5-0

I'm really missing labor day weekend in Spearfish this year. Everyone I know is getting psyched up for the Dakota 5-0. Eppen, Baldy and maybe even Miller are gonna get down. Calvert, Nick and I are going to miss out due to our geographic disabilities. Its a great race through the black hills, lollipop style. You start out of Spearfish canyon, climb climb climb your way up the Tinton and then go up and down through the hills until you come back to the Tinton.

Its a helluva race and considering the course record comes in at just over 11 mph and just about everyone walks a little on their way out of Seamore Gulch, its not your usual marathon style race. If you can make it home without cramping, bonking or throwing up you're doing well. Two years ago I wasn't in good enough shape for the race and last year I came in gunning for a sub 5 hr time, but instead bonked on the big climb out of the final aid station and got lost, taking a 20 minute detour (I know, excuses, excuses). If they'll have me, I think I'm make it a point to go to the 2008 edition.

As for 2007 winners? I dunno. The locals are always strong. John Rehorst is really strong and Jon Nelson is doing well this year. Phil Busching or Tim Lucking could win if they make the trip back to the state. H-wood always brings a strong group of racers with him from the twin cities and he himself could throw a winning time out there. Eppen will be top ten and could win, if he really is keeping pace with his bro, like at the Camden Classic, but he says he's bringing another Iowaian whos even stronger than he. All I know is I'm jealous of everyone who will be there.

As I was packing up to move to NY, I stumbled upon some old Mountain Bike magazines. I read the magazines religiously back when I was sixteen. It was a time when I was new to the sport, but craving any and all information I could get. I would pour over each new issue I got, memorizing articles I found interesting, while studiously reading even the most boring articles. Although my biking consisted of riding to the park and occasionally making it down the Minnesota river to do 45 minute of 'mountain' biking in basketball shorts, these magazines opened up a magical world to me where singletrack was heaven, everyone wore spandex and counting grams is was nearly as important as time on the bike.

The thing is, eight years later, despite that I rarely read cycling media anymore, these magazines are just as interesting as before. Maybe I'm overwhelmed by nostalgia or maybe its more a sign of the sport, but no one makes an interesting mountain biking periodical like there used to be. Certainly, a lot of it has to do the proliferation of the internet, where every magazine has their story beat by weeks, if not months. It also has to do with the shift from a sport focused on racing to one focused on freeriding, where emotions and pictures are more important than finishing times and bike specs. But part of me thinks that no one gets it like those guys used to.

In other news, how about that new SID?? http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2007/news/08-28

Mountain Biking Forever

This week I took a couple days to drive out to R.C. one last time this year. It was a blast to be there for all of 24 hours. Grandma put me up for the night and I got to do some mountain biking the next day. It rained during the night, but C-Mill and I hit up Storm Mountain the next day. It was pretty awesome riding except down in Coon Hollow which was thoroughly soaked. After Chris had his fill of riding, I road up the Wood Porch Rd to see if I could find South of Heaven. Found the Bone Collector, check, Rim Rock trails, check, but no South of Heaven. The logging in that area has made navigating through the forest impossible, so I didn't feel to inept. All in all, it felt great to get back out in the woods. If I lived someplace like that year round, I'm pretty sure I'd have no use for a road bike.

One thing I could do without is the 8 hr drive across I90. I was able to get amazing gas mileage though. 35 mpg at 80mph is pretty exciting stuff! It takes the sting out of $3/gallon gas. I can't imagine why people drive SUV's and pickups across the country, it seems like flying would be cheaper.

The End

Well, my time at Edina Bike is over, for real this time. My last day was Sunday. They owe me a paycheck and I owe them like two grand for parts I bought over the summer. I'm not going to miss the long hours, low pay, disgruntled employees or angry bosses. I am going to miss bikes, great co workers, more bikes, putting a kid on his first two wheeler, doing something I love and the opportunities afforded for it. Grad school's gonna be tough, but I know I don't want to work in a bike shop the rest of my life, no matter how much I love it for a summer.

Running has been going well. I ran 10 miles with relative ease last weekend, which is by far the longest I've ever run. This week is a little hit or miss, but I think I'm on track for Philly. Wish me luck!

