lined up for his race and I quick asked him how close she was. He didn't answer so I just pushed hard into the finish. I looked back and she was just coming down from the top of the hill. I found out later that her brakes had locked up and she took a headed. I felt so bad, she said she was fine and it wasn't my fault so I felt releived she was ok.

Look Matt I'm smiling!!! Thanks Dana for the great photo!!

All in all I was very pleased with my result, I didn't feel so good going into this race, but I felt great coming out and I like the trail a lot better after completing 3 laps at race pace.

Jordan's Race

Jordan continues to amaze me with her skill, stamina, and compeditive spirit. For example, at the start of the citizen race, the race director made the decision that instead of the women starting in their own wave as usual, they would be starting in the second wave with the men. While the other ladies hung out at the back the pack, Jordan moved towards the starting line to get a better position amongst adults at least 2 feet taller than her. When the race started she bolted off the line, holding her own in the pack and pushed up the entire first climb without getting off her bike. At first it was hard sending her out on the longer races not knowing if anything bad might happen. She has proven that she can handle anything thrown at her during the course of a race.

She is a very well rounded XC rider. She climbs exceptionally well and continues to improve as she gains leg strength. She handles technical sections with easy and I have never seen her afraid of riding a section. She reacts instantly to conditions on the trail and bike position. But what I am most impressed with is her ability to never give up. Last race she went down hard causing her bar to smash into her chest, but she got back on the bike after a minute and pushed even harder to regain the ground she had lost. In all respects she is a racer and is having a great time doing it.

Jordan working the switchbacks coming down to finish the race

Jordan pushing hard up the last rise to the finish line.

Jordan finished 1st for her age group (10-18), 2nd out of 11 for the women, and 38th out of 56 overall. You can see by the picture how small she is compared to her age group.

MNSCS #4 Preride

2007-06-23T21:19:00.000-05:00

We got a fairly early start to Mt. DuLac today heading out slightly after our 9:00 AM target time. It always seems to take at least 15 min extra to get all the kids in the car and buckled in. Four hours, and two stops, later we arrived around 1:30 PM. The conditions were beautiful, but a little on the warm side.

Taylor and I would head out first and Andrea and Jordan after, all the while Devon and Wyatt kamikaze down the hills behind the chalet. Taylor and I started up the hill leading towards the start of the Kids Comp (and Citizen) race. Part way up the hill, Taylor gave up and I had to push both bikes up to the start. As we made the right hand turn towards the initial climb Taylor was starting to have second thoughts about the race and was unwilling to pedal any further. We did manage to make it to the top of the hill by me pushing both bikes up the last steep section. When we reached the top and proceeded to the first downhill section, Taylor took one look at the rocky downhill and said, "NO WAY". I had to agree with her. It was not that the section was that difficult, but for an 8 year old that is just starting to gain confidence it was not something either of us thought she should try. She felt really bad, but I assured her that everything was fine and we would give it a try when she is a little older and ready for it. She will have fun in the kids race. We turned around and road back down the hill and she did a good job handling the tricky grass downhill.

Once at the bottom, I explained to Andrea what had happened and everything was just fine. My calves felt slightly cramped from pushing both bikes up the hill and I hadn't even gone out for my pre ride yet. Not to mention that I am nursing a good summer cold that has left me without a voice for the past couple days. I have been told to use the neck rule. That is if the symptoms are from the neck down you should rest, but if they are from the neck up you should be good to go. Well, most of my symptoms are fairly close to my neck so I will give it a try. I have all ready pre-registered anyway so why not. That being said, I put my bike in the lowest gearing and lazily spun up the first climb. I think it took almost 6 minutes, but at least I didn't waste all my energy for tomorrow. The rest of the ride went fairly well and I was primarily trying to memorize the turns and features of the course. Either they have changed a large portion of the trail or my memory is very fuzzy. The long blazing downhill from years past has been replaced with a great flowing section that weaves back and forth across the previous section. There were a few soft sections, but nothing too bad.

The key for me tomorrow will be to conserve my energy for will be a fairly hot and long race. It will help that the majority of the single track is under canopy, but the climbs are out in the open. Tomorrows race is scheduled for 5 laps and hopefully I with be able to hold 25 minute laps making the overall race time around 2:15.

I think I will grab a little snack and try to get a good nights sleep; tomorrow I will need all the help I can get.

E2 (Endurance)

2007-06-17T22:55:00.000-05:00

I felt as if I have been losing some ground as of late. Because of all the racing I have not had a chance to get good endurance rides in. With no races scheduled for the weekend it provided a great opportunity to get in a good lone ride. The weekend would be busy, however, with Jordan having a birthday sleep over Friday night and a family party in the twin cities on Saturday night. The best plan I could come up with was to bike from Hutchinson to Coon Rapids Saturday morning, making sure I arrived in plenty of time to help get things ready for the party. After helping with breakfast for 7 tired girls and vacuuming up sour skittles and nerds from the family room, I got on the bike by 10:00 AM only 1 hour later than expected. With two full water bottles, 3 power bars, trail mix, five dollars, credit card, tube and CO2 inflator I headed on my way.

The first part of the ride was fairly good, but I was pushing a slight headwind to keep me honest. About an hour and a half into the ride, I noticed that the rear wheel felt a little soft and sure enough I had punchered the rear tube. No big deal, I brought a spare tube and was taking the rear wheel off when Andrea and the kids pulled over to help out. Perfect timing, I quickly pumped up the tire and refilled the two water bottles and I headed on my way. The weather was nearly perfect, and despite many people commenting on how hot it was I found that as long as I kept riding at a moderate pace I stayed comfortable. Even though I had printed out directions and taped them to my stem, was still able to get lost because some people don't think it is necessary to put street signs up in their towns. I think it is some type of conspiracy to keep people from finding their way out of town.

A little before Delano I got passed by a group of three road bikers and followed them through town for a little while. I contemplated hooking up with their group and riding for a little while, but I wasn't sure if I was staying with my directions. I followed them out of town and as we stared heading north I knew that I wasn't on the correct road. It was, however, going the correct direction so I continued to tail the group for a while, but never felt the urge to push it to catch up with them. I have found that, in general, road bikers have very little to say to someone rinding a mountain bike on the road. After about 25 minutes they had put a sizable gap on me, while I continued to enjoy the journey. I later passed them in the next town as they stopped at a local gas station.

Anyway, after about 3 hours of "feeling" my way towards the northwestern part of the cites, I arrived in St. Michael. I was slightly familiar with the area and new that I was a little too far north, so I called Andrea to get me back on track. After a little thought she was able to guide me over interstate 94 and back to a rood listed on my directions. The last part of the ride I pushed it a little harder because the legs still felt fresh, averaging 20 mph.

Summary
Time: 4:10:54
Distance: 74.8 mi
Ave Speed: 18.0 mph
Ave HR: 155 bpm

MNSCS #3 Afton Avalanche

2007-06-11T09:50:00.000-05:00

Matt's Race

A brutal race. If it wasn't for all the people cheering me on after laps 1 and 2 I would have found a cool spot in the shade and quietly died peacefully. I did, however, manage to finish the race some 41 minutes behind Brendan Moore who had a very strong race. In general the field was much more spread out primarily due to the conditions (hot) and the course. For some reason I like the race course at Afton despite the fact that I have yet to race well on it. I think the course is the perfect race course because it demands the racer be very well rounded; if you have any weeknesses this course will definitly bring them out.

On to the race. I had a little better start this time, cresting the little climb at the start with a fair number of people behind me. As I started to go down the hill a few riders started to pass me as I tried to recover slightly. On the flats leading toward the meadows chalet I got passed by a couple more, but made a push to regain my position down the hill leading into the single track. Entering the bridge loop I kept a good pace up the climbs, staying in my middle chainring, but my HR was much higher than past races (i'm sure the heat had something to do with it). I could tell that I was starting to fade, so I backed it down a little bit because it was going to be a very long race. As I headed through the switchbacks leading toward shady lane each and every steep climb was painful and I wasn't recovering well. The first time up Shady I stayed in the middle ring, but by the time I reached the top I was toast and had a hard time maintaining speed on the technical descents.

The remainder of the race I was in damage control most of the time. The limited time training in the heat took its tool both mentally and physically. Although I typically climb fairly well, I haven't had a chance to do much climbing outside of the races. You know you are in trouble when you pull over on the side of manhandler to chat for a few minutes during the race. I guess I should not be to hard on myself noteing that at least 15 comp riders DNF'ed. To put things into perspective, last year I finished 69th out of 118 in Sport.

