The New Year and 12 Hours Oleta is Upon Me

Next Saturday is my second attempt to do the 12 hours of Oleta in North Miami, Florida. I really want to complete the entire race this time. I have my Salsa in tip top shape, however the ride isn't in very good shape, I will have some crash training this week when I get to Florida on Monday. I plan to kick my own ass this winter and hope to come out the other side a better rider.

No I haven't died but I am going to heaven.

well howdy folks, no I haven't died. I just have had a busy fall with work and stuff. I did an handful of important races this fall since my last update, the two that come to mind are Iron Cross VI in Pine Grove Furnace, PA it was the hardest race of my life. Its a 63 mile race with over 6000' of climbing, traversing fire roads, mountain bike trails, and county highways and state highways. I rode my crosshairs, I wish I had a 34-50 front crank as I need a really low gear for climbing, I have a 12-27 rear cassette. I had to run a 38 front ring as that is what I had set-up for cross season and I would have liked a 50 for the road sections. 

The other race I did that I'm proud to have done is the Iceman Cometh in Traverse City, MI. I fell 11 minutes short of my goal which I though acceptable under the circumstances. I'm excited to give it a go next year again and I'm bringing along a pair of first-timers to do slush cup. They were/are my hosts in Traverse City and excited to do it in the future.

I also did Kletch Park CX, Wisconsin State CX, and tomorrow I'm going to do the Illinois State CX for my third year in a row. Keeping my streak of racing in every month of the year, with the exception of February in 2008. in 2009 I plan to race heavily in the winter in florida including a pair of 12 hour solos, a pair of 6 hour solos, a 100K and up to 3 Coconut cup race similar to our WORS. My Salsa Mountain Bike and Trek 2300 have made it to Florida in the Trailer. Sent the road bike down there but it needs to be overhauled before I can use it. I just want it to commute to work which is about 6 miles each way, or so. 

When I get to Florida after Christmas I plan to hit the gym 2 hours a day as well as 12 miles of Commuting. I hope to come out in spring in mid-season form. Words are not action so time will tell but I'm very hopeful. I know that mountain biking in Wisconsin is very different and a lot more anaerobic. There isn't anywhere to "open it up" its all about bike handling. Upper body is hugely important. I desperately need to drop like 20 lbs to become competitive and comfortable on the bike.

The early fall/Late Summer lull

I've been poor at updating my blog. Since my last update... I did the Stump Farm 12 which didn't go so well because I was still recovering from the same hamstring soreness that kept me from racing the 24 hours of 7 oaks. I didn't race Rhinelander WORS or Palos Meltdown or Cheq. Fat Tire Festival, but a congrats goes out to Aris "I'm Faster Than You" Peters for a quality 2nd in the Short and Fat 16. I also didn't do the ABR Garden Prairie 40k Final Event of the MATTS Series as i did last year. I also didn't do the ABR Kenosha Crit. I did however do the Cyclocross opener for the Chi-cross Cup Series in Jackson Park on the 21st. Amidst all this I did also have some rather cool happen, I bought my first car. I bought a Red 2003 BMW 325xi Sedan, its pretty cool. Unfortuneatly due to my job I won't be able to race until Halloween cross as I'm currently out East in Maryland and Pennsylvania until October 23 when I come home. However I will make up for lost time, when I come home I plan to race the remainder of the WCA Cyclocross Season, 3 Non-conflicting Chi-cross Cup Races Including the Illinois State Championship on December 7th @ Montrose, Wisconsin State Night Racing Championship, Iceman Cometh, and possibly both days of Jingle Cross. Which is about 12 Races. I go down to Florida for work around new-years and I have a 12 or a 6 hour Race the first weekend after new years. So I will have a full plate so to speak when I get home. 

Until Next time Peeps, FYI it will probably be a month

DNS by Cramp

I have decided I shouldn't attempt to start my 24 hour in Iowa as there is tons of climbing and I'm not in spectacular health in regards to my Hamstring. It will be a Race time Decision. I'm leaning t'wards doing it 12 hour Single speed, but we shall see. On top of all this I'm do sitting.

On the Mend

There is a 50/50 possibility I will do 24 hours of Seven Oaks, at last weeks Metro Challenge I cramped up something fierce in the 6 hour and am still sore now. My Left hamstring is the cuprit and last time I checked that is a pretty important muscle in climbing. I'm going to give it a good stretch, spin, and stretch tonight along with some other voodoo. I should know tomorrow if this weekend in Iowa is a go or not. I might just scrub Iowa in favor of more friendly course, stump farm, nice and flat and 12 hours or less.

We'll see what tomorrow brings

What to do + Getting my Crap together

I put in another order of Infinit earlier in the week, Its probably at my doorstep already. I love that stuff.

I'm him-ming and hawing about what I want to do about saturday. With a Week before my next 24 hour race the last thing I should do is 12 hour solo, even if I were to recover, I don't really want to risk anything. It would be nice to do something as I only raced the wednesday after 24-9 @ crystal ridge. Just to shake the cobwebs loose. I would like to either 6 or 12 hour duo with someone would be ideal.

