The Vertically Challenged Mountain Biker

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-22T13:36:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update. As you can see, I am making a few changes to the blog. I have updated some of the information for the 2011 season. Please come back frequently to keep up with all of the changes as they happen. At this time I have been checking out the up coming race schedule, and have been selecting events that I would like to participate in this year.

As for the training, it is going pretty well. Since it has been VERY cold out, and I am still trying to completely get use to it, I have been splitting up my workouts. I start out the day with 20 miles on the trainer, then go outside for the final 25-30 miles. This has worked well so far, and after the holiday season I will move outside even more. On a bright note, on Sunday about 30 people met out at camp Alexander for a nice warm trail ride. For some reason that day the temperatures jumped up to around 50 degrees. I was a great time playing around in the warm sun. I just hope that we get a few more of these in the near future.

On a final note, I would like to wish everybody Merry Christmas. Have a Blessed time, and remember the less fortunate. Take the time to be a blessing to someone. Be safe, and I will see you all on the other side!

Peace Out!

Yea, I am still here

2010-12-14T16:26:00.000-08:00

Well, I am still here! I have no excuses for the lack of posts except that I have been extremely lazy. Not a whole lot has happened since the last post. The last couple of mountain bike races that I was wanting to do, didn't happen due to a few unfortunate circumstances. As a result I started to rack up miles on the cross bike.

Since I began to get bored with the training already, I decided to get myself into a couple of gravel road races. The first was the Freedom Fest Bike Race for veterans day. It was a low key race but it was a lot of fun! Team High Gear was well represented. When the race began, Matt Brown and I got into an early break. It was really windy that day, and we working well together all morning. As an end result we decided to come across the finish line together of the tie for first. It was an honor to work with Matt that day, and to learn a few tricks of the trade from the master himself.Two weeks later a bunch of us went down to Tawanda to do another gravel road race. It was the final race of the Big Ring series. It was once again a very windy day. On the way down I was talking to Matt Brown, and discussing a few possible strategies for the day. At this race, it was a course that included five laps. The beginning of the lap was the hilliest section, and included the heavy head winds. The second and forth sections were a cross wind, and the third section was the tail wind.

On the first leg of the first lap people were really jumpy and jocking for position. I was trying to stay safe up at the front. When we made the first turn into a cross wind, I decided to take the front and apply a little pressure to thin out the group a bit, and to wear some of the energy off of some of the others. In this section we were not able to get an advantage riding in the group due to wind direction. By the time we got to the next turn I looked back to see that the only person with me was Jed Sampsel. With the wind at our backs I decided to try to keep the pace high still to see what happens. By the time we got to the final section I looked back again and there was a definite gap!

At that time I decided to try to turn it into a individual time trial and see if I could hold them all off, and if I could not, I knew that Matt Brown and Tim Mohn were back there in good shape, resting, and they could be ready to take over from there. As the race progressed the gap continued to grow, and I was lucky enough to go solo off of the front. When I crossed the finish line I felt like I got in some good work that day, and the Garmin showed that the average on that day was 19.8mph. When it was all said and done Emporia went 1-2-3, with Matt Brown taking second and Tim Mohn taking third.

The people down in the Witchita area are REALLY nice, and they put on a great race. All of us from Emporia had a great time, and felt like they all went out of there way to take care of us. The hospitality was greatly apperciated. We are looking forward to going down there again next year to participate again. If you are into gravel, keep your eyes open for this series, you will not be disappointed.

Well that catches you all up for now. I want to thank Matt down at High Gear, and all of the sponsors for such an awesome opportunity this past year! I am now preparing for the new season. I am really excited for 2011. Their are some awesome things that are in the making for the up coming year, and as things evolve I will keep you all posted.

The new race bike has arrived, and has been fitted and adjusted, and all I have to say is, WOW I am really looking forward to riding this thing next summer! It is an AWESOME machine that High Gear has hooked me up with this coming season. It is a Trek, Gary Fisher Collection, HiFi Pro, and it is loaded! If you are looking for a good bike, go down to High Gear and have Matt hook you up with a HiFi. They are the best bike that I have ever ridden. you will not be disappointed.

I will leave you with a few little nuggets of information. Yes, I will be joining the 2011 High Gear Cyclery, Inc. / Trek Midwest Regional Team this coming year. This year we will also be working in conjunction with World Bicycle Relief, Living Water, and Numana to raise awareness for these great non-profit organizations. More than a billion people in the world live on less than a dollar a day and I would not call it living….more like suffering. Some 26,500 children die everyday because of the lack of basic needs. World Bicycle Relief, Living Water, and Numana are working in many third world countries trying to provide a better life for those in need. We are going to be representing them in hopes of raising awareness.

Well, that is all that I am going to give you for now. If you want more information, and to keep up with the winter training tune back in. I promiss that I will update regularly! Until then.

Peace Out!

Back in the saddle!

2010-08-05T15:42:00.001-07:00

Well, it has been a while since I have updated this thing. The last month or so has been slow, but things are now beginning to pick up. I spent the month of July riding and training in the heat. I have been experimenting on ways to keep cool on those days that reach triple digits. I now have a few secret weapons in the arsenal that have been tested and work pretty well. The will be unveiled in good time.

This past weekend was a race at Perry lake. One of my favorite trails in Kansas. Four days before the race, I went up their to preride the course, and to just enjoy spending some time on some quality single track. It was a blast! I got there about 11:30am, and met Lelan There! He was just pulling in from New York. We had a hot, but great time riding a few laps and catching up.

On Sunday the two of us rode up there together to meet up with a bunch of other emporians. We saw, Tom Hayden, Jed Sampsel, Ann Maree Garett, Randy Smith, Garret Seacat and teammates Dusti Saposi and Aarone Elwell. It was great to hang out with everybody for the day.As for the Race, it went pretty well. I was able to hang with the fast group for most of the first lap, but the pace was a little high for me to hold for the entire race, so I backed it off a little and hoped that someone would blow up. but no suck luck. These traditional cross country races are pretty much a suffer fest.

In the end I finished fourth, and was content with that. Their was quite a strong field that day, and the first three finishers were just plain fasted than I was. In the end Doug Long (National Champion just a couple of years ago) won. Man is he fast for our age!

Well check back soon. The second half of the season is just getting started, and I am working on getting a little fasted. Plus, their are some really good endurance races still to come. Until next time.

Peace Out!

Got Nothin Here?

2010-07-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't have a lot for you. The past month has been extremely quiet. I was going to do a race on fathers day up at Perry lake, but it had to be rescheduled due to rain. It will be made up on August 1.

My big July race, and the race of the season, I was unable to get into. I was really looking forward to getting into the Firecracker 50 again this year, on the 4th of July, in Breckenridge. The problem was, they opened registration early this year, and when I went to go check on it, it had already been filled, and there were about 150 people on the waiting list. BUMMER! On the 4th, Shelley and I were sitting around Emporia wishing that we were their.

July is a slow month for racing. I have just been putting in miles, and working on a heat management plan. I have been experimenting with a few things that will be discussed later. Action will pick up in a couple of weeks, and I am really looking forward to it. Things on the agenda: Perry Lake on August 1, and of course, the next endurance event will be "Rapture In Misery"! You got to love that one. It is permanently o my calendar.

On one last note, since the firecracker 50 didn't happen, I have been looking to pick up on another pretty big endurance race some where. When it has been decided, it will be announced here first! Keep an eye out, the racing action will begin for the fall in just a couple of weeks, and the updates will become more regular. Until next time, try to stay cool, and get out and ride your bike!

Peace Out!

Bitter sweet.

2010-06-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

Well, this past weekend was a roller coaster of emotions for me. It was Dirty Kanza 200 (DK)weekend. This is probably on of the toughest one day events around, and one that I use to motivate me to train all winter for. Due to the magnitude of the event you need to put in thousands of long miles on the bike training. On those cold, dead of winter mornings, the thought of the dirty kanza can get me out the door.

The DK has become one of the premiere ultra endurance events in the country, and one that I have a love/hate relationship with. It will test not only a persons physical, but also their mental abilities. A rider will go through a gamete of emotions throughout the course of the LONG day. After last years death march I almost did not enter. The first time I did the event, it was perfect conditions to do an undertaking of this sort. Because I did so sell the first year (10th after getting lost and putting in an extra 17 miles), I went into last year not giving the event the respect that it deserved. Boy was that a mistake. I was so brutally beaten, that when it was over I swore that I was not going to do the event again. I began racing bikes some where around 1992-1993, and last years DK was the FIRST race I was unable to finish. I have always taken great pride in finishing what I had started.

Well, when winter set in, the talk of the DK began to swirl again. All fall, the fact of not finishing was really bothering me. The seed was planted. I think that the final thing that pushed me over to the dark side again was the fact that they added in a masters division for the first time! The theme of this summer has been the fact that I am turning 50, and this puts me into a new category of racing, and I am now the youngest kid out there again. That was it "I AM IN". Being the competitive person that I am, I really wanted to be the first person to win the masters division. Besides, I would not have to really compete against all of those young speedsters, right?

Jumping forward to this past weekend. I was psyched when race day came. I had put in TONS of hard miles, I was rested and strong, and I had a new, revised plan for the day. I was in the best condition I had ever been in for this race. I had a great hydration and feeding plan that would take me through the day, and even the support for the checkpoints were planed to perfection. I had this feeling deep inside that this was going to be the year! Lining up at the start line at 6:00am in front of the Granada was something. About 170 of the top ultra endurance racers from around the country were here. They had come literally from all for corners of the country to throw it down.

(Me and Garret before the race)

The plan. If their is a break right away....let them go, and ride at a controlled pace so that you don't burn all of the candles early. Well, as usual, after the police escort to the first gravel, as soon as we hit the gravel....the hammer fell. It took all the will power that I had to not run with them, but thought better of it. What was helpful was that team High Gear was well represented. The wind was already pretty strong out of the south, and we had 30-40 miles into the headwind to start the day. It was GREAT to ride with most of the team to start the race, and it was extremely helpful. When the dust settled a little, the lead group was up the road pretty good, but still in sight. The next group was almost the same distance behind us......and team high gear intact some where in the middle.

As we approached the first big climb we saw quite a few riders already fixing flats. At mile ten we were going up the first hill, entering the flint hills. By the time we got to the first minimal maintenance road we were already passing some of the riders that had fallen off of the wheel of the lead group. We were working well together until Chris Wiggins flatted at about mile 15, and he was gone for the day. The plan was the he was going to work with us until the first check point. Next up, we turned east for the long climb that ended in the first open grazing area for the day. Before we reached the top passing between the two towers we had passed quite a few other riders who had already blown up, and were fading back.

