Maplelag Spring Opener

Jay Richards and family do a fantastic job pulling off a race. Where else can you race (for $10, mind you), have a lunch included and pay out three deep? Nowhere around these parts. Furthermore, the course was voted the best in the Minnesota Series last year.

Sara, Kiera and I showed up Friday and Sara was able to get in part of a loop. She snapped her seat binder bolt and thankfully I always carry a spare since this has happened before and put us in a spot of bother. We ended up running out of time since we had to meet Doug, Anne and Stella for some cabin time. Anne and her mother Mary had an amazing dinner waiting so once we were able to wrestle the girls to the table, we dug in. The girls played hard and we finally got them to bed around 9:30. Late for Stella but Kiera's normal bedtime in the summer.

Saturday morning was cloudy and cool, just the way I like it. Sara, Doug and I arrived about 45 minutes before start time and got in a brief warm up on the tacky trails. Perfect conditions. 2.2 XR 1s on the Superfly for me and the same set up for Sara on the Top Fuel. Doug punched it from the start and I was able to hang for a bit. I know he was trying to shed me early since he continually glanced back... He did and after a while Jake caught me, rode behind for awhile and then took over. He briefly got a gap and then we both had our issues with bike problems and ended up riding together for the almost the entire race. I sucked off his wheel down the ski trail and jumped by for second on the day about 30 seconds behind Doug who had some trail navigation issues
(now I know why he always races with the Garmin even though it didn't help him this time :) Jake ended up third, Kevin Ishaug forth and Jay Richards rounded out the podium. It sure is great to see Jay beating Lyme's Disease and riding fast again.

Sara rode a steady pace, enjoyed the technical practice and chalked up another win. Maplelag is always a tough course for her but she enjoys the challenge. Her concussion symptoms continue to slowly improve and she is seeing less "floaties" and has fewer tough days. A familar competitor, Kyia Anderson also made an appearance, pulling off second place(it was nice to see Kyia's husband Kris and 8 month old baby Aunders since we haven't seen them since last September).

After the race we rode a good chunk of another lap before heading back for lunch and awards. Next up was the drive back to the cabin to relieve Anne and Mary and jump into the lake. Stella and Kiera played hard all day and a good part of the night. Kiera ASKED to go to bed (this has happed once or twice in her 3 and 1/2 years) so Stella did a great job wearing her out. A big THANKS to the Swansons for a great weekend.

Up next: Mankato.

8th Cable-Off Road Classic Win for Sara

80s and sun at the CORC? I'm a fan of snow and rain early on but it sure was nice to warm up, cool down, and finally sit around in shorts and short sleeves after a race in May. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't in Kansas. The folks in Cable continue to make improvements on the course each year and I'd have to say this was the best course yet. There was a little more singletrack to go along with the old stuff and it has just enough rocks and roots to make it interesting. It is always fun to see the race crowd again after a long off-season. Gary Crandall, Fat Tire Festival director, was on hand taking pictures and chatting it up. A healthy Duluth crowd attended along with the usual suspects. Sara was a little apprehensive about how it would go since she hasn't raced since realizing she had a nasty concussion in late August. To her surprise she felt good and was able to pick up where she left off last year. In fact, she rode strong enough to place 18th overall. Usually, she sees little "floaties" dancing around in her eyes but they have been diminishing as of late thanks to some new homoeopathy medicine. The Trek worked flawlessly and it seems we have it dialed in pretty nicely. She didn't ever ride over her head and stayed on her best behavior so she didn't fall. She certainly doesn't want to go down and bump her head (or stop quickly from hitting a tree with a shoulder and "rattling" her brain like the August injury). Congrats to our neighbor Diana McFadden for finishing in second and Rebecca Sauber in third to round out the podium. We are both glad to get the first race out of the way. I'm just happy I was able to draft off neighbor Todd McFadden and C.J. Faulkner once Tyler Gaunthier and Chad Sova rode us off their wheels around the 15 mile to go mark. I'm always bummed when I get dropped on this course because it suits me nicely even if I'm not on my A game. Congrats to Tyler on the win, Chad in second, and the sprint of the day had C.J. nipping Todd at the line for third. It sure would have been nice to be able contest the sprint but there was none of that on this day. A huge thanks to Kathy Raymond for watching Kiera so Sara and I could race. Usually my mom or dad watch her but since Kathy offered and Kiera adores Ron and Kathy's boys, Ben and Luke, it was an easy decision to bring her with. Furthermore, it enabled my dad to sign up for the short race. It was a highlight to ride by him during the race and see him having fun pedaling his bike at 72 years of age.

