When she isn’t racing…

So I have links and promos to all my sponsors here except for the biggest one who really makes all of this possible…so below is a song from my wife Lindsay.  Without her I would not be a fraction of the man I am today.  She truly is the strong pillar in the foundation of my life, she exemplifies Proverbs 31 and her commitment to me has sharpened my character like no one else.  I love you Lindsay and adore these last nine years of which I do not know what I wasted my time with before they came (Anniversary Dec. 29th).

We have been trying to put together an actual album for years, but we have only managed some good rough recordings…just no album…hopefully we can find the contracts for both Lindsay and I in the coming year .  This one is by far my favorite from her, she played it at Kyle’s memorial.  It was written a couple years prior and was the product of one of the hardest times in her life.  One of those times when you ask God all the really hard questions, cool thing is, God answers.

How I spend November and December!

For those who want a race re-cap on the Iceman footage and have not already read it, you can check my re-cap here. Of course it is all fueled by Powerbar.  They make hands down the best all around nutritional performance products out there.

My favorite on the bike.

These seem to assimilate into the blood stream much smoother for the high intensity sprint-sports like hockey and are now my personal favorite on ice.  They also go over much better with the players on the bench.  What is with all the Raspberry?… I guess it is just on my radar lately.

Huge thanks to Marty Tank on the video edit!  I gave him very little quality content to work with…much more on the way for 2011.

Gloria in excelsis Deo

I have written a big long Snooze about Christmas, but decided to let this speak for itself and simply sing a few  songs of remembrance.

Uncle Joe, my wife Lindsay, cousin Joelle and a few friends made these a couple years back.

The crescendos on this second one are amazing!

This is a racing blog so ummm update on that is simply…total training hours this week=19 hrs and rising…

Schools out, Training, and Enlightenment- Snooze (or Muse) 4

Finals are over, a couple of papers to write still, but the whirlwind is settling.  Training is starting to ramp up as I may be looking to March as the beginning of my Mountain Bike Season with the Pro XCT’s instead of the usual May start at WORS.  Waiting on feedback from a few sponsors, but I will train like I am going and trust the rest will grow up out of all the hard work I have been putting in.  It is so like farming, till the ground like a madman looking for a good place to sow, sow seed of ideas and wait, get a response and nurture it with more water and care growing a relationship. Hopefully I will be eating the fruit of all this hard work next season as I am still in that waiting stage with a lot of the seeds I have sown…

The Snooze

I think we will shift these to an “at least 1 a week” thing, but more if I can…I think this vid is a good intro though, classic and good.

The other day in my Foundations of Christianity class we were talking about the 12th and 13th century.  The topic involved trying to get our worldview to take a backseat and allow the worldview of a person in the medieval times to  drive our conclusions.  This was helpful because so often we bring a 20th and 21st century understanding of the world into a discussion or solution to a problem. 

One of the subjects was human nature and the understanding of what life is for a human.  A very interesting question came up.  What was gained and what was lost in the view of ourselves through the enlightenment? 

So often we think of the enlightenment as completely progress and only in a good sense, hence we use the word “enlightenment” which has no negative connotation at all.  Now please do not get me wrong, I think there is an enormous amount of good that came out of this period and I am in no way saying we should have the worldview of a medieval person or go back to what things were like.  What was discussed in class though was that human beings have a disconnection with their nature now.  I am very happy that life is so cushy and comfortable, but this also has created in us the ability for many vices and misunderstandings of what we are.  We think of ourselves as closer to masters of the universe and destiny, where the common medieval person had a much humbler point of view, although I am not them and cannot say it made them any more humble. 

Each individual wields so much power, has so much comfort, so much understanding now compared to someone then.  Each of these comes with loss as people are raised from birth in a different way of being.  It is almost like we have changed our nature in some ways.  But with any change something will be shed or lost from the nature of a thing.  There are a ton of bad things that were shed, hence Monty created the above skit, but can we think of any good thing that might have been was lost.  We are not actually medieval people so we don’t know their experience, but we can imagine.  I can think of a few off the top of my head. 

