State RR Champs, AKA I am a Sandbagger…

Been busy and neglecting the blog a bit so  I am going to update in order of events. 

The weekend before last there was no Mountain Bike racing going on and so thanks to Mr. Gehling I heard there was a Road Race happening and decided to test my skills on the pavement.  I have only done 3 road races in my life, and that is counting this one, so I have not been given an upgrade even though I have asked for one.  I think Ron pointed out at the Gun Show a few weeks ago that it is odd showing up with a license that can get you into any International Pro race in the World for Cross Country, but then having to sign up for the 4/5’s on Road.  Not complaining, just odd circumstance. 

Hung out with the pack for 2 laps, one got away on a sharp uphill before the lap/finish area on lap 3.  Chased a bit with group and then went with Matt Gehling and Cody Goettl going into lap four up the hill as seen in the pics above, which turned into a 3 man break.  Matt played the super domestique demolishing himself on a climb and downhill on opposite end of the course.   I gunned right after this with Cody in tow for a two man break that survived to the end.

The officials got the laps wrong, so when they told us 2 to go I was yelling at them 1 to go, then they had the bell ringing when we came around on the “last lap”, so I didn’t sprint.  We wondered if there was a mistake, but just kept going as they were insistent that there was 1 lap to go.  Into the last hill I gunned it and got the  Win, but then found out the pack sprinted on the lap prior and we had done an extra.  Cody was gracious and gave me the Win since we thought we had one more to go, I split the cash with him to keep things straight.  Guess I am a 4/5’s State Champ, pretty sure I can get my upgrade now :)

Updates on Sunburst Showdown soon to come…

Thanks to Cody for the pics!

Mr. Tree Racing Pictures at Trek Big Ring Classic

 

Photo Credit: B. Nigh, A. Dykema, T.J. Harron, might have missed someone sorry.

Legs are ROCK’IN! Tires are POP’IN! WORS #3 Trek Big Ring Classic

This pic is a great summary of my race after I flatted.  I still had a ton of joy riding around with friends on a beautiful day, although many of them were racing and I was not.

Not a lot to tell.  Legs were there for an amazing result, but I flatted after making the field separate on the first steep climb. First into single track and punctured my rear tubeless, 3 co2’s and would not seal.  Rode back grabbed my team mate Jerry Leair’s wheel and rode for training for 3 more laps with the top ten when they came around after the first lap.  Made sure not to pull or lead unless I could get away right away, as to not effect the race, since I was DNF at that point.

Thanks to Powerbar for the fuel, Wheel and Sprocket for the support, and now that Superfly 100 is dialed I understand why it is the fastest rig around, thanks GF!

Thank you so much to the team( Jerry and Caleb) for awesome hand ups!  And everyone else who hung out with the kids and us this weekend.

Now for somewhere to use these legs next week Sunday, since Saturday is the girls b-day party.

Photo Credit: Travis Shirpke

Mr Tree Racing ready to ROCK!

Feeling the love from PowerBar this week as just part of our supplies came in.  We have been using their products in training and racing for years  and have loved their perfect combination of performance and great taste!  Personal favorite is the original chocolate with a cup of coffee or espresso before rides and during the long base miles in the basement or out on cold winter roads.  We will be handing out some drink samples at the races,  so look for the big banner.

Mr Tree Racing 2nd place at 3 hrs of Northern Kettle Moraine Wisconsin

After an extremely long week of training I decided to top it off with the 3 hour race at the Northern Kettle Moraine Trail system.  These trail are so deceiving.   It is either up or down there and lots of off camber very bumpy stuff.  Darrin had a high tempo day planned and I could not even match that after burying myself deeper in the hurt locker than I ever have before this week. 

The week prior to this race was Rhinelander Sunday, which is hands down the hardest course in the WORS series.

Then  60 miles endurance on Monday.

 

Tues. night Gun Show in Waukesha.

Bone Ride to Madison and back Wednesday, Extra Large Smoothie and Strong coffee on State Street helped finish off 140 mile day.

Race Saturday.

4 hours of Southern Kettle Trail system on Sunday. 

Legs are so cashed right now I think the rest of the week is chill rides.  If I feel recovered by Wednesday or Thursday I will open up the throttle with some top secret training before the Trek Big Ring Classic this weekend.

 

Photo Credit Brittany Nigh, Ronsta

Mr Tree Racing + PowerBar = Awesome!

We are extremely excited to welcome PowerBar on as our sponsor for all things related to sports nutrition performance!Make sure to look for PowerBar’s presence and maybe some free samples and/or nutritional information at up and coming races!

Their website is pretty cool too, you can find a link to them in our sponsors column over there -------->

Race and Rest

Race recap

Iola went well, not great, not bad, right in the middle of expectations, 6th overall.  I forgot how to race mountain bikes and for some reason thought it was no big deal that their was a small gap opening up to the leaders at the start.  I was under no distress, felt well under limit, and just thought the gap would be closed.  Well reality sunk in when they disappeared within half a lap.  Me, Matter, and Chris began to chase.

Lap two I dangled as the hills hit again and I was over taken by Macjei.  Not sure what hurt so bad because the rest of the race I felt fine there, then again I think me and Matter were both playing it very conservative for the rest of the race.  Caught back up with Macjei and we bridged to Matter and Chris, Chris immediately checked out  with cramps.  Macjei dropped off somewhere in lap 3, but was always a threat 10-30 seconds back.  Rest of race was damage control with Matter, learned a lot following him around about how I do not conserve energy well or know how to use a full-suspension well yet.  I tend to animal my way through a race instead of using the trail for its speed and efficiency.  I always thought of technical ability as how fast I can corner or ride through a “tech” section, but gaining and keeping momentum is whole other area I need to focus on to keep from wasting energy.  

Anyways I pulled most lap 4 and half of 5 and then said good job to Matter and he was gone.  Huge props to him to show up with hardly  any training and be able to pull off a podium, amazing!

I have definitely gained some ability on the flats over the winter with some added power, but my climbing has suffered a bit.  The extra 7-10 or so pounds from winter lifting is coming off quickly though and I think I can maintain my power. 

Feeling good lap 1

Dangling Lap 2

Hugging my water bottle as I get energized to bring’em back.

Shirpke’s are awesome!  Huge THANK YOU to Jack for doing awesome hand-ups!  Perfect communication and delivery!

Trying to push the pace.

Fooling myself

Dropped…..

It is hard to see, but the surprise on Hannah’s face is priceless…”OH YEA, this is what racing feels like.”

“Maybe I will get used to that feeling another day” :)  Hannah and Lindsay did really well though considering taking so much time off from focusing on training and racing.

Rest Week

This week is easy rides with a little speed work on the Doc Ride on Wednesday.  I actually trained right through Iola, so it was time for rest after a hard three week block, but the legs did not feel too tired, well, until Monday...  I was planning on doing something at 12 hrs of Stump Farm tomorrow, we will see what the weather looks like though.

I also got a few articles done while sitting around a lot with school out now.  Article on Iola Here and article on WEMS Here

Thanks for reading,

Nathan

Photo Credit: B. Nigh,  Bubba, and J. Senkerik.