Five Elements

Back in flight.

2010-06-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

I use my bike now for other thing than racing, just going places with it. On my time off from Racing I have been shooting long bow again and making arrows and working on making bows, running and climbing rock walls.

The arrows are made of hide glue,turkey feathers(died with pigment)Douglas fir shafts and animal sinew for wrapping front and ends of feathers. There is some cooking to getting the glue, harvested turkey to get wing feathers and then stripped them, cutting and drying shafts and then working them together to make them fly.

Dana and I made a photo booth, I made the frame from Cro moly tubing. It was 90 feet of tubing it cost less then $90 (thats like 5 bikes LOL). The one thing at my work we have endless cro moly and stainless steel of all shapes and sizes for me to play with. So I welded it and painted it. Dana made the curtains. The rest is done but not in photo. We had a wedding on Friday to try it out and it was a hit.

I have slowed on making metal things, The photo booth got me thinking of things I had made and I am going to get forming thing that my mind likes again. This fish was made from Stainless steel,it was inspired by my first fast motorcycle. It was a GSXR 600 and I felt I could fly just for a bit, but sometimes thats all you need is a taste. Some of my bike upgraded stickers went on to him. He is called "The flying fish"

My 1st 24hr 3rd LCR = 8

2009-08-31T13:58:00.000-07:00

My first 24 hour race, this is what it felt like. I did the first lap for the team, running start and i get to my bike and I was think when have i last sprinted that fast...? OK biking down road thinking dam I should not of did that, in 3rd spot off the start, the race could of ended there cuss that's were we finished. OK finished lap 1 drink eat get lights, think what the hell did i get myself in to?
lap 2 I hammered it but have no power, so I ride it instead. lap 2 done. Go to camp eat, drink & wash. team racer #4 Larry said "isn't this great!" I try to smile. next lap is a 2 laper lets say I tried to hard to do well & = failed then try to sleep Failed. Team racer 3 ray said time to get up Andy with a sound in his voice like it was a good thing...? 4am like 40Deg out no sleep yet, wet from dew and dark really really dark, so cold sitting at the start waiting for Larry this was the low point in the race. I raced that lap like I was racing for my life, so cold, getting wet, tired, hungry,this week was my fist night riding, and trail was emty, grass and rocks getting really slick. At this point I was thinking wow this is it the lowest of lows and it would not be so bad if I could of stopped, but I have to keep going forward for the team( team sports MTBing WTF over).
I finish lap 5 and its like 5am and tag off to heath and he looks at me and said next lap will be allot better and bikes off into the night, I was thinking what the hell is that? Is the riddler riddling or can he read my mind and is f ing with me or smart? OK go to camp tell ray to get up, wash off in the cold, eat, drink, sleep for 1hr & ray gets me up its sunny out, I get ready and ride it was the best lap yet... Heath is smart! me and eddy race down the last part of course from the top/new top all the way to the bottom/finish we passed some riders, if we had motors on the bikes the passes we made were good! so we said sorry to the racers we ran off the course as we bombed down the hill,best part of the race fun! fun! eddy won he had better passing skills.The rest of the day was a blank I was sad and zoned out. Race over 3 place overall.
The biggest shock was when the winning team got there awards they pulled out salsa skewers.... and that's it? If your racing and racing to win and paying big $ to race, there should be prizes to = the race fee like MNSCS, Buckhill, Murphy tt, and so on.

Things I liked about the race, my team! Larry laughing all the time, Heath so focused and tried 110% every time out & ray just having fun and loven it. This race put me were i do not want to be and thats good some times, I asked eddy "what do you think this race is doing for us" he said "nothing... its only good for your soul really" Nice . The one thing this race did give me was tons of feeling, Good and bad but there was allot of them and thats what makes life life and thats good! I have to give it up to the dark cold hills of Afton on Friday night they made me feel something I have never felt.

