Good Bye 2010!

Thursday, couldn't have gone fast enough. I don't know what it was but people were just pissing me off. Seemed like every other call I took was an idiot, but Tyler was back so I had someone to talk to. Kelly cleaned the entire apartment herself, thank you so much!, and then the land lords didn't even show up! WTF, they were like "I'm too busy to come by and you are good people so I'm sure it's ok, I'll just sign off on it." Ok I guess but I don't trust landlords so I'm still not expecting much back on my deposit return.
My parents were suppose to be coming to the cities for the weekend, like a late Christmas, but the weather didn't cooperate and they got some crazy ice storm followed by a pretty good snow storm. So the weekend plans went out the window. After work my schedule was open and I have been slacking quite a bit the last couple weeks, damn holidays! They bring out the slacker in me! haha. So I decided to hit the gym and did 10mins on the row machine and then it was time to bust out the Nightmare Before Christmas work out. Damn it was the hardest cardio work out I've done since cyclocross! I couldn't even get through the second set! When I got home we went to Smash Burger, I would recommend that place. Restaurant quality burgers and fries at fast food prices and speed.
Friday morning was spent unpacking most of our stuff and setting the place up a bit. Made my favorite breakfast, bacon and eggs. I was able to make it to the gym again, did the same work out but was able to complete the recommended two sets but man it was a struggle!
Probably not going to be doing much for the New Years Eve extravaganza. I'm guessing I'll probably just hang out and watch a movie. Hope you all have a rippin' time! Don't get into too much trouble!
Keep it really!

The Exodus is complete

Alright the exodus is complete, at least for me. Kelly will have a few odds and ends to pick up, vacuum, wipe down and then do the walk through at 3 with the land lords. Thanks hunny!
So again yesterday Tyler was gone, so I didn't have anyone to talk to. The day went quick since I had to use my last two hours of pto and I got out at 2:30pm. After work I hurried home, hopped in the truck with Kelly and were off to Ashley Furniture to pick up our new couch. It took us two trips to get all three pieces of the enormous sectional.
When we got it back to our new place, Kelly was so excited to get it down stairs to her already proclaimed "Comfy Kelly Cave" or the CKC as it is referred to now. I figured lets just get the big piece down first, well that was a bitch! That big bastard had to be twisted and tried about every which way to get the SOB down the stairs. Finally I thought we had it stuck for good trapped by the ceiling, wall and stairs but with some act of God I was able to slip under the couch and just turn it enough and it made it down. The other two pieces were simple and light and it was all down with only a few minor casualties to the wall.
At about 630 my buddy Dan showed up, he now lives 2 mins away. We went back to the apartment and loaded up the bed and other couch and all the odds and ends in the kitchen and hauled it back. After putting all the pieces into place it was time to crash and check out the CKC. So we grabbed a beer and some pistachios and hit the couch.
What a night!
Later
P.S. We have a sweet bathroom down stairs. It's a little small but it's all cedar walls and ceiling and has this rustic cabin feel with a wood toilet seat, that has a moose carved into it! haha it rocks!

Another day in the books

Another day in the books.... Work was pretty good but my main man Tyler was out so I didn't have anyone really to talk to, so it was actually pretty boring. Even though it was boring the day went pretty quick. I had an interview for an internal position and have a second interview next Tuesday.
After work I met my buddy James who works for JensonUSA to test ride the Rocky Mountain SXC Slayer. He was so kind as to build one that they had sitting in their warehouse. The bike was pretty cool. Truthfully it felt almost identical to the Giant in handling and the cockpit was the same size, although the RM had kind of small Handle bars. They were only 26 inches so probably going to have to throw some bigger bars on if I choose that bike. Unfortunately riding it didn't really help my decision much, they felt the same and with out really riding them on a trail I'm sure I wouldn't know the difference. I'm looking for an aggressive, responsive and flickable ride so I can rip everything and they both feel like they fit the bill so it might just come down to price.
When I got done screwing around there it was time to get back to business, moving! Kelly was at a bridal shower for one of her friends but she had been moving all day and told me it was time for me to pull my own weight. I met her parents at the apartment and we loaded up a good portion of the stuff in their truck and my car. We did two trips and there isn't much left. The kitchen and bath room stuff needs to be boxed up and then just the big couch and our bed and couple baskets of clothing. Und dann the cleaning begins! It seems like its never ending but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end!
Keep it real!

let the exodus begin!

Yes the move has begun and the first day of the three day move was rather successful, we took six car loads of stuff over tonight and filled the dinning area of our new place. We signed all the final documents, paid our deposit and got the keys so it is official now. We now have a new place and it's about 600 square feet larger, we have a lot more privacy and tons more storage area. I'm super excited to get all settled in but I don't want to get my cart before the horse. We still have to get all our things out of our place and clean this beast!
Other then moving, the day was pretty slack. Work wasn't too bad, fairly slow on the phones but there was a shit load of injured and sick wal-mart people calling in to start claims, haha that seems like the only people I talk to at work. You got to love them, they keep the day interesting to say the least. They are definitely a unique and different breed of people!
Still exploring different bike options. I have found a couple prospects, one is still the Giant Reign but I did stumble across a Rocky Mountain SXC slayer 30 for a good price on Jensonusa.com. So I'm just asking for some suggestions so leave a comment if you have an opinion. Can't wait to get my tax return back so I can get really serious about bike shopping!
I'll keep you up to date on the move!
Keep it real

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Ok so where to begin....? Friday night went pretty well. Nothing crazy, church, dinner and then gifts. Just hanging with Kelly's grandma on her dad's side of the family. Then Christmas day came and it started pretty well. Woke up at like 8 and headed over to Kelly's parents for gifts and brunch. That's when it started, Kelly had forgot to get the items to make her world famous pickle wraps. So we had to run around and try to find them. She had to change her receipt from corn beef to ham but we found everything we needed after visiting a half dozen gas stations. After that we had a little fun and played some pond puck and did a little DH sledding! haha it had some jumps to make your ass hurt a little.... and then the chaos began. About 3pm the relatives started to show up and the house filled quickly. The one up side was all the amazing food and the down side was all the amazing food. There goes the diet and nutrition right out the door! Over all it wasn't all that crazy until we decided to leave and Kelly couldn't find her car keys.
Earlier that day her brother had moved her car so her grandma could park closer to the door. No one knows where the keys went after that. He didn't give them to her or I and they weren't any where to be found. Her brother couldn't recall what he did with it and no one else remembered seeing them anywhere. Needless to say we haven't found them. Yeah basically lost Kelly's fancy laser cut key, our apartment key's that we have to turn in on Thursday and Kelly's work keys. Pretty stressful! Sunday was just chill hanging out, looking for the keys some more and went to The Little Fockers. Pretty funny, but just like any other trilogy not as good as the first two. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas I hope you were on the nice list and Santa made a stop at your place and you got everything you wanted!

Twas the night before Christmas .....

Well only one more day till the most amazing day of the year, next to my birthday that is! haha We have made it to Christmas eve! Congratulations! I hope that you have all been good so you made the nice list and will get everything that you wanted for Christmas! So yesterday was another relatively easy yet boring day at work. I know that I simply work to live and that it is a means to my hobbies and pleasures but there has to be a better job or at least a more fulfilling position out there that I can get. I'm so glad that the weekend is here. After work Kelly and I ordered pizza and hung out for a bit. Kelly had looked up all these places with supposedly bad ass light shows. There were definitely some bad ass houses, some even danced to the lights but there were some serious duds! Like how the heck did they make the list? Over all it was fun, we drove around and looked at lights, listened to Christmas music and chatted. Tonight starts the first round of the Christmas circus, church, dinner with Kelly's grandma and then the main even starts tomorrow at 9am sharp and goes all day! Christmas with Kelly's family, then brunch, probably some pond hockey and hopefully some sledding and then it's time to crank it to 11, the whole family shows up for a big feast. Put your Christmas boots on and strap them up, because the holidays are here! Well off to ring the bell at the Woodbury Rainbow Foods! Stop by if you want!
Looks like it's going to an extra white Christmas so looks like Santa should have some soft landings and the snow man's out for a ride!
later

thank god it's thursday!

