One 8.5 hour shift separates me from a week-long vacation in Door County this week ending with a race in River Falls (Hopefully). I am really looking forward to being able to unwind and decompress a little before school and all the fun things that come with it. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post next week. Until then, give me a call if you are heading to Fiver Falls instead of Race the Lake!
-Andy
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Race Report: WORS #7- Alterra Coffee Bean Classic
The last few days were pretty incredible; my new roommate moved in on Friday, I turned old Yesterday, had a going away party for my current roommate and of course raced today. To rewind quickly, Friday was pretty crazy with trying to figure out how to let my new roommate (Alex) in without being at the apartment and also finding room for my current roommate to move his stuff into the living room for the next couple weeks. Thankfully, all of that went smoothly and now Alex is moved in (for the most part) and I think I speak for the two of us when I say I am excited for the coming year.
Last night, I went out to Botanas for mexican with my old roommate James and a bunch of friends to wish James success as he moves to Iowa to pursue Higher-er education (PhD).
Today was pretty insane. I can't think of any good word to sum it all up in one. I woke up and got ready to race in Franklin. I caught the Citizen and Citizen Youth races and then began getting ready for my own race. To start my warm up, I did a quick climb of the uphill start to get the heart rate up. At the top I began to hear a ping from my back wheel. Instinctively, I look down to see my rear wheel shimmying from side to side.
Upon further inspection I see the culprit - a broken spoke on the drive-side of the wheel. I felt my heart sink a little as I entertained the thought of spectating at a race I was supposed to be in. I checked with numerous people and at the shop tents and found no one who had a wheel I could borrow. I watched as racers started going off thinking today was just not meant-to-be. As Don was calling up the series leaders for my age-class, I bumped into Diana from the team who happened to have a wheel I could borrow! I swapped the wheels and ran to the Parktool tent to adjust my brakes. As I flew to the bottom of the hill and into the start, Don was calling all other riders to the line. I was not in the ideal starting position, but I was thankful to be in the start shoot at all!
As we climbed the hill I was feeling great, but I could feel my chain skipping gears. As we hit the course lead-out, I was able to make a quick fine adjustment on-the-fly which seemed to fix things. The tight single track proved to be a problem as I was stuck behind a group of slower riders with no passing opportunities. As we got further into the lap, I was able to make a couple small passes but nothing substantial. Finally, I saw a spot in the trail ahead and yelled, "LEFT!" as I flew past the riders. I came into a section of fast single track called the Alpha Trail which helped me to bridge the gap to the next group of riders. As I neared the steep switchback climb up the back of the ski hill, I passed a few more riders and started seeing more guys from my age class. Climbing the start hill into lap two, I spotted Wenzlick and knew I was back in the race. I grabbed his wheel through the lead-out and into the single track. As we moved through some single track, I saw an opportunity to pass Ryan and the guys ahead. Ryan made the first move to the right and almost went down with another rider, as I went to the left to avoid a crash and was able to get ahead of the group. I admit that was not the nicest move I have ever made, but I was able to get in front of the group and onto the switchback climb first. I knew I was in the finishing stretch, so it was all or nothing. I found myself flying through the single track and pulling further ahead. I came through the last section of single track with no problems and turned onto the finish hill. I heard the announcer saying "places will be won and lost right here..." right then I looked back to see two guys on my wheel getting ready to make a move. At this, I stood up on the pedals and gave it everything I had left to get to the finish line first.
I could not believe that things worked out so well! It was truly a blessing to run into Diana at the last minute to borrow her wheel. When I checked the results I was excited to see I had managed to recover from a poor start to take 4th place in my age class with only seconds to spare!
Overall, I would say this was purely an amazing race and I definitely owe it to my team for being there in a pinch. A huge thanks to Diana from the Titletown Flyers for allowing me to use her wheel!!!
-Andy
Last night, I went out to Botanas for mexican with my old roommate James and a bunch of friends to wish James success as he moves to Iowa to pursue Higher-er education (PhD).Today was pretty insane. I can't think of any good word to sum it all up in one. I woke up and got ready to race in Franklin. I caught the Citizen and Citizen Youth races and then began getting ready for my own race. To start my warm up, I did a quick climb of the uphill start to get the heart rate up. At the top I began to hear a ping from my back wheel. Instinctively, I look down to see my rear wheel shimmying from side to side.
