Wolf River Rendevous.....I am Spent!

We rolled into Shawano for the Wolf River Rendezvous, not knowing what to expect with this being a new race, the pre-ride told us that we were in for a nice race on a very good course! Off we went, the call up did nothing for me, 2nd row, Don says go and I am kind of stuck in the middle of the pack? Patience were there for me today, I just sat in and waited till things happened for me, just before we got to the narrow fence line I hammered a bit and got on Kenny's wheel in about 4th place.

Little did I know that is where I was going to stay for a long time......almost the entire race! Thru the first section and then thru the culvert (chunnel), I felt pretty good hanging about 50 feet behind Kenny, the race was on.

I was constantly trying to bridge up and bring him back, I would reel him in and then lapped traffic......got stuck several times behind the waves in front of us.....most were not good as I could see Kenny pulling away, Damn! I do have to give Borst props as he held Kenny up just long enough for me to get back on his wheel.....not planned but damn did it work out for me!!!

Pretty much rode that same way for the majority of the race, then on lap 3 I think his leg started to act up and he was not able to generate the acceleration and power needed coming thru that single track and the short burst hills out there? So of course we are racing.....so I tried to give it a little extra juice in some of those spots and I guess I was able to get just enough of a gap to pull away the last part of the 3rd lap.

Right there is a shot of the finish, and that is exactly how I felt......spent! My helmet is off to Kenny, awesome racing you all day.....that was a good time out there!!!!!! I got the win by :29 seconds, so for the series I should have 200 across the board, and I have accomplished a goal that I have been working at for years......age class champ!

With one race to go in the series I will either race the 35-39 Sport class or jump up to Comp Clyde....we'll see how the weight goes? I have to say thanks for the great racing from all of my fellow Clydes, racing you all is what makes it such a good time and worth it every race. And to the Stadium Team riders, you all rock, glad to be a part of this racing thing with you all!

Last but certainly not least, my three ladies, thanks to you guys for letting Daddy go race his bike all over the state all summer and fall......it's a crazy obsession that you guys do a good job of putting up with, thanks!

I'm tired......

It seems like this week is taking forever, started Sunday with the late Packer game, then with 5 hours of sleep the alarm goes off and it is time to get over to the Resch Center and get my stuff set up for the next President of the USA! I was super tired all day but it was still pretty cool to see Obama in person, won't be long and he will be moving into the big house!!!!

My biggest problem is staying up too late and still getting up to ride at 5am every morning, that is my best opportunity to make sure I get some type of riding in......so up I get and ride I do, even if it is just an hour it still beats not riding at all!

Stopped over to Jeff's tonight, got to see the bike.......wow! It is unbelievable to see the carbon fiber ripped in half like it is....just wow! Jeff is doing good, a little more mobile but still not ready for work or riding.....obviously.

One more day for the week, I have Friday off due to the bunches of OT, a good day to get some things done around the house and for the Fallen Timbers ride. Of course I will finally get a ride in that lasts more than 60 minutes, I hope.

We have Shawano on the docket for the weekend, a new race course so a Saturday pre-ride is very important. I am going to race Sport Clyde one more time, I have to get seven race scores to feel right about things? Right now I lead the series, but.....one of my seven scores is a VP from the Ramble race, so I feel like I should have seven real scores for sure! After that......perhaps a Comp race is in store for Sheboygan, or maybe a Sport age class.....decisions.

Bedtime, alarm goes off way early.

Ride on Gregg.......

I was going to sit down and blog about the weekend, the trails I rode in La Crosse, the good times with family......just life.

Instead I am going to blog about one of our team guys from Wausau getting the call up.....to the Velodrome in the sky. Not everyone on the team knew Gregg, he was the guy that everyone would ask me...."who's that?" when he would go flying by? Gregg Bednorski came to the team thru Randy Bailey.....they were racers and friends for a long time. I got to know Gregg a few times before and after the races thru the past 3 summers, passing by but briefly saying Hi and good luck or nice race.

It was an unfortunate cycling accident, he ran into the back of an SUV that had just recently pulled to the side of the road, no one's fault......the sun was in his eyes and it was just one of those accidents that leaves you speechless.

