Keeping Up

This past week has been all about keeping up and catching up....after being on vacation for a week it was a little tough to fall back into routine. It's really easy to adjust to the life of a pro biker...ride 5-6 hours, eat, rest, eat, sleep. repeat...



Now it's back to work, back to life, back to reality...



Training has continued to go good...beleive it or not I have already done more intervals this year than the last two years combined! This leaves me with two options...get faster or burn out...only time will tell...In exchange for more intervals(see below)












































Any excuse for more Ben & Jerry's is a good one...

It has been busy @ work with the Trek Supersale so I have to get going....really wishing I was at the Norba in Phoenix! I love that place...

Rouser Recap

I have been home about four days since the Gravel Rouser ended. After a couple days of rest its back on the bike building some power for the upcoming season. Training is going great thanks to www.momentumendurance.com and racing will be here before I know it...





check out http://www.athensbicycle.com/info/2007/07_Rouser/07_Rouser_Updates.html
for full results and more sweet pictures...


THE ROUSER PHOTO SPREAD!

And of course the Post Race Celebration at O'Betty's Hot Dogs Mmmmmmmmmm

Can't wait for the 2008 Gravel Rouser

Gravel Rouser

Yesterday was stage 3 of the Gravel Rouser - Lake Hope State Park has to be one of the best mtb trail systems in the world.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2262564

The day started with 25 miles of more rabid dogs and frigid temps. After the long climb out of the Hocking River Valley I warmed up a bit. Soon we all met at Lake Hope for the singletack race.

Tristan and I sprinted for a moving finish line and it was declared a tie. I then flipped a $10 to the time keeper...I'm hoping www.athensbicylce.com has official results with me in 1st.

The quote of the day, as Joey Boyle is being attacked be a rabid dog "That dog didn't know if I was MAN or BEAST."

Today was the Coolville Ridge Cool Down

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2271946

The race promoters spent a year trying to find the most brutal back roads in Athens County and they were very succesful. Two river crossings, and two brutal climbs per lap made for a painful 4th day of racing. Tristan cheated and outsprinted me at the line. The real winner of the day was Kevin who took home the coveted Road Kill Points Competition...check out the trophy...

Stage 2

Last Night was the Grab & Git, and it was challenging to say the least. Here are Joey and Merideth, masters of the ceremony, getting ready for the big event.

We did our best to dress the part of the locals, but it didn't help when they handed us the map, said go, and we had no idea which way was up.

The first stop was at the end of a 22% grade cobble road, needless to say we struggled. The second stop had us searching through horse barns at the county fairgrounds. After two stops we were able to get a grip on things and were soon racing to the finish to crack the top 5. Not bad for out of towners.

Stay tuned to www.athensbicycle.com for offical Grab & Git results.

Now it's off the Lake Hope...

Results - Stage 1 GRC

Last night was the start of the 2007 Gravel Rouser...first off, I know everyone wants to see this years number plater...here it is





















The course was a greasy clay type muddy, mostly downhill, with lots of off-camber sections. Approximately 1 - 1.5 miles in length, with lots of potential for disaster (20 ft drop off clifs) if your tires decide not to hook up. It is always cool to come down to Athens and ride singletrack that is more technical than anything in WI...especially after not riding a mountain bike for 4 months. I was a little sad to ride my brand new Trek Top Fuel 9.9 in such muddy conditions, but such is racing.

This is a pre-race photo at the Athens Gun Show

The final drop to the finish, on my way to the first victory of the season!

The top three..(check out the neck beard on Joey Boyle # 69)





























I spy the meanest Hockey Mullet in Athens County in the back ground...

Check out Athens Bicyle for complete results and podium photos...

http://www.athensbicycle.com/info/2007/07_Rouser/07_Rouser_Updates.html


Tonight is the Grab & Git

The locals have the serious advantage, but we'll see what we can do...

Day TWO

The cool thing about being at my parents...I have lots of time and can find some really old school stuff...

