It's not all about the bike

I've been wanting to do a post that deals with other issues besides training, I have a few minutes of time to procrastinate with today so...

I am going to start with the most blatant problems here on the hill. A few days ago a political speaker (Michelle Malkin) came and spoke. She is quite conservative and her speech was titled "Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists, Criminals and Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores." I did not end up going, but that is not what I am writing about. I am told that Mark Dayton was asked to come and speak as well, he even said he would. In the end however, somebody high up in the chain said no. I am told it was because having him come would produce too strong of a liberal view point to campus. With Malkin and a few years ago now Ann Colture a few years ago, isn't that bringing a far to conservative feel to the campus? You would think both parties would be invited. I guess not.
Next, as it turns out Olaf wants to sell some of the natural land (the area right across from the hospital, or right along 19) to development. The developers have said for light commercial or industrial purposes. Being that the city of Northfield banned Wal-Mart and the area in question just happens to be right out to city limits. I have few doubts about what would be built there. Just think of that beautiful sight as you come down 19 take the final corner, and instead of seeing Olaf perched over a sea of corn, you get a nice view of Wal-Mart.
Other than that Olaf has a few other raging problems. One being that somehow this campus has one of the higher percent of eating disorders among students in the country. Instead of enjoying the 4th best food in the nation, people either don't eat it or don't digest it. Something I will never understand...
Yet another problem that has developed is the building of the Science Center, yes it will be great when it is done. But right now Olaf is (I hear) a bit low on funds for it. It is actually pretty entertaining to see, every few weeks a gathering will be held to try and raise more money. The best part (about which I benefit) is that there is always cake and other small treats set out. Somehow by spending money they are going to make more. You would think that they would get all the money they need before they start building. Nope.
Next is the work study program here. Yes, it is good to give those who need a little more financial help the opportunity, but it should not hurt other students. I am talking of T.A.s there is a few German TAs who are grossly unqualified. To the point at which they cannot properly conjugate verbs. How is someone like that supposed to help people who are starting the language?
The other problems I probably should not write about, as I don't want to get in trouble. But I will sure tell you about them if you ask me!
Then there are a few small things that anger me. First there are squirrels that I room with, and they are very inconsiderate in the mornings. Second, tuition is over $38,000 now, and yet we have to pay for laundry. Come on now, give me a break.
Now I am just going to really complain! I have 8 papers/projects for 4 classes. And I have already done one. Thus it was 9 for 4 classes. For one class I have written 2,500 words on the word flatulent. I was bored writing it. I can't imagine what it would be like to read it. And then again 32 times. In that same class my professor LOST my midterm, but yet there were parts of it with the rest of the tests. How does that happen?

Enough about me, time for a National/World issue that just came up.
I am sure you all know about the Virginia Tech incident. Yes, it is terrible very terrible, but I have a few problems with how it is being treated. The news was on that evening in my house. The reporter was interviewing someone from the school, and basically saying that they were incompetent for not stopping it before of while it was happening. All the guy could do was get part of a sentence out before being told how poorly he handled the situation. Yes, people knew the kid had problems, but no one can predict him going to the extent he did. On that as well, the campus is around 26,000 people. That is basically a city, tell me the last time a city was able to go on lock down in a short time. What I am trying to say is the school should not be blamed for anything, they handled it as best they could.
Moving on to the world. I would just like to ask how many people know about what happened in Iraq yesterday. I found the article deep in the newspaper, but I had heard about it yesterday. It was pushed way back because of the extensive coverage about the school shooting. If you don't know 198 people were killed and around 240 were wounded. Most by the same bombing. I don't understand how something that big can not be front page news. 198 deaths are way more than 32, but apparently Iraqis don't matter. In my opinion Americans are way to self centered. If something happens abroad, who cares. But if something happens here, oh we have to change everything!
I know I may sound cold, I am not trying to be. I just think people need to not always think about problems here, but think about everyone else too.

Enough of that for today. I am going to go enjoy the nice weather and avoid the angry drivers (who I don't understand either)!

Shoes?

I decided to go race the Opus season opener today. It is at the same course as the race was a Sunday. So pretty easy. But, the racing make going hard lots of fun. Especially because it was a 1/2/3 race. A good chance to mix it up with the faster guys. However, I knew I would not get that much ride time in up there, so I did a hour 15 ride in the early afternoon with a couple of sprints.