In the end, I finished 27th out of 32 41:57 behind the leader. I was glad to be done and happy to finish.

Whatever doesn't kill you will make you stonger!!

I look forward to the next race @ Mt. Du Lac

Andrea's Race

This was the first race I ever had where I truely thought I was going to get sick!

I started with a 20 minute warm-up which included a little of everything; some double track a couple good hill climbs, and some great singletrack to get my legs ready to roll.

All us ladies lined up on the start finish line and I felt ready to go. We were off and before I knew it I was at the back of the pack (man I need to work on my starts). Then we headed up the hill and I passed a few people and through some short singletrack and then a few more down and around some double track, I had agreat position with only 3 people in front of me. Then my chain jammed and try as I might to be gentle and get it unjammed without stopping I couldn't, so less than 5 minutes into the race I was stopped and trying to unjam my chain. Meanwhile everyone else was gone. It didn't take too long and I was off, I worked extremely hard and my heart rate was up in the low 170s for quite awhile until I finally regained my position. This is when I realized I felt sick. It was incredibly hot out and all the fluids I had were warm. I litterally was making plans on what I would do if I needed to throw-up, I would stop throw-up and get back on the bike as soon as possible. Well I backed it down just a little but I had one lady close behind me so I knew I didn't want to slow down too much. I started to feel a little better, and I continued to push it hard. When I had open spaces ahead of me I could see no ladies, that was disheartening, but I still raced hard.

During my second lap I rode with few mistakes although the heat was taking its toll. The back of my leg was cramping up and I was dreaming for cold fluid. I continued to ride, I told myself to keep going and I was not going to die on the bike. I finished strong and quickly felt better after a cool down ride and some cold water.

I finished 4th out of 6 in my age bracket and 4th out of 9 overall for this race. My series standing is 1st as of right now, but I have 1 more race than a lot of the ladies.

Call me crazy but I think Afton is one of the funnest courses to ride and I can't wait for the 24 Hours of Afton. I've never ridden it but I've supported Matt for 4 years, now I'm ready to race. I'm not sure in what capasity I will race it in(solo or on a team), but I will be there.

Jordan's Race

Kid's Race

Race Results

MNSCS #2 Rochester Cycling Steeple Chase

2007-06-04T13:50:00.000-05:00

Matts Race

Let's just say not what I had hoped for. I had a poor start as usual and there were only a couple of expert riders behind me as we headed through the start/finish line after the prologue.

I was just behind Kyia and contemplated making a move past her just before taking the hard right into the single track but opted not to. Shortly into the first section I "burped" my front tire over a log and lost most of the air. I knew that I was in trouble, but I was hoping to get back to the finish to put some more air in. That would never happen, as I lost the entire bead on the next log section. As I walked backwards through the woods, I had to stop each time a group of comp riders passed. After the entire comp class had passed I walked to a clearing on the south side of the course and found my way back to the start/finish line. As I walked back I was trying to decide if I would quit or try to get the tire inflated and resume the race. I knew there would be no chance at finishing anywhere but last place, but I needed the race time to progress in my training. As I arrived back at the start I asked a couple of people if they had a CO2 (I run STANS), but no one had one to use. On an act of desperation, I hooked up my hand pump and pumped like crazy. With two sets of helping hands (holding the bead) I was able to get the bead to seal (Thanks Kurt and Jordan). I quickly pumped the tire to 40 psi hoping not to loose too much air before the Stans completely sealed. I jumped on the bike and headed back to the start/finish line to start my first lap (again). I had lost 20-25 minutes in the process, thankfully I was still on the lead lap.

Thanks for taking the awesome pictures Dana, and great race to you.

The goal now was to find a way to push myself with no riders around. I knew that the lead expert riders would be coming by at some point, so I used that as motivation to ride clean and fast and stay in front of them as long as possible. Sam O. was the first to catch me near the flats on my second lap (his third) and he informed my that there were two more behind him. I tried to hold his wheel for a little while, and use this situation as motivation, but Sam was just flying and he quickly disappeared. A couple of minutes later Ben and Brendan Moore passed and I was able to hang with them for a while on the flats before they to vanished and again I was riding alone. Overall I felt good, I was climbing well and riding fairly smooth on the single track, but the flats were tacky and slow and I could feel it zap the power from my legs. On the first three laps I was able to make all the climbs in my middle ring and 32t cog in the rear, but by the fourth lap I had to drop to the small ring on the climb after the zipper. Part way into my second I caught a few of the trailing comp riders and I again had some motivation to ride a little hard, but it is just not the same. I also passed a few of the expert women as they pushed hard on their third and final lap. The fourth lap was a surreal experience. The last time I had this feeling is when our 24 Hours of Afton team barely beat the 5:00 PM deadline and I went out for our last lap. It is strange knowing that you are the last person on the course and there is no one behind you. I tried to keep a respectable pace, but my last lap was nearly 4 minutes slower than the previous lap.

I finished in 2:38:28 almost 45 minutes behind the leader. If I factor out the 20 minutes to fix the tire it would have put me at around 2:18:00 good enough for 17/22. I am still learning, but I still need to find the speed on the starts so I can compete with the faster group. I am open to any suggestions.

Race Results

Andrea's Race:

My race went much smoother than Matt's. Although, I was quite worried after my preride. I really count on preriding the race courses on Saturday's to get a feel for the course and the conditions and to know what to expect. So when Steeple-Chase was closed for preriding on Saturday I was bummed. We arrived at the course a little after 8am and it took us a little while to get unpacked and set-up for the day, then I decided without waivering that it was extremely important for my confidence to go and pre-ride the course. Not only did I know the course was going to be slippery but this was the course that interupted my season last year with a broken collar bone, so to say the least I was a little pysced out. I started with the prolouge lap and then headed down the grassy downhill, that led to my demise last year, which went fine, and then into the singletrack. The first section of single track went fine and so did the Zumbrota zipper, then the 2nd set of singletrack was horrible I walked often and slid around a lot, then shortly after emerging from this section I saw the first glance os the citizen riders coming. So I stopped riding, waited for Jordan to go down the Zumbrota Zipper, I cheered her on and then I walked out to the start finish line. So my pre-ride did not go as well as I would have liked, but at least I knew the course.

I had about an hour until my race so I had a powerbar and some gaterade and tried to relax. A few minutes before the race I tooled around a bit and then headed to the start finish line. I had some friendly chit-chat with the ladies at the line and then after waiting for an ambulance to arrive we were off. I did not get a great start (I need to work on my starts), before I knew it I was in 2nd to last place.

But I know how to climb, so by the end of the prolouge I was able to get into a great position and there I stayed until the end of the race. Heading into the singletrack I was the 5th woman, although I thought I was the 4th. I worked hard and rode steady to stay as close as I could to the lady in front of me, Kris Brazil. Through the second set of singletrack, although I was riding it well, I gradually lost sight of Kris. Towards the end of the first lap Matt was out taking pictures and let me know that Kris was about 45 seconds ahead of me. So I tried to speed up a bit and see if I could close the gap. I continued to push hard through the entire second lap periodically passing a few male riders. Then towards the end of the 2nd lap, in a place where the trail turns back on itself, I noticed one female rider that I had not realized was in front of me. Kris had already passed her, so I kicked into high gear and worked as hard as I could to catch her, but I did not have enough distance.

I finished 17 seconds behind her and 4th out of 6 in my age bracket and 5th out of 11 for the female riders and 66th out of 90 overall. I was extremely happy with how my race went and excited that I conquered this course after last years trama.

Jordan's Race:

The Family is Getting Good!

2007-05-30T09:50:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was full of riding for the entire family. Andrea and I hit Hillside Saturday and Monday morning early and we brought the entire family to Lebanon Hills Monday afternoon. I get so much enjoyment from watching them progress in the sport I absolutely love.

Andrea has made huge improvements since last year and she now has the confidence to attack any condition. She easily handles obstacles and sections she previously thought un-ridable. Subsequently, her lap times took a considerable drop since last year and continue to steadily decline. For example, last year at Hillside her best lap time was around 1:07. This year she started in the high 50s and has worked it down to a little over 51 minutes. She will soon be turning sub 50 min laps and I can see her getting down near 45 by the end of the season.

