Getting faster, slowly...

The weekend started off with the long haul from Duluth to Darwin, home of the worlds largest Twine ball.
The race changed from last year, the large hill was eliminated to my disappointment, but I managed to cope with the loss for I received a wonderful gain. We (the Specialized team) got our skin suits Saturday. New things usually make me happy. The only issue I had with it is that since it is designed for cross it is a bit thicker, and for some odd reason it was 80 deg. But that problem should be remedied very soon, and then I will be very happy for the thinker suit. Anyhow, thanks to Mr. Hartney and Specialized for that.

On to the race... As it has been established it was hot. Not that I mind to much, just a change from the 42 and rain in Duluth.
The evening before I had the inkling of a sore throat, which I promptly tried to ignore, but one never knows how much that affects your performance. The race was off nonetheless and I did not feel like crap right way. The race spread out quick due to the single track and I was positioned well, until the barriers where I dropped my chain. After that I rode with Mr. Roy, Mr. Thorlson, and Mr. Anderson. There were a few attacks, a fair amount of hurt, some stayed away, some did not. In the end Mr. T got away, Mr. Roy got around before the last corner, and a bit before that Mr. Anderson got tired.
I know I can still go faster, lots faster, I just gotta figure out how.

Stolen from Linda

Sunday was a late start, luckily. I got some good sleep and felt a bit better in the morning. And luckily I had lots of time to find the race, not being that familiar with the Cities I don't know what some of the things on the directions mean. Anyhow the course was, surprisingly, the most single track yet this year. Good thing I have been training on it a fair amount. Starting position was very important, and I played it right and was right up there. Things were going pretty well for most of the race. Then not to my surprise, on the the bumpy downhill my chain popped off and the group that had just formed around me got away. I managed to chase down 1 guy by the end, but there went 3 places. Other than that things went well.
On the chain note, I spent a few hours dinking with it, and hopefully it works now.

Morgan and Matt (Olaf friends) showed up and took some photos.

Racing all over

No not geographically...
Saturdays race went like crap. Perhaps due to a late night with various activities and sleeping on a floor with no pad, or maybe I am just plain slow this year. I have not figured it out yet.
As I mentioned, crap. Not at any time during the race did I feel good, right from the start things did not feel right. My legs just did not want to turn over, my lungs and cardio never really felt like they were working. Just zero power.
I was not too impressed with the course, it was not bad, just not my kinda course, but the dirt jumps were lots of fun!

Saturday night I attended Ben Witts wedding, congratulations. I left early due to exhaustion, then rolled on over to Northfield and hung out with Daniel and Linda, and retired early to bed. Thanks to them for the use of a bed.

Sunday was off to Hudson.
As usual it was half single track, which I did not mind for the first time, and lots of mud. I felt much better then Saturday and things were going decently (besides being slow because I can't ride technically still). Any time lost on the trails I could gain no prob. on the beach run. I could close a gap of 20 meters no problem in the 100 meter run. Then I dropped my chain, then dropped it again. That cost me a few places needless to say...
Better luck next weekend.

Normally if I were racing this slow I would probably just wanna hang it up. But I am racing so up and down (see St. Cloud, Duluth, and these results) that I don't wanna be done yet. I know the speed is in me somewhere, I just have to figure out how to coax it out...

Race Results

Thanks to all who came up for the weekend. Hope you all had a good race.
Pictures will hopefully be found soon.

