Still Pedaling

KSU Basketball at Ahearn

2012-01-25T09:49:00.000-06:00

For those Wildcat fans. The last game ever at Ahearn.

New Years Day

2012-01-18T10:26:00.000-06:00

Its been a few weeks but I found myself on the esteemed dirtdobbers blog and remembered that I accidently found myself involved in the new years day ride. I had already put in a few hours on the River Trail when I started another lap and found myself in some traffic. Crazy traffic. Like there is no reason to ask to get by because there are people as far as I can see on the trail. It was fun though, made the next few laps go by easier as my motivation was wearing out anyways. I guess a big group does this every year. You would think I would know about it being I probably put in more laps on the River Trail than anyone, but I live in my own little bubble.

Its always nice to run into these type of things. The other night I was struggling with motivation on a cold recovery ride type of day when Adam Mills and his dog came around the corner. Made the rest of the ride cruise by and I got a test ride on his sweet KCCX team issue Fuji CX bike with Reynolds Tubulars. That bike is really nice. Everyone needs deep dish Tubulars to ride trails. Makes me want to go do some cyclocross races....err, next year.

3D Racing Website

2012-01-17T17:36:00.000-06:00

A few years back Chris Herting built me a 3D B-29er. I still ride it nearly everyday. Something about a custom metal mtb that just makes you want to ride. If you dont know him, and you probably dont, you should. He is probably the most famous bike builder that you have never heard of. All you really need to know is that he is one of the original Yeti guys and has been welding mountain bikes ever since. Those original crazy John Tomac Yetis were his handywork. He is one of those guys who builds the custom bikes that another brand puts their stickers on and stuff like that. The only reason I bring this up is because he finally made a website, er updated his early 90's website. If you want a custom bike I would highly recommend talking to Chris. He is extremely helpful and your bike will be built out of scandium or aluminum so it wont weigh two tons like a steel bike. Though, he does build with steel if you so prefer. Anyways...people always stop me on the trail and ask about my bike, so this is who built it.

The Condor and Jobs

2012-01-15T17:26:00.001-06:00

On the aeroplane to the Hawaiian Islands I got caught up on some reading. Mat Hoffman's autobiography "the ride of my life" was up first. The Condor (hoffman) was just geting started in the world of Vert when I saw him in Oklahoma City in 1987. He was already famous for huge air. He and Dennis Mccoy were the best freestylers in the country and they were both from the middlewest (mccoy is from KC). Anyways, its a pretty interesting book on how some goofy freestyler grew into a businessman because he had to. If you know who he is, its worth reading.

Up next was the Steve Jobs Biography. That thing is plain thick. It took some serious dedication to get through it, but it was interesting. That guy was pretty much a jerk, but he makes cool computers. We got an Ipad for Xmas and it is sweet. Definitely worth your time if you are ready for 600 pages. If nothing else, by the time you get through it you want to throw all your PC's in the trash and go buy a Mac.

2012-01-14T12:00:00.000-06:00

This is never good. Police on the river trails and a car in the river.

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Waffles

2012-01-14T08:59:00.000-06:00

My favorite food group would be Chocolate Milk. Its a miracle drink. Close second would be waffles. I like all kinds of waffles. We have two waffle maker, standard and belgian. Kate and I once dropped something like 10 Euro (about 20 bucks at the time, people do dumb things on vacations) on a waffle with nutella from some Italian street vendor so when Honey Stinger came out with the Stinger Waffles, I was on board. Those things are just plain delicious. What could possibly be better than a waffle in your pocket.

Im lucky enough that this year Honey Stinger agreed to keep Katie from having to get a second job to support my waffle consumption habit for which we are both grateful. However, little do they know that they actually sponsored me last year as well. Honey Stinger has a booth set up at loads of races, handing out free samples to all that walk by. Some of us might walk back and forth dozens of times in a weekend. Some of might send our wives to the booth as well to get even more samples. The Pro Cycling Challenge Breckenridge booth alone fed me all day. Im getting hungry just typing about waffles.

This is my favorite spot for a waffle stop at Clinton Lake. Look closely and you can see the Stinger Waffle on the table waiting for consumption. That is product placement even before I got word that Honey Stinger was on board for 2012.

Smith House

2012-01-13T08:44:00.001-06:00

I can see again. Pivlocks for racing. Special orange frames because Its my favorite color. A whole load full of lenses for every condition or mood. A few more pairs of shades justs for style purposes. Sun Valley Utah is home of your USA National Championship and the best eyeball protection around. SMITH.

My ultra professional, expert level product review would say...

PivLocks are ridiculously light and they never fog up. They come with 3 lenses in the fancy schmancy case, clear, red, and whatever color you choose. Plus all Smiths are just plain comfortable. Ive been training in the same pair of Smiths for 4 years and they still look like new. Katie Compton just crushed the cyclocross nationals with the orange PivLocks and im pretty sure a scientific test would have shown she couldnt have done that in any other sunglasses.

Retreads

2012-01-12T07:20:00.001-06:00

First a bit of history....

The first year I raced my mountain bike was the second year of the new technology developed by Hutchinson and Mavic, UST tubeless. There wasnt much of a choice, Mavic CrossmaxSL wheels and Hutchinson Pythons were mounted to my Giant XTC. This new technology of tubeless was great, I dont remember ever having a flat. Those tires eventually just wore out so as I always seem to do, if it aint broke, fix it anyways. Adam Craig rode a Giant XTC and used Michelin tires, so some gray Michelin Drys went onto my bike. This made sense because they matched my paint job perfectly. One race and two flats later, I was kicking myself and switching back to Hutchinson. (years later I learned that you dont pick tires by color). Then Studnicki was schooling everyone on his Epic so the next year I figured Id join him and it came with Specialized FastTrak UST. Great grip and indestructible but very heavy on a heavy bike. Stan came out with the newest technology, so NoTubes Olympic wheels and Kenda Karma tires were mounted and pounds were saved. Flat tires commenced. The weight weenie in me kept me on Karmas and two years later and tons of flat tires im going 29. Maxxis Crossmarks and 2 flats in 12miles of hell and those arent going to work. The huge wheels weigh a ton so back on come the Kenda Karmas and Small blocks. Bucketloads of dnf's and flat tires and after one season ive had enough. I get some Hutchinson Python 29 tires that are heavy. Before the winter is over I decide it would be better to ride 26 and heavy tires, which will still be lighter setup than the 29 with Karmas. Giant XTC Advanced is rounded up and team Giant is still riding Michelin so....Kelli Emmett of Giant has nothing but great things to say about the Dry2, except "stay away from the gray one, we call it gray death", see above problem with Michelins. Michelin comes on as my first tire sponsor and one pair lasts one race short of a season (16d nail in one side out the other). Excellent. That winter Michelin cancels their Team Michelin program so I go looking for another brand. Enter Maxxis and their huge range of tires. I sign up as a GrassRoots racer and a few weeks later I get an email from Ralph at Michelin that their program is still over but the existing racers can still get tires. Damn, Maxxis Aspens are already in route. It takes maybe 6 Aspens to get through the season, acceptable. Plus I like the tires. For the first time, I stick with the same brand for another season. When 2011 started I had a dozen Aspens and Ikons, when it ended I had burned through all those and then some.

When you have a hardtail and a dually you have to think about which one to ride at every race. If you have the luxury of a large selection of tires to choose from you then have to decide which one of those is going to be best. Inevitablly, some sort of switching is in order and you would rather be laying on the bed resting. So I did away with the first problem, its all Scalpel all year. The simplest and best year I ever had tire wise was Team Michelin, one choice. So it only makes sense to go back to what works.

And the choice of Wild Racer in the dry and...

Wild Grip'r in the wet

Awesomeness

2012-01-11T07:46:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Richard at Backcountry Research ive got a whole bevy of awesomeness for this year. Without a doubt the new Race Strap has got to be worth 20-30 watts on any climb. I really hate to due away with electrical taping a tube to my stem, but Im thinking this has got to be the better way. Plus I was using up an awful lot of electrical tape that I had to steal from various electricians around town.

I plan on styling all sorts of different colors of Awesomeness throughout the season, because you never want your co-racers to see you wearing the same strap to often.

Syllamos Registration is tomorrow, 100 miles or 50???? Hmm.

UFD MTB Categories

2012-01-10T17:51:00.000-06:00

I read the emails today concerning the new classes for the UFD series. Some of the elder statesman have some concerns. It looks like the plan is to essentially have two races go off for each category. There will be a 39 under for Cat 1,2,3 and a 40+ for Cat 1,2,3. So at noon on race day there will be two seperate groups take off for Cat. 1, the younger and the older seperated by a few minutes. Within these two groups the officials will actually score the racers in their actual age group (30-35, 36-40, etc). The idea here is to have more people racing on the trail instead of the possibility of starting with 3 people and only racing them which isnt very much fun.

Basically, I will race against everyone under 39 for an "overall" and also be scored against the 30-35 age group at the same time. The prizes will be given out for this "overall" and the age group stuff is for USA cycling scoring.

When I first read this plan I guess I came down on the side of the 50+ guys who are concerned about not having their own class and having to compete with some guy who is 40 for their portion of the "overall". So I went to the most successful series in the United States, WORS. Not that they know everything, but they are doing something right as shown by their WORS Annual Report. This changed my tune.

Wors does it even simpler then the new UFD plan. They essentially run 3 races every weekend. Cat. 3, Cat. 2, and Cat. 1. ( i know there are ladies and juniors also). Every age group lines up together and has at it within their Category. So at 9 am the Cat. 3 race starts, at 10:30 the Cat. 2 race starts, and at 12:00 the Cat. 1/Elite race starts. Then the officials score each Category in their age group (30-35, 36-40, etc) for USA Cycling purposes. They dont even worry about breaking it up with the 39/under, 40+ system. They do give awards something like 8 deep which is nice.

I think this is the way to do it. If UFD wants to use the 39 under/ 40+ system to cut down slightly on the amount of people on the trail I guess I understand that. This could cut down on the possibility of getting into lapped traffic to early. I think its more fun to have more people on the trail to race against rather than line up with 3 others and you already basically know what the finish order will be. Understandably it is going to be hard for a 55+ Doug Long to win the overall in the 40+ even though he is one of the faster guys in the nation in his age group. I guess I think I would see the challenge in beating as many "youngsters" as possible, but im not in that position so its hard to know for sure. To me, the essence of mountain biking is to go as fast as you can and push yourself as hard as possible and not worry about what size of trophy that equates to.

