Brooklyn, NY

Unpack, run, work, sleep, ride, work, , massage, pack, sleep, drive, fly......

It was a whirlwind between Iceman and now, but I managed to build up a second bike,


















Thanks to Snudden, Moncel, and Azhar.....White WINS!



















Thanks to Tristan for the single set up - I think that set up was 8th at nationals.

Thanks to Krazy Karl for a touch of old school and the Avid Tri Dangle hook up!


I also got in a few workouts in, put in a few hours at Bike N Ski, hopped on a place, hailed a cab, and now I'm chillin' in Brooklyn!






























Next Up USGP NJ

WOW

I'll start by saying, I really didn't think it was going to happen. I truly felt horrible all week, I hadn't touched the Superfly since the day after Ore To Shore, and the competition was top notch....

Street Player and myself rolled out at 7:15am Friday morning. We chose the northern route for a little peace and quiet to prepare for the race (get healthy fast). We loaded down the car as usual along with an extra roll of toilet paper for as much snot as my head could produce. We arrived at 4:30pm for a short preview of the finish, registration, and dinner with my dad, old school friend Derek Prechtl and his wife.

I had a good night sleep in the comfy beds of the Grand Traverse and the weather was not that bad. We rolled over to Kalkaska around 1:00pm and started the warm up. I was feeling pretty good on the warm up and just kept telling myself 'if I can make it through the first 10 minutes I'll be fine.'

The gun went off and I was immediately on Jeremiah's wheel. I was OK! Simonson pulled through and I rotated to 3rd position...still OK! Sam Schultz pulled through and the pace dropped... next thing you know 10 minutes is up...OK I made the train....

Somewhere in the middle of the race Andy Schultz got away and was out of site....I wasn't concerned....Simonson was on the front the gap wasn't opening at an alarming rate. Simonson was a little frustrated and was asking for help and as soon as Mike Anderson took over the gap closed.

By this point I had made it half way and the lead group was 8 strong....we entered the Vasa Trail with Marko in command. On a technical descent Andy crashed and Jeremiah got a gap...I put in my first effort to try and bridge...once I made contact I though we were gone, but someone closed it down. Next Mike Anderson made a small move, but opened the gap. It opened a little too much and I closed it down on Anita's Hill with about 5 to go.

Going into the last singletrack I was 3rd wheel. Collin Cares got gapped, and I was stuck...I went around him on one of the last climbs, but with less than a mile to go I couldn't close the gap to Jeremiah.

I was thrilled to get 2nd. I wish I had a better mental state. I feel if I would have been aggressive instead of defensive I could have repeated. My lack of confidence had me following wheels and reacting to moves instead of making the others react to me. I'll be back again next year and hopefully give it another good run for the top step of the podium. We did a little partying at night, but most of it was while on the podium for me...

The best part of the Iceman is seeing all the old familiar faces. Faces from the POTO, faces from Fun Promotions, and faces from 15 years of heading north to Traverse City.

Thanks to everyone who has helped along the way, especially this years sponsors; Gear Grinder, Van Horn Hyundai, Trek/Fisher, Oakley, Crank Bros. Thanks again to my family who has been so supportive. The best part of the trip my be the rubbermaid tub of old school home videos my dad brought from the basement in OH. The blog has potential to get really good if I had the time to look through the hours and hours of home video!

Iceman

2nd place today.

Jeremiah Bishop was first...we finished about 1:28 and I was 3 or 4 seconds behind him.....I didn't have the confidence to attack being sick. But I'm pretty happy with the result. Looking forward to getting healthy and going to NJ/NY!

Full story soon!

Clue phone was ringing.

I should have seen it coming....I knew something wasn't quite right when I woke up Saturday morning....maybe I should have noticed something wasn't quite right when it took me 5 days to feel OK again after Louisville. I showed up with no motivation Saturday and no top end speed or power. Overall I was just in a blah mood. Probable should have taken it as a sign not to race, but I had heard so much about the great course and it was only :40 mintures from home. Andrea raced the 3 women and was 3rd.

Elicia was 4th in the 1,2 women and I finished 2nd. I filed in about 10th wheel and by the 2nd run up I was following Mark. I was even feeling good enought to give the ol' Rock N Roll to the photographers....

but Mark was just cruising...next time around he decided to hit the gas and that was all she wrote for me....he proceeded to put about 10 seconds per lap into me.....

The running was tough so half way through I attempted to make some time by remounting after the barrier instead of running, but all that did was get me some loud encouragment from Half Acre Tim and the Polish Superfans. It was fun, but not any faster.