I already shared one thing lost above with our perceptions of our nature and self.  One more before I go…

We traded a good definition of “faith” for a bad one:  Through reading Luther recently and also from some of my own critiques of the modern definition of faith I came to this conclusion.  

It seems the general consensus today is faith equals “blindly believing in something you can’t see or verify”.  This is so far from matching my experience of faith that I have trouble even uttering the word when referencing the thing I experience in life.  I have found myself replacing it with the word trust so all the modern baggage gets left behind in my conversations.  I trust things everyday, therefore I have faith in things everyday.  I trust my wife in our relationship, I have faith in her character, it is a logical conclusion.  I trust a chair I sit in, I have faith in its quality to hold me up.  We use faith in so many ways.  It is the end point of a logical conclusion about what is right and trustworthy in the world.  The schism between faith and the enlightened happened when the Church fought with science and the scientific method won.  So they were seen as at odds with each other…it is just too bad cause the method involves faith, I come up with a hypotheses and test it to see if it is trustworthy, if I can have faith in it.  It is a part of our faculties, our nature and cannot be avoided, but why avoid it when it is one of the most precious and beautiful things we have.  It is one of the things that honors another most in a relationship when a person has our trust, if they have our faith we are saying a lot about their character and that they are worthy of our whole self in the context of that relationship.

OK, pedestal slowing forming beneath me…just excited about some of Luther’s ideas on this subject, but you can read about it in “Freedom of a Christian” if you wanted.

Anyways, I would love to see what any of you actually reading these snoozes think, feel free to respond anytime!

End of Semester

With the end of the semester here finals are in full swing.  My “daily” muse has now turned into a daily snooze as I try and find any extra sleep I can. Staying up till 6:30 A.M. writing papers is more tiring and taxing on life than any training I have done.  So all I got for you today is this sweet video you have probably already seen…since it has been circulating like crazy for the last few weeks.  Topeak-Ergon produces some high quality stuff!  Here is looking forward to race day as training also started this week…I must have a strain of masochism in me…

Race Day from ergon on Vimeo.

Brand- Muse 3

This word is a part of life for anyone in marketing, heck anyone driving down the highway...  It runs off the tips of my fingers many a times when writing to potential sponsors this time of year.  The practice of branding goes back to burning a mark or a symbol onto whatever you own so that people know you own it, cattle, slaves, stuff etc...

Today we have mental images marked into us, we are marked by “brands” to make sure an association occurs in our heads with a type of product we desire and the brand who provides it.  This is not a criticism in anyway, I especially like it when a brand is known for delivering desirable and quality products.  The knee-jerk reaction of emotion or feeling that images can bring along with them, when the association is good, is something I enjoy and is a part of human sentimentality.  If people can make money off of quality products and attach the experience of those products to an image that sells it, way to go!

What begins to bother us is when we feel we have been duped by an image/brand on our minds.  There is this mental reaction that does not match the products experience.  Eventually the truth comes out and the brand loses its appeal, or people lie to themselves to continue an allegiance to the image rather than adjust their mind to the experience.  What does the brand actually lose though?  Faith and Trust.  This is at the center of every brand association we have, our faith and trust in that image to represent a quality product we desire.  Sure faith and trust can be built by seeing an image over and over again and there can be a general consensus that this image represents a good product, but eventually an experience or result of that product needs to happen when a certain type of product is desired.  If it fails miserably to deliver, the brand loses faith and trust. 

So what the heck does this have to do with Christmas?  So many people I know are disillusioned about Jesus, God, and the Church.  Faith and Trust has been lost.  Now the Brand (“Jesus”, “God”, “Christianity”) we have etched in our minds is so far from the desired product, it is like calling McDonald’s French Fries “Potatoes”.  Vice Versa, the product we produce fails to deliver so often, whether it be real “right-now” encounters with God, or happy families with wholesome marriages, love that lays it life down for another, Joy, Peace, Self-Control, the product so often is just missing.  This analogy is always good too…

What Would Jesus Brew? from The Work Of The People on Vimeo.

