SingleTrackMinded

Lumberjack 100

2010-06-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

So once again I decided to subject myself to the punishment of the Lumberjack 100. My first attempt at this race was in 2008. I was very prepared physically that year, but maybe not as much mentally. At about the 40 mile mark that year I hit the wall hard, major dehydration and my blood sugar crashed so I only managed 50 miles. Las year I signed up, but due to a lack of riding had to cancel. So again I signed up for the 2010 edition, hoping this would be my year.

Training had been going pretty well, though I would have liked to get some additional long rides in before. It was too late for that so the day before the race was here and I loaded up my stuff in Todd’s truck and we headed north with Todd’s buddy Kevin to handle our pit duties during the race. We made it up to Wellston, checked into our cabins, then headed to Big M to get the tent set up in the pits for the race and grab our packets. Brad showed up shortly after us so we all headed to Manistee to grab some dinner. After that it was back to the cabins to prepare everything for the morning and get to bed early.

My alarm went off at 4:45am, way too early to get up for a bike ride in the woods, but I dragged myself out of bed to get some breakfast. By 5:30 we were on our way to the race. We were only about 6 miles up the road so we arrived and unloaded with plenty of time. The race was set to start at 7am sharp, about 1.5 miles down the paved road that leads to the parking area there. They do this to spread the field out a bit since the race is a mass start of 300 riders.

For 2010 they had changed the race up a bit. Instead of the typical 4 lap, 25 mile course they went with a 3 lap, 33 mile course. One of the changes was the addition of a couple two track and dirt road sections. I thought this sounded like a good change, but wouldn’t know until we started riding. The promoter gave some last minute instructions, I wished the guys around me good luck and we were off. Right from the start I took it really easy, just pedaling at a comfortable pace. I knew it was most likely going to take me 11+ hours so no need to burn all my matches too early.

The first 5 miles or so were a bit crowded. Nothing too bad, but we were creeping up a lot of the hills. I was thankful for my gears and was feeling bad for those on singlespeeds. Once we hit the first section of two track everything opened up a bit and the race stretched out. This section was a great opportunity to get some electrolytes and grab a gel. Most of the first half of lap one went good, I was feeling strong and keeping my heart rate somewhat under control, considering the climbs out there. A few miles before the aid station I caught a rider who just didn’t seem comfortable on the singletrack. He was weaving around quite a bit and slowing me down on the descents, but I gave him plenty of room and waited for a safe opportunity to pass. On a descent through some pine trees he caught a stump right in front of me, which sent him flying over the bars. He immediately popped up, yelling that he broke his collar bone. By this point a number of other riders stopped so we all asked if he could walk his bike out or if he needed help. He immediately grabbed his bike and started heading towards the aid station so we headed out to forewarn them that he was coming.

The rest of that lap went pretty well. I took a brief break at the aid station, then headed on. Around the 20 mile mark we hit some more dirt road, which was smooth and fast. That felt great to just cruise on. About 5 miles later we hit a section of trail that was new to the race with two steep climbs. After a few pedal strokes I thought I had better save my legs so I was off my bike and walking. Shortly after this section I was on the home stretch of the first lap, an awesome bench cut section of trail that flows amazingly. This section ends with a fairly large climb, but at the end of the climb is a screaming fast downhill, followed by some flat trail, leading into the pits.

It felt great to roll into the pits feeling pretty strong. My first lap time was 3:19, about 10 minutes faster than what I had hoped for. Kevin helped me fill my Camelback and handed me two fresh bottles. He was a bit concerned I might not be taking in enough calories, but I felt good so I stuck with it. Each lap I consumed two water bottles mixed with an 800 calorie HEED solution, took two gels and ate a half a banana at the aid station for about 1050 to 1100 calories per lap. I also went through most or all of a 100 oz Camelback.

Lap two started fine, though I started adopting the save the legs strategy on a lot of the big climbs. I still felt pretty strong and knew I could climb them, but there was a little twinge of cramping there so I figured I was better off walking the worst of the climbs. Plus that gave me a chance to get out of the saddle occasionally. Once I hit the two track that I had loved on the first lap I was alone and I didn’t love it any more. Actually it kind of sucked, a bit sandy and nobody around to pace off of. This was around 40-45 miles in and I figured I was hitting my mid-race wall. That lasted for 10 miles or so, probably until I hit the aid station. Getting off the bike, talking with people and hearing some words of encouragement really helped (thanks Marti). Back on the bike I was on my way again. With about 10 miles to go in lap two I crested a hill to find two of my teammates, Chad and Todd, resting on the side of the trail. I stopped and chatted for a bit, they had started out strong, but were both starting to have a bad day. We rode together for a bit, but I kept pedaling when they stopped for another break. Back through my favorite section of trail and into the pits again. This was a little bittersweet, I was pumped to know I only had one lap to go and still felt pretty strong, but I still had 33 miles to ride. I was already 7 hours into it and had at least another 3 ½ hours to go. The good news was I had beat the cut off by an hour and a half. They had a 3:30pm cutoff to start your third lap to make sure nobody was stuck out in the woods in the dark.

Lap three went pretty good. Probably about mile 70 through around mile 80 was the worst of this lap, but still not bad. I hit the aid station for the last time and was excited to only have half a lap left. Kevin was working a volunteer shift at the aid station so he came right over to top off my bottle and see how I was doing. After a quick rest break I was back on the bike and pedaling pretty strong. I think the adrenalin was flowing at this point because my spirits were good and I was really fired up about finishing. That last 10 miles or so may have been the most enjoyable of the entire race. I was starting to pass a number of racers, many walking their bikes or riding really slow. I would ask everyone if they were okay and if they needed anything, but nobody did, they were just worn out. I didn’t really feel it though; I was just smiling as I cruised through some amazing trails, knowing it was almost over.

There’s a spot on the trail, with maybe ¼ mile to go where you can see the parking lot. My first two trips through it was a rush to get there knowing I was almost back to the pits, but the third lap was something so different. Once I rounded that corner and saw the glare of sunlight reflecting off windshields I hopped up on the pedals and started pushing it. A quick look down showed 10 hours and 55 minutes. My first thought was good, under 11 hours. Then I started to worry though that part of my first lap my timer was on auto pause so it would stop when I stopped. How long had it been stopped for? Hopefully not more than a couple of minutes. As I approached the finish line I heard people start cheering, cowbells ringing, then I saw the clock. It read 10:55 so I had plenty of time. I rolled across the line, grabbed my finishers patch and headed over to our tent. Wow did it feel awesome to be done and have finished the whole 100 miles.

Congratulations to my teammate Brad for killing it in 8 hours and 15 minutes. Also congratulations to Chad and Todd for sticking it out and finishing. Lastly, thanks to Kevin for all the help in the pit.

Tour de Cure 2010

2010-05-09T07:05:00.000-07:00

Jackie and I are going to be riding in the Tour de Cure again this year with our friends Curt and Noelle on June 5th in Brighton. Its a organized charity ride to benefit the American Diabetes Association. Curt has been a type 1 diabetic for a while now so it will be great to come out and ride with him. We rode it last year with them and really enjoyed it.

If you're interested in donating to us you can do so online, Jackie or Jason. Thanks.

Demolition

2010-01-17T16:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I had a productive and fun day. First up was a drive down to Stoney Creek to meet up with Curt for some trail riding. We got there at 9am, hoping that it would still be cold enough to not worry about slushy or muddy trails since the temperatures have been above freezing for quite a few days in a row lately. It was around 29 or 30 degrees when we got started. Considering the cold spell we had a for a couple weeks it felt really comfortable out.

I was excited to hit the trails, first because I haven't spent much time on the trails in the past year. Secondly, Jackie got me some studded tires for winter riding last year and I've yet to really test them out. Last year I took them out on the back dirt roads a couple times and they felt great in the snowy icy conditions, but I never had a chance to ride them on the trails. I wasn't disappointed as they performed great, clawing through the snow and super stable on ice. There were sections where we were on solid ice and were still able to maintain traction, actually able to climb hills and ride off camber sections on ice. I still much prefer riding in warmer weather, but this does make me look forward to getting out in winter more.

When I left Stoney I called Jackie and mentioned to her that I had a project in mind for the afternoon. She was pretty surprised as she is always wanting to make changes to the house and I'm usually pretty happy with things the way they are. We've been discussing some changes for a while now and I decided to take advantage of a free afternoon. Our home had a half wall between part of the living room and kitchen, about six feet long. We thought it might be nice to remove that, which will allow some additional light up into the living room and make both rooms feel bigger. Jackie has also been wanting new flooring for a while now so we figured it would be better to get it out now.

So I got to work. First thing, disconnect the two electrical outlets on either side of the wall. Got zapped, realizing I turned off the wrong breaker, so I turned off the correct breaker and removed them. Then I removed all the moldings, taking care to not destroy them for later. After that was on to the fun part, breaking drywall and hammering out 2x4's. It all came out relatively easy and we're both really happy with the way it turned out. Both rooms seem so much more open now. The only problem, the cats are upset. They both really liked to sit up on top of the half wall.

Lots of work left though. Drywall repairs, painting, flooring, and I need to figure out what to do with the two electrical lines currently sticking out of the wall. But for now I'm going to relax on the couch and watch the rest of the Chargers/Jets game.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-03T08:13:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe 2009 came and went as quickly as it did. It was a very good year in most respects, other than cycling and fitness in general. Let's start out with the good though. 2009 was a good year for me professionally as I received a great promotion at work. That did contribute to a much busier schedule with more time spent away from home. I went back and counted all my trips up from the past year and it worked out to be 45 nights away from home. Add to that a couple vacations with Jackie plus some weekend trips and I was away for around 65 nights last year. The travel can definitely take its toll, but I've really gotten used to it over the past years and whenever I think I have it rough I just think about my cousin Dave's travel schedule. I think he's spent 45 days away from home in a single month before:).

Another great thing that happened this year was our move at work to a new (to us) facility. The building we were in just wasn't the right place for us; poor layout, needed tons of work. After about 14 months of working through environmental issues we finally closed at the end of September. Our goal was to be in by the end of the year. This meant many nights and weekends spent at the new place helping out, then moving loads of stuff once it was time to move. It turned out great though as we began operating out of the new place this past Monday, the 28th. Our new place is really nice; with beautiful offices, a much better layout and plenty of room for expansion.

