Hydrate, or not to hydrate?...as much

It's that time of the week again. Their is not to much excitement going on right now. At work we are wrapping up our activities for the semester. We are officially done until the middle of January. We will spend the next couple of weeks getting ready for next semester. We are servicing our equipment, creating promotional material, and hiring and training new staff members.

Shelley and I have been pretty busy getting ready for Christmas. We have been buying presents for a couple of months now, so that we could spread out the expense, and not have to buy everything at the same time. This seems to be working pretty well! We are almost done with all of our shopping already. This past weekend after Thanksgiving and Molly's birthday we cleaned out carpets and decorated for Christmas. It is REALLY nice to have everything almost done. We can now relax and enjoy the season.

As for the training.....we are pretty much on schedule. I have been able to be very regular with all of the workouts. I am seeing increase in strength from the weightlifting, the run is as it always is. It is their. I am now up to six miles every day that I lift weights. As for the riding, it is going REALLY well! I have recently increased the mileage, and the MPH has got fasted in the past couple of weeks. I am really happy the way the riding is progressing. The only issue at this time is the temperature. It has been getting REALLY cold. It is not that my body is getting to cold. It is the fact that the hydration is becoming a little challenging. It is so cold that I have to drink real frequently so that it doesn't freeze, and since it is so cold, you don't sweat as much. This causes a new problem. You stay SO hydrated, that you have to take frequent "NATURAL" breaks!

This weekend Shelley is going to Kansas City Saturday with the girls. They are going on an all day shopping trip. This means that I can get in an extended bike ride in! BIG FUN!!! Well, I hope that everybody has a Blessed week!

Peace Out!

Enter the pain cave!

The past week has been good. I have increased my training level for the holiday season, and the first few day were pretty rough but they are getting better now. My schedule consists of riding every other day, and the days that I am not on the bike I lift weights and run. I will do this for 8 days and then take a day off to rest. At the end of an 8 day period I have 240 miles on the bike and 24 miles running.

You know what they say, The deeper you are willing to crawl into the pain cave, the brighter it is when you get out. The human body is an amazing thing. Most people are not willing to work hard enough to see the results that they want to achieve. The workout doesn't truely begin until you are tired. From the point that you are tired until the time when you quit is where you will see the progress. The longer you can endure the pain, the more the improvement you will see.

Last Sunday I rode the Cross bike to Matt's house in Topeka. It was his birthday and we were going to their house to celebrate his birthday. I started a little earlier then Shelley and Molly and met them their. When the day was over I loaded the bike onto the Jeep, and we drove it home. What A day. a 62 mile ride and then roast, mashed potatoes and corn in this wonderful cream cheese sauce. Then for desert we had ice cream cake and cup cakes.

My rides have been getting pretty cold. I have been using the winter gear a lot. On Thursday when I started my ride it was 26 with 20-25 miles per hours winds. By time I went to take the first drink off of the camel back the water was slush! That's when you know that it is cold.

This week well be REALLY fun. I will only work 2 days. This means extra long rides, lots of good food, Molly's birthday party and plenty of rest and relaxation! Life does not get any better than this. Also, on thanksgiving night we are going to the movies in the last afternoon with a bunch of friends, and then we are all getting together for more food and games and conversation.

Well, it's time to let you all go for now. Check back in a week or two for the latest updates on life, and the possible new and upcoming spring concert. I hope that you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Peace Out!

Way over due

Well, I don't really know where to begin. It has been so long that I can hardly remember what was discussed in the last entry.

As for the training, it is going pretty well. I have been lifting weights and running 3 days a week, and riding 3-4 days a week. I have been on the mountain bike only a couple of times lately. This is due to a couple of factors. First, the trails at camp Alexander look like they have been attacked by an army of beavers. In one large section of the trail they have cut down a bunch of trees with a chain saw for some reason. The trees are everywhere, many are overlaying the trail. Second, we have had quite a bit of rain, and the trails are a little muddy. I am hoping that they clean out the trees before spring, or we are going to have a problem around here.

This means that I have been putting in a ton of miles on the cross bike. I am really loving this bike the more that I ride it. The only thing that I would change, is I would like to convert the wheels into tubeless soon. I have been spoiled with the mountain bike, and have had to change out to many tubes. This one change would make it perfect.

Last weekend was busy, but totally awesome! We finally had the Disciple concert at the Granada Theater on Saturday. It could not have went any better. Their were about 725 people their, and it seats only 816. It was one of the most awesome concerts that I have seen in quite a while.

