Life on a Bike

2010 Report and January Report

2011-02-07T01:51:00.002-05:00

First of all, yes, it has been a really long time since I have put anything on here. And yes, I am about a month late on the 2010 report. But once the MTB season picked up, so did school, and I got really busy and then fell out of the habit of writing. I am still busy with school now, but I should be working on my project proposal for my comps, and procrastinating is one of my favorite things to do, so here is my tentative return to blogging.

2010 was a weird year. If I was going to describe it, I was just say "eh." No spectacular rides, and my only wins came as part of 24 hour teams. The knee injury put a damper on pretty much the whole year, and the first half of the year saw me train almost not at all (due to the injury and laziness). Once I found a temporary cure for my knee problem, I got back on the bike and got excited about riding again. This all happened about mid-July. My best race of the year turned out to be Lone Peak Revenge, something that I did not plan, and didn't really want. Capping the year with some sort of sickness at MTB Nationals and a ride that wasn't quite what I was looking for at Iceman, it was just a so-so year. Comme ci, comme ca.

The best move I made in 2010 was to start training with a coach and a structured training plan. It obviously didn't make me magically faster at the end of the year, but it did help me feel stronger, and it set me up for a good 2011. Now with my "rebuilding" seasons behind me, it is time to get serious and start winning again. Its time to get back to my form of a few years ago.

I ended 2010 with 376.81 hours of working out in some form. The most of these hours was spent on the road bike, with 143.3 hours, followed by time on the MTB at 123.39 hours. Time on the trainer was a distant third at 53.83 hours. The disparity between time on the road bike and time on the MTB was a little bigger this year, but that is likely due to not being able to consistently ride my MTB in Montana until mid- to late June. I rode 4046 miles total in 2010, about 500 miles less than 2009, and over 1000 miles less than 2008. Hopefully I can fix my knee and get back to my number of 2008.

In 2010, I competed in 20 races, up from 14 races in 2009, but down from 28 races in 2008. I only did one century way back in March, and ended with 139 days off- an average of about 12 days off per month or three days per week.

2011 already promises to be a much better year, as I had a very strong January. I trained for 39.83 hours. This is up from 33.1 hours last January, 9.6 of which I counted from skiing (almost all downhill). This year none of my training hours consisted of skiing. If I did do any activities outside of riding, such as skiing or playing hockey, I didn't include them in my training log, so I am not deluding myself or padding my training stats. I only rode outside four times in January, which means I spent way too much time riding the rollers, but I am sure it will be worth it later this year. I took seven days off last month.

The biggest difference has been having a coach. Accountability has been the reason for such a solid month of training. There were many days when I didn't feel like getting on the bike, but knowing that I would have to justify not training to my coach made me get off my butt. I have been on the rollers for 4 hour rides the past two Sundays, which have tested my mental fortitude greatly, but I have made it through both of them. I am desperately hoping I can ride outside more consistently soon, though.

So, anyway, I am sorry for not having written in so long and there is plenty I could write about from the end of last season, or vacation back in Michigan, but I really probably should get back to writing about [FeFe]-Hydrogenase maturation protein HydE.

A break from Winter

2010-09-21T13:36:00.003-04:00

So, obviously I haven't written in a few weeks, and unfortunately, a lot has happened since then. I kept meaning to write about the races that I have done since then, but never really felt like it. So, before I get into the meat of this post, I'll give a quick recap of the three races you missed.

1. Leverich Canyon Crank Up:

I actually hate this course. It is so steep going up and so steep going down, and since those are the only two things you do on this course, there is never a moment of relaxation. The first lap was so bad for me, that I actually walked a section. And did my awesome manual derailleur move when my front would not work (get off the bike and manually put my chain on the small chain ring). After the first lap, I started feeling better, but still ended up getting last place finisher. It also rained and stormed and hailed at one point during the race, and I got so hypothermic that I started thinking some really weird things (like the loudness of my breaks was making the thunder louder).
This race also started the in-house challenge: The CAF Bozeman chapter has three guys in it and we have a weekly race challenge and the loser has to do something weird or stupid that is decided on before-hand. I lost and had to deliver a heart-shaped Jello mold to our neighbors that we had never met before.
8 Hours of Labor:
This race was kind of fun, but mostly disastrous. I was doing really well the first lap, leading the pack, when all of the sudden I had to stop for cows. They did not want to budge, so by the time they finally got out of the way, I had lost my lead on second and third. Then came the big cow shit piles. I ended up getting cow shit in my nose. That makes for some pretty bad racing when you can't get that smell (or the shit) out of your nose. Then on the second lap I took a wrong turn and got lost. Then once I got back on track I flatted. After my break and Trevor's laps, I went back out with new optimism. Unfortunately, it's Montana. And racing in Montana just wouldn't be the same for me if I didn't get hailed on at one point. So I did. Then on this same set of laps I got another flat. When I came in for that lap, I decided I was going to be done before anything else bad happened.

By the way, the CAF weekly challenge was whoever had the fastest first two laps, which is why I was going so fast in the beginning. The challenge was neutralized, though, due to cow stampede and me getting lost.

3. WERKS XC:

Finally a good day to race in Montana. I felt pretty junky my first lap, probably due to lack of sleep all week due to first week of school partying, but I recovered and it ended up being a great day and a really fun race.

Now for the really fun part. The collegiate race that was planned for this weekend was canceled, so the original plan was to finally have a weekend with no racing. But the weather on Friday turned for the worse (big surprise). So at 9 pm, some friends and I decided we couldn't handle the weather any more and chose to go to Utah instead. We ended up getting in at 5 am, with a 7 am race start for a 12 Hour race. The race was at Sundance resort; here is a picture of the sun rising up on the mountain:
Even though the sun was coming up on the mountains, it was still dark at the start line, with Zach taking the first two laps:
Since, we did not sleep at all the night before the race, any of our time off the bike was spent trying to sleep under the truck and the tarp. Its actually pretty amazing how comfortable concrete is when you are really tired.
The race was really awesome. The course was so much fun, with a lot of awesome singletrack and no really big hills. The Maples were starting to change, so the first couple laps when the sun was rising, the trail was pink with the sun coming through the red leaves. This trip was exactly what I needed after riding in wet, cold weather for the past few weeks. I am actually averaging once a week for getting hailed on during bike rides. But it was sunny and warm and the leaves were starting to change and the trail was awesome. I was happy.

Then after sleeping for 12 hours, we went for a fun ride outside of Salt Lake City. We shuttled, so the ride was almost completely downhill. Once again, the trail was sweet and the leaves were changing. The aspens were all turning yellow, and they smelled so good. Once again, I was happy. This was the most fun I have had since I was back in Michigan in May.

This weekend is the Bangtail Ballbuster, the race weekend I am hosting. It includes a point-to-point XC, about a 15 minute downhill Super D, and a short track XC.

Lummis

2010-08-27T19:07:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, Jason Lummis of the Bell's Beer MTB team was hit by a driver who never stopped. He is currently in the ICU at Michigan. Keep him and his family in your thoughts.

The police are looking for a FORD F250, F-350, or EXCURSION with a BROKEN PASSENGER SIDE MIRROR. PLEASE BE ON THE LOOKOUT. Especially in the DEXTER-PINCKNEY AREA. Anyone with information about the crash or the driver of the vehicle that stuck Lummis should call the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department tip line at 734-973-7711.

Updates on his condition will be posted on the Bell's MTB Team facebook page

Bangtail Blast, Smashing Glass, and a drink with Neptune

2010-08-24T00:21:00.003-04:00

This past Saturday was a really good day.

It started with a MTB ride with some GAS/Intrinsik Architecture guys on the Bangtail Divide Trail No. 504. This is the trail that I will be hosting the MSU race on next month. Because of this, I have ridden a lot of the trail at different times for route planning, but Saturday was the first time I got to ride the whole thing this year- and it was just as much fun as I remember it. The beginning and the end of this trail are about 7 miles apart from each other on paved road, so unless you have a shuttle car, you have to ride a little on the road, and we started on this part on Saturday. The MTB ride starts up the Stone Creek switchbacks, which makes for about a 45-50 minute pure climb. Most of the rest of the ride is along the ridge, and we had a tailwind for this section, so it was very fast. The ride ends with about a 20 minute pure downhill that is so much fun. Riding the trail got me very excited for the race next month- it is going to be epic. Below is an elevation profile for the course. The whole ride, including the road portion, took us 3 hours and 1 minute. The race for the A's is probably going to be about 2 hours.

After the ride, I had lunch at MacKenzie River Pizza with Rich and Lizzie, who were stopping through Bozeman on their road trip across the country. They actually spent a good amount of time in Canada and now they are (roughly) on their way back to Ann Arbor.

Then came time for a job that my friends and I had not been looking forward to for a long time. Bozeman does not recycle glass, and the nearest place to recycle it is in Livingston, a town about 30 minutes away (they don't actually recycle it either, they crush it and reuse it in roads and other projects). So we filled up the bed of my truck with all the glass we had been saving for the past few months and started driving.

None of us really knew what to expect, but I think we were thinking the recycling center was just going to have a big dumpster for all the glass. It turns out it was an area of pavement blocked off by cement road barriers (stacked two high and probably 3 long). It looked like most people simply backed into the area and brushed all the glass off their truck, which we were about to do as well. Then Tyson threw one of the bottles into the back of the pit and it shattered, and we realized how much fun this task was going to be. We threw each piece of glass in one by one (except when we wanted to try doubling or tripling up). At one point another guy came and dropped off his glass rather gently and gave us a weird look. We got especially excited with bottles such as Pendelton, which is really thick glass. I am pretty excited for when we get to return our glass again. The only disappointing part was thinking that all this glass probably could have been worth about $150 in Michigan.

On the way out of Livingston, Brad spotted a hole in the wall on a side alley called Neptune's Brewery. I had never heard of it, and it sounded excited so I turned around and we checked it out. It turned out being the best beer I have had in Montana. They had 11 beers on tap, and all the ones that I tasted were absolutely amazing. They also sold one of the coolest growlers I have ever seen, so naturally, I had to get one of those and fill it up. I filled it with an amazing Chimay. I wish I had a picture of the growler to show, but maybe I will post one soon just to show it off because it is so cool.

The day ended with some grilling over at 422 N. Fourth and a bonfire. Oh yeah, did I mention I had originally planned on going into work for about 10 hours after my bike ride. I am glad I got distracted.

Lone Peak Revenge XC

2010-08-15T17:51:00.002-04:00

It was a cold, rainy, October day...in August. I woke up in Bozeman and it was raining and 40 degrees F outside, but weather.com had promised that there would not be any rain in Big Sky. As Trevor, Lydia, Christine, and I were driving down, this turned out to be partially true, and stayed partially true all the way through the race. There was a good amount of sun, but it also was drizzling, depending on which side of the mountain you were on.

It actually turned out to be a perfect temperature for a bike race. I had to wear knee and arm warmers while warming up, but during the race, it was not too hot, and everyone raced in shorts and a jersey. Minus a bunch of mud, the conditions were perfect (and actually the mud made it kind of fun- the downhill was very reminiscent of riding out east).