Once we topped the hill, the next 5-8 miles to the east were a blast. Nothing like high speeds through the open grazing range to get the Adrenalin going. About a couple of miles into this section we saw Troy Krouse. It looked like he was fixing a flat, but later heard the "REAL" story.

Once we left over the last cattle guard of this open grazing section, Matt Brown took the front! For the next 15-20 miles Matt did the "Monster Pull"! He berried himself, and literally pulled the team south to the next open grazing range, across the verdigris, up the long climb to the southern most tower where we made the turn to go west, and then north to the first check point. From that point he dropped off. He was only going to go to the first check point and drop. He needed to get back to the shop for the day, and was looking for some high intensity for the morning. Boy, did he get it. A huge thanks goes out to Matt for the extremely hard work that he put in.

(Coming into the first check point)

Now the lead High Gear group was down to three (Garret, Tim and me), and flying with the tail wind into the first check point. We arrived just a couple of minutes before 9:30. As we were pulling into the town, I was looking for the Jeep, with Shelley. She was the support crew for the day. As I reached the park I say her, and a HUGE surprise (the first of the weekend), my mother was with her. She had come from Colorado to surprise me! I could not believe it.

(My mother at the first check point)

Even though I wanted to stay and visit, their was a race to tend to. With a quick refill of the water, Garret, Tim and I were off to leg two. As we were rolling through Cottonwood falls, Garret told us that he was told that we were running in the top 15 riders after the first stop. AWESOME! The next few miles were a long paved climb which was uneventful leading to Elmdale. We crossed highway 50 and started heading to Diamond Springs. We were still rolling well, and I was feeling strong. After about another 5 miles Garret got unhooked and fell off of our wheel.

The rest of the run into check point two at Council Grove, Tim and I worked together and picked off a few more riders who were beginning to fall off pace due to the heat. As we pulled into the park in Council Grove it was straight up noon, and I heard that I was in fifth place at that time! Wow, this is unexpected. I had no plan to run with the leaders that day, but was feeling great. Once again I met up with Shelley and my mom. I took a little more time at this check, but did not want to stay to long.

(Coming into the second check point)

While there, I had two sandwiches made with a bagel with ham on it, some orange slices and three diet Pepsi's. I also switched kits. Nothing like fresh bib's, jersey, socks and chamois butter to refresh yourself for the second half. While I was changing Tim had took off to get a jump on some of the field. I was at check point two for about 30 minutes.

(Changing the kit for the second half)

When rolling out of town I was feeling great. Cruising well, and excited. When I was hitting the next gravel section I realized something. I did not have my gloves! To late to turn back. In front of me a saw Salsa riders together. I was gaining on them, and was excited, because these guys are studs! No sooner than I got by them, I was cruising along, and I heard them yelling at me, but could not tell what they were saying because I had the music turned up pretty loud. After a few seconds I looked back. I saw them going down a different road? I back tracked to the last corner and their was a trailer parked in front of the turning mark! I had missed it because of the trailer, and the Salsa riders saved me! BIG thanks to them for being so cool about it.

I was rolling again. Still feeling good, I was cruising over the pretty large rollers. next I saw the sign, "Little Egypt"! As I was rolling through the sharp climbs and working hard, I was taking note that this was pretty extreme for this point into the race, but was still feeling good. Then is happened! The dreaded flat tire. It was the front, so it was not to bad. As I was in the middle of the change, the Salsa guys came by again. They asked me if I was in need of anything. I told them that I was fine, and they rolled on. Talk about some class guys. They are the type that give their team a great name. Appreciate you guys!

Once I finished, I made the next climb, and their it was. A steep downhill with really large rocks with huge ruts, which one was right down the middle! After picking myself through this section it smoothed out, and it was a quick trip into Alma. Check point three! I rolled into the last check point at straight up 3:00pm. I found my support crew again, and pulled up a seat. Tim had been their for just a couple of minutes and was toweling off to try to cool down. By this time it was starting to get really hot! Dusti and Joel told me that I was in the top ten (not exactly sure where), and leading the masters! I was just where I wanted to be!

I was still feeling good. The legs felt strong, and I had good energy! All day I had been drinking 100oz. and two water bottles of nuun between every check point, and a accel-gel every ten miles. I had also had two bagel sandwiches, a bunch of orange slices and a third of a baggie of cashews. I was in a good spot. I sat their for about 20 minutes. Had more orange slices, part of another sandwich and a couple more cold diet Pepsi's. At that point I refilled the fluids and was ready to take off when I looked up. There was Troy Krouse. He looked awful! He was bleeding from the elbow, his whole upper leg was nothing but a huge road rash, and his jersey was trashed and torn at the shoulder. I thought that he crashed on little Egypt. He looked like he was a goner. I found out later the when I saw him early in the race, he did not have a flat tire, he had just crashed. This guy had rode the last 120 miles in this condition! What a stud!

I took off at about 3:30 and started heading for Eskridge. Once out of town, the hills started up again. First they were short and pretty steep, but once out of the trees they began to get longer and longer. About 4:00 it happened again. A front flat tire. Off the bike I got and changed it up again. At this point I was down to one more spare, and that made me a little nervous. When I got back on the bike, I started back up and rode for a couple of more miles and then the wheels began to fall off of the wagon. At mile 150, out of no where, it hit me. I could not cool down! I was seriously over heating. Back in the mid 90's I was doing another long gravel race, and experienced a heat stroke. Ever since then I have not been able to handle the extreme heat. At mile 150 I felt something bad coming on. I was looking for the closest tree, but their was not one to be found. I rode a little further and found a single tree by the side of the rode in the middle of no where. I pulled up under it and just stood there.

I layed my head on my handlebars, and closed my eyes. My head was spinning, and I could not cool down. After about 15 or so minutes I heard something and looked back. It was Tim! It was so good to see him. We stood under the tree for about 5 minutes saying how it might not have been such a good idea to have left the last check point. Then he left. I watched him turn the corner, and begin to head up this REALLY LONG hill heading south, and their was not a tree to be seen on it. After he got about a quarter the way up it I decided that it would be best to keep moving and try to make it to Eskridge so I could cool down at the store there.

I pressed on. Up the big hill, and down. From their it was nothing but a series of climbs, and the heat was really cooking me. At somewhere about mile 156-157 I was in trouble. At the top of the hill their was a couple of trees. I got to them. At that point I dropped the bike at the side of the road, Took off my helmet, gloves, camelback, shoes and socks. I sat their in the middle of the road for at least an hour. I was soooo overheated. I was ready to throw up, I was really dizzy. and disoriented. After an hour, I was passed by a number of riders, and I was not able to cool down at all. I knew that I was in trouble. I needed to get up, and get into Eskridge.

I rolled really slow for a couple of miles, and turned a corner. I say a silver SUV! As I approached, at the back I saw Tim in a chair, and looking bad. I pulled over. IT was Scott O'Mara and his wife! They were trying to cool him down. I guess he was also sitting on the side of the rode under a tree, and he had thrown up three times and could not eat or drink anything. He has said that he thought that I had dropped out. I told him, no, but I was now! I sat down on the back of Scott's car. They gave me a bunch of cold Gatorade and water and began to cool me also with ice water. Just then my cell phone went off, and it was a facebook update. It said that Mike marchand, last years winner, had dropped out at Eskridge. He said that his legs just quit, and that "you can only do what you can"! That was the sign from God that told me that it was time to pull the plug! That was mile 160.

At that time it was time to make "The call". All the training, plans, and expectations were about to end. This is the hardest call a person can make. I first tried to call Shelley. It took me about 5-10 minutes to try to figure out how to open the phonebook of my phone to call her. That is how cooked my brain was. Then I called Jim. It was official. DNF! Scott loaded me into the SUV and took me into Eskridge to wait for Shelley. The town was like a war zone. Carnage everywhere!

Through my years of Dirty Kanza experience I have learned some important life lessons. First, all of the preparation and planing you do is all good and well. It teaches you discipline, and a person is capable to achieve great things in life. You can come into the something more than ready to take on the world, but their are some things that are just out of your control. I have also learned that was I have gotten older, that a person needs to exercise wisdom in making important decision. Don't just blindly forge forward. As a warrior, it is important to be able to clearly decide when it is OK to forge on, and when you need to cut your losses and live to fight another day.

This was a very frustrating thing for me to go through mentally. At the end of the day, my legs felt strong, I had plenty of energy to finish, but the heat did me in. It became a health issue. I have been asked if I would do it again? The answer........heck yea! You cannot keep me from the starting line next year! I have unfinished business to take care of!

Now for the final "UP" for the weekend. The next morning I was feeling physically well, but was upset that I did not finish the race this year. It is something that has only happened to me twice in my racing career. My wife Shelley told my to just relax that day! Go over to the hotel and have a nice visit with my mother. She had traveled all the way from Colorado to see me, and I had spent the entire day before on the bike. I knew that she was right.

She told me to check back with her around 1:00, and maybe we all could have a late lunch and relax. I agreed. Around 1:00 my mother told me that she would like to see the house that our oldest daughter had recently bought, so we left their room. As we approached, we got a call from Shelley telling us that we should come and have lunch.

As we approached our house, I saw that their were a lot of cars. I started looking at them, and started to recognize the cars. We turned the corner, and my back yard was filled with people. Shelley had planned a surprise birthday party for me, for my 50th birthday!

(Surprise number two, the party)

The yard was filled with ALL of my friends from church, and cycling. I was humbled! I came to realize what a Blessed person I was. To have all of these people do this for me, and to pull off two huge surprises in the same weekend without me knowing of either of them. Shelley had even took flyer's down to the bike shop to Matt and Stephanie to help her, and it was a secret down their. To say the least, I am still touched.

Through this all I have come to realize that I am truly a blessed man. I have a job that I love. God has given me this opportunity to go all over the country and do something that I am passionate about....riding my bike, and my life is fill with a lot of people that truly care about me. What else can a old man from Kansas ask for.
Well, this has been an EPIC post, and I will let you go for today. I hope that everyone has the chance to get out these up coming weeks and ride your bikes, and enjoy the beautiful summer. Until next time.

Peace Out!

Nothing....but a lot of stuff.

2010-05-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought that I was due for a new post even though I have not done a race since the Wilson Lake Fat Tire Festival. Things have not gone like I was expecting. I thought that I was going to pile on tons of miles in preparation of the DK 200. But, as we all know, plans can change quickly. To make a long story short, the first week of May I got a deep muscle bruise in my left quadriceps. It was so bad, that I could hardly walk, and could not pedal my bike. Since we were about a month from the DK, I was quite concerned, thinking that this could possible take me out of the race. This would be a HUGE disaster.

