First Ski Race Of The Season

My first ski race of the season was Saturday, January 29th at Phalen Golf course in Saint Paul. It was the revival, after many years off, of the King Boreas 15K event. Things went about as well as could be expected for a guy who needs to lose a few pounds... I started out with Bill Stuber and John Wyland. Bill was right in front of me during the early going until a couple of skiers got in-between us. Stubes looked very smooth as he gradually pulled away from me. I kept up my pace and found some other guys to ski with. After a while, the top women, who started one minute later, started to pass us. I never got into a good rhythm though and wound up passing skiers, who then passed me back and then I'd pass them back again. Amy Cichanowski caught up to me and stayed behind me for a kilometer. Then, she passed me and I figured her pace was pretty good so I decided to follow her. I finally got into a comfortable groove and passed some more guys. We passed one more guy with a couple of hundred yards to go. He passed me back on the inside finishing corner but I out-sprinted him to the line to grab 68th place. Stuber got me by about a 1:30 and I got Wyland by 1:50. Lori Belz, Tina Olson, Nora Bengel and John O'Connell all did the race too. Afterwards, we all went to Bill and Kim Stubers house for food and beer. Others there were Tom and Jan Bengel, Jerry Engen, Bob Woodruff, Pete Thurmes, Joe Stuber and a few more.

Back from New York

I had a good time in Upstate, New York in the Saratoga and Lake George Region. The total time out there staying with Kathleen's relatives was almost three weeks. I cross country skied at Cronin's Golf Course in Warrensburg and at Mount Van Hovenberg in Lake Placid with Dave and Wendy Matthews. I also climbed French Mountain in Lake George. It's 1,040 vertical feet to the top. As always, I climbed it without stopping. Don't know why but I'm much better at climbing mountains than I am at riding or skiing up hills... I also went downhill skiing at Gore Mountain with my Co-Bro (Common Law Brother In Law) Frank. The place has 2300 feet of vertical. During a crash though, I pulled a calf muscle that put me out of commission for skiing and climbing for the rest of the trip. The broken toe from November was still healing too so it was probably good I didn't do any workouts for over a week. Also went to the Saratoga Battlefield National Park. Colonial General Gates defeated British General Burgoyne there in October 1777. Since getting back, I've cross country skied a lot at Lake Elmo and Green Acres. I'm not as concerned about my skiing but it is a great weight loss program. I came back from New York at 181.5lbs. Mid-170s now. The picture above is Lake Elmo from a couple of days ago.

A Few Pictures Lately

Skiing at Lake Elmo, the Solis road bike and rollerskiing the Afton Coulee.

Back on the Blog

It's been a long time since the last post... Months... I'm off my job for the winter so I've got a lot of time to keep this thing going. If I didn't mention it already, I'm selling asphalt and concrete driveways, patios, sidewalks and parking lots now so I get the winters off... With my first year of selling asphalt and concrete, I didn't ride much. I worked a lot and was learning the business. I only have 2,345 miles on the bike this year. That should change as I get better with time management. The weight was hovering in the low 170s for most of the summer but I somehow got back to 180lbs a few weeks ago. I rollerskied a lot this fall and got in some good training. When the snow came, I got in some classic skiing with the waxless crowns and then some good crust skating on a local golf course. That ended when I broke my toe last week while skiing on said golf course down a hill after the sun went down... I plan on trying to skate ski in a few days. Classic skiing will be prohibited until the bone heals... Anyway, I raced four time trials this year with mediocre results and then only two cyclocross races. I would have raced more cross but my weight kept getting in the way of fast times...

Afton Cruise

Bill Stuber and I rode to Afton today from my house in Saint Paul. I rode the new Solis Umbra carbon bike. It's made by RavX, the company I sell components for. The bike worked great on the 48 mile round trip. Otherwise, I got in a few rides during the week including one time trial training session on the Greenway. Plus a few rides on the Bottecchia fixed gear.

Building The Solis And Enjoying The Lake

I worked on the Solis carbon fiber road bike over the weekend. They sent me two left side SRAM Force shifter/brake levers so I have to get the one for the right side. Also, I went fishing with Jerry Engen and his 15 year-old grandson Zach on Sunday. After getting my boat and truck stuck in Lake Jane (thanks to Barry Torgerson for pulling me out), we went to Lake DeMontriville. I caught a big northern and a few bass plus one sunfish and a perch. Zach caught a northern, a few bass, one sunfish and a rare, blue sunfish. Jerry got a bunch of small sunfish with one big one and he also caught a bass. It was the shakedown cruise for the Hiawatha boat's 28 hp Johnson motor.

