Mustaches

Some of you may have seen the facial hair, here is the reason...
A couple guys and I decided to grow out mustaches for a big event this last weekend. The following is a photo story of the mustache...
Before:
And another Before Shot:
Step 1: The first cut
Step Two: Begin the 'Fumanchu' (Yes, the FUMANCHU)
Step 3: The 'Fumanchu' (This would have been great if my hair could fill-in)
Enter, 'the Mustache'
Finally, the Head Shot...

Believe it or not, I only some-what look like the creepy used car salesman down the street... Good thing this was only for the weekend. Not go ahead and leave your "why..." comments.

WORS 2008 and Shvegas

WORS 2008 is coming to an official close. Just over a week ago was WORS #12 at Sheboygan and this weekend marks the official end of the season with the WORS Banquet.

Shvegas was great. I had 4th place pretty much locked in so I just needed a solid finish. Out of the start, I was feeling good. I sat back a little and watched the boys battle over their preem money and kicked it into gear in the single track. It looked like Wenzlick and one of the shop guys from Stadium were on my wheel for a while in the leadout, but in the single track I flew away. One of the Sheboygan locals was right up with me and stayed there for almost the entire race. I was with a pack of five or so guys coming into the Equilizer, and knew there would be no succesful climbs today. I hoped off and Cyclo-crossed it all the way up and back onto the bike. We hit the slock rock and then we were out for lap 2. The 4-5 guys I was with were holding their own on the double track, but they were pretty slow in the single track, so once we hit the preem parking lot, I made my move, and shot past all of them into the single track where my goal was then to solo it and bridge the gap to the leaders. I was really flying, but I was using a lot of juice. about halfway in the Sheboygan and the Stadium guys caught up with me. We were working together until two 30-34 guys flew by. I missed the move and watched as the Stadium guy pulled away on their wheels. I worked hard, but just couldn't get up there. The rest of my second lap and my third lap was spent trying to get up front. Every here and there I could see some of the leaders, but I did'nt know quite how far off they were. I was pretty tired and knew I spent a lot of energy on my own durring lap 2. Eventually I recovered, and used what energy I had left to make a strong finish. I hit the line and felt exausted, but after a couple minutes of cool-down riding I felt great. My finish was great. I took 4th (again) in 19-24 and 23rd overall in Sport. I was technically the second fastest Stadium Rider (but the shop guy really doesn't count for me) and 7 minutes back from taking a win.

Next race is the IceMan up in Traverse City! Time to do some training and see where I end up. See everyone out at the Banquet this weekend.

Shvegas

Is it really time for the last race of the WORS Season? Apparently the answer is yes. It is pretty crazy how fast the 2008 season has gone by. Sheboygan is one of my favorite courses in the series and I am excited to hit the course again this weekend. Though it is the last race of the WORS series, it is not the last race of 2008. For the first time, I am adding a post-season race to the schedule. Yes, that means the Iceman Cometh is part of the racing fun this year! Maybe next year i'll pick up a cross bike and add even more races to the calendar, but for now the Iceman is fine.
So on to Shvegas this weekend to gauge my fitness level, then onto training like crazy for the Iceman and Beyond!

School, Bugs, Colds, and the Occasional Bike Race

So many things have been going on, I have absolutely no idea where to begin. The last couple weeks have been filled with work, fun, sickness, and things that are just plain wrong. Obviously school and work are constant pressures of the fall season. Unfortunately my training frequency has started its turn towards the winter season. It is nice to give the legs some time to recover, but I am getting that itch to get back on the road for some good training miles. Just the other week, I received a nice surprise at work; I found that I was scheduled for 40 hours. All I can say is that working 40 hours added to 16 credits of school, training, and sleeping is really fun. The week went by pretty well, and at the end I wanted to reward myself with some good food.
While cooking my breakfast I found hundreds of little bugs in my food.
Upon investigation of my food cabinet, I found even more of these tiny bugs eating through boxes and contaminating all of the food.
Needless say, I spent the afternoon cleaning and tossing food. This process continued through the entire weekend, killing all of my free time.