I've documented most of the fun stuff we've done this year on here, though I've been absent lately with any sort of updates. Since my last post we did have a great weekend up in Traverse City for the Iceman. As we've done the past three years, we rented a large vacation home so some people could stay with us and we hosted a large pasta dinner the night before the race for most of our team members and many other friends. That turned out great, as did the race day. This was the first time in three years I didn't race, but it was a lot of fun just being up there hanging out with everyone. There was a huge turnout this year, around 4500 racers so knowing the campground would be packed at the finish area we rented a campsite for the day of the race to set up our Ez-Up tents, do some grilling, make a campfire, etc. That worked out great as we had a big crowd of teammates and other friends hanging out all day.

The rest of November and December were basically consumed by work with some family activities thrown in there, including my sister-in-law Amy's graduation on December 18th. Congratulations Amy.

Now, getting back to my negatives for 2009, specifically my lack of riding and deteriorating fitness. That's my main goal going forward, to reverse that. We made a big step forward earlier in December. In place of buying each other Christmas gifts this year, Jackie and I bought an elliptical trainer and a spin bike as a gift to ourselves. We've turned our computer room into a mini gym with both of those in there, as well as my flat bench and Powerblocks. It really gives me a ton of opportunities to get some good workouts in. So far it seems to be working. Since we go everything on the 15th of December I've used it every day except for one. Now I just need to keep it up.

Looking into 2010, I think it's going to be a great year. You see all these articles and ads promoting New Year's resolutions, stating "New Year, New You". I read something the other day that said it better in my opinion, "New Year, Better You". That's what I'm going to focus on. I don't need a new me, I need to focus on the good parts and improve the parts of me that need it.

So Happy New Year. Hopefully yours was as fun as ours. We spent the evening with my family; had a great dinner courtesy of Amy and Sergio, had a blast playing the Wii Fit (even mom and dad gave it a shot, and toasted the New Year with a great bottle of champagne. Jackie took the picture above of the champagne. We bought that in Paris almost 2 1/2 years ago and were saving it for a special occasion. It was fun to open it up and share it with our family (other than Hayley, she got sparkling apple juice).

Here's to 2010 and a better me (and you).

Vacation - Vegas & Zion

2009-10-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

Jackie and I just got home from a great vacation. A week ago Saturday we flew to Las Vegas, intending to spend a day in Vegas at the beginning and end of our trip, then drive up to Zion National Park for the 5 days in between. We got into Vegas early so we had plenty of time to walk around and check out some of the casinos. Neither of us are too interested in gambling, but we did enjoy checking out all the different places. That night we had tickets to Zumanity, which is billed as the sensual side of Cirque Du Soleil. The show was amazing. Definitely not something to watch with your parents or kids (its actually 18 and over), but a really great show.

Sunday morning, after some breakfast, we jumped into the rental car and head to Zion. After about 2 1/2 hours we pulled into Springdale, the town just outside the park headquarters. Immediately we were amazed at the beauty with these huge red rock cliffs all around us. We spent some time in town scouting out some hiking plans for the upcoming week, grabbed some groceries and headed to the house we rented. That turned out to be a great place, fairly new and in a secluded vacation home community. Peace and quiet with awesome mountain views surrounding it.

The next morning we drove up into the high country in the middle of the park. This was a different area as we climbed to 7000-8000ft, and were surrounded by Ponderosa pines and Aspens. Many of the Aspens were turning yelllow for the fall, which made a great contrast against their white trunks.

On Tuesday we took advantage of the still 90+ degree temperatures and decided to hike the Narrows. This is the far north area of Zion Canyon where the canyon walls narrow to as little as 20feet in some spots with walls up to 2000feet. There's only a trail for the first mile, then you literally get into the river and hike through the water, either along the river bed or along the banks were possible. It was a really amazing experience. We hiked a total of about 3 1/2 miles up stream, then turned around and headed back.

Wednesday was our 4th anniversary. We had hoped to hike Angels Landing, but it was pretty windy so we decided on some less exposed hikes for the day. We ended up doing two hikes, Hidden Canyon and Emerald Pools. Hidden Canyon was 1 mile each way, plus some scrambling up a small slot canyon. The main trail included some exposed ledges along a cliff face that offered chains fixated to the wall for some added security.

Thursday we headed up Angels Landing. It was a little over 2 miles of steep climbs with lots of switchbacks, then we got to the chains. The first section was fairly simple and both of us thought we were almost there, then we came around the corner and saw that we still had about 1/2 mile of intense climbing along an exposed ridge. Either side of this were 1000 foot drops. I was pretty nervous, but Jackie encouraged me to give it a shot. We were moving pretty good and it wasn't too bad. We were about 3/4 of the way up and it was getting really crowded with 2 way traffic. Our nerves started getting the best of us both so we opted to grab some pictures where we were and head back down. The view is supposed to be amazing, but I don't regret the decision to head back down.

On Friday we headed back to Vegas and finished the trip off with dinner at the Eiffel Tower restaurant, overlooking the strip and the fountains at the Belagio. Great way to finish a great vacation.

A beautiful night in Lexington

2009-09-13T06:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening Jackie suggested we take a drive up to Lexington. We picked up her mom and sister Jill, then headed up. It was a beautiful night so I grabbed the camera to take some pictures up there. Here are some of my favorites from the night. After walking out on the pier we grabbed some dinner at Smackwater Jack's. Lexington has done a great job redeveloping their downtown area. All in ll it made for a great evening.

Wedding Photography

2009-08-26T17:40:00.000-07:00

Jackie's youngest sister Amy got married on August 16th. Since I have my fancy new camera I helped out taking pictures at the ceremony and reception. The ceremony was at Dow Gardens in Midland, very beautiful with plenty of good spots for pictures. I got a little shutter happy, taking 1345 pictures, but it was a lot of fun, using the new camera and getting some really cool shots.

Jackie was one of the bridesmaids and look exceptionally beautiful, as you can see in the picture below. Everything went great, and other than being super hot out (in the 90's with lots of humidity) the weather was good.

One of the cool accessories I got for the camera was an external flash. You can aim it in different directions so during the reception I would bounce the flash off the white cealing which made the pictures turn out nice and bright, but without that glossy look from the flash reflecting off people's faces.

If you're interested, all of the pictures can be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/JandJSchneider.

New Toy

2009-08-26T17:28:00.001-07:00

A little over a month ago I got a new toy, a Nikon D90 digital SLR camera. Curt has the same camera and ever since being on vacation with him and comparing our pictures I've wanted one. I've always been really interested in photography, but have never had a really good camera. Now I have one, just need to learn how to use it.

Below are some great pictures I took of a fawn in our yard. Ever since Jackie and I put our garden in there has been a doe and two fawns hanging around in the area, eating much of our garden. I caught this one in the garden one Saturday morning. He wandered from the back yard to the apple tree in the front. I was able to get really close so obviously he doesn't know to be afraid yet.

Free WiFi

2009-07-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

That's what else I like about the Pacific Northwest, free wifi. It was free at the Vancouver airport so since I had lots of time to kill I fired up the laptop, got some e-mails taken care of and posted to the blog. Now I'm in Seattle and my iPhone picked up AT&T wifi, also free. Nothing is free at the Detroit airport.

Well, almost time for my red eye. The good news is I've been upgraded to first class so hopefully I can get a little sleep on the plane. Any time I start to think my travel schedule is rough I just think about my cousin Dave's. By comparison I've yet to experience anything close to rough.

Vancouver, BC

2009-07-17T17:05:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the Vancouver airport right now, waiting for a flight to Seattle. From Seattle I have the red eye home to Detroit. I've been here for over two hours and have three more before my flight. My original plan was get here early and maybe jump on an earlier flight. No luck. I wished I had stayed downtown for a while longer. It was a beautiful day out so it would have been nice to just sit and look at the mountains across the harbor. I have to say I've been to some pretty cool places over the past 5 years or so, but Vancouver ranks right up there at the top.

A couple weeks ago my cousins Dave and Allison were in as well as my Aunt Carol and Uncle Andy. On the 4th of July everyone came up to Port Huron for the day for lunch at our house and a cruise on the Huron Lady. It was just one part of a really great weekend that included Greenfield Village and lots of family time. So we're on the Huron Lady talking about boating with my cousin Dave. He and Allison used to live on the water in Annapolis, MD and loved boating. They now live in England temporarily but really look forward to returning to living on or near the water. Dave and my sister Amy were discussing the water and how it is their favorite place to spend time for vacations. I said something along the lines of "I like the water, but I'm more of a mountain guy." Well Vancouver has proven I do love the water, when they are surrounded by a back drop of beautiful green mountains that seem to rise straight out of the ocean.

I've been here since Tuesday and had some time to do some exploring. It was basically a tease that has just made me want to come back with Jackie. Here's some of the pictures I took. They're just camera phone pictures, but I picked the best ones. Check out the guy below. I was at a park with a road that climbed a mountain, about 3000 feet up. There was a whole group of these guys on these extra long skate boards basically surfing down the road. They were going so fast this guy passed me when I was doing about 40 mph. Crazy!!!

Tour de Cure Part II

2009-06-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the Tour de Cure at Island Lake Recreation Area in Brighton. Jackie and I loaded up early and were on the road just after 7am. We had hoped to be there by 8:30, but some construction closures and a wrong turn on my part got us there just after nine. No problem though as registration was pretty efficient and we were able to get ready just in time for the 9:30 start.

Curt, Noelle and Mary were already there, ready to go. Curt got a cool jersey for raising money and being diabetic, so he started the ride in the front with the other "Red Riders", which is what the jersey said. We joined up with them shortly after as we were grabbing a couple last minutes things from the car.

The five of us had signed up for the 25 mile route, which left Island Lake Recreation Area, headed over and around Kensington Metropark, then back into Island Lake. The weather was perfect and it turned out to be a great ride, with around 800 other riders out there. We even ran into another Team Sandbag member, Brian, who was out there riding as well.

At the final rest stop of the day Jackie and I were grabbing some snacks when she says to me "hey, it's Ron." My first thought was "Ron who?". We're big fans of the show Biggest Loser, and one of the contestants from last season was there helping at the aid station. He's from South Lyon, MI which is just a short drive away. We talked with him a bit and got a picture.

All in all it was a great day.

