Oh hill...

It has been decided, because much whining from some teams, that the race Sean and I were going to piggy back our race on the 14th on will not happen. So I designed my own course, and hey it still has some gravel. Here is the course profile.

This course is going to be very hard. Each lap is 8.77 miles and has 715 feet of climbing. A will be doing 6 laps. Do the math...
After the race there will also be a TTT on nearly as hilly of a course. People will be hurting a lot.

Because of this new course I decided I needed to work on my climbing today. So for the first time in way to long I went out and did hill repeats. One hill was right around 3 minutes long. I did that one 4 times. Then a short steep hill once. Then an 8 min 30 sec hill thrice. The last 8 min hill was by far the best. I was able to drop 14 seconds from the 2nd time up that hill even with dropping my chain. Maybe just maybe I can climb again. After that I cruised all the way to downtown Duluth and did the fabled Lake Ave. Climb. Very steep and slow, but I felt strong going up. Even with all the climbing I did today I was still 200 feet short of what the race will be...

Hopefully the weather will not be crappy like it is supposed to tomorrow, then I can do a nice long ride.

Also I need to sell my current sunglasses, they are in great shape with multiple lenses. E-mail me if you are interested. And I might as well add I have a large craft ski/bike jacket I need to sell as well. Quite nice.

The grass is green in Kansas

Its Monday of Spring Break, after a good weekend of racing. I am happy.
The weekend was pretty good, a few problems, but other than that all went well...

Saturday.
Started the season of with a 50 mile road race. The weather was warm and very windy, good thing it was windy all last week. Got some good practice in. Anyway, it was my first A road race in the collegiate field. We started pretty slow, so I went up front and tried to bring the pace up. It worked a little. The first lap was pretty uneventful for me, however Brandon unfortunately got a double flat and did not realize it was a double until after the wheel car drove away. So Finn and I were the only ones left for Olaf in the race. Sometime right near the end of the first lap, a group of 11 of us just kinda rolled off the front, I could not tell you how or when. I just remember looking back right after completing a lap and seeing a big gap. From there the racing got a bit harder, somehow the course felt like it was 80% into the wind, probably just because it was so strong. About half the break was working, the other half just chillin, sometime on the third lap we dropped 4 guys, again when and how I don't know. Then on the 4th lap another guy dropped off, it was down to 6 in the break. Right near the end of the 4th lap on a hill my legs tighten up a bunch, never good. I managed to rest a bit and made the rest of that lap. About halfway through the last lap going up a hill into the wind my legs just cramped up real bad. There was nothing I could do except watch the 5 guys roll away from me. I lost a good 20 seconds on that, and had to pull myself the rest of the way in. I somehow managed to keep the gap at near 30 seconds (so Im told). It kinda makes me mad, because had I not cramped up I coulda been right there. I know why I cramped though, so I can fix it in the future. Overall it was a good first race, I was very surprised at how strong I was riding until I cramped...And hey I still finished 6th

TTT (Saturday).
After the race I had about a hour to recover before the TTT. Which was 5 miles into the wind and 5 back. My only goal for the TTT was to have my team beat Sean's. The team ended up being Finn, Peter, Kyle, and I. I kept the pace fairly low at first, but the wind made it hard to properly pace, and eventually we were going super hard. Finn was feeling the A race so he dropped out and headed home. That meant that the rest of us had to stay together, since time is taken from the third man. We were making great time, until we came to a large uphill which slowed us way down. Peter was especially hurting, but we managed to pull him to the top and soon the turn around. Once there it was fast. We hit 82 km/h on the big downhill going home with the wind. A short time later we were back. We nearly caught the team in front of us (2 min head start). But not quite. Overall it was pretty good, lots of work, but not bad. Under 27 minutes for the 10 mile course with that wind is not half bad. We beat Carleton by nearly 2 minutes, and got fourth overall. Only 20 seconds down on 3rd, a minute or just under on 2, and 1.5 on 1st. Not to shabby, I think we can go faster too.

