dan ellerkamp

2012 schedule

2012-01-23T17:05:00.000-06:00

Winter is going by rather quickly this year, especially since snow only arrived in mid-January this year. I've been xc skiing a good amount which has been great, I really love it for cross-training in the offseason. I may have to try out the Birkie next year now that I'm not a total beginner on skis.

I'm also working on some bike projects and getting ready for a good season this year. I stripped my cx bike of all my old Dura Ace 7800 components, which have served me well but I think that frame deserves some new shiny parts this time around. My bare 'cross frame is hanging in the basement, stripped of its parts, and sleeping for the winter while it waits for new parts.

My new steel road steed is being painted in Waterford, WI this week, so soon I will be building it up with a new shiny Camapagnolo Athena alloy groupset.

Lastly, here is my tentative 2012 racing schedule!

June 9: Chequamegon 100

June 16: Levis/Trow 100

June 23: Lumberjack 100

August 11: Ore 2 Shore

September 15: Chequamegon 40

November: Iceman Cometh Challenge

September-December: WCA Cyclocross series (racing on Sundays only)

It'll be a busy season! The most challenging part is all three of the 100 milers that I want to do are back to back to back, which will be fatiguing. I'll have to build a really solid base in April and May and recover well between the races. I'm going to schedule a nice 1-2 week break off of the bike after the 3rd one and maybe take a nice vacation somewhere. Then I'll start a nice build period to get fast for O2S and Cheq40. Every year I've sliced a good amount of time off of those races, hopefully someday I'll be up near some fast people in those races (behind the pros of course).

AVL, NC

2012-01-05T15:38:00.000-06:00

Wish I was here right now. Riding in big mountains is addicting, there's nothing quite like it.

class.

2012-01-05T15:33:00.000-06:00

Stoked to build this beautiful Gunnar Roadie up this winter. The classic English Blue w/ white panels will look great with some polished Ritchey classic components. Wisconsin built steel too, can't get much better for some long rides. Looking forward to getting lost on this bike 100 miles away from home.

Wizzard Cross

2011-12-05T15:23:00.000-06:00

This weekend I raced in the last WCA series race before the Badger Regional Championships. LBC and Cory had a brutal course set up, which climbed a sledding hill at Heistand Park not once, not twice, but 3 times. Each lap had 170 ft. of elevation gain! We used to run hill repeats there in high school, and this race was no less painful. I was still a ton of fun though with tacky and muddy conditions and some fun technical bits.

I was unsure how I would do since I haven't raced in a few weeks and was coming off a midseason break where I didn't train for about 3 weeks. I finally got past my mental rut and started training again the past 2 weeks. I was surprised when my workouts tied some of my season best numbers, so I had that to go off of to give me some much needed confidence going into this race. The last race I did at Camrock I had awful starting position so I wasn't going to make that mistake again. I sacrificed some of my warmup and made sure to line up in the front row. The start went well and I was in about 10th position. The very first hill gave a taste of how hard this race was going to be. By the time I climbed the sledding hill in the first lap I was already not seeing straight and was completely out of breath. On the flat sections after the hill I tried to just focus on continuing to push on the pedals and breathe deeply to try to recover. We came through and the lap counter said 6. I wished I hadn't looked at it, 'six laps was going to be brutal!', I thought at the time.

By the 2nd lap a lot of people were just spinning on the flat sections trying to recover, so I took the opportunity to put in some efforts and keep moving up a few places. I didn't really know where I was in the race since it was so spread out, so I just kept trying to push consistent power on the climbs and recover on the flats while riding a hard tempo. After a few more laps it really felt like I had been racing for over an hour, it was by far the hardest course I have ever done. The lap counter still read 2 to go! arrggghhh... The last lap I suffered and was really glad to finally cross the finish line. I ended up in 6th place, which tied by best result of the season! I was super stoked to finally have a good race again, and I had a ton of fun out there. I would always much rather do a ridiculously hard course with some fun technical sections than do a dirt road race like at Badger Prairie or Camrock.

CX season...or offseason?

2011-11-10T13:29:00.001-06:00

Also an update on the CX season -

My cyclocross season started really well. I noticed a big improvement in my racing after incorporating more intensity in my workouts. My starts, which were a previous weakness in my racing, were much improved and I was just behind the lead group in most of my races. My season looked really hopeful after the first 2 weeks of racing, I placed 10th in my first race then 8th, 7th, and 6th. I was motivated and expected to continue improving to place in the top 5 consistently in my races. Then everything kind of fell apart. My first bad race was at Badger Prairie, where my head really wasn't in it. I started great and rode in 3rd place most of the first lap. About 3 laps into the race I completely blew up and started bleeding places. It didn't help that for 3 laps in a row I got bogged down in the sandpit and had to dismount and run. I'm not sure if I started too fast, or just didn't have enough fitness to lay the power down for the whole race. After that, I had an awesome mtb trip up to Levis Mound and did a lot of riding there. Then, Dave called the shop midweek and invited some of my coworkers to shred the trails in Asheville, NC. I couldn't pass that up, so instead of riding that week I scrambled to assemble my brand new Santa Cruz Blur TRc and pack. Asheville was absolutely amazing, I was so happy I was able to make the trip, thanks to Dave getting a headset for me from Cane Creek! So, I was pretty spent after 16 hours on the mtb over 4 days, but instead of doing recovery rides I took that whole week off the bike. Not a good plan...Washington park was perhaps my worst cyclocross race ever. I didn't start well, couldn't hold position at all, and faded back to 32nd place. A week off of the bike, followed by 16 hours of mtbing over 4 days, then another 4 days off the bike with 14 hours of driving mixed in doesn't make for very good cyclocross legs. I skipped the Sheboygan race and took the day off after Washington park. I didn't really have the motivation to train anymore after 2 pretty bad races. Because of losing my focus and having fun on the mtb my cross fitness started going backwards. Once November started, I got over the fact that I wasn't in Asheville anymore and just had to suck it up and ride in the cloudy, windy, and cold Wisconsin weather. I had an OK threshold workout 2 days before Iceman, then had pretty good legs for Iceman. After Iceman I had a solid mtb ride at the Kettles, but then the weather got cold and rainy. I hate riding on the trainer so I just stopped riding again. Now 2 days before Camrock and I still am not training, despite Camrock being a pretty good course for me and the knowledge that if I have one good race that will get me back on track mentally and motivated to train again. It seems like right now long mountain bike rides are the only thing I want to do.

I wonder why I completely lose motivation to train in November every year, in between the nice sunny fall weather and when there is snow on the ground. I started my season late to avoid burning out in November, so I know I'm not burned out physically or mentally. Do I just need to suck it up and keep riding? Or do I just suck at cyclocross and should focus on endurance riding? These are questions that I'll have a lot of time to ponder over the next few weeks, and hopefully I come up with some answers so I know how to avoid a mental rut next season. At least cross season is really long this year, so maybe I can salvage some fitness in time for Wizard Cross or Nationals at Badger Prairie. All I can do is wait until I get out the this rut mentally and sprinkle a few workouts in when I feel like it. I have to keep reminding myself that its only bike racing and it is supposed to be fun!

Iceman Cometh 2011

2011-11-10T12:59:00.002-06:00

Traveled up to Traverse City, MI for a fun weekend of racing and shopping. Iceman wasn't true to its name this year with sunny skies and temps that climbed into the mid 50's later in the day. Chilly temps greeted the racers at the start and a lot of the open fields still had frost on the ground. Started in good position in my singlespeed wave and stayed with the lead group. We got caught behind a lot of geared riders in any singletrack section, which slowed the pace considerably. I pretty much recovered when stuck behind people then hit it when I reached the doubletrack sections. By about halfway through the race I had dropped the other riders in my wave by riding a solid tempo. There were enough singlespeeders up in the seeded waves that I finished 14th singlespeed overall. At least I have a finishing time and a better starting position next year. The race is a ton of fun and definitely worth the long drive from Madison. Traverse City is a really cool place also, tons of great restaurants and beautiful scenery on Lake Michigan. If I get in next year I'll definitely be back!

Chequamegon Fat Tire 40 Race Report

2011-10-11T10:03:00.000-05:00

I raced in my first Chequamegon 40 this year. It is truly a great experience and an awesome place to ride. I drove up race morning at 2am since I had a cold that week, and lined up at 8am somewhere in the middle of the 1800+ riders. I spun out on the singlespeed during the pavement lead out section, so I started pretty far back in the field. At Rosie's field when the riders hit grass I took the outside line and tried to get around as many people as possible that started a lot faster. The first 10 miles of the race were pretty much going this way, with trains of riders riding along the smooth singletrack on the birkie trail, and me powering past on a rougher outside line. I especially noticed with the singlespeed that I could power up lots of the smaller rollers and hold speed really well over the top of the roller and on the way down since I didn't have to worry about shifting. I ran up most of Firetower hill, and just kept cruising after that. I was pulling a train of geared riders on a fire road section and my quads started cramping, so the last few larger hills on the birkie trail were pretty tough. Once the trail hit Lake Helane I looked out on to the water with the sun reflecting off of the lake and smiled ear to ear. So sweet. Powered up the last climb and bombed the descent on Telemark, to finish in 2:38, good for 16th place singlespeed and 300th overall. I hope to be back again next year for this beautiful race.

I'm baaaack...

2011-10-11T00:15:00.000-05:00

After a long time away from updating this blog, I'm going to try to keep up with it since cx season is in full swing!