I also need a set of wheel to borrow for 24 hours of Seven oaks, ideally tubeless. I still have my tank wheels that must be the most disproportionate equipment among everyone one I know... XO drivetrain w/old Deore hubs and super cheap Alex rims w/ straight gage steel spokes. About $60 total for the wheelset when new.

I still plan to get Crank Brothers Cobalts wheels and run them tubeless. Even though Mountain Season is winding down I still have Iceman Cometh, and since I'm spending the winter in Florida there is at least 2-12 Hour Races I will do and maybe a few others, not to mention day to day training and stuff. I think I will keep them to race only though.

24 Hours of Seven Oaks Here I come

I have officially commited my entry fee t'wards my second 24 races both ever and this month. I fully intend to race my hardtail here however. I think i will do just fine however on it. I'm still planning to get new wheels as well. What the new wheels are, are yet to be decided

22nd out of 36.

22nd is not great, but not terrible. I regretfully was not able to complete any laps from about 9:40 till about 6am due to breaking my Light and Motion Arc which was my primary headlight, I finished off the lap with my Stella and quickly realized I couldn't go on with just this light.
I had a few meager options out there to be nothing more than legal but I didn't feel good about the safety of light I would be using not to mention the unfamiliarness of the system. Come morning I would get just ambitious enough to do 28 miles/2 laps. On one hand I'm happy with my result under the circumstances and on the other hand I'm very disappointed with myself because I feel like I let myself down. I felt really good considering the mileage I did after stopping because of darkness at 10 ish. I'm blown away by how good I feel today, the day after finishing. It was the hardest 98 miles I have ever done. I'm so disappointed with myself that I just might have to solo the 24 hours of seven oaks on August 30-31.

To be continued...

(Pictures to come)

In other news I have already shipped off my Light and Motion ARC to them

Do you have an EZ UP I can borrow?

As I'm getting ready for my first attempt to Solo 24 I'm lacking a small but crucial Item, I do not have an EZ-up for my pits. If you or someone you know of has one I could borrow that would be fantastic. Just comment or email me.

Still looking for a duo partner @ 24 hours of seven oaks

August 30th/31st I'm still hoping to find a DUO Partner for the 24 Hours of Seven Oaks in Boone, IA. If you or anyone you know might have interest in this races, let me know.

The possibilities are "Infinit"

I will be running the best @ 24-9

50 mile pavement ride on a mountain bike

I'm going to keep it short but today I went on a road ride with my Mountain bike since its the only bike I have with me in Traverse City, MI. for about 50 miles. Up mission peninsula which is the the peninsula on the east side of Traverse City. I haven't gotten much training in as I would like to as of late due to work stuff.

I tell you the Truth...

...Ellsworth that is. Team Mata has graciously extended their hand to me and I will be riding an Ellsworth Truth for 24-9, my first 24 hour solo attempt. Its nice to know that I'm going to be riding the best equipment out there.

Did you hear about 12 hours of Blue Mounds?

It was canceled until October... bummer, I was so looking forward to that beat down that course beats down. I won't even be home. Kudos to Rachel for alerting me.

That whole thing about The Gary Fisher 29er guy...

ya, turns out he has a conflict that he cannot race, of some kind. So I guess that means I'm still taking applications . Come on People, its Labor Day weekend You don't even have to be back to work 'till Tuesday.

Wednesday Night Race Report

Last night I decided to hit up the Wednesday night races @ Crystal Ridge. I didn't have terribly high aspirations, I just wanted to stretch my legs out and see what condition Crystal Ridge was in. Craters of the Moon Still need a lot of work. If you saw it, you'd agree. I will miss both the WEMS Metro Challenge and the Alterra Coffee Bean Roasters WORS Race. There, the only other race I will do @ Crystal Ridge will be the Wisconsin State Night Racing Championship race. I knew going in to last night race I wouldn't have a very stellar night, I did beat someone in my age group, Tim Strege of Half Acre Cycling. When the results got read off and the door prizes were given away I won a TUBE! If you go back an look at my blog from last year, I also won a tube.

I should point out that yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of my first blog post, "Doingsomethingtothemax" Turns 1 today

-CG

Small Announcement

I have a small announcement to make in regards to 24 hours of Seven Oaks. I have found a duo partner. He races for Gary Fisher 29er... I'm going to leave people in suspense for right now as to whom it may be for now.

My plan is still to solo @ 24-9 however I'm undecided to race Single speed, Solo Freak or Solo Championship. I know I could get a top 5 in Singlespeed but even a top 20 in Solo championship would look good on a racing resume. As this is the last year the race will be in WI, I'm thinking I should take my oppertunity while I can.

I'm going to race geared @ 12 hours of Blue Mounds to get a good idea what endurance is like on gears as I have a good experience singlespeed from 12 hours of Gears in May.