The kids are also having a blast. I road with my oldest daughter @ Lebanon Hills on Monday and we did the intermediate loop in a little over 32 minutes. I was amazed at her ability to pick clean lines through the rock gardens, and react instantly to changes in the trail. She executed the technical sections cleaner than I did. Taylor, Devon, and Wyatt had a great time on the beginner loop while Andrea and I watched in amazement. Taylor was all smiles as she weaved through the twisty single track and I could tell she really like the bridges. Devon loves his new "Proline mini" and with the skinny tires and light weight he flies through the trails. Finally, Wyatt (age 4) was able to ride the entire loop with no help from mom or dad. It was awesome watching him navigate through the trails on his tiny bike, even small roots are gigantic to 16" wheels. He even passed one guy who was walking his bike as he entered the beginner trail from the intermediate loop. My wife told me that the guy said, "Sure now I get passed by a 6 year old." She did not have the heart to tell him that he was only 4. I think he completed 5 laps, each time no help from us.

We can only imagine how good these kids will become as they get older. Our only goal is to allow them to love the sport as their "own". Yes, we are proud parents.

MNSCS #1 Erik's Spring Cup

2007-05-21T14:31:00.000-05:00

Matt's First Expert Race: Room to improve, but happy with result.

The race is over and I am fairly happy with the result. I knew the jump from sport to expert would be difficult and I did not have expectations of running in the lead group.

The start was fairly ridiculous. Not only do the experts get a very quick jump off the line, but unlike sport the speed continues to build and build.

I found myself at the back of the pack before we got to the water tower and I was trying to get the speed to pass a few people during the prologue. I think I managed to pass two or three people before entering the single track. During the first tight section of single track I felt as if I was getting a little hung up and would have liked to have been further up in the field. Part way through the first lap I made another pass and tried to bridge the gap between a group of two riders in front of me. After lap one I passed another rider on the walkway and made good time through the school fields and past the start/finish line. My legs started to feel good on lap two and I was gaining on the group in front of me, but I could not seem to catch them. I felt alone out there and it was mentally very hard to push at that pace without someone to race with. That changed when the lead comp riders finally bridged the 2 minute gap just the start of lap 4. I held off the lead group of two for a little while and then allowed them to pass, not wanting to hold them up. I held their wheel for next half a lap and was going faster with them than riding alone. The little while later the leading comp rider slid out in a turn and the second place guy got by but I wasn't able to. The first place rider was able to gradually pull away and I was slowed slightly.

By the middle of lap 4 I could tell that my pace had slowed a bit but I was still feeling pretty good. All in all I think two more comp riders passed me by the end of the race, but the expert riders I had passed were no where to be found. I came through the finish line with a good sprint and finished 28 out of 35 riders less than 9 minutes behind the leader.

Andrea's First Sport Race, Well Done!

Well all the training paid off!!! After hours upon hours and miles upon miles of training since November in preparation for my jump from citizen to sport and the first race of the MNSCS season, I had a respectable finish. I finished 3rd out of 7 for my age group and 6 out of 13 for women in the sport category. The race was fast and twisty and technical, usually I would shy back, but I started right in the front and had a pretty good start. I stayed right in the middle of the pack of the women, and for awhile we all stayed together. After a bit the lead women started to pull away, this is where I made a mistake. I was following closely behind another female rider and I should have passed her, but I hesitated too long and when I finally passed her I had to work hard to catch up to the next female rider ahead of me. I finally caught her and stayed close to her wheel the rest of the second lap, as soon as we headed out of the singletrack I put it in the big chainring and gunned it. I passed her and stayed ahead until I noticed my front wheel was shaking, I looked down and my wheel had loosened up I rode for a short time until I knew I needed to stop and tighten it up, I did a quick fix, and got on my bike before she caught up. But I should have spent a little longer tightening it up because a short time later it came loose again and I needed to stop again, this time she passed me and I stayed as close as I could. The rest of the third lap we passed a few people and this is what allowed her to get too far ahead for me to catch up. I still had enough energy at the end of the race I tried to catch her but ended up finishing close behind (the results say 1 minute and 9 seconds I think it was closer than that). All in all I am happy with everything about the race.

Jordan's jump from kids comp to citizen also went very well!!

Jordan finished 2nd out of 7 in the 10-18 women's category and 7 out of 15 for all the citizen women. She started with a bang. She was lined up right in the front row of a huge wave (all women, men 40 and over, clydesdales, and single speeders) right after the start the girl next to her got pushed and fell over right into Jordan and then she fell over. She quickly got back on her bike and was looking good. After her prolouge lap and lap 1 she looked deteremined, and she looked great. She said the race went well. She is ready to go for the next race.

Taylor jumped into the kids comp category and did great! Matt rode with her to give her pointers and encouragement. She had a great race and only fell over once. It was a bit cold on Sunday and she was wearing gloves and had a hard time shifting into her middle chain ring so she was a bit frustrated by the time she came in. She finished 3rd out of 3 for her age group and 15 out of 18 overall. She is ready to race the next race. Good Job Taylor!!

Race Results

Pro UCI MTB Race @ Maplelag

2007-05-12T21:17:00.000-05:00

Jordan and I had a chance to watch the pro men and women race at the UCI Spring Opener at Maplelag resort today. Because of the schedule and being a new venue the turnout was smaller than normal, but the racing was really good.

Women's Race

The women went out at 11:00 AM to perfect conditions.

Men's Race

BMX Park

As always the kids spent some time at the BMX park and were performing some pretty "sick" moves. The boys from Canada were down again and keep getting bigger and faster. Jordan even got some air on some of the jumps, but didn't get up the nerves to hit the 8 foot gap jump.

Course Pre ride

Later in the day Jordan and I went out for a pre ride and I took her on the lake side drops. I was impressed with her ability to handle the rocks and roots that are strewn all over the trails. She even handled the tough climbs that twist through the woods. Tomorrow should be much easier and Jordan says she is ready for the race. I know she will do really well.

First Race of the Season

2007-05-10T15:38:00.000-05:00

Tonight the family will be heading out to Buck Hill for the first race of the 2007 MTB season. Andrea will try sport, Jordan citizen, and I will be challenging myself in expert. Conditions are just about perfect, and the heat (86 F) will be good for acclimating to the conditions yet to come. I will provide a complete recount of the race later tonight.

Race Report (Matt):

Let's just say that it is probably not good to feel as rested as I was at the end of the race. I think I finished 39th out of 47 in the Advance field. Not what I had hoped for but not last place either. Since there is no Comp class at the Thursday night races it is somewhat hard to tell how this will stack up in the MNSCS series. The drive in from Hutchinson takes a little over an hour and a half so we did not have much time to get all the bikes down, register, and have a decent warm up before the race start. After the race meeting I headed down to the start line to find I was nearly the last person to arrive. I did not have a good starting spot because rec and beginners classes were all bunched up behind the advanced riders. Therefore, I picked a spot near the back on the far right side of the road (in the grass). Mentally I had no ambition to push it hard at the start, but in hindsight it would have been a better idea. The race starts with a gradual hill on a gravel service road then veers to the right and down across the base of the ski runs before entering the single track. As usual there was a fairly large pile-up at the entrance of the single track at a short steep section. I had to get off my bike for a few seconds to run up a short section and quickly remounted. The pace was slow, however, and the leaders were gone. There was virtually no place to pass in the single track sections, therefore, I just followed at the pace of the riders in front of me. I feel confident that I could have rode the single track sections faster and with a better start. The conditions were extremely dry and dust and it started to take a tool on my lungs. By the end of the first lap I started to ca ugh really bad and it go worse any time I started to push it. This continued into the third lap and I never really felt good for the remainder of the race. I was actually having trouble taking in air; I have never experienced this before.

Near the end of lap two I came up on Jordan who was nearing the end of her lap in the beginner class. She was standing off the trail and I could see she was upset and frustrated. I stopped to help her out as she explained that the bike was making some weird sounds and it was making her worried. I gave her some much needed encouragement and she was able to get back on the bike in a fairly difficult section and ride like a pro. I will have to look at her bike to find out what the problem is; I do know that her chain is too long and needs to be shortened. After Jordan got back on her way and was out in the open I resumed my race. Despite the problems with my lungs I felt I could push hard and I could hang with most racers on the hill sections. For some reason I didn't feel as though I was going fast enough in the single track sections though. The remainder of laps 3 and 4 were fairly uneventful and I just put it in cruse control for the remainder of the race.