It's been a crazy busy season so far with the purchase of our new home and a new vehicle! Also, recovery from my nasal surgery was delayed because I developed a deep vein thrombosis (clot) in my calf. I've been on blood thinners since May and have frequent appointments to adjust my dosage. Because of the higher bleeding risk there have been no WORS races for me this year. I decided to still ride my mountain bike against the recommendation of doctors, just slightly more carefully :) My official season of riding didn't start until early July this year, when I purchased a CycleOps PowerTap. At the time I was stressed out about the lost fitness from starting so late in the season, but training with power has allowed me to do more with less time and miles on the bike. This year I've seen significant improvement in my fitness by training smarter and developing a plan. My workouts are more structured and I have a clear goal in mind every workout instead of endlessly plugging away base miles. I still enjoy doing long rides, but the spring and early summer is a better time of year for putting on a lot of easy miles. The late start to the season has worked out perfectly for cyclocross, as I am physically fresh and getting stronger, and I am mentally hungry to race for the first time in awhile.

Speaking of racing, I will post a few late race reports about my first Chequamegon Fat Tire 40 and the first two weekends of the cyclocross season! The first race of the year for me was Ore 2 Shore, where I improved on my time from last year by over 15 minutes, and on a singlespeed. Overall the race was fast and a ton of fun. This time we stayed in Marquette for a few days after the race and I'm glad we did because its a beautiful place.

My first weekends of cyclocross are going well, I'll post more detailed reports but I started the season placing 10th, 8th, 7th, then 6th in the first four races. I'm no longer stuck in a string of unlucky 13th places like last year! I'm happy to see steady improvement and motivated to train to get faster. With one more solid week of build and a rest week I hope to see some good gains in fitness. After that, I have one more block of Build planned to prepare for my 'A' race of the season, the WI State CX championships. I'm focusing on recovery, staying healthy, and continuing to get faster.

delayed start to the season

2011-05-09T14:19:00.001-05:00

My riding season won't really start until June with a very busy May this month. First, is recovery from my nose surgery. The surgeon took some cartilage from my left ear and inserted it inside of my nose! They also ground out some of the bone in my nasal passages to open things up more. Hopefully this will help me breathe and sleep better long-term. I've never really been able to breathe through my nose at all, so this will be a big improvement! Even though its not the main reason I had the surgery, it will have the added benefit of helping me breathe while racing, which I've always had some trouble with. A week or two of discomfort will be worth it long term! I'll have to sleep upright in a recliner for a couple weeks, and no bike riding or working out until May 18 at the earliest.

recovering...

Another reason we will have a busy month is we had an offer accepted on a house!!! Its a beautiful, newly remodeled home on Jenifer Street. We love the house and the neighborhood. This month will be very busy with the inspection and closing on the mortgage. We close June 1st and will be moving in mid-June if everything goes smoothly. I've accepted that I'll have a down cycling year because of all the things associated with moving into a new home, but it will totally be worth it!!!

yurt!

2011-03-01T16:37:00.000-06:00

I also wanted to add some photos from a challenging but super fun vacation we took in late December: we packed up our backpacking packs and cross country skied 7 miles into the Porcupine Mountains wilderness to sleep in a yurt for 2 nights. Diana didn't think it was as fun as I did...but we'll be back next year in February when the days are a few hours longer :)

nearing the end of winter...

2011-03-01T16:19:00.001-06:00

I'm back after an extended break from blog posts over the winter. It was a good offseason with some much needed physical and mental rest. Winter was accompanied by a decent amount of xc skiing for some cross training and the occasional capitol city trail loop with Scott N. Besides that the only cycling miles my legs are accustomed to is my 25 minute commute to and from class 3 days per week. It feels a little unsettling to be out of cycling shape, but I'm confident my legs will remember how strong they once were last year, and build upon that fitness. I'm making a point to start this season later than usual to remain fresh into the fall. Last season I was so stoked to ride outside in March that I put on a huge amount of miles in March thru May, then was super strong in June but faded mentally in July and August, which resulted in a lackluster cx season where I got sick for 3+ weeks. This season I don't plan to be really strong until September and October.

My tentative 2011 racing schedule:

June 18: Muir South Kettle Classic
July 30: Wausau 24, 2 person 12-hour
August 13: Ore 2 Shore
September 17: Chequamegon Fat Tire 40
November 5: Iceman Cometh

And, of course, the most fun discipline in bike racing: cyclocross.
CX NATIONALS IN MADISON JANUARY 2012!!!

All mtb races will be done on my fully rigid Fisher Ferrous 29er singlespeed. I have no goals in most of these races, just to have fun with very little structured training until late in the season. I plan to do lots of long road and mtb rides for pure enjoyment. Hopefully I'll be mentally fresh for a lot of high intensity training in September and October to prepare for CX season.

offseason project...

2010-11-19T18:59:00.000-06:00

The offseason is here. Little to no bike riding accompanied by a little bit of running, shorter days with less sunlight, and sleeping all day. The body is resting and storing energy. The mind is filled with thoughts and dreams about the upcoming season. Among those thoughts I retrieved a bike project idea. Converted my Ferrous to a fully rigid singlespeed. This is the way this bike was meant to be ridden. I will extract joy from the pure simplicity of riding this bike. This bike is something old but new. It will refresh my enthusiasm for bike riding while the days are short, the air is crisp, and the crunch of fall leaves is all you hear under your tires on the trail. No shifting. No drivetrain noise or chain slap. Just pure singlespeed joy.

Wizzard Cross

2010-11-03T15:21:00.000-05:00

Wizzard cross at Warner Park was the first off-road bicycle race in the City of Madison and was a huge success! Thanks to the City of Madison and Team Magnus and all the sponsors for an awesome event. It was an honor to be a part of setting up the course, and I heard nothing but compliments about the course and Team Magnus that day. Well done!

Got up at 6am Sunday am to help with course setup, and while preriding the lap at 8am I slid out on some frost and sat on top of my rear wheel, which tacoed the rim in the process. Really...?! I thought I had enough bad luck this season already. Ran home and grabbed my wheel from my road bike, and thanks to Scott N. for lending me a spare clincher tire to race on. I decided to just race for fun since I didn't do any riding for 3+ weeks, hence the fake mustache I sported. It's Halloween, right? Might as well have some fun.

Ended up a meager 31st place, I just didn't have any legs that day and no more fitness to even be able to apply power to the pedals. This marks an earlier than expected but needed start to my offseason. A very disappointing cross season for the second year in a row combined with significantly less daylight leaves me in a pretty rotten mood. I have no motivation to ride anymore and am too busy with school and work to attempt training again. The plan is to start running a few times a week until I feel like riding again, which hopefully will come soon.

Looking back on the season, I feel like I don't possess enough mental toughness to carry a super strong May and June into cyclocross season, the season overall was just too long and I mentally burned out and pretty much gave up as soon as school started. This is why next year I'm not doing a single WORS race, and I'm just going to have fun riding and not really do any focused training until August and Ore to Shore. Looking at all the top guys in cross, most of them don't do any racing the whole season so they are fresh and hungry going into cyclocross. I hope I will be as well. I need to have a couple good seasons in me if I hope to race in Nationals when they come to Madison in 2012.

offseason...

2010-10-19T14:30:00.000-05:00

I love this picture from the first cx race this year. The look on my face says it all.

I've had a nasty cold that turned into a sinus infection for a week and a half now, and with no riding for over 2 weeks I'm losing what little fitness I had left at this point. I'm leaning towards just starting my offseason a little early, but if I feel better at some point I might try CamRock or the Wizzard Cross at Warner park and see how those races go. Unbelievably frustrating to lose several weeks in the middle of the 'cross season for the second year in a row. Next season I'm not going to do more than a couple races prior to cyclocross season, just to ensure I'm fresh and healthy going in. I think this year the combination of school stress, working, and training with a lot of intensity was too much and my immune system shut down. Arrgghhhh...

WORS #12

2010-10-13T19:30:00.002-05:00

Traveled to Sheboygan, WI for the WORS finale, the Wigwam MTB Challenge. Lined up at the start after warming up, chatted with teammate Travis and said good luck to Ben, who was ahead of me in the Age class standings and would likely remain so even if I raced well. The battle for 3rd place in my Age class was a tight one this year that came down to the final race, only about 30 points separated 3rd from 5th (where I was going in). Legs were tired from a cross race the day before but I was optimistic that I would have a good race. Well…that didn’t happen but I had fun and was happy to close out the long WORS season. Legs felt heavy and sluggish, and on the first lap the guys I wanted to stay with got away as I got caught behind some masters and clyde racers in the singletrack. Rode a steady pace to 8th in my age category, which was good enough for 5th overall in my age class for the series and 30 points out of 3rd.

On the way home we took the long drive back to Madison along the backroads, which took us through the Northern Kettles and Horicon Marsh. The fall colors are absolutely beautiful out there, go outside and enjoy them while you can!

Overall I’m pleased with how the mtb season went and surpassed my expectations, while racing with some fast folks and having a lot of fun along the way. Thanks to T6 for keeping me looking rad all season, and special thanks to my wife Diana for being so supportive through a very long season!

The season isn't over yet, there are still 8 more cross races to go in the WI series! So far in the first three races I got 3 straight 13th places, which wasn't where I wanted to be but we'll see how it goes later in the season. After racing a double weekend with Grafton Pumpkincross on saturday and the WORS race on Sunday I woke up with a pretty bad cold on Monday morning, so time to get healthy this week and hopefully be feeling better by the Badger Prairie race.

Levis Mound 9/5 & 9/19

2010-09-22T20:32:00.001-05:00

Some of the best trails in the state...a hidden gem

No Good Double Cross

2010-09-21T22:40:00.000-05:00

Cyclocross is here! Raced the first race of the 2010 WCA Cyclocross Series, the No Good Double Cross. The venue was Kettle Moraine Ranch, and the course was a lot of fun. Heavy rain the night before left a lot of the course in deep sloppy mud which required racers to use those bike handling skills. I started way too slow and got caught behind the entire field during the first lap. By about halfway through the race I started racing harder and slowly caught up to where I should be....got on Nate's wheel with 2 to go but dropped my chain on a muddy climb and wasted precious seconds to manually put it back on. Ended up 12th, which was a respectable result for the first race of the season. With a better start and mentally getting used to pushing the pace a little harder I hope to be up in the top 5 where I know can be...

