Bike Demo

I was able to suffer through the knee pain and ride some really cool bikes on saturday at ILRA bike demo.
I was able to ride a 29er Titus Racer X Ti, a Titus Fireline Exogrid 29er, a Pivot Mach 4 and a Cannondale Rize.
First up was the 29er RX.

Wow what a great riding bike. I really dont know what it was, but the bike just seemed so fast. It fit me just right, and every other bike I rode was lacking in comparison. I really like the bike, I have never felt so connected to a bike before. I have heard people say riding a 29er was like being in the bike instead of on top of it.

Next was the Pivot Mach 4

I have heard really good things about the bike, being that it is a Chris Cocalis design. I wasnt digging the bike at all. I couldnt wait to get off the bike actually. I dont think the bike was set up quite right for me, I had to adjust the seat angle, height etc... It just felt really slow, the bars were really wide, and it just didnt feel as good as the RX.

I rode the carbon Rize 1 next.

I like the bike, the bars were way to wide, the suspension was set really soft and I couldnt figure out how to get the lefty unlocked. But even with all of that i liked the bike. It seemed to ride and climb really good for, a longer travel bike.

The last bike I rode and, only hardtail, was a Sexogrid Fireline 29er by Titus.


The frame was too small for me, but the bike rode really well. It was a 29er so it fit me in the seat tube, but the top tube was a bit short. It was a lot smoother than I expected it to be, but there was a lot of chain slap going on. The bike was really nice though.

I really wanted to ride a Scott Spark, an Epic and a scalpel, but it didnt work out.

So for me the winner was the Titus Racer X 29er. It was by far the best feeling bike I have ever ridden. So now the main question for me is, would I go 29er? I have a few months too make up my mind, and the Sexogrid, is it worth the cash...

Here we go again

The last couple of weeks I have been struggling with knee pain. I am not sure what is causing it or why it started all of the sudden either. For some reason every time I ride the bike I get a pain in my right knee. It seems to be in the back of the knee in the tendon. If you are sitting on a chair with toes pointed up and heel on the ground and try to slide your foot back towards your body that is when the pain is the worst. But just walking, and stretching out my leg makes it hurt as well. I guess I am going to have to go into the doctor and see what is going on. I am hoping to get some advice from my cousin this weekend that is a PT. At least it is early in the season, but I really hope it isnt something severe.

Cross Sexo grid

Saw this bike posted on the cyclocross mag. website. What a beautiful bike. Titus makes some of the finest looking bikes around. You pay top dollar though. I dont even want to guess at the price of this bling cross bike. Based on their road bikes, I am sure it is probably the cost of 2 or 3 regular cross bikes.
Sounds like they will be offering a steel and a uber-bling version in Ti.


Cant wait to see one in person or read some reviews.

Ugh

Not sure where I got this from, but man feels like I got hit by a truck. Thrusday I was feeling fine, getting ready race this weekend at bloomer, I even bought some cones to practice the one turn I can not make. On the way home though my entire body started to ache. Time I got home I was starting to shiver I took my temperature, and it was normal. About an hour later I took it again and it was 101. Amazing how you can go from feeling fine to crap so fast. I thought I was getting better on friday, but now it has turned into a stomach flu thing.
So no racing bloomer for me tomorrow. Hopefully I am feeling well enough to go hang out for a bit and get my skin suit.
This sucks!

Just a tease

The last few days here have been really nice. Starting with last week saturday all the way through about wednesday the weather has been above normal or at least average.
Saturday I did my first road race. It was an interesting experience. I must say the first few laps I was a bit nervous about riding in the pack at waterford. But eventually I got used to it.
Sunday we rode pontiac lake rec. area for the first time this year. Overall the trail was in good shape. Some mud, but not too bad. My legs were tired from the race on saturday, but it still felt good to get out and ride in the woods.
This week on monday and tuesday I was able to get some dirt road riding in. I took the fuel out on monday and the slingshot on tuesday. I tried lowering the seat a bit on the fuel to get it closer to the height of my cross bike. I think it felt better. Ever since I have been fitted on that bike, I felt like I have been able to generate much power. Looking forward to trying it out on the trails in the next couple of days. When I got my fit done for it at fraser, they really raised my seat up a lot from where I had it before. Overall I have not been very happy with the fit that they did. I guess I will have to take it to Jeff at kinetic to see what he thinks, I really dig the cross bike setup he did for me.

Lets see if you can guess...

When was this picture taken??














Was it January? How about December? Perhaps it was November??

Nope it is March 27th and there is about an inch or two of snow on the ground and it is still coming down hard. There is even a snow advisory! To quote NOAA "TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM 3"- 6" OF NEW SNOW"

What is going on with this weather this winter?