As for the race, it started with me getting the hole shot, but I am pretty sure that is just because nobody else wanted it. I soon got passed by three of the top four, but then I had a pretty good gap on everyone else behind me. Then another couple miles into the first lap, Louis and Lydia passed me. Louis decided the best place to pass me was through a mud puddle- he tried to bunny hop it, but ended up landing right in it and making about a 5 foot wake, that splashed me entirely. With the exception of a little leapfrogging on the second lap, I maintained 5th place in the Men's class for the entire race (6th overall since Lydia beat me- Lydia is competing at the World Cup and at World Championships in the next few weeks, so I am ok with it).

I felt so much better than I expected to feel, since all week my legs were still sore from the hike up to Granite. And a couple parts of the course were redone since last year to make it so much more fun that it was last year. This year I was able to stay in the middle ring the whole race (as opposed to last year, when I spent a decent amount of time walking because some of the sections were so steep).

Overall, it was a very fun race. I have not felt this good and have not had as much fun during a race since Iceman last November. I hope that this is a sign that I am returning to form (faster than expected) and that I can keep improving. My knee was bugging me a little on the last lap, but I am happy about that because it has been hurting a lot since the hike, because all the boulder hopping just destroyed it last week.

Granite Peak

2010-08-10T21:37:00.005-04:00

As promised, here is a post about Al's, Andrew's, Brad's and my trip up to the highest point in Montana.

At one point during the trip, we figured out that apparently this was my idea. I think it is one of my not as sane ideas in my life. Overall, the hike was ok, but the 7 hours hiking over boulders the second day really left a bad taste for all of us.

The hike started out with a nice gradual climb up to Mystic Lake, shown below.

Then after the lake, we began a pretty steep climb on a trail that had 28 switchbacks. On this section of trail, we gained about 2000 feet of elevation to get us up near the Froze-to-Death Plateau. Below is a picture of what most of our hiking looked like once we got onto the plateau. At this point, there ceases to be an actual trail (you just walk in the general direction of the Peak). It is roughly marked my cairns (rocks piled on each other). The only problem is, most of the time, the fog (or I should say cloud, since we were actually up in the clouds) was so dense that we had no idea where the cairns were, thus our hike across the plateau took a lot longer than planned.

Eventually we got to a point where the sun was starting to go down and we needed to set up camp. So we tried to find the smoothest spots possible, which involved moving a lot of rocks (and in the end just sleeping around the rocks underneath the tent). Before we went to sleep, the clouds around us cleared for a little bit, and we were able to see some peaks across the way sticking out of the clouds. So, we slept above the clouds for the night.

Here is a picture from our campsite the next morning. Luckily, our second day was already turning out to be much nicer (at least in the beginning).

So we kept hiking across the plateau, and along the way ran into a lot of goats. The goats came very close to us, as the one the picture below is only about 3 feet away from me. They also kept us up all night digging at the rocks for some reason right outside of out tents. I was tempted to spray one with bear spray because he would not go away.

Then was time for climbing the actual peak. Most of this time, I was more scared than I have ever been. I was more scared on this climb than I was when I was climbing over Panda, the bull. The first major scary part was what is called the snow bridge. It is a section of snow over a saddle that is about 20 feet long and only about 3 feet wide. And the snow drops off right away, so falling would results in about a 1000 foot slide to death. I went across basically scooting on my butt.

Then, after the snow bridge, the entire rest of the climb involved scaling up rock faces that are really high and very vertical. It was pretty unnerving for me, since I have absolutely zero rock climbing experience in my life.

Eventually, about 200 feet short of the summit, we all decided it was getting way too scary for us and we decided to turn around. Here is a nice Michigan Cycling picture of us as high as we got.

Then came the way down. We decided we wanted to explore a different way down and not take the plateau back. When we looked out at the next ~3 miles of what we had to do, for some reason we didn't register the fact that there appeared to be absolutely no trail across the boulder field that extended further than we could see. I thought that there would be a trail once we got a little lower. There wasn't. The picture below shows much of what we spent about 7 hours hiking over. Sometime the rocks were really loose, so we had to be careful not to start rockslides (which we were not always successful at). Sometimes the boulders were the size of cars and trucks and were also difficult to find a way around.

Finally, we found our way to a river, which led us back to a very primitive trail. Here is a good picture of a waterfall along the river.

Like I said, overall, I want to say that I enjoyed this hike. But the second half of the second day was just miserable for all of us. Brad is still having trouble walking because the bouldering put humongous blisters on his feet. And it started storming and downpouring on us when we were still trying to get out. And we had to hike the last three miles in complete darkness. So, if I was to ever do this again (I'm still telling myself I will never do it again), I will make sure to stay away from the way we went the second day.

July Report

2010-08-08T18:45:00.003-04:00

July is by far the best cycling month I have had since I have moved to Montana. It started out great, with the first month that I made it through the first week without taking any time off. The knee brace has really been helping my knee, and I have been starting to wean myself off of it (though a recent backpacking trip may have set me back a little with the rehab).

I ended July with 6 days off, 40.35 total hours on the bike, 514.3 miles ridden, and 1 race. I spent 23.65 of the 40.35 hours on the MTB, so it is nice to finally have the ratio back in the favor of mountain biking, though there is probably only a little over a month of good mountain bike riding left here in Montana.

Through July, I have already taken 87 days off, which is 41% of the year. Hopefully I can finish out the year with numbers like July so that I can not take more than 50% of the year off. It is true that a lot of the time off is due to the knee injury, but a lot of it is not.

It should be easier to keep this pace going, since right now my racing schedule looks like I will have a race all but three weekends starting this weekend going until Iceman. Also, as I mentioned before, I should have a more structured training plan once I start talking to a cycling coach.

That's it for now. Look forward to a post in the next couple days about Al's and Andrew's trip here from Michigan and our adventure up to Granite Peak (the highest point in MT, 12,799 ft).

Bohart Bash and other stuff

2010-07-25T16:54:00.011-04:00

Yesterday was the Bohart Bash- a 25 mile race that is pretty different than most races in the area because it is a little more of a rolling course. This race usually has one of the bigger turnouts for a MTB race in Montana, and there were 10 people racing in the Pro/Cat. 1 field. I got 9th (and the 10th place guy didn't finish). Overall, though, it was a great race, mainly because it is the first race I have done this year with any pain in my knee. It was also a really fun course and a really fun event. I actually got lapped by the 1st and 2nd place guys, but I don't feel so bad because they just got 12th and 27th at MTB nationals last weekend in the Pro field. Thanks to Molly for the water bottle hand-offs on a pretty hot day.

As for the other stuff, most of my rides lately have been trying to scout out a good venue for a Super D course for the MSU mountain bike weekend this fall. This has involved a lot of riding up fire roads and abandoned logging roads and dirt roads (and sometimes trail) and then coming down sometimes super sketchy stuff. I actually even had a pretty good crash on Friday night going down a trail that some DHers that I passed said is "really sick." It isn't too bad of a gig, but I am looking forward to finding a good spot so I can just go back to normal riding.

Also on Friday night, on the same trail that I crashed on, I saw a moose. At first glance, and my first thought was "what is a cow doing all the way out here." But then I saw that it was a lot bigger than a cow. It was actually a cow moose. Sorry that I don't have a picture, but she was only about 50 feet away, so I wanted to get away as soon as possible.

I do have pictures, though, of a pretty sweet spot at the top of this same trail called Fairy Lake. It is a place up in the Northern Bridgers you can access by car. The pictures obviously don't really do it justice, but it is one of most stunning places I have ever seen. Also in the pictures, you can see that there is still a little bit of snow left. I actually rode by a few big piles of snow on my ride today. So, there is still a pretty good amount of snow left at the end of July, and these places aren't actually that high (about 7500-8000 feet).

Here is a picture from the next ridge over. You can see the lake in the left center part of the picture. The pointy peak is Sacajawea Peak, which is the tallest point in the Bridgers, and you can actually hike to it.

Back to life (on a bike) (again)

2010-07-13T21:38:00.002-04:00

I know it has been a while. And I know I used this title at the end of last year (minus the "again"), but hopefully this time it is for real.

Mainly I have not updated my blog because there has not been much to talk about (Besides 24 Hours of Boyne and my whole trip back to Michigan, which I meant to write about but never got around to it). Back in April, my right knee started hurting anytime I would ride, so I took some time off in April and the beginning of May so that I could hopefully ride in Michigan. I rode pretty easy for the first part of my trip in Michigan, and I was able to enjoy a lot of Michigan trails (I got my money's worth out of an annual state parks pass while I was back). The first weekend I was there, I raced the Brighton stage race. The first day was a wreck because I had not slept in three days because of an eventful drive back ($900 car troubles), and Sunday I dropped out because I was again doing pretty bad and I did not want to hurt my knee just to get last (by a long shot).

So, like I said, most of the rest of the trip I spent going on really fun mountain bike rides, trying to hit all the trails I would normally be riding in Michigan over the summer. Then came 24 Hours of Boyne. Team Sofa King Fast is the reigning champion, and I wanted to do my part to continue the tradition (see Mike's blog for a post about the race...it was very good). The first two laps were pain free for my knee, but after that, it was all down hill (for the knee, not the course). The pain got progressively worse over the course of the race, and by my last lap, even a Tylenol-600 could not ease the pain. It actually hurt to walk for the next week or so.

So, when I got back to Montana, I went to the doctor to get it checked out. Of course, since I had not ridden on it in over a week, it was feeling better and the doctor could not get any symptoms out of me with that analysis. And with the X-Ray on hand, he said my knee checks out fine. This was good news and bad news. Good news because it must not be anything serious, bad news because I still do not know why it hurts to ride my bike. He said to start physical therapy and come back if it is not better in a couple months.

I started physical therapy, and at about the same time, dug out of the closet a knee brace I bought a few years back when my knee was bothering me because my saddle was too far back. I put it on and went for a ride and voila- no pain. I have been using the knee brace since then and have been able to ride consistently without it hurting. I am still doing physical therapy so that hopefully I can get out of the brace soon, because it is really hot and I am starting to get a pretty bad tanline on the one leg.

With that said, I am finally starting to feel comfortable about the prospect of racing seriously again. I have been riding much more consistently now. So hopefully I can regain some of the form I have lost over the past year (I also am still getting acclimated to winter lasting through June). My next race is going to be in a week and half- the Bohart Bash.

Since I haven't mentioned it yet, I joined a racing team this year, and will be sporting the colors of the Gallatin Alpine Sports (GAS)/Intrinsik Architecture Racing team this year. There is a link to the team website on the right. Those colors are orange and white. It is a little weird for me to wear something other than a Block M after exclusively racing for Michigan for so long, but I am actually starting to like it. At 24 Hours of Boyne, Mike did not recognize me when I was there to hand off because I was wearing the GAS/Intrinsik jersey, so I think it will take a little getting used to for everybody.