Race Report (Andrea):

Summary:

All in all I finished in about 1 hour 6 minutes with the leaders finishing in about 53 minutes. A full 13 minutes behind the leaders or about 25% off the leaders time. I will update the results when the are posted on the Penn Cycle site. I placed 39th out of 47 riders in advanced.

"Mud Madness" Cancelled Due to Weather?

2007-05-07T08:25:00.000-05:00

After all the careful well laid plans for the weekend Mother Nature put a wrench in the plans. The 2007 Mankato "Mud Madness" was cancelled due to bad weather. After a a brief period of rain Saturday afternoon, the clouds lifted slightly and the rest of the day was fairly nice. The weather forecast at 10:00 PM looked promising with the rain supposedly holding off till later in the day on Sunday. We woke up early morning on Sunday, however, to the sound of wind blown rain against the hotel window. We quickly turned on the weather channel to see a "sea" of yellow and orange heading strait through Mankato. Not knowing what to expect, we started packing up and grabbed a quick continental breakfast in the lobby. On the short drive to Mt. Kato there was a lot of lightning and it started to rain harder. When we pulled into the parking lot we had a good idea the race was going to be cancelled. We talked to the race promoters and they had decided to reschedule the race due to lightning. Andrea and I were a little bummed, but neither of us wanted to race in a mud fest. We packed up the kids and had enough time to make it to Sunday morning church.

Since we are still actively training for the MTB season, we now had to find out what type of workout to substitute in for the missing race. Fortunately, Hutchinson had not received much rain and we were able to go out later in the afternoon for a simulated race at Stahl's Lake. We set up a combination of ski train (double track) and single track to set up a race course. The outer loop of the ski trail is 1.1 mi in length and the single track is 3.1 miles for a total length of a 4.2 mile loop. Andrea and I warmed up on the inner ski trail and then went our separate ways. I turned 4 laps with average times around 23-24 minutes and Andrea completed 3 laps at around 26-27 minutes. Andrea said that the her second lap was her best and despite the slick conditions cleared all the climbs. By the last lap my lower back was getting really sore and I could tell my speed was slowing down. I need to continue to ride more on the trails to get the rest of my upper body ready for race efforts.

Getting Ready for the First Race

2007-05-02T12:21:00.000-05:00

This weekend (May 6th) is the first race of the season at Mt. Kato. Although we have listed it as a B priority race I approach each race with the same level of enthusiasm. Last time I checked there was a possibility of rain Saturday and Sunday so the race might live up to its name: Mud Madness. This will be the first time that Andrea has ridden in the Sport class and I have ridden in the Expert class. Andrea has put in a huge training effort and should do very well in Sport. I have also put together a much more structured training effort; time will tell how well it pays off in Expert.

Last week was a R&R week after the final build phase of the training. Therefore, we rested by spending 9+ hours at Stahl's Lake Park blowing, raking, and clearing the local MTB trail. The legs got a rest, but the upper body got a very good workout. Today I turned a couple of race pace laps out at Stahl's lake turning lap times of 16:30, 15:56, 16:32. I had planned on riding 5-6 laps, but the work schedule and lack of planning on my part prohibited that. Andrea managed to get up at 4:30 again this morning for some intense criss-cross thresholds. She was able to get her heart rate above the 165 mark for her high intensity intervals (great job!). That ability to push hard, recover at a high intensity, and push again is very important in race situations.

The Weather has Cooperated for a Change

2007-04-15T16:40:00.000-05:00

Andrea and I had a good weekend of riding. We put away the trainer for the weekend and went outdoors for our training rides. Saturday we each had anaerobic intervals (Andrea pyramid and me 5x4 min intervals).

We decided to ride together for Sunday's E2 ride. Neither one of us was overly thrilled at getting up at 4:30 AM Sunday morning, but we coaxed each other to get ready for the ride. Thankfully, we each had placed all our clothes out the night before giving us less excuses to go back to bed. I had a couple of small bowls of cereal and a glass of juice and Andrea had a hot bowl of oatmeal (good choice, but I hate oatmeal). We stepped outside at about 5:20 AM to a good chill in the air; air temp 32 degrees. I was fairly uncomfortable starting out and was having a difficult time pushing myself to get the heart rate up. My legs felt heavy from the previous days workout and I generally had little ambition to push it. My wife, however, handles the cold much better than I do and wasn't effected by the cold air. I remember back to the first couple of endurance rides we had taken together last fall and I would lead and Andrea would draft behind me so that we were each pushing at about the same effort. As a testament to Andreas progress on the bike we both rode side by side for the entire time and in the end I think I was more tired that she was. On an added note, Andreas ride was supposed to be 2:30 but she rode with me for the entire 3:00, Impressive.

Now we have time to enjoy the remainder of the weekend and get some much need work done around the house.

My wife is Awesome!!

2007-04-09T12:46:00.000-05:00

Life is full of compromises and there always needs to be a balance between the time spent training for the MTB season and family/extended family. The great thing is that my wife is every bit as obsessed (maybe too strong a word, or maybe not) about XC racing as I am. She has taken the sport as her own and absolutely loves it. Words can't describe how determined she is.

For example, the year before last (2005) she made the decision to give XC racing a try. I/we had made the decision that I was going to race 6 races in the 2005 race season. The first race was the Afton Avalanche at Afton Alps ski resort. Andrea did the majority of the pre-race preparations, not only for the entire family (4 kids), but for me as well. She made sure I had the right clothes, food, etc and I was in charge of bikes, spare parts, tools, etc. All we had to do was double check to make sure nothing was missing. While I was out racing in the sport class, my wife overheard the awards announcements for the citizen class. There were only 2 people in her age class and she realized that even if she would have finished last she still would have received a third place award. I am not sure when she mentioned it to me (probably early the next week), but she was interested in racing in the next race (Mt. Du Lac, Duluth). Trying to conceal my enthusiasm I made some much needed upgrades to her bike in preparation for the race. By Thursday evening Andrea had everything packed and ready to go for the race, including all of her stuff. I tried my best to keep my emotions in check; I was excited, but somewhat scared. I knew how much I love the sport and how exciting it is for me, but for someone new to the sport it can be a little scary. The courses in the MNSCS series are not easy; long lung busting climbs, steep descents, tight sections through trees, rocks, etc. Andrea definitely wanted to pre-ride the course before the race so we drove from my parents cabin to Mt. Du lac on Saturday. Before she went out, I carefully gave her some pointers and told her to be careful (I had to watch the kids, so I wasn't able to ride with her). After about 1 hour a friend came down the hill and told me that Andrea had gone down on a steep downhill section and her shoulder was bleeding. My worst fears went through my mind. I was concerned that this fall would be the end of her racing and enthusiasm for the sport. When she got back, I could see there was a really good scrape on her shoulder and I carefully asked what had happened. I don't remember the details, but what I do remember is her willingness to understand what had happened so it wouldn't happen again. I thought I might still have some hope; she might try this again some time in the future. Later in the evening after driving back to the cabin, I cautiously asked if she was thinking about racing on Sunday. She said with a smirk on her face, "We'll see how I feel in the morning, but probably". I knew at that moment that she had every intention of racing. She never lost that enthusiasm and determination and the first season was a great learning experience for both of us.

Before the start of the second season we were both ready to go. We had put in some more training earlier in the season and Andrea was able to ride on the trails a few times before the first race. Things did not go as we would had hoped, however. During the first race at Harmon Park (Erik's Spring Cup) Andrea "blacked" out and went down hard, shortly after the first lap. Her head must have been a little fuzzy because she could not understand why the nice course worker would not let her continue the race. One look at the bike should have told her, not to mention her helmet was smashed and cracked in two pieces. So maybe it wasn't a good idea to race a couple of days after recovering from strep throat.

Andrea wrote it up to a bad day and an unfortunate set of circumstances and eagerly awaited the next race at Steeple Chase. As an added benefit the second race coincided with the start of our MTB vacation in Missouri. We would be staying in a hotel in Rochester for the race then driving down to Kansas City to drop off the kids at Andreas sister's house. The plan was then to drive west and hit a few of the cool MTB trails in Missouri. The warm-ups went well and the day was going as usual. The race starts with a relatively short prologue lap before entering into the standard lap (a downhill section that ends with a sharp right turn into the wooded single track). I remember telling Andrea to "let the bike go" on the downhill sections to keep her speed up; a comment I would later regret. Andrea had a good start and was pushing hard on the prologue lap. Just as she passed the Start/Finish line and started heading down the hill the "crash" happened and Andrea went straight over the bars landing hard on her left shoulder. She had broken the second helmet in as many races and worse yet could not move her left shoulder. We later found out that she had a severe break in her left clavicle (collar bone).

