A Different Path

Superbowl Guaranteed Winner

2012-02-05T14:14:00.002-06:00

I guarantee the winner of the Superbowl will be the team with the most points at the end of the 4th quarter!!! LOL.....gottcha!

Trainer

2012-02-03T15:42:00.001-06:00

This is how im rolling tonight!

10:30am.....I know its only 10:30 but im hungry!

2012-02-03T10:30:00.001-06:00

Food....

2012-02-02T13:19:00.001-06:00

I really love food. That being said I think I would have a hard time living without bread, I dont know what it is but I think I could sit and eat a whole loaf of Margies garlic frenchbread that she makes when we have spaghetti. I love Subway bread, by the way its $5 footlong month right now. Just destroyed a 6" ham and turkey while saving the other half for lunch tomorrow. Cant beat a $2.50 lunch!
Took a day off last night after 4 days on the bike. These are the hardest days not to sit around and veg out. Margie as been doing great by keeping fruit and vegs in the fridge for me, however I did find the last orange last night that she had stashed away for her Blue Moon. I havent had any beer in awhile but Id highly suggest that you dont walk in front of me with a Bully Porter because you might get beat up.
Im sitting here finishing this up, actually thinking about frenchbread, when I suddenly remembered Margie mentioning something about spaghetti tonight. I promise to be good!!!

General fitness.....

2012-02-01T20:38:00.001-06:00

I guess I need to start updating this thing more often, I would really hate to disappoint my 5 followers. LOL.
I have actually been getting some good riding in lately. Have done some gravel grinding and an awesome afternoon of riding the mountain bike at Clinton Lake. The trails are in great shape and anyone in Lawrence that comes into the season not firing on all cylinders have no excuses. The main thing is that Im back on my bike and getting some exercise.
I had the opportunity to go back and look at all of my Garmin info for the 2011 year. It really shows how my year went with absolutely no data after the last day of Sept. No, I didnt forget to enter the info....I just didnt do anything as far as exercise from that date on. The gift that I received was a 35 lb gain in my weight and no cardiovascular stamina. To say that Im paying for it now is an understatement. I was used to riding my bike at 155 lbs and at the beginning of 2012 I tipped the scales at 190. Climbing right now is not fun, my legs feel like I have weights tied to my bike.....dont even say it, I know its not on my bike but more on my ass. I have a plan and thats how you get things done, without a plan you will never obtain goals......set a plan and go with it.
I look back at the last few years and I always came into the start of the season in great shape. The bad part is the season is so long that its hard to start in January hammering it and stay motivated basically for 11 months. I will not have that problem this year. I didnt start out with this plan but sometimes you have to improvise, Id be lying if I said I meant for the weight gain to happen....it happened and I didnt do anything to stop it. I am going to race my way into shape this year and hopefully start peaking at the right time. We will see what life has to throw my way this year. The weight has already started dropping with a loss of 9.4 lbs in January....hopefully by the end of March im back down to the 160 mark and I can start concentrating on my race fitness. Thats not too far away and Im looking forward to it.
The bikes have been moved back to the dining room instead of hiding in the basement for easy access, this always seems to make Margie happy(sarcasm). She is a very good sport about it though as long as I dont make a muddy mess. I would like to end this by saying "Its alot easier to sit and dream, than to train and achieve." Honestly I have no idea if that is a real quote or if I just made it up, so if no one claims it I will take it.
Good night and expect to hear more from me this year!

Been way to long......

2012-01-07T18:24:00.000-06:00

I had the pleasure of going out and riding my bike today, 1st time since the end of Sept! I am so out of shape and I cant remember the last time that I was like this. My weight is horrible right now but I have made a commitment to get back going in the right direction. Today was one of the biggest struggles I have ever had on a bike. I was hurting, my heartrate was high, my legs felt like jello. Climbing was a joke! This time last year things were alot different but I burnt out in June. So I wanted to start alittle later and hopefully end the season strong. I actually didnt really want my weight to be this bad, but while eating like crap, not riding and keeping Boulevard beer in business I gained alot.
Im going to keep this post short, but it felt good to get out and get a couple of hours in the saddle. Happy 2012.

2 months

2011-08-31T21:15:00.000-05:00

Been over 2 months since I have last posted.....nice.

What was I thinking?????

2011-06-27T14:18:00.003-05:00

I had a great weekend spending some quality time with Jax. Started Friday night with the car races at Lakeside Speedway, was not disappointed in that choice. Stayed over night in Bonner Springs, KS with the threat of rain. I wasnt all that excited about staying in our $23 tent in a rainstorm, Im thinking it probably would leak. Jumped Saturday and headed for Perry Lake. They had a small storm go through so we messed around at the venue and waited til around 330pm to head out for a lap. Jax decided to ride the race course with us and I wasnt surprised at all how well he did. He did start to get tired around the 3.5 mile mark but he stuck it out.
We ended up eating then settling in around the fire til wee hours of the night with the portable XM radio chiming some Classic Rewind! Jax fell asleep in a lawn chair just moments before someone pulled out a mason jar of ApplePie moonshine. It was very good.....I'll leave it at that.
I had pretty much already decided that I wasnt racing and was going to help out in the scoring tent. The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. Jax raced in the kids race and took 3rd after crashing for the 2nd race in a row. He rode his bike from the time we got there until his race was over at 230pm yesterday....he slept real well on the way home!!
Now on to my original topic.....what do you do when you are not satisfied with your current race fitness? I will tell you what I did.....this morning I sent in my upgrade notice to USACycling for my Cat 1 license. I guess I really enjoy gettin my ass kicked. Im not sure why I did this but Im hoping it motivates me. I was placing 1st and 2nd in all my Cat 2 races and really havent been riding that much unless you count a road ride every other week as training. Im hoping with the end of my kids ballgames this week I will have alot more time for riding, if not its going to be very painful at the back of the pack.
I want to close this writing with something heart wrenching. I have a 360Racing teammate that lost a son a few months back. He was racing this weekend and he made a comment to me that made me thankful for everything that I have. I love my children very much and try my hardest to not miss anything that they are involved in. I chose this weekend not to race because he wanted to come with me and hangout. I probably could have raced and everything would have been fine, I had plenty of friends there that could have kept an eye on him but he is only 7 and can find lots of mischief in an hour and half. Back to Davids comment. He asked me why I wasnt racing and I told him that I hadnt felt good for a few months and I had Jax with me hanging out. He said "enjoy them while you have them". Thats what Im going to do!
OUT!

Not sure why......but

2011-06-23T15:20:00.002-05:00

I havent been in the mood to do anything lately. Not sure why! Seems like life has been keeping me pretty busy lately. Work, dance recitals, softball games, coach pitch games, etc have been plentiful but honestly I just havent been in the mood. Im in some kind of funk and need to snap out quickly. I have been anything that gets in my way and that doesnt help any. I knew it was bad yesterday when I rolled into Subway for lunch. I eat there a lot and normally get the same thing. 6" ham and turkey on white, bread Scooped, no cheese, tomato, pickles, onions, jalepenos with red vinegar and sometimes if Im feeling wild I get spicy mustard. You had to know this for a reason......and here it is: I walk in and im not having a very good day at all. I already decided I was getting a footlong of something very fatty! The sandwich specialist asked me "the usual?" I exclaimed in a shaky voice "no, I want a footlong pizza sub on white." She actually stood there and stared at me. I guess she was waiting for me say I was kidding. She repeated it back to me. I confirmed her disbelief and she says "this is very uncharacteristic for you." Thanks for reminding me!

Im getting ready to go out and do some trail work tonight. Im taking Jax and turning him loose on the trails while I trim. I think he is riding his bike more than me. I guess thats good for him, bad for me. I have a crap load of trimming to do and its getting out of hand. I had my section in pretty good shape but with all the rain its getting bad again, never ending! It has to be done. Hopefully everyone else gets out and gets their section done so we can get some good riding in.
Im going to see if Jax wants to make a stop at Lakeside Speedway on Friday to catch some car races on our way to Perry Lake, KS......I doubt I have to twist his arm. I checked earlier and they are not flooded yet so we maay just stop by. We will head on over to the bike race venue on Saturday morning and help Lyle get the finish touch for his race, then probably do a lap with Jax. I think he can ride that course alright and he already has a big goose egg on his forehead so he should be fine. LOL. Im not sure if Im racing yet are not, I probably decide Sunday sometime within 30 minutes of the race. No need to make a rash decision. Its sad that I actually would rather just work at the race instead of racing. Not good. Jax is definetely racing....he still is ticked about losing at Landahl park. He kinda comes by that naturally.
Im sure once we can get out and get some rides in I will pull out of this funk. Its the end of June and Ive probably only rode Indian Creek 2-3 times. Once again, not good!

Not sure whats wrong???

2011-06-17T10:28:00.002-05:00

I had a full race report from the KC Cup but I cant get it to publish. Not sure why?

Race weekend results.

2011-06-14T15:37:00.008-05:00

Headed off to Landahl park in KC for the Mo. State Championships on Saturday afternoon. I grabbed Lyle when we arrived and took off on the course. It was in awesome shape, alot of manhours of hard labor had been put into this course. The first section was very fast and flowy with very little technical areas. Very little climbing. The second section had some rocky ledgy stuff that was fun and could separate the field so you needed to be in good position or you were in trouble. We got back to the start/finish line and I decided to do another lap and try to learn the lines. Really I just wanted to ride my bike because I was having a good time. I have to ride a course alot before I can remember each section, some people can ride it once and remember every rock, root or switchback. Im not that way and it ended up costing me.
I headed back over to Mals house where we stayed the night. They all wanted to go to BWW for dinner and I didnt need any arm twisting to convince myself. I actually behaved real well and only had a few beers....they were the big ones though, but who's counting. Ended up staying and watching the PPV of the UFC fights....this kinda got me in the mood to drink, but I held back. LOL.
They were forecasting heavy rains early Sunday morning and I had already decided that I wasnt racing if it was muddy. The rains held off most of the morning but started raining pretty good about the start of the beginners and marathon race. Didnt last long and the course stayed in good shape.......so I headed up to get registered. Jax was racing in the kids race and was very excited. We got him registered and his race was about to start. He gets a great start and is in the lead when he has a small crash back on the backside of the course and got passed. I couldnt see him but he explained it all to me afterwards. Seems as though there was a "tricky" part and he didnt make the corner, crashing into the weeds. I just laughed and assured him that I knew all about crashing!
They started hollering for us to start staging at the starting line. I already knew with my fitness level that I was going to need to just stay attached with the leaders and hope for the best. Gun went off and it was on. I came into the singletrack in 2nd and was feeling pretty good. I knew if i could stay on the wheel of the leader through the 1st section I was going to make a move in the techy stuff. We caught the back end of the race that started one minute in front of us within the 1st mile. The pace slowed alot and I felt this played right into my hands. We had nowhere to pass and it was keeping us all bunched up. The leader had some issues and ended up catching a tree and the rider in front of him. They both went down hard and were all tangled up. I was in the lead and feeling pretty good. 3 riders were right on my wheel as we were high tailing it through this section. We were still clogged up with the back end of the 30 yr old race.
I was riding well and using hardly any energy when disaster struck. I asked "nicely" a couple of times to let us pass.....they refused to let us pass even though we werent racing them, totally different class! We finally got around a few but still bunched up. I had my head down and wasnt paying close attention when we came into a section that had 2 different lines. Unfortunately I didnt remember this from my pre-ride. The guy in front of me took the line to the right and I followed...not a wise decision. The fast line was to the left...thats not the worse part....the guy I followed decided to stop in the middle of the trail causing me to stop with no place to go. 3 of my competitors man train right on by me and are out of sight before I get going again. End of my chances. I was stuck back behind some other guys again and I pretty much had no chance of winning unless the leader had problems. I kept up a good pace and passed back 2 others to end up in 2nd place, I definetly could have went harder.
Im having a tough time right now mentally for some reason. If something goes wrong during a race it seems like I lose all focus and mentally throw in the towel. Im not sure why this is...Ive never been like that before. My "race" fitness is not where it needs to be and maybe thats part of it. Who knows. The good thing is that Im pretty lean right now and things are getting better, I just need more time on the bike. All in all.....it was just a bike race, not the end of the world. I got to see Jax smiling and having fun on his bike. He hardly had finished and asked when he got to race again!! Nice. I dont think he likes losing either....wonder where he got that? LOL
Jax and I are headed out to Perry Lake, KS the last weekend of June to race while the "girls" head to Virginia to meet up with Meg and Lucas. Im thinking Jax is looking for some revenge! We will see! OUT

Riding issues......typical.

2011-06-09T14:37:00.003-05:00

This is shaping up to be a busy weekend, and it damn near got busier. I'll explain that later. The Missouri State mountain bike championships will be this Sunday in KC....and I plan on being there. I havent really been riding as much as I had planned but that is just a part of life. My job has no set hours so I only get to ride when I can get away. My normal strategy in this short of race is to jump out fast and make everyone chase but with my current level of "race" fitness I might need to re-adjust my strategy. We will have to see, Im riding the course on Saturday and will have to decide at that point what will give me the best opportunity to win.
I have one other issue that im fearing more than my fitness level. In 2007 I was having some serious pain in my lower back and neck, shoulder area. I was passed around from dr. to dr. and had more needles stuck in me than I even want to remember. Several MRI's, X-rays and muscle/nerve test it was said that I had several discs rubbing together with none of the cushiony stuff between them. The Dr. wanted me to have surgery, I wanted another opinion. I met with some other doctors and I ended up getting a steroid shot in my hip and shoulder and some kind of funky epiderol(sp?) in my neck. The pain before I had these shots ended up with me being in the ER hunched over in terrible pain. Felt like electric shock going along my whole arm and not being able to feel my fingers. My fingers felt like they were asleep! Finally 6 or so months after the shots I got some feeling back...but to this day they still dont feel normal.
That story leads to this story.......my hands have been feeling asleep lately and going numb again. The last week my shoulder neck are starting to have that same feeling. Thats not good. Im not sure what my next move is but Im sure its not going to be good. Oh well, only time will tell. I normally can block out pain so I doubt that it will mess with my race this weekend much. Just another something to think about, just what I need! LOL.
Well back to the beginning and my busy weekend almost getting busier. Most of you know that I raced dirt track modified racecars for several years. I cant remember but I think the last race I did was in 08'. Any how a guy that I know has 2 cars and his normal driver couldnt race this weekend and asked if I would drive it. Im going to be honest.....I got butterflys in my stomach and remembered how I use to feel each time I strapped into my car. I even had flashbacks of the sweaty smell of my helmet. I talked it over with Margie and actually thought I would do it, just a one time deal. I then got to thinking 2 reasons why I shouldnt:

1. I probably wouldnt want to quit
2. I have alot going on this weekend.

So I decided against it. Hey I do have some will power. Hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoy the summer weather! Peace!

Just wasnt in the mood......

2011-06-01T15:29:00.002-05:00

I left work around 6pm last night with the intentions of heading out on the roadbike. I got home and the mood just wasnt happening. There is not alot that I dont like about bike riding but I find it painfully hard sometimes to go on a hard road ride by myself. It just doesnt appeal to me. I do it anyway sometimes just for the training but for the most part its not fun for me, but on the other hand I love riding with a group of guys. I guess the whole cat and mouse aspect of the peleton is more my style of fun. Taking turns pulling the whole group then fading to the back and drafting for awhile, its a hell of lot more fun than riding by yourself.
Mountain biking is pretty much anything goes....I can ride by myself and not feel like its something I have to do. I could ride the same trails over and over and never get bored. I not sure how many laps I have done on the 2 yr old Campground Loop but its alot. Its a 1.5 mile loop that is fast and flowyd down the southside and climbing back up the north side......As a matter of fact I had planned to go get some laps in tonight, but I was reminded of Jaimes softball game so thats where Im needed!
Im not sure about this weekend yet. I have Jaimes dance recital Friday and Saturday nights, and had planned on racing Sunday. Im not sure about that yet.....I may just stay in town and get some trailwork done. I think I like trailbuilding just as much as riding my bike, kinda weird I guess. I get into that mood sometimes where Id rather grab the trail tools instead of the bike....like I said earlier, kinda weird.
Well I had better get back to work....I hope I make it back in time for the game.

Memorial Day weekend updates.........

2011-05-31T14:36:00.002-05:00

My weekend was pretty uneventful for a nice change. No races! Friday night was off to father/daughter dance practice with Jaime. Our big event is this Friday and Saturday night which is always a crowd favorite. This year is by far our best dance......I believe this is the 5th year we have done it. Its always a good time and very glad to be able to do it.
Saturday was up and to the gym. Got in a 6 mile jog on the treadmill, not my favorite thing but it was raining so I didnt have much choice. Headed for the airport to pick up Mal that afternoon after she had been in VA for 2 weeks. Ended up staying on the couch at her house in Blue Springs.
Sunday morning we headed for Smithville to get in a road ride. It was finally sunny and hot. We rode around 25 miles on the paved trails. Some moron thought it would be dry enough to ride the mountain bike trails while leaving huge ruts that I could see from the pave trails. That is absolutely ridiculous, actually pisses me off. It had to be someone that doesnt do trailwork, or at least I would think so. We got back home finally and decided to grill out. Headed out and grabbed some nice thick KC Strips, picked some lettuce and onions from the garden and the feast was on. Throw in a few bottles of homebrew to finish it off.
Monday morning I got up and decided that I needed to go do some trailwork. Coach must have had the same idea because he was hooking up to the trailer. I was still kinda pissed about the whole ruts at Smithville deal......I started in on the connector trail that comes off the Campground loop when I came across the "moguls" section I ran into some serious trail damage. I guess it would be described as total destruction. A contractor had been hired to log out some old trees and they used the trail as their road. The further I walked the worse it became. It was very wet while they were working so you can only imagine what it looked like, big machinery and wet ground dont mix very well. It looks like we will be spending some time rebuilding that instead of getting on the new section.
I plan on heading out to Warsaw Sunday to race. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Right!! One of these days I will get the camera out and actually take some pics.....Right!! I think I will ride my bike tonight. OUT.

Not a great feeling.....

2011-05-28T13:46:00.002-05:00

I don't really know why but I havent felt all that good lately. I feel like I have the flu without all of the crap that goes along with it. I am constantly tired and I really dont feel like working out, which is strange. It must be bad when other people notice it. We went to eat last night and I had one beer. The manager came over and asked if I wanted another and when I told her no she asked if I was feeling bad. Im not sure if thats bad or good but she was right, I didnt feel good. It seems like I feel good in the morning but by afternoon I am totally ran down.
I did get pretty dyhydrated last weekend when racing and I normally feel this way a few days afterwards but I felt this way before that.....and its been a week while drinking tons of water. This week I started taking a multivitamin this week so we will see if that helps any. Hell maybe its just the fact that im getting older, who knows. I have been keeping track of my vitals lately. My blood pressure stays pretty constant around 110/70, my RHR is right at 42 each morning....before coffee! LOL. I did check it other day around noon and it was 53. My body fat, according to my scale, is at 18% which is right in the middle for athletes my age. My body water is 56% which is good. The only other thing that I can think of is my blood sugar, but I really dont have anyway to test it. I am curious though.
I know I havent been over-training because I havent been working out that much. Maybe 3-4 times a week at max. Its really noticable while racing, Im just hoping its gets better. We will see.

Greenhills Monday nighter........

2011-05-26T07:02:00.002-05:00

The group rides have gradually been growing in numbers the past few weeks. I didnt actually count but Im guessing we had 8-9 riders. It was a perfect night for riding.....no wind! Alot of the times Monday night rides can be kinda painful after racing on Sunday, the old legs just dont feel like they have much snap the day after a race. Im still just riding "OK"...I just havent been feeling good the last few months. I have been racing quite a bit but its been pretty ugly.
The group is usually separated after the first 5-6 miles and this night was no different. The split had me, James and Mitch taking turns pulling through the hills. I was keeping a close eye on my heart rate while trying keep it around the 170bpm range. I normally could care less about my rate but I have been tracking it and seems that my power goes south when Im getting over 180. The good thing is when I back off a bit it drops pretty quickly. My resting heart rate is right around 42bpm in the morning which is pretty good.
The ride to Chula was pretty uneventful, I was climbing well and never felt like I was in the "pain cave". We had a 21.8mph average and felt like we could have went harder on fresh legs. We regrouped at the halfway point, had a GU gel then headed back. We normally stay in a group on the way back.....that lasted for about 5 miles then the pace picked up. We were clicking along pretty good then we make the turn back west for the last 3 miles when "Hammer Time" began. The attacks kept coming and the pace kept rising. Mitch was leading out and I made one last attack on the 2nd to last hill, which was a mistake.....but hey, im not a roadie! I was pulling down through the last descent and when we hit the final climb my legs were no longer cooperating. I was done.
The best part of these group rides is that their is 3-4 of us that race and near the same fitness. We push each other and it makes us all faster. I love spending time on the trails with my mountain bike but when Monday nights roll around its time to wipe the dust off the road bike and join in the pain.........errrrrrr I mean fun!

"Dirty Little Secret" Race re-cap.....