Bikes and Lights
Cat 1/2, and 35 +
Place Overall	Category Place	Category	Name	Team
1	1	1/2	Aric Hareland	Synergy
2	2	1/2	Ezra Taylor	Kenwood
3	3	1/2	Kyle Fry	Cycle Solutions
4	1	35+	John Struchynski	Great Plains
5	4	1/2	Jake Boyce	Specialized
6	2	35+	CJ Faulkner	Crossniacs
7	5	1/2	Harry Anderson	Specialized
8	3	35+	Jay Henderson	Hollywood
9	6	1/2	Kent Throlson	LSC
10	4	35+	Jared Roy	Crossniacs
11	7	1/2	Rick Laliberte	Great Plains
12	8	1/2	Lance Benning	Grandstay
13	5	35+	Matt Stein	Hollywood
14	6	35+	Scott Hale	Crossniacs
Cat 3, 45+, women open
Place Overall	Category Place	Category	Name	Team
1	1	3	Joshua Tesch	u/a
2	2	3	Paul Belknap	Bay City Cycles
3	1	45+	Robert Douglas	Ridley
4	3	3	Dace Schuneman	Peace Coffee
5	4	3	Shawn Gort	LSCC
6	5	3	Thomas Manderfeld	LSC
7	6	3	Mike Smith	Ridley
8	2	45+	Bill Kuster	LSC
9	7	3	Charlie Schad	House of Pizza
10	8	3	Eric Sundstrom	LSC
11	9	3	Rich Bergstrom	Gopher Wheelmen
12	10	3	Joe Schlechter	Ridley
13	11	3	Dan Cleary	LCS
14	12	3	Adam Bier	Velo Rochester
15	3	45+	Dean Gies	Ski Hut
16	4	45+	Rich Whitman	Ridley
17	1	WO	Margot Herman	Ridley
18	5	45+	Todd Trembley	Milltown Cycles
19	6	45+	Dave Langely	Team Beat
20	13	3	Mike Hall	LSCC
DNF	40
DNF	53
DNF	58
Cat 4 men/women, Jr. 10-14. 15-18
Place Overall	Category Place	Category	Name	Team
1	1	4	Mario Hernandez	Vlaam Scythes
2	1	Jr. 15-18	Conrad Roberts	Barraboo Sharks
3	2	4	Scott Nesvold	u/a
4	3	4	David Muecke	Birchwood
5	4	4	Zach Mohr	u/a
6	5	4	Nick Vetter	u/a
7	6	4	Jake Boening	u/a
8	7	4	Richard Dryer	Vlaam Scythes
9	1	Jr 10-14	Nils Bolberg	MnJRC
10	8	4	Taylor George	Crossniacs
11	9	4	Patrick Groupman	SPBRC
12	10	4	Jeff Colbeth	Big Ring Flyers
13	11	4	Nate Swanberg	Synergy
14	12	4	Randall Dietel	Vlaam Scythes
15	13	4	Steve Pippen	MCT
16	14	4	Matt Leizinger	Excel
17	15	4	Gustavo Barradas	u/a
18	16	4	Kurt Martinson	Crossniacs
19	17	4	Curt Cline	u/a
20	18	4	Dennis Liphart	u/a
21	19	4	Clay Kramer	MCT
22	20	4	Danieal Boyles	u/a
23	21	4	Matt Hill	Vlaam Scythes
24	22	4	Jim Redmond	Crossniacs
25	1	W4	Kris Brazil	Milltown Cycles
26	23	4	James Oliver	u/a
27	2	W4	Andrea Peabody-Smith	Big Ring Flyers
28	24	4	Quinn Williams	u/a
29	25	4	Paul Tocko	Synergy
30	26	4	Kenneth Smith	Gopher Wheelmen
31	2	Jr 10-14	Katie Liphart	u/a
Back to School CX
Cat 1/2, and 35 +
Place Overall	Category Place	Category	Name	Team
1	1	1/2	Kyle Fry	Cycle Solutions
2	2	1/2	Ezra Taylor	Kenwood
3	3	1/2	Micha Moran	Grandstay
4	4	1/2	Jake Boyce	Specialized
5	1	35+	Oliver Vrambout	Fahatik
6	2	35+	Jared Roy	Crossniacs
7	3	35+	John Struchynski	Great Plains
8	4	35+	CJ Faulkner	Crossniacs
9	5	35+	Jay Henderson	Hollywood
10	5	1/2	Kent Throlson	LSC
11	6	1/2	Harry Anderson	Specialized
12	7	1/2	Rick Laliberte	Great Plains
13	6	35+	Matt Stein	Hollywood
14	8	1/2	Josh Schwantes	Kenwood
15	9	1/2	Scott Houle	Crossniacs
DNF	8
Cat 3, 45+, women open
Place Overall	Category Place	Category	Name	Team
1	1	45+	Gregory Goblirsch	Ridley
2	1	3	Nikoli Anikin	Coninental
3	2	45+	Rob Douglass	Ridley
4	3	3	Peter Flanagan	FCCC
5	4	3	Shawn Gort	LSCC
6	5	3	Rich Bergstrom	Gopher Wheelmen
7	6	3	Kolyn Kirkham	Peace Coffee
8	7	3	Mike Smith	Ridley
9	8	3	Dan Cleary	LSC
10	9	3	Dave Schuneman	Peace Coffee
11	10	3	Paul Belknap	Bay City Cycles
12	11	3	Adam Birr	Velo Rochester
13	12	3	Joe Schlechter	Ridley
14	13	3	Samuel Meier	Synergy
15	14	3	William Kuster	LSC
16	3	45+	Rich Whitman	Ridley
17	4	45+	Mike Weispfennig	LSCC
18	15	3	Margot Herman	Ridley
19	1	W	Sara Morse	Ridley
20	2	W	Dave Langely	Team Beat
21	5	45+	Todd Termbly	Milltown Cycles
22	16	3	Mike Hall	LSCC
Cat 4 men/women, Jr. 10-14. 15-18
Place Overall	Category Place	Category	Name	Team
1	1	4	Mario Hernandez	Vlaam Scythes
2	1	Jr 15-18	Conrad Roberts	Baraboo Sharks
3	2	4	Scott Nesvold	u/a
4	3	4	Zach Mohr	u/a
5	4	4	Richard Deyer	Vlaam Scythes
6	5	4	Randall Dietel	Vlaam Scythes
7	6	4	Nate Swanberg	Crossniacs
8	7	4	Jeff Colbeth	Big Ring Flyers
9	8	4	Adam Hansen	LSCC
10	9	4	Matt Haggerty	u/a
11	20	4	Curt Cline	u/a
12	11	4	Graham Tolbert	u/a
13	12	4	Matt Liezinger	Excel
14	1	Jr. 10-14	Nils Bolberg	MnJRC
15	13	4	Jim Olives	u/a
16	14	4	Dan Boyles	u/a
17	15	4	Dennis Liphart	Bay City Cycles
18	16	4	Tim Morse	u/a
19	17	4	Sam Fehrenbach	u/a
20	1	W4	Kris Brazil	u/a
21	18	4	Quinn Williams	u/a
22	2	W4	Jean Peabody-Smith	Big Ring Flyers
23	19	4	Peder Morse	u/a
24	20	4	Boh Houle	u/a
25	2	Jr 10-14	Katie Liphart	u/a

