The week in review....

Been a full week since the last update....whoooops!  Last week was a crazy schedule at work, 3 overnights and then working on Turkey Day and Black Friday.....wonderful.  Lots of basketball practice and some dance thrown in there, we keep busy this time of the year.

Lots of bike things going on but all behind the scene happenings, clothing orders and chatting with sponsors getting things lined up for next year....gets a little time consuming and to be honest you tend to reach a point at this time of the year when even I need no biking in my life?  However I did go do some cx bike riding Sunday...I'm sure that helped the cold I have acquired?  Yep, sore throat and stuffy yet runny nose....I hate colds....dammit.

Work, yeah, back at it.  Basketball and dance continue to battle....Hmmmm?  Dance for sure wins the monetary category.  Workout on hold as this cold is tiring me out, have to get on things though.....too much of a Clyde right now.

Remember to watch for opportunities to support Brian Matter and his trip to Belgium, opportunities coming soon.  That's all for now.

Good time at the game.

Saturday we loaded up the family and headed to Pulaski, Kennedy and the 5th grade team that I help coach played the first game in the new league.  All went great, we lost twice but they were close and we played very well.....great to see the girls play hard and have some success.....exciting games and a great place to start for us.  Thanks to Grandma and Frank for coming up to the game to watch, means a lot to both Kennedy and I to have family travel up to watch the game!

Sunday.....went to the Packer game with my cousin Brian, have not seen him for over 20 years!  Good to see him and hang out for the day, we caught up on a lot of family happenings and just had a good time watching my team.....we'll hit his up next season!  (Bears)

Stuck on the overnight shift today (tonight), not really sure why and not really happy about it.  A total disruption to life and my body!  We have to get the neighbors to watch the girls for two hours in the morning, I had to hit the sack at 7pm last night and now have to go home at 830am and go right to bed to try and catch up on sleep.....not cool.

Getting sleepy, better go walk around the building to wake up.

Gone Green......

Looky here.......I've gone green, an environmentally friendly blog!

The latest.......

All is fairly quiet on the riding front for now....kind of in the recovery mode I guess? This is the time of the year when I am up late at night working on pricing sheets and emailing the team sponsor requests to current and potential sponsors....so not all quiet I guess....but rather busy!

Bike-wise......little interesting on that end? This was the 3rd year of riding a pink bike.....the first two were much more successful on and off the bike! Overall the idea was awesome and the follow thru was great, I do not have the total amount donated to the HOPE Foundation but do know for fact that they did receive double digit donations of decent size, so that is a plus! I also know that a couple of people mentioned at different races that they knew someone or themselves were impacted......and thanked me for riding a pink bike in awareness! So many ways in which the Pink Bike was a very rewarding experience!!!

Looking ahead......being the Team Manager of a Specialized sponsored team........you get the picture here......our fantastic Rep Pete would love to see yours truly aboard a Specialized.....and he is doing what it just might take to make it happen :)

As of right now......looking at Specialized bikes and also deciding what to do with Pinky? Any interest??? Or acquire a Hard Tail and have the best of both worlds?

My thoughts on next season is that I would like a change.....I think I am ready for a new ride and I am thinking about giving the 29er a shot? Big guy and big wheels.....go really fast!!! Orrrrr......toss the pink components on that sweet ano brown Epic Marathon and race that bad boy? Decisions.

Work is still work, the holiday schedule sucks......really no holidays for me? Work Turkey Day, off Christmas but work the eve and on call the two days after......off New Years, that might be alright I guess. POLAR BEAR BIKE RIDE on New Years Day!

Girls are good, dance, swimming, and basketball keep us beyond busy......speaking of dance......the cost is about pushing us away! We may just be full-time athletes come next year....if we can make it thru this season? One should come up with a costume closet......no humor in the amount of cash we put in for costumes.....as in tonight! And then use them one year and to the basement they go?????

Alright, time to work......lots going on I guess....stayed tuned for results from all?

Iceman Report

The 2009 Iceman is in the books, headed out to Traverse City with a half dozen or so of the Flyers.....loaded up at 6am and hit the road for the long 7 hour drive deep into the mainland of Michigan.

As you can see by the paper headline......we had great weather, very non-Iceman like weather! With temps in the mid 40's at the start and no sign of the usual sleet/rain/snow mixture.....we were in for a fast race on a packed fast course!

We rolled out on the new start through the city streets of Kalkaska and off to the trails, I started with Russell and we weaved our way thru a bunch of traffic passing close to or more than 50 riders, we hit the woods in decent shape I thought? I stayed with Russell for around the first 10 miles and then realized....I have to back off a little....rather finish without cramps, more on that later.

Hooked up with a couple of riders after losing Russell and just stayed at a nice pace, never really got passed to much and felt like I was doing some passing.....still feeling alright. Right before the big climb was a left turn.....came into that way toooooo hot, straight into the woods, whooops....back on course and off we go. The last 5 miles are the beasty miles, lots of pitch climbs that rip at your legs and must be in partnership with the nasty leg cramps.....with three to go I started feeling them knocking......I just tried to ignore them and keep the legs spinning....it sort of worked?

I was cramping pretty good coming out of the last singletrack and tried to be a man and climb the last steep pitch....OUCH. Came through the campground with some sweet cramping ripping at my legs.....but hey....there was a Leinie's waiting in the fridge and this damn season was about to be over.....yes!

My goals going into the race were to have a good time and just ride as hard as I could, hoping to stay under 2:15......time was 2:14.20, stayed under the time I set and ended up 29th out of 100 in the Expert/Sport Clydesdale class.....not bad. I honestly got out of the race.....exactly what I put into the race, I have gone faster, but I was 12 pounds lighter and had a lot more training in the legs......I'll take the finish with a smile.

Thanks to Russell for the race early on, appreciate it, and thanks to my teammates for a good weekend....good times! And of course my wife and girls for letting me continue to live the dream!

Rest time.

Almost Iceman time.....or WaterMan time?

This shot is not likely to happen this year, temps are predicted to be a whole lot warmer this year when we take the annual pilgrimage up thru the land of Yoopers and then across the big bridge.....good times and good racing await this weekend!

Training has been so-so.....still riding at least every other day, should do fine and frankly with the theme of this season due to outside factors (injury and crashes)....just looking to head over and have fun racing the bike....plain and simple.

Busy with basketball practice (Kennedy and the 5th grade Jaguars), dance (rumor of a X-mas Dad's dance), and just getting thru the days waiting for the weekend! Also see that the Turkey week schedule has been posted.....and should be shredded! Lucky me....three days of working the overnight shift (?), then work on Thanksgiving and of course the day after......WONDERFUL.

When looking for the Iceman picture I came across the last post of 2008, my good bye to Boomer. Still and always will bring some water in the eyes, miss the old fella each and every day.....just keep hoping we get another Lab someday.