Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race
100 miles over 14,000 feet of climbing all done above 9,000 feet of elevation on a Mountain Bike. I am shooting for 2013
Chicago Triathlon
Swim 1.5 km in Lake Michigan, 40km bike down Lake Shore Drive and downtown Chicago and then a 10km run down the Gold Coast with the finish at Soldiers Field. Then it is off to Wrigley for Old Styles and Brats. 2012
Indianapolis Mini Marathon
13.1 Miles from the Circle to The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and back to the Circle. 2012
Get My USA Cycling Race License (Bring on the Masters Races)
I would love to get my racing licence and compete in a few Crits a year. Definitely the Downtown Indy Crit and Mass Ave State Championship Crit. January of 2012
Climb Mont Ventoux and L'Alpe d'Huez
Climbing the legendary roads that names like Lemond, Merckx, Armstrong, Indurain, Hampsten and many others that I have watched on TV or on cycling DVD's. Maybe 2014
Get Back on the Velodrome Track
I just need to find a Track bike. TBA
Try Cyclocross Racing/Riding
I have always wanted to try Cyclocross, once again I just need to get a cyclocross bike or convert my road bike to a cyclocross ride. TBA
See the Tour of Colorado
I would love to go out and visit my brother (The race went right by his house and literally right in front of his work) in Dillon, CO. The Quiznos Pro Challenge or Tour of Colorado features some of the top racers in the Pro Peloton and Colorado provides a beautiful backdrop. 2012
See the USPro Championship in Greenville
I would really enjoy going to see the new hot bed of cycling in America and the USPro Championship will always bring out the big names. 2012 or 2013
See "The Wall" in Philly
The Manayunk Wall is probably the most famous climb in all of American cycling. The Wall is part of the circuit that the riders of the TD Philly Challenge will ride. The Wall is a crazy and rowdy group of cycling fans known for dressing up in outlandish costumes and spraying the riders with beer. 2013
Do a Gran Fondo
"Gran Fondo" means "Big Ride" in Italian and that is precisely what it is a ride not a race although the riders wear a time chip to see who can climb the toughest ascents the fastest. The Gran Fondo will have a mass start of around 10,000 riders in front of the iconic Philadelphia Museum of Art. The 108 mile ride will take us down the Ben Franklin Parkway past all the boathouses and up the Manayunk Wall and then on to the finish at City Hall and a post race party. 2013
Ride Across Indiana
Take highway US40 from Terre Haute to Richmond 169 miles. 2012
Do the Hotter Than Hell 100 in Wichita Falls, Texas
The Hotter than Hell 100 or HHH is actually a 4 day cycling festival with a Criterium race, the 100 mile ride, a trail run, and a mountain bike ride plus the participants stay in a Finish Line Village where there is food, celebrating, fellowship and comradely. 2011 is the 30th year of HHH and I hope to be doing the 32nd edition in 2013.
Set up and organize a fundraising ride from Chicago to New Orleans
Race a Kermies in Belgium
A "kermies" is local race in Belgium that are held almost everyday. These are the races where the riders in the pro peloton paid their dues. It's kind of like the minor leagues of European cycling. The races also traverse across some of the cobbled roads made famous by races like Paris-Roubaix, Het Volk, or Tour of Flanders. The races are open to anyone who can afford the 2 euro($3.50) entry fee.
See a Six Day Race in Europe
Six day races are track racing events that are popular in Europe but saw its height during the 20's and 30's in America. The events go from 6 pm to 2 am and most often there is a European disco tech atmosphere with laser lights, dance music and of course lots of beer and wine.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Ride to Bloomington
"I hurt myself today"
"To see if I still feel"
Those were the lyrics of the Johnny Cash song that was playing on my ipod this morning as I rode outta my driveway at the crack of dawn. I thought why do we as cyclist do this. I have been annoying my wife all week with my preparations for my ride this morning. I am having her drive down with my kids and a cooler filled water bottles, Clif Blocks, Bananas etc... I have planned and prepared like I am ascending L'Alpe d'huez or the Col de Tourmelet. I have signed up for a 5 hour leg cramping, air gasping, sweat drenched, heart racing, blood pumping suck fest, and I was looking foreword to it. Giddy about it even.