I think I need to put up a picture or two of a more pleasant time called SUMMER. Not sure if people remember what summer is. I can only vaguely remember myself, seems like you can go outside and be warm!! Maybe that is just a myth that people talk about to get through this cold, white time of the year?

More Snow

WHY???

Turned the corner???

Well maybe after this weekend we will have finally turned the corner on the winter and are heading towards spring. Luckily we dodged a huge snow storm and the forecast for next week is looking, well, normal for this time of year. This winter normal is good. It has been colder and snowier than any of the recent winters.
I can not wait to get out on the trails again and feel dirt under my tires instead of snow and ice. I think the last time that happened was in January when we got a few warm days. Seems like we got out to stony for a ride, and shortly after the snow returned. Normally I dont mind riding in the snow, but this year there has just been so much.
Looking back at my rides from last year the first trail ride of the spring was March 30th at PLRA. I have a feeling this is going to be a wet spring with the 80+ inches of snow that we got so far. The first race is only a little over a month away now. I guess the rollers and trainer will have to do.

DDX is complete...

Well almost. I finally got the bike ready to be ridden, but not with the helium wheels. I am still waiting to get a cassette and a set tubular tires for it. So here is the build up:
Dura Ace Front der.
Ultegra Rear der.
Ultegra Shifters
Ritchey WCS Compact Crank
Ritchey WCS Carbon Fork
Ultegra BB
SCX-5 Brakes
Reynolds Comp Stem
Specialized Bar
Tektro Top Levers
Bonty Bar Tape
Mavic Helium Rims

Not sure what the total weight of the bike is, but it feels pretty light.

Weekend Racing

So last weekend was the first time this year I was able to get out and get a long ride in really. We had a pretty good size group on saturday doing laps around stony creek. It felt really good to get out and ride, but it didnt feel so good to get smoked by some guys on mtb`s while I was on my road bike. But I was able to get just under 70 miles in for the two days.
On sunday Tim had a great idea of starting up a weekly TT series. Just a low key thing for fun and to get everyone into shape for the racing season that is quickly approaching. I posted the idea to the TSB site and lot of people sound pretty pumped about it. I also mentioned it to few other people as well and they thought it was a great idea. Hopefully this takes hold and we can get a good turn out. If you are reading this and are interested just check the team site for details.

I plan on getting some pics and will post up.

DDX Build Up

Well my slingshot DDX project is almost complete. Just a matter of switching my Ritchey WCS crankset off of my orbea with the R-700, and taping the bars. I picked up some bright red bontrager bar tape which should look really nice on the bike. When it gets closer to cross season I will pick up a pair gray Tufu flexus tires for my Helium rims. That should make the bike look pretty darn cool.














Just waiting for the final touches.














Cant wait to get the bike done and take it out for a spin. It was going to be my bad weather bike/pit bike but I dont know that I can subject to her that...

Crystal Mountain

We took advantage of a long weekend to get up north to Crystal Mountain for snowboarding this past weekend. I thought we had a lot of snow down here, but we have a lot less than they do. The drive up was interesting on Thursday afternoon. I got out of work a little bit early and we were on the road by 4. We decided to go a different route than I-75-M-72 like we usually take when we head up the Traverse area. We went across 10 to M-115 that took us all the way to Crystal Mountain, which seems like a more direct route. We were making good time until we got onto 10, then it started to snow. The further north and west we got the worse the roads got. By the time we got on M-115, we couldnt even see the lanes, road or much of anything else because it was snowing so hard. The WRX handled the snow great though, and I was able do 40-50 all the way up.
Friday we got out on the mountain for snowboarding for most of the day. What a great resort, at least for michigan. They have a lot of longer green and blue runs that were quite a bit of fun and the snow was great. It didnt take me too long to get back to feeling pretty good on the board. It was a cold day, and turned out to be very crowded. We planned on getting some more time in on sunday, but it rained all day and was warm. So at least we got out on friday.

Saturday we spent most of the day in TC, we checked out the caterer for our wedding. The food was good, and we will probably end up going with them.
I found a great deal on some keen winter boots, we were planning on going snowshoeing later in the day, and I needed some winter boots. Back Country Outfitter had some on sale, and they even had my size. We went to quite a few of the other shops in the area, but I am happy I found these. They worked really good and kept my feet nice and warm. They apparently didn't have any trails at the resort that weren't for XC skiers so we just went back to house that we rented and tromped around in the snow there.
Later that night we went and rented some skates. This was the first time I have been on skates in a few years, and probably the first time in 10 years that I have not worn goalie skates. It took me a few laps around to get the feel back. Noelle was starting to get the hang of it pretty well to, being that it was really her first time skating. I guess I miss hockey more than what I was thinking I did. Maybe one of these weekends I will have to go play some drop in hockey and see if my knees hold up or not.
It was fun, but sure feels good being home.

