Schottler

2012 Cannondale Scalpel Carbon 29 1

2012-01-02T08:08:00.000-08:00

My first full suspension race bike, and all I have to say is "Holy (insert creative profanity)." The first thing I notice is how easy it is to sit down and pedal through anything. Most importantly to me, how little energy the bike still takes to propel, it really isn't much different than my hardtail Cannondale Flash 29er. Any extra energy taken from the rear suspension can really add up over a short or long race, so it's important that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Which is why I am choosing to keep both the full suspension and hardtail for this year, each bike has an advantage on different courses. Also, it's VERY nice having a bike to steal last minute parts off of.

The first thing you probably notice are the tube shapes and design. It's beefy, yet it weighs nothing. It's obvious a serious amount of computation time and head scratching was put in to create shapes with specific material thickness' at different area's to obtain one of the lightest, stiffest, and most efficient 29 full suspension frames on the market. Seriously, look at the headtube.

The seat stays are also specifically shaped:

It almost came from factory the way I wanted it. I swapped out the wheels to Stan's Race Gold's, which are about 1,300 gram wheels, down from the 1,750ish gram DT Swiss Tricon XM 1550's. I am still using Sram XX, for now. I might be changing both bikes to Shimano XTR at some point this year, just to experiment. I'm not sure of the weight after the wheel swap, I am guessing 23 lbs with pedals. Tim Johnson's Scalpel 29 weighs in at 22.1 lbs. I got to check his out back in August, sort of, while he passed me in the Leadville 100 going up Columbine.

The only concern I have, which isn't really big, is the clearance of the bottle. Solution is to be careful or just use a smaller bottle and throw a spare in a jersey pocket.

And of course, Ergon GS1 grips.
I've always heard people tell me how amazing Schwalbe race tires are. Amazing in how well they hook up, compliance, and ride quality. The only experience I had with them were flats, instant flats. But, the tires I was using were designed for tubes and I was running them tubeless, with too much pressure. So, I don't feel right basing my opinion on them by my own incompetence. The bike came with Schwalbe Racing Ralph Tubeless Ready tires. The first ride I did with them, with tubes (too lazy to take them out,) they flatted... because I was running 20 psi. So I put Stans in them, and to surprise, they seated with a floor pump instantly. I took them out to Swope Park for a couple hours and was amazed. If you've ridden there recently, there are numerous technical rock sections just waiting to shred sidewalls. The result: They are still intact! In addition to this feat, they hook up better than any other tire I have used and conform to anything they roll over. I kept going faster and faster around the corners and they never let go, far beyond the speed that my trusty Bontrager 29-3 2.00 tires could handle. I've used those Bontragers for over 2 years with zero flats, but they really don't handle very well, especially around low speed tight corners. Not to mention the compliance is pretty horrible, mainly due to how narrow they are. In the end, it doesn't matter how great a tire performs if it can't keep air half the time. You'll lose A LOT more time and positions fixing a flat than going slightly slower around the corners. I'll keep riding these Schwalbe's this winter and see if they stay together. I wish they had a bigger selection of 29er tires, especially ones with sidewall protection, I'd buy them in a heartbeat.

Swope Park, here in Kansas City, is amazing. So many people riding the trails while I was out there, it was great to see. Unfortunately it's about a 30 minute drive from my house and there really isn't a way to ride there without getting run over or shot. I'll probably be riding to Smithville more this winter.

First real training rides start tomorrow, the 3rd. I've been working out 6 days a week for 30-60 minutes, which is starting to catch up with me, but I can feel a huge difference. Hopefully this low back race pain issue will disappear... the full suspension should help that out as well. I cannot wait to start training again.

2011 Wrap-up

2011-12-29T10:18:00.001-08:00

I feel like I just wrote about this for 2010, weird. This year has absolutely flown by, I am not sure why that is, maybe because I have been anticipating big life changes, waiting week by week. Unfortunately for me, I've waited the whole year with not much to show. If things start going my way, 2012 will be a great year. I mean it better, it is the last year of all our lives.

Racing in 2011 went pretty well with the effort I put in to it. I have to admit my motivation to train and race has been pretty low the entire year. I hit a plateau with my fitness and training plan (or lack thereof,) and wasn't able to clear my head of finding a career or finishing grad school. It's apparent that 2012 will obviously need some huge changes if I actually want to get faster on the bike and make it through the whole season with a smile on my face.

Anyway, I still had some race results I was really happy about, despite breaking my wrist and being stuck on the trainer for 6 straight weeks early in the year. Finishing Leadville in 7:37 was a huge accomplishment for myself. Tying for 3rd overall in the USAC Pro UET MTB series was pretty cool. A 2nd place finish at the Spa City 6 hour, racing with Manuel Prado for over 2 hours and only finishing 6 minutes behind him after 6 hours. 7th place at my 2nd ever 100 miler, Shenandoah 100. I didn't get that many mountain races in, but I still had some strong fitness coming in to cross season, which lead to a bunch of wins and a 13th place finish at UCI Gateway Cross in STL. That fitness really disappeared as the cross season went on, so I continued racing for fun.

Like I said earlier, a huge change in training is in store for 2012. I think it's called a training plan or something. Coaches can make them to get you doing the correct thing to build fitness and prepare your body to survive the entire racing season. So instead of mindlessly pedaling around in the endurance zone every day, workouts are prepared. It's time to quit winging it and jump over the plateau and set some real goals and get fast.

Before the heavy training gets started, all the bikes are getting ready, and finally cleaning my poor car after destroying it from 20k bike race miles.

Bye Bye BOCOMO

2011-12-20T08:20:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of the 2 or 3 people who read this probably know that my step-dad passed away unexpectedly on the 8th from a heart attack. I really don't know how to express how we are all feeling, so I won't say much. My Dad passed away when I was 11 from a heart attack as well. Joe was my step-dad for 11 years too, and losing a Dad for a 2nd time doesn't get much easier. I learned a lot the first time and know more about how to deal with it and what to expect, which includes a lot of bike riding.

He was a VERY respected man, who accomplished about 100 times more than most people do in their lives. He made a huge impact in my life and will be missed greatly, but everything I was taught from him will always remain, which is how he will live on. Without his encouragement and support the last 11 years, who knows where I would be.

My sister Kelly called me on the morning of the 8th while I was sitting in my office and I flew home, literally, 1 hour 35 minutes from Columbia to my parents house by the airport in KC. I come around the corner of the house and see about 15 police cars with officers lining our entryway.

We had a police escort to the visitation, which never happens, as well as a 16 KCPD motorcycle and 5 police car escort to the funeral. The visitation had an estimated 400 people come by and the funeral completely packed with at least 30 people standing at the back. It's obvious how much of an impact he made to so many people's lives.

Here is his obituary:

"Joseph P. McHale, Ph.D., lovingly known as "Big Joe," of Kansas City, Missouri, passed away on December 8th, 2011 of natural causes. Joseph was born May 13, 1950 to Joseph and Orpha McHale in Riverside, California. During his youth, he relocated numerous times to the different military bases his father was assigned to in the United States Air Force. While living in Macon, Georgia, in the mid 1960's, Joe married his first wife, Starlette Rose White McHale, and fathered two children, Stephanie Marie and Joseph Frederick McHale. Joe married his second wife, Suzanne Schottler, in 2001 and had the honor of becoming part of the Schottler family. This included daughters Kelly Schottler and Melissa Bodine, and sons Travis Graf and Jonathan Schottler. Joe was a dedicated and proud grandfather to Amelia and Michael McHale and Eleanor Bodine. The mother of his heart was Amelia White, of Milledgeville, Georgia.

Joe began a distinguished career in law enforcement with the Macon, Georgia Police Department in 1971, where he remained until he was hired by the Kansas City Missouri Police Department in 1975. He remained with the Kansas City Missouri Police Department until 2001 when he retired at the rank of Major. Joe gained vast experience during his tenure but was most proud of the Traffic Unit assignments he held at every rank. Joe became Chief of Police of Platte City, Missouri in 2002.

He obtained a Doctorate Degree from Northcentral University in Business Administration with a specialization in Criminal Justice-Homeland Security & Terrorism, as well as dual Master's Degrees in Public Administration and Information Management Technology. He was also working on a third Master's Degree in Homeland Security Terrorism. With his educational achievements, he began teaching at several universities. Joe was a graduate of the FBI National Academy and a very strong supporter of the United States Military.

The countless people whose lives he touched had the opportunity to know an extremely caring, supportive, intelligent, honest, and giving man. He was the rock that everyone could rely on when help or advice were needed. Joe was so widely known in the Kansas City area and in the KCMO Police Department that many of his stories are legendary and not in short supply. Every time he went out, he always ran into someone he knew. It was an equal rarity that he encountered a subject that he did not know something about; he was a walking volume of encyclopedias. His vast knowledge on a wide range of subjects, most notably history and military history, was awe-inspiring for even the most seasoned trivia buff. Though he had devoted much of his life to public service, his family always came first. Even as that family grew after his marriage to Suzanne, in Joe's eyes he had six children and he treated them all equally. He was a wonderful, loving husband and father, devoted grandfather, a teacher and a truly great friend."

I'll be moving back to KC tomorrow to live with my Mom until I find a job somewhere, which will be at least a month. My Master's thesis was accepted by the graduate school this morning, which means there's nothing left to do, my graduate degree in mechanical engineering is finally finished. I never want to do that again. It's a sad feeling leaving Columbia, my home the last 7.5 years. I've met countless lifetime friends and have had the time of my life, there are so many good memories, I can't believe this part of my life is over. I say I am leaving, but will probably be back quite a bit.

Good Training Week + State CX

2011-12-05T07:38:00.000-08:00

My plan was to put in some endurance/tempo paced rides for the next couple weeks to burn some holiday cookies and enjoy myself. Last year I gained about 10 lbs in a month from not riding and eating a million cookies... which lead to trying to lose it through most of my base mile period, not fun. Breaking even is the plan this year. I even got in a fun near 6 hour ride with Pam Hinton and Mike Bruzina on Friday, with no plan of racing state cx. Saturday night Butthead asked why I wasn't racing, I had no excuse, so I thought what the hell, I can just have fun in the mud.

That was my goal on Sunday, have fun playing in the mud and see what would happen. Mike Weiss was kind of enough to loan me his set of 303's with Challenge Limus tires. I also had some friends working the pit for me, unfortunately there was no water, they were kind enough to pick the mud off while I was out on the other bike.

I started on the last row and managed to get in the first corner in last place, neato. "Have fun, have fun, have fun." A few motorcycle sounds and a lap later, I was in the front group with Dan Miller and Travis Donn. I felt alright, my legs were sore and hurting from the long week of training, but I usually ride the mud pretty well. I stayed with them for a few laps and then got tape caught in my cassette, which required to me to take out my wheel and I lost at least 30 seconds, as Butthead flew by. No one in sight behind me, chase mode. Low back was hurting and my legs didn't really have much. I then passed Dan running with his bike, with another failed derailleur. Here is the front group for the first few laps, Dan, Travis, and me. (Photo credit to Jason Watkins)

With about 3 laps to go my low back pain went away and I got in a groove and started flying. Casey Saunders seemed to be having some bike problems as we were lapping him, I was coming up on him fast, and I didn't say which side I was passing him on, since I didn't really know until I was on him. He swerved over to where I was going and I slammed in to his bars pretty hard. I went flying over the bars in to a mud puddle and he went down too. Whoops, sorry Casey. Lost another 15ish seconds and was soaking wet and cold the rest of the race. I was still making up time, but not enough to overcome my issues. Butthead won again, Travis Donn had a freaking awesome race in 2nd, and I finished 3rd, only 20ish seconds behind Butthead.

I am happy, I didn't have any expectations, didn't prepare at all for the race, and didn't break any bike parts. I guess it is possible for me to race for fun.

Como Awesomeo and 2012 Schedule

2011-11-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Columbia's one and only cx race took place on Saturday about 9 minutes from my house. It's so nice to race with such a short drive, tons of time to accomplish things, like sitting on my couch more. Actually, working to finish my thesis revisions.

Anyway, the race was lots of fun. Mr. Josh Johnson designed the course with CBC's help setting it up. It was tons of fun, super flowy, good to know he's still good at something. Actually, he was riding very well too. Butthead lead the first lap, followed by Dan Miller the next two laps. Pace wasn't very hard at this point and I was comfortable and figured it was my turn to do some work, so I pulled the next lap and picked up the pace, hoping to get a small gap on Dan through one of the sections and hit the gas. I felt alright, and jumped the railroad tie section and my tire popped off the rim when I landed... and crashed. Dan then crashed in to me, sorry Dan! Limped back around the course to get my pit bike. I stayed behind Dan as we bridged back up to Butthead, but I eventually lost his wheel with my low back starting to seize up. From here on, I sucked. Forgot to let pressure out of my clinchers and I was bouncing all over. It would have been difficult to stay with those two anyway, Dan is fit as hell, Butthead was riding very well, and I just want to ride my bike and have fun at this point. They rode together the whole race and sprinted for it, Dan took the win. I skipped Sunday's race to finish and submit my thesis revisions. Strongly considering riding for fun the next 3 weeks instead of racing, next year will be a long one.

I have put together most of next years racing schedule already. I learned this year that big national endurance races can fill up in just a couple of minutes, so planning ahead and setting an alarm to register is important. Schedule is currently based around me getting a job and being able to afford the travel... and vacation time. Here's the tentative schedule:

April 11, Ouachita Challenge
April 28, Cohutta 100
May 19, Syllamos Revenge
June 2, Dirty Kanza 200
June 16, Lumberjack 100
July 14th, Breckenridge 100
August 11, Leadville 100
September 1, Park City P2P
September 15, Chequamegon Fat Tire, Hermann CX, or Marathon Nationals
October 20, Berryman Epic
November 5, Iceman Cometh

5 of the races are the NUE series. They take best 4 for the overall championship. It will be a busy season, but I am pretty excited about it. I have my coach set up for next year as well, I really have no idea what to do to train for so many long races... besides riding a lot.

Bubba #7 & 8

2011-11-14T09:17:00.001-08:00

Before the couple of people who read this get bored, Columbia is going to have it's 1 and only CX race of the year, put on by CBC. We drive to both ends of the state every weekend for everyone elses races... so come to ours... or else. Or else what? Exactly.
On to the boring racing stuff. Saturday was Bubba #7 at Concordia Seminary. I got a horrible start and shoved back to 10th in to the first couple corners. I got to the front on lap 2 and put in an effort and got a gap. Eventually it was big enough that Butthead tried to join up with me, so I slowed down. But, he took a digger on the log so I picked it up again. I ended up taking the win. The course was one of my favorite of the year, pretty mountain bikeish. Jumping the log every lap was pretty fun. (Thanks Dennis Fickinger for this awesome shot!)

Sunday was Bubba #8. Pretty much the same story. I attacked and Butthead rode up to me, and we rode the rest of the race together. Furious braking across the line photo finish, Butthead got it. Also, I suck at cornering and sprint out of the corners too hard apparently.

(Thanks Chris Creed for all of these other good photos!)

Thanks to Mr. Butthead for gluing up a couple of tires for me.

NUE Series

2011-11-10T09:47:00.001-08:00

The 2012 series was just announced. After doing a couple 100 milers this year plus numerous 50+ mile races over the years, I am becoming addicted. People warned me of this.

Before I get in to it, something quickly caught my eye. The Berryman Epic may be in the 2013 calender. I guess I can say goodbye to some easy money and hello to some insane sub 4 hour competition.

Anyway, I've raced pretty much everything at this point besides a stage race, and I really enjoy it all. Traveling to bigger races will probably be my thing next year and the foreseeable future, but it's expensive. Green Beans always had a good rule of thumb for traveling to races, if you get to ride almost as long as you sat in the car, it's worth the trip. I am not too strict on this rule since I would rather not ride for 12 hours with a one-way trip, but it's a good thing to think about. So, for me, the longer races make the drive and preparation well worth it. Not to mention the buzz experienced post-race lasts for weeks, instead of a day at the most from a short 1 hour effort. So, I will probably be doing 5 of the NUE races, plus some others along the way.

As for the NUE, here's what I sort of have planned:
Cohutta 100, Tennessee, April 28, already registered
Syllamos Revenge, Arkansas, May 19
Mohican 100, Ohio, June 2
Lumberjack 100, Michigan, June 16
Park City P2P, Utah, September 1

I put my name in for the Leadville 100 lottery, hopefully I will get to take a crack at that one again.

In addition to the races, I think I have decided to something with my training I've been against. Get a coach. This year I have had very little motivation to get myself out on 'hard rides' to do intervals or power tests. I didn't even do a power test this year, I can count how many timed intervals I've done. I don't even know if I got faster this year. I think I got smarter, smoother, and improved my racing skills, but powerwise, I don't think I improved much. Anyway, having someone tell me what to do who knows what they are doing will get me more focused. Not having to worry about when to ride or what to do will take a huge weight off my shoulders, especially while having a full time job. I want bigger results next year.

I started riding again, a little. Motivation to race is still sort of lagging, but I'll try to race cx for fun for the rest of the season. I won't travel anywhere, only local stuff.

This will be arriving either this month or early next year. Will be rocking a hardtail and full suspension 29er. Gonna be sweet.

Break

2011-11-01T08:29:00.001-07:00

For the past month or two, I've been forcing myself to ride my bike. Normally I take a couple of weeks off in late July to give myself a mental break and get psyched for the remaining races of the year. This year, with Leadville in August, that break never happened. I've been told I haven't really done that many races this year and there's no reason why I would need a break. It's true I haven't really done that many races, but that doesn't mean I haven't been training. There's still a pretty heavy training load, even while riding the trainer with a broken wrist for 6 weeks. And, as I have learned this year, long races and training for them really take it out of you quickly. The majority of the MTB races I have done this year were LONG! over 27 hours of racing in just 4 of the races.

I haven't trained since the Berryman and it's been really nice and relaxing. Last week I let myself eat whatever I wanted, which I really only let myself do over the holidays. Last week I also had my the defense for my Master of Science in mechanical engineering, which was incredibly painful, but I passed. Thank God that's over, I've been dreading that day since I ever considered graduate school. This Thursday is my seminar presentation in front of all the engineering graduate students, which I have also been dreading. But it will be a cakewalk after that defense, I am not nervous at all. All that will be left are thesis corrections and I'm finally done with school, 7 years later.

Now I am realizing I have violated two of my rules to prevent SI joint pain... taking time off and running. My SI joint hurts again, which means more time off plus lots of stretching. I most likely will take the next couple days off and start back slow with some easy spins, not sure about racing this weekend.

In the meantime, I am trying to plan out races for next year. I see myself doing some more long ones, and will probably do at least 5 NUE races to see if I can possibly podium the overall.

Here's my new dog, Georgia. She seems to have some separation anxiety issues which I have been working on pretty hard... new dogs are a lot of work. Also training her to run with me while I ride, she's picked up pretty fast, only a matter of time before I can go mountain bike riding with her.

Berryman Trail Epic

2011-10-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

It's hard to admit that I was on the fence about this race this year. I have so much on my mind right now I just could not focus, train, or mentally prepare myself for this race. The last two years, it was game on, I was 100% ready to give it all. This year I was maybe 50%. When you come in to any race and your heart isn't in it and your mind is elsewhere, you usually won't live up to your potential. I knew this coming in, but I enjoy hanging out with my friends too much to pass it up for something that selfish. Now that it's over, I am happy I did it. But despite what I knew was going to happen going in to it, I am still disappointed in myself.

The last month or so I've been trying to get my head in the game and actually train for this race. To touch on where I've been in my mind, I submitted my Master's thesis the Friday morning that I left for the race, right on the edge of even being able to come to the race. I've had interviews at companies for some pretty awesome jobs and am awaiting offers, which is extremely stressful. My Master's defense is this Thursday and I am nervous. This all lead to me barely riding during the weeks and relying on cx races to maintain some fitness.

Anyway, on to the race. As usual, there was some horsepower toeing the line with a bulls-eye pinned to my back for the 2nd year in a row. The initial gravel climb was a little easier than last year and I even went to the front to try and get some more people excited. $75 prime in to the single track, I let Tilford take it, for a few different reasons, but it was my first mistake of the day. From here on to the first checkpoint, which was roughly 49 minutes in, Tilford was riding away from me and I was able to catch back up a couple of times. I don't know what the deal was, he wasn't going that fast, my legs sucked. They felt like bricks and my heart rate wouldn't go over 180 and I couldn't motivate myself to really get in a rhythm. I should have easily been able to stay with him.

Coming in to Brazil Creek I fumbled some of the switchbacks and went down in the huge horse hoof mud pits, then went down in the creek crossing, then ran in to Scott's dog and went over the bars (sorry Scott!) Apparently people just ran down the hill instead of on the course, I missed that pre-race tip.

From here on I rode okay, I never got in a rhythm, I couldn't get my heart rate up, and my legs felt like hell. In to Berryman campground I was 2 minutes back. Coming back through the checkpoint towards the end I was only 3-4 minutes back. From this last checkpoint to the finish I lost another 4 minutes. I mentally just quit, it was not my day, and I continued thinking about my upcoming defense, where I'll be living in a few weeks, and if my new dog was just sitting in our cabin and barking or crying.

I finished in 4:17, 3 minutes slower than last year. That sucks. I went through the first 4 checkpoints faster than last year and lost a huge chunk in the end. The course was even smoother and faster than last year. Ended up 2nd place with just short of $1,000, not a bad pay day, but I wanted a win... not bad enough I guess. On the bright side I have motivation for next year and will most likely be able to focus.

The post-race party was awesome and the biggest reason I came out this year. I always enjoy hanging out with my buddies, drink some awesome beer, and listen to everyone's race stories. A lot of beer was consumed.

I am happy someone got a picture of these nice guys on the trail:

I am going to take some time off the bike, maybe a week or two to get my head realigned... there are still over 2 months of cx left.

Burnin'

2011-10-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

For the 2012 Burnin at the Bluff, I was torn between racing 6 hour solo or defending the 3-man team 12 hour with Mike Best and Nate Means. Turned out Chris Ploch was getting desperate, probably from the beat down last year, so he put together a seemingly unbeatable superteam of him, Garrett Steinmetz, and Travis Donn. That's not very nice, so I decided to help my team.

Just as last year, the trails were perfect and we couldn't have asked for better weather. Green Beans went first, in his jump suit of course, putting in a strong first lap of 1:05 or so. This got us in a good starting position and limited traffic for my lap. Unfortunately for me, I rode my mtb once, at night, for an hour, since Shenandoah (over a month ago.) It wasn't pretty. My motor was not the limiter on this lap. The first half of this 13 mile lap is really easy to overdo... lots of fast, flat, and loose corners. I got way too excited and anxious in my impossible pursuit of Garrett and went off course and face planted about 5 minutes in, which killed some confidence, but skillz came back about 6 miles in. I don't know how, but even with the crash, loss of confidence, and passing some traffic, I still put in the fastest lap so far of 59:03, but only got 30 or so seconds in to Garrett. Not happy with the time, I wanted a course record, and usually the first lap out is the only opportunity for that to happen in this race. (Record is 58:47, which I set last year)

Mike Best was our next man to go out, in pursuit of Travis Donn, and put in a strong lap. I was fired up for my 2nd lap, I still thought I could set a record. The lap went well, only a few minor mistakes. I beat my previous lap with a 58:57, leaving me with the two fastest laps of the day. Unfortunately I got behind a rider that wouldn't let me around, after politely asking to pass numerous times, I was told "you can pass, but I am not moving over or slowing down." Wow, thanks. That lost time would have set a new record.

My 3rd lap I went for an easier lap and pedaled around, coming in with a 1:02 something. The next time I went out was in the dark, and I wanted the record. Beans and Mike for the remainder of the race remained very consistent, which is very important in this race. No mechanicals and many fast laps. We stayed within 20 minutes of the superteam for the majority of the day. It kept us in the position of possibly taking the lead if the other team had a mechanical. Can't give up in these races!

By my 4th lap, we were looking at a possible 12 lap day, which hasn't been done before. The superteam was obviously in the same position, but a ways ahead of us. I told Mike and Beans that if something happens to Garrett and I come in within 5 minutes, I am going right back out for our 12th lap. I didn't eat enough after my 3rd lap. Beans was cooking some mean dutch oven lasagna and I really wanted to devour it when I got back, so I did the stupid thing and skipped some extra food before I went out. My goal was a 1:01-1:02 night lap, and I was totally on that pace by mile 6.... and then I started craving lasagna... not good. Mile 10 I started feeling sick and knew what was coming, BONK. I was having trouble concentrating and couldn't steer, bad stuff. To top it off my rear tire started going flat and I had to do the last climb on 5 psi. Lap turned out to be 1:05 something, which was still the fastest night lap, coming in at 11:59.47... we still could have done a 12th lap. I couldn't talk to anyone afterward, all I wanted was food, I was even having trouble riding back to the camp site. I ate. A lot. Mike, Nate, and John LeBlanc ate half the lasagna... I ate the other half... and 4 chicen brats... and 10 oreo's... and a handful of pumpkin bread, then fell asleep in my camp chair.

Overall, I am happy I did the team race, the event is amazing. Ride all day with good friends, very tough competition, and perfect weather, what else could you want? Huge props to the superteam, you guys killed it. And Dwayne Goscinksi, 10 laps solo 12 hour, never been done before, totally amazing.

