Sunday, June 24, 2012

CHEQ100/ BottlerOpener 150

If you race a bike, you have an idea in your head what you'd put on for a race. Right. Well, CHEQ100 and what the Salsa Crew put on is about as close to what I'd do as you can get. No hype or glitz, epic, free, it's not about the prize money/ swag/ or notoriety, but it is all about the ride = memorable.

How many other 3 time CHEQ100 (mile) finishers we got? At a certain point when race mode went to just finish mode, that became my motivator. 

Pro/ Con-
Pro- Farm Team hospitality, Con- No Goat.
Pro- Arrive to race at 5:30AM, time to spare, Con- all that riddle time, and front tire still low on the line, over inflate.
Pro- 5th in the woods to Wall Street, Con- didn't get to see if Lalonde followed me.
Pro- Riding with Triflow and RedSqrl, Con- lost them thanks to an early on mud free chain suck.
Pro- Did Jacks skip log skinny in Namekogan, Con- didn't know the witness.
Pro- No complications with an OTB or later major chain suck stoppage, Con- losing sight of top 10.
Pro- Did my rock fling in Hildebrant, Con- the witness saw me go off trail 30' later.
Pro- New trail leading to Esker, Con- couldn't find my way back if I wanted too.
Pro- Rain at hour 3, Con- no cons, drive train was already worn out.
Pro- Trying to give Red Squrl a pep talk at the turn back point, Con- he can explain.
Pro- Racing with Hogland for an hour plus strong ride, Con- he can explain.
Pro- Makwa trail to the check point after lubing chain, fun mudding, Con- none.
Pro- Check point, had a picnic, cleaned and relubed bike, thanks for assistance B Witt, Con- a few came in and went while I was eating my sandwich and circling.
Pro- Riding with McFadden, chatting about Team Metric/ old times after check point, Con- didn't last long. 
Pro- Birkie at hour 6 in the rain/ wet, Con- none if you get your kicks from pure misery. 
Pro- Chain lube reapplication, Con- swatting them black flies waiting to be caught in the wide open Birkie.
Pro- New Makwa north of OO, Con- adductors starting to cramp, must climb out of saddle, odd.
Pro- Ran into Cuyuna Nick and FarmTeam Carl doing maintenance on the side of the road, Con- Nick is a talker, my brain synapses were not firing, complete mongo is all I could muster.
Pro- Ojibwa loop sends me into Ricoh circles, "am I still on trail?", Con- lost my top 10 again.
Pro- Finished head up no drool under 9 hours, Con- "Jack left? It was because I wasn't top 10 wasn't it... "

Never have I valued chain lube this much in the mud.
Bonus- hanging in my wet stank lacra for an hour plus among cleaned up short race and fast guy folk while attempting to regain faculties.... Ricoh Suave. Thanks for the ride back to Lakewoods Little Dave. No point for me. But I am the President.  

Bottle opener 150??? Get this, random placement of bottle opener after day of bikes, 150 miles later arrive at Behind Bars, Park Tool Bottle Opener still on top of jeep.

Ha. 







Monday, June 18, 2012

4 Days of Lumpin'

If you ever done manual warehouse labor, you know the term 'lumpin'.

My new brick. +8

The last 4 days were flashbacks to my youth. To the day when I was a slinging pallets of fresh food from semi trailers for cash, lumpin. Back then it was 'strong back/ weak mind'. In my youth when it came to work I did not slow down, would not retreat, gimp/ bruise/ or tweek like thesedays.

Also realized over the 4 days of non bike, my work ethic is very similar to the way I ride a bike. Straight ahead, don't avoid the obsticles, don't always conquer, but attempt nontheless.

CHEQ100 on the brain. Prep, wired up my $14 cyclecomputer + magnet. Last year never looked at it, 2 years ago was glued to it... I would prefer the later/ no course markings. Make the point and shoot types earn it.

Note- Back in my lumpin days I would ride on Sunday, the day after the effort. These days I fear it will be a 100 miles, go to bed, then getup slow, go home, cheated. Nevertheless, it will be good hanging with the FarmTeam, oldguy's/ we all aging the same, cept the Goat. Ageless.

Got this song stuck in my head while lumpin...



Wednesday, June 13, 2012

N Iowa sunrise over MN

Gettin my 24 Hour Team practise on... Out of bed and on a bike in 40 min...
Sunrise with the livestock. I prefer angus, but holstein steers make good feeder cattle.
Been dreaming on this day... Commute to work. No bike culture bags or trendy hippster gear, just me in LCR lacra race mode sprinting 22 miles across gravel, ditch, black top, and "there ain't no trespass sign/ go for it" to be in a collared shirt at a safety meeting by 7AM.