Only 2 days till Christmas! I hope you all are getting exciting.... I don't know, maybe it's just me but Christmas just doesn't seem as exciting. People tell me this happens when you become an adult until you have your own kids. Well that's not happening anytime soon so I will just make the best of it! Merry Christmas, haha. Well it was another pretty slack day at work. We had our monthly team meeting which resulted in a lot of shootin' the breeze. We did have a white elephant gift exchange which was pretty funny and I actually ended up with a sweet air hogs helicopter that actually works. Better be careful with that might put an eye out, haha. Definitely took that home and harassed Kelly and will be taking it to her parents to harass the cat! (diabolical laugh!) After work I went home and ate quickly. It was ice climbing night and Kelly was going to play bingo, she ended up being one number away from a $14,000 jackpot! Oh how sweet that would have been! Ice climbing was pretty solid. It was pretty wet and lines were limited due to the warmer weather but it was still a blast. It was stu, me and beiler. It's always fun when beiler shows up, he likes to push the lines and we found this sweet little roof to play on. Definitely felt the pump in my arms last night..... Last day of work today! I hope it goes quickly. I'm so ready for another long weekend! Ringing the bell tomorrow at the woodbury rainbow foods tomorrow from 9-11am. Stop by and make a donation got to fill that bucket up!
Catch ya later!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

3 days till Christmas, I hope you all have your shopping done, if not I heard there are lots of stores staying open until Christmas Eve, 24hrs a day. So the TV road forecast was a little off. I woke up to check the travel forecast at 545am and they said it was a slow go all over, tons of crashes. So yeah I was like shit I better get this show on the road. Ate breakfast, grabbed my lunch and was out the door. The commute was slow in some odd areas, so I was like shit they're right. Then it just opened up and I made it to work in about 35mins or so. Yeah I was at work at 650am and my shift started at 8! Did all my Internet surfing before my shift even started. That definitely lead to a long day of aimless Internet surfing between calls, hahaha. Well the good thing is it let me research more bikes as my decision time is growing closer with the end of the year and the tax season drawing even closer! I'm getting pretty excited! Over all work was ok. Surprisingly this weeks is going off with out a hitch. No travel plans for the weekend but for those of you that are looks like the weather will cooperate for you.
After work I went to a movie with Kelly. I was debating on working out since Weds the plan is to ice climb after work. We went to the Fighter, staring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. It was a true story about the fighter Micky Ward. It was a great movie about an under dog and very interesting and inspiring! I would recommend it....
Take it easy!

Christmas week count down begins

4 days till Christmas! First off did any of you stumble into the douche bag convention on 494 obviously there are still some idiots out there that haven't figured out how to drive in the winter after the last 6 snow storms! no comment, just a slow head shake!
Well work went quickly after the slow start. Man I slept like ass last night and it was a slow go trying to wake up!
The work out today went great, no exaggeration. It flew by seemed very easy and I did the full sets and reps. I guess it is about time to get a new work out! Feeling strong. The hip is ok. It isn't like a sharp debilitating pain its more of this occasional dull ache, just enough to let me know its still fucked! I don't know if it's ever going to get better with out some sort of surgery or injection, oh well I'll live with it for now.
I don't know about this Lifetime by my work, it is just weird. It's like a maze to get anywhere with tiny stair cases leading everywhere and just has weird vibe. It's all anorexic old lady's and meat heads, but I'm cool with that I guess. But today I got kicked off of a machine because some group fitness class had it as part of their circuit, not cool with that and seriously what is up with the dude that comes into the gym in jeans, dress shoes and a white t and sits down on the bench and starts with over two plates a side, simply another head shake.....
As I had mentioned the ride home sucked and the evening was cool just hung out with Kelly as she made cookies and just sat around.
Have fun with the commute tomorrow!
Later

The Weekend!

This weekend started off pretty solid, especially since it started on Thursday night and not Friday. There wasn't a lot going on on Thursday. Just work out and and hang out with Kelly.
Friday was spent hanging out with Kelly. We picked up the house a little bit and went and ran some errands. Then stopped at Kelly's mom's for what was suppose to be a quick stop so Kelly could play with her cat, but we got recruited to help Kelly's mom decorate for a bit.  It wasn't that bad, she bought us Milio's for lunch. Yum! After that we did a little Christmas shopping then I had to hurry home to pack up my climbing gear since I was suppose to meet Stu down at the Franklin St bridge for a little climbin' session! So yeah I got all ready, dressed to climb and then I couldn't find my keys so I started to panic and was running all over the house sweating my ass off, finally found them! Yes off to climb I was so excited and then I turned off 94 and was like shit did I remember my boots? I looked back! Fuck no! I forgot my boot so I had to turn around and of course traffic sucked going back the other way but it only took me about 40mins to go back home and get there. When I got there Stu had set up the rope so it was all good to go. Stu and I climbed till about 10pm and made plans to head up north to Robinson Quarry Park in Sandstone MN.
Saturday I woke up at 630am, packed my lunch, ate breakfast, got dressed and grabbed my pack. Hit the road, making a quick stop at Kelly's parent's house to grab some fire wood. The plan was to meet Stu and Jake at a park and ride just north of Forest Lake and all ride together. So we all met up at 8 and hit the road. When we got the Quarry there was one other group of 3 guys there. We decided that we would all share ropes. We set up two and they set up one. The ice was amazing. The city just set up an amazing farming system. They have 4 sets of sprayers now. So much ice, I hope they keep farming all winter! So many options. Not too long after we got there another group of 3 guys showed up. 2 were from Cali and the other was from Connecticut. It was sweet because they were doing a little climbing tour and had heard of Sandstone and decided to check it out and had been climbing there this week and were pretty impressed. That's bomb, I hope it keeps growing and improving. Needless to say we had 5 great routs and a fire ripping and great people to hang with all day! What an amazing way to spend a Saturday afternoon. pics at the bottom.
Sunday is my day all alone. I made eggs and bacon for breakfast, my favorite. Then Kelly was off to coaching and my alone time began. So I started off by doing some laundry and then a few dishes. After that I finished up my Christmas shopping with a quick trip to a couple stores close to home. When I got back I ate and wrapped up the presents. Hands down I'm the worst wrapper in the word, even worse then Shaq, I know hard to believe! The afternoon was spent at the local pond playing some puck with a few of the high school kids.... they keep getting fast, there is no way that I'm getting slower... hahaha ;)
I hope you all had a great weekend, next weeked is Christmas!
Later

nothing is free

Alright the title says it all but I will elaborate on this for everyone. First comes the disclaimer. I am in no way shape or form a workout, nutrition or science expert and this is entirely my opinion based on my years as an athlete working with coaches, trainers and nutrition experts.
So the comment that was made to me the other day, no one will be named here, was that "You are so lucky you have a high metabolism you can just eat what you want." Ok so I am lucky, but then they went on to say " not all of us are that lucky to get good genes." That's what got me thinking. Alright now that comment is placing the blame and allowing them to not except their short comings.
My opinion on this subject, I don't have any science to base this on, is that yes genetics does play some part in this. I would say that about 20% of your metabolism is simply determined on your gender. Men statistically have a higher metabolism then women because they have a lower body fat percentage which should lead to a higher lean mass percentage and thus would lead to a higher metabolism since lean muscle takes more energy to maintain making the body have to burn more calories to sustain the body. Ok so part is gender based. I will give them 5-10% being hereditary just because I can't disprove this.
Some unfortunate people have medical conditions like thyroid problems that do hinder them but those people aside. The other 65-75% of your metabolism is earned. Not by your family or your friend, no by you! And if you sit on your lazy ass and don't do anything but eat junk food, yes you will have a shitty metabolism, but all hope is not lost. For example lets take the biggest loser show. We all know this show, the huge people come to the show.  They are given the tools to succeed and given the motivation of money and miraculously the pounds start shedding! wow holy crap I could do that if I had a nutritionist and a trainer, I bet you could. Oh wait you can!
Anyone can. I discussed the 3 basics of nutrition, follow them. Anyone can join a gym, anyone can pick up a work out magazine, they are all filled with tons of work outs, or you can hire a trainer. They aren't that expensive and there are always incentive to sign up with one. Most decent gyms have some sort of nutritionist that you can talk to, usually about $50 bucks a session and you really will only need 1 or 2. The reason those people on the biggest loser lost weight is because they jump started their metabolism, they didn't sit back and make excuses anymore about why they were so fat! They cut out refined sugars and upped the protein in their diet. Protein takes more energy to break down and digest which ups your metabolism and leads to more lean muscle which also takes more energy to sustain which increases your metabolism.
So back to the moral of this story. I was told I was lucky, they were right I am lucky but just like anything 9 times out of 10 luck is earned. I have earned this metabolism. I am an athlete. I have always been an athlete in some form or another and plan to be one till I die. I work out hard and balance my strength and cardio training. Right now I train 3-4 times a week and as the spring approaches that will go to 5-7 times a week, especially when the roads and trails clear. I eat right. I follow those three main rules I told you. I eat 5-6 times a day. I make sure there is protein with every meal. Even if that means adding protein powder to my cereal. I try to have fruit or veggie with every meal and I gave up soda, caffeine, alcohol and primarily drink tea with no sugar or water (zero calorie beverages) and I'm trying to ween myself from refined sugars and non complex carbs, like white bread and bleached flower.
It is tough. It does take sacrifice and dedication but if you weren't born a man with "amazing" genes then you have to work for it or a teenager and even if you were born a man and have hit the age of 25 you still have to work for it! If there are any of you out there that read this that are still teens enjoy the youth but start living healthy now it will make it easier in the future to prolong your life and athletic careers. All the people over 25 stop and think about your lifestyle and eating habits..... are a few sacrifices really going to hurt you or be that bad? Probably not and you will enjoy the results, I promise you!
So remember nothing comes free it all takes hard work and those that are blessed and don't have to work and choose not to are simply wasting their talent and potential. Working hard is something you should be proud of!
Again if you want more training and nutrition tips check out bikejames.com
Keep it real