Christmas is incarnation, “makes His dwelling among us” Claiming a Brand to a Product we just don’t have, we create religion with its brands and religious products that will fade and lose faith and trust, being perishable man made artifacts.  They make us feel good for a while, but they will not last.  The actual desired Product has a Brand written in God’s “eternal qualities and divine nature, being seen in that which has been made”  it has a product that lives, breathes, and acts as He did when He came to earth to show us how to live.  No wonder the first command was not to make images/brands of god, we screw it up so often, we tend to make it after our own image for superficial products we desire. 

Letting go of my products and images in exchange for God’s can be tough, that is why Christmas is holistic, it is incarnation to an entire life…but as anyone who knows me personally can tell you, I rarely eat McDonald’s French Fries….I really try to and like to stick with Potatoes…

USGP Live!

flolive on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

 

USGP/Cyclingdirt.org feed

Rhythm-Muse 2

 

I play the hand drum, the djembe specifically.  When I first started it was sooo hard…I kept trying to make rhythm happen with my hands and the more I tried the harder it was.  As I progressed I found that rhythm is not made by us, rather we find it.  Sure the sound comes from me banging my hand on the drum, but the rhythm is something I step into, it is discovered…once you start into it your body and mind become a part of the rhythm and you can pause the hands but the beat continues in you and so you syncopate with it as silence and sound begin to mix causing a swirling of variations to this discovery

. 

I think life has a rhythm.  There is an order set before us we merely need to step into and allow ourselves to jive with the beat.  We feel the discord, when we get off-beat, although we know the beat in our heads and hearts we hit harder and harder to a non-existent rhythm till we fall over from exhaustion and stress of fighting the tune and we are stilled to listen in the silence for that beautiful discovery again…

Behind all the discord I hear, both human and natural, there is a beat and it is to a song, at first it was faint, but it grows louder as I listen, becoming a part of me like the rhythm of my drum and it’s the greatest love song ever written…

Muse 1 (day late)- Creation

This word is so incredibly loaded with crazy facets, opening to endless tangents, all which seem to be pumping from veins of intention in my will as of late. 

A few things about Creation…

First and usually most importantly…What does it mean?

A few dictionary definitions:

-To cause to exist; bring into being.

-to bring into existence

-to make or bring into existence something new

-to produce or bring about by a course of action or behavior <her arrival created a terrible fuss> <create new jobs>

I once wrote a paper for a Philosophy 101 course called “Little Creators” positively asserting the existence of Free Will while trying to deal with the mind body problem, therefore denying Hard Determinism and rejecting compatibilism.  Maybe I will get a copy up online sometime…

I ended that paper with a thought.  If we are created in the image of God, we are like God in this sense, we can bring something entirely new into reality. If we are free agents, we are the only things we know of in physical reality outside of the causal chain of events.  Therefore we introduce into that causal chain new “material”.  This brings amazing significance to our everyday choices that come out of actual intention of will.  Don’t get me wrong, this is not going down the line that we create reality, rather with every free choice we make we bring something new into reality.  This “something new” forever changes and stands within the causal chain of events.  This is why what we believe and do out of those beliefs has such high or “heavy”(Mcfly!) moral significance.  The question for me is how am I being a creative force in the Universe. It is not whether or not it matters, it all matters, but how it matters.  We are prone to the mundane routine of life, but this is only part of the trick, so the assumption takes over that all is nothing and I am just apart of that nothing.  We enjoy this comfortable place only because it keeps us from feeling and realizing our bad choices.  At the same time it drives us nutz because we feel we have no effect and what we do never seems to matter.  No, no, we are something, a very real and active something, effectual to every person, place, and thing we interact with.  We are creative forces in the universe…so what will we create…well, I am going to go create a cup of coffee, which will possibly create a more interactive Nathan in my next class…

As these are muses building toward Christmas, I will end with a few probing questions.  I guess the questions for day 1 would be what is it we are looking for in the creation of Christmas?  What was it that God created in the birth of Jesus?  The significance of Incarnation, of God becoming man, is far beyond a simple Nativity scene and play.  Just like our actions, this brought something entirely new in existence, so when God acts in such a big way with intention, there must be many answers to what happened at the Incarnation?  What was “new something” being introduced to reality?