Finally, I am going to be moving into a house with a couple guys in a couple weeks, which means I will be saving a lot of money on rent. Right now the plan is to use some of that money to finally go the route of being a coached rider. I feel like it will help me get past the plateau I am on (or at least was on before the knee trouble), and hopefully it will prevent more injuries due to biking.

That's all for now. Sorry for such a long post with no pictures. I promise pictures next time.

Seattle

2010-03-30T17:17:00.003-04:00

This past weekend, I went with the Montana State Cycling team to race a circuit race and TTT at WWU and a criterium at UW. The weekend started out nice enough, with nice weather upon departure, and figuring out how many bikes I can get in my truck. You can see from the picture that we got five bikes in the bed and four on the hitch rack. The value of the bikes was about three times the value of my car.

Other than a lot of wind, the first part of the drive was pretty uneventful. Then two miles from the Idaho border, on top of Lookout Pass, my tire blew out. The picture says it all with this one. Well, not all of it. When we got the jack and spare tire out, we realized that the spare was riddled with holes and cracks because of serious dry rot. Oh, and the jack was too short, and the tire iron is too big. Luckily, the flat occurred right in front of a rest stop, because none of us had service. So we used the payphone to call for a tow truck, which took us to the nearest city with a tire service place, which was 40 minutes away. In the end, we made it to Seattle with only about a 2.5 hour delay.

The race on Saturday was a 6 lap, 50 mile circuit race. I got dropped halfway through, so I did a sweet solo break off the back for the last half of the race. I ended up pulling my calf during the race, so when I tried to race the TTT later that day, I made it about a mile before getting dropped by the team. I ended up not racing Sunday because my calf was hurting so bad.

But the weekend wasn't over yet. On the way back, down the mountain passes, my truck started making a weird noise whenever I was coasting. So that worried me all the way back to Bozeman. But we did make it.

Now its snowing for the rest of this week.

Spring Breaks

2010-03-23T21:40:00.004-04:00

Plural Spring Breaks.

The spring breaks started with Steve, his brother Greg, and sister-in-law Jen coming out for a skiing trip. Unfortunately for them, it hadn't snowed here for three weeks before they came and it was unusually warm in Montana. So snow conditions were sub-par for what they came for. We still enjoyed the skiing, a couple days at Bridger Bowl and a couple days at Big Sky. We did some really fun runs including down the Schlesman's lift at Bridger and off of Lone Peak at Big Sky (which both were about 40 minute runs). Here is a picture of Steve and me on Lone Peak- 11,166 ft high.

We had some fun times not skiing, too. I took the three of them Western dancing. Steve didn't do any dancing, but Greg and Jen gave it a try. We also soaked a little in the Norris Hot Springs, and they spent a little time in Yellowstone when I had to be in school. Here is a picture of us enjoying a very odd lunch one of the days we were at Bridger. I think we had PB&J, yogurt, left-over pizza, which all went very well with a couple tall boys of PBR.

For my own spring break, I was planning on working, but it turned out that I had nothing to do in lab, so I kept up with the previous four years tradition of spring break and rode a lot. I ended up doing 335 miles over the week, including one century, which my legs were definitely not ready for.

I also went for a couple hikes. The unusually warm weather has melted a lot of the snow, especially on the southern facing slopes, so it made for some relatively dry hikes. Here is a picture of a river on one of the hikes I went on.

Well that's about it. I had two very good spring breaks and I had a lot of fun with Steve and Greg and Jen.

Race season is about to start. I think I am racing this weekend in Seattle, so look forward to hearing about that.

The Ridge

2010-02-14T20:41:00.004-05:00

Today on the way up the lift in the morning, Katie asked me how many times I've been skiing now. I said today was my 12th time (ever). Little did I know 45 minutes later I will have rented an avalanche beacon and hiking up the ridge. I told Matt while we were hiking it was only my 12th time ever skiing and he said he would take it into consideration when deciding where we would ski off the top of the mountain.

I was nervous on the way up, but it turned out to be an awesome hike up and a really fun time going down, too. We went up twice, which means I actually only did 3 runs in the 4.5 hours I was up at Bridger today (the runs are a little longer from the top, and hiking took a little while). This turns out to be a much better workout than just riding the lift up every time, and hence much more fun for me.

Here are some pictures from the top. It was a little cloudy today, so you couldn't see the Crazy's until later in the day, but enjoy.

Here is a link to the trail map at Bridger Bowl. We started climbing from the top of the Bridger lift. From the top of the hike, we hiked more right the first run, then left the second run. http://www.bridgerbowl.com/images/wwwtrail_map.pdf

Exciting Last Week

2010-01-27T13:28:00.002-05:00

This last week has been a pretty exciting one.

Let's start with last Thursday. I've probably already told this story to anyone that will listen to me, but if you haven't heard it, it is a good one. I was riding my bike down the road, minding my own business when I felt something knock my helmet and then I saw an open pudding cup fall on the ground next to me. My riding style has tamed a lot over the past few years, so I don't really ride really far out in the road or anything. But getting something thrown at me didn't really make me happy. So I chased them down. But they got away. Unluckily for them, though, I went to University of Michigan and know how to read- license plates are particularly easy. Also unluckily for them, the Bozeman Police Department doesn't usually have anything to do. So when I filed a police report, I got a phone call later that night with the cop telling me he tracked down the pudding thrower. It turned out he was a minor and didn't want to get in trouble, so he "was willing to apologize to me and maybe do something for me." But I said no and he got a ticket for disorderly conduct.

It was a pretty sweet outcome. Hopefully that's one less person now who thinks it is funny to mess with cyclists on the road.

Then it finally started snowing on Friday again. We had been without snow and cold weather for a couple weeks, so skiing wasn't very good (but bike riding was, so that was cool). Saturday skiing was pretty good. I thought it was awesome that there was powder up to my knees in some spots, but then on Sunday, at the beginning of the day, there was powder up to my chest in some spots. It was like skiing a fluffy cloud. It was an awesome experience.

Last night I made it to the gym and lifted weights for the first time in probably 3 years. I am still able to walk right now, but I assume as it gets past the 24 hour mark, it is going to be pretty silly to watch me try. Lifting isn't anything I have done seriously since I started biking, but I think I am at a point where doing endurance lifting would be useful. We'll see.

Well it is still snowing, so this weekend should be good for skiing too. I'll only get to ski Sunday, but I think the forecast is calling for snow on Saturday, so that should be good.

New Truck and Bull Riding

2010-01-21T14:18:00.004-05:00

When I was back in Michigan, I finally took the plunge and bought a vehicle. It is a 2002 Chevy S10. 4WD and 4-door. It runs great and already made it all the way out here to Montana. That was a nice 28 hour drive with no sleep. I made good use of the 4WD through most of Illinois and Wisconsin, where I was kept under 50 mph the whole way because a snow storm.

The only problem is now about half of my very funny jokes are obsolete.

Also while I was in Michigan, I rode my first bull. A real, live bull. I went with Sheldon and we each paid $25 for one ride (we both thought we would get more than one ride for this much money, but it was still worth it). Below is a picture of Panda, the bull that I rode.

I lasted 1.19 seconds and bull riding is much, much harder than it looks on TV. I was so scared as I was climbing over the gate to actually get on the bull, but it was probably one of the most fun things I have ever done. Despite shaking almost uncontrollably after I fell off, I wanted to get right back on and try again. The only damage I suffered was a little bruise on my shin where I fell, but I think if I had been wearing chaps, that would have not been a problem.

In other news, training has been going well. I have only taken one day off since getting back in Montana, and the weather has been pretty decent lately, so I have been able to get outside to ride a fair amount. I went for a nice 60 mile ride the other day (my longest ride since being in MT), and I am a little out of shape. The hills tore me up, but other than that and the strong headwind from the south, it was a great ride. I've been skiing a little, too, but because of the mild weather lately, we haven't had any new snow and the warm temperatures have been turning the snow on the mountain pretty icy, so that hasn't been as much fun lately.

2009

2010-01-01T00:55:00.003-05:00

The numbers for 2009 are dismal. In a year where I should have expanded on my training since I finally made the leap to Elite/Pro, I had my worst year in recent history.

I only rode 4515 miles and worked out 352 hours. Unfortunately, this works out to be less than one hour a day, which is way below par. Time spent on the MTB was still about the same as time on the road bike, though, so that is one good aspect of my training for the year.

With my ridiculously long hiatus from biking these past couple months, I took 33 more days off than last year, putting me to 137. That number has to go down.

My race count was half of what it was the previous year, with only 14. My only race win came with the Sofa King Fast team victory at Boyne. Finally, the year only included one century, when I usually do three or four.

Despite all this, I achieved my cycling goals for the year. My mission this year was to help Kelly develop into a better mountain biker and it happened. Kelly won the Sport Women 24 and under State Championship and she did very well at Iceman. So, yeah, it was a good year. Congrats to Kelly on her first full year of competition and good job with all the hard work.

The transition to Montana was hard and adapting is still a work in progress. But in order to start improving again and to get back to and beyond my competition level of 2008, I have to stop making excuses and get back to work.

I will make a picture collage soon of some of my favorite 2009 memories, but probably not until I get back to Montana, because I will probably use photoshop to make it. Happy 2010 everybody.

Back to life (on a bike)

2009-12-30T14:40:00.006-05:00

I haven't posted in a very long time. And my previous two posts didn't really have anything to do with biking. That's because I was on a bit of hiatus. Disappointment with the September snow and early end to my MTB season made me dislike biking for a little bit.

Now I am back in Michigan for break and I am trying to get back on track. The plan is to get back into training when I get back to Montana so I am at least able to race in the summer.

I have downhill skied twice now and that may turn out to be a winter activity that I could start using as a half-time replacement for winter biking. Especially since biking in the winter is much harder in Bozeman since they don't ever plow the roads.

Skiing at Bridger Bowl with Cate and Katie

Night skiing at Nub's Nob with Kelly, Mike, and Chris

Other than skiing, I have also been dancing. This can also be a little bit of a workout, but definitely not a part-time replacement for biking. You saw the boots, now here is the hat...So I have gotten some good rides and some good XC skiing in since I have been in Michigan and I am pretty sure I will get back on track in Montana.

I never wrote about Iceman, but it was one of my favorite races ever. I raced Pro this year, in a starting field of about 80 guys. I ended up getting 48th, only 11 minutes down on JHK. The race was so much fun and it was great racing in the Pro field. The weather was 60 and sunny while I was racing, so I got to where shorts and a short-sleeve jersey, which is an Iceman first for me. When I finished, the last half mile was lined with thousands of screaming people and that was one the coolest things ever.Kelly did awesome in her first ever Iceman, getting 16th out of 48 starters with an awesome time of 2 hours 35 minutes. She also enjoyed the race, so I think she'll be back. Mr. B exceeded his expectations for his second Iceman, getting 37th out of 132 guys in his class! Steve enjoyed his second stolen Iceman as well, and only pissed off one guy that wasn't even racing either.

