Afton

Photo by Skinnyski.com

Had a blast racing at Afton Alps last weekend. This was one of the first races I ever did when I moved to MN. I remember racing the jr. beginner (citizen) class at this race back in 1996, when I raced on a fully rigid, steel frame KHS.

I was feeling a little nostalgic and decided to race Afton this year on a fully rigid bike. 13 years after my debut into MNSCS (legacy Salsa Series), I boarded a bike that only vaguely resembled the bike I raced on that sunny June morning in 1996.

This year I have decided to switch back to a hardtail as my primary racing steed after 3 consecutive seasons racing on dual suspension Trek Top Fuels. With the larger 29" wheel setup, the bike rides seems to roll smoother over obstacles and helps compensate for not having ~ 3" of rear wheel suspension travel. In addition, I have an extra straight blade carbon fork that can replace the stock Fox RLC on courses where suspension isn't necessary. With the full rigid setup, the Gary Fisher Superfly tips the scales at 20.1 lbs with pedals, cages and GPS (19.9lbs w/o the GPS). This made for a superlight ascender at the Afton course. Although it was somewhat abusive on the longer descents to have no suspension, at the same time is was pretty fun trying to hang on. The fully rigid racing rocket on which I raced last Sunday was light years ahead of the ~30lb pig I drug up the hills with my scrawny 15 year old body in '96.

The race went about as expected. Afton has never been my favorite course for whatever reason. Even in years when I've been light (not this year) and had success at hilly courses, I've suffered at Afton. I have learned to be patient with this race: start nice and slow, get through the first lap or two and if I feel good, start hitting the accelerator. That is exactly what I did on Sunday. For the first few laps I was probably sitting in 15-20th place, not suffering at all. I actually wanted to be riding harder, but was having a difficult time getting myself to push it. Finally, in the middle of the 3rd lap, I got the snap back into my legs. I started picking off riders around me. First up was a Peace Coffee racer that had been riding about 15-20 seconds off my front wheel, then Heath, CJ Faulkner on Shady Lane, caught up to and followed a hard charging Devin Curran, who was really putting the hammer down on his SS. He and I had been playing cat and mouse the entire race, working our way towards the top 10 overall. Finally, I got to the base of the final climb up manhandler with plenty left in the tank. I put my bike in the middle ring and about 4 clicks down from the top and marched uphill past Devin and towards a rapidly fading Eric Oftedahl. On the bend going to the top of mandhandler, I passed EO and started preparing for my last descent into the start/finish area. 9th overall. Satisfied with the result and my fitness. Looking forward to Mt Dulac, which will be my last race as a single man.

Spring Cup

I finally have gotten around to updating this thing. I did my best to recall and recap the racing that has taken place thus far in the late winter and early spring below.

The Erik's Spring Cup this past Sunday had record turnout, likely due to the favorable weather, although the event seems to be getting bigger every year. This year attracted over 500 racers for the debut MNSCS event. Overall, the race was very well organized and run by volunteers from MORC and (I assume) paid "volunteers" from Erik's. At any rate, the event was top notch. The top riders from last year were called to the line first (not me) with the rest of us struggling to find a fast dude to start behind. I lined up directly behind Jesse and beside legendary bike racer, Scott Hebel.

(photos by Skinnyski.com)

After "GO" I dashed for the singletrack, entering in about 10th place or so. I was riding in a group with Hwood, Dave Meyer, Heath, Jay Richards and Andy S. for the whole first lap.

Coming into the finish chute on lap 2, I was able to get around Dave and Hwood, with Jay and Heath in front. Heath was pinning it pretty good, but I was fairly comfortable for the majority of the lap. It felt like there was a group in front of us that was slowly creeping away. At that point I really had no definative idea where I was sitting, but I knew I needed to get up front if possible.

