This very well might be one of my best 24 hour efforts....and worst. If you are in to the enduro type events, you know how fast things can change from perfect to absolute nightmare. Like I said before...everything has to work in harmony. The nutrition has to be right. The conditions must be right. And the body and bike must work to perfection. Below is a recap from the trip to and from the largest 24 hour event in the midwest...The 24 Hours of 9 Mile.

FRIDAY
Left Friday in the AM for the 5 hour haul to Wausau, WI. Swung by the shop and picked up the bikes, spare parts, and an assortment of Maxxis tires first then hit the road.

Gear'n up to get down. Got off work at 2 PM. Headed out with Carl to get one last bit 'o ride'n in before the 24 Hours of 9 Mile. The ride was to be easy with a few accelerations in to keep the legs spunky. Since the ride was on the recovery side, I took my POS camera along. Enjoy.

Head'n thru the state park on my way to meet Carl.




Good speed. Even better HR.




Carl hang'n out in the back.




Carl rage'n on the Salsa Campeon with Trek VW team shorts. He is confused.




Carl doing his best RAGBRAI impression...Where the hell are the pork chops?

So that was that. Now it is time to pack up all the clothes and supplies needed to make it thru the entire 24 hr event. Shouldn't take too long....I hope? Tomorrow, I will swing by the shop and pick up my tools, spare Maxxis tires, spare parts, and Giant NRS race bikes. Then it is off to Wausau at 9 AM to meet up with Chuck for a pre-ride at 3 PM.

Hey, remember that little death march across the state called Trans-Iowa that G-Ted and myself put on in April? Well, there is a new story HERE. I bet you can't wait till next year can ya? [insert evil laugh here.]

And...
G-Ted just got back from riding a day of RAGBRAI. Check out the freek'n pictures. Fair warning, the pictures are not for the weak stomach or for those who like to match when they saddle up. CLICK HERE AND USE CAUTION.

Finally...
The song Brother by Dark New Day. Have you heard it yet? It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Not to mention makes me want to rage on the bike till I squirt blood out my eye sockets.
Go check it out yo!

So adios. This is it till later on Sunday. Good luck to all race'n this weekend.

Things are coming together very smoothly for my first 24 hour solo effort of the year. I feel strong, and most importantly FRESH! Last year I raced too much before World's and was a bit burned by the middle of August. As of now, the motivation is high and the legs still feel really good.

Some much needed items for the 24-9 effort showed today. I was going to run the Maxxis Oriflamme for my tire choice...but, they are out of stock. Dang! So, I went with the next fastest choice....Maxxis Larsen MiMo. I raced the MiMo in South Dakota at a 12 hour event earlier in June and these thing were as fast as a bad case of the Hershey squirts. Should work really well on the way fast 9 Mile course. The tires showed today, and then this came via UPS...


Say hello to a pre-production Cateye Double Shot helmet mount light. It's so new that it came in a zip-lock bag and it is hand made. This thing is sooooooo tiny! It is 2 super bright LEDs with 5 hours of run time. This light will see a ton of time at 9 Mile so I can get Cateye some "real world" testing in. Thanks to Jeana at Maxxis and Jeff Wu at Cateye for the rush service. You guys rock!!!

Before work I set up the new 10x10 pop up tent from the folks at ELETE. Yep, it works! Just wanted to make sure it was good to go. The pit area in Wausau would be a bad place to find out you are missing parts of the tent.

After work, I headed out for a 1 hour spin on the road bike. Let me check....yep, the legs still work and feel good.

Now, I am charging up batteries for the Cateye lights and getting primed for 10 hours of precious sleep. Oh yeah, I am also consuming more carbs. For your FYI, you cannot carbo load the night before an event. It's atleast a week long process.

That's enough blogging for now. I run the shop by myself tomorrow as G-Ted is throwing down on a day of RAGBRAI. He is going to take lots of pictures on Thursday so check his site for some great pictures of the drunken sex laced bike riding pictures across the Iowa country side.


One last note...
Noonan of the Kona Enduro Team needs a support person for 9 Mile. So, if ya like staying up for 30 straight hours, filling water bottles, swatting bugs, and just hanging out with other cool pit people CLICK over to his site at get ahold of this freak.