April Snow

Two weeks in a row we've had snow in April. We couldn't buy a flake in early December/January/February but now it's decided to come along with plenty of rain. I read that we've got 4 inches or so in April. I also noticed that almost all the snow has melted from Spirit Mountain and it isn't even May. Weird. These pictures are from my ride in to The Ski Hut this morning to get new Sram brake pads. After putting in set in the front and rear both wheels have a serious amount of brake drag. Great for training, bad for racing. Thanks to Reynolds and KUHL for the wheels. I can't wait to get the brakes dialed in to see how responsive the wheels are.

MOAB 2012



The Eurovan is the way to travel with a 3 year old. Kiera is a great traveler when she knows there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The pool and playground (along with the hopes of lots of other kids) put her in a great traveling mood. She barely fussed the entire way out and back even though she had a pretty nasty cold (which Sara and I now have). The old van also got over 20 miles to a gallon most of the way out and back!



Morning walk down Main Street



Our morning walk is one of the favorite things about vacation for Sara and me. We don't have to move the van once we arrive and it is great to get some active recovery before a long ride.



Once we finish our breakfast we then walk to coffee. In the pic above it is pretty clear that I need coffee badly! Our favorite coffee spot is the Moab Creamery, although Sara really likes Wicked Brew, it is one of the drive-through spots so it's impossible to sit, read and enjoy if it is 40 degrees and windy. The Creamery also sits next to a used bookstore so we have plenty of reading material at our disposal. Boppy is happily reading while I wrestle Kiera.



This is one of our favorite rides because the climb up Sand Flats road is really long and steep at times and the single track back down to Porcupine Rim feels like a WORS course in spots (which is really rare out here because it is usually quite rocky, rough and full of drop-offs). We are at the top of the sweet stuff in this picture. If we had more time on this ride we could have done the Burrito Pass loop for the first time since the La Sal Mountains didn't have the usual amount of snow.



Here's another view of the La Sals.



Sara rode her new Fuel and I opted for the Superfly. My skills are taxed a bit more riding a skinny tire (BONTRAGER XR 1'S WITH NO FLATS!!!) hardtail and I have to think more when it comes to tricky drops or multi-step climbs. I get to work on my finesse a lot more and the overall challenge is a good way to work on skills.

Sara can't believe how nice the new Fuel is, and for the first time ever, she didn't take a tumble in Moab. She knows she cannot afford to fall but she was still able to ride pretty darn fast down some tricky singletrack loaded with drops, random rocks strewn about and sand hiding around/in corners.

A couple of new trails that are must rides: Magnificent Seven linked to the Portal (my pick) or Poison Spider (Sara's pick), Pipe Dream (all single track nestled in the canyon wall west of town - about a three minute ride to the trailhead from our campground), and a trail that has been around for a few of years now, Rock Stacker (to Jackson Trail). All of these trails have some really tricky sections and a couple of mandatory walk spots unless you've got a death wish or like taking chances and evac rides on helicopters.

We also managed to get in a ride at Fruita, CO on the way out and stayed in Vail at a buddy's house (a former Duluthian, Sean O'Brien, who also met up with us for some rides in Moab).

My dad accompanied us on the trip along with Bill Schwalbe. Kieara absolutely adores both and she wouldn't let Bill out of her sight very often. For the first time ever, the weather was fantastic the entire trip and I only carried arm warmers twice during the seven days of riding. We met up with Bushey and his wife Jody for a few days along with Aaron and Jess, an extremely kind couple from Whitefish, Mt. Aaron grew up on Esko, MN so it is always nice to catch up with old friends on trips like this.

Racing is just around the corner for us. It looks like the WORS race at Iola will be the first one for us this year unless this unrelenting cold decides to take hold and not let go.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Scott and I mention each year since Kiera has been born, how much more we enjoy the holiday season. She has enjoyed learning Christmas songs, dancing to Christmas music, wearing her new princess dresses and taking care of her new babies, including giving them a ride in her new stroller. Today she and one of her babies were in a basket to emulate baby Moses in the Nile. We enjoyed visiting with family and it is especially fun to see Kiera and all the cousins play together!