Since the bruise was SO bad, I decided that my best bet was to just get completely off of the bike to heal as quickly as possible. So, I was taken completely off of the bike for almost two weeks! In retrospect, I think that this was a blessing in disguise. As you all know, I tend to over train, and looking back, I was starting to show signs of over training. I was not really enjoying the rides, and I was always tired at work, and was having a hard time staying awake. I think that it was from doing two races that kept me on the bike for 6-7 hours, and then another race that took almost 3 hours, All within a month. On top of this I was putting in some long training rides. A hand full of them that were 6 hours in length. I was just worn out.

After two weeks off, I was feeling REALLY good! My energy was back, and I was so happy to be back on the bike. The question now was.....what about your fitness? I was concerned that I had lost enough to jeopardize my chances at the DK. I started off slow the first couple of rides. It felt like I did not have any power, and could only go for 2-3 hours. Had three of these and took a day off for family obligations. Then I came back last week, and things had seemed to turn around. For the next five days, I would have longer and stronger rides. The excitement was now returning. The remaining question was, can I go long?

After a really good week of training, I was in need of a true test to see where I really was in recovery and endurance. So, this brought me to two weeks before the DK. I had five great days in a row, so, I decided to take another day off and then see if I could still go long. I took last Saturday off for our youngest grand daughters birthday, and then I went out Sunday for a solo gravel century. I was a bit nervous, it was REALLY windy and the plan was to do the first leg of last years DK, refill the water in Cottonwood Falls, and then do the last leg of the previous years DK. This would give me a little over 100 miles. All in all it went great. Since I was solo, I promised the wife that I would take it easy. I rode within myself, and finished the day just short of the seven hour mark. When I got off of the bike I felt great! I was still feeling strong. That afternoon/evening we went around town to all of the High School Graduation party's, and I was fine. Enough so, that the next morning I got up and went for a pretty hard 50 before work. At the end I was still feeling good.

SO, the DK is still a go! Looks like the time off of the bike was a blessing in disguise. I am feeling strong, and have really good energy. Just got the cross bike back. I sent it into the shop for a day to get worked over for the race. Replaced the cassette, rings, chain and put new rubber on! It is officially a go! And since the hot topic seems to be tire selection, I am running a Bontrager XR1 29X1.9 up front, and a Bontrager XDX 29X1.75 in the back. Since I have been spoiled with full suspension, I am wanting to soften up the ride for the 200 miles. Well, check back some time after June 5, for a race report. If you are in the area, come on out to witness an awesome race. The level of competition this year is extremely high. Until next week!

Peace Out!

Fat Tire Festival

2010-05-04T17:16:00.000-07:00

Well, the Wilson Lake Fat Tire Festival is in the books. This past Sunday, almost the entire Team High Gear showed up at Wilson lake for the fun. It was our last opportunity to see Cameron for a while, since the next day he was going to start his new job in Colorado Springs. Team High Gear was by far the larges represented team with Aaron, Matt, Stephanie, Garret, Bobby, Randy, Dustin, Dusti and myself present. It was an awesome site.

Below is a link to a really cool video that one of the riders shot with his helmet cam in the race! Check it out. http://vimeo.com/11449926

As usual, the course was awesome. It is by far, the best trail system within a days drive from home, and for this reason along it is worthy of the trip. Also, because of the fact that the Chamber's family was putting on the race, you knew that it would be a quality event, and would be stacked with many of the best riders from the region.
This was my first traditional cross country race of the year. I like to concentrate mostly on the endurance races, because I like the pace much better. As I get older, the slightly slower pace of the endurance races are much more comfortable. The traditional races are at such HIGH intensity, it is difficult for me to get it up that high for any period of time, and besides that, it inflicts a great amount of pain on the human body.

To make a long story short, even though it was the usual trip to the pain cave, it was a blast for the day! The weather, perfect. The course, challenging, fun and perfect. How did the team do? As expected, Aaron won the overall, and the rest of the team finished high in their respective divisions. As for me, even though I lost contact with the fast group I finished 2nd in my division.This weekend is mothers day, so I will not be racing in St. Joe, but hanging out with the family! The month of May looks a bit thin as far as racing goes, so it is looking like the Dirty Kanza might be next on the schedule. Nothing like a 200 miler! It looks like I need to be putting a LOT of miles in on the cross bike in the next few weeks. I think that is going to be the bike of choice for this particular event. Well, that is it for now. Keep checking back for the newest 411!

Peace Out!

What's New?

2010-04-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got around to updating. Riding has been going well. I have split the time between the cross bike and the mountain bike. I spend half of my time going pretty long on the cross bike for Dirty Kanza training, and tossing in a couple of trail rides to keep some level of skill. Last weekend was race number two on the year. A bunch of us went up to Smithville lake, north of Kansas City for the Bone Bender. It was a 6 hour mountain bike race. The course was in excellent shape, and it was a lot of fun. I was quite surprised by the number of riders that showed up for this event. It is only the second year for this race, and it was reported that there was around 300 riders! The event started with the traditional Lamond's start. I got my usual terrible start for this type of race which made for a very congested first lap. After the first lap I settled down into a nice pace for the day, and felt Strong until the finish. I noticed that their was a noticeable improvement in my fitness from the first race, and was quite happy with the people that I was surrounded with at the finish of the day. After a long afternoon on the bike, I put down two NOS before the trip home, and boy, they put some fuel into the tank and the ride home was a breeze. If things continue the way that they are, I should end up being a pretty good season. Up next on that schedule is the Wilson Lake Fat Tire Festival this weekend. It is always a great event that is held on some of the most awesome trails within a day's drive from home. Their is also a high level of competition, due to the face that the Chambers family puts on this event.

I am still trying to get some quality miles in for the Dirty Kanza coming up on June 5. The event has grown to the point that their is a elite field that show up to toe the line. I am really excited to see what I can let loose that day, now that I will be competing in the Masters 50+ division. Stay tuned to see how things progress!

Peace Out!

No News

2010-04-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

Well, their is not much going on this past week. Since Arkansas, I have just been getting in some regular miles. It took about a week to totally recover, but since then things have been good.

I am starting to get excited. This coming weekend a lot of us Team High Gear members are going to Smithville Missouri to the Bone Bender 3/6. Looking at the weather, it looks like it will be dry with the temperatures in the mid 60's. Quite nice for this time of the year!

Should be able to get some good mileage in the legs for the Dirty Kanza that is coming up June 5! Oh yea, the new kits came in this past week and they are REALLY sweet!!! Shawn down at IM Designs always does a super cool job. Check back next week for the results of the bone bender, and pictures of the new kits! Till then, get out and enjoy the awesome weather!

Peace Out!

2010-04-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

Well, here we go again. The same old song and dance......I am just plain LAZY about updates! Having a lot of fun on the bike lately though. A bunch of us Team High Gear members went to Arkansas for the Ouachita Challenge last weekend. Being the first race of the season, you just don't know what to expect. For the most part the team did well. As for myself, I felt good the entire day, and felt like except for on little error, I rode well on the day, climbing sections that I was not able to climb last year, and actually feeling good when I crossed the finish line, unlike last year when I was totally trashed!

I am a little confused about my performance. When I crossed the line I felt like I did really good. When looking at the numbers the next day, they were OK, but not what I was expecting to see. As for the course, it was 5 miles longer with 400+ more feet of climbing. My average speed was pretty much what it was last year. My average heart rate last year was 163, this year it was 160. The big difference was in the final placing. Last year I placed better, but I was still in the top 50%. I think part of it was the field was extremely stacked with HIGH quality riders. The plan was to keep a closer eye on what zone I was working in for the day so I did not hit the wall again. I was able to do this. Could I have worked harder on some of the climbs? Probably. Could I have been able to place better? Maybe. But that is all water under the bridge. The main thing is that I felt good about myself out their, and rode strongly this year. I am content with what happened, and look forward to returning next year. This is one kick butt race, and am up to giving it a try again.

As for the rest of the team, Aaron Elwell was a BEAST. He crushed it on the day, and just missed out on a sprint finish to finish third on the day! That is awesome considering the riders that were their. Garret and Tim also did extremely well, placing around the top 50 riders on the day! Dusti did well also placing in the top 74, and Dustin and Randy were right their with me putting in a good showing. Especially Dustin. He did the race on a rigid single speed! Don't know how he was able to pull that one off.

Well, their are a couple of more race opportunities that are coming up in the next couple of weeks. Both within a few hours drive from here, and I an looking forward to getting in a little more work in on the local scene! Check back again for the newest 411!

Peace Out!

The OC....and this's and that's

2010-03-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I have returned! You may ask, why has it took so long, is it because you were busy....partially. Was it because I was lazy? For the most part. Since it has been a while since the last post it may seem like I am rambling. Well, that is kind of what will be going on for the most part. Their is a lot of ground to cover in a short period of time.

To begin with, I have been fine tuning everything for the Ouchita Challenge . As for the training, in the last week and a half I have shortened the time on the bike, but increased the intensity. It has been going pretty good. This week I am taking it pretty easy to rest the body a little, and I am in the process of fine tuning the bike, and gear for the big trip to Arkansas. We will be leaving on Friday morning!

As for the bike, I have replaced the chain, cassette, and all three chain rings. I have also just put on some new tires to try out. They are the Bontrager Mud X TLR 29. I chose these tires because they are specifically designed for muddy conditions, the Mud X's dual compound tread is suppose to be fast rolling and provide exceptional grip on wet roots and rocks, which is what this course is all about. They are also tubeless ready, So I will be running them with Stan's. I have a new wheel set ordered that I had hoped to use, but only the front rim has showed up so far, so this will have to wait.

I have also been breaking in my new Bontrager RL Mountain shoe, my awesome new Trek Circuit Helmet, and some new Bontrager Rhythm Comp gloves. So far I really love the new gear! The BIG test will come this weekend.

Also, we are not going to have our new kits in time for this weekend, but news on the street is they will be here when we return from Arkansas! I can hardly wait. Shawn Honae down at IM Design Group has designed some super cool stuff for us this summer. If you know Shawn, he is the "MAN" when it comes to coolness! If you are in need, you need to go give him a visit.

In other news, a local scribe/photographer and fellow cyclist has just launched a new magazine! It is super cool, and you should take some time to check it out. The concept is about finding and pursuing adventure in your life. The main focus of the first issue is on cycling, and their are some awesome articles in their by well known local riders. The magazine is call the "Adventure Monkey". You can download the first issue for free here!

And if this is not enough news for you, I have one more thing......and it is REALLY big! High Gear Bike Shop is almost finished moving! On this past Saturday they closed their doors for the last time in their old shop, and moved all of their stuff to the new shop. it is huge....they have a lot more stuff.....they now have an official place to just hang out to visit....and the doors will be open this week! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. You really need to go down and check this place out. It is really awesome!

Well, My fingers are getting tired so I will let you go. Tune back in next week to see how team High Gear did at the OC! until then.