The recap

Alright the last couple days have been pretty uneventfully. Wednesday worked and then went to a sneak preview of How Do You Know with Reese Witherspoone and Owen Wilson. It doesn't come out till this Friday but Kelly scored tickets. The movie was pretty good. It was definitely a chick flick and by that I mean romantic comedy, but hell it had Reese Witherspoone and can't say no to a hot blond right? haha and she was lookin' good as she was playing a washed up Olympic athlete! And Owen Wilson plays his charismatic kind of stupid athlete role he does so well. Plus Paul Rudd and Jack Nicholson are in there too! I love Paul Rudd, he's so funny and Jack is a classic and he plays his role so perfectly. Over all I say the movie was good and you should probably see it, might be a renter but it would be a great date night movie!
I do think that I might have underestimated the time commitment to going to this show. I drove straight home, hoped in Kelly's car, drove to Kelly's parents, hoped in her mom's truck and drove there. Got there about 645pm, and I got of work at 430pm, long time of nothing accomplished there but a lot of driving. Then stood in line for a bit, found our seats, no previews, then the movie with some delicious but bad movie food. Popcorn and pretzel with cheese and then repeat steps one through 3. Got home about 1045pm. Not a lot of time to do much after that. Did a little stretching, showered, put the dishes in the dishwasher and hit the hay....
Thursday, or my Friday as I like to look at it. I have the day off tomorrow so I'm hoping to get the rest of my holiday shopping done, clean the house, pack the rest of the shit up and even get my first Ice climbing session in before bed, sounds like a healthy task. So Thursday was a normal day, traffic was light because the predicted weather was a bust. Got to work a little early so I just surfed the web since I don't have the option to work ahead. Work is what it is. Nothing exciting happening there. After work I headed off to the gym to squeeze in my final work out for the week since Friday will be so jam packed. The work out was solid. First time completing the full work out 3 sets of each exercise. The gym was pretty dead so I could just fly through the work out with no hold ups. After the work out I ran to the grocery store and picked up some chicken for a chicken sandwich. Made dinner and popped in the movie The Other Guys with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. Random is the first word that comes to mind and then hilarious! haha, this movie was classic Will Ferrell just plain stupid humor and Mark really shows his funny side. It was almost boarder line spoof but that's Will's style. I would recommend checking it out.
On the cycling and training side of things. If some of you guys are looking for something to spice up your work out, check out BikeJames.com, he talks about suspension training (TRX training). I haven't really done a full work out with them but what I've dabbled that shit is difficult and really works.
My boy Gee has a pretty sweet video that I recommend you check out. He races his fellow Red Bull athlete at Fort Williams heads up for pinks. The twist the other rider is David Knight a moto enduro racer. I wont spoil the out come but it was awesome! click here brought to thanks to betterride.net
Alright take it easy and remember where ever ride ride it pinned!
later

Super D

What is Super D, the answer to my prayers! haha, It’s probably the best type of mountain bike racing out there, thats my opinion but hell so is this whole blog, so hear me out. It is the definition of mountain bike racing and if you are one of those people that are in to competing and racing but don’t feel like you are a cardio machine or don’t want to do a road race on dirt or don’t want to go by an expensive hard tail to add to your quiver or can’t afford to buy a bad ass DH bike, than this type of racing is for you.

It is racing that caters to the bikes that most of us already own or will most likely own, the trail and all mountain bikes, the full squishy 4, 5, 6 and maybe even 7 inch travel bikes like the Yeti ASR-7 that James Wilson talked about in his gear review.

So lets define Super D, ok I'll try to break it down for you.  Super D is basically a XC downhill race. It does involve pedaling but is not a pedal fest. The races consist of approximately 80% downhill and 20% climbing or flats and the races are typically 10 to 15 miles long. Well in range for the average trail rider and with the majority downhill you don’t need a huge gas tank just some good efficient riding skills. For example the Oakridge Super D runs 14miles with 4,700 feet of vertical drop and 800 feet of climbing.

The major races are held on epic single track mostly on the west coast and in Colorado. Some of the major races are Downieville, the Oregon Super D series; Oakridge, Sandy Ridge, Hood River, and Bend, and the B.C. Bike race. Although the B.C. Bike race is a different beast all in its self, it’s an endurance DH race which is multiple super d stage races over 3-7days. These types of races have been popular in Europe for awhile, especially France but are growing in popularity here in the US, which gives me hope! I love reading about it and dream of riding and racing on these epic trails.

Like I had mentioned before the courses are on epic single track and mostly downhill but don’t worry if you don’t feel like you are on Gee Atherton’s level they don’t typically contain super technical sections like a true DH race. There are usually some drops, some jumps, maybe a smidge of pucker, some pump track, a dash of climbing, a pinch of flats with some just a splash of hard pedaling  and a whole lot of flowy exciting perma-smile berm filled downhill ripping single track! So if this sounds like your bag, you might want to check out http://www.mfcmtb.com/ I know there are some races in this area and the Mid West Freeride Community does a great job of letting people know where and when these races are. I know they aren’t anything like the Oregon Super D but I’m sure they will be a blast!

Keep your eye on the prize, hit the gym hard and get ready for an amazing summer of riding. If any of you are looking for a great work out to get you through the long winter, check out the ultimate mtb work out at bikejames.com.

Take it easy

Ticked off Tuesday

Alright I promise to keep this rant session to a minimum, but my therapist said it's good to get it off my chest, haha jk I don't have a therapist but seriously now. This morning the drive was terrible again, I just don't get it the roads are plowed they are clear and there was no accidents on 494 and it still took me 20+ extra mins to get to work, WTF! Ok well work went well and it was suppose to be my day off from the gym but Kelly won some tickets from K102 to see the new Owen Wilson and Reese Witherspoon movie tomorrow so I decided it would be best not to miss a workout so I headed over to the gym right after work and actually found a spot right away in the front row to park. The work out was going great until.... here is my new gym pet peeve! Some d-bag grabbing my equipment/spot when I go to grab some water! The dude didn't even ask, just sniped my shit and turned up his shit rock and ignored me looking at him, but I'm too nice to confront this meat head so I set up a different spot to finish my reps. At least I didn't let it ruin my mojo. The work out was great I even added a couple more sets to a few more work outs, slowly moving to the full work out! Had a great dinner tonight, no more fast food, pork chop and American style seasoned potatoes and a delicious protein shake.
Hope you guys had a great day!

Decline Review

This is a great issue of Decline. There are so many amazing articles; it’s actually one of the best issues that I’ve read. I don’t think there were any articles that I didn’t enjoy reading. So as that implies there are just too many articles for me to write about so you should grab the magazine and check it out yourself but in the mean time. I’ll just go over a few of my favorite articles, so enjoy!

First lets start with a great article about the world cup coming back to the US. It does a great over view of the World cup race in Windham NY but the main story was how Gee wins over all championship. Gee Atherton is my favorite rider to watch. He is about my age and I wish I could be like Gee, haha, but seriously it’s always a good showing when he’s there. The article talks about his nail biting world cup championship win over Greg Minaar. Gee and his family, Rachel and Dan have a youtube series, the Atherton Project on youtube, you guys should definitely check it out. It’s so funny, plus it has some great riding. Next year they will have an actual TV Show but I believe it will only be shown in Europe,so hopefully it will be on the internet.

