Quick update!

Sorry that it has been so long. I have only a few minutes, so I will try to be fast! Got the cross bike back, and got the NEW mountain bike, both on Thursday afternoon. I got to ride the new bike to work on Thursday and Friday! I was trying to get everything adjusted just right so that everything felt good! Went for a quick ride on the cross bike Friday morning before work.

I helped with praxis testing on Saturday to help pay for the new bike, then, took the Zaskar LE down to the bike shop to be boxed up so that I can send it to its new home in Michigan! Then, I took it to Garret who helped me get it shipped off through UPS. Matt and the boys came down on Friday afternoon, and stayed for a visit though the weekend. They did not leave until Monday morning, because of the big storm that passed through on Sunday. We got four inches in one day. It was something to see.

Needless to say, I got no riding in over the weekend, and because of the lingering rain on Monday, I rode the trainer in the basement. Today though, I was able to get a nice ride done outside. I rode the cross bike to Beto Junction and back, at just over 18mph. I hope to get some good training time in on the bike for the rest of the week, then take Saturday off, and Maybe go do the race a Wilson Lake on Sunday!

Matt and the boys will be coming down again this weekend since Jessica is still out of town. She is returning Sunday, and will be passing through Emporia with her parents, so they will drop her off here and she will ride home with Matt and the boys!

Finally, I think that I have the other bike sold to a girl that works with Garret. I will know tomorrow! If so, that will be a major accomplishment taken care of. Well, that is it in a nut shell! Check back next week to see it the last bike sold, to see if I was able to go to the race, and I promise pictures of the new bike next week! until then.

Peace Out!

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Where to begin? Since my last post, a lot has happened. This seems to be the theme of my life. The week after our trip to Arkansas the body was pretty trashed. I did not even get on a bike until Wednesday, then I only did a couple of easy rides that week. Both rides my legs felt really strong at first, but then lost energy quickly. Both rides were only 2 hours each. Then is was time for the marathon weekend.

(Me In Motion)

On this past Friday I spent the morning with other committee members getting ready for the concert that we put on this past Saturday evening. Saturday was AWESOME, but extremely exhausting at the same time. We began the day at 8:30am setting up for the event, and meeting/taking care of the bands. By mid afternoon we were ready for show time! The concert was totally awesome.

(Fireflight)

I had not really heard much of Me In Motion, but I was pretty impressed! They had a nice style, and were super nice guys. The middle band for the evening, in my oppinion were the best! I had been listening to Fireflight for a while not, but man were they impressive. They were the best band that I had seen in quite a while. THEY ROCKED!!!!! It is easy to see why they are nominated for four Dove awards.

(Fireflight)

The headliner band was really good also. They were pillar, need I say more? They have been one of my favorite bands for a while, and it was really cool to meet them in person! After the concert was over we still had to tear down and put everything up. What a LOOONG night. I did not get home until 1:00am.

(Pillar)

The next day was Easter, and a fun time was had by all. The service at church was great, and then we hosted the easter lunch at our house. As usual Shelly out did herself. I have truely been blessed by a wife that is an awesome cook. Again, by time everybody was gone, and we were cleaned up it was 6:00pm. what an exhausting weekend! It wears me out just thinking about it.

As usual, this week has been a strange one. I was all ready to start training for the Dirty Kanza 200! This is the next BIG race that I will be doing. The plan for the next couple of weeks? Put in a boat load of miles on the cross bike, and ride in the area that we are to be racing in. At the same time, sell the two Zaskars and apply that money to the new mountain bike that the wife has so graciously agreed to let me purchase. What really happened? Hard rain Monday, went for a long gravel ride on Tuesday, but 14 miles into the ride, the mud got the best of me. The mud and rocks got into the drivetrain, and the rear derailure broke into half! Had to call and have Bobby come and save me.

This gave me a little problem. the cross bike was broken for the rest of the week, and I did not want to ride the Zaskar because it is up for sale on ebay. The salution was this, the cross bike is in getting repaired, the new mountain bike has been ordered and will be in aproximately the middle of this next week, and ride paved, dry roads on the Zaskar very carefully for the rest of the week! It makes for a real mess for the rest of this week, but bu the end of next week things will be awesome! I will have a really nice cross bike that I just bought this past fall, I will have a BRAND NEW AWESOME mountain bike, and the two Zaskars will be on their way to their new hope.
This will put me in excellent condition, and ready for the rest of the summer. I will have been blessed with two new top of the line bikes this year to replace the two worn out bikes that I have been using for the last decade. WOW, that is a lot. Check back next week for the latest updates!

Peace out!