KATO

2009-06-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

Like kato (Bruce lee)from the show the green hornet.
Mt.Kato is a course that is fast and if your not ready the down hills can give you a kick in the face fast. With some caution I started the race with a slower start knowing this is going to speed up, I needed to be ready for it. with the first lap over and in 13/14th spot (I think), feeling really good and climbing well I started passing a rider or 2 part way in to lap 2 I was in 10th, closing in on fisher and Eric. I closed the gap on lap 3 first hill and sat on there wheels for a lap knowing there is no mans land in front of them so I went there pace for a lap. Lap 4 first hill Fisher fell back and Eric and I held the pace. Eric was riding well but on the tops of the hills he slowed a bit so I was thinking.... Lap 5 First hill we climbed well but at the top I passed Eric and pushed hard off the top and went full on for the rest of the lap, I formed a gap and finished 8th overall and made the $.

A new Race

2009-06-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

It was a hot and humid Thursday afternoon with a long drive in front of me. Today is a new race I will race (something new is good and part of my plans for the year, "keeping it fresh" ) There was only one real thought on the way there and It was to ride behind someone for the first lap no matter what place I'm in, I will have no time to preride. I get to the race in river falls and start to get ready, there is hardly time for even a little warm up (not what I prefer but o well ). The race official said "do 3 laps, do the jeep hill on your first lap not on lap 2 & 3" ( I talked to berry about this again to understand better, start area not the same and no coming out of the woods at the bottom of the hill like we do at the border battle). We line up and Go, I wait for berry to go out front for the start and I push others aside to stay with berry! I road with berry for 1.5 laps but you could tell the rigid S.S was getting to him. So on the 2nd field I had gears and I used them, so I went and passed berry witch was a nice pace but now I went full on for 1.5 laps( buck hill style fast). I raced as hard as I could for the last 1.5 laps and there was no one in sight! I raced and finished in the # 1 spot. 1st place ...cool, It felt good . I packed my stuff and went home, great night the weather cooled and the drive was nice I went though Prescott and drove country roads home. Dana had fajitas waiting for me, That was nice. Great day!

Superball

2009-06-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

The shake down was if I have a good finish I will get 2nd overall for the series at buck. I was thinking, get a good start and ride fast but nothing crazy and I will be fine. So at the start line there was a joke as every week(not so funny of one this week) 50 seconds 20 seconds 3 2 1, so I went for about 20 feet and there is a pull on my bike and I slowed, heaths bar is pushed in my seat some way from someone pushing him in to me( never my fault by the way, ever). He is now falling so he unclips and puts his foot in my wheel,and I fall to the ground.I am now in mid to 3/4 back of pack I stand up run with bike and get hit and fall again. I go to stand up and I get ran over, (You are thinking did he say ran over, yes I got ran over I have the cut up the back of my leg to prove it) I am back of pack. I jump on my bike seat it is at a 45 degree angle( you are thinking that's funny, no it was not funny at all it hurt all 4 laps). So now my race starts Heath yells "this will be really good training"I have to say at the time I was thinking what type of training is Heath doing? I worked really hard to pass for 2 laps the 3rd lap made up time 4th lap got to berry and he said so your taking your spot back, I did not understand at first. I finished the 4 lap so fast my bike had more traction then ever I was hitting corners full on just to see if I would spin out, lap 4 ended fast, I came in someone called out 4th place as I went through, LOL my fifth 4 place and 2nd overall for the series. I am sore again, bike needs work, racing Rock!

Bucken dusty

2009-06-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

Buck hill was sandy and dusty, sand and loose dirt skills R on a rise! 4th place for the 3 time, I would hate to change my placing. I had a good start, half way in the first lap I think I passed Tri and at the end of lap 1 I passed tom, I worked myself a ok gap not making any ground on SAM so 4th lap I was just keeping my 4th spot safe and road it home. I won a shirt drank a beer, MTB Racing at its best!

