Jingle Cubed

3 days of racing in the legs and I'm feeling pretty good. I never felt like I had the snap over the weekend so I rode steady the entire weekend and never pushed it over the limits. Hopefully that means I can recover good from the last three days and get a little rest and relaxation at home before heading out to Portland. I'm pretty excited to head out and hang with my old school buddy G-Heitman from Clif Bar.

After that I will be staying the week in OR to prepare for Nationals in Bend. Next update from Portland....until then you can check out this.

Thanks to the following fine folks for donating:

Bruce Leblanc

Amy Dykema

Jason Lummis

Paul Weaver

Jim Michler

Ned Purtell

Another huge thanks to all my sponsors for their continued support. And a huge thanks to John Meehan for putting on another great weekend of racing in the Midwest!

Jingle Cross Day 2

Jingle Cross day 2 started Friday night after the race. We were pretty pumped to be hooked with some host housing. I found the house after Fridays nights race. I had to pee....I opened the door to the bathroom which was actually the basement, and CUJO came charging out. It scared the shit out of me. Luckinly CUJO aka Rosie was a friendly dog and proceeded to pee all over the place. Maybe thats why she was in the basement....back in the basement with the dog and as soon as we went to bed she started whimpering, whining, crying and barking all night long...

With slightly warmer temps and some sunshine melting the icy ground I opted to switch wheels and go with the mud tires. It was a good choice. No crashes except for everyone around me. Somebody came in way too hot on the first corner and took out Cody Kaiser who broke a spoke and then crashed into me....we both managed to keep it upright, but we smashed through some course stakes and course tape. I think I was in 35th around the first half lap...not good. At this point with a C1 race the following day I instantly decided to take it easy and just ride a smooth tempo and see how far I can move up. I saw 3 guys crash trying to bunny hop the barriers. I never went over the red, never pushed it too hard on the run, just kept it steady and rode up to 9th place by the end of the race. Another 9th, not what I wanted, but today is the big day...

Watching the Superprestige this morning and drinking coffee....another good morning. Looking forward to 5 days at home before flying out to Portland.

Jingled

Another quick one day turn around at home and the Hyundai was loaded again. Again Elicia and I were headed south, but this time only a 5 hour drive. I think if Sven Nys had to go 5 hours to a race he wouldn't do it.....and I think 5 hours is my back yard. We left home around 12:30 and arrived to Mt. Krumpit in all its glory under the lights at about 5:30pm with 2 hours until race time.

A quick trip over to registration, followed by 15 minutes of digging through my bag to find the right clothing. I managed to get one lap on the course before the pro womens race. It was icy and cold. The course was pretty sweet though with a new flyover and a crazy descent down Mt. Krumpit.

Back to the car to get a good warm up on the trainer, a quick swap of the clothes and to the start line. It was the deepest field ever at Jingle Cross. I had a solid start 5th wheel for the first 2 laps. At the top of Mt. Krumpit on lap 3 it started going downhill. Chris Jones crashed in front of me. 4 guys went by. I started trying harder then crashed on an icy gravel road. one guy goes by me. i try to bridge the gap back to Wells and I crash again going down Mt. Krumpit....flustered i have to take it easy for a few laps. I ended up passing 4 guys on the last lap to finish 9th.

I smashed my knee really good on one of the crashes. Hopefully it loosens up a little after a lap or two today. Tristan is still gluing up his tires...

Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

I'm hanging at the in-laws getting ready for a killer turkey day dinner. This will be the second in 3 days!

After Sundays repeat win in North Carolina, Elicia and I headed back to Athens for a little vacation. Andrea had flown in to Columbus that morning and was able to hang with the crew from Athens Bicycle while E and I were racing. Monday after the double race weekend was pretty much a wash. I was smashed...and had just enough energy to head out for a ride in the near perfect temps with my Dad, A & E.

