Afton 24 was 2 & 4 + 8 + 1 + 1 +

THE RACE COURSE: The LCR trail was good no?? I didn't help out as much this year but the team did a swell job preping for months. The Afton maintenance guys tear up the grounds without notice often. Work around & ceative fixes are a challenge. Climbing? Manhandler up, up and even farther up, nice. DLA (Duncan, Leo, Alta) stayed in good form all race. My kids helped build that shortctcut! Afton Gully was back in, sweet huh? SOME RACE RE-CAP: Duncan started race with the hill run up & down for his co-ed duo team. Duncan 14yrs old & Micole 16yrs old!!!! Those kids rocked 6 & 4 laps respectivley. So proud of Duncan basically biking manhandler every lap!! Do you know what jersey pockets are really for.....? Duncan packed a tuna cheese sandwich, cookie & water for his own picnic on crown point (he's got an eye for self gratification!!) Video of run start, Dunc w/white helmet...... I raced Hillside the day before to make sure legs we're opened(first race since leadville). It worked. Hillside hurt. Afton never gave me a cramp or whine. We'll I wined a bit, however generally when asked legs responded. I'm happy with a few 37min, a 38min & many other good fun laps near 40 minutes(9 laps). My first hotlap Friday night was 15 sec faster than my Saturday hotlap. Saturday hotlap was all about smart terrain use. Friday night hotlap was all about physco climbing. My Dad captured one on video. Must be my fastest manhandler climb ever. I love Afton climbs......roar! We placed 3rd in open. Our LCR team & Penn we're back anf fourth for 16 laps then Penn crept away. We couldn't keep climbing pace to hold off the Jack advantage. The Penn & Velo/Wood team we're fun to spin round with. Both Brendan & Jack had fast laps. Brendan's timing shows one 33min lap but fastest lap scoreboard has Jack w/fastest lap. Maybe Brendan's 33min lap wasn't right? Who cares, fast is fast & they had it. Jack had many 34 - 35 min laps....wow. Nice work kids. No one but Jack could pace Sam n' Brendan so the great american salad bowl combo Velo/Wood team easily took 1st as expected. :) Dan Dittmer solo winner just back from leadville....22 solo laps!!!! Sam St.Peirre just off his 10th Leadville finish came home to score 3rd in 8hr category w/10 laps. Nice! Ah yeah, ever heard of Cody? if he stays at it, look out... CAMPING SUPPORT BANG! It was fun to have 4+4+4+2+1+? So many LCR houligans. Yep, what a bunch of who haws. Friends, family, Chuck from Behind Bars (our team sponsor) all came out to make it even more of a party. Chuck from Behind Bars was out there supporting the event and all racers, nice. THE EVENT WAS: The timing system was real time awesome. Easy for remote or on-site peeps to see lap times and rankings. Food!!! missed breakfast and Friday night burgers but taco's post-race was killer!! Can't have too much food. It apears the food per person formula is perfect. The awards we're a bit goofy, no fastest lap award and some confusion. Prizes, not so much. YET the timing sytem, food, games, general fun for core racer & plenty of bodies helping is more important than bling bling. no? Kid Reimer was mising due to family emergency so that mattered too...... BEST LAP EVER: My last lap was my highlight of the weekend. I drew the short straw - last man to rotate. It was ride or be riddled by the sisters all year. I didn't have to explain issue to Duncan. He agreed to take a 4:45pm lap with me. So we cleaned up the horrible mess in the pop-up camper. Ignoring the afternoon "laze" and 22 hours of prior trails pack'n up camp wasn't easy. Duncan was very helpful for a good 30 min then slept in the van while I drank two recovery beers & finished pop'n down camper. Camp was packed!! So anyway Duncan & I slammed a taco, took some tools, rain gear then headed out at 4:45pm for a lap! Watching my boy hamer up manhandler and charge those corners was priceless. We chatted and ripped it up. A father moment I will never forget........

Not Never Sore, Never Sore

Since Leadville the goal has been to ride it out recover while staying ative. Earlier in the year it was hard o get sore, no more. Sore instead of recovering..... Like this weeked, frisbee!! I ran around for 2 hrs Saturday & another hour Sunday doing my best David Lee Roth kung foo mid-air float spread eagle disc catches. It was a bare foot bee fest flashback to high school daze. Problem is I ain't no young chump no more. It's not like my training preps me for Running and jumping. Ha ha ha. Anyway the weekend as awesome as 4 familiy's got together to camp at Willow Creek State Park. Campfire, river swimming, frisbee, beach, a dam, some biking, lots of kids enjoying summer and lots of food. Awesome. See the jiffy pop? Duncan is the mastert jiffy pop cooker. Riding in the Afton 2-4. LCR team vs. like Penn Cycle team, might be close. Should be good friendly rivialry. Duncan doing duo with Mocole. Velo, Hollywood teams merging into a WoodVelo? A woodn bike? That doesn't sound like an appropriate "team" name. HollyVelo? No matter it will be a great time!!! Maplelag, Chequamegon, and on and on....this Jiffy will pop!!........