Do we need more snow?

Just sitting here on the couch, and the snow is still coming down. We probably have at least a foot of snow right now. I got home from work and had to shovel the driveway after getting the car stuck. Apparently the snow removal company thought it was a good idea to plow the road, and leave a huge pile of snow in front everyone`s driveway. At least I got a good upper body workout in. Also rode the bike for about an hour tonight. I was really hoping to get outside on the road this weekend, but it looks like it is going to be another wet weekend. Hopefully the snow will let up and it will dry up there enough to get a ride in.

Riding the rail trail

We didnt quite get the 11" of snow yesterday that was forecast. We probably got 3-4 inches though, so not too bad. I figured being that we lucked out and it was fairly warm out I would get out for a ride on the macomb orchard trail. Usually I head south on the trail to stony creek or bloomer, but today I decided to head north east to see what was new. I stopped and took a few pictures along the way. I rode the 69er again today, thinking that the bigger tire would help with the snow. Some parts of the trail wasnt too bad, but there were a lot of snowmobile and 4 wheeler tracks on the trail. Good thing it is a non-motorized trail, at least I didnt get run down by one.

This picture is on the tressel bridge that crosses a small river. The river is probably 30 feet below the bridge.















This is a shot looking south from the bridge.
















Close to the Coon Creek road crossing.

Stupid Murphy

Why cant I ever get my canti`s set up right. Every time I try, I end up just making more of a mess out of it than where I was. Tonight I decided to put the new bar on the ciclocross, and swap out the stem, and put the old stuff on the slingshot. First problem, the new bars are not round so the cross top bars dont fit. Hmm, well I dont use them that much anyways, put them on the slingshot. Alright, so now I have to undo my canti`s. Well shouldnt be too much of a problem, just clamp it back down where they were before. Hmm, now the housings are a different length and so are the cables at least in relation to the carrier. The front went fairly smooth. The rear cable, though started to fray, then it wasnt long enough. Now it is fraying even more and still isnt long enough. So into the shop it will go tomorrow. I need a new front der. cable anyways, might as well have them replace them all. Why does it seem like everytime I try to do a simple project it turns out to be a mess? I guess that is the beauty of having a bunch of bikes though. Always something else to ride.

Surly 96er

So a while back I started seeing some threads about 96er bikes. Basically it is a bike with a 29" wheel and 26" inch wheel. Sometime times the big wheel is in the front, other times it is in the back. Sometimes they are called 96er, other times 69er. Either way it sounded like a interesting concept. Surly makes some really cool bikes, and after doing some digging around online I found out that you can fit 29" wheels into a 1x1 frame, which is normally a 26" bike. The rigid fork will hold up to about a 2.1" 29er tire, and the rear looks like it has a lot of space also. So after a bit of searching I found some used, cheap 29er wheels online. Swapped out the fork with my rigid one, and now I have a 96er.

My first ride on the bike was in fresh snow out at the tree farm. Hard to tell how the bike rides, it took us twice as long as normal to ride the trail. I didnt have any problem getting used the slight geometry change of the bike. Just riding it on the road it felt like it rolled really good. I think that the idea of a 96er or a 650B bike has a lot of potential. It has the benefit of a big wheel up front to roll over things, but the back wheel is smaller and spins up faster.

After more rides on the bike I will update with what I think of it.

Quick Trip

Made a quick trip up north this weekend to look at a place we are thinking about getting married. Of course, we picked one of the coldest weekends of the year to take a look at the place. Lots of snow, lots of wind and lots of cold. I wish I had snowshoes or xc ski`s, because there was a lot of snow on the ground.

Just a couple of pictures of the place. It was really pretty with all the snow on the trees, and up north look of the place.

Chappel Area

More to come...

Ice Biking

Well I finally got around to mounting my Nokian Hakka WXC tires that I bought last year. These tires have 300 carbide studs and are quite knobby. With all the trails around here covered in about 2-3 inches of ice, I figured it was about time to get out for a ride. At first I was kind of unsure about how well the tires would grip the ice. But the further I rode, the more confident I became in the tires ability to dig in. I tried walking a section of the trail because it just looked too slippery. But as I found out I was better off staying on the bike and just riding it. The tires provided enough traction that I could actually put some torque on the cranks and they would dig right in. Even the sections that had a lot of ruts the tires would just slip off the rut and dig in. I didnt try riding any of the technical single track, that will be for another day as it looks like the ice will be here to stay for quite a while. They seemed to provide pretty good lateral traction also.