As I was getting ready my bike shoes were sitting off to the side. I thought to myself, you know, I should put those right next to my bag so I don't forget them. When we (Krueger, and Kyle) got up there I remembered what I forgot. Yup, my shoes! Well done Jake...
Luckily Kyle did the first race, and his feet are close to my size. So after his race he let me take his shoes and pedals. Thanks! It was a bit weird to use different pedals, not so comfortable. But I had no choice. I did a nice hour warm up just cruisin around the one way maze of streets at the Opus park. Soon enough 7:30 rolled around and it was time to go. The previous races had been only 9 laps. So short, Sunday we did 20 something I think, maybe more.
Anyways the 1/2/3 race was 18 laps, and the field was 68 people. Massive!
Some of the guys looked a bit sketchy, so my plan was to get near the front and avoid all the danger in the middle and at the back. Off the start I had a bit of trouble clipping in. And was about half way back. I got a few chances to move up, and I did so. Slowly but surely, I made it up. The whole time worrying about being taken out. A few times off to the side I heard some guys who were really pissed at some guy.
On one of the prime laps in the middle of the race I saw a chance to attack. So I made my debut of the day and took off. It was actually mildly successful, I brought two Grandstay guys with and one GP. We got a nice gap off the pack, but since I had initiated the others were able to go around to get the points. I had thought for some reason 4th got points as well. So I did not push it to get third which I could have easily done. Oops! (not the only time that happened)...
But after the prime one of the guys who came with said well done to me, sweet. In the next prime I followed and attack, and again got fourth.
After that I was in the front 10 for most of the rest of the race. At one point I lost a contact, so I had to drop back while that figured itself out. My sight was a bit off after that. Makes things challenging. After that I got right back in the front. I wanted to do some hard as it was a training race. So I took some pulls to keep the pace high. As the last lap started a grandstay guy (Swanson) and a GP guy got away. I thought for sure they would be caught (partly because I could not see who it was). So I did not chase, bad choice. Some guy was also trying to bridge up, but did not make it by the end. I was then right in the field for the sprint. I decided to have a whirl on the sprint, so took off when I felt it was right. And what do you know, I managed a third in the field sprint. Crazy...
After the race I got a couple of comments on my riding, everyone who was up front liked it. One guy even said he just sat on my wheel because it was safe and a good spot to be. I like getting complemented by 1s. I am happy with this race.

Sitting in

The sprint

I'll get a chance...

This morning begun at the early hour of 6 A.M. It was off to the U of M crit up in Minnetonka. We got there a bit late, but so did everyone else and the race started 30 minutes late. The B race had only one Olaf rider today, which was Kyle. He did well for not having any team at and pulled in a nice 3rd place to get his first podium ever. All with a swollen hand from a crash yesterday.

I decided to get a nice long warm up in today, for a few reasons. First it was a short 45 minute race, and second Sean and I had plans for a cyclo-cross start, which means floor it from the get go. So 10 rolled around and not much after that it was time to go. Just as planned Sean and I and a few select others hammered it of the line, unfortunately people were ready, and the pack never split up at all. Oh well, I would make more chances. Opus, the course where the race was, is apparently known for not letting breaks go. I was feelin good again, so just like yesterday. I tried and tried. But first the others on my team. Both Brandon and Finn were riding well today. Brandon had a couple of good attacks, and Finn had a great solo lap, in which he got caught at the line for 1st place in the prime. He still pulled a second in it though. Finns attack was great. He had been pretty quiet yesterday, just sitting in, and was quiet until his move today. Everyone was watching for Brandon or I (from Olaf) to go, so when he went no one really started chasing right away. It was really nice, and gave me some good rest while others chased.
But back to my attacks. I don't really know exactly when I went for the first time (besides of the line), but it could not have been long after. I had a few weaker attacks that did not get anywhere. But also a handful that did something. Two of the three of those possibly could have worked, but a KS guy really screwed things up. In both cases I went and a few others came with (most notably Brian Mortiz and Pat Lemeiux, who seemed to be following my every attack). It was good to have some partners in crime. However, the guy from KS made it as well. Each time we started to get organized (i.e. circling), and every time as we came in for a lap (which always happened to be primes) he would sprint, throwing of the rhythm of the group and breaking it up. The second time he did this I simply just sat on his wheel and bitched him out for doing it (rightly so, because I got comments after the race about him breaking everything up each time and how had we worked together the break would have made it).
In the middle of lap 6.5 to go I was on the front, and people were not pulling through, so taking my chances as usual. I attacked hard. It is not usual to have an attack off the very front work, but it sure did. A big thanks to Brandon, who near the front at this time did a bit of blocking. For the next 3 laps I soloed gaining time the entire time. Finally freedom! With 3 and a qauter laps to go I got caught by Brian Crosby from the U with Brad from K-State sitting behind him. We worked together for a bit, with Crosby and I doing most of the work. With just over half a lap to go I attacked hoping to drop the others. Crosby could not hold and had to drop off. But the K-State guy was able to hang on. He went, and I was able to get on his wheel. Then about 250 meters to go I tired to go again. I did not get much on him, but a little gap. Not enough though. 50 meters or so before the line he got around me. I tired to make it up, but needed another few meters. He beat me out at the line by a few inches. Crap.
I really need to work on my sprint. I had plenty of energy, just not enough jump to get the disheartening gap. I know I've got the power, I showed it the last few days. The endurance too. Now I just need the sprint.
I guess it is just not my turn to win a race yet. I definitely have been trying, I really want a win soon. I think if I improve on the form of this weekend, things will work out really well. I am still feeling great now. After recovery tomorrow, who knows what will happen.

