A free weekend.

In terms of racing at least, heres how it played out.
Saturday:
At least it was not cold out, but it was sure rainy and windy. After a few bagels it was off to a bit east of Des Moines to do the Altoona Road Race. We (Sean, Andrew, and I) got there a bit early and managed to avoid the lines for registration. At 11 Sean went off with the 1/2 cat. 5 minutes after that I too rolled out of the start area. It was my first categorized road race besides collegiate in the US since being in Germany. I did not really know what to expect of the pace. It was not to high at the start, a bit of attacking occurred, but nothing got away. One guy grumbled that the guy who was attacking currently, always did so and he did not like it. A minute or two after that I attacked. Ha! On one of the hills early on in the race, I'd guess 10 minutes in, an break formed and I happen to be in it. There one or two guys bridged up making the number 7 I think. We were cruisin, we ended up catching the 1/2 who started 5 minutes ahead. It was great. After the 13 mile lap was over we had a massive gap. On the second lap it began to pour and a bit of hail to I think. Needless to say it got very wet. Then on the hill that the break formed on I started to bounce, uh oh. A flat...Luckily I had a pair of wheels in the wheel truck which was following the break. I changed as fast as I could, which was too slow. I spent the next 3/4 lap chasing back to the break, at one point another guy from the break flatted too, except he dropped out. Lucky for me I guess. Anyway, right as the third lap started I caught the break. Needless to say I needed some recovery time which I took. I had no trouble holding the breaks pace, and even put in some attacks to see if I could get people to work harder (because they were not working). I guess I did that too much, with the combo of energy spent chasing back on, and attacking, I did not have the gas when the deciding attack came...I and 2 others were dropped, and then the third with me was dropped. My new partner and I tried to chase back on, but the others were to strong as a tripod. Eventually the 1/2 group caught back up and we hung out with them for a bit, but then since I did not want to get DQed I dropped off the back and spent the next lap.5 soloing for 5th place.
I was and still am just pissed about that flat. I know if that would not have happened I would have easily made the deciding attack and been in there for the finish, but the fifth place got me $25 which paid for my race.
Sean dropped out of his race, and Andrew got 3rd in the 4/5 race.

Chasing back after the flat.

Sunday:
Another wet windy morning, but this time cold. Despite that it was off to a day at the Iowa State Fair Grounds. By the time my race started it had dried out, but was still chilly and windy. The course was great. The start and finish at the top of a nice hill. One went down, then right back up. Good time. Anyways, the race started a bit slow, on the hill the first time things remained low key, everyone just testing to see how they would do. I am not sure if it was the 2nd or 3rd lap, but not long into the race a hard attack came on the hill (from the guy who initiated the attack that dropped me yesterday). I knew I had to go, and wanted to as well. I had no trouble at all bridging up, I felt great. Two more guys were able to follow, the rest were not. After one lap 10 seconds, 2 laps 19 seconds, 3 laps 30 seconds, a few laps later a minutes, another few laps 2.5 minutes...Through all of this every one in the break was doing an equal amount of work, however, I always ended pulling up the hill, which was ok since the tail wind was so strong there was no draft. Once we heard 2 minutes as our gap, 2 of the guys stopped working (the guy who started it kept at it). Not cool. I don't believe in free rides...I put in an attack on the hill, but everyone was able to follow. I yelled at them all to keep pulling through, which they did to an extent. Despite the slackers we caught the main field, and lapped them. That was great. And soon after that it was nearly time to finish, at the very start of the last lap 2 guys from the main field tried (I think) to pick it up as to not get lapped. Which was handy because they pulled us down the hill through the hard wind. At the bottom of the hill I put the hammer down. Absolutely blew the main fielders out of the water, and dropped one of the breakers, and got a small gap on another, unfortunately one guy was able to follow (because he did nothing the last 20 minutes of the race) and got around me right at the top of the hill. I just could not get back up to him and he beat me out by a second or two. Asshole, I side with Jens Voigt, and that if you don't do any work in the break you should not win. But that is bike racing for you, gotta kick your own ass until the line, I managed second anyhow, and $50. Which paid for the race today and an extra $25, to cover food for the weekend I guess. Oh, I forgot to mention, the guy who one did not race yesterday either, so he was nice and rested...
So there was my free weekend. I am not too disappointed, I just know now that the racing in Germany was so much faster than here. And I raced most often in the lowest cat. Once I get my legs strong again, I'll have no troubles at all...
Sean did really well in his race and got 5th, and Andrew had a leg problem and had to drop.

Must have been early in the race, since I (and the guy right in front of me) were taking a turn at the back...