The big/epic races are gaining popularity. None of these races split things up by age group at the start, they dont even split things up by gender. Everyone lines up, and gives'er. Then the official sort things out by age group later. Rarely is a "master" going to be racing for the overall in this situation, but "masters" seem to love these races. Im not sure I see why XC racing should be any different.

Maybe im wrong?? When im 50 Ill get back to you.

I think the UFD is on the right track. Lets Race.

2011-12-31T12:56:00.001-06:00

New years eve at the octagon of doom.

Good Morning

2011-12-28T20:49:00.002-06:00

I would say its good to be home, but yesterday morning was pretty nice.

Dark Horse

2011-12-15T16:41:00.000-06:00

The Dark Horse CX. Twin Six version of cyclocross bikes. This thing is pretty sweet and if you wanted to get yourself one for Christmas hopefully you took adavantage of the 30% off sale.

Missoula Pic

2011-12-14T11:45:00.001-06:00

Picture on Singletrack.com from Missoula ProXct this year. Must have beforer I flatted and rode down the mountain on the rim. That reminds me... anyone want to buy a destroyed Stans Podium MMX rear wheel?? Missoula sure was a nice place.

Ouachita and the spring

2011-12-13T17:34:00.000-06:00

It filled up in 20 minutes this year. That is pretty crazy fast. Im suprised it didnt crash some servers or something. Im happily in and ready to give it another shot, 3rd time is the charm. I texted a few fellas as reminders and woke some people up bright and early, you are welcome. Now I just gotta figure out which tires I want to use so that I dont spend the day fixing flats again.

Early season plans....Looks like a lot of mileage...

Mellow Johnnys Classic
Spa City Extreme??
Ouachita Challenge
BoneBender or Sea Otter
Whiskey 50
Syllamos Revenge

Dont forget to register for the Dakota Five-0 before it fills up and during the first few miles of the Ouachita Challenge, that could be tricky.

Bicycle Boogie

2011-12-10T10:19:00.000-06:00

I havent posted anything from Rad in awhile and ive been home sick to watch it so I figured I should spread the joy.

Road Racing

2011-12-09T14:52:00.000-06:00

For lots of reasons I dont race on the road. Part of the reason is there are only so many weekends in the year and I probably can think of something more fun to do. I have done one road race in the past 5 years and as you can see, I quickly get bored and just pedal as fast as I can. Unfortunately im not Fabian Cancellara so I eventually get caught. Most mountain bikers dont make very good road racers. This occured to me when Floyd was talking about Lance in the latest interview. He said that Lance is always racing against and takes satisfaction in beating the other guys. I think most mountain bikers are just looking to go as hard as they can for as long as they can, and whatever place that brings is what they deserved. With this philosophy, I am a terrible tactic rider. Just like I dont see the point in doing a training ride by sitting in a big group for hours, getting pulled along at 25mph. I dont like sitting in the group in a race for a few hours only to sprint at the finish. If that is how all races went, I would just assume we skip to the sprint and everyone could be home by lunch.

I threw around the idea of doing a cross race this weekend, but its supposed to be warm and the trails might need my attention instead.

2011-12-08T13:29:00.001-06:00

We recently made the mountain lion exhibit at the zoo taller and put a top on it because the zookeeper said they like to climb and can jump 15 ft. Today this guy was checking out our work.

2011-12-03T12:36:00.001-06:00

This is gonna be epic. Go cats !!

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Rankings

2011-12-01T11:31:00.003-06:00

Ive been reading a lot about the new cyclocross rankings and some problems they seem to be having with them. I dont have a single cyclocross point yet so I thought I would look up my mtb rankings. Its a pretty neat deal how they show you how you rank in a bunch of different areas... state, zip, age, 5 year range, overall, etc...

I dont know how it all works, but I seem to stack up pretty well against my age group in the country. JHK is my age, so its gonna be tough to take the top spot but...Id actually say the XC rankings seem to be pretty accurate, if all 399 pros lined up and raced I would be pretty happy with 49th.

Super D

1st- age group.... jeremy Horgan Kobelski better start training!!
30th- overall

Short Track

3rd- Age Group
49th- overall

XC

3rd- Age Group
49th- Overall

I did check the UCI rankings and my 6 UCI points have expired and I didnt get any in 2011 so its gonna make the PROXCT races that much harder starting from the back instead of the 3rd row if I decide to do any. Oh well, when I got those points I was starting at the back.

2011-11-30T16:55:00.001-06:00

The dale is fast. I don't think I need to worry about getting in shape. It basically pedals itself.

PreRegistration

2011-11-30T09:05:00.000-06:00

I need a seperate calender just to keep track of registration dates for races. Its getting pretty crazy. I just registered for the BTepic and its 11 months away. Hope Im not busy on that weekend a year from now. Leadville, Whiskey50, Ouachita, Syllamos, Chequamegon, Iceman, Dakota Five-0, BT Epic, Translyvania Epic....if you miss the registration you are out of luck as they fill up fast. One of the trickier ones will be racing in Mena, AR and making a pit stop to get online to register for the Dakota Five-0 before it fills up. There is a reason these races have early registration and they fill up fast. They are fun. They are great races that combine great trails, a great atmosphere, good fields, and a little after race enjoyment. The ProXct series can learn something from events like these. I havent come up with a race schedule for next year yet, but I guess the list above is a pretty solid year of bike racing. It looks a little heavy on the epicness and a little light on the xcness so some adjustments will need to be made. Sea Otter just dropped the UCI and changed back to the big loop xc course which is a ton better and then there is Sun Valley for the USA nats which I would like to give the Super D another shot and also Bend for the Marathon Nats....hopefully there will be a local series to add to that as well...

Reflectors

2011-11-29T11:33:00.000-06:00

Every set of fancy carbon wheels should come with reflectors. Its a safety issue really. I plan on using them all season so that everyone can be sure to see me coming, or at least see me from the side if they have lights shined at me. Ive never had a set of really nice hubs, well not since I had some Bullseye or TNT bmx hubs. I first started to realize there might be a difference in hubs when I sold a set of Bontrager XXXL wheels awhile back and the guy emailed me that the hubs were in bad shape. I informed him that they had been ridden less than a dozen times, which was true, and he should take them to a bike shop and see what needed to be done. The Trek store informed him that the hubs were in excellent shape and that is how those hubs roll. DTSwiss 240s are like butter. They are lightyears better than anything I had been using. I always just went with the lightest choice and now I see why people spend money on the good stuff like DT Swiss or Chris King. Plus DT Swiss hubs are easily converted to whatever rear hub standard your bike may have. On another hub related note... Chris King has a ringer for your iphone.

Superbikes

2011-11-28T10:30:00.000-06:00

Early in the 2011 racing season is became very apparent that the new line of 29er full suspension bikes were excellent. At one point I had only lost a few races and all of them were to these new "superbikes". I doubt it was all because of the bikes, but thats beside the point. A few years ago I remember saying there was no way I would ride a 29er dually. Way too heavy and slow. Heck I switched back to smaller wheels from a 29er hardtail because it was too heavy. My first glimpse of the advantage of the big wheels and big suspension was climbing Blowout Mtn in Arkansas behind Wiley Mosely and his Epic 29. If you have ever made that climb and descent you know it is extremely rough and rocky, and he just rode away. Im pretty sure the bike had something to do with it as I would eventually catch back on when we got through the rocks. Later in the year I had the chance to spend a little time on an Sworks Epic 29 and it was indeed awesome. That bike was a bigger advantage than I had dreamed. Then I rode a few hours on the Trek Superfly 100. While maybe not quite as quick, that bike was soooo smooth and comfortable. You just get up to speed and cruise through anything. The only drawback to the Epic is the brain, which is also its best asset. That bikes pedals extremely efficiently but the brain has to be adjusted before you go out and race. Because you cant adjust it on the fly it seems like you might have it perfect for one section of trail but then it wont be perfect for another section so I lean back towards the Fox RP23 suspension.... The new RP23 is super adjustable. It has three levels of propedal and then 3 levels of openness. So you set your preferred level of propedal and openness and can flip between them on the fly. This is exactly how I wanted my rear shocks to work the last few years as the "open" setting on the previous version was basically useless unless you were bombing down a mountain. And I dont buy it that some bikes pedal well in open, this is only true if you like that super soft spongy feeling. Anyways....the ultimate superbike is hitting the shops now and it light..

And my version is sure to be a few pounds lighter.... now if i can just get used to the odd sized wheels and half a fork....

2011-11-24T09:36:00.001-06:00

Early morning thanksgiving ride. Gonna be a great weekend of trail riding.

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Cold

2011-11-20T14:46:00.000-06:00

Katie and I went out to ride today. It was ridiculously cold. My hands were frozen in no time. I guess its time to get out the winter riding gear. Yesterday was hot and today was freezing, only in Kansas.

Back in 1992 we went on a trip to Vail and I took my new Cannondale F1000. That bike was pretty awesome for its time. It would still be considered light by todays standards. Must have been the sweet headshok. I sold it a few years ago to a collector of Cannondales for almost what I paid for it 15 years earlier. Harleys dont hold their value that well. Cannondale was pretty advanced with the system integration back then. It had a Cannondale fork, cranks, brakes, stem, bars, etc... I think im going to give bar ends a try again this year.

2011-11-19T10:51:00.000-06:00

Middle of November and the trails are perfect, I'm wearing shorts and sweating, and I seem to be the only one out here. How could this be? But I know it's awesome.

The Log

2011-11-01T17:58:00.000-05:00

Its a 3" binder that has a record of essentially every day I have pedaled my bike since 2007. 5 years of riding almost everyday. There is a lot of information in there. I dont like keeping track of my riding but I do it anyways. The great thing about it is that I can look back on my best races or periods of racing and see what I did to go faster. Doesnt mean I can recreate it, but I can at least try to. I have started looking into what I want to do next year for races and therefore have started looking at my past training to see if I can make it work. I dont think someone who works full time can successfully stay fast enough for the entire mtb season without getting completely exhausted so its better to figure out what time of year its most important to be your fastest and build backwards from that. My problem is that I seem to always be at my best the same time of the year no matter when I start training. This year I felt like I was out of shape way too late into the year and only moved my main peak a few weeks back and it hit when there wasnt a lot going on. So its back to the old plan and the idea is to find races that land in my peak rather than adjust my peak for races. Makes sense to me. We shall see, but first...more days in the log with no pedaling.

Sun Valley Nationals Course

2011-10-30T18:41:00.000-05:00

Better late than never. No bike riding means extra time for this sort of stuff.

