One can only dream.....

So with yet another round of winter punching us in the face one can only dream of getting on the mountain bike and riding with shorts and short sleeves.....damn that would be nice right now!  This latest storm was supposed to just be a 1-3 inch hit and be done.....it is now over the 3 inches with crazy blowing and drifting snow, icy roads, crashes everywhere....need summer soon!  Looking at the bike in the picture...one of my favorite builds and one that I wish I still had, sold that one to get me a fat bike so I guess all is well!

We had a great weekend of basketball for my ladies, the 5th graders took 4th at state and played well against some pretty good competition....a great way to end the season in the final 4 at the state tourney!  My 8th graders did not play so well in the league tourney but we'll be fine and ready to go in a couple of weeks.  Kennedy did have her AAU team try-outs and made the team, a little different look and I feel like we made some good choices, so the team should be a slight upgrade I think from last season.

Other than that....it is all basketball this time of the year for us in the Hauser household, but still would love to see some warm temps and sunshine and all that good stuff!

Weekend Update.....

As I said last week.....more blogging this year, so....more blogging.  We actually had a weekend with no basketball tourneys, nothing at all Saturday morning?  I used the off weekend to get my on-call in for this rotation....because for the next 3 weeks we are full on as Ellie and the 5th graders get ready for their state tourney, exciting times!  With that comes an increase in practice and we up the intensity....good fun and the girls are getting really fired up.

Ridingwise it was a decent weekend, with a lack of bike time it was nice to get out for a lap on the Camp fattie loop both days....1 lap to get back in to the flow of things.  I know some like to spend countless mind numbing hours on a trainer in the basement....I think in 2008 I proved to myself that you don't have to....this time of the year it is best to be active in my mind.  If we had snow to ski on that is one of the best off the bike activities to get ready for the season, but with the latest craze of the fat bikes we now have a bike that can ride the snow, and what a blast it is!!!!

Team deals are almost set and it is WORS race book time, so I have to get cracking on that....really cracking as that deadline comes faster every year.

Warm temps are going to ruin the decent trails at the Camp, so again we find ourselves waiting for the next sizeable snow fall to get them back in shape.  The last two times we have had the trails in great shape two days after that we get hit with warm temps and possible rain.....trails back to ground zero both times and then if it freezes we get a nice base of ice.

5 more days till the weekend.

Random pics with a promise to blog again!

Went to my blog photo archive and snagged a few pics to blog about....something to do I guess?  Each one has a little something for me to say.....so here we go.  The above pic symbolizes one the greatest things to happen to me in my cycling career.  Having sold my Epic with the intent of getting something new, then having to use that money for truck repairs and having the reality being....not likely to be able to afford a mtb bike for a while.....the most amazing team on the planet got together and surprised me like never before with an incredible bike.  I still have moments where I am totally blown away by that gesture....I will never forget that....ever!  Still sort of stunned but I know it is still inmy basement so it must be real :)

Thanks Flyers.

The trainer.....yuk!  Hate this beast but if the weather continues to NOT cooperate it looks like it may be time to get it out of the shop and set it up....again....YUK!!!

This pic.....incentive.  I want this again and want to get back to being a fast guy, and it will happen.  This motherload is from the Subaru Cup, 3 golds and a silver on the weekend back in 2008....want!

My all-time favorite photo from racing, taken by the one and only Mr. Hirsch at the Platteville Time Trial back in 2008.  Love the course, love the bike, love picture...awesome.

Sort of a theme going on I guess, I want to get back to my routine of training in the mornings and eating right, I want to be fast again and have fun racing the bike.  I can and I will.  I have the right bike, the best team, and the motivation to make it all happen.

TTF4L

It is the season!

Another great ride on the Fattie's, just the 3 of us....Steele, Davidson, and myself!  Could use a little more snow but still had a good ride and the temps were just about perfect, looking forward to many more this season and to getting the biking thing back on track!

The girls are getting me another light for Christmas.....going to have well over 2000 lumens hitting the trails real soon!

Jingle-time!