I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers since falling off my bike in August. God answers prayers! I had such horrible photosensitivity and motion sickness that took quite a bit longer to get over than we expected. Scott has been very supportive and patient. Kiera is an incredibly understanding child. She would ask me everyday, "Is mommy's concussion all better?" Boppy, Scott's dad, is a Godsend; he watched Kiera while I rested and was my chauffer to and from appointments and my first week back to work in early November. I was allowed to work limited hours at first, but gradually returned to normal. The people, other than my family, that have helped me the most seemed to materialize just at the right time.(Thank you, Lord!) Dr. Pradhan, from India, got me started on homeopathy that finally helped me turn the corner and see some improvement after spending the first two weeks at home confined to darkness. Dr. Audette, a chiropractor, administered frequency specific microcurrent, to heal specific parts of my brain. My neck feels better than it has in years (thank you, Geri!) and I no longer have to do my vestibular ocular reflex exercises (thank you, Andrea!)

My first bike ride was on Thanksgiving day (how appropriate) with Scott. I have been able to run for several weeks now. I feel incredibly fortunate! I have to be a bit careful yet not to overdo, but each week I am still making gains and in some ways feel better than I have in years.

http://www.publichealthalert.org/Bio%20agent%20vaccines%20Tina%20Garcia.pdf

This article is well worth your time reading..... The website is full of information you may not get from mainstream media or your health care providers.

A WIN AT THE SINGLE TRACK ESCAPE


(Photo Jay Richards - skinnyski.com)

I finally notched a win in a Minnesota Series race. The only thing that would have made it better is if Sara would have also won the women's race. As it is, she is still nursing a concussion that keeps her on her back most of the day with her eyes closed. She is able to go for short walks on occasion, but she has to be very careful not to overdo it. This is the most time she's been off the bike since she started riding in 2002.

The St. Cloud race sarted pretty mellow with Barry T. taking the lead on his fully rigid singlespeed. I was content following his wheel until he pulled over and then continued a fairly mellow pace. Even though Brendan won the MN Singlespeed Championship earlier in the day, he was antsy following and decided to lead going into the singletrack. I shadowed him while Josh Tesch followed me. We rode together until the rock section on the first lap where Brendan and I established a little gap. Brendan was content to lead for a little over half the race and then I went to the front. I'm not sure I could have ridden the course any fast than I did because it seemed we were at the terminal velocity for the tight, twisty singletrack.


(photo by Jay Richards - skinnyski.com) Final section of two track

That said, I had to go pretty hard on each of the cross-country ski trail sections because whoever had the lead going into the last section of singletrack would be at a huge advantage for the sprint finish. I was able to hold the lead and outsprint Brendan for the win.

Josh ended up holding down third, Lance B. got fourth and Jake Richards had another impressive race, nailing down the fifth spot.

The Trek Top Fuel worked flawlessly once again and the Bontrager XR1's had great grip. I made sure to drink plenty of Hammer Heed, gulp down some vanilla Hammer Gel and pop some RACE CAPS before the start since I cramped so badly at Chequamegon.

Thanks to the St. Cloud crew for putting together a great course and a smooth running event.

Trek Mountain Bike Demo October 1 & 2

Savage, MN

Sat & Sun Oct 1st & 2nd, 2011 @ 10:00 am—3:00 pm

Your Twin Cities Trek, Gary Fisher Collection and Bontrager Dealers will be the host of this demo at Murphy. The new MTB trail is a ribbon of dirt cut through the beautiful woods and prairies of Murphy-Hanrehan Park, traveling up and down ridges, around small knolls, and across drainages and marshes. The trail is not super twisty and has fairly long sightlines. The goal here was flow. At almost 10 miles, it is one of the longer metro trails and has some great views from the top of the big ridge on the advanced loop. On a clear day you can see the skyline of downtown Minneapolis through the trees. More info can be found at http://www.morcmtb.org/ Please note if weather conditions threaten health, safety, conditions of the trails and participants we reserve the right to cancel the event. Thanks for understanding!