Peace Out!

Let the fun begin!

2010-03-01T16:56:00.000-08:00

Well I am making an attempt to become more regular with the blog updates. This week has been a good one. I only had to ride the trainer once. All other days were spent outside. This makes for a very happy biker. It is still a little on the cool side, but the weather seems to be getting better, and the forecast for the upcoming week is very promising.

This week I began to throw a few mountain bike rides in to begin getting ready for the Ouchita Challenge in four weeks! It is so exciting to see the first race of the year quickly approaching. The rides have been good, and I have been able to pick up the mileage a little.

To top it off, their was a group ride yesterday. It was the largest of the year so far, which makes for a good time. Their was Matt, Garret, Chris, Randy, Jed, Tim, Jim came down from Lennexa, Dusti came from Maple Hill, Then a couple of new guys, Scott and Eric. For most of the day the pace was pretty chill and we all got to visit and catch up, then about mile 30 or so the pace stiffened and we got into a pace that produced a pretty good workout for the remainder of the ride.

This week I plan to put more miles on the mountain bike. Since each bike works you a little differently, I need to start getting use to the HiFi because the race season will be here before we know it.

The review for the week? My weapon of choice for this summer! The Gary Fisher HiFi Deluxe 29er. This is the most awesome bike that I have ridden in over a decade. If you are into the all day trail riding or endurance racing, you need to pick yourself up one of these! Is it the lightest bike? No. But many of the qualities that it does have, more than makes up for it.

As for climbing, it does a good job. I use to ride a GT Zaskar LE for a long time. It was a super light hardtail. You may find it hard to believe, but I feel that I can climb better with this bike. Sure the other bike was lighter, but with the 29 inch wheels, and the rear suspension, the rear wheel is glued to the trail. One of the problems with the other bike was the loss of momentum when you try to roll over things, and it was pretty easy to spin out on the steeper climbs. The HiFi is also extremely stable at low speeds, so you never feel like you are out of balance.

Going down hill their is no comparison. the 29er full suspension rules! In many races, I have come flying up behind other riders on a 26 in hard tail, and had to slam on the brakes, because they were getting thrown all over the place. Once you find a good passing place, they are nothing but a memory! You just let loose, and when you look back, they are no where to be seen.

Sure, you can find a lighter bike, but if you are into the long events, the comfort of the large wheels, and 100mm of travel front and rear make the day such a pleasure. Believe me, what you might sacrifice in weight in the climb, you more than make up for when you point your bike down hill, and the fatigue that you are spared from, by not getting beat to death on the trail.

Slow again

2010-02-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

Well, It has been a while since the last post, again! No excuses, I have just been a lazy bum. Things have been going well and their is very little to report on. The training is going well, but I am beginning to get a little bored. I have at least been able to get outside quite a bit lately. On Thursday it was so dry that I actually saw a little dust on me after a nice gravel road ride. I was really looking forward to getting out on the trails for a little ride, but then, the next day it rained all day, snowed on Saturday and Sunday, and everything is frozen again today. So much for the trails until at least the weekend. I am so ready for the racing season to begin.

In other news, The new High Gear bike shop is coming along nicely. I got a look at it on Sunday, and it is going to be really cool! I can hardly wait for it to open in 3-4 weeks from now. You will really need to go down and check it out. It is A LOT bigger than their old shop, and they are going to be caring a lot of new stuff. It is a major expansion.

Today's product review: the Bontrager's XDX. I used this tire the entire summer last year. I really love it. This is one of the best all around tires that I have ever used. It is a fast tire that performs well on a variety of terrain, Bontrager's XDX uses small, closely spaced, well supported knobs to deliver superb traction in loose or dry conditions. Siping on the outer knobs improves traction on wet, slick surfaces, and the Tubeless Ready technology lets you enjoy all the advantages of tubeless while saving nearly 100 grams per wheel. Some of my favorite features are the rounded profile, and the 2.1 width. these features allow the tire to glue itself to the ground, and is very easy to handle in tight fast corners.

Well, if the cold is getting to you, and you are in need of riding partners, you might like to try out a few of the spinning tires down at Emporia Fitness. My team mate Garret leads the class, and rumor has it that if you want, he could work your butt over pretty good. Might be something to look into until the thaw! until next week, stay warm, and keep the rubber side down.

Peace Out,

Mike

Let the LONG miles begin!!!

2010-02-08T17:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I have once again been a little slow with the post. Sorry, but I have been extremely busy finishing up a project on my house. But, I am happy to announce that it is done, and I can focus all of my efforts to training!

Since my last post about a week and a half ago, I have been able to keep up with the training pretty much, despite all of the construction. Even with all of the business I have been able to get in 2-3 hours a day on the bike. The only problem is that I have only been outside a couple of times. Now that I will be having all of this free time I can start getting out pretty much every day. I will be able to finally start getting in some much needed LONG rides! The clock is ticking, and we now have 7 weeks until the Ouchita Challenge! I am really starting to get excited.

Some good news, team kits have been ordered, and are going to be really cool. They should get in about a week before the first race!

The final order of business for the day is the product review. This week I am going to talk about the Trek XO1. It is an cyclocross race bike, but I use it pretty much for training since I don't race cylcocross. The XO1 is an awesome bike. It is pretty much a road bike on steroids. It is great for many reasons. First, when conditions are bad, you can put on some skinny tires and use it as a road bike. The geometry, and drive train (cassette, rings, derailleurs, shifters, etc.) are the same as a road bike, so you can get out and put in some quality miles and not have to worry about mud.

Second, unlike a road bike you can take this bike on gravel roads, and even a little off road riding, as long as it is not to extreme. I love to take this bike out on some REALLY long gravel road grinders! All you have to do is put on some knobbies and you are ready for some action. This bike has some off road brakes, welded instead of lugged, and has better tire clearance so you can use some wider wheels. The beauty of gravel roads is the lack of cars. I can head out into the flint hills into the middle of no where on the gravel and minimal maintenance roads and not see a can for literally hours.

If you are wanting to put in some quality training, and not deal with cars, and not wear out your nice race bike, I would recommend that you go down to High Gear and have Matt hook you up with one of these! They are awesome. I know that for the next 4-5 weeks, I an going to put some serious mileage on mine. Until next week, train hard, and keep warm out there.

Peace out!

Mike

WOW, 2 Weeks

2010-01-28T15:55:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been two weeks since the last up date. Sorry, but you know the saying, I have been busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest! Besides work, I have been trying to get some regular training, and doing a project around my house before spring rolls around. I have some renovation that needs to be done before I am released to the racing season. Shelley and I both know that if it doesn't get done before the race season is hear, I will not get done this year.

The past couple of weeks I have been refinishing a ceiling in our living room, painting the living room, and laying wood floors in the living room and entry. I now need to repair the walls in the dining room, and put the new wood floors in there also. The dining room will not take nearly as long. In my estimates, maybe a week.

On the training side, I have been able to get outside some lately. A couple of gravel rides, and the other weekend there was a team training ride. Because of a meeting I was a little late, but met up with them just before Council Grove. It was nice to get out with others. Their was myself along with Matt Brown, Garret Seacat, Chris Wiggins, Jed Samsel, Lyle Reidy, Rand Smith, Bobby Wintle, Dusti Sopoci and Eric Benjamin. It was an awesome day to ride! Pretty warm, and the sun was shining. The following week I got a couple of quality hours a day, and worked on my projects. This past weekend I was unable to get on a bike due to the flooring project, but I got a lot accomplished.

This week has been nice. I have been able to get back out on the bike, and take a little break from the project. This coming weekend....possibly a group ride on Sunday, weather permitting, and start on the last room to get fixed for the year. Then, RACE SEASON CAN COMMENCE!

Review of the week? Since I am at work, and I have the pictures with me, I will review one of my favorite training tools. The Garmin 705. Since I got it a couple of years ago, I have become truly addicted and dependant on it. It this point, I don't know what I would do with out it. This little device can do everything!

Every ride, on the main screen I track speed, time on the bike, heart rate, cadence, distance, total ascent, heading and have a clock. It also tracks the route, and places it on a map so you know exactly where you were, and where you are at! All of the tracking is done by satellite, and you can look at it on Google Earth. You can also punch in where you would like to go, and it will tell you exactly where you need to turn to get there.

One other cool feature that I use on occasion is, I can track the vital statistics on the trainer! It has a handy dandy sensor on the chain stay, and a magnet for the wheel, is on those bad days, you can hook up to the trainer, and still track your speed, time on the bike, heart rate cadence, and distance, because the magnet is on the rear wheel! This thing is SLICK.

Well this thing is getting long, so I am going to let you go for this week. Check back next week to see how the project ends up, how training is going (8 weeks to the first race), and a bike review! I think since it is still winter, I will review the Trek XO next week. Remember, train hard, and keep the rubber side down.

Peace Out!

Welcome to the Mid West!

2010-01-13T15:13:00.000-08:00

First off, Matt Brown, down at the highgear bike shop has made the "Official" announcement of this years team! I would like to say that it is a honor to be riding for Highgear this year with so many awesome riders. Matt has assembled an extremely strong team this year. It is truely impressive. I am humbled to think that I will be riding with some of these riders. I have a list of the great sponsors in the right hand column, along with the team roster. Please take some time to look it all over.

Next - Riding! I have finally been released to the outside. The roads have been cleared enough to get some gravel road rides in, and for the next week, the temperatures are suppose to get into the 40's! IN THE 40's!!! The gravel has been a blast, but with the temperatures come massive thawing. Because of this, tomorrow I will be putting road tires on the cross bike. By the weekend off road is going to be a real mess, so I am going to the road while things dry out a bit. The pictures above are from my ride this morning. Since I knew that I needed to update the blog today I stopped to take these pictures so that you could see the fun that was being had! I saw a lot of this today!

In other news, On Sunday I got entered into the Dirty Kanza 200! The entries filled in less that 12 hours this year. It is turning into one of the premier event of the year. I am very excited to participate in it this year. They have added a master's division, and this year I have qualified for this particular division, so, it will be awesome to participate in this division in the first year that It will be offered.

Now for the final business for the day. Last week I mentioned that I was going to offer a product review, so hear is the first installment. I thought that I would start with something seasonal specific. A few weeks ago, My beautiful wife got tire of listening to me complain about cold hands, and how my old gloves were so worn out, so she went down to Highgear bike shop and talked to Matt Brown.

As an end result I got this awesome pair of winter gloves by Trek. I was so excited, that I ripped into them, and forgot to get the name of them so I took a picture. They are by far, the best winter gloves that I have ever used, and are every bit as warm as mittens. They are made with Kevlar, and are wind resistant. I have now used them in temperatures that were in the single digits, with a wind chill below zero, and my fingers have NEVER gotten cold! In fact, using today as an example, when I started my ride, the temperature with the wind chill was 11 degrees. I rode for about an hour, and then stopped to take the above pictures. when I stopped to take the picture my gloves were soaked with sweat. I was a little concerned when they were wet, and I was putting them on, but my fingers never once got cold.