1999 Norba Results from Seven Springs, PA...

My World Cup Campaign...in 2000

World Cup Napa

Mazatlan Mexico

http://www.uci.ch/english/mtb/world_cup/2000/xc6/result_m_xc.htm

Another 4 + hours in the saddle yesterday...check out the Garmin map

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2244348

Gravel Rouser starts @ 4:30

check back later for Sundown TT results...

ps...Tristan only had 1 flat...I did attack him

Athens, OH

We made it to Athens, OH Monday after a long 9:30 drive. Tuesday was the first real training day of the season. Tristan and I busted out 4 hours in Athens. It was an awesome day to be out riding with temperatures just below 80 degrees. I even got a little bit of sunburn on the pasty WI winter arms. The Garmin Edge 305 was pretty sweet doing a real training ride...check it out...

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2240572

The other day when I saw the map of my ride in Sheboygan it was a square with almost no elevation gain.

Unfortunately Tristan did bring a little bit of amateur hour to Athens of day #1. Approximately 8 punctures on the ride and it took us 5 hours to ride 4 hours. Needless to say I did charge him a lot for each patch he used. Lesson of the day...always have a patch kit with you.

We had a few close calls with the rabid dogs of Southeast Ohio, but no missing flesh. One dog did put in an impressive 30+ mph effort for 1/4 of a mile and almost caught us...another 4 hours today and then the Gravel Rouser!

It's On

I'm starting to feel a little better. I managed a few hours on the rollers yesterday and an hour this morning. Maybe it was the idea that soon I will be headed to 65 degree temperatures. The training can official start now.

Yes it must be that time again....































Spring Break is here and its off to Athens, OH where the red necks and backwoods hillbilly's love mtb stage racing. The Gravel Rouser 07 is just around the corner and the great folks at Athen's Bicycle ( www.athensbicycle.com ) are promising great number plates again! This year the event promises to be even bigger with a four stages, more competition, more prizes and a ton of fun.


check out this years race flyer... http://www.athensbicycle.com/info/2007/07_Rouser/index.html


check out last years race flyer...
http://www.athensbicycle.com/info/gravel_rouser06.html


here are some pictures from the GRC 06


































The Sundown TT


































The 2006 Gravel Rouser @ Lake Hope

My first Rouser was in 05...

the 05 race flyer
http://www.athensbicycle.com/info/gravel_rouser05.html


here are some pictures from the 05 Rouser











































Check out the sweet trailer!










































I hope there is more babes in 07!











































This family was crazy! 50+ mph on the descents with the little girl barely hanging on the handlebars.

Stay Tuned fro updates from Athens, OH (a really cool town)

Under The Weather

I don't know if it was all the shoveling I was doing or the fact that Andrea was sick all week, but I am now officially in the hurt locker. Tight chest, runny nose, and nasty cough...oh well. I have been pounding the Yerba Mate, Garlic, Echinacea, Vitamin C, and Zinc. Hopefully it will go by fast, because the motivation to train is here in full force. Until I am ready it's time to go rest and dream of warmer places.

Mazatlan..post race party after 2000 World Cup...can anyone name mi amigo?

The BIG Tease

The snow melts and 3 days ago I felt like I was here....






















Now I am back in the basement on the rollers watching, with 6" of snow and the local news is telling me to prepare for a storm that might have the same effects and World War IV...."stock up on groceries" "at least 2 weeks worth" "buy propane" "don't leave the house" "....." on and on...

Last wednesday I put in an awesome 2:15 on the cross bike with Andrea and Tristan in near 50 degree temps. I was a little overdressed, but enjoyed every bit of fresh air. It was my first ride with the Garmin Edge 305...the thing rules. I can't wait to start more workouts and use it to full capacity.

Official training is just around the corner and I'm happy to be doing something a little differet this year. I have only had a coach once in my life and it was very beneficial.































In 1999 when Skyler Reeves & I first moved to Tucson we lived with 2 Czech racers and 1 Slovak along with Klement Capliar, a Czechoslovakian cycling coach and Hayes Brakes team manager, who took me from a mid pack Sr. Expert racer to winning Semi Pro,


































to a top 20 Norba Pro. Unfortunately I only worked with Klement for 9 months. He was hugely instrumental in my cycling life, but he was a little, let's say, hard to work with...he was also an awesome chef...life with the Euros is a whole stroy in itself...



























This particular picture Skyler and I wrote up the 1999 - 2000 Cyclocross World's results on an Excel spreadsheet with Americans sweeping the Podium in all events...they bought it for about 3 days...it was hilarious...anyway



In 2007 it will be a new coach and hopefully better results... Check out www.momentumendurance.com ...TJ is a good friend and teammate, but I know his knowledge and an outsiders perspective will bring some positive changes to my training regime directly affecting my speed, performance, skills, results, confidence, training, routine, and mental state.