Tour de Cure

2009-05-30T15:27:00.000-07:00

Jackie and I are going to be riding in the Tour de Cure with our friends Curt and Noelle on June 14th at Island Lake Recreation area. Its a organized charity ride to benefit the American Diabetes Association. Curt has been a type 1 diabetic for a while now so it will be great to come out and ride with him. Jackie did it with them a couple years ago and really enjoyed it.

If you're interested in donating to us you can do so online, Jackie or Jason. Thanks.

Unfortunately it is the same day as the Ruby race, but I'm not exactly in racing shape anyways so no big deal.

No Lumberjack for me

2009-05-09T05:50:00.000-07:00

Well, my Lumberjack disappointment is coming early this year. I've decided to throw in the towel on the race as I'm nowhere close to being ready and simply don't have the time to prepare for a 100 miler right now. That's due to a number of things, but nothing bad. The past few months have been very busy with work, lots of travel and long hours here. Apparently the hard work is paying off though as I recently received a promotion. I basically knew it was coming, just wasn't sure exactly how or when it would. Now I'm fully responsible for all of our marketing activities, report directly to the president of the company. Right now my job won't change a lot, just more accountability, but as we grow I will hopefully be adding some staff which will definitely transform the department.

We also have a lot of projects going on at home right now. Last year we finally finished the deck (thanks mostly to Lee and Sergio) and some landscaping around it. This year Jackie really wants to start a vegetable garden. The past couple years she has had a couple tomato plants and some basil planted along the house, but we decided to due something bigger this year. Since I need to cut all the sod out for the garden I figured I might as well rent a sod cutter and finish up the landscape beds around the yard too. Jackie and Jill picked it up yesterday after work, hoping to get everything done last night since the weather forecast wasn't looking the best. Well, before I could even finish cutting the lawn it poured rain, harder and harder. The yard was actually flooded in spots, but once it stopped for a while I decided to give it a shot to see if it would be too muddy. It cut really well and the wetness didn't seem to be a factor. The sod cutter was amazing. I ended up cutting out the garden and areas for a bunch of landscape beds in about 15-20 minutes. It would have easily taken me a full day with a shovel, if not longer. Today it's rainy, but hopefully I can still get some work done. Still lots to do, finish the garden, put in the plants in the landscape beds, put in some type of edging around the beds, groundcover. Then, when that's all done we're planning to put in a shed. So, like I mentioned above, not a lot of time for riding now.

More Hiking

2009-05-01T05:18:00.000-07:00

Thursday we wanted to get some more hiking in. After our experience the other day we wanted to make sure we chose something a little easier. We ended up heading to the Alum Bluffs Cave trail. This was the second time Jackie and I had done this together and my third time. Like the horseback riding, my dad and I hiked this trail about 20 years ago. Its amazing how I remembered stuff from it. We didn't mind hiking it again, its a beautiful trail, challenging but not overly difficult. The trail eventually goes all the way to the top of Mount LeConte, one of the higher points in the park, but we only hiked about half way, to the Alum Cave bluffs. Once we got to the half way point I really wanted to go all the way to the top. Nobody else wanted to go with me though. They did offer to wait for me, and I think I could have moved pretty good on my own, but it was a little late in the afternoon so I decided to head back with everyone. Hopefully next time we're down here. At the top there are some cabins that you can hike to and stay overnight. I think that would be a great way to introduce Jackie to overnight backpacking without having to carry so much.

Here are some pictures from the day.

Today is our last day here. Curt and I were planning to head over to North Carolina to ride Tsali, but we woke up to some dark clouds. A quick check of the weather revealed a large weather front moving through with rain expected all morning. Shortly after it started pouring. So looks like no riding. Hopefully the weather clears up a little and we can maybe get out for a short hike or something before heading home tomorrow.

Mansions and Trail Riding (sort of)

2009-04-30T16:08:00.001-07:00

So we're still enjoying our vacation in Tennessee. On Tuesday we got up early and drove over to Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore Estate. I had a couple meetings to attend to for work so Jackie, Noelle and Curt went in without me initially, then Curt headed back out and picked me up. The home is amazing and over the top. It reminded me of some of the castles we visited in England with Dave and Allison. The house was really cool, but the gardens were even cooler. Plus there's a bridge on the property that was in the Last of the Mohicans, which is my favorite movie so it was cool to see that in person.

The next day we did some trail riding, not the type I thought I would be doing down here though. We did a one hour horseback ride through the Smokey Mountains. It was Jackie's first time on a horse and only my third. Actually I think the last time I rode a horse was at the same stables in Gatlinburg with my dad and sister about 20 years ago.

Ramsay Cascades Trail, take two

2009-04-27T05:52:00.000-07:00

So we wanted to get a nice hike in on Sunday, our first full day down here. Curt had a couple books and we got a big map of all the trails so we spent the morning looking at our options. We wanted to start out with something relatively easy to get the girls used to being out there and not wear them out on the first day. After looking at lots of options we decided to just go back to the Ramsey Cascades trail we had hiked part of the day before. It was a four mile one way hike, so pretty far, but it was listed as moderate and the part we had hiked was relatively easy. Well, we were wrong and we did wear the girls out on the first day. The first mile and a half was relatively easy, following an old jeep trail. Then the trail turned narrow, rocky and extremely rooted. It was a great trail, though a really strenuous hike, and the waterfall at the top was absolutely worth it. At 100 feet high its the highest falls in the park that can be accessed via trail. We had looked at some pictures of it online, but they really didn't do it justice.

After hanging out at the top for a while we made the trek back down. It was tough descending through the rocks and roots, but still a lot easier than the hike up. Once we got off the trail we all wanted nothing more than a big dinner so we drove straight to a restaurant in our hiking gear and had a big meal.

Vacation

2009-04-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

Jackie and I are on vacation in Gatlinburg, Tennessee with Curt and Noelle right now. We left on Thursday evening, drove down to Cincinnati, OH where I worked for part of the day Friday. Then we drove down to Knoxville last night. Today we headed down to Gatlinburg, had some lunch, and drove the Roaring Fork Motor trail. Its a five mile narrow road that winds up and down the mountains, with a bunch of turn offs for trails and scenic views. While on it we saw the black bear below, about 10 feet off the road. He didn't seem to mind the cars, just went about his business.

We finished the loop pretty quickly, since we wanted to go get checking into our cabin. The cabin is great, very new, three bedrooms. After hanging out there for a bit we decided to get a short hike in. We drove up the road to the Greenbriar area of Smokey Mountain national park and headed up to the Ramsey Cascades trail. It was a little late and there were a few thunder clouds moving through so we didn't go too far, but it seemed like a cool trail, following a rocky river uphill.

Tomorrow we're going to do some more hiking and maybe some riding. Later in the week Curt and I plan to head over to Tsali in North Carolina for some riding. I'm very excited about that, those trails look awesome.

In the Windy City

2009-04-03T05:21:00.001-07:00

I'm out and about for work again, this time in Chicago. Downtown Chicago is by far my favorite "big city" that I've ever visited. Maybe it because I've been here more often, but I feel comfortable here. Whenever I visit I drive down since its relatively easy to get to, only about 5 hours without traffic. I don't bring maps any more, I just know where to go. And once I'm here I love walking around. I took the picture above last night from the Michigan Avenue bridge over the Chicago river. It had just started raining so I was headed back to my hotel.

Now I have another day and a half before I head home. If we had planned a little further in advance Jackie could have joined me and we would have stayed until Sunday, but she couldn't get the time off. Oh well, next time hopefully. Chicago was the first trip we ever went on together, almost 6 years ago. I would really like to come back with her, not for business but just for fun. Hit the museums, walk Michigan Avenue, sit on the beach with the city behind us, get some deep dish pizza, have dinner at Harry Caray's, hit my favorite Irish Pub at the Chicago Hilton. So much stuff to do.

Well, time to get ready for work.

Sigh of Relief

2009-03-31T15:04:00.000-07:00

My whole family was able to breathe a sigh of relief yesterday. My mom has been dealing with progressively deteriorating back problems for about a year and a half now. That’s when her symptoms really started to affect her anyways, but I suspect this has been there for years, causing her pain and slowly making everything more difficult.

She’d been through the whole regimen of conservative treatments and was finally ready to turn to surgery for some relief. I was really happy when she decided to speak with a neurosurgeon. Surgery is definitely a big deal and not something to just jump into, but being as involved in orthopedics as I am at work I fairly pro-surgery granted conservative methods are exhausted first.

Yesterday morning she went in to Troy Beaumont Hospital for a Laminectomy. We were all a bit anxious about the surgery. While we certainly wanted her to get it, her last surgery didn’t go so well. Almost 3 years ago she went in for an outpatient gallbladder removal. Things appeared to be going fine, then while in recovery she went into cardiac arrest and her heart stopped. They administered CPR, revived her and rushed her into the cardiac cath lab, but didn’t find any problems. At the time they diagnosed her as having “broken heart syndrome”, but since then we’ve heard opinions from multiple people (including her cardiologist and my wife, a cardiac nurse) that it was her congestive heart failure most likely to blame. It was a really scary situation, especially since I was in California on business when it happened. I remember rushing to the airport, grabbing the next flight home, wondering if I would get to see my mom. Luckily it all worked out fine.

So, back to present day, we made the trip over to the hospital, not taking any chances this time of being too far away. The hospital took extra precautions as well, with the anesthesiologists watching her closely and her cardiologist checking in during surgery. Everything ended up going great and she is recovering very well. They removed a lot of bone to decompression L3, L4, L5 and S1, plus removed a large bone spur that was digging into her spinal column. After that they ground up some of the removed bone, mixed it with some synthetic bone grafting material to create semi-rigid connections between the vertebrae. This is done in place of rods or plates.

I definitely have to give my mom some credit for toughing it out with some intense pain. When the surgeon discussed the case with us he mentioned it was in the top 10 percent of cases he had done in terms of severity. He also mentioned that when he decompressed everything the spinal column nearly tripled in size, meaning there was some major compression going on. It’s great to have her doing better and recovering.

My First 5K

2009-03-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

This morning was my first ever 5K running race, the Leprechaun Loop put on by the Blue Water YMCA. It was an out and back run along the St Clair River in downtown Port Huron. I've never been much of a runner, but have been doing a lot more of it lately with all of my traveling. Running is easy to do anytime, anywhere. Plus with the dark nights and bad weather, running has been easier at home as well.