2011-10-26T10:53:00.000-05:00

They say it's called riding skinnies. I dunno. But it's funny that it seems hard even though it's as wide as singletrack.

Berryman

2011-10-25T16:16:00.000-05:00

So after I crashed at Chequamegon and was hurting pretty bad I took a complete week off because I had to. After that I dont think I did a single "training" ride leading up to Berryman. I rode my bike in the woods plenty, lots of long 4 hour trips around lake Clinton and the like. I knew going down to Berryman was going to be a good challenge and I felt pretty out of shape but I figured it would be pretty fun no matter what.

Got down there Friday night and headed out for some preriding. Felt absolutely awesome, one of those rides when you wish the race was going on. Saw the Ethos crew, got some recommendations on terrible accomodations in Steeleville and headed to sleep basically.

Three miles of gravel or so and the race entered singletrack. I think I was about the 5th person into the woods. It didnt take too long and I had snuck up to 3rd and Schottler was in sight so I figured I was in fine position for 4 hours of racing. Then the trail split and I thought the BigShark jersey had gone left, he hadnt. I led Stolte and a few others a few hundred yards up the wrong trail before someone started yelling at us and we had ot cut through the woods. Schottler and Tilford were gone and we got back in line around 10th place probably. Fast forward a few hours....Im cruising down a long fireroad descent. Ive been going down for proably 5 minutes when I start to notice the trail getting worse and worse. Im about to stop when I see Bill Stolte emerge from the woods and tell me we have gone the wrong way. Basically, the race is over for us. We walk back up the hill for probably 5 minutes and there is a pack of 5-6 more coming down. We stop them and get on our bikes to pedal back up. By the top there are 20 of us and we have wasted about 15 minutes.

I start pedaling and am feeling pretty fresh and dont really care how the race ends up. I start picking off guys at a nice clip and I figure Im well into the top 10 again. Final gravel slog back to the finish, I miss a right turn that should take me to the end and I end up in the parking lot instead. I cruise around the back of the building, see the finish line and go through it, but a bunch of guys have already passed through that i had gotten by so I tell the lady not to worry about my place. Free beer and bbq was more important.

Normally I would be pretty mad about the crappy course marking. Getting off course 3 times is ridiculous. Its partly my fault that I dont pay much attention to the arrows and what not. Im used to racing on short loops that have tape and arrows all over the place so its impossible to get off course. Plus im typically pretty busy dealing with pedaling, shifting, braking, locking out shocks, etc. On top of that, during these longer races I usually dont pay much attention to anything but cadence or Ill find myself thinking about all sorts of stuff and slow way down.

I cant wait for next year. Im gonna be back with some motivation. Its the off season now.... If someone wants a place in the Iceman Cometh, I dont think Im going to make the trip.

2012 ProXct

2011-09-25T21:36:00.000-05:00

Im on my own for the week as Kate is in China for work. Today I finally stopped bleeding and changed the sheets and was able to get all the blood out of them. So I didnt ride all week which led to the idea of getting all the riding in on the weekend. Worked out okay, about 8 hours of riding. A few were in the dark at the Clinton trails which was a blast and pretty tricky. My lockout is still not working on the Top Fuel which has reminded me how comfy that bike is on the rocks. Why would anyone ride a hardtail for fun?

Im not planning on doing much of the PROXCT this upomming year and the new schedule has pretty much seen to it that anyone from a colder climate will have no chance. Half the races take place in March...its pretty hard to go from the trainer all week to the race course on the weekend. My buddy Matt lives in sunny San Diego and he likes to say that Californians peak in March since they start racing in January. The only positive is that three of the rounds are within driving distance of here.

Its too early to be thinking about next year, but with a lot of the races having early registrations that fill up fast, or discounts for early sign up, you have to be on your toes.

Cicliocross

2011-09-21T19:12:00.000-05:00

Cross season is here i guess. My bike is still hanging from the ceiling with last years road salt on it and is lacking a few parts. Luckily for me, i guess, is that im still bleeding everywhere from the Cheq crash and my arm is pretty swollen still, which is getting a little worrysome, so I wont be needing it too soon. I was looking at the cross pics from Herman and it seems like everyone has fancy new bikes and sweet deep dish wheels. Makes me kind of excited to get out there with my gravel grinding cross bike and give it a whirl.

Here is a pic from the Seely Firetower Climb of Chequamegon. Twin Six was out in force at the race and it was great to support them at a "localish" for them event. Ripped my new bibs though. grrr. By the top of this climb three of us were away from a huge group and I had some high hopes of a solid finish.

Chequamegon

2011-09-18T15:23:00.000-05:00

If you want to know how my Chequamegon went, go try this. Find some squirrely doufus and after 35 miles of highspeed racing follow him down a rocky descent at 30 mph. Then watch him lose control and the next thing you know, you are laying on the ground in pain with a lot of problems. Really twisted bars, snapped off front brake lever, rip off your ratchet thing from your shoe, and not to mention lots of blood emitting from your elbow with solid road rash from ankle to shoulder. After standing there for awhile gathering your wits you start soft pedaling with only one arm holding on. Eventually you can hold on and soft pedal with two arms, finally you decide there is no way to the fnish line but to get going again. Im still bleeding all over the house today....

Its a tough race. We finished the "neutral" rollout and entered Rosies field I was in good position right next to Cam Kirkpatrick. Then some guy crashes in front of me which I narrowly missed and lost all my focus. By the end of the field I realized I had missed the front group and a really good result was gone because you cant ride across to that group. So after 10 minutes of racing you feel like your race is sort of over.

For the next 30 miles I would sit in the top 4 of a group of 20 guys but we couldnt get away from the group until the big Seely climb. Then there were 3 and we were really hauling towards the finish, picking up guys who had blown up from the front group. Then we catch the doufous and he gets sideways directly in front of me and the next thing I know I am bleeding. Looking at the results, the guys I was with got 20th so I lost 28 spots while I was regrouping and bleeding. I had a nice last few miles speeding in with Leah Davison who I can say I helped set the girls record by pulling her along the gravel sections leading to the finish. She is fast and I took the not so honorable approach by outsprinting her and actually catching another guy right at the line.

I dont forsee doing any bike riding for awhile. Everythinng on my right side hurts. Cant wait for next year when Im not letting that front group get away without me in it.

2012 Scheduling already

2011-09-14T17:52:00.003-05:00

Whiskey 50 looks like it should be on the list for next year. It was the same weekend this year as Mellow Johnny's Classic so hopefully they wont overlap in 2012. Not only is it supposed to be a pretty good course, but apparently the after party is huge as well. Sounds good to me. Events like this seem to be the future of MTB racing in the U.S. The numbers at the traditional Norba style nationals are shrinking and the numbers at races like this one and events such as Chequamegon, Iceman, and the NUE series are getting bigger and bigger. One of the great things about these type of events is that anyone can line up and race against their heros, or at least be on the course at the same time and see how frickin fast some of those guys are.

Racing Weekend

2011-09-13T16:32:00.000-05:00

This coming weekend is a big weekend on the cycling front. At least on the front of cycling I like. Chequamegon is taking place saturday. Its basically 40 miles of the fastest mtb racing action possible as it will be over in about 2 hours. The course leaves a little to be desired from my perspective as it is basically 40 miles of doubletrack. If you aren't lucky enough to have gotten through the lottery for Cheq Fat Tire, then the next option would be flying to Bend, Oregon for the USA Marathon Nationals. Im sure there is a ton of great singletrack to be ridden in that race. I saw Adam Craig is building up an AnthemX 29 so the trails must be pretty respectable. On a side note, I did put my blown up fork back together with new seals so hopefully it lasts for 40 miles, Im too wimpy to ride rigid I guess. The third bike racing option is Cross Vegas. I dont really like cross racing but this is definitely the cross race to be at. Tons of Euro crossers and most of the best of the US (who arent in Wisc or oregon).

So I raced last weekend in Ark City at the Tour De Lizard. Got up really early and drove down and parked right next to the Great Bend Crew. Did a little preriding and found the course to be pretty techinical with some serious drops. Ill definitely be back next year with some more preriding time. They lined up the race by age groups with staggard starts, which I was a little hesitant about starting in the second group but the official put me in my place. It took about half a lap to ride up to the first group and then I had to work through them. One 918xc guy had already checked out though and at the end of first lap he had 45 seconds on me still. Then things started to unravel a bit. First the rear lockout quit working completely, not that big of a deal but I use it constantly. Shortly after that I got to the top of one of the many steep and slightly longish climbs and found that my rear derailleur didnt feel like shifting back to a harder gear. So the rest of the race I had to stop at the top of climbs and move it back by hand to where I wanted it and then it would work fine until I would have to shift to about the 3 easiest cogs, and it would be stuck again. Lap two ended and I was 2 minutes behind the 29 under leader, ouch. So lap 3 fires off and I quickly find that the annoying squeaking brakes that have been happening all race has now become not much rear brake at all. 2/3rds the way through the lap Im still at about 2 minutes when I decide maybe I should pick it up a bit and finished 1:30 behind. Top Fuel seems to need some TLC before RIM.

Oh, and I won the overall for the United In Dirt Series. Im hoping this means thousands of dollars and huge endorsement deals are on the way.

Happy Birthday week to the No. 1 Pit Crew as well. I hoping the new garden wont get in the way of bottle handoff practice and after race massages.

New Stuff

2011-09-04T00:19:00.000-05:00

I got up early to watch the World MTB championships this morning. But it was the womens race, so I went for a ride for a few hours, got home, and the men had just started their first lap. It was a good way to waste a couple of hours on the computer.

After watching that race I started checking out all the bike companies websites. The new 2012 stuff is all coming out. The main thing I notice, is that everything is too expensive. Specialized has a $10,500 retail on their Epic 29, the frame only for a nice 5,000. Jamis has a new Carbon 29 full suspension, how about $3100 for that frame and its really nothing special. GT has a new Carbon 29 dually, $5500, and its on XT and weighs a hefty 27 lbs. The new Treks are out as well, $7000 for a XX equipted Superfly 100, which seems cheap compared to essentially the same bike in a Specialized. I could go on and on as every company is scurrying to come out with a carbon 29er full sus. A few companies still sport aluminum versions of these bikes, how about $1650 for a Giant or Kona frame that weighs only a pound more than the high zoot carbon bikes. To keep that in perspective, a full bottle of water weighs 500 grams, which is more than a pound. So only carry one bottle and youve got it made.

