Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! This fall has been busy. I took some time off the bike, about a month, and then started riding frozen trails. The lack of snow has not hampered good riding. The ice patches are a little sketchy. Our ride yesterday was fantastic, lots of variety. This one section of trail was lined with bright green moss along both sides of the trail as it climbed out of a river crossing. It was a beautifully sunny day.

I read in the last Velo, that riders that are serious about riding, typically update their blog daily. Huh! I usually have the choice of riding, or posting on my blog. I think most people with dial-up understand.

Well, I hope to bring my digital on one of our next rides. The streams and creeks in duluth are beautiful in the wintertime. The ice formations are really neat. I am always pretty thankful we live in Duluth!

I finally got back on the bike today. I took a break since the Iceman. My legs have felt really bad for the past few weeks, along with the rest of me. The weather was beautiful today, sunny and in the 40's, the sun rising up over lake superior, so I rode my bike into work. I left a little late from work to get home and had to ride home the last bit in the dark. That was dumb. Cars don't look for bikers in the daylight, much less the dark. I plan on mostly just biking to commute for a while and still not doing any sort of specific training. My commute is a little long to do everyday though. Otherwise, we have been hiking a bit and building some singletrack. It is a good time oof year to do nothing or low level actitivies. The hiking in Duluth is fantastic, and Scott and I have been hiking through the woods to scope out where new singletrack should be. The potential seems endless. Well, not much else going on at this point.

Well, unfortunately the Iceman didn't go so well for me. No triple crown this year, anyway. I didn't feel very good from the start. After the race, Scott told me he knew I wasn't going very fast today based on our warm-up together. We usually do a hard effort and he said he could tell I didn't have 'it', but thankfully he waited until after the race to tell me so. Races where I don't feel fast and don't feel like I can push myself are the toughest for me mentally. This year the Iceman, Ore to Shore, and Sheboygan were all highly mental races to stay in and get to the finish line. Iceman was particularily difficult because I lost my left contact about 10 miles into the race. I couldn't see anything! I could tell I was taking bad lines and had to slow down a lot on downhills and in the singletrack to avoid crashing. It was really tough and pretty dangerous. I think I was pretty lucky to hang onto second as it could have been a lot worse. Probably the most tired thing after the race was my left eye! It felt super fatigued.

Scott was in 4th/5th place early on in the race, tried to bridge the gap to the lead group and blew for the first time at about 10 miles in. He was still in the top ten until mile 22 and then blew again. Scott finished, so that makes his 4th race all year. He is looking foward to next year already, as some of his health issues are resolving and he is feeling better and able to train.

It was good to see some of our bike friends and have some closure to the season; catch up with a few people before settling into the off-season. I know I need a break. I feel really tired and my body has wanted to be done since Chequamegon. I have not raced well since. I was sick for about 3 weeks after Chequamegon, then got hives which lasted another almost 2 weeks. Training has seemed like work, so I know it is time to be done. I was really fired up to cyclocross race this fall, but it is not going to happen. I finally got my XO2 all set-up, but I think I am going to commute with it this fall and winter as much as possible. I have some really sweet winter riding bike shoes Scott bought me for Christmas last year. He always seems to get me great gifts; he also bought me my first pain of MTB shoes and shorts when we were first dating.

I can still be thankful for winning the races I did this year, especially Chequamegon! I think that will forever be one of the highlights of my MTB racing career. I was really fired up to get mentioned in Velonews a few times this year. That's really cool!

This week has gone by really fast. Last weekend was the big WORS Sheboygan race. Unfortunately, I developed Hives the friday before the race and was unsure if I would race on sunday. It's a 7 hr drive from Duluth to get to Sheboygan. Luckily, Scott planned on racing as well and we met Doug part way there to ride share. It gets to be a long drive and Doug is pretty talkative. I always like it when Scott comes along. It's much harder to travel without Scott, as Doug has found without Anne. When Scott and I were first married, I rarely traveled with him to races, and then I would only go to races if I were racing (which back then was not often).