Tonight was the regular Tuesday Night Group Ride. There was like 7 of us. Temps were very cool, about 68 degree, compared to the f'n 110 degree crap from the past 5 days. Almost needed long sleeves by the end of the ride.

Anywho...
I wanted to use this ride as my last bit of intensity before 24-9. My goal was to sit in and keep the HR at 140 or lower. Then towards the end throw in a few attacks of about 30 seconds at all-out pace. Mission accomplished! Most of my attacks were on hills, cause that is a needed area of work for my flat-land arse. So the ride went well. Kruger had a flat. Should have wated for him, but went with the group instead so I didn't have to bust ass with him to bridge back up. That was the highlight of the ride. Overall it was a 3 hour ride with about 2100 calories burned at an average HR of 143. Super!

Just got an e-mail from 24 Hours of Adrenaline regarding World Solo Championships. Sounds like the course might be a bit different from earlier years due to the bobsled/luge course being errected for the Winter Olympics. Maybe will have to climb it. Hey, they do in Park City. Then again, that might suck more than anything has sucked before. Suck....suck....suck...suck...

And today I started trying new fueling for my endurance racing. CHECK IT OUT.

That's all. Need to eat. Stretch.

FYI...
I am pre riding 9 Mile on Friday at 3 PM with Super Freak Chuck and then marking my pit area of doom. All are welcomed to join.

Tomorrow...
Easy ride through GW State Park. Veeeeeeeeeery slooooooooooooow.

1 hour 49 minutes at an average HR of 118 equals successful recovery ride/spin. Saddled up on the Giant CFR Team road rocket and spun around town in the 100 degree heat. Good times! Not may people out and about. Did run into the great Whizbang. He was paying his respects to L.A. and his latest win in the Tour by raging around town in a yellow sleeveless jersey and Shimano sandals. Go Whizbang Go! As for me, my ride was pretty un-eventfull. Lots of slow (18mph average) riding around town dodging down twigs and nature shrapnel from last nights freak storms....Tree Down! Hard Left! Go! Go! Go!

Got a new blog for ya'll to check out. All I have to say is...
Durango. Kricket. Chick. Purgatory Resort. NORBA National Series.
Enjoy!

Tomorrow will be the group ride. I will sit in 99% of the time and just go along for the ride. The other 1% will be a few hard attacks/burst before the 24 Hours of 9 Mile to keep the legs in a good mood. Get this...todays high is over 90 degrees...tomorrow almost 70 degrees...Brrrrrrrrrr. Might have to break out the moon boots and parka for the ride.

Time to finish my veggies and fish. Mmmmmm. Yummy in my tummy!

RAGBRAI : 1
Riders : 3

Friday...
Friday was crazy insane at the shop. We were running around with our heads cut off. Didn't get into the shop till noon. So, before the shop I hit up Look Out Park Hill for a few hill sprints and leg speed work to get the blood flowing. After that it was 1 hour of tempo work out on the road.

Saturday...
Got up at 5 AM. Drank some coffee. Then headed to Bike Tech for a road ride. There was 4 of us. Carl threw down a vicious attack and went Tom Boonen on our asses. I watched with my mouth open in awe. Nothing but a good ole group ride with some short attacks thrown in for good measure. After the ride it was shop time from 8:30 AM til 5. The shop once again was insane. Lots of people buying stuff during our Lucky 7 Sale. It's also way hot. We are in a heat advisory. The heat index is close to 115 degrees. Yes!

Sunday...
Got up at 5 again. Drank some coffee. Ate some oatmeal. Aired up the Maxxis Ignitors on the back up NRS Air. Meet up with Kisch, JY, J-Fry, and Adamson. We hit up 4 hours of the best gravel in the state. The pace was a good 24 hour pace. Sometimes we were at 18 mph. Other times close to 30. Felt really good. Did a few hard efforts to keep the legs happy. Made sure not to rage too hard and fry my legs for next weekend 24 hour effort. Weather was once again HOT! Made sure to drink lots of water and ELETE. G-Ted has a good testimonial about ELETE from his ride on Saturday. See, I told you this stuff is the shiznit. Same with Ashwin. He seems to dig the ELETE also! Oh, and Lance won the Tour....again....blah, blah, blah. JY, how ya do'n buddy?