I haven't ever ridden those climbs that fast, I think my fitness is better than this point last year. Considering my head is completely in different places right now with racing pretty far down on the priority list, I am happy and have some strong confidence for the Berryman in a couple weeks.

Boss Cross #1 & 2

2011-10-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

Raced Boss Cross #1 and 2 in Kansas City last weekend. The courses are always some of my favorites of the year and the races are really well put on, well worth the trip. The competition is always good in KC, so the races are some of the fastest in Missouri.

Saturday didn't go very well. My legs sucked, my back blew up, and my front wheel exploded. Lap 1 I was behind Tilford and Coe going up a steep switchback, Coe went down and I tried to ride around him, but I went down and my front spoke pulled out of my rim. The wheel looked somewhat true, so I just kept racing it, thinking it will still probably ride better than my pit bike. From here on I was in Tilford chase mode and I stayed within about 5 seconds him for the rest of the 1st-3rd lap. With 8 laps to go my back seized up and confidence fell through the floor, I quickly lost my pace and eventually got caught by Coe and Butthead. Rode with them for a bit and got dropped, motivation gone. Then I just sort of pedaled around to finish. I imagine my average heart rate was 140-150, I just couldn't put any power down due to my low back. Most of this was from the running. There was wayyy too much running, the width of 2 volleyball courts twice each lap, that's 22 times to run for like 15 seconds. This made my hamstrings hurt and tight which made my low back seize up.

Butthead was kind enough to glue up a new front wheel and tire I had back in Columbia and bring it back for Sunday's race. File tread Grifo XS on the front and Fango on the rear... sort of the opposite of what your'e supposed to do, but it worked.

Sunday went better. I rode for 1-1.5 hours before the race to get my legs loosened up and had a different game plan. Don't go ape shit the first few laps and casually run through the sand. The start of the race Andrew Coe and Travis Donn took off and I began to chase. I didn't want to bring them back too fast and risk my low back self destructing, so I managed to catch Coe with about 4 laps to go. Unfortunately with about 5 or 6 laps to go we were lapping a ton of Cat 3 riders. This meant that Coe got by and I got blocked so I had to chase again... this kept going on until the end of the race. I kept my slow run plan the whole race, Coe was putting about 3 seconds on me each time we ran through and I had to chase back, this added up to losing about a minute over the race. I know it doesn't really work like that, but I really suck at running. Not doing any cx running training really showed.

Anyway, on the last lap I was glued to Coe and came around him with a few corners and a sand pit to go. I knew I had to put on as much time as I could before the sand, even a couple seconds. We were side by side after the sand pit and it came down to a gravel sprint finish. I had a good line and still had enough left in the tank to take the win.
I don't know what I am doing in this picture.

Manions CX

2011-09-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

Headed to KC to race their season opener on Saturday, Manions cx, which is in its second year. Last year it was pretty hilly and challenging, but fun, and a well put on race. The field wasn't large, but still some fast dudes showed up. I started towards the back, which isn't really ideal since this course doesn't give much opportunity to pass. It was probably the slowest cx course I have raced. It came down to proper tire pressure, handling skills, and able to accelerate and recover quickly.

Tire pressure took a while to figure out, since the course was super bumpy you didn't want pressure, but due to the endless 180 degree corners, you needed the pressure to prevent your tires from folding over, so I ended up running nearly 35 front and rear... I was bouncing all over, but I could take the corners with some speed and not worry about having to corner on my sidewalls. It was a give or take, and I took the faster option.
I managed to move from the back to the front by the end of the first lap and I hit the gas. I got a gap going in to the 2nd lap and it grew every lap for the remainder of the 60 minute race, leaving me with a lead of about 3 minutes or so. The course was a low back breaker for sure, lots of bumps, and out of the saddle sprints every corner (there were about a million corners.) My race was nearly flawless, only a few mistakes. One was accelerating too hard out of a corner and swinging my rear end around pointing me through the tape. Nearly every corner my front tire was just sliding across the course, pretty fun to be able to do that in a controllable way. For the most part it was a great race to build some slow grass turning skills. Here's another race recap at cxmagazine.com.
Boss cross is this Saturday and Sunday in KC. Weird to think I will already have 7 cx races done this year once those are over. I may also have some pretty big life changes coming up soon, which may affect some bigger races this fall. Changes that I have been dreaming of since I first started my bachelor's in mechanical engineering 7 years ago. If I miss a few of the races, it will be worth it. I am stupid excited.

UCI Gateway Cross Cup

2011-09-22T10:58:00.001-07:00

Last night was my first UCI race. I had no expectations at all. Butthead told me everything he could about what goes down and what to do. Basically just ride really really hard and never slow down. Got it.

30 or so dudes lined up for the pro race, I was 3rd row, which was basically the back. The start was chaotic with a crash right in front me in to the first corner, thankfully I was able to maneuver around and begin chasing. A group of leaders almost immediately got a gap and I was in the chase group. I was at the end of the chase group after chasing it down from the crash and going around a few popped riders. Unfortunately for me the chase group was like 7 or 8 super strong dudes, including Barry Wicks. This meant the accordion effect was really screwing me up, I had to slow down way before the corners and chase like mad out of the corner. This lead to me getting popped out of the group, bummer, that would have been a guaranteed top 10 finish. My low back locking up after 15 minutes didn't help me out too much either, thankfully this sort of went away after about 35 minutes.

Eventually Butthead and Devin Clark attacked away from the following chase group and I linked up with them for the remainder of the race. Soooo much easier than trying to ride by myself on a course like that, drafting played a big part, it was fast as hell. I was eventually recovered with 2 laps to go and really should have gone to the front to try and pull back a few more riders, but I didn't, I don't know why. I attacked with a few corners to go and got away for a 13th place finish, followed by Devin and Josh. Results

Overall, it was hard. I was really disappointed I couldn't stay with the chase group. If I were to pass a few of the dudes and get in to the middle of the group it would have been a lot easier. Oh well, the whole deal was really just a big learning experience. I can't complain with a 13th place finish in a pro cx race.

Thanks to everyone who came out and cheered on the locals, it made the effort much more bearable! Mike Weiss put on a hell of an event, I might actually travel to some bigger cx races... we will see.

Hermann CX

2011-09-20T17:11:00.000-07:00

(Thanks Derek Fox for the pictures!)

It's officially the start of cx season! The 2 day Hermann cx event is always the best put on local race of the year. The night race is always epic.

I don't really know where to start with the race, I will keep it short. 32 starters with some fast dudes from Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, and Oklahoma.

7 of us got call-ups; previous Hermann winners and state cx champions. I was the last call-up with the leaders jersey from winning the 2 lap thunderstorm throwdown last year. The start of the race wasn't too intense, but I was toward the front in about top 5 and moved up to 2nd and pulled the team tactic card... wait for Le Butthead. Lap 3 or so Butthead got up to our group and I hit the gas hard and got a gap instantly.

I kept on the gas and built up a pretty large lead and Butthead attacked the group and got a gap. But Jason Rassi caught back up to him and they were both bridging up to me, so Butthead quit pulling. I stayed away for the rest of the race and ended up taking the win by about a minute. This is mainly due to Butthead tripping on the stairs and blowing his front tire, bummer.

Here's a pretty awesome video of the race made by my old roommate, Brent Davidson.

Sunday didn't really go as well, I wasn't feeling it. Saturday nights spectators were freaking amazing. I had a large number of friends who came in from Columbia as well as St. Louis, most of them were drunk. The screams and noise throughout the entire race was epic. I have to give a lot of credit to them for my Saturday night performance. Sunday was a bit dead, I had no fan club. Motivation level was low for some reason and my legs weren't great. My goal was to win the overall and make sure Josh was up far enough for us to win the team competition.

After the start I stayed 2nd wheel for most of the race, waiting for Josh. With 3 laps to go it was Devin and I with a 20 second gap or so, Josh yelled at me from across the course to attack... which Devin obviously heard. Not going to be much of a surprise. Unfortunately for me, I generally can't attack that far along in to a race, especially when I'm not really feeling it. Devin pulled off the front on the paved section and I went to the front and did what I could through some of the technical sections for a whole lap, I got at most 7 seconds, but Devin was able to bridge back up to my wheel. He attacked with 2 to go on the pavement and I stayed with him, but really felt it on the stairs. That's where the gap started. That was pretty much it, I couldn't get back up to him, finished 2nd. Congrats to Devin, he rode very well all weekend, definitely going to be a contender in every race this fall.

I ended up winning the overall and keeping the leaders jersey and Big Shark won the team competition. Pretty crazy payout for 2 hours of racing as well, now I can start paying off all the bikes I can't afford. The best part was the oversized check!

AMAZING event! Awesome job done by Jeff Yielding and the volunteers. I totally see this event growing bigger and bigger every year, it's by far the best local cx race around.

Tonight is the UCI cx race in STL. I am racing Elite, first ever UCI race. It is going to hurt, I have no expectations. Hopefully the hometown screaming spectators will make me go fast.

First CX Race of the Year!

2011-09-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I was planning on doing the Sac River 6 hour solo race until about 4:30am on Saturday. I packed up everything and woke up early to eat and fill up my bottles, then went back to bed. My hamstrings were still very sore from the previous 100 mile race at Shenandoah. I always forget how long 6 hours really is, it is a long ass time to push yourself. I realized how crippled I would be by the end of the race and how far it would set me back from actually training this week, and it wasn't worth it for a local race. Instead, I was reminded by teammate Butthead there was the first cx race of the year in Illinois.

So, I frantically put my race bike together and glued on some new Challenge Fengo tires. My first ride on the bike was in Illinois preriding the course, along with adjusting my seat position to where I have set it for the year, about an inch higher. Perfect time to tune bike fit and adjust the components.

This was my first time doing the Picx series, they did a great job. The course was a lot of fun with good elevation change, high speed corners, and a giant barrier I ran in to each lap. (Thanks Eville Mike for the pictures!)

The race started with me casually getting in the front, followed by Strothman flying by me off the road and nearly overshooting the first couple corners. I felt like taking off already, but I waited for Butthead to make his way to the front. Once he did, he attacked. Strothman followed and I hopped on his wheel. After about a minute I passed Jay on a descent and linked up with Butthead, then we got a gap. Devin Clark bridged back up to us and then I went to the front and accelerated up the climb. I got a gap pretty quickly and stayed on the gas. Butthead stayed on Devins wheel and eventually attacked once I was up the road far enough. I ended up taking the win with Butthead coming in second. Good race and good tactics, happy to see everyone out there so early in the season!

I had a flawless race, no errors, and took every corner with confidence. I don't know where the confidence came from, I haven't done a cross race since November. I guess it comes back fast. I was worried about not having any snap or leg speed from doing such long mountain races recently. I was way surprised. I noticed how quickly I could recover from a big effort, it's nuts. I could hammer, rest a few seconds, and do it again, all day long. The best part is I am not crippled, which means I get to ride all week!

Shenandoah 100

2011-09-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

I put myself down on the Shenandoah 100 wait list about 3 weeks ago and didn't get a spot until last Thursday, a few days before the race. Last week my training did not include a 100 mile mtb race, or any race for that matter, so I put in some long and intense rides. By Thursday I was already at nearly 12 hours, so last minute rest and eating commenced. I should also mention I had a frantic frame swap/bike overhaul Thursday night, in which Murphy's Law was in full effect.

Friday and Saturday I drove to Harrisonburg VA, a little over 13 hours. I got in a 1 hour ride to get my legs loosened up, and put in the first ride on my MTB since the overhaul, thankfully most everything was functioning. It was HUMID!! Seriously, worse than Missouri, and pretty hot too. The race venue is basically in the middle of nowhere with the closest hotel being about half an hour away. With the race start being 6:30am, nearly everyone camped, including myself. I seemed to be the first person awake at 4:00am, cooked some eggs and oatmeal on my camp stove, and scarfed anything else down I could find. Still not enough time to digest everything, but good enough. I was surprised to see how many people were eating huge meals so close to the start of the race.

My openers before the start consisted of riding to the porto-potty and then to the start line. I am not too into 'openers' for these types of races, that just burns 300-500 of the 1,800ish calories that your muscles store. You need every ounce of quick burning stored energy your body has, and the starts aren't ever hard enough to need the openers. The start positions for the 650 racers were grouped by 'estimated/reality finish times.' Apparently 50 people thought they were going to finish in the 7 hour range. At the roll-out I moved to the front 5 and stayed there for the first paved section and up the first 1,000 foot or something climb.

At the top of the climb I was in the Shalk/Tanguy group of about 10 people and we got in the single track. I quickly remembered I haven't ridden any rocky single track in over a month, so I was all over the place. About a minute in a 3/4" stick lodged itself between my rear tire and seat tube, locking up my back wheel. After about a minute of trying to break the stupid thing out of there, I got passed by a bunch of people. Followed by a lot more bouncing down the rocks.

I was told by a lot of people the majority of this race is gravel, however I was not told how rough the trails were. I had wayyyy too much pressure in my fork and tires, I was getting beat up. I also didn't realize how much climbing was in this race, something like 13,000 feet elevation gain. I would say the exact amount, however my Garmin doesnt' feel like connecting to my computer and quit displaying elevation gain after 10,000 feet.

The first two hours of the race I was having awful low back pain, preventing me from putting down any real power, and also affecting my technical climbing skills. I was a mess and was getting passed by everyone. Eventually, after an endless technical climb, we descended and got to some gravel. I got in a good group and we were rotating pulls at a pretty good pace. My waterbottle cage was trying to escape from my bike during most of this time, and I had to stop at aid station #2 to tighten it down, losing my group. I was probably a minute back and 30 seconds from Garth Prosser, who went by while I was working on my bike. From this aid station it was a paved climb and I pinned myself for about 4 minutes to bridge back up. I caught up to Garth and the group at the top of the climb.

For the next hour or so I was with Garth and Zach Morrey up some more endless climbs. Eventually it was just Zach and I to a paved road and we continued working well together. I was feeling great, low back pain was gone, and I was taking some hard pulls up the paved climb and got a small gap by the top and rode off by myself into the single track at mile 45 or so. From here, I was by myself the rest of the race.

Not really the best place to be by yourself it turns out, after aid station #4 it's a super long paved/gravel road with a huge amount of climbing. I set a pace and TT'd the whole section, catching and passing a couple of riders. After aid #5, I thought I was done climbing. Nope. This next section was called 'soul crusher.' The climbing didn't ever seem to end. My Garmin said I had 2,000 feet of descending to do, I was hoping for some gravel to go down. Nope. It was very rough and steep single track. I hurt everywhere and I went super slow. Down to aid #6.

From here, some gravel and another long climb. I was still feeling good at this time, but ready for the race to be over. I kept reminding myself the faster I go, the sooner it's over. It's simple and obvious, but you don't always look at it that way. Easy gravel descent to the finish to 7th place in 7:46. My longest ever time on a bike. Results.

Overall I am somewhat happy. I think I could have gone faster if I didn't have the issues at the start. However, if I didn't have the issues at the start I may have burned through more matches and not ridden as well at the end. Who knows. I shouldn't complain.

Now I am really trying to decide whether I should follow this series or not next year. I think I have a shot at top 5 overall (they take best 4 races.) Probably should, they are fun.

However I have also learned that the mental part of these races is as demanding as it is physically. To do well, your head has to be in it, or you are screwed. By mile 70 I was counting down every mile to go, I wanted it to be over. I was telling myself I never want to do one of these again. But now that it is all done I want to do it again. Garth told me that's normal, your head goes to weird places. It's something that should be relatively easy to improve and probably the easiest way to go faster.

Also, don't put a big air on your dash when it's hot. Sorry Garth.

Upcoming Races

2011-08-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

I was planning on taking a week or two off after Leadville. Unfortunately that race has pushed me pretty far in to the season, I usually take 2 weeks off at the end of July. So, if I took too much time off now, I won't be back to good form for some upcoming races I am targeting. Instead of time off, I have been doing some limited intensity rides with a few more rest days than usual, I think it will be enough.

Sept. 4th is the Shenandoah 100 in Virginia. As of now it is full, but I think I might be able to get a spot in the race.

The weekend after that is SAC River 6 hour. I won it last year and wouldn't mind going back for it again, very well put on race!

The next weekend is Hermann CX weekend and I will be starting day 1 with the leaders jersey from our 2 lap rain throw down last year.

Weekend after that is the Rapture in Misery 6 hour. It seems to have had some good competition the last few years, I'd like to throw my name in the hat.

And then of course in October is Burnin' at the Bluff and the Berryman Epic. The Berryman is what I am shooting for. I have a HUGE target on my back with some serious horsepower coming out to go for the win. I am up for the 3peat. I want it bad.

Cross season starts here pretty soon and the early races seem to fit pretty perfectly between these long races, so it should work out well. Considering I haven't taken more than 5 days off in a row this entire year and really haven't taking very many rest days, I doubt I will survive racing every weekend all the way through December. But, we will see.

Leadville 100

2011-08-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I got offered a spot at the Leadville 100, thanks to Big Shark and Sram. At the time I was on the trainer with a broken wrist, with little time to really get prepared for the race. Once the cast was off, I did what I could to get some form back. I never came back to perfect form by the race, but I could still go fast. A good 2.5 weeks camping, riding, and relaxing at elevation was capped off with the 103 mile race.

The race started early, 6:30AM. I was up at 4:00AM with Nate Means in the kitchen preparing the perfect pre-race meal which has always lead to a good race result. Nate and Meg dropped me off just outside of town so I could ride to the start line. It was cold (37 degrees) and I was tired, so my "warm-up" was about 5 minutes. This year they changed the start positions, using corrals. My invite to the race, which was after the lottery system, gave me a number which would have put me in the back of the 1,900 registered racers. Thankfully this is now a USAC race, so my 'pro' card gave me a priority start position. The front 250 spots are reserved for top 100 finishers last year and those with pro licenses. I got there early enough to be in the 4th row, just behind some of the best in the world. I was fired up.

The traditional shotgun blast meant go, so we were off. The start of the race was a bit chaotic, the flag on the lead truck fell off, which resulted in everyone in front of me locking up their brakes and shooting in different directions, but we were all able to keep it upright. After that, it was fast. A paved descent to some unpredictable double track to the base of the St. Kevins climb. After nearly 2 weeks without any rain, the gravel was DUSTY. Clouds of dust plus all of us riding 3-4 wide and wheel to wheel made it difficult to avoid large rocks, which resulted in a number of early flats for other riders. I tried to keep myself positioned in the front 50 or so and had the leaders in sight for a while. The pace was pretty high at the start of the race and up the climb and a lot of riders were already getting blown out of the front groups, so I was riding within my ability and kept a consistent pace up the climb.

After the climb, we had a short paved descent followed by the next climb up Sugarloaf. Alban Lakata, the 2010 marathon world champion from Austria, came by me on the paved climb after flatting. I hopped on his wheel for as long as I could, which bridged me up to the next group, which then exploded apart as he went by. I was feeling good, but wanted to conserve some energy so I decided to stay with the group.

Coming down powerline I made up some positions and got in a good group for the flat roller section to the Twin Lakes aid station. Up the last climb it was my turn to pull, which somehow separated me from the group, so I just kept going. I got to Twin Lakes in 2:24, 14 minutes or so behind the leaders. Beans was there waiting to give me a couple bottles and some more food. Then it was on to the 3,200 foot vertical climb.

Columbine hurt. I set myself on a pace I knew I could maintain and held it the whole way up. I actually made up some positions on the climb, but the top riders were still riding away from me even more. Todd Wells was returning down Columbine a little after I hit 11,000 feet (12,400 is the top,) and I got to watch all of the people in front of me recovering down. The descent was fast. I probably had a little too much confidence on the gravel corners with a constant line of riders pushing their bikes up the climb. I basically stopped using my brakes and just railed everything, making up a few more positions and taking a few too many risks.

Coming back through Twin Lakes it was obvious I wouldn't be able to maintain a high pace anymore, everything was hurting. I slowed down, but was able to stay with a group of about 5 other people all the way back to powerline. Powerline sucked. I think it's mentally the hardest part of the race, you know it's coming the whole time, and you're 80 miles in. I was with a few people up the climb, including Gretchen Reeves, who was chasing down Rebecca Rusch, 4 minutes up the road. I attacked the top of the climb so I could descend by myself, which got me probably 1-2 minutes. Thankfully Nate made it to the bottom of Sugarloaf in time, I ran out of water at the start of powerline. 2 more bottles for the last 15 or so miles.

Coming back up St. Kevins was super painful, it seemed like the turn off the road to the singletrack would never come. Gretchen and I were riding together again at this point, which made it a little better than trying to do it all by myself. She let me go ahead on the descent to put in some more time.

After descending down St. Kevins there's a flat gravel section which I was trying to motor across, but my legs were toast. I had nothing left and Gretchen got up to me again. By now she was just a few minutes behind Rebecca and I took a hard pull on the front to try and help her, but it pretty much just blew me apart. The last section is a 3 mile gravel climb and I was bonking, nauseous, and falling apart, I just wanted it to end. The bad part was I didn't know we were returning in to town on this different gravel road, I never preroad this. I was going sooo sloowww. Eventually, much later, I made it up the climb and saw the finish.

I came across in 7:37, 7 minutes slower than my ultimate goal, but I told myself I would be happy with anything under 8:00. So, I am not complaining. This put me 49th overall out of about 1,600 who started and 14/89 in my age group. I am not really that happy with the position, since this would have been top 20 last year and 3rd in my age group. But, there was some serious horsepower there. A few years ago it was easily a top 10 time. This was also my longest bike ride ever, by over an hour, and my first 100 mile mtb race.

The race itself was AWESOME. I loved the course and the atmosphere, easily in my top 3 race experiences ever. I hurt so bad at the end I told myself I wasn't going to race it again, but a few hours later I quickly changed my mind. I will be back next year for a sub 7:15 time.

A HUGE thanks to Nate and Meg Means for standing around all day providing support and cooking some delicious meals in our Copper condo. I would not have been able to do this without your help!

Here is the Garmin data.

Pre-LT100

2011-08-10T12:06:00.001-07:00

I've been out here for nearly 2 weeks now, and I don't want to leave. The weather, scenery, rides, and the vibe puts this trip right at the top of my list of racing vacations. I have set a new standard for perfect weather. Seriously, 40ish while sleeping and then immediately to 75 once breakfast is done. 40% humidity, sunny, and perfect. I have met a lot of cool people who are all at the same level of excitement, it makes for a great atmosphere. This is one of the things I love about mountain racing, everyone is always happy and excited.

I've been here for 13 nights now, 2 nights in Winter Park for Crankworx, 4 nights camping, 1 night at my buddies, 3 nights camping, 1 night at a hotel, 1 night in Breck with Garth, 1 night camping, and now it will be 4 nights at a condo with Green Beans and Meg to top off the resting. I bought a 3.5" thick thermorest and a new sleeping bag, which have actually made camping WAY more comfortable than I thought. I've been sleeping between 8-10 hours a night and riding about every day. Camping has turned out to be a great idea, I was somewhat hesitant due to the amount of sleeping that's required to acclimate, but it has worked out well. Sitting in a hotel room for this long would have driven me crazy, and you don't actually get to experience anything other than sitting in front of a TV. Sitting at my campsite in my camp chair with my legs up while drinking some french press coffee and reading a book was one of the most relaxing things I have ever done. If I wasn't riding, I was sitting down and eating and reading.

I seriously haven't read a book since Freshman year, so it was a good change. I think I am hooked. I read World War Z, by Max Brooks and Physics of the Future, by Michio Kaku. Both were awesome, and both got dominated in about 7 days of camping. I am currently reading a couple of books on nutrition that ProPam let me barrow, good stuff!

As for the riding, I have pretty much preridden the entire Leadville course 3 times, minus Columbine, which has been done once. So, I am prepared for each section. I know where to hit the gas, recover, and where to take risks if I need too. Preriding this much makes the course seem much shorter and each section a lot easier than they will be during the race. I think I am also getting used to the altitude now, I am FINALLY able to skyrocket my heart rate and comfortably keep it there. I can recover quickly and finally put down some power on the long climbs. I am starting to feel like myself at altitude, which is really pumping me up. Mentally and physically, I am as ready as I am going to get. I know what is in store, what I am capable of, and what I have to do.

Here is powerline. The 'Race Across the Sky' movies made it seem this is the only climb on this section of the course... this is the easy part, 20% gradient. Easy to ride when preriding, the race will probably be a bit different.
Here's a better picture of what the descent looks like, it's a bit sketchy. The ruts will push you off the course if you aren't paying attention to the good lines. This will not be a spot for me to take risks.

Top of Columbine, 3,000+ vertical feet of climbing. This was also pretty easy while preriding, it will not be easy during the race.

When I got out here I raced Crankworx in Winter Park. I lined up behind Jeremy Horgan Kobelksi and stayed with the lead group about half way up the 1,300 foot climb and got dropped, hard. I suffered the whole race, the long climbs and altitude killed me. I made up all of my time on the descents and flat sections, finishing 19th, which was about midpack. Only 4 minutes out of a top ten, oh well.