I was still itching sunday of the race, but decided to race anyway as we had traveled so far to get there. I didn't feel great at any point in the race, but I was able to hold on and win. The race course was a little different this year than last. They added some singletrack and a stream crossing. The leadout wasn't as long before the racers hit singletrack. They had added a section early on in the race. It created a bottleneck early on. The elite women only started 15 seconds behind the elite men. When we got to the singletrack there was a line of men waiting to get through. I found a line around the group and had passed around 10 men within that first section of singletrack. The stream crossing had a steep hill coming out of it (last year we rode a bridge across the stream). The hill was really slick and then all the momentum was lost to get up the longer hill on the other side. I would have liked to have felt better and push it harder, but I was pretty thankful that I wasn't trying to get out of my skin during the race. Afterward, I started itching again. I still have hives, although they are slowly getting better. Turns out I am allergic to oats and that is what seemed to cause it. Oats are in alot of foods, especially powerbars. I told myself no more racing until the itching stops, but there is a CX race at Spirit Mtn in Duluth tomorrow that I may just race anyway. Because of a tatoo convention at Spirit, the race will be held at the bottom of the hill last I heard.

It has snowed off and on for three days and is finally accumulating. They sure like to use salt in duluth! Scott and I were almost going sideways up Mesaba when we hit a patch of ice on our way to work today. We had to finally turn the heat on in our house. We could almost see our breath inside yesterday. I usually have to wear a hat and scarf, along with a wool sweater in our home. We should be getting our wood pellet stove hooked up and ready for use next week.

This has been a rough week for me. I have ridden one day thus far - on weds. I am fighting a cold, but my energy is finally coming back. I need to leave here soon for a ride in Hartley. I love Hartley. Great trail with a little bit of everything. Recently the Superior Hiking Trail took some of our trail, put "foot travel only" signs up on it, and then contacted the local bike group - COGGS - to have them tell riders to stay off the SHT. The SHT even went so far as to cut down trees - which is a major no-no to deter riders on the SHT. My only question to the SHT folks, is how do they think the original trail got there? Duh. Trails don't make themselves.

Anyway, I have a few items for sale. I have a certificate good for a 2007 Trek Fuel Ex 5 WSD that I would like to get $1000/b.o. I will throw in a WSD jersey and shorts (still in new packaging) and some size 39 MTB shoes (if they fit). The second thing I have for sale is a Reba World Cup carbon fork. First $600 takes. I have a Reba on my bike and love it! It's stiffer than the fork that comes stock on the Fuel. I will post photos soon.

Off to Sheboygan this weekend.

Better get riding..

Scott is still riding the beamer to work and myself the suzuki. It poured rain yesterday, so thankfully we commuted by car. We've both gotten stuck in the rain before. It's really not that bad once you get out there.

Last weekend was the Fall Color Festival. Good event. Alot of peoople showed up for the event. None of us Midwest Trek team members got a warm-up, nor did Scott. I felt pretty bad for the first 3/4 of a lap and had crashed 2x in the first few miles. I realized after I had crashed the second time, that I didn't have a rear brake and my front brake was really grabby. My fault for not maintaining my brakes better. I felt good for about 1/2 a lap then kinda slowed down. I felt kinda bonky early on. Doug mentioned later to Scott and I that it was because we didn't eat any McDonald's breakfast burritoes. I hate McDonald's. The only thing worth eating maybe once a year is their ice cream, and I am not an ice cream eater. Scott has read the book "Fast Food Nation". It's nasty what they put in that food and if the general public knew, I think McDonald's would go bankrupt. I got passed by two guys going into the last lap and held onto their wheel for the last lap. Scott finished his first race since Cable Classic in May. He is starting to come around. He didn't push as hard as earlier this year cuz he had DNF;d so many races that he didn't want to do that again. A good thing at home is that he no longer naps for 2 hours after work.

We drove back on saturday and got to Scott's cousin's wedding reception by 10 pm. We stayed until midnight visiting with family and the cousin's almost 90 year old grandma. Sunday was a wash for me. I was so tired all day from staying out late, that I just spun a little and cleaned the house.