2011-05-24T12:29:00.002-05:00

Took off Saturday afternoon for Manhattan, KS and the "Dirty Little Secret" race. For some reason my body will not drive by the Hwy 152 exit in Liberty without stopping in at Buffalo Wild Wings. Its not something Im proud of but at the same time cannot control. Enough said.
Once checked into our hotel room in Manhattan I got my bike nestled into its sleeping spot next to my bed for the evening. I made one simple mistake at this point, I ventured out to my cooler. I ran across a couple of young men sitting in the outdoor area with benches and chairs......they appeared to have been partaking in a few cold adult beverages. I joined them and we immediately bonded over some of my bottled homebrew. We like to refer to it as "breaking bread". Two hours later and an empty cooler.....I noticed that it was WAY past my bedtime. Enough said!
Sunday morning rolled around I can honestly say I was feeling slightly below "barely breathing". I stomached down one waffle from the breakfast area, put a new tire on the bike and headed for the venue. I arrived when Coach and James were about to pre-ride the course so I suited up and headed out with them. I wasnt feeling very good at this point.....I would describe it as slightly dehydrated. Gotta love that beer! We rode about 4 miles of the 6 mile course and headed back to the starting line with our race taking off within 20 mins. I tried to drink some water and swallowed down a few Shotbloks. This was looking to be a miserable day. The day did however get better when we rolled up to the start and they voted on shortening the race due to lap times in the race before us. I whole heartedly voted for the shorter race.
Whistle blew and we were off. Honestly I dont remember alot of the race except that It was very technical rocky stuff and I wrecked alot, which is abnormal for me since I normally take the rocky stuff fairly well. My heart rate was very high and I never recovered....I was over 190bmp alot of the race, I normally see anywhere between 170-180 max. Dehydration is not fun. I actually did get one bottle of water down during the race but that was it....and at one point near the end I came very close to donating it back to trail, it was in my throat! LOL. I ended up winning my age group but it was not pretty at all.....2nd place was just a few seconds back bearing down on me, another mile and I would have lost. Im not riding very well right now, but its getting better. We'll see as time goes. I think I have rode out at Indian Creek this year once or twice, well below this time last year and its showing. Oh well, Im done whining...IT IS WHAT IT IS!
Quote of the day at the race:
DanO: Denny you better get out of the sun so you dont start the race dehydrated!
Me: DanO look at me....do you think its really going to make much of a difference right now?
DanO: Good point.

Syllamos Revenge......

2011-05-18T07:34:00.002-05:00

Im not going to waste alot of time talking about the disappointment that took place down in the mountains of Arkansas. Long story short, I absolutely hate riding in the mud and that was what the 1st 25 miles of the 50 mile race was. I had just put a whole new drivetrain on my bike and the grinding throughout was more than I could take. The final clincher was while crossing the river I went over the bars into a big hole, then proceeded to chase my bike down the river. 2 miles later at the halfway point I pulled the plug......there will be another day, but that day was not mine! I actually felt good, my legs still had alot of GO in them. I was climbing well and riding some tough sections pretty well, which if it is any consolation made me feel a little better.
I absolutely hate quitting but I was mentally done. I had flatted early on which put me way back in the pack. Anyone that races mountain bikes knows what this means.....you are behind all the slow people that are there just to finish with not much emphasis on where they finish. I spent alot of time bunched up in groups, when the front person decides to walk through a tough section it usually ends up causing everyone to walk. Very irritating. Im done discussing it. I had several hours on the drive home to think about it and ive stored the memory in the back of the memory tank.
We had a pretty good ride Monday night with the Greenhills group. We had lots of guys feeling froggy and wanting to race.....which is very good training. Me, James, and Coach dropped the group on the climb upto the halfway spot where we gather the group back up. Had a quick drink and waited for the rest of the group. We decided with the wind that we would turn and head back the way we came instead of doing the loop. I thought this was going to be a leisure pace but Jan got all jiggy and took off on a sprint that no one expected. We chased and shelled him out the back in about 20 secs. James and Brent hooked up and got away. Coach and I joined up and chased them down and rode their wheels to recover for a bit. The amps jumped up pretty high at this point and it was a sufferfest for the next 5 miles with a good rotation. Overall we had a good ride and need more like that.
Decided to stay off the bike Tuesday night and go do some trail work. Got in alot of trimming and my section is looking pretty sweet right now. May have to go try it out tonight.

Holy Bat Hills!!!!

2011-05-08T20:23:00.002-05:00

Took off early Saturday morning for St. Joe and the Robidiux Roundup mountain bike race. I needed some miles so I had decided to do the marathon race. WOW! The race starts on a paved uphill section to get to the singletrack. I get a pretty good start and hit the trails in 5th. My goal was to ride my bike and see where the chips fall....Im just riding OK right now and didnt feel like blowing up on the 1st lap. The race is 3 hrs in length with around a 6.75 mile lap. Turn as many laps in 3 hrs!!! It has over 1000 ft of climbing per lap....nice! I get by Chris Locke pretty early and have to make a hard dig to get up to the leaders. I jump on their wheels and just ride. We have a pretty steady pace going but not hard by any means. We're just riding.
The heat is starting to hit and Im trying to take on as much water as possible. The two major problems I have while racing is water and food. I can stand water but food is almost impossible for me. Im use to doing shorter races where its not that big of a deal but in longer races its very important.
The middle of the 1st lap and teammate James Shiflet and myself have broke away from the field. We come in to the pits after our 1st lap and change out water bottles and head backout within seconds. I probably should have grabbed a CliffBar or some Shotbloks....but I didnt. Halfway into the 2nd lap James snaps his chain and has to stop leaving me at the front by myself. I rode the rest of the race pretty much by myself. Im keeping a pretty close visual on my Garmin and the time. The cutoff time to start another lap was at 1pm. I was on my 4th lap and was bonking quickly. I was suffering badly and the cramps were starting in. I had no power and the climbs were getting hard to get up. I knew it was coming and was surprised that it took this long but I got passed about a mile from the start/finish line.
I had already made up my mind that I was done and was not going out for another lap. I got to the line in 2nd place with about 3 minutes left.....meaning I could start another lap if I chose too. I was toast! I pulled the plug knowing that I wasnt going to catch the leader. The worst part......a rider came through with less than 30 seconds before the 3 hrs was up. He had the same choice to make. He went over and took on some water and decided to head back out for another lap. This put me in 3rd place, no one came across after that and thats where I finished. I didnt mind...I was there for seat time and thats what I got. Overall....I has happy with where I finished. I think we had between 15-20 racers start and I ended up 3rd. Not bad for me.
In conclusion....I probably should have hydrated and ate better during the race. Probably wouldnt have made much difference but its something Im going to need to do if I want to race longer races than the normal 1.5 hr races. I hydrated (with water) all week with over a gallon of water a day....but is was not enough because I was dehydrated and pissing orange at the end of the race. I will keep trying maybe I will get some kind of food/water plan down. I plan on doing a lot more of the endurance races. Who knows....a 12 hr race might be something I look into!

Whats been happening????

2011-05-06T13:40:00.002-05:00

I've had lots of things happening but not much time to report here. Hell I dont even know where to begin.....I have recently taken into a new hobby. I started doing some homebrewing back at he end of March. I have a Brown Porter that is bottled and carb conditioning. The whole process is pretty fun, almost as fun a drinking it. I made a Blue Moon type of belgian white wheat for Margie and just transferred it to the secondary last night. The last one is sitting in the primary fermenting and im very excited for this one to be done......Oatmeal Stout! I had a few of the porters throughout this week, actually one a night. They are very close to being finished but is very tasty! I would love to have some chocolate covered strawberries and a few of these...... WOW!
Well on to the training. Im riding just OK right now and my bike is worse than OK. Im having some serious drivetrain issues along with shifters. I have some SRAM XO shifters that should be at Bike Source by mid week. The new deraileur is in my truck along with a new cassette and chain. Im waiting til I have everything to switch it out.
James and I got in a good road ride on Tuesday night. The wind was hard out of the north. We fought that crap for the first 23 miles and in hindsight probably went to hard. James was riding well and I had to set in for alot of the last. We ended up with 48 miles. I bonked hard at mile 30, I was hurting. I probably should have had more food during the day other than the nutrigrain bar I had that morning. Thankfully James had some Cliff bars and Shotbloks. I ate everything he had.....and was staring at his remaining water bottles! I surprisingly didnt feel to bad the next day. The rest of the week I did a short trainer ride and last night got in a short 10 miler with Margie then headed to the YMCA for a treadmill run and weightlifting.
Last weekend we headed out to Wilson Lake, Ks for some awesome racing. Those trails are amazing. The race was right at 21 miles and I needed every mile to pull out the win. I started out well but my bike started in with its awesome ghost shifting issues about 3 miles in. I stopped and make some adjustments, after working on it for 2 hrs before the race, and was back off. It worked for about 3 more miles then got worse than before. I about pulled the plug then but decided I needed to be getting some miles in. My rear shifter was locking up and sometimes would shift, sometimes it wouldnt. I finally got into a gear that I could hammer and just went for it. This course is pretty wide open so you can see forever. Id pick out someone in front of me and just let it rip until I caught them, Id ride their wheel for a few minutes to recover and take off again....very good interval training while racing! LOL. Honestly I had no idea what place I was in when I finished....I knew alot of people passed me while I was stopped and knew I passed alot of people on my way back out. I took home the hardwared in my age class! I was just riding OK, its going to get better. Ive lost just under 10lbs the past few weeks and like to see another 8-10 in the near future. My plans are to upgrade to Cat 1 in July so I can take some beatings....I would like to see 150 lbs at that time.
Headed over to St Joe on Saturday to race mountain bike style. Im planning on doing the 3 hr marathon race instead of racing my class. I need the miles especially since we are heading to Arkansas next weekend......Syllamos Revenge.
I will try to update sooner this time! OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1st race of the season.....BoneBender!

2011-04-18T08:16:00.002-05:00

We took off for Clinton Lake, KS Saturday afternoon for the first race of the season. I ended up doing the 3hr Pro 1-2 race. To say the competition was stout would be an understatement. We took off and about 10 minutes into the race I break my chain. It was the first time that I ever had a chain break so I wasnt very fast in fixing it. The time fixing it was very minimal compared to the time I spent back in the pack trying to get around everyone. I was amazed that I was at a mountain bike race and the amount of people that were walking bikes through technical sections......its a mountain bike race, not a road race. I spent the first 3-4 miles carrying my bike....I thought the whole idea was to ride it? At this point my race became a training ride instead of racing. My first lap was 1:09 hours, then I settled into 56 minute laps. I missed the 3 hr cutoff by 3 minutes and had to settle for only 3 laps. I know things didnt go that well for me but I was encouraged by the fact that I still had some in the tank when i finished. Im not going to get down.....Im right where I thought I would be. Last year I trained hard all winter and was burnt out by June. I made myself take it easy this winter. Hence the 10 extra pounds im carrying!

Virginia Riding......

2011-03-16T17:41:00.003-05:00

First of all I want to say that I could really get use to riding all morning and drinking cold beer all evening.....that being said I felt bad about not getting any pics so I went back out and took a few.

Above are the mountains that Im riding in. The 2nd pic is a stream that pretty much runs along the road on a road ride I did today. The sound of running water is very theraputic, I didnt even notice the 15pmh wind in my face. I hit the 800ft climb back into town and my legs were screaming at the top. I miss being home but this is making me stronger. Im going to get up and get another ride in tomorrow morning......I hope none of my mountain bike buddies take this wrong but Im torn between riding trails or getting another road ride in, its that beautiful out here. The pics show no justice.

My son in law, Matt, is a really big St. Patricks Day kinda guy so It sounds like Im going downtown Blacksburg with them tomorrow around 2-3pm to start in. They said that we are coming home to watch the MU game at 9:50Pm.....WOW. I may not make it that long.

I need to get home to Missouri before I think that im a climber! OUT.

Holy Bat Climbing Robin....

2011-03-14T19:29:00.004-05:00

Well we made a sneak attack out of Chillicothe around 10pm Wednesday night. Megan was going into labor and 14 hrs later we came rolling into Christianburg, Va., the trip was exciting to say the least. The best part was we made it in time and Margie was there by her side. I sat in the lobby watching basketball drinking lots of coffee. I could barely keep my eyes open. He and mother is doing very well.....and we finally got some sleep.
I brought both bikes with me and planned on doing some serious riding. The weather hasnt been that great starting out with over an inch of rain Thursday. I decided to get a road ride in on Saturday and cut it short at 20 miles. Lots of climbing and 30+mph winds...going out was fun but coming back was horrible. I was spent by the time I got back to the house. Sunday the trails were dry and I headed out to Pandapas Pond trail system. Its in the Jefferson National Forest just 10 minutes from the house. One thing I have found here is that a lot of the trails are built pretty much straight up and down. Coming out of the parking lot with absolutely no warmup you hit a mile and half climb covering 800' of elevation change topping out right at 2900'. Remember when you climb you always get to come down eventually, this is where the smiles started. I met a couple of Virginia Tech guys at the top and they gave me the route over to the technical rocky stuff. I headed down this awesome downhill that covered right around 2 miles. Got a bit sketchy in some places but was a blast.
I jumped over on some connector trails and hit the tech stuff which was alot of climbing in rock gardens and creek crossing.....me and wet rocks dont mix. Made it with out many problems. I was feeling like superman at this point so I headed over to another major climb up the mountain. This was a 2.1 mile climb that covered the same 800' elevation change. I got to the top and I was hurting. I had been riding for 2.5 hrs and was out of water. Luckily for me I connected back to the 1st climb of the day and got a 1.5 mile descent back to the parking lot. Sometimes descending fast is just as tiring as climbing, when I reached the truck my arms and hands were toast. This place was alot of fun but the locals say there is better. WoW!!!
Forecasted for rain today but after checking the radar this morning I had a small window to hit If I wanted to ride the trails. The temp had dropped to around 40, but still good riding. I took off and hit the climb, got to the top and the legs were feeling it. I headed over to the 2nd climb of yesterday because I wanted to descend it.....it was very fast and fun. Started over toward the techy stuff when it started to sprinkle so I headed for the connector back to the parking lot. It stopped before I got back so I decided to get in some of the rocky stuff....got a couple miles in when it started to sprinkle again so I turned and headed for the truck and called it quits for the day. The legs are starting to come around with all the climbing. Tomorrow looks like a road ride sometime with 70% rain forcasted. Rest of the week looks beautiful. I guess I should take some pics...the scenery is absolutely stunning with all the running water down of the mountains! Get out and ride your bike....I am!

Cycling promotion.....

2011-03-09T10:55:00.002-06:00

Well this appears to be my 100th post to the blog so Im going to make it special.....well maybe not. I like going to the stats section and tracking the hits per day, it has grown alot since I started promoting it through FaceBook. This made me start thinking, which is rare, that I should start using this as a promotion for local cycling. Im getting alot of local hits so this could be used in a positive way instead of using as a venting place for me. I only have one problem with this, Im not really a PC kinda guy but Im going to give it a try.
The main goal of this would to get new people involved in a healthy lifestyle. I think from talking to people that people have the wrong idea. From the feedback alot of people have this perception that we are all racers. This is the furthest from the truth. We have racers, cycling enthusiast, people who just want to stay in shape, people who do it for socializing. We have people who enjoy doing trail maintenance, walking/hiking on the trails....basically we are a very diverse group. I mention cycling to people and the 1st thing they say is "I could never ride that far, you guys go too fast." They have the wrong impression that keeps them from getting started. I want to change that.
Im going to be doing some fun, short interviews and posting them here. I want to focus on the fun side of cycling, not so much of the racing side along with discussing trail maintenace and other areas of cycling. We will see how it goes. My first interview is already setup and will post it as soon as it has been completed. The guinea pig is Addison Fuller from Trenton, Mo. He is a high school student that has became very addicted to the sport. So stay tuned! My son is 7 now and I plan on getting some off-race weekends and taking him with a group of his buddies out to the campground loop and turning them loose on bikes ending with a weenie roast and pops! Maybe the trails will be dry by July, at this rate who knows!!!!!
I had a good workout at the YMCA last night. I was on the treadmill and to keep me from being bored to death I started "people watching". My first thought was its March and this place is still busy with people working out. Normally you see a decline by the middle of February. I dont know the reasons but I like seeing it busy. In closing today I want to share a quote of a YMCA regular that was thinking the same as me:
"this place is busy, you would think its January."------authored by Roman Cranmer

Common depression.....

2011-03-08T14:06:00.003-06:00

Ive been reading bike forums discussing cyclist and depression. I first thought it was a bunch of bull but I can now see it being possible. Cyclist are always out in the sunshine enjoying the outside fresh air with a way to escape from all of the ways. The main concern was during long, dreary winters where they couldnt get outside and enjoy the warming rays of sunshine. I can tell you this from a personal standpoint.....I feel much better working out when im on my bike or out running when its hot and sunny. Ive rode alot this winter but it just doesnt feel the same. I have literally felt like crap all winter and just cant get in the mood so to speak. Surely the sunshine is about to visit us. You will never hear me complaining when the mercury hits 90+. Do you ever just feel blah? No motivation? Well that pretty much describes my winter. My weight is went to crapola! Enough said.....I need sunshine quickly to get me out of this funk, would it be too much to ask for some dry trails?
All that I mentioned above has lead to this.....my training is a bit behind from where I wanted to be right now. That being said I also remember last year. I came into the beginning of race season pretty much peaking. I trained hard all winter and didnt miss many night either running, lifting or riding my trainer (once again for you just joining in, my trainer is a bike not a person). Sometimes all of above in a night. I came in burn out and dwindled from there. I really want to have a good cross season this year so Im going to focus on about 8-10 XC races then start hitting it for cyclocross. I came into the season last year weighing in at 149lbs. I havent been that low since right out of HS. Im definetly not having that issue this year. Im hanging right around the 164lb mark, which in a way I hate but it will all be good in the end.
I have everything ready to roll.....just waiting on the phone call, which should be coming very quickly. Im going to have me some of that Virginia mountain madness. Taking both bikes so I should be ready to tackle whatever the weather brings. Trails or roads. Good long week of biking should cure all.....and a little Virginia homebrew.

Just about done!

2011-03-06T17:29:00.003-06:00

Its been one hell of a long week but we are getting closer to being done. I took this pic at 5:30pm and we have around 4' left to go. Should be somewhere, barring any problems, around 10-1030pm. I can't wait to get it finished and get back on a routine. The training was going pretty good upto last week. I did ride the trainer on Tues, but thats it! Anytime im not on a schedule I seem to eat like a horse....this week wasn't any different. If it comes near me, Ive ate it. Im not that concerned about it right now....it will happen.

Below is picture of the only way up and down off the top. These stairs are pretty nerve racking. I have not been to the top since around the 70' mark aka "halfway". Im not really scared of heights Im more scared of falling and it not killing me. The going up part is not that bad, but when you are coming down it feels like your leaning way forward and about ready to fall. Kind of strange, plus when your going up your eyes are focused above you. When descending your pretty much looking straight down......im pretty sure the last time I came down you couldnt have shoved a needle up my ass I was clinched down so tight!

Hopefully I will have some biking stuff to report on pretty quickly. Im going to Virginia when Megan(stepdaughter) has her baby which sounds like real, real soon. Im taking the mountain bike and wifes road bike.....I really dont care if the locals laugh at me for riding a girls bike. I just dont feel like changing out the tires and drivetrain on my cross bike. My old roadie has been attached to the trainer all winter and is pretty rusty from sweat. I think it has became a permanent trainer bike. Ive been talking with alot of the locals around Blacksburg, VA the past few weeks and have been given all the rides that I need to do while there. Im pretty excited. Well I better get back to work. OUT

6 Months probation, 40 hrs community service........

2011-03-03T13:50:00.003-06:00

Well its almost been 20 yrs ago that a group of my friends and myself spent a lovely evening with the KC police department in a nice cozy little cell. I was 20 at the time and my main partner in crime, Tom Thebeau was only 19. Remember these ages because they are important for the story that Im about to tell. For the rest of the story I will refer to myself as DA and Tom as TT......these are our code names for special operation "Heist Ronald McDonald", also referred to by people in the underworld as "HRM".
It was a warm summer day that started out like most warm summer days......we didnt roll out of the sack until around 2pm. There was 3 of us that rented a townhouse right up the street from Golds Gym on Vivion Rd, our place of employment. Im not sure what the occasion was but none of us had to work that day so we began the day with some beer. One of me and TT roommates had gotten a call the day before to report back to the AA baseball team for the Atlanta Braves on the following Monday. I think he was full of shit, but we celebrated anyway....thats just the way we rolled. Below is a conversation that took place after a pony keg of beer at the homestead.

TT: Hey lets go to Applebees and have some more beer.
DA: That sounds like a good idea, make sure you have your fake ID.
TT: Got it just in case, but remember all the waitresses are members at the gym and will serve us.
DA: Whose driving?
TT: Call Angie and the girls they can get us there. What are we taking?
DA: Lets steal Jeffs Tracker, he wont care.

Thats the best part of the night...it went downhill fast from here. We sat at Applebees for an ungodly amount of time drinking and having a good time. If we had stayed I would not even be writing this, but we didnt. We headed back to complex where we spotted a big banner that read "Summer Party" which we thought would look really nice hanging above the bar inside. Unfortunately it was about 15' off the ground but fortunately an electrician lived just down the lane from us so we borrowed his ladder from his truck. I did return the ladder....Im not a hardened criminal! For some reason we didnt stay at the house, once again if we had this story would be going nowhere.
We take back off in the Geo Tracker(bobsled on wheels) with the 5 of us in it. NOT alot of room to say the least. We are non-chalantly driving down Antioch when this conversation took place.

DA: Did you see that big Ronald McDonald Statue Tom?
TT: No, where was it?
DA: Seriously? It was at the F'n McDonalds we just passed in the playground. Its looks about 8' tall.
TT: Oh.
DA: Lets go get it and put it beside the bar along with our banner.
TT: Why?
DA: Why not?
TT: I guess that would be kinda cool.

So we get the girls driving to turn around and this is the most important planning took place. We are sitting in the McDonalds parking lot at midnight putting our plan together. Nothing can go wrong with this plan, its fool proof! Did I mention the top was off the Tracker? Below is the conversation that took place during our planning stages for the next 30 minutes.

