TDF&THC*

It seems like the Circus is always in town,, or at least always here at my Casa.

June is nothing more than a memory as the final days of the month will come and go. 

The Tour started today which means July is almost here.

The Pip got to go to Orientation beginning of the week and is all set to start her new life as a part of the Ripon Red Hawks.  

    

With a back to back race week the work load this past five days has just been getting out and riding. 

Again I am approaching preparation totally different this year,, Have not use a HRM since xc skiing and other than tracking some vertical feet on strava when it works I have not been OCD about numbers.  It seems to be working as I have managed three 4th place finishes in the MNMBS

and tomorrow will get another #1 call up. Not sure how long I can hold on to that spot but will give it hell,, all the Hell a fourtyyearold racing Dad can give. 

The whole family is going to load up the new set of wheels now that the Envoy is gone and head to the 612 or Portland East for some pre riding of tomorrows course and then 

a Team Dinner with  the majority of the Team Hollywood Cycles THC* Crew. 

Still need to get bike racks figured out,, have something that will work but not sure if I like it and am debating weather or not i need to put bikes on the roof and that is not my favorite place for them to be. 

 

I am hoping for another good day tomorrow on the bike and even though it is a short one it wont be an easy one. The lot of the Racers ride and race at Buck Hill every thurdsay through out the summer. The fast guys know the trails there like the backs of their hands. And I know

all will be firing on all cylinders and it is going to be a full on fistfight.

The work has been done and now time to back that up we'll see what happens after the 

whistle blows...

 

Litte Wing

What I thought was going to be a total washout turned out to be to so bad of a day.

I was up yesterday morning watching the Radar and had another eye on the local news to see what the weather was going to hold for race day. 

We have been in a pretty wet pattern and that was the story for Sunday Race day. 

The Red Wing area was getting hit pretty hard to start the morning off and because of this we decided not to head up early for the Boys race due to the conditions. 

As things progressed the rain started to ease and by the time that I had made it to the venue it had totally stopped. 

Their was more in the forecast and  after last years debacle I was worried that we would start the race and end knee deep in mud. Again Due to the Rain the lap had been shortened quite a bit and lots of single track had been taken out.

Being the State Championship Race the field was a good one and as we lined up we were told that last minute that they had added some more sections of single track to our 8 lap race.

I got the number one call up which was pretty fun I was not expecting that and good number of teammates on the line around me. 

At go I slipped a pedal and the group filed in around me,, I was able to Jump on Hollywoods wheel and started to pull my way through the start of the lap, through the tall grass of the meadow that lead the lap out. 

By the time we hit the single track,, I was sitting third wheel behind Eric T and Jesse L, the train formed in behind me and we were all now throwing hammers to try to create gaps in the woods, while riding on single track that had not seen any wheels so far that day. Needless to say that created some slick conditions which cause me to get sideways and pop off the train. 

At this point I watched a good 6-7 guys come flying around. 

Back on and chasing I used the remaining 7 laps to pull people back in. 

Each lap the single track lost its moisture and became more and more rippable. 

Knowing that I would never see Jesse and Eric, I just kept my head down and for a while sat on the wheel of Nate L as he crushed it on his single. 

Lap 7 and 8 for the most  part were fast but I was not pushing it that hard.,,., Race ended up being close to 2 hours and almost 30 miles. 

I was cooked but happy I was able to put my head down and go hard and it payed off again. 

I landed forth overall and third in the state for the Pro's. 

This should get me another number one call up for Buck Hill on Sunday.

Now I just need to shake my legs out and get ready for another beat down.

Great job out there Team Hollywood Cycles,,,, THC* is kicking some ass this season..

PARTY ON!! 

Krispy

I had one of the best doughnut eating days yesterday that I have had in a long long time. 

I am a bit of a snob when it comes to fried rigs of dough, after my years working and hanging out at Daylight Doughnuts. 

With all the fine dinning that I have done in my time working for Richard was some of the best cooking and food related work that I have ever done.  If you wanted to know what was going on in the little town of Breckenridge,,, Daylight was the spot to be. 