I got my cross bike almost two weeks ago, but haven't gotten to race it cuz of this Cheq cold. I still have a few more MTB races yet this fall (Sheboygan and Iceman), so I don't want to race extra races while sick. Cross is super fun. Our friend Charlie was at a cross race this past weekend, got their 10 min before the start (so no warm-up and no course pre-ride). He was riding at high speed when he launched himself over the first barrier. Just before he hit the barrier, he thought it was kinda weird that the guy next to him was getting off his bike.

Better get some work done. Lots to do today. My new job is going well, but I am more busy than ever.

Scott and I took our new CX bike for a ride today. The bike handles really well and the tires stick like glue around fast corners. We rode both my mtb and the CX bike and took turns. It rained since friday night, so the ground was pretty tacky. The CX bike accelerates really well. We would have raced the st. cloud CX race today, but we are both still sick. Scott got up in the middle of the night last night and changed our sheets cuz he was wheezing. I didn't hear him after that. We are both looking forward to getting over this sickness and trying some CX races.

Here is my new CX bike! Trek XO2. I am fired up to race CX this fall. I did one race last year on my mtb and had a blast (except for the barriers, my legs are short!). We'll see how it goes. Scott is fired up to ride as well. Should be fun.

I found this photo of Sunday's chequamegon crit on the fat tire website. From back to front is Michelle, Anne, Kyia, and myself. This was going up the first climb. I was in the lead up this hill, then got passed by Kyia going up the second. I accumulated too much lactate up the first hill and had to drop a few gears for the second. I stayed close to Kyia's wheel for the second lap and passed her up the last hill for the win. There were 6 women in our race, so we only had to race one time. Most of the men had to race once for their age group, and another time in the overall. Scott raced the crit and finished! That was his goal. This was the first race he had finished since May. He saw the dr again, and he should be on his way back to health and the ability to finish MTB races. I have a few more races this year, so hopefully he will feel good enough to race!

Next post will be of my new CX bike! Trek XO2 - ultegra components and race X lite wheels. It is really nice and I have a feeling I am going to have to share this bike a little with Scott!

I was so excited to win this race. I credit it to my friend Michelle who told me on friday that she prayed that I would win. After last year, I needed a little divine intervention this year. I was shooting for top three because I knew there was really good competition. My goal was to go as hard as I could and not worry about anyone else. I had started to get a cold on friday (the day before the race), but wasn't too worried because during our ride on friday my head seemed to clear. I woke on saturday feeling fine, just a little plugged up.

The start of the race was a little sketchy. A guy a little in front of me almost crashed 3x going down Hwy 77. Once we got to Rosie's field the race opened up. I knew I was in good position when I could still see the lead group heading into the woods as I was going down the big hill with the gully at the bottom in Rosie's. I worked my way through groups of riders and settled in for the long race. I felt fine the whole race. I lost my group once on an open road, but slowly caught back up on Firetower hill. I didn't know where I was in the race standings until Scott mentioned I was leading with "a big gap" at Firetower. Scott was everywhere on the course. It was awesome to see him. It helped to get hand-ups and it forced me to drink. Flying down the road on the backside of firetower hill I felt a bug smack my leg. It wasn't until after I finished that I realized I had a nice swollen bee sting on my right hip. It's still pretty sore. The rolling birke hills didn't seem as bad this year in years past and I was really glad when I hit the last bit of rolling trail in the woods before the downhill finish. I started cramping a little with 4 miles to go and just knew to be careful enough not to flat or have any other mechanical and just get to the finish line - fast. It was awesome to cross the line and know I had the win. I think I hugged everyone in the vicinity. Chris and Jason (regional team manager and assist team manager)were at the finish as well and it was great to share this victory with them. It was nice to meet Heather and Catheryn (2nd and 3rd place women).

My teammate, Doug Swanson, was in the lead with 3 miles to go when he got a flat. He still finished second, although I think it would have been fantastic for him to win. It's fun to see him race well. Tristan Schouten, my other teammate, made the top 10; so all around it was a great day!

On sunday all of us raced the crit as well. The women's race was two loops with two challenging climbs per lap. I led after the first downhill, then Kyia passed me on the second uphill. She led until the last downhill of the second loop when I passed her on the final climb. She is really tough!