The ups & downs of Afton

2009-06-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

When planning on going fast it helps to go slow. This was my first year at Afton racing Cat 1/pro so the plan was to not ever overdo it. Racing at buck or shorter races trains you to GO GO GO till you cant. So before Afton happened I had to keep telling myself start slow, climb at a speed I can keep climbing all day at, Ride the rest of the trail fast. The start of the race was fun I got a call up, starting in the front is nice. The start was OK, not to crazy fast. We got to the first climb and I was going to stick to the plan so I climb slow per the plan, there was no one going past? Shady lane no one passed went to the switchbacks the same. There was heath and others there but no pressure from anyone. This was good! I hit a rock and heath passed, I road with him till the the short cut/DLA he did not know of the short cut yet. The next lap and a half was just me trying not to over do it. There was some racers behind me but at the time I did not know who was back there. I got up to 7th place when I got past Eric o. Then the 4th lap came up, I was trying to keep it together with no one with in 60 sec or so, about half way through the shock twinges started in the legs. My 1x9 was going to hurt on the manhandler, so I hammered it to finish the day. Almost to the top I passed a green # plate I looked again in shock, I was like o I get to race hard to the finish. So I Dug deep to get to the top and the fastest down hill of the day( for me). Finish 6th place overall, It was a great day

Bike photo skills.

2009-05-30T18:24:00.000-07:00

This was my first Pay out.

..........

2009-05-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

Buck #3 4th again, last race 5Th place, the race after that 4th place. Spring cup 9th overall. The day after spring cup MNSCS told me they mixed up the pay outs and they should of paid out to 9th place(not 7th), so I got payed! My first race ever to get a pay out! That made my week, a goal I had this year( 3 years in the making ) was to get a pay out. Goal Done! Last night at buck was fast, with a ok start. I got on Heaths wheel and rode with him for a bit Jack and Jesse were in sight so I tried to split the gap but instead I got really tired I was in the Ozone way to long the 2nd lap I was just trying to recover from trying to hard. With miller behind and always super strong I was trying to recover and push the pace at the same time? lap 3 and 4 I was riding strong again, and raced in 4th place alone till the end. Afton this weekend, its going to be fun!

NO Race UPDATE YET

2009-05-17T18:37:00.001-07:00

First race for LCR.

2009-05-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

OK the race was at Elk River with 2 laps and a pro log. The start was slow.... So slow that for the first time ever I was in front of Sam & Brendan? That was short lived, but was fun at the time. The 33 advanced riders sorted fast and I finish 7th. This was the first race on the 29er, the 29er will take some time to get rite and it is going to be a better fit for me. The bike seems to help my style of riding and for 3 years I was on a bike that was not working with me, so i am retraining. This week is a big week, Buck Hill and Erik's, the start of "race my self to fitness" has started it will be 3 races in 9 days! This is good for having 7 months off of racing. LOL

Cold Times

2009-04-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

This week I got a bit sick throat/cold thing... Sucks, so riding has stopped & sleeping and rest is started. With free time I put the parts I had for my bike on my bike, salsa chain ring & new drive-train/shifting stuff. It is a 1x9 for the reason, I wanted to do a S.S but this is one step closer and for the better. I have to put my upgrade kit in my fork and rebuild my TI pedals (not shown) & she is ready to rock. The weight is 20.8 lbs. I do not have much time on the bike so there are some things that could change 1. The fork, I ride it locked out if I ride the trails and still ride locked out I will get a carbon fork. 2. gears I still want a S.S. The free time you have when sick makes you get restless so the house is tore apart but much needed, its hard to stop before you bite off more than you can handle. I stopped pulling the house apart and now I will fix it, I hope.

B E G

2009-02-19T13:04:00.000-08:00

GGN

29 in. wheel make a 29er

2009-02-14T07:33:00.000-08:00

My wheels ! few grams under what they told me. tires are coming (same tire and size as what the lalonde's run, from what i was told when i ordered them from penn ) its the same tire that comes on the 09 superfly but a bit smaller in size. The next thing is a handlbar, With a good sweep.

This should help smooth things over.

2009-02-04T16:25:00.000-08:00

Working on a 29er? I love hard tails I was going to get a fully but i cant, so bigger wheels will make it a little softer. The wheels are coming stans 355, dt240 hubs. With some 1.8 jones xr tires( high volume 29in tire on a wide 355 rim i can run some low pressure ) this should, (we will find out) give me more tire on the ground than before and about the same weight as my 26in slr rims that are noisy and narrow. There are more parts coming! It will not be the lightest bike but my carbon scale is cracked from a crash, I still can ride it but...

I had some extra time?

2008-11-02T16:02:00.000-08:00

Well it could of smelled?