Now..
I am at work. Shhhhhh. We are having a slow second, so I thought I would post quick. Check this out...Sloane race the NORBA Marathon in EYE-DA-HOE. Check out that Cateye Kit...Sweeeeet.

For Monday...
Some time at the shop and a sub 120 HR recovery ride thru GW State Park which will be very very very slow. So slow I might get passed by a little old lady on a motorized cart.

So...
Who is going to the 24-9 in Wausau, Cheeseconsin? I will have a crap load of ELETE, so swing by the pit and request the liquid goodness.

Thursdays=Group ride. Got off work at 2 PM. Came home. Took a 1.5 hour power nap. Hopped on the bike at 3:30. From 3:30 till 6 I did hill work, leg speed intervals, power work, and tempo spinning thru the State Park. 6 o'clock the group ride left Bike Tech. There was a crap load of us...like 15 riders. Some I have never seen. It was warm...92 degrees. I was loaded on ELETE. We headed north to Finchford. Kruger attacked the hill. We left Finchford. I attacked the 3 tier hill. Kruger was the only one on my wheel. I am thinking of doing the state road race...Geez! We pacelined into Janesville at 27 mph and stayed away from the group. It hurt! We regrouped in Janesville. We headed East. The group road paceline at a pretty mellow 23 mph. Kruger kept punching the pace. I attacked on a hill. I spit the field apart. I blew up. The group put 50 yards on me. I caught back up at Wagner road back to Waterloo. I attacked again. It hurt! The group caught up. Why does Jeff Stone look like a hippie? I then attacked again. I like pain. The group caught back up. I then attacked for a final time. Some of the group made it back up to me. Fry attacked. He made it to Waterloo first. Then Stone. Then me. The Kruger. I am cooked. Planning very easy ride tomorrow before work. How was your ride? Iowa smells like corn right now. Guess you have to be here to understand.

Got in some much needed resistance training in today. Headed out to do some gravel-grind'n on the back-up Giant NRS Air with the Maxxis Ignitors. The gravel was a bit soft this evening due to the freak thunder storm the dumped like 2 inches this AM. I headed out and thundered thru the soft stuff all the way to Dike and other parts unknown outside of Cedar Falls. This really put the hurt on. It was like riding thru a mud bog...but with nothing flying off the tires.

After 2 hours of my own gravel time, I met up with the Bike Tech guys for their gravel ride. Nothing on this ride but easy-as-pie. These guys are getting ready for the race across the sky...The Leadville 100. Did a couple hard efforts just to keep the legs happy and make sure everyone was alert. The Bike Tech ride was another 2.5 hours of bike time. So today was a good day on the bike. The thighs are a bit tender, so it is time to rub them and elevate them.

Speaking of gravel...
There has a been a ton of Trans-Iowa chit chat at the shop between myself and G-Ted. Looks like next year might be a good kick in the junk! Think running thru muddy corn fields....gravel pits....primitive State Parks....single track...350ish miles...starting at 3 or 4 AM...ect. A cyclocross bike will NOT will in 2006. Infact we are planning to make it so the guys on the 'cross bikes give up after less than 50 miles. He he he he he he he.

Tomorrow looks to be AM hill work followed by work at the shop followed by road group ride at 6.

That is what my nose and eyes are doing. I hope it is allergies and not the early signs of a virus. To go along with the running nose...itchy eyes...watery eyes...I also am sneezing like every 3 minutes. Yuck! Going to skip the groupd ride tonight to hopefully get rid of this crap. Was really looking forward to tonights ride. Lots of riders/racers...90 degree temps...and I was going to show on my mnt bike. Dang!

Oh well. Must rest. 24-9 is getting closer.

Went out this evening for a spin around the Cedar Valley to get used to the lights and to just mess around with them a bit more before the 24 Hours of 9 Mile on July 30-31. Here are some pictures from my really, really, REALLY bad camera.

So here we have a view of the cockpit with the CateyeTriple Shot mounted. See, I told you it wasn't very big. I tried to take pictures of the beam, but my camera sucks! But, I was flashed by 4 cars on the way to my ride, so it must be pretty bright.

Yet another view of the handle bar with the light...computer...and on/off switch just to the right of the left shifter.