Doug took first as well, and Tristan 3rd overall in the sunday crit. A really good weekend for the Trek Midwest Regional Team!

I slept horribly (not at all?) last night between blowing my nose, coughing, and having the cat wake me up to get fed (he doesn't eat when we are away from home - he's a really anxious cat). I feel pretty bad today, but made it through work, somehow. No monday night ski hut ride for either Scott or I. It was really cool to go to work today and our Adminstrative Assistant put up the podium photos from this weekend's race. It's fun to share this win with so many people.

Yesterday I was all fired up to ride. Scott and I planned on riding the trails near our house with a friend of ours. I had a kinda rough day at work and felt a bit mentally fried, but also not myself. I lasted about 20' with those two and had to spin easy home. I crashed twice in the first, again in the first 20'. I don't usually crash; especially during training rides. I had a nice evening anyway and still got almost an hour ride. Not much else going on.

This photo is me racing at the Spirit Mtn Powdermonkey race two weekends ago. This section of trail is really twisty windy making it tough to go fast. Scott did most of the labor to make this section of trail.

The middle photo is at the awards ceremony for the Seeley Hills Prefat race. I love this race cuz the speeds are high and there is excellent single track. The weather was perfect for the race (upper 60/low 70's). Going down on the pavement during the start of the race, my legs didn't feel that great. But then we hit the gravel and they felt much more comfortable. I felt way better in this race than the last two races. I felt like I could go hard. I got in a really good group of ski hutters. There were seven of us at one point training along the course. Then Joe busted his seat, Harry dropped his glasses and stopped to pick them up, and Ross flew up the steepest hill on the course, gapping the rest of us by 20 sec or more. I got a nice gap on the rest of the group through this bit of singletrack, but then wasn't sure if I took a wrong turn or not, so they caught back on. This was definitely one of the most fun races I have done. I won for the women and was 10th overall amongst the men. I got this really cool clock that I have attached a photo as well. Thanks goes to Bill Schwalbe, of whom took these photos and have a bunch of others posted on www.teamskihut.com Check out the photos of spirit mtn race. It gives one an idea of what the trails look like at spirit.

Today was a big day. I passed my motorcycle endorsement test! I was pretty fired up that I passed. I got a little nervous during the test and missed a few points going around the cones, but the rest of the test went fine. I especially liked having to stop really fast. I skidded the tire a bit.

Otherwise, I am just busy with work. Today is an off day and yesterday was an easy road ride. I lifted a few weights with just my arms. If I go too long between weight work-outs my arms will start to feel wimpy.

This past week has been really hectic. I was on vacation between jobs and had to get my new office set up and started to work on some presentations. I'll be teaching at The College of St. Scholastica this next year. I am really fired up.

I also gave a free women's mountain bike clinic last night in duluth. (at Hartley). I think there are about 12 women that showed up. Alise, from the ski hut rides, organized the event. It was really fun to work on skills and give the women some technical advise. I was really impressed with how everyone improved. There are some women that plan on continuing to meet on Tues evenings at 6pm for casual riding. I may show up to some of these as time allows, or have additional free clinics.

I also learned how to take my motorcycle's carburator apart and fix it (sorta) last week. It died on me during my endorsement test multiple times last week. The instructor made me reschedule for a different date. I was pretty upset that it didn't work. After getting it home and having Irv (father-in-law) walk me through how to take the bike apart, etc, we saw the air box was loaded with fuel. No wonder I couldn't get it to work. I felt a little better about myself after that. The endorsement test is all done in first gear around cones in a parking lot. My bike works fine on the road, but can't handle slow speeds or idling well enough to get me around cones. I may just use the full year of my permits eligibility.