I am excited for the race, but stressing about the start. There is something like 1,500 people racing, with many heavy hitters. I haven't done the race before, so I don't get a front 100 start. I am going to have to sweet talk some people at registration to give me the wristband which gives me a spot towards the front. Otherwise, I am going to be burning matches trying to position myself on the paved descent to the first climb of the race, not good. Getting in a front group that I can ride with is very important for the gravel and road sections. Otherwise I will most likely be TT'ing solo trying to bridge up to riders, which would really suck. I've had people tell me that they think I can finish in 7:30, but I have set the goal of 8:00. 7:30 would put me in a top 25 finish, which would be epic. If my back stays together, have some good legs, and get a good start, I think it is possible.

In addition to riding and hanging out by myself this whole trip, I got a call from Garth Prosser, who is doing this race for the 11th time. We hung out the last couple days and put in some good rides on the course. Bestowing vasts amounts of knowledge that one can only accumulate over such an extensive endurance racing career. Pretty awesome to hear his stories and pick his brain. He basically told me that if I am going to beat him, he wants me to really beat him, which resulted in secrets. We also met up with Jeremiah Bishop, which was cool. I talked to him for a bit and donated a tube to his failing rear tire, he told me that the race is really decided up powerline and telegraph. Super bummed I missed Garth's call the first day he was out here, I would have got to ride up Columbine with him, Yuki Ikeda, and Rebecca Rusch.
Colorado stream ice bath:

It's Wednesday now, I rode for 30 minutes this morning to keep my legs loose and am taking tomorrow off. Friday I'll ride for probably an hour with a few short hard efforts. Saturday is game day. As Butthead says, I am done studying.

I don't care what some of you say, the course is awesome. I am sorry it is not pure singletrack, but I would rather be riding this stuff. Gravel roads are my favorite to train on, so why not race it? 1,500 people on all singletrack? No thanks.

Don't make me go back to Missouri.

Upcoming Awesomeness

2011-07-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

Dan Miller and I talked each other into racing the dirt crit in STL yesterday. I've never done one but heard good things. 50 people on the starting line, literally all in one big starting line. Big sprint, u-turn, sprint, single track. I had a bad start and was more than 10 people back in to the single track, but quickly moved up to the top 5. It eventually dropped down to Eric Pirtle, Dan Miller, Chris Ploch, and myself. It was FAST. No elevation gain, no technical sections, just pure speed. So fast that drafting had a huge effect. It was basically just a pain train flying through the woods. I took a huge dig on the 3rd or 4th lap and looked back to see everyone still there... shit this will be tough. The course made it difficult to break away, so it really all came down to who was in front before the creek crossing. I wasn't in the front. Dan got in the front, I followed his wheel but was pushed off course when trying to get around Pirtle who was getting around a lapped rider. So much for that. All 4 of us came in together and I was 4th in line, bummer. I was well within my comfort zone the whole race, I should have been more aggressive. I still seem to be lacking high end power, my legs are snapless. Fortunately the Leadville 100 will really only require grinding all day, which I can still do. Totally awesome race though! Very good atmosphere and well put on series, I wish I could make it to the next ones.

Next Thursday I am driving out to Colorado for a 17 night trip to race, ride, relax, camp, and acclimate for the Leadville 100. I'll be racing Crankworx pro xc on the 30th in Winter Park, which should be rather painful. I cannot wait. I got a new old man 3.5" thick car camping thermorest, MSR camp stove, sleeping bag, coffee press, and a couple of books to entertain myself with while solo camping. Cameron Chambers has generously offered a bed to sleep in for part of the trip, a huge thank you! This trip will be amazing, I might just not come back.

Unfortunately, I will still have to do some school work, so I will be coffee shop surfing for some wifi to remote desktop in.

Finally got the monkey off my back

2011-07-18T07:47:00.001-07:00

The Firecracker 50 on the 4th made me realize my weakness now is short term power and anaerobic ability. I did a 5 minute power test last week to confirm this, it sucked. Well actually I couldn't focus or get my heart rate over 185. I have trouble doing 'tests.' I just find myself staring at the power numbers and counting down the time until I am done, not focusing on going as hard as I can. I get stressed out over it, I am always worried about low numbers, which will usually lead to a lower number. Maybe it's just riding on the road, I never really get any adrenaline moving anymore on road rides. In MTB races and CX I can just destroy myself and be fired up with a smile on my face the whole time. This all kind of makes me think I should sell my powertap and powertap trainer and replace them with a SRM for my mtb. What's the point of owning one if you can't focus enough to take advantage of it? Even when I ride my mountain bike on gravel roads and the trail I feel much more comfortable and have the ability to ride harder and faster. It makes a lot more sense to use it for intervals and tracking TSS for training rides and races.

Anyway, I did my first short XC race since my I broke my wrist. 5 4.5 mile laps at Brommelsiek in STL. It was hot, around 100 degree's in the grass. But I don't mind the heat, I've discovered I ride very well in hot temperatures.

17 starters in the Cat 1 field and I found myself 4th wheel in the single track, not knowing what to expect. Ploch, Sam Moore, John Matthews, and myself. About 1/2 way in the first lap a gap opened in front of Sam and I went by after Ploch. I got on Plochs wheel for the rest of the lap and the first half of the 2nd lap. Then I took a hard dig in the grass fields to put in some time, which seemed to have work. On the 3rd lap I slowed it down a bit to try and recover, which allowed Ploch to nearly get back on my wheel, so I hit the gas again. I basically just stayed full gas the rest of the race. I ended up winning in under 1:39, almost 2 minutes up on 2nd. Lap times were all very consistent, my last lap was almost my fastest. I could have done at least 2 more laps at that effort. Average heart rate was pretty insane at 186 for the whole race. It's awesome how much faster you can go without any low back pain, the only limiters are legs and lungs. Here's the Garmin data. You can see where I was resting at 20-30 minutes and where I attacked at 30 and hit 195.

Results

The course was one of my favorites. Super smooth, way fast, and flowy, but it could use some longer climbs.

Castlewood

2011-07-12T07:17:00.000-07:00

My car is spending another week getting fixed, so I headed down to STL with Best and Beans to race marathon. I've only raced here once before and I never checked the course map, well, because I never do. Apparently it was quite different than last year.

The race started up a giant climb called 'Lone Wolf,' I was on the front at the start and began riding away. At the top of the climb I had a pretty big lead and began the quick turny descent back to the bottom. Here it was flat double track that you can easily motor through at full gas, which is what I did. A little bit down the trail there was an arrow indicating which direction the race goes, which I thought was pointing straight, which I guess could be interpreted either way, maybe I was already cross-eyed. Anyway, there was no tape up keeping me from going left and lots of tape on the right, so I went left. I stayed on the gas, went up some gravel switchbacks, had a feeling I wasn't on course anymore. So, I stopped for a minute or two and waited. I heard some voices in the woods and figured the racers were coming so I took off again. A ways down the trail there was a T with no markers... shit. Not on course, turn around, full gas.

After a long ride back to the badly marked corner I was on course. I did however have to climb over the tape to get back on the race course... someone must have seen me going flying through and fixed it. I spent at least 13 minutes going the wrong way and I was stuck behind all of the beginner and marathon classes.

All I had in my head was to stay calm, don't crash, ride smooth, pedal hard, and I had 2.5 hours to catch the leaders. First lap ended up being over 40 minutes, way behind the leaders. I was getting time gaps throughout the race going from 13 to 8 to 5 to 2 minutes. The following laps were consistent 28 minutes. I thought I was going to make it through lap 6 under the 3 hour cutoff so I could head out for a 7th lap. Nope. I came in at 3:00:20, no 7th lap. Apparently the leaders came through 2-3 minutes before the cutoff. I was ready for another lap and I have no doubt I would have caught them. Any Gibbs ended up taking the win with Mike Best coming in 2nd, very smooth and fast rides for them!

When it comes down to it, I think I pushed myself harder chasing them down than I would have 10 minutes off the front. So, it was better training. Still very irritating, but that's how racing goes. Here's some Garmin stuff if you care: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97981808

Next weekend racing will depend on my stupid car. If I have a car, I am driving to KC and will probably do the Sunflower Games. If no car, I might be able to find a ride down to race Brommelsiek. I'd like to do the shorter expert race to get in some real high end intensity.

Firecracker 50

2011-07-06T08:15:00.000-07:00

I love racing the Firecracker 50, for a few reasons. The atmosphere is incredible, the support is HUGE, and it's an immense challenge. This year I drove out by myself and with some traffic and car problems I showed up around 6pm. Just enough time to get my race number and do a short ride.

I rode the first climb of the course to try and get my legs loosened up for the 9:30am start time, which was just 1,400 feet of consistent climbing. I felt surprisingly good.

For breakfast I got some pre-race nom nom's from an awesome cafe in Dillon.

My plan for the race was to keep an eye on my heart rate and not go in the red. This didn't really work well. It pretty much just lead to me being dropped from the entire pro field on the first climb. I couldn't decide if I should just ride with them and hurt a lot and risk not being able to recover or race my own race and pick them off as I go. I chose the latter. Unfortunately this started killing my motivation and mentally I was already getting defeated. 30 minutes in my low back was destroyed, this meant whatever power I had left from the altitude was virtually cut in half. My legs wouldn't work and my heart rate would barely get over 160. This wasn't a very good recipe for racing well. The descents in this race are super fast double track with a lot of loose rock and off camber sections, very easy to screw up. My wrist was hurting bad, my weak left forearm couldn't hold on to the bar, which all meant I couldn't descend or control my bike. Awesome. The race started to just turn in to a bike ride. I couldn't do anything fast.

The race was lengthened and rerouted due to snow which added on another 4 miles with some more single track. After coming through the first 27 mile lap, my lap time was way off from where I wanted it to be. However my low back pain started to go away, or my mind was just starting to block it out. So, I had a little more power for this lap, but I still was having trouble getting my hr above 160. I have no idea what that's about, but I still couldn't go fast. I still managed to pick off a bunch of riders who were getting popped. This ended up being right at the top of my list of disappointing races I have done. I finished in 4:38, 18th out of 30 or so pro starters. I still felt fresh at the finish, which was a new experience, but makes sense considering I couldn't push myself. I could have easily gone out for another lap. I think if I was acclimated and had some time to program myself physically and mentally for 30+ minute climbs, I could cut 20 minutes off my time.

Tuesday I headed to Boulder to check it out and ride around. I was told of a good ride by Kris Thompson. I missed a turn somewhere and just kept climbing, 5,400 to 8,400 feet straight out of town. The roads, the town, and the atmosphere of Boulder are awesome. How do I not live here? Someone please find me a job.

Leadville 100 is on August 13th. I plan to give myself 2 weeks to acclimatize and train on hour long climbs. The plan to ride to KC this weekend has been dropped, my weakness right now is my high end, not my ability to motor all day long. Castlewood race this Saturday and Brommelseik the following weekend, but still some 5+ hour tempo rides.

Time to race again!

2011-06-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been 2 months and I haven't raced. At the last second last weekend I decided to race UFD Brommelseik in STL after getting my bike back together. Unfortunately, the rain had different ideas and cancelled the race. Instead I went riding through the woods with some friends to regain some technical skills. To my surprise I wasn't too nervous about flying through the trails with a freshly healed wrist that's just ready to snap once I hit the ground again. I wasn't as smooth or as fast, but still not bad.

I am driving out to Breckenridge this Sunday to race the Firecracker 50. It's my 4th year in a row racing it and my first year lining up with the Pro's. The 11,000 feet of climbing in 50 miles and maxing out at over 11,000 feet puts me at an obvious disadvantage with the local mountain goats, but I already know what to expect. Tactics this year will be different from last. At this elevation you can't redline yourself like at sea level. Locally I am able to skyrocket my hr at the start and hold it there and easily recover. When there's no oxygen, your body recovers MUCH more slowly. Last year I floored it up the first 1,500 foot vertical climb and suffered with no power the entire first 2+ hour lap. I sucked. But I learned, I will keep an eye on the hr and race my own race. With my fitness not where it should be, I don't know what to expect. My anaerobic capacity is coming back, but I am not in race shape. I can still motor all day at a tempo effort, but suffer beyond that.

Anyway, I am still super excited. I need a vacation, even 2 days out there will be great. The day after the race I plan on heading to Boulder and find some good dirt roads that go through the foothills for 4 hours or so, should be fun. This will probably put me over the edge on planning a move here.

The following weekend I have a gravel/road ride planned to KC. I have it mapped at 158 miles on the cx bike. Riding there and back at endurance/tempo effort should be some good Leadville training. I've never ridden that long before, but it shouldn't be a problem.

Functional Again

2011-06-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

Wrist brace is off, thank god.

X-rays looked great, the two fractures in my distal radius healed very quickly and well. I have to give a lot of the credit to Dr. Curt at Focus on Health Chiropractic. Just like with my SI joint issues, Dr. Curt again went beyond expectation to get me back on the bike as soon as possible. A method of doing this is osteogenic bone stimulation. Twice a week over the last 6 weeks I have gone in for acupuncture sessions with needles in my feet, legs, arms, and then right at the fracture site. The needles at the fracture site are placed into the bone and then hooked up to an electric current. It feels like a shock collar on the arm, but not as strong, and it doesn't really hurt... it just feels different. The idea behind it, which has shown to have very positive results in many research journals, stimulates osteoblasts. This is basically accelerating the body's response and effectiveness to healing the fracture site. Another great service provided by a fantastic chiropractor to get someone back to doing what they love!

As for training, I am finally off the trainer and outside again. Some people can effectively translate trainer rides to good fitness on the road... not me. I rode the trainer just about every day, with multiple rides some days. A lot of them were hard, there was no putting around. Yet somehow I totally suck. I've tried taking a few hard digs on the road, but I have nothing. No acceleration, no anaerobic capacity.

My wrist hurts with every bump in the road and I am not confident at all in my riding capability. So, I skipped the road races this weekend. The Firecracker 50 is just a couple weeks away and I need to get a my motor back. So, I have a 4-5 hour tempo/race-pace ride planned for tomorrow (Sunday), as well as a couple other 4-5 hour rides over the next week for last minute endurance training. Next weekend I will be racing mountain bikes somewhere to get some confidence in the woods.

Definitely starting to freak out.

Mega Motivation!

2011-06-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

It's been 5 weeks now and I have only had 1 awkward ride outside, the cast and wrist brace make holding on to the bars almost impossible. I have been on the trainer 1-2 times a day, which sounds awful, but I am almost getting used to it. I've started to appreciate what you can accomplish in a short amount of time. In addition to my new 'trainer nerd' outlook of training, I have just been handed a spot at the 2011 Leadville 100!!

I took a plunge in to a new training device to optimize my short attention span of riding the trainer. I tossed out (for sale) my Cycleops Fluid2 for the new Cycleops PowerBeam Pro w/ Joule 3.0. This thing is incredible! Any workout can be as detailed as possible... and there is no cheating in the workouts. You create workouts in the PowerAgent software with either target power, power range, power zone, or slope of a climb. Or, you can covert any ride you have done outside into a trainer ride! The trainer self-adjusts the resistance, so there is no need in staring at the computer and shifting or picking up the cadence to get to the wattage or zone you need to be at. The possibilities are pretty much endless for any type of training program. Program your workout, turn on some music, TV, or both, and pedal. This has been by show of choice for every single trainer ride:

But anyway, riding the trainer for 1-2 hours at a time can be a great way to work on strength, leg speed, expend kj's quickly, but not exactly ideal for long races.

Yesterday I got a totally unexpected phone call for a position at the 2011 Leadville 100. Sram is sponsoring a few hand selected people to compete in the event this year, and thanks to Doug Plumer (Sram sales rep) and Mike Weiss of Big Shark Bicycle Co., I was one of the very lucky people. If you are not familiar with the race, I recommend watching Race Across the Sky. Leadville 100 is now easily the most recognizable and difficult to get in to MTB race in the country. I've wanted to do it, but I have a bad track record of registering for races in time. I am unbelievably excited and very thankful for such great sponsors/team!

Like I said, I have been stuck on the trainer for the last 5 weeks with rides 2 hours or less. This stupid wrist brace comes off next Thursday and the doctor is going to give me the green light to do whatever I want. This includes Lost Valley Luau in STL a few days after. It's a fast and not very technical race which will be good, my wrist will be taped up and weak, I just need to get some time in the woods, I will probably be a little shakey and slow, definitely a no-risk race game plan. Besides that, I have the 50 mile Firecracker 50 in Breckenridge the 4th of July and Galena Grinder July 23rd, which are the next races of the USAC PRO UET series. I am ranked 2nd in the series and I would like to keep my name high up in the ranks. Either way, it's great training for a long race.

Once the brace comes off, my training will be targeting 50+ mile races. This will still include the trainer for developing power, leg speed, and the huge aerobic capacity required for long climbs... but I will be putting in some much needed long hours outside. I think I have the ability to get a top 20 at Leadville... which if consistent with the last few years would get me a top 3 in my age group. Crazy goal? I dunno.

Kuat!

2011-05-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

Kuat Racks has generously decided to sponsor me and my racing endeavors. I have picked up their new NV, which has completely blown me away. It fits everything, light (aluminum), comes with integrated hitch and bike locks, super easy to use and assemble (did it 1-handed), and not to mention it looks 1000 times better than anything else on the market. My favorite feature has to be the built in repair stand... awesome! And they are based out of Springfield MO!

I was using a Yakima roof rack and noticed a fuel mileage change once the rack was installed. So, after a little science experiment of driving on the highway with and without the roof rack (with no bike on it), my fuel mileage deviated greatly. With a roof rack on top I stayed around 24-26mpg. Without the rack I am around 28-32 mpg. WHAT!? Have I seriously been wasting that much money pushing a roof rack around? Now with premium fuel being $4.19 a gallon, I can't afford to waste gas, but I still need to take my bikes places. The answer is a receiver hitch rack! Obviously my bike dwarfs my car, so we will see how it does on the highway, but I am confident that it will be better than 23mpg as it was with the bike on top.

Walt's Bike Shop keeps the racks in stock, so be sure to stop by and check them out.

If you don't roll through Columbia very often, here is a link for the other dealers.

Rhett's Run

2011-05-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

Can't race or ride outside yet, so I headed to Cosmo Park here in Columbia to support all the riders racing the UFD Rhett's Run in the cold/wet/muddy conditions. I did a lot of trail running/hiking/walking, pretty fun actually.

I don't know the details, but here's what happened from what I was seeing in the woods. Aaron Elwell and Dan Miller rode together for 2.5 laps with Garret right on their heals and Travis Donn right behind him. Going into laps 3 and 4 Elwell picked up the pace and ended up taking the muddy win by a couple minutes, with Dan coming in second. Nice ride!

Besides all that, the doc said no surgery! I have a cast, can't put any weight on it for a couple weeks. So, I am riding the trainer 1 handed every day, doing some new VO2 intervals to build for Firecracker 50, the next race on my schedule, and an important one at that. It's awesome how precise and intense intervals can be on the trainer, I think my fitness might actually improve... hopefully I'll still be able to push it for over 4 hours.

Injury/Recovery Nutrition

2011-05-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

ProPam Hinton, riding buddy and nutrition and exercise physiology professor at Mizzou sent me a great email about nutrition during injury recovery. My diet during training and racing is pretty specific, but not OCD write everything down and run from cookies, like some. While recovering from injury, our bodies are working harder than when just resting. Below is super informative and helpful to make sure you get what you need to be healthy and heal quickly. Thanks ProPam!

"When we have to take some time off the bike due to injury, it is easy to think that we don’t need as many calories as we would if we were training. In many instances, however, this is not the case. Part of the body’s stress response to injury is to increase our resting metabolic rate. For example, skeletal trauma can increase our resting energy requirement by about 30%. Blunt trauma and head trauma also elevate energy needs by 40% and 60%, respectively. So after a serious injury, we actually need as much, if not more, energy as we do when we are training.

Fluid needs will be increased if there is an elevation in metabolic rate or if there is significant loss of fluid due to bleeding or large road rash wounds. Aim for a minimum fluid intake of 2-3 liters per day.

Protein intake is also important during recovery as it provides the amino acids that are needed for tissue synthesis and repair. Protein needs will also be higher if protein is being lost from the wound, as is the case with severe road rash. Try to consume 1.2-1.5 g of protein per kg of body weight per day.

If you follow a low-fat diet, now is a good time to be sure that you are getting enough fat in your diet. Fat is a component of cell membranes, so if your body is making or repairing a lot of cell membranes, it needs fat to work with. It is recommended that athletes consume 10-35% of their total energy from dietary fat. As an example, if an athlete needs 3000 calories per day, at least 300 of those calories should be from fat. This would be equivalent to a minimum of 33 grams of fat, i.e., 300 calories divided by 9 calories per gram of fat. Athletes should make an effort to consume fats from different sources, since foods differ in the type of fats they contain. Omega-3 fatty acids are particularly important during recovery because of their effects on the immune system. These fats, which are found in fatty fish and nuts, have anti-inflammatory properties. It is recommended that adult women consume at least 1.1 g of omega-3 fatty acids daily.

During recovery it is especially important to consume adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals. Many of the vitamins and minerals are needed for the chemical reactions that are part of making new muscle, skin, and blood cells. Other vitamins and minerals have anti-oxidant properties, meaning they are able to reduce destruction of cell membranes and tissue damage. Cells of the immune system also need these nutrients to function properly and a functioning immune system will help prevent secondary infections from setting in and complicating recovery.

If, because of your injury, it is difficult to eat or if your appetite is decreased, choose foods that are energy and nutrient dense. For example, dairy products made with whole milk that have more calories per serving than the reduced-fat varieties, but still have all of the other nutrients. If eating fresh fruits and vegetables is difficult, you might consider taking a one-a-day type multivitamin and mineral supplement.

Also, be sure to follow the physician’s instructions for taking any medications. You don’t want to add nausea to your misery if you could prevent it by taking the pills with a meal. There are instances, too, where food may interfere with the absorption of a drug from the intestine, so be sure to take those prescriptions on an empty stomach when indicated."

Snapping Wrists

2011-05-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

I can only type with one hand. Wrist is broken.

Raced Greensfelder in STL, sort of. It was wet and slippery, but that had nothing to do with the crash.

I started aggressively, but took it pretty conservative on the first 7.4 mile lap, with a 3 minute lead. Lap 2 my technical skills came back and I picked up the pace some more. I was going so fast I ramped a rock and did a backflip 360 over an entire uphill rock garden, but wrist couldn't handle the extreme awesomeness, so it snapped. Not really, I wish it was a good story.

I extended my leg/pedal and stretched my back on a flat easy section. My pedal hit perpendicular to a rock and catapulted me off (exact same crash as Burnin @ The Bluff 2010). I landed on the ground at a super weird angle and tried catching myself with my left hand, heard a snap right when I came down, worst sound ever. I knew it was broken, so I layed on the ground for a little while until Matt James of Team Seagal came by. He gave up his race and position to help get me and my bike out of the woods, which was probably a 2 mile hike. Half way up Bob Arnold of DRJ took over my bike pushing and gave up his race to get me back to the start/finish so Matt could continue.

From here Dan Miller took me to the hospital and waited and took my drugged up self to his mom's for dinner.

I broke my distal radius, which was reset at the hospital. I'll know on Monday or Tuesday if I need surgery. I already have a plate and 7 screws in my right wrist, I'd rather not go through that again. Trainer time will begin in a few days when the swelling goes down.

HUGE thanks to everybody for helping! The STL/como MTB scene are filled with great people.

Ultra-Endurance Racing

2011-04-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

I seem to be on an ultra-endurance kick. I don't know why. I think I flipped some sort of switch after winning the Berryman the last two years and finishing only 6 minutes behind Manny Prado (who rocked a 12th place finish in Sea Otter XC this year) in the 6 hour race in Arkansas a month ago. I think I generally end up doing better in the event the more challenging the conditions are. Racing in the mud, rain, snow, and long epic shit pumps me up. It must be mental, I like epicness. The physical feeling you get after something so grueling is hard to beat. You remember it all, in detail.

Other than the level of epicness that accompanies 50-100 mile races, I really have started enjoying the prep-work. Organizing all of the gear that you could need: tools, spare parts, clothing, food, and whatever, which has been stockpiled over the years of racing and training, pretty much anything you have you could possibly need.

Also the eating. I love eating. The week leading up to these races for me is a free-for-all carb loading. Snacks snacks snacks, I love snacks. After the racing is a multi-day skyrocketed metabolism that makes you eat all day long, mmmmmmm.
(Someone please make this a t-shirt)

Anyway, I have obtained a position at Syllamo for May 14th. Big thanks to Scott Davis, the promoter of the Berryman Epic for transferring his spot. It is for the 125k (80ish miles) race, which is #2 on the NUE (National Ultra-Endurance Series.) I'll be racing the big boys of ultra-endurance racing. I am pretty excited. If I am actually good at this style of racing, I will know once that event is over.

The downside to these races is that I don't think I can do that many of them, they are long days, and it's a great way to burn yourself out. After a few seasons I am sure it's easier to knock them out, but I haven't done very many.

As for school, there are two weeks left in the semester plus finals week. I have finished a lot of work in the last two weeks, but it's mega crunch time now. For the next 2 weeks, commuting counts as training, and any other time on the roads will be short and intense. The stress of finishing my last two classes and my Master's degree and research is stressing me out, making the training pretty unenjoyable with my mind not free by any means.