Here is the battery pack. It's pretty small too. This small guy has about 3.5 hours of run time for your night riding pleasure.

Now this is interesting. The white dot in the red circle to the far left is the eyes of Satan. Well...not really. It's the eyes of a raccoon that stared me down out by CFU. About every 3 seconds that dang 'coon scooted about 3 feet closer to me. So the picture was quick...notice the lights in the background moving. I was somewhat worried it might jump on my face and try to suck out my eyeballs. The other 2 circles are of 2 of the 5 little 'coons that accompanied the larger Satan-like 'coon.

Saturday, I am thinking of hitting up Decorah for some single track night riding after work. Anyone want to go along? Sounds like we might be having a night time group ride going on up north with the Dcorah folk. E-mail me if interested.

OK, I need bed. Gotz to work at 8 AM.

...cause I want to go out and do some road miles.

Spent all day at the shop yesterday. It was busy, but not crazy. I had time to assemble a guys brand new custom Co-Motion Nor'Wester touring bike with a Dura-Ace triple groupo and FSA carbon stem, h'bar, and seat post. Oh, don't forget the carbon H2O cages...BLING! It looks like a road racing bike, but with touring racks. It's a very sweet $6,000 piece of bike. Everything on it is ready to go. Just need to have G-Ted work his wheel mojo and it will be done.

I wonder how Noo-Noo did out at the Breckenridge 100? Should be something on his blog soon.

This week...maybe Monday...I am going to head either up to Decorah or Sugar Bottom for some light testing. I need to get the Triple Shot and Double Shot dialed in for 24-9.

How is the weather where you live? Here in Iowa it is crazy HOT! The last week and 1/2 have had highs in the low to mid 90's. Plus, throw in about 70%-80% humidity and you have a conditions for primo swamp ass. Before my ride I have been having to slam down some ELETE Tablytes and then while out on my rides I would put ELETE in my bottles. This stuff just plain works. I am starting to like it better than the Hammer Endurolytes cause I can carry the ELETE in the bottle and not have to lug pills around in my jersey pockets. BONUS! Don't get me wrong...The Endurolytes work, but they are just not as easy to lug around when you are doing self supported training rides. I can beat the heat with ELETE!

What else is there...
JY won his first mnt bike race. What the heck is he racing beginner for? Come on man, upgrade! Just kidding! So, when you go'n to do that first enduro? Hmmmmmmm?

I am working on some kit designs for the Bike Tech Racing Team here in town. Here is the LINK to see the very, very rough sketch of what I have going for them right now. It is not anywhere near complete. Post your comments on it. It's always good to hear from the general public.

OK, that is enough of this computer madness. I am off to ride, then to the shop.

You know you want to do THIS. Do it! Come on. What else ya go'na do?

Yipee! Got back on the bike today. Went out this AM for some mnt bike furry on bike path. Well, not really furry, but rather showing the legs what it is like to spin circles again. Legs felt awesome. I was cruising down path at 21 mph with no effort. Lets just say that I am refreshed and ready to go for Part II of the race season. Bring it!

The next few weeks will be specific training for 24-9. I have some top secret training for this event. I have done it twice...in 2002 placing 2nd to Tinker...and in 2004 placing 6th while chasing Cameron Chambers in 2nd place for about 19 hours of the event till I pulled a muscle in my lower back. Damn! This year I hope goes better than last. I am mentally ready. Just have to get the legs ready.

The rest of my day was spent at the shop for about 2 hours then I had to rush home to do a newspaper ad for the shop, then it was back to the shop till 8 PM. Good times.

Tomorrow is more shop time...9 AM till 5 PM. Then it's to the bike at around 6. Anyone locally want to head out around 6 bells for some road miles? Call the shop at 319.277.0734 and we'll chat.

That is all for now. I need to do some design work for some peeps.

Starting to go into withdrawl. Been alittle over 3 days since I last sat on a bike seat. I feel refreshed, and well rested. I need to ride. I want to ride. I need a hug.

Just got word from Sloane that on page 49 of the August issue of Mountain Bike Magazine that Trans-Iowa was listed among the top "Mini-Everest" races to get your suffering on. I have not seen it yet. Hope to dig up a copy soon.