My worst fear was about to be realized; I was sure this would be the last MTB race she would ever ride. Not to mention that this was the beginning of a 10 day MTB vacation for the two of us. Oh, by the way after waiting in the ER for 4 hours we hit a deer part way into Iowa and were stranded in the small town of Hampton for 3 days. Good thing the pain medication was doing its job. We made the best of our trip considering the situation. Andrea and I had to make a decision on whether she should have surgery to fix the break. She was very eager to know how long it was going to take to heal, because she wanted to know if it would be possible to race the last couple of races in the series. All I can say is that my wife has a great deal of heart and determination. The doctors at the Mayo clinic were less than helpful and were very willing to let it heal on its own despite the fact that there was a 50% change of a non-union (bones never growing back together). Luckily we have one of the best Orthopedic clinics and surgeon in the Midwest here in Hutchinson. Dr. Walker informed us that 95% of all broken clavicles are left to heal on their own. This break, however, would be a good surgical candidate. Later that week Andrea had a 4" long titanium pin inserted in the center of the bone with a nut that pulled the two broken pieces back together to heal. With the surgery performed Andrea was very eager to find out the recovery period. 4-5 weeks without any weight and she was to use the sling as often as she felt comfortable. I do remember that after a couple of weeks she was riding carefully on the indoor trainer. The bone healed very quickly and at a doctors visit in late July Dr. Walker informed us that everything heaing perfectly and she could do anything except weight training. (The pin needed to stay in for 6-8 more weeks.) Andrea quietly left without asking many questions. Later she commented that he did not say she could not race. My wife was able to race the last 4 races of the season. I could tell she was tentative at first, but by the last race she was pushing much harder than ever before. She has told me many times that because of the accident she is actually less fearful of falling. It might have something to do with the new bike (Fisher Super Caliber FS) I bought her shortly after the crash. She figures that if she can make it through a very serious accident like that, a minor fall should cause no problems.

Since last season we have trained harder and smarter than ever before. Andrea has put forth every bit as much effort in preparation for this season as anyone I know. I could not be more proud of my wife and her passion for the sport.

First Week of Build 2 and finding time around the Easter Holiday

2007-04-08T22:00:00.000-05:00

Time is hard to come by, so we need train smart and at times compromise. Easter weekend was going to be one of those times to comromise. Andrea and I were determined to ride on Saturday, but were fairly certain that Sunday would be almost impossible due to travel between parents. In general our endurance is fairly strong so missing the long E2 (endurance) ride on Sunday would have a minimal impact on training. We therefore forcuseed on Saturday and each had strong rides, performing Anaerobic intervals.

The results for Andreas ride was simply amazing. She was able to hold nearly 19.5 mph (250 watts) for each of her 5 4 minute intervals. That's 4.8 watts/Kg which is great for a women cyclist. My ride went well, but I pushed it a little too hard in the beginning and fell off a little by the last interval.

Next week we will be entering the second week of the second build phase of training with six weeks remaining before the first MNSCS series race.

Easing Into Build 1 Rest and Recovery

2007-03-28T21:29:00.000-05:00

Tuesdays ride of this rest week is an easy E1 Active recovery ride. Since it was a rest week I kept a fairly slow pace even for an E1. Wednesday was single leg drills and spin ups.

Good Weekend of Riding for Both of Us

2007-03-26T15:03:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the weather we both had a good weekend of riding. In general our weekends are very busy and trying to fit in 11 hours of riding combined between Andrea and I make even more difficult. On the bright side the kids are now old enough that they don't need constant supervision and can run around the neighborhood without causing too many problems, they just get on their bikes and ride or play in the yard.

Andrea went out for a set of hard pyramid intervals Friday night because she had a work conference to go to all day on Saturday. The conditions were absolutely perfect highs near 70 and little to no wind. She said the intervals went really well, but is still somewhat concerned that her HR was not high enough. I think we need to possibly reevaluate what her Max HR and LT are during this weeks testing. Overall I am not too concerned because she can put down strong intervals near VO2 Max and her power is very good.

Saturday I put down my best anaerobic intervals of the season thus far completing five 4 minute intervals at 22.5 22.7 mph (indoors on trainer). The intervals lasted a little over an hour with the 4 minute recovery periods. The remainder of the 2:30 ride was at a steady endurance pace a little of 18 mph. The legs were fairly tired by the end of the ride, which is fine because next week is a rest and recovery week.

Andrea was eager to ride again Sunday afternoon and I laid out a route that took her from Hutchinson west on 7, then north on 22 to Litchfield, back east on 12 to Dassel, then back south on 15 back to Hutch. The round trip is just short of 50 mi and she completed it in 2:58 averaging 16.6 mph (on the mountain bike) at an E2 pace (145 Ave HR). Awesome Andrea, keep up the great work!! Her fitness is the best it has ever been and I am sure she will do very well in the sport class this year.

For my ride (indoors on trainer) I was just trying to survive. The legs were dead from yesterday hard workout and I was interrupted a couple of times by the kids (I almost decided to stop the second time). I was however able to complete 2.5 hours at an average speed of 18.2 mph. Not too bad, now for some rest and recovery. Oh yeah and maybe start hitting the weights a little as well.

Tire Choice

2007-03-20T15:06:00.000-05:00

It is that time of season when I have trouble thinking of anything else but mountain biking and more specifically XC racing. In the off season I have had a chance to make some upgrades to my two race bikes and they are mostly the way that I want them. One area that I haven't thought much about until now is tire choice. In the past I have run Continental Explorer Pro in the front and a Twister in the rear with good results. This combination works quite well in a variety of conditions from hardpack, sand, loose over hardpack, and even mud. The twister in the back rolls really well, but if the climbs get steep or there is a hint of mud it becomes difficult to hook up on the climbs. As my fitness has increased I have switched to the more aggressive Explorer in the back as well especially if the conditions are the least bit slick. Last year I purchased a pair of Kenda Nevegals (2.1 front 1.95 rear) and used them for a couple of races. The have decent traction, but the tread pattern is a bit too aggressive for most of the conditions. Although they are said to be a quick rolling tire, I found them to feel slow in comparison to the Explorers. I think this year I will try a few new tires to determine what fits my riding style and conditions well. Listed below are a few of the options.

Hutchinson Python NG Airlight (I have these set-up on my SS)

Update: May 5th, 2007:

Recently I put on the Hutchinson Pythons on the FS and have ridden a couple of laps out at Stahl's Lake. I was pleasently surprised at how well they hooked up on the tacky trail. The bite nicely through the corners and roll extremely well despite the rather sticky trail conditions. My general feeling is that they will work very well when the trail conditions are on the "slow" side because they roll really well. Another added benefit is the relatively large volume for a 2.0 giving a very compliant ride running at 28 psi (front) and 32 psi (rear). There is a race this weekend at Mt. Kato and if the weather is not too raining I might give them a try. If it gets too wet, however, I will stick with the explorers (front and rear) because they handle mud very well and have a more aggressive knob to hook up on the short climbs.

Kenda Karma

Kenda Small Block 8

Maxxis Larson TT

As stated earlier I am also running Stan's tubeless this year as well and will experiment with running lower tire pressures as well. I have heard that many of the pros are running very low tire pressures with larger volume tires.

Great Overall Tire Site:

MTBTires.com

Here are a few links about going tubeless
Homebrew Tubeless
Stan's

Things are starting to come around

2007-03-19T09:05:00.000-05:00

This weekend was crucial in my mind, because I have felt slightly "off" for the past few weeks; ever since we returned from Arizona. Since then, I feel as if I am just going through the motions and not really progressing very much.

Saturdays ride were hard VO2 max intervals, which I haven't done much of yet and last weekend they went poorly. The objective was to establish a baseline for future comparison. The duration of the intervals were 4 minutes with a 4 minute recovery. The speed was basically whatever I could hold for that duration and still complete 6 strong intervals. I was able to maintain speeds between 22-23 mph (325-360 watts) during the intervals. After the intervals, I finished off with a strong endurance (E2) ride, easily maintaining 18.5 mph.

Sunday was a hectic day with lots of family stuff to do, however, I managed to get in a decent endurance ride before bed. I never like getting on the bike too late in the day. I am usually tired and less motivated to do a good workout, however, it is slightly easier for an endurance ride. The legs felt a little tired at first but warmed up quickly. Overall the ride went really well I was able to maintain near 19 mph for over two hours before I decided to get off before bedtime.