2008-09-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

run bike run

2008-09-06T17:31:00.000-07:00

The murphy Duathlon went good today. the last time I ran was 2 months ago. The running part seems to hurt but I can Keep pace, I breath harder than I ever do on my bike and keep going. If I could bike like I can run that could be cool. I think I have to keep doing this , its fun,tuff and a breath of fresh air from just mountain biking all year. I think I came in 8th or 9th. If I work on my running I could maybe hang with the front guys for a bit.

face bite

2008-08-09T13:04:00.000-07:00

Thats funny

2008-08-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

What is it really?

2008-07-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

Racing... Training...The rides... Or the smell of B O . I think it starts with rides with others and they stink so bad you would like to be up front. You get faster so you move up a race class and start over, it stinks so you race faster and get up front and so on. The only thing after a year or so is you love the smell of winning, that's all you do cuz its great. So you start to train and train ( you start to smell more). Know you ride to get away from your smell so you ride faster and faster, you soon forget you smell. others ride faster to try to get away from you. So everyone is trying to get away.... Is this what is going on "we all want to get away and win" So if we do this we think we will not stink?

I'm thinking rest...

2008-06-10T18:06:00.000-07:00

I feel slow, sore muscle, tired , no zip in my step, getting on the bike seems like a job at times and getting my heart rate up seems harder to do. Starting today this will be a rest week no starting tomorrow, I biked today at lebanon. Next week I will plan on riding the next MNSCS race and take it easy next week like I should if I were going to race. Later

THE DEAL IS.

2008-06-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

My leg has been getting a pain at a real high race pace , its a burn that is much worse than the regular pains of racing and its in only one leg. The plan, train like normal ( normal? )with out super high intensity . There is no aggravation other than racing so with out racing for a bit I think it should heal fine. It was getting worse at the buck races week to week so time off is the only thing I can do. So from here on out training will be the focus, as long as I can ride its not a problem . I will be at the races with Dana and give her hand ups so she can keep taking photos at a fast pace , and I will give out the remaining water bottles to the team if there is any spare time. Spectating should be fun I never did much of that ,so now I can give back to the team that helps me. I think I should be back racing in Mt.kato for sure unless there is something I don't for (skin) see in all of this .You said foreskin. O my hard tail is to hard I want something softer , my road bike rides softer on the road than my Mt.bike?? Whats up with that? My ass and back hurts when I ride it. What ? There is got to be something better to ride. Later

Welcome back buck !

2008-05-09T18:45:00.000-07:00

Well the nerves are calm know after the first race on dirt , you never forget the pain of racing its wondering if you can still handle the pain . The race went good 15 place I think it was, my legs are not ready yet but soon I hope. The trail was great and Penn did great job on it . It's great to be back racing I just got to get rid of this cold/throat thing all so big race Sunday Salem hills later.

Road racing

2008-05-07T13:34:00.000-07:00

2 weeks ago I raced at the ken woods RR in the 40 mph winds and snow, it was the only reason I went to the race. It started so fast I could not keep up with the front pack ,with getting sick 2 weeks before and with no real hard workouts yet it was no good so I cut my losses and dropped to the 2nd pack were I sat for 2 hrs working like a dog to stay with it. Than the pack just seemed to stop biking and I wasn't ready for that, the first group up the road just a bit and we were on a hill with 4 to 5 miles to go there is only one thing this MTBer can do is go go go, so I went and the only one to give chase was a mtber by the name of Jamison we were gone and soon after we passed some riders getting dropped from the front group it was so cool to take a chance and go for it . We never made it to the front on the race before it ended , but if we had more time we would of got them . 7 place . Gluek/marty RR this race was good weather with only wind , it was last Saturday . The pace was slow slow slow I had to get up front to push wind to make it fun no one would work to break up the group so it was what it was 35 riders sitting in .Lap 1 of 3 slow , the big hill 5miles or so from the finish I hit it hard to see how I felt I felt good with 50 off the front of the group .Lap 2 slow .Lap 3 slow than fast , coming up on the hill there is going to be 2 things that can happen ,fast hill Plus pain for 5 miles or finish with pack sprint finish . I know pain I don't know sprints If there are 35 riders in a sprint I will be 35th so you know whats going to happen , there was 5 of us who got away and it was on, that was the fastest I have ever covered that much ground on my bike in that time, It was full on till the end the pain was so great I cant wait for more. 3rd place . This week is going to be a rest week and the build 1 starts.

