Rockin'

It's been non-stop and it looks like its going to be that way for a while!!!!  Most important thing though is that I'm having fun and feeling good.

Its been a while since I have updated my blog.  I was training really hard leading up to Ore To Shore and I even stepped over the line for a little bit and had to back it down because I though I was getting sick.  Luckily a few extra days of rest and I fought it off and had a good day at the first Triple Crown of the year.

Andrea and I stuck to tradition and drove up to Marquette w/ the Hyundai loaded down.  2 people - 4 bikes and lots of gear!  We arrived and did the standard pre-ride w/ Tristan and Mike Anderson, back for 10 miles and then flipped it for 10 miles and pre-viewed the finish.  We ate at the Pasta Shoppe and stayed at the MQT Motor Lodge.  Its all so familiar and we do it the same every year...it just makes it easier and it seems to work for good race results.

Andrea had the best race of her life finishing in 7th just 35 seconds away from a top 5!  She had been training super hard and I am really really happy her bike stayed together and there were no mishaps racing with the guys.

Getting ready to put the pressure on over the top of Misery Hill!

I finsihed 2nd.  What I really didn't want was a sprint finish like last year.  What I got was a sprint finish...but this time Cole won.  I spent most of the race trying to drop him.  I attacked multiple times, had the pressure on a lot, but nobody wanted to try to go with me...they just wanted to chase me down.  Tristan and I had a gap after the power line climbs, but it was a little to early.  It was enough to whittle the lead group down to 7 instead of the 15 - 25 we had the previous year so that was good, but again not enough.  Cole raced the smartest race and it paid off in the end.

Cole was going so fast he had to counter steer in the final turn!

After the race it was the standard post race pizza, the awards ceremony and another trip to the Pasta Shoppe!  We were so lucky to have perfect weather all weekend.  We finished the weekend off w/ an awesome trail ride at Mqt Mountain.  The new trails there are awesome!  Gotta check it out if you are every in Marquette.  After the trail ride it was another 3 hours on the bike!  This time it was skinny tires!  Not too skinny though...yep cross season is officially here.  I hosted two cross clinics for the KMK bike club.  It was pretty awesome.  Tons of interest in the UP for cross.  The first clinic was 6 or 7 girls.  Perfect numbers to get lots of 1 on 1 attention.  Then the next clinic was 7 or 8 guys.  We worked on barriers, shouldering the bike, cornering....and of course sand!

Momentum Endurance Cross 101

The fun didn't stop there though.  Sunday night we arrived home at 9pm and spent quite some time upacking and then bright and early Monday morning I was off to Trek World!  I picked up my friend Pete from Athens Bicycle at the Madison airport and then we rolled to Trek HQ for demo days.  I was crushed when I was told there will be no Top Fuel for 2013, but the good news is I did get out on the new Superfly and it truly is 'Superfly'.  After testing multiple bikes it was back to Madison to check out the big show.  Hang with old friends, meet Bo Jackson, and just be pumped to be associated with a great company like Trek.  I finally made it home by midnight.  I'm smashed!

Hanging w/ Joe D...old Belgium cross buddy now turned Super Climber