If you get the chance run down to Highgear bike shop, don't walk RUN as quick as you can and get a pair that look like these. If you don't live close to Emporia, go down to your local Trek dealer and pick up a pair, you will not be disappointed! Until next time, get out and train hard, and enjoy the nice weather that is to come this week.

Peace Out!

Welcome to my hood!!!

2010-01-05T12:47:00.000-08:00

Well, it's a dry heat! What can I say. Since my last post winter has really set in quickly, and brutally. I have only been able to get outside a couple of times. Not because of the cold, but because all of the snow has made the roads unusable. I have been able to stay consistent, but I have not had anything longer than two hours due to the mind numbing that riding a trainer has on a person.

I have been stuck in the pain cave for over a week, and the rest of this week doesn't look to be any better.

We are expecting more snow today, with a wind chill of possibly 25-30 degrees below zero through the rest of the week. I am praying for a warm up next week so that when I get back to my normal work schedule I can return to the outside and get in some longer rides. The first race of the season is quickly approaching (March 28).

Last year I was able to rack up good mileage, and am hoping that this next year will be as productive. The totals are as follows: 334 total rides with 11325 total miles. This is broken down into 143 rides on the cyclocross bike with 5314 miles. With the mountain bike I had 191 rides with 6011 miles. Not bad for 49 years old.

Since we are beginning a new year, and still a little while until the race season begins, I am going to do a few product reviews of some of my favorite biking stuff. Plus, this time of year is when a lot of racers start to get all of our cool new stuff from our awesome sponsors for the up coming season, and believe me, their is some really cool stuff beginning to come in! I will give you my impressions of these products as I test then out. Until next week, stay warm and keep the rubber side down.

Peace out!

Faliz Navidad!!!

2009-12-24T14:05:00.000-08:00

I wanted to send everybody a quick update to wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Things are well around here. I have been able to get outside every day except one. In fact I was able to get a ride in today (Christmas eve) before the storm really set in. I rode into the 30mph head wind for about an hour, until the ice pellets stung so much it became uncomfortable. Then I turned around and skated back into town. It was not to bad, because I was on the gravel roads.

As I type, it is snowing like crazy, and blowing so hard you can hardly see. It is looking like I will have to be inside for a couple of days.

I only had to work two day's this week, and I am now officially on vacation until January 4. This is an awesome feeling. It gives me additional time to spend with the family through New Years. It is going to be a fun and relaxing time. Tonight we are going to Shelley's parents for Christmas eve, then, all of the kids and grand kids are coming over to our house tomorrow!

On a last note for the day, A few decissions are being made for the up coming race season. Six people from the team, including myself are going down to Arkansas on March 28 to do the Ouchita Challenge. It is an awesome race, and am really looking forward to it. We all had to get up early to sign up. Entries opened at midnight on December 15, and they sold out of all of the spots by 9:00 the next morning.

I have decided that I am going to do the endurance league in the UFD series. I am also going to compete in the west league for the traditional cross country series that the UFD is also putting on. I have a couple of other things that I am thinking about, but have not decided upon yet. Check back later to see what will become of them.

That's it for now! Stay warm, enjoy your Christmas, and train hard! Until next week!

Peace Out!

HUGE News!!!

2009-12-18T09:58:00.000-08:00

Their is a lot going on in the biking news! It is exciting this time of the year when all of the promoters are making their BIG announcements, and the early registrations begin. I will get my business out of the way first, then get on to the big picture.

On the training side, I have been able to stay consistent during this difficult time of year. With all of the parties, changing of the schedule, shopping and all, I have been able to get at least two hours on the bike every day. The good part is I was able to get back outside again this week. I even get in a little trail riding. This is ALWAYS good for the mental health. Up front I want to thank my wife Shelley for the support and encouragement during this time. Without her help it would be so much harder.

Last weekend Shelley and I finished up our Christmas shopping. While we were out, we had lunch together. We decided that it would be nice to go to Plant Sub. It had been a while since I had been their so I decided to experiment with the menu. I tried their signature sandwich, the "Planet Sub", WOW it was awesome! It had a ton of great stuff on it, and it was extra nice because they toast the sandwich! I think that I am going to have to make this a weekly ritual.

Well, on to the really HUGE news!!! To make it easier I am going to cut and paste the information directly from the new release. Needless to say, this will help make the planning for the upcoming race season much easier. Check back next week for some of the decisions for the upcoming season!!!

KANSAS CITY, MO: We are thrilled to announce the 2010 United Federation of Dirt [UFD] race calendar. The UFD consists of a collective group of promoters, trail builders and racers unified in the goal of bringing dirt lovin’ good times to the Missouri and Kansas region.

For 2010, we are promoting 17 traditional cross country mountain bike races divided into two leagues. The Eastern League is comprised of 8 races and the Western League will be hosting 9 races. The Endurance League brings together 4 races focused on long distance and the ability for the human spirit to suffer. The events will take place on some the best singletrack that the region has to offer, including the ever popular Castlewood State Park, Spanish Lake, Wilson Lake, KS and newly minted Swope Park.

In addition to the 17 cross country races and 4 endurance races, we are pleased to announce the return of the Short Track Dirt Crit Series to the St. Louis area and the Kansas City region. These weekly training races will be the perfect way to keep the legs a moving and the body acclimated to racing on dirt.

And lastly, the UFD is proud to announce that these events will be under the sanctioning of USA Cycling. This is just the beginning of many exciting things to come for the 2010 season. We are still in the early planning stages and working to get all the pieces in place to bring you the best racing experience around. Look for more announcements soon…fun in the dirt is what it is all about.

United Federation of Dirt [UFD]

Eastern League XC races:
March 14: Leadbelt XC. St. Joe Park (Mark Grumke)
March 28: Mesa Lost Valley Luau (Matt James)
May 8: *Greensfelder ( (DRJ Racing)
June 12: *Missouri State Championship. Castlewood (Big Shark/Pfoodman)
June 27: St.Charles County Parks (Ghisallo Sports)
Aug 8: Trailblazer Blitz. Spanish Lake. (Trailblazer Bikes)
Aug 22: Cyclewerx Crankfest. Cape Girardeau, MO (Cyclewerx)
Sept 25: *Council Bluffs (ICCC)

Alpine Shop Short Track Dirt Crit Series– 7/1, 7/8, 7/15, 7/22, 7/29. Dirt Crit Final Blowout XC race - 8/1

Western League XC races:
March 28: Lawrence River Trails. Lawrence, KS (Curtis Martell/Free State Racing)
May 1/2: Wilson Lake Fat Tire Festival. Wilson Lake, KS. (Doug Chambers/Golden Belt)
May 8: *Robidoux Roundup. Krug Park. St. Joseph, MO. (Randy Tracy/Craig Hoppe)
June 6: The Down and Dirty. Warsaw, MO (Mac Vorce)
June 20: Cramp Alexander. Emporia. KS. (Matt Brown/High Gear)
June 27: Crocodile Rock. Perry Lake State Park. Perry, KS. (Lyle Reidy/HSP/Bad Goat Racing)
July 25: Sunflower State Games (Curtis Martell/Free State Racing)
Sept 12: Tour De Lizard. Arkansas City, KS (Bobby Smith)
Sept 19: Kansas City Cup (Federation Championship). Swope Park. Kansas City, MO. (Ron Acklin/HSP)

Short Track Dirt Crit Training Series –Thursday Nite Throwdown: June-August Timeframe

Endurance League ( Dirt Lovin Good Times style format ):
April 18: Bone Bender 3/6 MTB Odyssey. Smithville Lake. Smithville, MO (Chris Locke/Cow Town Cycling)
June 5: *Dirty Kanza 200 [DK200]. Emporia, KS (Jim Cummins/HSP)
Aug 14: *Rapture In Misery [RIM] 6/12. Crowder State Park. Trenton, MO (Doug Long/HSP)
Oct 9: *Burning at the Bluff (Mesa Cycles)

* Saturday race date
**The above dates and venues are subject to change due to events beyond our control.
** In addition to the dates listed above, we are also working on scheduling apx 2-3 rain dates into the calendar.

Peace Out!

Weeping fingers

2009-12-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

Well sooner or later it was bound to happen. No matter how tough you are, sooner or later you are going to have to use your trainer at some point during the winter. Depending on weather conditions, some years you only have to use it a few times, and other years you will have to use it more that you would like.

My philosophy is this: If the roads are dry, I have enough clothes to suffer through a ride, but, if the roads are snowy and icy then you go inside and use the trainer for safety purposes.

I really try to stay away from the trainer as much as possible for a couple of reasons. First, if you do it enough you get cabin fever, and it will drive you crazy. Second, even though you are able to maintain some cardio fitness, it is not the same as being outside.

When you are outside you have to deal with the wind, hills and all of those natural elements where as on the trainer, you are not able to truly simulate the experience. It is always shocking to people that spend a lot of time on the trainer, to come outside in the spring. They are SO amazed at how different it is. If you are able to stay outside most of the winter you have an advantage over other going into the next race season.

This past week I was able to get outside a couple of times, but old man winter moved in a couple of days ago, and for the past three days we have had snow/ice on the ground, and the temperature has been below zero. So, for a few days I am forced inside to my trainer. As soon as the streets melt and dry up I will return outside. But until then, I am forced into the basement, creating big pools of sweat dripping off of my fingers, and getting my but kicked by training videos that I have in the DVD library.

I will let you all go for now. Check back next week for the newest 411, and until then stay warm and safe!

Peace out!

Coming Soon!

2009-12-04T14:31:00.000-08:00

Got a lot of information for everyone this week. Thanks to Matt down at the bike shop, the stable is once again full! I finally got both bikes repaired and at home at the same time. It is a wonderful feeling to have everything in order. At times I don't know what I would do without his help.

On the training front, I have been getting in some good quality miles, and have begun adding in some extra lifting in the weight room. For this time of the year, things are going pretty well, and pretty much on schedule.

On another note, the weather has taken a turn for the worst in the past couple of days. For my rides, the temperatures have been in the single digits. It is going to take a little getting use to, but I have been able to get in about two quality hours a day in without freezing solid.