Reading everyone's blogs, it seems like I missed out last weekend. Not that I missed out on suffering in the mud or heat or missed out on devoting my entire weekend to 60 minutes of racing, but missed out on some good races. Mr. Zim came through with a stellar ride for Flanders, beating out Mr. StateCritChamp Aric Hareland on a very similar course. Jesse managed to win his second WORS this year on a singlespeed. Whats next, a Chequamegon winner on a singlespeed?

Racing's over

My seasons over. I was considering doing the Campus Crit, Birchwood RR, or the State Champs, but now it doesn't look like it. Its funny, the motivation to get on the bike and hammer just went, pfft!, like that. I haven't ridden really hard since the crash at Dakota Tech 12 days ago. The crash really wasn't the reason I ended the season, it was just a convient reason to. The same thing happened last year after I had a really bad race at Red Wing. Its been a good year getting to know road racing and I'm really looking forward to riding out east. Highlights include the two stage races (Peoria and St Cloud) and all the Summit Crits. I've really enjoyed racing with the club this year and now my only problem is finding a new team out east.

The last two weeks I've been doing a lot of sitting around. I woke up early these last two Sundays in an attempt to do something epic with the Brothers, but both times I found an excuse not to go and just fell back asleep. I've been running just enough so that I'm still on track to do the marathon, but that only means I've been running about two hours a week. Everyone needs a break now and again, so now is the time for me.

Last week I got a chance to go check out Stony Brook, which is where I'm going at the end of the month. I'd never been out there so this was just a chance to poke around and see what I'm getting into. It went really well, everyone was really nice and I can't wait to move (sorry Minnesota). My only concern? New Yorkers are LOUD. I'm not sure how badly I want to ride a century with a demographic that spends most of their time shouting, but I guess I'll learn to like it.

'Til next time.....

If you're really a cyclist, you know the feeling.

Finally, an update.

Work, Race, Sleep

It seems like that's my life the last few weeks. At least it seems to be slowing down. The last time I updated I was going down to Peoria to race the Proctor Classic, hoping for an upgrade to a 4. My upgrade didn't come in time, so I raced as a 5. Things went well enough. Saturday was the road race, which Anthony and Calvert did with me. I won, and it was pretty much the strongest I felt all year. I was controlling the race from the beginning and in the end I was able to bridge a last minute break and still win the sprint that started 100 yards from the line. I was really impressed with Anthony. For someone who just started road biking a few months earlier, he was able to hang with the group on a the first set of climbs and still finish the race pedaling the last lap on his own. It was fun to hang out with everyone from school that night and, probably partially due to the night before, I finished third in the Crit on Sunday.

Pictures from the crit in downtown Peoria.

Coming home from the race my confidence was great with two races coming up quickly: the Northfield and Hopkins crits. My upgrade came through and I was able to do both as a four, meaning I could do both the 4/5 and 3/4 races. Little did I know that neither race would go especially well.

The Northfield crit runs down Division (main) street downtown, up a steep hill and winds back to the start on Division. At the start of the 4/5 race I lined up next to Chris Fischer, Sam Oftedahl and Eric Oftedahl, three semipro mountain bikers. A rough, hilly course was perfectly suited to them and they took advantage. Half the field of forty DNF'd and it was all I could just to hang on to finish second to last. The 3/4 race didn't go much better and I pulled off three quarters of the way through.

The Hopkins crit was the next weekend, on the flat, fast roads of downtown Hopkins. The 4/5 race was huge and I just didn't feel comfortable in the big pack filled with sketchy 5's. I finished at the back of the pack and in the pictures below, I just don't feel comfortable.

The 3/4 race went better. I was able to find a comfortable rhythm, sit in well and move my way up towards the end. Finishing 20th out of 50+ racers wasn't great, but it felt a lot better than the previous finishes.

Flanders, controlling the front of the race at Hopkins.

Or not.

