Remember the name

Remember the name "Northwest Park". Over the course of the next few years, it will become the raddest 8 miles of single track the Chippewa Valley has ever seen.

Time to breathe

BC bike race + co-race director for Eau Claire's Firecracker (WORS #6) = no time! Now that both are in the books, there is a little more time to take a trip down memory lane (or at least whats left of my memory at this point).

BC Race

Gear:

• Troy - 2010 Santa Cruz TallBoy. Full suspension all carbon 29r. 22.5 lbs


• Jim - 2009 Custom Sisu. Full suspension steel 29r. 27 lbs


• Tires - Geaxsaguaroo......could have used a little more meat

Team:

OTR Racing (On The Rivet).....more to come on that subject, but check out the sweet kits

Race details:

• approximately 43,000 feet of climbing


• 40k to 70k per day


• 4-6 hours in the saddle per day


• 3,600 - 5,000kilojouless per day


• pitches as steep as 35 degrees


• 7 days total riding, plus a prologuee


• drops, rocks, table tops, massive roots, bridges, berms, service roads, unrideable down hills, countless dismounts, hour long hike-a-bikes (repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat). Nastiest trails I have ever seen and certainly nothing like what they show on theInternett or in magazines!


• 21 countries represented


• one fast unicycle who could ride almost anything


• lots of ferry crossings
  

Brand new Sidi Dragon 2s. No blisters and no more pretty bottoms
Sweet kits....not so good looking of a guy

Aid station in the mountains. Cookies, bars, chips, energy drinks, Gu packs and lots of fresh fruit. Not a time to be worrying about calories

No, it's not a post card. Rained one morning otherwise in the 70's everyday.

Another sweet kit. I assume Jim was sideways when he decided to do a little sight seeing on one of the nasty decents and lost the line over the bars. Only blood of the week.

Picture is worth a thousand words.

Jim was kind enough to back off the throttle and ride with me the entire week. Every so often he would jet up a climb and snap a pic.

He is closer to being a pro photographer than racer.

How cool is this pic?

Base Camp for those that thought camping in a two person tent was a good idea after riding their bike all day long. Jim and I were hotel weenies.

If it wasn't for the logging, you would swear man has never stepped foot here

Jim......all smiles all the time.

Watch for an updated counter on the blog. If it pops up, it means I am going back for another week of BC.

Firecracker recap: 8 minutes, rolled tire off the rim. Race over.

Thanks for reading......Troy

Epic

Ferry to Vancouver Island for the start of the 1st stage

cooked after 6 hours in the saddle.

mandatory walk bridge.

Jim with 3 time Xterra word champion.

Jim with Manny Prado.....defending LaRuta champ

Epic is about the most underrated word I would use to define the BC Race. Started Sat with a short prologue, which is meant to get you used to the trail conditions and make sure the bike builds worked. To be honest I thought the trails would be nice and buff with big swooping berms and modest rock and root sections......you know, like the bike rags all show. Instead we were treated to non-stop roots that protruded out of endless boulder fields. In 15 minutes of riding we went off more log drops then in the past combined five years of biking. Sunday was the first stage of the race and the trails were every bit as gnarly, except we got to throw in 6,000 feet of climbing and 20 minute descents that numbed the hands and arms. 4 miles into day two the power tap hub ceased tight and the rest of the day was in the bike shop having a new wheel built up. Tomorrow we start all over.

Game Time

Hard to believe the BC Bike Race is already here. Training has been next to non existent, but I am not going to let a little thing like a lack of fitness get in the way of having the best week ever on a bike. Jim has been really consistent with his riding and is super strong right now, so he will be doing most if not all the pulling. The new Santa Cruz Tallboy along with Jim's Sisu are waiting for us in Canada and from what I can tell they are the perfect choice for the race. 30 minute prologue tomorrow and then the real deal starts on Sunday. We will do our best to get some pics on the blog each night. Next up, 6 hour flight to Vancouver. Stay tuned and thanks for checking in.

http://bcbikerace.com

Good Bye

6-8-2010.........Rest In Peace dad. You will be deeply missed, but never forgotten. We all love you so much.

Cheq Flat Tire Festival

At least now I don't need to come up with any lame excuses this year! Good luck to all those that got in.

Tucson Mountain Park

Got in a 4 hour mtb ride at Tucson Mountain Park on Thurs with TJ. It was a full day on the bike and we were able to hit Starr Pass, Golden Gate, and Gate's Pass. The trails are pretty crazy compared to back home. Click HERE to check out the Garmin file. Tomorrow is the 27 mile climb to the summit of Mt. Lemon.

Got out for a 60 mile road ride on Wed. The route took me through Gates pass, which served up some awesome riding and views. Still have lots of riding left, including a trip to the top of Mt. Lemon on Sat.

Gates Pass at Tucson Mountain Park

Back side of the pass. Cars are only half as fast as a bike on the decent.

A little broader view

I've attached a few of the rides from the Garmin Below. Nothing too earth shattering on the performance side of things, but the links offer some pretty cool interaction.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22328521 --- Wed "Big Square" loop

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22328581 --- Tues MTB ride

http://http//connect.garmin.com/activity/22328622 --- Monday road ride

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22328641 --- Race

Quick update from Tucson. Headed up to Phoenix Sat morning to preride the course, which went well. Trails are really, really rocky and also pretty technical in spots. Raced in the Rock Crusher sport class and was able to get a podium spot. My fitness on the top end is not where it needs to be, but the season is still very early.

Monday I hit the roads for a 40 mile endurance ride.

Tuesday we hit one of Tucson's premier trail systems for a solid 3.5 hour ride. Hard to believe there is a trail somewhere in there amongst the boulders.

Sample of some of the tricky stuff.

TJ hitting killing the sketchy downhill on his rigid / rigid.

Stay tuned for some more random trail pics. Tx for checking in.

Trainer Bonk

Been down in Sheboygan visiting my parents on the farm where my dad is recovering from his heart attack. Things were a little slow, so I got the bike set up in mom's kitchen on Sat afternoon for a 2 hour endurance ride. It was nice to have a window with a view compared to riding in my pitch black basement. After holding a comfortable 233 watts for the first 90 minutes of the ride things went South in a hurry. I only had water and no solid calories to sustain the effort so the bonk was inevitable, and when it hit is was full on. It is pretty crazy how fast the body can shut down in a situation like that. Wonder if the Sheboygan crew did their breakfast ride.....it was zero out when I woke up.

Click HERE to read a cool article passed on to me from TJ.

Goodies

Out with the XTR / XO and in with the new XX. The SISU hard tail is going in to be Gun-Koted and then built up with the new package. The bike should should be pretty sweet once it is all put together.