Power

Anybody interested in one of these ??????

Another round here to try to get rid of the old cross bikes.

Racin' Circles

It's been a whirlwind since I last updated. Not a spare single second in between Chequamegon, Vegas, and USGP Planet Bike Cup. I'm smashed today, but happy not to be doing a darn thing this week.

It started Monday after the long drive home from Chequamegon last Sunday. A full day of packing bikes, gluing tires, work, doing laundry and finally bed around 11pm. A 4am alarm on Tuesday had Andrea and I on our way to Vegas.

I love the desert, but Vegas is something a little above and beyond Tucson.... We arrived and already the lights, buzzers, and whistles were a little too much for me to handle after a turbulent flight. After we arrived to the hotel I unpacked the bikes and started right away with the aquaseal. A little later it was over to check out the race course. FAST!

Wednesday morning was a trip to Interbike to check out some cool things and go to some appointmetns. Wednesday afternoon was spent finishing up the wheels and making sure the bikes work.

Cross Vegas: The first Cross race of the year always hurts, but not that bad? I had a 3rd row start and wanted to move up on the prologue loop and get hooked up with a good group. I moved up, but instantly paid the price....I was above the red line and couldn't recover in the dry heat of the desert. One guy at a time would pass me and there was nothing I could do...I suffered bad for an entire hour and evenutally finished up with my left leg fully cramped in 26th position.

Back to the hotel by 12:30am, pack the bikes until 1:00am, shower, eat, and maybe to bed by 2:30am for a 6:30am alarm and back on the plane. Home by 5:00pm and straight to the bike shop to unpack bikes and finish gluing my last 3 wheels for USGP.

Friday was the last of the Aquaseal and a quick 45 min ride before work.

USGP #1

I had a second row call up and I was top 6 going through corner number 1.....eventually settled in a group with Troy, Marko, Tristan, and Ryan Knapp to finish 13th.

USGP #2

Same call up, same good start...with the leaders the enite first lap until Troy and I ran the ride up and were gapped off....Tristan came flying by and Chris Jones crashed in front of me and opened a gap....settled with Troy Marko Chris and 2 Giant Strawberry dudes...the group split and I was in the back half....finished 14th after almost crashing into Troy on the pavement with 1 to go.

Overall...happy with USGP weekend. Finishing top 15 without feeling good and being blown out is respectable. Now its time to switch the training from mtb to cross!

Chequamegon

Fat Tire # 27 is in the books! This past weekend was another journey up to the Hayward/Cable area in northern Wisconsin for the Chequamegon. Andrea and I made the 6 hour drive early Friday morning in time to get a good preview of the last 10 miles of the race course. We picked up the packets at Telemark and then headed over to the Northern Pine Inn in Hayward. Out to dinner at Coops for some lasagne and garlic bread and then early to bed.

Saturday morning we awoke to the most perfect northwoods weather you could ask for. Then it was over to the start line for round 2 of the Triple Crown. The start was pretty standard with a full speed effort behind the quads down hwy 77. I filed into Rosie's field in about 6th wheel. This is where things changed drastically from years past. Normally you can recover after the first few rollers on the birkie. This year the roadies put down the smack. It was critical to be in the front as the lead group was constantly splitting.

By OO the lead group was set with 8 riders. Myself, Cole, Tilly, Bjorno, Bauman, M. Phillips, and Chris P. We quickly worked our way the the most critical part of the course The Seely Firetower climb. Little did I know a group of 7 latched on at the bottom of the climb. I went over the top chasing Tilly and Cole whil things were shattering behind me. By the bottom of the Firetower Bjorn, Bauman, and Phillips had made contact. As soon as we hit the Birkie I made my first major move. Only Tilford and Cole could come with me.....neither would pull through so I continued to attack up the entire Birkie gaining confidence with each attack. Tilly and I rotated through down Telemark road with Cole sitting on claiming 'cramps.'

With 2 miles to go I attacked again and actually had to break on the descents as I was catching the lead quad. I had dropped Tilford and thought I would roll in for the win...I looked back on a climb and Cole had started to chase. I held my 5 second gap through the last corner, but didn't want to crash. Cole let it rip,and in a similar fashion to my victory over Tilford in 2004, closed a huge gap in one corner. I looked back one last time and stepped on the gas to the finish for my second trip to the top of the Cheq Podium!

ps Trek Top Fuel 9.9 w/ 26" wheels everytime at Chequamegon is my bike of choice

Andrea had another awesome race finishing 13th for the second year in a row. I think she is gaining confidence and will crack the top 10 soon! We finished the weekend with a trip to the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, some Sawmill Pizza and a long drive home. Next up is Vegas.....

Thanks again to all who helped.....mom & dad, my in-laws, my sponsors, feedzone crew, all the photographers, post race bike transport gang, and my loving wife!

NORCROSS

Cross season is here! The bikes have arrived, the wheels have arrived, and my legs aren't sore after running any more. I've registered for the first few races on the schedule...CrossVegas and the USGP Planet Bike Cup.....which makes for a busy week coming up really soon....Chequamegon followed by three really hard cross races in 5 days. It's OK though because I just finished a super hard block of training and I'm feeling pretty good abouut it...I'm also feeling pretty good about the new NORCROSS.

















This is the lightest, stiffest, and fastest cross bike I have seen to date....I have a couple carbon seatposts on the way which will make the bike even lighter.

The front end is significantly beefed up as is the bottom bracket. I can't wait to get out there and really let 'er rip. Not today though...it's Labor Day and rest and relaxtion is on the schedule along with a trip to the county fair!




A special cyclocross thanks to Blue & Easton for the extra support this cross season!