A second mtb trip to Levis Mound was some good riding, and I'm going to train through the USGP Planet Bike Cup and hopefully the legs will be responding well and ready to go for Cross the Domes at Mitchell Park, race #2.

WORS #10 Treadfest

2010-09-17T12:45:00.000-05:00

Lined up for WORS #10 in Lake Geneva. I always love this course, it has a great mix of challenging climbing and fun singletrack that doesn’t give you a whole lot of rest. Rain the night before made the trails fast and tacky, which was much easier to handle than last year’s dry and dusty conditions.

Lined up at the start and to my surprise I had my first call-up of the season! It was awesome to start in the front row vs. three rows back, it made the start a lot faster. GOOOOOOOO! The first lap I raced hard and tried to keep myself in a good position in the Comp field. The rock garden is a super fun technical feature of this course…I remember last year it kind of freaked me out but this year I confidently rode it and felt relaxed the whole time. I guess all that riding at Chequamegon and Levis this year paid off!

For the second race in a row I thought there were 4 laps instead of 3, because last year’s course had 4 laps. I think this year they added more new singletrack so the laps were a bit slower…I realized halfway through the 3rd lap that there were probably only 3 laps based on how much time I had already been racing. Rode the last half lap by myself which was fun in the singletrack…the faster guys in the Comp field were long gone in front of me by this point. I really need to start paying attention to what Don says at the start of the race so I know how many laps to race! I could of gone a lot harder at the end of the 2nd lap and the first half of the 3rd lap, but oh well.

Ended up 3rd Age Group and 14th overall Comp for my best result of the season and my first WORS medal! The legs are finally feeling good after an extended break from racing in July and August. I feel ready to kill it in cyclocross, a good race is exactly what I needed with the first WCA CX race on Saturday, the No Good Double Cross!

WORS #7 Alterra Coffee Bean Classic (resched)

2010-08-31T13:23:00.002-05:00

Apparently I forgot how to ride a mountain bike. The photo above pretty much sums up my day...I can't really take anything positive out of showing up. I wasn't in the race mentally from the start, and I had several crashes, mechanical mishaps, I was sluggish in the singletrack, and I thought there were 4 laps instead of 3 so I didn't even get my nutrition and pacing right. Thats what happens when I only race for points and not for fun...I really dislike the Alterra course to begin with.

I took the frustration from the bad day and turned it into a 90 mile road ride on Monday, and climbed/attacked Mounds Park Road out of the saddle the whole way up to the state park. My legs and back are cashed. Tuned up my mtb last night with a new chain, cassette, shift cables & housing and put on my XT triple crankset instead of the shitty FSA double crank that has given me shifting issues on climbs. I rode a blue loop at John Muir in the Southern Kettles and the bike felt great, really worked like a brand new bike which was refreshing. It was fun to ride some singletrack again and I needed the practice. I also raised my saddle about 1cm and raised my handlebar position 1cm, which felt good as well. I'm discovering that the 32t chainring on a triple is still the money gear...the 40t on a double is still too big on a 29er for all around riding. I was able to spin a higher cadence and pedal much more efficiently with less effort in the middle ring on a triple.

Nothing like a couple solid days on the bike to push the memories of a bad race to the back of my mind.

WORS #9

2010-08-24T10:52:00.000-05:00

Raced the Reforestation Ramble, WORS #9 in Suamico, WI on Sunday. Diana was gone that weekend doing the Danskin Triathlon, so I accidentally overslept that morning and barely made it to the starting line on time...I literally pulled up about 5 minutes before race start. Not the best way to start the day. The first lap was tough without a warmup, my legs felt pretty heavy and the feeling didn't go away most of the race. By the 3rd lap I finally remembered how to ride singletrack without riding the brakes as much, but I was out of contention in my age group and riding alone several minutes back. The course was awesome as usual with fast doubletrack and smooth, flowing singletrack. They added more singletrack this year than last year, which made the lap times a couple minutes slower...or maybe it was my legs. The course suited me better last year with a little more doubletrack and less singletrack, but it was still a fun race. Took 7th in my age class...either my competition is getting faster or I am getting slower...perhaps a bit of both. A steady diet of racing in the coming weeks should bring back some of my fitness...the rescheduled Alterra race is next week, followed by Lake Geneva 2 weeks after that, then a rest week to prepare for the Cheq40! Hopefully by then I'll be ready for 'cross season.

8/12

2010-08-18T11:31:00.000-05:00

chased by my shadow...

Ore to Shore - Report

2010-08-17T12:56:00.005-05:00

on the course

finishing sprint

Raced in my first O2S this year, an epic 48-mile journey from Negaunee to Marquette, MI! Not having any pre-race goals, I hoped to finish around 3 hours or around the top 100 overall. Camped in Marquette the night before, then race morning woke up and headed to Negaunee for the race start. Had a good relaxed warmup then lined up a few rows back, where I self-seeded my starting position for an anticipated finish time of sub-3 hours. The pavement rollout was fast and the race was on. I made up as much ground as I could before we hit the dirt for the long journey towards Marquette. Found a good group for the first 20 miles or so. Some sections of the course were flooded, and my tires slid out on a off-camber tire rut that was filled with water and mud. I lost some time waiting to filter back into the field since it was still pretty early on in the race. I spent a lot of energy trying to chase back up to my original position. On the first steep rocky climb in a powerline corridor, my chain shifted between my cassette and my spokes and I had to spend a couple minutes trying to pry it out, so I lost even more time. In the middle of the race there were some pretty flooded and muddy sections which clogged my drivetrain, and on most of the climbs after that my chain jammed whenever I tried to shift into my small ring. Most of the rest of the climbs on the way home were hike-a-bike sections because of the mechanical difficulties, which was frustrating but I stayed positive and enjoyed the course and tried to keep having fun, since this was my first time racing this event.

The last 16 miles were mostly downhill and I kept a steady pace and tried to keep pushing on the pedals, which was hard mentally since I was riding alone. With 15 to go my hydration pack went dry so I finished the race on fumes, but had a fun sprint at the finish with another rider that caught up to me with about 2 to go. Ended up finishing in 3:07:00, which I was happy with considering my mechanical difficulties. Looking back I should have raced with less tire pressure as well, I kept mine at about 40psi which I felt was high for the rocky and sandy course.

Overall the race was a blast and I loved racing at that distance, I feel a sub-3 hour race and top 100 placing is reachable for next year!!!

gravel grinder.

2010-07-29T00:31:00.012-05:00

Badger State Trail 7/27, Madison to Illinois and back to Madison. It was a grueling but epic ride, 8 hours in the saddle, by far my longest day on a bike. The legs are prepared for what's to come.

the start

Badger Trail

river crossing

The tunnel approaches...

river crossing #2

Illinois State line at 4+ hours in the saddle. this is going to be a longer ride than anticipated...

The tunnel's entrance from the South. A very welcome sight on the way home...

vacation!

2010-07-20T10:22:00.005-05:00

We had an awesome vacation last week up North filled with relaxation and fun! We started in Bayfield, WI and the Apostle Islands and stayed in a B&B for 2 nights. Bayfield is a quiet little town on Lake Superior with excellent restaurants and was very relaxing. Our last day up there we took a Kayaking day trip to see the sea caves carved in the red sandstone bluffs! It was amazing and breathtaking. Wedneday had severe storms all day while we were camping in Big Bay State Park on Madeline Island so we didn't have much to do but read and play Euchre. The last 3 days we camped on Lake Namakagon in the Chequamegon National Forest and mountain biked! The riding up there is incredible, even the technical riding was so well maintained and well ridden that it never felt dangerous. The first day I did the Hatchery Creek Trail in the Hayward Cluster with Diana, then the second day I did the Rock Lake and Lake Hildebrand Trail solo, which was AWESOME! The trail was 100% technical singletrack with lots of sidehill trail, challenging climbs, and rock gardens/boulders. I rode all the technical features including the "no hands bridge", and "Wall Street", which was a fast descent on rocks that was a bit scary but so much fun. The last day I did a relatively relaxed ride with Diana on the Lake Namakagon Trail, then I rode Rock Lake one more time before coming home. The second time I also did the 5-mile cutoff for the trail and rode "Volkswagon Rock' which was a large round boulder that was pretty easy to ride over. Overall the CAMBA-maintained trails are some of the best in the State and I highly recommend the riding....I already want to go back!

WORS #5 and in to July

2010-07-17T23:40:00.008-05:00

It's been awhile since my last post, I raced a lot in the month of June and once July rolled around I was ready for vacation and mentally checked out for a couple weeks. The weekend of June 26th and 27th I raced Subaru Cup in Mt. Morris. On Saturday was the XC race, and a very large Cat 2/3 combined field of over 200 riders lined up to race. I wanted to stay ahead of as many Sport riders as I could and try to stick with the top racers in my age class who have been evasive all season. I started ok and was near the front early in the first lap. On a technical switchback on a downhill I let my front wheel slide out on the slick trail and I went into a tree. A huge train of Cat 3 riders rolled past and I had to wait about a minute to be able to slide in. Shortly after on another downhill I dropped my chain and lost another group of riders, and spent the rest of the race towards the back and frustrated. My handling was really sloppy the rest of the race since going in to the tree rattled me a little.

The next day I sought redemption in the short track race, or the hurricane of pain as they call it. The course was awesome with a short steep climb thrown in that made the legs scream! The race was 15 minutes of as fast as you can go, it reminded me a lot of cross, and I loved it! After a blur of high intensity I ended up in 8th place in my age class, about a minute back from the lead group. I would have liked to bridge up to the lead group but I was happy with my race considering I haven't put any anaerobic efforts into my training yet (besides racing of course). Thanks to Don and the WORS crew for sorting out the results, which had some inaccuracies in the first go-around. I'm sure that was not easy and took a lot of work.