You saw it all,,,,, the all night rager ,,you know the ones that were up all night drinking and telling everyone about how rad they are and how everything in town sucks. 

The back table was saved for politics many mornings you would find the Mayor holding court with his minions holding on to his every word. 

You had the working class the folks who were cleaning the streets and making sure that the town was not over come by snow or that the street lights were not broken,, so the all night cool kids could stumble to the next 8ball. 

You had all the Tourist waiting in the line that stretched out the door with lift tickets hanging off their one piece suits talking about how this may be the year that they hike to the top of the Imperial Bowl,, and that was after the chair lift was put in almost to the top of Peak 8.  

Richard was always there with a smile on his face and you could always count on Josh to bring you your food in between trips to the dumpster to dump garbage,,  or so he said. 

And all of this was going on while the best doughnuts sat waiting for you to order a few or 12 and some sausage rolls. 

I learned a lot about how to crank out lots and lots of eggs and how cooking breakfast was noting like doing a 5 course tasting menu.  It was a good time in my life and when I think of the perfect circles of goodness,, their is only one place that I like almost as much. 

 

 

 

 

On the way to one of the premiere mountain bike riding destinations here  in the Middle West is Lind's Bakery. It is always a treat to get to go and ride the sandstone cliffs of Sidewinder and Cliffhanger.. I first rode Levis Mound with Mike P back some 20 years ago. Back then it was nothing more than some ski trails and a bit of single  track. And in 1993 that was ok because our Gary Fishers were not made to rally and climb like the bikes of today. 

 

 

Fathers day consisted of waking up making a killer breakfast and loading up the car with the Pip and heading over 50 minutes to the Mounds. 

Yes their was a stop for some fried love,, which went down so well with my shot in the dark. 

We meet up with a good number hwoodcycles.comof Team Hollywood Cycle members and even the Kids BOYFEIND

>>>>

 

A fun day of riding and donating blood to millions and millions of Mosquitoes that have hatched were running a muck along the trails.  I still to this day have flash backs of the first time here and how i had no idea what these two wheeled fun machines had in store for me. 

I'll be back and I will ride more and introduce it to my son and lovely wife.. And I will be Holding...

Doughnuts nice and tasty Doughnuts. 

aSsHaT

Piling it on as much as I can,, doing the juggling act of being a Parent of two kids and working a somewhat demanding job,,,house work,,yard work etc.. 

I tend to find and or make time and most days that means leaving the house early to climb some hills and get some Zen time in some open space before having to put on the work clothes and play the game. 

This morning was no different up the hill and through the woods,, listing to the sound of Angry Bees coming from my freshly cleaned King R45 rear hub. 

I had the time and went up and down the Road of Bliss twice topping off a nice morning and pushing my self over 100,000 feet of climbing for the season. 

Spinning it out on the way to the job site on Main St Lax with fireHose playing 

"Keeping the Freeway Safe" I hear some beeping behind me. 

At first I think nothing of it,, I am in the  bike lane passing over the newly painted chevrons and dude on a bike symbol,, Then a CRV with Minnesota plates pulls up along side of me and with the window down,,Guy starts yelling at me to get over. 

Wrong move is all I can think as I am having a great morning,, so I exchange jambs with  the older like fellow behind the wheel sporting the Ned Flanders push broom mustache. I let him know that I am where I belong and he informed me that not only is he a cyclist but I need to be further over. 

Further over would put me in danger of the cars parked on the side of the road, and I was keeping the proper distance of three feet from the cars so I would not be Doored. 

Again he kept his tirade going and at this point I was letting my verbiage fly.

I explained that I was in the bike lane and was riding where I belonged, and that in a 25mph road I was traveling at 23mph. This went on for a few blocks till he decided to turn and I guess head back to Minnesota, which was good because I was running out of ways to tell him to FU(% Off.. 

I found this on the WisDot website. 

Narrow lanes

• Ride in the center of the lane.
• Keep at least three feet between yourself and passing or parked traffic.

