Walleye 4 the Win

After Iola I knew I was in way better form than I had given myself credit for. So I didn't hesitate at all to spend the extra $20 right off the bat at Rhinelander and get my #4 plate for the 2011 WORS series!

The trip to Rhinelander started off on Friday. With some clean bikes we headed up to the cabin in Eagle River. A Qdoba in Green Bay and the best ice cream the northwoods has to offer in Carter made the driver a little shorter. We arrived at about 9:00pm just in time to see Mike(my father in-law) cast out into Seven Mile Lk and catch a 13"er and 19"er.

Saturday was an early morning road ride to avoid the rain w/ the 700c's on the Top Fuel. Followed by lots of time spent on the couch watching Universal Sports Giro coverage and a killer dinner with the best fresh fish I have ever eaten. Feeling inspired we went out again and caught an even bigger Walleye. This one was 21" and Mike said it was the biggest he had ever caught out of 7mile.

Unfortunately during the Sunday morning photo shoot of the lunker he took a dive, landed on the dock, and flopped into the water. Only one photo was taken before the escape artist got away and it was with a crappy cell phone camera...bummer

We loaded up the car again and made the 45 minute drive over to Rhinelander. The race started pretty standard down the dirt road. As soon as we got on the trail I felt fast. I was carrying much more speed than everyone else and made a few passes on the first fast descents to get into 3rd position behind NG and BE. Eppen looked to be struggling. I passed him and followed Guerras surges until the feed zone. I took over the lead for a while on lap 1, but wasn't familiar with the new shortened course.

By lap 2 I was feeling much more comfortable and the field was whittled down to 3. NG, Tristan and I. Guerra crushed the entire 2nd lap and was riding pretty good. I was struggling with the accordian effect in 3rd position, so Lap 3 I decided to go to the front. GO TIME....I crushed it in the singletrack and saw that I had gapped Tristan a litte, so I just went harded and harder. Eventually T was gone and it was just Nathan and I starting Lap 4. I needed a break after going so hard on Lap 3 so I sat on down the dirt road for a while. I was a little nervous T would be coming back....so I started to go again and eventually dropped NG. Soloed it in for the first W of the year!

Huge props to the Trek Top Fuel. The bike might have been hand designed just for that course at Rhinelander!

We had a safe drive home and now its back to the grindstone. 17 hours planned for the week along with a quick trip to Cleveland, OH to pick up a team car for Gear Grinder.

It finally showed up...so now it's even more official!

COACHING

Exciting things happening right now for me. Most exciting(besides the fact that my computer is virus free) is a new opportunity to be working with Travis Woodruff at Momentum Endurance. Momentum Endurance is a performance oriented coaching serive company for cyclist. I will be working side be side with Travis to help athletes reach their full potential. About 2 weeks ago I completed the process of becoming an officially certified USA Cycling Coach! E-mail me bmatter@momentumendurance.com for more details or see the link to the left.

In other coaching news. I am very excited to be asked back to be a coach at the Michigan Tech Jr. Mountain Bike Camp! This years camp will be very similar to last years camp. 5 days of the best mountain biking the midwest has to offer, Fireworks, Trek Demo bicycles, Keewanaw Chain Drive racing, and of course all the cafeteria soft serve ice cream you can handle!!! June 15 - June 19th in Houghton, MI click here for more details and registration.

No Computer = No Blog

I have been without a computer for about 2 weeks. Bummer! It's like the Stone Age again at my house! It started out with a trip to Eagle River for a solid 3 days of training after the race in Iola. I had a big week of training planned and needed some extra peace and quiet for the best possible recover after over extending a little at Iola. Eagle River was nice. I ended up with 18 hours on the bike for the week and discovered lots of new roads. A great way to end Base period 1.

Unfortunately it wasn't enough recover and I must have come in contact with some sort of bug when my immune system was beat down. I spent all of last week down and out sick as can be.....bummer. With our home computer getting a revamp I had no internet and didn't have the energy to make it to the in-laws for a little internet time. I'm feeling much better now! Bad news is I think I passed it on to Andrea.

Hopefully we both fully recover for WORS #2 this weekend in Rhinelander.

Andrea and I also added a new addition to the family. 18.5" 20lbs 14 oz w/ mud on the tires! I finished up the new Trek 9.9 Elite Hardtail complete w/ new Shimano XTR 10spd! That stuff is so nice. I think it will be the first time in my career that my hydraulic brake line is the proper length because the guys at Shimano even made it smooth as butter to bleed the brakes! Can't wait to get a little more time on the new ride! Still no computer at home so real pictures will have to come soon!

In other new and exciting news I will be joining forces w/ Travis Woodruff @ Momentum Endurance. In an attempt to spread some of my knowledge to others before I get too old and forget, I went through the process of becoming a certified USA CYCLING Coach! Travis and I have been working together for the last month and all the details and planning are almost finalized. Stay tuned for more info...

In the books!

First race of the year in the books! 2nd place a couple of seconds behind Tristan. I kind of surprised myself! I knew I was in better shape than last year, but I wasn't thinking I had that amount in my legs.

The race started pretty good, smooth out of the gates and up the first few climbs. It never surged really hard until the start of lap 2 when Eppen crushed it out of the bowl and up the next few climbs. Tristan responded by crushing it even harder and I was in trouble. Lucky there was just enough of a let up before the last of the big climbs on the first half of the course. I went to the front to slow things down a little. Tristan was having none of it....he attacked me over the top of the hill and I knew that was the moment. I dug deep, the bike responded, the legs responded and I made it... Eppen was gone and Anderson dangled at 5 seconds for 1/4 of a lap, but then dissapeared. I followed Tristan the rest of lap 2 and 3. I led all of lap 4 and was feeling the fatigue setting in....

Tristan attacked starting the last lap and I didn't have it to go with him...I stayed steady and was slowly closing the gap the remainder of the lap, but didn't have the horsepower in the end.

Secrets to my success....1. the Top Fuel with the DT Swiss rear shock. It's so much better than the stock Fox w/ "Pro Pedal" Had to do a little funky cable routing to get it to work. Also a little challenge to manage the Fox remote lockout w. the cable pull of the DT, but where there is a will there is a way. The DT is like a hard tail when you step on it....then like a duely when you want to rip a downhill. 2. race smart...lots of wind on the course. hide as much as possible! 3. mentally fresh & well prepared. 4. new Oakley Radar's 5. New Team colors keeping it fresh 6. new Egg Beater 11's from Crank Bros! 7. The new formulated Clif Shot's...easy to get down the hatch even when its frickin' freezing.

I think overall I'm coming into this season with a little less lost fitness compared to last offseason. With a little more time on the bike in Tucson...mostly commuting to work and fun mtb rides w/ Andrea, Gravel Rouser and Barry Roubaix, I think I'm in a little better shape. I'm pretty happy about this as I'm only officially 2 weeks into the training plan...hopefully up up up from here.