Second Bike Race Of The Year

I rode in the rain with John Wyland last Saturday. We rode the Greenway loop. A light rain at the start turned heavy about 1/4th of the way. We stopped at Chipotle for lunch so that was okay. It was 31 miles of riding... Sunday, it was back on the Greenway for more time trial training. Another 31 miles with time trial intervals mixed in. The Ride and Glide Tuesday Time Trial was postponed to Wednesday because of rain. Tommy Bengel and I drove out and raced it. I got 19th in a time of 33:15. My average speed was 24.36 mph. On Friday, I got in 20 miles on the Greenway, Kenilworth Loop. I rode the fixed gear Botecchia.

Selling Asphalt - Riding When I Can...

I've been selling concrete and asphalt driveways and parking lots with some appointments in the evening so I'm riding when I can instead of posting on the blog. I'll try to update it more frequently. I rode the TCBC All Club ride out of Snail lake last Saturday. That one was 67 miles. Joining me were Jerry Engen, Lori Belz, Rob Belz and John Wyland. Otherwise, I've been hanging out on the Greenway Loop. That's a great course for time trial training. Anyway, I'm at 1,417 miles for the year so far...

Riding And Racing

I've gotten in some rides and a race since the last post. A 52 mile road ride with Tom Bengel, John Wyland, Tina Olson, Jerry Engen, Lori Belz and Rob Belz on the 1st. On the 2nd, I did a 12 mile mountain bike ride at Theodore Wirth with Rob, Tom and Lee Bengel and Bill Stuber. We rode over from Kenwood. My first race of the year was the Ride and Glide Withrow TT. Tom Bengel joined me on that one. Everyone had a slower time than last year with the 20mph wind gusting to 40mph. I got 22nd out of 70. Thursday was a 31 mile loop on the Greenway System with Steve Prast. Today, I did the same ride with John Wyland and Bill Stuber.

Caught In The Rain

I took the Bottecchia fixed gear out for a little spin this evening. I wasn't planning on a long ride but a rain storm turned it into a 6 1/2 cruise...

More Time Trial Training

31 miles of time trial training on the Greenway with Tommy Bengel on Monday. We did five speed intervals. Today, I took off for the Greenway again and more time trial training. I ran into Tom Bengel, Dag Selander, Paul Schoening, Mike Shaw and Big Dave out for a ride. I rode with them between the nine intervals I did. I got in 30 miles.

Sunday Cruise

Tom Bengel and I waited for the rain to clear and the roads to dry up before going for a 19 mile cruise. We rode down Summit, up the High Bridge, the Marie climb, over to Fort Snelling and up the river on the Minneapolis side before heading back on Summit.

Hitting The Hills

I rode up the High Bridge and the Marie Avenue climb after work today. I got in 18 1/2 miles.

Another Synergy Ride

Synergy had the Ridley Factory guys at the ride tonight. They had some demo bikes for people to try. Now Bikes is going start selling them. We rode into Eagan and back. I got in 25 1/2 miles.

Time Trialing With Tommy

More time trial training for Tom Bengel and me tonight. We got in 31 miles on the Greenway Loop with five long intervals and lots of tempo work. Tons of people were out on the trails.

In Synergy

I joined the Synergy group ride from the Saint Paul Now Bikes Store out to Eagan and back. Neighbor Steve joined me along with Mike J, Alex D and Maria, Nicole, Chris, Jim and Nate.

Road and Single Track

The Saturday ride was a couple of loops on the single speed mountain bike at Salem Hills. Bill Stuber and Steve Prast joined me. The trail was in great shape. Today, Lori Belz, Jerry Engen, Bill Stuber, Rob Belz and I rode the roads from Lakeland through Lake Elmo, Washington County and Stillwater. We got in 31 miles.

Everyone Knows It's Windy...

Tom Bengel, John Wyland and I rode from my house down to Eagan and back for 28 miles. We headed south into the wind so we would have a tail wind on the way home. It worked out pretty good... I still have the Bottecchia for sale at $350.

Baseball - Bikes

I've been getting in some more bike rides since the last post. 31 miles of TT training on Friday (Greenway Loop), 29 miles of hills into Woodbury on Sunday and 31 miles of TT training with Tommy Bengel tonight on the Greenway Loop. Plus, the Twins game yesterday!

Mixing It Up

Sold a couple of bikes since the last post. The red Specialized Allez went to my neighbor Steve. The orange DOT fixed gear bike went to a bike commuter. One road ride, a mountain bike cruise at Battle Creek and two time trial training sessions on the Greenway loop since the last post. Soem of the peeps I rode with include Steve Prast, Jerry Engen, Lori Belz, Bill and Joe Stuber, Tom and Lee Bengel and John Wyland.