I woke up 1 minute before the alarm went off this morning, I got my gear and pulled my bike outta the garage, pass the minivan that I had packed up the previous night with a change of clothes, tools, a pump, the cooler, toys and books of my son as well as an assortment of other cycling goodies. I cruised down the road away from my home in Noblesville through Carmel (I found the only two hills in Carmel.) I rode past the High School and into the Arts District and made a left turn onto the Monon Trail. I motored down the Monon into Broad Ripple jumped off the trail and headed down Westfield Blvd which takes you to Butler University (and the foot of Hinkle Hill.) A tour through the campus as the sun started to rise I made my way across Michigan road to the Indiana museum of Art. I cruised on downtown passing a myriad of Indianapolis landmarks Major Taylor Velodrome, Marian University, IUPUI, Victory Field, the new JW Marriot and Lucas Oil Field. For the next few miles I cruise down West street motoring past Industrial parks and shipping lots dodging semi trucks and trying not to inhale deep breathes of diesel fumes. If there are any Oakley reps out there this where I for sure could of used a nice pair of Oakley Jawbone glasses trucks kick up dust, dirt and god knows what else was getting into my eyes.
West street turns into Bluff road a the scenery gets much nicer and I traded dodging diesels for Minivans and SUV's giving me a nice wide berth as they passed me. Finally after 40 miles on the bike I arrived at my first stop Glenns Valley Nature Park. Evidently "Nature Park" is code for there is nothing there. I choose this place to meet up with my wife and kids because if they got there before me there might a playground or something to keep them entertained or if I got there first there might be a bench or a picnic table. No such luck on either count.
After a 10 minute stop it was back to Morgantown road and here comes the hills, must have been 3 or 4 good sized hills before I got to Center Grove High School. Made a right hand turn onto Stones Crossing and more hills now they are getting steeper and longer. I finally get to Old 37, Old 37 is a very scenic and rolling highway that once upon a time used to be the way that people drove down to Bloomington. However since the construction of State Road 37 a four lane super highway compared to the 2 lane 35 mph old 37. I rode about 16 miles on Old 37 when I forced to ride on State Road 37 for a few miles.
CRAP FLAT TIRE
State Road 37 has a wide shoulder but it is a virtual minefield of broken glass, rocks, tire fragments, road kill, gravel and huge metal nuts & bolts. No wonder I flatted, I called my wife and she picked me up and headed a couple miles down the road to McDonald's in Martinsville where they had a play land for my son. Our stop was about a half an hour so that the fam could get some lunch and I could fix my flat. Back to Old 37 this part of my ride is truly beautiful and torturerous. The first hill is over a mile long and bends and curves so that you cannot see the top. Finally on top of the hill and now the fun part, especially for us XXL cyclist, the downhill. The descent sweeps left and right and I glance down to look at my bicycle computer to see that I am going 47 mph and I have not even turned the crank yet. After a 60 second descent the road heads back up for almost another mile. Pure agony, I even had to stop about 3/4 of the way up for 10 or 15 seconds. I almost crashed when I tried to start pedaling up the climb again. I eventually got to the top and the road rolls up and down for a few miles and then I see a monster hill that by far is the steepest of the day. I drop into my highest gear and try hammer out a pace that I can maintain up this wall. I don't care about time, I don't care about style points, I just want to get up this thing. I try to channel Lance Armstrong or Greg Lemond and keep ticking the pedals over. Finally I see my wife and kids and our white minivan like an oasis in the dessert parked in front of Musgrave Orchards (which is closed on Tuesdays.) I had made it to Bloomington, my original plan was to keep riding into the center of town past the University, FORGET THAT...
My legs were quivering and shaking, muscles in my legs that I never knew existed were aching I could not even conceive of riding up another one of those hills.
An hour or so latter my wife asked "So how was it?' and to my surprise I enjoyed it, I loved it.
It hurt and was hard but I really want to try it again and do better on the hills, but I did have alot of fun.