A shot from last year at the JingleCross, coming out if the spiral of death....an annual feature down in Iowa City at JingleCross.  This is kind of one of those must do annual races, lots of people racing cross bikes and having a good time, great crowds and a different course each day....3 days of cross action.

Heading down with 3 others this year, two newbies and a 1 year vet, always cool for people to experience a race like this for the first time.  Also sort of thinking this may be the last time for a while, the girls continue to get busier and I am missing Ellie's games this weekend....tough for me to miss any games!

A few days and we will be Iowa bound, we race and then watch the pro's race the same course....all good fun!

Iceman 2012

Every year I think that I might not come back to the Iceman......and then I do.  Always a good time with the Flyers and all of the antics that come along with traveling with a team of our size....great fun and entertainment for sure!

We hit the road early Friday morning and just as we pull in to the big city if Escanaba we hit the first sniff of snow, yessss......the Iceman is on!  The rest of the way we would go in and out of snow squalls and then back to sun shine and then back to snow....typical Iceman trip for sure.

After checking in we suited up for a little pre-ride to stretch out the legs, then register and then food.  All done and ready for the slumber party to begin?  6 guys in our 4 person cabin, 10 in the big cabin and 5 in the other small cabin....lots of Flyers!!!

We woke up to snow on race morning, about an inch at the finish area, really the start was just frost and the last 7-8 miles is where the snow was.....made for a perfect Iceman.

The race.....I started out with Warren in my wave, we rolled out fairly casual and then not long after I hooked up with a small group and we were off, I was hoping Warren was with us but he fell of as the start into the woods was pretty quick.  I was feeling great and rolling like a rock star to the about the 20-22 mile mark....that is when the wheels started to fall off the bus.  Cramps.....dammit, this race always gets me, even when I rode a 2:04 I had a few cramps at the finish.  The cramps this year were OUCH!!!  I had a few times where walking was not even possible, made a looooooong last 5 miles for sure but as always I made across the line.  Not real happy with the finish portion of the race but I get what I put into it I guess?

In all, had a great time.....a fun first 2/3 of the race and a sufferfest 1/3.....the bike was amazing, an absolute rocket ship for sure!  Loved the bike beyond all imagination, thank you Flyers....the bike is for sure motivation to get back into shape and back to being me on the bike!

Back to work and into cross mode, JingleCross in two weeks! 

Ice, Ice Baby.....Ice, Ice, Baby.......

Always have to post this picture around this time of the year.....the true Iceman photo. 

My training is going ok this year for the Iceman, nothing outstanding but alright.  I have been riding at night, meaning leaving the house around 9pm and riding for an hour to 90 minutes.  Decent training and always trying to get my 20 miles in at minimum.  Last night was the night of the flat tire and out went the light.  About 1/2 mile into the ride I went thru the contruction zone that goes under 41.....hit something that about knocked my front wheel from me and sure enough, pssssss.  It was an impact snakebite hole.  Pull into the church and use their light to toss in a new tube and off I go.  Riding along and about 3/4 into the loop and out goes the headlight, had to ride bright streets home and cut it a bit short but made home safe.  Still had a good solid ride and it was indeed warm, sweating like it was summer and I just had jersey and short on, felt great!

So one more Iceman photo....cause this weekend is all about training for the Iceman.  Planning a few miles on the double track at the Camp this weekend aboard the new Epic, loving the bike and going to work on a few settings with the suspension and see if I can tune it in a little more.  I found a chart on line that helps detail and dial the Epic suspension even better than a standard set up, so we'll see how it works out.

This picture is the big road crossing that tends to draw the biggest amount of spectators.  A lot of the Iceman race is spent out in the woods with not many spectators around.....kind of peaceful being in the woods for a couple of hours.  I don't think we will see any of the white stuff this year as the temps look to stay in the low 40's....a mild race this year.  Should be a good time, we are taking a bigger than ever group with us this year......21 is the number right now, 3 more than we have beds for.....uh oh!

Get out and ride, no matter the weather it almost Ice time.