After the race we tried to hit up great harvest bread, but it was closed. We had an awesome dinner at Hildebrads and then enjoyed some Halloween fun at the State Park where Andrea and I were married.

In the middle of the night about 2:00am when it was time to fall back I felt the swollen glands and the sore throat. All weeek everyone at the bike shop was sick...I did my best to wash my hands a lot, but I guess I caught a little somethign. No race on Sunday for me...stuck in the recliner wathcing football. It wasn't all that bad as I really haven't watched a football game all season. I slammed the fluids, vit C, echinacea, and garlic... Feeling a little better today. In the mean time I have to find some extra cash if a Euro Cross Campaign is in the future...if you need a new Fuel maybe you can help?

BOO

Last night I got pretty lucky when I flipped on the tv! Rocky Horror Picture Show. It inspired todays blog post so in honor of todays scary holiday I thought I would throw out my top 5 alter ego's.

Everyone's got to be Superman at least once...here I am circa '81

That's me #12 Pittsburgh Steeler Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw in the middle of the huddle back in '80

Staying fit at the aerobics center in 2000.

Ricky 'Wild Thing' Vaughn & his crazed Nurse

Dr. Frankenfurter and Magenta in 2004

Don't forget the Bat Dog!

JUST a bit outside!

The first round of the USGP series is over.....and I was "just a bit outside" of a top 10 both days. It started off with an early morning rainy, wet, cold ride on Friday. Andrea, Elicia and I then showered and loaded up the trusty Hyundai and headed to Indianapolis. We hooked up with BVDG swapped cars, and headed to Bloomington for some awesome (free) accomadations with Bennett's family.

Saturday morning it was a quick drive over to Champions Park for day 1. Elicia did her first Elite UCI and just missed out on a money spot. Andrea loved the course, but didn't race. My race was good. I had a solid warm up, good preparation, and a second row call up. The gun went off and I was instantly in the mix. After a lap I settled into a group with Driscoll, Wells, and McGrath. I was pretty happy...another lap down and McGrath was gone and we were catching A.J.M. and Chris Jones. As soon as we caught those two in a sandpit Wells and Driscoll were gone and I was stuck behind Jones and AJM. The gap opened instantly and the rest of the race I pulled around those 2 racing for 10th. They both beat me...lesson learned. DAY 1: 12th place!

Sunday morning we were back at it..... and with more Superfans in attendance(thanks for making the drive mom & dad!). Elicia again narrowly missed the $$$ and Andrea again really wanted to rip through the sandpits mtb style, but didn't. I again was in the mix at the start.

But this time it didn't last quite as long as McGrath and Jones tangled half way through the first lap and the lead group was formed. I was on the wrong side of the mishap and found myself once again racing for 10th place. This time I played the waiting game and let others do the work.

After we caught Trebon with 3 or so to go Marko took a good pull. With 2 to go Chris Jones pulled through and with 1 to go I took the lead in 10th. Just before the Green Monster with 4 corners to go Marko snuck by for 10th and I was 11th.

All in all it was a great weekend of fast racing. The course was smooth, flowed great, with lots of Kentucky Blue Grass. The sand pits and the Green Monster kept everyone honest. The Trek XO2 rode solid like always and the Easton's held great lines in the sand pits. A huge thanks to BVDG and Tony 'Wild Thing' Wagner for hanging in the pits.

A huge thanks Gear Grinder, Trek, Easton, Hyundai, and Crank Bros for the support. A huge thanks for all the cheering I received out on the course....I might as well have been racing in Sheboygan! And to the biggest SUPERFANS of all Andrea, Mom, and Dad I couldn't do it without them.

Oh You think so....NO don't forget we were traveling with ELICIA so the story doesn't stop here....after we downed the necessary drugs to make it back alive.....

We hit the final home stretch. College Ave Park N Ride where we planned to drop off Elicia so she could head back to Madison. Unfortunately; Cherry decided to Bomb. So we didn't escape the weekend without drama after all. 1:00am dead car not cool, but plenty cold. Right now they are driving back to Milwaukee to try and fix the car...good luck guys!

Doublin' Up

Another weekend of cross action has come and gone. Next up I'll be rippin' it up on the blue grass of Louisville, KY...but first things first.

Verona;

You know it's going to be a good weekend of cross racing when you get a little BOC on the radio while driving to the race!!!