Needs no explanation...

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

Nothing much

Only thing that is happening now is a tiny bit of biking, and preparing for Ski nationals out in Colorado. Other than that the only interesting thing that happened was the storm that passed through the last few days. We only ended up getting 6 or 7 inches of snow, down from the predicted 16, I think because it was a lot of hail and freezing rain. People were quite wussy during the storm. Some refused to go outside for 3 days. Lame, people are lame...

On a good note, we are flying out to Colorado now instead of driving, I think that must be the reason tuition was raised again! ha.
A personal computer will soon be working for me again, so maybe I can add some photos when that happens.

Untill next week...(Colorado)

Lets go ride a bike...

Yesterday was quite nice, nearly 50 out. So naturally I skipped skiing and rode my bike (good thing too, because the ski team said they skied in 2 inches of water). I started riding at 2ish did an hour 15 solo, during which it was warm enough that I did not need gloves! Then I came back to town and met up with some others to do a group ride. Mosty people went in a bit early to get an hour or so, but Brandon and I kept going and did just over 2. I felt quite good, very hungry at the end though...Last night a few of us bikers watch the Tour of Cali (ToC). Jens Voigt is great, all out attacks all the time. Thats my kinda rider!

Today it was unfourtunatley not quite as warm. Nevertheless I suited up and was off. Finn, Brandon and I met up with some townies and we went out on the northwest passage. Brandon apparently feeling good, so he kept picking it up. Being that I have no real need to do hard or tempo right now I just sat there and watched him do his own thing, unlike he said, he did not drop us. I (we) simply just let him do his own thing. Near the end it just happened that I responded to a jump by Brandon, which brought Finn along. Which led to a race of a few miles to the town line. It was pretty fun, a bit of rotating, a bunch of attacking. Finn tried more than us other two, but he was unable to lose us. Then on the last short uphill Brandon tried a little attack that failed miserably. Finn countered, then died. Then I went but did not get a gap, by then it was the sprint and as Brandon was nice and rested, and being a sprinter got the line.
Then tonight more ToC, not quite as fun to watch as yesterday, but not bad...

Winter to spring

in 12 hours.
This weekend was regionals for skiing, in Marquette, MI. We had quite the haul to get there. Almost 8 hours of driving.
Saturday was the 10k skate race. The rumor is that that particular course is the hardest in the midwest. It very well could be, it was friggin hard. Lots of steep uphills, and only tiny downhills. It was very hard to recover. Despite the course, I had my best skate race ever. I was able to hammer the uphills even though I was dead tired. I just relaxed and my technique improved greatly, combine all these things and you get good results. I think I was 33 or so out of 80ish. Which I am pretty sure is my best skate result any where.

Sunday was the 15k mass start classic. Somehow I lucked out and got the very last position in the echelon, not that it mattered too much since some people behind me had a straighter shot when the trail narrowed down, but I was not complaining. It was quite a fast start, and I was able to avoid breaking anything. Somehow I ended up farily far up in the pack, for the first few km it was crazy, people everywhere. It was impossible to pass or be passed. Eventually it began to spread out and I got some breathing room. By the end of the first lap I had gotten into a nice little group of 5. The 5 of us skied the rest of the race together (until the very end). It was really fun to be in a pack skiing, I have never been able to do that. I was always just a bit faster than those behind me, but not quite as fast as those in front. This race felt a lot like a cyclo-cross race, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. In the end the guys I was with got ahead on the final hill, but I was only a few seconds back at the finish. Overall I think I was in the mid 20, again out of 80. Oh, and the temp was about 10.

Monday, after a few classes it was time to hit the roads again. The weather was a tropical 40 degrees aand sunny, perfect spring riding. At 3:30 a whole bunch of us (10 or so) meet to go and enjoy the warm roads on our bicycles. So off the massive group went, some people took off at about an hour 15, but a few of us went for 2. It felt great, skiing has put me in great shape for biking. All I need to do is build my strengh up and Ill be set. We will have to see what happens with the weather and skiing, I still have to ski my best in Colorado in a few weeks...

Well...

Since my computer has been broken, updating has been complicated. I've got a bit of time now so.
Computer issues suck. I of course want to resolves them, so I took my computer to the Apple store on Moday. The tech guy looked at it for a bit then something very very close to "your computer is completely hosed, wait did I say completely, I meant..." and there he trailed off. That is never a good thing to hear. So that was that, I sent for it to be fixed and it was shipped in today. Before I sent it the Olaf tech guy wanted to see it. I brought it in this morning, after a minute or two he said "this is the deadest iBook I have ever seen." The weird thing is that I did not do anything to it, at all! It just decided to die, and I have never heard of an Apple just quiting like that. But, what can ya do...
(Now collecting dontations for the we love Jake, so we will pay for his new computer fund)

Other than my computer being toast, this week has been decent. Went for a bike ride with Sean on Monday, then felt great in intervals yesterday. But now it is deathly cold out again, and oh it is Valentines Day, which means it is also Father Boyce's birthday. So happy birthday dad.