I took the rest of the week pretty easy after the race as I was fighting off a virus, probably caused by all the racing with too little sleep. I tried riding a nice 40 mile loop on Wednesday and tested my legs on the Schaller road climb but my body was tired so I took it easy, and did an easy 35 mile spin around Lake Kegonsa on Friday.

July the 4th was an awesome day, I recovered the week before without getting sick and I did the Blanchardville Century ride! I felt really good on the climbs and was able to hold a steady pace even towards the end. The views at the top of the ridges were beautiful, with gorgeous wooded roads in the valleys. By far the best century I've ever done. I took the rest of the week pretty easy, I put in another long ride on Thursday to Blue Mounds, but kept the intensity pretty low except on the Ryan Rd/Blue Mounds climbs. It was overall a nice easy couple weeks to recharge mentally and physically mid-season. After vacation I hope to be motivated to train hard again and build up to a strong second half of the WORS season, a good O2S race and Cheq 40, and most importantly be strongest by cyclocross season!

6/22

2010-06-23T12:40:00.003-05:00

It was a hot one yesterday with temps in the mid 80's with 90% humidity. Rode out to Brigham Park and Blue Mounds. Beautiful riding out there. I went through 5 water bottles and was still dehydrated, but felt pretty good. Legs were a little fatigued from the race effort the day before, but I got some solid hill climbing in and felt strong on the hills. Thunderstorms kept me awake half the night so I'm taking a day off the bike today to rest for the race on Thursday in the Northern Kettles. The course sounds right up my alley with a steady 3 mile climb to start a long 10-mile lap that we do 4 times. I'm excited and will try to race for a result this time rather than going on silly solo breakaways for fun.

6/21

2010-06-23T12:36:00.002-05:00

Elkhart Lake Road America Road Race

Had fun in my second road race on Monday. We did 8 laps of a 4-mile loop on the race car track. The pace was relatively slow and everyone seemed to be looking at each other, knowing any breaks wouldn't last on the non-challenging and fast course. With one lap to go I got bored and attacked the field with 3 miles to go to the finish. I had fun out on my own and held about a 50m gap until 0.5 miles to the finish. The legs gave out and the field caught me, but I didn't expect the break to work, I just wanted a nice interval workout. It was fun to play Cancellara for 2.5 miles :)

6/18

2010-06-19T22:06:00.002-05:00

rode a Paoli loop w/ Diana and Grace at a relaxed pace. Perfect morning for riding, felt recovered by the end.

6/17

2010-06-19T21:59:00.000-05:00

WORS #4

2010-06-16T09:11:00.003-05:00

WORS race #4 at Sunburst Ski Area was another fast, open course with a challenging climb up a slippery slope thrown in. It was very humid out and the race felt hot despite moderate temperatures, and unfortunately the rain stayed away from this one. After a good warmup lined up at the start and away we go. I had another slow start and got caught behind quite a few riders on the hill climb…traffic got a little backed up and riders had to dismount and run up the slippery roots. After a bit of frustration waiting to accelerate to race pace, I opened it up on the first doubletrack section and started passing as many riders as I could. The rest of the first lap was a high intensity blur interspersed with “on your lefts” and “on your rights”. By the top of the climb on on the second and third lap I was pretty gassed but kept a steady pace. The fourth lap I felt great and rode hard to the finish. Didn’t really have a clue where I was in the race as I lost contact with the front guys at the start and ended up riding alone the whole race, but ended up 12th Comp and 5th Age Class. Very happy with the result overall, each WORS race this season I have improved! Overall I felt good after a much needed rest week. Time to train hard again this week to prepare for a busy racing schedule the following week: two America’s Dairyland road races on Monday and Thursday followed by Subaru Cup XC race on Saturday and Short Track on Sunday! 4 races in 6 days should be a hell of a lot of fun.

State Rd Championships

2010-06-07T22:55:00.002-05:00

Had a fun first road race on Sunday in Spring Prairie for the WI State Road Championships. Warmed up with the team, which was quite a sight as there were 8 of us flying the Magnus green colors. The first lap was fast, I almost lost the lead group at the start but I chased back on quickly on the downhill. I worked my way up to the top ten and sat there with Dave T. for a couple of laps, and tried to stay with any accelerations that the lead guys put in. From the start it was obvious it was going to be race between Nathan Guerra and Matt Gehling as they appeared fastest on the day. Once the lead group of about 20 guys hit the hill climb for the 4th time (2 laps to go) the lead guys put in a pretty good acceleration to split up the field and I got dropped off the back of the group. Rode the last 2 laps time trialing on my own while a thunderstorm rolled through to cool me off. Ended up placing 21st out of 57, and teammates Luke BC and Dave T placed 3rd and 5th respectively. Overall I was pleased with the race as I was able to ride in the lead group for about 3 1/2 laps, a little over half the race. It was fun to try my first road race, I think I'll also race the two America's Dairyland road races before Subaru Cup. 4 races in 6 days will lead to tired legs, but racing is the best training so I might as well stress the legs a bit before vacation in July.

6/1

2010-06-01T14:40:00.002-05:00

47 miles, 20mph avg in hilly terrain. Legs are responding well from the racing, still getting stronger.

WORS #3

2010-05-30T23:29:00.005-05:00

Hot and dusty conditions greeted racers for this year’s Big Ring Classic. The course was true to its name with very fast, open doubletrack sections. I drove up to Wausau the morning of the race, changed into my new METAL kit, which was awesome!, warmed up briefly then lined up for the start. GOOOOO! and off we went. Rode decently well the first lap, got a bit worked by the steeper climbs early in the lap but recovered in the singletrack and had fun on the fast downhills on the second half of the lap. The course suits me well with the long climbs and fast open sections, and not overly technical. The bike was great too, perfect course for a 29er.

Lap 2 I was a bit slower, so I ingested a couple 2x caffeine gels and drank over half of my deuter hydration pack (which saved me today) for a much needed boost. The gels kicked in and I felt strong on the 3rd lap, rode hard on the open doubletrack sections and passed a couple groups of tired riders. Sprinted to the finish line after hearing another rider close on my wheel, but turned he wasn’t in my age class, it was none other than Open singlespeed racer Ryan Shiroma! Placed 6th in my age class and 22nd overall in Comp, my best to date! steadily improving…

Time to recover and get ready for WI State road championships on 6/6…

4/24

2010-05-24T23:10:00.004-05:00

Had one of my higher volume training weeks last week, 250 miles in all, and the legs were tired. I recovered friday and Saturday since I work 19 hours those two days...then I also worked 8 hours Sunday for a long weekend. I went out Sunday night and my legs were surprisingly fresh and responded well from the volume the week before. I did 3 x 20min intervals at threshold with 5min rest between and felt really strong...my fastest workout of the year so far. Took the bike out today and the legs weren't quite as snappy, but it was a good ride overall to Fritz Rd and the Schaller Rd climb then home on the Paoli loop with a little off-road riding thrown in on the H8TR trail. It was hot out there, even the cows were in the shade.

5/29

2010-05-24T22:46:00.003-05:00

pondering...

2010-05-20T16:14:00.006-05:00

Had a good ride at the Kettles today, did about 25-30 miles of singletrack. My legs were still fatigued from my century ride on Tuesday and my handling skills were sloppy but still nice to get out. LBC and Meghan were on their new Felt carbon hardtails and they looked fast. I'm left thinking if the 29er is still the right bike for me after all...it certainly has its advantages (fast on doubletrack, rolls over rocks/roots easily, very stable and comfortable) and disadvantages (slow in the singletrack, takes more energy to accelerate the larger wheel). After 2 years of mountain biking my weakness is still singletrack, and I use too much brake and am constantly using a lot of leg power to get those big 29er wheels back up to speed. The 29er is certainly the ideal bike for fast, non-technical race courses like Iola, Nine Mile, and Suamico....but all the other WORS races require singletrack prowess and quick handling capabilities. I wonder if I would be faster on a lighter-weight, flickable 26" race bike. 2011 bikes are due to come out late this summer so I'm stoked to see what is out there next year. I'm thinking something carbon and fast...and the full suspension would definitely aid my handling skills not to mention be much easier on my back.

I've narrowed it down to either the Trek Top Fuel 9.8 if I want to to WEMS series races, or the Salsa El Mariachi Ti or Fisher Superfly if I decide to stick with 29ers and continue improving my handling on what I am familiar with.

the start of a GOOD week!

2010-05-18T20:54:00.003-05:00

Crystal Lake

cows :P

I finally dragged myself out the door after 5 days off the bike on Monday and rode to Oregon then home on the Paoli loop. The 5 days of rest actually had my legs feeling extremely fresh so I rode hard for the majority of the ride, and averaged 20.5 mph with warmup/cooldown and riding in the city, so my actual workout was probably over 21 mph for about 30 miles. That was a huge confidence booster, being my first solid ride of the year, and had the added benefit of lifting my mental state to where it should be.

Another solid ride today, I went out to Devil's Lake and did my first Century ride of the year. The average speed was a less-than stellar 17.5 mph but I was by myself, and it was breezy and hilly. I ran out of water in Lodi too so the last hour of the ride I dragged my dehydrated carcass back home, but felt good overall.

not a good week

2010-05-16T09:56:00.002-05:00

Several challenges to my riding put me in a pretty good mental funk after this week. Most days last week were windy and raining, and on Wednesday it was cold and windy but I decided to get out for an Ironman loop ride since there was a window with no rain on that day. When I got home and I was walking around I noticed a very sharp pain in the ball of my foot in between my 3rd and 4th metatarsal bones, which didn't go away for several days. This is a nerve problem called Morton's Neuroma, which Diana suffered from when she was Ironman training. Probably caused by the narrow toe box of my Sidi road shoes. Great...if I have to buy all new shoes I'm going to be pissed.

Then, the only nice days of the week were Friday and Saturday, when I had to work 10 hours and 9 hours, respectively. So 3 days off the bike and I lost a bunch of fitness, and am in the mental gutter.