Trail Running

I got out for a run on the trails today. There was about 2" of ice pretty much covering the entire trail. I stopped in at Hansons and picked up a set of STABILicers SPORT for my shoes. These things slip on over your shoes and they work really good. I was able to run at close to my normal slow pace. I slipped a little bit a few times, but nothing too bad. I was able to run the off camber, downhill sections without any real problems. $39.99 well spent!

STABILicers SPORT

Xmas, almost

I am looking forward to see what kind of shiny new bike parts Santa is bringing the next couple of days. I have been doing my fair share of santa`s work though the last couple of days. Sometimes deals come along and they are just too good to pass up. I found a FSA riser bar, and Thomson stem, Bontrager carbon bar, and a Ritchey stem that will be joining all the rest of the of the parts in my basement. I have wanted to try a riser bar on the top fuel, since I have not been able to get comfy on the bike yet. The last adjustment after my second fitting seemed to help, but still it wasnt right. So of course the bar is a 31.8 and my current bar is 25.4 or whatever it is. So off to ebay and found a great deal on a used Thomson stem. $30 how can you pass that up? Then of course I am trying to get my pit bike put together for cross and someone was selling a Bontrager Race X lite bar. So that will go on the Orbea. Nashbar is having a sale on Ritchey stems, so another $30 and I picked up a stem for that bike. The next investment for the cross bike will be a crankset. I am really liking the SRAM Red crank. But that will have to wait until I find a good deal on it.















So when is the next race? It hasnt even been a month yet and I am really missing it. I finally got to watch Mikes (Mashers Media) Iceman DVD. It was really good. So much better than what has been done in the past. I am going to throw the Cyclocross DVD in next. Of course it will just make me want to get out and do some racing. I have been out doing some trail running lately. That has been fun, I wish I would of done more of it in the cross season.

Random Image-. Hudson Mills 2005. Too bad they havent done any races out there in a few years, it was a fun course.
















Merry Christmas everyone.

End of another year

Another year comes to an end. I dont remember what my goals for the season were but they were something along the lines of, Iceman in 2:15 or less, Top 5 in the TT series, and top 5 in cross series. I was able to finish in 4th in the TT series, 10th in the XC series and 8th in the cross series. Iceman well that was a bad day of racing for me, not sure if I will be doing that race again next year or not. But it will be our first anniversary of our engagement, so that right there is a good reason to head back up there. I did about 20 races this year, that is the most I have ever done. I am trying to get goals set for 2008, so far I want to move up to B`s in cross and at least place respectable. Do a few road races, for something new. And try to log 3500 miles. Looks like I will be close to 3000 this year. There are a few mtb races that are a must. Stony, PLRA TT, Owasippe are some of my favorites that I would like to do in 2008, but with the wedding it might be tough to make some of the other far races.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of the year.

Michigan State Championships

What a day for a race. Finally some real CX weather here in Michigan. Snow, ice, rain and mud.

I am not sure what really went wrong in the race. Sure I had the wrong sized cassette on the bike, and my tires sucked in the slippery conditions, but there must be more than that. I couldnt get anything going in the race. It was a strange race, each lap got faster and faster, which is not normal for a cross race. For our race the course was mostly snow covered, by the time the rest of the classes raced there was a nice mud trail to follow, and the pavement sections had a nice line in them also. 2nd from last! How does that happen? I am going to blame on the bike. Just a wrong tire choice I guess.
The course was a nice set up with quite a few tight turns, and tricky sections. It would been a lot easier if the weather was better. So in way it really made this race. There were 3 running sections, a bit of pavement, and some of the bumpiest, frozen grass you can find.

I am sad to see the season end, but at the same time kind of happy that it is over. I am looking forward to just getting out and riding for a bit, and not worrying about get a specific workout in. I learned quite a bit this season, about what not to do mostly. I think I am going to concentrate fully on cross next year. I am looking forward to doing some road races, which will be a new thing for me.
Check out all the pictures I took of the B, Masters and A races.

I am already looking forward to next season!