Then on Sunday, Garret, Randy and myself raced in the Freedom ride. It went well, but it was REALLY cold. When we started it was 24 degree's, and it was only 32 degree's when we finished. Even though I only got three and a half hours sleep Saturday night, I rode well. Garret and I rode together that day, and after we completed the 35 miles, we were the first two to cross the finish line. We decided that it would be cool to cross the line together. Great way to finish off the race season!

Well, I think that I am pretty much back on track, I hope. I promise that I will try to do a better job of updating this blog now that things have slowed a little. I will let you all go for now, and I hope that you all have a Blessed week.

Peace out!

The way of the cross

This week has been a blast! I have now had the new cyclocross bike for a week, and what a fun week it has been. At this point all I have to say is "LOVE THE BIKE". I have taken the XO out on a few road rides, and they have been as fast as any rides that I have done at any point this entire year. The bike is fast!

I have also ventured out and explored the world of cyclocross. I have never tried it before, but had found it quite interesting. On Saturday, I went out to Randy's house with Matt and Stephanie Brown, Matt Day, Garret Seacat, and Shawn Honie. They have built a cross course out at Randy's and they were going to take me out and give me some pointers. What a hoot! That cyclocross stuff is really different and a lot of fun.

I think that it will be a fun way to help stay in shape over the cold winter months. I had so much fun, that I went out their again on Tuesday and rode again. I hope to go out their a couple of times a week over the winter. Check out what cyclocross is like on this youtube video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSx1B4QSX3s As for the rest of the training, it has been a little slow. I have missed one of the lifting and running days due to having fun on the new bike.

Now that I have got use to the new bike a little, I will now get back to the regularly scheduled workouts, and get focused again on training for next summer.

On a side note. It is really starting to cool off in the mornings around here. Today it was 39 when I left for a ride! It gave me a chance to try out the new winter riding gear, and boy is it great. It is SOOOO toasty warm. By time I got home I was dripping with sweat. I am definitely going to be able to stay warm on those cold winter days.

As for the Disciple concert that is coming up..... Things are coming along nicely, and we are able to see a lot of excitement around town for it. Every day their are people coming into the bike shop telling Matt how they are really looking forward to the concert. I am getting sooo excited for it. I believe that God is going to do some amazing things that day! Stay tuned for the latest updates as the date approaches. And, it you have not purchased your ticket yet, hurry down and get one. Their are only six weeks left, and the tickets are beginning to sell quickly!

Well, I will let you all go for now. I hope to speak with you all soon, and hope that you all have as blessed week as I have had.

Peace out!

God is good!!! All the time!

Sorry that it has taken so long to update. It has been a really crazy week. I will start with a recap of the big news. If you have not heard yet, I was involved in a little bit of an accident last Monday. The end result was, I got a sprained wrist, sore shoulder, hip and a little bruise just below one of my knees, and on one of the quadriceps. As for the bike ..... can you say DOA!

The day began with an uneventful road ride to Beto Junction and back which is about 52 miles. Everything was fine until I was a block from my house. As I was riding down 9th I was about to turn onto Neosho St. As I approached the corner I noticed that I truck was backing down his driveway toward the street. I did not think much about it because it seamed that he was slowing to a stop as I approached the corner. As I turned the corner to go to the end of the block to my house, he decided to back out into the street just as I was about 1 car length from his driveway.

As he punched it, he flew out into the street, and blocked it. By this time it was to late to react, so I let go of the handlebars, and I was catapulted off of the bike into his truck hand first. Can you say OOOHHH... CCCRRRAAAPPP! Luckily the impact of my hand slamming into the side of his truck and putting a big dent into it saved the day. According to the garmin, I was traveling at 17.7 mph when we decided to become a little more familiar with each other.


After a trip to High Gear Bike Shop to see my friend Matt Brown the bike was pronounced TOTALED! I went back to the person that was driving the truck expecting for this to become ugly and drawn out and spoke to the man. As expected, he was quite surprised to hear how much it costs to replace a road bike. But the rest of the story I find quite miraculous.

I thought that this would take possible up to several months of pain staking deliberation to resolve, but quite the contrary. This cool old guy got in touch with his insurance rite away, and they rang me up on my cell that same afternoon for a statement. I explained to the best of my ability what happened, then they asked that I send some pics to them so that they could see the damage. The next day I emailed them to the secret agent lady and she said that she would get in touch with me when the estimate arrived at her office.

A couple of days passed, and I get another call from the agent, and she informed me that they have printed me a nice little check for the full amount of the estimate, and that it would be placed into the mail the next business day! The accident occured on Monday, and this was on Friday ...... can you say 5 DAYS!!!