TT: How we going to get over that 6' spiked fence into the playground area?
DA: Climb over, it wont hurt.
TT: Hmmm, it looks like its going to hurt.
DA: Ok girls, me and Tom are going to jump the fence and toss it back over and you load into the tracker.
Angie: Where? Its a Tracker.
DA: Lay it sideways across your laps.
(Girls shake heads with approval)
TT: Lets do this!
So after sitting in the parking lot for 30 minutes discussing it, we take off walking toward the playground slowly. In our gameplan we had decided it would be better to walk so we did not draw attention to ourselves. LMAO. We both jump the fence and grab Ronald expecting it to be heavy but to our surpise it was very light and made out of fiberglass. This was going to be a breeze, nothing could go wrong with this plan. We tossed it over the fence to the girls and they WALKED to the Tracker with an 8' Ronald Mcdonald statue while trying not to bring attention to us from all the passing cars whizzing down Antioch Rd. The plan was falling together like a puzzle in the hands of Ray Charles.
Ut oh.....we had forgot to discuss our escape plan. We jump on Antioch and head the opposite direction of home for some reason. Its hard to even explain the next few minutes, you just had to be there. In the amount of time its takes to spell Ronald McDonald we had police cars coming from every direction. We did what every red blooded American would do in this situation, we took off like a bat out of hell. Hit some side streets and the cops are right on our ass. I was in the passenger seat and Tom was in the back with 2 girls and the statue laying across his lap. This thing is hanging out both sides of the vehicle. I hear Tom yell, "Throw it out!" Next thing I see is Ronald tumbling down the road at 45mph and getting ran over by the front police car. I remember thinking...."this is not going to be good". I yelled "stop the car, Im running!" They slowed down to around 10mph and I bailed out in the yard and kept on running! Tom followed leaving the 3 girls alone. We headed for the woods so to speak. He went one direction and I went another and finally met back up for the long run home. The girls all got arrested and hauled off.
It took about 45 mins or so to get home. Its around 130am or so and as usual their was a party going on at our house. We started to get kinda scared and this is where we made some more promising decisions.

DA: We got to go bail the girls out of jail.
TT: Lets get all our money together and go get them.
DA: Yeah, we better go now.
So we grab money and head out. I cant remember what the reasoning was for Tom not to go inside with me, but I waltzed right in and asked if they were holding the 3 girls. They said yes, but we have a few questions to ask you before we release them. Ok, no problem. Below is the conversation between me and the police.

DA: Why did they get arrested?
P: Stealing!
DA: (laughing) thats kind of funny.
P: Do you have any identification.
DA: Yes (luckily I had replaced fake ID back to the real one while at home)
P: Mr. Albertson where were you tonight around midnight?
DA: I was at home in bed.
P: Do you always go to bed with grass stains on your legs and grass clippings in your hair?
DA: (silence).............yeah.
P: Do you have anything you want to tell us because we already know.
DA: Know what? I was home in bed!
P: Mr. Albertson sit in that chair and dont move....I will be right back. (took ID)
5 minutes later.
P: Denny Albertson you have the right to remain silent!
They booked me and threw me in a cell next to the girls, I could hear them all crying most of the night. They transferred us all to the county jail in Liberty the next morning. The statue, I guess, was very expensive and they were charging us with felonies. This is not good! Tom still has not been arrested, but the girls have already talked and they knew his name and workplace. I finally called him and he came and turned himself in....he spent 2 hrs in jail, we had been there most of the night and day! Of course at this point we are still innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Allegedly!
We all finally got out and headed to court not long after that. Had to pay for Ronald, because waving arm was broke. Got 6 months probation and 40 hrs of community service. My parents showed up a few days after we got out of jail and moved my ass back to Chillicothe. This turned out to be good because when the police confiscated the Tracker they found the banner in it which evidently also had the name of the complex we lived in plastered on it. They returned it and we got evicted.
THE END.

Stress.....

2011-03-02T20:12:00.003-06:00

Im going to put this politely.....I dont stress about things, thats why I am good at what I do. If a situation occurs that requires quick decisions I usually handle things well and it all works out. Today......didnt go quite like that. Its not that I was stressed, but things just seemed to never go right today. Im the guy that can take the heat and when things start going south remain calm and not go bonkers. Not so today. I literally left the house at 4:30am this morning and within 30 minutes spent the rest of the day pissed off.
I got home at 7:30pm kissed my wife and kids...................................................then headed to the fridge where 6 lovely Bully Porters were waiting, 3 left and I feel a little better. Tomorrow will be better!

In the middle of everything we hit the 47' mark today when I left, hope the night crew can kick some ass and we get caught back up.

Is this why mexican labor is cheaper?

Not bike related!

2011-03-01T14:08:00.004-06:00

This is what I'm doing this week. We are delivering the concrete for this non-stop pour that will last around 7 days straight. The twin grain silos will be 15' taller than the ones you see in the background. Looks like we should be done sometime Sunday morning, hopefully! Basically they gain around 1' per hour......kinda like watching grass grow. Right now we are around 22' and I spend a lot of time up on the top deck, the only way up is on some temporary scaffolding stairs. Gets pretty shaky, especially once they hit the halfway point of 70'.

This is from the top of the silo.

Above is what is needed when you have 50 guys working for 7 days straight eating nothing but Chili. Not good! They have around 10 down on the ground waiting to be lifted up.

I really need to get out and ride my bike!

The Gambler? Know when to hold them, know when to fold them!

2011-02-28T14:41:00.003-06:00

I had a very busy weekend, but somewhat relaxing. Friday saw another 6" of snow hit the area, I hear people complaining about it but hey.....its freaking winter, what do you expect?
Headed over to the Elks on Friday night for dinner and a few Budweisers.....did I say Budweisers? It was actually Bud Light Lime and all my friends called me a girl, those were surely some good times. The annual Elks State bowling tournament was in town so the lodge was overflowing with people. Derek blew up the karaoke machine pretty early in the night, which turned out to be a blessing. The 2 drunk guys singing Elvira was about all I could handle.
Margie and I headed to KC Saturday afternoon to attend the 360Racing team party and meeting. We had a great time and got to see alot of the guys and some of the new ladies that just joined the team. I managed to spend very little money which is not normal for me in a bike shop. I did however see Margie eyeing a new mountain bike, thats probably happening sometime this spring. We left BikeSource around 945pm and had already planned on staying the night, the night is getting ready to get interesting. We had no plans but as we are driving by the Ameristar I pull a 3 lane change and hit the exit. We never go to casinos but decided to go. We hit a few slots for awhile with no luck, then decided to hit the "tables". I played "Let it Ride" which is my game of choice. Margie made me get up around 215am from the table while I was way ahead! LOL. Had enough to cover gas, food, beer, and hotel for the night. So I was pleased. This did come at a price though. I had forgot that smoking is allowed in the casino, the last time I was there they didnt allow smoking at the tables but now do. Everyone at my table seemed to be taking advantage of this, especially the girl to my right. She pretty much destroyed a pack of Marlboro Reds in a few hours. Her normal procedure was to light the new cigarette off the one that was about to burn out. Good times! Sunday was our 2 yr anniversary but didnt do much but soak up the coach most of the day. We had spent the weekend on the plaza a few weeks ago to celebrate because I thought I was going to be working the weekend.
I didnt ride at all over the weekend but this week I planning on hitting the trainer hard. This week Im working from dark to dark so I wont be getting any "real rides" in. Its time to start amping up the output. I learned a hard lesson last year that I didint want to duplicate again so Im trying to keep the pace down right now. I want to peak at June/July instead of April this year. LOL. Looking forward to heading out to Virginia in a few weeks and riding my ass off. Taking the double boinger and road bike for double the pleasure.
.

Off topic thoughts?

2011-02-16T20:36:00.002-06:00

Ok I have 3 things I want to discuss tonight:
1. Treadmills and farting
2. women and cheap perfume
3. YMCA co-ed volleyball and knee pads.
Lets get straight to business. I rarely visit the YMCA unless I really need to, not for any other reason than I have my bike trainer at home, I can run or ride outside so I really dont have much need. In that rare instance that I do go I can guarantee one of two things is going to happen....1. 5 minutes into a treadmill run I have to fart. 2. Some woman is going to climb on the treadmill beside me wearing a shit load (no pun intended) of cheap perfume. The very,very rare time that both occur in the same night is considered a bad night. That pretty much covers topic 1 and 2. Lets move on to #3.
The YMCA co-ed volleyball season is well underway and I had a real good view of some games tonight while running. If you are playing in this league I only have one request: leave the knee pads at home, this is a must for all guys. Guys, if your deadset on wearing them at least wear some sweat pants or something to cover them up. One last thing, a $300 bag that would make former tennis star, Andre Agassi, jealous is not needed to tote your "things" to the game. Last time I checked 2 things were needed to play co-ed volleyball. 1. Net 2. Ball The YMCA provides both.
Im done having fun. OUT.

Vegetables only please?

2011-02-14T13:08:00.002-06:00

Margie and I like to go to places and just watch people. You can see some interesting things while observing people in restaurants or even better, bars! Saturday night we were sitting in Grinders down on 18th st. in KC. I love this place, the pizza kicks ass and they have a large variety of beer. They ran out of Boulevard Chocolate Ale about an hour before we got there, however as we buddied up with our waitress apparently one of the other waitresses had poured a glass and was waiting to drink it after her shift. Our waitress brought out a shot glass of the ale for us to at least try. It had a great taste but nothing that I would go bonkers trying to find. Enough said.
The young lady sitting beside us was apparently a vegetarian, I think it was more for show than her really being a true vegan. I laughed as she ordered her meal, no meat what so ever. It was not the idea of no meat but the fact that she was concerned about putting meat into her body but not concerned about the pack of cigarettes and the beer she was consuming. Kinda strange if you ask me. Not quite as weird as someone ordering a supersize BigMac meal with a diet coke....uhhh that makes alot more sense. LMAO.
Im hoping to get a road ride in tonight. Last year I rode my cross bike on road rides but I dont think Im going to mess with it this year. Still have lots of gravel rides and I hate changing tires back and forth, plus its still setup 1x10 with only a 39 up front, not good for the roadies that I ride with. I dont feel like changing that either. My options are to pull the old Giant OCR1 off the trainer or grab Margies Trek Madone, make a few adjustments on the seat and go for it. I know it has a nice light blue female look but im ok with my manhood right now, so I think I made up my mind.....now can I convince her?

The time has come!

2011-02-13T18:23:00.002-06:00

First of all I want to say that Im very proud of brother Darren for his lifestyle change. He has been working out and on a weight loss program from hell. Sometimes things in life make you want to do this and after reading his blog I fully understand and support him in more ways than imaginable. Congrats on that new belt hole, keep it up Darren.
I have been riding alot on gravel this winter or I guess you could call it riding on snow and ice. The main goal is to keep from gaining much weight and getting some base miles in. Coach and I have put in some hellish gravel rides in with lots of climbing. This is good. I havent really worried much about my weight while hanging around 163-165 area. The weight loss will start when the time comes.....uh wait a minute, thats the title of this blog! I like to race around 150 so I have a ways to go, but not that worried about it. I have pointed at this weekend as my last hoorah for "having fun" and I can only say this....mission accomplished! The drinking ends and the serious training begins. I have been waiting for this for about 3 months now.
Im going to focus on cross country races this year and start looking into the endurace side of mountain biking next year. I want to do the Dirty Kanza, maybe a 12 or 24 hour solo and some of the longer rides, but this year im focusing on shorter races with Berryman Epic being the exception. This race is eating at me. Last year I had a good ride but want to do better this year. Well it all starts now.....im a 6er in on Bully Porter right now with another 6er on ice, tonight is it. Im looking forward to tomorrow........the 1st day of the rest of my life.

New Training idea!!

2011-02-03T10:55:00.003-06:00

This picture sums up my new training strategy:

Any questions?

"40"

2011-01-25T09:31:00.004-06:00

I am staring 40 yrs old directly in the face. Come Saturday the 29th I add another decade to my resume'. I know people, especially women, hate getting older......but to me its just another day. I do know that im in alot better physical condition than 20 yrs ago. I have been known to live by the seat of my pants, I wouldnt call myself a loner but in the grand scheme of things I could very easily live out in the mountains somewhere far from civilization. No cell phones, no vehicles, no bills, no TV..... just wandering around carefree. I think people get into ruts sometimes and really forget how life is suppose to be. Hell, Im the worst at this. I hate schedules but our lives are consumed by them.....everyday requires us to be slaves of the grindstone. Why?
I laugh everytime someone talks about "Reality TV". Reality TV??? Are you fucking kidding me? You want "Reality TV" watch Law and Order thats actually reality! American Idol, Fattest loser, Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor, Survivor, and whatever the hell else people watch these days is not even close to reality! Reality is watching someone dig in their change to find enough money to get a few gallons of gas, Reality is looking at the unemployment rate, Reality is knowing that the U.S. is the fattest country in the world. You want reality, come to Chillicothe and I will show you a line of people waiting to get a meal in a town of 9000!
Lots of things have changed in my short 40 yrs of life and as bad I hate to say it.....things are going to change alot by the time I turn 50. Im guessing not for the better.
Im done ranting!

Its been a month?

2011-01-14T08:10:00.002-06:00

Hmmm....looks like I must have got out of the writing mood! Not alot has been going on. We had a good Christmas, then headed out on that Sunday morning with a group on the annual Arkanthaw trip. Spent 4 days riding at Eureka Springs, Syllamo, The Womble, then back to KC to finish off the trip at BURP trails. We had a few interesting moments on this trip, but I will not go into details as to protect the guilty.........uhhh I mean innocent! LOL. I did have the opportunity to ride The Womble for 32 miles in nearly single speed form. Something went wrong with my rear shifter a few miles in leaving me in the 3rd cog down and only being able to shift from big, middle, and granny gear. I nearly spun myself to death!! You singlespeeders are absolutely lunatics!
As we hit the new year things are seeming to roll along better. Ive spent some time on the bike and cut back on the Bully Porter. I like the bike part, the Bully part not so much. My weight had climbed up higher than it had been for the past 2 years so the main way to fix it is by riding more and drinking less! This method seems to work....9 pounds in the last week and half. Coach and I went on a brutally, epic gravel grinder on Wednesday. The windchill was below zero with a 20mph NW wind. I think we were heading into it the whole way. Lets just put it this way.....we werent traveling highly maintained roads. Most of the route consisted of 10 inches of virgin snow. Got in 23 miles at nearly 2.5 hrs. I think I had to much air in my tires but didnt feel like messing with it so we ventured on going down more than Monica Lewinski on Pres. Clinton........so I think you get the picture.
Trying to get out and get another one in today with the temps being just perfect to be riding in slush. Nice.

Relaxing weekend!

2010-12-13T10:31:00.003-06:00

We started out our weekend with a trip down to Applebees to grab some grub on Friday night, of course they were out of Guinness Extra Stout so I had to settle for the Sam Adams Winter Lager. Not my favorite but will get you by in a pinch.

Saturday morning we rolled out of bed and headed for Lathrop where Jax was wrestling in his first tournament. This is his first year and has only had a handful of practices so I wasnt really sure what to expect from him. The good thing is that im helping coach so I got to be matside yelling encouragement......I think I lost my voice by the end of day. I had been waiting for this day for a long time and was kinda on edge most of the morning. The couple cups of coffee didnt help much.

His first match couldnt have went any better.....overtime! Are you kidding me? I cant take it. In overtime its the first point scored to get the win. The kid shoots with his head down and Jax post the head and spins behind for the victory. I was a bit nervous and kinda teared up a bit, but thats just the nature of the sport. This was a novice tournament for only 1st and 2nd year wrestlers. They had them all set up in 3 and 4 man round robins. Jax was in a 3 man'r so he only had one more match for the day. This match went a little bit different. Jax controlled the whole match by attacking, had a couple takedowns, a 2 point nearfall and a reversal to win 8-6. The score was closer than the match. He ended up taking 1st place in his bracket and was excited....uhhh so was I.

The temps had fallen about 30 degrees while we were inside, it was cold and windy. We headed for Chillicothe. Headed over to Washington Street Food for dinner Saturday night to celebrate Dereks 25th B-Day. Had a 2 Pale Ales and headed back home to the mancave! Sunday was really relaxing, watched the Chiefs get pounded and then watched the National Cyclocross championships online. Not alot to report.

Hope everyone had a great weekend, as you can tell I still havent figured out how to post pics where I want them. I had a few people give me instructions but no panning out! OUT.

The Weekend.....

2010-12-03T15:06:00.002-06:00

Well not alot to report on this week except my blog hit an all time high for viewers on Tuesday. This pretty much sums up my week. Spent a few nights on the trainer and a few evenings down in the mancave wrenching on the broken Chili con Crosso. Im happy to report that I am becoming a decent bike wrench......I report more on that after I take it out on a shakedown ride around the block tonight!
Think Im going to get in a short, low intensity trainer ride tonight. I race early on Saturday morning so I dont want to overdo it. The Missouri cyclocross state championships are this Saturday and Kansas on Sunday. I dont know what Im doing on Sunday, I probably need to attend the family Christmas dinner that has taken place the past 35 yrs! It is in Kearney so we are thinking about staying near Zona Rosa then heading over on Sunday. Still up in the air right now.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Hmmm??

2010-12-01T11:54:00.002-06:00

Well now I dont know what the hell to do. On Monday night over a 6'er of Guinness and one of the worst MNF games ever, I decided to post on my blog. In an effort to make some "funnies" I used the wrong selection of wording.....remember the 6'er of Extra Stout Guinness? Well this is the issue......I didnt even realize people were reading these ramblings of poor grammar, bad spelling, etc. I had no idea until I clicked on this button that shows the "stats" of visitors. Hell I didnt even know their was such a button. The site keeps track of the people viewing and where they linked from. I have 3 and I repeat 3 official followers but a crap load of people are reading this. Holy crap! I had very high traffic yesterday for obvious reasons.
The problem begins....everytime I post something now I will be wondering who is reading. So do I continue to keep writing crappy, is this the reason people read it? Or do I pay more attention to being more politically correct, while concerning myself with proper writing technique? Damn.....I wish I would have never looked at the stats!

By the way.....would someone PLEASE tell me how to post pictures correctly? Everytime I post a pic it goes to the top of my page and not where I want it!

C'mon Man!

2010-11-29T19:21:00.002-06:00

As Im sitting here watching MNF pregame I decide the best part is the segment called C'mon Man. This is the segment when they go back and look at some of the not so good highlites of the weekend games. So I have come up with my own little not so good highlites of the year!
I really have to start with a race that happened on New Years Eve.

1. New Years Eve----the snow and ice was thigh deep on me and calf deep on taller guys. I was leading the race convincingly when my whole bike freezes up and will not shift. I get 2nd and then proceed to drink several cups of homebrew that someone brought to the race. Passed out at 9pm while Margie literally washed my bike in our hotel bathtub..................C'mon Man!!

2. Was called out as a sandbagger after winning the cyclocross series and bringing home the power washer....did anyone mention that the final race was on a ice skating rink with 2 foot of snow on top? ..................C'mon Man!

3. Crashed coming down the Kevinator in Oklahoma slicing my tire then deciding not to go back up and try it again...............C'mon Man!

4. Going to my 1st Cat 2 mountain bike race of the season and getting my ass kicked by someone that has raced bikes for 18 yrs still racing Cat 2...................C'mon Man!

5. Went into a non-training mode for about 3 weeks(lots of beer) then going to St Joe and pounding above mentioned dude from #4 only to get my ass handed to me by his teammate!......................C'mon Man!

6. Going to Eureka Springs, AR and getting 6th place.........................C'mon Man.

7. Getting back into some good training, going to race at Perry Lake.....spending the evening in Lawrence at 23rd St. Brewery with my wife while only drinking 2 beers the night before race. Torture the whole field by 6 minutes then finding out it doesnt get turned into USACycling because I forgot to write down my license number.....................C'mon Man!

8. Spending 2 weeks working on trails at Crowder then not getting to race because of work................C'mon Man!

9. Two DNF's at Swope parks weekend of racing.............................C'mon Man.

10. Thinking of getting serious when February hits......getting rid of all of my bad habits before then!.............................really.................................C'MON MAN!

2 days in a row??