"I focus on the pain"
"the only thing that's real"
"To see if I still feel"
Those were the lyrics of the Johnny Cash song that was playing on my ipod this morning as I rode outta my driveway at the crack of dawn. I thought why do we as cyclist do this. I have been annoying my wife all week with my preparations for my ride this morning. I am having her drive down with my kids and a cooler filled water bottles, Clif Blocks, Bananas etc... I have planned and prepared like I am ascending L'Alpe d'huez or the Col de Tourmelet. I have signed up for a 5 hour leg cramping, air gasping, sweat drenched, heart racing, blood pumping suck fest, and I was looking foreword to it. Giddy about it even.
I woke up 1 minute before the alarm went off this morning, I got my gear and pulled my bike outta the garage, pass the minivan that I had packed up the previous night with a change of clothes, tools, a pump, the cooler, toys and books of my son as well as an assortment of other cycling goodies. I cruised down the road away from my home in Noblesville through Carmel (I found the only two hills in Carmel.) I rode past the High School and into the Arts District and made a left turn onto the Monon Trail. I motored down the Monon into Broad Ripple jumped off the trail and headed down Westfield Blvd which takes you to Butler University (and the foot of Hinkle Hill.) A tour through the campus as the sun started to rise I made my way across Michigan road to the Indiana museum of Art. I cruised on downtown passing a myriad of Indianapolis landmarks Major Taylor Velodrome, Marian University, IUPUI, Victory Field, the new JW Marriot and Lucas Oil Field. For the next few miles I cruise down West street motoring past Industrial parks and shipping lots dodging semi trucks and trying not to inhale deep breathes of diesel fumes. If there are any Oakley reps out there this where I for sure could of used a nice pair of Oakley Jawbone glasses trucks kick up dust, dirt and god knows what else was getting into my eyes.
West street turns into Bluff road a the scenery gets much nicer and I traded dodging diesels for Minivans and SUV's giving me a nice wide berth as they passed me. Finally after 40 miles on the bike I arrived at my first stop Glenns Valley Nature Park. Evidently "Nature Park" is code for there is nothing there. I choose this place to meet up with my wife and kids because if they got there before me there might a playground or something to keep them entertained or if I got there first there might be a bench or a picnic table. No such luck on either count.
After a 10 minute stop it was back to Morgantown road and here comes the hills, must have been 3 or 4 good sized hills before I got to Center Grove High School. Made a right hand turn onto Stones Crossing and more hills now they are getting steeper and longer. I finally get to Old 37, Old 37 is a very scenic and rolling highway that once upon a time used to be the way that people drove down to Bloomington. However since the construction of State Road 37 a four lane super highway compared to the 2 lane 35 mph old 37. I rode about 16 miles on Old 37 when I forced to ride on State Road 37 for a few miles.
CRAP FLAT TIRE
State Road 37 has a wide shoulder but it is a virtual minefield of broken glass, rocks, tire fragments, road kill, gravel and huge metal nuts & bolts. No wonder I flatted, I called my wife and she picked me up and headed a couple miles down the road to McDonald's in Martinsville where they had a play land for my son. Our stop was about a half an hour so that the fam could get some lunch and I could fix my flat. Back to Old 37 this part of my ride is truly beautiful and torturerous. The first hill is over a mile long and bends and curves so that you cannot see the top. Finally on top of the hill and now the fun part, especially for us XXL cyclist, the downhill. The descent sweeps left and right and I glance down to look at my bicycle computer to see that I am going 47 mph and I have not even turned the crank yet. After a 60 second descent the road heads back up for almost another mile. Pure agony, I even had to stop about 3/4 of the way up for 10 or 15 seconds. I almost crashed when I tried to start pedaling up the climb again. I eventually got to the top and the road rolls up and down for a few miles and then I see a monster hill that by far is the steepest of the day. I drop into my highest gear and try hammer out a pace that I can maintain up this wall. I don't care about time, I don't care about style points, I just want to get up this thing. I try to channel Lance Armstrong or Greg Lemond and keep ticking the pedals over. Finally I see my wife and kids and our white minivan like an oasis in the dessert parked in front of Musgrave Orchards (which is closed on Tuesdays.) I had made it to Bloomington, my original plan was to keep riding into the center of town past the University, FORGET THAT...
My legs were quivering and shaking, muscles in my legs that I never knew existed were aching I could not even conceive of riding up another one of those hills.
An hour or so latter my wife asked "So how was it?' and to my surprise I enjoyed it, I loved it.