For more details visit: http://www.trekfactorydemo.com/region.php?region_id=3

Location:
Murphy-Hanrehan
CR-75/Murphy Lake Blvd
Savage, MN 55378
Directions:
Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve is located just south of Savage, not too far from the Burnsville Center mall. The easiest way to get to the area is Interstate 35 (35W or 35E). Take the County Road 42 exit. Go west on CR-42, past all the malls and down the long hill. After roughly 2 miles on 42, take a left onto West Burnsville Pkwy. Shortly after Cam Ram Park, W. Burnsville Pkwy turns into Hanrehan Lake Blvd. Continue down Hanrehan Lake Blvd until Murphy Lake Road - the gravel road heading up into the prairie on your left. The trailhead parking is a short distance up Murphy Lake Road on the left.

Almost One Minute Per Mile



Up until Thursday Sara was still contemplating doing Chequamegon. Thankfully she went to see the doctor on Friday afternoon and was told to steer clear of anything that causes symptoms to flair up. Essentially, that's work, exercise, reading, driving, screens, phones, etc. As difficult as it was for her, she knew competing was impossible. Hopefully her symptoms will clear soon so she can at least start riding the bike again.

I ended up having a clean start and getting into a good group: Eppens, Hall, Pattycakes, a couple others I didn't know, and eventually Jack Hinkens before Fire Tower. The pace felt perfect and I finally felt like I had my shot for a top 10 finish. I started cramping a little before Fire Tower and it was all I could do to limp to the finish. My quads and hamstrings were giving me serious grief and ended my hopes of a top finish. Looking at the finishing times, I gave up almost a minute per mile from Fire Tower to Telemark...

All in all it was a good day. It was the most fun I've had at Chequamegon even though I couldn't push hard to the finish. I don't think I went out too hard because I never was at my limit before cramping. I didn't drink much though and even gave up a bottle after OO because I didn't want to carry the extra weight.

Thanks to Gary and crew for year 29.

Maplelag/Seeley Recap


photo: Eve Stein






The Maplelag stage race is a must do mountain bike race. Jay, Jonelle and crew do an amazing job pulling off a gigantic amount of races, hosting hordes of folks at the resort, feeding the competitors, etc., etc. Sara and I felt bad about not bringing Kiera along but it made for a much easier race weekend than last year. In addition, we got to sleep in a little and could recover a little between races.

Sara came into the weekend really banged up. She shouldn't have raced but she didn't talk with the doc until Sunday evening on the way home. The good doctor Swank ordered her to stay off the bike and give her ailing brain a break. She hasn't been on the bike since Maplelag and Chequamegon is up in the air. It is a major bummer seeing how she is able to push the pedals pretty good right now...

Sara ended up winning all thee races at Maplelag but she did so very carefully. She said if felt like she was riding with bifocals and the more she rode the more difficult it was to stay focused. Thankfully she was on the Trek Top Fuel so she could let the bike do all the work.

I ended up having a good weekend as well. This place is my favorite spot to race. The short track course is amazing and the new cross-country loop is fantastic. Jay knows how to build tough single track and a technical sound rider does well on this course. One needs fitness, but fitness alone won't allow a racer to win this one. Brendan put on another clinic and easily beat us all. I was down 1:20 or so after the first of two laps so I knew I didn't have a chance. He is so powerful on the short, punchy climbs and his sound technical skills leave no chinks in the armor. I know his mind was elsewhere during the weekend but he was still able to win the overall title. Doug was flying in the short track and time trial (Sara said he looked ilke the "old Doug") but my second place finish coupled with a third in both the short track and time trial enabled me to snatch second overall on the weekend.

The Bontrager XR1s worked perfectly for the conditions as did the full suspension Trek.

Sara and I really enjoy staying at the lodge and hanging out with everyone. Even Dan Swanson showed up so it was just like the old days!


Quick Seeley re-cap: Sara crashed really hard in the single track. Of course she was feeling strong and riding fast when she wacked a tree with her shoulder. It stopped her dead, bruised some ribs and rattled her brain. She limped in for the win but she went downhill health wise the week prior to Maplelag.

I ended up twisting a link in my chain about three miles into the race and wasn't able to fully trust my drivetrain. I didn't know what was wrong at the time but the drivetrain made plenty of racket and did some phantom shifting so I had to be really careful. I'm impressed that it held together and I was able to finish the race in 6th. I'm really bummed I didn't get to race Adam and Patty in the single track. Maybe next year....

For once in my life I am excited about Chequamegon!