Munson Park CX

I finally got a set of new wheels for the bike last week. I was able to find a killer deal on a set tubular ksyriums. I had kinetic systems put on a set bright yellow tufo tires, wow it looks cool! 19.77lbs right now, my goal is to get it down to 18 so I can put it on plusone laps blog!
Munson park, flat, windy, and one big hill in middle pretty much sums it up. More of a roadie course, but this year they did mix in some cool technical sections and 3 runs.
The race, well it kind of went downhill fast for me. When I had the bike in the shop I was told to double check everything to make sure it was all tight. Well I didnt double check everything, I missed one thing, of course the part that was loose. I rode the bike saturday with no issues. Then sunday about 3 minutes before the race I realized the seat tube was loose! There was some tape that marked the height that was kind of holding it up, so I had to rush over to Jack`s bike shops tent and luckily one of the guys had a multitool. Well the problem was I didnt get the seat back up to the correct height, I was probably an inch or a inch and a half too low. Soon as the race started I could feel it in my legs. I was able to ride with a group, I think we were 7-10th place most of the race. I pulled one lap, Brian on the rhino`s pulled for a lap also. On the thrid lap I was just about to make a move and attack my group, I shifted up to the big ring and my chain fell off! Then I couldnt get it back on, got my glove stuck in between my chain and the chainring and my group was long gone. I wound up in 11th place, just because of one mistake. That is really the most annoying thing about only racing for 30 minutes, it is just about impossible to recover from a problem. I am going to look at my points for the series this week and see if there is anyway I can get 5th. I am thinking probably not, if that is the case I am going to do the B race in waterford. I am planning on moving up next year anyways.

Mike was out filming again, here is the latest.

Iceman 07

I dont really know what to say about the Iceman this year. The whole weekend was a rush, changed plans etc... On the plus side I got in engaged on saturday after the race, but downside was that I thought I broke some ribs and separated my shoulder. The race started out bad for me, I dont know if it was the lack of sleep, hydration or what. But pretty much right from the start my legs felt tight, and never really recovered. I remember one of the first little hills, and my legs were just screaming, I didnt know how I was going to go another 20 miles, with a lot hills at the end of the course.



I got a good start there were over 100 people my group, so we lined up on the line and gave it a pretty hard sprint.

I was able to hold up a decent pace for about 7 miles, but I could not get my heart rate to come down. Eventually I just backed off the pace, and spun all the hills. I had to walk a couple, mostly because of traffic, one because I just needed to walk it. I crashed once in the sand, it was either that or plow into a slow rider in front of me. I made all the hills at the end, and was got tangled up with one of my teammates at the end in the sprint. I ended up going into the fence in what was I am sure a very spectacular crash, judging by the sound of the crowd and the applause I got just for getting up and back on the bike. I really thought I had broken some ribs, which I guess I didnt. The soreness went away that night, but my shoulder was quite sore for a few days after the race. My seat got all messed, my gps cracked, and I was finally over the line in about 2:24. Still faster than last year by a few minutes, but no where near my goal.
I had planned on popping the question on friday, but noelle got stuck working that day. So the next idea was going to be after the race, but I was no shape to do much of anything. So we just went back to the condo and everyone else went back to the race, and I just asked to her right then. That was by far the highlight of my weekend. We had everyone over from the team for a after race party, so it was fun to share news with a bunch of friends.

You can order your own copy of the video from mike:
http://www.mashersmedia.com/

Vets Park Double Header

What a great place to do a double weekend. Veterans park has to be one of the best cross venues around, lots of elevation, some flats, off camber sections, really the possibilities are endless.
The weather was much more cross like also, at least for the lowly C race`s which I did.
Saturday the course was set up with really steep run up, some other steep climbs behind the pavilion.

















Sunday the course was set up in the opposite direction, for the most part. The steep run up from Saturday was a steep downhill, and the area behind the pavilion was a downhill as well. I really like the setup on Sunday, I felt it was a more technical course, than Saturday.
I didn't really know what to expect this weekend. I was sick with a sinus infection starting last week Saturday. I stayed home from work on Monday, and only worked a 1/2 day on Tuesday. Pretty much all I did was sleep, even later in the week. I got out on Friday for a easy hour ride, but I was pretty tired by time I got done.
Saturdays race I was really feeling the lack of riding, and effects of being sick. The run up was my biggest problem, it was the only place I got passed. I never really felt like I could make up any ground or hang with any of the guys that passed me. I ended up in 10th, not really what I was looking for, but all things considered I guess not too bad.
Sunday I was pretty sore from Saturdays race, and it was another cold morning. The lungs were really feeling the cold, and the legs were feeling the results of Saturday. The race started really bad for me. I lined up second row, big mistake, behind someone that turned out to be quite slow off the line. I don't know how many guys passed me, but it was a lot. My legs were burning by the time we hit the first little hill and I was not expecting to have a good day. I was able to move to front of the group that I was riding with though, and stayed with them for about 1/2 the lap. Soon as we hit the second flat though I just hammered it. I was able get away from my group and I was feeling pretty good. I rode the rest of the first lap with a rhino and decided to attack him also. It worked and, I was working up towards the next two guys. I rode with them for a while, not really sure how long, and tried to attack a couple of times with no luck. Finally it worked and dropped one of the guys. I kept pushing and I was by myself with a nice little gap. I caught some lapped traffic on the last lap, and wasnt really sure who was and wasnt racing against me. I just kept pushing and was able to ride in for 7th place. Needless to say I was pretty happy with results.
This race I actually started to feel like I did at lower huron. I just wonder how much better I could of done if I wouldn't of got sick last week. Oh well it was a fun weekend, and even coming in dead last at cross makes for a much better weekend than not racing.

