Elk River

Saturday night a tornado was spotted over the Hillside Trail in Elk River which was to be hosting the MNMBS race on Sunday.  Later that night, the race director asked anyone with a chainsaw and the ability to pull trees off the trail to show up at 5:00 a.m.  Amazingly, the trees were removed and the trail was ready to go with no delays.  Sport class started at 11:00 a.m. and consisted of two "short" laps with a total distance of 15.5 miles.  The trail has no large climbs but has enough variation to include 1,000 feet per climbing per lap.  The weather was ideal with temps in the low 80s and humidity a non issue.  The race started well with an extended prologue.  I entered the woods behind a relatively slow rider.  I tried to be patient but there were other riders on my tail so I began to press him.  Not long afterward, he must have caught a root as he launched into a full superman at 25+ mph.  He hit pretty hard but seemed to be OK.  My only thought as I continued down the trail was "so that's what it looks like!"  I ended up completing a very slow first lap at 49+ minutes.  I am glad that I did because the final lap was a killer.  I can safely say I left nothing on the trail and was very happy once it as over.  I finished in 7th place (1:31:12) out of 16 riders in the 40-44 group which is by far my best finish of the year.  I suppose I should not be surprised as last year's Elk River was one of my best rides of the year.  I love the trail as it is constantly challenging you with climbs, technical descents, and rock gardens.  There is one area in section 2 where you can take a bit of a break but the rest of the trail you are being pushed hard.  I am learning that patience is critical at the sport level as most of the riders are technically sound.  It is amazing to me how much time you lose from a single crash as there are always people on your tail.  I suppose this is the learning part of riding bikes.  We have two weeks until Buck Hill which will allow me to do two more Thursday Night Races.  I am headed to River Falls for a ride this week as we will be there the week after Buck Hill.  Life is good and I'm just trying to get faster!! 

Buck Hill and Elk River

Got out to Buck Hill on Thursday and did the recreation race plus a warm up lap.  They cahanged the course and added an extra climb on the front side near the snow tube hill.  It was kind of cool to mix it up and I wonder if this will be the route for the MNMBS race in August.  This is another one of those trails where you have to get out in front at the beginning.  Two crashes on the way up the hill really slowed things down.  Combine that with the traditional bottleneck entering the woods and it takes a while to get going.

I rode Hillside Park yesterday for the first time this year.  I rode the comp/expert loop twice and I am feeling it today.  I am going to try and get out this afternoon for a lap with the race being tomorrow.  This trail has a very long prologue which should get us stretched out before getting into section three for two laps around the park.  I am glad they have sections 1 & 2 at the end of the lap as three and four are the tougher and longer sections.  It is going to be humid with a lot of traffic.  Possible thunderstorms tonight which will cause a bit of greas I am sure.  See ya!

Racing??

Well......that was a quick two months.  I intended to comment after each race but life is moving quickly and I have had to let some activities ago........such as the blog.  To date I have participated in six races.  Four of them in the MNMBS and two at Buck Hill.  The move to Sport has been tough and I have had little success.  I have placed in the bottom 25% of each race and currently sit in 7th place for the series.  My last race at Red Wing was going well until I flatted in the quarry.  My first flat during a race.  I ended up pushing my bike the final mile.  I lost three places because of it which would have been my best finish.  A character building experience for sure.  Elk River is this Sunday so I will try to pick things up a bit.  My new goal is to get a top five finish.  My best so far this year was 8th.  Regardless, I am learning a lot about racing and have enjoyed the races.  I will try to get back with results from Elk River.  See ya!!

Here We Go 2010

First race is this Saturday at Salem Hills.  I moved up to the Sport class this year and I am looking forward to the challenge.  The race is three laps for approximately 14 miles.  It will be flat, fast, dusty, and did I mention fast?  I really have no idea what to expect as I understand these guys are MUCH faster that those in the Citizen class.  I have been turning 17 minute laps but this is without the 60+ other bikers I anticipate will be in my wave.  There is also a .4 mile prologue added to each lap.  I am shooting for 65 minutes which would put me in the middle of the pack.  See ya!