BORDER BATTLE

The White Tail Ridge mountain bike trails just keep getting better. Last year's course was great but this year's version was even better. The local club has really turned these trails into a top notch race course by adding another twisty, slightly technical descent and a technical rocky climb. Chad Sova lives 10 minutes from these trails and it is obvious that his input is invaluable when it comes to laying out the race course.

Sara sat this race out since Ore2Shore is such a long, brutal race and because we are racing the next two weekends in a row which would have had her racing six consecutive weeks. She also wants to do well at Chequamegon so it made sense to have a little break.

After crashing out at the start of last two races in a row, and having a still sore, slightly separated shoulder, I decided to lead the group most of the way up the opening climb. I cannot afford to fall and aggravate my shoulder so I had to put in a big effort at the start. I felt pretty good and settled in on the field leading into the single track. I made the mistake of following Rients into the single track and he let a gap open up. Jesse didn't bring his race legs and the added pressure of imminent fatherhood surely had something to do with this rare off day. That said, I was sitting in 6th and had to chase DB for the better part of the first lap before finally catching him and going by. DB happily sat on my wheel and recovered while I slowly reeled in Ben K. (Ben helped me quite a bit since he got off his bike a couple of times). We were a small group of three for most of the second and part of the third lap before I almost fell off one of the many bridges and got gapped.

I ended up riding alone for the rest of the race. Ben and Darrin passed a bonking Brian Eppen but I didn't have the legs to move up - probably because I went a little too hard at the start. I was busy gulping lots of Hammer Heed, Endurolytes and Vanilla Hammer Gel in hopes I could give one more push, but I couldn't muster up the energy to chase down Brian and ended up in 6th.

Like usual, the Trek Top Fuel did a terrific job and the Bontrager XR1 tires hooked up nicely. I think I would have had even better traction with a little wider tire than the 1.9 and 2.0s.

Sara did a great job getting Jesse, Ron Raymond and me feeds, cheering and taking a little video at the start. I'd upload it but our modem is shot and I can't make our wireless work.

Another great thing about this venue is that there is a daycare center on the course and it has a playground. Kiera, Luke and Ben (the Raymond boys) played after the race while Sara and Kathy (Ben and Luke's mom) went for a ride on all the single track White Tail has to offer.

Thanks to the Raymond family for letting us stay at their house and to Kathy for entertaining Kiera while Sara, Ron and I were at the race.

ORE2SHORE WIN NUMBER FOUR



Women's top 3 podium spots (Sara, Chloe and Kim)

I do enjoy watching Sara compete. The Ore2Shore is the one race I consistantly do hand-ups and play daddy day care (for the Raymond family) and it is a hoot. The day flies by because I have to rally the Eurovan to four viewing/hand-up spots and the third spot is always nip-and-tuck but I always seem to barely make it.

This year I didn't see Sara come by at the first view point and I thought she either went down in a crash or had a mechanical. I waited for an extra 15 minutes before venturing on hoping that I'd missed her. Sure enough, at the 16 or so mile mark I saw Chloe come through looking strong and Sara was next about 1:30 back. Obviously, I was relieved and a little bit surprised since I missed her at the first spot but saw all the other top women. At this point Chloe was in a small group of men and Sara was in a huge group (20 or so). As it is in mass start gender mixed races, the women's race is always played out at the mercy of men. Sara knew it was better to play it safe and try to stay in her group rather than try to move up on her own because it almost always spells disaster later in long races like this. A downside to the large group this year is that it was really dusty and guys were going down because they couldn't see what was happening and this caused Sara to stop/jump off the bike three times to avoid crashes. She also would get buggered up on techincal climbs a bit so she had to run more than she would have liked.

Chloe had a consistant 1:30 - 1:45 margin on Sara until the last feed spot at about six miles to go. I wasn't surprised to see Sara in the lead at this point but I was surprised that Chloe wasn't closer to her. Sara said she passed Chloe with twelve miles to go and by the time they came through with six to go Sara was about a minute up. It turns out Choe's stem loosed up (TJ??????) and she had to stop to tighten it up.

Sara rode a smart race to the finish and kept the gap a little over minute. Considering how she's been riding the past month, it doesn't surprise me a bit that she won. The women's field was stacked and it is too bad that Jenna got a flat while in third at around the 10 mile mark. Kim Eppen rounded out the top three, and our neighbor Diana McFadden had a great ride and nabbed the 4th spot for the second year in a row.

