Like a captain without a ship!

So much has happened, it is had to know where to start. I will keep it short and simple for this post. Geico insurance is pretty cool. They took care of me, and paid off quickly to fix the bike from the accident.

On November 1, Matt Garret, Tim, Chris, Jed and myself went for a long afternoon training ride north of town. Rode gravel, rails to trails, toured an abandoned missile silo, gravel and more rails to trails. I then blew up my rear derailleur at about 45-47 miles into the ride, had to turn the bike into a single speed and ride into a 30 mile headwind on some pretty good hills.

The cross bike went into the shop the next week for repairs so it is the mountain bike for a while. Rode that bike two days, got sick with the flu and did not ride for 2 days, rode trails the next two days, just to have my rear rim explode on Saturday afternoon.

Took the mountain bike into the shop today, and am now running this week!!!!!!!!! What a life. Broke 2 bikes and had the flu all in six days. Who Say's I have a boring life?

The good news, Matt Brown is the man! He said that he should have both bikes to me by the end of the week. The rear wheel of the mountain bike will be repaired under warranty. Lets pray that things will turn around and the bad luck is over. I heard that they travel in three's, and by my count this was the third disaster.

I will be heading up north a little ways with some of the guys on Sunday for a little recon for the next dirty kanza. Check back to see if I survive! Until next time, keep cool!

Peace out,
Mike

Return of the nightmare!

Well, since my last post a few things have happened. Last Thursday (October 15) I was on my way out of town for the daily training ride. It was cold and wet, and I was not particularly excited to brave another frozen ride. I was about 3 miles in, at the intersection of 24th and Prairie headed north on Prairie. I was on one of my usual wet weather 50 milers. As I was approaching the intersection, I saw a lady coming up to the corner and slowing to stop. As I was entering the intersection, I was keeping an eye on her. Just as I was directly in front of her, she pressed the gas and was headed directly into me! I tried to punch it, but she was turning the corner to go into the same direction that I was going.

She first began to make contact with me on the back half of the rear wheel. I could feel the wheel beginning to give. As she turned and accelerate I could feel the wheel bending under the pressure, and finally their was enough pressure and damage to throw me from the bike. As I was going down, one of the first things that came into my head was "oh no, not again". It was one year and one month ago that I was hit by another car, which totaled my bike.

After I got up off of the ground I checked myself and the bike. Fortunately I was uninjured except a little road rash on my left elbow and left hip. The winter riding clothes saved a little skin. I then checked out the bike. The rear wheel was severely bent, and pushed into and kind of around the frame. We called the police, and reported what had happened.

The officer told us that because their was no damage to her car, that we should just exchange information. To me this did not seem quite right. She hits me with her car, and doesn't even get a ticket?!?!?! After information was exchanged, the officer gave me a ride home, since the bike was broken. I took the bike down to High Gear bike shop to have Matt Brown check it out.

Matt IS the man. He has got me back on the road quickly! He got me a replacement wheel, exactly like the one that was damaged, and got everything back in order in less than a week! A BIG shout out to Matt and his awesome service!!! This is where things get interesting! Now that I got the bike finished today, I went to call the lady that ran into me, and when I called the number, the number was not in service!!! We had an agreement that she wanted to fix it without dealing with the insurance company, but since I was unable to contact her, I called her insurance company today, and filed a claim for her, with the information that I got from the officer.

Now, it is the wait, call, follow up, bug, follow up and see if they are going to settle. Thanks Emporia police department! The insurance company SEEMED to be very helpful. We will see how it goes. I hope that it goes quickly, and easily.

In other news, since the cross bike has been out of commission this week, I have spent some quality time on the mountain bike! This week has got me to fall in love with the HiFi all over again! That in one SWEET bike. I have had a blast this week on it. I think that I am going to have to use it a little more often this winter, and not just stay on the cross bike all winter.

This week when I was down at the shop, I was talking to a couple of teammates, and we have decided that we were going to do the Coronado Challenge on November 22. This should help to not get so bored with the winter training. It is nice to throw a little fun in once and a while!

Also, I have begun to think about some of the events that I would like to do next year. I have started a wish list which will serve as a working list. Will I do all of the races on the list? I would like to, but in all likelihood, probably not. Some races might be added. Some races may be removed. As the season progresses I will use the list to post the result of that particular race. Thought that this would be a helpful addition to the blog. You can fine the list in the right hand column.