So I will try to keep up with the blog and also to get back to tweeting, as I have been slacking on that as well.

The Boots

2009-09-28T21:59:00.003-04:00

If you thought I looked awesome in my Dwight glasses (Previous Post), wait until you see me in these babies...
Now I just need to get a sweet hat and a bigger belt buckle to complete the outfit...

More Montana

2009-09-24T22:52:00.017-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while, it has been busy here between school, biking, and fun.

This post is going to be full of pictures. Most of them will be of my apartment. And I guess this post won't have much to do with biking. Here is a picture view of my apartment:
Living RoomLiving Room 2

KitchenDining Area with no tableBedroomBedroom 2And Hannah made the trip to Montana, too

So I don't actually spend too much time there, but it is a pretty good spot. It feels a lot better since I got stuff up on the walls, and when I got a coffee table and bookshelf. I was pretty happy when I got those, because now the only items left in a box is stuff that goes on my desk. I also just got satellite TV, so now I have Big Ten Network and Fox Sports Detroit. I am quite excited about that. I got to watch the Michigan football game last weekend, and now I will still get to watch some of the volleyball and hockey games. And of course softball in the spring.

A lot more of my time is spent at the Chemistry Building on campus. I don't have any pictures right now, but maybe I will do that soon, because it is a pretty cool building. I tried to get another picture of the sunset out of my office, it looks pretty cool, but the picture still doesn't do it justice.

Along the same line with sunsets, here is the reflection of the sunset on the clouds outside of my apartment one night.
The road riding is pretty good around here. There aren't anywhere near as many roads here as in Michigan, so the amount of different rides is pretty limited, but I can ride flat if I want to and I can climb if I want to. My favorite road ride here is up Hyalite Canyon. It is about an 8.5 mile climb that goes alongside Hyalite Creek up near the top of the mountain. The paved road actually stops short at the reservoir. I took a lot of pictures to try to make a panorama, but the panorama didn't look to great, so here are two of the pictures from the top of the climb. The whole route along the river is amazing, too.

On campus, there is a duck pond that is actually heated during the winter, so the ducks stay year around. There are a lot of ducks there, as you can see below. The first time we went to feed the ducks, they were pretty nice and stayed in the water, but they are getting more aggressive each time we go. Now they have been walking right into Amanda's lap and biting us to get our attention.

Last week, I drove to Billings with Amanda to get her a kitten (she actually scoped it out on the internet to find the perfect kitten). Here is a picture of Wendy. She is an awesome little kitten and I never realized I liked kittens so much. Although, I am missing a lot of skin from my hands and arm. It will be nice when she is de-clawed.
I just started doing some research work in the lab this week, but for now I will be on "rotation" type work. Of course, this will just mean I will be learning skills I don't already have, and most of my work for the near future will be to grow proteins. School is going well, graduate level courses are better than undergraduate level classes. To earn my keep, I am teaching general chemistry labs. It is pretty time consuming, with three three hour labs a week plus at least three hours to grade 60 lab reports a week. Tonight I proctored an exam for Gen Chem and it was pretty fun being on the other end for once.

Last night, I went to some country dancing lessons and learned some basic steps of jitterbug dancing. It was pretty awesome. But I also learned that my belt buckle is way too small. And I need some cowboy boots and sweet cowboy hat. I think there will be more to come with that in future posts- hopefully with a picture of a super sweet cowboy outfit.

I think that is all I have for now. Saturday I will be putting on a collegiate MTB race, so look forward to a post about that. And maybe some chem building pictures and more cool pictures of Montana while we still have good weather.

Leverich Canyon Crank Up

2009-08-31T11:42:00.005-04:00

On Saturday, I raced again here in Montana at a trail called Leverich Canyon that is just a couple miles south of Bozeman. The trail was 6 miles per lap with 1000 feet of climbing per lap. I did four laps. Here is the elevation profile they had listed on the website:
The race was really hard and to be honest, I am really starting to get sick of climbing and descending so much. They are usually equally as painful when they are sustained for so long. I find myself wishing for the downhill when I am going uphill and wishing for the uphill when I am going downhill. Its not too often I can say to myself "man, this is fun." But I guess I better get used to it...

I ended up getting fourth place out of eight riders in the Pro/Cat. 1 field. I am pretty happy with the result considering I am still new to the whole climbing forever then descending forever thing. I was talking to the guy who won the past two weekends and he said I chose the hardest two races in MT to start out on. So I guess that is encouraging.

In other news, Congratulations to Kelly for being the 2009 MI State Champion for her age class!! Kelly raced at Stony Creek on Sunday to finish the Tailwind State Championship series and she clinched her win and the free Iceman entry! She is giving Team BCB something to be proud of.
Congrats Kelly!!

Montana

2009-08-24T13:10:00.004-04:00

Here I am. In Bozeman, MT.

It is a little different than Michigan, much higher up and much less people. There are only about 37000 people here in Bozeman. The biggest city in Montana is 110,000, not much bigger than The Big House on football Saturdays.

But the mountains are great and the mountain biking is pretty good, too. I raced this past weekend at Big Sky Resort (the tallest Ski resort in the country, according to Mike). It was pretty brutal. I heard someone say it was 900 feet of climbing per 5 mile lap. And it seemed to all be concentrated in about 2 of the 5 miles. It was very steep and I was using my W-gear a lot. I surprised myself with 4th out of 6, and I was actually sitting in 3rd for the entire first three laps. But three laps was too much climbing for me and 4 was way too much. I forgot to mention that the start line was at 7800 feet, which is 3000 feet higher than where I live in Bozeman at 4800 feet.

I have mostly gotten used to the elevation. I still get a little winded walking up stairs, but biking has helped speed the process, I think.

School has gone well so far. Classes don't actually start until next Monday, but all of last week I had proficiency exams. I had to pass 3 out of 6 offered, and I passed 4, so I have completed that requirement. That will make life easier than if I had had to retake them throughout the year.

While I was studying in my office, I was usually distracted by the great sunset view I have at night:The picture doesn't really do it justice. You can kind of see the mountains in the background. Those mountains are actually pretty far away. Here is a picture of the Bridgers, which are much closer:You can see in the picture that there is a Block M on the side of the mountain. This is the "M" hiking trail. So I can actually look out my window from my apartment and see a really big block M, which makes it seem a little more like home.

There is a lot of hiking and biking and much else to do around here. Plus school. I am pretty sure once school starts, life will be pretty hectic. But I think I will enjoy that more than having too much free time, which I have had to cope with the past few days.

I will report more soon, and hopefully get some better and more pictures up once my camera arrives from Michigan.

Feel free to call or e-mail me anytime, any contact with Michigan is quite welcome as I am dealing with homesickness...

Stony Creek TT

2009-07-28T10:29:00.003-04:00

This weekend I said my farewell to Robert Linden and the Tailwind circuit in my last race in Michigan for a while and my last Tailwind race probably for a long time.

I had hopes of making it on the podium for my exit, but midway through the race I remembered that endurance sports require a little more planning than a couple weeks in advance to get results. So, it was the usual deal where people pass me and I don't pass anyone back. Christian Tanguy started 3.5 minutes after me and passed me 8 miles in (out of 13). He ended up finishing with the winning time of 46 minutes, 6 minutes up on me.

The course was actually pretty tough with some challenging stream crossings and mud bogs at the end, where I actually dabbed three times, which really frustrated me. I ended up in 10th place out of 12, so I am still not getting DFL, which makes me happy enough.

Here is yet another stolen (but pretty cool) picture from Andrea Tucker:
Kelly broke her winning streak with a second place finish, but she had a great race and actually fared better than I did through the stream crossing near the end. And no bee stings this weekend, so all is well. She is still producing the best results for Team BCB and is improving like crazy.

Even though I didn't win, I was the only racer to track stand during my 30 second countdown on the line, so at least I am able to look cool while being slow. That is, after all, the most important part of bike racing- looking cool.

Big M XC

2009-07-21T11:21:00.004-04:00

This past weekend, Kelly, Cory, and I went up to Manistee National Forest to race Big M.

We left around 11 on Saturday and drove the four hours up and over, with a little stop at Taco Bell on the way. Then we set up camp and pre-rode the trail. The trail was a six mile loop of pretty wide open trail. There was really only one technical descent. Since it was pre-ride pace, I didn't really notice the long gradual hill that lasted for about a mile and half halfway through the trail. I would the next day.

After the pre-ride, we walked around the town of Manistee and realized that there really isn't anything to do there. But we had a good dinner followed by good ice cream at House of Flavors. Sleeping on the ground was interesting. I always said I would never want to do that for a race, but it actually worked out really well, and $5 for the night is a pretty good deal.

The race was really, really, really fast. At least it was as long as I was able to hold on to the leaders, which was about 4.5 miles. When I was riding with the choo-choo train, we were cruising at 22-24 on the flats and about 18 up the long gradual hill that was much more noticeable this time. When we got to some steeper climbs and I wasn't able to keep up the crazy pace anymore, I fell off. Within ten seconds, they were out of my sight. That is how fast they were going.

Since I was pushing myself a little harder than I should have been, I blew up and about 5 more guys passed me. I held this position for the rest of the race (with the exception of passing Christian when he was on the side of the trail with a flat tire on the second lap and the subsequent pass-back with a mile left in the race). I ended up 14th out of 17.

Overall, I had a lot of fun, and I am feeling a little faster. With some training this fall at altitude, maybe I can make up for all these low placings with a good finish at Iceman in November.

Kelly fought through a bee sting on her eye in the first couple miles to finish and still beat her 14 y/o competitor. So she is still sitting on top of the Tailwind USAC series in her age/class. She's pretty tough for fighting through it all, a fight which her body objected to afterward, which required Benadryl to fix.

Cory had a large group to go up against in the Expert 19-29 category, where he placed 8th.

Sorry for no pictures.

Stony Creek Marathon XC

2009-07-01T13:17:00.004-04:00

Sunday I did one of my favorite races of the year. At least it was one of my favorites before this year. This year I'm not in as good of shape, so it took me 40 minutes longer than last year. Granted the fastest time was also 22 minutes slower, but 40 minutes is about one whole lap of my last year's times.

After fighting myself throughout the whole race, I did finish and actually didn't get last. I was 12 out of 14 finishers and 18 starters. I was on the bike for 4 hours and 54 minutes.

There isn't too much to report, just the same old suffering (perhaps more this year). I had planned, during lap four, that this would actually be a "quitting biking for a while" post (I had the whole post already written up in my head), but obviously I am addicted to hurting myself for hours on end, so that won't be happening.

On a very positive note, Kelly has continued her winning ways, making her 4 for 4 on the season. She toughed out her longest race or ride by 17 miles in good fashion, finishing 42 miles in 4 hours 24 minutes. She was the third place sport woman out of 8. If she keeps this up, she will win a free entry to Iceman this November.

Here is a picture of me appearing to go fast...I love that pictures can never tell what place I'm in.