Lower Huron Race

Lower huron, I dont know what it is about the park and the race, but it is one of my favorites. I remember my first time doing the race a few years ago, and seeing the run up for the first time. I actually had second thoughts about doing that race, it is a really steep hill. But I really love the course.
There were a few changes this year, less riding down by the river and more up top. The start was on the pavement, and into the grass at the end of the road. This year they mixed in a volleyball court and a couple of tight turns, before you hit first set of barriers by the bathrooms. Two barriers before the run up, and the log on the downhill was removed by the park, so at least there was a little of recovery after the run.
I started out my race with a good pull from the start. I was sitting in the top five and was feeling pretty good. We hit the sand and a few guys tried to ride it, but getting off and running was the better option. John was on my wheel and pushing me to go faster. I attacked a couple of guys, and we were sitting in 2nd/3rd spot. Just before the run up, I let john go around so I could sit on his wheel for a bit, into the barriers and up the hill. I picked a bad line, and didnt run it as hard as I should of. 3 ? guys passed me on the run up and time I got to top John was long gone, and so were the rest of them. I managed to catch back up to 4/5th place, and rode with them. Then the run up on third lap cost me yet again. I went to mount the bike, didnt quite time it right and snagged my shorts on the back of the seat and lost some time. I just didnt have enough in me to close the gap the last lap up to 5th place. I had to settle for 6th. Just missing my goal of a top 5.
This is one of the first races this year that 1/2 hour didnt feel like a hour to me. It went by quick. Must the be the training is finally starting to work. Too bad we are 1/2 through the season, but I think the competition this year is much better than the last few years. All I can say is I love cross. It really is my passion, I really dont see myself doing as many mountain bike races next year. I will be looking at them as training races for the cross season for sure.

Looking forward to a double weekend at veterans park. I am getting ready for a lot of running uphill in that one. I cant wait!

Stony Creek CX Race

So what month is this? It feels like July but it looks like October, the trees are changing colors, pumpkins and halloween decorations are out, and we are 4 races into the cross season but it is 90 degrees in Michigan. Very strange for this time of the year. I knew it was going to be bad when I was getting dressed for my race at 9:00 in the morning and I was already sweating.
I was feeling good coming into this race. I had a light training week, and even took saturday off to spend some time with noelle and get some stuff done around the house. The course was a challenge. They had 3 running sections and a set of barriers. Two of the runs were rideable to some extent, both were through a volleyball court, the first however was a 180 degree turn. The last run on the course was a long run on the beach, 75 yards is what they were saying. Each lap I thought about just running in the lake, sure it might be a bit harder, but it would of felt much better.
Right from the start I knew I was going to have a hard time. The heat really gets to me when I am racing. I did a little research on this tonight and found the following study
http://jrnlappliedresearch.com/articles/Vol3Iss1/PETROFSKY.htm
Basically it said people with diabetes dont cool off as well as non-diabetic people do. I knew there had to be something going on there. After I get done with a race in the heat, I always have goose bumps, chills and I never do all that well in the hot races.
Anyways I wasnt doing great in the race, but I was at least doing ok. Then on the third lap of 4 I heard something rattling on my bike. My seat was coming undone. It was still attached, but the screws were loose. I decided it was probably a good idea to stop and tighten them up instead of trying to mount the bike with a loose seat. I ended up stopping 2 or 3 times on that lap before I finally got the seat tight. By then I lost about a minute, and I had no chance of getting a good result in the race.
I must say I felt much better with mounts, and dismounts than at bloomer. One positive thing at least. I have a few new ideas for training this week that I want to work on also. I am looking forward to the race at lower huron, it is one of my favorites each year. Hopefully the cool weather shows up as promised for the later in the week.