Brandon and Finn again finished well. Brandon won the group sprint for 4th place, and Finn came in 8th. Sean on the other hand did not finish so well, because he thought the finish was a prime. Oops.
After the race Finn said he though Brandon had won, he did not see me or the other two, I guess we were pretty far out ahead.
Cool
Again today we won overall as a team. Good bragging rights is all we get.
Hopefully there will be some pictures up soon from today.

Next weekend Nebraska. Should be fun.

A few pictures

Thanks to Jim Wellbrock

Pullin/attacking up the hill
Pulling the TTT

Again and again.

We the weather sure took a turn for the better. Finally. This morning was cool, but no wind for the first time in weeks. It was off to the course to set everything up at 8 A.M. After a bit people started showing up. By 9:15 registration was running as smoothly as possible, all I had to do was find course marshals, since the 15 the U had promised mysteriously turned into just 2...Shortchanged once again.
Anyway, we scrambled enough people and things started running smoothly again. Before I knew it is was 10:30 and after a few minutes of getting everything with the course marshals worked out I got a chance to warm up.
By now it was fairly warm, and still no wind.
At 11ish the race was off. Soon followed by the other 2 waves. Nothing much happened in the first few miles, just as I expected. It was then time for the hill that I thought things would go down on. And guess what, they did. A U guy attacked at the bottom, which was not a good idea since the hill is deceptively large. I had no trouble getting right on his wheel and holding. The attacks had begun. Soon the hill was done, and it was time for the gravel. The pack (23 I think), did not slow down like I had expected. Despite this there was a flurry of attacks, either from Sean, Pat Lemeuix, or myself. This continued for a bit and then it was the big descent on the gravel. We flew down it, good times. The a sketchy right turn back onto pavement and up the long climb of the day. At a decent clip, but not to bad. It was soon time for the lap to end after a decent then steep climb. One down 5 to go. For various reason I won't go through every lap, mainly because I have no idea what lap things happened on. All I know is that on the steep hill before the gravel road, I attacked every time but the last lap going through the rumble strips. And every time I got pulled back. Then on the first rise of the gravel I usually attacked again, and pulled back, then on the second rise on the gravel again. And then a whole bunch of times just in random spots I felt the need. I also attacked a handful of times whenever I saw an opportunity, or thought the pace was just too slow. Which was to often. All I know is that I attacked a whole lot, and loved every moment of it, except for the fact that I could not get away. In fact no one could get away. Sean tried a few times, Pat a few, Brandon a few, and just a few others too. However, no one was willing to let anything go. But even with that, the attacking took its toll on some, and by the last hill there were only 11 or 12 left. The best part about these 11 or 12 people was that 3 or them were from St. Olaf. No other school had more than 2 riders up front. Most schools had only 1. It was great. So naturally we had the advantage for the sprint. As we came down the final descent and started up the next Brandon and I were either on the front, or right near it. He started to go, and he had a small gap, instead of sitting on someones wheel I did the team game and slowed way down for some good blocking, a yelled at Brandon to get his ass going. He got an ok gap, but then the rest saw what was happening and started to go around me. 7 people in fact got around, including Finn. Which was good. Two guys passed Brandon a ways before the line, the guy who won did not do anything up front the whole race, so I see how he did that. The guy who placed second had some strong pulls. In the end Brandon came across 3rd with Finn a close 4th. The a few more guys including Sean, then myself. After blocking I just could not accelerate enough to be in the hunt. Which is just fine in this case, because we pulled off a 3,4 with the move. All in all I came in 9th, not great sounding, but when I look at how much I attacked I am pleased. Not only that, but I got multiple comments after the racing about my attacking, and how whenever I went people started to really hurt, or something along the lines of simply how did you go so much. It seemed like it was every 30 seconds. Or man you were strong today.
Today was not a race for officially doing well, but I got a lot of street cred. Works for me!
We finished the RR a whole 30 minutes before I thought we were going to, so we got some nice recovery time for the TTT.
We were going to have Brandon, Finn, Peter, and I do it. But right at the last minute Brandon pulled out due to knee problems. So It was down to three. Meaning we could not drop anyone. So off we went, the first mile we circled well. But after that, nope. I got to the front and stayed there. drafted on the downhills a bit, but other than that I pulled the whole thing. It was nearly a individually TT, but I had to sit up and wait a few times. It was a good opportunity to practice my TT skills! But that is what being on a team is about, you can only go as fast as the slowest guy. Even with the trouble we had, we still made 4th place. Just like we did in KS. Next time we will get them. Eventually we made it back, and the day of racing was over. We went over a few things with the officials and then it was time to go eat.