Neko is one of my favorite young up and coming riders and there is a great article about his bid for the Junior world championship at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada.  This kid appears to be fearless and knows what he needs to do to make it to the next level. He is currently racing in the junior’s class and has at least one more season there. The article was good and talks about how he had to overcome an injury and still have a great season.  Check out some of his races and some cool racing in general with Trek world racing- a nice youtube series and its a little better rounded racing for the people that aren’t so into the gravity riding.

James Wilson has a great article about 3 tips to for staying strong this winter. He talks about the myth of the natural rider. Basically he debunks the misconception that great riders are simply talented. Although they do have talent and maybe genetics on their side they are definitely working harder than most doing what he refers to as “deliberate practice” and not just riding. He talks about how you cannot ride yourself better by simply riding for fun and not working on specific aspects like cornering when you are on the trails.

Alright these next three articles are by far my favorite and I will probably have to spend more time on this topic later. Ok the Oregon Super D series consisted of 3 races this year and will have at least 4 races next year. This race series is the premier all mountain racing series in the US. This year’s overall winner is Matthew Slaven. He’s a stud multi-discipline racer for Kona. A close second was Nathan Riddle of SRAM.  Hopefully Super D will grow and catch on across the US as it’s probably the best and truest form of “mountain” bike racing out there. Look for my next blog were I’ll go into more depth about Super D racing.  

The article “Under the Radar” is a nice interview with Matthew Slaven and the Super D series and what he’s been up to lately and the BC Bike Race might possibly be the coolest event ever and now is officially on my bucket list! It is a seven day endurance all mountain race that takes place on some of the most epic West coast B.C. single track, some of the greatest trails in the world. Honestly this is a destination race and I definitely recommend that you read this article and if it doesn’t inspire you to plan a trip out to BC, sign up for this race or at least add it to your bucket list, you should probably get your head checked or revaluated your riding aspirations.  

Another great article and the last I will talk about is riding the pros bikes. The pros bikes that they checked out where Gee Atherton’s Commencal Supreme DH, Aaron Gwin’s Yeti 303 DH and Justin Leov’s Trek Session 88. The tester rides all the bikes with the same set up that the pros races the World Championships with on the same course they races in Mont-Sainte-Anne. The basic run down is that Gee rides a really slack plush set up that allows him to hang out and float through the course. Aaron rides a really stiff set up and handles the bike more like a moto-cross rider, basically man handling the bike down the course and Justin rides a very low aggressive set up that allows him to stay on the middle of the bike and really attack the course. Basically the author states that there is not perfect set up, you just need to ride a bunch of different set ups and find what works for you.

There is a grip more of interesting articles that you should check out.

Keep it real!

Spandex is a privilege not a right! think about it!

So as the title states, spandex is a privilege not a right! think about it! If you have earned the right to wear it please do because it is amazing and every guy at the gym appreciates it but if you haven't earned that right please don't because it is awful! And another thing seriously guys you do not need to grunt so loud that the entire gym can hear you and I mean that! Alright enough with my daily rant.
Other then that my day went pretty well, the drive to work sucks because everyone has to drive like morons for about 3-4 days after a snow fall and my drive took about 20mins longer. My work out was pretty good I've added some extra sets to work my way to the full workout. Still feeling pretty strong. The hip is feeling alright more like an on again off again dull ache that I hope will go away and if it doesn't I guess I might have to break down and go to an orthopedic doctor, we'll see. The drive home wasn't that bad, took the back roads. Unfortunately I gave into temptation and stopped on the way home and got BK. I guess once and awhile isn't that bad.
Take care and have fun diggin' your ass out!

victory is mine!

Ok so I'll get to the title in just a bit but first the day started out with some more exciting shoveling, haha. Yeah I slept on floor but surprisingly woke up relatively pain free. My back muscles were just a little sore but after digging out the wind row from the plow I was right back to really sore! So my plan was to just go home take a hot bath, I know it sounds a little girly but nothing makes my muscles feel better then a really hot bath with Epson salt, relax and maybe do some packing or cleaning but as soon as we got home Kelly's mom called and asked if I would go help out Kelly's grandma and clear her snow for her. Of course I went over and helped out. It wasn't that bad Kelly's aunt who lives beside her grandma had snow blowed the drives way so I just had to do the front step and deck for both of them, plus I made a little change. Yeah, about that. That money is already gone since my blower fan for my heater decided to shit out today! God damn can I ever catch a break once in a while? Guess not. So I had to track one down. After a few calls I found one for about $75. I drove over there, having to scrape the inside of my window about every 5 mins or so! It should have taken about 5 mins to replace it but of course the off brand part doesn't just pop in place. No I had to saw out part of the existing support and splice the wires together but after about 20mins and a few F bombs it works perfectly! Victory!

Alright on the riding side of things. I really think you all should check out the Bikejames podcast simply for the nutrition tip, but the gear review is pretty sweet. He talks about the Yeti ASR-7. It's a bad ass bike but a bit out of my price range. So basically the nutrition tips are 1. Eat every 3 hours, no more than 4hrs between meals and use a food log to keep you on track. 2. Eat protein with every meal.  3.  Cut out refined carbs as much as you can and try to eat fruits and veggies with every meal.  Obviously he goes into way more detail, so check it out! 

Hope you all had a great weekend! Stay safe and warm!

Holy Cow!

For once the meteorologist was right! Congrats! We definitely got all the snow I was hoping for an then some. I haven't heard any official totals yet, but at 3pm the Afton Alps ski report stated 20inches of fresh powder, unfortunately the wind was super rippin' and they closed at 4pm. Dang it! How many chances to do you get to ski that kind of powder in Minnesota and I missed it, but my day was for from lacking adventure. Kelly and I woke up to a winter wonderland and decided we wanted donuts for breakfast. Luckily we only live 2 blocks from a gas station freshly stocked with delicious donuts daily! So we got all bundled up in our snow gear and started our walk over to Holiday. Stopping occasionally to throw each other in the snow bank and play king of the hill, victory! haha. Well as we were crossing the Rainbow Foods parking lot some dude started his car and looked like he was going to go so we stopped to wait for him but then he didn't go anywhere so we started walking and when we got past his car he opened the door and yelled " what the hell do you think you are doing! I could have hit you! How the hell do you expect me to see you through this windshield!" We both stood there for for a seconds befuddled and then I was like "turn your damn lights on!" And the guy yelled back "even with my lights on I couldn't see you through my windshield!" So I said "why don't you clean your windshield." Then the guy goes, "fuck you asshole, get the fuck out of the parking lot!" Again Kelly and I stood there not knowing what to do so we started walking and the guy came ripping past us flinging snow. We just laughed. When we got to Holiday we saw him cleaning his windows and when he left he had his lights on, haha! Figures, I was right! After breakfast we walked to Wal-Mart then home and decided it was a good idea to go sledding but instead of going and buying some we figured there were some at Kelly's parents.
So we went and cleaned off the 12+ inches off of my car and disobeyed the no travel advisory. Oh well what's the worst that could happen. We figured it would be an adventure and it was. It was fine driving. Most of the roads were wind blown clear but the visibility sucked and of course there were multitudes of idiots on the road, many in the ditch and a few morons just parked in the middle of the freeway either stuck in a drift or cleaning their windshield! Why these people didn't go to the shoulder I don't know but they almost caused me to get into an accident driving 30mph on the freeway! WFT! Then we get to Lake Rd exit and the fun really begins!
So there is a lady, nothing against women drivers, that has no idea how to drive in the winter. She is in a mini-van, of course, and is stuck on a relatively clear off ramp. After about 30mins and a good half dozen people we got her up the off ramp as well as two other older people in front wheel drive cars, nothing against elderly people or people that have front wheel drive vehicles, but stay your asses at home if you don't know how  to drive! Needless to say the Subaru destroyed the winter driving and we got to Kelly's parents house, only to find no sleds!
Great so we drove all the way over there, the weather is getting bad and the only snow toy was this cheap snow board, the one with the string in the front, and the snow was way too deep for that. So we decided to help her mom out, since her dad was one of the lucky people that got to enjoy the 20inch powder skiing, and do some snow removal. Well, we couldn't get the snow blower started and after about 50 pulls the string broke. Yeah we panicked, no one wants to piss Bob off. I took it all apart and put the string back in place. We just left it be and all was good until Bob got home and tried to start it and the pulley gave out for good. Yeah we wore the old beast out and technically broke it. Basically we didn't tell him but we felt bad and shoveled the whole drive way. Now my back and shoulder is sore and I am way tired. Plus we are stuck here for the night. One crazy ass Minnesota winter day for me that's for sure!
Hope you all had as much fun as me!

