Anodized Archives

That's Me! Merlin Ti 1995






















And that's my ride from 1996

From The Rear

Starting in the rear is not that cool. I guess the main reason I went to Iowa is so I won't have to start in the rear ever again! Mission accomplished in gaining UCI points on both days of racing.

Tristan and I arrived Fri night after scoring some free bread at a Panera like place in Beloit. It was a pretty good score. Saturday morning was breakfast at the Village Inn. Multigrain Banana Pancakes with some fresh Strawberries mmmmm.

My call up was last row....bummer....I actually had a good start in Saturdays race and made it to the top 12 by the end of 1 lap. Unfortunately the lead five were out of sight by the time I made it up the the group. I did all I could to bridge up the Bergman midway through the race. I made contact but went to hard and couldn't hold his wheel. Finished 8th.


























Here is a picture of the bike shattering descent that was part of day 1. Day 2's race had us running up the bike shattering descent. I was able to hop the barriers at the bottom and pedal up in the pre-ride, but never attempted to ride in the race because I was in a group of about 6 the majority of the race.


























My start on day 2 was horrible and it took me about 2.5 or 3 laps to catch the group of 7th - 12th. I sat on recovered and went by them gapping them over the log barriers but the next long dragstrip I had 6 guys on my wheel into the headwind and I knew I wasn't bridging the huge gap to 6th place. I sprinted for 7th but didn't have the gas after the slow start. Finished 9th.

I was dissapointed that they didn't do call ups different on Sundays race. There was only 4 guys with UCI points and with so many different ability levels in one race they should have gone by UCI points and then results from the previous days racing....with a front row start I think I could have scored a top 5....but oh well.

Highlight of the race: taking money out of Hollywood's rear on the Mt. Krumpet run up.
Quote of the weekend, Marko "You never know where Hollywood's ass has been."
The secret tip of the weekend...Hy-Vee Grocery Store...a great place for breakfast and post race pizza...Mmmmmm

Happy Thanksgiving

GO PACK GO



GO PACK GO







I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving. Just in time for the holiday season here is the secret new bike set-up! Peace on Earth! Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow, and Let it get muddy in IOWA!

























How's that for old school? ~Ringle~

WCA RULES

Angel Park CX:

Saturday Night 1:00am, after going to bed at 9:00pm, I was up with the head in the toilet...body temp felt like 110 degrees and I was dizzy as can be. Back to bed...

Sunday morning still not feeling the greatest...something wrong with the stomach....lots of trips to el bano. Some pepto bismol and a walk around the hood with Rosco for some fresh air and I was feeling better.

I almost bailed on the race, but I'm glad I didn't....A quick 2 hour drive with lots of blaze orange scenery and we arrived at Angel Park (one of the better WI cx courses).

The parking lot was full of fast racers...I was pumped that some competition showed up from MN and from IA. Maybe it was the $180 First Place prize money.

I took the wholeshot and made it safely around the first lap. K. Refsnider soon took over to set the temp for the next lap or 2....then it was Bergmans turn and the gap opened when Refsnider went down.





























I followed Bergman watching his lines and looking for some weakness. Coulnd't find it though and then I almost lost it.... As we were approaching the beer tent we lapped a rider....Bergman went by him pretty close and I think it scared him....the guy started going down and pushed me about 15 feet off of my line and almost took me out as he hit the ground. I thought he was going to lean on me and keep it upright, but he went down and I pulled the sweet save. Soon after Marko took charge.

I followed in 3rd for the next few laps again waiting to make my move but worried I was running out of time.

With 3 to go I went to the front in the technical section and gapped Bergman. It was enough so I continued to accelerate hard out of the corners and ride smooth. I was worried about Marko on the last run up but managed to stay ahead of him.

The last half lap was pretty fast and hard to pass....I kep it upright and came in just ahead of Marko for the win. Next up YMCA Turkey Trot? Jingle Cross? State CX? One day at a time at this point in the season! Thanks to Mad Cross for the photos.

Rain and 40

It's Good when the guys from the Midwest can get a little love. I have raced all over the country and the Midwest Talent Pool is huge and the respect is pretty much zero. Major props have to go out to Don and the Triple Crown race promoters.


For more Iceman stuff you can check out the video of the race here or some official race photos at David Ditzler Photos.











Doesn't that set up look crazy? After riding that 29" front wheel I'm not sure if I will be able to go back to a 26"???? At least I won't have to worry about it for a while because it's back to cross for the rest of the season. Here is a picture of the ride....





















Cross practice in Sheboygan has been going strong every Thursday. We moved the time back to 3:30 PM now that it is getting dark earlier. This past week was another classic. Bill "Street Player" flats within .5 seconds of dropping in to Vollrath Park. It gets dark way to fast and we only bust out 5 or 6 laps of a really good course. After it is too dark to see we decide to do some sprints across the bottom of the park. After a few it was again too dark to see so we drop the bikes and do some hill sprints on foot. After 2 sprints up the hill Bill "the Puker" Street was at it again....mumbling something about a cheeseburger in between heaves. The first time I met Street he was spewing in here.

It was as classic as the bunny hop session at Evergreen Park last year when Bill "Air" Street continually punded his shoulder/bike/head into the ground and released "HuuuH" after "Huuh" when trying to clear the 12" barriers.

Tomorrow is Sun Prairie Cross. We'll see what happens. I put some new brakes on the rear in case it gets muddy. With a lot of time off the bike this week I was able to clear out the closets and put some stuff for SALE.

