Levis Duo

It was a hot one Saturday at Levis. My Garmin said the max temp was 95. For my first race of the year I signed up for the 100 mile duo with Scott. I haven't done much in the way of hard efforts yet this year so I figured is was going to hurt a bit. I had the first lap and decided to start out easy. I passed about 10 people the first lap and came through the start finish around the 4th rider and first in the duo. (Some of the 100 mile solo guys were laying it down!)

Scott wasn't sure how his knee or his cracked frame were going to hold up. It turns out, that he would be just fine. He was flying through the laps. His third lap, I was waiting for him to come through so I could do my last lap. Now, my plan was to take it easy my last lap since we had a pretty comfy lead but Scott had different plans. He wasn't coming through and it was already 20 minutes past his average times. I was fearing the worse, then I saw him coming through--running. He broke a chain.

So my last lap I did what I could. I felt fresh for the first 6 miles, likely because of the gallon of water I drank since my previous lap. I had no idea if Scott was going to be able to do another lap and I was dreading doing another, but I thought I had better get a good lead if I had to.

Much to my delight, Scott was waiting there when I came through. He fixed his chain and was ready to go. He crushed his 4th lap. We won the race by about 7 minutes!

I wasn't the fastest on Saturday, but it's June and I think I am in a pretty good spot to have a strong Fall.

P.S. Also, I have two more exciting things to share that might seem odd to share as a postscript. First, my book is out! you can buy it here. Second, I can now share this on the web because Lauren told her work, we are having our first kid!

264k

Photo by Ronsta

This past Wednesday I took part in a Wisconsin tradition for the first time, I rode the Bone Ride. It's an annual ride from Milwaukee to Madison and back. It works out to be 158 miles. Ron has done the ride before so he showed me the ropes and made sure I made it back in one piece. I was thankful to have a friend and teammate watching out for me. He, of course, did the whole thing on a single speed. Well, almost the whole thing, he hopped on the ride 17 miles in. I tacked on a few more miles by riding home from the starting point and ended up with 164 miles in 8 hours and 20 minutes. (Sorry, Ryan, no data this time because my computer somehow lost it.)

It was a beautiful day with a strong crosswind. Everyone was fighting for a draft which made a lot of the ride kind of sketchy. I am happy I did it though. It wrapped up my real long base rides for the year. In the past 14 weeks I had twelve 5 hour+ rides, a 4 hour ride, and a 3 1/2 hour ride. They have mostly been easy miles. I've never gotten a base in like that before so I am curious to see how this season goes. I start racing in 2 weeks!

103k

I haven't posted much yet this year so here is a little update. As a lark--and to establish a good base for the year--I planned twelve weeks of getting a five hour ride in once a week. Today was week eleven. I did 64 miles (103k) of trail in the Southern Kettles and I felt really good. Granted, I am not flying on these long rides but I can now see the results in my endurance. I should be in good shape for the Bone Ride next week which will be between 175 and 150ish miles, depending on where I start.

After that, racing begins and I"ll start getting a little more serious about riding fast. I wasn't planning on doing any solo six hour mtb races this year, but after today's ride maybe I'll try to keep this endurance up.

In other news, I am now one of those nerds with a powertap. The deal at Ben's (there selling like hotcakes) was too good to pass up. I'll start using that more seriously in June as well and if I am feeling extra dorkish I'll post some numbers here.

First time out!

I got out to the Southern Kettles for the first time on my new day off, Thursday. The only better place to get some thinking done than a 5 hour ride at the Kettles is a dry ice factory. (kudos to anyone that can name that reference!)

Gun Show Number One

Photo by Ronsta

The first Gun Show was last night and you could tell it was a mild Winter because it was fast. I pretty much felt like what I thought would for most of the ride. I was able to contribute to the pace line but not really go for any of the sprints.

I did have to back off for a bit after a I did a hard uphill pull. It was there I learned that half a pound of guacamole for dinner was a bad idea. I couldn't stop eating though. However, now that I now what it tastes like when it threatens to reappear on the bike, I think I will be able to control myself in the future.

Another Warm Ride

How does this happen?

I would like to hear this story.

2:29.10, this seems like a good enough spot to turnaround

Five hours of fun

Got out on Saturday for a five hour ride in the sun and wind with some friends. It was so windy that at times it was like getting punched in the gut while going up hills. One time I nearly went over the bars because a strong gust caught my bike. These are the days that make you mentally and physically stronger.