Wide lanes

• Ride just to the right of the actual traffic line, not alongside the curb.
• Keep at least three feet between yourself and the curb or from parked vehicles.  Motorists should be passing you with at least 3 feet of clearance.

Don't get the door prize!

• Ride in a straight line three feet out from parked cars. You'll avoid car doors that open in front of you and you'll be more visible to other drivers.
• Don't pull into the space between parked cars. Ride just to the right of the actual traffic line, not alongside the curb.
• Ride straight, three feet from parked cars - don't get "doored"

Needles to say I was all fired up when I got into work but was not going to let some asshat bring me down. 

I spend a lot of time on a Bike and ride in all kinds of traffic and on all kinds of roads. 

I do my best to set a good example for other cyclist and motorist alike. 

I am not sure what set this guy off,, maybe he was not loved as a child,, but I hope that some day that I see him riding his bike so I can try to spoil his morning. 

It does not have to be a war out on the streets,,,, Yes there are some people out on bikes that may make some really bad decisions... Just as their are a lot of people making some really really bad decisions. Ones that can cost people their lives. I have to say after getting hit two weeks ago by an a driver not paying any mind that others may share the road....my head is more on a swivel than it ever has been and my fuse to Assholes is really short. 

Now that being said.. Go ride your bike!!!

FaceSplat

Weekend with no bike racing seem to last a lot longer than their counterparts. 

And after the week of work that I had I will take a nice long weekend. 

Started off friday night with an impromptu  road ride,, sitting on the front porch watching little league,, I got that itch as the sun was shining and all I had to do for the rest of the evening was drink beer. 

I headed out for the second ride of the day and made some hay while the late evening rays cast long shadows. Felt good to just get out and spin.

Saturday was going to be a good day of riding as their was no chances of rain and no yard work to do.  The Pip and I headed to the trails and plowed through the quarry. As I did circles in the circle and

waited for the Kid I head a blood curdling scream. I raced to see what the issue was thinking that maybe she just over shot a corner and landed in some newly grown thistle. No luck .. Found her on the ground all twisted up and dirty with blood on her face. 

Seems that she hooked her foot on a piece of chain link fence that was hidden in the underbrush and then got yanked off her bike. 

I did the normal checks of joint movement etc,, and inspected the bike to make sure that it was ok. Pretty sure that her hands and shoulder took most of the blow and her face was secondary.

Needless to say she was shook up and more than likely knocked her self out. She did find some of the softest dirt to crash in but the kid has a bit of a Glass Jaw after having a number of concussions over the years.  I was able to get her to her feet and back on her bike. Called mom and told her to meet us down the road. Pip tried and tried to piece the morning together but was having  a hard time,, she rung her bell something fierce. 

Mom came and I pedaled home and proceeded to sit on the couch with Sophia. 

As the day went on she started to fell better and her memory was back to normal.  The whole pedal home I was pretty shot after having all that adrenalin course through me. After a nap and a cup of late afternoon coffee,, I jumped back on the bike and went for another ride.. This one was much better and no one hit the ground. 

Sunday was supposed to be rain all day and I was able to get to the trails before it came. Trails were nice a tacky and freshly cleaned by the local trail volunteers. I came out of the woods to be greeted by more rain which made for a fun wet ride home.  Spent the rest of the day cleaning and re-cabling bikes. Now they are all clean and ready to get dirty again..  Looking forward to the upcoming weekend,, only because I want to disappear on two wheels.. 

In&out

Self editing is not a strong suit and when I go back and read through some of my 

words,,, I realize that most of the time no sense is made.

Ha what a Tool!

JRC not DFL

Crazy how fast the mood can shift and swing... I followed up my High of Sundays day at the races with a solid climb up the quarry on my trusty steel steed of a Road Bike in full morning sun. 

Even when I got to work and was hit with a "sorry soandso is not in today and you need to pick up their slack".. I was still riding High,,,floated home on the late afternoon rays..  