Getting high.

2008-04-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes that's hard to do without big hills. This is something in life I spend time doing or trying to do . Training , its gone slower than planned from getting sick . June I should be in race form . This year I'm not going to stop running like I did last year , it will not make me faster on a bike, but running is something I will not stop doing again. Running and biking will give me more races to pick from and that gives me more adventure. later

Personal sacrifice.

2008-03-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

That's the name of the game , ride times are getting longer and faster . This time of year is key , your motivation is everything to keep you on a bike, if you don't got some, go get some . The pics of are new Jerseys are out and they look really nice , cant wait to wear them ( it will be warm out).

update

2008-03-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

march 8 2008

IT'S NOT ALL BAD

2008-02-26T18:30:00.000-08:00

OK lets see I raced the chilly chili that's was bad news , it was the first race on a single speed and is going to be the last time , my single speed has no front brakes and that is fine but when you have to go down a steep ice hill you tumble end over end and I get all cut up from studs , that sucks. 10th place in A class . I raced the hill side on the week the trail did not pack down it was a long race and meant to be fun and it was for me ,not so fun for most, 4 place .Training is going OK I'm sick of the trainer, I'm sick of my 50lb winter bike ,and I'm sick of the cold . This will be my last week in base 2 till my rest week. Tonight I road to leb, biked a 1.5 laps 2.5 hours in ,it was getting dark , I was in the x loop and my chain brakes again. Dark , cold , hunger is setting in, so I ran, 1 hour later I was home. 5th time my chain broke this winter penn replaced it and said there is nothing wrong its in the shop again . O one more thing to ad last week I crashed on the road going 20 or so miles an hour can you spell road rash. OK times up, later

My week off

2008-01-27T16:52:00.000-08:00

I bike 3 times a 1hr ,2.5 hr and 3.5 /4 hr . The long ride went great till I got 3 tubes that sucked, and a lift from some guy in his truck to Eric's bikes to get more tubes (one tube flat on bike ,one tube hole from factory ,one tube valve stem broke.)4.5 hr day .

Good stuff.

2008-01-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

This bike could be the bike ,the stuff that is no good I have better to replace with off my Scott scale . 110 mm in front 100 in rear. Felt better than any other bike I have ridden .

off week

2008-01-24T10:46:00.000-08:00

The plan is to go have fun at the chilly chili ice race, this time of year training is to detailed, you lose the feel of racing . The thing is you plan on racing a day, if you don't feel up to it you still race, you just work around the feelings and race your best and not give up. This time of year race a little, train a lot never stop doing both. Not good at racing? Race more till you need to work on training. For me A race should be 100% fun, if not there is a bit of stress involved and that tells me I need to race . http://www.morcmtb.org/photopost/data/519/CHILLYrace081.jpg

Base 1, week 3 ,SUN, Jan20

2008-01-20T12:57:00.000-08:00

Fri 1hour spin 4 or5 30sec fast spin. Sat 2hour e2 .Sun 1.5 hour run then 1.5 hour e2 .

Base 1, week 3 ,thu, Jan17

2008-01-17T19:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday 3 hours on the trainer e2.Today 1hour run.

Base 1, week 3 ,Tue, Jan15

2008-01-15T15:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday 1hour e1 trainer, today 2 hour e2 with 5or6 one leg drills on trainer fun fun . This week will be ruff to get 13 hours in, the cold tends to slow the bike rides down outside so to only ride the trainer this week is going to make it a real test . USA cycling approved my 2007 race resume to be a 2008 expert ,so now its on! The pic is for me to remember days like this is what you train for and that makes it easy to sit on the trainer on cold weeks.