Race Time

Hope you've been eating your carrots, it is time to race at night. Finally preparations are getting done, including acquiring lots of beer.
See you all Saturday night.

Off to a slow start.

Today was the much anticipated first cross race of the season. I had felt ready this whole past week. I felt great training up until Thursday and was flying during my interval sessions. As we were driving down today I just mentally shut down after I realized how hard I was going to try and go I think. Never good...As I toed the line I just felt like I was not ready to race, I tired to block that out, but as much as I wanted the thought to go away, they hung out. Despite that it was off, I had a poor starting position and paid for it on the first lap as I tried to get around people to the splintering group. The first few laps went alright, I was hurting a lot, but figured the race would just slow down enough to recover a little. I forgot, it is cross, it does not slow down, ever.
At one point I clipped a wheel, lost momentum and lost my group, slowly I fell further back, ended up with another group, and a small pileup destroyed the rhythm again and I pretty much blew up. This was right around halfway into the race. After reviewing heart rate info I found that I achieved my max of 195 right before I blew up, just an interesting note. For the next few laps I just tried to keep pedaling. At one point my brake hood came loose and would wobble around for the rest of the race, after dogging it for a bit I got caught by a guy moving fairly quick for being so far back, I jumped on his wheel and was racing again. We only caught two guys, but hey, that is just that much better...
The last 2 laps were spent cursing at my pedal, which after the race I found out was very, very loose, some of the internal parts are bustigated, hopefully warranty will cover that!

In the end I just did not feel fast today. Sure the mechanicals did not help, but they are no excuse for riding as slow as I did. I placed worse today, then all of last year, even after burning out. The good news is I can get faster this year, instead of the usual start high end low...
I'm reviewing the training log now, last year before this race I had been sick and took the week pretty easy. This past week I have hit it hard, perhaps that is the reason? I guess I'll find out soon.