So the real question is, can I ride as fast as someone on a $10,500 bike if I built up a complete bike that would cost much less than that bikes frameset alone? Might be a good challenge. But then again, its always fun to have the fancy carbon hot rods.

Sun Valley

2011-09-01T15:46:00.001-05:00

Ive been obviously lazy on the posting. So here are some pics from Nationals in Sun Valley. More pics can be seen here.

The rock garden, JP and G-wiz are probably in the background as they were doing some solid heckling from about that spot.

Super-D action on the infamous Rock Waterfall.

Finishing up the Super-D in the casual Twin Six type of kit. I need bigger tires, more suspension, and ill be back for some more Super-D's.

Short Track racing. For the first time ever I actually didnt want to get pulled from the Short-Track. Not the pic I wanted to post, but its too late and to much work to change it.

Me and my number one supporter.

A few of the more famous fans that took in the XC. Pretty cool to see them out to watch.

If I havent already said, it was a fun weekend. The problem is really that those guys are frickin fast and there was a humongous climb that I didnt have a small enough gear to get to the top of without coming to a crawl. Not that Travis Donn's splits to Todd Wells werent helpful as I was cresting the top. Super D racing is awesome, but pretty tough without the right equipment. How many bikes can you take to a race. Thanks to Frontier for picking up the bike fees tough, those guys are alright.

goings on

2011-08-31T03:21:00.003-05:00

So, what happened was that my chain broke. That makes two chains on two bikes in as many weeks. The "trusty" 3D was starting to show some age. Or starting to show some signs of neglect really. Im just pedaling along, on a nice flat section of trail when the chain snaps. I do the usual fix, of make it a single speed. The bike doesnt like this very much, the chain tightens up and shears the bolts off the small chainring. I walked home. The week before this problem, the front fork shoots craps so i was already pedaling around on a rigid bike. I got to thinking that the problem is that the bike is 5 years old and has had all the good parts robbed off it and the rest have been seriously neglected. The XTR cranks are swapped for cheapies from ebay, the Easton post is on the cross bike, the Selle Italia saddle is on the other cross bike, the pedals are mismatched and junk, fork is laying against the wall in the garage, tires are 3 years old and cracking, its a custom bike, and the correct stem is on my 26 hardtail, etc... So I decided to fix it.

Pics are upcoming, but it now rolls around as a sweet 19lb geared aluminum 29er with full on XX, trued wheels, new tires, 4ti eggbeaters, and then only problem is that after tearing apart the fork I learned that it is shot. I dont know if Aluminum bikes can still be ridden offroad quickly but I think it might be the Chequamegon bike.

In case I forgot this race. Its not until October, but probably should be added to the calender so that your legs dont forget what mtb racing is about before the btepic.

Supersecret training plan

2011-08-30T15:20:00.001-05:00

Fast guys on skinny tires and epic loops on the mtb makes for a pretty swell weekend.

2011-08-27T14:47:00.001-05:00

3 great hours on the colorado trail followed by....

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More Fun

2011-08-24T15:53:00.000-05:00

I used to race against Rad Ross when we were just little kids racing BMX bikes in Colorado. He has a really good point about XC racers at the end of the video. In that spirit, im headed to Breck to ride the mtb, watch a little road racing, and generally have some fun. I think UCI XC racing has burned me out that style of racing for a little while, guess its a good thing that season is over.

Dirty Kanza Video

2011-08-17T08:25:00.000-05:00

The Dirt Rag Dirt Kanza Video contest is going on right now here. Watching these videos makes the race seem pretty cool. Ive been pretty against doing it the past few years, for fear it would leave me exhausted for a month of summer racing. 2012 could be the year to give it a shot.

Spoke Poney

2011-08-15T17:19:00.000-05:00

Racing at Swope is fun. Ive only ridden a grand total of 6.5 laps there in my life and its easily the best trail system around. 4 at last years xc race, where I rolled a tire off the rim, and then finished on a flat front. 2.5 at this years race when I flatted a rear tire and found the valve stem to be completely unremovable due to a huge build up of dried CaffeLatex. If only someone had a pair of pliers on the trail i would have been good to go. So my solid 10 minute lead after an hour of racing was all for not, yes I know Travis Donn was only a minute and some change behind, but he was a 6 hour racer. It was a pretty big bummer because I was having a blast cruising through the rocks and had just gotten through a bit of an upset stomach and was planning on trying to up my fastest lap of the day as the trails were drying out nicely. That will happen when you take down 3 gels and two bottles of EFS in an hour with the idea of feeling awesome the entire 3 hours. It took about an hour to walk back to the feed zone where I packed up and headed for home.

Did I mention the race started at the bottom of a paved climb, which was fun and sorted the race out nicely except for the fact I did get warned "if you want the spot you better not screw up" or something like that when I jumped past 2 or 3 guys right before the singletrack to find G-Wiz's wheel. From now on I wont screw around at the starts so I wont make people nervous about my riding abilities. I dont know how many flats that is this year, but its a lot...Ouachita, Sea Otter, BumpNGrind, Missoula, Swope, just to name a few.

Results are here.

Im going out to ride my trusty 3D that has had the same Hutchinson Pythons on it for 3 years, how could this be?? I gotta go do a load of start intervals, Then its time to get this blog caught up. Whens the next localish race????

Colorado Trail Race

2011-08-02T16:53:00.000-05:00

Every year I watch this race online. Its pretty cool to watch the riders progress. There are tons of interesting stats on this site as well. Seems like it would be a fun adventure. Being that the race is free, its a great value for something like 350 miles of singletrack riding through Colorado. Its 112 degrees out right now, so I might have to charge up my lights and ride in the middle of the night when it cools off to a chilly 90.

Missoula ProXCt

2011-07-21T18:26:00.000-05:00

The "A" line in Missoula. After this weekend ive got a lot of updating to do. Subaru Cup, Nationals, and Missoula reports all to come.

Nationals was fun, but hard. Sun Valley was nice and it was great to see some other KC area racers in attendance. Travis giving me splits to Todd Wells on the 27% climb was really helpful, about as helpful as G-wiz's drunken encouragement in the rock garden, or Demi and Ashton's golf clapping.

2011-07-02T18:12:00.001-05:00

This is some real mtb riding. We need more suspension and more oxygen. Altitude camp is underway.

2011-07-02T17:52:00.001-05:00

I believe she said she shredded the trail back down.

Pelham

2011-06-22T20:22:00.000-05:00

Untitled from aaron elwell on Vimeo.

I need to start making shorter videos so I can upload them with more quality, but when there is an hour of sweet singletrack footage its hard to condense it without leaving out some good stuff. The famous part of the trail is blood rock somewhere in the middle of the video.

I never really reported on the trip to Bump N Grind in Pelham, AL. I cruised down South with Travis and Garret from the Ethos Coalition. We had a great drive down with a stop in Memphis for some BBQ and then got up the next morning and went and prerode the course. It is one of the fastest and most fun trails around. This was my second trip down, but first time I had gotten to run the long loop. The race is two laps, but its essentially one big lap that crosses through the start/finish once. I rode around in 4th and 5th most of the day. The people in front of me was always changing, but I was just riding steady. After crossing through the start finish I picked up the pace on the long climb to the top of the course and found myself in second turning for the descent to the finish. On the first section of the descent a spectator says 25 seconds to the leader and Im thinking I should be able to close that, as I was 2 minutes when I came through the start finish only a few K's ago. Then the air went of out my tire. I was only a few miles to the finish so I just put air in it and tried to continue on. This wasnt really working and I eventually rode in on a completely flat tire, not real good on a carbon wheel, but I was not in the mood to fix a flat. There is a big payday for the win and I was pretty excited about getting that. I ended up 5th and we loaded up for a late night drive back. Arrived home about 3 am and it was a great way to spend a weekend.

Topeka Tinman 2011

2011-06-21T19:29:00.001-05:00

The Topeka Tinman was contested yet again Saturday. This year we had a crew of 3 lining up in their respective classes. All three had taken a somewhat leasurely approach to training. Ben led the way by doing absolutely no training and deciding to enter the race two days before it started. Shannon decided that training was somewhat optional, and sleeping the night before was really not necessary at all as she was headed out to a concert after I was already asleep. Katie has been having the problem of work getting in the way of her training and she has been hesitant to go on training rides while in mainland China and such places.

Ben decided to take a little break midway through the swim. Rumor was he was looking to get the phone numbers of lifeguards, but this guy wasnt really what he was thinking.

Shannon suprised herself on the swim and survived. This led to a good bike and then she headed out for the run. Who needs more than 3 hours of sleep the night before an event anyways.

Here Ben is happily on dry land and finishing up his bike leg.

Katie hammering in from the bike. She has been on a month long taper/recovery block, and the freshness showed as...

She found her way to the podium!!!! 4th place!!!

Hardtail Summer

2011-06-20T19:08:00.000-05:00

The summer racing season begins this weekend at the Subaru Cup, it and rest of the XC season will likely favor the hardtail, which Im super excited about. With this in mind I headed out for a 4 hour jaunt of singletrack last Sunday on the hardtail. My back wasnt real happy about this idea so when I got home I tried to figure out how to make the hardtail a little more forgiving. I settled on mounting up a set of Maxxis Ikons. They look like downhill tires they are so big. Katie was making fun of me, calling my bike a cruiser. I took off some 1.8 tires to mount these 2.2 monsters up. They arent much heavier and roll super fast. The biggest advantage is that due to the huge volume I can run them at ridiculously low psi. I rode today at 20 psi which might have been pushing it, but they were awesome. Its like riding a softail that still accellerates like a rocketship. I wish I would have put these on a long time ago. I dont forsee ever taking them off and now im sure Ill be riding the hardtail the rest of the season. Two ProXCT's, Nationals, Cheq 40, and the Iceman. I never ride the hardtail except for racing, its just not much fun. But after doing all my offroad riding on the dually or 29er, its amazing how fast and light that bike feels.

Special thanks to High Gear for getting this hot rod all ready to race.

My Brother in Law made the trip down to Austin for the Mellow Johnnys Classic and has a bunch of pictures posted on his photoblog here. It reminds me how much I like that race. Cant wait for next year.
http://rightsideroyal.blogspot.com/2011/06/day-88-mellow-johnnys-classic.html

KC Cup

2011-06-12T17:39:00.001-05:00

the KC Cup at Landahl Park was this years Mo state championship. The fact that it was at Landahl, the Heartland guys were the promotors, and that is was the MO state championship meant for a good crowd of fast guys. The course was wet. it wasnt really muddy but it was really slippery. overall it was a great course.

