4luvandlife

so the last race of the season was coming up last week. this spring and summer had been a lot of fun and i had compiled 1011 points over 8 races in the MNSCS series. I hadn't gotten credit for the dnf at Afton. i had reported it but didn't get the credit. i left it alone thinking that it was 2 points that wouldn't matter. well anyway, with 1 race left it was me at 1011 points and Paul C in first at 1012. does it get any better that? man was i excited. this is going to be great. i even got 2 sweet new tires when there was only 1 race left. Specialized Fast Traks S Works. i put them on and they squeeked on the garage floor like basketball shoes on the court. this had me pretty sure that the grip was going to be fun on the trail. after messing around with them to get them seated correctly they were riding great. the rolling resistance was way down from the Kenda Blue Groove that was on the back. that was a great tire and i will probably use it for a mud tire but it was heavy a...

the power of the mind. the importance of the attitude and all that. that is what the race on sunday has me thinking about right now. on my 4 hour drive home sunday i found myself wishing you could go to the bikeshop and buy a good race attitude. you would find it between the water bottles and training magazines/books. you could take it like a gel or chew it like energy chews. within 15 minutes you would feel like you could overtake any obstacle be it course related, weather, other riders... anything would be under the power of you attitudinal outlook. if i would have has this attitude gel on sunday at the Maplelag race i would have put it in my back jersey pocket before starting. i started the race feeling good. i started about third row because it is a stage race and quite a few guys got called up before me because they had been there for the two stage events the day before (a time trial and a crit). i was next to Paul C at the "go!!" and i kept him in site in hopes of worki...

so i went to a bike race that pitted WI riders vs. MN riders. does it get any better than that? forces were against everything happening pretty and perfect as usual. it had been rainy days approaching race day. once again my body threw a monkey wrench in and work is by no means a bowl of cherries or even a can of peaches. i have done a few of these races now and one thing that stands out is that there will almost always be something to overcome. circumstances will not be perfect and the wind will not always be at my back but if i keep going, keep trying, the wind will shift, the trail will turn, or the hill will crest and the view will make it worth the climb. i went to the race in River Falls, WI prepared for a mud fest but also hopeful for the sun to come out. the sun did come out and it was a beautiful day. B and the boys were at the race for the first time in a few races. W had been telling me to "go fast daddy" all week while twirling his little arm around and standing i...

Elk River Single Track Attack! new race this year. awesome race. got called up to see no JC. others said he went up to comp. saw him after the race and the rumor is true. i had kinda suspected it was when i saw him in the woods cheering the rest of us on. saw that he still won his comp division by 3.5 minutes and got 2nd overall. it was fun trying to catch him in previous races. maybe we will be in the same category again sometime. took off on go. went down a flat, gravel road for 1/2 mile or so. felt like i was cooking pretty well and looked at the computer to see 28mph! could not believe that. was curious after the race and i had apparantly hit 29.3 at some point on that road. wish i would have known. i would have tried to hit 30 for the heck of it. started to feel like the heart was redline or worse so i backed down to 24 or 25. JS came up on my right and went into the singletrack first. went by him on the first double track. there were good passing spots for quite a while. single t...

ohhhh Red Wing. i had been looking forward to you since last year. no other course like you. the Whoop De Doos that feel like riding a half-pipe, the wild, technical ride down into the quarry that looks like a set from Lord of the Rings, the up-hill switchbacks out of the quarry, and the way you tried to kill me on Stairway to Heaven. did you think i forgot about all that?? i had a big portion of my learning curve on this course last year. some good lessons were learned and i have been looking forward to applying them to my teacher. i thought i was going to get a call up and help my shot at being first to the single track. the call up didn't happen or i didn't hear it. i was starting from pretty far back again. on go i tried to work my way up to the front. it is a pretty long way until the single track and i was able to get to the single track first. guys were right behind me and i had a good feeling at least 2 of them were on the podium with me the week before in Eau Claire (t...

like many others i love this race. this course feels like a roller coaster. much of the time you are getting enough momentum on the downhill to carry you up a good size uphill. very fun feeling. took off on the back of a big wave (B later called me out for a weak attempt to get to the front. went down a very dusty service road. the most dust i have ever seen. couldn't see more than a few guys in front of me. pushed pretty hard to try to get up front before the single track. passed quite a few and got up toward the top. went into the single track in a group with a pretty good pace. had a lot of fun in there but i wasn't real smooth. a little distracted so i couldn't see the best lines or ride them if i did see them. the B and i had a little mix up before the race about something silly and i still had it on my mind. the old marriage saying goes, "don't go to bed angry". that's good advice and i'm adding the new saying that goes, "don't go to the...

we showed up a little later than planned. got there in time to get my packet, change and ride for about a mile to warm up. i was feeling better to see that the climb up was dramatically less than Mont Du Lac. weather was great again. upper 70's and very breezy. started in the 2nd wave. went off the start line for a short sprint to the switchbacks uphill. 4th race of the year so i knew who to try to stay with. got into second going up the hill and tried to stay with JC in 1st. my legs felt the lack of a real warm-up here. he started to move away towards the top and really took off in the single-track woods at the top. remembering afton and mont du lac i went after him but he was out of sight. came out to a little opening and then back into single-track that wasn't very pass friendy. came across a group of 5 or 6 from the first wave and thought for sure JC in 1st would have got caught and slowed up in that group...he wasn't there. couldn't believe my eyes. he must be flyi...