Upon further inspection I see the culprit - a broken spoke on the drive-side of the wheel. I felt my heart sink a little as I entertained the thought of spectating at a race I was supposed to be in. I checked with numerous people and at the shop tents and found no one who had a wheel I could borrow. I watched as racers started going off thinking today was just not meant-to-be. As Don was calling up the series leaders for my age-class, I bumped into Diana from the team who happened to have a wheel I could borrow! I swapped the wheels and ran to the Parktool tent to adjust my brakes. As I flew to the bottom of the hill and into the start, Don was calling all other riders to the line. I was not in the ideal starting position, but I was thankful to be in the start shoot at all!As we climbed the hill I was feeling great, but I could feel my chain skipping gears. As we hit the course lead-out, I was able to make a quick fine adjustment on-the-fly which seemed to fix things. The tight single track proved to be a problem as I was stuck behind a group of slower riders with no passing opportunities. As we got further into the lap, I was able to make a couple small passes but nothing substantial. Finally, I saw a spot in the trail ahead and yelled, "LEFT!" as I flew past the riders. I came into a section of fast single track called the Alpha Trail which helped me to bridge the gap to the next group of riders. As I neared the steep switchback climb up the back of the ski hill, I passed a few more riders and started seeing more guys from my age class. Climbing the start hill into lap two, I spotted Wenzlick and knew I was back in the race. I grabbed his wheel through the lead-out and into the single track. As we moved through some single track, I saw an opportunity to pass Ryan and the guys ahead. Ryan made the first move to the right and almost went down with another rider, as I went to the left to avoid a crash and was able to get ahead of the group. I admit that was not the nicest move I have ever made, but I was able to get in front of the group and onto the switchback climb first. I knew I was in the finishing stretch, so it was all or nothing. I found myself flying through the single track and pulling further ahead. I came through the last section of single track with no problems and turned onto the finish hill. I heard the announcer saying "places will be won and lost right here..." right then I looked back to see two guys on my wheel getting ready to make a move. At this, I stood up on the pedals and gave it everything I had left to get to the finish line first.
I could not believe that things worked out so well! It was truly a blessing to run into Diana at the last minute to borrow her wheel. When I checked the results I was excited to see I had managed to recover from a poor start to take 4th place in my age class with only seconds to spare!
Overall, I would say this was purely an amazing race and I definitely owe it to my team for being there in a pinch. A huge thanks to Diana from the Titletown Flyers for allowing me to use her wheel!!!-Andy
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Going out for a ride in the woods
On Tuesday, I took Heather out to the Southern Kettles for a little biking of the mountain sort. We had a little lunch and headed out for a total of 8 miles in the woods. Heather did very well, especially for being her first mountain bike ride this summer! Even on the intermediate trail she did very well with the hills and single track sections. We did stop a couple times along the way and in the process got eaten alive by mosquitoes, but never for anything too serious (except for her slowing to a stop and falling on her butt, then sitting and laughing for a while about it).
I'd say she was feeling pretty good after being out on the mountain bike.-Andy
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Air Show
Friday morning I was sitting in the apartment watching the tour before work. In the distance I hear a jet and think nothing of it until suddenly the apartment shakes and a loud boom echoes through the air. Over the next few minutes I hear the same thing over and over again. My first thoughts were 'what in the world is happening!' I look outside and see an F-15 circling the area and shooting off towards the lake shore. It was a pretty cool way to find out that Milwaukee was going to have an Air and Water show this weekend! Saturday morning before work I decided to stop down for a couple hours - Boy, was it worth it! I was able to see several stunt planes performing things I never thought an airplane could do (rolling tail over engine mid-flight).I also got to see the F-15 that was making so much noise on Friday morning and plenty more!
On the schedule for the week is some more riding and getting things ready for my new roommate to move in.-Andy
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Sunburst/Update
So it has been a while again, so I'll start with a quick recap.
I was riding very consistently until just after Wausau, when I started having knee pain on the bike. Due to lack of time and a desire to let my knee recover I took a three week 'vacation.' Unfortunately, the vacation was from riding and not from work; quite the opposite in fact. I was (and still am) putting in a ton of hours at work. After a long recovery, I went back and took a good look at the measurements on both my mountain and road bike and found what I believed to be a good fit for the bike. I did a short 15 mile spin to test the new fit and thankfully I had no pain. The next day I put in a good 50 miles and felt even better. Subsequent rides came with some small pain, but more of the "I have not been riding" kind of pain. With less pain in my knee I picked up my training regime and started getting ready for Kewaskum with some good focused efforts (including some top secret training in the mountains of De Pere a.k.a. Scray's Hill).