The weekend that wasn't meant to be

On wednesday night 7/2, my dad realized that he needed a ride to the airport to make his 6:15 flight, since it takes an hour to get there and you are supposed to get there at least an hour before your flight that meant we needed to leave hartford @ 4am. I got done with work @ 2pm and then I followed that up by cutting 25-30 acres of Hay, it doesn't end there. Just as I finish my eyes were a little sore I noticed, went inside and noticed my eyes were totally and utterly bloodshot. Well shortly after that my eyes but more so my right eye began to swell, I quickly took some benedryl but the damage was done. It took until later of friday for my eye to reside. I decided early on that it probably wouldn't be a wise decision to go Mountain bike riding with a partially swollen eye. I was planning to do alot of riding on friday at the John Muir Trails, it just wasn't meant to be. On saturday I went to go see my 97 y/o Great Grandma and my 101 y/o Great Grandma. The 101 y/o Grandma still lives at home by herself and is very very mobile and is not on any regimented prescriptions.

Sunday, I finally decided it was time to do a race. UWW Cycling team put on a 20K TT in La Grange, actually using the same facilities as the John Muir Trails. Well I time trialed then went riding the trails, about 6 or so miles in all of sudden it feels like my ass end it crazy loose turns out got my first flat while riding, EVER. I was like crap, I don't carry a pump or CO2 or a tube or anything, I was in the farthest corner of the trails and with all the moisture we've had recently the mosquitos were really bad. Once you stop in the woods, its doesn't take long for the mosquitos to find you. so I decided, what the hell, I'll ride out of here, so I rode about 4ish miles out of the trail system. I thought for sure I would have destroyed either the rim or the tire, I got back to the car and both were find, I couldn't even tell I had done what I just did. I was riding a completely flat tire over rocks and roots. The wheel only cost me like $30 and the tire was like $10 so I didn't care. The tire got really hot, but other than that I was fine. I went to go change the tub to find out why it blew or should I say more likely to blow. the tube said 1.25"-1.75" I was running a 2" tire. I know you can do this but it effectively makes the tubewall thinner. It was the first time I had ever blown a tube and flatted while riding. I have ridden punctured but not bled down till the next day. 

Instead of fixing it, I threw the bike in my car and just grabbed another bike, I wasn't sure what I wanted to ride, I was riding my salsa, I also had my Trek "cogitory" or my Redline Monocog 29er. Since I was in a 26er mood I decided to give that a go. I rode about another 15 ish miles sticking to the shorter trails and just doing more laps now that I was a little gun shy to go deep into the woods. Called it a day around 6ish and so concluded my weekend of excitment.

400+ Mountain Miles in 1 month?

I'm kicking around the idea of doing the 24 hours of Seven Oaks. Nothing in Stone but it does sound like a blast, I will know what I want to do after 24-9 Aug. 2nd and 3rd. 24 Hours of Seven Oaks is August 30-31, plenty of time to recooperate. No single speed class
there however. I would be giving up another endurance race, 12 hours of stump farm however. My job has thrown out any possibility of challenging any kind of series standings this year anyway. I did stump farm last year and I got bored... Its not a very challenging in my opinion.



If I race in Iowa this year and I follow through with my Iceman Entry I will Race in WI, IL, MN, IA, MI, and FL This year. Before this year I had only raced in WI and IL. Every year brings firsts for me. 24-9 will be my first attempt at a 24 hour race. I only completed my first 12 hour in May, I still have the 12 hours of Blue Mounds left for a tune up before my first 24 though. I'm thinking about trying to do 60-100 miles at the John Muir Trails tomorrow as kind of a "12 Hour Simulation" I still have a number of questions I need to answer for myself most of which are nutrition oriented. related to the how. I don't know how I'm going to replenish protein yet. I may do soy, but I'm hoping to take it in solids and not liquids. I think I have a decent Idea of what I want to do with hydration though. Cramps have been an issue in the past but did not rear its head at 12 hours of Gears.

I wish people didn't get married...

... then I could race, lol. Tomorrow morning I have rehearsal for my oldest cousin's wedding, that leaves the afternoon to do what I feel like, I'm thinking either of doing a 3-4 hour sufferfest on my Road bike or driving down to Muir for a 4-6 hour ride on my geared and/or single speed mountain bike. I haven't had much quality time on quality dirt for quite some time. If I go to Muir all I know is that I should probably bring about a gallon of OFF mosquito repellent. I really really need to start to clamp down on training and base miles for 24-9.

There is a possibility I might just go over by Expedition Supply in Beaver Dam to help with the clean up because I owe mike more than one.

What's Ta...Ta....Training?

Since I've been working full-time hours I've failed to get in near the training mileage I should be. Last night I hammered out between 22-25 miles. My Garmin is having issues, I think it has a short in it or something. I'll be calling Garmin on this soon. I turn it on it runs for a while and turns off, sometimes its a minute or two other times its 10-15 minutes. It has a full battery though so I don't know what is going on. Amazingly I actually felt fairly decent a few drawn out efforts on some of the flats and gradual inclines. A few sprints mixed in too. I haven't been on any rides on my road bike since mid-may I think. Maybe longer.

Random post of "What the hell have I been up to lately"

As far as racing goes, I have had a dismal June with the exception of 9 mile. Subaru Cup and Reforestation Ramble we really really bad to me and disappointing. I actually like the Reforestation camp course on most days. cup, the heat mostly did me in. Admittedly I haven't been training as much as I should so I think that might have something to do with it. I haven't done a single metric century on my road bike yet this year. I think I might do something about that this saturday. I drank a whole bottle of fluids within 15 minutes of my start and it ended up yielding me one hell of a stomach ache causing me to DNF, when people tell you to DRINK, DRINK, DRINK. Don't do it, do what works for you. I've been bitten by taking other peoples advice in the past, I should have know better. I had a good start for the first 2-3 miles or so but my legs blew up and I slowly faded until I could barely turn the cranks on my geared bike.