Bone Bender 6 Hour

2011-04-18T06:31:00.000-07:00

Last week was busy, really busy. I got some rides in, but they were all short, and pretty intense. Thankfully there was a 6 hour mountain race in Lawrence, so I could pile a whole week into 1 day in the woods. The race was Bone Bender V3.0, put on by Chris Locke. The course laps were about 9.5 miles, with a mix of technical rock sections and some super fast smooth sections.

A lot of people were there, however most of the heavy hitters were doing 3 hour or a co-op 6 hour team. So, my plan was to drill the first 3 hours with everyone and try to just continue on for another 3 hours. Not exactly the best plan for a 6 hour race, but oh well, I need some anaerobic training. The race started with a long run up a gravel hill, I hate running. I was on the front line and got pushed back to around 10th by the time I got my bike. But thanks to a nice placement, I was on the road in about 4th and time trial'd past everyone on the road section and had a small gap into the woods in 1st.

I usually don't like being in the woods first, it takes me a bit to get my technical riding skills going, since I rarely ride in the woods. I was bouncing off everything, taking some bad lines, lots of mashing and powering through obstacles. Another reason I don't like being in the woods 1st, I go hard. The whole first lap I drilled it pretty hard, but I wasn't being smooth, so I wasn't going super fast. I had a few people in view behind (Kent McNeil (Trek Store-3 hour), Travis Donn(Ethos-6 hour co-op), and Kevin from Iowa City (3 hour). Time gaps behind me varied throughout the race, at times I couldn't see anyone, while other times they were on my wheel or 20 seconds back.

Lap 2 I was still in the lead and some skills were starting to come back, so I stayed on the gas. About 1/3 through the lap I hear 'psh psh psh psh,' AWESOME, a flat! I stopped, put my thumb over the hole and let Stans do its magic. I was at probably 15 psi and kept racing. Garrett (Ethos, 6 hour co-op), was on my wheel by now and I was hitting rim on a few rocks, so I stopped and aired it back up. Kevin also went by. I rode easy for a bit to make sure it stayed sealed, which it did. Back on the gas, I caught and passed Kevin and continued on to lap 3.

Lap 3 was about the same, plus lots of lapped traffic. 99% of the people were very friendly and quickly got out of the way for me to fly by, much appreciated! Half way through the lap I hear 'psh psh psh psh'. Neato, front tire is going flat. But, Stans amazed me again and sealed it up after 4 psh's. Lost little to no pressure, so I kept going.

At the end of lap 4 I was still in the lead of the 3 hour field, so I basically won the 3 hour race, but unfortunately I couldn't have registered for both races. The rest of the race I didn't have much motivation as there wasn't anyone around me for the next 3 hours and 2nd place was wayyyy behind. So, I tried to motivate myself to go fast. I was trying to do the math of how many laps I could do, and it was looking like 8 laps, or over 70 miles. I didn't want to do over 70 miles, 6 hours is already past my limit. Lap 6 and 7 I doodled along so I wouldn't have to go out again, but I was riding much more smoothly so my laps were not exactly slow. Ploch (6 hour co-op) eventually caught me on lap 7 about half way through, finally someone to talk to, I was BORED! I eventually just told him to go by, I have had enough.

I finished 7 laps in about 5:49. I could have gone out for an 8th, but I was 22 minutes ahead of 2nd, even with my slow last few laps. Lap 8 would have put me at 6:30 ride time and over 70 miles, that's too much. The technical rock sections of the course beat the crap out of me, 29 hardtail with 2.0 tires made it rough.

I felt great for pretty much the whole race, I rode hard for over 3 hours at the start which burnt some matches, but I could have done that pace for A LOT longer. It kind of sucks not having anyone around you or anyone to chase, like Manny Prado in Arkansas a month ago. I didn't even know Garrett and Travis (Ethos) were in front of me, I thought I passed them with a flat... pretty irritating. I had no sign of cramps or nausea, which ProPam told me was a classic sign of not getting enough sodium in. I put an effort into eating more sodium throughout the race, great advice, thanks ProPam! Overall, I am disappointed in myself for not doing an 8th lap, it would have sucked, a lot. It almost feels like I quit, I don't quit, I don't like quitting. But, I still think it was a good decision, maybe I am too hard on myself.

Here is some Garmin stuff. You can see at about 3:15 once the 3 hour race was over I kind of settled into a different effort. The lap times are confusing, my Garmin was lost. MTB-Bone Bender 6 Hour by jcschottler at Garmin Connect - Details

Hermann

2011-04-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

The MTB race in KS was cancelled, so I registered for the Hermann crit and road race.

I was stuck in the office over the weekend, missing the road race, but I was able to work in the crit on Saturday. Early AM 1 hour almost tempo ride, 4 hours at school, then drove to Hermann for the crit. Really happy I got to do it, it's a great way to blow off some steam over a certain stubborn computer program.

It was around 90 degree's, hot. I was lined up at the back and quickly moved to the front and stayed there for the majority of the race. I rode pretty hard, attacking and chasing down attacks. Eventually Austin Vinton (Mercy) was off the front by himself and his teammate (Nick Coil) followed an attack to bridge up to him. I eventually attacked the group and bridged up to Nick and then we went up to Austin, but I was hurting at this point. We eventually got caught and I spent most of the rest of the race in the group, with only a couple more efforts to get away. Eventually Zach Reed (Dogfish), Andrew Coe, and Nick Coil solo'd off the front. I am not too sure what happened up there with them, I was just trying to stay attached to the main group that dwindled down to under 10 people.

At the end of 3 laps to go there was a $100 prime. I figured we weren't going to catch any of the leaders, so there wasn't any chance of winning. I already paid for the road race which I wasn't able to do so I needed my entry fee's back. Coming up the climb at the end of the lap Devin Clark (The Hub) and I sprinted for the prime, which I ended up winning by only a bike length or so. We had a pretty good gap on the field at this point, Devin said we should keep going, but I was blown. We got caught and I tried to recover. I lost motivation after winning the prime and sucked up the climb on the last lap, finished 8th. Everyone beyond 10th place got lapped, pretty insane.

Thanks to Elizabeth Rangel again for taking pictures of all the racers!
Here is the Garmin data. My average HR for the race was 185, crazy! I think the heat had something to do with that. Road-Hermann Criterium by jcschottler at Garmin Connect - Details

Props to Austin for almost winning the road race on Sunday, getting caught on the last climb of the race. Zach Reed (Dogfish) for winning the overall and Justin Maciekowicz (Dogfish) for winning the TT and RR and 2nd overall.

This week is going to suck. My max ride will probably only be 1.5 hours, I will be spending all day/night in the office trying to get results done. Which really isn't that bad since I have signed up for a 6 hour MTB race in Lawrence this weekend, resting is good.

Hillsboro Roubaix & Stuff

2011-04-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

I developed some new pain near my tail bone on Friday while doing a short hard road ride to get ready for the weekend. I didn't think much of it, but by the evening and Saturday morning it was worse. I figured it would just go away at some point during the 87 mile Hillsboro Roubaix road race, it kind of did, but not soon enough. I read a bit about it, it's usually just related to riding too much and nothing to be concerned about. It's Monday now and I feel fine after taking yesterday and today off the bike. I was originally planning on doing the 8AM Castlewood MTB race Sunday morning with the Tilles Park crit that afternoon, but the smartest thing to do was rest and not injure myself. It's a few days into April.

Anyway, 120 people started the race and again I was at the back. I felt like total crap, accelerations hurt my tail bone, and I had no power whatsoever because of it. Not to mention this killed any type of motivation or adrenaline rush I would normally get.

The whole race I was positioned horribly, right near the back. 20mph winds were destroying the field to pieces, being at the back kept me in the gutter and sprinting hard out of corners. I constantly found myself drafting someone who was getting shelled from the group, requiring to bridge back up. There were a lot of crashes and people flying into ditches, thankfully I was able to squeeze through the mess. I was still a part of the lead group until halfway of the last lap. Again, I was behind someone getting shelled and I couldn't bridge the gap back. So the rest of the lap it was Tom Price, myself, and a couple other guys rotating. I ended up coasting through the finish with Tom for 35th place. Disappointed.

I wasn't feeling it the whole race, which sucks, that hasn't happened in a long time.

It's safe to say I have procrastinated in school more in the last month than I have any other month of my life. I am burnt out on class and research. I knew what was coming, huge hours to finish my final results once a plan was finalized. That time is now. I am down to a month to set up and run all of the finite element analysis simulations on the computer and pull results from the endless amounts of data. It's doable, but my riding hours are going to be cut considerably.

I've dragged my base miles further into the season because of this, it would have been 21 hours last week if I felt healthy enough to race on Sunday. Now that it's crunch time, my rides will be short, mainly relying on the weekend races to get/stay fit. This also means I will probably miss Sea Otter, even though I have pre-registered for XC & STXC. But, for once, school is taking priority. I have Boulder in the back of my mind pushing me through the work, a month of suffering will be worth it to get out there ASAP.

This weekend I have a MTB race planned in KS and possibly the 90 mile RR in Hermann.

Here are a couple of images from the work I have done to give you an idea of what I'll be staring at until I graduate.

I am modeling a bioabsorbable polymer screw in cortical and cancellous bone placed under bend and pull-out forces. We have synthesized and strengthened the material in our lab, now I am trying to design a screw with that material in mind to eventually replace it's metallic counterpart.

Forest Park Criterium

2011-03-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

Nothing too exciting to say about this race. Butthead, ProPam, Mike and I went out for an easy 80 mile ride Saturday, something I usually don't do the day before a race. But, it is just training, I wasn't expecting anything out of the Sunday crit. I went in with the same goal as Froze Toes, get some good intensity.

My stupid GPS took me off the wrong exit to the race, which had my blindly driving through Forest Park (never been around there before) through a shit ton of traffic. I got way turned around and lost, so I just told the thing to take me to Big Shark and I could find the race from there. I showed up 20 minutes before the start, with no time to warmup.

The race started fast, really fast. I tried to put in some big efforts at the beginning to get my legs opened up, then sit in for a lap or two to cool down, which would usually get me ready to go. At some point, while I had no idea what I was doing or what was going on, a break got away. The main pack kept surging and attacking, blowing everyone apart, eventually dropping a large amount of the field. I spent a lot of time on the front chasing down attacks, pulling, and attacking. We were riding hard, but not working together, at all. I ended up feeling really good towards the end, I could chase down attacks and be recovered in just a few seconds and do it again and again. The last lap I got a lead out from a teammate for the sprint, however I didn't have much left in the tank and couldn't get around him, which allowed Larry Simonson (CBC) to get by me right at the line, putting me in 11th. Not happy with the result, but pleased with the workout. Average power (not normalized) for the race (80 minutes) was 315 watts, nothing super exciting, but still good.

Thanks again to Elizabeth Rangel for more pictures!

If I have learned anything from the last few road races/crits I've done, it's to start paying attention to what's unfolding at the front. Here is some Garmin/Power data stuff.
Road-Forest Park Criterium by jcschottler at Garmin Connect - Details

USAC Pro UET #1 - Spa City 6 Hour

2011-03-13T17:48:00.001-07:00

Green Beans and I drove down to Hot Springs Arkansas for the first round of the USAC Pro Ultra-Endurance Tour (UET). It's a 6 hour race on pure, awesome, dry, and super flowy single track, 10 mile laps. After a delicious breakfast at The Pancake Shop, it was time to get going.

A little over 160 people were there to race, of all skill ranges. Some strong riders were there, including Manuel Prado of Sho-Air Specialized, the Costa Rica national champion.

It was a Le Mans start with an initial extended lap on the road up a small climb to break up the field. I was right at the front when Prado rode by and I hopped on his wheel and we went 1-2 into the single track. After the first climb we were riding away from everyone else and continued to add to the lead, quickly. We rode together the whole first lap and I got to learn the secret lines of the course.

Going into lap 2 Manny told me to take the lead, I was somewhat hesitant, considering this was the 2nd time I have ridden single track since October. But I took the lead and pulled through the whole 2nd lap. Our first 2 laps were smoking fast, it was an awesome experience being able to ride with him. I was comfortable with the pace, but 6 hours is a long time... and this was my 2nd ever 6 hour race.

Lap 3 Manny took the lead again and we continued flying. About half way through the lap (a little over 2 hours in) I bobbled an uphill switchback and had to unclip. It appeared that Manny attacked and I was in chase mode, and not closing the gap. At this point I found a hard effort I was comfortable with and that I knew I could hold. Coming through into lap 4 I was told I was 30 seconds back.

Chase, chase, chase. I wasn't making up much time. My goal at this point was to ride fast, not cramp, and finish the race strong. Coming in the next laps of the race, Manny's support crew started helping me out, doing bottle and food hand-ups, which I REALLY appreciated, awesome sportsmanship!

Lap 5 a bystander told me I was only a minute back, that didn't seem right, I was sure Manny was WAY ahead of me. At this point I was having trouble keeping food down, felt like vomiting, and was getting a headache. This feeling stayed the rest of the race, I was pretty much in la-la land. My lap times were slowing down and I was just getting worried of being caught by 3rd place.

Lap 6 sucked, I ate half a banana and felt sick, so I quit eating and just continued to down water. Lap 7 was the last lap and I was super relieved everything has gone relatively smoothly with no cramps or other pains, so I was able to try to put in a fast final lap.

I finished 67.4 miles of pure singletrack in 5:55. Manny finished in 5:51. I was sure he was at least 15 minute ahead of me, I had no idea it was that close. Super strong ride on his part, it was an amazing experience to get to race wheel to wheel with him for that long. I ended up finishing about 20 minutes ahead of 3rd. Motivation level is through the roof. Here is the Garmin data, average heart rate of 166 with it lowering lap after lap, a good indication of fatigue. I would have probably died with an 8th lap.
MTB-Spa City 6 Hour by jcschottler at Garmin Connect - Details

I am currently 2nd in the 4 race series. The next is Firecracker 50 over the 4th of July in Breckenridge, and way sold out. I need to get in to do it, for the 4th year in a row. But, a new goal for my year is to finish the USAC Pro UET series top 10 overall.

Manuel Prado and myself:

Unorganized podium shot:

Awards + a nice payout:

I got 5 hours of sleep Saturday night after the drive back and tried to help Junior in the Mizzou TTT Sunday morning. It hurt, bad. I had no sustained power, it was 320 watts for 30 minutes, not where it should be. But, that was expected. Time to eat and sleep.

Mountain Bikes!

2011-03-07T14:50:00.001-08:00

Finally, I was able to ride some single track. First time since the Berryman Epic in October. I went to KC for the short track race to get some time on the new bike and remember how to turn it. Not many people showed up, only 6. I think the heavy rain the the day before and 21 degree low that morning kept people on the couch. Oh well, it's still practice. I was surprised to find out how most of the trails were dry. The course was still pretty fun, mainly in the grass and on a little bit of trail. The race was 30 minutes long and I added another 1.5 hours of riding around and rolling through the woods. Thanks to Elizabeth Rangel for taking more pictures.

This is the first time I have ridden Swope Park in like 15 years, the trails are incredible! They have been putting a huge amount if time into them, and it shows. Everyone should get out there to try them out, I think when it is finished it will be 50 miles of single track. Pretty much everything I rode was awesome.

Dan Miller, Nate Means, and I got out for 5.5 hours of gravel on Sunday, Claysville to Gravel Grumble, my favorite roads in the area. I ended up doing 80 miles on the mountain bike with no issues, it feels great.

The Spa City 6 hour is Saturday in Hot Springs, AR, and the weather looks perfect. Nate Means will be joining me on the road trip, should be fun. I am still sort of worried about racing 6 hours, hoping to not self destruct 4 hours in, but if that happens then oh well, it's March. Still trying to decide to also head down to STL Sunday for the first local race, or help out Junior in the Mizzou TTT in Columbia. All depends how I am feeling the day after the race.

Also, this Garmin 800 with Garmin Connect is incredible. So much data to entertain myself with! Also being able to record all of my rides on a calender that I can access anywhere is very helpful, super simple to track all rides/miles/hours on a week or monthly basis. Here is the 5.5 hour ride:

Storm Trooper

2011-03-04T17:18:00.000-08:00

The new bike has arrived.

2011 Cannondale Flash 29er Carbon 1.

I swapped all the 10 speed Sram XO for XX and put on some Ergon GX1 grips. Sub 20 pounds w/out pedals. It is money.

HUGE thanks to Mike at Big Shark and Courtney at Cannondale for the opportunity to help me out and get this so quickly!

My favorite thing here is the new hydraulic lockout for the lefty, never have to take the hands off the grip. Trying out the new Garmin Edge 800, it is awesome! The Joule 2.0 I was using for my power meter has some pretty irritating issues. This is much cleaner, smoother, simple, and provides more things to entertain me with.

It has some pretty smart upgrades from last year. The threaded insert for the front wheel has increased diameter, there's a plastic layer over the lower part of the downtube for rock impacts, the carbon has been upgraded with the UHM "ballistic" carbon which is supposed to be more resistant to impact, a chain stay protector that doesn't fall of once a chain hits it, and it has a better looking lighter weight stem.

All it needs now is have the stem lowered and front brake bled.

There's a STXC race in KC on Saturday I will be doing, I am not sure what the turnout will be, it's a free race with no money and no license required. I am really doing it just to get some time on the mtb and get familiar with it again, since I haven't ridden a trail since the berryman.

Froze Toes

2011-02-28T09:07:00.001-08:00

First "race" of the year, Froze Toes. Austin Flaton and I rolled from town in the 38 degree rain 50 minutes to the Froze Toes start on Z highway. Only 39 people started the Pro 1-3 field. The start of the race was around 45 degrees and went up to the high 50's by the finish... with sunshine! Not a bad day.

I didn't have any expectations in this race, I just wanted to get some miles and intensity in, however I could. Jim Vandeveen (Dog Fish) and Bob Cummings (Team Monster Energy) attacked early held the break the whole race.

Most of lap 1 my legs didn't feel too great and I did some tailgunning, but moved to the front towards the end of the lap. Lap 2 I did a lot of chasing, took some long pulls, and tried to get people to start working. I don't know what the deal was, I don't understand road racing. The break kept gaining time and just a few of us were willing to put in an effort, it seems like everyone just gave up. Justin Maciekowicz was on my wheel most of the time and wouldn't pull through because his teammate was in the break... but it seemed no one would pull through to chase, he did a good job of blocking. Maybe I am missing something, perhaps sitting in the pack and drafting the whole day somehow makes you faster. No... no I don't think that's how it works. Justin eventually attacked and soloed in for 3rd, again no one chased.

On the 70 outer road with 10 miles to go I attacked the climb with another rider who couldn't pull through and built a gap of maybe 20 seconds at the most and got caught with 1km to go and rolled through in the pack in 12th.

(Thanks to Elizabeth Rangel for more great pictures!)

I rode my training wheels with power meter and played around with the data a bit, nothing too exciting but good enough for me this time of the year. Junior and I rolled back together with a grand total of 90 miles for the day and 3230 KJ.

Looking back at the race I should have just solo'd away. On quite a few occasions while I was pulling I was just riding away from the group with Justin blocking, so I sat up hoping someone would come around to work. Would have been a good opportunity to go ride away by myself, I had the fitness to.

Up next is the STXC race in KC on Saturday. I haven't ridden the MTB since the Berryman, probably would be a good idea to pedal it around before the 6 hour race on March 12th.

Time to get fast!

2011-02-25T15:11:00.000-08:00

I just registered for 2 big races early in the year:

Spa City 6 Hour, which is part of the new USAC Pro Ultra-Endurance series, in Hot Springs Arkansas... March 12th, a whole 2 weeks away. I am not really in race shape, but most people aren't. Looks like it will be a lot of fun either way.

The next is the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey California, April 14-17th. I registered for the Pro XC & STXC races, I am going to get destroyed. I will be staying with Kevin Bonney, on the Airborne Flight Crew, who are gracefully letting me stay free of charge in their hotel room.

The Mellow Johnny's Classic is 2 weeks after Sea Otter. I am trying to register for it, but like most bike races, the websites are horrible trying to navigate through and I can't find any registration link.

Fitness now is pretty good, better than this time last year I'd say. It's nice to have the upcoming races already registered for, some pretty big motivation to train as much as possible. I am mega pumped. Froze toes is this Sunday, we'll see how that goes.

I've been training very consistently, still with no SI pain and minimal low back pain. This mornings 2.5 hr recovery ride was pretty relaxing:

Pain Free At Last

2011-02-14T15:26:00.000-08:00

It's been over a month now since I've had the bad SI pain. This is as long as I've been able to go in a year, without medication. Getting realigned by Dr. Curt along with his strength training and stretching regime seems to have put me back on track.

Training has been going pretty well, a little more consistent than last year since I can actually move my legs without screaming. It's been nearly all aerobic base mileage. I haven't really put in as many hours as I would like, mainly because my legs won't let me with all the lifting, all part of this new "listen to your body" type exercising. Gym time will be dropped down to once a week for maintenance in about 3 weeks while I begin to work in more intense efforts. Right now I feel like I have zero high end power or snap, hopefully everything stays together when the intensity picks up.

The 19" snowstorm Columbia got has left the Katy Trail completely unrideable, so I have actually been on the road, weird. Gravel roads are hit and miss with the icing and thawing(mud).

As for school, I should have my thesis and results done by May. Hopefully I will be defending in June and be done. I haven't heard anything from UC-Boulder, probably not a good sign. I am also applying for a big boy job out there that specializes in the exact same research I did for my Masters, that would be pretty awesome.

Ergon

2011-02-09T11:20:00.000-08:00

I am happy to announce I will be sponsored by Ergon for another year.

2011 Ergon USA Sponsored Riders and Teams

I recently received a pair of limited edition white Ergon GX1 grips.

For the last two years I have only been using the Ergon GX2 Carbon grips. I have to say these grips are amazing, especially for the longer races. I used to have a problem death gripping my bars in rides/races, but now I comfortably rest my palms on the bars. The larger surface area and ergonomic fit makes it MUCH more comfortable. The carbon bar ends will still be used for longer races and trails with more wide open single track. The standards GX1's will be used for tight trails and most likely fast/short races.

The grip specific Ergon gloves will be most likely be in stock mid-March. I am REALLY looking forward to these, my two year old Giro gloves with about 5 holes each need to be retired. Walt's Bike Shop should be getting these in as soon as they are available.

Thanks Ergon!

SNOCALYPSE!

2011-02-04T10:54:00.001-08:00

BOCOMO was hit with 19" of snow in about 24 hours. I stocked up on the essentials (huge amount of cookies not pictured):

With the essentials we were ready to go on a 2.5 hour night snike through the woods and grindstone trail. Snow to the knee's.

Great cross training for a still non-inflamed SI joint!

Decisions decisions...

2011-01-27T10:22:00.000-08:00

Since I submitted my application to Boulder my situation in my current research group has sort of gone south. I won't get in to the details, but it has nearly eliminated an option of staying here for a PhD. Unfortunately, it has also shown what academia is all about, and is making me second guess whether I want to continue on past completing my Masters this summer. All of a sudden, I really need to figure out what it is I want to do if I don't continue on to a PhD.

I have a few options in mind that all include moving to Boulder in August. Ideally, taking a semester or year off while making enough money to live and have fun would be awesome. Getting a job and making real money would be nice as well. A big part of me just wants to experience living in Boulder and enjoying the riding and all that the town has to offer. I have no baggage right now, and this is really the only time of my life I could do something like this. I don't know.

Anyway, training this winter is going sort of slow. I am planning all of my rides on how I feel, if my SI or low back hurts, I will either not ride or spin on the trainer for a little bit. Most likely I will continue the base mileage a little farther into the year as usual since I am getting a slow start on the real long rides. I am planning on not starting any intensity until I consistently feel comfortable. SI pain has been gone for over a week now without any medication, which is great, it seems to be improving week by week. I think the lifting has had a very positive affect. This time last year I couldn't even move my right leg without agonizing sharp pains.

All rides this year have been on snow covered gravel, just like last year. I actually prefer this since handling skills are tested and improved throughout the whole ride, rather than just mindlessly spinning down the road getting only hours in the saddle. After an entire winter of this last year, I noticed a huge improvement in my handling skills. Thankfully the bocomo peloton is always willing to go ride in the cold, snow, and slop. The downside is you are left with a completely trashed bike after every ride.

Graduate School

2011-01-07T08:23:00.000-08:00

I haven't really talked about what it is I do besides riding bikes and being injured. I graduated May 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri. I took fall 2009 off to relax, train, race, and work at the bike shop full time... learning the 'life' isn't all it's cracked up to be. I will say that my first couple years in school I just wanted to be done, with a goal of passing courses and getting a job right out of school to make the big bucks. This lead to pretty bad grades and an eventual understanding of how the real world works, a big dollar job wasn't waiting for me at the end of the tunnel. So, I set a goal to take a detour around the tunnel and take the climb to eventually reach the job I want.

I got excited about the possibly of graduate school from learning through friends in school and those in the the BOCOMO peloton. Although my last couple years of dedication in classes significantly raised my GPA, it wasn't at the 'required' level for graduate school. So, I had to take the GRE. My test taking skills are some of the worst around, but somehow I left them at home that day and blew the math section of the test away, giving MU a reason to accept me. I started my Master of Science in mechanical engineering January 2010. MU offers waived tuition and a stipend through teaching assistance and research assistance. I was lucky enough to land both of them, giving me enough money to live on and getting nearly free education. Both of my advisors have taken a significant interest in what I have been doing with my research, it's as though they haven't come across many people that have a good work ethic with a tenacious personality. This will eventually lead me to graduating with my Master of Science in 1.5 years, a semester or two quicker than predicted.