As race day came nearer, I was nervous but feeling good about where I stood fitness-wise. Race day started well, I had a great warm up on the hilly roads in the area and in the start shoot I was feeling good. Not my best start from the line but after the short lead out, I was sitting near the front. I hit the climbs and I saw my 'secret training' take effect. I just put the power to the pedals and flew up the hills. I took a corner a little fast towards the end of the first lap, but otherwise nothing major. As the end of lap three came, I was feeling tired and worried that I was falling back, but I pushed through the pain and came through the finish without losing any ground. After cooling down, I got the good news - third place! Needles to say I am really excited about the result and looking forward to finishing the series strong.
Up next is the Alterra Coffee Bean Classic right here in Milwaukee!
I was riding very consistently until just after Wausau, when I started having knee pain on the bike. Due to lack of time and a desire to let my knee recover I took a three week 'vacation.' Unfortunately, the vacation was from riding and not from work; quite the opposite in fact. I was (and still am) putting in a ton of hours at work. After a long recovery, I went back and took a good look at the measurements on both my mountain and road bike and found what I believed to be a good fit for the bike. I did a short 15 mile spin to test the new fit and thankfully I had no pain. The next day I put in a good 50 miles and felt even better. Subsequent rides came with some small pain, but more of the "I have not been riding" kind of pain. With less pain in my knee I picked up my training regime and started getting ready for Kewaskum with some good focused efforts (including some top secret training in the mountains of De Pere a.k.a. Scray's Hill).
As race day came nearer, I was nervous but feeling good about where I stood fitness-wise. Race day started well, I had a great warm up on the hilly roads in the area and in the start shoot I was feeling good. Not my best start from the line but after the short lead out, I was sitting near the front. I hit the climbs and I saw my 'secret training' take effect. I just put the power to the pedals and flew up the hills. I took a corner a little fast towards the end of the first lap, but otherwise nothing major. As the end of lap three came, I was feeling tired and worried that I was falling back, but I pushed through the pain and came through the finish without losing any ground. After cooling down, I got the good news - third place! Needles to say I am really excited about the result and looking forward to finishing the series strong.
Up next is the Alterra Coffee Bean Classic right here in Milwaukee!
Monday, June 1, 2009
WORS #2: Rhinelander
This past weekend was pretty busy, but things went really well. I put on some good mileage (on the car) heading to see Heather back home from Ireland, to Green Bay on Saturday to get the fork on my bike for the race, to Rhinelander for the actual race, and then to Prairie du Sac for a surprise 50th birthday party for Heather's mom.
I was happy enough to just get my rebuilt fork back on the bike and still arrive in Rhinelander with enough time to get a ride in on Saturday. Ryan, Scott, and I headed out for a quick lap on the course though I ended up taking a solo lap as Scott's chain was not playing nice with his cassette. I felt really good for the first half of my lap, though as the miles passed, my legs just did not seem to have the power they had on Monday at the camp. I decided to finish the lap and focus on recovering for Sunday's race. Sunday morning came quickly and I felt good (both mentally and physically). I packed up some of my gear and then set out for a warm up. I was amazed at how many flyers jerseys I saw during my warm up and as I entered the staging area. Seeing that many people at the race really got me excited for this season!
19-24 was the first group to set out on the course, and in it were myself, Ryan, Scott, and Ethan. I felt great on the lead out, sitting in the top 10-15. As we headed out, I narrowly escaped a crash that took out Ryan and was able to stay with the lead group. As the race went on, I could really feel my training in effect and I was feeling great! I just kept on the pedals and did not lose sight of the guys in front of me. Things were going really well. I must say that over the years I have seen some strange things in mountain biking, but never before have I seen or heard of this... As I am riding along I feel a strange sensation in my right eye. Suddenly, my eye tears up and as I blink, my contact falls right out! Thankfully, my glasses kept hold of the lens and I was able to pull off the trail and get the contact back in. The disappointing part was watching as five or six riders shoot on by as I realize that I am going to need to make up some ground. Again, my training paid off, as I was able to get back in the race and keep going. Going into lap two, I was still feeling good and moving quickly through the course. That is, until my eye got that funny feeling again. Once again, my contact popped out and I needed to pull off the trail and get it back in again. After this second time, I really did not have any more problems-other than the fact that the guys I had worked to pass were just in front of me. As I neared the last part of the lap I heard noises behind me and began to panic as I feared more guys from my age group were nearing. I was partially right. Among the riders back, I faintly saw a Flyers jersey with a bright helmet. I knew it was Ryan. Immediately I panicked and tried my best to put riders between me and him in the single track. Soon enough, Ryan was on my wheel and passed by. I swallowed my pride, and took his wheel as we both were now fighting to get to the front of the race. I pushed harder on the last few miles of this race than I have ever done before working to get back with Ryan and finish the race strong. I knew that not more than 30 seconds in front of me sat the top 5 in my age class and I just could not catch them. The race finish was bittersweet. I was mad that something as simple as a contact could hold me back in the race and that Ryan caught me, but at the same time, I saw that Ryan got his legs back and that I was able to push so hard in a race an still feel so good afterwards.
