Tough Times

Blood Bank

Things aren't going so great right now. My father had a heart attack on Sunday night. My mom called me at 3:30 in the morning and I got in the truck and headed 4 hours down to Saint Luke's in Milwaukee. At one point his blood pressure dropped to 50 / 40, which is really, really bad. We are thankful to be in the care of the best heart doctors in the state. He is currently listed as critical, but stable. His heart is being assisted by a balloon pump and a bunch of meds. My sister and I gave blood as a way to give back. It was a first for me and it felt good to do something for someone else. Reading Lance's book "it's not about the bike" for some type of hope and motivation.

Any thoughts?

This or.........

This???
One of these steeds will be added to the 2010 stable, but the decision is harder than I thought. Anyone have any thoughts?

Crazy Bright

Finally received my two new Pro1200 lights. It is amazing what 2400 lumens looks like in the woods. They are every bit as bright as a halogen car head light.

My official training for the 2010 BC Bike race started this week. TJ has things starting off pretty mellow with 5 hours on the trainer and 7 hours outside. 8 months is a long time to work towards a single goal, but the training will definitely make the race a lot more enjoyable. I'm headed down to Tucson for a week long training camp with TJ the second week of January to break up the winter riding. It should be a good time as we kick the week off with a MTB race in Phoenix.

Holloween ride with Chad Sova

The one and only Chad Sova. He may be fast like a pro, but his kit needs some serious work. Chad, Jim, Matt and I had a great night ride at Lowe's Creek followed up with a stop at his girlfriend's friend's apartment.

He better stick to biking, she pretty much kicked his a$$ at the table.

We also had the opportunity to watch the "single ladies" perform live. Thanks Chad, it wouldn't have been possible without you.

'Nough Said

3 rides in 3 weeks!

Hoosier riding

Southern Indiana has, with out question the fastest flowing single track I have ever ridden. Pictures never do trails justice, but I took some anyways. Rumor is there are more than 80 miles of trails in this immediate area. I highly recommend it to anyone traveling to the Indianapolis area.

Brown County state park has plenty of elevation to work with, which surprised me given it is in Indiana (1,500 feet of ascent in a 14 mile loop). A few climbs required 4 full size switch backs to get to the top. The vistas were pretty amazing.

This pretty much sums up the end of my tour guide. He got the last laugh as I decided to hit a new section by my self and ended up tumbling down a 60' ravine.

The trail builders did a nice job of mixing in rock gardens and bridges.

Cool coverage bridge leading in and out of the park.

Game over

With the few last pedal strokes of the Cheq 40 last weekend, my 2009 racing season grew to a close. In retrospect, I achieved my ultimate goal of improving my finish in the 09’ 28 mile Ore 2 Shore. TJ and I worked together for 9 months with the goal in mind and I was able to garner a 9th place finish (thanks coach). A winter worth of structured trainer time mixed in with some snow riding on the Surly Pugs with Jim and Craig had my early season fitness pretty dialed in. I entered my first cat 5 road race this spring and finished 4th, which I was pretty happy with considering my lack of experience. Our four man team “Pink Steel” got it done in the sport class at 24 hours of 9 mile with a 2nd place podium finish. Although the racing was very satisfying, my most memorable experience of the summer was volunteering as Race Director for the Eau Claire Fire Cracker. There are so many hard working people behind the scenes that you really can’t get a real appreciation for the race unless you are part of it. The countless compliments from the fans and racers defiantly made it a journey worth taking.
The next few weeks are going to be spent having fun on the bike with no training agenda in mind. 2010 holds some pretty lofty aspirations for me and is going to require me to push my focus, discipline and commitment to new limits.

First and foremost will be a training plan that gets me prepared for the BC 7 day mountain bike stage race in July of 2010. Jim and I are signed up as a two man team and neither one of us wants to let the other down. My training will be based around power, which I am finally fully set up with (5 power taps; 2 mountain bike, 2 road and 1 for the Surly Pug along with a Garmin 705 to keep track of everything). Additionally this is the winter that I have to get to a true race weight. I am not sure if 180 pounds is in my future, but it is safe to say that my current weight of 220 lbs isn’t going to get it done on the bike in 2010.

Off to Indianapolis for a week with the in-laws. Taking the road bike and the fully to get a taste of the local action. From what I hear and read it should be some pretty fun stuff. Thanks for checking in.