Ramble on.....

The 2009 Ramble is in the books, and now for a little weekend re-cap. (photo by SY)

Day off on Friday for set up and radio interview, ended up helping Ethan with sign making and that kind of stuff before heading up to the course around 1pm.....course was marked when I rolled in! We did a few small things and then saddled up for a loop to see what if anything was missed.....Dale, Randy, Bill, and Larson did a great job! (Sikora may have helped too)

With all that done, head home with the girls and hang out before the big top rolled into town....and watched the rain continue to fall....and fall!

Saturday up a little late and load the truck and off to the Camp, one trip down and then back to Festival Foods for the fruit and the subs.....after that is was all Camp all weekend! One cool thing is that Kennedy is getting old enough to be a big help, so she was with me all weekend at the race, selling snacks and Flyer water bottles.....fun to have her along all weekend!

Saturday progressed with a constant rain, not to heavy but it was raining.....so for the second straight year I go to the big WORS trailer and dig out the trail closed signs, so at 4pm Saturday the pre-ride was over. Off to dinner with the staff and then back to the tent for a cool night outside, Kennedy commented that she was warm as long as she did not come out of her sleeping bag :), she is a trooper!

The rain stopped at 9pm and the wind picked up......I smiled knowing that the course was going to be great for racing......fast! Racers arrived and the awesome staff registered them all and it was Gooooooo time!!!!

I was called to fill in for "The Don" as he saddled up the GF and took the start line.....ya I gave him a call up. The USA Cycling Official would not let me countdown 10 9 8 7 6 6..............GOOOOOOO, what? He said the proper way is to say 15 and then keep them in suspense, not cool and very wrong.....sorry to everyone and I will do it the right way next time regardless of what he is saying!

All in all the race was again a success in my mind, Dale hit the course head on and it was awesome, if you stayed home thinking it was double track all day......you missed a great course!!!!! Ethan rocked his official title.....Director of Internal Affairs!

After clean up and all the positive remarks, a little Moes, unload the truck and relax with the girls......a great weekend! Thanks to all for volunteering and to the racers who came out......everyone made the weekend work, and work well!

Better day today!

I am pleased to report that today has gone a little better than yesterday......I think we all have those days every so often where the fuse is in the dynamite and all it takes is something small to set it off.......it was lit yesterday.

A combo of everything let loose and I was not a pleasant person at the end of the day.....onward.

Today is my Friday and tomorrow will be day 1 of getting ready for the race, radio promotion....pick up a few things and then course marking. On the whole it is a lot of work to put on a race.....but with Dale, Ethan, and the Flyers.....it's all good!

I did have to send out an email to all riders, there have been a number of riders on the trails after dusk....not acceptable per the county guidelines....hope we all obey so we do not lose the great trails out there?!

The picture above.........you know it.....I worked in Marinette today! Blue Bike Burrito! And yes I am driving while eating a burrito, texting, listening to my Ipod and taking a nap.

Where the Hell have I been!

Sorry for the long delay in posting......we have this little thing called the "Reforestation Ramble" going on up this way! Myself and two of the Luxemburger Lenss family members have been working up a fury trying to get a race together......I think we will do just fantastic!

Course........Dale put together an awesome layout.....you will love the course!

Signage and other amenities......Ethan has pure talent when it comes to GFX!

Myself.......lots of permits, phone calls, and emails......looks like we might make it!

Come on up and race with us.....gonna be a good time!

A looooooong Race!

(me....2nd from the left, yellow shoes!)

Saturday morning our wake up call at the Super 8 in Fond du Lac comes in at 4am! Damn that was early! Why 4am and why Fondy......Race the Lake.....a little jaunt around Lake Winnebago to start the Sunday morning!

Myself, Warren, Steele, Lanser, and the eventual race winner......Ryan Baumann of the Trek-Livestrong team, all up and ready to hit the pavement for a 90 mile pleasure ride.....or was that a death march!

Fast forward to the start and we are off, Giesen, Lanser and I are in Wave 4.....we immediately are up front helping to power the train.....picking off riders from the other waves and in a nice groove! That is pretty much the story for the first half of the race, a good steady pace in the upper 20's for speed, good group riders around and no one crashing.....we had a great ride to High Cliff!

The hill.....in my opinion.....not all that much of a hill, went up it fairly effortless from the way I remember it......thanks a ton to Randy Borst and Warren's friend Lynn for the bottle hand ups.....that is how we Flyers roll.....no need to get stuck in the congestion when you have help getting the bottle to us......awesome!

