50.2

Another week in the books...

Another flat this morning...going to have to tear the rear wheel 

apart and see what is going on. It is getting old.

Big test on Sunday up in Elk River,, need a good race

to keep my self up in the overall standings.

Fun ride with the young Pip this afternoon.. Sun was shining and the wheels were 

spinning. Spinning fast enough to get past the 50 mph mark that 

I have been trying to get by. 

May have 

to shoot the Moon this evening been a while since the misses and my self

 have had a night out.  New bike in the work for her....Shhhhh not that she reads this

but if all goes well she should feel faster. Time for

my self to start thinking about next season and a new frame. So far so good but a 

change is coming I can feel it.. 

Now ride you bike and drink some beer cuz friday is hear and that is a good thing.

Klipless

Tired does not describe the way I feel... It is 

4:30 and I am ready for sleeping. Loaded up this weekend with no racing, made sure 

to get some rides in and make them count. On top of all that we have has visitors from the 

719 here, so we have been entertaining, which can make a soul tired. 

The race bike is all back together and ready for this weekend in 

Elk River I only hope that the pilot is ready. With rain 

today not sure if I will get to spin dirt before the weekend and 

would love to get that done. Ethan from Maverick is sending out a new

air cartridge with a stiffer spring,, this customization should allow me to 

run a bit higher air pressure and get the feel that I want. 

On other cycling fronts the Boy slapped on some clipless pedals

on monday and after trying some Looks we switched to SPD's and things went well. 

At first he looked like the kid at the end of Breaking Away when his feet get taped to the pedals.. he just could not twist through the spring tension. With the SPD's all the way down he has no issues. 

And the Little Northwave shoes that he is rocking totally kick ass.

I like my Bike Better than U

It took me a full two days to recover

from Du Lac, and not because my legs hurt only

Sophia dealing with the heat

because I was so dehydrated. For a bit on Tuesday I was starting to 

get a bit worried. The heat at the beginning of the week was 

insane. All I did was commute back and forth and drink 

tons of water and Nuun to get my self back right. 

Finally on Thursday the heat broke and I took out the One by Spot for some

dirt to work. Riding dirt and getting some Zen time in the woods

before having to deal with the day to day bull CRAP of Appliance repair 

can really get the mind in the right setting. 

Pip with a smile

Have some new rubber coming from the folks at Vittoria/Geax but needed a 

filler in before they got here so I could du some road riding. 

New tire and getting up with the sun to do some competitive road riding yesterday.

Bike and body felt great got to push the pace up front with E Hill...

Ended the day with some single track fun and the Friday night Group ride.

Kid rode great being the only Girl and only Teenager on the ride. Promised 

her that not only if she Graduated from high school with high honers that we would go ride the Alp D'Huez, but if

I woke up before we rode I would pull her BB and grease it up. 

Saturday now coffee a TT on the TV and more MTB to be ridden. 

My day was done all down from here

Bikes are moving and Big Wheels are fast.

Photos from the Du Lac race and all come from Teammate 

Todd Bauer..

The Harder they Come

To call racing this weekend in Duluth hot is an understatement.

Hotter than last week at Buck maybe,, but I was on the bike for a longer time. 

Pre-riding on Saturday,, the lap felt fast and short,,,that was sat.

Race starts at the bottom of a grassy hill and links into a 

gravel road to the top of the ski hill. I followed 

Brendan and Heath to the top and Jesse took to the front.

Hit the single track in 3rd and then Scott came around. I chased that Trio hoping that 

some gaps were building. So far so good warm but not cooked yet.

At the bottom of the decent Joshua came around and I watched the front four pull away as we climbed up the 

long top to bottom gravel road. 

Lap two brought Eric O to my back wheel and we chatted about the heat and 

that now it was a day to just work to the finish. Hitting the climb again I could feel 

the heat fatigue setting in. Taking hand ups and dumping water over my 

head felt good even if the water squishing out of my shammy was running down my legs and in 

to my shoes. Lap four was full on auto pilot,,, my goal was to spin and keep my gaps up 

and not work to hard so I could have some legs for the last lap. 

It work last lap teetering on the verge of bonking and not wanting anything other than water/Nuun

in my gut I sailed on, I could see Heath out of the corner of my eye from time to time 

and knew that I had to push it just a bit to finish where I had been sitting.

I was able to sit up on the final climb and coast to the line. Needed a bit of help their after,,

was more wobbly than I think that I have ever been, took a long pull 

from the garden hose to get back to normal. 

All in all a good weekend 6th place and some cash in hand. Sophia finished I was super stoked for her..

By far the hardest thing she has had to do all summer. 

Family had a good time camping and the drive home did not kill me. Ready for

the break that I get in between the next two races. Hard to believe that it is almost the end of July..

The Five 0 is going to be here before I know it. 

Thanks to all the Sponsors that have been helping and making the season a good one, I have 

some growing to do,, But I have to say I am right where I need to be at this moment. 

It will be time here soon to turn the screws and go to the next level.

Jam Econo

Back to back weekends are going to be what is happening,

this week. Recovery is tough when all I want to do is play on the bike.