And then the next wave of clouds and moisture floated over the Driftless region,, and in climbed the funk that is my mentals. 

I know stop you bitching,,, I am and working on that ,, but like everyone else just so over being wet,, tired of cleaning bikes and just tired of being sick and tired. 

Not being a shop employed my arsenal of bits and pieces are fading,, cables and tires tubes..etc...

the CX is fried and getting the run around on how that is going to all play out. 

I am not looking for anything that should not be coming my way,, I mean I did get hit by a car and that car did wreck my rig... 

I need to get me some vitamin D  and spin my legs in a circle motion.

I think that it was the front and rear flat that I got on the way to work this morning that set me over the edge. I always carry in my Ergon pack one tube and co2 but today was going to require two and that was a shit bummer..  I put out a text to the stay at home teenager and asked her to pull a tube out of one of my now defunct cx wheels so I could come home from work.   I did make it home from work I did on my prehistoric Lemond that is now just a one by one road ride..  So maybe I should just stop my bitching and complaining  and just make it happen. 

I did get to spend some time cleaning the garage last night and even 

got the boy to learn some bike maintenance and  cleaning,, he was super stoked on how the Feedback Sports stand worked,, and when I showed him how to clean his chain He was way into that.. The Force is strong in this young one..

He he is still on his Racing High,, he was not>>>>> DFL<<<<<<

Party On Rocket!

ManSizeKato

It was another day of Family fun on two wheels as the Team Hollywood Cycles crew descended on the small ski area in Southern Minnesota that is Mount Kato. 

Once a favorite for me as a youth for weekend skiing now one of my favorite stops on the Minnesota Series. 

The THC# contingent took over the back half of the lot as I gave the Rocket Boy some last bit of 

instructions for his first big race of the year. 

The kid drilled it off the line and made it to the Hill in 4th place,, but not being big on shifting he watched the more experienced kids ride around him... As he rode out of sight  for his four mile ride I went to the finish line to wait for him. About 30 minutes later he crossed the line with a big bunny hop and face full of smiles. 

After some warm up time it was my turn to go stand on the start line. I found my self up on the line with a fourth place call up and a good size field behind me. 

As the whistle sounded it was a sprint to the single track and the first climb of the day. 

Paul H punched it and led up the hill and I sat in around the frog pond and back to the front side of the course. Sitting there on Paul's wheel I felt good and went for a pass and made a move to get off the front. Now this is a place that I have not been in  many years and it was a weird felling to be OTF..  With the whole of the group chasing I found a comfortable pace and just kept pushing it. 

I knew with Jason Sager and Jesse Reints behind I would not be out here to long. 

My goal was to push it and open up some gaps but even more I wanted to hit some of the technical sections with a clear line in front of my eyes.  I got through mad squirrel clean and as I pedaled away through the woods I could hear some carnage.

I kept my self out front unit the last decent on the lap when Jason S. came around.. I stayed with him as long as i could and then saw Jesse come around. 

For the next three laps I rode in third with chasers or two to three behind me but never able to come around. As the race progressed the lap traffic got thick so passing and being smooth became tough,, but the trails were in perfect condition so you could just let the tires grip and fly through the woods. 

Lap five on the start climb I started to chip away at my closest chaser Young Mcburney,,, I was able to ride away and started to think to my self that this may happen,,, I put my head down and started to tap it out.   To my surprise Owen came around like being shot out of a cannon and it was all I could do to sit on his wheel,, but it was the first wheel that I got to sit on in a long time. 

I lost contact with some lap traffic issues on some more of the technical stuff and was happy to cross the line again in Fourth.. Again missing the third step by 20 seconds..  So close almost there.. but I am happy with the way that i am riding and the way the season is coming along. 

Sophia managed another fourth place missing the third spot this time by 35 seconds and had four minutes to the closest girl behind her. 

The Team did awesome and now we have a few weeks off and more time to do some work and get ready for Red Wing which will be the State Champion Race... 

Thanks to all who help me along and let me live the old man on two wheeled Dream..