2009 Wrap-up

OK....I have put this off long enough.  I survived the 2009 season and have been preparing for 2010.  As for 2009, I took 1st four times, 2nd two times, and 3rd once in the MNSCS (now MNMBS).  I took 7th in the WORS Firecracker in Eau Claire.  Of course, this was all done at the category 3 level which is the lowest.  This year, I am participating in category 2 which is also referred to as the 'sport' category.  The races are longer and I understand they are much faster.  Last fall, I found I would have to decrease my lap times by 15% in order to be competitive.  We will soon see if the work I have put in over the winter pays off.  My goal is to place one time during the season.  This may seem like a weak goal but there are guys who have been doing this for three years and never place.  The number of riders at the sport level are 5-6 times greater than the citizen level.  I intend on making most of the MNMBS races this year and hope to get to one NMORS race later in the summer.  We will see how that goes.  No WORS races this year unless something unforseen happens.  I did not make the Cheq 40 lottery so I will miss that race as well.  Maybe next year.  I will begin posting more as my outdoor riding increases.  See ya!  

Trek Border Battle

Just got back from race #8 in the MNSCS. The Trek Border Battle is a race that is designed to be a competition between riders from Minnesota (MNSCS) and Wisconsin (WORS). The event is held at White Tail Ridge Park in River Falls, WI. The Citizen course is two laps for a total of 10 miles. There are no dramatic ascents or descents although the course begins by climbing a fire road before entering the single track. For some reason, I have found the trail to be difficult and have crashed several times in training. It is a great course, I just haven't gotten dialed in on it yet.

There was quite a bit of rain last night in River Falls so I was wary of what the course would look like. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was in pretty good shape with a few soft spots in the corners and switchbacks. There were a few areas where I took my time but my lap times were nearly the same as in practice. The race began with call ups from both the MNSCS and WORS. I took the outside edge next to another MNSCS rider in my age category. The race started clean as we began the 1/4 mile run for the first hill. I settled in around 7 or 8 and took the hill with few problems. Once we reached the top, there was a single trail section which I believe was the slipperiest of the course. There were several crashes with one rider falling off a foot bridge. I completed the first lap without incident in 30 minutes. I did notice there seemed to be an abnormal number of breakdowns and crashed but this was probably due to the rain.

I felt good on the second lap but for some reason took 31 minutes to get it all done. I may have passed a dozen riders but still did not do as well as I would have hoped. For my age group, I placed second to another Minnesotan which was good with me. I had beaten this guy the last two races but I had no chance today. The last time I saw him was at the top of the first hill and then he was gone. I believe he beat me by a minute or so. He was certainly the better rider today. As far as the Border Battle goes, I placed 6th with the top three slots occupied by Wisconsin riders. Oh well.....next year perhaps.

Buck Hill Birch Bump

I recently read an article in which the author suggested road riding as an alternative training method for mountain biking. His argument made sense as he indicated you could get the benefits of an aerobic workout without the pounding your body takes from riding single track. This week.....I believe him. My body hurts, both from the recent wrecks and the continuous riding.

I spent Saturday afternoon at Buck Hill for the pre-ride. I rode the course three times and felt very good about it once I finished. The trail has no major ascents or descents and is very, very fast. I understand the course condition was not typical as the rain had packed the sand down which led to very easy riding on the traverse sections of the course. Buck Hill is covered in trees on the back side which provided shade during a very warm and humid day. In addition, the course had no technical areas worth mentioning.

After my pre-ride, I expected I could go under 40 minutes for the two laps. Unfortunately, I underestimated the heat and humidity and crashed hard that night. I am not sure if was the heat or perhaps a cold that is going around the house. Regardless, I was a mess and did not get much sleep. For some reason, I still dragged myself out of bed and headed to the race. It was a cooler day and I was going to be miserable whether I stayed home or raced, so why stay home? I got to the race about an hour early and did my warm ups. I began to feel better quickly and began to focus on the task at hand.