TGIF

Well well, the week is finally over. Over all it was pretty good, seemed to be a little long. I think that was because I started new hours so I had to get up earlier and had more time after work. I don't know about you all but I am pretty excited about this storm heading our way. I hope we get 2 feet, but I'm not looking forward to the cold that they are saying is coming next week. Oh well take the good with the bad. One step closer to ice climbing and most the out door rinks are up so that's sweet.
So after work today I went to the gym, again no place to park. This is seriously getting frustrating. The work out went well. I felt really motivated and felt strong. While at the gym I noticed a few things. No matter where you work out there are always the weird people. Not like I'm one to judge, but you know what I'm talking about the dude with the super short shorts and the Pantera tank top with the hair sweeter underneath or the lady that just walks around with 7lbs weights doing shrugs and curls with this puzzled look on her face, not sure what she was trying accomplish. The other thing that I noticed were the people that do exercises that are doing nothing productive for them or may even injure them. I'm not saying I'm an expert or a trainer but this guy by me was doing sit ups on a Swiss ball but he never went backwards just sat there moving his shoulder and head up and down with his hands on his head....? Or the old guy just swinging weights around, I can't believe he doesn't have torn rotators cuffs. Sometimes I just want to say something, but I guess it's not my place but maybe the should get a trainer just to show them how to do proper exercise. Oh well at least they are tying to work out and stay healthy.
After the gym I went to Kelly's parents and helped her dad hang out some Christmas lights and then ate some pizza. I'm a sucker, will work for food, haha. Then I was subjected to a Christmas movie until Kelly's mom enlisted Kelly's help in decorating the inside of the house. I don't know call me scrooge if you want but Christmas lights don't make much sense to me. Yeah they look cool some time and set the Christmas mood, but they take a lot of time to set up and take down and they make your electrical bill super high. Seem like a waste of time to me.
If you guys get bored this weekend the us cyclocross championships are this weekend and they are streaming live video on Sunday -www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=5726 check it out.
Have a great weekend, stay warm and have fun!

Life is short! ride more work less!

So today was a pretty boring day in my life. I woke up went to work, hoping that I would have a meeting or something interesting to break up the monotony, but nope, same shit different day. After work I came home to an empty house and no food. Kelly was off doing some college fair open house thing. So I did some foam roll exercises and stretching and then sat on my bike dreaming of actually getting out and riding. Unfortunately that wont be happening for a few more months. So since this blog is so boring I decided to take the quiz that is the back of every Decline Mag, did I mention it's the best mountain bike magazine out there? Well if not it is. It's the biggest, has the most interesting articles and the most inspiring pictures, but it might not be for everyone. If you are into the flat smooth non-technical trails that we unfortunately find most often around here in the mid west, then it's definitely not for you. It is a magazine about "real" mountain biking. The key word there is MOUNTAIN. To my great dismay here in Minnesota we don't really have them here. We have some pretty cool river bluffs and if you go up north you can get pretty close to a small mountain, so there are some opportunities to really ride some exciting trails. One can also go to the Black Hills or to the UP but if you're going to travel that far you might as well go out to Colorado and really tear it up! Some day, sigh! haha ok enough ranting lets for get about the road racing off road and answer some questions.
1. What is the first thing you think about when you wake up?
- damn I am super tired, and I don't want to go to work
2. What is the last thing you think about before you go to sleep?
- usually riding, or what I'm going to do next day after work
3. Do you ride left or right-foot forward?
- I feel most comfortable with my left foot, but I ride both
4. When you look in the mirror what do you see?
- a damn sexy man
5. Energy drink or coffee?
- well on the day to day definitely coffee, who knows what chemicals are in that energy drink
6. When you enter a crowded room, a theme song begins to play: what song?
- shooting star- bad company
7. Do you check tire pressure with a gauge or by feel?
- well I don't actually own a gauge so by feel, maybe I'll get on the works on presta  for Christmas
8. Who do you suspect has sold their soul to the devil?
- wow tough one, probably the Donald
9. Who invented the mountain bike?
- no clue some amazing hippie or a euro nut, but really who cares just ride one!
10. What motto would you write on your top tube?
- work slow, live fast and ride hard
11. When was the last time you patched a tube?
- Well I patched quite a few on our bike trip, but maybe once last summer, I should more often they are expensive
12. What's the next piece of bike technology that needs to be improved?
- I don't know things seem to be going in the right direction, I'm pretty interested in the new Fox Fit fork and DYAD RT2
13. What is the first random thought that comes to mind?
- Man I'm hungry, haven't ate dinner yet
14. Who has the best shifters?
- Well I can't tell the difference really but SRAM is a bit noisy
15. What is the best thing or experience riding have given you?
- A chance to see the country from coast to coast in a perspective that most people will never experience
16. Five web sites you visit every day?
- Gmail, facebook, justbike.blogspot.com, gearscan.com, bikejames.com
17. Who is the funniest person you know?
- personally? probably my buddy Doug but over all probably Dane Cook
18. Who would win in a MTB race of generations, today's talent versus the old school?
- wow, not completely sure, but to be honest it would have to be new school, just like any sport the old school were innovators but they just can't hold a candle to modern technology, training and nutrition
19. What's the strangest item you've purchased on eBay or the Internet?
- hmmm.... can't say I've bought anything weird online
20. Presta or Schrader?
- presta
21. Place you call home?
- Minnesota for now but hopefully in the next year or so I will be making my way to Colorado
22. Place you call hell?
- um easy one... work!
23. Favorite type of riding?
- Fast flowy trails, with a mix of  technical sections, jumps and the majority is down hill
24. Last time you surprised yourself?
- last work out, I pushed myself through the abs at the end when I just wanted to go home because they still hurt from last time
25. Last time someone surprised you?
- tonight, kelly brought me Chinese for dinner, just as I was getting ready to go to subway!
26. Last meal request?
- probably ribs, corn bread, fries, and cole slaw

That's all folks!

Hump day

Will this week ever end? I though this new schedule would make this week fly by but it's not the case. I wake up every day tired as shit and then I have a lot of time after work, which is nice and will be amazing when the sun is up past 5pm. I went to the gym for a little strength training. The work out went really well but let me tell you about the cluster fuck of a parking situation they have a the woodbury lifetime! So I get there about 530pm and didn't get into the locker room until 550pm! That's because it took me almost 20mins to find a parking spot. I was going to park across the street until I saw a big sign stating that all unauthorized cars will be towed at owners expense! Yikes not that desperate to work out. So I was about to leave but I thought I'd give it one more go around the parking lot I see a car backing out but I guess I didn't see the car behind it with it's blinker on so I slid in the spot and really pissed that wanker off! haha They laid on the horn and shined their brights on me and waited till I got out and called me an asshole and told me how big a piece of shit I was and I told them to F off and to take a flying leap because I had been driving around for 20mins, haha. Oh well life goes on, haha.
I have been feeling really Strong lately. I think it is a good combo of a quality work out, good nutrition and stretching and use of the foam roll. Unfortunately my foam roll has seen better days and I want to find a new better quality one but I can't find one in a store, I guess I will have to order one online.
Well take it easy!