2010-11-15T13:18:00.004-06:00

Its been awhile since I have got in 2 days of racing in a row....and lets just say that after yesterday these limbs were feeling it. Took off with James Saturday towards Heartland Park in Topeka. To say they had a little rain was an understatement. People were coming off the course and tires wouldnt turn and bikes covered with huge chunks of clay.....and that was just in warmups. It appeared that this would require a lot of running.....and I wasnt wrong. I jumped in the 30+ Masters race and toed the line with 10 others. I got a great start and lead for most of the 1st lap. My bike was collecting a lot of mud and finally had to stop and clear it all out, my front wheel wouldnt even spin. The main section was down in the dirt track infield and it was muddy!!! Lots of running. I ran the bike every lap back up exiting the track and it felt like you had 50# weights strapped to your feet, it sucked! There was a 30ft section that was holding a lot of water so every lap I steamrolled through it trying to knock off some mud, it seemed to help. I ended up stopping 4 or 5 times to clean out the front fork....and ended up 2nd place. I talked to Dennis Grell after the race, the winner, and he said that he only stopped once. He has a custom built bike with a huge amount of front clearance! Im probably going to have something different next year! Just sayin....
On Sunday morning we headed over to Leavenworth, Ks and the race venue at ST Marys college. This place is awesome and is considered one of the best venues in the midwest. The course seemed longer than most but it could have been the hell I put my legs through the night before in Topeka. My legs felt heavy and not much power while pre-riding. They changed the lineup around a bit and start the 45+ first, then the 3/4's, then finally the 35+. I got a good start and hit the course in 3rd. Fell back to 4th pretty quickly and stayed there most of the first 2 laps....then 2 guys came railroading up to me quickly. I jumped on their wheel and we all 3 traded back and forth the rest of the way in. The last half of the final lap was painful, we kept trying to drop each other. We finally dropped one of the guys, and the other sucked my wheel all the way to the cobblestone finish. The finish was probably 300 yds of cobblestone paving. We hit that I waited to see what he was going to do, he didnt make a move so I stood and attacked. He didnt even try to come with me, I sprinted all the way to make sure and nearly puked as I crossed the line!!! Ended up 4th and had 3 very strong riders finish in front of me. I was happy to a certain extent....I just keep reminding myself of the DNF's and all the 11th and 12th place finishes early on this season.
Things are starting to come together for me and its exciting to get my first podium of cross season....it wasnt the top, but close. The group is headed up to Lincoln this weekend for the races, the Lincoln races was probably the 2nd best of last years races with Jingle Rock clearly the best. I will be headed to Hutchison to my nephews 1st birthday with the family. I hope to earn enough brownie points this week and possible sneak away early Sunday morning and catch a race in KC that afternoon. We will have to see how that works out. I will definetly be traveling back to Iowa City the weekend of Thanksgiving to try out Jingle Cross race again.
Until then......ride a bike, not a horse......suckas.

This weather rocks!

2010-11-10T10:22:00.003-06:00

The weather here is amazing right now, just wish the darkness didnt settle in so early. We have been working dark to dark so not much time to get out and ride. However, i have snuck a few late night rides in on my trainer.....and before any of you perverts respond, my trainer is a bike, not my wife!! LMAO.
Looks like the weather is getting ready to change with a 90% chance of rain on Friday. This actually benefits me in race conditions. Last year i was getting my ass handed to me early on in cross when the courses were geared toward the roadies, then when the rain, snow and ice hit the party started. I think I ended the season with a 4th, 2nd, 2nd, and a 1st. All in crappy weather conditions! I cant even remember the last time I rode my cross bike, but I do know its been awhile. We are headed to Topeka and Leavenworth to race this weekend, and just realized that the Topeka race is at night......uhhh ya, I likey! I missed this race last year while being in Colorado Springs visiting Cory. Looked like I was missing this year, but things came together and Im going to be there.
Someone asked me the other day... "How can you tell the difference between roadies and mountain bikers at Cross races?" My answer...."Pretty simple, roadies usually drink a recovery drink after they race. Mountain bikers most generally drink beer afterwards, and sometimes before!" Just sayin....
Headed to Smithville to do a night ride with the Smithvillians.....I may take some pics, if I remember. OUT!

Relaxing weekend!

2010-11-08T11:44:00.002-06:00

Well it was kind of relaxing.....the Tigers and Chiefs both gave me heartattacks. Got up Saturday morning and started planning a early afternoon ride at Indian Creek. Met James at 1pm and we were off. The trails are in excellent shape right now and we had a great time. I head for home and get a phone call from Margie "telling" me what she had planned for us that evening. LOL. Met her out at Randy and Kathy Prices house for some awesome food and MU Tigers action. Knowing I was going to be in a sea of Bud Light and Natty Light I stopped and got a 6'er of Bully Porter, Imagine that!!! Things were going good with a 14 point onslaught from the Tigers offense then it went to hell. 6'er gone pretty quickly!!! I headed for the fridge in the garage to grab a Bud Light Lime.......oh yea, some Boulevard Pale Ale. The bottles were covered in dust so they had been there awhile. Things were starting to look up. The DD got us home safe and sound.
Sunday pretty much started out the same way.....planning a ride. Didnt materialize and decided to go work on trails. Got in 4 hrs of work and headed home to what ended up being another disappointment....Chiefs choked and lost in overtime. Should have stayed and worked on trails! Oh well.
I took the weekend off of racing.....just seem to be down in that area right now. Just didnt feel like racing. Did have a good time riding my bike on Saturday. Going to Smithville on Wednesday night to get in a night ride with a few guys. That trail system is awesome and wish we could have 30-40 guys/gals show up for a ride here. I was encouraged seeing a few new people out using the Campground loop Sunday....maybe we can get some new trail workers along with it. LOL. (not holding breath)
I look forward into the future of bike racing for me and Im starting to put together a plan. At this time Im not going into details but it does include the months of June and July, some sandbagging and no Bully Porter after Jan. 1st!! OUT!

Its cold...

2010-11-02T12:58:00.002-05:00

Woke up this morning to go to work and the outside reading was 31 deg....not ready for this. Looking forward to wrestling practice tonight, its been a long time since I have worn the coaching shoes!! Took my USAWrestling coaches test last night....the test was pretty simple but the whole coaching philosophy has changed alot over the last 15 yrs. Its my understanding after doing the 4 hrs of online coaching clinic that is now not proper etiquette to coach your wrestler during a match to attack his opponents weaknesses. WTF??? Are you F'n kidding me? I dont know how well Im going to do with this philosophy. The kids practice all week to go and COMPETE on the weekends....its a competition. If your child cant take it, maybe practice a bit harder or look into ballet lessons. I have the Ballet Arts phone number so you can get them registered. Hey its part of the sport, gotta be thick skinned.
I remember walking off the floor of the Hearnes Center after getting beat in the State championship match.....the whole Excelsior Springs team and crowd was cheering and yelling at me because they were glad that I lost. I had to walk right past them and not say anything even though I wanted to fly them the bird! It is what it is! OUT.

All work, no play!

2010-11-01T11:36:00.002-05:00

We have been very busy this fall compared to last so I havent been on the bike much as of late. Looks like it could get worse with the time change coming and 5pm darkness. I finally got my Giant road bike fixed and its going on the trainer tonight, not the best situation but Im getting some training in one way or another. Its not that bad, I have a tv downstairs where I can either watch a movie or pumped up the Sirius music channels. I love cranking out intervals while listening to the BPM station. I need to do a better job of protecting my bike from sweat, its really starting to rust up...when I climb off after 60-90 minutes workouts the carpet is abs0lutely soaked, maybe I need to get some plastic to stick under it.
I plan on racing both days of the next 2 weekends of cross. All 4 events are a blast, but the main goal is to start riding well heading into Thanksgiving weekend and Jingle Cross. We went last year and had a blast....if you hear about the hill there, just believe it! I think so far this year the best finish I have had is 11th, not acceptable but I know why and the rest just involves fixing it.
The leaves have mostly fallen and looks like a good week to get out and blow all the trails for some good fall riding. I plan on hitting the Campground loop tonight and take care of my section. This is the only section we have open during deer season so I need to make sure its in primo condition. This time of year is amazing, I actually like it better than Spring. The leaves have changed and fallen leaving the timber almost bare where you can see lots of things you cant see during the summer months. We have an awesome trail system here and sounds like it could get better real soon!
Well since I really dont have any race reports I going to shut the hell up....Jax starts wrestling practice on Tues and Thurs nights this week. I get the opportunity to help coach and looking forward to this. Exciting stuff!

Berryman Epic 2010.....Painfest!

2010-10-26T10:01:00.003-05:00

The journey began Thursday evening after we got a late start out of Chilli. I got a text from James that they had room for us in their cabin if we wanted to drive on down, but honestly after the week I had at work I was exhausted and we decided to stop in Columbia. Jumped up Friday morning around 6am and headed the rest of the way. On arrival James and Coach were getting their bikes out to do some maintenance, so I needed to do a few things to mine also. Its tough to work on bikes without having a few cold ones. 9:30AM....this was shaping up to be another Swope Park disaster. I really didnt head down to Berryman with many expectations. Working from dark to dark the past month has not allowed for much training time. I was along for the fun and hanging out, getting away from work and Chillicothe. Coach and I ended up getting in around 10 miles of riding Friday afternoon. The rest of the day was spent eating and relaxing.....and lots of adult beverage.
I didnt sleep well and woke up alot during the night....each time I would down a bottle of water, probably didnt help the peeing situation but I was trying to get re-hydrated. Finally 630 came and I sprung out of bed (more like rolled out of bed) and headed for the waiting pancakes Margie had ready for me. I didnt feel bad at all but was not really looking forward to the sufferfest that was quickly aproaching. I keep all of my GU packs, Shot Bloks, etc in a tupperware container which I had apparently left out on the deck with the top off. You guessed it.....raccoons got it. Luckily I had extra stored away, but the thought of a rabid, GU addicted raccoon running around didnt make things any better. Wonder what he looked like about 10 minutes after eating a Chocolate GU and a whole pack of Cliff Shot Bloks? LOL. We headed for the racers meeting and it was announced that the start would be signaled by a "firecracker"! Pretty sure that thing wasnt a BlackCat Firecracker.....I began looking around to make sure we werent getting attacked by terrorist. The start was just like I planned....painful! The 3 mile climb up the gravel to the singletrack was just like I remembered from last year. I jumped on the trail with alot of people so it was basically a man train in the timber. Came into the 1st big climb and everyone jumped off and started walking....WTF? It was very rideable, I rode it last year. I started getting pissed because they stayed right in the middle of trail not allowing anyone to ride past. I finally jumped off my bike, shouldered it and sprinted up on the side passing 5 or 6 people. Thank you Cyclocross! I came into the 1st checkpoint at Brazil Creek around the 10 mile marker and could see James just up ahead. I continued to gain and finally caught his wheel when I went down hard on a steep downhill, loose rock, switchback. I finally jumped back on but couldnt really pedal with my right leg. Im covered in blood and my shin was killing me, I finally pulled over and shook it off, grabbed a GU and took back off. Couple more miles and the pain was gone.
I worked my way back up to James and caught him right as we were pulling into the Berryman camp the 1st time. We were met by our wives to restock water bottles and nutrition. Nutrition??? Ya right! I grabbed water and a bottle of Sustained Energy and took back off. This next section was around 19 miles or so with around 6 miles of logging road and gravel. I was starting to feel better at this point. I was going hard when I could and just trying to stay at a rideable pace for me. I cramped in my legs a few time during this section but suprisingly not bad at all....considering my lack of training and all that had took place the day before. The long climb into the 3rd checkpoint was starting to take its toll on me. I got to the 3rd checkpoint and stopped to down some water and SE. I was looking very forward to some road riding from here back to Berryman. I took off and hit the big ring and was riding with a few guys that came up on me while I was at the 3rd station. I rode with them for about a mile then took off and rode alone. I was buzzing along pretty good up the climbs and had a hardtime relaxing on the downhills. I was starting to cramp, but as long as I was pedaling it seemed fine. The second I quit my legs were hurting badly. I kept pedaling the whole time, which normally I try to recover a bit while going downhill. Not happening today, had to pedal to keep from hurting. I came off the gravel and hit the pavement on some fast road section all downhill. I was in big ring/little ring combo and flying. I came into a straight section of road where I could see someone way up from me....I recognized the team kit. I kept hammering it and as we started the long road climb into the last checkpoint I had caught Mitch, honestly I would have never imagined in a million years Id see him after he flew by me in the initial climb at the start. He's had an amazing year with great results in alot of the endurance races. We talked for a bit while coming in and I remember mentioning that I had to make a decision when we got to the top whether I had another 19 miles in me or not. Margie switched out my bottles for me again then said coach had just left about a minute before I got in. Decision made....I took off. This section is by far the most technical of the whole course, but alot of fun. Really rooty and rocky with alot of switchbacks. I finally came up on coach and he was cramping badly. He let me by and just grinned. I figured the way I was feeling he'd work through the cramps and come back to me. I just set into a nice pace. I spun out in some loose rock on a climb and had to jump off and run the bike up. I dont know if this stretched my legs just the right way or something, but when I got back on the bike my legs were feeling pretty good. I picked up the pace and rode with a guy all the way to the last major cimb. This was going to be the test of the legs.....this is one crazy long climb. The only thing good about it is you know when you get to the top its a 6 mile gravel ride to the finish! Got to the top and hit the big ring and took off. I was riding pretty good but kept looking back expecting to see either coach or Mitch or both coming up on me. I get to the bottom and have the finish line within 300yds. I hear Molly yelling "lets go Doug, your almost finished!" Im like son of a bitch he caught me and is coming hard. I turn around and no one is in sight behind me. I then realize she seen the 360 jersey and thought it was him, so did everyone else. I finished the race and pretty much collapsed. Margie took my bike and grabbed a Coke from the cooler......it tasted awesome! She takes pretty damn good care of me! I just sat there off in the grass by the finish line with both legs locked up. Finished in 5hrs 27 min.....a mere 40 minutes faster than last year.
Like i mentioned earlier I had no real expectations going in. My main goal was to try and find the heart I use to have. Suffer and not quit. Go into the pain cave! Id say that goal was a success with something now to build on. The post race was as expected......great BBQ and a trailer with several beer taps coming out the side. When you see an enclosed trailer full of cold kegs pull in after doing 56 miles of hell it can only make you smile!

Wooly Worms......

2010-10-20T10:57:00.002-05:00

Ok, what the hell is wrong with the wooly worm? Anyone that drives in rural Missouri at this time of year encounters the wooly worm invasion. Im not sure of the old farmers wisetale but something to do with when its going to snow or how far winter is off......hell I dont know. What is it that makes all the wooly worms want to cross the highway at the same time. Its like a switch in the little wooly worms brain that says "hey, lets all go try to make it across the highway at the sametime going in random directions." They have thousands and thousands of acres they can crawl their little wooly bodies around on but they insist on hitting the highways and getting their asses splattered everywhere. I dont get it. We have Gary Lezak and StormTracker channel 5 to let us know when its going to snow, so next year when your little wooly friends say lets try to cross the highway and let the good folks know its going to snow in 6 weeks you just tell them too F' off and go crawl around the grassy fields!!!! Random!

Pains.....WTH?

2010-10-19T14:26:00.002-05:00

I was sitting in my office the other morning enjoying a nice large cup of coffee, the thought ran through my head of pain. I can not remember a time in my life where I have had so many nagging pains. These arent injuries, Im just talking about pains that never seem to go away. My right shoulder is still sore as hell from my header at Swope over the log during our Friday morning pre-ride, to the point its tough to reach around and pull my seat belt on. I have to visit alot of jobsites that require steel toe boots, my company gives me a boot allowance every year so I wear them. My right foot lately seems like it is rubbing on the steel part, no rawness ( i dont know if rawness is a word but its my blog and I wanted to use it) but it hurts like hell. Just this morning I climb out of my truck at a job and i get all tangled up with this evil, devil like cat. Everytime I would almost get away he would jump right back into my feet. I danced with this cat for at least 30 secs, in the process I must have moved the wrong way because now my neck feels out of place. I know its not but it feels this way....a couple of Aleve and hot shower and this pain will go away by tomorrow. Hopefully. For some reason the older we get the longer it sticks around nagging away! This reminds me of a time when I was much younger and probably abit tougher. Short story, I promise.
It was my senior year and we were at the always tough Oak Grove Wrestling Classic. This tournament was usually one of the toughest throughout the year in the state of Missouri. I was ranked 2nd in the 125# bracket which normally pissed me off, but in this case I should have been ranked 2nd. Earlier in the tournament I had my ribs cranked on pretty hard and it felt as if someone was sticking a knife in my side and twisting the hell out of it. Hard to breathe to say the least. I actually lost that match, but luckily this tournament format allowed a person to work his way back into the championship, which I was successful at. I hurt very badly. Districts and State tourney were just a few weeks off and in todays standards probably would have been pulled from the tournament and rested it for Districts. Im telling you this....it would have took an act of god to get me to forfeit that championship match. Heres some background info on my oponent. His name was Mark Palmer from Pleasant Hill. I can honestly say he was the meanest SOB that i ever remember wrestling. If you took Hulk Hogan and stuffed him into a 5' and 125# body that is what he looked like. Kinda scary looking really. Im not sure but I think he ended up winning a few state titles and I sure he took 2nd in the Cadet Greco Roman Nationals.
I think alot of the crowd and coaching staffs anticipated this matchup. This was back in the day when they actually did the championship finals on one mat in front of the whole gym. Most of anyone that new either of us realized this was going to be more than a wrestling match......it was going to be an outright fucking war. We did not disappoint, at the end of regulation we were headed for 3 more periods of overtime....all even! I remember thinking that their was probably only a handful of people in that gym that gave me a chance to win that match, unfortunately for Palmer I was one of the believers. Overtime was just as nasty as the initial match, we both were banged up pretty badly. Finally they raised my hand as the victory was overshadowed by the pain. I remember laying on gym floor gasping for air like it was yesterday. I will never forget that pain, but I will never ever forget another part of that day. Pain is just temporary, it eventually goes away so when someone bets against you then its time to prove them wrong. I probably should have not won that wrestling match. He was faster, stronger and a better technician than me.....but i suffered the pain and had more heart and these are 2 things that I would never bet against. The question???? Can I once again dig into the pain cave and make things happen? Im not suffering well right now, its very obvious......hell of a time for this to be happening. I have a few more months of cyclocross to make it happen. What do you think? Word of advice.....dont bet against me! OUT

The weekend......

2010-10-08T16:19:00.004-05:00

Looks like we are headed over to support the Hornets at their homecoming game tonight. Its been a long week and Im ready to relax, we are going to a friends house for some eats and a couple pre-game brews. Tomorrow Im leaving early to go and get a mountain bike ride in over at Indian Creek, then looks like honey-do list at the house. Boring. LOL. Sunday morning its off to KC for "Cross out Cancer" cyclocross race. Probably do the Cat 3 race later in the afternoon, but leaving early Sunday morning to go root on the rest of the 360Racing team. I've had a good week of workouts and things are progressing along nicely, hopefully I will be peaking around the end of Oct and into early November....we'll see.

Boss Cross #1 and #2

2010-10-04T11:30:00.002-05:00

Well about halfway to KC on Saturday morning Margie asked me if I had my camera....uhh, nope it was still in my room. So no pics again.
Boss Cross #1 finished just like most of my other races the past month....DNF. I was not happy. Im still not suffering well, but my legs are starting to come around. We headed over to Zona Rosa to do some shopping and stopped at Minskys for some appetizers and a couple Ranger IPA's. Forgetting it was NASCAR weekend, we headed over to the Super 8 to get a room where they informed me that the room was going to be $159. I started laughing. Seriously, they wanted $159 for a damn room that usually goes for around $70. I was actually pissed, but then went out to the truck and booked a room right up the road for $116 at the Hampton Inn. Lot nicer room with a good breakfast. Ended at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and a couple of tallboy Boulevard Pale Ales.
Boss Cross #2 turned out alot better. I decided on Saturday afternoon to try out the Cat 3 race instead of the Masters class. This race is 60 minutes of hell, in a fun kind of way. 2 reasons for the change....1. I have not had good luck in the Masters class with all DNF's and 2. I need some more seat time with the Berryman Epic right around the corner. Another story of its self. I ended up 11th and feel that some podiums are right around the corner....come on snow and ice! LOL.
Looks like a race in Shawnee Mission Park this Sunday so hopefully I can get things back on track and get going.

Boss Cross kinda weekend!!!

2010-10-01T14:15:00.002-05:00

Well we are headed to Riverside, Mo this weekend to get in 2 days of cyclocross racing, pretty pumped to say the least. I will try to remember and bring the camera along. The kids will be along for the journey, traveling with them is usually pretty simple.....they usually only require that the hotel has a pool. Simple enough.
Received an email today letting us know that 360 Racing has a new warmup tent that we be up at the race venue this weekend. This is pretty cool along with the fact that all my new team kits have arrived and I will be sporting the new duds. Hope everyone has a great weekend....Im heading to sufferfest that comes with cyclocross. Its a blast in its own little painful way. OUT.

Im out of Bubble Gum.....

2010-09-30T12:23:00.002-05:00

The next race that I go to I am going to get to the starting line and yell......"I am here to kick ass and chew bubble gum....and im fresh out of bubble gum." LMAO.

Its a trick!!

2010-09-27T14:25:00.003-05:00

Well after much discussion with the wife over a few cold ones Friday night I decided not to put her on the spot. I made the decision not to race Sunday and stick up to my end of the deal. We would spend a race free weekend in KC shopping and visiting a few of our favorite watering holes. That being said...Saturday morning came with a few trickery questions. We are packing all our clothes when the question was tossed at me......" I washed all of your race clothes last night, so would you rather race Sunday?" Now let me tell you, the answer to this question is important but not nearly as important as HOW you answer. Lots of guys fall for this trickery, but a sharp guy like me can see this coming from a mile away. The important part of this answer is to not hesitate....one small hesitation before answering and you are hosed. Woman is smarter than man and they try to bait us.....fortunately for us, we have street smarts! Of course my answer was a quick "No racing for me this weekend" as gave her a kiss and went about my business. Learn something from me guys!!!
We headed off to Minskys by Zona Rosa. I love the pizza and they have a good quantity of beer on tap. I went with the New Belgium Ranger IPA, now I had had this in the bottled version before and wasnt that impressed...but the draft version was very tasty. We stayed most of the afternoon and watched football on the 30 screens. We ended up staying in Village West next to our favorite beer place.....The YardHouse. This place has over 100 beers on tap....a beer drinkers heaven. We grabbed a nap, then headed over. Knocked out some mexican food, then off to the YardHouse. We both were very tired and full so we didnt stay long. Margie enjoyed a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, while I went for the O'dells Cutthroat Porter.....very nice!!
We had a great weekend and nice not having to worry about racing. Looks like I will be making up for it the next several months with a lot of racing left. This weekend has races on both Saturday and Sunday!!! Uhhhh....it was 45 degrees when I went to work this morning!! OUT

Life Challenged???