It hurt and was hard but I really want to try it again and do better on the hills, but I did have alot of fun.
"I focus on the pain"
"the only thing that's real"
Thursday, August 18, 2011
First Race (sort of) since 94'
25:57 That was my time today at the Town Run Practice Time Trial Race. Not bad for someone who just got his Mountain Bike in April and had not pinned a number to my Jersey in 17 years or so. I finished the event 17th out of 55 riders, I am actually pretty stoked not to be at the bottom of the list. While the winner today finished just outside of 21 minutes, I believe he beat the next closest person by a 1:30, I felt that my top 20 finish was very respectable and I probably should have shaved around 40 or 45 seconds of my time by just choosing better lines to follow thru the course.
The enviorment for any type of bike race is great, even if you are a non-competing bystander you can feel the excitement in the air, but I have always enjoyed the atmosphere that surrounds mountain bike races. Mountain bikes are always so laid back and welcoming of newcomers or strangers to their sport. I have gone to Town Run a handful of times, but this was my first interaction with anyone from HMBA (Hoosier Mountain Bike Association.) I was running a bit late today getting to Town Run 10 minutes before we were to start (this is a mortal sin in Road racing.) I grabbed my bike went Paul who was signing riders in, I started to apologize for being late, Paul just looked at my and said "Practice Race, don't worry about it No worries." A couple of other riders rod up to where I was standing and started talking to me about the race, about bikes, about the results of the last practice race, while we were talking I noticed that I had not been late at all almost half the field showed up after me.
Paul came around and explained the rules and the start order and then he began sending riders off into the woods. I had been pretty nervous driving over to Town Run but now I seemed strangely relaxed and ready to ride my bike. After about 30 riders had gone before me it was my turn, Paul gave me the signal and I was off bobbing and weaving though the woods roller coaster like trail. The trail is a very nice moderately technical single track that has a sweet Cedar banked 180 degree turn that takes me back to my track cycling days. There are also a couple of wooden obstacles and some sweet little drops that gets the adrenaline pumping. We could not ride the whole south loop, so the course was just under 6 miles.
After my effort, after I had caught my breath and downed about 2 liters of water, I hung out on the picnic tables to wait for the final results. It was alot of fun hanging with the riders and hearing their stories and laughing at their jokes. I am definatly going to participate in the next race that I can, I just hope that I can improve on my 17th place.
oh yeah Happy Birthday Dan!!!
The enviorment for any type of bike race is great, even if you are a non-competing bystander you can feel the excitement in the air, but I have always enjoyed the atmosphere that surrounds mountain bike races. Mountain bikes are always so laid back and welcoming of newcomers or strangers to their sport. I have gone to Town Run a handful of times, but this was my first interaction with anyone from HMBA (Hoosier Mountain Bike Association.) I was running a bit late today getting to Town Run 10 minutes before we were to start (this is a mortal sin in Road racing.) I grabbed my bike went Paul who was signing riders in, I started to apologize for being late, Paul just looked at my and said "Practice Race, don't worry about it No worries." A couple of other riders rod up to where I was standing and started talking to me about the race, about bikes, about the results of the last practice race, while we were talking I noticed that I had not been late at all almost half the field showed up after me.
Paul came around and explained the rules and the start order and then he began sending riders off into the woods. I had been pretty nervous driving over to Town Run but now I seemed strangely relaxed and ready to ride my bike. After about 30 riders had gone before me it was my turn, Paul gave me the signal and I was off bobbing and weaving though the woods roller coaster like trail. The trail is a very nice moderately technical single track that has a sweet Cedar banked 180 degree turn that takes me back to my track cycling days. There are also a couple of wooden obstacles and some sweet little drops that gets the adrenaline pumping. We could not ride the whole south loop, so the course was just under 6 miles.
After my effort, after I had caught my breath and downed about 2 liters of water, I hung out on the picnic tables to wait for the final results. It was alot of fun hanging with the riders and hearing their stories and laughing at their jokes. I am definatly going to participate in the next race that I can, I just hope that I can improve on my 17th place.
oh yeah Happy Birthday Dan!!!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race
4:30 am - Alarm goes off
4:37 am - Snooze alarm goes off
4:45 am - Chow down on a banana and some oatmeal
5:00 am - Grab bike and head out of the hotel
5:15 am - Proceed to race check-in
5:45 am - Scarf down a Clif Bar
6:00 am - Push my way past Lance, Levi and Dave Weimes to the start line (Just jokes.)
and
6:30 am - Race start
6:35 am - Follow Police escort out of Leadville to Forest Service Road
6:45 am - Start the St. Kevin's Climb
6:46 am - Wonder why the Hell I signed up for this!!!