Going into the 3rd lap, I gunned it through the start/finish chute, getting around Jay and Heath. I could hear someone right on my wheel, but didn't even want to look. I looked down at my garmin to see 25.5 mph. Just before the singletrack, Cam Kirkpatrick from Iowa pulled in front of me to hit the narrow trail first. Jay Richards was still on my wheel holding steady. We flew through the first section of singletrack at warp speed, the three of us sticking together fairly well. Once we exited out onto the prairie, it was clear that we had shed the group of riders we were with. About half way through the lap Cam got about a 4 or 5 second gap on me, that I just wasn't able to close. I was happy to see, however, that Jay and I were rapidly catching ex-pro rider and Chequamegon Champion, Scott Hebel. Unfortunately it looked like Scott had some sort of mechanical as he had pulled to the side of the trail just before Jay and I got to him. Somewhere in the middle of lap 3, my chest strap broke on my HRM (too fat) which was really annoying. You can see in the picture below that the thing was just kind of dangling inside by jersey & bibs.

Somewhere in the middle of lap 4, Sam Oftedahl latched on. He was riding smooth considering he had suffered a crash early in the race. Going into the 5th lap, Sam took the lead with Jay and I following. I took my first bottle on the last lap (thanks LCR), which set me back about 2 or 3 seconds behind Jay and Sam. I fought my way back to them in the singletrack, but was starting to feel pretty spent. Midway through the lap, Sam and Jay got about 5 seconds on me again. I felt pretty good, and wanted to wait until more singletrack to bridge back up. About 2 miles from the finish, I slid out in a corner, went down and dropped my chain. When I got back on my bike, it took a tremendous amount of effort to get all the way back up to race pace again. I rolled in 7th overall.

The race was an absolute blast. Can't wait for more!!!!!!!

By the way, Jack Hinkens put the hammer down again and got 2nd overall, with Brendan taking the win. I wonder how long it'll be until Jack wins one of these races.

Buck Hill #1

I was happy with last Thursdays race. 3rd place OA. Brendan put the hammer down on everyone. Jack chased him for the first lap, but fell off the pace a little after that. He still had a pretty big gap on me, Andy Sieben and Jesse.

Spring Racing

Racing this spring has been a lot of fun. I really haven't been doing any serious training this year, but I have been riding for fun quite a bit. I have also been trying to commute by bike whenever possible, which is about a 40 mile round trip, so that has helped with the fitness. I think I have done that at least a dozen times so far this year.

Since I haven't updated the blog in a while, I'll recap all the late winter/spring races:

In Mid-February, Rich Omdahl and the Elk River crew put on a winter race up at hillside park. From what I can remember the course was EXTREMELY icy. Luckily I was running a set of homemade studded tires that stuck to the trail like velcro. The tires had a ton of resistence, but provided perfect control. I jumped pretty hard at the start, got out in front, then maintained a nice steady tempo pace for the remainder of the race. This race was a great early season workout to help get some of the cobwebs out of the lungs. Super fun atmosphere afterwards too, with a big bonfire. After cooling down for a while, a few of us decided to time laps around a rally course that was plowed out of the snow banks. I crushed everyone in the rally-x (of course it was completely unfair - I was racing my all wheel drive subaru wrx against a mini van and a rear wheel drive truck).

(photos by Dana Schoppe)

After the "Coldbear Challenge" the Rich and the Elk River crew decided to throw a subsequent short notice race at Hillside, just before the heart of the bike racing season began. This last minute race attracted a relatively large group of racers, with about 35 in the advanced category. I really had no idea how I would feel, as I had not gone hard at all yet this year. After the start, I was in about 5th or 6th position going into the woods. There were familiar faces all around me during the first lap. Brendan and Sam were up front, but pulled away quickly. I believe Jay Richards was right up there too. I was right in the middle of a group consisting of fellow Nature Valley/Penn Cycle riders, Barry Tungseth and Jack Hinkens as well as Heath W and Andy Sieben. Heath was leading the charge for 1/2 of the first lap, then pulled aside with a lose brake lever. This gave me, Barry and Jack the opportunity to put the hammer down on the 2nd half of the lap. The three of us switched turns a few times at the front and eventually caught up to Jay. Our group of 4 was battling for 3rd place. However, anyone who has raced at Elk River knows -it is pretty tough to pass at any point on the trail. Jack attempted to get by us by opting for the expert section. He actually did get by me and Barry, but crashed right away after passing us. The race ended up coming down to a sprint for 3, with Jay taking 3rd, Barry, me and Jack taking 4th 5th and 6th, respectively. Fun race. Felt great. Felt like the fitness was better than expected. Jack is going to be really fast this year. Andy Sieben is also going to be really fast this year.