My Master of Science research in mechanical engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia includes computational 3D modeling, simulation, and optimization of biomedical devices. Finite element analysis is conducted on bone screws in various loading scenarios using ABAQUS, followed by optimizing the thread profile for specific applications. Modeling ACL reconstruction in a femur with in-house synthesized hydroxyapatite nanocomposite bone cement is also research in progress. In addition to the modeling and finite element analysis, I am working on synthesizing a bioabsorbable polymer-ceramic nanocomposite to be used in various biomedical devices, including bone screws. This material is created in-house, followed by injection molding of the material to be used for ASTM 3-point bending and tensile testing.

Once completing my Masters by the end of the summer, I will be continuing on to PhD research. My advisor wants me to stay and continue what we are doing, which isn't a bad deal, but I am still interested in a school I have always wanted to attend. University of Colorado-Boulder. I just submitted my application into the mechanical engineering bioengineering PhD program. My advisor isn't very happy about the possibility of me leaving, but still supports my goals. I am happy in Columbia, I have met a lot of friends, and have some great memories. But, a change in scenery would be nice, and Boulder is at the top of the list.

But anyway, I have never liked school. I have despised exams, grades, and reading books. Yet, somehow I have taken an interest to grad school. It takes a good work ethic and dedication, which I have always had. Grades aren't important, it's all research based. I have gone from a mediocre grade school student to entering Mizzou as an engineering student starting in the lowest level math class the University had to offer, intermediate algebra. I was warned that I may not make it through the courses and to have a backup plan. I ended up graduating with a math minor and am now going to start pursuing a PhD, hopefully at the bike racing/training capital of the country. It's safe to say I am happy with the path I'm riding on.

Training

2011-01-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

I have been lifting now for 2-3 weeks, doing mostly body weight exercises to learn proper form and regain some muscle memory. Last week I ended up riding about 15 hours, probably too much. Pain has come back in my left SI joint (opposite side of last year), with my low back hurting for the majority of the easy rides. I was hoping that the exercises and the extended time off the bike would have put me in a good position to start riding, apparently not.

It is now January 6th and I am headed in the same direction as last year, not good. I'll be taking some advice from Dan Miller and Dr. Curt and put the riding on hold and spend more time in the gym. I will be lifting Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, while doing core work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, in addition to some epic stretching 1-2 times a day. I am going to take a week off the bike and start off slow, increasing the volume a little every week, instead of being my usual impatient self and jump into 15 hour weeks. I have also started taking fish oil and vitamin c supplements, which have been shown to improve joints, so I guess it couldn't hurt.

But anyway, my season will start off slower, but I am more than happy to let that happen so I can survive the whole year. My big races aren't till the middle of the year anyway.

2010

2010-12-30T07:44:00.000-08:00

Somehow 2010 is about over, and it turned out to be a pretty good year. I achieved all but one of my goals for the year. Upgraded to Pro in mountain, Cat 1 in CX, MTB state champion, won the Berryman again, and other numerous wins. I wanted the jersey in state CX, however the SI injury came back in time to not let me try, but I am happy that my teammate took it.

I ended up doing 27 races with 10 wins, 3 2nds, and 3 3rds. The biggest being the Berryman Epic, followed by a 3rd place finish at Marathon National Championships at elevation.

2011 is going to be great. I am focusing my training to improve weakness' instead of putting down huge hours like the last couple years. I can already feel a difference from lifting, and it feels awesome. As for races, I am going to have to play it by ear, being a grad student has left me with little spending cash. But as of now, I am planning on doing Marathon Nationals in Bend, Oregon, the Lumberjack 100, and possibly another 100 mile race depending on how that goes. I also plan on hitting up the US Cup Pro Mellow Johnny's Classic in Texas, and another Us Cup race in Wisconsin. If more money shows up somewhere I would like to travel for some more big races.

Winter Training... Thanks Focus on Health!

2010-12-17T09:14:00.000-08:00

I haven't done much since being reinjured towards the end of cross season. I have pretty much taken an extended rest period for the past month, longest I have ever gone without training. It's been good, I have time to do things, like hang out with my friends and enjoy life outside of training. I've been commuting to school about every day to keep some fitness, but that's about it. I was actually a lot more upset about missing the cx races and the state championship than I thought I would be, I have had no motivation to ride. But now the season is over and I can look towards training for next season, with the motivation building.

I have started lifting for the first time since I started racing bikes... which has come with a HUGE wakeup call. I lifted last Saturday with the assumption that race fitness would equal good strength and quick recovery. Not all, I was surprised to see how weak I was and how much weaker I got by the third sets. I also did too much, I couldn't walk right for the next 3 days and at 5 days later I was still sore. Crazy. I did all this on my own and realized I should probably get some advice. But really I think it's a good sign, it means there is huge room for improvement and will most definitely equal a huge jump in speed, power, and injury prevention on the bike.

Dr. Curt at Focus on Health Chiropractic has gone way beyond helping me this year. He takes a personal interest in helping every patient that comes in the door, and from what I have experienced, will go above and beyond expectations to eliminate issues. Throughout the season he worked on me twice a week to get me in line and able to race the upcoming weekends without pain and getting more injured. He has set up the fit on all of my bikes to help prevent further injury... which has also increased power and comfort. He has come to the gym with me to teach and check lifting form, as well as demonstrate exercises to target the weak areas. A 4 day a week lifting schedule has been set up which consists of 2 days of core work and 2 days of lifting, with about 6 days of riding. I am sure that without his help this season, I wouldn't have been riding nearly as well. A HUGE thank you! If you are having any issues, sports related or not, or would like to get checked out and see if there is anything you could improve, I strongly recommend going to see him!

Done Again

2010-11-29T15:01:00.000-08:00

I went to my parents house over Thanksgiving to spend time with my family and ended up sleeping on an air mattress. After a couple nights of this I noticed something wasn't right with my SI joint. Day 3 I had nasty sharp pains in my left SI joint, enough that I could barely walk. The next night I was given a bed and it was still there the day after. I definitely couldn't pedal a bike, especially dismount and run, so I had to skip Sunday's race. I am still feeling it today and it has me to the point of ending the season again, after a week of somewhat hard comeback training. I haven't had this kind of pain in the left side yet, probably not a good sign.

It sounds stupid to get a sports injury from sleeping bad, but when thinking back to when it became super inflamed, I had a bad night sleeping on something unsupportive... like a couch or air mattress. I don't know if I should relate the two, but it seems like I should.

Either way, my season is over and I am going to get back to fixing the cause of the issue and come back stronger next season. I am already excited for 2011 CX.

In the meantime, I am going to nerd out and keep myself busy by building a home theater computer (HTPC). It will be set up with a dual HDTV tuner hooked up to my wireless network to turn the computer into a HDDVR and Blu-Ray server with Windows 7 Media Center. Should be done with this on Wednesday. I'll take the opportunity to post about how big of a nerd I really am.

I'll also be building another powertap wheelset for the road bike with the new Joule 2.0 computer. Completely going against the Butthead training plan and what I felt was right this year.

Stubborn

2010-11-22T08:11:00.000-08:00

I finished my 2 week break off the bike and went for a spin Friday evening and on Saturday. To my surprise I didn't feel all that bad.

I went against my best judgment and decided at the last minute to go race Bubba #9 at Mt. Pleasant. The course is on a side of a hill making it pretty difficult, I won it last year and it was the first CX race I had won. The race really ended up how I thought it would, however things could have gone better.

I missed my call-up at the start and ended up in the 2nd row. Got a horrible start and was pushed back somewhere around 15th. At probably 2 minutes in on a rough descent my bars spun down, got my pit bike, ended up back on the course right near last. Got my bike 'fixed' on lap 2, back to the pit to get it, last place again. Bars were tightened but not rotated back up, couldn't ride it, back to the pit lap 3, ended up back of the pack again. Lap 4 I was back in the pit to get the race bike, bars were rotated back up and tightened... and back of the pack again.

At this point I think there were about 8 short laps to go, Butthead waiting for me the whole time and we had A LOT of time to make up. The leaders were way gone and the course was not at all fast... big time difference. I went as hard as I could at this point with Butthead in tow and we started picking off riders. Butthead was feeling sick and not right, mostly from having the flu all week, and did the smart decision and pulled the plug to not mess himself up more.

I just kept pushing it as hard as I could. I caught up to Jeff and took over the 3rd spot and was closing in on Dan and Devin. With about 4 to go I thought I was going to catch them. Dan then took off and I was within seconds of Devin. Devin was able to hold me off and Dan took the win.

I guess I can't really complain, I rode well just getting over pneumonia and no exercise for two weeks. I would say my fitness was about 70% of where it was before I got sick. Captain Hindsight told me that if I didn't have to keep switching bikes and got a good start I would have given Dan a better race.

The last Bubba race is next Sunday, with the state championship the week after, fitness will hopefully be back by then.

Time-Off

2010-11-15T12:43:00.000-08:00

I decided to take the time off. The doctor told me I should get back into riding very slowly. I explained to her what cyclocross was and she quickly responded with telling me that racing that would be a horrible idea.

I am trying to take 2 weeks off but somehow talked myself into riding for an hour and a half on the trail on Saturday. Somehow my legs felt great, but I spent most of the time coughing crap up. Riding will pick up again at the end of this week and the gym will start very soon.

I am also going to be changing my winter training a bit. I still plan on 20 hour weeks of gravel, but I will pick up the intensity a bit more, specifically 20 min. efforts.

I decided to race for Big Shark for next mountain season and I'm currently deciding between two new bikes:

The first is the Scott Scale 29 RC. The second is the newer version of my current bike, Cannondale Flash Carbon 29. Both will be equipped with Sram XX. The C-dale will be about a pound lighter with the lefty. Both are super sweet, right now I am leaning towards the bike I am already used too.

Unplanned Break

2010-11-09T10:43:00.000-08:00

I've had pneumonia since last Wednesday. My fever has been jumping around like crazy, going higher than I think I've ever seen it. The doctor gave me some good drugs and told me not do anything. It's now Tuesday and I've been sitting on the couch doing nothing since Wednesday night. The good news is my fever broke last night and is still normal. I'm going to guess my legs barely work anymore. But that probably doesn't matter since all the crap in my lungs won't even let me breathe anyway.

CX is such a brutal form of bike racing, you need everything to work well or you're not gonna have a good time. If you can't breathe, you won't have any power and will suffer horribly. The rest of the racing season is in question right now. There are about 6 CX races left, 2 of which are this upcoming weekend. I will try riding tomorrow morning easy for about an hour and see how it goes, not expecting much. Racing this weekend probably wouldn't be very smart, I'll see how I feel on Friday.

Realistically, if I could breathe fine, I would probably be back in race form in about two weeks. However I've read it can take a month before the coughing and lung crap come to and end. This means I could push myself to train and maybe be in good form for the last race of the year.

OR, I could take this as a sign to finally quit racing for the year and begin working on the bigger issues I was having which were planned for the winter "off season". That is, the SI/low back pain. I could start the gym time now and most likely get a positive result sooner and be ready for the first races of the year. Gym time now would be good for 2 other reasons. Cortisone still seems to be working and that will make the lifting much more bearable. The second reason is that BOCOMO has no off-season.

The longer I spend typing this thing out the more I seem to be making up my mind. Finally fixing my SI/back now is probably smarter than suffering through the training/racing post-pneumonia for the last 4 weekends. But, I want to race. Bad. I still feel like I have unfinished business and could have improved more by the end of the year. Can't always get what you want.

Suggestions? Or did my fortune cookie just tell me?

Tour of Missouri CX

2010-11-01T07:49:00.000-07:00

I don't know how much longer this cortisone is going to last, I am starting to ache a little in my right SI joint again. I woke up Saturday morning not being able to walk with sharp pain in my left SI. My season may be cut short, so I want to get as many races in as I can before I am immobile.

I woke up early Saturday morning to head to KC for the Boss Cross #3 race just a few minutes from my parents house. The usual stacked field was there with all the KCCX guys, Tradewind, among others. I somehow got on the front line at the start... and it was a fast start. Almost immediately it was Joseph Schmalz (KCCX), Jeff Winkler (KCCX), and myself riding away from the field together, very quickly.

The course was a lot of fun, but unfortunately for me there were 2 different sets of barriers. One set was up a hill before a full length volleyball court sand run. We had to run the v-ball court long ways twice each lap. I couldn't run that much, both SI joints were yelling at me.

(Photo props to Elizabeth Rangel)

I started pulling after near half away in and I still felt like I was riding well. Then Schmalz attacked and I couldn't match his pace, he rode away and didn't slow down at all. Shortly after that Winkler caught up to me and told me to get on his wheel to finish the race. I did, but then over-corrected a corner and shot into the tape. I tried to bridge back up to him but the running was taking its toll on me... not to mention his ridiculous motor. I think it was about 4 to go at this point and there was no one in sight behind me, I shut off the gas and cruised the rest of the race to conserve some energy for later.

Obviously the best way to recover after a cross race is drive from KC to STL. Thankfully my car has butt warmers, which were set to full blast to keep my back/SI loose. Bubba #4 was that night with a start time of 10PM, I rolled in a couple hours before.

The start was a little silly, more aggressive than the KC race, but for no reason. And there was more sand, great. I was hoping to run some more. The sand section was a 2 parter with a 180 degree turn in grass back to more sand. It was rideable, but there was a 1 foot 45 degree vertical dirt ledge at the end, which wasn't very visible. I tried riding it nearly every lap and managed to fall on it numerous times.

Butthead and I stuck to the team tactics the whole race. Hung out for a while and let the drama unfold at the front. With about 5 to go we attacked, with Butthead letting me sit on his wheel to try and recover. Thanks to him for waiting for me with a few stupid mistakes in the sand.

We got a pretty good gap and cruised the rest of the race with a viscous coasting sprint for a 1-2 finish. Turns out I crushed him by about a tire nob. Sorry.

(Photo props to Eville Mike)

Sunday was another race at the same park. Josh tweaked his back in the night race, and I was worn out. We went for an hour ride to St. Charles on some trails to loosen up. The start of the race wasn't as aggressive, but we stuck to the team tactics again. Josh was having tire pressure trouble and switched bikes twice, so I hung out in the back waiting for him. With about 4 to go we were back together and it was game on. I took a pull and Josh was having some obvious back pain. He gave me the green light to go for the win and he would do what he could. At this point Dan Miller was riding away from the lead group, probably 20 or so seconds ahead of me.

I floored it and bridged up to the chase group, passed the chase group, and bridged up to Dan. 3 to go I took a second to recover and attacked again and opened a gap on Dan. Cruise control at full gas was engaged the rest of the race. Dan took 2nd followed by Butthead and Devin Clark.

This course was the best of the Bubba series this year, lots of fun. HUGE thanks to Mike Weiss for letting Josh and I crash at his house.

Repeat at the Berryman!

2010-10-25T07:33:00.001-07:00

Like I said earlier, I have been stressing about this race since I finished last year. I was a nervous wreck leading up to it, even dragging Green Beans in to it by driving me around before we left to track down the UPS truck to get the bibs I needed (did not find him.) This strapped on to the front of my bike didn't help the stress level:

As predicted, more horsepower showed up this year. Toeing the line was Steve Tilford, Bill Stolte, Garth Prosser, Scott Henry, Jeff Winkler, Eric Pirtle, Brad Huff, Devin Clark, Mike Best, Dwayne Goscinski, Cale McAninch, Ploch, all the usual local fast guys, and many others... 250 total to be exact. I had a giant bullseye strapped to my back. The start of the race began with an M-80 just a few feet from us, then began the 4 mileish gravel section, mostly climbing, to a section of double track through the woods. The promoters made the start MUCH more interesting this year with a $50 prime to the first one in the single track. Attack after attack, with most of the leaders gauging how I was responding to the accelerations. The pace was fast, but I was able to chase down attacks and stay right in the first 3. Tilford and Scott battled it out for the prime, I didn't contend, I was more than happy to let them pull me in to the woods and save some energy. At this time we were left with a group of 4; Tilford, Scott, Bill, and myself. Once we got into the singletrack it was down to Tilford, Scott, and myself, with no one else in sight.

Scott had a huge motor, he was drilling the climbs, and I was starting to hurt. Thankfully I was able to make up time, recover, and use less energy through the single track and on the descents. All 3 of us were together coming through checkpoint 1 and 2, at 21 miles in. Maybe 4 or 5 miles after the second checkpoint, Tilford flatted. It was now down to Scott and myself. Pace seemed to have picked up at this point and I was trying to figure out what I should do. I tried attacking through the single track, but I ended up going so fast I was shooting past the corners and taking unnecessary risks on the descents, hardly putting any time on him. I came to the conclusion that Scott and I were pretty equally matched, but with different strengths. I couldn't climb as well as him, however I could flow through the single track and descend more quickly. I let him go on one of the climbs and fell back about 15 seconds. This way I could ride my own race, not his, which saved myself tons of energy. All the way to checkpoint 3 we yo-yo'd back and forth.

At checkpoint 3 I was on his wheel again and it was all gravel/road to checkpoint 4. We decided to trade 15-20 second pulls. We were flying, easily averaging over 20. Coming into to Berryman campground, checkpoint 4, we both grabbed water/snacks and took off together. I downed some more electrolyte capsules, a banana, and water bottles 5 and 6 of the day. The next check was the finish and it was becoming obvious it would come down to a sprint finish.

I took a pull after checkpoint 4 and brought the speed way up and nearly killed myself on a technical section that consisted of a drop and some huge rocks, but somehow kept it upright. That was my last attempt of trying to get away. The rest of the race we stayed together and I was able to stay somewhat comfortable on the climbs and comfortable on the flats and through the single track.

The last 4 or 5 miles of the race was gravel all the way to the finish. We still took pulls, but somehow my pulls ended up being after the climbs, which left me no time to recover. Through the last long gravel descent and into the flat finish area I was pulling, Scott was happy to get a draft in the head/cross wind. We slowed way down... just waiting for one of us to do something. We both attacked at the same time through a loose sand section, neither of us got anywhere. All that was left was a flat straight and 90 degree left turn to the finish. Our pace nearly came down to a crawl, with me on the front and Scott getting a small draft... both of us waiting for the perfect time to hit it. The left turn was coming up and time was running out. I accelerated hard, gave it everything I had, and took a sharp inside line to the finish straight and was able to hold it by about half a bike length. I won the effing Berryman for the 2nd year in a row! The record I set last year was completely shattered, I finished in 4:14.41, 25 minutes faster... 25 MINUTES! Here is a picture of the finishing corner, little 2 wheel drift action in the gravel. Photo stolen from Steve Tilfords blog.

The inside line to the finish is how I won, it caught Scott by surprise and he had no time to get around me. I got lucky, again. I also just learned that Scott raced for Trek/VW and has a pretty impressive racing resume... it really is an awesome experience to be able to battle with him and Tilford all day long, I never thought I would ever be able to do that... it's something I won't ever forget. Here is a photo of the top 10 this year, stolen from Mike Best, who is the only person to finish top 10 all 3 years... great way to represent BOCOMO!

The weekend was amazing, weather was perfect, got to hang out with good friends, drank free beer and ate free food. Beans again helped me win by making his secret amazing breakfast. Also a big thanks to Donovan Evans for giving me a set of replacement Time pedals. John and Donovan also sat at the Berryman campground checkpoint all day doing bottle/food handups, HUGE thanks! Ryan and Scott again put on a top notch event, I couldn't ask for more. I can't complain about the payout either:

Bubba #1 and Berryman Prep

2010-10-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

The 10 race Bubba CX series started off Saturday night. The A race started at 10PM, which has been my bedtime lately. I was way surprised to see how many people showed up, there were well over 200 people there total, which is awesome. Probably about 30 or so in the A race.

The race started with Butthead giving me a rundown of what's going to happen and what to do. It started way slow in the first 2 long straights, much different than what I've been accustomed too in KC. I really wanted to go ape shit like usual, but taking Buttheads advice and not aware of how my SI would react to the race, I held back. Johnson came by and said "let's go", so I followed. We eventually got away with Devin Clark, The Hub, and opened up a gap. I pulled a bit, Josh pulled a bit, and Devin pulled a bit, then took a funny line through a dark part of the course and Josh rolled his front tubular, again. It was then down to Devin and myself, with the gap growing bigger. I attacked through a technical part of the course and heard something happen behind me, I think Devin flatted or some other mechanical. So the rest of the race I turned on cruise control to keep a 20-30 second lead for the win. The best news was I had no pain, anywhere. This was the first CX race I didn't have my back/SI hurt, a big deal to me. All thanks to Dr. Curt at Focus on Health Chiropractic, as well as drugs.

Sunday I had to work my roommates shift, since he's at Collegiate Nationals, so I went for a 4 hour gravel ride into the night. I was going to replace the rear spoke on my mtb wheel from Burnin', but I discovered another broken spoke, which is 3 in about a month. Deciding not to risk it, I rebuilt the wheel with new double butted spokes, brass nipples, new tire, tubeless double layered rim strip, and a new valve core. New chain is going on today as well as a thorough cleaning.

The Berryman Epic is next weekend, a race that I've been stressing out about since I crossed the finish line in 1st last year 10 seconds ahead of Tilford. It's a big money race that almost makes the time and effort I put into training and racing worth it financially. However, it's not just about the money, it's considered the 'big race' of the year in Missouri, and I have to retain my title. My fitness is a lot better than last year, my back/SI pain is temporarily gone, and my handling/racing skills have been improved significantly. I am excited, but ready for it to be over so I can just worry about CX.

Burnin

2010-10-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

Last years race with Butthead, Green Beans, and myself vs. DRJ was close. It came down to me going out for a 2nd night lap with a 20 minute lead. My chain broke, I had no tools, and then my lights went out. We finished 3rd. I had a small grudge this year.

This years team changed to Mike Best, Green Beans, and myself. It came down to a close battle the whole day with DRJ again. Everyone was riding well, Ploch was rocking a single speed all day because he can't seem to keep derailleurs attached to his bike. My cortisone shot didn't take effect yet, so I was in pain the whole day.

I went out 2nd after Mike, who had a strong first lap. I wasn't too smooth at the start of the lap, but still wanted a new record as this was the best chance of getting it with a traffic free course. 3 miles in, I broke a rear spoke through a technical rock section, but I kept going and let it dangle in my gears. Shortly after, my SI joint flamed up, great. Thankfully this course had a number of sections where I could stretch my back to get a few seconds of relief. Shortly after the spoke and SI explosions, I got in a good rhythm. First lap finished in a time of 58.47, beating the old record by 1 minute and 12 seconds. Mission 1 accomplished.

Lap 2 I still felt strong but managed to have one of the most violent crashes I have ever had in a race. Through a fast flowy section at about mile 8, I was cruising at probably 20 mph when my left pedal grabbed a small stump and my bike came to a complete stop. I however, did not. I flipped over the bars, landing on my head and shoulder. Then I saw my bike go flipping through the air about 10 feet above me, landing on it's wheels nicely in the woods. I laid on the ground cussing for about a minute staring at the daytime stars, waiting for some adrenaline to wear off and make sure I didn't break anything. Nothing was broken, so I got up and kept going. A little sore for the crash, I finished the lap at about 1:01. At the finish I checked the destruction. My helmet was cracked to hell, my left Time Attac Carbon pedal was cracked on the side and through the body, and my cleat ripped out of my shoe. I haven't ever seen that, but I am definitely lucky, that could have turned out MUCH worse.

Lap 3 I felt great, pain was starting to disappear and the course was faster than ever. A few stupid mistakes, but still a fast lap of 1:00.08.

Lap 4 was my night lap, lap 11 for the team, the last of the race. It was down to me again. I was stupid worried about flatting or breaking something and ruining it all for the team again. I think the time gap was only about 6 minutes or so, so I didn't feel comfortable about just turning on cruise control to the finish. If I were to flat, the race would be too close, so I thought it would be good to at least put on a few more minutes just in case. The lap was perfect, no mistakes, I took all technical sections and descents slow and easy, picked perfect lines everywhere, and hammered where it was safe. The lap was finished in 1:03.59. Two Disappearing Panda's and a Confused Opposum win the 'Wicked Fast' category. Mission 2 accomplished.

Mike Best was putting in some strong times and was even able to stuff 6 fig newtons in his mouth while racing. Green Beans took over my bad luck with 2 flats. However, we wouldn't have been able to win without his cooking. I eat better camping with Beans than I do sitting in my apartment.

I won the fastest day lap (new course record) and night lap of the race, all 3 day laps were the fastest of the day.

Doc Update

2010-10-08T08:21:00.000-07:00

This time I decided to see another doctor all on my own, without the BOCOMO peloton calling me one by one. The aggravation and pain from last weekend sent me over the edge with an ongoing power reduction injury. Through recommendation by Dan Miller, I went and saw his orthopaedic sports doctor about my SI joint. The results were consistent with another doctor, physical therapist, and Dr. Curt. Nothing major is wrong causing the pain, which I was starting to doubt over the past weeks... but thankfully I am still relatively healthy.