I am nearly certain I will be skipping the Levis Trow race saturday, as I'm standing up for a wedding. I'm debating about skipping Eau Claire in favor of the UW-Whitewater Time Trial. I love time Trialing. Its one of my favorite things to do on a bike.

I really ought to post some pictures. I now possess my new 2008 Salsa Moto Rapido in totally completed form. The only exception is my race wheels are still a work in progress and I want to upgrade my rear cassette to a Dura Ace 9spd 12-27 cassette. I actually don't like the gearing of a 12-34 cassette. Some of the jumps between gears are too big and my cadence is all screwed up.

I sorta lost my cable to my camera so that is why I haven't been posting many pictures in the last few months. I will try to change that.

Off Weekend = John Muir

Anyone from the Hartford Area that would like to join in on the carload that will be going to John Muir on Saturday afternoon, let me know. I have to work till noon and the plan is we'll leave shortly there after. I have room enough for 5 people and 5 bikes, I know I can do it but have only tried it with track bikes, never mountain bikes.

The Salsa Moto Rapido SHOULD FINALLY be done. I wouldn't mind a break from single speeding. I must say though I have grown a fondness for it, but I don't think I'll get to the point of 1 gear all the time I especially don't care for 1-gear on the road. Gears still have their place in my mind.

9 mile

Last year 9 mile was a freaking disappointment. I actually like 9 mile though, this year it treated me a lot better. I rocked the Redline in its WORS Debut rocking a 32x16 on the 29er. Which was totally the correct gear, I was worried it would be too big but was not. I wish I had an easiar gear on Ho Chi Min but everywheres else it was 100% correct. At the end of the day I got a 17th out of 19 finishers. 6 DNFs in the 25 person field, Just finishing was lucky. The 29x2.3" tire @ 35 PSI gave me a perfect ride and kept me from flatting, I did have a moment that scared me though. I met my goal that I set out at the start of the day; to finish 15 minutes or less behind my class winner. Goal Met @ 10:53 behind. 172 out of like 300 or so starters. Its not spectacular, but not god awful either. I did have a fair bit of fun on the bike this weekend. I know I should be focusing on Enduro when it takes over 10 miles for my legs to feel warm and powerful and I can hold that power all day long. I sprinted against a 17 yo from the 90 degree turn before the finish, started out behind him on his wheel and won by about a length and a half or so. When your on the verge of spinning out a 32x16 on an uphill sprint you know I prolly just peaked over 700+ watts. I've been over 1000 watts, I know what its like. Until next time kiddos...

80 Miles

I did 80 Miles enroute to my first Solo finish. I was in the Singlespeed category Even though that is only 16 laps @ New Fane, I did do 5 laps in the last 2 1/2 hours. I feel like garbage today and am a bit weak, I thought it would be worse. I'm still so tired... I will blog more about this more extensively this afternoon. I'm going to kick back and watch the Indy 500, Coca-Cola 600, and Ax Men today providing I can stay up that late and I won't pass out. I still can't see straight.

Fuck That

Apparently no one has any fucking integrity these days, geeze.


ANY ONE WANT TO DUO WITH ME THAT HAS INTEGRITY!!!

Thursday Night Shakedown

Last night Theo Peters, Griffin Baker, and I went up to New Fane to ride the trails there. I had never ridden there and I wanted to know what to expect. Griffy and I did 3 laps, and Theo did 4. Griffy and I were going to do a 6 hr duo, but so is Nate Labecki and Theo Peters so we are kicking around the Idea of a 12-hour 4-Man. 1/2 the fun of a WEMS Race is to socialize with everyone so that will give me more time to recover between efforts and talk to other people.

After I get done with work today I will be heading off to Hartland to finish off and pick up my New Salsa. Just for this weekend we are going to cannibalize the Fox Fork off my Cogitory. I will likely shake down the New Salsa tonight yet @ Lapham Peak.

The one year anniversary of...

My first ever century, it was actually a double metric century (124 miles) round trip from Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. Totally 100% Solo.

Its the pits

It look like I may be slated for...

a Solo Again. I'm going to try the world of 12 hour Solo Single Speed to see how I like it. Since this weekend is a WORS Weekend as well I can't find anyone to team up with let alone support me. O well

I have the Redline all rocking to go already. I haven't gotten it converted over to Disc brakes yet though. I have a pair of Avid BB7 Brakes laying around just chilling but I need rotors, rotor bolts, and caliper adapter. I did put a WTB Speed V Saddle and a race face Crank on there I had laying around. Monocog 29er is a rigid bike, I don't know what I'm going to think of it. I've almost always ridden with at least a suspension fork. Sometime I ride with it nearly completely locked out but even that is nothing like a rigid fork. It won't be my first time on a 29er though as I did have a GF Supercaliber 29er last year but ended up selling it at the end of season.