Hurting early...

Hollywood is right, I do looked very scrunched. Time to fit it.

Restart to the race.

Hope to see everyone up here under the lights next weekend!

Christmas come early

First off, a quick mention. I rejoined the runner's world on Wednesday when I decided to do one of the trail running races up here in Duluth. Basically a whole bunch of people get together and go race around a different trail each week. With a whopping entry fee of $1, I don't know how many I will be able to go to...
It was pretty fun though, I had not done a running race since cross country in high school. It was really entertaining to run full blast through some rough trail. Including running through a river multiple times. Overall I think there were over 80 people there, including most of the top runners in the area. I had absolutely no expectations of doing well and just did it to see what happened. I was not to far back in the end, just a couple of minutes. I think the course was 8.5 km and I had something just over 35 minutes for it.

Friday at the Ski Hut was a very good day. The energy was high in the shop due to the fact that the brand new multiple $10,000 ski edger was being brought to life for the first time. I guess that will make our life much much easier down in the shop. All I know is that the things inside look like a contraption out of Star Wars.
Well that was being put together by the Companies guy, Jimmy Johns decided that we deserved sample sandwiches and dropped of a very large box of them.
Shortly after that the usual knock on the deliver door came, and to my surprise (I was not sure if they would ever come) and delight our new cross bikes showed up.
For a while the Shop was a complete mess. Boxes, tools, people, bikes, skis, people, dogs everywhere. It was great.
I then proceeded to rip off what I needed from my old cross bike, take all my new parts, and throw the thing together as fast as I could so I could go for a bike ride. However I did also have to put my old bike back together, so those in combination took way too long. Eventually I got it all done and zipped home, got things adjusted and went pedaling. Not until 5:30 though...

I brought a blinky and ended up riding until 9. The moon was really bright and made the roads easy to see, not so much the trails.I am quite please with the ride, it is significantly better than ye old Red Line. And it really wants to go fast. If you look closely you may notice it has SRAM, yes SRAM. It has SRAM because it was significantly cheap than even 105 set, it came from QBP as a cyclo-cross build kit, and Shimano take 2-4 weeks for delivery. This came next day. So far I am still a bit weirded out by the Double tap, but it is not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be...

Last night I got an email from Kangaroo Jack that told me about a nice long ride with lots of watts that he just did. Due to this, and the fact that my plan to race Chequamegon fell though I had the perfect riding plan for today. Go faster then Mr. Noonan. So that is what I did. I also bonked hard core, had I not come across a group of UMD riders coming home from Two Harboors I may have gotten hypothermia and died due to the cold rain that decided to come with 30 minutes left.

Time to go drink beer.

Oh, don't forget the CX races in Duluth! You better be here for them.

Cross Races!

Here are the flyers. All we are missing are a few sponsors that dont have logos made up yet.
Hope everyone can make it. It will be a great time.

This and that

Late last week I took off to the Boundary waters with some friends. It got real cold on us on the second day. By the last morning there was frost. Not only was the air cold the whole time, but it was windy as can be. Hurricane Thelma we figured...

For lack of warm clothes these had to do...

Without this, surely death.

Frost

Sunrise in the fire zone

Then the mist cleared...
We covered pretty much the whole map. Starting at round, going through Tuscarora, over to Gabimichigami and then back home.

Since then I have basically been trying to put together two cross races. I am finally down to the finishing items. One of the races is going to be at night. It is going to be quite fun. So Sept. 27 and 28 get ready for some good fun!

Today was the hill ride. A record low turnout of 2. Nonetheless we rode the 20 most prominent hills in Duluth, in absolutely perfect weather... It ended up being 161 km and taking 7 hours 10 minutes. Surprisingly I feel pretty dang good still.


In other cross news Specialized won the bid for giving me a team this fall. So thanks much to them!

Update!

Due to the fact that the first two hills are not actually in the city, and add around 40km to the ride. It has been decided that they will be removed. Thus the route is shorter, and more manageable. Everything else is the same.
Remove:
1. Highway 23
2. Jay Cooke

Route

From there we head West then come back East, Go more East. Stopping whenever we feel like it. Then come back to the BU for beer (a bunch of it for free).