Sunday.
A 45 min. crit, really short...Again really windy
Started with an immediate attack, which did not get very far. After a 10 minutes the pace was high and an attack was made by a UofM guy. He was not being chased hard enough, so I went out to get him, I ended up bringing 3 guys with. Which included Sean. Soon we caught the breaker, and started working together, getting a bigger gap. At some point the main field splintered as the strong pulled away. The group was working fairly well together, and we just kept rotating through the line, one lap happened to be a prem, and I happened to be in front for that, so I got some points there. Soon after that the same U guy attacked again and got away, he was quite strong yesterday. The rest of us kept on rotating, at one point 2 guys bridged up to us, which helped out a lot. Somehow I just kept happening to be on the right near the front for the prems which got me quite a few points. Lucky! All too soon it was time was the last lap. and of course as finished usually go for me, I end up leading out everyone. It was especially bad yesterday because the last half lap was into the strong wind. But of course everyone sprinted around me and I came across the line in 7th. But with all the points I got, I think I did pretty well over all. I have not found results yet.

After the races we got on 35 and went north. After a quick stop in Northfield, I kept going north. Drove from the south borded of Missouri to Duluth on the same road, ha.

Chillin in the break

All done

Start of the TTT

Breakin it up from the front.

Finn
(I dont know why pictures go like this..)
Kyle
Peter

Insta-spring

As you should all know, today (Wednesday) is the first day of spring. Nature decided that it actually was today as well. The temp recently has been right around 40, but today I saw as high as 57. Not only was it warm, but it was also misting. It was warm enough that the snow that was left was steaming, it was quite cool to see.
The last two days I have gone pretty hard, yesterday was really really windy which was part of the reason I went hard yesterday. So today I just went an easy 2 hours and just enjoyed the warmness.
For break it turns out that no one wants to go to Wyoming and bike in the mountains with me, and I don't want to drive that far by myself. So it looks like I'll be biking in the Arctic (Duluth).
But this weekend the racing season starts, wahoo!

You may have noticed

the name change. I did that because I felt it was a bit more fitting. Since I am usually babbling about athletic endeavors, I decided the title might as well show that. After all, its not all about the bike, just mostly...
Yesterday was a perfect example of the new title. We had a massive turnout of 8 people, and a 25 mph northwest wind. We took the first 10 miles pretty easy, then Brandon decided to do an interval and I joined him. I sat on for the downhill then moved up at which point he said in a condescending tone that intervals are not for drafting, of course it depends on what type of interval you are doing. So I just moved over and kept pace into the wind. I was good to go hard again. After that we waited until everyone caught up. Soon enough it was time to go with the wind. Brandon again took off and I went and caught up to him. He said some negative words (which he later apologized for, which is good), but anyway we traded off pulling this time and we flew. I went up a pretty large hill in top gear, top! I bet we never dropped below 30. After that we slowed up, waited. Once everyone else caught up Mark decided he wanted to blow some steam off, so I just followed him taking a pull now and then. A few minutes later he sat up and I did too, Brandon kept going which I did not really care about. A minute or two later I realized the town line was fast approaching, and picked it back up. I brought the gap down a bit at first, but then after that it remained exactly the same for the entire 2 miles to the town sign. Which I guess is not to bad.
At this point everyone except me went back to campus. I kept going to get in another 40 minutes. I went over to a crit course I made up freshman year. I did that hard times, it burned. My pedaling had felt a bit off all day, So at this point I raised my seat about 5mm. It made a huge difference and my pedaling felt much better. Hopefully it will make a difference in speed too.
Overall a good ride, with lots of burning. Racing is here!
Also Sean and I were told we were hosting a race on April 14th. We were going to do the Sogn course as usual around here, but that would be expensive and lots of work for us. So we are going piggy back on the Oxbow race near Rochester. Only 3 miles of the course are on pavement, the rest gravel. I am pumped, some are not. We are also hosting a TTT, that on the other hand will all be on pavement...