Ruby Campground

2009-06-17T14:02:00.006-04:00

So I've been reading a lot of posts about the race this past Sunday and it reminded me that I haven't posted in a while.

First of all, yes, the river was high, but not as high as everyone wants to tell you. I was 5 for 10 on the crossings. I just couldn't make the first one, though I was close by the end of the race.Second of all, I am slow right now. Really slow. I didn't do this race last year, but my lap times this year were anywhere from 1 to 4 minutes slower from 2 years ago!

Third, my bike frame's design really sucks when it the conditions are nasty- literally. I had fatal chain suck throughout the race, which forced me to walk up a lot of hills, which was frustrating. [This is not an excuse, just something else that happened in the race- I admit I am slow]

I got 11th out of 12. I previously thought I got DFL, but it turns out one guy didn't finish, so that's a plus (though he was definitely on his way to beating me).

Team BCB had a pretty good showing, despite my last place finish. Kelly won her class, giving her her third win of the year in three races, and Steve posted a 5th place in Expert/Elite SS.
It was actually the most fun I have ever had at Ruby Campground, especially when I got lots of cheers for riding across the river since everyone else was running. We went to a graduation party afterwards and Kelly said "We should all wear our medals...[pause]...oh, sorry Nick."

24 Hours of Boyne!

2009-05-27T14:31:00.006-04:00

Once again, we all chose to inflict pain on ourselves for 24 hours straight. It was awesome.

Team Sofa King Fast once again prevailed, winning by one lap in a hard fought and very close battle. Nice job to Cory, Sean, Neal, and John for coming in second. Don't feel bad, Sofa King Fast is just the reigning champions at 24 HOB.
This year included the key addition of Kelly. She got some good training in the couple weeks before the race and rose to the challenge. Her fastest lap was 1 hour and 2 minutes, which is 28 minutes faster than she rode it just a week before. Her speed also proved helpful in that it has pushed Mr. B to speed his laps up in a little competition between the two of them. His fastest was 1 hour 3 minutes, much improved from his lap times last year.

Having a fourth team member was very luxurious and it gave Mike and me the ability to produce more consistent and faster laps. Mike's fastest was a 41 (officially 42) and my fastest was a 43. We were both able to beat our times from last year by about 2-3 minutes. Looks like next year Mr. B and Kelly will be pulling out 50 or sub- 50 laps and Mike and I might dip under the 40 mark.

Mike toughed out 11 laps, I managed 9 and Mr. B and Kelly both killed 4 to give us a total of 28 laps, which ties our total from last year.

Even though all of us had our usual doubts and gastrointestinal problems in the pre-dawn hours, it was a very enjoyable experience and (I can't believe I'm saying this already) I can't wait for next year.

Congratulations also to Steve for winning the solo single speed class with 17 laps. He did the most laps of any individual (but not really, according to the race promoter). Steve was back on form and able to have a great race because he had the tatoo sleeve again.

And of course, a big thank you goes to our always awesome pit crew Caroline, Mrs. B, and Melissa for staying up all night and feeding us and waking us up, and listening to us complain.

First Race of the Year

2009-04-22T15:35:00.002-04:00

Sunday, Steve and I were up in Plainwell, MI for a nice MTB TT at Yankee Springs. Luckily, I wasn't expecting much from myself because of my new training plan. I have not done really intensity work yet this year so I can build a proper base in order to not die in the fall.

So, I felt good, but not fast. First of all, they started us every ten seconds, which is absurd for an Elite TT, but whatever. I got passed in the first couple miles by my ten second guy. Then my 20 second guy came, then 30 second guy, and so on. I got passed by a lot of people.

I ended up getting 22nd out 27. Pretty bad but oh well. I was ten minutes down on the leader. It just means I have plenty of work to do before Boyne next month.

But the real reason I did the race can be seen below...
Got the free pint glass!

March

2009-04-08T12:21:00.002-04:00

Eh.

That's kind of what March was to me. There was some good riding, but there was also some boring riding. I was able to get out on the trails once in March, so that was nice, but all the road riding is starting to get to me.

Overall, I logged 38 hours and 564 miles over March. Fairly respectable. Not awesome.

I did the two home races (circuit and ITT), but it was more just for fun. I know everyone says that, but for those of you who know me, my legs were not shaven, so that will tell you how serious I was about the race.

Right now, with snow on the ground, the trails will be another week or so before they are rideable again, so I have a little more drudging to do on the road bike to be ready for Yankee Springs in a week and a half.

Road Racing?

2009-03-30T11:23:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I hosted my 10th and 11th races as the Michigan Cycling president. I wasn't planning on participating in either because the weather outlook was actually pretty bad. I ended up doing both.

Many people were surprised to see me in a road bike race, especially after I had told everyone I wasn't racing, but I actually had fun. The weather turned out to be pretty nice for the circuit race and there were only 16 B racers, so I didn't feel like there was a great amount of danger in giving it a go. For this race I just stayed with the pack the whole time, until the end when all the accelerations came. MTBing doesn't have those accelerations except at the beginning, so I have never been able to hold on to those, so I ended up getting 12th.
For the TT, it started drizzling, but it wasn't so bad, so I decided to do this as well. I ended up being the last rider to go out, and about halfway through, it really started pouring. It was very fun though. Because of the rain and because my TT bike doesn't have real brakes, I took the really steep downhill way too slow, which cost me a bit of time. I ended up getting second, though, by 13 seconds. I am pretty happy with that, and I still think I am right about on schedule for my training plan.

Next race is on real bikes on April 19th at Yankee Springs. Should be nice and demoralizing, as I will be making my Elite debut (again).

Heading to Montana for the Weekend

2009-03-05T00:21:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow I leave for Montana for the weekend for grad school interviews. My weekend is going to be packed with meetings with professors and tours and such. Saturday we are going to spend the day at yellowstone. Unfortunately, the packed schedule leaves no time for riding out there. Maybe later.

I probably won't have much access to a computer but if you actually care what I am doing, you can check it out at http://twitter.com/NickWBB.

Spring Break

2009-03-01T19:13:00.008-05:00

So I guess this post is kind of mandatory. But I think it will be a bit of twist on the normal. Because yes, we rode more than 250 miles in the week, climbed mountains until it hurt to walk, and did six gap century and climbed Brasstown Bald, but we also actually had fun, so I am going to write about that.

First off, we did NOT get to go to Brother's Restaurant after our drive all through the night because they didn't open until 11 am this year, so we went to Waffle House instead. It was not good. Brother's really let us down...at least I thought so. Everyone else seemed to be smiling (at least fake smiling).On Sunday, we rode to Graham's cottage about 20 miles away where his parents had a BBQ for us. The cake they had for desert was absolutely amazing. On Monday, after the century, we ate at the local Mexican restaurant in Helen (La Cabana). I decided to have a nice [big] Margarita for my hard work of the day.

The rest of the week was filled with lots of riding, playing Rock Band, team meetings where every word I said was sarcastically analyzed by the whole team (especially by Mattison and Ken), and haircuts for some members of the team (Sean and his rat-tail, Cory and his way too short hair, and Mattison and his mullet). On Wednesday, we made our way down to Helen to check out the rock shops. We found a bar and all enjoyed a nice pint of local Hef-Weizen (some had other beers and of course Zachariah had his gluten free frou-frou drink).

Thursday some people went to Atlanta to check out the Aquarium, I decided to go hiking with a couple other guys, which was a very nice change from the norm (not riding)- though my legs didn't like it as much after climbing to the highest point in GA the day before.
Those of us that didn't go to Atlanta visited Cleveland that night for our yearly dinner at Ma Gooch's. I have a picture of the place just in case you don't believe it is it's actual name. That was some good country cookin'. I even tried some fried Okra with my Fried Chicken and they were absolutely amazing. I felt like a Country Boy.The drive back was pretty fun, too. We stopped at UNO for lunch and had a waiter that admitted to having too many Red Bulls and actually told Josh multiple times that he looks like a serial killer. I tried the UNO amber ale, which actually paired so well with the pizza I had that I am pretty sure it is the best food and beer pairing I have ever had...perhaps even better than at Grizzly Peak.

Twitter

2009-02-25T20:20:00.002-05:00

You can check out my Twitter at http://twitter.com/NickWBB.

This website allows me to update what I am doing through texting.

Now I can write about myself even more.

It is actually a fun website to follow what other people are doing. You can follow me, and I would follow you too.

That is all for now, most of my updating this week is done on Twitter since internet is spotty in Bavarian Helen.

It doesn't get much colder than this...

2009-02-07T12:14:00.005-05:00

So on Wednesday it was really sunny out, and I was able to convince Chris to ride with me. It was 13 degrees Fahrenheit air temperature and close to o degree wind chill.

Needless to say, it was really cold. I was actually so uncomfortable that I started riding harder just so I could get home faster. When I got home, I got a look of my reflection in the door. It looked a little something like this...Pretty intense, I know. It is kind of like those mountain climbing guys on the Discovery Channel. And by the way, this was the best I could do for a smile, my face was frozen and not very movable. Also by the way, I shaved so that this won't happen again anytime soon, because it is kinda gross.

Now, today it is 40 degrees Fahrenheit and it feels like summer. No matter what Punxsutawney Phil says, I think spring is coming soon. And if not, at least it should be warm in GA in a couple weeks.

January

2009-01-31T22:54:00.002-05:00

Time for the monthly update, and for the first time since September, I actually have a good month to report.

With only five days off from training this month, I put in 49.78 hours either on bike or skis, and 257.8 miles outside in this cold and snowy January.

The only time I have ever put in more training hours in one month is last May, when I put in 51 hours (and that also was completely on the bike, and more MTB than road). This month is also much better than my January of last year, with 33.75 hours.

I was actually surprised to see the total, but also glad, because it means that I have been able to stick to my plan of actually getting a good base this winter so I don't fall apart next fall. Hopefully all this work will help when I toe the line in the Elite Class starting in April.

The lack of classes this semester should really help me to be able to keep up the pace, and hopefully even step it up a little more for next month. With only 12 credits (at least on paper), and spring break at the end of the month, it could be a really good February.

That is all. Happy Groundhog's Day on Monday!

Epic Bonk

2009-01-19T17:32:00.004-05:00

Yesterday while skiing I experienced my third worst ever bonk.

Quick Recap of the first two:
1. 24 Hours of Boyne 2004 when I was so low on blood sugar at 2 AM that I actually fell asleep (or passed out) while riding down the final downhill section. When I hit the tree, I didn't even care, I just took a little nap. When I got up to start riding again, it actually happened again. I finally got back 30 minutes after I should have (safely). (Picture to the right is before the race- 5 years ago- crazy)
2. My first ever century (solo) in 2005. The ride ended up being about 115 miles and my body couldn't handle the extra 15. When I finally got home after only barely turning the pedals, I got changed and went to the grocery store to buy ice cream. I think I ate a whole half gallon of ice cream.