Note: See full details in Matt's Training Blog

Time to Get Back on Track With my Training

2007-03-13T08:46:00.000-05:00

Ever since the race in Tucson and subsequent vacation, Everything feels slightly off. I have been trying to get back on track with my training, but things always seem to come up to derail my efforts.

During the first part of my new training plan I could see dramatic changes with each ride and each week built nicely on the previous one. I found it fairly easy to stay motivated, probably because I had a race in February and didn't want to disappoint my teammates. After the race, however, there was a big let down. The first race of the MNSCS race series was still nearly 3 months away and there was 2 feet of snow on the ground. The vacation the week following the race didn't help either. I ate too much food (gained 4 pounds) and did less structured riding. To make matters worse, when I got home I had a turn right around and leave for a work conference for three days.

The training for the past few weeks has been adequate at best, but I feel I effectively maintained my fitness. It is now time to get back on track. This week needs to be turning point and mentally I must be ready for it.

Last week was the first week of the Build 1 phase of training (higher intensity: power and anaerobic work) and it went fairly well with a few notable exceptions (See Matt's Training). This week is week two of Build 1 and is basically a mirror of week one. The main goal is to layout good obtainable plans and be ready mentally and physically to achieve them. Early in the season it was possible go into a workout less than 100% and still complete it. At this point, however, it is extremely important to be 100% ready (mentally and physically) for each and every workout.

I will update later this week on how the workouts progress.*

The race is over and we survived

2007-02-25T21:46:00.000-06:00

The race was awesome! I was not prepared for the speeds obtained during the race; average speeds were near 15 mph over the 16 mile long course. Overall Andrea and I did not disappoint our team despite the fact that we were complete unknowns.

We arrived at camp Thursday afternoon around 1:00 PM being escorted by Rick and his wife Judy. I immediately unpacked the bikes (because they were having trouble breathing) and started to get them set-up for the ride. Andrea was busy getting our home away from home ready for the next few days. Our accommodations were a large RV able to sleep 6 and a full size Dodge Charger.

Andrea and I went out for a pre-ride at 4:45 PM and based on perceived lap times we knew we were going to have to hurry to complete the lap quickly before the sun went down. We started out in shorts and short sleeve jerseys and by the end of the lap we had wished we would have put on more clothes. We were surprised at how quickly the temperature dropped even before the sun went down. That night we were alone at camp and we spent most of the time struggling to stay warm. The heater in the RV wasn't working so we curled up under a couple of blankets and a few sleeping bags to stay warm. The next morning we were told that the temperature got down to below freezing (we survived).

The next morning we went into Tucson to find a light jacket for Andrea and a new rear tire for me. It took a long time to navigate through the city streets in Tucson, we did not arrive back at 24 hour town until around 1:00 PM. Rick was already dressed to ride and I could see he was slightly eager to show me around. Andrea decided to stay back at camp as to not tire herself out before the race. Rick and I headed down the singletrack leading into a series of rolling hills that are fairly steep (referred to as the bitches: I did not name them). I let Rick lead out for the first 15-20 minutes and as I hit the third or fourth hill, I hammered up in my large ring. After the rollers (7 total) the road flattens out for a couple of miles before there is a loop around that leads straight south on Coral Trail. I took over the lead at the beginning of Coral Trail and kicked it a little to get used to the trail conditions at speed. I expected more sliding but the trail surface offered plenty of traction. This section of trail is slightly downhill with gradual high speed turns between the cactus and cholla. You can easily maintain 16-18 mph if you ride smooth. The remainder of the lap was moderately paced and we finished in a little over 1:15.

NOTE: you will find out rather quickly that everything in the desert "bites".

We got back to camp and met up with Chris who would be serving as our team manager. We also learned that Daryl was still struggling to get back from the east coast. I am not sure of the exact path but it involved a few rental cars and a couple of airports to find a flight back to Phoenix. Daryl ended up making it back around 8:30 PM the night before the race, but the lack of sleep took its toll.

Race Start

24 Hours in The Old Pueblo

2007-02-12T11:23:00.000-06:00

The final preparation is almost complete for our trip to Tucson to compete in the 8th anual 24 Hours in The Old Pueblo.

http://www.epicrides.com/twofour/24.htm

We are competing on a 5 person coed team in the 200+ age catagory. Our team, "Sigma Force" is being sponsored by Sigma Technologies of Tucson. The only person that Andrea and I have had a chance to meet is Rick Elwanger, but through emails we have developed a sense of each persons personalities. We are looking forward to a fun event, but are serious enough to expectations of performing well.

Team members
Chris Sanders - Team manager and mechanic

Rick Elwanger

Daryl Stahler

Wayne Gorry

Matt Horner

Andrea Horner

!!GO TEAM SIGMA FORCE!!

Training:
A large part of the training efforts since the middle of November has been motivated by the proverbial "carrot" of having an objective/incentive. Andrea and I started training the week of November 20th and are currently in the middle of the third base period. Higher intensity workouts including lactate tolarance (LT) intervals and tempo rides of 3-4 hours are now common. Overall our fitness levels are noticably higher than what it was at the end of the 07 race season. Most of the improvements are in the form of increased endurance and efficiency below LT. As the training progresses improvements to the fine "race" skills will be made, including increased LT tolerance and Recovery from repeated high intensity efforts.

Trip Details:
We have found homes for the 4 kids and the dog, although it required three separate families and a set of grandparents to pull it off. Jordan and Taylor will be staying with Jordan's best friend's family, Devon and Wyatt will be staying with Paul and Elisibeth and Matty (dog) will be staying at Pete and Angie's until Friday February 23rd. My parents will be coming in to relieve everyone on Friday and stay until Sunday. Thanks to all of you!

Wednesday evening after the twins get picked up we will have a farewell dinner at McDonald's (Thanks Grandma for the V-Day gifts to the kids, they can now get Happy meals). We will then drop the girls and the boys off at there respective locations. After that we will stop back home remove one of the seats in the van and load in the contents for our trip.

Bike Boxes (2)
Large Suitcases (2)
Small Suitcase
Large Duffle Bag
Carry on Bags (2)
Computer Case
One additional Bag

My only concern is weather we will be able to fit all this into the rental car.

On the way out of town we will drop off the dog and drive to Andrea's parents for the night. Early Thursday morning we will get dropped off at the MSP Airport and Andreas parents will starty their drive to Kansas City, MO to see their new granddaughter Esther. Our flight leaves at approximatey 7 AM and we should arrive by 11 AM in Phoenix. We will then be renting a car and drivin to Tucson (2.5 hours) to meet a couple of teamates at Sigma Technologies.

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

2006-09-27T15:37:00.000-05:00

What a muddy mess!! But it was one of the funnest races of the season. We sure have been spoiled this season with warm to hot sunshine and dry weather, so this was definitely a different type of race. We left early morning Saturday from home, which is all different than our family is used to. It was drizzling and somewhat cold. We arrived at a bigger crowd than we expected and we started to warm-up which was really difficult.
Jordan race started at 9am. The race started with the course going around the parking lot before heading into the woods on the ski trail, by the time Jordan was half way around the parking lot she was in first place. Her course consisted of about a mile of double track ski trail and then a mile of single track. So just over 15 minutes after the race started Jordan crossed the finish line. It was a lot shorter than any of the other kids comp races. Jordan commented that she whizzed around the trees in the single track without even using her brakes. She placed 1st overall and placed 1st for the MNSCS series in the kids comp division girls 9-10.
Next year Jordan plans to race in the citizen class and is already looking forward to next years race season.

Next my race headed off at 9:30 am, I was cold at the start but by the end of the double track section I was warmed up and ready to race. I was having a little bit of trouble in the first section of single track but as I got my single track legs and stopped using my breaks so much I faired much better. The mud was not too much of an issue for the Citizen race. My bike and I did come back covered in mud, but it didn't affect my ride. I felt good and I felt I learned a lot during this race and during the 2006 season. I stayed around 5th in the wave I was in for the entire race. I finished 3rd for the women and 1st in my age group for the single track escape, and even after crashing in the 1st race and breaking my collar bone in the second race and then sitting out for 4 races I finished 1st in the last 4 races and landed 2nd place in the Citizen division Women 30-39.
With a little reluctance I will be moving up to the sport class, mostly because Jordan is moving up to the Citizen class and I do not want her to pass me in any of the races.

