Buck Hill

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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.

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

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!

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

MNSCS #9 Maplelag

5 Unbelievable days of Fun

4 1st place finishes in the cross country race - Devon, Taylor, Jordan and Andrea

3 races a piece for 3 of us Matt, Andrea, Jordan

2 2nd place finishes for the Stage Race (all 3 races combined) Jordan and Andrea

1 Comparable to none weekend at Maplelag

We all had the best time ever at Maplelag this year!!
We traveled up to Callaway on Thursday in our car-a-van with the Hendricks, Ray, Kevin and Christy 4 cars total and 13 people. We arrived about 2:30 and set-up camp - 4 tents, 2 EZUps, a bike rack, and 4 cars - in the shade. Then it was time to have fun!

The rest of the 5 days we relaxed, we rode our bikes, we hung out with friends, we drank, we ate a lot of great homemade food, we rode our bikes some more, we sat in the hottub, we ate some more . . . . .

We had so much fun we all look forward to Maplelag all year and then that quick it is here and gone. Thanks Jay and Richards family for the great hospitality and the best venue set-up of the series the races were all well run and the trail was awesome. (I appreciated the trail much more this year than last, because I was finally able to master most of the technical obstacles.) Also thanks to Kyia for the skills clinic we all learned a lot and had a great time!

Maplelag ------Priceless!!!!

Border Battle

Another day of racing. This time it was a short jaunt from the parents to a new and never ridden trail just north of River Falls.

Andrea, Jordan, and myself found some time on Saturday to pre-ride the course because it was new to us. The three of us started out together, but immediately the trail separated with the citizen course going up a rocky hill, while the sport/comp/expert entered the single track to the left. We would all traverse the rocky uphill on the start on Sunday, but we were planning on just riding one lap so we opted for the single track. At the top of the single-track climb there was a short expert spur that ran you through a decent rock garden. I obviously didn't find the correct line and even though I had the big 29er rolling, I stopped dead on a large rock in the middle of the trail. I smacked my knee and jarred the seeds a little but was able to remount and continue riding even getting ahead of Andrea as I rounded the corner. I let her lead again through the next section of single track and it took a little while to get comfortable riding the single track. The first section was a little tight through the trees and it had a few fairly narrow bridge sections that could cause problems if you were not paying attention. The legs were still a little dead from last weekends Salsa 2-4 and I had only ridden once since the race. Andrea, was gone the entire week in Kansas City, and had not been on the bike since her 11th lap at Afton. The single-track opened up to flow really nicely and there were some fast flowing descents and minimal climbing.

After the lap I decided to change my front chain ring from a 32 tooth to a 34 tooth (17t in back). I went out for a second lap to determine if I could push the bigger gear. I rode a lap with Ray and Scott and the gearing felt a little tall, but was doable on the climbs. It was really nice on the flat field sections where I was able to hold 23+ mph without "spinning out". Near the end of the course there is a long fast downhill section that leads into a shallow climb. I pushed as hard as I could and hammered up the climb to simulate race conditions. Man do I low the single 29er. I can descend with much more confidence and it always seems to have more tracking through the turns. After the pre-ride we preregistered the entire family and went back to the parents.

RACE DAY

Jordan's Race

The race day started at 9:30 AM with Devon and Taylor in the Citizen Youth race. After all the call ups they were both at the back of the pack. At the start Taylor got a good jump on Devon and was leading going into the first climb. That is the last we would see of them until they would come through the finish line. In the meantime Jordan was warming up for her race. When I asked how she was feeling she said good, but a little nervous. There is more competition in the WORS series because the courses are easier and it draws larger groups. At the start, the women were staged in the last of six waves. That meant that Jordan would have a lot of traffic to deal with in the single track. At the start Jordan looked over towards Lizzy Sobotta and Emily Shull (the series points leaders) and could see they were talking about her. They were probably saying "great that girl from Minnesota is back" Earlier in the year at the Firecracker race Jordan finished over 8 minutes ahead of them and just missed the overall win for the ladies. After all the other waves were off, it was the ladies turn. At the word GOOOO! Jordan jumped out in front and had a 4-5 bike length lead before the first turn. She quickly shifted down for the climb and as usual was hammering out the saddle up the rocky double track. She came through to start her second lap comfortably is second position and riding strong. I was able to give her a new water bottle and shoved a gel pack in her back jersey pocket in case she needed it. She came through the finish in second place 1:32 back from the leader (32 years old). Third place was Emily Shull, who had a very good race and was only 1:12 behind. Overall good race and all smiles. Not bad considering the only time she is on the bike is during the pre-rides and race day.

Andreas Race

Matt's Race

NOTE TO SELF: Work on the starts. I am getting killed on the starts and I then get hung up in the single track and never have a chance to catch up. I think it is more mentally draining to ride at the back of the pack than it is physically demanding to ride in the middle of the pack.

I lined up at the back of the pack at the start because I didn't want to hold anyone up on the rocky climb with the single speed. I got a decent jump on the line and was able to hold my position up the first part of the climb with probably 8-10 riders behind me. As we continued towards the top I started to fade and after the turn into the field I turned around and found that I was in last place, familiar but frustrating. I pushed hard and was able to get by one or two riders before the first set of single track. At the entrance to the single track there was a line of riders stopped and I was surprised at how slow the group was going through the first section. It took nearly 5 minutes for the group to string out and allow some decent speed. At this point I was just trying to conserve some energy and wait for the passing sections. At the first passing section I passed 2 more riders and held my position nicely through the single track. On the second passing section I caught a couple more riders including Eric Guse. Jenna passed me part way through the first lap and I was able to hang with her for a little while before she faded into the distance. I was, however, able to put a good gap on the trailing riders and rode strong for the remainder of lap one. Starting the second lap I could tell that the first climb would be a little bit of an effort and I was finding out that the gearing was a little too tall for a 5 lap race. I pushed through the first climb keeping a good pace. The middle of the race was me riding alone and trying to keep the enthusiasm and pace up. Eric caught back up to me on the third lap and we rode strong together through the single track. Through the start/finish line he passed me to lead out the climb starting lap 4. My legs were starting to fade and the tall gearing made it difficult to maintain momentum up the climb. By the time I entered the first field Eric was gone and I was unable to bridge back up. I used this time to take down a gel and get some water in my body. I found it extremely difficult to drink on the course, because you were either in fast single track were you needed to constantly pay attention and on the field sections it was too bumpy to drink. I lapped a few comp riders and it gave me a little motivation to push hard, but that quickly faded when I went down hard on the next section of single track. The front wheel washed on a fast section sending me to the deck. I had to pound the handlebar strait and I didn't notice until I got home that my front wheel was about 1" out of true. Thank God for disk breaks. I must have hit the bar with my left knee because as I got up to grab the bike my knee was really sore. To make matters worse, when I finally got back on and started to crank, both my legs cramped up at the same time. Fortunately, the next section was slightly downhill, so I soft peddled for a minute to loosen them up. Shortly later on the next climb my left calf cramped up and I was forced to walk the rest of the climb.

For the remainder of of the race I battled the legs and made sure that I didn't push hard on any of the climbs. In fact, I had to walk most of the climb at the start of lap 5. I was able to push fairly hard on the flat sections, but had to be careful on the climbs. I was able to pass one more riders near the middle of lap 5 and held strong to the finish. Eric Guse busted his chain 500 m before the finish line and I was able to pass him as he was running with his bike.

I felt fairly good, but not where I want to be. There is always next year.

MNSCS #6 Powder Monkey Duluth, MN

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!!

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

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

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

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.