The race didnt start off well for me. I got in one pedal stroke before my chain popped off, then managed to tangle itself up on the second pedal stroke. So the entire cat 1 field was gone and I got it untangled and set off in chase just ahead of the start of the singlespeeders. So I was a minute down already. The chase ensued. It is not easy to ride through and entire field of racers when the race has just started and everyone is feeling fresh. Nobody wants to move over and the passing was a bit tricky. by the end of the lap I was up to 4th and on Chris Plochs wheel when my chain popped off a second time. this time wasnt as bad, and I got it back on fairly quickly. chase time again.

The end of the second lap I had reattached to the group and Ploch and I had gotten away from Kent McNeil and passed Travis Donn who was dealing with a flatting tire. The third lap started with me a few seconds down on Ploch who had gotten through the last rocky section cleanly and I did some running. Halfway though the lap on the wide open field section I put in a bit of an effort and cresting the hill I had a little lead. This stretched out some on the last half a lap for a nice win. No state champ for me though. Ploch gets that honor. Pizza Shoppe on the way home for Katie and I and time for some Dauphine Libre.

Results are here. It seemed like a lot of traffic on the first lap... made it past about 26 cat 1 racers in the singletrack on that lap.

ABA Grand Nationals

2011-06-07T06:13:00.001-05:00

Untitled from aaron elwell on Vimeo.

Got home at 3am from Alabama so Ive got some sleep to catch up on. I needed some inspirational race footage to get me through the week and this is the best I came up with. ABA Grands from a few years ago, I was 8.

2011-06-05T16:07:00.001-05:00

Was in 2nd with a couple miles to go when the familiar sound of a flat rear tire slowed my progress and I ended up 5th.

2011-06-04T14:16:00.001-05:00

So they talked me into driving to Alabama for bump n grind. We stopped in Memphis last night for BBQ. Preride in the books and waiting for the race tomorrow. Awesome trail.

Dirty Secret

2011-05-24T10:32:00.000-05:00

Sunday was the Dirty Little Secret mtb race in Manhattan at the Fancy Creek State Park. Ive raced there at least once before and I remembered it being pretty rocky. It was. Its a great course. Its definitely not easy and takes some techincal skills to navigate. Perfect for the Top Fuel. There are some sections with some serious rocks, a section of wide open field, and some nice flowing singletrack. The course starts off on a bit of pavement that is led out by a Manhattan bicyle police rider and then immediately is into a pretty challenging section of trail which was tough being I was following Travis Donn and he was driving right over every huge obstacle he could and I was forced to do the same. The good thing was that every time I had to slow down to clear a huge boulder, everyone behind had to do the same.

The first time we entered the big grassy field section there was a group of 5 of us pretty far away from the rest of the field. By the end of the grassy knoll there were three and I was in the middle of what is becomming a typical Ethos Sandwich. Donn was not going to let me by. Even as he was crashing and being forced to run, there was no passing him. The trail was tight and it was hard to get a good rythm going so we rode together until I got by on a climb and opened up a little gap. Shortly into the second lap Garret was closing back on me and we entered the grass section together. It was really the only place to get in a sustained effort and I didnt want him to sit on my wheel for the entire section which was probably 5 minutes so I picked up the pace and got a safe lead that I didnt think he could get a draft. We enter the rocky trail again and my chain drops and get all sorts of tangled up. Garret catches me and passes. I catch back on just as he decides to do some crashing and I get back by and pretty much ride alone for the rest of the day. Three laps took about 1:45 so it was good they shortened it from 4 or it would have been a pretty long day.

After the race there was free beer and bbq along with a whole bunch of raffle stuff. Nicely done by the guys at Big Poppi for their first race. It seemed like there was a lot of people bleeding afterwards, which is always a sign of some good trail riding.

No racing next weekend so Ive gotta figure out whats next. Rumor is a group is heading to Alabama for the Bump N'Grind which is one of the best trails ive ridden...

hamilton

2011-05-19T22:07:00.000-05:00

why dont they find someone credible to levy allegations against Lance Armstrong. Tyler Hamilton was busted twice for doping and denied it the whole time. If they want to make me believe they need to get someone that hasnt been busted themselves or has something to gain by going on tv and saying this stuff. Its funny that every year when the Tour of Cali is going on someone has to try and get some publicity by talking about Lance. He says he is doing this for his love of the sport. I guess he must have just found this love because you would have thought that his love would have prevented him from doping himself. And i see he is now coaching cyclists. who would want him for their coach? why?? Id be embarrased to be associated with him. The whole thing is sad.

ahh nuts

2011-05-17T13:40:00.014-05:00

Ive been raving about this race ever since returning from it. I should have been paying more attention because it filled up and Im not registered. Now I just need to weasel my way in. I think ive got a plan. Or maybe I should try something new...

Trusty steed after Rhetts Mud. It was probably the only 26" hardtail in the race sunday. Eventually these smaller sized wheels will catch on. This thing is just plain fast. Go get a Trek, they are still made in the USA.

Livestrong with TwinSix

2011-05-16T19:35:00.000-05:00

Two of my favorite companies come together. Only a few hours left. Go get some and know that you hard earned money goes to a great cause.

Rhetts Run

2011-05-16T08:31:00.001-05:00

About the only place that will let us race in the mud is Cosmo Park in Columbia. For two years this has been the case, and it sure is fun. The race started out pretty leasurely as a large group cruised through the woods getting used to the slippery mud and rocks. Riding in a big group is much more fun than riding by yourself for a few hours. By the second lap Dan Miller and myself were off the front a bit. Garret almost caught on, so I picked up the pace and next thing I knew I had a few minute lead. Thanks to Schottler for the time splits, pictures, and encouragement. From there I just made sure to keep it upright. I wonder what that course is like when its dry...the trail doesnt seem to get that messed up even though it rained most of the race.

On another note...the series should start doing an elite class or only pay out $$ to only one of the classes and anyone who wants to win cash should have to race that class, or just keep track of the overall result and pay off that. Much like the other series in Nebraska or Wisconsin do. I figure I lost about $45 bucks to do this race with the cost of a tank of gas and the entry fee even though I won the overall and it was only 2.5 hours from home. Most of us are already racing for the overall and dont worry whos in our age bracket. Now ive got to put on a new chain and brakepads, sunken cost.

Edit::: I didnt mean to complain about the money I did win. I could have carpooled, or not driven a pickemup truck to the race. Yes I understand its nice that a whole bunch of different people get a chance to win some cash the way it is. Im not sure exactly how psycowpath does their payouts, but at the last race the guy who got 6th overall won his entry plus 10 bucks. I took the part about G-wiz out becuase it didnt read right. It was supposed to read that he is already racing for the overall because he has nobody in his class to race otherwise.

Krug

2011-05-09T18:37:00.000-05:00

Krug Park XC. Results are up. Im not exactly sure what happened but one might say that something went very wrong 3/4 of the way through the first lap. Felt just fine and dandy except for the terrible tires that had me sliding all over the place. Eventually slid off course and Garret took to the front which was much better for my no traction turning abilities and then there was a U turn not far from the lap finish and that was it. Suddenly I felt like id just ridden 24 hours solo. I watched Garret quickly ride into the sunset on his superbike and waited a few seconds so Travis could catch me and do the same. Was pretty much reduced to soft pedaling for another 1.5 hours just so i could finish. It might be noted that there was definitely some walking up the climbs at a few points. Krug is one of my favorite tracks, but not Saturday. I think I saw something about taking almost an hour to finish my last lap. Ouch. 5 hours on the 29er on Sunday went easier than that mess.

Strider World Cup

2011-05-07T12:59:00.001-05:00

If you have little kids its time to get them racing. Those bikes are so small you can probably put them in your carry-on and fly all over the world to every race and not have to pay bike fees.

Tempting

2011-05-05T08:10:00.000-05:00

Lets say you have a Trek Elite 9.9 that weighs 18.75lbs with Bontrager XXXlite wheels and Maxxis Aspens. But if you mount up a pair of Maxxis Maxxlite 285's on Stans Podium MMX wheels you can drop a huge 1.5 lbs from your bike. All in rotating weight. That is pretty noticeable in the pick up your bike test, and even more noticable on the trail. They make your bike take off like a rocketship. 17.25 lbs is getting close to roadbike weight. The only problem is that those tires are only made to last a couple of races and are paper thin. Is the risk worth it???

Training Plans

2011-05-04T09:52:00.000-05:00

I see and hear lots of people talking about their training plans. Usually something about peaking or an "A" race. Meh.

Katie has been hearing me complain a lot the last month or so about not feeling very fit. Not nearly as good as last year at this time.  Ive been to some big races and been a little frustrated that I havent felt very good at them. Its easy to forget why this is. Ive got this natural, Kansas weather induced, peak that always hits the end of May to beginning of June.  In January, when the ProXct schedule came out and there were no races even close to the period we decided to move that peak back a month. This basically meant moving the serious training back a month. Then Monday morning I got a phone call reminding me that Monday was the start of the real training block for the season. I thought things had been a little easy.

I raced one year as an expert and one as a semi-pro. During those two years I did one of those training plans where you go through and pick something like 3 "A" races, a few "B" races, and a few more "C" races. This didnt work for me at all. You are constantly messing up a build for an "A" race by doing some sort of mini build and taper for a "B" or "C" race.  Its dumb to train for a race that you want to do sort of well at.  All that does is waste a few weeks of training for an "A" race.  This type of plan will help you be consistent, but never really fast.

Then I got some new, much better training advice and switched to my current plan. Be fast as possible for a few big races, and train right through all the rest. This can mean training right through some big races, and races you would like to win, which is hard.  You basically ignore the fact you are racing on a Saturday and just use it as another day of interval work. Think hard rides all week, race saturday, go ride for 4 hours on sunday to get the endurance miles in you skipped by only racing for 1.5hrs on saturday. When you are really in the training groove you dont even want to race on a Saturday because it means too short of a ride. Sunday races are even harder because they come right after a long day with a load of intervals.

After seeing the plan for the week ahead and thinking it seemed hard, I looked back at the training log from last year....

This very week last year I was whining about my legs hurting and being close to exhausted.  I did the St. Joes race and was completely flat.  Then I had one last hard week that finished me off and ended in a mud fest in Columbia. So, its true, im a month behind last years plan. Right when I was ending the big block last year, Im just starting this year.  Hoping this means I wont have lost motivation and be tired by July like usual.