It's that time of the year. Time to take a wee bit of a break from the 2 wheeled sled. I have training, and riding since November 1st. So to help me prepare for the 2nd half of the season, which will be mostly 24 hour racing, I am going to take 4-6 days of no bike. This will allow me to refresh and gain even more of a need to get out and rage. The season so far as been a success. Below are my results so far for the 2005 season.

12 Hours of Sugar Creek...2nd...held in Wisconsin
12 Hours of Metro...1st...held in Wisconsin
12 Hours of Thunder...2nd...held in South Dakota
12 Hours of Winter...3rd...held in Wisconsin

Not too shaby! So my next phase of training is going to include a bit more intensity. There will be a lot more mnt bike on the road group rides to hone the leg speed and to suffer a bit more. So, with all that in mind, the next race is in like 19 days at the 24 Hours of 9 Mile.

Almost forgot...
Did yet another interview via the phone for Trans-Iowa. It's July, and we are still getting questions. This time it is for the Des Moines Juice, which happens to be an off shoot of the Des Moines Register state newspaper. Not sure when it will run, so stay tuned to Juice for the coming story.

That is all for today. Time to rest. Blogging will continue.

Let me just start by saying things could have went better. No matter how ready you think you are sometimes the body just don't want to go-go-go. The result for the race for me was OK. I ended up 3rd. But it was the longest race, mentally, cause I was lacking snappy legs after about 4 hours. It was one huge fight. Below is my recap fromt he weekends travels and race. Enjoy.

FRIDAY...
My Dad and I left Cedar Falls in the AM for the 5ish hour drive to the Green Bay, WI area. Note to anyone traveling thru Wisconsin...GAS PRICES ARE HIGH!!!


Got up to Packer-land around 2:30. We checked into the hotel and then drove 20 minutes to the East to Kewaunee, WI to pre-ride the course. Before heading to the course we stopped in town and took in the sights along Lake Michigan.


Up next was the pre-ride. I pulled into the race parking lot and there was one other car. This car happened to be my main competition for the weekend. Who is this you say. Non other than Santa Cruz Syndicate team rider Mark Hendershot himself. Mark is a pretty fast guy. He has numerous top 5 finishes at 24 Hours Solo World's. We exchanged a few words, and discussed the course. He was just finishing the pre-ride as I was heading out. He was mentioning how there was no place to eat or drink cause the entire 7.4 mile lap was singletrack. He also kept talking about how the course was full of power climbs. So, we departed ways, and I headed out for a sample of this course. Yep, it's a toughy! The entire course is singletrack with short climb after short climb after short climb. All the climbs are steep. The type of climbs that you have to sit on the nose of the saddle and rip on the handle bar. You don't get far enough forward....BANG! You'll fall over backwards. Nothing mellow here. He who has the snappiest legs will win says the fortune cookie. Also note, that the "word" floating around the venue is that this event always draws low numbers due to the "insane factor." So with that in mind, only 11 solo men started...7 finished.


Typical WI singletrack...fast, wooded, earthy, laced with blood suck mosquitoes.



So after the pre-ride I headed back to the hotel to cook up the pre-race dinner the only way I know how...Ala Camp Stove. After dinner it was off to rest with the legs up and prepare for the race.



SATURDAY...
Today is race day. Got up at 5 AM and took in breakfast at Perkins. The order of the morning was eggs, hashbrowns, 3 pancakes, and coffee. Slammed all that down then headed to the venue to set up all the gear.

As racers started showing up, I started to pick out my competition. I figured the race would be between myself, Mark Hendershot, and the local enduro freak Jim Peterson. I was right. We all lined up for the 8 AM start. The start was a short run...about 80 yards. The race promoter started things off with the launching of a bottle rocket...sweeeeeet!. We took off to our bikes. Mark was first to his bike...then me...then Jim. Below is a lap by lap report...

Lap 1
Mark, myself, and Jim headed off into the single track (in that order). I let Mark set pace, to see how he wanted to go for the day. The pace was surprisingly low. I was running 15 beat lower than my race HR. This was good. Behind me was Jim. I could hear him breathing....HARD! I thougth this was odd, cause Jim is very fit and usaully doesn't allow his body to do this. The lap continued and Mark and myself started to gap on Jim. We went through the lap and kept the pace.