Tuesday I was feeling a little better and spent the day getting caught up on some bike maintenance while Andrea and Elicia made killer Turkey dinner #1. They cooked up a fully Vegan dinner that was tied for the best Thanksgiving feast I've ever had!!!

Back in Tucson in the year 2002 I smoked a Turkey with Mesquite from a tree in our back yard. It was amazing.

Next up....Jingle Cross! See you there.

NC GP

A last minute change of plans before driving down to North Carolina. An unexpected guest decided to join me....my favorire sister in law in the whole world! So we loaded up the car with 4 bikes(one for Andrea who is flying down to Columbus) and drove to Athens to 'train in the mountains and hang with mom and dad. We arrived late Wednesday, checked out the new Athens Bicycle Thursday morning and then found the steepest road in Athens county for a serious interval session. Friday morning we were back in the car and headed further south to Hendersonville. We arrived in time to check out the course and then back to the Red Roof Inn for some relaxin'.

The race was good. I liked the course, but didn't think it was going to turn into that much of a road race. A little wind and some longer open sections made it hard to drop people. With 1/4 lap to go I jumped into the woods first. Frattini passed me before the climb and I waited until the last 20 meters to go around him for my first UCI win! Elicia finished 17th just out of the money.

We celebrated the old fashioned way with a night at the gas station laundromat, some burgers, and some more time chillin' at the Red Roof INN.

FT. Collins - new BELGIUM!

Like I said in my last update. Belgium, It's ON!
















I had a little taste of some true cross weather and mud this past weekend in Ft. Collins, but the air was a little thinner. I did manage to finally crack the top 10 on Sunday and I'm sitting 12th in the USGP points, just 3 points away from a top 10 in the series!
















Sheboygan was represented in full force!

It's a really quick turn around before I leave tomorrow morning. So I'll leave you with a couple photos and hopefully another update from Athens OH in a few days.

I have put up a donation link below for those who want to help. This year I'll be staying with Mark Lalonde. We are renting our own guest house, renting a car, hiring a mecahnic, and trying to figure things out on our own! It's a bit more challenging than EuroCrossCamp, but its going to be pretty cool to stay at the Hof Ter Kammen a kilometer from the Koppenburg in the heart of Flanders!

Another huge thanks to Bruce Leblanc from the Flying Rhinos cycling club in MI for donating another set of frequent flyer miles to get me over to Belgium.

and so it begins

The next 2 months will be a whirlwind...and it's already started! Iceman was an amazing weekend. Thanks to everyone who sent e-mails, facebook messages, and congratulations my way.

Sunday was a long drive home from Traverse City. We made it just in time to leave our muddy clothes in a heap on the basement floor and then head over to the Hildebrands for a Packers ass whooping over the Cowboys! Monday was spent cleaning up the mess from the weekend and swapping bike parts from the Elite 9.9 back to the Top Fuel frame. Tuesday I was able to push through 2 hours of pain on the bike and then Wednesday I got in a solid cross practice and started packing for Ft. Collins. It was a brutal 16-18 hour drive in the Gear Grinder team van. We made it to DIA just in time to pick up Tristan from the airport and and head up to check out the course. More snow, mud, and cooler temps are in store for the weekend.

The rest of the season:

On the drive up I booked my tickets for my 3rd Euro CX campaign. This time I'm flying solo. No Eurocross Camp. I'm just looking for a little bit of a different experience this time around. Mark Lalonde will be joining me and hopefully Andrea and Elicia will be there also for moral support. I have reserved a house in Oudenaarde about 1km from the base of the famous Koppenburg climb in eastern Belgium! More to come on the Belgium trip...