Mellow Classic

2011-05-02T09:40:00.000-05:00

Pic taken off Cyclingnews.com

Katie and I headed South to Ranch Juan Pelota this weekend for the Mellow Johnny's Classic. We arrived at the ranch of Friday afternoon and I headed out for some preriding. Just as I am getting started Travis Donn rolls up and we go out for a lap. It was great to see the Ethos Crew made the trip down to Austin to get some national racing experience. They were all over the course cheering which was awesome, and then had great races on thier own on Sunday. The new UCI course was quite a bit shorter than last years, and cut out some fun sections, but was still a great course. After preriding Katie and I headed back to the Homestead Suites and then out for some carboloading.

Saturday morning we headed out to watch some of the womens race and eat a little lunch. It was pretty cool as the women raced. By the time I began warming up, the temps were warming up a little as well. It still wasnt all that hot out. I am still living off my handful of UCI points which gets me a good call up. I had a nice position on the third row and was hoping for a good start. The gun went off and the Mexican Turbo team diretly in front of me on the first and second row didnt really move. I was boxed in and guys were whizzing by on my outside but I couldnt get over. So we enter the singletrack and ive lost some positions. I was feeling okay and began moving up a little. 3/4's the way through the lap there are the two climbs of the lap. I had just past a small group and was on a Honey Stingers guys wheel when we entered the climb. He must have need some more Stinger Waffles because just as I moved next to him, he takes a left turn and bumps me. So now we are both running the entire climb, or im walking. For some reason this really demoralized me, seeing all the guys I had just worked to get past ride right back by. Plus it got hot.

Its tough to race at that level when you are just feeling okay. I couldnt really accelerate out of the corners and the climbs were hurting way more than they should have. I could tell thing werent going real well by the gears I was pushing. The next 3 laps I rode pretty steadily in 26th to 32nd. On the last lap I got by a few guys, but was caught by a few also. Katie handed me bottles and an ice pack on the last lap, which we should have been planning on doing all race just like last year, because it felt amazing. Then she sprinted over to the second feed/tech zone with bottles and my extra wheels just in case. I think she was trying to impress some of the other teams and get a job as a pit crew. I remeber Troy Wells passing me early in the lap and moving fast. He ended up just outside the top 20, so I know if I would have been feeling decent a really good result wasnt too far off. Russel Finsterwald caught me and outsprinted me to the line so I ended up 30th. Got a couple of ProXct Points which is always nice.

Sunday we drove the 11hours home and then I went of for a ride. It seems I missed feeling great by a day, as I felt much better on Sunday. Still a 30th is not too bad and a few years ago it took a really specatacular day to finish that well. More pics are on the way as Katie's brother Ben came down from Dallas and was all over the course taking pictures.

Havent done a single local XC race yet, but the national series is 2/3rds done already. Makes it seem like the season is almost over, when it really hasnt even begun.

Got my confirmation for Chequamegon over the weekend as well. So im in for two rounds of the Midwest Triple Crown, Iceman and Cheq fattire.

2011-04-28T14:56:00.001-05:00

Not taking any chances. Two sets of xxxlites with new aspens mounted up.

2011 Otter

2011-04-27T15:12:00.000-05:00

The Sea Otter is a pretty unique racing experience. The whole event is pretty awesome. Thousand of racers, thousands more spectators, and every bike company you can or cant think of is there.

We got to Monterrey on Thursday about noon and headed straight for Laguna Seca to get some preriding done and loosen up the legs from the flight and drive down from SanJose. After hitting the registration building we walked down the hill and across the pedestrian bridge as a pack of Tour de France caliber road riders are rushing underneath in their crit. At the other side of the pedestrian bridge, still walking, my rear tire suddenly has a puncture in the sidewall. I head over to the Shimano tent to borrow a pump and it seals back up. Go on to preride a whole bunch of laps of the xc course and the tire seems good to go. After the preride my dad and I walk around the venue a bit more, checking out all the vendors. Its pretty fun place if you like bikes at all.

Friday morning rolls around and I check my rear tire first thing. Hasnt leaked at all, its fine. Sea Otter short track is pretty tough. Its a 1/4 mile lap with only a few places to pass and about 100 pro men. We get to the course just as the women are lining up for their race so we start in about 30 minutes. I am watching the first lap of the women, and pinning on my numbers when I hear the distinct sound of all the air rushing out of the rear tire again. Now its a little more of a panic. I had left my extra tires at the hotel and I needed to be warming up. I head into the venue, air it up, its not holding at all. I stop off at the Focus bikes trailer as the mechanics there arent doing anything. Karl from Focus goes to work on this little pin hole in my tire. He tapes, superglues, shoe glues, airs it up...nothing. The womens race is over and the men are preriding now. He throws a tube in and I sprint up the hill to the short track. I get there and the announcer is calling riders to staging. I make a dumb move of sneaking by and getting one lap of preriding in. They only call up the top 30 from the PROXCT shorttracks in California the weeks prior so I dont get called up and am standing at the very back.

So the race starts, I am in the back row, but right behind Carl Decker. I think to myself, he is really fast, Ill just stay behind him as long as possible. The first corner comes, everyone is off their bikes running. I make some evasive manuevers and pass a bunch of guys. Then sprint really hard the rest of the lap, passing a few more. Next thing you know, the race is strung out, everyone sprints full on in the sections where you could pass so passing is about impossible and I start thinking there is no reason to kill myself in the short track for a few laps. Ride around in 50 something position for awhile before getting pulled. Time to change the tires.
Sea Otter XC.... Its not like any other xc race. Its basically a road race with a little trail thrown in. I dont do any road racing and rarely do any thinking of racing tactics. I had one plan before the start, get into the singletrack in a good position. Before our race started, I was given a bucket load of other advice and tried to remember as much as possible, but its easier said than done. Called up 41st out of a hundred and some pro men and away we went. Through the feed zone a few guys decided to run into a fence and a little later a few more crashed into each other, i was safe and sound. We left the road and entered the trail and I was probably around 20th, just behind some Kona guys. The race started splitting up a little. The next tactic I remembered from last year, was dont let a gap open up. I clung to the wheel in front of me all lap, focused on not losing it. Through the feed zone on lap two I was squarely in the middle of a 10 man group and inside the top 30. Perfect.

This is where the tactics ended. By the time we entered the singletrack again I had lost focus and was at the back of the group. When 10+ guys are on the road, its a small group. When you spread out into singletrack, suddenly you are way behind the front of the group and if any gaps open the resst of the group is in some trouble. On the fireroad section we came up quick on a fading Russel Finsterwald of Subaru Trek who must have gone out too hard. The whole group went around him but for some reason I just sat on his wheel and watched as the group got a gap. We chased too hard on the road to catch back on. Halfway through the next lap a group led by Ned Overend and TJ Woodruff was on my wheel. I knew I could ride with these guys, so I refocused and stayed on Neds wheel the rest of the lap. Back onto the road and through the feed zone I was in the middle of that group (40ish) and by the time we hit the singletrack I again was at the back. Again, not due to fitness, just wasnt thinking about how dumb it is to be the last guy into the trail each lap. This continued in one form or another the rest of the race. I was just in a slow fade backwards. Its pretty hard to move forward on this course much as everyone hammers hard on the trail and rides in huge groups on the road. In my case it made matters worse that I literally only got passed about 3 times all race, but by 10 guys each time. 64th.

Gods Country Duathlon

2011-04-11T06:08:00.002-05:00

My view of the entire bike lap. Quality isnt so great because I cant upload that long of video at high quality.

Gods Country Duathlon from aaron elwell on Vimeo.

So I needed to get in a good intense workout this weekend and the mtb race was cancelled. So Saturday I headed down to the RiverTrail to get in a nice ride. The trails were packed because it was a perfect day and the Specialized Demo Crew was at the trailhead. Every cyclist in Lawrence seemed to be down there doing laps on some pretty nice bikes. I saw Adam Mills finishing up a lap on an SWorks Epic 29er and seemed pretty happy about it.

So Sunday morning I got up early and watched Paris Roubaix online. It was pretty exciting and got me excited to race. The only option was the Duathlon so I got ready and rode down to it. On the way my waterbottle fell out of my backpack, hit the ground, and sprang a leak. Not great for a hot day. I registered, found my spot on the bike rack, and put on my running shoes. I wasnt very excited about the run. I get really sore anytime I do any type of running, which hasnt been since last October. So we all line up and take off. My plan is to jog. I am quickly fading backwards, but jogging is pretty much my max speed so I just hope I can catch back up on the bike. I end the run with my legs throbbing in about 25th and something like 3 minutes out of the lead. So, jump on the bike and start pedaling. The run definitely had some serious effect on my pedaling. I couldnt make myself stand very long and I usually stand almost the entire lap at the River Trail races. A third of the way through the lap my front derailleur twists and starts hitting on my cranks, which is the loud popping you hear in the video. At the half way point of the bike I was into the top 5. I caught the leader pretty close to the end of the lap (he was on a duo team) and put enough gap on him to win the final run sprint to the line, by about 5 feet. Good workout for sure.

Not too excited about running...

Going a little better...

2011-04-08T14:35:00.001-05:00

Testing this phone blogging. But the bike is all fixed up with the light stuff

Cancelled again

2011-04-05T21:46:00.001-05:00

Im already 0 for 2 on localish xc races this year. Lawrence River trail xc is cancelled. Who knows why. Pretty hard to think that it would be because of mud, being it dries in about 10 minutes. Ill probably be down there doing my own personal race instead. I might have to dust off my cat 4 road license if this continues....or not.

edit:: the rumors are the race was cancelled due to the promotor (freestate racing) "not having the time", or not wanting to put in the time. i shouldnt be one to complain, because I know it takes a lot of effort and there would be no way I would have time to put on a race. but why even plan on it and then back out.

Ouachita Challenge

2011-04-05T07:21:00.002-05:00

Katie and I drove down to Arkansas on Saturday morning. We stopped at the Big Brushy campground and I prerode the rockiest section of the course. No flats. We go and register and head to the hotel where the rest of Team HighGear is getting ready for the big race. Sunday morning we wake up early and head over to the start. I should mention that because this years edition had some extra paved sections, I decided to run faster rolling, less tread tires.