Bloomer CX Race

What a huge turnout today for the Bloomer race. The C class had 38 racers! Last year there was only 29. It is good to see the events getting bigger each year. There were a quite a few mountain bikers that did their first cross race today also. The weather has been very uncross like also, which probably gets more people out to race.

The course was similar to last year, but they added in the short steep uphill on the side of the velodrome, and moved one of the sets of barriers around. It seemed like a combination of the last 2 years races.

Lots of pavement and lots of long straight sections. They mixed in a little bit of trail riding as well, similar to last years course.

This was the biggest week for my workout routine doing the hardest workouts to date. I was feeling pretty good coming into the race, and fairly well rested. I was expecting to do decent, I placed 6th here last year on a similar course. But nothing really went my way right from the start of race. I lined up in the front row, after getting a good warm up in, and was feeling pretty good. The whistle blew, and we were off. It got tight really fast, I was leaning on the guy next to me and then got pinched out and had to drop back. I sat in the pack as we hit the first grassy section, I could see my teammates, John and Todd in front of me a ways so I was working to try and regain contact with them. I was able to get on John`s wheel, but Todd was leading the pack out. Now this was Todd`s second ever cross race, and he got a great hole shot off the line that put him up in first. Myself and John worked most of the race together, we kind of stayed in our group and didnt make up much ground on anyone. Some guys would come around, but it seemed like when they did, it usually ended up in a crash. Speaking of crashes, the downhill on the side of the velodrome was the cause of many of them. This picture was from the B race, but it looked the same in the C race.

Basically we worked together for all the 4 laps changing places with a couple guys and never really could get any separation. We were faster in the more technical parts of the course, they were faster in the flat sprint parts. Finally on the last lap just before the velodrome we decided it was time to get around a couple of guys. This worked really good, John jumped and I followed, we were able to open up a bit of a gap. We hit the trails, and I took a turn hot and ended up getting caught up in the sand it forced me into the woods. Time I got up and going again the guy we just attacked rode past me. I caught Lloyd on the sprint to the line but I couldnt close the gap back up to John. So 4 laps of pain and 20th place. Not really the result that I was looking for. My times were consistent with last year, so that tells me that the field was pretty deep today. I was sloppy though, going over the barriers, and just in general. I didnt feel like i was riding to all my ability.
Oh yeah that Todd guy, he got 4th place in the race. The first TSB racer to place in one of these races. I am still looking for my first one. Maybe lower huron, I always seem todo good there and it is one of my favorite courses.

Next week is stony creek. Get ready to run on the beach, looks like it is going to be 80 that day so maybe I will run a little closer to the water.

KTR RACE Video

Thanks Mike

mashersmeida.com

KTR Double Cross Weekend

Wow did the stars ever come out for the races this weekend. As my teammate John said "these are probably the most famous people ever in Davisburg, Mi".
Jonathan Page
















Adam Myerson
















These were just a few of the many pro riders that raced this weekend at the KTR Double cross.
This was the first time I have ever seen professional racers, race. All I can say is wow!! Right from the start of the race the pace was just amazing.


I must say I probably had the most fun I have ever had a race this last weekend, and it really makes me wish that cross was bigger in Michigan. It was just such a great atmosphere, this is what bike racing should be all about. Mountain bike races, even big ones like Iceman dont have the same kind of vibe going on as this race did.

So how did I do?
Well the course was pretty challenging the first day, a lot of off camber sections, one little run up, and we even got to spend a little bit of time in the woods. The off camber sections proved to be difficult for a quite a few people in my race, and caused a lot of chaos. The second the course was a little easier I thought.
I got a good start, I was sitting in second through most of the first lap. This is not a spot I find myself in all that often and wasnt really sure what was going on. I felt good, but was that because it was a slow pace or was I just having a good day? Well I found out that the pace was slow when a few riders came around us. I was able to stay with the lead group for a while, but slowly a few more made it around. I got tangled a few times in different crashes or had to take a bad line to avoid a crash. I never crashed, but it was enough to let a few more people around each time. The last lap I passed 3 guys all near the end and rode in for a 9th place finish. Not bad at all for me.
Sunday the results werent quite so good. I was cooked. I got a good start again, John and myself riding up near the front of the lead group. But by the end of the first lap I knew I wasnt going to be able to keep that pace up for the entire race. I let john go around, and I just settled in. It was a long race, it hurt really bad. But, even with all the pain and people passing me, it was a blast. I rolled across the line in 24th place, happy that the pain was over, but wishing for more.

Bloomer is up next. It was a fun course last year, and I am looking forward to it.