Before that I have to race 2 times this weekend. Drive home Sunday and Monday. Unpack and repack on Tuesday. Drive to Athens OH on Wednesday. Drive to North Carolina on Friday. Race 2 times and back to Athens on Monday. Thanksgiving on Tuesday. Back to Sheboygan on Wednesday. Thanksgiving on Thursday. Jingle Cross for three races on Fri, Sat, Sun. Portalnd the next weekend for the USGP finals with an extended stay for the week and then out to Bend the following weekend for US Nationals. Fly home from Bend on Monday unpack and repack on Tuesday and fly to Belgium on Wednesday. Race the Scheldecross on Thursday in Antwerpen and then probably proceed to get my ass handed to me, because I can't see straight, for another 15 days in Euroland! I can't wait! This is what I trained for all season long!

THE TRIPLE TRIPLE !!!

I figured if I made up the Triple Crown I'd let my dad make up the TRIPLE TRIPLE. 3 times Ore to Shore winner. 3 times Chequamegon winner and now 3 times Iceman Champion!!!

First off I have to thank my family. Andrea, Mom, Dad, the Hildebrands.....without a support group like that I'm not sure I could do it....

The weekend started like most...loading up the Hyundai Touring and pulling out of the driveway with bikes on top and the back loaded down. Andrea and I decided to leave Sheboygan a day earlier this year to spend a little time in TC...check out some wineries and not be quite so rushe

d the day before the race. I pre-road the course from Williamsburg Rd (12 miles to go) on Friday afternoon in a blizzard. Luckily Cole House was out there also and we got to practice drafting a little, sliding the bikes in the snow, we played around with our tire pressure, and most importantly dialed in the finish.

Going back to Michigan and the Iceman isn't only about racing for me....its also about going back to the roots. I grew up racing bikes in Michigan and tons of superfans were out there cheering for me.....Each year we go out to dinner with our closest bike racing friends from MI and we did the same thing Thursday and Friday evening. Carbo loading and lots of old school stories....even this one came up a few times from Iceman 1999!

The race: I could get lengthy about this one...but I think the camera work says it all. Tristan and I were smart. The big dogs were watching each other and the locals came home with the prize money! The best part of the race??? Attacking Wells, JHK, Schultz and JB? Winning my 3rd Iceman to match Scotty Q's record? Winning a true Iceman with mud and snow? Seeing Andrea at the finish? Getting tackled by Ton's of Fun during a Cycling Dirt Post Race Interview? Who knows....but it was an awesome weekend!

The bike: Trek Elite 9.9 SSL a last minute switch from the Top Fuel and it was worth it....for sure. I received a new frame in the mail on Tuesday. I ripped apart the Top Fuel as fast as possible only to realize the 2011 Treks have a tapered 1.5" headtube. Ooops its not going to work...stress...what can I do. Luckily Cane Creek makes an adapter and Wednesday it arrived. I finished building the bike by 3:00pm and was on the phone with Tristan heading out to Greenbush 10 minutes later to shake it down and get in my last set of intervals. Home after dark to clean the bike and start packing to leave. Check out the sweet rear brake line routing...when in doubt zip ties, electrical tape, and more electrical tape!

The party: It was on: Bells Beer Sunset on the season. Andrea and I finally left the race course venue at about 6:30pm after Dad took a shuttle to go find his car. Hopefully the defending champ gets a parking pass next year! We had a quiet dinner with Andrea's Aunt and Uncle and the Schouten's in the Grand Traverse Hotel. After dinner we hit the Power Wash at about 10:00pm to clean the bikes. 11:00pm - party time. No party bus this year, but it was still pretty sweet once again mixing it up with all the Pro's.

The aftermath: As tradition goes we met up with everyone at the Omelette Shoppe for breakfast Sunday morning. A standing ovation, a free breakfast, autographing papers. It was pretty cool. Driving out of town people were honking there horns and waving copies of the Record Eagle out the window!

Gotta Love It!

Again thanks to everyone who helped along the way. Rob Boldt for some cold and windy motor pacing sessions. Elicia for a post motor pacing session massage... THE Iceman, cyclingdirt.org, Gear Grinder, Trek, Hyundai.....and many many more.