My concern before the race was that around 65 miles I may start to suffer......bingo! Mile 65 is when the ugly cramps set in and I was fighting them off hardcore.....long story short.....sucking down fluids and e-caps trying to control the leg cramps.....they were dead set on staying....and did! Thankfully Martini rode up on me somewhere around mile 70, that was huge......we ended up riding in together, stopped a few times to stretch out the legs and both had one goal......cross the line on the bike! Legs actually started to feel a little better in thru the 80's, big cramp with a mile to go....but with a mile to go, you just grit your teeth and ride. Thanks Martini.

My goal was two fold, finish the race, and hopefully finish in under 5 hours. I crossed the line in 4 hours and 40 minutes, not a bad finish (19th out of 72 in the Clydesdale division)......especially considering the fact that this was the longest ride I have ever ridden on my bike. In 18 years of racing bikes, the longest I have ever rode previous to Sunday was 68 miles.....so I am definitely satisfied with the day! A good training ride!

We had around 15 riders at the race, nice to have a bunch of teammates at the race and to have Giesen and Lanser in my wave.....will I do it next year......Mmmmm......I'll get back to you but......it was a good time and great experience!

Still here......

Just a quick update. Been on a mini-vacation up Crivitz way, hey! Camping, eating, eating, swimming, eating, camping, swimming.....good times!

Riding, yep......getting ready for the "Race the Lake," coming up Sunday....90 miler on the road! Crazy stat.....in 18 years of racing and riding, I have never ridden over 70 miles? That stat will change come Sunday, looking forward to the race, close to 15 Flyers going for the team win!

Short morning ride.....flat.....still a decent ride, just a lot of shorter rides lately....hopefully that will do the trick come Sunday? Did manage a 51 miler last Friday, felt good for the most part, hopefully the neck holds up.....gets a little sore after a while on the bike?

Hopefully my truck took care of it's self, been chugging a bit, after getting it looked at hand having three people tell me something different.....it has not acted up for the past two days? If it continues....Cash for Clunkers?

Ride on.

Of late and up next......

Been a decent week of riding so far, every morning and then today was the twofer, road in the morning and team mtb in the evening.....Ramble Course Re-Con! We are currently waiting for County approval on the "new" course layout......very sweet this year....and yes....different with more single track :) Fingers crossed please!

The Wednesday night mtb ride in growing, 2nd straight week with numbers in the mid-twenties.....if you are staying on the couch....get the hell off and come join the Flyers at the Camp! ps.....the only way you can pre-view the 2009 course....with the Flyers on Wednesday night.

Up this weekend is a family and good friends camping weekend up der in Crivitz hey....doon-cha-know! I am looking forward to a lot of beach and lawn chair time! The plan is to get a good long road ride in this Friday before we hit the road and then a long ride Monday when we return....that means no riding Saturday or Sunday.......rest!

Why the need for long road rides....the next event for myself and several members of the Flyers.......see that map below......Race the Lake is on tap for August 16th.....close to 15 Flyers hitting the PAVEMENT(?), yep......Flyers hitting the asphalt for a 93 mile road race! Am I in shape for that.......ahhhh no. So the way I see it......a kick ass training ride to get me ready for September, awesome!

I have to say the worst part about the Race the Lake......the damn 5:50 am start time.....that is not cool......well it actually might be rather cool at that time of the day!

Still time to join us for the 93 miler....you in.....contact me, you know how to reach me.

Alterra....ummmm....I guess I kept it rubber side down.

Race report for the Alterra race......crummy start put me into the first singletrack in about a millionth place.....race over? When you hit a 2 mile section of singletrack in bad position with the legs not quite firing from the road ride Saturday.....not a good outcome to be expected. I was pretty much done before I started, after realizing it was not to be today.....I took the rest of the first lap as a pre-ride, then lap two was a good time with a little more effort.....had a decent second lap in some ways.

Knowing I really need fitness for September, I hit a pretty hard road ride Saturday morning.....not a huge effect on Sunday's race but a touch? At the command, we were off straight up the hill, I felt like I was OK at that point, but then thru the dusty field I felt like the legs were not 100% with me? Keep on chugging and into the forever singletrack (too much too soon for a race), I could feel the effects of crashing at the FireCracker as I was somewhat timid in spots....it was not until the second lap that I feel I shook that and started to rip into the singletrack....it'll be back!

Felt decent on the climbs but not great, lacked that pop to fly up the hill (road ride?), it was a good training race, heart rate up and some nice singletrack to ride.

Bottom line, yes....I am disappointed. This has been tough to go from dropping weight easily last season to holding way too freakin' steady at 210 this year. Ride time is down somewhat but I have to keep plugging along, it has been tough to go from a successful 2008 to one of the least successful season's in quite a few years! Ride time will increase mucho, I promise that to myself, I will get in a hell of a lot better shape by the end of this month....promise.....I have to kick this bullshit of a season right square in the face....I have had enough.