You may have noticed

the name change. I did that because I felt it was a bit more fitting. Since I am usually babbling about athletic endeavors, I decided the title might as well show that. After all, its not all about the bike, just mostly...
Yesterday was a perfect example of the new title. We had a massive turnout of 8 people, and a 25 mph northwest wind. We took the first 10 miles pretty easy, then Brandon decided to do an interval and I joined him. I sat on for the downhill then moved up at which point he said in a condescending tone that intervals are not for drafting, of course it depends on what type of interval you are doing. So I just moved over and kept pace into the wind. I was good to go hard again. After that we waited until everyone caught up. Soon enough it was time to go with the wind. Brandon again took off and I went and caught up to him. He said some negative words (which he later apologized for, which is good), but anyway we traded off pulling this time and we flew. I went up a pretty large hill in top gear, top! I bet we never dropped below 30. After that we slowed up, waited. Once everyone else caught up Mark decided he wanted to blow some steam off, so I just followed him taking a pull now and then. A few minutes later he sat up and I did too, Brandon kept going which I did not really care about. A minute or two later I realized the town line was fast approaching, and picked it back up. I brought the gap down a bit at first, but then after that it remained exactly the same for the entire 2 miles to the town sign. Which I guess is not to bad.
At this point everyone except me went back to campus. I kept going to get in another 40 minutes. I went over to a crit course I made up freshman year. I did that hard times, it burned. My pedaling had felt a bit off all day, So at this point I raised my seat about 5mm. It made a huge difference and my pedaling felt much better. Hopefully it will make a difference in speed too.
Overall a good ride, with lots of burning. Racing is here!
Also Sean and I were told we were hosting a race on April 14th. We were going to do the Sogn course as usual around here, but that would be expensive and lots of work for us. So we are going piggy back on the Oxbow race near Rochester. Only 3 miles of the course are on pavement, the rest gravel. I am pumped, some are not. We are also hosting a TTT, that on the other hand will all be on pavement...

A good week,

for training at least.
Monday a nice two hours.
Tuesday 5 hours
wednesday 90
thurs, 2.5
friday 2
today 5.5
Today was by far the nicest. Finn Krueger and I started with the townies, who rode until cannon falls with us (20 some miles). After that we the three of us continued on to Red Wing, we were going to ride up the big hill there. But that was totally covered in snow, so it did not work out. After that we cruised back by way of Sogn. The weather was really quite nice, a bit cold (no warmer than 40), but almost no wind at all.
Anyways all in all it was nice, I am a bit tired, but not too bad. This week has been long and mildly hard. Tomorrow I will be doing 1 hr 23 minutes. I will then have 20 hours on the bike this week.
The rest of the time tomorrow is going to be spent with homework. Lucky me...

It's all over

the ski season that is. The relay did not go quite as planned. It was about 6 or so km, 2 legs classic one skate. The weather was not nice to us, and it snowed, and snowed. By the time our race started there was a good 2 inches (in about 2 hours). We tested lots of kick wax, and put on the glide wax that should have been right. All I have to say is the skis had good kick, when it had been perfect the 10 minutes before.
Anyways, the race was off, Jim started for us. about 20 min later he came into the stadium down about 2 minutes from the leader, who had really good skis. The tag off to me was done and I went out hard and picked it up. On the backside of the course (about 4.5 km) which is all uphill I had destroyed the lead of the first place team. I was not more than 15 seconds back, but alas, the downhill was to come. In the km of downhill the kid put 45 seconds on me. I have no idea how it was so much. But I was unhappy. Eventually I made it to the line and tagged Nels who went out on really really slow skate skis.
The wax we used was crap, it must have been old since it was exactly the right wax (labeled) but it just plain sucked in real life. But what can ya do. Anyways we ended up finishing 4th because of the skis.
After the races we had the awards banquet, there was good ribs, chicken, corn, and the works there. I ate a whole lot, partly because it was good, and partly because I was planning ahead. Planning ahead because I figured that I would not eat anything from that point until at least breakfast, maybe later. That plan worked out great, from dinner which finished about 8 last night until 2 this afternoon I ate only half an apple. I had no food, and no money with which to buy food. I have no idea how I was functioning this morning. I am actually still baffled as to how I am now...
Anyways after the banquet we socialized with the other nordic teams until the early hours of the morning. It just so happened that it was daylight savings time, which made going to sleep useless since we had to leave Winter Park for Denver at 4 A.M. We also got lucky because it kept on snowing, and we had to go over a mountain pass, with switchbacks and steep roads and all. It was really cool, but yet really spooky at the same time. I sat shotgun and kept Jens company the whole time, so no sleep in the car, and only a bit on the plane. So if my writing is not very clear, that is the reason, I have been up for 35 or the last 36 hours. Then I had to come back to school and use my brain. Blah.
But it was a good week. In the end I finished 4th overall, with Nels 1 point behind me in 5th. Out of the top 5, 4 hail from MN. Out of those 4, 2 are from Duluth. Pretty funny...
Anyways, here are a few photos I did not get many on my camera, I am sure Ill put more up eventually, but it might be a few days...