Matt's race was a different story. His race started at 11:30am as usual, by then the rain had been pretty steady for over an hour. He was off and was about 10-12 people back around the parking lot, but he said by the time the singletrack started he was in about 7th place. He came around after the prologue looking strong and asking where the front runners were, I informed him that there were 6 people in front of him and they were all about 30-45 seconds ahead. He was slightly muddy at this point but not too bad. After lap 1 he was in a strong 2nd place, he was 1 minute behind the leader Ray Nickles and there was know one too close behind. After lap 2 the mud was caked on everything and the rain was not stopping. As we saw racers through the woods heading to the finish line I was ready to take pictures. Expecting Matt to be in second place I waited, then all of the sudden he zoomed through the woods first and I missed my picture. Matt finished first overall with a strong finish and almost unrecognizable. With the first place finish Matt landed 2nd place in the Sport Division Men 30-39 for the MNSCS series. Matt said the race went well and he was extremely happy with hoe the new bike worked, especially the disc brakes.
Now he just wishes there were more races to race, he is not burned out and is already gearing up for next year, when he plans to race in the comp class.

The other kids race headed down the ski trail at a little after 1 pm and they all rode hard and fast. This was Wyatt's first race on a 2 wheel bike and he did great. Wyatt had his training wheels taken off on Labor Day up at Maple lag and within a few minutes he was riding on his own. I asked him which race he like the best and he said that St. Cloud was his best race.

MNSCS #9 Laddies Loppet - Calaway, MN

2006-09-07T16:00:00.001-05:00

This was the second to last race of the season and our second year going up to Maplelag Resort as an end of the season getaway. We have all been looking forward to this trip all year, since it is a great way to relax and spend some time with all the people we raced with all season.

We decided to head up to Callaway, MN on Friday night so we would be able to watch the Time Trial Race on Saturday morning. The 4.5 hour drive was uneventful, which we like. Once we arrived at Maplelag it began to sprinkle, so we quickly set-up our tent and the rest of our campsite. We put the kids in the tent and Matt and I slept in the van on the air mattress. We put the kids to bed quickly, although they were quite wound up from the trip and it took them a little while to get to sleep. It then preceeded to rain the rest of the night. Except for Jordan's Pillow and PJs everthing, amazingly, stayed dry in the tent.

We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning to a wonderful homecooked breakfast. The Maplelag staff fed us exceptionally well all weekend. Then we headed out to watch the Time Trial and the kids went and found all the other kids and played. It rained on and off all Saturday, but we were able to get our prerides in and felt comfortable for the next days race. Matt took Jordan and Taylor out for their preride, Taylor was a little scared and apprehensive to try much of the trail; so that of course made Jordan upset and made for an extremely long preride. Maybe Taylor will be ready to ride kids comp next year. After preriding we decided some tire changes were in order, since the trail was quite muddy and slick in some places.

Sunday we woke up to an absolutely beautiful day. The sun was shining it was a cool 60-70 some degrees and best of all the trail had dried up considerablely. I took a nice long warm-up ride and felt ready to go. Jordan hopped on her bike and tooled around also. Then at 9:30 we were off.

Just over 30 minutes later Jordan crossed the finish line 1st overall in the Kids Comp looking fresh and unwinded. Then 51 minutes after the start I crossed the finish line landing 1st in my age group out of 7, 4th out 18 for the women and 26 out of 48 overall.

Meanwhile, Matt was warming up for his race. At 11 am he went off with a terrific start. A short time later we watched him through the lake side drops. Although my camera was not cooperating, there are some other really great photos that were taken, if you visit the following sites:

Link

pictures DSC 0925, DSC 0926, DSC 0927

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/slapshotmtb/album/
Go through the list of albums down to Maplelag Dirt Jumping and look at IMG1594 and IMG1589
http://www.skinnyski.com/
The go down the page and click on LaddiesLoppet XC Coverage
The under the photoset for citizen look at pictures 12, 39, 62, 96, & 134
and under the photoset for sport pictures 5, 25, & 27
There are not too many pictures of Matt because much of the race he was the first racer and passed through the sections before the camera person was there.

After taking a few of my own pictures I figured I had a while until he finished so I grabbed a quick shower with that thought that I would be back in time for Matt to finish. I walked up to the finish line and there was Matt cooling down, he had been back for some 15 minutes. He finished 1st overall with the next rider over 41 seconds behind.

So as you can tell we all biked terrific races.

The rest of the weekend we relaxed and socialized. We throughly enjoyed our stay at Maplelag and we are already looking forward to next year.

Jay and his family put on a terrific race and have a fabulous resort. Thanks Jay for the great weekend.

MNSCS #8 Powder Monkey - Duluth, MN

2006-08-23T10:02:00.000-05:00

The MNSCS series is winding down at the same time things are heating up. Sitting in 4th place before the race, I knew I had to have a good finish in order to break the top 3. There are a couple of people that don't have six races in yet and with good finishes they could jump ahead of me in the standings.

We left Hutch later than expected Friday night after a fun company picnic. We were on the road before 8:00 PM and heading north on Hwy 15 as we neared St. Cloud we could see we were heading straight into a large storm. The rain started as we merged onto Hwy 23 and for the next 2 hours we drove in a deluge. At times it seemed like we were getting ahead of the front only to have it overtake us again. It wasn't until we turned onto CR18 that we were able to get ahead of the rain. We knew when we arrived at the cabin we would only have a short time to wake up sleeping kids, unpack the van, and gets bikes put away. Sure enoung about 15 minutes was all we had before the rain started. We successfully got everything put away and everyone in bed including ourselves.

Saturday morning we had a big breakfast (French toast, bacon and sausage) and slowly got ready for the trip up to Duluth to preride the course. We left around 11:00 AM and got to Spirit Mountain around noon. We ate lunch in the car on the way which was a good thing because preriding took most of the afternoon. Andrea and Jordan went out first and came back over 1 hour later. Andrea had a disgusted look on her face and had little to say except she didn't spend a great deal of time on the bike. I had heard the course was technical and rocky. Taylor wanted to try the course so Jordan, Taylor and myself went out to give it a try. Yep, the couse was definately rockier especially the top singletrack sections. Taylor did a very good job, but the course was too much for her and we had to walk most of it. Jordan was amazing; over rocks, down sketchy downhills, up short steep climbs, she handled it all. She made it look easy and at only 9 years of age. After over an hour we finally got back to the car.

I went out for a lap at near race pace to see how the hardtail would work on such a rugged course. The new fork (SID Team) worked flawlessly. I soaked up the huge rocks well and the lighter front end was easy to get up and over obstacles. The bike climbed very well and I felt like I had more energy to keep going fast. I made quick work out of the lap finishing in under 30 min. When I got back Andrea went out for another lap not satisfied with how the first lap went. Upon returning she said it went much better although there were still sections that she had to walk. I wanted to see how the full suspension would feel on the course and went out for one final lap. It took all of 5 minutes to make the decision to stick with the hardtail for the race. The FS was harder to control in the woods and noticeably harder to climb with.

It was near dinner time so we packed up the bikes, kids, and dog and went to Grandma's in Duluth for dinner. After dinner we grabbed Maddie and went for a walk down by the lake. It was getting late so we decided to head back to the cabin.

Sunday morning we woke up to a chill in the air and the sun not yet rising over the lake. There was still a little fog, but the sun quickly burned that off. After a quick breakfast we were on the road by 7:00 AM. There was some confusion about the Kids Comp start time and we had to rush to get Jordan registered and to the starting line by 9:00am only to have them move it to 9:35; just after the Citizen start. Andrea felt a little rushed but still had enough time to get warmed up and make a few practice runs up the starting hill. The race organizers decided to make the citizen race a mass start stating that there was not enough racers to split them up in separate waves (we both disagreed).

Andrea had a good start preferring to let most of the traffic go ahead. Although she passed quite a few riders on the first climb. The next time I saw her was a tight section of single track adjacent to the start finish line. I asked how she was doing and she gave me a very short OK. A second later she went to make an adjustment to her glasses and took a slight tumber over the bike. She got up quickly and continued on her way.

Jordan started her race a few minutes behind the Citizen riders. On the start Jordan slipped out of her pedals and fell slightly behind, however, she was able to make up most of that ground on the first climb. She made it up the entire first climb without walking, standing when necessary. The race went really well for her and I could see she was having a great time. On the final climb she was pushing really hard, standing the entire way. She finished 4th overall and 1st in her age group. Later she commented that she could see her mom periodically in the woods. It wont be too long before she is beating both of us.