No motivation to drive up to Rhinelander to race today, and I woke up too late to do the Wheels on Willy Criterium, so I'm just going to go out for a road ride somewhere with some hills. Hopefully a few days of consistent riding will lift my spirits.

rainy day

2010-05-11T15:51:00.002-05:00

Well, I actually got some riding in today despite the rainy weather...even though they were all commuting miles, they are miles nonetheless. I took my final exam over at MATC Truax Campus, and the instructor proceeded to tell us that someone broke into his office and stole his laptop which had our grades on it, so I had to ride home then back to campus to hand in my exam scores. Probably around 20 miles today in all, not too bad for this kind of weather. Seems like a good night to do some core work and house cleaning maybe even some yoga. Mmmmmm...yoga. I don't do that nearly enough.

up too late...

2010-05-11T01:40:00.000-05:00

cramming for my Physics final...but at least I listened to the new The National album, which I already love. Good tunes makes studying tolerable...and the likely trainer workout tomorrow with more rain on the way.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-10T10:24:00.001-05:00

Rode at the Kettles with Diana and Scott N. yesterday. We rode an easy blue loop then I rode a fast green loop with Scott for a short but fun workout. No better way to spend a day off.

what one year of commuting by bike does to a pair of jeans.

2010-05-04T12:49:00.001-05:00

Time to get a pair of Swrve cycling jeans and knickers, hopefully those will hold up a little better.

WORS #1 Iola Bump N' Jump

2010-05-02T20:26:00.001-05:00

Raced in the WORS season opener today in Iola. First time on this racecourse so I didn't know what to expect but it was a fun race overall with some challenging climbs in the first half of the lap. Lined up and waited for the GOOOOoooo! signal then off we went. I felt strong on the first couple climbs but I went down on a loose dusty turn and I lost about 20 spots...rookie mistake! I kept the effort up through the first lap and in to the 2nd lap, then near the end of lap 2 I found a comfortable tempo and didn't ride quite hard enough in the singletrack and ended up riding alone for most of the rest of the race. Near the end of lap 4 I was feeling good and riding in about 10th place in my AG but then my f-ing chain dropped again, which has happened in every race so far that I have run a 1x9 setup, and the chain is a pain in the ass to get back through the chain keeper. My MRP 1.x chainguide was working perfectly all season but again this setup caused me to lose some time in a race. I'm ditching the 1x9 experiment and running 2x9 with a front der for the next race. Ended up 14th in my AG and about in the middle of the Comp field overall. Not a bad result but I could of done a lot better. I felt strong most of the race and wasn't even that tired at the end, which meant that I didn't ride hard enough in those middle laps. I have step up my mental game, HTFU and tolerate pain. Even though my fitness felt great my handling skill still leaves something to be desired.

Still contemplating if the Camp Tesomas Rhinelander race is worth the drive since I hear it is quite technical, which is my glaring weakness at this point. If I chose to opt out of WORS #2 then WORS #3 at Nine Mile will be my next race, which I'm really exited for because its my favorite race course to date. Much more fast singletrack riding to come to improve those handling skills and I hope to have a good showing next race!

4/22

2010-04-25T15:07:00.001-05:00

4/13

2010-04-13T12:53:00.001-05:00

Organization

2010-04-12T14:38:00.000-05:00

Bon Iver, Re: Stacks

Made good use of my day off today by listening to some music (above) and organizing the 2nd bedroom, which will soon actually be usable for something else other than a bike shop...I'm thinking an office/spare bedroom. Threw away a lot of worthless shit, packing material, brought anything useful back to the bike shop. Slowly getting my life organized...

H8TR 100

2010-04-12T12:28:00.001-05:00

Still recovering from my inaugural H8TR ride on Saturday. I tried to stay up front on the leadout but got caught behind the congestion when the 5-wide group filed single file onto the sidewalk next to Hwy PD. Once the djonn unleashed the hate the pace quickened to cyclocross-like intensity. I tried working with a small group on the way out but my early season legs were not accustomed to the efforts and I quickly was off the back. I rode the last 40 miles by myself, unable to stay with any small groups that caught me. It was still a lot of fun though, I had a blast!

The ride was a great workout to awaken my legs and made me realize I have a lot of work to do before the Iola WORS series opener. My fitness is moving along OK for April...I have the ability to ride comfortable to steady pace for extended periods of time but still need to train at higher intensities to be able to sustain harder efforts. My endurance is where it should be, just have to start interval training and inserting more efforts into rides. I want to ride today but my legs are still pretty shot from the H8TR, so I think I'll take a day off and slate a solid workout for tomorrow.

running = bad.

2010-04-08T11:59:00.000-05:00

I tried running for the first time in a couple months yesterday. My IT band got pretty tight and doesn't feel very good today either. I have no motivation to ride today from the sore calves and hips, plus the winter-like weather doesn't help. I guess the H8TR will be a training ride...

from frameset to finished product

2010-04-05T12:22:00.001-05:00

Built up my new commuter, a sweet Salsa Vaya. I see myself going on a tour next summer on this beauty. Also sold my Surly LHT so I broke even overall.

April Fool's

2010-04-05T12:18:00.000-05:00

Had a nice 25mi recovery ride w/ Diana on 4/1. I was her windshield on the way out then cruised in on the way home with a strong tailwind from the South. I missed going on bike rides with my wife :)

R+R

2010-03-24T23:25:00.000-05:00

Recovery day today after a solid 77 mile ride out to Blue Mounds yesterday. My upper calf behind the knee is sore again and I can't figure out what in the hell is causing it....so more stretching and heat/massage until that goes away.

I was reading up on my 2009 posts and my thoughts wandered to how fluid the mind is...last year I was focused on triathlon again and started riding in late April...it is interesting too see how the mindset and goals changed from last year to this year.

I have to keep reminding myself its only March and its going to be a long season...but I'm still so excited and motivated to train. I'm having by far my strongest cycling season to date, and its only March! Every time I train I can see cyclocross in my sights...but I have to remember to keep it fun and not get too serious until August and September.

If this weather keeps up the Kettles will open up soon, and be another way to get solid training on the bike that doesn't feel like training, which is one of the best things about mountain biking, it keeps it fun.

3/23

2010-03-23T16:30:00.000-05:00

77 miles, climbed Ryan Rd and Blue Mounds. I miss this view.

2010-03-18T17:58:00.000-05:00

Solid 45mi ride today out to Old Sauk Rd, then I turned around and climbed one of my favorite hills pictured above. Pretty stiff headwind from the West on the way out, but I flew on the way home with the tailwind. Legs are feeling stronger again, some long hilly routes in the coming weeks will help my fitness progress. Still feeling great for March overall.

3/9

2010-03-09T23:37:00.000-06:00

Another solid ride today, rode with Meghan! and Clausen north of town. Pushed a pretty good tempo on the flats, still need to work on my hill climbing...the power isn't quite in the legs yet. I feel pretty good overall about this season though, this is by far the strongest I've been in March. I'm getting very excited to see my potential if I can keep training consistently.

i heart baked goods.

2010-03-08T10:07:00.000-06:00

Had a great day on Sunday, it started with Lazy Jane's scones and coffee, then I had a nice Sunday bike ride with LBC, Dave, Cory, and Scott out to Paoli. I forgot how nice it is riding w/ 5 people. We stopped at a bakery in Cambridge halfway through and I ate some delicious apple crisp with more coffee, then had a solid ride home. A bike ride combined with baked goods makes a damn good day!

3/5

2010-03-05T09:06:00.000-06:00

I had a decent first week of riding outside this week. Riding outside is definitely different than solely commuting miles, as my sore legs remind me. The roads have been great for March, just a steady North breeze to contend with on the way back into town, which is a good excuse for some hard work. Rode 30mi Paoli loop on Tuesday with Clausen and Meghan! (who are both very fit right now I might add), and then did Fritz Rd/Schaller Rd to Paoli loop solo on Thurs for a solid 40 mile ride. The legs are already responding a bit which is a good sign, with some consistent solid miles in the coming weeks I should feel pretty strong again. Maybe not racing fit yet...but strong enough to start pounding out those century rides in April.

On the bike front, I am going to build up my Salsa Vaya early next week as my new commuter. I'm also considering converting my Ferrous to a full rigid singlespeed for training and building up a Niner Air 9 rigid 1x9 as a race bike instead of the Salsa El Mariachi Ti...titanium is just too darn expensive and the scandium will be great as a racing bike anyways. The La Cruz Ti will be my gift to myself if I can do well in Cat 3 in cyclocross...a solid goal to work towards this season.

Bike lust...

2010-02-09T23:51:00.000-06:00

Salsa cycles has unveiled not one, not two, but THREE new models that I have fallen in love with. First, with the popularity of their adventure touring bike, the Fargo, they came out with a road-worthy version called the Vaya that I will be building up as my new commuter. A disk-brake equipped CroMoly touring bike, sweet!

Then, they had to go ahead and make a US built Titanium 29er frame...

And if that wasn't enough, follow it up with a US-built Titanium cyclocross frame, the La Cruz Ti:

Totally not fair. They just made exactly what I want in my bikes...in THREE models nonetheless. I have some saving up to do...and some inferior bikes in my collection to sell...well done lads, well done.

2010 RACE SCHEDULE

2010-01-21T10:29:00.000-06:00

After much thought, I have decided to only race a few endurance-based mtb events and focus on cyclocross this season. With that, I leave you with my 2010 Race Schedule:

MAY 30 WORS #3 Big Ring Classic Nine Mile Forest, Wausau, WI

AUGUST 14 Ore 2 Shore Marquette, MI

AUGUST 22 WORS #9 Reforestation Ramble Suamico, WI

SEPTEMBER 18 Chequamegon Fat Tire 40 Cable, WI

OCT-NOV WCA Cyclocross Season

winter commute

2009-12-11T08:34:00.000-06:00

I finally put on the Hakkapelittas on thursday am for my commute to class. The commute felt great despite the icy rutted conditions on the roads. With sub-zero windchills to contend with, I left no skin exposed. My legs and lungs sure felt it though, its officially the off-season. Hopefully some skiing today and Sunday will amend that.