Something not so familiar

but first a bit about yesterdays ski race.
The night before I picked up some van keys, we were supposed to have two vans but I thought nothing of it when I picked up the keys. Anyway in the morning after breakfast someone picked up the van, and it turned out to be a mini van with four seats. That was no good since we had to take 12 people. So we scrambled some cars, I came back to my house to pick up mine. Then since it was cold and had not been started in a while it of course did not start. So I had to call Public Saftey, who brough an uncharged battery pack. Therefore had to go back to their office and get a new one. Eventually it started and we left. Only an hour late. But we still made it on time to the race. During my ski of the course somehow I crossed my skis and fell, onto my pole. And of course this time it broke. Great start to the morning!
Also Friday, my computer broke. It wont turn on. Everything at once!

Anyways today the high temp was 25. I walked outside and started sweating. With this heat wave (25 degrees warmer then the last 2 weeks) I just had to go ride my bike. So that is exactly what I did. It felt great, until near the end. It turns out skiing has just knocked my climbing legs right out from under me. I was fine on the flats, but the hills were a lot harder then usual. I have not felt that weak on my bike for a long time. Although my cardio system is working quite nice. I must rebuild my legs. And soon!

Not a whole lot

has been happening recently. The only big thing is that the semester has started, so far I like all of my classes. However, we will see what happens when the work starts pilling on. So far I have spent just about $30 on books, thank you library! Why buy a book to use for a couple of days, just check it out. If I need it again, very simple to get. Plus I am saving paper.
In the world of athletics, it has been quite cold. Monday Finn and I rode trainers for 2 hours and 16 minutes, so the I would not freeze my lungs by skiing. Then the past few days have been skiing. With an emphasis on technique.

Which is colder,

-40 C or -40 F?
This picture can help you figure it out.

This is what you need to go outside. The thermometer in my hand says - 23.4 air temp.

It is cold...

Too cold to show skin...

well at least as little skin as possible

Life in the arctic (v.2)

is cold, just look at the forecast. I might have to not go outside for a few days. Not much warmer down south. Definitely way to cold to go ride a bike.
Before it got even colder I decided to go check out the ice formations on Park Point and at Brighton Beach. Here a few of the photos.

Cliffs

holes

Tess and Hazel for scale

Close up

untitledmy personal favorite
Into the distance
cave
frozen in place

Attack of the bird

So there I am this morning, sitting at the kitchen table enjoying a nice bowl of tootie fruities. Then all of a sudden I hear some fluttering and a bird flies right past my head. This was very confusing since all the doors and windows were closed. I have no idea how it got in the house, maybe it was a phantom bird. But it sure was. The dogs did not notice it until it flew through the kitchen either. And of course they went crazy when they saw it. Quite entertaining, bark bark bark, chirp, barkbark, chirp, and so on it went. It took me a bit to figure out how to catch it, but I decided a plastic garbage can would be best. So I chased it around for a bit before catching it. Then let it fly away into the negative degree weather. I think that is why it came in. Maybe it felt the heat by the dog door and somehow found the strength to push through it, but not out.
When it was sitting on the window sill it was kinda cool because I could see its breath fog up the window. I did not know they had that much breath.

Chillin'

trying to fly.

movin up

Another weekend, another race, rather two more races. This time we went to lovely Cable, WI. More specifically Telemark. Quite a nice ski area I might say. Saturday was a skate race, last week basically all I did was work on technique which if I can get it down will make me a lot faster. So I just relaxed and thought about what I was doing, it paid off and I had one of my best skate races in recent history. I still feel I can go a lot faster too. The only problem was the course. For a little while the trail was nice, no rocks of anything, smooth, that kinda thing. Then for some stupid reason we turned onto a side trail that was crap. Rocks and sticks everywhere, dirt coming up too. There where also some large hills on this loop. On these hills it was really crap since everyone pushes their ski hard into the snow on hills. I was passing a kid going up on of the hills and then I hit a large rock I think and just stopped, not good for my skis or me. Oh well, I survived. All in all I finished just about 20 places higher in the skate race this weekend compared to last. It was pretty much the same people too. Things are lookin up.
Sunday was the classic race, since there was not enough snow to track a big loop, we just did a 2.2 km loop 6 times. The course was a good one, went up for nearly a km then back down. then up a short steep hill then some flat then up again. Since it was such a long downhill after the first uphill I just hammered it up and rested on the way down. My plan worked quite well and I got back the title of fastest classicer at olaf. wahoo. I also moved about 15 places up overall as well. I guess I am remembering how to ski. Also my place on the team for the trip out to Colorado has been secured. Sweet, a free trip!

my upper body looks ridiculously small, haha.