I was told the anterior pelvic tilt, among other things related to this, is causing the SI joint/low back pain. 3 options were given to me; Continue what I am doing with pain, cortisone injection to relieve pain for the rest of the season, or PRP injection to promote healing and fixing the issue. I told the doctor I want to finish the rest of this season without pain as long as I won't cause any damage. He recommended to just get the cortisone injection right now, so I did. It will take a few days to have an effect, but will last a few months. PRP injection would probably be most helpful for long term, but pain is increased for about a week, and takes about 3 weeks to notice any change. I have had people tell me cortisone injection is a 'stupid' idea... but it is put in a very limited movement area, which won't tear itself apart like in a knee or shoulder. But ideally, the cortisone will eliminate the pain I am feeling in my SI joint/low back. If it works, I should be back on my A game shortly.

The plan he gave me was to continue the PT work I am doing (stretching, exercises, etc.) and come back to see him in 2 months. Once the season is over, we will look into PRP injection to help the SI joint and surrounding tendons. This will also be the best time for me to hit the gym hard to help strengthen the weaker muscles causing the imbalance. I will also take Jeff Winkler's suggestion and start yoga for flexibility. Hopefully all of this will fix the issue and keep me healthy in the long run.

I was given the green light to race Burnin at the mf'ing Bluff tomorrow. I am doing the 12 hour team with Green Beans and Mike Best. I am looking for a new course record. I did the fastest lap last year of 1:02.30 on a slow muddy course with a bike and wheel size I've never ridden. If I can keep my back together, 59.59 should be beatable.

But here is a picture that will bring a smile to anyone's face:

Boss Cross #1 & 2

2010-10-03T17:06:00.001-07:00

Drove up to KC for the Boss Cross series in Riverside. The course was very fast, flat, and a ton of fun... probably going to be one of the best of the year. Huge open field, about 27 people with a lot of horsepower. I started 2nd row and managed to get into about 5th by the first corner. Ended up in the lead group the most of the race, at first with Tilford (Tradewind), Tom Price (KCCX), Jeff Winkler (KCCX), and Brian Jensen (Tradewind.) Crashes and bike mishaps brought the lead group down to Tom, Brian, and I. I was pretty comfortable in the group and hung out waiting for Butthead to catch up to us. I decided to attack Brian coming into a technical sand/turn/hill section and hit the gas hard. This eventually dropped Tom and put a small gap on Jensen. My legs felt great and I was pretty pumped to hold on the gas and go. After maybe 2 laps of this with about 2 laps to go the effort/running blew my SI up bad. My sand/barrier runs turned into walks, the pain in my right hip was becoming excruciating... but my legs still felt great, unfortunately there wasn't anything left to push against. Brian closed the small gap I built and passed me. Then much to my surprise Winkler comes flying by me, I saw him on lap 3 or so standing on the side of the course fixing his bike. He was at least a minute behind me at one point of the race, very impressive. Butthead also caught me and I tried to sit on his wheel the rest of the race. I finished 4th with Winkler taking a well earned win, followed by Brian Jensen and Butthead.

Day 2 was more frustrating with my SI blowing up on lap 2. I was forced to ride at about 60% effort with no high end power, trying to stretch every 15 seconds or so. I was riding with Bill Marshall (KCCX) most of the race, he took advantage of my injury as much as possible, attacking out of corners to try and lose me, which I expected. Pretty much the whole race I was trying to ride as smooth as possible with consistant power to keep some inflammation down. I waited till the last lap to really suffer and hit the gas hard to hold on to 5th spot. I was surprised to see how much ground I made up on the last lap, nearly catching Tom Price at the finish. Most of my family came to watch this race, I wish I could have ridden like I should.

I am not a happy camper right now, very aggravated. We have worked on so many possible weakness' resulting in this injury, but it keeps coming back. I am getting an X-Ray taken on Monday to see if there is something physically wrong with the SI area that is causing the inflammation. This may be followed by an MRI and hopefully a Cortisone injection to temporarily end the pain. It's hard to estimate how long it will last, but from what I have read, 3 days to 3 months. I will completely lose my mind if I have to suffer through this every other race this season, I came way too close today.

Long Week

2010-09-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

I've been extremely busy lately with school, the last week and a half have felt like a month. I went to Minneapolis for a week to learn how to use a finite element analysis simulation software for my research. It is very powerful, difficult to learn, and will most likely take over the next 4 years of my life.

I raced Hermann CX Under the Lights the weekend before last, I think everyone has read about what happened already. I started 22nd place on the 3rd row, moved to 5th spot after the start sprint into the first turn behind 4 KCCX guys. Rain and lightning started. I moved to the front after half a lap, crashed, back in 5th. Bell rang after the 1st lap. People were running into each other and crashing, I kept moving up. I managed to make it to the front a little past half way through the lap, didn't fall ove, then sprinted to the finish. I "won" the shortest cross race ever. Sunday was canceled due to the whole course being underwater.

I headed to Minneapolis Sunday for school, got to stay in a sweet hotel in downtown. School payed for the rental car, gas, food, hotel, and my class... and I talked them into letting me get an SUV so I can take my CX bikes.

Monday I went to a Twins game, almost caught a home run ball. Maybe would have been closer if I didn't run away from it.

Tuesday I found a weekly CX race about 15 minutes from my hotel, I got there in time after my class. I didn't get to ride Monday and my legs felt like bricks from sitting in the car for 11 hours and 2 solid days of sitting in a class. The course wasn't very fast or long, but at least I got to get some CX practice in. I rode around the whole race with a kid named Jordan Cullen, who's racing for the Clif Bar Development Team this year, he was super strong. I couldn't get him off my wheel the whole race, then I slide out with about 3 corners to go and couldn't get back around by the finish, so I took 2nd.

The rest of the week was very difficult to ride, I got to see what it's like to live in a big city, work nearly an hour away from 8-5, deal with traffic, and be far away from "real" riding. I managed to commute back from our class, about 25 miles away, twice that week (rained most of the time we were there.) Google directions for bikes was pretty accurate, however I managed to get pretty lost the first time. Our class was south east of St. Paul, so I had to ride to and through St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis. However, most of the ride was on bike paths, which cover the entire region. Some of the scenery was awesome, and a lot of the areas had separate paths for bikes and walkers.

Overall the trip was great. Another person from my office and myself were the only ones in the class, so they took us out to nice restaurants for lunch every day, and then we went out to other nice restaurants for dinner to spend all the allocated food funding for the week. I learned too much, ate too much, and didn't ride enough.

I got back Saturday night at about 10pm after an 11 hour drive, went to sleep, then got up and drove 2 hours to KC to race some cross. My back/SI joint were not agreeing with me, this seems to get bad when I take too much time off the bike. This plus a week of hardly any riding made me not expect much out of the race. A strong field showed up on a pretty difficult course on the side of a hill. At the start I was sitting about 3rd position behind Tilford and Shad Smith. I sat there waiting for Butthead to catch up to us, which he did, quickly. Tilford pulled himself out due to hamstring cramping and it was left with Buttface, Shad, and I. Buttheadface attacked and I sat on Shad's wheel waiting for a response. Nothing. I couldn't chase my own teammate so I hung out, building a huge lead on the rest of the field. My back was blown up completely but I still had enough legs to hang on. I made an error and lost Shad's wheel for about a lap, but caught back up on the last lap. At the finish I sprinted for 2nd spot behind Facebutt. Shad apparently didn't know it was the last lap... which still confuses me.

My original plan included USGP #1 in Madison, however UPS sucks. They wouldn't accept my rommates signature for a package containing my birth certificate, which needed to be faxed to USAC to confirm USA residency for my UCI Elite license.

Sac River 6 Hour

2010-09-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

I haven't ever done a 6 hour race before and I figured this is one of the best ways to get ready for the Berryman. Conditions looked okay leading up to the race, with a couple of days of dry time, but a big storm rolled through Springfield the night/morning before the race. Race was still on, so I headed out there and met up with Dr. Beans and Mike Best. Not many people were there, only 6 in the 6 hr solo, including Best. Probably 50 or so total people, mostly teams for the 6 and 12 hour.

The trail was pretty nasty, especially the first 2 laps. It was not fast by any means, even if it was dry. Lots of turns, tons of sharp rocks, and not much climbing. I took the hole shot so I wouldn't be caught in falling down and sliding out traffic and built up a gap. About 15 minutes into the lap my front tire started spewing Stans and air and I stopped to let it seal up. It did, losing a few psi, which actually made tire pressure perfect. 5 minutes later my front tire kicked up a huge rock and smashed my rear derailleur, slightly bending my hanger. Not really the best way to start a 6 hour race. I stopped again and bent my derailleur back by hand, which actually was back to spot on. I also managed to take out all of the spider webs for everyone, you're welcome.

After the first lap was over, everything started to come together. I continued to stay on the gas, drifted through the sloppy corners, and rode pretty well overall. After each lap, the course began to get broken in, smoothed out a bit, and the mud slowly disappeared. However, the nasty parts after the multiple creek crossings got worse and worse, but all rideable to the end.

My main goal for this race was to ride hard for at least 4.5 hours, which is about the Berryman length. At just under 4 hours I had the whole solo and teamed fields lapped. I did the 4.5 hours at about 75% just fine, then began losing motivation and dreaming of cookies and pizza. The last 1.5 hours took about 8 hours if I remember right. I slowed way down so I wouldn't have to go out for an extra lap. Surprisingly, my legs still felt great at 5 hours, however the rest of me hurt, everywhere. I finished 13 5 mile muddy laps in 6:03, almost 2 laps up on everyone.

That was the longest I have ridden my mtb before, pretty fun. I also got to experiment with some snacks while racing. Coke, different GU, Clif bars, shot blocks, and electrolyte capsules. Coke was great, however upset my stomach by the end, maybe I shouldn't have 3 next time. Shot blocks go down very easy, Clif bars are too dry and hard to eat, GU is always easy and great, and the electrolyte capsules are hands down my favorite. No cramps, legs felt awesome the whole time.

Springfield Racing put on and AWESOME event! Well marked course, super nice people putting on the race, tons of food afterward for everyone, GREAT swag, and a nice payout for all the work.

Bike is pretty trashed, Finish Line Wet lube is by far the best mud lube on the market, chain stayed pretty sparkly most of the time, shifting was stayed great. Red C-Dale kit has been retired, completely destroyed by this race.

Race Schedule & Stuff

2010-09-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

Mileage and intensity have been picked way up, fitness is coming back way faster than I predicted. SI pain is gone, low back pain is off and on, seems to be dependent on how tight my hamstrings feel like being that day. Race priority right now is the Berryman Epic, so my training is geared towards that and CX... I have learned it is pretty much impossible to train for both at the same time. 6 hour race this weekend, Burnin' 12 hour team, as well as 1-2 long rides a week, and a couple more XC races should get me ready. CX races start up in 2 weeks which will be building anaerobic ability. Even though my training started a few weeks later than planned, I have condensed it all down enough to be ready, basically relying on the big miles I put in over the winter/spring.

Anyway, here is my tentative race schedule for the rest of the year:

9/11: Sac River 6 hour solo -MTB
9/18-19: Hermann CX
9/21: Minneapolis weekly tuesday cx race
9/25: USGP #1 in Madison WI
9/26: MTB race?
10/2: Mizzou collegiate regional championship XC
10/3: Ronde Von Jakob CX
10/9: Burnin' at the Bluff XC
10/16: Bubba #1
10/17: Bubba #2
10/23: Berryman Epic
10/24: Bubba #3 if I can walk
10/30: Bubba #4
10/31: Bubba #5
11/6: Pro Iceman Cometh Challenge XC in WI, if I can get in.
11/7: Bubba #6
11/13: Bubba #7
11/14: Bubba #8
11/21: Bubba #9
11/28: Bubba #10
12/5: CX State Championship

These are a lot of races, some may be dropped due to time constraints/school or me being lazy.

A new CX bike has arrived, pictures will be posted once it's all ready

Waaaaaambulance

2010-08-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

I used to think that I could never get injured from just riding my bike. One of the worst mistakes I made was taking those 2 weeks off from riding. My whole body twisted back to the same injured state earlier in the year, except 10x worse, and taking A LOT longer to overcome. The last 5 weeks or so I have been having constant SI/low back pain, at some points bad enough I couldn't sleep or walk. This is mainly due to a nasty anterior pelvic tilt that I've developed from riding and not doing much else.

Dr. Curt Kippenberger at Focus on Health Chiropractic took care of me earlier in the year and got me feeling better than I ever have while racing, no back pain, and no SI pain. It was my fault for starting to slack on the stretching/exercises/core work and taking the 2 weeks off the bike. But he has been working very hard over the past few weeks getting me back to normal again and the pain is just about gone. HUGE thanks to him for taking such an interest, I recommend everyone go there to get work done, you will feel great.

Intensity training started yesterday, a few weeks later than planned, but it went pretty well. No pain today, which is very promising. I have been limited to 1.5 hour rides on flat trail at grandma pace the last couple weeks, so I don't really have any speed in my legs at all. I will begin upping the intensity to get ready for CX, and hopefully begin to get some 4-5 hour rides in once or twice a week to get ready for the Berryman.

As for CX, I will be joining forces with my arch nemesis/Jedi Master... there will be complete destruction. Everyone else should probably get their excuses prepared.

Recharge Time

2010-07-16T18:29:00.000-07:00

I came down with some nasty allergy/cold combo last weekend. I went out on a ride Saturday afternoon with some hard efforts to get ready for the Omba Caramba on Sunday, but it was way hard to maintain a hard effort. I couldn't breathe at all and was super uncomfortable/tight. I woke up Sunday feeling the same way. I am not a fan of racing when I don't feel good, especially a mountain race. 6 hours of driving for a mediocre performance with bad suffering didn't sound like fun, especially when you probably won't gain anything out of it. I skipped out on the race and took it easy. I usually take 2 weeks off the bike for some deep recovery twice a year... around now and around Christmas. I looked at the racing schedule and realized it was the perfect time to do it, I feel like crap and no races coming up. It's been about a week now without training (only commuting, but that doesn't count) and I feel fat and slow, not sure if I will make it the 2 weeks... but it's really the best way to get myself ready to start cross training and making it to December without burning out.

The new cross bike has been ordered... I can't wait.

Marathon Nationals

2010-07-07T07:20:00.001-07:00

For the 3rd year in a row I went out to Breckenridge Colorado for the Firecracker 50, Marathon National Championship. It is 50 miles (actually 54 according to Mike's Garmin), around 11,000 feet of climbing, and elevation between 9,700 and 11,300 feet.

I was racing the Open Men 19-29 category, I finished last year in 10th place and the year before that in about 15th. Last year I managed to improve my time by 33 minutes and my goal was to crush that time again this year. I also changed my strategy, instead of setting my own pace at the start and see how it goes, I wanted to be with the lead group up the first 6 mile climb. The first part of the climb I was thinking "this isn't so bad, they aren't going that fast." But then I remembered I was in Colorado and I was climbing a mountain.

That wasn't a very good idea. I have always been told "you can't push yourself at your limit the whole time at altitude like you can in Missouri." I didn't listen to that advice, I pushed myself like I would with any climb in Missouri and after about 4 miles started to bog down... bad. I couldn't breath and my legs weren't getting rid of the lactic acid. The entire first lap I suffered horribly, my legs never opened up. I wasn't necessarily going slow, but I wasn't riding like myself. I was having trouble getting focused on the climbs, and I was bouncing off tree's in the single track and running everything over. I was coming to a conclusion that this race would just turn in to a bike ride.

At the end of the 1st lap, well over 2 hours later, I began to breath again and remembered how to ride single track and started to get in a rhythm. I came into lap 2 and my wonderful cheerleaders (Mike, Nate, and Jason) encouraged me, handed off a banana, handful of electrolyte pills, and told me I was running 5th place. I didn't think I was doing that well... awesome, huge motivation boost.

I hit the 6 mile climb again with a lot more power. Yuki Saito (Team Topeak/Ergon) caught me on the climb and I hopped on his wheel. We got in a group of about 5 guys and traded pulls up the climb. I took a pretty long and hard pull and was left with just Yuki and another guy. Yuki came around and said "you are riding very well," which was a nice comment and another motivation booster. I grabbed a couple bottles at the aid station and was set back about 15 seconds into the single track, and I tried to chase him back down again but got caught in traffic.

The rest of the lap I began riding like I should. I was powering up the climbs and ripping the single track. I was surprised how much time I was gaining in the single track, I guess that's a benefit of living and racing in the Midwest. I flew past 3 other guys in my age group through the single track and the climbs, thinking I was in 2nd place. I ended up finishing in 3rd somehow with a time of 4.22. I hit my goal of a top 5 finish, but I am super bummed about the time. That is only 7 minutes faster than last year... it should have been a lot faster. The first lap sort of killed me I think, but I shouldn't worry about the time and be happy with the result. 3rd place in a National Championship is good enough for me. Especially when not acclimated to altitude at all and having no training on epic 30 minute climbs. My time would have put me 25/43 in the Pro field, not too bad against dudes that live and train at altitude. My goal time would have had me in top 20 with the Pro's and a Stars and Stripes jersey in my group. I lost my age group by 8 minutes, pretty aggravating. I have the fitness and ability to get that time, it just wasn't the best day.

Next year this race will be in Bend Oregon... already planning on going.

Thank you to Mike, Beans, and Jason for driving my ass around, cooking food, and waiting around the whole race to help me out, it made the trip much better!

Firecracker 50 Prep

2010-06-28T21:15:00.001-07:00

I decided to keep my bike with me last weekend, then ship it to CO, so I could get another race in... but I was talked into a party Saturday night. I was planning on having a few beers and going to sleep, but 5 minutes later I already had those down. I woke up at 11am still slightly drunk... definitely not making it. So instead of that, after rolling out of bed and napping on the couch, I did a 3.5 hour fast paced gravel ride on the mtb. I actually feel more sore today from that effort then I have from the past races, and probably better training for the 50 mile 12,000 foot climbing Marathon National Championship race in Breckenridge next weekend.

I did this race 2 years ago, my first 50 mile race. I finished in 5:02 at about 15th place or so, I hurt... bad. I did this last year and finished in 4:29 with a flat, huge improvement, still very painful, but only finished 10th. That time would have put me in 5th the year before, pretty disappointing. The difference this year is a faster, lighter, and bigger wheeled bike. Me being 5-6 pounds lighter with much better fitness, and the low back pain pretty much fixed. I really don't like setting time goals because it stresses me out and I like to just see how it goes. But I have to have some goal to shoot for I guess, so I would really like to finish in 4:10. This time would put me in top 5 or even a top 3 spot.

I will be flying out Friday morning to meet up with Green Beans and Mike Best in Breckenridge who have been riding out there all week. I would have joined them if I wasn't stuck doing science experiments at school... I need a vacation. I am super pumped.

Lost Valley Luau

2010-06-21T13:28:00.001-07:00

Drove down to Lost Valley with Green Beans on Sunday to race some mountain bikes. It was said to be 11.5 mile laps, with the Cat 1's doing 3 laps. There was an excessive heat advisory, 96 degree's with 70% humidity. It was super hot, but I was honestly expecting worse... but the mosquito's made up the difference. I donated a lot of blood to the little bastards, along with every other person there.

The start of the race was a little over a half mile of Katy Trail like double track, where I testing my drafting skills to use as little energy as possible to get ready for the upcoming climb. I hit the double track climb at about 3rd position still feeling fresh and picked up the pace, I looked back and I opened up a bit of a gap, so I tried to stay at a comfortable pace for a little while. Then I see Devin Clark, a strong road racer, coming up on my wheel. We took a couple turns pulling and then Ploch went by to get into the single track first, I immediately jumped on his wheel. I followed Ploch through all of the first section of single track, where we opened up a gap on the rest of the field, then made it to the next double track where we both pulled to keep up our average speed.

Coming into the 2nd and 3rd laps I had to CX dismount to grab a couple cold bottles and hop back on, which seemed to have wasted about 15 seconds each time. I lost Chris on the hill coming into lap 2 doing this, but I managed to catch him at the top of the climb. He told me to lead the single track, I was a little hesitant because I thought he would be running faster through it than me. I felt pretty good and picked up the effort quite a bit, losing sight of Chris after about 5 minutes or so. Once I was on my own I turned on cruise control near full gas the rest of the race. I will have to double check results when they are posted, but I think my finish time was about 1:56, 3 minutes or so ahead of Ploch. Total distance was supposedly around 34 miles... which would equal a ridiculous average speed, but I think Chris told me total distance was 30 miles... still pretty fast.

A lot of this race was flat double track, which is fine for me because I have become a Katy Trail/gravel Jedi over the last couple of years with the bocomo peloton. The single track sections were a lot of fun... pretty flowy, but I was almost positive one of the million sharp rocks were going to get me. But somehow again, my tires survived to let me win the overall a second weekend in a row. And thank you Team Seagal for the PBR after the race, pretty sure that saved my life. Also thanks to Mesa Cycles and Matt James for putting on a very well run race. I can't believe everyone managed to sit out there for 5+ hours in the heat and mosquito's, more impressive than anyone racing if you ask me.

Next weekend my MTB will be in route to Colorado with Green Beans and Mike Best for the Marathon National Championships the 4th of July, so no mountain racing for me. I will either race a local crit or most likely go out for a moderately hard 4-5 hour gravel ride.

MO MTB State Championship

2010-06-13T18:07:00.002-07:00

This year's race was at Castlewood again down in St. Louis. Temperature was probably over 350 degree's with a million percent humidity, and I sweated right when I got out of the car... might be an interesting race. I was pretty pumped about this race, mainly just because I wanted to get the jersey and wear it around Butthead as much as possible. A pretty strong Cat 1 field was present with the usual heavy hitters, including Elwell who took the trip down from KC, who got a SUPER impressive 14th position in the Pro Mellow Johnny's mtb race in TX, beating some very big names.

I was on the front line and we were off, the start of the race was straight up a gravel double track climb to a pretty technical decent that I would have probably died down if Breslin didn't warn me before we began. I got a good start, grabbing Elwell's wheel up the climb, down the descent, and back up Grotpeter. I looked over my shoulder after the climbs and saw Breslin hanging pretty close, with none of the other field in sight. I followed Elwell for most of the lap, but it turns out he was having some really bad stomach problems and told me to go by, so I did. Right when I did this I looked back and saw some of the group catching back up.

I hit the last climb hard, opened up a pretty big gap, and tried to pace myself the rest of the race. I wasn't sure how my body would react to the heat and humidity for 2 hours of mashing, so I tried to conserve energy and cool down where possible. I hit all of the climbs and power sections hard, and took advantage of the super flowy and fast single track to cool down and be smooth and fast. I was totally expecting to cramp and blow up the last lap.

That never happened. I came through the end of lap 3 and Green Beans told me I had over a minute lead.... that didn't seem like much time... I thought they were catching up. I tried to pick up the pace and flew up Grotpeter again, got in a lot of lapped traffic, and then attacked the last climb hard. Ended up finishing 1st overall, fastest lap a little over 26 minutes, total time of 1:52.03, with about a 3.5 minute lead over 2nd, John Rines, who was followed by John Matthews and Ploch.

Bocomo killed the weekend. Dan Miller took the single speed state jersey, and Mike Best won the marathon state jersey. Another good weekend of showing how we roll in bocomo. Also a huge thanks to Dave Stitz for the ice water into lap 4... I probably would still be laying in the woods somewhere if I didn't get that.

I have the jersey. No kankle power needed.

Luck finally turns around

2010-06-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

Headed down to Birmingham Alabama with Green Beans this past weekend for the US Cup Kenda Qualifier, Bump N' Grind... 2nd year in a row. Last year I had a ton of mechanicals and excuses, and finished 4th in XC. Trails were amazing then, it was pretty easy to talk Nate into joining me this year... I think he was happy he came.

Saturday was STXC, the flier said amateurs only, but I found myself to be up against all the pro's, as well as the Cat 1, 2, 3's and women. It was called Turn N' Burn... I didn't think anything about the name, but I battled for the 2nd row and as the gun went off they yelled "TURN AROUND, THIS IS TURN N' BURN," uhhhhh what!? Super duper, I was one of the last to turn around, here's what I had to battle through.

There were about 60 people or so in the race, and I had to battle through all of them. By the time I got into an okay position, a group of pro's were way off the front. According to Nate, who was my wonderful cheerleader and photographer during this event, I got through the traffic and began my chase about 30 seconds back. I didn't make up any time and I didn't really lose any time either, so I finished 7th overall. Not too bad really. I was running in the red the whole time, not used to putting out that kind of effort that quickly into a race this time of the year. They encouraged people to do the STXC race with big prizes, an average of $45 prize per $45 entry fee... pretty easy to do when there's a $500 bike frame up for grabs. But somehow, out of all of the people, I won the Niner frame. Stood on the podium with the frame in my Cannondale sponsored kit.

The XC race was on Sunday, with about 18 people in my Cat 1 19-29 field. I remembered last year how I nearly missed the start last year and ended up last into the single track, so this time I was stressing out about getting on the front line and getting into the trail top 5. I managed to get on the front line, but quickly realized the people I was racing were willing to take everyone out just so they could get in the trail first. There was a lot of riding through grass and down a street before we hit the trail, but everyone was just running into each other, cussing at each other, and being SUPER sketchy. I nearly got taken out a few times and didn't want anything to do with this, so I was 16/18 into the single track, awesome.