Here's an icy view of the sunrise this morning with sub-zero temps. Somehow this weather is soothing and doesn't bother me...I'm a frickin' Polar bear.

SNOW!

2009-12-04T13:04:00.000-06:00

First snow of the year last night! A dusting actually stayed on the ground, now we just need a couple 4-6" snowfalls and I can ski!!!

December

2009-12-02T16:15:00.000-06:00

My numb fingers on my commute home this afternoon reminded me that its the time of year to start using lobster gloves. With seasonal weather finally here I hope for snow soon, I want to get on the skis!

Pre-race playlist

2009-11-23T13:03:00.000-06:00

I just made my pre-race playlist, consisting of entirely Rage Against the Machine. I already have goosebumps just from putting the playlist together...this will be the catalyst for the pre-race adrenaline that I will take to the start line.

Track Name Album

1 Township Rebellion Rage Against the Machine

2 Ashes in the Fall The Battle of Los Angeles

3 New Millenium Homes " "

4 Bombtrack Rage Against the Machine

5 Calm Like A Bomb The Battle of Los Angeles

6 Wake Up Rage Against the Machine

7 Freedom " "

8 Killing in the Name " "

9 Bulls on Parade Evil Empire

10 Guerilla Radio The Battle of Los Angeles

47.4 minutes of adrenaline and anger...perfect :)

Season's done

2009-11-18T17:35:00.000-06:00

Since I have no more fitness I'm skipping the WI State CX Championships and resting for a week or two. I'm going to start running for cross-training and focus on core strength workouts and yoga so my back doesn't complain when I start racing the MTB next season.

I was looking over the 2010 WORS Schedule (yeah, they have their act together!) and the tentative date for XTERRA Last Stand triathlon is May 23, which doesn't conflict with the WORS schedule! I hope that date goes from tentative to final, it would be awesome to carry over my swimming/running cross training into the long course tri (I won the short course tri earlier this year). I feel like I could do pretty well and maybe even qualify for the XTERRA World Championships in Maui. That would be a damn good excuse to go to Hawaii.

Ferrous Tune-up

2009-11-12T00:54:00.001-06:00

The Ferrous is almost tuned-up and ready to go before putting it away in winter storage. I just need to throw on a chain, then it will be one beautiful and fast machine.

One rookie mistake...I tried resetting the rear piston but let a bunch of air into the reservoir and now I need to bleed the rear brake fluid...arrgghhh. I have zero mechanic skills.

CX # 8 - Estabrook

2009-11-09T10:10:00.000-06:00

It was fun to be back out on the racecourse on Sunday. My legs don't have much left in them after 4 wks off the bike, so the race was more a hard training day. I started fairly slow as I always do and managed to keep Nate and Cory in sight the first couple laps. After that the pace seemed to really pick up on the straightaways (or I just slowed down) and I was off the back. The last 6 laps I rode alone at the back of the race which was tough mentally. I still took away some positive things, like the overall feel of my first Cat 3 race. Those extra 15 minutes feel a LOT longer! Planet bike cup didn't really count b/c the 2/3 race was more like a half hour. I realize to be competitive in 3's I'll need really strong legs and a lot of fitness, which I felt like I had in May-July this year but couldn't hold into August and cross season. Next year the WORS races and full season of racing should give me a really good base for cross. Until then, these last few WI races will be enjoyable and great for training and experience. I'm going to put in some hard miles this week after a recovery day today and get ready to race a doubleheader this coming weekend, where I hope to be a bit stronger. Then the state championships in 2 wks! After that I'll take a week off and then focus on cross-training and putting in those easy base winter miles. I'm looking forward to ski season, as weird as that sounds.

update on the kneecap...

2009-09-29T12:10:00.001-05:00

My knee feels a lot better today...I can bend it and I can walk again. I'll see how it feels biking easy to class. I still don't have a lot of strength and it is still pretty tight, but at least the condition is improving. We'll see if I can be out on the race course Sunday...I'll assess it day to day. The ice/ibuprofen and the wrapping seemed to really help, so I'll continue doing that as well.

It just occured to me that in the picture from the 2007 Lapham Peak CX race, the header for this blog, my right knee is also bleeding, also from an impact from my pedal (which is what I think hit my knee on Saturday's race).

I need to figure out how to NOT hit my right knee on solid metal objects. Pedal: 2, Dan's knee: zero.

A Setback...

2009-09-28T09:37:00.000-05:00

No Planet Bike Cup Day 2, and likely no Lapham Peak race either to start the WCA series.

During the crash on Saturday's race I suffered a patellar contusion (in lay terms: a bruised kneecap with swelling/pain under the kneecap).

I have no idea how long it will take for the knee to heal. I can't describe how frusterating it is to miss Sunday's race and possibly the start of the WCA season. I'm icing the knee and taking lots of ibuprofen to reduce the swelling, and wrapping it seems to help also. For now I can't really bend it without pain, and the tendons under my kneecap can't support the weight of my lower leg. Ugh.

Planet Bike Cup Day 1

2009-09-26T18:05:00.000-05:00

photos by djonn

It felt awesome to be back on the cross bike today at the USGP Planet Bike Cup. The start was seeded based on registration order, and unfortunately I was toward the back. During the sprint after the race start, a crash caused a pileup directly in front of me, and my bike got tangled in the mess (see 1st photo). So, I basically started in last and had to work my way back up. I felt strong on the flats, but my bike handling was too timid. I worked my way back up to 42nd place in the 2/3 race, about the middle of the pack. Congrats to Dave and Luke, with a podium finish and 7th place respectively.

I hope to race tomorrow as well, but I bashed my kneecap on something in the pileup and I can't move my leg without a lot of knee pain. I'll see how it goes and make a decision by race morning. It isn't too bad though...even if I can't race tomorrow I'll be ready for the WCA races next weekend.

creepy cross stache

2009-09-25T10:53:00.001-05:00

The cross stache is getting creepier every day...

Planet Bike Cup this weekend!!! Team Magnus will have a great representation in the 2/3 race with 9 or 10 riders! Race Report to follow...

WORS #10

2009-09-14T10:52:00.000-05:00

I raced in WORS #10 in Lake Geneva yesterday. I had a pretty rough race, there was a ton of climbing and I lost my legs 2 laps in, so I had to just spin the last 2 laps to finish. I was also too low on calories the last couple laps, after overeating the past 2 races. One of these races I'll figure my nutrition out... Despite having a rough race I was happy with my result, 8th in my AG in Comp with quite a few DNF's out there. I was still toward the back of the field, but with stronger legs like I had earlier this season I feel like I can be up there with some more work.

Overall it was a fun last mountain bike race, and now I'm shifting my focus to cyclocross and some shorter high intensity rides the next 2 weeks to prepare.

juggling...

2009-09-11T13:13:00.000-05:00

School has been going for 2 weeks now. Its been tough trying to balance my riding with work and school. I feel a virus starting to come on but hopefully I can sleep it off before Lake Geneva. Treadfest will be a great workout before cross season. I can't believe cyclocross is around the corner...pretty soon I'll be racing in the smell of crisp air and fall leaves. 2 weeks until the Planet Bike Cup. It will be a challenge, but since the double header is before the WCA series it will be a great workout and will whip my legs into cyclocross shape. Its hard to simulate that intensity while training solo.

I'll post my report after Treadfest!

WORS #9

2009-08-31T13:17:00.000-05:00

Its been awhile since my last post...the motivation to ride consistently went away for a few weeks in August, but I had an awesome backpacking vacation.

Raced WORS #9 yesterday in Suamico. I attempted the race last year but dropped out after 2 laps due to cramping. This year was much cooler weather so my goal was just to finish and have fun. Wound up 50th in the Comp race and 10th out of 12 in my Age Category. Not a terrible result considering the state of my legs coming off of vacation and very little riding in 3 weeks. The 36 miles was TOUGH, but I had a blast and it was an excellent workout if nothing else.

I may do WORS #10 in Lake Geneva for some quality racing before cyclocross season. The good thing is the motivation to ride has returned after just one race. Time to train hard for 4 weeks before USGP Jonathan Page's Planet Bike Cup. I'll see if I can avoid being lapped in the Cat 3 race.

8/11 - 8/12

2009-08-12T12:04:00.000-05:00

Had a good road ride on Tuesday with Meghan! out to Blue Mounds. We climbed Ryan Rd. and into Blue Mounds State Park. My legs need to gain back some power on the hills. Good ride overall.

Trains hampered my recovery last night as they decided to lay on their horns for several minutes after 1am. As a result of that I slept in until 11am today...not good. I'll have to get out soon to squeeze in a ride before my mother's birthday dinner! I feel like cruising a flatter route today, around Lake Kegonsa. I'll ride hard if the legs feel good and take it easy if not.

8/6

2009-08-06T21:32:00.001-05:00

Kettles w/ Diana

7/13

2009-07-13T11:37:00.000-05:00

Pardeeville Tri

2009-07-12T21:02:00.000-05:00

I raced on Saturday in the Pardeeville Triathlon. This was my inaugural Pardeeville Tri, it was a very nice venue and a well run race, I'll definitely be back next year! The most fun part of the race was how tight the race was for 3rd-10th place...we were all in a big pack on the run!

RR:

I barely made it to the swim start on time, as me and Clausen were warming up in the water they had already lined up the Elite wave and was about to start! I quickly ran through the timing mat with about 10 seconds before the 1st wave started, and Clausen was still on land while they started! A lot of fast swimmers were in the Elite wave, I was about 20-30 seconds down on the leaders by the end of the swim . I swam relatively smooth and not hard since I haven't really hit the pool much this season or done any hard sets. My swim was a respectable 5:30.