I have rambled on enough for now, so I will let you go. Thanks for hanging in their and reading this lengthy post! Remember, always wear a helmet when out riding. You never know what will happen. If you don't have one, go down to the High Gear Bike Shop and my buddy Matt brown will hook you up. He has some pretty cool lids down their. Until next time, keep the rubber side down!

Peace Out!

New Video's

Well, Their is not much to report this week. The training is consistent, and I am getting in real regular miles. The weight room is a little slow, but it is still early, and their is a long winter still ahead.

This past weekend was the wife unit's birthday. We had a lot of fun. On Saturday we went to Kansas City to the Renaissance festival and then dinner at Abuelo's! On Sunday our son came down from Topeka and we went to the pumpkin patch and zoo the the grandson's, and then BBQ for dinner! A fun time was had by all.

Since their is a lack of action I thought that I would post a few videos for your entertainment. They are from a few events that I took part in this past year. Enjoy, and check back next time for more 411!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr5cEVeZdEw
Dirty Kanza 200

http://vimeo.com/6349519
Dirty Kanza 200

http://vimeo.com/6085808
cRamp Alexander

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew2Qfll5ZHk&feature=player_embedded
KC Cup Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOViq3DOYag&feature=related
KC Cup Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0WUFTZAkRw&feature=related
KC Cup Part 3

Peace Out!

And.....it's over.

Well, this past week I was all dressed up and had no place to go. I had trained pretty good the past couple of weeks to prepare for the Kansas City Cup. That was to be the last mountain bike race on the schedule for this year. I felt like I was in decent shape. Not quite where I was before the injury, but close.

It would have been fun to race this past weekend, and missed being their with the guys, but those things happen on occasion. The HiFi has not got it's new part yet, so I had no bike to race.

Since the season is now officially over, I have backed off a little this week, and have begun some base training on the bike, and am returning to the weight room. Soon, since it is really beginning to cool down, I will mess around with a little running to mix it up a little.

Who knows, since I am putting most of the time in on the cross bike, maybe I will toy with the idea of doing a couple of cross races so that I don't get too bored! Check back later for some more updates on life!!!

Peace out!

And life goes on!

Life has been returning to normal lately. School has begun, the house has been repaired and ready for winter, the body is healed and I am beginning to get consistent miles again.

Since the injury, I started back on the bike for about 3 days the first week, intentionally keeping it out of the big ring. It was a slow and wimpy start, but each day out I could feel the strength coming back, and the pace picking up, then disaster struck this past labor day weekend. Last Thursday we had a real down pour and when we went to the basement the next morning, the shop and laundry room were flooded.

After we found our what was going on, I began working on the drainage issue that we had. This involved digging a 65 feet drainage ditch and creating a french drain that stretched from out back yard, all the way along the south boundary of our property to about mid-way into out front yard. After the drain was built, I had to fill it back in, re sculpt the ground along part of the south side of the house and throw down some grass seed. It was a killer project, but is already paying dividends. The day after I finished, it rained long and pretty hard, and we are now staying high and dry!

In the biking world, things are mixed. On labor day Shelley and I rode across town and rode our bikes with our grand daughter Olivia. As we were getting close to their house, the HiFi was was starting to make funny noises, and I thought that the wheel was just a little out of alignment. Just before we were going to ride back across town to our house, I went to try to adjust the back wheel to stop the break squeak, and this is when I found out that the carbon fiber seat stay on the right side was broken!!!!! What a drag!!! The next day I took it down to High Gear Bike Shop and Matt took pictures, and emailed them to see if the part could be replaced under warranty.

Since Labor Day I have been on the cross bike, and have found that I have kind of missed riding it. I have not really been on it since the Dirty Kanza 200, the last day of May. I have been hammering out the miles on the HiFi. The cross bike is all pimped out now and working well. Now that fall is just around the corner, I think that I am going to begin spending quite a bit more time on the cross bike. It has become my tool of choice during the fall and winter months. It is the work horse!!!

It feels nice to be getting out now on some regular, consistent training rides. Life is really looking good to me right now. Well, that is it for now. Keep tuned in for the next edition. Until then,

Peace out!