The up coming event is in Duluth which can be 

so much cooler, in temps than what we put up with on sunday. Cleaning my bike on monday I noticed that I was missing one of the plastic fork guards on my Maverick. Could not come up with when it came off 

I figured that it happened on the drive home. 

Then I got some pictures from Hwood Teammate Todd Bauer and saw this,,,

Must have been one of the many many passes that happened in the race, when you are 

riding 90% single track and the course is less than 3 miles their is lots of 

lap traffic. 

All that being said had an amazing ride this evening the 

trails were in great shape and super fast, the only issue is don't

slow down DU to the fact that the sketers are out in full 

force. 

Get out ride a bike crack a smile go fast bunny hop,,,, enjoy the ride..

Hot in the City

Sunday was my third time racing bikes at Buck Hill.

From the stories from some of the long time locals the races go 

as far back as 1989,, and that drives me crazy because I had no idea

that bike racing was right under my nose.

After leaving the Mississippi river valley the sun came out 

and along with that was the heat. 

Just getting suited up you could feel the over whelming heat of the day.

Dressed and ready getting lined up looking at the cat litter box of a start I went over and over

in my head what I wanted to do. Now the Majority of the field races here on a weekly 

basis and they know the trails like the back of their hands. At the sound of go Both 

Jake and Brendan shot off the line and I was able to grab their wheels as we headed to 

the first of 6 laps. After the road section and a bit of settling in I 

was just trying to keep the speed up and build gaps. This worked for a bit until

half way through the second/third lap.. The traffic started to get thick and this 

changed the approach to racing.

I like to think that I can handle heat usually does not affect me much, but this day 

it was kicking my ass and adding to the pain of a six lap TT.

By lap 4 I had drifted back to seventh place and was plugging along only to get passed

three more times before the finish. In all not a bad race would have like to been further up in 

the overall but 10th on a day that even breathing the hot thick air was a chore I'll take it. 

Next is Du Lac In Duluth and this is a bit more my style with some longer climbs and more of the 

twisty turning. Hard to believe that it is mid july,, summer is flying by..

Time for clean bikes and heavy legs..

Good Morning

Wheels on Fire

It has been a while that I have had a weekend off from racing. 

After Red Wing my goal was to take full advantage of the time that I had.

First thing was to take the Gears off the Spot and get it back to the 

Won x Won.... Next was to ride...and smile. The Dakota 50 is coming and 

I need to be ready for 4 hours on the single. 

Got out a bunch with the kid and solo. In the last seven day over 200 miles on the 

Mountain Bike. Some highs and lows,, like slamming into the ground @ 20+

mph.. But for the most part it was all highs. 

Spent some time with friends and family, drank some beer. 

Now time to hunker back down and get to work..

This weekend is 6 hot laps at Buck with a temp of 90+.

Then the following week is Duluth, then I think a week off,, getting 

hard to think that far out. 

The wheels are moving and life is good ,,,summer time rolls on..

Now I need to clean and work on the bikes,,,if I could only find 

where the beer is stashed this afternoon would be complete.

Cool like the Fonz

 Now it is tuesday morning and it has been 

a long long weekend the kind that should

happen every week.

I think that a whirl wind weekend is a better

description of what went on.

Their was family their was a wedding 

some old friends in town and a river and then the

blow it up fourth of july.

 The James got to go out on the river for the first time ever

and I am pretty sure that he is hooked.

He was cheering for everyone to 

fall off the knee board so he could jump back in the river.

And the Pip finnaly got up on the the Knee board and 

it looked like she was having a blast.

 And me the old man after getting 

water boarded a few times made it up 

and I was skiing for the first time in 20 some years.

Almost ready to jump the shark tank.

No crazy infections from being in the water with 

fresh wounds. I do have to say after throwing

my self on the ground and then being pulled by a boat my body is sore...

Yep getting old..

It was great to see everyone this weekend and hope that you all travel safe and find what ever it is you are looking for....

Now go ride you bike.

Trails

I can roll out my garage and ride a short 

1.7 miles of pavement before I get to a crushed gravel trail..

From there after crossing the river and train tracks,

I am treated to an old mining road that is only open to human power.

This road is great and it kicks you in the head every time. 

Loose gravel,,,,sink holes.. and big wash outs make it even more of a good climb.

This brings you up to the quarry and the open grass lands the cover it, open blue

sky's with wild flowers all around...

Three short rollers and you are spit out in to the cul de sack ..

And that is where the single track fun starts...... Not sure on the legal mumbo jumbo but the quarry may be closed it may not be but 

when you get to French Connection it is noting but sweet Donkey Kong descending

Over some trees and through the drainage and up to the Bob trail,, Here is a climbers nirvana..

As you make your way to Ob One ,,,then to Dark Side you are challenged with every pedal stoke.

It all gets wrapped up with a flying spin on Twister and back out
to the Grass Land and sunshine. These trails
are all built by hand and dry faster than the pavement.
Totaly spoiled to have this out the front door..
Door to door with one lap=22 miles of mountain bike fun...

Hot Heaters

More dirt more time on trails more time enjoying what we have.

We have some of the best trails in the World...

More tomorrow,,, can't get enough.

Pip rode strong today even though she said she was tired.

The heat was not as bad as expected, the Black Spot 

slid through the woods with precision and speed.

Back @ it tomorrow.