My buddy Chris came up for the race as well and stayed at our house last night. We got up this morning, had a light breakfast, then head up town around 8am. When we got there a group of Team Sandbag members had already gathered. We hung out for a bit, trying to stay warm, and before we knew it they were calling everyone over to the start. It was maybe 30 degrees out, probably in the upper 20's, but the sun was out and I knew I would warm up once we got moving. We had a good turn out from the team, Todd, John, Lee, Ben, Paul, Brian and myself.

I lined up with Chris and Lee, knowing we would set a slower pace. My typical pace is about a 10 minute mile so I figured about 30 minutes. The three of us ran together for the first half, passing some people, getting passed by others. Ben was way out in front, with John and Todd behind him a bit, then Paul and Brian, then us. Brian ran the 10K so he kept going, while the rest of us turned around and headed back.

Shortly after turning around Chris said he needed to pick up the pace to stretch out his stride a bit. I felt pretty comfortable so I told him to set the pace and I would try to stick with him. My tendency is to set into a slow plodding pace when running, but I would really like to develop a more fluid, longer stride. I was able to keep his pace all the way back, though I was feeling pretty tired about 2 miles in. Towards the end my second wind showed up a bit. As we approached the finish Todd and Ben were there cheering us on. Todd was running along side us telling us to sprint the finish so I picked the pace up. I felt surprisingly good so I held a pretty good pace for the last couple hundred yards. Not a sprint by any means, but good for me. As I passed the clock I read 28:10 so I'm pretty happy with that. Two minutes faster than I had anticipated. Makes me want to keep running and do another one.

Everyone else did great as well. Chris rolled in right behind me so that was great to run the whole thing together. Ben grabbed 1st in our age group, with a time of 19 something. Todd and John both placed 2nd in their groups with 21 somethings. Paul rolled in around 25 minutes and Lee crossed the line around 30 minutes, not bad for a guy who can't remember the last time he actually ran.

Back in Michigan for a bit

2009-03-08T07:06:00.000-07:00

Feels good to be home. I just finished back to back weeks of travel for work, both for big, high profile tradeshows for us. First was Las Vegas for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. This is a huge meeting, with around 15,000 orthopedic surgeons and another 10,000 to 15,000 industry representatives in attendance. This was my second time in Las Vegas. My first trip was about 13 years ago and I got the stomach flu the second day there so most of my trip was spent in the hotel room. Unfortunately these tradeshows are super busy so I don't get much time to look around, but just being there really made me want to come back for a vacation with Jackie. Neither of us are gamblers, but there's just so much to do there and in the surrounding area.

I flew home from Vegas Saturday afternoon, had Sunday and Monday at home, then left for Washington DC on Tuesday for another meeting. We stayed in a new development south of DC right on the Potomac called National Harbor at the Gaylord National Resort. This is a massive hotel with a huge atrium in the middle, a big convention center, and a bunch of restaurants. We were supposed to be there until Sunday morning, but came up with a plan to get out early if everything went well.

For a while I thought that I might have screwed up our chances as I pissed off the union steward at the exhibit hall. Union rules vary all across the country, sometimes we are required to use union workers and sometimes we can do our own work to set up our exhibit. Well, apparently I didn't read the fine print right. We set up our entire booth ourselves, then the union steward stopped by to tell me I wasn't supposed to and needed to order laborers for the teardown at the end of the show. Okay, no problem, went over and ordered that. But we're in a hurry to get out of there so the show ends and we start taking our stuff apart. Again the union steward comes by and asks me what we're doing. Somehow they lost our order for labor and didn't send someone over. So now they're probably thinking I'm trying to steal their union jobs. All I want to do is get packed up fast so I can go home. They told us we had to stop working on our booth and let the laborers they were sending do all the work. The guys they sent were great though, hard workers and seemed to know what they were doing.

We ended up finishing up in about an hour, then headed to the airport and were able to get on a flight that night. Now I need to get my butt in gear and get back onto a regular exercise schedule. My activity has been a haphazard collection of short workouts over the past few weeks, whatever I had time to fit in. Its rainy out today, but the weather is starting to warm up and with daylight savings there will be time after work now to get outside.

A Little Winter Riding Help

2009-02-08T17:54:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago for my birthday Jackie surprised me with a couple cool tools to make winter riding much easier. First, she got me a set of Nokian Extreme 294 studded tires. These have 294 carbide studs in each tire to keep the bike upright on ice and packed snow. I finally got them mounted up today and went out for a ride. It was pretty warm, mid 30's and sunny. You are supposed to ride them on pavement for a while when you first get them to help fully seat the studs so I did a 17 mile loop on pavement. Definitely a lot more rolling resistance than what I'm used to riding, but I can't wait to get them out on some real trails. I haven't ridden a trail now since early December I think.

She also got me a pair of winter riding shoes, some Pearl Izumi Barrier GTX's. They look great, but unfortunately were too small. Dave exchanged them for us for the next size up, but those are too small as well. PI's must run small so I will go up one more size. They will be great once I get some that fit good. Now I wear wool socks with a chemical toe warmer stuck to them, inside my regular shoes, with neoprene shoe covers over them. The new shoes should be a lot easier, just put them on a go.

It felt really good to get out and ride today. Especially since I was so bummed I didn't have my stuff in New Mexico. Not only was the weather great, but a couple of the doctors and a rep I visited all ride. One of the doctors was even trying to convince me to come riding with him. Next time for sure.

Back to Reality

2009-02-04T21:21:00.000-08:00

Well, paradise is behind us. We returned from the Bahamas to temperatures in the teens and snow. It did feel good to sleep in my own bed for a night, but it was bittersweet as I had less than 24 hours in Michigan. I flew back out this afternoon to Albuquerque, New Mexico for work. I'll head home Saturday afternoon.

This is a really crazy time of the year with a lot of work travel. At least I have a new laptop so I can blog on the road. I have to continue to dispel the nickname Todd assigned me, the Shitty Blogger (just because I didn't post anything from May to October last year, big deal).

Time to get some sleep now. I'm tired and have a couple long days ahead of me, plus I haven't had a real workout in a while now so I'm hoping to spend some time in the gym in the morning.

"Working" in Paradise

2009-01-31T05:05:00.000-08:00

Well, its a tough job, but someone has to do it. I'm currently in the Bahamas working a seminar at the Atlantis resort. Getting here was a little interesting. There was a snow storm in Detroit so we were delayed over an hour, then missed our connection in Atlanta. Luckily we were able to catch another flight about an hour later.

I'm spending mornings in the exhibit hall while Jackie sleeps in, lays by the pool and goes to the spa. The afternoons we spend in the pool or water park, then do some wining and dining in the evening. The conference ends tomorrow and we are here until Tuesday though so we will have some time on our own soon. Either way, its better than single digit temperatures back in Michigan.

So Much For Being Outside

2009-01-17T12:22:00.000-08:00

Less than a week ago I posted about how much time I had spent exercising outside in 2009. Since then I haven't been out once. We got hit by a cold spell this week and have been lucky to get over 10 degrees for a high. Currently it is 12 and snowing. We're supposed to get 6" of snow throughout the day and night. Hmm, maybe I can count shoveling as outdoor exercise.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer, in the 20's. Wow, that's pathetic, I'm excited about the 20's.

2009 Taking Shape

2009-01-11T08:01:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty happy with how my year is going so far. It's only been 11 days of course, but I feel I'm off to a good start. While the weather around here hasn't been great since the start of the year, I have gotten outside to exercise 6 out of 11 days so far. Yesterday I got a nice 16 mile ride in on some dirt roads. It was very peaceful out there, everything covered in snow with little traffic around to disturb me.

We were hoping to have a group ride this morning, but mother nature tossed some more snow our way last night so it looks like the side roads won't be clear yet. Instead I went out and ran a couple miles around the block here. Jackie bought me some Stabilicers for Christmas. They are basically a pull on rubber sole with metal studs in them for traction. This was the first time I've used them and they worked fairly well.

I've been thinking a lot about goals for 2009. I really don't want to get too caught up in overplanning, but I also want to add some structure to my training and racing since I've never really had any. Here are some basics I want to achieve.

1. Finish the Lumberjack 100.
2. Finish the 100 pushups challenge I've been doing on JustFinish.com and maintain that all year.
3. Finish the 200 situps challenge I've been doing on JustFinish.com and maintain that all year.
4. Continue racing cross in the fall, but consistantly get into the top 10.

There's lots of other things to work towards, but I really want to focus on my overall fitness and strength, on and off the bike. If I get that into the best shape I've ever been in the other things will come along as well.

Well, I better go get ready. Today is the Team Sandbag Annual Party at Quay Street Brewery. I'm really looking forward to that. It's always a good time.

LumberJack 100 - Take 2

2009-01-03T16:28:00.000-08:00

Well, here we go again. It seems like just the other day that I was typing out a post about registering for the LumberJack 100. That was over a year ago. My first experience with this race didn't go so well, but I'm determined to have a different outcome at the 2009 edition.

Physically I really believe I was up to the challenge last June. It was the mental game that took me down that day. Going into the race I was feeling really good. My training had been going really well, and about 4 weeks prior I had ridden over 100 miles at the 12 hours of Addison. The Addison race gave me a lot of confidence since I finished with over 100 miles and still felt good, like I could have kept going.

I knew that Lumberjack was going to be a whole different story, more climbing, less support, etc. The problem was I got too wrapped up in the excitement of the day once everything got underway. Before the race I made the decision to ride with water bottles only, no Camelback, thinking I would just stop at the aid station each lap and in the pits so every 12-13 miles I would have fresh bottles. On our first lap through I was moving good with a pretty big group of riders. As we hit the aid station I expected everyone to pull over, but nobody did. I though about it for a second, then pushed on. It was a stupid move, we still had 9+ hours of riding ahead of us and I was worried about stopping for a couple minutes.

By the time I finished lap one I was out of water, and hadn't eaten anything. This was 2.5 hours into the race. At this point I had a headache going, which I knew was dehydration, so I tried to take in more water, but it was too late. With about 10 miles to go on my second lap I bonked worse than I have ever experienced. I could barely pedal on flat ground, I was nauseous, dizzy, weak, you name it. By the time I made it to the pits I was so out of it. Jackie was there waiting for me and quickly realized I was in bad shape. She sat me down and tried to get me to drink. At first I didn't want to because I felt so sick, but eventually I started drinking, then eating. It took me about an hour and a half to get back to the point where I felt I could actually pilot my bike through the woods. By that point though there was no way I would make the cut-off for the 4th lap, so I called it a day.