 

P.S.  Owe you another muse for day 2…maybe later tonight.

Things are Cook’in!

Not just turkey either…I have so many projects going on right now and things I would love to share with everyone, but most of it is really cool media that this compy I am using cannot handle.  So waiting on my super-cool compy to return from warranty.  Should be here by next week.

On the horizon is some great hockey video footage from the Hero Cam, I am hoping some cool sponsor announcements, and as usual some crazy papers for school being written about things that make me wonder why we ever think life is “normal” and “mundane”.  I think a daily muse is in order for Dec. 1-25, open a door into another area of my life that many of you do not see, not racing so you get to see what I do otherwise.

Other news…rode my bike for first time since Iceman the day after Thanksgiving, ouch…endurance wattage felt like high tempo and don’t you hate that feeling like someone is sticking needles through your skin from the inside-out because you have not had a heavy sweat in a while. 

And finally my Mountain Bike is still for sale! $3000.

2010 Superfly 100 all stock except XXX handlebar upgrade and setup tubeless with Bontrager XDX 2.1 on front and Maxxis Crossmark 2.1 in Rear.

Email or Phone.

Nathanguerra@hotmail.com

262-719-9914

Thanks for reading,

Nathan

Iceman

Start with the latest and greatest news.  Midwest had an awesome showing at Iceman and B. Matter pulled off the Win and Tristan in 5th with a four man sprint for 2nd! Cole and Mikey 7th and 8th, all good showings.

I finished 12th and I was really frustrated immediately after the race, but now that I have had some time to let the result sit and think (and watch, I have video that will be up as soon as I get my super computer back) through the race I realize it was a good performance with an “ok” result.

Recap

It was by far the fastest start to a race I have ever taken part.  Usually I can wind it up from the gun and get out front if I want and settle into the pace.  Instead it was like a wild stampede through downtown Kalkaska with bodies flying all over the place Jockeying for position.  It was no holds barred fight for a hole shot and I guess I was just not mentally prepared for how much of a fight it was going to be in the first mile.  I was not over limit, I just thought I could make up position “soon enough”.  Well, soon enough never happened and before I knew it I was 40th wheel into the “hole-shot” and the lead group was disappearing and bodies were in the way that were not going to be out of the way for a long time….I played chase for the rest of the race.  I almost made contact with the lead group about 3 times.  Twice in single-track I saw Wells’ National Champs Jersey somewhere in the middle of the race when things got really muddy and one time I saw the lead group at the top of a big climb as my chase group was approaching the climb. 

This should have given me new found hope of getting back to the front, but the start had really driven it home in my mind that I was out of the race and not in it for any money/top ten showing. 

Early in my racing I always told myself I would never be a throw in the towel kind of person, who quits because they could not get the expected result.  Here I failed in that respect and it seems I failed almost reaching my expectations because I gave into the “I am better than this” (stupid elitism) thinking instead of just putting the hard work in to go and get it!  So the entire race I thought I was sitting in 20th plus, when really at one point I had bridged to 8th or 9th and did not realize it and and I let that rider go instead of digging to stay with the Kenda Jersey in front of me…duh Nathan the guy in the Kenda Pro Team Jersey (Colin Cares I believe) might be a wheel to stay on….instead I waited for a few behind to form a chase group which included me and this guy.

(Photo: Rachael Jensen)

Once we hit the mud and hills my abilities started to come in handy and I was able to ride away from most of my group besides Cameron Walters who chased me till we caught Brent Bookwalter right after “The Wall”.  I think Cameron put a lot into bridging cause then the pace slowed a bit.  Even though it was not for the Win, my last 2 Mile tactics from the pre-ride on Friday still got to get played out.  I attacked hard going into a hill before the first section of single-track that wrapped around the finish.  Got a gap and just kept it pinned.  I remember hearing what sounded like a football stadium going nutz just as I attacked.  I couldn’t believe how close to the leaders I was….