Snow in the mountains.

Plate of carcasses

Oh yeah, It is now bike season!

A bit more

On Thursday we had a rest day, it was quite nice. We tested kick wax a lot, but since it was snowing whatever we tested was not going to be great for today (because of the sun). But at least we laid out some wax that might work.
Today was the classic race, of 8.5 (or supposed to be) km. Somehow I was the first starter, which is never and advantage, much better to start about 1/4 of the way back or so. We had decent kick wax, but I made some tactical errors. I went out way to hard, by the time that I got to the backside of the hill I was getting tired. I just pushed it as hard as I could to the line, at which I was really quite tired. At the end of the race (after all were done), I was 5th overall. I also had the fastest half way split, but its the end that matters...

Tomorrow is the relay, then early Sunday we go back to Olaf. I really would enjoy staying out here a bit longer, but alas school calls. And on a better note the bike!
Back to skiing, overall this week I finished 4th, which is pretty good. I am pleased. I beat Nels by 1 point. wahoo!

The podium

By Winter Park

Right outside our lodge.

Snow in the mountains.

Klister and powder don't mix.

Colorado

is really really nice. The weather has been amazing, 45-50 and sunny. Big mountains all around, the only bad thing so far is the fact that we are racing at 8,720 feet. A good 8000 feet higher than Olaf. Needless to say I can feel the altitude quite handily. Although I feel a lot better than I thought I was going to. Anyways, on to the races...
Sprint (super long)
A normal sprint course takes about 3 minutes, about 1 km or so. The sprint yesterday took me 5:26 for my fastest time. A very long sprint, I'd reckon just under 2 km. It was a fun course. You go up for half the race, then down a super turny hill, then onto a long slightly uphill finish. That is the part that hurts the most. I qualified in 3rd (out of 53), so I was quite happy. The top 10 went to heats, where the finals were decided. I managed to make it to the finals which guaranteed me a 4th place. Which I did end up using this auto 4th. The other guys in the heat took off at the end, and with only 3 lanes for the finish I just cruised into the finish. Out of the final 4, 3 were from MN, and 2 from Duluth (Bjorn Bakken and I). I found this quite entertaining.
15 km (skate)
The race today was a mass start. Those are usually pretty stressful and one must be really aggressive to get a good position. It is a lot like biking. I really enjoy pushing people around, so I got a good spot. The first lap was great, skis were fast, body was working well. Then for some reason right as the second lap was starting, I started to die. I think it was partly because I got tired, and also my skis got really slow, but what can you do. I just pushed through the pain and managed to stay 10th until the finish stretch where I put 40 meters on a kid in the last 200. All told I finished 9th.
Other Olaf kids are doing decent.
Sprint: Shaina 2nd, Caroline 9th
15km: Caroline 5th, Jennie 8th
Sprint: Nels 9th
15km:Nels 8th

Tomorrow is a rest day. I cant wait...

Team pic

There is a lot of this at the finish.

Guys off on the first lap of the 15 km (im 5th or so)

The trees on the other side of the field are where the finish is.

something to write about.

Snow, snow, snow. It is pretty crazy. I have never seen this much snow down here. It has basically been snowing for a week now, really quite fun. A good reminder that winter comes and goes when it pleases. My only complaint is the plow drivers on campus. They suck at their job. Some sidewalks wont be plowed, and others will be wide enough to land a 747 on. Consistency would be nice, it would also look much prettier.
Sunday afternoon is the departure for Colorado. I'm pumped, another free airplane trip!
Today for skiing we just went about campus. as you will see in the photos below. We also went off some jumps. (For some stupid reason I cant rotate them right side up).

To Buntrock!

Off to class
Woosh
Big air
white is right