We will all throw our leg over the bike tomorrow and ride on just as we always have and still do, but this next time you go for a training ride......look up and smile at our fellow racer.....cause just like each and every one of us......he/we would want the show to go on!

Ride on Gregg Bednorski.

It's Friday!

Made it thru another week, McCain all day yesterday and just a long damn week, almost done!!!! Off to La Crosse this weekend to catch a Pop Warner football game starring a cool guy named Alec....looking forward to finally seeing him play!!!

Also, while there...... http://www.humanpoweredtrails.com/, cannot travel without the bikes! Great trails make for some good training and of course FUN!

Have a good weekend and chat with you all Monday.

Throw back to the beginning.....of time?

Thought I would use the scanner and share a photo of my first Chequamegon 40......also my first ever mountain bike race! I think leading up to this race I had a total of maybe 100 miles of training that summer, I had not ridden more than 15 miles at a time, so why not jump into a 40 mile race?

So my roommate Dan and I hopped in and gave it whirl......ummm......wow? Took like 5 hours and was one of the worst experiences I have had doing anything.......but man was I hooked! How about my sweet Haro Extreme.....fully rigid and bright orange, stylin'! 17 years later I am still pedaling and lovin' every minute of it, even like this morning getting up at 445am and heading out in the dark on the country roads solo......have to ride sometime during the course of a day!

Good ride this morning, ventured a little further outside of town to get some hills and a little more of an intense workout.....mission accomplished!

Chequamegon

There you see it, dropped a little on the overall end of things, but then in my age class.....moved onto the bottom step of the podium? Have to be honest, my legs felt like junk during the pre-ride on Friday and then the morning of the race, and knowing that I was about to embark on a 16 mile sprint.......uh oh!

We take off behind the lead moto and it was actually fairly controlled, a few crazy freaks trying to work there way thru thinking the race would be won before the 4-wheeler pulls off. The fun began right as we went from blacktop to gravel, I think a tandem blew a tire and got squirrelly or something, and then the carnage began! I saw a couple of bikes and what looked like a leg flying thru the air out of the corner of my eye, looked down and see a wheel coming right in front of me....bunny hop and in the clear......whew.

On the gas full power from that point, chasing back on to a group and trying like mad to hold the wheel in front of me....fairly un-eventful from this point.....just always had a group of riders in my sights but just did not have the leg power to jump on it and close the gap? Frustrating but what can you do, I just kept it in the big ring and gave it all I had.....which did not feel like much.

So I roll out of the woods at Telemark and start the gravel climb, at this point I am somewhat conceding to the fact that it just was not there this year, at least I thought! Roll across the line and slam on the handle bar thinking what should have been, shoot the bull for a little while and then go get the print out of my results......

Wow, I was hoping to be done in under an hour.....59:22, wanted to go top three in 35-39 age class.....3rd, and was hoping to be top 25 overall......38th....damn. So for the most part it turned out to be a decent day in the results, the overall still irks me quite a bit, just should have been up a lot higher! Met 2 goals and had a good time with the team, not so bad after all.

The new TREK, awesome, fast-light-quick......the bike was much better than the rider this weekend.....wait till we both work together in two weeks! Thanks again to Randy and to Trek for getting me a new frame, I'll be interested to see what the find with the blemish on Pink?

Up next is a weekend with the family around the house, then we head just up the road to Shawano, after that still have two quality races on the schedule....so good racing yet to come! Crawled out of bed little earlier this morning to get the mileage up, I am thinking I need longer rides right now? This morning was great, cool temps and a fantastic ride, why do the legs come back to me 2 days after I was in need of there service???????

The last two races with bad legs certainly has done one thing......pissed me off and made me a little ornery about my fitness on the bike! Training is going to take care of that and I will finish the season VERY strong......gar-un-teed!

Have a good week and thanks for letting me steal the picture Jay.....even though you had no idea :)

The New not-so Pink Bike?