Cross Season Kick Off

Finally the season started, I have been waiting since December for it to start back up. This race was a new one this year and turned out be a cool race. I was told the park had all the hills in the entire county, so it was a natural place to host a cross race. This was also my first race on the new bike. I did the practice race with the hopes of shaking all the bugs out the bike last week.

The course featured 2 sets of barriers and one run up these big steps, I think they were seats for the amphitheater. A few of them were pretty big steps!

The course ran us up a sled hill with a set barriers and then on a s-turn there was another set.

The course worked out to be about 1.5 miles.

It was cold at the start of the race, low 40`s maybe, upper 30`s probably. With a little bit of confusion finding the start line we got all lined up. And then the whistle blew and the pain started. The first lap I settled into 4th place, until the downhill after the sled hill run up. Then the 3 guys in front of me all crashed and I found myself alone in the lead. This didnt last long, I hit the flat section of the course and they were able to close the gap on me. I guess it helped that they crashed on a downhill and able to get up quickly. So the lead group reformed and I was back in fourth place. The race was only 3 laps. The second lap nothing much happened. The start of the thrid lap I started to hear this loud squealing from the back wheel and the bike was not rolling good. I pulled over and the back wheel was hardly turning because the brake was all clogged up with mud and grass. Time I got it cleaned out the 5th place guy passed me and the 6th place guy caught up to me. The thrid lap I worked on catching back up to the guy in fourth place which I couldnt quite do. I gave it a hard sprint at the end but no luck.

I must say I felt pretty good in the race. I should of had at least 4th place and maybe could of done a little better.

Looking forward to the UCI race this weekend and start of the series. Just need to figure out to tweak in the brakes to get a little more mud clearance.

CX Seson Kickoff

This is the first weekend of the cross season. The first race I will be doing is the Ithaca Grand Prix of cyclocross. This is a new event and I am looking forward to the race. Being that it is the first race of the year it is going to hurt. I know this, and every year I look forward to this pain. I forget how much it is going to hurt, but I will be quickly reminded once on the bike.
I have been following a training plan for the last week. I wish I would of started it sooner, but that is alright it was too hectic the last month as it was. Now I can just focus on cross and not have to try to fit in the mountain bike training.
I am hoping to do decent at this race. Doing a practice race this week with the flying rhinos really helped I think. Tomorrow is the clinic, maybe I will be able to learn how to mount my bike like a real cross racer. That is my goal at least.

Insulin Pump

I got my new minimed insulin pump about 2 weeks ago. I also the got the real time sensor system. So far I must say that I am very impressed with the sensor. I was able to get 9 days out of the sensor. I probably could of got more, but it seemed to be getting a little bit inaccurate and I wanted to see what the site looked like. The FDA only approves it for 3 days. But at $35 each, I want to be able to stretch it out as much as possible. The sensor\transmitter is comfortable to wear, and I had no problems with it what so ever.

Here is the graph from yesterday.


Not the best day but I mostly stayed within my target range.
Using the sensor while I was riding also worked out quite well. It was pretty accurate but I think a lot of that has to do how stable I was able to keep my blood sugar throughout the rides.

I miss not having it on already. It is really is nice to see what your BS is doing throughout the day or how certain foods affect it. Notice the ice cream I ate on the right side of the graph.

So far I feel that the system is totally worth the money. Hopefully the insurance companies will start covering the supplies. I will put it on next week again, I am bit nervous yet about riding hard with it on until I figure what type of tape works best.

Ruby XC

The middle of July and it is time for the Ruby race. The weather turned out to be about perfect, the trail was in great shape, and we had a lot of racers.

Saturday night was the TSB pre-ruby race party. Dave cooked up some spaghetti and the team got to hang out and relax a bit before the race.
It is always fun to get to see everyone, and this is nice because it is not race day when everything is always a bit chaotic.



Bob even hooked up a projector and we watched the team video from the first year. Watching that video there were a lot of people on the team that I didnt recognize. That is definitely not the case with the team last year and this year as well. I think the team has really grown over the last 2 seasons.








Race day!
I decided not race again this year and to help out on the trail instead. It was really amazing watching how fast the elite racers tear through the course. They put up 22 minute laps. That is really impressive considering how technical the trail is.




















Team Sandbag was well represented in the race of course with multiple top 5 finishers. Ruby is the type of trail that if you know it counts for at least a minute or two a lap over someone that doesnt know the trail.
We had a lot good feedback on the trail, and on the event that Ruby is becoming. Of course there were a lot of people that really didnt like the wall all that much as they were climbing it, but that is to be expected I guess.

I am training hard for the Stony TT. I have re-evaluated my training and decided to take a month off from racing and try to see some improvements. This year has not been what I was hoping for. We`ll see in two weekends...