So the thing about bonking is it can really suck. Especially when you are skiing and there are still about 3 miles left of hills. About two and half hours in, I just started falling apart. I didn't want to move anymore. I started getting chills, and all I wanted was to be done.

Luckily my body is resourceful and started burning something else (I am still hoping it was fat and not muscle), but I was able to recover and get back to the van with out passing out. It was a close call though. Next time I will bring lots of food for a 3.5 hour ski session at Poto.

Steve also bonked really hard, but didn't quite recover as well, so he was in the double-bonk phase by the time we finished.

Snow

2009-01-12T12:02:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was full of fun, but hard riding and skiing.

Saturday some of us went out into the snowstorm on our mountain bikes and did some dirt road riding. The snow was coming down hard and fast and the roads were impossible. It was very difficult to stay in a straight line, and just as difficult to stay upright on the bike on some roads. There were some sections that were so icy, that if you went down, you slid for a long time. The first time I crashed, I just started laughing. But even funnier than when I fell, was when others went down. We ended up going only 18 miles in 2 hours, but it was one of my favorite rides to date.

After the ride, I ate some lunch and then Brendan and I went skiing in the Arb. We were out for a little over an hour and half. There were some really fun downhills and some good uphills that helped build up my confidence on the skis. After the two activities, I was pretty tired, but quite happy with a day full of snowy fun.

Sunday, Steve and I went skiing at Brighton. The trail was actually pretty hard packed and fairly well groomed, so it was a really good time. I only crashed about two times, so I am definitely improving. This day was also pretty tough, though. There were some tough uphills, one of which my heart rate got over 180.

So, instead of years past when I got upset when it snowed, I embraced the snow this weekend and had a lot of fun. I think it is supposed to stay cold and keep snowing all week, so the fun isn't over yet.

2008

2009-01-07T21:41:00.004-05:00

I thought I would put down the numbers from 2008 really quick. I ended up with 395 hours, 5129 miles, about 2000 of which was on the MTB. Half of my time was spent on the MTB- hopefully I can step that up a bit more this year.

With 5 race wins and the State Championship, it turned out to be a really good year. Collegiate season was pretty anticlimactic after such a good summer season, but with my training plan this year (a lot more base), I think that shouldn't happen next fall (of course if I go out east or out west, I am probably going to get my butt kicked anyway).

So now it is time to ride lots. Last week I put 15 hours in, with 200 miles outside. This week has been a little harder to get outside, but I am still putting a good amount of time in. (Yes, I cracked and started riding inside- there are some days it just isn't worth it to freeze my butt off.)

Hockey

2008-12-24T13:45:00.004-05:00

After skiing for five days in a row, and because the weather is pretty nasty outside, I decided I would go play hockey. It is kind of a ritual for me now to go play once a year to remind myself that it is a pretty fun sport.

It is a lot different from mountain biking. I thought for sure, since I ride so much and am in such good shape, hockey would be no problem. But sprinting from one end of the ice to the other still makes me have to take a little breather. My feet were hurting most of the time, and I have blisters on my heels now, most likely where calluses used to be.

I was a little worried at first that I would have forgotten how to skate and handle a puck. It came right back though. It just like riding a bike (although that phrase has a different meaning now).

Anyway, it was fun to play again and I hope that there is intramural hockey wherever I go to grad school, but after all this skiing and hockey, I am very excited to get back on the bike for the long cold rides of January.

First time skiing

2008-12-19T23:58:00.001-05:00

I went out XC skiing for the first time ever today. It was a lot of fun, but challenging.

I ended up falling about 7 times, one of which was a pretty nice face plant into the snow. I will say that falling on skis is a lot less painful then crashing off a mountain bike. It is a lot harder to get up though.

I haven't ridden much since Iceman because school has been quite busy. (That's just my very good excuse- I actually have enjoyed the time off.) I am excited to get back into it, though. Now that school won't be busy again for a while, I don't have an excuse, but I don't think I will need one.

I have gone on a couple bike rides this week with very cold temps and wind chills. Frozen water bottles and frozen sweat on my glasses seem to be quite common now. Can't wait to start doing it everyday...

XC Skiing

2008-12-06T18:22:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I bought some cross country skis. They still have to come in, but I am very excited to give new sport a try, since I haven't done any sport but cycling since high school when I played hockey.

And now I have decided not to ride inside once this winter. Either ride or ski.

Back on the Bike

2008-11-22T18:41:00.002-05:00

I made my return to biking today after a 2 week hiatus. It was a nice three hour local loop ride with Steve. With the exception of no feeling in my tarsals, it was an awesome ride.

I got to try out some singletrack I have never ridden before. It was pretty technical and was tough enough that Steve and I had to walk a bit of it.

That is all...I just wanted to share my excitement that I am riding again. It is colder now, but it is still great to ride. My knee is feeling a lot better now, too.

So here goes the start to a couple month long base mile period.

Blog

2008-11-19T18:22:00.012-05:00

It has been a long time and a lot has happened since the last time I posted on this blog. Since I got back from Florida, I have raced 14 races and only won one (out of 1 racer). This last half of the year didn't go as well as the first year as far as results are concerned, but it was still fun...at least most of it.

The Tailwind series ended with Stony Creek XC. It was one of the muddiest races I've done (until the next week at MSU- where I lost all braking ability). I got 1st place out of 1 in the race, which clinched my overall series championship. So, I was this years Expert Men 19-29 State Champion. Plus I got a free Iceman entry out of it.

Collegiate season was really long. We raced 6 weekends straight and it took its toll on my body. Combined with my way too serious attitude about race during the last half (which goes against everything I bike for), my form declined more and more each weekend.

After having a great race halfway through the season at Lindsey Wilson, where I was sitting 2nd almost the whole race until I crashed with a couple miles to go, then rapidly declining, I decided not to go to Nationals. It gave me a much needed month off from racing before Iceman a couple weeks ago.

Iceman went very well. I got fifth, but I still had a lot of fun and was in the lead for most of the race despite having crashed in the first couple miles and losing touch with the leaders.

One aspect of my racing that has improved the most this year is my starts. I have gotten very good at starting and was able to be in the top three for almost all collegiate races this year going into the woods, with a couple hole-shots. Starting better has had an amazing impact on my racing. Going into the woods third position at Lindsey Wilson definitely was a huge factor in my being in second place for most of the race.

The collegiate season marked some ups and downs. After Lindsey Wilson, I started taking racing too seriously and it started not being fun. Here is a picture of me being too serious:
During the third lap at regionals, I finally started having fun and enjoying myself. I rode out the rest of the race with Chris and Jon, and we were just chatting the entire race (mainly bashing Union). Here is a picture of me being not-serious (a fake sprint with Chris and Jon, we let Chris win since it was his birthday):

The best thing about this season was getting Kelly Bartlett into it. She started out already awesome...there must be good cycling in the Bartlett genes. She won 3 out of the 4 races she did. Her skill improved rapidly in just the few weeks she started riding. She bought a bike only two weeks into it and raced her first race only three weeks into it. Here is Kelly looking awesome going up a hill.
Unfortunately, she broke her collarbone and Team BCB won't be able to ride together again until spring. Team BCB is Kelly, Steve, and me. It is our super-cool team created once we got kelly into it.

I think I will start writing again, since Mike has a new blog (which means I will get some traffic again).

Florida Report

2008-08-09T12:24:00.006-04:00

I know it has taken me a while (I have had a busy week back), but here it is.

Florida was fun. Hot, but fun.

It started in Lakeland. My time in Lakeland consisted again, as it did in CT as a lot of Tour de France watching. I got to spend a lot of time with my mom and got to see my other siblings and my grandpa, too. It was a really good time. Here is a nice collage of a picture of me with all of them.
Near the end of the week, I took a drive up to Gainesville to visit my friend Jamie who goes to UF. That was a fun time, too. Not very eventful, just went to a couple bars. Although one was a dancing bar that was called :08 (8 Seconds). If you can't tell yet, it was a country bar. Everyone was line-dancing and it was all country music. I was very surprised to find out that there is a unique line dance for every song that they line dance to- actually pretty impressive.

After Lakeland was down to West Palm Beach and the Keys with my brother and his wife and her family. This was a lot of fun. I already talked a little bit about it. I did a lot of snorkeling and water stuff. I ended up only catching one lobster that wasn't big enough, but it turned out to be good enough for me. Ryan and Erin and her family get really serious when it comes to catching lobsters, so I think I helped the most by staying out of the way.

There were amazing sunsets every night and I think the only pictures of me down there also had a sunset in it. Here is one of them.Speaking of the sun, I actually took my shirt off for a lot of the trip. A week in the Keys with my shirt off still didn't seem to be enough to get rid of my tanlines, so I think it is just hopeless to try.

Overall, I had a great trip in all three places I visited. Thanks to all of my hosts for great times. I am very relieved to be back, though. A month of doing nothing started to make me feel like a bum. Plus I was without a bike for two weeks. So now I am back and working and riding. Back to the usual grind.

And just to mention riding...I rode the super sketchy section of the local loop last night with 7 eggs in my back pocket- in the dark. I went down once, but didn't land on my back, so the eggs were fine and made it all the way from Steve's to my place and were just the right temperature to make pasta.

July Wrap-Up

2008-08-01T13:57:00.003-04:00

Due to nine days off and lots of MTB riding, in CT and running in Florida, July turned out being a pretty light month.

I did a total of 338 miles, 2/3 being on the road bike. I did 3 races and was humbled in all of them. I've been running the past week in order to keep up the fitness until I can get back on my bike.

August will be a better month, since I will not be racing until the end. This will be my last chance to get intense training in before collegiate season starts.

I'll be back on the bike on Monday.

Florida

2008-07-30T21:38:00.002-04:00

Well, I have a lot of disaster control to do with blogging when I get back, but for now I will just say that I am in the Keys and having a lot of fun. Lots of snorkeling- yes I have been getting in the water (and taking my shirt off). Today was the first day of lobster mini season, so we went snorkeling for lobsters today. I caught one, but it was too small, but overall, we came home with 35 lobster on the day.

I have been running here, since I don't have a bike. I don't really like running. And it is incredibly hot here even at 7 am. So I really miss my bike. I miss it a lot. That is all.

Tales of Connecticut

2008-07-23T13:54:00.005-04:00

So, now I am in Florida, but I was in Connecticut with Mike. That was a really good time. It all started with packing up my bike. You can see how many pieces the bike has to be in to ship it.

As I wrote about in other posts, we raced in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York the first weekend I was there and this past weekend we raced at Mount Snow in Vermont. They were both great weekends and both places had very cool (though hard) MTB trails, especially Mt. Snow. In Vermont, we stayed at the Nordic Hills Lodge and I would recommend this place to anybody because it was an awesome place. The room smelled a little funky, but they had free real breakfast every morning and they even got up early to get us breakfast so we could get to our races on time.Besides racing, my time consisted a lot of watching the Tour de France and The Office while Mike was at work during the week. Then we also rode a fair amount and just hung out. The picture below is where I slept while I was there (it is the area behind the closet- a place only someone as short as me could sleep in).