The race started and there was 8 miles of pavement and gravel before the first singletrack section. I knew that the singletrack started at the top of a steep gravel climb so when a guy wearing a full on Specialized kit got a leadout going up the climb, I figured that was the climb I was looking for. I chased. Got to the top and it wasnt the climb and I made dumb mistake #2 (tire choice was #1) and decided to wait for the group to catch back up letting specialized guy (wylie something) ride away. A few miles later and it was the right climb, I go to the front and hammer up the hill, Specialized guy is already in the singletrack when we start the climb, he must be a minute up.

Im cruising through the singletrack, feeling pretty good, all by myself. I eventually catch back up to the lead and we ride together for awhile. Up the super rocky climb on Blowout Mtn I ease up a bit and he gets a little gap, but Im afraid of flatting. Make it down the super rocky descent and he is still up the trail a little. A few minutes later Im pretty much caught back on when I feel the back tire going flat. I keep going down the hill and make it to a gravel section. Stop and put in some air. It holds for a good 10 minutes. Stop again, 3rd place comes by. Ride some more, its actually holding air. Hit a big rock, Not holding air anymore. Tube #1 comes out, which takes forever since everything is so neatly crammed into my seatbag and I cant get the valvestem out of the wheel. At this point I get passed by 6-7 more guys and lose motivation. One more descent and we are on gravel heading towards the town of Sims and a long windy paved section, like 6 or 7 miles long I think.

The next dumb move comes on the paved section. Im all by myself and not very motivated to catch back up when I see a group of 5 a few hills behind. I start to think it would be great if they caught me and I could enjoy some draft. A suburban comes up and tells me they are coming fast and I still have another 3 miles of road. I let off completely and soft pedal until they catch on. That Cornbread guy is leading the group and I get on the back. About a hundred yards later, we turn into singletrack, damn...What a waste of time.

I lead into the singletrack a little upset that Ive stopped so many times for flat tires and then wasted more time waiting for a group that I didnt need to. I pop out of the singletrack, dont see Katie even though she is right in front of me and head off down the gravel road looking for more trail riding fun. I catch my first person when we enter the singletrack, some motivation returns. Start hammering pretty hard. Stop at the next aidstation where Katie fills my pockets full of another tube and air can. Hammer some more. Im really starting to catch people now, up to 6th and picking guys off at a quick clip. Start thinking its possible to catch back on.

Flat #3 comes. Pull out yet another tube, get the wheel stuck back in, cant find the skewer. Its lost...start moving leaves and branches and eventually find it. Jump back onthe bike, gloves in the pockets, which I now regret. Start riding again but Im out of tubes so I want to make sure I make it to the finish. Figure Im in 12th or so. Work my way back up to 7th in the singletrack and come onto the final gravel stretch. Im safe now of flatting so I go all out and real in another rider. Enter the asphalt street back into town to the finish and see one more guy up ahead. Catch him just before town and sprint on in for 5th feeling strong. 5 minutes behind the leader. Oh well. Bike racing has started, time to get in shape.

Another Flat

2011-04-04T07:21:00.000-05:00

Ouachita Challenge...

I needed this guy in the worse way. Three Flats made for a somewhat tough day. Ended up 5th and only 5 minutes off the winner so at least I was going pretty well when I was actually going. Ive never used that many tubes or co2's. Full report of the adventure tonight. Never using those tires again, ever.

Olympic Course

2011-03-31T11:47:00.001-05:00

This is the "hard" parts of the 2012 Olympic Mtb course. Not exactly the most challenging track there has ever been. Most of the track seems to be a perfectly groomed walking path. I would anticipate that a fully rigid 29er with some 1.8 tires would be the bike of choice. Obviously I wont be riding that course ever but I think im getting a little picky about courses but there are some really fun trails out there that races could be held on. There seems to be a growing divide on what mountain bike riding is and what mountain bike racing is. I knew I should have signed up for the Translyvania Epic to get my singletrack fix.

Cancelled races.

2011-03-26T12:32:00.000-05:00

When I first started doing this mtb racing stuff, they never cancelled races. It didnt matter what the weather was like or how bad the trails were. It was always a blast racing in knee deep mud. Last year we raced in Columbia under some terrible rainstorming conditions, and it was great. Sliding all over the place, just trying to stay upright.

Ive been enjoying a nice rest week this week. Short easy rides most everyday except when the nice weather and dry trails get the best of me. Friday I decided I would go down to Oklahoma to do a little racing. I expected that it wouldnt go too well, as I was sure to be "shut down" from not riding much this week. Got the bike all ready to go and got on the internet just now to find out the race is cancelled due to rain. March and xc racing just doesnt work in the midwest, april barely does. Probably for the best, I was determined to not race until April. Going to Sea Otter without any xc racing is a bit risky, but you really cant recreate the pace of that caliber of racing anyways. Hopefully the lack of racing will pay off in July when Im not so tired.

Oh well....live vicariously through others and watch the ProXct at Fontana. I wish I was there. Im gonna go look at my bikes and wish I didnt have to put on multiple layers to go out and ride.

http://singletrack.competitor.com/2011/03/features/live-from-fontana_14276#

The Canyon

2011-03-22T17:16:00.000-05:00

I was planning on a nice easy cruise for a recovery day, but after wathing Cam having too much fun in The Springs Im headed out to find some dirt before it rains again. I think its the woowhos that did it for me.

Otter course

2011-03-21T15:40:00.000-05:00

The Pro course map for the Sea Otter. I probably should have looked for this before I registered. Its the same course as last year. Its pretty much terrible if you like mtb riding. Blow it up and you will notice that half the course is on the road racing track. When racing it seems like the road part takes forever and the singletrack goes by in a flash. Oh well, im still pretty excited about going and getting the racing season started. Anything better than an 80th place will be an improvement.

Full Kits

2011-03-20T13:19:00.000-05:00

Twin Six has stepped it up a bit more this year. Now offering 9 full on kits. You can now get all matchy matchy with jerseys, bibs, socks, and H20 bottles that match. For everyone who doesnt want to sport black shorts with some goofy jersey, get a Twin Six kit that is pretty awesome. Or you could be one of those guys who rides around in a Liquigas or Fabian Cancellara World Champion kit like you are a Euro pro. You dont trick me, I know there arent any ProTour riders doing super secret training in Kansas.

Pullen

2011-03-19T12:56:00.002-05:00

Big game tonight. Jake needs to win us one more by continuing to play like the guy who deserved to be on the cover of SI at the beginning of the year. We got by Utah St who most of the "experts" predicted was underrated and would beat KSU.

Riding in Support Of

2011-03-18T12:53:00.000-05:00

This year the High Gear team is riding in support of a few organizations. Most of the team volunteered their services this week with one of those organizations when they helped numana help the Japanese. Pretty cool.

Click over to the High Gear website to learn a bit more about this and some of the other good deeds Matt and Stephanie are involved in.

Wombling

2011-03-16T11:37:00.000-05:00

Trying again....

Video

2011-03-15T20:55:00.000-05:00

Thought about racing last weekend, but its too early in the season. Instead, 6 hours of ripping up the Womble. Then Sunday was for road bicycling. I rode to Lake Perry and watched a little road racing action. Some corner marshall gave me a hard time for not racing, he couldnt understand why a person would ride for 3 or 4 hours by himself when he could race in circles for an hour. I didnt feel like explaining myself, especially after he asked me if there were any mountain bike races where the trail was not bumpy or rocky.

Mountains of Mayhem, errr.

2011-03-07T15:36:00.002-06:00

I found this online last week. Almost made me drive to Lawton.

It used to be that the 12 miles of Hell in Lawton, OK was the first big race in the midwest. The year I did it, there were over 700 starters and the likes of Steve Tilford, Will Black, and Cameron Chambers were there.
The course starts up a long climb and I remember thinking I was going pretty well in 3rd when some crazy guy on a singlespeed comes sprinting by like im standing still. This would go on most of the race and Id finish 4th and be very happy about it. Then it became the Hills of Hell and the field shrunk dramatically and the caliber of riders decreased. Last year I understand the race was terrible. This year it was called the Mountains of Mayhem. For a brief minute I thought about driving the 5 hours south for it as the weather was supposed to be nice. Letra, where the race is held is a pretty cool place for a bike race. Its pretty trecherous terrain and the course uses a lot of tank trails where the army practices blowing things up. As it turns out, the race might have been a little better than last year, but whenever there are "three or four" places where riders got off course because it wasnt well marked means it still needs a little work. Oh well, its too early to be racing anyways.

Bike Magazines

2011-03-01T17:38:00.000-06:00

Magazines in general seem to be going out of business. Internet is killing them. I used to get a bunch of magazines in the mail every month but I dont any more. I have been getting Bicycling Magazine for the past 6 months for free, with every issue saying its my last one. Today was the buyers guide. I skimmed through it in about 10 minutes. They employ a bunch of writers that dont know anything about bikes. Their mtb part of the buyer guide was a joke. They had like 12 bikes in there. Only 29ers. I spent more time reading a old BMX Action from 1990 the other day. Borders down the street from our house is going out of business so we stopped in a used a gift card I had. I ended up getting a few magazines. ProCycling and RockyMtnNews. I only wanted the ProCycling to read about Jan Ulrich. RockyMtn news for an article on Dakota Five-0. Spent 10 bucks for really two articles.

When we were at the Tour a few years ago were hanging out by a hotel when Jan, Vino, and Kloden came out. TV had always talked about how big Jan was and how he pushed huge gears. It was funny to see how small he was in person. If I had seen him and not know who it was, I would have just thought he was some skinny little guy. I always liked him because he got 2nd like 5 times at the Tour. He is one of those guys that had his greatest success at the beginning of his career and then spent the remainder trying to live up to that.

I got registered for Iceman today. Its the biggest xc race in the nation. 3700 people registered in a few minutes, sort of. Their registration site crashed in the first minute. Two hours later it was back up and wasnt really working right still. I almost decided it wasnt worth my time and I emailed the promoter. I think his quote was something like, "nobody has gotten registered yet, what a cluster." The same thing happened to them last year, so I would think its time to find a new registration company. Iceman is in October, that is a long ways off.

Camp Alexander Mtb

2011-02-28T08:12:00.000-06:00

Put it on your calender for May. Camp Alexander MTB.

Its all messed up.

2011-02-24T11:38:00.000-06:00

That stem has messed my bike position up. I had it leftover from last years bike so I put it on the hardtail. That bike fit perfectly last year but I wanted the cool carbon stem on it. Its 7deg rise and 100mm long. Last years stem was 6deg rise and 100mm long. Using some Sine/Cosine geometry I found that my bars are 2mm higher now because of the stem. It feels terrible but there is no way I can feel 2mm?? So back to the trusty ritchey stem I go and it instantly feels better. The only other factor I can think is that the Fox fork is longer than the Magura from last year and the combination of the two makes it noticable.