This week we have off before we start the regular semester. The team was going to go to Giants ridge, but we decided to stay in Duluth for free. All the people are staying at Lunds which means my house is nice and quite. HA!

indoor champs

The team did it again, we are the indoor frisbee champs. It was a decent game, at one point we were up 7 to 3. then something happened. and the score was 8 to 8 for the last 21 seconds. Luckily we scored right after the buzzer ending the game right then. Good thing too because I had an embarrassing drop in the endzone that could have sealed the game.
Yesterday during skiing I was not feeling that well, had to stop intervals. Today I dont feel any worse, but not any better so I am taking the day off. Hopefully I will feel good by tomorrow. I was sick for the coming race last year too. Not fun at all.
Besides not being 100% skiing is going well. I want to ride my bicycle, but it has just been to cold. It is supposed to be cold next weekend to, so maybe in a few weeks...

Warmest ever

weekend at Mt. Itasca. Usually the temp never gets above 0 when we are racing up there. This weekend it was a very warm 20 something. Very different, but anyways the races:
Saturday was a 10 k classic (it was supposed to be a skate), since the snow is a little low we did the smaller 2.5 km loop, not the 5km loop. This made me very happy, since the 5 km loop goes to the from the bottom of a downhill run, to the to and beyond. The smaller loop only half way up. The race went pretty well, we nailed to wax which makes racing lots more fun. I felt good almost the whole race, just a few times my back and foot hurt. In the end I ended up 2 seconds behind Nels. Pretty good seeing that last week was my first whole week on snow this year.
The best part about the race is that less then 5 seconds before I started I sold an Olaf hat to the starter. He said "um ya ya"
I said "wanna buy a hat"
"yes"
"sweet, ill be back"
"3,2,1 go!"
ha, good times.
By the way, hats are still for sale.

Sundays race on the other hand was not so fun, it was skate which for some reason I have always been not as good at. I really wish I could figure it out, but I just can't. I felt great for the first two laps, then I just died. I have no idea what happened. But it was not fun. It was a total of 6 laps, which means 6 times up the big hill. Needless to say I was toast by then end. I am just glad that race is over for the year. wahoo.

This is me being very tired...

Enjoying the weather?

So a few weeks ago Sean invited me to go down to Des Moines, Iowa (his hometown), because Lance was coming. Naturally I said yes, so yesterday was the day. We cruised down yesterday afternoon. Somehow Seans mom was able to get us into the predinner reception with Lance, where we could meet him and get a picture with him. So I got to meet Lance yesterday, the last time I saw him he was doin his thing:

Now, a few years later he was wearing a nice suit and a yellow tie, and not beating up on anyone.

I was trying to figure out what to ask him, I did not want it to be about biking. Since he always talks about that. Since it was figgin cold out, I asked him how he was enjoying the weather. He said, "We just got here and we are leaving right after." I assume this meant he was not enjoying it. ha. After he was done with photos he was standing around talking to a couple of the guys in his posse, ha. I wanted to talk to him, that would not be stupid, but I just could not think of anything to say. Of course right after he left I got something. I remembered at ski practice we were talking about whether he would be good at xc skiing. I shoulda asked him if hes ever done it or is going to. Oops. guess I'll have to give him a call or something.

After the reception, we went upstairs to a very large room where there was a thousand or so people. There we ate dinner and Lance gave a speech. The dinner was OK, and the speech was good. His main point was that we need to spend more time and money and researching cancer prevention and cures. He threw a little politics in (criticized the current gov't for spending so much on Iraq while cutting the NCI budget). He said a good amount of funny things too. Oh, also I like to think I inspired his intro, he said last time he was here (for Ragbrai) it was the hottest weather he had been in. Then yesterday it was quite cold, the coldest hes been in. ha.

crash!

Last night I was riding my unicycle about, and got going a bit to fast. Somehow I got caught up in the pedals and proceeded to fall off a curb. It kinda hurt, although it does not look to bad. It hurts quite a bit. But you know what they say, never give up. So after recovering for a minute or to I got back on and rode the rest of the way home.