Christmas has arived

My Christmas present came in the mail today, yeah! Well I wont get too excited yet since it's still freezing ass cold out side and I haven't purchased my mountain bike yet. Plus I still have to wrap them up and put them under the tree for another 3 weeks but you know I had to try the shoes on and give the flats a go. I put them on my bike after dinner and did a little spin on the trainer, but that just wasn't enough. So I took the LHT down to the garage and gave it a rip! Damn all the rumors about how amazing these shoes are, they are all true! They are like riding with glue or magnets on your shoes. They grip the pedals like an Indy car's tires grip the road, and everything James Wilson said about pedaling correctly and how little of advantage the clipless pedals add. I didn't even slip a pedal when I was really ripping. Obviously I wasn't able to give them a real go in the 30mins I spent on my bike in the parking garage but I did do some sprints and hopped around a bit. They felt a little different right away but as soon as I thought about the correct pedal stroke that James Wilson talks about it all came back to me. It felt like, well I was riding a bike, haha, I mean like when I use to rip my BMX bike. I never rode clipless pedals until I rode my bike cross country and I actually was against them for the longest time and held my own with out them! I'm really excited to hit the trail and really test out my new gear! Just one more motivating factor to continue training hard through the winter..... Anyways my day went well, it was a day off from training. We had this delicious Parmesan crusted chicken for dinner and just relaxed and watch some TV. It sure has been tough getting my ass up in the morning this week, haha. Well if this discussion about riding flats didn't get you stoked to ride this video sure will! check it out! Framed-Andi Wittman
Keep it real!

progress check

Alright lets see. Started a new work out today, I will admit it is definitely challenging but I enjoy a new challenge. It involves a nice progression, building on the last work out a little bit. I'm feeling pretty strong and hopefully it will pay off in the spring. So far I'm going strong on my no caffeine campaign, one solid week, and I'm feeling good. No head aches and it's getting easier to get up in the morning, although I'm getting up even earlier with my new schedule. Over all I'm feeling pretty good but my hip started to bother me after I went xc skiing. I might have hoped back into the repetitive motion activities a bit too quick. My hip feels fine when I do strength training and feels great after I stretch it so I will have to stick to that for a little bit longer. Still working on improving my nutrition, one meal at a time.
After my work out I picked up the new Decline mag, my favorite, looks like a good one. I'll fill you all in after I've had some time to run through it.
Catch ya later!

a bushwhackin' adventure

Today was Kelly's first day of coaching skiing, which means my first Sunday of having to entertain myself. So I spent part of the morning watching TV, which I became bored with quickly. So I decided to pull out winter gear and bust out the XC skis. I don't know where many of the ski trails are so I went to Salem Hills Park/Harmon Reserve. There isn't a set of actual trails to follow besides the bike trails which were slightly packed down from the people walking there dogs. I stared following the beaten trail but that got old so I started just going where ever, a little bushwhacking. I did stumble across some other ski tracks so I started following them and discovered some sweet hills just to the west of the reserve that are ripe for some sweet mountain bike trails. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure it's all private as I went through a downed fence and came across a rope tow line. Yeah that's right, some baller over there has their own tow line and personal ski/tubing hill. It looked like mostly snowboarding or tubing tracks and a lot of snowmobiles ripping up the steeps. Unfortunately I haven't quite figured out the trick to successfully ripping down big hills with XC skis. No edge at all and more then once did I have to sit down to save my ass from hitting some trees, haha. Oh well it was a great work out and a lot of fun. I was the only one out there and it was all fresh powder, no groomed trails at all. I think that makes it a lot more fun and exciting. It's like a mini adventure opposed to a work out where you just do laps on a groom trail.
Hope your weekend was great and relaxing!

shop till you drop!

Well today wasn't my ideal Saturday but it is part of the season. I went shopping with Kelly and her mom. I might have under estimated the intensity of the situation. I was figuring on a couple hours tops. It started out as only going to Fleet Farm and Gander Mountain but quickly added Target, the Dollar Store, and a Christian shop and maybe one or two more, I can't remember. Needless to say it turned into more like 4.5hrs and man I'm tired. I think I actually fell asleep on the drive home. Kelly was a little up set with me towards the end, I think, because I was getting kind of crabby but a man can only take so much of shopping. Unless it involves REI or a bike shop, haha. It wasn't too bad but I'd say my highlight was definitely Pot Belly's. I love there sandwiches. Now we are home just chillin' and I'm trying out Bike James' integrated mobility routine to add some range of motion to my hips and low back and relieve some low back pain. You should check it out! Well remember that all good things come to an end and too much of a good thing is bad!
Catch ya on the flip side!

let it snow!

First thank god it's Friday and I wish you all a great weekend. I know I'm ready to relax a bit. Not sure what the weekend will bring. The new snow is a bit enticing, Kelly begins coaching the Down Hill Ski racing team at Afton Alps. I don't think she has any free passes yet so I wont get my DH skis yet but I may consider getting out the XC skis for a little test run. It's pretty fun but I'm not one of those hard core Minnesota XC skiers. I have traditional skis and I like to just go exploring plus it's a pretty good work out. Speaking of work out after work I went to the Lifetime right by my work to try to avoid the traffic. The work out went well, I felt like I pushed myself pretty hard, it was my last day with that workout. Monday I get my new work out, pretty excited to see what Krista has in store for me! Unfortunately my plan to skip the traffic didn't work but the drive wasn't too bad, just a nice easy slow crawl home.
I did finally get some good news from work. I have been asking for better hours for almost a year now and I finally got them! Starting Monday I will be working 8-430 m-f, yes now I can get my work out in and eat at a normal time and maybe even do something else. Especially in the summer when the suns up longer and I have my new mountain bike!
Take it easy!

The Day to Day

Five days and going strong, no caffeine. I even passed on free Mountain Dew, I know I can't believe it either! Yesterday at work we had a pot luck, I forgot about it. So I was that guy. The free loader, but hell I didn't eat that much and they taunt me all day long every day they have these pot lucks. They put the food right behind my cubical and then they are like oh you have the best spot in the office, in this almost sarcastic tone. The all know that I try to eat healthy and work hard to stay with my training but they like the phrases; "oh it's only one day" or "you can afford to eat what you want" yeah of course I can but that's because I work hard and eat right! Some of them should try it. It really does work. Either way the food was good and I appreciate the nice people that brought me my lunch! haha.
Kelly and I are currently packing up our apartment to move into a town home so we can get a dog and have enough space for all our gear. So we knew that the landlord could show our apartment but there is seriously like 40 other units open but of course we got a letter on Wednesday that they are showing our place Friday afternoon and of course we procrastinated and we had to mad scramble to straighten up our place for the showing. You know what they say about procrastination, it's like masturbation it's all fun and games and then you realized you just fucked yourself. Luckily the place wasn't that big of a mess and we got it all sorted!
Take it easy all and have a great weekend!

Happy December

Yesterday work was a bit of a blur but that's nothing new, this week in general has been a bit of a blur. Just trying to get back into a good eating habit and work out regiment. It's going alright just keep on trucking and stay focused. Can't wait till it freezes up so I can play some pond hockey and get some ice climbing in. I hate this time of the year, it's too shitty out to ride my bike and I can't do my winter sports of choice. Mother nature can't make up her mind if it's time for winter or if it's still fall.
After work Kelly and I went to Lifetime for a good work out. I have a pretty good work out that I'm doing that my trainer made up for me, I have 2 more free sessions with her and then I will begin the Ultimate MTB work out after that. So probably about Feb or so.
Last night I ordered my Christmas present for my myself on behalf of my mother, 5.10 Low Impact 2s, the Sam Hill signature series. If you don't know who Sam Hill is you should check him out, he rides for Monster Specialized and is one of the elite DH racers in the world! The shoes came with a set of Wellgo WAM B25 flats. I'm so excited to get them, unfortunately I'll only be able to play with them for a bit and then I will have to wrap them up and put them under the tree until Christmas, haha. Oh well that's only a couple weeks down the road!
Some of you are probably wondering why I'm ordering new pedals and shoes in the winter, especially because I'm not riding my bike. Well I might be getting the cart before the horse but I will be buying a mountain bike in a couple of months and the bikes I've been looking at don't come with pedals and I will be doing spin class probably in the next month or so. Yes I will be the weird dude in your spin class with a pedal wrench changing the pedals and putting quality flats on the spin bike. If you don't remember I have, at least for now, packed the clipless pedals away and will be going exclusively to flats.
Keep it real!

caffeine-junkie

Well this caffeine-junkie has quit ingesting caffeine cold turkey as of Monday, or trying to anyways. It has been 3 days, the longest 3 days of my life! We will see how long it lasts. I have quit in the past but always relapsed, so I know what I'm in for, but damn it's difficult. Especially working an office job. I just get so tired sitting in that cube, but they don't have free coffee at my office, believe it or not, so that makes it easier.
The pros are that I'm not ingesting soda, empty calories. I have also read that caffeine can increase low back pain do to the restriction of blood flow to an already restricted area. That right there is a great reason for me, low back pain sucks. It's not constant but if I can make it go away for good that would be great, I'm also trying to strengthen it and do stretching to help.  Finally caffeine slows the healing of muscles, joints and tendons, also do to the restricted blood flow. Hopefully it will speed the recovery from my over use injury to my right hip. Which by the way is feeling pretty damn good if I do say so myself, It has been about 2.5 weeks since I've pedaled my bike so I'll give it a bit longer before I get back on, just to make sure.