2010-09-24T08:27:00.003-05:00

Well its been awhile and lots has happened. Let me start out by giving some quick, uneventful updates without pics! One day I will figure out how to post pics in my blog without it always ending up at the top, I wasnt paying attention that day during "Internet Nerd 101".
Doug and I raced our bikes in Jeff City a few weeks ago....this race was pretty uneventful, we started in 5th place and ended up in 4th, not alot to report except that we had fun riding our bikes fast. The laps were in the 35 min. area and we both agreed that it was great cyclocross training. It was not fast, flowy but more of a stop and go style of course. This race was the beginning of what us northerners like to call becoming "life challenged". The few weeks leading up to the KC Cup was not good for me. Lots of work and not alot of time training. I knew while pre-riding that I was in trouble. I love the course and usually ride well there, but my fitness was not at race level. Its funny how 2 weeks off can do that, or was it the beer? So too make matters worse I spend about 6 hrs on Friday mowing the CX course with our big DR mower, to the point that my arms were still shaking Saturday morning, or was it the 12 hrs of beer? Uhhh...or both. Who cares?? It needed to be done, so I finished mowing and fell asleep Friday night promptly on a very cozy concrete slab. LOL. I had 2 things happen to me that weekend at Swope that I have never had happen while racing. 1. I flatted during the cross race....DNF. 2. I quit on Sunday during the cross country race. I can understand and accept the flat, but never and I mean never will I understand that stunt on Sunday....the hell of it is, I was leading when I pulled the plug. I let 2nd and 3rd by and waved my buddy Jason on by who was in 4th at the time. I was redlining and for some odd reason had no desire to be on my bike. This course requires complete focus are things can go badly real quickly.....I was not even close to being focused. I had alot of time to think about it, then I had 1.5 hrs drive home that I played the whole event over in my head and still dont understand....the positive thing is I have been riding and running every night, things are changing. Im feeling better and have made an effort to get better, it will happen this I can promise.
Im going to go off topic and share with you my very interesting morning. 1st I need to give you a little background info. I dont really get into discussing politics, when the topic starts I usually zip it, no real reason with the exception knowing that no matter what I say im not changing your view and more than likely vice versa. That being said, my wife and I agree that we are people watchers. This is alot of fun and we can go just about anywhere and entertain ourselves by just watching people. Pretty cheap entertainment. This kinda pertains to my situation this morning, kinda....kinda not. Im in the convenience store getting some coffee around 5:30 this morning, when some guy I didnt recognize starts going off loudly on Obama. This very large man is at the counter with a carton of smokes, a roll of cans of chewing tobacco and the largest mug of soda I have ever laid my eyes on. This man is loudly voicing his displeasure of Obama while using lots of profanity and racial slurs. "Obamas breaking me" "Obamas killing me with these gas prices." Obama this, Obama that!!!! The clerk was an older lady and I thought she was going to cry when he verbally attacked her. He looked at her and said "its all your fault, you voted for that F'n (insert racial slur). I was so shocked that my mouth must have been wide open...then it happened, one of my downfalls....I spoke before I thought about it. "hey asshole, its not her fault your fat and unhappy. It appears that with the $60 you just spent on smokes and chew that your doing a great job of killing yourself, you dont need Obamas help." It was at this point of dead silence that I figured I was getting ready to get my ass kicked, but instead he grumbled something and walked out. I was very tired and wasnt in the mood, so I dont know if he noticed that are my 155# of badass scared him.....since he was 350#, im guessing he decided he didnt want to go to jail for killing me. Im not sure.
Im not sure right now about this weekend. Margie and I had planned on getting away for the weekend but its looking like work is going to be happening on Saturday. Not sure what the plan is for racing. Have a cross race in KC on Sunday, but thats my wifes decision if I race or not. This is her weekend. My 12 yr old daughter summed it up best last night......shes at her moms this weekend and she asked what me and Margie were doing this weekend. I explained to her that we were going to KC to hang out and maybe race on Sunday. She said "dad you have good bike skills, but you need to work on your husband skills!!! This is suppose to be Margies weekend." Very intelligent girl!!!! OUT!!!

2010 Cruise the Blues!!!

2010-08-30T12:36:00.003-05:00

Im only going to say this one time......the central Kansas wind was brutal!!!! I teamed up for the 2nd year in a row with Doug Long for the 5 hr team duo. Last year we brought home the bronze in a hard fought battle with some very tough competition.....this year was no different except we moved up 1 spot to bring home the silver!!!! The day started out with DL trying to convince me to take the starting leg. I figured this was a bad idea....he is a very strong rider from start to finish. Im a very slow starter and get going the further I go. This race is important to get a fast start so you dont get stuck man-training in the 1st section of single track, that being said I finally talked him into it. What transpired over the day is something I didnt really think about......none of the duo teams made the cutoff to start a 6th lap so my day ended with 2 laps while DL had to get in a 3rd lap. I handed the baton off to him with 53 minutes left in the race......at that point the fastest lap was 56 minutes from any of the racers.....so unless he knocked down a 53 min lap I wasnt going to be able to get a 3rd lap. We both got in 3 laps last year, but the lap times were faster do to NO wind!!!! After calculating this math several times I headed for the showers knowing he was going to have to kill it to make it back in time!!!! He got to the finish line and I greeted him.....after showering and drinking a cold Bully Porter!!!! And a cheeseburger.....that was very good but my stomach wasnt taking it well.....hell I had a hard time getting the Bully down!!!!

The wind was hell.....Ive only been racing alittle over a year but I can not remember a time that I rode in wind like this. This race has alot of open riding where you arent in the comfort of trees!!! One hill was like riding backwards....felt like you werent moving at all!!! Once again the after race meal was great...pulled pork sandwiches and all the sides.....along with several dessert options!!!! By the time the awards ceremony was over....I was exhausted and ready for bed. We stayed up and listened to the blues band for awhile but called it an early night. I fought off leg cramps all day which is pretty unusual for me...but i would say that my nutrition before and during the race was the culprit. That is one thing I need to work on!!!

Well another Cruise the Blues is in the books. Looks like we are headed over to Jeff City to race this weekend where DL and I will be teaming up again in the 6 hr duo!!!!! Im guessing I will be leading out this one.....what you think???

No News here!!!!

2010-08-26T13:19:00.002-05:00

Not alot to report lately except that Ive been riding the hell out of my bike every chance I get. The temps have finally lowered and the rain has slowed for now with an amazing forcast for the next 10 days.....almost fall like mornings this week.
My legs are starting to come back and actually got in a 7.5 mile run last week. The knees and back are really holding together pretty good. I didnt get to race at RIM due to work obligations but I did get to go up and help with various work details, which included setting out the tiki torches on the race course........Still cant believe someone stole my torches!!! Oh wait a minute, maybe I just misplaced them momentarily. I think the heat was getting to me!!!! Oh wait minute, maybe it wasnt the heat.....maybe it was the Bully, the Creme Stout, the Schaflys that got me......long story short around 9pm I lay down to take a 15 minuter that turned into a 7am'er the next morning. Special thanks go out to the Team Momentum peeps for the Schaflys, the Boulevard race team for the Creme Stout....you all rock!!
Went out to Spiderfest last Saturday afternoon at Smithville Lake.....they had a huge rain storm on Friday so Doug and Jeri, and me and Margie opted for the paved trail route. The ladies cut off early and we got in a real lung buster after we left the trails and jumped on the highways back to the venue. LOTS, and I repeat LOTS of food and beer at this event with over $6000 worth of raffle items.....which I won none of as usual!!!! Margie and I camped there and came home Sunday morning. Pretty much slept most of the day on Sunday after an exhausting work week, then off to Jaimes pool party on Sunday evening.
We are leaving Friday afternoon for the middle of nowhere Kansas to race at the always fun event, Cruise the Blues. This is not only a race but more of a festival!! Its on a huge farming operation of private land with over 13 miles of sweet single track.......when I say its in the middle of nowhere, I mean its in the middle of nowhere!!!! You literally leave the highway and drive 12 miles down a gravel road to get to this farm!!! The best part of the whole deal is that all the farmers and family come to the after race party bringing tons of food and drink. Its like an old fashioned barn raising without the barn raising.....everyone comes and helps, then eat and drink while listening to the blues band that sits atop a stage made of hay bales!!! It rocks. Once you attend, its on your race calendar every year as a dont miss race. I will be teaming up again with D. Long and racing the 5hr duo race......we place 3rd last year behind some of the top riders in this area. This year looks even tougher!!! I will have full race report and pics when we get back!!! OUT!!!

A good week?? You decide!!!

2010-08-02T09:00:00.006-05:00

The week started out good for me, we got in a very good 20.5 mph avg road ride which felt good. I got home and was checking some emails and I had 1 really exciting one. It was an invite to join the 360 Racing team, I thought about it for nearly 2 seconds and gladly accepted. To be honest, I didnt sleep much Monday night and wished I had waited til Tuesday to check emails....LOL. Tuesday night I went out and got some trail work done on the Campground Loop while Margie rode my bike.....Ya....shes now grounded from my bike!!!! Honestly though, she really doesnt wreck it as much as I do, but when she does it pretty painful. She now has a softball size bruise on her leg, one on her butt and shoulder. NICE. On Wednesday night Coach, James, Mitch and I took off on a epic ride. Lots of trees down and debris. We got to the top turned around and had a storm chasing us all the way back, unfortunately it caught us. It rained hard and we got out with minimal damage to the trails. Coach went back on Thursday and cut out the trees!!

Now things got really interesting on Friday night. Margie and I went to dinner and had a few drinks. This is when I met my new best friend. I met him while he was riding his bike through the gas station parking lot. Although we instantly bonded, I doubt that our friendship will materialize much further. For one, I dont even know his name and secondly he doesnt speak English!!!! I gave him a good lecture on not wearing his helmet while riding, he kept shaking his head up and down. It was at this point I realized he had no idea in hell what I was saying. Its all good tho, he did give me a kodak moment.

Saturday I picked up coach and we headed for Crowder to start prepping for the upcoming race. Trails were fairly good shape besides being wet. Got all the trees cut out and ready to start doing some trimming and reroutes. Margie and I spent some alone time together in Lawrence Saturday night and drove over to Perry Lake on Sunday morning to race.

Anyone that knows the kind of competitor that I am knows that I wasnt happy at all with my performance at Eureka Springs a few weeks back. It was my fault for lack of training but the last few weeks have been a bit different and Im starting to get back. I felt great while racing and could have went more. We had the largest group in the Cat 2 30-39 of the whole event.....and unfortunately for the other competitors I unleashed 2 weeks of anger buildup from the Eureka disaster. I had 1 hr and 15 minutes to release in the big chainring the whole way. Towards the end of the 1st lap I locked out both the front and rear suspension, which proved to be a slight mistake from the way my body feels this morning. I was flying down the rocky descents bouncing off anything in my way. I ended up finishing just a little under 6 min. in front of 2nd place. So I guess the training and the fact the Boulevard stocks have dropped really paid off.

Why??? Because its my blog!!!

2010-07-30T14:34:00.002-05:00

This is one of the worst movies I have ever watched!!! Hated it so much that I went out and bought it....that being said, it is so dumb that I laughed my ass off the whole movie. Here is my favorite part!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVMg9jlSIeM

Trail work at Crowder tomorrow in prep for RIM, then off to Perry Lake, KS to race on Sunday!!! Have a great weekend!!!

A Fine Line......

2010-07-28T12:34:00.002-05:00

As I was writing the title of this post I had a random thought, which is pretty common for me.....but I was thinking of the amount of bikes sitting in my basement and the price of each. I high recommend not doing this because it can scare you. I dont know how many times I've heard....." I cant believe you spent that much on a bicycle....and it dont even have a motor on it!!!" The only response I can think of is......"you should have seen what my last hobby cost." I remember back in my racecar days. We had just stuck a brand new engine in the car at a cost of $6000 and on the second night of racing it the whole bottom end scattered down the front stretch at US 36 speedway. I had more holes in the oil pan than a chunck of Swiss cheese. Nothing was saved......talk about wanting to hurl!!!! Unfortunately that wasnt the last time that it happened!!! So when I think about spending $16,000+ a year racing cars.........spending $4000 on a bike isnt so bad. The only motor that can blow up on it is the operator!!! Uhhh unfortunately that has happened a time or two also.....but its alot cheaper!!! Hell that was random....im way off track of what the original topic was to be. No need of changing now.....maybe that topic should be for another day.
The past few weeks I have been getting alot of riding in and starting to get back into race shape. To say that I wasnt happy with my performance in Eureka Springs last week would be an understatement. I knew going in that the last few months I hadnt been training very hard and that I wasnt going to be a contender. That being said... I still wasnt happy. If you are a competitor and it doesnt bother when you dont do good, you will always be mediocre....and thats fine for some people but not me. Im really starting to shift my focus for the last race of the UFD series in Swope Park. Im setting in on a training block that should help....that course is very demanding and requires more than riding skill and endurance....it requires alot of strength, lots of lifting and lunging. Then of course we jump right into cross season which is an entirely different animal. Cross is the main reason I came into the early season mountain bike races so strong. The race season ended in the middle of January and I continued the training right into the mountain bike season with not really taking any time off. The middle of May my legs felt like garbage and I felt like I was going backwards.....the heartrate was elevated which is abnormal for me. I knew it was time for some rest. I pretty much went overboard on taking some time off the bike....which some of was unavoidable with my crazy work schedule this summer. I however did get to spend some time with the Fam and get some trail work in. So all was not lost.....except the cash I was spending on Boulevard Bully Porter!!!! Im sorry to report that Boulevards sales have slightly dropped the past few weeks.....LOL, But so has my waist size!!! Hey...it had some water in it!!
Looks like a good ride coming on tonight with some of my now 360Racing teammates, coach and James. It always sucks being the 3rd fastest guy in a group when their is only 3 guys in the group!!! Im OUT!!!

My fingers have been broken!!!!

2010-07-14T16:02:00.004-05:00

Jaime at Hollywood Studios.....but the lady to the right does have a sweet camel toe working!!

Its been forever since I have posted.....sorry to my total of 3 followers!!! LMAO. I really havent been doing much the past 2 months except work. I havent raced since Rhetts Run, which is not good. I spent a week in Disney with Jaime which was fun and now Im actually getting to spend some time back on my bike. Wow.....2 days in a row. Heading off to Eureka Springs, AR to race this weekend and Im not liking my chances. I feel like hell right now and my fitness is nowhere near what it was 2 months ago. Good thing is my legs are fresh but my lungs are not cooperating, im not recovering very quick.....from what I hear thats not a good thing for racing in Arkansas. Oh well....although I will go as hard as I can, reality is that its going to be ugly. I can handle that as I start a training block for R.I.M. in August and the series championship come September. My focus is really going to be on doing some serious interval training on our 1.5 mile campground loop......because Cross season is almost here!!!!! Im thinking about taking my cross bike out and getting some laps in, but will mainly use my mountain bike......just in case i get the urge to ride up to the top and back.

I had a decent ride Monday night on the road, then felt like hell Tuesday night while riding...another positive is that it wont take long to get back to where I was.......but to every upside their is a downside, going to be cutting back on the Bully Porter and Guinness. I had a tear in my when I was typing that!!! The bartender at Applebees about passed out Monday night when I ordered water with my meal.....hey it was even a 550 calorie meal!!! Nice, but the one thing I will not be going without is my morning chocolate chip muffin....Mitch, if you quit making these muffins I will hunt you down....I know where you live!!!!

Well I better end this....lots of racing still left this summer with a full cross season this fall and winter!!!! Im seeing 145 sometime this summer!!!

New racing buddy.....

2010-05-17T14:09:00.007-05:00

Well what a weekend!!! The weekend started with Jaime getting in a 10 mile ride on my Giant road bike. Margie and her left the house with the mission of getting in 14 miles but turned and came back with a shortened 10 miler. Which is great for Jaime never going more than a few miles at a time.....she's talking about cross season!!! Hmmmm! We left for Columbia Saturday afternoon with the Rhetts Run race being on Sunday. The plan was to get in a pre-ride on Saturday evening but the weather had other ideas.....so we headed for one of my favorite watering holes.....Buffalo Wild Wings. I was surprised that they had Boulevard Single Wide IPA on tap, which only made the food so much better!!! Jax chose to drink Dr. Pepper, since he is only in kindergarten....its not one of my pre-race favorites, but hey its the law. He proceeded to tell me that he should be drinking water because he didnt want to get "defrydrated" during his race. I about lost it!!! We got to bed early and woke up to surprising sunshine. That didnt last very long.....OK maybe it wasnt sunshine, but it wasnt raining. The forecast showed for lots of rain headed our way. We pulled into the race venue and some people chose to get some pre-riding in.....not such a good idea and I chose to not get out for a practice lap. The riders were coming in covered in mud and their bikes were a mess. I about decided to not race...but that thought only lasted a very short moment. Jax was going to race first so I decided to go and ride with the youngsters and make sure they didnt get lost. The short section they rode wasnt really muddy until the finish but it was a success. Jax had to ride in the 13yr and under class and this little dude is only 6!!!! He did awesome and was having a blast....He finished 5 out of 7 and actually beat the one kid that was near his age. I think he is hooked!!! He rode some pretty interesting trail for never being on this type of trail before.....he was hitting the rocky sections like he had done it all his life. Had his first wreck....he jumped back on and went!!! Once he gets the gear patterns down.... he will be on his way.

My race was starting at 12:30 and of course they announced that the rain was about 20 mins out....the course was already in bad shape, I had the worst set of tires on for the circumstances!!! Oh well....run what you "brung"!!!! We took off and It was pretty uneventful after the start. I was in 2nd from the start and thats where I finished. I had 2 pretty close calls on some very slippery downhills with steep switchbacks, but somehow saved it. I was covered from head to toe in mud and finally had to pull the glasses so I could see. I hate riding without glasses but this was more of being in survivor mode than anything else. Got halfway wiped down with a towel, grabbed the 2nd place plaque and headed for Chillicothe.....rained all the way home. Took bikes to the carwash and finally got them cleaned up.....took them home and me and Jax spent the rest of the evening lubing them up. He was mad when I made him get into the bath and made me promise to not finish his bike because he wanted to oil the chain.....I think their was more oil on his bike than the BP oil spill has produced.......but I was very excited that he wanted to participate.

Looks like a few weeks off of racing....me and Margie have a little R.R. scheduled for this weekend....hope the weather holds off!!! OUT!!

Greenhills Trails Associations new member!!

2010-05-13T08:54:00.002-05:00

We jumped in the truck last night and headed to KC too pick up Jaxons new mountain bike. He actually was pretty tired and took a nap on the way there. He reminded me to make sure and wake him up when we got to the bike shop. He jumped right up and ran in ready for his new bike. Their it was behind the counter......he jumped on and headed for the parking lot. All of his bikes have had pedal brakes so this was a bit different for him, didnt take long for him to adjust. He was jamming gears like a pro....however he was starting to get a bit too comfortable and was getting entirely too close to the new BMW that was in the parking lot, so we loaded it up and headed for home. He literally chattered all the way home.....asked me about 10 times how long before it dried up enough to go to the trails. Then the all time best question came.....he asked if we rode in groups on the trails.....and my response was..."sometimes". He then asked if I thought that Coach Long would ride with us sometimes. I answered him with a "yes, Im pretty sure he will." He then reminded me again....that Coach Long was the bestest bike rider he knew.

Forgot I even had a blog!!!!

2010-05-12T08:55:00.002-05:00

Well my camera is broke....so no new pics!!!! I have been very busy with work lately....which is a good thing, but I have been getting some good races in lately. Trying to be careful and not burn to many matches too early in the season is tough. I like to go and go hard!!! The day out on the trails with Jax riding was awesome, but he has also accompanied me out to do trail work. He had alot of fun, he got bored pretty quickly with trimming but a 6 yr old boy can find lots to do in the timber. Im in the process of getting him a Gary Fisher PreCaliber bike...he is so excited, I had to buy me a new pair of riding gloves after I found my old ones stuck inside his helmet stored away for his next ride. Margie has discovered the thrill of mountain biking with a quick endo on her first lap at the Campground lap....she was not wanting to ride my bike because she was scared of tearing it up, but I finally convinced her and she had a blast. We have since borrowed the "Sugar" from coach and she has got to ride it once....then the rains have hit!!! Looks like the Gary Fisher SuperFly I was wanting this year is on the back burner as it looks like Jax and Margie are first in line for bikes......add in the fact that me and Jaime are spending a week in Disney, and all my summer play money is gone!!!! Its time to start recruiting the kids in our area.....we have no youngsters with me and Mitch being the "babies" of the group and we are no spring chickens!!! HAHAHAHA
Quick race update: Had a decent race in Smithville at Bonebender....the 3 hr race was all I wanted!!! Headed for Neosho the following weekend and got in another 3 hr marathon race. Finished 5th and was very pleased with how I rode...still need to work on the endurance part.
Then i actually took the 1st weekend of May off and got in alot of trail work. Last weekend we headed over to St Joe and I had a pretty good race finishing 2nd overall in the Cat 2 race.....really need to work on the mental part of racing. My first 7 mile lap was crap and I was trying to think of every reason in the book why I should quit...I got over that and finished with a very strong last half of the race. Looks like we are headed back to Columbia for Rhetts Run Mountain bike race this weekend.....this was my very first Mt bike race and to be honest when I finally finished I wasnt sure if Id ever race again. 1 hr later I was making plans on how to get better and faster. I spent more time on the ground in that race then I did on the bike, donated alot of blood and still have scars on my legs from it. Im going back to prove a point!!! OUT!!!