Overall, it was a wonderful trip and I had a lot of fun hanging out with Mike and it was a great trip. Now I am in Florida until the beginning of August. I am taking the next few days off from any excersize. Since I don't have a bike down here, I am going to start running once I get down to the Keys with my brother. Then I am going to do some intense training in the first half of August and ease off before collegiate season starts.

USAC MTB Nationals

2008-07-21T20:23:00.008-04:00

I had a great time in CT with Mike, and I will write a little on that probably tomorrow, but here I will talk about my humbling experience at Nationals.

So, going into it, with good results in Michigan, I though for sure I could get a top-ten result and was seriously hoping to be on the podium- I was quite mistaken. After lots of trying to diagnose my problem, I am pretty sure I just don't have the fitness necessary to climb over 1500 feet per lap for three laps.

On Staurday, we did three laps in the XC event. It was a lot of climbing and it seemed like I was just going backwards. I was able to catch a lot of people whenever we started going downhill, because the downhill was really technical and a lot of fun, but it was not enough to make up the almost 20 minutes I lost to the winner of my class, earning me 23rd out of 35 guys.
Sunday was the Short Track event. I was really hoping to do well, because I am fairly good at pushing really hard, and there wasn't really any uphill in the course, just a couple bumps. For the first 7 minutes of the race, I was hanging out in the top 5. Then it just started getting harder and harder and some guys passed me here and there. There were points that my vision started going blurry because I was so in the red zone, but when they told us we only had three laps to go, I just pushed my body to keep going for 6 more minutes. I ended up getting 14 out 24, half a lap down on the winner. It was a slightly better result than Saturday and I was fairly happy with the result.

Mike ended up doing really well in his XC race, getting 18th out of 66 semi-pro racers, so congrats Mike. He wasn't as happy with his Short Track race, getting 30th out of 39, perhaps it was a little troublesome having a day off between the XC and STXC race.

In addition, at Windham Mtn. and at Nationals, Mike and I hung out a decent amount with some of the Bell's team, Joe and Erin, so it was cool getting to know them. Joe did really well in the semi-pro STXC, getting 8th out of 39 racers, so congrats to Joe.
It was also great meeting Mike's racing friend from last year, Nathan Pepin and his family. Thanks to them for the cheers and water bottle support at Windham Mtn and at Nationals.

Anyway, I learned a lot about myself this weekend, namely I am not as fast as I thought I was and I have a lot of work to do for the fall collegiate season and for next year for revenge at Nationals.

UConn Trails

2008-07-16T15:43:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, Mike and I rode the trails near the University of Connecticut. I love those trails. We rode them last year and it was the most confident I had ever been on a bike. Riding them again made me feel pretty good.

These trails are filled with rock gardens and tough downhills that made my arms sore to the point where I had trouble lifting things later. It would have been really cool if I had been able to get the research position out here at UConn, because then I would have been riding these and other great trails around here all summer. Oh well, it is awesome right now.

This weekend is MTB Nationals at Mount Snow, Vermont. I am going to try my best to get a higher placing this weekend in the cross country race, and I feel really good about my chances in the short track race on Sunday because my sprinting ability- I will just have to maintain it for 25 minutes.

We're not in Kansas anymore

2008-07-14T12:22:00.005-04:00

So on Saturday, Mike and I went to the Catskills in NY to race a Nationals Series MTB race. I learned a lot in the race.
1. People don't care about the hole shot out here- I got it with ease and was feeling good as I stayed away for about 5 minutes, until everyone started passing me.
2. Everyone started passing me because when the race promoters say you climb 1500 feet per lap, they mean you do it all at once. The last race I did (in Michigan) probably only had about 200 feet of climbing at most.
3. When you get the top and people say "It's all downhill from here," they don't mean it is easier, just faster. It actually turned out being just as hard if not harder going downhill. My hands have never hurt so bad.
4. I am not very good at sustained climbs- the short steep ones like what we have in MI seem to work better for me.
5. Being good in Michigan doesn't mean anything at a Nationals level race.
6. The picture to the right is how you know who is passing you (or for others, who you are passing.

So, this race was a very good learning experience for me. The course was very fun and exciting and it was really fun to race at such a big event. I am glad I was able to do this race because everyone says this course is very similar to Mount Snow, which is where Nationals are next week, so some valuable lessons that will help next week are quite welcome.

I ended up getting 9th place out of 15 in my class. Mike ended up not so good, but only because he flatted three times on his last lap. He says he was in the top fifteen when he got his first flat.
Overall- a very good time.

Connecticut!

2008-07-11T11:24:00.002-04:00

I flew in yesterday to Connecticut. I am here for a week and a half to visit Mike. It should be a great time. Tonight we are heading to the Catskills for the fifth race in the National Mountain Bike Series. Right now, there are 10 guys signed up in my class and 34 signed up in Mike's class. Mike should have his work cut out for him and I really don't know what to expect.

Anyway, I am excited to be here. Look forward to posts after this weekend.

4th of July Weekend

2008-07-07T16:03:00.002-04:00

This weekend I went out to Kalamazoo to celbrate Independance Day and my Dad's b-day.

It started with a nice ride back to Jackson with an average speed of 21.5 mph. Then I mowed and we headed over to Kzoo.

Saturday was filled with the first day of the Tour de France, a nice ride in the rolling hills and vineyards of Lawton, MI and a bunch of new beers. Sheldon (Arika's boyfriend) and I went over to the Bell's Brewery Bar and tried a sampler. We had the Amber Ale, Poolside Cherry Wheat, Double Brown, Kalamazoo Stout, Mild Ale (which is never actually bottled), and the Third Coast Old Ale. Of these, I had only ever had the Amber, so I got to try 5 new varieties of Bell's there. And Sheldon had bought Bell's Consecrator Dopplebock earlier that day, which is a beer I have wanted to try for a very long time. The Dopplebock was very good, one of my favorites from Bell's. Of the six sampler, I like the Amber, Cherry Wheat, and Mild Ale. The other three were very strong. The Double Brown was undrinkable because it tasted like someone just dumped vodka in some beer.

Well, to get off the topic of beer, Sunday also consisted of Tour de France watching and a nice ride out to Lawton. I also watched the Wimbledon finals and we celebrated my dad's b-day. Then Sheldon and Arika brought me back to AA and we had dinner at Potbelly's.

June Wrap-up

2008-07-03T11:20:00.005-04:00

So June was a pretty good month. Two race wins out of four tries. There was also a 2nd place and a not so good 4th place in the Brighton TT.

Here is the Stony Creek podium.Training was a little more laid back than May, but was still very consistent. I only had 3 days off the bike. 618 miles total, half being on the road and the other half on the MTB.

Besides that, right now I am just looking forward to going out East to visit Mike and do a National Series race and Nationals.

Stoney Creek Marathon XC

2008-06-29T13:09:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was the 60-mile Cross Country race at Stoney Creek.

It poured Friday night, so it was a mudfest yesterday. Good news was, it was not as hot as it was last year and the sun was not blaring down as it was last year, so cramping was not a major problem this year like it was last year. I was also able to stay more hydrated this year, as I had water bottle help from Kelly Bartlett- thanks a lot Kelly.

So, from the start, we got to the race at 9:45- at the race started at 10 am. Everyone was lining up while I was still getting dressed. It was a little nerve-wrecking, but I was able to get to line in time with zero warm-up.

The first 4 laps of the race, the guy that beat me at Brighton and I rode together the whole time (with the exception of fifteen minutes that I had to chase after sliding out in some mud). The fifth lap is when it got exciting. Up to this point, I had been riding in the big ring the whole time because when it is nasty out, I get really bad chainsuck in the middle ring. In the beginning of the fifth lap, I decided to give the middle ring a try, because my legs were so tired from pushing hard gears all day. Chainsuck immediately. I had to get off the bike in order to pull the chain out and switch it into the big ring. By the time I got back on the bike, my arch rival was gone. For almost the whole lap, he was about 45 seconds ahead of me, but I kept pushing. Near the end of the lap, I saw him on the side of the trail stretching...he cramped bad. So from that point on, it was just up to me to ride strong without making any mistakes and without cramping. I ended up winning by a little over three minutes. Awesome.

Perhaps even more exciting than winning was a bottle toss from Kelly after the first lap. She didn't see me coming, so when she finally saw me, she instictually just threw the bottle up the air. I suck at catching anything, so I was pretty nervous about that, but I reached over the bars and caught the bottle with my left hand while I was riding probably 10 mph. It was awesome. Thanks again Kelly for coming out and handing off bottles. Without the bottle hand-offs, I may have ended up like my opponent.

So it was an epic battle with my archrival, and I came out on top for my fourth win of the year. With an epic bottle toss (and catch), it turned out the be a great day.

The GRE is over!

2008-06-26T17:10:00.003-04:00

So this morning I took the GRE. I trudged all the way over the edge of Ann Arbor- way too close to Ypsilanti for my taste, but it had to be done.

Since I really didn't prepare as much I should have, I was a little nervous about it. The exam turned out being really long, but I made it through.

Scores:
Verbal- 550/800
Quantitative- 760/800
Written- Unknown

So my verbal score isn't awesome, but I am quite pleased with my quantitative score. I don't think the verbal section will matter as much, either, when I am trying to get into graduate school for chemistry. Nevertheless, I am satisfied enough to not take it over.

After the exam, I came straight to work, and here I am with a little down time during a centrifugation. It looks like it is going to be a late night here, since I didn't start my chlorophyll prep until about 1:30. Speaking of...better get back to it.

This weekend is Stoney Creek Marathon Cross Country Race...I am ready to kill the guy that beat me at the last race. Look forward to the report on that.

Awesome Glasses

2008-06-20T20:27:00.003-04:00

So, I called Oakley today and they said it would be another few weeks until I get my glasses back. I have been riding without glasses lately, but it really sucks, because tree branches and mud and bugs keep getting in my eyes. So my eyes have been hurting a lot.

Since it will be a while until I get my Oakleys back, I decided to go to the hardware store to buy some temps. Check out the coolest glasses you will ever see a MTBer wearing.

Another Tree...

2008-06-17T22:38:00.002-04:00

So there hasn't been much excitement recently in my bike life and even less in my off-the-bike life.

On the bike, I have just been trying to prepare for Stoney Creek coming up next weekend, but doing a pretty bad job at it- riding intensity all over the place and no organization or planning.
The local loop is getting really messy with all the rain and storms we have been getting. My favorite section, the super-sketchy section (aka Baits section) has started filling up with logs. On a spot that I usually get up to about 28 mph, there was a log across the trail, not too big, but I am not yet cool enough to jump logs going 25 mph downhill, so I tried to slow down. I was only able to get rid of enough speed to hit the log, go over the bars and land on the log with my face. So I am a little marked up (not anywhere near as bad as a couple years ago). No concussion and no broken helmet, but I have a couple tender spots on the right side of my face.
This is the second time I have landed flat on my face in less than a month ("What's the symbology there?")