As I have mentioned in past posts, I am the series leader of my age group. A benefit of this is the 'call up.' Before the race begins, the announcer calls up the top three riders in each age group. This gives the rider the advantage of a clean break and less chance of an accident. The first time I was called up like this I was a bit embarrassed and decided to stay back in the pack. I soon learned that being back in the pack is not fun. So........I now try to take advantage of the opportunity and get out front.

The beginning of the race is a slight uphill climb to the area with the ski lifts. From there we hit the only meaningful ascent which took us to the top of the ski hill. During the climb, I found myself in sixth place. Toward the end, people began to drop off and I found myself behind the 'ghost.' Way behind the 'ghost.' From there on I was racing for second. Like I said, the trail was fast and I was able to get through the first lap in just under 18 minutes. As I was climbing the beginning hill for the second time, I noticed a rider behind me who had beaten riders I have lost to in other races. With this in mind, I worked harder to get to the top of the hill and really hammered the single track. It turns out I needed all of it as he finished 13 seconds after I did.

I finished in 34:13 which was below what I expected. I placed first in my age group and 16th out of the 65 Citizen racers. All in all it was a fun ride and I had a good time. Next week we jump right into the Minnesota Wisconsin Border War. I have two training sessions there and a couple of decent wrecks. I hope to get back on Thursday and for the pre-ride on Saturday. From there, I have a month off before the last two races of the year. Looking forward to the break. See ya!

River Falls

I thought I would get up to River Falls for my second training session on Sunday. The weather was phenomenal and I figured I was good for two times around the loop. As I made my way around the first loop I took some time to acclimate to some of the 'man made' obstacles on the course. These obstacles are a relatively new concept for me as I do not recall their existence back in my younger days. I am not sure what to think of them so I am trying to keep an open mind and negotiate them as best I can.

Once I got through the first loop, I had developed an unhealthy confidence and began riding the course as if I knew it. I entered a section that contains two narrow foot bridges. These bridges are no more than 18" wide and span a gully with no more than 3-4 feet of exposure on either side. In the middle of the two bridges is a rock ramp which you must negotiate prior to mounting the second ramp. I blew by the "PROCEED WITH EXTREME CAUTION" sign and negotiated the first ramp unscathed. I then ran into a bit of a problem with the rock ramp and hit the second bridge off balance. Of course, in my mind, speed is safety so I continued to hammer the pedals. I had a few feet left on the bridge with a 'good inch' before I fell off the side of the bridge. Unfortunately, I looked up and noticed there was a fairly large tree just to the right of the bridge. At about the same time, my 'good inch' was gone and I was milliseconds from becoming intimately involved with the tree.

Now.......I am not exactly sure what happened but this is the story I am sticking with for the moment. I was able to get my head to the side and nearly missed the tree with the only revenue generating source I have access to. The rest of my large self was less fortunate as I now have a columnar looking bruise from chest to my waist line. I think I flipped and somehow came down on top of my bike. I immediately jumped up and conducted the obligatory 'is anything broke' pat down and moved to the 'look around and see if anyone got a picture' pose. As far as I could tell, no fractures and no pictures so on my way I went.

After all of that, the only part of my body that bothered me was my left little toe. Mind you, the collision occurred on my right side so I am having a bit of trouble explaining this one. Anyway, White Tail Corporate Park is a tough trail for me so I had better get there a few more times before race day. See you there!