Its crazy how the smallest changes make such a big difference. I have been battling the position of my cleats on my new shoes as well. This is all a good lesson of, if its not broke, dont fix it.

Drug stories are everywhere.

2011-02-16T15:39:00.000-06:00

I guess Contador didnt dope, he accidently ate meat that had illegal drugs in it. Ricco pretty much killed himself by a botched do it yourself blood transfusion only weeks after completing his previous 2 year ban. I dont know what the point is, except to make money. These guys obviously dont care about finding out how good they can be without drugs.

You have probably already seen this list on Tilfords blog, where I stole it from, but its pretty crazy think about how many of these guys have been busted for doping.

Here’s a list of how the podium of the Tour de France would have looked during Lance’s reign to Floyd’s problem. Anyone that was ever positive for doping was left out of the results. The actual results from when the race finished in Paris are in parenthesis. This doesnt mean they were necessarily caught at the Tour, just caught at some time in their careers. Its pretty obvious you have to get some kind of extra help to compete at that level at that time.

1999

1. Lance Armstrong (1)
Alex Zulle (2)
2. Fernando Escartin (3)
Laurent Dufaux (4)
3. Angel Casero (5)

2000

1. Armstrong (1)
Jan Ullrich (2)
Joseba Beloki (3)
Christophe Moreau (4)
Roberto Heras (5)
Richard Virenque (6)
Santiago Botero (7)
2. Fernando Escartin (8)
Franciso Mancebo (9)
3. Daniele Nardello (10)

2001
1. Armstrong (1)
Ullrich (2)
Beloki (3)
2. Andrei Kivilev (4)
Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (5)
3. Francois Simon (6)

2002
1. Armstrong (1)
Beloki (2)
Raimondas Rumsas (3)
Botero (4)
Galdeano (5)
2. Jose Azevedo (6)
Mancebo (7)
Levi Leipheimer (8)
Roberto Heras (9)
3. Carlos Sastre (10)

2003
1. Armstrong (1)
Ullrich (2)
Alexander Vinokourov (3)
Tyler Hamilton (4)
2. Haimar Zubeldia (5)
Iban Mayo (6)
Ivan Basso (7)
Moreau (8)
3. Sastre (9)

2004
1. Armstrong (1)
Andreas Kloden (2)
Basso (3)
Ullrich (4)
2. Azevedo (5)
Mancebo (6)
3. Georg Totschnig (7)

2005
1. Armstrong (1)
Basso (2)
Ullrich (3)
Mancebo (4)
Vinokourov (5)
Leipheimer (6)
Michael Rasmussen (7)
2. Cadel Evans (8)
Floyd Landis (9)
3. Oscar Pereiro (10)

2006
Landis (1)
1. Pereiro (2)
Kloden (3)
2. Sastre (4)
3. Evans (5)

big game.

2011-02-14T18:32:00.001-06:00

Coco bolos and then to bramlage. Perfect valentines day, as long as we win.

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Must ride inside

2011-02-04T16:33:00.000-06:00

Custom bikes are really cool. They get a cultlike following. I tried to order a Badger a few years back, but luckily never got a hold of anyone and they were out of business a few weeks later. Soulcraft has a video out that is pretty neat. They are made in Petaluma, CA where I lived for a summer awhile back. Its a pretty small town with some really great riding all around but I didnt know about Soulcraft at the time. You can ride to Mt. Tam and the ocean from Petaluma on quiet back roads. If it werent for racing, I would definitely want to ride custom bikes but small builders cant compete with the technology that brands like Trek have. My fully suspended Top Fuel probably weighs less than a Soulcraft hardtail and custom geometry cant fix that.

Other than that...Ive been sick for the past few weeks. You would think I would have learned my lesson last year, but i repeated it again this year. Get sick...get a little better...go for long ride in freezing temps...get sick again...repeat. So now ive ridden inside for 5 straight days and im half afraid to go outside tomorrow. The crazy guys in Nebraska go for ridiculously long rides every weekend on gravel. Its colder up there than it is here, so they must be pretty tough, or crazy. I read somewhere that Wolfram Kurschat from Topeak/Ergon does all his training on a trainer, all year long so he can perfectly control the workouts. That probably explains why he gets passed on every downhill.

A box of tires arrived today from Maxxis. Mostly full of Aspens, but a few Ikons in there as well. I just wanted to give them a try but I can already tell that Ill be sticking to the Aspens as the Ikons have to big of knobs for my liking.

Drivetrains

2011-01-21T22:45:00.016-06:00

A couple of people have asked me about the XX vs. XTR 10 speed groups. I used XX all last year and it worked pretty flawlessly. I remember two instances of front chain droppings when shifting from the large to small ring. One would be my fault, the other I blame on SRAM. The rest of the time it was perfect. My other bike was setup up with a gripshift/XTR 2x9 combo last year and in comparison it is nice to just leave the front in the big ring and be able to have such a large range on the back. The small ring is too small for anything other than extended climbs.
I havent ridden the new XTR very much yet but I like it so far. It actually is smoother shifting on the rear and I like the way the XTR shifters work a little better. Its nice to be able to shift multiple gears in either direction, I always favored gripshift because of this. The XX crank is carbon and looks cool but they both seem to do the job just fine. Front shifting is about equal I would say, maybe the XX is faster. I dont use it all that much so as long as it stays in gear im happy.

The XTR brakes feel much better than the XX. I had a lot of problems with the XX brakes last year and had better luck with the lower level model from Avid. The XX required bleeding a number of time last season so im hoping the XTR will require less work and headaches. One complaint with the XTR is the lack of matchmaker clamps. There is way to much going on with two brakes, two shifter, and two lockouts all hooked to the handlebars. The XX looks much cleaner. I havent looked into it much but I would like to get XTR rotors for my Stans wheels but I doubt they make a five bolt rotor.

I dont think you can go wrong with either setup. I would probably pick XTR for a new groupset unless I they made a Gripshift version of XX. I dont know the weights of the two, but I would guess the XX is a little lighter.

If I had one or the other, I definitely dont think it is worth changing to the other. They both require you to pedal to make the bike go.

Additionally, I dont have any good reasons for picking 26" wheels over 29" wheels other than they are lighter, quicker, and ive already got a garage full of them. It will be interesting to see if Willow rides big wheels now that she has both available to her. She has said that the 29er had a lot to do with her recent success, but that might have just been marketing.

this thing

2011-01-20T16:35:00.001-06:00

This thing should be nice to ride around on. A whole fleet of made in the USA bikes is always a good thing. Anyone looking for a perfect 2010 top fuel?

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Minnesota Jersey Makers

2011-01-14T11:32:00.000-06:00

Twin Six is the best stuff out there. Ill be sporting Twin Six yet again in 2011. They are getting bigger and better every year and Im very proud to be part of their team. Check em' out. Tons of great jerseys, T-shirts, socks, and anything else you would need for your cycling adventures. If you like to be matchy matchy, they have bibs now too.

HandleBar Grips

2011-01-12T17:38:00.001-06:00

I am very happy to announce that I will be sporting some nice lime green grips this year with matching gloves.

2011 Ergon USA Sponsored Riders and Teams

old Trusty

2011-01-11T21:18:00.001-06:00

I felt bad ignoring the trusty Elite Hardtail that will again be the bike of choice for the smoothest courses and short tracks. To cheer up the "old" frame its updated with XX, Carbon Wheels, and Fox Fork.

By the end of the week

2011-01-10T20:14:00.000-06:00

By the end of the week I will be riding my fancy new bike. Its pretty exciting stuff. The 2010 version was awesome, so this one should be off the charts. More carbon, more lockouts, more XTR, and less weight. I think its time to start thinking 2011.

excessive celebration

2010-12-31T12:53:00.000-06:00

we are spending the day in Manhattan. Hopefully we are about to see lots of excessive celebration. Grrr. I just got a prize for being one of 250 most spirited fans. Yee haw.

balmy

2010-12-26T13:27:00.001-06:00

I waited until it warmed up a bit. 20 degrees was as long as I could wait. Perfect for gravel.

rebuild time

2010-12-24T11:00:00.001-06:00

eggbeaters break all the time but they sure are light. Today I attempt to turn 8 beat up pair into 5 working pair by stealing and swapping parts.

Boy Racer

2010-12-16T20:56:00.000-06:00

So I read Boy Racer. It took a few hours. Its an okay book. Sort of interesting. Its hard to have a great story when you write an autobiography when you are only like 25 years old. Cavendish has always seemed like kind of a jerk to me but maybe he isnt as bad as I thought. Last time I read a cycling book, Floyd Landis decided that he had doped afterall a few days after I finished it. One thing that is very interesting about Cavendish is that all of his scientific numbers, such as watts, say that he shouldnt be any good. Still, he dominates sprints so there must be more to cycling than just the numbers.

November

2010-12-15T19:19:00.004-06:00

So... November went by without any posting. I wasnt riding my bike, so I didnt feel like updating much. I did do one muddy cross race in Topeka. It was fun except for the fact my pedal broke about 10 minutes in and I rode the rest of the race with essentially one leg.

The highlight would have been our trip to Costa Rica. It was awesome. We rented a car and cruised all around the country. Went to the mountains and stayed at the base of a volcano and enjoyed relaxing in the hot springs. Then we motored across the country to the Pacific Ocean for some beach time. We zip lined, surfed, hiked, and generally hung out. Even caught a Costa Rican cycling race in some little town called Fortuna. We were there the same week as La Ruta, but it was traveling the opposite direction as us, so we didnt see any of it.

Costa Rica is pretty amazing when you travel around on your own. It is still undeveloped and pretty poor. We were pretty much off the grid the entire trip. No T.V., no internet, no phones, it was nice. Our little hotel on the beach was cheap, not as cheap as the $10 rooms next door, but we did have A.C. We really tried to live it up Costa Rican style. Eating at little shantys called Sodas for most of our meals and doing a ton of walking. We did some Kayaking, played with monkeys, and got rained on a lot (most of the country is a rain forest). It was quite an adventure.

biking

2010-11-09T07:13:00.000-06:00

Had a chance to do a bunch of bike riding this weekend. Cross race start times weren't working. Went to Manhattan to see ksu destroy the horns. Lots of time at Clinton Saturday and a bunch of gravel on Sunday. I got bored with gravel so I found some challenging terrain for the cross bike.