This last sunday was the Powdermonkey race at Spirit Mtn. The course is really challenging. I was a bit disappointed in how my body felt. My legs get really heavy fast and then I can't push and go hard like I like to. I got passed by men I usually never see in a race. The women started 30 sec behind the expert men. I was passing men within the first 5 min of the race. There is a group of men that will not let me pass. This has happened in several races, and its the same group of 2-4 men. A few of them crashed (hard) in front of me. Another one I kept trying to pass on singletrack and he'd speed up and not let me by, or we'd get to two track and he'd go gangbusters to get ahead. I would catch back up on singletrack and the game would start again. Oh well, that's racing. I should just get faster and then not have to worry about them at all. This racecourse is probably the toughest in the midwest and its easy to go out too hard and explode, or implode. There were lots of crashes from what I heard. The toughest downhill on the course is similar to a downhillers course (it was used as part of the downhill race a few years ago). There is so much trail at spirit mtn that hopefully in years to come we will be able to make one big loop. This year was only 3 for expert men and 2 for expert women/comp. It was fun and nice to have a race close to home.

Next race: likely seeley hills prefat.

This photo is courtesy of the mining journal (www.miningjournal.net). They had a nice little write up of the Ore to Shore race. This race was definitely one of the hardest races I have finished, both mentally and physically. I didn't feel good at any point during the race. My legs felt heavy and I felt the hills were more work than they should have been at this time in the race season. I felt pretty slow. My time was seven minutes slower than last year. The course conditions were tougher as well, though. With the lack of rain this year, the stretches of sand seemed longer and deeper than years past. Luckily, I got in a good group not too long after the start of the race and held with them most of the way. The Eppens tandem came around our group with about 20 miles to go (they flatted early on in the race). They shattered our group. I had just got done working kinda hard and needed a little recovery when they past us. I struggled to stay with the group and then got dropped. I probably rode the last 15 miles in mostly by myself. In past years I have had difficulty with cramping...hamstrings, quads, adductors. This year my hamstrings were cramping pretty bad the last mile. Luckily, there was no other women around to sprint finish. I was really glad to see the finish line. I jumped in Lake Superior with kit still on - including my bike shoes. I was covered in a layer of dust from head to toe.

Doug and Anne Swanson rode to Marquette with us in the VW van. It was fun to have them with. I felt bad that Doug didn't have a better race. He was doing really well til he kinda bonked the last 1/4 of the race or so. Scott and Anne did a great job of getting me bottles, but missed Doug one time cuz of the amount of driving it took to get from one spot to the next. I felt bad they had to hang out for the awards, but Doug still won his age group. I got some nice prize money and a cool chair made out of bicycle rims. I think they are made locally in marquette. It matches the stool I won last year.

Our good friend, Charlie, took 20th overall and the last payout spot for the men's overall. His 6 year old daughter, Sophie, helped with hand-ups. She's a really tough kid and fun to hang around.

We drove back part way on saturday night and slept in the van. It comfortably sleeps 4 with the top poped up. Sunday Scott and I went for an easy two-track trail ride. It felt good to spin the legs. My legs felt quite achy after the previous day's efforts. Monday we joined The Ski Hut Monday Night Ride at Spirit Mtn. The PowderMonkey MTB MNSCS race is this coming sunday, Aug 20th. We added a little bit of trail in the am and rode it in a bit during the ride. For those of you familiar with Charlie's Demise (part of the Grady Downhill); it does a switchback now instead of going straight down (where Charlie almost severed his Quad tendon a few years ago). Even with some rain the past two days, the course is still dry and a little dusty.

Today is a rest day and a motorcyle endorsement test this afternoon. Better go practice.

It's been a busy past few weeks. I have been practicing on our motorcycle and will hopefully take my endorsement test soon. It's been really fun riding around, and mostly riding behind Scott to do errands and get to/from work. We are really fired up by the mileage (80 mpg).

We finally got some rain. Friday we had inch sized hail pelting down and pouring rain. We were inside our shed when the storm hit. It sounded like being inside a tin can with rocks hitting all sides...all at once. Then it stormed the next morning, rained the next day, and then stormed again monday night. We had to cut the Monday Night Ski Hut ride short due to thunder and rain. We got quite wet before getting the bikes back into our car. Too bad it was lighting, it would have been fun to jump into lake superior before heading home.