Single Track Attack

I completed my fifth race of the season this past Sunday. The race was called the Single Track Attack and it was held at Hillside Park in Elk River, MN. I understand it was the first MNSCS race on this course. Overall, there were more than 360 riders with nearly 80 in the Citizen group. The course was fairly flat, very fast, and short. The entire race was eight miles for the Citizen class. I made four training rides to include the preride the day before. The course consisted of two sections with the first being much more technical than the second. I use the term technical with a grain of salt as there were very few obstacles and only slight climbs. During one of my training rides, I continued through sections three and four. Theses sections had many more obstacles and some very steep climbs. In fact, there were several sections where I had to get off of my bike and push uphill. This is the area the Sport riders race on so I hope to be doing this next year. Overall, the Sport race was 15.5 miles. Getting back to the Citizen race.........the course contained a half mile prologue to start. As I learned at the Chippewa Firecracker, it was critical to get as close to the front as possible prior to entering the single track. With this in mind I entered the single track in third place out of the 20 people starting in the fourth wave. I quickly passed one rider and found myself behind Tim Hieb. I tried for a bit to keep up with him but I had no chance. He has been much faster than me all year. Regardless, I was not passed the entire race and finished first in my category and 22nd out of the 79 Citizen racers. At the moment, I am the series leader for Citizen males between the age of 40-44. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I am in a class that has very few participants. Both of my wins have come with only one other rider in the field. If I can make the jump to Sport next year, I have noticed they have many more riders in my category. I will just have to work over the winter to make sure I can compete at that level. In the mean time, I am enjoying the Citizen level where I can learn the courses and the process of preparing for races. The next race is at Buck Hill. The course is private so I am unable to do training rides there. Instead, I have made one training ride in River Falls where they will host the WORS/MNSCS Border War. Nice track with a few hills and obstacles to keep you on your toes. See ya!

Chippewa Firecracker

I participated in the Chippewa Firecracker on the July 4th weekend and had a blast. The track is located in eau Claire Wisconsin. For the most part, it was a very fast race with a minimal number of climbs and descents. There were several technical obstacles to deal with in the form of logs, creeks, and rocks. The course was primarily single track with very few passing opportunities aside from the one mile of fire road on each lap. The race began with a sprint of a mile or more on the aforementioned fire road. I made the mistake of taking it easy at the start which I paid in the form of slow traffic later on. I entered the woods in the top 30 (out of 80 riders) but quickly found that some of the faster guys on the road were not capable of handling the obstacles. There was one point in which we came to a complete stop just before a two foot mound of dirt. I knew I was in trouble at that point. I felt like I had a great ride but came in 8th out of 20 in my class. This was a bummer as I was not passed the entire course. In fact, I passed between 9 and 12 riders so the end result was disappointing. Next year I will make a sprint for the front to make sure I do not get caught up in traffic. The course had some cool obstacles to include a steep descent on a large rock followed by fast single track into a steep climb. There was another area in which you could build up speed and launch into a rock trail at the end of a steep climb. I bailed during my first practice run but made it the rest of the time. All-in-all it was a fun race and I look forward to returning next year.

Bluff Riders Charge

Perfect in every way. As long as I am a resident of Minnesota and can ride a bike, I will do my best to get down to Mt. Kato for the Bluff Riders Charge mountain bike race. The temperature was in the 80s with a nice breeze to keep us cooled down. The environment was festive with many children riding and having a good time. The top draw for many kids (including mine) was to climb to the top of the ski hill. Mine did it three times! The Kato Climb section proved to be uneventful as the majority of riders simply formed a line and plodded to the top of the course. I was in a much better place (mentally) on this climb compared to the Mont du Lac climb. I attribute this to the fact I had pre-ridden the course.

Once at the top, the field began to open up which made passing a bit easier. The course was almost entirely dry and very fast. The three power ascents I was concerned with proved to be manageable for me and all the riders I was near. Sheepishly, I was awarded first place out of only two riders in my category and 29th out of the 65 in the citizen group. Regardless, it was a great ride for me as I was relaxed and stayed within my capabilities. I am inspired to continue training and make the MNSCS part of a more active lifestyle for me and my family.