Boy does God work in mysterious ways. For the past few weeks I was worried because the road bike was needing some work done to it before winter since it was getting up their in age. Now, for the small price of a sore wrist God has exchanged the old worn out road bike with an AWESOME NEW cross bike. Something I had been wanting for a while, but was not able to afford. All within a 5 day period! Thanks go out to Matt Brown at High Gear Bike Shop in Emporia, Ks. for all of the help through this whole mess, and for giving me such a good deal on the SWEET ride! If you are ever in need of a new ride, be sure to look him up. He has the best deals that I have ever seen.

As for the rest of my life this past week ..... big sorries go out to the wife unit for finding out about the little mishap through a stranger (owner of the truck). He came to the house when I was at work and apologized and told her that the insurance was going to pay for the totaled bike. The lesson of the week is .... accident, wife, bike shop then work. Proper protocol next time.

Besides this, Training is still on track. Riding is going well, lifting is coming around, and the run is still an embarrassment, but getting better. Also, through some awesome sponsorship I have now secured the winter riding attire so I can stay toasty warm during those frozen winter training rides. That's it for now, and I will hit you all up again in about a week with the newest updates!

Peace Out!

get'n my run on.....kinda!

Well, fall decided to show up early this year I guess. This past week, the weather has been awful. The mornings have been either cold, foggy or raining. In the past 2 weeks, every time I go out to ride, I have had to use the arm warmers and vest. It is weird having to do this the first week of September. Usually it is still summer out. Makes you wonder what winter has in store for us.

As far as workouts go, I have been getting in some good rides that have averaged somewhere around 40-50 miles a ride. Their were a couple of days though, that I had to get out and run due to bad weather. I was glad that I got the new running shoes the other week when we were in Kansas City. I thought that they might sit in the closet for a little bit while the weather was still nice, but... I guess that it's time to start the old cross training for the off season.

The original plan was to ride into the fall, then, when things cooled, begin some weight lifting and running several times a week along with 3-4 rides a week. This way I could still stay bike fit while improving my fitness and strength in preparation for next summer. I thought that it would be a nice change of pace to rest the riding muscles 3-4 days a week and let them get some good recovery.

Under the current circumstances, I decided to begin this a little earlier. During the month of August I felt that my fitness/performance was beginning to drop a little due to a lack of focus, and I was not wanting to loose anymore ground, so I am beginning a series of building phases leading into next summer. After much thought, and calendar searching, I decided that I may as well Begin the damage control now and ease myself into the first building phase.

The short term plan is this..... Last week I began some running. two days a week for the first three or so weeks, about an hour at a time to get the logs use to running again. Man!!! the first couple of times my legs let me know that they were not happy with me!! But, they are beginning to get better at this. I am able to go longer without walking a little, and the mileage is increasing. I have already noticed that it has actually helped my riding. Even though the legs are sore, I am riding a little stronger, giving the legs the days off of the bike.

This week I am also easing myself into the weight room again. I have not lifted since the Dirt Kanza, and I can tell. I hope to lift on the same days that I run, and ride on alternating days. After a couple of more weeks of this to let this old body get use to the new routine, I would like to add a third day a week of running and lifting, and riding the other days.

I plan on continuing this until the holiday season, then I will make some changes into the routine again. I am still hoping to get into a couple of events, like the Tour De Lizard, and the Freedom Ride, and who knows what else might come up, but as for training, I am going to be more focused, and begin the preparation for the assault on the endurance world next summer!

Well.... I have bored you all enough for now and will let you go. Until next week.

Peace out!

ROCKING THE CITY!!!

The past few days have been wonderful. To begin, I had a really fun time on the bike last week, being able to ride six days in a row, with three of those days being trail rides out at the camp. I ended the week with a KILLER workout on Friday morning that totally rocked. It included old highway 50, then another 30 miles of gravel at breakneck speed.

I was a little disappointed that I was unable to ride with the gang that night. It was the send off ride for our friend Lelan. I was a little wiped out from the morning ride, and the wife unit wanted to go out for dinner. We will ALL really miss Lelan and the fun times we all had on our bikes together, but look forward to when he comes back for visits.

Saturday the wife unit and myself took a marathon road trip to the big city. We started the day out shopping. This was something that she worked all summer for, and we had a great time wondering through Nebraska Furniture Mart test driving all sorts of things.

This was so taxing that we decided to go top off the tanks for the day with some AWESOME BBQ! I personally went for the burnt ends with the hot sauce. It was the best meal in weeks.

