Trail day, the video

The quality isn't the best but you can get somewhat of an idea of the new section with the berms and the new rock garden. I was walking with the regular digital camera on the video setting, so it is a little shaky.

Trail Day

Had a great day trail building with the gang at Lowe's Creek. We got an unbelievable amount of work done. The new section has 5 berms and flows nicely into the new rock garden. Comp and Elite will run the new section for the race.

No air bags needed

Came across this car at the store after my ride tonight. It reminded me of one of those puzzles where you search for obscure objects in a chaotic picture. Can you find........

Game over

Got dropped on tonight's group ride. End of story.

odd man out

Headed down to Sheboygan for the father's day weekend. Hooked up with the breakfast group for an early Sat morning ride. I only had room for one bike in the truck so the hard tail 29er got packed. put a few extra psi in the tires and let knobbies roll with the roadies. The ride was fun and I was able to stay with the group for the entire 40+ miles. It was nice to be back home on the old country roads (Dano, where were you today?)


Sunday was going to be a few hours in the woods checking out the local trails, but I opted for cross training with a chainsaw. Something to be said for those that actually work for a living. My entire body was cashed by the end of the day.

Dad's plan was to cut a little and then pull the branch over and away from the house with the tractor. I had my doubts and when it went I couldn't control my reaction. It was pretty funny after the fact.

Hope everyone had as nice of father's day as I did. Thanks for the good chow mom.

Blood, Sweat and Rocks

80 degrees and humid made for an interesting night in the woods with Craig, Jim and Mike. I was pretty shelled after a big Tuesday and Wed, but it was worth the pain to check out the gang negotiating some tricky rocks.

Jim rolling the 29er

Here I come, but it doesn't appear I'll make this one clean. 29er's are nice, but certainly not magical.


Craig putting the finishing touches on the rocky climb. Pictures don't do the technicality of the garden justice.


Like area 51, this location is temporally top secret

Mike's war paint!

a little rain never killed anyone

Got out on Tuesday with Jim for 2.5 hours in some warm June rain showers. Started off in Lowes Creek, but by the second lap it got pretty nasty so we headed out to the pavement. At least the bike got cleaned.

I bet Jim $1.00 that I could make the climb. 5 feet into it, my back tire sunk 4" in to the mud and I took a mud bath. Somehow Jim found the line and the strength to get to the top while laughing the whole way. Just my luck.

Bike bath

I don't know what it is, but I love riding in anything but normal conditions.

Snapshot of my legs after the Wed group ride! Oh, I guess these are Lance's. Mr. Olympia would be proud.

super secret training grounds

Rewind to the Big Ring Classic. Race started with a little bad luck when I bobbled a pedal and found myself in dead last place. Knowing there was 27 miles of racing, I paced myself and used the three laps to pass as many riders as possible. Looking back I should have buried myself and fought for a better position going into the woods. Regardless, I moved up 20 spots over Rhinelander and 40 spots over Iola. Finished mid pack about 10 back from where I am capable of finishing, but happy non-the-less.

Monday after the Race TJ had me down for 3 hours of endurance overload followed by another 8 hours throughout the rest of the week. 13 hours in all.

Sunday I met up with Jim and did our own Eau Claire version of the La Ruta de los Conquistadores.....although a bit shorter at 3 hours.

The ride started out with 5 miles of RR ties. The full suspension 29er did the job.

A car beat Jim to the kill. He has the worse fear of snakes of anyone I have ever met. I paid the price the rest of the ride as he was amped up on adrenaline and whatever else propels his phobia. He once dropped one of his buddies for teasing him with a snake. I knew better.

Hike a bikes. Sometime trails, sometime not. Can't beat the scenery.

Sand climbs are always good training for the Ore 2 Shore! I think knowing there is pavement 10 feet to the left makes it just a little harder.

All and all it was a fun day on the secret trails, but I bonked really early on and had to rely on Jim's towing service to get back to the house. We made a stop at a gas station and I almost climbed all the way in a pizza fridge to cool down.

It's the weekend!

Wed group ride was fun as always. The 2.5 hours of mountain biking the day before made for a nice overload and the legs were feeling it on the hills. Got some good pedaling in and had nice conversation with the guys. Check out the ride info here. Nice job by Joel dropping the hammer to take the sprint........that guy has some legs!

Going to give Wausau a try on Sunday and see if I can't figure out the racing scene. The power and endurance is there, but the knowledge is lacking. Good luck to everyone else that racing this weekend.