The next race was the first of three sponsored by Hollywood Cycles at Dakota Tech. Its the same course as the Summit crits in June. I showed up and who walks up next to me but Adam Gorski. Gorski is hard core into cycling. He works at Flanders and rides year round, making next to nothing and putting it all into his bike. Livin the dream. The thing is, he broke his collarbone back in May and I didn't get much of a chance to race with him. Anyway, the race starts and Gorski is STRONG. I don't know where a guy who spends May and June with a broken collarbone gets this kind of fitness, but next year I'm doing the crash in the early season races and clean up in July and August training plan. He ended up winning the race over a hard charging Chris Fischer and we were all just happy just to see him riding again, let alone racing. I finished with the pack in both the 4/5s and 3/4/5s and felt like I'd lost most of my motivation for the year. The Granite County Omnium was next weekend and I was having a hard time convincing myself that I needed to drive to St. Cloud two days in a row when none of my teammates were going anyway.

In the end I went to Granite County. I drove up Saturday morning for the Road Race. I wasn't really expecting much and wasn't really sure whether I'd stick around that afternoon for the time trial or not. Well, the road race went a lot better than expected. Not having a team absolved me of all responsibility to work at the front so I could sit in until I saw an opportunity, attack, and then sit in again. In the end, none of the breaks stuck, but I found myself in fantastic positioning for the final sprint and was able to finish third. I think I could have finished better too, but as we were coming over the final little hill, I totally forgot the finish line was coming and wasn't prepared for a sprint! If I had just paid a little more attention, 1st wasn't out of the question.

With my good position in the GC, I decided to stick around and try my luck at my first TT. You see, time trialing is heavily dependent on equipment and since I don't have a TT bike or helmet or wheels, I've just been avoiding it. This TT was short and sweet, since we'd already raced that day, only 5 miles one way on a flat highway. I didn't know what to prepare for, going all out for 5 miles, but in the end I finished in a respectable 13:04, 2:30 minutes off Doug Swanson's best overall time and good for 12th in the Cat 4's. Wait... thats not so respectable. Nonetheless, I was still third overall in the GC after the TT, so whoever beat me in the TT must not have done very well in the RR. What was respectable was that despite my not-so-spectacular time and being spaced by only :30 intervals, I wasn't caught and passed by anyone behind me. I was alright with that.

Going into the crit the next morning, my goal was to sit in and let Loon State and Silver Cycling do most of the work, since they had the biggest teams in our field and sprint it out for a better place in the GC. It worked out well, as I sat in for most of the race, started working my way up with 5 laps to go and finished second on the day. It was good enough for 1st on the weekend and enough to prizes to pay my race fees! Woo hoo! I'm almost a pro!

The next race on the schedule was Hollywood #2 and I was feeling good about it. With my decent placing in the Granite County races and a second place from earlier in the year, I was one or two good finishes from upgrading to a Cat 3. TBoughts and I drove down to Dakota Tech together and got in a good warm up before the races. I lined up and with no Chris Fischer this week, I liked my chances. The race started going really well for me; I won the prime and with 1 lap to go I felt like I could out sprint everyone for the win.

The thing is, Dakota Tech is a closed circuit on some interconnecting pavement used for teaching people to drive semi's. Usually the course is a tight, winding course around the outside of the circuit, but this time the organizers set up the course with four long straights, three wide turns and one tight hairpin.

Coming into the hairpin, we'd slow from 25-30mph to 10 in about 25 feet. The first 9 laps I'd taken a hard pull down that straight to put myself in good position for the turn, but on the last lap, I wanted to save my effort for the final sprint. I sat in line and as we began slowing, two riders came up on either side of me trying to get a better position in the turn. We squeezed tighter and tighter as the corner approached and then my wheel and the rider's to my right touched, stopped, and I flew over my handlebars. My helmet hit the ground first, my elbow next and my shoulder last. In a split second the rider behind me ran over me and my bike and landed a few feet later.

When I got up, I had a broken helmet and right shifter, torn jersey and shoe, plenty of road rash and two wheels that looked like they came out of a Pringles can. Suffice to say I'm not feeling to good about it. I was really lucky about injuries, I could have broken a collarbone, wrist or leg, but all I got was some scrapes that will heal up in a couple weeks. Tearing up my bike sucks, but I think I can fix it up relatively easily. I'm really ticked off that a potentially good finish was wasted on a silly little crash. I can't wait to upgrade to a 3 and get out of these crummy races with 5's in them. At least Tboughts was there to drive my poor self home. I guess its time to start running and preparing for that marathon in Philidelphia next November.