24 Hour Team??? My fact says I picked Jack, he picked Jim, now Jim must pick the 4th wheel. Alternative, I have no team. ha

The way home will include more ditch and non-road stuff. I have a few loops to get too and fro.

CHEQ100, finish, whos giving me a ride back to Lakewoods? Ya I know, get the point, ride it.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Found/ Sanctuary!!!

The benefits of moving. Once lost, now found...
My facts say Jack was Farm King on this year. I kept that sock match, knew it'd show up one day.


OG's still rock out. Song aids in moving boxes quickly. 



Thanks again to QPete for the strong back/ weak mind effort. 

note- Cheq100 (miles) on the brain.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Trailwork/ Recon

These days this is the sort of trailwork that I partake in...

Ride it.

Follow the cairn's into the weeds... LCR style.

LCR Corner Entrance
LCR Corner Exit

Recon for a loop. The Puzzle for the most part is complete... Now must decode the details (I do know this, target Mar 23rd)... Earlier is better, only option is to ride gravel when the singletrack is closed. Misery loves company... 

A good spot in the middle of nowhere. No cover, just you and the wind.

Still packing for N Iowa. Came across this shirt. Cherry Bomb 2000 or 2001? Bought this same shirt for Jack that day. He started his pattern on that day, decided to skip the race. But kept that shirt til it wore out. I'll give him this one...



Not sure if this Cherry Bomb was where I started my no-DNF streak (9-10 years)? Flatted, airless... Habs offered, but wouldn't break the rules... I learned the hard way. Walk out.

I'd like to make the SPH MN series race in Red Wing... Not sure I can pull it off, will be my first day as a resident of N Iowa.

Until then, I will vote tonight. My parting sayonara behind the cheddar curtain.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Buck 4-1= 3

Sprechen sie deutsch???

You get it???
Whatdoyoumean?

Weeknight racing, for those that know, you know sometimes the biggest challange is just getting to that sand hill intact... This week have multiple things pokin at me. And the little guy in the back of the head saying "you stupid you got too many other more important things to do then ride a bike..."

Heath had a good pointer once not too long ago, said something to the effect "problems. go do something else or stop whinin" ha, that resinates. RS is a magician, not magic, magician.

Buck 3, on the day attempted to back off on the coffee, partial success... Perfect weather to ride a bike as hard as you can... Got to the lot late thanks to extended work non-fun. Jim was already done taking his nap...

Ride/ race recap-

  • Warm up lap, lactic leg pressure still present from last weekend death marches, backwards course- gotta love the backwards!, dehydrated- still too much coffee. 
  • Late to line, snuggle up mid pack next to my Sis. Look across to see Jim ready for the point claim- can Jim beat me off the line with a bad knee... Richy got in on it too.
  • Off start- mild spin outs and chaos, find path of least resistance, see the ugly's of blue and yellow ahead, dang it got double pointed- both Richy and Jim get me off the line. Got one point back when I reeled in an Ed Guy Johnson who was all smiles on the front row (informed he best maintain or lose point).
  • Lap 1- Hanging with the Hulk, we were slowed up a bunch but never did the "I'm a fast guy out of my way" banter... 
  • Lap 2- Hanging with the Hulk, found our spots, moved up a few.
  • Lap 3- Hanging with the Hulk, found a Heath pushin his bike back up the tar path... What?
  • Lap 4- Dropped by the Hulk, trying to shake off the cobwebs, cheering on the Rec's attempting to no be the "I'm a fast guy out of my way" thing.. Finish swatting at the cobwebs... Hat off to my Bro for kickin it down!

Sum up- do what you got to do during the day, have fun on the sand hill at night. Give what you got, and don't let the "I'm a fast guy out of my way" keep you down, elbows wide, make em earn it. Case in point LCR Marx, kick back Brother. Crazy Civil Eng Joel, keep doing 4 laps!

Jim can't use this, but I can...

German marketing... ha.
Wonder if that German bike mechanic would have beat Jack in the Cloud town beard contest?

N Iowa in 2 weeks... Bikes and bike parts boxed up and scattered... Let's hope I don't need that one RD hanger for a while. 

Weekend of packing/ bike rides (no race)/ Madeline dance recital (partay!!!)...