Last Climb to Finish. (photo: B. Nigh)

Came in for 12th place with the lead group still out of breath and talking at the finish, although some websites say 11th but JHK was dropped from those results. 

Season is officially over, my bike is for sale (if interest contact me, want to keep it local otherwise its going ebay soon), playing lots of Hockey, and working on the plan for next year…

To be a bit too like Wells…

I wonder if I can attach this GoPro camera to my hockey helmet….

Thanks for reading,

Nathan

Sheboygan Re-Cap, Marathon Woman, and Iceman is Cometh soon

 

Things got really busy after racing the last WORS race in Sheboygan.  So I been MIA for a bit.  I led the race for the first lap and then Mikey Phillips took over and I let a gap open up  on the equalizer, I never ride that thing right…

He laid down some power and opened up a 5-10 second gap, I thought it was manageable until I crashed hard chasing in the singletrack.

Riding lame…

Rode pretty lame for a while after that and Darrin came back to me.  Rest of the race was me and him trading pulls.  I got away a few times, but he would always come back.  Thought I could get away again, but he made the move first when lap traffic started to get 5 bodies deep and that was it, traffic was insane and it created gaps that were not closable.  3rd on the day and best Sheboygan finish, I was happy with it, but a bit disappointed in my fitness and racing tactics/skills.  I had been riding out a peak for about 6 weeks and it finally caught up with me here I think.

How I felt about that one afterwards…

Since Sheboygan I rode myself into the ground trying to regain some base, got really sick, laid in bed for 3 days, lost 7 pounds…checking power the last few weeks and its looking good, so maybe a forced rest was what I needed.

Lindsay did a marathon last weekend.  All the sudden she decided to do this half-marathon back in September with a few weeks notice.  She did it with no problems…Then she talks to Darrin and Lynn about finishing that and they say Lynn is doing a half-marathon in October in the Dells, and that there is a WHOLE marathon too.  Lindsay started training for the WHOLE marathon with a little over a month to go but did not register till week of the event.  Well it ended up being reported as the hilliest course anybody had ever run that we talked to after.  This was the events first year and I think they took a lot of people by surprise. 

but she finished and said “I used to think marathon runners were crazy people, now I am one of the crazy people” and then on the way home “ I am done…I just want to do the dishes, clean my house, take care of the kids, and hand you water bottles…”We laughed about that for a very long time and still are and I said her brain was glucose deficient…

At the finish line…

Got into Iceman, I really like the director, laid back and easy to talk to kind of guy.  Never seen so much talent for a triple crown race before…the entire Trek 29er team is signed up along with T. Wells and along with all the local favorites.  Gonna be a battle out there, I am hoping for 50 degrees + though…never done so many lt’s in a two week period…hope it pays off! Driving up solo, think I am sleeping in parking lot…thank God for Grandpa’s conversion van.

WORS season wrap-up and Iceman report together…

Updates coming….

Camera has been missing till I found it under the couch last night, that’s the kids place for anything expensive I think…I hate posting without a picture to go along with the content…Video blog on hold as my super awesomeness high-end gaming /video rendering computer is on the fritz and sent in for warranty…it has been overheating to like 200+ degrees Fahrenheit!!!…

 

I’ll have re-cap from Shevegas, Lindsay’s Marathon and a look forward into Iceman up tonight.

Friday 10-1-2010 Endurance/Recovery Ride

A look into my craziness of being a student, Father, and "Pro".
Little lesson on fueling for rides with Powerbar gel blasts review and opinions on what should be done about advocacy for cycling in response to a friend being hit by a car.
Recorded before the Sad news that Jeff had passed on, but feelings and sentiments are the same now as expressed in the video.
Contest for Powerbar coupons!
First person to respond to my email  nathanguerra@hotmail.com  will win $5's in powerbar coupons for the 1st song and $15's in powerbar coupons for the 2nd song. Can only win for one song, not both. Must know Original Artist and Name the Song!