(photos by Dana Schoppe)

Jogging: I think its' a soft "J" Basically you just run.

I ran tonight. One foot in front of the other. It wasn't miserable but not super fun either. The exercise felt good but the speed was too slow.......that must be why I'm a biker and not a runner.













Watched nitro circus last night and I think it's my new favorite show. Sure wish I could do a 75 ft back flip on a big wheel. Pastrana definately has a pair.

Talked JJ into getting a 'Fly. He ordered it today. Looks like a bunch of the trail pickles are going to be rollin' the big wheels this year.

early spring?

45ish miles today out on the single in about 3.5 hrs. The 32X18 (29er) had me spinnin' in the 100-120 range much of the time. Could've used a 14 or 15T. Between Guse, JJ, Hinkens & I there were 7 pretty nasty crashes. Tons of boiler plate ice on the MRT trail that sent us sliding into the snowbanks or crashing and sliding for tens of feet. I slid into Jack at one point sending him flying into a pile of snow head first. Would've felt bad if he was hurt since he's heading to the state high school XC ski race this week. The dude is one of the top skiers in his section and it's just his first year of racing. People had better watch out for the kid this summer at the mountain bike races. I'm pretty sure he's going to be puttin' the hammer down.

Yea, I jumped on the bandwagon and got one of these:

Theo Wirth

Theo Wirth was the shit tonight. JJ and I rode down there from my house, met up with the GOAT and a few others and pounded out 3 laps. It was about the best I've seen it in the winter. Didn't have studded tires, but they would have been kinda nice - a little icy in spots. I was riding in front of a guy, I think Verlon was his name, who timed a lap. He finished in about 16 flat. I'm guessing mine was about 15 or a little under and I wasn't pushing it too hard until the very end. I'm guessing a 13 something lap could have been done tonight. In the summer I can do 'em in the low 12s.

I'm hoping Laura and the pup come out to a bunch of races this summer. She recently purchased a new camera and has been taking some great pix. She promised that she's going to come shoot at a bunch of races this year. Hopefully her and Dana, who is going to be shooting our wedding this summer, can hook up and shoot together. Dana knows how to get it done behind the lens.

You can't have a blog post w/o a photo, so her you go:

Laura & I out in Yellowstone in the summer of 2006, 2 days before getting my ass kicked at the Deer Valley Norba National, semi-pro race (this is a bike blog afterall, so I had to make is somewhat bike related, right?)

What it is, Yo!

I rode my single to penn tonight. I'm overhauling my '07 trek fuel 9.9, so I worked on that for a little while. I'm getting it ready to sell, so if you know anyone who wants it, let me know -$2200. If you're reading this, you probably know what it looks like. Let me know if you need a picture. The frame on the fuel is brand new.

On the way home from Penn, I couldn't resist the urge to hit Theo for a few laps. The trail was very fast. Pretty close to the same as riding it in the summer. Got in a good 2 hours total. Oh and I ate shit pretty hard when I was riding to Penn. I was cruising along on Cedar Lake Trail when I hit a patch of ice and lost my bike out from under me. Ripped a huge hole in my tights. Dang.

Couple of pix:
Ice Race













Tommer // Chuck Norrie // HWood














My Pup Riley at the cabin

This was fun

HWood had the lead for the whole race until flatting at the end. Chuck Norrie and I had some good battles throughout. Some folks probably thought I was mad about getting blocked out by Chuck on the last lap. I wasn't. It was good racing and I couldn't get around him w/o totally knocking him over. The race was well run by the Penn folks.