On a side note, Sara was able to keep the keep her legs from cramping, but I'm convinced part of the reason was the Trek Top Fuel 100. It is SO nice to have a super light weight, full suspension fast bike for marathon races. Another reason was downing plenty of Hammer Endurolytes and Hammer Head drink.




Another bonus of me not racing is that Kiera gets to join us. She has so much fun playing with Ben and Luke Raymond and hanging out with Ron and Kathy. She also enjoyed playing with Ellie Schouten at the playground and during the awards ceremony.

This pic sums up my race at the GHC last Sunday. I think Jay Richards took the picture and Eric O sent it my way.

My injured thumb is going to be fine in time. This is the first summer I was able to squeeze a water bottle again since injuring it Nordic skiing two winters ago...oh, well.

My right shoulder on the other hand is still pretty sore. With effort I can lift my arm over my head so I'm taking that as a good sign. Sara has me all kineseo taped up, so I'm sure that helps assist the lifting. It is separated because I have the tell-tale dip which now will match my left shoulder and make me symetrical once again. The last time I seperated my left shoulder was in 2007 on a bike ride with Sara before she tried racing. We were riding in Bagley Nature Center when I attempted to bunny hope a downed tree and totally misjudged it and crashed. A litte over a week later I finally realized I mistakingly put Sara's contacts in while coaching track at the Doc Savage meet (hence the crash because I couldn't focus quite right). This time around my only excuse for crashing is that I felt good and was going faster than normal over the rock drop I've ridden EVERY TIME without problem for 4 or 5 years.

It will be a while before I can ride bumpy tails again. Hopefully I'll be ready for the Boarder Battle in a couple of weeks.

Thanks again to Dave, Dr. Matt and J Boyce (who a few weeks ago had a horrendous 30 + mph crashed through the side window of a car that pulled out right in front of him) getting me ice asap, assessing me, taping me up, etc. I owe you fellas!

A Win For Sara, Homecurse Disadvantage for Scott and Two Weddings in Two Days



I picked up this little gift in Cuyuna




The poison ivy continues to pop up in new places going on week two

Sara had another impressive showing at The Great Hawk Chase in Lester Park on Sunday. We rode the course three times last week and she was disappointed in her singletrack skills. She was able to put something together by race day, however, since she won the Pro/Expert Women's race and the Men's Comp race (by one second). Michelle Flanagan-Haag had an impressive ride and ended up second on the day. Sara is best in tough conditions so it is really quite impressive she was able to do so well on this course since it is pretty fast, flowy and smooth. She had nary a problem in the slippery sections even though she used her favorite Bontrager XR1 tires.

I on the other had had plenty of adversity. For the second race in a row I was on the ground at the start - this time 10 feet off the line. Thankfully nobody ran me over and was able to practice my passing skills starting off dead last. I redlined it and got into second place before the end of the first lap. I really wanted to ride with Brendan a little but there was no way I was going to catch him after my mishap. I was leading an old coaching buddy at CSS, Josh Tesch into the singletrack on lap two when I launched off a rock, ended up going over the bars and mashed my left thumb and right shoulder into a nasty pile of sharp rocks. It took me awhile to get going and a group of four went by while I was taking stock of my body and bike. The chase was on once again albeit much more slowly and painfully since I couldn't stand up and pedal or lift up on the bars because my shoulder wouldn't allow it. I somehow managed to ride back into third place until the start of the fourth and final lap. I came unglued early in the lap and had to soft pedal to the finish. I couldn't hold off Jake Richards and Kevin K. going down the ski trail finish and had to settle for seventh. I've never worked so hard and passed so many people to end up seventh....

Great job to Mick at the SKIHUT for putting together a terrific course and to COGGS for pulling off the second Minnesota Series event.

I will get to recover next weekend since I'm Sara's waterboy for the Ore2shore.

Dan Swanson's wedding was a hoot on Friday! Kiera loves playing with Stella (Doug and Ann's daughter) and having an excuse to eat a bunch of sugar. Two nights in a row of being up late has taken its toll on us though. I can't wait to get rid of this poison ivy so I can sleep again...