Back to the racing

Since I am still on the ski team I traveled up to Elm creek to do a team time trail. It was in the duathalon format. For the guys a 7.5km classic then switch skis and do the same on skate skis. The girls did 5km of each. I was quite lucky that I had my wind block long underwear, that stuff is amazing, without it I would have frozen. Anyways I am mildly pleased with my results, my classic skis were not as fast as the others, but regardless I was able to stick with Nels until the last downhill into the transition zone. So I ended up second in classic, skate ended up not going quite so well. My skis were fine, but my calves cramped up soon after starting. Not much I could do besides keep going so thats what I did. I lost a bit of time to Nels and Ollie (who decided to join in the fun, he is the coach). Jens almost caught me, near the end, I saw him coming and decided he was not going to pass me so I took off. Found my 5th gear if you will. It was great, he went from being 5 or so seconds behind me to being 20ish in the last .5 km of racing. It is comforting to know that if I want to I can do that.
Overall I finished second of the racers on the team, this makes me happy and baffles me at the same time. Happy since the top 3 or 4 are going out to Colorado. But I have hardly been training for skiing, I have not rollerskied once this year, nor lifted. Counting Yellowstone I've skied less then 15 time, and without Yellowstone I think the total days on snow is 4 or 5. For me to beat people who have been ski specific training since last spring is quite strange. I think the debate of whether biking helps skiing is over, it for sure helps. Fun.
The real test will come next week when we go up to Mt. Itasca. Hopefully I will do even better!
Pictures maybe to come later.

Also I just saw to cardinals outside, I thought those were warm weather birds, or?

candy cane fun

where did it go???

tired

Yesterday I though it was too cold/windy to go ride bike. So at 2 I went out for a run, I was really hot and the wind was not bad. So I quit that and went over to meet Sean to go for a ride. It was really quite windy. 22 gusting to 28 or something like that. We went into the wind for about 45 minutes, then turned around and made it back in about 25. It was great on the way back. On the way out some cars got pissed off, right after one went by the back right door was shut. I can only assume that somebody wanted me off the road and were willing to hurt their door for it. Then right after that some guy in a big white pickup had to wait for oncoming traffic to clear before he went around, he revved his engine multiple times and was all pissed off. I really don't see why people get so angry, but whatever.
After dinner I got to play some soccer, I got on an intramural team. We got beat but it was pretty fun.
This morning I woke up at 5 40 to go do some skiing, up and down the downhill runs at a place in the cities. I am exhausted now, and still have more things to do today. Crap.

Sean is like the energizer bunny, he keeps going and going...

lots to little

yesterday lots of riding. 5.5 hours in the wind, to much work to write about. So I won't!
Today I was feeling tired and had a runny nose, it was also a little chilly. So I decided to not ride outside. Finn, Brandon, Sarah, and I went and played some tennis, then some basketball. Then after dinner our frisbee team had a game. We won by a lot to a little. Good times. Then Finn, Brandon and I waited around until the games were over then we rode inside.

it was mildly entertaining, warm and only the wind one creates. Also a lot more entertaining then trainers...

Also, Olaf gear is finally in the works. If you want something lemme know.

Sean and Jakes world tour

The journey got off to a great start when Sean knocked on my door at 8:15 (plan departure of 8) and I was still in bed. I don't know if I turned my alarm off or never set it. Either way I was late. Sean went out and rode around a bit while I got ready, then we were off. We went west. Somehow by going west we ended up in Montgomery (Alabama). The some more west and the a little north we ended up in Heidelberg (Germany) it was sweet! We kept on cruising and soon enough we showed up in New Prague (Czech). After a little more riding we came upon Little Chicago (Illinois). We also cruised all over Le Seuer County I think we were in France at that point. We also passed close to Vesilse, a nice little Italian town. Since we went west originally that would mean that we also passed through Asia, but we were going so fast I was not able to read the town signs, although we nearly stopped in China to get some food at a restaurant.
Overall it was a good trip. A little bit fast, I mean 4 hours to get around the world, you do the math, we were cruisin! I think next time we will go a little slower and enjoy the sights...

Support the nordies

It just so happens that I am being told to sell some hats. Now these are not just any normal hats, they are St. Olaf skiing hats. Not only are they nice hats, but much of the proceeds are going to support the nordic ski team, which believe it or not I am a member of. But anyway the hats are nice, they are merino wool, and polypro. so quite soft and stretchy. I just looked them up on gear wests webstie, there they cost 27, without the Olaf advertising. I however am selling them for 25. So you are saving $2 and supporting a good cause! If your interested send me an email, or call.
here is what it looks like.

not to shabby

In other news, I am back at school, and Sean and I are riding bikes.