Scott is riding his bike more often and seems to be coming around. He may not race the rest of the season. He can go easy just fine, but long and hard are not do-able at this stage. I am starting to feel better. I had a few weeks where all I wanted to do was sleep. I am sure I was fighting a virus of some sort I picked up at work. I felt almost normal on the Ski Hut ride yesterday, and felt probably the best I have in some time. Not sure if its also the heat taking my energy.

Doug and Anne's wedding was this weekend. It was fun and we were really glad to be a part of it. Dan is always hilarious and it was fun to sit with Harry, Megan and meet some new folks. We also got to catch up a little with Hollywood and Kimberly. My dad is a frequent visitor to Hollywood's shop. He set his time trial and road bike up and is really happy. My dad's pretty funny. He's trying to cut weight for the senior olympics coming up in October out in St. George, UT. He really wants to win the yellow jersey (the overall) in his category. Nice to see him still racing at 67. He is a good road biker, but mountain biking would not be very kind to him I am afraid.

The ore to shore is coming up next. I hear they haven't got any rain recently like we have. Lots of sand to look forward to. When I was in college we used to run intervals at forestville trails near the end of the race. I love going to marquette!

It has been a while since I posted on my blog. From Grand Marais we traveled to Hayward to ride some of the trails and hang out. Rock Lake trails were amazing! They had been worked on since we had ridden them last. Really fun twisty singletrack with plenty of rocks and some expert sections of trail. We also rode some of the ojibwe trail - one of our favorite trails. We were pretty tired after putting in time riding, hiking, playing tennis, and kayaking. We borrowed some friends home-made (from a kit) sea kayaks. They are made in a fashion that the boat doesn't need a rudder. We got a lot of compliments. We spent most of our days out in the sun (and its been HOT!), so we have been pretty tired the past week or so.

I tried to race the MNSCS race at Red Wing, but DNF'd. It was partly the heat, but I felt really slow. I got back to my car, and realized my front wheel wasn't turning. (It spun fine before the race). I really fried myself with the combination of the heat and the extra peddling resistance. I finally rode again today (sat). I am surprised that my legs feel really tired after todays ride. We rode some great trails close to our house. I will probably take a little more time off next week. I don't have my usual zip and enthusiasm to ride, which tells me there is something not right with my body. My next race will be the ore to shore - three weeks away.

I have been riding our new motorcycle - learning to shift and stop/start smoothly. I didn't grow up riding motorcycles so it's going to take a while before I feel comfortable riding on the road. Scott gave me a ride to work last thurs on the bike - it was really fun! It's hard not to smile while riding. I hope to take my riding test soon and get my endorsement.

Tomorrow VeloDuluth is putting on a fundraiser ride for Courage Duluth. It starts pretty early - registration is from 6:30 - 8am - and riders can choose 35, 50, or 100 miles. If we can get out of bed we'll go. Lately, I have felt the need to sleep in as long as possible - especially on non-work days. I'll probably road bike tomorrow either way.

Here is the latest edition to our family: a Suzuki drz 200. It was either spend $$ on plane tickets out to the national in california, or buy a motorcycle to save money on commuting to and from work. Obviously, we chose the latter. Scott is still not feeling super well, but has perked up some since this latest purchase. Last week we headed up to the north shore to do some riding, play some tennis (we both are pretty terrible at tennis), play some mini-golf, hang out in the sun, and stay at nanaboujou lodge up past Grand Marais. Nanaboujou lodge is pretty cool. (Scott is walking toward the lodge in one of the photos). No phones, tv, or cell service. We hiked in Judge Magney State Park: the upper and lower falls and Devil's Kettle. Devil's kettle was pretty cool and worth the hike up. (see photo) We also rode our bikes at Pincushion trails. The locals are making a nice new section of singletrack for their race that will be held at the end of august. The races starts in downtown Grand Marais and then heads up to the pincushion trail system from there. Unfortunately, Seeley Hills and WORS cup are also that weekend, so we won't make it back for their race.

