Buck 6/28 29'er

Hit the woods @ 6-7th. Right w/top group, then had to let off. John, Barry & I traded leads often, Joel hung for a while. Barry ended 5th, John 6th & I ended closer than last week 7th OA of 54!! I was 20ft behind the two at top of last downhill b4 exit climb. The full rigid setup & subsequent climb to finish got in my head. Decided(or failed) w/SS rigid I'd die on downhill. Plus they'ed take me in sprint to finish w/gears so let them go. Not sure what happened to Sam O (mid-pack), Miller & Oachs absent. Check "Buck" link on right for official results. Great race, more climbing this week!!! Had to dig deeper. SS good & bad, can't complain about 29'er effect, love it. Next race "gears" weapon to kick it, no excuses. Duncan did 2 laps for the first time. He finished ahead of Rec tail end & had fun. Way to go!!! Unlike every other race night, he was actually tired tonight when we got home....... Good night!

Ye Old Geeks' Train'n

I’m a real live geek. I analyze all day at work…..that’s ok. However, analyzing biking is enjoy-able! Some days have it all figured out, others it's a daze. Still, staring at accomplishments & doctor jeckl’n is quite motivating for me. I have schedule up to Leadville, I know I'll fall off to recover as needed. I'm old, due to consequence, recovery is key! Long rides are important for Leadville too. The mix between long & short become a real challenge this time of year. No matter, if all done right I'll start really fly'n..... Below are screen shots of my lab. BwaaHaHa. Keep in mind what works for me may drag ya & visa versa. If you’re looking to learn about training (about you), I recommend a read through "training links" articles I gathered on right boarder of this page. The Friel bible is good too. Call or write. Ride, get strong, recover well.

Floyd, Leadville 100 MTB

My top 100 finish last year provides a seeded start, next to Floyd. I'm going to kick his artificial hip. Latest news article re-confirms the rumor, that he's in the 2007 Leadville 100 MTB.

Nothing

Missed Dirt Spanker race. See right side of page for picture links & other racer reports... Below are real 6/21 Buck results (Penn still missing correct report!)

Buck Hill #6 Single Speed

5 days after Horribly Hilly felt great at Buck, go figure. Equiped w/ 32x19 SS 29'er wondered how I'd fair. The warm up lap, painful, climb not fun. At race start ended up in woods about 16th. On first climb I passed many....Tim, Joel & Jan challenged-passed me....at least I think it was those three. Somehow I found the strength passing all 3 before top. John & Pete?, Penn guys, we're on my tail, I passed before switchbacks. By the end of first lap, as I spun, they snuck into woods ahead. I passed them up tower hill, I think. It's sort of a blur but ended up passing one of the two penn guys mid-race for good. Tim & I went back and forth 3+ times. On 3rd lap I cranked by Tim for the last time. I was surprised never to see Jan mid/late race like ussual. Charged after Barry & John only to end up some -20 sec. Not a bad race!! 10th place of 47. Happy considering SS was brutal stress on top of hill climb AND last Saturday did 126miles of horribly hilly. Duncan won the beginner class by seconds over Jordan, she's getting fast. He got the "move up cheer," I think he's going to do it. Cool!!! No rain, tacky, post bbq & beverages, lots of fun. Brendan & Chris slammed a beverage for overall series 1 title. We all learned Brendan can slam as fast as he can ride....wow pops, nice slam. Chris may not have been trying...

Horribly not RAAM

Done!! Did the 200km with 6 detour miles (due to road constuction). It was Horribly Hilly. No big issues. My third greater than 100mi ride ever. This was 126 miles. Good leadville training. Took 7:45 bike, 8:10 total w/fuel stops(according to clock at end). Here's 2006 official times and dnf's. Did I mention it was horribly hilly? My max downhill spd 47 mph, seriously!! Many climbs like Taylors Falls or Afton road like. Used my 2001 chromo Bianchi, did well, green machine. On ride I kept thinking about Bernie and Greg doing the RAAM! The team of four was in 3rd last I checked. They wanted me to do it. Ha, we're they joking? I'm still learning how to road ride! Check out the fellow Minnesotians blog or go to RAAM site to see how "team strong heart" is doing right now. Nailbitter!!

MNSCS#3 AFTON

85+ degrees, Manhandler, Shady & Grand Canyon all in, Afton was awesome. Duncan, Alta & Leo (DLA) in too! Nice trail improv's. One slight cramp twinge late race, took time & worked through it. Perhaps my best race. 15th of 33 in EXPERT, 2hrs22min. It was fun to pedal near top 10 for a bit, nice to chat with Tom & Barry. Training is on-track ...expecting faster, stronger as Leadville nears. Horribly Hilly 200km next. Duncan did an excellent job as my fuel manager. He's also is getting faster. Most importantly he's having a blast. Way to go podium boy! In picture. P.S. above pic from skinny ski. Picture links added on right side of page "links". Check John Pederson on-line archive, I ordered, his quality is top notch.