After school yesterday I was able to get in a lap at John Muir which is about 12 miles ish. I had done the 12 hour race there last year and alot of the trails are totally different, I swear some stuff is being run backwards, but I could be wrong.

For the remainder of the week I will be prepping for my race. I'm borrowing an extra light from Aris Peters as I don't have another battery right now, I should though by the time of 24/9. I need to open up my EZ-Up. I bought it last fall but never actually put it together. As well as other items needing to be prepped.

Pua Responded to me!

I asked Monique "Pua" Sawicki a simple question 26" or 29" and she responded on her "Ask Pua" portion of her Team Mata Website.

http://teammata.com/pua/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=61&p=115#p115

4-Man Singlespeed for 12-hours of Sexynight?

Would anyone be interested in doing a 4-man Singlespeed Team for the 12-hours of Sexy Night? I'm willing to drive, I would be willing to do a Duo too.

Iola = maybe a little too much excitment and prep

Well I need to pretext this weekend saying I did 22 miles of riding @ John Muir on Wednesday which felt great. When I say felt great I mean, I felt very comfortable on the bike as far as handling and my aerobic and anaerobic abilities. Saturday, I packed Saturday morning and headed out around noon, I got up there around 2:30 ish. I registered did 1 lap of pre-ride, which felt decent, I made it up all the hills w/ my 32-17 gear. the hill in the back of the property kills me though and it would be the only time I made it up that hill all weekend w/o walking.

After my lap of pre-ride I went and picked up my 9004 number plate and back numbers. I went back to my car and cooked up a few brats and sour kraut and snacked a little. I waited for it to get dark and then the fun began. Only I know what its like to have an entire WORS Race course to myself. I think that I wished the race was on Saturday, the two abbreviated laps I did of night riding were very fast and very fun. I skipped the lead out to the top of hill by the jump scaffolds and the bowl. It was the first time I had spent a good amount of time on quality single track at night and it was fun. I think I was riding sections faster at night than during the day, because during the daylight I was looking too far in advance and riding accordingly. The short course/long course sign for trail run was already up for the trail run in the morning which confused me a little bit.

Sunday rolled around and it was pretty darn cold in the morning, as I camped out but I knew that was going to happen and had made preparations accordingly, lots of blankets. I slept through the night and that was good. I went to sleep around midnight and woke up around 8.

After I left some leftovers from the night before for breakfast and banana I went for a ride around the parking lot to find anyone I knew. I found Gus, Theo, and Jordan a.k.a. J-dog was sporting his 2008 Big Sur, he hadn't even ridden it on dirt yet. So Iola would be a little bit of a learning experience for him. I did not get his post race reaction but I think things went well.

My race time was rolling around and I rode on the road some, did some last minute checks of my bolts and stuff, I hopped on the Cyclops trainers by registration for like 10-minutes and my legs felt very very loose. It was still 15-20 minutes before race time so I just chilled hung out and talked to some people. Race time rolled around and I found out my class was pretty big. Only after my race did I find out how big that actually was. I Chugged up the start hill alright, lot better than last fall where I endo'd in the first 100' of the race. Everything was going OK but I didn't have the power in my legs like I did the night before. I don't know if I had prerode too much or my legs had too much to tighten up or I was running the wrong gear. I know that my Heart doesn't like deviation, it like static wattage and a static HR. Big surges of power are not my forte. I did have a pretty decent day in the single track though, faster than I think I ever have before. I pretty much did an aggressive sunday ride rather than "race mode" and clocked in at a modest 1:46 putting me around 36 minute laps, not great but not terrible. I later found out I got 17th out of 19. I looked at other peoples numbers and realized there is at least like 16 series registered racers in my class. I know a few people within my own class that have openly admitted they should upgrade. Granted not everyone ends up competing for the whole series, you naturally get degretion. As long as I pile up the finishes and continue to work on my conditioning faster than the other people, thing SHOULD improve but I've already made it clear that WORS isn't my #1 focus this year.

I will do the Muskego Crit. Next week because I like that course and after that It will be a return to WORS in Lake Geneva's treadfest.

Thursday Night Ride

I am going to be leading the Thursday night ride out of Expedition Supply starting tonight and every Thursday from not through September. expect 25-35 miles @ 16-18mph. It leaves 20 W. Sumner in Hartford @ 530.

Just call me 9004

I did the WORS Series Registration (not all-in-one) but I got assigned 9004 which for those of you who are playing @ home is Male Sport Singlespeed. I will be rocking the Trek "Cogitory"w/ pride. Hopefully I will actually bring home a few decent finishes including a podium or two would be nice.

I'm hoping that on Wednesday I will be able to pick up my Redline Monocog, bad thing is I have to drive all the way to Rockford to get it.

Words Cannot Describe how happy I am...

That I did not take part in Trans Iowa. The course was cut short @ the 240 mile mark around 4am ish. Former teammates Aris Peters and Constantine Peters Exact mileage is unknown to me at this time. I'm fairly certain they made it past checkpoint 1 but I'm not 100% certain and I know they quit sometime before 9pm putting them in the 100-170 mile neighborhood. If the course conditions would have been hospitable it more than likely would have been an entirely different story for all parties involved.