This year will be different though. First off, Camelback for sure. I need to take in plenty of water and reaching down for a bottle occasionally just won't cut it for me. Second, I'm going to manage my calories better. When I looked back at the 5 1/2 hours I spent in the woods that day I realized I had only averaged about 100-150 calories an hour, less than half what I need.

This is the first I've written about the race. I remember being excited to write a big blog post about it before the race, but returned home embarrassed and ashamed. Not that I didn't finish, because lots of people try that race and don't finish, but because I know I was ready and could do it. I just screwed it up for myself. Not this year though. I've learned a lot and I will be much better prepared. June 20th is the race so the 21st, maybe the 22nd if I'm lazy, I'll be writing about my finish.

Starting The New Year Out Right

2009-01-02T15:17:00.001-08:00

Jackie and I had a pretty tame New Years Eve so it wasn't too painful getting up at 7am for a ride. A number of us from the team decided to join the Blue Water area tradition of a New Years Day ride from Lexington to Croswell. After breakfast and some coffee I headed out around 8am and picked up John along the way. We got into Lexington a little before 9am to find Todd, Lee and Kevin waiting for us, but nobody else. Hmm, I thought this was a tradition for a lot of the cyclists in the Port Huron area?

It was too cold to wait around so we got ready and headed out for the 6 mile ride to Croswell. The sign on the bank in town read 19deg, but it felt a lot colder with the wind, and most of the ride is pretty exposed. By the time we hit Croswell, the temperature was down to 13deg. That's cold, but luckily I made the right choice and wore plenty of layers so I was relatively comfortable, other than the exposed skin on my face. I also think being with a group of friends makes it a lot easier. If I had been out on my own I would have either turned around or been miserable, but it was a fun ride.

We arrived back in Lexington just before 10am to find a whole group of cyclists ready to go. The Times Herald was even there to cover the story. A few of the riders invited us to do the route again, but a warm cup of coffee and some breakfast was too tempting. The five of us changed and headed into Wimpy's, a local diner, to eat. All in all it was a great morning and a great way to start the New Year.

Christmas Recap

2008-12-30T16:59:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe tomorrow is New Years Eve. This year flew by. Christmas has come and gone, so here's a couple highlights from ours.

We spent Christmas Eve with Jackie's family. They have a huge family party every year, with probably over 50 people in attendance. The first couple years it was a bit intimidating, but I feel really comfortable with everyone now.

Christmas Day we headed out to Romeo to spend the day with my family. This year my sister hosted. It was fun because Hayley got a Wii for Christmas, so we had a blast playing that with her. Here's some shots from the day.

Hayley and I getting ready to square off in tennis.

Mom even got in some bowling action.

I had the day after Christmas off so I was finally able to participate in the day after Christmas ride the team usually does. It started out as a big group planning to meet up at Stoney Creek. That plan quickly deteriorated as Michigan's wonderful weather had other plans for us. I ended up meeting John and Todd for a quick ride on the side streets of Marysville early in the morning. It was quite cold out, but the bottle of Hot Damn Todd brought helped warm us. About a third of the way through it started sleeting really hard with some strong winds. We made it back safely and warmed up with some coffee.

Two days after Curt and I got out to pedal around the streets of Romeo. That was an interesting ride too, with temps in the low 30's and 50mph wind gusts. Still better than the trainer though.

The last image of Christmas is our cat, Bailey. This one's for our cousin Allison over in England. Bailey is typically the trouble maker between him and his brother. The other day he decided he needed to climb into the Christmas Tree. Luckily its artificial.

Trainers, Pushups and Stairs

2008-12-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

Well, racing is over for about 4 months now so its time to do some off season training. My offseason routine is going to consist of indoor trainer sessions on the bike, hopefully some outdoor rides on the weekends, weekly stair runs, road and trail running if its not too icy and lots of strength training.

Back in May I bought some adjustable dumbells from Dave at BFB called SportBlocks. They're great because you can adjust them from 5 to 50lbs in about 5 seconds. I've been using them semi-regularly since and have definitely noticed a difference in my upper body strength. for the winter, I need to start incorporating lower body workouts as well.

Pushups are on my mind too. I recently joined one of the coolest news sites out there, Just Finish. Its a social networking site similar to Facebook, but its aimed at ordinary people who either have or hope to complete extraordinary events. One of the groups I've joined on there is the One Hundred Pushup challenge. Its a six week online program designed to work your way up to completing 100 consecutive pushups. I've only done my initial test so far to determine what level I need to start at. I managed 35, so I've got some work to do.

This past Thursday I did my first stair runs of the year. John got me going on this last year as a great offseason training to build strength and endurance. The hockey arena in town is open most of the time for youth hockey or figure skating so we just let ourselves in and run laps, up and down. A full lap has eight up and eight down. Since it was my first time back I only did four laps on Thursday and let me tell you I'm glad I didn't push any harder because I am really sore right now.

Today is windy with a sleet/rain mix expected throughout most of the day. Plus we had freezing rain last night so everything looks a little frozen right now. Back on the trainer we go.

PsychoCross

2008-12-10T16:58:00.000-08:00

At least that's what it looked like when we got there. Sunday was the Michigan State Cyclocross Championships at Waterford Hills. We had been getting snow all week, including quite a bit on Saturday, plus the temperatures weren't supposed to get out of the teens.

I left the house around 7am and drove to Romeo to meet up with Curt. When we were loading my stuff into his car I thought "its not that bad out". Once we got to Waterford I ate my words. Stepping out of the car I realized there must have been something blocking the wind at Curt's place and there was nothing to help us at the race course. It was bitter cold, plus there was easily 6+ inches of snow with drifts much deeper.

I wasn't really sure what to expect. Based on crashes at my last couple races I put some snow/mud specific tires on the bike so I hoped that would make a difference but I didn't really know what to expect. So we got registered, then changed into basically every piece of riding clothes I brought, then headed out to pre-ride the course. At first it was pretty slow going, trudging through some pretty deep snow on the course. Then I look up and here comes Robert (the race promoter) on his 4-wheeler with a plow and he is actually plowing the race course. That's not something I ever expected to see. But it worked great as it was way easier to ride where he plowed. The new tires felt pretty good too.

Before long it was time to line up so we headed to the start. For some reason they decided to start all the men in one big group instead of splitting us into two. I sat on the back and let the faster guys move up front. That ended up making the first lap really slow as it constantly bottlenecked and at times I was almost track standing. As we raced I got more and more comfortable with the tires and pushed their limits. I managed to stay upright the whole race and only had to run one hill, just because the riders in front of me stopped and didn't get out of the way.

Curt and I ended up riding the whole race together. This was only his second race of the year, coming back from a knee injury, but he rode well. I could tell he still had a lot of his technical skills with him as he would pull ahead on me in the tight stuff, but I would pull him back in on the flats. We finished towards the back of the pack, but it was a fun race in the snow.

The rest of the TSB CX crew was out too, including Joe, who hasn't been around much lately. Unfortunately he flatted so he didn't finish, but it was good to see him anyways. John did his usual domination, taking home like a dozen awards on the day (I didn't think you could win that much from one event). Lee was the big surprise of the day, storming the old guy field with his mountain bike and grabbing 2nd place and Ben finished mid pack.

Its weird, racing is over for the year, but I really want to keep cross racing. I question while I do before and during the races, but then after I want to do another one. Time to start training for next year though. I'm hoping to do some more endurance stuff next summer so I better start getting those base miles in.

Crossing It Up

2008-12-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

In my last post I mentioned I've been doing some cross racing this fall. So far I've done 4 races this year. Of the first three I felt good and was happy with my results at one and pretty disappointed with my finish at the other two. So going into my 4th race I was really hoping to improve. It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving at Bloomer Park. The weather sucked, really cold (low 20's) with a heavy layer of frost on the ground. That made it a little tough to get moving at first. After a lap of warm up I actually felt pretty good though, other than numb fingers, so I got some warmer gloves on and headed to the start line.

Other than the cold, it was a great morning. John, Ben and Todd were there racing as usual, plus Curt was out racing instead of taking pictures. It was really cool to have him out there riding his bike with us again. He's been sidelined almost all year with a knee injury, so I haven't ridden with him since early spring. That's made the year seem weird since we really got into the sport together and typically ride together quite a bit. Also, we had some great spectators that day too, with Brian (a fellow TSb member), John's dad Rich, Jackie, and her sisters Jill and Amy there to cheer us on.

So, back to the race. They blow the whistle and off we go. As usual, I can see John shoot off the front with the holeshot. I was hanging about mid-pack, actually feeling pretty good. Then we hit the open grassy area just before the first set of barriers, and as I'm rounding a 90 degree corner my front tires washes out on the frosty grass. I went down really hard onto the frozen ground, skidded and rolled over, slamming my bike into the ground. A couple guys paused to ask if I was okay, and I popped up pretty quickly. It didn't make sense to jump back on the bike yet so I grabbed it and just ran to the first set of barriers. By this point everyone in 39 and under caught me and the 40 and over guys were passing me too. As I crossed the barriers Curt passed me and I thought I could jump on and ride with him for a bit. As soon as I jumped on the bike though something felt wrong. I quickly realized the my handlebars had spun on the steer tube and were off center about 15 degrees. Off the bike again, I tried to straighten them with no luck, so I jumped back on and rode with crooked handlebars. It took a little bit but eventually I got used to it. By this point I was quite a ways back so I started trying to bridge up to some of the other riders. I would make some progress, but then fall back again, over and over. Basically every off camber area or tight turn would make me nervous after the early crash so I know I was riding really conservatively.

I ended up coming in second to last in my class, my worst finish of the year. Actually I think its my worst finish ever in cyclocross. Plus the crash added insult to injury, it knocked my new front wheel out of true and made me really sore for the next couple days. The rest of the team did really well though. John won the C race with a sprint finish against Jason from RBS.

Now on to the state championship race at Waterford Hills. Remember above when I said the weather sucked at Bloomer? Well, it was actually really nice. This is going to really suck. If we're lucky it will get out of the teens, and we're supposed to have a couple inches of snow. I did get some new tires, Michelin Mud 2's so hopefully that helps, though I suspect that it has more to do with the operator than with the equipment.