The race was good with a new and improved course since the last time I raced in Verona. There was a nice section of corners by the start/finish and a sweet log barrier that I jumped every lap except the first in traffic.

I won. Kristin won the womens race and Elicia was 4th. I pushed myself to the limit on every lap.

Wally killed it over the log barrier and scored some $$$ from the superfan's!!!

Yes this photo was taken at Arby's where we enjoyed our post race meal!!!!!

Gibb's Showdown;

Andrea decided to race in the morning so it was a quick departure, but we didn't forget anything. A 2:30 hour drive down to Gibb's allowed for a little more recovery time y tiempo a estudiar espanol.

Andrea did her first cross race on a cross bike and was 9th amongst the women. Kristin won and Elicia moved up a spot to 3rd. I'm not so sure she enjoyed the lung searing efforts of cross compared to the mtb.

The course was run backwards from years past which made for a long run up in the back section of the race.

I needed some practice running with the bike. It was a really fast 1st half of the lap w/ 20+ mph dirt sections. Someone in front of me crashed on the descent. The crash opened a gap, I chased hard and caught Kyle J just in time for a flick of the elbow to go through. I went by him and never looked back.

I stayed much more steady compared to yesterday....just trying some different things out...all in all another great weekend of cross racing. Thanks to all who took photos and cheered. Thanks to GG, Easton, Trek, Hyundai, Oakley and Crank Bros.

Memoirs of a Superfan

My career as a Superfan began at an early age. Norba Nationals Traverse City MI 1994. My goal was to get as many autographs as possible. Film the best action possible and hope for the biggest crashes possible.









I came away with autographs from Tomac, Furtado, Wiens, Juarez, Grewal, Hans Rey, Lopes, King, Carter, Giove. It was awesome...if only I could find some of that video footage at my parents house you could see what it was all about in the mid 90's.


Luckily I had some great Role Models from the beginning. My dad and Lou Reeves were some of the best Superfans out there as pictured below on a brisk fall morning at the Boyne Downhill State Championships in 1995.

10 years later they were still at it, but now they had perfected the look.(brim on hats getting bigger)

They would scout the best areas for photo ops, they would photo every technical section of the course to help us pick our lines. Rain or Shine they were at the start line, in the woods, on the descent, and back to the finish religously.

Here is a famous section of trail in Mt. Snow.

Below are some Superfans lining the descent in Snowshoe!

Look how fast these superfans had me rockin' this section.

After I started racing pro I didn't completely give up on my career as a Superfan. I just had to be smart about it....

In Mt Snow towards the end of the lap the old race course went under a bridge. Instead of hiking up 4 miles to the best part of the course we figured if 2 of us yelled as loud as we can under the bridge it was really loud! Like a rock concert loud. We had so much fun we stayed for hours even though we still had to race later that afternoon. By the end of our Superfan session we were handing out dollar bills to confused racers who were baffled out the decibel level from only two Superfans. The transition from light to darkness in the tunnel and then to light again made it difficult to focus on the $$$ hand up on the other side of the bridge. One thing not to forget we were still poor bike racers so we made sure we handed the dollar right close to a pothole, so the racers had a difficult time taking the money we needed to eat Ben & Jerry's with later that night

If we were done racing...it was back to being a Superfan ASAP as pictured below in one of the many Short Track races that were ended a few laps too early.

OHIO 2 & 3

That's more like it...Racing bikes is fun....traveling with friends is fun....and not being at work for a three day weekend is really fun. All in all I'm really happy with the weekend. I made the right decision not to do the local race in Sheboygan and go for the triple header in OH. So after day 1 we (Marko and Kristin) hit the Applebees for a Brewtus burger and then settled into the Super 8 for some R&R.

Day 2:

Java Johnny's in Middleton, OH. The course was less bumpy with some good off camber corners, and a double sand pit. It started pretty bad right off the bat when 2 or 3 guys missed there call up....Then they just backed it in the front row. So now there is 10 or 11 guys in the front row when there is enough room for 8. Marko was behind Troy Wells and I was just to his left. Troy either skipped a pedal or pulled out of his cleats and did a major swerve. 2 others did a major over reaction and crashed directly in front of me. I was on the ground for at least 20 seconds. Not really on the ground I guess, because I was actually on someone else. I got up after stepping on some wheels and untangling bars from spokes. Started going to realize my chain was off. Hopped off the bike to put the chain on...back on the bike to realize the stem is crooked...back off the bike to straighten the stem....back on the bike to start a long chase...made it up to 15th, but not happy with the end result...something that could have possibly been avoided had the UCI officials maybe been a little more on top of it...