Next week I'm planning to go up Saturday morning to Iola, I would like to do some pre-ride. Some muscles are still on the mend a little from last weeks "Do the Rock". I was going to riding Saturday @ muir but the huge amounts of rain we got saturday screwed that idea up.

You know that Bike Raffle that RC Trail Crew had @ Rock Cut

ya, well I will be the prowd owner of a new Monocog 29er soon. Its $10 mountain bike Race ready, how many people can say that.

http://www.redlinebicycles.com/adultbikes/monocog-29er.html

Last weekend didn't happen

I woke up on Saturday with good intentions but ended up just doing some cleaning and unpacking. Exciting huh? This weekend I'm all but entirely certain I will do Great Dane #1 as it is one of the few races I have done both of the last two years, this sunday will be 3. In that same group is the Crit in Muskego, the Road Race in Baraboo which I think I'm going to miss this year, and the Elm Grove Criterium. I have done Iola on dirt both of the last two years, but I missed the spring race last year and did the September race instead. Same Course though. When in Madison I might try to squeeze some dirt in, but we'll see.

Century #1 and 24-9 Announcement

I'm possibly planning to do my first Century tomorrow on the Glacial Drumlin State Trail. W/ a planned departure @ 8am from the trailhead in Waukesha, at a minimum I will round trip Cottage grove unless I'm ambitious and round trip Madison, but I'm thinking I don't want to kill myself this early in the season I'm not training for Trans Iowa. I could hurt myself and hamper further training. 104 Miles are garanteed, 52 miles each way. It won't be warm enough for shorts or short sleeves though, but I could probably do gloveless.



I have not formally made the announcement yet, but I'm saying today, the 4th of April 2008, I plan to enter the 24 hours of 9 Mile in the Solo Singlespeed category. I'm banking my entire year on that race. I plan to duo in the WEMS series and will be doing Sport Singlespeed for WORS, but those are just supplement, however I hope to win both of those series titles. My 24-9 Goal is simply put is 12+ laps and no significant time off the bike in the pits. As of right now, I have Ashley James to support me in the pits as the rest of my team will be focusing on their various team efforts, primarily focusing on the Mens Junior Team National Championship.

As the year progresses I might have 1 more 24 hour solo race announcement to be made.

All Competitors and Former Teammates Are Important

As some of you know Brandon from my former team, Expo Racing, was struck by a motorist last week when riding home from school. He did get taken to the hospital, fortunately he should pull through and make a full recovery. I don't know many of the details but I want everyone to pray for him, and his recovery, hopefully he'll recover and be as strong as ever.

Brandon was probably obeying every last rule and law. Bikesafer has pointed out many laws that motorists are bound to abide by. Cases like this remind cyclist and Motorists of the possible conflict between them. Me personally, I've always had the mantra of expect the unexpected, as a cyclist most motorists overlook you. When you learn to drive you are taught the same, its called defensive driving, relatively speaking this holds true to cyclists. You must practice defensive riding. The world isn't perfect. Anticipate motorists to not yield to you when you have the right of way. Look for people backing out of their driveways. Always be aware of the traffic around you at all times. Unfortunately in the united states, drivers are not predictable and depending on where you are, people are less bicycle conscience. The Lake Country Area people are very cyclist aware. If you are a motorist take notice of the two wheeled non-motorized people you share the road with. If you are a cyclist, please pay more attention to your defensive riding, it will save your life someday.

I did the unthinkable

I paid the $90 to USA Cycling so I can race in road and mountain this year without those pesky 1 day licenses.

The ghetto Rockhound

I'm naming it "Shitty"

How many of you have ever seen a brown bike? There is a reason you don't. Johnny D Painted it the color he decided to go with. I think it looks like shit personally. For those of you who don't know I picked this frame and fork up from someone via Jeremy Rodriguez for a low low, undisclosed price. I had it chemically acid dipped, sanded away what little corrosion and dings I could, took it to my painting guy and had it primered and then handed it off to Johnny. Johnny wanted it in "Medium Grey". I was afraid I would screw it up, and his brother works at a dealership or w/e. Instead of painting it right right way he took the frame home and decided to paint it the most ugly brown I have ever seen. Its a total slap in the face. I just want to go to his house and steal it away from him for Bike frame neglect. I wanted to paint it "Ergon Green" PMS #563. with Gloss Black Decals and gloss clear, would have looked a little like a Bianchi Lewis, just brighter. Johnny get the frame for 1 year then he must return it and he has already agreed to pay for the repainting of the frame in MY desired color. In the meantime I'm just going to deny that I had anything to do with the painting of it.

Addition of a few more items

Addition of handlebars, Ergon Grips, The Rear Brake/Lever. (not shown in picture, Li-Ion Arc Handlebar mount.)

tomorrow should mark the arrival of the Front Hub and Freewheel. I received the rim today. So now all that is left is front wheel, reinstallation of front brake/lever and installation of freewheel.

BTW, I just finished my registration for Do the rock 2008, go here, and there on April 20th or be square.