Lap 2
Starting lap 2 it was still Mark and myself. I was letting Mark do all the pacing. We kept pushing. By the end of the lap, we had about 2 minutes on Jim.

Lap 3
Myself and Mark are still together. We turned out another lap. I also noticed how Mark and my ridng styles differ. Mark stands on ALL the climbs. I sit and spin fast. That is odd. We finished the lap. We now had 5 minutes on Jim.


Lap 4

Lap 5
This is when things fell out for me. For some reason, I lost the "snap" in my legs. I could not turn over the pedals fast, and was all the sudden mashing gears. This was not good, cause I was gaining time to Mark and loosing time to Jim. I kept going on the lap hoping to have this little bout of crap-legs go away.

Lap 6-12
Bad legs would be the order for the rest of the day. I had no power. No power on this course is no good! You need to have your legs "on" to make it around in sub 55 minute laps. So for the rest of the day I would sit and grind it out. Lap after lap, after lap, after lap. Dealing with the pain and suffering would be my new competition for the day. All I had to do was keep moving forward to keep my 3rd place and final podium spot. On lap 10 I was finally caught by Mark...and then Jim. Both passed on kind words and told me that we all have bad days. That is 100% true. When I new that I had 3rd placed wrapped up I called it for a day. After I stopped, this still allowed Jim and Mark to get in one last lap before 8 PM. Mark and Jim both did 14 laps, and I had 12.
(SEE RESULTS HERE)

Here are some stats from the race from my Cateye Micro Wireless Computer
Actual time moving on bike: 10 hours 44 minutes 30 seconds
Distance: 84.94
Average Speed: 7.9 mph (was at 10.2 before bad laps began.)
Max speed: 21.3

Worst part of the race...
The mosquitoes. There are bites on my face, butt, and back. The pace up some of the hills was slow enough for them to land on you and bite through the cycling gear.

Best part of the race...
It's just one step closer to a wanted/needed podium spot at World's

Oh well, That is how it goes sometimes. Nothing I can do about it but suck it up and go out and perform next time. Now it is time to rest up and get ready for the first 24 of the year for me...the 24 Hours of 9 Mile.

Once again, THANKS to all my sposnors for their support, and to my Dad for his nutritional distribution skills.

Time for me to put my feet up.

Ward up at Decorah Bicycles is organizing this little march across the state via the road bike. Here are the details as I got it in an e-mail from Ward himself. Want more info? E-mail Ward at ward@decorahbicycles.com

BEGIN DETAILS...
No cost, We will meet at 4 a.m. on August 6 at the Big Souix River on County rode A26. Provide your own support. Ride as a group. Maybe separate if the pace is not even. I am estimating 10 riders. Take county rodes across the state and end in Harpers Ferry. Before 4 in the morning on Sunday the 7th.

Refuel at many of the pass through towns., The idea is a resume builder and not a race. Pass through towns. Alvord, George, Ashton, May City, Milford, Terril, Wallingford, Ringsted, Bancroft, Woden, Crystal lake, Leland, Joice, Kensett, Bolan, St Ansgar, Little Cedar, Riceville, Saratoga, Cresco, Decorah, Waukon and Harpers Ferry.

Let me(Ward) know what you think. We would like to get a group that will average about 18 mph. Not to fast and not to slow. More the merrier.
...END DETAILS.

Looks interesting to me. Hmmmmmm, have to think about this one. Anyone else saddle'n up for this one?

T-minus 2 days and change till the 12 Hours of Winter. I feel pretty good on the bike. For some reason, I have not been sleeping well this week. What's up with that? Hope it does not effect my performance this weekend.

Anywho, today is another prep day. Commute to work on the single 'cause the cars at the shop. Go pick up the car on the commute home. Then either do a small chunk of the group ride or just go out at spin the legs out. Not sure yet.

Tonight, I am going to pack up my gear, and get everything organized. Tomorrow on the way to the Green Bay area my Dad and I will swing by the shop so I can pick up my bikes, tools, and arsenal of Maxxis rubbery goodness.


Also on Friday we'll chill out in the Green Bay area. Dad said something about hanging out at Lambeau Field....GO VIKINGS!!! Maybe meet up with Chuck and Super Kraig for a bit of a pre-ride. Not sure yet.