Their has been quite a bit of news beginning to be released about the upcoming season. First off, their was some news that came out of Missouri. It appears that the Heartland series and Midwest series are going to merge into a HUGE regional series. I am excited to hear more of the details as they are made available! The news read like this:

- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -
9 A.M. CST,
November 25, 2009

NEW MOUNTAIN BIKE SERIES PROMISES BIG THINGS TO COME!
COLUMBIA, MO: A newly formed group of seasoned mountain bike promoters
is proud to announce its intentions to promote a down and dirty
mountain bike series in 2010. The groups will be named United
Federation of Dirt. Included in this impressive group are some of the
region's most experienced race promoters dedicated to delivering
racers a series that is all about fun and grassroots racing. This
collaboration will deliver a true Regional series that will include
races from Cape Girardeau, MO all the way to Perry, KS. Full Details
will be available shortly but expect great things and great
locations across Missouri and Kansas. We are finalizing the details shortly
but one thing can be guaranteed - fun in the dirt is what it is all about!

On another front, the Dirty Kanza is gearing up once again. It sounds like they also have big plans for this year. Check out the 411 that I got just yesterday:

Greetings from Jim and Joel, your Co-Promoters for The Dirty Kanza 200. We have been hard at work on next year's event, and we are confident that 2010 will prove to be a banner year for The Dirty Kanza 200. Numerous "tweaks" and "refinements" are in the works, designed to bring you a truly life-enriching cycling experience. Our Vision... that The Dirty Kanza 200 will become North America's premier annual ultra-endurance gravel road cycling challenge. Exciting things are happening. Keep reading... we share the "Huge News" at the end of this email.

Emails and phone calls have been pouring into the illustrious DK office, asking when registration will open. So we thought we would throw together a few details that should help you in your planning for the 2010 running of The Dirty Kanza 200. Here you go...

Race Date:
Saturday, June 5th, 2010
(Sign-In and Packet Pick-Up, Friday, June 4th, 2010.)

Registration:
Will open Sunday, January 10, 2010, and will once again be conducted online at BikeReg.com

Field Limit:
We will expand our field limit this year to 150 participants. Note... Last year's limit of 100 participants was filled in just four days of registration. Mark you calendars now for January 10th. You won't want to wait too long, if you plan to race in 2010. (We will send you a reminder right after the first of the year.)

Classes:
Open Men
Open Women
Single Speed
Masters Men
(50+) This class is new for 2010.

"Auxilary Events":
We are woking with The Emporia (KS) Convention and Visitors Bureau to create numerous activities for your support crew members and family members to enjoy throughout the weekend. So bring your spouse, significant other, kids, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and friends. More information on these activities will be coming in the next few weeks and months.

Dirty Kanza Blog:
Joel and his lovely wife Michelle are hard at work making significant upgrades to our blog site. It is a little "rough" right now. However, in the next week (or so) you should see huge changes. Go ahead and bookmark it now. http://www.dirtykanza200.wordpress.com/) Check it regularly. And please provide your comments and suggestions on how we can continue to improve the site.

Dirty Kanza 200 Video:
For those of you who have not yet seen the Dirty Kanza 200 video, there is a link on our blog site. The video was produced by the folks at IM Design Group, in Emporia, Kansas. We think they did a fantastic job.

And now for the Huge News... drum roll please...
Salsa Cycles has come on board and will be the "Premier Sponsor" for the 2010 running of The
Dirty Kanza 200. Joel and I are both absolutely giddy with excitement over this development. When we very first began discussing plans for 2010, one of our primary objectives was to identify a company within the cycling industry with which we could create a long-term partnership. Salsa Cycles was the first company we thought of, and throughout all of our planning discussions remaind at the top of a very short list of candidates. Due to their company philosophy, their fantastic products and their great people, Salsa Cycles is the PERFECT sponsor for The Dirty Kanza 200. Salsa has stepped up to the plate in a major way. The winner of each of our four classes (Open Men, Open Women, Single-Speed and Masters Men) will receive a complete 3-piece "Salsa Upgrade Kit", which will include that rider's choice of a Salsa Stem, Salsa Handlebar and Salsa Skewer Set. In addition, one lucky participant will go home with a brand new Salsa Fargo Frameset. Salsa's support of The Dirty Kanza 200 goes even further,
including water bottles, hats and T-Shirts. You can check out all of their great products here... www.salsacycles.com While you are there, drop them an email and let them know how much you appreciate their support of The Dirty Kanza 200.

That's it for now. More details will follow soon. Until then, stay safe, train hard... and Get Your Gravel On. We look forward to seeing each of you in Emporia, Kansas the first weekend in June.

That's it for today, I will try to update this site weekly during the winter. Check back to see what is new, and until then train hard and keep warm.

Peace Out!

NEWS FLASH

2009-11-25T13:36:00.000-08:00

Greetings! A lot has happened since the last post. I would like to start by giving a shout out to our team sponsors for this next summer. Their are so many cool sponsors that I could not do them justice at this time, so I have made a list of them to your right, and linked their logo's to their web sites. Please take the time to check them out If you are in need, please visit them and take advantage of there awesome businesses.

Next, I got the cross bike back and have been putting on some good miles on it. It is such a pleasure to be back on it. It is truly a hot rod! The Trek XO1 is the weapon of choice to rack up the big winter miles. It can handle BIG miles with minimal maintenance and repair.

The HiFi should be back in my hands an day! I spoke to Matt Brown down at High Gear and he said that they will have no problem replacing the wheel under warranty. Bontrager is awesome! They are so quick to replace anything that seems to go wrong, and that does not happen very often.

This past weekend I went to Lendsborg Ks, with team mates Jim Cummins, Garret Seacat and Tim Mohn for the Coronado Challenge. It was a really fun race. It is centered around this old castle that was build by Coronado himself when he came up this way from Mexico looking for gold. I can't say enough about how wonderful the people were that put on this race. They put a lot of effort into it, and it showed. It was extremely well organized.

I would also like to thank Matt Brown down at High Gear for lending me a rear wheel so that I could go to the race. If it were not for him I would have missed out on all of the fun. Matt is truly a great guy, and such a pleasure to race for. He always goes out of his way to make sure that we are all well taken care of, no matter what it takes. It is comforting to know that Matt is in your corner!

As for the race itself, it got off to a rough start. From the beginning, I ran into quite a bit of difficulty through out the first lap. Since I had not been in a race for a little while I thought that I would hang back a little and not mix it up right away. After all, it was to be a four hour race. This would prove to be a crucial mistake. About 500 yards into the race, there was a group of us that were shoulder to shoulder. All of the sudden, some guy rubbed wheels with me, and the two of us, and about five others went down.

After getting up I attempted to get going as quickly as possible. As I started to peddle away, my bike shifted down into the small ring in the front. I did not think much of it at first, but I could not get it to shift up to a larger ring.

As I began to climb, I tryed to check over my bike to see what was going on. About the time I got to the top of the first climb, I figured out that the housing and cable for the front derailleur blew out. I spent the remainder of the first lap in the small ring, and the bike kept shifting itself off of the small ring, so I had to stop 5-6 times to put my chain back on.

When I got back to the pit area, I found a screw driver, and adjusted the front derailleur so that I could ride in the middle ring for the remainder of the day, until I could get the bike back to the shop to have a new cable put on.

By time the repair was done my race was pretty much over, so I decided to just turn the day into a fun four hour trail ride. For the rest of the day, I backed off of the pace just a little and enjoyed the ride.

As the day went on, a few of the hills got a little tough, and I was wishing for that small ring, but it was still fun, and the legs got a really good workout. When it was all said and done, I am not sure exactly what place I finished in, but it was some where in the middle of the pack. I would like to congratulate my teammate Garret Seacat though. He rode tough, and put in a good showing, ending the day in 5th place in the open men division.

Well, this is a lot of 411 for today. I will let you go, and check back soon to see the latest happenings! Until then, check our our sponsor links. These company's are really cool.

Peace out!

Like a captain without a ship!

2009-11-09T16:16:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-10-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-06T18:39:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-09-23T17:48:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

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.....

2009-08-24T17:37:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-08-05T14:56:00.000-07:00

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!

NEWS FLASH

2009-07-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

Greetings all! I want to start off by plugging the race coming up. It will be here in Emporia at camp Alexander! It will be held on July 19, and is called "cRamp Alexander Bike Race". It is going to be a BLAST! A lot of people have been putting a lot of work into the trails, and they are the best that I have ever seen them.

It will prove to be a real barn burner. We are going to be visited by some of the top racers from the Midwest! Come race, or at least watch the big boys put on quite a show. You can watch the likes of Cameron Chambers, and other hot foot's. you can find more information at http://crampalexanderrace.blogspot.com/

I other news, I just got back from Colorado! It was an awesome trip. I got to visit family, go white water rafting, ride alpine slides, go jeeping and do a LOT of mountain biking! We started by spending a couple of day's in Ft. Collins visiting family. The first day I got to go up to Horsetooth Mountain Park and ride for a few hours. It was a lot of fun, and I got to get a little practicing in at altitude. Later we went to my mothers house for a visit, and then out to dinner at the Rio!

The next day I also got to get out for a little spin before shopping, and then dinner at my sisters house. She had an awesome cookout for my family, her family, and my parents. It was great to sit around eating and drinking and just catching up with what has been happening in each others lives.

The next morning we got up and trained a little and then went to the grocery store for supplies before heading up the Breckenridge. Once we got into the mountains, I unloaded the bike and did a pre-ride of the firecracker 50 course. The course was not completely marked yet, so I operated off of a Que sheet. It took me a while, but I managed to stumble through the course, and got a feel for what pain was in store in a couple of days.

By time I got off of the mountain, Shelley and Jeff had already checked into the condo, and met up with our friends that we were going to spend time up their with. While I was putting away the bike and showering the went down and secured a table at Eric's, where we ate some AWESOME burgers! After that it was to the condo for a chill evening.

The next day we went white water rafting! Boy, was that a lot of fun. With all of the snow and rain the river was full, which made for an excellent ride. It was the best trip down the river that I can remember. A good time was had by all.

The day before the race we decided to chill. We went up to peak 8 and did some alpine slide in the morning, then Shelley, Beth and Mallory went hiking in the afternoon while I took the guys up in the hills in the jeep to see the sights! It was awesome! We went down this trail that was the abandon narrow gage railroad for quite a ways and saw some great sights.

The 4th of July was quite a busy day. It started in the morning with Shelley and Beth doing their 10K trail race at 8:00am. They did excellent on such a challenging course. Part of their course was the final 2-3 miles of the bike race. After they got a good start on their race, and I snapped a couple of pics, I then went back to the condo to get ready for my race. When I was ready I went back to find out that Shelley had already finished, and Beth was within sight of the finish line. We all cheered for her as she finished, I congratulated them both, then I was off!

I was able to get a decent warm up rolling around town a little. The town was packed out! After about 20 minutes, I went to the staging area and found where my division was to line up. We hung out for a little while waiting for the start, and checking out the competition. I was able to meet some pretty cool dudes, and get their take for the day.