Bachelor Party and Elk River Race







The entire family is blown after this weekend. Sara and Kiera stayed home while I ventured to Crosby with Harry Anderson to celebrate Dan Swanson's upcoming wedding. Doug organized a 3 + hour ride on the fantastic Crosby trail system the family company built last year and gave our group of 13 or so the grand tour. If you haven't explored this trail system, it is a must. Of course, it was super hot and humid but luckily Doug provided pretzels, cookies and Gatorade so we could press on. Dan was showing off his mad waterskiing skills once we got back to the cabin and like usual, Hollywood provide plenty of entertainment. Harry and I left early to get back to our ladies but it sounded like we missed out on some fun by not spending the night.

Sara was excited to race at Elk River on Sunday so I loaded up the car in the AM and we headed out. We dropped Kiera off at Grandma and Grandpa Kylander's house so she could play with the cousins and we continued on to Elk River.

Sara had a gap going into the powerline climb and ended up riding with fellow Duluthian, Nikolai Anikin for most of her race. She said she struggled mightily in the tight single track and did hundereds of excelerations per lap. This is one course where pre-riding would make for a much smoother, faster first lap.

I didn't know what to expect but I felt good right from the start. I tried making a sweet inside line pass at the top of the powerline climb but I had the door slammed shut. Instead of hitting the brakes I decided to ride into the tall grass and into a bunch of big boulders that were hiding in the grass. Needless to say, I was over the bars and back into 20th place or so. I had to ride harder than I wanted to for about 5 minutes and by the time I worked my way into 4th the leaders were long gone.

Sara and I were talking about how great the Trek Top Fuels worked on the rough climbs and everywhere in between. The Bontrager XR1 tires worked perfectly once again. The more we use these tires, the more we like them.

We went back to Sara's parents and watched Kiera play with her cousins. Her parents have a farm so the kids were climbing the haystack, picking rasberries, chasing each other around the yard, trying to catch the wild kittens and messing about with a variety of things. Good times and fun to watch the kids have fun.

Up next is hometown race, the Great Hawk Chase.

HOT du Lac and Projects




Since we are getting new windows, I had to replace some cedar. I'm told they will blend in with the old boards in time.






Kiera and Sara went strawberry picking while I powerwashed the house.


I've got no race pictures to show... I'm sure they will surface at some point but I can't give the visual of how hot it really was. I had my full zip KUHL jersey flapping open the entire race and I still thought I was going to melt. Thanks a ton to Rosco and Dodzee from THE SHIHUT for dumping water on our heads and for the hand-ups. Thanks too to Kate Tesch for giving me water even though her husband Josh was only about 30 seconds behind me the entire race. I can't believe how many Hammer Race Caps I put down and how well the Hammer Gels/Heed worked in the rain forest like conditions.

Sara, however, seems immune to the heat because she was on fire (no pun intended). Not only did she win the women's race, she worked her way up to sixth place overall in the men's expert field even though she started two minutes back. She finished about 8 minutes ahead of the first place male comp winner. If only she could have had this kind of day at the National in Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago. Ah, bike racing and form can be so fickle (along with the timing of illness). Needless to say, Sara is pretty stoked about her race day.

I'm pretty happy too since I was able to finish and go pretty hard for most of the race. I bridged up to Brendan and Jesse in singletrack but they rode away from me on the climb each lap. I could barely see them at the start of the forth lap and they were out of sight by the fifth and final lap. I was pretty happy considering I didn't ride my bike last week but instead worked on the house. Yesterday I stained it with $85 per gallon Sickens in 90 degree heat.

No racing this weekend and then off to Dan Swanson's bachelor party at the Cayuna trails and Elk River the following day. Should be interesting.

Buck Hill Debacle

Scott and I decided to go to Buck Hill because of the shorter course and temps in the 90's along with leaving Kiera at home to be watched by Grandpa. The day before the race Scott and I had to bike in long sleeve jerseys due to the cold temps(thanks to Kuhl our new long sleeve jerseys work perfect in Duluth's foggy and 55 degree summer days).

Scott felt he raced maybe a lap before he just went backward through the pack. It is tough to figure out why he is not racing well as we don't have cats anymore (he is very allergic) and he is off work for the summer. He seems to feel best early in the race season and then it seems to go downhill from there. He is more than perplexed. We have been doing a lot of house projects (Scott ripping out years of insulation) and other things that fill his day so there is very little down time, especially with Kiera.