As far as the race...
Rumor has it that tthis is the toughest 12 hour course in the series. We'll just have to see. I am sure it can't be any tougher than the 12 Hours of Thunder and the 2000 ft of climbing per lap. I am going to try some new "things" at this race. These "things" are secret. Only me and my brain matter know what I am cooking up. These "things" should help for my prep for World's.

That is all for now. Time to cut weight....eat some breakfast...ride to work...work some special juju at the shop...get the car...ride....organize...sleep.

Oh, also, in August I am either going to do the Penn Cycle 10 hour event at Buck Hill or this Trans-Iowa like event. What would you do? This will be my last event before World's.

Look for a post on late afternoon Sunday.

Felt like a million bucks! That's good. Hope I can carry it over to this weekends 12 hour event. Got in 70 miles at about 70%. Did few attacks and somewhat hard pulls. Had a few guys working pretty good [insert evil laugh here]. It's interesting when you ride with people how you can tell when they are suffering. For example...rolled over shoulders, mouth gapped open, lots of upper body movement, slow leg speed. I have learned to read some of the guys on the group ride, so whe I see these signs, I up the pace a bit. There really isn't much to yack about on the ride. JY should have some pictures from the ride up on his BLOG soon. Tonight was the last hard effort before the race on Saturday. Rest of the week will be short and easy rides with a few hard sprints or hill reps to keep the blood moving around.

What else...
Armstrong is back in yellow. Ok, so what else is new. Today was the first stage that I incorrectly guessed the winner. I thought Phonak might pull something out of their butts, but nope.

Tomorrow...
Easy day on the bike. Day at the shop. Take car to get looked at.

That's all. I need sleep. Last night was a lot of tossing and turning.

Introducing Cateye's new high end rechargable light. LED for your pleasure.

The Triple Shot is the latest rechargeable light from CatEye, the leader in bicycle lighting. Cateye the first to introduce Halogen, HID, and LED lighting to bicycles, and the new Triple Shot represents the future in bicycle lighting. Nearly indestructible, and with a lifespan of over 100,000 hours, it's the first LED light bright enough to race on in the night. The Triple Shot features a handle bar remote, and a compact Ni-MH battery that provides 3.3 hours of runtime with a 3 hour charge. More info here.


Same as above, but with 2 LED's and designed for helmet mounting. More info here.

Look for myself and Sloane using these lights at 24 hour event through out the remainder of the year. As I get more and more time on them I will post some updates. From the training rides that I have done so far, these lights do not disappoint.

So this AM, 6 of us went out for a moist 50 miles. No, not moist because of the rain. But rather because of the 200% humidity. The ride was good. I kept the HR very low till the last 4 miles when Mr. Robert Fry decided that we must race back into town at 27 mph. That sure got the blood flow'n. Thanks buddy! God, I love Iowa.

Then I come home to see who scored the win at the Tour. I was betting on Boonen again, and gee-wiz, he did it again. I am on a roll. I should start playing the lottery.

Then there is this!


Some dude thunders down 49 hot dogs in 12 minutes. I am not sure what to say. I think I would ask him these questions...

• Way to go...Buddy?
• Hows your belly?
• Do you need a bucket?
• So when is the Rocky Mountain Oyster eating contest?
• Do you know how long it takes for meat to digest?
• Did you know that hot dogs are made of pig lips and ass holes?
• Whould you like a cold beverage? How about nice cold glass of Exlax?
• Do you own a plunger?
• Did you know that you are currently carrying around 22 pounds of undigested crap in your colon?
• Do chicks did the the competitive eating thing?

Wow! That is all I can say about that. I keep looking at that picture above, and I am trying to figure out if that girls mouth is full of food, or is she in mid-vomit and that the picture was snapped right went food was exiting.

Tonight...
Fireworks! Nothing like blowing things up. THIS might be the coolest book ever. Then there is THIS. And THIS (gotta love the name!). This LINK is really informative. Then to top off the evening there is THIS. What's even better, is the fact that I am giggling as I am reading through these websites.