I rode out to the last set of singletrack to find Andrea and we rode the last second of the race together. Overall the race went fairly well. Andrea said she could have pushed it a little harder but there were sections that she had to get off the bike for one reason or another.

I had a good warmup before the race, riding the first climb 3 or 4 times' each time slightly faster. This time I got to the starting line early and got a good position in the front row right in the middle. They sent us out in waves with the 30-39 going in wave 1. The start was exactly as I wanted. I got a good jump ahead of most riders and settled into 4th position on the climb. As I neared the top a couple of the leaders started to fade and I moved into the second spot just behind Rich Omdahl. Rich was fairly smooth through he first singletrack section and I followed closely behind. We were putting a gap on the pack so I rode in second for half of lap 1. Halfway through the first lap I passed Rich to push the pace a little faster and put even more distance on the the pack. After a couple of minutes I had also dropped Rich. I rode in front the remainder of lap 1, but was passed on the beginnig climb. I held the first place riders wheel for most of the second lap. Near the end of lap 2 I hit two trees and dropped a chain on a long fast downhill section and was unable to close the gap to first place. The third lap I focused on conserving my energy and felt as if I was slowing down. I kept pushing and the lead I had built up was plenty to finish in a strong second place. Overall, a great race which gave me the confidence to run with the leaders.

The kids race was a blast Devon won his race passing Duncan who was leading the group of kids. Taylor finished in second in her race and Wyatt finished in first as well.

I am now sitting in second place in the MNSCS series with only two races to go. Because the third place rider only has 5 races I will probably not be able to hold second place, but I could hang on to 3rd. I need strong finishes in the last two races in order to ensure a top 3 placing. Next week is a solo 24 hour race at Afton which due to recent events I will be doing more for fun and less for competing.

All efforts now are toward a strong finish in the MNSCS series, becaue next years goal is to race in Comp and a top 3 finish will be much harder to achieve.

MNSCS #7 Metric Auto Parts Welsch MTB Jam - Welch Village, MN

2006-08-17T22:51:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was the 7th race of the MNSCS series at Welch Village. We packed up the car Saturday morning and headed down to preride the course. It took us a little longer than expected to get out of town and we didn't show up to Welch until around 1:30 PM. The course closed at 3:00 PM for preriding so Andrea and Jordan went out first. I wanted Andrea to have plenty of time and not feel rushed. This is her first race back since the second race of the season where she broke her clavicle. I was starting to get a little worried after about 1 hour because typically the citizen laps are around 45 minutes. Little did I know that they only marked the sport course and she had to ride the "Wall" which is a 100' vertical climb that goes almost strait up. Although it took a while to finish, Andrea was starting to feel comfortable on the new bike (Fisher supercaliber).

I went out for my preride lap after the course was officially closed, so I pushed a little harder than I normally would. I also was riding a new supercal, but had brought the trusty hardtail along as well. My first impression of the bike was that the front end was rather high, probably due to the riser bar. The bike also felt relatively heavy compared to the 23# hardtail I had been riding. On the way back to the finish I was greeted by a man who needed his car jumped. Yu Vang and I hopped in the car and wassuccessful at getting his Honda Pilot started. He wished me a great race and we went our separate ways.

We loaded the bikes and headed to my parents in Cottage Grove to celebrate my mothers B-day. It was also a nice excuse to spend the night, making a shorter drive the next morning. Later that evening the entire Horner family met at Demorie's for a nice laid back pizza dinner.

Sunday morning we rolled the kids out of bed at 6:00 am (not too many happy faces) and had a quick breakfast. We arrived with pleanty of time to get everyone registered and Jordan ready for her Kids Comp race. Andrea was a little nervous but excited to get back in race mode after a long wait.

Andrea let most of the pack get out in front so she didn't have to worry about riding in traffic at the start, but she started to pass people on the first long climb. I snapped a few pictures as she picked off riders up the long first climb. Andrea came in first place in her age group and felt she could have pushed it a little harder, but she was comfortable with her finish.

Jordan finished first in her age group (again) and 4th overall. She is a very good technical rider and an exceptional climber. She handled the downhill switchbacks with ease.

I had a terrible start in my race. I somehow got confused as to which wave I was in and started at the back of the pack. After the riders funneled out of the start area I was about 5 places out of last place (30-39 age group). I managed to pass a handful of riders on the first climb, but was stuck behind slower riders entering the single track. The leaders were now way out in front and there would be little chance of bridging the gap. I had made the decision to use the FS supercaliber and althought the bike is very efficient for a FS it felt heavy and slow compared to the hardtail. The bike rocketed on the downhill sections, but on this course there was a lot of climbing and the extra weight was evident. I still think if I would have had a better start I could have held close to the lead group.

I will post an update after the next race up at Spirit Mountain.

First Post

2006-08-10T08:40:00.000-05:00

This is the first of what I hope is many posts of our family adventures. The family will be traversing to Welch this weekend to kick-off the second half of MNSCS mtb series. This will be the first race back for Andrea after breaking her clavicle at the second race of the series (Rochester).

We will pack up the family and drive to Welch Saturday morning to pre-ride the course. Both the Andrea and I have new Fisher Supercalibers that need to be dialed in for the race. I am still a little tentative to ride the Supercal because of the limited ride time on the bike and will be bringing along the trusty Fisher hardtail as well.

Jordan is cleaning house in the Kids Comp races and is currently in first place in the MNSCS series. Taylor has a new larger (24") bike with gears that is too big for her but she doesn't care. Devon and Wyatt are having a great time in the kids races and have accumulated a large stash of medals.

Synopsis of the 1st and 2nd Races of the season

2006-06-09T16:35:00.000-05:00

As spring came upon us we were in full gear, preparing for the mountain bike season to begin. We had 10 races planned for the year and our first race was in mid May and we were set. Race day came Jordan placed first, Matt placed mid pack and I blacked out and crashed due to having strep throat. So we put that race behind us and we were looking forward to the next race which was in Rochester and was to be the start of our summer vacation. The plan was to go to the race, then drop the kids and dog off at Jamie and Joe's house in Kansas City for a week and Matt and I were going to go on a mountain biking trip with several stops planned throughout Missouri. Well best laid plans do not always happen. The Rochester race began and I was feeling good and ready, about 6 minutes into the race my hand was bumped off my handlebars and then I hit another bump and I did a superman over my handlebars which resulted in a badly broken collar bone. After the first-aid team assured me it was not broken Matt went ahead with his race and finished 11th. After his race we headed to Mayo Clinic where we spent 4 hours and found out it was indeed broken with an inch separation between the pieces of bone. They said they could do nothing for me and sent me away with pain medication and said to come back in a week. So we left Mayo pretty sad knowing that our vacation had turned into just a relaxing sight seeing trip. We headed for Kansas City, and about an hour into Iowa with a fully loaded van we smacked right into a deer making our van inoperable. With help from the local police (the kids can now say they have ridden in the back of a police car, so can the dog) we were able to get all the kids and some of our stuff to a local hotel, the next day with more help from the police we gathered up the rest of our stuff and found a repair shop for the van. Then we found out it was going to be 2-3 days before the van was repaired. Lucky for us Jamie rented a van and her and Shanon drove down and rescued the kids and our dog from Hampton Iowa. Matt and I found ourselves there for the next 3 days of our trip. Let me tell you there is nothing to do in this small town, at least the hotel had a hot tub. We did manage to salvage 3 days of our trip in Lake of the Ozarks, MO. Although I was in a lot of pain and being on the pain medication I was sort of out of it the entire trip. We had to extend our trip 1 day so I could stop at Mayo and have them look at my shoulder again. Again they sent me away and told me to see someone in 2 weeks; I asked them "what should I see in 2 weeks?" The doctor said, "...nothing will have changed..." So 3 days later I went to a specialist here in Hutchinson and they said I was definitely a surgical candidate and having done a little research Matt and I agreed. So the next week I had a 4 inch titanium bolt put in my collar bone and there it stayed for 4 months. The doctors told me my biking was done for the season. Two weeks after my surgery I was back on the trainer and another 2 weeks after that I was riding on the road, then after my appointment in late July my doctor told me the only thing I couldn't do was weight lift, so I didn't ask any more questions and I started to race again. I did miss the next 4 races after Rochester.