This time the family joined in with my two children competing in the Shimano Youth Series. This turned out to be the funnest part of the day as both kids rode hard and had a good time. The shimano course was 100 times better than the course set up at Mont du Lac. This time the kids were able to ride on a portion of the singletrack they had been watching their parents ride on. In addition, there must have been approximately 30 kids participating with quite a few above the age of 10. Monica got some good video and pictures which are now on Facebook. It was a really good time for all of us. Next stop.........the Firecracker!

Friday!

Well......my wife is coming home tomorrow and I have one mowed lawn and not much else to show. I did learn a few things while she was gone though. First, it is unbelievable how much time I spent getting kids ready, driving to, watching, driving from, and..........you get the picture. Second, I found that I missed the camaraderie of my buddies at the gym. I used to do my spinning with a group of guys in the afternoon. This was difficult to do during the school year so I began spinning early in the morning. I enjoyed the conversations and may begin doing afternoons again for the summer. Third, Minnesota can get hot! It is not the temperature, it is the humidity. I have no idea how people in the south do it. Humidity bites. Thank goodness for air conditioning. Fourth, I weighed myself yesterday and found I am at 212 lbs. Last year at this time I was 225 lbs. but got down to 206 lbs. A bit of a slip but I have set a goal to be under 200 lbs. by September. Fifth, watching my daughter swim and my son play baseball may be the highlight of the summer so far. Being their Dad is the coolest thing in the world. At the end of the day, nothing else matters. Sixth, and last, I miss my wife and am looking forward to her return. The Bluff Riders Charge is Sunday! See ya

Mt. Kato

I have learned two things since deciding to get back into mountain biking after a 14 year hiatus. First, mountain is a relative term. What one would call a mountain in the Midwest is quite different when considering the mountains in CA or NM. This is a good thing as I am so out of shape I am certain I would be collecting DNFs at races such as Mammoth Lakes (CA) and the Signal Peak Challenge (NM). Second, regardless of where the track is, finishing with a respectable time is difficult (for me anyway) if you have not ridden the track prior to the race. I learned this as I was walking my bike up Mont Du Lac! With this in mind, I ventured out to Mt. Kato where this Sundays Bluff Riders Charge will be held. For $8 one could ride the seven miles of trails all day.

My day began with the realization I will be riding up a sizeable hill at the beginning of the race. Clearly, I was not ready for this as I slogged up the rocky switchback single trail for the beginning of lap one. During this rather unfortunate portion of the ride, I realized I have done nothing during my spinning sessions to prepare for this type of ride. My idea of a hill in spinning was to increase the tension enough to be moving the cranks at 75 rpms. Clearly, there will be no moments of cranking 75 rpms for this biker while negotiating the appropriately named 'Kato Climb.' Once I made it to the top of the climb I made my way through the Frog Pond Loop, Outlook Traverse and the Back Loop. The single track was hardpacked and very fast. The Gets Tight and Cedar Climb sections offered some technical areas and quick descents. There were three areas in which the climbing is enough to get the front wheel off the ground or spin the back tires. Not bad though. I then entered the Killer Toad Loop and lost my sense of direction.

After a couple of bad decisions, I decided to head down to the trail head and get a map. On my way down, a friendly gentleman noticed I was riding on the trail in the wrong direction. As I sat down to read my map, said gentleman mentioned my indiscrection so I let him know I had gotten lost. He seemed to genuinely understand my situation and headed out on his four wheeler laughing. At least I felt like I was not the only knucklehead to head out on this trail without a map. His look and actions let me know he had seen this condition (lack of intelligence) before. Armed with my trusty map and a new found sense of direction, I again took on the Kato Climb........slowly. I stopped every so often to get a sense of where I was and this time I found the Dead Horse section which is a quick little descent. This may have been the most enjoyable section of the trail. From there it was a quick ride through the Maze, Back Home, and Cabin Run to close out the "Citizen" lap.