T1: I was surprised to see Clausen running about 10 sec ahead of me on the way to the transition area! I threw on my Sidi road shoes as fast as I could, but halfway through putting on my 2nd shoe I saw him running out of the transition area...wow his transitions are fast. I knew I would have to keep him in sight on the bike.

Bike: I started biking very hard to try to keep Clausen in sight up the road. I reeled in a couple athletes ahead of me that didn't turn out to be him. My legs were a bit fatigued halfway through the bike and I started losing power on a few of the rollers while I tried to keep a very hard pace. We then turned into a headwind to head back towards Pardeeville and I had a hard time keeping the pace. At a couple of the right hand turns I could finally see Chris up the road! With about a mile left to the transition area I finally reeled him in, which made me feel more confident heading into T2. I put in a very hard effort to pass him and the athlete in 5th place before heading into T2. In T2, once again he kicked my ass in the transition area and I had to try to chase him down.

Run: I ran very hard in the first mile and passed Chris in 7th and another athlete in 8th. About haflway through the run my quads started cramping lightly from the hard effort on the bike. My heart rate and breathing felt fine, but every time I tried to open up my stride my legs were very close to cramping up. I eased off the pace and ran tempo for the remainder of the run. This was tough mentally because at the run turnaround I could see the 3rd-8th place running very close together within reach. I kept my slower tempo until the finish and came in in 9th overall, 1st in the M25-29AG.

The race was hopeful because 3rd place overall was less than 1 minute away! If I can work on my run more and get used to going that hard on the bike with less muscular fatigue, I should be able to get my run around 18 minutes again and be up where I want to be. It was a great race and another solid result for my first season back in triathlon. This season reassures me that I belong here, which is a good feeling.

7/9 - Good day off

2009-07-09T14:03:00.000-05:00

I finished Diana's MTB today and took her off-road for the first time! We played around on our bikes behind Glenway Golf Course + the cemetery for some good singletrack practice. No falls or mishaps, the bike worked great and Diana loves it! I'll have to take her out to Kettle Moraine when we get the chance. Perfect weather on my day off today, I'm going to head to the park with Diana to read a book and drink lemonade. There's a nice breeze coming off the lake.

Kettle Moraine 7/3

2009-07-06T20:21:00.000-05:00

Had a great ride at the Kettles on Friday, rode a blue loop, the connector trail, and Emma Carlin green loop, a solid 3+ hours. I hit the dirt a couple times but nothing bad besides a few scratches and bruises. My bike handling was a bit sloppy from not riding off-road for over a month, it was fun to get back out there.

Sunday 7/6 I had a good swim across Wingra and back with Clausen. Swam relatively hard on the way back, which gave the lats a good workout.

Monday 7/7 I did an hour run, 10 min warmup followed by 30 mins of 2 min intervals at sub-threshold building to super-threshold and coasting back down to sub-threshold pace. 20mins of recovery followed the 30 min hard run. A very good run for simulating pacing for a 5K and getting a good 'feel' for that pace. Pardeeville Tri is coming up this weekend, it should be fun and looks like fast course.

motivation waning...

2009-07-02T01:51:00.000-05:00

No motivation last week or this week, I haven't had any structured workouts in a week and a half. I need to go mountain biking again to mix things up. It doesn't help I'm afraid of the fork failing on my tri bike, and my road bike is missing parts from building my tri bike up in haste. I am discovering I still need a road bike to do my training on, otherwise I don't ride a bike. My damn ankle still hurts as well so I can't run, and I'm not swimming due to being down from not riding...

I'm in a bit of a rut to say the least. I'll post again when I'm out of it and pushing on pedals again.

High Cliff Sprint Triathlon

2009-06-26T11:06:00.000-05:00

Raced in the High Cliff Sprint Tri on Saturday, June 20th. I took 12th overall and 3rd in the M25-29 AG. Conditions were hot, but it was a fun race.

The sprint swim was very shallow and I could see all the waves ahead of me were aqua-jogging the whole swim. I did notice that some of the leaders in previous waves would skip through the water then dolphin dive, and start swimming just before the first buoy. I employed this strategy and swam the middle 1/2 of the swim. It seemed to work well because I pulled away from some of the athletes that were still jogging. About halfway back from the swim I ran into a lot of athletes that were jogging, so I skipped the rest of the way in. Took off my wetsuit in T1 and mounted my bike....and realized I forgot to shift to an easier gear (I was still in my 11t) . It would have been fine on pavement but the bike start was on grass, so I started a bit slow.

The bike started out climbing the bluff right out of transition, a nice long steady climb. I kept my effort on the pedals steady but not easy. I passed an athlete in a Cervelo P4 with a Zipp Sub 9 disc and 808 front. I always find it amusing when I pass people with that much money in equipment....its mostly the engine that makes a difference, not the fancy toys. I climbed to the top of the bluff and started biking a hard tempo. I continued this pace for most of the flat bike course. About halfway through the course, I noticed I was still heading away from the bluff, if my sense of direction was correct. I was surprised to see "mile 40" painted on the road for the half course. That meant that my bike leg still had 16 miles left....and I thought I was over half done! I went out a bit too hard on the bike because I thought it was a typical sprint bike leg of 15miles. When I got home I checked online and the bike was actually 22 miles! I averaged 24mph on the bike, which I was very pleased with. That is my fastest avg speed on the bike ever, for 22 miles!

The run took us up the bluff again right out of transition, which took over 5 minutes to jog up. I tried running the whole thing at 5K pace, but I blew up at the top and had to back off the pace. I wanted to run faster in the trails at the top, but I got a pretty bad side stitch and had to run easy. The run finish took us back down the hill, and I opened up my stride and ran through the finish.

Pretty good race overall, I think I can go a little faster on the bike once I get used to the new Cervelo's aggressive positioning. The next couple of weeks before Pardeeville I am going to work more on my swim and run, especially speed work on the run. I ran mile repeats at Olbrich on Wednesday and ran up the hill there, which irritated my tendonitis in my ankle, and I also rolled my ankle in the grass next to the sidewalk, so I need to take a few days off the run until that feels better. Next season I'm going to run a LOT if I'm not hampered by this nagging injury...

Overall I'm pleased with how this season is going, I'm within reach of top 10 and even top 5 overall in the sprint distance. If I can work on my run more and make that a weapon, maintain my bike, and cut down on the transition times I'll be there.

race week update

2009-06-16T08:43:00.000-05:00

Had a fun week of training last week. I did the Devil's Lake ride for the first time on Thursday, so another good century. We averaged close to 19mph so it was fairly fast for a century, but I wasn't quite as tired as last time. For friday, Charlie's sister wanted to do an Ironman loop, so why not? Another 65 miles on Friday morning, but they were pretty easy miles so it was nice for recovery.

Friday night I went on an Arb run at night with Charlie and Seth for a little over an hour. It was a blast, I tripped a couple of times and had a few encounters with bats, but overall a good time. I recovered on Sat/Sun, and on Monday went for a hard tempo run which felt pretty good overall.

Today I am going to do some intervals on the bike and maybe fit in a swim. Then time to recover the rest of the week and do some strides and one more swim, to get ready for High Cliff on Saturday AM.

Lake Mills Triathlon

2009-06-08T13:38:00.001-05:00

I raced my first on-road triathlon in over 2 years yesterday, in Lake Mills. I placed 21st overall and 6th in the 25-29 AG. This is a fast AG...I have some work to do if I want to place next year. With my improved cycling ability, I believe I have the talent to place top 5 overall in these local sprint triathlons with some more training. I did fairly well, considering I swam once before the triathlon and am only running once/week. All my cycling training is paying huge dividends, as I averaged 23.1 mph despite being on a road bike. Next season if I hit the pool a lot more over the winter, I should be able to improve my swim time to sub-6 min again. Triathlon shoes will also be a must to cut down on the transition times. With a dedicated tri bike I should be able to average 24.5 mph, which would be near the front of the race. The most surprising leg of my race was the run, despite very minimal run training due to my injury I ran an 18:50 5K. If I am able to run 4 workouts/week next season, I feel I will finally be able to get my 5K time into the 17 min range. It was very fun to race a triathlon again, and even though WORS is fun, I'm not able to be very competitive with the depth of those fields. Triathlon appears to be what suits me at this point. I'm going to focus on triathlon training all summer, with a few WORS races thrown in there for August, to prepare for cyclocross season.

6/5

2009-06-05T13:10:00.001-05:00

Wednesday I did a few hard intervals on the bike to get used to the aero position, feeling pretty strong overall on the bike.

Thursday I biked a 20mi easy recovery spin followed by a hard 2o min run.

Short Wingra swim today, water was pretty clear. It was a bit windy but nice overall...it feels good to stretch out the lats/triceps in the water. Did strides before work as well to get the legs moving fast.

6/1

2009-06-01T22:43:00.000-05:00

June already! Its race season!

I'm still battling this cold that doesn't really want to go away, despite me resting for several days and getting plenty of sleep.

I ran for 45 minutes today, felt pretty good overall. I got a bit overheated/dehydrated, but hopefully that will help cook some of the cold away. It felt good to sweat again after no strenuous activity for almost a week.

Lake Mills is in a week, hopefully I'll feel 100% by then. My swim will probably be relaxed and slow-paced, just like the XTERRA. I am looking to go hard on the bike, even a little too hard, since my run isn't a strength right now. I'll cruise the run in about 20 minutes and see where I end up at the end of the day.

Next year I think I want to focus on short course triathlon again and get a dedicated TT bike. I'll probably be selling the Siena...but who knows, I change my mind weekly on this subject.