Before we knew it we were off in the rolling start. the street was packed with kids wanting hand slaps all the way down the main street. Once we made the left out of town the race was ON. The first 4 miles were all climbing. It went better than I thought it would. I was able to keep pace with my group pretty easily. When we entered the first single track at about mile 4 I was feeling pretty good about the race. For the first lap it was business as usual for the first two thirds of the lap. I was riding much better than the pre-ride, and was making great time. I was able to even ride most of the real difficult climb, and reached the top with ease. After the summit we pointed down and ripped up some single track. It was such a blast. After a bit of fun, we were ready for the last series of climbs. At the bottom I developed a bit of a problem. After all the descending I had cooled off considerable, and when we started to climb again I was starting to show signs of cramping. I chugged A BUNCH of electrolyte replacement, and backed off for a couple of minutes and then things returned back to normal.

Before we knew it we were on the final decent to the finish line. It was the most rewarding single track of the day, and was well worth all of the pain that we all went through to get to it. By the time we got to the bottom, we were so jazzed the we didn't even think of the pain that we were going to have to endure for the second lap of the race.

The second lap was uneventful. The pace on the climbs were a little slower than the first lap but were OK. The best parts were the descents though. The trails were not as crowded so I could open it up a little more and FLY down the course. It was such a blast. I had no problems on the second lap, and even though the climbs were a little slower, the lap time was only a couple of minutes slower.

At the end of the day I was quite content with the race, and ended up in 6th place in my division. This was the biggest race of the year, but am looking forward to a few more fun events. If any of you are in the area this weekend, you really should stop by at Camp Alexander on Sunday. My team (Team High Gear) is putting on a race on our home course, and it is going to be a BLAST! Check back next week and I will have an update on the race. Until then, keep the rubber side down!

Peace Out!

I HAVE RETURNED!

2009-06-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

Well....I finally regained some level of testosterone, and decided to return. Since the last post I have done the Dirty Kanza again, or should I say have attempted the Dirty Kanza. That's right, I was unable to finish the race this year. To me this is a humbling experience. For the first time in my life, I did not finish a race that I started. This was a true kick to the nut sack.

To make a long story short, when I woke the morning of the race it was already 70 degrees at 5:00am, and 15 mile an hour winds. The forecast for the day......record highs and 20 mile per hour south winds. The course was, 35-40 miles south, 100 miles north, and then 65 miles south. The plan for the day if I wanted a chance to win.....go out a little harder than I normally would until we turn and go north, then back off some to recover for a while. This would have put me in a good spot.

What happened......Went out pretty hard to the spot when we were to turn and go north. I was in a good spot at this point (3rd place), but this is where things turned horribly wrong. As we were reaching the turning spot, the wind shifted!....To the NORTH!!!!.....At this point I knew that my plan was out the window, and I was in for a great deal of pain.....Then, at mile 43 or 44, a flat tire. This was a mental blow. Finally got the tire repaired, and chased for a while. Passed a few people and entered the first check point of 3 in fair position, some where in the top ten.

Got my map and filled my water and headed out again.....in a 30-35 mile per hour head wind......in 93 degree temperatures.......ran out of water.......got cramps.....couldn't bring the old ticker down......Pulled the plug at mile 100....TOASTED!!!!! The one thing that made me feel better about the day was that about 90 people started, and only 15 finished. The Dirty Kanza this year dished out a good old fashion butt kickin.

Since then I have been busy catching up, and helping around the house. Doing things that I had been putting off while I have been training. The rides have been somewhere around 2 hours long, but higher intensity.......with lots of hills. Been trying to get the legs ready for the Fire Cracker 50. I will do a couple of longer rides this week, and then we are headed off to Colorado. It will really be nice to take the family with me. We are turning it into a family vacation. At the end of the vacation will be the 4th of July......Breckenridge.....Fire Cracker 50......the wife unit will do a 10K. While we are their we will do some fun things also, like white water rafting.

Before I leave you, I want to tell you all about the race coming up here in Emporia. It will be on July 19th, out at Camp Alexander. This is really exciting! To have a race on the home course will be cool. Info can be found here http://crampalexanderrace.blogspot.com

Until the next time.....Keep the rubber side down!

Peace Out

Yes....an update!

2009-05-22T16:20:00.001-07:00

Due to laziness, I have not updated lately. My schedule has changed and I am working from noon until 8:00pm. This has caused a dramatic change in everything. Train until 11:00am, then work until 8:00pm, then go home and enjoy the family for a couple of hours. Everything is going will.

Lake Wilson.......really fun course, and more quality riders than I thought would be. Rode the new mountain bike, it is awesome! Came in 6th. Been getting In regular training since then. No long rides, but quality rides. Been on the cross bike since lake Wilson, due to the Dirty Kanza next weekend (May 30). Think that I have the bike set up to my liking. If I ever get my lazy butt in gear I will take pictures of it, and the new mountain bike so you all can see them!

On more good training ride tomorrow, then the wife unit and myself will be going to Kansas City for the weekend. It is our anniversary Sunday and we are going their to celebrate. This will give me two days off of the bike. Then I will taper next week for the race. Just a couple of shorter rides, and rest the legs to get all of their strength back.

After this, the cross bike will be retired for the remainder of the summer. It will be time to play on the mountain bike until fall!

Check back next week for a possible up date before the Dirty Kanza. I will try, but can't promise anything.

PS. Their will be a mountain bike race at Camp Alexander on July 19! BE THEIR!!!

Peace Out!

Quick update!

2009-04-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-08T18:14:00.000-07:00

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!!!!

2009-04-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

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!

Bone Bender Postponed!

2009-03-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 10 March 2009 07:36
Well folks, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this latest round of rain just put us over the top on soaking the trails and making them un-rideable for this coming weekend. Sorry but we will have to postpone the Bonebender MTB race until the scheduled make up date of April 18th comes around.

This pretty much sums up the week! After heavy rains on Saturday and Monday, this is the news that I got Tuesday morning. This pretty much messed things up in the schedule. It is like being all dressed up and nowhere to go. I am feeling really good, and in good condition for this time of the year. Now, we wait 3 more weeks for the next race to roll around. This week mother nature has been playing testicle soccer with me, It was not bad enough that it rained twice hard enough that they had to postpone the first race of the year, but, the last three days have been brutally cold!!! On Wednesday, when I left for my ride the wind chill was four degrees, on Thursday it had raised all the way up to ten degrees, and today....a heat wave of twenty degrees!!!! Even with the bad weather I was able to get in a decent 200 miles. Lord, God, when is this madness going to end! I am SO ready for spring to roll around.

The good news, this next week is spring break around here, and the weather is suppose to be much better. I am thinking of having my own personal mini training camp! I think that since we did not get to race, I would like to put in a long hard week on the bike to get ready for the Ouchita Challenge. This is the next race on the schedule. This is going to be a fun one. When they held registration back on December 15, they filled and had to close registration 10 hours later! It is a super fun, large regional race. I am really looking forward to it, but am a little nervous about it because it will be the first race of the year for me.

Well, I hope that you all have a fun spring break, and check back next week for the latest news on the up and coming race season!

Peace out

Riding the Rollercoaster

2009-03-05T18:15:00.000-08:00

Where to start? Well, you might say that the wheels fell off of the wagon a little at the end of last week. On Friday I went out to camp for a little spin before work, and I had a mechanical issue! On the last lap that I was going to put in, I broke the rear derailleur cable, so, I just single speeded it back home. I guess if I were to break down, this was good timing. It was 2 weeks before the first race of the year. I was wanting to get the bike in to the shop for Matt to work his magic on it, but was to lazy and didn't want to be without the bike for a day or two.

Since the Zaskar was in need of a little attention, and the business of life, I dropped the bike off at High Gear bike shop on my way into work. On the agenda? A new cable for the rear derailleur, a new bottom bracket, new brakes, a new chain and some pedal work. As usual, Matt had it ready to roll by the end of the weekend, and in race ready condition. Down Town Matt Brown is the man! He works magic on bikes, and is the only person I let touch my bike in Emporia.

Next for the news? well, A little while back I pulled a hamstring and nursed my way through it, and had been doing REALLY well for the last 3 weeks. Well, on Sunday I was helping someone move, and was helping carry a washer down a set of stairs when I felt a POP in the same hamstring that I injured before. CCRRAAPP!!!! At that point I got very stressed and thought the worst. After we were done with the loading of the trailers, I went home and began damage control. Ice, drugs etc. The next 2 days I rode short and very carefully. Then, due to something at work, I took Wednesday off. Today I woks up and the leg was feeling a lot better!

I thought that after 3 days of TLC, and since it was feeling a lot better I would put it to a test. I went out to camp Alexander, and went for a three hour train ride. Since their are some pretty steep climbs out their it would be a good test. To my surprise, things went REALLY well! I actually rode quite strong today. I made all of the climbs with no problem, and at the end of the day I had no signs of any problem. I guess that it was not as bad as I thought. This is great news. I will be going back out to camp tomorrow for another ride before work, and then on Saturday a bunch of us are going to go out Randy's place to ride the new trails and some post ride festivities! Then it is time to decide how to handle next week leading into the Bone Bender! Stay tuned.

Peace out!

No Training, Training!

2009-02-25T16:52:00.000-08:00

Yes, you heard it right. The plan for the week?.....Their is no plan. After a couple of weeks of hard training, I am in the middle of a recovery week. That means no set amount of miles, no specific heart rate, no specific speed and no specific amount of climbing! The only thing I am doing is trying to spend 20 hours on the bike at a more relaxed pace. That means PLAY TIME!!!!! I am just getting out and seeing where the road takes me.

I am trying to get in about 4 hours a day, for 5 days. It has been really fun. The first couple of days I did some trail riding. I started out a camp Alexander, I would ride at a fun pace and goof around, then when I started to feel like I was getting a little tire, I would take a little gravel Cruise across town to the campus trails! They are easier and pretty fun to flow through. I have been getting out about 8:00am, and riding until noon.

Today I took a little gravel grinder south of town and enjoyed a 65 degree morning. I really like the recovery weeks. They help to remind me of the reason that I am out their, to enjoy spending time playing on my bike outside, playing around in the dirt, rolling over, through around up and around all kinds of cool stuff. It is really easy to get wrapped up in all of the hammer, hammer, hammer.....crush, crush, crush of training and racing.... To place the little soldiers up against the wall and see who can whizz the highest. Sure, I am just as competitive as the next guy, but it is important to enjoy spending your time on the bike, or why are we doing it? Right? Sure, soon I will be back to the hammer, hammer, hammer, crush, crush, crush of training, but I will really enjoy this week, and enjoy the other s that are to come.