This is How the Build is Shaping up

2005 ZR9000 "8500" frame
Salsa Lip Lock seat collar
2007 Fox F80 RLC
Rear: White Industries ENO Disc 32h (3x), Velocity VXC Rim, DT Swiss Revolution Spokes
Front: White Industries M16 32h (3x), Velocity VXC Rim, ??? Spokes
Chris King Headset
Avid BB7 Brakes w/ Jagwire cable housings and Avid SL Levers, Roundagon Rotors (160mm)
Race Face Prodigy XC Forged (34t)
White Industries (16t) ENO Freewheel
Ritchey WCS Alloy Seatpost
Ritchey WCS Carbon Rizer Handlebars
Ritchey WCS 4-Axis 17 degree rise (100mm) stem
WTB Speed V Cro-Mo Rails
Michlien Dry2 or Maxxis Crossmark Tires
KMC Superlight Chain
Bontrager Tubes
Ergon Team Green GE1 Grips

Roughly a $2000 Singlespeed by my calculations, Trek 69er, eat your heart out.

Its getting there

addition on Crank & BB, wheels, Fork, Seat, Post, 7 coats of Turtle Wax, and the Eno rear, the front wheel is just a stand in until my White Industries M16 Disc & Velocity VXC gets built. I just threw on the only handlebars I could find that I had laying around that were 31.8mm, some road bars. I will be getting the correct handlebars (I already own) they are just on the fritz. and the reason I haven't installed any of the rear brakes are because the rear disc brake tabs still need to be refaced. There are still alot of little details to be figured out, but in 2 weeks or less I should have one really cool ride. At some point this year I'm going to crash and I'm going to cry, not because I got hurt but because I scratched my paint.

Not 1 pair but 2 pair!

I just want to thank the good folks at Ergon. You can find their line of great high quality products @ http://www.ergon-bike.com/

I am looking for someone who has this tool

Who are the hippies in the Pictures below

That is Bill and Hillary Clinton in the 70s

New Sponsor

Painted

New Game: Identify the Hippie

Moto rapido, Translation, Motion Express

What the Vinyls are going to look like

Greens don't show up well on most screens but it will be pretty bright green, like MARS Green

Stripped

How does Cogitory sit?

I just want your opinions, line 3 is what my name is in, that is already done. If you are wondering how I came up with the name, its a combo of "Cog" and "Purgatory".

ICEMAN COMETH!

I have made the lottery, and I have already registered. I'm not 100% certain I'm going to be able to go, but if I have any doubt will be putting the word out. I know many of you would want it. Currently I'm registered as 39 & under Singlespeed. If I do it, 2008 will be my first Iceman. I also have friends in Traverse City so I should be able to bunk up fairly easily.

Bye Bye 8500, hello ???

I am having my 8500 acid dipped and having every little piece of paint removed. Its going to be my new kick ass singlespeed painted in gloss black. Its being defaced of it "TREK" and "8500" so I'm having my name done in bright green vinyl and its going just in front of seat tube on the top tube like my other bikes. I don't want it to look so nude. So my question to everyone is I need a name, like a "model name" and a "manufacturer" They don't have to be real. I could always go the tacky route and just call it a B.U.S.S. by MARS or something like that. I don't know, I'm open to wild and crazy suggestions. This is going to be my WORS bike and my 24-9 solo bike if that helps at all, I need to come up with something ASAP because I need the vinyl cut so I put it under the clear coat.

February Training Numbers

Well its that time of year kids. Time to try to break that winter funk. Go balls out, make it hurt. On sunday I met up with the Mars Boys @ Crank Daddy's and made myself look really stupid, I was beat by a 12 y/o girl. I only averaged 115 watts over 1 hour, the only highlight was my max wattage of 675. After that result, I was rather pissed with myself, I know I'm better than that. So Wednesday afternoon I redeemed myself. I went to Transition Cycle in Pewaukee, its only about 1 mile from my school so I went after class. I ended up kicking some pretty good butt. I averaged 182 watts over 1 hour. I know its a combo of a bunch of things that helped me succeed better. I did not have any HR or Cadence info from Wednesday's session. I will have photos and/or detail of the build my '08 WEMS bike starting to come together.

Ordered

Valentine's Day Don'ts

8500 #2 I have decided is a no go for 2008.

My secondary geared 8500 set-up much like how I had my Oleta bike set-up is not in the budget in 2008. I have drivetrain and brakes and wheels for it but no bars, cranks, seatpost, and most importantly a fork. Combined with the fact that I am moving in march/april I won't have it in the budget. I'm still building my really really kick a** Geared Salsa for my WEMS Effort.

Teammates

2008, New Bikes, New Team, New Teammates

After a poor showing @ 12 hours of Oleta I was down and out. The end of the month rolled around and get some Emails from Gus talking about new sponsors. One of the new sponsors conflicts with with my interests. I work @ Personalized Products and we do Embroidery, Screen Printing, and Promotional Products. Expo Racing's new official Apparel Sponsor does all the same things. When you combine this with a number of other sponsors I don't support, not to say they don't make quality products, I just don't use their products. I decided that it would be in my better interest to find a new team that could use me and they could help me as well, aka a team effort. Something I never felt that existed @ Expo Racing. I'm very happy to go to a team that is a team in every sense of the word.