I'm not going to recover after Lake Mills and train hard for a week and a half, especially running/swimming, so hopefully I can have a fast race at High Cliff/Badger State Games. I plan to train through that race and through the rest of June, then do a short rest for Pardeeville so I can win the head-to-head race vs. Clausen. I've had enough of him beating me on the bike :)

5/25

2009-05-26T11:12:00.000-05:00

Views around Sun Valley Pkwy / Schaller Rd / Observatory Rd

5/21

2009-05-21T17:00:00.001-05:00

the scenic view at Brigham Park

Rode 100 miles today! I did a few loops around Blue Mounds area and part of the Horribly Hilly course with LBC. If I go out here again I may need another gear...39x25 for an easy gear wasn't quite enough on Pinnacle Rd and Mounds Park road. Felt good otherwise though. Time to recover over the weekend.

5/17 - XTERRA Last Stand

2009-05-17T20:41:00.000-05:00

After a long drive home I am back from Michigan, with my first ever overall triathlon victory. XTERRA Last Stand was a great race, I am definitely hooked on XTERRA triathlon. It does an excellent job combining my triathlon talents with my love of riding on dirt and trail running.

The swim went smoothly, I kept my stroke long and relaxed and tried to swim straight with good form. I didn't want to fatigue my arms too much since I haven't been in the water much this season. I exited the water in 5th place in the Short Course race. Once in T1 I took off my wetsuit and threw on the cycling shoes barefoot and my helmet, and off I went. To my surprise I think I was the first out of T1.

On the bike, I thought the swim leaders were riding ahead of me, so I pushed on the pedals at a hard tempo to try to catch them. The only people I caught were some lapped riders doing the Long Course event. The bike course was superb, very smooth and fast with flowing twisty singletrack mixed with fast doubletrack and even a river crossing that was hub-deep! Towards the end of the ride I began to realize I was possibly in the race lead, so I kept looking behind to try to see my competitors but I never saw anyone...so I kept pushing on the pedals to try to lengthen my advantage, as I knew my run wasn't my strength due to the L ankle injury.

My bike was perfect for the course, so many people were on full suspension 26" bikes, my Fisher Ferrous 29er with a full rigid setup was perfect for the course, as it wasn't too technical and very smooth and fast. Not to mention my bike got a lot of looks, being the only rigid 29er there.

A smooth 'cross dismount and in to T2 I went. I took the time to tie my racing flats, and I kept glancing towards the bike course finish, expecting my rivals to arrive any second. To my surprise, I never saw them. It turns out I had a 4 minute lead at this point in the race, resulting from my 1st ranked bike leg. I kept a hard pace in the first 2 miles of the run because I knew I was being chased, then relaxed a bit over the last mile in case I needed a finishing kick. The volunteers were surprised to see me, they thought I was a Long Course athlete and attempted to direct me to the 2nd loop of the run, and I had to yell Short Course finish! I ran down the chute and none other than Jamie Whitmore announced I was the first short course finisher, said I'll have to upgrade to Long Course next year :) which I plan to do. Best wishes to Jamie with her fight against cancer and her recovery.

It was a great race and my first ever overall triathlon win, and my first XTERRA off road triathlon. To my satisfaction, my cycling over the past 2 seasons and my WORS racing last summer turned my bike leg into my strength, which was previously my weakness. If I can start run training with some more consistency and stay injury free, I should be a very balanced triathlete.

More long rides to come this week. I feel like doing a century...maybe to Blanchardville or New Glarus, or anywhere with some challenging climbs.

5/12

2009-05-13T13:57:00.001-05:00

Kettles trip on Tue, rode for a solid 3 hours. My handling skills are improving. Body needs some rest after taking a beating resulting from the fully rigid setup. I need to remember to stretch...my back is reminding me that I didn't.

The fantastic view at the start of Emma Carlin

5/8

2009-05-08T11:45:00.001-05:00

Arboretum

Sun Valley Pkwy

5/7

2009-05-08T08:50:00.000-05:00

Today I had my best IM loop ride ever, which is promising for this season since its only May. I rode the 67 miles averaging 19.5 mph going easy/moderate pace, wasn't really pushing it. The rolling Wisconsin countryside is turning more and more green, everything is my favorite shade of green, that very bright May color. The Kettles are probably in full color as well, too bad I didn't get up early enough this morning to go out there today. A Paoli loop will suffice, and I'll hit the trails again next week.

L ankle tendonitis

2009-05-06T08:52:00.000-05:00

Went in to PT today for my L ankle injury that flared up last thursday when I did my tempo run. To my surprise, the tendon was still tender and sore, despite running almost a week ago. The massage and the stim pack help a lot, it feels much better after the appointment. I'll run on it gingerly tomorrow or Friday to see how the healing is going. I'll have to wait until the MRI on Friday to really see what is going on in there, but hopefully I can be pain-free for my upcoming XTerra on the 17th.

Rainy day today, might just take the day off and clean the house, which is much needed.

Thurs AM ride

2009-04-29T22:47:00.000-05:00

I did a nice shorter ride north of town, Portage Rd to Vinburn and Mueller. Legs were very heavy and I felt tired...more sleep is needed as well as a larger breakfast/more time to hydrate before rides. Thunderstorms forcasted for tomorrow, so no mountain biking tomorrow. I plan to do a recov spin on the trainer followed by a nice run in the rain. Hopefully good riding weather on Friday, I need to get more miles in the legs this week.

Kettles Friday, Green Day Sat

2009-04-25T23:23:00.001-05:00

Mountain biking was perfect on Friday, with warm temps and a strong breeze that felt refreshing in the woods. Legs felt good for the first time this season, must be starting to adapt to the training stress. The Kettles were beautiful, as I was dragged around the trails by Sketch and Meghan. Dave was impressively fast, he disappeared from sight within seconds of hitting the singletrack. My handling skill needs a lot of work, which I plan to put in this season. I can see myself driving out there every week, it is just that fun.

Green Day Expo at the Terrace was today...not real exciting. It was mainly lots of people wanting free sh*t, no one was actually genuinely interested in commuting by bicycle, or even biking in Madison for that matter. I had a preconception that my view of bicycling as transportation would help educate some people...but most people I talked to just approached the table because they were creeped out by the Nixon and H.W. Bush wax figures sporting trendy cycling apparel.

Not much to do the rest of the weekend but recover and get some house chores done. I do miss thunderstorms...there is something soothing about the sound of rolling thunder.

Brrrrrrrr

2009-04-23T11:04:00.000-05:00

Rode a nice recovery spin with Clausen, Nate and Grace this morning. I'm trying to warm up after riding in 40 degree rain...time to make some coffee. Mmmmmm....coffee.

Kettles tomorrow!!!!

Garfoot climb

2009-04-22T16:37:00.000-05:00

Since cycling yesterday would have been no fun at all, I went for a 45 min run instead in the cold rain. Running in that weather is still never that bad, runners always go out no matter what the weather brings.

Today I took the IM WI loop backwards to Garfoot and held a nice tempo on the climb, and I ran into a good customer of ours who I fit on his bike. I also accidentally dropped him on the climb...I attribute that to the fact that I ride with 12-25 gearing. To my surprise, a bridge was apparently out on Midtown road, so I detoured on County Rd PD to freshly paved Timber Ln. My keen sense of direction never fails. Ride was a bit windy but good otherwise, I am sloooowly getting used to riding again. The legs and lungs are pretty worked, so I may make tomorrow a swim day, then be ready for a trip to the Kettles on Friday before work. Until then,

peace

Recovering this weekend

2009-04-19T01:39:00.000-05:00

Time for some recovery with work keeping me busy all weekend. I'll want to take advantage of the nicer weather next week with relatively fresh legs...they are still a little heavy/sore from the week. I feel ready to hit some of the better hill climbs on the western portion of Dane County...and a Kettles trip if they stay open this week. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Storytown - Schaller

2009-04-17T00:59:00.000-05:00

2 good rides in 2 days, I gave the early season legs an awakening on Storytown Rd Wednesday and Schaller Rd on Thursday.

I need to buy a tiny digital camera for rides, the views are great and worth sharing.

Season goals revisited...con Crosso!

2009-04-08T01:57:00.000-05:00

With running still starting slow because of my ankle tendonitis, I have changed my goals slightly this season. I will be trying more WORS races in between the triathlons I registered for. I feel that I wasn't fully dedicated to MTB racing last summer, so I'm giving it another go this year. It will be fun to hit the dirt more and to try more courses. I don't really have any competitive goals for triathlon or mountain racing, just to have fun and see which direction I want to go next year.

I am also selling both tri bikes I purchased and I will use my Litespeed for tris, and for training for mountain biking as well. If I decide to dedicate next season to WORS, then I have the bike I need, and if I decide to do triathlons, I will buy a Litespeed Saber.

Lastly, I am keeping my eye on a Salsa Chili Con Crosso frame for cylocross in the fall, the green would be perfect with the Magnus/Weary Traveler jersey!

This baby can't wait to hit the dirt in a few weeks.

BASE 1

2009-02-09T00:17:00.000-06:00

This is my first structured training week of the season. I got the week started off on the right track with a nice 20mi spin on the bike this evening. The Cap City Trail is clearing nicely, the snow melt makes it a bit slick in spots, but nothing the Long Haul Trucker and studded tires can't handle. Full traction, and a ton of weight to push up hills. The perfect bike to make the legs stronger.

Tomorrow I have a 40min run and 2000y swim slated. Tuesday will be great for a ride, as temps will soar into the 50's. I see a 3hr ride on the horizon. Next post at the end of the week will total the hours for this week with thoughts.

XTERRA Midwest Cup

2009-02-06T01:42:00.000-06:00

I have decided to race the international distance XTERRA in May, rather than the shorter course event. Thanks to CLC for making the point that I might as well do the longer race if I'm driving all the way to Michigan. My strong endurance background doesn't hurt either.

So, the event will be a 1000m swim, 20mi bike, and 6 mi trail run and should take 3+ hours. Time to start piling on the base miles. I'm easing into running cautiously because my ankle still is sore, but swimming is going ok and cycling is my current strength.

I have to get my sleeping schedule back on track so I can do morning workouts consistently.

Off to bed for me.