The cons well I'm flat out tired as hell in the morning! Not like I'm not normally but I don't get that little pick me up I'm use to. I know that a lot of people complain about the head aches, but I'm not really experiencing that right now. I have some in the past. So I guess I'm lucky.
It is what its!
Later!

Just Around the Corner

Oh yeah Christmas.... damn just about forgot about it, haha jk. Kelly would never let me forget. She started listening to Christmas music and watching Christmas movies since the beginning of November and set up the tree about 3 weeks ago! Seriously though it is sure coming quick, only like 25 days to get all that shopping done. It use to be so easy when you were still a kid you make your parents something at school and your mom buys all the presents for the rest of your family and you just write your name on it. Now you have to figure out what everyone wants, decide how much money you have to spend and then go buy all the presents. Damn it's almost crunch time and I haven't bought shit! Actually I have got a couple things but not near all the things that I have to get. I have ordered some of my own Christmas presents, no it's not what you think I didn't really buy them for myself, I buy them for my mom to give to me. It saves her the stress of shopping for me! and I get exactly what I want!
later

Realize Your Dreams

Well yesterdays work out was pretty good but my low back on the left side has been bugging me a bit, not sure why. It’s feeling a little better after a good foam roll session, stretching and sleeping on a heat pad.

So I stumbled across this a while ago on betterride.net and thought it would be interesting to fill this out as Gene says that goals that aren't written down are just dreams and goals that you write down become reality or something like that so that's what I did. It definitely helped me put my goals into perspective and I hope it helps me stay focused. So take a look and tell me what you think about my goals. Feel free to copy and paste it and fill it out yourself, who knows it might help you have your best offseason and lead to your best mtb season yet! Also check out what else Gene has to offer at betterride.net

Now that the 2010 season is over (for most of us) and you have had a few weeks off from serious training, riding or competition it is time to prepare for next season. If you are serious about becoming the best rider or racer you can be now is the time to act. All the knowledge in the world is worthless without action. Below is an abbreviated version of the questionnaire I use with my full-time athletes to evaluate their season and design their training program for the next racing season.  Use this to evaluate your performance in 2010 and help your plan an even better 2011!
Do you keep a training and racing diary? A diary is a big help in the following exercise and though out the season for finding factors that lead to changes in performance. If you haven’t kept a training diary in the past, start now. A training diary helps you learn what parts of your training are working and what parts are not can explain “peak” performances and poor performances and is a great confidence booster by tracking all the hours of training you have put in.
Work with your coach or consult a book such as The Mountain Biker’s Training Bible, by Joe Friel and/or James Wilson’s MTB strength training programs to create a training plan to reach all of the above goals. Why a coach? A coach can provide you with a structured training program designed to reach your goals while working around your schedule, an objective eye on your skills and physical training, motivate you and share his/her wisdom speeding up your improvement.
Step One: Assess your racing season and your riding ability. Honestly and objectively answer the following questions about your 2010 season.
Did your skills improve over the course of the season? - yes
What are your strongest skills? (cornering, jumping, steeps, etc.)- climbing, not giving up
What skills need the most improvement? Cornering, jumping, speed, steeps
How did the season go physically? I would bonk towards the end or cross races, and lacked the sprinting speed
Did you start strong and get stronger as the season went on? Yes and no I started in good shape and definitely got stronger as the season went on.
Did you fade in late July and August? Why? n/a, didn’t start racing till August.
Did you have the optimum combination of sprinting speed and endurance? No I don’t feel I did,
Did you pick 3 to 5 big races to peak for? Were you able to peak for those races?  I didn’t I tried to race hard in every race and didn’t pick a specific goal
How was your mental game? I feel I’m pretty mentally strong but I can always improve
Were you confident and riding to your potential or did you find yourself racing below the level that you know you are capable of? I feel I was in the correct races racing the correct competitors but I do feel that I could have raced a little better
Why?
What factors helped your confidence this season? Just slowly moving up the positions with each race.
What factors hurt your confidence this season? Not being able to finish strong every race
Did you a have comprehensive (mental, physical and skill) training program? What part of your program worked? What parts didn’t work? No I didn’t I would find bits and pieces on line and with a gym trainer and use past experiences to guide me
Did your racing improve as the season went on? Yes,
Did you create and write down concrete goals? no
Did you reach your racing goals?  Yes, because it was my first year, and I simply wanted to finish my first race and improve over the season
Step Two: Use the answers to these questions as an evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses setting the foundation your 2011 season training program.
Set career, three years from now and this season’s racing goals (top three over all in my state series, etc.), physical training goals (decrease my 50 yard sprint time by 15%, increase my maximum squat by 20%, etc.), skills goals (improve balance, improve cornering, etc.) and mental training goals (improve visualization, learn relaxation techniques, etc.) for your 2011 season.
Racing Goals
1. Career goal- to eventually become an elite racer
2. Three year goal- move to Colorado and race competitively in XC, DH and 4x or BMX
3. This season’s goal- buy my own mountain bike, race a few super d races, podium in sport class xc, podium in a cyclocross race, possibly begin racing BMX if money allows
Physical training Goals, to allow me to reach my racing goals
1. Build overall strength to prevent injury
2. Increase pedal power and sprinting and top end speed
3. become more explosive out of corners
Skills Training Goals, to allow me to reach my racing goals
1.  Become a better corner
2. Become a smoother rider- ei. Cleaning rock gardens and jumps
3. Become a more efficient rider- ei. Pedaling efficiently, pumping through the downhill areas
Mental training Goals, to allow me to reach my racing goals
1. Stay focused
2. Stay committed
3. Don’t give into fatigue

Step Three: Act on your training program! Ride! Workout! Visualize! Constantly update your goals and training program based on improvement or lack of improvement.
Remember, unwritten goals are just dreams; goals you write down you will commit to and strive to reach. Good luck next season and feel free to call or e-mail with questions, suggestions or to start a personal coaching program.

The Rest of the Weekend

So the rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful but it was nice and relaxing.  Saturday we went to the movie “Love and Other Drugs” with my mom, so it was a little awkward.  It was totally a chick flick that was borderline porno.  I truthfully don’t think that I have seen that much sex and boobs in a movie that wasn’t a porno to be honest.  No complaints from me! The rest of the day was spent chilling with my pops talking about the world’s problems and how we’d solve them while watching college football, the usually afternoon back home. That evening we just watched “Joana Hex” that was a pretty sweet movie, if I might add.

Today we were woke up with McDonald’s breakfast, not probably my first choice but I’m not going to turn it down. Then we loaded up the car, made sure it was operational, filled the tank and hit the road. The roads were great. The temp was in the 40’s, sun shining and minimal wind, can’t ask for much more!

Unfortunately now it is time to unpack and get myself ready for another wonderful week of work! I sure hope they get the hockey rinks ready to go pretty soon! I need a release now that the cycling season is finished for me! Don’t have the gear or the money to do much winter riding and it doesn’t really appeal to me at all.

Take it easy!

DH 29er!

Haha alright well I haven't figured out how to post a video on my blog so you'll have to check it out on youtube.... click here I saw this is on bikejames and seriously had to watch it twice because I laughed so hard the first time.... no disrespect to all you that ride 29ers, made respect but this is funny shit!

Black Friday

Wow, how did I get talked into this? So Kelly had her little heart set on getting this 32” TV for 198 bucks so I said I would go stand in line with her. So we got up at 130AM! Ventured out into the freezing morning air and drove over to Wally World and hopped in line and sat and sat and sat. As it crept closer to the 5am sale time the line grew and the number of people in the store multiplied. I sat contently against a stack of Velveeta cheese and read a mountain bike magazine while Kelly chatted with this lady that was next to us in line. Finally it was time. The line started to move I went around the store and grabbed a couple other things while Kelly waited. I got my dad a Tom-Tom for 79bucks and a little 4gig mp3 player for 10 bucks. So I say it was a good trip, and then it was back to bed!  When I got up I enlisted the help of my brother Ethan to fix my car, it didn’t take him long. Thanks Ethan!

The afternoon was spent lounging and hanging out with my dog Scooby. That evening we checked out a-towns newest claim to fame, the Aberdeen Wings, a junior hockey team. It was pretty sweet actually. I’d say it’s somewhere between good high school and average college, but there is fighting and they sell beer!  May have had one too many of those, but heck it’s the off season! Training goes full speed after the New Year!