Also, here is the interview from bear paw race.

Pressed for time and Recovery Rides

Video Blogging-Lactate Tolerance/Lactate Threshold reps

Gonna try and say on top of this as much as possible.  Look for  at least a weekly video update in addition to the usual write ups.  These videos will focus more on training and products till I get a better camera that can capture good race and ride footage.  If you have a  youtube account I would really appreciate your “subscritions” to my channel or should I say subscriptions…if your into that sort of thing.  Then again, you can just get them here too…

First time, so sound is a bit rough, they will only get better…

Double Header Weekend: Fall Color Festival and Bear Paw Rock ‘n’ Roll

Fall Color Festival Recap

Casual start, we even delayed the start for Carlos and Ministor who forgot their timing chips.  But then again…I have a race tomorrow, so end it early is what I was thinking. 

Ronsta had a gear in anticipation of Emma Carlin Trails, so he led until open double track in lead-out field.  I took over and set a high tempo pace.  Gap was instant and I thought just go and then ride a chill pace once I get away.  Well this worked until the cut-off to the connector loop.

Rear tire was flat and it did not happen fast, so I figured slow leak, and  I could seal with a co2 and the stans in there.  1st stop use 1/2 a c02 and off again.  Seal did not happen so…2nd stop half way into connector and 1 c02 gone.  3rd stop half-way through Emma before the new uphill rock garden, as running on rim through their would be very very bad!  4th stop crossing bluff road, but no co2 left!!!  Ride rim to Blue Loop where I meet up with team mate Jerry and he gives me a co2.  Ride in really hard with tire full of air for first time since I left the blue loop.  I still won but it was all intervals anytime I was on the bike…needless to say I was cooked!

 

Lindsay raced too, and we both took the overall Win in the 30 mile event, it was a great Date Day for the two of us!

 

Team mate to the rescue!  Jerry was the man, not sure I would have held Ronsta off on the fastest part of the blue loop with no air in the rear.  Glad he was out for fun and waiting to see me at the intersection of the blue trail and the connector trail.

Bear Paw Recap

Lined up next to Darrin and he told me he did not feel any pain when he touched my legs, since I was commenting on how starting a WORS race with legs sore to the “touch” is probably gonna hurt really really bad!

 So he made sure it did!

I knew some form of me being amongst a lot of white, red, and orange was in store for me as I warmed up,, and they did not fail to deliver.  After the lead out climb I found myself near the front as the entire 212 team created a train and I felt like I was being boxed in, so I jumped out front on the long downhill before the first single-track, but a bit prematurely and Darrin was able to glide by for the hole-shot.  After a few sections of Single-track the selection was made and it was Chris and Darrin vs. me. 

They played a little team tactics and would send one off on attack while the other sat on with no chase.  I didn’t know how much intensity I had in me after Fall Color, so I would reel it in tempo style.  I was hoping to get into the single-track first at least once, but without a pre-ride I did not know when to go, and they were controlling the front as much as possible.  We gapped Chris going into lap three, so I knew he was hurting, but he came back, they let me lead on the downhill and then Darrin came with a strong attack into the single-track, I was done, completely cracked with nothing to respond with.  I thought for sure Chris would come around me too, but I think he had given everything he had to Darrin’s launch.  I saw Darrin for a bit around corners, or at the top of hills, but gap kept growing and  was continually trying to recover rather than reel him in.

I suffered pretty bad the rest of the race.  This face with the head cocked like that…that is my tell.  Every muscle I worked the day before…FELT 10 times worse the last lap at Bear Paw.  It was a different kind of cramps, felt more like tears in the muscle getting filled with concrete then the usual leg spasm cramps.  Spun as much as I could to hold on for second.

Darrin has been waiting on a win and I am really happy for him.  After this weekend I was thinking about the first time I met Darrin.  It was a Wednesday night race at crystal ridge and going into the last lap I saw this guy dressed in casual rider clothes on a single speed that looked 5 years old chasing me down up the start/lap climb???  I had a moment of disbelief and then a “uh-oh” I better go moment.  After the race I secretly grilled this guy for info on who the heck he was??? “wait, you have never raced seriously?”  “”So,uh, you gonna race WORS?”  “what ya do for training, nothing organized?” 