Off the bike I have just been boring, studying for the GRE, which comes next Thursday, and such.

On the lighter side of things, I have a goal to get rid of my tan lines before I go to Florida (pun intended). The only problem is that right before Florida is MTB nationals. In enzyme kinetics, we call that competitive inhibition. The more time I spend on the bike, the less able I will be able to take off my shirt without being laughed at for wearing my "undershirt."

Warranties and Return Policies Suck

2008-06-10T22:50:00.002-04:00

I got hit by two crappy sales reps today. One from Oakley and indirectly one from Bontrager.

Oakley: I ordered some clear replacement lenses for my glasses before Boyne and it turned out they were too big and would not fit in the frame. So I finally called today and was on hold for over ten minutes before I could finally tell sales rep Mark my problem. He said, "Are they older M-Frames?" I said, "Yes, I got them about three years ago." He said, "Oh, those should be able to just pop right in there." I was thinking, yeah, I know they should; that's why I bought them and is why I am talking to you right now. But what I said was "Yes, I tried, but they wouldn't go in, and I even put them up to my current lenses and they are bigger by about a millimeter on each side." He then put me on hold for 5 more minutes. He told me I need to send the lenses and my frames back to them and they are going to put the lenses in for me. Apparently I am just stupid and can't simply pop some apparently non-defective lenses into my M-frames. And I get to be without glasses for however long they decide to take to put my lenses in for me. Awesome.

Bontrager: My rear wheel has sucked since I bought it, loosening up all the time. I put in a request for a warranty back in March. Our shop forgot about it or something because when I called about it on Sunday, they were like, oh, can you tell us your info again? Then they called me today and told me that Bontrager said that they don't have any of my wheels in stock to replace it, but they can rebuild my wheel if I send it into them. So, I can be without a MTB for however long Bontrager decides to fix this problem. Awesome again.

So I might just never purchase anything from Oakley again, but I can't say the same about Bontrager, because they make about half the stuff that I put on my bikes.

That is all for now. Sorry for the griping, but I did find Mark from Oakley pretty humorous, telling me that my lenses should pop right in, as if being on the phone with them would magically make them work all of the sudden.

Brazil...I mean Brighton Stage Race

2008-06-08T17:40:00.007-04:00

Hard. Hot. Hell. More H words that tell you how hard this race was.

The story starts on Saturday with the time trial and short track. For the time trial, my head wasn't in the right spot and ended up getting fourth, a minute and half down on the winner. That's all I really want to say about that. For the short track, I decided that I would do better and make up as much time as possible so I could move up in the overall. The short track ended up being awesome and I layed down the hammer of Thor. I was able to hang with a lot of the Elite racers and got the win. Sean came in second 40 seconds back, so he was only 10 seconds ahead of me in the overall at that point. The guy that won the TT ended up doing an extra lap, so he lost a lot of time.

So after the STXC, I was feeling good (Win #3 for the year), but none of that mattered for the cross country. It was four 8-mile laps in rain forest heat and humidity. Me and the guy who won the TT took off from the rest of the Expert guys, and ended up catching all the experts and about 4 Elite riders on the first lap. Then on the second lap he pulled away mid-way through and I never saw him again. He ended up winning by 5 minutes. That dude was really fast.

Here is a picture of one of the most awkward podiums I have ever seen.
Also, I unveiled my cool water bottle stand (my replacement for not having a girlfriend like a lot of cooler bike guys out there). But I ended up not having to test it out anyway, because some guys were awesome enough to hand off the bottles.

I got second overall in the stage race with one win out of three races. Today was comparatively painful to 24 Hours of Boyne. And it was so incredibly hot. And it was hard. But I love it.

Not so fast Mike

2008-06-06T18:34:00.004-04:00

For all those silly enough to think that Mike might be able to compete for cleanest bike, well, they say a picture says a thousand words...If you look closely, you can see me in the reflection in the second picture...three times.

Take that, Mike. And good luck this weekend, Mr. Semi-Pro.

Rainy Day Ride

2008-06-03T19:34:00.002-04:00

Well, two posts in one day might be overkill, but I had an absolutely awesome ride today and want to talk about it. It was a spectacular rain storm today.

It was mostly dry when I went out, and I knew it would rain while I was out, but what I didn't know was that I would actually be going swimming. When I say swimming, I actually mean it with torrential downpours and rain pelting me and nice big puddles. I also found out today that I breathe through my nose when I drink out of my water bottle, because when I tried, I got water up my nose.

Theres nothing like riding it a massive rain storm to clear my head- even if only for an hour and a half.

Chloropyhll...more like Boraphyll

2008-06-03T13:14:00.005-04:00

Well, I am sitting at work right now with tons of down time because we are only prepping samples today, so I figured I would say a little about what I do here on non-down time days.

In this lab, I am working with photosynthesis, and more specifically, Photosystem II (PSII), and more specifically, the Oxygen Evolving Complex (OEC) of PSII, and more specifically, the effect of the Chloride ion (Cl ion) on the OEC. Photosynthesis is, of course, how plants turn solar energy into chemical energy. PSII is the first protein complex in photosynthesis and is where water is oxidized to oxygen, which produces 4 electrons and 4 protons (which are turned into chemical energy). The OEC is the reaction center where water is actually converted to oxygen, and it includes four manganese atoms, one calcium ion, and one chloride ion (the tetramanganese cluster). This cluster is the machinery that turns water into oxygen. The chloride ion has been proven to be necessary in oxygen evolution, though for longer than I have been alive, its actual function has been a mystery.

Here recently published diagram of the conversion of water to oxygen and its release of electrons and protons. This model is called the S-state model (starts with S0).

Most days I do assays on chlorophyll samples, which means testing the oxygen evolution capability of PSII under various conditions. We use a mini-reaction chamber that is hooked up to a Clark electrode, which tests for oxygen. The Clark electrode is interfaced with a graph machine that plots a line based on how much oxygen it senses. From this line, we are able to calculate the rate of oxygen evolution in the reaction chamber. The rate is compared to other rates and is used to determine if the condition tested is suitable.

So what does all that mean? Well, basically, I am testing various protein mutants to try to determine the function of the Cl ion in the tetramanganese cluster in the OEC.

On other days, I actually prepare the samples that we test, which means extracting PSII from spinach leaves. It is a four day process that starts with cleaning and de-stemming spinach leaves and putting them on ice for a day. The next couple days are spent spinning the goo-ified spinach leaves many times at various speeds in the centrifuge. It takes many times, because you have to first separate out the chloroplasts from the cells, then the Reaction Centers (RCs) from the chloroplasts, then PSII from the rest of the RCs, then the starch from everything, then extrinsic proteins from PSII, etc. It is a long process, but actually pretty cool, considering you end up with about 150 mg of one protein complex from a bunch of leaves.

Here is a picture of the washer-sized centrifuges that we use to spin up to 30,000 rpm.

Well, I suppose that is it for now. Sorry if this is not very good explaining, and you are probably more bored than I am right now, but this is really interesting stuff (at least for a nerd).

May wrap-up

2008-05-31T11:17:00.004-04:00

I don't plan on riding today, so I can do a wrap-up a day early. I ended up doing 795 miles total, 336 of which was on the mountain bike. I only did one race- 24 Hours of Boyne, which was a huge success, but I got a lot of good training in which I think will help when October comes around.

The month consisted on one century on the road bike, which was on Mother's Day when it poured down rain the whole day. And my most miles off road obviously came last weekend with 120 miles up at Boyne.

There has been an unfortunate mess this month, as some idiot decided to take it upon himself to destroy a section of the local loop. Steve and I were riding yesterday and when we got to the Girl Scout's Section, someone had cut out the two really big trees that had fallen. But they didn't stop there, they also cut out three logs that have always been on the trail, including the one right after the stream crossing. Needless to say, the Girl Scout Section is now immensely less interesting.

Steve and I did get to see on the same ride though what must be a prototype Segway Hauler. It was pretty funny, especially because it didn't really look like it worked and the guy on it didn't look very happy.

I guess to wrap up this wrap-up, I would like to say thanks again to everyone that was a part of 24 Hours of Boyne this year. Mike and Mr. B, it was an awesome race and you guys both rocked. Pit crew Caroline, Mrs. B, Kelly, and Maria for helping out. Thanks to our competition Mattison, Sean, Fritz, and Corey for pushing us even faster. And thanks to Steve for putting up with a whole weekend of verbal abuse (and for forgetting the banner).

24 Hours Of Boyne!

2008-05-30T09:44:00.000-04:00

It turns out that Mike, Mr. Bartlett, and I have super sweet team chemistry. We not only won 24 Hours of Boyne, but we broke the record for most laps ever done at this race.

But...back to the beginning. It all started Friday night at Shap's restaurant in Flint. Probably the worst mistake I ever made, but when I hear the words all you can eat and it involves food that is horrible, I can't resist. So I went with the all you can eat fish and chips. The first look at the plate told me that it was a bad idea, but I went with it anyway. So I had trouble sleeping that night at my first two laps I felt like I was going to throw up the whole time.

Beyond the early race stomach trouble due to Shap's and poor judgment, the race went very well for me as well as my teammates. Mike set the tone early by being the first into the woods, letting everyone know that Team Sofa King Fast was sure to dominate.

Our lead over Mattison, Sean, Fritz, and Corey had steadily been growing, but was clinched when the third member of Team Diaganum Dave (sp?) had light trouble on his second night lap and was out on the course for 1.5 hours. From that point on, it was just up to us not to make any mistakes.

I ended up getting an hour and a half of sleep from 5:20 to 6:50 (am), but woke up feeling immensely worse than before. I didn't feel like I could go on, but put my chamois on anyway and trudged out into the brisk morning to wait for Mike to come in from his sunrise lap. I started feeling better once I started warming up, but the first of these laps I couldn't sit down the whole time because my bum was so sore. I decided to put my brand new bib shorts on for the next lap so I could have a somewhat comfortable bum (Adidas bib shorts are super sweet by the way).

So, Team Sofa King Fast ended up doing 28 laps...best ever. Mike and I both did 12 laps (120 miles a piece) and Mr. B did 4. Congrats to Mr. B for going a lot faster this year. My fastest lap was 44 minutes and my slowest was 54 (I bonked pretty hard and had to stop on the side of the trail for about 5 minutes to eat my emergency Clif Bar that had been in my pocket for the last year and a half (and expired 8 months ago). I only bonked twice this year, didn't pass out at all and did two more laps this year than last year.

It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. But I did have a lot of time to think of the answer to my ever-present question about racing (see entry: Pontiac Lake TT). I realized it is because I truly do enjoy it...even though it may seem very masochistic.

Big thanks to our pit crew. The race would have sucked without help. Especially Caroline. She slept a little more this year, but still did a great job. There was always food to be eaten, drinks handed off, and Nickelodeon wake-up calls. Awesome job by the behind the scene half of Team Sofa King Fast!

And of course, it wouldn't be me doing a MTB race without a super-cool tattoo, so check it out.