It was a really good race for Tboughts. After some less than stellar crits earlier in the year, she was able to stay with the pack, make a couple good moves and finish respectively. Now if only I could operate the camera better and get a picture of her.

Tboughts is kicking ass on her creaky green Bianchi.

Redemption.

Tonight went really well at Dakota Tech. I showed up on time, with little exposure to chemicals this week. It was hot and windy, but neither was bad enough to ruin the race. The 5's race started slow with nobody wanting to take any pulls. After a couple of laps I attacked, but it didn't stick and a couple other people attacked but were brought back almost immediately. No one wanted to work but everyone could pull back attacks, so I was content to sit in the field and let somebody else force the race. With 4 laps to go a break formed off the front and I bridged up. The other two guys looked strong and I was feeling good, so I figured we had a chance, but no luck as the field had a dozen GP riders in it and they pulled us back. So I decided to sit in the field and wait for the finish. At the start of the last lap I took a strong pull to try to string the field out and it worked. We were flying down the back straight into the final corners and I was feeling good. Coming out of the last corner, I was third wheel behind two GP guys. I was able to out sprint them both for the win. It felt really great to win, especially after how badly last week went.

The 3/4/5 race went well too. I was able to make the first big break in the field, but Woell went in a breakaway(his third week in a row!) and after he was gone I stopped working. In the end, the bonk crept up on me and it was all I could do just to finish with the field. Flanders won 5 of the 6 races today, myself, Scott, Sharla and Adam taking our respective races. If we could find a strong masters 3/4/5 racer, we would have taken the day (where are you Tom??).

Mr. Taylor came back into town today after his jaunt in Europe, so I think I can make the races in Peoria this weekend. I've requested an upgrade to cat 4, so I hope it goes through before Friday. If not, I can race with Anthony and Calvert and have some fun.

Good weekend of bicycling

It was all kicked off Friday, when everyone at the shop biked downtown to watch the Minneapolis Crit of the NVGP. The Minneapolis crit is more a circus than a race, but it's always exhilarating to see the pros screaming through downtown. I think Tboughts got a little tired of hanging out with the boys all night, but she'll live.

Saturday I got up early and drove down to Mankato for the amateur race there. John Eppen came up for it and PeterO came down too. They set up the 4/5's, Juniors and Women together at the start line, so we all knew it was going to be a wacky race one way or another. Sure enough a couple juniors hammered it off the line and we all did our best to keep up. As things thinned out the top group shaped up. John, Peter and I were there and I was starting to like my chances. Eppen was putting the fear of God into everyone, taking monster pulls at the front and trying to break away whenever possible. A few other people kept trying to break away too, but I just sat in and tried to cover breaks when the opened in front of me. Its a 4/5 race, so I'm not sure why I even tried to cover a break since they never stick, but I did my work. About 2/3's of the way through the race, we started to catch lapped riders and everyone let up a bit, realizing the race would come down to the last lap. Sure enough, on the second to last lap, Eppen tried to get away when we came up to a big group of lapped traffic. I'm not sure how he was caught, because I got a little caught in traffic, but as we went through the finishing straight with one to go, I saw he'd cashed in his chips. Halfway around the lap, Peter tried to go, but it was covered. It had the inadvertent effect of setting up the MN JR team, so I just tried my hardest to grab one of their wheels. In the end I was 6th wheel out of the last corner, so I wasn't exactly where I wanted to be, but I was able to come around for 4th or 5th out of the group. It seems a couple of the people ahead of me were Jr racers, because I was second in the cat 4/5's, good enough for $40! That's the first money I ever made off a race. It turns out I preregistered for the race, forgot about it and registered day of too, so instead of making 25 bucks overall, I only made ten. Doh!

This morning, Jeebus and I went mtbing at Lebanon Hills. I haven't been to Leb in a long time and I've only been on the mountain bike a few times this year, but every time I go on a good ride in the woods I'm reminded why I fell in love mountain biking in the first place. I hope I can live someplace with some really great trails again sometime in my life.

Something cool I just discovered: Alessandro Petacchi's GPS data from the Giro.