A Wet Brownie

Since Leadville Saturday been taking it easy. It's been a month of not sleeping much as work has me way stressed. Won't go into it but simply say corporate america at it's finest. ANYWAY, recently rode the peugeot flat pedler O black steel to Erik's, then went to an eatery to enjoy a beverage outside in the SUNSHINE!! Felt good to relax. Amy even caught me sitting on a couch recently (I never sit unless working or studying!) FAT. Finished a Summer class a few weeks ago. 4 more & the MBA is mine. Oh yeah, biking. Today I hit Cedar Trail, Mount Curve area by Walker Art Center and also did a hot lap at Brownie Lake. Even though it rained all week trail was very good. The sun came out on the way home, France Ave, St Louis Park. Oh, pic below at mile 80 of Leadville. Yup more goof'n than racing in CO. Planning an Elk River, maybe Afton24, and for sure Maplelag MNSCS Laddies Loppet Race (3 race weekend). You should really stay at Maplelag to enjoy the home cooking, hot tub, crit, tt & xc. IT's the funnest all around race weekend hands down. Later.

Leadville 2009 Results

Link to results http://www.milliseconds.com/races/detail/1204

One Big and Two Small Leadville Buckle Trophies

Although 2 hours slower than 2007 sub-9 effort can't say I'm not happy, finished it Single Speed rigid fork with too stiff a gear ratio. My goal was to give the big buckle a shot again with 9-10 hrs reasonable. We'll after fighting traffic on first climb with a slow cadence like abusive patience, the first forty miles went well enough(2:50ish minutes). Maybe I should have spun out the start like a hamster on a turbo wheel to avoid more of the first climb madness. Either way I have a feeling columbine climb would have crushed me with 32x19 29'er. The other SS'ers around me we're in a much easier gear no doubt! So at top of Columbine 45minutes slower than 2007 I knew the rest of the day was going to be a causual event for me.

I saved my legs for other 2009 races walking alot. It was fun to see all the other MN riders, other SS'ers, all the Women and such (passed by 500?). I have all the respect for every racer. Like Sam St.P from MN who completed is 10th time this year, wow. Steve W. from ND finishing near 11hrs first time. Dan D finishing way under 9hrs again. Did I wish I had gears and/or suspension, nope, not once. I had a good day and knew I'd finish again. The Origin-8 Black Ops rigid fork worked great. My arms are fine after round 3. 3 tries, 3 buckles, unless you've done Leadville MTB 100 you have no idea!!! Nice job to all from MN it was great to see you all. Better than seeing Lance for me anyway.

Thanks to my Dad and daughter Alta for coming out. It was a great time for all of us hanging out in Leadville, Denver and even a side trip to Breckenridge. So there. See you all soon.

Leadville 2009

Lance 6hr28min, Weins near 7.

I sufferred bad with SS rigid. Gear too stiff!! First 40 miles sub 9 pace. Yet walked much and finally finished 10hrs57min!!!! Lots of rain, hail, wind and sun. Epic.

Saw many MN and some from ND? Not sure how everyone finished. Hollywood jersey, a POS jersey, and John Sandberg passed me. Rebbeca beat me by 20min. Sorry no other info. Later.

Leadville Paper Prep & NC Vaca Pics

Aug 6th Buck Hill

Looks like ba ba ba-buck results are up. All I can remember is I didn't feel as hot as normal out there last night. Start was ok but hurt! Last week big push in NC Smokey Mtns beat me down a bit. I ended closer to 2.75 min off leader instead of 2 min like last few times at Buck. 45 seconds slower (ended 7th pl. of 108). Sandbox kept reeling me back in after each climb gap effort lap 4, got me at finish when I took sandbox (slower) line. Good work. Amy & Leo did beginner, Duncan intermeadiate, Alta just hung out and enjoyed the big party. Great numbers/crowds all around for the last race! I have more pictures of the NC trip and what not to still post. Too busy, gotta finish my last school assignment before 6pm. Not sure about Buck Sunday. To ensure SS finish at leadville next Saturday might bow out. .....H