base 1, week 2 ,sun, jan13

2008-01-13T18:39:00.000-08:00

2.5 hour e2 bike ride. Biked to leb , biked leb and biked home. Went with Keven, good times. I think that's 12 hours for the week. This week felt OK I don't feel really fast, as long as i keep rides under control I will do fine. The main thing to remember is in base you gain little in speed or anything really, so you think all the biking i will do there is no gain to see or feel and to know this is really important (no one has gotten fast on just base training , but no one got fast with out it.)

base 1, week 2 ,sat, jan12

2008-01-12T15:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday 1hr speed drill . Today 3:15 e2 ride and there was a lot of out of zone on the high side ,went on the road for 1hr then went to leb did 2 laps( the trail is in great shape) then biked home. I am really tired need sleep and food . later

base 1, week 2 ,thu, jan10

2008-01-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

ran 1hour .ok later

base 1, week 2 ,wen, jan9

2008-01-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

1 hour 45 min e2 the cold did not feel good at all today.

base 1, week 2 ,tue, jan8

2008-01-08T18:45:00.000-08:00

1hr 30 min e2 with 10(5 each)1 leg 1min s2 drills .

base 1, week 2 ,mon, jan7

2008-01-07T18:24:00.000-08:00

OK week 1 is over 10:45 total ride time on to week 2. Today 1 hr, 5 1min big gear with 2min easy spin rest. This week 11.5 hrs is the plan.

Maplelag

2008-01-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

The sunny days in maplelag really brings the gangster/thug out in me.

base 1, week 1 ,sun, jan6

2008-01-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

OK today went a little slow but not a waste. 2:45 was the ride time, work out was a e2 (close if not a e1 but hills were faster then normal .) .It was so wet and it made it hard to go fast, when the faster I went the wetter I got( need front fender for the spring rides ).

base 1, week 1 ,sat, jan5

2008-01-05T16:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterdays run made me sore , the snow was deep and soft in spots so sinking in and slipping on ice made my joints sore and places hurt that i did not know i had .Today a 2hour E2 ,it was nice for a change that the weather was warm. Sunday I will ride with Jamison & Keven for 2.5 hr.

base 1, week 1 ,fri, jan4

2008-01-04T18:05:00.000-08:00

Run for 1hr 5min, nice night for a run. Time to eat.

Peace coffee show en UP!

2008-01-04T13:41:00.000-08:00

Thats a team. nice!

Is this racer to fast for comp?

2008-01-04T10:15:00.000-08:00

Peace coffee racer Jamison " THE MAN WHO NEVER GETS TIRED" The goal is to train with this dude as much as i can he has only one speed and its fast.

base 1, week 1 ,thu, jan3

2008-01-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

1 hour e1 today. I needed a bit of rest, Friday I will do a lite 1 hour run or do a speed drill, if no speed drill Friday I will do it with a e2 on Saturday. I will go in to the weekends feeling really good for the longer rides and early in the week I will do shorter harder workouts.

base 1, week 1 ,wen, jan2

2008-01-02T16:47:00.000-08:00

Legs are feeling my speed workout from last night. 2 Hours on trainer today e2 workout felt really good, much needed sleep to night. Bike ride to work today was so cold it hurt.

base 1, week 1 ,tue jan1

2008-01-01T16:30:00.000-08:00

OK I did a s1 spin ups for 1 hour , 5sets 30sec long felt good .

base 1, week 1, mon dec 31

2008-01-01T12:52:00.000-08:00

1HR on trainer, 5 1min big gear with 2min rest . This will be the only thing this week that has high heart rate. This is the only thing that really hurts , big gears are my weakness.

And the wheel go's around.

2007-12-31T11:10:00.000-08:00

Trainer time ,its just easy to jump on it than get dressed and I still get cold no fun. The thing is its easy with a flat screen hdmi and xbox360 with a controller on the aerobars ,sweeeeet. The training starts today ,3 months of base is the only thing I'm going to think about for know and January is the hardest part. week 1 10.5 Hr week 2 11.5 Hr week 3 13 hr week 4 6 to 7 Hr. This is only at most 2 Hr per week more than last year also this is the high end of Hour per week. This month I will run 1 maybe 2 time a week, 1 long ride per week outside, 2 speed skills a week on trainer and some e2 rides with big gears . This site will get posted a lot this time of year if i write it down it tends to happen . later