After 3 miles of single track, a double track gravel section popped up and I accelerated around most of the field. I got back into the trail in 5th position and we picked up the pace, dropping the rest of the field. This paceline through the single track lasted until we got to the 660 foot elevation double track climb. The group broke up, and a Kenda rider, ex-pro Andrew Johnston, took off. I sat on a wheel half way up and then pulled the rest of the climb, brining back another rider, putting me in 3rd position. There was a technical descent after this and he flatted, so I was in 2nd position and was in chase mode. After this I began passing some Pro riders who started 4 minutes before me as well as all of the Pro women who started 2 minutes before.

The rest of the race I rode as smooth as possible to keep myself from flatting... and I would have to say it was the smoothest I have ever raced. I kept seeing the Kenda rider up ahead, with time gaps coming down to maybe 15 seconds, but then he disappeared again, not sure where I was losing time. After a little more then 28 miles of racing in 2:05.44 I was done, finishing 2nd. I finished 3rd overall in the Cat 1 field with all age groups, which is getting me closer to being able to upgrade. My time would have put me in 8th/15 in the Pro field, about 9 minutes behind the 1st place Pro, not too bad. But I took home $210... plus a bike frame, totally worth it.

But anyway, I thought I rode very well, very happy to get a convincing result without a mechanical. Up next is the MO State MTB race, then another Kenda Qualifier race in Indiana. Also a HUGE thanks to Green Beans for cooking every meal... and putting up with the awesome German techno in the car... and pace lining for about an hour at 80-100 mph on the way back.

Birthday Shenanigans

2010-06-02T20:31:00.001-07:00

We drank all night, then at midnight, my birthday, we decided it would be a great idea to go on a bike ride. Friends that joined in were Brent, Tim, Jesse, and Andy. First I put on my birthday skinsuit. We left at 1am, already very drunk.

Backpacks were stacked full of beer, mainly Mich Ultra so I could watch my figure. We all drank (chugged) the entire way to Big Tree, Nifong to the MKT trail.

I continued to drink and went to the front and picked up the pace, suffering ensued... only from drinking too much.

Made it to the MKT entrance... time to shotgun another beer... hard to do that with a bottle.

I attacked off the trail through some farm field, didn't flat.

Eventually we made it to Big Tree... and chugged another beer.

Took the paved road around the big tree, I attacked in a TT position.

Took the new bypass around the new bridges on the MKT... I've never ridden the bypass before. I slammed into a pile of dirt at full speed, with no light. I didn't flat.

We all rode like drunken idiots the whole way back to Columbia, numerous crashes occurred. Lots of skidding rocks on each other, flying off into the woods, and sprinting around. Once back in como we (Brent, Jesse, and I) loaded up on pancakes, beef, and whatever else was in sight and headed back out again... back to Big Tree via MKT to the Katy Trail to Rocheport... with a lot more beer. We eventually made it with lots of mosquito bites, pee breaks, and beers later. The sun came up when we made it there, 5:30am by the time we rode up to the winery... still very drunk.

Yes, Jesse is a special little guy.

We ran out of beer on the way back and started sobering up... it seemed to have taken forever. Jesse was bleeding from flying over the bars coming down from the winery. My tires were still intact.

I took a nap while riding.

We made it back home by 7:30am... about 6 hours of ride time and around 56 very drunken miles on mountain bikes... completely lost count of beers consumed, still slightly drunk when we got back. Slept about 4 hours, went to Ihop, then continued drinking Trops at the pool all day and lots of beer all night. Definitely one of the best birthdays in a while, I am happy nobody died.

Good news for once

2010-05-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

I think my loyal 5 readers are aware of the SI joint pains I've been constantly having all year, as well as the super nasty low back pain I get in races. I was convinced by the majority of the BOCOMO peloton to go see a doctor since there might be something seriously wrong and could permanently damage something. I've been seeing Curt the last few weeks and he's been doing a fantastic job at making me feel better. I went to the doctor yesterday and he wrote me a prescription to see a PT and get everything fixed. I went to the PT today and he told me the same thing that Curt did. I have muscle imbalances that are causing my pelvis to tilt, inflaming my SI joint, and blowing up my lower back during races.

Basically what he found was that I have very strong quads and hip flexors, but my glutes are weak, and my hamstrings are okay. My hip flexors are extremely inflexible, as well as my hamstrings. Somehow all of this causes my pelvis to tilt and twist. So those imbalances and inflexible muscles need to be corrected. I was told it might be a rough season, since it will probably hurt. None of this sounds like good news I know, but the good news is that I can still ride my bike. He told me to keep training, keep stretching, and keep doing the exercises.

People always say you are only as good as your weaknesses', and in this case, the weaknesses' are clear and performance inhibiting. It seems pretty clear to me that once I get this all fixed, my power will increase and I will be able to hold it longer. This is bad news for anyone racing cross this fall.

At what point do you give up?

2010-05-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

Just got back from racing Rhett's Run here in Columbia. It has rained the last few days, the trail was VERY muddy. I don't do too bad in the mud and was pretty excited about racing. I put on the Mountain King 2.2's with Stan's sealant. These tires are pretty heavy at a little over 700 grams, pretty aggressive, and good in the mud. The SI joint hurt the whole 30 minute ride out to Cosmo park, but started loosening up while I rode around there before the start. Not many people showed up, but Aaron Elwell (Super fast KC Pro), and Breslin took the trip out.

The start of the race Breslin and Elwell tore off the front and I was riding behind Musselman. Up the first climb Musselman let me by and I caught up to Breslin and Aaron, and I then took the lead through a super mud bog that took some power and monster trucking skills. As most people know, I am good at monster trucking stuff.

Me and Elwell rode together for the majority of the first lap, trading places when we flew off the trail. Towards the end of the first lap I hit the gas up a few climbs and built up a small lead, about 1 minute ahead at the end of the first lap. the time was 25:25, not bad for a SUPER muddy 4.9 mile loop. I turned on cruise control, took the corners easy, payed super close attention to where my wheels were going so I wouldn't flat, and drilled the climbs and power sections. About 3 or so miles into the second lap I started passing the sport riders. One of them told me to pass on the right, so I went off the trail to get around and immediately heard the awesome sound of air and stans shooting out of my tire. Immediately dismounted, put my finger over the hole with hole on the bottom to let the Stans seal it up. Waited 2-3 minutes for it to seal, no air was coming out, put some c02 in it and started going, then it opened up again. Time for a tube. At this point, 3-4 minutes after I flatted, Elwell roles by followed by Musselman a couple minutes back. I spent probably 10 minutes trying to get my tube in, I somehow managed to get my spoke through the tiny slit in my rear derailleur, so it was stuck and nearly broke my derailleur. SUPER DUPER.

I rode for about 1/4 mile until my tire went flat again. Apparently there was a thorn in my tire that the Stans sealed up, so it popped the tube. The first flat was a 1" slit in the tread, as usual. I walked through the mud back to the finish, my SI joint was completely blown up at this point, very painful to move my right leg.

Anyway, another race DNF. I don't know what the deal is, how do I manage to flat every tire I put on? The light ones, the heavy ones, tubes and tubeless. Do I just suck at mountain biking? I put so much time, effort, and money into training, racing, and prepping, but it doesn't matter. How much more of this can I take before I just quit and move on to something else? I'd say road racing, but I flatted out of the last one of those I did. Everyone at the race recommends going back to a 26" bike... which would handle more smoothly. Something else I was thinking about... I usually run 30-40 PSI in my tires, would higher pressure's cause more sliced flats since the tire wouldn't deform around whatever they are rolling over?

More of the same

2010-05-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

Let's see here, where to start. I am 95% certain I have the worst luck on a bike ever. I put a new set of tubeless tires on for Syllamo, which I didn't race due to injury. Went on a gravel road ride this week and flatted them, cafe latex didn't seal a pin sized hole. I put in a tube in and made it home. Rode mountain the day after and flatted it again. AWESOME! So I went back to a tire that hasn't let me down, the super narrow tubeless Bontrager 29-3 2.0. It really measures smaller then a 2.0, but the way I look at it, a narrower tire won't clip rocks as easily on trails.

Drove down to race Greensfelder with Mike Best. Gorc did an AMAZING job with this trail, it gets beaten up by horses but it was in primo shape for the race, A+ job. But anyway, anyone could probably guess how I did. Right! I broke a chain, 50 feet into the race. The age groups leave in 1 min. gaps, so as I ran (slowly, running is hard) backwards over the start/finish I was heckled by competition.

It took a long time for me to try and run to my car, with my SI joint already completely blown up. I fixed the chain and tore off to the starting line. I started 7 minutes back, behind ALL of the sport/single-speed/expert riders, which was probably over 100 people. Immediately into the single track behind everyone it was a cluster, going VERRRRYYYYY slowly down the first loose decent, and SUUUPPPERRR slowly up the climbs and over the big scary rocks. I politely asked to get by everyone in front of me saying I was an expert rider trying to catch back up, but I got no response from anyone. I called which side I was passing on and tried to get by but people just speed up, they were totally going to win. Wow, awesome, this might take a while. I wish I had a heart rate monitor on, it must have been around 100. People in front were crashing, running into tree's, rocks, each other, it was kind of entertaining. I passed everywhere I could, drilled it where I could, took it easy on the insta-flat sections, took Green Bean's advice and timed my efforts.

The last 2-3 miles or so was gravel double track with a 300 ft. climb. I absolutely destroyed this climb/section each lap, passing huge chunks of people. I passed pretty much all of the sport/single speeders on the first lap and began passing expert riders on lap 2. I stayed in my big ring the entire race, lap 2 was about 20-30 seconds slower then the fastest lap of the day (Ploch), while continuously being stuck in traffic.

Anyway, lap 1 was super super slow due to fixing a mechanical and being stuck behind riders, lap 2 was quick, lap 3 was also fast, but not fast enough. I still managed to win my age group by 8 minutes and finish in the top 10 overall. Not bad I guess considering first lap was 13 minutes slower then it should have been. I finished 10 minutes behind Ploch, I think I would have done pretty well if the Josh Johnson recommended Wippermann chain didn't explode. I also forgot to mention I got DQ'd after the race, apparently going back to my car to fix my chain is a big no-no in the USAC world. It sure put me at a big advantage in the race. But Mike Best finished 3rd behind Ploch and Eric Pirtle, super impressive considering he "hasn't really been training." Also nice job Ploch, not bad for someone who floats down rivers all day.

I am tired of having to race through traffic.

Cut my losses

2010-05-01T13:42:00.000-07:00

I've spent all week trying to get over some nasty reoccurring SI joint pain. 3 days off the bike and short workouts didn't seem to help. I can still ride seated, but every time I stand up or get bumped around, I get the same shooting pains. I was really banking on the pain disappearing by Syllamo on Saturday. But that wasn't the only issue with the race weekend. 90% chance of strong storms Friday night, 80% chance of T-storms Saturday. I started driving down to Mountain View AR Friday afternoon and by the time I got into southern Missouri, the steady rain and distant lightning became heavy rain and a breathtaking lightning storm. Hydroplaning at 40mph and hail made me turn on the radio, hearing a tornado warning in the county I just came into and a tornado on the ground in the town I am about to roll through. The clouds were super ominous... swirling and all kinds of crazy shit, and almost pitch black at 7:00 PM. I hit a dry spot and punched it to about 100 to the next gas station, which was filled with others getting off the highway. The power went out in the Conoco and we waited for the storm to roll through, but according to the radio numerous bands of severe, tornado producing storms would be rolling through.

Once this band was done, rain let up a little and I continued on my journey to Syllamo. I kept the weather radio on and made it Oregon County. No less then 1 minute of getting into this county I hear on the radio "new tornado warning has been issued in Oregon county, tornado on ground in northern Oregon county, north of Thayer"... shitballs, I am 10 miles north of Thayer... and it's hailing again. F that, high speed U-turn back to West Plains. It's about 9:45 at this point and I decided to hit the Eject button on making it to the cabin Team Seagal offered a bed at. 1.5 hours from the race, not so bad, wake up in the morning and drive down.

Woke up at 4:00 AM and got out of bed and couldn't walk without super sharp pains in my SI. Shiiiiit, this sucks. Knowing the weather forecast and how I was feeling, I had to make a big boy decision. Race with the pain, possibly get more injured, go slow, completely destroy my drive train, and have to overhaul my bike post-race, or cut my losses and drive home with my head down. I chose the smarter of the 2, I drove home. I am pissed that I didn't race anyway... but I seriously doubt it would have been worth it. My bike and hip are happy... time for ice cream.

The worst part was the weather forecast was wrong, there were no storms during the race. Time for a yard sale.

Tour de Tick, Syllamo Prep

2010-04-29T09:14:00.001-07:00

Tour de Tick was a good race, trails dried as well as the promoter said. I hit the woods in 2nd position (I don't like the hole shot). Somewhere within the 50 feet into the trail I nailed my crank on something, I had no idea what happened, but it was worse then I thought. A minute later my chain falls off, this has NEVER happened with the XX, weird. I was in last place. I managed to pass the field and chase down Dan Miller who built up a big lead in a short period of time. Dan got squirrely on a wet turn and I attacked. Turned on the cruise control and went around a corner and heard the familiar "pshhhhhhhh", great, a flat. 15 second later Dan comes around the same corner, prepared to make fun, and "pshhhhhhh", Dan flats. We fixed our flats together and 3 minutes later the expert field passes, followed by single speed and some sport field. These were super slow flat changes. I filled up my tire and saw my tube poking through, the godawful Schwalbe Racing Ralph slit open, 4 miles into it's life. I let some pressure out and hammered the rest of the lap, seeing if it would blow again. However I knew it was inevitable.

Didn't blow up, so I grabbed another tube and c02 at the start/finish and destroyed the second lap. About half way into the 3rd lap I was in first place again. "pshhhhhh" aaaand I'm flat. 2 minutes later I get passed by some expert guys and then Dan, who really wasn't very far back at all. I fixed my flat, stuck a gu in the tire to keep from blowing out. Then realized my chain rings were wobbling back and forth, rubbing into my chain stay... shit. They dug in a little and I decided that continuing pedaling would have been stupid and may possibly destroy my frame.

I DNF'ed. Dan Miller was super impressive, he fixed his flat and calmly (much smarter then my methods) passed the whole field and finished the race in 1st. He is getting seriously strong and will be one of the big competitors this season in all of the races... mountain, road, and cross. I think I see a lot of bocomo 1-2's this year.

70% chance of storms the day before and during Syllamo. I'll be throwing on some Continental Mountain King 2.2's for the race. They are beefy and supposedly good in the mud. My goal for this race was to get 1st and beat Eric Pirtle's record time of 4:28. But now with the conditions I don't think it's possible. As for the competitors, I see Jeff Winkler, Garth Prosser, and Dwayne Goscinski signed up. There may be some other fast guys that I don't know of, but as far as I know, these are who I need to keep an eye on. If I could put money on it, I'd throw it down on Winkler, but I've beat the odds before.

The Weekend: Pity Claps and Win #1

2010-04-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

I did two races this weekend, the Hermann criterium and the Bone Bender 3/6 hour MTB race in Smithville MO.

Trying something new this weekend, instead of my secret "openers" the day before my races, I decided to race a crit. It only lasts about an hour, but figured it was probably the best way to get my legs and cardio ready for a beating on Sunday. I drove down to Hermann, MO for an afternoon crit and try to help my teammates David Henderson and Ethan Froese. Dave was in 3rd position and Ethan in 6th, so I talked with them about what I can do help and our general race strategy. The field wasn't huge, only about 35 people, but everyone there was strong. If you haven't seen the course before, it has a big climb and a super fast and VERY sketchy decent.

We took off and the first 2 laps were pretty quick, coming into lap 3 at the top of the hill Zach Reed and Nick Coil attacked and went up the road and Ethan immediately said "go now Schottler" so I stood up and chased... hard. They were both working together in the break and were were riding away from the group. Reed saw me bridging up, about 5 bike lengths behind at this point, and dropped the hammer. At the top of the hill, after a lap at full effort in chase mode, I realized I couldn't do it. I looked back and saw the main group coming back and sat up and got in and tried to recover. Next lap on the decent, I hit a huge dip in the road and my bars spun down... shit. I kept it upright and didn't crash anyone out, but threw me off my game and I had to ride to the pit to get them straightened and tightened. Buddy, the USAC official said "sorry, no free lap, you are going to have to chase," which is what I expected to hear. I was in no mans land and my legs felt like poo. I knew I wasn't going to win, but still tried to put in a good effort to get ready for Sunday's race. I rode the hill the rest of the race way in the back, getting pity claps and cheers as I rode up, pretty humiliating, well actually silence is more humiliating, so thank you everyone that was cheering. Dave took 4th and Ethan took 9th, nice work guys, especially after the TT. I should also mention, which I didn't realize in the race, my shifter got turned in, which tightened my front brake and made it rub the entire race... didn't really need that handicap.

I woke up at 5am on Sunday to eat and drive to KC for the mountain race, rocking some new Rammstein. I've raced here before and had a good experience, so I thought I would come back and try it again. There were at least 300 people there, all ready for some single track. The start was Le Man's style, lay the bikes down and "run" to them. This was a huge cluster, I was on the front line and got pushed back to the 4th row by a bunch of dudes that knew they were going to win if they got into the single track first. I sprinted around a good number of people on the first paved section and had to battle and throw elbows to get into the single track at about 30th place.

I spent the whole first lap telling people to get out of my way, just knowing the leaders were getting bigger and bigger gaps as I was on a nice aerobic bike ride through the woods. I burnt a lot of matches sprinting past people through the grass and off the trail. It actually took some arguing to get around people, I was getting very agitated. Anyway, I finished the first 11.5 mile lap in about 5th position overall.

Lap 2 and 3 I was still in chase mode. I caught up to Jeff Winkler who was doing the 6 hour race and talked with him for a while. Most of the race I had no idea where any of the riders were, starting so far back and winding through the woods, and then starting to lap riders on the 2nd lap left me confused. Coming into the laps I asked the officials if anyone was in front of me and what the gaps were, no response, awesome. Volunteers at checkpoints and the people I was lapping were giving random guesses for time gaps, ranging from 3 minutes to 10 minutes. Apparently there was 1 guy up the path from me, Kent McNiell (finished 2009 Leadville in 13th place.) Kent drove down from Omaha to do this race, and I had no idea he was up there.

I was really only expecting to do 3 11.5 mile laps here in 3 hours, but at the end of lap 3 my time was 2:39... shit. Thankfully Andy Schutte was there and gave me a couple more gu's and Jim Davis (Team Seagal) handed me some bottles. During lap 4 I was on the edge of total meltdown, feeling my legs about to start cramping. I slowed down a bit after someone told me Kent was 7 minutes up, I couldn't make up 7 minutes, and I knew I had a healthy gap on the person behind me. I came through the finish, 4 laps, 46 miles, in a time of 3:35, averaging 12.8 mph on nearly all single track. Pretty fast pace for a mountain bike, I was the only person in my age group (34 & U) to do 4 laps, which had me win by over half an hour. I know that if I didn't spend the first 2 laps trying to chase down the leaders, and got to start with them, I would have won the overall in this race. Kent only finished 2 minutes ahead of me, rats. But he was in the 35 & up category, so I won my race. Yippee.

I came home with a bottle of wine and a nice payout for my efforts.

I was actually dead for about 15 minutes after this race: (Note seat bag is open... it did this magically, lost a tube, c02 dispenser, chain tool, and 2 chain links)

Still trying to decide what to race next weekend. It might be on the road both days, Tour of St. Louis. Or drive 4 hours for Tour De Tick, or drive 12 hours down to Georgia for a US Cup Pro XCT race and get some upgrade points.

Hillsboro Roubaix

2010-04-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

Most of the Bocomo peloton talked me into doing the Pro/1/2 87 mile road race in Hillsboro, IL. So I drove out there with two of my teammates, David Henderson and Ethan Froese, who are both VERY experienced road racers and good people to travel with.

120 people were preregistered for the this event, which is a way way bigger field then I have EVER raced with. My warm up consisted of riding to the wheel truck to drop off a spare set (which was full), so then back to the car, then to the starting line. Starting in the very back with Dave and Ethan. I was somewhat intimidated by all of the very fast looking people surrounding me, but was told that most of them really aren't that much far off from where I am. Anyway, we started off on our journey, which soon became a huge mess.

I wasn't exactly sure what everyone was trying to do, but it seemed like everyone was day dreaming of a victory as they continuously slammed on their brakes and flew off into ditches. Does this really happen in Pro/1/2 fields? Really??? This type of riding would NOT be tolerated in the bocomo peloton, Butthead would personally bitch slap everyone until they cried.

Pace wasn't easy, especially at the back of 120 people. Braking down hills and sprinting up hills and out of turns to not get gapped off. The whole course was like riding on Woody Proctor, lots of loose gravel, sharp turns, no yellow lines. Not ideal for a road race, but I didn't mind it that much. Ethan was the only one who got a water hand-up, but our guy didn't even see me coming into the last lap, good thing I brought a backup bottle, which emptied pretty quick.

Coming into the last lap, Dave and I started to move up the field. The field was still huge and I knew something was going to happen to split it apart, and I didn't want to be stuck at the back. With probably 20 miles to go the pace got insane. The race exploded apart, lots of groups forming, people falling out of the lead group like dying flies. Ethan bridged Dave and I up to a couple of groups and then I started pulling and managed to bridge up to the lead group, not knowing Dave was trying to sit on my wheel, getting put into the gutter. Right when I had the lead group a few bike lengths ahead of me (10-15 miles to go), my rear tire goes flat. I put my hand up, pull over, slam out my back wheel and looked for the wheel truck. There was no truck. Awesome. I waited 20 minutes for the cleanup truck to come by and pick me up, I sat in the bed for a nice relaxing ride back to the finish.

As for the teammates, Dan was one of the many that met a cone in the feed zone that you couldn't see (stupid and awful placement, especially with 120 people in a field with super small lanes). Ethan and Dave rode very well all day, but suffered from failed water hand-ups and cramped at the end of the race, right when it mattered. Overall, not the best day for CBC.

Unhealthy addiction to bike shit

2010-04-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

Someone needs to have an intervention with me sometime soon. I am more addicted to getting new bikes and new bike stuff than cookies. Luke helped me out again and hooked me up with a new 2010 Cannondale SuperSix HI-MOD Di2 road bike. Full electric Dura-Ace, carbon FSA components, Ksyrium Premium wheels, and some other goodies. 15.5 lbs out of the box, and this is one bike I am not going to change, there really isn't anything that needs to be replaced, except a longer stem. I was a full fledged Sram fan before I rode this stuff. Electric Dura-Ace is on a completely new level, buttons on the shifters instead of throwing a shifter, self adjusting front derailleur trim, no derailleur adjustments, PERFECT shifting. It is something you need to ride to appreciate, I never thought to highly of it while reading reviews, but it is amazing. I don't want to hear about charging batteries, you can go at least 1500 miles on one charge. I am 95% sure Butthead creamed his pants when he first saw this.

I built it last night and used the fit stick to set it up exactly the same as my Madone, didn't even get to test ride it because of the rain. So I took it out today on our Fayettenam group ride, which turned out being nearly 80 miles with some serious race efforts and dick swinging. Dave Henderson, Ethan, and I took some big pulls and eventually blew the group apart leaving only us and Dan Miller. Bike rides very well, better road feedback then the madone, slightly heavier, but VERY responsive. I'll need to ride it more to get better feedback... the Madone is amazing, but this is as well. Besides Musselman shifting my bike while we were riding, pushing me in a ditch, a good sunburn, and me riding off the road near big tree with a sweet recovery, it was a good ride.

Anyway, I have preregistered for Hillsboro Roubaix next Saturday, should be a good 87 mile Pro/1/2 race. Teammates Dave Henderson, Dan Miller, and Ethan Froese will be showing up, should be a good time. I have also preregistered for the Snake Alley Criterium, I have high hopes for myself at this race.... 1 big ass climb and a screaming descent.

My plan this season has somewhat changed from waiting for mountain races to not be cancelled, to racing on the road nearly every weekend. The ultimate plan is crit/road racing Saturday's and mountain racing Sunday's. Fitness should build up with consistent race efforts and get me ready to destroy the upcoming cross season (more new bikes, can't wait.)

Becoming a roadie one race at a time

2010-03-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

The Cannondale is finally together after what seemed to be an eternity of waiting for each individual part to come in. I was planning on racing Lost Valley but discovered it was cancelled due to rain. Which sucks, I was really looking forward to my first mountain ride of the year. I knew there was a crit on Sunday at Forest Park, but I wasn't too interested in having my first Pro/1/2 crit (3rd crit ever) be in the rain.

Friday and Saturday night I binged pretty hard on some delicious chocolate chip cookies and half a container of rainbow sherbet... pretty sure I wasn't going to race. However I woke up Sunday with somewhat sore legs from a pretty hard Friday and Saturday ride and a big desire to go race and rip them off some more. So I drove to St. Louis at the last minute.