Today was the largest turn out of Olaf racers ever, to my knowledge. 15 of us overall. 3 in the A, 7 in the B, and 5 women. Good deal. I hope they all had fun. The best result from the B came from kyle who got in a break, but the crashed on the last corner. Despite that he was able to come in 5th. He was bleeding all over I hear, and he is sucking it up and racing tomorrow. Props to him. Bria was our top women, pulling in a nice 7th.
Well done today everyone.

Pictures to come, maybe?

Finally

12, April 2007. 8:07 A.M.

12, April 2007. 5:42 P.M.

Finally the weather is getting better!

It's a bit late (I forgot my camera at the shop for the weekend).
But if the Easter Bunny did not make it to your house, this is why....

A rare second post,

but I feel the ride this afternoon deserves a write up.
It all started with the usual 3:30 meeting at das Haus. While waiting for Finn to pump up his tires, I said to Brandon "I hope it does not snow, at least not wet snow." A good foreshadow of things to come. We then rolled over to Carleton and picked up a few of them. It was then off to the course for some hard hills. Sean and I both stopped for a nature break, and the rest of the group picked it up I believe, but no worries, we caught back up after a few miles of riding into the ever increasing ESE wind. Soon after we got to the course and start going hard up the one of the longer hills. It was good, Finn put in a pull, then Sean got to the front and guttered us all, why exactly I am not entirely sure, but no point in complaining. From there the pace held, but as the wind got stronger as we came out of the trees it got harder. By the top I was tired and slowed, for I thought we were going to rest on the downhills. Nope...As we came down the hill before the uphill before the gravel, Sean got a flat. Some things happened that I won't bother mentioning, but my CO2 pump did not work, luckily there were some U guys who had decided to come ride the course, and while they were on their way back they came across us and Sean pumped his tire up a bit. At that point the weather was starting to get a bit crappy, the snow and wind were picking up. Sean went back in, and Brandon and I did another lap (Finn and the rest had already gone in). Right about then the snow started really picking up, not dry snow, but wet wet snow. However, we kept the pace fairly high going up the hills, on the hill again before the gravel I was pulling near the top, Brandon decided to attack. I was definitely not ready for that, so I had to do some chasing. I caught back soon enough and we traded pulls for a bit. By now I could hardly see through my glasses, and my legs were totally soaked. Near the Stop ahead sign I was pulling, and Brandon again attacked. Bad for me, mostly because I had just been pulling hard into a fierce cross wind, and secondly a long downhill with the wind was coming up. Being on my cross bike I spin out real easy. After cutting it close getting across the intersection I of course soon spun out. I was holding the same 20 meter gap the whole time though, as soon as the road started to level out I was able to pull right back up to him. We then kept the pace fairly high coming into town. I was planning on sprinting, but by the time we got to the townline I could not move my hands because my gloves were soaked and pretty much frozen. Sean was just coming out after switching bikes, "to see if we were still alive." Just barley! haha. So we just cruised back in getting ever colder.
All I have to say is thanks to Jan for his rain vest. Without wearing that today I would have been close to hypothermia I should think. It kept my core dry enough to keep producing heat.
Finally we got back to Olaf, I waited 10 minutes before showering, partly because I had to get multiple layers of soaked clothes off with numb/frozen hands...Hard stuff.
Then in the shower my skin was cold enough to make the water cold by the time it got to my feet (which stayed warm thank to neoprene)!
But that was the ride, pretty close to epic.