Later

Long Road Home

Ah where to start. Wednesday Kelly and I went to the Wild game. The drive there kind of sucked due to the weather and we had to pay to park because we didn’t want to get a ticket when they were cleaning the streets. The first period was pretty good, it got cut short a bit when the Flyers dumped it in and the puck hit the lower corner of the glass and shattered. I’m not sure if the puck went through or if it was a piece of the glass that hit this kid in the face but he had to get medical help and probably some free swag, lucky!  The drive back was even slower.

The next morning it was time to head to a-town. Everything was going great got up at 7 showered, ate had everything packed went to start the car about 720, totally on schedule, went down about 725 to put some shit in the car, fuck! I locked my keys in the car while its running and I don’t have a spare! Un-fucking-believable!  So I tried the old wire hanger to no avail. Luckily Kelly has AAA and they were going to come unlock it, sweet, so we wait and wait. Then we get a call, I’m here! We look around I don’t see you, he went to the wrong address so after about an hour total of waiting the guy showed up and we were on our way. The bright side the car was nice and warm!

They drive to SD was uneventful; roads were really nice except the stretch from New London to Benson, Hwy 9. Pretty much as soon as we hit SD the wind started to blow and the temperature dropped, Pretty typical but leaving Milbank the wind really started to blow the little Subaru around. The wind blew so hard that I actually had to down shift going up Summit hill to keep it above 60. For you folks that aren’t familiar with Summit hill, it’s nothing spectacular maybe ¼-1/2 mile long about 6-8% grade but this day the wind was blowing so hard I had it pinned in 5^th gear and was losing speed! WTF! Besides battling the wind the drive wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately the car suffered a casualty the oil sending unit blew out and I began to lose oil pressure. So I limped into town and will drive my parent’s car till I get it fixed.

Thanksgiving dinner was really tasty and there were no family crisis. So I rule it a win-win. I hope all of your Thanksgivings were amazing and I am thankful just to be back in SD healthy and with family!

Take it easy!

Happy Thanksgiving

So I am thankful that this week is over, I've definitely had enough with my job. They have basically jerked me around for the last month and it all boiled down to they don't feel that I'm qualified to do anything but answer a phone, so fuck them! Time to move on, anyone know of a good job? Well I'll be looking. Enough of the pity pot, it's time to celebrate! We should all be thankful to be alive, with family and be able to ride our bikes!
The weather is pretty shitty for travel but we'll make the best of it and hopefully get back to SD to chill for the weekend. The good side to the weather is that there is some snow now and it's turning cold so hopefully soon the ice rinks with be up, the trails will be groomed and the ice climbs will be in!
Take care all, be safe in your travels and have a wonderful thanksgiving. I'll leave you all with a little desert! Check this Danny MacAskill video out, this guy is off the chain! To have his balance would be epic!

Sorry couldn't get the video added to my blog so click on the link! later

The Perfect Bike

The next step in my off season preparation process is to get my own mountain bike. There are so many choices out there; one of the biggest is brand, then full cushy or hard tail and finally 26inch or 29inch. So let’s just dive into this subject.

Most people that know me know that I'm kind of a gear head and research nerd, but honestly you have to be when it comes to spending thousands of hard earned dollars. Plus it's a long term investment for many people; I know it is for me.  Not like I can get a new mountain bike every year.  As the title reads SELF sponsored!

After all of my research, reading reviews, hanging out at the bike shops - way too much according to Kelly, and talking to other fellow cyclist, I have decided to go with either Giant or Specialized, and I will be going with the traditional 26inch bike because I feel that they offer more versatility.  So as for bikes I have narrowed it down to either a specialized stumpjumper or there are two form giant, the Trance X and the Reign.

Truthfully they are all great bikes and probably do great for most everything but I'm really looking for the bike that I will be able to do everything with; ride trails, race xc, hit jumps and do some of the downhill that is around the Midwest, which isn't too gnarly.  I am really leaning towards the Giant Reign, but ultimately it will come down to price and availability.

I will most likely be getting a model from last year to save some money and be doing some negotiating with the local bike shops. So if you know much about bikes, all those bikes I've listed they are all full cushy so I have already answered the hardtail vs. full cush. I have decided to go with full cushy because I feel that they are more versatile then a hard tail and that's what I'm looking for, the do-it-all bike, aka all mountain.  Mountain bike now days come with a variety of different lengths of travel which determine their category as well as their angles and geometry but you can usually tell the style by the travel. Travel ranges from XC at about 4 inches to DH (downhill) at about 8inchs. I figure I’ll try to shoot the gap and go with something with about 6 inches.

6 inches! some of you are saying is why too much for around MN and you are probably right 5 inch is probably the max that you really want around here and four is plenty sufficient but Kelly and I are planning on moving to CO or maybe the black hills in the next year or so and I'm planning on keeping this bike for awhile so I see it as a great fit. Plus I can ride most DH comps around her with an all mountain bike and should do just fine in the citizens and sport classes of XC races as well.

That is my feeling on mountain bikes and my rationale for the bikes that I have narrowed it down, feel free to leave your comments and suggestions. I won’t be purchasing till after tax return time.

Thanks again for reading.

Take it easy!

Amateurs practice until they get it right, masters practice until they can't get it wrong

So what is going on right now in the lovely world of chance's self sponsored cycling adventures, well to tell you the truth not a whole lot. I have currently enlisted the services of a personal trainer at Lifetime fitness, and trying to make it there three times a week. I only actually see my trainer once a month. I can't afford more at this time, but it's ok, it’s more of a test of determination and drive to stick with it. The workout is pretty good, I struggled with it at first, I think she likes to see me struggle, haha, but I'm getting the hang of it! I will most likely continue with this training until after the first of the year, and then the plan is to purchase the Ultimate Mountain Bike Work Out from James Wilson and bikejames.com. It's a 6month program that is suppose to cover everything from strength and cardio to stretching and nutrition, as well as riding tips and bike set up tips. Sounds like a great deal to me! Check it out if you want more info. Other then the gym, I'm staying off the bike for a few weeks as I did develop a bit of an over use injury in my right hip from riding so much. I believe that is partially impart to the clipless pedals that I have been using. So with the advice of James Wilson I will be switching to flats and five ten shoes exclusively for training and for any type of off road riding I partake in next spring. So I will be leaving the clipless mafia as James refers to it. Not sure about the road yet but we will see, but I’m definitely going to give it a try and keep an open mind. After the 1st of the year I do plan to get back on the trainer and attend spin classes at least one to two times a week. As for now I will be doing my strength training and stretching and try to squeeze in a yoga class or two!

ladies and gentlemen welcome to the big show!

Hey everyone, it been a while since I've been on the blogging scene so forgive me for being a little rusty, I know my blogspot is a little sketchy right now but I promise to spruce it up over the next few days! If you don't know my back ground, I'm from SD and grew up riding my bike, racing bmx, freeriding, playing hockey and just partying hard! I graduated college from St Cloud State, got to love the Huskies! No one parties harder, one of the best chapter of my life, great time and great friends! When I graduated my girlfriend and I rode our bikes from New York to San Fran, not going into that too much you can check out my old blog if you want to read more about that. Plenty of reading on that subject if you like, cycling4acure.blogspot.com.
This last year I moved to the Twin Cities with my lovely girlfriend Kelly, can't ask for more with her! Tough to find someone to ramble across the country and spend 3 months in a tent with you, let alone a girlfriend! She rocks! So we've been living here now for about a year, there are a lot good opportunities here but not a big fan, can't ride my bike everywhere because it's too big and there are just too many damn people! I have a job, not a good one but it pays the bills and lets me do the stuff I love to do, namely ride my bike, rock and ice climb and go camping!
This last year in cycling, I realized I was becoming a fat pos so I decided to dust off the LHT for some good cardio training and discovered my long lost mistress! cycling. I forgot how free I felt on my bike, I hadn't rode my bike since we finished our trip the end of July '09. I basically became addicted, might have neglected my amazing girlfriend but because she is so amazing she simply supported my new found obsession and I started riding daily and longer and harder. Then I discovered cyclocross and found out a girl at my work races, the only good thing about my job, and got into that had a great time racing this fall. I did about 8 races and improved each time.
Now it's the off season and I'm currently saving to by my first quality mountain bike and maybe a BMX bike so I can expand my riding and racing for next season. I try to strength train as much as I can, so about 3 times a week. Just trying to be as ready as possible to come out ripping next year!