I and thought…if he gets motivated and trained, he is gonna dominate…

Well sure enough, THERE IT IS!

Pics Credit: Niki Frazier, Todd Herbst, Kelli Piotrowski, Gary Frost, Danny Marchewka

Treadfest in Motion

TJ’s Videos always ROCK!

Wisconsin Off-Road Series - Treadfest Cat 1 Race from Thomas Harron on Vimeo.

Watch the midwests finest on the initial climb up the hill at the start of the 2010 WORS Treadfest.

Treadfest & NO Cheq. 40???

Race Re-cap

Wanted the hole-shot, so I did this, but a certain Tour of California King of the Mountains decided he could climb better…not that I am arguing.

Then Tristan and I did a little bit of this and had a sizable gap right away.

Then coming into the Ski Hill x3 climbs Tristan made me look like this trying to hold his wheel.

I should have rode my own pace up and closed the gap in the single-track, but I was stubborn and blew up hard on the 3rd climb…had to spin light, gel, and drink, and the gap went out of control.

Going into lap 3 I was closing the gap, but had butterfingers and dropped a bottle on the 3rd climb up to the service tower…went back for it and lost a good chunk of time again, felt amazing the last lap but lap traffic pretty much neutralized things.  Tristan had an amazing race going to the front right from the start and just laying it down!  First loser is not too bad either!

No Cheq. 40?

Asa had a dance routine at half-time at the local football game on Friday night, so I decided to sit out, plus with school and something going on pretty much every night of the week, no travel this weekend was nice!  I wasn’t signed up anyways, I got a courtesy entry and with my Ore to Shore result I was a contender…but I will just have to make it up there next year! 

Instead of trying to be a cool guy in my forte, I decided to humble myself by literally learning how to ride a cross bike…by racing the Pro 1/2 race at the No Good Double Cross event just south of here in Eagle, WI. 

Here is me with the leaders in sight still…

And here is where I lose any sight of anyone on the course….

I pretty much powered my way to a 7th place, 1 place out of the money…it was weird lapping people like they were standing still to have them fly by me like I was standing still every time we dismounted, seriously, I was really bad!!!  But I guess being the first time ever riding a cross bike, I gotta give myself a little slack…

OUCH! Running stairs…I ran stairs in Russia once to stay in shape during my first year of racing citizen…I think that is the last time I did this…

Nice job to Ronsta in showing me the mad skillz! And thanks to Derek for letting me use his cross bike!

Next weekend is a double header with FCC and Bear Paw…Fall Color Festival is an amazing event and I really suggest everyone check it out!  Bike Demo’s running all day, food, music, beer…Some of the best trails in the State with a ton of new additions, multiple ride events for all levels of ability and the funds raised go right back into the trails, to keep them going year to year. 

Gonna be a lot of single-track riding next weekend, and I got some PR’s going  at the secret training camps too!

Thanks for reading!

Photo Credit: Ronsta, Amy Dykema, Niki Frazier, Gary Frost

Alterra Coffee Bean Classic

Level 1 Brian…Level 1…

 

Although I do believe Brian has Level “Ludicrous Speed” figured out well enough for me to feel “my brains in my feet” during the King of the Mountain climb. Can’t take credit for linking this idea to MTB, look to Phillips and the Lalonde Bro’s for that, back in June of 2008 I believe.

Race re-cap

The start here is always fast and furious for the hole-shot, and with $100 prime waiting just over the top of the ski hill, it was on from the gun.  Ronsta took the initial lead over the start climb with me in tow, giving it a very usual feel of wed. night racing at Crystal Ridge. 