On another note, Matt, Lelan and Garret got out today and started to add onto the trail system out at Randy's place. A bunch of us are going to go out their on Saturday, and work on it some more. When this phase is done it will give us close to six miles of trail out their! I can see some fun group ride/cookouts out their this summer! Good times to come. And don't forget......Bone Bender in about 2 1/2 weeks!!!!! Stay tuned for the latest news next week.

peace out!

Zone 4 X 4 = 200 miles

2009-02-19T15:20:00.001-08:00

Training has went well in the past couple of weeks! Last week I concentrated on a lot of climbing to up the intensity in preparation for the quickly approaching season. In a 7 day stretch I went 230 miles and over 12,000 feet of climbing! Not bad for the middle of February. After the week was completed, the legs felt OK, but were REALLY heavy. I decided to give them a little tread and take a second day of rest to give them a Little more time for recovery.

After a two day rest period I thought that I would change it up a little bit this week but keep up some intensity in a different fashion. I decided that I needed to concentrate on some quality miles at the same time since the first two races will be of a decent distance. The plan for the week? Do 50 miles every time I get on the bike, and ride so that at the end of the day the average heart rate would be in zone 4 ( 80-90% ). This has made for an awesome training week for February. In a 4 day period I have went 200 miles at an average of zone 4.2, and am feeling pretty good. I would like to get in another day or two this week before changing things up a little for a couple of weeks leading up to the Bone Bender.

The next couple of weeks I would like to attempt to get in four hour rides each time I throw my leg over the bike, then back it off for the week leading into the race on March 14. Wow time if flying.

On another note, I have really been enjoying the Tour of California on TV this week. On Sunday Shelley has agreed to allow me to have my riding buddies over to watch the final stage, and have the first pasta feed of the new season. A good time should be had by all. That pretty much does it for now, check back next week for the latest news!

Peace, Out!

All systems A OK!

2009-02-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

This week has been a good one. I started it off on Sunday with some hill intervals up Highland hill. I was wanting to see how the legs were feeling after the easy week, and to get an idea as to where I was as far as training goes. The plan......do hill repeats at a decent pace for two hours. The results are as follows: 1 hour 59 minutes, 46 times up the hill, 20 miles, 3,768 feet for climbing. After I was done the legs still felt pretty good! I could have went longer, but I got the idea.

With the good report I decided that the training schedule has back in action. I have pushed the legs pretty hard this week, and they have done well, but are starting to get a little tired. As for the rest of the week, I have done 2 days on the hills of old highway 50, one trip out through the beginning section of the Dirty Kanza 200, and another day going north, in the high wind, snow, and 20 degree temperatures! So far I have racked up about 180+ miles and over 9,500 feet of climbing! Pretty good for the middle of February! I sill am going to get a little ride in tomorrow. I think that since Saturday is valentines day, I will take it off, rest the legs a little and spend some quality time with the wifey.

Since this week went well, I will probably do something similar next week. After that, I think that I will put in a couple of weeks where I will spend a little more time in the saddle. I was thinking of something like, a couple of weeks of 4 hours a day, 6 days a week to try to get the body getting use to the LONGER rides. This should get me within a week of the Bone Bender. Boy, Race season is really sneaking up fast. Well, check back next week for more updates! As they say, same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel

Peace Out!

Bent, but not broken....yet!

2009-02-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

The past couple of weeks have been brutal! I am still getting in my 2 workouts a day. the 5:30am lift, or run, and then my daily 3 hour ride. About 2 weeks ago I decided it was time to dust off the old war pony, the old Zaskar LE, and begin to increase the intensity in preparation for the upcoming race season. For the past couple of weeks I have been going out to camp Alexander a couple of days a week, and doing laps out at the trails. Doing the steep technical climbs out their is the first attempts of high intensity training for the year. All I have to say is WOW.....it is really kicking my butt! The intensity has been great, but after two weeks of this, I have come to the conclusion that I am in need of rethinking the game plan a little.

The day's that I have been going out to camp, I am riding the zaskar, and several other day's a week I have been taking the cyclocross bike out on the gravel hills for some good old zone 4 training. The problem was this..... the body is not quite use to the zaskar yet, and because it puts you in a different riding position, the intensity felt like it was about to rip my legs off. To end last weeks training, after my weight training session I went out on Friday and did a 2 hour zone 4.4 cyclocross ride that had about 2,000 feet of climbing. The ride was super fast, and I was quite pleased, but the kicker was Saturday! On Saturday me, Lelan, Andrew and Chris went out to camp and laid down some laps for 4 hours non stop! WOW did that kick my butt, I rode well but the legs felt like they were about to fall off, then when we were finished I had to ride the 5 miles home into a 30-40 mile headwind. By time I got home I had crawled so deep into the pain cave that I felt like rolling up into a ball and crying like a little baby.

Well, on Super Bowl Sunday, while I was enjoying the first day off of the bike in 6 days, I was rethinking the game plan. I remembered one important thing that I had not taken into consideration..... GET USE TO BEING ON THE WAR PONY BEFORE THE TORTURE SESSIONS!!! Well, this week, since my legs were trashed from the last 2 weeks of repeated torture sessions, I was going to spread the love around a little more than originally planed. You know how the old saying goes, you dance with the one that brought you, well me and the Zaskar have some pretty big dances coming up this year, so her dance card has filled up for a while! Now that we are so close to the season the cyclocross bike is going to be hung up for a while.

This week is a well deserved easy week, so I spent the first 3 days riding an easy zone 3 on gravel hills on the war pony, and today I picked up the pace a little bit. The legs are just now coming around and I am feeling much more comfortable on the bike. I am going to take it easy one more day, and then I think that one of the days this weekend I am going to do a 6 hour gravel grinder to get some quality saddle time. By the end of next week, I think that I can pick up the pace again without tearing myself to pieces. Hopefully next weekend we can have a rematch with camp Alexander with better results, after all the first race is a 6 hour event March 14! TIME TO ROCK AND ROLL!!!

On another note, I have "Officially" add another race onto the calendar! The condo has been rented in Breckenridge for July 1-5, for the Firecracker 50. The "for sure" races for the year are the Bone Bender, Ouchita Challenge, Dirty Kanza 200, Firecracker 50, Rapture in Misery, and the Kansas City Cup. The other possibilities, Hills of Hell, Wilson Lake Fat Tire Festival, Cruise the Blues, Tour De Lizard, and maybe some others down in Oklahoma! Just have to wait ans see. Well, I am kind of tired of doing this for today, so stay tuned next week.

Peace out!

Back in the saddle again!

2009-01-21T18:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I did not get an update last week due to several factors. First, it was really busy at work, due to the beginning of the new semester, and second, I had the flu and was wishing that I was dead for most of the week. I got sick on Monday, and missed 2 days of work because I could not even get out of bead.

As for training, it was all systems shut down. I did absolutely NOTHING for seven days. After the week off though, I have made adjustments to my schedule. Since it is only 8 weeks until the first race I am OFFICIALLY in the pre-season. This means that I will be on the bike six days a week now, and I am getting the mountain bike out again to start getting use to the way it rides again.

So far this week it has went pretty well. Sunday a bunch of us went out to camp Alexander and I did the first trail ride since about early October. It went better than I expected. The fitness was fine, and my technical skills were better that I expected. The main problem was the lack of power in the legs! The climbing was average and the pace was pretty slow, but it was a lot of fun.

I can really tell that I have not trained for power for 3-4 months. This will change now though. I plan on going out to camp 2-3 days a week for the next 8-10 weeks and work on some trail riding. The other days will consist of some LONG rides. I would like to get the cross bike out for 3-4 hours at a time on the days that I am not out at camp.

Since it is still winter, and Shelley is also in training for her marathon, I am also continuing to go in to the gym at 5:00am, and either lift weights or run until 6:30am. This double work out is kind of tough right now, but seems to be working well. So far I have been on the bike for four days in a row. The legs are a little tired tonight, but the ride at camp today went exceptionally well! Well stay tuned to catch the newest info. about the middle for next week. Until then.

Peace out!

WAYYYYY overdue!

2009-01-07T10:06:00.001-08:00

Well where to begin? A lot has happened since my last post. Through out the holidays I have attempted to stay consistent with the training. Shelley and I have been going into the gym every morning for some training. I have been lifting weights three days a week, and the other days I have been getting an hour run in. Shelley has been concentrating on getting a quick lift in three days a week, doing the elliptical every day, and adding in some treadmill work on the days that she does not lift. We are both very happy with the progress that we have made this month.

For the riding, it has been OK, but not at consistent as I would like but hope that this will change next week! I had to spend a couple of weeks on the trainer due to the cold weather, and we all know how BORING this can be. So, during this time I was trying to get as close to two hours as possible, and still keep my sanity. The cold broke around Christmas, and after that I was able to get outside until this week.

The day after Christmas Matt, Lelan, Tim and myself went out for a nice training ride! It was actually so warm that I was able to ride in just a jersey and shorts! We went for a 50 mile ride that was pretty high intensity. We covered the distance in two and a half hours. This was quite good, due to the fact that it was quite windy that day. It was the first time to get the heart rate REALLY elevated in a couple of months, and it felt good.

On December 27, we went to Colorado to visit my family. I took the cross bike and got in three nice rides in the wonderful Colorado weather. It felt SO good to be out side. The weather was around 50 the whole time we were their. We then returned to Kansas and I was able to go on a fun group ride on New Years to start off the year on the right foot. It was a casual 42 mile ride through the Flint Hills. A good time was had by all.

This week things have changed a little though. I am back to work, and doing the day shift thing for a week and a half until school starts. I am trying to piece together workouts to try to keep on track. Early mornings with Shelley, lunch runs and something aerobic for a little while after work. It has been the exercise bike at work the last couple of days, due to the fact that my new coat DIED on me Monday! I spoke to the company, and they are going to replace it for free. The problem is that it has cooled again, and I will not have a winter riding coat for this week and next. WHAT A BUMMMMMER. Next Wednesday school begins again, and my new coat should be just about here, so I can at that time attempt to get some sort of regular training schedule established for this next block.

On the racing world, the season it quickly approaching! The first race is the "Bone Bender" March 14, in Smithville Missouri. It will be a 6 hour race. It will be a nice practice/warm-up for the Ouchita Challenge which is April 5, on Oden Arkansas. This race will be BIG FUN!!! When registration opened, they had to close it again in ten hours because it had already filled. It will be 60 miles of goodness! All of this is going to be wonderful training for this years Dirty Kanza 200 which will take place on May 30. WOW, this race season is already shaping up to be AWESOME!

Well, the digits are getting tired so I will let you all go for now. Hope that all is well, and stay tuned.

Peace Out

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

2008-12-04T15:42:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-24T20:11:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-13T16:18:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-02T14:53:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-10T16:22:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2008-09-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

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?