Let the project begin......last week you may remember that I did find a small crack near the bottom bracket of the PINK bike? Not really sure how serious, but none-the-less the good people at TREK felt like we should get it in and check it out......I agree! So with Chequamy less than a week away, what's a racer fella supposed to do?

Thanks to TREK and Randy at Stadium......I have a new frame set to race for the rest of the season......then when the snow flies we can work on getting me another perty pink Top Fuel....hoooooo raaaaaay!

Looky there.......they even sent me the 9.9 SL frame set, a very sweet ride! So the bike is not pink......but I did put a pink bottle cage on and the headset is still my "Pretty and Strong" Chris King......so there is some pink on the bike! I will still switch back to my Russell built Bubba Beaters, just had the tires I want for this weekend on these wheels, too late to switch tires.

It is indeed bedtime, I have to take this bad boy on a maiden voyage in about 5 hours to make sure all is well, have to ride before work in the dark.....night ride in the morning! Stay tuned for the big one, we head to Cable this weekend for some good ol' fashion racing action up there in the north woods! Until then, ride on!

Brrrr! Rhinelander!

How's that for a view out of the door of my tent! Perfect camping spot right on the lake, headed up Saturday afternoon to the Smokin' Spoke with Andy and Ryan, found this sweet little spot on the lake and the weekend was on! We hit the pre-ride Saturday afternoon and then of course piled on some pasta and goodies thanks to the Pine Lake Fire and Rescue, very tasty! As nightfall approached.....the fellas are telling me we are going to do the night poker ride? OK, all good and we are off, not so good.....maybe I should learn how to play poker before doing a "poker" ride? We lost.

Wake up to a chilly morning, quite chilly I must say. Little oatmeal and bike tune up, dress up and it's race time. So Don again only calls up 3 deep, being in 4th I sat with the masses as tears rolled down my cheek.......gonna have to work thru traffic again to catch the fellas! GOOOOOO, crap, shift and pedal, pedal, and pedal. Finally catch Paul and Jeff a mile or so into the race, along with a couple of older fellers, sit in for a minute and then I jump and try to get away from everyone.....and try I did......for the rest of the day. Just when I thought I was away with a little cushion, nope, I'd see Paul or Jeff or Nass......damn. So as I go thru the sandy, logging looking area where I look back and see Nass, I had to throw down a little acceleration to see if I could get away.....sort of I think for a moment?

So when I finally hit the long wooden walk way for the last time, I was pretty sure I had it wrapped up, ended up being a little closer than I thought, a 22 second win over Paul and not much more than a minute over Jeff.....wheeeew.....close one! Nice job to my Clyde racers, great day of racing for all of us.

Quick turn around this week, we hit the road for Cable Friday morning for the big one! Hoping to have a little better legs for the upcoming weekend, raced well and won but really never felt all that strong from the stand point of my leg power, legs felt flat and at times did not have the power that I know is there, it'll be all good for Chequamy!

Time for 4 days of work, starting with another political candidate visit....yeah.....not!

Little dark out there in the early mornings, have not broke out the big lights yet, the smaller Planet Bike light is still doing the trick! Monday was a good hard training ride that left the legs feeling real heavy on my way to work.....will it pay off in the next few weeks?

Ahhhh....the legs, Wednesday morning felt awesome! Legs had plenty of power and I felt like the zip was back, hills were no problem, just finally feel like maybe they are coming back around in time for the fall racing.....hoping!

Off to Rhinelander this weekend as I said in the last post, looks like a small group from the team for the race, small but powerful! Looking forward to a night of tent camping in the likely cool/colder temps, looks like Wenzlick is going to make the trip up with me......good to have someone along as it makes the 3 hours go by a lot faster.

Not a lot to post, working on the direction of the team for next year and trying to get a date set for next years Ramble......not nearly as easy as one would think.....especially this year. Every date I like and Don likes, the shelter is not available or it's only available one day, you would think with all of the money we pay the county we could get a little preference on dates. I am betting that the Johnson Family re-union is not dropping near the amount of cash to the county as we do just to have that race......Mmmmmm, onward we go.

Have a good day and enjoy the cooler weather and the Hurricane rain!