After the race my mom and I went to the Montgomery Inn for some world famous....I'll let the pictures do the talking.

I wonder if Sven Nys eats this good during his 3 day Christmas races!

Day 3: Bio Wheels Dairy Farmers in Fairfield OH.

More of a roadie course with lots of drafting. Some tough sand pits and a screaming fast descents that had my Tufo Flexus tires holding on for dear life. A live band with a Superfan drummer on the cowbell, and an awesome blow by blow announcer. A much better start had me 3rd wheel behind Powers and Wicks after the first 2 or 3 corners. I was feeling good. I drifted back a few spots and settled in by mid lap. Starting lap 2 I had a slight bobble and had to touch down with my hand. My chain fell off and I fell off the lead group. I quickly put the chain back on as 9th-11th passed me.

I bridged back up to Marko, Tonkin, and Adam Mcgrath and there I stayed the rest off the race. Mcgrath crashed on the same corner I did with 3 to go and then it was 3. With one to go Tonkin was riding like an animal trying to chase down Parbo. I was dropped on the final climb and rolled in for 11th. More UCI points!

Kristin had an awesome weekend against a stacked womens field. She was 7th, 7th and 8th! That should be a good call up for KY!

The Planet Bike Sprinter rolled into Milwaukee at around 11pm and I was home by midnight. I can't wait for more cross racing. When I woke up this morning I was so pumped I had to ask myself, "Did I even race yesterday?" Thanks to my MOM (my biggest Superfan) for making the trip from Athens. A huge thanks to Team Planet Bike for the ride to and from the races. Thanks to Gear Grinder, Trek, Hyundai, Crank Bros, and Oakley. In local news Andrea scored a podium finish with a 4th at the Sheboygan WORS.

OHIO

I had a good day at the first of three races in OH. 8th Place. Some pretty tough competition. I had a solid start from the 2nd row. I followed Powers and filtered in around 5th or 6th wheel. By midway through the race I was in a group of 3 with Wells and Tonkin. Wells was pretty strong, Tonkin wasn't taking the best of lines. With 3 to go Wells checked out and Marko bridged out of nowhere. With a half lap to go Marko launched and I waited till 4 corners to go to get by Tonkin. Right now we are shacked up in a Super 8 about 10 minutes from tomorrows race. Tomorrow my Mom is going tomake the trip over from Athens. I wonder what Rosco is doing?

The American Dream

This past weekend I was just a normal dude. I worked around the house, climbed a ladder, made some chilli, and watched some college football. I was even lucky enough to score tickets to Sundays Packers Game. I was learning how to be a Superfan!

I hooked up the surround sound system in the house, watched some politics, and worried as the stock market tumbled lower and lower. I cleaned the gutters(just in time for all the leaves and pine needles to start falling), I did some dishes, ate some good food, and did some vacuuming!

It was all fun and good, but I'm ready to be a bike racer again. No Sheboygan WORS for me this year. I'm off to Cincinnati for more CX.

Superfan 101

The Superfan:

Here is a quick post about the Art of being a Superfan.

Superfans are energetic, loud, and even obnoxiuos.

Superfan rules to live by:

Rule # 1 Go to the toughest part of any race course and make lots of noise.

Get right up in the action: If a rider crashes be sure to heckle them and be overdramatic and extra loud about the fall. Also be close enough to save them from crashing.

If a rider can't clear a section make sure you let them know....even if it is world championships and they are the best in the world and there is no way you would even attempt it yourself. If a rider looks like they don't know what they are doing be sure to let them know.

Don't be afraid to yell off the brakes or go faster even if the rider is maxed....even let them know you could go faster.

Superfan rule #2

Offer hand ups: Pez, Beer, Cold Chicken Sandwiches, or Money....whatever it may be offer it up....If the rider passes let him/her know your dissaproval...if they take the hand up....cheer louder than you have ever cheered before.

Superfan rule#3 Dress the part

If you are at the Napa World Cup Disco Flyover...you should be ready to do some Disco

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Rule #4 Don't be afraid to show some skin! If you can get a pro racer to do the double take you know you have done a great job.

and if you make a mountain biking magazine (as we did with this photo taken during the pro downhill at the Norba in Snoqaulmie, WA) you know you are on the right track to being a Superfan.

Finally Rule #5

Support your favorite riders by purchasing team clothing so you can look and dress exactly how they look and dress.

Stay tuned for some Old School Superfan stories!