Here is the map.
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-st ... 8711107708

Print this out before you come up. A list of the hills
1. Highway 23 to overlook
2. Jay Cooke to Tompson
3. Becks Rd., Midway to just past golf course
4. 59th Ave West. To Highland/Gretchell
5. 40th Ave West
6. 27th Ave West to Skyline to 28th Ave West to Exhibition.
7. Lincoln Park
8. 24th Ave West to piedmont
9. (take Skyline to W. 5th Street to 11th Ave. to 1st. to Glen Pl. to Superior St.) then back up to 10th Ave W. to Observation Rd. to Arlington.
10. (down to Skyline, to 8th Ave West. To 4th Street. Over to) 5th Ave West “goat hill”
11. Lake Ave. to 1st Ave E. to Mesaba, to Rice Lake Rd.
12. (Central Entrance to 2nd Street) 11th Ave E. to top by Summit School
13. 19th Ave E. to junction to up by UMD dorms
14. 21st Ave E.
15. (London Rd) 32 Ave E. to Superior St. to Hawthorn, to Vermillion Rd. to Wallace, to Arrowhead. Stop at Super One
16. Congdon park dr. from superior st.
17. (Superior St.) 45th Ave E. to Glenwood.
18. 7 Bridges Rd.
19. Lester River Rd.
20. (to) Strand Rd. Riley Rd. (Jean Duluth) Pleasantview Rd.

() indicate how to get to hill...


Places to sleep can be figured out without a problem.

A better use for wind...

Last week Thursday brought about a strong east wind. That means big waves on the Lake. So as soon as I got of work, instead of riding bikes I decided to go sailing. It was quite a nice little break from the road. We (Max and I) only tipped once, and it was not really our fault, the rope got caught on the boat. Anyhow it was really fun, it better get windy again soon...

We were often looking up at the waves.

Enjoy some "virtual sailing"

Don't forget August 30th. Hill ride, be here.

Wet rides and an invite

Today gravel roads started. It was dry all day long, of course it decided to rain in about a 5 mile wide path. The path exactly where all of our gravel is...
It was still a party, just really hard with skinny tires at some points.

A few of us...

It was dark when I got home.

I would have to consider it epic...

And the invite.
Mark your calender. This coming Sat. August 30th will be the annual hill ride in Duluth. The exact course is yet to be finalized, but it will be over 100 miles, with lots and lots of climbing.
The basic idea is to hit as many of the hills in Duluth as we can. Starting out west and coming east.
The ride will start at the Burrito Union, on 4th street, and travel way out west to start. a good 50-60 minute warm up. Then climb all the way past home and then back to the BU for a bit of a party.
I will get the course figured out soon and see if I can conjure up a map. At least a list.
Check back often.
For sleeping, I cant offer much in terms of beds, but plenty of tent space. Although, I am sure many of you know someone in Duluth.

These are some samples...

Infamous Lake Ave.

Steepest paved hill in Duluth (note stairs in sidewalk)

The well hidden Minneapolis Ave.

Any questions?
jwboyce@gmail.com

For Sale

Cat 1. rider sick of not having a team. Can be bought for the cheap cheap price of a kit and all or some entry fees. 4yrs. exp. road racing. 3 yrs. exp. in cyclo-cross.
Act fast! Offer only while supplies last.

Week Off.

State crit went alright, the new bike worked great, but the old legs did not. Thus a week off*.
Next week we are starting up "Gravel Road Wednesdays," the title is pretty explanatory. But in case you did not get it, we go ride gravel on Wed. and go fast from as soon as the gravel starts until we find pavement again. It should be a party, if you are interested. Meet at The Ski Hut in Duluth at 4:50 for a 5:00 start.


*excludes commuting, and riding bikes for work.

Boats, Beer and Music

Tuesday evening brought the bands: Collective Soul, Blues Traveler, and Live to Duluth for an outdoor show down at Bayfront. The great thing about that venue is that it is outside. Not only does it make for a pretty area, but also gives the possibility of watching and listening free if you so desire. There are some things that I really like about Duluth, and being able to sit on the water and listen to good music is just one of them.

A couple of people from Ski Hut, and one of my friends made a nice little flotilla.

We were not the only ones floating (stage is the metal roof on the right side).
The Coast Guard was on patrol, luckily we did not get boarded like these people...