I completed the last section and started right into another lap. I was able to negotiate the trail without incident. More importantly, I have a general idea of where I can go fast, where I need to slow down, and when to expect the top of the hill. In other words, I should do much better in this event then I did at the Dirt Spanker. In addition, I have used my past two spinning classes to practice the Kato Climb. Hopefully this will help (if only psychologically!) me to get up the hill a little quicker than I did the first three times. More importantly, I hope I learned enough to not have to walk my bike!

Dirt Spanker

I boarded a plane on May 20th to do a little fishing with a high school buddy in British Columbia. The next thing I know, June is almost over and I have neglected my new found social media toys. Since then, I have attended a conference in Atlanta, enjoyed a few days with my family in Myrtle Beach, and had my brother and his family stay at our house for a few days. Now, my wife has left for NM for a week leaving the kids and me to fend for ourselves. This should be interesting.

In between all of this, I missed the Afton Avalanche race but made the Dirt Spanker at Mont du Lac. The weather was perfect with the temperature in the mid 80s and the presence of a light breeze. Mont du Lac is a gorgeous location and I soon found it was a challenging course as well. The bar was open in the lodge and there appeared to be groups who camped overnight. The atmosphere was fantastic so if you plan to take your family to an MNSCS race, this would be a good choice. The volunteers were phenomenal which makes these events worth the time and money.

I had never ridden Mont du Lac and it showed. The Citizen course begins with a modest uphill. There were several crashes early on and this made things a bit difficult. Once we made the first uphill, the course transitioned into a single track with steep descents followed by steep ascents. This is where my lack of experience for the course hurt me. I could not get my gearing right and had a tough time in traffic. I would estimate there were 6-7 of these drops and climbs. I wound up walking up at least three of them. Not my best day. I did not know it at the time, but this was by far the toughest section of the course. The rest of the track was fast and moderately technical. The trails were well maintained and the riders were friendly. Unlike Erik's Cup, the field was quite a bit smaller and we became spread out quickly with very little contact with other riders. Overall, this was a very enjoyable ride once I got away from the bigger ascents. The course ended with another climb to the starting area before descending slalom style down to the lodge area.

There were four people in my age category and I placed second. I lost by nearly four minutes to a guy I beat at Erik's Cup by 90 seconds. Regardless, I enjoyed the experience and am looking forward to next year. My son and brother both attended the race. My son also participated in the Shimano Youth Series race and seemed to have a good time. The Bluff Riders Charge is next week and I have a practice run in already. I hope to get one or two more before the race. See ya.

Erik's Spring Cup

The folks who put this race together did a phenomenal job. The volunteers were friendly and the trail was well marked. The weather was perfect. Just perfect. They did reverse the course which made for some interesting situations, but everyone seemed to adjust well. Overall, there were 128 Citizen racers who started. They began the race by dividing us into five waves separated by two minutes each. The 40+ men and clydesdale's were in the fourth wave. I was able to get the inside lane of the second row at the start line. As I stated in an earlier post, I was concerned about getting into the woods behind a lot of people. My fears were unfounded as the race seemed to begin very slowly. After about 1/3 of a mile I entered the single track in sixth place. Within the first 200 yards the leader of the our group went down in a hard right turn. Fortunately, he was not hurt and left the trail entirely which made for easy passing. Shortly thereafter, the first and second place riders went down in the same manner. This left me in third place not a mile into the race. Not 30 seconds later the new leader crashed in the middle of the trail. The guy in front of me broke right while I went left. Fortunately we both made it through unscathed. From there, we rolled hard for the majority of the first lap with no more crashes. Toward the end of the first lap, I began to realize I could not keep up the pace we were at. As we approached stragglers from the previous waves, I was able to catch my breath but it was clear I was not going to keep this up. As we began the last quarter of the lap, I was passed by two or three riders in my wave before making it to the start/finish line for the beginning of the second lap. In addition, my seat post became loose and the seat began to sink. I jumped off my bike and adjusted the seat. I had to repeat this activity two more times before the end of the race. As I entered the single track for the second time, I noticed a rider who I struggled to pass at the end of the first lap. In a sense, I was happy because this would cause me to slow down and get my breath back. I followed him until we reached a small boulder jump. He chose to take a route around the boulder and I went over. Ironically, he ended up wrecking and I had clear trail ahead. I was feeling much better at that point and began making up ground and passing other riders. Other than my pit stops to tighten my seat, the last lap was uneventful until the end. Once we got off the single track, a rider passed me up going into the start finish area. We both had momentum so I stuck on this tail until the last turn. He left a small opening and I dove inside. Once I was in, I felt I would beat him but he recovered nicely. We ended up crossing the line at the same time. I later found he had beat me by 8/100 of a second. Good for him because he was definitely the stronger rider. Very cool way to finish my first race in 15 years. My better half got some good pictures and the kids seemed to have a good time watching their old man ride around on a bike. My time was 47:33. This was good enough for third place (out of seven) in my age group and 40th place overall (out of 128). I will miss the next two races but be back for the Bluff Rider's Charge in late June. See you then!!