Time to go get in a warm up ride....Rain and 40...perfect for Cyclocross!

ICEMAN!

What a weekend.....Hi Score Pacman arcade at the pizza place, Packers win, Steelers win, and I got win #2 at the Iceman.

I'll start from the beginning.....


Andrea, Tristan and I roll out in the Hyundai and arrive in Traverse City, MI at 4:30pm Friday Night. A quick preview of the last 8 miles of the course, an awesome dinner with my dad at Travino's, and an excellent nights sleep at the Grand Traverse Resort.


Saturday Morning: Some coffee, a bagel and a morning conversation with Ned "THE LUNG" Overend. Andrea went for a run out on the golf course while my dad and I put down some French Toast and then rested up for the 2:30 pm start. It's always hard waiting around until late afternoon to race.


THE BIKE SETUP


Trek 6.9 With a last minute tip from the single speed world champ I decided to do something a little different. Last year I ran a rigid fork at the Iceman and suffered a little on the descents. This year I decided to go big and ran a 29" Bontrager Race X Lite up front on the Elite 9.9 with a 26" Switchblade fork. With a 2 X 9 Drive and a Fast Fred rubber in the back along with the 4 Ti Crank Brothbers Egg Beaters the bike weighed in at 19.5 lbs. The 29er up front rolled good through the sand and allowed me to descend full speed ahead.


The Start:






















What a front row! World / Norba Champion, Olympian /Norba Champion, and 4 Iceman Champions. 2nd row also pretty impressive with multiple National Champions.


Before I knew it we were off.....I got the wholeshot....turned left through the fence and let the Monster do his thing....I settled in for a few 30 mph plus pulls behing JHK and Mike.


The next 15 miles were a blur...everyone was riding smooth Mike and Jeremy controlled the race....I took a few pulls in the first 5 miles just to stay in the game. It was a while befor I could look back and see the lead group was down to 6 riders. Mike, Jeremy, Myself, Tristan, Jesse, and Ned. Williamsburg road came faster than normal with the perfect trail conditions.

The early move....somewhere around mile 17 or 18 I felt good....on one of the climbs I found some extra power and let loose the first attack of the race.....I stayed away for a couple of minutes....as soon as I was caught Tristan countered and I instantly got a huge smile on my face....I had visions of attacking for the next 11 miles on every hill of the Vasa.

As soon as Tristan was caught I let another one rip and got a huge gap instantly. I put my head down turned right on the Vasa and went into TT mode. Over the next 11 miles a lot of thoughts went through my head. A lot of what if's, a lot of flashbacks of cramping at Sheboygan, but the heavy chase behind me mostly kept me occupied. Check out the GPS around mile 17.5 and you can see my HR spike just before the right hander onto the VASA Trail. The group closed the inital 30 second gap down to arounf 5 seconds on a few climbs and I kept telling myself "your bike is really light" " don't death grip the bar" "recover on the descents" but the occasional "i hope i don't cramp" I hope I don't crash" I hope I don't flat" "JHK and The Monster trading pulls I better go back and sit in" Continued to invade my brain until I saw Steve Brown at the 1K red flag. He called me an animal or something like that....I relaxed and enjoyed the finish my with hands in the air!






















One of the best parts approaching the line was knowing my Dad and Andrea were there waiting for me. I wish my mom could of been there....but that gives me some motivation for the future. Did a quick interview for the Traverse City Record Eagle before making it over to the podium. Full Results from the local newspaper here.


You can watch the race here or you can watch the finish on You Tube.


























The awards ceremony was pretty cool. Jeff and Ann Buerman (above with my dad) from Pinckney, MI run Michigan Youth Cycling and basically intorduced me to racing. Jeff raised over $2,000 in scholarship money to give to the fastest Jr. racers and asked my on stage to help present the awards. Congrats to Sara and Mike for bringing home the Schoalrship $$$$.


























Then we loaded up the Ice Trophy and headed to the post race party! It was pretty sweet....arm wrestling, beer drinkning, and lots of air guitar....we even hit up the infamous "Argasm" party bus.
























Thanks to all who made the Iceman happen. Thanks to PCW for supporting me throughout the long season. Thanks to Momentum Endurance for great coaching advice. Thanks to Oakley for keeping the eyes protected from the constant sand spray. Even Bigger thanks to Tristan for throwing down some attacks and making the other 2 guys pull....wish you made the podiyum with me. Biggest Thanks to Andrea...she's the best!

Heavy Hitters

The big names are nothing new to the Iceman - Tinker won it 10 years ago!

+ Marko, Ned, and Rad Ross, Simonson - Adam, Travis = Stiff Competition

I love the big races....lets hope the legs show up and the bike stays together!~

Secret Training

I couldn't decide what to do over the weekend...race? rest? train?

I opted for the combo of rest and train then Andrea and I drove north until we could find next weekends race conditions. Found some cool MTB trails to ride.

Then Sunday morning with fresh snow on the ground did some super secret intervals guaranteed to make you go fast. The workout comes from the Jon Mesko - "Two Week Get Fast Training Program" It was 30 degrees and heavy snow fall when I set off for Interval #1. By the end of the one hour workout I was frozen and really wet. A good prep of how to dress for the Iceman although weather.com is showing a mild weather forecast.

The drive home was spent listening to the Packers pull off another victory. Steelers on MNF!