One For The Books

The first race of the season is now complete, and BOY was it a kick in the butt! Dusty, Tim Garret and I left for Arkansas on Friday morning, and arrived in Oden about 5:30pm. We unloaded the expedition, rested for about an hour and then went for some BBQ. After that we went back and hung out at the motel for the evening. The next morning we went out for a mid morning breakfast, and then returned to the hotel to prepare for a pre-ride of some of the course that we would be racing on the next day. We first rode the final miles of the race to see what it looked like. We wanted to know so that the next day, when things go familiar we knew we were about do

After this, we met up with Lelan Bobby and Randy at the venue. We then road the first 10-12 miles of the race so we knew what it looked like before riding it with hundreds of other riders all around. A good time was had by all, and we found out that we were in for one heck of a day climbing, and climbing, and climbing!
Post pre-ride we went back to the motel to shower, clean bikes and gorge ourselves with pizza. After filling our stomach's we went back to prepare for the next day and hit the sack early.

The next day was a blur! Got up at 5:00am to rain. We quickly dressed, had some leftover pizza, loaded up and headed out to the race. By the time we got their it was wet and cold. We quickly got ready and headed for the start line. When we got their we met up with some friends from Kansas City and visited for a few minutes. This is when the first sign of bad luck showed up. I was sitting their messing around, and all of the sudden my front break went out! Close by their was a person with a tool bow. We borrowed a couple of tools, and get it temporarily fixed.

We had to rush over to the start line and find a place. The start was FAST but uneventful. We started of course with a pretty long climb up to the first single track. It was quite congested and moving was sluggish due to being behind a few people that were unsure on the single track. When arriving at the first check point, I opted not to stop so I could get around some of the slower people, and it worked!

The second section was my best of the day. I was able to cruse at will and take my own pace. I was making good time and passing a few people here and their. And the climbs went well in this section. I was able to work hard!

When I pulled into the second check point I was feeling pretty good, and I stoped for a few minutes to refill the water, lube the chain and eat a quick power bar. By this point I was thinking that the climbs were a killer, but was quickly informed by the volunteers that the next section was the toughest, and they were not lying! The third section was by far, one of the toughest areas that I ever remember riding. Their were unrelenting steep, long, long climbs, and then when you were exhausted they threw in some rock gardens that were tough to even walk through!

It was in one of these rock gardens (mile 43) that things turned BAD! I was making my way through one of the rock gardens, and it was very muddy with standing water. As I was riding through, all of the sudden I remember laying on the ground, vision a little blurred, and my right shin hurting. I stood up, and walked for a couple of minutes to gather my composure. I then got on the bike to ride away when I noticed that my read deralure are bent bad. The bike would not peddle properly and I had 2-3 miles to the next check point.

When I finally arrived, the mechanic worked on the bike while I got something to drink and had another power bar. After leaving, the bike was working muck better, but was still not quite right. I went through the last section of some really steep climbing and the legs were shot, and I had climbed DEEP DEEP DEEP into the pain cave. I soon spilled out onto the gravel roads that led back into town to the finish. I was so excited by this point that I was able to move quite quickly down the rode to the finish!

I crossed the line after 62 miles of trails in 7 hours 2 minutes, with 7,375 feet of climbing. Like I said, it was by far one of the toughest things that I have done, was totally exhausted, and had one of the best times of my life! Would I like to do it again?....................HECK YEA!!!!

Peace out!

GO TIME!!!!

Well, I have not updated in a couple of weeks due to the fact that I have been extremely busy. I will try to keep it short and to the point. First order of business, spring break. I spent the week working in the yard and getting a few REALLY good rides in. I had two high intensity rides of about 50 miles each, and between the two of them I did my first century of the year. The 100 mile ride went very well. I was able to do the entire Ride at about 80% of my maximum heart rate, and my legs felt great the entire ride.

Since spring break I have finished the taxes for the year and have efiled them. It turned out much better that the last couple of years. I also was able to get some pretty good rides in since them. They have all averaged about 50 miles each, with a decent intensity, despite the rain, snow, extremely high winds and all kinds of nasty weather.

This week I have cut back on the mileage, but kept the intensity pretty high.. I am tapering for the race this weekend. In the past week I have had a slight glitch though that I am working through. It was nothing major, but it took me off of the mountain bike for a week. Some how the back wheel flared. After inspection, they determined that they were going to warranty it. The problem is, they don't make that particular wheel any more. I guess that the company stopped making race quality rim brake wheels that are tubeless. Any more, pretty much all of the people that race use disc brakes. Since I have an older frame, it is not disc compatible. So, they are going to send me a decent wheel, but I will be going back to tubes with that bike, BUMMER!!!

This brings us up to today. The plan? I am leaving for Arkansas in the morning for the Ouchita Challenge! We are driving down tomorrow, pre-riding the course on Saturday, and the race is Sunday!!!! I am so excited to finally get the race season started. It has been a long winter, and I am ready for the fun to begin. This first race will be a 60 trail race. It is going to be great. Check back next week to hear how the race went, and I will try to get a couple of pictures while I am down their. Well, until next time,

Peace Out!