One Week Out

Last week was fairly productive from a training perspective. I made it to the gym four times for spinning and twice for weights. Overall I expended approximately 3,300 calories and rode the equivalent of 37 dirt miles. I got one ride in at Salem Hills on Sunday evening. I completed the two laps in under 37 minutes. The race is Sunday so I hope to get a dirt ride in on Wednesday and Friday. I should get in for spinning and weights on Thursday and Friday as well. We will see. The course is very flat and fast with little passing opportunities on hard surface. It appears to me that most passing will have to be done by leaving the hardpack and moving through grass which seems to be about four inches high. The wooded areas are ideal for traffic jams and wrecks. I am very curious as to how they plan to spread us out at the start. I also noticed there are sandy areas being created by the traffic of those preparing for the race. So far they are small enough to manage but may be a problem as race day approaches. Weather is supposed to be 67 with light winds and no rain. Perfect.

Salem Hills

In my view, the weather today is as good as it gets in MN. It is nearly 70 degrees under clear skies with very little breeze. The humidity is low and the mosquitoes have yet to make their return. In reality, this will be one of approximately 20 days this year in which you do not have to prepare to go outside. We just put our winter gear away and in a few weeks we will be splashing on the deet. Enjoy it while you can folks! An interesting place this Minnesota. Moving on.........after mass, we made our weekly journey to a local bakery close to the house for coffee and donuts. We began doing this in the fall and it really is fun to do this with the family. I dare say these are the types of things I will miss as the kids get older. Once I scarfed down my bear claw and depth charge (coffee w/ two shots of espresso), I talked myself into heading out to Salem Hills park for a quick ride. My goal was to complete the two laps required for the race, which is a mere two weeks from today. Each lap is 4.3 miles. I completed the first lap in 19 minutes and the second in about 20. I managed to wreck on the second lap. I began laughing as I was in no hurry to get up. Like I said, the weather was perfect and I had landed in soft grass. Why rush? :) Eventually I did get back up and finished the lap with no further mishaps. I will try to get a couple more rides in before the race. Looking back at the 2008 results, I found there were 74 riders in my category. Since the course is mostly single track, a fast start is imperative. Salem Hills feels like a fast track, but I am afraid passing will be tough. That is it for now. See ya!

Mountain Biking

OK then.....I suppose I should get to work here. I am going to try and enter posts as often as possible throughout the summer. We hope to stay busy as a family so this way we can keep those of you interested up to date. I have decided to get back into mountain biking. I just completed my first trail ride of the year this afternoon. I completed a trail which will be the site of the first race in the Minnesota State Championship Series. Overall, there are eleven races throughout the year. The first race is in two weeks. I have been going to spinning class since July and have done approximately 120 rides inside. Hopefully this will give me enough stamina to finish the race. There are several race categories and I will be in the 'citizen' group which is the lowest level. Should be interesting. Anyway, I will keep you posted on the training and let you know how I do as time goes by.