The weather

has been quite strange these last few weeks. Ever since the first day of spring break, where there were record highs set all over the state, the temp was dropping. by last Wednesday the high was 26 and it was 30 mph NW winds, which means it was really cold. By Easter it had gotten all the way back up to 40 degrees. It seems it is again taking a turn for the worse, as I look outside and see snow falling at 41 degrees?

Anyway, because of the cold last week I cut back a bit from my original training plan. One day I simply rode to the shop because the wind blew me there, I stayed there all day and worked on bikes so I did not have to go back into the wind. The next day I rode my cross bike in the woods once in the morning and once at night. Both for 90 minutes. During the evening ride I was out on a gravel road and came across a house with 3 fast dogs, I managed not to get eaten, only to end up at another house with 2 more fast dogs. Somehow I got away from them too. On the way back (I decided to run the gauntlet again) I was all ready to put the hammer down, but the dogs never came out. The next day Sean and I rode the same road, the dogs were missing. Kinda disappointing, it would make for a good sprint workout, just going back and forth in front of those houses.
Other news:
Easter was good, 15 people and two dogs came to my house, and we all ate good food. Thanks mom and dad.
The race organization is pretty much done, now it just has to happen. Hopefully everything will run smoothly.
See the race flyer here, come and watch if you can.
Finally on that last post, could anyone tell me if "The Professor" is real or just a computer?

It got cold out,

but first. My comments about my race on Sunday may have sounded harsh. Yes I was disappointed in not winning, but like I said that is bike racing, Atlas mans (Tracy) strategy worked better than mine. That is how it goes. What I said was not meant to be taken that seriously, it was mostly just giving Tracy crap. I am sorry if you were so upset by it, the whole calling him an asshole was probably a bit much. Please take this as an apology. And for everyones future reference, when it seems like I am bitching about something during a race or the likes. It usually just means I am giving who ever crap, making fun of them, but not in a way intended to piss anyone off. And hey, I know my race strategy sucks. Just trying to drop everyone does not work anymore.
Congrats to Tracy for being able to hold on the whole race and go around in the end for the win.
That's all I am going to say on that.

That brings me on to this week. Yesterday was I think the largest group ride between Olaf and Carleton ever. There were a total of 15 or 16 people there. Wow, nearly as big as a collegiate field! Sean and I just hung out and went easy, but many of the other went hard on multiple occasions. It was a good ride.
Today the weather took a turn for the worse, but I stuck to my plan of riding the full course. The wind was a steady 22 mph. (I think is what NOAA said) with gusts of what felt like hurricane force. All from the NW which means it was cold, so cold...Luckily it stopped precipitating when I went out. But it was still cold, never above 37. And once in a while I was pelted by ice from the sky. Luckily it was small stuff, but it still stung. I rode out to the course and started my laps. I was surprised that the first took me just over 32 minutes (for 8.77 miles). Then on the second lap I realized it was the wind that was killing me. Going up one of the long hills directly into the hurricane was very taxing, and very very slow. On my 3rd lap Sean finally joined me, Finn and Kyle said they were going to. But I am told by Finn that they made it out to the course and started looking for me, but the wind was to strong for them and they went home. But round and round Sean and I kept going. On the last lap Andrew joined us. Good thing too he helped a lot on the way home.
For the 6 laps of the course it took me 3 hours and 27 minutes. That is a very very slow 52 or so miles. But I did it and feel fine now. With the 3/4 of a lap I needed to get started and finished, and all the hills getting to and from the course, I reckon I climbed about a mile in vertical feet today. Not bad.
After 5 hours of freezing I finally made it home. My hands and feet were quite numb, and even now are still chilled. But my legs still feel good, which is what matters!
I got some pictures from Nate Ryan from the KS weekend. Here are the best.

Warm up.

Chillin

Making Sean hurt.

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