:-)

Yipee! Day off from work and small explosions! Doesn't get better than that. Here in Iowa, fireworks are against the law. So, most Iowans make the yearly trip to either of the bording states...MO, WI, and/or SD...to pick up the much needed explosive items. So I have a choice...go watch the fireworks display put on by the town of Cedar Falls....or....sit in my apartment and wait for the blood curling scream to come from my neighbors who have a large supply of illeagally smuggled fireworks. I think I will wait for the screaming to begin.

Not much planned for today. There is a group ride at 8:30 AM which I will attend and ride at a conservative pace. Tuesday will be my hard day before the 12 hour race this weekend. After that, I am going to chill out and work on some design work for the shop and the 24 Hours of Seven Oaks. By the way, you really should do that 24 hour race over Labor Day weekend. Last year the solo winner took home $500 for the win. Find another event that does that! Info should be posted HERE soon. Plus the course kicks arse!

Time to change into the superman outfit...put on the mask...and rid the world of big ring mashers. I am off to ride my sled.

Don't forget to spin.

The title of todays post kind of sounds like a NASCAR race. Ugh! I just mentioned NASCAR...I mean NASCRAP. Ahhhhhh, end the madness!

Well anyway, last night after a day at the shop me and the other Jeff (Jeff Slade) headed out for 50 miles of junk miles. No structure. No set plan. Just good ole ride'n. We met at 6 bells at Pfiefer Park then headed North out out town up and around Finchford...Janesville...Wagner Rd...Ghettoloo...etc. He was in full on tri-geek mode with the Slingshot Tri bike with his new hand built Dirtram hoops. The looked pretty sweet. He was running a bit late cause he was doing what Tri guys do before they ride a bike...run. Yep, he was running before the ride. He can run. I can not. I run like a cow. Moooooooo.

Yesterday I worked at the shop with the boss man. I bet him 5 bucks that Dave Zabriskie would win the stage in the Tour. He did! I called it! I was nice and let him keep his $5 to buy more Planters Nuts and processed chili products.

The shop was crazy at times. I was stress'n. I wanted to stab someone with my Pedro's Screwdrivers. I didn't.

Here is my plan for today....blog....trip to Wally-World...bike time...work...sleep.

That is all yo!

Not really a whole lot to talk about. Training is going well. Have been doing sub 2 hour road rides and a moderate HR. Legs feel really strong and refreshed. I should be good to go for next weekends 12 Hours of Winter up by Green Bay.

Other than easy rides, I have been working at the shop. It is total chaos. Lots of people coming in the door. Lots of road bike going out the door. Many bikes being assembled. Many repairs being sorted out. With the start of the Tour today, we will mostly likely start to see a new breed of cyclist walking in the door and inquiring about road bikes and such. That is good. I am always about getting more people involved in the sport.

Tonight after work I am heading out on a road ride. Anyone and all are welcomed to join me. Send me an e-mail if you want to go. Thinking about heading out around 6 PM.

I have had some poision oak or ivy emerging from my left leg. Pretty sure I picked that up at the 12 Hours of Thunder last weekend. Itches like crazy! I am almost certain I picked it up when I took a little spill while trying to fly between these 2 trees at an out of control pace. That'll teach me.

If you are in my situation and don't own a TV, but want to watch the Tour, just come to Europa Cycle and Ski. We are going to have it running the whole month of July. Looks like my productivity level is going to go down hill this month. Must....watch....the....Tour.....

Here are some blogs you should be reading everyday....
Solo Goat...BAH! On your left.
Soiled Chamois...Dirty chamois for everyone!!!
G-Ted...Are we going to like do it?
JY...I gots me a new bike yo!
Blue Collar...Bike riding and reviews the way it's supposed to be.
Kona Enduro Team...Kona? Isn't that in Hawaii?
Sloane Anderson...The other Mr. 24
Heather Mosley...Pink is the real color of 24 hour success!

Lets see....what else is there....
Weather is finally back to normal. This morning it is 55 degrees. That is better that the previous nights where it was 75 degrees at night with like 200% humidity. With conditions like that you are sleeping in your own pool of life juices. God, I hate full on body swamp ass.

Ok, that is it. Time to get ready for a full day at the shop. Not sure if it will be crazy or not. A lot of people might have left town for the 4th. We'll just have to wait and see.