Here's the link to all the pictures Jill took at the race: http://picasaweb.google.com/JandJSchneider/BloomerCX2008

Bike Races and International Travel

2008-11-22T05:35:00.000-08:00

That's pretty much what I've done since my last post. I had wanted to update this more often, but it just never seems to make the priority list with everything going on. Since my last post I've competed in a couple cross races and the Iceman. Cross has been fun as more of the team has been getting involved. Tomorrow is the Bloomer cross race. I'm looking forward to that one, other than the fact that it will be about 25 or 30 degrees when we race. Should be a good turnout though.

Iceman is one of my favorite events of the year and this year it didn't disappoint. For the second year in a row we rented a large vacation home up in Traverse City instead of hotel rooms or a condo. It works great because we can have more people stay with us and have plenty of room to entertain. Also for the second year in a row the rental agency switched our rental last minute. This year's switch worked out much better than last though. The place we ended up in was absolutely gorgeous, about a 1.5 million dollar home on Long Lake about 10 minutes out of downtown Traverse City. The race went really well too. I managed to take 5 minutes off my 2007 time, finishing in 2:11. Almost everyone from Team Sandbag did really well too, including John and Brad who were both sub-2 hours.

Last night I got home from my second trip to the UK in less than a month. I enjoy the travel and especially working with our rep over there. Just over a month ago I went to Edinburgh, Scotland for an orthopedic foot and ankle conference we were hosting. Because of my flight schedule I ended up with a free day there. I was excited to get to see the city, but the weather didn't cooperate. It was raining on and off and stronger winds than I have ever experienced. So strong that they closed down the castle to tours.

My last trip was to Liverpool, England, the home of the Beatles. I flew into Manchester via Chicago Ohare airport. If you've ever been to Ohare you will know what I mean when I say, what a massive airport. I arrive Monday afternoon and check a monitor for my flight to Manchester. Its leaving from gate M16 so a quick scan of the signs and I should be on my way. Hmm, there are signs for terminals 1, 2, 3, and 5, plus A through just about L but no mention of M. I asked a airport security woman "Is there a terminal M?". She responded like it was a silly question, "yes, terminal 5." My bad, I guess I should have just known that M is always in 5. Everything went well and I made it safely to Manchester. Once there I took about a 10 minute walk to the train station and hoped on a train to Liverpool. The public transportation there is amazing compared to here in the states. Its funny though that the locals complain about it and feel its very limited.

Tuesday I had a chance to walk around Liverpool for a while. What a great city. It has a large portion of downtown closed to traffic. The streets are all pedestrian only and lined with shops, cafes, and pubs. Seems like it would be a great place to spend a few days in. The conference I was there for went well, and before I knew it, I was sitting on a plane again. I was bummed that on neither trip was I able to stop in London to visit my cousins Dave and Allison. They've been living there for 2 years now. Jackie and I were able to spend over a week with them last fall and I stopped in for a visit last March on a trip over. Hopefully I'll get back over there soon. Now I'm back home and should be for a bit too. Next trip isn't until January, unless something pops up.

My blog sucks!

2008-10-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

That's pretty much what everyone has been telling me, so I figured I should do one of two things, actually make a post or just delete the whole thing. Since so many faithful followers of me would be crushed if I deleted it, here we go.

My last post was 5 months ago. Pathetic, huh? So I'm not going to do the catch up post, because I don't feel like typing all night. There's still a lot going on to talk about though.

Jackie and I just celebrated our 3rd anniversary with a long weekend up north. We stayed in St Ignace (just on the UP side of the Mackinaw Bridge) and did day trips to Tahquamenon Falls, Mackinaw Island, Pictured Rocks and the Soo Locks. Our hotel was right on Lake Huron, over looking Mackinaw Island. Every night they would have a campfire down by the beach. One night while down there we started talking to an older couple who were the only other people there. They asked why we were up there and when I said for our 3rd anniversary they both started laughing. Turns out they were there celebrating their 53rd. Big deal, so we're a few years off. Gives us something to strive for.

Other than Iceman, and a few other races, the mountain bike season is basically over. But cyclocross is in full swing. A few of my teammates are really into cross so I joined them for a race at Stoney Creek just over a week ago. One word describes cross, brutal. The race is only 1/2 hour long, but you're going full out the whole time. If you stop and coast to take a break you will end up with too much ground to make up in 30 minutes. Ben, John and our newest Todd on Team Sandbag all raced as well. Curt was there taking pictures as he's still having knee problems. It's tough on Curt too, as he is really passionate about cross and is basically the one that got everyone involved in it from our team.

The rest of the team did really well. Todd took 2nd (in his first race ever), John got 4th and Ben got 7th. I think I was actually in last place in our class for a little bit, but on our second lap of three I became determined to not place last. One by one I picked off some guys from our class and some from the over 40 class that had passed me earlier. I ended up 23rd out of 28 racers. Not the best finish, but better than laying on the couch I suppose. The races are painful and I spend much of it thinking to myself "why the hell am I doing this?". But once its over I start thinking about the next one. Crazy, huh?

Speaking of the next one, I'll give it a go again this weekend. Then I'm off to Scotland for work next week. Iceman is just around the corner, so I need to get a few more good workouts in. Stay tuned, maybe I'll post up about it, hopefully in less than 5 months.

My First Century

2008-05-18T04:46:00.000-07:00

I've been a bad blogger lately. No posts in almost two months. Its amazing how easy it is to get out of the habit. Well, I had a fun day yesterday that I figured would be worth writing about. I completed my first century on a bike (100 miles). It was at the 12 hours of Addison Oaks. Its an endurance race that runs for either 6 or 12 hours and can be done individually, or as two or four person teams. The race is all trails, and fairly tight singletrack at that, but its one of my favorite trails around.

I was a little intimidated by this initially. I really had no idea if I would be able to ride for that long, but I wanted to try. Plus it would be a good training exercise for the Lumberjack 100 race I have coming up in June. That race is 100 miles and I figure is going to take me a solid 10 hours to complete. My initial plan with the Addison race yesterday was to just do the 6 hour race. Both Jackie and my friend Lee had been encouraging me to do the full 12 as training. I'm so glad I listened to them. While the whole race was really tough, the worst part was pretty much miles 40 through about 65 or so. I struggled the most there and that's right where I would have finished a 6 hour race. Later in the race I seemed to get a bit of a second wind and stuff stopped hurting as much.

I finished up the last 25-30 miles with my friend Todd, who was doing the 12 solo as well and is also going to be racing Lumberjack. It was great to have someone to ride those final laps with. We did end up calling it a day at about 10 1/2 hours since we were over 100 miles. Part of me wanted to get out for another lap or two, but the other part really enjoyed changing into dry, warm clothes and relaxing. Today I feel pretty good surprisingly. I'm a little sore in spots, but feel better than I had thought I would. It probably wouldn't feel good to get on a bike seat right now though.

Ti 29er

2008-03-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

Woohoo, its finally here. My new frame arrived today and it turned out awesome. I had Scott Quiring build me a custom titanium 29er hardtail. Here it is.

I'm still waiting on a few components before I can finish it so it will be a couple weeks before I can ride it. Here's what I have planned for it.

-White Brothers Magic 29 fork

-Industry Nine wheels laced to Stans Arch rims

-Thomson seatpost and stem

-Race Face Deus riser bar

-Truvativ Noir crankset

-SRAM X9 shifters and derailuers

-Avid BB7 disc brakes

-Maxxis Ignitor tires

I am really happy with the finish on it. Instead of paint he left it raw Ti and bead blasted the logo and flame etchings into it. It looks really cool and will be really durable as well. Now I would really like to take it up to BFB, borrow a workstand and start building it. Unfortunately duty calls though. I am off to Amsterdam Thursday for a couple days, followed by a couple days in Edinburgh, then a stop in London. It will be a busy trip, but should be fun. Plus I get to see my cousins Dave and Allison, who live in England. And as a bonus my other cousins Steve, Maria and their two boys Danielle and Matthew will be there as well.

Visiting the Sunshine State

2008-03-10T17:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted anything here. This is a really busy time of the year for me. In the past month I have been to Baltimore, Long Beach and San Francisco for work, plus I am heading for Europe in just a few days.

Jackie and I did get to enjoy some time away that wasn't work related for me though. The end of February we flew down to Florida to visit my parents, who are down there for a month. Normally they only go for a couple weeks, but my dad has officially retired so they can stay as long as they like. Congratulations Dad!

We flew down to Tampa on a Wednesday evening and my parents picked us up and drove us over to Anna Maria Island, where they are staying. It is an intercoastal island just south of Tampa. We had just over three days there to relax and enjoy the great weather.

The first day it was a bit cool, high 50's, but just coming from Michigan it still felt great. We visited one of my dad's favorite place, Myakka State Park, which is inland a ways form Sarasota. Its a beautiful area with lots of tropical forests and a large lake. We were able to take a boat ride on the lake a see around a dozen large alligators sunning themselves. Then we went for a short hike back into the woods to a canopy walk where you can actually climb onto a swinging bridge around the tree tops and onto a platform well above the tree tops.

The second day Dad and I found a bike shop so I could rent a bike. I was able to get a really nice Specialized Allez for a day and a half. After this long cold winter it felt great to get out and ride in shorts and short sleeves. After my ride we went to the Desoto National Monument, which turned out to be fairly interesting. It was where the Spanish explorer supposedly landed in the 1500's to explore the new world. They had a demonstration of weapons and armor from the time period and I was able to try on some chain mail. I can't imagine doing much of anything in that, expecially fighting.

The next morning I got an early start and rode the length of Anna Maria Island, Long Boat Key and Lido Key, which are all connected with short bridges. All together it got in about 40 miles. What beautiful riding, with the gulf on my side and cool ocean breezes. After that we had a pretty relaxing day, visiting an art show in town and spending some time on the beach. I did brave the ocean, but only up to my waist. It needed to be about 5 degrees warmer. It was still nice though.

That evening we were all treated to one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. Check out the pictures in this album link, though they don't do it justice. Sunday morning we got up early so my parents could drive us back to the airport. Back to Michigan for more snow and cold. At least it was in the 40's when we got home. A lot better than some of the other weather lately.