My best bike ride ever!!!!

2010-04-14T11:03:00.002-05:00

Somedays are meant for relaxing and enjoying life....yesterday was one of them. I got home from work, threw my bike in the truck and grabbed a new riding buddy for the day.....his name was Jax. I grabbed his 50# Wally world bike and tossed it in, barely able lifting it. We headed for the trails at the campground and he was excited, so was I. He chattered all the way there and never even took a breath. This was his first mountain bike ride on trails. We unloaded the bikes and got ready......he really wanted to wear one of my camelbaks, so I filled it up and strapped in on him. It probably weighed more than he does. He tips the scales at a bulging 52#. Stopped for a few minutes at the trailhead so he could ham it up during some pre-ride kodak moments. We take off and he wants to lead so I let him. He was having a blast when he decided to lay it down on a section and fell off into the ditch....moment of truth.....he jumped back on after I snapped another pic and we proceeded on. We were doing well, but his bike is not really setup for this type of riding and the gearing is way off for his 6 yr old legs, so we spent alot of time walking up the short climbs.....below is a conversation we had during one of our walks...

Jax: How far til we get to go fast downhill again?

Me: Not to far, but sometimes we have to go uphill to get to a downhill!!!

Jax: That sucks!!

Me: YA I know, but the girls like good hill climbers!!!

Jax: Swwweeeettt!!!!

A little bit later this conversation took place.....

Me: How you getting along up there??? You having fun?

Jax: Heck ya, the one good thing about going up these hills is we get to go fast downhill!!!

Me: Thats right and its alot of fun....

Jax: Dad, I bet I could beat you in a race if I had a NEW bike that shifted gears!!!!

So he was already working me for a new bike!!!! Pretty smart business man. We had a blast but our ride got cut short by him flatting his front tire.....I laughed my ass the whole way around the loop because about every 2 minutes he would stop and grab a pull of water from the camelbak. Of course by the time we were getting close to the truck he had to pee!!! So we stopped so he could do his business....while he was flooding the trail I told him that the section of trail might never dry out after he pee'd on it that much......his response was that coach might be mad if it didnt, so not to tell him that he pee'd there. I about lost it.

I absolutely had a blast and to see him smiling the whole time made it even better. He asked me 3 or 4 times on the way home when we were going back!!!! Best ride ever!!!!!

Racing in Lawrence~~~~~~

2010-04-12T11:08:00.002-05:00

Well its been a long time since I have posted and thought I better get a quick update in. I took Friday off from work and picked up D. Long to get some trail work in. Grabbed a poptart and a 12'er of Bud Light Lime and breakfast, lunch had been accounted for. We got alot done and called it quits around 2:30PM so we could get ready to leave for Lawrence. 2 days of racing awaited and I was already tired.....and my nutrition level was way below par.

Got into Lawrence around 6:30 and got checked into our place of stay for the weekend, Doug left around the same time as us and had his co-pilot, Sadie, with him. Margie and I took off to scout the race course and then head off to the ever so popular 23rd St Brewery for some food and adult beverage. Doug said he would give me a call and we could meet up later.......we had just finished eating when I got a nudge in my side.....it was Doug. So we had a few more drinks while he ate and called it an early night.

Saturday was painful....I woke up congested and had a sinus headache. Grabbed some carbs from the hotel breakfast line and headed for the Lawrence River Trails. Alot of others had the same idea....parking lot was packed. Got dressed and headed out for a slow pre-ride of the course. It was a blazing fast track. Got our call up at noon and the race had begun. This was my first Cat 2 race and the pace jumped up quickly. I settled into 3rd place and couldnt get by the guy in 2nd....the leader started gapping us and I was getting impatient. I asked nicely a few times to pass and he wouldnt let me by.....so I waited until the end of our first lap and passed him on the wide portion. I stepped on it and finally caught the leader at the halfway point of lap 2 and had 2 more laps to go. He let me by at the end of the lap and I started to gap him a bit. Toward the end of lap 3 he was right back on my wheel........he made a very good strategical pass heading back into the single track for our last lap and all I could do was ride his wheel and hope he made a mistake.....he didnt!!!!! I finished 2nd. Not too bad but I like to win. Training level and nutrition is key!! That being said....we headed to Johnny's and drank some cold ones!!! Back to the hotel for an hour nap then off to Freestate Brewery for dinner and some wonderful Oatmeal Stout. It didnt disappoint!!!!

Sunday was the God's Country Duathlon put on by Chris Locke. This race was a 2 mile trail run, followed by a 12 mile trail bike, and then finished with a 2 mile trail run. It several different options for the day but Doug and I decided to team up and do the relay race. I would do the running and he would do the biking. They had 9 teams enter this race and we ended up winning the team race and came in 2nd overall of all the competitors. Doug made a huge gap up on the bike and put us into 2nd place to start the final stage. The team race group had a 30 sec gap on me to start.....he was a young guy so I was thinking that was way to much time to make up in 2 miles.......wrong!!!! I caught him with .75 mile left and ran off from him. I was tired!!!!!

That pretty much sums up the weekend. Had a good time racing and actually wearing bike shorts and short sleeves while I doing it. On a much lighter note.......poor Tiger just couldnt pull off the win at the Masters, Im not a 100% sure but I think that anytime your wife decides to crank you over the head with a 4 iron it cannot be good for your mental focus....JUST SAYIN.....keep your putter in your pants and you will start to win again!!! Enough said on that matter.

The Greenhills group ride is tonight.....im probably going to catch a little hell from my fast riding buddies but Im hanging back tonight and riding with Margie. I want her to get riding that bike again and feels a bit intimidated riding with the group.....tonight is about having fun and enjoying life, tomorrow will be back to going fast!!!! OUT.

I couldnt help this one....

2010-03-19T15:38:00.002-05:00

Ok....this one is not useless. This sign is in a short section between Chillicothe and Carrollton in a small amish community right on Hwy 65. Their is a group of 8-10 amish children that walk this section everyday to school. The only problem I have with this sign is where it is located....it should be right in the middle of the road because thats where they are usually walking.

This reminds me of my one amish story. Several years ago we were doing a big concrete job in Waverly and I traveled to our plant in Carrollton almost daily. I always came through that area around the same time every morning, I'd always honk and wave at them. They expected me to be there every morning. As I would pass they would pump their arms up and down like I was in a semi truck wanting me to blow the horn....I was actually in my pickup, but they didnt really care....they just wanted me to honk the horn as I was passing. This went on for a few months. One afternoon I had to stop at the amish sawmill to collect some money for concrete. The same boys that I had passed by everyday for the past few months were there. The youngest was around 5 and the oldest looked maybe 12. When I pulled in they came over to my truck, they had no idea who I was but just knew me from passing them on the highway everyday. The youngest immediately asked me if I had any candy. I started laughing and said "no, why?" He proceeded to tell me that his dad wouldnt let him have any cause it made him hyper. I then told them that I didnt have any candy but I had the next best thing. They all seemed very curious. I told them that I had to go inside to talk to their dad but I had a cooler in the back of my truck that had some Mountain Dew in it. I will never forget the youngest ones eyebrows raised about 2 inches and started smiling. I told them to wait til I got inside then to get some. From then on anytime I came into the sawmill, they would wait til I got out and attack my cooler. I dont really know why and I never asked but they never took anything but Mt. Dew. I always had Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, and Coca Cola in it, but they only wanted Mt. Dew.

New Stupid sign update......

2010-03-19T12:30:00.003-05:00

These are a few of new signs that I just noticed.....lets start with the big yellow sign with the big black arrow pointing to the right. Why is this sign there???? At no point as approaching this slight jog in the road while traveling 35 MPH did I ever consider going straight or taking a left!!!! If you need this sign to make it through this section, please, please, please consider relinquishing your drivers license....my six yr old son Jax could negotiate this corner without the sign and he pretty much hits everything in his way while riding his 4 wheeler.

Our next great waste of money sign.....the sign with a bid red stop sign in the middle, this sign lets us know that we are approaching a stop sign......also if you notice in the background, some more of the arrow signs telling us to turn left instead of driving off the road and down the embankment.....once again the big bright yellow lines painted on the road would be overkill. Im done ranting for today!!!!

Non-Cycling Rant......

2010-03-19T10:54:00.002-05:00

I get so pissed off everytime I gas up and see the sticker on the pump that explains how much of the gas price is taxes. Missouri is at the top of list of worse roads in the U.S. so Im thinking where is this money being spent. This anger is from a guy that his company pays for his gas, so I can understand the fury of someone that does pay for it. I leave Chillicothe and head south to Carrollton and for some reason I start noticing things that I have never paid much attention too. Signs!!!! Pretty much USELESS signs. One of my favorites is the black and yellow slashed warning sign. These signs are posted at every tube or culvert that passes under the highway. Theses signs are stuck out in the grass about 10-15 ft from the edge of the shoulder. What good is this sign???? At what point do you think the driver figures out that nothing good is going to come from driving in the ditch???? Maybe the genius engineers should spend another 10 million dollars and stick signs in the middle that have a finger pointing too the right...this will assure us that the driver goes into the ditch instead of crossing the line into oncoming traffic. Nice one guys........heres another good one......the RR crossing sign!!!! Im trying to figure out what part of the huge light poles with the big flashing lights and the big arm with more flashing lights on it that doesnt suggest that you are getting close to a RR crossing. Maybe the big fucking train that is crossing in front of you should be a good indication to stop. The RR crossing sign....another useless sign. How about the sign with a big fire truck on it....Im assuming this is the sign saying to you......."Hey a fire truck might be coming down this exit road"......hmmm, seems to me that the big flashing lights and loud sirens should be getting your attention, why do we need a sign to warn us? My all time favorite has to be out on all of the interstates......now we have mile markers every 2 tenths of a mile to tell us where we are, I personally dont think that is good enough I would feel much better knowing that the old man in the '78 Caprice Classic station wagon can be rescued faster if we had them every 1 tenth of a mile. Just something to think about MoDOT engineers.
What about the sign that tells us that their is going to be another sign on up the road that has a new speed limit......Really!!!! I do enjoy the signs on the highway that tells me that a corner is approaching.......thank god for these because I doubt that I could ever make it around the corner by simply using the yellow lines on the road.....Really!!!!
Im sure their are alot more than I have just noticed today....but when you start putting a pencil to it we have millions of dollars in useless signs. Figure that I noticed over 50 of them on a 33 mile stretch.......and with the very low estimate of $350 per sign, figure what we have wrapped up all over Missouri. The sad part is some sue happy motorist would find someway to sue MoDOT because they hit a culvert 10 feet off the highway.....and even more sad is that we have lawyers that would represent him. How about a judge that actually says....."No im not awarding you millions of dollars, its not MoDOT's fault you were driving in the ditch!!!"
We dont need USELESS signs!!!!! PERIOD!!! Done and OUT!!!

First road race.....Not so sweet!!!

2010-03-15T14:19:00.003-05:00

Well I jumped in and did my first road race and it was a beauty. It took place at Perry Lake, KS.....honestly Im not really a big fan of road racing so far. Heres my take on it.....and this is just my opinion, its kinda boring!!! There is some strategy involved and alot drafting which shuffles everyone around.....think Daytona 500 here. If you get out of the draft your screwed. The course was 4 laps on a 5 mile course for a total of 20 miles. The 1st lap did start out slower than I thought and I set into a pace about mid pack of 30+ riders. The most exciting thing about pack riding is that you never now what to expect......one mess up of anyone and it can bring the whole group down and im assuming that would not be fun at 24 mph on asphalt. The week before in this same race the ambulance hauled out some riders for an expensive ride to the hospital, not counting the damage to their bikes. So that is always in the back of your mind. The last mile of the lap is a constant climb with it getting really steep for the last quarter.....and the pace dropped off alot at this point. The next lap was pretty much the same with a few guys making half hearted attacks through the fast paced bottoms....I just stayed in the middle of the group and let them attack. We reached the climb at the end of the 2nd lap and my legs were not feeling that great. We had dropped some riders and were basically in 2 groups. The group started gapping me about 3/4 up the hill and I had to stand up and hammer trying to get back....I knew if I wasnt with them when we hit the top and started back down that I was in big trouble. I had failed...they crested the top and they were gone.....I took off and hammered as long as I could but could not catch up. I had no one to work with and I kept losing ground. That was pretty much the end of the race for me....I finished out the rest of the race with a 19.83 mph average. This average dropped significantly after I lost the group. My Garmin says I was going around 3mph slower after I got dropped and thats a big difference.
I can tell you this....give me some dry trails with rocky ledge drops, some fast singletrack any day over road racing. More than likely I will do more, but you better believe that if there is a mountain bike race anywhere near the same time it will be a no-brainer.

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Rt 190--half loop

2010-03-10T18:11:00.000-06:00

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Rt 190--half loop

2010 Hills of Hell.....Horrible!!!

2010-03-08T15:56:00.002-06:00

We packed up the van and trailer and headed south for the weekend to Lawton, Ok. with high enthusiasm and lots plans for a great weekend. The van consisted of Doug Long, James Shiflett, Mitch Bernskoeter, Tim Riekena, Jan Pyrtle, and Lyle and Kathy Reidy....and of course ME!!! We had to make a stop off at Bike Source in KC for a few hours so our Team 360 guys could have a meeting. We left Kc around 9pm and finally arrived in Lawton around 4am....a few of us slept for a few hours in the van and the others opted to stay in the hotel room. We had a quick breakfast at the hotel and they let us go ahead and check into the room early for Saturday night. Finally got dressed and headed to pre-ride the course for Sundays race. We went ahead and registered for the race....which turned out to be the wrong decision, but we'll get to that later. I had made a comment to a few of the guys that if the organization of the race wasnt better than the organization at the registration table that we were in trouble!!!! BINGO!!! The pre-ride began and things started out good....in fact it was pretty awesome, had a huge climb and some real rocky descents that I have come to enjoy. Then things turned very shitty....and thats being really nice. We came onto a short section of trail in the timber that had fresh cut tree stumps sticking up, limbs every where, and leaves that was very apparent that no one had even made an attempt for some trail maintenance. The course, if thats what you want to call it, was basically orange arrows painted on the rocks......in alot of the places their was no trail at all and you actually went in the direction of the pointing arrow and start looking for the next arrow......this sucked bigtime!!!!! Around the 6 mile marker we came out of the rocky area and they turned the course onto what we later discover is the Armys tank training area.....we were riding down some roads that tanks had driven on when it was muddy and left tracks.....about jarred my teeth right out of my head. While thinking things couldnt get worse.....that was wrong thoughts!!!! Im not even gonna get into that....but it was around 8 miles of the worst time I have ever had on a bike. We actually carried them alot during this section......hey dumbass...this isnt cyclocross, we want to actually ride the bike...not carry it. We cussed and cussed the whole 8 miles......then it happened. The last 3 or 4 miles was a blast. There was a section that seemed like about a mile long that had some technical rock riding on it that you could actually blast through fast!!!! The smiles were back......then we come to the famous "kevinator" drop. We got there and about 10-15 people were at this section trying to find the right way down. Since Im a rookie...I was told by the veterans...."whatever you do, dont look down or you will shit them right there"....this was not a good sign because when we hit the drop we had to stop and let some others go first. I had way to much time to think about it and was close to wussing out...then I remembered we had drove 9 hrs to get this race and I was at least going to try the "kevinator". I figure only one of two things could happen......1. I could clear it....or 2. I would wreck!!! I dropped down into the 1st section which was a steep jagged rocky section......cleared it.....hit about a 15 yd flat section setting up for the big drop....I went over the lip and was fully committed, no turning back now!!! Things started out good but somehow I slipped over to the left to far and things got bad quick.... I hit another drop and was going pretty fast....got off the right line and all hell broke loose. I looked a guy on a pogo stick.....I decided to lay the bike down and try to slide with it instead on going over the bars. I slid it out and slid the rest of way down the drop for about 40 feet. Cut the hell out of my hip and lots of scrapes....the worst part was a rock sliced my sidewall on the rear tire, so I had to tube it. Rest of the pre-ride was pretty uneventful....we finished up very disappointed to say the least!!!! The weather was awesome so we got back to the hotel and started repairing all the bikes in the parking lot and partaking in a few cold ones....did I mention it was 62 degrees!!! Hell ya!!! Woke up to rainy, mist on Sunday morning....so we got the group together and made a unanimous decision to forget the race. We ate breakfast and headed out....got to Oklahoma City and found a awesome trail system and rode for a little over 2 hrs at race pace!!! This trail was awesome and Doug, James, Lyle and myself found ourselves in a paceline ripping through this 10 mile loop. We did alittle over 25 mile and had the smiles back in place!!! I did acquire a few more cuts and bruises but thats not really much news because thats pretty normal for me. Got home around 11pm Sunday night and took a hot shower and destroyed some left over nachos and rotel cheese dip.......Out!!!!

A moment of truth.....

2010-02-18T15:53:00.002-06:00

This is a conversation that recently took place between me and my body.......

Dear legs and lungs,
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for putting up with the abuse I have put upon you. I have taken great pride in knowing that you will be there for me when I ask you to perform, knowing that you will not quit. The cycling season is almost here and appears that its going to be a tough one......Im going to ask you to do things that may seem impossible, Im going to push you beyond your limit and expect you too not give in. I will give you a rare day of rest whenever possible. I know you can handle it.......once again thank you!!!

Sincerely,
Your owner

This is the response that I got back.......

Dear Owner,

You are a moron. We will do our job as long as you remember 2 important things...
1. We do not enjoy smokey establishments....dont torture us with these places then expect us to perform.
2. Beer and pizza are not actually considered recovery food and drink.

Sincerely,
Lungs and Legs

NICE!!!!! OUT!!!!

Random thought.....

2010-02-12T11:16:00.002-06:00

If I was a mouse.......would I be fast enough to get the cheese from the trap????

Not alot going on....

2010-02-11T22:10:00.002-06:00

Well its been two weeks since I have posted anything so I guess I make a quick update. A group of us had planned to head to Arkansas the last weekend of Jan. but the weather changed our mind. Instead we headed to KC on the Thurs and rode several laps at Swope park. Then it was off to Topeka and a good nights rest at Lyle Reidys house. Coach, James, Lyle and me met DanO over at Clinton Lake to get a day in of riding. We had a blast and legs were starting to feel it at 2 days....we still had 2 days left. Friday happened to be my 39th birthday so after riding we ended up at Freestate Brewery in Lawrence to celebrate.....they kept buying me beer and being one not to disappoint, I kept drinking them. The IPA brew was awesome.......but unfortunately Saturday morning was not awesome!!!! LOL!!!! We took off for Perry Lake trails but DanO did not participate.....Im guessing he was feeling the same as me. I just wanted to ride and sweat, hopefully making me feel better. The first 2 miles sucked....I felt rough and then disaster struck. I flatted and my sealant didnt do its job. I broke the tire down and got a tube in...by this time James had back tracked and helped me out. I havent flatted since I went tubeless.....so I ony had 1 tube and a few air cylinders. I had along ways to go with no supplies so I had to be careful. We got in about 12 miles and the trails started thawing out so we had to call it quits for the day.....just when I started to feel better!!!! Saturday night was pretty mild as we headed to a local mexican restaurant and had some Coronas and margaritas. Everyone was lights out early....except me and Coach. I could sit for hours and listen to all of his cycling stories. Finally I had to get some sleep and I was out of beer so I hit the hay. Sunday we drove back to Lawrence and rode a 41 mile gravel grinder with Chris Locke and several others......DanO made it back for this one. We headed over to the 23rd St Brewery to eat and have a few cold ones before heading home. My legs were really feeling it after 4 days of hard riding. Not much since then...I had to work last Saturday during Chuckys Challenge and didnt get to ride in this epic battle......reports are showing that 22 started and only 10 finished the whole 53 miles.
The workouts are coming along nicely and actually took 2 days off this week to recover. I had initially started in a weight loss challenge and my weight hit my all time lowest since H.S. at 149.....I decided to drop out because my competitive nature was making me more concerned about weight loss instead of training for the bigger picture. I will start tapering the weight down later. That about all thats going on right now....until next time.....OUT!!!!

I forgot something.....

2010-01-27T14:17:00.001-06:00

I have appropriately name my new pup.......TREK!!!! OUT.

My new buddy.....

2010-01-27T13:56:00.004-06:00

The kids and wife gave me a early BDay present. He is a 8 week old Brussels Griffon......basically he pretty much kicks ass. He is tiny as hell and sleeps alot but he does like to spend alot of time crapping also. The Brussels Griffon was developed in Belgium from a Affenpinscher and the Belgian street dog. Which is ironic because I really love New Belgium beer......any way as I was saying.......they were originally kept in the stables as rat catchers, so if I ever have a rat problem I should be good to go. He is a fiesty little sucker, when he is awake, and I can see him making many road trips to bike races this year. The only downside I can see at this point is that his hairy ass collects dingleberries like its no ones business.....he needs to learn a better technique in the post poop ass drag!!!!! He is young so Im hoping for the best.

THings are still up in the air for the trip to Arkysaw this weekend do to crappy weather, we have decided that we are riding our bikes somewhere.....just dont know where yet!!!! OUT!!!

First post of year!!!!