The results show the whole story with Ryan in 6th, me 20 seconds back in 7th and only about a minute spread between 3rd and 7th place! With WORS #2 in the books, it is time for me to rest up and little and then gear up for another great race in Wausau this weekend!
-Andy
I was happy enough to just get my rebuilt fork back on the bike and still arrive in Rhinelander with enough time to get a ride in on Saturday. Ryan, Scott, and I headed out for a quick lap on the course though I ended up taking a solo lap as Scott's chain was not playing nice with his cassette. I felt really good for the first half of my lap, though as the miles passed, my legs just did not seem to have the power they had on Monday at the camp. I decided to finish the lap and focus on recovering for Sunday's race. Sunday morning came quickly and I felt good (both mentally and physically). I packed up some of my gear and then set out for a warm up. I was amazed at how many flyers jerseys I saw during my warm up and as I entered the staging area. Seeing that many people at the race really got me excited for this season!
19-24 was the first group to set out on the course, and in it were myself, Ryan, Scott, and Ethan. I felt great on the lead out, sitting in the top 10-15. As we headed out, I narrowly escaped a crash that took out Ryan and was able to stay with the lead group. As the race went on, I could really feel my training in effect and I was feeling great! I just kept on the pedals and did not lose sight of the guys in front of me. Things were going really well. I must say that over the years I have seen some strange things in mountain biking, but never before have I seen or heard of this... As I am riding along I feel a strange sensation in my right eye. Suddenly, my eye tears up and as I blink, my contact falls right out! Thankfully, my glasses kept hold of the lens and I was able to pull off the trail and get the contact back in. The disappointing part was watching as five or six riders shoot on by as I realize that I am going to need to make up some ground. Again, my training paid off, as I was able to get back in the race and keep going. Going into lap two, I was still feeling good and moving quickly through the course. That is, until my eye got that funny feeling again. Once again, my contact popped out and I needed to pull off the trail and get it back in again. After this second time, I really did not have any more problems-other than the fact that the guys I had worked to pass were just in front of me. As I neared the last part of the lap I heard noises behind me and began to panic as I feared more guys from my age group were nearing. I was partially right. Among the riders back, I faintly saw a Flyers jersey with a bright helmet. I knew it was Ryan. Immediately I panicked and tried my best to put riders between me and him in the single track. Soon enough, Ryan was on my wheel and passed by. I swallowed my pride, and took his wheel as we both were now fighting to get to the front of the race. I pushed harder on the last few miles of this race than I have ever done before working to get back with Ryan and finish the race strong. I knew that not more than 30 seconds in front of me sat the top 5 in my age class and I just could not catch them. The race finish was bittersweet. I was mad that something as simple as a contact could hold me back in the race and that Ryan caught me, but at the same time, I saw that Ryan got his legs back and that I was able to push so hard in a race an still feel so good afterwards.
The results show the whole story with Ryan in 6th, me 20 seconds back in 7th and only about a minute spread between 3rd and 7th place! With WORS #2 in the books, it is time for me to rest up and little and then gear up for another great race in Wausau this weekend!
-Andy
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
A Busy Weekend in Green Bay
This weekend I was able to finally get back to Green Bay for some time with family and friends. Sunday was spent working on the bike and later at Celebration in De Pere with some old friends. Monday, I frantically put the bike together with a fork from another bike (because my good fork was still in the shop) so I could get out to the camp for a couple laps with Ryan. Running an hour late, I was able to meet up with Ryan and we did two laps at the camp. Being my first ride on the mountain bike for the season I was not sure what to expect, but I quickly got into a rythm and we both put in two good laps. With less than a week until Rhinelander, I am feeling pretty good about my fitness level and am now more concerned about getting the correct fork on my bike in time for the race on Sunday. Hopefully, I can get in one more good ride before the weekend and then it is "Goooooooo" time!
-Andy
-Andy
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