Back at home we have been riding some of the local trails and had a great long hike from our house to Ely's peak and back yesterday. The weather has been just great this past week, with yesterday and today not so hot, so we can recover a little from some minor sunburn and gear up for the hot weather that is supposedly headed our way the rest of the week. We hope to get down to the hayward area to ride some of the singletrack trails down there yet this week, as well as, partake in more minigolf and tennis. We also have harvested some of the lettuce we have been growning in our garden. It definitely tastes and smells better than store-bought. That may be all we get from our garden this year, as the deer have been feeding in the rest of our garden at night. We plan on putting up a fence next year to keep them out. It is so dishartening to wake up and all our plants are just stubs.

I don't have a green thumb, but I am pleased I didn't kill this clematis. I was feeling pretty bad last week. I only rode three days, including the Mont Du Lac race. This week I am feeling a bit better and was able to ride more consistently. My energy levels have been really poor and my stress levels at work pretty high. I have been gardening instead. Scott and I hauled in three truck loads of rock we used as a border to our new garden. It's about 40'x 40', but I built walkways between the rows of dirt. It was fun to build. So far, we have only lost a few plants to the large rodents that rome the neighborhood (i.e. Deer). I read an article in the paper that said christmas lights are the best way to keep them away. I use irish spring soap in my watering can. Let the water lather it up and then pour it around my garden. Deer are not supposed to like irish spring.
Scott is still feeling really tired. He hasn't riden his bike in a week, and doesn't feel like riding, which isn't like him. Typically, by this time he would be going nuts if something kept him off his bike this long. He has been busy instead fixing our cars and VW van, along with some house projects. As good as it is to have all that work done, I'd rather have him able to ride his bike. Tomorrow is the eau claire wors race. A friend of mine and I are driving to Brainard instead to see a friend of ours from xc racing in high school. I'll be cool to see her again. It's been 14 years. It'll be nice to finally meet her two boys.

Mont Du Lac Dirtspanker race yesterday. Here's me holding up my prize! Thanks to Jeff Fraboni and Greg Minerich about a mile of new singletrack was added to the loop. Nice new bridges, corners, twisty, but not too tight, singletrack. This was my first year racing this course, kinda sad cuz I live in Duluth. I'll chalk that up to having the crud the past few years. The course is pretty challenging - especially the first climb. The elite men and women started together. I really liked racing with the men and seeing where I can improve. After the first climb I was riding behind Charlie Farrow and Ross. Something his Ross's tire, he flatted and soon after I got around Charlie. Todd McFadden flew from behind and slowly picked his way around the line of riders ahead of myself and I slowly followed. I was still not too far behind Todd after the second lap. My third lap kinda stunk. I crashed on the long bridge and felt really slow in the singletrack. I could tell my legs were leaning towards cramping up, so I had to back off the last time up the long climb, but was able to ride the big ring for most of the fourth lap. I felt I was starting to catch some men again as I finished my last lap.

I guess I just felt ok racing. Not good, not great, for sure really hot - especially up the long climb. I have been really tired the past few weeks and not sleeping well so I have been forced not to ride my bike. It's rare that I don't feel like riding my bike for days at a time, but that was where I was, so I didn't force myself to ride. This race was a test to see how I felt. I still feel somewhat tired, but my energy is starting to come back.

Thanks to Scott and Dr. Bob pouring cold water on me. I made it up the hill each time. My dad and mom showed up for the race and handed Scott and I water. I think this is the second time they have seen me race. My dad road races, which is pretty cool. He's fast too. I have a hard time training with him, cuz he always goes a little to hard to be easy, but not hard enough to be hard. We've talked about this and he says he just gets all fired up once he's on his bike and can't seem to keep his easy days mellow.

Scott started the race, but stopped after a lap and 1/2. He feels pretty bad still. His energy levels have been much worse than mine. After this race he is ready to sell all his bikes and take up carpentry (and fix our VW van) as a summer job. His body isn't working quite right, but I am sure he will come around. Once his energy gets back he'll miss biking.

The COGGS group really did a great job of making this race happen. I am in charge of COGGS membership and I highly encourage readers to visit www.coggs.com to check out the benefits of membership - especially locals, but also those visiting the area and whom enjoy the trails COGGS builds and maintains (i.e. Mont Du Lac, Spirit Mtn, Pokegema, Hartley, and they are currently working towards trailbuilding in Lester).