When we finished we had a little time to kill so off to Dicks Sporting goods we go. I was able to hook up with a pair of really cool running shoes. I have been in the recovery mode since we were raptured, and next week I am going to go into a building stage in preparation of next year. Their are BIG plans in the making, and I will need all of the time possible to accomplish the task at hand (more details to come later).

By this time we had already put in a full day, but was now primed to ROCK OUT for the evening. We arrived at the starlight theater about 5:30pm just in time for the final 5 bands at "Rock The Light" concert! Talk about a great show we rocked and moshed in our row for five and a half hours. The bands were unbelievable. By time we got home at 1:30am we were both wiped out and I could hardly walk. My legs hurt so bad from the jumping up and down that I could hardly press down on the gas pedal to drive home. It took the next two days for us to feel like we were back to normal again! Such weekends are legendary!

Peace Out!!!

What a life!

This week has actually been pretty uneventful. I have been able to get out on my bikes for a couple of hours each morning and just goof around. I went out on the road bike on Tuesday and took a Cruise to Hartford and back. It was a nice little casual aerobic work out. It took about 2 hours, which was nice. Sunday, Monday and Wednesday I just went over to camp Alexander and rode the trails for a couple of hours. It has been kind of nice just playing on the bikes this week. It has given the old body a chance to fully recover from the Rapture in Misery. I think that I will take another week and do the same before training for the next race. I think that the next event that I would like to do is the Tour De Lizard. I really enjoy their course. It is challenging, but a lot of fun!


In other news, The concert is coming along nicely. We had a committee meeting on Monday evening, and it looks like a lot of the details have been worked out and the promotion and ticket sales should begin within the next week or so. The people that we have already spoken to are actually quite excited. If you would like to learn more about the bands go to this page and click on the images of the bands to hear what they sound like. http://www.ridehighgear.com/pages/framepages/news.html


On a little more personal note, Shelley and I are going to take a quick little adult retreat Saturday. It has been a while since we have done something like this, with just the two of us. We will be going to Kansas City so that she can look around in a few stores. We will get an early dinner, and then head out for a little LIVE ENTERTAINMENT!

Well, thanks for hanging in their and listening to me rambling on! I hope that everyone has a blessed week, and I will return next week! Same bat time, same bat channel.

In The Beginning

Well, Where to start. I have recently got back into mountain bike racing, and want to allow my family and Friends to keep up with what is going on with my life. So, since I have been so busy with work, family, training and racing I have not done a very good job keeping in tough with everybody and this has become my solution.

During the course of this past summer I have done a few races to get the old feet wet again, and have had a lot of fun doing it. It has been very interesting though. Originally, I has just going to do the traditional mountain bike races. The kind that you just show up, and an hour and a half to two hours later you are done. Well, for some reason it has not worked out that was.

The first race of the season was a traditional race, and I went OK. I rode very well, but due to technical problems with my back wheel I was only able to finish 5th. Since that race I have not done a traditional race. All of the ones that I had planed to attend were cancelled due to rain and bad course conditions. It has been a very wet year.

The funny thing though. For some reason I was talked into doing a race that I never thought that I would ever consider, The Dirty Kanza 200. A 200 mile mountain bike race. I considered it to be the challenge of all challenges. So I entered.

To prepare for such an event, I was in need of a lot of saddle time, and this is where the adventure began. Since this point I have put in many LONG rides on the mountain bike and several awesome races.

2 months before the Dirty Kanza I did a 6 hour race that was a lot more fun than I thought it would be, where I finished 6th. Then the mother of all mountain bike races, the "Dirty Kanza 200". This event was a real eye opener. It was an extremely challenging, but fun race. I was amazed that I was not only able to finish it, but do pretty well in it. Even though I got off course, and rode an extra 15 miles I was still able to finish 11th.

By this point I was discovering that I was not bad at the LONG endurance races, and, they were kind of fun to do!

Since the Dirty Kanza I have been able to to another 6 hour race, but as a team with a fellow rider and Friend Garret Seacat, which we finished 8th, and a 12 hour team race with Friends and fellow riders Lelan Daines and Dustin Burghardt, which we finished 2nd.



It is odd how things evolve on their own, and seem to become so natural. Not ever planing to become an endurance racer, but evolving into one and liking it is so strange for me to think about, but that's life. At this point I am already looking forward to next years season, and busy planning events that I would like to do.

Well, it is time to sign off. I will try to update this thing at least once a week, it possible. Who knows where this crazy thing will end up?