2010-01-21T17:26:00.002-06:00

Well its been awhile since I have updated any of boring ramblings.....to all of my followers I apologize, all 3 of you!!!! Alot has happened since my last post. I have been to the Kansas City Orthopaedic Institute twice, Liberty Hospital once for the MRI, and had 3 cross races. I finished 2nd in the first two races then finally after a full cross season of trying I pulled out a win in the series finale. I had no idea after that final race that I had won the 7 race points series. I had missed 2 of the earlier races and figured I had no chance of winning so I really hadnt paid attention to it. That final race I got called up to the starting line 2nd, meaning I was in 2nd place point wise, still not knowing how many points back I was. Come to find out since I won the race the point leader needed to finish at least 3rd for him to win the series. He finished 4th. Not only did I win a sweet gift card to Epic bike shop....I also won a freaking power washer......SSSSWWWWEEEEETTTT! I always borrow my dads for things, so this was a perfect prize and all for just riding my bike and having a blast!!!! Cross has come to an end for the year with an awesome finish but the training continues for the start of Mountain bike race series starting March 28. Im leaving for Arkansas at the end of next week to get some riding in and ride the Buffalo Headwaters Challenge. I think it consist of 35 miles of awesome trail....then a post ride party!!! Hell ya....did I mention I dont own golf clubs??? LOL. Then its back for a local gravel grinder on Feb 6th called Chuckys Challenge....this beast is a 60-70 mile ride threw the Greenhills that is a real leg crusher. These are all just training rides to get the legs and lungs ready for March. Then its off to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma March 7th to race in the resurrected "12 miles of Hell" race, this is a race but still just more of a training ride for me and an opportunity to see some new trails. Then its full force into the race season!!!!

As far as the knee goes....I had a MRI a few weeks ago and it was negative for any tears which is good but doesnt explain the unstability. I did go back in yesterday and got an injection of cortizone to try and help out......but today it hurts like hell and has buckled 3 times on me. Im going to try and do a very easy spin on the trainer tonight and see how it goes...........until next time.....find a bike and ride it, you will be glad you did!!!!!

Indestructible!!!!!!!!

2009-12-30T19:22:00.003-06:00

Most of you know that Cory, my stepson, is deployed in Afghanistan. He and I bonded alot the past few years while he was still in school. I absolutely loved going to his football games and wrestling matches. I sometimes sit and wonder what he's seeing and some of the things that he's going through while serving his country at War. Things that he cant talk about, you know the classified B.S.........But he does get to call everyonce in awhile to let us know he is ok. We miss him alot and cant wait to get him home safely.
I have a war building inside of me. I climb on my bike and try to ride with some anger within. At times I get tired and want to quit.....but what good would that do? Quitting is not really an option. I sometimes see the guys that have beat me and that usually lights a fire under my ass. I've been in my basement on the trainer when I have had flashes of faces of the guys that beat me.....next thing I know Im hammering the pedals and talking to myself!!!! Going over different scenarios of pacing, taking corners, climbing, descending, strategies....actually seeing myself in a race and making these decisions ahead of time. Seeing it in my head so when the time comes its just a reaction and not a decision. I want to feel INDESTRUCTIBLE when I come to the starting line of a race. I want to have that advantage.
The tough workouts, the extended time on the trainer and all the gravel grinders we have been doing in the snow and ice are really starting to pay off. Im starting to see a difference in my conditioning and my suffering has came along ways. The war is about to begin.....but first we must win each battle along the way......starting with the serious training starting next week. I look forward to the challenge as I have just upgraded my racing license to the next level. We will be racing under the USACycling sanction this year.....I will be competing in the whole series around Missouri and Kansas. My main goal is just to be able to compete at this next level....only time will tell.
I sit and think about the things that Cory is going through and it just makes me want to work harder. He puts his life on the line everyday to protect us. This allows us to live in societys that give us choices....gives me the choice to go ride my bike if I want to, gives me the choice to attend whatever church I want, gives me the option to voice my opinion, etc........you see, me riding my bike will not make any impact on the world....but because we have brave young men and women that serve for our protection.....I have the choice to ride my bike if I choose!!! Dont take this for granted!!!!!

Open Letter to the Grind!!!

2009-12-26T19:40:00.003-06:00

Dear "The Grind",

Just so you are aware.....I will be climbing you in my big chainring this year. I know you think you are invincible but I will conquer you, when I do.....Im going to turn around and go to the bottom.....then Im going to spit on you after I shoulder my bike and run up you like you are a flat straight away!!!

Sincerely,
My Legs

RUT ROH!!!

2009-12-22T16:36:00.002-06:00

Guess whose legs are starting to come around???? Went out and did a 20 mile gravel grinder......Im climbing the best I have ever climbed and recovering alot quicker. Maybe the intervals and weight lifting are starting to pay off.......now I hope this nagging knee crap goes away!!!

Training Road Bump.....

2009-12-22T10:44:00.002-06:00

Ive noticed lately that I dont have alot of control of my right knee....this tends to disturb me a bit. I was running last night and as I started picking up the pace it felt like I had no control in the direction my knee went. I took a spill during a cyclocross race back in early November, got back up and finished the race. The area behind my knee started hurting causing a very noticable limp that day. I iced it the next 2 nights and everything seemed fine. Somethings definetly not right but the positive thing is it doesnt seem to bother me while cycling, only when I try to run hard....and even then it doesnt really hurt, just no control which way it bends. Not good. Im going to lay off the running for a while and just concentrate on spinning and see what happens!!!! Hopefully its just the bike gods way of telling me to spend more time on the bikes!!!!

FOOD, FOOD, and more FOOD!!!!

2009-12-21T12:34:00.002-06:00

Im sitting here and all I can think about is food.....what the hell is wrong with me??? This fall I was sitting right around the 150 lb mark, then as I am preparing for the Berryman Epic race from hell all I did was eat the week prior trying to get some calorie reserves. This was a 5+ hour race that I knew I wouldnt be eating much during....actually turned out that I didnt eat at all and lived on Hammer Gel packs for energy. Since getting back I have done nothing but eat. The more I workout, the more I eat. Which is kinda normal but it seems that Im not burning it off as fast. Everytime that I step on the scale it is so demoralizing to see the 8 lbs I have thrown back on......will it come back off??? Yes with no problems but for as much time as I spend on my trainer and in the weight room it shouldnt be there in the first place. Everyone knows that cycling is a power sport...especially cyclocross where you are starting and stopping so much, so I have been spending alot of time lately in the weight room doing leg power workouts. This could be where some of the weight has come from and that is a positive. I have noticed that this has been helping after riding some gravel roads yesterday. I was climbing very strong and felt good. This also is a positive. I have a few more cyclocross races to hit after the 1st of the year then its full on training for the start of mountain bike racing starting in March. Will I be ready? Will the weight come back down?? Yes it will and you can take that to the bank!!!! For the next couple of weeks though I will still enjoy some good ol' pizza and some cold adult beverages but when the ball drops and the parties all come to an end....this old boy is shifting into training overload!!!!

No racing for me!!

2009-12-18T15:36:00.002-06:00

Well I feel like its been forever since I have toed the line with my bike. I like to compete....thats what I do. It started at a very young age of 6 and has carried on in me since. Its not by choice.....just that way and I cant and dont want to change it. The next time I hear the whistle blow will be on New Years Eve.....until then I will continue to do the power workouts and hit the trainer. Looks like 3 or 4 more cross races this season that I will be partaking in. Until then I will be partaking in some serious barley pop drinking.....as I continue the training that will eventually come to an end. I will open some eyes this year!!!!!

Mo. State Cyclocross Championships.....

2009-12-07T14:02:00.002-06:00

Two things I figured out this weekend.......bikes need maintenance and Im taking a little time off from the partaking of cold beer.
I came home from Iowa last weekend and threw my bike into the corner and didnt touch it. Next issue.....cold beer is the culprit of the 8 lbs I have gained......this does not make me happy. Long story short.....my chain came off twice in the 1st lap while running 2nd and I called it quits. I have learned my lesson.....the training started the minute I walked into the house by spending 45 mins on the trainer. Im not even in the mood to discuss it. Until im in a better mood......OUT!!!

Mt. Fukthat....Jingle Rock Cross

2009-12-01T15:01:00.003-06:00

I loaded up Friday evening and headed north for Iowa City, IA to attend my 1st ever Jingle Rock Cross race.....I pulled into the race venue at 8pm and immediately cracked open a cold one. I wasnt racing on Friday night so I was intending to partake in adult beverage......after walking up to the course and seeing this huge mountain in front of me that was very muddy, I decided I may need a few more. Screw it....I was there to have fun, so dont judge me!!! This place was going crazy with spectators, I thought I had stumbled upon a damn rock concert. People screaming, people throwing back some sweet Ale.....I had made the right choice, I was all smiles at this point and to top it off I got to ride my bike....Hell yaa!!!! I met up with Coach and Dean Parker who were gracious enough to give me a place to lay my head for the weekend. We grabbed a quick bite to eat, added a couple Fat Tires then it was off to bed. I was racing at 9am Saturday morning so I wanted a good nights rest.
The morning came quickly and I was ready for the task. They had fortunately changed the course from Friday night. Instead of descending the long steep section of downhill on Mt. Krumpet they had us run up the backside threw a very slick, muddy, steep section.....once we got to the top the quick descend was very slick, people wrecking everywhere and tearing the hell out their bikes. Brakes do more harm in situations like that and it took several wrecks for some morons to figure this out. Oh well. I didnt pre-register so you guessed it.....I had the honor of starting behind 50+ riders. FUN, FUN. We took off fast as usual and I passed several people in the 1st lap. I rode well considering and ended up 12th overall and was unusually happy with that. I was having fun and thats all that mattered. I got all cleaned up grabbed me a few cold ones and headed for Mt Krumpet.....I renamed this hill more appropriately.....MT Fukthatcuzimtired!!!!! I watched Coach finishing a very impressive 1st place in his class.....he rocked that course. We drank all the beer we had with us and started buying the $4 cans of gold aka Fat Tire. This was not good......then a little bird flew by and said....."Hey dumbasses...there is a keg at the top of Mt Fukthatcuzimtired if you want to walk up there." Bee lined my ass to the top and was absolutely stunned when I got up there. 100's of people, keg of beer, big ass stereo system was rocking. This was the party of the year....and I was attending almost forgetting that I had to race again Sunday morning at 9am. We watched the rest of the races from the top....absolutely a blast. We all loaded up and headed for the hotel around 4pm that afternoon to grab showers before dinner.....we were trying to find out where we could watch MU/ku game......scored!!!! Big screen!!!!! Ate dinner, finished watching MU kick the shit out of KU......by a last second field goal, then headed downtown to meet up with all the other cycling crazies. Finally shut down the beer spichets around 930 or 10pm that night. Things were not looking good at this point for Sunday after 11 hrs of power drinking. Time to pass out. I woke up around 1am with one of the worst headaches I've ever experienced.....so i go out to the truck and grab the Ibuprofen and take my usual 100mg for every hour of drinking......You do the math!!!! This is going to be a long night.....I would rather be kicked repeatedly in the nuts than to have another headache like this. 30 minutes of my "fix all" hot shower and I was ready to pass back out. 7 hrs to kickoff!!
Sunday morning alarm came way to soon. Jumped up and headed for the shitter......got another shower and damn near puked while brushing my teeth. No problems, this was going to be a piece of cake.
They changed the course around for today and I needed to get in a pre-ride. I actually at this time was not feeling to bad...took a couple extra headache killers then went back to the warm truck. Samething today...no preregister, no front row start. Looking at the asses of 50+ riders at the starting line was not fun. I was looking around to see if anyone else was feeling as rough as I was......BINGO. This dude a few rows up looked worse than me......I now had a chance of not finishing last. The race started with its usual "I want to throw up" pace, but today that had a special meaning all of its own!!!! I got a great start and was passing people left and right. I climbed into the top 10 and was feeling surprisingly good. The course was not to bad and I just pedalled as hard as I could.....sometimes cycling is not that simple. We came into the last lap and I was sitting 9th. Nearing the end I spotted a guy about 50 yds in front of me that was not doing well, so I set my sights on him. We were coming to the last open section before the end and I knew I needed to pass him before we got to the tight area. I hammered it and when I passed him I was at my top speed. Dude did not look good....Im guessing he must have not went to bed Saturday night, he looked like warmed over death. I smiled as I crossed the line in 8th. Not to shabby for a old guy with a hangover. The racing had finally ended....i was exhausted but already trying to figure out what the dates were for next years race.
Headed to the Missouri State Cross Championships on Sunday, then its rest time for about a week. Im looking forward to getting started training for next seasons Mountain bike season....its right around the corner!!!! OUT

Lincoln, NE Cyclocross rulesssss!!!!

2009-11-25T18:06:00.002-06:00

Had a long week as I get a phone call last Wednesday night from my sister saying that Baby D had been born but was just sent to ICU. Not good, so I jump in the truck at 10PM and make a trip to Wichita....roughly 5 hrs away. After many stops for coffee and rest I finally got there. Had to wait till 1230pm on Thursday to see him. That afternoon they finally took him off the oxygen and he was doing much better. Headed for home around 3pm and went in to work Friday. Found out I didnt have to work Saturday so I started making the arrangements to race in Nebraska Sat and Sun. Man was I glad that all worked out!!! It was awesome and the crowds were rowdy. From what I understand that drinking was not allowed in this certain park....this is totally abnormal for Cross races, it seems that Cross and alcohol go together from what I have learned. They do have an understanding with the police that as long as the alcohol is not visible (coolie cups, wrapped up in a napkin, etc.) they would let it go for the weekend. I have never raced in front of as rowdy of crowd as this. They have a large hill called hulligan hill that we had to climb carrying our bikes. This hill was lined up and down both sides with people screaming, ringing cowbells and yelling encouragements. At the top was a group that had a fire pit, bbq going, all the beer you could imagine and was absolutely partying down. This one freak was actually trying to hand off hotdogs to us as we came by!!! LOL. It was a f'n blast!!! A racer from Lincoln pinned several $1 bills to his jersey and everytime he got to the hill the guys would yank off a bill and give him a shove!!! It was so much entertainment, so of course when I wasnt racing I hung out at hulligan hill!!!!! Scored a couple free cowbells for future races that they were handing out.

We had so much fun that the competition side of it was just icing on the cake. I raced on of my best races Saturday in the Cat 4 open class......no age groups here baby.....you line up and go for it. I took the lead from the beginning and held on thru majority of the 1st lap. A guy from Wyoming jumped past me coming back on the pavement to finish our 1st lap. I jumped on and held his wheel to draft and let him pull me threw the wind....saving energy is a must when your racing against young energetic fellows, So I was letting him do the work. My ego got the best of me and wouldnt allow me to ride in 2nd for long. I decided to make a move....I tried to gap him but couldnt, now he was drafting me. We did this for the whole 5 laps. The last run up he gapped me and I couldnt get back. He took the win with me finishing a close 2nd. The rest of the field was not ever close.....we dropped them the 1st lap. I was happy with my best finish in the open class and had a chance of winning til the last half mile. The old legs just went south on me.....but im working on fixing that. Sunday was much of the same....I lead the race for awhile, got passed early on. This guy was fast.....didnt hurt that he didnt race Saturday and had fresh legs....but thats just part of it. I ran 2nd the whole race til I dropped my chain on the last lap and got passed by 2 guys putting me in 4th. The 3rd place guy was tired and I tried to chase him down.....just didnt happen. I petered out and settled for 4th...just off the podium.

All in all I had a blast and will definetly be back next year.........next its off to Iowa City this Saturday and Sunday. OUT!!!

My first Epic cyclocross race!!!!

2009-11-16T08:31:00.002-06:00

The weekend started out good as we headed out of Chilli Saturday afternoon headed for Leavenworth, Ks. We arrive in Leavenworth around 5:30 and start scoping out the hotel scene. It appears we have the choice of a Super 8, Super 8 oooorrrrr a Super 8. We decide on the Super 8......as we're walking in 2 Spanish speaking Americans yell "hey girls" to my 11 yr old daughter and my wife....Nice!!!! Im met at the counter by Osama bin Laden Jr. as he gets us all setup with a room.....we had to use sign language to communicate but in the end it all worked out. We enter the room and I quickly realize the best part of the room was the frigde that would keep my beer cold. Thank you Bin Laden Jr. for my bed that felt like I was sleeping on a slate of rock.....appreciate it. Decide to go eat at the High Noon Restaurant and Brewery.....excellent choice. Got the blood thinned down with a 32 oz Annies Amber Ale...silver medalist at the world beer taste competition. It rocked. Filled the belly with the roast beef and mashed potatoes dinner along with some green beans. It rocked.
Woke up early Sunday morning to some rain....this is what I had been hoping for. Had a couple of cups of coffee brewed by none other than bin Laden Jr. himself......dude pulled an all nighter. Got the group rallied up and headed for the race venue. I take off on a warmup stretch down the paved road to get the blood pumping...its a steady rain by now. Its slick as hell and I lay it down in the middle of the road.....this is shaping up to be a painful day. I decide to hit the course for a quick pre-ride to see what its like. At this point its not to bad....still had alot of grass and traction. Boy did that change. There was 2 races before mine and the course got destroyed, by the time I raced it was pretty much pure fucking mud. The temps had dropped to around 39 degrees and still raining. I headed for the starting line and had already stripped down to race gear. The race officials come to the starting line and announce that there would be a slight delay as they re-routed a dangerous section of the course.....all the roadies thanked them, all the mountain bikers said "fuck it, lets race." After a 10 min. delay we finally get the call up whistle....I was so fucking cold that I was in total body shiverfest!!!!! Of course all of the goons that pre-registered got to start at the front....nice!!!! I get a great 3rd row starting spot (sarcasm)......we take off on the cobblestone road for about a 1/4 mile stretch to thin us out a bit before we hit the course. I hit the course and actually make it up to 2nd place quickly. The leader was throwing mud and water directly into my eyes. I made a pass on him at after the 1st climb and started the separation from the pack. I was riding strong and handling the technicals suprising easy. The 2nd and 3rd place riders were catching me in the long road like stretches but as soon as we hit the mud and tight cornering areas I'd pull back away from them. Just middle way through the 2nd of 3 laps I make a mistake and get tangled up in the course marking tape....2nd and 3rd close in on me, 2nd place guy passes me while we are riding up the long cobblestone area toward the finish line.....putting me in 2nd place with 1 lap to go. I had put some distance between me and 3rd place. I try to put a run on the leader through the tight techinal areas and was gaining on him when disaster struck. I came into a muddy corner way to fast and went down hard.....Im talking I looked like Michael Phelps doing the backstroke down a Slip-n-Slide after he had smoked a couple fatties!!!!! It wasnt pretty......to say the least. I was covered in mud from head to toe. I quickly jumped back on the bike.....fuck.....chained had came off and was all gummed up with mud. Did I mention that it was 39 degrees and raining????? My fingers were frozen and numb....couldnt get them to function and had one hell of a time getting my chain back on. I had screwed up severely....during this whole nightmare 2 more riders pass me putting me into 4th place.....1 spot off the podium!!!! I made a couple of attempts to catch 3rd place but just couldnt pull it off. I guess as I look back and think maybe in those course conditions I should have held back and settled for 2nd instead of making that last ditch effort to win......then I say "fuck that!!!" I went to win and thats what I was trying to do......given the same set of circumstances......I'd do it the same way!!!!!!
"whoever says its alright to lose.....loses alot!!!"
OUT.

Lettin it Rip!!!

2009-11-14T14:43:00.005-06:00

Its been awhile since I have updated so i thought Id get in a shorty right quick. This week has been a whirlwind with work and long hours so its been tough to get any riding in. Monday night after getting home I did get in a great workout at the Y....doing a long run then a leg workout. Tuesday was a late one at work so I hit the trainer for 30 minutes of intervals and finished it off with 2 Fat Tires before bed. Wednesday was much of the same but hit the trainer for 45 minutes of steady high RPM workout. The blood was really pumping when I finished!!! The next few nights I took off, not because I wanted but Thursday night was a 9:30 PM finish at work and back to work at 5:15 Friday. My plans headed into the weekend was to get a hard workout on Thursday night and an easy one on Friday, then take off Saturday for rest heading into the Kansas State Cyclocross championships on Sunday. Taking off Thursday and Friday was more than I could handle......so on Saturday I took off for a run around the streets of Chilli. This is not normal the day before a race but I thought what the hell. I take off and im feeling as fresh as 20 yr old virgin. My body is saying to let it rip but Im only out to get the blood flowing and nothing hard. Its tough to keep from kicking up the pace and taking off.....the music on the ipod is making it even tougher. The music tempo is thumping and my legs are wanting to go faster....yet I hold it back, thinking about tomorrow. I get to about the 3 mile marker and im thinking about my competition, at the same time I feeling amazingly great!!! I feel like the Tasmanian Devil on crack.....so much fury is wanting to escape that I fucking cant take it any longer.....I've got to make a move and kick up the pace. Lucky for me at this same exact moment some Crosby, Stills, and Nash by the way of "Southern Cross" hits the ipod and the music pace slows bringing my heart rate back down with it. Wow...that was close!!! I hit the 4 mile marker and heading for home when out of the blue "Eye of the Tiger" hits the sound waves....now I know Im fucked!!! I take off running like fucking Rocky training for the 2nd Clubber Lang fight.....about the time Im making the turn to head for City Hall, 3 things come to reality......1st that Im running the streets of Chlli and not Philli....2nd they dont have a statue of me at the top of the stairs and 3rd they only have 5 stairs climbing to the top. Its at that point I kick it back down a few notches and head home. We'll see how things go tomorrow and I'll have full race report when I get back....till then Im.....OUT!!!

Failures?????