I felt much better racing than I did at the WORS race a few weekends ago. I led up the start of the first climb, but could sense Rebecca close behind. I slowly grew my lead with each lap. Unfortunately, I did an extra lap (6 instead of 5) but have absolutely no idea how I miscounted. There are times like these that I feel I am completely losing my mental faculties. It was a very frustrating way to end an otherwise good race.

Thank God the next race is close to home at Mont du Lac. Not much chance of miscounting laps there!

WORS Subaru Cup

After loading up the van, Scott, Kiera and I headed to the Subaru Wors Cup. We missed this race last year because I had injured myself and we didn't want to miss again, but Scott caught Kiera's cold earlier in the week and myself a day later. Since we'd already pre-registered we went anyway....

The course was fantastic! A lot of roots and rocks; terrain that reminded us a lot of Duluth. There were three more technical sections on the Pro course that I chose not to ride during my preride. Scott mentioned afterward that all three were "no problem and no big deal."

Our camping arrangements the night before the race proved to be a terrible mistake. There was an outdoor music concert on the campgrounds until 10 PM, then hollering kids until after midnight, etc. It wasn't too much difference from when Kiera was little in terms of lack of sleep. Scott had an especially bad night of coughing and being chilled. I didn't feel quite that bad, but am used to less sleep than he is. Ironically, Kiera had a fantastic night of sleep and didn't start coughing again until morning. She also was a little snuggle bunny in the morning so we could rest more.

I knew in my warm up that I didn't feel well. My legs were lethargic and I could tell my cold moved into my chest. Since we had come all this way, I decided to start anyway. I got a fairly good call up and relatively decent start. I could tell I was not climbing well and could have been a bit further up going into the first section of single track where the line stalled. I was in a line of riders and followed their lines through the three technical sections on the course, sections I did not ride the previous day. Other times I got buggered up by riders just ahead of me that would get caught up in sections of rock gardens. Overall, I was very pleased that I rode the technical sections better than I had been riding yet this year, but then bummed because after three laps I could tell my cold was moving further into my lungs and I was wheezing (I don't have asthma). I decided to be done at the end of lap 3 (of 5 and riding in about 12th place per Scott). Amy and Steve, both from Marquette area, along with local Duluthian, Josey, had some kinds words of encouragement after my DNF.

After my DNF, Scott decided not to even start his race. His cold was worse than mine at that point and he had run up and down the hill carrying Kiera during my race (he already got his race in for the day). We packed up the van and made it back to Duluth before dark. A bit of a disappointment after 11 hours in the car, but at least our family got to spend a lot of time together and it was really good to see a lot of our friends and other racers that we had not seen in a while. Don and WORS put on a great event. The course was one of the best National courses we have ridden.

TODAY'S WEATHER AND AFTON ALPS



Heat = 80s and sun... Sara on her way to beating the heat and a WIN!


More Heat... On the other hand, I'm on my way to a DNF



Back Home = 46 degrees and light mist... I had to grab my pants, jacket and hat to unload the car once we arrived home.



Today's weather = same as most days this spring - 47 degrees and clouds

I'm not sure how Sara is able to manage the temp swings from Duluth to (insert race venue here), but she does it. Yesterday she was able to give the finger to the Afton course (and mother nature) while it completely whipped me. I started off fine but anytime Jake or Devin would surge I would immediately wilt. It's hot for everyone, so I guess I'll have to head south and start riding in the sun/warm weather or set up the trainer in the sauna if I plan to finish humid, hot races.

It was a bummer that Chloe was unable to race at Afton because Sara was really looking forward to toeing the line with her (and Jenna for that matter). While Jenna was off at Nature Valley, Chloe was at Afton, but nursing an injury. Sara is constantly trying to guage her fitness but it isn't easy to do on the mountain bike based on all the variables and inconsistant women's field. She's excited to race the WORS CUP but she is also a little hesitant because she's not sure if she's got the form to do as well as she'd like. I'd say she is 99% certain she's doing it, however.

As for me, I'll probably do it too, but it is going to be ugly if it's hot and humid. I've got my fingers crossed for cold temps and lots of rain...

New KUHL Kits


Sara sporting the new kit




Kiera and I enjoy going to the aquarium now that school is out.



She really likes the boats and the slide.