Gateway to open water.

In biking news, I broke my Madone's fork at some point. I have no idea when or how it happened. Yay for warranty...

The new ride is ready to go. It rides wonderfully. Incredibly stiff but not harsh, I am very pleased. Now I just have to get it adjusted right. With the same wheels as I had on my Trek (powertap included) this weighs 2 pounds less. Out of the box it was 15.4.

Shortly a break.

This bike season has been a long one. For the most part good, but very long. It is nearly time for a break. After the State Crit next weekend I will have my chance. Finally...
The week started off with the Doughboy coming up for a few days of bike practice. We found some hills and ice cream.
As the week progressed I was really looking forward to racing, but I sold the Madone bought a new bike on Friday instead. And with the high entry fee I was unable to afford riding in circles. Oh well. At the Northfield crit a few weeks back I felt great, the week following I went hard and long, and ever since then I have been tired, sore legs are not good for racing. However the strange thing is that even with my legs feeling totally shot, I can still pedal. Yesterday I rode my cross bike on single track for 3 hours. Then today I went out to hit up 40th Ave. West in Duluth and crushed my previous record by 57 seconds. I don't get it.
On the note of legs hurting, the results are in from the biopsy. I'll put something up when I know what they mean.

I also finally made it to the Lake, as did Tess and Hazel.

Into the Abyss?

On some other notes, I have had some very strong urges to go sailing and golfing. Maybe I'll get around to that during my break.

Northfield

The race went smoothly, results can be found here.
My actual race went for the most part well too. Right from the start I felt great, much better then I have the last few races. Somewhere near the middle of the race, something happened up front and a rider went down right in front of me. There was nothing I could do besides go straight into him. After getting my head back together and getting the bike ready to go again thanks to On Support, I was back in the race. Besides my body hurting from the crash I still felt great, and had my bike not been ghost shifting I think I could have had a good sprint. Oh well, I still had fun.

Sean and his new bike.

Karin caught this kid in the act of ripping up the Masters field.

Sean raced again

Downtown

This weekend is some more racing, I think I am ready. I still feel good, but I am training hard because of it. We will just have to wait and see what happens!

Gas

Is getting expensive...
So
Ride bikes!
Like Chinese
Like bike racers

Or even better, like the Dutch!

Then no more

These would work too.

If we all used bikes and made trains, then maybe everyone would quite bitching!
And we would all be happy and skinny again.

So start by going:
Here
or Here

As an added bonus,
We can stop this, and
save these guys.

We are all winners, and even if you don't believe in global warm/climate change. What is wrong with making the world a better place?

On another note. Come here.

Classifieds

Are you interested?
Please inquire.

A steep learning curve

I recently ended my Nature Valley Grand Prix experience, of course it did not end like I wanted to but I learned more about racing in the last few days then all spring. And being able to race against some of the best the country has to offer was a good experience.
I have been thinking of reasons for my lack luster performance of the last couple of days and I think I have figured out why I just did not have it. Not nearly enough of it in fact.
Mind you, these are not excuses, they are things I did wrong and thus can change in the future.

First off, my racing took a bit to long of a hiatus. In fact I am pretty sure it is what screwed me over. Between Nationals in the middle of May and Last Wednesday I did two short time trials and the State Fair crit. For me continuous racing is really what gets me up to speed. Thus going into Nature Valley I had plenty of base, but not the top end speed that I know I can muster. I know I can race with many of those guys, I raced with some of them in St. Louis, Collegiate Nationals, and around Minnesota. My body can do it, I just have to be prepared right. With that realization I know what I have to do.

Second, I found out I am afraid of the rain. I shouldn't be, but Wednesday I was terrified of crashing. That is no good. I need to work on fast cornering on wet streets. The only crit I can remember before Wed. in the rain was one in Lincoln, NE two years ago, and there were not even really any corners.

Finally, my diet. Spaghetti is good, but I need more that that...

I'll post pictures as I find them.

Also, I really would like to that Daniel Casper and Linda Sone for letting me shack up there for my run. Also the not so Doughboy and Mr. Hutton for being support for a few of the races. Having to do everything by myself sucked when I had to do it. Also for Dr. Boyce for stopping by for the TT.