With Ron spun out on his new Salsa single speed I took control of the reins, wanting to make sure I lead into the climb.  Everything was as planned till Matter gave an unexpected dash to the climb and closed the door a few times as I tried to pass on our way up the first 2 switch backs.  I was at limit from leading out and sprinting a few times to try an pass.  I had nothing to challenge Brian’s Ludicrous Cyclocross start.

That is the look of concession, with a hint of I am coming for ya…

Brian coming over the top with me in chase.

Up over the top with Darrin and Mikey in tow.

After the King of the Mountain climb Mikey Phillips pulled Darrin and I just about up to Matter and then Phillips proceeded to the ground for a little break dancing in a dusty corner.  I watched for a minute entertained and then allowed him to pull back up to Darrin and Matter before we began the start/finish climb and the 1st full lap of the race.

Up the start/finish climb the pace seemed chill so I tested it a bit over the top and it hurt, but enough to keep everyone together with no attacks.  Darrin led into the single-track and immediately we had a gap on Matter and Phillips.  Darrin was riding exceptionally well in the dry corners and I was sliding out a bit on them with a little too much PSI in the tires, turning the tables a bit in his favor in the single-track.  I took over the pace half-way through the lap and into the switchback/ski hill climb. 

This was the story the rest the race, Darrin would lead into the single-track, I would take over on the climbs.

Starting the Start/Finish climb.

 

Hoping I am not the only one this is really, really, hurting!

Looked back at Darrin a few times during these climbs thinking…man does he look calm…man am I in for a fight…

I think we both secretly, or not so secretly, knew where we wanted to test each other and during lap two Darrin had me scared of losing his wheel in the dry tight stuff for a bit, but as soon as the ground firmed up by the river I was right back on him.

Props to Darrin on his sportsmanship, as I missed a 2 bottle hand-up coming over the start/finish climb, as I slowed to grab it  he grabbed my hand up for me, respect!

On the last lap Darrin fought me pretty good to get into the single-track first, but then the pace felt a bit slower then before.  Do I smell blood?

If I could avoid a sprint finish I would, so on the last lap going into the single-track before the ski hill/switchback climb I took a 2x caffeine powergel and took over the lead.  I made sure to punch it every time I got a chance until I bobbled on one of the turns.  Darrin  matched every move in that new “HD” single-track , but I was hoping to soften him a bit before the ski hill climb. 

I kept the pace pinned up the hill and then went into attack mode where it got really steep at the elite course split that takes us up to the service shack.  Saw a gap opening and killed myself over the top.  Descended cross eyed off the hill, and then surprisingly felt a surge in the energy level from that double latte powergel, surprised by my ability to push at this point I let my fear of Darrin’s chase drive me toward the finish as hard as I could go.  In my rush I took one of the dry dusty corners a bit to fast and went down…”Oh no, oh no, all that effort for nothing…” But gap still intact I pushed on hard.

Constantine giving me a high five before the last descent, while I let down my attack mode and you see the pain beneath the surface…

Pain mode off…

Attack Mode ON!

Rode the “crazy path cut into side of ski hill not meant for human traversing descent of insanity” smooth and was able to ride up the finsh climb at  a chill pace for the win!

Again, what is up with that tongue thing…it is this weird slightly involuntary thing I learned was cool a long time ago…but just looks awkward to me now.

Two podium pics because while I was on the podium this one was for…

Attack MODE BABY!  Love you Kyle!

And this one is GLORY TO GOD!

Sponsors are AWESOME!: Powerbar, Mr. Tree, Wheel and Sprocket, and thanks to Trek/GF for making that bike in the picture!

People making it happen: LINDSAY GUERRA!!!, “Gma Meal” and “Jaws” rawr…rawr…rawr…,D. Slates Meister, Matt, Ronsta and all the other awesomeness in Delafield, Jerry Leair, rest my family which  is way tooo big to write down…thank you all for your love and support, and I want to thank all my competitors.  You guys have taught me how to race and pushed me to the level I ride at today…thank you!

 

Thanks for capturing all the moments seen here: Amy Dykema,  Gary Frost, Melissa Kennedy, Ty/Christine, and Niki Frazier! (Besides the old school ones of Kyle)