2009-11-04T12:05:00.002-06:00

"I am more afraid of failing than I am afraid of getting hurt!!!" Favorite line from my favorite movie!!
These are the words I repeat when people approach me and ask about mountain biking. They always want to know about the dangers. Sometimes in life failing is going to happen, we dont have to like it, but it will happen. It's what we do with the failures that make us stronger. Though mountain biking is not going to change the world...it is something that I am passionate about, so I take it seriously and try to do the best I can. Is there dangers involved??? Hell ya....the dangers make it even more enticing to me. The competition side of it is just icing on the cake. The natural instinct inside of me to win sometimes can cause side effects......for instance, Monday night I went to workout and when I climbed on the treadmill I had all this anger and hatred built inside of me. Why is that???? The only thing I was thinking about was if the guy that beat me Sunday was training as hard as me. The more I ran, the more I got pissed. The next thing I know I had been running for 30 mins at damn near a sprint. I was in a zone where nothing else mattered except winning. I win, thats what I do......so when failures do come my way sometimes they are hard to deal with. I try to remember that failing makes me even stronger. When I finally climbed off the treadmill that night I didnt have a dry stitch of clothing on me. My legs were cramping and I was short of breath.....I didnt remember a damn thing except focusing on the wall in front of me and continually stepping up the speed. Am I wired differently??? Probably!!! Will I ever change??? Doubt it!!!

"I am more afraid of failing, than I am afraid of getting hurt!!!" Learn it, live it, be it!!!!
OUT!!!

The Epic ride!!!!!

2009-10-31T21:57:00.004-05:00

I have had a week to digest the whole race sequences of last week during the Berryman Epic.....lets just say this.....it was definetly F'n epic. To this point all of my races have been shorter, sprint type of races. The 2 exceptions would be R.I.M. and Cruise the Blues, but these races were with teammates and I got to rest while my partner raced. This race was 57 miles of torture!!!!
We got down to the Bass River Resort on Friday afternoon, it was at this time I knew I was in for it.......water everywhere. The damn river was across the road and bridges under water. We settled in for the night and enjoyed a few adult beverages with good friends. The ladies had made a ton of food and it seems we did nothing but eat all weekend....I had lots of stored calories for Sundays race. Saturday morning we headed out for a pre-ride....the river was still up so we had to haul our bikes across in the trucks and park on the other side. We had a blast on these trails.....we rode more than we had planned because we were having so much fun. Ended up 20 miles of pre-riding. We took it easy and stopped often to hydrate. Saturday they had a big bonfire and drawing with some more adult beverages......when I say adult beverages, Im talking about an enclosed trailer with 4 taps on the side. These guys know how to party.....the night before a race!!!! Finished the night up at the cabin with lasagna and salad....and lots of desserts. Im actually starting to get nervous at this point so I throw down a few more cold ones and head to bed.
Sunday morning arrives and everythings on go.....it was freezing outside, but knew it wouldnt take long to warmup with the 3 mile climb up the mountain after the start. The river was still up so they pulled a trailer into the middle of the river that we could run across so we didnt have to get too wet starting the race. My plan was to just get going and not really worry about racing. I set a good pace for myself and stuck to it. I got to the top of the climb and hit the singletrack feeling pretty good. I was in a group of about 7 or 8 and rode with them for awhile. I hit the first checkpoint after descending down an awesome section of trail that was fast and a blast. I got the weight back and let it fly, grinning the whole time. I came up on Mitch alittle bit after the first checkpoint and settled in on his wheel. We rode this whole section together and came into the 2nd checkpoint together to meet our wives and stock up on supplies. I was still feeling pretty good and knew we were close to halfway done. We hit the next section and this was a real leg burner....climb, climb, climb!!!! It seemed like we were always going up hill and Im not talking about small hills. I took a pretty good tumble down one of the descents and got hooked up in a tree....LOL. I do that alot for some reason!!!! I pulled away from Mitch at some point during this section and didnt even realize it. I thought he was right on my wheel. I came into the last checkpoint and still had 18 miles left....Coach had already warned me this was the most technical and toughest section....I was hurting and very tired at this point. I changed Camelbaks and our support group (our wives) prepped my bike and got me back on the trails quickly. Coach wasnt kidding...this section was tough, especially since I was exhausted. I kept up a good pace and just tried to stay focused....which was harder than it sounds. To top it off it started raining with about 10 miles left. I knew that there was a 6 mile gravel road ride in to the finish, when I hit the gravel I knew I was going to make it. I could see a couple riders way up in front of me, so I set in trying to catch them. I was hammering as hard as my legs and body could go but I just couldnt reel them in. It did make the last 6 miles seem to go by faster......the rain and the wind had me froze out, then the finish. The trailer was gone and we had to cross the river to get back to the finish. I jumped off the bike and proceeded to cross the river in chest high water.....It was freezing!!! Had a half mile left to the finish!!! I got there and damn near collapsed in the finish line tent. I had made it!!!! My first endurance race was in the books....It was definetly epic!!! Looking back on it....I had a great time and will for sure be back next year!!!! I'll be ready!!!!

Dear Mountain Bike Gods:

2009-10-22T14:36:00.002-05:00

I ask thee o' gracious mountain bike gods......did I abandon you when you thought it would be a good learning lesson to send me over my handlebars several times at Rhetts Run???? No!!!! I stuck with you and continued to worship you. Did I question you the day you thought I needed to bounce my head off a tree, leaving a chunk of ear on it???? No!!! I still hung with you and followed your path. Was I angry with you the night I broke my jaw while going over my handlebars and smacking a large rock at Swope Park????? No!!!! I continued by getting back on my bike and riding for another hour. So I ask you o' wonderful and loving mountain bike god....why are you allowing me to have these flu like symptoms before I head off to my most anticipated race of the year. Have I not been a good follower of you??? Are you upset that I have been hanging out with the cyclocross gods and learning their ways??? I ask for your forgiveness dear mountain bike gods and help me get thru these next few days....I promise to give my body a few days off next week.......I had lots of reasons to abandon you but have always stuck with you even when it wasnt the popular choice. The road bike gods have been trying to get me to convert!!!! I am going to lay down and take a nap.....please let the gallon of OJ that I have drank start taking over my body and fighting off this nasty stuff.
In your loving name I pray,
Amen.

Another Ass kickin taken....not given!!!

2009-10-20T18:11:00.002-05:00

We loaded up the trailer and headed for Topeka early Saturday morning....we had a fell load with coach, James, Kolton and my gear. Can anyone say.....COLD. Damn near froze my ass off. We got there and the 1st thing I see is what they call the "Mound of Mercy".....they werent kidding.....this hill you had to climb twice, but they were gracious enough to let us ride our bikes down the hill. I had to race the Cat 4 open this week because the old guys club started at 40+ this weekend instead of the usual 35+.....point blank......got my ass kicked. Took 12th out of 22 riders, not someone that pleases me. Oh well I had a blast. We loaded up and was going to stay in Topeka with Lyle Reidy, we take off for the local bar and grill to grab a few post race brewskis and one large ass cheeseburger!!!! Now I was ready for a nap!!! Finished up the night by watching KU and MU both get their asses kicked,,,,not a good day at all. Crawled into the sleeping bag early because we were racing Sunday also.

Headed out to Bonner Springs early Sunday morn.....WTF???? The sun was shining!!!!! Grabbed a pre-ride and had way to many clothes on.....I was already soaking wet after one lap. This race venue was awesome!!!! Real tight corners that really fit my style......that being said i came to the starting line with 57 other crazies!!!!! I knew I needed a good start or I'd be screwed. I started somewhere halfway in the pack around 30th and by the 1st hill climb I was pressuring for 3rd....awesome start. I moved into 2nd when the leader went down hard and stayed there most of the 1st lap. I eventually faded a bit and ended up 8th in a class of 57.....not bad for a rookie. We had another great day of biking!!!!

The cross bike is getting parked for the weekend as we are leaving town Friday morning for the Berryman Epic.....55 miles of Hell on the mountain bike. I cant wait but my legs are questioning my sanity......I have full race reports when we get back!!!! OUT!!!

Exercise and Fuel ---Part #1

2009-10-14T14:25:00.003-05:00

I cant count the amount of times that I have been asked the last few months about my weight loss. Its not hard to notice when someone has a 52# body change. The people always seem to ask how I've done it and up to this point I have give the simple answer like "I ride my bike" but there is alot more to it than that. With that being said I decided to detail out the whole process. This is not going to be politically correct, going to be some slang sentencing, mispelled words....point is if you get offended easily your better off to stop reading here.

Well if your still reading this you have a chance of bettering your life through Exercise and Fuel. This is going to be a series of writings to help someone who needs a little extra help in obtaining a new self confidence, more energy, and just an overall better feeling. I have a disclaimer to throw in before we get started. Everyones body is different and reacts differently to exercise and dieting, anyone that knows me realizes that Im wired a bit different than most people. It also needs to be noted that Im not a dietician or a sports trainer......this is whats worked for me put into simple form. Are you ready????? Lets get started.......
Im a firm believer that both exercise and diet is very important for the best results. Im also a firm believer that if your only going to do one or the other.....go for the exercise. Exercise is important because of the changes it has with converting fat to muscle. We are going to get started with focusing on the exercise and phase in the diet side later. Trust me if you can get into a good, fun exercise program then the dieting side is alot easier. Your probably asking yourself right now...."did he say a FUN exercise program???" The answer is "hell yes thats what I said!!!!" If its not fun it wont last....I went through this early on and needed to make some changes. Once again if its not fun and your not getting results you will quit.....been there and done that!!!!!! The main thing in our society today is finding the time to put the effort into it. Everyone has responsibilitys but remember if you die of a heart attack its over........ My main focus at the beginning was increasing my cardiovascular strength, this is probably the most important part of exercise.....if you dont have the cardiovascular strength the rest wont happen.
If your all new to this the biggest thing is dont get all gung-ho and do to much at first. Start out slow and work yourself into it. Set up some goals and try to improve your times each time. I personally time myself each time I do training runs or rides so I can see if Im improving. Dont concern yourself with your weight at this point....if you do the things I tell you to do, your weight will change....for the better. Its best for you to decide which ones are best for you but I will list below the things I was doing to get where Im at.....most importantly make it fun. I love to compete so this was easy for me......set goals and achieve them!!!!! Good luck and look for Part #2 covering the fuel side of this......if you have any questions are want specific details you can email me or post anonymously here.

Workouts:
****4X a week at least 30 mins.....I was getting in mainly 1 hr workouts after the 1st few months. Remember to start slowly. Dont burn out!!!!
**** If your going to spend the time exercising......make it worth it. Get your heartrate up!!!! I like to sweat....its my way of knowing my heartrate is where I need it to get improvements. This means leave your cell phone at home.....if your walking/jogging and talking on your phone at the same time your not working hard enough. When im at the right heartrate I can hardly breath little lone talk on my phone!!!! In the beginning work on intervals while exercising...this is very big and helps with recovery periods. Run for a set time then walk for the same time.....keep doing this for a 30 min period. Personally I like to do this on the YMCA treadmills....its easier to keep track of time and levels. Keep working up to longer intervals as you can......make sure your sweating!!!!!
****Leave your water bottle in the car. If you drink a bottle of water 30 mins prior to working out you will be fine!!! Trust me.....I've been through several stages of dehydration.....if you start seeing fuzzy stars then maybe slow down and grab a drink but for the most part wait til your done. This is where I am wired a bit differently....Im kind of like a camel.....my body doesnt require alot of water. Just remember to rehydrate afterwards.
****Find someone to workout with......not someone to chat with, but someone who you can compete with. This is hard for women!!! We all know you like to talk!!! HAHA. Find someone who has the same goals and help each other. Usually between the 2 of you someone will be motivated to get things going. This is the same as the cell phone issue.....if your talking to your buddy your not working hard enough. You can go do different things, just be there together and motivate each other to go.
****Getting to the gym is usually the hardest part. It usually takes me about 10 mins to get a good sweat and to start feeling better. YES to start feeling better. If I get through the 1st 10 mins Ive got it made. Honestly there have been times that I didnt get through the start. Dont get down on yourself....theres always tomorrow. It happened early on to me....and it still happens from time to time. Just dont give up. Anyone that knows me knows that I love to ride my bikes. Just last week I took off on the trails riding and got to the 5 mile marker and just couldnt get going, I was tired, couldnt catch my breath and all of the non-fun things associated with that. I stopped, got off my bike and just stood there....looking around me and realized that I needed a break. Know when to take a break......
****Set goals and monitor them. In the beginning before I started biking alot, I logged every workout I did. I used www.runnersworld.com to do this. They have a free workout log that tracks everything. It is very useful and I highly recommend it. They also have running programs that are printable to show you what you need to do each day. I printed this out and carried it in a folder to the Ymca. The log takes 2 mins to fill out each day...it is worth the effort.
****Get plenty of rest.....your body needs to rest.

Thats it in a nutshell. Since May I have really been focusing on my bike riding and dont get much running in. The biking is so much easier on the body, unless you wreck alot like me, and to me is alot more fun. Whether it be road, mountain, cyclocross biking doesnt matter to me....i love it all. This program will work for anyone. You dont have to be as intense about it as me, it will work in the same way. During that time I rarely lifted weights, all cardio work!!!! Run, bike, swim or whatever you have to do....just get your heartrate up for 30 mins and sweat. if you do those 2 things 3-4 times a week you will feel better, look better and live longer.....no doubts!!!!! Look for Part 2 on the proper fuel real soon!!!!!!

$$$$$

2009-10-14T13:13:00.001-05:00

I wish I had a dollar for everytime someone ask me how I lost all this weight......I'd buy another bike!!!!!

The weeks events>>>>>

2009-10-05T15:41:00.002-05:00

I had a fairly slow week on the bike this week. I headed out to Indian Creek Monday night to ride the trails and made it up to "deer camp" and headed back in. My legs had no power or energy after racing cross on Sunday. Wow....it had totally drained me. I still got in 10 miles. When I turned around and headed back I decided not to push it and just relax and ride. The leaves are falling and you can see along ways threw the timber with some awesome sights. Im really climbing good right now, with the combination of my low weight and awesome ride.....its hard not to climb well. I spent the next 3 nights downstairs doing intervals on the indoor trainer. Work obligations kept me from having time to get out and ride before dark. Took a rest night on Friday and decided to head to the Boss Cross #1 race in Parkville Saturday. It was a blast and i had a much better race then the week before. Ended up 10th and had so much fun that I skipped the mt bike race in Warsaw on Sunday and headed back to Parkville for round #2 of the series. Jaime and Jax went with me, while Margie drove Cory to the airport as he was leaving for his Army active duty designation in Ft Collins, CO. Jaime and Jax had a blast at this race.....Mt bike racing is not a very spectator friendly sport because you only see the riders once or twice a race......but cyclo-cross is WAY different. They would be at one section of the course and they were screaming and hollering for me, then as soon as Id pass they would take off for another section. Samething every lap....I'd see them in 4 different places each lap. Jax was worn out and slept all the way home!!!! I addicted to this type of racing, now I just have to get better so I can get to winning!!!! I ended up 11th out of 40 racers so I was pretty happy with that....you noticed I said Happy....not Satisfied!!!! OUT!!!!

Brutal=Cyclocross!!!

2009-09-27T20:50:00.002-05:00

WOW.....headed off to KC early this morning to partake in my 1st cyclo-cross race and as expected it ended up being one of the toughest things I've ever done. Reflecting back to the race I now know what I need to do to get better. I finished 27th out of 57 racers....some people would look at that and say not bad for your 1st race.....I look at it and say hell no, its going to get better. I can see me getting into this type of racing. We'll see if I can improve by December!!! OUT!!!!

Random Bird Thoughts????

2009-09-22T14:19:00.002-05:00

This is a true story......So Im driving down the road today in my truck when I look out the window and see this group of birds flying in a very tight group. They are really getting after it.....Im trying to figure out how they can fly so tight together at high speed without hitting each other. They were dipping and swinging, they never missed a beat. Its then that I noticed the lead bird was getting a bit winded, but he kept on trucking. We all know that he was using upto 30% more energy than the rest of the group. The poor little guy was starting to get pissed when I saw him turn his head and say something in bird language, now Im not real fluent in bird language but Im a good lip reader and what I got out of it was "WTF.....Will someone else get up here and pull awhile." Im laughing my ass off when out of the blue the little peckerhead flipped me the bird!!!! Literally!!!! The rest of the tiny birds sensed his frustration and took over for awhile......the lead dog drifted to the back and took his rest for a few seconds, he couldnt take this for very long and as he headed back to the front he flew in formation while giving me the thumbs up!!!! I could do nothing but do the same back as this was a picture perfect flying exhibition!!!! OUT!!!!

Nice ride today......

2009-09-20T22:17:00.003-05:00

SSSOOO I wake up this morning and I felt like hell!!!! Drinking wasnt even involved with this crappy feeling. My jaw was hurting with what felt like an ear infection....and on top of that the whole deal had my throat hurting. We head over to the KC Cup at Swope park.... Really wasnt motivated to race, but I was already there and was going to conquer the demons within my head that came from the "jawbreaker" on Wednesday night. I get to the line and they blow the horn....the adrenalin kicks in and I take off like a cat on fire!!!! We had a nice stretch of open road to get everyone strung out before we hit the technical singletrack. My plan was to be in the lead when we hit the timber. Plan worked out!!! Had a guy on my wheel but I dropped him pretty quick when we hit some tough stuff within the 1st mile. Never heard from him again, I even had a small incident that sent me over the bars....but I landed softly, jumped back on and rode it on out to a victory. I had a blast and was very glad I had pre-rode. I felt like hell the whole race and couldnt really ever get going, I was short of breath and didnt ever recover...i dont know what the hell is going on but if the jaw doesnt start getting better Im going to have to breakdown and see a doctor. I was hoping for it healing on its own, but im starting to wonder if it has some infection thats causing the ear pain. Oh well....time to step up the training. Gotta get some sleep!!!!! OUT!!!

Tired!!!!

2009-09-17T16:07:00.002-05:00

Well its been a week since I last posted and lots has went down!!! Heres where it all started!!!
Got in a few rides last week mainly on the double boinger.....I love that full suspension, lately It has been reported that its permanent fixture to my ass!!! Sweet!!!! Friday night rolled around and we headed uptown so Jax could race in the bike races for the Tour. He had 8 kids in his heat and finished 4th....he wasnt very excited but he did awesome. He had a bad start but ran them down and passed a few......Im trying to figure out where he got the attitude of not liking to lose!!!! Oh well I'll figure it out someday. Headed to the Hornets football game to watch them spank Grain Valley, then back to the beer gardens and some blues music in preparation for Saturdays main event...The Tour of Missouri. Saturday came and Chillicothe was buzzing!!! People everywhere....this event was amazing!!!! Hit the after race party at the country club then off to Scott and Kaseys wedding, had some big plans for Sunday but after getting home from the reception at 4am I didnt get alot done Sunday. Oh well...i need some rest.
Monday night I jumped back on my bike, I skipped the road ride and headed directly to Indian Creek. Its dry and fast and as long as its dry Im going to be on the mountain bike....my roadie bike is getting no love right now!!!! Tuesday night was much of the same.....headed out to Indian Creek but stayed on the campground loop and burned some laps...got in a few with James before he had to leave then finished up with a total of 7 laps. This section is so much fun.....fast down the south side and climb up the north side....perfect for some interval training, if thats your thing, and perfect for just having some good ol' biking fun. Wednesday night I set up a date for me, coach and James to head out to Swope Park in KC to pre-ride for the race there on Sunday.....holy shit.....whats up with all the rock????? I found out its not very beginner friendly as Im bouncing my face off a big ass rock early on.....not 100% sure but I think my jaw is broke....with some awesome cuts to my cheek and neck. My 3rd and 4th lap were very successful with the veteran coaching of Coach and James. Had a great time with some awesome food and beverage at 54th St. afterwards......headed home and got some needed rest....the legs are feeling it today. Plan on taking tonight off the bike....might sneek a short run in but thats doubtful. Im BBQin for Margies b-day tomorrow night.....by the way isnt she great. She lets me ride my bike whenever I want....she kicks ass at cooking, shes loves me with all her heart, and shes aware that shes married to a crazy ass adrenalin junky fool....what else could a normal guy like me ask for.....her ageless beauty makes me look better!!! Im a lucky dude. She still thinks she can kick my ass in tennis....who we kidding here.....I win that game in straight sets and i havent had a tennis racket in my hands since middle school. Time will only tell. Headed to the city for the race this weekend....I had some foolish thoughts of moving up to Sport, but after pre-riding i believe Im staying right where I belong....Beginner!!!! Hope they have alerted the Ambulance district, i may need it!!!! Out!!!!!!

Bikes and Beers!!!!

2009-09-09T08:29:00.002-05:00

What a weekend!!! Had big plans to hit Jeff city for the 6 hr Binder race, we had been watching the radar and weather forecast most of the week. Coach Long called Friday night and we decided to make the corporated decision Saturday morning.....I jumped out of the sack around 5:30AM and jumped on my favorite.....www.wunderground.com for the latest updates. Didnt look good, so I crawled back into the sack to wait for the phone call. He finally called about 6:45 and we decided to not make the trip. We decided to head out to Indian Creek and do some trail maintenance then proceed to ride the hell out of our bikes. Jim Cummins, a friend of coaches, met us around 10AM. James Shiflett jumped in with us and we rode til around 2:30PM. Had a blast....had a few small crashes, but nothing to write home about.
Headed to Trenton to watch the MU Tigers kick the crap out of the Illini!!!! Sweet!!! Had to try out a new beer and man was it good!!! Shock Top kicks ass.......add on the fact that I hadnt ate all day and was quite dehydrated from riding, it was a short evening and I wasnt that popular at home with the wifey!!!!!
Next up.....Swope park!!!! Im working on getting me a new crossbike right now, so im hoping to get in a cross race that Saturday then hit the trails on Sunday for the cross country race.
OUT!!!!!