7:20ish am - Crest the top of the St. Kevin's Climb 10 miles down and 90 more to go.
7:45 am - After a stupid fast and steep downhill the Carter Summit Aid Station and thank god, I am already out of water
Later - After going around Turquoise Lake the road heads up over Sugarloaf Pass. Crap...
Much later - The 26 mile mark comes at the bottom of the Powerline descent
Before 10:30 am - The Twin Lakes Outbound Aid Station is the 40 mile mark. Grab some gels refill waterbottles
Later - Start the climb up to 12,600 foot summit of Columbine mine, where the hell is the oxegen!!!
before 1:00pm - I have a lunch reservation set for the Columbine Aid Station which is the 50 mile turnaround.
Before 6:00 pm - Retrace my steps back to Leadville??? WTF!
100 miles, over 14,000 ft of climbing, on a Mountain bike all done above 9000 ft
Who would ever want to do that? Yeah besides Lance, Levi, the handful of pro mountain bikers that enter the race, besides the 1500 riders that compete each year, besides the thousands of rider entries that are turned away each year, I want to.
- I want to be able to rub elbows with Tour de France superstars even only for a few hundred yards.
- I want my wife and kids to be able to their Daddy/Husband do something truly remarkable.
- I want one of those badass belt buckles for finishing in less than 12 hours.
- I want to see the breath taking views from atop Columbine Mine and Race aross the sky at 12,600 feet.
- I want to be without limits ; tougher, stronger and better than I ever thought that I could be.
- In the infamous words of race founder Ken Chlouber I want to "DIG DEEP."
See you at The Leadville Trail 100 Mountain bike race in 2013...
4:37 am - Snooze alarm goes off
4:45 am - Chow down on a banana and some oatmeal
5:00 am - Grab bike and head out of the hotel
5:15 am - Proceed to race check-in
5:45 am - Scarf down a Clif Bar
6:00 am - Push my way past Lance, Levi and Dave Weimes to the start line (Just jokes.)
and
6:30 am - Race start
6:35 am - Follow Police escort out of Leadville to Forest Service Road
6:45 am - Start the St. Kevin's Climb
6:46 am - Wonder why the Hell I signed up for this!!!
7:20ish am - Crest the top of the St. Kevin's Climb 10 miles down and 90 more to go.
7:45 am - After a stupid fast and steep downhill the Carter Summit Aid Station and thank god, I am already out of water
Later - After going around Turquoise Lake the road heads up over Sugarloaf Pass. Crap...
Much later - The 26 mile mark comes at the bottom of the Powerline descent
Before 10:30 am - The Twin Lakes Outbound Aid Station is the 40 mile mark. Grab some gels refill waterbottles
Later - Start the climb up to 12,600 foot summit of Columbine mine, where the hell is the oxegen!!!
before 1:00pm - I have a lunch reservation set for the Columbine Aid Station which is the 50 mile turnaround.
Before 6:00 pm - Retrace my steps back to Leadville??? WTF!
100 miles, over 14,000 ft of climbing, on a Mountain bike all done above 9000 ft
Who would ever want to do that? Yeah besides Lance, Levi, the handful of pro mountain bikers that enter the race, besides the 1500 riders that compete each year, besides the thousands of rider entries that are turned away each year, I want to.
- I want to be able to rub elbows with Tour de France superstars even only for a few hundred yards.
- I want my wife and kids to be able to their Daddy/Husband do something truly remarkable.
- I want one of those badass belt buckles for finishing in less than 12 hours.
- I want to see the breath taking views from atop Columbine Mine and Race aross the sky at 12,600 feet.
- I want to be without limits ; tougher, stronger and better than I ever thought that I could be.
- In the infamous words of race founder Ken Chlouber I want to "DIG DEEP."
See you at The Leadville Trail 100 Mountain bike race in 2013...
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