The question that leaves me with is where to go? Well I felt the decision was really simple. Go to a team that I have friends at as well as a former teammate of Expo Racing. TEAM MARS. For those of you not familiar with TEAM MARS, it has nothing to do with the planet, it as all to do with SRAM MEAT, or something like that, lol. No, MARS is is SRAM Spelled Backwards, Nothing more. With great sponsors I love like Sram, Twin Six, Maxxis as sponsors, all products I love and use. I will still carry Personalized Products as an individual Sponsor but I'm not about to force it on anyone. I just firmly believe in all these products. I will be equiping my new Geared Enduro Bike(WEMS) and Single Speed (WORS & 24-9) with SRAM, Rockshox, Avid, Pitstop, and Truvativ components.

You can find All of My new Fine Sponsors on the right column. Have a great 2008.

Monday's Plans

On Monday I will go out riding at another of the area's great Singletrack. I hear lots of people picked up some great steals at today's Crono-metro Bike Swap. I'll take my camera and take some pictures of the trails to give you a sense of what the trails are like. I sat down last night and finally cleaned my bike by hand with glass cleaner. I should write Windex and see if they want to sponsor Expo Racing. Bill ourselves the cleanest team in Wisconsin, lol. But until next time peeps. Peace out.

12 hours of Oleta, The final Post

The 12 hours of Oleta

I'm sorry for the really late blog but excuses aside, here is my blog.

Me, my mom, and my dad arrived at Oleta river state park at 8:20 a.m. I had never until that day ridden any trails in Florida. I thought, what is the worse Florida could throw at me, it turns out, it can be really really bad.

Classically we started with a lemans start, that was a good 2-300 yards. The start was at 9:30 ET. I was warned of spider roots, coral, and rocks that would await me by the folks of Wheels of Wellington. Their words couldn't describe what I was about to meet.

Lap 1, was absolutely terrible. The course was 10.5 Miles and I clocked in at like 2:00. I never crashed, never flatted, no mechanicals, I just couldn't get acclimated. Mind you laps were around 45-55 minutes for the leaders of both solo and teams.

Lap 2, wouldn't bring a pretty knarly wreck on my part. The course is littered with short climbs and quick descents. to the people of the midwest that doesn't sound too bad, but when you add spider roots on both sides and right angled drop-offs of +18" It made me seriously tenative, I was forcing myself to be more gutsy and it was working until I hit one of these drop-offs with wayy too much weight shifted forward and I basically T-boned a tree. As I am right now on monday, my left arm is still very enflamed but usable. I trucked on for the 3/4 of lap left, stopped in a the pit took a brief break and went back out

Lap 3, the trail had my #, it was just eating my up and spitting me out. I couldn't get into a good rythem. the begging of lap 3 seemed promising but out of nowhere I start hearing a really loud rattling coming from my front end. I stopped to check it out and I found my skewer was loose. No big deal, I'll just tighten it up. I go along for a while longer, I keep hearing it, I still found my skewer to me loose, mystified, I decide to call it a day. My front wheel was basically be held in by nothing more than the lawyer tabs. My left elbow and forearm were hurting a good little bit and I was having a pretty crappy day all around.

They say in Florida "Mountains?, we don't need no stinkin' mountains" If I had to describe the course I would describe it as such, take Blue Mounds SP, make it flat, add about 200 hairpins and roughly speaking that is your course.

(I will be posting more pictures in the future)

Race Box of crap is packed

The Race box is packed and everything is a go for tomorrow, I'm excited. I doubt I will be blogging tomorrow, I will try to blog when I get home from the race tomorrow but that probably won't happen til at least midnight eastern time. It is for certain the my parents are going, and that should mean that I should have lots of pictures to document my race. I will proudly represent Expo Racing and Ergon Nation, I would bet I'm doing the first race for Ergon Nation in 2008.

Bike is in 100% functioning condition

I got home at about 9pm after eating out, I put my bike together as best as possible but found that my dearailer was like upside down or something, but besides that I had to let all the air out of my tires to fit it in the box and I didn't have my presta-shraeder valve adapter. So I walked over to the local Trek dealer, Wheels of Wellington, and I asked to borrow a few tools and they came through for me. I wanted a Frame pump so I bought one there. I'm almost all ready to go for Saturday, I just need a pick up a few things to fulfill my nutrition needs.

Sitting and Blogging in the Charlotte Airport

I'm just sitting in Charlotte waiting for my flight to West Palm Beach. Its only 35 degrees here and I hear that its only 52 degrees in WPB. 76 degrees is the Forcasted High for Saturday's 12 hours of Oleta, the low is 61 but I'm determined to stay short sleeve and shorts. There is a possibility that one or both my parents might come to the race and that would be a huge help. I'm dreading to self support myself. I will see some people in FL and hopefully my early '08 racing will be an inspiration to the people back in WI and IL to keep training in the doldrums on winter. For those of you who can ride on monday, go out there and ride I hear the high is around 50. Keep checking my blog cause tomorrow I'm going to put my bike back together and buy whatever nutrition I want to use during the race outside of fluids.

UPDATE:

I'm delayed cause the captain's seatbelt is broken

Packing for Oleta