(Dan Schmatz, David Henderson, me, Justin Maciekowicz)

There were about 30 people or so in the race, and thankfully it quit raining right when we started. I wasn't sure what to expect in the race, but I had cyclocross type effort running through my head, but this really wasn't the case. Teammates David Henderson, Jason Ozenberger, and Dan Miller were there in the race as well. After a bit, a 10 man break formed with me, Henderson, Butthead, Dan Schmatz, Justin Maciekowicz and some others I don't know too well yet. The break wasn't working well together, no one wanted to work and it was difficult to get away. With about 5 laps to go Justin took off and built up about a 30 second lead. With 3 to go I got on the front and put on a moderate acceleration up the one small hill and looked back and had about 5 bike lengths on the person behind me, so I punched it. No one in the break was doing much work and it didn't seem like anyone wanted to chase, so I figured this would be a good move and might get away to the finish, especially if I got to Justin quickly so we could work together. I had him in my sights and was reeling him in. Coming in to 1 lap to go, right behind Justin, I looked back and saw Schmatz barreling down so I sat up and got in the back of the group to recover for the sprint. Coming in to the last turn to the finish 2 guys in front of me sat up and took the turn way slow, which screwed me over since I had to go around them and chase down everyone sprinting to the finish. I managed to catch most and finish in 4th. Teammate David Henderson managed to take the win... right after winning the Master's race.

Anyway, I am pretty happy with the result but still disappointed with that last corner, I had plenty more juice in the tank for that sprint. However, my running off the front and forcing Schmatz to chase me down wore him out enough to slow down his strong sprint, allowing Henderson to take the win.

My New Baby

2010-03-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

After much anticipation, the new mountain bike has finally arrived.

This is from the first batch of Flash 29 Carbon bikes to hit the streets, so pictures of these still haven't really made their way on to the internets. Thanks to Musselman, the bike arrived when he said it would, just in time for racing season.

I was impressed with how well equipped the bike was out of the box, Cannondale seems to know where to put the right stuff. XO shifters/rear derailleur, XT front derailleur, Elixir brakes 185/160, XT cassette, KMC chain, Stans ZTR Arch/rims to DT 240 hubs, and a nice Fizik saddle. However, if you know me, I can't leave anything stock. I ordered an XX kit and threw it on, along with a 570 gram Cannondale 2x10 crankset which is still on order. Also thanks to Ergon for the GX2 team series carbon grips, which are the best grips I have ever used.

The frame is full carbon with continuous carbon fibers, and a 2.5 lb carbon lefty fork, which feels really solid. The tube shapes are constantly varying throughout the bike, it is obvious that Cannondale did their homework and plenty of finite element analysis to optimize each section of the tubing for high strength and low weight. The bike as shown weighed in at 19.8 lbs. With the new cranks, taking the tubes out, lighter Fizik Arione saddle on order, lighter and slightly more narrow bars, xx front derailleur, and 4ti candy pedals, the bike should be in the 19-20 lb range. Which is far lighter than any mountain bike I have ridden or owned. However the real test will come when I get to take it to the trails, if it ever stops raining. The Superfly was the best handling and fastest mountain bike I have ever raced by far, I have high hopes for this being a rocket.

As for the training, I have been having SI joint pain on most of my rides... well actually all day long. It's become more consistant, so I figure the best thing to do is take a short break from riding and pilates. I am taking off this weekend, monday, and tuesday. I can already feel it getting better, since I can now walk without limping, and can get out of bed without screaming. I will start riding again on wednesday with low intensity/high cadence rides down the katy trail, and learn some more about effective stretches to prevent this from happening again... and I might even start running to strengthen some of the stabilizing muscles that have become weak with my inability to do anything other than pedal. I was still seriously considering racing today on the Superfly, but I don't think it would be smart to seriously injury myself at the first mountain race of the year... there are plenty more.

First race of the year

2010-02-28T15:41:00.000-08:00

Just a warning that this picture will be the most entertaining part of this post:

Raced Froze Toes here in Columbia, 62 miles (2 31 mile laps), basically a training race. This is the 3rd road race I've ever done, and my first P12 race. The 1st lap of the race was pretty calm, I was sitting mid-front of the pack hanging out most of the time, and tried an attack and ended up just riding out by myself with Musselman sitting on my wheel, this lasted for maybe 5 minutes when I realized I wasn't putting any time of the field and decided to fall back in. Towards the end of the 1st lap there was a cross wind and Ethan, Henderson, and I were rotating pulls at a nasty pace putting everyone in the gutter, but we realized we weren't going anywhere and decided to sit up.

On the 2nd lap about 4 guys were off the front and Ethan and I were sitting mid pack in a pace line and I was told "gap up to that group, don't think about it, just do it." This is coming from a guy who's raced longer then I've been alive, so I did just that. I casually rode past the main group and put in a super duper hard acceleration up a small hill once I got to the front and very quickly caught the break, with Henderson and another guy in tow. From here it was game on, with a lot of yelling to put in some hard pulls to open up a gap. We managed to put in a large gap and continued to ride away from the main field. The pace was very fast, but still within my comfort zone. On the outer road with maybe 5 miles to go, my heart rate dropped, I got light headed and dizzy, and my legs completely lost all power and would barely turn over. I bonked HARD. The guy next to me saw what was happening and went to the front and picked up the pace, I got dropped. Recovery never came, I was struggling to put out over 300 watts for any length of time. My heart rate wouldn't come up, I was helpless. Coming down Z to the finish was a headwind, which made everything worse. We had maybe a 5 minute gap on the main group, which managed to catch me with 100m to go... a dick slap in the face.

Right now I feel good that I managed to make the break and felt good and strong the majority of the time. I can't figure out what happened, why did I bonk so hard with no warning? Not eat enough or drink enough? I know that I probably worked too hard in the break and burned a couple matches on the first lap not riding very efficiently. But still, I should have been able to ride longer then that without any issues. Dave told me I have plenty of power, I just need to be tuned a little more, which is true. I was easily the least experienced road racer there, knowing that, I feel ok with my performance.

Vegas Baby

2010-02-27T17:07:00.000-08:00

My sister got married on the top of the Stratosphere.

Had about 20 people in our party... we drank a lot, rode around in a big ass hummer limo and drank a lot, then went to bars and drank, then went back to the hotel and drank more until the sun came up.

- Me, sisters, new brother in law

Overall it was a super fun trip, I only stayed there for a couple days because of school and didn't get to see much, so I think another trip back there soon is in order.

Almost here...

2010-02-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

=Stoopid fast and light

Poor Schottler

2010-01-31T19:09:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated this in a while, I am still trying to soak in all of my new responsibilities this year. If you know me, you probably understand all I want to do is ride my bike and try to get faster and better. I don't know where this will take me, but I won't find out without putting in as much effort and time as I can. I have been told by multiple people to focus on racing and see what can happen. After graduating I was put in a position of what I really want to do...

1) Get a real job and make some fat cash in some other city, probably lose focus on riding
2) Take some time off and work at the shop and race... and spend every penny I make on trying to live and fix flats/chains
3) Back to school... nearly for free... health insurance included... make nearly as much as at the shop (with TA and RA position), get a Master's of Science in Mechanical Engineering

So I chose what made the most sense for my future and current ambitions. Now I sit through class wondering what the hell I was thinking... watching my professors fill the board over and over again with never ending equations with a million funny symbols to find something I wish a computer could figure out so I could just go home and ride my bike again. On top of blankly staring at a chalk board every day in class, I teach the undergraduate materials selection lab every other week, with my social retardation skills out in full force.

I was told by my advisor that I am going to start doing research for him and his students... which is great, since I have to do the research anyway for my thesis, might as well get paid for it. However he won't be able to pay me until later this semester or this summer, which puts me in a really tight situation since I can't afford to sit in the lab for 40 hours a week when I need to wrench on bikes to pay the bills. He turned down a number of students to give me the position, so I really need to show him that I want to be there... but I physically can't until he pays me, which I don't think he understands. This is also putting a strain on my position at Walt's because I have been showing up late every single day, and have to cut my hours back... which they really can't handle right now.

I know I am complaining about big opportunities I have been given that a lot of people wish they had the chance of doing... but it is still stressing me out. Needless to say I really really needed the ride that happened today. It was a full on suffer fest "Fayettenam" group ride. Dave Henderson, Fattyclause, Buttface, Beans, ProPam, B for Bolton, and Larry. I am now positive everyone wanted to kill each other, and they all took swings. The ride was fast, that's all I need to say... I even made someone make "the noise". Fitness felt great, came close to matching some power records set during race season, which is promising I guess. My inexperience in road racing is apparent, but after being critiqued most of the ride, I should get faster and more efficient on the road.

This time last winter I was doing about 20 hours a week of riding, this winter I am down to 16-20. I have been focusing much more heavily on core exercises, which have been making a big difference. I also have to thank Pam Hinton for figuring out why my lower back has been exploding under hard efforts. I took her advice and results showed almost immediately... back pain is nearly gone, which means good suffering for much longer periods of time.

2009 in a nutshell

2010-01-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

I guess you can say I learned more about riding, racing, and training in 2009 than all other years combined. Pretty much all of this is thanks to cold forging rides and training with people who have been racing for decades (Butthead, Green Beans, Ethan, ProPam, Tracy, Mike Best, etc.) The 20+ hour weeks all winter/spring and 4-6 hour rides every weekend helped build everything and learn a lot. I can now see why so many great riders are from Columbia.

As for the racing, I picked up a super sweet sponsorship with GT Bikes, which gave me a bike, kits, and a fold up tent. However I couldn't have everything I wanted... most of my season consisted of bad luck... countless flats and poor componentry choice on my part lead to plenty more issues. My first race of the year was in Birmingham Alabama at the US Cup Bump N' Grind, which I finished 4th about 4 minutes behind the leader, nearly missing the start and spending a lot of time on the side of the trail fixing my bike. I raced the Marathon National Championships again in Breckenridge Colorado, finished in 4:29 with a flat tire, 33 minutes faster than last year. My time would have put me in 5th last year, but I ended up 10th. Burnin @ The Bluff with Butthead and Beans was an awesome experience, we were riding away with a 20 minute lead in to the last night lap, which was lost when I broke a chain, ran 4 miles, fixed the chain, broke the chain, fixed the chain, all night lights went out, and rode back in the dark while my team was sent on a search party. Finished 3rd in the 12 hour team, however I put down the fastest lap of the day. The Berryman Epic was the biggest race and win I have ever had, beating a hall of fame mountain bike racer, drank from a creek, new record lap in nasty conditions, and only winning by 10 seconds in a 4:39 race.

Cyclocross went about as well as I expected. I met my goal for the season, won a race. Most other races I set out at a super fast pace only to find Butthead catching me with 1 lap to go. Last year I finished 4th in the Cat 3 CX state championship, this year I finished 2nd in the Cat 1-2.

2010 will be a great year. I will be starting Graduate school in 2 weeks, getting a Master's of Science in mechanical engineering with a minor in material science. My hours at the shop will be cut down considerably and I will be working for the university as hopefully a TA and RA. This should leave me with a more flexible schedule so I can get all the rides in that I need. On top of big hours again this year, I will be doing some weight training and yoga... to help fix my weak core and lower back. Once this issue gets resolved, I should be able to hold a fast pace for a much longer period.

One of these will be arriving in a little more than a month... should be fast.

CX State Championship

2009-12-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

I don't even know where to start... the race was epic. We haven't had any rain in a while and I was driving to the race thinking it was going to be dry and frozen. I was wrong as shit, it was mudtacular. I have never raced cross in the mud before, so I had no idea where I would end up. The course was 2 miles long, had a pavement start/finish area, hill run/ride up, 4 5" barriers, 2 normal barriers, and lots and lots of slippin slidin corners and sludgy mud sections. I took the pit bike out for a couple practice laps and ate shit both laps... not helping the confidence. However, the course was one of the best of the year, it was still super fast considering the conditions.

There weren't many people in the P12's field, mainly because they were doing the Master's races, or they didn't want to ride in the cold, but everyone lined up has been consistently fast all year. Once we took off I was on 4th wheel into the mud/grass, but peeps were taking diggers and sliding out in some of the first turns. Eventually I ended up on Breslin's wheel in 2nd after riding the hill, but going into the corner of carnage with snot like slippery mud Davey slid out and I got by and spooled up the turbo. Through the end of the 1st lap and into the 2nd and 3rd I built up about a 30 second gap. But as usual, my back couldn't handle it anymore and was hurting bad, not giving me much to push against... which is unfortunate since my legs felt great.

I starting slowing down and looked back and saw Butthead dragging a train of people back to me... so I tried to punch it again. That train of people began to derail and it was Butthead and Breslin that were chasing me down. I ignored my back bullshit and went as hard as I could. Butthead was attached to my rear wheel for a little over a lap and we starting pulling away from Breslin. With 2 laps to go Josh went by and I was glued to his back tire for a little while, losing some time in the sludge mud section, but caught back up again riding up the hill. I did everything I could to stay with him and he pulled away by a few seconds. Towards the end of the last lap I was back on Josh's tire and he attacked through the last few corners and I couldn't keep it going. I took 2nd about 5 seconds behind Johnson, but I am still happy with how it all went down, considering this was my first mud cross race. I took 4th last year in the cat 3 race... skills and fitness have improved.

It was a super awesome race, thanks to the Bocomo peloton and everyone else for screaming their brains out, and Benji for horribly playing the trumpet that I could unfortunately hear everywhere. Nice work Dan for ripping up the 3's race and taking a win, Ethan for taking 3rd in his race with no rear brake and a good 2 minute stop in the pits to fix a rear wheel, Breslin for hanging on uncomfortably close, and Mike Best for still taking a nice 8th after a month of hanging out on the couch.

2010 will be a good year...

Bubba #9

2009-11-30T19:30:00.000-08:00

I had a pretty big week of riding last week to lead up to this last Bubba race and the state championship. The course this week was pretty awesome, including a sweet sweeping section through the tree's with rutted turns you could lay into at full speed, and some higher speed paved sections.

I tried getting on the front row this week but being handle bar to handle bar I dropped back a couple feet to prevent an inevitable bar tie up crash with Davey B or Jay. This put me in about 10thish place into the first turn, which really wasn't what I was going for. The course however was pretty consistent so coming into the 2nd lap there was still a line of about 10 dudes, with Dr. Mark setting a super fast pace, with me being towards the back scoping things out. The infamous scary root, which I crashed on during a practice lap, jumbled up the group a bit and gaps began to open. Coming out of the steep mud climb a pretty big gap opened up on the front 3 riders, I managed to get by a few riders and put down a full sprint on the paved section against the headwind and caught the lead group. I followed the group for a while and eventually ended up riding on Nate Rice's wheel for a lap, with me leading for another lap. After that, Nate went by and I was having trouble matching his speed and began to bog down, with my lower back completely gone (my usual excuse every race this year.)

The rest of the race I was pushing myself as hard as I could to keep my distance from the chase group, who looked very strong. I finished the race in 2nd about 20 seconds behind Nate, I managed to bring back about 10 seconds in the last 2 laps, but there is no way I would have survived another lap. Nate was freaking flying through everything.

My goal this winter is to fix this whole weak back thing that is sapping power after 25 minutes of super effort.

Thanks again Team Seagal and everyone else for screaming at the top of their lungs to push us the whole race, it really makes this type of racing the most epic.

BoCoMo 1-2-3

2009-11-23T06:56:00.000-08:00

I guess I have the last 2 Bubba races to talk about here. Last week (Bubba #7) was my favorite course of the year, very mountain bikey... and I thought I was going to get shot driving there. It had some super fast sections, some good climbs, double sand pit, and a good mud section. I attacked on lap 2 or 3 and managed to build up a lead close to a minute... mainly because Breslin and Alex Grman had some bike trouble out of the mud. I held the lead for about 45 minutes and saw some angry guy in a Ultra kit pushing poor little kids into tree's with cross hairs pointed at the back of my head. He managed to catch me with 1 lap to go, but I have to say it was an impressive ride on his part, I can live with 2nd. Here is a vid thanks to the PBR drinking Segal dudes: That's me right at the start, with a 30 second lead.

I have to thank Ethan for ripping up on me and Josh the Saturday before each of these cross races, it helped getting our legs ready for some thrashing. My initial thoughts when I looked at the course were pretty simple... fuck me. I think everyone had this idea when they looked at the course and pre-rode it. I put in a couple practice laps and the course was very slow, the ground was very soft and zapped your energy everywhere you rode. There wasn't a big enough area to make a long fast lap, so there was a lot of zig zagging on the side of a hill, with lots of sketchy off camber descents. Not to mention there was a ginormously steep climb straight up one of the hills. However having this course right below the winery on a small plot of land meant there were fans everywhere screaming at you, which kept the encouragement to the max.

At the start, as usual, everyone punched each other in the face to get on the starting line. I started in the 3rd row, out of 28 people or so. Josh decided to start about 15 feet behind the 2nd to last person. I took the first lap pretty easy, slowly rode by a few people and took off on the 2nd lap. I caught up to Dan Miller, who was absolutely killing it the whole race. Going into the 3rd lap I passed Dan and started my mission. I built up my lead to about 30 seconds or so and turned on the cruise control for the rest of the race, keeping an eye on Butthead and Dan. I was able to ride the steep climb/run up every lap, which was HUGE time builder. At the end of the day it was a bocomo 1-2-3, which is awesome.

Thanks to Mike D and GoPate for awesome pictures as usual! Also thanks to everyone screaming during the whole race, that's what makes these races so awesome!

Time Out

2009-11-11T18:41:00.000-08:00

After I thought I was in the clear from that creek water, I was struck down by 3 days of cuddling up next to the crapper. A doctor visit and some antibiotics later, I can actually do stuff. I took a few days off last week to rest... then did a 5 hour gravel ride, then Giardia hit, then more days off the bike and eating hardly anything for 3 days. I did my first ride today and flatted a half hour out with a broken co2 dispenser and had to get a ride back... not the best start back. It will take a little time to get my fitness back, but I will be returning with a super sweet matching set of cross bikes. I have next years racing plans 99% figured out now... more to come about that later.

All good

2009-11-02T21:08:00.001-08:00

My swollen knee felt a little sore this morning on my ride, but it is all good now, it even stopped bleeding tonight. The fury is building once again, I will rip legs this weekend.

Also enjoy this video... you thought your day at work was bad?

2 bikes and a DNF

2009-11-01T18:27:00.000-08:00

Well I had a race a week ago with very little problems, so it was about time for something to go wrong. Raced Bubba #5 today in St. Louis against all the local fast dudes. I opted out of the 10:30PM race the night before so I could go socialize (heavy drinking) and enjoy the scenery that Halloween offers.

But anyway, I started near the back and watched everyone hurt each other as I mozied towards the front. After about 4 laps or so and $1 later, I was feeling good and ready to pick up the pace. Butthead was back in the lead group and I knew he didn't feel like sitting on, we attacked on either side of the group and lead into the first turn of the lap with BH about to rip his leg off as he nearly slid off the course. We managed to pull a gap on the rest, riding the railroad tie section ($1), and riding pretty clean, making up some time in the corners.

After about 3 laps of riding with BH we rode the railroad tie section again and my front tire slid out coming off the first and I rode straight into the next and smashed my knee into my handlebar. I tried to get back on and start going but noticed I couldn't feel anything from my knee down. I sat up for a second and made sure I had movement and tried to keep going. Some feeling came back in my knee and the pain felt deep, not superficial. I thought I may have messed something up so I walked down the course as everyone passed by and decided it wasn't worth risking it. I pulled the plug to prevent further injury. It is pretty swollen tonight, I will try riding on it tomorrow morning.

On the bright side, I found $40 in the parking lot and won $2 from being awesome. The new cross bike felt comfortable and fast... no back pain either.

BTEpic Domination

2009-10-27T19:11:00.001-07:00

I decided to do the Berryman Epic mountain bike race after Green Bean's inspirational pep talks about how I might be able to do well. It is a 56 mile race with about 40 miles of single track... all one big loop. Over the last few weeks we have been pounded by rain, which stuck around in a lot of this trail. Whoever told me the Berryman drains really fast and well is a dirty liar.

I lined up next to Steve Tilford, Bill Stolte, Eric Pirtle, Josh Johnson, Dwayne Goscinski, Mike Best, Garth Prosser (Cannondale Factory Racing), and Green Beans (going for 112 miles in 2 days), as well as some others. About 1/4 mile into the race we ran into a flooded river, but the promoters parked a fifth wheel trailer over the river to give us a bridge. I managed to be in 5th position over this bridge so I didn't get caught up in the traffic. There was then about a 3-5 mile gravel climb to the single track with. We had a pace line of 5 guys going up the climb at a pretty good pace with a sprint for the start of the single track. I let Tilford and Pirtle go so I could follow their secret pro lines. We had a decent pace going through the single track with Pirtle leading, he was putting time on us in the descents but it was made up in the flats and climbs. Right before the first checkpoint he hit a mystery rock and flew over the bars into a tree... we thought he broke his back and told people at the checkpoint (bottom of the hill) what happened, but thankfully nothing was broken, but he did severely bruise everything from his ass to his neck, he will be recovered in a few weeks... very lucky.

Back into the single track I passed Dwayne and then got back on Tilford's wheel, which then started to flat. For the next 20 miles I turned up the throttle and didn't look over my shoulder once. I managed to run up a bigger and bigger gap each checkpoint... until I got past checkpoint 4. At this point I had about a 7 minute lead with 15 miles to go (I had no idea what my gap was then... the downfall of running 1st). I forgot to fill up my 2 bottles I have been carrying along and began to get dehydrated. All I could think about was water and how much farther I had to go... I wouldn't be able to make it without any. I began to slow down considerably and take some pretty bad lines, losing huge chunks of time. I ran my options through my head and decided I wasn't going to blow this race because of another mistake. I found a clear flowing creek and dropped my bike and filled up my bottle, chugged it, and filled it up again and took off. I figured I could either get sick, win this race, make some serious cash... or completely blow up right then and have everyone pass me and continue my season of disappointments. How bad could the sickness be anyway?

I got some power back after all the liquid and ate some more food and managed to pick up the pace for a little while. At this point I began looking over my shoulder pretty frequently just waiting to see Dwayne or Tilford chasing me down... I had no idea of the time splits. The whole race, especially now, I was talking to myself to keep myself going, only a little longer... just keep pushing it. My pace was slowing down considerably, I was losing my legs and my heart rate began to slow down a lot.

Up the last climb I heard an unnerving disc brake squeal coming from somewhere in the woods... which picked my heart rate back up. At the top of this hill there was about 6-8 miles of gravel back to the finish. I was struggling quite a bit on this road, tucking on the descents and just trying to keep my legs turning over. The single track was done, all I had to do was pedal pedal pedal, almost to the finish.

After the final gravel descent I got back to the camp ground and flooded river and I lit up... I just won this shit. I started riding through the river, which was a hell of a lot deeper than I thought... and it threw my bike out from under me and I started running through, then mashed through the super soggy and loose rock to the paved road. I can't remember the last time I felt this relieved and happy of what I accomplished. For some reason while riding up the last paved climb of the ride I decided to look over my shoulder just to make sure I was alone and I saw a green jersey out of the saddle with a very angry face mashing like crazy... coming at me quick. I completely freaked out and got out of the saddle and let out every ounce of strength I had left to sprint up the climb... which was enough to keep Steve Tilford from catching me. I was thinking there was no way I was going to lead for 50 miles and lose in the last 50 meters.

I rolled through the finish completely trashed and torn up... and they told me I set a new course record. I just thought to myself "wtf, holy shit, cash monieezz." I talked to Steve after the race, he had multiple flats and was able to bring all the time I built back in the last 15 miles. I could have been a little bit better prepared with more calorie consumption and some bottles at the last check point... this could have kept my lead at the finish and prevented the nasty bonking. But I was still able to pull it off... a win and the new course record, taking home $1,750... time for cross bike #2.

Everyone was saying there is no way anyone could set a new record with how bad the course conditions were... it was just too muddy and slow. I beat the record by 3 minutes, along with Tilford and Dwayne. This race was very vicious and competitive... I have never pushed myself that hard for that long, definitely a good experience.

Also, props to Dwayne for finishing VERY closely behind us... I was not expecting times to be this close after 56 miles. Nice work Butthead for finishing an impressive 7th with about 3 mountain bike rides this year, not bad for a roadie. Congrats to Mike Best for rounding out the top 10... the BOCOMO peloton had a very strong showing. Nate Means completed the Tour and the Race... 112 miles of mountain biking, which is totally nuts, there is no way I could have done that.

Also, it has been over 2 days since the creek water... no rocket shits. But my legs may not be recovered by this weekend.

CX #6

2009-10-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

First Bubba Cross race of the season, at night. I felt like crap the whole time, my legs never opened up, I had no technical skillz, it was a bad day. I felt more comfortable at our first cross practice than at this race, oh well.

I will be ready for the Berryman Epic next weekend... there will be plenty of anger and frustration to unload for 55 miles. I would not recommend riding near me.

CX 4 & 5

2009-10-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

Raced in Parkville, MO this weekend for the first two Boss Cross events. Felt good and confident going into the races... hoping to get a similar result to last weekend. The course was very bumpy, tight, but fast. There weren't many places to pass, so I burnt a lot of time sitting in groups that I should have passed. My legs felt great both days, but my lower back blew up half way through both races, which totally sucked. I also had some trouble keeping my tires on the ground... washed out my front tire a couple times during both races, which is what everyone seemed to be doing. The crashes happened pretty early in both races and I tweaked my derailleur hanger pretty bad, giving me only a few functioning gears. Needless to say a pit bike would have been super duper... or more mad skillzz. Time to scheme. Results weren't what I was hoping, 7th Saturday and 10th Sunday, but still not bad considering who showed up.