Curse of 666.....

Well, it has been a while since I have last up dated. Since my last post things have went south a bit for me. The weekend before the Rapture in Misery, Lelan Tim Garret and myself went out to camp to practice night laps. All was well until the last lap. On the easiest part of the course, I was looking forward toward a corner, and my light did not pick up a tree stump. Needless to say, if it is there, I will hit it!!! My pedal caught the stump and bodyslammed be like you would not believe!

We I went to get up, it took a few minutes. It wass one of those kind of crashes that you don't see coming, and can't prepare for. When I was finally able to get to my feet, I could hardly stand, of breath. I landed on my right side with my arm under me, and it took the wind out of me and my chest hurt to breath. I was SOOO unprepared that the bike stayed between the legs, and the left pedal barried itsolf into my calf, and then scraped all the way up to the knee. Their was a welt on my calf the size of a baseball!!!

Needless to say, I finished to lap and then loaded up in the truck and went home. The next day, could hardly walk,and my leg from the knee down was really swollen. I limped around for a couple of days, and then on wednesday I decided to test the leg. Even though the leg hurt quite a bit to stand on it, it was not bad on the bike. That go me to thinking that the weekend may not be a wash afterall!!! I rested it another couple of days, then tested it again on Friday. By then I could walk pretty normally, but the calf was still really swollen and tight.

Since I had a couple of good test rides during the week I thought that I would join everybody at the race, and just hope that their was no section that would take me off of my bike. I tought that it might be a little difficult if I had to push at all.

The Rapture In Miser was AWESOME. I teamed up with Tim Mohn anf Jim Cummins. We were doing pretty well, and the leg was holding up well throughout the day. I was the one to go out on the first night lap. By that time it had alredy started to rain. I was a little concerned leaving, but took off, and was doing well for almost the first half of the lap, then as it was getting dark, the skys open up and I began to pour. The course got REALLY muddy and slippery. The rocks and exposed roots were like glass!!! Since I was recently injured I was extra careful. Their was a section about 2/3 through the lap that was REALLY rocky, so I decided to walk it. I Was slipping and sliding on all the water, mud, wet and muddy rocks and exposed roots.

By the time that my lap was done, the conditions were horible! Tim was next to go out, and shortly after he left they called the race, but tim had to finish his lap. It took him about twice as long because it was so bad out. At oun point in the day we were in 3rd place, but by time it had ended we slipped into 6th.....6TH AGAIN!!! Except for 2 races this summer, I have finisher 6th in every other race. I don't know what it is about 6th, but I can't seem to break the curse!!!!

To make a long story short, I agrivated the calf injury, could not walk for two days, went to the doctor, got put on crutches for a week and a half, and am just now getting back on the bike! This time I am going to take it a little slower. I will have a series of fairly easy rides this week, and then begin to pick up the pace a little bit. Well, that it all I can stand for now!

Peace out!

The Rapture is Near!!!

Well, my ability to keep this thing updated sucks. Since the last post we had the cRamp Alexander Bike Race. It was a lot of fun, and their was a high quality level of riders their. We were Blessed by some of the top riders from the Midwest. When it was all said and done, I ended up in 6th place. It was pretty good for me. This is the first year that I am racing in the expert class since I came out of retirement. I was even able to finish at a respectable amount of time behind the likes of Cameron Chambers, Mark Studnicki, and Tig Lamb.

Since then I have not put in a lot of long rides, but the pace has been pretty good. I have done trail riding three days a week, and out on the road the other three. On the road I have been averaging about 20.5mph, with out getting to uncomfortable.

The latest news? This weekend we are having a going away party for Lelan at our house on Saturday. He is going to New York to work at a YMCA camp for a while. He is pretty excited about it. Then, on Sunday evening a bunch of us are going to go out to camp and do a little night riding! We want to get a little practice in before the Rapture of Misery!

The Rapture of Misery is on August 15th! It is always a good time. This year the location has changed. It will be held in Trenton Missouri, at Crowder. I have never ridden their but everybody that I have talked to has nothing but good things to say about the place. Events like this are great for spending the day on the bike, and having a good time with friends. Nothing beats a 12 hour race! Well, I think that I am going to wrap it up for now. Check back again to see if I can get my lazy butt in gear and update again some time soon.

Peace out!