Thanks Mom and Dad for having us down. We had a great time and it was a really nice, relaxing break.

Do we really need more snow?

2008-02-12T16:19:00.000-08:00

Wow, this has been one snowy winter. I've shoveled more snow so far this year than I think I did all of the previous two winters in our house. Last week we go hammered with almost 18". It was so bad that I got my car stuck in our driveway, and our driveway is flat! Then I almost got stuck on the way to work the next morning in the road.

Now it's snowing again. I just shoveled 3-4 fresh inches and it is coming down pretty fast. Hopefully the front passes soon.

I was able to get out and do some riding last Saturday though, but not here in Michigan. I had to go down to Baltimore for the weekend for work. I got in a little early on Saturday and rented a mountain bike from a local shop and headed out to the trails at Patapsco Valley State Park, just outside Baltimore. The trails turned out to be awesome. Luckily I got a guided tour. I bumped into a local rider named Mike and asked him for some directions. He was nice enough to let me tag along and we rode for two and a half or three hours. The trails there are a lot more technical than what I am used to, very rocky, but a lot of fun. Plus the weather was great, in the low 50's. What really sucked was coming back to frigid Michigan though. When I walked into the airport on Sunday afternoon in Baltimore it was 50, when I walked out of the Detroit airport it was below 0. Talk about a shock to your system!

My busy travel season for work is here now. In addition to the Baltimore trip I was just on I have a ton of work travel coming up. Two trips to California, some time in Europe, Chicago and a personal trip with Jackie down to Florida to visit my parents on their vacation. That's all in the next month and a half. I'm dreading all the travel.

Neither sleet nor rain nor snow!

2008-02-02T12:39:00.000-08:00

Can keep me from riding my new bike. We were supposed to get 10" or so of snow yesterday, but the weather man was wrong. Huh, there's a surprise. We did get a few inches of wet, heavy snow. I really had my heart set on riding my new bike this weekend so I was relieved that it wasn't as bad as the forecast had called for.

I had to wait to get out and really enjoy the bike. On Monday night I had swapped over my pedals and adjusted everything to fit me only to find the seatpost was too short to extend out far enough. Apparently a lot of people experience this with this particular model so it wouldn't surprise me if Raleigh changes the spec. I had Dave over at BFB order me a longer post. There's a lot of options, but I chose to go with a Thomson. It's manufactured here in the US, is relatively lightweight and is one of the stronged posts available so I should never need to replace it.

So I'm kind of rambling on here. Wasn't this post about riding the new bike? Yes, it was. This morning I got the new post on and all adjusted up. There was a little drizzle coming down, but not bad. I loaded up the bike and headed to the rail trail just a couple miles from our house. It doesn't get plowed, but I figured I would just ride through the snow. There ended up being four wheeler tracks that were pretty easy to follow. Those were eventually accompanied by snowmobile tracks, which aren't very nice to ride in. After about 8 or 9 miles on the rail trail I bailed for the road, which wasn't much better in spots, but for the most part was pretty easy to ride on. Altogether I got in a little over 18 miles in two hours. Really enjoyed the new bike, it was comfortable and rode well in the snow. Now I just need this snow to melt so I can get it on to some trails.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

2008-01-28T17:22:00.000-08:00

Well, as I mentioned in an earlier post, yesterday was my birthday. I had a great birthday, celebrating with Jackie's family on Saturday and mine on Sunday. Jackie surprised me pretty well. She made me wait until almost the end of my birthday before giving me my present. Here's what she got me.

It's a Raleigh XXIX 29'er singlespeed. I've had my eye on it at the Bike and Fitness Barn for a while now. Apparently my hints worked. I had another singlespeed, but it was a bike I had pretty much assembled from spare parts and never really seemed to work that great. Plus this is a 29'er (29" wheels vs 26" wheels on a standard mountain bike) which I am really excited about. The bigger wheels are supposed to role over stuff a lot easier and hold momentum better. They do require a bit more effort to get up to speed, but once there they should keep going better.

I'm really excited to get it out on the trail. Tonight I put my pedals on and adjusted everything to my liking. I couldn't resist riding it around a little even though it was dark out. When Jackie came home she asked me who had been skiing in our yard since there were tracks all over the snow from me. So far it handles great and is a blast to ride.

This will be a great training tool for me, as well as a lot of fun. Singlespeeds help you learn how to corner faster and keep your momentum since you don't have the luxury to just downshift. Plus they are great if the weathers not the best. Much easier to clean without all the gears and derailuers.

Testing out the Toboggan

2008-01-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Jackie and I went sledding with our niece Hayley, my sister Amy and brother-in-law Sergio. We have been wanting to go sledding with Hayley for a couple years now, but never seemed to be able to get out. For Christmas this year we got them a toboggan so we had to help test it out.

We ended up going to the community center in Romeo, not far from their house. This is where I used to sled as a kid since we lived just up the street from there. It is a bit different now. They have added a big hill in what used to be a low area of the property. The new hill has a step down affect, where it slows down a bit in the middle. The snow was pretty warn down on that section and we weren't moving too fast so we decided to try out another hill there. This is the hill I always sledded down when I was a kid and it worked out great.

Before we left we had to go climb around on the playground equipment a little bit. Click on the picture above to check out the full gallery.

Snowy Day for a Ride

2008-01-27T06:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Curt and I drove out to Novi Tree Farm for a ride on our single speeds. I have only ridden Novi one other time, with Curt also. The last time I rode out there it was so muddy we had to bail out about half way into the ride. Hoping for better results I had watched the trail conditions on MMBA throughout the week and it sounded fairly promising, packed snow on the trails, but no hidden layer of ice so not too difficult to ride on.

My drive down to Curt's place was interesting. Very snowy, saw a bad accident when a truck couldn't slow down and slammed into the back of the car in front of him, then skidded off the road and hit a telephone pole.

We finally arrived at Novi and got ourselves ready to ride. Riding in the winter can be such a pain. In the summer you show up, unload your bike, put your shoes, helmet and gloves on and go. Not in the winter. To stay warm, but not too warm, you need to wear multiple layers. My feet are always the part that gets coldest. I wear thick neoprene socks, stuff one of those chemical toe warmers over my toes, and wear neoprene covers over my shoes too.

While warming up in the parking lot I ran into a couple guys on bikes who just got done trying to ride. They told me the snow was too thick and you couldn't make it. We decided to find out for ourselves. It was definitely slow going in spots and you need to really pay attention and keep a firm grip on the bars. The snow has a tendancy to push you all over the place. We did manange to finish the entire loop, which is about 10 miles. It took us around 2 hours though, easily double what it normally was. So I still haven't been able to really enjoy Novi. Not to say I didn't enjoy the ride yesterday, but it was tough going. I look forward to getting out and riding it again, but on dry trails next time.

Today is my birthday. Jackie and I are heading out to Romeo to celebrate with my family. First we plan to head to Amy and Sergios and go sledding with them and Hayley. We got them a taboggan for Christmas and are excited to try it out.

Curling

2008-01-20T18:18:00.000-08:00

For the past few years our friend Laura has organized curling for a group of us. She rents out the entire Detroit Curling Club, which has four sheets (think lanes at a bowling alley). Each sheet will have eight players, two teams of four. It was a great time, as always. I don't think it is a sport I would want to do regularly, but it is fun to do every once in a while and a great opportunity to get together with friends.

The key to the game is to slide the rock, which is around 30lbs, from one end of the sheet to the other end. The tricky part is getting it to stop in the circle on the other end. You only get points if it is in the center, and if someone from the other team gets one of their stones closer you don't get any points. We played for about two hours, which is just about right. At that point you are starting to get a little cold and tired of sliding around on the ice. It's something we look forward to every year. Click here to check out all our pictures.

Partying with TSB

2008-01-15T15:43:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday was our annual Team Sandbag party. We have a number of get togethers throughout the year, but this one I really look forward to. This years party was held at Quay Street Brewery in Port Huron. They are a local microbrewer and an excellent restaurant.

The main purposes of this party are to recap last season, discuss the upcoming season, give out some team awards and watch the team video from the previous year. I was second in trail hours this past year so I got recognized for that from Bob and Mary, the owners of Ruby Campground. Additionally, I received the 2007 Sportsmanship Award. This was really an honor for me as all the members of the team have a chance to vote for the winner. It really made me feel good that I was choosen for this, especially considering how much a lot of other members invest into the team. That has really made me realize how lucky I am to be part of such a great group.

After all the awards and such we watched the 2007 team video, put together by Mike with Mashers Media. Mike spends a tremendous amount of time on this every year and it shows. It was a lot of fun to watch it with the team and I'm sure I will see it many more times as it will be great to spin to.

Hanging out with everyone has really made me excited about the 2008 season. Racing season is still 3 months away, but I am really getting excited about it.

2008 Goals

2008-01-07T18:54:00.000-08:00

Well, its about time to write (err, type) this stuff down. I have been planning to get my goals down for a couple weeks now. So here we go.

1. Start the mountain bike race season (mid-April) under 190lbs. This is a recycled goal from last year. I was really disappointed I didn't hit this and am determined to do it this year.

2. Finish the Lumberjack 100. I would like to say I want to do it in 10 hours, but I really have no idea what a 100 mile mountain bike race will be like, so pacing myself to finish is my goal for this year.

3. Log 3000 miles of outdoor riding this year. In 2007 I came close to hitting 2000, only missed it by about 40 miles, but I had to throw in trainer miles at the end of the year.

4. Place top 3 in a USAC Cross Country race,

5. Drop my Iceman time down to 2:05 or less.

I'm excited about 2008. My new bike should be done soon so that will be fun to build up and start riding. I'm also really looking forward to getting more involved in the endurance type races, such as the Lumberjack. Though I didn't list it as an official goal, I also plan to do at least one 6 hour solo race, the 6 Hours of Addison in May. This will be good preperation for Lumberjack.

The year will have many other things to look forward to. Jackie and I are planning a trip to Colorado in the end of June. I will continue to travel for work, which may be a bit burdensome on my training, but I need to make the best of it and find time to get some exercise. My first business trip of the year is tomorrow, though luckily it's only for a day and a half. Not too bad.