Forget the Mental Prep

This past week I realized it has nothing to do with mental prep. So I did a few push ups did a few sit ups and headed out for a few miles on the bike. I figured my body is rested, my mind is ready, so why not start getting ready for the season. I have my basement set up with some rollers a trainer and a tv with dvd player. It is a pretty sweet set up...I'm also thinking of picking up a Garmin Edge 305 for training purposes. I love the new technology and it makes those long base rides a little more do-able when you have some cool graphs to look at when you get home. I also plan on downloading all the WORS courses to a computrainer at Bike N Ski so next year we can all train on the WORS courses indoors! I'm pumped about Tour of California...why can't a stage go here...

Big Bear rules and there is some sweet climbs...

My fastest days were definately in 2002 in CALI -

ALS Spin-A-Thon

Motivation is starting to grow for the season....I rode Saturday at Synergy for the ALS Spin-A-Thon. It was pretty impressive. Lots of people riding, lots of free food, and lots of money raised for Lou Gehrigs Disease. The money raised went to the Blazeman foundation, a guy who completed the Hawaii Ironman with ALS. I only rode for an hour, I would have done more but I was at work the majority of the day. A few guys rode the full 16.5 hours....not really necessary for me. My next door neighbor from Pinckney who was partially to blame for getting me into mountain biking died from ALS recently so I was happy to go bust out an hour in honor of Art Schramm. It was my first ride on my new road bike, it felt fast, I was on rollers! Sunday finally warmed up a little so I went out for another 1 hour ride, this time hit the trails on the beach on the cross bike. It was good to get some fresh air. This morning I did another 30 min on the rollers then came in to work. New Crank Brothers pedals arrived today...I'm pumped. All three new bikes will be dialed by March 1st...the official start of the season.

I decided not to party saturday night at the Synergy Dance....but I do have some Old School Disco pictures...does anyone know where they still have a Disco Night?

Back in the day I could realy pick up the babes with those shoes! It was harder too choose my outfit than to get the ladies to dance with me!

Can anyone name the 2 Disco superstars? Unfortunately many Disco nights ended with torn crothes of the 70's Polyester pants...it was only cool if torn while money was being stuffed down them or if you just broke loose in a major dance circle...

Super Bowl

Super Bowl Party = Super Bad Driving Conditions

I decided to go for it and last weekend made the trek back to my hometown. Pinckney, MI home of the Potawatomi Trail. It was a brutal drive as you can see in the picture...I was able to snap a pic when the snow let up for a while. If we had this much snow in Sheboygan and it wasn't freezing balls I would be doing a lot more skiing.

It was awesome to go back to MI. I got to hang out with my best friend Andy and his wife Jill and their dog Ceci.

I got to see some other high school buddies, went out to eat at Zukey Lake Tavern ( a Pinckney classic) got to see the old neighborhood, and I got to go hiking on the Poto....not quite the same as riding, but it definitely brought back some memories. Getting T-Boned by a sheriff in a truck w/ Mesko, setting blistering fast laps, chilling by Silver Lake checking out the babes and eating French Fries, and crashing on a beer can after trying to nail it with my front tire.

The big game was good, the commercials were good, but it wasn't the Steelers. Driving through Chicago had to be embarassing for Bears fans, the day before the big game and I drove through town to see two cars with bears stickers and one business with some bears flags on top of the building. That would never happen in Pittsburgh or Green Bay. The Bears deserved to lose. The bears still suck! On the way home after the Bears lost I saw equally as little Bears Fans support. I also stopped at TJ's on the way home and bought some $2 chuck, french roast, and lots of dried fruits and nuts. Celebrity sightings at TJ's included Roberto Gaggioli in the Monex Team car and Frank Pipp.

Time is running out and its almost time to start some base building for the season. This weekend I will be at Synergy doing a spin a thon to raise money for ALS (Lou Gehrigs Disease) If you want to donate money stop by Bike N Ski, Synergy or you can pay brimatter@hotmail.com through www.paypal.com. After the spin a thon Synergy is having a dance party. Who knows maybe I will have to bust something out! My two new mountain bikes and a new road bike are almost dialed and ready to start another season. Now I have to start the mental prep.