The following week started off pretty well, I had fewer hours at work, classes seemed to be going well, and I even got a few rides in. Of course this was too good to last. By the time the weekend came, I had a bit of a sore throat and by Monday, I had a full blown cold. Things ran their course and I rode out yet another busy week, this time with a cold. This brings us up to this last weekend and Race #11 in the WORS Series: The Wolf River Rendezvous.
Going into the weekend I felt alright, I knew the race would depend on how I was feeling on Sunday, so no big expectations other that just to finish.
In the start shoot I was feeling pretty good, I had my call-up and I wanted to go. Coming out of the shoot I could not clip in and watched as most of the wave passed me on either side. Once I clipped in, it was time to catch up to the lead group. I think I did pretty good for having a cold. I had a few more troubles with un-clipping, but nothing major.
I felt surprisingly well throughout the race with minimal trouble breathing. As I came into the finish stretch I looked at my time and realized I did alright and came in close to my estimated time of 1:17! Results showed 5th in the age group and 40th overall. And surprisingly 1st out of all the Stadium Boys!
Obviously I was pretty happy with the result. No podium, but still a better finish than some of my earlier ones. Now, I need to get rid of this cold, get back on the bike, and give it all at Shvegas!
Also, a big thank you to Heather for taking pictures at the race!

Lance is Back.

After a long while away, I will try to get out some updates. In the meantime... How about Lances return to Pro Cycling. Honestly I am not quite sure what I think. Possibly because of some other athletes who recently decided to come out of retirement. All I can say for now is good luck Lance, it is good to see you back. Now you just better be "clean!"

Race Report: Alterra Coffee Bean Classic (WORS #7)

Believe it or not, this is a timely race report! This weekend was full of great racing, good weather, and lots of fun here in Milwaukee.
Saturday began early for me with a 7 AM meeting at work, which lasted until 9:30 or so. On the drive back, I noticed Downer Ave was closed off and there were numerous bikers around. I thought there must be something going on, but decided to head back to the apartment without finding out. My day shifted gears from work to pre-riding the course in Franklin. I met up with Mike from the team and we shot around for a couple laps on the course. I had a mixed first impression of the new course layout, but I warmed to it. I saw a couple problem areas, but nothing major. The reversal of a few sections, primarily the switchback climb, were the biggest things of note. After the pre-ride, Mike mentioned going to superweek in Milwaukee. I was surprised to find the race was going on all day Saturday, but I was able to make it back for the Masters, Cat 3, and Pro races. The Pro Race was pretty cool, especially with a $7000 (Yes, that is 7-0-0-0 US Dollars) Preem! Rock Racing was in full force taking both the win and the $7000 preem.
Sunday came quickly as did anticipation for the race. I was feeling pretty good about the course and very happy that I pre-rode it! At the start my foot slid off the pedal which put me about halfway back in the pack, not where I wanted to be. I did my best to move up in the leadout and saw Edens up in the distance. Once we got to the switchback climb, I caught Edens and stayed with him until the climb starting the 3rd lap. The third lap went by quickly and I felt more powerful than I have in a while. I nailed the final single track section and came out trying to get ready to make the long gravel climb once more. As I emerged from the single track, I realized that the finish stretch was up a grassy climb instead of on the gravel road, a blessing for me! I Stood up and hammered it home for a strong finish. After the race, I set out immediately for a little cool down on the roads which seemed to help a lot.
My final results were some of the best I have had so far! I took fourth in my age group, about 4 minutes behind first place; and 38th overall, about 6 minutes back from first overall!

The only thing that could have made the weekend better was a bigger turnout from the team. The six of us who were there can say the course and weather were awesome! I Hope to see everyone out at Kewaskum in two weeks!

What's been going on

Time flies so fast - over the last 10 or so days there has been a lot happening. In fact this entire month has been busy.
Last week, I spent about a week up in Door County just relaxing and enjoying time away from work. Overall, the weather was good and the rain did not spoil many plans for the week. I was able to take Heather out for a mountain bike ride in Peninsula State Park and a few other trips around the area too. The only sad thing is that the week started just the same way as it finished... me driving (quickly) from Door County directly to work in Milwaukee.
The good thing about being back in Milwaukee is that I am back to getting a lot of riding in. Today, I trekked about an hour South to the Kettle Moraine Forest for some much needed time on the mountain bike. This was my first time out in the kettles and I must say the riding was great. There was a good mix of climbing, descents, and technical terrain throughout the park. I would recommend that anyone who has never been to the kettles gives it a try; it is not as close as the reforestation camp was in Green Bay, but the drive is well worth it!
This weekend, I have an even shorter trip planned to Franklin for some more WORS racing action!