Happy New Year and More Snow

2008-01-01T12:35:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years! Just when the last snow storm was starting to melt off, here we go again. We woke up New Years Day to 8-9 fresh inches of fairly heavy snow. I was supposed to meet some teammates for the first ride of the year, but have been battling a cold so I stayed home. I was bummed out to miss it as I really enjoy starting the year off with a ride. Oh well, next year. For now, I will have to jump on the trainer.

Jackie and I went out to shovel around 11 o'clock. Here are some pictures of us both working hard. For some reason I feel like I worked harder. Can't complain though, we came inside and I settled down to watch some bowl games, but she got paged in to work. Probably all those people out shoveling. So have a happy New Year and take it easy shoveling, or you might be seeing Jackie!

Looking back at 2007

2007-12-26T21:45:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that 2007 is almost over. It seems like just a couple months ago I was setting my goals for the 07 racing season. Now I'm doing that for 2008. All in all I think 2007 was a great year. I improved quite a bit throughout the season, met some goals, exceeded some and missed some. My goals were somewhat ambitious for this year, especially considering that in 2006 I really just "got my feet wet" with racing. I really didn't get started with everything until late summer of 06, racing in one mountain bike time trial and two cross country races, as a beginner so the races were about 12-15 miles. I also raced Iceman and did one cyclocross race. I placed really well as a beginner (2 fifths, 1 third, 1 fourth) so I decided for 07 I would move up to sport class.

Not really knowing what sport class would be like I set some goals to complete the Stoney Creek Marathon (a 40 mile mountain bike race), finish top 10 in my sport class (sport men 30-34), race in a 6 or 12hour event, and take 20 minutes off my Iceman time (2006's time was 2hours 30minutes). My first race of the year was a bit of an eye opener, I placed 17th. That made me a little worried about the rest of the season, but after that I started improving my finishes. I did complete the Stoney Creek Marathon, placing 9th in my class. Later in the summer, on my home turf (the Ruby race) I placed 5th. That was my first podium finish in sport class. After that I grabbed two more podium spots (a 4th and another 5th) and a 6th place as well. I ended up finishing the the series in 5th place, much better than the top 10 I was hoping for.

Unfortunately I didn't end up making it out to a 6 or 12hour endurance event this year. Just too busy for a race like that, which pretty much consumes a whole weekend. But I did improve considerably at Iceman. Not the 20 minute improvement I had been hoping for, but I did knock 14 minutes off my time. That was good for 45th out of 105 racers in my class. Iceman, a 27 mile point to point mountain bike race, is one of the coolest events I have ever been to. It's the largest single day mountain biking event in the US, attracting over 2500 racers, plus lots of family and friends. It was really fun this year since we had rented a house in Traverse City that was large enough to allow us to invite our entire team over for dinner the night before the race and for an after party the night following it. Check out the video below on the race. This was produced by my friend Mike, who was the official videographer of the race. He has a lot of talent producing videos like this. Visit him at http://www.mashersmedia.com/ or click the link to his blog on the right.

After Iceman I was really bummed to see the mountain bike season come to an end. I did a few cyclocross races this fall. They're a lot of fun, but I still prefer hitting the trails with my mountain bike though. Maybe because I still really struggle with cyclocross and finish in the bottom of the pack. We'll see if I can improve those results next year. Maybe I will have more fun than.

What I did figure out this year is that I seem to prefer the longer races. Next year I am looking forward to testing myself with more endurace type events, like the Lumberjack 100 I posted about last week and hopefully a couple 6 or 12 hour events. The other thing I am looking forward to is getting my new bike built up. Shortly after Iceman I tore down my geared mountain bike and sold the frame, fork and wheelset on E-bay. Scott Quiring is building me a custom titanium 29er frame. It should be done soon and I am really stoked about building it up.

More than anything though, in 2007 I gained or strengthened some great friendships with my teammates. That's what makes this so much fun. No matter how tired I get or if I feel like quitting, there is always someone there encouraging me on and celebrating the finish at the end. I'll post up my official goals for 2008 here in the next couple days. That way everyone can help hold me to them.

Christmas Time

2007-12-25T17:25:00.000-08:00

Wow, another Christmas has come and gone. The years sure do seem to go by a lot faster now. I guess when you're not waiting impatiently for Santa to show up the days pass a bit quicker. We had a great couple days celebrating with both of our families.

This year we spent Christmas Eve with my family. Typically we spend it with Jackie's and head to Romeo for Christmas Day, but Jackie was on call Christmas day so we needed to stick around the Port Huron area. We spent the day over my parents house with them and Amy, Sergio, and Hayley.

Jackie and I got Hayley the Hannah Montana guitar, which she spent most of the afternoon rocking out on. We also got her, Amy and Sergio a family present, a tobbagan. Next time we get a good snow fall we will have to head over and test it out with them.

Christmas Day we had Jackie's mom, Amy and Jill over our house. We cooked turkey with all the trimmings. Sergio recommended we brine the turkey for 6 hours before cooking it. That worked out great as it turned out very well. Jackie was on call all day, but never got paged in. Thankfully, as I wasn't looking forward to manning the kitchen on my own.

Well, Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope your's was as good as ours was.

Call me crazy...

2007-12-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

Today I registered myself for the Lumberjack 100. It is a 100 mile mountain bike race in the Manistee National Forest on Saturday, June 14th, 2008. The course consists of four 25 mile loops, 99% of which is singletrack. No easy fire roads or two tracks, and around 13,000 feet of climbing. Luckily the course is a loop so there will also be 13,000 feet of descending. But it's a tough race. They don't call it the Big MF'er for nothing.

I'm sure at this point most readers are thinking, "Why?". This will be physically the most difficult thing I have ever done, but from the first time I read about this race I wanted to do it. I want to complete it, just to say I did. I'm not setting any time goals, just to finish before the cutoff. They start the race at 7am, to give everyone plenty of time. The top pros finish in around 7 hours and the longest finish times are around 12.5 hours. There is a time limit on how late you start your fourth lap to ensure racers are stuck out on the course in the dark.

This should be a fun year to do it, as two of my teammates, Todd and Brad are both racing as well. They registered for singlespeed though. Not me, I need gears for this one. Also, it sounds like the race is very well supported, with multiple aid stations to refill water bottles and take a break along the course.

Preparing for this race will be a lot of work. I had hesitated to register since it is so early in the season, I was worried I might not have enough time to properly train. But who knows what tomorrow or next year will bring so there's no better time than now. Plus training for this will really help me with a lot of my weight loss and fitness goals I am setting for next year. More on those soon.

Snow Day!

2007-12-16T12:32:00.000-08:00

Well, not exactly, since it is a Sunday, but we are staying home because of it. The weather channel said we only get a storm like this every 5 to 7 years. It started last night sometime. At around 8 o'clock this morning I went out for round one of shoveling and we had 6-8 inches on the ground already. It's about 3:30pm as I write this and the snow isn't supposed to stop until late tonight. St Clair County, where Jackie and I live, is actually under blizzard warnings until midnight. In total we are supposed to get 15"+.

We were supposed to head out to Romeo today to my sister Amy's house to celebrate Christmas with my Aunt Cathie and Uncle Dan and my cousin Dave, his wife Cheryl, and their daughter Allison. I'm bummed we won't get to see them today, but driving in this type of weather probably isn't a good idea.

So we will stay bundled up inside until it's time for the next round of shoveling. Earlier in the week I was hoping to ride my bike to my sister's today to get a good workout in. This definitely changes plans. Another day on the trainer:(

England and France 2007

2007-12-13T17:37:00.000-08:00

Time to play some catch up on what happened in 2007. Back in September, Jackie and I were fortunate enough to be able to travel over to England and France for 2 weeks. I needed to go to Manchester, England for a couple days for the British Orthopeadic Association Annual Meeting with our UK rep. It seemed like a good opportunity to bring Jackie along and spend some more time over there. What made it even better is that my cousins Dave and Allison moved to Horsham, England for work last year (check out their blog link on the right). They were awesome hosts to us for 9 days, 3 of which it was just Jackie and Allison as I was in Manchester and Dave was traveling for work as well.

Check out some of our photos here

We arrived at Gatwick Airport on Saturday, September 22nd after flying all night. From there on Allison and Dave where the best tour guides we could have asked for. Since they have been there for almost a year now and have had many visitors they've seen much of London and southeast England, so they knew all the cool places to take us. We spent a few days in London, walked a lot, took a double decker bus tour, crossed Abbey Road, shopped at Harrods, and toured the Tower of London.

While London was great, I really enjoyed getting out into the English countryside. The first place we visited after arriving was Arundel Castle. We also made a trip out to StoneHenge, which was amazing. On the way back we stopped in the town of Winchester, home of the 900+ year old Winchester Cathedral. On the last day we were in England they took us to Devils Dyke, in the South Downs, which offered awesome views of the countryside to the north and the English Channel to the south. After that we drove down to the cliffs at Beachy Head. These are actually white chalk cliffs rising right from the edge of the English Channel. Quite amazing.

Dave and Allison live in the town of Horsham, which was about an hour south of London via train. We really enjoyed walking around town and stopping in the local pubs for a beer. While we were excited to see Paris, we were disappointed to leave Dave and Allison as they had made us feel so comfortable.

On October 1st Allison dropped us at the train station and we headed up to London, where we transfered trains and jumped on the Eurorail headed for Paris. We had 6 days ahead of us on Paris and had rented an apartment to stay in. Having booked it with only pictures online to reference we were a bit skeptical, but it turned out to be a great place in a wonderful neighborhood. While in France we spent all but one day in Paris. That much time allowed us to see all the sights, the Arc de Triumph, Eifel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Sacre Couer and walk along the Champs Elysees. I could just imagine the racers coming through on the final day of the Tour De France. Too bad it wasn't July.

After being away for 16 days we were ready to head for home on the 7th. The flight was long, but it was so great to see my parent's faces when we walked out of the airport in Detroit. It was definitely a great trip and we hope to go back to England before Dave and Allison move back to the US. We also look forward to touring more of Europe in the future.

Welcome to my Blog...

2007-12-12T11:54:00.000-08:00

Everybody else is doing it, so why shouldn't I? Write a blog that is. I've been toying with the idea of doing this for a while now. Inspired by reading the exploits of my teammates and my cousins Dave and Allison, I've been meaning to get one started. With 2007 coming to an end it seemed like a great time to reflect on the past year and start planning for 2008.

I hope to post up regularly with information about mountain biking, racing and everything else noteworthy in my life. Check back soon for more...